The Adventure Continues

This is my last week at home with Quinn before returning to work full-time.  Greg and I were fortunate to share the time off with Quinn's arrival.  I'm sure we are not the first to do this, but we haven't talked to anyone else who has done this.  We both took the first month off, but we traded weeks off from work the following two months.  With an adoption, neither of us are home on medical leave so it only made sense to share this time with Quinn.  We wanted him to get know both of us. I love that Quinn recognizes both of our voices and faces.

It has been beneficial in many ways, but not without its struggles.  But the pros definitely outweigh the cons.  Sure, the weeks in the office are crazy busy because you are attempting to catch up on the weeks you missed, working on the current week's issues and trying to work on the upcoming week that you'll be out.  We are so lucky to have coworkers who have jumped in to keep our offices moving forward.

Of course seeing Quinn grow has been fun.  Every day he is more awake and noticing new things about the world.  Equally as important is Greg and I experiencing days home with Quinn, alone.  We both now know why you can be home an entire day and not accomplish anything other than feeding Quinn and changing his diapers.  It's amazing how that can consume a day.  You feel a sense of accomplishment when you get the dishes washed and laundry cleaned too.

Next week is Greg's final week home with Quinn before returning to work full time.  Then a new adventure will begin - daycare.  I'm excited to see Quinn get older, make friends and continue learning. I know the adventure has just begun.

Bath Time

Obviously Quinn occupies much our time...as he should.  Despite the huge change to our lives, Greg has still found time to do some updates around the house.  In our bedroom, he double hung the closet so we'd have more room for clothes.  I can't store my clothes in Quinn's closet anymore.


Some small but impactful changes have been made in the hall bath.  It's the bathroom we use to give Quinn a bath and prepare his nighttime bottles.  The faucet was very difficult to turn on and off, especially if Quinn was in our arms.  Love the two separate levers for the new faucet.

The light switch was actually a button. Sometimes it took 5-6 pushes before the light turned on.  Now with a flip of a switch we can easily turn the lights on and off.

Yes, sometimes it is the little things.

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

Greg and I have been fortunate to have spent some great vacations together.  As wonderful as they have been, I don't know if any of them will ever compare to this summer's vacation.  Since we were going through the adoption process and knew we could get a call from our agency at any time, we opted for a local vacation.

We started by driving to Indianapolis and joining some great friends at the Rathskeller for a nice evening of live music, food and drinks.

The next day we met some of my family in downtown Indy for the Color Run.  So much fun!

We went to a cruise-in with my parents and family friends.  Another great evening outdoors.

Driving through the land of windmills.

Adventures through the trails and off the diving board at Turkey Run

Alabama Shakes Concert

I know, this sounds like a normal wander Indiana vacation.  Here's a little back story.  The week before we left on vacation, Adoption Support Center called to tell us some great news - a birth mom had selected us and wanted to meet us.  She was due September 8th, so we had a little over a month's notice.  

We met her the following Tuesday (the week of our vacation - perfect timing).  We had a great time getting to know her and her family.  We learned that the doctors expected her to go into labor at any time.  What??  Our planned vacation ended after the Alabama Shakes concert Tuesday night.  Thursday morning, August 2, Quinn Nicholas arrived over a month early.  Nothing quite like becoming parents on your summer vacation.  

I think Quinn's outfit best describes our summer vacation.

Hot and Sticky Squirrels

You know it's hot outside when you see squirrels doing this.....

 Squirrels lounging on the windowsill of our neighbor's upstairs window.  We watched them scale the brick to get to this window in the shade.

Squirrel lounging in the shade on our front stoop. 

One squirrel climbing the brick like spiderman, the other lounging on top of the limestone detail of our house.

It's another hot one today, currently 102.  Hope everyone out there is doing what you can to stay cool.

A Good Night's Sleep

I'm a bit behind in updating our blog.  Back in June, for some unknown reason, our master bedroom ceiling fan started to make a weird noise.  After a poor night of sleep due to the the noise, Greg bought a new fan.  We now have a new quiet ceiling fan.  Dreams can now resume.

Paw Prints

It was Arts and Crafts time for Greg, Poppy and Sophie.  I couldn't resist capturing a couple photos!

Green and Spring

We don't have any plans for major renovations this year, but thought I'd share some photos of the home in spring.  Everything is nice and green.  It may be time to set up the swing and hammock.

Neighborhood Improvements

Loving the new siding on our neighbor's house.  The neighborhood has changed a lot since we moved in.

 The house used to have white siding

The red siding is a welcome change

Epicenter of Awesome

Saturday Greg and I drove to Indianapolis to enjoy Super Bowl Eve.  We were expecting heavy traffic but we sailed right through.  We passed a bill board calling the Super Bowl Village the 'Epicenter of Awesome'.  We hoped the claim would be true.

We met Kay at her house and left from there.   We started with brunch at Taste.  If you haven't eaten there, we highly recommend it.  Breakfast burrito with chorizo, basil tomato caprese sandwich, zesty salad and lemon bar.  All of the food excellent.  Good thing we were able to walk off all of that food the rest of the day.

We took winter coats, hats and gloves with us, hoping we wouldn't need them.  Very glad we had them because it was a rainy and chilly day.  Despite the cold and rain, the faithful fans and curious Indiana residents came downtown to see what the fuss was about.  It's been unseasonably warm weather so in reality, 40's in February is warm weather.

We started our walk along the Canal which recently had a face lift with a variety of murals.

Next we came upon Victory Field which had turned into a beach volleyball court.  This is also where Dan Patrick has been recording his show all week.  Greg is a big fan of DP...he looks excited.

The people riding on the zip line looked like they were having a lot of fun but we weren't willing to wait in line.  We felt bad for the lady who got stuck on the zip line and had to be retrieved.

Our marketing minds pondered the budget there had to be for all of the Super Bowl signage. The signs looked great and provided lots of photo opportunities.

Here we are at Monument Circle, doing our part to support the Super Bowl.

We tried to see the Lego Lucas Oil Stadium on display in the JW Marriott but only those with credentials or room key could get in to the hotel.  If you haven't seen it, check in out online.  The creator is from Bloomington.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duJRCEn859g 

Georgia Street was closed to automobile traffic.  Two stages were set up for bands.  While we were there, we heard the Born Again Floozies.  They are the only band I've ever seen that has a tap dancer as part of the act.  The people in the crowds were nice, despite the not-so-great weather.  One man did push through the crowd when we were listing to the BAF as though he was wearing his football pads...either reliving some high school glory days or just excited for the big game.

Downtown grew busier and busier as evening arrived.  Jon, Liz and their friends were driving down from Chicago to enjoy the festivities.  In what must have been a scheduling error, the IU/PU men's basketball game was scheduled on Super Bowl Eve.  We walked towards Mass Ave to find a restaurant with TVs to watch the game.  Many others had the same idea.  We ended up at the Elbow Room to enjoy some local bar food and lots of TVs - best of all - an IU win.  Jon and his friends didn't arrive in time to join us for the game - too busy wearing authentic Super Bowl rings.  I'm still debating whether or not that was a valid excuse.

We met Jon on our walk towards the Georgia Street.  We were fortunate to get some free tickets to one of the many tent parties downtown.  Jon and his friends had other plans so we went our separate ways.  We went to the DJ Pauly D party.  He was the headliner for a few DJs at this party.  Until this night, I could not have told you you DJ Pauly D was.  For the rest of you who don't know, he's on Jersey Shore.  I must admit, he was my least favorite DJ of the night.  Nonetheless, we had a fun time dancing.

We ended the night grabbing a sub at Jimmy John's around 2 am and a final photo of Greg with the JW Marriott Vince Lombardi trophy image.  A very fun Super Bowl Eve.  Indy hosted a great party.  It was the Epicenter of Awesome.

Bedroom painting complete!

We finally finished painting the bedroom.  Time to put the room back together....

Another Bedroom Facelift

Greg painting the ceiling

Greg began prepping our 'yellow' bedroom for a fresh coat of paint during his vacation at the end of 2011.  He worked on electrical and repaired plaster cracks in the ceiling and walls.  Last weekend we put a coat of paint on the ceiling and walls.  We had extra paint from our living room remodel so we are using the same paint in this bedroom.  Maybe we'll put the final coat of paint on this weekend.  Or maybe other things will take priority.  Just wait and see...

Jill painting the walls

How about this for reuse?  I had some extra vinyl from a project at work.  We used it as a drop cloth to protect our wood floors.  Maybe now Greg will stop complaining about the fabric I bring home.

Let There Be Light!

Overall, I really can't complain about our kitchen.  For an older home, it's a really good size.  Lots of great cabinets.  But it gets dark in corner by the pantry.  Greg recently installed under-cabinet lighting.  Now we can see when we are cooking - let me rephrase that - Greg can see when he's cooking.  I'll use the lights when I'm baking.