Life is A Journey...Come Follow Our's

Sunday, March 20, 2011

10 Months Already?!?!

Hard to believe that this time last year I was pregnant and Brad and I were taking our Babymoon to Memphis for Spring Break.  While I thought I was tiny, I look back at pictures and realize I truly was pregnant!


While I was feeling less than super spry, I was still working out hard and was counting down the 7 weeks (which inevitably turned into 8) before we'd get to meet Quinn.  Now, it's hard to ever remember our house being so quiet as I am listening to Quinn attack a balloon in the other room.

Now 10 months old, Quinn is officially a wrecking ball.  He is into EVERYTHING!  Yesterday was his craftiest day yet.  When I was at Walmart he proceeded to knock down a vase not once but twice and try to eat the contents.  Not more than 10 minutes later I'm told that Brad was playing with him and realized he had a screw in his mouth.  After some investigation, Brad realized that Quinn had disconnected the cable outlet.  Not more than 10 minutes after that, the door jam had been removed and was being waved violently in the air!  Quinn LOVES to bang things together, make as much noise as possible, clap his hands, blow bubbles, and make messes.  We probably have over 100 toys in this house, but the only time he'll play with them is when they are placed neatly in the toybox.  Scatter them on the floor and they are far from interesting!

I was excited that he had a birthday party to go to at The Little Gym, an activity center that is all matted and is gymnastics oriented.  I figured it would be a GREAT way for him to burn off some energy.  Unlike Quinn though, he was less than social yesterday and would not let me put him down.  Nonetheless, we had a good time and hopefully we'll have another party there in the future so he can really enjoy it.


Oh yes, and for those of you who read my last post, my weekend did get much better.  Quinn and I went to dinner with friends and then spent the better part of Sunday together as a family.  Turns out also that Quinn still had his ear infections and I was sick most of the day Sunday and all day Monday.  Doesn't make the feelings that I wrote about any less real, but it did make me less able to deal with them.  Thank you to all of you who e-mailed me, posted, or called me to offer your understanding and/or support.  Sometimes it means enough just to know that you are not alone and that your feelings are justifiable.


Saturday, March 12, 2011

Can I Please Just Be Honest?

I really don't feel like I am one to complain, so I won't.  Instead, I'll just be honest. 

I LOVE being a mom.  I LOVE Quinn more than I ever thought I could love anything or anyone.  He is simply amazing.  He's such a happy guy, has a great personality, and brings out the best in everyone, but nonetheless, I am exhausted.

I long for the days where I could be spontaneous, where I could go for a run just because I felt like I wanted to run and not because I had 45 minutes and it was the only 45 minutes of my day where a run would fit in.  I miss being able to lay on the couch and sleep just because I want to.  I miss shopping by myself some days.  I love having Quinn around, but sometimes being a mom just leaves you wondering if you have an identity aside from that of "Mom."  When is it that we get to refuel our own fires and take time 100% to ourselves?  I know I know, Brad can step up and help and he does, but I don't think he can completely understand how I'm feeling about parenting just as I can't completely grasp how he feels.  As much as he looks forward to his weekends because it's the only time he has to "play," I look forward to my weekends because it's the only time where there's a possibility of me not having a shadow around 24/7.

This post is coming out of pure exhaustion.  Quinn has been battling a double ear infection for 6 weeks, has been through 3 rounds of antibiotics and now has started a series of shots and is still not getting better.  The poor guy is coughing up a storm, doesn't know if he wants to be held or put down, is so whiny (except when he forgets that he's sick and laughs...which makes it all better for me), and is not sleeping well.  On top of that, Brad is out of town for his first moutain bike race of the year so I'm on my own.  The good news is, Brad will be home tonight and if I have it my way, tomorrow will be my spontaneous day =)

Sunday, March 6, 2011

What Happened To My Little Boy?

"Have you seen this?" is what I was asked this evening.  Thinking it was Quinn just playing with his walker toy I didn't think much of it until I saw this...


What happened to my little boy?  He's on his way to walking!!!  (Sorry it's sideways...I can't figure out how to rotate it on here)  =(

Where Have We Been?

Oh My Goodness...it's been almost a month since I've blogged!  I guess Facebook gets in the way of blogging sometimes because it's just so easy to post pictures and quick status updates there, but you forget that not everyone Facebooks.

Quinn is now officially 9 months old and is really on the move!  We've been battling a double ear infection for the past month and after 3 rounds of antibiotics, I think we might finally have it kicked.  While I'm very happy that he doesn't hurt (though you'd never know that there was ever any problem because the boy is just always so happy until 2am!), I'm even more happy that he's able to sleep 7-8 hours at a time again!  It sure was rough living the "newborn" lifestyle again waking up every 2-4 hours during the night!

At his 9 month well-check, Quinn measured 27inches (17th percentile) and 16 pounds 8 ounces 3rd percentile) though a week later we weighed in at one pound more (I really think they mis-weighed him the first time because he kept rolling over on the scale and throwing his legs off in an attempt to get at the stickers next to the scale!).  While I don't think he's gained a pound in a week, I know he's gaining well with all he's eating.  I swear, the boy eats anything and EVERYTHING (with the exception of beef which he'll only do begrudingly).  I've been making all his food and I must say, it is delicious!  Organic chicken nuggets with apple and carrot, broccoli nuggets, zucchini and carrot fritters with ricotta cheese, french toast (I'll share the secrets to cooking that I've learned from cooking for him in a later blog), baked ziti, butter noodles with parmesan cheese, spicy black beans, LOTS of chopped up fruit (strawberries and mango are favorites), and so much more!  I am so glad he is not a picky eater.  Now I'm just hoping things stay this way!

With such good nutrition, Quinn is constantly on the move!  It's really neat now because he remembers his way around the house and knows where to find his toys.  Yesterday for example, we were getting ready for our date night to the Alzheimer's Cherish Every Moment Gala and couldn't find Quinn.  He was in his bedroom reading books (okay, maybe just pulling them all out of their bin).  About 30 minutes later, his little head comes peaking around our bathroom door and he sits up, grins, and laughs because he's found you again.  While this freedom and movement is so fun for him...it also means a lot more babyproofing needs to be done.  See this:


This is also what happens when Quinn is on the go!  While all these bottles made it, one did was not so lucky!  Needless to say, there is no longer wine in our wine rack!

A few more Quinn pics from the past few weeks:


Brad's jealous that Quinn's allowed to wear overalls!

Last night Brad and I attended the Northwest Arkansas Alzheimer's Association's Cherish Every Moment Gala.  It's the first time in our 8 years together that we've done anything Black Tie.  Even our wedding was not formal!  It was a great night for a very worthwhile cause.

Dolled Up and Ready

Mommy and Quinn