Quinn at 4 Months

To those who have already seen a few of these on Let Why Lead or instagram, I hope you can handle more! It's a funny feeling to spam your family and friends with photos of yourself and your kids, but I want to make sure these precious photos make the blog book, so here we are!

Quinn is an absolute ham at four months. I always love this age. They're little enough that they can't get away from you, but they're starting to discover their surroundings and are just happy to be alive. The boys continue to adore her. She started rolling at 3 1/2 months and even learned to flip herself over in her swaddle, at which point we went cold turkey with the swaddle. I'm still a little nervous that she's going to turn into a terrible sleeper without it, but fingers crossed! She usually just wakes up once a night, although sometimes more. She still naps about four times a day.

Without further adieu, the pictures! Taken in our master bedroom, which actually looks pretty darn great when you can't see the carpet or the rest of the room. haha.

Lastly, can I tell you how awesome it is having a friend who likes to take amazing photos? Thank you, Angelica!

Does that little face just melt your heart? 

Remind me to look at these the next time I have a hard day with the kids. They are incredibly lovable—especially on camera! 

Late June / Early July in Utah

We spent a fantastic five nights in Utah with both our sets of parents. (Ten nights total!) I wish I could post every picture I took, but for the sake of time (which is a luxury for me these days), here's what I can manage! :) 

I was nervous for a minute there when the flight attendants said they had no microwave and no access to warm water, because this little princess likes her bottles juuuust right, but luckily, she managed with a room temp bottle and was lulled right to sleep at takeoff. Thanks, Quinn!

Minds officially blown by being so close to the plane! The Provo "airport" is awesome. 

As you'll see below, I got a picture of Quinn with all four of her grandparents! The only one she had met before was my mom. 

The Provo rec center is amazing! Nothing in the Bay area is that new and nice. (It'd be too expensive to build!) 

So sweet. 

Sierra always liked to join the party on my mom's lap. Love it!! 

This might just be one of my favorite pictures of my dad ever.

I love that Talia so much. The only thing is that she is just more mature and beautiful every time I see her, which means I am older too! No good! Also, Cowabunga Bay (you can see it from the I15) is amazing! It has a great area for younger kids, a fun lazy river, and some crazy creative slides for the older kids and adults. (It is possible that I am easily wowed. :) 

Although this is just a small sampling, I cannot express how much it warms my heart to see my kids with their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and COUSINS. I barely saw the boys for five days straight because they were having a blast with their cousins! :) When we were driving to the airport to go home, Trenton got all teary about missing Landen. It's rare for him to express such genuine sadness! I'm so grateful that the boys' older cousins are so kind and inclusive of them. What great examples they have! 

Other highlights included the new Superman movie, the Williams family reunion, a tour of the sweet factory in SLC, a trip to Wheeler Farm, a swim in Grandpa Wood's pool (loved that!), and fun times for the kids in my parents' jacuzzi. Clearly, lots of water time to beat the Utah heat! 

A huge thank you to our parents, as usual, for feeding us, babysitting our kids, entertaining us, and just being the all-around best family we could ask for! 

Quinn's Blessing Day

Quinn's blessing day was beautiful! My parents graciously hosted us and fed us dinner afterward. For my record, here is everyone that was able to join us: the Chatterly family, the Leivas, Launa, the Thuesons, Grandpa Wood, my parents, and Mary & kids. (Did I miss anyone?) Thank you all for coming!

I thought Quinn looked like a little angel in her BabyGap dress, halo headband from Etsy, and gold sandals from Old Navy. I had so much fun planning her outfit! And of course, when I realized I'd be wearing gold sandals too, I was not about to miss a mother-daughter matching picture!  

Quinn's blessing was beautiful, too. Thanks, honey! 

Although we never could get a photo of Quinn Leona with her namesake, Cheren Leona, we are grateful to have a few great ones so far of Cheren's sweetheart (Grandpa!) holding our little lady. 

The Nielsens in attendance, who all came up from Provo. Love you guys! 

Blessing participants. 

We love you, Quinn! 

Peach Picking!

On Saturday morning we drove to Brentwood, about an hour and fifteen minutes from our home, to go peach picking at Wolfe Ranch. We met our friends the Bartons there, and our kids had a fantastic time climbing ladders and filling their buckets. The trees were full of fruit, and the kids filled three big buckets before we even knew it. (Naturally, when kids are in charge of the picking, you come home with a fair number of bruised fruit, but that's okay! It's worth it for the memories.) We wandered around aimlessly, chatting and eating and collecting peaches until we had more peaches than we knew what to do with!

Fruit picking season is when I fall back in love with California. 

Just Because She's Cute

Trying on a new bow, which sadly is a little small. I've passed my big head on to all of our babies!

"Oh Mom, these fingers are just SO good!"

Hanging out in the lobby, watching her brothers run circles and do somersaults.

As I always say—too much cuteness to handle! We can't wait to come share her cuteness with our Utah family soon!

*Don't miss T's preschool graduation post below this one.

Preschool Grad

This big boy is moving on to kindergarten! We had the best preschool experience the last two years at St. Andrew's Lutheran church. Ten kids with four incredibly loving teachers, who have all been there for 15 to 35 years, working as volunteers. As it was, I definitely got teary during preschool graduation, but I would have been falling apart if we didn't get to go back next year with Chase! 

Jacob (not pictured), Ava, Colton, Jayden, Trenton, Presley, Matthew, Lily, and Warren.

Teachers: Mrs. Mercantan, Mrs. Stigge, Pastor Bruce, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Barnes

Congrats, handsome T! 

Quinn Update

Quinn is almost 11 weeks old. She is the light of my life on the one hand and the main stresser in my life on the other. Funny how that works. :) The crazy amazing, wonderful cuteness outweighs the minor stress, though! 

She continues to be my superstar sleeper. I did NOT know babies like this existed. :) She never really had her days and nights reversed. Even when my mom was here when Quinn was less than a week old, we were both surprised at her long stretches. At about four weeks, ten-hour stretches started popping up, and by eight weeks, 8- to 10-hour stretches had become the norm. (She's not the easiest to get down at nighttime, for some reason, but once she's down, I usually get up with her around 4 or 5, and then she sleeps another couple of hours before starting the day at about 7.) She still sometimes will pull a middle-of-the-night feeding, and I tell myself all the time that she will most definitely regress, but for now, I am sleeping well and relishing every minute. 

The boys still adore her. Chase mainly calls her, "Wittle Miss" (Little Miss). Sometimes I can hardly get to her because Trenton is right over her giving her a hundred kisses. Trenton is also extremely helpful with her in the car. He'll feed her bottles, try to put in her pacifier, or attempt to distract her by talking to her. Whenever he gets out of preschool, he bounds into the van to say hi to her, even if she's asleep. (After which, she is usually no longer asleep. haha) I cannot tell you how grateful I am that they have taken this well to her. I know we are very lucky. 

Speaking of the car, she does NOT care for it! I'm knocking on wood as I type this, but I think we miiiiight be moving out of the woods now that she's almost three months old. It's still not great, but slightly better. She just cannot soothe herself to sleep in the car, so if we get in the car when she is tired but not yet asleep, she will scream. Girl can go from zero to sixty in no time at all! Ryan thinks it's because she is a girl. Female emotions are clearly a mystery to him. :)

For that reason, outings (like to and from preschool) have been stressful to me for the last 11 weeks, but when we are home, she is my little angel. She is starting to fall asleep pretty much unassisted for more of her naps, which makes this busy mama very grateful. (The rocking-bouncing-feeding thing takes a lot of time!) Her smiles are abundant, and she recently discovered how delicious her little fist is! Whenever she manages to get it in her mouth, I can tell even if I'm not looking at her, because I can hear her loud sucking/lip smacking sounds. So cute.

Her latest and greatest development is some cooing when you're looking and smiling at her. The boys are convinced she is trying to talk to them. I love it. 

Anyway, have I mentioned how cute she is and how in love I am? Good, because I am.