9 Month Old Quinn

This 9 month old Quinn is about as cute as they come!  

This day he found himself in the mirror and was so excited to chat with his new buddy.  I took a bunch of cute pictures and about 5 mins. later the mirror fell between the sink and the wall was totally broken.  I just love the many expressions of Quinn.

In the last few months I feel like my baby has changed to a toddler.  He is active!  He is always standing, pulling, walking along the furniture, pushing chairs across the floor, climbing up stairs, climbing up his toys, climbing on his brothers, and crawling around like a racer.  He loves to stand up without holding onto anything and then look at us for approval, so proud of himself.

On August 13 he cut his first 2 teeth on the bottom.  His little grin has changed.

When we were in Utah my mom did his hair like Alfalfa!  Caden and Ethan immediately started calling him Little Bishop...not sure why, but it has stuck.  Whenever he gets his hair combed now they love to get in his face and say "hi little bishop."

He was mad at his Little Bishop hairdo.

He has started waving at us when we say "Hi Quinn!"  He gives great opened mouth kisses when we ask for a kiss.  He loves all forms of peek-a-boo, it makes him giggle like crazy.

Hi Guys!

First Swing Ride, I love how he didn't quite know what to do with his little hands.

Never know what you're going to get when Grammy Tammy combs your hair!

At the end of July he had an allergy test that tested sunscreen and milk to try to find out what caused his anaphylactic allergy attack.  From that we discovered he is allergic to milk and that was probably what caused his attack.

Since then he has had rashes and hives from time to time...last week he had a terrible case that lasted almost a week!  It was so bad!  I'm not sure what caused it.  After seeing his doctor we gave him huge doses of Benadryl and Zantac for 24 hours to clear it up.  Today he is looking much less spotty!  Allergies leave a mom feeling helpless and frustrated!

He is playful and sweet and I just LOVE this little boy with all my heart!

This little horse I bought for Ethan at the infamous auction in Boise is one of Quinn's new favorite toys...I love how he just naturally knows how to be a little cowboy.

Clothes Make The Man

So I haven't always bought into that quote, but today as Caden and I ran into Walmart to pick up a prescription for Quinn I glanced at his outfit.  My first thought was "oh dear, my son looks homeless," my second thought was to laugh, and my third thought was, "I have to get a picture this is SO Caden right now." 

First we have Exhibit A:  Insisting on wearing the too big hat because he didn't want to get sunburned.  He is trying so hard right now to be a little adult.  Last night we asked him to pick up his spilled macaroni on the floor he picked up about 5 dirty noodles using his toes, ran over got a Tupperware container, put the lid on and then put them in the fridge for "leftovers to stay fresh."  He notices EVERYTHING we do and thinks he can and MUST do it too.

Then there is Exhibit B:  The messy face from eating a snack I'm sure he got for himself.  He's turned into quite a little cupboard climber.

Exhibit C:  The buttons not quite matching up with the correct holes.  He was so determined to do these buttons by himself...if anyone offers to help he yells, "I don't need you."  When he makes up his mind he WILL do it.  I guess he learned from Yoda, "do or do not...there is no try."

Exhibit D:  Pants are pulled up just a bit crooked.  Independent at all times and in all places.  

Exhibit E:  One lone dirty brown sock found in the garage.  He needed this sock on.  I'm learning quickly to pick my battles right now...I wasn't battling over the brown sock.

Exhibit F:  You can't see this one but his underwear is on backwards....that's just so he can see the Superman logo.  

I just love this little guy, but oh my he is at quite an age and stage right now.  He knows how to push buttons, and it keeps us all on our toes and laughing.  Right now with all the medical issues we seem to be having around here I'm just letting the small things go...maybe later this fall we'll work more on his fashion sense!

Day 2

I know the first day of school is the "important" one to go down in the memory archives, but I just had to document the second day too because it made me laugh.

Oh Ethan, these past few days have been fun!  Ethan is the most energetic person I know...he is also very sensitive and has a hard time with change.  When he is under a little stress he gets keyed up, it's like his little body just goes crazy bouncing, running, twirling, jumping as his brain tries to process everything going on.  He also wants to be perfect and follow every little rule.  All of these extreme sides to his personality have made for a crazy couple of days.

Last night after he was tucked in he came back upstairs and said, "mom, tomorrow none of the parents can go in the classroom," he was so concerned I was not going to follow the rule.  I reassured him I would only watch to make sure he found his line and then leave.  As we were walking back to the playground this morning he reminded me of this several times.  I stood by the fence and watched him play a little, then the bell rang...Ethan immediately took off running towards the lines of students as fast as his little legs would go, it was like watching a movie in fast forward, he was dodging students left and right and had such a serious look on his face.  I died laughing, it was so cartoonish.  Honestly, the only thing I've ever seen like it was the time my mom about got ran over by a train in Amsterdam and had to get off the tracks (she can move her feet).

Once he got to the students he couldn't find his teacher and it was clear he was starting to panic, so I pointed out where his teacher was...he was so relieved he ran right up to her side.  She had to remind him to go to the back of the line and he just looked devastated that he had been corrected by his teacher.  As the kids walked into the school I noticed Ethan was doing a straight-legged high kick march, he accidentally kicked the little girls' backpack in front of him and got the stink eye from her.  I was just hoping he could pull it together and make it through the day.

As we drove home he went from tearing up and crying a little to saying it was the best day all within a few city blocks.  I just want to hug him tight and squeeze the anxiety out of him so he can calm down a little, but he would only hold still long enough for a quick little love.  He'll figure it out, I just hope he doesn't pull a muscle in the process.

Still keyed up on his way to bed tonight!  I cracked up when I saw his choice of jammies...the China jammies from Aunt Erica somehow still fit year after year.

Today when we picked him up Caden asked him if he had to remember the bee and be strong.  Ethan just laughed and said, "oh Caden, I didn't do anything that hard today."

Kindergarten Boy

This morning a little after 6 AM an excited Ethan marched into our room and said, "hey guys, did you remember I have school today!"  We tried to get him to snooze a little in our bed but he was restless and ready to go.

All handsome in his first day of school outfit and backpack he picked out a few weeks ago.

Clark and I walked him into his classroom, of course Ethan was a few feet in front of us leading the way.  He hung up his bag, found his name tag and got to work like he had been coming to school for years.  As I looked around the classroom I had to blink back a few tears, just realizing he's going to have a whole new world that I'm not really a part of.

He was happy to say goodbye to us, didn't seem to mind at all that we were leaving...but as we left the room we heard him call across the room, "I love you mommy and daddy."  And our hearts melted, so we headed on over to the "Boo Hoo Breakfast" that the PTO puts on for the parents of kindergartners to pick up or Kleenex and doughnuts.

He was so excited when I picked him up after a few short hours, he immediately asked when he can go again!  I'm so glad he had a great day and that he is so enthusiastic and excited for school.  It felt weird not to have him home with us this morning.  Caden and I missed him a lot!  Caden missed having a brother to entertain him...and I missed having a brother to entertain Caden too.

It's a whole new chapter beginning of our little family...and I think it will be a good one.

Starting School Tomorrow

How is this possible?  How is my little red headed baby old enough to start school?  (Yes, Clark and I have been watching old blog videos tonight from when Ethan was learning to walk and talk...we are feeling a bit sentimental).
Tomorrow is the first day of kindergarten and I've had a few teary moments the last few weeks picturing my E.E. heading to school.  To celebrate the occasion tonight we had a fun Back to School dinner, complete with place cards made by Ethan and apple shaped Rice Krispy treats.

For family night we had a fun little lesson about how it's important to try and try again.  I anticipate that our little perfectionist may have to be reminded of this a few times this year as he is challenged to do things he can't master his first try.  We read the scripture in Ether 12:27 that says with God our weaknesses can be made strong.  I told him that if he ever gets frustrated he can remember this lesson and say to himself, "BEE STRONG!"

He's ready for school, I think he will love it and be great, I just can't believe 5 years can go by so fast!

How Did the Quinny Cross the Road?

Why he walked of course.



This past Tuesday on his 9 month birthday he cut his first 2 teeth and learned to walk with his walker.  My baby is getting so big!

Another Day, Another Surgery

We ended up back at the OR today, this time for Ethan.  After being there just 2 weeks ago the staff remembered us.  Ethan needed to have a skin lesion removed from his arm so it can be tested to make sure it is benign.  The surgery was pretty simple and went really well.
They were so good with Ethan, they let him bring Brown Dog and even put a hospital ID bracelet on him.

Ethan thrives on all of that one one one attention from nurses and doctors...he loved to tell everyone our life story and make friends with anyone who would talk to him.  The nurse told him that when he got taken back to the OR the doctor pushing his bed would give him a "fast ride."  He said, "I'm pretty used to fast.  I'm the fastest in my family, even faster than my mom and she is the OLDEST in my family."  Thank you Ethan.

He was so excited for his "fast ride," when they started to push him back to the OR he squealed with glee (a little different from my surgery experience 2 weeks ago).

He had many important decision to make today, first which flavor of Chapstik to put in the mask, after much deliberation he decided that he would use all of the flavors.  Then he had to decide between a dog or a prairie dog stuffed animal...after much thought he went for the dog because it was softer.  It is now named Gray-Brown Dog and is a new best friend.  Clark says that Ethan is nothing if not logical.

He came out of the anesthesia really well and is doing great!  After being awake for a few minutes, he looked right at Clark and said, "hi mommy, hi mommy, hi mommy."

The challenge is keeping him down, I needed a nap after all of this, but Ethan, no...he needed to put on a dragon costume and rip around the house.  Hoping that when we hear back it is benign and we're just done with hospitals and surgeries for awhile.

Our First Baseball Season

Ethan really wanted to play baseball so we signed him up for a fun tee-ball league this summer.  He loved it!  During the first game when he made it to 3rd base his coach told him to run home, we heard him say, "you mean run to my house?"  The poor coach cracked up!

Ethan also made the first out for his team...he caught the ball and touched 3rd base...I don't know who felt worse Ethan or the little girl that was out.

The slow pace and the non-competitive league were perfect for our 5 year old buddy!

Pioneer Day

We celebrated July 24th, or Pioneer Day this year with a barbecue with friends.  For dessert we made covered wagon s'mores...yum.

The Saturday following Pioneer Day we had a pioneer party at the park with our church.  The rain stopped just in time for it to be a fun night!

Such serious pioneers.

The boys had so much fun playing pretending that Quinn was a chicken chasing them around.  Now all Clark has to say is "cluck, cluck" and Quinn just giggles.

These cute brothers tried an old fashioned stick pull.

I can't remember what set Caden off right before the little children's parade...but I love this picture because it shows his little shoulders sulking the whole time the children were marching singing, "pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked."

I am so thankful for my pioneer heritage...I admire and revere their courage and sacrifice...I'm pretty sure I would have died on the trail.

Camping in the Boat with Grammy

Our last night in Boise my Dad was camping with the scouts so my mom took the boys camping in the boat (while it was parked at the house).  They thought it was awesome, they were having so much fun they stayed up until 1 a.m.!  Pretty lucky little boys!

Lucky Peak

Hands down, my favorite summer activity is to go boating!  While we were in Boise we got an evening at the lake complete with tubing, skiing, Albertson's fried chicken (although we accidentally forgot it in the car), jumping off the dock, and even a little fishing.

There was a wild fire nearby which made for some pretty awesome backdrops for the skiers.  We also enjoyed watching the fire fighting helicopter come and get water from the lake to take to the fire.   

Ethan let Caden go first, just to make sure it really was safe.

Grammy's first ski since her broken wrist...still got it!

Such a perfect night.  Ethan told my mom that being at the lake was the best place in the world.