Fun Friday: Our Girls

Too beautiful not to post!

Birthday Bash

2 year old

Fiona's birthday party was a great success last weekend! We had a casual "fish" party, complete with fish themed cupcakes and fish-shaped fruit pizzas.

A few of the highlights were:

• The giant pile of leaves that Daddy and Grandpa made in the backyard
• Seeing our friends Jackson and Cooper
• HOURS of playing outside on a beautiful fall day
• Watching Grandpa, Daddy, and Uncle Brad play wiffle ball
• Hearing Fiona say "That was so much fun! Yay birthday party!"
• Hearing Auntie Cheryl say, "Jackson, Cooper ... and Daddy, five more minutes." And hearing Uncle Brad say "Awwww, man"



Giant leaf pile

• Uncle Brad told me that my banana cupcakes were "almost as good as Rita's banana bars" (if you haven't had Rita's bars, they are the stuff of legend!)

Thanks to all who helped make the days of Fiona's birthday special! I think she had a great time turning 2!

Q - 1 Month

I'm a little late on this - but with the wedding and the big birthday, we got a little sidetracked.

Quinn is over a month old already. Time sure flies with number 2! Wow! I go back to work in less than a month and Q and my "leisurely" days (they are not leisurely) will be done.

Babies change so fast at this age. We can't believe how much she has already grown and changed since brought her home!

• Starting to smile and "talk" to us. We love her "coo" sounds.
• Loves to play with her tongue. And she sticks it out at you when you stick yours out at her.
• LOVES her big sister. There is not much baby sleeping when the toddler is home ... because Q is constantly looking for Fiona. They are starting to interact more and we love it!
• Getting better at knowing the difference between day and night (and appropriate actions for each). Hooray! She gets up between 2:00/3:00 am and around 6:30 to eat. I'm looking forward to those intervals extending a bit more. But it's definitely better than it was. Good job, Quinn!
• Proved she can nurse or take a bottle. As long as there is food, she is happy!
• Had her first sleepover with Auntie Tracey and family. Had her first road trip. And went to her first wedding. All in the same weekend!

Fiona is 2!

Our "not a baby" baby is two! How did this happen so quickly?!?!

Yesterday was a wonderful birthday and celebration of our girl. I considered keeping her home with Q and me ... but realized day care would probably be more fun (heck, I usually want to go to day care. They do cool stuff there!). So she went and was spoiled rotten by all her friends. Then when she came home, we surprised her with a new pink kitchen in the toy room. She pulled off the blanket and shouted "oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!" It was a hit.

After dinner (and against our strict routine parenting judgment ... it was a special day after all), we bundled the girls up and took a family trip to daddy's kickball game. The girls did great and Fiona had a fun time watching the game, playing in the leaves, and sharing the cupcakes with the team. It was a late bedtime for everyone (the girls were a bit geared up from the experience), but it was fun to enjoy the lovely fall evening and spend her birthday together as a family.

I can't write enough to tell you how amazing we think this little girl is ... but I will include the note that our day care provider sent to describe Fiona. It pretty much sums up our girl:

"Ah, Fiona. What a difference she's made in our lives in just a few short years! She's full of sparkle, sass, charm, wit, and enough gumption for a defensive line."

Happy Birthday, Fiona! We love you, Little Bug!

Road Trip

We did it! Our first road trip north with two (but no puppy). The girls were incredibly good and we had a great time celebrating Anna and Luke's wedding!

Our flower girl rocked the rehearsal, grabbing hands with the other two flower girls and proudly walking down the aisle. Then on the wedding day, she was wonderful during pictures and held it together even though she missed her nap. She held it together until the doorway of the church as the wedding processional started. When it was her turn, she simply sat down in the doorway and said, "No. I don't want to." So we didn't. There's no reasoning with an almost 2-year-old in situations like that. So she and Daddy went to the nursery while Quinn and I watched the ceremony. The girls were both toast by the end of that busy afternoon - so MANY thanks to Tracey, Kyle, Nate, and Ben for taking them so that Mike and I could enjoy the party. We had so much fun and it was nice to have a night out together!

Congratulations to the happy couple and thanks for letting us share your wonderful day with you! And thank you, Mike J and Anna, for the amazing father/daughter dance! Highlight of our weekend!

We are currently dealing with the residual over-tired effects of the weekend and have a toddler who has forgotten how to listen. Hopefully we can get rested up enough in the next couple days to not have to sit in timeout on the big birthday ;-). Think "listening ears" thoughts for the birthday girl!

Beautiful flower girl

1 month old and simply gorgeous

Sisters

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy as Stylist

Daddy having some fun with pants

Milestone Week(s)

Yikes! Looking at the schedule for the next week (or two) is a bit frightful around here. But we've known about it for months .... just have to actually execute now.

Tonight, I do my first solo bedtime with two kids. Mike has hockey, so it's just the girls and me. I know I can do it - but I really hoped to peel this band-aid off a bit slower. Big gulps!

On Tuesday, I have both girls. all day. by myself. I'm praying it is not a day where Mike has calls stacked up from the night before and is out the door at 7:00 and home at 5:30. We've both said we need to learn how to do both kids for an extended time by ourselves. But again, I liked my crutch!

On Wednesday, Buggy starts fall swimming lessons! Woo hoo! She is beyond excited. Hopefully by the end of the session, I can take her and get some mommy/toddler time. But while my incision is still healing, Mike will take her and they are both super excited for that too.

And on Friday, we pack up the kids and head north. First road trip with two! But there is a beautiful bride who needs her flowergirl ... and Quinn needs to make her extended family debut. Potential burglars reading this: there will still be a ferocious dog at our house - and Mike's mom.

And then next week, we'll be prepping for someone's SECOND birthday! More on that later, but we cannot believe that our baby is going to be two!

Three Weeks

After four days over the holiday weekend of both girls at home (whew!), it has been just Quinn and me during the day this week. Grandma headed home, Daddy is back at work, and Buggy loves day care. We're starting to get in our routine, which is very nice for everyone.

At three weeks (I can't believe she's that old already), Quinn is starting to be more awake during the day and is interacting a bit with her sister. Hooray! She is a very noisy baby - lots of grunting and other such noises. She is sleeping in our room right now and as much as we would like to move her noisy self out, we don't want to subject Bug to that either. So hopefully as she gets a little older, she'll get a little quieter ... for sleeping anyway. She'll need to learn to talk early to keep up with her sister during awake times!

Quinn is starting to track just a bit and loves looking at the mirror. She also likes to play with her tongue and seems to enjoy tummy time. She's getting really strong! We also think we are getting a few real smiles - not just gas! Still haven't captured one on camera yet - but we'll keep trying.

Finding Her Place

While the big sister is totally in love with her little sister, her world has still been rocked by Quinn's arrival. We can tell that she's working to discover her place in the new family variation and needs lots of reassurance that she is still loved and valued. Today, I heard all day, "Mama, I need to tell you something." Occasionally it was a story ("once upon a time"), sometimes it was her joke, but mostly, it was nothing. We decided she just needed to know that I was there to listen.

Overall, she is doing really well with the transition and we are super proud of her. But being almost 2, cutting molars, having a UTI, and gaining a little sister all in the last 2 plus weeks is a lot. So she gets a little grace ... and an occasional timeout to reset.