I'd like to introduce you to our newest piece of furniture. 

A couple weeks ago, Quinn started saying "poop" before actually pooping. So, we figured it couldn't hurt to get her a potty seat. Let her lead the way, right?

Well, I'm proud to announce that she pooped in the potty today! During our afternoon smoothie date, she told me it was time. I asked if she wanted to sit on her potty seat and she said, "yeah". So I took her to it, read her a story, and talked about how she would get a stamp if she used the potty. And she did it! We made a celebration of it and she got a stamp on her hand from Daddy.

So proud!

Some household updates on this Spring Friday afternoon.

Garden: I now have over 60 spinach sprouts and 9 kale sprouts. I'm still kind of in shock. The next task will be to thin the spinach once I can see which sprouts are the best.

Toddler Talk: Quinn has some new words. My favorite one to hear is "salsa", it's heart-melting. She also says suit, skirt, slide, poop, big blue boat (a song), vroom, boy, bus, and Miles (the neighbor boy). And she consistently makes the animal sounds for dog, lion, bird, cow, duck, and horse. 

Bacteria: Okay, that probably sounds nasty. But there are updates! I successfully made some yogurt in the crockpot the other day. We go through it so fast around here and it's such a simple way to save some moolah. Also, I've been making water kefir for almost a year now and the grains multiplied enough to share with my mother-in-law and neighbors. It's nice to have such a frugal probiotic around to add to smoothies or just drink plain. Also, now that the weather is warmer, I'm going to get some sourdough going again. My sourdough starter didn't survive the move back in 2011 and I've been missing it ever since. 

Happy Weekend!

These two rascals love watching for buses and waiting for daddy.

I have spinach sprouts! This morning when we were playing outside, I spotted four little baby sprouts reaching for the sun. Or else they are four baby weeds in a straight line. Then while Quinn was napping I went outside again and spotted six sprouts! Now if I can just keep them alive...

Update: Four hours later there are now thirteen sprouts! Must have been a good spinach day.
 

And this little munchkin has begun to play dress up. She frequently gets a running tank top out of my dresser and wears it around like a dress. If I had to guess, I'd thinking she was being a wizard with a rock and a pen wand shouting a spell. But I don't think she knows about wizards, so I really can't be sure.

I have a seventeen-month-old! Quinn wants to be my helper throughout the day. Of all her words, I think her favorite is "Upf!" lately. She wants up on the counter to help make smoothies (including a blender sound impression).

She helps me wipe the table after meals. She loads clean diapers into her wagon and takes them to her room to put away. She oversees garden construction.

And she rocks shoes to sleep. That's a pretty important developmental milestone right? I frequently find her in our closet or by the front door cradling a shoe in her arms, rocking it back forth and saying, "shh, shh." No clue.

We spent last week in Eugene visiting family while Jonathan was gone for work. Quinn was lovingly played with, fed, read to, and doted upon. We love our Eugene trips.

Jonathan built us a raised bed garden on his birthday weekend. (We also went out to pizza with some friends, so it wasn't all hard work.) What an awesome man! The finished product is beautiful. I'm nervous about the whole gardening thing though. I am quite the plant killer. But we had some green thumb friends over for a garden consultation a couple weeks ago so I think I'm ready. Today I put my spinach and kale seeds into the soil. Here we go!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Quinn was invited to her first Valentine's party on Monday. I had no idea toddler parties were so fun. Quinn's neighbor boy buddy and his mom had us and the other neighbors over for crafts, cookie decorating, and snacks. There was even an impromptu guitar performance and some dancing. Quinn's neighbor girl buddy was busting out her DJ skills. She'd play a song on a toy and the kids would do their strange toddler dance moves. Every time the music stopped, she'd say, "Again!" and push the music button. It was quite a party.

Yesterday, my mom came for a visit and stayed through dinner time so Jonathan and I could go on a date to our favorite restaurant. So nice.

Love one another from a pure heart - 1 Peter 1:22