random thoughts and great things.

Sometimes you just wake up and feel really good. Today was one of those days. Like magic I woke up this morning and found a belly once pregnant no longer looking pregnant anymore. 5 months later...check. In the simple joy this brought to my attention I couldn't help but look at myself a little and also notice that 90% of my stretch marks have faded and gone. out of nowhere...gone. like magic. amazing how just all of a sudden it all just goes and you start to feel like you did pre-baby. 5 months, not too shabby. Bless every single person who ever said to me "just remember how long it took for your body to get that way first", oh how I've loved you. I've learned so much of what to say to a new mommy (and all the things not to say, but I'll spare those so no one feels guilty about it). I also notice myself stepping up on my good samaritan duties, especially for pregnant mommies, I know how much all the help and kindness I received from total strangers made me feel so good and it all really was helpful and thoughtful.
So...on my way to my little goal of feeling good by thirty. feeling good, not just physically, but feeling organized, feeling financially stable, feeling okay with the way the economy is and that this little home may become a home for longer than we planned, feeling less impulsive and more carefree, feeling that the basket of laundry is far less important than the extra story we need to read together, feeling that I'm tackling new projects and challenges, feeling like a giver, feeling complete.
Life is so good and only gets better. my thirties are waiting and I'm so ready for them.

Don't get me wrong there is still weight to be lost and healthier habits to be formed, but it feels good to think I am less likely to be asked "when are you due?" because I don't think I can say "I just had a baby" anymore ~ just in case I were to ever be asked (I never was ever asked, but you know how you are on yourself, I was prepared just in case I was). feeling good :)
starting to get organized at home and finding creative ways to use things we have, and being okay with that it all may not go together. hmmm...I'm thinking that bookshelf may become a little painting project in the future. I'm in the new mode of adding more "color" to our home.

ideas are in the works for the giant chalkboard. it used to be a great calendar and hang invites, reminders on (well pre-baby). but now that it is partially covered, new ideas are in the works.

quite a little sleeper we have. napping right now...

woke up at 8, went back down for a nap at 9 and still sleeping (11:30 right now). sleepy little girl. and always rolls onto her belly now. her sleep routine these days? goes to bed between 7 and 7:30pm, sleeps till 8 or 9am, then goes back down rather quickly for her first nap. (daytime naps now are usually a 1 hour nap, a 2 hour nap, then one more 1 hour nap) looks like she is in the mood to change up her day a little today. :)
In a little while we will make a trip to see daddy. he forgot his "made with love by his wife" lunch, but gives us good reason to see him and for him to see Quinn. With the hectic week he leaves before she wakes and is home after she is asleep at night. We look forward to the next 3 days he has off.

our plants are growing.

we're chewing on everything with our new two shiny white teeth.

and we are staying cool inside with lots of mommy and quinn playtime.
we snuck in a visit with great grandma ginny yesterday and a trip to target. it is so hot, I've actually used my car start remote for summertime now, and so hot that you can't even stay in the car too long the air has a hard time keeping up and trying to keep you cool. so, for the most part...this week...is staying home and staying cool.

I LOVE finding new blogs with loads of great ideas and creativity. I found so many new ones recently. I'm so grateful to bloggers for sharing that for all the stealing I do from others, I share with you in return. Here are two new blogs I just love:

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/- You will be overwhelmed! This website is amazing and there is a link on there for her blog as well. I don't know how to even sum up everything she has, but in 15 minutes I had already written down 8 new ideas to use. love this one so much!

http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/ - This one is a family that also has tons of great interior design projects.

so many great ideas out there. so much to be inspired by.
it's a good day. enjoy.

lazy days of summer.

lack of posts this week due to ~ enjoying some lazy days of summer time.
lots of playtime with Quinn.
catching up on some episodes of our summer show "pawn stars".
dvr-ing movies we've never seen and watching them at night for our free date nights at home.
watering and looking at our little plants.
amazon box arrived the other day it still sits in the entryway because Lucy has found a cozy spot to lay and watch the birds out the front window.
watching two little teeth pop up in her little smile.
playing, cuddling, singing, dancing, reading and giggling.
everybody needs some lazy days of summer.

We have definitely enjoyed some ourselves.
I guess it wasn't all lazy time though. :)

This little one ate with a spoon for the first time. We planned to start some cereal after returning home and we did this week. She is doing great. loving it. and some of her first time expressions are terrific.

geared up and ready to go.
priceless expressions.it was a little bit of a challenge since we picked the same week her two bottom teeth came in. she loves feeling those, so we got a lot of this...

5 minutes later...ready to feed herself.

It wasn't quite all play and no work. I packed up Quinn's preemie and newborn clothes. She is wearing 0-3 and 3 month clothes and those should last her through the whole summer it looks like. As I was packing away these tiny doll clothes, I took advantage of a little photo opportunity.

Almost 5 month Quinn with the same jammies as a preemie.

this little girl dances now though. all stretched out you can really see the difference.uh...and this one could roll over her old tiny self.Todd has been busy getting things ready for volleyball summer league and camps. But I'm glad he had some downtime this week too, because I know the next two weeks will be quite hectic for him.

hopefully we can still sneak in a few lazy summer days before school starts back in August.
hope you can sneak some in too.

a surprise.

Our first project together. It makes me so excited for all the projects we will do together in the future. While daddy was out working on volleyball things, we planted a little "surprise" today. I say that because I have no idea what the heck the seeds were that we planted. :) Decided to make use of some favors and what was holding our placecards from Bobby and Kelly's wedding this past weekend. (They had little pots holding beautiful paper-made flowers, feathers and a table number card. As favors, there were clear packets of seeds at our table.) So...now the person with even average plant & flower knowledge would probably be able to make a good guess what seeds these were, but I am not that person. So it is a fun surprise for both of us...let's just hope they grow!

day one of our surprise plants.yikes! we need to clean our windows. just add that to the list that often gets pushed aside so we can have more moments like these with quinn.

Can't wait to see our project grow. :)

changes.

So many huge changes lately for our peanut, in fact we feel we brought home such a different baby. She has grown, giggles, rolls everywhere, grabs everything, and has a little tooth!! Ah :( Some people have probably already heard me say I am perfectly fine with average to behind average with some of these big milestones coming up (for instance crawling and walking, many are eager to get them there I love to just enjoy this only time they will be so baby) so while it is very important to hit those milestones developmentally I would prefer not to have the 9 month walker, 12 months would be just fine. But... I don't think she will be that way, she seems to be hitting things quickly (partially because of her petite size), and then she has a tooth now too! it's so many changes so quickly...
per request of Julie :) we have a little comparison for you with the remote control.
Quinn ~ 18 days old (2 & 1/2 weeks)
Quinn ~ 143 days old (4 & 3/4 months)the little girl in this picture doesn't stop moving, so you don't get a full length Quinn but you can tell that the remote comes to her thigh/hip instead of her armpit. :)

anniversaries of love and joy

While away roadtripping last week we celebrated our second wedding anniversary (July 4th). It's amazing to see where our love has taken us and how much joy we've added to it, especially with our greatest love of all ~ Quinn. We can't imagine life without her, and we know how important it is to continue to share our love with her. Love is the best.

passionate love.

laugh till you cry love.sweet and beautiful love.love that makes you want to dance.trusting love.silly love.we have a long journey ahead of us and we are so excited about all the things love still has in store for us.

This last week we also reflected on a one year anniversary since we were joyfully surprised with our gift of Quinn. July 9th, 2010 we found out we were expecting!!
and finally...it has been one year since we have had this blog up and running. Hope you are enjoying our journey right along with us. I've said this before but it has been a great way for me to scrapbook for our family as well as keep our family and friends up to date with all of our adventures and moments that makes life so good.

Happy Monday!

eight states, seventeen days, a baby, a cat and a yellow truck.

Our roadtripping adventures have come to a close. We ventured across seven new states with our precious girl and came home with some treasured memories.

Our journey included stops in Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. I'm not sure anymore could have been squezzed in at all, a cat and a baby make traveling a little challenging as it is.

Lucy had a difficult time at first and just wanted someone to cuddle with...and she often got this look from Quinn.but no worries once she made it to Florida, she absolutely loved being outside on the linai.Quinn's first golf cart ride.first time swimming! so fun. (our little ladybug is excited)sometimes her stylish sunhat turned her into a pirate.a little disney magic for mom and dad :) Todd's first time to Disney World. Quinn will get her time soon.lots of relaxin' and loungin' just what we needed...and lots of intrigue in the casey anthony trial. In central florida the trial was on every channel all the time.homemade sugar cookies are always waiting for us.1st fourth of july for one adorable little girl.ready for a laugh out loud, kickin' good time.look at these shoes.didn't take long for her to figure them out.the cutest little tooshy and bloomers ever!her personal little seamstress (aka - grandma)...yes grandma made the whole outfit.some fourth of July excitement in The Villages. Can you imagine how much attention this little doll got while in The Villages? She needed a red carpet.and all tuckered out.Had such a great time on our trip!

Thank you so much grandma and grandpa for such a great time in Florida!

See other posts southern comfort , lucky, and baking and bathies for more events from our roadtrip.

After roadtripping and packing up my classroom, it's now time for our little summer at home. Looking forward to bbq's, pool time and some little family time.
This morning we watched the spectacular lift-off of the last NASA space shuttle Atlantis. Felt Quinn should be part of it...well so I could at least write it in her baby book or tell her one day.