10.29.2006

more pumpkins...


this picture was taken back in september...

finn is now seven and a half months old!! i can hardly believe how fast time goes... right now he is in his bed crying because he doesn't want to nap. if he wakes up in the middle of his nap, he has a hard time falling back asleep. he is kind of in the transition stage of three naps down to two...

this last friday we all put on our red and gathered around the television to watch game 5 of the world series. it was almost unreal as the game unfolded... and the cardinals took it!! unbelievable! and little david eckstein took home the mvp award, i was glad, go little people....

justin and i are anxiously awaiting the end of november!! we have family coming out for thanksgiving, and couldn't be happier about it! we miss them all so much, and it will be nice to have some company.

rudy got bit or stung by something yesterday, as her cheek was all swollen. justin said it looked like she had some "chew" in her lip! whatever it was, it is better now... it was pretty funny though. rudy likes having finn around, especially now that he is eating things like cheerios... she loves to clean up after him, and it saves me from having to sweep!

and that's all she wrote.

10.16.2006

pumpkins pumpkins everywhere





well. i really wanted to go a pumpkin patch this year. but in an attempt to save money, we just went to HyVee to pick (out) our pumpkins. they had pumpkins all stacked on hay, and corn stalks... so it seemed festive enough.
i was watching the today show last week, and martha stewart was a guest. she talked all about pumpkin carving. so after watching this, i felt like an expert. i picked up her latest addition of "Living" and had all the confidence in the world that i could carve a pumpkin as well as martha. she had this one pumpkin, where the outside of the pumpkin was scraped off with a design of a black cat on it... this was my intent. (you can see this pumpkin on her web page). but by the time justin was done carving his pumpkin, i had barely started! so i got frustrated and ended up with the fleshless faced pumpkin. which is still cool, but not martha stewart cool.

oh well. finn liked 'em!

10.14.2006

I love those Cardinals


Finn wishes he was watching his Cardinals with all his Uncles yelling and screaming with each whiff of Rolen's bat.

10.02.2006

Back from Tennessee


Grandma and Grandpa Hupp


Eating out on the deck!!


Our trip to Tennessee was interesting. It has taken me almost a week to process it. Check it out...
We left Thursday the 21st. Our plane was scheduled to take off at 7AM. I had planned to wake up at 5 to make sure everything was ready for us to leave at 6. Finn, for the first time in like two months, decided 3AM was a good time to wake up. So he did. And so I did. Needless to say we had plenty of time to get ready. We made it through the security line (i asked a complete stranger to hold Finn while I folded up the stroller to put it through the xray thing) with only having two things thrown out, some hand sanitizer and some face cream for Finn's eczema. The flight from Omaha to O'Hare was great. Finn slept in my arms most of the time. We got there, I found my gate, and decided to walk around as the floght didn't take off until 11:30, over 3 hours later. So we took to walking, had a bite here, changed a diaper there... and at 11 I decided it would be best to get back to the gate and just hang out. 11:30 came, and the little flight attendent lady says over the intercom, "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but flight 1425 (my flight) has been delayed until 11:45." Around 11:35 Finn pooped. I thought, "O man there isn't enough time to run to the bathroom..." so I just announced to everyone near me, I was sorry, but I had to change my kid, right there on the floor. (Of course I laid him on my jacket). There were like ten moms on my flight headed to the MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) on my flight, and they were just laughing... THe lady again, "Once again, I am sorry for the inconvenience but flight 1425 has been delayed until 12 PM." okay. Finn pooped AGAIN. This time I had time to run to the bathroom. So I did. After this change I was down to ONE diaper and TWO wipes. So I get back and the flight had been further delayed until 12:15. So I layed Finn on my coat and let him roll around on the floor expecting preboarding to start anytime... Nope. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but flight 1425 has been CANCELLED. Please get in line at the counter for us to redirect your flight." WHAT, CANCELLED?? everyone gets up in a hurry and into line... Here I am with Finn on the floor, a super heavy diaper bag, a stroller and my jacket... I struggle, while all the moms are hopping into line... and I am next to last, with at least 50 other people (WITHOUT CHILDREN) are getting their flights redirected before mine, which means they are all going to get to TN before me. The tears start to spring up. Could it be... I could be stuck at O'Hare all night, with one diaper and two bottles of formula left... Finn will starve... I always go into worst case scenario mode.... so here I am in concourse G hallway, crying... pity party. I call Justin, he talks to his boss Wanda (a traveler extraordinaire) who calls american airlines and gets my flight redirected over the phone before i even get to the ticket counter. i get it all worked out, but am still crying.. once i start i can't stop. my new flight leaves at 3:45, goes to charlotte NC, then to Nashville TN, and I get in after 8 in the evening (as opposed to my original time of 1:50 PM!) So i call my stepdad ken, who has been at the nashville airport since around 10AM. Sorry ken... lucky he had his little movie mp3 thing with him... So i am crying walking down the hall trying to find my way around o'Hare to my new gate... in a totally different terminal, and I get stopped by a MOPS mother who feels sorry for me and wants to help. then an American Airlines lady stops and wants to help. I explain no one can really help and if I have to I will just flag someone down who is carrying a diaper bag and ask them to have a diaper... or buy one from them... so they realize i am just emotional and give me a phone number to call if i need help. So i duck into a bathroom to see the sad state of my makeup... and decide it best to put on my sunglasses. so i did. and it made me feel better... something to hide behind. so another three hours of walking around, feeding... the time comes to board and i was STANDBY. are you kidding!?!?! luckily i got on.... off to charlotte. when i got there, i had 15 minutes to rush to the bathroom (finn pooped on the plane AGAIN) using the last diaper. We finally made it to nashville and so did our luggage!!! now that is amazing..... We drove two hours to my parents house. And went to bed.

the time there was great. I helped mom decorate a bit, got to see all around their house, and even went to the biggest outlet mall i have ever been to. it was great. and the trip home went without a hitch too.

lesson learned : when traveling with children take as many diapers and as much food as your bag can possibly carry. and try to take another adult with you to help.