Happy Birthday Quinn!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY QUINN!!!
As I'm writing this I am tearing up at what a blessing Quinton Daniel has been in our lives for the past three years. I never imagined three years ago that I could love someone like I love Quinn and that I would be so blessed to have him in my life.

Motherhood is one of the most life changing but amazing things. You can't prepare for it, you can't always explain it, you can't imagine the joy it will bring you. It takes a selfish person and teaches you to put the needs of another before yourself, it challenges you, it makes you laugh, it makes you cry, there is nothing in the world quite like it. I love being a mom. I can't even believe that it has already been three years. I feel like it was yesterday that they laid my precious baby boy in my arms and now he is 3... how fast time flies.

One of our first family photos
We celebrated Quinton's birthday Tuesday night with presents, cupcakes and a few friends.

Dan picked out some golf clubs for Quinn (there are 3 clubs and 3 balls... so they are for everyone)

And we got him a bike and a helmet!

Aunt Kelly, Aunt Dana and Uncle Ry sent him some cute shirts (he quickly passed over them) and some awesome legos! A huge semi-truck, a helicopter, a police car and some police men. A very excited present that already has gotten a lot of love.

Nana and Papa contributed to our swing-set fund.
We are hoping to find one for our yard soon!

Quinn getting ready to blow out the candle. We are enjoying our Sams Club membership (my birthday present from my sisters) and got a huge box of cupcakes to share with our friends Tuesday night. Quinn picked out Toy Story cupcakes!

If you have not been around Quinton before or for long periods of time you will have to take my word on this, HE IS INCREDIBLE. He is absolutely amazing. He is my three year old best bud. I feel like daily Dan and I look at each other and say how sweet he is, what a blessing he is, what a great big brother he is.

I forgot to inform you all that he is potty trained and doing amazing! I feel like he has been such a champ at it. He tells me when he has to go and he reminds me before we leave places to go potty. A much easier experience than I was anticipating. Plus, Nana and Papa got him some guitar and drum underwear.

He has become so independent over this last year. Putting on his own socks and shoes, pants, picking out his own shirt. And he wants to try EVERYTHING. If you or I can do it he wants to try it. He gets his own water, serves Rex, Myla, Dan and I without being asked. He constantly wants to help and for the most part loves to help with Rex and Myla. Most days I feel like he is so big and grown up and then before bed or after a tough fall he grabs his blankie and snuggles up next to me and I remember that he is still my first baby and one of the loves of my life. I love that he is growing up to be a big strong boy but I would not trade those cuddly moments for anything.

These are a few of my favorite pictures over this past year.

He looks so young here.

Probably one of my favorite pictures of all time!

Quinn really does have a thumbs up attitude on life

Dan and I are honored to get to be Quinn's parents.
I'm pretty sure that he is THE BEST 3 year old in the world.

Skinny Jeans

The other day while a friend of mine was over something came up about skinny jeans. I didn't even know Quinn was listening until he chimed in and said, "I have skinny jeans too." I just kind of laughed. A few minutes later Quinn said, "Mommy, remember when I skinned my knee in my jeans the other day." (He had a pair of jeans on that had rips in the knees so when he fell he skinned his knee). So now Quinn loves to wear his "skinny jeans" which means that his skin is showing in his jeans or that he skinned his knee in his jeans. Either qualifies as "skinny jeans" to him. He is such a goof. Even this morning when I asked him what he wanted to wear he said, "my skinny jeans like you mommy."

We are enjoying the warm weather. On Tuesday we went to the park with Dan. Their favorite part was running around the baseball field with their daddy which also involved picking up the sand and getting VERY dirty.
Quinton is so brave!
He has continued to be fearless with heights and jumps and climbing. He seems to know his limits and so far no broken bones.

He decided that he wanted to go down the fireman's pole at the park. And although it is more of a fall than a slide down the pole, it's just one more thing for him to conquer at the park.


Rex and Myla are loving the park too and seem to know their limits. I am pleased that the are aware of the heights of things and although I'm usually right next to them they have not tried scooting off the playground. They do however have some of their brothers boldness in them and love climbing to the highest slide (with me close behind) and jumping to Dan or I.
I do love how adventurous all our kids are!

Rex got a nice bump on his head the other day at home. It's looking a little green now.

Rex and Myla LOVE the swings. They giggled for probably five minutes straight while being pushed. I should have taken a video because these pictures don't do justice to the fun that they were having.

We need to bring out bat and tennis balls next time. Although I'm pretty sure that my boys would NEVER leave if we did that.

My handsome boys.

Getting dirty

My three amigos

I can't believe Quinn is going to be three next week.

Enjoying snack time on the deck. We already are reminded why we LOVE our backyard/deck. We have already eaten some slightly chilly dinners outside but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who cares that it's cold.

My children checking out our neighbors dogs! They go crazy for dogs! I think I would go crazy with a dog so in case you were thinking that their love of dogs would persuade me to get a dog then you're crazy. They can just enjoy our neighbors dogs!

We went to the Zoo the other week. We had a fun day with daddy and seeing all the animals. We had never toured the indoor exhibits at our zoo before (too busy enjoying the outdoors). The Des Moines Zoo is not the most impressive place but it is a perfect size for our little ones. We enjoyed the fish (Q is obsessed with underwater creatures these days).

Rex and Myla were fascinated by the lions and tigers who were sitting on the heated rocks RIGHT NEXT TO THE WINDOW!!!!

It was almost frightening how close they were to you.

We ended our trip to the zoo with lunch at McDonalds.
A day with daddy, animals and french fries... life doesn't get much better than that at the Rude house!

A Really Fun House!

We had our first official Rude Family Movie Night the other night!
We rented Disney's "Oceans."
It was the perfect movie for my animal loving family. It is by Disney's nature and shows you many different animals in the ocean. Quinn was entertained the whole time, the babies lasted as long as the popcorn did and then they wanted to read books and play but anytime a dolphin or a whale came on they would stop and watch. Quinn refused to miss the name of an animal which meant rewinding the movie a few times to catch their names. He has been impersonating sea creatures and loving bathtub time with his animals.

They must have seen something they liked!

Totally captivated

This is what the couch and my entire living room looked like after the movie. The mess was worth it. Everyone enjoyed the popcorn and each other.

Quinn and Rex have created some fun games together. One is called "Stick Ball." This involves a stick, usually a drum stick, and a ball with holes in it. You put the ball on the end of the stick and flick the stick forward making the ball fly forward then flick it back to the other person. This game is quite entertaining and can go on for a long time.

The next game that Quinn made up is call "Stay In the Game." This involves Quinn and Rex standing in the kitchen and throwing the ball into the dining room and then Quinn saying, "stay in the game, stay in the game," over and over again while running to get their balls, and then repeating the whole thing. Myla will get in on these game occasionally but would rather just watch her brothers and cheer them on with me.

Dan LOVES these games, anything that involves running around, balls and yelling is always a hit in our house! I'm sure that many more games will be invented in our house.

A great picture of our pretty girl

We are always having fun at our house.
Music is a must about 75% of the day. Everyone drums, play guitar and dances. The babies can't sit still when music comes on. They both have funny ways of dancing. I had a cute video but for some reason could not get it to upload... hopefully soon!

We have attempted some baking with everyone. A difficult task trying to involve all of them. As long as you give them some flour to play with and a baking utensil everyone seems to think they are helping! We do need to get some cookie cutters. Quinn and I hand cut our shapes out.

Despite the sad look, I'm pretty sure he had fun.

Dan creates fun games and activities that he does with our kids. Sometimes that involves sitting on the fridge and doing a jump off. He is such a fun daddy!
The Boys!
Only the boys are allowed to wrestle with their shirts off at our house. They have a blast and Myla always gets in the mix. Any time anyone is laying down in our house it is an open invitation to be jumped on, everyone knows it and everyone takes advantage of it.

Rex and Myla are truly goofy together.
They are often times found feeding each other at meals but that has resulted in some bit fingers.

I've been trying to change the blog background and style. But I need you to answer a question.... on my computer my background looks white with orange, green, brown and blue swirls on it. But on Dan's computer it looks totally orange and on my phone it looks orange with colored swirls. I'm just curious what the rest of you all see when you look at the background along the sides of the blog...