Walking!

Quincy has officially started walking on his own now. He's not quite strong or coordinated enough to do it full time yet, but he's on his way. We're excited....and scared at the same time. Bring on more trouble!! :)

Our New Little Man

Quincy has officially had his second hair cut. It's crazy how fast his hair seems to grow-- I mean, it seems like he was just born and we were just dying for it to come in more, now we can't keep up with it-- Or rather I can't keep up with it. I actually cut his hair, which was very challenging. I'm glad that I started cutting Tyler's hair, cuz it gave me the experience to know how to do it before we had kids that would need it.

Poor Tyler, he was sort of the Guinea pig... but for a good cause. He was the one dying for me to start cutting it so he didn't have to pay $12. Which I think is kind of ridiculous for a guys haircut. I hate going to get my hair trimmed and paying the same amount I'd be paying to get it chopped 5 or 6 inches. So lucky Tyler gets his hair cut for free... he's due for a haircut also, but I didn't have enough time to do it, or really didn't feel up to the task, before he left. Oh well. If only I could take my head off so I could cut my own for free.... darn! The picture below is RIGHT after he got it cut. He looks sort of dazed.

And in this picture he's getting into trouble underneath our computer desk.... notice the huge smile.

This is probably the best of his hair, but unfortunately Quincy looks stoned or something. His hair is pretty short, but now we can spike it up or do a little Mohawk or whatever. When his hair gets longer it starts getting curly or wavy and looks rather unruly.

A Goal not achieveable?

Tyler and I have started running together about 3 times a week. We don't really run far, or that fast for the matter-- but I suppose what we really get out of it is a little excercise and some time alone together while Quincy is sleeping. I hate running and so for me to run 3 times a week is a pretty big deal, which sounds pathetic to some of you I bet, but hey baby steps. I'm learning to like running though; However, I've learned I don't really like to run alone. I made Tyler start running with me so he would push me to run a little further than I would normally run by myself, and it works!

Last night we went running and I wasn't very smart and did a bunch of ab work outs before....needless to say I had the worst side cramp after running for only a little while. With Tyler there by my side, I continued to press on-- with only a few short breaks to catch my breath. At the end of our run, I said do you want to race? Tyler looked at me with this grin on his face, like "Are you serious? I would kill you." But of course, he doesn't kill me at first, he lets me get a little ahead before he blows past me with the littlest effort. I swear, had I not had those bad side cramps.... I think I could've beat him. Okay-- maybe not beat him, but at least made it close. In fact after he DID beat me, because I slowed down due to the side cramp, I told him that my goal is to someday beat him in a race.

I asked him if he would really go full out, or just let me win so I could feel good about myself. He said a "real" race? Oh no, of course I would beat you. I said, "Well good, then at least I know when I DO beat you that you were trying your hardest, cuz I'm sure you'd tell everyone else you were 'going easy on me'.

After we finished running and had cooled down sitting outside on our lawn chairs he must've still been thinking about my race challange and said, "You know, you should run in the womens race they have here in Boise in Sept. Quincy and I would go and cheer you on." I told him yeah right, that if I was going to race, I would rather have him running right next to me, not cheering from the sidelines looking happy and full of air, while I'm ready to pass out any second. Then he said... and think of it this way, if you and I were to race and I beat you, but you came close...You would still be faster than most girls. So it would still be a win situation for you. I said

"No, I want to actually BEAT you....and I will..................
.........................someday."

I'm not quite sure that I could really ever beat Tyler, but it would feel so good to beat him at something, especially when it comes to athletic stuff. Is this a goal not achieveable?

We shall see!

TO WALK OR NOT TO WALK...

...That is Quincy's everyday question. He is getting better about walking, but hasn't quite learned to trust himself about doing it all on his own. He will take about 4 or 5 steps (if we're lucky) before he realizes that he's not holding onto anything or we're not holding onto him before sheer panic kicks in. It really is panic to-- he gets this look like he's trying to walk on a tightrope and just noticed that there's no net. lol

I'm sure he'll be figuring it out soon though. We tried to capture some of this 'walking' for those of you who can't see it yet. :) Hope you enjoy!

Bella Design By Kati

So I officially have begun my business blog website.

If you're curious you can view it at

www.bella--design.blogspot.com

On the blog I have a porfolio of my own work I've done over the years, in addition to the work of others that inspire my own design. I will continue to update this blog and include new work, trends, seasonal things, and tips. So "tune in" if you're getting ready for a wedding, have friends or family that are, or if you just enjoy seeing beautiful floral deisgn. I will be doing work from home for anyone interested.... just contact me if you are looking for something specific.

Thanks!

Have a great day everyone!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

So this is how our Sunday morning started off. Usually Quincy is pretty good about sleeping-- or at least playing in his crib quietly-- until 8:00am. On this particular day though when I got up to pee around 7:15am, I could hear him crying. I figured he probably had a diaper that really needed to be changed, otherwise I would have probably left him in there until we got up at 8:00.

When I went in, of course it was dirty and extremely wet, which made me glad I went in to change it. That's one thing I always feel bad about for him, I'd hate to sit in that. After I got him cleaned up I took him into our room where I usually nurse him while still laying in bed. Tyler was still alseep....and I have to say, since we stayed up late the previous night, I was irritated that I had to be the one to get him and change his diaper on top of having to nurse him. Tyler made up for it later by watching Quincy during the morning so I could take a nap. While I was napping--- or rather laying in bed wishing I could be napping instead of thinking of a bazillion things--- I could hear the boys outside. I have to say.... for Tyler cracking down on me, telling me I should be tougher about not letting him suck on a binky, he's quite the pushover about other things. He always gives in when Quincy's begging for food, which drives me nuts and he lets Q outside, which gets him all dirty.... and he will always say, oh I'll clean him up. Well yeah, he'll clean him up and then I'll have to pick up the mess the've both made from Tyler cleaning him up.

Oh well, boys will be boys.

So after I gave up on the thoughtful gesture of Tyler letting me nap while he watched Q, I decided to join the two outside. I had to water the gardern and Tyler insisted that I let Q play with the hose because he loves to watch him be "adventurous" (Aka. get filthy dirty and laugh about it). I figured.... what the heck! So this is what Quincy spent him Sunday morning doing.

I took these pictures of Quincy to prove that he does wear more than diaper and T Shirts. He looked pretty cute this sunday in his khaki linen shorts and striped button up shirt.

You can really see his teeth better now. I even brushed them this morning with my toothbrush. He didn't know exactly what to think of it.

Fun at the Park!

After the famer's market we headed the the Juia Davis park to play around. Tyler and I got icecream cones on the way over and were going to share them eith Q, but he fell asleep before we got them. By the time he woke up, they were all gone!

Quincy sees a dog... which is what he is saying.

Just a little update on the walking... Quincy can now take about 4 steps at a time by HIMSELF, without any help. He does very well standing on his own though... here's some proof. No photo shopping this time guys! :)

Pretty good...espeically since it's on a slight incline.

We played a little in the water.... which was FREEZING! There is no way that I could float that river in an innertube... we'll stick to the raft. (Ps. I'm looking forward to the Lindquist gang coming our way to do just that!)

Boise Farmer's Market

This Saturday morning we decided to head out to the Boise Farmers Market. Tyler and I have been to it before (on our 2 yr anniversary) but Quincy hasn't been. We thought he'd like it and so we got up a little earlier this saturday and actually got out the door before 1:00PM. This is Quincy all buckled into his careseat. I asked him if he wanted to go and he pointed to the door and started kicking his feet and getting excited.

We saw lots of local vendors selling various things. Most of the famers market was really crowded, which made it difficult for us to push Quincy in his stroller. It was okay though.

This was Quincy's reaction through most of the event. He was just more interested in looking at all the people walking by and more importantly the DOGS! Which it's funny because at the begining of the farmers market there is a sign which clearly marks 'No Dogs'. We didn't mind that there were though... Quincy especially. He saw some really small pug dogs, which always remind me of the movie Milo and Otis... which always made me wish I had a little orange kitten growing up, and we also saw a huge Saint Bernard dog... which as a side note also reminds me of that movie Beatoven.

This is one of the cool vendors which sells these paper light things.... they are pretty cute.

Oh and as a random side note... Anyone who watches the show 'Baby Borrowers'... this is where the teen parents had to take all the kids out to eat at. We've never eaten here... but maybe will sometime.

On the upside of the Famrers Market, we always get to sample stuff... I let Quincy try a dried apple. He doesn't look too enthusiastic about it.

This is what he did after mulling it around in his mouth for a while.... hey, at least it was free!

At the end of our stroll down the famers market we let Quincy get out of his stroller to go "play" in the fountain-- which is a huge hit with all the kids. He was kind of nervous about touching the water at first, but he liked watching all the other kids play in it. If we ahd thought ahead, we could've brought him his swim trunks.

These are my boys... pretty cute eh?

Here's a little clip of Tyler and Q playing in the water... sorry it's sideways... I don't know why it loaded that way, since I changed it before I loaded it. Oh well.

The glass is half full kind of day...

There are days when I feel that Heavenly Father is giving me something to remind me that what I'm doing is important. Today happened to be one of those days. Although, I might have more days where I feel like the job I'm doing isn't all that it's cracked up to be... for instance, when I have lost track of the number of times I've picked up Quincy's toys, or intentionally ignored the large pile of dishes in the sink, or didn't take a second glance at the overflowing laundry basket filled with dirty clothes.....
No, motherhood isn't always glamorous, that's for sure.

But I believe there are truly moments that we are presented with that make us feel like we're actually making a difference. I mean, why else would any woman willingly choose to make such sacrifices. Motherhood is a divine part of the plan, and I'm so lucky that I have te chance to be part of that.

On with my real reason for wiritng......like I was saying, today happened to be one of those days where

for a brief moment I felt that every moment

spent changing dirty diapers, wrestling down a 11mo. baby to nurse because he's not gaining enough weight, listening to long drawn out wails and screams because some of his teeth are coming through

was worth it!

Quincy loves to go outside and play, unfortunately since we live in Idaho it's kind of a pain to get him ready to go outside...

.....putting on shoes-- which is harder than you think because he is so squirmy and anxious to just get out the door-- making sure he's lathered up in sunscreen, getting him to keep on a sunhat so his little head doesn't burn, and so on....

I find that the best time to go outside is later at night, but by the time it cools down he's usually asleep. And lucky for me- because that is the only time during the day when I can do whatever I want without having to worry about what he'll be into next. Today however, I decided that he and I would go ouside and play in the yard after Tyler left for work later this evening. I was very pleased at how well Quincy ate all of his dinner- which as a side note, were peas!

I figured he deserved some time outside. He played along the lawn chairs which sit outside our front door as I watered our garden. He was playing nicely and didn't even try and eat the usual outdoor things (sticks, grass, rocks etc.) After I was done watering the garden I came over next to him and took his little hand in mine. We walked hand in hand down our sidewalk to a shady part under the tree. There we sat on the cement, Quincy playing with a pair of rocks he found, and me giving him approval for "showing" me the rocks that he was so proud of.

He would look up at me with those inocent eyes and hold out his hand eager to see my look of approval.... and how could I not give it? He was just too cute to resist! Then he did something he almost never does.

He gestured that he wanted to stand up. When I helped him reach his feet he stood very close to me and put his little arm around part of my shoulder, like he was hugging me. He clung to me and snuggled his little head against my neck. There he stood for a few moments while I hugged him tight and he didn't even try and push me away. I kissed his little head and told him how much I loved him.

It was so precious and also so simple.

Things like that reassure me that motherhood is worth every moment- good and bad! I know my little guy won't always do things like he did today... which is why I decided I should write it down. Maybe you might not enjoy this as much all the pictures, but it was something I thought was worth remembering. I hope that all of you will be able to appreciate those moments when you realize God is giving you something beautiful.

11 MONTHS OLD

Today Quincy is exactly one month away from turning one years old! It's hard to believe how fast he has grown up. Quincy is active as ever. He loves to go outside and play in the yard and in our garden area-- especially with the rocks along the border of the garden. I'm glad he likes to do something that I like because I'm sure it won't be that much longer before he isn't interested in anything his mom does. In addition to his love for the outdoors Quincy also loves to read, which I believe he also gets from me. He has a book with Elmo and other Seseme Street characters in it. His favorite is turning to the Elmo page and listening to us make Elmo talk. He does a fake laugh and it's pretty cute.

He is a very smart boy and always interested in how things work, what will happen if he does something, and other curiousities. He loves to figure things out, especially by himself. He likes it when he finds our remotes and he pretends that he found them for us by handing them over-- reluctntly sometimes. He is recently fascinated with the stereo remote, which he has discovered that when he presses certain buttons on it it causes the stereo to get louder. Quincy is extremely independant! We can only hope that he'll use that independant spirit for the right reasons later in his life.

Quincy loves to take baths and play in the water. He likes going outside and playing with the water that comes out of the hose. He understands what the water sounds like and even points in the direction of it. Gesturing with grunting and an excited voice. He can wave bye bye and likes to wave bye bye to things in the house or us. He waved bye bye to the TV show when we turned it off the other day. Quincy loves to clap his hands and can clap them well in the song 'If You're Happy and You Know It.'

Quincy is also working on walking, though he is quite the professional at crawling. He has mastered how to pull up on things for a while and has just gotten brave enough to stand by himself for a while before sitting down. He even was brave enough to take a couple of steps by himself in his room last friday. Once he figures out this walking thing we'll really be getting into shape. :)

We are so lucky to have him in our lives. He makes us laugh, smile, and sometimes gasp with exhaustion, but we love him none the less. We can't imagine our family without him, he completes it. Quincy is strong, smart and loving...........and we hope that we can give him only the best in life.

Happy 11 Month Birthday Q!

Handsome boy

I thought I would post these pictures because Quincy is exactly 1 mo.(tomorrow) away from turning 1 and he is beginning to look like quite the handsome little boy. I think he's really starting to look like a toddler more than a baby. It's funny how my memory has faded in remembering that tiny little baby I used to carry around. He's grown up so much, it's hard to believe that a year has almost gone by. We sure love him-- he's one of the higlights of our lives.

He got lots of compliments on his new church shirt. Actually it's not really new, but he's just now starting to fit into it since it's 6-12 mo.

More evidence

Quincy's teeth really do exist. This picture I just happened to snap of him and caught the glimpse of his little front tooth. So here you go Grandpa Loren. That's as good as it gets. He's really close to getting the other front one and also the bottom one below it.

Jeopardy?

Quincy does the funniest things sometimes. He gets excited for various random things like when the news comes on. I think it must be their theme music and the bright colors with the announcers voice. Or he will get excited when he hears the bathtub water running; Or when we say the word outside; Or when he hears the microwave running because he assumes whatever in it is for him; Or when I announce that "Dada's home." There are so many things that get him riled up and one of them happens to be when Jeopardy comes on. Maybe it's because we watch it almost every night at dinner time. This night he sat right up in front of the TV and was smiling and laughing when Alex came on. Maybe our baby will be really smart from watching this trivia game. :) I guess we shall see.

He looks like he's really engrossed in the personal interviews with the contestants.

And here he looks like he's genuinely interested in what Alex is talking about. Like:"I'm here for you Alex, go on." What a funny kid!

BATHTIME

These pictures were taken after Quincy made such a mess eating that spaghetti. He loved playing in the water and especially splashing Tyler! In the picture below he's dunking his wash rag to make sure it has the ultimate amount of water it can hold...

Then he stands up and flings the soaking wet wash rag up in the air, making sure to get dad with the majority of the water that it held. I had to censor this picture becuase you never know what kind of perverts are around, since our blog isn't private.

He kept up this process: soak water, fling in the air, and repeat. He was laughing and we were also laughing because he was so happy about splashing us!

Who knew how fun bathtime could be?

More Spaghetti please!

So finally today we had some success in the eating department... we had spaghetti tonight and Quincy joined in also. He loved it as you can clearly see in the pictures below.

We started cutting up the noodles into smaller piece that he could chew easier. He was too anxious though....so we gave him the bigger noodles; He sucked them right up into his little mouth-- whole ones and all.

This was the damage...

At least he has fun doing it!

Thanks Uncle Spencer!

Quincy got this really cute and super pimp outfit from Uncle Spencer and Johnathon for Christmas. He is JUST NOW fitting into it. Granted it was 9 mo. he's a little on the small side so it's just perfect now.

I ALMOST caught the smile!

Such a sweet boy!

Gangsta baby!

Grammie got Quincy these shoes after he was born and he's just now able to fit them. Tyler was really excited when she got them and couldn't wait for Quincy to wear them. He made us try them on him just to see if they fit, and they do!

Don't you love the swimwear combo with the pimp athlete shoes?

His little LeBron James hightops.

I also love the fact that his "shorts" are almost clear down to his ankles. You can't even see his legs, he takes after his Grandpa Loren, those short legs. :)

A good and bad day

Today has been a rough one-- to say the VERY least. Quincy's teeth must be bothering him because he's been refusing to nurse and even eat. It sort of worries me slightly, because we already had to deal with his weight loss last month. I wish he would eat so we don't have to worry about it more, geez-- his Doctor is going to think we're starving him, which we aren't. Tyler's playing bad cop and also informed me that I need to toughen up and not let him use his binky. He really doesn't use it much during the day, mostly before nap times and bedtime to settle down. It's easier for me to let him suck on it versus me. At any rate Quincy's in his room crying because Tyler won't give him a binky. It's sad, but I think that in the long run we'll be glad we rid him of it. I might disagree with the timing though-- seeing as how he's teething, but oh well. I definately don't want him to be one of those kids who's 2 or 5 and still sucking on a binky... not to mention all the damage they can cause to their teeth. Poor little guy, those teeth just need to come through.

On a posative note though Quincy and Tyler took a bath together. It was pretty cute and funny. Seeing as how we have a pretty standard small tub and how UNflexible Tyler is.... he had to get creative to get in there with Q. Although Tyler was mildly uncomfortable, Quicy was having the time of his life splashing Tyler ALOT with water! I guess that it was pay backs for all the countless times Tyler dumped a cup full of water on Q to wash off his shampoo. It was pretty funny. There was water everywhere.... but at least they had fun. Quincy was getting pretty brave and even standing up in the tub without holding onto the side, which made me nervous to say the least, but we were both right by him. He's been getting pretty brave about standing on his own....next all we have to do it get him to take some solo steps. It will come. I hope that he's walking by his first birthday.

Even though right now isn't fun (listening to him scream bloody murder from his room) tomorrow will be a better day.... right?

How about any of you reading, any horror stories of teething or weening of the binky/ bottle? What worked best?

Pointing.

Quincy has learned what 'tree' means; every time we go outside we ask him where the tree is and this is what he does:

Although I don't personally care for willow trees, I have to say that it sure is nice to sit under it, in the shade, on our hot summer days. Quincy loves to be outside, and it's nice that we can do that in the shade of our willow tree.

Quincy is funny, he's really been mimicing what we do. For the 4th of July we had hot dogs and he even tried a piece. After he tried it we pointed to the hot dog and said "Hot dog". Ever since then he tries to say it, he gets out hhhha- ddg. It's cute.

This is what his lips look like when he's saying dog.

Who's number one? Quincy is!


What a beautiful day.... gotta love the blue skies.

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

...Who is the cutest baby of them all?

Quincy's excited to see his new 'friend'.

Playing a little game of patty cake...

Giving a few high fives.

Are you talking t me?

Cheking himself out, he thinks he's pretty cute!