House Closing Today!

Today we closed on our house at 1.5% interest rate lower than when we bought the house five years ago! Mommy and Daddy were very happy with this new rate and payment!

Maggie is a good dog!

This was our weekend to cook for church. We had tested and decided on "Ninja Sauce, red potato & asparagus, french garlic bread and a dessert of Angel food cake with fresh strawberries and also, lemon bars. For this particular event, we cook for about thirty people. SO, you can imagine the moving food from our home to the church. It requires lists, *MY* cooking tools, crates of food and SOME items I cook ahead of time as there is a time the food is to be served!

We had the list, the signs for the food, the serving dishes, the crates of food ready to be prepared as well as the food that was made earlier in the morning.

But, being a parent, you should expect GLITCHES. Usually, I am pretty good about expectations for these glitches and systems around the glitches... but this one... I didn't expect. Dan was at the stove finishing some Italian sausage for the meal and I was pulling a comb through my hair. Phin was laying in his crib, in only a diaper (he has been freshly showered) rolling around and playing.

All of a sudden, I hear blood curdling screaming from my baby. This is QUITE unusual so I walk into his room and find his chubby little leg stuck in between the slats of the crib. I tried to work his leg out, but his fat rolls and bare skin weren't helping the situation. Phin was, obviously, quite upset and I was unable to help him so I yelled to the kitchen to get help from Daddy. Dan came but he was also unable to get the leg out. I ran to the kitchen and got some spray olive oil and sprayed his leg up and out it slipped.

I think that was the worst thing that ever happened to that little boy and he was quite inconsolable. We didn't expect this leg thing - and it put us behind on the clock... so as we tried to rush everything to the car to make it to church on time, one soldier got left behind. That soldier was - the lemon bars - which I got left on the kitchen floor. (they had been lined up with the crates of food going to the car but since they were cold and food was hot and the crates were full, they were in line on the floor waiting to go to the car.) I thought Dan had them, he thought I had them and once we realized what happened, we were a round trip - 1 hour from home and we had to mourn the loss of the lemon bars. We both understood that Maggie would certainly have eaten them - or at least destroyed them with her face or feet or something. I mean, Montana had once dug through Mary Ann's luggage from London to pull out a HUGE special dark chocolate bar of which she devoured most of it. Who's to think Maggie would leave these lemon bars alone?



But for whatever reason, she did not touch the lemon bars at all! My guess is she was sleeping on our bed - on MY pillow (which is one of her favorite things).

Phin's Cheer-I-O-s

Additionally, this was Phin's first try at the Cheerios. I decided that he needs to be able to start working on self feeding. He hasn't has a chance to put food in his own mouth lately - besides a rogue bottle here and there. The Pediatrician said he should not have fruit until he's able to pick it up and eat it himself. SO, before apples (that's a joke) comes a cheerio!











Feeding by Daddy, video by Mommy!

Drinkin'

Phin's Big Day

This is a picture of Phin and Mommy!
Phin had a good morning hanging with Daddy while Mommy went out to hunt (deals) and gather (produce) at the local supermarket!


Mid-day, Phin wrapped himself up in his play pad! We love our silly boy!


In the evening, Mommy gave Phin his first "Trainer cup." He knew what to do with it straight away! Phin sipped while reclining on Daddy!

It was rainy outside

So, Mommy sewed while Phin slept!

Phin's Din

Grandma Allen fed Phin his squash!

Ya, so I used to groom dogs...

and I thought, it can't be THAT much harder to cut boy hair. Right?
So, I watched Dan get his last haircut and then last night while Grandmother Allen played with Phin, Mommy went after Daddy's hairs like he was a naughty little Mini Schnauzer. For the first time ever, it went okay. I am sure it'll take less time and less mirror checks by daddy in the future. I tell you, it's a BLAST being a member of this family. Phin gets fish oil squeezed into his mouth (via a dropper) daily and now, daddy get's "home haircuts"! Woohoo!

Sunday Night Family Fun!

Spring!

Phin wanted to TOUCH the flower...

He did not, however, want to be photographed WITH the flowers.

FINISHED!

Goodbye Flowers

Phin is walking in his tot walker (as shown in pictures below). Phin is now good at walking TOWARDS things he wants to check out and THEN "playing" with what he's walked up to. Mama needs an extra set of eyes in the back of her heads!

Phin says HI!

Manatee from The Greats!

Great Grandma & Grandpa brought back some toys for Phin from Florida. So far, I have only given Phin access to one - the Manatee. Phin likes to play with it in his tot walker. As you can see, he kinda loves the Manatee...

Creative Problem Solving?

Phin has a bad habit - of scratching the all get out of his head. I know he has some dry skin and I am sure it itches, but that is no reason for him to be drawing blood on himself. Most of the time I have him wear a hat (and yes, I also oil his head often) but lately, he has found that he's able to take that hat off himself.
So, my first idea was to construct for him mittens that He is unable to take off. However, I was unsure of how to make said mitten without a pattern.
SO, what is the next best thing?
I thought back to my honorary degree in Occupational Therapy.
The answer?
"Mommy, why did I have SOCKS on my hands in this picture?"
For good reason son!
LeaAnn would be SO PROUD!

Weekend at the farm

Uncle David was working...


While Grandma Susie was playing with Phin!

(this is Phin's first time to swing outside)


And after it got too dark and cold, everyone came inside and Phin spent some time with Uncle.


On a side note, Uncle Dave has constructed for us an outdoor (bench) swing where I can swing with Phin all spring and summer long. We will get it in around a month - and we are very excited for April 15th to get here!

Phin's first trip to the violin shop!

While I was pregnant with Phin, I was getting (exercise induced) asthma when I would try to make my way onto campus for my violin lessons. I had to then stop the lessons because of my inability to breathe. THEN, I had a new born and I didn't have the time to practice. Now, Phin is seven months old and I am ready to pick up my instrument again - but it's seriously out of tune. It's so seriously out of tune, I am afraid to try to do it myself.
SO, on our way to the farm, we stopped at the violin shop and they tuned my violin for me! It was Phin's first time to visit the violin shop. Hopefully, in a few years, we will be returning - to find a nice little (1/4) rental for him to play too! :)

So, what do you think?

This was not the original plan for my elephants.
They were made for Phin's nursery. Some will still end up in his nursery, but - well, you know how "things happen."

So, I painted this - oh, five years ago. I have never been happy with it - as I believe it's MISSING that little something. That something I can't figure out what it is!



I have thought of throwing it out. I have put it up and taken it down from my walls. Then, this elephant project... and it made me wonder......


Does it look awesome or stupid? I can't decide.
Either way, the elephants are a process and they will be used. I am just not sure if this is the avenue for the elephants. What say you?

Look what I am making!

I'll give more details later...

Happy Baby

This picture is part of the "Faces of Ethan" - but it was also my favorite picture in the series. This is it - in color!

Faces of Phin:

Phin's rocking and learning (hopefully)

Okay, I am NOT trying to be one of those pushy parents. However, it seems my little boys really LOVES to watch TV. I am sure I have touched on this topic before - if not on the blog, then certainly in person. I have done research and it states that children should not watch tv before they are 2yrs old. Further research suggests that more so, parents shouldn't use the tv in lieu of personal one on one attention with their child. Additionally, at age one, a child can understand the EMOTIONAL aspect of programming - so while they don't completely understand the show in full, they can glean the emotion out of the program - which is why we don't let our children watch adult programing. (I don't know if I have explained that well, but it makes sense to me.)
So, it's basically impossible to keep his little eyes off of the tv - especially when he's not in our arms all of the time anymore. SO, I though on the situation and tried to find a good solution. I think my solution was a good one. It was:
iKNOW Animals, Letters & Sounds (DVD series.) It teaches letters, sounds and animals of the rain forest. The series is actually made for pre-schoolers - which Phin is currently NOT a preschooler. Nor is my intention to make his a super early reader - or whatever. What I AM trying to do is make a healthy alternative for something he's doing that *I* don't find OK. So, he wants to stare at the TV? Well, okay. It's gonna be the Rain forest animals then. Hey, I have learned some interesting things too - like a taper has four toes in the front feet and three toes on the back feet. I can also pick out an agouti from a picture lineup. Trust me, it's party time here at the Hyphin House! Woo Hoo!

Check out our involved he can get in the video (though, it's not for very long in one sitting). (He is standing in his exer-saucer, staring at the tv).

Baby at sleep!

I heart the little dino on his jammies!

Phin's First Orchid Show

I got a flier from the Orchid Society - stating that this weekend was the Orchid Show.
While I was pregnant with Phin, I had to give up my orchid hobby (as we needed a room for a nursery). It worked out well though, I donated the orchids to my Orchid Society - and they were divided between knowledgeable orchid enthusiasts - where I knew the orchids would continue to grow in wonderful environments and be safe.
Well, while I can't keep any orchids in the house anymore, I did think it would be alright to take Phin to his First Orchid Show yesterday.

I got myself and Phin dressed and we snapped a couple of shots before we left for the Garden Center. The orchid society could NOT have picked a better weekend. As it turned out, I was dressed too warm for the event! Phin slept through the whole thing - which was fine. He IS a little boy...

SEVEN

I love Tivo. With tivo, you tell the little box what things you want it to record and it just does it. I don't have to look up channels, times, days... tivo takes care of everything. When I am watching something on tivo, I can just fast forward through the advertisements and go right on to the rest of the program - saving time and my sanity! If I miss something on tivo, all I have to do is rewind and catch up. If I need to leave the room, I can put it on pause (for up to thirty minutes) and then it will start playing again on it's own. Sometimes I forget that tivo is just for the TV. When I am in the car listening to the radio and miss a date or place on an add and want to hit the rewind button on the tivo - but oh, this is radio so I can't.

I WISH tivo was a part of every day life. If it was, I would rewind for the last thirty minutes (maybe 'days' in tivo land) and then push the pause button. As it turns out, Phin is seven SEVEN months old and I just want to yell "STOP"! I need some catch up time!

Phin is doing cyclone rolling throughout the house. Phin is trying to crawl and is mimicking walking in his tot-rider. Phin is rolling here and there to move toward what he wants and away from what he doesn't. Phin knows that when we are in the car, it's "his time" to talk in long rambling sentences/(baby babble). He knows that when food on a spoon is headed toward his mouth, all he has to do is purse his lips together to keep said food out. All of these things are happening too quickly and I just need things to slow down a bit.

Phin is now teething as well. The teeth are not yet coming through, but he's in pain and he's chewing the all get out of my fingers, his fingers, his toys etc.

The fact that he's moving and rolling and playing and even teething - these are all GREAT THINGS. These things are happening as God intended. These things are the natural progression of growth and development and for that, I am grateful. I just, want to hold him in my arms when it's his nap time and bed time - because I know soon enough (too soon for me) Phin will be off on his own two feet and my baby will be a boy.

I guess I have just never had an opportunity to feel joy for progress and pain for the loss of dependence on me - all at the same time. This is the point when I have to suck it up and look towards the smile in my heart and say "grow Phin grow!"

Tummy Surfing

All bets are off!

Phin was on his blanket with toys all around.
I was sitting at the mac in front of the coffee table.
... and I hear this... crinkling.
THAT was the moment that I understood that everything had changed.


I felt a BUMP at my foot and looked down and saw THIS.







I guess he's interested in learning about computers - like his daddy (this is the mac cord that he pulled out of the computer.)



Baby proofing will be finished TONIGHT!

Phin's shorts set

I usually go to the discount outlet and buy things on clearance with coupons for Phin's clothing. The other stuff, I try to make for him. My plan is to try to make him shorts for summer because, really, how hard can shorts be?
The last time we went to the outlet mall, I did "splurge" and buy him something that was not on clearance - and instead only on "discount."
It was this shorts outfit and it WON because - - - you guessed it! The elephant on the front!

So, today it was over seventy degrees outside and Phin wore his shorts. The biggest reason is because Phin needs to be making vitamin D. Phin needs approx 20 min. of sunlight to make that vitamin D. So, instead of his wearing fleece footed jammies, we put on those cute shorts and T-shirt and went outside!

So, I took Phin's exer-saucer outside and grabbed Maggie's tennis ball thrower and Phin and I went outside to play. Phin was very excited about watching Maggie run away and come back again. As you can see below - I am unable to get his attention for the picture because he's watching Maggie.








After a bit of time outside (we didn't spend the whole twenty - I believe he has to "work up to it" as he seems to have my fair skin tone) we came in and he played on the floor. :)

Good Morning!

Mama is sick - again!

One of the only things that seems to help is a big hot drink - to help clear up my nose and throat. Here's to you Starbucks!

Baby Gate - Installed!

Phin is a cyclone.
I had ordered the baby gate online and was just waiting for it to appear.
In the meantime, Phin started rolling and rolling - making his way over to the staircase (never out of my view though) and I would move him back away to a safer region of the house.
Well, the gate is here and installed. It's actually really great! It has a remote control so when I have my hands full of baby and bags and STUFF, I can hit the button and it opens up for me to pass though. You do have to manually swing it closed again - but the ease of not having to jack with the child-proof opening has been HEAVEN!

This is just a picture of Phin - playing with Daddy's feet - off of his blanket where he was put down...

Happy Baby

We have a happy boy and there was no particular reason for this picture...
It was no new thing he is doing today.
He was just sitting happily in his highchair (which is a big deal - enter carrots) and I snapped the picture.