Tidbits 6.28.13 - Love

Quinn has FINALLY started to say I love you.  And it makes my heart melt every single time he says it.  The funny and sweet part that makes it worth mentioning here is that he says it whenever her hears me say I love you to anyone.

For example last night he was totally zoned out playing a game on the iPad as Paige was heading up to bed.  I said to Paige, I love you Paige.  Quinn replied without ever looking up from his game, I love you too mom.  He always says it like that...I love you too mom.  Sigh....xoxo  It is nice to hear it back after nearly four years :)

The Home Stretch

It's time to write about our newest addition again!  I had my 28 week appointment today and I am now officially in my 3rd trimester and in the home stretch.  I was really looking forward to today's appointment for a few reasons.

1- I got to see our little boy again with the 3D ultrasound!!
2- I got to bring Paige along to see him!
3- I got to hear his little heartbeat.  There is something so reassuring about that sound!

So today's appointment was a big one, well long one.  Now that I am 28 weeks pregnant I was given the glucose screening to test for gestational diabetes.   This is where you drink 6 or so ounces of sweet orange liquid then wait an hour and then they run some blood work.  The drink they give you tastes very similar to McDonald's Orange Hi-C, a bit sweeter...but close.  Anyway, I passed that test with flying colors.  In fact I scored so low, I was concerned that maybe something was wrong on the opposite side of the spectrum!  I guess you need to stay below 140 to be in the clear. I remember with Quinn I missed having to do the 3 hours screen by 1 point so I must have had a 139.  Today I scored 72.  So low, but I guess that it is totally OK, I just process sugar well! 

While we waited the hour necessary to process the sugar drink we had the ultrasound.  Every chance I get to see my little peanut is always so much fun.  This time was certainly no different, if fact it was the best view yet..in 3D!  The tech told me that nothing had really changed since the last 3D ultrasound I had done with Quinn.  I am not sure I believe it as that was 4 years ago and this scan was so bright and colorful and detailed.  She did keep switching into 4D, I think that was just the difference of the color dimension rather than just seeing him in black and white.  Either way, it sure made a difference.  She was able to confirm again that he is a he, and also just as I suspected, he is breech.  We still have plenty of time for him to flip into position, I sure hope he does!  We also had a hard time getting a clear view of his sweet little face because he had his little hands and arms in the way.  We were able to catch the sweetest little yawn though.  Paige was pretty good at following along on the screen but was distracted very easily by everything else in the room.  I on the other hand...loved... every... minute.  Here are a few of the pictures that we got to take home.

In these first two he looks SO much like Quinn.  Not Quinn's 3D ultrasound..but newborn Quinn.  I wonder if they will really look alike?  I sure can tell he is my baby...so incredible to see this early.

 

 

This is his little profile, you can see his ear on the bottom right of the picture and his perfect little eyes, nose and lips on the left.

 

 

And last are his tiny feet which currently are pointing the wrong way...:)

 

 

For comparison, here is a picture of Quinn when he was just a few days old next to our newest little guys image.  Crazy how much they look alike!

 

 

After the ultrasound we headed back to see my doctor, Dr. Ingebritson.  She is new at the clinic, and coincidentally I have had a different doctor with each pregnancy and they have all been great.  While we were in there, the only thing she really needed to do was listen to the baby's heartbeat with the doppler.  Being she has a little girl about Paige's age she knew how much Paige would enjoy that part.  So much that she let Paige do the entire thing from squirting the gel on my belly to placing the doppler and finding the heartbeat.  You should have seen Paige's face light up when she found and heard that little beating heart.  It was awesome.  

 

The doctor and I discussed the baby's breech positioning a little bit and she said we would just have to wait and see.  If he still hasn't turned on his own by 34 weeks we will discuss other options such as attempting to turn him or scheduling a c-section.  Turn baby turn!!!!

 

One more fun thing from the appointment was the gift bag they gave me which contained 3 containers of Enfamil formula, a cooler for bottles and milk with a contoured ice pack and a few other little items including 2 pacifiers.  And on the way out I scheduled all of my remaining appointments.  I start coming in every 2 weeks for the next few appointments and then every week until he is born!  It is starting to feel more and more real that we will have another baby very soon.  September will be here before we know it!!! 

 

 

 

Picture Perfect

I love having the kids pictures professionally taken, who doesn't right?  And I try to have them done at least once each year outside of school pictures, usually in the Fall when both kids have just turned a new year older.  The problem here is that just a few years ago there were alot of options for places someone like me could take my kids.  You see I am super spontaneous and impatient.  By this I mean that I may have no thoughts in my head whatsoever to have the kids pictures taken and then all of a sudden... I NEED to have them done now and I want the pictures back right away. 

When the kids were babies I would have them done every 3 months for the first year, every 6 months for the second year and the once per year each year after that.  It was easy beacuse there were lots of choices (Pro Ex, Ritz, Kiddie Kandid's, Sears, JC Penny's and Target) just off of the top of my head.  But in the past couple of years, lifestyle photographers have become really big and little by little the photo shops have been closing their doors.  Don't get me wrong, I love the lifestyle photographers, in fact I have several very good friends who are photographers.  Unfortunately...those sessions usually don't work well with spontaneus me!  And also, there is something I like about the crisp images in front of a backdrop, at least for an annual photo of the kids.  You know, kinda like school pictures, except better.  I want to be clear though...when it comes to a family shot, I am all about the relaxed lifestyle approach.  No Olan Mills family photos for this girl.

A few months ago my Mom was giving me a hard time about the fact that it had been well over a year since I had any photos taken of the kids.  She said when her friends at work asked to see the kids she didn't have any nice pictures on her desk to show them.  I defended myself with the hundreds of pictures that  I take myself and email to her.  But, I guess it just isn't the same as when I order the prints after the sitting and hand deliver them to her....all crisp and perfect and...professional.  Sigh.

So, I agreed with her point and started calling around to find a place who could take my kids pictures as soon as possible.  I realized I was down to just two options...Target or JC Penny's.  Can you believe it?  That is all that remains!  So I went with Target, and scheduled the first appointment of the day in order to minimize the chaos of the visit since they schedule appointments just 10 minutes apart.  I don't know about you but with small kids, it just doesn't seem that it is even close to enough time to capture several frame-worthy shots. 

Well...we gave it a whirl, and I have to say our photographer was great!  The kids cooperated and I got a few pictures for my Mom's desk as well as a few for our home and other family.  Once the shoot is over, they show you the images immediately and try to encourage you to buy as many photos as you can right there on the spot.  They do this by offering a very reasonable rate and then send you home with access to your images for future orders online with a username and password. This sounds like a totally great idea, you can go home and choose your favorites, ask your family what they like and which size they want..then order. But here is the catch...each sheet is 4 times the price the second you leave the store. Seriously. So, knowing that, I ordered what I thought I needed before I left and that was it. However, once I got home and looked at the images again, and realized I could crop and zoom and enhance them myself...well I wished I would have ordered more. Oh well. I had my chance.

I also have a hard time letting the images I didn't order go.  Even though they aren't ideal for framing, they are still my babies!!  So I love every last one of them.  Mom's are suckers and the photo industry knows it.  A mom will buy just about anything once you stick their baby's face on it.  Sigh..they even will tease you at the studio when you go to pick up your final prints.  They will print out several gigantic sheets of photos of your precious babies with creative formats at a discounted price trying to get you to spend more money.  And if you don't buy them...they throw them away!  It just seems like such a waste.  They will charge you $20 per sheet yet print 4 "extras" just for fun, and just throw them away.  Maybe if they stopped wasting they could lower their prices?  Just a thought.  But still, I never do give in and buy those extra sheets.  They are usually pretty cheesy, not the kids of course...but the format of the photos.  I am not big on collages or words and borders on my portraits.

But...going back to the short sitting time point.  How can one possibly order what they need in 10 minutes with 2 small kids and a slew of people waiting all around for their turn.  I guess the ability to relax during the experience is the biggest tradeoff to the need for spontenaity.  Oh well...there is always next time. 

Since I can't print them all, I decided to save copies from the portrait site of all of the images before they expired so I could still look back at them, and appreciate how little they were and how quickly they are growing.  Enjoy....aren't they just the sweetest?

 

Paige ~ 6 1/2 and Quinn ~ 3 1/2

~~~~~~~~~~

March 2013

 

The Long Lost Uncle

The kids' long lost uncle "Uncle Huckle" stopped over last week!  The kids were very excited to see him and Paige even more so when he wanted to play catch with her.  It was fun to see how drawn they were to him after not seeing him for nearly a year.  Huckle is also Paige's godfather, we are hoping he stops by more often to play a game of catch!!!

 

Of course Paige made him work a bit to get to the ball.  Her aim is still a bit rusty!

Milestones

I am really bad about writing in my kids' baby books.  Like really bad.  For example, when I found out I was pregnant this time I decided to go out and buy a baby book for the little guy.  Maybe a journal because after all, this would be my last pregnancy and I should really document it, cherishing every last moment.

 I spent a good deal of time browsing all of the options available at Barnes & Noble.  There were so, so many.  I realized pretty quickly that no matter what my intentions were, there was no way I would be able to keep up on a journal.  As I paged through each book, all different styles, I decided that journals are for first time moms.  Or maybe moms with nannies.  Or moms who love love love to journal  But there was no way I had the time to dedicate myself to writing down every change, emotion, feeling or worry about this pregnancy.   And even if I could, it wouldn't be fair to Paige and Quinn whose pregnancies I didn't document so well.  So, I selected a nice simple baby book that would give me space for the ultra sound pictures, a few notes about our excitement and name choices as well as birth information and all of his "firsts".  You know, first tooth, first steps, first foods, etc.  Which brings me back to my whole point. 

You see, after purchasing this book I went home and pulled the books of my first two babies to reminisce over their infancy and realized that both books were pretty bare with the exception of their birth information, hospital bracelets, ultrasound photos and a stack of stickers from the clinic noting their height and weight at each baby well check.  Not a whole lot of "firsts" in either book.  Uh-oh.  Well, I decided right away that something needed to be done about that. 

I spent the better part of a day that weekend going through the stacks of papers and tangible items that had accumulated in our closet over the past 5 years for the kids.  Many were art projects, a ton of random photos and then miscellaneous items that I wanted to add to their baby books.  I then told my self that I would have all baby books complete before this new baby was born because how could I focus on a new book with 2 still sitting there waiting for my attention.  Sigh. 

In addition to the baby books, I had also created photo books of Paige's entire first year and second year of life.  And believe it or not the last book actually ends with a picture of Paige and I just after my water broke with Quinn.  My intention was to start the next book with Quinn at his birth but it never happened.  I started it once, and then our computer crashed.  The whole idea of starting over and sorting through thousands of pictures overwhelmed me.  Quinn will be four when the baby is born, well a few weeks shy of four but you get the idea. This mama has some projects to do!!!

I am almost in my 3rd trimester.  I just counted and I officially have 103 days until my due date which is plenty of time in theory to get it together and wrap up these projects.  I worry that everything you hear about the 2nd and 3rd child is true, how with each child there is less and less emphasis put on these details.  I think that is so sad but I do see how easily it happens.  Life is busy, and time slips away and pretty soon it doesn't seem to matter so much anymore. 

But the thing is it does matter.  A lot.  To all three of our children who will one day be planning their first baby.  Their husband or wife will ask to see baby pictures, or those of their childhood to envision their soon-to-be family.  And they will not be empty handed.  All three of my babies will have as many memories as I can muster at their request.   This I promise.

So even though this isn't the best way to document some of my kids' firsts.  I am going to try to jot them down here as they happen.  Just so that they are recorded...cause one day they just might ask me.  One of the reason's I started this blog in the first place is for that purpose alone, to record memories of their lives. 

Here are a few big ones which happened very recently!

May 2013 (age 6 years 10 months): 

Paige learned to ride a bike without her training wheels.  And she did it in 2 days.  Seriously.  She is a natural athlete and now just a few weeks later she is a pro, you would think she has been riding for years.  We tried once last Summer and she wasn't ready.  This year she asked to try again and she nailed it!!!

June 2013 (age 3 years 8 months):

Quinn pooped on the potty!!!!  He had been potty trained for about 6 weeks prior, even staying dry through the night but we just couldn't get him to go on the potty for anything.  We even promised him a big boy bike once he had gone but we had no luck.  I guess this is just another thing that they do when they are ready.  And I couldn't be more excited!  I tell you, I was getting a bit nervous that he wouldn't be completely out of diapers when the baby was born. 

So anyway, here I am. Putting it out there.  I have 103 days and a whole lot to do.  And please feel free to ask me every now and again, "Hey!  How are those baby books coming along?!".

Track & Field

Yesterday I took a few hours off of work to volunteer at Paige's school.  It was Track & Field day!  I think I was more excited about it than Paige was too.  I have to say the whole event was a bit chaotic but the kids seemed to have fun. 

 

I am partial to the way Track & Field was done "back in the day".  When you actually competed against the other kids and earned a ribbon for your efforts.  Today  the whole event is "just for fun".  There are no winners, no losers and certainly no ribbons.  But I guess the kids only know what they know right?  I on the other hand know how much fun a little healthy competition can be.

 

The most important part of the day though was that I was there for Paige.  She was so excited for me to be there with her and the fact that quite a few of the kids already know me as Paige's mom makes me happy.  Even though I work outside of our home, I am still lucky enough to be a part of her school life...and I will continue to be there as long as she will have me!  

 

Here are a few pictures of her day!

 

 

A Fun Summer Weekend

It has been a cold, rainy and slow outta the gate kinda Spring.  Really, it has been pretty awful, in fact I think we even had a bit of snow the first week in May and quite a bit of measurable snow in April.  Anyway, here in Minnesota we are so very anxious for some nice warm weather.  This weekend the calender rolled over to June 1st and with it brought some sunshine finally!  We didn't have a lot going on which I always like.  The weekdays feel so busy that I really appreciate the weekends with no agenda whatsoever.  

 

On Thursday the kids at Quinn's daycare got to play outside and have fun.  It must have been a good day to go for a walk, or maybe a walk to the park!  Jeff  picked Quinn up early and discovered that Quinn fell down on the sidewalk while running.  He had officially gotten his first case of road rash.  I think there may have been some pushing involved in the fall but either way...it still hurts.

 

He was a lucky boy and got to go home early again on Friday with Dad and enjoy the beautiful weather.  And be a helper!!

 

 

Saturday morning, as usual we got up and moving planning to get out the door and run the necessary weekly errands (Target, Rainbow, Home Depot).  Quinn is still confused by the term and consistently thinks we are going to his cousin Erin's house instead of "errands".  Funny.  Well my friend Stefanie was having a garage sale and I had dropped off a few things that I hoped to sell and needed to drop off a manual for one of the items.  The kids and I stopped by for a few minutes (so I had intended) and we ended up staying for a few hours.  The kids were so excited to see each other and play for awhile...and I don't get to see my dear friend as often as I would like either so it was a perfect opportunity.  The kids ended up working a lemonade stand for while, a first for my kids!  Mostly though, they just played.

 

After we left I had to stop at a few more places but on the way we were distracted by black billowing smoke in a neighborhood near our house.  The kids and I both were curious to see what was burning so we followed the smoke and came across a house fire.  The first thing I noticed was an unusual number of cars lining the streets on either side of the house.  Like at least 50 and about 3 fire trucks and several police cars.  Yet there were no sirens or chaos.  And the fire was really bad!!!  Then as we got  right in front I saw a sign that said it was fire training.  That explained all the cars, there were tons of spectators, families and kids.  Needless to say we decided to check it out too!  There was even a lemonade stand set up nearby at a neighboring house.  I overheard one of the people say that the people who owned the home had donated it for the training.  The kids were fascinated by it, I bet it was really interesting to see in the beginning.  The house was more than halfway burnt by the time we were there.

 

 

 

Paige really wanted a picture of the 3 of us in front of the fire.  I felt a little weird about it but I guess since it wasn't a real fire emergency it was ok.

After we got home the kids were hungry, I gave them some lunch and let them watch cartoons while I vacuumed the house.  I guess poor Quinn was pretty tuckered out, I found him just like this in his chair.  Spoon in hand.

 

Of course I didn't just leave him here, I moved him up to his bed but  sadly, he woke up from his nap in a frenzy to go potty.  Somehow he managed too open the bedroom door on his face giving himself a bruised eyebrow and scrape on his cheek to add to the rest of his facial injuries from the week.  Poor little guy, we stocked up on band aids at target.  I think we are going to need them this summer!

 

Saturday night I was able to sneak away for a few hours and go to the Edina art fair and out for dinner with my girls Jesi and Marin.  We had a great time, it was so much fun to catch up and get away without the kids!!  Very much needed and I can't wait to do it again!

 

 

We had all of Sunday just to catch up around the house.  It was perfect.  I really wish I had more weekends just like this one.