Archives for August 2014

You say Potato, I say Aww yeah!

August 24, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

I. am. obsessed. with. potatoes!

Lately I can’t stop thinking about them – taters, au gratin, home fries, chips… you name it.  It all started at a 4th of July picnic.  One of the side dishes was a cheesy potato casserole and I have since been obsessed.  I can barely play with Makenzie’s Mr. Potato Head without drooling.  Talk about pregnancy cravings gone wild!

Mr. Potato Head, Get in my belly!

Mr. Potato Head, Get in my belly!

When I was pregnant with Kenzie I was much more interested in sweet foods, so does this mean boy?!  Maybe?  That’s at least what the old wives’ tale says.  Perhaps it means my kid will someday move to Idaho?  Unlikely.  Or maybe it just means that I have a thing for carbs.

What were your pregnancy cravings and did they end up meaning anything or are they a bunch of silly fallacies made up by moms-to-be looking to make sense of their need for munchies?

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Six weeks to go but the wait is killer!

 

As for the million dollar question of a Sister or a little Mister?!?  The countdown to find out is on!  We’re going to open this hot little envelope which is currently sitting on top of our mantle when our friends and families are with us at Makenzie’s 2nd Birthday party.  Hooray!

And for those of you that can make the festivities, get out your stretchy-waisted pants and bacon bits.  We’ll be eating spuds all night long!

Potato love & mine,

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Dear Makenzie, you’re my favorite staycation buddy

August 17, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

Dear Makenzie,

Hi little pumpkin, it’s me, Mom.  You will undoubtedly grow older and forget many of the moments and experiences of your childhood, but I want you to always know what a special week we just had.

Last week your Dad and I took time off work for a family staycation.  We saved you the misery of a long road trip, we woke up in our own beds each morning, and we were able to be tourists in our own backyard.  It was a great week and you were a very fun little staycation buddy.

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In case you someday forget, here is our virtual scrapbook of the week:

::  A Trip to the Olcott Beach Carousel Park  ::

This is THE cutest little kiddie park!  You rode over 20 rides and loved the short lines.  And as a bonus, it’s only a quarter per ride.  We’ll definitely be back!

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The old school beep beep cars. You liked to pull the string and ring the bell.

 

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Flying high in the jet fighters

 

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Family hot air ride while dressed in our finest bonnets (ignore the blank stare on your cousin’s face in the swim trunks)

 

::  Playdate fun  ::

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Tickle monster visit

 

::  A trip to Sunset Bay Beach  ::

Luckily we had hot weather one of the days and we headed to the shores of Lake Erie for some fun in the sun.

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You loved the sand and the water! You’re our little beach baby 🙂

 

::  Breakfast fun  ::

We spent mornings spent in our jammies and you did a great job helping me make pancakes, yum!

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Try it Mom!

 ::  Visit from Mamaw and PapPap  ::

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Loving your Mamaw

 

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You had a great time riding the ‘Wheee!’ with Pappap

::  A trip to the county fair  ::

Nothing says county fair like a ride on the mini tractors.  My favorite attraction was the hand sanitizing station.

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The beep beep tractors

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Thank you Makenzie for bringing so much fun into our world!  Your Dad and I would not know what to do with our time off without you (wellll maybe we would do something like golf or sleeping in but those are overrated anyway).  It was such a fun week and it will be even more fun when you have a little brother or sister to join in the craziness.

I love you to the moon and back munchkin.

XOXO,

Mom

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Glad to be a Q!

August 12, 2014 by · Leave a Comment

How I love this quote!

Dr Suess memory quote

It’s extra meaningful after this weekend.

For the first time since Makenzie was born I spent 3 nights away from her and I spent a very special weekend with 10 amazing ladies I’m lucky enough to call my cousins!  I missed Kenz like crazy but it was so very worthwhile.

Let me go back in time…

It all started with Sarah & Jimmy Quilty.  They were the most loving, wonderful grandparents anyone could have.  They had 5 children and my Dad was the youngest of them.  From the 5 children came plenty of grandchildren who turned out to be my awesome big cousins!  My sister, Melissa, and I grew up always loving the visits from our cool cousins.

Q family photo

Q Family reunion circa mid 80’s – Melissa and I were the ones rocking the sandals with socks.  Hotties!

Over the years we’ve all moved around the world for jobs, for love and for adventure – Cali, Florida, New Orleans, Detroit, Germany, Thailand, Cleveland, Philly, you name it – but despite the miles we’ve remained connected as Q’s.

Q fam reunion in Buffalo

Q Family reunion in September 2010.  You can’t see feet in this picture but Melissa and I were NOT wearing sandals and socks.

The last 4 years haven’t been easy for our family because we’ve lost 3 of our wonderful Aunts, but from the sadness came the reminder that we NEED to make it a point to stay connected.

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And the Q Cousin Weekend idea began…

There were months of e-mails, texts, plans, more plans and ideas…

and then it happened.  It really Happened!!

On Thursday, Q cousins from Cali, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania & New York met up in Center Valley, Pa for 3 nights of fun.  It was Amazing!  We relaxed, we slept in, we talked, we went to NYC, we took selfies, we saw a Broadway show, we ate, we reminisced, we cried, we told secrets, we told inappropriate stories & we laughed.  We laughed a lot.  It was the kind of laughter that makes you sore the next day.

The pictures say it best…

Q cuz reunion trampoline selfie

All of us trying to squeeze into a photo.

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Facetiming each other next to each other.

Q cuz reunion 2 Times Square

Times Square, we made it!!

Q cuz reunion kinky boots

Checking out Kinky Boots!

Q cuz reunion laughter

My favorite picture – Pure Hilariousness

Q cuz reunion Mel and Les kiss

Cousin love in the Big Apple

 

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City skyline! We took the scenic route into NYC but ended up with this great picture.  Life is truly about the Journey & not the Destination.

 

The weekend flew by and on Sunday we said good-bye and headed our separate ways.  I was very happy to see Denny (aka Daddy Daycare Pro – thanks honey!) and Makenzie, and they welcomed home a much more relaxed and recharged wife and Mom.

As for the moments my cousins and I shared, Dr. Suess was right.  From the time we spent together came memories…  awesome and very special memories that will remain as part of the Quilty story.  There’s no doubt that Jimmy & Sarah were watching over us (hopefully only hearing the G-rated stuff) and smiling knowing that they were the reason for this weekend.  There are few things in life more important than family and I am beyond incredibly lucky to be a part of the Q family.

LLKK to the Q cousins until we meet again!

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Drop it like it’s hot

August 3, 2014 by · 1 Comment

It’s a Saturday night in the McGee house and we’re getting ready to drop it like it’s hot.

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This is how we roll, yo

Yet when I say Drop it like it’s hot I’m referring to the crib mattress.  I think we’re going to have to get low, get low, get low.

Here’s why… One bad decision in the middle of the night which involved allowing a fussy tot sleep with us has turned into 5 nights of 90+ minute bedtimes and either Denny or me sleeping on the floor (yet again).

I can hear you right now, “Shut the door,” “Let her cry it out,” “She’ll be fine.”  BUT and this is a big but (I don’t like big buts and I cannot lie), we can’t let Makenzie cry it out… because our little Rolly Pollie rockstar can now jump out of the crib.  It happened Thursday night and it was terrifying for all of us.  Luckily she was fine, but now we’ve turned into little pawns.  If we let her keep crying she could try to jump out again and possibly get hurt.  So we spend at least 30 minutes each night sleeping on her floor until she falls asleep and then we army crawl out of her room.

Essentially our 21-month old just yelled out Checkmate!

Well played Makenzie, well played.

Once again we’re back at a parenting crossroads.  Unexpected sleeping issue Avenue intersects with Who the hell even allowed us to be parents Street and our car has stalled out.  So now what?

Do we continue into this trend of endless bedtimes?  Do we keep sleeping on her floor until she is into her mid-20’s?  Do we opt for the toddler bed?   Do we drop the crib mattress like it’s hot to the floor?  Or do we just laugh about it and wait it out a few more nights?  One might think that we would figure this out since we’ve been here countless times but we’re still stumped.

But on a good note, we have a decent amount of time to ponder this while laying on the floor next to our girl’s crib.  If you know any shortcuts to get back to the Quick Bedtime Boulevard let us know.  In the meantime we’ll be spending our nights relaxing under the stars in Makenzie’s room.

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My view from the floor… look closely and you’ll see her crib rails.

 

And call me crazy but part of me kind of likes knowing that she wants me there while she heads to dreamland.  I’m pretty sure I’ll miss this someday when she is in her teens, her sleeping patterns are regular and she begs me to leave her room.

Sweet dreams Makenzie Ruth, I love you and your stubborn little sleeping habits to the moon and back.

xoxo

Mom

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