Quinn's summer.

Oh, what does Quinn do in the summertime?

Sooooooooo many fun things! Yes, I realize summer isn't technically over yet...but it always feels like it is to me when August ends and everyone goes back to school. Thanks, everyone, for a fun summer!

Exciting airplanes.

This video teaches us two things: First, that Quinn is now a willful acting agent and no longer an agent to be acted upon. What do I mean by that? Well, if you try to hold her down and smooch her face a billion times she may use her sharp little fingernails to resist you, as Spenser learned the hard way. Second, she finds airplanes very exciting.

Five things.

Taking a five month hiatus from maintaining this blog was not something I intended to do! I am sad that I failed to document all of the fun changes and developments that Quinn experienced in real time, but alas - that ship has sailed. So, I give you five things - one thing for each month of my journaling negligence - about our recent goings-on:

(1) In April, Quinn & I took the train to San Francisco to visit our dear friend Hanalei! It was THE BEST...because of Hanalei, and Chinese food (soooooo  much delicious Chinese food). We hung out at their awesome apartment, went for fun walks and chased ducks in Golden Gate Park, thrift shopped on Haight Ashbury, people watched in Berkeley and ate all manner of delicious food. It was Fun with a capital F.

(2) Spenser started a new job at the knife manufacturer Kershaw and it has been a great move. Things at his last company were not going very well so this was a very happy change. It is located in Tualitan, which is a bit of a daily commute but nothing unmanageable, and he works in their international shipping department. He gets great discounts so keep us posted if you need a gift for a special male in your life!

(3) Spenser's sister Madisen moved from Hermiston (approximately 3.5 hours east of here) to Portland to work and go to school, so we get to see WAY more of her, which is awesome. And she is a great babysitter who Quinn absolutely adores!

(4) Speaking of sisters: My sister Whitney married Samuel in the end of June and it was AWESOME! Sam loves Mad Men, reads the New York Times and makes delicious homemade bread so I had no problem welcoming him into the family. The wedding was beautiful and fun and we got to spend a lot of time with my brother Brad and his wife Stephanie to boot!

(5) Quinn is moving, moving, MOVING...crawling all over the place, pulling herself up into a standing position on any object that will stay still for two seconds and getting close to walking. She will be 1 in a month AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!! She is such a big girl now - as of about May she now sleeps through the night in her pack n' play (a huge change from her former routine of refusing to sleep anywhere but between us in our bed and waking two or three times every night) and takes two solid naps everyday. She's my big girl! I will try to post more Quinn photos & videos soon :)

That's all for now! Hope you all are well and enjoying the summer. 

Happy heart day.

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm just gonna say it: One of the best parts of having a baby is dressing them up in cute things for occasions that you didn't even really care about before you had a baby (i.e. Valentine's Day). Mom and Vince gave us their tickets for the Artist Repertory Theatre tonight for a date and Grandpa Vince is going to babysit this little munchkin. She is six months old now (!) and just started solids. Last night she downed half an avocado like it was candy! Here's a video of her first sweet potato:

An emerging personality.

I just sent these to the printer and thought I had better post them here, too. What happened to my floppy little newborn?! Quinn's little personality is more evident every day.

P.S. Shortly before Quinn was born, this talented local photographer had a SUPER cheap package offer on a daily deal site so I scooped it up, thinking we would have some newborn photos taken of Quinn. What I failed to account for is the fact that having a newborn and recovering from Cesarean was all-consuming and having photos taken was one of the last things on my mind. So, we had them taken when Quinn was three months old. Here is a link to the album of low-res photos :)

Holidays recap.

The holidays this year were a fun time for one and all. Adventures included: house sitting and taking care of a cute but VERY high energy yellow lab puppy; hanging out with Brad, Steph & Whit who came into town from Utah for a few weeks; miniature golf/lazer tag/bowling courtesy of daily deal sites; snowshoeing; and eating a lot of delicious food. We also made the trek to Hermiston for New Year's and spent some time with Spenser's people, which included participating in a run/walk fundraiser for the Hermiston High School cross country team on New Year's Day. More photos of our holiday activities can be found here. It was all super fun, but I'm definitely glad to be back in a routine.

Four months, already.

Quinn reached the four month mark yesterday! She weighed in at 13 pounds, 8 ounces (48%ile) and measured 25 inches long (78%ile). In addition to showing more and more personality, she is constantly meeting new milestones. She can roll over from front to back and from back to side (we're still working on making it all the way over from back to front). Her pediatrician said she should be sleeping through the night. When he said that, my bloodshot eyes almost bugged out of my sleep deprived head in shock.

Here is a short video of Quinn laughing!! She is a little hoarse from a cold she has been fighting. I love how she surprises herself when she laughs. Each giggle is followed by a puzzled expression; it seems she has no idea where this little involuntary reaction of joy is coming from: