snip snip

Quinn got her hair cut last week. The lady at "Cartoon Cuts" said that Q has more than 13 cowlicks! I thought about 8 or 9. Her poor hair. Her seborrhoeic dermatitis is getting better (which is so exciting!!!). Anyway, we are hoping that her hair will grow in a little bit thicker when it grows back in. The picture above is when Quinn jumped in our bed and decided that she was going to take a nap there instead. :) Then she decided that she needed to read a short story first!

This is my absolute favorite new picture of her. I bought this new hat and Quinn wanted to wear it. It fits her perfectly. It probably looks better on her than me! She looks SOOOO grown up in this picture I think. Where did my baby go??

Say What?!?!

I woke up early again this morning. No, it wasn't because of Quinn. I didn't wake up from Dan or his alarm. Believe it or not, Dan and I were both awakened by the S.W.A.T. team. Yes, you read it correctly. Around 4:30 this morning the swat team raided our neighbor's (down the street) house. Crazy. I heard a few loud bangs and then an angry man yelling something. Well, that angry man was telling our neighbors that their house was surrounded and that they were coming in. Even though it was dark, Dan and I peeked out our window and saw a billion men all dressed in black with huge guns and the letters S.W.A.T. on their backs. Somehow I was able to go to sleep after that but Dan said that when he was trying to go to work (around 6:00am) they were still there. Boy, I love Baltimore.

Now, I do have to admit that I often wondered what the neighbors actually did for a job. They were home all of the time and they all had really nice cars. They had nice clothes and during the summer they would eat crabs almost every day. (mind you ghetto style~ in their front yard on a picnic table with their 40 ounces) I did put two and two together and realize that we had drug dealers selling from out of their house right down the street from us. I guess the cops realized it too :) Needless to say, there has been a lot less traffic on our street today.

Who's there????

This morning Quinn woke me up early. I was so out of it. We were downstairs watching Sesame Street and I was drifting in and out of consciousness while singing along to some songs. Then we heard a few loud booms and bangs upstairs. Quinn yelled for her Daddy and I started to ask Dan what he tripped on. Then I realized that Dan wasn't home. He was already at work. I was completely terrified. I grabbed Quinn close and starting asking "who's there?" (Ok, now I realize that burglars don't typically identify themselves but... I didn't know what else to do. ) Quinn was squirming out of my arms while still yelling for her Dad. I grabbed ahold of her tightly, grabbed my phone and started to climb the stairs. First room (Quinn's) -clear. Bathroom- clear. Now the last room was our bedroom and the door was shut. Darn it. I decided to be brave and jump in to the room and try to startle the burglar. (riiight, because he wouldn't have heard us coming with Quinn yelling "Daddy!!!!") and that room was clear. So then my mind immediately thought- the basement. So I grabbed Quinn and ran outside. Mind you it is so cold, so windy and raining. I ran with her over to our basement windows- neither of them were broken. I checked out our basement door from the outside and it still had some fallen leaves sitting on top- check. Then I looked around and saw a tree branch that was about 8 feet long with a few pieces that were broken off in 1 foot sections. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. I heard a tree branch fall and break on our roof.

It was such a scary moment for me. It is one of my biggest fears, being alone in the house with Quinn. But I think that I passed with SHINING COLORS!

Pah-kin Picking

This past weekend we took a break. I took a break from studying. Dan took a break from work. Quinn took a break from being cranky. We all went to pick out our pumpkins! (or a Q calls them Pah-kins)

First I have to tell you that Quinn was officially introduced to pah-kins in her play group. We examined them and talked about all of their wonderful characteristics. Then we sang a song about them to the melody of "If You're Happy and You Know It".

It goes like this:

Hey there Mista pah-kin, how are you?

Hey there Mista Pah-kin, how are you?

You're short and round and fat and you where a funny hat (ha ha or clap clap)

Hey there Mista Pah-kin, how are you????

Seriously, Q is IN LOVE with this song. She knows all of the gestures and runs around the house singing this lovely tune. Anyway, you would have thought that we were the best parents EVER! Q was SO excited to have her very own Mista Pah-kin. We planned on keeping them all outside but she has to visit hers every few minutes so he is in the kitchen on her play kitchen. Isn't that where all pumpkins go?!?! :) Anyway, we probably picked up 57,000 different pumpkins at one time or another. Finally we settled for 3 very cute and little (and short, round and fat) pumpkins. Then we ended our trip with an attempt through the corn maze.

Party 3

Quinn had her last birthday party on the 11th at our Aunt Jean's house. We had so much fun. All of the kids dressed up. Quinn started out being a Princess Fairy. Then she became a bee. Can I tell you HOW MUCH I LOVED HER BEE OUTFIT?!?! oh my gosh, I think I took hundreds of pictures. so so so cute.

We had facepaint!

Then we opened gifts

Dan and his sister!

Then we headed back outside for more fun. There was a slide, a wagon, balloons, a pinata, cupcakes and two big boxes that they turned into houses.

Check out what they did to this box. They even made curtains. How cute?!?

Birthday Party 1 and Party 2

Quinn had a total of 3 birthday parties. (spoiled, I know). The first one (on the 5th) was with her Grandma and Grandpa VS, Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Rich. We all met at Uncle Rich's place. Grandma VS made Quinn a cake! She loved it and made quite a mess :) Quinn's second party was just with Mommy and Daddy. We celebrated on her birthday. We opened her gifts and ate left over cake from the day before!

two

Can you believe it? I sure can't. I just remember so clearly when we welcomed our love into this world. While I must admit that it was the so scary, I wouldn't have had it any other way. We were blessed... completely blessed. Our daughter is a fighter, a miracle. This first picture below was the very first picture taken of Quinn. I didn't get to see her for 9 more hours. In Quinn's first year of life she had some trials. She was in the hospital for a total of 35 days between her time in the NICU and when she had pneumonia. Quinn and I visited her wonderful doctor almost once every week for check ups or shots. In Quinn's first year of life we bought our first house and made our home.

These two were from Quinn's 1st birthday party. When Quinn was 1, she still couldn't stand on her legs, crawl (she WAS commando crawling though) or even sit up without support. I vividly remember having to use her boppy at her birthday party. A month after she turned one, she got assessed for physical and speech therapy. She has been going ever since!
Now Quinn can walk, jump, climb stairs, DANCE, sing, sign, TALK UP A STORM and more. She is our fighter, she is our miracle. I find myself looking at her sometimes just admiring her. She is so little yet so strong. She is so happy and beautiful. She is already opinionated and willful. I know that she will become an incredible woman and for that, I am proud.

Quinn's favorite things:

*bounce her pink princess ball in the driveway. * play tag. *knock on something with her hand and make Mommy kiss her boo boo. *Dance Dance Dance. *sing to any and everything. *have tents. *cuddle under blankets. *give sloppy/slimy kisses. *rough house with Daddy. *anything to do with trains or cars. *purses. *earrings. *DRESS UP! *watch Diego. *make animal noises. *WATER! * color. *help Mommy clean up. *eat cheese! *hug her bunnies.

So at 7:15 pm tomorrow (10-6), think of Quinn and all of her wonder!

Break for Cuteness!

I have been SO COMPLETELY busy with my school work this week. I had 3 midterms, ugh. Anyway, each night when Dan got home from work we would eat dinner and then I would shut myself in the office and study. One night I heard a knock at the door and this is what I found:

Dress Up!

Recently Quinn has totally been into playing dress up. She will put on any and everything... all at once.