July Quotes from our Sweet, Sweet Angel

"You better feed that parking meter, Mommy.  It's HUNnnnnnngry!" in the parking lot downtown Royal Oak before headed to the farmers' market.

"I kinda like having a baby brudder." (Swooooon!) exiting the car after church.

"Minnie, you can't talk to your daddy like that.  You get a time out behind the dinosaur." As you were playing with your new Minnie's Bow-tique toys from your birthday party.

"Mommy, your dress is boo-tee-ful." after I got dressed for your birthday party.

3YO Well-child Pediatricial

Our Growing Up Guy & Girl - ADD PIX & COPY to Tait

We're hitting milestones all over the place up in here.  Quinn, you slept in your newly converted toddler bed for the very first time last night.  You woke up only once because you were, in your words, "Mommy, I'm poopy, hungry & sirsty."  I'd wake up, too, can't blame a girl for that!  (After a fresh pull-up, a sip of water, & a cheese stick, you were tucked back in bed.)  You helped Mommy make your bed this morning, folding the blankets with me & lining the wall with your animals & dolls.  You're enjoying being able to sit on your bed & hang out, too.  You were just in your room "having a party, a summer party, with my dolls."  They were having tea & you decided that your Uggs (that I was trying to store away) were the perfect party attire (& on the wrong feet!).  You have the most creative imagination, BabyLady.  We just love listening to you sing, dance, & play with your dolls & Little People.  You have them speaking so nicely to each other, just as we do to you & are teaching you to do with others .  That makes us feel so good that what we're teaching you is resonating  with you, LadyBabe!  You love a lot of the songs that we do, too, like Annie Wants a Baby Now (RHCP), Last Great DJ (Ting-Tings) & more.  You are so musically-savvy that you ask for these by name!  We love music - namely Indie rock & alternative - so it's cool to see you embracing our love of music.  Your vocabulary is extensive & growing every day.  If you are unsure what a word means, you ask immediately.  It keeps Mommy on my toes coming up with clear explanations that you can relate to.  I love words & it looks like you do, too!  (I hope you'll have my spelling/English ability ... but not my lacking math ability !)

Then there is Tait.  IttyBitty you are growing by leaps & bounds & getting more mobile by the minute.  Just in the last couple days you've gone from successfully pulling up on the furniture, windows, doors, & larger toys to pulling yourself toward things, letting go for a second (OMG!!), effectively officially cruising for all practical purposes!  Your progress is SO fast.  You're so much more physical than your sister was at the same age.  It's so cool to see your different personalities & different traits from girl to boy.  You shake your head No when we say the word No.  It's hysterical, especially because you KNOW you are funny!  You won't shake it Yes, though, Stinker!!  You are infatuated with your sister & she just loooooves you.  You shriek & squeal out of happiness a hundred or more times a day... especially when you see Mommy.  You are a true Momma's boy ... & there's nothin' wrong with that!! All you shrieks, squeals, goos, & giggles are music to my ears!!!  You've cut four teeth in the last week or two.  All of them are on top.  Poor guy, teething is tough on you!  We've gotten so used to seeing you with just the two bottom teeth that you'll have a whole new look once those top four come fully in.

You are BOTH so lovable, affectionate, sweet, & cuddly.  Now I'm sure that every mother says this about their children, but others tell me this about you guys, too.  It's NOT just me who thinks you are so positively amazing, happy, & wonderful.  You BOTH truly make Daddy & Mommy's life a better one.  Daddy often remarks how happy he is that we had you guys & that we had you when we did.  I thank him for TALKING me INTO having you guys!!  To think that I was not at all convinced I wanted a baby?!!  Look at me now!  My whole world is you both.  Sure, there's work & stuff, but all that pales in comparison to raising you two.  I can't scarcely even begin to describe how much I love being your Mama!

it probably goes without saying, but I LOVE you guys!  My sweet babes!
Love,
Mommy

Quinn at 2YO10MO

Quinn Ryan, you are the sweetest, smartest, silliest girl! Here are some recent highlights:
- You have a huge vocabulary. You correctly use words like: comfortable, familiar, humongous, & giant excavator.
- You have a heart of gold. Yesterday, before your nap, you told Michelle you would dream about Mommy while you slept. That makes Mommy's heart soar!

Recalling the Rhythm & Routine of Maternity Leave

This one goes out to both my babes, the BabyLady & the IttyBitty ...

I was nursing you to sleep tonight, as I always do BabyTait, & thinking back to our glory days: maternity leave.   It was the cuddling & closeness that brought that time to mind.  My leave with you was quite different than my leave with your sister, just because I had both of you to keep up with!  It's really hard being a SAWM.  I never truly feel like I am giving either of you enough of me, no matter what I do.  I constantly crave more time, more affection, more attention to you.  I often actually physically crave you guys - that is how much I love & how much I miss you when I am at work.

Oh how I miss our days of maternity leave ...

Quinn, you & I would wake up, get some coffee (for me, that is =p ), & head downstairs for the news & a marathon nursing session.  One (always you) or both (sometimes me, too) of us would drift back to sleep curled up & cuddled into the couch.  Rarely did we have any kind of agenda.  Mostly, sweet little YOU were my agenda.  And I was quite happy to spend my days just like that for nearly three months, until the cold reality of work set in.  (Mommy cried for three days prior to my return to work.  Leaving you to go back to work seemed like such an insurmountable feat.  I could scarcely wrap my head around how I would get myself together & out the door on time, let alone LEAVE my precious tiny BabyLady!  Augh, just recalling that time makes my heart ache.  And now, you are 2 1/2 years old.  Beautiful, vivacious, gregarious, precocious, perceptive, & downright hilarious.  You make me smile a million times every day.  Back to my leave for a moment, what I always want to hold onto is the closeness, the cuddling, & how I had the privilege of just pouring all of myself into you.  Just you.  Already it is difficult to recall how your little face looked at that time of our lives, though I stared at  you constantly & vigilantly.  Maybe it is MommyBrain, maybe it is just the passage of time, but it scares me & makes me really sad that it is already this difficult for me to recall.  (INSERT PIX OF ME HOLDING & CUDDLING A VERY YOUNG Q)

BabyTait, it was you who brought these memories rushing back to me tonight as we sat together in the rocker in your nursery, your warm little body pressed against me, your little hand opening & closing into a half-fist stroking my stomach & side so sweetly & lovingly.  I never want to forget your face as it is today (& was as a smaller baby) either.  (Thank goodness we take a lot of photos ... Now if I could only find the time to edit them ... ).  On my leave with you, I didn't really have the "luxury" of getting to sit around & cuddle all day.  I had a toddler to mother, too!!!  We had more of an agenda this time around.  Every morning, we'd get up, nurse you, get Quinn her "oat-me-meal" & fruit & milk.  After that we'd just hang out & play & cuddle & read for a bit until I got us all dressed for the day.  Mommy would try to get you guys (& Dexter) out for walks & to the park & sometimes to meet friends out.  Our quiet time was when Quinn was down for her afternoon nap.  It was then that you & I would sneak away into Mommy's room & curl up together to nurse & snooze on my bed (for at least half of Q's nap ... until my never-ending to do list tapped me on the shoulder).  That was sort of our time, just like Q's time with just me was when you napped.  I try really hard to have one on one time with each of you, but it's not easy.  Whatever child I am NOT with, I feel guilty about leaving - even if I am leaving you with your Daddy!!  Most of all, I want to always remember & cherish our Maternity Leave as a time of love, adjustment to being a family of 4, & endless cuddles & kisses & all of the things that you & Quinn do that Mommy's heart just soar. [INSERT SOME MAT LEAVE SHOTS OF US ALL - LIKE IN JAMMIES TOGETHER & SITTING ON COUCH, MY FAVE PLACE TO NURSE)

You two make me grin ear to ear with love, with pride, & with wonder that God somehow deemed Mommy worthy of not one, but TWO, beautiful, healthy, & amazing babies.  I still have not wrapped my head around that. You two are the biggest & best blessing I could ever imagine.

All my love to both of you for always,

Mommy

Quotable Quinn 2012-4-24

Today at 4AM over a banana & a few sips of water, cuddled on the couch in the dark living room ...

Quinn (wrapping her arms around my neck): You the best Mommy I ever met!
Mommy: Oh thank you, BabyLady, you're the best toddler I ever met & I love you so, so much!

A few minutes later (finishing said banana):
Quinn (kissing me): You the best Mommy in the world!
Mommy (pulling you as close as I can): You are the best daughter ever!! You make Mommy so, SO happy!

You also told me that you'll miss me when I am at work today.  That makes me sad.  I * WISH *  I could spend more time with you!!   I do the best I can to be with you two as much as I can.  Some days, it feels like a balance.  Others, I am racked with guilt & I literally physically crave closeness with you & BabyTait.  It's not easy being a SAWM (stay-at-work-mom), it's definitely not easy.

All my love for always, BabyLady,
Mommy

Q at 2YO9MO

...

You love to play doctor
You love to play Little People & your Disney (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) characters
You love Sesame Street, especially Abby's Flying Fairy School.  Mommy begrudgingly allows television