Pumpkins and Stuff

Q was napping upon my arrival at Trisha's after my last (??) day of work in Farmington. Well, she woke up with some crazy hair. This was a shot when she was looking down, but it was pretty much sticking up this way even when her head was up. Thanks for all your great day care services, Trisha!! We've loved knowing that Q has been in great hands these last few weeks.



Last Sunday, we stopped by Jill and Tim's new house. It was a VERY cute place, and Q enjoyed handing the candy out to all the kiddo's. OH, and it was so nice Q, Jill and I enjoyed a trip to the near-by school park!





And, of course, last Saturday was a Halloween/Carving party at my sister's house! We had a blast and Q seemed to enjoy cleaning out her first pumpkin. And since she REFUSED to wear Yoda, I did! She would've been the cutest Yoda ever...we'll see what comes for Trick-or-Treat here tomorrow!!

And I wish I had a photo...but I won the "ghoulish dish" award! I made stuffed noodles that looked like monster heads. Maybe Mom and Dad got one that I can post soon.

Wisconsin

Wow, what a week we've had since the last blog!

This week will (hopefully) be my last week of work and I can go back to being a SAHM again! I must admit, both jobs are very challenging and rewarding...but OMG, the rewards with Q can be seen immediately! We had a GREAT weekend together at my parent's house in Wisconsin. However, the refusal to go to bed last night after I told her "we're going home tomorrow and we'll see daddy" was UNBELIEVEABLE. It took almost 2 hours of stories, singing, playing, letting her "cry it out" and FINALLY a cuddle and singing until she fell asleep. She cried for daddy and home for too long! And now we're home and Daddy's not here. But she's okay with "just" being home.

I'm still amazed at the toll my car takes when I travel 7 hours alone with her. It looks like a cereal box exploded...but really...how else do I get from point A to point B with minimal stops so the trip doesn't take 12 hours? I have to give her the food and drink and hope for the best...this weekend wasn't so much her best! Not to mention it's already looking sad from our month of trips to Farmington and back each day.

Right now she's running circles around the house singing "pants, hanging, chair, kitty, pants, hanging, chair, kitty". I'm not sure what the relationship of those 4 words is quite yet...maybe by the end of my post??

I really need to get planning for Quinn's first party for her second birthday SLASH open house. At least I think it's going to end up being our 'housewarming' party too. It would be nice to have a date to have decorating and furniture placement "needed" to be done. And as long as Friday is my last day in Farmington, that should come true. Not to mention it'll be right before the crazy holiday season, so "just" one party could be a good thing! I'll keep you all posted.

I have photos from the weekend. I'm saddened that Q loved her Yoda costume here but did nothing but yell NO NO NO NO NO when I put it on her at Kristin's and wouldn't even look at it for trick or treat at Jill and Tim's. HOWEVER, she did enjoy handing out the "can-ney" to all the kiddos and was sad when they only took one then walked away! She would've donated the whole bowl to some kiddos. It was super adorable (and not caught on video or camera...oops).

She had her first pumpkin carving and gutting experience too. She enjoyed it, I guess. There were way more exciting things to do like spill bubbles, play with bikes, and enjoy her cousins. And without a nap for the day!

I need to, also, find a pediatrician! Her 2 yr appointment is coming up and we need to get that set up soon. Any suggestions?

For now, time to go enjoy some more time with Q (who took a short nap in the car on the way here and may be heading to bed soon).

Weekend Alone

So, Q's headed to Eagle Lake to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa...without me! I'm so far feeling a little bored and that I'm forgetting to do something. Seeing as this is usually the busiest time for me at night...bed time! Good luck to grandma and grandpa the next couple nights!

Work has been going well. I'll only work a few days next week and maybe a day or two the week after. It's been nice working again, but man I miss my girl all day long!! Now with the weekend and her being away...I miss her crazy already and she's only been gone an hour!

Over all, she's still loving day care. She's been feeling a little under the weather lately, but nothing keeps her down for long! She may get to meet her new cousin this weekend! Mike's cousin had her baby early yesterday morning...a darling baby boy named Briley Joseph. He's adorable and I'm excited to meet him. I got to stay home tonight to finish up some cleaning projects and enjoy a night of QUIET!!

I'm actually enjoying the quiet a little more than I thought, but like I said, I keep feeling like I'm forgetting to do something!

Finn, Quinn and Teddy

Finn is so close to rolling over from back to tummy..watch out Stacy! The days of rolling all over the floor are all TOO soon!! :) Oh, and this was outfit 3 for the day. I forgot what the days of poop explosion after poop explosion were like...until Finn did a great job of reminding me today!



Both Teddy and Finn were refusing their afternoon naps. They heard the final score of the game and knew their Daddys would soon be there to get them. Teddy was even trying to share his Pirate Booty with Finn here...ha ha.



The toy of the day...the floor play mat. Q and Teddy were very excited to have Finn take a nap..they got to play with all the cool baby toys and rattles (don't worry Stacy, I cleaned and sanitizer sprayed the whole thing when they finally got off of it!)



When I finally found a sucker for Q, I went back in to give it to her and this is how I found her...well, she didn't move after I gave her the sucker I found and got the camera. Too funny that she propped the pillow up so she didn't have to deal with the bars on her back! :0



Teddy is the biggest camera ham I've ever seen at this age!! ANY time the camera came out and was pointed his way (this morning), he was all smiles!!



And MAN am I tired!
So, 8 poopy diapers, 4 naps, 6 attempted naps, and several changes of clothes later. Three happy Dads came home from the homecoming game that started with snow on the field from last night! SNOW in OCTOBER! Humph. Well....it'll be a long winter, I guess.

And prior to my call to work this week, Ted and Beth came over to help Q and me make pumpkin bars. Yummy yum yum they were!!

Photos

And she's making new friends at Day Care!! The boy is Trisha's nephew and is 2 1/2. They seem to enjoy playing together!









So, she loves day 1 and 2 at Frog's Day Care in Farmington!

Frog's Day Care

That's right, Quinn had her first day at an official day care today!

Why?

I got a phone call late Monday night from Trinity wanting some help this week, next week and casual call afterwards...depending how things go for all parties involved.

So far so good!

Quinn had a FABULOUS time at day care today. One of my friends actually just started up the business and word is still getting around. She, so far, only has one 5 month old every day with her nephews (2 1/2 and 4) about 2 days a week.

Quinn colored a pumpkin, a pound puppy picture and made a snow globe today. Additionally, she went for a stroll around part of Farmington and was just getting home as I picked her up. As we walked into the house to get her goodies to bring back home, she said "shhhh baby" as we walked in the house. She apparently figured the baby was sleeping as the baby was gone when she woke up from her nap! Yep, she even took a 2 hour nap at day care!

I'm so glad I was able to arrange last minute, seemingly awesome, day care for our little gal! However, working is nothing like taking care of a toddler! It's really like I haven't left in 2 years, either. It feels not much different than it did after a long vacation. Just piles of stuff everywhere and who knows where to start!? :)

So, for the next few days, Q will be enjoying day care and Mike and I will be working! The hardest part has been getting up and out the door by 7:30!!!

No photos right now...maybe some to come later!

Quinn-isms

Since this photo was taken, the onesie and pants are too small! I've pretty much given up trying to fit her into too much 2T stuff because I get sick of looking at her belly and diaper all day! So, there are days when she looks like she's drowning in her clothes, but that's a much happier sight for me...not to mention she just seems to be getting so tall again! Need to find a pediatrician and make her 2 year appointment for next month (I think...not sure how advanced I need to make appointments here...)

On to Quinn talk:

Cat Cereal = cat food, they're bowls are empty, mama!

Coffee Walk = insulated coffee mug for when we play outside/walk/drive in the morning

GREEN! = the color of everything. The problem I think I'm seeing with her and learning her colors: she only seems to comprehend color as a verb. "I want to color" is very much in her comprehension. "What color is that" often gets the response "geen" or "caok" (chalk) or "ra-an" (crayon). Eh, she's learning. :)

Happy Mama Hot = coffee (she also says coffee hot, but more often it's happy mama hot)

Getting on coat, socks, or shoes, means a car ride or park. If any other action happens after seeing a coat, shoes, or socks...we have a very unhappy toddler.

Closed blinds and curtains means nap/bed time. There were a few days last week she was opening and closing the living room (well, unused room in front of house). When asked to please stop, she simply stated, "nigh nigh" and proceeded to her room.

If you turn the tv on, it means it's time for Elmo, Wyatt or (rarely) Clifford. When none of them appear on the screen she will either repeat "emo, wy, emo, wy" until she gets bored or she will continue playing.

The ice machine making noise means Daddy is home...then daddy never comes in! The ice maker and the door closing sound pretty similar...she gets excited too many times a day to count. At least she got some good Daddy time on Sunday morning and early afternoon as Mommy nursed her first hangover is several years! Yep, a gal night out. It was good times!! Until the next morning...

She's a goofy toddler and I love learning her "Quinn-isms" each day.

Going, Not Going, Going...

Not going.

What a week.

Ends up I'm not at TCF Stadium today, but with the rainy, cold weather, I'm not terribly upset about it. At the last minute (or later last night), Jim called and wanted his ticket for the game. After I had debated the entire day about where to put Q for the day and how bad I felt as she's got a runny nose and crazy diapers. Sigh.

Really, though, Jim has WAAAY more interest to be at the game today, so no hard feelings at all.

And there's another girl's night to Gastoff's for Oktoberfest tonight, so that'll be fun. Especially since I feel a little more healthy to actually go tonight!

Third day of rain...yeck. Really, I don't like the weather. The heat went on yesterday. It was COLD in here...54 is cold. SO, now it's a balmy 65 and it's just about right for cleaning temp. Today my goals are bathrooms, windows, and folding the rest of yesterday's laundry marathon (washed all sheets, blankets, and pillows yesterday...in addition to the "normal" week's worth of clothes).

I don't think the game is even on "normal" tv today, so that's a bugger. Now thinking back, I should've had Mike take his truck so I could've gone out with Q to see the game somewhere...Oh well. Way too late now!

Hmm....not much is new in our world. Hope all is well elsewhere!

My Gym

Well, we finally made it to preview a "My Gym" class; fourth time's a charm, right?

I think this class is exactly what we need right now. It's an hour long and it's a great combination of sit and listen along with run around and explore! Q definitely needs help with the "sit and listen" part. (should make story time fun next week...)

The "studio" is basically a large room with TONS of climbing toys, a ball pit, a trampoline, and tumbling mats galore. The start of class was sit in a circle and stretch your muscles...Q didn't like that so much, but the teachers insist that the kids stay with their guardian...not run in circles. So, after that is 30 minutes of "free play" and every 10 minutes, the teachers have a different "fun" activity going on. Today, we climbed a ladder and then fell onto a mat and did a somersault; hung on rings; walked a balance beam carrying a ribbon; and drove a car down a ramp.

Guess which was Q's favorite?!

After that it was group time again (yep, Q kept running away). Then it was 5-10 minutes of just the kids and teachers playing in the circle..mommies were to be "hands off". Q did MUCH better than I anticipated. She was sharing balls, playing basketball, and only ventured from the group twice (towards the end )...but not towards me! So, it was good to see she didn't freak out with "strangers" playing with her and sharing with other kids older than her...a few younger. The class she's in is technically for 23months to 4 years...and she's not even 23 months yet. SOOO, I think she did pretty well. Class ended with a goodbye song. And as SOON as it ended (no lie, the last note of the song) Q BOLTED out of the circle towards her shoes and door because we said goodbye! No wanting to stay and play, no hugs for me or any teachers or anything...just, "bye bye, car car". She cracks me up.

So, they also have an hour a week of "open play" so we'll be sure to hit that up too as that was Q's favorite part anyway. It'll be fun to see how/when Q's attention span hits so she'll get invovled in the warm up and cool down of circle time. I hope for this to help all her social skills she's missing not being in day care, as well as some fun exercise for the winter months (as our trips to the playground have already declined to twice a week if we're lucky). Any little things we can do to prepare her for preschool in a few years...and to let her have fun and enjoy life!!

As for other things, the house is settling. It's nice. We got our couch yesterday and as we were getting the last pieces into the house, my "bad" shoulder popped and now I can barely move my neck. Awesome, right? Despite the pain, I was NOT going to miss the class preview today and it made my enjoyment of the gym a little less...but the time will come. SO, we may need some help with the couch and getting the rest into the house...not sure I'll be able to do it anytime soon....BOOOO! Just when it was finally feeling better and I thought I could finish the kitchen painting and maybe even start on another room....sigh. Hey, regardless, I think I'm finally to the decorating part of moving in! Hanging pictures and putting out decoration. The whole house was vacuumed for the first time all on the same day yesterday. Much to Q's dismay (she hates the vacuum again....).

Oh well, for now, I'm off to heat the neck and rest a little. The computer is not helping me so much. And BUURRRRRRR, I knew I'd miss 70 degrees....the heat may even go on within the week! Poor Q doesn't like to sleep with the blankets over her legs and she's a little popsicle in the morning....even in her sleeper jammies!!