Oregon!

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.

Girl's Day (With Some Boy Influence)

So, for the most part yesterday in Mankato was a "girl's party" yesterday, but we did have some Dad's and the two lone boys.


Quinn was not nearly as shy as she has shown me in previous group interactions...I guess the frequent visits to blogs helped her feel "at home" at Shanna and Audry's home!

We had a good day, good eats, good weather, and good company! Insert great into there too if you want, it was a fun day!!

Double is Better?

Not in the case of Ear Infections.

But, ultimately, I suppose if the best route is antibiotics, you may as well have a cough, runny nose, double ear infection and puss coming out of your tear ducts. OH, and after we saw the doctor, the fever spikes to a Quinn all-time high of 99.8 degrees (barely a fever for many toddlers).

So, yes, Quinn's on antibiotics for the first time in her life.

BUT, she must have had an awesome time gradually getting more ill in Portland because during dinner tonight, our conversation went something like this.

"Q, please come finish your dinner"

"No, I an airplane!"
Running in circles in the other room.

"Really? Where are you going, airplane?"

"Visit Thad and Meagan with Daddy and see Water Mountains!"
Yes, we went on an airplane to visit Meagan and Thad and saw Waterfalls.


Yes, we spent the weekend and early part of the week in Portland. Saturday morning as we're getting ready to leave, I notice a new cough, think not much of it. Each day, illness, crabbiness, and Q sleepiness increase, do not think anything of it until she's oozing out of her eyes on Tuesday, the day we came home.

Despite the gradual illness, she had fun.

She seemed to enjoy the ocean and sand the most.
"See Nemo in ocean!!"

And Gizmo, most tolerant cat Q's ever met.
"I LOVE Gizmo kitty" she says the first morning when she woke up at 4:30AM (to her credit, it was 6:30 CST/normal wake-up time). She barely ever tells ME she loves me unprompted!

And motorcycles on TV.
On our last night there, Q woke up, got out of bed (air mattress on floor), opened the door, down the hallway, down the stairs, and found Thad and Mike playing games. Story something like this, "Hi Quinn, where's Mommy?" "Sleeping." "How did you get down here?" "I got out of bed and came down stairs. I careful. I want cereal." So, Mike proceeded to get her cereal, grapes, & juice. OH, and it's around 1am. She didn't want to go back to bed and watched Thad and Mike play a motorcycle game. She's asked to watch motorcycles and Daddy and Thad since. If I say no, she says Nemo. If I say no, she says motorcycles.
Can't win with a toddler. You really can't win.

I can not find the camera or I'd have some photos of the wonderful vacation we had!

It's hard to believe we're just a few weeks from MEXICO!!!

"I want..."

....fill in the blank.

80% of Quinn's sentences these days (phrases rarely, mostly sentences) start with "I want". It's kind of annoying when she's in repeat mode "I want sucker, I want sucker I want sucker I want sucker" "I want cake, I want cake I want cake I want cake" "I want eat I want eat I want eat", etc. But mostly, I guess she knows what she wants so I should be happy?

New development this week....she's almost grasping addition and subtraction! We sing/read "5 little monkeys" frequently and she'll count along on each page and almost always go from 5 to 1 and stay at 1, but she realizes that there's less each time, even if it goes 5 4 3 2 1 ... not 5 1 all done! When reading, we count each monkey, but just singing in the car is a little more difficult to grasp that there's only one less each time. Regardless, I'm pretty excited about this development this week...if she's like me, it'll take until 1st grade to get the whole addition subtraction thing down!!

Her new love is "spinny things". There's yard in the neighborhood that has spinning flowers...I can't seem to find the fabric ones that they have anywhere, but I found plastic/foil pinwheels at Target yesterday and she's nicely placed them in a flowerpot outside and all she wants to do is look at them! Maybe they'll keep the 'peckers off the house?!?!?

Her latest complaint, "Mommy, windy outside again!? NO MORE WINDY" AND wow, on nights like today and last night, I couldn't agree more! Really, we can barely do anything outside with the wind...no fun!

And she got a big gnat bite on the side of her head yesterday!!! I'm trying to figure out how to assess it as she won't let me get hear her to clean the scab...it looks like it's smaller than it looks right now with lots of dried blood on her head. It unfortunately happened just before I got there yesterday so Trisha didn't have time to really get to clean it either (slapped Trisha away and cried)...and Mike wasn't home before bedtime...sooooooo...no full assessment of damages there. :) It does look kinda painful though...right behind her ear....

Mike, his parents, and myself went to the Twins game on Monday night. The new stadium is pretty cool....literally and figuratively. :) When the people next to us would get up, I got significantly colder, but overall layered appropriately for a windy, 50 degree, sorta rainy evening. Photos to come!

"I chase him, Mama!"

"I chase him, Mama. now he gone. now what?"

Yep, Q had a busy morning chasing squirrels up trees and away from our bird feeders.

Now she's busy dressing up as "black and decker" tool lady running into furniture and walls.. "oh, i fell again mama! runned into the couch again!"

She's a busy girl today too!

Yesterday was gym class day, and Friday we had open gym...two days of gym class! She was sooo excited...but sad that the trampoline was not part of "fitness month May" activities. After Friday's gym class, Grammy met us in Chaska (in the downpouring sheets of rain) for a quick Kohl's run (of course) and dinner at Baja Sol (yummy mango salsa!!). Grammy and Q were excited to spend the rainy afternoon together. I'm glad she could come up for the day on Friday.

We also had the pleasure of attending the zoo yesterday with Teddy and Scott. I am impressed that both kids (and adults, for that matter) WALKED most of the zoo, climbed almost anything possible, played at the park at the zoo, and ate like champs for lunch. We ended the day by playing in Q's new/used (FREE!) turtle sandbox, played hockey, and played at the little park. And both kids only had a nap as long as it takes to get from Apple Valley to Minnetonka....and Mike even cooked us dinner!! It was enjoyable. I'm amazed at how well Q and Teddy played for not seeing each other in a few months. Not to mention the fact that Q really doesn't play with kids all that often...she fights with them and usually says "mine mine mine!!!!". With Teddy, it was sharing and hugging and laughing and a lot of fun. Easy for me and Scott to supervise kids that play so well together! And Teddy's vocabulary has grown tremendously! He's growing into such an adorable little man!!

To end it all well, Peanut (baby boy to be) hadn't moved much all day. It's very odd for me to go from 8am to 5pm with no movement, so obviously I was concerned. But, Scott offered to finish dinner final touches and Mike grilled, so I plopped on the couch and put up my feet. HOLY MOLEY Peanut is getting big and strong! Mike came over after a few minutes of movement and Peanut high fived him! Mike got a big smile. Now that movement can be felt by him, baby coming is getting more real....and oh dear are there house things to do yet...but time will allow for that, right?

This week will go all too fast, but next weekend brings a vacation to Portland to visit friends!! We'll see how Q travels, as it's been A LONG time since we've had a vacation to someplace other than Grandparents houses!! It used to be a very regular part of our life. She's excited to go in a plane "up high!!!!" We'll see how she really does! She'll get her own seat this time, so that should be mighty exciting for the little one.

Well, I'm getting piled with dishes and pretend food, so I should probably go eat the lunch she's prepared for me. :) Maybe she'll even nap today!!!!???? (by the way, she did nap at Trisha's all week...go figure!).

No "preliminary" tags

!

After a long week of survey, and a day of questions, research, and intense resident and staff questions...we ended our week with no deficiencies! This is crazy awesome and I'm so proud of my co-workers! I'm exhausted, but turns out it was all worth it in the end! WOOHOO!

Now, for getting the new menus done...

Long Week

Q helped pick up pine cones a few days ago.....they were nicely arranged around our trees. So, she picked them up, put them in a bag....and scattered them all over the yard -- "dump out, mama, no go by big tree". Hmm....oh well!



And wish I had more photos! I need to remind Trisha that I need all these cute photos she keeps telling me about. Q seems to be adjusting well to Trisha's little one. However, she did say on Monday after a long weekend of time with just me that she wanted Charlee to go somewhere else. But, quickly realized she was staying and "dealt with it". She's still apparently really good and gently playing with her and comforting her and is teaching her "high five!" It's tough for her to leave for the day without finding Charlee to give her a high five...it's cute.

The long week I've had had consisted of a long weekend with Mike away with his Ultimate teams (Varsity teams won! guys and girls, yay!) and Q being sick; attempting potty training...oh and our state surveyors showed up at work on Monday afternoon!! So, Q and I have been up and out of the house before 6am. And, if we're lucky, we're home around 6pm. That's a long day for both of us and we're both a little cranky at each other. SO, today I decided we'd get some drive through garbage and eat at a new park. Not a play park, a park in Eden Prairie that I think leads towards the water in the park in our "back yard" -- or our adopted back yard. Since I introduced Q to the creek behind our neighbor's house, she likes to go there. The house is still for sale...hopefully our new neighbors are nice enough to not mind Q taking a bolt for the creek every now and then! It's sooo tempting as you can see the water from our mailbox (across the street by the house with the creek).

Did you know the sun is up before 6 am so early these days already? How and the heck did that happen? And I met the sprinklers every day this week...and this morning there was almost frost on the grass before the sun met them...32 degrees! And to top that off, it was 67 on the way home. Where exactly are we living these days?

Overall, our survey seems to be going okay, but the days are tiring and the change in schedule isn't agreeing with baby-boy Born. He kicks the whole way to work as if saying, "uhm, no, go back to bed, I need more sleep". And he kicks crazy about every 2-4 hours as if saying "FEED ME NOW". So, Q did the same thing, so I'm anticipating an eater. HOWEVER, different than with Q is that Q was most active at night until about 2am. This kid is active all day. SOOO, maybe I'll get a kid that sleeps through the night? We'll hope and well...we have PLENTY of weeks to wait to find out! I'm in NO WAY anxious or wanting to meet baby boy anytime soon...and there are no signs that it could happen anytime soon...so YAY!

Now, I'm pretty sure this blog makes no sense today. I think bedtime soon may be the best option....

Too much Nemo?

So, since the new minivan (I think I posted that I'm a minivan gal now...) ... Q watches many the movies and DVDs. One of her favorites (because I love it and there's little violence and "scary" parts) is Finding Nemo. Well, quite honestly, the days in the car of her whining of boredom are over as she calls for "more Nemo" whenever she can! We've switched it up, mermaids, cars, bears, toy story, puppydogs...but it all comes to "more Nemo!" Today we're trying "a bugs life" and it seems to be going well. She's giggling a lot and asking what each but is....if only I knew--we'll have to get Claire K over here to help us out with that task!

Well, today we're getting out of the bath (rainy day mid-day bath tub fun) and she says to me, "time let go, it be okay, i whale". Nemo line "He says it's time to let go! Everything will be okay!" -actually a Dori line while her and Marlin are in a whale and Dori speaks "whale", hence the 'I whale' at the end.

I can't even being to think about how much more she's quoting that I don't realize. But the best part was that she grabbed my shoulder like in the movie, Marlin is holding onto Dori or something like. It's a sign, I think?

Was she trying to comfort me? I'm not sure. I have been attempting to get her to nap, so maybe it's Q's way of saying "give it up Mom, no more naps ever again". She was up at 8 yesterday (actually up at 6, but fell back asleep), did not nap yesterday, and did not go to bed until after 8. Today--up at 5:30. No nap. If she sleeps at Trisha's tomorrow, I may cry. :) She's actually been a lot of fun and we've had a blast destroying the house and trying to piece it together again. I've been rearranging cabinets and drawers as my storage spaces somehow never got organized in the unpacking process. Not to mention the fact that nothing that's come into the house since we've been here has really ever had a home...so. Working on that this weekend as it's been rainy and wet and damp and gross. Q's working on finishing off all the ends of bags of snacks and ends of veggies and leftovers from the fridge. We both greatly enjoyed our bowl of cereal this morning--we've been without milk at home almost all week!! Oh well....

Q's had a runny nose and one watery eye all weekend too. On Friday there was a slight temp, but nothing more than clear goo. She's getting good at tissues! :)

On another note...Q likes parks. Mike and I like to show her new tricks. Since I sort of have a bump that would inhibit me showing her this trick....Mike did the honors. And man this hill would've been fun and close sledding!! At least we know for next year when she may enjoy stepping in snow!

Easter Weekend

Oh dear, am I far behind on this business of blogging.

As some have hinted/told me lately "you should move back to NYC so I know what you're doing and what Q's doing again". Wow, I thought. If that isn't the sad, sad truth. Where does time go?! I've been back at work more then 6 months now. And holy moley, how did I get to be 20 weeks preggo already (well, according to today's ultrasound, 18 weeks...whatever)?!

We've been busy working. Mike's been busy coaching--which he seems to be good at and LOVES! Maybe someday Q and I will make it to a game/tournament if they're close. Q's busy growing. We're in potty training days. Trisha tried today at day care and she peed twice. She's hating wearing pants and "underwears" so it leaks, and leaks quickly. She's in this odd transition when she knows she's going/know she's gone, has slight and quick potty dance and it's over....pee everywhere. So, we'll try a few more days, see where it goes, and maybe just switch to a thicker cloth diaper/potty training pant. She really likes the do-it-yourself of the underwear and pull ups pull apart (and are sooo ridiculously priced it's not funny) when you pull them up (or when Q tries at least).

A little bump if you look close! Camera is with Mike in the car, otherwise I'd sport a 20 week photo for you. I didn't take any profiles while I was not sure if we'd make the 20 week mark, so the last one I have is the last one posted. We did get some cute U.S. photos today...but again, with Mike who's at practice. Maybe a later viewing of our baby BOY to be!

Yes, she's a crazy driver already! She loved this power car...it was awesome watching her in Grandma's yard Easter weekend.
Why use the hands when the stuff your face in the cupcake works so much better?? Only my girl.....I think...
Easter bunny goodies...!!!
Q and Hailey. They're such cute cousins. Maybe someday they'll really like playing together instead of fighting over toys. :) Someday.....

Oh the Things We've Done

A few weekends ago already, Mike's parents came up for the night and we had a swim party at the hotel. She's tooooo tall for her 2T suits....but that's all I had unpacked, so she wore it anyway...barely.




Eww...but, how can you stop a kid from having fun? Even if it means licking the recycled water from a overcrowded wading pool....she lived in NYC for 2 years, I doubt anything in that water could hurt her. And well, she's proved me right as it's been 3 weeks and not sick! :)


She had a fun time at that pool. There were also big water slides that she did with daddy...and once "with Papa". "With Papa" meaning that Quinn was faster and took off ahead of him; proceeded to the slide and down the slide HEAD FIRST into the water alone...Chuck close behind but not with her! I did not witness anything but Mike, Quinn and Chuck looking at each other in the water and Quinn looking slightly concerned, but okay and not crying. She wanted out of the big pool then, but went for the slides again in just a few minutes. Crazy girl...is she mine?!


Quinn also enjoys cooking food these days....but only if she can find her play silverware. Here she was helping nurse Papa Joe back to health post-op in our home recovering. Chicken Soup...yummy!!! Apparently Papa looked like he was having a rough morning as Quinn insisted on feeding him this time!!

And our enjoyable day yesterday....

And last, but not least.....

Week 10 Katie


Week 14 Katie

We're due labor day 2010! In addition to Papa Joe, I have also spent much time with my doctor the last 2 weeks as we're having some complications with Baby-to-Be #2. So far, all keeps checking in okay, but we're still in miscarriage talks which I HATE because we've seen our little ones fingers and toes and spine and to think it could all just go away is awful. But I've been very cautious and following the advice to do what my body tells me I can do.

Sadly, I'm not able to run around and enjoy my "just with Quinn" time like I would hope, but we certainly have had our share of play time, running time, chalk time and STORY time! She loves books!!! Her letter recognition (capital letters) is amazing, she knows her colors, shapes, number recognition is getting there. Her letter recognition jumped drastically with the addition of two leap frog toys: one magnet set (Christmas present rediscovered) and another keyboard-like set we got from Great Aunt Patty recently (thanks!!). I honestly have no idea where she's "supposed" to be, but she's so smart and astonishes me every day with her words, physical ability changes, and memory...she talks about some crazy things sometimes. The past few weeks she's talking in sentences; and, well, we emphasize please and thank you to no end (right Mom and Dad?!).

I have been taking a lot of time away from work, trying to get what I can done here, but it's not the same as being at work. On the other side, since I'm still trying to balance work and home, my time with Quinn is just not the same when I can't play like I would wish I could.

All things considered, the pregnancy and fetus look and check in healthy. No crazy cravings that I am aware of. I'm finally a little more energetic, but still wish bed time was 9pm...as it is most nights just because flat on my back is most comfortable these days. I am gaining weight slow and steady, in my preggo pants. I eat and drink like there's no end. I swear he/she was kicking me this morning, but it's so hard to tell so early! The little one is still not much bigger than an orange!

We're anxiously awaiting what the next few weeks have to offer us, and can't wait until Quinn can share all her knowledge and experiences with another little baby!

Mittens? Hat? Scarf?

NOPE! We don't need them Quinn, it's WARMER outside! "warm? no coat?" no we still need a coat for awhile. "no mittens???"

I think it's funny because she's barely kept mittens on all winter, except for the last week or so...and now we don't need them!

WE'VE had a blast the last few days. I must say I'm glad it wasn't quite this nice 2 weeks ago as it's been hard enough "going slower" the last two days.

We spent almost an hour at the "big park" that we have not seen since September today after working 1/2 day. It was wonderful. The only reason we left is because I felt bad for not having sunscreen on! We got home and Quinn ran for the "little park" in our neighbor's back yard. I was parched, so managed to wrangle her back inside for a snack and water. It's hard to not just spend all my time outside. I have some pretty cute photos to post; hopefully later tonight. As for now, to work a little more and watch little Quinn run circles and change her socks over and over again (she got new Minnie socks and new ladybug socks and new bumble bee socks and she just can't decide which are the best to keep on until bed time).

I must say, I really missed the sun last week, too. I was overjoyed and actually teared up yesterday when the sun came out for the first time in a week....oh the hormones!

Home!

Well, Papa Joe came home from the hospital yesterday. He's doing as well as can be expected and is LOVING watching and listening to Quinn play, count to 10 and say her alphabet from "g to v" she doesn't like the beginning and end all the time. :)

I'm officially set up to work from home, network and all. Not sure how I really feel about that! :)

Will try to post photos later.

Water and Papa

Lots of cute photos this week...however they're on the grandparents cameras! I should've stolen their contents. Oops.

Oh well.

Busy 24 hours here. My dad called me about 24 hours ago "I fell in the park and I can't bear weight, I'm calling 911. Quinn's okay."

I called Mike, Mike rushed home, we visit dad in hospital with broken femur and total hip surgery needed ASAP..no transport back to Milwaukee possible.

SO, we've had some "fun" family planning and changes the last 24 hours and hope the next 24 go better. Dad should be out of surgery soon.

Should you wish to send him a message, you can do so! But he won't get it until Monday now, seeing as that volunteer service is only M-F.

Email Dad (Joe) at PN Methodist Hospital. I believe he's in room 728...

So, Dad was here without Mom for the week watching Quinn and enjoying one-on-one time with her. I think after this week he understands why my decision to go back to work was so freaking hard to make!! The fall was a sad result. So, Mom and my sister booked a flight last night to come out today. Unfortunately all flights originating anywhere north of DC are MAJORLY delayed today...I think they're going to refund their flight (no cost) and drive....and still get here before the new ETA of the flight into MSP of 8:45pm. All other airlines are asking RIDICULOUS last minute booking fees. Wish them luck and a safe drive (or flight).

On the up-side, USA is kicking arse in hockey?? USA-USA-USA!

Hopefully to get some of Dad's photos posted soon...we forgot to bring his camera home last night! He got some precious ones of Quinn at gym class and playing this week.

Adorable

I just love the things this girl comes up with. She's a riot.

Day Off and Birthdays Weekend

Photos from today. After a few minutes of "no more snow, no more outside, ALL DONE!" I convinced Quinn to go for a quick stroll down the block (not so quick) by saying maybe we'd make it to the park. Little white lies...you can't quite tell in this shot, but the snow from the tire tracks in the road were up to her knees!! 6-8" of snow total...LIES ALL LIES! As this was at 10am today. Oh, well. Mike's the one shoveling and snow blowing, not me.



"cheese" You can kind of see her poor "rudolph" nose in this shot...she was soooo full of snot by this time...poor runny nose...and Mama's caught it now too...can't believe it took all weekend of snotty tissues to get to me, but it happened. We'll see how the rest of the week treats me.


And our Wisconsin weekend was to celebrate Dad's retirement and all the January and February birthdays. My dad, my niece Hailey, my BIL Tom, my sister Claire, my sister Kristin and my BIL Bill. That's a lot of birthdays in just a few weeks!!


And that's a lot of grandkids! This was the best shot I got of the 8 of them...and not even a Cosmo, Mocha, Eggo or Killer to be seen!



And the cake my sister Jen created...nice timeline, right?!


Yes, an actual video!!

Week One

Well, week one without Trisha is over, week two begins. Today I'm off (as I anticipated the predicted snow to make for an extra awful commute), and Quinn will have four days in day care this week. Hopefully these four days go better than last week's three days. She did not do so awesome with adapting to the day care center ways. And after just two days she got the "day care runny nose"!! Well, she's still her crazy self, she just doesn't interact with the other kids and the day care nap time is NOT when she's used to napping, so she calls for nigh nigh all afternoon while the other kids are well-rested and trying to make her happier! Maybe she'll catch on this week?? She has a few more weeks to get used to it, so we'll see how that goes.

No new photos, even though she's crazy adorable these days. We'll try to get some cute shots in the snow today!! BEFORE it gets all crazy post-snow cold!!

She found a new love...fruity pebbles. :) She looked at them this morning and yelled "nooooooo" but then loved them. She mixed them with my frosted mini wheats....whatever works for her!!

New Day Care

Well, on our way home from Grafton on Sunday, we got the phone call from Frog's Day Care Trisha saying she was in the hospital having a baby. All but 6 hours later, she had a baby girl! 16 days early. No awesome day care options arranged. We had several people willing to take her and watch her for us, but when it came time to make the decision on Sunday night, we decided a day care close to Mike's work or close to me in Farmington were the only two options that we were willing to do for just a few weeks.

I found a great day care, with availability for drop-in and weekly visits, awesome rates, great classrooms, and a fellow co-worker sends her son (soon to be sons) there! So, for the next few weeks while Trisha recovers and adjusts to life with a newborn, Quinn will have new friends to play with at a new day care. They supply diapers & wipes and encourage potty training every 2 hours! There will be 4-6 other toddlers in the room with her, mostly younger, but just as talkative (I heard several stories for the 5 minutes I spent in the room). They try to get the kids out every day, but I can totally understand if it's only a few times a week as it's well below freezing most days and handling 6 toddlers to get clean, fed, dressed, napped and taught and bundled appropriately ... wow and then getting them all outside to play. Yikes...well...that's why I'm not a day care provider!! I can handle my toddler (most days)...adding any to the mix is fun (like the other night when I watched Ted after a full day at work!!).

What else about day care...they offer breakfast, lunch and snacks. They have structured time to do art, read, sensory tables, and other activities. Nothing different that what Trisha does there. But, they have cameras set up so if I get time (ha ha) at work, I can check in on how she's doing and what's going on for a few minutes every day. Secured entrance with key entry or buzzer.

And it's almost half the price of anything closer to home, so she'll still get to commute with Mama every day to Farmington!

My only concern is that she won't get the naps she's used to (going on 2 hours here now) and she'll sleep on a cot instead of a 4-sided "cage"! :) It'll be nice as we plan to transition her to a toddler bed (cross fingers) this weekend when her new room is all painted and decorated. The snow last night put a damper on getting more done in her room, but having today home from work has slightly chipped away at the details. Maybe it's for the best as she crawled out of her crib yesterday for the first time ever when Mike tried to put her down for a nap! Injury-free thank God!

It will be nice to see the difference between a "center" care and her "at home" care that she's been getting. She gets LOTS of one-on-one time at home and Trisha's, but when we go to Gym class and playgrounds and such, she could seemingly care less if I'm around or not. She seems to enjoy the other kids and teachers that surround us. SO, we'll see how the rest of the week goes. I think Quinn will enjoy her time, but we may be anxious to get back to Trisha's, too! I'm still not sure if I'll keep her at Trisha's all four days or if we'll split time between the center and Trisha's or if we'll keep Trisha at all. We'll see what Quinn wants and how she handles the next few weeks. :) OH, and Grandpa R may still be coming up from Grafton next week to watch her for a few days, so that'll put a nice twist on it all too! :)

Trisha's baby! They had a girl, 6lbs6oz, 19", 6pm-ish on Jan 31st. Charlee Catherine. I'm soo excited to meet her! I'll probably stop by after work next week...maybe with Q to see how she is around a newborn ... that could be a reason to keep her from Trisha's for awhile longer too!!

OH, and potty training! Q's in pull-ups and diapers...but the diapers fall apart,tabs fall off...from how many times she wants on and off the potty. Last night she said..."Mama, Elmo Potty Time" so she sat on the potty and I read. About 1 page into the book, I smell...

"Quinn, did you go poopy?"

"aaawwwhhh!!!! MAMA POOP IN POTTY!!!!"
and she just GIGGLES like mad. Then she insisted on going on the big potty...and farted a little more. It was awesome hearing her giggle. I could tell she was as shocked and gratified as I was! I told her should could have a treat for making it to the potty in time.

"Quinn, what would you like for a treat?"

"uhmmm, GYM CLASS!"

SO, we did some tumbling, but we also went to gym class this morning (as we have 2 make-ups to do anyway). She loves that class and running and jumping and swinging and she's SO much better at following what the teacher is doing with exercises and practice moves. It's crazy how much she's learned and developed the last few months. I can't believe how much more I notice it when I'm not with her all day long!

She knows almost all her colors and shapes accurately; recently learning pentagon and octagon (which she insists on calling the "police stop sign octagon"). She knows the number 2 and number 8 by sight (odd choices, but whatever). We're working on letter recognition too...she knows Q. That's something else they will do at day care too. A number and letter of the week.

Oh what else has changed? Everything is "do it self". But when given her pull up to "do self" she wanted her "diaper back!". We'll see how that transition goes!

As for now, time to continue her room and getting stuff cleaned up. I'm not quite sure how the house gets so messy when we're barely here...but whatever. I'll blame the cats! :)

Vikings

So, inspired by the day of talking up the "inevitable" Viking win, Q wanted to wear a party dress to Jim and Stacy's the other night.

Yes, even by the middle of the game, Q didn't want to watch the horror on the television!!

Late Day

Well, work is postponed for awhile today as I declared today "clean the kitchen night" at work. That means since I'm no longer hourly...no way am I planning to spend more than 8-10 hours there in a day! So, I get to spend some time with Q this morning and head in to work in time for lunch. And apparently it's a good day to do so as the roads are littered with slow traffic and accidents from yesterday's snow, sorta melty and icy road conditions.

We went to Jim and Stacy and Finn's for the game the other night...Q really wanted to make it through the whole game, but asked desperately for bed at the OT. Who can blame her! She has TWO disappointing loses from the Pack and the Vikes this year!! Mike and I agreed the other night that she can be any fan she wants...as long as she's not a Bear! I'd prefer her to be anti-Dallas as well, but she just can't be a Bear fan. :)

Our day care Trisha is getting closer and closer to delivery...and she'd not due for 21 days! She's a the same stage as another friend of ours who's due in 8 days...AHHH! She's excited and nervous at the same time...all those feelings we all have before delivery. So, Stacy has agreed to help us with day care and I think my Dad still hopes to come out for some days too. Could be a fun couple weeks for Q! And what a transition for Trisha to make from preggo to just her and kiddo to watching 2 crazy kids and her own! Hopefully Q's through her "do it self" phase and let's us continue to help with hygeine. She's definitely going through some rebellious stage.

Oh well, time to go play!!!

Grammy? and updates

"Cookie Grammy Car!!!"
That's what I heard on the way home as Q managed to get her diaper bag off the seat and get into it. Apparently Grammy let her have cookies in the car and they stayed in the diaper bag since her departure last week. I didn't think Grammy allowed food in her car, I'm shocked! Is this the truth, Grammy? Inquiring minds want to know if Q's telling her little white lies already!

Over all, big news in the Born house today. I'm officially a FT dietary manager again...and well, still a FT mama! We've (I've) been debating for several weeks about what I really want to do ... and with Quinn loving day care and Trisha doing a great job being Mom to my little girl the past 3 months, it's hard to get her "used to" just me every day! Not to mention the extra money has been really nice with furnishing our home and retirement (I love thinking about retirement when I've only been working 10 years!).

So, I'm back at Trinity Care in Farmington. The drive gets to be tough some days, but the days I don't take Q with me ... the drive seems AGES longer. SO, not only do I become thankful for the company, but I get some time to converse with my little girl at the beginning and end of every day.

And yes, converse with her. She's a chatterbox and has a million words.

Her new favorite toy and book at day care is "barney phone" and "barney story". We have yet to ever watch a minute of Barney (mostly because what time is it on anyway?!), but also because what's TV?! :)

Her favorite thing to see on TV is "Berenstein Bears DVD!" and she knows how to put it in and start the x-box to watch it....too bad you need to go through some menu screens and input changes or she'd probably do it herself.

She's currently in a take diaper off in her crib and throw it across the room or lay it in her bed if she wakes up or attempts to fall asleep with a wet diaper. We're having some backwards clothes interventions to stop the peeing in the bed scenarios we've had. Apparently it's common....I guess she still pees through her diaper so the sheets change anyway...but it's TOTALLY different than a pile of pee. Sigh... SO, we've started more serious potty training but she still seems oblivious to pee and poop sensations. And she doesn't love the feeling. We've had one successful potty and all night dry...but the mornings are tough with her being super groggy and woken up to leave for a 45 minute car ride. I'm not sure how this training will pan out, but maybe soon!! I've also tried to limit her beverage intake after 4 to 4 oz as she pees a million times more if she gets more than that. She was getting pretty used to milk with dinner and stories and the transition away to only one or the other seems to be difficult. If she didn't drink much all day, I'd still let her have it, but she drinks very well all day long, so I don't think it's a bad thing...trying to control peeing in the bed at night!!

She also requested a "big bed" the other night so hopefully her room will be finished this weekend and she'll get her big bed with a new colored room! Wish me luck with the project!! :)

She loves bathtub crayons and she especially likes to color the bottom of the tub and below the water level. I didn't think it would work, but she proved me wrong! Silly girl.

She loves to cook and bake in her new kitchen since Christmas. Eggs, cookies, bagels and donuts are her daily specials.

She's a little bookworm lately too. I've started limiting her to 3 stories a night before bed as she'd be okay with reading all night long...and prolonging bed time. So we read when we get home, quick dinner, movie/puzzles/"gym class", 3 stories and bed.

Only 4 more weeks until our day care Trisha is due. We're looking for day care alternatives as she could really be out for up to 4-6 weeks....youch now that I'm working, right?! If anyone has local ideas, let us know!

I miss my days off!!

So I took off work yesterday to go to the Como Conservatory and Zoo with Stacy, Finn and Austin...and Quinn of course! Man, do I miss my days off during the week! I really didn't realize it until yesterday. It was the first time since starting back working again that I really realized what I was missing out on every day I drop Q off at day care. We had a really good time with the three kiddos. Austin and Quinn are crazy for each other and Finn seemed to just love being out of the house!

No official word on the work front yet, but we're hoping to having something finalized this week or next week. I'm still not sure what I want to tell them. I really love being at home, but man alive the money is nice! Especially as we're still furnishing our home.

Quinn's vocabulary is going crazy. She babbles ALL DAY long. Most of the time I can pick out what she's saying, but lately I swear she's picking up on the Chinese coming from the nearby elementary school somehow! She's counting 1-4 without skipping numbers now. She'll remember 5 from time to time, but she gets so excited she knows "one" now that she tends to stop and count backwards from 4 before going to 5. After that, she like to skip the odd numbers "five, six, eight, TEN, twelve". I'd like to say I taught her that on purpose, but it's just not true.

She got a Berenstein Bears DVD with 6 short episodes on it and it quickly became her favorite activity (after colors, play dough and running naked).

She eats us out of food most of the time...she's still a great eater. I swear each day when I pick her up she's gained a pound or two...I think we're in for another growth spurt!

New Year

Vikings game yesterday!!! Our anniversary present to ourselves via help from Mary (thanks!!). The tickets were actually in the former Gopher student section almost exactly where Mike used to sit (and somehow we failed to realize this prior to the game, but the tickets were good!) After several self-attempts, the guys behind us finally took a photo for us.


Sorry, Dannie, I tried the WHOLE GAME to get a good Favre "butt shot" but this is the best I could do for ya. :) Dude doesn't stay in the huddle very long!!!



And Saturday, while Mike was on a Dads with kids date at the MOA, I tested new colors for Q's room. From awful purple with even more awful pink to much calmer purple and green. The green is still a little loud...we'll see if I can find something with a new tone.


And one of Q's new Carol coats and sporting her shades too!! She's growing into a diva more and more. Heck, I'm just happy she wore clothes this day...she really only ever wants to wear PJs these days!!


Wow, has the year only been a few days long? I must say we had the most non-productive productive weekend. I feel like (with the exception of last night) we moved pretty much all weekend.

Some Photos!

For those of you who know our back yard, this is the back of our back yard...yes, where there used to be LARGE boulders on the back edge. Yes, the snow is higher than them now!! Crazy a lot of snow...and many months of snow to come!!



Play dress up as Daddy's tool helper! Hard hat, belt, vest and all...she loves it!


She opened Killer and Eggo's present at Grandma and Grandpa's. She actually interacts well with the cats and this toy. Yay good choice!!


One of the best shots we have of Q and a Christmas tree this year.


Q helping take a photo of Mommy.


I think today is the first day since November 21st that Quinn has gone without opening or seeing a present!!! Hopefully she'll get used to not having presents around all the time!!

MIA

Yes, how do you working Moms keep up with blogging?! Wow, life is busy.

We've been in Eagle Lake since Wednesday, did not want to try to travel in the predicted snow on Thursday. It was pretty heavy by the time we got here, but we were thankful we got here early! We had Quinn sled on Thursday (new present from Grammy and Papa) and then Mike and I went to Mankato to finish our shopping! Let me say, Christmas Eve Day shopping...WAAY less crowded than day after Thanksgiving...and near the same sales!

So, we went to mass on Thursday night, then to Granny's for food...and no bed time was had. She was up THREE times that night ... what!? She loves her routine, I guess.

Friday we got up, bummed around the house, late showers and opening presents, then to Granny's again for presents, food, and family. And a short nap at Granny's and up ONCE last night. Still...what the heck, Quinn?! She'll be glad to be back home tonight..as will all of us. Santa left a note here saying Quinn had more presents at home waiting for her!! What a lucky lucky girl . With a late November birthday and family everywhere...she's pretty much had presents to open ever week since her birthday! I hope January isn't too disappointing for her!

As far as today, we slept in (about 8:30!?!) and then had pancakes, eggs and sausage, then headed to the park to ice skate!! Quinn loved to hate it. She was SO excited to get her skates on, then we got on the ice (after much work and effort trying to get the skates on ... these 8s will fit her this year and probably never again) and she said, "no, back to truck! boots back! back truck!". We made her stay out anyway and she even had a smile after awhile. I didn't realize how stressful skating was on ankles, but she did really well. I'm proud of her. And again, we have some cute shots of that on Papa's camera.

My camera is MIA at home somewhere, so I hope to get cute photos of her with her new toys at home. Papa and Grammy have quite a few cute ones that I hope to steal. :) Overall, we're anxious to get home and back into our quiet routine of wake up, drive, work, drive, sleep. :)

Merry Christmas to all and hope you're enjoying the snow!! Quinn hates it, loves to look at it, you get it too close to her and she CRIES. She better get used to it if we have snow until March!! :)

Mo'Most home

That's what she says as we turn the last few corners "mo'most home!"

Too cute. Her vocabulary has absolutely exploded the past few days again...repeating anything and everything...but not too long after she hears it (usually). We've been working on spanish words lately...it's a totally different sound than english and she has frustration with english words she can't say, so spanish is not coming so easily. Guess maybe I should've pushed it harder awhile ago...ah well. The fact that she knows so many english words is exciting for me.

She learned heart and star shapes this weekend. She still confuses square and triangle sometimes, but is doing well with circle and rectangle (how she knows rectangle and not square i'll never figure out).

Everything is "green" again too. For awhile it was "yellow". And a lot of stuff was "white" and "black" this weekend...but she's back to everything being "green". As I've said before, at least she knows they're colors!!

As for now, I'm off to help shovel some driveway (another couple inches of snow last night...and it was never completely cleared after last week's snow!! oops!).

Quinn and Ted Ted

We watched Ted last night and he slept over. He wasn't much hassle though, both kids were sleeping before 8! It was awesome!

More Snow!

That's what Quinn exclaimed this morning as she ran to our big picture window. That more snow is the reason I'm staying home today. There was barely snow on the ground for "rush hourS" last night and no one was moving. About 2 hours to go my 32 miles. Yikes...it was awful. I have vowed to never drive to/from Farmington if there is even talk of snow or flurries. Never ever ever again. Quinn learned lots of new words and we listened to Bon Jovi's "Livin on a Prayer" several times and we were always halfway home!!

Anyway, Q has been loving Day Care. She practiced shapes the other day and knew 5 of 5 100% of the time! The words are really tough for her, but she will point to circles, squares, rectangles, triangles and stars in many of her books and surroundings. She's learning more than I can keep up with these days!

Since the last post we had our first pediatrician appointment here. She didn't know where we were when we checked in and looked at the fishies in the fish tank. But as SOON as we passed through the door to the exam rooms it was "nooooooooOOO!OOOOOOOOOO!O!O!O!O!" and she threw herself into her "i'm 2" tantrum. She's in the same percentiles for weight, height, and head circumference. The doctor was very impressed with how well she held onto crayons, her attempts at knowing colors, numbers and letter, and how many words she has. At one point she asked if she was quiet much during the day, or if she talked a lot. I responded with "i'm surprised she doesn't talk in her sleep!" The doctors and nurses were super friendly and the appointment took about an hour start to finish (with 4 vaccinations, two flu)!