Quinn's birthday surprise at Leo's and updates

June 3

Quinn had been asking to go to Leo's and if he could invite a friend.  I asked who he would pick if he could go.  He picked his friend Jacen. I rearranged a time and with his mom.  We had to wait since Jacen ended up getting sick.  We just did it the week after.  This whole time I didn't tell Quinn.  I just told him I had a surprise for him.  He was excited!  On the way there he guessed what it was and guessed that Jacen was meeting us there.

Today: June 10

She was responding to me and giving me such big smiles.  No, they weren't gas.  I thought it was so cute!

Quinn loves to be with Kayzley.  He will sit and try to entertain her.  Lots of times I'll see Kayzley with a transformer or some sort of toy.  She's almost always covered in his blanket (the one in this picture).  It was on her but I took it off just prior to the picture being taken. 

Quinn loves taking care of her.  If she's in her bouncy chair he will rock her.  If she's crying he will sing to her.  It actually works too.  Quinn and Paxton both love to give her the binky.  Sometimes Quinn is so helpful that when she is being good she will cry.  He's always asking what he can do to help with her.  He tells me when she's hungry or needs her diaper changed.  It's so cute.  He's such a good big brother.

Kayzley is so smart.  When the bigger humanoid approaches, she is fine but when the little one is near, she cries. 

I thought Paxton would be a little bit more mean to her and more aggressive.  He's been awesome with her too.  The only thing is that he gets so jealous of both Quinn and Kayzley.  That's when he gets mean.  He cries and whines and carries on for such a long time.  He will bite and hit.  He cusses everyone out too.  Honestly, I'm not sure how to handle him sometimes.  He's such a different person now.  He's gotten better and I hope with more time he will continue to improve.  I try to love him and cuddle him.  I want him to know I still want to be with him.  It's hard to divide my attention out evenly.  They all demand so much and have so many needs.  Sometimes I feel overwhelmed trying to give them the love they need...and trying to do my housewife duties too.  I wouldn't change anything.  We'll figure things out with time.

Since Paxton has been sick he has needed more time and attention.  He's been so needy.  I know he's miserable.  He has a cold too besides his ear infections.  His ear hurts also from chasing with Quinn the other day and piercing it.  I'm not sure what he hit but whatever it was gave it to him good.

It has been so much fun having Kayzley around.  I love having a girl!  She is seriously the best baby ever!  She was sick this last week and was completely amazed and baffled at how well she handled it.  She had the stomach flu and now has an upper respiratory infection.  She tries to sleep but has a hard time due to acid reflux.  She has the hardest time burping.  I took her to the chiropractor to see if he could help.  That was when she started to throw up.  I thought it was because of what he was doing.  Then the chiropractor told me that he had the same symptoms and thought that he got it from Kayzley.  I took her in to make sure she didn't have anything more.  We found out that Paxton had a double ear infection.  I was so glad that we chose to have Paxton looked at.

Kayzley wakes me once or twice a night to feed...even when she was sick.  She has the hardest time falling asleep but once she is asleep she stays for hours.  I felt so bad for her. 

When we took her to the doctor she was 11 lbs 1.5 oz and when we went back we learned she gained at least a half a pound.  She was butt naked the first time weighed and the next time she had her clothes on.  It was an estimate since we didn't strip her down one the second weight.  She had started eating and doing so much better.  She still isn't feeling the greatest.  She still has her cold and can't breathe.  Poor thing!  I thought she was done throwing up but she threw up early this morning.  :(

My Happy Birthday!

Mike, a couple of days before my birthday, told me that he had a surprise for me. I'm horrible with surprises!  I wanted to know what it was (he knew that and was eating it up that I wanted to know so bad).  He would give me hints and with each clue I was completely clueless.  For a while I thought we were going to the Play Mill, then I switched to Bar J Wranglers...because he said it came with a dinner.  That was the only thing I knew where dinner was included.  I also guessed Mountain River Ranch for that reason too.  For a while I thought the Teton Slide and then Zip Lining (I had a friend help me think of these two).   I didn't even know Heise had a zip line until she had mentioned it.  It sure wasn't there when I was growing up.

The morning of he told me what it was; zip lining.  I was so nervous but also so excited.  I have never zip lined.  At Lovell's Ranch they have a little homemade zip line and I have always been too chicken to go on that.  All day I was trying to gain the courage to go.

At 4:00 Mike told me to be ready to go.  Honestly, it was kind of hard to leave Kayzley for that long.  I'd be gone for at least 6 hours.  I had mentally prepared and wasn't going to let Mike down.  He had worked so hard to make this night happen and to make arrangements for our kids.  He tried so hard to make a surprise for me and to make my birthday special.

They helped us into our gear and then made us watch a video.  It was all of the things that you shouldn't do because you could end up with a broken arm or no fingers, etc.  I thought that the video was a little discouraging for some so chicken like me.

This was our sweet ride up the mountain.  They claim this is the most dangerous part of the whole experience.  Looking back on it now I think they're right.  It was kind of scary and not very sturdy.  It sounded like it had such a hard time going up.  The guides stood on the sides.  We had 8 in our group and 3 guides.

I was the last one to go on the first zip.  It was good that this one was the first.  It was pretty level with the mountain to start out and then gradually declined.  No one...not even one person screamed or even made a peek.  It took me a few minutes to decide that I would go but decided it couldn't be that bad judging by the reactions from everyone else.  I turned backwards and just let myself fall.  The driver of the four wheeler explained how we needed to hold on so that it wouldn't hurt our hands.  I know I would want to tense up.  So, I barely even hung on to the rope.  Going backwards was a good move.  I was nervous for the second zip as well.  The third one I actually enjoyed.  The fourth I was going to go forward but Mike wanted to record me.  Just in case it was scary or I did something embarrassing, I thought I would save it for the next zip.  It wasn't until the fifth that I finally went forward.  It was fun!  The whole experience was quite a bit different than I had imagined.  I expected more of an adrenaline rush.

See this petite girl?  This is the girl that stopped...let me rephrase it...that tried to stop Mike.  He ran into one of the guides full force.  It was better the guide then the pole behind him.  I almost wish I was recording that time.  It wasn't funny by any means.  It would be a good memory because we could look back and laugh.  Mike was a little nervous afterward.

This is the guy Mike had run in to.  They tell you that they will do all the work...to not worry, etc.  At first Mike would put his feet down and then they called him Fred Flinstone the rest of the time.  He was the heaviest one there so he would zip at Mach speeds.  Since he went before me I didn't understand until I saw it for myself when I finally went ahead of him and watched how he came in.  He said it hurt to run into him.  Hopefully, after this time they'll change things around and have someone a little bit bigger do the braking.

This guy did the best job.  He seemed like he knew what he was doing.  Then I learned that the person with the most experience has only been there for a week.  That was real comforting!  The one guy was in training.  Yikes!

I was confident with zip lining until we got to the towers.  We had to climb some stairs to the platforms to get there.  It was a little breezy.  The petite guide and a 10 yr. old boy doubled up because neither could make it my themselves.  It was a long zip.  They got to the other side and said for the guides sending us off to use their best judgment.  Everyone doubled up but I didn't want to double with Mike.  I knew how fast he went by himself.  I was comfortable with the speed I normally went.  I didn't want to go faster especially on one that was so long and so high.  Mike claimed that he was trying to help me out.  So he said, she can make it.  She's heavier than these other girls.  She weighs more than the girl and the boy that went first.  I was like, I know I just had a baby but I do not weigh more than them.  I know I'm not exactly small either.  I'd guess she was 115 lbs. and he was at least 85 lbs.  That's 200 lbs.  I don't weigh that.  I was a little offended.  I didn't have time to confront him since he zipped before me.  Well, it worked.  They let me go alone.  At the end, one of the guides, had to run with me going in and bring me in the rest of the way.  That made me feel better.  Without his help I wouldn't have been able to make it.  Mike said he knew he had said something wrong and accidently called me fat.  I'm glad he mentioned it before I could ask him about it.

This guy was the one in training.  Zipping took so long.  We got there at 4:45 and started at 5:00 or just after.  We didn't finish until 8:00.  Since I had left Kayzley I needed a place to pump.  While I was doing that Mike went down to the pizza parlor and redeemed our coupons.  We had some good pizza and a salad with a drink.  Then we went to the warm pools.  We thought the slide would be closed but it wasn't.  Mike went down the slides several times until he got annoyed with the kids trying to catch up to him.  They figured out a way to go faster so they would catch up to him quickly.  I thought it was too cold so I went straight to the hot pools.  Mike showed up not long after.

It was a good birthday and Mike did a super good job at making it different and special.  I love him so much for all he does and for always thinking of me.  He's so wonderful!  Being with him was the best part about my birthday!

Quinn's Birthday

Mike had to work on Quinn's actual birthday.  We celebrated it on Thursday, May 22nd.  That morning, Mike took the boys fishing.  The plan was to only take Quinn but he wanted me to be able to get some rest so he took Paxton too.  What a good husband! 

 Quinn has been fascinated with robots.  He asks almost daily for a robot for his birthday.  He wanted a robot cake.  It wasn't too bad to make. :)

 Quinn is sitting patiently here for his us to sing happy birthday to him.  It was hard to get all the adults to stop talking. 

 Robots are not sold in stores.  I had to order his robot online.  I didn't want to pay the shipping to get it here faster.  We decided on a water table for Quinn and just to give him the robot later.  Well, he still doesn't have the robot.  He was disappointed but once he got going on the water table the robot was forgotten about...for a while anyways. 

 After the birthday party and once we got home, Mike was a trooper and put together Quinn's water table.  Quinn was so excited to try it out but we made him wait until the next day.  They played with it all day long.  Quinn and Paxton both loved it!

Quinn still doesn't have his robot. Mike had decided to make Quinn earn his robot. Quinn knows about it now.  He still asks about it.  I suggested to just give it to him but Mike vetoed it.  I think it's mean since it was supposed to be for his birthday.  Now, just to get Quinn to follow through so that he can receive his robot for good!  Once he gets him he's going to love him.  I want him to have it and am excited for when he does earn it. 

On Quinn's actual birthday (May 24th) he kept getting phone calls and happy birthday wishes.  At first he told everyone that his birthday was over.  Then I explained to him that it was his real birthday.  He ate it up and loved having two days to celebrate his birthday.  I kept singing to him and trying to make is special by doing things differently.  Grandma came over with some birthday gifts she had saved.  Mike old co-worker came over too and gave him his old grandson's leap pad.  It had games already installed on it.  He wanted to do that all day.  I only let him play with it until nap time and then hid it.  I'm sure, if I let him, he'd be on it 24/7.  When he went to bed he asked why he got two birthdays.  I hope he doesn't expect that every year.

Leo's Birthday Celebration

Mike and I had decided that we wanted to use Quinn's birthday card from Leo's. They give you a free kid's meal, 10 tokens to play the games, and free admission to the play area. We thought we'd just invite family.  We didn't know how many would come and we don't have a lot of room in our house.  So, we thought this would be a good solution. 

These pictures are kind of out of order.  We were all over the place that night.

Quinn got a Legos Mack Truck.

Quinn blowing out his candles.

Grandma Karen with Paxton

Paxton kept scooting all over the place. I have never gotten a picture of his scoot.

Joy riding the motorcycle with Paxton.  Let's just say she was a little bit big for it.  She kept banging her knee.

Quinn's Birthday

First thing when Quinn woke, I gave him his dinosaur tail.  Well,  I showed it to him.  I hadn't finished sewing it.  I just put stuffing in and had to sew the hole closed.  I got the idea to do this the night before.  Not bad, eh?

He went around the house ROARing to the top of his lungs.  He would ROAR so loud and long that he scared Paxton.  Paxton would cry and that would encourage Quinn even more.

 I asked Quinn to show me his tail and this is his pose.  I thought it was cute.

I thought this was a better view of the tail.

Then, we had dinosaur pancakes for breakfast.  Quinn did a good job placing his cereal as the dinosaur's spikes.  He also poured the batter.

I placed a candle in his pancake.  I wasn't planning on making him a cake since I knew we were going to celebrate with family on Tues.  I thought I'd make his cake then.  He asked me to sing happy birthday to him.  I also let him blow out candles and sang to him for lunch as well and all snacks.  He thought that was pretty cool!

Quinn was all wired already and being so silly.



Now, this picture I love.  This is what I see almost everyday.  He loves being a dinosaur.  He constantly is roaring, reeking havoc, and stating that the dinosaur is hungry.  He feeds most things to the dinosaur to curb his appetite.

He loves his pictures being taken!

Here is back being an intense dinosaur.  Notice the shoes?  Those are made out of an A&W box.  His headband was first a mask but he wouldn't keep it on.

 Then, I let Quinn go to Toys R Us so he could get his birthday balloon, use his coupon, and if he wanted to pick out a toy with his birthday money from Grandma.  This scooter is what he picked out.  At first, told him no way since it was kind of spendy.  I was thinking I could find it cheaper somewhere else.  With his coupon and birthday money we only had to pay a couple dollars.  His Grandma specifically told me to let him enjoy and to not save it for him.  I thought it'd be okay.

 When Daddy came home he gave him this cool water toy.  It was first purchased as an incentive for him to potty train.  He picked it up faster than expected.  It was never needed.  So what better time to give it to him than his birthday?  He loved this toy.  He played with it and played with it.  In fact when Grandma Karen showed up with another gift he didn't care.  He wanted to keep playing with it.

 

Grandma Karen just visited for a while and then eventually Quinn became interested.

 He got a first words game, some popsicles, and money. 

Then the neighbor came over with a gift.  It was a superhero costume.  He was thoroughly excited for this.  Notice the dinosaur tail is still on?  He would reek havoc and then have the superhero save the day.  He hung monkey and pretended to eat the dinosaur, ran around the house, and then came back in the superhero mode to save him.  It was fun to watch his little imagination.

He used his scooter as his superhero mobile.  I forgot to mention that Grandma Karen also gave him two balloons.  It was also part of the mobile. 

Then from us he got a doctor outfit.  He always wants to play doctor.  We're always injured or sick.

 

This definitely was a year of costumes.

 

Overall, I'd say Quinn had a great birthday.