Thanksgiving 2015

Dear family and friends,

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you. I hope tomorrow is simply amazing. This Thanksgiving is such a special one for me. As I have pondered what I want to put in my letter I find myself unsure as to where to begin. 

This is Afton's first Thanksgiving. I have been laughing a lot this week because this should technically be her second Thanksgiving... Considering she was due November 23 but did not grace us with her presence until December 4. This time last year I was 200% miserable!  I was so ready for her to arrive, lol.  This past (almost) year with her has been amazing. She is such a joy. I am not exactly sure how I was blessed with a baby who is THIS easy. Sure...we have our rotten days. She has so much sass in her but I love it. She is going to have an extremely dynamic personality. Afton Rebecca has brought so much joy to our family!  I knew I would love my child but I never knew I would love her THIS much. Maybe it's because I wanted to be a mom so badly and becoming a mother was not an easy process for me. I'm so blessed to be her mom!!! This year I am extra thankful that we live in a time when infertility does not mean you will never have a biological child. My journey to become a mother was my own personal hell. But with that said, I am thankful I had an amazing doctor who was willing to do an exploratory laparoscopy and was able to remove the endometriosis she found. I'm thankful she was prompted to suggest we immediately start taking the fertility pills to optimize our chances of getting pregnant. I'm thankful she took the time out of her incredibly busy schedule to call me personally and talk about my monthly blood work and always gave me hope that the surgery and the medication would actually work. Being a mother is such a gift. 

I am not sure how to put into words how blessed I am to me married to my amazing husband. We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this past July. It has been the best 5 years of my life. I never knew Married life could be so easy!!  Paul and I are not perfect individuals but we are perfect together. I am so blessed that he has offered to work crazy overtime hours so I can be a stay at home mom to our princess. I am blessed that Paul is not a fighter. We do not agree on everything that is going on in the world but we do not fight. I'm sure we so roll our eyes from time to time when the other isn't looking, lol 🙄. I know people say it's cheesy but he really is my best friend. I ❤️❤️❤️ him!!!! 

My life this past year has not been exactly what what I expected. 2 years ago we were living at his parents house while they served a 12 month mission for our church... And now we are back, lol. Pauls dad has had some health issues come up so we agreed to move in for 12-24 months to help with the happenings around the house while he and my mother in law get him back to his old ( not literally) self. Paul and I have amazing dreams for our family. We know where we would like to be a year from now so I am excited to see what the next year holds.  I don't know if our desires for our future are the same desires that Heavenly Father has for us but we will find out I guess!!! 

I constantly wonder why Heavenly Father has found me fit for the blessings that have come into my life. I often focus more on where I slip up than I do on what I do right... But my life is proof that Heavenly Father finds me more worthy of his blessings than I do. 

I am so incredibly excited to see what this next year will bring. I'm sure it will be just as amazing as this past year. 

I hope this finds you all healthy and happy!  Please be safe as you travel to spend time with those you love!!

Lots of love, 

Liz Quillon 

Happy fall y'all!!!

I cannot believe it is November already!  This year is flying by. Our little monkey will be 1 in a little over a month and I am officially in party planning mode... But at the same time I don't want to think much about what the day represents bc I do not know how I am going to get through the day without a box of Kleenex. I am not ready for my baby to be 1!!!!  

The past few weeks have been a little crazy!  Afton has been having some unusual episodes over the past few months so our pediatrician referred us to one of the best pediatric neurologists in the country. We were sent in for an EEG last week and we are thrilled to say all tests came back negative. It was an incredibly stressful time for several reasons. One reason was bc Paul was out of town while all of this was going on. He was able to meet with the neurologist with me but had to leave as soon as the appointment was over. The EEG took 1 hour and she did not have any episodes while we were at the hospital so they sent is home with a portable EEG monitor. We also had a portable video monitoring system that they wanted on as much as possible. I was SO incredibly thankful when Paul came home!!!!!  

Afton cried and cried and cried when the put the leads on her head. There were 29 of them and they had to glue them on. The entire time the tech kept saying Afton was the strongest baby she has ever seen, lol.  It was an incredibly long first day. My biggest fear was her sleeping and not strangling herself with her "ponytail" lol. So... I slept in her room and checked on her all night. I untangled her twice!!!  She is a squirmy little thing when she sleeps!  

She was actually incredibly happy and for the most part unaware of her head dress for the 2 days we were home with it. I know the prayers of our family and friends got me through those days. Paul was so helpful the 2nd night. He slept in her room that night and at no surprise to me he did not sleep much bc he was up checking on her every hour. 

Friday we went back to UVA hospital and had the leads taken off. It's amazing the sores she had on her head after having the leads glued on for just 2 days. She apparently has super sensitive skin!  She was so incredibly happy when we were leaving the hospital. Her pink pig "piggy" was her reward for being such an amazing little patient. 

Halloween was uneventful. Afton did not dress up this year. Paul had to work a UVA football game so we spent the day with Pauls sister Randi. We did some shopping and assembled some furniture Randi and her husband had ordered. It was honestly a wonderful day. Emily and I love dressing our girls up in matching outfits as often as possible!!!!!  Gosh I love these two girls!!! 

Afton looked so cute in her Halloween outfit!!! 

I'm so happy we were able to get some pictures outside in our yard before we gather the leaves up!!!!! 

Our dear friend Kelley took our family pictures again this year. She takes beautiful pictures!!!!  I'm so happy we were able to capture these moments together as a family. 

I LOVE fall!  It's such a beautiful time of year. I am not a fan of living on the east cost... But it's beautiful here this time of year!!!!!  

Afton is now 11 months old and is getting SO big!!!!!  She is now clapping and blowing raspberries. She likes to pat me on the back while I am patting her on the back! Lol.  She is walking along the furniture and is really wanting to stand by herself but we are just not quite there yet. She will be walking very very soon I am guessing. She has 2 bottom teeth now and her 2 top teeth will probably be making their appearance within the next few weeks. It's shocking how quickly babies change :). She is really mastering "da da". Her favorite foods are bananas, apple sauce and Mac and cheese! She is also figuring out how to dance. I will try to get a few videos posted in the next few days. 

Her birthday is December 4 and her party is December 5. I am so so so excited. Paul will be in Florida the week before her birthday and will fly home the night of the 4th. Thankfully my mom will be here the evening of the 3rd so we can finish birthday stuff before Paul gets home Friday night. I can't wait to see my mom and my niece Liliana. I sure miss my Lily!!!! 

Well...  I think that's all for now. It's almost midnight and tomorrow I start crib training for nap time. Since we have mastered bedtime, it's now time to teach this stubborn little thing that her crib is a safe place during the day too!!!!!  

I hope this post finds you all happy and healthy. 

EQ