ten months.

Just before the holidays, this little girl hit another monthly milestone.

A big ten months.
She is definitely growing, especially in height.
She seems so much taller lately.
The greatest change we have noticed is how much more her personality shines.

We have been waiting for signs of a real baby on our hands!! A perfect sleeper, a calm and quiet infant, and easy dream... at ten months a sweet little sassy side is starting to show. And we are loving every second of it. It's good sassy, lively and spirited. Occasionally a little attitude is thrown in there too.
Shaking her head more, giving fake little whines, being a little dramatic for some attention, and starting to take off her hats (just in time for winter...nice.)

Loving every single second of discovering something new in Quinn. Other than what's listed above other words to describe her right now: shy, sweet, cuddly, independent, funny, clever, observant, smiley, curious and such a little lovebug.

It's hard to capture pictures of her anymore, she is usually on the move. So, I have to admit I was thrilled with the pictures I captured. :)

ten months. so fun.
we love you so much baby girl.

a special video.

First, Happy New Year! 

Along the lines of new year's, but not really a new resolution, I have been trying to keep up with pictures and videos and organizing them in ways in which they will be used and viewed more often.  Especially with many 1 minute or 30 second clips we have of Quinn.
I LOVE watching old home movies.  I love the little moments caught on tape of our lives when we were little, our personalities, our little voices, family pets caught in the background, a spontaneous Debbie Gibson performance, the special toys or gifts we will always remember, the moments that make us laugh, and the love of family captured.

In short... . 
Click here to watch our first Christmas home movie.
Turn up the volume and enjoy. :)

More music than voices this year, but I anticipate more talking in the future years as we start to capture more of a sweet little voice.

Can't believe we are already winding down Todd's two week winter break.
I'm always sad to take down the Christmas decor, but I guess now we will have a little more play space with some fun new toys. 

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. :)