Race For The Cure

Okay...so I always brag about Quinn, but now I have to toot my own horn!  This morning was the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure.  For the first time, they added a 10k (6.2 miles) race to the event instead of the usual 5k.  This event is always one of the best in Northwest Arkansas.  Seemingly every big name is out there from the vendor community and the giveaways are phenomenal!  This year I walked away with 4 5-hour energy drinks, 4 bags of goldfish crackers, 5 Godiva chocolate squares and more Dove chocolate squares, yoplait yogurt for Quinn for the week, cheesesticks, razors, 4 V8 energy drinks (I highly recommend the mango flavor), tampons, and so much more!

While it was really fun to walk away with all that swag, the best part was being out running with friends supporting a great cause.  Even better was walking away with a 1st place finish in my age group (10th overall) and a new PR!  My official time was 49:33, though I clocked it at 49:24.  Either way, it was sub-8 minute miles and a new personal record.  When I raced my 10k in November, I finished with a time of 54:37 and was proud of that (sub-9 minute miles), but my previous best 10k time was 51:26 in 2008!  I beat my old time by almost 2 whole minutes!

So proud of myself!  I think I may be increasing my speed work and looking for another chance to set a new PR soon!

Bathtime Funtime

Every mom has to have the traditional bathtime photos, so why not me as well, right?  Quinn LOVES his bath.  It seems like where we used to be able to just take him outside as a newborn to get him to stop crying, now we put him in the bathtub!  He's such a little waterbug even putting his face in the water now!  I'm sure he's going to just LOVE the lake this summer.

Lisa and Ryan's Wedding Weekend

After a 16 month engagement, my sister Lisa married the love of her life, Ryan Small.  Quinn and I left to help on Wednesday and spent an awesome and busy 5 days in Indiana.  Our travel plans had us scheduled for a 4 hour travel day on Wednesday, but with bad weather in Chicago the night before, our flight was cancelled when we arrived at the airport.  Just a note to all you travelers out there, the Internet doesn't always have the most up to date information when it comes to airlines...just an hour and fifteen minutes before our flight, the web said our flight was on time yet upon arriving at the airport, the flight had been cancelled the night before!!!  Anyway...after a long 10 hour day of travel, we arrived in Indianapolis happy and excited to get the weekend started!

Thursday the family started to arrive including my grandparents (Nonna and Papa) and my Auntie Nancy and her husband Logun.  After a busy day of making sure we had enough wine to meet the Italian side of the family's needs (no, we're not alcoholics, but wine is crucial for any Italian celebration), people started showing up at the house!  Quinn was in his glory from this point on because there was always someone there to play with him, pick him up, laugh at him, and clap for his new favorite skill...climbing staircases!

Nonna was just as happy about holding Quinn

as Quinn was about reading his book

Papa (Great-Papa to Quinn) loved blowing raspberries on Quinn

Quinn Loved Climbing the Stairs...so proud of Himself!

Quinn Loves Ice Cream Like His Nonna and Mom!

Friday seemed like an absolute whirlwind!  After getting in a quick workout we were in a mad rush to get cars loaded and head down to Greenwood from Lisa's house in Fishers - about a 45 minute drive.  I was so exhausted that I don't remember sleeping, driving, or waking up!  It was a big day though with Lisa's rehearsal and the lingerie shower that my mom and I were hosting for Lisa!  Such an exciting way to start off the wedding weekend...

Quinn Looked Quite Dapper in His New Tie for Rehearsal Dinner



Lisa, Quinn and Me

Our Family!

Auntie Lisa and Quinn

Quinn and his cousins Corynn and Anna

Mom and Me

Lingerie Shower Table

Bridesmaids at the Lingerie Shower

Before you knew it, Lisa's big wedding day was here and the weekend was more than half over!  Although it was supposed to be a terribly stormy day, the weather held out and it turned into a beautiful day for a beautiful bride!  Lisa was such an amazing bride - laid back, calm, and well organized! 

Quinn was all set for the big day!

Lisa was Gorgeous as ALWAYS!

and Anthony was alright too =)

Mom with Her Girls

The Bridemaids with the Beautiful Bride

 

Flex those Back Muscles (if you got em!)

Us Cotton Girls Got Guns...

Although the wedding was beautiful, the reception was the BEST!  All of us on Lisa's side of the family put together a secret flash dance for her and she was so surprised!  I'm waiting to get a copy of the video of it and I'll post that too!  The fun didn't stop after the flash dance...Brad and I cut a rug all night as Quinn slept on different peoples' shoulders =)  There was just too much excitement in one weekend for that little guy!

The Happy Couple - CONGRATULATIONS Lisa and Ryan Small!

Family Picture Preview!

I was so excited to get an e-mail today saying that Lauren had tagged me in 4 pictures on Facebook!  I was even more excited to get home and see what the pictures were. 

It's with great pleasure I share these 4 with you.  I can't wait to get the rest of them!!  ENJOY!

She only had one shot left on the camera and here's what she got!

Sweet boy...you'd never know he really is a Mama's boy!

Our Family

The Star of the Show and the Light of our Lives!

10 months and What a Personality!

Quinn is 10 1/2 months old and I know I've said it before, but he is SO much fun!  He got a great new toy at Christmas from our friends in Chicago and we just pulled it out.  It's a VTech bike and rocking car that plays music, talks to you, and is totally interactive.  Best part is, Quinn loves it!

Crazy enough, these pictures were taken just 2 weeks ago and now he's big enough that his fee reach the ground!  How did my baby get so big?!?!?!

Quinn has also started taking steps on his own.  He's maxed out at 10 steps on his own today and is so incredibly proud of himself.  As soon as he falls down, he gets this big smirk on his face, and starts clapping his hands.  What a fun kid!

He's also taken a great liking to dogs.  He started a new daycare 2 weeks ago and they have 2 small dogs who stay outside during the day.  Quinn likes to sit by the window and watch them and "talk" to the dogs.  one day I had arrived to pick him up and Christy, his sitter, said he had been sitting by the window for awhile just talking to the dog.  When I looked over again, the dog was licking the window and Quinn was licking it back?!?!?!  Though this is not the dog from day care, you can see how much he loves dogs from this pic:

Quinn is into everything.  In fact, Brad made the comment tonight that the only time we don't have to worry about him is when he's snug in his car seat.  Here's where I found him tonight:

One more picture to share for the evening.  One of Quinn's favorite places to be... 

...on Daddy's shoulders

Hope you have enjoyed this super quick glance into our world.



Family Pictures

I'm sorry if that title is misleading...there are no family pictures on here (yet).  We just got home from taking family photos with the fabulous Lauren Ames.  She is so so good!  The perfect match for our family...quick and efficient with a real eye for the pictures.  Let me just say that when we finally get the pics, we will all be amazed by them.  Quinn is so stinkin' photogenic.

More about Quinn...he's taking steps on his own!  The most we've counted is 10 before he's hit the deck!  We're so proud of him and he's so proud of himself!  Everytime he falls he sits up quickly, puts a little smirk on his face and claps wildly!  He's ADORABLE!

I'll get some more pics up here soon!!