September 2016

Well I just found this post that I never actually posted....oops! I'm sure I was waiting on some particular picture or something, but it's certainly too late for whatever it was now! Ha, ha-I have good intentions. 

September was BUSY!! Check it out below!

Ruby started having more play mat time. She stretched and kicks around on it quite a bit.

September 1st started Tennessee football. Steven needed everyone dressed appropriately for the first game:)

Sept 2 was the first Lowe Mill concert of the fall, and we were in attendance! It was Ruby's first (out of utero!)

The kids love dancing around at the concerts and eating a picnic dinner. Annie especially loves when it gets dark and the tower starts to change colors-Henry did too at her age!

On Saturday of Labor Day wknd, we made a day trip to visit my folks. Ruby got to meet her girl cousins for the first time, and her Aunt Marie also since she came and picked up the girls that night. My friend Abby came for a visit with her 2 kids and they all got a little dip in the pool, too!

Papa with Ruby

Annie loves to swaddle her babies and carry them around everywhere. After church she was so proud to have her "2 babies" beside her on the sofa!

She also likes for Ruby to have babies as shown here with 2 dolls that she certainly got get herself. And she's covered up with her blankie and lovie thanks to her sister, too!

More play mat time!

On actual Labor Day, Grandpa and Peggy came for a visit for a few hours. Ruby decided she would grace them with her presence for a few minutes between naps.

Get a load of that hair

Grandma came for a quick visit the weekend of 9/9 and came to a soccer game with us. When she left, she delivered Annie to Grandpa and Peggy for Annie to have 2 nights away-just her! Annie got totally spoiled with them taking her to the zoo, church, Chuck E Cheese, and generally giving her whatever she wanted. I have a whole series of great pics from Peggy, but if I include them I'll never end this post!

Henry got his official uniform and was SO proud.

Go, Buddy!

After school on Monday 9/12, Henry and I took Ruby to her 2 month checkup. She did beautifully and was a trooper for all of her shots. She weighed 11 lbs, 3 oz (50%) and was almost 24 inches long (95%-long baby!!). She's healthy and we are so thankful!

Then that evening we met Grandpa and Peggy on the interstate at  Mildred's restaurant to get Annie who'd been away for 2 days (first time away just her!!). She did awesome and didn't act homesick the whole visit, but as soon as she saw me she was ALL ABOUT mommy!! I'd never seen her act so needy for me and she would NOT leave my side (like had to sit in my lap while eating, couldn't leave the table without her freaking out!). She missed  me and it was very sweet. She wanted nothing to do w Daddy, although she did spot that he got a haircut from across the restaurant-so funny! Here are the guys with Ruby on Mildred's porch.

While Annie was away, the family of 4 went to dinner and here I am with my one girl. We kept just noticing how EASY our meal was, and it quickly showed us who is the difficult one when we go out....but we sure do love you, Annie girl!!:):)

The Grands spoiled Annie with the TN cheerleader outfit below with new shoes and everything, and they also bought Henry a new outfit to replace the 24 month one that he had STILL been wearing since they gave it to him almost 3 yrs ago. He was SO, SO happy. TN orange is not my personal favorite color, but at least these kids make it look cute!:)

Ruby was looking SO big in her car seat on this day! She's really starting to fill out.

Hehe...I put her in the play baby stroller one time during nap. The kids had been begging to, but I always told them no while secretly wanting to do it myself. :) A perfect fit! She started crying like a second after I snapped this picture. Not cool, Mom.

Sweet baby face

Sister snuggle time-they look similar in this picture to me-except the hair color of course!

Annie took her baby swaddled baby to soccer one morning. Such a cute little  mama!

The Andrews had us over for a football game on Saturday and we put Ruby in Autumn's doll crib for just a second....not cool, Mom. Not cool.

Steven's bday was 9/20, but we started a few days early with his cake because somebody got a sweet tooth:)

Happy girl by the pool. We've had some beautiful late summer evenings to enjoy.

Henry got great at diving this summer!

Wrap me up! she says.

Then on Steven's actual bday we opened gift when he got home from work.

We got him this inflatable boat that he and Henry can take out on the lake when we go camping, etc. Had to try it out in the pool, of course!

Then we went to Mexican (hey, that's kind of my bday gig!). He got a dessert and they put the whipped cream on his nose and sang to him. This made Annie very upset. She did NOT like that he got "cake on his nose" and would not partake of any of the dessert. You can see in this pic she wants nothing to do with being anywhere near it.

Then we came back home for a Sugar Belle...the kids were so happy to celebrate with their Daddy.

Everyday after nap (for the big 2) I let them watch a show. It was suppose to be for me to get some things done and them to get a nice, easy wake up. But it has just turned into snuggle time for me and Annie and so I try to just embrace it. I still have vivid memories of doing this with Henry watching ELMO after nap while I was pregnant with her! It's a 2 yr old thing I guess:)

Oh, I love snuggling this little sweet.

One of my favorite things to do is right in my own backyard-watch the kids swim and enjoy being outside. I feel blessed!

Oh, these pics melt my heart! Ruby  loves her quick bath times and you can see in this pic her mouth is poised to "talk" to me.

She is such a happy girl for each bath time!

All three have been snuggled in this towel post bath as infants!

If Annie can't snuggle me post nap if Ruby is awake, she'll take the next best thing!

Steven finally took the kids to the Monrovia trail near our house that we'd seen so long ago and said we needed to visit but never did...it was great! They took be back a few days later and we walked the trail and checked out the pond.

It was great bc of the shade. Maggie came along and took a dip in the pond, too.

I just wanted to include this one to document Henry's art table. It is in the dinette area and it is where many an hour is spent for this kid. Here he is contemplating how he can use this newspaper for some creation...he is so focused sometimes!

Getting SO BIG

She was so proud to have her hair up in a towel like this!

Awe

Two and a HALF!

Annie turned 2.5 the day after Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe little Annie is TWO and a HALF! These past 6 months have flown by. When I look back at her pictures and post at 2 years old compared to now, I realize just how much she's grown and changed!! She is still our spunky, funny girl though! Below are a few details about her past 6 months. She is very difficult to photograph right now. I always feel like she's so cute in real life but her pics don't ever turn out very well-mostly because of the crazy, cheesy smiles she gives me. They look FAR from natural!

Our sweet two and a half year old girl!

-Probably the biggest change is that Annie is now a big sister! She has really done well with this transition. She is a very sweet sister, and after a few rough days at the very beginning, Annie has adjusted beautifully. I was honestly a little worried about her, but she has exceeded my expectations. She wants to be a helper to me and make Ruby comfortable. She is always wanting to give her toys, blankies, etc. She talks baby talk to her and comforts her. She does not like for her sister to cry, and as soon as Ruby starts the slightest fussing, she says, "Mommy, Ruby's sad. Feed her. (OR) Hold her. (OR) Get her." Annie and Ruby are together everyday in the  nursery room at school, and I see no jealousy there or at home. She was "mommy needy" at the beginning, and she still goes through this now, but I think this is part of being 2 more than that there's a baby around. Henry went through the same thing!

-Another big change is that she's potty trained! Well, I say she is. She still is having issues with going #2 on the potty. I won't go into details here, but we are working on it:) She wears a diaper at night and a pull-up at nap. She isn't always aware enough to tell us when she needs to go, but if we are diligent to take her regularly and watch for her cues, then she is successful! She also loves to dress herself and can do most of it by herself if I lay it all out correctly. She even puts her socks and slip on type shoes on herself.

-Some of her favorite toys are chalk, bubbles, and her baby dolls and doll push toys. She loves to wrap them in a little blankie and walk around with them and put them in the stroller/grocery cart and push them all over. She LOVES her own blankie and is currently kind of obsessed with it...it goes with her outside, to the potty, to dinner, on car rides, and to sleep with her...everywhere, really! There is wailing and gnashing of teeth when it has to be taken and washed. We do not allow her to take it to different places like school/church/stores, and so she lays her current baby or stuffed animal of choice in her car seat and lays her blankie on top of it. Then she is so excited to see it when she returns! When she wakes up from nap she loves to cuddle in my lap with her blankie and watch a show (recent faves are Daniel Tiger, Super Why, Minnie/Mickey Mouse, Doc McStuffins). She also loves "dance parties" in our living room and runs around crazy and dances to loud music. She is hilarious and I have several very entertaining videos of her (Hey, yo! Is one she sings a lot thanks to Uncle Jimmy). She also loves to clean and I can give her a wipe anytime and she will work and work on cleaning the house. It's actually pretty nice! 

I asked her to put her hands on her hips and this is what she did:)

-Annie learned to swim this summer. She went from basically nothing in May to fully swimming by the end of the summer. She can swim the length of the pool. She can put her head under and swim more correctly, but she mostly she kind of likes to bob around and peddle her feed to get where she wants to go. She can lean back onto her back and float, and she really likes to turn around in circles-ie "twirl". We are always watching her closely as she isn't THAT proficient yet, but she loves it and is pretty darn good for a 2 year old. She can only get better from here, and that is encouraging, esp since we have a pool in the backyard! She is a strong/sturdy girl, so I expect her to progress quickly as she does not tire easily in the water and has strong kicks/arm motions.

This one ended up being my favorite picture because she looks like a baby in it to me-something about her little cheeks. :)

-She can be very loving, and is always volunteering, "I love you SO much, mom." (or sometimes dad). She calls me "mom" a lot which I think is funny. It just sounds so grown rather than her calling me "mommy". As a matter of fact, she shortens a lot of things: diap for diaper, peep for peepee, pot for potty, nap for napkin, etc, etc, etc. She also makes a lot of words plural-moms, pops, makeups, etc. Anyway, when we put her to bed at night, we will say something like, "Night, night. I love you sweet girl." and she will respond with, "I love you, sweet mom". When we say-"you're a sweet girl, Annie" she will always tell us we are sweet, too. Steven will put her to bed and say night night, princess Annie. She will respond, night night princess Daddy.  :)

Working on showing me "2"

-She can also be sassy and has certain things we work on all the time like not using the words "bad" (ie-You're bad, Bubba) and "poopy". We have also had a piece of cardboard between her car seat and her brother's because she has a very hard time keeping her hands to herself and likes to poke, hit, etc. It is pretty funny looking, but it really has worked! We get SO many comments on people who see this.-people get a kick out of it! Annie has a very loud voice AND cry, so we work on controlling that, too. It will be a blessing to her later on in life I am sure:)

Silly girl making a silly face

-Annie is a morning person. She wakes up happy and alert right away. She comes out of her room "hot" we say....talking a mile a minute (loud) and ready for the day. She generally sleeps about a 12 hour night plus about a 2-3 hour nap (1 to 3 or 4) each day. She loves her bed and never resists sleep, especially since her blankie and lovie are involved.

-She's a good little eater when she wants to be. She loves salad (with ranch) and broccoli, yogurt, cheese,

and milk. She isn't a big meat eater besides chicken, but she loves all fruit and of course any type of carb like crackers, etc. She likes to dip things....ketchup, ranch, etc. There are times when she doesn't eat that great, but I don't really worry because she generally does, and I know she won't starve. She sometimes can be bribed by a treat after eating, but not always. Sometimes her stubborness wins out:) She has recently discovered gummies, and loves them along with anything sweet, really. She is her momma's girl after all!

-Random reminders we will remember:
Faif a be here? I wike faif!
so upset by boo boos-hurt for days and can't do things, dramatic about most things like that-hates characters like the chick-fil-a cow or any mascot. Shys away from dressed up princesses although acts intrigued. Hated the thought of getting her face painted at harvest parties or playing many of the games. Threw HUGE fit about getting in the ambulance for a tour. Traumatic.
asks-where it is? says little phrases like-"there we go!" and "now!" like I do
loves pink and purple
says "every guys" all the time! she means everybody:) she also says chicken for kitchen, check up for ketchup, kay-rowns for crayons, runny babbit for bunny rabbit...
Seven and I snuck ice cream in the car one time, and she saw and asked over and over if she could have some. When we told her no (she'd had plenty of sweets already), we could hear her in the back of the car say, "I don't like you so much". Haha!
colors intentionally-colors little scribble marks, knows her ABC's, counts to 10 or more.

We sure do love our sweet, spunky girl!! Can't believe she's two and a half!!!

4 months!

On November 9th, Ruby turned 4 months old. I took her 4 month picture, but then unfortunately I do not have it anymore. I actually dropped my phone in the toilet over Thanksgiving, so it is officially caput. I had luckily uploaded pics fairly recently, but that one had not been uploaded yet. By the time I got around to taking it again, she was basically at the 5 month mark, so I decided I would just use the pics from her 4 month photo shoot to post here. I'm so happy I have those! Unfortunately my "brain" (ie notes on my phone) was also lost, so what I had written for Ruby's 4th month will have to just be from my memory which is  not too good.

She is getting so big, and I am loving this age!! She is officially a "hip holding" baby which I am just more comfortable with. She had great head control, and she can be on my hip without flopping over. Of course she is super cuddly and so she isn't on my hip all that much, but I just mean this phase of her babyhood is more up my alley. Tiny babies make me nervous! Below are a few highlights about this month. It was a biggie!

-On 11/2, she rolled over twice from back to belly! She has done it lots of times since then, but that was the start of it. Then a few days later, she figured out how to go from her belly to her back. While on her play mat, she rotates all around and grabs her toys dangling above her. She is very active and a go-getter!

-On 11/21 she had her 4 month check up and was 26 inches and 98% in length, 14 pounds 12 ounces and 75% in weight. She got shots and was a trooper.

-She loves sitting in the Bumbo and it really opens up a new world to her. She can look all around and takes everything in. We also pulled out the exersaucer this  month! She's slowly discovered more and more on it, and it is a nice little station for her to hang out in for a while.

- She is staying awake more and more during the day, so I think she will be at the 2 nap a day mark soon. She still doesn't sleep through the night, though!! She's up at least once, sometimes twice. Sheesh! I am ready for this to stop, so hopefully soon! She does want a full feeding, though, when she wakes up so I think she really is hungry. She is not using me for just a paci or anything. She is such a content, happy baby in the day, though, that I have a hard time being too upset about it. She will get there one of these days! We will start baby food soon so maybe that will help.

-She's a great eater and it so sweet looking at me and cooing while she eats. She has "busy hands" and is constantly moving them in the air or rubbing my shirt as she eats. She has found her arms in general and it is so funny to see her raise them slowly up in the air like she's praising God.

-10/20 on Thursday we had a very eventful day. Without going into too much detail, we were leaving school and Ruby was in her carrier in the stroller but not strapped in bc I was going to feed her as soon as got to the car. We were near the top of 4 steps with each of the big kids on either side of the stroller. Someone asked me a question, and I turned around to answer. When I turned back, Ruby's stroller had gone down the steps, and she was face down on the concrete. Uggg. I picked her up and she was crying, but I knew I needed to go have her checked out. We went to the HSV ped ER, and I was shocked when the scan showed a scull fracture. Talk about a parents' worst nightmare! Because the ped surgeon was not going to be available in HSV over the weekend, they had us go via ambulance to Bham Childrens in case she needed emergency surgery due to too much swelling. Once we arrived, the neurosurgeon checked her out and she was observed, but since she had not had any seizures or excessive swelling, they said we did not have to stay. She had been poked and prodded so much and I knew it would just continue if we chose to be admitted, so we drove home in the wee hours of the morning and took Friday to just be with her at home and let her rest and recover (big kids were with grandparents). Talk about a LONG day. I hope to keep all the emails and texts for Ruby to read someday from our family and friends who were praying for her. I can only point to God's faithfulness in this situation-it could have been so, so much worse. We went to her neurologist appt on 11/18 and he said she looked great and was totally healed. Praise God! That event helped us re-focus some and do our best to focus on the blessing of family. Life is precious and we really take it for granted so often.

We love you so much, Ruby Jane. You are precious to us, and we are so glad you are in our lives. Can't wait to see what next month holds.

3 Months!

On October 9, Ruby turned 3 months old. She is really starting to fill out this month, especially her cheeks and little round face. Her hair also started to fall down and lighten, so that has made her look different, too! She constantly has her hand in her mouth and her shirt is soaked, so I assume she is teething. Her siblings both got their first tooth at 5 months, so we will see about her! She is constantly sucking on her bottom lip and we have to watch to make sure she doesn't choke on her own hand!

She's really holding her head up more and more now. One night I went to Kroger with her in the Ergo and got so many comments about how she was so alert and looking around. She was at attention!

Ruby's siblings were both sleeping through the night by this time....but she is not! She teased me with 2 nights in a row of sleeping through the night (8-6:30), but it didn't last. She sleeps 6-7 hour stretches then I feed her and she goes another 3-4 more. I can see she is starting to figure out a sleep schedule during the day (ie-2 big naps). She's starting to be  more awake in general, esp in the morning.

9/25 I left the 3 kids with a babysitter, so this was Ruby's first time being left with someone other than family. She did great and took a bottle.

Several people have commented on how her hair is red. It does have a reddish tone just like the other 2 kids did as well. I don't think it is going to be red for long, but it is funny that all 3 have gone through this phase. I think her hair  looks more like an old lady's dye job that is growing out. Light at the roots, dark at the tips, and kinda faded brown/red in the middle. Ha!

Nursing Ruby is so sweet right now. She makes all kinds of sweet noises and happy coos while she is eating and she wants to look at me. She smiles at me and looses her milk and it is such a good bonding time.

She turned 3 months old while we were at the beach, so these pics were taken right when we got back. She faced outward in her Ergo for the first time there. She's a fan! She also had her first sink bath at the beach. I hope to get a beach post done at some point! It was fun taking  her for the first time.

She's found her tongue!! You can see she's working on some rolls in this pic.

Oh, we love you sweet Ruby!! You are getting so big. We are so thankful for our easygoing, cuddly, cute baby girl!