Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Things that made me smile this week...








April and Quinn playing at Red House.


Quinn walking and playing like a champ!!


Splish Splash!




My crazy outfits that I get to wear each day...haha!




Coming home to a 65lb lab sitting on the coffee table.





These lounging kitties that ironically hang out at the local aquarium shop.




Amy's icecream photobooths!




Mo visiting all of us at work!




Playing catch with Rigby infront of our house.




Mike! Easy there, fella! Stephen's hipstamatic shots make everything look so much cooler!




Sumo Quinn vs. Mo' money Mo problems






Monday, May 23, 2011

10 1/2 months!


Whew...finding the time to update my blog is getting more difficult by the day! When I am not at work, I am at home working on Bonjour Biqui. And when I'm not playing with Quinn and working on BB, I am trying to keep the house in order and spend time with Mike and the animal kingdom that lives with us!

These days, life with Quinn is getting more fun by the minute. She is becoming such a little lady so very quickly and I am always anticipating what she will learn next! As we are approaching 11 months (and almost a year old!) I look back to the last few weeks and can't believe how much she has learned in such a small amount of time. I feel like she has grown the most throughout the month of May, not just physically but mentally. She's literally a baby Einstein. Like, those commercials where the babies are reading Shakespeare and Faulkner...they learned that from Quinn. She invented baby sign language and the art of reading baby novels. No joke.

BUT...when she isn't writing in her popular blog about world politics or watching documentaries on the degradation of America's farm culture....this is what Quinn has been up to:

In May, Quinn has grown in an entire row of teeth up top. She has four huge ones up there and two little ones below. Her mouth bares a strange resemblance to this guy's! She likes to bite off chunks of banana and use her teeth as a little can opener to bite the lids off of her Gerber puffs containers. Her hair is long enough to tie up into a "Pebbles"-inspired pony tail.
She has taken four steps at a time on her own and is about to walk at any moment. She really enjoys hoisting large objects into the air, like her little rocking chair or her giant stuffed duck. It's very similar to the Rocky "Yeah I made it up the stairs!" dance. She is really enjoying Rigby. He is so sweet and gently with her and they play together so nicely. I love how they are the same age and are growing up together.


She has learned how to say "more" in baby sign language and says Mama and Dada like a pro! She LOVES to make beats by banging onto random things around the house. She's got some good rhythm too!

Oh and she liked to hold her little guitar and dance with it...

She enjoys casual conversation with fellow xbox "Black Ops" players and figured out how to turn the xbox off and on (GOOD JOB, QUINN!!)

She has become a total busy body and likes to be chased around the couch or the coffee table. She does this adorable high-pitched wail and it cracks me up every time!

Sometimes we ignore the high-pitched wail because we think she is just having fun...but really she is wailing because she gets herself into binds like this one:

We have also discovered that Quinn isn't a huge fan of Chicken and Broccoli...


I love the little person that she is becoming. I can't describe how much fun it is to watch her discover her independence and learn about the world around her! I feel like our personalities are already so similar....she is my baby sidekick. Speaking of kicks, I bought Quinn her first pair of real shoes. How cute are these!


I can't wait to post videos of her walking...it is going to happen any day now. Stay tuned!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Thanks Yasha!

Our buddy Yasha from California made an impromptu visit to Austin for sxsw. I received this little gift in the mail from him today. So nice of him! Can't wait for Quinn to rock her new onesie!





Thanks for the present Yasha, you were a fun guest. And sorry our dog took off running full speed across the house with your sweatpants. Eeeeek!

Easter in Florida!



We spent Easter back home in Ft. Lauderdale this past weekend. It was so nice to see all of the family from both sides. Grandmas, grandpa, great grandmas, great Aunts and cousins, lots of friends...the whole crew came down! Quinn saw her first Easter bunny (check out the look of terror on her face when her uncle Sean surprised her in a bunny costume!) She had her first swim in the Atlantic ocean, her first kiss, made easter eggs with daddy, had a blast at the Miami seaquarium and she popped out three more teeth! It was definitely an eventful weekend, that's for sure.



Quinn's little boyfriend! Cutie Greg.



Mike wearing Quinn's Easter hat



Riding on grandpa's boat "The Mighty Quinn"



Dying Easter Eggs



Hi mimi!









Saturday, April 16, 2011

In Dallas!

If any Texans are reading out there...

Blanquita and I are at our first trunk show! Come say hello! The address is: 3004 Main St, Dallas, TX 75226

Wish us luck!

Tara

Monday, March 28, 2011

Sunday, March 20, 2011

I'm on vacation!

Well, kind of. It was a very un-planned vacation but a long overdue one, that's for sure. Sadly, my time at Anthroplogie came to an end last week. I'll be heading back to Betsey Johnson in a couple of weeks. Although the transition leaving Anthro and going back to Betsey is somewhat bitter-sweet, I am excited to be back in my element and I am really anxious to have more time to spend with my family and a more consistent schedule. Oh yeah, and getting to wear bright lipstick and my glittery shoes again will be pretty sweeeeeet.

I will say though, not working for the last week has been incredible. With the exception of me being sicker than I have been in quite some time, the days that I have spent with Mike and Quinn have been absolutely wonderful. I don't think I have smiled, laughed, hugged and kissed this much in months. I have been taking each day slow and lazily, enjoying each moment without staring at the clock and worrying about how the time is slipping by too fast and it will be another week before I have a day off.

The mornings are my favorite. The three of us lay in bed and play. Quinn crawls around while Mike and I watch her proudly and examine her little toes, her funny hair, her goofy smile. I clean the house while the baby naps. We take walks around the neighborhood. We play with Rigby on the floor. I watch Quinn play with her toys and scale the side of the coffee table and couches. We are practicing new sounds like "fish" and are learning how to wave hello and goodbye. Today I took Quinn to the park and enjoyed our time with a friend and her baby.


At night after Quinn goes to sleep, Mike and I spend time together relaxing and giggling. We hung out on the porch until five a.m. the other night, drinking beer and watching the stars. Some nights we watch movies and fall asleep on the couch together. Some nights we play board games. We played Monopoly a few days ago and I DOMINATED.

My side...


vs. Mike's side... (this is why I handle our finances! hahaha!)


Mike and I decided to get out of the house and take Quinn out to a couple of SXSW shows Friday evening. We saw Joan of Arc play (it's about time!) and she was totally digging it. Don't worry...we bought her some ear plugs!


She spilt five of our friend's beers and danced her little booty off. It was a great time and we were so proud of our little girl for being such a fun, well behaved baby while we were out and about that night.


Something else that happened this past week - I had deliriously brought Quinn into our bed the other morning while I half-asleep fed her and sat with her while she laughed at Spongebob. She really likes the intro when the pirate guy with the weird mouth says, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....." It's pretty creepy but she seems to think it's hilarous. Anyway, at some point, I accidentally fell back asleep and awoke to Mike shouting, "Tara! Where is Quinn?!" I immediately jumped up in a frantic frenzy. We patted down the bed as if she was hiding under the covers or something (we were dilirious!) until Mike looked over through the doorway and spotted a tiny baby sitting indian style and staring at us from outside of the bathroom. She had this gummy smile spread across her face. You could tell she was enjoying her roaming freedom! We couldn't figure out how she crawled off (or fell of??) of the bed without us hearing! Mike rushed over and picked her up. We examined her closely and managed to pull a few clumps of fuzz out of her mouth. I have been paranoid that there is some foreign object like a dog bone or a q-tip lodged in her esophogus...but she was all smiles and totally proud of herself for being a sneaky stunt baby at the time and has been fine since. Eeeeek! That was a close one! Add that to our list of terrifying, poor parenting stories...

With the exception of us letting our baby roam free without supervision, this past week has been so much fun. I have been loving my time with Mike and Quinn. I feel a calm that I haven't felt for...well...as long as I can remember. I am just embracing this time with them until I go back to work at the end of the month. My madre is arriving on Wednesday and I am excited to spend time with her. It'll also be fun to have a few date nights with Mike! Whoohoo!

Until next time!



Friday, March 4, 2011

Tomorrow is the day!


Bq and I are on our way to Dallas in just a few moments...tomorrow is our big day! It's the first round of judging for Texas Next Top Designer! I think we have everything in order and are ready for our moment to show them what we've got. It's been a long two months of preparation so we are MORE than ready to meet the judges. Let's hope we make it to round two!


Mike has been in Dallas all day today working so he is going to find us a hotel room and spend the night with us there. Tomorrow is his birthday so hopefully we can find some fun things to do in Dallas to celebrate!

Keep your fingers crossed for us, everybody!!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

When will we get to slow down?



We have been asking eachother that question so often lately. You would think that being as tired as we are would make the days drag by, but it doesn't help life slow down. It just helps you get through each day in a foggy, heavy-headed trance. Each morning, my first concious moments begin by listening to Quinn cry from the room across from ours as I drift in and out of sleep. I'll stare at the alarm clock, watching the minutes fly by. 4:00am, 4:37am, 5:02am, 5:30am, 5:46am. My thought process is always, "Oh, awesome, it's only 4:00. I still have a ton of time to keep sleeping." But before I know it, it's time to get up and get ready for work. Sometimes if there is time before I have to leave, we will all pile into the bed (including Rigby) and play together, grasping onto those few fun moments with the baby before we have to start working. Lately, Quinn is loving her newfound ability to stand up. She climbs on top of us as if we are little ladders, so proud of herself once she pulls herself up into a standing position on top of our stomachs or other random places on our bodies. She is interested in everything, always wanting to stick her curious findings into her mouth. She is fascinated by my hair. She grabs onto it and tries to eat it. We are working on being gentle when we pet the animals. She is full-blown running in her walker and crawling across the house. She talks like crazy, always chatting away!

And then I go to work...and it seems like forever that I'm away. And when I am away, I feel lost and uninspired. I feel stagnant and unencouraged. I miss when I used to learn something new each day. When the people I looked up to were incredible mentors who taught me valuable skills that improved not only the value of my work but the also the value in my life. I miss inspiring others and feeling like I make a difference.

If I had that kind of meaning back in my life, it wouldn't be so hard to be away from my family.

And after going through the world each day in a foggy daze, with nothing exciting to snap me out of it until I get home and get to love on my family....life still seems to be going by so quickly. Quinn is developing so fast and it reminds me that I am missing out on so much. I have a few hours each day when I get to watch her turn into the blossoming girl that she is becoming and I think about all of the moments that I miss and can never get back.

Mike is working so hard on his business so that he can support us and help us lead a fantastic life. For the past few weeks it has been constant 16 hour days. Traveling across the state of Texas or trapped in his office....it has been tough for everyone but I am so proud of him for working so hard and diligently. I wish I had something that felt as meaningful, productive and worthwhile.

Having a child has completely turned my throught process around. A year ago I would have been fine with the place that I'm at. But these days, I just want to be around her to inspire her and develop her as much as I can, and if I'm not with her, I want to be doing something that will inspire me and develop me as much as possible so in turn I can pass that all onto her some day.

Ahhh. Tara. What to do, what to do.


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