letters to sunday | months nine and ten

Sweet Sunday Baby,

You and me... we are BFF. We hang out all the time... we make each other laugh and we give lots of snuggles. We share toys and meals and we talk about everything. The older you get the more fun we have. I am crazy about you and I kinda think you are perfect.

One of my favorite things about you is that you are such a social butterfly (just like your mama!). You pretty much love everyone. Okay, well, except Uncle Frank. But he's kind of an exception. Everyone loves him so we're sure you will love him, too, when you get older. But there is no denying you are SOCIAL. You get sooo bored when we have "at home" days with no company. Of course we have those pretty regularly, so we're working on that. You always prefer the company of others, even if it's just the puppies. I love that I don't have to worry about you when I leave you with your nanny (Allison)... or grandma... or Aunt Christy. You don't seem to ever be afraid of other people and I am so proud of that! Although, I'm not quite sure what you are actually afraid of. I really hope you didn't get your daddy's fearlessness. However, one could argue that his quality of life is higher since he's not afraid of anything. :)

You are still an animal lover through and through. You and Traveler seem to have worked out the few kinks between you guys and you've finally learned how to tell Hawkeye to STOP kissing you, please. They are both super patient with you and they even let you play in their crate whenever you want! (Which happens a couple of times a day.)

Oh guess what?! You are FINALLY teething. Like, for real. There are teeth in your mouth now! They just showed up overnight. Here I thought you had Pink Eye and just weren't feeling that great and it turns out you had Pink Eye AND you were teething. My poor baby. You've been especially fussy a couple of weeks this month but God gifted me with a large dose of grace and somehow I have managed to truly enjoy nurturing you all day every day (instead of praying for patience during your cries). I love to take care of you. I love that you find comfort in my arms and I savor every one of those moments when you can't be close enough to me.

Speaking of closeness. You are such a little cuddle bug and it makes my heart skip a beat every day! Every time I pick you up out of your crib you lay your head on my shoulder. Snuggle, snuggle - you never tired of it! Actually, you really love to cuddle your sock monkey. It's the cutest thing in the world. I will pick you up and you lean back into your crib and reach for your sock monkey. A lot of times he comes between you and I and you are actually laying your head on HIS head instead of my shoulder. It's pretty adorable.

You are learning to communicate. You are doing this new pointing thing when you want someone or something. It's mostly when you want a person, though. It's your way of saying "You! I want YOU!" Daddy always comes around the corner and sees you and points to you and says "You!" And you flail your arms and giggle as if you are saying "Exactly, Daddy!!!" So cute! You can say "mama" and "dada," but not quite when you actually MEAN mommy or daddy. But, when you want food you smack your lips together. You've definitely got that down. We're working on baby sign language and you almost have "more" and "all done" behind you. We'll get there!

On September 7th you crawled for the first time. Boy was your daddy grateful to see that milestone, because the very next day he had to go work out of town for three weeks. By the time he returned home you were crawling everywhere and even using furniture to help you walk! You were a whole different baby when he saw you again. You are growing up so super fast.

For about three weeks now now you have slept through the night every night. I think we did it. We made it, Sunday Quinn. You are officially a good, solid night time sleeper and dare I use the word "predictable." I think our challenges were many but the big ones were overtiredness (I made that word up - so don't try to use it in a paper in school) and the lack of an eating schedule. Now that you are eating real food regularly we are finally getting on somewhat of a schedule and you go to bed MUCH earlier than you did before. Here's what a typical at-home day looks like for us this month:

7am - Wake 8am - Breakfast (you love bananas, strawberries and eggs!) 9:30am - Nap 11am - Playtime 12pm - Lunch (often we eat veggies and chicken or leftovers from the night before) 1pm - Bathtime after an especially messy lunch 2pm - Nap 4pm - Playtime 5pm - Dinner (whatever mama & daddy are eating for dinner) 6:30-7:30ish - Bedtime

Sometimes on weeknights we push your bedtime a little later if you aren't too tired just yet. Daddy doesn't get home until 7pm and he hates not seeing you at all during the week, so we make lots of exceptions. We are both really grateful that you have adapted to our flexible lifestyle.

Some of your current favorites are: strawberries and bananas, puff snacks (thanks Daddy!), sweet potatoes, chicken, new animals to play with, when friends come over (especially Aiden!), breastfeeding (always), your sock monkey, Grandmommies chapstick (you kind of have a weird obsession with it...), your little bitty board books you received from Mrs. Emily, being outside, when daddy plays any instrument around the house, any toy at Grandma's house, and any power cord you can find (against mamas wishes).

And some things you really don't like: Not being able to play with power cords, oatmeal, yogurt, avocados, being told "no," losing your balance, wearing a poopy diaper (who doesn't dislike that?!)... and that's about it!

I'm really stretching to come up with more things you dislike but you are such a happy, content girl... there's not a whole lot that makes you cry. I am so grateful. I enjoy your company so much, just last night daddy said to me "She is so much fun." It's true, sweetie. I'll tell you so many times in your life: you are the light of our lives. We love you and love being with you and love watching you grow.

Always, Mama

Family Portraits by Brett Alexandra

I am willing to admit that maybe now since I have a daughter of my own, I might be going a little overboard with the family portraits. I know, I know. But when I was on the other side of the state for the Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon, there was no way I wasn't going to take advantage of being in the same town as Brett and NOT have our pictures taken! Tommy adores Brett's style of photography (which is very different from mine, as you will see!) so I really wanted to have some pictures taken by Brett specifically for Tommy. In fact, I tried to do it secretly, with just me and Sunday, back in July. But things didn't work out at the time. I am totally okay with it though, because I am loving the pictures that she capture of Tommy and I together! :) Here are a few of my favorites from our session.

If you are in the Hampton Roads area and are looking for a gentle-mannered, super sweet photographer with a wonderful eye for details, please contact Brett Alexandra Photography!

Mommy confession:

So, we have this very useful The First Years American Red Cross Deluxe Baby Healthcare and Grooming Kit:

We love it! Actually - just this week I pulled out the hairbrush for the FIRST time because Sunday finally has enough hair to brush! But we've been using the baby nail clippers, thermometer, and nasal aspirator for a long time!

However, I confess: I have no idea what these are for:

So... I use them to trim my candle wicks! They totally do the job!

Do YOU know what they are for? Do you use any everyday tools to do unique jobs?

letters to sunday | months six, seven and eight

Sweet Sunday,

Mama got a little carried away on the procrastinating, didn't she? I pray you will have your father's sense of timeliness. And if you don't, that I (and your future husband) will have the same forgiving heart towards you that he has towards me. :) I can't believe I'm here... writing this. You aren't really nine months old already, are you?

I look back at the last letter I wrote and I was talking to you about how you "get it." That you get life. That truly seems like forever ago, because now not only do you get it... but you are living it. No more of this infant "discovering how to live" thing. Oh no. You're here now, personality and desires and everything. You are expressing yourself, sharing opinions, you have likes and dislikes... you are all over it. And when I say "all over" I mean exactly that. You are moving and shakin, honey! You're not officially crawling yet, but you are getting around just as easily! You can pull yourself to standing (which you quite often prefer over learning to crawl). In fact, my favorite midnight moments are when I come in to find you standing up, leaning out of the bed yelling at me. How did you know that if you lean closer to the door I might hear you better? You are a genius.

There's not a speck of newborn left in you anymore... dare I say that I see a few toddlerisms developing already. Slow down! I want you to stay my baby forever!

You have reached the stage of attachment. You know who your mama is and you prefer me over everyone else. But in the evening you light up both of our hearts as you reach out for daddy when he walks in from work. Even though he travels and works a lot, you still know who he is and you love him so very much. Such a big girl!

So far, this is my favorite age. You are just the perfect little size... so easy to hold, to cuddle, to prop up on my hip. You smile and giggle but you are still pretty content with where I set you down and the toys I offer you. Breastfeeding is a breeze since you fit so snuggly in my lap now and we no longer need any help from pillows to prop you up.

You grew out of the sleep-anywhere-and-through-anything phase. If you fall asleep in the car and I try to move you, you will wake up. So, we stay home around your nap times more often now than we used to. However, you really do get bored at home. A mama's girl, for sure! So we make little trips through the week just to keep us both busy and entertained.

You love all types of animals and whenever a dog is approaching you shake your hands and feet and squeal with joy! You let Hawkeye lick you all the time (even though he is not supposed to!) and you really like sharing your food with the puppies. You LOVE being outside. In fact, there is nothing more soothing for you than being in mama's arms outside. An outdoorsy chica?? Yesss! The adventures that lie ahead of us are endless.

Oh, and girl... music? Music heals the soul, we all know that. But music soothes your anxious heart anytime of day or night. You love to sit on daddy's lap and play the piano and drums. It is his secret weapon to soothe you while I am away. I was a little nervous with daddy taking you downstairs to play the drums - they even hurt my ears - but you love it! You smile and squeal and kick your little feet!

And honey - you love food. You are a Cook baby, through and through. You will eat just about anything we put in front of you. And of course you love carbs (when you get older you can thank your daddy for all the secret carb snacks he gives you while I am not looking). Yesterday we experienced a first: you found a food you didn't like. You showed your (very wise and) very strong distaste of yogurt. Haha. Sorry honey, that is just a curse that comes from me. So much for a creamy, healthy snack (I've always wished I liked yogurt because it seems like a simple way to eat well!). That's okay, I was hesitant to give you much dairy anyway. No worries!

You play SO WELL all by yourself. Your favorite toys are the non-toys: pots, pans, kitchen utensils. You have a slight obsession with Grandmommy's chapstick and we always grab a tube of Aquaphor in the grocery store for you to play with as we shop. You are entertained by the simplest things. Here mama thought she was smart buying all these 5-toys-in-one contraptions and you just needed a wooden spoon and a floor to bang on. So funny.

It's really fun to see you growing up and enjoying life along the way. I can't explain to you the light you have brought into our lives. You have made our world a better place and we would never go back to the days before you were born (no matter how many sleepless nights mama has to go through in a row!).

xoxox sweetheart,

Mama

"Where you at?"

Do any of you remember those hilarious cell phone commercials with the eldery people speaking in grammar of modern day teenagers? I loved those commercials and there are still days when I remember them and smile.

I especially loved the line "Where you at?" which came to me this morning as I was brainstorming a title for this post. :) (Wait for it at the end!)

So... this is where I'm at:

I'm having a rough week. And it's only Tuesday.

My daughter who used to sleep through the night has slowly regressed to the point of waking up for the first time before I am even asleep myself. (No more 6+hr first chunk of sleep!) It's been going on for weeks (months?) getting worse over time. I am trying everything I can think of, but I still wake up numerous times a night beyond frustrated. And evenings make for a sore environment in our home with a grumpy and exhausted mama and a dad who just needs to relax after a long day at work.

So this is my current view. While it's embarrassing to be that honest with you all, I know plenty of you have days like this one. I'm just keeping it real around here.

Today I am leaning into anything and everything encouraging. Prayer, encouraging words from friends, inspiring blog posts, worship music. It's one of those desperate days. I have the David Crowder Band Pandora station playing right now and I'm about to get up and tackle this mess in my house. If there's anything that is bound of refresh my spirit, it's a home under control.

I hope you all are having a better Tuesday than I!