Quickly Approaching...

...are the days of babies becoming KIDS!
...are the days of married couples becoming families!
...are the days of single friends becoming married!
...oh my, that means I'm getting older too????

Time goes TOO fast! This is what I realize as I continue to ponder really wanting to return to work. I still plan on returning in December, but part of me is really uncertain how long that return will last. I am dedicated...and feel like a half hearted dedication is a poor way to return. I'm not sure how different I would feel if my post partum recovery would've been more smooth or not (won't go into detail, but I still feel pretty crummy). Not sure if it would've been better to cut ties and actually take my FMLA (I tend to get too worried and would've wondered how things are going...being on casual call--I know exactly how things are going and it's almost harder to sit back and do as little as possible!).

But onto better news....

We've had a busy week so far.
Edinborough indoor park Saturday.
-Super fun times!

Me and Vince watching all the chaos around us.

Teddy
Quinn
Teddy and Beth



Thomas Family and Scott over on Sunday for pheasant Mike helped kill last fall.
-No photos, but Mike and I collaborated to create pheasant 2 ways. After a year of saying "please get those dead birds with feathers out of my freezer (we have limited freezer space here)", we finally got those dead birds out of the freezer! Mike plucked them and cleaned them with me far away (again...when I think of the PROCESS of how food gets to my table...I...just eww). We roasted 3 of them bacon wrapped with sage, dill, and chicken stock. We slow cooked 3 of them with cream of mushroom with garlic and cream of chicken with herbs, onions, celery, carrots, and chicken stock. Both were super yummy and we only found a few bb's while eating them!
Apparently they were good---we got good comments from all!
And well, the Packers won, I guess. Some bad calls on both sides, but lots of no-calls that led to a "w" for the green and gold. And, well, the Vikings fans are starting to realize how frustrating the "real Favre" can be!! Why insist on playing when you're hurting? Poor coaching? Poor decision by Favre? WHO KNOWS!?

And last night, Thanh Do with Thomas family and Grapentines

And just to show how much the kiddos are growing....
Finn wanted to eat last night too!

We got home late last night and put Q to bed after 9pm. Today...I'm realizing how much better behaved she is on 12 hours of sleep instead of 10. And of course, no nap. The weather here is kinda yucky, but I'm debating about taking her out to play in the wind and rain anyway--just to get her out! She's being "artistic" Quinn today as we've painted, colored, play-doh'd, and created several Mr Potato Heads ("they're not scary anymore Mommy!!" --she had up until now been terrified of the guys she got for her birthday last year...now they're fun).

She used the potty successfully once at the restaurant yesterday, twice at home...and three complete accidents everywhere this morning so she now insists on a diaper again because, "I'm too hungry to be big anymore today". Not sure how hunger correlates with "pee on a toilet" but I'm not almost 3 either...

Vince is doing wonderfully. LOVES his Daddy and big sister...still cries a little if he hears Mike and he doesn't stop by to say hi and give a smile. He is cooing and almost giggling these days as you play with his feet or fly him in the air. LOVES his swing (again, thanks to the Thomas family!). Loves "Leap" the frog and his alphabet song. Gets upset when his mobile isn't playing and he's awake and lying in bed! Loves music of any sort. Loves story time. Rarely cries unless he's hungry ... sometimes wet ... or when he's tired and doesn't want you to hold him anymore...just put him down and let him fall asleep (something Q was not like if I remember correctly). He is like his sister in the fact that he sleeps in the car (unless hungry) and sleeps as long as possible when in public places...but once awake, can't get enough of what's going on around him.

Again...just wish I could be feeling a little better to keep up entertaining both of them!

Tomorrow is Frog's costume party, Thursday is gym class and hot tub fixed, and hopefully meeting Hannah Anderson on Friday!

Stuff

So Claire is 4 today...and she's adorable!

You should vote for her
http://startribune.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=21726#SD

You just need to register and you can vote once per hour!!

We're headed to dinner tonight...yummy Thanh Do...can't wait for cranberry cheese puffs!

5-6 weeks left until working full time again...

We have a holiday party of Wednesday, hopefully seeing another newborn on Thursday night, maybe party Saturday night and we get to have fun trick or treating on Sunday night! BUSY WEEK!

Oooh, and the rain and sun going down earlier has been super awesome because Quinn's been in bed before 9 (last night as the game started!) for about 2 weeks now!

Potty success is still variable. She went pee at burger king the other day (of all places) and three times in the last hour...with her potty song, "tinkle tinkle tinkle tinkle tinnnnnnkkklleeeeee...sometimes pee, sometime poop...but tinkle tinkle tinkle tooooooo"

And 'old kiki' has become 'tickle me kiki', then there's 'pink kiki' and Vince's kiki is 'pook' or 'poohki' (because he has a Pooh head).

Gotta get ready for dinner!!!!

Indoor Park

We had a GREAT Saturday!
Quinn joined some friends at Edinborough Park in Edina. It's an indoor playground that is tons of fun! Mike and I each enjoyed climbing around for a little bit. It was great to have enough energy and be skinny enough to climb, roll, crawl and slide. I am in a little extra pain today--and took a nap when we got home--but it was worth it. Vince slept pretty much the whole time...enjoyed some tummy time for a bit and took in all the kiddos screaming and having fun (some screaming because they were overtired...but that's to be expected). I hope to go back soon...but handling both kiddos alone will prove to be difficult as Q needed help in some parts of the climbing yet.
We then headed to lunch to watch the Gophers (for some unknown reason). Quinn and Teddy had fun climbing all over the booth instead of eating. But, oh well.
SNOW is a word in the forecast this morning---for Halloween and trick or treat, go figure! We'll have to find a way to make Quinn's pirate still visible while being warm. And they're showing ice skating rinks (indoors)! That looks like fun too. Gotta get Quinn out there!

Growing Up

We got some doll furniture from a neighbor. Quinn insisted on painting it herself...I could care less--it's free!


This 3 month outfit barely fits him anymore...this photo was from Monday!


Aarrrrgggg matey--Q decided on a pirate for Halloween. Christine also took some pirate photos...we'll see if they make the final cut!


"cheese!"


"Aww, Mommy, he is sooo sad, he needs his paci sucker"


Two realizations today:
1) If my kids are getting older--I am too!!
2) Graham crackers are yummy.

Photos

Quinn gets to feed Vince!

she LOVES helping with apples!






Pile of leaves for all!

One Day at a Time...

Either my scale is way off and adding pounds to both me and Vince, or he's 12# 4 oz!!! I think our scale is about 2# heavy, as I was about 2# lighter on the doctor scale last week...but still, believing my baby is 10# is something incredible. Believing I'm gaining weight isn't so unbelievable as it seems all my life is this week is diapers, feeding Vince, and feeding me. My exercise program has still been to walk from room to room doing these "tasks"--and too many times at night! He has been sounding more congested the past few days, but nothing is coming out with saline/booger sucking, so I'm not worried. And there's no fever, so that's good too. Moral=He's growing too fast!

A weekend of just me and him is proving to be quiet. Not QUITE lonely, per se, but quiet. The many projects on my list "to do" and I've successfully done 1/2 of two of them. Leave it to a Rebarchik to do something halfway then start a new project! I swear it's in my genes to never complete a project! And, well, of course there are those 'every day' projects that add up (laundry, showering baby and self, garbage, unclogging bathroom drain, dishes, Farmville-haha, etc).

I went and organized stuff off my counters last weekend and camera battery is dead...and of course the charger and extra battery are "someplace smart" and I can't locate...so photos yet to come (promised from the other day yet!!).

I managed to empty/organize Quinn's closet (yet to conquer bookshelves, toys and dresser). I also have managed to get half of the baby announcements addressed to be sent (only to discover I forgot to get stamps!!). I also paid all the hospital bills (or to be mailed Monday). I also talked with one of my sisters for too long (not really, it was a good conversation--I just missed lunch and therefore Vince's 1pm feeding was still just breakfast food and only a little water so post-feeding was much spit-up--oops). And realized I had the potential baptism date wrong. Vince also is officially too long for the "newborn" clothes and seems to be flying past the "0-3 month" size too (following after his big sister after all!!) so his dresser and closet were also weeded out. Not to mention the diaper bags (no more newborn diapers either!).

So maybe I half finished more projects than I originally thought.

I did go to Farmington yesterday. It made me realize that that's a pretty long commute! And it also made me realize how much they really miss me there and what a difference one person can really make to a building. Things aren't falling apart and terrible, and I'm no where near superwoman, but you can see some things have been put on the "back burner" the past 6 weeks. I can't believe I only have 6 weeks left at home. I don't want to give my baby to day care. Quinn--she needs other kids, but Vince is going to be growing and learning and changing so much every day that I'm having a really hard time believing that I can be happy working again knowing how much of his life I'm missing.

One day at a time...

One Month?

Ugh...one month down and 2 to go until leaving the house for work every day. I'd say until I work every day again...but, right, life as a SAHM is work every day!

I can hardly believe I was feeding my 7# baby for the first time one month ago. Now, I'm feeding a 9# (??) baby! He is out of newborn clothes! His cute footed jammies are small..as are "newborn" diapers! I can hardly believe it...because they fit last week!!! He's full of smiles. He smiles at Mike almost every time he sees him and cries if he hears his voice and doesn't get to see him!!! Quinn will be gone for the weekend, as will Mike...so, just Vince and me...wow, the house will be QUIET and hopefully my recovery will be completed!

I have adorable photos to load later! Quinn gave Vince a bottle yesterday! And we played in leaves too.

Anyone have cute art projects to do with a toddler?

Summer in October

Yep, it's 85 degrees outside. We ran in the sprinkler. Vince chilled out for a bit...looking around at the sky and house. And well, turns out fleece outfit was a little warm for today!!!

Target and Today

So life here is crazy.

Quinn is sick.
I'm getting sick.
Vincent is cute....and only smiles a few times a day. But real smiles now!!


And this is what Quinn INSISTED on wearing to Target yesterday. We actually didn't get too many odd looks....

Straw hat, robot shirt, green dress, khaki pants (can't see here), snow boots, and Mike's arm sleeve/glove things. Absolutely adorable!!