Albert Family

We're Back!

2011-05-14T12:13:00.003-05:00

We're still here! I'm sorry it's been a looooong time since I last posted, and I really appreciate the emails and verbal comments from people who have missed us! My lack of posting was a combination of a few things--1. It was a very snowy, cold, boring winter, and there wasn't much to take pictures of 2. We got a mac computer and it took us a very long time to transfer everything, including pictures, over to it and 3. Once I got out of the habit of blogging, I kept forgetting to do it! So, here are a few pics to catch up from the winter, and then I'll post more pictures from our recent trip to Florida.

Quinn started reading this winter, sounding out words on his own and being able to read some simple sentences. It has been so much fun!! We don't work on it much because I don't want him to burn out, but we point out words here and there. Here, he's listening to a book on cd.
This winter, Quinn was into only 2 things: Transformers and what I'll introduce below. Once the weather warmed up some, we got him a big boy bike which had Optimus Prime on it. Transformers have been a whole new world for me. I knew absolutely nothing about them, but my little resident expert has taught me a lot, and now I can talk Autobots and Decepticons with the best of them! :) I bought some DVD's of the 1984 and 1985 cartoons because he prefers those to the more recent incarnations.
Quinn's other love is Playmobil figures, another blast from the past. They haven't really changed at all since we were kids! We got him this 4-foot-tall castle on a whim for Christmas because it was an incredible midnight-madness sale at Toys R Us. (Andy, the best daddy ever, didn't get home until 1:15 A.M. that night!!) It has turned out to be the best purchase we've ever made. This winter, Quinn literally spent hours playing with his knights and pirates, setting up battles, switching out their weapons, etc. I joke that they are like Barbies for boys because my contributions to his play are to make sure all their shields, weapons, capes, etc. are coordinated and all knights are accessorized well for battle, since everything is switchable. :)
(and yes, that is a Transformer band-aid on his cheek!)
And finally, Quinn shoveling snow in his Optimus Prime mask. I feel like this is all we did, all winter long--play in or shovel snow. I'm soooo happy it's now spring!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T10:49:00.000-05:00

We are so grateful for the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the best gift of all.
Love, the Alberts :)

Happy 4th Birthday!

2010-12-18T16:26:00.000-05:00

I don't have time to blog much, but I did want to get a few pics posted from Quinn's birthday party last week. Of course, it is impossible to believe that my baby boy is 4 years old. Strangers have been guessing he is 4 or even 5 years old for awhile now due to how tall he is, but it will take me awhile to adjust to the new number. We had his family birthday party last Sunday, and it was a very fun day. It was snowing hard, but everyone made it to and from our party safely.

This year, Quinn wanted a knight birthday. In keeping with the 4-year tradition, I bought themed hats for everyone to wear in the group picture, so we are all wearing crowns for the royal theme, while Quinn wears his "Armor of God".

I decided to make his cake for the first time this year, and while it wasn't professional, I thought it turned our really well. My sister Carolyn spent over 2 hours with me on Saturday figuring out how to assemble it and decorate it. I compiled several pictures I found on the internet to achieve the castle look.

I love this one of Quinn blowing out the candle.

I appreciate more than ever what a miracle Quinn is. God has blessed us with a little guy that is pure joy and sunshine. He is just so sweet, kind, loving, fun, and smart. If I had made a list of everything I dreamed I'd have in a child, I still couldn't have imagined such a blessing of a child.

We've Got the Beat

2010-11-28T15:09:00.000-05:00

Andy has a few vacation days that must be used before the end of the year, so we took a spontaneous trip downtown last week. We weren't sure what we were going to do because some of our usual places, like the Children's Museum, are closed on Mondays. Luckily, while doing a little online searching, I stumbled across the Rhythm! Discovery Center. I think it's a little known gem, and if you are local, you really should check it out! It was a dream come true for Quinn--tons and tons of percussion instruments, mostly all available to play to his little heart's content. And I can't lie--Andy and I had a blast too. The above picture is one of the first things you see as you enter the museum, and it sets the tone for a great time. How irrestible is that huge drum?!

Next, check out these super huge windchimes!

There are 2 soundproof rooms where you can sit and bang away on snare drums, bongos, xylophones, cymbals, cow bells (my personal favorites), etc. I've always wanted to try the huge cymbals!

This drum set was obviously Quinn's favorite. He played and played and played. You can also record yourself in the rooms to hear back what you play. So fun!!

Of course, our visit was made even more great because we had the entire place to ourselves until the end, when one other parent came in with one child. There are online coupons, and kids under 5 are free with a paying adult. If you are in the area, check it out! :)

Summer Photography Session

2010-11-03T20:46:00.002-05:00

Since I'm so behind in posting, I thought I'd post some of my favorites from a photography session we did in early August. A friend of ours has recently started a photography business, so we jumped at the chance of having some professional pics taken outdoors. Unfortunately, it was roasting hot that night. Even at 7 p.m., it was 93 degrees! Still, we were very happy with the results. I loved how Quinn's spirit was really captured. That's what I wanted to record from this stage of life--his smile, his running everywhere, our little close-knit family, etc.

If you're local and are interested in our friend's business, check out http://www.joetography.us/blog/.

2010-11-03T20:44:00.001-05:00

2010-11-03T20:40:00.001-05:00

2010-11-03T20:38:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:38:00.000-05:00

I really am motivated to keep this blog more updated, so instead of waiting to post pics in chronological order, I'll post the ones from today and then post later with pics from earlier in the month.

Quinn was obviously a firefighter this year. I was so thankful that he chose this one from our collection because it was nice and warm for trick or treating on a chilly night. Earlier this month, I was a bit worried that it would be too warm of a costume, since so many days this month were above-normal temps. Tonight was very seasonal!

Right before we left to get pictures at my sister's house, Quinn came up with the idea of Andy being the fire truck. Andy was already wearing a red fleece, so he grabbed one of Quinn's red fireman hats also. We've had this pop-open fire truck for a long time and never even considered how it was the perfect accessory to Q's costume until Quinn mentioned it! :)

Quinn's cousins were Princess Daisy and Princess Peach from Mario Brothers. They looked gorgeous!

It's a little hard to see, but Oliver wore a pumpkin costume. Needless to say, he didn't like it very much.

We're Back!

2010-10-26T15:44:00.000-05:00

After a several month break from blogging, mostly due to the fact that life has gotten very busy and our computer has become very slow, leaving me limited time to upload pics, I am hoping to get caught up soon! Thank you so much to the people who have noticed my absence! Here are some recent fall pics. I'll post more soon! :)

Our Family

2010-08-03T15:59:00.000-05:00

I've meant to post this ever since Quinn drew it a few months ago. I think I will love this drawing for my entire life. This is our family. The orange guy with the "crazy hair" is Daddy. The red person is me, as shown by the eyelashes. I am holding some jello. :) The light blue one is Oliver, though Quinn was disappointed that it looked a little like a mouse when he was finished (I told him that was okay, however, because Oliver really isn't much bigger than a mouse!) The dark blue guy is Quinn, because blue is his favorite color. I adore Quinn's drawings. I remember thinking a year or two ago how fun it would be once he could draw people, and it really is great!

AHHHHH, summer

2010-07-25T22:38:00.000-05:00

Andy playing with Quinn in the pool this evening

Fabulous 4th of July!

2010-07-05T17:11:00.003-05:00

So far this summer, we haven't had lazy, hazy days, but we have had crazy-fun days! For the 4th of July weekend, we went up to the South Bend area to enjoy a very traditionally hot and sunny summer weekend. We haven't had a 4th like this for years, so it was great. We went out on the boat with Papa Bruce, Aunt Amy, and cousin Kamryn, and the next day we visited Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dennis and Gigi and went to the county fair. Then we watched fireworks, with Quinn sitting out the sunroof of our vehicle to try to avoid getting chewed up by mosquitoes. I really loved the pictures I got of him enjoying the fireworks against the night sky.

Grandma Mary and Quinn on the Dizzy Dragon

Andy and I loved being back in Culver! We used to go there every summer when we were dating.

Quinn and Andy waving from the very top of the Ferris Wheel

Enjoying the fireworks

On the tube with Papa Bruce

Being silly wearing fun glasses with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dennis at Grandma's store

Visiting the Thumb

2010-07-05T08:21:00.001-05:00

We have done SO MUCH in the last month that it would take me forever to update everything completely, but I'll post a few pics while I have a couple minutes. We were invited up to the "thumb" of Michigan for a long weekend at my sister's boyfriend's family's lake house on Lake Huron. We had a fantastic time! Quinn is so very easy to travel with these days, and he loves the adventure in exploring new places. With the beach just yards in front of our house, he was fully satistfied.

Quite a ways off shore was a sand bar. Andy and Quinn could walk out there and wrestle, play, etc.

Carolyn, Mike, Andy, and Quinn enjoyed "The Big Slide" in the nearby town of Caseville.

I can't get enough of sunsets over water.

June Is Bustin' Out All Over!

2010-06-16T21:12:00.002-05:00

We have had a GREAT and very busy summer so far. We've already been to 3 different festivals, to the pool many times, to the spray park, and on countless play dates. Somehow, every year I forget just how great summer is until we are in this mode of "funness". :) This summer especially we are footloose and fancy free--no diapers, no strollers, flexible naps, boundless energy (Quinn, not necessarily me!)--and ready each day for adventure. I love my little guy!

Last weekend we went to PBS Kids Day downtown. Andy and I commented afterwards how blessed we feel to live here. We are so close to so many amazing resources, and we have our pick every weekend of tons of different activities. This was our first PBS Kids Day, and though it was SUPER hot and humid, we loved it. We only waited in line to see one character, Dog from WordWorld, but we still walked by many others. And the real Gordon from Sesame Street was there too! Andy and I grew up watching him!

If your kids watch PBS in the mornings, you might know Steve from Steve Songs (the filler show in between other longer shows). We caught his concert right at the end of our time there, and it was a blast. He then took the time to sing Quinn a song Q requested. Quinn was in awe. It was adorable!

Balloon Ride

2010-05-31T19:14:00.001-05:00

For some reason, Conner Prairie sent us free tickets to ride their helium balloon. I don't know if they were trying to entice us to renew our membership, which we were going to do anyway, but we were so excited because we've wanted to ride it since it opened last year. Friday was a gorgeous day, and Andy took the day off to enjoy it with us. The balloon goes about 350 feet in the air, and we were able to see the hazy outline of downtown's skyline on the horizon. It was so neat to survey the towns around us from that height, and I really wish we could have stayed up longer than the allotted 5 minutes!

Preschool Rocks!

2010-05-14T15:09:00.004-05:00

Quinn's last day of school was this week. The kids sang several songs, and it was, of course, adorable. I can't believe his first year of school is over! We had such a great experience.

Singing "My God Is So Big"

Singing "If You're Happy and You Know It"

Choosing Joy

2010-05-12T18:09:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged for awhile. Life has gotten a bit in the way. Last week we lost our third pregnancy, and the last 3 weeks were consumed by it all. This time, we had a molar pregnancy, an uncommon occurrence and something that appears to be completely unrelated to our previous losses. Without giving a biology lesson on what a molar pregnancy is, it does not allow us to try to get pregnant again for many months, and it creates the possibility of issues with a very treatable cancer. God apparently wants us to take a break from all the fertility stuff and focus on the blessings we have. It is not easy to defer my dreams, but I fully realize that His ways are not our ways and hold the promise of a much better way of life if we submit to Him. We are beyond thankful for all the prayers and support we've received through this time!

So my motto for now is Choose Joy. It is easy to default to feeling sorry for myself or feeling consumed by fear and worry. It takes discipline to choose to find joy in every day and allow God to take control of all the other stuff. Thankfully, I have a 3-year-old bundle of joy in my home (and an equally joyful husband!) who provides millions of opportunities every day to smile, give love, and feel blessed.

These pics are from Easter. Quinn has wanted a real baseball helmet for a long time, so this helmet was his Easter gift.

Checking out other Easter goodies

Looking for eggs

Florida Fun

2010-04-04T20:50:00.004-05:00

Playing on the beach

This picture is SO Quinn!! Always singing, talking, or laughing!!

The lovely couple

I actually got some cute pictures with my little guy this trip! Usually I'm the one taking all the pictures, so I'm not in them! :)

Quinn adores his Uncle Johnny!

I love this beautiful picture of the bride and groom. It shows what a lovely day and night it was.

Johnny and Nikki's Wedding

2010-04-04T20:44:00.002-05:00

We spent the last 2 weeks of March in Florida for Andy's brother Johnny's wedding to Nikki. Andy was the best man, I was a bridesmaid, and Quinn was the "ring bear", as he called it. The day of the wedding couldn't have been more beautiful, both in weather and setting. We stayed more than a week after the wedding to enjoy time with all the family who was down in Florida for the wedding and were able to spend lots of time at the beach and in the pool. It was an incredible trip, full of memory-making moments. I have million, trillion pictures, but I'll just post some now and possibly more later. :)

Quinn and Haven, the flower girl, Nikki's niece. Quinn informed me that Haven is now his wife, since they walked down the aisle together. :)

Aren't they so adorable?!

This picture was not staged! The two saw their aunt and uncle out on the dance floor and decided to join them. So precious!

Snow, snow, snow

2010-02-23T19:49:00.004-05:00

So sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. I actually figured not many were even checking this anymore, but then Andy said some people just commented this week (Hi, readers!:) ) so I will finally post. If I could only figure out how to post more than 4 pics at a time from Picasa, I really would stay up-to-date easier!

January was a very fun month, which is not something I often say about January. We've had a pleasantly snowy winter, one that is beautifully white but doesn't annoyingly trap us at home. I have fallen in love with winter this year, largely due to the lovely snow, the fact that I finally bought snow pants and I'm not cold and wet when we're in the snow, and because my darling 3 year old is a super playmate!! February has continued to be as enjoyable. We've settled into a great routine of visiting the Children's Museum weekly, playing outside in the snow, going to preschool and church group, and having various playdates. Spring doesn't seem too far away now!

I do love taking snow pictures, so forgive me for how many I post!

Christmas Morning

2010-01-10T19:51:00.002-05:00

We have hit January full speed ahead, so I'm going to get caught up on Christmas pictures before time gets away from me! This past week was a great week. Quinn started gymnastic class, we went sledding, and he and I took a fantastically fun class at Conner Prairie. It was freezing cold this week, but we aren't getting stir crazy yet. We have too many fun toys to play with inside and too many fun places and things to do around here! The only thing that can slow us down in snowy weather, but I think we're in the clear for at least a little while.

The above picture is Q's Christmas morning pic. Notice the bedhead?! I fight it every morning. Only a full soaking will get it down, but with the dry air and hats on and off all the time, it is really a losing battle. :)

Quinn and Poppa had matching jammies again this Christmas morning.

Q got this adorable Captain America costume from Aunt Emily and Uncle Justin. He gets super excited about the built-in muscles!
Gator Golf was the only present Quinn talked about getting for Christmas. He was SO excited to get it from Aunt Carolyn! His big present from us was a lot containing many sets of Geo Trax that I purchased from craigslist. We have had sooooo much fun as a family playing with it all, building different configurations and playing with the remote control trains.

Our traditional family pic on Christmas morning

Andy and Quinn checking out another present. We open presents Christmas morning at my sister's house, which is about 5 minutes away from our house.
And I had to include this pic because it cracks me up! My mom got a new lens for Christmas that takes "fish bowl" pictures. We had a great time goofing around with it, and Quinn loved posing for the silly pictures. :)

More South Bend Christmas Pics

2010-01-10T19:45:00.000-05:00

I love this picture of Aunt Amy, Uncle Steve, and Quinn

Quinn with Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Mary

Quinn loved spending time with his second cousins, Ethan, Emily, and baby Elyssa. He hadn't seen them since right after Emily was born, almost 2 years ago! Quinn loves older boys, and Ethan was such a sweet boy, so patient with Quinn.

Quinn also soaked up every second he got with his other second cousins, Kamryn, Austin, and Adalyn.

Christmas in South Bend

2009-12-21T23:46:00.000-05:00

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

2009-12-21T23:27:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-12-18T16:26:00.000-05:00

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

2009-12-13T20:49:00.002-05:00

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 . . .

2009-12-13T20:45:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-01T21:23:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-24T18:18:00.003-05:00

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

2009-10-24T18:03:00.000-05:00

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

2009-10-23T13:40:00.006-05:00

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" :)

Treasure Hunting

2009-09-26T12:41:00.000-05:00

Quinn loves dressing up like a pirate, so every few days, we do a treasure hunt. He gets his pirate hat, eye patch, sword, and even his big gold coin, and I draw a treasure map and hide a piece of candy somewhere. He takes it very seriously, and we look at all the places on the map until we find the treasure. I always mark the spot where the treasure is with an X on the map, but somehow, he still hasn't put it together that that is where we should look first! I'm glad for that, because it's more fun searching all over. I just think he's the cutest little pirate ever. :)

He found the treasure in the mailbox!

We even had a nighttime search!

First Day of School and More

2009-09-09T16:50:00.006-05:00

While I didn't get the best first day of school pictures ever, I did capture a little boy so excited to be going to school that he didn't want to hold still for a picture (top) and a little boy so happy from how much fun he had after school (bottom)! I have debated for the last 6+ months about whether or not to send Quinn to a preschool this year. Having a December birthday is a bit of a dilemma because I felt he was a little too young this year but would almost be a little old if we waited until next year. Finally, Quinn was the one who decided. He told me in many different ways he was ready--wearing his backpack around, telling me he learned things at his (non-existant) school, and my favorite, almost every time we'd drive by a school say, "Mama, that's my school. You need to take me there." So, I found the shortest program available, a 2 year old class that is only 2 hours, once a week. Both Andy and I couldn't stand the thought of sending him somewhere where he'd have to take his lunch! He's still our baby. :) Anyway, he is thrilled about school and loved his first day.

Every year in August, my side of the family poses in the same place, in the same order, in the same chairs in my backyard. Then we do the guys' pic and the girls' pic. Here they are for your enjoyment. :)

I know I've posted Conner Prairie pictures several times already, but I just have to say that it is my favorite place right now. I love taking Quinn there! Every time we go, we have a different experience. Last week when we went, there were hardly any other people there. As a result, we got a lot of individual attention from the interpreters. Sometimes that makes me uncomfortable because I don't really like pretending it's the 1800's when I talk to them :), but this guy actually didn't stay in the historical mode that much, and he had so much fun with Quinn and my niece, Fiona. He showed them around the schoolhouse (which Q loved!) and took Q out to the baseball field and pitched balls to him until he hit one. It was gorgeous day too, so we had the best time.

My mom bought these shirts for Andy and Quinn. I thought they were adorable!

The next picture is Quinn with his wonderful friends, Colin, Issac, and Simon Kuhn.

State Fair

2009-08-23T16:36:00.002-05:00

It's been almost a month since my last post, but it only feels like a few days. After such a chilly July, we've been living up these August summer days, going to the pool as much as possible, doing some traveling, playing at the park, etc. In the last week, Quinn became potty trained, basically training himself and following what I was told by many that when he was ready, it would be easy. It was possibly the easiest thing we've done in a long time, which was a relief because I'd been dreading the process for months. My goal was to have it done by the end of summer, and we definitely met that goal!

Anyway, something we've been looking forward to all summer was state fair. Quinn has remembered it since last summer, and we told him this year we'd ride the train. In our town, we are lucky to have the opportunity to ride an old (but nicely air-conditioned!) train to the fair, catching it at the station only a few minutes from our house. In June, we told Quinn that instead of riding the Thomas train for $18 a person ($18x3=$54), we'd ride the fair train (buy one, get one free + Quinn free=$11!). It is a half an hour ride each way, and Quinn was in heaven. It was adorable to see how excited he was. Each time the train blew its whistle, which happened frequently, he would jump a bit and choo-choo right back. He loved it!

Once at the fair, we explored parts we didn't even go to last year. We actually didn't see many animals this year but instead spent much more time with all the farm machinery.
Every time he's talked about going to the fair, Quinn said he wanted to go on the Ferris wheel. Andy thought Q might be okay riding with us, but my prediction was right--once he saw how big they were, he didn't want any part of them. Still, he loved looking at all the rides.
The one ride he did have a blast on was the big slide. Andy had fun too. :)I love the fair. I can't wait until next year.

Back to Normal

2009-08-23T16:25:00.000-05:00

Quinn and I took a trip to my hometown in Illinois a few weeks ago. Andy had a sales meeting out of town, so we took the opportunity to road trip again. Other than Quinn waking up about 2 hours earlier than usual each morning, he is a great travel companion. He slept 2 out of the 3 hours on the rides there and back and thoroughly enjoyed exploring Grandma and Poppa's house. He loves being in Illinois (and so do I)!

One morning we went to visit Poppa at his office. Quinn has recently learned about meetings and how important they are, as in "you can't interrupt Daddy when he's having a meeting!", so he was very excited to have a meeting with my dad at his office.

And this is the best my mom could capture of a picture of Quinn and me. Even Quinn said, "Why am I making a silly face, Mama?" when he saw the picture. I wondered the same thing, little one!! :)

I finally remembered to get a picture of Quinn and my mom, even though it was immediately before loading him in the car to leave. There are few pictures of us with Quinn because we're always the ones taking the pictures!
We had fun at the zoo and several parks too, but I don't have those pictures to post. It was a wonderful memory-making trip!

A Couple Collages

2009-07-29T12:36:00.000-05:00

Today we went to Touch-A-Truck. Quinn had the perfect shirt to wear, thanks to Grandma Mary. If you click on the collage, you can see the pictures more closely. His shirt has cartoon pictures of just about every truck there is, and most of them were at touch-a-truck, which is an event held in a large parking lot full of different vehicles kids can wait in line to sit in. It was a good day for it, overcast and cool. The lines were very long, but thankfully at the end, so many people had left we could buzz around to the most popular ones without waiting too long. Quinn had a great time.

And the above collage is just of my silly boy having fun in his bubble bath the other night. He is such a joy! I love my sunshine boy.

Backyard Pics

2009-07-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

For awhile now I've been feeling badly that it's been well over a year since I had professional pictures taken of Quinn. The problem is, I knew studio photos probably wouldn't capture who he is right now very well. So today after church, I took Quinn out to our backyard, and with Andy's help to make him smile, I got these pictures. I'm very happy with how they turned out and can now let go of my guilty feelings! :) Oh, and that's a seahorse tattoo on Q's arm. We're rarely without a tattoo somewhere these days. :)

Michigan Trip

2009-07-22T09:57:00.010-05:00

Every summer we get together with our friends, the Hackneys. We trade off who hosts each year--either they come here, or we go to their home in Michigan. We strongly feel like they get the short end of the stick when it's our year to host because they have waaaay more to do where they live! They live less than 10 minutes from Lake Michigan, so we have beaches to play at, lighthouses to see, and boardwalks to walk. Basically, there is plenty to burn off the energy of our 2 year old and their 3 year old, and to me, that's a great place! We had a lot of fun with our friends, and I took many pictures. As I've posted before, I love taking pictures on the beaches, so this post is quite full of them. :)

Here Quinn is lovingly tackling/tagging Drew during a game of duck-duck goose on their trampoline.

Hiding in the dunes

Quinn loved playing the warm sand, since the air temp wasn't actually super warm. He went off by himself to roll around, make sand angels, and just enjoy the beach.

This picture is literally as close together as we could get the boys. They get along really well, but it was nearly impossible to catch them together for a posed picture.

I love this picture. I really thought Quinn would hate how cold the water was, especially since the air temp was only about 77, but I was wrong. He waded all the way out in the water, laughing and shrieking at the waves. I barely put a toe in because it was way too cold for me, but luckily Daddys are more impervious to the cold!

Fascinated by the seagulls

Playing on the playground on the beach. I love the colors in this pic.
We saw a crane AND a tugboat, which was very cool for my machinery-loving little boy.

2009-07-12T18:40:00.002-05:00

Summer is rolling right along! It hasn't been as sunny as I would prefer, and we've been rained out of more than a few planned activities. Still, we're loving our often-barefoot life, going to parks, playing in water, and spending as much time outside as possible.
I have an assortment of pictures to post, so here goes!

The above cousins picture was taken to fill a frame for my dad for Father's Day. We were really pleased with how sweetly they all sat together and smiled.

We made a 24-hour trip up to Papa Bruce's house before the 4th. Quinn loved riding in the go-kart with Daddy (Mama did not really enjoy watching them zoom around!) and exploring the land.

Quinn and Daddy also washed their cars together in Papa Bruce's driveway. Q gets to play with that little red car when he's at Papa Bruce's house, and I thought it was so cute that he wanted to wash it just like Daddy!

Quinn loves his (great) Papa Lou, so it was with much love that he did his Papa Lou impression in the next two pictures. :)
We also were able to take another "4 generations of Albert guys standing by the Albert St. sign" picture, since the other one we took was 2 years ago already.

2009-07-12T18:37:00.002-05:00

This picture just captures my goofy guy. He desperately wanted goggles, so of course as soon as we got home from the store with them, he had to put them on. Then he walked all over the yard exclaiming how blue everything was: "Mama, this mulch is blue! That tree is blue!" So cute and so oblivious to how funny he looked! :)
And here he is a few minutes later, when he decided to complete his ensemble with a swimming vest and get into an empty pool, fully clothed. Why not? :)

I just loved this classic little kid pose.

It was so exciting when my very good friend Kristy came to visit. She and I have been friends since before our freshman year of college, and it meant so much to me to have her finally meet my Quinn. He, of course, loved her and treated her 100% as an aunt of his by the time she left.

1st Fireworks

2009-07-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

Tonight Quinn saw his first fireworks show. He was extra excited because we went downtown last night and were there until 10:15 just to have the show finally postponed due to fog and rain. So, it was a first for Andy and me too because I've never gone to a 5th of July fireworks show before! Q loved the show and wasn't at all afraid of the noise. I loved the comments he made, such as after seeing green fireworks, "Oh, those looked just like jalapenos!". Hmmm. Yes, I guess they did, random boy! :) It was a fun first!!

Daddy and Quinn waiting for the show to start. Quinn was in his jammies so we could put him straight to bed when we got home.

Quinn's Half Birthday

2009-07-02T14:17:00.000-05:00

I grew up with a few birthday concepts that I've found in adulthood not to be very common. One is the idea of a golden birthday, which is the birthday where you turn the age of your birthdate. Mine was when I turned 24 on August 24th. Andy thought I invented the idea, since I strongly encouraged him to give me a golden gift to commemorate it. :) The only people I know who have heard of golden birthdays are from Illinois, so maybe it's just an Illini thing.
The other concept is half birthdays. Half birthdays were very important to me because they allowed me to bring treats into school to celebrate my day, since August 24th was usually the day before school started or the first day of school. Until I graduated from college, my mom gave me cards for my half birthday, and I, as a middle child, always welcomed the added day that brought me a little more attention. :)
Since Quinn is a week-before-Christmas child, I decided before he was even born that we would try to do the half birthday party thing so he could celebrate with friends. I didn't think I'd start it until next year, but I was getting a bit bored a few weeks ago, and since we have no parties on the horizon, I thought I'd throw one for Quinn. We talked it up for days, and all he wanted was balloons, cake, people to sing to him, and a pinata. So basically, it was glorified play date, but it worked out well. Since it rained that morning, we held it at my sister's house and enjoyed their bounce house. The pinata was a graduation hat I got on clearance, since it didn't need to be anything more than something to smash. The kids had a lot of fun, and I do think I'll continue having his party in the summer.

A Day Out with Thomas

2009-06-26T14:47:00.000-05:00

Today we went to a Day Out with Thomas. It was a little bit spontaneous; we just decided a few days ago to go today, beating the weekend crowds. I'm really glad we went on a Friday because while it is a fun event and full of photo ops, it's not worth braving large crowds and steaming hot weather for. It took us a little longer to drive there than we thought it would too, but Quinn had a great time. He loved seeing the "real" Thomas because he has commented before when we see trains that "They don't have faces!". We didn't ride the train, since we've already told Quinn we'd ride the train to the state fair in August, and it's the same idea, just cheaper and without a Thomas face on the front! He didn't mind at all. He got Thomas tattoos, golfed on a mini-course, went to the petting zoo, met Sir Topham Hatt, and really just enjoyed the festive atmosphere. I think Thomas is one of the cutest characters available to kids, so I'm more than happy to support the company. It was a fun family outing!!

(Don't forget you can click on the collage to see the pictures bigger! :) )

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-19T16:01:00.000-05:00

I'm posting now because I won't be able to on Sunday. Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband! Quinn and I are very blessed to have such a fantastic Daddy in our lives. He works so hard to make it possible for me to stay home with my little guy, and that is a gift beyond measure. He is always ready to be goofy and play with Quinn, and I love watching them invent new games together. It is a very cool thing to see the guy I've known and loved since I was 18 be such an awesome father to our child.

I have a million pictures and a million things I could say, but I'll leave it with this collage and a simple I love you, honey! Happy Father's Day.

And Happy Father's Day to our dads too!! We love you both so much!

It's raining, it's pouring

2009-06-16T19:00:00.002-05:00

I feel like it's been raining for days. It hasn't, actually, but we haven't had truly blue skies and bright sunshine for probably almost a week now. And today it rained. All. Day. At least I got some pictures that I thought turned out really well. Quinn grew out of the boots that matched his raincoat, but I think he looks delightfully 2 years old in his mismatched ensemble. :) (If you click on the above picture, it looks even cuter.)

Summer

2009-06-15T15:48:00.002-05:00

Quinn gives summer . . .

Two thumbs up!!
I haven't been blogging because I haven't been taking many pictures. I have a great camera, but it's also bulky and not waterproof, so these days, I don't lug it around as often as I should. And when I do take pics, it takes me days or weeks sometimes to download them. So, here's a quick rundown of what we've been doing.

We give our cup o' grass a haircut (a cute project courtesy of the moms' group I go to during the school year).

We hang out with the cousins and share food.

We get to see Quinn's lovely aunts, Amy above, and Carolyn, below, teaching Quinn lacrosse.
We hang out with our friends, being silly. Here Q is fishing with his best bud Will.
And, among other things, we pretend to be Handy Manny,

or a pirate. (Not pictured, the million times a day Quinn pretends to be Tiger Woods, golfing all over the yard.)

So, it's been a good summer so far. I'm looking forward to a little more sunshine, so we can start going to the pool or spray parks more often, but nothing beats the lazy, crazy days of summer.

My Day

2009-05-10T21:40:00.003-05:00

What a fun day! I am so blessed to have my two guys. Andy and Quinn made sure I was overwhelmed with love today.

My special present was this bike and the seat for Quinn. While Quinn did let the cat out of the bag a bit sooner than Andy wanted, I was still surprised and so happy. Isn't it the coolest green color? We took three bike rides this weekend, and I can't wait to go for more.

I love my biking buddy! We talk almost the whole time we ride, and when he's not talking, he's singing. If you haven't met Quinn or haven't been around him much, it's hard to fully explain how verbal he is. He talks ALL THE TIME, and lately, he's been singing almost as much. I love it, love it, love it. I can't imagine what people think when we ride by singing our songs, but I don't care. :)

We went to Conner Prairie again after church on Sunday. I am surprised how much I love that place! It's amazing how much Quinn is learning from being there too.

And this is my other present . . . A garden!! My wonderful husband nearly threw his back out digging out this space on the side of our house and preparing the soil. It is the perfect spot for a garden, and we are planting lots of veggies. Quinn and I have been planning it and talking about it for weeks, but Andy was skeptical that it would actually happen. Thanks to him, though, we're getting everything in the ground right on time. We don't have the greenest thumbs, but hopefully lots and lots of tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and more are in our future. Thanks for all your hard work, honey!! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-09T20:31:00.000-05:00

It might seem a bit indulgent, but in honor of Mother's Day, I decided to do a collage of some of my favorite "Quinn and me" pics. Just looking at them all together makes me smile. :) I can't believe this is my third Mother's Day with him in my arms, 4th since knowing he was coming. I can list all the cliches every mom can--it's the greatest job in the world, it brings indescribable joy, etc. It is all true and then some. This year, being a mom has taken on a different meaning for me. In the midst of my grieving process, I am even more in awe of the gift God gave us in Quinn and of the gift He gave me in allowing me to be a mom. Sometimes I struggle to refocus my thoughts from the babies I've lost to the baby I have, but when I do refocus, I am so humbled by the gift of my child. I am so thankful to be a mom! :)

I am also so thankful for my mom and for my mother-in-law. I am so grateful for everything my mom gave and continues to give me. And I am so grateful to my mother-in-law for raising the amazing son I married! Both of them have been tremendous supports these last few months too. I love you both!

2009-05-03T20:18:00.000-05:00

Quinn had so much fun riding on Daddy's shoulders while he mowed the other day.

You can clearly see the joy on his face!

I love my bubbly, busy, beautiful, bathing baby boy. :)

2009-04-27T13:25:00.006-05:00

We have had GLORIOUS weather these last few days, as I know most of the Midwest (and maybe rest of the country has had). If you know me at all, you know I am a sunshine girl who just about wilts into oblivion during the winter. I live for days like we've been having, barefoot days, days filled with wide-open windows and wonderful breezes. Ahhhhh.

One of my favorite poems of all time, by ee cummings, is perfect of this time of year:

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake

and now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

Anyway, so the above collage is just a mixture of some of funny face pictures I took when Quinn and I were goofing around last night, enjoying the lovely evening. The kid gets funnier and funnier every day, and he knows it. He knows some of my favorite faces and does them to get a laugh. It cracks me up every time.

Last week, Quinn and I (and Oliver) ventured to my parents' house for the first time without Andy, who had sales meetings for a couple days. We had soooooo much fun. I love my hometown. It is a much simpler place to be with a toddler--everything you'd want is there, and it's all closer and cheaper. My mom, Quinn, and I got into the zoo for $9 total!! We went to the Children's Museum, the library where I grew up and worked for 4 summers, the zoo, 2 parks, my dad's office, and to see the "blowers" (explained below). We ended up staying an extra day because we had so much fun, and Quinn has asked each day since when we're going back to Illinois. It will be soon! The above picture is at a park by the zoo. It was a very cool park that included a pirate ship.

Above, Quinn plays with his new "spy glass" that Grandma bought him at the zoo--perfect for a pirate-loving kid (though I must reiterate that he only likes nice pirates, since bad pirates are in the news an awful lot these days!).

Here my very tired boy hitches a ride from me at the end of our zoo visit. Quinn wore himself out each day, and I carried him more than I have for months.

Ever since I bought Quinn a pinwheel when he was about 8 months old, he has loved things that spin or "blowers", as he calls them. Really loves them. As in, can spot a "blower" for miles. As in, we've watched videos on youtube many times that are simply footage of a blower blowing in a field (riveting, let me tell you). :) As luck would have it, my parents' neighbors have a blower in their yard. Quinn loves that blower and always asks my parents how it's doing when he talks to them on the phone.

So, my parents had the brilliant idea to take Quinn to a "blower farm", which is an area about 15 minutes from their house that is acres and acres of wind-energy blowers. I think there are 240 of them. They are HUGE, and I thought Q was going to turn inside out from excitement when he saw them. It was freezing cold, rainy, and windy, but he did not care. It was a wonderful treat. ;)
Quinn, Poppa, and Oliver loved hanging out together. Quinn had a great time with my mom too, but I didn't take any pictures of them. I'll get more next time.

Spring Pics

2009-04-19T17:31:00.007-05:00

So, I just haven't really been into blogging lately. I feel badly because for over two years, I've been faithfully keeping a journal for Quinn, filling in his calendar, and blogging; basically, I've been carefully recording his life. I think that partially because of the season of life I'm in and partially because he keeps me so busy I have all of a sudden not kept up with much of anything! We really are having so much fun. I personally have no idea what terrible two's are about; I think this is a super, super fun age. Now that spring is attempting to return, at least every few days, we've been truly invigorated by the freedom of going outside. With blogging, I'm going to try to do better, starting with this brief, picture-laden entry. Enjoy! We used Easter as an excuse to give Quinn this Step 2 climber outdoor toy. It's a fort, castle, pirate ship, rocket, climbing wall all in one. He loves it!

This was some really bad bedhead he woke up with the other day. It was hilarious to see what he would look like with curly hair. :)

Flying a kite on Easter. Kites are only a dollar at WalMart! Kites, bubbles, and sand are all good, old-fashioned, cheap fun. :)

We have LOVED having his sand table. I prefer it to him sitting in sand in a traditional sandbox. He loves to dig with his trucks--so satisfying! I'm thankful for this garage sale purchase I picked up last year.
You know spring is back when the yard needs to be mowed. We've had TONS of rain, but we have had some really nice days too, which have given us beautifully green grass.

We made Easter cookies from scratch. I make very few things from scratch, especially cookies. Making these reminded me of HOW MUCH BETTER things taste made from scratch!!

Here is Quinn with the ADORABLE Levi, my friend Amanda's son. I can't get enough of Levi's hair, big eyes, and dimples. So cute!
I just love this pic with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dennis wearing silly hats with Quinn.

When we were having such a hard month last month, we cheered ourselves up by buying Quinn a new digger toy. The next morning, he couldn't wait to try it out and was very apppropriately in his truck jammies!

What's better than a new Step 2 outdoor toy? The box it came in! It made a great "playhouse", and it takes up a big space inside now! Here Quinn plays with Papa Bruce in his house.

Quinn's been very in to pirates lately, but he'll be quick to tell you NOT the scary kind. Of course!
Last Friday, we went to Conner Prairie, and Quinn had a blast seeing the animals and saying hi to the chickens.

Papa Bruce joined us for Easter, and we had a great time.

Lastly, I thought I'd post a picture of me and my handsome date from a wedding we went to. :)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T13:15:00.001-05:00

Spring Smiles

2009-03-25T13:47:00.000-05:00

I love my handsome boy. And I love the spring.

2009-03-20T13:21:00.002-05:00

There is nothing, no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can even touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and Christ, right through to me.
If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose which I may not understand at the moment.
But as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is!
That is the rest of Victory!
--Alan Redpath, former pastor Moody Church

I am working to live my life this way, as I deal with the reality that we have lost another baby and have experienced another precious life going straight back to the arms of his/her Heavenly Creator. Just like six months ago, I feel I must post about this before going on to post new pictures of our Quinn. The last three weeks have been more trying than any of my life, as we experienced the ups and downs of thinking our baby wouldn't make it, then hearing its beautiful strong heartbeat, then finding out it wasn't going to make it after all. I really don't think I can even reflect on it much yet, as the pain is too fresh and still too shocking. But, I can say that God is good, despite the pain on this earth, and I praise Him for His faithfulness and the way He has worked through so many people around us to show us love and support through this time.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T15:27:00.001-05:00

It's so warm here, we're wearing shorts today! I can't remember a St. Patrick's Day that's been this warm in a long time. I hope Quinn the Leprechaun brings you some good luck.

2009-02-21T11:22:00.000-05:00

I really don't have anything to post about, so I thought I'd just freshen up the blog with a few cute pics Papa Bruce sent me from our trip to Florida and one of the snowman we built in our backyard right after we got back.

We are just plugging away here, staying as entertained as possible and happy to see March approaching soon. March brings promise, although no guarantees, of warmer weather, and we'll take that. Two years ago, March had several 80 degree days, which I remember well because Quinn was just a baby and we went for our first walks outside in the stroller. Here's hoping that's on the horizon for us!

Quite the picturesque background, eh?

Hmmm . . . do you think they look alike?

So fun to build this HUGE snowman! We rarely get enough snow here to do this. Since Andy and I are both six feet tall, you can see how big this was! I used Q's t-ball tee as a tripod to take this picture. : ) Sadly, our snowman was a mere melted mound with a wet scarf only 24 hours later. It was fun while it lasted!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T12:38:00.002-05:00

Sending you all lots of love!

Florida Fun!

2009-02-04T14:38:00.013-05:00

**Caution: Lots of pictures ahead ! I don't feel like making collages! :)
Well, we're back after our annual getaway to Sarasota, Florida. We decided last minute to go this year, and we stayed at a different place than usual, a condo located right on Siesta Key Beach. If you're not familiar with that beach, it's often listed on the top 10 beaches in the world lists, for obvious reasons (see scenery !). While the weather was a bit cooler than we would have liked on some days, who can complain when the weather at home was in the teens? Oh, not to mention, about three hours after we flew out to Florida, our area got over a foot of snow, topped then by another 4 inches right before we came back! So needless to say, there was no complaining from us about sunny weather in the high 50's somedays!

I love taking beach pictures; I feel like I can't ever take enough. Still, I don't know if I captured just how great a time we had out there. Quinn was in hog heaven with all the sand to dig and roll around in and all the wide open space to run and run. He took over 2 hour naps every day because he just wore himself out with all the playing. He was perfect on the flights too, sleeping half of them each time. He thought every bit of the trip was thrilling, from the moving sidewalks in the airport, to the big airplanes he could see out the windows, to the de-icing machines spraying orange stuff on the wings, to the pirates that fly the planes. Wait, the pirates?! Yes, I realized after he got a bit nervous about seeing the "pirates" that he thought I was saying pirate instead of pilot! Those words really do sound a lot alike! After a pilot gave him a special pin with wings, he got over his fears. ;)

So, sorry about the overload of pictures, but maybe seeing warm pictures will help us all remember that winter doesn't last forever!

The pictures above and below are my two favorites. I love how you can see Q's little footprints leading out to where he plopped down. And the one below . . . I could look at my two happy boys all day!

Quinn thought the waves were pretty neat, waving back at them and commenting on how they come in and go back, over and over!

I just love holding-hands-walking-down-the-beach pictures. I can't take enough!

Papa Lou and Ruthann bought Quinn the best sand toy they could have possibly picked out. He LOVED filling up his dump truck, then dumping it out.

Again, I love my happy boys!

On Friday, we were so surprised when Papa Bruce came walking into our condo! He flew down to surprise us and Johnny. We had so much fun with him there too.

He and Quinn went for a walk down the beach on their own and had a great time. I love these two pictures. You can really see the love in the above pic and below where a proud Papa is taking pictures of his grandson.So, while we had a great time on the beach, we also spent lots of time with Andy's Grandpa Lou and his wife Ruthann, and Andy's brother Johnny. Johnny's girlfriend's niece, Haven, is about 9 months older than Quinn, and they had the best time together. Haven is the sweetest little thing in the world, and she has declared that she is going to marry "baby Quinn", as she calls him (even though he weighs more and is taller!). They exchanged quite a few hugs and kisses, and Quinn was even able to play at her house while her wonderful parents babysat him to let us go out for dinner! He's talked about her every day since, and I imagine he will until he sees her again next year!

Above, Quinn with Nikki and Uncle Johnny

Below, Q with Ruthann and Papa Lou

Lastly, Quinn making a sand angel. :)

Be careful what you wish for . . .

2009-01-16T15:18:00.001-05:00

I think I need to apologize to everyone reading this in the Midwest because I feel somewhat responsible for this weather. I have been wishing for snow for quite awhile now, even lamenting that if it's going to be January, it might as well feel like January and have some interesting weather. Well, I finally got my snow but oops, I guess I didn't specify in my wishes to please let the temps be above zero so we can play in it! Or at least be able to run errands without frostbite. Or not wake up to frozen pipes (yes, that was us today, but after 5 min with a hair dryer, Andy fixed it all). Or not feel like maybe I'm going to go out of my mind if I don't do something fun SOON! I know all stay-at-home moms feel this way this time of year, so I'll just think spring and make it through. It should be warm enough to play outside tomorrow, and that will be a big improvement over the last few days of limited activity choices. :)

When we finally got our snow the other day (and readers in the North will realize we only got about 4 inches), I quickly bundled Quinn up in his snowsuit, and we went outside in the waning hours of sunlight to enjoy it before the Arctic blast came. I hadn't seen him in his snowsuit before, and I wasn't really prepared for how hilarious it was to see my little blue marshmallow waddling around the yard! He was soooo cold but sooooo happy to be in the snow. I wish you all could have heard him as he walked through the yard, kicking up snow. With every step, he recited one of his favorite books, Dig Dig Digging, which talks about a different truck on each page. I guess he was imagining he was a digger truck, so he was muttering,
"Diggers are good at dig, dig, digging, scooping up the earth, lifting and tipping. They make HUGE holes with their dig, dig, digging. They can work all day." (Yes, he knows every word of that by heart!). It was so so cute to see him imagining like that.

I liked the lighting in this one.

Here he is making his first snow angel. When I showed him this picture, he said, "Oh, just like Peter!" Peter is in another favorite book of ours, Snowy Day, and he makes snow angels.

I really, really dislike being cold and haven't played in the snow in years. It's funny how having a toddler makes all those dislikes disappear.

He was reciting his book as he trucked along, making tracks in this picture.

The More Things Change . . .

2009-01-15T16:06:00.000-05:00

. . .the more they stay the same. I had to laugh when I realized that these two pictures are almost exactly 2 years apart. Both show Andy and Quinn on our bed, watching a football game. I didn't realize until I downloaded the recent one that Andy is even wearing the same sweatshirt in both pics!

Jan. 20, 2007 above, Jan. 1, 2009 below

We finally got some snow here, but we're holed up inside in bitter cold temps--I think it's 0 right now. I did get some cute snow pictures when we braved the chill yesterday, when it was a much "warmer" 20 degrees, and I'll post those soon.

Christmas Day Pics, Finally!

2009-01-03T14:16:00.002-05:00

I am pictured out. I've just spent over 2 hours uploading pictures from the last three months to my Walgreens account, so I can get them for 10 cents a print (deal ends today). I have, in the last month, spent so much time with pictures, making photo books, Christmas ornaments, Christmas cards, thank-you notes, etc. that I really don't want to deal with them for awhile. That will probably be fine, since January has nothing on its agenda that will be picture-worthy for quite some time! I figured I'll just blog these quickly, with few comments, and then it might be awhile till I post again! (:
To sum it up, Christmas Day was wonderful, and as my blogging friend Katie said, just as how I imagined Christmas with a small child would be! Quinn loved opening more presents (keep in mind, because of his birthday and various family Christmases, he literally had presents to open about every other day for almost 3 weeks!), and he loved being with his aunts, uncle, cousins, and grandparents. Christmas with my family and now 3 kids gets crazier every year, but it's wonderful.

Every year since I was a little girl, we take a family picture before opening presents. It is so fun to look at them over the years and see how people change and how people (and pets) are added. The only one missing this year is Oliver, who doesn't get along very well with Sully, my sister's Golden Doodle. (In Sully's defense, as a 65 lb dog, he thinks 4 lb Oliver is a wind-up toy!)

Quinn got some really fun tools and construction hat set from my parents. He's very into wearing hats and play clothes.

Quinn and Carys check out Carys's family's new DS. Andy's wearing his new hat from me, for some reason.(:

Here Quinn receives a kiss from Aunt Carolyn and thanks her for giving him that adorable chef outfit, which he often wears while cooking in his play kitchen.

Islands in the Stream, anyone? Quinn and Fiona loved his sing-along cd player, even though they put the mics in their mouths to sing, causing the mics to get too wet and not work for awhile! Maybe that's why it was for ages 3+!

Aunt Carolyn reading the babies Q's new truck book.

How adorable is this? We showed the cousins how to slow dance, and they danced for awhile! They both took music class this fall, so they love to dance.

Quinn the policeman, works with his new mixer! I'm working to raise a boy with a domesticated side. (:

And after all the presents, really, what's more fun than bubble wrap?

Happy New Year, everyone! Here's to hoping 2009 holds many new blessings and adventures.

Merry Christmas to All!

2008-12-22T18:23:00.008-05:00

How can it be almost Christmas already? Whew! What a fast month. I have a few Christmas-related pictures I wanted to post, so I'll just lump them all together here.

This weekend, we had Christmas with Andy's side of the family. It was a wonderful time and right out of a Christmas card--beautiful snow, beautiful house, beautiful Christmas decorations, and beautiful, loving family members everywhere! Quinn can't get enough of his cousins Kamryn, Austin, and Adalyn, and he wore himself out playing with them and exploring his Papa Bruce's house. I loved taking pictures by one (he has seven!) of his amazingly gorgeous Christmas trees. This one was my favorite because it's just that classic little-kid-in-footie-jammies pose.

Here Austin helps Quinn with his new puzzle. If anyone needs a last-minute Christmas idea for a 2 year old, this one is a hit! It's a Melissa and Doug magnetic fishing puzzle, and Quinn loves it! Thanks again, Klawitters!

In this pic, Quinn is admiring his HUGE stocking. No, it wasn't actually used for his presents, but all the wonderful gifts Quinn was given probably could have filled it!

Quinn loved trying on the very big and very heavy ND football helmet his Papa Bruce has, which is signed by Brady Quinn, though that is NOT where Quinn got his name from!!

Just wanted to stick in our family Christmas picture.

Today, Quinn and I had a blast baking Christmas cookies for the first time. They were, of course, just from a package because there is NO way I could manage Quinn around lots of ingredients. He was covered in flour as it was. Thank heavens he and I are both wearing aprons made by his Grandma Mary! He did really well, "helping" me and mostly following directions. He was allowed to be up on the countertop for part of it, a forbidden but extremely alluring place for him, so I think that was most of the fun for him! I just loved doing an activity like that with him because it makes me think of all the fun we'll have in the future, doing more baking and craft-making.

Lastly, here's a bit of song from our resident caroler. I hear this song, ummm, maybe 50 times a day, in various forms. I didn't catch the best rendition of it because I used a camera that I often let Quinn play with and take pictures, so he was pretty anxious to finish the song and get a hold of it. My favorite versions of his are when he sings in a loud, opera-style voice, and when he adds his own words to the tune, ex. "Oh, quarterback, quarterback", etc. You'll have to use your imagination. :)

If I don't post again until after the holidays, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!! I hope your celebrations are full of the joy that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, was born to save us all!

Happy Birthday, Quinn!

2008-12-18T23:17:00.002-05:00

So, my baby boy is two! We had such an awesome day today. It was so much more fun this year than last because he is FULLY aware that it's his birthday and just loved all the excitement. Andy took today off so we could all go to the Children's Museum together. We have a family pass, so Quinn and I try to go once a week. We love that place so much, and it's been really fun to watch Quinn's development in seeing how he can do more and more every time we go. Andy hasn't been with us since July, so we loved showing him our favorite spots--the train displays, the Rube Goldberg ball machine, the construction zone, and the carousel room. Then we went out for dinner tonight and had cake and more presents at home. I can't say enough about what a fun day it was to spend together as a family, happy to celebrate the birth of our little guy and the one who brings incredible joy to us every day. :) I love this age so much, and I'm really looking forward to all the new adventures next year holds for us!

Here's the newly two year old! He wore a special button all day that said, "I'm 2 Years Old Today!" He thought it was so neat and kept holding on to it, as if it would fall off if he didn't. :)

Here he's trying to hold up two fingers to show how old he is. Unfortunately, he doesn't yet have the ability to single out just a few fingers to hold up, but Andy thought it was funny to ask him to try anyway! ;)

Seeing how excited he was to open his musical card, you can imagine how exciting it was to open the rest of his presents!

Admiring his mini-cake (again, a store-bought one!) and desperately wanting to dig in with both hands!
It was great to have Andy at the museum too because someone could take pictures for us! Here we are taking turns going down the "Yule Slide".

Apparently, being two has made Quinn much braver because before today, he emphatically said NO when I asked him if he'd like to ride the carousel, even though he loved watching it. Today, however, he rode with Daddy and had a blast.

And here Quinn and I stand by a train in one of our favorite spots.

Quinn's 2nd Birthday Party

2008-12-17T21:58:00.002-05:00

Exactly two years ago, almost to this minute, my active labor with Quinn began. I had actually been laboring all day on Dec. 17th, 2006, even making it to church that morning to hear an awesomely appropriate sermon on the verse, "Unto us a son is given". That night, around 10 pm, after a long walk in unusually warm weather, the active labor began which, 18 hours of labor, 1 1/2 hrs of pushing, and a c-section later brought our darling baby boy into this world! As I look back on these past two years, I can't believe how much everything about me and my life has changed, and I can truly say these have been the happiest two years of my life. Of course, I must be cliche and say I cannot believe how fast time has gone, and I can't believe my baby is a little boy already, but every age he's been so far as been my favorite, so I don't mind. I am immeasurably thankful that God blessed us with Quinn. He is pure sunshine in our lives. :)

On Sunday, we had a super fun family gathering to celebrate Quinn's birthday. I can't thank everyone enough for taking the time to drive here (thankfully, in good weather) and shower Quinn with love. It's hard to have a Christmastime birthday, but I'm confident that Q will always have his special day, thanks to his wonderful family.

Last year we took a group picture in goofy birthday hats, so of course, we had to do it again! Q's party was lightly themed a Thomas party, so everyone had Thomas hats. Check out the smile on Quinn's face! He was so happy to have everyone around.

I loved his cute Thomas cupcake-cake from WalMart. Maybe next year I'll bake one myself! :)

Quinn was very happy to be allowed to be so close to the cake and of course, to blow out the candles.

Q looks a little stunned from all the attention, but I still like this family pic.
Earlier in the week, Papa Bruce delivered his present to Q--a train table and set! Quinn loves it so much. He played with it for almost 2 hours that first morning, with a break only to eat breakfast. It is a very fun toy, and I highly recommend it!
Q with two of his aunts--Aunt Amy above, Aunt Carolyn below

Modeling his handmade adorable hat from Grandma Mary

Snow Smiles

2008-12-06T14:18:00.000-05:00

We finally got some snow this morning! How perfect for it to come on a Saturday, so we could all go out and play in it, and I could get help from Andy to take some pictures! Some of these will be on our Christmas card, but I'm a long ways away from doing cards yet, so I thought I'd go ahead and post these anyway. I know several are quite similar to each other, but I think Quinn's smile is contagious, so hopefully this brightens your day. As I've said about many other things, having a toddler sure makes snow a lot more fun than it used to be. :)

Thanksgiving Week Fun

2008-12-05T21:32:00.003-05:00

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Quinn was very honored to be the one friend invited to his best friend Will's birthday party (everyone else was family). As I've mentioned many times before, Will and Quinn are exactly one month apart, and we are the best of friends with the Kepplers. Will's party was a Mickey Mouse party, so Nan and I ordered shirts for the boys. This is the best pic I could get of the two boys. They're so cute together!

For Thanksgiving, my parents came here as is tradition. It was wonderful to have them here for almost five days. Here, Quinn cuddled with his buddy Poppa before heading off to bed one night.

We take a picture around the dinner table every year before our Thanksgiving meal. Each year, I get less and less into the decoration of the table and more just happy to be all together.

And the biggest thing that happened over Thanksgiving break (forgive me if this is TMI) is Quinn has started potty training himself. I say that because even though he's been talking about potty and we've been going through the basics with him for awhile, I adamantly didn't want to deal with it during the holidays. Well, Quinn asked to go "potty on the potty" after the Thanksgiving meal, and sure enough, he went! To date, (again, sorry if this is TMI, but you moms can especially appreciate how exciting this is), he's peed on the potty 3 times and pooped on the potty 3 other times. So, we bought a super-fun basketball toilet seat insert, and I now spend at least 20 minutes 3 or 4 times a day reading Quinn stories while he sits on the potty and we wait for something to happen. (: He's catching on so fast, so I guess we're going to potty train right now whether I like it or not! We'll see how it goes, though; I know it could be months until it's perfectly done. Still, I think it's pretty good for a boy who's not even two yet.

In these pics, Quinn excitedly looks at what he's done. ;)

2008-11-24T19:45:00.001-05:00

Other indoor activities include . . .

Bowling. This is one of Quinn's favorite things to do. He loves setting up the pins (we have two different sets of pins, so he can set up a ton at a time), and then he bowls over and over. It's so cute!

He's really gotten into coloring now. What I love is how he'll scribble and then tell me what it is. Of course, it all looks the same to me, but it's really cute to see how his brain works.

My personal favorite new activity is Play-Doh. I LOVED Play-Doh as a kid, so I love playing it now. Making "noodles" and then cutting them into little pieces is what we do a lot. :)

And when all else gets boring, tearing apart your room and reading is always fun too, right? Quinn loves reading in his room by himself, and it cracks me up how he always wants to remove the cushion on his chair first. I had to take a picture of how he knocked over the ottoman and fan and removed the cushion and almost a whole shelf of books before settling in. :)

How We're Keeping Busy

2008-11-24T19:44:00.001-05:00

It's funny how in September, the first time the temperature dips below 70, it feels freezing cold outside. Now, if it's about 35 and sunny, we're going outside!! And the thing is, the temperature doesn't seem to affect Quinn at all--it's ME who has to really bundle up and endure being outside!

Since we don't have anything too exciting to take pictures of, I thought I'd just post some everyday-life pics to show you what we've been up to.

Here's Quinn pedalling his trike. When I first got this at a garage sale in October, I thought it would be quite awhile till he could pedal, but literally all of a sudden, he could do it. He looks like such a big boy riding a bike. Usually he wears the helmet that came with it at the sale, which makes me look like quite the protective mom but really is his favorite part of riding a bike because 1. big kids wear helmets when they ride and 2. football players wear helmets too. :)

This is the early (over a month early!) birthday present I gave to myself, oops, I mean Quinn! Isn't it funny how toys are just as much for the moms as they are for the kids because they give moms the gift of TIME?! Not that I need Quinn to go away and leave me alone; I just need some uninterrupted play time to get dinner started, return a phone call, or just not time where I'm chasing him off of something he's climbed! :)

So, this is the Little Tikes Sizzle n' Serve kitchen. I spent a lot of time researching and reading reviews on kitchens. I knew he'd love one because he mimics EVERYTHING we do, and he loves the kitchen his cousins have. Just when I'd settled on a Step 2 kitchen, we visited Andy's cousins, and in watching him play with their kitchen, I realized what other features to look for. Basically, I love this kitchen for its gender-neutral, decor-matching colors; its grill; its pot hooks; its coffeepot; and its pass-through. That's what made it better for me than the Step 2 kitchen. That's just a little review for any of you that might be considering buying a kitchen for your little one. It is easily, hands-down the best toy I've bought thus far.

And It's November . . .

2008-11-15T12:55:00.000-05:00

So, we've entered the season I've been anxious about. The it's-rained-for-five-straight-days, can't-go-outside, oh-my-goodness-how-do-I-keep-you-occupied (and not climbing things!!) season. It's been a week of this already, and actually, we've survived quite well, but I have very little to blog about! We've explored coloring and Play-doh with success. I also gave Quinn an early birthday present (I'll post more about that later), so that's helped. Moms of toddlers, please feel free to pass on suggestions of fun winter activities. I'm up for the challenge and we are still having fun; I just want to keep it going! :)

Last weekend we visited Quinn's second cousins. He had such a blast being thoroughly entertained by everyone.

What do you do on rainy November days? You go splash in puddles!! This is made possible by the wonderfully adorable raincoat-rainboat set Grandma Mary gave us. Thank you so much!!
One thing I've realized with having a toddler is not only does he need appropriate outdoor play gear, but I do too! I'm digging through the closet this weekend, hoping to find items to keep me warm and able to play outside as well. :)

Halloween

2008-11-02T12:26:00.006-05:00

What a fun Halloween! This was basically Quinn's first Halloween experience, since last year he couldn't walk or talk yet. He's been really excited about it. We've been reading books about Halloween all month, since Quinn loves pumpkins, and I've been explaining away all things ghoulish (witches, ghosts, tombstones in people's yards--I hate those!!) as simply Halloween stuff. It's funny how you see things differently when you have a child. Andy and I both aren't really big fans of Halloween anyway, and I've always hated decorations that are scary, bloody, and death-related. Now that I have a little guy, I realize how it's everywhere and quite scary! If you ask him where you see "scary mans", he'll tell you "Walgreens" because we were just assaulted with rows of horrific masks and wigs when we went there the other day to pick up pictures. I really had to watch where we went so he wouldn't get too overwhelmed with all the scary stuff.

But anyway, the fun side to Halloween is, of course, the cute costumes and the candy. I gave little thought to costumes this year until my sister offered this one for free, so giraffe it was!! Giraffes are my favorite animal, and Quinn has a 5-foot tall stuffed one in his room, so it was very appropriate. We practiced all week saying "trick or treat" and then "thank-you", so we were ready. He didn't realize that candy was involved, though, until our neighbor gave him his first treat. I'm not a meanie-mom about it, but I give Quinn very little sugar, so he was quite amazed and thrilled when he got a lollipop, hence the picture below. The funny thing is, he never did end up eating any. He just liked holding it and sucking on it through the wrapper. Works for me!

How adorable are my "Super Nieces"!! The whole family, including the dog, had matching superhero outfits.

Quinn and Will are best buddies and neighbors, so we got them together for a picture. They were both so fuzzy and cute!

The best Halloween treat of all was Uncle Johnny flew in from Florida for a visit and arrived just as trick or treating started.

Aunt Carolyn came over too and taught Quinn how to pose for the camera. I think Q should get into commercial work! He'll do anything you ask him to.

Prayer request

2008-10-28T21:05:00.002-05:00

Please be praying for this family at http://mycharmingkids.net as the writer mom gives birth to a baby boy tomorrow morning who has a serious heart condition. I've been following her blog for awhile now, and her faith and strength in the Lord are so encouraging and inspirational.

Birthday Weekend

2008-10-26T17:12:00.003-05:00

This weekend was Andy's 30th birthday, and we had a great time celebrating. Friday night I threw a surprise party for him that was a ton of fun. It's really hard to keep that kind of surprise from the person you live with, especially when the party is at your house, but somehow I got all the planning and cleaning done on the sly, and it worked! Then on Saturday, Quinn's Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dennis kindly agreed to come and spend the night with Quinn so we could go downtown overnight. We stayed at a 5-star hotel that we love, ate 2 great meals, and had a wonderful time just the two of us. I loved having a weekend to focus a lot of attention on my awesome husband because he couldn't be a more loving husband or daddy. :)

Today we tried to be outside as much as we could, even though it was super windy, because it's supposed to get really cold the next few days, with maybe some flurries. Yikes! I love the colors of the leaves, so I had to get some pictures of us goofing around after we raked a bit.

And finally, in honor of Andy's birthday, I am finally posting video of Quinn singing the Notre Dame fight song. He sings all kinds of songs these days, but this is definitely his favorite.

Russell Farm

2008-10-21T22:35:00.000-05:00

We went to another farm this weekend. As I mentioned earlier, I am LOVING fall this year, which, as those of you who have known me for a long time know, is a big development for me. I usually dislike fall because I hate winter, and fall leads to winter. Thankfully, this year, I've been praying that I would get over my weather issues (I'm just a sunlight-warmth-loving girl!), and I think I have! One of the things I've loved about this fall is all the playing we're able to do outside without worrying about sunburn or overheating. I've made it my quest to take advantage of as many pumpkin patches and farms as we can, and I think we've done a good job! Thanks to my friend Virginia, we discovered Russell Farms, which I think is our favorite place so far.

Going on a hay ride

This might be kind of cheesy, but I just loved the drama of the blue sky and cornfield.

Quinn loves goats now because they seem to be at every farm. This farm was the first one where he could actually hug one . . . so he did! (:

2008-10-21T22:30:00.001-05:00

Petting the goats. Please note that this is not wind blowing Quinn's hair straight up in the air--that is just what it does these days. I love it, but I think we're going to have to get a haircut this week.

Walking through the corn maze.

Big corn, little boy.

Love my baby!

P.S. A special hi to Quinn's overseas Poppa S. and Papa Bruce, who are checking this blog miles and miles away! Poppa S. is in Hong Kong, and Papa Bruce is in Italy. We can't wait to see you again soon and hear about your trips!

Our Backyard

2008-10-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

Andy and I have lived in our house since we moved in the day after our honeymoon. Looking back, I realize how young we were and how little we knew what to look for in a house. I thought we'd live here for 5 years tops--it's been over six already with no end in sight--and I gave very little thought to how the house would be with kids, especially paying no attention to the backyard, which I didn't even see until we were in the process of buying the place. I realize now how blessed we were to have "fallen" into a home that is just a wonderful place to have a little family. We live on a very un-busy street, have wonderful neighbors all around us, and we have a great, great backyard. As Quinn has gotten older, I've realized more and more how awesome our yard is. Where as before we had a child, I literally only stepped far enough into the yard to lay out in the summer, we now run all over the place, and we find new things all the time. This summer, for example, my dad showed us that one of our trees is an apricot tree. Every day for weeks thereafter, Quinn and I picked apricots off the tree and ate them while we played. What a treat! Anyway, I know I'm waxing poetic about a pretty mundane topic, but a good backyard is a blessing to a stay-at-home mom with a very energetic little one, and I'm so thankful for it!
These pictures were from our discovery today--raking and playing in leaves. Quinn thought it was just awesome to crunch, throw, rake, and dive in the leaves. I thought it was great that we have a plentiful supply of free "toys" for the next few weeks!

And I just love this sweet picture that needs a short explanation. I think I've mentioned before how Quinn loves to be "like Daddy", by wearing his shoes, ties, or shirts or playing sports Daddy plays. I've actually discovered I can use that as a manipulation, I mean, a motivation for things I need Q to do, i.e. "Blow your nose like Daddy!" Well, lately Quinn has discovered that he has pockets in most of his outfits, and I get such a kick out of seeing him walk around with his hands in his pockets like such a big boy. In this picture, Quinn saw Andy walking with his hands in his pockets and quickly copied him. I love how he's looking up at his hero-daddy too. So sweet! There's no one I'd want Q to be like more. ( :

Crazy Kid!

2008-10-12T21:29:00.001-05:00

How hilarious is the following picture?! Quinn and I met my good friend Amy for lunch the other day. She wanted to take a picture of Q, so I told him to say cheese. And this is what he did. I have never seen him make this face before, so I'm so happy she caught it! When I look at him sometimes, and actually more and more these days, I see these glimpses of an ornery-but-so-funny kid, and I wonder what my life is going to turn into soon! ( :

And here is my sweet, sweet boy. I was taking pictures, so of course he had to get his camera too. I love this picture. (Christina, do you recognize this shirt?!)

And finally, how could I take pictures in the backyard with pumpkins without the silly pumpkin face appearing again?

Ahhh. I love my crazy boy!

Fantastic Fall!

2008-10-11T13:06:00.001-05:00

This has been a gorgeous week. The weather is incredible--today is 80 degrees and tomorrow we might break the record of 86 degrees! It's almost too warm for my liking because I'm anxious to get Quinn into new fall clothes as I'm tired of his summer clothes. But I'll take the sunshine and warmth while we can get it! Today Andy and I took Quinn back to Tuttle Orchard and picked our own pumpkins. Quinn wasn't as smiley as usual because he has a bit of a cold and was quite warm. Still, we got some cute pics.

The tree line in our backyard is now turning colors, and the colors are just brilliant this year. I decided to take some pics outside the other day, and even though I cropped most of them so tightly you can't really see the leaves, I was still happy with these because they really show Q's personality.

p.s. Don't forget you can click on the collages to see the pictures bigger. (:

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-04T14:33:00.000-05:00

My mom, sister, and niece went with us to a nearby farm/pumpkin patch last week. It was an overcast day that, lucky for us, had a few breaks in the clouds just during the hours we happened to be there. As a result of the cooler temps, we only saw about 5 other people, so the kids had a blast with the place all to themselves. We were so excited about some of the beautiful pictures my mom took of the kids who were matching in their overalls (yes, that was planned).

Here are the two cousins looking at the camera, at the same time, and in happy moods for the first time ever! A miracle!!

I just loved these kind of artistic shots of Quinn chasing the geese.

2008-10-04T14:18:00.001-05:00

Looking oh-so-boy and down home on the farm. I adore overalls on little kids!

Pretending to drive the tractor, though with his hair blowing in the wind, this picture looks like he really is driving!

This is Quinn's "silly pumpkin" look, as he named it. Some of you might remember that this "Oh!" face has been around since he was about 9 months old, but I haven't seen it for awhile. It still cracks me up.

I loved how they hung real pumpkins all over this tree.

I've got sunshine . . .

2008-10-02T14:04:00.000-05:00

Okay, so is it even possible to look at the above picture without smiling yourself? How hilarious is Quinn's cheesy face? As you can see in the below collage, he made this face a few more times for my dad, who was trying to take a normal picture of him looking like such a little boy in his ND jersey and his new sneakers! I love this picture so much, so I had to begin my post with it.

Obviously, my little piece of sunshine in boy form keeps me well aware of the blessings I have instead of focusing on what I've recently lost. These last two weeks I have purposefully stayed very busy, almost insanely busy, so we could have an overload of fun. In the last two weeks, we've gone to story hour, at least 3 parks, the zoo for the first time, to mom's group at church, the Children's Museum, home to my parents' house, to a farm for the first time, to a pumpkin patch, and to music class. Whew! I have some cute pictures to share from our recent adventures, many of which are taken by either my dad or my mom, since both of them have a great eye for picture opportunities and free hands to take advantage of those opportunities!

Most of our fun times are shared with my sister and niece Fiona, who Quinn calls "Mina" or "Wee-na". We find good toddler activities to do on the days my other niece is in school. These pictures are from the Children's Museum, and in the above collage is a picture of the two of them at the zoo. It's to the point now that Quinn just assumes Mina will be there when we go somewhere. The other day he got in his play car and said, "Bye-bye, Mama!" I said, "Where are you going?" and he said, "To zoo." I asked him what he was going to see there, and he said, "El-fants and Mina.". Of course!

God is Good

2008-09-29T13:37:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted for awhile. As some of you know, on Monday, Sept. 15, we found out that the baby I'd been carrying for almost 11 weeks had died. We heard a strong heartbeat at 7 weeks, so it was a tremendous shock, especially since I thought we were in the clear, being so close to the end of first trimester. I debated posting about this, but I just have to share with everyone who reads this blog how faithful God has been to us through this trial. I have been very humbled by how gentle, loving, and gracious He has been, showing His face in very real ways and sparing me from even more pain in a few other ways. He has been there through my amazing friends and family, who have sent messages and have called at just the right times. He has spoken to me through Bible verses and songs and most definitely given me a peace that surpasses understanding. I know a lot of women go through losses such as mine, but even so, it is a very lonely thing because no one can say or do anything that makes it better; they can just ease the pain. God has been so good to put me in a place where the only option is to turn to Him, because in my humanness, I tend to go into "fix-it" mode and first try to do things on my own. I can't do anything in this situation except learn to trust Him and His timing and seek out what He would have me/us do next. I am so sad about our loss, but I am so grateful for how much I've learned about God through this all. It is because of that that I had to post about this before I could continue to post some cute recent pictures of Quinn. (And I will be posting those soon, so stay tuned!) A favorite verse of mine that has been so helpful these last few weeks is "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus". Phil. 4: 6-7 I hope this verse will be encouraging to you as well.

Notre Dame Game

2008-09-14T15:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was an exciting day for us. We took Quinn to the tailgating before the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game, and while he did go to a tailgate last year, this year meant much more to him. Papa Bruce gave him a book for Christmas called Let's Go Irish and even though it is more certainly brainwashing at its finest, Quinn loves that book! It tells the story of the ND Leprechaun going around the campus before a football game, seeing things like the Gold Dome and Touchdown Jesus, and cheering "Let's Go Irish" after each place. Of course, at the end of the book, ND also wins a football game. As a result of the book, Quinn was so excited to go to Notre Dame and see those places, which he says and recognizes on sight.
Well, if you happened to see the game yesterday, you know it was POURING rain almost all day. We drove up to South Bend late Friday night and woke up to tropical storm rain. It was actually the remnants of Tropical Storm Lowell. I couldn't believe we intended to still go, but we drove all the way there, so I decided as a mother of a boy, I might as well get used to being out in inclement weather because I'm sure it will happen a million times over for sports games, etc. It was actually really warm, so even though it was raining very hard, we weren't cold. Andy dropped his sister Amy, Quinn, and me as close as we could get to the stadium, and we wrapped Quinn up in a raincoat, blanket, poncho, etc. Still, I knew I was just winning the mom-of-the-year award from everyone we walked by because it was raining so hard, and no one else in sight was pushing a stroller!! Then, the luck of the Irish came. As soon as we reached Andy's dad's tailgate, it stopped raining, and it didn't start again the entire time we were there. Sooo, we had so much fun showing Quinn the real Touchdown Jesus and Gold Dome. He recognized them and said what they were as soon as we saw them. He also knows most of the words to the ND fight song, so we caught a cute moment on video of he and Andy singing the song in front of the Gold Dome. Andy then stayed for the game, and Quinn and I got to go take naps and then spend a fun afternoon with Grandma Mary and Gigi. If you happened to catch the game, you know Andy got POURED on, but he didn't care because the Irish won. I really don't care much about football or Notre Dame, but since it makes my little boy (and my big boy) so happy, I go along with it. It was a really fun day.

Quinn and Papa Bruce

Papa Bruce, us, and Aunt Amy

Standing in front of "Nuh-nown Je-us", as Quinn calls it

Q was so excited to see the Gold Dome, I could not get him to turn around to look at me for a picture.

That afternoon, he had fun inventing diffent ball games to play with Grandma Mary and Gigi.

Caution: Lots of pictures ahead

2008-09-01T16:13:00.006-05:00

I have truly been blog-slacking lately. Not only have I not posted, but I haven't read anyone else's for quite awhile now. My excuses range from enjoying the beautiful weather to chasing my very active child around to competing with my Ebaying husband for computer time. Really, though, another reason is I haven't been taking as many pictures lately because we're just on the move all the time. I've tried to remedy that in the last couple weeks, though, so I'll just post them all in one long entry, and hopefully it won't be too terribly long until I post again. I'm going to get caught up all everyone's blogs in the meantime as well! ( :

With these pictures, I really wanted to be able to share Quinn's personality. It's hard to really capture it without motion or sound because those are huge components of who he is. (I now wake up every morning to Q yelling from his crib, "MAMA!!! Where ARE you?!" and the fun begins from then on! ( : ) Still, these pictures do show you a bit of our day-to-day life.

The cheesy face lives on! The next two are ones my dad caught, and I love them!

The next picture is of the latest fashion trend sweeping the nation. I hear it's the coolest thing among kids his age. I was informed, after Quinn rubbed the blueberry applesauce in his hair, that this is an applesauce hat. Duh! ( :
If you ever wake up with the bedhead Quinn had in the next picture, you might have to try an applesauce hat to tame it down.

The other day I was sorting laundry on our bed. I left the room for a minute and found this lovely bedside ornament. He was sitting there, singing a song about W's, his new favorite letter, and was very proud of himself.

Quinn's Uncle Justin showed him how to play tee ball at their house last week. We were so impressed when, on his own, Quinn improvised and made a tee ball set out of his ball popper and a bat and ball. When he plays, he insists on wearing either his fireman hat or his construction hat. I guess they look like real baseball helmets to him. ( :
Andy always says I should post pictures with me in them too, but since I take most of the pictures, there aren't too many of those! Here's a picture my dad took when we ate a picnic lunch at a nearby park.

As I've mentioned in previous entries, Quinn loves to read books. I cannot get enough of seeing him do it! The time spans when he sits and reads on his own are getting longer and longer. The other day, I was on the phone right inside the door to our backyard when Quinn came in the house, got a book, went back outside, and settled into the chair his Grandma Mary got him. I thought it was soooo cute and had to take a picture.
And today, he read the paper and had his morning milk.

Is there anything cuter than a boy and his dog?!

Quinn had sooo much fun riding in the "zoom car" with Daddy and Austin a few weeks ago.
Every year my family takes a picture in our backyard. It's so fun to see our family expand from year to year! My five-year-old niece Carys is sitting on her Aunt Carolyn's lap, and Fiona, who is six weeks younger than Quinn, is sitting on my sister Emily's lap.
We finally coordinated with the cousins to go to our favorite spray park. We had two fun hours there this week, which was followed by an even more fun (for Mommy!!) three hour nap! Yea!

P.S.: On July 20th, Andy and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. I've read several blog postings on friends' blogs about their anniversaries, and I feel badly I didn't mention ours! This picture was taken at a wedding we went to a few weeks later, but we did have a wonderful evening out to dinner our night. We cherish the time we spend together so much more now that our dates are not as frequent, but we wouldn't change a single thing about our life! I married my best friend on July 20, 2002, and I can truly say that I love him more every day. He works so hard so I can fulfill our dream of me being a stay-at-home mom, a commitment we made back we were still dating, and I am so thankful for him!

State Fair

2008-08-14T21:47:00.000-05:00

Today was one of my favorite days this summer. All week I've been looking forward to going to the Indiana State Fair. It's been unseasonably cool for over a week now, which means perfect fair weather, especially for this city girl who wouldn't handle dirt, smelly animals, and heat very well. ( : So today Andy took a half day, and after Quinn's nap and a few quick rain showers, we headed to the fair for the first time in a couple of years. It was so, so fun. I just loved every second of it. We got there right before the dinner crowd, saw all the fun things, and just had a blast. We kept cracking up at Quinn's expressions because he could hardly take it all in! He was so excited to see the tractors, cows, balloons, "blower" (Ferris wheel--he thinks anything that's round and rotates is a pinwheel), chickens, train, etc. etc. As I told Andy, this experience reminded me once again how (most) things are so much more fun with kids. I have never enjoyed the state fair as much as I did today. Oh, and we had free tickets thanks to the Indy Star. Even better! ( :

Checking out baby pigs

Petting a cow

Look at those adorable baby ducks!!

Walking with Daddy so Mommy could enjoy a huge plate of tater fries to herself! ( :

Backyard Fun

2008-08-03T19:54:00.000-05:00

It was a gorgeous weekend, and we spent it enjoying our backyard, going to the farmers' market, having friends over, and playing at the park.

Daddy bought Quinn a matching ND hat, so I took their picture. I don't know if it shows up very well, but Quinn is very proud to match Daddy with his "Go Irish" hat, as he calls it.

Can you believe it's August and this is the first corn on the cob we've had? Quinn thought the shucking process was very interesting (above) and LOVED eating his own corn on the cob (below).

Cousin Pics

2008-08-03T19:50:00.000-05:00

I've been slacking on blogging lately. I think that's one of the joys of summer--everything routine eventually flies out the window, even if just for a few weeks. I haven't even been taking many pictures, but I do have some that I meant to post awhile ago.

We were so happy to have the Klawitters, Quinn's second cousins, come and stay a night with us a couple weeks ago. He had soooo much fun with them and talks about them almost every morning when he sees their picture in the kitchen.

Kamryn and Quinn above, Austin and Quinn below. I didn't catch a pic with Addie, but at the end of June I posted a really cute picture of all of them together.

And here are some pictures with Quinn and his "twin"cousin, Fiona. They are only six weeks apart, and they LOVE each other. It is so cute to see them play together more and more. Quinn calls Fiona "Mina", which is an improvement over "Wee-wee", his name for her a couple weeks ago (stemming from her nickname Fifi).

The picture above was not posed. They both found their way onto the chair to look at books.
Now, if we could only catch one with both of them looking at the camera and smiling at the same time!

Year-and-a-half Pics

2008-07-25T12:46:00.003-05:00

Our friend Justin, the one who took the black and white pics I posted a few days ago, came over to take more pictures the other day. I was so happy with how the pictures captured who Quinn is right now, and I can't imagine going to a studio could have ever done that. I love how we're in our own backyard too. (By the way, if anyone who lives around here is interested, Justin is up for starting to do this as a little side business. )

Letters, We've Got Letters . . .

2008-07-22T19:17:00.002-05:00

If anyone asked me what Quinn likes the most, I would say music and letters. Since I just posted some musical videos, I thought I'd post some with Quinn and his letters too. The kid just loves letters, which some might say could come from his nerdy-about-English former-teacher mama. It started several months ago when he learned the letters Y, O, and B, thanks to the lids on YoBaby yogurt. Ever since then, he has picked up over half of the alphabet, in no order and without knowing the alphabet song. His favorite letter is Y, and he carries his foam Y letter around quite often. When he woke up the other morning, I heard him in his crib saying, "A Y, an' S, an' O, and B!" over and over. What's fun about it is he picks out letters in signs at the store when we're shopping, on buildings when we're driving in car, and in books when we're reading. They're always there as fun things to look for, talk about, and in those crucial moments, distract him from something else! (: I have always loved to read, and Quinn's love for letters makes me so excited about the day when he starts reading.

Sorry this video is a little long and has an odd location. It takes place in the bathtub because his foam bath letters are in there, and he loves to recite them. We tried to get most of the letters he knows on it.

Little Music Man

2008-07-20T11:37:00.004-05:00

Quinn, like all babies, loves music and dancing, and lately he's gotten into singing more. He'll catch me by surprise by singing words from songs we're listening to on cd or the radio, meaning we listen to almost solely kids' cds or Christian music now! He has a couple favorite songs: "The Wheels on the Bus", "Jesus Loves Me", "Twinkle Twinkle", and "Snuggle Puppy" ( I finally learned the real tune to that book!). If you can forgive my singing voice, here are two little snippets of Quinn singing some of his favorites. He's a little zombie-ish because it was during lunch after church today, so he really needed his nap!

Beautiful Boy

2008-07-18T22:25:00.000-05:00

I know I'm the mom, but these pictures take my breath away. Our friend Justin Ulrich took these without us even knowing when we were at a 4th of July cookout. We were surprised and awed when we got them this week and promptly called him to do another photo shoot for Quinn's year and a half pictures. I just can't believe how beautiful and All-American Quinn looks. : )

Mickey Mouse

2008-07-18T22:18:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before how much Quinn loves Mickey Mouse. Keep in mind, we don't really watch t.v. ever, so this love comes only from seeing the "Hot Dog" song at the end of Mickey's Clubhouse one time and loving the song, and the mouse, ever since. We have discovered that you can watch the "Hot Dog" song and the theme song videos on YouTube, so Q frequently asks to do that. And I usually oblige, even though that means we'll have to watch it no fewer than 10 times. My sister was holding Quinn on her lap while they were watching the clips over and over the other day, and I just had to capture Quinn's expressions. Keep in mind, he has seen it A MILLION times, yet he is thrilled and surprised every time. That pure joy and wonder are such precious qualities of little kids!

Hackney Visit

2008-07-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

These last few weeks have just been a whirlwind of all kinds of fun activities. Last weekend, we had our annual Albert-Hackney Reunion. Our really good friends Chuck and Traci Hackney and their son Drew came to see us as part of our agreement to take turns hosting each other every summer. Since about 2 miles from the Hackneys is Lake Michigan and 2 miles from us is, well, WalMart, we were so grateful they were willing to come south to see us! It was of course nearly impossible to capture a 1 yr old and a 2 yr old in the same frame, but here are two pics of the boys. We loved having them visit and can't wait to see them again soon!

Normal Weekend, Continued

2008-07-08T12:47:00.002-05:00

I usually post collages of pictures so I can include a lot without it being overkill. This time, though, I just can't choose between all the great pictures my mom took this weekend while we were visiting my parents! I love how these pictures really seem to capture Quinn's personality, so I hope you don't mind if I post several from our visit to the spray park. We had a great time in my hometown, and Quinn loved exploring everywhere we went!

Wearing Poppa's hat, and looking oh-so-round and still a baby. (:

Sweet boy!

There's the cheesy face again!

Walking--and swinging--between Poppa and Daddy

2008-07-07T19:34:00.002-05:00

Such a happy kid, all the time!!

Head down, on a mission.

Normal Weekend

2008-07-06T14:09:00.003-05:00

We've been enjoying spending the weekend with my parents, and my dad caught this video of Andy and Quinn playing with an exercise ball. We just cracked up at how he immediately knew how to make noises with it.

More party pics

2008-07-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

!
Here are a couple more pics from Sunday's party. I still don't have a very close-up pic of the "birthday boy" himself, Papa Lou, but I really like these pictures (thanks for sending them, Kamryn!). The top left picture is us with Uncle Brent, a faithful blog reader. (: Andy and I visited him in San Francisco when I was pregnant with Quinn. Sunday was the first time we've seen him since, so he was able to meet Quinn! The two pics of Q are of his new "cheesy" face. When you say "cheese", that's the face he makes. I think all kids go through that phase around this age, so I'm sure we'll have some goofy looking pictures for a little while. The last picture is of our little dancing boy breaking it down with Daddy to the music of the live band. (:

2008-06-29T21:45:00.001-05:00

Today we went up to the South Bend area to celebrate Andy's Grandpa's 75th birthday. It was a long day, since we didn't leave until after church this morning and came back home after the party. Still, it was a lot of fun, and Quinn loved all the attention he got. I actually didn't get many pictures at all, but these three I really liked.

Look at how happy Quinn is sitting like a big boy with his cousins (actually, second cousins). We love the Klawitters and wish we saw them more! And I just love this picture.

This is Quinn's new "cheesy" face. How cute is the picture of these three? We stopped by to see Andy's mom and her husband Dennis at her beautiful store in Lakeville. I hadn't seen it since it opened in September, so I was really excited. I love this picture too!

We also were able to visit with Quinn's Great-Grandma, or "Gigi", as we call her. She hadn't seen Quinn walking yet, so it was fun to show her all his tricks. (:

Quinn and the Kuhns

2008-06-26T19:41:00.001-05:00

Our great friends the Kuhns came over for dinner the other night. It was a tentative plan, as Virginia was 5 days overdue with their third child. Happily, little Simon (isn't that such a cute name?!) held off on arriving until just a few days ago, so we were able to enjoy having them over. Quinn LOVES the Kuhn boys. He said their names Colin (Nah-nin) and Issac (I-ick) all day before they came and all day the next day. He loves to do whatever they do, and they are play really well with him. The top left pic in this collage is from May '07, just to show how they've grown. I absolutely love that picture with Issac (barely) refraining from grabbing Quinn's head. (:

And check out this gorgeous rainbow we saw tonight! It started pouring rain even though the sun was out. I LOVE rainbows. I love how beautiful they are, and I love how they are a symbol of a promise from God. They make me thank God so much for loving us enough to create such an unnecessary yet breathtakingly beautiful aspect of nature. I think this is the best rainbow I've ever seen.

Sunday Fun

2008-06-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

We had so much fun this afternoon discovering a new park near us. When we got back from vacation, a few people told me about this new park 10 minutes from our house that had an awesome spray park. Not only does it have a great spray park, but it has the coolest playground equipment (like the swing Q and I are on in the above pic). Quinn had soooo much fun (so did Andy and I)! I can't wait to go back. I'm sure we'll be regulars! These kinds of afternoons are why I love summer. (: