Lots of Ruby time!
All gussied up for church
We even managed to get a family picture, I think this is the third picture of the three of us together, we've got to get better about family pictures.
Thanks mom and dad for a great weekend! Love you.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Grandparent visit!
Ruby is one loved little girl. Andy and I are pretty obsessed with just about everything she does, we have amazing friends that she gets loving from regularly, but the icing on the big cherry on top of the ice cream sundae of love that is her life is her grandparents. Recently my parents took the short little 8 hour drive down to visit us and we had an awesome weekend. We didn't do anything too crazy, mostly just sit around and talk about Ruby's awesomeness.
Lots of Ruby time!
All gussied up for church
We even managed to get a family picture, I think this is the third picture of the three of us together, we've got to get better about family pictures.
Thanks mom and dad for a great weekend! Love you.
Lots of Ruby time!
All gussied up for church
We even managed to get a family picture, I think this is the third picture of the three of us together, we've got to get better about family pictures.
Thanks mom and dad for a great weekend! Love you.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
4 Months!
Does every single parent wake up and wonder how it is possible that their kid got so grown up like every single day? I sure do. We bought a digital video camera a few weeks ago and I keep telling Andy that is we just set it up and film her overnight I'm pretty sure if we watched it in fast forward we could see little elves come in a stretch her out (that's how kids grow right?). What I'm getting at, in a very weird way, is she is ginormous. Okay, I mean she's still a baby and tiny and cute, but changing so very much.
Alright, here are some 4 month Ruby facts:
Weight: 13lbs 12oz (55th percentile)
Height: 24 1/2 inches (62 percentile)
-She rolls over! Front to back and back to front! This is one of those things that seems pretty lame if you don't have a kid but over the past few weeks Andy and I have spend many a night just sitting on the floor in hopes of seeing the miraculous event that is our baby rolling over.
-Ruby is a stand up kind of girl. Literally. She wants to be "standing up" most of the time. She locks her legs and gets fussy if you try to lay her on her back too much.
-She has found her thumb finally. She's been searching for it for awhile but low and behold that pesky thumb came out of hiding and she is loving it. I'm not too worried about it because well, I got bigger fish to fry. If it helps calm her down then I'm a fan of it. Five years from now I may have a different opinions but for now...ehhh...
-I bit myself in the butt last time bragging about her sleep. We are really struggling with sleeping these days. She just wants to be up and around and playing all the time. Aren't babies suppose to need a lot of sleep? I call it a good day if she sleeps for more that 2 hours total for naps (where as before she was doing at least 2-3 long naps each day). I have read so much about all the different sleep training methods and am really struggling with how to handle it. I think she is still too young for any kind of sleep training but also don't want to form bad habits that are going to be harder to break later on. Right now we are still doing middle of the night feedings but only if it's been 4+hours since she's eaten, if it hasn't then we just pat or rock her back to sleep. She is waking up at least every 2 hours. It's been rough.
Happy little girl
Not many 4 month olds have pony tails...
(this picture kills me- she looks like a freakin toddler!)
Rocking the heck out of her first real pair of jeans. They have a little fly and everything- Sqeeee!
Alright, here are some 4 month Ruby facts:
Weight: 13lbs 12oz (55th percentile)
Height: 24 1/2 inches (62 percentile)
-She rolls over! Front to back and back to front! This is one of those things that seems pretty lame if you don't have a kid but over the past few weeks Andy and I have spend many a night just sitting on the floor in hopes of seeing the miraculous event that is our baby rolling over.
-Ruby is a stand up kind of girl. Literally. She wants to be "standing up" most of the time. She locks her legs and gets fussy if you try to lay her on her back too much.
-She has found her thumb finally. She's been searching for it for awhile but low and behold that pesky thumb came out of hiding and she is loving it. I'm not too worried about it because well, I got bigger fish to fry. If it helps calm her down then I'm a fan of it. Five years from now I may have a different opinions but for now...ehhh...
-I bit myself in the butt last time bragging about her sleep. We are really struggling with sleeping these days. She just wants to be up and around and playing all the time. Aren't babies suppose to need a lot of sleep? I call it a good day if she sleeps for more that 2 hours total for naps (where as before she was doing at least 2-3 long naps each day). I have read so much about all the different sleep training methods and am really struggling with how to handle it. I think she is still too young for any kind of sleep training but also don't want to form bad habits that are going to be harder to break later on. Right now we are still doing middle of the night feedings but only if it's been 4+hours since she's eaten, if it hasn't then we just pat or rock her back to sleep. She is waking up at least every 2 hours. It's been rough.
Happy little girl
Not many 4 month olds have pony tails...
(this picture kills me- she looks like a freakin toddler!)
Rocking the heck out of her first real pair of jeans. They have a little fly and everything- Sqeeee!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Cloth diapers- they aren't gross
I promise. I mean poop is kinda gross (note that I said kinda- it's true once you become a mom bodily fluids ain't nothin but a thang anymore) but poop is part of the package deal with a baby apparently. I'm going to try to negotiate better with the next kid and see if I can get out of the whole cleaning poop from crevices every day. I'm suppose to be convincing you cloth diapers AREN'T that bad. Crevice cleaning talk isn't a good start...let me start over...
So, we've been doing cloth since Ruby was about 2 1/2 months old, would of done it sooner but the whole being a one handed mom thing messed me up for a few weeks so we just did disposable for a bit.
I was going to do a pros/cons list but I don't really have any cons. Okay I kinda have one but I secretly think it's cute so I'm not going to count it. They are really bulky. They should become less bulky because I have the one size diapers so to make a diaper that fits a newborn to 3 years old it's pretty bulky in the begining. She doesn't seem uncomfortable with it at all, just make some of her snug clothing look funny. My little Fred Murtz (heck yes I just made an I Love Lucy reference!)
(girlfriend knows how to strike a pose that's for sure)
We are also doing resuable wipes with homemade solution. I initially didn't think we would do this but tried it and it really isn't much work so we've stuck with it. Once a week or so I mix together water, olive oil, aloe vera, and castille soap in a squirt bottle and we just squirt it on some flannel wipes I sewed together. I just throw them in with her diapers to be washed. They work really well and she hasn't had any diaper rash ever.
As I mentioned earlier we went with one size diapers, cloth diapers are expensive and I didn't want to buy a bunch of different sizes. After much research and ultimately just choosing what my friend Chez was using, since it was working well for her. I went with the Grovia All in Two diapers. They have an outer shell that has lots of snaps so you can make the waist and leg holes as large or small as you need. Then there is what they call a soaker pad that you change when Ruby does her thang. A lot of the cloth diapers you have to wash the entire diaper each time (called all-in-ones) but with these most of the time you are just changing out the pad and using the same shell. Exception being when she drops a deuce, you definitely want to change the whole thing. I mostly just wrote that last sentence so I could say drop a deuce because it makes me laugh. I'm so not mature enough to be a parent...
I mostly did cloth diapers for the money saving aspects and a little for the environmental concerns about diapers and wipes. I thought it would be a kind of a pain but was willing to do it. I am happy to report that it really isn't much work. I took pictures to prove it!
Step 1) Get yourself one happy baby with some dirty breeches
Step 2) Make sure and give the baby lots of tummy zerberts and soak up that beautiful baby laughter (this step is optional but highly recommended)
Step 3) Take diaper off (is it all babies or just mine that take a delight and somehow have such skill to be able to pee like a racehorse the 3 seconds I have her diaper off, it's amazing really) and replace soaker pad with fresh one
Step 4) Snap that baby back on. Ruby wanted to model how cute she/the diapers are
Step 5) Put soaker pad in wet bag (fancy name for zippered, water proof bag you keep till you have a load for laundry)
Step 6) Throw them in the washer, the only thing I do special is put my washer on a 2nd rinse cycle. I machine dry the pads and hang dry the diaper shell so they last longer.
That's it. Easy peasy. Not hard and not gross. So stop giving me the snarled lip when I say we are cloth diapering...just kidding...kind of...
So, we've been doing cloth since Ruby was about 2 1/2 months old, would of done it sooner but the whole being a one handed mom thing messed me up for a few weeks so we just did disposable for a bit.
I was going to do a pros/cons list but I don't really have any cons. Okay I kinda have one but I secretly think it's cute so I'm not going to count it. They are really bulky. They should become less bulky because I have the one size diapers so to make a diaper that fits a newborn to 3 years old it's pretty bulky in the begining. She doesn't seem uncomfortable with it at all, just make some of her snug clothing look funny. My little Fred Murtz (heck yes I just made an I Love Lucy reference!)
(girlfriend knows how to strike a pose that's for sure)
We are also doing resuable wipes with homemade solution. I initially didn't think we would do this but tried it and it really isn't much work so we've stuck with it. Once a week or so I mix together water, olive oil, aloe vera, and castille soap in a squirt bottle and we just squirt it on some flannel wipes I sewed together. I just throw them in with her diapers to be washed. They work really well and she hasn't had any diaper rash ever.
As I mentioned earlier we went with one size diapers, cloth diapers are expensive and I didn't want to buy a bunch of different sizes. After much research and ultimately just choosing what my friend Chez was using, since it was working well for her. I went with the Grovia All in Two diapers. They have an outer shell that has lots of snaps so you can make the waist and leg holes as large or small as you need. Then there is what they call a soaker pad that you change when Ruby does her thang. A lot of the cloth diapers you have to wash the entire diaper each time (called all-in-ones) but with these most of the time you are just changing out the pad and using the same shell. Exception being when she drops a deuce, you definitely want to change the whole thing. I mostly just wrote that last sentence so I could say drop a deuce because it makes me laugh. I'm so not mature enough to be a parent...
I mostly did cloth diapers for the money saving aspects and a little for the environmental concerns about diapers and wipes. I thought it would be a kind of a pain but was willing to do it. I am happy to report that it really isn't much work. I took pictures to prove it!
Step 1) Get yourself one happy baby with some dirty breeches
Step 2) Make sure and give the baby lots of tummy zerberts and soak up that beautiful baby laughter (this step is optional but highly recommended)
Step 3) Take diaper off (is it all babies or just mine that take a delight and somehow have such skill to be able to pee like a racehorse the 3 seconds I have her diaper off, it's amazing really) and replace soaker pad with fresh one
Step 4) Snap that baby back on. Ruby wanted to model how cute she/the diapers are
Step 5) Put soaker pad in wet bag (fancy name for zippered, water proof bag you keep till you have a load for laundry)
Step 6) Throw them in the washer, the only thing I do special is put my washer on a 2nd rinse cycle. I machine dry the pads and hang dry the diaper shell so they last longer.
That's it. Easy peasy. Not hard and not gross. So stop giving me the snarled lip when I say we are cloth diapering...just kidding...kind of...
Friday, January 6, 2012
Searching for words...
I have really struggled with blogging about Ruby. To have these little lame monthly updates and post some cute pictures of her every so often just doesn't seem to do justice to what is happening in our lives. Now I know even with me attempting to capture it here I still won't be able to express what becoming parents has done to Andy and I but I'm going to try.
We are in love. To say we adore her is putting it lightly. When we dreamed about becoming parents we thought about what she would look like and the fun milestones of her first words and all that fun stuff. What I didn't anticipate is that every day would be so special.
Now I knew I would love my child. I knew Andy and I would take care of our babies and we would have lots of fun together and that being a parent would be special. What I didn't know, and don't think I could of until I was a parent, is just how deep and strong that love is. That even after sleepless night after sleepless night,a flash of that gummy little smile at 4am can make me happier than anything in this world can.
Watching Andy become a father has been such a precious blessing as well. Just when I thought I couldn't possibly love him anymore, along comes Ruby and wow. It actually feels like my heart is melting seeing them two of them interact. The first time Ruby laughed it was so special not just for that reason but until the day I die I will remember how Andy's face lit up. He was so just so happy. It has to be one of my favorite memories of us together.
Now let me take a second here to be real. These past three months have been the most physically draining, emotionally challenging, and plain old exhausting months of my life. Both taking care of a newborn and figuring out how to handle the new (and might I say the most important) role in my life has been tough. Trying to find balance while my life revolves around her seems impossible sometimes. It's strange how something can be so incredibly amazing and yet so difficult at the same time.
I know this is a bit of a ramble, I just wanted to declare to the world that being Ruby's mom is a blessing far greater than I deserve and she has changed us in every way for the better. Recently I have become a little (okay, a lot) crazy for my pregnant friends, not just because I'm glad to have more babies (which I SO am!) but for them to get to experience the joy ride that is having a baby. I have tried to express to them (and got a little choked up one Sunday at church talking to a girl I'm not super close with about how amazing being a mom is- pretty sure she thinks I'm crazy now, oh well, better she find out now than later ;) ) what every single parents knows but you just can't explain it. I guess I need to just smile and say "just wait and see" like several of my mom friends did to me cause this kind of love doesn't have words.
We are in love. To say we adore her is putting it lightly. When we dreamed about becoming parents we thought about what she would look like and the fun milestones of her first words and all that fun stuff. What I didn't anticipate is that every day would be so special.
Now I knew I would love my child. I knew Andy and I would take care of our babies and we would have lots of fun together and that being a parent would be special. What I didn't know, and don't think I could of until I was a parent, is just how deep and strong that love is. That even after sleepless night after sleepless night,a flash of that gummy little smile at 4am can make me happier than anything in this world can.
Watching Andy become a father has been such a precious blessing as well. Just when I thought I couldn't possibly love him anymore, along comes Ruby and wow. It actually feels like my heart is melting seeing them two of them interact. The first time Ruby laughed it was so special not just for that reason but until the day I die I will remember how Andy's face lit up. He was so just so happy. It has to be one of my favorite memories of us together.
Now let me take a second here to be real. These past three months have been the most physically draining, emotionally challenging, and plain old exhausting months of my life. Both taking care of a newborn and figuring out how to handle the new (and might I say the most important) role in my life has been tough. Trying to find balance while my life revolves around her seems impossible sometimes. It's strange how something can be so incredibly amazing and yet so difficult at the same time.
I know this is a bit of a ramble, I just wanted to declare to the world that being Ruby's mom is a blessing far greater than I deserve and she has changed us in every way for the better. Recently I have become a little (okay, a lot) crazy for my pregnant friends, not just because I'm glad to have more babies (which I SO am!) but for them to get to experience the joy ride that is having a baby. I have tried to express to them (and got a little choked up one Sunday at church talking to a girl I'm not super close with about how amazing being a mom is- pretty sure she thinks I'm crazy now, oh well, better she find out now than later ;) ) what every single parents knows but you just can't explain it. I guess I need to just smile and say "just wait and see" like several of my mom friends did to me cause this kind of love doesn't have words.
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