Quinn turns 2

Our Quinny turned two today.

To celebrate, we kicked-off the Easter Season with the first egg hunt of the year. Not that it's monumental to have an egg hunt, but honestly, it turned out to be a great way to celebrate a two-year-old birthday. I'd recommend it. Who knows - we might have an egg hunt for future birthdays, even birthdays in August and September. Why not? Eggs would be really cheap that time of year...

I'm not much of a baker. I cook dinner nearly every night, but we don't really love to have baked goods in the house. It feels like the kids get plenty of treats throughout the day (our kids are social butterflies, and these days, every day is an excuse for a party). Plus, Landon and I are pretty impulsive. Fresh cookies don't get to stay in this house for long, and those fresh cookies had to go SOMEWHERE, so you can imagine where they go. So I've started a trend. I make-from-scratch their birthday cupcakes. This was my second attempt at very berry strawberry cupcakes - I'm getting better at it. Fresh strawberries in the icing. Freeze-dried strawberries in the cupcakes. The kids helped me make the icing on Saturday morning, and we all iced them together (that explains why they are not artistic... or maybe it's that they'd look like my 3-year-old helped me decorate them even if she didn't). My philosophy is that by the time they are old enough to discern whether my cupcakes are good, I'll actually be pretty good at it. I REALLY don't get much practice. The flour that I used to make these cupcakes was (I'm pretty sure) the flour I purchased to make Cora's cupcakes in September...

Uncle Shew and aunt Erin always send a Target gift card for the girl's birthdays. Over Christmas, Uncle Shew went wild when he realized that the kids hadn't actually been picking out the toys bought with the cards. Message heard! Quinny and I made a ceremonial trip to Target yesterday, just she and I, to pick out a new toy.

There were several front-runners - a stuffed Mickey Mouse as big as her; a plastic shopping cart full of fake food - but once Quinny imprinted on this Our Generation doll, the story was over. That's what she definitely wanted. 

After Target, Quinny took a nice long, nap and we finished our party prep. Our big plan was that she'd wake up around 3, we'd get her dressed, then let her open the presents from us and family, with us all ready for the party at 4.

Quinn woke up with an epic Terrible-Two-Tantrum. So we were a bit delayed getting to open pre-party presents, and even when we did, Quinn was a big contrary about the whole thing.

With about 15 minutes to go before the party, we'd gotten about 3 presents open, and decided to stack the presents on the TV stand (up off the floor) and open them Saturday night post-party or Sunday morning. So going into the party (all outside) there were some opened presents and some unopened presents in the living room. There was also some wrapping paper left on the floor, although most of it had been bagged up. Keep that stack of presents in mind - it comes up again later in the plot.

We headed down to the basement. Cora spotted the huge box of eggs on our way out to the party. 

Landon and I spent our Friday night baking cupcakes and stuffing eggs. Honestly, we didn't spend more than we would have on goody bags for the party. For goody bags, I always like to buy a couple of nice stuffers so the bag isn't all candy (e.g., like playdough). But we bought mostly cheap-o eggs with a few fancy eggs thrown in, stuffed with toddler friendly candy (is there such a thing). Super easy.

I took a picture of this cheese board. Landon made me laugh with these labeled cards. This party was the furthest thing from a fancy party. I even crossed hot-dog sauce and slaw off of the menu, because it felt like too much trouble. No dips on the table. Just hot dogs with buns, ketchup, cleveland mustard, veggie straws (a kiddie version of chips, if you don't have kids), and smore flavored goldfish. That was it. Then while baking, I found the cheeseboard and cheese knives Jill sent me for Christmas this year, and Landon had plans to grab Whole Foods coffee beans on Saturday morning anyways, so we decided to grab some good cheese for the adults. While we were setting up, Landon came down with these labeled cards... and suddenly the whole thing looked fancy. And it turns out our kids also couldn't get enough of the cheese. 

Kate arrived first. Quinn's mood shifted as soon as her friends arrived. She ended up having a blast. I don't regret shoving her into this tutu dress - she ended up very prancy.

I did not let them take off like this (how dangerous) but they looked so cute all cuddled up and ready to go!

Quinny with Elizabeth Rankin.

Cora's friend Lilly from Miss Aimee's came, too. It was fun to see Quinny with her friends. So many of Cora's friends have younger brothers that that's often who she plays with, but she has some really close friends from school.

Cora and Quinn immediately tore into Lilly's present - a wand with wings. Perfect! They loved it!

Melissa arrived with Olivia and Jamison -

I love this hug!

All lined-up and ready for the Easter Egg Hunt!
Before the egg hunt, we set up a table to decorate bags for eggs. Lunch bags painted with markers and covered with stickers. Super easy.

Front row: Lilly Grace, Addison, & Tanner (in the next pic, Elizabeth took Lilly's place on the front row, and Olivia perched between Addison & Tanner).
Second row: Calvert, Quinn, Presley, Jamison.
Third row: Cora, Gauge, James, Sean, Annalisa, Kate, & Maelin.
(Samual, baby Luke, and baby Juliet didn't make the picture)

What's in the eggs??? CANDY!!!

And, they're off! Kate & Presley realized that there were eggs hidden closer to the house for the little kids. Those girls were egg finding experts!

For a party activity, it seemed to work really well. No one had to wait there turn, we threw out a ton of eggs (about 240) so everyone got plenty, and the really little kids were happy-as-punch to even find 2 or 3 eggs. Plus it gave us an excuse to get everyone on the stairs for a pic - which I've sometimes forgotten at parties. While the mom's lined the kids up for the pic and to wait for the hunt, the dad's ran out and "hid" the eggs (we gave the instruction to not really hide the eggs - we didn't want to find eggs in our bushes 10 years form now!).

Quinny getting some help with the hunt from Maelin's grandma.

Annalisa's first egg hunt. Last year, Quinn was walking at Easter, but Annalisa is 4 months younger, so wasn't quiet egg hunting yet (if I remember correctly).

Lilly found eggs under the stairs.

Samuel toddling around the yard.

Tanner.

Quinn & Jamison.

Elizabeth & Olivia (coincidentally in the same shirt).

Juliet is only 8 days old (there with Lindy - only 8 days post-partum). Lindy has twins exactly Cora's age - one baby must feel so easy that she's juggling this baby no problem. I completely forgot how little Juliet was until she started crying and I heard that sweet sweet newborn cry.

The pics of Quinn blowing out the candles (that wouldn't stay lit) are on Landon's phone - I'll insert later. Quinn took one bite of her cupcake. That was it. I hope she appreciates all this strawberry cupcake effort someday.

Quinn and Annalisa saying their goodbyes.

How long do you have to be friends in order to be "old friends"? I remember when I realized Erin was pregnant. We hadn't seen each other in a couple of months (it happens with toddlers), and we were both standing in the back of the Cathedral with cranky toddlers (James and Cora). She was holding James, and when she set him down, the bump was obvious. We made the pregnant eye contact - I was nearly a bigger disruption than Cora I was so excited.
I love this hug.

Sean holding his loot. New glasses and a broken finger requiring a cast. He looked so grown-up!

Lilly Grace liked the cupcakes!

Quinn didn't eat a cupcake, but she still managed to catch a sugar-high. Quinn broke into a candy-infused dance to celebrate this egg find right here on the driveway. She was wild. Hopping and spinning and running back-and-forth. 

Quinny wasn't very into the egg hunt during the hunt, but afterwards when the kids were distracted and playing with other things, she went on a super-sly-stealth hunt for eggs - checking in bags that she found around the yard. Here, she shelled Presley's eggs stashed in the wagon. The candy was wrapped, so I don't think she got any here... but she sure acted wild about the fruits of her hunt. She was so excited.

Saying her goodbyes to Olivia...

And Tanner...

Kate proud of the fruits of her hunt - a TON of eggs!

So back to that stack of presents inside. While we were cleaning up the party, Cora went inside to play with Addison, Kate, and Presley (all 5 or nearly 5). These kids play together a lot, and Cora loves to be their tag along. People were in-and-out the whole time or sitting on the porch swing with food and platters, but I was outside the whole time saying goodbye with Quinn to her guests. That stack of presents didn't look all that wrapped to start with, because half had been opened right before the party.

As people were leaving, Cora came halfway down the front steps where the gifts from the party were, and asked when we were coming inside to open all of Quinn's gifts from the party. Quinn's gifts from the party were all perched midway up the front porch stairs.

Presley was standing next to me on the driveway.
Cora: When can Quinny open these presents?
Me: In a few minutes - we're going to say goodbye to our guests and pick-up first.
Presley: Cora already opened all the presents inside.
Me: What presents? (I didn't really get what Presley was trying to say until Cora's accusation gave it away).
Cora: (having a caniption fit that kept her from getting her words out) Presley! Presley! You weren't supposed to tell my Mommy!!!

I had to try really hard to not laugh.

Sure enough, I went inside, and this is what I found. Quinn's presents mailed from family, half-opened all over the room. I could see why no one noticed what they were doing (I'm sure she had a little help). The stack wasn't very neat, and there was already some paper on the floor.

I tried to keep a straight face as I tried to make Cora feel guilt about opening all of Quinn's presents. She explained that Quinny didn't even want to open them before the party so she had to see what was in them. "Don't worry - we didn't play with them!" she said. I was trying to lecture Cora, but every few minutes had to cover my mouth to hide my smile. She was so stinking cute standing here pouty and refusing to feel guilty about it.

Quinny was completely unaffected by the opened presents.

The girls went back to playing with the toys. Kate, sitting in the doll high chair.

I let Cora open the snap-on Minnie set from Mia and Papaw. Both girls love it!



Opening presents after the party.

Quinn loved her set of purses from Aunt Feather. Quinn does like purses.

Cora picked out a Nemo bath toy for Quinny. Pull the work in its mouth, and it's tail swims to catch the worm. I forgot about wind-up toys - Quinn is the perfect age for those.

Those aren't shadows on her face. That is dirt. She played REALLY hard for 3 hours.

I thought Quinny looked so cute all day - especially from behind. Look at the chubby little baby contour of her legs. I know that baby fat will melt soon and she will look less and less like a baby this year. I've enjoyed Quinn as a baby so much.

On Facetime with Aunt Feather. You can really see the dirt on her face here.

Our neighbors Calvert and Samuel brought presents for both Quinn and Cora. Both girls had hollipop suckers on the top of their packages. Cora LOVED hers (I think it was her first old-fashioned piped candy sucker)... Quinn took a few licks and handed hers straight to me. I wasn't disappointed - I love those old candy store suckers, too!

Quinny starting to crash in Daddy's lap.

A family picture: Aunt Feather, Daddy, and Quinn.

The final gift we opened was the perfect bedtime story, given to Quinn from the Groebers. A few weeks ago after dinner at the Groeber's house, we gave all the kids a bath there together (pictures exist, but decided not to blog, since the 2 Messals and the 2 youngest Groebers are all in the tub together. Someday when Cora and James are graduating from middle school together, that picture will be submitted to a slideshow... too cute!). We had the girls are dressed for bed, and Cody read the kids this book for bedtime.

What a great story - it's an instant Messal family favorite. The story is about a wooden doll (like Pinnoccio, but it isn't Pinnoccio), and he struggles with his imperfections and is jealous of other dolls. He meets a doll who always seems happy and at peace, and the lesson she teaches him is that she visits the Old Doll Maker Eli everyday to remind her that she was wonderfully and specially made and that she's exactly as the dollmaker intended her to be. It's by Max Lucado, titled "You Are Special".

When Landon read it to the girls last night, Cora asked, "Who made you, Daddy?"

Wowser. Wonderful moments.

Wonderful moments all day long. 

Quinn: Her last day @ age 1

I can't believe it has been two years since this sweet face made an appearance in our lives! How in love with you we all are.

The sweetest thing happened yesterday. While I was doing my daily 5:50 PM routine (trying to get dinner cooked with two grouchy girls, both wanting to simultaneously be held, eat a snack, play outside, go potty, and push a babydoll stroller), Quinn was following me around, arms upstretched, wanting to be held. Usually, I am conditioned to drop what I am doing in order to give good hugs... but it was 5:50 and I had just put hamburger in the skillet to brown, and I could not immediately stoop down to scoop her up.

To me, Quinn was announcing, "Hold me!". When I didn't, she went straight to Cora, saying, "Hold me!". Cora obliged. My heart melted.

At dinner, she kept saying to Cora, "Sissy!!!", then would out-stretch her arms, and insist Cora come and hug her. It happened so many times that Cora started setting limits, "This is the last time, Quinny, OK? Not again." Then it would happen again, and they'd repeat the pattern.

At nearly 2, Quinn's cuteness is at an all-time high.

She isn't tall enough to see over the counter in the kitchen or the bathroom, but that doesn't keep her from checking out her landscape. Quinn totes around a stool and/or one of the chairs that go with her little table, following me around to see what I'm doing. She doesn't let her size hold her back. I found these pics on the camera card from October - I don't think I ever posted them. Look at how proud she is of this old stool I keep in the laundry room.

She is loving the rhyme and motions to:

Five little monkies swinging from a tree.
Said to Mr. Alligator Can't Catch Me (Quinn takes her index fingers and buries them her cheeks)
Along came the alligator quiet as can be... shhhh (Quinn thinks she is making the shhh motion, but instead she just points to her nose)...
AND SMACK THAT MONKEY OUT OF THAT TREE!!!
(Quinn claps hard and cackles)

She also claps everytime at the end of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", loves to do books that have noisy buttons to push, and would push a babydoll stroller or shopping cart for hours.

In the last two weeks, her language has improved dramatically. We're frequently getting "I want a snack", and she has gotten much better at communicating what she wants rather than just crying (e.g., coming into the kitchen to get her own fork, spoon, bib, etc. She now says, "I'm hungry".

We have a colorful baby animal book. When Cora was Quinn's age, we would go through the book identifying the animals (e.g., Which one is the monkey? Where is the macaw?). Landon was putting Cora to bed last week, so I had Quinn one-on-one (admittedly, this isn't usually how it happens). I had the chance to get the baby animal book out, and was expecting a tinge of guilt at how few of the animals Quinny would know. To my surprise, she knew almost everyone! Either Landon has been practicing the book with Quinny, or she is destined to be a zoo-ologist someday!

Quinn is very into jumping right now. She will run a few steps, then leap, land on both feet, and yell "BOOM!" then laugh. She also prefers to take a two-footed jump from the top of stairs.

In the bathtub she always wants to play with the yellow frog named "Alli" (Sorry Alli Turisk, but I think Cora named it after you, and the name has stuck).

She recently announced that her lovey's name is "Flower".

In Kentucky, mom's favorite memory of our last visit was of early mornings with Quinn. Quinn and Cora have little cots at my parent's house; this was Quinn's first time to move from the crib to the cot. Mom slept in the bedroom with the girls and the cots. When Quinn would wake, she would climb in bed with Mom. Mom said every few minutes her head would pop up, she would grab Mom's face, give her a big smacker, then lay her head back down and doze.

Mom let her bring back to SC mom's childhood babydoll. All plastic, with one arm missing and wearing one of my baby outfits (a two-big knitted outfit). It is nearly as big as Quinn - Quinn tries to carry it with us a lot.

She is starting to play more with blocks, and she is starting to play make-believe. One of her favorite things is the little tiny baby that came with the Loving Family dollhouse. We are losing it frequently, and it is because Quinn carries it off.

The girls' play kitchen is in the breakfast nook, and they often play there while I finish my dinner. Quinn has started pulling the kitchen away from the wall so she can peek behind it and put her head through the "window" above the sink, smiling and screaming, "hi".

Quinn is a very happy girl.

But she's a tough girl, too. Everyone comments that Quinn can take a pretty hard knock with practically no reaction. A few weeks ago she came home from daycare with a big bite bruise on her arm. I noted it with her teacher the next day, in case Q decided to retaliate. Her teacher was surprised, but said that Q may have reacted with a mad cry, but not a hurt cry. That didn't surprise me - she holds her own.

Speaking of tough... I took these pics the day after I started this blog post. This is a few minutes before Quinny's second birthday party. She had just woken up from her nap, and all-of-the-sudden went from happy to furious over the birthday dress. I decided to not try to get her dressed, and instead tried to put her head in piggies. That didn't go well, either. I returned to getting her dressed - and this is what happened.

I grabbed my camera seconds before she flung herself on the ground in an all-out tantrum.

Well, Hello There, Terrible Two's! It's so great that you decided to arrive. I am impressed by your punctuality!

It's my party and I can cry if I want to!

Happy 2nd Quinny! We can't wait for your party, even if you aren't so sure about this dress.

Heaven

Tonight I was rocking and reading to the girls at bedtime. Two books; then 2 songs. Cora always asks to lead off with Away in a Manger (Cora knows every word; Quinn is hitting some and singing in rhythm).

After Away in a Manger (ending in "bless all the dear children in thy tender care and take us to heaven to live with thee there"), Cora was trying to prolong her time before the second song...

Cora: mommy, let's talk about Away in a Manger.

Me: ok. What do you want to talk about? Heaven?

Cora: yeah, heaven.

Me: ok, what is heaven?

I should stop to tell you that I was gearing up for a great happy convo about heaven. Streets of gold. Mansions. Christ shining as the sun (my girls love to sing Amazing Grace"). She'd asked earlier who Mia's mommy was, so there was going to be a heaven cameo from Grandma Eb...

This is how it went...

Cora: (with a bit sinister voice) it's where people go after they die!!!

Me: so wait, is heaven good or bad?

Cora: BAD!

Me: no heaven is good! We want to go to heaven. That's where Jesus lives!

Cora: why?

I gave a long pause. It hit me that her whole raccoon incident last year could still have her confused (I.e. The raccoon went to heaven; daddy threw the raccoon over the fence; pearl went to timeout; the raccoon's mommy was over the fence, too...). Heaven is tough to explain.

That's when I saw her face starting to crumple and big tears starting to well in her eyes.

Cora: I want my daddy... I don't want to die... And I don't want Jesus to die either! 

Folks, this whole celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ is going to make for a long Easter season at the Messal house. 

*******

In Itsy bitsy spider (my post- heaven talk recovery song) Quinn is starting to do the dramatic and enthusiastic yelping of OUT.  

Super cute!

Uncle James

My grandfather's brother, James, and his wife Mable have always been a great part of our lives.

They didn't have children. They had a dog (Suzette) that died when I was in college and I have no recollection of Uncle James & Aunt Mable before Suzette. Aunt Mable passed away a couple of years ago; Uncle James soon moved to an assisted-living facility in our hometown. Uncle James is now around for a lot of family events.

Over Thanksgiving, Cora was spinning the corner-cabinet lazy susan at my parent's house.

Mia: Cora, you're going to cut your finger off!
Cora (with big eyes): Like Uncle James!?!?!

Uncle James lost a finger years ago. I don't even know how (machine work? a war?). Two things always stood out about Uncle James 1) his little dog Suzette and 2) his missing finger.

Uncle James had a big laugh when he heard that she'd noticed; he said that they hadn't talked about it directly, but he'd noticed her eyeing it with fascination.

On Friday night, Dad met me halfway between Paintsville and Charleston, parked his vehicle and drove me the rest of the way to Kentucky. We do this trip several times a year. It was an adventurous trip this time. We were late meeting dad due to spring break traffic leaving Charleston. Then at Chik-fil-et the manager and I collided while I was carrying Cora, she flung out of my arms and hit her head, and then because he wasn't dressed in official gear and was a bit grabby in trying to help us up, I thought he was trying to kidnap her (I was on the brink of making a huge scene) (in my defense, he looked like what I think a creepy kidnapper would look like and he was probably overly trying to help because, well, he was the manager and probably thought we'd sue... and I imagine he didn't think of himself as someone who looked like he might kidnap children). This was a trip for the memories.

Before this, while we were eating dinner at Chik-fil-et, dad and I were having a very casual conversation:

Me: How's Uncle James doing?
Dad: He's doing pretty well. He had the stomach bug last week.
Cora (with total nonchalance and in perfect cadence with conversation): Did his finger ever get fixed?

Clearly this  missing finger made an impression on her.

Three little kids, for the flavor

Our wedding song was Dean Martin's "Memories are made of this".
We'd argue it's the best wedding song of all time, but we're a bit biased.
Hard to dance to on our wedding day, but it's been a song that we are able to use.

We break it out at all of our best moments -
When we forget to close the sunroof, go into a restaurant, and there is a downpour.
When the shelves crash to the floor in the garage.
When we packed up on Canvasback Court to move.

When a stereo isn't available and something chaotic happens, we sing our favorite refrain.

"Meeeemories are made of this.
Sweet sweet, the memries you gave to me.
You can't beat the memries you gave to me".

Even this morning, Landon set his phone alarm to play it so that'd we'd wake up laughing.

And so when we talked about whether we'd have a third child or not, one piece of rationale that always got thrown in the mix of discussion was that in our song, there are three kids.

"Then come the wedding bells - one house where lovers dwell.
Three little kidsssss for the flavor.
Stir it gently through the days.
See how the flavor stays.
These are the dreams you'll saaaaavor. da da da da."

Seriously - we threw that in as rationale.

We're ecstatic that we're adding a third flavor to our family in early to mid August. So blessed.

*****
Speaking of being pregnant for the third time in 4 years...

Landon asked what I was giving up for lent yesterday. Was he kidding. Unlimited coffee. Wine. Vodka tonic with a squirt of lime. Soft cheeses. Sandwich meat. Yellow skittles, yellow M&Ms, and yellow jelly beans. Hot tubs. My figure. All my clothes for 9 months.

I usually claim Baptist during Lenten season anyways (especially on Fridays since I do not like fish). Actually, I claim Baptist for most Catholic days of obligation except Fat Tuesday - is Fat Tuesday a day of obligation? The first time I went to the Cathedral's Fat Tuesday pancake breakfast I didn't even realize that it was because everyone else was planning to fast and swear off sweets for 40 days starting a few hours later.

Still, I strongly believe there should be some universal law that pregnant women are NEVER expected to give up anything for lent.

It think Pope Francis would support this claim. I may have to write him.