Another Quinnism

She's full of them these days...

Tonight at the pool she was having fun jumping into the water and having me catch her. Then she says, "Mom, I want to jump on Jesus."
Me: Why do you say that?
Q: (points to a black cross in the tile on the pool bottom that is the lane end warning marker and does look like the cross....) "Right there. I want to jump to Jesus."
So I stood on "Jesus" and she jumped. :)

Also, while swimming.
Q: "Mom, listen. I am going to speak ENGLISH."
Guess her summer at a bilingual school is beginning to make an impression. She was cracking me up tonight!!

34 Weeks and definitely having "pregnant brain"

Last week I came home from work, drove my sitter home, flew quickly through a shower and got Q and I both dressed and hair done...and somewhere along the way I put two different shoes on to see which one matched better. I got to our photo shoot and climbed out of the car...to realize I was wearing two different shoes. I'd never made up my mind as to which looked better. Oh my......so of course I had Matt document it with a photo. I've also forgot my phone twice this week and also forgot the money I got to pay my babysitter--left it at home on the counter instead of bringing it to work to give her.

5 weeks left and I am still going strong! I actually feel like I have a bit more energy than I did earlier in the month. I am sleeping well, don't have any huge aches and pains, no more leg cramps....so life with an over-5-lb Bacon Bit in my belly is going swell! It really looks like there is a watermelon under my shirt now. As Matt would say, I am "double pregnant." :) One of the moms at work asked me why my belly is so pointy....????

I am still trying to load up on protein for both the baby's development and also to try and prevent swelling. I am drinking milk like crazy, loading up on peanut butter and cheese and yogurt....it's hard work to keep eating healthy when we are so busy, though. We literally have next to NO food in this house because I haven't been to the grocery store in a while. :)

We've been doing lots of pool time lately. I take Q to our neighborhood pool as much as possible for an hour or so after work during the week and we had 2 pool parties over the weekend. The pool is definitely the place for me!

We have been reading Q lots of "big sister" books that Oma's sent or that we've gotten from the library. She loves for us to call her a big sister. Now she says the baby is a girl and a sister. Used to always say boy. :)

Still haven't done any "baby stuff," but I did have the sweetest shower given by some great family friends last weekend. I haven't gotten time to post pics yet, but will soon! We have friends from college coming this weekend, so maybe after that!

I've also been busy with 2 photo shoots that I did last week and several more in the upcoming weeks! Lots of fun! Especially when they involve new babies. Gets me so excited to see Bacon Bit!

Quinnism

Quinn likes me to sing the tune of "Bingo" but change the words:
IE:
"There was a Quinn who had a daddy,
And MATT was his name-o.
M-A-T-T Matt, M-A-T-T Matt,
M-A-T-T Matt, and Matt was his name-o"

I finished singing Matt's verse and Quinn said, "Why does Daddy have to go potty?"
Me: Huh?
Q: Why did you say Daddy has to go potty?
Me: I didn't say that.
Q: Yes, you did. You said he had to teetee.

So then I had to explain to her that I wasn't talking about going potty--Daddy just has two letter t's in his name. :)

And the other day--Q asked what we were going to be doing.
Me: We're just gonna run some errands.
Q: Will Alivia be there? (a friend of hers)
Me: No, just you and me and Daddy.
Q: Will Asher be there? (Alivia's brother)
Me: No, just us 3.
Q: Are we going to Mr. Doug's too? (Alivia and Asher's Daddy)
Me: NOOOO. All we're doing today is running errands. We're not going to anyone's house.

After a whole morning of her naming various family members of our friends' family, Matt finally figured it out. The mommy of Alivia and Asher is Erin. Q thought I was saying we were going to ERIN's, hence all the questions about Erin's family members. :)

Maternity pics....

I've never had professional photos taken of us by another photographer throughout my pregnancy with Quinn and the past 3 years....but when I heard the lovely and talented Carly behind the camera of Simply Sweet was gonna be in town, I knew I wanted some taken! And we love them!

She's drawing "stuff" now!

Quinn loves to draw. Especially with markers. She always snaps the cap on the top while she draws so she doesn't lose it (good training, huh!) and happily draws away. We've finally moved away from scribbling into closed figures and images that are beginning to look like actual objects. The top two are diesels she drew for Daddy today. She told him they have four wheels. The second picture has "stinky stuff" which is all the scribbles over the figures that she added after she drew the outlines and four wheels. First she drew a red diesel and then she drew the pink one (2nd picture).
She loves to ask us, "What color do you want?" Then no matter what color you say, she changes it to something else. Stinker. :)

This is one where she used every marker she had and traced about the same figure with each color.

So much fun to watch her developing in her writing and drawing. I've always gotten to observe this in my students, but much neater when it's your own little one!!

Quinnism

Saturday when we were driving together Q said, "Mommy, I really like that open car."

I happened to have my camera next to me in the passenger seat, so of course I had to snap a picture of the "open car" Q digs! :)

Sweet girl.....

33 weeks....and not quite believing we'll have a baby in 6ish weeks.

We have had a busy month of June between work, baby showers, birthday parties, and the usual around-the-house projects to keep up with. One of our big projects this summer has been working on our grass/front yard. Matt and his dad built a new front door from a tree they cut down at Matt's dad's house. That project took most of the winter. Then Matt and friends put in a sprinkler system. We put a border around our front beds, replaced some plants, trimmed trees, planted more grass, weeded, move plants around, raked a gazillion times, aerated, Matt tiled the front stoop with slate, and I worked on some plants and flowers in the island and in the beds. Lots of good exercise for me and Bacon Bit!

We still haven't done any baby projects. We need to get a list started as there are just a few things I want to get done to prepare for Bacon Bit. Wash the carseat, wash some baby clothes that need to come down from tubs in the garage, set up the cradle, etc. That will be on our July list!

I had my 33 week check up on Thursday. Everything was good and it was short and sweet. She recommended that I take some calcium magnesium supplements for the leg cramps and of course drink more water. I will go back the first week of July and start my bi-weekly visits. Baby is still head down, now bootie is on right side under my ribs with knees and legs around to the left.

I made it through a field trip to the zoo last week. It was crazy hot, but I think I complained less than the kids did, and my feet didn't even swell this time! When I took my students during my pregnancy with Q, my feet got horribly huge and never went back down the rest of my pregnancy. I've been pushing the protein to try to fend off the swelling. I am still feeling well most of the time--my sore spot even stopped hurting, so baby must have moved to a different position. I did have a couple nights this weekend after hostessing a baby shower and two big days of being on my feet and moving fast all day long that pretty much every muscle in my body ached and I had a hard time getting comfy to sleep. But that is still pretty minor for 8+ months along!!

This week I've been craving mango. Mmmmmm. I am also still very nesty, I'd love to spend all day every day cleaning and organizing my house.

Quinn is loving to read a book called "Babies." Each page says, "Babies need _________" and has a different need such as baths, bottles, blankets, etc. She loves to read it and talk about how we'll take care of Bacon Bit.

Oma and Opa booked their plane tickets this past week, so hoping Bacon Bit cooperates and arrives well within the window of their visit! :)

For Daddy

Quinn made Daddy this handprint at school last week and has been so good about keeping it a hidden surprise on top of the fridge so Daddy didn't see it. She wasn't in the mood to smile for the picture, so she and Daddy are making mad faces. :)

And someone was regressing a little tonight at the party. :) She found some baby stuff at Mimi's house and decided she was a baby.

Celebrating Great-Grammie's Birthday!

Quinn and her great-Grammie tonight at the birthday/Father's day celebration.

Things Quinn loves right now

Her favorite book...Curious George goes camping. Daddy must surely have it memorized by now!
washing her hands (especially in her bathroom with the berry smelling soap)
Playing hide and seek (always hiding under the table)
Spraying herself with wrinkle spray
Story of David and Goliath
Bubbles
Her sand box
the "big pool"
eating granola
her cd's in the truck
Stickers
Peanut butter and jelly song
riding her tricycle
getting mail
Carrying a little purse
Painting
carrying Daddy's shoes upstairs
brushing her teeth using my toothpaste
Asking "what did you say?"
jellybeans
Lemonade at Grandsue's
Tomatoes from the garden
Driving by a home depot or lowe's
"texting" Papa
tutus
her Keens
bossing somebody around
going to school
parties (especially if cake is involved)

Happy Father's Day!

All About

Daddy

By:

Quinn

_______________________

What does Daddy wear?

gel and boy clothes like blue shorts that are big

What do you like to play with Daddy?

in the little swing outside

What does Daddy like to eat?

jelly and apples

Where does Daddy work?

at his office and he checks somebody's eyes

What does Daddy say?

EAT YOUR FOOD!

What makes Daddy happy?

Quinn

What does Daddy do in the garage?

gets everything dirty

******************************************

I interviewed Q about Daddy and we made him a card with her answers and some photos! Then she decorated the card with her markers and wrote her name.

Our awesome baby sitter!

This summer I worked really hard to get the weekday afternoons and my staff development days covered with sitters so Quinn could nap at home every day and I could have my planning time at work to actually plan...and not chase her around. It was a lot of work arranging schedules--ours, and three different sitters, but it has worked out so well! Our neighbor girl watched Q one staff development day and Q had lots of fun with her. The past few weeks Vlada has kept Q in the afternoons. She is AWESOME! She knows how to manage Q so well (Q would totally be the boss if you let her--and Vlada doesn't!), she always cleans up EVERYTHING, and she keeps Q entertained between bubbles, kiddee pool, tricycle, playing hide and seek, painting, playing with babies, playing in Q's kitchen.....And she never even thinks about turning on the tv! We all LOVE her--especially Q! I love watching this relationship between the two of them for two reasons. It reminds me of the great babysitters that watched my sister and me when we were kids and the fun we had with them, and it also reminds me of the summers I spent babysitting!

Quinn decorates her food

She was in a phase where she used the word "decorate" in every sentence for a while there!
She also loves dragging out a bunch of work from her playroom into the living room or the kitchen (wherever we are....) and setting up her "area." Lately it has been spreading a blanket, sitting all her babies and animals on it, giving them all a dish and some play food and having a picnic. :)

Quinn "decorates" her eyes

Matt finally admitted this probably isn't normal.....But I can't remember his diagnosis of her weird eye turning capabilities.

Quinnisms

Last week at the park a little girl asked Quinn what her name was. Without skipping a beat, Quinn replies, "Nataly."

Then we were at a birthday party Saturday night and one of the other moms asked what her name was and apparently Quinn insisted her name was "Stinky." The other mom came and told me that's what Q said. That's one of Daddy's nicknames for her, so guess in a way she was right. Stinky FOR SURE!!

Our little fishy

Here are a couple videos of Q at the pool--jumping in the water and putting her head under. She has no problem putting her head under now and LOVES jumping to us! She also likes to swim "like Luke the dog." (Doggy paddling....)

32 Weeks and SOMEONE is ready to have a brother or sister!

This weekend Q started pointing to random children and saying, "That's my brother." or "That's my sister" and she's really been talking about brothers and sisters a lot. If you ask her if she's going to be a big sister she says "No, I'm gonna be a big brother." And she is certain Bacon Bit is a boy and going to be her sister. So either way she'll be partially correct. :)

I am still doing well. Summer school is flying by and keeping us really busy. Matt is great about kicking it into gear when I am working full time. He gets Quinn up and drops her at school in the mornings since I have to be at work much earlier. I think she loves her time with Daddy each morning!

My school is in an assistance building that has all sorts of different departments--foodstamps, WIC, Children's Medicaid clinic, Senior Citizen Center, Adult GED/ESL classes....and I've had all sorts of people putting their hands on my belly....from a REALLY old Chinese lady on the elevator to a lady pushing a stroller with at least 5 kids hanging off the sides of it to the receptionist at the front desk....and they all assure me I'm having a boy. And in 7 more weeks we will see!!

I still have my "sore patch" on my left top side of my belly. It isn't sore all the time, but whenever I exercise/move a lot and at the end of the day it's pretty tender. So some little limb must push there a lot. I still haven't had any ankle swelling, which I'm thankful for. I had flintstone feet with Quinn and it was kinda miserable, so I am glad to pass that by so far this time. I have had a couple more crazy leg cramps early in the morning, and for days after my leg muscles will be sore. But I have felt a lot more energy lately and have been pretty nesty--fitting in cleaning and decorating and fix-up projects whenever I can. Thankfully Matt humors me and just pitches in to help and hasn't complained a bit. Think I am just gonna have to keep that boy!! I am still sleeping well and only have one pillow between my knees, which is a huge change from last pregnancy and my "nest." I usually get up at least once to pee, and I have to give a kick of momentum to get myself righted and off the bed with this big belly. :)

We went to the pool this weekend and I definitely see more of that in my future. Feels soooooo good! And I don't think my little fishy-Quinn will argue! She is all about swimming, and even MORE about jumping off the side to us! My newest craving is root beer. Not just any root beer, but REALLY good root beer. I like the stuff they have on tap at BJ's (especially alongside their pizza!!) and Matt is so sweet that he brings me home a pack of St. Arnold's rootbeer sometimes. In a glass bottle. Mmmmmmmm. And still the jelly beans.....and milk. And OJ or grapefruit juice half-and-half with seltzer. And frozen grapes.

I got my first set of diapers in the mail this week as a baby gift from someone sweet and I washed them all and had fun playing with the different snaps and linings. I even made my first batch of powdered detergent to wash baby diapers in. Wish my grandmas were here to show me the ropes of diaper washing!!

I LOVE sitting and wrapping my hands over my belly to feel the baby move. I think it's different the second time around when you feel those movements and remember the little baby that comes out, already with a personality and his/her own mind made up about what he/she wants regarding EVERYTHING! I try to imagine what this little one will be like.....We are still very happy for the remaining weeks to go by slowly....As much as I can't wait to hold this new baby in my arms, I am cherishing the last few weeks I plan to be pregnant since we're thinking this little one will complete our family.

Can't resist a couple more belly+Quinny shots to share!

At work

Here we are "doing those letters on the ca-puter" at work. Q loves starfall.com's letter section and has so much fun working with us on the computer on this website! She begs to do it all the time!

31 weeks....and feeling a little HUGE.

So I TOTALLY noticed I am pregnant this week. Maybe it's the 31 weeks catching up with me or maybe it is the 100+ degree days we've already been having regularly. Not sure.

I have been having lots of pain and sore spots in my tummy--I have one in particular where the baby must push a lot because it gets so tender at times. Also one day this week I had to just lay down for a little bit because my tummy was hurting so much. Not contractions or cramps or anything, just tenderness like too much baby has been pushing all over in there.
I've also started having some stiffness when I move around a lot and difficulty getting up or changing positions.....And several evenings I was so drained all I wanted to do was sit really still and never move again. :) When I eat the baby thinks he/she needs to rearrange him/herself completely, which usually means a bootie pushed up under my right ribcage as far as possible and then the legs stretched out to push against the left side. I sometimes have to take a break from eating and just try to catch my breath!
I think the baby must have really grown like crazy this week because EVERYONE is telling me they've noticed my tummy has really enlarged...even Matt was laughing about the fact that it seemed to grow so much in a week. I am definitely feeling it! I have actually been less hungry this week than others, but much more thirsty. Several of my shirts had to get weeded out this week because they've suddenly shrunk. :)
I feel so proud of myself for pulling off two hard days of setting up my summer school classroom on Friday and today. We start with a completely empty room and do all the bulletin boards, wall decorations, set up all the furniture, move in all the materials (which means unpacking one big closet and moving all the supplies up to the next floor, where my classroom is) and it's a pretty big task to complete in two days even when I'm not pregnant. So I was happy to survive those two crazy days!
I definitely notice the heat takes it out of me really quickly now, too. Saturday I was doing some yard work and working in my garden and Sunday I felt pretty puny as a result....It usually catches up with me the next day, but I just can't make myself stay inside. :) So I guess I am going to have to face reality that I am actually really pregnant now and need to slow it down a bit. Argh.
So, all in all, Little Bacon Bit, I think my tiredness and body aches mean you are growing like you should be and that your arrival isn't too far away! 8 weeks, unless you're stubborn like your sister! Who announced tonight your name will be Tah-chee. We're still in negotiations.

Quinnism

Matt's grandparents recently moved from Terrell (near Dallas) to Houston--in fact, into the Senior Apartments right behind our back fence! We are loving getting to spend lots of time with them. Grammie recently took a fall that injured her legs, so she's in a wheelchair most of the time with some short stints using a walker.

Q: (sitting in her stroller and wheeling herself around the kitchen while I am cooking dinner) This is my wheelchair, Momma. My legs are hurt.

And Later....still in wheelchair....

Q: I need-ta go to the bathroom.
Me: Okay, go ahead and go in there then!
Q: I can't cause my legs are hurt and I have-ta use this wheelchair.
Me: Well even Grammie gets out of her wheelchair to use the bathroom.
Q: Then I need a walkie thing (walker).
Me: We don't have a walker. Just pretend you have one and go to the bathroom.
Q: Maybe Mimi will get me a walkie thing for my birthday.

Here is the girl in her "wheelchair."

My monkeys

Matt replaced our soffits with hardie this weekend (nice little weekend for him between the 100 degree heat and the wasps constantly dive-bombing him....) and Q couldn't resist a trip up the ladder at least once! Daddy was more than happy to give her a ride Friday night when he was getting stuff set up to start working on Saturday.

First thing Saturday morning....

Spying on my two.....had to run and get my camera because they were so cute reading books first thing in the morning!

Summer tummy and summer footsies....

We love sandal season! Good thing, because it's supposed to be 100 degrees today! Yikes...time to make some popsicles FOR SURE!

School fun

One day last week when I dropped Q off at school the kids were painting their fingernails with tiny jars of polish as a fine motor activity. One of the little girls had gotten a new set of tiny polishes and had brought it to show her friends, so the teacher turned it into a fun activity. Q was TOTALLY all about that! She did so good polishing her own nails and then helped a little boy do his. It was adorable!