Let the countdown begin...

The countdown to baby Quinn's arrival has begun!  His due date is May 1st, but as most of us know, due dates don't mean much.  This mama is more than ready to not be pregnant any more and meet little Quinn, but he will make his arrival when he is good and ready.  Until then, we are keeping ourselves busy.  I have a semester to finish (classes end on April 30th).  Maddox plays, plays, and plays some more, which in turn keeps Luke busy.  They enjoy going to the park and zoo on days it is not rainy.  Maddox's vocabulary blows us away, and it seems like each day he says something that makes you think "where the heck did you learn that??"  The other day, as we were getting buckled into the car to leave he said, "Drop mama off at school and then we go play at the park."  Yes, little boy.  And have I told you recently you are growing up way too fast... oy.

It also seems like Maddox is starting to understand better about have a little baby brother. He regularly kisses my tummy and says "I love you, little baby brother" or "I love you, little baby Quinn."  Melts my heart. He is going to be a great older brother.

My mom flies in today (yay!), and my dad will get in on Friday.  They leave May 8th, so hopefully Quinn arrives before then.  Cindy comes for a visit on May 7th... lots of grandparent visits.  We are excited, and it is going to be great for Maddox to have grandparents to play with (aka, get spoiled by) while we are adjusting to our new addition.

A few more of me and my big boy (don't even try to call him a little boy these days, he will correct you very quickly):

Before we cut off his pretty hair for summer... wearing one of mama's hair bands

Snuggles before bed time

I am going to guess you won't hear much from us until after Quinn is born.  We'll make sure to post once he is here, with pictures and video of Maddox meeting his baby brother for the first time.  So, until we post again, enjoy this jewel of a picture.  When Maddox dresses himself in the morning (which we highly encourage):

He's not always this creative, but when he is, we make sure to take a picture!

Easter

What's behind the curtain?

The reveal:

More eggs outside:

What's your hair do?

Odds and ends

I wanted to get some pictures posted from the last couple weeks, so here you go!

Luke was invited to speak at a conference on being a stay-at-home Dad.  Here he is all dressed up!

Practicing for Quinn's arrival-- baby wearing!

Painting :)

We also like to do a little bit of yoga in our house...

ABC's all the way through

Maddox just recently started singing his ABC's all the way through on his very own!  He use to stop at "G", but can now say all his letter to "Z".  He gets a little jumbled up at "L, M, N, O, P", but who doesn't?

Singing fun

Maddox enjoys music, and likes to sing.  We've been teaching him a few of the classics....

Itsy bitsy spider:

Twinkle twinkle little star:

And ABC's:

Happy 2nd birthday, Maddox!!

Maddox turns 2 years old tomorrow, and we had a birthday party for him yesterday.  The theme of the party   was "choo-choo tains" and we invited several of Maddox's friends over to play.  We had a really nice time and I think Maddox enjoyed himself.  Though, I'm sure if you asked Maddox he would say the highlight of the day was having access to endless peanut butter sandwiches that he could wander around the house with.

Before our friends arrived...

"Happy birthday!" choo choo

Playing at the art table

 The spread... we had Maddox-requested food: peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, oranges, and cheese.  We also had veggies, chips, and tortilla rolls.  And awesome Elmo cupcakes made by our friend Ali.

"Yay, food!"

Elmo cupcakes

Peanut butter sandwiches cut into train, car, airplane, fish, and duck shapes.  Huge hit.

Singing happy birthday... he wasn't too sure about the candles.

Such good friends...

Maddox, Ali, and Iona (wearing a carrot mustache!)

Iona, Ronan, and Ronan's parents Johnny and Erin at the art table.  Maddox being goofy.

So much fun playing :)

 The party was awesome and we had tons of fun.  Maddox received a lot of great gifts, many of them were art related.  He has finger paints, chalk, an artists smock, big paint brushes, and fun colored paper.  He also got his first DVD-- Finding Nemo.  He likes the "fishy mooie".  :)