Oh, Dear! It's Almost 2010!

That sounds like science fiction, doesn't it? The year 2010? It's hard to believe another year has gone by. We've had a lot of firsts and big anniversaries this year: first anniversary of the deaths of Louella (dear mother-in-law) and Red (adored father), first pregnancy with a baby girl, celebrating 10 years together (me and Jalal), joining our first church together, first official job as a freelance editor outside of my old company, first Thanksgiving with instant mashed potatoes . . . obviously some good, some bad. We've really enjoyed watching Quinn grow up so much this year. He is quite the little man now. It seems he is always picking up new phrases, some of which are clearly copying us, and some of which have no known origin. Recently I've heard, "Oh no, not again!," "Oh, dear" (not the expression I'm most likely to use), and "Oh my." Is it strange that my 2-year-old boy sounds like a little old Victorian lady? He also tells us, "Mama, Dada, you're funny!" Today we stopped at the restroom of the BiLo before we went grocery shopping (hey, pregnant, remember?). While we were in there, someone made an announcement over the intercom. Startled, Quinn looked up and said, "Where did that come from?!" I laughed and told him it was a loudspeaker. He said, "Oh, like a speakerphone!"

And whoever thought I would spend a New Year's Eve playing Candy Land with my son? Not only does he love to play games now, he beat me pretty bad! And thanks to his games, he learned the word "Discard!" Jalal has to work tonight, like every other New Year's Eve in recent memory, so after the Candy Land master goes to bed, I will console myself with a bubbly glass of sparkling grape juice. Woo hoo! Living it up. While there won't be a raucous good time here tonight (though I'll admit I had to look up the spelling of "raucous"), there will be much happiness and contentment with our place in this life and this world. Well, for me there will. I can't promise anything for Jalal because he has to work all night and he just got screwed over royally by an employee today. But despite all the troubles we might have and the fact that life is nowhere near perfect, we have more love than any family deserves and more blessings than we are even able to count. I'm sure the coming year will be as crazy as science fiction for us, as we learn to add another child (and a girl nonetheless) to our crazy family. I wonder where we'll be this time next year. I suspect that no matter where we are, life won't really be that much different. Though with any luck, I'll be drinking hard liquor to welcome in 2011!! Happy New Year to all. May you be blessed and have the clarity to recognize your blessings and the wisdom to thank the God who sent them to you. Love, Us.

New Year's Greetings from Quinn the Amish Pirate

Good Broccoli Night

I know I haven't given the whole lowdown on our Christmas around here, but it might have to wait. I've been busy trying to enjoy it rather than blog it. Oh, and working. And cleaning. And emptying out the soon-to-be nursery. And panicking about Maddie's due date just EIGHT WEEKS AWAY!!! Agh! Anyway, I thought I'd just update here with a few things Quinn has said lately that crack me up (though sometimes not at the time).

A couple days before Christmas, I was trying to get some last-minute shopping done for stocking stuffers. Jalal had taken the last four days in a row off, and he took Quinn shopping with him every single day. No problems. He reported that Quinn was a complete angel the entire time. I stayed home and frantically tried to meet deadline on my job. Anyway, so Jalal had gone back to work and I thought I'd take Quinn to hit Marshall's and Ross with me. I was super nice to him that day, taking him to the playground that morning with Sarah and Maureen and getting him a good nap. I made it through the first 10 minutes with only minor whining, even letting him walk along with the cart instead of sitting in it until he was ready. Then he pretty much wound down into full-scale temper tantrum. It was not one of those "I'm not getting what I want" tantrums, though. It was more like an "I don't feel good and I don't want to be here and I can't have mom thinking she can just take me somewhere and I'll behave" kind of tantrum. It was the kind where I actually picked him up and held him (though he is just over the 30-pound weight limit I'm supposed to not lift) and begged him to tell me what was wrong. It ended with me dumping the stuff I'd picked up already onto a shelf and rushing him out the store still in my arms. I say "rushing" but by the time I reached the parking lot, I had slowed down considerably as a result of the severe pain in my lower back. Now remember that I'm "slightly" hormonal lately, so by the time we reached the car, I was crying as hard as Quinn was. While I tried to calm down enough that my glasses would stop fogging up and I could drive home, Quinn started asking if he could watch Bob and Larry (VeggieTales). I was so frustrated that I couldn't get in half an hour of shopping that I pretty much cried all the way home. Quinn kept asking me, "Mama, you happy? You happy crying?" Um, no.

So, we are going through phases of no eating again. I call it the cheese and bread diet. No shortage of starch here. He hadn't eaten veggies in a few days, but I kept trying. Last night, I made him a cheeseburger and broccoli. At first, he ate the bread (big surprise). He tried to get to the cheese, but it was too melted to the meat. Then he finally ate some of the burger. Just when I was about to give up hope, I tried bribery. I told him if he ate two tiny pieces of broccoli, he could have dessert. He said, "How bout COOKIES!" Sure, cookies, I told him. About five minutes later, when I had said "Oh well, maybe tomorrow," he picked up a large piece of broccoli and proceeded to shove it all in his mouth, finishing the entire portion in about 12 seconds. Needless to say, he got his cookie, along with a second helping of broccoli (he asked for it!). I said that was a good dinner and I was proud of him. He said, "Yeah, Mama. Good broccoli night!" I'll say.

When I tried to tell Quinn about going to church on Christmas Eve and singing songs for baby Jesus, he started right away on "Rock a Bye Baby." Not a bad guess, but not quite. Before we went to bed that night, I read the Christmas story from the Book of Luke, and though he sat on his stepstool and tried to pay attention, it really was very annoying as he tried to "read" along with me. That's his new thing, trying to predict what I'm going to say and speaking along with me. Fun. He then made Jalal's reading of "The Night Before Christmas" last for about 20 minutes because he had to narrate everything happening on every single page of the book. That kid really never shuts up! He certainly inherited a lot of Langston in that respect. The other day, he had a long conversation with himself in the backseat on the way home from church. He even imitated bits of a conversation that we had with him about 3 weeks ago about jet trails looking like "two sides of a triangle" (his observation), after which Jalal or I laughed and said, "It sure does." He copies the laugh and all. Creepy.

When we opened presents on Christmas morning, he got a lot of boxes. Every time he peeled back the paper, he said, "A box! . . . about Mickey Mouse!" (or whatever he saw on the box). He opened the box to a game of Memory and said, "A box about two dragons!" It was terribly cute.

Well, that's all I'm going to write about tonight. Just a teaser. Hopefully more soon. Merry fourth day of Christmas! Love, Us.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Wow, has it really been since November 10 that I've written? That sucks. I'll try to be better. The holidays and a vacation and a lot of work have gotten in the way. I won't make this a total recap because that would be exhausting, but I'll touch on a couple of recent events.

First of all, I would like to say "hah" to all those Chinese folks whose kids can eat rice with chopsticks. Last night, Quinn managed to eat rice with a single toothpick. Strange child, I know. But at least I got him to eat rice! It was only the second time he's gladly eaten it. The first was last week in Tallahassee when he ate basmati rice at an Indian restaurant (which was fantastic!). Last night, he ate brown rice, so at least he's getting some whole grains. He used to eat tons of whole grains, but then he turned 2.

Speaking of Tallahassee, our trip was great, but too short. Quinn charmed his Auntie Trish and Uncle Wade, of course, and was in turn spoiled rotten. Big surprise. Here's a link to the pictures Trish took. Quinn sang along to Uncle Wade and Daddy playing Guitar Hero, and then he told them, "You guys rock!" He also behaved like a little punk at most of his meals, too busy showing off and messing around for his "audience." Every time we left Trish and Wade, he would ask, "Where Uncle Wade and Auntie Trish goes? Find it anywhere?" That's his new thing. "Find it anywhere?" And he puts his hands palm up out to the side and cocks his head. It's hysterical. He also spent a lot of time singing his songs: the ABC song; Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; You Are My Sunshine; and the theme song to "Wonder Pets." He also helped Uncle Wade get eggs out of the chicken coop, mimicked the rooster crowing (wish I had that on video), and "rode" Uncle Wade's motorcycle.

The day after we got back, we had to take our first baby class at the hospital, which was actually a tour and orientation of the OB floor. It was interesting to find out what they offer: baby Lojack (an alarm system that shuts down the floor if the baby gets too close to elevators or stairwells), massages for new mommies, and mom and baby rooms (for post-delivery) that are about four times as big as the one we were in with Quinn. Woo Hoo! I don't know if we'll take a Lamaze refresher course or their class called "Meet the Doulas." We'll see if we can fit them in.

Tonight is the manager Christmas party for the Marriott, so I'm trying to get ready for that as well. I found some fairly low-heeled shoes that I can fit my swollen feet into, but it was quite amusing even to me how contorted I had to get to paint my own toenails. I still need to put together some sparkly bling to distract from the fact that I'm wearing boring old maternity clothes and nothing fancy. Time to meet the bigwigs and their wives. (Not trying to be sexist, but it just so happens all of the bigwigs are male there.) Too bad I'll have to be sober. Oh well, I'm getting used to it now. But as the temps dip into the low 30s, I sure am craving a hot buttered chocolate (thanks Kaminsky's for turning me onto the blissful combo of hot chocolote and butterscotch schnapps).

I had to see a male OB yesterday instead of my female doctor. We have to struggle to find someone to watch Quinn just so Jalal can join me at some of my appointments (thank you, H1N1 scare), and when we get there, the receptionist says the doctor is doing an emergency C-section but we can come back in an hour. WTH? I know it happens, and I don't blame them, but this is really frustrating. I had to reschedule last month because we were running 10 minutes late, so that meant turning around and driving from Greenville back to Simpsonville again to pick up Quinn. Then I still had to go by myself. It's so frustrating. Anyway, I asked if I could just see someone else, and so I met one of the male docs. He was nice, and I figure you never know who'll be delivering the baby, so best meet them ahead of time.

Anyway, I better get back to work and nail polish. Duty calls! Love, Us.

Melting My Heart

Okay, this is going to be a quick blog post because I REALLY need to get back to work, but I just had to share what just happened. Quinn brought his plate from lunch (yes, he ate a late lunch today) over to me in the kitchen. I knelt down to wipe his hands and face. I washed one hand, and as I was washing the other, he reached up and stroked my hair. He smiled at me and said, "you're beautiful, Mama." This is a 2-year-old!! I came very close to crying, but held back. I just said, "Aw, thank you Quinn. That is very sweet." What a darling boy I have.

Also, I've been meaning to write about this for a week. For those of you who may judge me for taking Quinn to Snip-Its, a fancy kid's salon, and paying $20 plus tip for a toddler haircut, I would like to present Quinn's recent haircut, provided by an unnamed discount haircuttery, as justification. Not only was he twitchy around the scissors and the buzzer, he almost started crying during the haircut and was only settled by a "pollipop," which was totally covered in hair a few minutes later. Even after all that, his bangs look awful. The top is still too long, and one side of his bangs are so much longer than the rest that I've been tempted to cut them myself. If it weren't for the unfortunate time that my mom cut my bangs at a 60 degree angle, I might actually pick up the scissors. As it is, we've settled for extra mousse, creative brushing, and just plain not giving a hoot. SO glad we saved 10 bucks. Well, that's all for now. Love, Us.

Why Not?

What a crazy week it's been! I got a new freelance job a few weeks ago, but I waited a while before I received any actual work from them. Then, when it came, it came in a big rush! My first project was a 300-plus page book about minorities in Africa. It is extremely interesting and reminds me of my African lit classes in college. But the company wanted me to return 20-30 pages at a time for review, often overnight! I was trying to get used to their style and more academic writing, and I was stressed. The reviewing went well, though, and now I have until the 16th to finish the rest of the book (probably 8 chapters and a 40-page bibliography). I've learned more about endnotes in the past week than in my entire editing career!

In the meantime, Quinn had a blast at my church harvest festival, and he was the cutest cowboy ever. He played all the games, only ate one piece of candy, and learned the proper way to eat a hot dog from his father. (No, we didn't slice it into tiny, choke-proof pieces. Let it go.) Unfortunately, the next day he came down with a fever at a baby shower and was completely listless all day, which happened to be Halloween. So he didn't get to go trick-or-treating for the second year in a row! I didn't think he would even notice, he was so out of it, but when the first kids came to the door, he came over and said (so pitifully), "Quinn trick-or-treat!" Poor baby. Jalal helped by bringing home a Mickey Mouse Pez dispenser. The next morning, we went upstairs to get ready when we heard a little voice downstairs say "Trick-or-Treat" and then the sounds of little hands trying to open a Fun Size bag of M&Ms. Hmmm. We busted out laughing. It was so cute. Now he rings the doorbell every time he goes outside. Great.

His newest phrase is "Why not?" He came out with that the first time at dinner the other day, when I told him he couldn't play with "packets" (sugar packets, he likes to shake them). I nearly choked and couldn't answer. Jalal had to tell him that it was dinner time and not play time with a straight face. A few days later we had a long conversation that went something like this:
Quinn: Where Dada?
Me: In the dressing room, trying on some pants.
Quinn: Hiding wall?
Me: Yes, he's hiding behind that wall.
Quinn: Open door.
Me: No, we don't open the door to the dressing room.
Quinn: Why not?
Me: Because people need privacy in there.
Quinn: Why not?
Me: Because they are taking off their clothes.
Quinn: Why not?
Me: Because it's not polite.
Quinn: Why not?
Me: Just because!!

I would like to state for the record (and that ongoing Mother of the Year application) that I have not yet said, "Because I said so!!"

On another funny note, we were driving to church this morning, and a leaf was stuck in my windshield wiper. It was flapping away, and Quinn said, "Mama, leaf go faster!" I said, "Yes, it's going fast because we are going fast" (this was at all of about 30 miles an hour). He said, "Slow down, Mama! Slow down!" Jeez, kid! I have such a little conscience now. In his quest to be polite, he sneezed the other day and expected Jalal to bless him. When Jalal didn't, Quinn said, "Bless you Quinn!" looking pointedly at Jalal.

This other child of ours is pretty controlling already herself. I woke up the other night at around 3:00 a.m. or so, when Jalal came home from work. He was pretty worked up so we talked for a little while. Well, then I couldn't go back to sleep. All of a sudden, I was starving! Finally, after letting my mind wander all over the place, I just got up and went downstairs. I fixed myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with an Oatmeal Creme Pie and a glass of milk. After that, Maddie and I both felt better and went back to bed. Well, I had thought Jalal was asleep when I left, but he said, "Where'd you go?" I said, "I had to eat lunch." He laughed and said, "That's what I figured." Does he know me or what? My sister thinks it's funny that I called it lunch, but really, what does it sound like? Not breakfast. The child wants what she wants and all I can do is try to comply. (If I don't, I end up snacking on Tums more often than not.) Well, I have a lot of work to finish, and I'm not going to waste anymore of Quinn's naptime talking to the two of you. Love, Us.

Not Me! Monday

For some reason, I never remember it's Monday until I read MckMama's Not Me Monday blog carnival. For more hilarious stories of things we would NEVER do, not in a million years, check it out and read her and others' blogs.

I did not literally yell/curse at my child today when he specifically disobeyed me and tried to crawl through my legs while I was draining grease from ground beef in a heavy, 8-qt. sauce pot. I did not burn my arm so bad that I yelled "Dammit Quinn! I told you not to come near me when I've got hot food in my hands!!" (There goes the Mother of the Year award I was up for.)

I do not wet my pants at least twice a day, every time I sneeze. It is not so common that recently, when I sneezed and didn't wet myself, I exclaimed proudly about that fact to Jalal.

I did not have to reorganize the refrigerator to fit in a giant orange jug for collecting 24 hours' worth of my pee before my doctor's appointment tomorrow. This is not the third time I've had to do this (once with Quinn and once already with Maddie), and I did not practically roll my eyes at the lab tech who tried to kindly explain the whole procedure to me AGAIN (same girl as the last time; guess she sees a lot of pee jugs).

I did not spend 10 precious minutes with a cranky toddler at the grocery store trying to pick out snack size candy for a church harvest festival. I did not have to weigh the merits of the sale versus the coupon, all the while trying to figure out if "peanut-free candy" meant candy with no nuts in it or candy that was not processed in a facility containing peanuts.

I did not have to laugh hysterically today when Quinn (who just learned "Red stop/Green go!") said "two green gos" at a stoplight and it sounded just like "2 Gringos." I did not laugh even harder when Quinn noticed me laughing and said, "Mama, I funny."

I did not frantically spread three sheets of newspaper around Quinn's chair for our first attempt at eating spaghetti at our new dining room table. I also did not contemplate trying to force a bib on him for the first time in months. I did not settle for tucking a paper towel into his shirt collar.

On a different note: Jalal did not tell Quinn he couldn't have chocolate milk until he finished his breakfast the other day. He did not say, "Daddy gets to drink chocolate milk because he ate his breakfast," all the while knowing that the chocolate milk WAS his breakfast!

I hope there's nothing in your recent past that you wouldn't admit to on the Internet, forgetting that someday a future employer is going to discover this and decide he/she does not want to hire someone who publicly discusses wetting her pants! Love, Us.

The Purple Leaves of Autumn

The weather has been so beautiful here lately that we are anxiously awaiting a chance to go up to Asheville and see the fall foliage. It's been a tradition since we moved here (if you count one time so far as tradition). This year, we are also going to go apple picking. And tomorrow is the day!! Yay! Jalal has the day off, so off we go! The one kink in our plan is that, as of last week, the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway we like to take was closed because of some landslide or something (probably not that dramatic). Ah well. I was brushing Quinn's teeth tonight and trying to get him psyched about the trip. I said we were going to see leaves of all different colors, green, red, orange, yellow ... Quinn said "purple?" Yes, Quinn, maybe even purple leaves. Quinn says, "Purple leaves. And yellow flowers." Sure, kiddo. Whatever.

In other news, we finally broke down and bought a dining room table and chairs. We already have a very nice dining room table, but we've never had chairs, so the table basically holds all kinds of kitchenware and foodstuffs. We found a great set at a discount/unfinished furniture store here, retail $800, our price only $280!! It was brand new and matches our other furniture. I'm really hoping that this will help us get Quinn's mealtime behavior under control. I think it will be good for all of us to eat at the table like a family, without the TV on. We'll see how things go.

Maddie is kicking even more lately. I love that feeling! It seems like Maddie has just as much strength as her big brother. Well, I have to finish an edit tonight before I try to take most of a day off tomorrow. Happy Fall everyone! Love, Us.

Not Me Monday

Join me and MckMama and her many followers as we proudly deny doing anything that would embarrass us or our families.

This week, I did not stand on a playground in the rain when it was 50 degrees outside so Quinn could play for 20 minutes. I know better than to think that 20 minutes on a playground is ever enough for him, and I would rather head straight home than fight him to get him back in the car when I had had enough of cold and rain.

I did not have to give in to my husband and wear his fleece sweatshirt when it got cold. I am totally prepared to be pregnant in the fall (WINTER!) after literally planning it this way to avoid another pregnant August. I did not then complain about the mall being insufferably hot and not being able to take off the sweatshirt because my tank underneath came nowhere CLOSE to covering the belly band of my jeans.

I did not skip church on the day I was supposed to work the nursery because I had a terrible sore throat. I take care of myself and was in no way concerned about symptoms that were starting to point to swine flu, because I AM NOT PARANOID!

I did not almost support my husband in his desire to buy a baby onesie as a gift for a coworker that said "I love my Daddy [in small letters] even if he is an @$$hole" from Spencer's. I have more class than that!!

I did not have to expose most of Greenville to a screeching, red-faced, grunting child shrieking "BOBBY DIAPER MICKEY MOUSE" (translation: I'm trying to poop in my Mickey Mouse diaper") for about three days in a row this weekend. This did not include Kmart (because I don't shop at Kmart), two restaurants, the mall, Costco, and anywhere else you could imagine. My kid has NO trouble going to the bathroom.

I did not tell my 2-year-old "Fine, whatever" at least 6 times in the past week. I'm a responsible parent who doesn't talk to her child like that.

I did not encourage my sister and brother-in-law to have "good sex" on their 1st anniversary cruise in front of the child who had just finished repeating every other word I said.

There you go. As you can tell, I had a GREAT week being a responsible, classy parent and wife. Love, Us.

Okay, We'll Try It

Yuck. I have a bad sore throat and just don't feel well. As some of you may know, I have a tendency toward the dramatic, so I'm trying to play this down a bit. After reading all these horror stories about pregnant women getting the swine flu (one I read yesterday, the mom had to be put in a coma for a couple months after giving birth!), I keep reminding myself that you can just get a cold or something, too, these days. Don't worry, though. Jalal is being a little extra protective to compensate. I've gotten my seasonal flu shot and will get the H1N1 shot when it is ready, too.

Quinn is not helping. I mean, he's being okay, but driving his choo-choo train along my arms and over my head is not so restful. Neither is running his hands through my hair (only soothing until he gets stuck). But he has been really adorable lately sometimes. His new phrase is "Okay, we'll try it." I like the attitude there. It just makes him sound so mature and grown-up. And he's really sweet about asking "Mama otay?" if he thinks I'm hurt or something. His desperate need for lots of running around seems to be increasing if that's at all possible. I try to get him out and let him run around and play every day, but the weather lately hasn't been cooperating. On the one hand, the temp has dropped and it is WONDERFUL to be in the 50s or 60s. On the other hand, it is raining quite often, and there is only so much mall and Monkey Joe's I can take before I'm praying for summer again (gasp! Did I say that?). Anyway, it's tough to get him out when I don't feel good, but it's better than repeatedly reminding him we DON'T JUMP ON THE COUCH!! Well, I am going to try to get some rest. I may call in reinforcements later. You know, Nemo and Monsters, Inc. Maybe Bolt if things get bad.
Love, Us.

I Get It!

Here's how my morning is going:

Quinn: [Kicks soccer ball across the room] Where's soccer ball?

Me: I don't know. Where is it?

Quinn: There. Over there. I get it!

Me: Okay, you get it.

Repeat. And again. Sometimes it changes slightly. Occasionally when I say "Where is it?," he says "It's hiding." But the gist of the game has remained the same for quite a while now.

Could I Possibly Be Doing Something Right?

It seems impossible, but our gradual weaning of parental presence at bedtime might have been successful. For three nights now, Quinn has not cried or gotten up after we closed the door at night. This is huge! It's taken us months to get to this point. Last night was not really a success story, however. Quinn did not nap yesterday, unless you count falling asleep in the car on the way to lunch. The decision to wake him up might have been a mistake. He started acting up pretty bad later in the evening, but we had agreed to go to a small group meeting with some people from our church at seven. So I finally decided to pop a couple Tylenol, force him into his socks and shoes, and throw him in the car with his blanket. After 20 minutes of "NO," he finally settled down and played with the other kids there. However, it was a pretty late night, and we didn't get out of there until almost 10 p.m. Of course, despite his rambunctious behavior at the Beattys' house, he passed out almost as soon as we got in the car.

It was no problem to get him changed and into bed without waking him. After a trip back downstairs to collect his "arsenal" of bed buddies, I thought the night was over. I was so wrong. An hour and a half later, Quinn wakes up screaming. I expected to find him banging on the door, or at least sitting up in bed. Instead, he was still lying down under the covers, with his eyes closed. Oh, and screaming. Did I mention that? Though I hadn't seen one before, I just knew this was a night terror. I've read about them because whenever I mention that he has been waking up crying at night, they say that it might be night terrors. Let me just say that you can wonder if you've experienced a night terror until you do, and then you know for a fact that that's what it is. I had read not to wake up a child having a night terror, so I just sat next to him, shushed him, and tried to comfort him quietly. He was tossing and turning, crying, and screaming "No" over and over. Break my heart! I managed to hold it together until he started screaming "Mama! Mama!" I started crying and talking to him, telling him I was there, everything was okay. Finally I ran downstairs and searched "night terrors" on the Internet. It said absolutely not to wake them, to not even talk to them or touch them. Just stay with them and make sure they don't hurt themselves. The article I read said they can take up to a half an hour to end, and Quinn's was pretty close to that. Finally, he settled down to a whimper and then fell back into a deep sleep. I was heart-broken listening to that and not being able to help. Evidently they are more common when kids are sleep-deprived, so I'm guessing the lack of nap combined with staying up late contributed. Hopefully that won't happen again. I don't know if I can take it! Well, it's late, and you've heard our drama for the past day or so. Let me just leave you with the news that Maddie is kicking up a storm and making me so happy every time I feel her. Can't wait to see her in next week's ultrasound. Love, Us.

Hello Fall!

The weather is absolutely gorgeous here! I am loving the sunshine with the cool wind. Wish it were like this all summer, too. So it's October, right? That means great things for me: Halloween, Thanksgiving, then Christmas!! My favorite time of year. The only real downside to today is that I had to pay rent. Oh well, at least we have a place to live for another month. ; )

So now here comes the pregnancy hunger. After getting through the first 19 weeks and only gaining a pound (yay!), now I want to eat EVERYTHING! Leftover pizza goes with leftover mashed potatoes, right? Stupid Costco had a stupid coupon for a stupid pumpkin pie, too. The day before yesterday, I ate a reasonable size bowl of tomato soup, accompanied by a HUGE slab of bread slathered in butter. I kept reading the nutrition facts on the butter and assuring myself it was pretty healthy because it was Smart Balance. Hah! I must be stopped. Well, gotta go. Haven't eaten any pumpkin pie yet today! Love, Us.

P-I-N-K!!!!

It's a girl!! Little Maddie cooperated today with the ultrasound tech and showed us her girly parts!! Unfortunately, she didn't cooperate for much more than that. We got 2 pics of the "girl parts," but I don't think anyone else would see anything. No profile pics or anything. Since we couldn't get many good looks at the important stuff, the doctor has sent us to another doctor with more advanced equipment. So hopefully next week we'll have "sharable" pictures of Baby Maddie. In the meantime, we took a little trip to the outlets to buy some baby girl stuff. It was killing me! And now, for less than $50, I'm satisfied. For now. ; )

Love, Us.

Dum dah dum dum...dum dah dum dum dum!!

Hope you got the tune. The excitement is at record levels around the Halaby household, as tomorrow is the day we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl! That is assuming the baby cooperates with the sonographer. I had a dream the other night that I was pregnant with a boy, but I'm not placing a ton of faith in that because I was also sharing a hospital bed (not room, bed) with someone I went to high school with and who was injured during some military maneuver after ice skating. So you see, it didn't make a ton of sense all around. Anyway, after some debate about letting Quinn come with us to see the pictures of the baby, we decided to share him with Maureen and Sarah for the morning because it was going to take a while at the doctor. It's a good thing we did that because we got a recorded message the other night that no children under 18 were allowed in the doctor's office now since the concerns are so high about H1N1. I guess it's supposed to be much worse for pregnant women, and they still don't have a vaccine available. I'm planning to get my seasonal flu shot tomorrow at the doctor, so that's one less worry. I panicked a little this morning when I woke up with a sore threat and stuffy nose and feeling feverish. Even though I have felt feverish all day, the thermometer tells me I have no fever. Now, if thermometers expire after say, 11 years or so, someone should tell me that. If 96.8 really means 101.8, I should know that, dontcha think? So I didn't make it to Bible study this morning, mostly because of the throbbing head. Quinn and I have pretty much taken it easy all day, napping and hanging out watching movies. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. On the bright side, I had tomato soup and a bread bowl (from Panera courtesy of the Bridge church!) for lunch, and it was very nice. I got my hopes up that Jalal was going to make chili but we didn't have canned tomatoes (boo!).

Quinn is cracking me up lately with the things he says and does. He adds "and" to everything, making his list of things he must sleep with "blanket and dragon and monkey (ooh ooh ahh ahh, his words, not mine) and frog and pillow." Sheesh! It has taken this long to get online access to the pictures we took at Picture People in his cowboy. I must say, they are stinking adorable. I don't think I can share a link on here but I can send it to anyone who emails me personally. I will also try to get a few scanned in from our hard copies to post.

Here's another milestone: Last night, for the first time since we transitioned to the toddler bed, Quinn did not scream, cry, or get out of bed when we closed the door. No sitting with him, no talking through the door, just the routine, the "night night" and "I love you," and we were done. Woo hoo! Tonight, there was a minute of crying but then nothing. This would be a great help to our nighttime routine.

So since I still haven't found a new job yet, I'm going to cut this short and move on to working on the only paying work I have right now. You never know when it's gone, so I'll take advantage of it. I'll be sure to post tomorrow on PINK or BLUE! Love, Us.

Sprinkly Saturday

It's been raining a lot lately. The bad news: We have to accommodate with inside exercise. Yesterday was Monkey Joe's. God help me. I spent half the time trying to make sure Quinn didn't get jumped on by 10-year-old Catholic schoolgirls and the other half telling him I wasn't going to give him "pennies" for the arcade games.

Today, Maureen and I attempted to keep the kids up until 12 so we could take them to a party store for an Elmo visit. Quinn fell asleep on the way, but thankfully he perked right up when he saw Sarah. Though it took us about 10 minutes to get them warmed up enough to get near Elmo, soon they were hugging him all over. I told Maureen that Quinn would likely fall asleep on the way home, and boy, did I jinx myself there. He would NOT nap. Not until Jalal got home and we headed to a consignment sale did he fall asleep.



The best part about the rain lately has been frog hunting. There are dozens of tiny baby frogs hopping all over our front yard, and every time we go outside, we chase them around. I caught one for Quinn today and let him hold it, and now he keeps talking about our "froggy hands." I'll try to get a picture of that soon.

Last week, we took Quinn to Picture People to get his cowboy pictures made. Let me just say he was a hit! I thought all was lost when he started running around in circles until his eyes literally rolled back in his head and he fell over. But the photographer salvaged it. Then we had to sign a model release so they could dedicate a display wall to his photos. We spent more than we should have but less than we could have. I'll try to get a link posted as soon as I get one so everyone can enjoy the adorableness that is my child. Locals can check out the left wall of the Picture People in the mall to see the newest celebrity.

Well, this baby is kicking up a storm already. We have only another week and a half before we find out whether it's a she or a he. I can't wait! I keep seeing all this adorable baby stuff but I can't buy boy or girl stuff. It's killing me! On the bright side, I've managed a few days of just a little queasiness where I haven't had to take my pills. Maybe we're finally heading into the downslide on morning sickness. On the downside, my hips are killing me and my back is starting to ache. I haven't gained any weight so far, which I was a little worried about these past few weeks, but the doctor's okay with that, so so am I. I'll try to keep baby updates as often as I can, but I don't want this to become a litany of preggo complaints. So feel free to shut me up if I get annoying!

P.S. RIP Patrick Swayze. I love "Roadhouse"!

Oh, What a Night!

It wasn't late December and it was not a very special time for me. But last night certainly qualifies as "what a night." About 1:30 in the morning, I woke up with really bad stomach cramps. After trying to deal with it for a while, I woke Jalal and told him we needed to call the doctor's office. The nurse on call suggested we go ahead and head to the emergency room. If ever there were a time I wished we still lived in Charleston and had 30-some friends willing to help us in the middle of the night, it was this morning. But that's not our situation here yet, so we packed up Quinn and headed to St. Francis ER. After checking in and doing the preliminary tests, we were informed of their new rule (as of two days ago) that no children were allowed back into the emergency room (thanks swine flu). Jalal tried to call Maureen, but she was getting her first night of uninterrupted sleep in many weeks and didn't hear her phone. So poor Jalal was stuck in the waiting room with Quinn, who, by the way, decided that 2:00 a.m. was a perfectly normal time to get up and act like it was morning already (read: did not sleep or rest at all). I had no idea he wasn't even getting basic information about how I was doing (they were not busy, so I assumed the nurses would have let him know SOMETHING!). I was doing much better after they gave me a narcotic (well, after the initial effects--dizziness, heaviness, hysterical crying--wore off). The pain went away and I was stuck just waiting and wondering. I did have it a little easier than Jalal, since I didn't have Quinn to deal with, and since I got to hear that the baby's heartbeat was strong shortly after all the blood was drawn and tests were run. What a relief! I was so worried that something was wrong with the baby. After a couple of hours, I got the all-clear. The doctor said it was probably uterine spasms associated with the ligaments stretching. Now I trust that there was nothing else wrong, but I've felt ligaments stretching and man, was this worse! Maybe these were bigger ligaments. Who knows? Anyway, by 5 a.m., we were heading home. Jalal had left a message for my sister shortly after I went back, so I called again to tell her all was okay. Didn't want her to wake up and freak out at his message. Well, that didn't work. She only saw that she'd missed a call at 3:30, assumed the worst, listened to his message and then frantically called me to find out what happened. She was so upset, and I had only been asleep for about an hour, so I was just bleary. Anyway, after a couple more hours of sleep (or close to it), Quinn woke up raring to go. Poor Jalal had to go to work for 14 hours today while I tried to "stay off my feet." Hah! So, all is well for now. Let's hope tomorrow goes more smoothly, though we do have to handle another 2-year-old birthday party. Yikes! Love, Us.

Birthday Pictures

Okay, I was "politely" reminded by my sister the other day that I had not shared many pictures from Quinn's birthday party. It was really bright that day, so I'm afraid a few of them didn't come out great. Here goes nothing.

Quinn and Sarah playing cowboy.



Yummy cake!



Isn't Christian adorable?

I know the layout didn't come out that great, but forgive me. I'm not so good at stuff like that.
But here's a video of the birthday song and Quinn blowing out the candles.

Love, Us.

Yay Babymoon!

For those of you who don't know, a "babymoon" is the new term for a pre-baby getaway. It turns out that Jalal and I haven't even left Quinn overnight before, so we decided to jump at the chance to go away for a night while we could. The Depeche Mode concert in Atlanta on Tuesday gave us the perfect opportunity. Jalal found a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead, so it was bound to be a great night! (Sorry, they don't offer Friends and Family Rates at this location, but we got a great deal!) My friend Maureen was going to babysit Quinn but then she bailed on me (through no fault of her own). Jalal manipulated his authority at Marriott to get one of his employees off so she could watch him. She's sat for him a few times before, so we were comfortable with that. We got out of town around noon on Tuesday, checked into our SA-WEET! hotel room (on the top floor), and lounged on the beautiful 6-inch-thick pillowtop bed. Turns out they feature Bulgari toiletries, and believe you me, I took advantage of every single one. I even wore the shower cap in the shower while getting ready for the concert. Then of course, the body wash and lotion provided a lovely fragrance, and the bathrobe and slippers kept me cozy while I dressed.

We had passed a place called Twist around the corner from the hotel that said "sushi and tapas." How could we resist? After feeling uber-out of place walking through the mall of high-end shops like Gucci and Ferragamo, we were blown away by the food at Twist. Let me see if I can remember what we ate: mussels (Jalal), chicken empanada, calamari, buffalo mozzarella and cherry tomato salad, Philly roll, and for the second "course," a truffled egg salad sandwich and some fantastic sushi roll with mango and tuna around tuna tataki, which I was not supposed to eat (boo), but I cheated and ate a small piece. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it to anyone. I want to go back.

After an early dinner, we headed to the concert. It was at an outdoor amphitheater, which could have been dicey, but the weather was superb. The breeze was perfect at a time when it could have gotten hot from all the crowds. The people there, by the way, were about the most eclectic mix I've ever seen. Young goth folks, old goth folks, old preppy folks, old hippie folks, young trendy folks, a cowboy...weird. But after a lukewarm opening act by some guys, one of whom was named Bjorn (evidently they are huge in Europe), Depeche Mode came out and rocked my world. They were so good, and I knew more of the songs than I expected. I guess 10 years of indoctrination will do that to a girl. Anyway, after much screaming and clapping, they came out for their first of two encores, and began with our song, "Somebody." It was so romantic.

After the concert, we were pretty hungry (hey, it had been almost 5 hours since dinner!), and since it was nearly midnight, our options were limited. So we stopped at a gas station for Twix ice cream bars and donuts. Mmmm. I'm not a donut fan normally, but I'm blaming the baby for that one. Thanks, baby! Turns out, Ritz-Carlton does turn-down service. Whoops. Shouldn't have left my underwear on the bed! It was great though! Chocolates, water and glass on the side table, fresh towels, and the drapes pulled. Lovely way to come "home." It was so heavenly that I'm almost ashamed to admit we slept until 10 a.m.! For those of you with toddlers, you know what a guilty (and impossible) pleasure this is. We finally dragged outselbes out of bed and packed up every "Ritz-Carlton" labeled object that we didn't think we'd get charged for: stationery, water bottles, pens, notepads, mouthwash. We stopped at Fatburger for lunch. Never had that before, but it was yummy! Then we headed home. [Sigh.] It was wonderful. I missed Quinn, but not that much! Hah! Well, that's the story of the babymoon. Love, Us.

10 Signs a Child Watches Too Much TV

10. Child can identify all of Handy Manny's tools by name, except Filipe.
9. Child sang "Na na na na...Elmo World" when we pulled into the church parking lot today.
8. Child does a frenetic version of the Hot Dog dance on command, now accompanied by a (in hindsight) poorly chosen musical birthday card by his mother. (Doh!)
7. When child is presented with a stuffed Larry the Cucumber (of VeggieTales), child often requests "TB Larry!"
6. Child's mother changes the channel from Sid the Science Kid to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Child freaks and says, "Sid! No Mickey Mouse. Sid, please Mama?"
5. Child is given a magnetic art easel by child's favorite aunt. Child puts up magnetic letters one by one, after screaming out what letters they are, and jumps up and down saying, "Puzzle!!" (see #4 for clarification)
4. Child begins to ask for Wheel of Fortune ("Wheel of Chichen") after around 5:30 each night.
3. Mother has seriously considered taping Wheel of Fortune to use in behavioral emergencies, such as Sunday night at 7:00 when Wheel does not come on TV.
2. Child thinks ladybugs are called "Oso bugs," thanks to Special Agent Oso's ladybug camera.
And the number one sign that child watches too much TV is:
1. Child's father has the morning Disney Channel lineup memorized from 7:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.

The Shape of Things to Come

Forecast: Big and round.
Set calendar to February 22nd, 2010.
Taking bets: Pink or blue?

Not My Child Monday, 2-Year-Old Edition

Here I am picking back up with Not Me! Monday--with a twist. Since I'm SO perfect that I have nothing to say for a Not Me! Monday, I decided to share some of my darling child's antics. Note that said child is 2 years old now, and I am not guilty of hyperbole when I say that he has been possessed by a demon.

My dear son did not begin screaming like a banshee when my beloved Aunt Linda walked in the door to visit on Friday. He loves her, and despite refusing to say "aunt" while chanting happily "Uncles!" the last time we saw her, he would never make her feel so bad, especially when she brought him cookies as a shameless (and effective) bribe.

My beloved angel did not wake up at 4 a.m. on his birthday morning and keep me awake on his floor for an hour before I gave up and went back to my own bed. If he did, he wouldn't then start chattering to his daddy about "Dirt-day Quinn!" while my dear hubby just tried to go the bathroom in peace.

My child did not fall asleep 10 minutes before the start of his birthday party on Saturday. He is an impeccably polite host and would not crash at such an inopportune time.

My sweet baby did not spend all day at the party fussing about "bobby" so much that I had to explain (again) to everyone that he's having some bowel issues (yes, still). He did not then tear around like a ridiculously happy tasmanian devil after he got home and finally relieved himself.

My darling dear boy did not demand the right to "walk walking" in the mall with me and Grandma. If he had, he most certainly would not have stopped a few dozen feet into the mall and grab his crotch, saying "Tight!" He did not then shift his "stuff" around and say "Better" with clear relief. WTH?

Well, if any of you have children that would NEVER embarrass you in public, please share these little episodes. There's only so much chocolate I can consume to make me feel better about myself--and my child. Love, Us.

Quinn's Dirt-day!

Well, it has been quite a week. My sweet baby, Quinn, is now 2 years old. How is that possible? We were very blessed to have so many friends join us for his birthday, especially people from out of town. My mom came into town Thursday; Aunt Linda came on Friday; and the Connellys drove up from Charleston that night, too. Aunt Linda spent Friday evening teaching Quinn how to "do" his birthday: singing "Happy Birthday," blowing out candles, saying "thank you," and opening presents. It worked, but one of the side effects was that he got up at 4 a.m. on Saturday, too excited to sleep. I spent an hour trying to get him to go back to sleep, but he wasn't having it. After he woke up Jalal, too, he said to him, "Soccer ball dirt-day Quinn!" The soccer ball was his practice present the night before. "Dirt-day" is what he calls a birthday. So none of us got much sleep that night.

The party went off really well. The weather was wonderful, none of the kids melted down, the balloons and stick horses were a big hit, and the cake was adorable and delicious (chocolate with strawberry filling).




Quinn did pretty well opening a few presents. At one point, he even handed a gift to Sarah to open while he took a breather with a juice box. Now that's teamwork. All three of the 2-year-olds (Quinn, Sarah, and Christan) sat together politely while we sang "Happy Birthday." Quinn even spent a little time playing with Caleb, Leah's 7-month-old.

The evening rounded out with dinner with our out-of-towners. Jalal made an incredible Cajun meal of pork, risotto, broccoli, salad, and bread. Mmmm...yummy! Quinn was in rare form showing off, and he charmed the heck out of Barry, especially when he walked past Quinn in his highchair and Quinn said, "Hi, Uncle B!" After a great night with old friends and family, they left and Quinn decided to have his biggest freakout EVER!! I mean it. He was absolutely hysterical. Jalal finally calmed him down with a treat of cookies, which he refused to eat until Jalal also had a treat. We're going to have to talk to the doctor about that.

Anyway, amidst the delightful weekend of celebration and sugar, I also had the very trying anniversary of my dad's passing 1 year ago Friday. I hate that Quinn's birthday will always be so tied up with his death, especially when Quinn reminds me so much of my dad. Even my Aunt Linda (Dad's sister) remarks on how much Quinn looks like Dad when he was little. My sister wrote a really touching post on her blog about Dad, but I guess I am just trying to process things internally. I don't know.

So on a lighter note, Quinn's language skills are progressing at an alarming rate. In just a couple of weeks, he has gone from 3 or 4 words at a time to entire sentences! And he is so polite! Thank you, please, sorry--he never fails to know the appropriate time to use his polite words, even when he is upset or crying. He sings "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at the top of his lungs and almost word for word. He likes to sweep the floor (I got him a broom for his birthday) and cheers anything in sight--drinks, forks, belly buttons (yes, that was weird). When my mom got off the plane the other day, he popped up with a perfectly clear "Hi Grandma!" She wanted to be "Grammy," which he pronounced as "Gree-gree" (awww!) until just the other day. Then she showed up and it was "grandma." Go figure.

My birthday was a week ago, and it was delightful. Very low-key, but I got to spend the whole day with my wonderful family and I didn't have to do any dishes!! Yay! Here's to 29 and fabulous. Anyway, I know I'm overdue for a vacation post, and it's coming. I promise. In a week I won't have a job and I'll have all the spare time in the world! Ha! (Insert panicked nervous laughter here.) Just to give you a preview, there are a few pics on the left side of the page. Enjoy! Love, Us.

Bounce Bounce JUMP!

Hey y'all. I had planned to update everyone on our excellent vacation ("yay-cation" as Quinn calls it), but I lost 5 days of work, so I don't have time to spend 4 hours blogging. I will post about it soon though, I promise. To keep you excited, know that there were many hats involved, stalagmites, a pony ride, and many, many Goldfish.

Today, we took a time out from work and went to Monkey Joe's to jump, bounce, and slide. In case you are wondering, jumping is when you jump up and down on your feet; bouncing is when you jump up and land on your butt. Who knew? I hope that curbed his desire to jump for a while because I'm sick of him jumping on me.

Anyway, I better get back to work and take advantage of the little time I have while Quinn sleeps. Stay tuned for the adventures of the Halabys' road trip. Love, Us.

Fun Game--No Fun Game

This is great fun. Quinn pulls a crayon out of the box and thrusts it at me. I tell him what color it is and he says no. As in, "Blue." "No blue." "White." "No white." "Magenta." "No Genten." Yay! This is after he freaked out wanting the crayons and I said he could have them and he freaked out AGAIN: NO COLORS! For crying out loud! Ah, to be two and have the freedom to act like a nightmare for no good reason and then come kissing and hugging on your mama.

This morning, Quinn started playing around with my cell phone. He grabs it, flips it open and takes it over to his Pooh chair. He starts pushing buttons and Jalal says, "What are you doing? Don't call China." Quinn holds the phone to his ear and says, "China? Hello?" We both cracked up. Jalal said, "There you go. Put that in your Sunday Silly Stories." What? He reads my blog? ; )

Our transition to a toddler bed is really trying our patience. There have only been a couple of nights that he has slept through the night. One of us has had to stay in his room with him until he falls asleep, for every nap and at night. It is getting so old. We leave in two days for our vacation. This ought to be interesting. On the plus side, when we stay in a hotel, we always sleep in the same room, so maybe all will be well.

I made breakfast for dinner tonight. Pancakes with a booster of flaxmeal and scrambled eggs with cheese. They were pretty good, if I do say so myself. I threw a couple of pieces of broccoli and cauliflower on Quinn's plate because he's been eating so poorly lately. I thought it was a lost cause, but he ate the cauliflower right away. Hmm. Since when does he not eat green vegetables? He's had entire meals that consisted solely of broccoli! Maureen thinks Quinn and Sarah have traded places because Sarah is sleeping well, eating well, and behaving great. I just want my kid back. Granted, he can still be so sweet and funny. He loves giving big smoochie kisses (when he feels like it), and when he starts, he doesn't stop. But most of this evening I've felt like that stereotypical new mom who just wants to yell, "Why are you crying?!" Maybe the change of scenery on our vacation will do us good. Well, I should go get started on packing. I have to have everything done by tomorrow at 7 p.m. because I have to go bowling with my new league. It's much different than the last league I was on. For one thing, our team is just Maureen and me. The alley doesn't have smoking, so it much easier to breathe there. And even though it starts two hours later, it only finishes one hour later because of the smaller teams (most have three people). So, I'll post again soon. Promise. Love, Us.

Broken Child

My child is broken. Not for the first time, he awoke tonight after half an hour of sleep (or at least got up half an hour after being put down) and started screaming bloody murder. I don't know what to do about him! He has always been such a good sleeper. We had one day last week where he didn't nap. At all. All day. I nearly walked away and didn't come back. Why is he suddenly fighting it so much? I've tried rocking him to sleep but he pops up as soon as I put him down. I've tried letting him sleep with me in our bed. I've tried sitting with him in his room while he falls asleep. No luck. Grrr!
On the other hand, he did stay perfectly silent and pretty well-behaved this afternoon watching a movie while I took a nap. At one point I heard him whisper, "Shh! Duckies!" But I really don't know what the heck he was talking about.
Our new time-out chair has been working pretty well this week. The first day I thought we were screwed because he kept crawling into it and sitting there even when he wasn't in trouble. But it seems like that got old and he doesn't like it so much anymore. And he will now go over and sit there himself when we tell him to instead of us having to put him in it. Just today I told him if he didn't stop doing something, he would have to sit in time-out. He didn't wait, he just walked right over and sat down in the chair! Hopefully this will help curb the behavior problems we've been having. I'll keep you posted on our lastest exploits! For now, I better eat some dinner in case I don't get a chance to do anything else tonight because I'm busy begging Quinn to sleep. Love, Us.

Now We're Even

Earlier today, I went to get Quinn up from his nap. For a few more weeks at least, he's staying in his crib. Sometimes he is in a bad mood when he wakes up from a nap and refuses to let me get him out right away. This happened today, and as I usually do, I stepped out for a minute to give him time to miss me. I just went outside his door to the linen closet to grab a fresh crib sheet. (I just bathed him on Thursday, but boy does he stink!) He immediately started crying when I went out of his sight-line, so I popped my head back in and said, "It's okay, Mama's right here." Well, I guess he didn't expect me to be so close by because it startled him badly. He jumped and cried even harder, and he was more than ready to have me pick him up at that point. Of course, I apologized. I really didn't mean to scare him.

After a bath (did I mention stinky boy?), he was watching "Wheel of Fortune" downstairs when I went upstairs to get something. I didn't think he'd even realize I was gone, but he came running around the corner just as I hit the bottom landing. I jumped so far and said something I probably wouldn't want him to repeat at church tomorrow. I guess it's only fair!
Love, Us.

Apologies, Groveling, and Minutiae

I apologize that is has been so long since I've posted, but if you'll take a look at the top of the page, you'll see that I have been very busy nursing my Karen Kingsbury obsession. Finally I have finished the Baxter Family Drama, and what a drama it was! I did love it though, so I'm not complaining. But I realize that you, dear readers, were the ones who suffered. You poor things. Can you ever forgive me? You've probably had to pacify your funny Quinn story needs with silly YouTube videos of cats. Sorry. But now back to your regularly scheduled programming. On the subject of readers, I have now crossed the popularity threshold into two followers!! Only one of which is my sister! Yay! Thank you, 2nd follower. You've made my week. Although I have to say, I'm so glad I'm not as popular as MckMama. Give me 600 comments a day, and I promise you I will NOT read them all! Unless they each contain a pledge of $2 to allow me to forgo that silly thing I call a job.

Anyway, since I'm not at risk for massive worldwide popularity anytime soon, let us commence with the tales of my darling boy. He is quickly becoming the two-year-old I hoped he'd never be. He says "no" all the time, throws his food and drink at least one meal a day, steals crackers whenever Jalal leaves them in his reach, refuses to give me a hug and kiss at least twice a day, and has now begun jumping off the arm of the couch and climbing up the back of the couch. It is only a matter of time before he cracks his stinkin' head open. On the bright side, how do I complain about a sweet angel who loves to cuddle (when he's not trying in vain to have a BM), read books with me, play with my hair, and ask for broccoli for breakfast EVERY MORNING! He also holds hands with his friend Sarah and puts the books at the library and at church away even when he isn't asked to help. Putting away his toys at home is an entirely different story. I desperately need to vacuum, but just moving all his toys and books is so daunting!

Part of the excuse for not posting earlier this week, and failing to maintain Silly Stories Sunday and Not Me! Monday, was that Jalal had three days off in a row, thanks to a holiday for the 4th of July (not on the 4th of July, of course, since once a year on our country's patriotic holiday, Jalal is forced to entertain hundreds of beautiful young women vying for our state's highest honor [???], Miss South Carolina.) I actually think it's kind of cool that he personally knew the winner this year, the younger sister of one of his former employees. Crazy. So during the first part of the week, we went on a massive hunt for a suitable and available birthday party site. Turns out we waited just a little too long, so we didn't get to reserve our first choice, and many places were just too big and too expensive. We finally found a great park on the north side of town with a small pavilion we could rent. There is a toddler playground that is pretty nice and then a big kids playground that makes me wish I were 12 years old. It is freakin' awesome! If we still live here in a few years, we are going there to play all the time! So now that that is settled, we sent out Evites (to tech-savvy folk) and paper invites (to Nani and Grammy and so on). Now we'll see who can come! If it ends up being just Maureen and Sarah and us, so be it! Well, Quinn is awake and singing "Elmo's World" in his crib, so I had better go get him and fix him some lunch. Maybe he'll eat something besides broccoli. Love, Us.

P.S. He's also chanting "soccer ball, soccer ball, soccer ball" and saying "thank-you welcome bye!" What a trip!

Hungrios?

I tend to be a little lax about constant monitoring of Quinn when I'm trying to finish an edit. Nothing shows this better than the events of this afternoon. I guess I had forgotten to lock the lazy Susan pantry because Quinn starts bringing me items from there into the living room. First it was the salt, then fettucine, then two packets of oatmeal, then bulghur wheat. I didn't worry too much about this. I did pop into the kitchen at one point to see where he was putting them when he took them back in there. Turns out he was building a tower of boxes next to the fridge. It got pretty high. I was impressed. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse when the tower collapsed. The rigatoni box popped open and released a few pieces of pasta onto the floor. I got the boxes all packed away and the lazy Susan locked up first of all. Then I told Quinn to put the pasta in the trash, which he did. I guess maybe he palmed a piece or found another later because when I came back into the living room a few minutes later, he was chewing on a mouthful of something. He obediently spit all the soggy pasta pieces into a napkin for me, no worse for the wear. Guess he should have eaten his sandwich at lunch, huh?
Love, Us.

Not Me! Monday

No freakin' way! This is my 100th post! Can I get Emeril Lagasse to come cook for me like he did for Jon & Kate Plus 8's 100th episode? Better yet, can I get my hubby to come home and cook for me instead of working? Okay, enough chit-chat. It's Not Me! Monday, the day of the week where I get to DENY all my shameful deeds. Maybe I'm not the worst mommy in the world, but sometimes I think I'm in the running! Just kidding. I didn't DO any of these things!

I did not discover Quinn playing in the toilet this week, swishing around a baggie filled with trial sizes of diaper cream and hand sanitizer. Not only do I ALWAYS keep a close eye on my dear child, but if I did catch him at something like that, I wouldn't freak out. I would calmly explain that we don't play in the toilet.

I did not have to discreetly dispose of our frog. This was not the third living creature that has traveled from the acquarium to the toilet. I have not completely given up any hope of pretty semi-tropical fish, nor do I think we're going to have to continue to restock the giant acquarium with more starter fish.

I am not newly obsessed with the show "Dance Your Ass Off." I don't compare myself with them and think that I am such a better booty dancer than any of those black girls.

I did not go to the grocery store THREE times in THREE days. That is a total waste of my precious time and completely unnecessary, since I'm a totally put-together mom who never forgets items and always plans ahead for meals.

I am not barely getting in my Not Me! Monday post less than an hour before midnight. I am so well organized that I do have to squeeze "important" things like blogging into my "I'm so freakin' tired my eyes are scratchy and I can barely hold my head up" nighttime schedule.

Well, those are the things I did NOT do this week. Can't wait to see what next week brings! Love, Us.

It Could Have Been a Great Day

Jalal had the day off, and I didn't have Bible Study today, which means I had the day off, too. Trish had given us a couple of coupons for Cheesecake Factory, which we love but don't live anywhere near. So we literally drove to Buckhead in Atlanta for lunch. Our plans were to stop in Commerce at the outlets on our way home. First of all, our server at CF was not very friendly. She treated us like crap, I think because of Quinn, who by the way did not cry at all and barely fussed. He spent a lot of time playing peekaboo, blowing kisses to a fly buzzing around us, and saying, "Cheeseburger Fries!" in a super chipper voice. She let both mine and Jalal's teas sit empty for a lot longer than is acceptable. She was just not a good server. So Jalal tipped accordingly, which is still not that bad for most people. On the bright side, our food was awesome, and a piece of cheesecake layered with chocolate cake was a nice (completely unnecessary) ending.
Jalal was interrupted during our meal a couple of times. First the background. Jalal's bar and restaurant have both gotten fantastic ratings lately and are ranked pretty high up in the company standings. He decided (and his bosses agreed) that they deserved a treat. So they've planned a whitewater rafting trip. Because there were enough banquet folk agreeing to fill in for them, Jalal didn't have to call in corporate reinforcements. These interruptions started when the banquet captain decides she doesn't want to work tomorrow night. Yeah, tomorrow. Talk about last-minute! So she doesn't even call Jalal to tell him; she just tells one of her supervisors that she is trading the shift with another bartender, who doesn't even know the computer system! It's just a little ridiculous that people will come out and OFFER to do something and then change their mind when it's too late to get anyone else in to do it. The second interruption was the news that the supervisor closing tonight was throwing up. So, here we are in Atlanta at noon and Jalal has to figure out how to get to Spartanburg to work that evening. Another girl agreed to stay late, we spent about an hour rushing through the outlets, and then I ironed while Jalal shaved and dressed. He had just enough time to swing by the dry cleaners to pick up his suitcoats. Of course, since he was off today, we took them ALL to the DC this morning, dropping them off at 9:30, plenty of time before the 10:00, same day deadline. Since they didn't close until 7, and Jalal made it at 6:45, he was feeling pretty good. Until he pulled up and the employee turned off the lights and said, sorry man, we're closed. Jalal was livid, to say the least. He said, no, it's not seven, please go back inside and get me my suits. But the computer is shut down! Then start it back up. The guy does go inside and start up the computer, asked Jalal his phone number, and looked up the order. Then he informs Jalal that his clothes aren't cleaned; he only tagged them at 3:30. Hmmm. Can you imagine the emotion going on inside Jalal? I can. He gave the guy a piece of his mind about the fact that his clothes were supposed to be done by 5:00, that he was on his way to work at that moment, and that he needed them to keep their end of the bargain. After saying that we'll be taking our business elsewhere, he told the guy he wanted his clothes back. So the man hands him his bag of coats. Jalal says, "are they all here?" The man says, "Of course." So Jalal opens the bag to find one coat missing and a pair of pants that did not belong to him. Seriously? Well, he can't go to work without a jacket, even on his night off, so he had to wear one of the dirty ones. I can't tell you how ticked off he was. What a stinking day! It was supposed to be so much fun! Oh, and I didn't finish my edit until 11:30, on the road, and we couldn't find a single place to steal wi-fi from, so that didn't get returned to my boss until after close of business. Crummy all around. Thank God there was cheesecake! Love, Us.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not slack off yesterday and not post a "Sunday Silly Stories" post. Because I am always diligent and know how much you look forward to me writing. Ha!

I did not look at my watch three times during the sermon at church, which was good and even funny, but really long and rambling.

Quinn DID NOT literally pee on the floor at Walmart yesterday. I ALWAYS check his diaper after church, so that wasn't the issue. I noticed his pants were damp after lunch, but I let Jalal convince me it was probably water or drool. When I realized at Walmart how wet he was, I took him immediately to the bathroom at the front, only to find it closed for cleaning. Do I rush back to the bathroom at the back of the store? No, I catch up with Jalal, who stops to look at cell phone cases on the way. In the electronics aisle, Quinn, sitting in the cart, looks at me and says, "Bobby." Oh, really, honey? Is that what's running down your leg onto the floor? And thank God I had a cloth diaper in his bag to mop it up with. Of course, I had a backup outfit. I would never push my poor child through Walmart with no pants on. Not Me! I have never felt like such a redneck. Whoops! Guess that'll teach me.

I did not take a picture of Quinn's no-no, when he stole a bite of chocolate cake as I was making cake balls last week, all the while trying to keep a straight face and say, "No! That is a naughty thing to do."


So, yesterday was Father's Day. We had a very nice day. Cards to wake up to, a digital picture frame, and a specially made Boston Cream Pie from Strossner's. Jalal almost messed up all my plans by coming home after three hours at work because he'd hurt his back. So I had to convince him to stay home while I went out to Target (and Strossner's) and then had to sneak the cake and the present in from the car and hide them both while he's lying on the floor in the living room. In all, it was successful, though. Well, that's enough for today. Love, Us.

Sweetest Bedtime Ever

This is short, but I just had to share. I just put Quinn to bed, and he's been a little sick with a cold, so we've had our ups and downs this week. But after he cried for some unknown reason while I was dressing him, he settled down for a book and cuddle. Then, as I was turning out the light, he pointed to the clock and said, "Eight!" I asked if he wanted to count one more time before bed, and he said, "One, two, three, four, five, six, W, X, Y!" Hmmm. So close. I don't know how to get him to say "Seven" and not "Sevel-you" or "W." I just laughed and hugged him and told him how great he is. What a sweet way to end the night.
Love, Us.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I DID NOT put my sweet angel down to bed super early last night so I would have some extra time to myself. If I did, I would not first read a chapter of my book while he played in the bubble bath by himself (I was sitting right there, so don't call DSS!).

I did not stay up until almost midnight last night trying to finish an edit because I DID NOT create a schedule for the whole week to keep me on track with all three of my jobs this week. That would be incredibly anal and Type A, which is my sister and maybe my husband, Not Me!

My husband and I do not (truthfully) tell people that Quinn learned all his letters from "Wheel of Fortune." Good parents don't let their kids watch "Wheel of Fortune" every night since they were babies.

I did not drive 15 minutes away to go to the "good" playground ("good" because it has big swings for parents and I'm NOT lazy) only to pack it up and leave after it started raining 10 minutes later.

I did not reward myself for half an hour on the exercise bike by eating a third of a pint of B&J pumpkin cheesecake ice cream--out of the container!

I did not subject the whole Mauldin Public Library, including 40 innocent children, to me in shorts today--just to get some "use" out of my shaved legs! Not me!

Love, Us.

Sunday, No Stories

Yeah, I don't really have the energy for a long post tonight. I tried to post a video but for some reason it always fails. Does anyone know how to post a video on a blog? Anyway, this is a busy busy week for me, so I may be out of commission for a bit. I hope that's okay.
Love, Us.

The Most Pitiful Boy in the World

Currently, the owner of that title is lying on the floor in front of me, crying over and over, "Pretzels? Please?" I've told him he can have pretzels if he sits in his highchair (they were already part of his lunch, so I'm not giving in). You'd think I was the worst mother in the world. He woke up asking for milk, and I brought him some when I went to get him. See? I'm nice!

On a more pleasant note, Quinn is starting to speak in more complete "sentences," like "Mama car," "Daddy car," and today, "all gone milk." Jalal's been working on him saying "my," like "my shoes." He's had a hard time with that, but when I got him up from his nap just now, he screwed up his face (he looks like he's concentrating so hard) and said, "My diedit (diaper)." I was so proud of him!

Maureen and her family (mom, dad, and little brother) all watched Quinn last night so Jalal and I could go on a date. It was great. We saw "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" and ate at Saskatoon, a wild game restaurant. (In case you were curious, I had a sampler of lamb, duck, and beef, not crazy wild. Jalal finally decided on buffalo ribeye over the kangaroo, since they get kangaroo in more often than the buffalo ribeye.) Their wine list was good, too. We had to decide between two of our faves: Erath pinot noir and J. Lohr Twelve Oaks cabernet (J. Lohr won). All was delicious, and the movie was very funny. Matt McConoughey (sp?) lives up to his reputation again, though he looked a bit over-tan and rugged this film. We drove through a crazy fast storm on our way to the movie. I expected the cow from Twister to fly by any minute. Seriously, we saw a trash can, a baby carriage (empty, in front of a Goodwill), and a billboard (just the paper part) fly past us. A giant American flag was ripped halfway off the pole, and most of Haywood Road was without power after a power pole broke in half! I couldn't get close enough for a picture of that, but it was crazy! Our date must have been meant to be because the restaurant was just one building away from where the pole snapped and therefore kept electricity. When we went to pick up Quinn, he was not at all interested in leaving with us, saying "NO!" and clinging to Maureen when I tried to take him. Sheez kid! He did eventually come with us, obviously, but I guess that means he had a good time. Except randomly on the way home, he started to say "cheeseburger and fries." Hmmm.

Well, I have to have to have to finish my edit before end of day today. Tomorrow we go to Athens for our friends' daughter's 2nd birthday. And next week, I make my catering debut with cake balls at Maureen's sister's rehearsal dinner. Wish me luck!
Love, Us.

How Does Your Mind Work?

I often think of this question in relation to Quinn. For instance, he woke up this afternoon from his nap, and I didn't get him up right away. I usually let him wake up fully to minimize the drama when I go in there. I listened to him on the monitor for a while. The first thing he does is start singing, "Elmo's World." After that, he moves on to saying "shower" over and over. He's lately obsessed with showers and wants to take one all the time. Instead I took him to the pool. Next best thing, right? It was the perfect day for it, pretty warm but not blazing hot. The pool was cold but not frigid. Quinn would have gladly stayed a couple more hours, but when the sun hid behind the clouds, I was ready to head home. But we did meet a nice family there. Maybe we'll run into them again. The mother was really sweet and gave me some pointers about teaching Quinn to swim. Their 3-year-old girl loved Quinn and dragged him around with her.

I have to admit, I've been really lazy unmotivated about work the past two days. I just want to sit around and read for pleasure, or watch Quinn kick a soccer ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't pay the rent! I guess I better get my butt in gear, huh? I'm halfway through my Praxis project, so I'm right on schedule for that, but after Quinn's medical "issue" Friday and my being less than diligent the past two days, I'm kind of behind with my other work. I guess I better step it up. Thursday Jalal is off, and we are having a date night, going to an early movie and then dinner at Saskatoon, a wild game restaurant we've been wanting to try since we moved here. Quinn is going to spend the evening with Maureen and Sarah. Well, this certainly isn't helping me get my work done, so toodle-oo! Love, Us.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I DID NOT drop and then pick up a piece of bacon from the floor and shrug, thinking it was dry so it probably didn’t pick up anything much. That would be disgusting.

I have not gone to McDonald’s so often that Quinn yells out “fries” when he sees those golden arches. However, even if I did go that often, I would be proud to admit that he still wants apples (“appits”) and doesn’t even ask for one of my fries, which is good, I mean, if I had any. And, again, if I did go, I would at least pride myself on the fact that he has never repeated a Happy Meal toy. That’s a good sign, right?

I do not regularly let Quinn forgo pants sometime after around 3:00 on most days, when I’m too lazy to put his pants back on after a diaper change. He’s not a baby anymore, so I always make sure he’s impeccably dressed.

I did not taunt my child with a cup of milk to get him to go upstairs, holding it a couple steps ahead of him like he was a horse and it was a carrot. That’s just manipulative.

I did not help dislocate my child’s elbow on Friday trying to hold onto his hand while he swung around me like a deranged monkey. Just about an hour before that, I did not accidentally knuckle punch him in the temple, swinging my arm around to catch an endcap of toothpaste containers before he swept them onto the floor and catching his head in the process. My poor baby!

I did not have to edit my post from yesterday because I said Quinn's new puppy had a peace T-shirt when he really has "guitars rock" pajamas. I pay way more attention to the things I purchase than that.

Here's hoping that next week I have nothing to deny! Love, Us.

Sunday Silly Stories

So I really intended to blog more often this week than just Sunday and Monday, but other things just always seem to take precedence. We've had some interesting things this week. First and foremost, I had to take Quinn to the doctor's office Friday because he dislocated his elbow. I ran some errands that morning and had plans to meet Maureen and Sarah at Stevi B's for a cheap lunch. Quinn was doing pretty well all morning until we had to wait an extra 20 minutes for Maureen because one of her work supervisors went postal on her. I walked him around the dollar store to kill time and he started to tantrum as we were leaving. He dropped to the floor and started pitching a little fit. I swooped him up and carried him next door to take him to the bathroom. We went up to the front of the restaurant to wait. I held onto his hand to keep him from running crazy since he had gone from tantrum mode to silly mode. He swung around and dropped to the floor, still holding my hand. The next thing I know, he's crying and saying "hurt, hurt" while hilding his right arm. I thought he had just strained his shoulder or something, but he wouldn't stop saying that his arm hurt. Even more telling than that was that he ate lunch entirely with his left arm and wouldn't lift his right arm even to hold his drink. I called the doctor's office as soon as I got to the car, but they couldn't see him until 2:30, almost 2 hours later. I just started home, hoping he would be able to take a nap first at least. Well, he fell asleep in the car just before I got home, so I turned around and drove to the doctor's office. I didn't want to hurt him worse by trying to carry him inside and then taking him back out, so I just parked in the shade, rolled down the windows, and read a book (thank God I hit the library that morning!) until it was time for the appointment. Poor thing woke up once and immediately said, "Hurt" in the most pitiful voice before falling back asleep. When I took him inside, he was sopping wet from sweat and miserable every time he moved his arm. The doctor said his injury is called "nursemaid's elbow" and very common. He manipulated his elbow and said he felt it pop back in. He said it would probably be good as new in 2 minutes. I held Quinn while he cried and refused the doctor's offer of a lollipop. But, sure enough, two minutes later, he reached out with his right arm and popped that lollipop in his mouth. For the first time in an hour and a half, he said something other than "hurt." He looks up at me and says, "Hi Mama!" From then on, I couldn't tell there was anything ever wrong with him. Crazy! I've been assured by numerous other moms who've done this that I'm not in the running for worst mom of the year award. It's still hard not to feel crummy about it.

I wouldn't say this was to make up for that situation, but today Quinn got his first Build-A-Bear, a puppy he named "Bryce." Well, he just wanted to call him "Puppy," but I let him type some of his favorite letters on the computer to fill out the Birth Certificate. He came up with "BBRYDWE" or something like that. We "adjusted" it to the next closest name we could figure. As great as Quinn is at his letters, "BBRYDWE" is pretty hard to pronounce. He loves his puppy Bryce and got him a pair of electric guitar pajamas. It's a rite of passage now it seems for a kid to go to Build-A-Bear. So, now without further ado, here are a couple of silly stories.

Quinn has started to add “O’s” to his words unnecessarily. Hungry becomes hungry-o, cookie becomes cookie-o, happy becomes happio, yogurt (yogi) becomes yogi-o, etc. It is very funny to me. I knew I shouldn't have given him Cheerios the other day. Now I'll stick with the Kix. We've done more cereal than anything lately since our toaster broke. We got it for our wedding, and if I'm not mistaken, toasters have gotten a lot more expensive in the past four years. Geez! Looks like we might downsize to a two-slice toaster. Then we'll get back to toast, bagels, and frozen waffles. Speaking of which, I made breakfast for dinner the other night, which I loved when I was a kid. I swear I made the best pancakes I remember ever having. I wanted to make "MckPancakes," a super healthy recipe posted by MckMama, but I didn't have bananas. I had all the other crunchy granola ingredients, like flaxseed oil, flax meal, almond butter, etc. but no bananas. So I just dropped in a spoonful of flax meal in the pancake batter. I loved them, and I'm trying to sneak some healthy ingredients in foods as often as I can. Anyone with ideas (not drastic, I don't want to freak out Jalal), please let me know! (Boy that was quite a tangent, wasn't it?)

I get the hiccups really bad sometimes, so bad that it hurts a lot. Unfortunately, it sounds really loud, almost like I’m burping. Well, the last couple of times I’ve had them, Quinn has been around and thinks it’s funny. Now he’s started making fun of me. He thinks it’s hysterical; I don’t think it’s quite so funny. Even days after I get a bout of hiccups, he still walks around making fun of me.

OK, well, gotta go. Hope y'all are enjoying the Tonys, too! See you tomorrow for Not Me! Monday. Love, Us.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. I myself have been a perfectly perfect mom in every way.

There were a lot of things I didn't do this week! For one thing, I did not put my silver hoop earrings on Quinn just to see how pretty he looked. But if I had to NOT do it again, I wouldn't tell Jalal about it and then never hear the end of it. Good grief!

I did not take video of Quinn going to the bathroom while standing in the living room (in his diaper of course) just because it was so funny how he says "Squeeeze!" while doing it.

I did not try to get Quinn to go barge in on my sister and brother-in-law in their room so I could go back to sleep for a little while.

I did not pout just a little when I lost (by a lot) EVERY SINGLE game of cards we played this weekend. I did not make a bunch of jokes about my lameness to cover up my poor sportsmanship.

I did not stay up so late every single night for a week that my eyes constantly feel like they are covered in Elmer's glue!

I did not share snarky comments with my sister about how going to a water park makes us feel so much better about our bodies because there are so many HUGE people wearing tiny and/or inappropriate bathing suits.

I did not abandon my family to prepare dinner alone while Trish and I stopped by the pool on the way home from the water park, just to enjoy water deeper than 3 feet, 6 inches. I did not feel mad when said dinner was still waiting for me to help prepare when we got home. And then I did not send my husband out to get basil for my tomato pie because I had forgotten to pick it up earlier in the week.

I did not allow Quinn to eat ice cream in his stroller without a bib at the hot air balloon festival last week, resulting in the image below. If I had, I would certainly have washed and spot-treated the shirt immediately upon our arrival at home. It would not still be sitting on the washer waiting for a load of Quinn's clothes. Not Me!


So what have you not done this week? Love, Us.

Sunday Silly Stories

Good evening, dear readers. I have to admit this is only a tiny sampling of the many silly stories we've experienced this week, but my sister and brother-in-law have been here the past couple of days. Along with my job(s), housework, email communique, and sleep, my blogging has suffered. Maybe next week I'll hit y'all with an expanded version of everything Trish can remember from this weekend--or I'll pull a Wacky Wednesday post out of my hat.

I was reading a bedtime story to Quinn the other night after just discussing with Trish how we’ve gotten out of that habit (I know, I know, bad mom). He picked a book that my mom gave him that was the story of Genesis. We got to the part where God creates the day, and Quinn reaches over, closes the book, and says “Amen.” I guess that means we’re done.

I was making dinner the other night and obviously Quinn really wanted to be close to me because he wouldn’t leave the kitchen. I gave him a wooden spoon to beat on his bowl and instead he pretends to eat something out of the bowl with it. I suggested he feed George (his stuffed Curious George, thanks Aunt Linda!). So he set George in his folding Mickey Mouse chair and started to pretend to feed him with this long wooden spoon. He even made “Yum Yum” sounds. It was so cute! Once George was full, they both lay down on the kitchen floor flat on their backs. Weirdo.

We have recently started to allow Quinn access to the kitchen more and more. We’ve put locks on the fridge, oven, and lazy Susan cabinet, so that helps. I’m being very careful to keep the handles turned inward on pots and pans and warn him that the oven is hot (even when it isn’t, y’know?). The other day, he came in while I was cooking and got near the oven. I said, “Don’t touch, that’s hot.” He said, “Hot,” and then leaned over and started blowing on the oven door. Hah! We’ve always taught him to blow on his food if it’s too hot, so he was making the connection. It just cracks me up that he would try to cool down the whole oven by blowing on it.

In other kitchen escapades, I was chopping veggies for dinner one night. I didn't have any appliances on, so I wasn't paying much attention to Quinn. He started saying "hot, hot, hot." Immediately I panicked a bit, wondering what he could have gotten a hold of. I turn around to see this:

A hat. Duh.

In other news, Quinn is loving having his aunt and uncle here. He asks for "Uncles" all the time and would rather be holding Trish's hand than mine. But he won't call her Trish (even though that's who he talks to when he pretends to talk on the phone, even handing the phone with "Trish" on it to the actual Trish). He has started calling her either "me" or "mine." Hmmm. When I say, "Is that Trish?" he says, "Trish?" Then he looks at her and say, "Oh, Mine." What? Why?

Okay, time for bed. Love, Us.