4 Months

"For you see, each day I love you more
Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow."
-Rosemonde Gerard-

The depth of our love for this baby is impossible to describe. But simply put, Tyler & I agree that this has been the best 4 months of our lives. I'm just trying to figure out what on earth we ever did without her.

This Christmas

Christmas has come & gone faster than ever before. Our Christmas tree looks bare without all the presents, our Christmas music is turned off & now the task begins of putting everything away. Which is never as fun as getting it all out. When Christmas ends it always makes me a little sad, & a month just doesn't seem to be long enough for all of this celebrating. This year was our best one yet & I just love having a baby in my arms more than anything else in the world. I'm already dreaming of having more.

Tired baby who could hardly nap with all the excitement going on around her.

 This present we got for Ruby was a hit. We seriously could not believe how much she loved it. I can't even tell you how many times during the month of December I was tempted to unwrap it & just give it to her. As soon as we put her under it her eyes got so wide & she started kicking & squealing. Too cute for words.

This little girl was spoiled this Christmas by family & friends - no surprises there. And this cute little lion came in the mail today for her from a friend in California. It seems to have passed the taste test.

 I have a feeling she's going to love Christmas as much as me.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Here are some things that I'm loving these days: 

Fall has finally come to our front yard.

Tyler is on break from school until January & today is his last day of work for a week. I have been counting down the days until this happened & I can hardly believe it's here. I am a huge fan of mandatory shutdown at his work! I actually get to spend extended periods of time with him & we're going to work on projects around the house & probably mention about a million times a day how cute our baby is. And then we'll call each other to come quick because Ruby will be doing something so amazing & adorable like...smiling or cooing. Which we've seen hundreds of times but never seems to get old. I'm already in Heaven just thinking about this much needed break. 

Loving this angel baby who made me a mom & has the most kissable cheeks I've ever encountered. And I'm loving the continual reminder that people are incredibly kind & this world is still a very good place. We are still receiving presents for Ruby from people who have never even met her. Tyler's co-worker sent home the most thoughtful gift for Ruby - a pair of earrings for her in her birthstone & the sweetest note. I'm once again overwhelmed by how much love this little girl has brought into our lives. I can't wait until I can tell her all about it. And I'm loving that Christmas falls on a Sunday this year so that I'll have that much needed reminder about what all of this seasonal hoopla is really about. And to top it all off my entire family will be in town for Christmas. Can I get a Hallelujah?!

Zoo Lights

Last night we headed to Phoenix to see Zoo Lights with about every other person who lives in AZ. We had no idea so many people went to this. Ruby was really excited:

Or terrified? I felt like the mom from A Christmas Story putting so many layers & blankets on her she couldn't move. She got a great view of the parking lot & then fell fast asleep the moment we walked into the zoo. Unfortunate for her because lights are pretty much her favorite right now.

Jacob lost his 2 front teeth just in time for Christmas, and I even got to pull one of them. I looove pulling teeth.

And then Justin & I decided to race each other down the "Polar Slide" on tubes. We immediately regretted our decision after we payed $3 & stood in a line of mostly little kids for 15 minutes while Justin got his feet intentionally stepped on by a 10 year old bully. Our general consensus on Zoo Lights was that it was overrated & overcrowded & we were really glad our tickets were free. But I'll take overrated & overcrowded any day when we can be with that family of ours.

Happy December

How I love the month of December! This really is the best time of the year. The time of year that I start getting excited for in July. I am obsessed with Christmas & I try desperately to get Tyler on board with me each year. Not that he doesn't love it too, but he just won't get excited about having a Christmas tree up when it's mid-November. And he thinks it's a little crazy when he comes home from work & I'm listening to Christmas music when Halloween hasn't come yet. Despite my incessant Grinch comments to him he won't be swayed. But now we can both be excited because it's December. We went and saw the play White Christmas last weekend and it was wonderful. Do you love this movie as much as I do? I could watch it a million times & never get sick of it. The singing & the dancing & Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye...it's magical. I wish we would have taken a picture of us going to the show but it seems I only take pictures of a certain baby these days. It was very glamarous though, I was even carrying a purse instead of a diaper bag. Date nights have become so strange - while it's so great to have time with just the two of us, we both miss Ruby like crazy. Sometimes Tyler catches me staring at pictures of her on my cellphone. It's really kind of pathetic actually.

But can you blame me?! I mean, just look at that face! While I am completely aware that Ruby could care less about Christmas, this is still going to be the best one that we've ever had. I just knew that last Christmas would be the last one we would have with just the two of us. I was sitting on the couch the other night holding Ruby & looking at the Christmas tree, & suddenly it hit me all at once how much I've been given in this one tiny person. And you better believe I'm going to enjoy this one last year of having my Christmas tree perfect & untouched by little hands.

Dads

I have a distinct memory from my childhood of a time when my mom was out of town & my dad was helping me get ready for church. We couldn't find my church shoes so naturally he put me in my hot pink hightops & then proceeded to "fix" my hair. If only we had a picture of what I looked like that day, but the mental picture I have is quite clear & even at about 6 years of age I can remember showing up at church mortified. At times watching Tyler be a dad has reminded me of that moment in time with my dad. He loves Ruby like crazy but dad's just don't do things quite the same way mom's do. The other night he ran to the store with Ruby to grab a few things & carried her in with boxes of Similac on top of her. Something I never would have done & yet she had a look of indifference on her face:

On the rare occasion that Tyler has to get Ruby ready I have to admit that I feel a bit of anxiety. Will he get her bow on right? Will he do something crazy with her outfit? One never knows with a dad. But what I do know is that she's a lucky girl to have this guy in her life because he's as good as it gets.

He texted me yesterday morning and asked if I would send him some pictures of Ruby because he missed her. When I called him so he could hear Ruby laugh he put me on speakerphone & called over his co-workers to listen. Yes, he's that guy & he's proud to be. He loves to hold her & talk to her & still has a hard time sharing her. I love watching this boy be a dad. And I know Ruby will love having him as her dad. She is one lucky girl. One lucky girl who will continue to be tortured by prickly kisses, who will be riled up before bedtime & might someday have a few experiences like the one I had with my dad. That dad of mine who never missed a single soccer game (even the ones he got kicked out of...another story for another day...), who would come & find me if I was out past curfew, & who I saw cry for the first time when I came down the stairs dressed for Prom.

3 Months

Having a baby does interesting things to time. There seems to never be enough of it & no matter how much you want it to slow down, it seems to continually speed up. I can't believe 3 months have already flown by & I still can't believe how deliriously happy this little person makes us. This is the life we were meant for.

 Ruby is usually so smiley & I could barely get her to grin for these pictures. She is the happiest baby, loves to sleep, is laughing more & more, & is really figuring out how to control her hands. She is determined to become a thumb-sucker & much of our days consist of her figuring out how to stick her thumb in her mouth while she sucks on it like a maniac until I run over & pull it out & replace it with her pacifier. Now she's figured out how to suck on her hand & her pacifier at the same time. It's really loud which is awesome when we're in church & it gets really quiet. I guess we'll see who will have the last laugh. Happy 3 months baby girl!

Today

Today has been long. Today has been tiring. And it's only 4pm. My mom & I went shopping for much of the day yesterday while Ruby happily slept in her stroller & was getting more off schedule as each hour passed by. And today I am paying dearly for getting her off that schedule that makes her the happiest & best baby when it's strictly adhered to. I'm a firm believer in schedules but I'm also a firm believer in getting a good deal at Baby Gap when I can. So instead of going home we shopped & got Ruby some really cute clothes. I did however, stay far away from Pottery Barn Kids seeing as they now know Ruby by name - no joke. What's weird is that I haven't even bought anything from there but I must go in a lot more than I realized. Today has had some really good parts though.

As I was asking Ruby, "Why are you so fussy today?" she started laughing. Not just chuckling, but belly laughing. I about died it was so cute. She did it a few more times and as I ran for the video camera she stopped. She's done it a few more times but every time I try to get proof of it she stops. Tyler sat on speaker phone for quite some time listening to me act like an idiot to make our baby girl laugh. So yes, it's only 4 pm but I believe Ruby is back on schedule & I got her to laugh. Success.

Beauty is Pain

I've been going back & forth with how soon I wanted to have Ruby's ears pierced but I finally decided to do it while she's young so then she'll be used to it. I can still remember having mine done when I was 4 & almost fainting & then not wanting them to do the other ear. Yes, I was a drama queen. She just had her 2 month shots last Wednesday so it's kind of been a traumatic week for both of us. My sister-in-law Sarah came along to document & give moral support. She's a pro having had 2 girls that both have had their ears pierced at Ruby's age.

At this point I was feeling really really bad that I was doing this to her. Poor baby! Is it just me or does it look like the employee has an evil grin behind that curtain of hair?

Aren't those cheeks to die for?? I can't get enough of them!

These were taken after waking up from her nap. Happy as can be & totally back to her old self. I'm glad I did it & can't help but smile every time I look at her with her little earrings in. So cute!

Letters to Ruby

When Tyler & I were waiting to adopt I started writing letters to our future children. I thought it would be a special thing for our kids to be able to read about the things we thought about & felt as we waited for them. I was reading over some of these letters the other day & this line that I wrote reminded me of Ruby - "I suppose that is one of the many miracles of love - when you think it's impossible to be any more in love with a person than you already are, your heart surprises you & makes a little more room". I was talking about Tyler when I wrote it but it is exactly the way it's been with Ruby. In the midst of this crazy life we have these amazing moments where our heart kind of stops & reminds us that the very best things are often right in front of our faces.

This face is a frequent reminder of that truth. Any time I have to leave her with someone I drive far too fast to go pick her up & even my worst days with her are far better than my best days without her.

Halloween 2011

It's no secret that Tyler & I are big on Halloween & this year we decided to go as Homer & Marge Simpson. Tyler wanted to shave his head completely bald for the occasion but thank heavens he settled for a really short buzz. We definitely learned what kind of yellow face paint not to buy & won't be making that mistake again.

By far the best part of Halloween was dressing Ruby up in her costume. She was the cutest mermaid you've ever seen.

Don't be fooled by Ruby's expression, she's loving every minute of it.

My other mermaid. Precious, I know.