The first week of November, Quinn decided to take off walking across the living room. She hasn’t slowed down since and we’re all just trying to keep up.

Yikes, I’m not sure we’ve ever gone this long without posting. Like most everyone however, things get a little hectic this time of year. We’ll do our best to make this an anomaly!

As the title suggests, this post is filled with pictures from October through December. We’ve learned about spiders, celebrated Halloween (with Popi and Grandma), attended a fancy little Nutcracker Tea Party with friends, enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving hosted by Matt & Julie, cut down our giant Christmas tree, decorated for the holidays & made plenty of time for fun activities at home.

We’re still waiting for the 1st snow of the season in Chicago and enjoying what we’d consider a mild winter thus far. But you never know, maybe we’ll end up with a white Christmas.

Happy Holidays to everyone! Stay warm and check back for more posts soon. I’ve got a lot of time to make up for.

The older girls were due for dental check-ups back in May. However, with all the craziness of moving, I just recently got around to setting them up with a new local dentist. Now that they are a bit older, their visit was more than a “check-up.” They both had full cleanings and fluoride treatments!

The dentist was great and began by introducing the girls to all of the instruments she’d be using. She let them look at everything and helped them to feel comfortable.

Sloane went first and the dentist began by counting Sloane’s bottom teeth. Together she and Sloane counted, 1, 2, 3…..9, 10! Before the dentist could move to the top Sloane quickly interrupted and confidently said, “That means that I have 20 teeth in all because 10+10=20!” The dentist replied by saying, “well how do you know there are the same amount of teeth on top?” It was very funny and surprisingly she was right. There were 10 on top too!

Next, Sloane excitedly chose MINT as her toothpaste flavor for her cleaning. I was a bit surprised that she turned down bubble gum, but hey, the girl likes mint! She did a great job with her cleaning as well as with the water and Mr. Thirsty (that sucked all the excess water from her mouth). Her (20) teeth look great and she’s looking forward to her next visit!

Now, for Reese. She was excited about going to the dentist but I’m not sure she completely understood what she was in for! She happily stood on the sidelines while Sloane had her cleaning, but as Sloane was finishing up, Reese burst into tears and started heading for the nearest EXIT. After some coaxing and a bit of bribery (look at the new toothbrush and pencil you’ll get when we’re all done) she reluctantly agreed, but only if she could sit in my lap. Needless to say, I had to pass Quinn off to the dental receptionist so I could assist with Reese, but like anything else, I never seem to have enough hands!

Reese did do a great job and had no trouble with her cleaning. She chose Orange Dreamsicle toothpaste and thought that the water gun was very fun! She too has 20 teeth and got an A+ from the dentist. Surprisingly she ended up thinking it was fun and hopefully won’t be as reluctant next time.

The girls walked away with fancy new toothbrushes and pencils. All worth it if you ask them! Enjoy all the pics (mainly of Sloane, since I was a bit busy holding Reese instead of snapping pics off her).

This is how we find Quinn most nights. Face covered with a silky and a limb or two sticking out of the crib.

With a few unseasonably warm days last week, the girls and I made our first visit to The Lincoln Park Zoo. We spent about 3 hours roaming the grounds and looking at all of the animals. Reese really loved the Ape House and Sloane couldn’t get enough of the wild birds. Quinn, on the other hand, was overjoyed at the sight of every city squirrel that ran past. Clearly the zoo has not made an impression on her just yet.

Last weekend a friend of mine tipped us off to a great pumpkin patch located just 30 minutes outside the city. Once we got there and saw the wide open fields, farms and land, it was hard to believe the city was so close.

The pumpkin farm was great. It had plenty of animals, fun “attractions,” play areas, food (cotton candy to be specific), pumpkins, a train and even rides for the kids. Surprisingly, our girls couldn’t wait to hop in line and get on the rides. They even did one ride by themselves. It took them high in the sky and then went up and down over and over again. I thought for sure we’d see some tears from Reese, but as soon as she got off, she got back in line to do it again. Pretty funny.

Thankfully we had great weather and enjoyed spending a day on the farm, away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago.

Happy Fall!

Well, look who has a new pixie cut at our house—Reese! She loves her new “do” and we think it’s pretty great too.

Here are a few pictures of her haircut along with some catch-up photos from the last couple of weeks. We’ve been out enjoying the fall weather so I’ll be posting more pics over the next few days.

Opening weekend for Irish Football, didn’t go so well. However, I think with our little loyal fans, this weekend could be great!

Over the last week, Greg has been working on painting the interior of the loft. Thankfully he had some serious helpers priming the walls for him!