Lots of good news

A few weeks ago - actually about the same time we found out we were pregnant, we got some good news!

Money!

We had been waiting to hear from Melbourne if we were approved for more money.... in order for us to go back to Canada even (as in with no money, but at least not owing money) we so far had about 2/3 of what we needed. So on Tuesday we heard that we were getting that last 1/3 and a bit more!! Unfortunately Queensland Australia started having massive flooding disasters, and the dollar went down a lot because of it. The last installment we got from Australia, we lost almost $1000 in the exchange to Canadian! We started to worry, because we hadn't gotten the money yet, but now it looks like the Canadian dollar is almost at par with the Aussies again - good news for us!

Since then we've also had 3 large deposits from the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) - some of it was back payment for the Child tax credits and some back payment from GST (when Conor got his tax return last year they took over $600 back of GST which they had given us, so they were giving it BACK again!), and the third was, well I don't actually know, I know it was from them, but I don't know what for. I'm definitely not complaining though!

This is all very beneficial, especially since I'm paying 80 euro for prenatal doctors visits, and I just forked out another 150 euro this morning for my bloodwork!

13 Weeks

Horray - we are in the second trimester!!

How far along: 13 weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) Over 3 inches now - the size of a LEMON!

Total weight gain/loss: I'm pretty sure I've gained back that 2 pounds I had lost - note to self, don't make batches and batches of breadsticks and eat them all by yourself if you don't want to become fat!

Maternity Clothes: Not wearing them - but bought some for retail therapy on Friday

Gender: Unknown - still saying girl. Although is seems like every pregnant person I know recently has had a girl, other than one.

Movement: None felt

Sleep: Sleeping well, and really enjoying it!

What I miss: Not much, I've been feeling pretty good.

Cravings: Fast food, anything fast food - but I actually got some on friday, so I feel better now (for a few days at least)

Symptoms: Growing waistline (probably more from overeating!), still a bit tired but getting better.

Best moment of the week: Happy that I'm not starving for food all the time now (but that may be because I'm just eating more in general before I actually get hungry). Shopping was a big highlight, and entering the second trimester!!

Retail Therapy

So this week, especially Wednesday, I was really homesick. The weather was kind of blah, I was feeling bad for myself that I only see other english speaking people on the weekends (usually), and a couple other reasons. I was just homesick.

Sometimes you just want to get away, there's not a lot to see in this little beach town, but the train can be a pain... I sometimes miss having a car. Anyways, what would I do if I was feeling this way and I had a car?? I would go SHOPPING! (Note: I wouldn't necessarily buy stuff, but just walking around a mall trying stuff on is fun!)

So I talked to our friends Eleonora and Kevin (who have a car) and asked them if they wanted to do a shopping trip sometime. There were a few things I needed to get, which I couldn't get from any place I could take a train to. She said they were available Friday afternoon, so we made a double date (plus child) plan to head to the same mall that she took me to on my birthday.

We went to H&M first, because they have good prices and a maternity section. I had three things on my list: maternity t-shirts, maternity camisole/tank top, and track/lounge pants. I was able to get a couple t-shirts and a tank top there. But not the track pants.

I also made a silly error with Finn's clothing choice coming here. I brought all of his size 2 stuff, but only 2 pairs of size 3 pants. Both of which are jeans. Now he's almost outgrown all his size 2 pants (save for one pair of nice khakis which is are 2 but very long), so I wanted one more pair of pants that weren't jeans, and I (Conor rather) found a great plain pant that will work for dress or casual. Oh and I got him some socks.

Then we went to Decathlon and I found some track pants there, and a fleece pull over for Finn. He has this OBSESSION with taking off jackets once we're outside... no matter how cold it is. And his two other sweaters are getting too small, so I needed something warm that I could pull over his head and he couldn't just unzip and take off as soon as we got outside!

Okay, the next parts are the best! We went to the Lindt store - YUMM! and bought some Lindors that you can't just buy at the grocery store (mint, orange and hazelnut - there were a lot more, but they are $$$ and those are my faves), and then headed to another mall across the street for Burger King. I had been telling Eleonora about my McDonalds and Pizza Hut cravings, so she said when we went shopping we would go somewhere fast food... it was so yum!

We wandered around that mall for awhile - they went to a housewares store to get some plates and stuff, and then afterwards we went into a pet store and looked at fish, birds, mice (eww - who BUYS mice), Chinchillas, and Bunnies!! Finn loved it. By then it was 9, past Finn's bedtime! So we went home.

It was great - I love retail therapy!

** Oh, and we are half way through our last year here (well, our last 8 months). Not sure exactly what date we will be flying home... but probably the 28th, or within a week from there!!!

Finn the 2 year old

I have all these little things in my head that Finn does that I love (and some that I don't love so much) so I thought I would just do one post in bullet form (with some pictures in between) !

• He's always called us 'mama' and 'dada' but recently learned how to say 'daddy' and is so proud of himself.

• Because of the above, I've been trying to teach him to say mommy. But he always repeats me saying 'money'. This, and the fact that my wallet is his favorite toy, has me a little worried!

• He's learned to do a tarzan-bang-on-his-chest thing

• He was also doing a noise that sounded like tarzan, but I realized it's actually an ambulance.

• He has some new words in his repetoire: more, bye and daddy (as I mentioned before)

• Even with the words he does know he's not very good at initiating them. About 50% of the time, if he wants sometime he says 'tata' on his own, but the other 50% I have to tell him to say it. He doesn't really look at Conor or I and say 'mama' or 'dada' but he knows it means us... he will say Daddy on his own though. If he wants more ('mah') the first time I have to tell him to say it, but then after that every time he wants more he will say it on his own. He LOVES to say bye ('bah') on his own. If I'm getting ready in the bathroom he will come in, say bye while waving and start closing the door as he leaves the room. He also will say bye if he starts going downstairs without me.

• Another, not so new word, that has no known meaning and he says A LOT, is 'bungadee'... no clue.

• Noises: We all know that he's a star at making car noises... even to be able to change gears and make beeping noises to back up. There's a tractor that he has that makes noises and then at the end a noise like it releasing it's load... kind of a "tst" noise. Finn can do that one now. He also loves looking at trains going by from our terrazza, or watching Thomas & Friends, and going "doot doot". The most recent, and my favorite so far, is monkey noises! You can hear those on the youtube video I posted... I love it!

• He's an entertainer again. He loves to show people his toys when they come over, and he loves to dance and perform and clap after anything silly he does. Then he wants you to clap along with him.

• He's still sleeping in his own bed. Lately he will go into bed really nicely, but about 10 minutes later wants you to come put his blanket back on... it's really annoying because then sometimes he will do it another 4 or 5 times before finally falling asleep.

• Almost 3 weeks soother-free. But it hasn't been the smoothest ride. He still doesn't seem to know it's gone, or doesn't care... but he's been waking up more often in the night and the last couple days he's napped less than an hour as opposed to 2+ hours. Preggo mama no likey!

• He went through a dinner strike - but the last three nights he's eaten almost everything on his plate.

• He likes to 'help' us do the dishes - which means he pulls the chair up to the sink and sticks his hands in the water and then washes his face!

• Like I've said before, he loves watching the trains from our terrazza. If it's nice out, I just leave the door open, and everytime he hears one he will run over and watch it. Then he will run back to me and do the sign of the cross... no clue! It's nice that there are at least 4 train every hour!

All in all he's a silly kid that we love and adore!

What I do when I'm feeling homesick - Part II

Anyone remember this post from last year - "What I do when I'm feeling homesick?"

Well here's another (much more recent) homesick remedy. Actually it's part homesickness, part craving, remedy.

I have this slight obsession with Pizza Hut breadsticks with marinara sauce. Lately it's all I've been able to think about. We watch football on Sundays with some friends, and there's always commercials for Pizza Hut, which hasn't helped the situtation.

Finally I said enough was enough and I was going to fullfill my cravings! I had a breadsticks recipe from Conor's mom that I had made a couple of times, but couldn't get it to open properly on my computer, so I found a new one, and made the marinara sauce that I had also made a couple times to go along with it.

The breadsticks recipe is a VERY basic one off alrecipes.com

(Click here to see the recipe)

I tweaked it by doing less sugar, less baking power and less milk.

Also, instead of sesame seeds, I put parmasan and garlic salt on it.

I've made it three times now, and I think I've perfected it.

Like I said though, it's VERY basic and NEEDS the sauce - which is AMAZING!

I got the sauce recipe online a couple years ago, but I can't seem to remember where from. But it's just a basic marinara sauce.

This afternoon I made some for Finn and I we enjoyed it with a (decaf) Iced Cap!

Silly Finnian though didn't QUITE understand the marinara sauce concept and chose to dip his breadsticks in the iced cap!

Oh, and did anyone take a close look at my belly pic from 10 weeks and then 12 weeks?? I see a little protuberance! NOTE: This could be attributed to TWO of these breadstick batches being eaten completely by myself!!!

12 Weeks

How far along: 12 weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) 3 inches long - the size of a peach!

Total weight gain/loss: I don't know, didn't get a chance to weigh myself this week

Maternity Clothes: I don't need to at all, but I did wear a maternity to shirt to church today. Mom sent me a nice one, but it's long sleeve and I have a feeling I won't NEED to wear it until its a lot warmer out, and then I won't need long sleeve. I'm starting to notice that if I lie on my back, my stomach doesn't sink in like it used to. The uterus must be moving out of my pelvis.

Gender: Unknown

Movement: Not that I can feel.

Sleep: Good... I LOVE naps right now.

What I miss: Energy... usually by lunch I'm exhausted, and then if I get my nap I sometimes wake up even more tired, and sometimes I wake up feeling great. Either way, but 8ish I start getting tired again.

Cravings: Well I guess I have had cravings. McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Last week that was ALL I could think about! I am so lucky that we don't have a McDonalds in our town. Pizza Hut I was mainly craving because of the breadsticks and marinara sauce... so instead I just made breadsticks and marinara sauce - YUM!!

Symptoms: Fatique, Hunger, bigger boobs (hehe), emotionally unstable, oh and my digestive system is ALL out of whack and I don't like it. I had been on iron supplements, and you know what those do to you. So I went off them and now I've been the complete opposite all week. NOT fun.

Best moment of the week: Figuring out a breadsticks recipe so I could fill at least one of my cravings!!

Our Week

I was going to do a post on Monday, I started it... and then I forgot about it. So here is our week in bullet form, with some pictures.

• Last Saturday we had friends over for pancakes in the morning. (and today we are having them and some others over again for pancakes)
• After Finn's nap we headed to the Australians for a going-away open house.
• On Sunday afternoon some friends drove us to Santa Severa (the town before us on the train line) and went for a bit of a walk on the beach and to see the Castle there.
  
• Then we went back to their place for the usual Sunday night american football. Finn and I didn't stay long, but Conor stayed to watch the game.
• Monday we went into Rome. Lately everytime we've gone in it's been for a mass, or to do the Scavi Tour... we haven't just gone in by ourselves as a family to walk around. So we did that. Conor had to hand in a paper, so we had lunch at the school and then headed to Villa Borghese.
  

  Conor infront of Villa Borghese
  It was beautiful. We didn't go into any of the museums, but just wandered around a bit. I wanted to go to the zoo there, but it was 12.50 euros, and we are cheap! Plus Finn was having a blast with the pidgeons outside and that was FREE!

• On Wednesday the Australians went home (very sad!!!) So we spend most of the morning and afternoon there, either helping clean, pack, do garbage runs, or play with the kids. It was sad to see them go, but I know that they are looking forward to getting home (they went to Dubai for 5 days first, so they aren't actually back in Aus yet)

Other than that we haven't been up to much. Here are a couple more pictures!

This was ALL Conor's idea.

As cute as Finn was in this little car (he was concentrating so hard on steering!) it was way past naptime and he was already having a few meltdowns.

It was GAME OVER when we took him out. Bad Conor. (this makes up for me buying the chocolate advent calendar)

Other than Finn's hand in his mouth, this is a pretty good family photo!!

Better than TV

When we got back to Italy I only took out a few of Finn's old toys for him to play with.

Then he got more toys for his birthday and Christmas, so there were still a lot of old toys hidden upstairs in an old suitcase.

The other morning I needed a break so I brought Finn upstairs and pulled out the suitcase of toys.

He was in HEAVEN - and I got an HOUR to myself!

11 Weeks

*Okay not the best picture of baby, but the machine wasn't the clearest and the baby is still very far down in my pelvis (and small!) Head on the left, you can see the spine a bit, "rump" on the right

How far along: 11 weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) Weighs as much as half an ounce and the crown-to-rump size is about two and a half inches - the size of a large plum.

Total weight gain/loss: Well docs scale had be at 4 pounds less than the other scale! So maybe I'll start giving my gain/loss number from that. Otherwise I don't think I've gained this week.

Maternity Clothes: Nope

Gender: Unknown - still going with girl.

Movement: I don't FEEL movements but I saw our baby kicking around on the ultrasound!

Sleep: Pretty good I guess - Since Finn is soother free now he takes longer to fall asleep, wakes up more often in the night, and wakes up earlier in the morning. I used to go down for a nap at the same time as him, but now he keeps me up for more than 30 minutes, so I wait and go up when he's asleep, and then it takes me awhile to fall asleep. But I usually still get a nap so I can't complain.

What I miss: Nothing... I feel good, everything feels normal.

Cravings: No cravings.

Symptoms: Just the fatigue and every so often not catching my hunger in time and then feeling a bit sick.

Best moment of the week: Seeing the baby at the doctors, and hearing it's heartbeat! 156 bpm - kicking around, looking healthy!

2T to 3T

Does anyone else find the size difference from 2T to 3T to be GINORMOUS?? (at least for boys)

Finn's size 2 pants are all getting to the point of being a bit too short, or else the waist to crotch region is too short, so it looks like his pants are always falling down. BUT the size 3 pants (which I stupidly brought only 2 of when I have more in Canada) are all at least an inch too long.

It would be nice if there was a 2.5 but I guess that could get a bit tedious always having so many sizes to go through.

I can not WAIT for the weather to get nicer here. I haven't been a fan of Finn's size 2 clothes. i bought them as a "lot" from someone on facebook, which was an AMAZING deal (I got like 20 pairs of pants and was able to resell 6 of the ones that were either similar to another pair or that I just didn't like), but that meant that some of the clothes I didn't love so much... or they weren't things I would pick out. He's ready for size 3 but it's all tshirts (except one long sleeved which he wears now) and shorts.

Also, there were a lot of long sleeve shirts which I was thankful for... but they were all a little on the small side to start off with, so that's why I can't wait for summer so that I can just get rid of those and Finn can be in t-shirts that I picked out and that FIT!

Easy as pie

So I was going to wait one week before making my "declaration", but I can't.

I'm declaring our house soother-free!!

That's right, Finnian has gone 4 whole days without his soother!

What was our 'trick'? Literally no trick at all, we (by we I mean Conor) just didn't give it to him one night, and that was that.

On Saturday night Conor went upstairs to put Finn to bed, and I had told him that the soother was upstairs. Unknown to me was the soother was NOT upstairs and Conor I guess decided to not bother looking for it and see how it went. When he came downstairs I could hear Finn chatting to himself more than usual, but just thought he was in a good mood.

Finnian woke up a couple of times that night, and the second time I got up and I went to put his soother in. I felt around him in the dark and I couldn't find it. While I was fishing around Finn fell back asleep, so I went back to bed. The next time he woke up I told Conor that I couldn't find the soother and that's when he told me that he had never given it to him. I thought it was on my nightstand but I couldn't feel it, and didn't feel like going downstairs to look for it, and then Finn fell back asleep on his own.

Then we woke up and it was morning. Night #1 without a soother was painfree!

I had two concerns about taking away the soother. 1. That Finn would cry and cry himself to sleep and wake up in the night crying (and we share a room, so that would be pain.ful!), and 2. that he would stop napping (this happened to my sis-in-law for both kids as well as other mothers I know), and I need my naps right now. These are the main reasons we have been putting it off.

So naptime #1 without a soother was a bit of a concern. We were out until late in the afteroon, so didn't get Finn down until 3pm for his nap (we were also going out in the evening, so a late nap was okay with us)... it took him about a half hour to fall asleep... but he fell asleep, no tears. SUCCESS!

And everyday and night has been just as good since then!

When he was a baby I had said that the soother would be gone before he could walk and talk... I guess 1 out of 2 ain't bad. And really, 2 is a very good age to get rid of it, at least for him. It would NOT have been this easy if we had tried earlier!

Now I just have to remember this (as well as when we moved him into his big boy bed) "When he's ready, he's ready" for when potty training comes along!

Halloween

We did our main Halloween-ing on Saturday - that way Conor's two siblings that don't live in Abby could come out with their spouses and stay later since they wouldn't have to work the next day (which I'm pretty sure everyone else did as well)

Watching the apple juice making

I went out with Elle to borrow some costumes from a cousin and Conor stayed home with Finn. They started the pumpkin carving process by cleaning out the inside and then they went out to the barn to watch the family make Apple Juice.

My cute little pumpkin!

When I got home we had lunch and nap time (well at least Elle got a nap, Finn and I not so much). Conor was busy working on his pumpkin which ended up taking over 3 hours!

Conor's pride and joy!

The others finished their pumpkins and then went to work making donuts, a traditional Halloween treat in this house, to go with fudge that mom made the day before.

I showed Finn his Halloween costume when I got home. It was a dinosaur with a head piece. I tried to get him to put on the head right then, but he wouldn't let me! When it came time to actually get them dressed I put Elle in her outfit, showed Finn, and hoped that would get him excited... But it didn't.

I've never seen a dinosaur yawn before

Instead I had to drag him downstairs, pry his clothes off and wrestle him into his costume (minus the head piece). He really liked the tail and held onto it most of the night. I was able to get him into the head piece a few times just so we could get pics (bribing him with donuts, or course).

Conor and I are lame parents and didn't dress up! haha

After a while he didn't want the costume on so I took it off and he proceeded to have a blast throwing it around the living room.

Naked dinosaur infront of some grapes

Then last night we went over to moms so she could see them in their costumes and we helped her give out candy.

Papal Mass

So we've been in Rome for over a year and have never attended a Papal Mass. But the Anderson's had gotten tickets, and a few extra, for the Mass of the Epiphany so we decided to tag along. We knew it was going to be inside (bonus) and that it wouldn't QUITE be so crazy full as the Masses at say Christmas or Easter.

We had to take the 7:30am train (GASP, so early!) and I'm so glad we went along.

After the long day the day before for the Scavi Tour, and Finn up all night coughing, I really wasn't feeling to keen on going when we woke up at 7, but again, so glad we went.

Our seats were really close to the front, on the side looking towards the left side of the altar. Unfortunately when Pope Benedict was sitting (like he was during his homily) we couldn't see him, but when he was at the Altar we could!

The kids all did really well, including Finn, for such a long mass, not to mention the hour we were sitting before mass actually started.

When the Pope was making his exit, Conor took Finn up to the barricade, but unfortunately the Pope didn't come by our way to bless the kids :(

Maybe next time! Afterwards we grabbed some lunch and Conor, Finn and I headed back home.

10 Weeks - Jan 9

* I should really just stop with the pics until I start growing, but oh well. Next week there will be a very special guest picture!

How far along: 10 weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) It doesn't give me food to compare to, but the babe is slightly two inches long and about a third of an ounce.

Total weight gain/loss: Down 2 pounds from last week! Man, eating really badly seems to really pay off for me.

Maternity Clothes: Nope - but the parcel FINALLY came today! I'm very relieved too, because as soon as my belly starts growing there's no way I could fit my jeans for very long without those tummy sleeves.

Gender: Unknown - but I'm officially guessing GIRL! I don't know why but some things just feel so different about this pregnancy so far... especially the hormonal outbursts!

Movement: Nope

Sleep: Pretty good... but I missed a few naps this week due to being in Rome.

What I miss: Nothing really - this week has been great, I haven't even had my food hunger issues

Cravings: None, but I indulged myself (and Finnian) in some McDonalds earlier this week...YUM!

Symptoms: Tired by the end of the day when I don't get a nap... but not bad since I spent those days walking around Rome which is tiring in itself.

Best moment of the week: Looking down at my pro-life pin on my jacket of a fetus' feet at 10 weeks and realizing that was my baby right now!

Scavi Tour

So in order to do the Scavi Tour, you have to book in advance by letting the office know which dates work for you, and what language you prefer. Because some of it is small areas, the groups are usually 10-20 people. You can't bring kids in, so we didn't know if or how we would get to do this... but Mark and Kate mentioned the Kate's sister wanted to do it while she was here, and they could book us in with her and they would babysit Finn while we went! So that's what we did.

On Wednesday morning we all went into Rome and wandered around, checked out the Nativity Scene in St. Peters Square, checked out a little market, and ate some food until our tour at 1:30pm. Then we left Finnian with them and headed over for the tour. The really nice thing is that you get a tour guide... you have to have a tour guide in other words. Which is nice, we are too cheap to ever go on tours or to pay for the earphone tour things, so it's a nice change for someone to actually tell you what you're looking at.

You can't take pics from inside the tour, but here are a few of the Nativity Scene

I won't go into all the history... but basically where St. Peter's Basilica is now, there are two (or I guess 3 other levels, if you count the level with the tombs of the Popes) other levels underneath - that area actually used to be a lower valley which held a "necropolis" which I think means City of the Dead, a big cemetery with mausoleums. Then Constantine wanted to build a basilica on top of it. So he cut off the top of the mausoleums and filled in and covered the while valley and built his basilica. From there I can't remember why, how or who, but someone decided to build on top of THAT and that is where St Peter's Basilica is now.

It's "life size", but actually bigger than that even.

Now the thing that is so special about this, is the question WHY Constantine would cover over a graveyard (that was still very much in use mind you, people still visited this place on a regular basis). The belief is that St. Peter, who was crucified in that valley in the Circo Nero, was buried there. That is why Constantine wanted his Basilica there, so that the altar of the Basilica would be directly over top of where Peter was buried. From there St Peter's Basilica was build to also be directly over top of the original burial place of St. Peter.

Anyways, in short, we got to SEE St Peter's BONES! They have excavated an area underneath the altar and found several plexiglass boxes with bones inside, which for several reasons, they have decided (and Pope Paul VI declared it true in 1968) but it's up to you to decide for yourself.

Here is an awesome online tour of the necropolis... and I recommend that if you are ever coming to Rome, this is a MUST see... just remember to book in advance.

Online Tour of the Necropolic (Scavi Tour)

UPDATED: I love this kid

Finnian has been really good today (other than hitting my friends little boy a couple of times!), but ever since nap time he has just been super cute and funny!

I wasn't going to have a nap today, so Conor went and put Finn in bed and then Conor and I had lunch together. We ate and then I went to the couch and I could hear Finn every so often, but then I figured he fell asleep. Well I think he may have only fallen asleep for 45 minutes or so, because then we could hear him again upstairs playing and singing and talking to himself. I could tell he was still in bed though, the sound was farther away.

At around 3 we heard him a bit closer, so we just thought we would end "nap time" there... Conor and I raced to the stairs (we were each wanting to get there first to see what he was up to) and just as I turned the first couple steps I saw him at the top looking down through the railings.

Conor and I stopped and started laughing at him, because he was just standing there, smiling at us... when he pulled up his shirt and pointed at his belly. I have NO idea what he was trying to say, but it was SOOO funny... Conor and I were laughing even harder at that point. We both went up and laid on our bed while he continued to entertain us by doing funny things with his toys, or making funny sounds, or clapping while feeling very proud of himself for something.

It was priceless... and ever since he's been good. We took a long walk to a farther grocery store, and came home, and he's just been playing nicely ever since, every so often coming and giving us kisses.

I love this kid!

* Seriously, who is this kid? and can I keep him? We sat him down at the dinner table and he just started eating all by himself! He didn't eat it all, but what he ate was almost without any coaxing!

Then during bath time he was being so cute and when I was putting on his pajamas he was ATTACKING me with kisses... like grabbing my face and pulling me in.

SIGH!

Christmas Videos

Here are a few of my favorites

1. I love his face after he throws the stocking down and realizes what the Kinder Surprise is

2. His reaction is priceless when he finally notices the train on the box



3. First time playing with his train

4. After he takes his tractor off the track he makes his new "funny face"

Hello Hormones!

I must be having a big influx of pregnancy hormones lately because I am a big ball of emotions these days. And not usually the happy-everything-is-great type emotions, more the i-cant-handle-my-screaming-child-so-ill-just-start-bawling emotions.

Yesterday had been especially bad. Finnian is still teething his back molars and ever since he was sick after Christmas it has been like pulling teeth to get him to eat any dinner. Yesterday he just sat there screaming and throwing his food, fork, cup, whatever all over the place. We could not get him to eat ONE BITE! And I lost it. He was screaming and I was frustrated and I just buried my face in my arms and started crying.

Then even after we took him out of his chair he would not stop screaming and throwing things, we started his bath and when it came time to undress him he really lost it. And I couldn't handle it anymore. I sat on the floor bawling while my 2 year old stood in front of me, half naked, bawling.

Conor was watching and asked if he should take a video so that Finn and I could laugh at it in 20 years and I started simultaneously laughing and crying (and not this-is-so-funny crying, real sad sobbing crying) at the same time.

I've always prided myself on being able to multi-task, but this just hit a whole new level.

I don't remember being like this when I was pregnant with Finn, except maybe near the end as you can read in this post.

Anyways, today was a good day. I didn't shed a single tear!

And because of that, I finally took the time to upload some more videos on youtube!

I'll post a couple of my favorites tomorrow.

I'm still here!!

We are finally all on the mend! Finn's voice sounds a bit crackly, but I think it's most from all the screaming and temper tantrums lately!

I tried to make sure I was asleep to ring in the New Year, but even with ear plugs I couldn't avoid hearing the big fireworks as well as all the other firecrackers going off (many right outside our building)... oh well, thankfully we all slept in until 930 the next morning!

This week will go back to some semblance of order. Conor plans on going into Rome tomorrow to go to the library, and he's upstairs studying right now. Wednesday, however, the Andersons have booked us to go on the scavi tour (I'll post more about that afterwards) with their sister. You can't take kids but I think all of us will go in, and they will watch Finn while we are doing the tour.

I finally put up pictures from Christmas on facebook, and the videos have been sorted I just need to get them up on youtube... maybe tonight!!

9 Weeks

*New pic next week*

How far along: 9 weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) Nearly an inch and a half long and the size of a prune.

Total weight gain/loss: Down a pound from a week and a half ago.

Maternity Clothes: Nopers

Gender: Unknown (for the moment)

Movement: Nopers

Sleep: A lot of much needed sleep and naps at the beginning of the week, significant lack of any sleep the last couple days (thanks to a boy who has a stuffed nose and refuses to breath through his mouth)

What I miss: SLEEP!! I need more sleep right now, badly.

Cravings: No cravings, really no hunger in general thanks to being sick. It was a nice change from needing to eat every 5 minutes.

Symptoms: Very tired - part pregnancy symptom, part cold symptom.

Best moment of the week: The mornings that Conor would take Finnian out in the morning so I could have some quiet time.

Hello 2011

(Image courtesy of Google Images)

Happy New Years everyone!!

This is set to auto-post... hopefully I'll be sound asleep to ring in the new year (with ear plugs in so that Finn's snoring and firecrackers going off don't wake me!)