Do you have anything to declare???

We woke up Saturday morning and made an executive decision as we were organizing some documents (Quinn's birth stuff). We decided to take Quinn across the border. So we packed her up, got our documents, made a Tim's stop, and then were on the road by 9am. Quinn was going to cross the border for the first time.

The drive down wasn't particularly eventful as Quinn dropped in and out of sleep. She talked. She slept. Then she talked some more. We were suspecting the border would be quite busy because of the value of the Canadian dollar. When we got there it was backed up right across the bridge but to their credit it only took about 20 minutes to cross. When we got to customs Brenda's passport actually got us in the good books. This was definitely a first. The custom's officer had just got back from Galway, Ireland, come on.. what are the odds on that. We had a little chat and then were on our way. No questions asked.

We drove straight to the outlets and it was a total of just under 2 hours door to door (including the 20 minutes at the border). There was some shopping done and Quinn was again the big winner. We did get a few things for ourselves but definitely didn't load up. Had a Wimpy's burger and a Dunkin Donut (the first and last time, we have no idea why people like them) and then were on our way to the Walden Galleria.

Quinn fell asleep again so we decided to hit a Target while she was asleep. Brenda went in while Dad and Quinn hung out in the car. We couldn't believe how many Canadians were buying car seats and just chucking the boxes to head back. Interesting. Also very interesting that US car seats don't meet the same safety criteria as Canada. Oh well.

We got to the Walden Galleria and got a few things and then went to The Cheesecake Factory (picture below). It was another good visit there and will tie us over for the next little while. Quinn was great the whole trip. We packed her up and then headed for home. It was close to her bedtime so we thought we would give her the last bottle when we crossed the border. Much to our surprise she couldn't wait.

We stopped at the casino on the US side and in the parking lot Brenda (aka Supermom), changed her on her lap and got her into her sleeper, all in the front seat in about 15 minutes flat. She then gave her last bottle and we were on our way. 30 minutes at the border on the way back. The customs officer was nice and we were through. Home by about 9:30 or so. All in all a good day and lots of fun with Quinn.

Teething Sucks!!

I don't think we realized when Quinn started teething that it never stops. Poor kid just doesn't get a break. Every day or so she is struggling with the chicklets and we are starting to see lots more little bumps coming, which mean there are new additions to the family on the way.

One of the main things that sucks about teething is that Quinn doesn't get a good stretch of sleep. She wakes up way more frequently. As you can see below she fell asleep in the jolly jumper. What kid falls asleep in the jolly jumper? Poor little princess was exhausted and it finally got the better of her. What we do like is that when we took her out and she woke up she didn't cry at all. She did give both of us dirty looks, but no tears.

Quinn has also recently improved her ability to get excited as well as stay stabilized. Previously a flurry of her hands would have send her toppling over. Now she is able to readjust and stay upright.

New Face & The Film Festival

With the 4 teeth now here it seems to have been a catalyst for Quinn to develop a new face. We aren't really sure what it is but we believe she thinks it is a REALLY BIG SMILE. We call it her scrunch face and it is hilarious (as you see below).

Quinn hasn't been feeling the greatest the last day or so but you wouldn't know it from all the smiles and scrunches she is handing out!

Mom and Dad attended 3 films over the last week as part of the Film festival and got to see some stars that attended. The films we saw were: Before the Devil Knows your Dead (good movie, very film festival style), Poor Boys Game (ok movie, but predictable), and Rails and Ties (good movie, better than you would think). The stars we saw were: Donald Sutherland, Danny Glover, and Kevin Bacon. Kevin Bacon was sitting pretty close to us and we were hoping he would kick it "Footloose" style, but no such luck... We were really lucky to make it to the Film Festival and a big thank you to Aaji and Aaja who looked after Quinn when we were out. Quinn got her first Brampton sleep over. We know that Aaji and Aaja loved every minute of their time with Quinn. From all the smiles and giggles Quinn gave them we are pretty sure she had a blast too!!

TWINS!!!

After a couple weeks of grueling labour with very little pain control medication, Quinn gave birth to twins today!! Both top teeth finally broke through. Quinn and both the kids are doing fine. She is steadily building her family of chicklets!

I know the picture isn't flattering and some people will say "poor Quinn" but we needed the proof. We have found that most people can't believe Quinn has any teeth, let alone 4!!!

Hopefully Quinn will rest soundly now that the kids are here and give mom and dad a nice 12 hour sleep at night.....

2 Teeth

For all of you that haven't seen our little Quinn with her 2 new teeth, here is a picture. Looks like we have a couple other teeth that are ready to join the party in the next couple weeks!!

Pictures Posted

Some new pictures (Dad's 70th & Orlando) posted at http://www.brelan.ca/

Back from Orlando

We got back from Orlando this week and spent our first extended period away from Quinn. The weather in Orlando was hot...... 103 degrees F. You could actually feel yourself melting.. However, unlike the heat in places like Vegas, this heat had some serious humidity and it felt like you were wearing it all day. We took some day trips and stayed and a great place about 5 minutes from Disney World. For the first couple days there we didn't even attempt to venture into the Magic Kingdom because we just figured Mickey wouldn't let us in without some crazy admission fee. We were wrong. There is tonnes of stuff to do there from Downtown Disney to Universal Studios without having to pay anything.

We made the trip to Tampa..... that was 120 miles that we wish we could have had back. There really wasn't anything of note in Tampa. There is the water... Some old town with a Starbucks that has a really bitter girl working there.

In Orlando, we did some great shopping (80% for Quinn), and went to eat at some really great places. Of course we made it to the Cheesecake Factory but we also go the opportunity to go to The Melting Pot. The last time we were there was 5 years ago and it was well worth the wait. Not too sound too much like a restaurant review but the Cheese Fondue was amazing, the main course with the broth for the meat had so much flavour and the desert chocolate fondue with caramel and peanut butter was unreal..... If you ever get a chance to go there, you have to make the trip. Look how happy we are below!!!

We were getting some good updates from Quinn's Nead mosi on how she was doing. She was a busy little girl in London. Unfortunately or Fortunately, whichever way you look at it, she probably didn't even know we were gone. Quinn was really pampered and got all the attention any 5 month old could ever want from all her uncles, aunts, grand parents, and cousins!! She even kicked Nead mosi and Uncle Radu out of their room so she could get a little privacy. Nead mosi and Uncle Radu returned our daughter happy and safe... just like we thought they would..... They also provided a beautiful book (lots of work by Sue mosi) that outlined the events of the week in London for Quinn. Thank you to everyone that cared and provided so much love for our little monkey.

Now we can say TEETH!!

Little Quinn through many days of tough labour finally gave birth to her second shiny tooth! Both tooth and infant are doing well. She celebrated the event with one hell of a butt explosion!!
For those that have trouble reading between the lines or even reading the lines, Quinn's second tooth finally poked through. It was getting tough to watch her struggle the last couple of days but it finally came. In the car she was telling us all about the experience, and what a story it was. Too bad neither of us could understand her!!
We now sit patiently and wait for the delivery of the rest of the bunch!