Latest news from the Q house

November 14th 2013: We celebrated Reese's half birthday with cupcakes and candles (a day late). She is very excited to be 2 and a half, although the initial transition has been rough. We had been talking about her half birthday for about a month so I thought she would be pumped. On her actual half birthday Mimi Q watched her and Donovan and I asked her if Reese was excited she was 2.5. She proceeded to forward me 2 pictures of Reese laying on her back on the floor with a dirty look on her face and a third (blurry) picture of Reese trying to hit Mimi as she was taking that picture as Reese was also yelling, "No I'm not 2 and a half! I'm just 2!" So don't you worry everyone, she has not lost her spice, even though these next two pictures have her looking like a little angle lady.

Nov 17th: Dono requests I take some pictures of his funny faces as he eats a cookie. Reese gets in on the mix too.

Wed Nov 20th: Reese graduated to a big girl bed! Sort of. Really we just took the side off of her crib. It all came about randomly. I wasn't going to take her out or suggest she get out of her crib until we absolutely had too. She could have taken that thing to college for all I cared. But then Tues night we were on night 3 in a row of her standing in her crib before bed and asking me to let her sleep "in yours bed for a widdle bit". So instead of night 3 of her fussing when I said no, I offered to take the side off of the crib, thus giving her a big girl bed, if she could show us how she slept in her crib well that night. Well that got her to lay down in a hurry and Wed morning the first thing she said to me when I went to get her out of her crib in the morning was how daddy needed to take the side off the crib so she didn't keep bonking her knee. Then Mimi came and the first thing she told her was that she was getting a big girl bed. So we had to follow through. Tom had the side all taken off before we got home and I asked him if she was excited when he did that and he said she was pretty underwhelmed because she realized it was still her crib, just with one less wall.  But she did well that night and stayed in her bed and called for me in the morning. Then Thurs we got a toddler bed for her from my co-worker which she has been sleeping in since daddy put it together on Friday. So far, that has been interesting. On Sat she realized she could get out of the bed any ol' time she wanted to I went in to see that she had gotten herself some of her hair clips and made a little pile in her bed sometime before or after she was supposed to be napping. Then last night she flat out refused to sleep in there so she slept in Donovan's bed by herself since Donovan has been sleeping on his sleeping bag on his floor for the past week (his idea, his choice). Tonight we heard something on the monitor (we are dinosaurs and don't have the camera monitors) so I walked into her room and she had turned her lamp on and was up walking around her room. So it will be a work in progress. We have plans to paint the toddler bed and make her room a big girl room with owl decorations. Owls were her choice over kitties even! Hopefully it will be cute and will make her want to stay in her bed more. These pictures are from her first night in the big girl bed.

Thursday Nov 21: Donovan got his first black eye! Tom had a roller hockey game so the kids and I went to go watch. Dono went to go play hockey with other kids actually. One of the other kids he was playing with ended up getting him above his eye with his hockey stick and gave it a good cut. It bled that night but has been overall fine since. He was upset about it that night as it really was hurting him but the next morning he popped up in my bed and said, "Mom, look at my tough eye!" We really tried to play it up that he would look tough just like the real hockey guys the night it happened so that he wouldn't get upset so I guess it finally sunk in a little. Here was my 2 best attempts to get it on camera.

And this is just my adorable little lady. Speaking of injuries, she did a face plant into the side of our marble bath tub the other night as she was getting out and ended up chipping one of her two front teeth. It was just a tiny bit so you can't tell unless I point it out but it was a chip non-the less. Donovan asked if she was going to get a dollar from the tooth fairy since she lost her first tooth. I told him you have to lose the whole tooth before the tooth fairy visits.

Again, I cannot believe how old she looks in the above picture. 

Another quote from my ever cautious son

Donovan pointing to the lighter I had left on the kitchen table after Reese's (belated) half birthday celebration: "Can somebody move that so no one thinks it is a toy?"

In other cuteness, Reese scoots herself right over to Dono while they were eating 1/2 birthday cupcakes, gets her face in his face, and says in her sweetest voice, "Thank you for singing happy bothday to me Don-O-ven!"

Donovan quote from tonight

Donovan: "Reese was mean today. She hit me, and she pulled my hair... and last but not least, she pushed me."

"Last but not least" It kills me.

I closed my eyes and now she is a teenager

Jesus she looks big in this picture. I hate it and love it all at the same time. 

Last of the Halloween fun stuff

Several weeks before Halloween we did our annual pumpkin patch day at Stuckmeyer's farm. Our friends, the O family, were busy so my sister and Derek joined us. It was a misty, rainy morning but it cleared up after we had been there for about 30 minutes. The kids ended up having a great time. Reese was just the perfect age to really get how fun this place was this year. It was very fun.

The inflatable kids area is always a winner. 

The barrel rides, or the "roller coaster" as Reese called them were also a hit.

And of course no day at the pumpkin patch would be complete without a horse ride for our Reesie poo.  The main boss lady of the horses is telling her how she has to hold on tight in this pic. She obviously did not know who she was speaking to because Reese is an expert equestrian. She held on tight like the little champ she is.

The day before we went to the pumpkin patch Dono got to go to a different patch with his Mimi and Pawpaw. He loved it and still talks about the "huge" pumpkins this patch had.

Such a happy little cutie. He made sure he got a little pumpkin for Reese too since she was at school. What a nice brother.

After they got pumpkins at the patch, they made several different pumpkin crafts and this was the one Donovan was the most excited about. He posed himself in this picture. Very senior picturesque.

More costume pictures

This first picture of the ninja turtle is actually Reese. She had to try on brother's costume when he got it.

You can tell it is her by the super squinty eye smile

Here is the main man in his costume. Obviously will be able to fit in it for a few more years no problem. He is our super shrimp. We love him.

This was the ice cream cone costume my boss at work gave me as her granddaughter had grown out of it. Reese liked it to play in but had no intention of wearing anything but a cat costume.

This was the day we got her kitty costume. Or as Reese calls it, the best day of her life. She has worn that costume at least 80% of the days since she has gotten this. Which is great as it sheds like a real cat.

Halloweeny stuff 2013

On Tuesday before Halloween we carved our pumpkins.  As usual, our clean child, Donovan, wanted nothing to do with touching the yucky stuff but loved supervising daddy. Reese, our messy kid, was a great help and liked to get her hands in there and dirty. Probably why Reese and I finished our pumpkin last but it was fun and we enjoyed it.

L to R: Reese's kitty, Donovan's creepy hands and Aunt Jenna's ghost

Halloween itself was a very wet and rainy day. Luckily right about 6:30 the rain mostly stopped and allowed us to get out and get some candy without getting soaked. Daddy painted the kids faces and they loved it. Jenna manned the house while Tom, the kids and I went trick or treating with Mimi and Pawpaw. Here was the ONE picture I got of the kids as we were heading out to trick or treat. (There are plenty of other pictures of the kids in their costumes on other days that I can add later.)

The kids did the small half of our street and then were ready to call it quits. I am an abusive mother and made them go a couple extra houses and then let them go home. Here they are with their spoils all spread out.

Donovan showing his candy off in the weirdest way he knew how. 

My cute little kitty. 

My favorite part of Halloween didn't come til today. Tom and I split up with the kids to run some errands and he was with Reese. He told me on the phone that he had picked something up for Reese, and I didn't think much of it until Donovan and I pulled into the garage and this is what I saw in the open door waiting for me.

Tom said it was originally 20$ and it was on super clearance for 3$. Best 3$ ever spent. She doesn't really like to wear it much but it is so adorable on her. She is like a real life Tangled (Reese's name for Rapunzel)!