Almost Christmas....

So as we wrap up our tree decorating and holiday shopping, preparing to head North for the holidays, Quinn is getting very excited to see everyone very soon!
We head to Harpursville, NY for Christmas on the 23rd to spend one final Christmas on the hill with Brent's Gramma & Poppy before they move to Michigan this spring. It will be SO nice to see everyone again now that Quinn's bigger and I'm not so stressed out from traveling back and forth to the NICU like when everyone was last in town.
Next we'll head to Vermont to spend the New Year -Quinn is anxiously awaiting introduction to her Boston nieces and nephew!

As you know, our tree went up immediately following Thanksgiving, but decorating it took some time since the 'witching hours' seem to happen for Quinn between 5 and 7pm when Daddy gets home and we can all do the tree together....SO, it was spread out and tackled seriouly after the princess passed out in the evenings!
She does enjoy swinging and staring at the lights and listening to her Mom and Dad belt out holiday tunes, especially their chorus of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"-we pretty much crack ourselves up with how animated we are singing to her-we wonder how crazy she really thinks we are-HA!

I'm happy to report that I've finally relaxed with a beer! During the Army v. Navy game, I downed my first Blue Moon-oh what a feeling after 10 months...
Since Quinn's latest crying fits are usually between 5 and 7pm-we've decided she must be too tired to stay up and play, but it's too early to put her to sleep...so I've introduced a new nightly routine-bathtime in the big tub with mommy (she seemed to like this the first few times and it really calmed her down, but not so much anymore??) then jammies, storytime and into the cradle while her eyes are open. This worked like a charm for the first two nights, then she was back to her old ways with the every 2 hour wake ups...
We are not giving up though-there are some good nights and bad-last night she pulled a 6 hour stint from 7-1am, now we're talking!!!

She loves cuddling with Daddy and listening to her favorite stories-I'll See you in the Morning and Guess How Much I Love You.
With the latest weigh in, Quinn is nearly 11 pounds-hardly able to be considered preemie anymore! She is more alert and smiling, noticing her toys and her parents a lot more!
I'm sure she won't be spoiled at all over the holidays-we'll be sure to update you with more pics after Santa visits!

DO I HEAR JINGLE BELLS ALREADY???

Mom, seriously, it's not Christmas yet!!!

Quinn had her pictures taken with Santa...I just couldn't resist this adorable little holiday outfit! And, oh yes, we made Soph suffer thru the photo shoot as well-

Had a great visit over Thanksgiving with my mom, Kim & Connor in town-it was SO nice for Grammie to finally see Quinn without the cords from the NICU!
Quinn was showered with love from her Auntie Kim and big cousin Connor and got a nice visit with Auntie Beth too...check out the smile!
Introduced Quinn to the Macy's Day parade on Thanksgiving morning-a must in our household-then headed to Hampton for a fabulous Turkey Daywith the crew. Ate too much, of course, but somehow Quinn didn't suffer from the turkey coma afterwards...she is still up like clockwork throughout the night-when does this part end????
Yup, we were 'those people' the day after Thanksgiving out in search of the perfect tree...a drive to the Pungo tree farm only to find leeland cypress to cut...who doesn't have a Balsom or Douglas Fir? At least captured the moment and enjoyed a walk thru the 'forest' before driving to the good 'ol Navy Exchange for our Christmas tree.
So, yes, it's up with lights, but that is about as far as we've gotten-more pics once it is complete~

A quick shot of the 4 generations before saying good-bye to the crew-it was wonderful to have so much family around!!! Cannot wait to see the rest of family in NY and then VT over the holidays..they'll be here very soon-Quinn and I really need to start our shopping!

8 Weeks and Over 8 pounds!

Can it be possible that Quinn is 8 weeks old already? Getting to be quite a little chub, she is over 8 pounds now! She had her first round of vaccinations last week... broke my heart to see real tears well up in her eyes when they gave her 5 shots in her chubby little thighs! Poor thing! She certainly is changing quite a bit and we continue to check more milestones off the list...
She smiled back at me the other night, and not just the closed eyes, I have gas smile, but the REAL, 'oh, there is my mommy giving me kisses, now I'll smile'-so sweet! And last night her gaze was fixed on Brent and her eyes followed his finger side to side, really tracking it...and they said preemie development was slower-she'll prove 'them' wrong!


Soph continues to be very interested in this new little person around our house...she stays close to Quinn at all times, and, yes, our bed gets a little crowded!

Quinn also chilled with the boys over the weekend, catching the close Navy v. Notre Dame football game while I ventured to Nordstom with the ladies-big milestone leaving her!
And you may be asking yourself by the looks of these sleepy pictures, wow, is she sleeping thru the night now? Well, no, this little lady is still dying to eat every 2 hours...I think last night I had a 3 hour stint-finally!

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Mom, Kim & Connor for the Thanksgiving holiday-mom won't recognize Quinn since she hasn't seen her since the NICU...what a difference!

Not to leave out the MOST important new update...our friends John & Caroline welcomed little Mailee Elizabeth on November 12th-Quinn's little West coast pal! We certainly miss J&C very much and wish we were all closer, but can't wait to plan a springtime trip to introduce our girls!!! Congrats you guys! Who knew in Costa Rica that little 'Don Pedro' would turn into 'Donna Pedra' for us both :) I'm super excited to share milestones and stories as we navigate our way thru parenthood with one another! We love you guys!!!

Introducing....QUINN ADISON!

And our little miracle makes 4...yes, Quinn Adison made her debut on September 24th, weighing in at 4lbs. 9.7 ounces, 17 inches long, and arriving at 4:19am, just under 12 hours from her Daddy's arrival back home! Hard to believe she'll turn 6 weeks tomorrow and her actual due date still isn't until Saturday...what an amazing journey these last few weeks have been!

So, yes, slightly unexpected, I went into preterm labor on Sept. 20th, ironically the day of my baby shower! I drove myself to the hospital Saturday morning after dropping the infamous 'plug' (I'll spare the dirty details) - informing the staff upon arrival that I didn't want to spend all day being monitored because my baby shower was that afternoon...HA! I had no real pain, but was having pretty steady contractions at this point and it was enough to give me quite a scare! After a few bags of IV fluids and some monitoring, the doctor released me and encouraged me to lay low for a few days...

My friend Susanne picked me up after scolding me for not calling her to take me in and we headed back home for a low key get together with a few friends and some takeout...
My mom was already en-route from Vermont at this point! Later that evening, I was beginning to feel the contractions more...at least now I knew what to look for, and I was headed back to the hospital by 6pm only to be admitted and monitored!
Thankfully my mom was with me throughout the entire dramatic weekend, when the little princess gave us a few scares! Meanwhile, I had just assured poor Brent that morning that I was fine and would simply lay low on bed rest for a few days...holding out for his homecoming on Oct. 8th, only for him to receive the news that I had been admitted to the hospital and he needed to get home ASAP!

Fortunately the docs were able to give me just enough drugs to hold off labor and administer the necessary steroid shots for Quinn's lung development. Once the last dose was given Monday, I thought we were in the clear, however, Quinn had other plans for us...by the time Brent landed in Norfolk, calling on his way from the airport, my mom informed him that she was timing contractions again! He literally walked in the door and I was in LABOR-WELCOME HOME, BABE!

Less than 12 hours from Brent's homecoming, he was cutting the cord as we welcomed our precious little girl into this world!

The last few weeks we've experienced every emotion...overwhelming joy of staring at this little angel that is ours, anxiety over having her spend 13 days in the NICU, elation on the day we were able to bring her home, and sheer amazement as she continues to grow and change daily right before our eyes...we are in constant awe of little Miss Quinn!



Soph adjusted very quickly and also loves to check her out and give her lots of licks!

As you can imagine, there have been lots of milestones within these first few weeks-bath time, 1st time in her swing, 1st Halloween, 1st road trip to the Outer Banks!



I promise to keep the pictures coming and the updates more current...trust me when I say it took 6 weeks to get settled into motherhood, but I wouldn't change a thing! We are so blessed and fortunate to have such a little sweetheart-I can't wait to introduce her to the world!!!

31 weeks-how can my belly get any bigger???

Within the 9 week window (YIKES!) and my belly is certainly stretching to capacity! It's getting harder to hoist this body outta bed every morning for sure! I have a massage this weekend to pamper myself-cannot wait for Saturday afternoon to arrive!

Had a great visit over Labor Day with Brooke, Scott & Nancy-so nice to have company in the house! Also got to visit Beth & Harry in Hampton to close out a nice holiday weekend!






Soph is really craving attention these days and certainly misses her runs with Brent! It's getting so bad she's even hitting the bottle...beer that is-Uncle John introduced her to one of his fancy brews! :)

No other excitement on this end...just anticipating the big FLY IN on October 8th-only 28 days to go!!!
Spent a rainy afternoon washing Baby J's little clothes...they are just so tiny I can hardly wait to get little toes into those footed onsies!

Oh - how could I almost forget the most wonderful news to share...Marisa is another Mommy-in-the-making!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! Can't wait for you to find out what you're having soon-I hope you're starting to feel better and kick the terrible morning sickness!!!

Well-that's about it for now-back to work-look at my lazy, spoiled girl lounging behind me...what a life Soph has!

30 Weeks, Top Gun, and a little over one month to go!

Okay, so probably the most important news on the Jaquith homefront was Brent's selection to the Top Gun course in Fallon, NV scheduled to begin in January!!!! He was thrilled to receive news that he was chosen to attend the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program-an intense 6-week course where he'll learn the latest and greatest fighter weapons tactics stuff-whatever that means?? Regardless, he'll hit the course and then received orders to remain in VA Beach (whew!) at the 106 training command where he'll be the TopGun instructor guy! We are SO relieved not to be dealing with a move at the first of the year with a new baby in tow! Way to go, Babe! Standby Christen, I'm hoping to fly out with the baby early in March when he finishes up-can't wait to see you soon!

With Labor Day weekend here...only 5 more weekends to go until the BIG HOMECOMING! Thank GOD! As I continue to tip the scales at 30 weeks...I'm ready to have my garbage man, dog walker and yard boy back around :) to help me out!

Baby J's nursery is slowly coming together...the glider has arrived! I have a sneaky suspicion this is going to be my new throne very soon!



Soph isn't too sure what to think of all the baby gear moving in...

Since VT she's had a sore on her ankle that she just can't leave alone...sadly she's had to wear the lampshade to prevent her from licking at it...poor little girl! As you can see, she hates having it on-puts herself in her crate and pouts :( I feel so bad!

Brooke is driving down from Philly today to spend the long weekend with me-can't wait for company! Hope the hurricane rains hold out for us to enjoy the beach! More to come....

Entering the Final Phase....

As I approach the start of Trimester 3 and begin the official countdown towards Brent's homecoming-just 2 months to go-I'm feeling bigger everyday!

Had a great visit to VT last week-Grammie, Sophie and I made the 13 hour venture North... SO worth it to spend time with family and escape the Beach heat! Really enjoyed spending time with the Vest kiddos-I so wish we were all closer! Lucas was most impressed with the belly bump and had lots of whispered messages to the baby-even sang a lullaby to Baby J one evening-so cute!

Missi and my mom hosted a beautiful baby shower with local friends and family, and Grace topped the cake with her artistic abilities-check out the baby buggy she made:



Was SO happy that Cheri and her mom made it over for the shower from Albany-Cheri had to try out the 'necklace test' to see just what we're having...HUGE CIRCLE indicated a GIRL! We'll see how accurate her findings are in November! Another great surprise was a perfect gift from Deb-Brent's fellow Cabbage Patch friend, Patrick, made his debut at the shower! Wait until Brent finds him waiting in the cradle for him when he returns home-too funny!

After just celebrating her 1st birthday, Lily continued to shock and amaze us with her independent attitude and love of trying new foods-such a Zawistoski girl, and isn't the 3rd child always most advanced :) Although she is still trying to find her words, this little lady gets her point across with some shrieks-such a little cutie!

As our visit in VT sadly came to an end, Grammie, Soph and I made a stopover in Scranton, PA to visit with Aunt Anne (Grammie's sister) and reacquaint with relatives-such a nice visit!
We also met up with Caroline in N. VA-who is about a week behind me expecting little Mailee. We know this little Hilburn will be the best dressed baby in Anacortes, as she had a suitcase full of pink outfits to take home and show off to daddy! SO great to catch up with her and compare the belly progress :) You, of course, look amazing, Caroline!

So, as the final phase moves into full swing, I await the next weigh in (August 20th complete with glucose testing) and start my list of to-do's for when Brent gets back-our month of October will be packed with hospital tour, birthing class, etc....let's hope this little one doesn't come early!