5 years of Finn

Here are just a zillion of my favorite pictures throughout Finn's first 5 years of life. As you can see he is just such a smiley, happy boy.(most of the time)

This is Finn as a newborn. He looked JUST like Peter. If dates were not written or printed on the pictures, I wouldnt know who I was looking at.

Finn at about 3 1/2 months old. He was just such a chunk-a-roni!! He could eat.

About 6 months. He was into EVERYTHING! This was about the time he morphed into Hurricane Finn.

Finn about 19 months. This was taken at The Ronald McDonald House when Peter was in the hospital.

Finn and Peter, Christmas 2005. Peter just a few months post transplant and still on fairly high doses of Prednisone. (you can really see it in his face)

Finn at age 3 playing in his clubhouse with some friends.

Eating one of his favorite foods...cereal. If I am not mistaken those are Golden Grahams...some of my personal favorites as well.

Enjoying the Slip N Slide for his 4th Birthday!

Being Silly on the Trampoline when his Uncle Daniel and Aunt Laura came to visit.

Finn at Easter 2008, making a cupcake. The joy of sugar...

Finn not wanting to join the picnic fun. See what a grouch he can be when he turns it on?

OOPS! I have a burgeoning "hairwrecker" on my hands.

Ahhh, blue mouth cotton candy. I love this picture. It really shows his sweet and " I love life" personality.

"Im Batman".

I Love you Finny Foo Foo. Congrats on turning 5. Hope it treats you well! Keep being the sweet and loving boy you are. You are my sensitive peacemaker. I WUBBA YOU!

Finn's birth story

Today is my baby boys 5th birthday. I can hardly believe it.

I was induced at 40 weeks (let me rephrase. i FORCED them to induce at 40 weeks). a few days previous I had gone in for my weekly appointment.

"any contractions?" (No)

"Any Cramping?" (No)

The exam revealed that I was at a 0 with 0% effaced. I was tight as lid on a new jar of pickles. I was due August 3rd. It was August 6th.

I grabbed the doctor by the shirt collar and tie, pulled him towards me and said "GET...THIS...THING...OUT..OF...ME!" He backed up against the wall "Nurse! Nurse! Security!"

Ok i made that up. But I did say "I cannot take it any longer, you have GOT to get this little fool out of me. He runs around in there 24/7/ He never sleeps, I have sciatic nerve pain, I am tired, I am huge. I cant do this any more. This is my 3rd child and I am at my wits end. When can you induce?" He looked at me and weighed his options. If he said no, he had 4 steps to make it to the door...did he dare risk it? He was kind of an older fellow, and a pregnant lady on a rampage is no joke. Common sense prevailed.

"How about tomorrow?"

So we went in on August 7th, and they started me on a special concoction to get my labor kickstarted. And boy did they.

It was miserable all night, and then the next morning they cranked up the Pitocin. The contractions were off the charts and I had no medication to help me through it. I wanted to get through it as naturally as I could. They called in the Anesthesiologist to give me an epidural at 5pm and finally (and mercifully) broke my water at a 3-4 cm. I had labored hard and long and was only at a 4.

I told the doctor" Dont go far, he will be here in 15 minutes". The Dr, thinking he knew more about birthing babies than I knew about ME birthing MY OWN babies kind of scoffed.

"You are only at a 4. You have a few hours" and he sailed out of the room.

"Dont say I didnt warn you!" I yelled after his backside and bald spot.

20 minutes later I was pushing, my epidural barely having time to work. Finn was a "sunny side up" baby, meaning he was born face up instead of face down. I had to push HARD to get him out. But thankfully, as a dr once told me "You are built for having babies".(read: cow) So I was lucky and only had about 5 pushes worth...but I had to push extra hard.

The British Nazi nurse tried to give me an episiotomy, but I held her back with a crucifix, garlic and holy water. "well", she said in her snooty Liverpool accent, "If you would would rather tear, be my guest". Yes I would rather tear than you cutting my va jay jay open with scissors you sadist!

The Dr sailed in just in time to catch him as he fell onto the table.

"I TOLD you not to go very far" as I said smugly.

"Yes, now shut up" as he sticthed up the little tear.

"I TOLD you I didnt need an episiotomy" I gloated at the British Nurse Nazi.

"Yes, now shut up" she said as she started poking and prodding and yanking out my epidural.

"So tell me, was it really worth it to have an epidural for only 30 minutes?", she asked condiscendingly.

"YES!" I practically screamed at her. "It gave me a chance to rest. I had been doing hard natural induced labor for 23 hours with no sleep. Gave me time to not have to think and I was able to relax a little before having to do the hard work".

She stomped out of the room in a huff, obviously condeming me to hell for requesting medication, her passive agressive contempt not garnering the results she had hoped.

But Charles Finn McBride was a beautiful baby. My first words as they put him on my chest was "He looks just like Peter!".(he was a tad smaller than peter by an inch and 1/2 a pound)

8lbs, 20" long.

The Liverpool Vampire sailed back in and immediately tried to get him to nurse. Finn did not take kindly to it.

She said I was doing it wrong. Finn still did not take kindly to it. They brought in a lactation specialist. Finn STILL did not take kindly to it. At one point it was hurting so bad and the vampire chippy said to me "Oh come on, it cant hurt that bad".

Lady if I didnt have a diaper on I would totally jump across the room and b-slap you right now.

We had a parade of visitors(we had a family reunion going on at the same time. I opted to have a baby, rather than attend.). Cousins, aunt and uncles. Thay all declared Finn "just precious".

We went home 24 hours later(insurance kicks us out you know) and here we are 5 years later!!

Finn you are my sunshine. You alwaya make me happy. You have such a joy and zest for life. you wear your emotions so close to the surface. You express joy and laughter and just make me so glad that I am your mom . You are so smart and funny and my special guy. I am so proud of you! You are starting Kindergarten this year and it makes me happy, yet at the same time a little said. I wont have you around to keep me company during the day and wont have you around to make me laugh.

I LOVE YOU FINN FINN!!

2 weeks until school starts!!

Can you tell I am counting down to school starting back up??

I love my boys. i really do. But they drive me crazy.

Yesterday was a "getting ready to go back to school" day. I am actually giddy about it. I always loved going shopping with my mom and buying school supplies. That was the one day of summer I really looked forward to,. It made me excited for class and a new teacher and new friends. There is something so unexplainable about the newness of the supplies. The sharp pointy crayons. The pencils with erasers still intact. A brand new trapper keeper with the crisp ZIP sound still in the velcro and the perfect shiny folders inside. The rubbery smell of the pink pearl erasers. It was almost a rush for my younger self.

930 AM:
Finn had his 5 year physical and dr appointment. he had to have it before he started school.
His regular pediatrician Dr. R ____ was booked. So we had to see a new dr who just started at the practice. So we are waiting and Dr. B_______ walks in and says "I know your brother, Finn!"
She had done her residency at UNC and took care of Peter pre and post transplant and had been on call if he went in for treatment etc. She said "I remember seeing you when you were just a little guy coming to visit your brother!" So it was nice to have a familiar face.
BUT poor little guy had to have 5 shots. DTP, Hep A, MMR, Polio and Varicella. But he was a trooper...although refused to talk to me for about 2 hours. Boy was he mad. But he milked it for his grandma. "I got 5 shots and they hurt. I cried and cried. my arm still hurts...cough cough" (I dont know why giving him shots would make him cough)
But to make up for the injustices of it all we let him choose where he wanted to go to lunch. yesterday was Charles day off and since Finns birthday is Friday we made this his birthday choice and he was happy with it.

400pm:
My mom, the boys and I all went to walmart to get school supplies. Having one kid in school was expensive enough. Now having TWO is double the trouble. And they each had a list a mile long of things needed.)
#2 pencils, chubby pencils, crayons, fat crayons, colored pencils, markers, erasers, glue sticks(the big fat ones),tennis balls, a ream of paper each, various sizes of zip lock bags, clorox wipes and hand sanitizer, folders, composition notebooks, baby wipes, kleenex , scissors, pencil boxes, highlighters, dry erase markers blah blah blah.
so 72$ and a kitchen full of school supplies later I am having quite the time sorting them out.

TODAY:
I am going thorough their clothes drawers. They have plenty of jeans and shorts. but MANY of their shirts are too small now. My boys grow long in the torso. SO the pants still fit, but the shirts are now half shirts a la Homer Simpson. So i have some clothes shopping to get done as well. Another excuse to spend money!!

I know I will miss them once they are gone, but right now I am impatient to get them out of the house!! I am so tired of fighting over Transformers and fighting over who plays the video games and fighting on the trampoline and fighting at the pool and fighting on the computer and fighting about taking the dog for a walk. I am tired of Peter telling Finn what to say and how to play. i am tired of Finn trying his darndest to get Peter in trouble.
i am so sick of hearing "Im Thirsty!" or "Peter hit me!" or Peters saying "Fine Finn! You wont play it my way? Then I quit!" GAH shut up shut up shutupshutupshutup.

Lord grant me patience to last two more weeks.

Wipeout

I dont care who you are, this is good Television.

Wipeout is kind of like a rated G version of MXC.

Pay particular attention to the 2nd contestant, Margie.
This is just the first 9 minutes from the very first episode.


I would totally go on wipeout. I know they would end up putting me on their best of/worst of clips moments(I would be the big fat muddy crashing into the big balls and being thrown headfirst into the muddy water.)

Tuesday Nights on ABC. My new favorite "dont have to think" television program.

Cruisin' on a Sunday afternoon...

After returning home from the family reunion in Virginia, I was charged with the task of planning the family cruise next year. We made the dates and destination decision and I threw myself into finding the perfect cruise to match what everyone wanted. I am a stay at home mom, I have the time to get things organized. I have been on a cruise before, and am a master at planning vacations(Read: Vacation nazi) It is the perfect fit for me, and I am happy to do it.

We knew we wanted the Caribbean. But we had half the people who wanted more snorkeling and beachy related activities.

The other half wanted Mayan ruins and Lamanite History.

We found the perfect cruise to suit everyone and make both parties equally happy. We start out in Miami and head to Grand Cayman(snorkeling and beach), Cozumel (snorkeling/beach/ruins), Belize City(ruins/beach) and roatan Island (Beach etc) So it is a really great mix for both sides.

At first I was leery of planning for so many people and wasnt sure if I would be able to make it work and kind of doubted the vacation nazi's abilities. however I have been pleasantly surprised.

I have found that throughout the past few days I have really enjoyed planning for this. I have a special talent for finding deals, bargains and dickering people down into giving me what I want(Lindsey, Busia will be so proud)

. I talked them into the maximum cabin credit that can be used towards excursions, used for tipping etc. Originally they wanted the entire $250 deposit per person by September 3rd. I talked them into 25$ per person by september 3rd and the remaining 200 by April 16th. I haggleddown an already low price of $389 per person(minus taxes fees and fuel surcharges) to $310 per person. Those poor people at the cruise agency didnt know what hit them by the time I was done talking to them. (Brother in Law)Brandon e-mailed me with a great quote from his travel agent and I used it as leverage to get more goodies for our group. So I do have to tip my hat to Brandon whose quote gave me some bargaining room and allowed the dickering goddess in me to shine forth. I would like to thank Lindseys Grandmother Busia who taught me to "dicker with them" on our last cruise and to NEVER pay brochure price or full price for anything. Without her I would be paying way more than I should. She is one shrewd gal!!

Did I mention I am planning for a group that may possibly include 40+ people??

We have a confirmed "I am paying my deposit right now" 24 people(12 rooms) and an additional 18 possibly's.(9 rooms)

Every day I am getting emails from family saying "Oh we want to come too, can you include us, or "Can we extend the invitation to so and so?"

Heck yes. The more the merrier. The more people we book, the more free cruises we get, the more cabin credits we get and the better stuff they throw in. You dont have to associate with us...just let me use you for more goodies.

Charles and I will be celebrating our anniversary together as well. Nothing more romantic than 40 McBrides stuffed onto a boat!!

Squeaky Clean!

So Peter was baptized on Saturday night. It was a good night. I am so proud of him!

And No Lindsey I did NOT cry...too terribly. Maybe on Par with a Hallmark Commercial...teared up a little bit. Not quite the weeping and sobbing of Titanic proportions.

People kept asking "Are you nervous? Are you feeling a little sad that your baby is getting baptized?" I wasnt. I knew he was making the right choice and he was excited for it. So I just told people, "Peter had a heart transplant. Anything after that is a piece of cake. Just ask me when he comes home 15 years from now and says 'Hey mom I met a woman and we are getting married.' I think I might freak out then a little. But baptism, I'm good!"

This is Finn getting ready to go to church for Peters big day. He wanted to go in costume as Batman. Obviously I said no, but let him wear the mask as he was getting dressed. I wonder if Christian Bale ever wears the mask as HE is getting all dolled up??

Charles and Peter Pre-baptism. Aren't they a pair of cuties? But then again, I am biased. Peter was looking all around the font, getting used to the idea and seemed to be really excited.

He greeted everyone who came, walking around in his little white jumpsuit. It was the cutest thing. He is a little short for an 8 year old, and the sallest jumpsuit they had was really long in the legs so it had to be rolled up SEVERAL times at the cuffs.

Peter and Finn. I cant tell who is more excited. Peter to get Baptized, or Finn to have his picture taken. A couple of natural born Hams.

Charles and Peter going into the font. So far So good. He started to get a little nervous. He is terrified of getting his head under water. But he really wanted to get baptized. So I know he must have been conflicted.

Peter about to get dunked. The reality of the situation set in and he realized he was going to have to go all the way under. It took 2 times, but he did it. It was a struggle to get him down the second time to make sure everything went under, but we got it done and he came up and out of the water all smiles and happy as could be.

Post Baptism we had refreshments and cake(of which I still have half left. So not good for my diet... It's a good one too.

So Congratulations Peter. I am very proud of you and the decision you made to get baptized and to become a member of the church!!

nothing worthwhile here...move along

I am feeling "BLECH" today. so my post will be short and sweet to tell you there is no post except to say "blech"

Peter is getting baptised tomorrow at church and I have just a million things to do today and am NOT feeling in the slightest motivated to get it done.
Isn't that terrible??