2011 Year in Review

This year was relatively quiet compared to last year, which is fine by us.  We made a ton of good memories, and it has been so fun to watch Quinn learn and grow.  She has changed from a little baby to a toddler in 12 months... it is so cool!   It is amazing how much we all love that little girl.  She is bright, silly, and fun.  She is the center of our world, and we wouldn't have it any other way.  We will always remember 2011 fondly, and with great gratitude for all the exciting things we got to do with our healthy little Quinn.  

January: Quinn weaned off oxygen during the day.  She became stronger and more playful.  We did lots of fun activities inside, despite being on house arrest. 

February:  We went on walks on nice days.  Quinn started rolling and sitting.  She left the house to get her photos taken. Dalan had a birthday.

March:  Tubie went in, and we could see Quinn's face without her NG tube all the time. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day, and Quinn went pantless a lot of the time. 

April:  Tubie came out, and her button went in.  She started crawling, and calling her binkie her, "guy-guy."  We got off house arrest and got to visit with friends, and go to the farm and the zoo!  The Easter Bunny came!

May:  Quinn turned one!!!!  We were one of the top family fundraising teams in Utah for the March of Dimes!  We went on more outings, and we said good bye to the oxygen tanks completely.  

June:  I am on summer vacation and celebrate my 32nd birthday!  Quinn hangs out in her diaper while at home, and we get to go on even more outings!

July:  We start doing more and more activities, like the aquarium, Lagoon, parades, fairs, planetarium, etc..  We celebrate the 4th of July.  Quinn starts standing on her own!

August:  We went to San Fransisco, and Quinn goes on her first plane, boat, and train.  We go on lots of activities.  Quinn gets her first ear infections.  I go back to work.  We find out VaRonica and Nathan are having a baby!  We celebrate Quinn's Due Date Day!

September:  More activities, like the zoo and Oktoberfest.  Quinn and Odessa are blessed by the Reverend Nghia.  Quinn starts walking.

October:  We celebrate Halloween, and go on fall activities.  We enjoy the nice weather.  We go on drives.  Dalan and I celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary. We cheer on the Utes!

November:  It gets colder, and our activities slow down.  Quinn turns 18 months old.  We celebrate Thanksgiving. 

December:  Christmas time!  Quinn meets Santa.  Quinn hosts a party.  Dalan and I get ready for all the Christmas festivities.  Raul causes mischief.  Santa comes!  Time with spent with family.

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Another Day at the Farm

We took advantage of the nice weather, and my fall break from school, and took Quinn to Wheeler Farm on Thursday. She had a blast. She loved the cows, the goats, and the pigs. However, I would say ever since we fed the cows in San Francisco, they have been her favorite. She is such an animal girl. We seriously might end up with a farm of our own one day. (Quinn and I hope, anyway.)









And here are some comparison photos between this past spring to this fall.

Some Pictures and Stuff

This is from after Quinn's bath last night. I love it. It combines most of Quinn's favorite things...a mirror, a camera, and a mama. And my most favorite thing a freshly bathed Quinn!



This is a graph we made in class today. I explained what a rivalry was...a friendly competition. (Ha!) And how the BYU/Utah is one of the oldest in the nation. I explained the team colors, mascots, etc, and then let the kids vote, without letting on to my opinion.




Looks like they are a pretty smart bunch.

This is a snapshot of an hour of Quinn's life. She threw dog food all over the kitchen, tried to pillage through the garbage, ate dinner (not pictured), and then pulled all the table cloths out of a cupboard. She never slows down.

We are so excited!

We are excited to announce...

in the middle of March, 2012
Quinn is going to be a....

cousin!

(Quinn had fabulous second cousins, but this will be her first first cousin.)

VaRonica and Nathan are expecting a wee one next spring, and we could not be more excited. She is 13 weeks pregnant, and finally feeling better!

We are all so excited about our new titles....
Cousin Quinn.
Uncle Dalan.
and
Aunt Jessi.

Congrats VaRonica and Nathan!!!
We love you all and can't wait to meet your "Little" one.

SF: Parts Three and Four

On our third full day in the San Francisco area, Dalan, Quinn, and I headed back to the city to go on a boat ride, while Aubrey, Sam, and Drake went to church. We borrowed their car, and I drove into the city, over the Bay Bridge. I did quite well considering my phobias of heights, and earthquakes. (I may be getting a little crazier as I get older....ha, ha!) We had super-bundled Quinn up as we did not know what to expect on the boat. We ended up staying in the interior of the boat the whole time, which was nice and warm. Quinn loved looking out the window at the water. She was fascinated. The tour lasted about an hour, and was pretty. Quinn fell asleep about half way through the ride.

Mad to be in a stroller

Dalan and I then grabbed lunch, and explored Fisherman's Warf. We saw the seals on Pier 39, and went into some shops. It was fun! The weather was pretty nice, and it was a great way to spend our morning. Quinn missed most of this, but taking a super long nap. I guess the crisp air, and being bundled up works equals a long snooze!




We then met up with the Barrett's back at their place, and Aubrey, Dalan, Quinn, and I went for a walk while Sam and Drake napped. The weather was perfect! It was sunny, and warm. When we got back to their place, Aubrey made us an awesome dinner. Dalan ate three servings!

That evening, we went to the park with the kiddos. Drake had his mini-skateboard of course, as well as, his glove, bat, and ball. Quinn loved swinging, and the slide. She also tried to eat handfuls of dirt. After doing so well at the beach, she failed at not eating sand at the park.



The next day, Aubrey, Dalan, and I plus the kids went to the Little Farm. It is a little farm (duh) in the middle of a huge park, in which you bring in your own lettuce and celery to find the animals. Quinn LOVED it. I think she could have fed the cows all day long. Seriously. This park also has a merry go round. Quinn LOVED that too. She rode a horse, and spent about half the time making her body gallop as we went around. I barely need to hold onto her anymore, because she does such a good job. Drake chose to ride this mini-horse attached to a bench. He must be into mini little things these days.



It was then time for Drake's swim lesson, so Quinn napped in the car, while he was swimming. Next it was off to see Dr. Aubrey Barrett's office. So cool to see my friend, the doctor's, practice after all her years of hard work!!!!! We also ran to Trader Joe's to get Quinn some pouches of apple carrot sauce/baby food that she feel in LOVE with while we were there. Seriously, she whines for these things. Any of you, who live near a Trader Joe's, feel free to send us some! Then, it was time for lunch, and to go to the airport. It is always so sad to see a vacation end. We had so much fun! Thank you Aubrey, Sam, and Drake for being such awesome hosts! We WILL be back!!!!!

Quinn being silly with Dalan at the airport.

Snap, Crackle, Pop

Quinn's favorite snack....Rice Crispy Treats. Go ahead, judge me. She likes them. She actually eats part of them. So, we let her. Plus, she looks adorable doing it.

Opposites

Griffin is a giant dog. He is a gentle giant, who happens to be a giant scaredy cat as well. He gets a little nervous around Quinn. He prefers to avoid her.

Quinn is a tiny girl. She is bold and adventurous beyond her tiny frame, and she happens to love animals. She especially loves Griffin. She prefers to climb on him, pat him, and try to stick her fingers in his giant mouth.

We recently let Quinn ride Griffin. She LOVED it. She giggled, and moved her arm in the giddy up motion she used when riding a pony. Griffin tolerated it. And he quickly learned that if he just sat down, she would slide off, and could not ride him anywhere.



In other news, Quinn had one of those rare moments of wanting her bottle. She reached into my purse and started drinking it, despite it being cold (she prefers her bottles on the edge of too hot usually.) Go figure. It was cute.

Here Fishy, Fishy!

This past week, we took Quinn to the aquarium again. She loved it. She "ooooohhhhhed" at each tank, and was excited to see what was it in, whether it was a trout, a frog, or a shark. She loved petting the little sea creatures, and one of the sting rays was up on the side of the petting pond, so Quinn got to pet one of those this time, since the water is too deep for her to reach the bottom usually. She loved watching the penguins, and was equally as entertaining as the bird themselves. She was not into having a comparison picture next to the different types of penguins, and even threw a mini-tantrum about it. (pictures are all dark due to the lighting in the aquarium.)