It’s finally time for solid food! Noah’s first lunch of rice cereal and smushy bananas. He seemed to like it… eventually.

Noah’s First Food Adventure from Chantelle Finley on Vimeo.

I hate naming items I list in the Sixth & Elm Etsy shop, so I sometimes ask for help from my friends. I really should know better by now.

Tonight I asked for help from my friend Colin in naming this box with the image of a Spencerian Peacock I burned on it. I got the following suggestions in reply:

“The End Boards”
“Circle Gets the Cube”
“Sphere Gets the Cube”
“Jo Jo and the Giant Moose”
“Mo Jo and the Gigantic Goose”
“Chin Strap Chafing”
“Cupboard Pirates”

and my favorite… “Perforated Coffee”

Note: The image I burned on the box above came from my new favorite source for vintage graphics, The Graphics Fairy. You gotta check it out – a goldmine I tell you.

Parenting is full of revelations, so I expect there will be more confessions to come in later posts.

1. My Mom was right. About ALL of it. Damn.
2. Being vomited on is no longer enough of a reason to change my shirt.
3. I’ve dirtied a dish just to put it in the dishwasher so I wouldn’t feel guilty about running a completely empty dishwasher just to lull Noah to sleep.
4. I tried baby formula to see what it tastes like. It tastes like barf.
5. Going pee now counts as my “me time.”
6. I once ran the vacuum for twenty minutes to soothe Noah before I realized I could have actually vacuumed the floor during that time. By then he was asleep, so I didn’t bother.
7. I count doing laundry as exercise. Well, it should be; there’s so damn much of it now.
8. Sometimes I forget to turn off the transmitter end of the monitor in our room once Noah  starts crying during the night and I don’t feel as bad about it as I should.  I know that it would wake up Adam while I tried to calm Noah down, but if I’m up, he can be too.
9. The cat once licked his head for twenty minutes and I counted that as his bath for the day.
10. If I have to use the bathroom while I am out with Noah in a carrier and have no where to put him, I have to pee while he is still in his carrier strapped to my chest. Instead of feeling weird about this, I feel kinda proud that I can manage it.
11. When talking to Noah all day I use the word “Mommy” a lot in the hope that I’ll win the “What Word Will He Say First” contest.
12. Mini Wheats is classified as complex dinner preparation these days because you have to add the milk.

Via, Found by Adam

“Try Me” on what?

With no side of ham in the near vicinity, perhaps we are supposed to try it on ourselves?

Noah has a bit of a cold, so I asked Adam to pick up some Saline solution so I could clear is nose and help clear up his congestion. I asked him to get unmedicated drops since you aren’t supposed to use cold remedies on babies and a mist wouldn’t help wash out the gook. I wanted to make sure he got something suitable for use on small babies, but didn’t realize I may have told him the specifics a couple times too many until he returned home.

Me: “Did you get them?”

Adam: “Yup.”

Me: “Did you get the right kind? The ones for ba —”

Adam: “Saline rinse, drop form, unmedicated, mild solution,  recommended for occasional nasal congestion. And there’s a picture of a baby on it.”

Me: “Oh. Well, good.”

see more Epic Fails

I’ve started this post about 12 times, but I’m finding it hard to describe what’s going on using regular words. I need better words. I thought about making up my own words, but then someone pointed out that ALL words are made up words and I was so busy thinking about that idea that I forgot that I was supposed to be writing about the thing I didn’t have words for in the first place. But it’s a good story with a happy ending, so I’ll try to tell it with my inadequate vocabulary nonetheless.

On Monday, October 19th, I was 35 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and after a difficult pregnancy and over a month of bed rest I was ready for the pregnancy to be over. Apparently, so was Junior. Exactly half an hour after I had made up the crib as the finishing touch on his nursery I felt my water break. Of course. I should have known he’d be early; he’s a Finley. (more…)

Adam and I attended Mark and Kellie Goodman’s wedding a few weeks ago and I heard one of the greatest wedding tributes ever, spoken by best man Kory Peters:

You two are like two pieces of 8-nubbed Lego; you fit together perfectly and now that you’re together, nothing but a butter-knife can get you apart again.

Check here for Adam’s pictures of the big day.