Christmas in South Bend

We spent the weekend enjoying family and lots of beautiful white snow in the South Bend area. It was as close to a Christmas card weekend as I think it could have been. I have lots of pictures but will just post these few tonight.

Throwing snowballs at Papa Bruce

Being pulled around in a sled by Daddy

Standing next to the snowman Daddy and Papa Bruce made

More Birthday Pics

Just like last year, Andy was able to take the day off to spend with Quinn and me for Quinn's birthday. We are trying to make sure his birthday feels special, not just another day lumped into Christmas festivities. Also like last year, we went to the Children's Museum. I was happy because since it was the last day of school, there were no field trips there (at least that we saw)! When we went a few weeks ago, the place was exploding with field trips, and while I am a former teacher and do appreciate the exuberance of children having learning experiences outside of school, it is a bit stressful when I'm also worried they are going to stampede over my child! :) So, this day was great. The employees saw Quinn's birthday button and directed us to a place to get birthday crown for him, which he proudly wore everywhere. We had a lot of fun!

All last winter, when we came to the museum almost weekly, the dinosaur exhibit was a bit too dark and scary for Quinn. Now, he loves it. Isn't this a cool picture with Andy? The sky changes color, so I waited for the sunset sky to add extra drama to the pic. :)
He found a dinosaur costume area and immediately put it on, then wandered all over the exhibit. It was so cute to see my little dino with all the big ones!

After sliding down the Yule Slide, which is the big staircase they convert to a slide this time of year, I had Quinn pose in front of the Christmas display. I received some comments about how well Quinn smiles and poses for pictures. He really is my little model and is more than willing to do whatever I ask of him. I think there are 2 reasons for that--1. he's had a camera in his face for all of his short life and 2. I almost always give him a "special treat" for modeling for me. So, that's my secret! Also, I have to say that while I did comment on my last post about how Quinn never has meltdowns, that certainly does not mean we don't struggle with many other age-appropriate issues, such as listening and obeying, sharing, and using our hands kindly! I just wanted to set that record straight. ;)

Three Is a Magic Number . . . and Age!

Today my baby boy turns 3! As every parent says at every birthday, I can't believe he's this age already. Last year flew by. While his growth is not as dramatic as the first 2 years, still there are some big changes. Compared to last year, he is no longer in diapers, carries on incredibly in-depth conversations, is much leaner and taller, and is in general more independent and strong. He still is such a sweet, sweet boy who most definitely was not terrible in his 2's. While I'm sure some not-so-terrific times in the 3's will come, Andy and I remarked today, as we observed at least 4 meltdowns by similarly aged boys at the Children's Museum, how blessed we feel that we've made it 3 years with exactly 0 meltdowns, public or private. (And did I really just type that? Because I've surely now jinxed myself!(: ). Quinn is everything I could have ever dreamed for in a child and more. We are overwhelmed with the blessing God gave us in him!

I will post pictures from today later, but here are a few pictures from our Mickey-themed party on Sunday. Quinn is so blessed to have family members willing to drive hours to be at his party at this very busy time of year. We had a blast!

Quinn with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dennis. Each year, we've had different party hats, and it's become a tradition to take a group picture with the hats on.

Photo Session

My sister Carolyn's best friend Kari came to visit for a weekend. She is an aspiring photographer looking to start her own business, and she graciously agreed to take some pictures of Quinn and me. It was a gorgeous day, and I loved how the pictures turned out. If you're looking for a photographer in the central Illinois area, let me know and I'll give you her contact info!

Getting Caught Up . . .

Well, November went by in a blur! I'm going to quickly post a bunch of pictures tonight in hopes of being more timely for the rest of the month, since I'll have birthday and Christmas pictures later.
In November, we had our annual visit from Uncle Johnny. He and Quinn has SOOOO much fun playing together. We can't wait to see him again soon, since next time will be his wedding in just a few months!

Aunt Amy came to visit for a few hours too!

Uncle Johnny got some temporary tattoos for Quinn so Q's arms could match his.

The next week, Uncle Steve, Aunt Amy, and Roscoe came to visit too.

What Brown Can Do for Q

This year for Halloween, Quinn was a UPS man. I saw the costume at a local party store and knew it would be perfect for him, since his great-grandpa worked for UPS for 35 years, and his great-uncle has worked there for 20+ as well. We are definitely a UPS-loving family, and Quinn has been able to identify a UPS truck since he could talk. So, I knew it was great for us to enjoy, but I wasn't prepared for the huge response we got when we went trick-or-treating. Everyone LOVED it!! He was quite a hit.
Quinn was much more into trick-or-treating this year, but he still was confused about how it worked the way it did: why was it okay to suddenly ring everyone's doorbell in the neighborhood, and why was candy given as a reward for doing so? Then it got really confusing when we saw someone out in a Santa costume! I think his little brain, which has been trying for weeks now to figure out why there are simultaneously Halloween and Christmas decorations in many stores, just chalked it up to a strange but wonderfully sugar-filled night. :)

My little ham!

Quinn and his cousins

Quinn and Will, his trick-or-treat buddy. It was their third Halloween together already!

Pumpkin Carving

Today we finally carved pumpkins. Quinn's been asking to do this since before we even purchased pumpkins because he found the carving tools I got last year on clearance. They are tools, and Q loves tools, therefore he was very anxious to use them. :) Of course, he did very little to actually carve, and both Andy and I rediscovered that carving pumpkins really isn't that much fun, especially when it's quite chilly outside, but Quinn was so happy, and that's all that matters. ;)

The finished products! (I carved the little one; Andy carved the big one.)

Two pumpkins and a PumpQuinn, making his "silly pumpkin" face

A Quinn's Eye View

Lately Quinn has been interested in taking pictures with the small digital camera I got for my birthday. He quickly learned how to do the basic procedures to make it work, including what button to press to view the picture just taken. My mom mentioned how it's neat to see the world from his perspective by looking at the pictures he takes, and I hadn't thought of that! I'm glad she said that before I simply erased them. Here are a few fun ones.

I love how in the above pic you can see he's sitting on the ground, his little shoes peeking out.

Pumpkin Pics and More

I don't have too much to write, but I do have some pictures to post. This hasn't been the nicest October in recent history, and it's certainly not been the unusually, beautifully warm October of the last two years, but we've still been out and about to local pumpkin farms. I love the colors, so I've tried to get some good pictures, but it's just been super cold on the weekends! We've also gone to the park when we can, played Wii bowling quite a bit (Quinn beats me almost every time!!), and have gotten reacquainted with toys that weren't played with much over the summer. I get quite anxious this time of year as I think about being trapped indoors for the winter, but I think we'll be able to find things to stay occupied.

Aunt Carolyn and Quinn

Cuddling while watching the Handy Manny movie on the Disney Channel


Three shots of the ol' classic, "Sitting on Pumpkins" :)