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.