Hunter turns 15!!!

‎15 years ago, my world changed. I was thrown into an incredible journey of motherhood with an amazing little guy who would become my very first knight in shining armor and has, to this day, grown into an amazing young man.

We celebrated on Friday (his actual birthday) and the poor guy had to wait until almost 6:30 to even open his gifts. I had been horribly sick all week and couldn't get in for a doctor's appointment until an open clinic at 5pm. So- I came home, we opened gifts, and then left the kids with a sitter and took Hunter out to dinner. I tried to be a trooper for him, but was just so incredibly miserable.

Anyway- back to gift opening:

 Owen and Quinlin tried to open most of the gifts. They were thoroughly disappointed when most were clothes.

 He did get a golf lesson with an instructor and simulator though as something fun to do.

 Owen loved wearing Hunter's new shirts!

 We took him to dinner and he was "too cool" to pose for pictures. hahaha

And- so it's a normal birthday post like his brother and sister, at 15, Hunter is 5'4, 108 pounds. He actually is now almost taller than me. I cannot believe it. Size 9 shoe, Adult S and M shirts, pants just now able to wear men's sizing (otherwise, size 16 at Old Navy).

I tried to do the birthday quiz on him...but he's too old to play along:

1. What's your name? Hunter ____

2. How old are you? 15 (eye roll)
3. Where do you live? (eye roll)
4. what is your favorite color? blue
5. what do you want to be when you grow up? a doctor or something with forensics
6. who is your favorite person? eye roll
7. who's your best friend? Mike
8. what is your favorite tv show? NCIS, CSI, Tosh, World's Dumbest
9. what is your favorite food? cheeseburgers, wings
10. what is your favorite drink? Sprite, Mountain Dew
11. what do you like to do for fun? snowboarding
12. what do you like to play outside? snowboarding or street football
13. what is your favorite song? too many to choose
14. what is your favorite movie? "I don't know Mom. Do I seriously need to keep answering?"
15. what is your favorite book? too many to choose


Happy birthday Hunter- we love you and are so proud of you!

Quinlin's 2nd Birthday Party (Picture Heavy)

Poor baby girl got the classic, 3rd child syndrome, I think. I wasn't even in full planning mode, and figured it was so small- just immediate family- so I never really planned. We threw together a menu for the party the day before- pizza, pulled pork, pasta salad, spinach dip and cake. My SIL brought over a good sausage dip as well- and of course, we ended up having too much food. But- a good time was had by all. Picture overload time...

First, her actual birthday:

 Off to school

 Chick Fil A for birthday dinner and playing

 We got home too late for presents, so this was the next night

 Quinlin's cabbage patch kid- Olivia Morgan- is welcomed into the family

 Sean thought he would be funny and shaved his beard to a  "don't I look like a gym teacher" mustache

 Playing with her new Tangled Barbie

 Speaking of hair, look at those curls!

 And now the party

 The standard cousins shot. I love watching them grow together.

It was a great time! Next week she will finally go to the doctor for her 2 year well visit. I'm excited to hear her stats and see where she is on the charts.

Wordless Wednesday- A Pretty Princess

My kid doesn't like clothes.... he comes home from school and strips to his undies. Just how he rolls. This is what I found when I went to Grandma's house the other day to pick him up...

At least he was wearing clothes...and he does make a very pretty princess (one day he'll kill me for posting these- if Sean doesn't first).

The Croup

We had Quinlin's birthday party on Sunday and I cannot wait to post the pictures, but the memory card reader I bought for my camera doesn't work. So- will post as soon as I have access to the pictures. In the meantime, I have been reminded what it was like when we had a newborn and all the sleepless nights. Owen has croup- again. He had a slight barky cough Sunday night and then Monday night it was full blown croup. Croup so bad that I almost took him to the pediatric emergency room as he was shaking uncontrollably and couldn't catch a breathe. He calmed down for the most part after 2 hot showers and a trip in the cold air. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday and he was given the steroid to take. The steroid has made him better, but the side effects, not so fun. Nightmares. Last night was our first nightmare we've had to deal with. He woke up around 3am crying and said in his dream, daddy left him. Sean, feeling horrible, spent the rest of the night in his bed.

Quinlin then woke up at 5:15 ready to watch Dora. No pretty lady. 5:15 is not acceptable so I laid her down and got her back to sleep. Thank goodness these nights are few and far between. I think the bags under my eyes are quite large and not something I would like to keep around.

Hoping for a good night sleep tonight. My poor house is a wreck as by the time we're done with dinner, we just want to relax, and go to bed by 9pm. Thank goodness for the DVR.

Happy 2nd Birthday Quinlin

Two years ago my beautiful baby girl was born. I have been given such a gift and have the knowledge now behind why everyone says there's nothing like having a daughter.

We aren't doing anything special today except for a few presents, dinner and singing. She's off at school today and enjoying being the queen diva. Her teacher sent me these cute little pictures:

I still can't believe she is two... I remember so distinctly her birth, but I guess the actual time in between now and then is starting to blur. Thank goodness for pictures to help trigger memories- and this little blog, of course. I have often contemplated when I should stop writing, but I think it's been the best to be able to journal these little milestones for my own reference. For example, it was fun to look at Quinlin's first birthday/ birth recap hereOne day maybe the kids will enjoy it. I wish I would have done this when Hunter was small. Oh well- live and learn. Back to the birthday girl!

•When she was sick over the holidays she weighed in at 30 pounds, 1 oz. Not bad- a gain of 1 1/2 pounds in 6 months- so maybe we are growing into our chub a little bit. I'm curios when she has her well visit in a few weeks what her stats are. She is in size 2T (tops) and 3T (bottoms- we have a slight muffin top though can wear some of her 2T pants) and size 6 shoes

•Her hair is blond- but just starting to get a tad darker. Both Sean and I had blond hair as babies so we will see how blond she stays and for how long. It is getting so long and the back is still very curly. It's funny to compare her picture from her birthday a year ago and see all the new hair growth.

Last year- 1st birthday

So thrilled to have to take pictures

•She loves to tackle and play with Owen. I think she'll be our athlete of the family. Swim lessons came naturally for her this year and she isn't afraid to try new things. She will chase and run with the best of them. We always say that Owen needs to watch his back. Quinlin is one tough little cookie.

•She may be tough, but she's such a little mommy. She absolutely loves her dolls, taking them for strolls or putting them to bed. She definitely has the maternal instinct. It makes me sad (not really but a little) that I will never give her a baby brother or sister. I know she would have been a huge help because she would have wanted to care for them so much. She always mommies Owen though. If he gets hurt or is in time out, she's very concerned and quick to tend to him. She loves her brothers so much (and daddy). She's a lovergirl for sure!

•We've been working on the potty. Since about 18 months, she slowly started. Now- she is full blown ready. She poops like a champ on the potty, sometimes pees and has no problems keeping her underwear dry. The biggest challenge for us is that the daycare won't work with her until she moves to the next classroom. So- even if I fully trained her now, they wouldn't have the staff in her classroom to take her to the bathroom. Very frustrating for me as she is more than ready. But- she'll make the move this summer so we will train her then.

•Favorite foods- pasta, pizza, chicken, anything dipped in ranch, fish, donut holes, eggs. Surprisingly she doesn't care for pb&j yet loves salad. She also loves steak- that's my girl!

•She has been talking and singing up a storm. I'd like to get her on video (maybe today or this weekend) as her voice is hilarious.


The Quiz

I asked Quinlin a series of questions and will be asking this every year on her birthday. Next year will be easier and better I think to capture exact responses. I really enjoyed doing this when I asked Owen when he turned 3 in August. Here are her responses:

1. What's your name? Quinny ______
2. How old are you? 2
3. Where do you live? Owen's house
4. what is your favorite color? white (though white is the first color she mentions for everything). when I asked her other colors, she said pink.
5. what do you want to be when you grow up? um (no answer)
6. who is your favorite person? Owen
7. who's your best friend? Daddy (though at school her favorites are Claudia, Giada and Jacob)
8. what is your favorite tv show? Dora
9. what is your favorite food? um (no answer)
10. what is your favorite drink? Milk
11. what do you like to do for fun? um (no answer)
12. what do you like to play outside? snowman
13. what is your favorite song? Wheels on the Bus or Sexy (Sexy and I know it- LMFAO)
14. what is your favorite movie? Tangled
15. what is your favorite book? Fishies (it's a counting fish book- will need to look for the exact title)

Happy birthday, Quinlin. You've completed our family and we love you so much. We can't wait to celebrate with you today and this weekend. More pictures and recaps to follow.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta- a Recipe

I was on facebook the other day and a girlfriend posted about what she had just made for dinner. She got the recipe from Hope's blog- A Busy Mom's Slow Cooker Adventures. The recipe was so good so I wanted to post it here as well.

I will post based off of her recipe, but did make a few changes...

Buffalo Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:
3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (approx. 2 lbs or so), cut into pieces
2 cans condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
3/4 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce (You know, the orange kind! I used mild, but you could use hot!)
1 medium Red Onion, chopped finely (I didn't have red so I used a yellow onion)
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup Ranch Dressing (I used probably 3/4 cup Ranch- I was afraid of too much zing)
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
I also added 1/4 block of Philadelphia Cream Cheese- not in the recipe but a really good add on
1 lb. Penne pasta, cooked (I didn't have penne so I used whole wheat Rotini)

I tried to take pictures as I went but totally forgot. Season the chicken with the garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.

Place in crock pot with the two cans of soup, wing sauce (I used Frank's red hot) and the onions

Mix well together

 Cook on low for 7-8 hours (or high 3-4 hours). I cooked for about 7 1/2 hours on low and then started boiling the water and cooked the Rotini. Once the Rontini was done, I drained the pasta and mixed it in to the chicken along with the other ingredients. I mixed well and cooked for about 10 more minutes. 

The end result

It was really, really good. A keeper recipe for sure. I will say, it made a huge amount. It fed the three of us for dinner (O and Q just had plain pasta for dinner) and Sean still had 3 good size portions that he took to work the next day for his co-workers to enjoy!