Maggie is eight!

So apparently this is now a birthday update blog.  Sorry.  Nevertheless, Maggie did have a birthday, she is now eight years old, and we did throw a party for her.

Maggie is thoughtful, considerate, and loves making little gifts and cards for others, especially if she knows they are feeling down.  She likes to keep things neat and clean and will sometimes stay up past her bedtime to help me straighten up the house after the boys are all in bed.  Maggie cannot go to bed unless mom and/or dad tuck her in and she absolutely cannot go to bed angry.  She likes to make up stories for her little brothers- especially stories that make them laugh.  Maggie still loves clothes and still changes her clothes at least once a day.  Thankfully she has also learned how to help fold and put away laundry...

We love Maggie so much and we're glad that she is a part of our family!  Happy 8th Birthday!

Maggie's current Favorites:

Food:  Hamburgers
Dessert:  Pumpkin Pie
Book: The Phantom Toll Booth
Movie:  Shark Week
Color:  Purple
Song:  "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", Taylor Swift
Subject in School:  Art
When I grow up I want to be:  a Marine Biologist
Best Friend:  Taij'a Anderson
Likes to:  draw pictures, color, do art, swim, go hiking, go running with mom*

*recently I participated in my first 5K... Maggie wanted to start coming running with me, and now when I go to the gym Maggie and I run 1 1/2 miles together before I start my workout.  Her goal is to get up to 3 miles and then she and I want to do a 5K together.  I'm proud of her for doing this and I'm having a lot of fun having this be our "thing" that we do together!

Cash turned 6!

Cash started Kindergarten this year, and although he likes it a lot, he also misses being away from home all day long.  He is constantly requesting that I come visit him at lunch time (and I do.  A lot.  Do you think he'll still want lunch dates with me when he's in High School?)  Cash is very sweet- he likes to tell me he loves me all the time (do you think he'll still do that when he's in High School?).  He also gets a lot of attention from the little girls in his class, and every now and again I find love notes in his backpack...

Cash likes being a big brother and he likes to carry Henry around and "take care" of him.  Henry gets included in all the pretend play that Cash and Oscar participate in- usually he's some kind of little brother animal that needs protecting from the "bad guys" who for some reason are always trying to attack a baby.

Cash's latest obsession is making paper airplanes.  He'll come home from school and practically go through a whole ream of paper, just so he can make a "perfect" airplane.  (On a side note, that will probably never happen unless someone else teaches him how to make a decent airplane... I'm his teacher for now, and my paper airplane skills are extremely lacking).

Cash is also getting pretty good at reading, and he likes to play games where I ask him to spell words and he sounds them out.

Cash sleeps on the top bunk, he prefers batman to superman, and he is really good at sneaking cookies from the cookie jar.


Cash's "Favorites":

Food:  Pancakes
Dessert:  Vanilla Ice Cream
Movie:  The Avengers (wha?  we let him watch that?  huh.)
Fast Food:  Pamboos  (that's what my kids call Panda Express).
Color:  White
Song:  "A Boy Named Sue", Johnny Cash
Subject in School:  P.E.
When I grow up I want to be:  A Ninja
Best Friend:  Malachi (in his Kindergarten class)
Likes to:  watch cartoons, play baseball, ride bikes

Oscar is Four!

Oscar turned 4 years old the other day.  Oh my gosh, pinch me.  It's amazing how fast this is all going by.  Oscar is our resident comedian.  He likes to tell jokes to make us laugh (his current joke: Where does a frog keep his money?  In a riverbank!) and a lot of the time he is just hilarious without even trying... but don't you dare laugh at him.  He's EXTREMELY sensitive to being laughed at.  Oscar is very sweet and loves to tell all of us how much he loves us.  He will tell me at least once a day that I'm the "best mommy in the whole entire space".  He likes ninjas, superheros, and anything that goes fast.  His favorite toys are his Beyblades and his "fisbee" (frisbee).  He likes to cuddle and read books, he loves getting piggy-back rides from his daddy, and he loves his new role of being a big brother!  Oscar likes to play outside, and as of right now he has an uncanny knack for throwing a football.  He told Ben and I the other day, "when I turn four, I'll be able to say my "Ah's".  (He still can't say his "R's"... and it's the cutest thing ever).

Oscar's Current "Favorites":

Food:  Plain Pizza (that translates to "Pepperoni Pizza")
Dessert: Donuts
Movie: "Bolt" and transformer cartoons
Fast Food: McDonald's
Color: Green
Song: "Sweet and Low" (lullaby) and "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
Subject  in School: he's not in school yet, but he likes to learn about animals, especially sharks and dinosaurs
What do you want to be when you grow up: a scientist that can make a spiderman mask and "suckson" cups to climb on walls and "fingies" that will shoot webs
Best Friend: Riley Dahl and Ollie Ladle
Likes to: Listen to music on mommy's iPhone, play with Cash and Maggie, ride his scooter, go shopping with my mommy (be still my heart!), watch movies on the iPad.

Kentucky

On October 1st, or thereabouts, we packed up our Florida home and headed north to Lexington, Kentucky.  We all miss "Florida" a lot ("Florida" is code for YOU, Ladle family... sniff, sniff), but we really are enjoying Lexington.  How can we not enjoy it here?  Look:

This lake is just down the street.  We like taking walks and ending up here.  Very pretty.

Lots of cool old buildings/houses in town.  I'd live in any of them.  I call these two the "His and Hers houses".
Ha ha.  Ben laughs so hard when I make observations like that.

This is a French restaurant where Ben took me for our 10 year anniversary.  10 YEARS.  TEN.

Halloween costumes this year consisted of: 2 ninjas, 1 cowboy, and Marie Antoinette.

Actually, Ben and I weren't home for the real Halloween night.  We were off on a Mexican vacation- I have exactly zero pictures to show for it, though, because I forgot my camera and my phone at home.  I'm an idiot, I know, but remember how a minute ago you thought I was awesome-sauce because I've been married to Ben for TEN YEARS?!?  Just keep thinking about that.

My parents at the airport with my kids and my niece Abby whom my parents brought with them from Oregon.  
She is Maggie's best friend and the closest thing she has to a sister.  Major, MAJOR tears were shed when Abby left.

Thanks again, mom and dad, for coming out and watching our kidlets!

Lexington is known as the "Horse Capital of the World", so as soon as we could we were off to the races!  My boys loved watching the horses.  Maggie loved eating her bag of popcorn.

Cash was surprisingly accurate at picking a winner each race.  In fact, of the 7 races we watched, he picked the winning/2nd place horse EVERY TIME.  The 2 ladies sitting next to us got wise real quick and started placing bets according to Cash's predictions.  I should've started charging them for his expertise.

Our family on a hike at Natural Bridge State Park.

My minivan's odometer hit a real special number.  MY BIRTHDAY... 5/25/79.  It's the small things.

Here's a fun little Henry picture to end with.  My little teeny tiny boy.  He is sitting on my lap as I type this.  And he's wearing the same stripey pj's just like the picture.  Crazy.  (Except not really because he only wears, like, 3 different outfits).

Okie dokie.  Why is it so hard for me to end blog posts?  Am I that socially awkward that I can't even type good-bye?  Good grief.

Baby Huck

An official "Henry Update" post. 

But let's face it, Baby Huck's life story up until now is crazy exciting, so you'll be glad I'm posting this... 

First of all, we really don't call this baby "Baby Huck". Except for sometimes. Randomly. I voted for it, but Maggie put the kibosh on that because it "sounds like a bad word, mom! It sounds like Heck." So. There's that.

We also discussed nicknames like Hal or Harry or Hank. But so far, nothing has really taken. We might be able to use the nickname Red or Ginger, though, as this boy seems to have some pretty red hair.  Ben says it's just wishful thinking, but the pediatrician confirmed that this boy's hair is r-e-d red.  Doctors can confirm hair color, right?

Also, please draw your attention in the previous photo to Baby H's cheeks. This boy has some serious jowls. They get their fair share of kisses from everyone in this family- especially me.

You may also be noticing in the above pic that Henry is sporting some kind of pink nightgown.  Well, he is.  This is because it's a hospital nighty.  A few weeks ago this little one woke up on a Saturday morning with a fever of 104.4.  I called the doctor and the doctor said, "No more monkeys..." "Get that baby to the ER, stat!"

So off to the ER we went. And poor little baby was poked and prodded. Blood drawn, urine sample, Spinal Tap, IV. I tried to be brave but after the 4th attempt to insert the IV needle I totally cried right along with Henry. After they took all the samples they needed we were taken up to the pediatric ward to hang out for what ended up being 5 days. Turns out Henry had a urinary tract infection and needed some antibiotics, which were given intravenously. Bless the hearts of all those who have to see their babies in the hospital for extended lengths of time. I hated seeing Henry with IV's and monitors, and my baby was probably a ".01" on the the illness scale.

You should also know that from Day 1, Henry has sported a very serious, scowly face 99% of the time. I don't know if he's disappointed, or confused, or both.

Haha, this face.  It kills me.

 I think he pulls it off quite nicely.

Other things Henry can pull off:

-Acrylic Pant Suits
-Cowboy Hats

So, consider yourself updated on all things Henry/Huck/Hank Quinn.

Oh, except you should know that he now resides in Kentucky.

More on that later.

Weekling

Henry is now one week old.  I came home from the hospital on Friday and the very next day my parents packed Maggie, Cash and Oscar into the car and drove down to the Keys for a few days.  While they are exploring island life, I have been perfectly content to be lazy and sit around on my bed all day long holding and nursing and loving on my newborn baby.  His smell is addicting.  I haven't cooked once for Ben (the poor man) and I really haven't done much cleaning either.  (Since today is Ben's birthday, I'll probably need to amend that).  I've missed the 'big' kids, but I've cherished time alone with this fourth child that has made his entrance into our family (in a somewhat dramatic way, I might add- I'll have to write his birth story later). 

So thank you, mom and dad, for playing with my kidlets for these past few days.  It's been heavenly.
I'll see you tomorrow.

(And when you leave on Friday, I'm sure I'll be experiencing a HUGE reality check...)

He's Here!

Henry Mills Quinn
June 19, 2012
20 3/4 inches
8 lbs

We are all head over heels...