Haddie Mae: 11 Months

Dear Haddie Mae,
At 11 months you...

• You weigh 20 pounds and I can't wait to see those chubby thighs waddle around this summer!
• You are wearing 12 month clothes but still have tiny little feet (size 2 or so)
• You sleep from 7pm-6:45am, and still take 2 naps (9:30 and 2:00)
• You are FINALLY crawling! It's a slow and tedious process, but you are really enjoying being able to move around on your own. You still prefer walking while we hold your hands to crawling, though.
• We like to say that you don't walk, you dance. You never take normal steps around the house, you're always excitedly bouncing around like you're dancing
• Your favorite toys are rocks, dirty shoes, scrap paper and anything else you shouldn't put in your mouth
•  You get really dramatic when I take things away from you. And the three times I've had to tell you no (chewing on a lamp cord, trying to swallow a rock, etc.) you immediately started crying crocodile tears and sniffling. I can't even imagine what you are going to be like as a teenager!
• I am starting to see a lot of teeth when you smile. You got in the two bottom middle ones first, and then got in two top teeth, but not in the middle, the two on either side of the middle! Thankfully, now the middle two teeth are coming in, but I think your smile is going to look a little interesting for a couple of weeks with that big gap in the middle :)
• You like to toss your pacifiers over the crib railing when you wake up
• You love planking, you do it all the time
• Your favorite foods are turkey, toast, french fries, pickles, shredded cheese, baby puffs, ground beef, chicken, raspberries, and baby food. You still don't like any veggies and strawberries seem to give you a little bit of a rash
• You play the bashful routine anytime someone new looks at you (burying your head in my shoulder or the ground, but looking up at them and smiling from the corner of your eye). This is exactly what you do during Peek-a-boo, too, which is one of your favorite activities
• You still won't drink more than 5oz in a sitting because you want to be moving and playing
• You have started using a sippy cup some but you don't like water!
• You like to stand at your toy table and play for a little while, but in general you want to change activities about every five minutes
• You love to stand at the back door and look out the windows at what Titus and the dogs are doing in the backyard
• You are in a big girl car seat now and you don't like it very much!
• You like to watch Elmo and Sesame Street but a lot of times end up watching shows like Team Umi Zoomi because that's what brother is watching
• You love to push buttons on anything electronic, especially my phone and the tv remote
• When you get sleepy you alternate between covering your ears and your eyes, like you're trying to block out all sights and sounds 
• You love to be cuddled and rocked when you are going to sleep
• When you're falling asleep in your crib you have a paci in your mouth and you also have to have one in your hand to hold

I think this month has flown by the fastest of all! You are almost ONE sweet girl! I love that you are becoming more mobile even though I know that means it'll be more work for mommy trying to chase you around. It is so sweet to watch you crawl around the house, you still do a little dance jiving during the process, so it kind of seems like you've always got a song playing in your head and you are just dancing to the beat. Speaking of dancing, you are ALWAYS dancing! You love the record player and dance to CCR with your brother and daddy. And if I start singing or even if my phone starts ringing you will start bouncing around wherever you are. I love to see how much joy that music brings you, it's just one more way that we get to see your sweet and happy personality shine through. We love you all the way up to the moon and back, baby love!

Haddie Mae: 4 months!

Dear Haddie Mae,
At four months...

• You are still a breastfeeding champ and I couldn't be prouder! I had to stop breastfeeding Titus around 3 months, so this is a big time milestone for me. You do well at taking a bottle as well (4-5oz), you just insist on it being pretty warm. 
• You have a pretty set bedtime (7:30/8) unless we are out somewhere. You usually only wake up once during the night to eat, but that varies (anytime between 2:30-5:30). You will get up for the day about 12 hours after you went down.
• You only poop once every 2-4 days! It doesn't seem to bother you at all though.
• You wear size 2 diapers
• Your hair is still red! This is one of the most popular questions I get about you.
• Your eyes are still a pretty dark blue, with a little bit of gray. You have INCREDIBLY long eyelashes!
• You like to grab the toys hanging from your playmat and chew on them
• You are a pretty quiet baby. Not only are your noises dainty and feminine, but you just don't make a whole lot of noise in general. You are a big-time people watcher
• You have turned into SUCH a good napper! If we're home during the day you'll do 2 long naps (1.5-3 hours) and one evening catnap (30-45 minutes). If we are out you will take 20-30 minute catnaps but be generally happy even off schedule, then take a long nap (2.5-3.5 hours) when we finally get home. You even take naps at the gym in your carseat!
• You weigh 13 lbs
• You are a DROOLER! It is such a problem. You soak through all your clothes unless you have on a bibdana.
• You are still sleeping in your rock 'n' play. I gotta move you to that crib!
• You don't roll at all. In fact, you could care less about rolling. You don't even attempt it! You are completely content laying exactly where you are, whether it's on your tummy or back
• You are swaddled for naps and night time and once you are wrapped up and I put your paci in you fall asleep in like two minutes. You are such a good baby.
• You have started looking for people when you hear their voice
• You are wearing 3 month clothes and some 3-6 month clothes, although they are too long on you. You have to wear 6-9 month headbands though because you have a pretty big head like brother!
• You love playing peekaboo
• My favorite thing about you is the first time you see me in the morning. You get this huge smile on your face and I know you've been waiting for me!
• You try to watch the tv. This will probably be what gets you to roll over, ha!
• You still hate the carseat in almost every scenario

Did I mention what an easy baby you are? Seriously. Daddy and I talk about it all the time, we are so lucky! Even when you're tired or hungry you won't really cry much as long as you're being held. Anyone can put you to sleep with your paci and you aren't afraid to be held by strangers. You're pretty flexible in your schedule as far as babies go, which is good considering we are always on the go with big brother! Honestly, Haddie Mae, your demeanor is the only thing that makes me think I might want another baby. If they were all as easy and sweet as you I might have a couple more! But you are one of a kind, sweet girl, and we are just happy to have even one of you in our family. Love you to the moon and back!

My Little Loves- August, 2014

I've been trying to get some pictures of the kids together, but with a wiggly baby and energetic toddler, it's almost impossible to get them both in the same frame! I promise I love them equally and I tried to get plenty of Titus as well as Haddie, but he is just a bundle of constant motion. It's a lot easier to get pictures of a baby that can't go anywhere :)

Using my Fancy Camera

Almost 2 years ago I got a nice DSLR camera for Christmas and I was SO excited! At the time, we were trying to get pregnant and I knew I wanted to have a nice camera before the baby arrived (which wasn't for another year and a half). I started practicing my photography skillzzz on everything- the dogs, flowers, cards I'd made, anything I could get my hands on. At first, I was OBSESSED with figuring out all the fancy tricks and vocabulary that came with this new hobby. But the more I researched, the more confused and overwhelmed I became. It seemed like no matter how much I researched and asked around, I just couldn't get my pictures to be at the level I wanted! So I gave up trying to be the "oh hey, it's no big deal, I'm not a professional but my pictures look great anyway" kind of photographer and settled for being the "I use my auto settings and I'm okay with it" photographer.

Fast forward to today. Titus is here and I really do want to have great pictures of him. I take pictures that are probably better than people who don't have a DSLR, but they're definitely not where they could be! I stumbled across this blog that finally broke down all the fancy terms in a way that I could begin to understand (written by another DSLR newbie). I was so excited to try out her tips and tricks! Lesson one was aperture, which is basically how much light you let in through your lens (aka, how to make the background look blurry). The general idea is that lower aperture keeps one thing in focus and blurs the background, while higher aperture brings the whole picture into focus and gives everything detail.

The homework for this lesson was to shoot a line of objects started at the lowest aperture setting (3.8 for my camera) up to the highest (25 for my camera) and noticing the difference. I set my camera to Aperture Priority, which just means that everything else (white balance, ISO, etc.) were on auto and the only thing I was changing was the aperture setting.

So here is my homework assignment for lesson 1:

Did you notice that at 3.8 only the first apple is in focus and by 22 the apples, tablecloth, and chairs are all being brought into focus?

Cool, huh?! I knew the jist of aperture before this, but all the numbers were just overwhelming. This assignment helped to make it feel a little more manageable and I'm excited to try out the next step, shutter speed!