Christmas Shaving

Before Christmas weekend Ronin would take down one Christmas link from his chain and get excited over how many days were left. I had to video tape him -it's so cute!

And here is Quinn bouncing and smiling.  6 Weeks old here:

And one more Ronin video...  He was being naughty so we said he couldn't have any more bubblegum and sent him to his room...  where I soon heard his sad-sad song coming from:

Thank goodness Christmas is over with!  Now to deal with the mountain of recycling left from so many boxes, bags and wrapping paper...  and organize all the piles of goodies into organized clutter-free places...

We had a great holiday, lots of great family and friends to share with.  Ronin got way too much, as usual.  He's not really sure what to do with himself yet.  Santa got him a "shaving kit" and he has been going to the bathroom to shave every couple of hours.  It's really cute and he makes us smell his cheeks when he's done.

Some serious shaving... 

Ronin in his new monster blanket.

Quinn's new Jump-up toy

Ronin's exercise bike/game

 Bring on the new year!  Now I get to plan Ronin's super hero birthday party!  We are thinking about making him a fort with a slide and swings for his birthday :)  He would love it!

Happy New Years,
Love,
C

Santa countdown

The boys finally got to see Santa last weekend.  We had cocoa with Claus at the Kids Fun & Fitness center where Ronin takes his swim class lessons.  We had Sean and Shelley meet us there so the boys could play in the giant "jungle" area together.  When Ronin was in line to see Mr. & Mrs. Claus he said "I can't believe Mrs. Claus is here too!"- So cute!  When he sat on Santa's lap at first he asked for a bell from Santa's sleigh- like on the movie Polar Express... but then he sasked for a glow in the dark helicopter, Fleas on my dog game, and something else...  Quinn got to sit on Mrs. Claus' lap for a visit too.  :)

Ronin's visit

Quinn and Mrs. Claus

Both boys

At a friends Christmas exchange I received a color-changing Snoopy.  Ronin takes it to his bedroom at nap time.  He's so funny.  This week Ronin and I made a Christmas chain to count down the days, snowflakes and we decorated paper xmas bulbs for fun :)

Here's Snoopy with some of Ronins decorations on the tree.

Today Ronin wanted to go ride bikes while Rory was at work and I asked what we'd do with Quinn while we are riding bikes since he's too little.  Ronin said we should put him in a box and wrap him up so nobody would see him until we got back.  haha!

Ronin in his new PJ's, the tree and a rubber band on his nose...

Little Quinn... 5 1/2 weeks old

I really liked how this photo looked :)

Next blog will be after Christmas!  Happy holidays!

Love,

C

Horse Races and Stompeez

Having grown up with horses it's kind of hard to believe that I've never been to a horse race.  Rory's coworker owns a few racehorses and told him to bring us out on Sunday to watch the races.  We did and it was so much fun!!  I read the names of the horses to Ronin for one of the races and he zeroed in on the one named Cheeky Joey.  Well his $2 bet turned into $16 when Cheeky Joey won his race!  He was so excited to win!

Cheeky Joey in the background

Ronin's winning ticket

We managed to make ginger bread (graham cracker) houses this last week too.  Ronin needed a little structural help from daddy but did all the decorating himself :)

Ronins house

A Christmas search for the coveted "Stompeez" slippers has been a bust.  Apparently the company just started up and didn't expect the sudden popularity that has occured...  They are months out from fulfilling orders...  I read online that there are many furious mothers trying to get ahold of the coveted slippers...  It amazes me how Christmas can turn parents into velicoraptors if they can't acquire the one gift that is so  hard to attain... I think some like the "hunt and kill" aspect of it. I really don't think the kids even care...  not to say I won't try again after xmas for Ronins birthday though... haha! 

We finally finished Santa's letters from the boys this week, Ronin gets to visit Santa Saturday morning- he's very excited and wants his brother in the photo too :)  Ronin has a big present under the tree and the day I wrapped it and placed it under the tree he dragged it to his bedroom so he could sleep with it by his bed.  He keeps asking if it's Christmas yet- this year is so much more fun with him since he understands more now.  He has already guessed one gift under the tree- a book. Too smart for his own good...

Ronin's Santa letter- he signed his own name :)

Many-armed monster he drew on the back

Quinn making smiles

Quinn is such a good baby even though he's a bit more demanding than I remember newborns being.  I wish I could just sit and cuddle with him like I did with Ronin, but I am so glad I got to with Ronin since I am forced to split my attention now.  Quinn is such a cuddler it's hard putting him down.  He weighs 11 pounds as of yesterdays dr. visit... she said he's "thriving"...  I call it comfort eating ;)

Almost Christmas!  I can't wait to see Ronin's face when Santa comes!

Love,

C

Face Paint and Ponies

Last weekend we successfully went to swim class with Quinn in toe- he just slept the whole time.  We also made it to Ronin's little friend, Peyton's pony birthday party.  I had to go inside to feed Quinn so I missed some of it- but when I came back out Ronin was smiling so big while riding the little white pony, Joy, all around.  I think he took the longest turn of anyone.  I was so happy to see him have such a good time even if the weather was freezing!

Swim class buddies- Peyton, Caden and Ronin

Ronin riding Joy

Ronin asked for a fly on one cheek and him hiding behind a tree on the other cheek.

Quinn and his big blue eyes

Sweet sleeper

Not a very exciting week, but soon we'll go see Santa (on the 17th).  Ronin has already guessed one of his presents- he asked if it was a book.  He's as bad as Rory!  He also told me not to buy him gifts because Santa will bring him gifts.  That was nice of him ;)

We are about to leave for a play date wih Ronins friend Trenton...  Have a great week and weekend!

Love,

C

Too-too & Chum-chum

Ahhhh... maternity leave... or as my husband has called it "vacation"... is anything BUT a vacation!  I love my time off with the boys and treasure it- but the organized part of me is dying for routine and less chaos...   trying to apply organization and routine to a 3 1/2 year old and newborn feels like trying herd cats in a single direction.  I swear Quinn is always eating and then I am grounded to the couch for sometimes hours at a time.  I finally bought a pump so I can break away once in a while.  I don't know how other women do it with a toddler in the house!  Instead of peaceful and fulfilling, it's mostly stressful and painful.  I feel guilty for not spending more time with Ronin, but then I feel guilty for not enjoying just sitting down and feeding Quinn.  Again- chaos! ha!

We had a quiet Thanksgiving and spent it at our friends house.  Ronin got to play with his bff Sean all day and we had great food :)  It did take us about 2 hours to get everyone and everything ready to travel the 10 minutes it took to get to Mike & Shelleys!  It will get easier... this I know!

Turkey Day

Rory couldn't wait to get a Christmas tree so we got one from Thortons tree farm on Sunday.  It smells so good!  I only put plastic ornaments up this year... getting tired of sweeping up glass from the tile floor.

Thorton's tree farm

Our camera on a tripod picture

Ronin has been watching a new, disgusting, cartoon called "Fanboy & Chum Chum"-- but he keeps calling it "Too-too & Chum Chum".  Thus the title of the post ;)  He's having problems coming up with a good Santa letter because he keeps telling me to write "Dear Santa, please bring me all these toys..."  We have to work on his delivery. haha

Quinn is getting better at giving me a stretch of sleep at night, one night I got a five hour stretch of sleep- that was wonderful!  But then I woke up worried that something was wrong.  Guess he was just zonked too.  Ronin is having a hard time getting to sleep at night, I think we threw off his schedule a bit... but I'm trying to fix it by having him get up with me around 7 so he's tired by nap and bed time.

We made it to McDonalds playland yesterday and I promised him Chuck E Cheese on Wednesday.  We are going to visit my work on Thursday... gotta keep Ronin active or he'll just watch cartoons!

More photos:

Til next week,

C

God needs cheese

First week as a family of 4!  It's been a challenge but definitely a blessing having two sweet boys to care for and a helpful hubby all under one roof.  Rory and I have been using the midnight feedings to catch up on this season of "Walking Dead" and two seasons of "Dexter" on my new laptop.

Ronin asked this week if we could send God some cheese.  When asked why we needed to send God cheese he said because he will need to give Lucy her pills in the mushy cheese.  I told him Lucy doesn't need her pills anymore because she is all better now. He said if she's all better than she can come home now.   A few days ago he cried on Rory about missing her too.  Poor Ronin, he is always asking about Lucy and why she can't come home.  I feel so terrible seeing him so torn apart about his dog. Poor guy :(  Instead of getting a new dog - he got a baby brother I suppose...

Proud big brother

It's so strange how having a new baby makes our first baby suddenly seem much taller, older, heavier and smarter than he was before going to the hospital.  Ronin is no longer a baby- although he's been telling us as much for a while, we had always thought he would remain a baby...  How did he grow up over night?? It makes me sad but also proud of the character he's becoming.  He doesn't seem to be jealous of his baby brother at all- which is hard to believe.  He's still bossy and has his normal breakdowns but seems ok with the changes in the house.... so far anyway!

Little Quinn all stretched out

Quinn is such a happy baby.  He is always smiling when he's awake and in his sleep- I have even caught him chuckling in his sleep a few times :)  But when he's upset it's the saddest sound- he sounds like a little lamb crying... Such a sweet baby boy :)

Well it's Thanksgiving week - I hope everyone has a great holiday and be safe on Black Friday if you brave the crowds! 

Love,

C

Quinn makes his way into the world!

Quinn Lucas Jones

Born 11-11-11 @ 7:17am

9 lbs 2 oz

21" long

Quinn decided to make his appearance neither early nor late, but right on time!  Also the night of a full moon...  2 am I woke up to contractions 4 minutes apart.  Afraid I'd be one of "those" moms that go to the hospital with false labor so I waited and timed them for about 30 minutes before waking Rory to tell him it's time to go.  By the time we got to the hospital around 3am the contractions were around 90 seconds to 2 minutes apart... things were going quick and they were a little panicked that they couldn't get an IV in my arm.  They called the IV specialist, and informed me that I can't get an epidural until the IV was set and my blood tests came back clear.  They pushed me into a birthing room where the contractions got soooo much worse- I couldn't breath through them any longer, but moan and cry.  They finally got the IV in and then told me there was no time for an epidural because I was ready to push.  I remember crying for an epidural and telling them it's not too late and I didn't want to have a "natural" birth.  I wanted to slap the mid-wife when she said "I'm sorry, it's just too late you'll have to do it".  But then out of nowhere the epidural guy came and said my blood tests came back fine and he could give me a "super deluxe" epidural that would take effect quicker than the regular ones.   He was like an angel!  Somehow I managed to hold very still and breath through a couple contractions in order for him to administer the epidural, and practically instantly I was numb from the belly button down.   This slowed down labor a while because I wasn't pushing during contractions but letting the contractions move Quinn down on their own.  Finally the midwife said "let's try pushing".  I really couldn't tell if I was doing it right but I tried and after about 4 pushes he was out and in my arms :)  

Ronin is very excited about his baby brother and wants him to go everywhere with him.  He couldn't wait to show his friend, Sean, his baby brother.  He's very interested in everything we do for Quinn and wants to help whenever possible.   Such a good big brother!

Quinn is such a good baby.  He loves to look around at everything and everyone and cries when he's wet or hungry but otherwise doesn't seem fussy at all.  He is enjoying 2 hour long breakfast "buffets" at 3 am for some reason...  I just have to feed him almost twice as much at that hour. 

We had his follow-up appointment yesterday and found out he has a fractured clavicle from being born so big.  Poor guy!  I feel so bad but he doesn't seem to hurt or be bothered by it.  The pediatrician said the first day would be the most painful for him, but we are way past that so she said there's nothing we need to do or avoid doing because it will heal on it's own.

My birthday was the day we came home from the hospital.  Besides getting a new cute baby I also got a laptop with my birthday money - yay!  Rory and Ronin also made me the coolest jewelry holder for my necklaces.  (picture above)  I love it :)

So now Ronin and I are off for 12 weeks to take care of Quinn (and for me to heal- youch!).  I can't wait to see Quinn grow into his own person just like Ronin did.  Ronin can't wait to play with him.  Although very challenging- I'm so grateful for this time off with my two boys :)

Love,
C

It's the final countdown...

Ronin-isms:

After I drew a face on Ronin's banana peel he says "Mommy, don't throw the peel away- because he's my friend!"

After making a turkey out of foam stickers he says "you can throw my banana peel friend away now, the Turkey is my new friend."

Last week was uneventful.  Doctor appointment on Wednesday, not much progress except he dropped a little bit.  My blood pressure is rising, I lost 3 lbs, and I have protein in my urine... which pretty much means my body is ready to evict it's little guest!  Just something to keep an eye on, but we are so close to the due date there's not much to do about any of it.  At our next appointment we are supposed to discuss getting an induction if he's late.  Little turkey doesn't want to come out I guess!

I took Thursday off to relax with Ronin.  Which really isn't that relaxing when he's bossing me around.  We bounced on the yoga ball for a while and he thought it was funny that we were trying to bounce his baby brother out.  We went to Gustav's for lunch so I could finally have my bowl of fondue... yumm...  Ronin had noodles.  Best lunch ever :)   but all it really did was give me heartburn.

Cute picture of the week -- Ronin, Madeline & Sean

The weekend was pretty uneventful as well...  just waiting for some kind of sign that the baby is coming... but nothing...

Here's my big 'ol 39 week pregnant belly:

Hopefully this week!!  

Lots of love,

C

Halloween time, let's dig up dead people!

Let's start out with some Ronin-isms:

"Do you have anything to talk about Ronin?" on the way home from babysitters house.  His response:  "My body isn't full of questions yet, wait until it is."

Me: "Ew... creepy cemetery!" driving by one one evening. 
Ronin: "What's a cemetery?" 
Me: "It's where they bury dead people" 
Ronin: "Let's stop and dig them up, I want to see what dead people look like!"

Tuesday was my baby shower at work...  Got lots of cute clothes and a gift card for Target!  Which I promptly went out and spent on lots of organizing things, Desitin, and a booster seat for Ronin.  The cake was super cute- another owl theme!  The ladies all went in on a Mexican style buffet.  I'm so lucky to have such a great "family" at work :) 

The cake

Special candy bars w/owls that say "Look whoooo's having a baby"

The food!

Gifts!

Thursday was our doctor appointment, everything is looking good, he's measuring a little big- go figure!  We are 2cm dialated and 50% effaced, which sounds exciting but I could stay that way for days or weeks without ever moving forward.  BUT she did strip my membranes while she was in there (pulls everything from the walls to get labor moving)- which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.  I guess we'll find out!

Ronin's babysitter took some "school" pictures last week, they turned out soooo cute!

Book smarts

Apples and smiles!

This could be his sophisticated look... haha

Rory won tickets to a fundraising dinner in Portland last Saturday.  Ronin spent the night at Grandma/pa's house while we went to it.  It was a masquerade so we got to make our own masks, Rory of course altered his to look like Elvis.  When I was saying goodbye to Ronin he asked what was on my lips, I said "lipstick" and he said "I'll kiss you goodbye, but don't kiss me, I don't want that on my body." haha!  We had a good time playing black jack and eating free food, but the head-person of the cause, which was for a refuge for tigers/lions/big cats, was a complete weirdo so we left early. We called Ronin before bedtime to say goodnight and the first thing he asked me was if I still had lipstick on.  hehe, I must have freaked him out with dark red lips!

 

Ronin had a birthday party on Sunday at the Children's Art Museum... which is now on my list of places to never visit again... at least on a weekend day.  It was so crazy-busy with booger-pickers and screaming children I wanted to crawl into a corner and cover my ears while rocking back and forth in the fetal position... Of course we made it out alive and he had a blast... but still...  argh!!

Ronin with the birthday boy- Caden, and his other friend Peyton

Ronin had a blast trick-or-treating!  he was so good about saying it and then thanking people after he got candy.  We just hit up one block and his bucket is FULL!  He kept saying how happy he was that it was Halloween and that he got to trick or treat :)  He did get tired of wearing his mask and cape towards the end though...

I told him tonight that our next holiday is Thanksgiving, when we get to eat turkey and be thankful.  I said I am thankful for having such a good boy as my son.  He said "I'm thankful for you and daddy because I love you guys so much".   He makes my heart melt :)

Now we are on to November!  Guess Quinn will be a November babe after all!

Lots of love,
C