gutting a goard

this evening, we finally got around to carving our pumpkin we got from the patch a couple weekends ago. finn's interest peaked only once he realized that the pumpkin could possibly be food and therefore he might want to be involved. in his festive skeleton pajamas, he gleefully crawled across the kitchen table while josh carefully dissected stem from base and loosened the innards. i propped him up on my arm to allow him the full glory of grabbing hold of the oozy pumpkin guts, but instead he cowered and looked at me with an expression that read, "seriously? you want me to get dirty?" after a few moments of urging and parent-pressure (which is totally more appropriate than peer-pressure), finn finally touched the goo for a quick moment, rubbed his hands on my scarf, and was done. it didn't end in him covered head to toe in pumpkin. just a quick touch. good enough for me.

leaves and cool weather

i took finn outside and not 3 seconds later there was a leaf in his mouth. we've hit that stage where everything on the ground should be tasted immediately. a few weeks ago, we were at borders and finn inserted a small piece of black rubber in his mouth. i was appalled because it was a clearly worn down piece of filth. little did i know, that was the beginning of a habit that consistently ends in me saying, "oh no, finn. that is not food." today alone, i have pried out a leaf, dog food, fuzz from the carpet, a used kleenex, an old concert ticket, and a piece of styrofoam that i am still unsure of the origin. i have a feeling that i will one day be that parent in the emergency room, with a child with a marble stuck up the nose and a few other marbles in the belly. there's never a dull moment in this house.

the great outdoors

with fear that any nice day could be the last, we are spending as much time outside as possible. finn is enjoying every moment. brody, however, often gives us the look. you know, the one that says, "can't you give me just a few minutes alone?" he is going to get so tired of this little man when the weather gets cold and we're all stuck inside together.

re: pumpkin pie and all things fall.

have we met? my name is katie and i bake pies. please note my request of tombstone inscription to say, "katie mcdowell: beloved wife, mother, and pie maker."

how to redeem yourself after lame birthday presents

at the pumpkin patch, i finally got my brother his re-birthday gift. in july, we were on vacation during his 29th and the joshes thought it would be a great idea to give him a skim board as a present. sure, i went along with it, but just recently realized how incredibly lame that was and how he was cheated out of an awesome gift. i mean, seriously, how often will jeff use a skim board in plymouth? so we gave him the best present ever. a snuggie in colts blue. can you imagine anything better? and they say "as-seen-on-tv" stuff is crap.

he's going to hate me later.

most mothers wait to show naked baby pictures to prospective girlfriends/wives 15-25 years after they are taken. not this mom. i choose to put photos on the internet, where they will eternally haunt my sweet baby finn.

music to my ears

the little boy in our house has become the very loud little boy in an instant. after 5 minutes of this screaming, josh thought, "maybe i should grab the camera." it continued for 5 minutes and now i think this will be a regular occurrence until he learns to talk. finn has become a yeller.


gffffffffg

/]o-m\n;]-=-0;/ (read "hi" from finn)

pumpkin pie and all things fall.

fall is here. i am in love. i absolutely love the colors, the crispness of the air, wearing scarves, and the fun adventures. finn, josh, and i went to the pumpkin patch with jeff, alyssa, and macy yesterday. we took a hayride out to the field to pick the perfect pumpkin. the weather was fantastic and the kids were nearly perfect in spite of missing their nap. oh perfection.

at stoneycreek farms, you have to buy tickets in order to the do the different rides and games. they didn't have a corn maze (sorry #23) so we bought tickets to do the straw maze and have finn ride on the pumpkin train. they said it was for kids 10 and under, so we thought finn would have so much fun. first, the straw maze just wasn't for us. we couldn't take the stroller through and finn wanted to just crawl around in the mud. then, the pumpkin train, or should i call it the metal cage of death. i thought it would have nice seats and little seat belts for the little ones. hmph. instead it was a metal barrel with a wood block seat. no child of mine at the tiny age of 10 months was going to survive in that. so, instead of using our 7 tickets, we used 2 and some lucky kid got to enjoy the remaining 5 on a jumpy haunted house (no adults allowed).





also of note: i have a fondness for autumnal colors and love this period of time where the world just looks like it is on fire. it is beyond amazing. however, this new house with its ugly trees keep me from experiencing that joy. the leaves in front are falling, but they are still a vibrant green. come on, turn already.

go go gadget legs

finn started walking behind his little cart. one day, he wants nothing to do with it and the next those chubby little legs are moving. enjoy the sappy inspirational short video. thanks u2, for creating this song solely to express the immense power of a baby's first steps.

hamper time.

the warmth of clean clothes right from the dryer almost makes me want to climb into the hamper too! cute, but not very fun to find brody hairs all over everything.

feast

finn just finished his lunch of peas, tortilla, corncake, pulled pork, and avocado. it now takes us so much longer than it had, because he wants nothing to do with a spoon* or me feeding him. so, instead of giving him a container of baby food, i have to prepare food. i don't know if he is aware of this, but he was born to a mother who knows how to order out and occasionally make pasta. i'm certainly trying this cooking (and cleaning) thing, but it is all very unnatural to me.

*trying to get him used to using utensils, i put one on the tray next to his food. he threw it on the ground two seconds after this photo was taken.

caught

someone has been feeding someone else his leftovers when their mother turns her back. i guess finn doesn't like peas as much as we thought.

unexpected gifts

today, i came home to not one, but two packages in the mail. these weren't your run-of-the-mill i-ordered-something-yesterday packages. these were unexpected someone-must-love-me, christmas-morning-style packages. the kind that make you giddy to open and discover what is inside. the sheer joy of tearing into the first box was intense. inside was a free sigg bottle from the company, because apparently there was some type of security breach. so, i get a free sigg in place of the tiniest possibility that my address was leaked. seems like a good deal.

the second package seemed even more exciting. instead of being in a plain cardboard box, it was in a pretty purple and yellow box with swirls and girly details. this had to be good. who would send me such a fantastic box with something equally fantastic inside? *pause for suspense building* cvs. seriously. are you kidding me. inside were kotex tampons and the largest sanitary pad that i have ever seen in my entire life. for those of you who have had a child realize that to top the size of the pads in the hospital, it must be ginormous. it is! all i could think was why hadn't i opened this one first?

number twenty two

we went to the indianapolis colts game on sunday when they played (or demolished) the seattle seahawks. it was josh vanvactor's birthday celebration, so the entire family, minus babies, packed themselves up and went to cheer on our favorite team. we had great seats, but i was as terrified as i was excited. there was a barely hip level piece of glass separating me from uncertain death. i nearly peed myself trying to get to my seat, as i had to climb over about 7 men to get to it. we all survived. no one plummetted the 30 feet down onto fellow colts fans/cement. it was a good day. go colts.

number seven

the powder room downstairs is finally complete. from the moment we moved in, i hated how ugly the vanity was. we immediately found out that it was also disgustingly dirty. so, naturally, instead of cleaning it, we redid the bathroom. the vanity and sconces are from menards, lighting from lowes, and mirror from pottery barn. the wallpaper...oh the wallpaper! it is amazing. it is a textured fake tile that you paint over. i saw it in potbelly's and was on the search soon after to find the exact paper. found it at lowe's! if you ask my grandma, "that wallpaper is...interesting!" i think she doesn't like it but i'm in love!

good things come in pairs!

wednesday, i had such a great day due to two fantastic things. you may be thinking, "josh and finn," but you are wrong. it was a new book that i received a day early from amazon and spaghetti squash. charley harper: an illustrated life is this great coffee table book that i had seen on another blog that i knew i would like. but seriously, i love it. i had never heard of him before, and his style is so similar to what josh and i love. we are going to cut out some of the pictures and frame them. cheap art. love! oh, and the spaghetti squash. finn and i are addicts. josh not so much. yum!