Happy Halloween!

I have been so excited for our first Halloween with Quinn. I have come to find that holidays are a lot more fun when you have kids. I really wanted him to be something unique and great, and we came up with the perfect idea. When we were in Park City 2 months ago with Christian's family we watched hours of this cartoon Derek brought called The Last Airbender. It is geared toward smaller kids, has a good balance of goofy and suspense, and it is entertaining for adults too. We couldn't help but notice that Quinn resembles the avatar, Ang, so that's what he was for Halloween.

I'm really pleased with how good his costume looked for how little effort I had to put into it. I just found a long-sleeved, mustard yellow shirt and put it on him backwards since there was a giant robot on the front. For his shawl I found a long-sleeved, orange shirt and cut it halfway up his torso, cut the arms short, and cut a slit up the middle and walla! I had an air bender costume. The blue arrow on his head was the defining piece, and we just used blue eyeshadow. It went on easy and came off just as easy, and we didn't have to deal with messy face paints.

His costume was a great success. I had never heard of this character until two months ago, but all the kids and families we came across knew exactly who he was. Also, there were no duplicates. I saw a lot of the typical superheroes and cuddly baby animals, but no other air benders. I didn't hear anyone else shouting out to other little kids about their costumes, but a lot of people were pointing out the avatar, and kids shouted to him from across the room. It will be hard to top this year's Halloween.

 Christian's coworkers took pictures because he looked so much like Ang.

 Look at that baby! He's air bending!

 The exterior for the new Provo Temple

 The Air Blender!

 Even Momo joined in for the festivities.

A Few Firsts

I have been dreading this ever since I had Quinn....what happens when I get sick? Sometimes the title of stay-at-home mom often gets the word "just" thrown in front of it. Okay, a little more than sometimes, a lot of the time, but there is nothing "just" about it. I could go on a rant right now, but I will stick to the central idea here which is getting sick.  As a mom I can't take a sick day and stay home from work so I can rest and nurse myself back to health. I still have to wake up with the baby in the middle of the night, stay awake and play while he's awake, and wait until he sleeps so I can lay down. Babies don't let you take time to be sick. Luckily, I have the best mother-in-law (aka flu fairy) to help me out. Mary Ann brought me two brown paper bags full of everything I could ever need to feel better. From face masks to oranges, lemons, a juicer, pudding, jello, soup, muffins, cayenne pepper, apples, cough drops, sanitizing spray, homemade grape juice, a gallon of orange juice...I hope I'm not forgetting anything, but you get the idea. She also took Quinn for the rest of the evening so I could rest. I am so blessed to have her in my life. I am still on the mends, but being sick hasn't been as bad as it could have been because I have such a great family.

Having a child has made me realize how much I need help from others. I never thought that having difficulty asking for help can be a problem, but it is. Most of the time I will just try to figure things out on my own and only ask for help when I really need it. That got me through my education and the first twenty-four years, but now I am in a new phase of my life where I have switched from being a full-time student to full-time mom. I am beginning to realize that giving service isn't the hard part, it's receiving it that's difficult. And sometimes giving my all to Quinn just doesn't quite fulfill all of his needs, or mine, like when I've been sick. It's something to think about and improve on.

Quinn is growing up so fast! I feel like in the last week he has hit so many milestones. He can sit up and crawl now with no problems. Leeroy is all flustered because Quinn can get Leeroy anytime he is on the floor. Quinn stood up using his swing to pull up on (we really need to get that thing down, but we need to make room to store it first). I didn't get to witness that event, but I'm glad Christian was able to see one of his firsts. Finally, and I don't know how I feel about this one, Quinn has two teeth coming in on the bottom. He won't be my gummy baby anymore. I'm not ready for him to have teeth because before I know it he will be one year old, and a toddler, and he won't be my sweet little baby. I know it sounds cliche, but he is growing up too fast. There is nothing I can do to stop it, so I will just have to enjoy every second, and I do.

  
 

Crawling (optional)

So, Quinn is now an expert at his inch-worm, army crawling combo kit- so good that he is getting into everything he shouldn't in the cutest way. When he gets really desperate, like on his way to a cord, the cat, or the strap on my camera he may start to do something that is closely related to the typical baby crawl. I'm a little worried he might skip crawling all together because this child loves to be on his feet, and jumping is still one of his favorite pastimes. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my baby boy grow and progress. I'm excited for all the things to come while savoring every moment during this fun stage in his life.

Face Swap

It has become a tradition that whoever wants to become a part of our family night needs to swap faces with whomever brought them to family night (preferably their significant other or their significant other's sibling will do). Either way it's really funny to swap faces, and the pictures always resurface on the apple TV for a guaranteed laugh. I can't believe I am putting this on the internet but here is an example of a classic face swap. It's me and Derek mashed together; sadly I don't have the other half of the picture which is his body with my face, but this will give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

I apologize if you threw up a little. Christian hates it so much. It is gross and terrible, but I think it's hilarious. Quinn officially became a part of our family night by switching faces with his mom and dad. I feel a little bad that he did this without any choice in the matter, but only a little. The results should not disappoint, and these will probably follow him for the rest of his life, but what fun is it being a parent if you can't embarrass your child every once in a while. Wait until you see what we do for Halloween! Hey, I can have my fun until he starts making his own choices.

P.S. Derek and Madison...you're next!

6 Months!

I apologize to my one avid fan (you know who you are) for the large gap between postings. For some reason it's hard to find the time when I'm getting thrown up on, the cat is getting peed on, I only sleep for hour and a half blocks, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and taking care of my six month old...need I say more? Needless to say it has been a crazy six months. But it isn't about me anymore; I have given up regular showers, a full night's sleep, and makeup and hair time for my 6 month old baby Quinn, and I couldn't be happier. Who needs to shower anyways? Quinn has been so much fun I don't even miss feeling clean. His quick smiles and array of cute expressions can keep me going all day.

Quinn had his six month doctor's appointment on Tuesday. He weighs 18 lbs and is 27.75 inches long. His weight is in the 60th percentile and his height is in the 90th, so I have a tall, skinny boy. He is really good at army crawling, and he can now get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. He just needs to coordinate moving his hands and knees together. He loves getting a hold of cell phones and ipods and pulling hair.

 Leeroy is the most exciting thing in our little apartment. It doesn't matter if Quinn is crying or eating or trying to fall asleep; he will always cry out when he sees the Leeroy kitty walking by. Leeroy still doesn't know what to think of this baby, so he always keeps an eye on him.

Since Quinn is learning how to sit up and crawl he has this really funny pose when he stops halfway in between being on his tummy and crawling. He lays on his side like he is posing on a beach for a photo shoot.

Our favorite thing to do is visit dad for lunch and look at all the pretty sparkly things in the jewelry cases and maybe even try a few on...I think this one looks pretty good on me!

 We have been waiting so long for it to cool down so I can walk with Quinn anytime of the day and not just early morning and late evening. We were granted maybe three days of 80 degree weather before it turned cold enough where now I need to worry about trying to keep him warm. At least he gets to wear this adorable hat Mariah gave him before his head gets too big.

And of course I will throw in all of the other random pictures that I have taken since my last post that are too cute not to share. This video is dedicated to Mom since I know she is too far away to see Quinn's everyday charm, but we look forward to spending baby's first Christmas with Wisconsin Grandma and Grandpa (what he will call them is yet to be determined).

Sure was wishin I was catchin some fishes

For Labor Day weekend Chris and I went up to Strawberry with his dad and Derek. We were so excited for a plentiful day of fishing since Christian's friend told us he got 60+ fish the day before (Jerry's a liar!) We got up at 3:45, dropped Quinn off with Grandma and headed out to enjoy our day off. The weather held out, but everything else fell apart. Our boat we rented cut out every thirty seconds when we were in full throttle trying to get across the lake, and it made a horrible screeching sound the gradually got louder and louder until Derek cut the engine. Don't worry, it returned during our last hour to accompany us in to the marina. And the worst part of all was the fishing. I caught three, one I didn't even know I had on and I drug it through the reservoir during my 45 minute nap. Christian and Derek both caught one fish. Other than that we had no bites! It was so dead; we couldn't believe it. Despite the fishing, we enjoyed the company and being outside, but next time I really hope there's a little more action.

Side Note: On our way to family night we drove through an isolated thunderstorm and this was the result.

Just Because...

First I would like to congratulate Christian on his new job! Last week he got to say so long to the elements, foul-mouthed kids, and his beard. He is now working full-time in a sweet climate controlled showroom surrounded by beautiful, sparkly things---that's right, my man is selling jewelry! He started his first week at Goldsmith Jewelers and is excited for all the new skills he will learn and the new doors this may open. The only downside is that Quinn and I have to adjust to being home alone until 6:30ish everyday. I know that's pretty normal; we're just used to him being home earlier than that.

Quinn has started his first attempts at crawling, and he cannot hold still! He is all over the place. I'm not sure if he has any specific destinations in mind, but he is definitely mobile. The other night at Melissa's mom's house Quinn took advantage of the large, carpeted floor space. Cory put out a pink pen for Quinn to "crawl" to, and it may have taken him a while with a few detours along the way, but he reached the object of his interest.

I have missed out on posting a few random pictures that are worthy to be shared. I think Quinn might be realizing what a camera is and how to pose. If you don't believe me, these pictures are proof...