Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our little pumpkin!

This Week with Quinn

I have to admit that as a former English major and teacher, I feel badly about not writing more on this blog. The problem is, I think entry after entry would be pretty much the same thing: I love my son beyond words, and being a mommy is the most fun job I've ever had (by far)! I hope that the pictures I post provide expressions of what life is like with our little guy and how much we treasure this awesome blessing from God.

p.s. A special hello to my dad, who is in Hong Kong! We love you and miss you!

The other day Quinn introduced his best buddy Will to his adorable cousin Fiona. Here Fiona plays coy, Will enjoys some of her toys, and well, I'm not sure what Quinn is doing! Nan and I joked that he needed some gold chains to bling out his low-cut outfit. The buttons would not stay buttoned!

Just the morning of this picture, Quinn discovered that he could reach the keys of the piano. When cousin Carys came over later that day and started playing, Quinn had to join in.
This chair and table set in the kitchen is a favorite place for Q to practice walking from chair to table to chair. He's very proud of his new skills!
He is also so proud of how he can climb up stairs! This adorable outfit was a gift from "Grandma" Marcia. We love it!

Quinn played with Colin and Issac Kuhn and Rees Knapp yesterday. Everyone was so squirmy, it was hard to capture a picture of all 4. I can't believe how much like a little boy Quinn looks now with the other boys!

Yesterday was the first day that Quinn went all three meals without any baby food at all. He's done great with table food; it's just been a matter of me having enough of it prepared at the time he's ready to eat! Yesterday he ate bananas rolled in crushed Rice Krispies (to make them easier to pick up) and blueberry applesauce for breakfast, spinach lasagna and veggies for lunch, and chicken pot pie and a sweet potato for dinner! You cannot believe the amount of food my little piggy can pack away! So far, there really isn't anything he's disliked.
In this picture, he's showing everyone that he's eating lasagna and making a big mess.
In this picture, he's signing for some more lasagna. This is the only sign he seems to have really caught on to yet. That definitely fits his little piggy personality! : )

Pumpkin Patch

It was the most beautiful fall day today, and we had so much fun picking our own pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. Of course, I was more excited about the pictures we took than the actual pumpkins we picked, but that part was really fun too. We hope you enjoy these!
You can see all 4 of Quinn's teeth in this one!
What is more round--the pumpkin or Quinn's head? : )

Quinn admires the pumpkin we found for him.

More Pics

Here are couple more fun recent pics.
This first one is a pumpkin hat made by Quinn's Grandma Mary. She makes all kinds of wonderful things and sells them (with many other clothing and gift items) at the new, beautiful store she just opened in Lakeville, Indiana. If you are ever going north on US 31, stop in Lakeville (just outside of South Bend) and visit A Mary Heart. She has everything from stylish women's clothing to handmade baby items.
I love this next pic of Q because it shows how blue his eyes are. People always comment on his eyes. That's the first most common comment, followed by, "Where'd he get his blonde hair?!"
In this next pic, my sweet, joyful darling is laughing at a Baby Einstein dvd. He doesn't watch it often (it's just for very crabbypants moments), but he sure gets a kick out of it when he does!
And finally, our recent 9 1/2 month pictures captured his current signature face--the OOH! face--which is usually accompanied by the ooh sound and is so sweet. I feel like I'm just so impressive to him when he oohs and aahs at the little things I do, like turn on the water in the sink or blow bubbles. : )

Outdoor Pics

I haven't posted for awhile, but that's just because we've been keeping pretty busy. I'm also not taking as many pictures because I really want a new camera and am always so frustrated by how poorly indoor pictures turn out on the camera we have. Hopefully soon we'll be getting the same camera these pics of Quinn and me were taken on by my mom.
Last weekend Quinn got to see his Uncle Johnny and Grandma and Poppa. It was so fun spending lots of playing time with Uncle Johnny, who came from Florida to go to the Colts vs. Tampa Bay game with Andy. The leaves are just starting to turn on the tree line in our backyard, so we took some pictures with the beautiful backdrop.


There is no better feeling in the world than holding your baby in your arms.

Three handsome Albert boys in their Colts gear!

Lots of new stuff!

I haven't really been taking a lot of pictures lately because we have had a ridiculously fun amount of new things going on lately and have been very busy. In the past 2 weeks, Quinn has
started clapping with 2 hands, waving bye-bye, pulling to stand on EVERYTHING (and often bonking his head a lot too), moving from toy to toy while standing, drinking from a sippy cup (I forgot to try it much until we had his 9 mo. appointment), and he's gotten his 2 front teeth (bringing the teeth total to 4). Plus, he's a little monkey-see, monkey-do imitating tons of sounds and facial expressions. He is SOOO much fun to be around, and I never know what to expect from him day to day. Last week, he and I both discovered how many things he could all of a sudden reach while he stood in his crib after waking up from naps, leading to a nursery rearrangement that evening. Today, while I was talking to my sister, he decided to climb up the stairs to reach me. Even though that means more monitoring for me, I was also excited because as with the aforementioned accomplishments, that is a sticker for his sticker calendar, and we've rarely gone a day without a sticker in the last few weeks!
So, here are a few recent pictures just to have some new things to look at.


Can you really look at this picture without laughing? This is Quinn entering his newest toy, which is this season of garage sale-ing's pinnacle for me. I have wanted this toy, the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Home, for probably 3 months now and planned on it being a birthday present since I had never seen it in a garage sale. It is a $65 toy, but it gets rave reviews from lots of people and definitely can last for years. Well, last week I found it for $5. That's all. I told Andy I can now rest until the sales begin again in the spring. Seriously, this is the coolest toy. Just look at Quinn's face! He loves it. ( :

Quinn makes the most hilarious faces. At first, I thought it was common to make as many as he does, but people comment on it so often, apparently it isn't. His OH! face is a real crowd pleaser.
I love love love that he sleeps like this quite frequently. Is there anything much cuter?!
Here are the baby cousins in their matching Old Navy outfits. We didn't know they each had these outfits. Fiona is getting soooo close to crawling, and it will be a blast to watch them tear around the house together.

Illinois Weekend

First of all, I want to send a special message to a dedicated reader of this blog. My sister Carolyn's best friend reads this, which I just think is so neat, and she's getting married this weekend! Kari, congratulations on your wedding!! I hope everything goes beautifully and you and Grant have just the wedding you've always dreamed of. : )

This past weekend, we went home to Illinois to visit my parents. It was so great to be home, and my parents were very entertained by all of Quinn's new tricks.

These first 3 pictures are of Quinn admiring his "girlfriend", the baby on the back of the rice cereal box. Andy and I have named her Gerbie, after Gerber baby. Quinn loves her. He loves to look at her, and as you can see in the third picture, he even gives her kisses. I think it's so cute, which of course is because she's not real. Thirteen years from now, I might not think it's so cute if Quinn is kissing girls! ( ; There she is, the beautiful Gerbie.
It was gorgeous weather, so Quinn enjoyed some time with Poppa, Daddy, and Oliver while my mom and I went shopping. And Quinn had a good time just cuddling with Grandma for awhile too!

Like mother, like son

I guess this funny face is genetic. The picture of me was taken when I was one, and it's part of family lore how my parents were able to catch it on film. When Quinn starting making the same face, usually when eating, I knew I had to take a picture so I could compare the pics side by side. Everyone outside of our families think Q looks just like Andy, but I definitely see resemblance to me here!

Cute pics

These two are "artistic" pics I took the other day over at my sister's house. I'm trying to capture pictures of all Quinn's baby parts: hands, ears, feet, etc. My squirmy-wormy is making it a long process, but I really liked these shots.
I just had to post these pics from this afternoon. I love this outfit on Quinn, so I took him outside to take some pictures. Obviously, he's been outside tons of times before, but today the grass completely captivated him, and I could hardly get him to look up! I think these pictures are just darling because they show his little mind processing what grass is.



Check out the sun glinting in his fuzzy hair! And no, I didn't let him eat the grass. : )
This next picture makes me smile. Here my two little guys are waving goodbye to Daddy. The door is covered in little handprints, the upper ones from my niece Carys and the lower ones from Quinn.

Cruisin'

One of my favorite things to do right now is go garage sale-ing for fun stuff for Quinn. To date, we have only purchased 4 toys for Quinn in the stores. Everything else is from either garage sales or from other people. I have so much fun on Fridays and Saturdays finding incredible deals on all kinds of toys. One of my finds last week was this push around buggy for $1. After I ordered new wheels and stickers from Step 2 for a couple more dollars, it's like new and Quinn LOVES it! Andy and I get a kick out of seeing our little guy cruisin' around the neighborhood.
Hey look, Grandma Mary! I drive a red bug car just like you!
Quinn also had fun in the swings at the playground.

Some more lunchtime fun

Yes, I had some fun during lunch today, snapping several pics and taking video. I love being a stay-at-home mom, what can I say? I caught a pic of Quinn's face during another bite of avocado.
And just in case you think Q was miserable the whole time, this picture proves he wasn't. After he threw his bib down just to emphasize being done with trying avocado, the lunch of squash and applesauce continued with success. Here Quinn shows his correct response to, "How big is Quinn?". He answers the question with about 85-90% accuracy now. I am soooo excited about how much he imitates us and learns now because soooo many more fun tricks are to come!
Here is a video clip of Quinn's SOOO Big! trick.

Quinn tries avocado

Since the other video post worked well, I have a couple more I'll try to post in the next day or so. This video is of Quinn trying avocado. I'll make a confession: we tried it today because I read the other day that (the actress) Amanda Peet's daughter loves avocado, and it inspired me to try it with Q. Well, the video speaks for itself, but let's just say that apparently Quinn doesn't share his dad's love of guacamole. This is the first time Quinn hasn't liked a food. I gave him credit for trying it several times but didn't push it. We'll try it again another day.

Jersey Boy (and our first video post!)

This was a week of big football games: the Colts' opening game and the next Notre Dame game. I really struggle to care about those things, but I do have fun dressing Quinn to coordinate with the games! Thanks to the McCans, we have an adorable Manning jersey onesie to take us through the Colts season. We also have an awesome #10 ND jersey (Brady Quinn's number) for the Irish games. If I would've remembered we had that jersey, Quinn could have debuted it last week at the tailgate. Oh well!

The real Peyton Manning isn't close to this cute!
Hey Daddy! If I bite your finger, will you get off the phone?!!

What did you think of that play, Daddy? Is our team doing well?

Woo-hoo! The Irish scored a touchdown (which is one more than they score last week!).

And here's a flashback to the last time Q and A watched a ND game together. My, how he's grown! (Q, that is.)

And, we'll see how this turns out. It's okay footage of Quinn playing and crawling, which he started doing in full force this week. In fact, tonight at church he was with the crawlers in the nursery! He's already gone up a grade! I can't stand to hear myself on video because I always talk in such a high voice, so my apologies. You'll also see two new tricks we're working on, which are Q raising his arms to "SOO big!" when we ask, "How big is Quinn?" and getting him to clap (which he can do but doesn't while I'm filming). Enjoy!