Things that made me smile this week...

My new Anthropologie boots!!!

Giant caterpillars with afros living on our driveway.

CRAZY HAIR GLOWING IN THE LIGHT!!!

(reminds me a little of this guy...)

Loving baths! (but HATING when she has to come out.)


I spy a calico head...


This pumpkin hat that looks like it has a mustache.

The life-sized paper mache' deer head that I made and hung in our living room.

Quinn's sweet kicks!

Rupert's new sleep spot.

This incredibe weather we're having!

20 weeks old!

Things that made me smile this week...

What happens when Rigby wants to go for a walk but we are busy...(he chews apart his leash and takes himself for a walk.)
The crazy houses on our block that we pass by on our evening walks.
The beautiful view of my dad's neighborhood as you drive down the hill near his house. Two kitties chillin' in a bathtub. "Uh, can we help you?"
When Quinn uses Rigby as an arm rest. Tummy time!!
The way Quinn was calmer than I was while she was getting her immunizations.

Quinn's new voice! She started talking like this as of the last week.

An end to October

This month has been absolutely insane and it is so difficult for me to accept that October is almost over. I haven't even bought Quinn her Halloween costume yet! (I'll probably just end up making something at the last minute for her! We are NOT going to miss out on trick-or-treating just because I was too busy to buy her a real costume...I NEED CANDY!!) I have been really busy training and getting adjusted to my new job and have been working non stop on my other side projects all while dealing with the craziness that goes on around our house on a daily basis and the other life changes that have happened this month. On top of everything, I never had a chance to write about the end of my time at Betsey Johnson. I was really planning on documenting my exit from BJ in my blog, especially after being with the company for almost four years, but now that some time has gone by, I don't think I will write a post about it. I'd like to remember the company for how it was four years ago when I first started there, when it was still fun and engaging and I had fond memories of the people who I worked with, the experiences that I was fortunate enough to have and the amazing places that the company led me to. I'm scared that a post about my last few weeks would end in a giant rant about the ways Betsey Johnson has slowly sold her soul (in theory, haha) and I don't want to come back to this blog years later and have that be the last thing I wrote about my time there. SO...I will end this tiny blurb by saying that, although it was sad closing out four important years of my life and locking those doors for the very last time, I am excited about my future and am thankful to Betsey Johnson for developing my managerial skills and setting me up to be in a position where I can further apply myself and make a difference in a new company. So hooray for that...and long live the fond memories that will last with me forever!

On a happier note, here are a few pictures that Robby took last week of our little adventure to the Elgin christmas tree farm/pumpkin patch to pick out Quinn's first pumpkins!!

Show us your sweet moves!

slow progression

15 weeks!

A bit of time has passed since I've had a chance to sit down and make a post. Sorry!! I feel like the last two weeks have flown by because we have been so incredibly busy. I explained to my regional that it was almost like Quinn was a baton in a relay race. She gets passed on from Mike, to Jessica, to me and then we take care of her, clean the house, cook dinner...and by the time we know it, it is the next day and we've got to go through all of our routines all over again. I am trying to enjoy every moment with her because I feel like every time I look at her, she has developed a new skill and is becoming more independent. Boohooooo. Stay small, little Quinn!

Yesterday, we decided to test out real food with Quinn! I bought a container of rice cereal and mixed it with a little bit of formula. We brought out her high chair, strapped her in, and this is what we got:



And here was the second try this morning:





Although she probably got more of it on her mouth than IN her mouth, she ate a lot! I think the rice cereal filled her up a bit more, as she didn't drink nearly as much milk as she normally does (sweeeeet, since formula is ex-pennnn-sive and she will drink 8 ounces in one sitting!) We'll continue to keep experimenting with this whole big girl food stuff. I can't wait to feed her a lemon! Hahaha...

At almost 15 weeks, it is incredible to see how much she has changed from just a month ago. She can sit up now without her head bobbling around, she is totally allert and is really interested in the animals, especially Rigby. She loves to snuggle with her little kitty stuffed animals and likes to burry her face in them while she is napping (or stick them in her mouth.)


She seems to take interest in toys that play music or make noise in some way (she takes after her padre in that way.) I bought this little bird chime toy from Target and stuck it on her carseat. Whenever we go anywhere, all I hear are little bells jingling around while she sits quietly in the back seat batting the bird about. Totally better than listening to the radio.

It is cooling down here in Texas (FINALLY) so I am now enjoying putting her in warmer clothes. I get a kick out of making her wear high waisted pants that make her look like a little old man...

It's not cruel! She thinks it's funny too! And don't worry, she doesn't look too old-school because she is still rockin' her mohawk. No need for palmaid or hair gell, this punk-rock hairstyle is all nat-ur-al, baby!

I'm loving the stage that she is in right now. She is becoming so independent and I am getting a small glimpse into what her personality will be like....which hopefully will include a gift of gab and a love for lame jokes and blue mascara.

Missing her already.

my grandma on her wedding day

My mom and uncle spent the last few days together in Fort Lauderdale this past week playing violin and flute duets for my grandma while she lay inattentive in her hospice bed. As her remaining days in this world slowly dwindle down to an end, I find myself repeating the moment in my mind when we met for the last time just a few weeks ago. She didn't even know who I was. I feel so sad that it was only the first time for her and Quinn to meet, only because she was already gone by that point. I feel awful that I didn't get to spend time with her while she was still coherent. I didn't really get to say goodbye. I am so sad. She had no idea, but the nurses had applied that same shade of orange lipstick to her lips. My mom said, "You could always put your lipstick on perfectly without a mirror!" and Pearl just stared back. Stared right through us. She still looked like the grandma that I knew. How can your thoughts and memories wither away so suddenly? This is the first time that I will have experienced a direct family member dying. And although my grandma was never extremely close to all of us, it is heartbreaking to know that she will no longer be here and Quinn will never know her. I have been staring at these pictures of my relatives that my mom and uncle found and scanned for about twenty minutes now. I can't describe how cool it is to see my grandma and grandpa at 18 years old on their wedding day, goofing off on the beach with their friends, riding around on horses, just smiling and having fun. Who were these people? What were the 30's and 40's like? These photos really give me a new found glimpse into their lives when they were my age...I never had the opportunity to know them but these photos somehow give me the feeling that I did. And wow, pictures of my GREAT grandparents. So that's what they looked like! My great grandpa was so handsome. He was a tailor...I think that's where I get my love for sewing from. And the big family photo of my grandma (second from the Right), her three brothers and their wives. My great aunt Mattie (three from the left) who was in her 70's when I used to play with her Russian Dolls on the shag carpet in her living room and she used to spoil us with unlimited amounts of ice cream. I loved her so much.

I feel so nostalgic when looking at these photos. I wish I could have been there with them. I wish I could have really gotten to know my grandparents...ALL of the many relatives in my family who passed away before I had the opportunity to have a conversation with them and get to ask questions about their experiences. I can't believe that all of these lives are just...over. I will never know anything about these people. I guess the strangest thing of all is that someday Quinn's children's children might be looking at these same pictures (will we even have tangible photos that far from now?) but instead it will be me and Mike goofing off and showing them what it was like to be in your 20's back in the day. Maybe this blog will be around for the next sixty years of my life, I want them to know who I was and what I loved to do.

Grandpa on their wedding day

She looked like a movie star!

Grandma walking on the Coney Island boardwalk

My great grandparents and my grandma as a little girl

My grandpa goofing off at 15 years old

my grandma is the little girl in the middle, those are her parents and three brothers.
Hehe.

grandma and grandpa posing together.