I guess it's time to update the blog before spring begins. 

As I look back on the calendar since November, I discover so many highlights.

- We took the kids to Daniel Tiger Live as a surprise with the Iras. 
- Jonathan had a food allergy test and after eliminating many things for a period of time, discovered that gluten, dairy, and canola oil are the main items that need to go for him. More on this later, but it's led to some big food changes for our household.
- We visited my grandpa for his birthday.
- We had some date nights.
- We went to some birthday parties and hosted friends.
- We went to Christmas parties and events. Quinn and I went to the Nutcracker performance that her studio hosts with our old neighbors and also to a women's night of Christmas worship at our church. 
- There was lots and lots of snow.
- Archer started soccer lessons and loved them.
- Quinn started swimming at a different pool and really enjoys it.
- I hosted and attended baby showers.
- Quinn and Jonathan went to the father daughter dance.
- We had lots of family visit.
- We hosted some missionaries overnight after their trip to Mexico.
- Jonathan traveled for work (and we missed him).
- And we celebrated Jonathan's birthday.

Christmas was so special this year with both kids really understanding what's going on. We made a rock climbing wall in our family room on Christmas Eve night, so that surprised the kids. We also got them a keyboard to share (or Jonathan's work let him pick something from a catalog for five years of service. So Jonathan's work bought the kids a keyboard, haha).  For Quinn, we sponsored a little girl ten days younger than her through Compassion so that they can be pen pals. She also got a new backpack with matching lunch box that she's excited about and an ESV Bible with illustrations and her name engraved on the front. She can frequently be found reading it actually, which is so sweet. Archer got a rocket launcher and lots of weapons for Christmas so he was excited. Quinn bought him an inflatable ninja to smack, which was very popular until it got a hole in it. I got Jonathan a Tim Keller Psalms devotional for us to read together and Jonathan got me a popcorn popper. We've made at least 100 bowls already. We enjoyed our Christmas Eve service at our church and had a sweet little Christmas morning before heading to Eugene. Eugene was nice too with lots of family around and happy chaos.

Quinn has become a buff little chickie, she's swimming a full length of the pool pretty much unassisted now. She's also a master of cursive and can read soooo much more than she wants people to know. But I see it. She's loving learning in our homeschool group and is excited about her buddies there. 

Archer is a super hero. So many sound effects and running and weapons at all times. He has lots to say these days and lots of ideas and opinions. He definitely has goals and perseverance to achieve them, even if they are two year old type goals. And he is so. dang. cute. 

I know I don't record as much as I'd like of these precious days, but when my head hits the pillow each night I can honestly say that I savored my kids in that day as much as I possibly could and just stared into their sweet faces. Jonathan and I are constantly amazed by them. 

I'll end with a quote that Jonathan loves:

Here dies another day

During which I have had eyes, ears, hands

And the great world round me;

And with tomorrow begins another.

Why am I allowed two?

G.K. Chesterton

Today was such a sweet day and I want to remember it just as it was.

We fell asleep with snow falling and woke up to a couple inches of beautiful snow. I set my alarm early so I could get a Barre 3 online workout in before the kids were up because I figured I would need a mood boost in case we were stuck indoors all day. Jonathan started working from home. The kids woke up sweet and cuddly and were so excited about the snow. We ate a big breakfast and I started prepping a math store with the play food for our school lesson. Quinn and Archer were pretending to bring food to an astronaut named Charlie at his apartment in Seattle. I asked Quinn who this Charlie person was and she said, "I don't know, he's Archer's friend. Archer introduced me." Uh,  what?!

The kids had a blast with the math store and then we were invited to sled on a friend's hill half a mile away. Jonathan had a call so he planned to meet us there. I suited up the kids and pulled them to the hill on the sled over the beautiful untouched snow. Quinn kept shouting, "Mush!" and Archer kept purposely throwing himself off of the sled and rolling into the snow while making all of his favorite sound effects. So much giggling. 

We finally made it to the hill and the kids had so much fun sledding with friends, building a giant snowman, and having a snow ball fight. Then we went inside for a cozy lunch. Time flew by and it was time to head home. 

I pulled the kids back home and when we arrive Archer just kept playing in our yard. He kept digging with his mittens saying, "Mom, help me dig for snowflakes!" And then he found a place between rocks where snow had collapsed and kept digging in it. He declared, "I think an animal lives in there. Look! I see an elephant!" I finally convince him to go inside and we all warmed up by the fire. When I looked at the clock it was almost time to wake him up from nap, so I knew nap wasn't happening. The kids were begging to go back out in the snow. We bundled up again and started building a snow fort. Jonathan came out and helped make actual progress. We finished up as the sun was setting, but I'm sure there will be much more snow fort play tomorrow. The neighbors built a giant snow pile and dug three tunnels through it and Archer was scrambling around inside it. Then we were all starving and cold so the kids had a speed bath and we wolfed down some tacos. Then we watched a cartoon with some popcorn and tucked them in early. Now it's movie night for us!

These years are crazy but so full of joy. We are so thankful for our goofy children and the time we get to spend with them. 

 

We've been so busy since I last wrote. All good things, just a very fast pace. 

The kids are both in gymnastics class. They are loving it! Archer's class requires parent participation and it's fun getting to share that with him. Quinn has gained so much confidence through it as well.

Jonathan took Quinn to our church's Father Daughter dance. Second year that she's come back talking in a really loud voice, with wide eyes, and rosy cheeks. They have a blast dancing together.

We had our old neighbors over for a brunch. It was so great to catch up with them. And our new house hosts bigger groups pretty well. Our growth group is continuing too and the house is working out well for that.

My parents and sister's family came up for a Winterhawks hockey game. Archer's favorite part was running full speed through the stadium. 

We got out for our church's date night and have kept the monthly date night swaps with the Iras going. 

We had the Case family over for a Valentine's Day brunch. Quinn asked me if we could have a Valentine's party this year so that worked out. We made lots of decorations, had some crafts, and some food was on the festive side. My mom also came up and watched the kids while Jonathan and I spent eight hours working on the backyard. We have found lots of, um, treasures, back there and yardwork keeps us laughing. 

I went on the church women's retreat at Cannon Beach. Sooo good! I roomed with three other friends and enjoyed the teaching, socializing, and break from cooking. It was a real blessing.

Jonathan had his birthday last week. His parents came up for a visit. Quinn and Archer helped me bake a cake. He took the day off from work, all in all a pretty good birthday. 

Last weekend my parents came up to give us another yardwork day. With my dad's help we spent three more hours getting the backyard in order. I'll have to do a big house post because it's crazy how many projects we've completed already.

I'm hoping to regain my blogging mojo. So much is happening with the kids and I'm just trying to savor it. Quinn requested to learn how to "really read" a month or so ago. What she was getting at is something more than memorizing, which she does really well. I picked up the book, "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and it's working out well. She's also doing her own laundry every Monday and getting very helpful with things around the house. There is so much new with Archer too, but I'll save that for a birthday post. I can't believe he'll be two in just a couple weeks!

Christmas was very memorable this year. Outside of the added stress of moving during Christmastime, it was pretty nice. Nothing like stockings and a Christmas tree to make a place feel like home. From the day we moved in, Quinn kept asking about a Christmas tree. Knowing we wouldn't be able to easily make it to a Christmas tree farm this year, we picked one up at Home Depot while we were getting other project necessities. It was actually a decent tree too. We did our Jesse Tree activities again this year. I took Quinn to Grand Central for our annual gingerbread girl cookies and we went to the church Christmas musical. Quinn went to an indoor Christmas doll display with Jonathan's parents. Quinn requested to celebrate St. Luica day so she delivered cinnamon rolls to us all. Jonathan traveled for work, but we made it fun with an old neighborhood friend coming over to decorate gingerbread houses, Charlie Brown Christmas with popcorn,baking cookies for new neighbors, and painting our nails festive colors. We had a growth group Christmas party and went to Reagan's hot cocoa and cookie decorating birthday party. Archer sneakily ate his weight in frosting. 

Christmas Eve we went to our church service and had some cookie and storytime by the fire in new Christmas jammies. There was some last minute sewing after the kids went to bed because I made the kids bean bag chairs this year. I made the decision and bought the supplies before we decided to move - oops! 

Christmas morning, Quinn woke us up for some snuggles. Then Archer woke up and the present opening began. I was really excited to give Jonathan the surprise painting of our old house by Lindsay Gilmore. It turned out so beautifully sentimental and he loves it. 

I was also really excited to give Quinn my old Samantha doll. She was equally excited. 

Archer got a special lion stuffed animal that has received many kisses and hugs. He also got a tool set that he is obsessed with.

Jonathan got me the perfect mug. It has the phrase "I pledge to lead by example, to be true and brave." on it. I saw it on a soap dish and loved it, but I don't need an expensive soap dish. Luckily, my genius husband printed it on a mug for me to see each morning. 

There were many other fun treats from our generous relatives. Seriously, so generous. This was the year of Star Wars and Doc Mcstuffins for Quinn. The kids have also been enjoying their new musical instruments and Archer is often busy with his trains and key toys.

We went to Jonathan's parents' house after breakfast on Christmas for some celebrating. We went to my parents' that night for more celebrating the next morning. It was nice to take a break from house projects and hang out with family. We went to the new Star Wars movie which was a lot of fun. After we returned to Portland, my sister's family came up and we took the kids to the zoo. Jonathan had the rest of the week off so we just tried to keep a slow pace and enjoy some time as a family.

Archer turned 21 months old on Christmas Eve. This guy just continues to melt my heart on a daily basis. He frequently takes breaks from whatever he's doing to give me a hug and say, "Hi Mama." He loves greeting everyone and hugging and sharing. Wrestling is his love language (especially with Jonathan) and he's full of sound effects and action noises. He's particularly interested in baby Jesus. For his update photo he insisted that baby Jesus remain in his hand. We went to a Christmas light display and he kept trying to climb up a muddy hill and pull down a fence to get to the lit up nativity scene saying, "Jee-jus! Jee-jus!" He's also very interested in dip at every meal, especially hummus, salsa, and ketchup. 

The day before we moved, he said, "poop!" and ran to the bathroom and tried opening the toilet. I put him on and he eventually did it!! Same thing the following day. Hasn't done it since, but he is very communicative about bathroom updates so maybe we'll be potty training soon?

He is only happy for car rides if we play the Mary Poppins soundtrack. He requests it by saying, "Cheeky" in reference to Spoonful of Sugar. I'm nearly certain I heard him humming Spoonful of Sugar in the bath the other day too. He loves dancing too. 

He still doesn't have a ton of words, but the ones he has are so sweet. We just love you, Archer man! Such a gentle soul. We are excited to see who you become.

I'm finally emerging from the pile of boxes to say that we are in our new house and loving it. We've already entertained guests and set up Christmas decorations. It was very bittersweet leaving our little cottage though. In our last moments there, Quinn burst into tears saying she didn't want to leave it. We had a long ugly cry together. It's just hard to leave a place you love. I told Archer to say goodbye to the house and he stood in the exact spot where he was born, seriously, and waved and said in his sweet voice, "bye bye." Oh man.

We have already completed a lot of projects at our new place and there are many more to come. I'm excited to document them here. We had almost the whole interior painted before we moved in but left the bathrooms and kitchen because we intend to update those in the future. We painted the front door, built a giant bookcase, and I premade a bunch of curtains. There are many lighting updates ahead too. And we'll be preparing to get Archer's room big kid bed ready.

Mr. Eleven Month Old is all over the place now. He's pulling up on things which is freaking me out because he is on the verge of bonking his iron noggin constantly. I'm trying to let him learn through experience though and he's a pretty quick study. Lord, help me! He also likes climbing into cupboards and the other day climbed a couple steps on a play structure and sent himself head first down a slide (with me ready to catch of course). He probably would have repeated this until the sun set if we didn't have to go home for lunch. He crawls behind our floor length curtains and pops out when we say peek-a-boo. He also likes putting things on his head, especially books. If you ask him, "where's your book hat?" he'll do this.

Jonathan started celebrating his birthday by going for a long run with some friends over the weekend. It ended up being very complicated and memorable, and a long story. But as he starts this next year of life, he's thankful to have good friends and be healthy. We went to the Kennedy School soaking pool Saturday with some friends and after we got in they started a wait list. The pool was packed! Who would have thought an outdoor pool would be maximum capacity in February? Sunday we brought dinner to some friends that just had a baby. They shared their amazing story of God's healing their sweet little guy. Praise the Lord! 

We celebrated Jonathan's birthday on Tuesday with dinner at our favorite restaurant and homemade cake. All in all, it was a pretty busy week with social stuff and some deadlines for Jonathan's work. We're ready for a laidback weekend with both sets of grandparents stopping by.

Today was a mixture of messy, comical, sweet, and exhausting with a sprinkle of embarrassing. A little bit memorable, but also very typical. Just another day in the life, but I know life will change so much so I want to be able to look back at this and laugh.

The alarm went off at 6am. I'm trying to get in the habit of doing some stretches before I even get out of bed. After those, I dragged myself to the kitchen to start making some waffles and eggs. Jonathan and I had a lovely chat while I nursed Archer. Thirty minutes later Quinn was awake. I had my second breakfast with the kids, which included a dance party intermission. Some playing and reading, Archer tucked in for nap, get dressed, have a third breakfast (I'm really hungry the first half of the day) while finishing up my grocery list and helping Quinn sort her animal figures by what environment they live in. Oh, and get some laundry started.

Archer wakes up and we head to the grocery store by 10:30. Last week he was wanting out of the Ergo and into the cart which Quinn loves because that means she gets to walk around and be my helper. When we arrived at the grocery store, it became very clear to me that Archer had a major diaper blow out. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal because I keep spare clothes for both kids in the car. But, Archer also had a major blow out on the way to Bible study yesterday and I forgot to put new clothes in the car. So, he is now wearing his down coat with no shirt and a pair of Quinn-sized bright pink pants sitting in the cart instead of hidden inside the Ergo. I should mention that we are recognized at this grocery store. The employees in the meat department start slicing 12 slices of pepperoni when they see me walking up because I get that every week for pizza night. The cashiers ask which character Quinn is pretending to be each time we come in. I make a little joke to each clerk that recognizes us and makes a curious expression at Archer's pants. But to take the awkwardness up a notch, Quinn declares to various strangers, "Archer is ten months!" After sharing that with a few people, she adds a bonus feature. Her first target is an unsuspecting businessman who says, "Wow." in response to the Archer statement. She then asks him, "Can you do this?" and does a ballet jump. The man says he doesn't think he can and she insists that he try. After he tries, Quinn says, "No, like this!" and does it again. The poor guy tries a couple more times before I tell Quinn that it's a new move for him so he will make sure to practice. She lets him off the hook and I give him an apologetic smile. She does this same routine on two more random people before I distract her with a cupcake sample and get us to the register to pay. The drive home consists of her asking me "why" about a million things, what happened to the cashier's finger and what color was her band-aid (I didn't know I was supposed to pay attention to that), and requesting detailed information about Queen Elizabeth. Archer is saying, "Ba ba ba" and practicing clapping.

When we get home, I hold Archer on my hip and feed him spoonfuls of lunch while I put groceries away. We all sit down for some lunch and then play Boaz, Ruth, and Obed with the markers as wheat and the Go Fish cards as fish. Archer is tucked in for nap after many kisses (he's been giving out kisses like crazy the past couple weeks) and Quinn and I do some watercolor painting. I start a second load of laundry and do some dinner prep while Quinn has quiet time. Then I set her loose and then Archer wakes up and we play and wait for Jonathan to get home. I go for a run while the frittata is in the oven. We scramble to all get cleaned up and the kids to bed. Tonight I washed Archer, Shinobi (unfortunate failed potty attempt while I'm washing Archer), Quinn, and myself in a fifteen minute span. Then Jonathan and I crash. The days just zoom by.

We had a nice holiday weekend. We took the kids to the pool for Valentine's and had a special dinner and dessert. We filled the days with lots of walks and played at the park with the neighbors every day. We also did some yard work in the beautiful weather and Jonathan built me another raised bed. I'm getting excited for gardening again. I planted some spinach seeds in September and kind of forgot, but now it's ready to eat! Good old sun and rain.

Archer was dedicated at church at the start of the month. He giggled when we got up on the stage and he saw everyone looking at him. And he didn't fuss when he was handed over to the pastor, phew! Archer, we pray every day that God will make His love clear to you in your heart and mind and that you will choose to follow, serve, and love Him. That is our greatest hope for you above anything else. 

My parents were able to come up and we went to our favorite restaurant for brunch. It was a nice weekend overall.

This past weekend, we headed to Eugene for a visit. We spent some good time with Jonathan's family Saturday. We had an indoor picnic and Quinn got to live out her Robin Hood dreams with some help from her Grandpa.

We spent Sunday with my family. Activities included lots of loud piano playing and the usual making of a huge mess.

A neighbor family hosted a zebra-themed Valentine's Day party for the kids today that was a blast. Our neighbor and her daughter are quite the creative hostesses.  Quinn's been working on Valentine's cards for days. We had a date night last week and will probably do something as a family this weekend. And Jonathan has Monday off, hooray!

Time for a Quinn update! This girl is cracking me up nonstop. She is constantly pretending, narrating, singing, dancing, all day, everyday. Current make believe scenarios on repeat are Mary Poppins, Jesus and Jairus' daughter, Boaz and Ruth, Winnie the Pooh, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, Moses and the Red Sea, Zero the Hero, swim class, cooking, camping, and ballet performances. She's not a fan of stopping any of this for photos these days, but luckily I snag some videos of the mayhem.

We are still doing twice a week preschool sessions during Archer's morning nap and she loves it. We do a calendar time, letter of the week, Bible story, and some sandpaper letter practice. I got some Bob Books from the library for her to practice some early reading and it seems like she is starting to understand the basics of how reading works. She is also starting to understand some basic addition with her fingers. We use a Voice of the Martyrs prayer calendar for her preschool calendar and she wants to pray for and talk about the people on there all the time. This is not the best picture, but she built (from right to left) Bethlehem (two buildings), Jerusalem, a stable, Pharaoh's palace and a pyramid in Egypt, and the Red Sea with people walking in it out of blocks.

We just gave up on nap with her and I'm so glad! It's so nice, I wish we'd done it sooner! Most days she would not fall asleep until right before nap was over and then it was impossible to wake her up. She'd be grouchy and groggy through dinner time and then have a hard time falling asleep at night. Not a good set-up at all. I still have her do a quiet time during Archer's afternoon nap for my sanity, and she does pretty well with it. I let her have music on and we reserve her library books for that time or she'll play Legos or something that's tough to play with Archer awake. She goes to sleep at night right away now and sleeps later in the morning so I get more one-on-one time with Archer in the morning. 

She's in swim lessons once a week and loving it. She joined right in from the start (a big deal!) and has improved with every class. She loves her teacher and talks about her class and "teammates" all the time. She really hates goodbyes and if she knows one is coming, she'll try to hide and not acknowledge the person she needs to say goodbye to as if that will make it not happen. She does this with playdates, guests, all sorts of things. I could tell she really liked her class because she wouldn't high five her coach at the end and got really sad. We talked through the issue, but I was amazed she liked the class so much. She starts ballet in February so we'll see if that's as beloved.

She chooses all her own clothes now. She still prefers hair free flowing and nothing on her feet. She has some chores like putting away silverware, feeding the dog, putting away some laundry, but we definitely need to ramp that up. She is still very into maps and declared part of our yard is the Hundred Acre Wood. 

Quinn, you are a sweet, clever, endearing, busy honey bee and we love you so!

Archer is all over the place now. The speediest caterpillar I've ever seen. If he hears water running anywhere in the house he switches to turbo speed to get there because he loves baths, showers, and splashing in water so much. He is also drawn to doors and curtains. I think it might be because his small effort can cause such a big effect on those items, he'll spend a long time swinging them open and shut. A couple days after he began this army crawling business, he started clapping too. It seems like he's been trying to say "Amen" after we pray for meals which is sweet. Sometimes when Quinn isn't in the same room as him he'll say, "Nin nin" and go looking for her, I'm suspecting that means Quinn. And he may be picking up, "no" which sounds more like "nah", from his sister...hmmm. He's a big fan of lift the flap books and likes it when I stand him up by the bookshelf so he can choose books to read. Our favorite time of day with him is in the early morning. Jonathan eats some breakfast while I nurse Archer. Archer is always extra chatty and giggly at that time and he's all cozy in his jammies. He likes trying to sip Jonathan's coffee mug and peeks out the window when Jonathan heads to the bus stop. He's still an enthusiastic eater and likes many flavors. He's starting to master drinking from a regular cup as long as I hold it.

Archer went to his first concert at a birthday party last weekend. We took him to swim at the pool and he still loves it. He also went to the children's museum for the first time when we went with some friends. I can't believe he'll be ten months tomorrow!

I've been walking with the kids and Shinobi to meet Jonathan on his walk home from the bus stop now that the sun isn't setting so early. Jonathan has been working hard to build us a shoe bench for our front door area. It just needs another coat of paint and I think it's ready - I'm so excited! I went to a friend's baby shower and we met with the fabulous Hvass family in Salem. We also watched the Duck game with some friends last week. We've been keeping busy with our home group and women's Bible study too. It's a pretty sweet season of life.

Archer has had a busy week. He was, in fact, saying "more" the other day and continues to say it frequently and with gusto at mealtimes. 

Two days ago, he started to inchworm scoot forward a tiny bit but it seemed like it could be a fluke. Yesterday, he was going slow and steady. Today, he is starting to explore all over the place with an inchworm army crawl. His greatest motivators are getting to books or whatever sissy is holding. Uh oh, game changer!

This video is from yesterday:

This Christmas was a memorable one. Sadly, we were all sick at various times throughout the week. But, it was also nice to start some new traditions with our little family of four. This was our first Christmas morning at our house and it was so special. We went to church Christmas Eve night, had dinner, the kids put on their Christmas jammies, and we woke up for some tasty breakfast and opening gifts before heading to Eugene mid-morning. We stuck with the same gift strategy we've done in the past (something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read). Quinn got swim lessons, ballet lessons with a leotard, a head lamp, and an Away in the Manger book (her favorite Christmas song). Archer got a dump truck, swim lessons, a hat I crocheted, and the book "Tiny Baby Jesus". Both got pouches in their stockings. Pouches have been Quinn's most repeated gift request for months when asked what she wants for Christmas. Who knew pureed fruit and vegetables in a little squeeze package were so desirable. Quinn made Archer a plastic bottle filled with colorful beads that has been very popular. Archer (or maybe it was me) made Quinn some playsilks with this tutorial and they are a huge hit too. Jonathan got me the best spatula in the world and I got him the best mug in the world. We are very luxurious, obviously. We also bought matching Patagonia houdini jackets in November that we are counting too. 

All dressed up: Archer wore a shirt Jonathan wore for his first Christmas that his mom made and Quinn wore a necklace of wood beads she painted with a sparkly cardigan she picked out and a fun dress from Great June.

We had a fun time in Eugene with both families. It was nice having more kids around this year. We spent a lot of the days after Christmas recovering from sickness and playing with new toys. Jonathan had New Year's Eve and New Year's Day mostly off so we got to have some family fun and some friends over. 

Archer had his nine month check-up today. He's grown an inch and a half in three months keeping him in the 90th percentile for height, and he remains in the 50th for weight and head circumference. Quinn grew an inch in three months. They're growing before my very eyes! Archer shouted what I think is "more" at me multiple times during lunch today as soon as he swallowed a mouthful of food. If it continues, we might call it his first word. These two make us laugh so hard!

We enjoyed a few more Christmas activities the past couple weeks. Quinn saw Pirate Santa at a waffle party we went to - a long, strange story - but she thought he was pretty cool. Jonathan's parents took Quinn to Storybook Land and she enjoyed all the treats and sights. Our neighbor girl planned a Frosty the Snowman party that was quite a hit. Quinn had her last music class. I think taking the sports class was good practice because she had no worries about joining in with this class. Some highlights were playing drums and testing out a trumpet, french horn, and flute. We went with some friends to visit Santa on Friday. Archer was not a fan.

Yesterday, Quinn and I joined the neighbor moms and kids for a performance of Mary Poppins. Quinn insisted on wearing her costume. She was completely mesmerized the whole two hours. She would mouth the words to the songs she knew and clap at all the right times. She would shout out characters' names when they first appeared on stage. It was pretty special. 

Jonathan got some man-time with Archer while we were out, which was nice. Archer Man will be nine months on Christmas Eve and it's boggling my mind. He's seeming a lot less baby-ish these days which is breaking my heart. I swear he's signed "more" a couple times during meals and I think he's really trying to communicate with us in other ways too. Today we've been cooking up gifts in the kitchen and putting final touches on presents. Jonathan has the whole week off and we are all looking forward to it.

It's been a full, blessed couple of weeks. We had a lovely Thanksgiving in Eugene. We've still been running a lot. It was such a gorgeous November! Quinn's been joining Jonathan for about 1/3 mile of his Saturday morning run - so precious! It was all her idea too.

Quinn helped me plan a cookie exchange party. I've hosted a few over the years for my friends to attend, but since Quinn is always throwing parties for her stuffed animals, I decided this year's should be a mother-child party. She picked half a dozen buddies and helped me make paper invitations, scrubbed my great great aunt's tea set, made bracelets for party favors, and helped bake the cookies. I had guests bring a dozen cookies to donate (our church hosts a foster care Christmas party that needs cookies) and a dozen to trade. The kids decorated the cookies Quinn and I made while the moms sipped hot drinks. It was a pleasant little event.

Quinn and Jonathan went to a father-daughter dance at our church. They had a blast and she came home with wide eyes and lots of singing and twirling. Such a formative occasion for these two.

We got our Christmas tree this past weekend. Jonathan and I can laugh about the experience now, but it wasn't our favorite in the moment for various reasons (love you, hubs!). The kids seemed to enjoy themselves though and it's so nice having our cute little tree set up. Both kids are enjoying playing with the nativity set and Quinn was eager to get the Jesse tree Advent routine going again and the Christmas decorations up.

Since my last post, we've crossed a lot off of our to-do list. I have to brag about my awesome husband (whose birthday is today - Happy Birthday, my love!) who has been knocking out projects right and left. I'm seriously amazed by all the work he has done lately and being brave enough to try things he doesn't have prior experience with. Not to mention, having lots of quality time with Quinn so I can get things done too and go to the pool. We appreciate you hubs! And I think we can officially declare that we are ready for baby brother any day now. I'm past the 36 week mark, we have everything collected on the midwife preparation list, and we have our home visit this week. We even excavated the archaeological site of crumbs and stickers in the car so we could rearrange the car seat setup. 

All I really have left is putting the Montessori learning activity trays together for Quinn. I'm almost done reading the ebook, it has been very helpful in figuring out what materials to purchase, most of which are from the dollar store. Now I just need to get them organized for easy use and train Quinn on the activity cycle. This is my plan for keeping her entertained while I'm nursing baby brother, but I'd love any other tips people have!

Quinn's been getting ready too. Baby brother's room is pretty much set up. She helped me choose which books from her bookshelf would be good books for a baby and put them on his shelf. She's been practicing feeding her babies and burping them, giving them toys when they cry, and laying them in the crib or swing. She spends most of her time in the nursery these days pretending to be a mommy. So precious! 

I have to record some favorite quotes. Well, one is more of a tone. To add emphasis or enthusiasm to a word, she'll drop her voice an octave and open her eyes wide. For example (bold being the voice drop), Q: "I'm having a party." Me: "What kind of party?" Q: "A chocolate party!" 

She has a a little plastic sandwich from a picnic set that she insists on sleeping with. If she can't find it after we close the door, we'll hear her shout in a panicked tone, "My sandwich!!" She hoards tons of books in her bed when she goes to sleep too, so when we go in to move them after she's asleep, we'll usually see the sandwich still clutched in her tiny fist.

The other day, she started eating dinner while I was still finishing up cooking. She shouted to Jonathan and me in her best sales voice, "Come try some, I've got pear on a fork!"

We've been working on using a nice voice when asking for things and her second attempt usually sounds like, "Mommy, please, can I have ____ please, Mommy?" 

A lot of her sentences are about "I love ____" or "I don't like ____". I guess she is forming a lot of opinions right now. She and Shinobi are starting to become closer. Probably because one of her responsibilities is to feed him dinner now. Another responsibility for her is choosing pajamas and she loves to choose, "mix and match". She's really into maps and puzzles right now. She tried caribou for the first time last week when Jonathan's parents were visiting. She requested a third helping! She received a US Map puzzle from Nana and Boppa and wants me to get out the Disneyland map a lot. And we got some 16 piece jigsaw puzzles that she likes to do on repeat. 

Aside from projects, we've had some social fun and Jonathan and I have had a couple date nights. One was to a Peter Bradley Adams concert. We saw him in SF when I was about seven months pregnant with Quinn, so we had to go again. It was at a really fun, small venue so it was easy to get a photo with him. I even wore the same outfit for the joke. 

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Two weekends ago Quinn and I went to Eugene for my sister's baby shower. My mom and I had a ton of fun planning it. It was a cozy evening by the fireplace with lots of desserts and a hot chocolate bar. Quinn got to have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's during the festivities. 

While we were partying, Jonathan and his buddy Heath (who has his own construction business, Valley Design Contractors) worked their hineys off building us bookshelves. Here is what the fireplace in our room looked like when we first moved in.

Over our two years here, I painted the brick, firewood doors, and wainscoting white and the top half of the walls a deep olive green and we added some art to the mini-mantel. This is how it looked with the bookshelf demoed. 

And this is how it looks today.

Pretty amazing, huh? I'm so impressed by what those two built in 24 hours. Jonathan and I spent last week doing priming, sanding, and painting marathons whenever Quinn was asleep. We are trying our hardest to wait the full two weeks to let the paint fully cure. After all that work, we don't want to do anything to jeopardize the paint job. We are looking so forward to getting the rest of our books out of the garage after all this time and also for the extra storage in the cabinets. We'll get some different lighting down the road, but our room feels so much more complete now!

And then there's this snow that we are having. I'm a bit irritated by it because my baby shower was supposed to be tomorrow, but since a number of guests are coming from Eugene and Corvallis, and it's showing no signs of letting up, we decided to postpone it. Waaah!

But there is definitely a positive side to it. Jonathan worked from home today and we got to get out and play in the snow. Even Shinobi was enjoying it. We busted out one of our bodyboards for a sled and headed to the closest hill. Here's our little daredevil sledding on her belly.

I even got my giant pregnant self on the sled. All of this was of course followed up by grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and tea. Not to mention a good long nap by the little lady.

It's been a calm couple of weeks. I'm trying to slow down my daily pace a little bit and get my priorities right. Partly because of this inspiring read, partly because Quinn's favorite phrase lately is, "Mommy play ___", and partly because I'm just more tired from being pregnant. Quinn is all about pretending and imagination right now. I'm at least 50 different people/characters a day. I love it. 

I've finally finished all the projects I wanted to do for Quinn's room, so now my attention is focused on baby brother's room - sorting hand-me-down boy clothes, sewing swaddling blankets, sewing a new changing pad cover. I've also been reading about teaching Montessori at home, going to midwife appointments, prepping for my sister's baby shower, editing Quinn's quarterly video (which I'm sending to people directly now instead of posting, let me know if you want it), making trips to the park, bookkeeping, and hosting visitors. Jonathan is working with his buddy to build bookshelves and cabinets on either side of our fireplace this weekend! I'm so excited! It's going to add some nice storage and a more balanced look to our room.

A photo from one of many trips to the park and some balancing tricks on Auntie Boo.

We had a very sweet Christmas week. On Monday, we met sweet baby girl Reagan. I forgot how tiny newborns are!! Christmas Eve morning we did our own family celebration at our house. Quinn got a new water bottle and a bunch of pouches in her stocking (a luxury item around here). She was pretty pumped. Then Jonathan surprised me with a brand new sewing machine! We had agreed to having our gifts to eachother be the museum date and a stocking stuffer, but he likes to keep me on my toes. I'm so excited to put it to use on my project list. Quinn received a bike (want), baby doll (need), scarf (wear), and Winnie the Pooh book (read). She named the baby doll "baby boy", we were expecting Memo or Bebo since that's what she names a lot of things these days. She has been very sweet with him. We gave her the bike at Jonathan's parents' house since they went in on it with us. Such a big kid!

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve with my family and some of Christmas morning, then headed over to Jonathan's parents for the rest of the day. Quinn saw all four of her Gowins-side great grandparents, what a lucky girl! (And thanks, Auntie Amber, for the dress. Quinn thought she was a princess all day.)

Thursday was a bit relaxed and Friday we headed home through Corvallis. We stopped at the Thielmans' house and the Albers' house for some visiting. Saturday we had brunch with a longtime friend and then our friends from California, the Bells, came over for the rest of the day. Quinn thought their girls were so cool.

Sunday we were visited by the lovely Ihde family and then caught up with the Cases at the Khajavi-Poresky home over some tasty dinner. It was so great to see all these amazing people. 

On Monday, we went to the Portland Children's museum as a family. Quinn had such a fun time. Her definite favorites were the garden area, the water play area, and the grocery store. And she gave Dora a million hugs. 

We really enjoyed adding a Jesse Tree to our Christmas traditions this year. Each night starting December 1st we would read a story from the Bible and color an ornament with a symbol from the story to hang on the tree. It was amazing to see how much sunk in with Quinn. 

 Today has been a nice, boring Tuesday that included a trip to the grocery store and cuddling my runny-nosed girly. I think we all wore ourselves out pretty well. We hope everyone had a Christmas full of love and joy, and Happy New Year to all!

It's been a fun and festive week and a half. There have been a lot of secret elf projects going on around here. Jonathan even worked on a man gift project. Wednesday we had a full day date thanks to my fabulous mom. Jonathan and I decided our gift to each other this year would be going to the Samurai exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. We never got around to going when it was in SF, so we didn't want to miss it this time. We also had a nice lunch out and some wandering downtown. Jonathan went to a basketball game with his buddy this past weekend and I had a lunch date with a buddy as well. I also had the pleasure of taking this little sugar plum to the church Christmas pageant.

Yes, that's a travel mug in her hand. An essential accessory these days. We had a lot of fun getting dressed up and watching the show. I haven't seen her that mesmerized since she saw the Disneyland parade. Afterward, she kept getting excited pointing out all the kids dressed as angels.

There has also been lots of ballet in baby brother's room. She knows about passe and arabesque.

Who knew that Ikea toy could double as a ballet barre? 

And my favorite Christmas vocabulary word is "Four Wopsen". Also known as the three men who followed the star to Bethlehem.