Just a thought

With all the news surrounding the president's health care plan and the possibility of taxpayer money going to fund abortions both here and abroad, I got to thinking. So many people say that women should have a choice whether they want to terminate a pregnancy or not. If you don't want to get pregnant, DON'T HAVE SEX!! Really, is the concept that hard to understand? God created sex as a way to populate the earth, therefore, if you are having it there is a pretty good chance that you will end up pregnant. If people would just get this thought through their heads, there would be no need for abortions. I know people use the argument "What about rape, etc." Adoption is always an option, and a much better one than murder. I have seen 2 family members just this year lose precious babies before they had a chance to take a breath. How anyone could CHOOSE this is beyond me. I have seen their heartache and can't fathom that someone would intentionally make the choice to end a child's life. Gabe posted a video on Facebook tonight that drove the point home for me and absolutely broke my heart. A mother and father found out at 20 weeks of pregnancy that their unborn son had a genetic disorder called trisomy 13. The chances of him surviving the birth alone were slim, and even if he survived he wasn't guaranteed more than a few weeks. The couple was told that termination was probably their best option. They chose to carry their child to term. Instead of having baby showers and planning for the birth of their child and his future, they began the painful process of planning his funeral before his arrival! Baby Thomas lived for 5 days before losing his courageous battle. The parents relied on their faith to get them through what I can only imagine was the hardest time of their life (we have friends that go to church with this wonderful couple and can attest to their strength and faith). What a choice!! They chose to bring their son into this world knowing what lie ahead. They could have chosen the "easy" and "convenient " way out and terminated the pregnancy, but then they never would have known both the joy and sorrow of parenthood. So often we are thankful that we have healthy children (and we should be), but we forget to be thankful for those children God chooses to take home early. God chose for their short lives to serve a purpose whether it be to bring someone closer to Him or just for His glory to show through. I am so thankful that Baby Thomas, Baby Eli, Baby Thompson, and Baby Cadence each touched my life in a special way. Even though I did not get to meet any of you in this life, I look forward to meeting each of you when I enter Heaven's gates. You are all deeply loved and missed and I am so glad that each of your parents made the choice to let God decide how you would return to His loving arms. Children are truly a gift from God and "are fearfully and wonderfully made."
Sorry for the depressing post, but this was weighing heavily on my heart and I felt I needed to get it out.

Quinton's Walking!

Quinton has finally got the walking thing down!!! Last night he took 19 steps in a row before falling down!!! Every time he would stand up, he would attempt at least 5 steps or so. He is growing up so fast!!

Ir's Been A While

It has been a while since I posted anything so here is a quick catch-up of what is going on in the Guess world. Quinton is finally walking!! He only takes a couple of steps at a time, but he is starting to get the hang of it. We have discovered that he loves reading books. He doesn't necessarily want you to read them to him, but he will sit on the floor and flip through every page of one of his board books. We survived Quinton's first ear infection this last week. Luckily he never rans fever, and the antibiotics seemed to kick it pretty quickly. No more baby carrier for Quinton!!! He officially moved into a big boy carseat last week!! He is still rear facing since several safety organizations say that is safest until they are about 2, but he officially is too long for the carrier anymore!
The school year is back in full swing. I am back at school, and Quinton is back to the sitter's each morning. He loves playing with her boys!!! We had a rough first week, but I think the ear infection may have had a little to do with that!

Qman's 12 month check up

Weight: 19lbs, 12 oz (up to the 10th % from the 5th % at 9 months. YEAH!!)
Height: 30 inches, but he had his chin tucked so I really think it was more like 31 inches. (50-75th%. YEAH!!!)

Q screamed and cried so much when he got his shots and blood drawn this time that he almost had me in tears. Usually I am pretty strong at his checkups, but his cries and tears jsut about broke my heart today! I guess it is because he is starting to realize what is going on and I am not stopping him from being hurt. :( Once it was all over and I could give him hugs, he was much better!! At least we don't have any more shots until October!

Quinton's 1st Birthday Part 2

My baby is now officially 1! We had a great party last night with family and friends. He got lots of great toys. He did the traditional cake smash, only I think he only ate icing. My mom made his little smash cake and he loved it. The sugar kicked in about an hour later and boy was he wired!! It was a nice change from the little boy who nearly fell asleep at his own party!! We were all wiped out from yesterday's events (1 yr pics, picking up last minute stuff for the party, and the party itself). I'll try to post pics soon. A good friend of ours took some great pics for us, but they couldn't get them loaded on Gabe's laptop, so we have to wait for him to burn them to a cd.
I spent part of this morning taking all the baby clothes put of his dresser and closet to make room for some of his larger sizes. I definitely took out more than what went back in! How did I accumulate that many tiny outfits? They are now residing in 2 very large Rubbermaid tubs in the bottom of his closet. I don't know if it has set in that he is now 1! He seems to think he is big stuff today. He is standing on his own way more than he ever has before. When Gabe went in and got him up from his nap he even said, "Mommy"--not "Mama" like he normally does when he is looking for me!!

Quinton's 1st Birthday

My baby turns 1 tomorrow! Where did this first year go? It just seems like yesterday that he was born and we were bringing him home. He is growing up way too fast! He is almost walking, and he talks all the time. Granted we don't understand most of what he is saying, but he talks none the less. His personality is really showing itself now. When we tell him "no" he pouts his lower lip out and puts his head down. If he doesn't want to eat something, he clamps his mouth shut and shakes his head no. (Not sure where he learned that from.) He loves playing with his toys and his puppy dog. He gets more and more teeth all the time. I can't wait until next week when he ahs his 1 yr check up to see how much he weighs/how tall he is/etc.

On a related note, what were we thinking planning a huge party for a 1 yr old. Apparantly this is more for us than him seeing as the adults outnumber the kids about 2 to 1! Combining all the adults and kids both definite yes's and maybe's, we are planning for about 50 people! Oh the stress!!!

Life around our house lately

Quinton apparently no longer has a problem with crawling on the tile at our house as he ahs been all over it today! For those of you who don't know, prior to today, if we put Quinton down on the tile he would scream and shake as if terrified. He would crawl to where the carpet meets the tile and stop and sit there not daring to cross that line. Something changed today and he has been all over the kitchen and our entrance hall. Guess it is time to get some baby gates and put the locks on the cabinets! He also has added a new word to his vocabulary. This morning he finally said the word "puppy" and looked right at Hamlet (our cocker spaniel) when he said it. We got him to say it 2 or 3 more times to make sure he really was saying it. We would point to Hamlet and say "Who is that?" Quinton responded with "pup, pup, py." He can now pretty clearly say "mama," "dada," "uh-oh," "yeah," and "bye-bye." I think he is on the verge of saying "nana." I was talking to my mom earlier and had her on speaker phone and it sounded like he said the word "nana" when he heard her voice.
Quinton is also starting to hold onto things and walk. He can walk completely around our coffee table holding on. He also is standing up on his own a lot! He can maintain his balance for several seconds before he falls on his backside. He is doing it more and more. Walking can't be far off. Quinton is also turning into quite the little pig! Today he ate almost an entire kids meal at Whataburger by himself, 2 whole chicken strips and about 1/2 of his fries! You would think eating like that he would chunk up some. Nothing doing. He is as skinny as ever.
We are leaving for church camp on June 8 and Quinton will be going with us. Should be an interesting, albeit slightly stressful, week. I'll defnitely update when we get back and let everyone know how it goes.