2010 - The Year That was

I truly cannot believe that 2010 is over. It flew by at what must be record speed. I don't know if its the having a kid thing or the getting older thing, but the years are disappearing. I want to hope that this will cease, but I have a firm suspicion it won't.

So overall 2010, not bad I guess. Not the best, but nothing catastrophic either. It definitely had some ups and downs, but overall, can't complain. Besides, I had Quinn's adorable face to look at every day! That will always make for a good year.

Speaking of Quinn, he had a pretty great year. His talking has improved by leaps and bounds, he started school, and he is truly becoming a little boy, as can be seen in these photos below.

First picture I had of him in 2010

Picture I took this morning
Now that's a little boy, don't you think?

We have definitely had a few more challenges when it comes to Quinn this year. He hit the "terrible 2's" and now he's headed into the "worse than terrible 2's 3's". Let's just hope by this time next year the sky will have opened up and we'll be smooth sailing into 4. And let's hope he's fully potty trained too!

At the beginning of 2010, I made a list of goals for this year, so I thought I'd look over that list now and see how I stand.

1. I've definitely done better at being thankful and remembering what God has given me. I'd like to say I've become more appreciative and grateful. Sure sometimes I'm not the best, but who is?

2. As far as the diet and exercise, I did join the Y, which I have really enjoyed. I'm pretty good about going, I really like the classes, so that's good. As far as diet goes, well, I certainly do try.

3. I completely disregarded my other blog. In 2011 I'm going to try and combine all my intersts in 1 blog, we'll see how that goes.

4. Ugh, this one has really been bugging me. As of right now, I'm exactly 78% of the way through my #11 new book of the year. I did complete my full Harry Potter reread, so I actually finished 18 books this year. Much better than 2009, when I think I finished 6. 2011 will be a better book year for me, I'm sure.

5. Well, didn't get a job. I've applied for 2, the first I did not get and the second I'm waiting to hear about. So maybe that will be something new for 2011!

6. Wow, I'm really feeling like a failure. Between all all our crazy computer issues, I just couldn't get that one accomplished. But like I've been saying, there's always next year.

So maybe I didn't complete all my goals, but I think that I've definitely grown as a person, wife, mother, etc. And what else can you ask for? Adios 2010, you were as good to me as you could be!

Our Tennessee Christmas

We started our trek to the metropolis of Hixson, TN last Tuesday, the 21st. Ross actually gave me a heads up this time, which I did truly appreciate. We left a little earlier than usual, but hadn't eaten dinner, so we had to stop and do that, get coffee, get gas, etc. By the time we actually got moving on the road, it was 9:30.

Here is Quinn, all ready to go!

Quinn didn't sleep as good as he usually does this time, which was no fun. We got to my parents house at about 6, so we were able to go back to sleep (or go to sleep in Ross' case) for a little while.

We always have a lot of fun in TN and we decided to go up to Rock City (you know, the place that sells the See Rock City birdhouses) to their Enchanted Garden of Lights one night. It was pretty cold, so Quinn got to get all bundled up, which he is really not used to!

Here are Ross and Quinn at the top of Lookout Mountain, where, during the day, you can see 7 states. It was really windy though, and as you can tell by Quinn's face, not very pleasant.

Christmas Eve we ate at the Public House in downtown Chattanooga. If you are ever in Chattanooga and are looking for a place to eat, I definitely recommend the Public House. And the good kids get a cupcake, which Quinn was very happy about!

After church that night, my dad set about making his yummy hot chocolate. He's not much of a chef, but he does do hot chocolate right.

Quinn got a special cup from his principal at school and was excited to use to drink Papa's Hot Chocolate. Here he is getting ready to take the first sip.

The next day, Christmas Day, we awoke to a literal Winter Wonderland. It had started snowing during the night and was coming down hard and fast. This was the first time my parents had snow on Christmas, and only the second time they had any significant accumulation since they moved to TN.

When we woke Quinn up (I'm sure next year we won't need to do that) he looked out the window and said "What Happened?!" Then we bundled him up and took him out to play. He really liked it at first, tromping through the yard and having a great time.
Then his feet started to get cold (he doesn't have boots, so he just had regular shoes on) and that did not make him happy, as you can tell in the following picture.

We waited to see if my grandma was going to be able to join us, but with the roads the way they were, my dad couldn't go pick her up. That part was no fun. But we then got about the present opening part of the day, which Quinn thoroughly enjoyed. Here is is amongst his spoils!

We spent the rest of our time having a good time as a family, which we always do. The trip was a great one, that is until the drive home and Quinn threw up 8 times between Atlanta and home. That part was the opposite of fun. But he woke up the next morning all smiles and happiness, which is all I can ask for. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas So Far

We've been quite the busy bunch around here this Christmas season. But that's a good thing...right? Here's a little run down of what we've been up to.

1. Partying Big Brothers/Big Sisters style

I went to the annual BBBS Christmas party at Willow Oak Baptist Church with Quinn and my own "Little Sister" Nicole. Although these days she's not so little...she's 16! I've known her since she was 7, so its hard to see her as such a beautiful young woman. We always joked she would one day be taller than me, and it looks like that day has come.

Willow Oak always does a great job with the party, lots of activities, food, and fun for everyone! As you can see, Quinn got to sit in a racecar, which just made his well, year!

2. We saw Santa

And this is the only picture I could get. He vehemently refused to go up and actually see Santa. Well, he did go up, but only when I was holding him and all he did was take the candy cane Santa was offering and then get down and run back to his stroller. At the BBBS party, they had Santa come in on a motorcycle and it was really loud, so that might be the trigger. Although he has made some progress since then.

3. We partied again...Brandon Christian Academy style

Quinn's class had their Happy Birthday Jesus party on the 15th and I went to help out. His teachers are both great and I couldn't be happier with his school and what he is learning/doing in class. It is great to see him interacting with the other kids and his teachers.
4. We had fun with old friends

My good friend from high school, Sarah Varness Schwab, and her family were here from Illinois/Ohio because her parents are both retiring at the end of the school year, so to celebrate they came to do Disney. Her dad was my middle school choir teacher, so I can officially check off "Be somewhat of a tour guide for a former teacher" off my life's to-do list.

We went to Downtown Disney and it was totally packed. Craziness. But we had fun walking around, seeing the sights, doing the Disney. The picture below shows just how much fun it is to get 4 boys to all look at a camera. We can at least give a pass to Elijah, he's only 3.5 months (her other two are Jonah, 6, and Micah, 3).
5. We give back.

I made the decision at Quinn's first Christmas that every year I would buy a toy that was age appropriate for him and we would donate it, with the idea that Quinn would get the notion that there are boys his age who don't get Christmas presents. This year I bought a Lightning McQueen car, and well, I don't know if he gets that giving is better than receiving. Yes the picture says otherwise, but when it came to the actual giving, he wasn't too happy. Hopefully next year he'll understand a little more, and even be able to pick out the toy himself.

6. Well, this isn't anything special, but I made the mistake of putting his new Pluto at the top of the stocking and he could see it and this picture tells the rest of the story.

7. We made out annual trek to Christmas Lane

Ok, its only maybe 10 minutes away. Christmas Lane is a fun little place in Dover that has some fun decorations, a train, snacks, cool stuff like that. We go every year, take a family picture by the tree, let Quinn ride the train, and have a regular jolly good time.
I have this same picture of Quinn from last year and the year prior. Had to do it again.
Pretty good family picture taken by random teenage girls.

To be continued...

Christmastime

If you haven't noticed, Christmastime is upon us. And if this is the first you've heard that, well, crawl out of your cave and rejoin the world! Anyway, we've been preparing for Christmas around our house, and enjoying some of what the season has to offer!

We bought our Christmas tree from this crazy tree place in Brandon this year. The guy talked our ear off about trees and Michigan and his road cat. It was an odd conversation, to say the least, but we got a beautiful Douglas fir out of the deal.

Here is a picture of Quinn running through the tree aisles. He really liked it.

We started decorating the next day and I let Quinn put the first ornament on. It was his Baby's First Christmas ornament from 2008. He kept saying "Oh, Baby Quinn!"

Last Sunday we went over to Disney to see the lights at Hollywood Studios. It is a really cool display and the lights dance and change. You really have to see it to really get the extent of it all, its definitely worth it.

Awwwww

I was looking through some old pictures for some reason and found this one. Its so cute I just had to share. I can't barely believe my boy was ever that small. And gloriously immobile. I do miss those days.