One Month

Wasn't I just saying how I was behind on blogging?! 

Quinn turned a month old last Sunday, October 2nd, and here are some of the pictures that we took. The past month has flown by and I can't imagine our life without our sweet baby girl (or her rowdy big brother!)

Brother wanted to help out too so, he pulled out his stickers to put on sister. 

 This girl has no hope! Brother is alway sharing his trucks with her.  He piles whatever he is playing with around her and is always telling her to play with him. We will see how it works out once she is old enough to actually be interested in his toy since he is not much for sharing right now. His favorite word after "No" is currently "Mine!"

Quinn is full of smiles for us these days, however catching them on camera is a different story! Here is the closest I have gotten of a a picture of her smiling.

The pictures of Branson in this post crack me up. Last time we saw Kati and Forrest he asked us why his nephews never have pants on in the pictures that he sees. Now in this post B does not have pants on in one picture. 

Here were my reasons for him: 

#1 Potty training, which is going extremely well! At home B can get his underwear off himself so he just runs to the potty and goes when he needs to. We don't even worry about it anymore and it has been about a month with no accidents. Being fully dressed in public is coming along well, just sometimes we don't have enough warning to get him all the way to a potty (or to pull off on the side of the road) and pants down in time.

#2 I told him to try to dress a toddler that would prefer to run around naked and he will understand.

Behind on blogging

I only started this post a week ago and am finally publishing it. Better late than never right?!

Auntie Kati's class reunion was scheduled perfectly for her and Uncle Forrest make the trip to Washington and meet their niece.

Forrest and Kati bring B super fun toys. This time B got a space shuttle and stickers from all the shuttle launches.

B flying his shuttle. We had to discuss what it was called.  The girls called it a rocket, the boys a space shuttle and B called it an airplane. 

Daddy got in some snuggle time with his little girl

Naps with Grandpa

Sarah came to visit and brought the adorable Grace with her. We hadn't seen them for a couple months, so it was fun to see how much Grace has grown and for Quinn to get a chance to meet her best friend.

Quinn and Grace

Checking each other out

We snuck in a quick visit to Gpa and Gma's place too.

Grandma Gracie with her newest great grand daughter and 2 more on the way!

Grandpa Phil playing with B

This is the only picture that we have with all four of us in it. We will have to work on getting one!

B's finger one week after his accident. I am glad to report that after two weeks I can notice significant improvement.

Auntie Kati and her favorite niece (I can say that for a few more months until baby girl Miller arrives.)

Uncle Forrest getting some baby time in.

We enjoyed our time with Kati and Forrest. We didn't get to see them nearly enough when they lived in Seattle, and now that they are in Texas it is even worse! We are looking forward to being with them in Nashville over the holidays and I am thinking we need to plan a trip their way. Kati is taunting me by posting pictures on facebook of her laying by the pool in October while it is raining here. Maybe we should show up on their doorstep with our rowdy two year old and infant. Then they can entertain our children while we relax by the pool!

The best laid plans

Last week Bethany and Charlie came to visit. Mom picked them up at the airport and they all three came over to meet baby Quinn. The plan was for us to head back over to Dad and Mom's for the weekend, then I would stay the week with the kids since Kate and Forrest come in tomorrow.

That was the plan. Friday morning Quinn had newborn photos with Pam then Bethany and I packed the kids in the car and headed west. We were feeling so proud of ourselves that with a 2 year old, a one year old and a newborn we only had one short stop to feed Quinn before we got to Puyallup. We decided that we would stop there and do a little shopping. Branson stayed in the car with me to feed Quinn, thankfully we got the feeding in before he started falling out of the side door, when he went to catch himself his had got stuck in the door and he cut himself. 

Everyone except Charlie ended up covered in blood, a trip to the ER, sutures in B's finger quickly brought us back down.

After a weekend of my 2 year old not sleeping and only getting to hold my newborn when I was feeding here, thanks to my needy little guy I decided to head home.

Poor little guy

B saw Daddy put Quinn's giraffe next to her while she was sleeping so the next day he decided to do the same.

Brother sharing his toys

Baby Blake

Josh and I are lucky enough to have good friends Justin and Pam live only a couple blocks away. Our older kids are one year apart, but are still best buddies. Now our younger kids are only 2 weeks apart, it is going to be so much fun raising our kids together and watching them grow.

Blake was born yesterday 9/19/11 so of course Kathy, Quinn and I raced down to meet him. He is adorable, we are in love! 

Quinn 2 weeks old with Blake only hours old

Quinn

Quinn Kathleen was born one week ago. September 2 at 7:00 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 2 oz, was 20 inches long and looks a lot like big brother Branson as a newborn.

Labor and delivery with Branson was an all day and part of the night event. With her I had contractions from 5-10 a.m. 6 minutes apart. Then they stopped. At 4 pm we left home for our 5:00 doctors appt (thankfully, Branson was with Dave and Kathy). When we got there they did a stress test because I was a week over due. The doctor and the nurse left the room and I stated having contractions again. They were getting more and more frequent and I told Josh that they needed to hurry up and come back so I could go to the hospital. Finally they came back, the doctor checked me and informed me we were going to the hospital to have a baby, I was at a 7. We left the clinic at 6:15, thankfully the hospital isn't far since she came 45 minutes later.

3 days old

One week old

Brother was our first visitor in the hospital, I LOVE this little guy.

Big brother thinks she is pretty cool since she brought him a combine

Justin, Pam and Dakota came to visit

Sweet Dakota is going to be such a good big sister SOON!

Naoka and the girls came to visit when we got home the next day

When May was born we brought them dinner one night and Naoko offered to return the favor. Josh jumped and the chance and asked her for some japanese food. We ended up going to their place for the feast and it was amazing! 

At dinner Hana was a big help holding Quinn.

Branson loves his new stroller and is constantly giving us updates on "Baby Winn" when they are riding in it

Uncle Joel stopped by to meet his niece and Branson talked him in to playing with him

He coaxed Auntie Holly into the sand box as well.

I love this picture because he is always telling us "Good Job" and clapping his  hands just like here

Since Quinn's gender wasn't confirmed before her birth we have some work to do getting her room ready. This bedroom set was in the house when we bought it and we are getting it ready to paint for Quinn's room

Uncle Jason and Auntie Sue lived in Chicago when B was born, we were very excited that they would only be a few minutes from the hospital when this one was born, but Quinn had other things in mind. They were on their way out of town for the long weekend when they got the news that she was born. They had to pull over before running out of cell phone service to wait for more details. They did stop by on their way home though.

Daddy has been home this week and been keeping big brother entertained. They stopped by the fire dept on the way home from the park yesterday. 

Things are going well here as we start our new adventure as a family of 4. Quinn is fitting right in and B is adjusting far better than I could of imagined. He is interested just enough in her that I don't have to watch him too closely, but he loves to tell her to "wake up baby" and gets very concerned when she cries. 

Today Papa and Daddy took Branson in the big truck to Seattle to pick up a welder, I am sure he is loving every minute of it. It is quiet as Quinn is a much more sleepy baby than B ever was, maybe I should take advantage of this time and get something done. Stay tuned for more pictures.

TWO

Branson turned two last week. With another baby expected anytime we didn't really plan anything, but we still managed to celebrate a little.

It was fair weekend here so when Josh got off work we ventured down there.

B and Daddy sharing B's birthday dinner

After a few hours there we went to Papa and Grandma's and had cake with them, Uncles and Auntie. Branson wanted help blowing out his candles, then after Josh blew them out he told him "Good job daddy!"

Once again B was spoiled with toys and attention

Friday night we went back to the fair. B loved the wheat box and loved having papa there to play in it with him.

Josh and I hadn't planned on going to the concert with a 2 year old and possibly a newborn or being in the hospital having one we didn't buy tickets. Then the night of Papa and Grandma switched us places. They took B home with them and we got their tickets. We are spoiled too.

Saturday after nap time we went back down to the fair. We caught the end of the rodeo then B and Dakota got some play time in. They loved the petting zoo,but just sat outside and fed straw to the animals.

After three days of the fair we decided that we needed a low key day to re-coop and calm B down. He had so much fun and is still talking about the lights and the rides. I had to take him on a walk by the fairgrounds today to show him that it was gone until next year.

Now we are just waiting for the little one to arrive. I am now two days over due and baby is just proving to us who is in control already.

Summer Fun

The town pool has closed for the year and we are missing it already. Saturday was the last day it was open and we decided we had to go one last time this summer. B loves the water and we love playing with him in it.

Grandma Leslie traditionally gives us coupons for an ice cream cone for our birthdays, this year B got one too. We stopped by Mitchell's for an after swim snack on the way home.

What we've been up to

Since it has almost been a month and B is out driving combine with his daddy I figure I better take this opportunity to update our blog.

Angus lives down the road and came down for dinner. Really, he and Branson ran around like the rowdy almost two year olds that they are while their parents tried to eat. It was great!

Uncle Jason and Auntie Sue also came up that night and Uncle Jason discovered a way to get B to enjoy his gator. Unfortunately, he is no longer satisfied with just climbing on it and wants me to run behind it with him driving all day.

Josh's cousin and his family who live in MN came out the beginning of the month. We had never met Tarah and B and her had a good time playing together.

Really, the thing that has kept us most occupied this month in potty training. Here is Branson the first day we started. After he woke up and we ate breakfast I showed him his new underwear. Thankfully, we found some "Cars" and "Trains" underwear that he loves so that makes him love to put them on.

The Sink

Branson has decided that he hates getting his hair cut. After trying and him crying and covering his head with his hands we waited a week and decided to bribe him with a couple of his favorite things: Our sink and a movie.

He still wasn't completely compliant with the haircut, but it will do. Afterward he just wanted to hang out in the sink and watch the rest of the movie.

I think he would spend all day playing in the sink if I let him. I do have to admit that it is a nice that it keeps him occupied while I make dinner or unload the dishes.