New MUSIC!

Ok, so I have new music on here.
1. Simon and Garfunkel
2. Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen is a favorite of ours. We are SO excited that we get to see him LIVE a few days after our 3rd anniversary! I am just ecstatic. I bought the tickets yesterday -an hour after they went on sale.

S&G was Quinn's first favorite. Once we got her home, every night she would fall asleep to our "best of" cd. This is a picture of Quinn when she had her first doctor's visit after being released from the NICU. She was 1 month and 4 days. I think that it is my all-time-favorite-picture of her.

Park

A week or so ago we went to the park. Here are some super cute pictures of Q. She is OBSESSED with the swings. She will sit in them for HOURS and be happy as a lark!



oh, and the other day she asked for a "sister".

Funny Moments

Quinn currently feels the need to identify everyone. She will call herself "child", Quinn, and "big girl". She calls us: Monny and Daddy "parents" and "guys". I am not too sure where she got the "guys" from but when we tuck her in at night and she says "night guys", I can't help but laugh.

At Walmart yesterday Quinn's identifying was definitely NOT P.C.

When a couple (both women, one lady-like and one not-so-much) walked by us, Quinn said "girl n boy". hmmm not exactly.

When an African American family walked by us she said, "my peoples, my peoples!" Ok, I seriously have NO idea where she could have gotten this except that maybe the kids with the family were her "peoples". I didn't even know that she knew the word "people" except in the Wheels on the bus song.
Luckily everyone involved thought that she was cute and funny :)

Quinn is PERFECT!

ok so I already knew this... but after a horribly long day at Hopkins, her doctors know it too! Yes, Quinn's DMSA showed that her kidneys are pretty much as perfect as they can be. One is slightly bigger than the other but that isn't a big deal and is pretty normal. Also, they were able to tell that her kidneys divvy up the work pretty evenly (it is ideal to be 50/50). Quinn is 49/51!! How great is that! So this was her baseline. We know where we stand (perfect!) and now we will know next year when she has to get this done again if there is any damage; it is new and something needs to be done. So after a long day with a lot of melt downs (me and Quinn) we are happy and relaxing.
Our prayers were answered.

as to the melt downs:
Quinn's was from not being able to eat anything until 4:45pm (a Popsicle) and from having the iv in her. She is not a fan :)

Mine was from being told that we were going to be able to be with Quinn during her procedure. We were prepped on how Quinn will look, the drugs that they were giving her to put her under, the type of gas used, the thing that they would put in her throat that would hold her airway open (past her tonsils but thankfully not a full intubation). Dan and I went back with Quinn, I promised her that at least one of us would stay there the whole time and I held her hand as they pushed the drugs. Then the new Resident (peds. anesthesiologist) told us that we had to leave. I was livid. We didn't get to stay with Quinn. We did however get to hold her in the recovery room.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got a snuggy for V Day! I love it. It is so funny but I fell in love with these things from watching the infomercials late at night.

new passion

Can I tell you how much I love my Business Statistics class?? well... A LOT. Who would have thought? It is actually my second statistics course and this one is (so far) even more fun. It focuses on Operational Research. I normally hate all math but boy, I get excited to think stats!

Monday

We finally have Q's DMSA scheduled. It is this President's Day. (Monday) I am so anxious... can't wait. The test itself is only an hour long BUT we have to be there from 10 am until 3 pm. They have to inject the dye into Quinn's bloodstream and then we wait for it to be spread to her kidneys. This wouldn't be so bad if she was allowed to eat or drink... Oh well, I guess for a late lunch Quinn can have her favorite: chicken necks and lillipops!

I got a 9!

*I didn't get a picture of the plate so I figured one of Quinn would work! This is her "silly face"*

For those of you that don't know, I love cooking. I enjoy the challenge of finding something for my family to eat that is yummy, healthy and doesn't cost a lot. Since we got married, I have had Dan rate my dinners on a scale from 1 to 10 judging strictly on taste. (with 10 being AWESOME!) I wanted to be able to create a "cookbook" for my family based on the above criteria.

The highest I have ever gotten from him is a 7. He is stingy with the ratings :). Anyway, last night I made fried rice with yummy sauteed green beans and roasted garlic and butter grilled tilapia. Finally, I got a 9! I didn't eat the tilapia of course, but Dan and Quinn sure loved it. He even commented on how nicely the plate looked. I was stunned! Looks like I will be making fish more often!

loveys

So we weren't able to start the study yesterday. I'll post about it once I know how today goes. After wallowing for a little bit last night, I decided that I would think about everything wonderful about Quinn. She makes me laugh... all of the time. She is so funny and grown up sometimes. I am amazed how well she gets around and runs/dances/ jumps. She was in physical therapy after all. I am shocked with how well she speaks. Her vocabulary is amazing. Everyday she is using new words and making up songs. I decided that this post will be some of my favorite quotes of hers.

When Quinn is shocked about something she says *Oh my goohness* as she holds her face like in Home Alone.

I always tell Quinn that I love her so, so much. After she takes her nap in the afternoon, she whispers to her favorite animals *so so muh*

When I ask Quinn to find her shoes, hat, or pretty much anything, she doesn't even try to look. Instead she turns to me with a serious face and says in a dramatic tone * I canh fine eh anwherr*

Her favorite phrases to say are * I'm happy* or *gooh job, high figh*

Everything is *cute*... the trees, a blanket, a stuffed animal, everything

Quinn likes to say (out of no where) *I'm gooh, howa you?*

When we say bye to Quinn, she now always responds *bye bye, gooh luck!* We have no idea where she got this one from!

We all went to see Dr. Tunkel yesterday (Q's Otolaryngologist). He had great news! Quinn has mostly outgrown her laryngomalacia!! Awesome. He also said that we can get the DMSA done... with Quinn sedated. Great! We will just need to have a pediatric anesthesiologist there the whole time. No big deal. He did mention that Quinn's adenoids and tonsils looked enlarged. He wants us to get a sleep study done. yes, that test that I have been dreading and trying to put off. If she has sleep apnea, then she needs to get her adnoids and tonsils out. If not, then he said we could put off the surgery! I am thrilled that we now have another thing crossed off Quinn's checklist. Her Urologist is now setting up the DMSA with the pediatric anesthesiologist and radiologist. I am now trying to set up her sleep study. Dr Tunkel mentioned that if she does end up needing surgery on her kidneys and tonsils/adenoids, that we should do it all at once. No need to make her suffer twice. So now I am feeling great. Things are getting done. We are moving towards being normal again.
Tomorrow Q's Urologist is coming out to the house again and collecting urine and bringing us our first dose of the study medicine. While I am still nervous if we are doing the right thing for Quinn by having her in the study... I can't think about that right now. We have been praying. We will continue to be.

New Favorites

1. Quinn loves her new sunglasses from Grandma VS (Annette) and from DeeDee (my Mom). She wears one pair all of the time and makes we wear the others. 2. Quinn loves ketchup. I have never let Quinn have ketchup before until last night. I always felt like it had unnecessary amounts of sugar in it. Yes, this is coming from the condiment Queen! For some reason, I have different rules for Quinn than I do for myself. 3. Quinn still loves her crowns and dress-up clothes. Now she is sharing them with EVERYONE! Even Daddy and her toys. She also LOVES to wear her hat inside. She runs around inside making snow angels whenever she has it on. 4. Quinn still loves dancing. She is getting closer to having rhythm now :)