Bragfest

Pardon me while I embark on a quick little bragfest! I just can't help myself.

Celebratory item #1: RYAN FINISHED GRAD SCHOOL!!!!! OFFICIALLY! If you read this often you may remember us traveling to Chicago and Indiana to attend Ryan's Purdue graduation ceremony. While we celebrated his accomplishments then, we really ought to be celebrating now because he is officially DONE! Ryan has been working insanely hard for the past 2+ years, and I'd say over the past six months (at least) he's been putting in an AVERAGE of 15 hours a day, 7 days a week (and that is probably a conservative estimate). So, congratulations Ryan. We are so proud of you and can't wait to have you close to us again! In fact, Dad flies to Chicago tomorrow to keep Ryan company as he makes the long drive back to the Northwest.

Celebratory Item #2: After only two months of working at Pat's new company, Griptonite, he was already promoted to Lead Animator!! I'm not sure I've really talked about Pat leaving Bungie, so I'll give a quick update here. We took a huge leap of faith and moved to Redmond last year so Pat could work for his dream company, Bungie Studios. We moved even though it was only a one-year contract. Rational and responsible people (new parents at that) probably wouldn't have made the decision to move, but we are not always rational or responsible. :) Anyway, Pat soaked up each day of his year at Bungie, but when the contract came to an end they no longer needed his services. So, the week of Quinn's birthday also happened to be Pat's last week at Bungie. Luckily, Pat was able to find a job immediately at Griptonite Studios. The vibe seems to be more laid back at Griptonite, and Pat was hoping that this might be a company where he could grow in terms of his leadership skills. Yesterday, Pat came home saying that they were talking about possibly making him lead animator on the project that he is working on, and today it became official! I couldn't believe how fast that happened for him, and I couldn't be more proud! Congratulations Mi Amore!

Justin's Wedding

My cousin Justin married his long-time girlfriend Lindsay this summer in the beautiful Mount Hood mountains near Sandy, OR. They started dating on July 28, he proposed on July 28, and so naturally, they married on July 28! Who cares if it was a Wednesday? We liked their attitude. So, Pat took off of work so we could go celebrate with them as they united in marriage.

The location was stunningly beautiful. The wedding was quaint and simple, and seemed to fit their wishes just perfectly. Enjoy a few snapshots from the day, captured by my Dad! Congratulations Justin and Lindsay!

Stroller Strides

Stroller Strides is a franchised fitness program for moms based out of southern California (I believe). You might be thinking, big deal? Well, for me it is. After having a baby and moving out of state in a months time, I was undergoing many new changes in life (happily) but I was incredibly overwhelmed. Meeting people is not something that comes easily for me. I have to really take myself out of my comfort zone in order to interact and socialize with new people. I spent the first several months of Quinn's life just snuggling with him and meeting his basic needs. Although I didn't recognize it at the time, I was beginning to lose my sense of self.

When I saw that there was a local fitness group for moms and babies I was desperate enough to meet new people that I decided to give it a try. Working out and staying healthy is important to me, and so I felt like if nothing else I would get a workout. I had nothing to lose.

I participated in my first class at the end of November last year, when Quinn was about 5 months old. I was immediately hooked. Missti, the trainer for the Redmond franchise was warm and welcoming, and she gave me a wonderful workout. In addition, she planned monthly "Mom's Night Out" events and weekly crafts after class for kids. I signed up for a monthly membership immediately.

Since joining the Redmond Stroller Strides it has only continued to grow, and Missti continues to outdo herself. I believe she has about 90 members and she offers morning and evening classes. Her objective is to not only give moms a great workout, but to provide a social outlet for moms and babies as well. I could not be more grateful for finding this group. I have met some incredible moms and babies through this program and have been motivated (or coerced) into running a 10K in two short weeks. For a non-runner, this will be quite the challenge for me!

In the past few weeks there have been some changes in my life that have prevented me from being able to participate in Stroller Strides, and I am missing it terribly (hence the post I suppose). Hopefully I'll be able to start to fit it back into my schedule soon.

Missti has been nominated as Instructor and Franchisee of the Year. I haven't participated in any other franchises, but I can't imagine a more deserving candidate. Below you can view the videos that she had to submit as a nominee. If you are a mom with a stroller aged baby, I highly recommend finding a stroller strides near you! :)

The Quin(n)tessential Party

*This post was written a month ago, and I realized that I never got around to publishing it due to photo complications. Since I use this blog as a personal memory preservation tool for my family, I am posting it anyway. Please bare with me and forgive my tardiness regarding this OLD news! :)

...For the Quin(n)tessential Kid!

We had a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating Quinn's first year of life the last weekend in June. In a nutshell, we barbecued, ate a lot, visited, spoiled Quinn with gifts and cake, watched the kids enjoy splashing in the pool and running around the yard, and most importantly, just enjoyed our time together.

As you'll be able to see, Quinn's first cake eating experience was a bit anticlimactic. In hindsight, he really didn't need his very own cake! A simple slice would have been just fine. :) The big cake that we were trying to get a family picture with at the beginning of the video was decorated by Pat. Didn't he do great? Quinn wasn't too interested in posing for a picture though. He was ready to dig in right away. So we quickly gave him his personal "first birthday freebie" cake and let him go to town. He got through about 1/3 of the frosting, and was then in a sufficient sugar comatose to get out and play!



Pat and I snapped a few photos before people arrived of the decor (which I had fun obsessing about for months), but sadly, didn't get any once the party actually began. Thankfully, Will was there with camera in hand! Below is a link to an album of the photos we have from the day. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kimberlygillette/TheQuinNTessentialFirstBirthdayParty#

We love you Quinn! You have fulfilled our lives in immeasurable ways and we are so proud to be your parents. Happy first birthday!

Happy Birthday, Quinn!

One month later... so, I know I'm a little late reporting the festivities that surrounded Quinn's epic first birthday, but I figure it's better late than never, right??

Quinn had such a fun first birthday filled with family, animals, food, and baseball! Throughout the day we had Pat's family coming in to town to go with Quinn to his first Mariners/Cubs baseball game. Amazingly enough, the Cubs were playing the Mariners for inter-league play. This only occurs once in a blue moon and the fact it landed on Quinn's birthday was beyond awesome.

Mariah and Eric showed up first and got some quality play time in with the birthday boy while Pat and I got ready. Then we (Mariah, Eric, Pat and I) took Quinn to the Woodland Park Zoo. Summer weather had been non-existent around here (like most of the Northwest) and so when the sun came out we appreciated it more than ever. It was a beautiful day, and Quinn seemed to enjoy looking at all of the zoo animals. He even started doing a pretty great monkey impression, complete with flailing appendages. We spent a couple of hours there, and based on Quinn's temperament we probably could have stayed longer, but we were anxious to get back home to see the rest of the family who had made the drive for Quinn's special day. Okay, who am I kidding, they made the drive for the baseball game! Nonetheless, we were excited to see them!


The Zoo Crew. That's right. I said Crew.

Auntie and Uncle

The Zoo makes Quinn happy

Um...there is probably an animal back there somewhere. Maybe not.

Monkey faces!!

Now let's go over there.

When we got home, Uncle Matt, Auntie Lolo, Papa, and Nana were there to greet us. Quinn got a little more play time in (since he refused to nap with all of the excitement going on around him), while the rest of us caught up and snacked a little, or a lot.

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for the baseball game and head on back to Seattle. Quinn was decked out in his "I might be little but I'm a HUGE cubs fan" onesie, Cubs hoodie, and Cubs baseball cap. I thought that we would stick out like a sore thumb at a Mariners game in all of our Cubs attire, but there seemed to be as many Cubs fans there as Mariners fans. It was nice to be in good company!




Psycho Dad!! ONE!

Other Auntie and Uncle

Let's go Cubs!!! Oh no! They're losing!!!

Nana and Papa Sisters/Aunties/Cubs fans


The game itself was BORING (although this is not the opinion of the entire Gillette family). The Cubs lost (a rarity, HA!), but we had a nice time watching Quinn soak up this classic American pastime. I was nervous about how Quinn would do since the game didn't start until Quinn's bedtime, but he did wonderfully! Our child knows how to "power through for the fun"!


'Not the best outcome' faces

In fact, Quinn stayed awake to celebrate the actual minute he was born (9:57 pm!), and then he crashed in the car on the way home. Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate Quinn's birthday! It was such a memorable day, and most importantly, Quinn seemed to really have a good time!

It was a good group, and a fun day!

Achievement of the Day

It has been scientifically proven. Quinn is a complete and utter genius. The proof? Today Quinn managed to jostle open our high-tech, baby-locked, it-takes-each-adult-about-10-minutes-of-fiddling-to-figure-it-out safety gate. I have our upstairs fairly "baby proofed" (so I thought) and so while I get ready in the mornings I let Quinn have free reign. I had heard him playing with the gate, but knew that it was locked and so I didn't worry about it. Eventually I realized that I hadn't heard him fiddling with it anymore and so I decided to see which room he had ventured to next (he loves pulling books off of our bookshelf and so I was expecting to find a disaster somewhere... or, remember the closet incident?). Much to my surprise, he was sitting at the top of the stairs, swinging his feet and looking prouder than I've ever seen him. Thank goodness he just sat there to gloat and didn't try going down! I wish that I had snapped a quick picture, but I was too panicked and focused on getting him into a safer situation. What was I thinking? I guess you'll just have to use your imagination!

Bust A Move!

This past weekend we took a trip to Albuquerque with my parents to see my beautiful cousin Jana get married. It took place at the Sandia resort and casino looking out on a golf course with a nice view of the Sandia mountains in the background. The highlight of our trip was undoubtedly getting to see family that I hadn't seen in years, 5 years to be exact. Introducing Pat and Quinn to the family was such a joy for me. Even though I don't get to see this family very often, they are so warm and loving that it makes it feel like I see them everyday. Nothing compares to that Southern hospitality!

This trip we learned something new about our darling little Quinn, as well. He is a party animal! He wanted to be on the dance floor playing with the other kids in the beginning, and by the end (after careful observation) he was mimicking a variety of dance moves. He was so active, in fact, that we had him out in the lobby area for a lot of the reception. The first video starts out in the lobby when Quinn had been spending some time with my parents while Pat and I enjoyed some dance time together in the reception hall. We went out to check on him, discovering that he had befriended a little guy just a couple of weeks older (I believe) and they were practicing their dance moves together (you'll notice Quinn attempting a few break dance tricks as well). As the video gets dark, Pat is following Quinn into the reception hall where Quinn maneuvers himself around the guests, making his way to the dance floor. Like I said, the kid likes to party! Pat and I have never been great dancers, so I'm pretty sure Quinn will be teaching us the latest and greatest moves in no time! The second video is Quinn on the dance floor showing us his moves (it's very difficult to see because it's so dark, but I figured I'd give it a try for those of you who are interested)!