Holy Smoke!

Today we took both of the boys to church. I was inspired to take them by a conversation Quin and I had the other day. He informed me that the "castle" across the street was also a church. He can also recite the Our Father and has been asking a lot of questions so I figured I should get my act together. Anyway, we went and the church didn't collapse around us so I'd say it went well. Although, Quin and Tristan are not big fans of Communion since everyone gets a snack but them. TJ actually tried to grab the priests hand and Quin complained loudly about it being "unfair" and told me that when he got home he'd have his own communion. He also thinks the Holy Spirit is some sort of leprechaun. Ooops.

I'm amazed we even made it to mass considering the night we had last night. TJ started coughing around 11pm and it got so bad that I had to give him a nebulizer treatment. Then he was still having a lot of trouble so I decided to see if steam would help. I turned on the shower and while I was steaming one kid in the bathroom, the other kid started coughing. So, when TJ seemed to be doing better, I put him back to bed and brought Quin into the steam room. Once Quin was feeling better, I brought him to back bed and all was well...until the steam from the bathroom hit the smoke alarm and made it go off! This set off a chain reaction of events that would probably have been funny to me if it weren't my life. Quin yelled and covered his ears, Joe jumped up and, in a panic, couldn't shut the alarm off. Joe pulled the detector from the ceiling, which didn't help since we have a hard wired alarm that goes to a company that then called us. So, as Joe is trying to figure out what to say to the alarm company, Quin is demaning to know why we won't turn off the alarm. Joe finally gets the alarm off and then wants to know why the shower was on in the first place and why I didn't turn on the fan. Apparently he didn't notice that I had been tending to 2 sick children for the last 2 hours and assumed I was irresponsibly taking a late night shower! After I bit off his head, we made sure Quin was OK (he was highly amused and not at all frightened) and then checked on TJ. Out like a light. He hadn't even rolled over during all the commotion.  At this point Quin is wide awake and wants to play. Q:Can we be awake now? Me: No! It's 2 in the morning. Q: It's morning? Me: No. 2 in the morning isn't really morning. Can we talk about this later? Never a dull moment around here!

The True Story of Ted E Bear

To mark my return to blogging I'd like to share with you The True Story of Ted E. Bear.

Everyone has done this school project at some point, whether it was called Flat Stanley, Ted E Bear, or something else. Each student gets to take the bear home for one weekend and write about all the great things he/she did with said bear. This weekend is our turn. When I looked at Ted E Bear's notebook there was an explanation of the project, a plea from the teachers to keep the bear clean and not lose all the "stuff" and also a bear cookie cutter with a recipe. Very cool...though I'm sure I'll lose some stuff and be scrambling Tuesday morning to find Ted E Bear's bear-undies or something.

Anyhow, you are supposed to write about your weekend with Ted in the notebook. I decided to read what other families had written so I would have an idea of what to write. First of all, Quin goes to a Catholic preschool so every family wrote that they took Ted to church. This presents a couple of problems. First, I can't lie and say we went to church if we didn't because Quin will totally throw me under the bus. Secondly, I can't bring both boys to church because Tristan can't sit still for 5 minutes in between Wonder Pets episodes, nevermind an hour of stuff he can't understand. So, I guess I'll be bringing Quin to church tomorrow.

I've packed lots of wholesome family activities into the weekend - baking, gymnastics, birthday party - and I just have to write a little paragraph about each one in the notebook. And while the story that I write in the notebook will be much like the others, I wish I could write what Ted E. Bear's real experience was like. Instead of "Ted E Bear and I got ready for bed and read a story" The True Story of Ted E Bear would include things like: "then I hit my brother with the foam sword and Ted E Bear and I went to time out together" and "Ted E and I spent an hour in the bathroom trying to poop while mom messed around on Facebook." That's the true tale of a Graham family weekend!

Backstage at the Nutcracker

This picture is of Auntie Rachael, Ashley, and I backstage at the Nutcracker. We spent the day doing fun Boston Christmas activities starting with a nice brunch at new restaurant that I can't remember the name of. It was awesome, though. Then we went backstage and got a tour of all the Nutcracker scenery and props. I think I was more excited than Ashley. In between our tour and the show, we went to Macys and did some shopping and checked out the Christmas displays. Then we headed to the Nutcracker where we had fabulous seats - thanks Auntie Rachael! Except for the old biddies with the Irish whispers behind us, it was a perfect day!

Thanksgiving fun

Pictures with Santa

Mommy's New Toy

Yesterday Mommy stole Daddy's Best Buy gift card and got a digital flip video camera. It's fantastic! Quin loves it...although he clearly wants to be recorded and watch himself on camera at the same time. I'm pretty sure Uncle Michael did that back in the day. I can remember singing songs and watching myself on TV and the Gibbons family has the embarrassing evidence. I can only hope to embarrass my children as much with these videos in the future :) Here's one at bath time, it doesn't get more embarrassing than naked, right?

Two for Two

So it's been forever since I updated but Grammie sent me some really cute pictures so I figured I'd post them for all to enjoy. As you can see, Tristan is going to be batman for Halloween. Quin is going to be Spiderman and he can sing then entire Spiderman theme song from the original series, very impressive. Bath time has taken an interesting turn in the Graham household now that Tristan is big enough to splash and play. Now they splash eachother and fight over toys. Tristan also has NO fear and will dive for things in the tub. Quin has no patience for sharing bath toys and will scream when Tristan steals "his" toy. It's probably fun to watch if you're not their mother. They are also very cute together, though. The other night Quin kissed Tristan's forhead and said "I love you baby brother!" It was so cute. Last night, however, was the cutest Tristan moment yet. I was playing with him on the floor and then I had to leave the room for a second. As I was leaving the room he reached for me and said "Mama!!" Needless to say, I came right back and gave him lots of hugs and attention. That makes me 2 for 2 in the first word contest. People tell me Dada is easier to say, but clearly my children know who butters their bread.

Anyhow, as far as updates go, Tristan is doing well with all of his asthma meds, even though he sometimes needs 5 treatments a day! The poor kid has had more steroids than a professional wrestler and the nurses in Pediatrics at the hospital know me by name. In the adoption process things are moving slowly but surely, as they often do. There is another court date in December which should go quickly since birthmom hasn't been around. Then they will give us a date to finalize the adoption, hopefully for January or February.

Quin man has been talking a blue streak. He sings all kinds of songs and Miss Kim is even working on reciting poems. He does a cute Halloween one about 5 pumpkins. He also expresses his wants and needs very clearly:

Quin: Want a cookie.

Me: There are no more cookies, how about a banana?

Quin: No banana, want a cookie.

Me: There aren't any!

Quin: Want a cookie from the car.

Me: The car? Where in the car would there be a cookie?

Quin: In the car, in the car seat.

Sure enough, Daddy goes out to the car and there is a half eaten cookie sitting next to Quin's car seat! He also says "I love you Mommy" and "Doom on Dada!" It's just great. Potty training is going OK but boy is it NOT FUN. He poops on the potty (when he feels like it) but still won't pee on it. We've also been reduced to putting his Diego potty in front of the TV which is just gross. He'll sit on the potty and eat popsicles and watch TV. I also sent Auntie Rachael out to get potty prizes...stickers, coloring books, etc...and she came back with cars, trucks, puzzles, dinosaurs! He is going to be 12 and asking for a bike when he pees. Anyhow, lots of excitement in our house, not so much time for updating the blog. Hopefully I'll update soon with more pics of the boys in costume.

More Quin-isms

Where-AH-you? - As in, Truck, where are you? Opa, Where are you? Besides looking for lost items or people, it also stands for "get your bottom out here and play with me!"

Hi Auntie - Can I have whatever you're eating?

Hi Mama - I'm so cute, ignore the mess in the living room.

Hi Dada - Did you see the mess in the living room? Someone should really take care of that.

Cream! - As in ice cream or cool whip. Good with boo-berries, stah-berries, pickles, pizza, etc.

Seep Mama's Bed, The "I Stuck" Quin-a-logue

So a million and 5 things have happened since the last post but I don't feel like getting into that right now so I'll just give you some cute Quin-isms for now:

• I stuck! - as in get me the you-know-what out of my car seat, high chair, time out, etc
• Uh Oh! Rocket stuck! - Quin's first sentence & a fun game. Don't be fooled, you are NOT supposed to get Rocket unstuck or a riot ensues
• Mama fix - put my train back together the way its supposed to go so I can make a mess of it again
• Baby Chicken - Ok, we're pretty sure he's saying "Baby Tristan"
• Grammie or Auntie - can I talk to someone who will give me what I want, please?
• I coming! - we think this is a warning because it usually means he's about to walk in on you in the bathroom or attack you from behind. Either way, you're supposed to be ready to play when he gets there.
• Pizza, mmmm yummy! - said whenever anyone walks in with a pizza box or if you ask Quin what he wants for dinner
• Seep Mama bed - said at 3am or at bedtime to indicate that he is not going to sleep in his crib without at least trying for mama's bed first
• Yucky juice - what mama tries to give him instead of the regular Capri juice boxes
• Mik - anything in a sippy cup that is not easily identifiable
• Mama juice or mama mik - coffee
• Dada juice - usually Miller Lite or Sam Summer
• I King of the Mountain! - used when he stands on any rock, hill, pile of dirt, etc
• Mama rock, Dada rock - you two stand on your rocks, its time to play King of the Mountain (see above)
• Luh you, miss you - often said with much prompting by mama, or with no prompting to his cars and trains

There are so many more but both boys are asleep so I need to shower. They only sleep at the same time when the stars are aligned just so! More on our adventures of late another time.

No longer a newborn

My little bitty baby has definitly lost that newborn look. At 4 months he is wearing size 9 month clothes and sleeping through the night. The poor kid even slept through me taking pictures of him in the middle of the night with my flash!

The John Deere Exhibit

During school vacation week, we took a trip to the zoo. It was Quin, Tristan, Miss Kim, Ava, and me. Quin was very excited to see the giraffe and insisted that a giraffe says "eee eee" - no idea where that comes from. Squishy (AKA Tristan or TJ) enjoyed people watching. Here is Tristan with Miss Kim.
Quin enjoying a Capri Sun. They are a rare occurance in our house as the first thing he does is squeeze the pouch after I get the straw in.
What animal is Quin so interested in here? This is actually the John Deere exhibit, otherwise known as the "there are no animals here its just a truck so can we please move on" exhibit.

But no, we could not leave. It took A LOT of bribing to get him to move on! And here is Tristan being adorable and super well behaved.

Here is Quin in his Pablo safari hat from Grammie.

Here is Tristan at his very first feeding of solid food. As Quin would say "Mmmm, mummy!"

Spring Portraits

How cute are they??

Easter

Easter morning began bright and early (6am) with both boys already in our bed. I got up with Quin and tried to distract him with iTunes while Joe and Tristan slept. Alas, I made the mistake of playing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song thus ensuring Quin would bolt for the living room. I momentarily thwarted him by closing the double doors but, as they are glass, he saw that there were presents in the other room and ran around the other way. He was so cute! As you can see, he loved his rocket and his chocolate car. At one point the other Easter baskets got in Rocket's flight path and had to be sacrificed for the good of the mission. Other than that, he was very well behaved while we waited for Daddy and Tristan to get up.

Later, we went to Aunt Linda's house and had an Easter Egg Hunt. Tristan also got his first tase of frosting, courtesy of Auntie Lissa.

Quin was miserable for the first hour or two due to an interupted nap, but he recovered well. By the end of the day he was smiling and even giving his baby brother kisses!