Officially a Toddler??

Some say kids are no longer babies after their first birthday. Others say, they're no longer babies once they start walking. For the past few weeks, Q has been taking steps here and there, but nothing consistently.  We never really pushed him to walk. We figured he would do it when he was ready. Well, today, he was ready. He walked!! He walked all the way across the room several times. He did it so many times, I was able to get it on video.  Of course he's still a little wobbly, but I'm sure will be running in no time. So I guess this means he's officially a toddler, regardless how you look at it. 

This weekend was pretty low key. We went to my parents house Sunday afternoon for dinner, cake and ice cream to celebrate Julian and Grandma's birthday.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Thank you Bobbie for getting us the cow app. :) It's a big hit with Q. 

I think Julian was the only one that was able to get Q to walk to them. 

Fun Foto Friday - Happy Birthday Julian!

Happy Birthday Julian - We can't believe you are 6 years old today. We hope you have a great day today and we can't wait to see you this weekend.

Iowa State Fair - Nothing Compares!

Today's the last day of the Iowa State Fair. Q absolutely loved it both times we went. We went the first Sunday with the Davis family. The weather could not have been more perfect. The theme this year is "Nothing Compares." At first, it reminded me of Sinaed O'Connor's song, Nothing Compares 2 U, but then I thought about it a little more, and I'm convinced it's referring to the people watching. Nothing really does compare to that.  I did, however, have that song in my head most of the day.

Q was ready to roll on the John Deere tractor

We broke the rules and did Little Hands on the Farm. It's really only for ages 2-10, which neither kid met, but they were nice and didn't kick us out.

Q said apple when he picked the apples

both kiddo's were zonked out after a couple hours

"Tiny" the big boar weighed in at 1,196 pounds. Thats a lot
of bacon

The big Bull - Bubba weighed in at 2,768 pounds. 

There were 61 of these little cows around the fairgrounds. We
managed to get Q on about 20 of them total. 

The only time Q cried, was when we took him away from the
water. He wanted to sit and just hang out there awhile. 

bye bye Fair part 1. 

Part 2 was done in 2 parts. We went on Saturday with Bobbie and Dylan in the morning. Vera (Bobbie's mom) joined us for the afternoon edition.

Once again, we started bright and early. We had a set time to arrive, of course we were both late, but still managed to park a row and a car way from each other. Amazingly enough, we managed to park in the same row and about 20 cars between us when we back in the afternoon. How's that for timing?

Once again, we did Little Hands on the Farm. Dylan and Q both loved it, and I'm sure it will be a repeat for next year.

Dylan loved the Big Yellow slide. It's by far my favorite
"ride" (If you can call it that) too. 

We took a little break for a morning snack. Q ate the entire
banana. He's been a little monkey these last few days. 

Spin Art is now a tradition. Q made a very nice, very blue
masterpiece. 

We found a table with some chalk in the garden park. We
might have to get Q some of his very own sidewalk chalk.

After the morning session, the kids went home to nap. Q actually fell asleep while at the fair, and didn't nap much once we got home. That didn't seem to stop him from having a good time in the afternoon though.

As we waited in line at the pork producers, Dylan leaned in
to give Q a kiss. It was ADORABLE!!!

The fair was officially complete as we saw 3 people arrested on our way out. The midway never ceases to amaze me.

We thoroughly enjoyed each time we went to the fair and can't wait until next year.

Fun Foto Friday!!

I've been trying to come up with something to do weekly, just in case I can't get the weekend update done in a timely manor, and I came to Fun Foto Friday! So every Friday I'll post just a foto. May or may not be of Q, but more than likely it will. :)

What a beautiful day!!

Saturday's waether was picture perfect. Q and I met up with Kandi, Haley (neighbors), Carrie and Stella for the farmers market. We bought a giant zucchini, a giant monster cookie and some granola. And, I tried the breakfast burrito everyone rages about as well. It was pretty tasty. I'll probably stick with the usual breakfast pizza next time though.

Stella and Q. I caught Stella mid sneeze. 

Later Saturday morning we met the Davis's for a little picnic in the Papa John Sculpture park. It was the first time Jeremy and I had walked around and saw all the sculptures. It was Q's 2nd time, his first being with Cousins Camp.  Between Jeremy and I we took over 130 pictures, I'll spare you most of them though.

Q has been a standing fool the last
couple weeks. 

Saturday afternoon we headed to the Sherwood home for a wedding reception. Michelle and Rob had a private ceremony earlier in the day. The reception was beautiful, especially the bride. We are so happy for Rob and Michelle and their combined 5 kids. We hope for nothing but the best for all of you. We had a great time and Q enjoyed eating an entire plate of pasta, fruit, veggies, turkey croissant and a cupcake

I bet you didn't notice the kid's face
between them

Cousins Camp 2011

Every year Jeremy's Aunt Penny and Uncle Fred take the grandkids and host a week long Cousins Camp. They have something fun planned each day and parents are not allowed. This year they invited Q to go along for just one day. The other kids are 5 (Paul) and 7(Alex) I believe, so with Q only being 1, it would have been a little challenging finding activities for them all do each day.

The Sunday before Q was to spend the entire day with Aunt Penny and Uncle Fred, we took over the pack -n- Play, the car seat and stroller. Aunt Penny and Uncle Fred planned to take the kids to the downtown library and the sculpture park. Q would know a familiar face as Grandma Nancy also went.

Monday morning, I dropped Q off and he sat down to eat breakfast as I left for work. All day long I wondered how he was doing, and more so, how the 3 adults were doing. :)

Aunt Penny and Uncle Fred invited us to stay for dinner that night. So Jeremy drove in after work, and we had a great dinner and conversation. Some pictures below. I'm still not even sure what all activities took place that day, but I heard tie-dying was involved. :)

Q loved watched both Alex and Paul's every move

Aunt Penny and Uncle Fred have a great basement with
a very organized play area. 

Q had such a great time, I don't think he wanted to leave.  We can't thank Aunt Penny and Uncle Fred enough to extend Cousins Camp to us. We couldn't have left Q in better hands.

It was also so fun to see Alex and Paul. They've both grown so much since the last time we saw them. They are both so entertaining. Alex made Q a super adorable card, that is stashed away in his baby book. She also did such a good job drawing him pictures of all the sculptures.

Quentin finally gets his pictures taken..

So I was feeling bad about not getting Q's pictures professionally taken. Carrie had Stella's taken at Portrait Innovations and after I saw hers and how good they turned out, I decided to take Q. And, hey, it was before he turned 13 months, so I figured it could still count as his one year pictures.

I would highly recommend Portrait Innovations. They took a lot of pictures and let you keep the cd of all of them. And I didn't feel any pressure to buy any at all. But, of course, how do you not? It was really hard to choose which ones I liked best.

so glad football season is here!!!