I introduced Finn to sippy cups when he first started to eat solids and when he was crawling around. He loved them and of course got the hang of them really quick. We used the sippy cups with the totally flexible and chewy nipples. However, he started to get “nipple confusion” and as a result I was getting really sore. So after enduring that for a while, I decided to try and not use sippy cups for a while. That totally worked! No more soreness. LOL I tried to give him the “big kid” sippy cups which are not chewy but hard plastic and don’t have the easy grip handles, which he would just have to suck on and not chew, (Finn loves to chew!) and thus he didn’t like those plus he couldn’t hold them because they were too big a round.

Anyways…I just gave him the “big kid” sippy cup today again for lunch and voila! He knows how to drink from it. What?! This kid is uber smart!!! I didn’t even show him how to use it since we gave up a few months back. LOL Just handed it to him and he was drinking. If everything is this easy then well, bring it on! LOL no just kidding for real don’t! i.e. potty training.

BTW Cookie decorating at church for Play Group was so fun. Finn and I enjoy going to Play Group. It’s been 3 weeks now.

T2MHF4: A super smart son.

Today was so special! Finn not only folded his arms to get ready to pray for breakfast (which he has been doing for 1-2 weeks now), but he folded his arms even after the prayer. It was like he was telling me, I missed something, forgot to be thankful, forgot to ask for someone to be blessed or something. So, we prayed 5 times for breakfast. It was awesome! It’s humbling to see how he learns things, how his little spirit knows what is right. Persistence also pays off even if sometimes he’s leaning over his chair before a prayer, we now know he is still learning it. We sometimes can’t believe it, such cute little chubby hands and arms. I sometimes peek at Clark and him while praying to see if Finn still has his arms folded. Melts my heart! To see both of them with their arms folded. What a great example Clark sets for our son. Sometimes Finn does have his arms folded and sometimes he doesn’t. Which is okay, so long as we keep doing it ourselves. He really does teach us to be better people too. I can’t say for Clark but honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever prayed this much in a day before and it feels great to do it. Highly recommended for the future. T2MHF4: Eyes which let me see Finn fold his little arms in prayer along side his Dad. It just brings me so much closer to my sweet family.

My favorite thing today was getting to bed on time. It really makes a difference! T2MHF4: The peaceful and quite times when we get to ponder and reflect on our blessings.

“Oh oh!” My new favorite thing that Finn has been saying. He just loves to say it and thinks it is very useful when something falls on the floor, gets taken by Plato or sometimes when he is going poopy. Lol. T2MHF4: My ears, so I can listen to my family’s wonderful voices, and fun sounds except for maybe Plato’s voice cause his bark is way too loud sometimes and wakes Finn up. Crazy that I used to think it was funny to make Plato bark.

Oh boy there is nothing better than when your body is all achy because you’ve just gotten the workout of your life. LOL Seriously I had the best workout at 5:20 am from the ASAP Boot Camp ladies, this morning. Note to self, don’t shovel snow 2 days before going to work out for the first time, you’ll look like huge weakling. It was also awesome to be able to experience it with my friends from the ward, who are so nice not to mention how clumsy I am and not laugh at me. It’s interesting waking up that early. 1 of my 2010 goals is to wake up at 6am but 5am is actually perfect for working out. T2MHF4: A “sound mind and [especially] body.” I really need to exercise more so I can keep up with my boys. Clark plays basketball to stay in great shape, so I need to workout too. Plus it makes me feel better about myself, even if it’s for just a few min. I was tiered all day, but didn’t regret the workout at all. (I am going to try and work out every M, W, F!)

Finn was playing by himself in the front room, while I was washing the dishes and I of course had to take a peek at him to make sure he was doing okay. He looked up at me from behind the mini-pool table and held up his toy to show me what he was playing with and smiled. It melted my heart! I smiled back and then went back to doing the dishes as my eyes got all watery. Then Clark, being the good BFF to Jonas that he is, was hanging out with him tonight, so he got home a little later than usual. We were whispering in bed and usually have the lights off when we’re whispering but tonight he said he wanted to leave the lights on because he hadn’t seen me all day and wanted to look at me as we whispered in bed. AWE!!!! So sweet, I love my husband! He always knows the right things to say. T2MHF4… These sweet and tender moments!

Today what made me happy was having the whole family together for Finn’s 1st Birthday celebration. Sure, it was chaotic and loud and Finn only wanted to be held by either Clark or myself cause of the amount of people in our house, but it was still awesome to have everyone together. Thenthe thing that made me sad was that I didn’t even take a picture of all of our family. Just a few pics. Seriously can I just install automatic cameras everywhere and the cameras just take random pics throughout the day and I can go through them to see if I like them at the end of each day. You know like the ones on roller coasters. LOL T2MHF4…cameras which allow me to capture the fun moments in life to remember them later, even if I forget to take pictures sometimes, I’m still glad I can when I do remember.

What made me happy today was reflecting on the past. Seems like just yesterday I was only dreaming of being a mom and hearing a voice call out for me as if they were really here. “Mom!” You know the way kids say it, like when they want/need something. Now I know I wasn’t going crazy…okay well maybe I was but I’m not. LOL Finn is 1 and I hear him call for me all the time. T2MHF4…the fact that I can’t even remember what contractions actually felt like or how miserable I was for the last 2 weeks of being prego. The only thing I can remember and which I am reminded of each day is how wonderful it is to be a Mom!

Finn’s learning to open and close the drawers. I figured after telling him so many times to close it that I hadn’t actually taught him how to do that. LOL So, I taught him and now he knows. He’s so darn cute! Learned it so quickly too. Finn smiled every time I cheered him for closing it.

I just love our little boy! Before bed we sometimes chase him around to wear him out a bit more and he thinks it’s so much fun. It makes us so happy to see that he’s smiling and laughing. We did this tonight and it made me so happy! Those are the moments I never want to forget. When we’re all laughing and smiling and makes me think of how blessed we are to have each other.

(This is my “one sentence” journal entry)