Bubbles

As is the case with most three year olds, Quin loves to play with bubbles. We can spend hours in the back yard, taking turns blowing bubbles. He likes to blow them and have me chase them, but of course he loves it when I blow the bubbles and he gets to chase them.

I did not have any idea, however, that Talisker would enjoy bubbles so much. Quin thought it was wonderful to blow the bubbles and watch the dog chase them. It was pretty funny.

See for yourself in this video:

The puppy within...

Talisker is only 7 months old, so perhaps that could have something to do with the recent naughtiness, but he has still caused a great deal of frustration in the past few weeks. I am sure that he is feeling a bit neglected since Isla was born, but doesn't he know that I am trying my best to give him lots of attention?!

It started when he ate Isla's car seat. Quin was at preschool a few weeks ago, Isla was sleeping, and I was trying to get some work done. Nothing unusual there, except for the fact that I was working upstairs and not watching the dog. That was mistake #1. Talisker was tempted by spit up on Isla's car seat straps, so could you really blame the puppy for chewing threw one side of her chest restraint? Seeing as I didn't catch him in the act, I couldn't punish him! The biggest problem was that I figured it out as I was putting Isla in her seat to leave to pick Quin up from school, 15 minutes before he was supposed to get out! I immediately called Tim at work and asked him if he could go get him. 30 minutes later, Quin was back home and new straps were on the way from the car seat company. $15 for the replacement straps and $18 for shipping. Good thing we have two of the big car seats for Quin, otherwise we would have been stuck at home!

The following week, Tim went to put Quin's shoes on so we could all go out and he discovered that the Velcro strap that secures the shoe to Quin's foot was missing! The dog had decided to chew it off the evening before! If they had been cheap shoes, I am sure I wouldn't have cared as much, but they were Merrells! To top it off, they were Quin's only pair of shoes! Consequently, our first stop was find Quin new shoes. I am not sure what caused him to do that, other than boredom, but again, we didn't catch him in the act! Even though Talisker wasn't directly punished for his misbehavior, he did earn himself a lot of kennel and outside time. Now, if we can't watch him, he isn't trusted (at least until he outgrows this crazy puppy behavior).

I really hope that he grows out of this destructive phase soon!

Talisker

As we expected, Talisker loves Isla and is wonderful with her. Of course, he is very curious about her and constantly wants to say hi, but he is very gentle. I knew we made a great choice in picking a golden!

Quin still chases him around and loves to play with him, so consequently Quin is the one person who routinely makes Talisker crazy. All the screaming might have something to do with it. Some days, when both Talisker and Quin are crazy, I feel like I have two 3 year olds! Insanity!

For now, Isla doesn't think much of him, but I have no doubt that will change as Isla grows up. I am sure she will love him just as much as we all do.

Merry Christmas

Quin (and I suppose Isla) had a blast on Christmas! Santa brought Quin the two things he asked for, a clock and a transformer that talks. He was beyond ecstatic! His favorite present was a mixing keyboard. He played with that thing for hours! His other favorite toy of Chistmas was what Santa brought me, a Wii! I'll post pictures when I get them unloaded. Merry Christmas!

Quin with Santa

While Tim and I were in the hospital having Isla, Quin had his first visit with Santa! From what I understand, Quin got to sit with him and have a rather lengthy chat about what he wanted for Christmas. Quin's one wish: A Transformer that talks! For now, only Santa knows if Quin has been naughty or nice. We shall see!

New photos of Quin and Isla

We've had a couple of chances to head up to the studio since Isla was born and get some photos of our own family. Isla was just two weeks old when we took these photos while my mom was in from California.

Here's our baby girl, with Elizabeth and me holding her. Thanks mom for taking the photo.

Here is our new favorite photo of our two kids. This one is going to get blown up real big and put on our living room wall at home. We absolutely adore this shot of our pride and joy.


Me and my two kiddos. I went to the studio expecting to take some shots of grandma and her grandbabies, but decided at the last minute to jump in, despite the t-shirt and hat.


Elizabeth on the other hand was ready to go to be in front of the camera. Here are my three favorite people in the whole world. Aren't they gorgeous?



Isn't my boy a goober? Many people hate it when kids don't cooperate for a photo. I love it, it shows Quin's personality. That's what I want to remember, not the cheesy smile.

Quin Loves Isla!

Quin has been a wonderful big brother! We weren't sure how Quin was going to react to having to share our time and attention, but he has pleasantly surprised us! He loves his little sister more than I ever could have guessed. Multiple times a day, he begs us to let him hold Isla. He climbs up on the couch and assumes the position (squished into the corner with his arms out to support her), waiting patiently. Whenever Isla cries, he rushes to her side and gently pats her head and tells her that everything is okay. More often than not, he calms her down! He loves to snuggle in the chairs with us whenever he has the chance. He is definitely the proud big brother!

Welcome Isla Skye Solley!

Our little Isla was born November 21, 2009 at 12:28 am, just 28 minutes past her due date. She weighed 8 lbs. 6 ozs. and was 20 inches long. After ten days, she's healthy and happy after a case of jaundice. Our little girl matched the pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving day!

Here she is just a few hours after her birth, after we got to the recovery unit and things calmed down.


Proud mom about a week before Isla arrived. She is our early Christmas gift!


Mom and her new girl about a half hour after birth. Elizabeth did awesome!


More photos of Isla taken her first morning around the time the sun came up.

Christmas Set

Now that KidPix! Portrait Studios is officially open in old town Fort Collins, we took a little time to put together a holiday portrait set. Fake snow, Christmas tree, and presents. The works.

Quin was nice enough to be our first model to test it out.





Not a bad little model. We've come to the realization that about 90% of children are easier to photograph than our own boy. He quickly wreaked havoc on our new set. Fake gifts already have to be re-wrapped.

Attitude of a 3 Year Old!

Why are the 2's commonly referred to as "the terrible 2's"? They are not, in fact, terrible. You don't know what terrible is, until you have a three year old. A lot of moms told me that, at least with boys, three is way worse. I believe it now! They have also told me to hang in there; things get better. I sure hope so!

What is it about 3 that brings out the attitude? Is it needing to express individuality? Or perhaps a desire to be more independent? I know it isn't the fact that you have more words to express your feelings, because Quin has been able to clearly express his feelings since he was 2. Besides, I don't get words anymore; I am lucky if I get anything beyond whining and tears. What am I to do!!??

When he acts like this, it really makes me not want to sign us up for fun classes. Today, we had a pottery class. Sounds like fun, right? Lets just say it wasn't the best day we have had together. I may have set us up for failure, considering that the class started at 2:45 (nap time usually starts at 2:00), but I really thought that he could handle it since he is usually so flexible! This is a five week class, so things should be interesting for a while!

I guess for now I just need to enjoy the glimpses of my sweet little boy that I get daily and embrace this new stage for what it is. It is still amazing to see him becoming a little boy and growing up. Even when he is in a bad mood, I wouldn't trade him for the world!

Bubble Wrap

Quin likes it when we get a large photo order that includes sheets and sheets of bubble wrap. Every time we get an order like that, he is entertained for at least ten minutes (which is hours in normal human time).

Too bad todays fun bubble playtime had to be cut short by a trip to timeout!

Playtime!

Quin loves anything and everything that involves playing and being crazy, especially if there are cars involved! Today we went out to the Windsor Rec, which we haven't visited for a while. As always, Quin's primary obsession was with a Little Tykes car.

This is one toy that we never got. Maybe we should still get one considering his love for them!

He was so cute with it, driving up to me and then telling me that he would be right back... He needed to go get gas!

He does tend to get a little posessive with the cars. It is a good thing there are a bunch of them! He likes them so much that he will even settle for pushing other kids around when there isn't one available for him to drive!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we visited a pumpkin patch for our preschool field trip and Quin had a great time. He got to pick a bunch of gourds to take home, as well as a pumpkin. At first, he was content filling his bag with dirt, but then he figured out that the gourds were much more fun to collect; for obvious reasons I was happy with the switch. He loved running through the pumpkin fields, intent on finding as many gourds as he could. His favorite find was a tiny little pumpkin that now resides in his room.

Flu Shot

Today Quin and I got the flu shot, which really wasn't bad, and Quin did great. He cried a little after getting it and was adamant after seeing me get it that he did not want a flu shot. I found this particularly funny because yesterday Quin was in tears leaving Safeway because he was not old enough to get the flu shot, except from a doctor. Poor kid didn't know what he wanted!

I know that the flu shot can make you sore and a bit out of sorts, but it doesn't usually make you wild and crazy. Those crazy side effects only happen to my kid! All afternoon after the shot, Quin ran around like a crazy man, making Talisker crazy too! Until nap time, I had my hands full!

Decorations

To celebrate Halloween, we decided to decorate with ghosts!

Maternity Shots

I am now 7 1/2 months pregnant and have had lots of requests to see maternity photos. For those of you that haven't seen them, here are a few:

We will hopefully take some more in the next few weeks, especially since I am down to 6 weeks left!

For the moment, Quin is very excited about his baby sister coming. Too bad he doesn't really know what he is in for! We had Isla's party (aka the baby shower) last weekend and Quin was ecstatic that he was able to attend. Thank you so much to Becky and Gwen for throwing it. You did an amazing job! Also, thank you so much to all of our great friends and family who were able to come; it really meant a lot to us.

Growing Up

It would appear that as much as I want to keep Quin my baby forever, he is growing up. This whole growing up thing seems to be happening at an alarming rate! Today he started preschool, next week I suppose he will be graduating college.

As it was our first day of preschool, he did not go alone. We spent an hour getting to know his teacher and classmates. Next week, Quin goes from 9-10:30 on M/W and on Friday starts his regular schedule of 9-11:25; all of this by himself! Today I am guessing he thought that we were just there to play at a new place. I think he is going to be in for a little bit of a shock when I leave him on Monday. Overall, we are really excited about him starting preschool this year. I think he is going to do really well!

Over the past few days I have really been thinking about how fast time is flying by. We have known for a while that Quin would be starting preschool this year, but the actual day crept up on us. I wasn't able to prepare myself and I didn't even get Quin a backpack!

Quin will be attending a Co-op preschool in Loveland and will be in the same class as one of his friends, Ian. Here they are before their first day:

Quin seemed to have a lot of fun today. He played with blocks, Mr Potato Head, playdough, magnets, and dress-up. What a fun morning! We shall see how he does next week!

Quinsaurus

Quin just loves his new Halloween costume. He's going to be a dinosaur. Or should I say, he IS a dinosaur. His new costume is going to be well worn out by the time October 31st comes.

Two weeks ago, we quickly packed up and hit the road heading for Carson City, NV. We were trying to get there before my grandpa passed (miss ya grampa). As we spent an hour packing up, we stopped to grab a few things to keep Quin occupied for the 18 hour drive (each way) and the time away from home. First to come with us was his new costume.

And boy am I glad we brought it. For nearly three days Quin was the trooper of all troopers as we hung out in the hospital room. I thought it was impossible to keep a toddler locked up in a hospital room for days. But time and again Quin would put on his costume, run around the room, roar, tell family to pull his tail, and generally kept everyone in stitches. It was great comic relief.

Here's Quin in gramma and grampa's back yard, playing dinosaur and eating gramma's ornamental ducks. Thanks to Matt for taking this shot with your iPhone.

Camping

This past weekend we FINALLY got to explore Colorado a little. We have lived here for a year and half and really haven't seen much of the state. This is still more or less the case, but at least this past weekend we finally got to go camping. We met some friends of ours from Austin in Buena Vista and had a great time. If nothing else, it was a nice chance to get away for the weekend and not think about all the things that NEED to be done. Quin had a great time, as did Talisker. I can officially say that Quin loves to camp!

There is something about sleeping in our trailer that Quin loves. Two weeks ago we had to drive out to Carson City last minute and decided to bring the trailer with us (a portable bathroom is a good idea when 6 1/2 months pregnant). Ever since then, Quin can't stop talking about the trailer. Everything from "Can I go play in the trailer?" to "Can I sleep in the trailer tonight?" has been asked. When we do sleep in the trailer, he actually does a great job! We weren't sure how well he would sleep, considering it's a new place where his bed is separated from ours only by a curtain, but he sleeps in there just as well as he does at home.

Buena Vista isn't much of a town, but it is beautiful. It was great for Quin to see his old friend Sagan, and for us to see Mike and Alison. They ventured to Colorado for Mike to participate in the Transrockies race, a crazy run from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek that lasts six days.

Now that we are home, Quin has enthusiastically been asking "When we are going camping again". Since he excited to go again, I will make it happen soon! I am so happy that Quin loves to camp!

Sprinklers

I am curious how many kids like to play in the sprinklers by holding the sprinkler away from themselves (so as to make sure they don't get wet) and then proceed to water the plants. He doesn't dislike playing in water, in fact he loves to run through sprinklers in the neighborhood when the green space is getting watered; he also loves to play in the splash park at spring canyon park. He simply does not like to run through the sprinklers at home. What an oddball!

Sicko

Poor Quin is sick. Thankfully he hasn't been sick in several months, which might just be a new record (especially since moving to Colorado), but now he seems to have a little bug. Poor little guy has had a fever since yesterday morning, although I could only guess at how high it is since none of our thermometers seem to work right! Just like me, Quin gets super cuddly when sick. As much as I hate for my little boy to be sick, I love it when all he wants to do is cuddle!

Yesterday and today we have done nothing but watch movies and cuddle on the couch. For a kid who is only allowed limited TV, he has sure seen a lot of it in the last two days (five movies and counting)!

This afternoon, he actually fell asleep with shrimp scampi in front of him. Quin is not one to pass up shrimp, so if I didn't know if before, it is obvious he is sick!

Sleep

Since buying Quin a big boy bed, we have had some interesting moments regarding sleep. Quin quickly realized that having a cute little bed of his own meant he could get out of bed on a whim. Often, this means he will stay in bed for a while, and then get up and turn on his light either to play or "read". Some nights, I will actually find his light on in the middle of the night or before Tim and I go to bed. When this happens, we go in, turn the light off, and put him back in bed. It happens just as often at nap time as it does at bed time, although for naps, he isn't as quiet when he plays; he plays full throttle until he finally goes quiet and falls asleep.

One afternoon, I heard him crying during his nap, so I went in to check on him and found him sleeping on the second shelf of his bookcase. He was crying because bear fell out and onto the floor. He was rather upset that I made him move to the first shelf of his bookcase, but accepted it and went back to sleep, with bear securely in his arms.

A few weeks ago, we had a hilarious incident. We put him to bed, as we do every night, but then he decided to get up and play. After minutes, or perhaps more than an hour, he decided to fall asleep in the middle of his pile of stuffed animals.

New Baby

Yesterday, we had our 20 week ultrasound. For the entire pregnancy, Quin has been telling anyone and everyone that will listen that he is going to have a baby sister. It would appear that Quin knew something we didn't, because we are in fact having a girl. We were shocked. This family doesn't produce girls, so I naturally asked the ultrasound technician multiple times if she was sure. The new baby appears to be healthy and growing right on track. I will get pictures of the ultrasound posted as soon as I can. Tim, Quin, and I are very excited!

Fun with Family

Last Sunday, we went to the Greeley Stampede Children's Rodeo with Gwen, Carl, Christopher, and William. I definitely think there is something wrong with irking a bull, just to create a challenging ride, but thought it might be fun to see kids competing in different events. We weren't sure what Quin would think of it, but we thought we would give it a try. The best part was watching kids only a year or two older than Quin ride sheep. Quin was interested in seeing the animals and loved hanging out with his cousins.


The highlight of the day for Quin was getting to go on two carnival rides. He first chose to ride a motorcycle, going around and around.
Next, he chose to ride a bright yellow bug that went up and down, and all around. He might look slightly bored and mellow, but he had a great time. He actually cried when it was time to get off.



Christopher had a blast riding a mechanical bull. He did a great job and even though he lost his hat, he stayed on the whole time!

After we left, Christopher and Will got to ride on carnival rides and have lots more fun without a 2 year old running after them.