One Year Old Quinn

Our handsome little Quinn is 1!

A few weeks ago as I watched a Christmas Hallmark movie on TV, I was taken back in time about a year.  With a newborn baby up at all hours of the night during the holiday season I watched a lot of those sappy Christmas flicks.  I loved being in my quiet house with the Christmas tree lights glowing and snuggling my sweet little newborn.  He brought so much peace and joy to our home from day 1.  I know it is cliche, but I really cannot believe that we are back in the Hallmark Christmas movie season...this year has gone by so fast!

I felt a little sentimental while making this banner seeing how this cute boy changed and grew each month.

Quinn's day was made extra special because my Grandma Peterson was visiting us and able to celebrate with us!  Everyone loves the famous Grandma P.!

Quinn was so excited to see the decorations when he woke up on his birthday.  He walked over and pointed at his banner and said, "wow" and "oh yeah" in his breathy excited voice.  He was also excited to see his "dairy free" carousel cake when he woke up from his nap.

Quinn's big brothers were beyond excited for his party!  They were very "helpful" with candle blowing and present unwrapping.

 I like this video of us singing "Happy Birthday" because it shows Quinn's shy side, he kept trying to hide his head.  He also tries to dance a little to the tune.

At first he was quite apprehensive about the cake:

When he finally built up the courage to touch it he didn't like the sticky frosting:

Eventually he was stuffing the cake into his mouth with double fists, all the while acting shy and demure:

Before the cake we did our traditional 1 year fortune telling game that we learned in Romania.  We put the tray in front of him and let him pick his future.  There was a bling broach for fame, a book for great intellect, medicine for good health, a comb for good looks, a heart for a life of love, and money for wealth.

Here is what he chose:

He enjoyed opening his presents...and his new (used) roller coaster!

His big surprise of the night was his new (used) roller coaster.  It is perfect for rolling balls and racing cars too.

Quinn at age 1 is my most cautious child.  On his birthday we were at a park and there was a downhill path leading to the playground...after taking a few steps down, he turned around and scooted the rest of the way down the hill just like he does on the stairs.  He has been walking for quite a while, but still doesn't run very often, he likes to be in control.  Just recently he has developed a little "stranger danger" and doesn't like being out of my sight or held by anyone but his parents.  He gets shy and likes to tip his head to the side, it's pretty sweet.  He loves to empty shelves, play with his brothers, and ride on his horse.
I love my 1 year old Quinn!!!  

Tea For Four

The beginning of the month I got to don my red hat and sparkly gloves for a lovely tea party with fun friends.  Looking now at this picture I realize that all the head wear belongs to me (I guess I'm ready if we ever move to London).  

 We discovered Victoria's Tiny Tea Room on a Living Social deal, $18 for lunch and a manicure at the adjoining hair salon...woot woot!  The decorations were very cute!  We enjoyed drinking with our pinkies out and conversing about things that you converse about during high tea...like the weather and such.

 The scones and tiny sandwiches were delightful!  We left feeling that the English are on to something...we were feeling that we need a tea party/manicure more often!

Such a fun day with fun friends!

Quinn's First Real Haircut

 Yesterday Quinn had his first real hair cut.  He was needing one!  I had trimmed the top before, but the back and sides were getting to be long enough for a pony tail!  He's been called a girl quite frequently lately as we have been out and about...so I thought this might help.  When I told Clark I was ready to cut it he said, "I will pay a few bucks to take him somewhere," apparently he hasn't been too impressed with my cutting skills in the past.  But it was so thin, I figured how bad could I really mess it up...

Yesterday he woke up from his afternoon nap having a major allergic reaction.  Clark brought him out of his crib and I didn't even recognize my baby...it made me sick.  We acted quick with some Benadryl and were able to get it under control.  We took advantage of his slightly drugged up state to do the clipping.

A quick picture of the before!

And an after this morning...eyes still a little puffy but not swollen shut!  He just looks older now, I can't get enough of his little neck that I can see now as he walks around the house!

 But the whole being mistaken for a girl thing didn't work...today at Sprouts he was given a "pink balloon for the little lady."  Darn eye lashes get him every time!

H. A. Double L. O. W. Double E. N. Spells Halloween

It is Novemeber 1st and I feel exhausted.  Halloween was awesome this year, excited little boys, pretty fall leaves, parties galore...but oh my, it kind of felt like it went on forever!
At the beginning of the month Ethan decided he wanted to be a shark and Caden decided he wanted to be a pinata.  I went to work thinking Ethan's would be a simple little hoodie costume...but then he wanted to add the tail, the fin, and a fish shaped trick-or-treat bag.  Caden's involved a lot of felt and hot glue, but I think it might be my favorite craft I've ever made, I just couldn't get over how cute he looked.  He was the hit of every party!

 Last Friday we had a party at the church, I went as the queen of England.  Clark went as the Dad that rushed to the party straight from work.

I love any excuse to wear my red hat!

The shark from the side view.

Aunt Patty and Grandma Karen were here for a few days for Delanie's marching band competition, so it was fun to have them at the ward party.
The shark loved to have shark attacks!

On Saturday I took my boys to a little carnival at the mall.  Quinn wore Ethan's first Halloween costume and reminded me so much of baby Ethan I couldn't stand it!  Here they both are...Quinn (11 months) and Ethan (7 months)

Caden didn't want to wear a costume.  He did however, insist on wearing boots, shorts and his dog hat.  Halloween gives me a great reason to not worry about Caden's outfit choices!

On Wednesday we hosted the preschool party!  Counting the babies we had over 20 kids.  It was crazy and fun! and exhausting!

Thursday I was in charge of Ethan's class party.  He was so excited for it!  I think it went pretty well.  I love seeing my kindergarten boy in his classroom.

All the kids loved his tail...especially when he had to sit on the rug with it.

I had to include this motion picture of his class even though it's a little blurry because his teacher looks like a jack-in-the box popping up at the end.  Lots of super heroes in this class!

While we were partying my friends took Caden and Quinn to trick-or-treat street in Fort Collins.  When I met up with them I couldn't get over my cute little tiger!

That afternoon I took the boys trick-or-treating to a nursing home.  It was really sweet to visit with the patrons, they loved seeing the kids in their costumes!

That night we bundled up for some trick-or-treating with friends. All of Quinn's pictures are blurry because he was such a wild little tiger.  He looked so chubby with all of his layers

The boys insisted that Clark have a costume too!  Moo ha ha!

When I first saw my friend Melody it was dark and I didn't recognize her, she came up and started chatting with me and I thought she was just a random grandma...so funny!

And that was Halloween.  After typing it out I get why I'm tired.  That's all folks!

The Big 32

I woke up Monday morning to a Caden crawling onto my bed to snuggle.  After a few minutes he sat straight up and said, "it's your birthday!"  He was the first to remember that morning.  I had been planning for weeks to take the boys to Fritzler Farm Pumpkin Patch that day because they give a great discount if you go with the Imagination Station.  I even pulled Ethan out of school for it.  Of course, it was about 30 degrees outside, wet, and windy...but we braved the chill and had some fun doing the farm activities.

So fun...and then we got to the car and I distinctly remembered putting my keys in the picnic bag and then locking my picnic bag back into the car because it was way too cold to eat a picnic outside.  At this point Quinn was done.  Luckily I had a few friends that let us split up and ride home in their cars.  We then had to retrieve the Jeep later in the day...the whole thing just took a lot of time.  I think I'm losing my mind in my old age.  Later that evening Clark had planned to bring dinner home from Carino's (on Monday nights their family platters are 1/2 off).  He stopped by to get the food and there was a sign on the window saying they had gone out of business!
At this point I thought maybe we should just go to bed and try to have my birthday the next day...but the boys weren't having it, I was the "birthday girl," after all as Caden kept calling me all day.
So they took me to dinner at Applebee's, and surprised me with this lovely hat, so that I would feel "special," and did I ever feel "special."  When the Applebee's employees sang to me Ethan loved it, Caden tried to hide in his hoodie, and Quinn about fell apart...it was so funny, but I did get a free Sundae out of it.  I appreciated all of the cards, and messages I got that day.

On Wednesday night I was having a primary presidency meeting at my house, at 8:45 the doorbell rang and in marched a bunch of my friends saying "surprise."  I felt so bad because we were having a presidency meeting...but I found out quickly the presidency was all in on it.  My friend Heather had made the yummiest birthday cake and we had quite a fun time chatting and partying the night away.

All in all I felt pretty loved...32 is going to be a great year!