The one thing you may not already know

My first day back from baby leave, my boss laid me off. He cited finacial burdens and a desire to replace myself and his secretary with one person to do it all for less money.

To say the least I was floored. I wave of emotions washed over me. Most of all I was angry for how he handled it and for dedicating so much of myself to the sucess of his office. But I'm over it now and am contracting for the short term and am scouting for another gig. Maybe I'll switch gears. Less legal and more technical application of software and document management. All depends on what's out there for me.

Update

Boy how soon we forget. New babies are tough. Add a three year old who is always wanting to "do something" and lack of sleep and bip, bop your ass gets kicked every day. We have the tools to make it work (most of the time) but Jinnah and I are both short on patience and big on stress.

Finn suprises me everyday with his big brother skills. When ever he checks out Mathilde he says, "She's sooo doot." or "She's sooo a-door-bull."

We are pretty sure Mathilde is going to keep her sparkly blue eyes. Wow.

Baby Mathilde is here!

The C-section was scheduled for noon on Monday, but Mathilde couldn't wait. Jinnah's water broke at 2 a.m. and Mathilde Isobel McFadden was born at 4:41 a.m.. She weighed 8 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 inches long. Check her out.

The stork is on his way

Well just six more day until baby Mathilde gets here. We can't wait to meet her. Jinnah's doctor said that Mathilde is still pretty high and the likelyhood of her going into labor befoer the scheduled-C is unlikely. That is good becasue neither of us are prepared for that. Last time around we had a doula and a birth plan. This time all we have is an appointment.

Bike to Work Week

May 14 - 18 is Bike to Work Week. I did not even know this until today and I've been riding my bike to work religiously for the last few weeks. My commute is so great. I have to say thought that the earlier I go the more I enjoy it becasue it is so much quieter, there are less cars and it's nice to see the city before panic sets in.

Chicken cops break up fight

From the "Who ever dies with the most toys wins" department

Aston Martin Lagonda (for kids?)

Good girl names

Long time no post. As many of you know Jinnah and I are expecting #2. Not as in poop, but rather BABY! We know it's a girl and we know she's going to be super cool. And after many long months we have finally settled on a first name: Mathilde (like Matilda without the "a" at the end). We still have no middle name. Can you guys help us come up with one?

Singing the ABCs

Finn Breakdancing

Going to Lebowskifest

March 9th I will be heading to the annual Lebowskifest. It's in Seattle this year so I could not pass up the opportunity. I have already ordered my Achievers t-shirt. Yes, I am a big fan of the movie The Big Lebowski. It is probably my favorite movie next to Blade Runner. I'm not planning on dressing up as anyone of the characters. I read a tip that you shouldn't bother unless you are a dead ringer for one of them. But I can't wait to see Har-Mar Superstar perform and to have a chance to meet the real Dude, Jeff Dowd.

Happy 2007

Christmas was a blast! It was all about FInn and he really got into it this year. Some of the things he got were a handmade cape from his grandma, a robot dog, a rescue play set complete with boat and helicopter, a doodle pad, a remote control car, a talking Buzz Lightyear figure, new Buzz PJs, wooden building blocks, and a new house! We spent some time on Christmas Eve with our friends and "old neigbors" the Bellers. Eric and Maria's son Jake is just a little guy but is full of personality and happiness. Finn had a great time. Then on Chirstmas night we had dinner at our friend Heather and Brandon's. They have two girls Olivia and Ella that Finn spends a ton of time with and has grown to be best buds with. I had lots of wine and some of the best pork tenderloin in town. Also Brandon's mom made the best scalloped potatos ever. Full of yummy fat and flavor! Don't get me started on all the cookies we've eaten. But that's all over with now and we are ready to get healthy!

Well we anticipate this being a big year! We moved into our new home on December 29th and it has been a whirlwind since then. The move could have gone better but they hardly ever go well. But we love our new home. It's our very first home purchase and we couldn't be happier. It has three bedrooms and a wonderful master bath with TWO sinks. The three bedrooms will come in handy since we are expecting our second child in May 2007. We found out a week ago that we are having a GIRL! There is a severe shortage of girls in the McFadden clan so we are very happy about that. There is plenty of time to come up with a name before then.

Finn is doing well and loves his new house. He loves to tell people he meets about it. And when he actually gets a chance to show people his new room with his new (twin) bed he really lights up. His personality has really grown to be a caring and funloving child. He loves to dance and be happy as well as asking questions about why people do this, that and the other thing. But he is also getting really good at pushing our buttons too. Oh yeah, we've had some good times lately.

Here are some pictures of Finn from this holiday season.

Goodbye Bean

We said goodbye to our friend Bean yesterday. It was time. She had been suffering from bad arthritis in her hips and back for a while as well as the side effects of medication she had been taking to help with the arthritis. Her life towards the end consisted of sleeping and eating. She coulldn't go for walks without huritng the next few days. She could barely make it up the stairs. But she had her good days too where she got around pretty good. Yesterday was one of those days. She was on special food becasue she was allergic to every kind of protein. She had skin lesions all over and was constantly irritated. She was a great dog. She was so intuative and sweet. We had her since she she was 7 weeks old. We bought her from a couple that who lived in a trailer. Their lab had a litter and they were advertising on a flyer at the local gas station we stopped at on the way back to Seattle from Cannon Beach 13 years ago.

She will be missed deeply. I only hope it starts to hurt less as time goes on.

Pictures from Halloween

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Finn went trick or treaking with his buddy Owen who was a farmer (not a cowboy!).

Finn update

Jinnah has been working full time at a law firm downtown, so Finn has been in the care of a good friend. We are paying her and Finn loves the situation. He's been really good about the whole thing.

Jinnah has been really tired at night so I've been taking on more of the care taking of Finn. We've really bonded and he and I are working out our differences. I'm not the most patient person sometimes and his current stage of development is putting me through the paces. But I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Also, my boss has been kind enough to let me work from home on Fridays so I get to take care of Finn on those days and do my work over the weekend.

So far so good.

I'll post some new pictures soon!

Oops!

There was some excitement outside our office building today. Some genius started driving down the stairway. Apparently she thought it was an entrance to a parking garage. It actually is, just not for cars.

Wise up

Finn's favorite restaurant (this week)

Blue C Sushi in the U-Village. He calls it "Dushi" and he is very serious about it. Of course we don't give him the raw stuff, outside of that there are plenty of delicious options for him. I gave him some unagi (eel) and he LOVED it. Honestly it's not the best sushi (not the worst either), but the food is fast and the atmosphere is vibrant and fun.

Last weekend the family hopped on the No.7 Metro bus from our house to downtown. Finn has really been interested in buses recently, so we thought he'd enjoy an actual ride on one. We almost missed the bus, but we ran to catch it. Finn was in the stroller, so that was fun for him. Then we got on and of course there was the obligatory stinky guy sitting close by and the pods of little, old Asian women with their bags of groceries. Finn was pretty intrigued with all the non-English speaking. Although there was a tense moment when one of the asia ladies practically sat ontop of an old white guy that had the whole row of seats to himself. He propmtly asked her to remove her ass from his lap and she did, but afterwards you could cut the tension with a knife, or with a song, which is why I broke into "My milkshake." Good times.

So we took the bus downtown and walked around Pike Place Market. One of the best places to people watch in the world.

Finn's Birthday Song

Finn turned 2 on May 4th and we all had a good day together. Finn got really into his new train table and the fact that it was his day. Check out this clip of him singing and being the happy little boy he is.