Oh Jake-jake

Last night we spent our last few hours with our loving Jakey-boy. The old guy was 13.5 years old but nobody in this house was ready to say goodbye. Luckily he went really fast and didn't seem to suffer. Yesterday when I was leaving for work he was out hunting, peeing on all of his favorite trees, and eating Q's breakfast that made it onto the floor. A perfect morning for our lovable flatcoat!

Jake came into my life as a package deal with Denis. So everyday that Denis and I have spent together has included the puppy dog eyes above. I am so happy that I got to spend 9 years with Jakenstein Applesauce. In his last 19 months he was the best big brother to little Q. He was so patient, loving and damn he just put up with a toddler pulling his tail, wanting to give him kisses and he always had a little one on hand to give him a "Jakey nummi".

There won't be a day when we won't think about Jake. Love you

Happy Easter

What a family!

Just a little sneak peek at our first family pictures!

Happy Halloween from our little Monster

Lovin' the evening walk

Can you see all those teeth? Yes, it has finally happened. Our little vampire has grown himself some more teeth. Just take a look at all those chompers. Luckily he is being nice to mama with his new front teeth.

Big news around here ... Q is sleeping like a champ. I was so nervous to put it in writing thinking that I might jinx myself, but it is official Q is a sleeping maniac. It only took about 10.5 months but it is so glorious to sleep through the night again.

During the last month Q was able to spend a lot of time with family and friends. I wish it could have been under better circumstances, but at least we got to spend lots of quality time with Auntie Coco and Nanna. Finally my boy has spent some time in Capitola. I sure hope we can spend a lot more time there next summer.

My little Vampire

All my mama wants is my two front teeth!

I couldn't help but post this picture. It is one of my all time favorites and just look at those fangs! Has anyone ever seen a set of teeth like these? We are so lucky to have such a happy, happy boy. He is always smiling, usually laughing and always on the move.

Q's 9 month Stats

Last Thursday Quin turned 9 months and we went to Mammoth to celebrate ... okay not exactly to celebrate but it sure was good timing!

The Q man's stats stack up like this:
~Weight - just about 22lbs
~Height - I have no idea
~I think he is going to be left-handed
~He can give you High-Five
~Still a bfing champ with no end in sight
~He loves to feed himself - especially avocado, zucchini and carrots. He also likes sweet potato, applesauce, peaches and butternut squash
~He has finally slept through the night (this is hands down the most exciting thing to happen around here in 9 months)
~Has four teeth, two bottom and two fangs!
~He loves to laugh at Jake and torment the poor old dog
~He is a very happy baby boy with big smiles all the time

Q's 1st Road trip

This morning we headed out for Quin's first ROAD TRIP! We made it to Mammoth with hardly a peep out of the boy. He played, ate, napped, played some more. We couldn't have asked for a better baby boy in the car. Just a few months ago we couldn't drive down the street without Quin screaming his head off. We have come SO far.

Our plan is to introduce Quin to his namesake river this weekend. I'll be sure to post a few pictures!

The boy is starting to stir from his nap!

Signed,
A happy vacationing family

Am I seeing DOUBLE?

Quin loves hanging out in his mommy's office. His favorite thing is to make-out with himself in the mirror! You gotta love this little guy. He makes me smile, laugh and exhausted every single day.

Wacky week of Fun

What a bunch we are! Last week I was lucky enough to have my mom, sister, niece and nephew in town. This is just a teaser picture from an early evening at Moonlight Beach! We had such a wonderful time with everyone and Quin can't get used to the quiet at our house now. He loved having Brooke and Michael to entertain him, help feed him and love on him.

Corey, Nanna, Brooke and Michael did some serious activities in the short time they were here : Disneyland, San Diego Zoo (Quin and I joined as well), we saw Shrek 3, Balboa Park - Natural History Museum & Railroad Museum, Sea World and the beach. No trip to CA would be complete without Corey getting In N Out and enjoying some real Mexican food.

We had a great time but it was so hard to see them all go. I so badly wish we had family closer! Guess we will have to get Quin on a plane and out to NC pretty soon!

Daddy Daycare

If it is Monday, it is Daddy Day at our house! Q enjoyed a day with daddy while mommy was away at work. The boys hit up the mall and Q came home with something called "crawlers". Apparently The Gap sells pants for babes on the move. Q is really interested in being mobile and I sure hope he doesn't get the hang of it for a few months. Ha, a mama can dream!

PUJ Tub

A few months back I was selected to be an official tester of a very cool new baby product, The Puj Tub! With everything we have had going on the review didn't get written but man do I love this tub. And they picked ME and my darling boy (see previous post of my pudgy man) to test out their light, slim, easy to store new tub.

Well, Quin loves it, I love it and that is all that matters. The Puj Tub claims to fit a baby up to 6 months. Quin is now 5 months but it appears that he is off the growth charts. Guess what? As long as the sink is big enough the Puj Tub is perfect. We have also found a variety of other uses for it. Yours truly has used it for myself in the tub as a slip-proof back rest. Once again, it is perfect!

Pictures are coming so stayed tuned!

Your favorite Puj Tub tester,
A

Q's first Photo Session

Nanna came this week and we surprised Daddy with pics of Q. He was in such a great mood and had a great time. Of course now I want ALL of them! Keep in mind there were some great blackmail pictures that I will be able to use when Q is older!

The one above is my personal favorite. It really captured his personality and the fact that he is wearing the hat that Daddy bought him when he was 6 days old makes it even better.

I could just eat him up!

Yes, my son has man-boobs! He is a VERY healthy boy.

Daddy-clone

Just relaxing ...

My sweet little Quin. Mommy loves you more than you know. I hope you always have your sparkly eyes.

Story Time for little Q

This afternoon mommy took me to Story Time at the Carlsbad library. Before she made me sing silly songs, read books about puppies and clap my hands, we had coffee with some of my friends. My friends are all from my Babies In Bloom Breastfeeding Support Group. Because of my friends (and their mommy's) my mommy kept breastfeeding me. If you notice, I am one of the biggest, chubbiest babes in the lineup! Keep in mind that I am the youngest!

My friends (from left to right) Angelina, Pete, Enzo and ME!

I have been growing like a mad man! Mommy weighed me yesterday and I was 16lbs, 9oz. I have officially doubled my weight but height is not on my side (have you seen my parents?). My four month birthday is coming up soon. Have I really been around that long? I'll tell my mom to update my stats after my 4 month checkup.

Mommy is having a hard time coming to terms with going back to work. She wants to stay home with me so we can do fun things like Story Time, walking with my friends, going to coffee, going to the movies and so many other things. I want her to be with my all-day everyday too.

With love,

Baby Q

Q's 1st Christmas Party

A few weeks ago we took Quin to his first ever Christmas party! We met Katie, Brian and Quin's girlfriend, Lilah, at the party. We also got pictures taken with Surfer Santa.

Merry Christmas!

Denis, Amy & Baby Q

The Dream Team

Here we stand! The Baby Q Dream Team was all together on Thursday night at Babies in Bloom - along with Ricki Lake too!

From left to right:
Kayti Ricker - Doula Extraordinaire
Jo Kilburn - Hypnobirthing Instructor
Liza Janda - Mama-to-be Yoga Instructor

All of these ladies played an amazing role in the planning, pregnancy and birth of Baby Q. I was so happy to have all of them together in the same place with Q.

Q's 1st visit with Dr. Jack

Quin and I went to the chiropractor today. We both were so relaxed when he left, so relaxed that we came home and took a nap!

We love Dr. Jack! His first reaction "he is SOLID". Yes my petite little son is 10lbs and counting. He is outgrowing his newborn clothes and that makes this mama sad.

Just treats around here

Quin at his Halloween breastfeeding Support Group. He peed on his outfit so I had to just drape it over him! we call him "Ghost Boxer"!

Today is Quin's first Halloween! I had two really cute outfits, a ghost gown (thanks Nicole) and a "Baby's First Halloween" onesie (thanks Tamara) ... well our little guy managed to poop and pee on them both yesterday and every other time I put him in them. There must be something about those outfits.

So today instead of wearing a cute Halloween outfit he is wearing a Small Paul outfit from Auntie Vicki. At one point today as he was getting upset about something I looked down and he had the same look on his face as the monkey on his shirt. Once again, I wish I had the camera. There have been so many times in the last three weeks that I wished I had a camera but was just too damn tired to find one.

Just think next Halloween I will have a little man running around the house in a real outfit. It is hard to think that far in advance when I am still trying to make it through each day.

Finally feedings are going better. We had a hard go of it, but I am hoping that we have turned the corner AGAIN. At least we don't have to worry about Quin's weight. He is a whopping 9.5lbs. He has gained a pound and a half since he was born and has grown over an inch. At this rate we are going to have a mammoth man on our hands!

We will try to be better about posting pictures of Q (as we are now calling him). He is changing everyday. I just looked back at the pictures from the day he was born and I can't believe how different he looks and acts.

Quin - Day 10

In Quin's own words:

Just taking a little snooze in my bassinet. Nanna first bought the bassinet for my cousin Brooke and a few other babes in the family have used it as well. Now it is my turn! I like to sleep in it during the day, but really I would prefer to sleep on someone!

My mama kisses me all the time. Doesn't she know that all I want to do is sleep, eat and poop? She is trying to wake me up during the day to eat. Doesn't she know that I like to wake her up at night to eat and just be awake?

Don't I have the cutest lips ever? Nanna calls them Angelina lips.

I do like to pout every now and then. I'm a little dramatic like my mama, but man do I look like my daddy.

From the mom and dad front:

This is just a little bonus picture! My sweet son decided to poop ALL OVER ME the first day I put on non-maternity clothes. Yes I did start crying and felt totally helpless. Thank god my mom was here to rescue me from the poop bandit!

We are doing much better around here. I feel like the weepiness from hormones is finally slowing down (still haven't made it through a full day without crying, but close today), we got some good sleep last night, and the hus and I went to breakfast alone today. It was really nice and made me feel like I will surface from the fog soon.

The plan for next weekend is to go to the Pumpkin Patch. Hopefully I will have the courage to breastfeed out in public by then. Maybe I will try breastfeeding at a local coffee shop with my mom this week. I still feel like I shouldn't take him anywhere yet, he isn't even two weeks old yet. If the Patch is a success we will aim for a walk at the beach.

Finally some more Q pics

The new little family is starting to surface from the land of bringing home baby. We all could use about 80 hours of sleep and toothpicks for our eyelids.

Below are a few pictures from Quin's first week. We will be better at getting personality pictures in the next few days.

Our first family walk with the BOB! Quin wasn't too happy about it.
The happy yet sleepy family! Poor Jakey he is feeling neglected.

These pics are for Jenni & Russ. The little "DUDE" pooped on his cute outfit within minutes!