Christmas 2008

You'll have to forgive me. My computer is giving me hell and I can't move the photos around where they belong; therefore, they're all mashed together at the top in no order...sorry! 

               "Hot Stuff" on her new scooter! 

My little man!

Me and my babies!

It's Snow White!

Santa delivered, yet again!  I've been holding onto all of Salem's gifts since last Christmas, so I was thrilled to get some of my closet space back for other storage necessities!  Some of the items Santa brought her this year were:

* "Silver" ---her riding horse

* ESPN basketball hoop 

* Rose Petal Cottage indoor house

* Princess scooter and helmet that she LOVES

* Grow with me Barbie skates (the ones you put your shoes into)

* Barbie walkie talkies 

* Princess dress up trunk

* books

* Hungry, Hungry Hippo game

* Makeup brushes...she's obsessed and carries them around in her scooter basket!  

* A booklet of over 500 tattoos; so next time you see Salem and she has tattoo sleeves on both of her arms, don't ask!  

Andrew went out and did separate shopping all on his own for the kids and didn't tell me.  He bought the kids clothes, dvd's/books and did a great job!  I was super duper impressed! Okay, so the clothes were all Florida Gator colors, but hey, at least they came from POLO!  

I was thrilled with what Santa brought me as well.  I received Starbucks gift cards...THE BEST GIFT EVER, THANK YOU SANTA!, peppermint hot cocoa mix to go with my new hot chocolate pot from Williams- Sonoma, Tommy Bahama perfume, running clothes, all new bathroom decor set from Pottery Barn and PB gift cards, candles, and my camera was also part of my Christmas.  This will come as a shocker for most of you, but I was jazzed to get the newest released Pat Green cd!  I know, I'm NOT a Texas fan and can't stand most country music; however, I DO love me some good ol' Pat Green!  He was just here for a concert in November, but unfortunately, we had to miss it do to delivery conflicts with baby Tavin. One of my favorite things to do is get together with HARB, drink, dance and sing to Pat Green!  Andrew has even become a fan, even bigger shocker!  

Out of guilt, I also decided to do a LITTLE bit of cooking today.  I woke up this morning, made breakfast, Andrew smoked salmon, and whipped up a few side dishes and pumpkin pie to go with the ham.  Nothing major, but I now feel better about myself.  

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!!!

Just Wondering....

Is there anyone out there, other than myself, that DIDN'T do any holiday cooking/baking?  Other than a few side dishes for dinner tomorrow and a pumpkin pie, I, once again, ordered my ham from the New Braunfels Smokehouse.  With us being alone, I just don't see the need to cook myself into a mad frenzy!  I would get myself all worked up (for nothing) because my children would be screaming for me while I frantically tried to cook up a ton of goods and for what.....just so Andrew and I can get fat??????  No, not this year!  I'm trying to loose the baby weight, not gain it all back and then some!  I hope you all enjoy your wonderful breads, casseroles, baked goods, etc.; I AM jealous and I'm sure Andrew is too!  

Salem's Ways

Andrew and I have been given new names from little Miss.

Andrew: "Andrew Daddy"

Me: "Noel Mommy"

She'll occasionally try to sneak a fast one on me and just call me Noel, but I lay the smack down on that one!  

Baby's 1st Christmas!

Proud big sister with HER baby Tavin!

Last night, we (along with our friends Kris & Dawn), took the kids Christmas caroling in our neighborhood. Caroling might not be the correct word usage. It was more along the lines of jamming out to Christmas tunes from a portable cd player while walking and sharing a bottle of wine. We'll do just about anything as long as it involves getting together with friends and having a drink or two...or 3, or 4, or....

Loving my phil & teds double stroller!

The big event of the evening was dressing Tavin up in the baby outfit I wore for my 1st Christmas 26 years ago! I'm sure my parents are having major flashbacks comparing the 2! I must also add that these photos WERE NOT taken with my kick ass, brand spankin' new camera/GIFT of mine...MINE!!! I'm tired of being critiqued by another adult in this household whos name I'll so kindly not mention. I can't even touch the damn thing without some nervous sound coming out of his mouth. I think I've come up with the solution of only using it when the certain someone isn't under the same roof as I am. It's a shame.

Our Rock Star!

If only......

I could get both my children to nap at the same time, then life would be really grand!  

Been busy

Goodness, where does the time go?????? I don't even know where to begin! For the past month, we've had non-stop guests (my mom & stepdad, Andrew's parents, Kelly & Glenn Ott, and one of my best friends from Alaska, Kim, just left 2 days ago.) You can also throw in giving birth Tavin, Thanksgiving, my birthday ( the 6th), Christmas decorating, sick kid, doctor's apt.'s, picture apt.'s, sitting on Santa (well, Tavin sat on Santa; Salem was scared shitless once she laid eyes on him), and I can't even remember what else...but I know there's a ton more under this sleep deprived mind of mine!

Tavin's 2 week well baby checkup went as planned...he's right on track and growing like a weed! As of yesterday, he's out of preemie diapers (Salem wore them for the first 2 months of life), he can fit into "some" newborn sets, and is my little snuggle bear. He LOVES to cuddle up with mommy and sleep; I just love it!

Weight: 6 pounds, 14 ounces

Height: 19 inches.....what the heck? Tavin was 19 1/2 inches at birth. Someone told me that it's "normal" and babies shrink in size after the cone head goes down. Tavin never had a cone head to begin with. He came out to darn fast for such a thing to occur. Oh well, I'll let it go that they said my kid shrunk!

Head: 35 cm.

I have bucket loads of photos to share with you; however, I'm still trying to figure out how to use my birthday present to its fullest! Yes ya'll, he delivered! Andrew surprised me with the camera that I've been asking for for years.....okay, months (Canon Rebel XSi!) I love it, but dread the learning process that is associated with new gadgets.

Medela Micro-Steam Bags

These are a MUST HAVE for any mom's out there! With my dishwasher already filled to max capacity on the top shelf with all of Salem's plastic pieces, I could hardly find any room to shove Tavin's bottles (speaking of, yes, I had to give up breast feeding the other day due to lack of production.) So, I am forever grateful to a girlfriend of mine who introduced me to this wonderful invention! For $5 you get a pack of 5 sterilization bags that can each be used up to 20 x's per bag ,and all you have to do is fill it with your accessories, pour 2 oz. of water in the bag, microwave for 2 minutes and taaaaaaa-daaaaaaaa.......you have clean, ready to use bottles! If you're breast feeding, it also works great on all pump pieces/tubing too!

Pass the word along or grab a bag for any new mommy out there! Trust me, they come in very handy!

Gobble 'til you wobble!

My new man!  

Classic family shot.....baby's crying, Salem looks like she been through hell and back, and Andrew & I both haven't slept in DAYS!

Thanksgiving was definitely different this year!  We ordered all the food from New Braunfels Smokehouse and didn't bother making a single dish.....other than homemade banana bread and Salem made us all cupcakes! Andrew's parents were here to spend the holiday with us and help out with the adjustment of another little one around the house.  We couldn't have done it without the extra sets of hands these past 2 weeks.  Salem is getting better, but we're still taking EXTRA precautions by keeping her well away from Tavin. This has been THE hardest thing to do.  All I want is to have my two babies sitting in my lap, playing, Salem holding her baby brother, and we're having to give it some time.  The disappointment on her face KILLS me every time I tell her that she has to keep her distance from him.  Oh well, in a few days.

Have a great weekend!

And then there were 4!!!!

You'll have to excuse the randomness of the picture order.  Things have been a BIT hectic around here.  Salem came down with a 103 temperature among other illness symptoms. BUT....here you have the newest Quinn additon!  Enjoy!  

 Just hours before his arrival!

Story now, pictures later

We welcomed baby Tavin Andrew Quinn into the world on Saturday, November 22nd, @ 8:40 PM.  I FINALLY got the okay to head to the hospital around 2:00 that afternoon.  By the time we arrived, got checked in, and had the pitocin running through my veins, it was 4:45 PM.  I opted not to use drugs again and go all natural.  Labor was quick, I pushed for 30 seconds, and he was here!  Tavin was way bigger than anyone imagined and weighed in at 6 pounds 4.8 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long!  Did any of you guess it right?  I had the inches down, but was off on his weight.  We were discharged late last night, but have found ourselves having to drive all the way back to Wiflord Hall every day this week for a daily weight check on him.  He's dropped to 5 pounds 11 ounces (which is in the 10% range that doctors don't like to see you go over.)  So, as a mother, I am stressing, yet again, over the idea that I may not be able to produce enough milk for him.  I'm fine with bottle feeding, but I REALLY wanted to see if I could make breast feeding work this time around.  I'll have to see how it goes once my actual milk arrives.  

Now we're working on the normal sibling adjustments that everyone goes through and thank goodness we've had lots of extra hands around to help us out.  My mom and stepdad left this AM, and Andrew's parents are now here until friday.  Tavin was born on my mom's birthday and what a specail gift he was/is!  

I promise to post pictures in the AM. I'm exhausted and going to work on catching up on some much needed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's!  Check back tomorrow for photos of little Andrew....he looks just like him and Salem!  

Delayed

I am aging right before my very eyes.  I haven't slept since they informed me of what was/is supposed to be my induction today.  I attempted to fall asleep at 12oo and had my alarm set for 3am to head to the hospital, only to call and find out that they have "quite a few beds full and to go back to sleep and call back at 8."  WHAT?????? GO BACK TO SLEEP, are you KIDDING ME?????? Andrew, of course, stripped down and zonked back out in NO time; I, on the other hand, know such a thing wouldn't happen even if my life depended on it.  How am I supposed to catch some zzzzz's when I'm scheduled to be giving birth sometime today?  Seriously.  

So, instead, I sit here trying to figure out what in the hell to do with myself to kill time for 3 1/2 hours while everyone else in the household is doing what I SHOULD and wish I COULD be doing.....sleeping!  I'm so envious.  

Will keep you posted. If it doesn't occur today, trust me, you'll know.  I'll have a nasty blog about it later this afternoon; or, you'll hear from us sometime Monday afternoon with photos of our precious!  

SATURDAY IT IS!

Another induction will be the outcome of baby Tavin on Saturday AM!  We're excited, but it still hits you like a ton of bricks.  It's also weird having your choice of days to choose from when exactly you want your child to brought into this world.  We decided to roll with this weekend for a number of reasons:

1) It's my mom's birthday and she's here visiting!

2) So my mom and stepdad have the opportunity to even meet the little guy (they fly out Monday AM)

3) In my opinion, the sooner the better

4) Wilford Hall should be WAY more quite during the weekend and I'm the ONLY induction being done on Saturday.

Why are they inducing you ask?  Well, also for a # of reasons.  My belly is only measuring @ 33 weeks (2 months behind schedule), I haven't gained a single ounce in 6 weeks and I'm shoving all and everything I can into my mouth, and Tavin has only grown an estimated 3 ounces in 3 weeks (which isn't sufficient enough.) 

AGAIN, I'm not surprised.  The SAME things ALL happened with Salem, but at an earlier rate. Most women and babies pack on the pounds the last few weeks of pregnancy and in our case, the exact opposite happens.   

So, with all of this, I have a TON of things to accomplish within the next 24 hours.  Salem has holiday photos in the AM, followed by birthday celebrations (mine and my mom's), Thanksgiving, and Christmas in the PM.  We thought we would do it all up while we're together instead of sending gifts in the mail over the holiday rush.  I also have a LONG LIST of the "last minute to do" things before we head to the hospital.  Just keep your fingers crossed that it all works out.  We have to call labor and delivery at 4 AM Saturday morning to see if they have room for us.  If not, they'll just keep pushing it back day- after- day.  I can just feel the gray coming through on my newly colored red hair.  

Just 1 more day.....

until I feel as if I can relax a little.  My mom and step dad are flying in tomorrow afternoon for 5 days to "cover" for us in case we happen to go into labor.  If it were, by chance, to happen tonight, Salem would have to go over to Knox's house and I've been stressing over that for weeks. Janelle, Knox's mama, just had a baby girl 6 weeks ago; so I feel as if it would be too much for anyone in that situation to handle.  I feel physically ready (he's been moving more than usual these past few days); however, emotionally I'm not there at all.  I think all pregnant women get to that point where you feel as if it's never going to end and your going to be huge and miserable the rest of your life!  Yep, I'm basically there!  

I'm also trying to cram too much into such a short period of time.  I'm having guilty feelings about Tavin coming along, so I'm doing everything and all that I can on a daily basis with Salem.  So far today she's been to the dentist (okay, not exactly fun, but at least we did it together???), the library, park, lunch outing with Knox, and I took her to get her favorite...ice cream!!!!  Now she's napping and I should be making one of my 199 meals that I'm freezing, but instead, I'm venting and shoving as many sour starburst's into my mouth as fast as I can.  

I have this weird and unrealistic idea in my head that life is going to come to a complete halt the day we bring him home and that we'll NEVER be able to get out and enjoy all of life's beauty ever again!  So that is why I'm basically killing myself trying to let Salem have the time of her freakin' life!  I love it, but hate it all at the same time. You should see a 10 month pregnant beast trying to crawl her fat ass in and out of various inflatable jumping castles at our nearby indoor jumping gym.  It isn't pretty and we'll just leave it at that!  

So, I'm looking forward to having my family here!  My mom's birthday is this weekend and we'll also be celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, and putting up all the holiday decor with them!  It'll also be nice spreading out the present overload for Salem throughout the next month (Andrew's parents come next week and we'll be doing the same with them.) 

Time for me to get a crack-a-lacking on more of those meals that I'm nesting over.  That's another thing, I also feel that I'll never have time to cook a meal in my life ever again, so I'm cooking and freezing things up a storm....what an idiot!  I'll probably have more time than ever because we will be stuck in the house all day!  Someone stop me, please!  

WAY false alarm

Imagine your little angel (that would be a child I'm referring to), coming into your room @ 6 AM to crawl in bed and cuddle with you. You see, this is a daily ritual in our household for the past month or so.  I'm usually awake, so she comes in our room and we just hold each other, talk, read books, and wait for the Today Show to start. This morning, however, was different.  She was tired and wanted to sleep a little while longer with her mommy and daddy. How wonderful!!!! So, Salem and I were spooning, when all of a sudden, I felt myself get wet......only to realize that it wasn't my water, but urine running down by entire body from my sweet Salem.  

The story of my life

Waiting.  And Waiting. And WAITING some more.  Then WAITING for the right time, only to watch it pass me bye-bye.  It will probably happen tonight, which would be bad.  I went from being 100% on top of my game, to having a list of things I HAVE to get accomplished TOMORROW.  We have a friend in town, John Buske, who's coming over for dinner, I have a hair apt. in the afternoon, I HAVE to vacuum and mop (also sometime in the afternoon), hit the gym, repack Salem's overnight bag that she decided to destroy and scatter throughout the house while I was finishing up wrapping the last Christmas presents, along with other odds and ends here and there.    It also doesn't help that are weather has been completely random with today being 80 degrees, tomorrow 70, and Sunday with an AM temperature of 34.  Why even bother with the damn bags to begin with when I stress over having to change them out on a daily basis?  

So, I would like to know what your estimates are/will be for the little guy.  Just when I feel as if it's going happen, I feel like I take 10 steps back.  Then repeat, repeat, repeat.  Today I'm 38 weeks & 5 days.  I have NO clue if I'm dilated or not; I've not even once been checked by my doctor.  Can't say I'm really complaining about it or know anyone that looks forward to spreading their legs for that reason.  On the other hand, part of me is a bit curious to know if we're progressing at all here.  

So, I'll be the first guess and pick the 24th (the doc.'s will let me go up until the 29th due to his size.)  I'll also estimate that he'll be 5 pounds 11 ounces, and be 19 1/2 inches long.  Salem was 5.1 and only 17 1/2 inches long...tiny girl!  

Other than that, have a great weekend and I'll keep you all posted (and hopefully add some pic.'s) in the near future!  

Withdrawls

Andrew is having major withdrawls from Wurstfest. He is already talking up next years and making plans (even down to what we/I should wear...scary!)

He also made the comment this evening that he wants these

to be our daily drinking cups. Now, why in the hell would I drink out those when I beautiful glasswear sets to choose from? Yes, we do have around 30 or so of them around this joint, but PLEEEASE!
Men, they REALLY just don't get it, do they?

The Jimmy Buffett of Polka

Oh yes, I would be/am referring to: WURSTFEST!!!!!!! Another year and sadly, another fest has passed us bye-bye. We managed to make it to 4 out of the 10 days this year and next time, we might just try to top that. Andrew is depressed and doesn't know what he's going to do with himself now that he has to wait an entire year. We had our babysitter watch Salem last night so I could get a "real feel" of what it was all about, and I couldn't believe my eyes (the other days that I've been have always been during the week and more kid friendly.) I've never seen such a diverse group of individuals all joined together to get shit faced drunk, eat sausage on a stick, head-bang (literally for some) to pasty, stinky, beer-bellied, middle-aged (or older) men in their sexy lederhosen. Women throw themselves onto these polka band members like no other. Some even rush the stage and then they send this guy as their bodyguard to tear them off. I don't know about you, but if John McCain was waddling towards me, something tells me I would have a chance against him!

I also can't figure out what the deal is with all the hats. You should have seen all the people buying up the stupid things from the crazy hat vendor. What is it, put a few German beers in people and then they decide they can't live without wearing a basket full of bananas on top of their head? Or better yet, the redneck cowboy who then thinks he needs a pimp hat on top of his cowboy hat!??? The chick dancing on stage was one of the groupies!

Andrew wants the entire family (that would be including me), to get full appropriate garments and wear them next year. I take that back, in reality, he really wants me to go above and beyond that. He wants ME to talk to some of the Opa's I know to see what it would take to get HIM a seat in their organization. Sounds simple, but that is by far the case. There is a waiting list (however miles long), for men to become Opa's here. You have to "know people." Basically, it appears to me, that it's one big fraternity of once again, middle to older aged men that wear lederhosen, dirndis, trachten shoes, Bavarian green alpine hats, have Erzebirge smokers, and vests with too many buttons on them. Ohhh.... I'm turned on just imagining what he would like all decked out for me!

Gluttony is now settling in from all the bread pudding, sausage, fried pickles, iced brownies, and I swear the inhaling of beer alone put me over the edge.

I will now go to bed dreaming of Opa's chanting: "Zicke, Zacke, Zicke, Zacke, Hoi, Hoi, Hoi!

Oh, and Salem had an absolute blast, danced her little toosh off, and indulged into too many bad things just like her mommy and daddy! Any yes, I'm STILL pregnant!

Any Suggestions?

So, Salem is officially potty trained with one exception..... she won't go dookie in the potty.  I know it will eventually come with time, but I'm out of ideas on what I can do, as her mommy, to accomplish this hurdle.  It is dreadful because not only will she not go in the potty, but she holds it for DAYS.  We're talking up to 4 days!  She finally got it out tonight, and what a painful sight it was.  I didn't think something that large could even come out of a person of her size!  I've done the rewards program and have tried every bribe under the sun to get her to go on/in it.  She's done it before, but it scared the living daylights out of her when she looked down only to find stinky terds sitting there in her pretty, pink potty.  I'm concerned only for the simple fact that she puts herself through such agony by keeping it in over long durations of time.  Another issue is she knows NOT to poop in her big girl panties, so she'll only boom-boom in a pull-up.  Sounds great, but it's a hard thing to pin down when she's in panties all hours of the day (with the exception of bedtime.) Sometimes she'll ask me for a pull-up, and other days (like today), I had to put one on her because I KNEW she had to go....it had been 4 miserable days!  My butt hurts just thinking about it!  Any suggestions????

The 31st

Even though we (Andrew & I) didn't get to party or dress up this year, we had an absolute blast experiencing trick-or-treating for the first time with sweet Salem. Again, she was our little Salem Witch and everyone thought it was very fitting/funny because of her name. Some folks out there are WAY to naive and actually think/thought that we named her after the witch trials. Oh man, that is sad. Close, but we prefer the cigarette reference over the witches. Joke.

Anyways, she acted like a pro and as if she had done such a thing a million times over. She had the doorbell ringing and trick-or-treat down to a T. I wish you could have seen the disappointment on her face when she came across a home that had only left out a dish full of candy (like we did), or the people that would be sitting out side waiting for the children. What kind of fun is that for the kids? Don't they know that pushing the bell 5 x's makes it all the more fun for them?

At this particular treat house, she decided to just barge on in when the lady opened the door and make herself at home. She was actually calling for her boyfriend, Knox, and thought that he was somewhere to be found in there. I just about wet myself when she did that, especially being pregnant....it doesn't take much once you start getting a good laugh going
Knox
Yana

After the candy rounds, we headed for the annual neighborhood block party. These people are VERY brave to host such a thing every single year....THEY DON'T HAVE CHILDREN! If we didn't have kids, I know, for a fact, that we wouldn't be as giving to families as they are. We'd be hosting redicilous costume parties that are centered around everyone getting shnockerd with not a single little human being in sight!

Sarah Palin even gave us a visit
This makes me laugh!

But, instead, we have (almost) 2 "home-skillets" under our roof and I couldn't be happier!