Valentine's Day

We decided to give the kids their Valentine's Day gifts the night before actual Valentine's since we both work all day and the morning is a bit of a cluster around here. We had plans to Kalahari that coming weekend so the girls gifts kind of went hand in hand with that.  They each got a set of PJs, a DVD, and an Indians shirt.  It is baseball season ya know?  Okay, Tenley only got the Indians onesie and a set of PJs.  She also missed out on the M&Ms I bought the girls.

How cute are the bags I got at the Target $1 Spot?

She can hardly contain herself. 

Note- we just got home, I don't normally tote her around the house in her carseat.

They were super excited for the iCarly DVD. It helped out in the car ride to Kalahari. Let's be honest, Mommy kind of likes iCarly too.

Morgan showing little sis her goods

So excited there was chocolate involved!

If only they were always this cute.

As for the adults, Valentine's Day is not a usually celebrated "holiday" in our house.  I, myself could not care less about romantic holidays. Birthdays and Christmas are about all I celebrate.  Anniversaries, Valentine's, Sweetest Day? meh.  The day before Valentine's Day went like so:

K: I hope you didn't get me anything for V-Day, because I didn't get you anything

P: Nope!

K: Alright we're good!

However, I've teased Paul for years that I've never had anything sent to me at work or school, ever.  For whatever reason I always thought it would be neat. It didn't even have anything to do with a holiday, I just wanted someone to deliver me something.  The later I would bitch about how he shouldn't have done it because it was too expensive.. ;)  I jokingly sent him an email that afternoon at work asking if this was finally the year he sent me something. Ha.Ha.  The day came and went and we were sitting together on the couch when this conversation happened:

P: I did get you something

K: (Panicked) No you didn't! (Thinking of shit, nothing is worse than when you say no gifts and then someone gets a damn gift for you and you look like a moron.)

P: No I'm just kidding

K: I figured.

Cue Paul throwing a piece of paper at me a half hour later. I open it up and see a confirmation for Edible Arrangements.  As it turns out this WAS the year Paul decided to send me something.  As a matter of fact, he called EA 4 separate times that day wondering where his delivery was.  Well, it never came. He wanted to still keep it a secret but he was so pissed about the whole thing he had to let it out.  Of course, the one time he tries, it gets all messed up.  The later that night he asks where the strawberries in the fridge were.  Oh, you mean the ones I took to work and ate yesterday?  Yah, he was going to make chocolate covered strawberries.  I was totally ruining his V-Day he had planned. LOL.

The delivery man showed up the next day at work with the fruit and balloons!

These were a bit overboard for me, but the girls loved them!

Here is the elusive fruit!

Turns out when they mess up your delivery you get super duper giant chocolate covered strawberries for free!

Tenley Quinn:Two Months

Our little pumpkin turned two months old.  This is so very cliche but where does the time go? With each additional child it's like I blink my eyes and they are running around this place wreaking havoc.  I have to admit Tenley is getting the short end of the stick.  We're both working full-time, the other two are crazy and busy, and it just seems like we don't have a spare moment to even sit down to look at her.  No one call CPS yet because in our defense she sleeps most of the time.

These days we are smiling a ton.  I love it.  She giggles and smiles all the time.  She's getting a ton better at holding her head up as evidenced above.  She does however, hate tummy time.  I make her do it anyway but she's not a fan. She is a relatively easy going baby much like her sisters. Good sleeper, good eater, good baby.

She is also on track to be as tall as her sisters.  I'm destined to be the shortest one in the house, I must accept this fate.  At her checkup she weighed 11lbs 6oz and was 24 inches long.  She weighed exactly the same as Rylee did at two months and is taller than both of her big sisters were at two months.  One day Field Local Schools volleyball team/coach is going to thank me. She also still has a full head of hair. At this rate she's going to catch up to Rylee in no time.

Of course you can't pull out the camera without the older ones wanting in on the action. Sometimes I can't believe I have three kids as cute and awesome as these three.

Happy two months Tenley Quinn!

Birthday Bonanza!

This wonderful tradition started last year and ended with a lot of drunk people. A few months ago we decided to make it an annual tradition.  Ashley's birthday is January 25 and Kelly's falls about a week later on February 3.  Since I didn't celebrate my 30th in a proper fashion since I was pregnant, we decided it was appropriate to celebrate my half-birthday on January 27, which happened to be the night we went out.  On a side note I think it's always appropriate to celebrate half birthdays. As a summer baby that's kind of what you are stuck with in school. Matter of fact one year in preschool my sister ruined my half birthday by being born when I was supposed to have my party at school. I've never gotten over it and probably won't ever forgive her.  I digress...

As of this point it's so far so good. Everyone is out at Ray's and we're all having a good time. Whenever the six of us get together it always becomes Grahams vs. Outlaws.  It's really no contest as to who the greatest are.

Ashley made the bad mistake of buying a bottle of vodka to pre-game with. It clearly did not end well for her.  Rookie mistakes.  This was the second year in a row that Ashley has gotten us kicked out of a bar. Damn you Asher!

She may look sober, but she's really not.

Now there is just nothing else to do but torment her.

The outlaws.  They just beat themselves.  Ashley pre-games too hard and Greg makes everyone take shots.  Smart people don't take every single one or any for that matter and dumb people like Paul act like its mandatory and can't say no.  Get it together people!

Ashley is no longer with us at this point. Future Brother-in-laws posing for a pic! I believe this was after the chunky shot that Greg bought and everyone took but the smart girl, me.

Looking forward to next year already!  I believe it will actually fall on Ashley's birthday. Mark your calendars!

Snow Day

I think we've been really lucky in NE Ohio this year as we've only had a few big snows.  I'm enjoying it since I started running again and the warmer weather and clear roads make it a lot easier.  The girls however have been waiting to play in the snow. This was the day they got their chance.

All ready to go!

Cuties.

Morgan poses for the camera like it's her job. 

Tenley chose to stay in near the fire and rep the Tribe.  Plus she got to spend some one on one time with Mommy!

Miss T :)

A few weeks after Tenley was born we had some newborn photos taken with the fabulous Tami Keehn of Tamarie Photography. http://tamariephotography.com/   She rules and has been taking pictures of our girls/family since Morgan was a baby.   A lot of you may have seen some of these pictures on the announcement that took me over 7 hours to design since I just couldn't decide which ones to use.  I wanted to use them all!

She loves her lil sis "Ten" as she calls her.

My three beauties.

Umm how did she get so damn big?  I remember when she was Tenley's size and I was so overwhelmed and thought I had no time to do anything. The other day a friend told me that her Grandma used to say "If one kid takes up all your time, how could five take up anymore?"  I completely agree and will now use that argument to convince Paul to have 5 children. LOL.

This picture is totally descriptive of their personalities.

Ahhh! I can't get over how cute she is!

One of my ultimate favorites!!! Baby butts!

I really wish I had her eyelashes. 

Rylee seems so much bigger all of a sudden. Everyone in this family but Paul is going to have so much fun when they are teenagers!

Thanks Tami!!!

Last few days at home

Since I only took about 7-8 weeks of time off work, we tried to make the most of it! We spent this day just lounging around together and having a photoshoot!

Isn't she the cutest?

How annoyed does she look?  I don't blame her, you cannot set her on the floor without the older two getting right in her face.  When I say right in her face, I literally mean inches from her. Oh and they are loud.  I have no idea where they get that. ;)

Morgan and Rylee, contemplating life. It's rough being 3.5 and 20 months.

On a side note, no one feel sorry that I had to go back to work.  Don't get me wrong I love my kids and I miss them when I'm at work but I love being a working mom.  It's just what works for me.  I don't cry when I go back to work and I don't spend all day wishing I could be at home.  Are they days when I'd like to spend the day with them? Sure.  I love my job though and it truly makes me a better mom to work.  So those of you giving me the sad face when you see me and ask me how I'm doing now that I'm back at work, you don't need to.  I get the best of both worlds and I'm firing on all cylinders.  I definitely become more efficient and effective when in chaos. I actually enjoy the chaos. Hence, why I'm not done having children. :)

**Nothing above is meant to say anything bad about SAHMs.  God Bless you, for you are better women than me. Every mom has to do what is best for them and their family.

One Month Old!

Not sure which months are worse to take, the first couple or the last couple of that first year.  It's either they can't sit up or they don't want to sit still.

Even in this picture it's as if she's mocking us. Like HA! The minute you remove your hand I'm just going to fall over in a fit over laughter!

Much like my pregnancy with her the time is really flying by. It's still hard to believe I have 3 kids. (I don't know if it's because her birthday is the 8th but instead of 3 I almost wrote 8 kids. I hope that isn't an omen.) Tenley reminds me so much of Morgan as a baby, they look almost identical. She's such an easy baby that mainly eats and sleeps.  I am super fortunate to have the best sleepers ever.  She started sleeping through the night at about 2 weeks.  Another plus for having a big baby.  At her one month check up she weighed 10 lbs 2 oz. and was 22 inches long.  She checked out perfectly!  I even took all three kids and it wasn't a complete disaster!

The girls are still the best helpers ever and love their baby sister. I wonder when the novelty will wear off?  Hopefully never because Paul and I need their help at times.

Of course they still love each other or hate each other, you know depending on the minute of the day.

Maybe next year...

Every year Paul's work gives away tickets to a ton of sporting events, museums, etc.  This year Paul got 2 tickets in the Dawg Pound to the Browns Steelers game on New Years Day.  I was so excited because last year we had Cavs playoff tickets and they never made it to that round and our consolation prize was Disney on Ice.  Which of course, the girls  loved but isn't really what Paul and I were looking forward to. This was also going to be our first time out after the baby and I was really looking forward to it.

We invited Corey and Ashley to join us and they were able to scalp some tickets for pretty cheap right near us.  Since it was so cold we actually got to sit right next to each other since I'm guessing some people stayed at home. 

During the first Browns/Steelers game of this season I was craning my head to see the game around the nurse while simultaneously pushing out Tenley.  People are right, once you have your third the whole birthing process is old hat. As you can see from the above picture I didn't have to crane my head too much this time! Also, contrary to what I think should happen while giving birth they do not in fact sell beer at the hospital or let you have it in your IV.

We stopped to get some blankets and garbage bags (it was rain/snowing) at CVS before we headed to the stadium. This was on display near the register.  If you look close you can see that Big Willie Style values up to $12.99.  I would have to agree if it was 1997.