9 months. . .

So my baby is only 3 months away from being a year old- are you kidding me??

Here's whats new in Qunicys world. . .

• eating a TON of food and will eat anything
• crawling
• 5 teeth
• loves music- anytime it comes on she bops her heard to the beat
• first words- ba ba (for ball) and da da. Still waiting on mama
• favorite toy is any ball she can get her hands on
• she hates us in hats. If we wear them she stares at us with a scared look until we take it off
• she loves Kalem. He can wrestle her down and she's still smiling
• she loves her binki and rubs her ear when she has it like Kalem did- isn't that wierd??
• shes getting a little attitude but we still love her

p.s. her hat and scarf are courtesy of her aunt Ger. So cute!!!!

White Dirt. . .

So this is how our first snowfall of the year went a few weeks ago. . .

Our neighbor had some yard maintenance going on one morning and it was a bit noisy. Kalem looked out our bedroom window to see what was making such a loud noise and he said mom hurry and come see. They are blowing WHITE DIRT all over our yard - in his very dramatic Kalem way. It was TOO FUNNY . . . It had snowed the night before.!!!

Well, It has snowed a ton since that first little sprinkle of white on our grass- Check out what Kalem and daddy made today with this special white dirt. Seriously I was so impressed!!

Our Thanksgiving Adventure. . .

It feels a bit strange posting about Thanksgiving because it seems like it was so long ago and that Christmas is in full swing but we had such a great time I had to document it. We took off to Galena IL with our friends the Rays to celebrate this year. We stayed in a cozy cabin in the 'sneaky woods' as Kalem kept calling it. It was the perfect setting for our little getaway. It had a little bit of something to offer for all of us. The guys went golfing and scouting for deer, the ladies went to the spa for a pedicure and then we all shopped the cutest Main Street you have ever seen. Back at the cabin we cooked up a storm on Thanksgiving day- it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without eating and cooking all day long. We brought up all the fixin's to make sure we had a nice Turkey dinner- and we did. The perfect ending to our little getaway was a visit from Santa and the Polar express parade!! It's always a good time when the Rays are around and we were happy to hang with them for a few days in Galena.

Her new thing. . .

This little girl has decided that it's fun to blow raspberries when shes eating. A spoonful goes in and she blows it all out and laughs. It was cute the first time, not so much anymore. I finally got smart and so now she gets stripped down for meal time. Little stink!!

Gone Forever. . .

The day has finally come when Kalem parted ways with his most prized possession-His DUMMY (aka binki or paci). We seriously never thought the day would come when this little guy decided his was too big for his dummy. He is 3 and we should have gotten rid of this a long time ago but I kept making excuses as to why it wasn't the right time. I have learned my lesson!!!!!!!

Here's how it all went down. . . Two weeks ago we were all sitting in our living room getting warm by the fire. Kalem went away for a minute and came back with his dummy in mouth. So Trev said to him, Hey Kalem, ''why don't you throw your dummies in the fire today and say goodbye to them forever.'' So out comes the dummy and he says, ''ok, daddy that's a great idea.'' I was completely shocked at his reaction, usually its no way and he runs the other direction. So i ran and grabbed the stash and brought them in for him to burn. He chucked those bad boys in with force and I sat back thinking OH MY GOSH what did he just do. He has no clue what he just did and I was having more anxiety over it than he was. I was thinking of the sleepless night we were going to have to face and the week to come. But we all celebrated.

That night was definitely hard. Trev was cute about it though. He told Kalem stories about the toy he was going to get for being such a big boy and giving it up.

(his new toy, a christmas present a few weeks early)

Kalem was excited and that worked until about 10:30. Then Kalem decided that maybe he should go down to the fire to see if they survived. So Trev took him down, grabbed a flashlight and they searched the ashes only to find nothing left. Kalem was pretty disappointed. Look at that saddest little face. I could tell he was trying to hold it together and not cry but something set it off and he sobbed the most heartbroken sob I have ever heard. It was horrible. And finally around midnight he crashed. The week got better and now we are on week 2, he has his new toy and to be honest it wasn't as dreadful as I thought it would be.

It was so hard to give up something he loved so much but he did it and survived and we are so proud of him. Way to go buddy!!!

Fall Fun. . .

When Kalem sees daddy blowing the leaves into huge piles he cannot help but grab the closest sweatshirt and pair of shoes so that he can go out and join in the fun. Trev burried him in the leaves yesterday and I came out to find this cute face peeking out!!!

Happy Halloween

Our week with the Jamiesons. . .

Our friends from Scotland came to visit us this past week. We had way too much fun and I didn't want the week to ever end. I really didn't want them to leave us - I threatened to hold them hostage in my basement but somehow they snuck away. We are missing them so much. Kalem misses Eilish TERRIBLY. He has talked about her everyday since and gets the cutest little twinkle in his eye when we mention her name.

Fiona called me the night they got home as she was up with Struan at 3am suffering from Jet lag. They seemed to get over it pretty quickly here so hopefully things have settled back down for them now. Here are some pictures of our fun, busy and chilly week with Paul, Fiona, Eilish and Struan.

(Kohl's Children's Museum)

The kids had a blast at the children's museum. Kalem had a meltdown on me but that's ok, it was just the start of many more to come throughout the week (thanks buddy)!! Love the kid but he was hard on me this past week and in time out A LOT.

Saturday night we headed out for an evening in the city. Thanks to my friend Rachel who offered to look after 4 kids that night!!

(sorry you guys I had to post this picture)

We ate dinner at Gibson's Steak House- AMAZING food and this dessert was delicious and as you can see really really BIG!! The four of us couldn't even finish it off, although we gave it our best effort. I left the restaurant feeling like I gained a few Lbs in a matter of a couple hours. Well worth it though.

After dinner we went for drinks on the 97Th floor of the John Hancock Building. The view of the city was incredible. This photo doesn't do it justice, you will just have to come and see for yourselves.It was such a fun night. I love going on dates with my husband and friends- I decided that needs to happen more often.

Sunday we went to the neighborhood Halloween Party.

(hayride - Kalem and Eilish didn't enjoy so much!!)

Trevor took Monday off so we went to the city and took the Architectural Boat tour. Loved this - Seriously, what a beautiful city!!!!!

a 1 minute train ride on Thomas was the highlight for these 3!!!

I had to take Fiona and the kids to the pumpkin farm since the whole Halloween/Pumpkin thing isn't as big of a deal in the UK as it is here.

And on their last day I sent Paul and Fiona to the city on their own and the kids and I chilled at home and played outside. They had a great time and we did too. Here are some pics of these cute kids. . .

Of course the week went by way too quickly and before we knew it, it was time for them to leave. We are still sad they are gone. We miss our nightly chats and just having them in our home and hanging out.

We feel so lucky to have had our second visitors from Scotland and we haven't even been here a year. To all of our other family and friends there is always an open invitation- you are welcome anytime. We promise you won't be disappointed. We can even send you references if you don't believe us!!

Goebberts Pumpkin Farm. . .

We took a field trip with Kalem's Pre-school class to the Pumpkin Farm. It was fun!! Though I think Kalem was a bit confused with the whole field trip thing. Every school day since he asks, '' Just the teachers and other kids are going to be there right?'' I think I enjoyed his school outing more than he did!!! Here are some fun pics of our adventure.

Climbing up and jumping off this mound of dirt was the highlight for this little guy!!! Gotta love him.

Problem Solved. . .

The other day Kalem was playing with his toys down in the basement and I was right next to him on the computer. He says to me, ''I need to go to the bathroom.'' To which I respond ''GO.'' We go through this everyday- he is fully potty trained and doesn't need my help anymore with the whole process but for some reason he still feels the need to tell me every time he has to go. So I guess he decided he didn't have to go that bad and continues playing. Then he says to me a few minutes later ''Mom, they forgot to put a bathroom down here, didn't they??'' (this isn't the first time he has made that comment) I said, '' YEP, they sure did but we are lucky there is a bathroom at the top of the stairs so go on!'' I was way too involved in whatever I was doing online that I didn't notice him run upstairs, grab his portable potty and bring it back down here. I look over and this is what I see. . .

Eddie Vedders Tribute Song for the CUBS . .

Eddie Vedder performed his new song 'All the Way' during a solo performance here in CHICAGO last month - He wrote this song especially for the CUBS!! I love the song and it is currently burning up the radiowaves around here at the moment. Check it out. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiErDCyKwiU

GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our little Preschooler

Little K started Preschool last week and oh what an experience it has been. The first day he was ok until we got there - then it was cling on and lots of tears but a happy boy when I picked him up. The second day was worse which I had expected. A half hour before we went it was 'I don't want to go to preschool, I want to stay home'- 'send Quincy mommy'- I don't want to be a big boy, I am too little for preschool'. I have to give him credit he was giving me the serious guilt trip and it was working. Then it was a fight to get him into the car and he screamed the whole way there. I had to drag him back out of the car and he was kicking and screaming 'don't leave me, please don't leave me'. It was horrible. Luckily his teachers were happy to just take the poor kid off my hands and deal with it in their own little way. And again a very happy boy when I picked him up. Monday was a few tears on the way and the teachers said only 30 seconds of crying after I left. And Today . . . NOT one single tear. He marched right on in there, stood in line and 'said by mom, see ya in a couple weeks.' It was pretty funny and such a relief from the previous experience. I know he is loving it, he just isn't willing to admit that yet. It has been good for both of us to have a little space and great for him to gain some independence. With a little bribery from daddy and grandpa- anything is possible!!!!

6 months old

I cant believe this baby is already 6 months old. These kids grow WAY too fast. This is what Quincy has been up to lately. . .

• sleeping through the night- FINALLY
• teething- I noticed her first tooth on our flight back to Chicago
• eating solids
• rolling, rolling and more rolling
• lots of giggles - mostly at Kalem
• almost sitting up (if kalem would leave her alone long enough to do so)

She has been such a good baby. How are we ever so lucky to have been blessed with 2 good babies? We thought for sure since Kalem was so easy, Quincy would be hard to handle- but she has proved us wrong. She is such a sweet little thing. She may give us a run for our money once she gets movin and talkin - especially if shes anything like her dad which he claims she is going to be. But as for now we will enjoy our little girl at 6 months old!

Home sweet Home. . .

Well we don't really know what to consider home these days but since we lived in Utah for 6 of our married years together we will consider that home. Every time we visit it just feels like home so until another state is lucky to have us there long enough or until that 'feels like home' feeling goes away, I guess Utah is still our HOME SWEET HOME.

We had yet another fabulous trip home over the last few weeks. We are so lucky to have both of our families in Utah (at the moment) tho they may be spread about the state it is nice that they are all there. As I was looking through all our pictures I kept thinking, oh I loved that and ew I really loved that and that was so much fun - so this post is just going to be a bunch of pictures of us doing the things we love with the people we love the most. . .

love cousins

love Aunts
(and Uncles too)

love grammas and granpas

love hunting and fishing

love bear lake

love pine valley

and somehow (i don't know how) I didn't get any pictures of our friends this time round. But. . . we love you guys too and as always it was GREAT to see you and spend an evening playin a little Nerts.