Girls, girls, girls

The girls and I have had a lot of "girl time" lately with Ryan off at school every morning so we're making the most of it. Lauren usually chooses our activities - think lots of babies, dancing, and talking. It is almost like the minute Ryan leaves, she starts talking, and never stops. I'm hoping the more she talks, the better she'll become at it - maybe it's wishful thinking, but it certainly can't hurt. Today's activities included a bike ride/walk, dancing in the driveway, and a morning snack outside at the kiddie picnic table - an absolutely perfect morning with my two best girls! Speaking of "besties," Lauren has been telling me lately that I'm "her best friend." Obviously this melts my heart and makes me smile, but today when I was laying her down for her nap, she said, "you my bestie Mom," then grabbed my face with her chubby little fingers, tilted my head to the side, and planted a big, wet kiss on my check. When she was finished she said, "that's how besties kiss" - seriously the cutest thing ever. After that, she could have gotten away with pretty much anything and I couldn't have been mad - lucky for me, she opted to sleep instead. Speaking of sleep, both kids were wiped out after their big day today. Our neighbor girl had invited the kids to be a part of her high school Child Development class. In order to get to the class on time, I had to pick Ryan up from school right at 11:40am, then drive across town with the kids to the high school and get them checked in by 11:55am - luckily everyone was excited so they were moving right along and we had no problems making it. I wasn't sure how the experience would go (Lauren was a little shy at first), but when I returned to pick them up 2 hours later, they were both happy and busy doing an art project. Turns out another one of our neighbor girls was in the class as well so the kids got a lot of one-on-one attention - something they both love! And to top the experience off, the kids got to eat lunch at the high school - talk about exciting. Ryan couldn't' stop talking about the milk, chicken nuggets, sugar cookie, and "this really good fruit cup with juice on it" - apparently that fruit cup was the highlight of his meal! Funny thing, I've bought fruit cups in the past and he wouldn't touch them, and now all of a sudden he gets the same fruit cup at school and it's the best thing in the world - interesting.

I'll leave with some pictures from some of our "girls only" photo shoots the past couple of mornings.

A week of catch up

This past week has been busy, busy. First up, Ash and Mike stayed with us on Sunday night and were able to catch up on some sleep before Mike had to head back to California. Since his flight didn't leave until Monday night, and because he and Ash are such a good aunt and uncle, they agreed to watch the kids for me on Monday morning so I could go to the doctor and have some moles looked at. By the end of my appointment, I had two moles removed, and one that I was supposed to keep an eye on. My next appointment will be in 6 months to make sure everything is still looking good. After the busy Monday, we had a couple of relaxing days (Tues and Wed), and were back to being busy again on Thursday. Thursday we had a speech therapist come out and work with Lauren to see if her speech is where it needs to be - turns out it isn't. The therapist said Lauren has a large vocabulary, but only about 50% of what she says is understandable by the average person (average obviously doesn't include Ryan or myself as we can both understand pretty much everything she says). Anyway, the lady was great, she reviewed Lauren's scores that day and said that Lauren would qualify for a speech program for the next year. We have one more round of testing to complete next week, then Lauren's speech classes will officially begin sometime in early November. What is really nice is that the therapist will actually be coming to our house once a week through the end of the year, and then towards the end of January, Lauren will switch over and start attending classes (taught by the same lady, Becca) at one of the local elementary schools. She is pretty pumped to have her own teacher, and to be going to school just like Ryan - they even offer bus service for her, but I have already declined that instead opting to take her myself. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does both at home and in the classroom. She seems very excited right now so I'm hoping that will carry over the next few months. I'm also excited to see how her speech will improve over the coming months. It will be nice for Lauren to be able to have a conversation with someone who actually understands what she is saying. It also means my days as her personal translator will be coming to an end - can't say I'll miss that too much. Friday was another big day for us. Ash and I took the kids (just Ryan and Lauren) to watch Aaron ref a football game. I don't think either of the kids really understood what Aaron was doing, but Ryan did understand enough to know that when people were yelling mean things at the refs that they were talking about his uncle, and he did not like that! He was also a little mad with Aaron for not coming over to talk to him during halftime - apparently he doesn't care that Aaron was working and had a job to do, he just wanted to chat with his uncle for a while. After the late night on Friday, we had another big day ahead on Saturday. Mom, Ash, Ellie, and myself were off to Ann's baby shower while Trav stayed home with Ryan and Lauren and took over all of my "Mommy duties." He got the kids ready in the morning, fed them breakfast, and got out the door for Lauren's doctor appointment on time. After her appointment, they all headed back home to get ready for Ryan's friend to come over and play. That meant three kids for Trav to handle all by himself and I do have to say, I was thoroughly impressed when we got back home to find that all the kids were in one piece, everyone had been fed, and most importantly, they were all having fun! Nice work Daddy! By this time, it was time for everyone lay down for naps so while they did that, Mom and I got in a little walk to burn off some of the good food we had just eaten. After that, Grandpa Jim came up to our place to help Grandma watch all three of the kids while Trav and I met up with some friends for a wonderful five course meal prepared by a private chef and complete with our own personal bartender - what a deal! And thanks to Chad and Molly for hosting such a great night! Unfortunately the night didn't end well for me - too much wine and good food was too much for me to handle and by night's end I was a mess (I'm not proud to say it, but I did throw up - a lot). I guess that just goes to show that drinking too much wine (when you normally don't drink wine at all), combined with the excitement of having conversations with someone over the age of four makes for a fun night followed by a terrible day of thinking, "why did I do that to myself - never again!" Oh well, I've recovered now and am still happy we were able to get out and catch up with old friends for a night - it was well worth the pain. And thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for staying the night and helping out the next morning - it was much appreciated! We're off to another busy week again. Hopefully I'll be on top of things a little more so I can actually blog more than once this week - we'll see.

A weekend of "firsts"

This was a big weekend for the girls . . . first time eating cereal, and a first haircut - how exciting! The first time eating cereal happened on Friday afternoon. Lauren (my little helper) and I decided it was time for Ellie to eat something other than breast milk. So off the three of us went to Target to pick up some rice cereal - sounds delicious! When we got back home and made up the goods, Lauren was johnny on the spot wanting to feed her little sister. I figured, why not, so I gave her the bowl and spoon and sat back to relax while she did the hard work. Amazingly Ellie opened her mouth up wide and Lauren managed to get about half a spoon full in each time (the other half fell onto the bib well before the spoon ever got to Ellie's mouth). After about 5 minutes and maybe 20 half spoon fulls, Ellie had had enough and was ready to be done with "real" food. All in all, I think it was a success, the babe ate more than she spit out, and Lauren was very proud of her ability to feed her sister. With one big milestone behind us, we got ready for another one on Saturday. While Ryan and Grandpa Jim were out golfing, the girls (Mom, myself, Ellie, and Lauren) headed to Aveda for Lauren's first haircut!!!! I was a bit hesitant to do this, but her hair was starting to look a little crazy so I figured now was as good a time as ever. To make sure the cut was to my liking, I opted to take her to a real salon. Now, this sounds a bit crazy considering I just started going to real salons when I was around 24 or 25, but like the old saying goes, you always want better for your kids (at least that is what I used to justify paying a bit more for her haircut than I usually would). Anyway, the choice to take her to Aveda worked out perfect. All of us got to sit back by Lauren in her chair and the stylist did a great job with her. Hilary (the stylist) made sure to talk to Lauren and let her know exactly what she was doing. Although she was a little tense at first, Lauren warmed up quickly and seemed to enjoy having someone work so hard at making her look so pretty. The final product was super cute so I have no complaints and think it was money well spent! Here are some pictures of the big event . . . the first one is before, then during, and finally, the end product. She cut off about an inch and a half (in the longest areas), then put in some layers to help give Lauren's hair body (all of this of course is like a foreign language to me, but whatever works I guess). So that wraps up things for the girls, now onto Ryan. His collarbone seems to be healing well. He is able to move his arm more and even ditched the sling (he was not a fan of wearing it) this weekend. While Grandma Donna and I were busy with the girls, Ryan spent his weekend hanging out and doing "guy stuff." As I mentioned earlier, he spent Saturday golfing with Grandpa Jim, Uncle Mike, and Mike's dad, Byron. Since Ryan couldn't actually golf due to his collarbone, Grandpa Jim opted to teach him how to be a caddy. By the 9th hole, Ryan was driving and managing the golf cart all on his own. Other than a slight scare on the 14th hole (Grandpa said, "slow down", in response, Ryan immediately slammed on the brakes and almost sent the cart and the two of them sliding down the side of a hill - that would have been a real mess!), he did great. The four of them even spent some time in the clubhouse after golf and had a few drinks (don't worry, Ryan stuck to lemonade). With a long Saturday behind him, Ry was ready to go again early Sunday morning. This day, Grandpa and Ryan went to a classic car show. The two of them were gone for about 2 hours and other than having to buy some ice cream to regain focus, Ryan seemed to enjoy it as much as Grandpa did. Like I told my mom, Grandpa has finally found someone who enjoys all the same stuff he does - a dream come true!

4-Month Well-Child Exam

I finally (it seems like "finally" is a word I'm using to describe a lot of things with Ellie lately - guess I'm not quite as on top of things the third time around) got Ellie in for her 4 month well child. Based on the timing though, it is actually more of a 4 and a half month check-up (busy schedules make it hard to squeeze everything in on time). Anyway, the important thing is that I got her in, and she seems to be doing great! She is growing like a weed. She has put on 3 pounds, grown 2 inches, and increased her brain size by an inch and a half (they call it her head circumference, I like to call it her "brain size") in just 2 short months. Her current stats are: Weight: 15 lbs 13 oz - 90%, Length: 26 and 1/4 inches - >97%, Head: 17 inches - 95%. It seems like my small (or should I say "smaller headed" child) is finally catching up with the other two. Her head is now measuring more consistently with the rest of her body, and more consistently with what Ryan and Lauren's heads usually measured - so much for my small headed kid! As long as I am on the topic of comparing sizes, I might as well show how Ellie compares in size with the other two kids at 4 months of age. Ryan was our heaviest baby weighing in at 16 lbs 3 oz, Lauren came in just a bit more than Ellie weighing in at 15 lbs 15 oz. Ryan was also our longest baby measuring 27 3/4 inches while Lauren came in a close second at an even 27 inches. And no surprise here, Ryan also had the biggest head (and still does). His head was 17.3 inches, Lauren's was 16.5 inches - this is the only category where Ellie actually measured bigger than Lauren. It's amazing to know how close all three of them were at the same ages. Ellie for some reason just seems so much more petite than the other two, but she really isn't - who knew.

I've already scheduled Ellie's 6 month appointment, and Lauren's 3 year check-up for the end of November - crazy to know she'll be 3 so soon!

Here are some random pictures of the kids from the past week. The picture of Ryan is how I found him napping after a long day at school. When he laid down, his was on my bed, but when I went back to check on him later, I found him laying on the floor using the rug for his blanket - guess the bed wasn't comfortable enough for him?

Ellie's baptism

We finally had Ellie's baptism this past weekend. Thanks again to the Grandmas for all of their help with the food. Thanks also to all of our families for attending and participating in this special day for Ellie- it was great to see everyone again! Ellie wore the same baptism gown that Lauren wore. The gown has now been used to baptize 7 babies over the past 55ish years! It is pretty frail, but still gets the job done. I have posted the video I made for the special day. Unfortunately it seems to be a little off center in the blog - not sure why, but you'll still get the idea.

And here are some pictures taken from the day. I had a bunch more, but for some reason my camera doesn't do well inside (yet another reason I should be looking at getting a new one - hint, hint Trav) so a lot of them turned out really dark (if anyone out there has some more good ones, please send them to me, especially a good one of the entire Quast side of the family). I also have to work with Grandma Donna and the "zoom" button. The positive thing though, is that at least from a distance, we're too tiny to see any imperfections!

Broken collarbone

Ryan had a bad night on Thursday. It all started out fine with him getting to bed and sleeping as normal, but around midnight, it all went downhill. It was at that time that Trav heard a big thud and found Ryan laying on the floor screaming in pain. Apparently he had fallen out of bed and landed on his shoulder. After a few minutes of crying, Ryan finally calmed down and went back to bed - Trav asleep at his side. The two slept together until early the next morning when they came into my room and woke me up. I of course had no idea what had happened and was still half asleep so it took me a while to take everything in. After hearing the story, I assured Ryan he would be okay and gave him some medicine to help with the pain. After about 20 minutes he seemed to be doing better so I set him down for breakfast and finished getting him ready for school. When I sent him off on the bus I told him to tell his teacher if his arm still hurt and if he did, she would call me. He seemed good with that, so off he went. After school, Ryan seemed pretty normal - he talked about school, told us some stories, and got ready for lunch. The only thing that was a little off was the fact that he only used his left arm. I kept thinking, "is he being over dramatic, or does it really hurt?" So by the time I had put the girls down for a nap, and had Ryan set up with a movie, I was getting a little concerned. I decided to get on the Internet and see what I could find out about shoulder/arm problems in kids. Everything I read kept saying if the child is holding, or protecting the arm without any movement, call you physician so that is what I did. After briefly speaking with a nurse, she advised me to bring Ryan in. At the clinic, the doctor gently took off Ryan's t-shirt and within a minute or two, told me Ryan had a broken collarbone. I was shocked! I had no idea a kid could fall off a bed (not a high bed either, just a normal height bed) hard enough to break anything - turns out I was wrong. Just to be positive, the doctor ordered an x-ray which verified that Ryan did indeed have a break in his collarbone (a pretty "big" break according to the doctor). The doctor fitted him with a sling, told us how to care for the break, and sent us on our way. To say I was a little unprepared would be an understatement. I honestly thought I would be taking Ryan in only to be told he had a small bruise or something - the thought of a broken bone never crossed my mind. Situations like this are tough with him because he can sometimes be "overly dramatic" about things - this will only make me second guess things even more. I have to give him some props for being a "tough guy" though. He managed to get through school (and recess - although he didn't play on the jungle gym because his arm hurt too much), lunchtime, and a slew of questions from me about "how much does it really hurt" before I finally brought him in - another sure sign he is growing up and becoming a "bigger" boy.

He looks so sad in these pictures. Don't worry though, it wasn't because he was in pain or anything, he was mad at me for taking his picture when he wanted to get back to watching his movie. I should have know better than to mess with a boy and his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie!

Labor Day weekend

We spent the Labor Day weekend (or at least part of it) at the lake. With no school and no work on Friday, we finished up a few errands around the house in the morning, then packed up the crew and headed out. It wasn't the best weather (very windy), but when we got to the lake, we were sheltered by all the trees so we were able to enjoy some time outside. After a good night's rest, we got up nice and early Saturday morning and got ready for the big event of the weekend . . . a trip to the "A Maze n' Farmyard." The kids have been there before with Grandma and Grandpa, but Trav and I had never taken them so it was a new adventure for us (and Ellie too). The weather this day was absolutely perfect - high 60's, lots of sun, and most importantly, no wind. We were the first visitors of the day at the farm (apparently we were very organized that morning and got on the road earlier than planned) so we were able to walk around and check everything out before the big crowds showed up. There was lots to see and do . . . duck races, a bounce house, pony rides, a giant slide, and even what they called an "interactive barn" (basically the same as a petting zoo) - the kids enjoyed pretty much all of it. I say that because within five minutes of entering the barn, Lauren was swarmed by three miniature horses (they are free to roam the entire place). At first she was thrilled, but when she stuck out her hand and one of the horses took a nibble, she was pissed (and scared). She cried immediately (luckily there were only a few other people there at the time) and then pointed at the horse and said (or screamed actually), "naughty horse, no biting me - naughty horse!" After that incident, she was a little more hesitant to pet the other animals, but she did finally come around and got right in there with some bunnies, and the other two miniature horses (she stayed far away from the naughty one though for the remainder of the day). After a couple of hours and lots of fun at the farm, we packed up again, grabbed some lunch at the local "Pizza Ranch" (a favorite of both Trav and myself), and then headed back to the lake for an afternoon full of sleep and relaxation - the perfect way to recover from a busy day. Here are some pictures of the fun day. Late Saturday evening Ellie and I headed back home while Trav and the two older kids stayed at the lake and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive (Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins). I used the "down time" - amazing that down time happens now when there is only one kid around - to do some cooking, clean the house, and rotate the kids' clothes out of the dressers. It was kind of sad going through Ellie's clothes because she has already outgrown so much of what she has. There is no more newborn or 3 month clothes for her, she is already in 6-9 month clothing and some of that is even getting too small - she is growing up so fast!

Look what's missing

Ryan had another "first" tonight. As he was munching away on an apple tonight, he pulled it out of his mouth and said, "ow!" One look at his mouth and we could tell right away that his loose tooth was no longer just loose, it was really to come out. So Daddy got out a napkin and tried to pull it out, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, he finally got it. Ryan was thrilled of course. Apparently (this is going by his word) he will be the first kid in his class to have lost a tooth - what a big deal! Here is some proof of the boy with one missing tooth . . .