Dust-wolves and Edward Scissorhands

Today is the second day back to work. It's going to suck not waking up with the boys every morning. There was so much more I had planned to do while on leave, I feel like I barely accomplished anything besides watching cartoons with Ronin (way too many!) and feeding Quinn (non-stop).  So much for my grand plans of getting on the treadmill daily and taking Ronin to fun places every week...  But I'm actually doing well at work, it's nice to look forward to seeing the boys and having normal "adult" things to do during the day.  It makes me want to spend quality time with them at the end of the day :)

Aunt Melanie came up for the weekend to see Quinn for the first time.  The boys loved having her attention and it was sad to see her go home!

I've been going home at lunch and Ronin actually misses me and wants hugs from me.  Quinn just smiles at me and wants to snuggle like always.  :)  It's been tough getting him to bed before 11 these last two nights, I'm hoping he'll go to bed earlier for me soon!  Last night he slept for 6 1/2 hours though!

Ronin has a cold this week and asked daddy "why is my body doing this to me?!"  haha  Poor guy!  And Quinn is not really liking drinking from a bottle- he swallows too much air.  But Angie has been doing an awesome job of taking care of the kids while we are at work!  It's so nice not to have to wake everyone up, get them dressed, throw them in the car (sometimes while they are screaming/crying) and drive to someone elses house to unload all their crap and get them in the house...   I love just getting myself ready, saying good-bye and driving to work!

Quinn has learned how to stick out his bottom lip this last week, it's sooo soooo cute, but also sooo sad at the same time!  I tried to get a picture but he won't let me.  hehe

We finally got our 2-month baby pictures back from the photo company, they turned out okay, my favorite is Ronin and Quinn of course.   Now Quinn has thinned out and just seems really long instead of compact and pudgy, so he already looks different than the photos...

I sent off Ronins birthday invitiations today!  He's so excited, and truthfully I kind of am too, I love planning these things!  He even posed for his superhero picture for me.  He is so excited to have his friends all play superhero with him...  we'll have games and fun prizes, should be one to remember!

Here's some of his poses:

And here is Ronin with his best furry-buddy:

Ronin has been very dramatic lately, telling us "This is the worst day of my life" when he is sad and "This is the best day of my life" when he is super happy.  It's very cute!  He also picked up the words "moisture" and "bacteria" -he likes to use in random sentences, it's so funny to see his vocabulary expanding!  It's probably due to too many cartoons!   At least now that I'm back to work he doesn't watch cartoons as much.   He's worried about werewolves lately.  He's not worried about dust bunnies anymore, so I had to replace them with dust-wolves that will eat him up if he hides under tables at restaurants.  He recently watched Edward Scissorhands with us and was very curious about how Edward made it snow when he did ice sculptures with his hands.  He told us that God gives Edward ice so he can make it snow at our house. 

Ronin also found some of my molars I kept, and when I put them in his hand he said "can you take them, they are kind of freaking me out" haha!  But then he tried to put them under his pillow for the tooth fairy.  I told him you can't fool the tooth fairy! In the morning he was sad that the tooth fairy didn't come.  ;)
And a recent picture of Quinn from this week:

He loves this frog!  See- long and skinny boy now!

Lots of love,
C

Speech bubbles

It's my last week of maternity leave and I'm trying to tidy up things, finish projects and work on things for Ronin's birthday party- including a superhero photo prop where the kids stck their heads in the hole to pretend to be a super hero...  I put a "speech bubble" above the head that says "Happy 4th Birthday Ronin!"  Ronin asked me about it so I explained what the bubble was...  when I was putting him down for nap- I said something to him and he looked above my head- I asked what he was looking at and he said "I'm looking for a speech bubble..."  Smart alec!!  haha

Quinn started laughing outloud this week, it's so cute, he just melts my heart when he smiles or laughs. 

Ronin and Quinn will now be watched by Rory's cousin, Angela.  It will be so nice to have the boys at home and not have to wake them, dress, and feed them before I go to work every morning.  Ang brought Ronin some 3-D chalk the other day - we had fun coloring his wall with it---

He drew a hot air balloon (behind his head).

That's about it this week.  I will miss my boys next week, but feel a little relieved knowing they are at home and I know Angela will have fun with them. 

Lots of Love,

C

Sleepover Success!

This last weekend we watched Sean for the night while Mike & Shelley got to go to Mike's work party.  Ronin was so excited to have a sleepover and Sean was really well-behaved.  They stayed awake chattering forever!  I think they finally crashed around 10pm, and around midnight I heard Sean trying to wake Ronin "Ronin.... Ronin Jones!"  Rory went in to check on him.  He just missed his mommy and Ronin was passed out and not waking up for him.  I went in there after Rory, gave him a hug and let him watch Star Wars on the portable DVD player until he fell asleep... which he did eventually until they both woke at 8am.  They wanted chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, but all I had were butterscotch chips, they loved them with a side of marshmellows :)

Brushing their teeth...

Watching movies before bed

We've been busy repainting, re-finishing, and remodeling this last week...  the living room has a new paint job, the walls under the cabinets in the kitchen got a new paint job, the cabinets are still under-going re-finishing to a darker "cherry" stain...  and we walled off the laundry room from the garage and it now has a door to the back room...  lots of work!

Quinn has been sleeping shorter periods of time at night for a while, but the last 2 nights he's been sleeping his normal 5 hour stretch again.  I'm sure it was a growth spurt!  I also kind of think he could be teething... he's always got to have something in his mouth and gets really fussy for no reason for a few minutes each day...  I can't wait until he starts sitting up and being  more active :)

Quinn in his johnny jump up

Ronin's swim buddies- Caden and Peyton

Where did my 8 hours of sleep at night go?  and my freedom to get up and pee whenever I want?  I will be happy when they return!!

lots of love,

C

Snow!

Last weekend we got to visit Nana and Papa in Goldendale.  Ronin loves the new puppy, Bella, and loves chasing the other dogs too.  He told nana to garage sale the rest of the dogs so Sammy the "angry" dog won't be so angry anymore.  haha!

Ronin and Bella

Ronin making hand and feet prints in the dusting of snow

Tuesday we meet up with Sean and Madeline at JJ Jump to jump on all the bounce houses and slides.  That night we got a bunch of snow so had to hurry and get dressed before the rain melted it.  Ronin was soooo excited :)  We got the last sled at Walmart - lucky! 

The snowman

Rory took him sledding nearby

Hooray for snow!

My smiling boy :)

Ronin and Sean- BFF's :)

aw!

So this weekend is Ronin's first sleepover!  Sean will be over Saturday night and has already requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  haha!  Ronin is really excited- I just hope it goes smoother than the last time we tried it!  I'll try not to make Sean cry this time.  ;)   We are also trying to build on a spare room with the back part of the garage so we'll have a guitar/craft/guest room again...  fun fun!

lots of love,
C

Doctor Coconut

Ronin has decided to rename his brother "Dr. Coconut" after watching an episode of his cartoon Phineas & Ferb.  Quinn seems to like his new monicker because he smiles big when we call him Dr. Coconut.

It's been a trying week because Ronin has really been testing us and acting out a lot.  I feel bad that he doesn't get as much attention as he used to, but I'm sure it's something all first borns go through with new siblings.  The other night after many bedtime stories from both Rory and I, Ronin yelled from his room that he wanted more stories.  We just ignored him as he screamed it over and over... until he finally stopped telling us he wanted more stories and instead yelled "All right Daddy- If you don't read me more stories the NO MORE FAMILY! I mean it Daddy- No More Family!"  After hearing how serious his threat was we both started busting up laughing!  After a few seconds of that Ronin yelled "Mommy- you need to stop laughing!!!"   He finally fell asleep but I'm sure he was thinking of a way to follow through on his threat first.

Quinn seems to be getting more of a personality now.  He always smiles so big when I change his diaper, even when I wipe him with a cold baby wipe.  Such a happy boy!  He just went in for his 2 month check up- he weighs 13 lbs 11 oz now, 90th percentile for weight.  70th percentile for height.  He got 3 shots too, poor guy, he was really fussy for the rest of that day and the next.

Diaper change time!

Ronin helping me paint the living room.



Only a couple more weeks left until work...  ugh :(

Lots of love,

C

Ronin Goes International

So Ronin picked up a new word and has used it a couple of times as an adjective...  "International".  He told me something was too international for him.  haha!  I'm not sure what word he was trying to say, but we found it pretty hilarious and now Rory and I have been saying it around the house to describe things too!

Ronin has had an imaginary friend since his Daycare days...  That friends name is Day-Day, and he still talks about him.  It's pretty cute and it took me the longest time to figure out that it's not a real kid.  Day-Day doesn't do much besides share Ronins opinions and desires to play certain games, he rides in the car with us sometimes too.

For Christmas we got Ronin a beautifully illustrated and written childrens book called The Man in the Moon.  It mentions the Sandman and Ronin had never heard of him, so I explained that he sprinkles sand in your eyes to make you sleepy.  I think he might be a little freaked out by this, because he keeps talking about the Sandman now... and now that I think about it it is kind of creepy...

We went to Rory's cousin, Angela's house on Friday.  She did a portrait of me pregnant with Ronin.  It turned out amazing!  I love it so much.  Ronin keeps telling me that it doesn't look like me.  haha!  I keep trying to tell him it's not a photograph so it shouldn't look just like me. 

"Two Hearts"

While we were there Ronin got to pet Angie's pet pig, Piggie Sue-ella.  She was so cute!

Cheese!

Quinn is starting to sleep for 5 hour stretches at night now, thank goodness.  He's smiling a ton and talking a bit now too. 

Potty like a Rockstar

Quinn video

On New Years Eve we went to Rory's work to help Jan entertain the residents for a couple of hours.  We came home and were in bed by 11 :)

New Years Eve :)

Yay :)

"Happy New What??"

Rory's head got cut off... maybe I shouldn't ask someone in a wheelchair to take our picture?

All day Sunday Rory and Ronin created a squirrel trap out of my Magic Bullet box I was about to recycle...  They used rubberbands to snap the door shut, and fishing line to pull to shut the door... but that wasn't enough- they hooked up an infrared video camera to watch while waiting inside the house watching it on our t.v....  needless to say after many hours of setting it up and watching and waiting- no living creature came to munch on the stash of peanuts...  it was a valiant effort to say the least.

The squirrel trap

Now it's 2012 and I return to work on February 7th...  Time has flown by and I will be sad to go back.

I hope everyone has a great new year!

Love,

C

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