Finally Settled In

We are officially Urbandale residents. We moved into our new home last weekend. It feels like we've lived here for months, which I think is a good thing. Before I dive into all of the things that I love about our new living quarters, there are several other things that have been keeping us busy over the past couple of weeks.

Iowa State Tailgate

Somehow, our Iowa State friends convinced us to go tailgate in Ames when the Hawkeyes weren't in town. The fact that Andy, Katie Jo's boyfriend, has a bus for times like these, helped make our decision to go easier. We headed up to L'Ames Ames on a chilly, yet sunny, October Saturday afternoon to partake in shenanigans. We had a great time and were so thankful that Andy and his tailgating crew allowed us Hawkeyes to join in on the fun and had a propane-fueled fire pit for us to huddle around to keep warm (the Fireball/Rum Chata shots helped, too.)

Three Hawkeyes and a Cyclone (thanks for the photobomb Johnny). 

Vivienne Lynn

We're so happy to be uncles again (our niece Talula used to call me Uncle Katie, she now understands I'm an auntie; however, her little brother Jude now calls me Uncle Katie too...maybe they think I'm just as cool as Uncle Johnny to get the same title as him??). Vivienne Lynn made her debut on October 30. She absolutely precious. We are so happy that Emily and Jon were blessed with a healthy baby girl!

Isn't she a beauty?! 

Quentin's First Halloween

We didn't take Quentin trick-or-treating for his first Halloween, but he did get dressed up for my office's annual Halloween party. He was a penguin and was named "Best Dressed." He had fun with a handsome devil, his BFF Graham. 

A devil and penguin play date. 

Home Sweet Home

We FINALLY moved into our new house the first weekend of November. We had a crew of family help us unload our two storage units (still not sure how we have collected so many belongings over the span of six years) and haul boxes and furniture into the house. Besides still having to organize my portion of our bedroom closet and bathroom we're pretty well settled in. We're in LOVE with house and look forward to watching Quentin grow up here. Our furry kids haven't moved in yet, but we plan to bring them home this afternoon (a HUGE thanks to my mom for watching them for the past five weeks). And many thanks to everyone that helped us during this transition -- from helping us moving out of our old house, to my in-laws for letting us stay with them for a month and to everyone that helped us get moved into the house that we plan to stay in for many years to come.

Quentin at Grandpa & Grammy's house. 

My new favorite place to be -- our kitchen.

Quentin all dressed up for school pictures.

View of a beautiful fall sunset. From our deck. Can't beat our new view. 

Nine months!

Quentin turned nine months old on October 11. Along with taking his nine month pictures, we also had a well-baby visit with his pediatrician. I am amazed by the amount of time that Dr. Sarah Cooper spends with us every couple of months to talk about our baby boy (I'm talking AT LEAST 30 minutes per visit). I'm convinced that if everyone was able to spend this much time with their physician at an appointment, our country's health care system would be in a much better place. I digress...according to Dr. Cooper, Quentin is growing "beautifully." Here are some of his key numbers/percentiles:

• Weight: 18 lbs. 13 oz. (36 percentile)
• Length: 29" (78 percentile)
• Head circumference: 18.25" (86 percentile)

In summary, we have a tall, skinny babe with a large brain :) I used to question the head circumference stat as his little noggin always seemed proportional to his body, but when I had to purchase a 12-24 month sized stocking hat for this winter, I started to realize that maybe he takes after his daddy on that front. 

Here are some nine month shots of our Q Bear.

Where it all begins.

Well, it's official. My first blog post. The Schetzsle family has some exciting things going on so I thought I'd start documenting our journey. Here's what's on my short list of things to dive into:

• Quentin Bradley -- our little Q turns nine months old on Thursday. He's the best thing that's ever happened to us and we absolutely love watching our little man take in the world around him. More to come on our handsome Q Bear. 

"Like my new hat?"
Shopping with mom, Nana Joycee and Uncle David in Williamsburg. 

• Building our new home -- we recently moved out of our first home at 2806 Shadow Creek Lane where we made many great memories the past seven years. It was time to move on and find a new neighborhood for Quentin to grow up in so we have purchased a new construction home in Urbandale (Waukee school district). We close on our new house the first weekend in November. Until then, we are living with my ever-so-gracious in-laws, Brad and Lora. Here's a sneak peak of our new digs :)

Our soon-to-be home!

Back of house. Deck is almost done. Walk-out basement is under the deck.
(Quentin,  don't even thing about sneaking in any hot babes!)

Living room/kitchen from front entryway. Fireplace and hardware to mount our TV.
For those of you who had been to our old house recently, I can't wait to watch E! again while I make dinner :)

Those are the main happenings with us right now. Stay tuned for more :)

*kate*