Finding time.

It has been forever since I have written in this poor blog. I have really missed documenting all of my adventures! Life has been passing us by so quickly. Taking off over 6 months from writing is a sign that my life has changed so much as Quinn has continued to grow. I forget how much time I had to spare when she was a baby (even though I felt like I was ALWAYS swamped with too much to do and not enough time!) Ah, but life was peaceful, sleep deprived but still very productive. Q took a few naps a day, couldn't move around much so she spent most of her time in a stationary position in a gated off area. She didn't have any opinions and was mesmerized by teething rings, rattles and sometimes even rolling tumbleweeds of lint that accumulated behind the couch. It gave me the opportunity to spend my free time doing productive things like writing, sewing, cleaning, LAUNDRY. These days, our life is a whirlwind of Quinn's cuteness and eagerness to be a part of everything at all times. I watch her run around our house with her shopping cart, adding miscelaneous stuffed animals and blocks to the basket while the blonde curly bits of her hair flop around and her bangs get in her eyes. Her bangs, they're just like mine. Her cowlicks make it impossible to figure out where her bangs begin and end, where to part them and how to trim them. Her hairdo is pretty much a giant headful of bangs. Unfortunately, I have passed on the Tara legacy of having bangs that resemble Rapunzel. Where they end, no one knows! Sorry, babe. C'est la vie.

She says "house" like "Houth" and calls any light a "christmath tree!" Quinn is so warm and loving. She goes into hug-mode often. She gets on this adorable hugging kick where she says "HUG" over and over and goes from item to item around the house, wrapping her arms tightly around everything from Rigby, to the side of the couch, to a spoon or even a tiny lego. It is the cutest thing. She also has developed a little bit of bossiness (well, let's call it sassiness!) She pats the ground and says "Here!!" until you sit where she wants. If you don't move fast enough, she will hit you with a "Pweeeeeez!!!" It's her secret weapon to make you do whatever she wants...how can you resist a pweez?? Sometimes she wants you to do a puzzle with her, sometimes she wants you to color. Sometimes she wants Mike to crawl inside of her crib and lay down with her... and he does. In a fetal position. Next to Thumper and Winnie the Pooh. Because that's the only way that he can fit. Haha. Speaking of Winnie the Pooh. She had started to use the potty a ton a couple of months ago and was so proud to wear her big girl undies. She would sit on the potty and play on the iPad or read a book like a tiny old man in the morning after drinking a lot of coffee. She loved the potty. But...that was until POOH arrived. Instantly, Pooh was her BFF. She loved him, hugged him, kissed him, put clothes on him. BUT there was a bit of confusion because she began to think that the name Pooh meant "poo poo". Now, only Winnie can sit on her potty. And she will make him hold the iPad when he is doing his business. Or sometimes she wants to wipe Pooh's bottom with a diaper wipe because he "poo poo'd" Dangit! FAIL! Oh well, we'll try potty training her again some other day. Until then, we will continue to giggle while she potty trains her Disney animals.

It has been so heartwarming to watch Quinn turn into the little lady that she is today. She soaks up anything we tell her and is so independent. She has the softest, sweetest little voice. Even when it is 6am and I am awoken from much needed sleep, I love hearing her tiny voice yell "Mooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy......daaaaaaadddddddddddddyyyyyyyyyy. Hereeeeee!!" from her bedroom. I'll be so sad the day that ends.

Today she is home sick, cuddling with me and Thumper as I sit here and type this. Even when she is having such an awful day, she still wants to hug, cuddle, and tell me that Thumper poo poo'd and needs a diaper change. You're such a sweet little thing Quinn. I love you, my little bear!

Here's to 2012 and me always making time to document our fantastic journey.

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

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!

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!

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

Bonjour Biqui

Get ready! Trunk show in Dallas on the 16th. More details to come! http://www.facebook.com/bonjourbiqui

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!

Chatty Cathy!

My sweet sweet girl...

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!!!