Photos Galore

I enjoyed my time with my neices and nephews this week so far.

And, as always, we're enjoying our little blessing, Quinn! With the seeming 'burst' of pregnancies lately, I am realizing what a blessing a baby really is to me and Mike. We have come to love and enjoy every moment...even when she wakes up at 6am...really. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you going through the pregnancy moments and best wishes to you all.

Mike and Quinn on our drive to Mankato. Yes, this was at a stop, not while we were driving. :-)


Guess she knew how to find the keys!

At Granny's house. "Look Granny, no hands! I stand on my own now!! And thanks for the milk jug!"

New present--a xylophone shaped as a caterpillar...she loves it! And again, no hands while she pulls the shaker eggs from the box (also loves those!).

My brother's girl, Hailey, sporting the new sunglasses...she's a little diva in training!

The grandkids....Hailey, Liz holding Benji, Quinn, Caryn, William and Alex...Abbie was with Daddy in Kaukauna. This was the best shot I got...did anyone get a "good" one?

What?! Caryn's smiling for a photo? She's 4 and her new thing is to not pose for photos anymore...I caught her!

William under the tree...too cute!

Liz and Auntie Jen.

Liz, Auntie Jen and William. Liz was causing pain by standing on Auntie Jen's calves...not sure how I even got a shot that didn't show extreme pain on Jen's face!

The best shot of Quinn and a Christmas tree....she's getting out of this posing stage and into a go-go-go...well, still a go-go-go!

Quinn and Daddy at the Betty Brinn Children's museum in Milwaukee. We went with the Brefka's and it was a good time. Mike and I had the "luck" of getting to take Hailey with us too...getting all four of us ready for the day was a chore! And Grandma even had Hailey dressed before she left for work that morning!!

Hailey was busy checking people out at the grocery store portion of the museum. And her Daddy kept calling her, so the phone was often a source of delay while checking out. It was cute.

...And Alex enjoyed shopping for his fruits and veggies!!

Liz said she wanted to be an abulance driver...another exhibit at the museum. Her favorite part was "the heart" which included a slide and it named each part of the heart as you explored the area. It was pretty cool..even for a 29 year old!

Alex wants to be a train conductor, I guess, because he loves trains. He also gets really really really really red cheeks when he gets warm...it was warm in this museum, as you can see.

Quinn was having fun taking apart the train tracks...Alex and other kids weren't liking it so much either. But, she was nice enough to hand over the tracks.

Quinn's sporting the new snow suit we got from Abbie. It's a little short, but we'll take it! Thanks much!!!

Busy Since Early November

And I must say that it is almost as stressful being the guest as hosting! We've had pretty constant visitors since Early November...and here we are now touring Mn and Wi. It's just as fun hosting as it is getting help with all the party plans.

We had a great flight out, pretty much on time (which is great considering Milw and NY were having tough to travel weather last weekend). We had a great couple days in Wi visiting a children's museum, finishing shopping, watching it snow, and celebrating Christmas Eve with my family...all 13 adults and 7 children. (13 as two of my dad's siblings and wife came for lunch).

We decided to drive to Mn on Christmas Day, as Friday and Saturday weather was not looking so hot. It took 7 hours...but Q was good for most of the way! We got to Granny's with a very tired/just waking up baby who didn't really recognize anyone there! She warmed up slowly...but was tired as it was waaaaay past her east coast bed time! It was really great to get to see his family on Christmas Day. It was busy days in Wi, so hopefully Grandma Mary will get some Q time before we head off to the airport again.

I have some cute photos of her behind the wheel of Grandpa's car, some video and photos of Christmas Eve...and some general cute photos. They'll come in hours (or days) to come! The camera is MIA...I think in the basement...so, sorry about that!

Merry belated holidays to all!!

Snow, Snow, Rain

This is Quinn licking the snow off her snow suit. She was just catching snow on her tongue and I missed the shot...I was carrying her to the garage to get the shovel...shoot!


We had snow today! Really good packing snow. So we went outside to play and shovel up the ice that came first. Or attempt to as it became apparent the shovel I was using wasn't the right shovel....and Q was not waterproof so we headed back inside...I have video...but here's a few shots.




And of course we enjoyed some time inside yesterday after the shots...the day I should have run all my errands. Maybe next time I'll watch the weather and prepare better! Not that Q would've been very much fun to take anywhere yesterday!

10pm and 6am

So apparently immunizations and TB tests make Q think that 10pm and 6am are get up and play times. And of course, 2am is feed me or someone's ears will start bleeding.

For doctor update, see earlier post from yesterday.

As for today....MAS cafe, por favor.

AND

Only two more full days at home until we're on a plane for Milwaukee!! Too bad we haven't completed our shopping yet!!!

I Still Got It

Yesterday Mike and I were talking about how we can't believe our friends are turning 30 and most of us are just starting, or have yet to start, our families. 30 seems old...sort of. What is age anymore?

I've always gotten "you look so young" and was worried motherhood would age me faster. Well, the ladies at Allstate today said, "you're her mother?! you look like you're 10!". I exclaimed with, "I've gotten 8 years younger since I had her! I usually get you look 18...and I'm 29!"

So I guess no smoking and a few days of getting hammered and sunscreen have done me some good!

Either that or I really need to change my hair and wardrobe...

L O N G morning

We had Q's one year appointment today.

She doesn't like shots or blood work. At all. And she remembered who shot her 10 minutes earlier when he came back to get blood. Not fun. My ears are still ringing. She's napping now though, which is not common these days to get a morning nap. Poor girl is also working on teeth 11 and 12 (yes, that's right, 9 and 10 were discovered last week when Nate and Nikki were here!).

She's 23.7# and 30.25"...80th percentile rounded off (75-85th). Head is...I forget but it was 50th percentile. So, she's growing well, but stabalizing! No more of this "mondo-growing" baby for us. He said to expect her to start taking off her shoes (ha ha, I can barely keep them on), start emptying drawers and cabinets (uhh, wasn't that 3 months ago?), babble (yep, she's been a talker for about 4 months too), and start to becoming a pickier eater (THAT HAS occurred this last week as she throws food aside when she doesn't like it or flat out refuses a spoon) who want to feed herself (see photo below...she likes to drink her food.).

She loves her new "home" (fisher price laugh and learn home) and slide (ooh, yet to take photos of her on that). We've been working on her going down the stairs feet first and "on her belly"...well, that's how she finally went down the slide on her own last night. It was so cute...she loves it!

And we have yet another visitor! Louis (Mike's post-college roommate) is in town for his birthday and he hasn't seen Q since last year at this time. So, she's quite a bit different. Poor guy got to listen to her scream while I helped him find directions to meet his friend in NYC. We think she just saw he was a guy and since a guy so recently stuck her with 4 needles, she didn't want to see his face. Sorry Louis! But, happy birthday yesterday. I made him birthday tacos and apple pie ... he seemed to enjoy them.

Now, off to enjoy the quiet while it's here...what to do.....laundry and dishes probably....oh the joys of being a Mom.

Who's Chasing Who?

Nikki and I really want photos of our kids together...but that won't ever happen by their own free will! I couldn't even get video of them together! Just prior to this shot Q was crawling after Claire. I think Claire got a kick out of her voice echo. That and the fact that both girls were getting sleepy...but we were getting ready to go look at Christmas lights, so no bedtime for them yet!

It's Snowing!!!

Now I wish I would've taken photos of Q outside yesterday...I could've had back to back days of crazy Brooklyn weather. Yesterday was at least 65 as a high, as it was still 63 once the sun went away.

Today, it started pretty warm, about 45 or so again...and rain rain and more rain. The cats were out of food and there's still shopping to do for presents, so we went out today. By 10:30 it was freezing rain and by 1pm it was SNOW!

I only saw it snow twice here last year...and one of those times was 2am and it was gone by 8am as it turned to rain.

And yes, to you midwesterners...this is barely snow, but still...it's snow to me!

Warmer Outside

...than it is inside!



Days like this in December confuse me. But I'm sure the cold is on it's way. It's unfortunate that it's the day Nate, Nikk & Claire left as the park was hoppin' with kids this morning!



Anyways, I've been looking through photos and found some from Jen and Dad's trip that I don't think I posted...



I was reading Jen a story....







We were posing with Chris Columbus...





And enjoying our meal!

Saturday Trip

Claire's first subway ride in NYC! I call Nikki's pose the "mommy pose" where mommy just looks at the camera smiling hoping that her kid will have a smile and be looking at the camera at some point. And Nathan's pose is..."look at the camera, look at the camera, smile" pose...Some day they may get a fabulous family shot!


The tree at Rockefeller. It's pretty again this year!

Before this shot I said "Q pose" and she did. And he pose actually held through the whole picture!

More Visitors!

Nate, Nikki and Claire came in yesterday...after they were delayed (shock shock) coming into La Guardia. We had rain for 2 days and then the wind kicked in yesterday (but we had sun!), so all airports ran at least an hour delay (LGA 3 hour delay). But let's not talk about their long day in the airport.

We spent this evening in New York City to see "the tree" with all the lights. Claire's eyes lit up when we got out at Times Square and walked down Broadway a few blocks. There were lots of lights to see!

We got home about 10:45pm to the girls going pretty much straight to bed. They both made it the whole night without a nap (well, Q took one of her 10 minute power snoozes...in time to miss the Christmas tree!)

We also had a good trip to China Town. Claire really likes bugs and animals...check out the video!

It still makes me giggle when I watch it. I think my favorite part is when they all come piling out of her hands. Yes, she was really eating this...squid (we think). And all were glad to see her enjoying it...and wondering why we were taking so many photos, I'm sure! None of us were brave enough to do what she was doing!! I didn't even want to touch them! But I'm a "girlie girl" like that, I guess. And she's not the easiest little girl to get photos of, so I'm glad the video turned out so cute!!!

I guess it's a good Addition

So, three posts in one day, crazy I know.

But the new toy corner is working out better than I ever could have imagined. I have eaten lunch, read ALL blogs from the past week, and blogged three times....about 45 minutes...and Q has yet to demand my attention. And there's nothing but giggles and coo's coming from over yonder!

YAY!!!!!!

Just Click on the link

I love my Godson Alex.

This is one of my favorite stories about AJ...I'm still laughing!

What I did for my birthday.

Q's eyes were crazy blue on Sunday, but the camera was not doing them justice. Regardless, we got her all dressed up in her Christmas jumper for mass on Sunday to make sure it fit and she was comfortable enough. She was. Sorry, Abbie, the green one is just TOOOOO SMALL. :-) Isn't that what you wore last year? And aren't you two? Oh well...I've come to admit my baby just is ... big!


Back to the title. So, in 'typical' "Mom" fashion, I spoiled my daughter instead of myself on my birthday (which was Monday).

Q had a VERY crabby morning and has been refusing to take her morning nap. So, at about 9:45, I decided I was taking a shower and we were going to go shopping for Mommy's birthday.

We were finally out the door by about 11.

I've been looking at gliders so we actually had our first stop at Babies R Us...they have about 40 rockers set up. Well, Quinn and I did not sit very comfortably together in any of them...definitely more of an "infant and mommy" kind of chair. The super plush recliner that's in her nursery now is fabulous because we can both sit (yes, she sits on the chair) and read her books. It was awful post-op and early breastfeeding, but now it works wonderfully. SO, the glider may be put on hold until baby #2.

And I still managed to spend $80 there! St Nick bought Q a "laugh and learn play house" and a new 'couch'/toddler fold out bed. She loves both additions to our living room play area. In fact, there should still be room for the present she asked Santa to buy her(a new slide jungle gym that's technically meant for outdoors). So, most of her toys are in her room, in ONE area of the living room and ONE drawer full in the kitchen. Much more controlled than 2 days ago.





Then we went to the Olive Garden as soup, salad, breadsticks and pumpkin cheesecake were calling my name. The cheesecake was more than the meal! And Q ate all the yecky olives, so the meal balanced well for both of us!

Then to Target. Well, I do not plan on going back to Target until after Christmas. At least not Target here. I forgot how crazy idiotic people get when they "need" something for a loved one and can't find it. Wow, I've never seen so many crabby people during the holidays. BUT, I got a bargain! I grabbed the cat brush without a price tag (not on purpose, but because this Target is not so good with pricing things...). They gave it to me for $2! I'm almost sure it was an $11 brush. SWEET!

I did find a shirt I like at Target...but no Mountain Dew (I swear the stuff is illegal here because it's impossible to find in stock anywhere). So, I spent $10 for myself (sorry Mike, I tried!).

We also looked for a winter coat for Quinn and they just don't fit her right. I want one that's big enough so when she's wearing a sweater, it'll still fit. Well, I had to go to 3T for that to fit...and which point the arms were waaay too long and the hood fit awkward. Suggestions??

By the time we got home at about 3:30, she was beat. She fell asleep as we turn one of the last corners home. I emptied the car, got her out, got her upstairs and just as I was leaving her room, she woke up. So I nursed her and she was out...for three hours! So, I put together her new toys and played a little WOW. It was a nice evening. I don't remember dinner...I think I just ate my cheesecake!

I have some crazy cute video of how crazy cute she is becoming, but the loading keeps stalling out on me. A video of what she does when she's sleepy, hungry and Mike leaves the room. A video of what she does when she's all done eating. A video of her waking up from a nap. A video of her playing peek-a-boo. Maybe I'll try loading them on the Dell....

Sounds like it's almost nap time...and time to finish the Christmas letters!

Daddy Go?

To start: I really do believe Q is saying words in her own babble all day long. Her intonation and phrasing go along with the way any one of us talk in conversation. She's actually looking through books and letting me read most of them to her (versus eating books like she used to do). We're working on real words, and I feel like she'll have a crazy vocabulary in no time. As far as 'actual' one-year stats...I'm hoping to feel better and get her to the doctor this week to see what they have to say.

In this video, Mike was just in the room with us and left out the door. It was also almost nap time (which means almost time to nurse too). And it's hard to not notice the tornado mess in her room....

SAHMs should get sick days too!

So, since about Wednesday, I have been a little sick. I'm just trying to keep this thing from becoming pnemonia or something awful like that! So far, just nasal issues..no cough or anything. And Q seems to be okay, and Mike seems fine so far too. Seems a lot of us have this cold now, though, so I won't complain too much. I'll just say that I envy those of you who have family closeby that take your kids when you're sick! Mike leaves for Dallas this afternoon for a week...so hopefully I'm better before long! It's been really nice having him get her up in the morning...

The netti pot is a great invention. I wish I could feel as good as I feel right after flushing my nose; all day!

Photo Catch Up

So here is her not-so-spectacular 1st birthday cake. Not quite what I envisioned, but not bad for Betty Crocker frosting and a sheet cake if you ask me! Next year I'll try to make a "real" cake.




Q and Seth in Maryland at Mike and Susan's house. She was in heaven with all the toys they had there! Susan and Mike both have lots of family close by and they all have lots of kids, so they've inherited a lot of cool things!

Q's riding on Daddy's shoulders...sportin' her new hat!

We saw and petted a bunny rabbit!

Then Q peered over the side to look at it.....

...then she tried jumpin in after it!



Me, Mike and Q...having fun times!

Red-eye daughter like red-eye father! Must be that blue hue in the eyes...

She's just so cute when she's thinking!



Cut bangs! That was her post-birthday present. Think they need to be cut more as you can't even tell anymore!

I'm sick (I think). I've been hoping it's 'just allergies' but the pills don't seem to be helping. SO, we skipped music today. Daddy may be taking her alone on Saturday for a make-up if I'm not feeling better.

I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing too, because we may have visitors next week!

Only a few more weeks until Christmas and going back to our homes (Wi and Mn). Yes, we're crazy for wanting to hit both states in 10 days, but, WHY NOT?!

Are We There Yet?

Well, we were worried about making it to Dannie and Nate's with enough time to help with Thanksgiving preparations...but our way back here to NYC should've been our concern! It took us almost 7 hours to go door to door with only 3 stops...only one of those stops did all three of us get out of the car. Q was a trooper, as she usually is, but after a weekend of playing in unfamiliar territory, I wasn't so confident she'd be so great on such a long car ride home!!!!

But, as can be expected on Turkey Day weekend....we ATE and ATE some more and then we ATE some more! It was fabulous!

Dannie & Nate hosted Thanksgiving at their place in Maryland and it was a wonderful afternoon. We had to step up cooking a few steps as the turkey decided to cook about 2 hours quicker than anticipated! We drank beers and wine AND ate pie, fudge, turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed taters, sweet taters, rolls, and I'm sure I'm missing food...from Thursday!

We played lots of Guitar Hero. :-)

We also enjoyed a Lights and Trees festival on the Maryland state fair grounds with Mike, Susan & Seth (some friends of Dannie and Nate's and their one year old son). We found some sheets, books for ONE DOLLAR each, towels that will hang on our oven (as Q enjoys taking towels off so often) and Mike bought me a pretty new necklace with 2 pendants for my upcoming birthday.
After the festival, we headed to Mike & Susan's for some Red Robin take out and Q got to play with LOTS of new toys. It was fabulous. She enjoyed herself...despite how desperately exhausted she was as she only took a short morning nap and snoozed for about 5 minutes in the car.

Photos will come as soon as I locate my camera...some bags have yet to be unpacked!

Birthday Shots

Well I posted about 50 birthday shots on facebook, but there are a few of my favorites.