If Quinn Could Understand English...

I talk to Q a lot. She talks back sometimes which is always pretty funny and cute. It's like she knows exactly what she's saying and she wishes so badly I understood her. Well, there have been a lot of moments when I wish she understood me too. Here are some things I wish Quinn could understand when I tell her...

• Mama and Daddy love you very much!

• It's okay to take a nap. I promise you aren't going to miss anything outside your room. In fact, your parents are pretty boring. 

• On that note, I love our cuddle time together when I spoil you and let you sleep on my shoulder. Can we do that until you are like 5 years old?

 I love these times together!

• The car is a fun place to be! You have lots of fun options in the car: look out the window, play with your friends that hang down or even go to sleep. There is no reason to cry in the car. One day, you will want to drive a car all by yourself and I will remind you of the days when you hated the car.

• The whole fussy from 5:30-8:00 thing is getting old. Don't you know this is one of the greatest times of the day?! Daddy gets home, we get to eat dinner and best of all, Wheel of Fortune is on! I will be glad when you are over that little phase!

• You have the best smile EVER! You smile with your whole body and it melts my heart every time. One thing: when I am trying to take photos, can you freeze for a couple of seconds? It's hard to take pictures when you are moving every part of your body in a smile. :)

 Best Smile Ever!

 

You smile with your whole body!

• You are so lucky to have the best Daddy in the world! He's very handsome, smart, loving, hard-working and funny. 

 Best Daddy ever!

• I promise laying on your tummy is not that bad. You will get stronger and stronger and then one day you will be able to get on your back or your tummy all by yourself! For the time being, just be patient with Mama while she makes you do your exercises. 

 Tummy time with all your friends.

• Thank you for sleeping so well at night! Mama and Daddy are so spoiled that you sleep for 10+ hours every night. You are such a good girl with your night time routine! 

• I promise I won't starve you and I am sorry for laughing when you get so impatient at feeding time. When we sit in the rocker and you start your little quasi-fit, it's hard not to laugh. You act like you haven't eaten in three days. I'm also sorry for laughing when you throw your little fit when I burp you. You HATE having to stop in the middle of eating to burp. I promise it will make you feel better, so just chill out and enjoy your milk slowly. It's not going away and Mama will always make sure you get enough. 

 "I hate burping!"

• You are so lucky to have so many people who love you! (family and friends)

• I'm sorry I won't let you watch tv. It will overstimulate you, and books are way more fun! 

Maybe one day you will be a book nerd like Mama and Daddy!

• How in the world did you get poop on your tummy?

One day when Q understands what I am saying she might think I am crazy...so I guess for now, I should enjoy talking to her while she can't talk back. :) 

I imagine this will be Q's face when she understands me one day!

"What did you just say, Mama?!"

Quinn Meets More Family

Last weekend we got the chance to go to Humble and Livingston to visit Jeremy's family. His mom lives in Humble so we stayed there with her and made the short trip to Livingston on Saturday and Monday.

Saturday we spent the day at the Indian reservation. For those of you who don't know, Jeremy is half white and half Native American. He comes from the Alabama-Coushatta tribe that is in Livingston. His grandfather (Ahwo in their language) is the chief of the tribe and he is such a cute man. They call him "Smiley" because he's always so happy. Quinn got to meet her great grandparents, her uncle Josh and tons of cousins.

Quinn with Ahwo Smiley.

Quinn meeting Ahpo Ethelyn and one of her cousins.

 

Quinn with her Ahpo Fern.

Quinn meeting her great Aunt Hilda.

The reservation is a unique place. There are kids running around everywhere and it seems like everyone knows everyone else. Jeremy's family is loved by everyone, so people tend to just show up and make themselves at home. I think they are all there for the food! :) Belinda, Jeremy's stepmom, makes amazing Indian Tacos. It's basically a taco salad with Indian Fry bread as the base. YUM!

Indian Tacos.

Sunday was a day of relaxing. We spent the day at Renae's house and Jeremy's brother and sister were there with their kids. Renae made her famous fried chicken and we had fun watching our niece, Lily, play and talk up a storm. She is a little over a year old and she has her own little language. It's precious! Jeremy spent the afternoon outside with our nephews, Jaden and Kameron, playing football and being a good uncle.

Renae with her kids and grandkids.

Quinn loves her Granny!

 Jaden and Kameron...sweet brothers.

Monday was lots more fun in Livingston. Jeremy's aunt Debra and Uncle Allen live on a ranch outside town so Quinn got to meet her first horse. Don't worry...we didn't ride! She also got to meet her Granny Great for the first time. She was laughing it up with Granny Great!

 Quinn meets her first horse!

Laughing at Granny Great!

Sleepy girl with Great Aunt Debra.

Four generations: Wanda, Renae, Jeremy and Quinn.

Silly girl loving the farm!

Quinn also got to meet more cousins. Jeremy's cousin, Rachel, has two precious kiddos (Alexis and Briley) and they had fun getting to know Quinn.

Alexis, Briley and Rachel hanging out with Jeremy.

We had a great extended weekend, but it was nice to get home. Home means so much more now that we have a baby. It's our safe place and where we are so very comfortable. It was nice to get back to 9 hour sleep stretches with Quinn, and as always, our Tempurpedic. :)

Quinn is Two Months Old!

Dear Sweet Baby Q,

I can't believe you are already two months old! Part of me feels like it's been forever since I met you in the hospital for the first time, but another part of me feels like it was yesterday and you just grew overnight! At your two month appointment, you already weighed 12lb. and 14oz and you were 24 inches long. (Both in the 90th percentile!)You are going to be a beautiful, tall model one day! You have such a unique personality and I can't wait to see it develop as you get older. Here are some of my favorite things about you:

• You like being awake during the day. I can't say this is one of my favorite things, because I don't get a lot done during the day, but I love seeing your bright eyes look around curiously at everything. Your neck is really strong now too, so you whip it around a lot to see what's going on. 
• The changing table is your favorite place to be. We have a lot of fun talking and smiling while you just chill out on the changing table. 
• Our bath/bed routine is my favorite (bath, bottle, swaddle). You have grown to expect it and you do so well. You love your bath and I love the way you smell when we are finished. Then, you get very excited and anxious because you know that Daddy will be feeding you the bottle next. (You have been a little finicky with the bottle. Randomly, you will decide you don't want it, but for the most part, you have done well.)
• You love looking at the fan. Other than your doll, Joyce, it's your best friend.
• You like chilling out in the kitchen with me while I do dishes, eat breakfast or lunch, or while Mama and Daddy eat dinner. 
• Your acid reflux has gotten so much better, but I can still count on you to be the spit-up queen every day. 
• You like it when I read books to you. I LOVE this about you because I want story time to be one of your favorite things as you get older.
• You have figured out that you have strong legs and you want to "stand up" a lot when you are in our laps. When we try to burp you, you always stretch your legs out to try to stand up, and you get very upset that we interrupted your feeding time. 
• You love looking at the dogs. You are pretty mesmerized when they get close.
• You have the best smile ever. It melts my heart every time.
• You have the cutest, chubbiest cheeks ever! I have decided you are storing milk in them for a rainy day.
• Your clothes fit funny because you are so long and your feet are kind of big (maybe we can share shoes when you grow up). Your sweet little feet don't fit in some of your onesies and some of them are too short for you too. 
• You recently found your hands, and it's funny when you see one and go cross-eyed trying to figure out what it is.
• Even though I shouldn't spoil you, my favorite thing in the world is when you nap on my shoulder while I read or watch TV. I know that won't last forever, so I am cherishing every cuddle moment I can get. 

Our daily routine is my favorite thing. I am going to miss you more than I can express when I have to go back to work. Here's what we usually do:

7:30ish-wake up, sing our good morning song, change your diaper and nurse. Then we talk, play and sing and do tummy time until you start yawning.

9:00ish-you go down for your first nap (which is usually pretty short...45ish minutes)

11:00ish-you nurse again and we play for a while before going down for another short nap. Mama tries to eat, clean, do laundry or even shower during this time depending on your mood. Sometimes you are fine chilling out in your bouncer, but a lot of times you like to be held while I do chores with one hand.

1:30ish-nurse again and play and then we go for a walk/jog for an hour or so (Mama has to get back into shape) and you usually sleep during the last part of our walk

5:00ish-nurse again and then we play and wait for Daddy to get home. You are always so happy to see Daddy when he gets home! Daddy usually gets you down for a short nap in the evening, but sometimes you are a little grumpy (which is normal for a baby your age at this time of day) so we just hang out.

8:00ish-Bath time!! This is your favorite because you know the routine: bath, bottle, swaddle. You love the bath and we play and sing our bath time songs. Daddy gets to feed you a bottle and then put you to bed. Lately, you have gotten too smart for us and you don't want to take the bottle. I think you know that nursing would be much more enjoyable, but we are still working on that one.

In honor of your two month birthday, I made a video. I can't wait for you to see it one day! We love you very much!

Love,
Mama

My Sister the Debutante and My Debutante Memories

Last week was the Odessa Crystal Ball Foundation's annual debutante ball. This is a fundraiser that benefits the Permian Basin Rehabilitation Center and it has been a tradition in Odessa for 51 years now. During the ball, debutantes and their escorts are presented to the community, and it's one of the most exciting social events of the year.

Debutantes and escorts are invited to be a part of the CB during their sophomore year of college. I had the honor of being a debutante in 2001 and my little sister, Emily, was a deb this year. It's crazy that it's been 10 years, so I had to dig up some old photos and reminisce a little.

As a debutante you get to:

-Tour the rehabilitation center. This was pretty awesome and it's so great to know that all the money at the ball goes toward such a great cause.

-Attend quite a few parties while you are home for Christmas. These parties are thrown by people in the community to honor different debs and escorts, and they range from pottery painting to murder mystery dinners. My sister even had a party where they did skeet shooting this year!

-Buy a wedding dress. This seems crazy, but debutantes are presented in a big, poofy, white dress. Ideally, I should have worn my deb dress for my wedding, but by the time I got married, I was ready for a different style. Emily's dress was gorgeous!

-Do a big debutante bow. Yep. The stereotypical one where you kneel to the ground and your forehead almost touches the floor. Silly, but kind of a fun tradition. We even had bow practices and coaches. I wonder if I can still do my bow? It's so different watching people bow as opposed to being on stage. I was more nervous for the girls I was watching this year than I was for myself. I was praying none of them fell or tipped over! Emily was, of course, perfect! She was graceful and took her time.

So, now that I have sort of explained the CB, here are some fun pics!

This was in 2001...wow we both look so different!

2011. Emily is gorgeous and I am a little chubby two months post-baby. 

Hey, it's all about the memories.

My bow in 2001.

Emily practicing her bow in 2011.

Molly Ann the debutante in 2001.

 

Emily the debutante in 2011.

This year, I went to the ball presentation and left right after it was over to get home to Jeremy and Quinn. But, we took some pics before the ball to have for posterity.