Quincy's New Friend & Spring Training!

One of the coolest things in our life right now (besides having a son) is that so many of my dear friends are having babies right now, too. I think I know someone every month until October that is having a baby!

Last week my friend Kristine (who I have known since Kindergarten) and her husband Justin welcomed their daughter Olivia Corinne Leach to the world. She arrived on Tuesday, February 17 @ 2:17pm weighing in at 9 lbs. 12 oz., and was 21.75 inches long. I can't wait to meet her!



This week was exciting for Quincy. He was able to meet his new friend Tyler who came to visit after his one-month check-up.
Quincy slept through the first half of the visit, so here I am with Tyler.


Christina and her son




And here they are meeting for the first time...



How exciting that they will grow up together! Only 6 weeks apart in age...


Christina and I met at South Mountain High School during softball season. I played pitcher and she was the catcher - thus sparking a wonderful friendship that has lasted over 15 years. Maybe one day Quincy and Tyler will play baseball together too!

Which leads me to the next big event of the week - SPRING TRAINING!!!



Since Arizona didn't have a Major League baseball team until about a decade ago, we have always been fans of the Cleveland Indians, thanks to my Dad and Grandparents. Well, how exciting for us the the Tribe chose the city of Goodyear to host their Spring Training games. We headed out for Opening Day on February 25th. It was a beautiful, clear, 85 degree day - the PERFECT day for baseball!

My Mom & Dad, Mama Mimi, godfather Chuck, Natan, Larel, Kellan, Quincy and I headed out to take in a day at the ballpark.


The field was GORGEOUS!


Quincy slept through the first half


Kellan loved his lollipop and cheering with the fans


Quincy in his baseball outfit


Ehh batter batter - swing batter!


QB with my friend Verlinda who was there with her family celebrating her 30th birthday!


Quincy checkin' out my godson Joshua


And chillin' with my godson Cody


We had a great time! The only thing missing was my Papa Ray - but I know he was there in spirit.

Here are some random pics from this week...

Quincy and Forrest on the couch


Quincy looking cute in his baseball hat


Forresito looking handsome


Quincy falling asleep like his mama - with his arms up!


He is almost too big for the bassinet, and then we will have to put him upstairs in the nursery. I will be a little sad when that day comes!

Quincy's First Trip

This past weekend, Solon, Quincy and I boarded a plane for Seattle, to visit Solon's mom & Tony who just moved there for their jobs. Quincy was dressed appropriately for the Southwest flight, in his little airplane onesie that my friend Merrily gave us. Quincy slept through the whole flight there and was wrapped around me in a Moby front carrier which is really the greatest invention.



Since this was our first time traveling with a baby, I got a little stressed out in the beginning. Maybe because you have to take so much stuff for an infant, and we didn't know what he would need, and I had been working so hard at getting him on a schedule, and when you travel it all goes to pot, etc, etc. But once we got there, and got settled, and I chilled out - it was all good, and we had a great time.

Quincy had so much fun playing in his travel bed!



We went the Mom & Tony's office building downtown, and I just realized that I didn't take a picture of her awesome view. Instead, here is a pic of Quincy getting burped after a bottle.


Here is an action shot from Pike's Market



One of Solon's best friends, Vince, lives in Seattle, and spent the day with us on Saturday. Here he is meeting Quincy for the first time.


Mom & Tony in front of the water


and with Quincy


Solon & Vince - (they used to play football together at Drake)


Mommy & Baby


Me with Vince


Quincy with his Grandma Lisa




On Mom & Tony's deck before heading back to the airport - They had a gorgeous view! You can see Mount Ranier on a clear day!


In the airport heading home




Forrest recovering from being away from his mom & dad for a whole weekend


Next time we go, we will plan to check out more of the touristy stuff like the Space Needle and the original Starbucks. I would also like to do some research on locations where the Tom Hanks' movie Sleepless in Seattle was filmed, so I can re-enact some scenes. =)

We had a wonderful time, and ate some AMAZING seafood, and went to a really cool winery, and were able to grab some Pizza Schmizza before we left. (Solon and I fell in love with Pizza Schmizza on a trip to Portland back in 2003 - and we found one 20 minutes away from mom's house! - It's a Pacific Northwest chain.)

In other news, today Quincy had his 2-month check up at the Pediatrician's office. He weighs 13 lbs. 4 oz. (which puts him in the 75% percentile), he is 25 in. long (taller than 95% of other children his age) and the doctor says he is doing great, to which I responded "Thank you!" but was thinking to myself, duh - he's a Bell! We are loving this kid more and more each day. He is sleeping 8+ hours straight at night, and sleeps for a total of 10-12 hours at night - so we are all getting better sleep.

Yesterday was Solon's 31st birthday - we celebrated with some homemade spaghetti, salad, and a great bottle of Columbia Valley Novelty Hill Sangiovese that mom bought us from the Januik Winery we visited. Delicious!

Family time, and a small discovery

Last week it was 83 degrees and I decided to head over to my parent's house for some playtime with Quincy. We spent a while out in the backyard, and QB loved it! He does this new thing when he gets excited where it looks like he treading water while on his back, and either blows bubbles or coos. It's so cute. So we took advantage of his super cute & fun mood and I snapped some pics, including one of the 3 generations (mom's side).








On Wednesday, Quincy and I had a playdate with Kellan and Larel. We met up at Desert Ridge Marketplace where they have a fountain area that kids love to run through in the summer when it's hot, and Kellan loved it even though it was cold out. He also thoroughly enjoyed the playground that they have there as well, and ran through it like he owned the joint. We had a great time.











Last night we had dinner at my godmother's house and I was able to get this picture of the four generations on my dad's side.


So the small discovery that I made happened while tending to one of Quincy's diaper "blowouts". I am washing my hands so much these days that they get so dry, and no lotion I use seems to quench them long enough without leaving my hands feeling all sticky. So after cleaning up my son, I slathered some Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula BOTTOM BUTTER onto his cute little butt, and my hands instantly felt great. So soft, and not sticky, and the light cocoa butter fragrance is so yummy smelling. So if you are looking for a great hand cream, and don't feel like spending $20 on a good one, then by all means get some Bottom Butter. They sell the tiny "purse-size" tubes at Babies R Us for $1.00, but I am sure you can also find the bigger tube at your nearest drugstore for less than $5.