3 Months OLD!!!!!!!!

It's only been three months but I can't seem to remember what life felt like without her in it.  She has becomes such a huge and integral part of my life that (maybe not the best comparison but) trying to remember what it felt like to not have her is like trying to remember what it felt like without an arm or a leg.

She's my world.  And I love my world!

Into The Mountains We Go

What a beautiful Sunday us Schroeder's had in the mountains.  We wanted to get out of town but it seemed like the rest of the town had the same idea.  Part of the fun of going to the mountains is to go where no one else is but it looked as though we would be creeping along the road with every other car.  Until... Joe found a side road that we thought we would explore.  I had literally just told him that we needed to find our own little secluded spot that no one seems to know about that we can always go to.  He said that would be pretty tough in mountains lying between cities but, leave it to my husband to find just that.  It was absolutely amazing!  We drove for miles without a car passing us, pulled off to examine things, and barely scratched the surface of our new found get away.

And check out this tree we found!  CRAZY.

Quincey seemed to really love the fresh air and fell fast asleep with the windows wide open smelling the pines.

What a great day!

    

Quincey's First Play Date!

When pregnant, I chose to take a new approach to prenatal care.  Instead of the traditional doctor/patient appointments I did Centering appointments which included other women that were pregnant and had due dates around the same time as mine.  I was excited to meet some soon to be mommies here in Albuquerque so I could hopefully create some friendships.  Unfortunately, because of Covid, we did get to meet up as a centering group post baby's births but I was stayed in touch with two of the moms and arranged a play date at my house with them.  It was SOOO nice.  

I look forward to spending more time with them and Quincey getting to play with her womb friends on a regular basis.

 

Everything Goes In My Mouth!

Now that Quincey has gotten the hang of grabbing things, she is realizing that she can move those objects to her mouth.  What she hasn't figured out yet is how to not choke herself!

 

 

Weekend Mornings Are The BEST!

We all love snuggling in bed on the weekends when daddy doesn't have to get up to work.  Once Quinn wakes up we just snuggle and play until she is ready for her first nap.  Today she was especially cute as we used her blanket for entertainment.  I think it entertained us more than it did her!  She is just so darn cute!

 

My Water Baby!

Quincey loves loves loves the water.  When she was in my belly I would take a bath every night and she would wake up.  In fact, there was one night that she slept through the bath and didn't move and Joe fed me a huge glass of sugary koolaid because I was so concerned that she wasn't moving and grooving through the whole bath like she always does.  

She loves her nightly scrub a dub in the tub and today we found out that she loves the mist setting on the hose.  We had so much fun spray her down.  She was drenched from head to foot and just kept smiling and laughing every time we sprayed her!

Look her face all misted with water droplets! 

She loved playing with daddy and the sprinkler.

Grandpa Comes To Visit

I was so thrilled when I heard my dad was planning on making his way to Albuquerque to meet his new grand baby.  I was overly excited for my dad to meet our little peanut.  Thanks to Grace, she got the ball rolling and insisted that Quincey would be worth the trip.  So, my dad, Grace, and all of her kids ventured this direction.  

It was, however, tough to face the reality that my mother would not be able to make the journey.  Not only is she in the nursing home but has been quarantined like the rest of the country's nursing homes to keep them all safe.  So, it was definitely different to have just my dad arrive but this is the new normal of our lives and it didn't stop us from having a blast!

Seeing my dad meet Quincey was extremely touching for me.  Again, as I've stated in so many previous posts, I've waited a long time for it to be my turn to be a mommy and I'm not taking for granted one special moment without soaking it all in and, the moment my father met my daughter for the first time was one of those moments that was really special.  

I did it, Dad!  I grew up and have a beautiful baby and amazing husband to finally share with you!

How special it was seeing him embrace her and tell her how cute and precious she is.  Quincey is so funny when people come to visit and scoop her up.  She doesn't cry but looks around like "what's going on?"  She has had limited interaction with people because of the Coronavirus so it's not normal for someone besides mommy or daddy's arms around her.  As grandpa was holding her, she found my face and voice and grandpa said, "well, she surely knows who her mother is."  Sounds like a simple statement but, how rewarding it was to hear from an outside perspective that she actually knows who I am and registered my voice.  It's a lot of work to raise a baby 24 hours a day and little comments like that are just icing on the cake.  

Quincey also got to meet her auntie Lou Lou (Abby).  Abby is just too old to simply be her "cousin" although that's truly what she is so, we have taken to calling her Auntie Lou Lou (cause that's always been my nickname for her).  It was so sweet to see Abby with her.  She has a calming presence just like her father and was able to put Quincey to sleep no problem.  I think Abby was pretty taken with Quincey and loves her very much.

 

The first day we went to the mountains.  Last time the Logans were here they tried to hike to McCauly Hot Springs and turned around just short of making it there so they were determined to actually hike up to them this time.  So, as they marched up the mountain, my father, Joe, and I and Quincey jumped in the car and drove to Valles Caldara.  It was a great drive and I got to see ELK! MY FAVORITE! And... even better yet, my dad told me on the drive that I'm a good mother!  That meant the world to me.  The Logans did actually make it to the hot springs this time and seemed to really enjoy it.

The next day was busy busy busy with backyard fun.  Joe has been revamping our backyard for a couple weeks now.  We started with nothing but rocks and dirt and weeds... lots and lots of weeds. Now it looks amazing! And, I even have a garden! Somehow Joe and my nephew got to talking about how to make the brick wall in the yard more pleasing to the eye and before I knew it, we were on our way to Lowes to buy wood and other necessary materials.  I had no idea what the plan was but was having fun watching it all come together.  My dad, Joe and Gideon worked on the project all day until the sun went down.  They barely finished it before they were out of sunlight.  Joe cut the boards for them while my dad helped Gideon hang them up.  Gideon was the master artist behind the project and I was super proud of him.  It turned out amazing.  Truly, we were all very impressed.

We played pinochle that night.  A family favorite that I have never really played.  Joe thought it would be fun for us to learn so that's what we did.  What a fun game!  While we played the nieces and nephew took care of Quinney and she couldn't have been happier.  They were playing songs for her and giving all the love a little girl can handle to her.  

Their last day here we all just relaxed and spent time together.  I rounded up my nieces and nephews to help me finish planting some things in the back yard and Afton hung lights up for us.  (They look amazing!).  

I love having my family under foot and I'm not sure I would ever get sick of it.  I'm sure this is not exclusive to me but I feel the most peace, contentment, and joy when around family; however, I do know this is not the case for all families and I am just so glad that my family are my favorite people in the world!

It was another great few days full of love and laughter!