Two Months.

Rosemary celebrated her 8-week birthday by sleeping for ten and a half hours. 

Hooray!

We attempted to get a nice family photo yesterday afternoon, but little Rose wasn't digging the chilly outside air and her feelings are clearly reflected in the photoshoot results. 

Sometimes I wonder what goes on in her little mind. I feel like in these pictures she's thinking "HELP! Do you see what I have to put up with here?! They put a HAT ON MY HEAD!"

(Sadly, she still hates hats and headbands.)

And finally, the best photo of the day. 

A two month snapshot of what life looks like right now. And really, it's a pretty good picture of it. Imperfect, crazy, and completely unorganized. But beautiful and happy - very happy.

Daddy's Girl.

"Rosemary, Rosemary

You're my girl.

Rosemary, Rosemary,

Darling of the world."

 

  – Timmy's Song for Rosemary

Whenever Timmy walks into the room, Rosemary turns her head around in search of his face. She'll happily gaze into his eyes for long moments and whenever she's in his arms, she grabs hold of his shirt with her sweet little fingers. As soon as he gets home at night she stops fussing or playing or whatever she's up to and gives him huge full-body smiles.

Mom made an observation this weekend.

"Rosemary is going to be a Daddy's girl."

She already is.

Grandparents.

Rosemary knows her grandparents, and she loves them. A lot. Because they are present and freely giving in the love they lavish on this little life. Their house is familiar and cozy and full of things just for her - a crib with pink blankets, a basket full of pretty outfits, and soft knit socks.

 Grandpa holds her close and sings her sweet and silly songs while telling her stories of when I was a little girl. He whispers to her of all the things he will teach her and tells her truthfully that he is pretty good at loving little girls (he had three of his own, you know). I know exactly what she feels as she is cradled in his arms, because I have felt it all my life, and it's a really, really good feeling.

Grandma snuggles her in a way that only Grandma can. Rosemary grins huge, happy smiles at a face she has seen since the day she was born. Grandma's well-known voice and soft shushes bring comfort to little cries and Grandma's arms are one of her favorite places to snooze. There are few things more beautiful than seeing my little girl gaze with eyes of love at my mom. These two are going to be best friends, I can tell already.

It's impossible to accurately describe the amount of love surrounding our lives.

Rosemary knows her grandparents, and she loves them.

Because they make it a point to never be too busy

to be there (here) with her.

(Rosemary was not happy during this photo shoot. The expressions on her face crack me up.
Especially the one of Mom and I holding her.)

Birth Announcements.

These are the birth announcements that were never sent. 

I have determined that it's really unrealistic to expect a new mom to design, print, assemble, and address birth announcements right after having a baby. With a new baby, who has time for that?

I did get as far as printing them, but stalled out on the assembly part (cutting them out) and now that Rose is almost two months old, birth announcements just seem like really old news.

So we'll just hang a copy in her nursery, 

give one to Grandma,
put one in her baby book,

and that will be that.

Sweetness.

 

Today…

 us two girlies stayed in our pj's

and snuggled in bed.

stared at the sunbeams

explored new-found fingers
(I think she's finally realized that her hands are attached to her body.)

smiled big, happy grins

and practiced tummy time.

The sweetness of life leaves me breathless…

on days like today.

Three Cheers!

Nine hours. Straight.
Amazing.

First Walk.

First walk as a family of three.

Our little hooded sweetheart snuggled against our chests and clearly communicated that she's a walk kind of girl and we'll be doing more of this in the future.

Ten Little Things.

(ten little toes)

1. Our sweet girl has grown out of her newborn clothes and her weight is up to 10 pounds, 3 ounces. Last night during her bath we counted six chunky little rolls on her adorable thighs. Her chubby cheeks are completely irresistible and she gets hundreds of kisses planted on them every day.

2. Rose's first smile was for her Daddy. (No surprise there.) She's been smiling non-stop since then. It's pretty much the sweetest thing ever, and it melts our hearts every single time.

 (Rose smiling at herself in her very distorted mirror.)

3. Rosemary is in love with mirrors. She happily stares at herself, giggles, coos, and smiles at her reflection.

4. We've been doing Baby Wise and absolutely love it. Rosemary is so happy and having a (flexible) schedule for our days is such a blessing.

5. Rosemary slept for eight hours last night, woke up to eat, and then slept three more hours. We can put her in her crib, wide awake, and she'll talk herself to sleep.

6. We found the sweetest lullaby CD, Hidden in My Heart. It's basically Scripture put to music, and I love to have God's words washing over her as she sleeps.

7. We're already thinking about Rosemary's first vacation and have begun to tentatively plan it…

8. I totally love being a stay at home mom. My days are so happy. I have been soaking up baby time, cooking yummy meals, and enjoying fun art projects.

9. Rosemary has already become one of my favorite people. She's so fun to be around. I miss her when she's napping and waking her up is one of my favorite things. Sleepy baby nuzzles are so indescribably precious.

10. Our first date away from Rose will be next Sunday. Timmy pre-planned a babysitter (Mom and Dad, of course) and is whisking me away on a surprise adventure. He is the best at surprises.

"Girly" Boy Sweater

 

I recently found a navy blue baby sweater on clearance. It was obviously a boys sweater, but it was only $3, and I bought it with hopes of figuring out a way to girly it up. 

Which brings me to the "infant" headband I ordered online at Target clearance for $1.20. It arrived and was almost big enough to fit MY head. Since then I have realized that Rose wouldn't have worn it, even if it had fit her. So this very pretty but very useless headband has been sitting out for weeks, waiting for me to feel inspired and find a use for it. 

This morning I was inspired. 

Navy blue sweater. Headband with navy blue stripes. Perfect.

I cut the headband to size, pinned it on the sweater, and sewed along the seam.

It took me about ten minutes and totally transformed sweet Rose's little blue sweater. 

Adorable.

Happy Birthday.

Your heart is my heart and your eyes are my paradise. I have you memorized, beautiful husband, and I love every piece of your being. I never could have imagined how happy my life would become - how happy you make me. Knowing you deeply and loving you increasingly is the best thing I have found in this world. 

You are my everything and you are my delight.

The father of my baby girl

and my best friend.

I love you and love you.

Happy 27 years of living. 
(Happy Birthday to you.)

Baby Headbands.

I made a headband for Baby Love,

and put it on her while she was sleeping.

She woke up.

And told me

exactly what she thinks

of my pretty homemade headband.

(Which is, not much.)