a tea party.

A little tea party between besties.
Just so stinkin' cute.

baby bunny.

Our sweet little bunny, nine months today.

st. patty's day.

Irish kisses to everyone.

all grown up.

Doesn't she just seem all grown up?!?
Four going on fourteen it seems.
All the more reason leading to the last post I did - she listens.
Can't believe how much older Quinn seems each day.
Filling out paperwork for just one more year of preschool was the first step to a major breakdown (for me) leading up to Kindergarten.  We will push that out of mind until we get there.

We adore the funny, sweet, compassionate girl she is turning into.

To me, this picture looks a lot like her daddy.

she listens.

So Andie has this way of looking at you that just moves you.  It is soft, genuine and as though she is staring straight into your soul.  It's amazing.
She listens.  She listens thoughtfully, so it seems.

When I held her brand new in my arms just home from the hospital and I said "take your time sweet girl, take your sweet time as you grow"... she listened.

Many mamas anxiously await the next big milestone as though it just can't get here soon enough - not this mama, that is for sure.
I am the mama that wants time to stand still, growth to happen thoughtfully and be noticed.  Time moves too quickly.
I'm already mapping out every moment I can be a part of these little ones lives and as Todd and I discuss my future work plan we keep pushing it further back and changing it so we are as much a part of their lives as we possibly can be, because time moves too fast.

One of my biggest worries about baby number two was that it would feel especially fast as we would be a little busier.  Quinn was full on crawling at 6 months, had 8 full teeth in at 8 months and it all just seemed so quick - I could only imagine how much faster it would seem the second time.  I wanted to embrace every single second.

My sweet Andie listened, like the obedient little girl she is. :)
She patiently waited for her first teeth to pop up at 7 months, keeping her little gummy baby smile all the longer.
She has very slowly worked her way through the beginning crawling stages - taking her time.
At just about 9 months she is working her way into a full forward crawl, rocking forward, inching forward and ready to take off at any moment.
Thank you for dragging this all out for your mama, because I know you did this just for me. ;)

Take your time sweet girl.

We so love enjoying and celebrating every little moment, every little milestone with you.

little crooked smile.

trying to capture the little things lately.

her tell.

Oh, this little face. Just melts me.

Babies all have a little tell.  One that tells you that they are just so sleepy.
It's usually fussing, rubbing eyes, pulling ears, reddened eyebrows.
And Andie has shown all of these things over her little babyhood.
But lately she really just has one tell.

Sucks on her little arm sleeve. :)
Now, you would think her whole arm sleeve would be soaking wet all the time.
Well, it isn't - not at all.  She must just be a dainty little lady who just ever so lightly sucks on her sleeve to soothe herself.  No paci's here, just a little arm sleeve.  Now of course, I try to make sure when she goes down for a nap she always has on a long sleeve.  As soon as you get ready to place her down in her crib that arm is already up.

five to take.

Months went by without a single photo of this little one in the bathtub.

{Insert big frowny face here} because I really don't like dropping the ball on photos I want to have, the moments we can't go back to capture again.

Thus initiating a new little list for myself that I would like to call the "Five to Take" list.
Each month I jot down 5 must have moments captured, based on stages the girls are at and the time of the year.
Over time I have definitely come to realize that I already know the pictures that we want to have, the pictures that we will look back at most, or ones we will use in video montages.  This has helped me and saved my time immensely (and memory space on our computer).  We have thousands of pictures of Quinn as a baby that quite honestly will never be used or even seen, so that was hours of my time with a camera in my hands plus hours of my time now deleting hoards of photos.  We probably don't need 150 photos of the same shot right? ;)

So here it is - my "Five to Take" for the month of March.

Sure, the camera will come out for other moments during the month, but this helps to make sure you don't miss the ones that you can't go back to later.  With a little baby it is easy to come up with the stages you want to capture before they move on, the little things they do that they won't do forever.  Andie is super snuggly on me right now, you better believe that I want to remember that.

A plan for me, but maybe it will help you too if you don't want to miss out on capturing specific moments, but also don't want to wear your camera as a permanent accessory.  You don't always want to be capturing moments you want to be part of them.  Truth - I have stopped taking pictures of present opening - I have discovered that we don't really look at these photos or use them and instead I get to be part of the fun and just relax and enjoy the excitement.  If anything, I might just let the video camera roll during that time so that I can use pieces of videos for a montage or to just remember the expressions and reactions.
Also, making a little list helps you remember that it is important for you to be in front of the camera too!

After Andie's nap, we are headed outside.  Spring is here!  Spring and Fall are my favorites - I soak it all up!

sisters.

Just for fun.

Quinn (left) ~ Andie (right)

I pulled two pictures at same age with a similar expression just for fun.
They definitely look like little matching sisters.
Quinn has a little more daddy in her and Andie has a little more mommy in her.

Two incredibly sweet, calm and beautiful baby girls - we are so blessed.