Today is my LAST DAY to get to the next Level of Scentsy!!
If you've been debating buying anything - PLEASE do it by midnight!!
There are SO many cute warmers and the new spring/summer scents are out!! (I recommend Skinny Dippin', Jumpin Jelly Bean, and Surfer Chick - those are my faves!!)

Order here:
https://ashleylocke.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy?partyId=74077183

Spring Break 2012!

It's Spring Break here in Idaho!!
This is Paiton's first, official, Spring Break! No school and no dance! LOTS of time with Mom and Quinn! While we were discussing what Spring Break is I mentioned that it's a break from school to do fun things. So, naturally, Paiton wanted to know what fun thing we were going to do each day. Hmm...fun things to do with 2 babies, 1 mommy, and bad weather....
So....here it is! The start of our Spring Break - 2012!

Ok this picture has nothing to do with Spring Break, but it's funny. Sunday it finally hit like 60 degrees here, and you'll see that when it hits 60, Idaho kids dress for summer!

 Ok - Monday! 

Paiton had been begging (seriously, begging) to go see Ema and Grandpa for a few days. I wish she didn't have to beg - I mean they live like 4 seconds away! But we are always so busy that I have to plan ahead. Monday was our day! We headed over to Ema and Grandpa's house for lunch, coloring, and game playing. We had fun like we always do! It's SO nice having them so close, we love our time with them!!

{When Paiton was a new baby and I had really bad Post Partum Depression, I would drive from Nampa to Meridian to hang out at their house almost every day. Paiton developed such a great bond with them and they are amazing to us. I'm so thankful that they are here and so close to us. They are amazing people and I'm so glad my kids get to know them so well and love them so much!!}

Sweet Grandpa reading stories to Paiton 

 Quinn jumping!

 Tuesday!! 

Tuesday I woke up with easily the worst headache of my life. It was pounding in my eyes, my ears, and down my neck. I was so nauseas I could barely function. My sweet husband cleaned the kitchen, brought me Tylenol (can't take anything else because of nursing...grr...) and rubbed it out of my neck! 

I started to feel a bit better (as in able to care for my kids without wanting to fall over dead and claw my eyes out, but not "good" by any means) so Matt went to work. Paiton reminded me throughout the morning that I had promised her a trip to the library. So we packed up and headed out! Paiton LOVED the library (poor kid, we got cards like 3 months ago and haven't been back) - as I knew she would. She's a bookworm like her mom and dad. She picked out some books and a movie and had a hayday exploring! I didn't take any pictures - oops. I was wearing Quinn in the Ergo and trying to carry Paiton's books while she ran from exciting place to exciting place! 

After nap time that day it was time to grocery shop. Ugh.

My poor kids. 

This is how we roll:

(Yes, that's Paiton under there. Yes, she hates going grocery shopping for this reason. BUT I refuse to be that annoying parent that lets their toddler walk through the store and get under everyone's feet and be in the way. AND I don't wear Quinn while shopping usually because it makes everything take longer and is hard on my already bad back to bend down and get stuff while wearing him! So, my poor child gets buried!) 

Wednesday!! 

That's today and I haven't posted pictures yet, but I will share with you what we did! 

I powered through naptime making 17 work phone calls so that I could have the afternoon to enjoy with the kids. I took them to U-Swirl and we got frozen yogurt - delicious! Then we headed to Ceramica for their Wednesday special - preschoolers paint free! Ok, so this enticed me in, and I didn't realize it would still cost a small fortune for us to paint together. It was WAY too expensive for my liking considering I had to wear Quinn in the Ergo, it was nap time, he was not comfy, Paiton needed help painting, I had my own thing to attempt to paint with 0  hands, and it was PACKED b/c of Spring Break! We still had a lot of fun, but next time I think it will have to be without Quinn or with an extra set of hands. There aren't many things that I can't do with a baby or two in my arms, but turns out painting is one of them. ;)  

I will update with those pictures and what the last two days of Spring Break holds for us (because....uhh...I gotta figure it out first....)

I'm trying to be better about blogging about our day-to-day life; something I excelled at with Paiton but am failing at with Quinn. I could blame it on a million different things, but it doesn't matter. Above all else it's important to me that I remember these days, these  moments, these faces of my cute kids!!

[{Field trip to the Fire Station!}]

A couple weeks late, but better than never!

 Paiton looked forward to this field trip for weeks. She was SO excited it was ridiculous. She kept talking about her Uncle Brian being there and I had to remind her that he's a fireman in California. 

However, once they pulled up in their school bus and got out, Paiton got VERY apprehensive. She was near tears. For some reason she was convinced that she wold be put in the firetruck and driven off! Where that came from I have NO idea but she was scared! She kept glancing back at Quinn and I to make sure we were still there!

 The firemen and ladies just loved my petite baby and the firelady took good care of her, giving her shoulder rides! {So sad that you can still see the worried look on her face!}

 As luck would have it, about ten minutes into their field trip the firemen got called out and had to leave! But the kids thought it was cool to watch the truck rush off!

 This was the week Matt was out of town and Kathy had invited us to lunch at Red Robin! After lunch Paiton modeled her new hat and balloon! 

 Paiton modeling one of my favorite outfits one morning before school.

 Paiton requested an interesting breakfast one morning: turkey, goldfish, and oranges.  And she ate it in an interesting place - under the couch!

 Sleepy Quinn! He has to wait to take his morning nap until we get sister dropped off at school!

 After 4 days and 4 nights of battling with Paiton about sleeping I did what you should NEVER do when sleep training a kid and gave in. She was so exhausted, I was so exhausted, it just wasn't good. I let her nap in my bed and she took a really good and long nap. We both felt better afterward.

Quinn is accosted by dogs at every meal. He learned quickly that he can feed them and he thinks it's hilarious to do so.

Paiton likes to "wear" my kitchen towels as dresses.

I LOVE this chubby baby!

Just one of those days....

Today is

just one of those days. 


I was up all night.all night. with Paiton. She is not doing well in her own room at night. She falls asleep ok, and then is up every 30 minutes all night long. Last night she was up from 2-4 in addition to every 30 minutes. It's hard. It makes my eyes burn and it makes me emotional to sleep in increments of a few minutes.
Today is hard too. She's tired so she's emotional as well. Both kids are taking naps right now. THANKFULLY.
My mom brought me flowers to cheer me up, it worked. Writing in italics helps, too. 

Last night Paiton and Kylie bonked heads and Paiton was crying and had a red spot on her head. She asked us "Can I have a chocolate for my troubles?"
HA!! Seriously, how rad is my 3 year old!? I wish she were the funny/mature/wise-beyond-her-years about sleeping too.

This too shall pass. 




Right??

And he stands!

Quinn made a HUGE leap of improvement this morning!! As we all know he is super hesitant to bear weight, wouldn't stand for a long time, and recently would stand for a few seconds only if we held him by the hips or under the armpits. Well this morning he was SUCH a big boy!! I held him by his fingers and he stood STRAIGHT!! (He usually stands bent at the hips.) He didn't pull himself up, but he did stand after I stood him holding onto only my fingers!!! Yay Quinnerman!!!!

And just because a post isn't complete without pictures:

These two are so in love with each other. (Paiton likes to say "We're true to each other." Not sure where that came from, but it's so cute.) 

They're constantly making out.

 We have been patiently awaiting the opening of the new Rosauers in Meridian. We headed out there yesterday and met Matt on his lunch break to check it out!! Just as awesome as we thought it would be! 

 Just doing a little stretching before ballet.

 Love this girl

Before I post this I just want to say that I'm feeling very humbled. I gripe and grumble about how hard our day to day life is and all the travesties it brings - no down time, babies crying, baths to give, work to do, diapers to change, pictures to edit. Matt takes my car in to have a tire checked out and ends up having to buy 4 new tires because mine (on my brand new) are shot and unsafe {{yeah, that was our morning - me in tears and Matt spending hours at the tire store. Fabulous}}

It all seems so tiny in comparison to news that I've heard twice in the last week of babies being taken way WAY too soon. I am so blessed to have these two beautiful, perfect, and healthy babies and I'll take anything else the world can throw at me. I'd rather never sleep again than to have something happen to one of them. I'm sick to my stomach reading updates on facebook and blogs about these babies. My thoughts are with their families (those poor, poor, poor mothers) and I am so thankful for my family.

Sorry for the downer, now on to my amazingly beautiful children. :)

Paiton had a field trip to the firestation last week! (I'm so behind on posting actual pictures that aren't from my phone!! I promise to get to them!) The field trip was cut short when the firemen had to take off because they got a call, but not before the kids got these awesome hats! 

When Paiton wears hers she is Ember Flicker Flame (a Lalaloopsy girl that is a fireman {firewoman? woman fireman? firelady???). BUT...when she puts the strap in her mouth she tells me that she has braces and her name is Jeanie. 

Paiton: Hi! I'm Jeanie

Me: Who's Jeanie?

Paiton: I am. 

Me: Where did you come up with that name?

Paiton: Well my mom and dad gave it to me.

She really stays in character.

 Quinn is a crazy man in the bath tub. He learned he can dunk his face and thinks it's hilarious. I don't. 

The other day he looked at me, smiled, and then dove head first into the water!! I scooped him up ASAP, he choked for a minute, then laughed. I'm not ready for a boy!!!! 

{Speaking of scary stories - Paiton choked SO badly the other day on a Super Looper. (Fruit Loop) She was choking so badly that it was silent, she couldn't make a sound, couldn't ask for help, couldn't even cry. I wouldn't have known had I not glanced over to see her struggling on the couch. She had wet her pants and was in full on panic mode. I grabbed her, threw her over my shoulder, and pounded her back - at the same time she coughed it up. We sat and cried on the floor together for awhile. So scary, never glance away from your kids while they're eating!!)

 Paiton has sleep problems. WHAT!? This is brand new information!! ;) 

Ok, Paiton sleeps ok in our bed. Still has night terrors, but is easily and quickly consoled and back to sleep. So we've been trying to get her to her bed now that Quinn is a sleeping champion. We got creative one day and I made her this chart. It's pretty fancy in real life and Matt has requested one of his own. ;) The stars are sewn out of felt and have velcro on the back - if she lays down and takes a nap in her bed, she gets a star. If she goes to sleep at night without a fight in her own bed, she gets a star, and if she sleeps in there all night - she gets a second star, for a total of 3 possible stars per day. When she gets all 5 she gets a new Lalaloopsy. :) It's a...struggle...full of crying and no sleep (good thing I'm used to it) but I'm hopeful we'll make progress. :)

 Paiton wanted to paint a birdhouse the other day, she did great. She has great small motor skills!

 Quinn is still not interested in standing, pulling to stand, or crawling at.all. Lazy boy. I know the doctor told me not to worry or push him, but I am pushing him. ;) 

If I stand him he will stand on his own for up to about 5 seconds! That's a HUGE improvement for our little Quinn!! A few weeks ago he wouldn't bear weight at all!!

 So destructive already, pulled his play table straight over!

 After receiving the bad news about my tires this morning, Matt decided we needed some cheering up. He was off today because he was gone all last week, so we took the kids to have fun this afternoon. It was super sunny out and Paiton wanted a trip to park, so we headed out to pick up some stuff for photoshoots I have Friday, and to the park. We didn't realize that even thought it was sunny it was still only 34 degrees out! Non-the-less we headed to get ice cream at Delsa's - delish!!

Quinn got to enjoy a couple licks too!

 Then it was park time!!

 Showing off his standing abilities to Nannie tonight!

 Last week while Matt was out of town his mom invited us to lunch with her, Stacie, and Kylie. We had lots of fun and Stacie took this cute picture of the girls with her phone. I wish it wasn't a phone pic b/c I LOVE it!!!!!

 Quinny double fisting at lunch today!