I recognize that some people who read this blog might find this post a bit too personal. Please forgive me. I'm also aware that not very many people even read this blog, and since its purpose is to record my memories, and this is a very significant one to me, I'm going to write it anyway. Plus, maybe it could help another mom out there.

Quinn is officially weaned as of yesterday. It wasn't my goal to make it to 15+ months. Initially, I had hoped to make it six months. Once we got to six months, it was such a simple routine that I decided of course I would keep going until she was one year. After her first birthday, I wasn't sure what to do. I had some friends who weaned their children when they turned one, but I felt for me personally it would be hard on me and Quinn to just stop nursing because of a date on the calendar. But I also didn't want to keep going indefinitely. I also heard of kids who just woke up one day and wanted to be done. I decided I would follow Quinn's lead for at least a couple months since she was doing so well with solid foods and drinking from a cup. 

At the start of December, she was down to just one time of nursing a day - first thing in the morning. I made a point to not be distracted or reading because I knew she could be done any day. Call me sentimental, but I didn't want her to surprise me with being weaned one morning and then feel sad because I spent her last nursing time reading blogs on my phone, you know? 

Since Christmastime, I haven't been as diligent about keeping my supply up. One morning last week, Quinn nursed for a couple minutes and then said, "More?" She's never done that before. I had a light bulb moment. I had been trying to think of a fun new ritual to replace nursing in the morning. Quinn has long been interested in the mugs Jonathan and I drink our morning coffee from each day. I got her a mug and put some cow's milk in it. I set her on my lap on the couch while she sipped.

She loved it! For the next couple of days I would have a mug of milk on the coffee table next to my coffee for when she woke up. We'd go to the couch and I'd say, "Mama milk or mug milk?" she'd start with nursing and then say, "More?" and I'd give her the mug. And now she just has a mug of milk with Jonathan and I. We sit together, clink our mugs, and start the day. It's a little bittersweet that the nursing season is over, but I'm so glad I had some warning and that we get to introduce a sweet new routine. I hope Quinn will join us for a warm drink and conversation in the morning for many many years to come. 

It's our one year house-iversary! That sure went by fast! We are thoroughly enjoying home ownership. The time commitment can end up feeling like a bit much at certain times of the year, but it also feels nice to work hard on projects together. We have some fun projects coming up this Spring, but today I'm pleased to share a completed project.

I've spent many a nap-time lately painting. Well, first painting sample colors, then deliberating for months, then taping, then finally painting. Here's how our room looked when we moved in:

And here it is today:

We chose a rich, olive-y sage green. I feel like it makes the white on the fireplace and the bottom half of the walls look really crisp. It's now a combination of cozy cabin and simple tidy cottage. Now we just have to add a matching bookcase to the left side of the fireplace.

On another note, I've also spent some nap-times tuning up our cloth diapers. For any bumGenius fans out there, I bought Refresher Kits for $1 each for all of our diapers. After over a year of daily wear, they are still in amazing shape. The only issue was that the velcro on six out of our 16 diapers wasn't gripping as well as I'd like. So I popped the tabs off and sewed on new ones, easy as can be. I'll save the elastic and extras for later when the other ones wear out. Definitely worth it!

The latest quarterly video montage is complete. It opens with Quinn sitting on the floor with her limbs covered in delightful rolls and ends with her looking lanky while walking with her wagon. It was remarkable for me to review her progress the past three months. Enjoy!

Here are months 9-12 and 6-9 if you missed them.

I like the fifteen month stage. Though, I've liked every stage of life Quinn has gone through. Whichever one she's in I feel like it's the most fun stage yet. Fifteen months is very special though. 

This little gal still loves to read. She wants to have "Go Dog, Go!" read to her at least twenty times a day. Her other favorites are "One Watermelon Seed" and "Grover's Guide to Good Manners". Since she is so gentle with books, we moved all her books down to where she can reach instead of only board books. Each morning after she nurses and gets changed out of pajamas, I set her in front of her bookshelf and she reads some books while I make breakfast. We meet some neighbor families at the toddler library group each week. At the end if each meeting, the teacher blows bubbles for the kids. Quinn loves it. After going a couple times, she saw bubbles in a book and said, "bubbles" loud and clear without any prompting. I was shocked. It's her new favorite word to say. 

She's been working on all four molars at once! Her top two are almost in. This has led to she and I having some, uh, slumber parties because she's so sad during the night. I treasure the extra snuggles though. She's getting pretty skilled at walking with the support of her little wagon. She likes cruising around the house with it making car sounds. She also likes giving out kisses and hugs, snuggling toys, pretending to go night-night, attempting to put on clothes, and has started trying to "share" by passing things to people. She adores her daddy. Every time we drive somewhere, the only thing she wants to do while sitting in her car seat is look at a brochure about food sustainability practices she got from the grocery store. She squeals when I give it to her. She likes to dance and her moves usually start with some bounces, followed by torso twists, followed by head shakes. And she loves saying "hi" and "bye" to anyone and everyone. She's full of crazy giggles and max cheeser smiles. We just love playing with her. Such a delightful young lady.

These are two of my favorites from her progress photos, they used to be monthly but are now every three months.

This Christmas was sure different from last year. For one, Quinn didn't sleep through it all. We also weren't living out of boxes in a friend's duplex. 

It was nice to decorate our house and have our own mini Christmas morning with Quinn. I wrapped her presents in gift bags because she likes pulling things out of bags. On Saturday we headed to Eugene for an early Christmas with the Gowins side. Sunday we visited some relatives and saw The Hobbit while my dad kindly babysat. Christmas Eve was with the Cunningham side. We went to church, cooked up a tasty meal, and played tons of "telephone pictionary". We had Christmas morning at my parents' house too. Quinn spent the whole time trying to get to the stairs. She didn't care about presents much but she sure enjoyed having people help her crawl up the stairs over and over. We had Christmas dinner with some more of Jonathan's relatives. It was so nice to have a break from responsibilities and watch Quinn play with so many loving people.

Jonathan was able to take a lot of time off so we were able to relax, have lots of family coffee dates, spend time with friends, and get some work done around the house these past couple weeks. Many treasured moments.

And now it's a new year! What a year it has been. After a wild 2011, we declared 2012 the year to put down some roots and settle in. This afternoon, over cannoli and coffee, Jonathan and I went through a list of 20 questions and reflected on this past year. We are both in awe of all the beautiful discoveries and reasons to be thankful to God. New friends that have become very dear. Old friends that we thoroughly enjoy. The blessing of like-minded, kind neighbors. Watching surprise blooms spring up in our yard planted by previous owners. Seeing the sunlight cycles change with the seasons through our dining room window. A healthy, happy daughter. Healthy, happy family members. Lots of personal growth for us both. We've declared 2013 the year of prayer. Here we go!