The Story of Baby Sessie

Meet Baby Sessie.

She is very old. About 31 years old to be exact.

Baby Sessie has been with me everywhere for as long as I can remember. I would not go to sleep without her, travel without her or go to school without her (in the early preschool days). I never really had a "blanky" or a "lovey" I was attached to, but only Sessie.

Legend has it that as I got older (and more manipulative), I would hide Baby Sessie in the yard or somewhere in the house so my parents would have to hunt her down before bedtime. I would do anything to delay bedtime in those days.

She used to have multiple outfits but they have since been lost. She also used to have pretty fingers and toes until I decided to chew on them (obviously that was years ago). That baby doll has been through a lot of torture. She also has pencil lead stuck in her mouth from the time I tried to take her temperature with a yellow #2 pencil and the tip broke off. Poor Sessie.

But she has been well-loved. When I went to college, along came Sessie. Of course, I was past the days of sleeping with her, but she made the trek none the less. And when I got married, yup - Sessie came along. Because it kind of freaked Matt out, I kept her in a drawer but always knew she was safe and sound.

And of course for every hurricane evacuation while we lived in New Orleans, Sessie was carefully packed away with us. When we packed up for Katrina, I am fairly certain I took only 3 pairs of underwear, a few pairs of shorts and t-shirts, a couple of "going out" outfits (because what good was evacuating if you couldn't go out with your friends while you were gone? And that was also when I had "going out" outfits - now my outfits consist of anything that doesn't smell like spilled milk or have obvious stains), my pearls that my parents gave me for graduation, a few other special little items, and Baby Sessie. That was it.

And thank goodness we took her because Katrina likely would have washed her away, or at the very least, gotten her very, very moldy.

For the past few years, Sessie has been safely tucked away in my dresser drawer. When I found out that we would have a little girl, I pulled her out and lovingly placed her in the twin's room. I hoped that Quinn would enjoy her as much as I did when I was little.

One day not long ago my mom and I were at Toys R Us shopping for the twins' 1st Birthday present. And we came along the doll aisle. I don't know if you've been on the "doll aisle" recently, but there are a lot of freaky dolls out there. All I was looking for was a simple doll that Quinn could have with her in the hospital after her surgery. I didn't want it to talk, I didn't want her coated in glitter or make-up, I didn't want her to fake cry/pee/poo. Just a simple doll with simple features.

A doll like Sessie.

Duh.

I don't know why it never hit us both that Sessie is the perfect "surgery" doll for Quinn. She's been well-loved, has a pretty awesome history, and when her mama can't be at her bedside, a part of my heart will be. And so will her Gigi's heart and my dad's heart --- because he spent many a night, flashlight in hand, searching under bushes for the "MIA" Sess.

So now I have been introducing Sessie to Quinn. Until a couple of months ago, she mostly stayed safely in their rocking chair. See, Sessie is pretty delicate. Her head is kind of loose and I'm not 100% confident that it's not going to just pop and roll off. Especially with the way Quinn plays. But we're going to risk it & I've found a doll restoration place just in case :)  Quinn now sleeps with Sessie every night, just like I did. I'm not sure she's her favorite yet, as she's pretty cozy with a couple of lovies that she owns - but a couple of times I have caught her with her arms wrapped around her, so I think a bond is forming.

Now all we need is some new clothes for Baby Sess and she will be ready for surgery day. Ready to love on my little girl and hopefully provide a little comfort when Quinnie is scared or in pain. Now I just have to find said clothes --- all of these dolls they make now are GIANT. And Sess is pretty petite, just like Quinn. Off to scour the toy stores and see what we can find... Here are a few pics of Quinn with Baby Sessie. The tradition lives on.

And We Finally Made It To Galveston...

Hmmm, so we've lived in Houston for 5 plus years, and we have never made it down to Galveston. I don't really have a reason why we haven't, we just never made the effort for the 1 hour trip. Pathetic, yes. Anyway, when my amazing friend, Lisa, told me that her family would be headed to the "coast" for a week and asked us to meet up with them, I was thrilled. Namely, to see Lisa and her precious family - and also to finally see Galveston. Florida beaches it is not, but it's still sand, water, surf, and all that good stuff. And none of the medical supply waste or tar of years past. Different story.

The trip almost didn't happen for a couple of reasons, but we pulled it together last minute to head down there. And oh my goodness, if we are going to be gone for 8+ hours, we might as well be gone for 3 days because we need just as much stuff. We toted down pack 'n plays (plural because the twins can't sleep together), 2 space saver high chairs (because we can't miss meals), 1 bag for the babies with 3 changes of clothes and 2 swimsuits, and 1 bag for Matt and I with 2 changes of clothes and 2 swimsuits (in case Quinn got any ideas and decided to throw up like the last time we were at the beach).

We finally made it down there and how wonderful it was to be there! I felt almost transported even though we were only 1 1/2 hours from home. Instantly relaxed. And happy to be the in the company of one of my best friends who I see far less than I would like. (And in case you are new the blog, Lisa and Adam were also our matchmakers way back in 2001 --- they've now been married 8 years and have 3 precious girls --- and Adam & Matt remain close to this day as well). I also had not seen her parents in YEARS so it was great to catch up with them as well and introduce the babies to them.

We were only on the beach off and on for 5 or 6 hours, but it was great. We brought the babies' floaties, and they were happy as clams... well, Ryan was a little tired by the time we got out in the water, but Quinn lived it up. Between the 2 of us, Lis and I tried to capture some fun pics. However, like she said, Q is hard to capture in a picture. In her words, she was either pulling her hat off, pulling Ryan's hat off, trying to crawl out of the pool, or jump out of Grace's arms. So this is what we got. I am thrilled, though, that Lis got our 1st family pic in the ocean. Pardon our paleness. We don't take in too many Vitamin D's around this place. Too hot and we stay pretty close to the AC these days.

Thanks, Lisa & Adam, for having us down for the day! Love you guys!

Seriously, this child doesn't smile, cry or do anything without the "nose scrunch". Where did that come from? And look at those teeth!!

And that would be my son. He will wear his hat. Happily.

My daughter, on the other hand, will not.

Who needs beach toys when you have water bottles? Endless entertainment.

The newest addition to the D family - meet Miss Layla! She slept for a good 2-3 hours on the beach (under a tent and shade of course. What a lucky girl!)

Matt's chilling in his sweet hat.

The boys. Matt, Adam, and Mr. Brooks (I'm pretty sure he has a first name. and I know it, but I've known him since I was 11, so he will always be "Mr. Brooks")

The ocean. It actually was prettier than this picture shows. (Oh and that's Lisa and Mrs. Brooks (who also has a first name that I will NEVER call her) in the ocean)

Gracie playing in the water.

Quinn is of course exploring.

My sand babies!

Then again, the "nose scrunch".

Family pic --- whoa, things have changed. No more 2 pieces for Mommy!

My girl and me.

Just in case we didn't get it the first time. Notice I am sporting an Astros visor. I hate the Astros. I really don't like visors. Not sure why I was wearing it.

Our goal the entire time was to get a pic of all of the kids. We did it, sort of :)

Sweet Layla in her beach outfit from us. It was almost too late -- I admittedly got lazy and didn't mail it way back when I purchased it in April - and it almost didn't fit. But Lisa assures me she can wear it a couple of more times. She's a long girl!

Ryan's the Star Tonight...

So I came home from church today (Matt & I take turns going since it falls during the babies' (toddlers??)  naptime) and the credits for "White Chicks" were rolling. Interesting that was the Sunday a.m. movie at my house but that's a different story. Anyway, what was more interesting was the little boogy dance my son was doing while Matt was changing Q's diaper. I told you he will get down to anything.. here's the proof. We took the video in 3 different stretches for some reason. Oh well. Enjoy :)  Love this little man!!!

Whoa, and we are on the go!

For the past few weeks, Quinn has been working on taking her steps. She took her first ones on vacation about 6 weeks ago and has been practicing hard ever since. The look of sheer determination on her face just cracks me up. And when she falls down or hits something, she just picks herself right back up and tries again. Love that perseverance! Anyway, we finally got a good video yesterday of it, so here it is.

 (And we aren't purposefully leaving Ryan out - he's just not walking yet. The boy LOVES to crawl. He will stand unassisted for 30-45 seconds but doesn't want to take that step. He loves to cruise though so I am hoping the more he sees Quinn toddling around the kitchen, the more eager he will be to take a few steps. Or maybe actually I will prefer him to wait awhile. She's already a hot mess and walking is getting her in even more fun trouble :) But we'll get a special video of him up here this weekend. He's super cute right now and really starting to talk. He must take after his momma, because as soon as he is finished with his afternoon snack, he ASKS for a nap! "Apppp! Apppp!". Heart. Melt.

And here's another one that could potentially get us in trouble but I love how quickly Q recovered from her fall. One thing is for sure - you can't take your eyes off this girl for a second. She likes to take her Thomas the Train over to the couch and climb up on it and then climb onto the couch like she's some princess. If Thomas is unavailable, then she will pull down every pillow off the couch and make her own springboard to the couch. Needless to say, she can't be trusted with anything. Anyway, Matt took this video while I was at the store this week (I was NOT supervising or approving this activity!) Can we say, "ooopsie daisy?"

Have a great weekend. I am off to take some vitamin C, heavy duty antibiotics and a nap. Matt was so kind to share his illness with me so now Mommy is down and out. Sort of. We're never really off-duty, are we, fellow Moms?

1 Year Pictures.. Finally!

I am finally getting around to post our one year pics -- Lord, it was a hot day. I think next year we'll just take them in April and call them their "2 year" pics. Mid-way through the shoot, Ryan was coated with sweat, Q's face was flushed and both Matt and I were dripping with sweat (thankfully we were NOT being photographed that morning!)

As always, thank you to my dear friend, Kendra (http://www.kendramartinphotography.com/) for her awesome work and patience with our bunch. So I leave you with a lot of pictures--- and trust me, this is just half of what Kendra gave me - and she even deleted half of what she took! Good lord.