10 Things We Love About You

Although I prefer not to pause my pregnancy right now at 38 weeks, I do wish I could press "pause" on Quinn!  Each day I tell myself that I never want to forget this or that, so what better way than to write about it!

10.  She is stubborn.  She doesn't want us to help her hold the racquet correctly, hold her hand when she jumps off something, or hold the bat the right way.  "NO! ME!" is a typical response.

9.  "MAMA MAMA MAMA MAMA MAMA MAMA" "DADDY DADDY DADDY DADDY DADDY" all. day. long.  98% of the time I love it because I've always dreamt of being a mom and hearing those exact words, but there's that 2% when I just want to scream and say "WHAT DO YOU WANT CHILD!!!!!".

8.  Full of "saw-yee" for sorry.  She will try to scare us with her lion imitation and before we can even react she will say "Oh, saw-yee, saw-yee" as if she didn't even want us to be scared.  It's probably my favorite thing right now.

7.  Nighttime.  Each night after laying her in bed she'll grab her "nigh-y" (blanket) and say "das you mama/daddy" as if she was thanking us for all of our hard work we did with her that day.  I'll take what I can get!

6.  She's a lazy eater.  I admit, if there isn't a show on the TV, there is food on the floor.  If there is a show on the TV, she wants us to feed her most of her meal.  I try to ignore her as much as I can and simply keep reminding her to eat, but she finds me wherever I am in the room and reaches out with her fork or spoon so I come over and help her.  Lazy, lazy, lazy.

5.  LOVES TO RUN.  Need I say more?  Mom and Dad are pretty happy about this :)  The last couple weekends we've actually gone for a jog outside and put her new running shoes on.  She thinks she's pretty cool, but so do we ;)

4.  Hats, barretts, pony tails.  Who would have ever thought she'd like these things!

3.  Tic-Tac's.  About 3 weeks ago my back was killing me.  It was to the point I couldn't go outside with Quinn without another adult because I couldn't keep up with her.  So when I had to go to the store or wherever, I started giving her a tic-tac.  She did exactly what I would tell her and it was a life-saver!

2.  "Paxy".  Her best bud, Paxton always seems to be on Quinn's mind.  She has started to call all of her friends, "Paxy".  It happens after breakfast and immediately after her nap.  Love that she loves her friends - and we will sure miss all of them!

1.  She's scared of planes all of a sudden.  We hear the slightest sound of a plane and she runs to us so scared.  I think she's just in the phase of acting scared and likes to see our reaction.  Granted, some of the planes around here are startling to me and I plug my own ears.. so when those go by I for sure grab her and put my hands over her ears!  But most of the time she's just being a little bit of a wimp looking for some attention ;)

36 weeks and then some..

WHAT A MONTH!

We have been super busy the last few weeks!  I won't bore you with all the details, but here's a rundown.  We closed on our Decorah house last Thursday, we bought a house in Temecula, California and close on that next Tuesday, I'm 36 weeks with our baby girl today, Quinn is a talking machine who is a whole lot of work and the same amount of fun, Tony has his big inspection at work the next 2 weeks that he has been preparing for A LOT the last month, we have been approved to leave island June 4th, scheduling movers to come mid May, and the list goes on!  Luckily I have been able to sleep at night for the most part despite all that has to be done and planned for.  Sometimes the more you have, the more you just throw your hands up and trust that it will all get done.  It has to, right?

We are so excited about our place in California. It's on a quiet street with a nice backyard for the girls with parks nearby, running trails - and my favorite?  It's one story!  I'm looking forward to carrying laundry across the house, not up the stairs :)

Tony is very excited to start our Iowa house project when we get back in June!  He has warned me how much he will be there during the month we are home.  I will be forcing him to stop working some afternoons I'm sure!  The more we get done the better though, so we will use our time wisely!  In the meantime, I am thinking of what colors to paint, cabinets, etc.  All the fun stuff.  Won't be for awhile until we do the floors, cabinets, but hopefully we can get the outside painted while the weather is nice!

Quinn is 21 months now and has quite the little personality.  She is all about running these days ("wun") and demands that her new running shoes are on for awhile before she goes to bed and when right when she wakes. She does laps around the couch and we are not complaining!  Her favorite foods continue to be noodles and sauce, cheese, hummus, blueberries, strawberries, and finally coming around to bananas.  What kid won't eat bananas!!!??  She isn't a big vegetable eater, but she will do peas and cucumbers without a fight.  Still won't eat meat which is driving me bonkers...
She likes to help me at the grocery store to the point that it's REALLY nice when I don't have to take her.  Her idea of helping isn't quite the same as mine :)  She refuses to sit in the cart, but insists on riding ON the cart.  So I am that mom (when it's crowded) that has a very unhappy toddler strapped and trapped in the seat.  :)

We go to the beach or park daily and she always seems to meet a new friend to play with.  I've realized she's pretty shy around a group of kids, but when it's a few, she loves the attention and is very sweet to them.  Yesterday we went to the park with my good friend, Jen and her boys Lukas (8) and Nolan (20 months). Quinn adooorrrres Lukas.  He is so sweet to her and treats her like she is 6, which of course Quinn eats up.  Anyways, Yesterday I asked Quinn if I could have a sip of her water (that Lukas kindly bought her from the infamous Okinawa vending machine) and she looked at me and said "NO, ME" with a scowl.  Lukas piped in and said "Hey, Quinn - can your mama have a drink?" and without any hesitation she looked at me, handed me the water.  CAN HE LIVE WITH ME PLEASE!!! :) 

Her new friend we see at the park often.  This girl could be a GAP baby model!

Lately Quinn has been leading me to her friend Nolan's house.  Hey, when a girl wants her friends - she WANTS her friends!

My good friend, Natalie and Quinn

Quinn + Lukas

Quinn + Gabriel

"Here's how you eat a donut, Quinn"

As for me - I am doing well and very much ready for this sweet girl to make her appearance.  We've been so busy with everything I feel like I haven't had the proper time to think of her and connect like I did with Quinn.  Guess that's how it is when you're chasing a toddler around all day!  All is in place for Quinn's care when Tony and I head to the hospital.  Bags are packed.  Car seat is in tact.  I am ready.

Happy SPRING to all of you!
We will be in Decorah June 8 - July 15 or so.  Come visit :)