VENT

I am going to stray a little bit from my usual, upbeat, Quinn-infested blog posts and vent a little frustration I am having in one of my classes...

In this class, we are focusing on Young Adult literature. My teacher had us all choose a YA book from each assigned genre, asking us to log it early in order to make sure no one stole our book, so they would all be different. I did so like the 1st week of class. A few weeks later, as I turn in one of my papers that I had spent a lot of time on, I find out someone did the same book as me! I go back to make sure it wasn't my fault, and she just did the wrong book, a different book that she had written down she was going to do. I was rather upset, because I had looked forward to that book, and had bought it, and spent a lot of time working on my paper for it. I discussed it with my teacher, and I was able to turn it in still, with no repercussions (though the girl did get scolded).

Then I've been working on my final project all week. I had logged the idea for this unit months ago, been thinking about it a lot as I read each book, etc. In this project, I basically have to create a reading schedule and lessons plans for teaching 3-4 books based on this one topic, just as if I were teaching them. That's a lot of work! I was so happy I got it done a couple days early, so I can work on other assignments now, and went to turn it in. Upon doing so, another girl had stolen my topic idea and just turned in his assignment. Same thing. Different books, etc. I am so frustrated! A good weekend gone bad... as if I'm not stressed out enough trying to finish everything up for this semester, making sure Josh is going to pass his classes, and getting ready for summer semester...!

But, on the upside, as I'm sure everyone already known from facebook, Josh has a job! Starts May 6th. Awesome pay, benefits, commission on top of the pay, bonuses, etc.... we're happy about that!

Stupid school....

9 Months

It's so weird to think that Quinn has grown this much in the same amount of time I was pregnant with him! Some fun things about Quinn's achievements thus far:

Height: 28 1/4 inches (50%)
Weight: 18 lbs 4.5 oz (10-25%)
Head: 15.5 cm circumference (50-75%)
Words: Bah bah (bottle), Ma Ma (me!)
Gives the best kisses
Uses his hands to say: "Come here," "Pick me up," "I want you," "Get that away from me!" "I don't want that!"
Tells us, "No," by shaking his head at us
Throws temper tantrums
Sings
Loves yelling contests
Crawls like a pro
Plays chase with Daddy
Pulls himself up to anything within reach
Walks along furniture
Climbs stairs
Sits in a shopping cart all by himself, and loves shopping with Mommy and Daddy
Holds his bottle up to drink from it, then turns it upside down to suck on the bottom
Drinks from my cup when I hold it up to him
Eats finger foods (LOVES Cocoa Puffs and Teddy Grahams)
Mimics Mommy and Daddy at EVERYTHING
"Plays" playstation with his own controller
Loves electronics and buttons (whether we like him to, or not)
Thinks the laptop is his
Loves Baby Einstein videos, and is branching out to anything on the screen

And I'm sure there's lots of other things, but that's all I can come up with at the moment...

Quinn standing at the stairs. Because of his new ability to climb up them so quickly, there is now a gate at the bottom, preventing him from running up them whenever he wants

He will crawl over to his fishies, pull himself up, and watch them

We got him a little pool (it's the best kiddy pool I've ever seen, and it was only $7!) and swimmers, then tried them out today :)

MOAB! (aka Ridiculously Huge Blog Post)

We went with Josh's family down to Moab this week. Quinn has never been camping, and we've been wanting to ever since we got married, but haven't been able to. So finally, we got the excuse to buy new camping gear and brave the great outdoors! I understand this is a very long post, but it's totally worth it to read all through it. If you don't, you'll miss some fun pictures, and cute stories. Enjoy!

PREPARING FOR THE TRIP

While getting everything ready, we had to pull out all our new toys, just to see if they worked. Quinn loved his new chair. And to add to his fun, he played Daddy's flute. I thought he looked so cute "playing" it, I just had to share.

King of the world!


DAY ONE
Getting to camp and seeing a few sights

Getting into camp and setting things up. Yeah, Quinn got his first taste of dirt. Yum!Doesn't he just look so dang cute in that hat?We got an Adam and Eve sleeping bag, so that we could keep each other warm at night, but can also use them separately if the need arises at some point. Quinn slept between us, nice and cozy. He loved crawling around on it in the tent. He thought it was his personal play area.Playing in the tent. Quinn wouldn't leave me alone, and I loved how it looked like he had stolen the camera and was taking pictures of himself :)Scenic view from our campground, next to the Colorado River, near Negro Bill CanyonAfter getting everything set up, we went for a drive. Isn't the view incredible? The snowy, white-capped La Sal Mountains behind the beautiful red rock....

I'm pretty proud of my panoramic skillsJust to give you an idea of the sheer cliff walls we were standing under to look at the Indian writing:
Then we went a little further up the river road to see dinosaur footprints. We had to take a little hike to get to them, but it wasn't bad at allThe old and the youngWoah, Mom! Look how big it is compared to my hand!Jug Handle Arch, as seen on our way backMeanwhile, back at the camp, making dinner...

DAY TWO
Arches National Park

Balanced Rock
Sheep RockThree Gossips
We went on a 1.7 Mile hike up to see Delicate Arch. It was hard, but totally worth it, and a lot of fun! (I had to take it slow, like usual, to stave off the impending asthma attack as long as possible)My studmuffins
He thought the sunglasses were a new way of playing peek-a-boo
Hats, check! Sunglasses, check!
The little fam, ready to go! Wolfe Ranch, still standing after over 100 years!
The original corral he put his cattle in, with me in frontHe posed in front of the cabin for me :)The cowboy walks into the horizon....Love is in the air, even in the middle of a sweaty hikeOne of our many rests on the way upQuinn was just along for the ride, enjoying himself, hanging out
Evelyn's Tree (she was drawn to it for some odd reason... said something nerdy about it reminding her of the dying tree in Minas Tirith)(which, coincidentally, is a decedent of the Silver Tree, known as Telperion, which was found in Valinor, before the days the Men traveled across the seas to Middle Earth. A seedling was brought by the elves as a gift to the Numenoreans. Sauron chopped this tree down at one point, but Isildur saved one of its fruit, from which sprang Nimloth, the White Tree of Gondor... but that's just from my nerdiness)

Our path was marked by stacked stones. I thought it was kinda cool. So did Mariah.

As my asthma got worse, Josh ended up carrying everything, my backpack full of snacks, water, and emergency items, Quinn, and he even helped me when I needed a hand, or something, at some points. He's an amazing man...Josh took Quinn up to this arch from which you could see Delicate Arch. Their view:Then around another bend... (don't look down...!)
And voila! We made it!Relaxing after the arduous hike upCute family!

On the way back down, eating Daddy's sunglassesQuinn's opinion of the hike:


Later that day, we took a ride up to see Dead Horse Point. This is the view we had whenever going on a ride, of Dan's Beamer in front of us:Isn't it incredible?!Did I mention we went at sunset? It was so pretty!
Quinn is very thoughtful as he looks out across at the millions of years it took God to create such a wonderDon't get scared of the height, Gabe!Awww....!Such a long way down!Quinn got scared sitting on the edge... But Daddy saved him!I love how cute my boys are!!Did I mention we went at sunset?Quinn and Gabe were car-buddies, and so they ended up getting along really well! They'd have yelling wars, and laughed up a storm together!

DAY THREE
Going home

Quinn did NOT want to get into his car seat again... He really hates it after that 4.5 hour drive that first day
I got to be in the back with him on the way home. He's a cute stinker
Just before Green River, he pooped... and it stunk! I had Josh pull over so I could change it, just to find out he had soiled his last outfit we had packed. So he got to be naked the rest of the way homeHe enjoyed lounging back there