Happy 1st Birthday, Shae

Dear Shae,

You most definitely have all the "2nd child" things going on - and the lateness of this post is just one example!

We celebrated your 1st birthday at our small house in Decorah with some of our closest family and friends that lived in town.  It was small, quaint, and perfect.  You didn't seem to like your cake very much (just like big sis on her 1st birthday) but I was ok with that!  I'm not sure you even realized the presents were for you because Quinn took complete control.  Go figure!

You are almost 13 months now, going on 3.5 years old.  You mimic Quinn with just about everything these days.  Whether its standing on a chair to reach the monkey bars, swinging on your stomach, balancing on the wall at the park, playing "raaaaar" in the kitchen, eating cheese wraps, pickles, or sitting on the training potty fully clothed... you want to be just like your big sis.  Quinn loves it and she loves being with you!  Her favorite part of the day is when you wake up in the morning or from your nap.  It goes both ways.  In fact, recently, I have to watch you closely if you wake up before Quinn because you will go to her room and bang on the door or barge in and yell so she wakes up!  

You still like to wake in the middle of the night to get a little cuddle from mom - and want absolutely nothing to do with dad during those wee hours.  You actually hit him over and over and over until he puts you down or I come in.  But when you wake - he's the one you want!  I'm more than ready for you to sleep through the night, so please consider it.

Words you like to/can say: bye bye, maaaaa, brrrr (I think) baaaaa (that's your raaaaar) and hi.  You make the cutest "vroom" sound when playing with blocks and chase Quinn around the island every night while I cook dinner.  Your favorite foods are mini meatballs, strawberries, veggie straws, and pickles pickles pickles.  Whole milk is probably the grossest thing you've ever tried - or atleast you make it seem that way.  Your 1 year check up is next week so i'll be sure to edit this post with your weight and height, etc.

Shae, you are one of a kind.  Determined, stubborn, sweet, loving, and silly are all words that describe you very well.  We love you so very much!

Love, Mama

Shae is 11 Months.

Our blonde haired girl is 11 months!  Shae is trying her best to run - her lower half can't keep up with her upper half, so she falls fairly often now! It's pretty cute.  Shae wants EVERYTHING Quinn has.  From toys to food, she wants it all.  11 months going on 3!

We love you baby Shae.  Can't believe 1 more month until you are the big 1!

Shae is 10 Months

10 months old...we have a walker!  Shae has been taking steps since 8.5 months old, but never would do it without any prompting.  On March 3rd, the day after she turned 10 months she decided to do it all on her own!  It's still the cute wobbly walk, hoping she finds something to hold on to eventually :)

Shae has quite the personality.  She is shy, sweet, aggressive, angry, and curious.  She loves to climb in drawers, boxes, baby carts, and climb over/on everything in sight.  Other than walking, not a whole lot has changed with her.  She is starting to eat different foods, which is exciting.  Today she about threw a fit because she wanted Quinn's cheese and hummus wrap.  So that's what she had for lunch!

I hope I'm not jinxing anything, but she is doing really well napping these days!  90 mins in the morning and 90mns in the afternoon.  She's taking her afternoon nap at the same time as Quinn.  It's so nice!  Today, I actually slept for an hour while they did.

Our Lenninger cousins flew to California last week and they all had an absolute blast.  Quinn is still catching up on sleep from all the hard playing :)  Here are a few pictures of Shae and the cousins last week.

Quinn update

Where to begin with this girl.  She is full on in full force.  Quinn has been a pretty awesome big sis lately.  She is always concerned about Shae, loves when she wakes up, gives me little pieces of whatever that she finds around the house thinking Shae could choke on it, helps her walk, and is starting to take more interest in playing with her.  So much fun ahead of us.

Quinn loves going to all the parks around our house and thoroughly enjoys playing with kids ALL the time.  She will wake up asking to go to a park, to the gym (the YMCA kid zone), and soon enough she'll be asking to go to the pool right away in the morning, too.  Her favorite show is "Frozen" and Daniel the Tiger.  Still loves noodles and cucumbers and is starting to try new foods more often.  Makes mom happy!  She is all about "fixing" with daddy in the garage.  Tony had her help him rotate my tires and change the oil a couple months ago.  This past weekend she was helping him build something with all his new DeWalt tools... I guarantee she already knows more than I do about all that stuff.  

Some random fun things about Quinn:

• She thinks her boogers are catepillars
• Always needs the door open when she goes to bed
• Takes her "nightybaby" (blanket and baby) everywhere we go
• When you ask her how much something is, she says "200 days" or "1 money's"
• Her I love you's are "I love you sooooooo much"
• Not really great at leaving places she's having fun at (duh)
• "I AM NOT HAPPY" "MY NOT HAPPY"
• Biking to the park by herself

I'm sure i'll think of a million things later :)

Shae @ 9 Months (& 1 Week)

    Better late than never writing this post!  Shae turned 9 months old last week and she is growing FAST.  I think the last week Tony and I have said "she seems older today"about 10 times.  She is keeping up with her big sis better than ever and has taken 4-6 steps consistently!  Shae loves to be outside, push her polka dot cart, and laugh when others are laughing.  She still has 8 teeth and I don't see any more coming any time soon.  Our night wakings are getting way better, although she is still up twice a night.  Her morning naps have extended to over an hour (most of the time) and afternoons are still a little too short for me :)  Favorite Foods: pear and mango pouches, purple carrot pouches, noodles like Quinn, still likes oatmeal cereal, and bananas! She is in 12-18 month clothes comfortably and wears size 3-4 diapers.  There's not too many things Shae dislikes.  However, she hates the first 10 seconds of getting in her car seat, getting dressed after a bath, and having her nose wiped.  I'm sure there are many other things, but you know how it is when you love someone so much - you forget about the "bad" things!

So. Much. Sickness.

The last 2 weeks have been quite the show around the Brown house.  Shae started getting up A LOT during the night with runny nose, cough, etc..I thought maybe it was just because of the 4th tooth that was popping through, but after her wheezing started I took her in right away.  I had to go in 3 times in 3 days with both kids!  Shae's oxygen levels were so low (86) and we were almost admitted to the ER but after they did a suction through her nose and throat to clear the mucous, her levels went up to 94. Turns out she had RSV.  Poor girl.  Quinn also had to partake in the sickness.  Her voice started to get a little raspy, spiked a very high temperature...so in to the doc we went again.  He didn't give her any medication and said it was just a virus. The next couple days it got worse so I took her into Urgent care where they found pneumonia in her upper high lung and an ear infection in her left ear.  The challenges of motherhood (sleeplessly) was in full force :)  Shae was getting up about 7-8 times a night, Quinn 2-3...I was zombie!

ANYWAYS.  WE ARE DONE WITH IT!  Hope those nasty bugs don't return any time soon - or ever? 

I have to admit, I loved all the cuddles during it all :)

Shae is 7 Months

Our baby Shae is 7 months old and growing like a weed.  She is in size 3 diapers, 9 and 12 month clothes depending on and based on the last couple of doctor appointments, close to 18 pounds.  She is starting to love her solids and eating a wide variety of foods.  Carrots, Broccoli, apples, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and more!  She is now crawling everywhere and getting faster every day.  This past month was a rough one for Shae being sick and getting her 3rd and 4th tooth so many cuddles were had, which means now we're back to the rough sleeping patterns!  This last month she has gotten up about 4-6 times a night with a couple of great nights of just getting up twice.  She's not a great napper.  Still taking 2 morning naps and 2 afternoon.  We are working on it :)  She loves to be outside and is always curious what her big sis is up to.  Her favorite "toys" are the remotes and cell phones.  She likes to take her naps in the car and is warming up to strangers a little more.

Love this little 7 month old peanut.

The Hoden's Visit California!

We had some FUN visitors come earlier this month!  My sis and her family made the trip from bitter Edmonton to sunny California.  They arrived into LAX on Tuesday night and spent two days at Disney before coming to our house!  Last minute we decided to meet them at Disney on Thursday for the day.  We live about 70 miles from Anaheim, but that means nothing.  Traffic was ok getting to Disney, but coming back was rough!  It took about 90 minutes to get there and about 2.5 hours coming home.  Granted, there was an accident on the main interstate, but not fun when you have a crying, hungry 6 month old and an exhausted 2 year old.  Although our "not fun" moments were just moments - overall the girls did really great.  Anyways, back to the fun stuff.  Disney!  Well, it was something we did and not sure when we'll do it again.  Not anytime soon, probably :) Quinn loved seeing Goofy walking around, we met Mickey, and went on a couple of rides that she thoroughly enjoyed.  That was worth every penny seeing the look on her face during these fun times!  It was also fun seeing Max, Mya, and Ivy on all the "older" kid rides, too!  I still can't get over how much time you have to wait in line to take a 2 minute ride.  I guess I'm just not patient, but probably because my kids are far from that stage, as well :)

After we all got back to our home in Murrieta Thursday night, a few beers were shared, the kids played, and bedtime was late!  We did a little swimming, although not much because our community pool doesn't heat during the off months.  SUCH A BUMMER!  We had record highs when the Hoden's were here so to not comfortably swim was sh**ty.  We made the most of the weather though!  We played a lot in the backyard, the older kids took horseback riding lessons, sat by the pool and soaked in some UV rays, had chris' cousin over for dinner, shared a few drinks every night, played cards..aaaaand celebrated Ivy's 5th birthday all weekend long :)

Here are a few pics from our fun weekend.  We sure missed them when they left!
Can't wait until they visit again.

5 Months Post Okinawa

I've been thinking about Okinawa a whole lot lately.  Don't get me wrong, I love where we live and where our lives are at now, but I really miss some things about that place.  Basically what I disliked about Okinawa is exactly what I'm missing about it now.

Our house.  I was pretty annoyed most days at the size of our kitchen and the small living room.  Looking back at it now, it's all we needed and it was cozy.  Love the space we have now, but something about that little living open concept area we had was quaint.

The water.  I think I took as much advantage of the beautiful beaches and water as I, who doesn't love to swim, could.  We had our "own" private beach we went to a lot when living in Yomitan and then went to different ones when we moved closer to base a year and a half later.  I miss packing for the beach.  It would be so much more fun now that I could enjoy a few drinks!  18 months of going to the beach with a sparkling water wasn't AS fun when Tony had a stiff margarita poured.  I miss my car being full of sand (WHAT!?).  It was just proof of having a good time!

Friends.  My gosh I miss them.

Distance.  Ok, so the distance was WAY farther than I had ever thought I could be, but there's something about the feeling of being that far away that brought Tony and I very close - and close with our friends.  I don't want to be that far away every again..but I'm so thankful we had the experience we did.

Babies.  Now that I'm 6 months postpartum, I have such incredible memories of being pregnant there.  Had you talked to me during those 9 months when I was pregnant in Okinawa - I would have told you I hated it.  I did.  I craved things I couldn't have, my family never really saw a baby bump, and no one was in the hospital when Quinn or Shae were born.  Sure, that sucked.  But we also have (again), cozy memories of just Tony and I with our newborn girl(s).

Shopping.  What I miss is that there was none of it!  Ever since being back in the states, we have had to buy a lot.  2 cars, a house, and basically furnished a whole house.  I miss being OK with whatever we had in Okinawa.  The couch was fine.  The TV worked.  The burn mark on our coffee table was no big deal.  My car squeaked every time I would turn it on - oh well.  I knew these feelings wouldn't last all that long - and although I cursed it all MANY MANY times (ask Beth).. I miss that.

So you're question is - would I want to go back?  NO.  absolutely not.  I love being closer to family.  I love our house and the space we have.  I love my car.  I love going to Trader Joes and Target.  I love that I can have Chipotle (although I have yet to have it) whenever I want.  I love the conveniences we now have.  My sister is coming next week, Tony's parents are here this week, my parents are coming in December, My bestie was here in October.  LIFE IS GOOD.  and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
In hindsight, I just maybe should have enjoyed Okinawa a little more than I did.

She is 6 months (already!)

My goodness, these last 6 months are nearly a blur!  Maybe it's because I'm a bit sleep deprived or maybe because we moved to a new house and have been busy since...or maybe it's just because time really does go this fast when your heart is so darn full!

Shae is a pretty sweet babe.  She is happy 93% of the time and 100% of the time if her naps are on schedule.  YES! We have a schedule. It's wonderful.  Although she doesn't always stick to "the plan", it is nice to know that 5/7 days a week I can count on both girls napping at the same time.  She naps 3-4 times a day and we are working on getting it down to 3 only.  She'll take a 45 mn nap in the morning, 20 mins in the car, 90 mins at 1:00/1:30 with sis, and then a short cat nap around 5:00.  Her nightly wakings vary a whooooole lot.  We had an awesome month or more that she was getting up twice a night (10:00pm and 2am) but now with her 3rd tooth coming in (the top one) we are getting up anywhere between 3-6 times.  Those "6" nights are exhausting..we've had a couple.  But we will get there!

We are on solid foods and she loves what Quinn did not.  Shae prefers prunes and cereal and is warming up slowly to sweet potatoes.  She's not a fantastic eater, which is hard to believe after looking at her cheeks, but seems to be doing just fine!

She is in size 3 diapers, weighs over 17 lbs (that was at her 5 month check up) and has the sweatiest feet ever.  Her favorite person is Quinn by far.  Sometimes she will just see Quinn and crack up with the most genuine laugh.  And then once Quinn starts being goofy - it's a loud house of laughter!  Brings joy to my heart.

When running errands, most people at the check out counter will comment how calm she is.  I would have to agree.  Unless she's really tired, in which case we stay home! - she won't make a peep while out shopping for groceries or whatever we're up to.  As long as there is action, she is very content.

She doesn't like the car a whole lot, although it's getting better.  And prefers me over anyone putting her to sleep.  That would be my fault and no one else's :)

Here are a few pics of baby Shae!

Grandpa Brown and Shae at the winery :)

We love you!