UPDATES

For some odd reason I actually got inspired to write a post this morning!  I started a real, live scrapbook in the spring to document our lives.  Which leaves me not feeling like I really need to post a bunch of pictures/updates on the blog anymore.  We will see what happens.  There is a lot going on as you will see...

1.  I am 25ish weeks pregnant.  I am not totally sure.  Need to check my phone.  This pregnancy is so different from the first time.  This baby kicks and moves like crazy.  My desire to nest and have energy came to me much later this time.  And, I have done NOTHING in preparation for this sweet girl.  Anybody have a crib they want to sell?  Doesn't look like Quinn is going to giver hers up anytime soon.

2.  We bought a house!  This happened in August, but it has been a whirlwind every since.  Living in a house has been such a blessing and has really helped with my sanity.  I am so grateful.  We are loving our neighborhood.  I wasn't expecting to love being in a neighborhood as much as I do.  There are a lot of little kids and young families.  The families are super friendly and that gives me a lot of peace of mind. 

3.  Quinn is becoming such a big girl.  She is incredibly smart and picks up on things so quickly.  I could go on and on because she is so busy these days.  We had a blast on Halloween.  She was a black kitty...a very, very cute one.  She loved passing out candy and insisted on walking and carrying her own candy bucket throughout the neighborhood.  "Quinn, you want me to carry you?"--as we walk at a snail's pace--"No!"  She is Miss Independent.

4.   I decided to close/take a break from Lemon Bee Studio.  It practically closed itself as I have barely done anything but fill orders since being pregnant.  A part of me kept thinking I would snap back into it.  After praying about it, it became apparent that this is just the beginning of a new season.  Part of this new season means learning when to say "not now."  It's a hard discipline for me to learn but I am finding a lot of freedom in it.  I am excited for what the Lord will do as I open myself up to the new things He wants to do through me.  I just bought "The Best Yes" by Lysa TerKeurst.  A girl from my BSF class said she is really enjoying it.

Well there ya have it!  In a nut shell :)

18 months

Well summer came and went, and I didn't post even once!  I'm not sure if I'll try to catch up a little with a summer post or not.  But, I did want to post about what Quinn has been up to lately.  She reached her 18 month milestone this summer and I don't want to forget all of th fun things she is doing at this stage!

Favorite foods: bananas, grapes, clementines, pasta, pizza, black beans, corn, anything with cheese, pb&j, waffles

Favorite words: banana ("nana"), kitty, no, yeah, shoe, uhh-oh, mommy, "woooooowwww!", snack

Favorite activities: sweeping with her broom, reading books, pushing her mini stroller, going through wallets, "snuggling" with Beacon (she is getting better at being gentle!), being silly and walking around with a blanket on her head, opening and closing doors (waiting to pop out and say "Hiiii!!"), giving hugs and kisses, watching Mickey Mouse or "shows"

Least favorite activities: stopping something fun=50% chance of a tantrum depending on the circumstances, road trips (hah), doctor visits, four teeth have been pushing their way through allll summer---they are all just about broken through now! Yay!!!!

We also left Quinn with my parents for 5 days and I was a mess.  It was so nice to have a break and Quinn did great with them.  But, it was so weird not to have her with us!  She has such a presence in our family and her personality is so defined now that she is getting bigger.  It can be a tiring job but they sure are cute at this age!

Quinn had surgery to get tubes in her ears in August.
It was a rough morning on surgery day but the recovery has gone really well!

Easter 2014

 I'm a little behind here with the blog.  Better late than never, I guess!  Blogging feels like somewhat of a chore right now.  I have been really into making things for Lemon Bee and enjoying the nice weather outside.  Doesn't really leave much motivation for blogging!  Anyway, we had some lovely company over for Easter weekend.  Ben and Kelsey drove up from Charlotte, Topher from Chicago, and Polly from Buffalo.  We are the lucky ones who happen to be a pretty central meeting point! 

 It was SO FUN to watch Quinn get into her Easter Hunt this year!  Last year she was just a tiny baby.  It feels like forever ago!

 Napping definitely made it on the agenda for the weekend ;)

 So, did dirt pudding :)

Matt and I were able to sneak in a nice little walk on Sunday afternoon.  Polly was able to stick around after everyone left, and gave us the gift of free babysitting :)

15 months

Quinn is 15 months!  Here is a recap of what she has been up to....

 

 

 Quinn continues to make babbling noises at all times. 

She loves Beacon more than ever.  I'm not sure if Beacon feels the same way.

Quinn puts her arms up when we say "so big!"

She waves "hi" and "bye."

We are hearing little bits of words in some of her babbling...duck, show, and shoes.

She is pretty much done with her paci and full on replacing it with her thumb.

Also, she has replaced her bottle with a sippy cup.

We also visited Michigan and New York, and Quinn did really well with the car rides! (thank goodness!!)

She loves shoes to put on shoes and will bring them to you to put on her feet.

And, she topped off this month with getting all 4 MOLARS!  Glad that is over with!

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY & FUN, FUN, FUN!!  Pretty much sums it up!

 

Wheaton Girls Weekend

 A few weeks ago I reunited with some of my best friends from college.  We haven't been great about making plans to see each other but we finally made it happen!  We met up in Little Rock and stayed at Lindsey's house.  Lauren flew all the way from California with her little guy, Walker.  We literally did not stop talking all weekend.  It was so nice to relax with friends who know me so well!  We had fun eating out and exploring Little Rock a little bit.  But, my favorite part of the trip was staying up late and talking.  Although, not much has changed since college...I had a pretty hard time staying awake past eleven...haha

 

We couldn't get enough of sweet Walker.  He was sooo good!

 This was the first time I have left Quinn for more than two nights, and the first time I have flown without her since before she was born.  It did feel a little strange at first but I snapped back into being my own independent person pretty quickly...haha  The break was refreshing and I think we all left the weekend feeling encouraged and recharged.  Matt did a great job taking care of Quinn.  He drove with her to NY to stay with his parents for the long weekend.  He made it look so easy.  Well done, Daddy!

 



14 months

I was just thinking how last year at this time I posted an average of twice a week, and now it's more like once a month!  Different season of life I guess!  We are adapting well to our new location.  This city was MADE for families.  It's great!  Between the library, play places, the gym, bible study, and MOPS...we have had plenty to do, which is great since Quinn is down to one nap a day!  I was hesitant to begin the transition of dropping the morning nap, but it's actually really nice.  Plus, with the time change, I am enjoying getting my head on straight before Q wakes up in the morning!  Here is a glimpse of the past month...

 Beacon intruding on bath time

 I have been reading some parenting books this month.  I'm not sure what Quinn thinks about it :/

 Quinn is so cute in the morning with her bottle while she watches a show.  The girl LOVES milk.

 She loves her sleep!

 We survived our first "mommy has the stomach flu and daddy is traveling" incident (luckily, Quinn DIDN'T get sick!!).  I knew it would happen at some point.  Check that one off the list!

 Quinn was having fun discovering the crunchy snow.

 This is just a warning to NOT make monkey bread unless you have plenty of people to eat it.  I'll be paying for that at the gym for the next month!

 We had a taste of some warm weather and went to the playground.  So fun!

I am really enjoying staying at home with Quinn.  I am exhausted by the end of the day, but in the best way.  You can pretty much ask her for an object and she will know what you are talking about, and bring it to you.  We've gotten into a routine of putting away toys at the end of the day. She loves to help.  She always wants to read books and will not hesitate to bring one to you and then plop on your lap.  She is still very independent at nursery and has very little hesitation.  She is attached to her blankie and paci.  She loves shoes and can say "sshhoo" with a high pitched voice.  She isn't a big eater but if you give her anything with cheese on it, she will give in.  Quinn knows how to give kisses--open mouth, tongue out--we need to work on that!  She actually gave a little boy her age a kiss this week.  It was really cute until he bit her finger :)

Transition to Ohio

We have been here for about three weeks now so I thought I would check in to document how things are going.  I knew it would be cold here but I wasn't expecting it to "be the worst winter Ohio has ever had."  The snow doesn't bother me but the extremely cold temperatures + wind is pretty rough.  As far as getting out and exploring, we have  had  a pretty slow start.  Other than that, we feel very comfortable back in the Midwest. It's a nice settled feeling.  I have enjoyed buying my groceries at Meijer and going to the gym that we also belonged to in Chicago.

Quinn has adjusted to her new room really well.  Everything looks very similar to her old room.  Also, our downstairs is totally baby proofed, which has made my life much easier.  The first two weeks of being here Quinn went through a pretty hard core "testing phase."  She was throwing a lot of random tantrums and doing things to get my attention.  I am sure it had something to do with the move and the fact that she just turned one.  But, people are right when they consistency works--even at this age.  It felt like telling her "no" was doing absolutely nothing, but now she IS listening to me (most of the time:)!  Oh, and neither one of us are to keen on this whole giant coat thing.

Quinn has become really attached to this blanket my sister made her and is best friends with her paci.

I am pretty sure I have put on a few pounds since we moved here.  Do I even have to explain why?  

We have found some fun indoor activities that Quinn LOVES.  The playplace at the mall is a hit and who doesn't love the pet store?!

I took Quinn to get her hair cut again.  It was getting out of control.  Even though she wailed the entire time, it was worth it.  She looks cute with the hair trimmed up in the back.

 

 Matt is really enjoying his job, and we are getting used to his new schedule.  It doesn't seem too bad.  He had a lot of travel the other week which went pretty well.  As long as Quinn takes her naps and is healthy, its not so bad when he is away--although we do miss him!   We have also started the church search.  If you know of any good ones in the area, let us know!