Irish Belle

 Natalie and Joe were all decked out for the National Championship game this year...unfortunately the ending score didn't turn out in ND's favor...but we are still fans.  There is always next year!  Doesn't she just look so thrilled! It almost looks like she is cheering with her hand up like that...right before she dozes off.  Ahh, the life of a newborn...

sweet

 Using my new portrait lens (thanks mom and dad!!) I was able to capture a few pics of Natalie.  I love newborn photography, but am realizing that it takes alot of work, timing, and wouldn't hurt to have a few assistants either to take photos like those I see on blogs and professional sites.  Alas, I think these pics are pretty cute!  She wasn't sleepy for me at all, so I didn't get any with her eyes closed :)  But we had some pictures taken by a photographer who is trying to build her portfolio.  Natalie was only 4 days old at that point!  Those final pictures should be in soon, and I will probably try to print some out to hang in the house!  

Oh the Places We'll Go

It is sweet to see Andrew's heart and longing to play with his new sister.  Every once in a while I will walk by her bouncy seat and see the following....

Just wait bud!  She will be playing with you before you know it.  

Here they are together in Andrew's small tent!  He asked for her to be laid down in there with him!  :) too sweet...he loves to give her kisses and hugs!

 One day Andrew just pulled up his little chair beside Natty and made himself comfortable.  

One of our prayers from the time we found out we were pregnant was that Andrew and his new sibling would truly love one another and take care of each other.  We pray this continually, and look forward to watching them grow together, play together, and become great friends!  Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your blessing and gift of love.  May we demonstrate that always.

Visiting Great Grandma and Grandpa

 Natalie and Gr. Grandma Brown meet for the first time!  What a sweet moment :)  

 Here is Andrew showing Grandpa his new book for christmas (Richard Scarry).  They looked through it for a while!

 Gr. Grandpa liked the book just as much as Andrew!  There were pavers, loaders, asphalt machines etc.!!  Men of the same heart and mind!  Needless to say, they had fun :)

As Andrew grows, he will have so much fun getting to know both sets of amazing great grandparents.  I am so grateful for their influence of faith, love, and strength in my life! 

Welcome to the World, little Natalie!

 Natalie Quinn was born December 19th, 2012 at 2:52 p.m.  She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long.  What a bundle of joy and peace.  We love her to pieces already and are adjusting so well to being a family of 4.  What a blessing to have family and friends helping take care of us, bringing meals, watching Andrew, helping in so many ways!  We are truly blessed.

 Joe's idea to put our "little present" under the tree!!  Christmas morning, 2012 :)

 So glad mom and dad got to come out to stay for a while, and help us adjust to being at home with two little ones.  Natalie was just checking her out as she held her...so sweet!  Andrew LOVED having Gr. & Gr. Brown at the house.  He had non-stop playmates :)  We loved that too!!

Full arms, Full heart.  Thank you, Father, for the blessing of these two sweet babes.  We hope to honor you as we raise them, love them, enjoy them.  I read a quote by Dr. James Dobson the other day.

"One of the greatest privileges in living is to bring a baby in to the world to love and care for."

I whole-heartedly agree.

Workin' little man

 I captured our little guy working a few weeks ago, as Joe was putting in the new windows to the sunroom/andrew's new room!  He is definitely enamored with tools and "helping" do whatever dad is doing!  What a funny little look he has on his face here :)

 My favorite shot....

 Somebody get this boy a tool belt! 

Another favorite...completely oblivious to his mom who is taking pics like crazy :)

A few random pics!

The chefs, creating a scrumptious dinner!  Aprons and all...

"Let me see, mama!"

Camping at Hocking Hills State Park

"hiding" near the barn :)

Capturing the last few days of fall...

The sweater

 I found a little retro sweater at a garage sale this summer and decided that Andrew needed to wear it before he grew out of it!  And I am beginning to play around with the settings on our digital camera, trying to learn more about photography.  So here are the results of our photo session this afternoon :)

Sweet boy, I can't believe you are almost 2 years old!  You are the joy of our lives, and we can't wait for you and your new brother or sister to meet.  What fun we will all have together!  I am thankful for your adventurous spirit (even though it makes my heart stop for a bit at times) and your cheeky grin, and i love it when you share your snack with me.  Or point to the ground and say "down" when you want us to rough and tumble together in the living room.  You can say "pees" for please now, and you still love all things that go vroom.  Lately you have been bringing us books to read like curious George, henry and mudge, and Danny and the Dinosaur.  Oh yes, you can say "Doggie" as well.  You always want to help Dad with any project he is doing.  And you want to wear his winter hats instead of your own.  Anything of dad's is just better :)  And we can't forget your hammers.  You have 2 of them, and rare is the time when they are out of your hands! (as noted above in the pics).  Everything needs a bit of tapping around the house!  Andrew, you are all boy, and such a treasure.  

A bit of Country...

 These are a few pics of the Country Living festival here in Columbus back in September!  Mom, Dad and Libby came to visit.  We had a blast checking out all of the cool booths and what not.  I think Andrew had a pretty good time, too :)

He was just itching to climb the ginormous pile of squash...

Welcome Fall!

One of my favorite family photos by far!  Our brother in law Dave took this quick shot when we were over at their house the other week, so props to him!  We all love fall and are just soaking the weather, colors, smells and activities up.  And we are excited for baby Hughes to arrive in about 6-7 weeks!  Time has flown with this second pregnancy, as we have been busy with Andrew, work, garden, church, friends, etc.!  But as the baby moves and kicks within me, I am gently reminded of the new life that will soon join us in our arms.  Praise the Lord :)

Life by the Sea

We recently returned from a 10 day vacation with Joe's mom and dad that lead us onto the coasts of Maine and Rhode Island for the first time.  What a beautiful sight!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and both agreed that if the Lord even called us to live out that way, we would jump in a heartbeat :)  I will try and post pics as I can, and give some details for each.  These next few pics will be of our explorations on the island of Jamestown, RI, where we stayed for 5 days.

Here is Beavertail Lighthouse, the 3rd oldest light house in America.  It greets ships that come sailing into the Narraganset Bay (it took me a few days to correctly pronounce that one).  There was a museum there (free, yipee!) and a small aquatic nature center.  We learned there that lobsters can live up to 80 years, and weigh up to 45 lbs!!!  Oh my goodness...

 A view of the rocky shores that the lighthouse warns of....

 Andrew wasn't too sure of the interesting sea weed we kept finding

 Family picture!

 One of the most special things about the trip was that Andrew and Joe got to hang out every day together, spending so much time playing, laughing, discovering.  He just adores his papa, and that was probably one of my highlights of the trip.  Just watching those two together.

 Later that day, we headed over to another state park that had 2 light houses at it...here is a pic of the tide coming into the rocky shore and filling the tide pools.

 Andrew became familiar with many sights of the sea, including boats, seagulls, crabs, and the beach in general.  We are checking out lobster boats that are hitting the waves at sea!  We learned that each lobster fisherman has their own color/design painted on each of their buoys.  This same design is then hoisted up on a pole atop their boat, so as to verify that they are checking the right traps.  Each buoy can have up to 10 traps beneath it!  Thats alota lobsta! 

Seeing what critters or cool shells might be hiding in the tidal pools.  The salty air was so refreshing, and brought back many memories.  The first time I experienced tidal pools was in second grade, when mom and dad and I took a trip to Hawaii.  I can remember dad and I going out onto the rocks and fishing around in the pools.  Looks like we are passing that along to the next generation!