One of those days..

I was on Facebook earlier today, and I commented on how Quinn was having "one of those days." It started out fine enough, with breakfast and a few garage sales, but she would NOT be satisfied all morning. We tried playing upstairs, downstairs, on the steps, in the the front yard, the back yard, you get the picture, and she was just unhappy. TV was the only thing that would satisfy her, and you can imagine how much this teacher mama loves that....

It was just a morning of lots of tripping and falling, "no mama," and shrugging off my attempts to hold her hand or soothe her. However, we had a quick lunch and down for her nap she went. Three hours (!!) later, a new child woke up. We had the best late afternoon! We went to the pool where she played nicely with some big kids and I got to chat to some moms, one of whom boosted my ego by asking me for tips on avoiding stretch marks during pregnancies, and we stayed for well over an hour. We got home, jumped in the tub, and Daddy surprised us by coming home early! It was a perfect night for Casey's pizza and caramel corn, reading books in the a.c., and going "night-night" early. I think back to how frustrated I was today and how nothing I could do would make Quinn happy, and I laugh at myself. I am so lucky and blessed to have her! Of course she gets tired of the same old toys and snacks and Mama; who wouldn't?

The other day I wrote about how Quinn and I couldn't go to the pool because a boy had nearly drowned. Later, that boy died from complications from his injuries. He was only 5 years old, swimming with some extended family. I can't help but wonder what was going through his mom's head when she got the call that her little boy had been hurt, and how hard she must have prayed at his bedside through that night, wondering if he would make it. Such a tragedy.

As I write, I can hear Quinn rustling in her crib and feel Baby K. moving in my belly. I have such a healthy, happy family, and I could not love them any more.

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 16:5-8

Plan B!

So, Quinn and I had visions of grandeur about today. The weather was nice (just a little bit cloudy and low 80s), I had no real plans, the house was picked up...we were ready for the pool! After Quinn's nap, I wrestled her into a swim diaper, got her dressed into one swimsuit that turned out to be too small, undressed her and redressed her into another that I had forgotten had a broken snap (she wore it anyway), packed Quinn and her snack and water and the swim bag into the car, and off we went, only to discover...the pool was closed! I had NO idea why. Our pool closes early if there are too few swimmers or it is too cold, but neither made sense on a day like today. Puzzled, we swung through the McDonald's drive-thru for a Diet Dr. Pepper and headed home. Since we were already in our swimsuits, off we went to the backyard! We don't usually play outside in the middle of the day unless water is involved because it is too hot and it wears me out! I am still learning my camera - I need to adjust for brightness?!

posing for Mama!

going up my slide backwards

so big

isn't that a cute little hat? My mom made Quinn some cute outfits/hats while Quinn stayed with her a few weeks ago.

By the way, it turns out our pool was closed because a little boy almost drowned yesterday! We heard this on the news later. Apparently the lifeguards had to perform life-saving techniques on him and everything. Sad/scary!! We hope that the pool will be open tomorrow, though, so that we can get our fix!

Week in review...

Quinn and I had a fun week! It was our first full week of summer home together (even though she went to day care yesterday so I could go to my doctor's appointment). I could get used to this. :-)

What have we been up to?

Swimming! Quinn and I went to the pool twice this week - actually three, counting today! I am working on getting her comfortable in the water. We are careful with her ears because of her tubes, but she doesn't mind getting her face wet or anything. I am so proud of how brave and social she is! She will go up to big kids, moms and grandmas, babies, and lifeguards, do her signature over-the-head wave, and chat, chat, chat! She is fearless in the water and loves to walk where it is deep (yes, she's gone under).

 Getting hurt! Monday at the pool, she skinned her face on a cement block. Skinned knees are nothing new around here, but she's got those, too. On Tuesday Quinn thought I was "getting her" (trying to change her diaper!) and she tripped headfirst into the corner of a baseboard, taking a big gouge out of her forehead. It bled a lot; I didn't know whether or not she needed stitches! I knew Randy would be home in an hour, so I just put Neosporin and a Band-Aid on it and called it good for the time being. He fashioned up a butterfly bandage for her to keep the cut closed, and we've had good luck ever since. It is definitely scary to see blood running down your little girl's face!

 

Playing outside! Except for the two 100 degree days we had, Quinn and I were outside for a few hours every day. You will notice she is wearing the same pink halter top in multiple pictures - it's her current favorite!

Just being a sweetie! Grandma came to visit one day. The picture from above is from before church this evening. I stuck a bow in her hair, and for some reason, she left it there! She hasn't kept a bow in her hair in several months, so this is huge for a mommy who wishes she had a girly-girl! You can't tell there, but her dress is a maxi-dress - floor length! I think it's so funny they make those for babies/toddlers. She is certainly a stylish girl, even with a big bandage on her forehead.

bikini babe on the loose...

here she comes!

There she goes!

Always time for snack break. :-) Love her Buddha belly!

27 weeks!

 

At 27 weeks I am feeling large and in charge. I don't think I look that big in the above picture (slimming black??) but rest assured, I am. It is hard to adjust to my changing body, but I have to keep reminding myself that I am growing a healthy, thriving baby. If only all the weight would stay in the belly... :-) However, I am still wearing two-piece bathing suits at the pool! I had to go up a size in bottoms (and naturally bought some cute, matching tops - I did go to Mexico, after all!) but should be able to recycle the tops into next year - I will NOT be pregnant next summer! I will probably get a maternity swim top at some point but am reluctant to do so yet. :-S

Quinn and I are hoping for a pool date this afternoon in our bikinis!!

I am feeling pretty good overall. I always drink a lot of water - at least two liters a day at work alone - but am finding that I have to drink even more than usual, otherwise I get really sick and achy. I feel like all I do all day long is drink water and go to the bathroom. :-) I guess that goes with the territory! I am tired and definitely enjoy taking a short rest while Quinn naps in the afternoon.

Have a great week!

Cabo 2011

For the past week, Randy and I have been in sunny Los Cabos, Mexico! His parents were generous and treated Randy and me and the rest of Randy's siblings and their respective families to a beautiful vacation at their time share. Randy and I went to Los Cabos on our honeymoon but stayed at a different resort. This particular resort, Royal Solaris, was all-inclusive. I have never stayed at an all-inclusive resort before; we loved all of the amenities and will definitely seek one out for future travels! We opted to leave Quinn with my parents so that she could stay on her routine with sleeping, naps, meals, etc. We missed her like crazy, but she had a blast at my mom and dad's. We are so blessed to have great parents (both sets!) who are such great providers.

We stayed in Omaha the night before our plane left because we wanted to be to the airport by 4:00 a.m. The flights (Omaha to Phoenix, Phoenix to Cabo) went off without a hitch, which is always nice. I was a little bit nervous about flying while 6 months pregnant, but my doctor told me to get up and walk a lot on the plane, which really helped. We got to our resort around 2:00 p.m., checked in, got our luggage taken to our rooms, and had lunch. Surprisingly, we weren't as tired as we had expected so we were able to swim most of that day and go to one of the fabulous buffets that evening with Randy's entire family.

The rest of the week was very similar to that! Most of the smaller family units split up and did their own thing, Randy and me included. We spent lots of time tanning and reading by the pool, enjoying the swim-up bars, and of course, eating, eating, eating. The food was incredible, especially breakfast. The resort has a few five-star restaurants as well, so we enjoyed some really fancy gourmet meals a few nights. I am very careful about what I eat when I am pregnant, so it was a little tricky to navigate what was and what wasn't cooked, what every meat dish contained, what contained and didn't contain seafood, alcohol, raw eggs, etc...you get the picture. I definitely had more than a few cheese sandwiches during fancy meals. :-)

Other highlights of our trip included some of our day adventures. We went shopping, went to an all-Spanish mass, took a lunch and drinks boat cruise where a few family members snorkeled as well, Randy went SCUBA diving, and lots of other fun little things. I am not a huge thrill-seeker anyway, so I was happy to sit on the sidelines with my big belly and watch everyone else do things that I wasn't allowed to do.

On our last day, we left Mexico around 2:00 and made it to Omaha by midnight. That put us in Manning by 2:30 a.m. after claiming our bags. We woke up bright and early, anxious to run to my parents' to see our baby doll. She was just as gorgeous and smart as we remembered and my parents were sad to see her go. :-) We missed her so much! It was a great trip to Mexico, though, and a very relaxing vacation overall. I'm still working on getting pictures organized, but here are a few highlights from our 2011 vacation!

Sleepyheads on our first day

two peas in a pod!

The big group - a little windy

A famous arch/rock formation. We saw this on our honeymoon, too. The water level was much lower this time so there was a sandbar underneath it that people could actually walk on. Some of our party snorkeled near here.

Randy's sisters and me out to eat

The big group after Sunday mass

some of the family SCUBA diving

View from our room: the pool area

Another view of the pool area

Why is it so hard to keep a hotel room clean? Our mess, day 2.

in a cab on our way to the Cabo airport! Going home!

Back home!

We are back home from Mexico! I am furiously trying to unpack everyone, chip away at mounds of laundry, and run errands for the week before Randy returns to work tomorrow. I will post a few pictures very soon!