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!