I think it Won't be Long before these two....

... become a duo of trouble!

Still, who can resist them?

A day at the Temple

The middle of my three younger brothers, Scott, had the opportunity to receive his endowments this past Saturday. What a wonderful experience it was for us to be able to attend the temple with him.

I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time now-- seeing as how I'm the oldest of my siblings. There is just something about being in the temple with so many of your family members that's indescribable.

Tyler and I haven't been through the Portland, OR temple for an endowment session since I went through for my first time. It was very special to be able to go again to the place where only 4 years ago we were being sealed together. I often think about the members of our family that attended in the sealing with us and how wonderful it felt.

Then I ponder on whether our children were there in attendance of that special ordinance. I think that they were -- though we couldn't observe their presence. During the entire duration of the session on Saturday our boys were perfect inside the temple.

Quiet and respectful.

Perhaps this is something unheard of for little children, but I know that they can feel the spirit there.

I'm so proud of Scotty and his decision to go through the temple. I would hope that he will learn to gain a testimony of the importance of it in his life. It's hard to believe that he'll soon be gone for 2 years. We are excited about him going on a mission, but it's still weird to think that he won't be around for holidays and breaks. We wish him all the best during his mission experience.

Love you Scotty. Two years will fly by...

Quincy's 3 Year Old Check Up

Last week Quincy went in for his annual check up at the Doctor. Since just the week before I had taken him to Braxton's appt. he sort of knows the routine. I did inform him that he wouldn't have to get shots though, unlike Braxton who received 3!

Of course, the Doctor made a liar out of me when she told me that he was due for an old vaccine that they'd made changes to. I was afraid that if I said anything he would freak out. Rather than tell him what was coming, like a good mom I pretended that we had to stay one more minute after the appt was done for some "medicine." He had no idea what was going on. Prior to his shot he got the nasal spray version of the flu shot, which again, I was nervous he wouldn't do well with, but he proved me wrong. He sat there quietly while she sprayed that up his nose.

Luckily, after the flu spray the nurse had him sit on my lap and while I distracted him by saying "What do you see out the window" BAM! she did it. He flinched after the fact, but not a single tear was shed. It was so nice. I let him get TWO stickers on our way out and told him he was SO BRAVE over and over again. He liked that and smiled the whole way home.

Quincy's 3 Year Stats are:

Weight: 29 lbs (12%)

Height: 37" (34%)

I couldn't believe that my 6 month old baby weighs approx 8 pounds LESS than my 3 year old! It goes to show that EVERY child is different. We have struggled to get Quincy to eat since the day he was born. Nursing was a nightmare for the first 3 months. I spent the majority of the time pumping, trying to keep a good milk supply while he 'got the hang' of nursing. It was a pain, but I'm glad I stuck it out....

Though we did have our nursing issues I thought maybe it'd get better when he was older and we could switch to solids. Not so, Quincy HATED vegetables, and still to this day we've been working on getting enough fiber in the kid. I will say that within the last three months I have witnessed him eat broccoli, green beans, green peppers, salmon, lettuce, red peppers, carrots, and he LOVES corn on the cob. He is making improvements in the eating department... maybe there's hope for him getting that weight up someday.

Quincy can now write his name, though he sometimes depends on me to remind him what letter comes next, he can write the letters himself. He knows every color there is, all his letters, and numbers 1-10. He got a big wheels bike for his birthday and is learning to ride that -- though his legs are still a little too short.

Our little Quincy is becoming very imaginative and independent- though he's been strong willed since birth. He loves his younger brother and is almost always willing to help. He likes to ask lots of questions about how things work and what words mean. I'm always proud of Quincy and the academic accomplishments he's made thus far.

Some funny things that Quincy's said recently:


* Grammie asks Quincy when he's acting up, "Do you want to go home?" He says honestly, "Yeah." -- This NEVER happens!

* We ask Quincy about Grandpa Loren's hair to which he replies "He doesn't have any hair on his head, it went to his legs."

* While playing with his golf clubs Quincy says "This orange golf club is sucking me up" I laugh and say , "You mean that club is making you suck? -- still a little in disbelief he's caught on to Tyler's phrase of ' that sucks' Quincy says, "Yeah like Tiger Woods sucks!" I couldn't help but laugh since I'm always teasing Tyler while he watches Tiger playing golf, saying Tiger Woods sucks.

* While pooping on the toilet Q says, 'Man, I need to eat more vegetables so my poop doesn't get stuck!' We've told him he needs to eat more veggies so his poops are easier to push out. It's amazing the things that stick with this kid. He has an incredible memory!

We love you Q!

Braxton's 6 Month Stats

WOW!

Braxton is getting SO big! Seriously, I didn't think he would get so big so fast, but here he has already gone to his 6 month check up.

Braxton's stats are as follows:

Weight: 20 lbs 8 3/4 oz (91%)

Height: 28" tall (92%)

Head: 18 cm (94%)

Everywhere we go people comment on what a chubby baby we have. I just smile and say, "Yes, he IS a big boy and we LOVE him!" Truly, I never even fathomed having a baby this big, looking back at Quincy's stats.... Braxton is blowing them out of the water. In fact, at the rate he's going I think he might even catch Quincy by the time he turns ONE.

On to Braxton's latest accomplishments, at 6 Months Braxton is now:

* Sitting by himself on the floor

* Likes to suck on wedges of peaches.

* Loves to play peek-a-boo, can even hold his hands up covering his little eyes when we say 'where's Braxton' and then proceeds to pull them down to hear us say 'there he is!' He thinks this is so funny.

* Can turn around 360* on his tummy

* Has finally learned to roll from back to tummy, he's been rolling over from tummy to back for a month now.

* Is starting to show enthusiasm in trying to crawl. (Ie. scooting forward, pushing himself backwards, reaching for toys just out of grasp, rolling around for things he can't get to.) Mobility is only around the corner.

* Has learned how to squeal, which he does LOUDLY! He also loves to blow raspberries with his tongue-- especially fun when you're trying to get food in him.

* Is eating solid food now! Something interesting is that he LOVES vegetables. We started him with green beans and peas and I thought he would protest, pucker up, make funny faces... besides the first feeding he hasn't at all! In fact, he PREFERS the veggies to the fruit. It's all the sweet fruit baby food that he turns up his nose to and tries to swat out of the spoon. Crazy! I've never known a baby to prefer veggies over fruits, but no complaints from this Mama!

* He is finally starting to take pumped milk from a bottle. I've never had any issues with Braxton nursing; Unlike Quincy, B can't get enough and has learned to snub the bottle whenever we have tried to give it to him. He used to refuse it, screaming at the top of his lungs when we'd try to feed him with it. Now I can feed him 5 oz without a peep. This is nice, especially for his mama since....

* He has got his first tooth! Yes, his bottom front tooth finally came through on Saturday. Both boys have been long teethers (starting at like 4 mo. old and not getting teeth until 6 or 7 months. Quincy got about 8 all within a week of eachother.) I can see Braxton has his top two front teeth that will be through soon enough.

* Loves to sing songs! Quincy is our little book child-- that kid is so happy and content to sit through reading a book no matter how long or short it is. Braxton is our singing child-- he might be crying his eyes out but when we sing Popcorn popping, My Heavenly Father Loves Me, In the Leafy Treetops, or ANY song that kid is happy as can be!

We are so blessed to have such a healthy, happy, chubby baby.

Love you B!

Fun at Grammie and Grandpa's House!

Grammie and Grandpa like to have Quincy over about once a week. Usually he gets to stay the night in his very own room, but since it's finally warmed up enough outside Grammie had to have Quincy over for a 'camp out'.

Quincy got to do lots of fun things on his 'camp out' like toasting marshmallows to make smores. (Grandpa Loren said Quincy didn't have the patience to sit there and toast the marshmallow, he was more content to eat them out of the bag.) Still, he enjoyed the smore making activity, though Grammie says he ate more un-toasted marshmallows than toasted ones.

Later when it got dark they set up the tent in the backyard and put their cots and blankets in it to sleep on. They read books in the dark tent with flashlights. Quincy even got to wear a special headlamp. They had lots of fun 'camping', but eventually came inside to sleep since Quincy was distracted by all the noise of cars driving by on the street and other outside noises.

Also, while at Grammie and Grandpa's Quincy got to go to the Clark County Fair. Uncle Scott and Uncle Karter were working there... so they got to go for free.

Quincy saw lots of animals... he was a little tired and crabby from having so much fun the night before that I heard he didn't get to enjoy the animals as much as the previous petting zoo he went to, but I think that he liked it overall. They saw lots of carnival rides, the Ferris wheel, animal exhibits, a rodeo show, and ate yummy 'fair food'.

By the time Quincy came back home to us... he was exhausted!

He can't wait for his next adventure there, maybe next year he will be able to camp through the whole night.....

Happy Birthday Quincy!

I can't believe that little Quincy is 3 years old already! It's crazy how much has happened since he joined our family:

Tyler and I have both graduated from college and moved in with his parents temporarily. Tyler got a job working for Combined Insurance. I had 3 doctors through my pregnancy with Quincy. We moved into an apartment in west Boise where we celebrated his 1st birthday. Tyler got a calling as an Elder's Quorum teacher, then primary teacher. I got a calling as primary teacher than Activity days Leader. I started working on-call as a designer at the florist I interned with. Tyler's job took him out of town for weeks at a time at least once a month-- hated that! We planted our own little garden in the small space outside our front window. Tyler's job at Combined got crazier and eventually unbearable as the economy got worse. Tyler made the decision to quit his job-- scary. I started working full time at Edward's Florist. I got pregnant-- again, scary! Tyler job hunted like crazy. Celebrated Quincy's 2nd Birthday during the big move. Eventually ended up with two solid job offers. We moved from Idaho into my parents place while apartment hunting. Found a great place to live and moved in. Tyler got called to teach Elder's Quorum again. I lucked out in a calling for a while until recently I was asked to Activity days, again. Some things never change. We had Braxton..... and here we are once again celebrating the birth of our firstborn.

Another Birthday.

Life with Quincy has been interesting to say the least.

He is such a good boy. He's smart, kind, funny, energetic, imaginative, loving, curious, a great helper, and the cute. We are so happy to be his parents. We love having the privilege to watch him grow. This birthday was a fun one, since he's now old enough to know what to be able to look forward to. He requested a cupcake birthday cake this year-- which I thought wouldn't be too difficult, but really given the circumstances of not having a kitchen available proved to make it harder than I anticipated.

Regardless, he loved his cake (even though Tyler made fun of it) which made me feel good about the effort I put into making it.

Let me back up and say that we spent Quincy's birthday at my parent's house. We figured it would be easier for everyone to gather at their house rather than our little apartment. Also, the weather was supposed to be HOT and our little apartment, with no AC, would be much warmer than their cool basement. We decided this BEFORE we discovered that they were going to be enduring a major overhaul of their kitchen. Due to some water damage, their whole kitchen was basically unavailable to use. Luckily we planned on doing a casual BBQ for Quincy's birthday dinner, but as for the cake I had to get a little creative using the bathroom counter for decorating. It wasn't the most convenient in that respect, but overall we didn't let the lack of a kitchen spoil our birthday plans.

Quincy was so excited for his cake and presents. Since his birthday was on Sunday we told him that we'd open presents and have cake after their naps when church was done. Tyler thought this wasn't going to work, but I think it went well. When both the boys finished their naps we did presents.

Quincy got PLENTY of goodies this year!

*We got him a big wheels bike...which he was really excited to open. (Tyler loved putting it together ) LOL

* Grandma Rena sent some money which we used to get him some golf clubs.

* Nanny and Pappy got him a bunch of various bunny books.

* Grandma Teesy and Grandpa Kent sent a package with some treats, safari animals, some cool trucks and cars, and a slinky.

* Grammie and Grandpa Loren got him a big monster truck, a drum-- thanks guys, a kids laptop, and 3 movies.

We had lots of fun eating hot dogs, fresh fruit and veggies, chips, and drinks, not to mentiont that awesome cupcake birthday cake and icecream. :o) Quincy has had so much new stuff he's still excited about his new things and plays with them all daily. I wonder what this year's Christmas will be like.

Happy Birthday Quincy!