Summer is going great here at the Quirks'! We've been busy swimming (a lot), seeing movies, playing outside, hanging out with friends, and much more. Noah and Evan both did amazing with their swim lessons this year. They did lessons once or twice a week for the last two months, and the improvement we've seen is amazing. They both love to go underwater. They can also jump from the side of the pool, shoot up from the bottom, and swim on their own for several feet (if not the entire short length of the pool). Their swim teacher, Ms. Melanie, always tells us that they are improving so much and she is very proud of them. We are both so proud of them as well. When I witnessed Evan swim the whole way by himself without Melanie's help a few weeks ago, I had tears in my eyes :). Joshua is a different story - we attempted swim lessons with him at the beginning of the summer, but that was clearly too early. He ended up just yelling "NO" at Ms. Melanie several times before we just decided to give it another year. He loves to swim, so we make him wear a life jacket while we're in the pool, and he LOVES it! Hopefully he'll be better about lessons next year.
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| Noah, Brian, Joshua and Evan on Fathers Day |
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| Noah playing on our slip n' slide |
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| Evan playing on our slip n' slide |
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| Evan, Noah, and Joshua playing with our slip n' slide |
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| Joshua and Evan feeding the fish at the Longview Lake Marina |
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| Michael and Noah feeding the fish |
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| Missy Mia feeding the fish |
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| Daddy and Joshua watching the fish at the marina |
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| Joshua's first movie in a theater - Monsters University (June 21st) |
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| Evan and Noah enjoying watching "Bess," their favorite fish at the Bass Pro Shop |
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| Evan mini-golfing with Daddy |
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| Noah mini-golfing with Daddy |
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| Joshua mini-golfing with Daddy |
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| Mini-golf! |
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| Brian, John, Dad (Grandpa), and Mark took a trip to Chicago in July! |
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| Hanging with Dominic :) |
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| Noah and Evan's first visit to Starlight Theater - to see The Little Mermaid! |
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| Mom and Noah at Starlight |
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| Noah, Evan, and Daddy at Starlight |
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| Brian got to go to the MLS All-Star game on July 31st - and met Alexi Lalas! |
Developmentally, the boys are all doing fantastic. They had their 4 and 2 year checkups on June 20th. They are all growing like weeds (Evan and Noah are in the 90th and 85th percentile for height, and Joshua is in the 75th). Evan and Noah are in the 50th and 70th percentiles for weight, while Joshua is up to the 30th (he had been stuck at the 20th percentile for a while). Evan is 1/4 of an inch taller and 1 1/2 lbs heavier than Noah, which is completely normal; you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at them. Their pediatrician was impressed at how well they acted and answered all of her questions, and even made the comment that she could very well have been doing a 4-yr-old checkup for Joshua instead of a 2-yr-old one because he could answer and do everything she was asking Noah and Evan to do. His coordination is above average for his age. Who knows where he gets that from?! His counting and vocabulary also impressed her.
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| Evan |
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| Noah |
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| Evan |
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| Joshua |
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| Noah |
All of the boys bring so much joy to our lives each and every day. We've been told by so many people lately (mainly friends and neighbors) how good they think our boys are. They've been complimented for being polite and for just being "good boys." We always appreciate these comments, as we are really trying to raise "good boys." They have their moments, of course (lots of them), but they are really amazing to watch. They love to play together, and just seeing them play and laugh together makes me feel like the luckiest mom on earth. They fight too, don't get me wrong! Joshua loves to torment his older brothers and take toys from them or even smack them sometimes. While he is very sweet, he is definitely the most ornery of our boys. Noah and Evan are over the hitting phase...they just yell at each other when they want things their way. To sum up, our house is loud at times, but also so much fun too :)
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| Captain America (Evan), Raphael (Noah), and Leonardo (Joshua) |
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| I'll get in trouble for this one when they're older :) |
Well, I am 9.5 weeks out from my major surgery. I feel amazing and pretty much 100% back to normal! I recovered much faster than anyone (including my two surgeons) thought I would, so that was a major plus. The surgery took about 8 hours, and I spent the first 4 nights in the hospital. I missed Brian and the kids, but it was good to be able to recover there while in the hands of amazing nurses and doctors. They all told me that I was one of the best patients they had ever done this surgery on. It helped most that I am young, healthy, and had a very positive attitude about everything. Once I was home, I recovered pretty fast. I had four surgical drains and about 4 pain pump sites that they were able to remove just 8 and 9 days after surgery. Those drains were a pain to mess with, but Brian was amazing and did it all for me. Once those were all removed, I just felt so much more free to move around. Walking and standing up straight were hard at first, but each day got better and better. Noah and Evan loved to help me walk up the stairs at night and would always cheer me on and say, "you can do it, Mom!" or, "you're getting a lot faster, Mom!" All three boys were so great during my recovery. Even Joshua did great. I am so blessed that we had so many family and friends helping out too (cooking delicious meals and helping with the kiddos). We couldn't have done it all without that help! I started taking 30 minute walks about 2 weeks after surgery and then started jogging again right at 4 weeks after surgery. I'm able to jog 2 to 3 miles now, so I'm well on my way to being able to finish the Race for the Cure next weekend. This journey has been an amazing one - and I'll never forget it.
