Baby Chickies

We've been debating about getting some chickies for some time now.  We don't actually want to keep them or have them around forever.  We thought it would be fun for the kids when they're little to have around for like a month or so.  Every year it seems like something comes up or we can't find anyone to take them off of our hands once we are done with them.  Well, this year we were in luck.  Our neighbors got some and I was asking questions.  She offered for us to take them for the month and then give them back.  That's perfect!  She gave us the stuff to take care of them.  They think we are doing them a favor since it's our electricity being used for the heat lamp.  Their kids are older and aren't really interested in them.  It works out for both of us.  I'm not a huge fan but the boys (especially Mike) just love them! 

If this baby comes before the month is up then they'll go back before that.  I don't want them around when she is born.  I'm the party pooper!  I hope she comes a week early too.  So, hope and pray with me, k?!?

Mike puts them in this box when he wants to play with them.  They're home is a much more comfortable spot.  They were pecking things on the side and it gave him an idea to put a hole in the side of the box and let them eat worms.  The boys had a riot shoving them through and then seeing the chicks fight over them. 

 Quinn named them Rhett, Mole, and the one was already named Stinky and I think he kept that name the same. 

 I think this is somewhat good practice for when the baby comes.  Rules have been established and they have to follow them to be able to be around them.  They are learning to be gentle and to follow directions.  They scare the chicks if they are too wild so I have taught them to settle down around them.  Surprisingly, they have done a good job handling the birds.

 I don't know who loves the birds more; Mike or the boys.  He will visit them even without Quinn and Paxton.  He claims it's for them but we both know better.   I know that he comes home looking forward to spending time with them.  It's been good daddy interaction time too.  I'm not one to spend a lot of time with them.  Quinn and Paxton look forward to when daddy comes home to be able to feed them worms and crickets.

I just told Mike teasingly that he better be just as excited when the baby is born; lol!

Paxton and Quinn are both so anxious to feed them.  They fight over who gets to give them the next worm. 

St. Patricks Day

I taught Quinn what St. Patrick's Day was.  He didn't quite get it.  He thought it was cool to have green pancakes, green eggs, and green milk for breakfast.  Naturally, he wanted to wear green.  He learned about being pinched and immediately when to pinch his dad since he wasn't wearing green.

 

FYI: Quinn loves to help make the pancakes.  He was trying to make them look like dinosaurs.  That's why they're all funny shaped.

 

We didn't do much for St. Patrick's Day.  I was going to make him a scavenger hunt but never made it that far.  I let him make decorations for the windows.  We were putting them up during our freak snow storm. 

 

Then he played with Paxton's toy for the rest of the day after nap.

What a great toy!

Happy Birthday Paxton #2

Paxton's birthday was on Saturday. We knew that we were going to celebrate at Grandma Rockwood's house on Sunday so we didn't do much on his actual day. I did take him to get his free balloons and let him pick out a toy at the store.  After nap time it was barely nice enough for us to go outside.  I think this was the highlight of his day.

Every time we go outside, Paxton begs to be pushed in the swing.

This is Quinn's choice of activity.  This is a sad little sand box.  We are going to upgrade and improve it this year.  We definitely need new sand too.  They don't seem to care and still play in it as is.

We thought it would be fun for him to blow out candles although there's no treat to go along with it.  This was right before bed time.  He blew out candles several times and was happy.

This is Paxton's bee cake.  Initially, I made this for a Relief Society Activity and it wasn't even touched.  I had planned to make Paxton a cat cake.  I figured I didn't need to make another one since I still had this and lots of cupcakes leftover.

 

The reason for the cat cake; Paxton likes to pretend he's a cat or a dog for a good portion of the day.  More often than not he's a cat.  I made Quinn a dog  cake in years past so I thought doing a cat would be different.

This is at Grandma Rockwood's house.  This is on Sunday.  We had a dinner, let Paxton blow out his candles, and then open presents.

Paxton enjoying his cupcake; at least he's happy here.  He's been so whiny and grumpy lately.  I thought his behavior was going right along with his age.  Then last night it dawned on me that he's probably teething; getting his 2 year old molars.  That can make any guy grumpy and wake at night!



This is the toy that he picked out at the store.  I thought it would be perfect for him.  It calls for bubble bath solution.  I thought I picked some up but it ended up being body wash.  Oops!  So, Paxton was a little disappointed because it didn't work.  When I go out next, well, it's on my list.  I tried dish soap, the bath wash, and other things.  We didn't have any bubble solution either.

This is also one of Paxton's new toy.  As you can see Quinn is enjoying it.  You can see what Paxton was busy doing while Quinn was playing.  Later, Paxton joined in the fun and loved this toy!

 

I love this toy so far.  It has held their attention.  A lot of toys, m boys are done playing with them in a half hours time.  It's good for Quinn and Paxton's age as there are different things to do.  The best thing; it comes with a motorized train.  This toy is highly recommended by me.

Some things about Paxton

• Paxton loves soft blankets!  He has a specific brown one that he loves.  It was given to us as a family gift for Christmas.  Well, Paxton has taken it over.  If anyone is using "his" blanket he goes crazy.  We just let him have it.
• He is addicted to his binki.  He was to the point where he used it just to sleep at night and during nap time.  Well now he wants it ALL OF THE TIME!  I don't know if teething is what has made the change or if he just decided now that he loves it.  Either way, it needs to go.  Preferably before the baby comes.  That's the last thing that we need to work on.
• Paxton has been using the toilet since the very last of January.  Yay!  He still uses diapers/pull-ups at night and during nap time.   I don't trust him enough without one yet.  He's getting it!
• Paxton is 27 lbs. and 35.25 inches tall.
• Paxton has a very contagious laugh.  Most people comment on it.
• Paxton loves Quinn and wants to be just like him.
• Paxton is a mama's boy!  He hates nursery and being left without Mom!
• Paxton loves his dad and loves harassing him.  He will pick on him right when he walks in the door from the work.  He calls his dad, "Gaga!"
• Paxton goes to men better than women.  It doesn't matter their size.  It seems he can pick out the most scary looking men and just love them.  Luckily, so far I've known them all.  I would think they're intimidating and most kids would cry.  It doesn't matter to him.
• For his age, I think Paxton is a fast little runner.  He loves to steal things from us and run.  He loves the chase.  He'll pick things that he knows we want like the wii remote, hairbrush, soap, etc.  If we are using it, he takes it.  Sometimes, he takes it to hide it if we don't run.  I wonder if that's our punishment for not chasing after him.
• He loves to pretend.  Usually he pretends he's a dog or a cat.  He'll crawl without his knees touching the ground.  Quinn crawled like this too.  He'll come up to my legs and rub against them and meow or bark.  At times he gets a hold of Quinn's costumes like his superhero, dinosaur, or doctor costume.
• He loves to play peek-a-boo.  It's better if he's in charge.  He'll put a blanket over his head and walk around like pretending he's a ghost and then say peek-a-boo.  Sometimes he uses a box.  This scares me to death because I'm afraid he's going to run into something and fall.  So far he's been all right.  Quinn used to do this too.  Well, at times he still does.  Silly boy!
• Paxton loves to say hi to everyone.  How he says it is so cute.  He gets good response from it.  Most people smile or laugh.
• Paxton is very helpful.  He loves to clean.  He particularly like to vacuum and sweep.  He will take a rag and wipe up his mess.  He will clean up after me.  If he sees something out of place he will put it away.  Often, I have a hard time trying to find something and then realize Paxton was helping me out.  The item will be where it belongs.
• Paxton loves stuffed animals.  He loves to cuddle with them.  He particularly likes their tails.  He will take the very tip of it and put it almost up his nose and cuddle that way.  He does this with his blankets too.  He will put them up to my nose to share.  He assumes since he loves it so much I will too.  It just makes me laugh.  He also likes to pretend the stuffed animals are real.  He will put them in his high chair and feed them breakfast, swing them, put them to sleep, etc.

Things that Paxton got for his birthday; a cat mask and tail, a dinosaur mask, a bubble blower, money, v-tech train station, sand buckets, ADIDAS warm up pant and jacket, and a around my farm explore and play book.

The new and improved Quinn

 Quinn is doing much better.  This is a recent photo of his black eyes and bruised goose egg (although the picture doesn't show the intensity of his bruised face).  He looks like a different child.  The doctor totally called it and was right that he would get black eyes.  I'd say he's healing quite well!  Don't mind his dirty face.  We let him have some strawberry pie just before bed.

 Quinn is telling us a bedtime story.  I wanted to share the story but for some reason the video wouldn't load.  He is really animated and dramatic.

 

Apparently the flash is a little bright!

Quinn with a goose egg!

I was getting ready for church.  I was putting on my skirt.  The last thing I needed to do before heading out the door.  Quinn was right next to me.  As I was adjusting the length his feet got tangled in the bottom of my skirt.  He tried catching his balance and took two steps into the hallway and then fell.  His head hit our metal cold air return.  I knew when he was falling he would hit it.  The fall was so hard and I could I hear the pain and agony.  I immediately picked him up but couldn't see how bad it was since he had his hand over it.  Mike was able to look at him from over my shoulder and access.  I laid him on the bed and he started growing a goose egg...and fast.  It kept rising.  It was dramatic like in those Looney Toone shows.  I didn't think it was real.  I always thought they were exaggerating.  I started to freak out inside but tried to stay calm for Quinn.  I told Mike I have never seen a goose egg that big.  I looked to see if there were any signs of a concussion and there wasn't.  I was able to relax a tiny bit.  I asked him what to do. I told him, let's say a prayer.  That's what we did.  We prayed and then Mike gave Quinn a blessing.  Quinn was like I can't stop crying.  I told him it's okay and to cry all he wants. 

 

We took him to church and found a retired doctor from our ward and asked him what we should do.  He gave us direction and we immediately took him back home and got him situated.  I think that he liked being pampered and being able to watch TV all afternoon. 

 

I took Paxton and went to church.  I only went to sacrament meeting.  I dropped Paxton off at nursery.  I traded Mike off watching over Quinn.  When I arrived home he asked if he could go to church.  I guess that medicine did it's job. 

  I don't think these pictures do his goose egg justice.  It's hard to tell the middle is raised.  The doctor said to not be surprised if later he has two black eyes.  This picture was right when it first happened and was taken with my phone...thus why it's blurry.

 I was shocked to see how much his swelling went down from just icing it.

This picture was taken right when I got home from church. 

I always love my kids.  But when something like this happens it makes me realize how blessed we are.  Quinn and Paxton are both healthy little boys.  I don't have a lot to worry about health wise with these two.  I wanted to cry all day but never did.  I feel really emotional.  I'm sure being pregnant doesn't help with emotions either.  After I put the boys down for their nap and they were actually asleep, I had a quiet moment and just prayed for their behalf.  I thanked Heavenly Father for them and the wonderful opportunity to be their mother.  I feel so blessed that this wasn't anything more.  So many things could have happened and they didn't.  If he would've hit the corner instead.  He didn't get cut...no concussion, etc.

 

I realize how good of a boy Quinn (and Paxton too) is.  I wish I could've taken his pain.  I'm sure all moms feel this way when their little one is sick or hurt.

 

In the meantime, I know Quinn will heal.  He is resilient.  So far he has a good attitude.  He might look funny for a while but that's ok.  He's healthy, full of life, and my normal full of personality Quinn! 



Forts

2/20/2014
Mike brought home some boxes from work. They absolutely loved them! They played longer with these boxes than they have with any other new toy. Go figure! Mike even put a doggy door on their boxes.  They would pile blankets and jump inside.  They stack their little toys chairs in there too. They thought they were so cool that they wanted to sleep in them for nap and bedtime.  Quinn already sleeps on the floor just because he thinks it's cool! I thought why not?  Sure!

Mike thought that they would just play in them and not sleep.  Paxton was so cozy and comfortable that he fell right to sleep.  Paxton proved him wrong.

Quinn on the hand was a different story.  It took him forever to fall asleep.  Notice how he sleeps naked?  (He does have underwear on.) 

He's pretending to sleep here.  He thought it was neat that I wanted to take pictures of him and his fort box.

Quinn and Paxton got some leg warmers.  Since they prance around in their underwear or a shirt and underwear, they thought this was a genius idea to help keep them warm.  They're probably repeating what I said about them.  Mike says I'm girlifying them with their leggings.  They're little boys and we are just at home.  If they have fun with them what's the big deal?  Well, Quinn didn't take his off for 5 days.  I can't remember why he finally gave in into taking them off.

 

On a different note; Quinn has learned all of his alphabet.  He now needs to learn their sounds.  He's learning to write his name and to count higher than 20.  This shouldn't be too hard of a goal.  He basically has it down already.  He just needs to learn to put his name in the correct order.  He'll just write the letters in random order or all over the page.  It's hard for him to hold the pen correctly still but he's been practicing it that way anyhow.

 

Quinn is such a little sponge.  He loves learning.  A lot of the time, it's his idea.  He'll ask for me to read stories, to learn his letters, to practice his name, etc. 

 

One of his new things is that he likes to make piles.  There are piles of something, usually blankets or clothes, everywhere I go.  I'm not sure what the obsession is but he sure loves it!

 

Paxton has transitioned well into Quinn's room.  He sleeps in there.  He doesn't complain or make a fuss.  He occasionally gets out of bed but I march him right back.  A lot times he doesn't get up but if he does it's just one or two times before he'll stay.  He doesn't like it when Mike puts him down.  He has to see me first.  If Mike is doing their routine I'll go give him hugs and kisses so he knows I'm still there.  It doesn't work very well for me to go to bed early.  Paxton just freaks out.  I don't know if it's his age or a stage he's going through.

 

The thing that we need to work on now is taking his binky away.  He absolutely loves it and is so addicted to it.  I guess it's mainly at night or when he's tired.  I thought he's done so well on my other objectives or goals that he's been through a lot of changes as it is.  The binky thing can wait for now.  Although, I think I'll try to take it away before the baby comes since I'd rather deal with it before rather than later.

 

It's weird for me to look at these pictures of their long hair.  Since then they have received hair cuts and look different.  They're always so cute and handsome no matter what length their hair is.  It's just new and different.

Valentine's Day

We didn't do a whole lot for Valentine's Day.  Mike had to work all weekend so it was just me and the boys.  Quinn had been asking to make cookies for forever so I thought Valentine's Day would be a good time. 

 I told Quinn to pretend like he's taking a bite of his cookie for the picture.  He uses his opposite hand instead.  I thought he was so silly!

 Paxton just ate all of the frosting and cookies.  Although, he started to frost this cookie.  He stopped once he realized how good and delicious it was!

 Quinn is into sharing so we had to take some to our neighbors.  Mike had gotten home late that night so it completely threw me off of schedule.  We were knocking on doors and I was so embarrassed when I had learned what time it was.  Needless to say, Quinn and Paxton should be in bed!

 

Also, I have a secret sister.  I hadn't done anything for her since I was assigned to her.  I thought Valentine's Day would be a good day to start.  I wanted to heart attack her door.  I started making hearts the day before.. I think.  Quinn noticed what I was doing and wanted to help.  I let him get his kid scissor and give it a whirl.  Well, he loved it!  He wanted to do it the rest of the day.  He kept making hearts and put them everywhere.  Our house was covered with them. 

 

He loved putting them on her door.  He was so super sneaky and quiet... except for when he tried to knock on their door.  He was in rhythm from the other houses of giving cookies away that he had forgotten what we had talked about.  As you know, most 3-year-olds are not great at keeping secrets anyways.  I called her by her first name since he doesn't know her by that.  I could see him telling her that we were at her door last night hanging up hearts.

 

Well, that sums up Valentine's Day for us.  Other than Mike and I did go on a date earlier in the week since that was when he had time off.  :)



Random Thoughts from Quinn

Quinn lately has been obsessed with death.  I'm not sure where it came from.  I think it started around Christmas when we were talking to him about JC and how he came to earth as a baby.  He learned that he died but came back.  He's had questions ever since. 

He thought his primary teacher had died because she was gone for one week.  She was there the next Sunday after.  After church he ran up to me and said Sister Thompson died but she came back.  She's not dead anymore.  I think he thinks this way about what happened to Jesus Christ.

Quinn keeps asking if he's going to get a new mommy or how long I'll be gone.  He doesn't want to die.  He's afraid of it.  He doesn't want anyone else to die.  He asks all who will die.  I explain the best I can but I'm not very good with words.  It's good that Mike helps out.  It helps that he gets two different people telling him the same thing. 

What he says no is, I'll die in a lot of days or a million days.  We will be together forever. 

Most of the time, I try to talk about something else so he doesn't perseverate on it.  I'll turn his focus in a different direction. 

His new thing is; he knows JC is going to come again for the second coming.  He knows that he's in heaven looking down on us.  He used to pray for him to not fall down to earth.  But lately, he's been saying how he hopes HF can come and have dinner with us.  I'm not sure where this came from.  He talks about it a lot!

Knowing that I'm pregnant and about to have a baby has raised a lot of questions too.  Not in that way you might think.  He wants to know about where the baby is coming from, what heaven is like, what she's used to, etc.

There are some other things that goes along with this post but I can't seem to think of them at the moment.  I'll update it as they come to mind...

Wow! (Potty Training)

So, I had blogged about some goals I had hoped to accomplish before this baby comes.  One of them was to have Paxton potty trained.  I don't know if I really had the full intention to try.  Being pregnant and knowing what it took for me to train Quinn, well, I just wasn't ready for it.  I decided that it could wait.  I had Quinn and Paxton in diapers for a full year together.  Yikes!  I got through it.  Although, it would be nice to have Paxton potty trained. 

I was changing Paxton's bum (this was Jan. 29th) and I was talking to him to talk.  I cleaned him up but hadn't put his fresh diaper on yet when I asked him when he was going to start to use the toilet.  He gets up and I'm thinking great, I don't want to have to chase him.  To my surprise, he walked to the little potty I have sitting in my bathroom and just went pee.  I was shocked!  He brings back a pair of Quinn's underwear.  I asked him if he wanted a diaper or the underwear.  He pointed to the underwear.  He stayed dry the rest of the night.  I just asked if he needed to go and if he did he went.  I put a diaper on him that night obviously not trusting him.  Since Friday night went so well I thought I'd try for Saturday too.  He did so good!  He struggled making it in time when he had to poop but I think he only had one accident peeing.  I kept it up and he hasn't worn a diaper during the day since.  I put a diaper on him at night and during nap time.  It seems that I'm not fast enough when he wakes to get him to the toilet.  Last night he woke me at 5:30 yelling poo because he had to pee.  I took him and he did wake dry.

I was totally unprepared since I hadn't fully planned to potty train him.  I didn't have enough underwear so he had to wear Quinn's.  The neighbor brought over some clothes and inside were some underwear his size.  I made him wear them.  That might sound gross but I thought he's a little boy and will just soil them anyways.  This little boy where they came from, comes from a clean family.  They give us so many clothes that I doubt he can wear them all.  The underwear looked hardly worn.  So, I thought why not?  I didn't want to leave the house and chance having accidents while out so I just winged it.  Also, when I potty trained Quinn, he was older and also bigger.  I had to buy the bigger sizes.  The ones I had didn't fit Paxton.  Since that's all I had that is what he wore!

I'd like to say this has been really easy...but considering his age and since it was his idea it has been a whole lot easier with him than it was with Quinn.  We still have had our moments.  There are days when I swear my life is overrun by poop.  He still has his occasional accidents.  I have to help him.  He needs a stool to be able to reach the toilet.  Sometimes, he gets so anxious that he forgets to pull his pants down while standing at the toilet that he still pees his pants.  Of course, there are times he just plain misses. 

Going into town I try to take him every hour to make sure he doesn't have an accident.  He has loved being able to pee outside especially on trees and my van tire.  What do you do when he needs to go? 

I think I need to give the credit to Quinn for helping out so much with this whole process.  Paxton wants to be just like him.  He loves everything about Quinn.  Quinn will take him potty a lot of the time or tell him that it's time.  They go together a lot of the time.

Paxton has most of his accidents when we are somewhere he's not familiar with and he doesn't know where the bathroom is, if he doesn't know the people around him that well, or when he feels like going to the bathroom he will miss out on whatever is going on.  During these times, I just take him and he goes kicking and screaming.  He always goes.  He is a funny kid...he will then want to go again but won't be able to since he has just emptied out his bladder.

We still struggle with pooping.  The problem comes when his bowels are so loose it just comes out.  He tries to tell me but a lot of the time it's too late.  On normal days, or when the bowels are not so loose, he does great! 

I love not worrying about diapers and love that he can go in the toilet.  It sure is saving us a lot of money.  It will be so nice to not have two in diapers.  I really really really hope that he doesn't revert backwards when the baby is born.  I hope we'll have been doing this long enough that he'll just get it and it won't matter.