End-of-November Post

Anyone who knows me knows I don't usually deal well with change, the realization of time passing quickly, or cold and dark weather. Lately, I've been experiencing all three, but it's actually been okay! The changes come from Quinn doing something different every single day, which leads to me realizing that his first year is almost over and I can't believe it was a year ago that our lives were so dramatically blessed by his arrival! Now, the weather is not really enjoyable, and I miss our daily walks as much as I knew I would, but I'm learning that with the gross weather comes excuses to just sit and enjoy time playing with toys and reading books without feeling like we should be outside, so I guess that's positive.
All of that being said, we haven't been doing much, and I haven't taken any (gasp!) pictures this week, which may be a first since Quinn was born (and, realizing this, will be corrected tomorrow!), so these pics are from last week.
I desperately don't want to be one of those moms who "updates" about her child but is really bragging (I just read an admonishing article about this in a parents magazine today!), so I'll refrain from listing all the new stuff Quinn does. I will, however, mention that he started saying Mommy today, which was beyond exciting, and is also quite the dancer whenever he hears any rhythm or song, bopping his head and "snapping" his fingers. I guess he's imitating what I do to music, which in that case means I better not plan on dancing in public anytime soon. ( :
We are loving life and loving our little boy!!

The quizzical look on Quinn's face is due to the fact that he was in the middle of eating turkey, and I took it out of his hand and took his bib off to take this picture!

So happy to eat Thanksgiving meal! My little piggy enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, cranberry salad, and corn casserole. We forgot to have him try my mom's pumpkin pie (maybe because it's so good we didn't want to share!). We celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents and sister at our house.
Here Quinn matches his Poppa in wearing red striped shirts at the bowling alley.

Quinn enjoying a Baby Einstein dvd one of the mornings

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so many things to be thankful for. I would never be able to list the many blessings God has given us. Thank you to all of you wonderful family members and friends who surround us in love. We love you too and wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings!

Here is my little man in his Thanksgiving suit. Grandma Mary and Aunt Amy bought it for him months ago, and it just now fits. I didn't make him wear it for the dinner, but he looked soooo stinking cute we had to take several pictures. My dad caught these cute ones.

Will's Birthday

I can't believe Quinn is 11 months old already! It's crazy how fast this year has gone by. And since Quinn is 11 months, that means his best friend Will, who is exactly one month older, is now one year old!

We had a great time at his Colts birthday party on Sunday. It's going to be so fun to continue watching these little guys grow from crawling around to walking, running, talking, and playing together a year from now. And I feel very blessed to have Will's mommy Nan as my close friend to share all the adventures of raising our sons.

First Word!!

The most exciting thing that happened is Quinn definitely said his first word this week. For the last 2 or 3 weeks, we knew he was saying "gee" for doggy, but on Friday, he started consistently adding the "duh" part to the beginning of the word. He says it a lot now! I caught it on video, though he can actually say it even more clearly than he does here. Enjoy!

Food Firsts

It took about a week after having the flu, but Quinn is back to eating all table food again. It's keeping me on my toes making recipes that I think he'll enjoy too. This week, he had chicken stew, green bean and chicken casserole, spaghetti, and pancakes as some of his new foods. We loved watching him figure out how to shove the spaghetti noodles in his mouth. These pictures are after eating spaghetti and blueberry pancakes (not all in the same meal, of course).

Bath Time Fun

I caught some cute bathtime moments this week. After the mess Quinn makes eating dinner, it's great to have him all clean and smelling good for bedtime. : )

Thumbs are wonderful!
Sleepy boy with the gorgeous blue eyes!

Playing in the bathtub is so much fun!!

Back to Health Again

I haven't posted for a little while because our family was hit by the stomach flu last weekend, so there really wasn't much to take pictures of! It was our first family illness (not a milestone I'd been looking forward to, but an inevitable one, I know) and we survived. At first, Andy and I thought we were going to make it through with only one of us sick at a time, but all three of us were sickies one of the days. Quinn stayed in great spirits, though, and played pretty independently, allowing Andy and I to just veg on the couch and watch him.
So, here are just a few pictures from the last week in order to update my posts from the Halloween one. We got a new camera--a Canon Rebel XT--so I'm just learning how to use it to take better pictures than the old one took. I am so happy to have a new camera because as quickly as Quinn moves--and I know he'll just be getting faster and faster--my old camera couldn't ever catch the action.

The Kuhn boys came over to play one day. Look how cute they are all lined up!

Bath-time cutie!
Quinn got to see one of the only girls he knows (outside of his cousins)--adorable Clare Essenburg. Here they race to the top of the stairs.
At least someone in a Notre Dame jersey is doing something worth smiling about!