Shamrocks & Rolling Over!

This last week Quinn decided to roll over.  Not just from his tummy to his back, but also from his back to his tummy... I think he secretly could do it but waited until he had our full attention to perform for us.  He seems very tickeled with himself when he does it too! 

Here he is in motion...

Ronin has become more animated with his stories lately and is constantly cracking jokes- he cracks me up all the time!  I think he's going to be a little prankster... look out!!

He's been having a hard time sleeping the full night in his own room since the baby was born.  I feel so bad since there are 3 of us in one room and just him in his room so we give in all the time to letting him sleep with us... I stopped battling it because I don't want him thinking I'm mean and I figure he won't always want to sleep with us... if he does when he's 18 then we'll all need to see a therapist!  Last night I came up with a clever idea of a "sleep fairy" and I told Ronin that they will check on him to see if he's still in his own bed and leave him treats...  he tried really hard last night but caved at like 2am.  I'll keep trying- he likes the idea of gifts under his pillow! 

Ronin all packed for a sleepover

Ronin tried to sleep at his friend Sean's house last weekend...  his first sleepover!  He made it until 11pm and had Shelley call us.  He said Sean was talking too much and he couldn't sleep. haha  I don't really doubt that happened but I think it was hard for him to be away for a night.  The same thing happened the first time Sean tried to stay the night.  2nd time was a charm though!  We'll try again!

Such a cute boy :)

Last Sunday was the Shamrock run!  Even though I haven't been training for it consistently I was able to jog about 1.5 miles and walked the rest of the 3 miles... not bad considering I have been lazy!  It was such a great rush though!  I can't wait to do it again, and have already got a group to do a 4 mile run at Lacamas Lake in July and possibly a "Zombie" run in August.  This running stuff is more fun that I thought it could ever be.  I told Ronin he's going to start running with me when he gets older, and he said "no, I don't want to run." haha 

Angela, me and Brandee

Angela, Brandee and me in our tu-tu's waiting to run!

This weekend we made a reservation on Mt. Hood to stay in a yurt with the boys for a little get away.  They have an indoor heated swimming pool and lots of trails to go on, Ronin is super excited and wants to swim the whole time. Oh boy! hehe

Lots of love,

C



Jumping for Joy

We finally got Ronins trampoline put together!  He loves it!  But then it started pouring down rain and snowing this week!  booh!

Jumping boy!

Ronin and daddy decided to make a robot costume out of Quinns diaper box... pretty clever I think!

Ronin had his 4 year health checkup (and shots) last Friday.  I have been telling him they will give him x-ray vision when he gets his shots... but little did I know they were going to give him FOUR shots, not just one or two.  After the first two he was crying saying "no more shots please...."  I felt so bad for him!  Rory held him on his lap to get his shots and had to carry him to the car afterwards because he was so upset.  Quinn started crying when he heard big brother cry too, it was a mess.  Needless to say he did NOT get x-ray vision with his shots.  Poor guy!

Angie took some pictures of the kids while we were at work, it was like a little photo shoot:

Quinn with the TV Remote

"and then I was like... whoa..."

Sweet face :)

Mr. Muscles

"how you doin'?"

"I passionately disagree with what you said!"

What I came home to, baby sleeping in daddy's arms (instead of screaming!)

Pouty face!

CUTE new outfit and shoes!

After Ronin's doctor appoinment on Friday, I had to take Quinn in yesterday (Monday) to have his ears checked, he's been pulling on his left ear, getting fussy and not sleeping well at night.  Well he was all giggles and grins at the doctors office and does not have an ear infection.  She said it could be his teeth coming up that make him pull his ear... and after we were talking a while I mentioned how he gets me up every 4 hours to eat at night, and she said he can actually sleep 10 hours at night without needing to wake up... and during the day eat every 4 hours instead of 2!   Little Q has been working me!  haha  So now Angie and I are going to slowly space his feeding times out so he can work into that 4 hour eating schedule which in turn will make him sleep longer...  phew!  I wish I would have mentioned it to her a long time ago!   But he's just so cute I can never say "no"!  :)

Ronin has a sleepover this Friday at Seans house as long as Sean is feeling better, he has two ear infections.  ick.  Ronin is such a big boy going to sleepovers at his friends house, I love it :)   Of course I don't know if we'll be getting a call in the middle of the night to pick him up or not, but at least he's excited to try it.

Not a whole lot else going on with the kids, they are just growing and being silly like always. 

Quinn talking

I would get better video of Quinn but everytime he see's the camera he gets quiet and just stares at it! haha

Lots of love,

C

Super Birthday Party

Last weekend was Ronin's super fun superhero 4th birthday party! I think everyone had a good time, minus the headaches some of the adults may have gotten ;) I know Ronin had a blast! I tried to get all the games, present opening, and cake done with within 2 hours... I think we did well.  We played "pin the emblem on the superhero", "disarm the bombs", and "superhero obstacle course".   The favorite with the kids was the obstacle course - they laughed when Rory did a practice run through to show them how it's done.  Ronin got some really great things from his generous friends and family.  His actual birthday isn't until Tuesday so he'll have to wait to open presents from us...  but he's been having fun playing with his bug-vaccum, many racing cars and the "goo" that came with his Scooby Doo toy.   We are watching the Phineas and Ferb movie tonight before bathtime.  He got a lot of great things!

Quinn slept through most of the party, what a good boy!  He seems pretty pooped tonight from all the excitment of being passed around at the end of the party.  The other day I was flying him over my head doing "super baby" and he barfed on my head, like an inch from my open mouth...  I was so lucky it wasn't in my mouth. haha  No more "super baby" right after meals.   We also noticed he's been watching us eating very intently and mimicking our chewing movements, so we gave him a few spoonfuls of rice cereal.  He seemed to really like it.  Ronin didn't eat anything besides formula until he was 6 months, but had no desire to either.  Quinn really wants to eat with us.  I figured that since we had to give Ronin rice cereal in his bottles as a baby to keep his acid reflux down, that it didn't hurt for Quinn to try some, although in my opinion it's kinda early!

Birthday boy

Daddy

and some Quinn pictures!

Trying cereal...

Cutest baby in the whole world!

Quinn must be going through yet another growth spurt, he's suddenly needing tons more food - I can't keep up with the demand anymore and am trying to decide now much longer I can breastfeed before we switch completely to formula...  who knew breastfeeding was one of the hardest things to do!  It's so much easier to just pop a bottle in their mouth... but I love how cuddly and happy he is when I do and I feel like I'd be taking that away from him...   Argh!  Parenting = guilt.  non stop! haha   Well I love my boys and they are already growing up too fast so I will just go with the flow for now.  :)  

Quinn has been talking a ton (babble) and it's so cute how he talks with his eyes, you can tell if it's a silly story because his eyebrows will be up high and his voice is very sing songy- but when it's a serious story, his eyebrows narrow and his babble becomes very serious.  So cute!

Ronin got a trampoline for his birthday as well - we'll be setting that up sometime this week - get the boy out of the house now that Spring is here!   Although the weight limit is 110 pounds... sooo needless to say I won't be getting on it!  booh!

Another great week -- Lots of love!

C

I mustache you a question...

One of the final weeks of Ronin being a 3 year old... I swear sometimes I think he's turning 13... He's so smart and comes up with the best stories.  The other day we saw people riding horses on TV and I said "mommy used to do that all the time"  and he responded with "Oh, did they not have cars when you were little so you had to ride horses everywhere?"  which is normally a smartass comment we make to our parents at somepoint jabbing at their age -- but he actually realized that cars weren't around at some point and horses were used.  Smart boy!

Quinn is such a smiley boy!  Ronin smiled a lot too, but Quinn seems to really love being a baby.  Ronin never really bounced in his bouncer and hated his Johnny Jump Up - like he was in a hurry to NOT be a baby anymore.  But Quinn really enjoys all his baby toys and is always happy doing baby things.  One thing I'm really going to miss when I stop nursing is how Quinn will be almost finished nursing and he'll pause and turn to stare at me- and when I look down at him he gets the biggest smile and then acts all shy and burries his head down to finish nursing again.

Quinn excited to bounce!

Ronin jumping on the bed

Quinn a little freaked out about the brightness of daddy's camera.

Mustache from his birthday party supplies...

Funny boys :)

lots of love,

C

Quinn meets the common cold

Poor Dr. Coconut got his first cold this last week from big brother, along with a nasty cough.  He saw his doctor and it's just a normal cold.  Poor guy!  We stayed home with him today (Monday) because he's so miserable and needs his mommy :)

It's been a very uneventful, if not just plain lazy, week and weekend, except for me going back to work... And now everyone is getting Ronin's cold.  I did manage to get Ronin's birthday invitations out with handmade superhero masks for each kid.  I also cut out thier initals from sparkly foam for their capes.  I still have a lot left to do...

Ronin has two of my horse trophy's on his shelf now.  I was going through storage and found a box of old trophy's- he stole them and put them in his room.  I told him someday he can earn his own trophy's, he said "no, I want these ones".  Way to aim high Ronin! haha

And now pictures of the week:

Tongue boy!

Googly eye boy

Lots of love til next week!

C

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