An Update!

I feel like I need to do an update on the kids and what they're up to rather than just pictures, though I'm SO behind on those. Yikes!

Paiton Lola: 

Paiton just started preschool AGAIN. Year #3. :) She rocks it, of course. She misses the cut off for kindergarten because of her birthday. She LOVES her school and her teacher so that is really good. Most of her friends got to go on to Kindergarten this year, so she was a little nervous to start over with so many new kids. She is doing great and loves helping all the "little" kids. 

She is also in her fourth session of ballet. She still loves it so much and loves her teacher, Miss Alexis. She also wants to do gymnastics, swim lessons, and horse back riding, but unfortunately we sure don't have all that in the budget! ;) 

She still loves movies. And music. She is constantly dancing and putting on shows for us. She creates characters with backstories and these long, dramatic scenes. She's pretty hilarious. She and Quinn love the library and love picking out books. Her current favorite is a book about a girl with a gator who lives on top of her head. It's very appropriate since Paiton's loved gators since she was a tiny baby! They love to go to story time at the library and go play with the toys there before picking out their books! 

She loves to color and chalk in the driveway. She loves her Squinkies (those teeny, tiny toys!) and Lalaloopsy dolls. She says the funniest, smartest things and amazes me every day. 

She's very, very, very timid. She's scared of everything. No, really. She's not a brave soul by any means and is very tender hearted and just a worrier. I suppose she gets most of that from me. She isn't rough by any means, and doesn't like to do "dangerous" things, like put her face under water, jump off of things, be wild, etc. I'm thankful for that, but it does get tiring trying to convince her that certain things are ok, like slides, and putting her face in the water, etc! 

She is still the best sister ever. She always offers to help Quinn put his shoes on, etc. If he cries she helps, if he needs help, she's right there. They are the best of buddies, though they've recently started fighting too. We have had some knock down, drag out, hair pulling, biting, punching, pinching, kicking fights. After a time out and some forced hugs, they're back to BFF's in no time. 

She is sure a reader now. She reads the signs we pass, she reads the guide on the TV, she reads her kids books, she reads menus, etc. She's always sounding out everything and it's very cute, especially when she's sure she's got something sounded out correctly and argues when she's not right. ;)

She is SASSY. I wish there were a word that meant more than sassy because that's her!! She's got a very strong opinion and is very willing to argue at any given chance. There's a lot of head butting here.

She is just so sweet and funny and my very best friend. She's good company!! 

Quinn Jeffrey: 

He is still staying home with me! He is doing so good with his walking and is trying so hard to run and jump. He sure works hard at all that stuff and we are very proud of that boy! 

He got moved to once a month PT which is huge!! He does need to go back to weekly group therapy, but once a month individual!! He still is supposed to be wearing his leg braces and he goes back to Shriner's in October. We are expecting good news. :) 

He is so funny and has his own personality for sure. He's very, very sweet. I always say he's a sweet soul and I have never met anyone quite like him. He's just very loving. He has a naughty streak, and has made me just bawl and hide on multiple occasions with his crazy outbursts, but I sure love this boy of mine. He's quick to apologize with a "sorry mommy" or "sorry pai pai" and a kiss. He gives the best hugs with both arms around your neck and tight squeezes. There's nothing better. 

He is a Mama's boy. Almost to a fault. It's VERY hard when I have to leave to go to shoots or tennis. It's hard on everyone. He screams and cries and kicks and throws himself on the floor or attaches himself to my leg. It's super frustrating. It breaks my heart into a million pieces and makes me feel trapped at the house with him. It makes Matt sad because he feels like Quinn doesn't want to be with him. Which of course isn't the case, he's just a mama's boy and with me alllllll the time, which is how he prefers it! 

Here's some funny stuff I've been keeping for months in my phone to blog about!: 

-He calls tennis "racquet ball", for some reason "racquet" is easier to say than tennis!?

-He STILL eats like a dog, all these months later, and still howls during meals!
-He and Paiton love the song Pop Some Tags. They often fight over songs in the car and demand what they want to hear. Quinn loves to yell "Dance to Tags! I wanna dance!" :) 

-He is OBSESSED (beyond, really) with firemen. He calls them "woo woo men" and he loves them. Fire trucks, fire hydrants, fire men, fire stations, it doesn't matter. He loves it all. His favorite movie EVER is a movie from the early 90's about a fire station. It's horribly boring, but he loves it! It's just a man showing you around a fire station and around a fire truck and he watches it as often as I'll let him and steals my phone multiple times a day to hide and watch his "woo woo man movie"! 

-He loves to tease Matt by saying "Hi Mama!" to him and waving 

-He loves birthdays. When it's someone's birthday he says "Happy To You!" over and over! 

-He loves to say "bless you" after someone sneezes and you MUST say it to him. If I don't notice he's sneezed he'll walk over to me, stare at me, and go "achoo mommy! achoo!" and I have to say "Bless you!" to which he always responds "Thank you mommy!" He's very polite and says please, thank you, and you're welcome without being prompted. 

-He also loves tractors. He's SUCH a boy. There's a lot of road construction around us and he always asks if we can go the "tractor way" no matter where we're going. Then he waves and says "Hi tractors!" and when they're digging he says "Oh the tractor's eating"! He also loves dump trucks! 

-Quinn is very sensitive and caring. If he sees something he thinks is cute (a puppy, a baby bird, etc.) he makes the sad face with his lip out and says "awwwwwwww, cute puppy!" It's the cutest thing EVER. That kid kills me!! 

I think that's all I have for now, that's just a teensy glimpse into our always exciting lives with these two!!
Lots of pictures to come, we've been having some fun! 

Tomorrow...School...

Today was the last day of summer vacation. Boo. 

I know a lot of parents really look forward to school starting. I'm only semi one of them. ;) 

I've never understood the parents who want to be rid of their kids on a daily basis. Once in awhile, maybe. It's crazy to think that technically Quinn could go to preschool with Paiton this year. P was his age when she started. Obviously, he isn't though! I'm not ready to be kid free, even if only for a few hours a day! I know to some people it's really important and something they look forward to, and I do NOT get it. That does NOT make me excited or anything!! I don't want to ship my babies off just because! It makes me sad to think about!! Anyway, I'm sad to send P to school again, but happy because I know she loves it, but sad because I can't keep Quinn home forever. But I might try... ;) 

First, here are some older pictures that I don't think I've shared yet. If I have, humor me and tell me how cute my kids are. ;) 

What we've been up to:

These are from awhile back one night while we watched Matt play tennis. Quinn LOVES dirt. Granted, I haven't had a boy before, but it just cracked me up!! He was SO happy to dig and cover himself in dirt. I loved it, I loved seeing him so thrilled over something so simple!

Dirt angels! 

I started up my laptop and got to working on it!

We spent time at Grandma and Grandpa's house, where Quinn wore buckets on his head:

And ate corn on the cob!

We spent days at the water park with cousins. Does this picture remind anyone else of Matthew, Eric, Brandon, and me as babies!?

Shirtless summer boys. Love them.

We watched lots of tennis:

We took Ema out to lunch for her birthday!

Paiton rode her bike like a champ because she can FINALLY reach the pedals.

Quinn did lots of naked drumming, as per the norm.

Every song ends with a cymbal bang, always.

Paiton insisted on making this countdown chain the other day. She wrote on it "Days To School" and we put as many chains on it as there were "sleeps" until school started.

I drank lots of coffee.

We baked and baked and baked. 

We visited Ema and Bpa.

I won all these free clothes online for tennis!

We put Quinn's crazy long hair in ponytails!!

We ran around naked. Ok, "we" didn't, but Paiton did.

Paiton got this nasty spider bite and it got super infected. :( She had to be on antibiotics for two weeks. Luckily it went away, but poor girl, it was huge!

We ate strawberries together!

And I lost in battleship to this handsome fellow.

And I took this one to Albertson's with me, where he sweet talked me into buying him a Matchbox car.

I shot my best friend's wedding. This is Lisa, remember her?? We went to middle school and high school together and were pretty much inseparable. 

We took lots of baths for dirty babies!

And flew on mom and dad's feet!

This boy became attached to me almost permanently. He always, always wants "hold yous mommy, hold yous" and to "nuggle you mommy!" (snuggle!) It's so cute and so sweet, but so hard sometimes when I have to leave to do shoots :( I love it and cherish every second.

Matt and Paiton formed a gang

And Matt and I stole the Mustang for a cruise in the sun.

More playing with cousins...

And another trip to the river that wore the kids out.

And Quinn makes Matt build him "pew pews" (guns) out of Legos!

This is what you get when you say "Quinn do something silly!" and he says "Ok mom!" I LOVE this picture!!

We had looooots of nights of these. For whatever reason Quinn stopped sleeping nearly altogether. No, I'm not kidding. We had many trips to the pediatrician. It resulted in Amoxicillan for fluid and bulging ear drums, and not much else. I recorded every wake he had and he was up every two hours, and often up for 4+ hours at a time!! A lot of the nights he was up at 2 am for the day. It made for looong nights and long days. I was exhausted from sleeping maybe two hours a night and he was exhuasted! The last two nights he's slept all night without waking up, and i am SO hopeful tonight will be the same and that it's not a fluke. I'm ready for my good sleeper back!!

And the kids got some very much needed haircuts. Before:

Before:

After (complete with blue sucker lips):

I didn't get a great "after" picture of Paiton because Angie put a cute fishtail braid in, but here's an after of both kids. Paiton, of course, had to get pink in her hair again!

More trips to the water park!

Cousins!

Quinn kept putting this cow on his head and saying "My cow is a hat! My cow is a hat!"

Lots of snuggling going on here!

And post hot tub ice creams with Grandpa.

Oh poor Grandpa!!

The kids table at Locke family dinner!!

Quinn's new favorite toy, a toilet paper roll. He's pretty sure he's Captain Hook with it and tells us while he looks through it "I Captain Hook! I Captain Hook!"

The countdown continues....

Quinn requested a picture too!

This is SO true in our life right now.

And this sassy girl is just as cute as ever. She's very into dressing herself and usually does a fantastic job. Usually there's a mustard yellow scarf included in every outfit, not sure how it missed this one!

Captain Hook back in action, but with a gun this time!

Paiton requested these expensive marshmallows from Whole Foods, and according to the kids and Matt, they are the best ever!

Paiton in her bed. Such a huge feat. I am SO proud of her. It's been a rough road. She had a huge regression awhile back and just got over it within the last few nights. She was completely free of using Melatonin (woohoo!!) but is back on it for now. We finally found a kind that works great for her, since they all work a little differently, and I'm looking forward to her not needing it again. No parent wants to give their kids something to put them to sleep, but unfortunately for her it's necessary for now, and hopefully not much longer!! Melatonin only helps them to fall asleep. It does nothing for staying asleep, but luckily the last few nights she's slept ALL night without waking up or sleep walking!!( Another problem we'd had with her recently - Matt catching her as she about tumbles down the stairs!!) We are ready for some veeeery long overdue sleep in this house!!

That brings us to today!

The very last day of summer break. Meh! (Side story - "meh" is something Quinn says when he's upset or sad about something. "Cake mommy?" "No cake Quinny." "Meh." He says it so funny and puts his head down and his bottom lip comes out. It's hilarious!!!)

I told Paiton she could choose what to do today. Naturally, she chose bowling (free, but we had to buy donut holes!), and Roaring Springs!

I had so much fun with them, and I hope they did too. It's so important to me to spend time with them and do fun things and grow them into fun people. I just love them and I'm so lucky they're mine!!

This was a pretty big day for Paiton. As you well know, she is not brave at all. I mean, at.all.

Her going down this tube slide was HUGE!! She used to go on it, but went under once last year and it traumatized her! So this was a big step and she LOVED it!

She just wanted to keep doing that over and over!

Aly and Dane came again and this always makes me laugh. This was always my favorite thing to do as a little girl at Grandma and Poppy's pool. Lay on the hot concrete to warm up! Love it!!

Ok so I fed my kids donuts and ice cream for breakfast and lunch. ;)

Big news story #2!!! This is the kiddie water slide. She's never even entertained the thought of going down it. Until today. She did SO good!! Once she went down it, that was her new favorite. That was ALL she wanted to do and did it over and over!! 

Tonight we did some brownie baking!!

That's it for the official "summer"!!! Though, I do have more to post. I need to post about the fair we went to twice and some other fun stuff. So keep an eye out, also...the first day of preschool!!! (for the third time!)

Woohoo, wish her luck!!