Quinn is 15 months old!

Happy 15 month Birthday smiley girl!

15 months old is such a fun yet challenging age. Our little girl is defenitely growing up and exploring her boundaries more and more. She is walking like a pro now, even trying to run when possible. She has found out that there is a lot to discover outside and is super excited when she sees us grabbing her jacket (unfortunately it's still too cold to go outside without one...). She just loves to be on the go all the time. Picking up rocks, wood chips, leaves, whatever she can find.

She has also been practising on talking and can now say mama, papa (daddy), puppy (although she pronounces it more like papa), hi, bumba (her favorite tv character) and she has a special way of saying 'alsjeblieft' (which means here you go or please). And not to forget 'no no no no no'.

She is still taking 2 naps during the day. Her morning nap is normally from 9 to 10am and in the afternoon she can sleep for up to 3 hours between 1 and 4pm. Bedtime is around 7.15pm and she sleeps between 11 and 12 hours at night. I can defenitely say that most of the time, she is an awesome sleeper, and I just hope that baby number 2 will take after her!

Her 15-months wellness stats are:

* weight: 19 lbs 2 oz (8700 grams)

* height: 30.75 inches (78 cm)

* head circumference: 47,5 cm

She didn't gain any weight compared to her last doctor's visit and is on the lowest line weight wise. But the pediatrician wasn't concerned about it. She did grow almost 2 inches and with her being more active, her weightgain was expected to slow down anyway. As long as she eats okay (which she does most of the time) and keeps being healthy as she is, there is no reason for concern.

At the moment she has 6 teeth. 5 are visable when she smiles (3 on top and 2 on the bottom), and the doctor found that her first top left moulder (kies) came through as well. She wouldn't open her mouth for me to show me and I'm too afraid to stick my fingers in her mouth, so I didn't know she had that one yet. Way to go girl. Only 14 to go.

In the next few months, we're going to work on getting her ready to become a big sister. For as much that is possible of course. For sure it will mean moving her into her new bedroom with a big girl bed. Our goal is to have her new room ready by the beginning of July so she has a good 4 to 6 weeks to get used to it before the baby arrives. I can't believe that my little girl will be out of her crib within two months from now!!!!

Another beautiful Spring day!

Two days of beautiful Spring weather in a row. What's going on?
You can see Quinn was very happy about it!

She loves picking up every dried leave that is left on the ground. And to our surprise, she didn't put them in her mouth this time, but handed them over to me or Ryan. Is she finally learning not to eat everything she gets a hold of??????

Climbing on the deck chairs is big entertainment. I remember my niece Tess when she was about Quinn's age and was here for our wedding doing the same thing.
I'm very proud of how she gets on and off though.....quite controlled and feet down first. This is also how she goes from down from the deck to the concrete, which is only one step, but too big of a step to take for her walking. Hopefully she remembers the next time we are outside..... 

Watch out! Quinn already got her liscence to ride a four-wheeler!

Happy Easter 2011

During Quinn's morning nap, the easter bunny came by to hide her easter basket. With a little bit of help from daddy, Quinn found it waiting for her behind the chaise lounge.

She had no clue of course and was very surprised to find this colourful basket just sitting there.

She was a little bit hesitant at first and started to take things out of it one at a time.....like she wasn't sure if she was supposed to do that or not....

But soon she thought, what the heck, I'm taking the whole bucket.

We didn't get her chocolate and other candy yet. There will be plenty of years ahead of us where she will get more than enough of that. But she was very happy with her toy fruit and book about the easter bunny.
Next year I hope we can paint easter eggs together :-)

We were lucky, it was a very nice Spring day outside. We took advantage of it by getting the yard and the outdoor furniture cleaned. We're ready for Summer!

For Quinn it was pretty much the first time (since she remembers) to be outside like this. We have been on walks and so, but the grass has always been too wet to walk on. She was so excited about being outside, that big tears appeared when it was time to go inside. I'm sure that once that swing set is up......it will be even harder to get her in.... 

Work in progress

The car is temporarily sleeping outside, because daddy is working on Quinn's (and eventually baby's) new swing set. Once all the 500 pieces of wood are put together and the ground outside has dried up, the whole mansion can be put outside and the fun can begin!

And this is how it's gonna look like when it's finished (well, we didn't get all the kids with it though.....).
Quinn won't be able to make use of everything yet this summer, but I'm sure she is gonna love the swing and maybe even the slide when we help her.
She can't wait to have her friends over to come play with her. And as for her cousins Tess and Luke, don't worry guys, we will have this up next year as well when you come to visit us.

Time out for daddy

After putting it off many many times, Ryan finally went to the doctor to get his nose fixed. No, it's not plastic surgery, but deviated septum surgery. This should help him with the sinus infections he gets 4 to 5 times during winter. The surgery was a one hour thing, but pretty intense though. It took him a good week to recover, of which the first 3 days he pretty much was glued to the couch.
Quinn enjoyed having daddy around. He had all kind of snacks and drinks around him, the tv was on all the time, and of course, his phone (the ultimate toy) was right there as well. What more do you need?! 

We Need Your Help!

Ryan, Quinn, myself and baby will be participating in the CF Foundation's annual Great Strides Walk on May 14, an event to raise money to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Ryan's godson Cale was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis shortly after he was born. The little fellow, who is the same age as Quinn, is doing great. But his health relies on the researchers and drug developers to find a cure. Lets help them do this by donating. Any amount would be greatly appreciated, not only by us, but especially by Cale and his family.

Donating is easy. Just go to my webpage www.cff.org/Great_Strides/NicoleEverson and click on the "Click to Donate" button.

Lets work together to get a step closer in finding a cure for CF!

Ryan, Quinn, ikzelf en baby gaan meedoen aan de jaarlijkse Great Strides Walk van de CF organisatie op 14 mei aanstaande, een evenement om geld in te zamelen voor Cystic Fibrosis (Taaislijmziekte). Ryan's petekindje Cale heeft Cystic Fibrosis. Cale is even oud als Quinn. Het gaat ontzettend goed met het manneke, maar zijn gezondheid en toekomst hangt af van de onderzoekers en medicijnen die Cystic Fibrosis kunnen gaan genezen. Help ze hierbij door een kleine bijdrage aan dit goede doel, iets wat niet alleen wij, maar vooral Cale en zijn familie ontzettend zullen waarderen.

Doneren is makkelijk. Klik op de volgende link: www.cff.org/Great_Strides/NicoleEverson en klik daarna op de "Click to Donate" button.