Staying Home

I made the decision to give my notice at work and have been home full-time since June. I was extremely grateful for the opportunity I had to work; I was at a great firm, I worked with awesome people who were supportive of my wish to work at reduced hours as a mom, and I just really enjoyed working. But even on a part-time schedule, I didn't feel like I was home enough and I wanted to spend more time with Maddox.

To be honest, I was a little nervous about staying home, but I felt it was the right move for me and for our family during this stage of life. I thought if I had to err one way, I knew I wouldn't regret being home and spending this important time with my son. So we took the step of faith. I am really grateful we are in a position that we feel I can stay home. And after three months, I have found it to be even more fulfilling and rewarding than I expected. Maddox and I simply just have a lot of fun together! We get to learn and grow together every day, and we do a lot of cool stuff to make Scott jealous. Now we are working on convincing him to stay home with us too...

Don't get me wrong, not all of staying home (or being a mother in general) is pretty or easy, a lot of my work is repetitive, and Maddox rarely says thank you or great job mom. But I am so glad that I get to be the one to experience the daily victories and fun with Maddox. I am finding so much joy in this journey. I really enjoy being a mother and maximizing this time with my family.

When Scott's Grandpa Huntzinger passed away in May, we went down to Nevada for the funeral. Grandma Huntzinger said several times that she just had so much fun raising her kids. I think around that time is when it was really starting to sink in for me -- it is all about your perspective and attitude. If you want to be happy and have fun during this stage, then you will! You'll look for those opportunities, you'll recognize and emphasize the good, and little by little that will become your comprehensive experience. I have found that to be true so far in my case, and I am absolutely loving this adventure!



Here are some of the things we've been up to:

Maddox is really chill and easy to get out
with. He helps me choose healthy groceries...

Portland has a lot of great parks, and we've been out
discovering a new one every week.

Watching the NBA Finals together.

Baby story time at the library. Maddox plays well with the
other kids, and I love that we are within walking distance.

Portland Zoo. He was actually
more interested in people watching
than looking at the animals.

Maddox and I made a quick trip out
to the coast to spend time with family.

Oregon Coast Aquarium

Sand dunes down by Florence, Oregon. It was a little windy...

Maddox and I catch up with
friends pretty often. We enjoyed
some gelato that day.

On another note, Scott earned a promotion last week. I am so grateful for a talented and supportive husband. He takes such good care of us. I am proud of you, love!

The Fab 5!

August 2, 2008: Scott said "I do!" and I said "yes!" These past five years have been filled with many adventures, a lot of work, even more laughs, but they've mostly been filled with love. I once heard marriage described as falling in love with the same person over and over again. I like that, and Scott is definitely the man to keep me on my toes and enjoying this thing called life. He is my media naranja!

We spent a wonderful day celebrating together, and Scott's planning and effort definitely made it special for me. He started it off with surprising me by taking the day off from work. We nourished our bodies with some Einstein bagel sandwiches before shopping our little hearts out at the Nike employee store.

As is our tradition, we each bought
a pair of shoes for our anniversary.
This year, we both picked up the
Nike Flyknits.

We followed the shopping with some more nourishing and ate at Pastini for lunch. Scott then had some spa pampering waiting for me at Hand & Stone. It was awesome and so relaxing!

Next surprise, Scott found a sitter and picked me up solo. We headed to the theatre, and guess what we chose... Despicable Me 2. Haha, it was our first movie in theatre since Maddox was born and we went with the kid flick. I think we'll try to be grown-ups next time around.

We love trying new things in the Pearl district, so we walked around for a bit and then decided on Paragon for dinner. Tasty food and a fun location.

Thank you, love, for a wonderful day. Best 5 years ever!!

10 Months

Maddox weighed 19 pounds 4 ounces (25th percentile), and was 28 inches long (25th percentile) at his 9 month appointment (the day before he turned 10 months).

10 months

9 months

8 months

7 months

Maddox brushes his teeth. He has two bottom teeth and two top teeth with two more coming in on the top. He still tries to put most things in his mouth after exploring with his hands for a minute or two. He loves putting his hands in our mouths as well as his pacifier. Maddox likes to feed himself (bread and cheerios are mom's less messy options). He chews his food pretty well, and he is a good eater, not picky. He laughs when he burps, probably because we do too. He smacks  his lips. Maddox takes turns talking, and he says mom, bababa, da, brm brm, and just babbles A LOT.

Maddox's first pb&j sandwich.

He has had a little army crawl for the past three months, and is beginning to crawl some on his hands and knees -- but he definitely prefers the army crawl. He likes climbing over obstacles. He pushes himself up from his tummy to sit, and pulls himself up to his knees a lot more than to his feet. He still does not like to stand. He can stand though while holding onto something. He spins around on his bum with his feet, which is pretty cute. Maddox has good fine motor skills and uses his pincer fingers most of the time. He trades things from hand to hand. He likes tearing things, and will often actually choose the smaller piece to keep tearing. He loves opening and closing doors, and he likes to pull the knobs on drawers. He is not super interested in the stairs yet, and he'll stop when he gets to them.

Maddox sleeps like a champ. He goes to bed around 8:00 pm and wakes up anywhere between 7:30 and 9:30 am. He then takes two good naps, each between 1 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours. He still loves his pacifier, which he gets when he sleeps (and when we are out and about during nap time).

Thumb inside the pacifier in his mouth.

One of his favorite toys is a sword from Disneyland. He LOVES cars; he'll move the cars back and forth on their wheels and say brm brm. Maddox has fun spinning the wheels on his cars and skateboard. He likes to play football and wrestle with mom and plays soccer with dad. He loves being outside. He still likes to read and help turn the pages. He plays with the cat whiskers around the house. He likes his stuffed cow and will give it loves (put it in his mouth and lay his head on it). Maddox went swimming for the first time in June; he loves the water and will kick his feet and splash with his hands. He still really enjoys the bath too, and will crawl around and try to pull himself up. He likes to watch bubbles but doesn't try to grab them very often, and he knows you have to blow to make them. He likes bags and the handles and hardware on them. He still loves watching anything with a screen, and he still likes mirrors too. He likes to play with wastebaskets, which mom doesn't like. He likes cords and outlets, which are also forbidden. He likes to pull just mom's shoes off the shoe rack. He will also play with mom's hair that he finds on the floor.

He loves being chased up and down the stairs. Maddox tickles our feet and then just laughs. He'll pull the shower curtain open to see if Scott or I are in there. He likes to hand us things and point at us. When he hears the garage door, he knows that dad is home and will crawl to the stairs. It is really sweet. He puts mom's phone up to his ear. He still cuddles with mom and will lay his head on my shoulder, mostly when he's tired.

He shakes his head no, sometimes because he doesn't like whatever is happening and other times just because he likes to shake his head. When I tell him no, he just laughs more often than stops what he is doing. He still hates to be changed and is adjusting more to having things pulled over his head. He hates his nose and face being wiped. He tugs at his shirt and belly when he is angry or sad.

As a mom, I find myself doing ridiculous
things to make a less-than-fun experience
more enjoyable for both me and Maddox.
Luckily, Scott caught this...

His sides are really ticklish. He still kicks his legs and flaps his arms when he is excited. Maddox really is just a content happy little boy, and we have so much fun with him!

Utah

After moving two years ago, we made the trek back down to our old stomping grounds in Utah last month. The drive took a full day each way, but Maddox kept us entertained and Scott got us there and back safely.

BYU campus was our first stop on Thursday. We were amazed at all the construction and the changes that have been made since we were there. We didn't feel as old anymore though when we were mistaken for students. I surprised myself too when I remembered which restroom in the Harold B. Lee Library had a space I could nurse Maddox... I did practically live there as a student though. We had fun checking out the new buildings, the torn out roads, the exhibits in the MOA and HFAC, chatting it up with Scott's ID professors, and purchasing Maddox's souvenir in the bookstore.

We were disappointed that it rained a little while we were there; we left the sunny weather of Portland to visit rainy Utah... It was fun to see the construction going on at the old Provo Tabernacle. We used to have Stake Conference here, and it was sad when the building caught on fire right before we moved. Once completed and dedicated, this will be the Provo City Center Temple.

We met up with Shari, an old co-worker of mine, for a cone at Macy's, Mat and Jen grabbed some Thai with us, and then Ben, Mat's brother, gave us a tour of Adobe. The building is very impressive, and it was a lot of fun to see the space. Their climbing wall wasn't anything that Scott couldn't handle though...

We had to eat at some of our favorite spots while we were down in Provo. We managed in a day and a half to make it to Bajio, Kneaders (for breakfast and lunch), J-Dawgs, and Thai Evergreen. We also tried something new, The Champ breakfast sandwich at Ernie's, which some Oregon friends recommended. I would've liked to stay another week just to eat all the food we missed...

Friday mid-day we headed to the event that actually prompted the trip - the Quinton family reunion with my dad's siblings in Midway, UT. The reunion was fairly short (a day and a half) and pretty low-key, but it was fun to experience a couple new things and spend time with family.

The crater was a lot of fun and very warm (like a hot tub).

Riding the popular Heber Creeper... an old train that
winds up the canyon.

Spending some quality time with
Grandpa Quinton.

We missed out on the carousel due to
possibility of lightning, but Grandma
Quinton is definitely good at spoiling us!

Scott and a couple of my siblings took a razor up the mountain. They were not impressed with Scott's wild driving; I'll spare you the videos of everyone yelling at him to slow down. They all had a good time though, and will likely keep Scott in the passenger seat next time...

Maddox had his share of fun in
the razor too!

Sunday we headed to Holladay, UT to share in the special day of blessing Ander, Tim's third son. The blessing was beautiful, Tricia made a delicious feast, and it was wonderful to just hang with the Layton gang for the day.

Maddox had a lot of fun playing with his
cousins, Gavin and Kade!

Monday, we said our goodbyes and hit the road again. But our trip wouldn't be complete without a little adventure; that happened at the Flying J in Snowville, UT.