Family Time at UVRMC

    Last week, we got a call that Devin's dad would be going to UVRMC for emergency back surgery. After receiving this news we called in to work, packed our bags, and drove up to Provo.  When we arrived at the ER late Wednesday night we were told that surgery was scheduled for early the next morning.  After many hours spent in the hospital waiting and waiting and waiting, we got the word that the lumbar fusion was completed and a success!
    We spent the next few days in Provo with Devin's mom, sisters, and niece at the hospital while Kent recooperated.  After much worrying about Quinn spending time at the hospital and wondering where she would nap, and sleep, and eat, everything turned out fine.  She had a great time being loved on by her Moab family, eating smashed bananas from the hospital cafeteria, smiling at the nurses, rolling around on Grandpa Kent's bed, talking to cousin Avery, and napping on whichever set of arms would hold her.  It turned out to be an enjoyable few days with family, even though it was in a hospital.

Auntie Britt is always willing to cuddle this little one

Cousin Avery with the photo bomb!

A package of crackers makes the best chew toy

Catching some Zzzz's on sweet cousin Payton....

 ...and on dad

These two trying to figure out how to give hugs, not quite there yet..

 Love you Auntie Steffy!

Month 6

My coworker said it right "Pure happiness is the smile of a six month old." This has been another month for the books, and my gosh, 6 month old babies are SO FUN! Quinn is so rolly polly and I finally feel like I'm not going to break her every time I touch her so as you can imagine, we have barrels of fun...

• Her nicknames are Quinny, Baby Quinn, Princess Pea, and Booger Butt 
• She finally rolled and I BARELY got to witness it as I was walking into the living room and caught her tipping over from her back to her front.  I probably gave her a heart attack with my excitement afterwards
• We tried rice cereal for the first time.  Quinn was not impressed by any means, but she was willing to go through the motions with us.
• After a few weeks of rice cereal we started her on pureed sweet potatoes and she got after it! So far we have tried sweet potatoes, bananas, and peas.  She has thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Did you know that pureed bananas turn brown, and STAIN! 
• Her eyes are getting bluer and her hair is getting thicker and dark blond.  We are guessing that she will have her Dad's coloring. Everyone tells us she looks olive but time will tell.
• I finally decided that if I want to go to Crossfit I'm going to have to start toting her along with me and it has been a success! I just leave her in her carseat and she either sleeps or plays or chews or watches everyone until I am done (as long as I'm done in 45 minutes). Yes she does get fussy but overall she is very patient about Mom needing her gymtime. 
• She is a champ at running errands, I mean we probably go to Target 4 times a week and rarely buy much, she just likes to sit in her carseat in the cart and look around, as do I.
• Smiles a lot but rarely laughs, her dad is the best at getting her to giggle.
• Just about outgrown the kitchen sink tubby so we will be moving her to the bathtub
• She is quickly outgrowing her 9 month clothes!
• Ever since our trip to California she has stopped sleeping through the night consistently and will occasionally wake up to feed in the middle of the night a few nights a week.  
• Her right cheek flushes! It's weird, we thought she was teething, but she's not. 
• She is my little buddy, and even though I love going to work I get so excited on the drive home to see her! I mean who wouldn't miss this chub...

Would you just look at that!

Our new high chair came... Hooray! I think Quinn really likes being up high, and it has rollers so I can wheel her around the house with me.

Verdict on rice cereal... not impressed

The Baby Bullet is the bomb! One sweet potato makes 12 jars of baby food! Plus making baby food is actually kinda fun (and that's how you know you're a mom)

The first time we walked in on her sleeping like this I was of course panicked that she would suffocate herself  during the night but after much Googling I was reassured that this is normal behavior..

Many of our mornings are spent in the backyard playing with Gloworms since it gets way too hot in the afternoon to spend any time outside unless you're in a body of water. 

Quinn and her Grandma Cookie, we really need to work on Q's tan

Enjoying the cool Cedar City weather with Papa Dave.

Quinn's first trip to Huntington Beach, it was a little breezy, but she was a trooper!

Quinn and Oaklie are partners in crime...

They are also workout buddies.

Month 5

I said it before and I'll say it again I'm sure, this last month has been the most fun so far.  In normal baby fashion she is doing so many fun new things..

• At her 4 month check-up she came in at 

17lbs 6oz.: 97th percentile
26 inches long: 97th percentile

• She LAUGHS!  The first time I heard her laugh was one night after her tubby. Devin was making funny faces at her and she giggled and giggled at him! I was of course freaking out with excitement and then Devin looked at me confused and said "she does that all the time".  I can sort of get her to laugh, but not as easily as her dad can.
• Druels, druels, druels. Hands covered in druel, shirts covered in druel, parents covered in druel.
• She has discovered her thumb but I am not labeling her as a thumb-sucker just yet since she has only sucked it a couple, very cute, times.
• Babbles, coos, trys to blow bubbles, and holds her breath
• Eating 6 oz every 2 hours but we are in the process of pushing her back to 3 hours
• Sleeping through the night, 9:00 to 7:00 or 8:00 so the doctor says there is no rush to start solids unless we want to
• Sitting up, but face plants a lot because she leans forward to grab her toes which brings me to....
• She sucks her toes!!!!!!! Cutest baby milestone of all time!
• Wearing some 6 month, but mostly 12 month clothing due to length restrictions.  Rompers are the best invention! I don't think I will dress her in anything but rompers this summer
• Hasn't rolled from back to front yet, but spends a lot of time on her sides.  In fact she will roll to her sides then suddenly outstretches all four appendages which whips her back onto her back.  Kinda funny, really cute.  
• Has become very aware of Otto and gets so giddy when he comes around.  I wish I could train him to walk in circles around her....
• I still hold her all the time, if I put her down I feel like I'm missing out on something, poor girl probably feels smothered.  I have forced myself to give her daily  "alone time" on the floor, which she really seems to enjoy
• Between her toes, thighs, hands, baby shoulders, tummy, neck, cheeks, I probably kiss her about 500 times a day
• Proudest Parenting Moment: Devin jokingly asked Quinn if she wanted to watch Mad Max (stupidest movie on the planet) with him.  She just looked at him, stuck out her lower lip, and started CRYING! Not whining or fussing...CRYING.  It was amazing, I was so proud of my little movie snob.

Turbans are not just for grandmas and Arabs...

Stoked to see Dr T, clearly very impressed with the new office 

Fell asleep mid-bottle.  Being a baby can be exhausting sometimes

So happy to be joining us at the table for lunch.  Strollers and carseats are for the birds.

 And again, lunch.  I ordered a carne asada burrito with a side of baby thigh rolls

Pretending our white fluffy pillow is white fluffy sand.  Bathing beauty!

Caught in the act grocery shopping at Harmon's

Baby stroller sunroof... I mean

Quinn loves her Snug...for about ten minutes

Exploring the great outdoors with Papa Dave

And she's out for the count...

First interaction with a feline, both parties were indifferent

Tubby time cabin style.  This picture kills me and it WILL be blown up and displayed somewhere in my home....I mean

Aunties and cousins and grandmas, Oh My!

First off I feel that congratulations are in order because I just survived the four hardest days of my life! I'm being dramatic, but I'm telling you, it was tough...

Long story short, Devin had several big accounts that needed to be done in Moab and I had signed up to work all Memorial Weekend so we decided that Devin and Quinn would go to Moab, and leave the mama behind....

Luckily, while Devin worked, Quinn was under the care of 20 of the best babysitters in the entire world! She got to be loved on by all of her cousins, aunties, grandmas, grandpas, great grandmas, and great grandpas that she doesn't get to see her very often so needless to say she was having a ball while her poor, sad, lonely mama stayed home and missed her terribly.  Had she been separated from me for any other reason I may have lost it but those Dalton's love that little lady like it's nobody's business...

Doing a little outdoor shopping with Auntie Britt

Grandma Joelynn's lap is the best seat in the house as far as Q is concerned

Grandpa Kent getting double teamed by the "twins" 

Rocking away with Auntie Steph (Pretty soon Quinn will be as tall as she is!) 

Quinn and cousin Avery were born two days apart so it's always fun to get them together and see how different and similar they are! Avery looks so dainty and petite next to Quinn!

Devin set out all of Quinn's clothes so the cousins got to take turns picking out her outfits... here she is with Payton making some very important decisions about what outfit she should wear...

I'm so thankful for our Moab family. Growing up I had a very small extended family so I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Quinn will grow up with lots and lots of cousins and aunts and uncles.  It stinks living five hours away from all of them but I know seeing them will always be a huige treat for her (and us)!

Month 4

As I begin this four month post I am so nervous that I won't do this month justice and accidentally leave out some of the new things this little tyke has been doing lately, so I will do my best...

• New Nicknames: Thunder Mountain (given by Bubba) and Princess Pea
• Hasn't rolled over from back to front but is oh-so-close.  Any day now...
• Giggles, coos, and smiles non-stop.  It is truly the best sight and sound I could ever imagine
• Insists on being held face forward.  Cuddling against your chest is no longer an option.  Any(most any)  fit of fussiness can be solved by picking her up and walking her around like this
• Sleeping 12 hours a night! Halleluja!
• Eats 6 ounces of formula (yes, we have fallen off of the breast milk train) every two hours
• Dare I say it - we have her on a routine! Eating every two hours with a 30-ish minute nap in between each feeding.  Being on a schedule has made a night and day difference in her.  She still gets fussy, but having her on a schedule I can know exactly why she is fussy and fix it
• Starting to sit up on her own, quite wobbly but getting the hang of it
• CONSTANTLY sucking on her hands so they are constantly covered in druel, as is her shirt
• Very mobile in her crib at night, we often walk into her room in the morning to see that she has rotated 90 degrees in her crib
• Fits perfectly into 6 month clothes(as long as the feet aren't enclosed) so we started buying 9 and 12 month clothes for the upcoming summer months
• Starting to grab at things.  Occasinally she gets a good hold on something and she immediately brings it up to her mouth
• We just bought a stroller this weekend and she is a huge fan.  I took her on an hour long walk yesterday and she just sat there contentedly and stared off
• My favorite part of the day is our conversations.  You can talk to her and she repiles with her little baby sounds and it is so delightful!
• Pushes her bottom lip out when she is really upset or scared.  It's disgustingly cute
• Some days I still can't believe she is mine, I mean, how did I get so lucky to have this little butterball all to myself?!

We both love the Baby Bjorn!

The day I realized she is mobile... I left her on her rug while I went to switch over the laundry (1 minute tops) and returned to find her rolled or scooted all the way off her rug!

"Get this toy out of my way so I can suck on my hand Mom"

I think she may have Grandma Cookie and Grandpa Dave wrapped around her chubby little finger

First time meeting her Auntie Courtney

Watching me do dishes in her chair

Love love love her little gingham dress her cousin Payton picked out for her, and I also love the turquoise pillows Grandma Cookie got for her nursery

We left Quinn with my mom for the day so we could go to Vegas to run the Spartan Race with these fine people.  Lets just say it was waaaay harder than I expected, and I am waaaaay more out of shape than I thought I was.  The race was 8 miles, but it was 8 miles of running up and down rocky hills and doing completely lame "obstacles" in between.   Poor Devin had to coax me along most of the way.  All in all it was a good experieince and a challenge and we are planning to do another one soon...

Already getting lectures from dad...

Staring at the pretty blue water..did I mention we need a pool?

We got to babysit our friend's baby Oaklie for the afternoon and it was a hoot! Luckily they were both on their best behavior so everything went smoothly.  This picture was taken right before naptime...

I love this picture, probably because she looks like such a little chunk!

The newest addition to our family, the stroller! 

 Testing out the sunnies from Grandma Joelynn's Easter basket! She wears them well...

 

Now we know who she gets her cuteness from...

She looks pretty indifferent to being tossed in the air

Visiting Mama at work

 This has been my favorite month so far just because of all the fun new things she is doing lately.  I never could've imagined how a little person could bring so much pleasure to our lives. Are there any Downton Abbey fans out there? (If you're not one you should become one immediately) Well, someone on the show has a baby, and the Dad of the baby made the most perfect observation "I wonder if he has any idea how much joy he brings with him."  Do they? Probably not. But I am so grateful that they do...