Birthday boy!

Our little guy turned five today. Wow. How did that happen? He has been counting down the days until his birthday for about the last three weeks so it really is strange that this day has come. This morning both kids were awake when I came out of my room singing, "Happy Birthday" to Donovan and Reese told me I had to stop singing as I did not have his cake ready. Well then.  Donovan woke up to a room filled with balloons, which he told me we were going to do for him for the past several months so Tom and I did not dare to disappoint.

Dono had pretty high hopes for 5.  During our morning getting ready for school and work he asked/told me the following:
- Could I still pick him up? (answer, yes, but barely)
- I need to start buying him all size 5 clothes (really most of his 4s still fit our shrimp but ok Dono!)
- Can I take the back of his booster seat off yet? (no, not til you are seven or something)
And my personal favorite, "Mom! Today is my last day of pre-school and then tomorrow I get to go to kindergarten!!!". I had to break the news to him that while I said he would be 5 when he went to kindergarten, I didn't mean exactly when he turned 5.

Dono spent his day at school with his friends. When I dropped him off all the friends in his class all hounded him and were adorably telling him happy birthday. He told me that they all hid in the gym later and jumped out at him and said happy birthday too and that he got to blow out a candle after they sang to him and ate the cookies we brought in. When I picked him up his fiance friend Amelia (they have a hot and heavy relationship which has already resulted in a mutual decision for marriage) gave him a good bye hug and told him happy birthday as he left. So sweet. In the car on the way home he told me today was the "best day of my life! (short pause) For lunch I had meatloaf, corn and juicy pears!" All his favorite foods for lunch, what more could a 5 yr old ask for?

Then I picked up the kids early tonight so we could get ready for his first baseball game!! The kid one the award for "largest fan club" as both sets of grandparents and his uncle Nick came as well as Tom, Reese and myself. It was adorable. It was a comedy of errors watching the kids run, or not run at the wrong times. Dono did really well and got three good hits. They only play 3 innings and each kid gets to bat once during each inning. Donovan's friend Tyler (old neighbor) is on his team and Ian was on the opposing team so we had plenty of people to cheer on as well. My dad took somewhere between 200-3,000 pictures of which I will download soon whenever I get a copy of them. Donovan was so proud of his cheering section. He looked over at us right after he got to first base after his first hit and was making sure we were all cheering and paying attention. Coupled with the great weather and fabulous company and it was a great night for a baseball game.

After the game we came home for presents and cake. Reese got him a lego set and we got him a bike. He is such big stuff.

It was just us three singing to Donovan this year but Reese held her own so we sounded more like a huge group :)  All in all a great day for a wonderful kid. I am so blessed to be his mommy. I hope I get to celebrate 50 plus more birthdays with him! He is the greatest.

Our family has grown by one

So during this long blog hiatus we did lots of fun stuff, and the latest is adding a cat to our crazy family!

Voila! Here he is! His name Lou, he is approximately 1 yr old, and we got him from a local rescue group.  We picked him up yesterday after going to the St. Patrick's day parade.  We (mostly Reese and I) have been wanting to get a kitty since before Christmas but we were told by the cooler head in the family (Tom) that we had to wait until we got back from Disney (oh yeah, that's the really fun thing we did during our hiatus).  So we dropped by an Adoption event yesterday and ended up walking out with this gem. The rescue group had him for about a week and found him with a group of feral cats but said that they don't think he is really feral, but more likely was dumped. He really is the perfect fit for our family. He is young enough that he is still playful, but he loves a good snuggle in your lap. (See most of the pictures taken from today). He also is SUPER patient with the kids (read: Reese) and lets them pick him up and carry him around constantly.  He did give Reese a warning bite today after about the 40th time she trapped him and picked him up in a span of about 2 minutes but who could blame the kid.

So far we are all pretty obsessed. He is a petite little thing but they tell us he is full grown so that is nice. Also the rescue group told us that adult cats, and black cats are the hardest to adopt so we are happy that we got to help and give him a home. Petey (our dog) has been a dream with him too. Has not barked at him and really could care less. Lou on the other hand has been a little bit of a turd to him for the first 24 hours. Lou was getting jealous last night when he was on Tom's lap but then Tom would reach over and pet Petey. And he has gone after Petey several times but after a few too many of those this morning Petey finally fought back and swiped him pretty good and ever since Lou has backed off. I think Lou was just trying to let Petey know he was going to be the boss, but what Lou didn't know is that Petey already knew that and he didn't have to assert any dominance for Petey to let him win. Now Lou just wants to sniff and check Petey out but Lou has burned that bridge for now and Petey is keeping a close eye on Lou when he gets too close. Tonight they have done really well so I hope that they have just figured each other out and will start being friends.

Poor Reese was really lobbying for a girl cat to make the girl to boy ratio in the house even. She even had the names picked out, either Elsa (from the movie "Frozen") or Tinkerbell. When we were at the adoption event she really liked him until she realized that he was a boy. Then she cried because she did not want a boy. So to calm her down I did what every desperate parent would do. I lied. (We were running on no naps people, desperate times call for desperate measures!!!) We pretended that he was a she for a little while until we got out of the store and she could cry without scaring all the animals and pi**ing off the workers. She took the news well but now both her and Donovan call Lou a "she" half of the time. She really does love him and I don't think any other animal would be as tolerant as Lou is of her so it all worked out in the end.

The first and second french braid I have ever done

Little wedding girl

The prodigal blogger has returned!

Sorry bouts the hiatus. We have just been enjoying life and I decided that if I didn't want to blog, I didn't have to so here I am almost a month after the last blog.

What have we been doing in this past month? A whole lot of stuff and also a whole lot of nothing. December consisted of visiting with friends and family, playing in the snow, hanging out a home and enjoying Christmas.

January has consisted of a Reese stomach bug (that girl is an AWESOME sick patient. She never complains and almost always makes it to the toilet), me getting my very first new car (a used 2011 Chevy Traverse, but new to me), the kids going to Great Wolf Lodge with my parents for a swimming weekend, and the kids watching lots and lots of movies (they got several for Christmas that they just rotate between them often watching them twice a day. Current playlist includes Monsters University, Tangled, The little Mermaid and Disney Planes).

For some reason my computer won't let me upload any more pictures so these are just a few of the random ones I had uploaded before it quit on me. Nothing crazy, just some cute moments I wanted to document.

Caught the kids snuggling. They are really getting along great now. On the daily they request to be put in a "nest". Which means for them to get all snuggled in the middle of lots of blankets and pillows all wrapped around them.

I had a work Christmas party and Reese wanted to help me make the chip dip. She was actually a pretty good chef assistant.

The Saturday before Christmas I was on call for work, which requires me to be avail for patient calls and organizing any transplants that might be happening. Luckily (for me) that day we were pretty slow as we had a cookie baking day with my mom and sister. My dad came along for the company, and to sample I assume, but also caught some of the kitchen chaos.

Yes, Reese was wearing a Easter dress. It is a hand me down and Easter only comes around once a year so if she wants to wear it while baking, so be it. Who am I to stand in the way of a two year old and her fashion visions.

I love this picture because even though Dono and I are in our jammies still, it captures us slow dancing together, which I make him do with me when the moment strikes. He allows it which is how I know he loves me.

One night I saw the two of them sitting together and Donovan was "reading" a book to Reese. I love how close these two have become.

In fact, ever since Reese has gotten he new bed, her and Donovan have slept in each other's room's more than they haven't.  (Reese would sleep with Donovan every night but we make them take breaks from each other some nights). Sometimes it is annoying as they keep each other up later and then wake each other up earlier, but when you hear those hearty giggles coming from the both of them at 9:30, you can't help but laugh yourself and be thankful that they love each other that much.

Reese quotes from today

Reese: "I'm eating some play-dough."
Me: "REESE! You are eating the play-dough?!?!"
Reese: "No, I'm just tasting it."
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Reese's class at school walked to an old folks home today like they do about once a month to sing and entertain the people there. Well apparently the kids have rules when they go. I asked her what she did there with the "grandmas and grandpas" as they refer to them and she said, "I hugged them and not kissed them."

Quotes from an epic Reese-fit filled night

Reese: (directed at me but screamed from a couple rooms away) "I AM ANGRY AT YOU!!!"

Me: "Reese, why are you getting off the potty? You told me you had to go poop."
Reese: "No, I DON'T have to go poop! I told you THREE TIMES!" (she most certainly did NOT tell me 3 times)

Donovan: (in a super pathetic voice) "She is crying so hard it is making me cry."

We don't keep her around for her secret keeping abilities

This morning Tom and I split up to do some shopping. Tom took Reese as they both had presents they needed to get for me and Donovan (respectively). I told Tom what Reese should get Donovan so when we all got home at roughly the same time I was very interested to see what she had bought Dono. She has been a good secret keeper before with Tom's birthday gift she helped me pick out so I had high hopes. I waited until we were out of earshot of Donovan and asked her what she got Dono. The following was our conversation.

Me: whispering "Reese, what did you get Donovan for Christmas? Say it quiet so he doesn't hear. Remember it's a secret."
Reese: "We got him a watch?"
Me: (surprised as I had told Tom to get Donovan an action figure) "You bought Dono a watch?"
Reese: "No, we bought you a watch" (It was on my list and made much more sense)
Me: "Um, Reese, that is a secret, you aren't supposed to tell me that. What did you get for Donovan?"
Reese: "Nothing."

So I ask Tom if he really didn't get him anything and Tom reassures and shows me they got Dono a spiderman and a batman (and I broke it to him that I know I am getting a watch). Then 10 minutes later the kids and I are downstairs looking for old stuffed animals to donate to the humane society and Reese shouts. "We got Donovan a Spiderman at the store". Donovan of course hears this, looks at me horrified like he doesn't know if he is in trouble now that he has heard his present and I try to shush Reese and tell her to be quiet. She proceeds to shout, "WE GOT DONO A SPIDERMAN!!!!" approximately 15 more times. I tell Donovan to put his hands over his ears and not listen, which he did, but then told me he had already heard. I kept telling her it was a secret and that she was not supposed to tell Donovan and she just kept insisting, "But we DID get him a spiderman."

About 20 minutes later all 4 of us are in the car on the way to lunch and Reese says again, "We got Dono a spiderman, HAHA!" Tom and I laugh because we are caught off guard by her Dr. Evil laugh and we tell her that she shouldn't say that as it supposed to be a surprise. She didn't care. She told us, "But it is funny!" So now she thinks telling secrets is funny. She is a mess. At least she didn't remember the batman so Donovan will have one surprise at least.

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!"