Monday, April 18, 2011

Too much illness, never too many smiles

Instead of going into detail, I shall just say that Rylan, Max, and I all have the immune systems and bodies that can SUCK IT!!!!! So, instead of describing mean ole' ear infections, allergy induced pneumonia, and death fever any more, I will give you some cute, gummy, happy babies. Cause they are more fun to talk about.



Max is finally big enough to enjoy the Wonder Place, he loved it. Shortly after I shot this pic, he puked peas all over that mirror. I did my best with a wipe and we scooted away.
Mini tub for the babies, he was in love. And really really wet.
I figured out that putting Rylan in a bright shirt is a smart idea on free adult day. So many kids and I start to hyperventilate when I don't see my boy. This shirt did the trick.
This is just a random day. I got some free samples of Emergen-C and they came with stickers, which Rylan put all over his person. He loves this hat so much, he wore it to the doctor's office. Oops mentioned THAT wretched place.

Speaking of doctor's offices I went to a rheumatologist today that was neither creepy or mean. Both things I feared just because I figure to play with rheumatic problems full time you would have to be both creepy and mean. So, through my two ouchy pregnancies, and my death fever issues, I have discovered some diamond of doctors (and some duds-my OB doc for Rylan and orthopedic surgeon). So, if you need an OBGYN, rheumatologist, PCP, or eye doctor, give me a holla!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Surprise fun filled Saturday

So, last Saturday Rob says to me "want to go to Garvin Gardens?" WHAT????? Rob isn't a giddy up and go kind of a guy. He's a planner. And after a week driving 80 miles round-trip every day, he likes a nice weekend at home. (Rob, if you are reading this, I'm not complaining, just telling a story, love you boo!) So, when he suggested Garvin Gardens I spent a few moments not knowing what to do with myself, then I sprung into action and we packed up the cutie-patooties and headed to Hot Springs for the day. We had never been to Garvin Gardens in the daylight, just for the Christmas light festivites. Its BEAUTIFUL! And pushing 55 pounds of children in a stroller the size of a VW bug is great exercise.


Blurry cuteness
Koi pond, before Rylan tried to jump in


Thursday, April 7, 2011

And on his farm he had some lambs and penguins

Last week, the boys and I went to Mountain Home for a few days with the grandparents. During our stay, we made a trip out to some friends' farm to see some animals. They had lambs that had literally been born the day before we came, chickens, bunnies, and dogs for the kids to see.
Chasing chickens

A three day old lamb. so precious
Such a closeup, but oh so cute. Here's our Max. All smiles and happiness.
We eventually packed up and made the journey back to the big city to see Rob/Daddy and had a great, relaxing weekend. Thank goodness the warm returned. Soon I'll be blogging about the dad gum heat, but seriously? That little cold spell wasn't a fun joke Madre Nature!

This past Monday was a real boring day....It rained....and poured.....and I am too accident prone to get two kids out when it rains, pours, blows, and sleet/hail/snow/slushes outside. So, we stayed in and read 20 books, played blocks and playdough, lots of army men, and watched some movies.

But Tuesday? Tuesday we got to meet some friends at the zoo. They have penguins now. I didn't know I loved penguins. I love penguins. I'm not sure I want to be real close to one, but through a glass partition, yes please.
Here's Ry trying to be one with the monkeys.
Making a call to Daddy on his hand phone, he's all business
Getting his head stuck in the fence
Ry's favorite zoo animal
The penguin exhibit. Look how excited Ry is about it!
And at some point, these three cuties gave us the cutest show in town. To Rylan, these girls are Diddy and Harpie, to everyone else they are Lily and Harper.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Catching up

I have every intention of getting up early every day and doing a quick blog post about the goings on of the Q-Fam, but then something shiny catches my attention, or dad-gum Facebook gets my attention and takes up my no-kids time, or I check my eyelids for cracks for an extra hour (sleep). Basically I have ADD of housework and computer time. Oh well. My kids are fed and loved and played with and my house only halfway looks like a landmine went off in it.

ANYWAY, like a week and a half ago, we joined our playgroup at the skating rink for some cute kid-time. Once a month they open the rink for little kids to bring any form of wheeled vehicle they can carry in and they get full rein of the place for a couple hours. The first time my playgroup went, I was a scaredy cat and didn't go. I was a little concerned about the whole two kids, one that doesn't walk situation. But, then I remembered my beloved ERGO kid carrier (more on that in another post). I strapped my snuggle-Max to my chest and was able to run after Rylan all I wanted.

Aunt Angie, Uncle Clay, check out how awesome Rylan was on his battery operated 4-wheeler. I saw at least 2 other kids coveting the awesomeness.

Snack time with Lily. She shared her m&m's.

Rylan was happy just to run around the floor under the disco ball and strobe lights. Then he found the Little Mermaid car, and became obsessed.
Ry's friend Drew, he scootered so much he got real tired.


The obsession continues, and he basically tried to steal it
Cutie Eli. His mama Cheryll is sooooo smart. Next Friday, when we do this again, Max is getting hooked up with a walker.
I turned around when we got home to see this. Cutie patootie.

Then last week, or so, we met our friends at Allsopp Park. I think this might be our spring/early summer Wednesday hangout. We've been two of three of the past Wednesdays. I was picked to host a House Party for Philadelphia Cooking Creme. If you haven't heard of www.houseparty.com, let me tell you about it. When a company has a new product line, they offer House Parties to get word of their product out. You apply to host a House Party, and, if chosen, you are sent a huge box of free stuff and coupons to pass out to your guests, products to demo at your party, and a hostess gift.

This was my first time being chosen. I decided that playdates at my house are uber stressful on me, and after the last one, we had a ripped up book and cookies all over the floor. This wasn't a problem when we had Curt, the wonder cleaner upper of all things meat and cookie. But, our other dog, Lola, isn't what you'd call "helpful." So, I hosted the party at Allsopp Park. I was given free Philadelphia Cooking Creme in every flavor. I used the Original to make spinach dip, the Savory Garlic to make calzones, and the Santa Fe to make chicken enchiladas. It was all delicious. My hostess gift was the world's most awesome skillet, and my guests got coupons and wooden cooking spoons and cookbooks with recipes using the cooking creme.
Oh yeah, the day of the house party, Rylan, randomly decided 3am was a good wake-up time. So, here he is at 8am, about to crash and burn. Usually he's my kitchen helper. Not so much this day.
The spread. I added some cut up veggies so that we didn't completely clog our arteries in one day, eating 3 kinds of cream cheese.
Rob successfully survived his 2nd playdate. The first one was a little overwhelming to him and he skirted out early, but this one was better. When the estrogen became too much, he took Rylan to the swings and had some dude time.

Our friends enjoying the party delights.

After filling our bellies with cheese, the kids decided to romp in the creek that I can only hope isn't full of waste water from the local restaurants. The other kiddos did this thing called "wading." Rylan fully submerged himself and eventually tried to drink the water.

Monday, April 4, 2011

6 months of sweet cheeked love

Happy 6 month birthday Maxton! I am not entirely sure WHERE the last 6 months have gone, but I do believe they've been six very awesome months! You are the happiest baby that I've ever known. Thank you for your sweet smile, your slobbery kisses, your sticky hands, and your tolerance of brother Rylan's intense love for you.

They always say that God never gives you more than you can handle, and although we've dealt with ouchy pregnancy, Death Fever, full blown flu, our dog dying, and lots of ear infections and colds in the last year, God gave us a baby so precious, happy, and cuddly, we were able to handle it all.


Getting a ride in the coke cart from Rylan
I'll make his malnourishment appointment THIS WEEK, I promise
Hello, sweet babyface
My current very favorite picture of him. I sat him in the bumbo and turned to grab his bowl of prune goodness, turned back around and look what I saw. So freakin cute. And all caught up on the latest news.