One Month.

It's sweet to be one month old at the beginning of October. 

Because life is so beautiful at Autumn's start. Leaves on fire-colored trees make contrasting shapes against the bright blue sky. Crisp air and cool breezes enjoyed outside mean soft pajamas and fireside snuggles are enjoyed inside. The sunlight feels warmer as it filters in through bright windows, and little feet are cozied up inside warm socks. Knit hats and knit legwarmers, fluffy blankets, the smell of apple cider and cinnamon, and the brightness of orange pumpkins. 

Smiles are coaxed out of an ever-increasingly alert little one month old face. Small feet kick, kick, kicking. Sweet gurgles and coos fill the house with such happy sounds. Our family of three, all nestled together in a month that brings birthdays and leaf piles and apple picking. 

One month old in October. 

Q. What's better than having a little sister?

A. Having a little sister snuggled on the couch with my baby girl.

Rynn has been living with us this week because her husband is out of town. I love how she comfortably slips right into our little family and she brings a fresh spark of liveliness into our life. She makes us laugh and makes us dinner and she keeps us entertained by telling stories of her day at work and saying sweet things to me like:

"Oh, you don't look awful. You actually look a lot better than I imagined you to look."

And telling me I should choose herb names for all my children and name my next child "Parsley".

And it's a strange, beautiful feeling to be nestled on the couch next to my grown up little sister, watching her nuzzle my newborn baby and realize…

We're not little girls playing dolls anymore, imagining what our lives would someday look like.

This is real life, and it's better than I ever imagined it could be.

Baby Legs and Feetsies.

Remember these booties I made for Baby Love?

Well, they're even cuter on her feet. 

I am having way too much fun dressing up this little girl of mine.

Legwarmers are also a favorite. You can buy them, but they're easy and way cheaper to make. Just take a pair of girls socks, cut off the foot, and hem the end. She's modeling a lovely gray pair in the above picture while snuggling with her Grandpa. 

And here she is in her pink argyle version, while happily kicking around her bassinet. (Her onesie doesn't lie, Rosemary is a lucky duck when it comes to awesome aunties.)

Finally, a shot of our sweet baby in her totally rad zebra print legwarmers - an extra special outfit for her very first trip to visit Dad at work.

27 Months.

Fact:

Date night is better with 

pink grapefruit sorbet…

 

and our new addition in the back seat.

27 Months Married

is the happiest we've been yet. 

Enchanted.

Our first family photos, taken by Laura Zastrow, 

leave me starry-eyed.

They're the perfect combination of dreamy,

sweet, homey, and comfortable.

Laura really is extra special.

(Check out her website! You might even find some photos of us on there...)

(I love her "O" face!)

I'm so in love
with my little family of three.

I feel like a kaleidoscope. 

Scattered bits of beauty, trials, and sleepless nights are constantly being shaken and combined and every second I see a different, amazing view of my new life. Even in the chaos, it's beautiful.

I've been curled up on my couch for days, soaking in this little sweetheart. Mom has been out all week, helping me learn to be a mom, and taking care of all three of us. I've fallen out of reality. And I kind of like these dozey 24-hour days of shuffling around endlessly in my pajamas, where the only marker of time is when baby's next feeding will be.

And really,
when you have a softly sleeping baby snuggled on your chest...

what else is there to do

but watch her sweet face as she dreams?

Love, love, love.

The Beginning.

She was born in the still hours of the night, in the midst of a thunderstorm. Bright accents of lightning lit the dim birth room in spectacular flashes. Deep rumbles of thunder vibrated into the music of falling, falling rain. She was in a hurry to be born, and the labor happened suddenly, quickly. The transition from wondering if she will come tonight to knowing she was nearly here was brief, but strong.

Her father caught her as she entered this world. Strong hands cradled her head as she felt his touch for the first time. He cried as he placed her onto her mother's chest, and his voice trembled as he announced, "It's a girl, sweetheart. She's our girl."

And the soft feeling of knowing who this baby was, the quivering certainty of this little girl, became a reality in her mother's heart as she looked into her baby girl's lake blue eyes for the first time. This small being was so familiar, someone she already knew by heart. The feeling of her hummingbird heart, the smoothness of her petal-soft skin - it was all there in reality. A girl - her little girl.

And there has never been a sweeter moment.

They named her Rosemary Katrina. Because her mother always wanted a little girl with a flower for her name, and because her father wanted the blessing of having a name straight from their most beloved book. "Rose" and "Mary" combined to create a name whose meaning evoked feelings of sweet romance - "dew of the sea".

Her middle name was passed down as a namesake. "Katrina", meaning "pure", brings the gentle, loving spirit of a most beloved mom - her grandmother Kate.

In the instant it took to for her to become Rosemary, it was impossible to imagine she could have been anyone else. This was right, it was good, and it was holy.

Perfection culminated into the most beautiful day of all.

September 3rd, 2011.

Introducing…

Rosemary Katrina

born at 2:39 AM, on Saturday, September 3rd
7 pounds, 9 ounces • 20.5 inches long

We are home, happy, and loving our sweet little darling.

P.S. I knew she was a girl. :)

Some Advice to Induce Labor.

 (after nap = looking frowsy = tim tied a ribbon around my belly and took a picture)

No baby yet! My due date is four days away, and I have been getting a lot of advice on how to encourage this baby to enter the world. Here are some of my favorites:

“Stare at the full moon.” (Hopefully I won’t have to wait to do that, as the next full moon is September 12!!)

"Swing on a swing." (We're giving that a try tonight.)

“Get a pedicure.” (Pressure points on your feetsies can induce labor. I tried to show Timmy where to push and neither of us really understood the process.)

“Eat spicy food.” (Disaster. I tried this one and ended up with severe jalepeno pepper burns on my hand… and no baby.) 

“Walk, walk, walk.” (I went on a 1.5 mile hike the other night, truly convinced that would do the trick. No. Luck.)

“Crawl around on your hands and knees.” (Not trying this one.)

“Castor oil.” (No thank you!)

“Evening primrose oil.” (I’ve been taking this for three weeks…)

“Talk to the baby, reassuring her you’re ready for her to be born.” (Yup, I even tried this one too. She’s not convinced.)

I’ve gotten several more tidbits, but they are not proper to share.  

Let me just say that whoever “THEY” are that say these things work… THEY are really just laughing at us poor pregnant women walking in circles around the block at midnight… during a full moon… while downing hot sauce and talking to their stomachs.

ABC's

A. age :: twenty-four

B. bed size :: queen (currently piled with seven pillows for me and one pillow for Tim)

C. chore you hate :: shaving my legs - does that count as a chore?

D. dogs :: no-thank-you

E. essential start to your day :: raspberry smoothie made by Timmy

F. favorite destination :: Hawaii!!!

G. gold or silver :: gold

H. height :: five feet, four and a half inches

I. instruments you play :: piano (kind of), flute (kind of)

J. job title :: wife, mom-to-be, graphic designer, support analyst

K. kids :: Baby Love! (yup, still pregnant)

L. least favorite :: DENTIST (just thinking about the dentist makes my skin crawl) 

O. overnight hospital stays :: once for tonsils

N. nickname :: Sweet Bea (my family), Little Darlin' (Timmy) M. maiden name :: Davison

P. pet peeve :: people who complain all the time

Q. quote :: "Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness." - Mother Teresa

R. righty or lefty :: righty

S. siblings :: older sister, younger sister

T. time you wake up :: 6:45 AM (weekdays), as late as possible (weekends)

U. useless information :: I love eating ice.

V. vegetables you dislike :: sweet potatoes, squash

W. what makes you run late :: the snooze button, being distracted by Timmy's kisses

X. x-rays you’ve had :: dentist x-rays

Y. yummy food :: fresh summer tomatoes

Z. zoo animal favorite :: penguins

 (ABC Banner made for Baby Love's nursery)

Loving LZ.

Baby Love is still snuggled inside my belly. I’m getting the feeling that she’s pretty happy and doesn’t have a whole lot of motivation to exit. When our good friend Laura offered to do a maternity photo shoot for us on August 25, I naively thought, “Oh dear, that’s so close to my due date. I hope I’m still pregnant!” Right. No worries, I was still VERY much pregnant and that’s a good thing because Laura, as always, captured many sweet shots of this special stage in our lives. 

 
Laura is kind of like our life photographer. She first photographed us when we were newlyweds. And again last year for our one year wedding anniversary. She also photographed us this summer – we were lucky to be chosen as “models” for a school project – when I was 21 weeks pregnant. You can see the first two shoots here and here. 

 
She also gave me the photos from this summer’s shoot last week, and I love them all.

 I had to laugh when I saw this one.
I remember being so proud of my “bump” at that point…

Laura is amazing. We love Laura and we love her photography talent.
 
Check out her website! www.laurazastrow.com

Stuffed Turtle.

Because I'm on a sewing kick these days, I decided to try out another pattern I found online for a sweet stuffed turtle. Using leftover fabric from decorating the nursery, I quickly stitched each piece together and the end result is this cutie.

There is something incredibly enjoyable about making a stuffed animal. It’s so fun to cut and sew each piece and watch it “become” something. My favorite part of this project was sewing in the little feet, tail, and head. The addition of those parts suddenly made my pieces of fabric a turtle.