We're on a boat...

Last weekend we had the chance to visit Lake Athens with our Sunday school group, Couple Vision. It was sort of a retreat/hang out time where we could all just have fun and get to know each other a little better. There were seven couples and three kids and we had a blast! Lauren and Scott invited us to their lake house (which is sort of a compound since several of her family members have houses right next to each other), and it was perfect.

As usual, Quinn hated being in the car and we left during her nap time on the way there and the way back so she would sleep most of the way. HA! We really need to just invest in an iPad or something because she slept for about 30 minutes and then whined the rest of the way. Riding in the car with her is TORTURE! Many times I think, "surely God wouldn't do this to me again when we have another kid. The next kid will love the car, right?".

Poor Quinn had a fever when we left on Friday and it lasted until mid-day on Saturday, but she was a trooper. She LOVED getting on the boat and she kept saying boat and making the sign for it w/ her hands. Sweet girl! 

She couldn't fit her hands around the life jacket to clap...so funny! She looked like a t-rex trying to clap.

Jeremy and I got to play in the water and I had a blast knee boarding while we watched all the other pros water ski.

Quinn also loved just hanging out in her bathing suit and playing in the sun. There was a cute little beach down by the shore and the kids enjoyed the sand toys and sticking their feet in the water. Quinn wasn't quite sure about it. We were at the lake where there's a TON of water, but of course, she loved the water hose most of all. "On a side note, my little 1/4 brown girl is going to have the most beautiful golden tans every summer and I will be her jealous, white mama.

Playing with her friend Caleb.

OMG how cute is that little ruffle bootie!

Apparently it's hilarious when you don't want to take a nap.

  Holding hands with her friend, Kaden.

I hope Quinn gets to have lots more lake trips. Who knows, maybe one day we can afford to have our own lake place. We all love being out by the water and just bumming around in our swimsuits. Yay for summer!!

Much Needed Girl's Weekend

I am SO very blessed to have incredible girlfriends in my life! Allison and Jill are two of my best friends in the world. We met at Riverbend in our small group and we just click. We've been through so much together and we can just be ourselves when we are around each other. I'm so thankful that they accept me the way I am and I love them dearly for who they are.

For a while we planned to go to NYC for a girl's weekend, but after Allison got pregnant we decided a relaxing weekend in Allison's hometown would be much better. We headed to Overland Park, KS and had an amazing weekend talking, laughing, crying and catching up. Kansas City was a perfect middle point since Jill lives in Minnesota (hopefully not for long...Texas wants you back!!) and Allison's mom was over the moon excited to have us there.

We got in late Friday night and stayed up until about 2 a.m. talking like three teenage girls. Allison let us see her preggo belly and we did the gender test where you tie the wedding ring on a string. We decided she's having a boy since it moved back and forth instead of in a circle. That's what I've thought all along, so I must be right and that test is very accurate. :) We won't know until August!

We woke up Saturday and spent the whole morning in our PJs drinking coffee and talking. It was SO relaxing! We finally decided to get dressed and head into town for lunch at the cutest little restaurant called Urban Table. We sat and ate, drank coffee, ate cookies and had an amazing time for about 2.5 hours. It's crazy how you lose track of time when you are having so much fun.

Allison drove us around her stomping grounds and showed us her old house, her church, school, etc. Then, we headed back to her parent's house where they made us a yummy dinner with Gigi's cupcakes for dessert. That night we stayed up late talking again and went to bed a little earlier after playing dress-up with Allison's belly.

Sunday, I slept until 9:20am! I couldn't believe it! I haven't done that since before Q was born and it was amazing! We got dressed and headed to downtown KC where the fountains are on the plaza. This is a precious little area with lots of fun restaurants and shops. Allison showed us where Jordan proposed to her and then we stopped at a fun pizza/brunch place for lunch. Jill had to leave Sunday, so we were enjoying every last moment with her.

We were so sad to take Jill to the airport. We decided she was meant to stay another day with us because she left her phone in the car and we had to take it back to her. It was definitely a sign! :) Unfortunately, she had to go.

Sunday night, Allison's parents made another awesome meal for Cinco de Mayo and we sat and ate and talked for a long time. I tried to talk them into moving to Austin, so we'll see how that goes. Haha!

Monday, we headed to a fun maternity store so Allison could load up on cute clothes for that precious bump. It was fun to see her try things on over that belly. It's crazy to see someone you love grow like that with a precious life inside them. I can't wait to meet the baby!

We reluctantly headed home Monday afternoon. I was ready to see Quinn, but we'd had such an awesome weekend. I think we just wanted to cherish that time while we could.

I think we will have to do this more often. We all need more girl time. When I became a mom, I immediately put Q first. Spending time with friends and charging myself wasn't a priority, but now I realize it has to be or I will go crazy! I need my girls!! It was refreshing and rejuvenating to be around Jill and Allison and I can't wait to do it again!

18-Month Quinn

Here's the scoop on 18-month (going on 16 years) Quinn.

Stats: 

Height: 34 inches

Weight: 27 lbs. 15 oz.

Talky, Talky

Quinn is talking a lot more. She can repeat pretty much anything we say (yikes...careful) and uses her words very well. When she gets whiny we tell her to use her words and she's getting a lot better at telling us what she wants with words or hand signs. She's definitely at the age where she wants to get our attention by saying the same thing over and over and over again. Some of my favorite things she says: 

-Motorcycle (mo-tu-tu-tu)

-Bicycle (ba-tu-tu)

-Guitar (GEE-ta)

-I love you (i-oh-u)

-Where is he/she/it? (eh-EH-ti?! in a high pitched voice w/ hands out)

-Heart (hawt...like a little British child)

-Tee-tee (when we go potty)

-No (the way she says it is more like a question, but the girl knows what she doesn't want)

Still a Perfectionist and Very Independent
Q is still a little perfectionist. She wants everything in its place including no creases in her baby's blanket, cabinets and doors closed, her sippy cup turned the right direction on her highchair tray and more. We haven't even childproofed our cabinets because she doesn't want to get in them. That would make too much of a mess and she doesn't want that. She's also very independent about her perfectionism. She wants to do her own hair sometimes (hence the headband pics below) and she'll try doing something by herself for quite a while before she'll start whining or say "help". 

She did NOT want that feather boa touching her.

Singing Songs

Quinn loves for us to sing songs. Some of her favorites are:

-Happy ("Happy Birthday" which we have to sing to everyone that we know including pets and stuffed animals)

-Gee-ta ("Home on the Range" She calls it this because a cowboy in one of her books plays guitar and sings that song.

-Elmo (the Elmo theme song which is about to drive us crazy)

-Abby (the Abby theme song)

-Bible ("Jesus Loves Me")

-Hawt ("Joy Down in My Heart")

Wired

We are starting to notice a trend that when Q is tired or needs to go to sleep she gets really wired. She moves around, makes herself very busy and generally fights sleep to the best of her ability. The other day I had to pick her up right before nap time at school. I walked in and all the other kids were sleeping or laying quietly on their cots while Q was doing headstands, rolling around and doing anything but sleeping. Oh dear. She does that at night too and sometimes it takes her an hour to get to sleep. I guess I'd rather she do that than cry. 

Separation Anxiety

Speaking of crying, we've found a new way of comforting Quinn when she cries in bed. Shockingly, we don't even have to go in her room. I've figured out she's going through an 18-month separation anxiety stage and she just wants to make sure we are around. So, we leave her door cracked when we put her down so she can hear us downstairs and if she starts crying, all we have to do is peek in her door and say "It's okay Quinn,. Lie down and go to sleep." Ta-da! It's magic! I can't believe it works but we've been blessed so far to have an independent sleeper and she's  proving herself more and more as she gets older.

Book Worm

Books are still Q's favorites. It's  been fun lately to pull out some of the "vintage" books at my mom's house that my Margaret used to read to me. Here are some of Q's faves:

Here's a list of other fun (and some not-so-fun) things about Q right now:

• She's obsessed with putting her shoes and socks on (or ours)
• She's obsessed with watching Elmo on our phones. When she sees an iPhone, she immediately says "Elmo".
• When we ask what she learned at school, she starts listing off all the kids and teachers in her class.
• She's not eating meat as well lately, but loves broccoli, rice, cottage cheese, bananas, blueberries, sweet potatoes, beans or really anything we are eating that she wants.
• She's eating really well w/ a spoon and fork and really gets into stirring things.
• We got a learning tower off Craigslist for $30 (total steal). I hope this helps w/ the whining in the kitchen. Not gonna lie...I've done a lot in the kitchen w/ Q sitting on the counter top, praying she doesn't fall off. Don't worry, I'm standing right next to her.

(Ignore her "go to h-e-double hockey sticks" look)

• She likes to open and close doors and regularly closes herself in the pantry. We can always hear her saying "boo" from behind the door. I guess she wants us to play peek-a-boo with her but it's so funny how she just stays in there, sometimes even with the light off. 
• The car is getting a little better but it's still not her fave. We try to talk about things and encourage her to look out the window a lot. 
• Changing her diaper is probably my least favorite thing now. Not because of the contents, but because she hates it and wiggles around so much that I have to physically hold her down. 
• When we go over speed bumps she says "Whoa!"
• She knows my dad drives a truck and parks it in front of our house when he visits. Now, when we look out the front window she always says "Pawpaw. Truck."
• She and Ella continue to build their relationship (and by build I mean Ella still licks her mouth and Quinn chases her around trying to give her love. We have to say "gentle" a lot.)

• She's testing us by trying to hit, but we've been able to give her some pretty stern looks and she apologizes by giving us gentle love pats. It's almost like "Oh, I was just kidding. This is what I was trying to do."
• We find her in unusual places with unusual things. (i.e. in boxes, our closet, wearing my bras around her neck, with her shoes on the wrong feet, etc.)

Quinn is definitely in super toddler mode and quickly turning into a little girl. I miss my baby, but she's so much fun now that she can interact with us. She cracks us up all the time and we are just in love with her little personality. Toddler-dom isn't so bad. (Knocking on wood, praying I don't eat my words.)

More pics...

Lovely. Picking her nose for the first time.