Counting

We caught a couple videos of Quinn counting tonight... while she learned how fun it was to count and jump off the bottom stair. Don't worry, no toddlers were harmed in the filming of this blog.

Happy Christmas Week!

It's almost Christmas! Here's wishing you a week filled with the Christmas spirit!

Fun with Annabel

We had a playdate on Saturday with the Koopmas fam, so Quinn could see her bestie before Christmas and give her the little tutu we made her. Quinn absolutely adores Annabel and talks about her all the time. Here are a few pictures of the two cuties cuddling on the chair.

18 months

Yesterday our little girl turned 18 months old. Holy smokes, a whole year and a half has gone by! First, here's a little "before and after" of Quinn a year ago and then at her latest photoshoot with Amy Allen. 

Those little eyes have gotten bluer and she has so much more (RED) hair! For our 18-month update, here's what Quinn is up to these days:

• Counting! Tonight she counted to seven all by herself (twice). Unfortunately I haven't gotten this on video yet. I'm trying, but our little girl has a mind of her own. 

• Please-Otay! We've really been working on manners and Quinn is doing a great job. She'll say "please" and "thank-you" often without being prompted and is awesome when we ask "what do you say?" Her new thing now is she'll say "please-otay" because she's used to hearing us say "okay" after she says please. It's hilarious, but a little habit we're trying to break. :)

• Go-Go-Puppy! She has a lot of favorite books, but her favorite one is Go Dog Go, otherwise known as Go-Go-Puppy. She knows a lot of the words and she's catching on to all the opposites in the book. She also says "GOOD-BYE!" as we read through the "do you like my hat?" part. It's sooo cute!

• Christmas! She can't point out all the fun things out for Christmas in our house: Baby Jesus, Scout (our Elf on the Shelf), the tree, the star, mistletoe, Santa says "ho, ho, ho," etc. It makes Christmas so fun.

• Friends! She can't get enough out of naming her friends (from school, from Des Moines, her family, etc.). When we look at Christmas cards and name the people in the pictures she asks for "more-more" when we're done. 

• Music! The love of music is in this girl and I couldn't be happier. We've been listening to Beethoven in the car and she'll ask for more when the music stops or gets quiet, and will clap after each movement. She'll also ask for us to play music on the TV and will dance whenever she hears a tune she likes. We've been able to attend music class a little more lately and she absolutely loves it. It warms my heart seeing the love of music in her so much!

• Love! Her hugs and kisses are the absolute best and she now tells us that she loves us, which is just amazing. We love her so much and have the absolute most fun with her. Happy 18 months Quinn Marie!

Holiday Fun

We had a wonderful weekend with Quinn Marie! (How many times have I said that?)

Friday night we hosted our wonderful friends Adam & Monica and Erin & Billy over for dinner. Quinn got to stay up for part of the fun and tried fondue for the first time. (Of course she loved it.) Saturday we stocked up on more Christmas gifts (all local!), played at home and cheered the Jayhawks onto victory over #2 Ohio State. Quinn has gotten very good at saying "Rock Chalk Jayhawk." That's my girl! She's also counting consistently to five, and sometimes to ten as long as we say after each number, "what comes next." Last night she counted to five all by herself when she thought we weren't paying attention!

And today we went to church for the big Christmas celebration then had lunch at Tartine, a fabulous new French restaurant in West Des Moines. And lucky for Miss Quinn, Santa was there! Good thing she had on her Christmas tree dress from Josie! The rest of the day we played at home with our sweetie and just ate up all of her fun personality. We are so blessed to have this little girl in our lives!

This last pic is of Quinn saying "ho, ho, ho" just like Santa. We hope you all are enjoying your holiday preparations as much as Quinn! :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

We finally decorated our Christmas tree and while we were dressing up the tree, we decided to dress up Quinn too!

She had a ton of fun in her little tutu as our Christmas ballerina and we had a ton of fun with her!

Road Trippin'

With no family in the state of Iowa, Quinn is quite used to spending time in the car. And lucky for us she's usually pretty good at it. (Knocking, knocking, knocking on wood here!)

We had an especially nice trip home from Alexandria this past Sunday. We read books (mostly "Go Dog Go" over and over again), listened to Beethoven and she took about an hour long nap. The most fun came toward the end of the trip with three things:

1. The whole family rocked out to Justin Roberts. Quinn was boppin' her head and doing the motions (and I'll admit it, so were we). Cheesy good fun.

2. We stopped at Pizza Ranch in Story City. We only had one pit-stop and it was a good one. Quinn was so excited to have pizza, but her favorite thing was the cottage cheese. (That's my girl!) Here are a few pictures of her trying to get every last bit.

3. We prayed. As we were entering the metro area, Quinn said "amen" and wanted us to pray. Jay led us in prayer thanking God for all our blessings. After each prayer Quinn would say "more, more." Definitely one of those feel-good parenting moments! I just love that little girl!

She's Got the Moves Like Jagger

Quinn's got the music in her and I just love it! She saw the speaker with music at the Alexandria Christmas kick-off and was stuck there for awhile just dancing. She melts my heart!

Christmas at the Fort

This year was our first time to participate in an Alexandria tradition, Christmas at the Fort. The Friday after Thanksgiving the town hosts a Christmas celebration with popcorn, cider, reindeers, carolers and Santa. (And it's all FREE. I heart small towns!)

The big girls (Grandma Nan, Auntie Brooke & me) had some nice girl time downtown, then the dads met us at the fort with the little girls, Alleyne & Quinn. (Grandpa Gary stayed home with sleepy Zoe.) We were fortunate that the weather was very mild for Minnesota in November and we had a great time!

It was hard to eat popcorn with mittens on, so luckily Grandma Nan obliged Quinn with lots of "bites."

Quinn got to pet real reindeer!

And we saw horses too. (We're getting pretty excited for another visit to Calla's barn!)

Hugs for Grandma!

Quinn wasn't too sure about Santa Claus...

but at least there weren't any tears!

Fall Fun

We had a great day with Quinn Marie today. (But let's be honest, when isn't it a good day with Quinn Marie?) We snuggled and played in bed this morning, hung out with books at home and then had the one and only Amy Allen take our photos this afternoon. Quinn had a great time playing in the leaves and running the opposite way of where Amy would prefer. But because Amy's one of the best around, we're sure she got good shots anyway. :)

After our photoshoot we strolled around IngerDahl's and got to see a few friends including Chuck Miranda, our Symphony's librarian and 2nd violist. (Who doesn't love Chuck?!) Tonight we had brie, champagne (or milk for guests under 21) and mussels for dinner. Well, Quinn played with one mussel and mostly ate leftover chicken parmesean. However, when she got the cheese she said my favorite quote of the night, "oooh cheese! thank you!" That's my girl!

You can see her cute little sweater dress from our photoshoot today. I just love it!

And because it was requested by one of my favorite mommies-to-be, here is a picture of Jay & I all dressed up for the Nyemaster law firm party last night. We hit Glen Oaks while Quinn played with Annabel and our rockin' DG babysitter Anna. We had a great weekend and hope you did too!

17 Months of Quinn Marie

Yesterday our little redhead turned 17 months old. It's so hard to believe it's been almost a year and a half. On one hand it seems like just yesterday that we welcomed her into our lives and on the other hand it seems hard to imagine life without her.

Our doctor told us that Quinn's in the "fun" stage and let us know we would be normal for saying all the time "she is so smart." Well that doc is right because everyday it seems like Quinn is amazing us with something new. Here are the highlights:

She's clueing into so much and really repeating what we say. She loves to say "Oh Boy!" and "Alright." We also learned tonight to say "careful" when Mommy is driving and "hold tight" to Mommy's wallet. (Yes, I let her hold on to my wallet after we check out at the store. She just loves it.)

She loves her family. She loves to rattle off the names of all her family members and points out everyone in our family photos.

She loves her school. When we ask her about school she can name all of her classmates and her teachers too. Then when we come to pick her up, she gets really excited and runs to the poster wall to show us all the colors, shapes and letters she's learning.

She's fair & balanced. If she gives one person a hug, kiss, high five or "cheers" then everyone else in the room gets one too. I hope she always knows how to make everyone feel included and loved.

She's learning things! She's starting to identify colors, she's rocking at puzzles and can pick up the right shape when we ask her.

She's so friendly. She loves to say "hi" and "bye" to everyone we see when we're out and about and she usually flashes a nice smile for everyone too.

She makes sure we know where to sit. Her new thing is to pat the floor and say our names until we sit next to her. This also goes for puppies or any visitors in the room. Her new favorite book is Mrs. Wishy Washy's Farm and we all have our assigned seating in front of her crib for story time -- Mildred too.

She can pose for pictures. We can now get her to stop and say "cheese" to pose for a photo. This is quite handy, but we have to act quick because it doesn't last long!

She's been able to climb the stairs since she was 8 months old, but now she can "scoot scoot" down them.

And because this blog also needs to be fair & balanced, I must tell you that's she's learned how to throw a fit. But we're working on it and hopefully getting better!

And without further ado, here are a few photos of our little 17-month-old!

Sunday we visited our favorite Mexican restaurant and this time we let her eat the lollipop from the server. She loved it!

Monday Madness

Who needs a crib when you have a laundry basket? Or a toy car for that matter?

And no that isn't pink marker on Quinn's right cheek, that is a lovely souvenir from the playground today.

Happy Monday from our crazy (but sweet) toddler!!

Btw this blogpost was done from my phone! Fancy!

Q & E

We had a visit from the Coffmans this weekend! Quinn had so much fun with Papa, G.G. and Uncle E... emphasis on Uncle E. It is absolutely beyond adorable to watch these two together.

Reading books...

Giving hugs...

Grabbing feet....

Doing push-ups...

Getting a ride while Eric is doing push-ups...

Getting a "horsey" ride...

Making Eric stand exactly where she wants...

Right next to Quinn!

Quinn is so lucky to have such a wonderful uncle! And I'm so lucky to have such a great brother! We love you Uncle E!!!

Happy Halloween: Then & Now

Happy Halloween everyone! You've seen pictures of Quinn in her Halloween costume, but here she is in her Halloween outfit!

I thought it would be fun to see Quinn's Halloween photo from last year. Same chair, same cute girl and a similar cute outfit from G.G., but other than that so much has changed!