Super Moon

Friends, I'm feeling a little crazy today so I am posting some stuff out of order. Watch out! "Super moon" sounds like a pose Finn would strike while wearing his superman shirt, but actually it was the largest full moon of the year. In all honesty, to me it looked like a full moon that made the news. I couldn't tell the difference. But I'm certainly not going to pass up a chance to go sit on the beach and watch the moon come up. It was really pretty, but I enjoyed watching Finn and Lily frolic around just as much, if not more. I love how some of these pictures turned out, but why is it that the best pictures of Finn feature the worst clothing choices? I guess that's how it goes, for us anyway. In these, he's wearing a star wars shirt, shorts that are too small (and on backwards), and black underwear, which you can see through his shorts! 

he wasted no time running straight into the water 

and plopping right into the water

his "mischievous" face

my favorite. so happy together

that would be the stinky, dead horseshoe crab that he found and
drug up the beach to lay at our feet

a rare, contemplative moment

back to rolling in the sand

Sky on fire

This really has nothing to do with anyone or anything. Except, can you believe how beautiful it is? This was our sunset a month or so ago. Completely un-retouched photos . . . except for maybe that last one. But it still doesn't do it justice for seeing it in person. 

One more thing . . .

I completely glossed over this in another post, but after thinking about it, I've decided it needs it's very on post. See this dress that I'm wearing? Beautiful, right? Not necessarily me, but the dress! It has a back story and I'm going to share it. You wouldn't know it by looking at me now, but I used to love fashion, clothes, and especially shoes. Before Finn and Clarks took over my wardrobe, that is. When we were living in New Jersey, we used to stop at this outlet mall right outside of Manhattan. And let me tell you, you could find some amazing stuff. Anyway, we stopped by on our way to or home from the airport. I was really pregnant. The kind of pregnant where you start to waddle and look good in nothing but a tent. I saw this dress on the mannequin and fell in love. Not that I had anywhere to wear it or at that point, could barely fit my pinky toe in it . But I just loved it. It lasted all of 30 seconds before we moved on. I forgot about it. 

Then fast forward a few months, Finn has arrived and it's Christmas. I open my gift from Mark and there was THE dress. I'm pretty sure I started crying, from shock, and then the reality that I would likely never ever fit into it. I just couldn't get over how much thought and generosity went into that gift. I was able to wear it to a black tie function in New Jersey and then again most recently here in Charleston. It's a very special dress to me because it is so beautiful, but mainly because of who gave it to me.

The runway version of the dress

March Recap

March flew by too. I really don't remember it all, but here are a few highlights.

Finn and Declan at Charlestowne Landing (school field trip)
notice the bird about to make a surprise landing

It proved to be a tall order keeping up with all of these kids. Finn decided to go his own way and got lost for a split second. Thank goodness for tattletales . . . one of the girls ratted him out and he was forced to hold my hand the rest of the trip.

Daddy School (I LOVE this!) They do science experiments and such.
Not sure who enjoys it more, Mark or Finn

Beach Day!
The kids were out of school for a teacher workday, so we all reconvened at the beach (minus the teachers!)

Dental Drama

I really, really don't want to write this post. Because it still makes me a little queasy just thinking about it. But, I promised to share the good with the bad events in our life and this definitely falls into the latter category. Here is the reader's digest version: Finn began going to the dentist when he turned three (as recommended) and we have had no problems . . . until now. I started to notice a couple of dark spots on his teeth and thought it was food or something stuck in there and kept trying to floss it out. He didn't complain about it so I didn't worry about it. Until we went back to the dentist for our 6 month check up and low and behold he had TWO cavities!! I almost passed out. We were just at the dentist 6 months ago and nothing and now 2? The x-rays showed that they were pretty deep so they would need to be filled. Aughhh. I felt like a terrible mom. How could I let this happen? Anyway, enough of my pity party. 

We had scheduled one filling but before we made it to the appointment, he woke up screaming in the middle of this night because his tooth hurt. We had to bump up the appointment. Because he had to have what amounts to a baby root canal, he had to take Valium (?!?) before  and then they gave him laughing gas during. I was a nervous wreck. In all honesty, the dentist and hygienists were great . . . he even got to watch the movie Cars on the ceiling and wear headphones, so he was totally fine. He was so brave and I am so proud of what a big boy he was. I, on the other hand, was a hot mess.

Now, here comes the really bad part . . .because the cavity was so deep, they couldn't just fill it with composite like they would do to our teeth, because kids teeth are still really brittle. So, they had to cap it with . . . a metal tooth. SAY WHAT??. I wanted to snatch that drill write out of his hand and smack him with it. Have you seen my baby's smile? Megawatt for sure and now I will have to see the twinkle of a little metal tooth glaring back at me and be reminded of how I failed him. Ok, maybe I'm being a tad over dramatic, but it's his SMILE for goodness sakes. Fast forward, and my little love has two metal teeth. He could care less and sometimes refers to them as his superhero teeth. I'm not quite there yet. The dentist tried to reassure me that it happens and any kind of food can cause it, not just sweets. He said that daily flossing is the only way to make sure you get everything out. Have you ever tried to floss a 4 year olds' teeth? Not on my top ten lists for sure, but floss we do. Every Night! 

My brave little angel, with his laughing gas, watching Cars on the ceiling

And, to add insult to injury, Lily had to have an abscessed tooth pulled and part of her gum cut out where it had grown over her tooth from an old injury. Geez, this has not been our month where teeth are concerned. You can probably file this under TMI but this occupied a month out of our lives. Not fun. Moving on . . .  

February in a Nutshell

I don't really remember what happened during the month of February except the following two things: Valentine's Day and all of the paint peeling off of our newly painted ceiling. So I guess that means I don't have much to tell you about. My dad arrived on Valentine's day and spent the next month with us, helping us work on the house. I think it's safe to say that I hadn't spent that much time with my dad since I lived at home! We thoroughly enjoyed having him and hope we didn't work him too hard so that he will come back. Now if we can just get Scuba Steve to stop peeing in Finn's Legos! 

Finn's Valentine's that he took to school (the one and only 

Pinterest idea that I have actually completed)

All of the kids get to "mail" their Valentine's to their friends

Nothing says Valentine's Day like licking the icing off of a cupcake

Commence Sugar High

Me and my prince charming

He couldn't wait to get home and open his mail

So funny to watch him ooh and ahh over all of his treats

Me and my other Prince Charming before Charity Ball (a black tie event at MUSC that ironically enough, I used to have to work when I was an employee there)

This is our "sunroom/office" which had more of the lovely blue wallpaper that would not come off. We decided to put up bead board to match the rest of the house. This "weekend" project turned into a two week long project that seemed to never end. 

Their makeshift woodshop on the porch

Peek a boo, I see you! Lily despises the nail gun because it makes so much noise but also makes her so anxious that she couldn't leave our side. Her solution was to sit just on the other side of our tarp, with her little black nose poking underneath the drop cloth. So pitiful!

Wood is up on the walls. Much better than old wallpaper 

(and way better than me scraping off old wallpaper)

Beautifully painted, finished room . . .

Until this started happening . . . .

and this, until the ENTIRE ceiling cracked and peeled right off. 

Talk about devastation! We were sick to our stomachs. Which is why our weekend/2 week turned into a month long project. Ugh. Nothing else to do but scrape every inch of the ceiling and part of the walls and start again. My dad is a trooper and stuck with it and did the majority of the scraping. I couldn't stand it. Suffice to say, we got it scraped, sanded and repainted. Mark noted that now that room looks like the rest of the house: old. Not exactly the way we had hope to achieve this look. But, we survived and I will have to take an updated picture to prove it.

We did take a little time off to go to the Southeastern Wildlife Expo. Finn loved seeing the animals, but most of all, he loved the ridiculously tall bounce castles and slides. So much for an educational experience.

Finn and Big chill in the stage coach

 Three tired little puppies