Before Thanksgiving

I couldn’t help it! Quinn has had her Santa purse out for over a month and I’m such a sucker when it comes to getting ready for Christmas.  So, we really started getting into the spirit the week before Thanksgiving.  We started with a trip to the Pink Pig with our buddy “baby Gavin”.  This was our first ride on the Pink Pig, and none of us knew what to expect, but it was super-cute and everyone was a little bit sad when it was over.

here’s the santa purse!

Next up, we had an appointment with Santa.  We have seen him around town a few times and Quinn was starstruck each time, she could barely wave.  

But when her time came, Quinn was very brave and let Santa know what she was hoping for.  She asked for a jogging stroller and a “pointer finger”-- she saw this in a store and has been wanting one ever since.  She has also asked for a carrier to carry her babydoll like Mommy’s (my baby ergo) and a shopping cart.  

Kathyrn was pretty nervous but eventually came around and stopped crying for a picture or two.  

 

after that, we were really in the Christmas spirit and decided to put the tree up and finish decorating so that we would come home to a fully decorated house after our Thanksgiving trip. 

note Quinn’s crown.  very rarely do we get her dressed without her asking for some part of dress-up!

So much fun!!  We set the tree on a timer so that it would turn on in the evenings-- but I don’t think Quinn has waited that long once.  We usually have to turn it on for her right before breakfast!

back @ blogger

just in case you still have this on your reader list... after giving iweb a shot for a year, we are headed back to blogger. it was worth a shot, but I guess all things mac aren't the best!

Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up, as I'm working backwards from the past year updating this site-- my hope is to one day print this for the girls so I'd like to keep everything in one place.

I wasn't looking forward to backtracking through blogland, but it has actually been a lot of fun-- and crazy to see where we were just one short year ago!  Happy Holidays & when I catch back up, we will be posting about the 2011 Driskell Thanksgiving at the beach!!

Updates- Quinn

I’m not even sure where to start with Quinn.  She is my main source of entertainment these days, with such a vivid imagination I just never know what is going to come out of her mouth and she LOVES being silly.  She is such a sweet girl overall and I can’t tell for sure, but I think she might be moving past her tantrum stage.  Don’t get me wrong, she still has them but we are definitely improving in that area.  She is also working very hard at being sweet to & sharing with her sister.  It is such a challenge, but on most days she does great.  I’m still a nervous wreck on most days because they LOVE tickling & chasing & jumping on/around each other but they are usually laughing like crazy, so I can’t complain too much ;)

Quinn still loves arts & crafts, reading, & playing dress up.  Here are some notes from my very first parent/teacher conference:

She comes right in every day ready to get to work & chat with Miss Amy & Miss Rupa.  Quinn cares about her friends & is usually very kind & verbally negotiate “my turn”.  She is always game to get ready for the next event- unless she is working on art-- Miss Amy says Quinn is definitely an artist at heart.  She is very impressed with the way Quinn always has a vision of what she wants to accomplish during art class and does her best to accomplish it.  She also loves the way Quinn makes sure she studies what she will paint/draw before & during the project--  The center of Quinn’s play is art, she loves to draw & paint! She also loves pretend play. Quinn is a loving & happy spirit.  She loves to tease the teachers & show them funny things.  She loves to laugh & make them laugh too.  

Miss Amy also mentioned that Quinn might be on the fence for needing a little bit of speech therapy.  She said overall Quinn has a great vocabulary but there were some things she has a tough time with, but does not get frustrated when the teachers ask her to help them better understand what she is saying.  Of course, as her parents, we haven’t noticed an issue but we could probably understand what she wanted without her using words at all...Speech/vision screenings are coming up at school, so we’ll see what they say.  

Well, that’s all for updates next up I’ll work on posting some fun pictures as we have been very busy for the past few weeks!

Updates- Kathryn

I am a few weeks behind on updating the blog...and before I get into pictures, I wanted to give a few quick updates on the girls. 

I’ll start with the youngest first-

Kathryn is just over 15 months old.  She is talking like crazy.  She’ll try her best to repeat anything we ask of her.  Some of her favorite words are:

- nack (as in snack, and almost always followed by a “yes” head nod). 

- no (she yells this very dramatically when Quinn tries to take her toys).  when she goes by something she isn’t suppose to touch she’ll also say “no,no,no,no,no” while shaking her finger and her head

- ruff ruff (what she calls her pink doggie and her response when anyone says the word or walks by with a dog)

- yes

- that

- hat

- dada- (can also be used to mean mama or quinn)

- mama (can & sometimes does say it but usually just ‘eh, ‘eh until she gets my attention)

- up

- thanks

- ssss is for please

and I’ll probably think of a bunch of others after I am done writing this...

She is crawling everywhere and stands for long periods of time, she still is climbing on everything and will push chairs/random furniture around the kitchen.  She is not walking yet, but we are still paying that tuition so hopefully she’ll work on that as a Christmas present to her parents!

Kathyrn is still as sweet as can be and if she has had a good nap, she is mostly all giggles.  She is definitely a mama’s girl at the moment, some might call her my little appendage, but I don’t mind and she eventually will go to anyone else with a smile....as long as they offer her a cracker!

She still loves playing with Quinn the best and has a blast following her around the house.  Kathyrn will try to do anything Quinn does without hesitation, and does not have a problem sticking up for herself if Quinn tries to take advantage of her.  

Here is a quick video I took of Kahtyrn saying “roll”,  as in “are you ready to rock ‘n roll?”--and not to be confused with roll tide ;)

November Leaves

We were trying to fill some time on Friday (getting ready for our weekly family date night...this week at Quinn’s FAVORITE restaurant, Longhorn), when we noticed that the yard had not been raked and was filled with leaves! 

We went out to play and take a few pictures, but of course as soon as we got out there, the leaf blowers showed up & cranky time hit, but were were able to snap a few cute ones before we had to go...

Happy Halloween!!

We had a great time at trick or treating this year.  Quinn really got the hang of it & Kathryn just loved a long walk & socializing. We loved seeing all of our neighbors-- there is one picture below where we caught up with some of the “big kids” and Quinn thought she was hot stuff for a while, running up and down the driveways.  And of course, I had to take a picture of Quinn’s favorite house to visit-- Melissa’s!  When it is nice out, we frequently walk to Melissa’s house to leave her bouquets of leaves under her mailbox...

more october fun

Just a couple more things from October...

Kathryn andI got to go on a little field trip with Quinn’s class to the pumpkin patch!

Kathryn had her first haircut-- she was so brave!! She just loved "driving" the car!

Quinn got a little trim herself... was feeling a little too cool for pictures I guess 

And here is a sneak peek of Halloween... Quinn went to dance class in her costume, so we partially dressed Kathryn too

Kathryn's new trick

Well, I admit, I’m trying to cling to every “baby” phase & trait that Kathryn has left in her...  except crawling! I am so ready for her to walk, and not just so she can go to school on Thursdays... Quinn loves being outside and Kathryn does too.. but she is always coming in with scrapes & bruises from trying to crawl down the driveway and/or walkway.  She is very determined and doesn’t give it a second thought before she literally jumps out of my arms and chases her sister on all fours down the driveway.  

I think at this point, she is just trying to torment me.  She can walk up the stairs while holding my hand.  She is constantly standing on a stool or on top of the rocking chairs.  I have caught her on top of the kids’ table & halfway up the entertainment system... anyway, here is her latest trick.  I took this a few weeks ago (right after nap, so excuse her “outfit” :) This is usually followed by a dive & roll onto the floor.  She loves being goofy & rolling around... such a cutiepie!!