all's bright at the albrights: September 2010

Thursday, September 23, 2010

it's the yellow and white of Siggies...

...that I found at Goodwill today. I'm determined to find the Siggie living here in Tennessee who would get rid of such a treasure!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

one whole month of sweet augustness

Dear August Rose,

My sweet, sweet baby. It is hard to believe that you have been around for a month already! But then again, it is hard to believe that there was a time when you weren't part of our family. We are definitely more complete because of you.

You have already grown and changed so much in this short month.

8-13-10
7 lbs 11 oz, 19 inches

9-13-10
9 lbs 14.5 oz (78%), 22 in (87%)

Like your sister, you seemed to have gotten your Daddy's tall genes. You are a perfectly healthy baby girl and for that we are so thankful. Dr. Davis has been telling us from the beginning that "they don't get much cuter" than you. Maybe he says this to the parents of all of his patients, but regardless, we agree. I seriously can't get over how cute you are!

Your personality is already shining through. You are a pretty easy baby, but you are indeed particular. You have a very funny cry/"ugh!" that you give us when something needs to be different. You love to be held, with a full belly and clean diaper. You'll quickly let us know if any of these is not up to your standards. You're still sleeping a lot during the day, and sleep pretty well at night. You've had several 5-6 hour stretches during the night, but for the most part, you wake up every 3 hours.

I pretty much love every part of newborn-ness. I love how your arms flail about as you dream or are startled by something. I adore the way you stay all cuddled up in a ball when we take you out of the car seat. I love the smiles you give while you're asleep and am especially loving the real smiles you are now giving (although a bit stingily) when you're awake. Oh, and newborn faces are another fave - especially when you pucker your pretty lips into an "o".

You are already a very good sister.

Merit loves to "hold da baby", and you just stare and stare at her.

You put up with Merit so sweetly when she plays nicely with you, and sometimes, um, when she plays not so nicely with you. But for the most part, she loves having you around.

In fact, we all love having you around, baby girl. Thank you so much for bringing what you have to our family. We are all different - and better - because of you.

So, Happy One Month Birthday, August Rose! I absolutely adore being your mama and I love you more than you will ever know.

much love,

your mama

Monday, September 13, 2010

why august rose?

I LOVE the sound of

August Rose Albright.

I love the look of it.

I loved this name as we kept it a secret while I was pregnant, and I love this name even more now that I know the baby girl to whom it belongs.

I love how Merit calls her "Augus Wose".

And I love that her daddy calls her "Auggie" and can't help but say it in a British accent.

All that to say this... I love the name we chose for our sweet second daughter.

So why August Rose?

Most assume it is because she was born in August. Simple enough. But really, this has very little to do with why we chose this name. When we found out we were having another girl, we were at a bit of a loss as far as names went. We love Merit's name so much that we had a hard time thinking of one that we loved just as much and felt was a good fit. In May, I was back in Abilene and my parents and I were discussing my grandmother and her twin sister's names. They went by Fay and May, but their names were actually Agnes Fay and Gussie May. I asked how their parents might have gotten a name like "Gussie" and my dad explained that it had come from family names. Their grandfather (my great-great grandfather) was named Augustus and he had a daughter named Augusta. Then, there was Gussie. My great-aunt May would have been 95 this year, so as far as I know, no one in my family has used a variation of these names in 95 years. It was then that I thought about August and immediately texted Kevan to get his opinion. He wasn't quite sold at first, but a month or so later decided that he, too, loved this name. I like that its meaning for us carries with it things that are greatly important to us:
tradition, heritage, and family.

I pray that August will find importance in these things as well as she grows up and figures out who she wants to be.

August itself means

great, magnificent.

We, of course, think this meaning fits her already, and are sure that she will continue to grow into this meaning as well.

As hard as it was to think of a first name, it was even harder to nail down the middle name. We had so many options, and since I had been the one to come up with August, I finally told Kevan that the middle name was up to him. Rose was a middle name he had mentioned in the very beginning, but I was the one who wasn't quite sold because I'm entirely too sentimental, and Rose didn't have much meaning to me personally. It was the week of August's birth (maybe even the day before) when Kevan finally decided that Rose was it. I did love the way it sounded with August, and I loved that he chose it, so Rose it was. At the hosptial, Kevan's mom shared with us that she had an Aunt Rose, so it turned out to be a family name, too.

So, there ya have it. August Rose Albright. A name we feel is the perfect fit for this perfectly sweet baby of ours.

All of the pictures in this post were taken by my friend Chelsea when August was a little over a week old. I'll share more as I get them edited.
Thank you, Chelsea, for once again doing an amazing job of capturing our little family!!

ONE MONTH (!) post coming soon!