Tuesday, December 24, 2013
It Can Be Done!
This weekend I finished my hard New Year's goal as mentioned in this post! I knew it would be a difficult one, but I don't think I had really fully considered the time commitment. This stage of my life happened to be a good time to work towards this goal; I'm not sure I would've been as successful with it at other times in my life. I began with lots of reading in the wee hours of the night/morning when my little Maddox was keeping me up, and then later nap time became my prime time for reading. And I did it! I am grateful I took the challenge and accomplished this hard goal. As New Year's day is just around the corner, I again challenge us all to shoot for ambitious goals and work towards achieving hard things in 2014!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Our Little Man
Maddox is learning and growing so much. He is talking as much as ever. His vocabulary now consists of mom, dad, hot, hat, and no. I wonder if he has heard this last word a time or two… He also says brmm brmm (for cars/trucks), umm (when he points to what he wants), and mmm (when something tastes good), but I'm not sure those constitute "words." He understands a ton though. He will point to his eyes, ears, head, toes, tongue, teeth, belly button, hat, shoes, books, buttons, etc., and he follows instructions (most of the time) like bring me that, clap hands, clean up, or rub mommy's feet (haha, only kidding about that last one).
Maddox likes knocking on doors, and he loves to hide and for us to chase him. He simply loves to play!
Maddox is a dancing maniac! Any time he hears "music" (even commercials on tv), he busts out these moves...
Right around 13 months, Maddox began taking his first steps unassisted. I won't lie, we baited him in the beginning with his pacifier…
It is fun to see how much he has progressed in such a short time. He is totally comfortable and confident now.
Maddox got his own "electric" toothbrush from Grandma Quinton for Christmas (his old plain jane toothbrush just wasn't cutting it). Now he is just like dad! We just have to be careful about not brushing our teeth too much...
We love to watch the cars and trucks that come down our street. And he still LOVES when the puppies are out walking too!
Maddox will help wash himself when he is in the bath. The best is when he is holding the wash cloth with his right hand and I ask him to wash his right arm… you can see the wheels turning!
He folds his arms for prayers and kneels with us each night. Maddox blows kisses and even makes a smack noise with his lips. He is just such a sweet boy!
We are gearing up for this toddler phase and looking forward to all the fun that lies in store for us still!
Maddox likes knocking on doors, and he loves to hide and for us to chase him. He simply loves to play!
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| Yes, he stacks all 5, just not always in the right order... |
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| We explored the Children's Museum here in Portland one afternoon. I kept thinking, Scott would have so much fun here:) We'll definitely be going back! |
Maddox is a dancing maniac! Any time he hears "music" (even commercials on tv), he busts out these moves...
Right around 13 months, Maddox began taking his first steps unassisted. I won't lie, we baited him in the beginning with his pacifier…
It is fun to see how much he has progressed in such a short time. He is totally comfortable and confident now.
Maddox got his own "electric" toothbrush from Grandma Quinton for Christmas (his old plain jane toothbrush just wasn't cutting it). Now he is just like dad! We just have to be careful about not brushing our teeth too much...
We love to watch the cars and trucks that come down our street. And he still LOVES when the puppies are out walking too!
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| Maddox is a good helper. He likes to push the mop around, but he is the best help when it comes to the laundry. |
Maddox will help wash himself when he is in the bath. The best is when he is holding the wash cloth with his right hand and I ask him to wash his right arm… you can see the wheels turning!
He folds his arms for prayers and kneels with us each night. Maddox blows kisses and even makes a smack noise with his lips. He is just such a sweet boy!
We are gearing up for this toddler phase and looking forward to all the fun that lies in store for us still!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Thanksgiving
We spent Thanksgiving this year up in Connell with the Quinton crew. Grandma Anderson was gracious enough to host again, as she has done in years past. The food was awesome. Maddox and mom competed to see who could eat the most dinner rolls. And dad won the prize for most pie consumed. It was wonderful to spend the day with family, a blessing we are extremely grateful for!
I experienced my first Black Friday shopping trip this year. I spent $45 (1/2 off the item I wanted) and walked away with a $75 gift card. I think I did alright!
Plumber or police man… Maddox just can't quite make up his mind!
Maddox learned some important lessons during our visit, like how to put olives on his fingers. I remember dad teaching this to us kids. Oh the legacies we pass on...
We caught a movie, Catching Fire, while we were in town. It was fun to spend the time with my siblings, but we missed Tara. Thank you grandma for watching Maddox for us!
We saw this ad for Anchorman 2 while at the theatre, and it made us think of a photo taken 3 years ago. These guys were way ahead of the game...
Our trip wouldn't be complete without the traditional family game night (every night).
We had a little fashion show with old formal dresses from high school. A little confidence booster that I could still fit in them!
Maddox met his Great-Grandma Quinton on this trip. Although several strokes have left my grandma in a pretty dependent condition, she remembers who I am and was happy to see me. She, understandably, wishes she could do and remember more, but even so, we could definitely feel her love and enjoyed her humor. We had a lot of fun chatting and singing children's hymns with grandma. We love you!
One guess of which kid was shaking the gifts under the Christmas tree… He did guess all of them correctly, except for that tricky one.
We had Christmas early and opened presents while we were there. Maddox didn't disappoint and delivered some good entertainment as he opened the gifts. We are so lucky to have such a generous family and we were glad they could witness all the excitement too!
We have so much fun with our family and are very grateful for those in our lives who make this journey so sweet! Special shout out to my mom who works so hard to make sure we are all comfortable and happy, you are amazing. We love you all!
I experienced my first Black Friday shopping trip this year. I spent $45 (1/2 off the item I wanted) and walked away with a $75 gift card. I think I did alright!
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| Huge thank you to Tara, my partner in crime that morning! |
Plumber or police man… Maddox just can't quite make up his mind!
Maddox learned some important lessons during our visit, like how to put olives on his fingers. I remember dad teaching this to us kids. Oh the legacies we pass on...
We caught a movie, Catching Fire, while we were in town. It was fun to spend the time with my siblings, but we missed Tara. Thank you grandma for watching Maddox for us!
We saw this ad for Anchorman 2 while at the theatre, and it made us think of a photo taken 3 years ago. These guys were way ahead of the game...
Our trip wouldn't be complete without the traditional family game night (every night).
We had a little fashion show with old formal dresses from high school. A little confidence booster that I could still fit in them!
Maddox met his Great-Grandma Quinton on this trip. Although several strokes have left my grandma in a pretty dependent condition, she remembers who I am and was happy to see me. She, understandably, wishes she could do and remember more, but even so, we could definitely feel her love and enjoyed her humor. We had a lot of fun chatting and singing children's hymns with grandma. We love you!
One guess of which kid was shaking the gifts under the Christmas tree… He did guess all of them correctly, except for that tricky one.
We had Christmas early and opened presents while we were there. Maddox didn't disappoint and delivered some good entertainment as he opened the gifts. We are so lucky to have such a generous family and we were glad they could witness all the excitement too!
We have so much fun with our family and are very grateful for those in our lives who make this journey so sweet! Special shout out to my mom who works so hard to make sure we are all comfortable and happy, you are amazing. We love you all!
Thursday, November 14, 2013
October Happenings
We've heard that Fall is a beautiful time to visit the Japanese Gardens here in Portland, so this year we made it happen. I think we waited a little too long, and some of the trees were getting pretty bare, but the colors were still beautiful. We had fun viewing the different areas of the garden, the Koi fish, the porcelain sculpture exhibit in the pavilion, the waterfalls. And Maddox enjoyed even more practicing walking and feeling nature between his fingers!
Our family celebrated Halloween a couple nights early at our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. We dressed up, ate some good 'ol cornbread and chili, and, of course, did some trick-or-treating. Scott and I enjoy dressing up for the holiday, but we tend to drag our feet coming up with ideas (and I don't like to spend money on costumes), so we usually just end up throwing something together last minute with the resources we already have at home. Even so, I think my boys did pretty well this year...
Our family celebrated Halloween a couple nights early at our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. We dressed up, ate some good 'ol cornbread and chili, and, of course, did some trick-or-treating. Scott and I enjoy dressing up for the holiday, but we tend to drag our feet coming up with ideas (and I don't like to spend money on costumes), so we usually just end up throwing something together last minute with the resources we already have at home. Even so, I think my boys did pretty well this year...
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| Maddox was an old man with his walker. |
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| Scott and I were truckers, not to be mistaken as rednecks or white trash... |
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| I don't know who was more excited about this loot from the night...Maddox or mom! |
Monday, October 14, 2013
The Oregon Half and A Birthday Celebration
Preparing for a race definitely requires a time commitment, and Scott, Maddox, and I had a lot of fun training together. Maddox is a good coach and pushed us hard. The Oregon Marathon and Half over in Banks, OR sounded like a good idea. We could spend time together running, would get in better shape, and spend more time outside in the awesome Summer weather. And then the rain came early and poured on race day... It was a cold, wet one! The rain actually wasn't terrible while we were running, but pre-race rain was not cool and post-race it was just plain miserable. Despite the weather, it was a great race. We ran on a paved trail, which was beautiful with all the leaves turning; Fall is absolutely stunning here. Scott and I stuck together and finished in 2 hours 1 minute (we started in waves, that's why our official time is different than the clock in the video below). Brittney ran the whole time and finished within her time goal. Tara pushed through a hurt foot and sickness and finished not too long after Brit. This was the first half marathon for my sisters and for Scott, and I am really proud of everyone!! And thank you, mom, for being such a great support and capturing our finish!
My favorite/most memorable thing from the race: Tara, "Brit and I joked about how old ladies were going to pass us. Haha. And then they did..."
Since we had family coming into town for the race, we decided that Saturday would be a great time to have a birthday party for Maddox. Half marathon in the morning, birthday party in the afternoon... it was a busy day! We had a lot of fun though. Originally, we were planning to be at the park for the birthday celebration, but the rain thwarted those plans. Instead, we hosted 30 adults and 10 kids in our home. We called it a mustache bash and loved celebrating Maddox with so many family and friends!
We followed up dessert with opening gifts. Maddox is blessed with generous friends, and he came away with a lot of fun toys. I don't know who was more excited about all of them, Maddox or Scott.
We're excited for another year of this awesomeness!
My favorite/most memorable thing from the race: Tara, "Brit and I joked about how old ladies were going to pass us. Haha. And then they did..."
Since we had family coming into town for the race, we decided that Saturday would be a great time to have a birthday party for Maddox. Half marathon in the morning, birthday party in the afternoon... it was a busy day! We had a lot of fun though. Originally, we were planning to be at the park for the birthday celebration, but the rain thwarted those plans. Instead, we hosted 30 adults and 10 kids in our home. We called it a mustache bash and loved celebrating Maddox with so many family and friends!
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| Maddox wearing a stache for the invitations... he wasn't a fan... |
The main event at the party, of course, was Maddox eating his cake. For those who don't want to watch all these long videos, here is a summary of what happens: Maddox timidly begins with just a finger licking the frosting, then he gradually moves to handfuls of cake to the mouth, and wraps up with massaging the cake with both hands. He delivered on the entertainment portion of the afternoon! Huge thank you to Melinda for the beautiful and delicious cake and cupcakes!!
We followed up dessert with opening gifts. Maddox is blessed with generous friends, and he came away with a lot of fun toys. I don't know who was more excited about all of them, Maddox or Scott.
We're excited for another year of this awesomeness!
1 year!
September 25th, a special birthday! Maddox is such an awesome kid; he really is just a happy, content little guy, and Scott and I often talk about how blessed we are to have him in our family. As cliché as it is to say, this year has gone by so fast, and sometimes it is hard to believe that he isn't this small anymore...
And here are some pictures of the birthday boy!
To celebrate, we started off the day by greeting him with some balloons. Maddox loves playing with balloons, and he gave us the biggest grin when we walked into the room with them. Maddox also loves dogs, and he points at them and giggles when he sees them. So, we thought it would be fun to take him to a nearby PetSmart, which has a doggie daycare. There was a huge glass wall he could look through to watch all the "puppies," and Maddox was thrilled when one came and sat right next to him. We walked around and looked at the other animals in the store, and he thought that all the ones that moved were interesting enough. I was NOT tempted to bring anything home... Maddox thanked his mom for the fun morning with an awesome mess in his crib when he woke up from his nap. We'll spare the graphic images. He got his favorite, Mac and Cheese, for lunch. We opened his gift from mom and dad, a walker (IKEA, $20), and he was ready to cruise with it before Scott even had it assembled. It was a lot of fun to see him just get up and go with it, no instructions necessary. Maddox chose Red Robin for dinner and shared the clucks and fries with mom. After being unsure with all the birthday singing, he was extremely enthusiastic about the dessert he was given. We had a really fun day together!
Maddox weighed in at 20 pounds 3 ounces (15th percentile) and 30 inches tall (50th percentile) at his 12 month appointment.
Maddox and dad have a lot of fun together; dad teaches him only the best...
I think this was one of Scott's proudest moments as a father. Maddox received this awesome Mater for his birthday from Grandma Quinton. Scott had to take the seat off to charge the battery, and Maddox watched his dad closely and then knew just what to do with the screw driver once dad stepped away.
We play a lot in our family...
Maddox is a good helper when it is time to clean up.
Maddox has four teeth on top and four on the bottom. He still babbles a lot, and added "hot" to his vocabulary last week. He doesn't really understand the meaning of the word yet, but he calls all food "hot" now. Meal time is entertaining more often than not.
Putting Maddox down for bed is a dream now. I would've laughed out loud if you had told me when he was 3 months old it would be this easy one day.
At 10 1/2 months, Maddox switched from his army crawl to a "normal" crawl. About this same time, he conquered the stairs as well. I had been working with Maddox for almost a month on how to go up and down the stairs. The first Sunday in August, Scott spent five minutes watching him and he magically had the ability to impress his father...
Maddox is doing a lot of cruising these days. He holds on to the furniture, walls, doors, your hands, his walker, anything really to help him get to the destination of his choice. It was pretty entertaining watching him figure out how to use those legs at first though...
We went to the bank one Saturday, and Maddox enjoyed his first sucker. I didn't realize swallowing the yummy saliva you create was something a person had to learn...
Maddox is a great storyteller.
Another new trick Maddox learned last week is to take his socks off and pick out the toe jam in between his toes. Haha. We love this kid!
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| September 25, 2012 |
And here are some pictures of the birthday boy!
To celebrate, we started off the day by greeting him with some balloons. Maddox loves playing with balloons, and he gave us the biggest grin when we walked into the room with them. Maddox also loves dogs, and he points at them and giggles when he sees them. So, we thought it would be fun to take him to a nearby PetSmart, which has a doggie daycare. There was a huge glass wall he could look through to watch all the "puppies," and Maddox was thrilled when one came and sat right next to him. We walked around and looked at the other animals in the store, and he thought that all the ones that moved were interesting enough. I was NOT tempted to bring anything home... Maddox thanked his mom for the fun morning with an awesome mess in his crib when he woke up from his nap. We'll spare the graphic images. He got his favorite, Mac and Cheese, for lunch. We opened his gift from mom and dad, a walker (IKEA, $20), and he was ready to cruise with it before Scott even had it assembled. It was a lot of fun to see him just get up and go with it, no instructions necessary. Maddox chose Red Robin for dinner and shared the clucks and fries with mom. After being unsure with all the birthday singing, he was extremely enthusiastic about the dessert he was given. We had a really fun day together!
Maddox weighed in at 20 pounds 3 ounces (15th percentile) and 30 inches tall (50th percentile) at his 12 month appointment.
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| 11 months |
Maddox and dad have a lot of fun together; dad teaches him only the best...
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| Maddox's first parade. |
I think this was one of Scott's proudest moments as a father. Maddox received this awesome Mater for his birthday from Grandma Quinton. Scott had to take the seat off to charge the battery, and Maddox watched his dad closely and then knew just what to do with the screw driver once dad stepped away.
We play a lot in our family...
Maddox is a good helper when it is time to clean up.
Maddox has four teeth on top and four on the bottom. He still babbles a lot, and added "hot" to his vocabulary last week. He doesn't really understand the meaning of the word yet, but he calls all food "hot" now. Meal time is entertaining more often than not.
Putting Maddox down for bed is a dream now. I would've laughed out loud if you had told me when he was 3 months old it would be this easy one day.
At 10 1/2 months, Maddox switched from his army crawl to a "normal" crawl. About this same time, he conquered the stairs as well. I had been working with Maddox for almost a month on how to go up and down the stairs. The first Sunday in August, Scott spent five minutes watching him and he magically had the ability to impress his father...
Maddox is doing a lot of cruising these days. He holds on to the furniture, walls, doors, your hands, his walker, anything really to help him get to the destination of his choice. It was pretty entertaining watching him figure out how to use those legs at first though...
We went to the bank one Saturday, and Maddox enjoyed his first sucker. I didn't realize swallowing the yummy saliva you create was something a person had to learn...
Maddox is a great storyteller.
Another new trick Maddox learned last week is to take his socks off and pick out the toe jam in between his toes. Haha. We love this kid!
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