Quincey Makes Her Debut Public Appearance

 There have been a lot of transitions and changes in our lives lately.  Within the last 8 months here are a few:

We bought a new house.  Yes, we bought a beautiful big home to start our little family in, but with buying a home comes the stress of simply buying the home and then the added stress of moving. Being 8 months pregnant and moving was not fun but we got it done.

Then, I quit my job.  I have had a job since I was 15 years old.  I remember my mom constantly harping on me when I was 15 that I needed to get a job.  I procrastinated and procrastinated, not because I didn't want a job but because I didn't want to ask for a job.  But, finally one day she showed up at school and told me she was taking me to Luerders.  She waited outside as I walked in and asked for a job.  Since that day, I have always had a job.  I went a week after high school graduation without a job, and about two months after coming home from Indonesia without a job.  And about the same amount of time without one when I first moved to New Mexico.  Besides, that, I have always had a job.  So, quitting my job and finding myself standing in this big new home alone during the day was actually a heck of an adjustment!

Then we had a baby!  Need I say more about adjustments and transitions.  This one was a doozy!

Then COVID happened.

Then Joe started working from home.  This was probably the easiest transition for me.  To have him home all the time means that I am never alone and, well, he's my best friend so it's been pretty easy.

I the midst of all of this, probably one of the hardest adjustments of all was not being able to go anywhere.  I have never been a sedative person and since I was a little girl I have always been on the move.  Some of the biggest fights my mom and I ever had was before I could drive and me begging her to take me somewhere and her just not wanting to leave the house.  

Having a baby has naturally curved some of this but having a global pandemic brought going anywhere to a screeching stop.  And, although a lot of families have found a new normal, we have continued to be very cautious about where we go, who we see, and especially where Quincey goes.  So, she has literally not been in a public location except the dr's office and I had to once make a beeline to the bathroom at a gas station with her in tow when we were coming home from Greeley but, besides that, she has not been in public.  

This has been hard for me.  Especially now that she is older and easier to pack around, I really would love to take her to the grocery store with me or peruse through Target together but, I haven't gotten to.

However, we took our first baby step with Quincey this weekend and went to a nursery with her to check out the plants and trees.  I was so excited! And, it was just as fun as I thought it would be.  

Quincey got her first purchase... A peacock feather that she carried through the whole store.  

I'm 6 Months Old!

 I never understood what people meant when they said "time flies so fast." Or, "enjoy it because it will be gone before you know it."

I can not believe that Quincey is already 6 months old.

In some respects it feels like she's been with us forever and it's hard to imagine life without her but in other respects it feels like I just had her!

She's like a little human now.  She has personality, likes, dislikes, things that make her laugh and things that make her cry.  She has gotten so fun.  Now that we're passed that tiny baby stage we can do so much more and explore so many more things. 

During the last month, she found out that sleep isn't always so bad,

That she loves bananas

That she is so much more mobile which means mama and papa have to be REALLY careful that she doesn't slither out of her chair or get into things that she shouldn't before baby proofing is completed,

That she absolutely loves GRASS!  She is absolutely 100% her father's daughter there!

And that she's the cutest little 6 month old in the whole entire universe.

Quincey Goes to Greeley

 I decided it was time to take a road trip.  Joe was going to be working on a big project in the field for the week and I was starting to feel cabin fever so I planned a trip with just Quinney and I to go to Greeley to see her auntie Grace.

It's a 7 1/2 hour drive and if there's one area I don't feel confident in yet when it comes to Quincey, it would likely be going out and about with her because we rarely do it! Since Covid, we don't take Quincey out very often and I certainly don't take her out alone very often.  So, I was nervous about the drive.  Taking her to the mountains can sometimes feel daunting if she is cranky.  I start to feel so helpless when she is crying and there's not much I can do even though I'm sitting in the back next to her while Joe drives.  But, this trip would be different.  It would just be Quinney and I and it would be A LOT further than our short trips to the mountains.

So, I decided to leave in the middle of the night after she got up for her feeding in hopes that she would nestle in to her car seat and sleep for a big chunk of the morning.  I was all prepared.  I had the car packed the night before and my clothes laid out to quickly throw on in the morning.

I woke up at 2am and Quincey had not woken up to feed yet.  You know how it is when you try to get back to sleep but you know that you have to wake up soon so you can't really fall back asleep?  Well, here it was 2am and I could not fall back to sleep so finally around 3:15am I rolled out of bed, kissed Joe goodbye, fed Quincey and made as smooth as a transition into her car seat as possible.  She was WIDE AWAKE by the time hit the road.  I tried to prepare myself for the long hours to come but all I heard was 1 peep for the next 3 hours.  It was a success and the rest of the drive there went really good as well.  Very little fussing and lots of self soothing.  It was really nice to show up at the Logan's though.

Quincey was glad to be out of her car seat.  Grace was literally standing in the middle of the street when we pulled up; that's how eager she was to see Quincey.  And Quincey did not disappoint.  She smiled from ear to ear when she saw her Auntie.  

Quincey was just enamored with their dogs.  She couldn't stop squealing and giggling at the dogs.  

We just had a great time in Greeley.  One day Uncle Jason babysat so us girls could go shopping.  I rarely get to do that and when I do, it's like to a store that I know I need something specific in and I literally beeline right to the item and back out again so I can get home and relieve Joe from daddy daycare as soon as possible so he can get back to work but, this time, there was no rushing.  But, about an hour after we left, I was checking on her - texting uncle Jason to see how she was doing.  Within a couple hours I was definitely ready to get back to my peanut.  That was the longest I had been without her before.  

My favorite part about being at the Logan's is literally just hanging out.  And that's mostly what we did.  We went on some walks, played some games, took some naps (YES! I TOOK A NAP AND GOT TO SLEEP IN ONE DAY.  It was GLORIOUS!) played Nintendo and just had a really nice relaxing time.  

It so nice to have so many hands to help with Quincey.  I just basked in the ability to pass her off to another family member to change her clothes, feed her some food, or entertain her while I took a shower.  And, it's so nice for Quincey too.  It really is good for kids to be surrounded by family.  

2 things I found out while I was there:  #1 - Grace had a banana on her counter so i squished some up and gave it to Quincey in this pacifier type thing that holds food and has holes poked into it so she can suck out the food.  She LOVED it and since then can not get enough banana. I've tried now to give her peaches and avacado in it but she spits it out - change it out for a banana and she grabs that thing to suck on instantly.

#2 - Quincey likes getting her back rubbed.  We were all laying on Grace's bed (it's where everyone hangs out all the time) and Quincey was on her belly on the bed.  I started to rub her back, which I've tried before and she always seemed too ticklish to like it (she would just squirm), and she laid her head down and really seemed to enjoy it.  Since then, I rub her back a little as our nap time routine and there have been a couple times that it has put her to sleep instantly.  I'm so glad I found that out.  It really seems to help to calm her down and signal to her that it's time to wind down for a nap.

I can not believe how quick the time went.  Friday came so quick!  But, fortunately the drive home went almost as smooth as the drive there.  

I was glad to be home but instantly was sad that we were back to facetime calls to see family.

Our Trip to the Mountains

 A few weeks ago we decided to spend the day in the mountains.  I was such an amazing day.  I absolutely love getting out of town and being with my favorite people.  It is especially more fun the older Quincey gets.  We took her stroller and carrier and headed to the Jemez mountains.  We saw a sign for the fish hatchery and thought that would be fun but of course it was closed.  I was bummed out but Joe kept driving.  I don't know how he does it but he is this uncanny ability for finding the best spots in the mountains.  Where I would turn around, he keeps going and where I would keep going he turns around and he's always right. This time he was really right!  He kept going passed the fish hatchery and we found the cutest little picnic area where you could also park and walk in on a trail that was perfect for Quincey's stroller.  

After a few hours on the trail, I suggested we head back because I knew Quincey just had to be so tired.  She had gotten tired of her stroller and was snug against me in her carrier which she absolutely loves so there was no fussing but I knew she had to just be exhausted.  So, we turned around and half way on our trek back I noticed that she was looking at the ground for a long time and her head was bouncing an awful lot.  She was fast asleep!  I wish I would have gotten a picture of it but we didn't.  We were in too big of a hurry to get back and put her in a shady spot so we could enjoy a nice picnic together.

It was perfect.  A perfect day!

I'm Crawling... ALMOST!

 So, she's not crawling yet but she is trying so super hard!  A few weeks ago she figured out how to army crawl and she gets along really good that way.  It seems like I turn my head for only a second and by the time I look back she's almost across the room.  

Within the last week she has been getting herself up onto her knees and rocking back and forth.  She wants so bad to figure out what to do from there but just can't seem to yet.  

Her knees are all red and have carpet burn from all her hard work on the floor!  

Any day now and we'll have a crawler!

I Can Sit Up!

 I didn't even know it because it had been so long since I tried it, but I put Quincey in a sitting position and she stayed there all by herself!

We were at the park hanging out on the blanket and I thought she might like to try to sit up to look at the kids and what do you know... she knew how to sit up all on her own!