Christmas 2013

Does anyone else feel like Christmas snuck up on them this year?!! I was not ready...I wanted to make goodies for our neighbors and send out Christmas cards but did neither. I think that I told myself not to get stressed about all that stuff one day when I went into Walmart (don't do it the weekend after Thanksgiving!). I went in there to get a few Christmas things and I could feel my blood starting to boil...I told myself, this is not Christmas to me. I went home and ordered the rest of my gifts on Amazon. 

We had Cole's work Christmas Party at our house which really kicked us into gear to finish the final touches in our house. Cole stayed up late every night painting and tiling our guest bathroom (which no one even used) so it could be ready. And we finally got new furniture!! It was our Christmas gift to each other. Quinn gave me the gift of sleep for Christmas. Best. Gift. Ever. One night about a week ago she just started sleeping through the night. I don't know why. I'm not going to question it. I am just so so grateful. I think it was also an answer to my prayers...really. 

Cole has a week off right now which is going to be great. We spent Christmas Eve with Cole's family and Christmas Day at my family's. Here are a few pics of the festivities.

The Christmas outfit Aunt Jill got her

Sunday Christmas dress

Quinn loves tv, so when we walked passed a whole wall of them at Target, her jaw literally dropped. 

 

New furniture! My mom and dad even got us new lamps for Christmas since I took this picture. I feel like a grownup now even more than when we bought our house...weird. 

Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!! I'm so grateful for family, yummy food, a warm bed, and for this time of year to remember Jesus Christ's life. I feel very blessed. 

Happy Half Birthday to Quinn

I CANNOT believe that our little Quinn is 6 months old! 

She is getting so big. Every day she does something new and seems even bigger. She is fitting into 9-12 month clothes. She's a little porker. But I love it!! 

She has become a really fun baby. She is full of smiles and squeals. She is so quick to smile, but for some reason she will not giggle unless I break my back and a sweat for her and even then she doesn't really giggle. 

She is starting to get to that stage where she wants momma all the time. She always keeps an eye on me and sometimes gets upset when I leave the room. It makes me feel special, but kinda gets tiring too. 

She recently got her first cold and it was sad to see her not feeling herself and snot dripping down her nose. 

She is a horrible sleeper. She has gotten worse. I wonder if I'll ever sleep again really. Last night I counted and in a 10 hour stretch, she woke up 8 times!! I feel like a drooling zombie on most days. I really think its starting to effect me. I find myself not being able to remember simple words when I'm saying a sentence. Like today, for example, I couldn't remember "shopping cart" I was like trying to explain to Cole "ya know that thing you push around with wheels at the store?...." 

I feel like I don't have the energy to do things for myself like get ready and workout. Ugh. We've tried sleep training her and both times it didn't work out so well. We let her cry for only like 20 minutes. The first time I went to check on her and she was just drenched in sweat from crying so hard and the second she got so upset, she came unswaddled and scratched her face off (she literally had five claw marks down her forehead that were bleeding...poor thing). 

Other than the whole sleep deprivation thing, I am loving playing and cuddling with my little buddy. I'm so excited for her first Christmas!! She has loved all the lights and glitter. 

She can now sit up by herself. She loves when we clap and she can also clap (sorta...in her own little cute baby way). She loves taking baths and gets mad when I take her out. She loves tv, especially football. She also loves to sit in the bumbo in the kitchen and cook with me. 

I love this little girl so much! Her smile just lights up my day. Happy Half Quinn!

Howdy ya'll

What? You say I have to sleep? 

Ahh. Love my little hot tub. 

Sitting up like a big girl!!

She loved this ball pit at her little friend's house.

4 months old

Quinn turned 4 months last Tuesday! Today she got her check up and shots. She's all tuckered out and sleeping on my lap right now. 

Quinn is becoming such a fun baby. I don't think she enjoyed being an infant at all. She was and still can be a little difficult. But she has ALOT of personality. She smiles on demand, but also has a little attitude when she doesn't get what she wants when she wants it. I think she is going to give us a run for our money.

She is our everything though!! We love her to pieces. Some of her recent milestones since 2 months are: grabbing everything in sight, rolling over, and sleeping much better (but still working on it). She has become so much happier now that the world entertains her more. 

She loves to go shopping with me in the baby Bjorne. She kicks and squeals as we walk around. A lot if people say wow she is so happy isn't she? I say "Well, the girl loves Target just like her mama! She's happy to be here".

Here are some recent pics of my little diva. 

She conquered her toy. One night it got quiet so I looked down. She had some how turned sideways and was on top of her toy. 

Morning walk

Grabbing her toes

Loving to spit

Target trip

Chipmunk cheeks

At least she thinks I'm funny

Sunday best

Before shots

After shots

Love you Quinnie! You are our everything!!

Getting back in shape

When I was pregnant, there was nothing I wanted more than to have my agility and body back. I had these grand plans to get back in shape really fast. 

Well turns out, this mommy thing is really time consuming and you never know what schedule a newborn is going to have. Oh and the sleep deprivation that occurs that drives you to take a nap the very second your baby takes one too. 

Needless to say, my plans to get back in shape have been a lot harder than anticipated, but they are happening. I decided to cut myself a break. Quinn's only 3 months old! 

Some of the things I have been doing are running with the stroller a few times a week, walking ALOT with Quinn in the baby Bjorne. I'll also do strength exercises with Quinn in my arms like squats and lunges and bicep curls. She is a chunk so it works pretty well. Getting in shape is hard no matter if you are a mom or not. The most important thing I think is that you make it a priority in your day and that you are being consistent. Consistency is the key! I always say that to Cole and he makes fun of me.

 

Nursing has helped me get to my pre-preggo weight, now I just need to get toned! We are going to San Diego in May 2014 so I will give myself til then to get in amazing shape. 

Here's Quinnie just because!

Q's Blessing Day

We blessed Quinn on September 8, 2013 in our ward in Idaho Falls. It was really nice to have everyone up to our house. We worked really hard the day before to get our house ready and the food organized for the luncheon. 

I was really nervous that Quinn was going to cry during the blessing because she was really tired and cranky, but she didn't! Cole said she was just up there smiling. The blessing was beautiful. Some of things I remember Cole blessing her with was positivity and that she would be a ray of light to those around her. She truly is a ray of light already and although she is kind of a hard baby sometimes she makes up for it with her huge smiles and fun personality. 

Getting a little power nap in before I put her in her dress

Uncle Kyle arrived with Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Val with some of the food and chairs. 

On the way to church

 

Three generations of snoozers - Quinn, Grandpa Craig, and Great Grandpa Jack behind him. 

After church

Maddy and Quinn at the luncheon

Sube and Liam

Q's cousins. She is such a chunker!

Nikki and Payzli

 

For some reason all the women stayed inside and the men went out back.

After everyone went home, we were so exhausted, we all took a three hour nap and then Quinn slept ten hours straight that night. So nice! 

The great outdoors

Quinn loves to be outside. We spend a lot of our day going on walks and playing in the yard outside. I am soooo not looking forward to winter than ever before. Why do we live in Idaho?

Here are a few pictures of us just being outside. 

On our way to Great Harvest which is just around the corner from our house. Yum. We walked there to get a cinnamon roll for breakfast and to get our cute old neighbors a loaf of bread. The wife fell a few days ago and broke her back. They have been so kind to us since we moved in and she loved meeting Quinn even though she screamed when she tried to hold her. 

 

She loves the baby Bjorne (she gets a little bored in the stroller because she can't see everything) so we've been going on walks in that recently. I might even brave grocery shopping at winco with her in it today...we need groceries badly! I've resorted to eating granola bars and an old box of oatmeal patties for nourishment today. 

 

We went to Jackson Hole for Labor Day and even stayed in a hotel which we were mad about because it was so expensive and it ended up pouring rain the next day. But the night before was really fun. We went to Teton Village and ate at the Mangy Moose. 

Just kicking around on the hotel bed. Isn't her onsie cute? "Miso cute". Nick got her a couple of funny onsies

She's been doing this really weird thing in her car seat where she tries to sit up and it looks so uncomfortable. She was even doing it in her sleep. 

And lastly, she slept in her own room last night for the first time. She woke up quite a bit but she did pretty good. I took these this morning. She doesn't look too happy because I turned the light on.