No Good Reason

I've got no good reason for a post today, besides the fact that I'm procrastinating on some last minute travel preparation.  We leave for Hawaii TOMORROW!  I'm so excited to see some sunshine, the ocean, and my great friends (not in that order).

It feels as if most of what I share lately regards Kira, and so I wanted to share a little bit of Quinn.

This past weekend Pat pulled out this jumping toy that's been hidden away since he received it for his birthday last June.  It was a hit, as you can probably tell.

Speaking of Quinn's birthday, his is coming up next month.  Recently I asked him what kind of cake he wanted.  He responded with "A really big one."  Okay?!?

Guess who picked this shirt out?  I'll give you one guess...

His birthday is a hot topic for him this year, and comes up most days.  So, on another occasion I asked him what present he might want.  His response was "Allllll the toys."  Hmm...

He's come a long way in six months, from asking for milk at Christmas to "all the toys" for his birthday.  Consumerism, you're winning.

29.

I had a birthday yesterday.  And it was a landmark birthday for me.  Not in age, but in perception.  At the end of the day while Pat and I were reflecting on the day, I realized something important.  In all reality, the day was really quite ordinary.  But, I let it be perfect.

I was reminded yesterday that how I perceive my days is completely up to me.  Only I can control how I feel and react to whatever life throws me, and yesterday, I chose to be happy.

Pat said yesterday, "Kira smiles with her heart.  It's like her face just isn't big enough."  It made me melt, and is so true.  I never want to forget this.

Sure, it helped that I got to spend my morning with this beautiful little girl while Quinn enjoyed his morning at preschool.  But, we grocery shopped.  Nothing glamorous.





And, it helped that I got some one-on-one time with this growing boy while his baby sister napped.  But, we just played outside in the yard, enjoying a little make-out session along the way.

And better yet, this man came home EARLY from work and we got to enjoy a couple of hours together as a family before the hustle and bustle of dinner and bedtime routines took over.  A time during which, by the way, I burnt my finger. I dealt with throbbing pain for the next five hours until I was able to finally just fall asleep.  Luckily, I woke up and the throbbing had dissipated.

Notice the ice?

Oh, and there was cake.  Not any cake, but cheesecake.  That certainly helped, no doubt.  

But, overall, the day was nothing extraordinary.  It was just another day that I got to spend with my family who I love, and who loves me.  And that was perfect.

  Now the real landmark, that comes next year.

Mother's Day Weekend

I love the weekends!  But, this one was particularly great.  It may have something to do with the fact that I was thoroughly spoiled, but honestly, I feel pretty spoiled most weekends.

The fun began Friday night.  Quinn's preschool teacher, Ms. Marie had a "parent's night out" to kick off the weekend.  Basically, she takes all of her preschool kids from 4-8 so parents can have a date night.  She even takes siblings, but they have to be walking so Kira got to hang with Pat and me this time.

It was fun having one-on-one time with just her.  We started off at the Kirkland Marina, just enjoying the beautiful weather.  Kira crawled around with glee, chasing any dog who walked past.

We ended our little evening with a nice meal, in a restaurant.  Restaurant eating doesn't happen very often for us anymore, and so this was a special treat.

How sweet is this little girl?  Ah, I just love her!

After dinner we raced home to put Kira in bed and picked up a very happy boy who greeted me with, "That was fuuun, Mommy!"  He was too happy to just be put to bed, and so we enjoyed some outside time with bubbles first.

The poor kid wasn't understanding that spitting on the wand will not produce bubbles.  He persevered, though, and eventually got a little bubble.  You should have seen the celebratory dance that took place after that.  He's so funny.

Saturday was spent relaxing in the morning and on the beach in the afternoon.  Quinn is starting to really love the beach, and asks to go most days.  There is no place I'd rather be than on a beach, and so it thrills me to see that Quinn shares this love.  Also, we leave for Hawaii in NINE DAYS!!!  He's going to be in heaven, I have a feeling.  I know I will be.

Looking cool in his shades.  He never took them off.  

I may have spent some time playing in the sand by myself.  I didn't realize this until we got home and Pat had the picture to prove it.  

Kira tried eating the sand.  She must like it, because she kept going back for more.

See, Quinn joined me eventually.  

His first sand castle, if you can even call it that.  He was proud.  

Then in the evening Pat and I went to a housewarming party that one of his coworkers threw, sans children.  It was refreshing to be surrounded by adults and adult conversation, and not have to worry about chasing kids around.

On Sunday I slept in, and Pat managed to prepare breakfast while keeping the kids happy.  This is no small feat, and was so appreciated.  I then got to spend the majority of the afternoon shopping around, sans children, again.  I came home with a swimming suit and am about ready for our vacation.  I can't wait!

The weekend was a perfect balance of family time, couple time, and alone time.  I couldn't have asked for anything more.

 I hope yours was equally fantastic!  Happy Monday!

Kira's 9th Month

Kira has been gracing us with her presence for 9 months now.  9 months is such a nostalgic baby age for me.  I spent last week looking through all of the photos that we have of Kira so far, and reminded myself how much she's grown and changed in such a short period of time.  And then I went back and looked at all of the photos that we have of Quinn at this age as well.  The similarities between these two is astounding.  Anyhow, to celebrate Kira's nine months we had a small photo shoot with her.  

She enjoys checking herself out in the mirror.

And she's so darn kissable she just can't help herself.  I don't blame her.

Kira has been exploring sounds a lot this month.  She started by saying "baba", and then blew me away with "mama" next.  She's also saying "dada" and "lala" and blending consonants that I wouldn't know how to capture with letters on paper.  Even these word representations are vague.  The vowel that follows each consonant sound varies.  For example, she tends to say something that resembles "muh muh" more than "mama" often.  This is her word of choice when hungry or eating, which she does quite a bit of.  It's so fun to hear her explore the use of her voice.  It'll be interesting to see if she picks up speech quicker than her brother did (who didn't say mama until 18 months).  

This girl likes to be on her feet, and she is cruising around using anything in sight to assist her with balance.  Most recently she's discovered that Quinn's little table or the laundry basket are great walkers.  She uses the toy versions as well.  Quinn's not incredibly supportive of her trying to climb up on him, but that never stops her from trying.  In the middle of the month I counted 12 seconds that she stood unassisted, but that only happened once.  She prefers to be holding on to someone or something for support.  I'm telling myself that she's not quite as brave as Quinn was, but I think that might just be wishful thinking.

Towards the beginning of the month, Kira seemed to be throwing temper tantrums.  Developmentally, I thought she was too young for this.  But it happened consistently enough that I have to wonder, and it only happened while interacting with Quinn.  If he had a toy that she wanted but he wouldn't share, she'd throw herself back and scream until he gave up and just gave it to her.  It never took him long to give in, but his preference was to give her something that he wasn't interested in playing with (naturally).  For a couple of days she acted very strong willed and surprisingly (and thankfully), Quinn did give in to her.  Lately she's been content with whatever he has to offer her, and these fits haven't been occurring.  I hope this trend continues.  I'm not ready for two children who throw tantrums just yet.  

Kira learned how to clap this month and when she's pleased with herself or something around her she just can't help but clap about it.  I've been doing little workout videos around the house and she's quite the cheerleader, encouraging me with her clapping.  It's the cutest.  She also waves her arm a little, but I can't figure out if she's trying to wave purposefully or if she's just flailing limbs.  She also bounces a little to music while sitting.  It's as if she's trying to dance.  I just can't get enough of her cute little antics!

Yes, this is Quinn trying to hold her back from crawling.  It doesn't work.

She's at the stage where everything is in the mouth, and when set free to roam her favorite spots are where we keep the dog and cat food.  Poor Lucy and Jerry are having to go without food and water when Kira's up and crawling around these days.

Kira's favorite toys right now are books that sing.  It just occurred to me that perhaps this is because I don't sit down and read to her very often.  She has to find the books that'll do it for me.  Hmm...  Anyway, she loves them and knows where to find them in the play room.  Quinn knows that this is a favorite of hers as well and will oftentimes bring one to her when he doesn't want her touching what he's playing with.

Another cute thing that I don't want to forget about this time is the way Kira tries to interact with me when I change her diaper (particularly in the middle of the night).  She'll let out a fake laugh and just smile, sending me the message that she doesn't think she'll be going back to bed at 4am.  I'm not into that idea and so I try not to make eye contact because I know if I do, I can't help but smile at her.  And that's when she knows she's won.  Speaking of sleep, Kira's been doing fairly well lately.  She's still not sleeping through the night, but she tends to wake up sometime around midnight and then sleeps until anywhere from 4-6 again without eating.  I feel like she should be sleeping 8-12 hours without food by this point in her life, but I'm not willing to fight it just yet.

Miss Kira Lynae, you bring such light, love, and laughter into our home.  We are so happy you're ours and we're yours!  Happy 9 months!

Tulip Festival 2012

A couple of weekends ago Pat and I loaded up the kids and drove to Mt. Vernon for the Skagit Valley tulip festival.  

We went a couple of years ago when Quinn was a baby and it was breathtakingly beautiful.  I remember spending a lot of time in traffic and thinking "there's no way this traffic can possibly be worth it" but when we arrived, it totally was.  That's how I remember feeling, anyway.  

This year was a different story.  It was still breathtakingly beautiful, but it literally took 90 minutes to travel 3 miles, each way.  That's three hours of unnecessary car time.  I strive to be an optimistic person, but I definitely fell short on this day.  

However, when we finally arrived we did our best to make the trip worth it.  We ate a little picnic lunch while Quinn ran and played and Kira crawled around.  Quinn didn't understand that it wasn't appropriate to pick the tulips, so we spent a fair amount of time discouraging him from doing so. 

Pat was incredibly patient with my grumpy self (thanks honey), and we were able to get photos of the kids in this beautiful setting.  Because let's be honest, that's the primary reason for going to this type of event.  I hope you enjoy!

I love how Quinn has his arm around Kira here.  He can be so nurturing.

Like how I cropped out his hands so you can't tell he's trying to pick one of these?  

Her two favorite things, daddy and standing!

If I knew how to use photoshop I'd totally fix those scrapes on her face, but I can appreciate the memory of these blemishes.  Someone needs to cut her fingernails more often...

My loves!

 

Quinn's trying to escape...

and so the tickle monster came out to attack.

But Quinn ultimately won and was released.

Her expressions kill me.  This is her "I'm so excited but I'm concentrating really hard to reach that camera" face.  

Oh, and I totally scored some fresh tulips for our home from this trip.  Maybe it was worth it?  

I wonder how many years it'll take me to decide to brave the traffic again.  Any guesses?