Finn Lyles: International Man of Mystery

Who says only girls play dress-up? Finn proves that manly men can also have a box of costumes. Because you just never know when you might need a clever disguise so mom won't know it's you going for another pack of M&M's.

Cowboy Up

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's superfinn

Ah, Inspector Clouseau is on the case and ready to solve another mystery

Fireman Finn to the rescue

Minor Victories

Last night was a BIG night for us. Finn successfully undressed himself (at the appropriate time, mind you) and put his clothes in the laundry basket before his bath. Usually, I have to peel his clothes off piece by piece, with him fighting me the entire time. But last night he did it all by himself and I only had to tell him once. I wish you could have seen his face. He was so proud of himself. He came running into the bathroom in nothing but his diaper--grinning and clapping. He wanted me to come see the laundry basket and then I had to clap and cheer for him. Laugh if you want to---but I was genuinely excited for him (and for me). Funny how now this is all it takes for me to feel like a successful mom, which is so different than the things that used to make me feel successful. Somehow, they just don't seem quite as important.

Future Olympian

In the spirit of the Olympic games, Finn decided to test his prowess in a winter sport to see if there might be a place for him on a future Olympic team. And I think we have a winner--assuming that bucket ice skating is a sport, Finn should be guaranteed a place on the 2022 team.

Finn is testing/tasting the ice

In all honesty, I'm not the best person to take Finn ice skating.

And he's probably too young to ice skate--but we compromised.

And out came the bucket. He would sit, while I pushed him around the ice.

He's either cold, or just finished a lap around the ice in record time.

The only downside to our trip---wet pants!

One of the Boys

While in Sumter, we visited the Stokes quiet a bit. Finn loves being with his cousins. On this particular night, Luke was having a sleepover with his friends. It was so funny watching Finn jump right in like he was one of the boys--2 going on 10.

Which one of these is not like the others?

Shhh, don't tell that to Finn

Snowcation in Sumter

In order to escape the blizzards that hit DC, we headed south to Sumter for some warm R&R with the Lyles. I know my limits as a mom, and it is being housebound for an extended period of time with a 2-year old. Although we had to extend our trip due to another snowstorm that hit the DC area, we had a blast visiting with family and hopefully didn't wear out their welcome mat. Finn especially loved spending time with his cousins--playing trucks, jumping on the trampoline, stealing their candy, going to the zoo and much more. Mimi and Bop took such good care of us and Finn can't wait to go back and help them decorate their new house!

I have to admit that I felt like I was on vacation too. Getting home cooked meals and free babysitters . . . plus 4 extra hands to help with Finn. It was like a dream. I was able to get away and meet my dear friends Valerie and Brian for dinner, go to Charleston for the day and just run errands by myself. So thank you to everyone for helping out and taking care of us. We are so very thankful for you.

And just so we wouldn't feel left out, it snowed the day before we left.

Wide open spaces

Finn and his Bop Bop

Poor Foster--she doesn't know what is about to hit her

Or who is about to hit her. She's such a trooper

A very motley crew

Finn loved jumping on the trampoline

Pure joy

Getting tickled by Luke

At the Columbia zoo with MD

Who's hungry?

Finn wanted to play patty-cake with the gorilla

"Helping" Bop replace batteries

To win the race on this course, the cars had to get past Foster

Making Valentine's with Mimi-

actually Mimi is making the cards and Finn appears to be picking his nose

Trying to catch snowflakes in his mouth

Still trying to catch snowflakes in his mouth

On a mission to taunt the neighbors' dogs

"But I don't wanna get in the car for 8 hours!!"

The only way to get a group shot is to bribe Finn with candy

Giving Mimi a goodbye kiss

Loving on Bop Bop

Snow Part 2

As promised, more pictures of our ginormous snowfall, that Finn and I happened to miss! Oh, but don't worry, we just got back to DC tonight and there is still plenty of snow left for us to enjoy.

Those "lumps" in the distance? Cars

Lucky us . . . we have the best neighbors. Mark walked home from work

one day to a snow-less walkway!!

Snowed Out!!!

Which is a lot better than being snowed in!! Especially with an active 2-year old. Finn and I didn't take any chances and last Thursday we drove down to Sumter, SC to visit the Lyles and escape the blizzard that was headed straight towards DC. Thank goodness we did. According to Mark (who was left behind) and the rest of the meteorologists, DC took a snow beating. We are very fortunate that we have family willing to take us in for such an extended period. We were supposed to leave today to go back but yet another storm is headed for DC, which means we are snowed out!

Finn has thoroughly enjoyed being "pampered," dare I say spoiled, by his cousins, aunts, uncle and Mimi and Bop. And I have enjoyed the extra hands and time off. Mark is back in DC and sent these pictures from the front lines . . . while I do feel sorry for him, I am so happy that we aren't there. This is what we have to look forward to later this week.

Thanks to the Sumter crew for putting up with us!

Looking out at our front patio.

Our house is the yellow one on the right

The roads are a complete mess

I'm posting this so you can feel extra sorry for Mark . . .

this is the street in front of his office.

I'm sure we will be posting our own eyewitness accounts once we make it back to DC. But for now, we are enjoying ourselves down south.