Wisdom Conquers the Borns

Kids are Smarter

2011-12-05T08:30:00.004-06:00

Q has turned 4 since my last posting! (she really likes the ice cream cone outfit).

Apparently hard boiled eggs explode in the microwave after about 30 seconds--yeah...I do have a food degree, shut up.

Q and I took a girls trip a few weeks ago to visit my best friend in Maryland. We had a great time and it was tons of fun just spending time with my eldest child. She's brilliant and I can't wait to see where else she goes in life.

Baltimore
Aaron!! He gave us plenty of smiles (and cries, but mostly sleep!)
Q at the Science museum "there is a really big hair drier, Mom, you have to come see it!!"
Yep, She wore this on the plane, flowered shirt, ice cream cone tank top, ice cream cone tight capris with a pink tutu. It was awesome.
Monkey wore her sunglasses. It was apparently hilarious!

Well, it's happened already.
I already can't help my kids with their homework.

I looked at Vince's daily sheet when I picked him up on Thursday. He apparently knows about 15 signs and does them appropriately. I guess all his crazy hand waving at home that I thought was nothing is something! He's already smarter than me in one area--Granted, it's sign language and he gets a little upset when I have no idea what he's signing, but it's getting better for me. :-) I actually had to look up some signs the other day to see what he was trying to tell me!

And Q makes up her own signs for everything, so I can't rely on her input, either. :-)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to Grafton for Tuesday-Friday; missed all traffic--we should apparently be very greatful we did not come back Sunday--back ups near Menomonee were apparently hours long!!

Vince is growing quickly. Attempting more words. Walking like a champ. Loves cooking, cars, and tupperware. And milk. And eating. And drums. And his sister. And our cats!! He's so gentle with them; it's wonderful.

What you Talkin About?

2011-11-14T10:23:00.003-06:00

Our little Halloween giraffe.

Getting closer to done painting!

Talking! Vince is slowly starting to take after Q. Why learn how to say one word at a time when sentences are so much more impressive?

Walkin

2011-10-17T19:32:00.004-05:00

Some select few from our New Orleans trip!

Cruisin' around he is!! He'll still crawl, but walking is slowly becoming more exciting to the lil' man.

Vince's birthday photos

2011-09-19T21:22:00.002-05:00

This is Quinn... lol
Loves to help cook! Here she is browning the hamburger.

"I want the phone, Mama!"

"Aww...yeah!"

Marshmallow time!!

One

2011-09-14T06:57:00.002-05:00

He's one.
Officially.
Insanity.
His vocab has exploded this weekend.
We were outside enjoying our campfire last night (yes, we purposefully set a fire in our backyard...kinda inconsiderate of BWCA? I don't know. To my defense, it was very close to where the hose was watering our lawn and "evergreen" trees. Also, there was potential for 15 people to be here last night and they all cancelled as the day went on! Mid-week spur of the moment parties don't go well! :-)
Regardless. I'm roasting mallows for me and my kids (yes, just us 3) and I hear Vince behind me, "ka, ooow, ma, ka owww ma, ka oww, mama, KAAAA OWWWWW MAMAMAMAMAMAM!"

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone speak toddler?

"Cat out mama." Killer got out when Quinn came out with the mallows and chocolate and I had NO idea!

Crazy!

Photos and videos of various "happy birthday" videos to come!

Boo

2011-09-05T18:21:00.002-05:00

Birthday

2011-09-05T11:08:00.005-05:00

Fair!

2011-09-05T11:05:00.000-05:00

First First Birthday

2011-09-04T07:15:00.001-05:00

We're off to Eagle Lake today for Vince's first first birthday party---what a fast year! I am currently hoping the frosting for the cake turns out! Lots to do in a few hours to get to the party on time!! Wish us luck!! Photos to follow!

Anything becomes a walker....

2011-08-29T12:56:00.002-05:00

Both kids crack me up with their instantaneous "IT'S NOT DOING WHAT I WANT IT TO DO" meltdowns....

Almost One?

2011-08-29T12:47:00.003-05:00

Can not believe I'm planning a party for my baby boy! We'll most likely have a little fiesta with Mike's family this weekend in Eagle Lake area--time goes sooo fast!

We were in the front yard today cleaning up plants and unsuccessful potted (weeds) believed to be plants.

As I pulled what I thought were weeds---this came up!

Honestly, I thought it was parsley..apparently it was carrot!! I was hoping for more carrot successes, but I'll take one! Quinn sure did enjoy it!!

And we shared cookie dough...

And Mike and Quinn went to the Twins "game" the other night (I think the score was Baltimore 8 Twins 1)...which led to enjoying the stadium, I guess??

Vince is still not walking, but it's not far away. Looking at these photos on blogger make me think we need a new camera...maybe it's the computer screen??

Off to finish outside tasks before company comes over tonight! RING OF FIRE! It should be cool enough to actually enjoy the fire!!

Stair Master..

2011-08-21T14:00:00.002-05:00

We've had a busy couple days. I just want to nap...but the kids have different ideas! Hopefully our backyard and our lunch trip to Arby's will be enough for them!

Friday I got a call from the In-Laws-- 'where are you, we're going to Owatonna and you should to.' "uh, okay." 3/4 from Farmington to Owatonna I realized the trip home would be rough, but a night at the fair with the kids should be fun. And it was! Vince stayed awake for the duration; most likely from wanting the food he saw everywhere! Quinn got to enjoy several rides, ponies, and a stomach tattoo of "hello kitty" (shocking she passed up Ariel, butterflies and flowers!). Got home about 11:30pm--exhausted. Kiddos only slept until 7!!!

...by about 7:45 Vince was ready for a nap! At 9am, we got a call from some friends, "let's do something" "okay" "we haven't seen the penguins yet" LET'S go to the ZOO!!! So we did. It was fun. Penguins were more active first thing than when we left, but it was good. The visitor's center area looks nice and we're officially zoo members again! woohoo! OOh, and both kids napped on the way home. Q stayed napping until I woke her up at 5:15--only woken up with promise to see Ted-do for dinner. "I will only wake up if YOU PROMISE we can sleep by Teddy". "I do not PROMISE anything, we'll see how you are at dinner." Dinner went okay--but not well enough for Vince and Q to make it long for a visit, so we came back home. Vince went right down; not so lucky for Quinn, but it was nice to have a night at home anyway.

SO, we get back from our lunch at Arby's and I set Vince down while I take off my shoes. 2 seconds later...he's 4 steps up and away from me!? When did that start?!

Also, yesterday, he tried several times to just get up and start walking. he'd be holding onto my fingers and just let go and start walking but his feet wouldn't move right and he'd fall, give me a look as if my fault and cry. Today several times he'll be holding onto the table/bookshelf, turn around and try to walk..unsuccessful but I know one of these days it'll just come to him!!!

He's a silly lil man, but a lot of fun.

And our big news of 3 weeks ago--POTTY AND POOP TRAINING COMPLETE! It's been good and I haven't wanted to jinx anything. But, our day care lady promised a camping trip a few weeks ago and has been on vacation and moving since; let me tell you--Q remembers she's due a camping trip! Maybe I'll set up the tent for her in our backyard.....

Off to play some more!!

It'll be here before we know it....

2011-08-14T20:28:00.001-05:00

...walking without the walker!!

Hair Cut!!

2011-08-14T20:18:00.002-05:00

Our lil bug got some hairs cut yesterday...

..but first...

Quinn at 10 months waiting for daddy...

Vince at 11 months waving at daddy outside!!

They may be siblings!! :-)

Vince before (bangs comb-over syle)...
"Please don't cut my hair mama, PLEASE?!"
"AWWW, yeah...I'm hot stuff now!"

Writing her Name

2011-08-06T18:47:00.003-05:00

Along with potty training and talk of preschool comes Quinn writing her name!! Here was Auntie Dannie's birthday card...several weeks (months) late...but hey! There was a card! :-)

Quinn Fishin'

2011-07-25T19:01:00.002-05:00

Not sure if I mentioned it, but Quinn got her first boating experience (I think....) ... at least on Papa Chuck's boat. And her first fishing experience. What a 3rd of July 2011 it was for her ... this is what happened....

In case you can't make it out...Q's phrases are

OOH, it's doing something!
I can't wait to eat it right now!

Da crawl...walk....cralk....

2011-07-25T18:52:00.002-05:00

Molars

2011-07-21T21:01:00.002-05:00

He's got 2 molars!! He's been cranky, and I guess that's why! Total count, then, is 10 teeth.

Since a weekend visit with Grammy and Papa, Vince's desire to breastfeed has started to decrease---not to mention the fact that he is not with me all day and has been lucky to feed 2-3x/day. So, my production went WA-AY down and I didn't have as much to pump. So, more formula has been given the last month or so.

Well, tonight he broke my little heart. He saw the bottle on the counter and cried; so I thought, it's bedtime, time to eat and go to bed. Tried to breastfeed and he drank for about 30 seconds--then cried...until a bottle was made. :( We've already flown through this container of formula. cha-ching. And only a year. Hopefully he likes cow's milk, or else the cha-ching will continue! At least Target brand formula isn't terrible expensive!!!

U2 concert this weekend--still working for daycare options.

And we get to be in Mankato at 10am on Sunday for the newest addition to the family's baptism! We'll hopefully make it. We can barely make it across town in time for a meeting, so making it to Mankato by 10am should be fun! Mike's cousin Tricia had a little boy last week. He's an adorable lil man who I can't wait to meet!! Welcome to the world, lil man! So, whereas the 1st cousins were nicely "boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy" (I think that's it)--2nd cousins have been "girl, boy, boy, boy..." with more to come someday, I'm sure (not from us most likely!!)--from the others listed above!

Lil man is doing a walk-crawl attempt and it cracks me up! He sticks his little butt up in the air and gets to his toes while trying to just stand up without help pushing up on his hands--it makes me think it'll be just a few short days/weeks before he's straight up walking!!

We'll see....you'll see soon as long as I get a chance to capture it on camera...and then post it!!

Out to Lunch?

2011-07-20T06:29:00.002-05:00

Nah, we've been around--really!!

My brother and niece were in town for the weekend...and I don't think I took one single photo. It was a good weekend! I always enjoy company---and a reason to put off the "to do" list items. This weekend, my only "to do" was enjoy the company, kids, and...well heat as much as we could!

The forcasted "feels like" temperatures may hit 115F today!!!

So, we've been enjoying our neighbor's pool, lake, and a/c.

Vince is crawling, sitting, and being all sorts of cute. Suddenly last week he's as mobile as mobile can be without walking. And, well, I think all the new found cruising has helped the lil man develop an infection of some sort--he was up until about midnite (slept from 9-10ish), napped little yesterday (reported from day care), and was up at 4am-5:15am---so I've been up since 4...and didn't really go to bed until 1. Oddly enough, the capital also passed the bills to end the shut down around 4 am--irony/coincidence? Who knows...if I am raising a mini-politician, I can't even think about that right now.

I found V in his room the other morning (as that's where he sleeps)...with all his normally beloved blankets and music tosy on the floor. He was trying to pull up on the side of the crib to continue to get my "I'M AWAKE MOM, FEED ME, CHANGE ME!" attention. And brilliant me didn't take a photo. Oops.

I have some cute weekend photos on the i-pod. We had a birthday party on Saturday and Vince and Quinn devoured cake with their fingers--thanks purple frosting! Vince is practicing for his first (gulp) birthday just weeks away!

..some day I'll get them to the computer from the i-pod...maybe Mike could help with that.

Q still hates the toilet. Currently accepting ANY techniques that actually work with an almost 4 (double gulp) year old. She HAS gone weeks with rare accidents and keeps reverting. She's super excited to get new underwear when she's poop trained--but as she poops she says, "No thanks mommy, I don't want the new underwear right now. I like being the baby best."

I fear for no fantasy football this year. "....sigh..." per Kluwe...ha ha! I would be that guy.

u2 this weekend! anyone want tickets? we'd love to take 2 people as we have 2 extra tickets.

okay.........back to work. Well, to finish getting ready for work!

A MONTH?

2011-07-03T11:33:00.006-05:00

And some photos from our month...

Hailey and Q ... best friend cousins. She'll be visiting us again really soon!!!!

Yep, he's driving already!Birthdays (including Auntie Carol's last week!)
Not sure what was going on here....OH, the GATE has officially been up over the stairs d/t our mobile dude.

The fire was too hot....

My kids never cooperate....my nieces and nephews and kids and brother (who somehow got nominated to hold Vince for the photo....
Papa's new wagon assembly
STANDING at the table playing!!!
SOO tired after the busy weekend in Grafton...

Best Buds Q and T
Splash pad: first attempt: unsuccessful. He was crying in this photo! And clinging to me for dear life!
OOOH, so refreshing!

Yes, crazy month it has been.

Vince is "crawling", crying and cat napping...the three c's I guess.

We've finally had some nice weather to enjoy time outside.

Visited my family.

And Q and V have spending some great quality time in Eagle Lake.

"Mama?"

2011-06-04T17:35:00.002-05:00

"Yes Quinn.
Wait, Vince."
"MaMA?!"
"Yes, Qu....Vince."

So, he's saying "mama". But only when it's
"Mama"=I dropped my fork
"Mama mama mama"=I'm thirsty
"Mamamoooommmmmm"=I'm hungry

And Quinn just laughs and says, "why do you keep saying my name, Mommy?"

He also says, "f't f't f't f't" when he has footed jammies on and he wants to see his foot.
Or clap his feet. yes, he's a very talented foot clapper.

Still not crawling.
Or rolling.
Butt scoots sorta gorilla-style on his knuckles. Or he'll reach way far ahead of himself (amazing flexibility) and pull himself forward by grabbing onto baskets, chairs, toys, people...whatever to get him closer to toys or other kids-including Quinn.

I just asked Quinn if she has anything to tell the blog folks and she says,
"Blah blah blah put on your blog. Blah blah blah, put on your blog, and blah blah blah blah blah blaaaaah ---- and that's all I have to say. Did you get that Mom?" to the tune of "lou lou skip to my lou"

She got a wicked cool outdoor play house and outdoor picnic table (so we can keep the other one inside). We have envisions of putting an actual floor inside her outdoor play house. We'll see. She played quite awhile back there again today. NICE outdoor entertainment!! Need to get her some outdoor cooking toys of some sort to keep in her house..maybe a little little chair...we'll see.

Now it's "da da da da DAAAAA" while clapping which means, I'm done, time to play. So...time to play!

Weather Rollercoaster

2011-05-23T19:19:00.002-05:00

We go from cold, to warm, to hot, to cold, to rainy, to sunny, to tornado sirens, to sunny, to windy, to calm....what a May this has been!

At the beginning of the month we went to the zoo...and I've watched Ted-do for a day. And I've worked a ton. Had my first professional massage. Had hip issues the make walking, enjoying kids, doing yard work, driving; among anything else that you need a hip for; much more difficult. HOWEVER, all seems good today!! The massage helped a little; but nothing really kicked in until today.

Here are some photos...most of the most recent are on the Ipod and I don't know how to transfer to the pc....so....

Watching Ted-o the kids decided they wanted to go to Disney World. So we packed Q's suitcase and went.

n
Zoo trip: she was really excited to feed the goats.

She was giving me dandelions for Mother's Day--how thoughtful. That's when I thought we had the weed thing under control. HOWEVER, after the week of rain and swamp of a backyard, we came to realize the dandelions are anything but gone.....or even remotely gone!

And our youngest playing with blocks. He started over by the boppy on the floor..scooted his way away from it dropping blocks along the way in just a few minutes. :-)

Vince still isn't crawling or rolling over consistently. Quinn and other day care kiddos are really good at getting him whatever they think he needs before he has much chance to get it himself. If he doesn't feel like rolling over, he'll find his thumb and fall asleep---what a goon. HOWEVER, he LOVES his jumper, exersaucer, and can hold himself pretty well on a table...so, no concerns with leg power!! Crawling--don't think we're so close, but who knows! Crazier things have been proven wrong.
He has EIGHT (8) teeth and I'M pretty sure #9 is coming in...whatever a tooth for each month old? Q got teeth early, but this has been silly ridiculous.
He's been done with an antibiotic for a week now, but he's been sleeping A LOT again--with nothing else seemingly wrong, so we'll wait to see if anything develops this week (and by we, I mean DayCare of course!). Beside another couple pounds and couple inches!
He's an eating fool! We've started trialing more chopped foods instead of purees and he looks at me with a "really, Mom, you're going to make me use all these teeth!?" He got all puree food today and I could tell he was happier with me. :-) He LOVES his honey-less crackers, though...nothing else too new....

Sippy Cup?

2011-05-02T11:50:00.003-05:00

Sippy cup of water with 1/2 container of baby food and cereal...what? This kiddo is growing up tooooo fast! At least the sippy cup keeps him from grinding his teeth!!

And I really need to get on top of pureeing some food for him--all things orange in the land of flavorless Gerber is turning our son into a nice shade of pumpkin.

Watching Ted-do today and things are going well...but things just got eerily quiet...off to see what's really going on...I have a feeling "Word World" has engrossed their attention as it was FRIGID and 34 (before wind chill) out there when we were playing when the SNOW stopped. I think they're still slightly frozen and we came in 2 hours ago!

May my a**.

So much time gone by...

2011-04-30T20:58:00.002-05:00

We are still alive, I promise!!

Vince is eating like crazy these days...FIVE teeth now!!

The Thomas family joined us 2 weeks ago (holy wow where did that time go....) to color eggs....all the colors turned into green pretty quick in Quinn-land!!

Korri and Vince...wow 8 weeks old was a LONG time ago. And do you like the way Q plays memory (see cards all over in back ground).

He even tries to eat food that isn't food!! In fact, that's one of the memory cards that Q picked up so well the night before....or he did his crazy butt scoot move to get to it!

I took a half day yesterday to go see zoo babies...and ...well...Q was only interested in the goats and sheep. She fed them. One. pellet. at. a. time. And each goat got one. And she quickly realized that most parents weren't willing to scavenge the ground for lost pellets, so she found MANY more to feed. We attempted a group trip with our day care lady and friend BUT well, Q had a potty emergency and then we lost the rest of the group! Oops. Vince enjoyed the aquariums (probably because of the lights). And Quinn's favorite listed part was looking at the animals....like the sharks. And as crazy at it is, the other thing she watched longer than the sharks were the cockroaches!! Yep, the girl who cries when she sees an ant or dead worm wanted to know what the cockroaches were and why some of them looked too dead to be at the zoo. Ha ha.

Vince has 5 teeth now. He likes to grab my finger and put it in his mouth, as is if saying, "Here, this is my issue, I have these things in my mouth.

We attempted dentist visit one a few weeks ago, too. That went well...until the chair reclined. Then cooperation was over. They got a quick fluoride treatment on and said, see you in 6 months! She wouldn't even let them count her teeth. Eh. She likes the dentist as much as I do.

Quinn wants me to go play "find the Easter eggs" now...she likes to play things she's done the last week.

And she wants to make numbers and letters now, so this is from her....

qqqqqu1234deeeeeeeeeee6f7g890awqq2323345567ty90

And then there were Four

2011-04-04T16:52:00.003-05:00

Q enjoys her gardening this year. Wants to replant the seeds every day...not sure what's where anymore...or how many seeds are actually planted!!

The last post I had was really about 2 teeth? Well, much has changed, then, as Vince has four now. I can not believe my BABY has FOUR TEETH already.

Yesterday, Quinn asked us, "Have you ever played catch with a rock? Do you want to? Here, CATCH, like that." Luckily for us, she threw it away from us, not at us. I asked if she had ever played catch with a rock and she said, no, I just thought it up right now.

She's adorable and frustrating!

Potty training is and isn't happening. I think she wants attention and hates that Vince and all the kids at daycare keep learning and doing new things that get attention. She was accident free for over a week...and hasn't made it a whole day since I got sick 2 weeks ago. She told me today she really wants me to not go to work anymore because Daddy works for us sometimes and he'd get my stuff done too.

That was after she said, "hmm, let me go check my email too!!"

Vince is still not rolling over, but is a sitting champ.
He's also champ of whining today...can't believe he beat out Quinn (or me!) today.
Still not crawling, but will tolerate tummy time and scoot in circles on his belly.

SO, development changes are coming...and I'm soon will bring a load of changes and mobility all too soon and all at once!! And child locks will be needed for this guy...he plays with anything and tries to open anything put near him.

And of course...we had the snow almost gone...then it snowed. And now it's almost gone again. Not nearly as much "snow mold" or whatever that stuff last year was all about, so hopefully we won't have a dead lawn this year straight off the bat!!

Drool, fever, chewing...

2011-03-20T14:19:00.003-05:00

Means TEETH!!
He's got two lil bumps on his bottom gums! Vince is officially teething!

We attempted cereal again last night. He loves to watch us eat, but has yet to really grasp what eating entails. He made it through about 2T of rice cereal....to 5 minutes later puke it all back up. At least he was still in his high chair! Guess it needs to be a little more milk-y to stay down yet. We'll try again tonight.

And, really, I'd give anything to have one day with the kiddos where Q wasn't puking, just puked, or pooping. This constant shedding of the Noro is making it circle this house. I'm to the point of saving some poop for the doctor to have it tested to find out if it's the Noro or if we have a different issue with our eldest child.

Anyway, that's no fun to read about, so back to Vince. We have his 6 month check-up this week to see how he compares to his big sis. From what I can tell, he's pretty much right where Q was at 6 months size-wise. About 20# about 25" and a big-ish head. :-)

I hit the clothes bins from the basement as much of his 9month stuff seems small-ish. I tried him in a pair of 12 month hand-me-down pants just to see...and they're perfectly fitting...except they're about 1/2" too long. May I just remind you all, that they're hand-me-down 9month and 12 month clothes. The new 9 month fit great and the new 12 month are too big. And I have 2 wash baskets of 12 month clothes!!! Thanks to my sisters and Patty for such generosity to Vince's wardrobe!

He's still not crawling or rolling over. I thought for sure 2 weeks ago it would come any hour. He's still more than happy in the exersaucer or sitting. He's sitting wonderfully. He can even sit, keep his balance, and look around his shoulder a little bit before toppling over (sitting and playing ok, sitting and looking behind him, fall over). Part of me thinks he'll butt scoot instead of roll or crawl...we'll see! Also, he's sitting wa-ay better than Q was at 6 months. And about 6months 2 weeks is when she started rolling, almost 8 before crawling! He loves toys...big and small. Will cry for them if out of reach, attempt once or twice to bend to get them, then give up, suck his thumb and take a nap OR whine until Q or myself get it for him.

In Mankato last week, we visited the Children's Museum (in what used to be a Pier One...what a great space!!) and Quinn's favorite were the large foam blocks. The jerky older boys kept taking pieces to our car. I let them have one or two at first, then they were purposefully taking the ones we were using and laughing! I said, please stop, she's younger than you are and she's getting upset. They proceeded to kick over our creation, pick up 2 more pieces and run away. WTF Mankato?? WTF? I was angry, but continued on. They came back for two more pieces, laughed in my face, and walked away. What would YOU do in this situation??

OH well, Q had to go potty, so we left our creation....to come back and see nothing anywhere closeby. SO, we moved onto sitting in the van seat they had pulled out and then it was almost time to go.

So we went to the carousel at the mall!

And even though she was almost sleeping here at the mall....she did not nap that day.....or most days. Unless you're Frog, then she sleeps great for her.

Vince giggles with Granny

2011-03-14T15:14:00.002-05:00

Lucky kiddos got to see both sets of grandparents and great grandparents the past week!! And Quinn has names for each set.
We have Great Grandparents: Granny and Papa2 (how it's always Granny first, I'll never guess), Grandpa and Nana.
Grandparents: Papa Chuck and Grammy, Papa Joe and Gwanma Disney (or Mary are interchangeable or Grandma).

Here is Vince giggling with Granny.

Missouri highlights and Illness

2011-03-10T14:45:00.006-06:00

Our kiddos are growing up. Vince is almost 6 months and Quinn is 3 1/4. What a difference a few months makes....but that's for a different blog.

The kids had it last week, day care had it this week, now it's my turn. And it sucks. From what I hear, I'll feel better in a couple hours...so maybe there's hope for dinner after all! Mike's not looking forward to maybe getting it as it's missed him so far. I guess the upside is that "looking" into the toilet and sitting on the floor makes me scour them clean...since I'm down there already, why not multi-task?

We had a great weekend visiting Nana and Great Grandpa Marlon in Missouri. And of course visiting with the Emerics, too!! And, the visit with Gwanma and Papa Joe and the Brefkas was another added bonus! Unfortunately, we seemed to be visiting during their coldest weather all season...go figure! However, it was still warmer than it's been here, so it was okay.

In response to GG Marlon's, "Quinn, you're in my chair". Quinn says, "You can sit on the couch if you want!" So innocent she is...only a kid who's 3 can get away with saying that and getting laughter as a response!!!

Vince didn't even swim and he was tuckered out!!

I didn't get one great shot of any of them, I guess...Albina, do you have any good ones? I'D LOVE them!!
"roll, roll, roll!" some day soon, maybe he'll roll over for real...this was the almost end product of....
..."Look ma, I'm doing it!"

Yep, he can sit...but not roll or crawl...unless you count...

crawling on your back. I put him on the floor by the door...this is where he ended up while I put Q in bed for her nap...not only is he several feet from where I put him, but he's sleeping!! What a goof....taking after Grammy sleeping anywhere!

The kids were WONDERFUL in the car. The way home was toughest for poor Vince who just wanted to STRETCH out. He's very much in the "I don't want to recline or lie down, just let me stand or lit" phase of life.

My sister Claire and her Godchildren, Ellen and Vincent.
And Claire rubbing it in that she can roll her tongue and Ellen can't. Let's see if Vince can roll his tongue someday...And well, Ben is in the picture too because 1) he loves photo time and 2) he adores Vince. Where Ever Vince is...Ben probably is close by!

No, Mommy, I'm not sleepy.

And Mary and my kiddos! Mary used to be our babysitter growing up in West Allis, so it was fun to visit again. In fact, I watched the twins/her girls (Ellen's one of them above) when they were Vince's age! And I've really only seen them a few times since then...amazing how quickly kiddos grow from afar!! It was great seeing them all again and what intelligent kiddos my babysitter has in her life!!

3 weeks?

2011-02-28T14:18:00.002-06:00

It's been 3 weeks since my last posting? Yikes!

Life's been crazy. State surveyors are at work so I'm "eagerly" awaiting Mike to get home so I can hit up a late night at work. I'm not really worried about anything dietary related...aren't they supposed to find things we should improve upon?
Regardless, my conversation with Quinn during snack time went something like this...

Quinn "why are these peapods?"

"because".

"Daddy had pods too! On the for the TV!"

"Where??"

"At the apple store, the I-pods. We went there yesterday" (everything is yesterday when related to time, they really went to the Apple Store several weeks ago...like 6-8 weeks ago)

"Ha. Where do peapods grow?"

"On the farm."

"Where do you think I-pods grow?"

"ON THE APPLE FARM!!"

Now...how exactly do I explain this one...I'll let it be for now!!

Lost but not Forgotten

2011-02-06T12:52:00.002-06:00

You can't tell me she's not a Born Rebarchik Bandowzewski Olinger Chucka (uh oh, I'm forgetting names here...).

Found some cute pictures that were shuffled to the end of my "December" photo files. Could've sworn they were posted...but doesn't look like it.

Quinn is in Eagle Lake this weekend. Mike and I had forgotten how EASY one kid is to take care of on a daily basis.

Yesterday Vince had his crabby moments at home, but overall EASY day. We got 2 rooms pretty much cleaned top to bottom (windows, edges with vacuum cleaner, fans, sheets, etc), spent an hour at a furniture store with NO whining (with the exception of me..ha ha), had lunch in virtual silence, and then dropped off the kiddo with a new sitter.

Apparently almost 5 months is a "stranger danger" stage! Vince had a rough night with a new sitter in Lakeville; but the both survived!!! Not sure that Vince and Katie will cross paths soon, but thanks a ton Katie! I had my work holiday party (happy Valentine's Day, in the words of our administrator) in Farmington and it was nice to have yet another meal in virtual silence (well, I suppose I won't count the text messages and phone calls "he's still crying, now what?").

Apparently Quinn was feeling his "missing Mommy"-ness as she was also repetitively asking for me yesterday!! Monday night can't come too soon for her, but we know she's in GREAT hands in Eagle Lake. Hopefully she got or will get some cousin time in with Briley!

Today, we're off to watch super bowl with friends. I have a hopefully will be delicious Leinenkugel's Wisconsin Cheese Soup cooking to take along. Mike's getting the driveway cleared of the yet again 1" of snow. And we're soon to be off to PURCHASE furniture (we're furnishing our front room that was virtually furniture-less folks that have visited). And then the SUPER BOWL! Go Packers!

Ears, Poop, Red Butts

2011-02-01T20:38:00.003-06:00

I hope the days of cranky Vince will be over when the antibiotics are done. He's on a super strong antibiotic for his ear infection and GI upset is terribly common. He's been up seemingly nonstop all night. Unfortunately he's also on day 16 of antibiotic...which means it's been 16 days OF VERY loose poo and cherry red butt. Even the best butt cream isn't helping keep the poor kid's butt normal. :( And he's going through several outfits a day! As if I want to spend my nights doing laundry!!
SO, late next week we'll be taking him in to get his ears checked...with fingers and toes crossed that the infection is gone and that he can get back to normal life again!!

This is our first week of our home day care full time again! The three of us couldn't be happier about it. Quinn giggled the whole way to Farmington talking about how much fun her, Charlee, Brynn and Vince were going to have. Vince woke up giggling at 6:45am and played happily in his crib with his hands until I was dressed at 7am. And well, my piece of mind knowing the kiddos are in great hands made my chaotic work day easier!

And a video because it's too cute to NOT post!!

Adorable

2011-01-26T08:49:00.002-06:00

Vince is growing sooo quickly. He's passing toys from hand to hand and reaching and trying to sit....but still not so close to rolling....he likes to have adults change his position for him. :-)

Also, Quinn's most recent response...

"Quinn, would you like some cheese?"

"No, I do not. But THANKS for ASKin." and she'll repeat it at least twice to make sure I hear her. :-)

Pictures to load...hopefully today after work!!!

Flu?

2011-01-24T19:36:00.003-06:00

If this is the flu...then why exactly did we all get the flu shot??

Been MISERABLE since Saturday...trying to plow through today with the kiddos. Work the rest of the week. Trying to hire a new cook with administrator and human resources out of town... on top of a new menu cycle and survey due just around the corner. OH, and we have norovirus at work so there have been various days of staff gone and residents ill and more work for everyone because I never realized how much we rely on self-service of juice, water & coffee!!

However, Quinn and I had a great day...of kleenex and dancing and "cooking" ...as Vince slept from 11:30 until I WOKE HIM UP at 4:30. Crazy! Quinn even allowed me a few minutes of work every now and then. I must say with the new medicare rules and MDS prep...this whole 4 days at work thing is TOUGH. Especially with the sick kiddos and really having it only be 2 or 3 days a week at work. Yeck.

Bedtime last words, "I love you Quinn"
"I love you Mommy"
"I love you more"
"I love YOU more, Mommy"
"I love you the most"
"I love YOU the MOST!"

January

2011-01-18T19:30:00.003-06:00

Exersaucer fun....watching the Packers win against Philly a few weeks ago.

Siblings.

Quinn on the bouncy chair, Vince sitting along side of her. He's actually sitting pretty well ... but not rolling over yet!

Growth beyond growth. The kiddos are silly and fun to watch -- even when they're running noses, going through boxes of tissues, puking up mucus after each feeding, on antibiotics, and coughing.

Yep, my past few days have been loads of fun. It's actually been pretty nice...Quinn's attitude before 9am and after 6pm is just a different person. So, the past few days I've gotten to enjoy "fun Quinn" not "cranky Quinn".

Papa Joe and Gwanma Disney are coming to town tomorrow night. It was a full week at day care as Trisha and family are in Florida for a week (what a week to be gone!!). My parents decided to come watch the kiddos for us to save us some money, germs, and to allow me a full 8-10 hours at work instead of worrying about the extra hour of day care pick up and drop off....not to mention the extra 30 minutes getting them ready in the morning!!!

Who would've thought extra time at work was a good thing??

Blog party this weekend! House is just about ready....will just go around with the lysol bottle and bleach Quinn's toys one last time before the gangs arrive. :-)

CHICKEN! yay!

2011-01-10T16:44:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite moments from gift opening with my parents to our kiddos. There are lots of favorites from Christmas in it's entirety...but this was precious.

Other Goals Skipped: Before and After

2011-01-09T13:55:00.005-06:00

Before Crazy Hair
MUCH Better Hair (getting the girl to look good for a photo these days is TOUGH!)

Before Nursing (yes, bib says "macho")

Immediately After 10 minute Nursing Session

Out for a chilly walk with Papa Joe (but that's me and Quinn)--And NOPE that's not a hill we're in front of, that's how high the snow is (was...since melted slightly)

Quinn and Mike took a side trip to Eagle Lake so the house is mine and Vince's a little longer. I have successfully collected 5 garbage bags of trash, 2 paper recycling and one other recycling. Cleaned Quinn's bathroom (since we're on trial of cleaning our own house), vacuumed main rooms on first floor, dusting to happen soon. Shower to happen tomorrow. :-)

And, well, with the early football game almost over, I'm taking a little break.

In case you need some giggles in your life...listen to some of Vince's tickle giggles.

Papa 2 with Quinn's new DJ system--complete with 5 styles of music, learn to play mode, several instrument sounds, microphone and "I-Pod" you can record your song and play it back!! Papa 2 really liked this toy.

Disney pieces for the "mr. tato head!". Note how intently Vince is watching Q.....

Dr Frog checking out Quinn

Vince enjoying time in the exersaucer (really doesn't enjoy it unless football is on!). :-)

Thanks Thomas'! Quinn LOVES her personalized Minnie Mouse blanket!

And of course there are other Chistmas Photos....but figured I'd save them for another day. :-)

Work is going busy. Gone about 10-12 hours a day. It's a long day for all three of us. Only a few more days at day care/preschool and then Quinn and Vince will be full time at Frog's Daycare. I think we're all excited for the change to Frog's full time. Trisha is GREAT with the kids, her daughter loves our kids, she provides great attention to each of our kids, Quinn actually uses the potty there (sooo close to pull-up less house!), less germs, less expensive, and overall--Quinn VERY RARELY puts up a fuss when she is dropped off there. Quinn's having a difficult time being told when to sleep, when to eat, when to share, and is expected to use the potty without prompting or physically being lifted to the bathroom to go. Yes, all three year olds should do these things...but ours doesn't! I guess another year before technical pre-school will be a good thing...and only a half day would be beneficial, too! We'll see where my next 8 months of work takes me and how much Quinn changes in that time too.

Nursing/bottles/pumping routine is finally a little settled. Vince doesn't really like bottle and it's taking him longer and longer to eat 3 to 4 oz from the bottle at day care...and then his first nursing session is longer because he's hungry and I don't have quite as much because I pump late in the afternoon (so I only have to do it once a day). So, the nursing session happens almost right away when we get home, which means dinners have been fast food, really late, or Quinn eating alone while I nurse. All situations I'm trying to find a way to change...

15 minute break over...back to housework!! :(

Christmas inside the house will probably still be up in March...but I don't really care....

Today's Goals

2011-01-09T11:46:00.002-06:00

1) Get better.
2) Hope Vincent's cough and congestion goes away on it's own before his Friday 4-month well child otherwise we'll get billed for a sick visit too!
3) Organize Quinn's toys.
4) GO PACKERS!
5) Complete my work assessments so I can enjoy my time with both kiddos tomorrow.
6) Finish 2 weeks of my 4 week cycle recipe books for work
7) PHOTOS TO THE BLOG! My camera is pretty full and y'all are missing seeing the kiddos grow, I'm sure.
8) Make the house mostly presentable for possible blog party next weekend (but it may be the 22nd too...???).

Mike and Quinn are in Mankato area today with the family while I try to organize house and hope my yecky feelings don't develop into full blown cold. And well, lots to get done before watching the Packers!!

Football?!

2011-01-01T13:16:00.002-06:00

So, I'm superbowl champ for the Fantasy Football league I was in!! My regular season record was 4-9! It was a stressful last few weekends, but I ended up winning and winning well again all my opponents...it was a good year....stressful year. Thanks gals!

And Vince's love for watching football is proven yet again today. We have the bowl games on and his eyes are GLUED to the screen with little fussing (as I type, he's getting cranky). Wow, Florida...wow.

Anyway, life has been busy. Christmas was too good to our kids (thanks everyone). Work is busy and I'm very far behind (so I get to work on the weekend from home). Vince is growing fast. Quinn is getting sassier (3 is awful!). Photos to follow....

Past Week

2010-12-13T10:07:00.003-06:00

Yep, she had to EMPTY the bench to sit on it!!! The snow COVERED it!

Well, you all know we got some snow!

And that apparently made Quinn remember Mexico! Here she is in our "swim" drawer packing for our next trip to Mexico this morning!

Vince and I enjoyed inside yesterday while Daddy and Quinn were outside.

I'm rarely in photos....

Quinn being goofy. I forget why I wanted this shot....

Wow, has it only been a week back to work? So far, I am enjoying Mondays off instead of Fridays. It's only been one week. We'll see how things go from here!!

Can You See It!?!

2010-12-03T13:55:00.002-06:00

Snow...again...they said probably 4 tonight, not 1:30! and q's jumping on the couch, "look mama! it's on the rocks? can you see it? and the street! can you see it? i want to see it better, i want to open the windows! can you see it? and the trees! can you see it?" This is not our first snow...and she has been this excited each snow fall. we'll see if the excitement stays all season long...

Our first day of day care/preschool went well. Work for me...it was quiet! I never thought I would think work was quiet! It was. It went okay. It'll be an adjustment, but it was really like I didn't have 12 weeks away....seemed more like a 4 day weekend. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.

I'm still trying to figure out when I'll have time for "life" once I'm working again. Being gone from 8-6 on Wednesday was tough. I barely had time to look at the kids...much less eat breakfast and dinner. So, to working Mommies---when do the dishes get done? Laundry? Kid time? Husband time? General house projects? Shoveling? Cleaning? ME TIME???!!! Grocery shopping? Meals made? Vehicle maintenance? Doctor appointments? Life is busy, I guess!!

HECK, I barely had time for any of this when I was at home full time....

Quinn's been mostly dry for two days now!! Between the potty chair in the living room and the potty in the bathroom, we've been mostly successful. Only 2 accidents...one when I woke her up from nap and once today while I was switching laundry instead of monitoring her potty signals for her. Day care and Trisha will keep up with at least hourly reminders until she can tell herself...so...hopefully soon!!!! (I should check back on my blog postings and see how frequently I've said this the last year....)

We had a play date with Jamie, Jake and new baby Ella yesterday. Quinn was SO excited to see Ella! As soon as she was in the door, "Ella!! Ella, hi! I want to hold her! I have my germ lotion on! I WANT TO HOLD HER!!!" She's absolutely adorable. I never thought it would be a change to hold a 10# baby again. I will miss having free time during the week to see our friends and kids.

No new photos. We'll probably get some tonight or tomorrow once the snow is accumulated over the icy snow that has been around for awhile. We have yet to throw/place V in the snow...so we'll need a shot or two while the temps are still warm enough to have his face exposed!!

Blog gals---sent a facebook message today (probably missed people)--January blog kiddo gathering??

Back to Work

2010-11-30T09:47:00.004-06:00

From the Boy who hates being dirty.....

Are 14 week olds usually sitting pretty much on their own like this? And with the end of such a cute smile with Uncle GoGo time!

Tomorrow's my first official day back. But since they love me so much, they've agreed that my decision to start FT next week is okay (especially for pay cycle reasons). So, my blog friends and family, be prepared for fewer photos and postings from now until forever!

Today, Quinn and I are heading to our first movie in the theater with Claire and Nikki--we'll see how popcorn interrupts her usually nonstop talking through movies!! :-)

Some more from our week...
Q usually hangs out in the bathroom dirty Vince bath time...but she REALLY wanted to help. So I let her. Vince LOVES the big mirror on the counter...I can't tell if he loved watching Quinn in the mirror bathing him or if he loved me making faces at him in the mirror to get the "perfect shot" I was hoping for...

She talks with her hands....it makes for fun photo shoots. In some series of pictures I have, you can almost tell what she's saying by the form of her lips!! Here it was, "but where is his soap mommy?"

Looking at his sister lovingly!

And after a rough season of fantasy football, I managed to pull a great win versus our league's number one seed! WOOHOO! Not holding out much for playoffs, but I'll take a win any day! Especially since it's only my 4th of the season (I know how the Vikes feel!!)
My season was not quite as rough as our turkey day prior to heat the turkey part 2---needless to say, Mom needs a new meat thermometer for Christmas!!!

Yes, we continued to cook the turkey so we could eat!!!

Turkey Birthday Tree

2010-11-29T18:13:00.003-06:00

Vince fell asleep during tummy time today.
My Godson, Alex--and the ladybug pillow that is the BEST birthday present of the year!

Thanks Thomas family! She loves the book!!

Yep, decorated tree is up!!! Almost done!

Our turkey birthday tree! It seems that's been our week in a nutshell.

"I'm treeeeee years oooold..."

McD's dinner per her request.

Three

2010-11-22T15:42:00.002-06:00

She's three.
I can't believe it.
For most of the day, I've been telling Q about the day of her birth.

"You were born really early in the morning and mommy was tired and recovering until late morning."

"REALLY?!"

"Really! And when I finally got to my hospital room, it was still a little bit before I got to hold you."

"REALLY? And did you feed me on your booby like Vincent eats now and like you did when you were in the hospital with him? And we visited? And brought you balloons? And ate food?"

"Really! And yes. And at this point in the day, Green Bay was beating Detroit in a football game that I got to watch on TV".

"REALLY!? FOOTBALL?"

It's been a fun day.

She picked out a new toy at a learning shop, Smarty Pants, after we went to free play open gym at My Gym. "imaginets" by MindWare. They're really cool spatial creative play and she loves them! We make a picture and she goes, "hmmm, what else do they need? A CHIN! A COAT! MITTENS! A HAT! ICE SKATES!" and continues on into her wild imagination. We had a pretty rockin dinosaur earlier today.

She is very much not napping right now, so I need to go tend to her. I was hoping she'd sleep for a little bit today so we could maybe have some company later tonight. Not looking promising!!!

I'm also officially the only one who has seen Quinn on each of her birthdays! Auntie Jen was tied with me up until this year--soooooo, I WIN!! HOPEFULLY, I'll get to see her on her birthday every year until college....when it could just be weird for me to show up for her birthdays.

Happy fourth day of birth, but you're three years old, my lovely, smart, energetic, adorable, persistent ball of craziness--Quinn Constance Born!

Ice Storm

2010-11-21T11:35:00.004-06:00

Well, we had an ice storm last night.

After seeing a neighbor on his ice skates...I decided it was time to see how Q would do on the skates this year...I'm glad we decided to go with size 8 skates! They barely fit last year yet somehow fit great this year!!

Mike's knee pads are related to the carpeting project in the heated garage...not fear of falling.

Hot Chocolate

2010-11-20T12:26:00.004-06:00

She's almost 3...can't believe it. This is the balloons Scott, Beth and Teddy got for Q! I can't believe they're still mostly alive...

We had some time outside the other day. Following, I wanted hot chocolate. Quinn doesn't even like to eat hot food, so I was interested to see how she handled hot chocolate. Not to mention hot chocolate and marshmallows was really the only reason I'd ever play outside for a long time...I hated the cold...still kind of do, but it's a little more fun and tolerable with a kid who enjoys being outside.

She loved the whole process. I even added marshmallows (apparently for some added protein...there are TRACES of protein in marshmallow gelatin...with my nutrition knowledge...I find good in all things delicious! ) and well....what's hot chocolate without them!?

She chose chocolate mint....
Put it in the cup herself...
And wanted to do the milk, but I wouldn't let her...(not a bad shot for pouring and photo at same time...)

Getting some last cleaning and organization completed prior to returning to work on the 1st...full week starting the 7th. There's TONS to do at work upon my return....but even more to do here. But nothing serious...just tasks difficult to complete with a toddler and infant...especially when they're both so adorable and fun to entertain.

I heard from our NYC neighbors today! Made me wonder how the houses would be decorated this year, and missing the big tree at 30 Rock again and shopping online and the neighbors wanting us to pay them to have them snow blow our walk (whatever, that's free here!!). It was great to hear from them...and made me miss her cooking!!!!

Well, back to organization of house . . .

"MY LEEEGGGS HURRRRTT!!!"

2010-11-16T12:59:00.003-06:00

So, for family that was here on Friday--they learned that Quinn remembers. She poked herself in the eye about a month ago as she was falling asleep. Well, she remembered this on Friday shortly before my family arrived and she cried and cried and cried that her eye hurt and she poked herself. She failed to mention it was a month ago---but she just remembered it hurt, so she cried and made herself feel it was hurt again.

Well, she was lucky enough to go to the doctor today!!! And I don't think she'll pull out "my eye hurts" anymore. I'm pretty sure it'll be "I don't like the doctor. My legs hurt!!!" She got flu mist and two immunizations. Not pretty. Bandaids didn't fix it. Mommy didn't fix it. Stickers didn't fix it. Brother kisses didn't fix it. Kiki didn't fix it. Target trip didn't fix it. TYLENOL didn't fix it. Vitamins seemed to fix it so far...we'll see how long that lasts. OH, then she got her blood taken from her finger because I don't recall ever getting a lead test and well...we were in an old Brooklyn house and she liked to eat things...soooo....to be safest, I guess this is a verification she's okay.

Vincent also got THREE shots. I forgot how "easy" it was at that age. He turned tomato red, screamed until I got to pick him up, and fell asleep as soon as I cozied him into his bundled car seat. He briefly opened his eyes at Target, giggled at me, and fell asleep again. I like the "just cuddle up and sleep" coping mechanism!!

I have the specific "chart" information in the diaper bag nowhere near me right now...but the summary of what I can remember. Q's heavy for her age at 34#, but 50%ish for height at I want to say 34" which I thought was funny...(higher BMI but not "off the charts")--she eats, what can I say?? She stood very nice and still for both weight and height--very shocked! She giggled the entire time she took the vision test, "boat!" hee hee "umbrella!" hee hee "house!" hee hee. She was right on target for most developmental aspects---impressed the doctor with her counting (apparently she's only supposed to get to 5 and she made it to 12 and there are times she can make it to 15) and stork stand (balance on one foot with other foot on your knee) and jumping (she decided to jump side to side instead of forward!! ha ha!!). Q was not able to make a very solid circle (but made an oval that almost closed) or draw intersecting lines (she drew parallel...) -- both are what "some kids can do". Her vocabulary and listening skills are above "par". She also has some wicked red skin from the pull-ups she's been wearing. :( Got PRESCRIPTION diaper cream as 2 days of regular isn't working so well!! They were NOT concerned with potty training (especially since she asked and was successful potty there!) mostly because of the MAJOR life change with Vince being 2 months old. They said they see many the toddlers that are completely continent up until the couple weeks before new baby is born and then not until a couple months later. SO, we're right on "track" there too.

Vincent: Let me just say--he likes to eat. How can I tell? My 2 month old is 13#! He also grew a few inches to 23" (I think.....maybe it was 21"....). He's on track around 30% for height and jumped to 80% for weight (from 25%). :-) Head is at 25% (Q had a small head too...but whatever) with no change and is following the growth curve. He's also above "par" with the giggles, coos, following faces and object, recognizing me and giving me a giggle--and just smiling at the doctor/stranger, head control, turning his head towards Q when Q screamed bloody murder when given her shots, and pulling fingers to pull himself up.

SO, kids are smart. I guess that's the moral of the story.

I'm still working on cleaning up the house from our house visitors and new gifts! She got some new books which she LOVES--charlie brown christmas, lullaby moon, and a pooh book (sorry Grammy, not much interest in the newspaper book yet). :-) Some toys--loves all of them. Sheets, clothes, shoes, hats, mittens, gloves, boots---all goodies of awesomeness. We worked on some thank you notes yesterday...hopefully will get them done by the end of the week. Vince also got lots of great clothes and toys for baptism. Again...lots to clean up and lots to wash and lots of stuff to find a good home!

As for now...I will enjoy the last few moments until the kiddos wake up! :-)

Cousins Weekend!

2010-11-15T08:00:00.005-06:00

My sister Claire and her husband Tom and four kids, along with Hailey, spent the weekend at our house. My sister Jen and boyfriend, Mom and Dad all stayed in a hotel close by. Why? We had a small Quinn turns three next week (what?) party -- but the focus was Vince's baptism.

Quinn was so excited Thursday and Friday she could barely (and barely) slept. "Are my cousins and aunties coming today??" She was excited to see her Grandparents and Great Grandparents---but no offense, she gets to see and talk to her cousins and aunties MUCH less frequently. This weekend was a treat for her--and honestly, I think they all enjoyed every minute! My sisters and I reminisced about visiting our Aunts while growing up and wonder what they'll recall from trips to see Auntie Katie (since everyone else is within a day's trip of a visit).

We closely watched weather; as the last drive in for Claire and Tom was our wedding 4 years ago and there was a crazy snow storm. Well, Minnesota did not disappoint--but gave us crazy Saturday weather instead! We got (apparently) 8" of snow on Saturday. My Aunt and Uncle from Wisconsin drove in (and made decent time!) and Teddy and Scott and Beth came out with a bunch of balloons for the birthday girl!! The rest of our other local guests decided it was a lot of work to get anywhere on Saturday---and I don't blame them! Roads were awful, power was (and still is) out in some places.

It was hard at times to keep Q in the house as she's been asking about snow since we put her pool away. "It's going to start snowing soon, Quinn, no more pool." "I want snow, then, when will it be pool time again? When the snow goes away?" Soooo, I'm not sure if she's more excited for pool again or to play in the snow. Her cousins were snow gear-less, so they had a grand time inside...but rest assured---as soon as the last cousin left, Quinn had on her new gloves, boots, and hat -- along with her carol coat and princess poncho (wearing as a skirt--not on shoulders) -- and we were outside playing!!

Here are some of my best shots from the weekend...

Welcome to the Catholic church Vincent Jay!!

Crazy that this is actually a good family photo!!!!

Vince's new best friend...his hands!! Granny helped him a little bit here.

We got the kids to smile...how? "Santa's watching you now!!"

And he's holding onto toys now...and putting them into his mouth!!!! HE'S GETTING TOO BIG!!!

It was my Mom's birthday on Friday so we got a Culvers Concrete cake---yummmmmm-ooooooo :)

And Mom made Quinn a candy cake!!!

happy birthdays

2010-11-12T14:20:00.002-06:00

I'm going to single out "gwamma" Mary and "papa" Chuck as the birthdays (but I know there are a ton happening the past week!) So HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We will get to spend some time with both of them tomorrow; in addition to LOTS of cousins and 2 aunties! Tomorrow is Vince's baptism and we've decided we'll probably do a small celebration for Quinn's birthday too. We went to the store today to get a cake for tomorrow and Q proceeded to fill the cart with birthday hats, wrapping paper, party favors, party bags, and candles. I guess we'll have to sing happy birthday a week later with some family and friends after all!!

And now....Q's bringing vince all her toys (he's getting tummy time)..."you will love this alligator! and baby brooke! and kiki! ooooh VIIINNNNNNCEENNNT, do you just love them? ooh, mama, he's just SOOOOOOOO cute, awww"

She was a...

2010-11-11T07:23:00.003-06:00

..."little birdie! tweet tweet tweet!"

...And just a thought in our head on this day four years ago...

Q's been cute about photos lately. I've been (finally) putting nails in walls and hanging up photos and the ones from our wedding and Dannie's wedding, "where am I, Mommy? was I a baby in your tummy?" Now really...for Dannie's wedding it was true...but what do you say about our wedding??....

That's Your Name!!

2010-11-10T14:44:00.001-06:00

Bathtime happening (we're dirty from 3+ hours of yardwork)...

"Z F U number 1 R...that's your name! Katie!"

Moments like this make me want to be home forever.

Still on Leave

2010-11-09T15:28:00.004-06:00

Well, now that Katie feels 95% like a real person again is maternity leave more fun!

Today we conquered the Minnesota Zoo.

Tiger was taking a bath!! It was odd seeing an animal 3xs my size (since I'm almost pre-preggo weight again---but not waist size....figure that one out!) take a bath like our cats....Q thought it was pretty cool because of the Cat in the Hat episode...

Vince fell asleep first thing after his feeding this morning...I got up to get my cup of coffee and he fell asleep on the couch! Kid likes to sleep these days....I just need him to fit into his baptism outfit on Saturday---wish us luck!!!!

Tea time! I gave Quinn the chore of keeping Vince awake while I finished getting ready. He was just SMILING at Q prior to this shot...he loves his sister!

Unfortunately--the Farm was closed for the season already! Guess we'll need to find a place where Q can feed some animals or all I'll hear about until April is feeding the animals!!

I should've gotten an after shot of Quinn with her chocolate ice cream. She got a special treat because we packed up to leave the playground and I told her it was potty time. Well, the close potties were closed (STUPID winter season)...so we went to the "far" ones. It went something like this..."Mama you stay out here, but give me the diaper bag just in case I don't make it"....takes diaper bag in stall, locks stall, strips naked (I can see through the crack) pees and yells, "I DOING IT, DO YOU HEAR, DO YOU SEE?!? I PEEING!!!" Too bad (In a way) the bathroom was empty because I was laughing and I'm pretty sure anyone with kids (which was everyone at the zoo today with at least one kid...most with 2 or more)...would've also appreciated the moment. So, she waited and peed on the toilet. We're getting CLOSE-ER!!! :)

Quinn also tried to make friends with a girl at the tiger exhibit. The little girl however, ran away screaming and crying when Quinn said, "Hi, I'm Quinn, what's your name" while chasing her around in circles...the little girl finally ran to her Mom and hid in her shoulder. She was a couple months older than Quinn....it was a cute moment.

Well, back to the kiddos.

Loving the 60 degrees...hoping the rain holds off another day so maybe we can keep the 50s for one more day!!!!

Mr Roboto

2010-11-04T13:39:00.004-05:00

No wonder he was smiling...I've never gotten an action puking shot before...

Notice the BIG smile on Vince's face...he just giggles at her (when they're just chillin...).

Adorable

2010-11-02T21:38:00.006-05:00

Frog's Halloween party last week!

She paints so frequently, apparently she can do it without looking....

Drop the clothes pin in the cup...
Waiting patiently for her turn to do something...she looks so grown up here!

I GET CANDY!? But Mom said this was a party, where's the cake? Yes...she actually asked where the cake was after she was given about 30 pieces of candy and a frosted cookie!!

And, Vince "dressed up" at home by Quinn. Apparently she thought he was lonely and needed the company of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 items other than himself in the swing.

Check out "Meet Quinn and Vince" on Christine's photo blog! Adorable photos! I should get the
discs soon--photos soon after. Yay! There are some adorable Quinn pirate photos there too.

AND

One of our favorite pass-our-time activities lately (as if we need a way to make our days go faster!) is to look through Vincent's wardrobe and find pictures from when Quinn wore the same clothes. Here's a little adorable 6/7 week comparison...

He may have started out a pound lighter...but he's catching up! Our little man is growing so quickly! We don't have our 2 month appointment for a few weeks yet. It's still crazy to think how time flies!

He's loving interacting with toys a little more these days. But mostly, if it touches his face, he wants it to be dinner. LOVES his mobile. And his swing is his best friend!

And...Q is still the star of the family, right? Well, here she is bouncin' and talking about the weather outside...the windin' we had last week.

LAME!

2010-11-01T10:28:00.003-05:00

Yes, so I have no photos of us from our halloween weekend.
Quinn went to Eagle Lake so Mike and I could enjoy (?) the Gopher game (if that's a game we saw) and Jim and Stacy's party. I managed a Brad Childress costume get-up while Mike was a blind ref and Vince was a lil football.
Quinn was far away, but was an adorable pirate!! We went down later last night to pick her up and missed all the neighborhood festivities and candy. We'll see how many stop by our house over the next couple days to give her candy (as many of the older couples in the neighborhood make special packages for the neighborhood kiddos). Most of the families that stay home to hand out candy have bonfires in the front yard, too, so the 'hood smelled really yummy when we got home. We were bummed it was a school night though, otherwise we would've had time to still run around and visit with all our great friends here.
Quinn had a blast with Papa and Grammy, though, and only got a few pieces of candy! Yay! At least we won't be eating candy for a year this year (we just finished last year's stash!).
I'll ask Q to get her costume on again for photos.
And both kids hate us for changed bed time and daily routines since Thursday...they were both up late last night and up early. BOOO! :)

Quickly Approaching...

2010-10-26T14:24:00.003-05:00

...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

2010-10-25T16:57:00.003-05:00

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

2010-10-24T08:46:00.002-05:00

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

2010-10-22T18:01:00.004-05:00

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

2010-10-19T12:16:00.004-05:00

Quinn gets to feed Vince!

she LOVES helping with apples!

Pile of leaves for all!

One Day at a Time...

2010-10-16T14:27:00.002-05:00

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?

2010-10-13T12:46:00.002-05:00

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

2010-10-08T16:40:00.002-05:00

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

2010-10-05T15:18:00.002-05:00

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!!

Not Posed!

2010-09-29T18:30:00.002-05:00

Some things you just can't make up....like the way and where Quinn fell asleep last night.

TO THE...

2010-09-29T12:19:00.002-05:00

Quinn's newest love="The Cat in the Hat". PBS started a new show on Labor Day starring the cat. Quinn LOVES IT!

Yesterday, Quinn wanted to wear underwear...I went with it. I didn't plan on really asking and expecting a positive answer until next week, but went with it yesterday. And followed it up with 3 potty accidents and only one successful potty. I'll take what I can get. And I agree with Shanna--only one day in to training and I miss diapers! :) And needless to say, a carpet cleaning is in our near future!!

This morning, she went from diaper (overnight) to underwear. I asked her if she needed to go potty.

She said, "Sure! TO THE THING-A-MA-JIGGER!"

The Cat in the Hat travels in a "thing-a-ma-jigger" on the PBS show (maybe another book too??).

So far zero success or potty or poop this morning...odd for 12:30 already. She did just ask to go back into a diaper, we ate lunch, and has now ran away from me...expecting a poop coming soon! I reminded her today that if she starts using the potty, she'll get to go to school instead of day care when I go back to work. "Really, Mommy? SCHOOL!?!?" And she proceeded to sit on her potty chair for almost 20 minutes!

We moved the potty chair to near the play area so she doesn't have so far to travel if she gets a "sudden urge" while she learns her signs of needing to pee. She seems to like it--if I would've known that was the trick to training, it would've been in here MONTHS ago! Of course, months ago, she only sat on the toilet and hated the potty chair. OH what a process. Can't wait to do it again with Vince.

Every week I see my baby growing into a little girl. I'm glad I've gotten to see this wonderful, creative, (stubborn), persistent gal unfold before my eyes the last few weeks. It makes it very difficult to want to go back to work anytime soon. Especially with how great she is with Vince! Today, Quinn shared Kiki, several toys, hugs, and kisses. I swear he giggled at her, but know it's way to early for that!

We have plans to head to Farmington Saturday for a party at Trisha's: "Moms and Kids". We should see all of Quinn's friends and hopefully she'll be super happy to see Trisha and Charlee! I plan to use up some more of my millions of pounds of apples...but have some serious pumpkin cravings too! We'll see what I feel like making tomorrow or Friday!

Pictures

2010-09-28T13:14:00.002-05:00

We're still hanging in there!!

Quinn still loves her brother...except when it means that story time or movie time or snack time are delayed because Vince is nursing. I'm getting better at anticipating what Quinn may want prior to my 10 minute nursing sessions...but it's a little more difficult to figure out when Vince will eat again!

He's on a pretty regular feeding schedule: 1:30am, 5am, 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 7pm, 10pm...give or take 30 minutes or so. He poops all day and night...so diaper time is almost constant. Between Quinn, Vince, and me this morning; there's been probably 2 hours of bathroom/diaper time!! And I wonder how 1pm comes to be so quickly!

I'm dreading the days of getting ready and getting kids ready for day care. Really hoping Vince is down to one feeding during the night by then. Two hours out of my night of sleep is getting to be a lot to make it through the day!

Also, Quinn's schedule needs to get "back to normal" soon--10pm is TOO LATE for her to be hitting the bed! She, however, wants to be up because her brother is up. One of his times to be awake for a few hours is after 8pm...last night it was pretty much awake from 8-midnight!!

We're going to re-approach potty training next week. We have had a relatively busy week this week and I'm still not 100% so it's hard for me to follow her around and helping with training and reminders. Also, I'm hoping Vince will be needing less one-on-one attention come next week and will interact with toys more. We're taking one day at a time all the way around!!

Another Loss, but a Success Anyway

2010-09-26T15:33:00.003-05:00

Vincent, Quinn and I were treated to a Gopher game last night!
Yes, 12 days old at a Gopher game.
Yes, the game that started at 7:30pm with a toddler.
Yes, when the temperature was in the 50s ish somewhere.

Our friends Jamie and Bryan had an extra ticket, so I sat with them for the first half. Mike and Chuck used Mike's "normal" tickets and Quinn was free!

HOWEVER, Vince and I stayed mighty warm with body heat. Mike bought me a Moby wrap and it was the slickest thing ever...once I figured out exactly how tight it really needed to be wrapped. I even managed a covered breastfeeding session during the first touchdown, of all times. So, I did not stand for the score, or post-score celebration...but he ate well. LOVED the excitement and things to look at around the stadium.

He did not quite have the same experience Quinn had. She chased Mike around the concourses, sat with Papa Chuck for a little bit, but ran most of the game. I was a little surprised Mike was willing to give up yelling at the game to entertain his daughter. And towards the end, she was pretty much the ONLY one cheering "Go Gophers!" It was tough to hear over "Fire Brewster".

I doubled up on T3 (the recommended dose, but doubled compared to what I've been taking) and ibu at recommended dose just prior to the car ride to "The Bank". What I forgot to account for was the fact that the game end was going to be at my next dose of ibu--so the ride home SUCKED. Also since I forgot to use the rest room prior to leaving the game...doubly uncomfortable. Saddest part of today...the T3 is GONE!!!!

I had a good time despite the pain today and the fact that the Gophers lost. Quinn was still asking us this morning "what was your favorite part of the Gopher game?" and then she tells us what it should be! :)

I was going to wait to post this, but was excited to share. Unfortunately, I believe the camera is still in Mike's car, so the video and photos shall be available soon.

Tomorrow is our 2 week well-child for Vince, so maybe there will be some fun new news to share tomorrow. Our lil man is definitely getting bigger!!

Naps are Wonderful

2010-09-22T17:22:00.003-05:00

Yep, Shades, t-shirt, thin cotton pants and winter boots. And we played outside this way!!

Brush your teeth...and chin, and lips...and apparently that starts to itch!

His eyes are greenish blueish grayish colored...this was his awake time this morning before the rest of the house was awake.

Pout-y Quinn. She's been pretty good with her baby brother's arrival...but has been in a diaper only, no clothes all day phase. It take LOTS of convincing to have her put on clothes to go outside to play.

I got a bath and two kids sleeping for a WHOLE HOUR at the SAME TIME today!!!!

Much needed quiet time considering the sassy toddler I had at lunch time and the boy who insisted on being held. Now I may have mastered eating and feeding at the same time with Quinn...but it's a whole new technique to master feeding a toddler, infant, and myself at the same time! Hopefully before long we'll have that one mastered (or maybe we can break it up a little bit and not all need to eat at the same time!!). What I did learn is that a sling may be needed before long. We have a front pack carrier, but I think I'd rather have a soft sling for around the house.

Luckily, I may have even snoozed for a few minutes (intended on watching Jeopardy.....) this afternoon.

Now it's dinner time and I don't want to cook (shock shock). And Quinn just woke up crying...

"I don't want it to be wet and rainy outside!!!!"

ME neither, Quinn. Me neither.

Welcome to Autumn in just a few hours.......

Life with TWO

2010-09-21T09:59:00.004-05:00

"Vincent has an owie!! What's wrong? What happened, Mama?"

How do you explain to a 2 year old why there's a cord attached to a belly button yet and it needs to fall off on its own? We told her it didn't hurt him, but he doesn't seem to understand. Oh well.

She seemingly has this crazy desire to pick it off his belly. And of course, "He needs a bandaid, Mama. He has owie."

Vincent got his second sponge bath yesterday since it was warmer in the house (and outside). He had some cord goo on his outfit, so I decided to clean him off while he was having naked time. Got him cleaned, changed (which he HATES getting anything pulled over his head)....and 2 minutes later he pooped. So I change him...as I'm closing the diaper...pee everywhere. NEW OUTFIT! SO, really what was going to be a nice calming sponge bath turned into 15 minutes of Vincent crying because of this whole fun ordeal--in addition to the fact that he was hungry because I was just going to give him a quick bath.... I can't wait to be able to immerse him in water, I think he'll love bath time!

OH, and to make this 15 minutes more fun, Quinn got soap in her eyes or stubbed her toe somehow or something in the bath tub and SHE was screaming that the only thing that would make her better is a juice box. Mike was luckily available to help with the Quinn bath fun. SO, moral of that story is don't put Q in the bath tub when Vincent is awake ever. Lesson learned!

Today is Mike's first day away for the whole day. Hopefully stir crazy Quinn will stay close to the house when we go play outside today!

I can barely believe....

2010-09-20T13:31:00.002-05:00

...
this was a week ago!

And much to my delight, all these clothes just fall off me now! Hmm...this however means my wardrobe is nil...considering my wardrobe since I was last my current size was all maternity wear for summer months!! I tried on some clothes last night and they were mostly too big. So, Stacy inherited a wardrobe last night.

Stacy, Jim and Finn made us dinner last night and it was A-mazingingly delicious. Few leftovers, enough for maybe another meal--but awesome. My Dad was still talking about it this morning (the roast, Stacy, he said the gravy was a nice addition, but the roast was the best thing he's had in a long time!). Either way, Stacy, I hope some of the clothes are usable for you for Florida and for the duration of your pregnancy!

I did not realize I was also in this photo, but note the decreased belly size already...that 7# I'm holding on my lap was inside a few days ago!

Mom and Dad couldn't stay away for long. They came back to visit for the week. And we finally saw the sun yesterday for a bit, so we took Vincent outside for some vitamin D and photos.

There isn't anything much more adorable than a sleeping baby.

We're a happy family these days.

AND I'm thankful for a healthy family these days!

Nathan, Nikki, Claire and Grace came to say hi on Friday. Nikki and I enjoyed an hour without our kids (Vincent stayed behind) while the guys took the three girls to the park. We hope to see that gang a few times before I go back to work (oooh, what an evil word right now).

Quinn spent the weekend with Mike's parents and it was nice to have a few days to truly be able to just chill and enjoy my new baby. Since Vincent's birth, Q has decided she only wants to wear diapers (pull-ups out the window). We'll work on potty training and pull-ups again in a few weeks ago when our routines are back again. It'd be nice to have her trained before we go back to day care/work. But, she really will get it when she wants to....just like everything else with her. She's in love with her baby brother, though....so far!!

So, a busy weekend, with hopes of a routine and fewer tantrums this week (yes, Mike and I included!). :)

Quinn Vincent Video

2010-09-15T11:46:00.002-05:00

Times were crazy Monday night when Quinn met Vincent (not to mention she was tired), so we didn't get any good video or photos of their true first time meeting. But pretty much as soon as she showed up yesterday, she wanted to hold her baby brother!

And Mike had this conversation with her before the hospital (hopefully close enough to the true conversation).

What's your baby brother's name?

SISTER!

If he's the sister, what does that make you?

A baby CROCODILE!

Our children are too adorable sometimes. :)

Vincent had an okay first night home. He was TIRED yesterday afternoon and wouldn't wake up between 5 and 9 to eat, so once he woke up at 9...he wanted to eat all night..and poop! Finally about 2am or so, he settled down for a few hours...and was so wide awake and adorable at 4:30 this morning. We played and talked and rocked and sang until about 5:30 when he ate again. I put him down in his crib, he woke up about 6:30 poopy (shock shock) and I got him fed about 7:30 after he chilled out with me while I cleaned up the living room (wow the house was messy when we left on Sunday!) a little bit. Then I crashed in bed exhausted.

Vincent woke up again at about 8:15 and I told Mike and said "tag, you're it. I need at least 20 minutes." I got about 45 and it was wonderful. Quinn woke up about 8:30, Mike got her out of her room with a crying Vincent and got them both settled down. It was wonderful.

Now he's nursed once and is settled in his crib for about 2 hours now. It's been nice to spend some time with "just Quinn" and get her a little settled down. We asked her to pick up her room and she wasn't cooperating. I finally went in there and asked why she wasn't helping and she replied, "I'm having a bad day today, I'm just not happy, I can't help with anything". After reminding her that she had a great day yesterday with Daddy, that he's here again today to help with the baby, and that she's been a great help with her brother so far, she was happier and helped pick up her whole room! And then she said, "I'm so hungry!!!" But before we made lunch, she helped put all the dishes away and load it back up again! I think things will go well once we're "routined". Let's hope!

We're pretty set for visitors...just working on house order. Give us a call if you want to stop by! We're eager and happy to show off our little man! :) Even if Mommy is only half showered and Quinn is crazy!

Vincent the Conquerer

2010-09-14T14:02:00.004-05:00

Well, hopefully Mike approves of the new blog title: we'll find out.

Sunday: 5am--I'm tired but the kiddo isn't. Moving like mad and giving me some crazy hunger signals. So, I wake up and snack. A contraction hits me about 6:30am--I think--oooh! Mom and Dad can meet the lil guy and then head home.

NOPE

Sunday: 10am--Mom and Dad decide to leave...no more contractions since 6:30am (maybe Quinn waking up shortly after had something to do with it??).

Sunday: 11am-4pm--random contractions, lots of nausea, but snacking small all day. And watching football!

Sunday: 3:45pm--Quinn awake from nap and wants to play outside--Packers game not so exciting, fantasy team losing BAD, Mike's fall league team loses, and I just want to be able to walk normally again. Head to "small park"--see several neighbors who say..."why are you still here and pregnant?!" "Ugh....really, if I hear that one more time."...I think.

Sunday: 5:00pm--back to the pack...hey, how'd the score get so high? Who scored those touchdowns? Grant's out of the game?!

Sunday: 5:30pm--Mike's home, Quinn's crazy, contractions about 10-35 minutes apart. I have no appetite, but again, feel I should eat something.

Sunday: 7:00pm--Quinn's going crazy and asks to go to bed? Something's going on here...Mike reads her stories and I have a small salad with leftover tenderloin: delicious!

Sunday: 7:30pm--Quinn's not tired! Mama is. I doze off and on in the recliner.

Sunday: 8:45pm--Contractions every 10 minutes or so. but nothing to write home about. We decide to put Quinn to bed instead of shipping her somewhere for "just in case". I fall asleep on recliner watching Mike play video games.

Sunday 10:30pm--I go to bed with my last words to Mike being, "I just wish these things would be more regular already...."

Sunday: 11:00pm--"Mike, they're more regular already...that was 3 in the 20 minutes and oh, holy hell here's 4!!"

We make some phone calls, pack some bags, get Quinn, and head to the hospital. Every bump during contraction...every turn during contraction...oh, never again!

Sunday: 11:50pm--I'm in the car while Mike's dropping off Quinn at a friend's place for the night swearing at him for taking so long, my baby's going to fall out! He was only there for about 10 minutes.

Sunday: 12:13am--admitting to hospital....3-4cm...contractions every 3-5 minutes. AND they suck! Move to room around 1:30am. Epidural on the way, they keep promising me.

Sunday: 2am-ish--oh, sweet nectar that is epidural medication. Mike's happy that I'm more calm and is out like a light. Me, however, have a blood pressure cuff squeezing my arm every 20 minutes and nurses and doctors asking me millions of questions and examining and checking...I think I managed a TOTAL of a few hours of sleep. Very thankful for my little snooze on the chair watching Mike at home...but wishing I could just sleep.

Sunday: 9am-ish--breaking my water! 8-9cm. Not nearly as much fluid as there was with Quinn, but enough!

Sunday: 10:00-ish--moving down, 10cm...holy cow, I thought his head was low before! I want to push and get him OUT!

Sunday: 11:56am: Baby Boy is born!!! I cry, Mike's sooo happy, and I just realize there are 6 strangers in the room with me! I think they've been there for awhile!!

Sunday: 2 pm-ish---We finally decide on a name. Vincent Jay Born: 7lbs 4oz, 21": so handsome!

The rest of the day was a blur...well, the whole day really. We made phone calls, took a bath (both Vincent and me!), moved rooms, had visitors, and completely missed dinner somehow (think it was sent to the other room and we had lots of company and I was EXHAUSTED yet still full of adrenaline).

First minutes out of Mommy!

First moments with Daddy!

First Bath

First shot as a family

First visitors (yes, Teddy met the little guy before Quinn!!)

Sorry Papa Chuck, we only got photos of you with your Grandson on your camera!!! :(

We're probably heading home tonight. Quinn was sad to leave me and Vincent here last night, so with pediatrician approval, we'll be home soon!!!!

Still Home

2010-09-11T07:56:00.003-05:00

Well, here we are almost a week overdue.
At home, not the hospital.
Mike's got his first Gopher game today, so that should be fun for him. I was hoping for baby by now because I'm supposed to go to the game next Saturday. Either a few days post baby (csection or not)...a football game may be the last place I want to be as a new (again) nursing Mom who just had a baby! We'll hope for today yet....

I've seemed to misplace the infant bathtub, bouncy chair and boppy.....so we'll go on a search for that. But besides that...just counting the days until maybe contractions become existent or regular (something besides dehydration...getting lots of that yeck feeling lately).

Another appointment scheduled for Monday morning. Another NST test to make sure he's doing well. His heart rate and movements were great on Thursday. I still just want a healthy baby...but man do I really just want to have a baby at this point!!! Something's keeping him inside and I'm finding that for the best...but it's still crazy to think that if I had planned c-section, he'd be 2-3 weeks old!!!

Sad that my parents will probably not be here for birth of this baby, they're heading home tomorrow. This will be first grandbaby that they won't meet within the first few hours (out of 8, he'll be 9!) and they're kinda bummed about that. It's been a fun week though. Q sure does enjoy their silliness and company. Dad's been busy building a wishing well for our outdoor decor, so Q's been having fun help paint, saw, and create outside in the garage. And Q got her BIG bed this week, so they got the joy of nap-less Quinn because "it's too big for ME mama!!!".

Oh, and the garage space works very well as a workspace now! Mike got his shelves installed and tool organization completed in time as Dad's been able to find any tool he's needed with much ease! Not to mention the screen on the front of our garage door has kept out the mosquitoes nicely!

Will continue to keep updated as possible...crazy that time of 41 weeks flies so fast? :) Crazy to think I was pregnant when the Vikings and Giants faced off in January....that seems like a lifetime ago!! I think I'm ready to hear that little cry all night long...as long as it means I'll be able to turn over in bed again! As long as I'll get time to sleep in my bed!

Apple Orchard

2010-09-08T08:05:00.003-05:00

Quinn was not "frightened" away by the mosquitos in the apple orchard yesterday. My parents, Quinn and I headed to the apple orchard to pick some yummy goodness (and try to exercise this baby out!!). We never made it to the orchard last year, but went two years ago in New York...

So, still no baby, but having fun watching Quinn grow before my very eyes!! It's only been a week at home, but I swear she's a different kid again. Learns so much every day!

Full Term

2010-09-07T07:15:00.003-05:00

Well, never thought we'd make it to full term...but how many times did I say that with Quinn? Technically (by original due date) today is full term. If you go by any of the other due dates, I have another week. I guess we'll see how big this guy gets and if any of the walking, drinking, eating, physical activity I've been doing lately helps get this baby out!

My parents are here and loving Quinn time. And Quinn is loving all the attention! Hopefully the extra company won't make her be increasingly sassy once they go home and she has Hermano around!

She got her new big bed set up yesterday. Turns out both cribs we have convert to double beds and we got a twin bed, but OH WELL. She looks like she's drowning in the twin bed, but she was starting to look pretty silly in the toddler bed already too. She missed nap yesterday so bed time was twice as much fun--new bed and overtired! I think she'll adjust nicely...just hoping that she stays IN BED and doesn't fall out!!

SO, the mattress and crib were passed to Hermano. Mike and Dad set up the crib with sheets, bumper pad, and blankets yesterday--can't believe A BABY is really coming home! His room is ready and waiting!!!

So are Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Papa, and Quinn! And all of you too!!!!!!

Baby Belly

2010-09-05T13:59:00.003-05:00

We headed to Mankato recently for (Great) Auntie Annie's Surprise birthday party. Quinn had a good time...even when the party started at 7pm! I remember the days not too long ago when taking her out after 6pm was going to be pure torture for everyone because 7pm was bedtime. Now we're lucky if 9pm is bedtime. How did that happen to us?! Hopefully in a few weeks, we'll get some kid-free nights by both of the little ones being at least sleeping part of the night!

Quinn learned what pool was all about, "Daddy was good putting those colors in the holes, Mommy!!"

And my belly. This was actually 2 weeks ago already....haven't gotten any smaller! And, somehow that's a real smile on my face...Don't get me wrong, I'm soooo grateful we've made it to 40 weeks when I really thought it was all over at 14 weeks. But, 40 weeks is really not so fun. I really don't want petosin this round (seeing as it was at least 3 bags with Q ending in c-section and the liquid in general has a bad rep for ending is c-sections anyway). So, if this kid doesn't want to come by next week, a VBAC is probably out of the question for me and I'll have another long few weeks of recovery with a c-section. Either way, as long as Baby Boy Born is healthy, will eat, and if lucky sleep--we'll be a happy family when the time is right!

I still can't believe I wore this shirt on purpose that day. I really don't have clothes that fit me right now. And those shorts really don't fit either. In fact, I tried to wear them the other day (laundry day) and they really didn't want to go on at all. This kiddo is definitely growing!!

And a quick shot of Q in action....

We'll keep you updated as much as possible the next week! My parents are coming to town today to hopefully meet this little guy sometime this week. Just like with Quinn...we were SOOO sure there'd be a baby by now! OH well, should've known the plan would fizzle. :) We're just hoping that the only hospitalization this visit is me having a baby (as their last visit was Dad's fall in February!).

Over Due

2010-08-20T14:55:00.004-05:00

No, not me, PHOTOS of Quinn!!!

Two things in this shot: Q is standing under my belly (yep, there's a baby there) and the camera is fogged from coming from inside to outside! Another humid, gross, yecky day here today! :(

My nieces, nephews and my own!

Hailey reading to Alex...nice!

Me and my sisters! I used to be the skinny one! :) And apparently, I missed the memo to cut my hair and wear it down. :)

Kristin (one of Q's Godmothers) and her youngest.

Q loves herself a new park!!

Night Out TATOOS!

Her tough girl face. :)

Doc appointment soon!!!!

What's that Spell Mama?

2010-08-19T18:59:00.002-05:00

On our way to Farmington today Q starts reading letters...I hear her...

"C, no um, G! R ... A ... S..no C....OOO! Says (I peak back at her and she's looking at the letter C in Graco) --Cc-c-c-car--seat! Says carseat mama!"

"Good guess and you are looking at it upside-down, but it says "Graco" it's the brand of your car seat."

"What you sayin' mama?" (she loves this phrase. if she's in a good mood, instead of "huh" it's 'what you sayin'?' or 'whats up with you?').

"It's the type of car seat you have. A Graco. G-R-A-C-O. Spells Graco".

"What you sayin' mama?"

"Good guess and good job with the correct letters. You have a Graco Carseat. The word is Graco".

"Oh, Graco, I see. I want to see the black train today mama! And Mc-c-a-Donnads after day care!!!"

"If you're good at day care we'll have a treat afterwards, yes."

She finds a way to make me laugh every day. Even when I should be angry at her...she still makes me giggle at her complete innocence. Someday all too soon it'll be gone!

She still seems excited for her baby brother. We still don't have a name, so don't ask. We won't tell until baby is born, but we really don't have a name yet. Boy names are hard!!!! If we come up with a name, I check to see if Quinn can say it or if she likes it. A few I've suggested she says, "no way mama, not good name". :) Goof ball!!

I'm debating a trip to the zoo this weekend. For two reasons it may not happen -- it hurts to walk and it's supposed to be 90 degrees again. HOWEVER, a nice walk around the zoo could spark a baby birth!! :) I do still want to hold out for the September sapphire, but really...13 more days? Ugh. I could go as many as 28 days before we're considering inducing! Double ugh. Maybe if we name him he'll come out and join us? I see the doc tomorrow...we'll see if there are any changes this week. I don't feel any different, but this kid grew another inch or two, I swear! Everyone at work swears I dropped, gained weight, and ate an entire watermelon in the last few days. The scale says differently, but who knows? The fact that I can only eat about a handful of food at a time before wanting my insides to explode says...hmm, maybe there IS less room in there!!

Football!

2010-08-15T08:17:00.003-05:00

Can't believe we were watching pre-season ball last night already!

Quinn enjoyed it...until she remember she liked cartoons better. We then watched....some Dora. Let's just say that Netflix is almost as good as having cable! We have lots of kiddo shows to choose from at any time of day or night.

Regardless, Quinn took a monster nap yesterday after a busy morning of shopping, lunch with friends, nails for Mom while she played on the EPC playground, and then home again. She slept all day (the day ran away from me!) and was then awake until 10. She said she wanted bed at about 9 though, so I put her down. At about 9:30 I heard odd noises from that side of the house....I discovered she managed to turn on her radio to the Vikings game and she's yelling "touchdown touchdown touchdown" while reading her books in the middle of her room. Hey, I'll take it. Why? Because she still had her diaper on!

Potty training hasn't had much success, but she is certainly becoming more "anti-diaper". If she'd go before she went to bed and if I'd catch her AS SHE woke up in the morning to go on the potty--I'd be okay with a pull-up at night. HOWEVER, night time is her prime pee time. FOR EXAMPLE, at about 10:30, after I put her clock on "snooze" so it shut off the game in a little bit (didn't want her music back on), she's in her room "mommy, I wet now, please change me I can't reach!!". Sure enough, she's barely peed in her diaper, but wanted a new one. 4am "mommy, I wet now, please change me, I tired". So, sure enough, yet again, a barely wet diaper but wanted a new one. SOO, she knows when she's peeing...even in the middle of the night. Not sure where to go next because I know she knows, she knows she knows...there's just no connection of pee in the potty already!! She did get a pair of underwear in her latest box of pull ups and wants to wear them. I told her potty on the potty meant she could wear them. Every time she sees them, she sits on the potty. Yes, we have 14 pairs of underwear in her drawer with all sorts of characters and pictures and toons..she likes the basic ones that came with her pull-ups. SIGH.

I'm beginning to think it'll rain every night forever. I'm very thankful our roof doesn't leak and our basement is DRY! Our grass has never been greener, weeds never looked so great...and OMG, the leaves and branches are falling from the trees already! I could've sworn it was just a few weeks ago when the trees budded. It was just already 8 weeks ago when we were in Mexico!

By the way, Quinn asked to go to Mexico with Daddy the other day because she wanted to go swimming with him--I told her they could go swimming here and she said 'no mama, fly to Mexico next weekend'.

Going to try to get some photos loaded today!

Nurse's Orders

2010-08-11T21:05:00.002-05:00

Nurse's orders: Count Kicks, Drink, Stay Inside, Lie Down/Recline. If kicks slow down and contractions increase to 6/hour...call back. Holy wow, I can't believe labor and delivery is so close!!

So, after a day of contractions (yesterday) I get practically zero fetal movements today. SO, called the nurse line today (apparently at closing time). See above orders from her. Counts are good, contractions have only been 2 since I've been home and wow it feels nice to sit in air conditioning!

I've managed to wash dishes and start laundry and get 5 nutritional assessments completed. Wow time is long when the kid AND the husband are gone for 2 hours. I've done more relaxing, work, and housework in 2 hours than I have all week (I think..). Ha ha.

Well--off to get some more assessments done while the house is still quiet!!

Day Care

2010-08-09T20:50:00.002-05:00

Quinn was SO excited to see her girlfriend baby Charlee at Day Care today. Charlee is her close 2nd BFF (after Ted)...and only 6 months! She's soooo cute. She's almost sitting on her own, babbles constantly, really wants her teeth to come in, rolls over a lot, and well..LOVES Quinn right back!! Either way, Quinn ran over to Charlee and gave kisses and hugs and hi's and giggles pretty much as soon as we walked into Trisha's house today. It's going to be hard for Quinn to be away from them for longer than 3 days, I think! And I think she'll do just fine with her brother-to-come. We'll see, won't we?!

Baby-to-be is getting bigger and bigger each day! I'm still SIGNIFICANTLY smaller and lighter than I was with Q at this point, but feeling pregnant and done being pregnant anyway! This kid has huge feet (I think), a great punch, a big head and a big butt. I can't see how he's less than the "usual" 5/6# they are at this stage and he's definitely got the "usual" length of about 18". Walking is difficult, standing is difficult, sitting is difficult, lying down is difficult...and well, making it longer than about 60 minutes without peeing is difficult! We'll see if there will be a final ultrasound needed, or if the doc has any size guesses this week. I've barely gained a pound in these 2 weeks again...this humidity & heat and sweat is not making the weight gain so easy for me (not to mention chasing a toddler!).

The humidity is driving me batty. I'm not really sure how I feel about the fact that my hair doesn't try during the course of the day (yay working in a kitchen). And Q loves to be outside, but I can't breathe well out there...even just chilling as she plays! :( With my "luck" the weather will turn to typical September of 50 degrees and chilly to spend time outside with a newborn and toddler...we'll see. I'll have to find a way to get the Q-ster outside for her play time during my maternity leave.

Yes, I am planning on returning to work this winter. As things work out, I'll have off until crazy holiday season that is known as December at work and crappy commute depending on winter weather. We'll see how that goes with 2 kiddos and a sleepy mommy. I give no promises other than "I'll try it out and see where it goes". We're still discussing/deciding on baby day care, but I'd really like to keep Q with Trisha as she's sooo happy there and is completely in love with her family (and vice versa).

I have a few photos...but the camera is still packed somewhere......

Night Out

2010-08-04T06:50:00.002-05:00

Despite it being a ridiculously hot day, I joined our neighbors with Quinn last night for "Neighborhood Night Out" Nationally too, I suppose!

Quinn is getting SO good at introducing herself with something other than tears and "no like our neighbors". She was sad our neighbor didn't have the pool open, but enjoyed the sprinklers that were set up. She did not cry until about 8pm when the police and police car showed up bearing gifts. We got a little breakdown of what they carry, and Quinn wanted to get in the car during this talk. We had the kiddos wait a few minutes, and then the older kids jumped in the back and pretended they were stuck (well, technically they were, the door was closed and they were in the back of the car!!) and freaked Q out. She cried NO MORE POLICE CAR NO MORE POLICE CAR!

OOH, and the police gave out tatoos...GUESS WHO WANTED TWO!? That's right, my family; the girl who SCREAMED bloody murder a few months ago when given a tatoo wanted TWO tats (how she learned they were tats, Mike and I are STILL trying to figure out).

It was another good night of neighbors being neighborly...and yummy desserts! Too bad the ants are such biters around here. In Farmington, they have bird-sized mosquitos all day...here, the ants don't leave you alone! In fact, we came in about 8:30 last night and I didn't even see a mosquito. Humph.

There were 3 of us pregnant...all due in the next few weeks, with me at the end. I still feel like I'm the biggest, but when looking at the 3 of us...really...we all look like we're due on the same day if you go by belly size! This boy is head down and I can now tell the difference. Walking is a whole lot of fun and my bella band doesn't do much to help it anymore. He likes to kick me, kicking up stomach acid almost constantly. I just ate a full cup and half of cereal...hoping that treats me okay on the trip to work today!!!

Hoping today's less humidity is for real!! Breathing has been hard, but according to our work oximeter, I'm at least breathing adequately!

No Changes ... and ending with Blog Moms Unite?

2010-07-31T14:23:00.005-05:00

So, the doctor appointment yesterday brought no news to due date. In fact, I only "grew" from 32 to 32.5 and I LOST 3# (which was odd, because on Tuesday, I was up 7#). Let's just say this kid is eating everything I eat...I can barely keep up! Especially since my appetite after about 4pm is nothing. It's been hard to eat a "good" dinner and snacks...but it's my prime water drinking time (as during the week, especially, daytime water time is hard to find when walking circles at work).

Some overdue photos...it turns out I've barely picked up the camera to take photos the last few weeks! Julia had her birthday a few weeks ago...and was excited to dig into her cake!

Quinn's vocabulary, interest in books and words and spelling and phonics, and oh so much, is growing rapidly by the day. This morning she tried reading Mike's shirt to him and just ended up saying the letters...can't believe she tried to read it! She's been reading letters and signs much more frequently lately, but this was Mike's first experience with it. I think it's crazy that she's trying to read already! I guess our word hunt and letter games are fun for her!

She also has her new phrase, "Oh, I see" and then she repeats what you said.
"what's your name"
"twin"
"Quinn, your name is Quinn. Can you say Quinn"
"Quinn, oh I see" (as if it's a shock her name is Quinn not twin)
"so what's your name"
"twin"
"Quinn"
"Quinn, oh I see, my name Quinn". But she still says "twin" unless you have this banter with her first.

This is just one of the many instances where "oh I see" comes into play. Prior to this, if you asked her a question, the response was "yep"; now it's "oh I see".

Hmm...what else is new in her world...what's not new? She knows the bathroom is the potty room. Has started to do a potty dance before needing to go, and has almost made it in a time a few times. BUT not quite. We started giving stickers for attempts/farts/successes...but the making it in time isn't quite there yet. And she definitely has a fear of falling into the potty....but won't really use the potty chair (thank goodness for the attached potty seat!) She'll catch on soon enough; like everything else (breastfeeding, dressing herself, feeding, drinking water), she's got her learning pace and we'll go with the flow. I don't want to "push" especially since everything I read says don't train right when you find out your pregnant or a few weeks before the baby is born. Hmm...when did we try? Oh well. If we let her learn at her pace, I'm hoping the number of accidents does not increase when peanut here is born.

Peanut is more mobile than ever these days. Doc is pretty sure he's head down. He thought at first he was head on left, butt down, then feet...then pushed him around a little and decided he was head down...certainly explains the not-so-fun downward pressure that started about a week ago every time I stand up and walk around! Not to mention the fact that I can breathe better the last few weeks...except for the rib kicks and rolls and punches. My belly is definitely mostly baby...when he's active, it's tough to find a place that ISN'T a body part!

Well, thanks for reading today! I'll try to remember to take some photos this week...

Hey, and Blog Moms (or interested)....October gathering possible? This bambino should be ready to meet everyone and the family may be willing to give up some time come October...thoughts or suggestions? I'd be willing to host (says me now!). Maybe we could carve up some pumpkins or bake some autumn goodies!? We have the garage room/yard room/basement room for the kids (I think).... :) Let me know!

48 days?

2010-07-28T21:17:00.002-05:00

Woah, there's a lot to be done in 48 days! According to my preggo ticker..."48 days" are left. Wow. A lot to be done.
Another MD appointment this week. My last one seems like yesterday, but apparently it was 12 days ago! 3 more of those and we could have a baby! Now, I know I'm not ready for that ... not at work, not at home, and wow not in the car! :)
Quinn seems to be really eager for her baby brother to arrive. Last night (as the sky turned orange and Quinn says "mama! raining on the window already!") Quinn and I read books on the couch (since she gets angry that there is officially no more Mama's lap). After books was time to sing songs to baby brother. And Q does that by playing her old glow worm (that also sings) to my belly. While holding it my belly, she's explaining how to make it sing "you press the moon and star, baby brother, and he sings! like this, la la la la. you do it now" ... and proceeds to be sad that she needs to keep pressing the button for him. Can't wait to see how she reacts when he can't do it for awhile once he's finally born!!
He still has no name. We've decided there are A LOT of names we don't like in this world. There has yet to be one that either of us really really really NEED to have. We'll see come birth day!

Pregnant Brain...

2010-07-19T07:03:00.002-05:00

Three years ago, not two. And Mike didn't leave until August, so I really don't know where my brain was on that last post!

ANYWAY, yesterday brought us to Kato/Eagle Lake for Granny's birthday! We met up at Grizzly's with most of the "Mexico gang" and Quinn ran right up to Granny and gave her a big hug! It was the greatest present ever. I'm so excited she's finally warming up to family members and people she talks about all the time (instead of crying, whining, and hiding). Yay! I must admit, it brought a little tear to my eye see her interact with the family.

No real baby news/development this weekend. He's getting sick of being cramped up, I think. I feel LOTS of stretching movements. And he gets the hiccups after I wait awhile to eat and then eat too fast. It's a craziest feeling...

So, instead of getting house ready for baby, we got Quinn more family time. Even trade. It also meant I skipped another day of getting work accomplished, but it was next to the most gorgeous day ever in a long time (LOW humidity) and gave me a reason to kick back and enjoy others watching the kiddo while I did nothing. :) It does mean we got home late and Quinn had yet another late night to bed, BUT I should go wake her up now and get us to Farmington!

Two Years Ago . . .

2010-07-17T18:02:00.003-05:00

Can't believe how much less I can do at a time. I just have less energy. I'm starting to remember my last few weeks with Quinn now...as they were my first few weeks as a New Yorker. Lots of walking, unpacking, and SITTING! And we only had one couch and 2 chairs for the first few weeks. Wow...remembering couch shopping now...that was a chore! Get up, sit down, get up, sit down, get up, sit down. And of course, each store was a few blocks in order to park anywhere. What a difference 2 years makes. I can hardly believe we were MOVING 2 years ago this month. Heck, Mike was in New York living there already at this time! I was (attempting to) pack a house alone and preggo (but 2 months less preggo than now).

And I just had less energy.

Oddly enough, we are at some same stages than we were 2 years ago too. We're unpacking (yes, still unpacking!) and getting office space & nursery space settled for an enjoyable few weeks prior to our lives changing forever for the better.

We were 2 people ready to have a third. We had our routines, expectations, personal time. It all changed on November 20th-22nd (when she was finally born!).

Now we are 3 people ready to have a fourth. We have our routines, expectations and personal time. We are not planning for inducement, c-sections, or a 5 day stay in the hospital.

We are expecting life around here to get a little crazier.

And for some reason I JUST CAN'T WAIT! I am, however, enjoying each moment Quinn is adorable and sweet and smart...because that could change in an instant!

We finally moved our guest bed downstairs today (by we, I mean mostly Mike...I took the sheets off the bed and guided it around a corner. We brought a dresser upstairs (by we, I mean Mike). I'm slowly unpacking TINY outfits gifted to us from the shelves and into the dresser. This babino will be SOOO tiny! This week, my goals are to assemble a crib, changing table, hang curtains, and bring up all clothes that will fit the tiny one. The room is looking more like a baby room every day; and it of course, brings tears to my eyes.

Quinn was playing with a frog we have living in our backyard this morning. This was the first time she's seen him/her and "want to play with the froggie!!". She chased him, petted him, but wouldn't hold him. I have a video I'll try to post later. She's getting so grow-ed up. :)

I just can't believe how tired I get so quickly and so early...hopefully I'll get some siesta time once bambino is here too! Q is pretty good about letting me close my eyes for 5-10 minutes after work. She even hops up on the couch next to me some days and goes "ohuhmp, long day, mama". It's awesome! :)

Lost a Week

2010-07-16T14:59:00.003-05:00

So time flies, but during my last monthly OB appointment, we decided to move up the due date a week. HOWEVER, if it comes to be Sept 17th, inducement will arrive the following week (seeing as that's the weekend and weekends in hospitals aren't so exciting for me if I can choose!). SO, we're back to Sept 8th-ish as the due date. SO, we lost a week! Not to mention my doc appointment was actually LAST week, I wrote it down wrong and noone ever called me. OH WELL! Glucose test was ok (day before Mexico) and nothing else came back from the lab results so YAY!

Luckily enough, my congestion may be allergy related (seeing as we've been spending more time in lakes) and medication can be taken! And luckily enough, the medication makes me drowsy, so sleep has been easier the past few days! YAY!

ALSO, it's 3:00 already? What the heck?

My contractions have also proved no advancement and dilation so MORE YAY! He just told me to stay hydrated, take it easy, and get Quinn and Mike ready for another addition to the house. :) And 2wks from now I'll see him again...and then in another 2wks (unless other things are progressing) and then WEEKLY as it's only 3 more weeks until my due date!! ahhh!!! Need to get some things settled at work!

2010-07-14T20:05:00.002-05:00

"can we watch a NEW muppet movie"
"sure"

while watching it, Q narrates (?this apparently happens in the middle of the muppets take manhattan). "the pig and the bear are not his mother. the frog and dog are not his mother. the duckie and the cow and snort are not his mother. and noone is his mother. MOVIE OFF and WE READ MOTHER BOOK AGAIN mama can we please?"

"The movie is almost over, I don't know how it ends and you asked to watch it"

"you press this red button and the screen goes black and the movie is all done the end, mama"

I had no response other than, sure, let's put on jammies, read books, and then go to bed.

l m a o. Is this funny because I'm sleep deprived, or is this funny? Sleep deprived. I almost called the doctor today, but figured it could wait until my appointment Friday. I sleep for about 2-5 hours each night. Lying down is tough. If I forget to put on the fan, and somehow get covered up with blankets, breathing is VERY DIFFICULT. Additionally, work has been stressful and stupidly enough keeping me awake at night.

And well, as tired as I am tonight, Q's spiked a fever just as Mike happened to get home for awhile. He asked if she's been stuffy and warm since we got home (I left work early for fear of sleeping on the drive home seeing as I was awake at 2:30 this morning and couldn't fall back asleep--so, also, it seems as if I missed some exciting Lakeville weather!). Regardless, I said, nope. Well, took her temperature and she's at 99/100 which is really high for her on the ear digital thermometer (her base is around 95 on that thermometer). So, to add to my exciting life, I'm now hoping it's just a fluke fever. But part of me wants a "sick" day tomorrow and a day away from the commute to Farmington!!!! HOWEVER, sick Q isn't a lot of fun all the time. We'll see where the night and morning take us with her condition.

Also, we have our annual (I guess) summer neighborhood picnic tomorrow night! I need to come up with a good "dish to pass" to go with dogs and burgers. Suggestions on stuff I can get done quick tonight or quick tomorrow night seeing as I'm planning to go to work tomorrow....???

Baby Boy is SOOOO active today. I think he's really mad I couldn't fall back asleep again. And he's STRETCHING out all day--even while walking around which is odd. He HATES it now when there's ANY additional pressure (which is also making sleeping difficult as I can't sleep on back comfortably and either side is NOT working...even with pillows, etc). I can't even lean forward to pick up Q today without him kicking me! I was leaning on the table at morning meeting today at work and he PUNCHED my lungs! I swear I felt knuckles. It's odd feeing his feet, head, butt and arms all in different places across my belly everywhere BUT where the placenta is attached. I love it. Makes me anxious to watch him play and move outside of my body, but want him to grow and get stronger for many more weeks to go!!!!!!

So tired

2010-07-13T20:42:00.002-05:00

I am so tired.
So swollen.
So wanting to have my baby and wanting my baby to wait until the last possible minute.

I don't quite remember being this tired all the time with Quinn! I sleep about 2-3 hour stretches and my body wants to be awake between 5 and 6am. SO, I wake up, eat breakfast, take a shower, warcraft a little, eat some more breakfast, wake up Quinn, drive to work. And want to nap. But I can't--it's now time to work an 8 hour day, followed by a 45 minute drive home, followed by making dinner and playing/reading/bathing Quinn.
Why exactly do I think it's odd that I want to go to bed at 9pm.

Today we had our "fine dining" at work. It's a lot of extra work for very little reward (seemingly). I'm not quite convinced it's worth doing so frequently, but the residents continue to love it, volunteers love it, staff like to "spoil" residents every now and then. So...I don't know. I think I'm just overly pregnant, tired, and trying to prepare a home for a new baby!

I'm wa-ay more into having "clean"er things now, too. The whole "nesting" never occurred with Quinn. My nature of "I don't want to do it, Mike doesn't want to do it, so it won't get done" is wrestling with my current nature of "baby is coming and I'm going to be MORE tired in a few weeks so get it done now". Oh well, whatever.

We had a birthday party for Julia last Saturday, that was fun. We also went to the beach on Friday which was super fun. And we plan to go to the beach again on Friday, which I'm looking forward to. Each day I go to work I want to not go back again and want to go back; just not pregnant. At this point, I plan to return to work this fall after my FMLA baby leave (only 3 months??). I figure if I can make it on 4-6 hours of sleep and crazy tired now; shouldn't it be easier not preggo anymore?? We'll see how thoughts and feelings change as the time gets closer. I'd like to give an actual notice at work and not leave the residents, staff, and coworkers in a crazy mess. We'll see how that goes.

Q also had her last day of her sucker on Sunday night. Monday morning she woke up and they went bye bye. I told her on Friday that if she wasn't interested going potty this weekend, her suckers would go bye bye. She had NO interest in the potty or potty chair, so her suckers went bye bye. She was very concerned last night that her baby brother was going to steal her suckers (so we'll have to make sure they're very different for him if he is a sucker kiddo) and she didn't want a baby brother anymore. This morning was about 15 minutes of "no baby brother" yelling/tantrum and I have not heard the word sucker since. I'm hoping that after a few days she'll be over it. She still has 3 kiki's but man, the sucker was just starting to drive me insane (one more thing that I felt I needed to clean too frequently with my newly increasing concern for clean). Not to mention she's coming up on 3 and not potty trained...so I'm going to take control of one thing at a time! :)

I'm sooo tired. Hopefully Q will just go to sleep tonight after some books and I can crash soon. Mike's got his summer league Ultimate tonight, so no help from him tonight. Wish me luck!!

Also, please sent thoughts and prayers to Marcy and Trent going through some rough times with their newborn! It makes me sad and increasingly anxious and aware that God works in mysterious ways. I've had many contractions daily, really, since before Mexico, even, and just pray this baby holds on inside as long as he needs to for optimal health for us both! Contractions are definitely correlated to how long it's been since I hydrate at all, so at least my body is keeping up/alerting me to HYDRATE!!!!! Anyway, my next doctor appointment is Friday, so we'll see if my due date moves at all this week. I'm barely gaining 1#/week now, but Peanut is definitely growing! I NEED TO GO SHOPPING AGAIN!!!! :(

Our June and July Not Mexico

2010-07-08T18:42:00.004-05:00

Well, June/July brought me
* Only +3.7#, but a new clothes size (which means hopefully summer clothes are clearanced now because I need clothes!)
*The 3rd trimester waddle (and in a big way! My sandals and shoes are getting worn out)
*Brought me close to having a Mexican baby (too close)!
*Nightly/Daily contractions--at least for an hour each day and several weeks (months) earlier than with Quinn (started before my scare in Mexico which is why I wasn't terribly worried the first hour of contractions in Mexico).
*Being able to distinguish baby boy body parts---no, not all of them! :p
*A crazy toddler who knows something new is coming soon and isn't so sure if she'll like it or not (as she wants her carting shop=shopping cart). She's still trying to find all her toys as her cousin and uncle visited this weekend and did not put her toys away to Q's specifications (or any specifications really...I'm glad to have a toddler who will help pick up well on her own and with assist).
*One month closer to deciding what to do once baby boy comes (work or not?!) and where to put said baby boy for day care.
*Time with friends--at least it seems like a lot of time. We've seen friends more the past few weeks than since we've moved (or so it seems).
*5 successful trips to the potty for Quinn (it's just too much fun to pee, take off a diaper, sit on the potty, get on a diaper and pee right away.) . I swear I've officially gone through more diapers since starting potty training...ugh. And to think I thought I was so close to no more diapers 2 months ago. And diapers will double in as few as 8 more weeks! (wow, we need to get some nursery stuff started and finished!!) I'm debating cloth, but hate to have that expense straight off the bat.....suggestions/donations???
*An already growing pile of boy clothes for the little one! I may have enough for a day if he poops through diapers as much as Quinn did.
*Quinn's first sparkler experience! And only one burn for Mommy and one for Quinn (minor barely noticeable.

Hailey, Uncle GoGo, Quinn and I went to the zoo! We were going to go to the beach, but the zoo got voted in first.

(ha ha, and this was a good shot of the 2 of them)

We spent a day at Teddy's pool at Dad's apartment. Dinner was also part of the evening and Ted decided he needed to eat his sandwich in the corner. No worries, this was our table right next to him so it's not like he wandered away. It was awesome to see this, though. That little guy (but growing!!!) is such a ham!

Viva a Mexico

2010-06-26T07:10:00.004-05:00

I can't believe we've been back almost a week and this is the first I'm posting! Work has been crazy. I'm exhausted and puffy at the end of the day, and Q is on a schedule of 9/10pm bedtime. I don't like it. Give me Mexico back!!!

We had a great time in Cabo. Highly recommend a week of doing nothing and pools to anyone. Not seeing rain for a week...to crazy storms popping up left and right here. The sirens even went off last night!! Our trees seems to have survived the wind and rain...with more to come today!

On our second full day, Mike's birthday, I decided sitting around the resort sounded too relaxing, so I joined a group of Mike's family (there were 26 of us most of the week!!) on a 5 mile walk, on the beach, to town. It was a great time...

...until about 3pm when we were in town and I said to myself...these are contractions. So I had some water and a snack sat down. And they got more regular. Every 10 minutes for 15-45 seconds, I had PAINFUL contractions and I seriously thought we'd have a preemie in Mexico! So, I put myself on bed rest for the night (after dinner of course since it was Mike's birthday after all!). Mike yelled at baby peanut that he couldn't celebrate this birthday in Mexico. I felt okay the rest of the week, but after about 14 hours of contractions every 10 minutes....I just wanted to have the baby! That's labor man! It took the rest of the week to recover...and I still don't feel quite as energetic this week. Crazy how the beginning of the 3rd trimester changed how I felt completely!!

Apple Juice

2010-06-11T20:03:00.002-05:00

My Miss Independent. It's odd when she can and can not get into the fridge. Most of the time she's successful, but she gets VERY upset when she "can't do it open the fridge!" This time in the video, she was successful. I'm pretty sure it was during one of my many trips to el bano these days! Can you tell how tired I am by my voice? I think this was, like, 5:30 am the other day! :)

Spider Song

2010-06-07T20:07:00.002-05:00

It's bath time. Quinn's babbling while I catch up on my charting so I can take Friday off of work and enjoy MEXICO next week.

"itty bitty spideeerrrrrrr climbeded to RING of FIRE
up the water out
down down comes rain and wash spider out
out camed sun and dry rain
out camed suuuunnnnnnnn
itty bitty spiiiiderr
RING OF FIRE"

This is the first time I've witnessed random singing come from her.
I'm laughing.

So, yes, Cabo, Mexico coming soon!!!! I'm looking forward to 7 days away. I'm not really looking forward to 7 days of work waiting upon my return. And I'm not really looking forward to 8-10 hours in a plane with Quinn. At least there will be 15ish others to help with the plane entertainment! And we'll have to get movies ready, because they seem to keep her attention pretty well when she's sleepy.

Baby Boy Born is a move-a-holic some days. At he's got a crush on one of the nurses I work with. As soon as I get within 10 feet of her and she's talking, he'll kick kick kick punch MOVE his body. It's crazy funny!

I have my glucose testing Thursday...wish me luck. I can't imagine the next 12 weeks without dessert.

He's also more mobile today (I think) because he's finally starting to flip (or so it feels like). He's been feet first since always. And I feel MUCH more movement like kicking on my left side than I have since ever and more punches on my right side and more butt stretch-like feelings on my underbelly. he's still well below my belly button, but according to "the books" (online because I'm too lazy for books) he's about 2# now! So, the past two weeks has been about 1# of growth for the little guy....and about that for me too. SOOO, at least there's not crazy weight relations with all the dessert I eat. :)

Yet.

Flowers, Frisbee & Fun

2010-06-04T16:07:00.005-05:00

We've had an interesting week.
Last week Friday, I had a day "off" and actually took some time off during the day to hang out with my tot.
She planted her own flowers. I'm not sure if you can quite tell that she managed to empty ALL the rest of the flowers from the black plastic containers and just put them in a pot and then took them to the backyard! All in the time it took me to walk from the front of the house, to the back shed, get a shovel, and back to the front again!!

Mama got some new shades with a "free" bag I got from Motherhood Maternity for spending "too much" money.
Q tried them on...

"upsid-di-di-down"
" 'rund neck"

"dis way!"

"oh, cheese" she says cheese so fast and expects the shot to be taken that her face always looks super ridiculous when saying cheese.

Then on Sunday and Monday, we had a quick visit with my family for some birthday and Memorial Day celebration. And heck, anytime the whole family and all kids are involved, it's a party for the sake of there being a ton of us! Sunday and Monday also brought the Born family and Louis to College Ultimate Nationals held in (near) Madison! So, we got to endure the 90+ weather for a bit. Sadly, the U of M didn't do so great, but we got to watch some of their last game. AND we watched Wisconsin girls win a game. AND we saw most of the final final game on Monday between Florida and Carlton. Who would've guessed a local college would've even made it to the final game!!?? In retrospect, it was a pretty freaking cool experience...despite the heat, tired tot, and pregnancy. We did, however, score a free hat and shirt (we believe mostly because of our cute Quinn!!). Quinn has her first ultimate jersey and an "ultimate player of the future" sponsored by madison ultimate frisbee association. So, an overall productive weekend...but LOTS of time in the car.

This week, then ,flew by considering it was only 3 full workdays in Farmington. And I had planned on working when I got home, but the weather and the tot decided it was a sprinkler afternoon instead. She wanted pool, but that's more work.

601

2010-05-22T16:45:00.003-05:00

Wow, 600 posts? That was the "Ring of Fire" post.

Post 601 will be "Quinn painted her own toes" (not a typo...meant to say "toes" not "toe nails") while we watched Hopkins Hustle B-squad do not so awesome in the scoring aspect, but man there were some NICE plays and points (from the little I saw). Unfortunately, the completely unpredicted (last night) rain and thunderstorms put the tournament on hold so Q and I came back home...only to have her not nap and spend time outside anyway!

Obviously, from the photos, the weather is MUCH more like the forcasted 70s and sunny.

Ring of Fire

2010-05-21T12:49:00.004-05:00

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I can't believe these photos were taken Monday already! This was the slowest fast week ever. The weeks are flying by these days and I feel like I'm getting WAAAY to wrapped up with work and not enjoying my toddler nearly as much as a I should. HOWEVER, Sunday and Monday nights Q, Mike and I enjoyed "the ring of fire!" in our backyard.

It was nice to enjoy time in the chill of the evening while they're still around (assuming they'll go away and it's going to be 75 plus through my pregnancy, of course.

Sunday night, Q didn't get back from Grammy's until almost 9pm! We had more the 24 hours without a kid...and it was crazy weird. So weird, in fact, that Quinn was up until after 10pm! I just wanted to spend time with her, but she wanted bed. Then didn't and wanted ring of fire. We made her a s'more or two and she headed to "brush teess" and go to bed. I think Mike and I watched that fire until after 11pm...crazy.

We had so much fun, we invited Scott over on Monday night to enjoy the great stillness of Minnetonka (as if SLP is so hopping!).

Q enjoyed an ice cream sandwich on Monday instead of hot melty goodness.

And all was fun and good and games....until the pit broke on us! The bottom fell out when we added a log!! I should've video'd but I was busy getting water to try to save most of the grass....we did lose a nice patch right in the middle of the lawn but we created a temporary way to keep the fire going for several more hours.....the guys did at least. Let's just say I could use some new oven pads and mitts. :)

Mike's going to try to find a way to keep the bottom in place for our next fire. Sadly, it's not currently very safe to have a fire in our own backyard. Hopefully a neighbor will step up soon and invite us over!!! :)

We're going to have some new neighbors soon! We discovered that a family of 4 (1 and 3yr olds) are moving in around the corner. Some other neighbors "our age" that live in our kiddy corner back yard are expecting in mid August. And the house across the street from us says "sold"! We have no idea who bought as those neighbors have been moved out for awhile, but I'm excited for company across the street!! Hopefully they'll be friendly and not mind Q's loud mouth coming home each night (our front driveway really echos between our house and the neighbor's across the street)....it's odd.

OOH, and here's Katie POPPED OUT at week 24 (ish).

It's been awhile since I've take the profile pic...since the week Dad visited us (week 14ish)!

And I thought I was huge then!

And of course then the shot of like, 6 weeks...I love how I'm all arched back as if thinking my barely belly was something to note! :)

Changes in my life since baby boy:
*Vision changes!!! I can wear glasses only (contact not only dry out, but I can't see with them in!! It's like they're swapped...but they're not...I went through a few pair --mostly old ones hanging out in solution around the house in travel bags -- until I convinced myself that it was the contacts, not my inability to tell left from right!)
*Baby belly! He's active, but mostly during the day and when I go longer than 3 hours without eating during the day. He also moves after some snacks like peanut butter, applesauce, and some juices...almost all the time after those things. And it's his favorite when I sit down and recline my feet! You can see him move most of the time now...kicks and exaggerated movements.
*Swelling: My wedding band is too small for my slightly swollen fingers, so it's engagement only..which is actually a little loose on the left hand. My ankles hate these long days at work, driving, and then housework: in addition to the increasing temps and dew point! This summer will be F-U-N. Crazy idea to do late 2nd and 3rd trimester in the hottest part of the year...oh well!
*Cravings: peanut butter, sugary cereal, anything dessert with lots of sugar, cucumbers, broccoli, pie, Outback baked sweet potatoes & potato chips and Deans French Onion Dip. I don't really ever have an appetite, but wow do I eat all day some days! And water galore...can't seem to get enough! Which means lots of potty time. We'll see how the glucose test comes out in a few weeks...if the result is gestational diabetes, I may cry...we have so many desserts at work it's hard to say NO!
*Kid loves music just like Q did. Car rides home (when Q yells for RADIO LOUDER MAMA! the rare times she's not demanding nemo or puppy do) are fun for the kiddo---he moves a ton.
*Driving: I moved the seat back yesterday! I realized I couldn't really get behind the steering wheel yesterday morning...didn't think anything of it until I reached back to give Q some more cereal and my belly hit the wheel in the slight body rotation!!! Ha ha...yeah. So I have to find some sort of happy medium because it was more difficult to reach the pedals further back!!
*Names: NO WE DON'T HAVE A NAME YET! Stop asking! It won't be Michael Jerome, we don't really want a junior.
*Weight gain: slow and steady...I'm still almost already at the recommended weight gain, but I'm a tiny gal, so no one's too worried...especially if it's baby growth and not fluid retention. And hopefully slow and steady stays!! I can still move fairly easily and want to keep as active as possible. Having Q around sure makes 7pm bedtime more difficult (as 7 or 8 was often bedtime when preggo with Q). So I'm still plenty active through my work day, and then with Q after work too! Not to mention I'm in almost all my largest summer clothes and don't really care to buy a whole new wardrobe for the last few months (seeing as my last months with Q were cold!). Not to mention I lived in sports clothes since I wasn't working....oh well. We'll see where that goes.

Well, Q's actually napping....off to clean!

Oregon!

2010-05-16T19:15:00.004-05:00

These are so not even in the order they were taken, but I'm too lazy to edit the right order...just go with it!

What a cute family! :)

You can just barely tell how windy it is by looking at Q's hair. It was mighty cold....and with at that time was probably a double ear infection, she tolerated the wind, chill and ocean wonderfully!!

Thad and Q trying to find a way to pass over the water streaming between ocean and land...who will figure out the way to go!? The engineer or the toddler?

The big rock above...we decided to walk there. It was much farther than I thought...but as you can see below (and in some of the other pictures as we get closer to it), we made it! It was filled with shallow water and ocean life. Crabs, tadpoles and sea anemone (Nemo home!!)! It was pretty cool. Q wanted to touch them...but I know she just likes to kill them, so her hands stayed safely within someone else's so she could balance and not kill..

WATER MOUNTAIN!! Muhltnomah Falls in Oregon. GORGEOUS; even in comparison to Niagara that we saw just last summer!

The background below is Washington State!!!! We were in Oregon, but got to look across the river to see Washington! It was pretty cool.

Q needed to show my the sand! Everywhere there was sand and ocean! She loved it. And well, turns out we brought quite a bit back with the car seat! :)

Q got there and was immediately attracted to Jimmer's trolls. And my favorite part of Quinn and Jimmer--she couldn't quite comprehend that Jimmer and Jim are different people. When we told her they were Jimmer's she said "and finn and stacy" and we said. No, Jimmer, not Jim. "yeah, jim and finn and stacy too". Hmm....oh well. She decided the trolls needed to sit on the couch, so they did...and they stayed there most of the week!!

Microbrews!! And Thad too.

Meagan showing off the ocean to Quinn. Q really wanted to go to the water but the drop here was pretty much straight down...we know I wasn't going after her if she fell..TOOOO HIGH!!! But, the other three had good tabs on her...I only had about 4 real scares to her falling or walking onto the highway....in hind sight, probably not a kid-proof place to be...BUT A FABULOUS VIEW!

An M&M donut for Quinn from Voodoo donuts! Yummy!! She loved every bite that I let her have (I ate most of it!!).

Our trip was a blast! Meagan and Thad are great hosts and their house is looking amazing!!! Makes me wonder what we would've done if we had bought any of the other options that needed "just a little work". We've barely painted here, and yet it can be home! They've done more in a year than I honestly care to ever do in a lifetime to any one home....much less all homes I may live in until I die!!!! Thanks a ton! We loved our spring Born family vacation to Oregon!!! We hope to host you some time in the future months.