New York! New York!

Well...it has been quite the busy week.  I had a wonderful birthday spending time with Darcy and the boys.  We went out for lunch, spent time at a park, and just relaxed the rest of the day.  If you would have asked me pre-children if that sounded like quite the happening birthday, I would have told you no.  However...my life is so different now being a mom in so many incredible ways that I would say now that is exactly how I would want to spend my birthday. 

I did also get a huge birthday bonus this year by being able to fly up to NYC to spend some time with an awesome friend, Anna.  She has over the years become like a sister to me and I felt so fortunate to be able to go spend some time with her over the weekend. Anna and I met right off the bat in highschool and became friends but our friendship truly grew in college when we re-connected and were roommates.  We have shared so many wonderful memories over the years and this past weekend we were able to make even more.  I think the theme of the weekend was eat, drink, walk, eat, drink, walk.  Okay..so there was shopping in there as well and also she treated me to go see Chicago, the muscial.  We shared so many laughs and I love and miss her dearly.  I wish so very much that we lived closer together.

This week was a busy but great week at work.  I am working tomorrow at the hospital but then will have three days in a row off so that will be nice. I really look forward to spending some time with Darcy and the boys on Sunday and Monday since we all have not had quality time together in over a week. 

Here are some pictures from my birthday and the NYC weekend:

 Quentin looks so grown up! We were enjoying some time together on my birthday!

 Noah going down the slide with a little static electricity!

 Can you tell he likes the swing?

 This was awesome art work that we saw as we walked along the Skyline

 View from Anna's balcony

 Always have to make a swing through Times Square to people watch. There was a topless old lady that said she was the naked cowgirl.  I took a picture but decided not to post. =)

 The city that never sleeps. I lacked some of that as well over the weekend.

My beautiful friend Anna! Love her!

Awesome start to the birthday celebration!

Just coming off of an awesome weekend! I know my birthday is not until Tuesday but I like to celebrate it pre and post as much as I can! We are so very blessed to have such wonderful friends in our life and we were able to spend some time with a couple of them this weekend.

Yesterday, we met up with our good friends the Gricus family at the zoo. It was quite eventful with rain and 6 kids total but such a wonderful time.  They had a DJ there and Quentin and I had a blast dancing.  We have known this family since 2004 when we met Hope and Michael through RCIA at the church we went to when we were living in Atlanta. My...how our families have grown and so has our friendship.

Today, we went to church and then we were able to spend some time with our good friends the Corbetts. We had not seen in them in 2 months! The boys had so much fun together and Darcy being the best husband ever made me a chocolate chip birthday cake. It was delicious! 

Tuesday, I took off work to take Quentin to the dentis but to also celebrate my birthday with the boys. I look forward to the next couple days and then I head to NYC to see my wonderful and dear friend Anna.  It will be the first time for an extended weekend away from the boys.  I know I will miss them but really look foward to some much needed "me" time.  I am sure I will have alot to share after next weekend.

Here are some pictures to share from the weekend:

10 Months old!

Noah's special Godparents!

Ups and Downs this Week

Well... I am happy to report that we made it through the first week of school. Quentin did well the first couple days because I was off and was able to drop him off and pick him up for 1/2 days.  Wednesday brought about another adventure of dropping off at pre-care and then him staying for after care.  He screamed and cried and all I could do was turn around and walk out to the car. Of course the guilt in my heart was huge and I held back the tears until I got to work.  I can only imagine what his little mind was thinking (why are you leaving me in this new room, with this new teacher, and new kids???).  He was better on Thursday but still clung to me but no crying though.  We really enjoyed hearing his stories when he came home.  My favorite thus far was "Being obedient makes God's heart happy".  They are learning obedience this month. However, I am not sure that is translating to home. =)

We had a great weekend.  We were able to go down to Columbus, Georgia yesterday and celebrate our niece Gracie's 5th birthday with Darcy's parents and brother Doug's family. It was so nice to see everyone and spend time with family. 

We have had a pretty relaxing day today. Enrolled Quentin in our church's religious education classes for children. He will start going weekly in September.  Another adventure to start!

Here are some pictures of the boys with their cute matching outfits that my mom got for them! 

First Day of School and Updates

It has been a while since I have blogged but I wanted to make sure that I was able to cover all that has gone on in the last couple weeks and boy has been it a fun and busy two weeks!

Quentin spent his final week in Kansas with Darcy's parents and had a blast! They brought him back this past Wednesday and have stayed with us until today.  They will be heading down to Darcy's brother Doug's house for a week.  We will see them again this coming Saturday for his niece Gracie's birthday party in Columbus, GA.

My parents came down the same week that Quentin was with Darcy's parents.  They came down to spoil Noah and spoil they did! We had a lot of laughs. 

I am so very happy to have our family back together! I have loved the company as well but am ready for our routine and house to get back to normal. 

Quentin started his first day of Pre-K 3 of school at Chapel Hill Christian School here in Douglasville.  He did well overall.  He shed a little tears as he thought we were going to leave him at the school all by himself.  =) We reassured him that he was going to have a blast and I cannot wait to hear the details when we go to pick him up at noon. 

Here are some pictures to share:

Missing Quentin =(

Well...it has been almost 2 weeks since I have cuddled with Quentin and I am going through withdrawl.  We have been Skyping with him nightly so it has not been so bad and the funny thing is that he has not mentioned once about missing us!  My mom and dad dropped him off with Darcy's parents today and I know they are going through withdrawl now.  Quentin had such an awesome time with them and I know that he will have a wonderful time with the other grandparents as well.  It is amazing how quiet it is at the house with having only one child.  We have no idea what we did when we only had one child. =)  We have been loving our time with Noah.  This weekend flew. I worked yesterday and helped with a Welcoming Reception at church.  Ready for a couple days off to relax and also to get the house ready for my parents to come and visit.  We are going to have a couple busy weeks ahead with my parents visiting for a week and then Darcy's parents in town.  Quentin will return in a little over a week. Looking forward to it! 

Great time in Kansas!

I have finally been able to sit down and blog. I have actually missed it!  It is a great way to gather my thoughts. 

We had a wonderful time in Kansas from July 2- July 10.  We went to Downs for a couple days and were able to spend time with Darcy's parents, his sister Karen, his sister-in- law Amanda, and cousins Megan, Kirsten, and Kaleb.  It was so very hot in Kansas the entire time we were there that we went to the pool a couple times and were able to enjoy the Downs Celebration with riding some rides. I have learned that Quentin is a little dare devil.  He enjoyed jumping off of the diving board and also the Ferris Wheel and Tilt a Whirl. 

We went back to Wichita on Friday to celebrate the marriage of one of my closest friends, Kim. On the way back, we were able to join my grandma for lunch which was a blessing.  The time was very short with her but so very important that she was able to see her great grand children.  The wedding was beautiful and I wish her and Austin such a wonderful life together.  I was able to hang out and have a blast with another close friend Kristin.  The wine flowed a little too much and I think we left an impression on the wedding guests at the reception. =) I always have an awesome time with Kristin. 

We then spent time with my parents and celebrated my mom's recent retirement from teaching.  She is a wonderful teacher and I know has touched the lives of so many kids in the 20+ years of her career.  My brother and his girlfriend, Linda were able to come to dinner with us. It was so nice to see them.   The pool theme continued in Wichita and we were also able to catch up with some good friends of mine, Terry and John, whom I had lost touch with over the past couple years but now have reconnected with.  It was so great to see them!  Darcy flew out on Monday back to Georgia and then I flew back with little Noah Tuesday.  He did pretty well on both flights.  Quentin is spending time with the Grandparents in Kansas for 3 weeks and I know will be totally spoiled rotten!  I miss him very much but know that he is in wonderful hands and needs this important time with his grandparents. It is strange just having Noah as an only child. It makes me think back to my time with Quentin when he was this age. I will enjoy this time with him and Darcy.

Here are some pictures of the trip and Noah turning 9 months!

Mommy Sadness

We are coming off of a great weekend together as a family.  It makes me sad though, because I know that it will be our last full weekend together as a family for a while.  I have to work next weekend and we are going back to Kansas for a week the July 4th week which we are very excited about. However, Quentin will be staying in Kansas for 3 weeks to be spoiled by his grandparents. We will miss him so much but I know he will have such a special time with all of his grandparents.

 It hit me a couple weeks ago as Noah, Quentin, and I sat playing on a Monday morning that our time as three on Monday and Friday mornings is coming to a close quickly since Quentin will be Kansas and then starting school right after that for half days 5 days a week.  A sadness came over me when I realized that my little boy is growing up.  We have spent almost 4 years together on Monday and Fridays and I have cherished every moment! The bright side is that Noah will get his much needed one on one attention by mommy on those mornings. 

We had a really fun weekend. Spent a great day and evening with our good friends the Corbetts at the pool and then eating a wonderful dinner.  We went to church and ran errands and relaxed this afternoon with naps.  I love Sunday afternoon naps!  Quentin and I always nap together and generally Darcy and Noah cuddle. 

Noah is really making strides! He is an official crawler. For the past couple months he has been scooting along but he is officially doing a crawl now and our lives are about to get even busier chasing him around. He is loving his new freedom!  He is also trying to pull up on things. We found that he is cutting his first tooth.  He also just tried today some finger food of yogurt bites and loved them! 

Here are some cute pictures of the boys loving their bath time together and Noah trying finger food for the first time.