Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all our friends and family!

I thought it would be fun to share all of the costumes Quinton has worn for Halloween.

Buzz Lightyear (one of my favorites) 2008

Raggedy Andy, 2007
Pedro & Napoleon, 2006

Baby Calf, 2005 (5 weeks old)

And last, but not least, here I am at 4 years old!

Okay, now we have to go throw on our costumes to go trick-or-treating with friends!

Have a great Halloween!

The Fabulous Life of Rachel Ray:

Who wouldn't love having Rachel Ray as one of your good friends???

Especially, my friend, the REAL Rachel Ray!

Of course, sharing your name with a well-known celebrity has its drawbacks, but it does have its rewards, too!

In the 4 years, combined, that I have lived in the Chicago area, I had never had luck scoring tickets to the Oprah Winfrey show. I have spent countless hours on the phone and written numerous essays to try and audience tickets to the show with no luck. My friend Rachel, however, called me Tuesday night and let me know she was called back for last-minute tickets to the Friday 7am show. She and I both sent emails to try and get tickets for the same open resevrations but I think she was called back because of her name!

To be at the Harpo Studios by 7 am, though, I knew we would have to leave by 5:30 am!

I am so lucky to have friends who are willing to help me at the last minute!

My friend Mrs. R was able to watch Q yesterday and Matt was able to drop him off so that I could go to the show with Rachel!

Thursday night, I could tell I was coming down with a cold but I wasn't going to let anything stop me from FINALLY going to Oprah!

I was so anxious to go to the show, I woke up at 3 am and couldn't fall back asleep so I watched some TV and did some work on the computer. I started getting ready at 4:30 am and by 5:30 am, Rachel pulled up to take us down to the studio.

Unfortunately for me, I took some over-the-counter medecine at 5 am so I wouldn't be coughing during the show (Rachel had heard it would be a LIVE show) and I did not react well to it at all!

We rode to the studios just fine, found parking, went in the back door because it was cold and raining outside so the audience coordinators were nice enough to let all of the audience members wait indoors.

The show was set to start at 9 am and we were at the studios by 6:45 am. By 7 am, I felt so sick! I proceeded to spend the next hour losing my breakfast and trying to decide if I would make it through the show without tossing my cookies in my purse! My friend Rachel was so helpful! She kept trying to keep my mind off of my tummy and it worked.

The funny thing with Rachel's famous name is that it stands out, even when people realize she's not THE Rachel Ray, they still think her name is a funny coincedence. I think because the audience coordinator thought Rachel's coincedental name is so cute we were positioned perfectly in the line of women going into the studio to be seated just right. We were DEAD CENTER 4 rows back from the stage! How awesome!

Plus, shortly after arriving at the studios, the coordinators passed out what looked like a book wrapped in silver wrapping with each person's name on the outside. We were given strict instructions NOT to open these until told to do so which was REALLY hard for me since I love peeking...but I didn't!

By the time we sat down in the studio and the producers did their part of hyping us up, Oprah walked out in a smashing red dress and I see on one of the monitors, the opening of the show, since we were live. The only thing I remember is seeing the word "FAVORITE" and then I didn't feel sick at all!

Long story short, we were SO LUCKY to be on the live show! We were given one of Oprah's new FAVORITE Gadgets, the Amazon Kindle!!!!!!

WOOHOOO!

It's an electronic book that has a wireless connection so I can order and have a book downloaded in like a MINUTE! I love it!

It was so much fun to see Oprah, finally, and was totally worth spending an hour in the bathroom!

Oh, and when we arrived at the studios, the security people went through our bags and removed our cel phones, planners and cameras BUT, they didn't take MY camera! I realized this before we were seated in the studio and at the end of the show, I snapped this shot of Rachel and me with my camera in my purse. It's not the most flattering picture but it will always remind me of my fabulous morning with Rachel Ray!

Pajamas Are The New Black!

I don't care who you are, potty training is NOT easy! So we have devised a system of incentives for Quinton to do his business in the bathroom.
Quite recently, Quinton discovered a new love of Transformers. We have a DVD of the newer Cartoon version of Transformers and Q loves the Autobot called Bumblee. Lucky me, I found these super cute pajamas at TJMaxx last week and when he earned his latest reward, he was so excited to wear theses pajamas...ALL DAY!

We now have problems not wearing these PJs everywhere! I am fortunate that the pajama top looks like it could be a t-shirt, but the bottoms? No way! I have a feeling these pajamas will be around for a very long time. But hey, the incentives are working! And Q looks cute!

Later this day, I found Quinton on my counter top lazily eating granola! What a funny kid! He is such a good climber!

Oh, nurse!

Poor Matt, last Monday, he came home from work and complained that something had been blown into his eye at the end of his work day.

He kept rubbing his eye the rest of the evening and his eye was so red and irritated, even after three eye flushes, that finally, at 10:30 that night, he came and told me he was going to the ER to have it checked out. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find anything but they did give him this lovely ice pack - when I saw him with it on, I asked him how he drove home like that...he was not amused :)

He was a good sport and let me take this picture of him! It took about 2 days for the irritation to go away but he's better now.

Going to the Dentist is Sooooooooo FUN! I Promise!

Last night, I told Quinton that he was getting too big and I asked him not to get any bigger.
He looked at me and said, "Okay Mommy, sure!"
I wish it were that easy!

Quinton sleeps in a big boy bed, wears big boy underpants (during the day) and had his first dentist appointment today! I just don't know if I am ready for him to grow up this fast!

All day yesterday and leading up to his appointment this afternoon, I kept hyping up the dentist like she was going to be some kind of super fun Chuck E. Cheese kind of entertainment. Growing up, I HATED the dentist, so I have been very nervous about taking Quinton for his first visit. To my relief, our dentist did not disappoint!

Her office lobby had all kinds of fun colors, video games, books and a nice little girl who happened to be the dentist's daughter. She was about 6 and had complained of a toothache so her nanny brought her and her monkey, Mildred and a Moose, whose name I didn't quite catch to see her mom. All of this was a good start that helped to put my, I mean Quinton's tensions at ease.

The hygienist and dentist were so nice! They even had a TV screen mounted to the ceiling with the movie, CARs, playing - only one of Quinton's favorite movies! I was able to hold Quinton in the chair while they cleaned and checked his teeth. He only wiggled a little bit when the cleaning tickled his gums and he was such a champ! He left with TWO prizes from the prize basket because he did so well (but where was MY prize for doing so well, too?).

Here is Quinton's, "I'm super cool and glad this dentist thing is over," picture:

Quinton and His Buddies

We are so lucky to have so many friends all over the U.S. and even luckier to have moved back to a place where we have lived before so that we can pick up with old friendships and make new ones, as well.

Quinton is blessed to have so many fun friends to play with!

Here are Quinton and Miss Makena taking a ride in our bike stroller. Quinton wasn't trying to show off his amazing pecs or anything, Matt had just given him a haircut, outside, and Q didn't want to put his shirt back on.

This is our friend Eli.

I know, he makes you go awwwwww.

He really is this cute in person!

This is Jack and he is a very fun friend! His siblings are all teenagers and he seems much wiser than his actual 3 years. But he does like to be goofy, just like Quinton and that's why they get along so well!Yesterday was our friend Jane's birthday. Instead of just buying a present, we asked if we could make the day special for her by painting little pumpkins. Jack gave Quinton a fun art set for his birthday and both Jane and Quinton LOVED painting the pumpkins! Quinton loved putting the paint all over his hands, too, but Jane is too much of a lady to take art this far!
Here is sweet Jane. Happy Birthday, Jane!
Thanks to all of our friends for enriching our lives!

Big City Weekend, Part: Quinton

I just wanted to share these cute pictures of Quinton I took when we were all downtown on Sunday. He is such a funny kid these days. He has so much personality and a flair from the dramatic, so like his daddy!

Quinton LOVES all of the fall leaves. He recently watched a Curious George episode where George tried to make a snowman out of a lot of different materials, including leaves. So when we were in the park on Sunday, he wanted to make a snowman out of leaves. When he realized, just like Curious George, that leaves do not, in fact, make a good snowman, he was happy to throw them up in the air and dance as the leaves fell around him. These are the moments that I sometimes wish I could be a kid, just like him, to see the world through his eyes!
Isn't he squeezable cute?