Quin Family Reunion

Several weeks ago the Quin Clan gathered in Anahuac for a family reunion. I can't remember when the last one was... it was either right before or right after Paul and I got married, so I am thinking it's been at least 8 years or more.

PawPaw and Marshall enjoying the table decor. Paul and Cyndal greeting each other with a cordial handshake. Marshall with cousin, TanyaPawPaw, Aunt Wilma and PaulMy favorite picture of PawPaw from 1959Three Quin cousins born on July 29thBursting at the seams with excitement...Our little Quin clan, minus Uncle StevePawPaw's brother, Uncle Mo and part of his familyPawPaw's cousin, Uncle Robert, and his familyA family shot with the eldest Quin - she was married to one of the original three Quin brothers. One of the largest families at the reunion:Uncle Robert posing with baby Uncle Robert.

One Year Check-Up

I took Marshall in for his one year check-up last week. It was a bitter-sweet appointment since it will most likely be the last time we see Dr. Dickason and Dr. Wylie. I have loved having them as the kids' pediatricians for the last 5 1/2 years. Unfortunately, their office is about 30-45 minutes from the house. I wanted Marshall to receive his first year of check-ups from them and now it's time to find a doctor on our side of town!Dr. Dickason with Julia and MarshallDr. Wylie and Marshall

Marshall was a maniac at his appointment. He pretty much shredded the paper on the exam table from moving around so much, so I finally gave up and let him explore the room. He tried to open every drawer and cabinet and had a lot of fun banging on the window and screaming at the cars passing by. Our nurse commented, "Wow, he's really loud, isn't he?"

Um, yeah, welcome to my life lady!

Marshall is still 95% for height at 31.75 inches and is 25-50th for weight at 21.12 lbs.
Doc said he's on track to be a long and lean young man.

Poor baby had to get four shots, two in each thigh. I always HATE ripping band-aids off of kids. I remember how much it hurt when I was little, so I usually leave them on for a day or two and gingerly pick at them in the bath. The day after getting his shots I watched as Marshall noticed the band-aids on one leg and ripped them off immediately. I was in shock, Molly still won't take a band-aid off by herself! Minutes later, he realized he had two more on the the other thigh and again ripped them right off... he then threw them over his shoulder and went back to playing. What a man!!!

I'm happy to report that we're finally sleeping through the night. Last week I decided I'd had enough when he woke up at 1am crying so I turned off the baby monitor and went back to sleep. When we woke up at 7 and turned on the monitor he was sound asleep. He woke up at 7:30 happy as could be, so we've been letting him put himself back to sleep when he wakes up at night and last night he didn't even wake up! He's down to just one bottle of milk at bedtime and takes his morning milk in a sippy cup, the rest of the day he drinks only water. He eats plenty of cheese and yogurt so we're keeping his milk consumption to a minimum. His favorite foods are yogurt, hummus, bread, pizza, all cheese except American, any and all meats, and applesauce. He finally started eating fresh fruits and we're trying to get him used to eating veggies. Right now I puree carrots into his applesauce... shhhh! Don't tell him!

As far as walking, Marshall is a stubborn little man. He has walked between Paul and me a couple of times, but we're still waiting for him to just get up and walk on his own. I guess he knows he's faster on all fours so he just doesn't have time to deal with this toddling-around thing. Although on Saturday we were at a birthday party for one of his little friends and I rolled a ball to Marshall. He stood up, picked up the ball, raised it over his head and threw it. He then WALKED over to the ball, picked it up and threw it again. He never once wobbled or lost his balance. I was in shock! I guess he wasn't thinking about it because he was so focused on the ball. He can TOTALLY walk, he's just being a little toot!


*As I type this post Marshall is watching and LOVING his first episode of YoGabbaGabba. I just heard a kid say, "My name is Marshall..." I ran in and asked Molly if I had heard the TV correctly, and she was giggling and told me I had. Too bad Marshall didn't understand why we were so excited!

DoodyCalls

When Marshall was just a wee-little baby, I started calling him 'Dude' and 'Dooder'.

When my cousin, Tirscha, came to stay with us in October, she told us that he looked more like a 'Doody' and Paul and I agreed that she was absolutely right! Since then the nickname has stuck!

One day Molly and I were pulling out of our driveway, and I noticed a truck parked across the street with "DoodyCalls" painted on the back of it. Molly and I pulled up to take a closer look and realized it was a pet waste removal company! I thought it was hilarious and asked the driver if he had a business card that I could put in Marshall's baby book.

About a month later, I was dropping Molly of at gymnastics camp, and I saw a car completely wrapped with DoodyCalls advertising. I found the lady driving the car and told her how much I LOVED her company name and about Marshall's nickname.

She asked for my cell phone number so that she could send me some of their marketing materials. A couple of days later, a guy showed up at my door with an entire bag-full of DoodyCalls stuff! She sent us coffee cups, t-shirts, frisbees, post-it notes and a PERFECT little onezie for Doody...

Of course, being picture-crazed, I took a ton of pictures and forwarded them to her with a thank you note. After seeing the pictures she asked if she could use Marshall's pictures on their company website and Facebook page! Now Marshall is the unofficial spokes-baby for DoodyCalls.

I LOVE IT!!!

Puppy Love

One of Molly's sweet little friends, Reed, has made it very clear that he has a crush on Molly. He has an older sister who taught him all about "crushes" and he is not shy about letting everyone, including Molly, know how he feels.

Last week I received this email from Reed's mom: "We were in the car the other day when Reed said, "Mommy, I know what kind of cars I want when I grow up". He said, "A black motorcyle and a truck like daddy's, but red". Emma said, "What kind of car will your wife have?". Reed says, without hesitating, "I don't know what kind of car Molly wants, I'll have to ask her".

Isn't that the cutest thing?

We were caught a little off-guard by all this "crush" nonsense, but I have to admit, Reed is a sweet boy and he and Molly are really cute when they're together!

Paul was a little shocked by the hand-holding at our Easter party last spring...

At dinner after Reed's baseball game. He insisted that Molly see him play.At the VBS kick-off event at John Wesley

Happy 1st Birthday Big Boy!!!

Happy Birthday, Marshall Benjamin!

Marshall's morning started with Molly and I delivering balloons to his crib while singing, "Happy Birthday!" He was a little stunned for a few seconds...

Marshall loved his presents from Mommy and Daddy... balls and cars!

Molly reading Marshall the card she made for him, such a sweet big sister!For breakfast Marshall had his first cinnamon roll and loved it so much he signed "more" quite violently when he finished his first half!After dropping Molly off at camp, Marshall and I spent a little time playing outside.Then Marshall wanted to play with his new toys again...When Molly came home from camp she gave Marshall a present...He loved his little tiger from Sissy!For dinner we decided to take Marshall to Sweet Tomatoes (salad buffet), so he could have a little bit of everything for his birthday meal. He ate like a champ: noodles, boiled eggs, beets, olives, beans, crackers and of course his favorite: pizza!He also got his first taste of ice cream- with hot fudge and sprinkles, no less!He enjoyed his meal so much we had to do a bib-change about half-way through.. as you can see he thinks Sweet Tomatoes is "finger-lickin' good!"Happy Birthday, Little Man! Daddy, Molly and I love you so very much and are so glad to have your love, laughter, snugs, destruction and playful spirit in our family! I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Bathing Beauty

This is probably one of those photos that Molly would prefer that I not share on the blog, but it's just too dang cute to keep to myself!