Walk & Roll Celebrities

Survivors at the Walk & Roll. Each link represented years "cancer-free".
The first two are Sue and Andy from our Team CANcervive.

BBQ's Galore

What a busy weekend... Quinn had a BBQ at her cousin Claire's house, went to the zoo, had a BBQ at her Auntie and Uncle's house, and then had another BBQ at Great(?) Aunt Barbara's and Uncle Michael's house. She had a great time visiting with everyone. She especially enjoyed doing the "hammer dance" with Uncle Michael and sleeping on Auntie Ali. The zoo was a "zoo"! We went with our friends, Gina and Jarod. We decided next time we will go early on a weekday so we can actually see all the animals. It was quite hot and it was our first real attempt to put sunscreen on Quinn. Thankfully she did not get burnt. I had her well-clothed (or possibly over-clothed), which I am sure caused her to overheat a bit. Quinn was comical going through the inside exhibits. The change of lighting was very interesting to her and she would bulge her eyes and stare around with such curiosity. She continues to enjoy eating her fists, drooling, and sucking her thumb (which she hasn't truly mastered because I keep pulling it out and replacing it with a pacifier). She is still working on rolling over. She is so determined and gets easily agitated if she can't get over right away. She is impatient like her mommy. The jumperoo is still her favorite. Enjoy the latest pics of our cutie:

I love being on my tummy.

Mommy loves my pretty eyelashes.

Thumb sucker in the making.

People watching at the zoo...oh no, she stares at strangers

like mommy and daddy.

Mommy and daddy are just too funny!

Are we there yet?

My first time in the grass. I loved dancing with Michael.

I love my auntie.

Ha Ha Cubs

Go Cardinals! I am going on my first trip to Busch Stadium for my daddy's 30th birthday. I can't wait.

No More Daycare Drama

It's been busy the past few weeks. I had a great first Mother's Day. Andy made me breakfast in bed and had Quinn all morning so I was able to get ready without interruptions. My mom and I got manicures and pedicures while the rest of the fam prepared a BBQ. It was a beautiful day too.

Last Sunday we had the American Cancer Society Walk and Roll in Chicago. Andy's three year mark will be this August. He posed for a cancer survivor picture so I will let you know if it appears on the website. We lucked out with good weather and had fun picnicking with family and friends afterwards. It took a lot more planning with Quinn around but she did great and slept most of the time.

Team CANcervive. Andy is in the yellow survivor t-shirt.

Hanging out with daddy at the walk. I had a team t-shirt too.

Some of you may know that the person we were counting on to babysit Quinn in the fall backed out a few weeks ago. Lovely, just lovely... I have been researching home daycares since that time and we finally found one this week. We are so relieved to have found one. It is about ten minutes from our house and has two providers. One was the director at a daycare center and the other was the lead teacher in the infant room at the same center. Since they have that background, the home is structured like a center, they have a contract, are licensed, have an open door policy, and have elementary/early childhood educations too. The few others we went to did not even compare. This one is bright, the kids are happy and clean, and the providers seem so down to earth, and normal. Our worst experience involved a man verbally abusing a four year old, a random thin woman appearing to be high, filthy children, excessive amounts of tattoos, filthy home smelling of cat urine and stains all over the carpet and couches. The provider made comments of stress because she was getting a divorce, her car being repossessed and a dog leaving the home because the police were called and she said they didn't care for it the way they should. Yes, this was all experienced at one of the daycares we looked at and thank God it wasn't the first we saw. What boggles my mind is that she shared so much negative information and did not prepare her home at all for our visit. Did she actually think we would choose her? We didn't take Quinn out of her carrier the whole time and apologized to her later for exposing her to that environment. When we got in the car to leave the home Andy turned to me with a straight face and asked if she would be kept in the running. I died laughing. Definitely a memory we would like to forget.

Jumperoo=Hours of Entertainment

So we purchased a jumperoo for Quinn because she just wants to stand all the time. When we assembled it we realized that she is too tiny for it. We have books under her so her feet can touch. She loves to hear the music when she moves. She hasn't quite got the jumping rhythm down yet, but it is a hit!

She likes to chew on the front of it more than anything and gets frustrated that she can't reach the banana hanging above her head.

She got her three month old pictures taken yesterday. Let me tell you... what an adventure. Quinn was awake and in a good mood but she just wanted to spit and shove her fist in her mouth. She rolled for the fifth time in her life while we were trying to get her on her belly. Figures. She did a lot of talking but they weren't able to capture any smiles. We got two poses that looked half way decent. I spent hours trying to decide what outfits I wanted her to wear and ended up getting pictures of her naked. Oh, well. I don't think she will appreciate me if I get all of her future pictures taken naked. I already tormented her in bunny ears.


Here she is sporting her new bonnet: