a first christmas in pictures.

Her first Christmas.
magical.
wonderful.
absolute joy.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest.

After all the gatherings, first presents to open, I realized my camera did not capture a ton, just enough.  The rest was to allow ample time to just enjoy and take in every second with her.

perfect.

Grandparents... Christmas video coming.


Happy New Year to Everyone!
This is the first year I'm a little sad to see the current year come to a close, as it is Quinn's birth year. 
But we know more amazing things are in store for 2012, and looking forward to it all.
Have fun however you may be celebrating!
We will be cozy at home ringing in the new year as the new little family we became this year.
Champagne, cozy jammies, yummy food, chocolate fondue and a Big Bang Theory marathon are calling us.

Hello 2012.  

Christmas 2011.

 a little preview.

Last year as we were anticipating the arrival of our little peanut, I remember envisioning what Christmas of this year would look like with a 9 month old...
this is pretty much how I pictured it. :)

...and Lucy is remembering the good ol' holidays.  quiet, restful, and where her toys were only for her.
hence the tiny little hand stretching into the above picture.

A 10 month old we have instead... adding a little extra fun, but everything I pictured and so much more.  Little hands grabbing the paper, boxes more fun than the toys, big smiles, tiny giggles, crawling and getting into everything.

more pictures to come.

Hope you had a wonderful holiday!

12 random acts of kindness.

Similar to the 12 days of Christmas, however we did not deliver joy through turtle doves and swans-a-swimming.
Marking our first Christmas with Quinn, Todd and I decided to start the tradition of not exchanging gifts between the two of us, but that we would take turns each year planning something fun to do as a family or as a couple.  This year was my turn.

I wanted it to be special.  I wanted it to be a whole day together, and to just be entirely present.
I wanted it to be memorable.

It was all of those things and more.

We documented our day to remember and look back on later with Quinn.
Here is what our day looked like:

Sleeping in.

A delicious breakfast at a restaurant, one of our favorite things (but we don't get to indulge on much anymore).

and

Random Act of Kindness #1: Along with a tip, we left a gift and card for our waitress.

Random Act of Kindness #2: Donations of kitty and doggy treats, toys and paper towels to our local animal shelter.

and we got to meet a few adorable and incredibly sweet kitties who are looking for a home, took a lot not to take them all with us. Quinn met a little kitten named Allen.

Random Act of Kindness #3: On a pick-up at Corner Bakery for #4, I turned around and handed a little girl behind me a get a free cookie coupon (and asked her mother if it was okay). The girl was so excited, better yet she jumped up to the counter to order it right away.


Random Act of Kindness #4: A visit to the most amazing nurses in the world, our maternity nurses at the hospital Quinn was delivered. They are on our minds regularly, as they took the most incredible and gentle care of us. Our appreciation goes far beyond a simple gift of treats and heartfelt note. We were fortunate that one of our nurses was there when we arrived. And the best, we got to spend a good 10-15 minutes just talking to her and she held Quinn. It felt so good to deliver our gratitude directly and give (even if it was just one of our nurses) the biggest hug. I was not expecting the overwhelming emotions that came over me. Tears were definitely rolling.

Random Act of Kindness #5: We anonymously gave a congratulations card with a Target gift card inside to a new family at our hospital. We asked the nurse, Mary, to please give it to a family of a newborn that she felt would most appreciate it. The expression on her face of emotion started to make me cry again, and then I thought how great it will be for her to see the expression of the new parents who receive it.

Random Act of Kindness #6: We left coloring books and crayons for children in the waiting area.

Random Act of Kindness #7: We left a bag with change taped to the vending machine that said "Don't have the change you need? Please accept this random act of kindness to get what you would like. Enjoy!"
The vending machine operator was there filling it at that time, so we asked the receptionist to please tape it to the machine for us when he was done. This moment made me realize how by just knowing of this kindness still impacts others even if they are not on the receiving end. Her sweetness and her expression told me that she was probably going to continue this kindness onto someone else herself. Thus the pay it forward begins...

We continued our family day with a quick detour to T-mobile where we viewed new phones as mine is falling apart and again reduced our phone plan by an additional 10 dollars. More joy!
Quinn took advantage of an opportunity to let loose and crawl, she circled the store ten times at least.

Random Act of Kindness #8: As we relaxed in Barnes & Noble's cafe, I simply went to order for my amazing husband what I knew he would love without even asking him. A hot chocolate with whipped cream and a peanut butter cup cookie.

Random Act of Kindness #9: On my way up to order, I saw an elderly woman sitting alone and stopped to kindly ask if I could buy her a drink or treat. She was sincerely caught off guard and said that someone was in line already getting something for her, she then reached out for my arm and said "Wait, you were just going to buy ME something?" I told her yes and that I would love to do that for her. She said that was the sweetest thing she had ever heard. So, while this act was not completed fully, I do not consider it a fail in the least, her smile and the way she lit up was enough.

Random Act of Kindness #10: Taking real time to read for fun and joy at a bookstore, for her.

I had hoped to read a story to any children there that would like to listen, but there weren't many present at the time.

Random Act of Kindness #11: Earlier with our relaxing cafe time I had purchased this bookstore gift card.

Each act of kindness was different, some emotional, some surprising, this one was just fun.  I handed the gift card to Quinn.  As we were getting ready to leave we saw a gentlemen entering the children's book section.  Perfect.  I could picture him buying books for his grandchildren already.  We walked up to him.  I asked "Are you shopping today?"  With a questionable look on his face, he replied "Yes"  I had Quinn hand him the gift card and I said "Merry Christmas" .  He gave the most surprising look with a "Wow, oh thanks, wow", we gave him a big smile and walked away.  I could see right away that his Wow was not from the gift but from the act itself.   

Random Act of Kindness #12: A delicious dinner out at one of my husband's favorite places and another gift left for our waitress along with her tip.

Random Act of Kindness #13: We felt another should be added to the list, one because we loved this idea, and two because #9 was not carried out fully. After Quinn fell fast asleep for the night, Todd and I sat down and together we wrote 3 notes by hand for a few of the special people in our lives to place in the old-fashioned fabulous mail...just because. One to family, one to a friend and one to a special nurse we had with Quinn. It was the best way to wrap-up our day.

The end to an incredibly rewarding day, in so many ways.
A day we spent entirely together, no TVs, no computers, no phones.
And joy multiplied by a million for each person touched by kindness. Kindness that we sometimes need to be reminded of, that it is around us.


I reflected on our day and thought of each person who was impacted with a surprising smile, or was a witness to an act of kindness and thought of them each telling someone close to them about what had happened to them on this day. And as each person was touched by, or heard of a random act of kindness...well then they too would be more likely to pay it forward.
And that is what really gives us the greatest joy.

If you read this post and are inspired too, we would love to hear what you thought to do for someone else.  (leave it in the comments)

Smiles and joy can come from the smallest of things.
Especially from a special little girl who had a fabulous and tuckered out day of kindness. :)

hungry babies and some outtakes.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday preparation and the start of many gatherings.

We are so excited for Quinn's first Christmas!
I am so in love with all of the traditions we get to start with her.
Tomorrow is a special family day for us, a surprise day... look for a post on that later.

And today marks 10 magical months of our gift of Quinn. 
It is so amazing to see how much she changes in just days.
Right now, her appetite is building and she is a hungry little baby that is eating all kinds of new foods.
Fortunately, she is not much of a picky eater and eats most everything.  And it's great that she is eating more and more of what we are eating. 
Her favorite mommy made dinner of all time (so far):  Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings.
They aren't quite like my grandma's, but they did turn out really delicious.  An easy meal with not a lot of ingredients that I can make any time of the day and we all love... perfection!

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings Recipe
I changed it just a little, added a little more seasonings and vegetables.
Seriously, she loved it.  All of it.  Good thing there were leftovers for her.

On the topic of hungry...
Quinn and I attended A Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday bash this past weekend.
For her dear friend Talan's first birthday. :)
It was absolutely adorable, as to be expected from my BFF Kirsten.
Themed The Very Hungry Caterpillar decked out in super cute decorations, and all of the food that you would find in the popular children's book. 
So cute and we had a blast.  Unfortunately, I left my camera at home.  Probably wouldn't have been able to use it much anyway as I had a 10 month old shy girl attached to my hip.  A big crowd and a loud room can be a little overwhelming.  And our sweet girl is a little shy, as well as going through a mommy and daddy only phase.

As our Christmas cards went out already, figured now would be a time to share the cherished outtakes of our little photo shoot.... the memories I'll have when I look back on that picture card that has already been placed in our family Christmas card album marked with 2011.
I didn't quite get the picture that I had envisioned, or anything like it at all for that matter. :)

some outtakes.

always on the move.

too many distractions.

lots of serious faces. smiley as can be until I put the camera in front of my face.

prep, set-up, and the chase around...it's a workout.  rudolph was a little easier to photograph. :)
so after much debating, we decided to go with this one...

wasn't the super smiley Quinn I was hoping to capture...but it's all her.  The one that puts up her serious face lately the moment I have the camera on her.  so it seemed fitting.  Our cute little serious girl. :)

ho ho ho.

Just in time for Santa...


she discovers bubbles.

one of these days I'll learn how to take pictures without natural light, and with a moving subject...

hopefully Santa is bringing me some new photography skills.

11 more days.... ho ho ho.

Lots of love as you too prepare for Santa.

holiday traditions.

As we approach our first Christmas as a family, the challenge is set to begin creating our very own Christmas traditions.  Many ideas run through my mind of what I would love to do, we will see which ones come across over the years and which ones stick.  Hopefully some that Quinn will want to continue as an adult with her own family one day.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions that has stuck with me is jammies.

Every Christmas Eve we received new jammies from our Grandma to wear Christmas Eve night to bed.  I loved it, and loved that many of them were very girly and often came with knee high ruffly booties/slippers (we were so ahead of the trends :). 

It added to the excitement and anticipation of going to bed before Santa would come, and then waking up just as excited to be in your new jammies and waiting for everyone to be awake before we could go out to the living room.  (This often would get jumpstarted by Amy and I purposely making but trying to make it seem like accidental loud noises and bumping the walls to wake everyone up - we shared a wall with my parents room and a wall with my brother's room.)  When everyone was awake, we would speed out to the living room and dive straight for our stockings.  As we arrived, there were always gasps as we saw all the of presents under the tree.  Even though we "dove for our stockings", our Christmas present opening was actually always very calm, patient and thoughtful.  Youngest to oldest is how it always went, and how it still goes today.  We watched in awe of every present each person opened.  Giggles were always present, and we are grateful for the few videos we have that captured the innocence, the mannerisms, the little speech impediments, the expressions and even the family pet that may be roaming in the background. 

Jammies is also part of another important Christmas tradition.
One so significant it was an important topic to discuss before getting married. :) It's the one of cherishing Christmas Day as our own little family, as I believe it should be. A day we go nowhere, stay in our jammies, have a delicious breakfast and then graze appetizers throughout the day, and a Christmas dinner. A day we take our precious time to open the gifts, relish in playing with them and choose a movie that was received to watch together. A day of game playing, of laughs, a day of just us. It is special and it is the absolute best. I can't imagine Christmas any other way, and I think it is so important to have this time to truly celebrate family and the meaning of Christmas.
Gathering with the rest of our family is done on other days and on different days so that we can truly celebrate and share time together - what it is all about, instead of running from house to house in one day.

As we celebrate Quinn's first Christmas, we start this tradition as a new little family. It's amazing to think of all of my own memories transferring now into our own family, into our own precious little girl. Who this year will open her first pair of Christmas Eve jammies and wear them as Santa and his reindeer make their first visit to this sweet little girl.

Can't wait to start many more new holiday traditions together.


And Quinn...

growing fast, we often find this when we enter her room after a long sleep...

peeking and patiently waiting.

and here is her mama as a baby...

peeking and patiently waiting.


What are some of your holiday traditions?

the challenge of a 9 month old and taking pictures.

I laugh that I just posted on her nine month post that we never feel tired or exhausted. 
Today.
I was tired.

But it was mommy's fault.
not Quinn's.

I expect our usual photo taking sessions to be the breeze they have been in the past.
not so much.

In the period of an hour and a half, I blew up about 25 balloons, made a decent amount of trips up the stairs quickly to take them to her room, and then proceeded to try to capture a picture of a speedy baby for about an hour of that time (and it's always warmer upstairs in our house).  So, I guess it's no wonder I was sweating like crazy and exhausted by the end of it.

Taking pictures was a constant battle of catching a speedy crawling baby.  Always happy, so that helps.  But constantly catching, trying to put into a decent place (which goes from perfect place to a that will do place).  I try to find small things to give her to stare at with amazement, that usually keeps her in place, but then there is the I really don't want that in the photo though situation.  She loves the camera, so as soon as I pick it up she heads my way fast to attempt some camera theft, and I end up with a lot of pictures like this...

a little blooper preview of her birthday invite photo.

Todd came home at 3:30 today... I took a 45 minute nap. :)

nine months.

nine months.  seriously?

How do we have a nine month old already?  And how has it been 18 months that she has been a part of our lives already?  I remember staring at that pregnancy test like it was yesterday, as two pink lines popped up in seconds, not the 2 minutes it tells you to wait for it.  We hadn't been expecting it yet, but it couldn't have been more perfect.  Just a month before we planned to try, so we were blessed with the sheer joy that comes with beautiful surprises and avoided the stress that comes with the wait.  Our little love...the cooperative easy-going girl she was from the get go.

Quinn is and has always been such an easy going baby.  The newborn who barely made a peep and would wake her mom in the middle of the night for her feedings by coos rather than cries.  The baby who cozied for naps on our chests for months and slept through the night at 11 weeks and hasn't looked back.  The little one that loves most everything and smiles all the time, with the perfect balance of independence and wanting to be embraced. 

I have only two memories of ever trying to calm her and do the "mom sway".  I have that down at other times too, but not because she ever needs it for calming.  One memory was the first week we were home and it was at night and I'm sure she could sense my tension (my back was killing me and I was in pain from the c-section surgery) thankfully my mom was there that night so I could pass her off for a little while.  The other was around 3 months, it was during the day and we think a little upset tummy was to blame.
I'm so grateful to have a place to put these memories so they don't get lost over the years.  I realize this blog has readers, but I often think of it as just our family scrapbook too.

Quinn, every single second of you is absolute joy.  We can honestly look back on your baby times and say that Daddy and I did not ever feel overtired, stressed, or as typically stereotyped rundown parents.  You make our job as parents so easy.   ....please keep this up, especially in your pre-teen years.

Our little (big) nine month old baby girl...

Nine Month Stats:

Weight: 17 pounds even (15%)

Height: about 29 inches (77%)
Our little one always measures smaller on her head circumference, a part possibly of why she progressed in her developmental milestones so quickly, she didn't have that more common larger baby head to move around. Head circumference is in the 4th percentile, and always growing. It looks gorgeous and perfectly proportionate to you little girl.

Sizes:  Clothing - 6 months, 6-9 months, some 9 months, and still some 3-6 months.  Diapers - Size 3

Sleep: 6:45/7pm till about 7:30am Naps just naturally switched here at 9 months. She was 3 naps up until now, and has shifted to two naps. Usually 9-11am and 2-4pm.

Eat: Such a good eater. She is in a bit of a transition phase, so much more interested in real pick-up food than baby food. So all her meals seem to be a combination of baby food, pick-up food for her and a few things off of our plates too. We are into the routine now of eating all at the same time for lunch and dinner. It's good for me, I've found that I don't eat as much as I'm feeding her at the same time. :) She likes to eat just about everything she has tried so far. She is on meats now, so while I make most of her food myself, I picked up a few jars of different kinds of meat meals (so that way I know what to make for her) and the only thing she has really shown dislike to ever was the chicken noodle dinner I tried with her last night. blah.

Likes: doorstops still, all of her new toys (especially the ones that make noise), the broom (it's funny), crawling up the stairs (with a spotter of course), her johnny jump-up, playing, getting tickled, giving hugs, snuggling with pillows, going for walks, knowing that she has your attention :)

Dislikes: the vacuum now (she was okay with it before), having her face wiped (although it's not as bad now as she tries to catch the washcloth with her mouth)- loves it during bath time, sometimes she is a little unsure about being tossed in the air (other times loves it - I think it depends on if she gets that stomach dropping feeling or not)

What's new/firsts: walking with her push-toy, eating more solid foods, feeding herself, pulls herself up easily on high reaching things now, crawling up the stairs, starting to learn the word no (although we don't have to say it often so it may take a while for her to learn it), has said the word no, babbles in phrases and short sentences, "mom" and "mama" all the time, still working on "dada" the d sound isn't there yet, has had stranger anxiety for a while now but I think she is doing a little better around strangers, LOVES to be around other kids, is a super speedy crawler.

Her personality: She is a ham these days. Smiles and giggles are regular, but now her mocking abilities are really becoming top notch. She thinks things are funny, you can just see it in her eyes and the way she just knows what she is doing. She is delightfully easy-going, going to bed is easy, switching from one thing to another is easy. She does not get upset if you move her from something or take something away from her, she just moves on. She is nosey nora, has to know what is going on at all times. A people-watcher. She is just all girl, and it's amazing to see that in her. Quinn is very patient, and is a little sweet snuggler. She loves to play and crawl on her own, but has her I need my mama or dada moments. She loves to chase after her kitty.


I'm grateful she no longer tries to go up by the tv where the dvd player and dvd's are, those were "no" learning moments. Now if we could just keep Lucy away from there (she goes through phases and right now she is in it again, pretty sure it relates directly to attention, poor kitty).
I'm also grateful she has never been a put everything in your mouth baby.

Who am I kidding? This I'm grateful for list could go on forever.

Happy 9 months baby girl. kisses.

video love.

It's no secret I have a love for capturing moments by video. I love taking photographs and they too will always be cherished, but videos capture true moments, little voices, small giggles, loud laughs, funny or endearing moments. I know we will be grateful later to have videos to look back on and cherish these little moments.

In honor of some video love, we post a few today.

We especially know these videos are loved by the grandparents.

Quinn walking with her stroller
(beware of the ending and a fall with a cry, no bumps or bruises she was fine :)

A giggly game of peeking

silly eating 1

silly eating 2


Happy Weekend!

a message from Santa.

December is here and Christmas is on its way.  We have started our countdown, but mommy and daddy get to eat the chocolates that come with each door we open. :)

Santa has been very busy, but took time to leave a special message for such a sweet little girl who made her first year onto his list!

Enjoy Quinn's message from Santa by clicking here.

Happy December!  Many posts to come.

just us.

It's been a while since we had an entire day of just us time.  Today we welcome it with open arms.  And yes, we are all still in our jammies.  I am so thankful for days like this to come along once in a while, with no agenda, no to-do list, just nothing, just us.  It's a special treat and we savor it. 

We enjoy leftovers, Christmas decorations around us, white lights brightly filling the room, a few episodes of Pawn Stars from the DVR, a little football and maybe a movie, playing tea party and picnic time and cuddles galore.

We are officially a family this year. 
just the three (plus Lucy makes four) of us.

thankful.

Thanksgiving was a busy day, and I could tell because I only had one picture that was taken.  Camera toted everywhere, not a chance to take it out.  It was a day with Todd's family.  Relaxing time with his Dad, time seeing all of the Blasdell's, and then dinner with all of the Snyder's.  We were able to see so many people, and that's great since we don't get out that way often enough.

Four generations in the Snyder family

On Friday, we spent more time with Todd's mom and celebrated our Christmas with her as well.

November was a great month with an abundance of family time.  We have so much to be thankful for this year, our family is so important to us.  But most of all, we received the most precious joy in the world this year topped with a pink little bow.  We love you so much baby girl.  Mommy and Daddy could not be more thankful for the greatest gift of all...you.