Goodbye Uncle Mike

We all got together this weekend to say goodbye to Uncle Mike as he gets ready to hit the road to California for his new job. It was kind of a sad reason to get together, but we managed to have a good time playing "Just Dance" on Wii (a new favorite for Ryan) and just hanging out with everyone. Good Luck Uncle Mike, and we can't wait to see you when you come back to visit again!

In addition to hanging out with family on Saturday, we also squeezed in a quick visit to see an old friend of Trav's who recently had twin boys. Lauren could hardly believe her eyes when she saw that there were two babies! I told her about it a few times before we actually got there, but to actually see two babies at once was pretty amazing for her. She made sure to give both boys lots of hugs and kisses and was right there to help out with a nuk when necessary. Ryan spent his time playing with the couple's older boy so everyone had a great time while Trav and I got to catch up and be amazed at what life would be like with twins - let's just say I'm happy I've only got one "bun in the oven."

In addition to the busy Saturday we had, we also had another big event in the house. Lauren officially started potty training on Friday and had some early success. Unfortunately, the success was short lived and accidents soon followed. Our "2nd Dad" (also known as Ryan) was right there to help his sister out with the basics of peeping on the potty. He showed her how to pee, helped hand out treats, and even read her books as we patiently waited for the big event. In fact, it was during one (the one pictured below) of Ryan's reading sessions to Lauren that she actually had her first "pee pee on the potty." I was out in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast when Ryan yelled, "Mom, she did it. She peed on the potty, come quick!" He was very proud of Lauren's accomplishments, Lauren was just in shock. Her face seemed to say, "what the hell just happened?" She kept looking down between her legs trying to figure it all out while Ryan and I were busy dancing and singing praises for her. Eventually she decided whatever she did was good so she joined in the fun as well. She followed up her first pee with two more on the potty, but after nap, she seemed to forget everything she did in the morning. First she pooped in her underwear, then she had two more pee accidents - oh well, it was a good start that we'll hopefully be building on in the future - she's got until May to figure it out so I'm not too worried.

Dance Party Thursday

The kids wanted to have a dance party this morning so they picked out their best outfits, brought out their best moves, and danced the morning away. Here are the "dance party" outfits they chose. As you can see, Lauren wasn't sure if she wanted to dress "pretty" like a girl, or "handsome" like a boy so she opted for a little of each - quiet a little thinker she is, and a good-looking one to boot! The dance party lasted way longer than I imagined it would and to my surprise, Ryan broke out some pretty fancy new moves. He's added the "robot" and the "wavy arms" to his dance collection - pretty impressive.

And here is a quick picture prior to getting dressed this morning. Ryan is showing off his projects from school. The focus this week has been on presidents so here he is displaying his Abraham Lincoln log cabin and George Washington hat. He says both men were really smart so that is what he wants to be like. Apparently the teachers told him that reading makes you smart so that has been his focus this week - more reading, less tv. After all, tv turns your brains to mush, and he surely doesn't want that to happen - gotta love those teachers of his - always filling his mind with good info!

And here is a picture of Lauren. Whenever I get the camera out and take a picture of Ryan, she insists on having her taken as well - a little cheese ball even early in the morning!

Another busy week

We had another busy week at the Quast household (I'll use that as my excuse for not posting as often as I'd like). Anyway, as I mentioned in the previous post, the week started out with the birth of Uncle Troy's (or "Toy" as Lauren calls him) baby boy. That meant a late night on Monday, followed by a rather lazy day on Tuesday to recover from all the excitement. The kids used the lazy day to get out some of the costumes and play dress-up. Lauren chose to go with a basketball playing puppy while Ryan opted for an old favorite, a cowboy.
I should mention that since finding that jersey on Tuesday (it was an old one of Trav's that his mom took apart and sewed back together), Lauren wore it everyday up until Friday night when I finally made her take it off because we were having company - she really loves that thing! Wednesday brought school in the morning for Ryan followed by a visit to the Y in the afternoon. The kids really enjoy going to their new "gym school" as we call it, and I love having the chance to get in a little exercise. On Thursday, we took advantage of the nice weather and headed outside. We even brought Baby Robbie out for what I was told was his first sled ride. Lauren loves to pull anyone in the sled so I let her do all the work while I stood back and relaxed. Ryan spent his time climbing the "mountain" and sledding back down again. Needless to say, all three of the kids were tired when we got back in the house so the afternoon was a quite one with all of them napping (love that fresh air!). On Friday, we had a pretty normal day followed by a fun night with friends. One of Trav's old classmates, his wife and their three kids came up for the evening. Their two older kids are about the same age as Ryan and Lauren so whenever we get together they always seem to have a good time. It turned into a rather late night with Lauren getting to bed around 9pm and Ryan falling asleep on the floor around 10pm, just as our company was heading home. Saturday morning came earlier than I expected with both kids up by 7:30am. Trav and the kids spent most of the morning hanging out at home while I was out running errands and getting to the gym. Besides having our two kids at home with him, Trav was lucky enough to have the neighbor kids drop in for about an hour while their mom was busy. That meant four kids under the age of 4 all by himself - kind of a scary thought! Apparently everything went fine other than the two older kids (Ryan and Marley) both had to go poop and needed help wiping their butts. It's not so bad when it is your own kid, but when it is someone else's kid, that kind of makes things interesting - somehow Trav managed though. After the busy morning, everyone again laid down for long afternoon naps. When we finally got up, we all got dressed and we headed up to Uncle Troy and Nicole's house to check on Baby Everett again. The little guy is still pretty darn cute and both kids enjoyed getting their chance to hold him again. While Ryan was holding the baby he would turn to me and say, "Mom, do you think he loves me?", or "Mom, I really love him" and then nuzzle his face against Everett's - it was pretty cute and just reinforces what a good big brother he'll be again. The night, once again, turned into a late one with both kids not getting to bed until close to 10:30pm. To my delight though, Sunday morning came nice and late! Everyone slept in until 8:00am which was a real treat. And to top off our busy week, we tried out some new family classes at the YMCA. Ryan and I did Yoga together, then Ryan, Lauren, and I all did a class together called "Drums Alive" where the kids get to use drumsticks to beat on an exercise ball while moving and dancing to music. It was a blast and a real workout at the same time. Lauren didn't really get it at first, but once they dimmed the lights and turned on the disco ball, she was up for anything. Ryan did a great job of trying to mimic the teacher's movements and when class was done he said, "Mom, that sure was tough!" Luckily he had on his dinosaur muscle shirt so he could flex his arms and show me how much bigger they had gotten over the course of the 45 minute class (I wish it were really that easy). And as I finish up writing, Trav just popped his head and said his parents were dropping by - guess that means a little more fun before the week officially ends! Time to wrap it up.

Everett John Quast

The newest member of the Quast family entered the world yesterday. And no, it was not our baby, it was Uncle Troy and Nicole's baby boy, Everett John Quast. The little guy weighed in at 7lbs 7 oz and was 21 inches long (think long and skinny). He is a handsome little devil. Ryan and Lauren (and their mommy too) were very excited to meet the new little cousin so we headed up right after Trav got done with work yesterday. We practiced the baby's name all the way up to the hospital, but when it came time to remember what it was, Ryan was at a loss - Everett is a tough name so for now we just call him "baby". Congrats to Troy and Nicole. We hope Everett continues with his mild manner and easy going attitude. Can't wait to see him again!Ryan is an old pro at this baby holding thing - he'll have it down pat by the time his new baby sister arrives in May.

Lauren just just kept looking and smiling at him (and she also tried to poke him a few times)Being the Uncle is much more relaxing than being the Dad!

Seeing the new baby and being in the hospital again brought back lots of memories and it made me realize just how soon we'll be doing this ourselves - only 2 1/2 months to go and I'll be writing to say the newest Quast member arrived today and it will be our baby - yay!

Outside and inside

This weekend we had a chance to have some fun outside and inside. First up, Saturday. Trav was gone all day working on Uncle Troy's house so that left the kids and I to find some fun on our own. We started out with a trip to the Y where I planned on getting in a workout while the kids played. Unfortunately Lauren had a different plan - momma should stay with her and watch her play. So there I sat for about an hour and watched Lauren play while Ryan was too busy running around to even notice I was there. Every once in a while I would think about sneaking out and it never failed that that would be the time Lauren would poke her head around the corner and smile and wave at me just to make sure I was there - guess I was sticking around for a while longer. After an hour she finally got so into playing that I felt ready to take my chance and leave. I headed out with my pager in hand and hit the treadmills. I was able to get in about two miles and by the time I headed back to pick up the kids, neither of them wanted to leave - so typical. With the kids packed up in the van, we headed home, grabbed a bite to eat, and then hit the beds - we were all due for a nap after our busy morning. After naps, we fueled up again with a snack then pulled out all of our snow gear and headed outside to climb the huge mountain of snow in our front yard. Here are some pictures of the kids. Ryan thought it was pretty cool that he could finally dunk on the basketball hoop!

After a long day, we finished up with a hot cocoa and some bagels and then headed off to bed - another fun day in the books.

On Sunday we decided to spend the day just hanging out as a family. The morning started with everyone sleeping in. In fact, Trav and I were the last two people in the house to wake up. Apparently Ryan woke up first, then he went and let Lauren out of her room. After that they both stood at the edge of our bed until we woke up - it sounds sweet, but is actually sort of scary. Imagine waking up to two little faces staring at you just inches from your face - it kind of makes your heart stop for a second. Once I got over the shock, we all got up and had our morning cocoas while watching some morning cartoons. After breakfast Trav and the kids headed downstairs to play while I cleaned upstairs and ran some errands. With all the busy work behind us, we spent the rest of the day with the kids - the highlight was our swimming adventure. This was the second time we took the kids swimming at the new pool and just like last time, they loved it! Ryan continues to get more confident in the water - he even tried out some new swimming skills by going back and forth between Trav and I. Lauren also got a little more adventurous this time around. She insisted on walking out in the water all by herself and would only ask for help right before she would start to go under - she is such a stubborn little thing! After swimming we headed home, had some supper, got cleaned up and then it was off to bed for everyone. It was a perfect way to spend a great Valentine's Day. Here are a couple of pictures of Lauren from the day. The first is her "working" on her computer while trying to watch cartoons and the second is her in the t-shirt she picked out all by herself this morning (apparently she knew it was Valentine's Day when she got dressed this morning).

Toddler Tuesday

It worked out that both Auntie and I had the day off today so we took advantage and planned a much needed day out with the kids at the mall for Toddler Tuesday (isn't that what every 24 year old wants to do with her day off?). We met Ash around 10 this morning and the fun started right away with a ride on the carousel. Unfortunately, that is where the fun ended for Lauren. Even though she had been on most of the rides the last time we went to the mall, it seemed that she just wasn't into it today. There were tears and screams on two rides before I figured it was just easier to keep her with me while Auntie and Ryan enjoyed the rides. As luck would have it though, there were almost tears for Ryan too. The mall must have changed their policy on the "required chaperon" rides for free recently because on one ride, Ash was told she would have to pay if she wanted to go with Ryan. Well, we obviously weren't going to pay for her just to go on one ride, so Ash asked Ryan if he wanted to go by himself, and he said "yes". Turns out the ride was a little scarier than he anticipated and when he came out, he had a terrified look on his face and proceeded to scold both Auntie and I for letting him ride - apparently we should have known better. Other than the one bad ride, Ryan had a blast running from ride to ride for almost two hours before I finally had to put an end to the fun so I could eat before I passed out - why do moms always have to ruin the fun? After lunch, it was pushing 3:00pm so we packed up and headed home. About two minutes into the drive, both kids were sound asleep - always a sure sign they had fun and burned a lot of energy. The down side to them falling asleep on the ride home - no naps when they get home. That means cranky kids for the rest of the night - I guess it is a small price to pay for a full day of fun! Here are some pictures (warning . . . they look eerily similar to the pictures I posted from our last visit to Toddler Tuesday). Ash had to do "ride chaperon" duties today - no crazy whipping or shaking needed for this pregnant lady. Thanks for riding Auntie, it looks like you had a blast!

Aside from the outing today, we haven't been up to much. Lauren luckily got another staph infection and turned into a little devil. I am giving the infection and the bad feelings that go with it some of the credit for the bad attitude, the rest she just gets credit for - let the terrible twos begin! Ryan officially ended karate and things haven't been bad. Apparently we're keeping him busy enough with other stuff that he hasn't really had time to remember that he no longer goes to class twice a week. The baby continues to grow and I'm progressing just as I should. I am now officially 28 weeks along and have started my last trimester! Only 12 more weeks to go and we'll have a new little Quast to take care of. I'm almost pound for pound the exact same weight I was with both of the other kids and I am measuring about a week behind (also the same as with the other two pregnancies) - maybe that means we'll have another 8.5-8.6 pounder on our hands - I could definitely deal with that. We still haven't agreed on a name yet, but with 3 months to go, I'm sure we'll get it figured out.

Here are a couple of quick pictures I found on my camera. Ash was over the other day and dressed Lauren in her "preppy" sweater vest so I obviously had to get my camera out - enjoy!

Lazy weekend

Not much exciting happening at the Quast household. The kids and I took in a boy's high school basketball game on Friday night. The three of us were sitting around with nothing to do so I did some checking and found out there was a game so we went. This was a first experience for Lauren and a first for Ryan - he has watched a girl's game, but never a boys. Both kids did pretty good. They sat and watched intently for about the first 10 minutes, then they were off making friends and chatting away. Ryan was really into wanting to know, "why do the boys keep pushing each other down?", or "why did that guy hit that other guy's arm?" - lots of questions followed by lots of simple answers - at least it showed that he was somewhat interested. After the game, the rest of the weekend was pretty much spent just hanging out at home. The kids got out some old Halloween costumes and played ninjas, we made the kitchen and the food downstairs into "Ryan's Restaurant" and the kids served Trav and I. We even went as far as making real menus to go with the whole restaurant thing - Ryan loved it, Lauren could care less just as long as she got to give someone food. Other than that, it has been pretty low key. Lauren has been doing a lot of sleeping which is good considering she still isn't 100% herself yet. I'm still not sure what she had going on, but whatever it was,it has definetly taken a toll on her and now after lots of sleep, she is finally starting to recover. Ryan continues to hone his Wii skills. Last night he tried table tennis for the first time and beat me about 5 or 6 times (although in my defense I was sitting on the couch and not in my best "table tennis" mode). That's all for now. I'll leave with some pictures of the kids sharing the ninja costume.