Flanagan Clan

I just realized that I’ve had some news concerning the CPSIA law that WAS to go into effect on February 10th, 2009. Well, it looks like there were enough concerns about this law that it has been suspended (or stayed, I guess was the term they used) for a year. That means I have another year in which I can legally sell products before they decide on all the new rules concerning lead testing in products marketed for children under the age of 12. So, my new plan? I will continue to work on a limited basis until May 1st, after which I will be taking a long babymoon. When and if I feel ready, I’ll reopen after the baby the comes, again on a very limited basis 🙂

Just a disclaimer- I didn’t put these words into Patrick’s mouth- he has been saying this long before we got pregnant!

…having three smiling, cute little boys!

In other news, Patrick and Sammy have upgraded to a bunk bed!

I am hoping to find some Star Wars sheets and blankets for them, so they can have matching sets. Pottery Barn Kids is selling Star Wars bedding right now, but it’s very expensive. Speaking of Pottery Barn Kids, they were also selling a blue bunk bed:

Which, honestly, I don’t think looks nearly as nice as the one that we purchased. The difference in cost? The PBK one was going for $1200. We paid less than half of that for ours. And ours seems very stable and good quality, just doesn’t have the fancy name attached to it. Just another example of how it doesn’t pay, especially when you’re buying for kids :o)

Ethan is looking forward to joining his brothers in the “boy room”. Every chance he has he will go into their room to play with all the fun toys. We will probably move him in within the next two months so we can prepare the nursery for the next baby. I will probably start him off in a pack ‘n play until he’s ready to transition to a toddler bed.

I am currently uploading a cute video of Patrick and Sammy onto youtube, but it’s taking forever, so I’ll just post it later. Stay tuned!

Tuesday was Andrew’s birthday, and for his big gift, I was able to plan a night away for just the two of us! Mom took the boys on Friday night so we could go up to Seattle. We stayed at an absolutely beautiful hotel with spectacular Italian Renaissance architecture, The Fairmont Olympic. This is not the first time we’ve stayed at a Fairmont (we stayed at one in Edmonton, Alberta for my friend, Margaret’s, wedding!), and we were not disappointed. I had booked a special package that included free valet parking, as well as a fancy bottle of champagne and fresh chocolate-covered strawberries in our room upon our arrival. The hotel staff treated you like royalty, the room was gorgeous, the bed was soft, and we had a very fun city view of Seattle, including a small glimpse of the sound. The building that the hotel was situated in was also full of fun history- it was the original location of the University of Washington, and housed the college for over 30 years in the 1800’s. The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Andrew and I just love beautiful, ornate buildings and we enjoyed sucking everything in!

Our trip away was perhaps quite simple, but it was relaxing. Last night we went to dinner at PF Chang’s and ended up staying there for well past an hour, which is unusual for us since we tend to eat and run these days. We then explored a few different stores around Westgate, including a trip to LUSH, which is perhaps not a typical store that I would like, but which has amazing bath products. We came out with a couple new goodies to try. After our shopping excursion, we headed back to the hotel and popped in a couple movies for the night. I also surprised Andrew with the sound of baby’s heartbeat, using a doppler that I had purchased of eBay, since he’s been missing the prenatal appointments. I am convinced that the baby even kicked the sensor wand while I was doing it and I thought I felt it. This morning we then woke up around 7:30ish, got ready, and walked down to Pike’s Place, where we had Starbucks (coffee for Andrew, tea for me!) and ate breakfast at a small French bakery. We then slowly walked back to our hotel, cleaned up, and checked out. With time to spare, we ended up going to Bellevue to make a run to Whole Foods, where we walked the aisles slowly, discovering fun and new products. We don’t go there very often, and it’s fun what you can find when you have the time and no kids to distract you. Before heading home, we finished our getaway with a trip to Red Robin. Andrew had a free birthday burger, so we had a delicious lunch before coming home this afternoon to our little guys. We had definitely started to miss them by the time we got home :).

So, that was our weekend! Now we’re back, refreshed, and ready for a busy week next week!

Patrick has been very interested in spelling words lately, and we’ve been showing him how to spell different things that he asks me to write for him. Yesterday he wanted me to write “bow and arrow” and “bubble gun” for him so he could know how to spell them. Today I was finishing up a dress for a customer when Patrick came into the room with a marker and piece of paper and asked me to write Sammy’s name for him. I immediately wrote down S-A-M-M-Y. After I had finished, Patrick looked critically at my work and said that Sammy’s name did NOT have two M’s. He then left the room and came back a short time later with the letters, S-A-M-U-E-L written on the same sheet of paper and showed it to me. “This is how you spell Sammy’s name, Mama”. I began to wonder if Andrew had spelled the name out for him, so I asked him, and he said he’d show me how he figured it out. He took me to his room and showed me Sammy’s name train. “See, Mama, only 1 M”.

I can just see the obsessive compulsive and perfectionist behaviors from Andrew and I already having a huge impact on that little guy. What have we done?!!!