We have a climber.

So we have a climber. And I'm not even going to pretend I am happy about it. I am not at all.

I'm sure if you've read this blog for any amount of time or know my family at all, you can guess who it is.

QUINNIE QUINN QUINN.

It all started early last week when we.had.just.run.out.of.complete.patience. and put her in "big time out" in her crib. That's a last resort time out punishment as we typically put her in the corner. But the corner had failed us at least 4 times, so Matt put her in the crib.

Later he came to tell me that when he went to rescue her from the pit of unimaginable hell, she was just waltzing around her room checking things out.

Nice.

Well, we hoped it was a one-off thing and maybe she had gotten herself so mad and upset that she had an extra boost of energy to get herself out. She didn't do it again for 3 days.

Until I put them down for naps on Thursday and sat down working on training a new co-worker.

Then came the unmistakable knock on the door. Then the sound of books hitting the floor.

Ran in there and sure enough, that stinker was out. UGhhhh. Put her back in, told her to "STAY" (yeah, like that was going to work) and of course, she just did it again, and again, and again. And kept her brother up in the process. And since I was working, there wasn't a whole lot I could do at that moment. Finally, 2 hours after  her naptime should have started, she finally gave up and passed out.

And that night was much of the same. We finally ended up pulling out the crib mattress and Matt slept next to her on the floor until she finally fell asleep. Let me tell you how much fun we all are when there's no sleep in this house. Pleasantries and compliments were not exactly exchanged the next day. After scouring the internet for crib tents (OMG, places have stopped selling them and the two places left that actually carry them WERE ON BACKORDER), I made a dash in the pouring rain for toddler rails since I was scared to death she was going to get caught on a rung climbing out.

Of course, those did nothing to contain the beast that had just discovered UNTOLD FREEDOM. I was by myself that night as Matt was at a men's retreat, and I spent a good portion of the evening crying into the phone with my mom as my child screamed from the unfairness of it all and Ryan cried because he just wanted sleep already.

Me too, bud, me too.

The main dilemma is separating them right now isn't really a reality. We have to keep the house staged for selling and the other room is a guest room. So we are a bit stuck. After doing some research and talking to friends, we stuck her in the pack 'n play so we could all get some sleep and do some eval on the situation. Wouldn't you know it worked like a charm on Saturday night. And Sunday's nap. And Sunday night. So, sold. We are going to pack 'n play her for the meantime. I just don't think she is "there" yet on being able to stay in the bed, and although we could do the whole training thing now, I am just not there yet energy-wise. I need prep time. There was no warning for this madness. And if you know anything about me, you know my little a-type, anal retentivness wants to pick the day, pick the schedule and roll with it on my terms.

Roll your eyes. I know you want to. This is just a small taste of what the kids are going to do that's NOT in my plans. I get it. But for now, I'm granting myself a reprieve. Because carrying the child back to bed 30 to 40 times in a night doesn't sound appealing right now with everything going on. I know she will eventually be ready and so will we.

And Ryan. Dude, I think he would just stay in the crib until age 12 if he could. He's just watched the action from afar with a bemused smirk on his face, like "glad it's not me, sucker." Just like his daddy. Learn from other people's actions. So I guess that would make Quinn like me. Yikes. I've heard the stories. Thanks, Mom.

But if he gets any ideas and leaps out of the crib anytime soon, someone will need to call in my Xanax stat.

My babies are definitely not babies. :(

Easter Weekend - Part 2

After a late night (in terms of what "late  night" means to us now, which is like anything past 10PM) at Uncle B's & Aunt C's --- and a fantastic night sleep for all involved --- we headed to the RR to Ma's house. Ma was SUPER EXCITED about planning an awesome egg hunt for all of the grandchildren, plus Uncle Zeb's nephew & niece. And Ma completely outdid herself. She had tons of eggs scattered around the yard filled with yummy treats for the kids (animal crackers, teddy grahams, etc). Since the babies weren't exactly walking last year, this was their first year to hunt eggs. And Aunt Christina totally hooked them up with Elmo Easter baskets which were a huge hit.

I was so excited to see how the kids would react to the idea of the egg hunt. I correctly predicted that Quinn would take it VERY seriously. That girl was all business and picked it right up. Ryan took a little prodding and then eventually got into it. And then (as predicted again), he just decided to take a break in the middle of the action and was content with just rifling through his basket. That's my boy : )

After the kids finished the egg hunt, they did all sorts of fun activities in Ma's yard - swinging, sliding, playing with the water and sand table and in general, just having a ball. All in their skivvies, or diapers as it may be. Then we tried to settle them down for a picnic lunch outside but there was way too much excitement to actually eat. But the picture of them dining in diapers is pretty precious.

Because we had such a long week, my back was killing me, and we had to be back in Houston for Easter services at our church on Sunday, we hit the road pretty early. With the hope and prayer that the babies would crash and sleep door to door. I heaved a huge sigh of relief when they passed out before we could even get on the tollway out of town. However, that was blown about an hour later when someone (I won't say who) woke up screaming bloody murder. And didn't really stop for the rest of the trip. Nothing like a screaming toddler in a contained, moving vehicle to grate on your nerves. Sure was glad to get home and pour a large glass of vino to recover.

Here are a few pictures from Ma's house. Ma, thanks so much for everything you did - next time we will stay longer, I promise. We love you!

Q getting ready

Ryan scouting it out

Excited with bunny ears!

My beautiful and incredibly sweet niece, Riley

Cousin Ady - wearing the same dress Riley wore about 5 years ago : )

When brother gives up, you just take his basket

Get that one, Q!

Did I drop one?

Daddy coaching Ryan on this egg hunting thing

Ok, time for a break

Quinn's first capri sun. She loved it.

Naked picnic! This just makes me smile : )

Quinn at her naked picnic. I made this extra large so you can see her scar --- or maybe not! It has faded sooooooo much!

Ry Guy and Aunt Emmy. No one can make Ryan squeal and laugh like Em.

Drinking from the water table - yum?

Or maybe not?

Loving the swing

At the water table

Getting in the sandbox

 The next morning, we yet again loaded up and put the babies in their freshly washed Easter outfits and headed to our church Easter service. It was a wonderful service and great message --- and then of course, the traditional egg hunt afterwards. This time, we were a little slow getting out to the action (even though the toddlers were separated from the big kids), so there weren't a lot of eggs to be had. But they managed to grab a few and got a few "donations" from some other super sweet kids.

And yet again, for the 2nd Easter in a row, we also managed to take not ONE family picture. It seems the only pictures we get these days are just of the kids, and maybe one parent. But even that's rare. We just get so busy chasing them we forget until later. Ughhh. That's why I make sure we get professional pictures at least once a year so the kids will know we were around : )

Hope you all enjoyed a very blessed and Happy Easter. He is Risen!

In Him,

Meagan

Austin Family Christmas 2011

After we finished the Anderson family Christmas saga, we had a couple of days recovery time and then it was time to unpack and pack again - this time headed for the Hill Country, sort of : )

What we have learned through these little trips --- no matter how little time you are going, you still need the same big things for the babies. Pack 'n Plays, portable high-chairs, toys, diapers, utensils, sippys, and the list goes on and on.

And I think I even uttered these words to Matt when he asked why I packed so much for the babies each time:

"Because I don't know what they might want to wear on that particular day."

Really??? They'd be happy in pjs. Probably happier. But since they are my living dolls at the moment, they will wear what I am in the mood for them to wear. Terrible, right?

That's what I say about my packing. Not my kids packing. We are all in deep trouble.

Anyway, we departed for Austin a few short days after getting back from Dallas. It should not have been a big deal drive but the kids were very cranky all the way there. 30 minutes of crankiness I can handle, it's the 2 1/2 stretch that starts to get under my nerves. By the end of the trip, I was literally flipping crackers over the front seat of the car to see who could catch one.Fun for me. Maybe not so fun for them. Mom of the year right here. I am sure my award was lost in the holiday mail.

We were pretty packed to the gills, but not as much to Dallas. Thank God. We could actually see out of the back window which is a lovely safety feature.

Anyway, we arrived to Matt's Mom's (Barbara) late afternoon and shortly thereafter the rest of the family arrived. We all caught up and the babies had some time to rediscover their newly cleaned out and "baby safe" playroom before we went to dinner.

Playing with the cousins and the toy kitchen

Quinn, Ady, and Riley - apparently it takes 3 to cook whatever they were making.



Ryan downing his "drink". Looks eerily familiar to how mommy does it.



Not to be outdone, there's Quinn chugging away.

Pretty Riley!

It's been a big Christmas for the babies. Multiple dinners out with mommy and daddy. And this one I knew would be smooth because of all the extra hands. Anyway, we headed down the street to this place called "Juniors". I guess it's a restaurant/bar? All I kept thinking was that line from Sweet Home Alabama...

"You have a baby. In a bar."

Yes, yes we did. Two of them in fact. They enjoyed the music.

Well, Quinn really enjoyed it, enough to go dance around with cousin and Mommy, and a couple of strangers. Ryan enjoyed the music but was so tired, he kinda went baby catatonic.

In the process, we rediscovered Quinn's love for french fries - yikes, thanks TCH! - she ate a HUGE adult portion, plus a quesdilla, some of my chicken breast, and would not touch any of the veggies. Awesome. Someone was on the holiday diet. And after all that, she went and danced it off. Evidence below:

Uncle Zeb with Ryan

Uncle Christian and Ady

Grandma Goober and me (Matt's grandmother & an extremely special, special person. She is the only great-grandparent the children have. She is such a wonderful, warm, and loving person - such a treat to have her in town when we were there!)

This is what Riley did 80% of the night - just played and played with Quinn and carried her around. Quinn didn't even mind. These two have had a special bond since the beginning. They just love each other - I pray that Quinn will always look up to her big cousin.

Tired Ryan. Shortly before catatonic state.

Everyone smiling. Except Ryan. I mentioned he was done with Juniors, right?

Sweet little Riley and me

Aunt Stacey and Ady

Riley shaking her groove thang

Quinn was the hit of the dance floor. Here she is dancing with a random woman at the bar - I mean, restaurant that happens to serve a lot of alcoholic beverages and has 2 bands on the weekend.



Quinn and Riley had to go check out the outside band. They were too fun to watch. Especially since Quinn had her squeaky shoes on and would "squeak squeak" everywhere. At least I knew I couldn't lose her.



Such a fun evening ---and lovely to be able to actually have plenty of hands to hold the children so we could enjoy our dinner and adult beverages. A rarity if it's just Matt and I with the twins out to dinner. They are just at that age.

Anyway, Stacey also shared with me a wonderful story that brought tears to my eyes. As I mentioned, Quinn and Riley have always had this special bond. I never even thought about how it would affect Riley when Q had surgery --- she's old enough to understand (7 yrs) that Quinn was going to have a big surgery on her heart. And of course, like it would be for any 7 year old, hearing "surgery" and "heart" probably really scared her. Anyway, apparently before Quinn's first surgery, Riley gathered up every single piece of green that she could find in the house - costume necklaces, bracelets, etc. She then took those green trinkets to school and passed them out to all of the kids in her class so they would all be wearing green on surgery day. Oh my. That sweet, thoughtful little one.

And then on the day of her surgery, Riley had a very tough day. Stacey had warned her teacher that Riley may be upset that day and explained what was happening in here in Houston. At some point, she got really sad so her teacher took her out in the hallway to talk about it. So Riley cried and talked about Quinnie - and the teacher cried as well, hearing her story. At that point, the teacher asked Riley if they could pray together - for little Quinn to be strong. And so they sat in the hallway and prayed together.

Just picturing that vision in my head still brings tears to my eyes. What a special teacher she must have to be so incredibly understanding --- and then to pray with Riley? In a public school? Amazing. As a sidenote, the stories I continue to hear about what people did during Q's journey and how they prayed just blows me away. I've said it over and over, but truly we are so incredibly blessed that God placed all of these people in our lives.

Ok - so moving on.... the next day the babies were so exhausted that they slept an hour later than usual. Score one point for Juniors. The weather was GORGEOUS in Austin that weekend and we wished so much we had brought the twins' stroller to roll them around in downtown RR. Instead though we let the twins play outside which they loved. Barbara has a pretty large backyard and a great little swingset so that was a total  hit. At some point in the time outside, Ryan discovered his shadow.

Well, he was just amazed and perlexed by his own shadow - and especially confused when Daddy's shadow came up behind him. He kept trying to run from it which was hilarious once we figured out why the heck our son was turning multiple circles. And then he decided that he should talk to his shadow. So he would stand at the fence and tell "Shadow" what exactly was up. Pointing his finger and everything. I almost peed in my pants laughing so hard. He was so serious and intent on getting rid of "Shadow". I'll guarantee one thing - I bet Ryan is my child who will have an imaginary friend.

Later that night, everyone returned to the house to feast on brisket and ribs courtesy of Christian and open Christmas presents. If you'll recall from my Dallas posts, my family takes a sweet forever on Christmas morning. Too long for me. Well, Matt's side of the family is the exact opposite - it's a fast and furious, better keep up or you'll miss it, kind of Christmas. Presents were being tossed and passed like nothing I've seen before. As soon as I would open something, I had another gift in my hand.

The next day I went through the gifts as we were packing up and had myself another little Christmas, as I didn't recall or see half of the things that were being opened at the time.

But that's why families are special - different traditions and even different gift-opening tactics : ) Either way, it's fun. And the twins of course got some really neat stuff and I have a few gift cards burning a hole in my pocket. Super fun night - and another late one for the twins. At this point I was wondering if they would ever get back on schedule or if they would think after all their hard-partying in Dallas and Austin was the new norm.

The next day we got everything packed up again (we are such packing pros by now), watched part of the A&M game, and then hit the road. Thankfully we timed it just right so the twins AND mommy crashed all the way back to Houston. I can't tell you the last time I slept almost door to door like that but it was awesome.

So that's the Austin wrap up. So blessed that we got to see everyone over Christmas and spend some true quality time with all. And the twins have since recovered from the craziness and got themselves back on schedule. They are STILL taking 2 naps a day and we will keep it up until they finally decide to drop the morning one. But as it stands right now, they soooo need that morning nap and I think they just like their afternoon nap. I know we'd have a little more freedom to go places if I could just push them through but selfishly, I get a lot of work done during that morning nap and that's typically my shower time as well. So I'm really not in a hurry to let it go. We'll see what happens over the next couple of months.

So closing out 2011 with this post - kind of sad but ready to take on 2012 headfirst : )

In Him,