dear quinn - letter two.

On a Tuesday at 12:58pm you turned two. TWO. 
Oh my goodness you are officially a little girl and not our teeny baby you once were.
You make decisions, ugh that is getting hard.  You aren't always so sure of what you want.
Parenting has officially kicked up a notch.  But we are ready.  A timeout stool is there, but it has seldom been used (helped when you bounced around on the couch).

You still are the easygoing child you were as a baby.  For the most part you are easily entertained, you still move on from things you can't have easily, and most activities mommy picks or errands we run you find suitable for your taste and you are a very good girl in the stores.  It's possible you have been nicknamed "The goldfish girl" at Hobby Lobby, we are there often and goldfish is your go to snack to keep you busy at the store (and I'm sure we have unknowingly left trails behind).

You LOVE a good snuggle and mommy and daddy love the random times you run up to us for a quick one. You still fall asleep in mommy's arms occasionally.  And if you startle in the night, I do not mind a good cuddle.

You are a dancer and will start groovin' just about anytime a good beat is present.
You love just about all pop/rock music.  Some of your favorite songs have been:  Give your heart a break by Demi Lovato, Catch my Breath by Kelly Clarkson, Somebody that I used to know by Gotye, Driveby by Train, Daylight and Payphone by Maroon Five and most songs by Pink and Katy Perry.
We are pretty excited to get you started in a dance class pretty soon.

You are a sensitive girl.
This comes as no surprise to us as both your mommy and daddy were very sensitive children.
You do not like it when anyone gets into trouble.
You get very upset if anyone cries, most of the time you're sad by it but sometimes I think it just scares you (everyone got a little glimpse of this during your party - being center of attention probably amplified it a bit).
When something scares you or makes you mad, you like to hit mommy.  I know it's not because you really want to hit, but because you don't know how else to show those emotions.

You are a girl of few words, but love to tell a story. :)
You talk, talk, talk all the time, but are still quite a babbler.
The sounds are molding, we can tell.  All those words are forming and will be pouring out soon.
You have many words that you can say, that we have heard you say, but you just choose not to say them often.You don't really like to try to repeat after us, so that makes it a little hard to try to teach you, but you have always been on your own time when you are confident and ready.  And we love that about you.

You are obsessed with jewelry and playing with makeup.
You are gentle and make your decisions carefully.
Maybe a little stylist on our hands?
You like to help pick out your clothes a little.
You still wear a lot of leggings (with your tiny waist but long legs they fit the best).
You are still wearing mostly all 18 month clothes, and just starting to pull some pants and a few outfits in that are 24m or 2T.

You take your time on little tasks.
Sorting, organizing, thinking about where you want things to go.
Coloring and using stickers is a current favorite.

A good sleeper you have always been.
Right now bedtime is usually 7:30pm - 7:30/8am
Nap is usually 12:30pm - 4:30pm
You sleep in a crib full of blankies and stuffed animals.
You are starting to have favorites, and it is so cute to see.
You love your pastel striped blankie that you got from the Caston family when you were born, and you snuggle with lamby, polar bear and kitty the most.
If we throw off your nap, it really throws you off (you are more likely to throw a little fit and not sleep well at night) so we try to avoid that if at all possible. 

The potty is out, but we are going to wait a little longer till we feel you are ready.

You love to read books.
There are days where we read and read and read forever.
And there are days we just entirely forget to.
Mommy is trying to get back to making sure this is squeezed in each day no matter what.

We started working on the alphabet and your colors.
You favorite letter is O (the sound of it I'm sure), and your favorite color right now is yellow.

We are trying to get back on the signing track.  We go through hills and valleys of using sign language a lot, and then weeks of barely using it.  You and mommy are both learning, and I'm quite certain you will pick it up fully much quicker. :)

You sing and hum.
You like to sing Twinkle Twinkle with us at bed time.  You have your own words for it, but you have the tune down pat.
You hum sometimes while you are playing independently.  I caught you doing that a couple times while playing with your new dollhouse.

You give the sweetest hugs, especially to your friends.
You are so good about letting mommy do anything with your hair.
You have never minded getting your diaper or clothes changed.
You absolutely love a good game of chase.

Your giggle is the best thing in the whole entire world.

All the squeezes, snuggles, hugs, kisses we give you would never be enough.

Happy birthday sweet girl.

(click here to see dear quinn - first birthday letter)

____________________________________________________________________

On Saturday you invited some of your buddies over for a fantastic little breakfast party.
Mommy thought it was quite perfect.
Here are some of the details from your special little day:

1. We were snuggly in our jammies. :)  And Grandma made your entire outfit and matching jammy pants for you and mommy.

2. Grandma and Grandpa came up from Florida to celebrate with you.

3.  You got a special dollhouse made by mommy and daddy for your birthday and your family and friends helped you fill it with a family and goodies.  The dollhouse was a hit, even with all the boys.  more on the dollhouse later...

4. There were Mickey decorations and red, black and yellow everywhere. :)

This next part is for party planning enthusiasts or just average mom's looking for a few ideas:
Secrets to throwing a super cute themed party without spending a lot of money - choose just a few simple things that will stand out, take advantage of the dollar store when it makes sense, use Hobby Lobby coupons like crazy, create printables (they are a super quick cheap way to add more detail), and make as much as you can yourself. :)
The Mickey Centerpieces only cost $3.50 each to make.  The two Mickey wreaths cost $4 to make. And the long Mickey felt banner only cost $5 to make.  Water bottle favors are from the dollar store, and chalkboard labels were super cheap with a hobby lobby coupon.  Tablecloths, plates, napkins were also purchased at Hobby Lobby. We had balloons (also Hobby Lobby) but decided to skip the expensive helium cost and blow them up ourselves but hang them instead of string them.  Todd made an outdoor Quinn's Clubhouse sign at no cost.  A roll of black and white polka dot wrapping paper was used for the runner to spice up the red tableclothes.Two large pictures were printed at Walmart for a game and decoration (using a Valentine's Day special on posters).  Using the color red helped too as I was able to snatch cute straws and muffin liners from after Holiday sales.

Why a breakfast party?
1.  Because it was different.
2.  Because I LOVE breakfast and relaxing with friends with coffee in hand.
3.  Because who doesn't love an excuse to be in cozy jammies.
4.  Because it didn't interfere with naps for all the little ones or everyone's entire day.
5.  Because everyone loves breakfast, it is very cost-effective and we can still create a filling meal    
               for everyone with options.

5.  Everyone played Pin the Ears on the Birthday Girl, played in the bouncy house, watched A Goofy Movie (nothing cuter than little ones all cuddled up on the floor with mommies and daddies watching a movie),  colored Mickey pictures, and played and played and played. :)

 

6.  There was a little photo backdrop set up for all of your little Mouseketeer friends. :)  Everyone knows your mama loves pictures to remember the guests and what they all looked like on that day.

 

Quinn's Clubhouse menu included:
* Mickey Mouse Pancakes * Clarabelle's Cinnamon Moo-Muffins & Donut Holes * Minnie's Famous Banana Bread * Boo-Boo Chicken's Egg Casseroles * Fresh Fruit from Daisy's Garden * Pluto's Doggy Biscuits & Gravy * Donald's "Oh Boy, Oh Boy!" Breakfast Potatoes * Clarabelle's Secret Recipe Sugar Cookies
and Goofy served up milk, coffee, tea, water and orange juice for beverages.

7.  There was "Happy Birthday" singing.  You are smiley here.  You quickly turned shy and hid your head.  Shy just like your mama at your age, although you are much stronger (your mama cried when everyone sang to her on her 2nd birthday).

 8.  Blowing out candles.

9.  And diving right in. :)

And here are all of the little Mouseketeers that joined Quinn's Clubhouse!
(the cutest little bunch :))

So cute!

Happy 2nd Birthday baby girl.
We love you so very much.

little mouse.

Our little birthday mouse.

This weekend we celebrated Quinn's 2nd birthday with a special party with her friends.
Party pics and details to come...

12:58pm.

At 12:58 pm, you officially turned two sweet girl.

You are curled up in your bed with all your blankies and stuffed animals napping right now, but we are so excited to continue the birthday festivities when you wake up.

(more birthday posts to come...)

it's here.

Birthday week is officially here, and in 26 hours and 43 minutes our sweet girl will be two!

a little valentine.

big girl picked out the pretty blue beads all by herself ;)

soaking up the sweetness.

We are rounding the corner into the big birthday week.
And we are soaking up every little last drop of one-year-old snuggly sweetness.
And capturing the tiny toes, the little fingers wrapped around "lamby", the hair that still has yet to be cut, and the soft baby skin.

Our sweet girl, you are growing so fast.  We are enjoying every little second along the way.
We love that every day we get to learn more about you and discover who you are, but right now we are soaking up this baby sweetness that we know we will look back on and remember.  It's the moments you flashback to when we won't be able to believe that we are giving you keys to the car, watching you get honored on senior night, or even walking you down the aisle. 
And you my dear, you are full of sweetness.  We know it is not leaving you in anyway, but the sweet little baby cheeks, tiny little toes and fall asleep cradled in my arms little girl we know will not last forever. 

six months in.

We have officially been in the new house for six whole months.
half a year.
In that time we have watched a 17 month old grow to an almost 2 year old.
We have watched her run through the house, learn to go up and down the stairs, move through several different dance styles, say many new words, switch from two naps to one, jump in leaves in the front yard, go sledding in the backyard, go trick-or-treating for the first official time, open presents under the Christmas tree with our family, and giggle and snuggle and smile all the way through.

This house already has six months of new memories.
A lot of memories.
It became our home in no time at all.

A little project I made this past weekend.

We have done many little projects in the last six months...

* Painted the playroom, guest bedroom, main bathroom, family room, kitchen, master bedroom, master bathroom, laundry room, and extra bedroom upstairs.

* Built a board and batten wall treatment in Quinn's room.

* Put in a beadboard treatment in the downstairs main bathroom.

* Repainted old frames a new color.

* Created 8 different wall art projects.

* Cleaned up tons of landscaping.

* Took out the hideous post that was in the middle of the backyard.

* Hung blinds and curtains in most of the house.

* Built a play kitchen for Quinn.

* Built a new present for the birthday girl.

* And lots of odds and ends of cleaning things up, organizing, fixing, and replacing.

Of course there are always many projects that will be on the to-do list.  When there is a little bit of spending money to make our home a little more homey, then we pick something else on the list.  But we wait until then, its fun and special and we love and enjoy doing every little project.  And of course you know that we are thrifty and build and create things for the cheapest cost possible.  Most importantly, we love looking around our home and seeing things we created, there is that much more of us in the house to make it our home.  (And much of that is the little artwork touches Quinn adds as well.)

What is next and waiting on the to-do list?
- building a tufted headboard for the master bedroom
- building a rustic plank headboard for the guest bedroom
- building a farmhouse table for the kitchen
- painting the vanity in the master bathroom

How do we find the time?
It is all about balance, and creating a child that sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.  We are grateful for her 4 hour naps. :)  Otherwise, we just take our time with a project and we make as much of our time available to playing with Quinn as we can.  No, we are not typically up all hours of the night after she goes to bed when we are working on a project.  We like our down time to relax a bit too.  When we are working on a project, we work together well, and we are just that efficient I guess. :)

Any larger projects in store?
hmmm.... well if we won the lottery tomorrow there would be a big kitchen renovation, with white cabinets, a backsplash, a new light fixture over the table and knobs added to the cabinetry, AND we would build a deck in the backyard.  But more realistically.... no, there are no larger projects in store for quite a while. :)  We do love our home as is, and we know that we have many years to continue to make it more our own.

On another note, we have survived our first six months as landlords.  yea!  It's not as scary as it was initially, but renting out our old home still would not have been our top choice.  We are thankful though that we even had a choice in this housing market and that we did find wonderful tenants, AND that Todd has only been called over there once.  It's not exactly how you ever dream of owning two homes, but it's working and we are glad for that.

We are in love with our new home.  We know without a doubt it was the right home for us.  We had jumped on it quickly and only looked at one other home, so it was meant to be and we are glad that we still feel that way (even so much more so now).
Some things that we have fallen in love with:  our lot location on a very quiet street and no backyard neighbors, our new town (it was one of two choices and we have not second guessed it at all, in fact we are so grateful we selected this one over others), central vac in the kitchen (our floors are swept way more because it's that much more convenient), the direction we face (we get great light in the windows but never a straight on light into your face.  this is also great on our driveway as we get great sunlight that helps melt the snow, our neighbors across the street aren't as lucky), our general location in town to downtown, shopping and all of the schools, the general friendliness and kindness of our new town (love it!).  We love the flow of our house and how usable all of the space is.  We love that even though there is lots of space it still feels cozy and warm (so important to me).  The playroom is fantastic, the kitchen counter tops scream for more baking, the master bedroom is transforming into a little retreat, and the bonus room is a makeshift movie theater with pillows and blankets thrown across the floor. 
It's home.
Everyday we find ourselves feeling so grateful that it is our home.


And with that a little teaser of our latest fun project for a very special soon-to-be birthday girl. ;)

bling.

 

a little bling is a regular thing these days :)
bracelets, necklaces, earrings...she loves them all.

the fun kind of busy.

We had one of those "fun" busy weekends this weekend.

It included the first of a few 2nd birthday celebrations on Friday, a playdate/dance party with friends and really time for mommy to see a couple of her best friends on Saturday, and a birthday party for two of Quinn's close friends on Sunday.

 

 

We had such a great visit with grandpa and great-grandma.  We were so glad they could come celebrate and play with us.  It was definitely a memorable visit.  Quinn enjoyed this little Toy Story cake. :)

 



 

We brought these cake pops to our good little buddies, Evan and Noah's Spiderman birthday party on Sunday.  It was so awesome to see so many good friends.  Quinn's favorite part - the bouncy house.

 



 

A quick post - but a jam-packed fun weekend. :)



finally.

winter wonderland has arrived.

 

snow is here.
pretty, fluffy, sparkly snow.
thank you February for delivering, just in time for the groundhog to declare an early spring (geez!)

it has been a beautiful week of slowly falling picture perfect little and big snowflakes.
the kind of falling snow that is pretty and graceful and slow.
finally we can cross off the remaining items on our winter to-do list.
phew! my crazy need to cross off items on any lists thanks you winter.
and because February is a month of nostalgia as a one turns two... here she is last year.

sorting and arranging.

One of my favorite things to watch at this almost 2 year old stage is how she likes to sort and arrange things. It's one more thing that tells me a little more about her, how she likes things in a certain way, how delicate she is about touching objects to arrange them and how careful she is about choosing how she would like them to be, and the little furrowed brow she gets when she is deep in thought making that decision. 

catching the moments.

As our peanut is rounding the toddler curve from little one year old to big two year old, I am working on a new goal.  I realize that babies become toddlers closer to when they start to walk, but for me they are still babies until they are two.  I just believe that, and believe in not pushing to rid them of all their baby moments, habits, little routines too early.  It's way too short as it is.  So babies are babies until two....  And two year olds, well they are like a whole other little species. :)  They are discovering, curious, dramatic and eager to do many new things.  Some mischievious, some loving, all important.  So my new goal...I want to capture all of these moments.  The ones that make her who she is and who she is growing into.  The ones that she can look at later and just know what she was like, because sometimes seeing is just more fun than telling.  

a little hair-twirler she is.

snuggly.

a snuggly almost one year old...

a snuggly almost two year old...