Friday, December 11, 2009

Winter is Upon Us!

Unfortunately, Winter is here in full force! Much to my disappointment we received a large dumping of snow this week and every year I am reminded of how much I hate winter and how smart my parents are for moving South. We have already begun to go stir crazy and were even playing frisbee (with a very small frisbee) in the house today just to run around a little bit! It's not that we can't go anywhere, the snow just makes it a little more difficult to get my three Wee Rudes out the door. I am however thankful for my warm house and Quinton's growing love for reading books. In most books that we read he finds a favorite page in the book and we revert back to it multiple times while reading that book.

Quinn is sharing a book with Miss Myla in the Bumbo chairs!
(Thank you Aunt Mary Ann for the Name books for all of my children, they are some of our favorite ones to read!!)I took Quinton outside the other day when and it resulted in him getting frustrated because he could not do anything or hold a shovel while wearing gloves so he took them off and ended up in tears because his hands were cold... so when Dan took him outside later I put a pair of Dan's gloves on him (hence the incredibly large gloves that he is wearing) and they stayed on better and for a little bit longer but in the end frustration and tears were the result (just another reason why I hate winter)! So I need some suggestions... where do I find gloves that a one year old will keep on but will still allow him to hold a shovel or pull a sled?? As much as I hate the snow, it still would be nice to get to play outside every once in a while for some fresh air!

This is the driveway between our house and our neighbors that we share with them. The snow drifted down between our houses and around 3 feet of snow was what we were left with. Lucky for us, we don't keep our cars that far down the driveway so we didn't have to deal with shoveling that much snow!
Quinn and I still love to bake, and once again more chocolate chips ended up in his mouth that on the cookies... but look how happy he is!
Quinn's favorite thing is the MOON! Every night we wrap him up in a blanket and go outside to look for the moon. He is pretty funny and can be very one track minded. You cannot say "moon" in our house without being asked for the next hour to go outside and see the moon. I can't tell him that a particular friend is coming over until a few minutes before they get here otherwise he will drive me crazy asking for Leighton, Eliza, Ava, Noah... etc. He continues to be such a social butterfly and LOVES other kids his age. He also LOVES to play in his big boy room. He is constantly saying "Room Please" and trying to drag you off into his room. He continues to be such a joy and a constant source of laughter.
I turned my back for a moment and this was the result... If I ever make any of you cookies, I promise to not let Quinn help!
Rex and Myla continue to grow. They are all smiles now (as long as they are fed) and love to look around. They are still building up their neck strength but they are always getting stronger. We are a part of a special program in Des Moines where because of their prematurity they send a teach out to evaluate their progress every month. So far they don't seem to far behind normal 3 month olds (even if they are 2 months behind they are still considered at the normal developmental level because they were 2 months premature). They seem very pleased with their progress, but Dan and I already knew that they were perfect! Rex is probably around the 14 lbs mark and Myla is still less than 10 lbs. They are still such content babies and sure do LOVE being held!
They like to nap together!
Hanging with Daddy
They get very mesmerized by their little gym. There is a light up star above them that they just love!
Enjoying the lights on the Christmas tree... as you can see we are still working on those neck muscles but we were told the Bumbos are the best thing!
Exhuasted after all that light watching
Before I had kids I always thought that I would never be one of those parents whose child has food all over their face and stains on their clothes... After becoming a parents, I am learning that it is nearly impossible to keep him totally clean. We do of course wipe him off after meals, but their always seems to be a trace of food somewhere.
Quinn and I shared a peanut butter bagel the other morning for breakfast. I think it goes without saying that a bath was required after this meal!
I thought that Quinn might like to help me decorate our Christmas gifts ( I am just wrapping them in brown paper and then he is coloring on it) so I pulled out some washable markers for the first time.... on second thought I might wait a little bit longer before markers become a daily activity! (you can click on the picture to see his beautiful art on his clothes).

We are anxiously awaiting our trip to Arkansas to enjoy to see my family and Dan and I are looking forward to taking a nap! Our children continue to be such blessing to us and teach us so much. We are so thankful for all that we have been given!