csa day & I'm moving!

The blog is moving homes. Come visit my new blog and change your bookmarks!

Here's what we got today:
lettuce
sungold tomatoes (I think they're gone already, they were sooooo good)
Romano beans
basil
walla walla onion (we traded it for an extra bunch of basil)
broccoli
garlic
summer squash
strawberries

yay & yum

photo by DavidDennis

yay: The Senate (finally) passed a bill to ban toxins in our kids' toys. It will make the US have the strictest policy on lead in toys and also bans phthalates, which cause early puberty, birth defects and are linked to higher rates of cancer. Also, W said he'll sign the bill. At least he's going to do something right! (Couldn't resist)


photo stolen from marthastewart.com
yum: I made these cookies this week, which were so delicious. I used nutella in the middle instead of chocolate. This was even better, I think.

picnic in the park

Its August now and I'm starting to feel like summer is coming to a close before we know it and we have to hurry up and take advantage of the nice, sunny, warm weather while we have it. Last weekend, we hiked a bit and had a picnic at the top of the little hill. I'm hoping to picnic again at a different park this weekend.

Ruby is wearing our favorite sun hat. Brianne & Eddie gave it to her and it stays on! There's a toggle strap, so we can cinch it up close to her chin. And its cute and has great sun protection with the big brim.

Leave everything as it is in fundamental simplicity, and clarity will arise by itself. Only by doing nothing will you do all there is to be done.
(I'm not sure who said this - sorry!)

How do you celebrate summer?

csa day

photo by 427

Yesterday was our CSA day. (Which is also a green tip - buy local, organic food!)
We got:
grape tomatoes
leeks
German butterball potatoes
green romano beans
swiss chard
strawberries
blueberries

I'm making a berry smoothie today and tonight for dinner, we'll saute the beans with some tomatoes to eat with our fish. I've never eaten Romano beans before. Have you? Any tips for them or any of the other foods?

Thanks for all the comments about your green tips - keep them coming!

summer

Our city offers free concerts 2 nights a week at a park on the river. When my mom was here, John & I went out to see part of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy play. I love outdoor concerts, and love watching everyone dance. John & I hung out on our blanket & he drank a margarita that he made & brought with him.

Last week, Ruby took a late nap, so we took her to the beginning of Tower of Power's show. She LOVED it. There were little girls dancing near us that Ruby clapped for, babies to chase around, snacks on a blanket & music for her to dance to.

The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things...the trivial pleasures like cooking, one's home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard.

Barbara Pym

green McQueen

Lately I've been getting quite a few emails from friends and family who are looking for some ideas about conserving more resources/living more simply/becoming "greener". I thought I'd post some of the things we do on the blog in the hopes that we can all share more ideas about these things. John and I are feeling a bit stuck in some areas. It seems that some of the changes we can make in our lives cost quite a bit of money and we know eventually it will pay off (money-wise) and its important for the planet, we have to sustain our family financially as well. (No replacing our washing machine that works well with a front-loader.) Anyway, we can get some new ideas from your comments, and maybe you can get some new ideas as well.


It seems odd in wet western Oregon that we need to think about conserving water outdoors, but we get little to no rain in the summers - just when we're trying to raise veggies in the garden. One way we're trying to conserve water is by installing a drip line that we got from dripworks.

Also, we try to gather as much water as we can that would normally go down the drain and water our plants with that. It's not much, (until we can legally collect our gray water) but its something. For example, we eat oatmeal almost every morning and we fill the empty pot with water to soak until we can wash the dishes. That water gets dumped on the apple tree. The water that our tofu swims in until we eat it gets dumped as well.

someone take these away

John & I are really trying to complete our first cosmetic home project. We're stripping the wallpaper in our bedroom. But things keep getting in our way. Like, the fact that we only have a short time to work on it after Ruby falls asleep at night, we've cleaned up dinner, and before we pass out. A couple nights ago, we were ready to work, and then, we had this beautiful summer night calling us outside. How many of these do we get, right?

We have these friends that have a baby Ruby's age and somehow we've gotten into a symbiotic relationship with them. It's wonderful. We trade baby-siting occasionally, we share our CSA with them, they brew beer and give us some each time, we share our baked treats. It's a win-win. But we hit the jackpot a few days ago. We got a bunch of homemade caramel. This really shouldn't even have the same name as the rock-hard stuff you buy in the grocery store. This is creamy and light and you don't feel like you're going to have to visit the dentist when you eat it. And then I figured out how to make it even better:



Yes, that's right. Its sandwiched between some dark chocolate. Really, how were we supposed to scrape wallpaper when we could be in the hammock eating this? How?

On a completely unrelated note, I discovered a new blog: Simple Mom. I found it here. From what I can tell so far, I love it. Its beautiful and I wish I knew about it before. But you should visit it soon because Simple Mom is giving away The Creative Family that I wrote about awhile ago. Visit here to enter by Aug. 1st.

csa day

We have:
salad mix
red onion
3 lbs of beefsteak tomatoes (wish you were here, Mom!)
2 1/2 lbs. summer squash
basil
garlic
blackberries
strawberries

We're considering trying to can some of the tomatoes. Any advice? Or resources? I think we'll have some pesto pasta with roasted summer squash too. Maybe a smoothie with the fruit.

photo by Muffet

harvest moon

Last night, after Ruby was asleep, John and I went out to our little garden to gather some food. These are the carrots we harvested: about half of what is ready. I love the way carrots look right after they've been picked - bright green, sturdy tops, lots of little hairs all over them, peeking out through the soil stuck to them.

The Austrian Crescent potatoes were beautiful, though not so much in the pictures we took. I was planning to mash them with the carrots for dinner tonight, but I decided I couldn't because their shapes were too interesting. It would really be a shame to mash them.

More than anything, though, I love the time out in the garden, working side-by-side with John, even if only for a moment, getting our hands dirty. I love our conversation about the food, especially the surprising shapes. "I've never seen legs on a carrot like that." "This potato looks like a pear." "This one like a crookneck squash."

guest post

My mom's turn to post now about her time here with Ruby. This dress that Ruby is wearing in the picture...yeah...my mom MADE it. I know. It's incredible. She took a class to learn how to smock and this is her first project! But I shouldn't really be surprised - she did make my wedding gown, which was gorgeous.
On to the post:

It is so hard to write this-the keys seem all blurry-I'm crying already Bri. I'm leaving in the morning, and will miss this wonderful family SO much. I've had a wonderful stay with Megan, John, and Ruby. I love waking up to Ruby's chatting and waving when I go in to get her up, and she doesn't stop until she is asleep. She gives lots of kisses, signs so much, understands even more, loves the garbage truck and mailman, kids, the beach, animals, swings, and is one happy and smart toddler. It is hard to say good-bye.

I want...

peach & prosecco....oh that looks so delicious, doesn't it? lourdes??
the image is from epicurious

Here's a guest post from my dad who recently went back to Florida:

I had a great time enjoying our dear little Ruby and her parents. Ruby is so full of personality and a delight to be with and around. She is so happy and incredibly bright with all her ASL [American Sign Language] hand signals to communicate.
I attribute Ruby's happiness and brightness to the support, attention and, mostly, love that Megan and John provide her. She is a lucky girl and I am a lucky parent, in-law and grandfather. It was hard for me to leave:-(.

csa day

lettuce
sungold cherry tomatoes
gold roma tomatoes
sweet onion
yukon gold potatoes
red raspberries
cherries

photo by bensonkua

yes we can

I am a member of Moms Rising and found out through them about this interview with Obama. He talks, among other things, about women and some economic issues relating to women that are right on. That part starts at 2:57 minutes in to the talk.

fun way to waste some time

I found this link and immediately was stopped in my tracks for several minutes. Its quite addicting. I found it at How About Orange.

vacation

Ruby packed herself in the suitcase.


She LOVED the beach. We visited a couple different beaches - sandy & rocky and she loved them both. We also went to the aquarium where she got to watch the seals & sea lions swim underwater. Besides the teething at night (ugh) we had a great time in Newport.

sorry, mama

Ruby got in trouble yesterday. I know, its hard to believe how this sweet little face could, but its true. She had something that I wanted and I kept asking her to give it to me, but she wouldn't. I put my hand on it and she bit me. Very much on purpose too. I told her "no biting" and she gave up the thing I wanted. She cried and went over to John for some comfort. He picked her up and told her no biting also. Then they went to go read a book. He talked with Ruby about biting and said she needed to make me feel better. I didn't know this was happening, but just happened to walk in the room. So John brought Ruby to me and said, "Say you're sorry." She leaned over to me to hold her and gave me a HUGE tight hug. So cute!

Its been really, really hot here the past few days. We're heading to the coast (not soon enough) to meet my parents there for a few days. We'll have more pictures - some more great ones taken with my dad's awesome camera like the one above.

the book book

Remember the book book I got awhile back? Well, I finally sat down and read it. It made me want to be Italian, or at least French, an art teacher and a kid again all wrapped into one short little book. I LOVE it. Its written for children to teach them how to make their own books, from the illustrations, to the writing, to the physical building of a book. Lourdes, you would really like this book, I think. Oh, actually it starts off by teaching you how to "massage your imagination". This is probably the most crucial part for me. I don't really consider myself a creative person. at all. I wish I was. But that side of me was kind of shut down in third grade when I was in art class. My teacher commented on my beautiful painting & asked if she could show it to the class after we were done painting. I said yes. After several more minutes, she stopped the class to show a couple of our paintings off, came over to me to take my painting to hold up & said, "You ruined it!" In front of everyone. Horrible. So I decided then and there that I was not artistic and closed off any hope of becoming artsy. Its just recently, pretty much since I had Ruby, that I've decided I can be creative and I'm trying to nurture that side again.

Anyway, this is a book that may help me out with that, hopefully will be a good resource for Ruby, but at the very least, will be on the shelf for her to discover when the time is right for her.

vote!

My Dad is running for re-election as a school board member in Seminole County, FL. You can check out his site here. He has been a member for one term and really enjoyed it along with making some positive changes for the schools there. The election is August 26th, but I know you want to make an informed decision, (and spread the word to your friends & family that can vote) and vote early! It is expected that the voter turn-out will be small for this election so literally, every vote will count. Go check him out and let me know if you have questions about him.


print by Nikki McClure, photo from buyolympia.com

csa day

photo by La tartine gourmande

Here's this week's box:
lettuce
salad mix
spinach
beefsteak tomatoes
red onion
basil
garlic
celery
golden raspberries
red raspberries

We will definitely by making pesto. We have a crop of cilantro begging to be harvested outside, so I think we'll be making some salsa for tonights burritos as well. We've been waiting so long for fresh salsa!!

John was working from home this afternoon, so when Ruby napped, I went to get the CSA myself. There is no reason for the italics other than for me - I sometimes forget there is a myself. Okay, back to the story. So, being by myself, I could stop and have a lengthy conversation with the next door neighbor of the CSA drop house. She has a beautiful garden in front of her Queen Anne house built in the 1880s. I commented on her garden and we chatted for quite awhile. She gave me some local history - her house was moved in 1910! and lots of gardening advice. Oh, and an invitation to stop by when I pick up my food again for more gardening discussions. Did I really need another reason to love my CSA? No. But getting to know the community and have a conversation piece is a lovely one.

more treats

Here are the treats I made for John on Father's Day. Here's the recipe and where I stole the photo. They were really yummy. We shared them with friends and froze half of them. They were really good warm with ice cream. I think next time I make them I would melt the caramel & drizzle it on top, its a bit chewy for me and I have some paranoia about losing my teeth in a bite of it.

This weekend we met B & E in Portland and visited Saint Cupcake. Oh, so yummy.

Eddie cuddling with Ruby as she tries to sneak cupcake. But she was content with her oatios & blueberries. phew.

John took both of these pictures. We're in front of a wall that tells the story of Saint Cupcake. Maybe I can grow up to be like Saint Cupcake someday. hmmm...

older by the minute

here's ruby showing off some of her new skills (climbing into the rocking chair by herself) -J

handmade birthday

I've been meaning to post some pictures of some of the handmade gifts Ruby got for her birthday. She is so loved! She got really spoiled on her special day and I really appreciate all the thoughtfulness in her gifts. Here are just some of them...

a hat I knit from this book



"A Dream Come True" rosebush from Nana & Papa



hand-embroidered dress from Vietnam - thanks Tina!



this huge octopus was made so fast by Nana



adorable dress from Pasquale

csa day

This is our 3rd summer getting a CSA (community supported agriculture). We LOVE living in a place where this is possible. The deal is, we pay the farmer up front at the beginning of the season, and get fresh - sometimes harvested that morning produce once a week. This year we switched farms because our old farm didn't have a drop in our new town. So our new farm is Denison and the CSA lasts half the year! We've had a really late start to the growing season this year with really strange weather, but we've been pleased with our produce so far. It's technically a bit of a gamble - we pay the money, but if there is crazy weather and there's no harvest, we're out the money. But its pretty low-risk.

Anyway, some of you ask what we get in our basket, so I've decided to post it here. If you don't care, sorry. And I swear (Floridians), I'm not trying to make you jealous, maybe just giving you a bit of encouragement to move closer to us - or at least somewhere with some food you can eat grown nearby!

Also, if you have any great ideas about how to enjoy the food we're getting, post them in the comments so we can all learn from it.



Here's this week's harvest:
a HUGE head of lettuce
spinach
cucumbers
grape tomatoes
spring tomato
raspberries
radishes
shelling peas
new potatoes

just keep swimming

Yesterday we went to a friend's house who had a kiddie pool set up. This is what happened:
Hmmm...what have we here?

I don't like this, take me out!

Let me try again with Mama.

I HATE THIS!!!

Today we went to the wading pool at one of our neighborhood parks to try again.

What are you talking about, I love the pool!

5 years

John came home early Saturday morning from Kentucky. He was delayed (again), but still made it home in time for our 5th anniversary. I made these cookies:

which filled John's request of something with chocolate, something gooey, and something decadent.
We also got to go out on a date! By ourselves! A friend came over to stay with Ruby after we put her to bed for the night & John & I rode our bikes to a new Italian restaurant downtown and then walked down to the river after we ate.
It wasn't a trip to Paris, like we dreamed of for our 5th anniversary, but it was a pretty good night, all the same.

(photo stolen from marthastewart.com)

pigtails!!

Ruby's hair is finally long enough for a couple cute little curly pigtails.

She's very mad at me in this picture because I wouldn't give her the camera. I'm a very mean mama. She's also showing off all her 8 teeth (some just poked through so they're hard to see) and the swollen spots for the other two that are working on coming.

I've been meaning to show you the father's day book that Ruby gave John. You can see a picture of it on his blog. They both think its hysterical. I'm just so proud that I found a great picture of Flight of the Conchords that I could use.

forgetter bug

When I was writing my last post about Ruby growing up, there was one other thing that she did that meant she was not a baby anymore, but I couldn't remember it...until today. She's in her big car seat now. She faces forward and everything. She looks like a little girl in the rearview mirror.



Today I read this story about the person in FL who lost their arm to an alligator. It reminded me of the top ten list John & I made up about natural ways you can die in Florida. Here's the part of the list I can remember. The rest will come later, I'm sure.
1. alligator
2. snakes, my personal favorite
3. lightning
4. sharks
5. hurricanes
6. tornadoes
7. car wrecks, another one near and dear to my heart
8. rip currents
9. wild fires

John, help me out!

No more baby

I'm a little sad because Ruby can no longer be mistaken for a baby. She walks around the house all day long (even while reading!), can ride around in the bike trailer (thanks Grandma & Gramps), knows a crapload of signs and understands a ridiculous amount of what we're saying and has little toddler melt-downs where she goes limp & throws her head back. She spends a good part of her day pushing this cute little pink chair (thanks Nana & Papa) around the house really fast.
Its all so exciting to watch, but its hard to believe that our baby is no longer a baby.
Thanks for all the comments lately - I love getting them all!

summery

Yesterday we were heading out of town to visit friends and John dropped me off to shop by myself. I spent an hour or so wandering around the antique shops and found a few great things that I'll show off another time - a vintage suitcase for Ruby to store dress-up clothes someday, some gifts for family and some cute little drinking glasses. John & Ruby picked up this massive load of strawberries from our friends whose garden is over-producing, apparently.

I think we'll make strawberry sorbet.
You Floridians will appreciate this: I also heard several times yesterday, people complaining about how muggy it was. ha! It was in the high 70s, rained a bit off an on, was overcast & the humidity was probably 60% or so. Muggy!
Last night was our second Meet Your Maker show. We had lots of big people show up - someone from the Eugene Weekly, the owner of Deluxe - a great shop in Eugene, and a director from a design festival in San Francisco. I sat between Amy & Claire, two talented and beautiful people, and talked of motherhood. It was a good night.

we're famous!

Meet Your Maker puts an ad out in the Eugene Weekly before each show. I picked it up today to check it out and found this write up about us in there!

craft show

Meet Your Maker is happening this Saturday at Midtown Marketplace in Eugene again. We're going raffle off a Meet Your Maker tote bag full of donations from the vendors - really great stuff. Part of the money from the raffle will pay for a low income artist/crafter to have a spot at a future show.
Come by and see us and tell your friends!

Happy Father's Day!

When John & I were dating, we talked a lot about kids, in the hypothetical sense. We were both teachers for awhile & always finding ourselves in situations with kids, asking ourselves, "What would we do if this was our kid?" Of course, as much as we talked about parenting, it can only prepare us so much for the real thing. I knew then that John would be a wonderful father. He is so loving, patient, generous & thoughtful. But he has amazed me this past year. I have learned so much from watching him with Ruby and I have loved parenting with him. He has so much love for her and me that he accepts any thing that comes up with either of us easily.

When Ruby was a newborn, he would help us through the nights, by changing her diaper, helping her latch on to nurse (it seems so strange now that Ruby and I ever had to learn how to do that!), rocking & singing her to sleep when I couldn't nurse anymore or was to exhausted to hold her - all this even though he was somehow working on his thesis at the time.

Now, when I have my moments of crankiness & cabin fever when the sun seemed gone forever, John quietly would play with Ruby & encourage me out the door or make me a cup of tea.

Parenthood has changed our marriage a lot, in ways that I didn't anticipate, but John remains a devoted, respectful, funny partner through all of it. I couldn't ask for a better husband for myself or father for Ruby.

Happy Father's Day, John & to all the daddies & grandpas out there!

Last Father's Day

All of a sudden, Ruby is heading toward toddler-hood. She is so funny lately, but has also thrown a couple minor tantrums, and this kid is LOUD! She's started dancing, throwing food, scratching and making us laugh constantly. We didn't think the terrible twos started until 18 months or so, we're a little nervous. And I've realized that I rarely see people with toddlers out anywhere. They must keep them in hiding because they're so moody & insane & loud. But so much fun. Ruby still giggles every time she walks. And look at her in this picture, so cute!

Not much crafting going on here lately that I can mention. I'm working on a super-secret father's day project very slowly. John has been home the past 2 days, very sick, so I have to sneak away to the basement for a few minutes at a time.

Have you seen Lars & the Real Girl? So funny. We got it from Netflix while John's parents were here. He picked up the envelope & said, "Do you want to watch a movie?" Then he read the description and we decided we probably didn't want to watch a movie about a man & his sex doll with his parents. I think that was wise, but still, it is funny.

so proud!

yes!

Go Obama!

I'm back!

Ruby's birthday was lots of fun. She enjoyed all the festivities - especially her visitors & balloons. The cake, however, was not so great. She wasn't really into it at all. The next day, John's parents, who are visiting from FL, and the 3 of us went to the mountains to stay on a farm.

It was so relaxing to be away from cell phone service & a computer. Ruby LOVED the animals - sheep (like the lamb above that we got to bottle feed!), chickens, roosters, a peacock, horses, a burro, cats, dogs, geese - all surrounded by trees and hiking trails. Ruby makes an elephant sound for her moo, but has now extended it for sheep & horses too. I have a bunch more pictures posted on our flickr site from her birthday and farmstay.
We're enjoying a few more days of fun with Nana & Papa (and hopefully we're done passing around our cold) before they head back to hot FL on Friday.

Happy First Birthday, Rubylove!

Warning: The above video is long - about 5 minutes, but I just couldn't cut anything out. It's Ruby's first year in pictures. Enjoy!

Our little baby girl is one! We can hardly believe it. This year has been far more intense than we ever would have imagined. The challenges have been harder and scarier and the love and laughter so much richer than I ever thought possible. I feel so lucky to be Ruby's Mama. It is incredible to watch her grow and it seems she does something new every day. It's funny, as a teacher, when parents were amazed at things their children did, I would nod and say, "Everything just clicked, thats the way it happens." Which is true. But to see it happen is a whole other experience. To see this tiny little baby that seemed so helpless grow into a walking, giggling, talking, communicating person in just a year, is beyond words. Actually, beyond words is really how mothering feels to me. I feel more myself now than I ever have. Although I have many moments where I wonder how I got to this point - I still feel like I'm 20 or so - how am I a mama to someone?, I still feel so grateful to be in this role and to be able to enjoy it so much.

One year ago we wondered what Ruby would be like (and we still do), but she is already showing us that she is smart, funny, snuggly, generous, and a voracious reader. A few days ago, John had Ruby on his lap and he said, "She doesn't understand everything that I say yet." Ruby smiled, nodded, then laughed. We're just beginning to learn all about who Ruby is and what she can do. We are excited (and a little sad that she's not a baby anymore) to see her as a toddler.

Happy First Birthday, Rubylove!

we &hearts books!

We all love books in this house. This is Ruby asking John to read her this book. She practically jumped off my lap to take it to him & crawl up into his lap.

I recently discovered the Meet the Author series on itunes U. I really wish I knew about this when I was in the classroom. Ruby is too young to enjoy it now, but I have downloaded a bunch to my ipod to watch. All the videos are FREE. I've only watched one so far- the Jack Prelutsky one, and it was good, but not something I would have shown my kindergartners. So, if you're a teacher, these should be previewed, of course. Just in case you aren't as obsessed with children's literature as I am and you wouldn't watch these for fun.


Oh yeah, we checked out this book by Mary Azarian from the library recently, which I love. It is so gorgeous! It reminds me of Nikki McClure's work - I guess because of the style of art, but also how she makes the everyday tasks we do seem beautiful and important.

bebe organic

picture by Pikaluk
John recently emailed me this article about a scientifically sound study done on babies whose mama's ate/drank organic dairy while pregnant & nursing. Amazing stuff.

famous friend

Check out my friend, Randy, on Jay Leno last night (May 20). He's in the 2nd segment with Ed Asner.

food, again

I did not take this picture - its from flickr. I don't seem to be able to take appetizing food pictures.

I recognize that I have A LOT more time in my life than I used to when teaching for living the way I'd like to. I know that most people do not have as much time at home as I do. BUT, we all do make choices about how we spend some of our time. I would love to be able to spend quite a bit more time making dinner if I chose to, but usually around dinner time, there is someone in the house (I won't name names) who absolutely has to be held or will scream and make everyone miserable if she or he is simply surrounded by a bunch of toys. Preparing dinner usually has to take 30 minutes or less now. But we try really hard not to sacrifice the quality of our food just to get it on the table quickly. We don't buy packaged/processed foods anymore to speak of. No veggie burgers, etc. We can't afford to do that. We make our food from scratch and try to make it as simple as possible. We eat a lot of beans & rice w/ whatever veggies we have thrown in, or pastas, a bit of fish thrown in the oven. I think because we buy such yummy (as local as we can, organic, fresh) produce, this simple dinner procedure still ends up being fairly good most nights, without a lot of time. Here is an article that reminded me that this choice of time we have preparing food is a choice. We have the luxury of taking 30 minutes or less to make our food nowadays, which was not the case just a couple of generations ago.

photo updates

Here are some pictures of Ruby modeling her new barrettes & hat I bought from Twinkle at the craft show. So adorable! Ruby's bottom lip is constantly out now - its pretty funny.
Also, I updated the Meet Your Maker site with a few pictures from the show, if you're curious.

the makers were met

The show was a great success! I had so much fun and it was amazing to meet so many talented people. We had lots of shoppers & the venue worked out well. Most of the crafters said they would love to do this again if we would have them. I didn't sell as much as I hoped, but most vendors did really well. I had to restrain myself from buying too much, but I did manage to get a couple things for Ruby from another Megan. Ruby is asleep for the night, so I'll have her model for me tomorrow. I got this tote bag that Amy made to sell at the shows.


Amy is my Meet Your Maker partner and celebrated her birthday yesterday too. I brought her a little treat. Rhubarb coffee cake, the recipe for it on these cards, & this little tea towel.


In other exciting news, Ruby took her first step yesterday! John & I were both there to see it. She crumpled as soon as she did it & hasn't tried again since, but it was pretty exciting. We went to her friend's 1st birthday party & I think Ruby was feeling like she wasn't getting enough attention - you know, the birthday girl was the star, and there were other babies, so Ruby had to show off a bit with her little step.

meet your maker

Tomorrow is our first craft show! It all seems so surreal. I'm trying to keep my head on straight as I rush around in spare moments gathering everything together, making last minute products & finishing up organizational details. But I am so excited about it all. Yesterday our ad came out in the Eugene Weekly, which made everything seem a bit more realistic and also left me wondering, "Is this really happening?"
You can visit the show's website to see all the details and find a list of vendors with links to their sites. We have a lot of great crafters & artists that will be there.

My life is pretty great right now, and I realize it. But it is far from perfect, although it may seem that way on the blog. I don't usually write about the moments during the day that make me question what I'm doing. But I assure you I have them. Like yesterday when glass shattered all over the kitchen floor at the same time Ruby woke up. Then when I was cleaning it up, she was trying to crawl through my barricade and get to the dustpan (which she LOVES) and then ripped up a library book. I am out of practice of all this multi-tasking! Its been a year since I left teaching and I have slowed down a lot.

Oh, here she is now - waking up a bit scared because there's a fan blowing in her room. The high is 97 here today!

happy mother's day

My first mother's day was so wonderful. John & I were still talking about our brunch from the week before. Because John would have had to make reservations in February for us to have brunch on mother's day, I got to spread the celebration out for 2 weeks. Lucky me. John made me stuffed french toast for breakfast with yummy strawberries from the farmer's market. Then he took me out for lunch too. He and Ruby gave me this beautiful apron that I love.

I really wanted a cute apron. We have one full-length (is that what you call an apron? I have no idea) one and another that doesn't cover your shirt - which is nice to wipe my hands on, but sometimes I need a bit more coverage. I didn't know it was so obvious that I wanted an apron. I didn't think I mentioned it at all, I mean, how silly to say, right? But I guess I must have. Anyway, its adorable and I love it.
Oh yes, I also spent quite a bit of time in the hammock on Sunday. John was in Portland all day on Saturday, so it was extra nice to get some time by myself.

You really think you didn't talk about wanting an apron? - J

books & brownies

The cookies are already gone. We did share a couple with the neighbors & John did only make a half-batch, in our defense. So last night for snack, we raided the freezer. We found some chocolate-chip cream cheese brownies. John jumped up and down when he saw them. We tried to take pictures, but you probably wouldn't want to eat them if you saw the pictures, so you have to trust us, they are delicious. I can't even give you a recipe because I combined a couple different recipes and then adapted that. So, you just have to imagine, I guess. Sorry. You'll just have to come over to have some. All I know is I have a serious sugar problem. I need to do something about that.

I've been listening a bit to the Creative Mom Podcast recently. I've only listened to it a couple times, but I liked what I heard. Anyway, I entered a little contest on the website and won a book!

Ruby's talking!

This weekend as I was heading out to the grocery store - by myself! I never would have thought that would have been so fun. Maybe I need another hobby or something, it sounds like I have no life. Anyway, I was waving and saying bye-bye to Ruby as she waved back and then she said bye! A couple days later, John picked up a banana to give her and he was saying, "banana, banana" & Ruby said, "bababa". I know, it's not baNaNa, but she had the right inflection and everything. And wasn't just going babababababa, like she sometimes does. Yesterday we were looking at a photo of a cat. I was saying, "Cat, meow." Ruby said, "eeoh, eeoh" very high-pitched, like how I was saying meow. Today she said "oof" when she pointed to a picture of a dog.

She and I went to the library today for a puppet show. While we were waiting for it to start, she was walking (still holding on to me) and then starting pulling books off the shelf. All of a sudden she found The Backward Day, remember that book? She did too (we returned it to the library). She was sooooo excited. She looked at me in disbelief, then opened it up to find the funny little boy and did a little dance. Oh, I was so proud.

As I was writing all this, John came up to me and asked what we were going to have for our evening snack with tea. I shrugged. Then, (man, I scored in the husband department) he said, "Can we make some quick cookies?" Um, ok. THEN, he found my favorite cookies (snicker doodles) to make. I love this man.

cuteness I can eat

holy moly how cute is this ice cream cone cake pan?
found via notmartha.com

Update: Ok, I've had some time to think a little more clearly about this. It's still super cute - and here's a link. But how do you cut into this thing? I'm sure I'd find a way. Also, how do you decorate it? I don't really think my ice cream cone cakes would turn out looking nearly as good as this picture.

Alpacas & apples

John took me to Gathering Together Farm for brunch on Sunday for Mother's Day. It is the best food ever. Unless you're in Italy, maybe. We went there for my birthday too. This time we got to sit out on the patio - it was a gorgeous day. We ordered our food, then as the chef prepared it, we visited the buffet of unbelievable pastries & treats they have all made there that morning...chocolate covered donuts, rhubarb coffee cake, fruit salad with granola and yogurt, goat cheese on sourdough....
It is really hard not to fill up on all that. But I tried not to, because I knew my crepes were coming. John ordered this, which was really good too.


It was perfect - my little family, wonderful, fresh food, and sun.

After we finished our lunch, we headed across the street to visit the alpaca farm.

Ruby acted like she sees these guys all the time.

On Saturday, John & Ruby went to the farmer's market & brought home this little apple tree. Its a semi-dwarf liberty. Yum.

I know you didn't really look at the tree in that last picture, you were looking at Ruby. Who can resist? So, here's a close-up of the blossoms.

tough stuff

Ruby and her feats of strength. - John

sweetness

Ruby has been getting 2 teeth and FINALLY one broke through. We had a horrible a couple days ago with her waking up every hour or 2 crying until about 4 am. It was like having a newborn again! But then in the morning, her tooth had finally cut the gum. Hopefully the other one will come out a little easier.

We've got a lot of feedback about the chickens!! So heres the deal. The city will only let us have two (so that will take care of the smell issue a lot of you are so concerned about). We want them for eggs only - not for meat. We'll let you know what happens. Organic chicken feed is getting expensive, so we have to figure out if it will be cost-effective to keep them. Although, how do you put a price on fresh eggs? We also have a lot of other home & garden projects so we have to prioritize.

Happy weekend! I have an early mother's day surprise waiting for me tomorrow.

Are you getting a check?

photo by LollyKnit

With tax refund checks & stimulus checks on their way, there is a lot of talk about what we should do with the money coming in. This is our plan so far (in case you care):
10% to college fun for Ruby
10% to our iras
10% to charity
10% to plane tickets to FL, or should I say half a seat to FL
10% to house repair budget
10% to car maintenance & savings for next car
10% to the principal on our mortgage
10% to the principal on our school loan
20% to living expenses/misc.

There was also talk of buying a whole lot of wine with all of it.
But I came across this today and have some more ideas. John & I wanted to get a couple chickens, but didn't think we could afford it, so maybe we can take that out of our living expenses fund. What do you think, John? We also want to get a bike seat for Ruby and they are ridiculous expensive. What are your plans?

11 months old!

Ruby is 11 months old today! I can hardly believe it. She is constantly amazing us now - to the point that we're speechless. This video was shot about a month ago. She had just woken up and nursed. I was in the kitchen making our breakfast & she was reading books to herself. I heard her giggling & grabbed the camera. She was finding animals she liked in her farm book & laughing at them. Now she is really communicating with us. We can ask her, "Where is the dog?" and she will find a picture of a dog & point to it. Same with cat, mama, dada, baby and now many of her toys too. She can tell you where her belly, feet, and head/hair are too! She has said mama & dada, but its still pretty rare.
Her favorite book to read lately is The Backward Day by Ruth Krauss. We checked it out at the library and Ruby laughs at it as we read it. Somehow, she knows its funny. I'm really loving Ruth Krauss' books lately too. I don't think we own any, so I keep going to the library searching for them.
Ruby is also on the verge of taking her first step. She cruises around the furniture and can stand by herself for quite a while. She's just working up the confidence. Yesterday in her crib she stood up, let go of the side with her arms out for balance & would make herself wobble until she fell which she thought was really funny. Then she'd do it over again.
I think our favorite Ruby development is her wanting to cuddle so much more. John says that she has figured out that it feels good and searches it out. She'll sometimes just crawl up to us for a hug or snuggle. We LOVE this. I swear I can feel my heart expand every time she does it. I cannot get enough of her hugs and kisses.
After my mom knew I was pregnant, she said many times to me, "I'm so excited for you." I remember thinking, "parenthood must be better than I can imagine if she's more excited for me than for herself to become a grandmother." Now I know why she said that. John & I are so grateful to be Ruby's parents. She is so much more fun and wonderful than I dreamed possible.

spring fever

Check out this site from domino mag. You can see rooms painted in different colors & they tell you the name of the paint. This is perfect for me. John & I have been talking about what colors to paint our 3 rooms that need it all winter. We had things picked out and then just realized (we're a little slow on the decorating thoughts) that we can see every room of the house from the living room, so they should all probably look good together. At least we figured that out now! I'm thinking this blue, I mean, Faint Flicker, might be the perfect color for our bedroom.
Link found via How About Orange.

Augustus Gloop

Have you seen Charlie & the Chocolate Factory? John & I have a running joke that Ruby is like Augustus Gloop. Before I took this picture, she was eating food off her hand and tried to eat her hand too. In my head I heard Augustus' mother from the movie saying, "Augustus, stop eating yourself." And he says, "But, I taste so good!"
For lunch today, Ruby had:
cottage cheese
apple, raisin, apricot sauce
bread
yogurt
rice
sweet potatoes

Half an hour later, she nursed.

Food gifts

I like to receive gifts of food for special occasions. Megan makes me wonderful birthday treats every year. They are totally part of any gifts she might make/buy for me. I had some leftover birthday money (thanks mom and dad) so I bought a pig. Not a real pig mind you, but a party pig filled with beer. Not just any beer, oh no, but made in Corvallis (15 min.), not available in bottles, and the smell and taste of it equates with freshness. Mmmmmmmm. So good. The 2.5 gals should last a while. What a treat!

Megan has been baking again. In our quest to save money and, at the same time increase our standard of living, Megan makes new treats for us weekly. Sometimes savory, sometimes sweet, this time Lemon Poppy Seed Cake from Once Upon a Tart.

happy earth day

It's another rainy day here - we didn't get outside to celebrate, which just seems wrong. I should have wrapped us all up in our rain gear for a walk at least. But I did that yesterday and it poured on us and my hands were freezing by the end of our walk. I was really hoping it wouldn't rain, so I didn't bring appropriate gloves in protest. I couldn't really muster up enough energy to do it again today.

The craft show deadline to apply was on Sunday and now we're going through applicants & furiously sending emails back & forth to decide who will be accepted, preparing press releases & posters. Its fun but hard to do with only a couple spare moments here and there while Ruby busies herself briefly and I run to the computer.


I'm reading and loving The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule, whose blog I've been reading for quite a long time & I love. This is a wonderful, practical book that is really inspiring. I wish I could go peek into their home & see it all in action.

craziness

This was last weekend. It got to 75 and was so sunny. Here she is sharing her toys with her little buddy, Lexi. Ruby ended up hanging out in her diaper. This morning, it was snowing!
We went to the doctor earlier this week for a check-up. At Ruby's 9 month check-up, it seemed that Ruby lost weight, so the doctor wanted to see us again before her 12 month check-up. We went in and Ruby was weighed. She is gaining weight, but very slowly. No one is concerned though. She has grown a lot in length and is very busy right now and she still has some chub rolls on her. The doctor said, "I think she's fine. Her skin looks good and healthy and she has a good forearm." What? We have no idea what that is supposed to mean, except that maybe her forearm is still a little chubby and it would be skinny if it was time to worry??

craft exchange

Remember the monster party we were invited to? We missed it. Ruby had a cold & we didn't want to infect all the other little babies. Yesterday Ruby & I went to wish the little monster a belated happy birthday. We gave him this little kitty that he immediately snuggled with, which made me so happy. Then, he gave Ruby a stuffed monster that his mama made for ALL of the babies invited to the party! I love this craft scene out here. Although, I must admit, its a bit intimidating. I feel like a slacker sometimes. But I seem to be staying quite busy. I'm working on making a bunch of stuff to sell at the craft show , knitting a hat for Ruby, and attempting to sew some window worms to maybe stop some of these drafts coming through our windows. I know, a little late on the window worms, but hopefully they'll be ready for next winter. Maybe they'll help with summer heat too?

happy arbor day

This weekend, our city held an arbor day celebration and gave out free trees. We've been talking for months about getting a tree for our yard to replace the dead dogwood we had to cut down. So, we walked downtown this weekend and put our name in the drawing for the trees. We got to choose between a maple and this lovely akebono cherry tree (no cherry fruit though, sadly). All of the trees around our house are maples, so we went with the flowering cherry. Who can resist these pretty little blossoms? Then we had to walk back home carrying this 5' seedling. Well, John carried it while I pushed the stroller. We thought the trees would be much, much smaller. Its planted now and untied - not like in the picture. I took the picture during our warm, sunny weekend, but now the clouds & rain are back so I haven't been out to take another one.

bookworms

It was John's turn for the cold this weekend. Lucky for him, Ruby enjoyed snuggling up and reading to him for quite a while. I wish I had videotaped her reading, she was so serious and used such expression. This book she's holding onto so tightly is a great one we checked out at the library, How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird. It's a beautiful book, so inspiring.

weird

We finally hit 70 degrees today! It was so nice outside. We went for a long walk, opened the windows & set up the hammock. I got in first and John handed Ruby to me, who immediately started screaming. She went back to John, we tried again in a few minutes - same thing. She was so scared of the hammock, she was shaking in our arms if we got close to it. I don't know how she's related to me - I could live in that thing.

lil' monkey

A month ago Ruby was scooting and not crawling. Now she is crawling everywhere, constantly pulling herself up to stand on whatever unstable object she can find and then grabbing on to our fingers to walk around the house. She is so excited about her new freedom and mobility. I'm excited for her, but man, my back is killing me. Last week wasn't so bad because there were three other people who could take turns with her, but now its just me all day.
Ruby also has a new face that I can't seem to capture on the camera - mostly because I have no hands free to use a camera. But this face has lots of attitude. She uses it mostly on strangers that get too close or talk to her, but I get it a lot too. She will give it to me when I tell her no or just because she feels like it. It would be really funny if didn't have "If she's like this now, what will happen when she's 13?" thoughts going through our heads.

We found a great venue for our craft show. Its going to be at Midtown Marketplace on May 17th from 6-9pm. This place has a nice restaurant, a wine bar (that will be having wine tastings going on at the same time) and a cafe & coffee bar. The last two won't be open in the evening though. It's got great atmosphere and we're really excited about it. So I'm busy trying to organize lots of stuff for that and also trying to make a bunch of products to sell. The website for the show is: MeetYourMaker.wordpress.com Spread the word! Amy (my partner in all this) is the one who made Ruby's milk shirt she's wearing in the pictures above. She sells kids' stuff & grown-up stuff.

garden surprises

The people we bought the house from told me that they hoped a gardener had lived in the house before them, but didn't see any evidence of it. So I didn't have any hopes of spring flowers, but we found these tulips tucked away on the side of the house. I cut 20 of them and now theres a few more popping up in random places.

Today I took Ruby to the eye doctor. I learned about a national program called InfantSee that provides free eye exams to babies under the age of 1. Ruby's eyes look good so far.

Ruby Love

This is our favorite granddaughter! We had an awesome visit with Ruby, Megan, and John on Ruby's 10 month birthday. Ruby is the smartest 10 month old we know! It will be hard to say goodbye in the morning.
She has made us laugh and giggle at so many of her expressions and actions. She continually is "training" us. She absolutely giggles with glee when she goes for a walk and finally sees "her" ducks.
She cannot get enough of her books..she reads and reads and always wants more. She turns the pages for us and can even reorient a book if it is given to her upside down.
Can you tell we love her? She has made everything worthwhile in a very short time.
One of her favorite things is to come out of the bath and get dried off and then get wrapped in a Lion or Bunny hooded towel...she looks at herself in the mirror and just giggles and wrinkles her face...
This seemed like a good, long visit until the time is approaching to leave. Tomorrow, it will seem like it went by way too fast.
Thanks to John and Megan for a wonderful visit, for sharing their beautiful daughter and for being the best parents possible to our little Ruby.

technical difficulties

Issue one: I'm switching this blog to a different website, more later, and am having issues learning the new site's stuff. I'll get there.
Issue two, three, four....: John is out of town. For a week. He is in Kansas City, MO for a sustainable agriculture conference. We're all a little loopy trying to cope without him (and he away from home, among other things).
Oh, and another issue: Ruby only took one 45 minute nap today. Apparently she's, like 4 years old or something. So, from 11:45 am until 7:20pm today, I've been trying to entertain her. It hasn't exactly been easy. John quit taking naps at a young age and I'm trying hard not to think about that, but Ruby is in so many other ways like him (except that she really likes to scream) so I'm afraid I'm in trouble.

I don't know if I've ever written about it before, but Ruby LOVES music. She is so excited when John plays the guitar and has to go over and strum a few chords herself. She usually calms down instantly when we start singing, and already recognizes several songs. She shrieks over the record player. Our (the 3 of us) favorite music to listen to lately is Elizabeth Mitchell's Little Bird album. If only we had it on vinyl for Ruby. Do they still make those Fischer-Price record players? I got that when Brianne was born. Maybe I should dig around on ebay or something. If Ruby naps.

another book

I just finished reading this book. I've been reading a lot about food lately. It's funny how that happens - it seems accidental. I have a long list of books that I want to read and yet the food related books are the ones that keep becoming available at the library.

It is a very thorough look at the history of food in our country and with that women's history as well. It is fascinating and troubling. And yet at the end, I was inspired. We live in a time and place where finding locally grown, organic produce is fairly easy. We can raise some of it ourselves, but we don't have to. Its a good thing, because I don't know if I'd survive.

John and I think and talk a lot about food. We eat a lot of food. We've been making a lot of our own food now that we're attempting (struggling?) to cut our grocery budget in half. We're trying to balance our financial health with our physical health. So far, we think we've been eating better actually. We're becoming better bakers and really enjoying what we eat and the effort it takes to make it. We have chosen to live a relatively simple lifestyle so that Ruby & I can stay home together and this is part of it. Another unexpected benefit of Ruby becoming part of our family.

Ruby Dragon

I love how nursing can convince a very sleepy Ruby that it really is time to fall asleep. And I love how nursing can remind me that this very wiggly, independent, and opinionated baby is so sweet and peaceful and loving. She fell asleep nursing, holding onto my finger and my heart melted.


Look what Ruby Dragon got in the mail today. She earned her nickname. So cute & creative! I better start thinking about Ruby's first birthday - 2 1/2 more months.

ruby rocks

Ruby loves to rock in her old rocking chair. I especially like it when she stops to gives me hugs.
-john

happy st. paddy's day

Ruby is festive today with her shamrock barrette in her hair from here. She got a couple holiday clips in her stocking at Christmas.
She is a big baby now. She crawled(!) and only took two short naps today (boo). Also, she is really into her books right now which makes me so proud. She loves other toys too, but thats not so exciting to me. Anyway, one book she lovesFrom Head to Toe, by Eric Carle and each page has a different animal moving some part of its body that we can do as well. John and I act it out as we read. A couple days ago, Ruby was looking at the book by herself, turned to the page where the seal claps his hands and started clapping her own hands! I wasn't clapping or reading or anything! When I told John about it on the phone later, she started clapping again when I said that she clapped. Its amazing that she can understand this already. She waves when you say good-bye, claps when you say clap or "yay, Ruby!" and hides her face when you say, "Where's Ruby?"

new toy

Here is Ruby in her new exersaucer. She and the dragon puppet are getting along swimmingly.


We have more new videos posted - follow the link on the right.

flower power

I never really understood daylight savings time until we moved to Oregon. Everything feels so different now that it is light an hour later. That and the fact that the trees and flowers are blooming everywhere is enough to make me think about summer and tank tops and swimming. I can't wait! I had no idea how much I'd love spring. And at the end of this spring, we get to celebrate Ruby's first birthday. How exciting. But now I have to try to convince her that she is sleepy.


Oh yes, I'm reading this fabulous book. I recommend it to all parents & teachers. It is full of practical suggestions and everything is simple enough to make part of daily life. It is my favorite book about children right now and it makes me excited to think about Ruby being a kid, not a baby. See, I never really pictured a "kid". I just wanted to have a baby. I don't really know what happens next or if I'm ready for it. I guess thats how it goes, right? I didn't go into this thinking, "I want a teenager." Does anyone?

Craft show news: We're still searching for the right venue. Does anyone know Eugene well enough to offer suggestions???

spring hike

We finally took Ruby on a hike in OSU's forest recently. It was a beautiful day, and she loved it. She giggled and shrieked the whole time. We can't wait until it warms up even more so we can do this all the time.

We went to Eugene on Friday so I could go to a meeting. Ruby still nurses every 3 hours, so she had to come as well, but she couldn't come to the meeting, so John took the morning off and took Ruby to the Eugene library for infant story time. He said she had such a great time, although I think he may have enjoyed himself and watching Ruby more. She was the loudest baby there (except for the crying babies). She liked the puppet show, but got really excited when the duck puppet came out. She LOVES ducks. We were pretty impressed that she recognized the puppet to be like her favorite animal.

She has also discovered that she has a 3rd hand:

stop worrying!

I have a flood of emails, well not a flood, but a bunch, from worried friends and family about Ruby's bed. We put the mattress down as soon as she pulled herself up. Don't worry! I couldn't do it myself, so Ruby napped in another safe place until John got home to do it. She hasn't even come close to doing it since. She never did it before until that day. I am the last person who wants Ruby to get hurt, I'm doing everything I can to prevent it.
More soon...just wanted you to stop worrying.

happy birthday!

Happy birthday, John! Here he is as a proud papa 9 months ago (as of yesterday!) with his baby girl. We're celebrating today with John's favorite foods: eggels (bagel, egg, cheese & fake sausage sandwiches) for breakfast, burrito & beer for lunch, lasagna & wine for dinner & molasses spice cake with cream cheese icing and brown sugar glaze for dessert.
Here are the socks (from Weekend Knitting) & card I made for him. I hope the socks fit!

Ruby's new developments

Ruby is teething. She's getting her two top teeth at the same time and its awful for everyone. The medicine only works so well and chewing on a wet, cold washcloth (her favorite teething toy) only helps so much. These teeth are huge! And two at once, its just not fair.
She has also recently learned that she can roll onto her belly in her crib. Starting today, she is doing this constantly before she falls asleep. The only trouble is, she hasn't figured out that she can sleep on her belly. So, I keep rolling her over onto her back, she immediately goes back to her belly and cries and cries. Her first nap this morning took her an hour to fall asleep. We just did this over and over.
Here is a picture of her trying to crawl out of her crib.


Update:
I just went in to check on Ruby - still not sleeping. This is what I found:


Update:
Ruby STILL wouldn't fall asleep on her belly. She fell asleep cuddled up with me on our bed. Don't worry, there are things stacked up around her on every side so she can't roll off the bed.

ikea, i "&hearts" you

We finally made it out to our new-ish Portland Ikea this weekend. Brianne & Eddie came down for a visit, so we met them in Portland & they played with Ruby a lot so we could get some major shopping done. It was perfect. Ruby loved it there.


She's waving in this picture.



After our trip home, we had a bunch of homemade brownies that Brianne made for John's birthday. Yum! Oh, and we ran into people we knew at Ikea!

I don't know why the heart in the title is in quotes. Does anyone know how to fix that?

She only looks sweet and innocent

Yesterday Ruby & I went over to baby Henry's house for a play date. There was another baby there who is twice Ruby's age. Now, I don't know if you've heard Ruby growl yet, but she sounds like a dragon. She makes this deep, primal, wild sound very often. Much more often than cute babbling or cooing. Sometimes I wonder about her. Anyway, she was in rare form yesterday. She was loud and scary. So scary that the older baby cried. Repeatedly. When this happened, Ruby smiled. I don't know what to say about that.

I like to eat, eat, eat

apples and bananas.

Ok, now that you have the song stuck in your head, you can keep reading.

Ruby loves, LOVES apples. She likes most food she eats, but she loves to eat apples that we eat. She likes applesauce okay, but there is nothing better than eating a whole apple. It is impossible to keep one to yourself when she's around. This weekend we were eating lunch together and shared an apple. After sucking on it for awhile and gnawing on it with her little teeth, she offered it back to me.



Just kidding!!! She cracks herself up.


When it was time to clean up lunch, the apple was missing. Apple, what apple? I haven't seen any apple.


We had a gorgeous weekend here. I think it was close to 60 yesterday, and so sunny! We spent a lot of time outside, walking by the river and soaking up the sun. Saturday, John spoke at a small farms conference. Ruby & I tagged along for the ride and visited the book and yarn shops while waiting for him.

This morning, some friends came over. There's no school today, so my teacher friends had the day off. We planned to go on a walk together, but it hadn't warmed up enough to go. It was still in the high 30s when they were here, so we hung out and listened to the babies squawk at each other. We are missing baby yoga right now, Ruby's nap usually interferes with class time, but thats ok, I'm blogging instead.

Congrats to Curt & Jill!!

the funny face captured!

Today John is working from home and he took a little break to take a walk with us to the park. It is a gorgeous day here. After our walk we walked around the house dreaming about gardening, planning where everything would go.


Ruby's funny face happened when she was watching the big kids play on the slide.

Our Valentine's was great! We had fettuccine alfredo with shrimp and salad. I made some cream-cheese chocolate-chip cupcakes, but we didn't eat any yet. We took some to our friends' house, but had to go before dessert. John & I didn't eat them last night because a neighbor brought us some, hmmm, I'm not sure what it is exactly, except that it was so much chocolatey-goodness that we couldn't even finish it. We went from no chocolate in the house a couple days ago to chocolate overload. I'm in heaven!

happy valentine's day!

Here's our happy, well-loved little Ruby in her valentine's outfits - thanks Grandma & Nana!
I swear its spring here. We're having beautiful, sunny weather for a week at least. Its warming up into the 50s and I've seen flowers! It is so exciting. I really love living in Oregon, but by this time of year, I'm over the rain and the gray. I know it will come back. Its way too early for it to stick around, but I needed this break.
We're headed over to friends' houses tonight. The guys will make us dinner, the babies will play, and the girls will get to relax a bit??? That's the plan anyway. Hope you are all having a lovely day.
&hearts

ruby update

Ruby has been a busy little baby lately. She now has 2 teeth on the bottom, she is scooting forward now on her belly, and she waves! Remember when I posted about her tooth disappearing? Her gum was swollen because the new tooth was coming up. We didn't realize it - Ruby was acting normal, no teething craziness this time!
The scooting has been really fun to watch, but so frustrating for Ruby. She sticks her little butt up in the air, reaches forward and does this funny little inchworm move. It takes so much effort and she doesn't get very far very fast yet, but I'm sure its coming.
Yesterday I went to the dentist and dropped Ruby off with John at OSU. I was saying good-bye to her and she waved back. John said she waved after that to someone else too. Cute.
But the funniest thing she does, can't be explained too well. She has this surprise face that is hysterical. Her mouth is wide open and her nose & eyes scrunch up. She'll do this at the oddest times, like when we get out of the car and we're in a parking lot, or we walk into a store. She usually holds this face for several minutes, like she's never left the house before and is in total shock. Yesterday, John & Ruby were walking around campus and he said she had this face on forever. Students were walking by laughing and it didn't even phase her. Hopefully we'll be able to get a picture of it.

craft show

The craft show in Eugene was a great success! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I sold quite a few things considering how many people were there (not too many). I got lots of great feedback about the products and the display from fellow crafters. I met lots of nice people and had good conversation. There was talk of setting up a monthly craft show in Eugene geared toward younger, hipster people, and when that gets going, I'll get in on that. I learned a lot and had a great time.

John & Ruby had wonderful weather. It was warm & sunny and lovely. Luckily the room I was in was lined with windows so it was *almost* like being outside. I couldn't have done any of this without John. He's been so helpful this week getting everything together with me, playing with Ruby, so I could work a bit, encouraging, helping me remember how to use excel again....
And on Saturday, it really couldn't have happened if he were not having so much fun with Ruby on his own.

I've really enjoyed making all of this and hope that I can continue to do it. Its such a nice little hobby to make something that will help someone relax. I made some new items that I'll be posting on the site soon to sell. Keep an eye out for those - remember you can get to the site by clicking on the pictures of the items on the right of this site. And if you have any new ideas for me, let me know!

flashback

This was Ruby when she was 3 days old.

John & I had to go through all of her newborn pictures tonight. Our friends, Lane & Sam had a baby boy, Pasquale, 2 days ago. Congratulations! We went to visit them today and oh, he is just perfect. It was so wonderful to hold a new little baby and smell his sweet little smell. Its very hard to believe that Ruby was that tiny (actually tinier) 8 months ago.

Here's the little guy in a stolen picture from their website:


I hope they let us go back and visit again tomorrow before they head back up to far away Portland.

bathing beauty

When we get Ruby out of the bath every night she stares at herself in the mirror and smiles. Is she huge or what? I walked up to the pediatrician's office with her yesterday to get her weighed. We live 2 blocks away. Our doctor is still a 20 minute drive away and we really like him so we're not planning on switching, but its nice to know that there is a doctor so close. The hospital is only another block away. Anyway, we dodged rain & hail storms yesterday to get there to see what a chunk she is. She's right at the cusp of the weight limit for her car seat and theres only a 2 lb. or so overlap for the next car seat so we wanted to see if it was time to switch. Ruby (with her clothes on) weighs 20 lb. & is 27.5 in. She's actually slowing down quite a bit. Finally! She only gained about .5 lbs this last month instead of the usual 1 lb.
She's outgrowing her clothes again, but this time instead of her getting too long first, her head is too big! This kid has a huge melon and we're finding it too hard to get some of her shirts over her head now. She is so top-heavy. She can usually sit by herself fine, but I don't quite trust it because of her head seems to have its own gravitational pull.

Ruby is making a bunch of new sounds this week. She's moving her little tongue around trying to get it to do something. Its crazy to think that she'll be saying our name soon. How is she 8 months old already?
Here she is from October after bath. What a difference 3 months makes. I know its cliche, but its all happening so fast!

Ruby is 8 months old!

Here she is giggling at me, I'm not sure why, but it is such a good sound.

craft fair

A better picture of Ruby's tooth that now seems to be going back down into her gum a bit. What is with her crazy teeth? We took this picture on photo booth on the mac with the cool effects. That is some time-wasting fun right there.


I'm going to be in a craft fair! Woo hoo!
It will be in Eugene on Feb. 9th from 9-4 at the St. Thomas More Newman Center. If you live nearby, you should come visit. I'll have cookies....

This past fall, I went to the Corvallis Fall Festival and met Amy from Knitty Bitty. She is a stay-at-home mom who sells adorable kids' clothes. Some of her stuff is knit and some of it is silk-screened. I got to talking with her about her wares and how she does it all. I mentioned to her that when Ruby got a bit bigger and we had settled into our house, I was hoping to start an etsy site selling natural bath & beauty products. She gave me a lot of encouragement and told me to let her know if I had any questions along the way. So a couple days ago, I emailed her and shared my etsy site with her. She and I are going to trade some things. Then she told me about this craft fair and thought there was still room for someone with bath products. She emailed the coordinator and I'm in!

Of course, at first, I thought, "I can't do this - what about Ruby? Is my stuff good enough to sell...." But John jumped right in and got all excited. He's going to hang out with Ruby all day in Eugene and bring me food and bring Ruby to food (me) and help me make a bunch of stuff before the 9th. He's the best.

its snowing!

We woke up to snow this morning. It was completely unexpected, so it made it that much better. It snowed hard for hours. We accumulated several inches and it was soooooo beautiful. We interrupted our breakfast to take Ruby on a walk. When we came back, John & I took turns biking & walking down to the river. It was like being in New England, I imagine. Our neighborhood is full of historic houses & buildings, so that added to beauty of it all. It stopped snowing later, but has started again. We still have at least an inch outside. I'm now hoping that John won't have to go to work tomorrow! We'll see...
Here are a bunch of pictures. If you don't live here, I wish you could have seen it.

tarty

John & I made a pear & almond tart last night in a fit of a sweet attack. Come on over and help us eat it! If you come in the next couple days and its gone, we'll make you something else yummy to eat.



We found a bit of a gift certificate to a restaurant that was left over today. So we all went out to lunch. Ruby had peas. It was her first time eating out. She did very well! She ate a lot and wasn't too distracted by it all, which I thought she would be. I kind of thought that the food would be a joke, but she loved eating with us.


Ruby stuck her finger in an electric outlet.


Just kidding. She has a lot of dry skin on her scalp, so we rubbed some oil on her before her bath.

cold flamingos

It snowed! We had a dusting last night that was so pretty to watch. Ruby noticed it this time. We stood at the window and she had her mouth open, watching the flakes fall. It will probably all melt by this afternoon. But it was really nice to wake up to 1/2" of snow or so on the ground.

Last night we got some pictures of Ruby feeding herself. I will warn you, there is a pouty picture of Ruby in here. I know some of you (grandparents) don't want to admit that she is ever sad, but here is proof. There are a bunch of pictures to make up for yesterday (E.K.) and to show you the whole sequence of events.
Without further rambling, here is the dinner of rice, apples & pears:


Oh, forget the spoon, just give me the whole bowl.


No, no, I want to do it myself!!!


See, I can do it. No one's taking my spoon away from me.

play date

Ruby & I had friends over today. Henry is 2 months older than Ruby and much more active. Ruby is kind of stuck in one spot still. She watched Henry scoot around and go after toys in awe. They shared toys nicely and Henry even gave Ruby kisses on her head, which she really liked. Henry's mom, Jess is really nice and a very crafty lady, so she gave me some good advice.
No pictures though. I tried to take some, but Henry's so quick and the camera is so slow.
Henry drinks water and then spits it out, like Ruby. He ended up soaking wet. I offered him so dry clothes but we only had 1 outfit that wasn't pink in his size!
It might snow tonight, keep your fingers crossed!

rocking ruby

Ruby got to sit in her rocking chair for the first time today. It was made for my mom by her great-grandfather. My mom has a matching one that is adult-sized.

Ruby woke up this morning at 5:30 screaming. I think she was trying to move around in her sleep, because her head was all the way up in the corner of her bed. I got her up and we sat together on the couch nursing. She still wasn't ready to go back to sleep, so I opened up the curtains of our front window and we looked at the full moon. We did this for awhile. I whispered to her, she stood on the couch staring at the moon and me at her moonlit face. We read Time for Bed a couple times and back to sleep she went. It was a really peaceful moment together. As much as I love my sleep, I am grateful for these quiet times that happen at night occasionally, especially as Ruby gets squirmier. I know I will hold on to these memories for a long time.

target, my favorite store

It is bitter cold here. Its supposed to get into the teens tonight. Its clear too, which is so nice. We have this beautiful, enormous full moon that we can actually see because there aren't any clouds in the way. It is a rare thing to see the moon in the winter here.

Yesterday, since John had the day off, we went to yoga. It was so nice to have someone to share the baby wrestling with there. We both actually got to do some yoga! The yoga class is at the same studio where we took our prenatal class, so we felt like we had come full circle, being there with Ruby. I remember one class, we were trying to open up our hips by laying on our backs with our feet up in the air pointing toward the ceiling. We used our feet to "write" our babies name in the air. Then we went around the room and shared the names we wrote. I didn't know! We didn't have a name chosen yet. We didn't until just a day or two before Ruby was born. It seems so strange to have not know Ruby.

Today Ruby and I spent quite a lot of time in and out of the car, mostly going to Target. We went this morning and I bought a treat to give to a friend. Then I got home and realized that it was expired. So, back we went this afternoon. Ruby was not too keen on all this time in the car and the cart. Neither was I. But she still managed to smile for the camera. Of course.


much &hearts to christy & her family

mail call

When I get the mail off our porch, Ruby is usually awake. She seems to really enjoy looking at everything and getting her hands on all the paper. She LOVES catalogs. They have fun pictures and they're fun to tear and throw around.

Today I got the mail and sorted it all, but I forgot to let Ruby have something to play with. Ruby started waving her arms and screeching, so I gave her a card and she was so happy. She played with it for 20 min. or so.

Serious business:


Just kidding!

sorry, no pictures

Ruby is still trying so hard to crawl. She has all this energy now. She seems to be moving constantly. She's hard to hold on to! We went to parent & baby yoga on Monday. Ruby wanted to play with the other babies so badly. She started "talking" to them all and finally a boy about her age answered her back. He was across the room, but they continued to have their own little conversation.

I've tried posting a picture of Ruby. I was told that the only entries worth reading are the ones with pictures. But, blogger is not letting me right now. I'll try again later. Thanks for reading even without the pictures.

I know its hard to imagine that John and I are doing other things besides playing with Ruby but we are. Here are some of our latest activities:

John has his first publication coming out soon! His graduate professor, another professor and he wrote an extension article about the research he did while working on his degree. How exciting! A published author!
I've got my etsy site going now selling some bath products. You can find a link on the right side of our blog.

tooth

here's a better picture of her tooth

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

quack

We had a beautiful, sunny day today. This is a rarity here in the winter. When its sunny its COLD. I don't know if it got above 40 today, but I just had to get outside. Ruby and I bundled up and went for a quick walk to visit the ducks. We hadn't seen them in awhile. This is what Ruby did when she saw them.

If you look closely, you might be able to see Ruby's little tooth coming in on the bottom.
I'll post more when I don't have a wiggly baby in my lap, typing on the keyboard.

gift of nothing

My dear friend, Christy, sent us this book for Christmas and we just love it. John & I read it constantly to Ruby. You should buy this book and read it around Christmas or birthdays, and especially to kids.

Ruby has been making this really funny crazy face lately. Every time she does it John & I have to laugh, which just makes her do it again. I'm trying to get a good picture of it, but the camera is too distracting so far. This is the closest I've been able to get.

peace

A double rainbow. A long walk between rain showers. The sun shining. A napping baby. A tooth that has finally cut through the gum. A cup of tea and warm almond biscotti.

and so it goes

it all continues...
the snow! just a little still, but enough to make me excited

the separation anxiety which is still going on at night. Ruby falls asleep, well. She just wakes up at night and is up for hours

the cuteness

Here are the pictures as promised. John found the cable we needed. Where? In the basement in the box of cables, of course. I didn't even know this box existed!

Look how big Ruby looks, hanging out on the couch.


She has scooted herself into a corner and is so proud!


Adventures with pasta


Daddy teaching Ruby a great new trick


Not so sure about this, but I know I'm supposed to smile when there's a camera in my face...

scooting

So sorry for the long delay. I've been waiting to post pictures that are stuck on our camera. I didn't realized that our memory card wasn't in the camera and I've been taking pictures. But now we can't find the cord to connect our camera to the computer, so the pictures are stuck. I will post them when we find the cord.

Ruby has figured out how to scoot around. Its so cute! All of a sudden, she just started pushing herself around and she's getting pretty good at it. The only problem (for her) is that she can only go backwards right now. She loves it though. She's trying so hard to figure out how to go forwards. She can't quite get it yet. It cracks us up. She'll lay on her belly and hold up her arms and legs in the air and move them around like she's swimming. Then she gets frustrated because she didn't move. I LOVE that I can now let her hang out on the floor for a little bit. She can't get too far yet and my aching back can get a break. This kid weighs a ton. 19 1/2 lbs. at the last check.

She's also teething right now. She has a big swollen bump on her bottom gum. We've had a sleepless week. Ruby has always been an incredible sleeper, we've been very spoiled. So now, we're a mess, trying to function on a bit of sleep - especially me. Ruby also has figured out some object permanence and when Mama's not right next to her, she's not happy. She loves hanging out in Daddy's arms until she's super tired or in pain. Last night, John got up to sooth Ruby back to sleep and she just screamed until I came in. Ugh! She has totally screwed up her routine too. So now she thinks she should be up until midnight or so. Not okay!

Ruby's trying out new laughs and sounds now, which have us laughing constantly. Usually her new laughs come out as coughs, which she thinks is great. Other times she screeches and it sounds like a zoo in our house. She seems to get funnier and cuter every day. Besides the teething, she is by far, at her best yet.

It snowed here this morning! We had big flakes that didn't technically stick, but there's still some snow hanging out on the top of our tent and some plants out front. There are even icicles hanging off of Ruby's bird feeder.

happy new year!

Our favorite Christmas present, Ruby

We had such a good trip in Florida. Ruby did really well the whole time. John & I could tell that she was a bit stressed, but she was still really happy and friendly with everyone. Ruby was so happy to be home though! When we got into our house, she just smiled at everything and shook, she was so excited.
I know most of you live in FL, but if you don't, we had gorgeous weather. It was sunny and warm. Ruby could be seen in just her diaper several times, she was so hot. Her Christmas outfits didn't get much wear, unfortunately, she was just too warm.
We really loved visiting everyone and especially introducing Ruby to friends & family. John & I were having so much fun that we forgot to take some great pictures. I really regret that. There were a bunch of people that we didn't get to see though, and we're so sad about that. I guess you will just have to come to Oregon to visit.
Here are some of our pictures.

Ruby & Nana

Giant Ruby with 6-week-old Kylee. Me & my friend from college, Christi

Ruby & Lourdes, my good friend from high school

Ruby & Tina, my other good friend from high school

picture by Lourdes

Ruby & Papa

Ruby & Gramps

Ruby & Grandma

Uncle Eddie, Aunt Bri & us in our matching Christmas pajamas made by Grandma

Picture by Gramps

Back home in the cute little poncho Grandma made for Ruby

new video

I get misty every time I watch this. Ruby makes us so proud! John had been reading this book with her over and over. This was the 5th time in a row. He called me in the room after the 3rd time because she waited until he was done reading and then turned the page EVERY TIME! In the video, she's a bit distracted by the camera - this kid loves the camera, but she still shows off her new trick a bunch. Enjoy.

Today we were out at the grocery store and John and I got samples of chocolate, yes, chocolate. Isn't that the best free sample you've every heard of? We were eating it and Ruby watched us and started chewing, as she always does when we eat. She reached out for it, then got all fussy. This is the first time she's watched us eat and been fussy because she couldn't. She was hungry anyway, but didn't realize it until she saw us munching. This kid loves to eat. (As you can tell.)

butterball

The butterball, I mean, Ruby



visited the doctor yesterday for her check-up. She weighs 18 1/2 lbs. and is 26 3/4" long! So she has grown almost 6" since birth and over 11 lbs! She is still above the 90th percentile for her weight. The picture above is from October. She's actually thinned out a bit since then, or grown longer, I guess.
But she is very healthy. The dr. was pleased about everything and she was very brave during her shots. Mama & Dada were too, I might add.

this is how weekends should be

We got our Christmas tree up this weekend. Ruby is in mouth-open, big-eyes, awe over it every time she sees it. We bought it from a lot to benefit a local mission. (We didn't know that at first, we just saw the sign that said, "All trees $20". A local tree farmer donates the trees to the mission. The people have to go out and cut them down themselves, then they sell them for $20 each, any size. The tree is beautiful, but, um, wasn't exactly cut by professionals. The trunk was really crooked and we think our saw is somewhere in FL and didn't make the trip out to OR with us. John is so handy, he used his pocket knife to try and even it out. I said try. After we got it up and decorated it and went to sleep, it toppled over in the middle of the night. Ha!

Sunday was perfect though. Ruby slept in. Friends came over for lunch and they brought presents! We had yummy lunch. IT SNOWED AGAIN! It still didn't stick, but I don't care, I love looking at it coming down. We all took a nap. I took a nice, hot bath with some new bath salts (part of the present from the friends) and we baked Christmas cookies.

Tina and Lourdes, where were you? You're supposed to be baking cookies with me!

big day for Ruby

Today started off normally enough. John worked from home, Ruby was as cute as always. Then at lunch, the mailman rang the doorbell to deliver a package for Ruby. Not too out of the ordinary. But the package was a gift from my aunt. It was a book, called The Mitten, which I love, but we didn't have it. I know all the teachers out there just gasped. And these...



Not a great photo, I know, but its the mittens that I knit for my grandma last Christmas, right before she passed away. I'm so glad that I get to wear them now. They remind me of her and she was one of the reasons (my other grandma the other reason) I learned how to knit. She cried when she got them. She cried at a lot of things at the end of her life, but I really think she knew that these were special for her.

Okay, so why is this post titled big day for Ruby, you ask? Well, we were at our baby class today. And Ruby rolled over 3 times in the span of 10 minutes or so. She's been working so hard at this. She's rolled before, but afterwards couldn't remember how to do it. She's been getting so frustrated lately trying and trying to do it again. Well it seems shes got it down now. All the moms in the class clapped for Ruby. Yay!

Tonight was John's work holiday party. It was at Gathering Together Farm (which is really the only reason why I agreed to go instead of saying, "No, I think I'll stay home and put Ruby to bed." The food there is AMAZING!). We knew it would be a late night for Ruby, but we thought we'd try it. She did really well. She let other people hold her and touch her face and everything. And McQueens, you'll appreciate this: One woman said to John, "Is Ruby's middle name, Rose?" John said, "No, but it could easily be. We considered it." You see, many women in John's family have the middle name Rose.

Our drive home from the farm was not fun. Ruby was over-tired and couldn't calm herself down, even with a stop to nurse. She fell asleep about 2 minutes before we pulled up in front of our house and had to wake her up. Hopefully tomorrow she won't remember the trauma of it all.

dandelion trees

In between rain showers, Ruby and I got out on a couple of walks. It was so lovely. I would look in one direction and it seemed like it would storm any second, another direction and there were blue skies. We saw two rainbows! Ruby got to swing again in the park. This time it wasn't so cold and she knew what she was doing. She giggled the whole time. I can't explain to you how cute it was. I collected some evergreen branches that fell in the storm. So now I have to try to figure out what to do with them. Wreath? Garland? Other ideas? I've been busy working on presents, but I can't tell you what I've been up to. You won't get it out of Ruby, either. She's good at keeping secrets.

the storm

I was reading a news report this morning about how bad the storms were out here. We're okay - it was really windy and rainy, but not too bad at all. Some of the climbing roses are damaged and we had some water in our basement, but that has happened before.

cuteness

We had our first snow fall here on Friday! Of course, if you saw it and you grew up in a northern state, you would probably not call it snow, but I grew up in Florida. So, snow it was. There were big flakes mixed in with the rain. None of it stuck, but it was pretty and exciting.

Ruby & I were in our baby class when I saw it. She was too distracted by the babies and toys. A little baby sitting next to us captured Ruby's attention and they both reached out to touch each other. Ruby started giggling and kissing her (Annabel's) face over and over. It was so adorable. She would lean in for a kiss and then start cracking up. I felt like my heart was going to explode. She is such a sweet baby!

Ruby's half-birthday!

It's hard to believe that 6 months have gone by already. This birthday seems like quite a milestone...the biggest birthday yet. She is soooo big too. A couple days ago in the store a woman asked me if she was 10 months old. I thought, this lady doesn't know what she's talking about, but then I realized that she's almost the size of a 10 month old. We go to the doctor on the 10th, so we'll find out her weight & length then. All I know is that she's heavy and growing out of her clothes way too fast. She seems to be almost at the end of her 6-9 month clothes.

Ruby is amazing. She has lately been staring at our basket of books until I take her closer and she puts her hand on one and thats the one we read. She is the sweetest baby too, she loves to give kisses to us, her stuffed animals, everything. After she gives you a kiss, she smiles really big, like she knows that is the best thing in the world - getting kissed by her.

Happy half-birthday, Ruby!

on the move

It's hard to believe that Ruby will be 6 months old on Friday, isn't it? It's hard to remember when she could sleep on our chest all curled up and be so tiny. She's really getting her personality now. It's so fun to watch. She giggles at what I think is nothing. I'm sure I'm doing something odd that she's laughing at, but I can't figure out what it is. Today we went to story time at our little library again. There was a girl, about 3 years old sitting next to us. She smiled at Ruby and Ruby reached out to her. They held hands for quite awhile during the story. Ruby would touch the girls hair and arm and the little girl would smile at her. Then she kissed Ruby's cheek. So cute!
Also when Ruby was playing today she got on her belly on the floor and saw a toy she wanted. She turned herself about 90 degrees to get it. Later when I checked on her while she was napping, she was diagonal compared to where I put her and her head was up in the corner, about a foot above where she had been. She's figuring out how to use those chubby little legs of hers. Yikes and yay!

Guess what kind of fruit this is? Yup, you guessed it, a hidden rose apple from a Corvallis farm. It tastes like candy.

ruby's first food

This morning we woke up to frost covering everything. It looked as if it had snowed. It could have, it was in the 20s again!


Ruby ate oatmeal today. She seemed to really like it. She ate quite a bit and then wanted John's apple.

happy swinging thanksgiving

Ruby's first independent swinging...she actually liked it, we just couldn't seem to catch a picture with a smile.  We think she's really chubby and big and then we put her in a swing and it swallows her up.  It was a really cold day here, as it has been.  We had Ruby bundled up in a hat and under probably too many blankets in her stroller, so I also think she was in shock here at being out in the cold.  It's been in the 20s at night and mid-40s during the day.  Its gorgeous - lots of sun, no clouds; but cold!  

Our friends invited us over for "orphan Thanksgiving" again this year.  None of us have family nearby.  Ruby had a bizarro Thanksgiving.  She skipped her afternoon nap and feeding!  We went over to our friends, ate dinner and all of a sudden, Ruby realized she was starving and VERY tired.  She gave us her warning squeals, and our lovely, generous friends packed us up a bunch of leftovers and dessert and sent us on our way after barely an hour.  Ruby passed out in the car and woke up later ravenous.  

back home

reading with Aunt Bri
Originally uploaded by meg+john=ruby

Ruby already misses her Aunt Brianne & Uncle Eddie. She had so much fun playing with them. Ruby adjusted very well to all of the traveling. When we got home, she smiled at all of her favorite things she missed: a lamp, her bumper in the crib, a stuffed animal that got left behind, etc. Cute!  We've uploaded a bunch of pictures from the trip on the flickr site.  Enjoy.  

ruby's first thanksgiving

We celebrated our thanksgiving a little early. Ruby loved seeing all the food and watching us all chew. She had a look on her face the whole time that seemed to be asking for some mashed potatoes. Eddie made his first turkey, which was very yummy; we had mom's mashed potatoes, which were great, but not quite the same as mom's, salad, and homemade by bri pumpkin pie cheesecake. yum! We weighed Ruby the day after Thanksgiving dinner and she weighs 18 lbs! (According to the bathroom scale, nothing scientific.) For the record a month and a half ago she weighed 16 lbs. Maybe the scales are calibrated differently, but Ruby's still a chunker.
Today we went to an organic restaurant and then later had organic, sinful donuts. We love the big city! Oh, and Ruby had her first fire drill. The alarm went off in Bri & Eddie's apartment. Luckily Ruby was up from her nap. We bundled her up, went outside and Eddie called 911. Everything was ok, of course, or I wouldn't be typing this. They said its not the first time its happened in their building.

seattle

We made it to Seattle and Ruby did amazingly well on the train. I loved riding on the train, relaxing, looking out the window at all the evergreens and rivers. It was a misty day and a beautiful day for a train ride. I held Ruby during her naps, which was so nice to do again. When we arrived in Seattle and got to Bri & Eddie's apartment, Ruby fell apart. She was so exhausted and overwhelmed. We finally got her to sleep and she passed out for the night. We went to a lovely little cafe this morning for breakfast. I miss it already. We've spent most of the day today hanging out in the apartment, playing with Ruby. We thought it might help her out to just stay put in one spot for awhile. So, she's looking cute in her little corduroy dress, sleeping away right now as we await our yummy Thanksgiving dinner. Off to play a game of marbles.

wish us luck

Congrats to Christi & Mike on the birth of their daughter, Kylee. And to Zak & Angela on their marriage. We wish we could have been there to celebrate. How exciting!
Christi & Mike: don't read the rest of this post.

So, Ruby is a messy baby. I know I usually write about how wonderful she is, and she is. But, man is she a mess! She spits up a ton - due to a bit of overeating & an immature stomach valve. And her poops are pretty explosive. She used to puke a couple times a week, which was lovely. I'm not talking spit-up, people, puke. Last night, I was just thinking about how its been so long since she has done that. I then caught myself and said (in my head) "don't say that, she'll puke again. No. You're being superstitious." Well guess what happened this morning? Uh-huh. Ugh! The joys of being a stay-at-home mom. It's not all snuggling up and kisses.

We've had a rough morning, lots of screaming (by Ruby) and me on my hands and knees cleaning the floor. I'm a bit nervous about our train ride to Seattle. We're heading out tomorrow for our visit to Brianne & Eddie for our early Thanksgiving. We're going to go for a long weekend to eat at some real restaurants - we don't really have any in our new town - and visit. John & I go back-and-forth between being okay with it all, reassuring ourselves that Ruby is a great, flexible baby and will do well, and being really nervous. Sometimes I think we're worse than Dumbo with his feather. We're not sure how she'll sleep without a particular white noise, blanket, crib, etc. Needless to say, after the morning we've had, I'm on the anxious side. Maybe Ruby is getting all the bad stuff out of her system before we go. That can happen, right?

New Video

Ruby riding in her car (aka daddy's knee)

Food

Since we're on the topic of making the world a better place for Ruby, I can't help point you towards this podcast. I listened to this on the bus ride home today and it pretty much sums up how I feel about food and our human relation to it, a very powerful message. Take a few quiet minutes and listen.

get the lead out

Regardless of your political affiliations, you must agree that we've got to do something about this lead paint issue. I have signed up to receive emails from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) when they recall an infant or children's product. You cannot believe how often I get an email. There is a petition here that will be sent to everyone who needs to see it. Recently the head of the CPSC said that she doesn't support legislation to do something about toxic toys. Right now there is only one person in charge of testing the toys!

Nancy Pelosi says:

"As mothers, there is no greater concern than the safety of our children. Yet with the recent reports of lead in toys for kids, moms and dads now have a new worry. If the recalls of toy jewelry, trains, and Halloween candy pails weren't upsetting enough, yesterday we learned that Halloween "Ugly Teeth" were recalled --on Halloween day itself! Lead in toys is unacceptable; lead in toys children are supposed to put in their mouth is criminal.

This summer, 20 million imported toys that were manufactured overseas were recalled--some of which contained nearly 200 times the legal limit for lead. The most heartbreaking for me was the recall of some Thomas the Tank Engine toys, a favorite among my five grandsons.

We must make sure that government lives up to its responsibility to protect our children. Parents should not have to buy a lead testing kit before letting their children play. We have a consumer protection agency to do that. Yet at the Consumer Safety Protection Commission, there is only one inspector charged with testing toys to make sure they are safe for our children. And recently, when the chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission was asked by Congress if she would request an increase of resources and funding for the commission, she refused to support this much needed action. I know we can do better.

Congress is determined to help parents who are frustrated. That is why we are working to pass legislation that will ban lead from children's toys, require testing of children's products by independent, third-party laboratories, and provide the Consumer Product Safety Commission with significantly greater resources to protect our families. For too long, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has failed to protect kids from hazardous levels of lead in their toys.

The evidence of how lead in toys harms children is overwhelming. Many years of research have shown that exposure to this neuro-toxin can have serious long-term effects, particularly on children. While the recent recalls have brought the issue to popular attention, the problem is, unfortunately, not a new one. In 2004, 2005, and 2006, millions of pieces of toy jewelry were recalled due to unsafe levels of lead.

With this legislation, we will ensure that there are no more stories like that of Jarnell Brown, a four-year-old who died in 2006 after swallowing a charm on a bracelet that contained over 99 percent lead. But we need your help. Get in touch with your Representative and Senator, and urge them to support legislation to protect our children.

I want to thank the MomsRising community for working to eliminate toxic toys. By passing this legislation and continuing our vigorous oversight, we will work to make certain not one more child is harmed by the toys we give them--our children deserve nothing less, and certainly much more."

Please sign the petition.

Ruby's a big girl

Ruby thinks she's a big girl and should be eating and drinking with us. She is fascinated by it all. So we got her a sippy cup to try out. She can hold on to it and even get it in her mouth. She can't quite tilt it up though. We gave it to her empty at first and then we put some water in it. She did not like that! Milk only for her, thank you.


Today the neighbor's cat came over to visit. Luckily John was working from home so he got to see how Ruby reacted to it and take pictures. The cat is really friendly and kept rubbing up against me and Ruby. Ruby reached out, pet it and seemed to really enjoy him.


But she did love sitting in her high chair for the first time. I'm having a hard time admitting she's such a big baby already. What happened to my itty bitty baby that just snuggled in my arms? I was reading about what she may be doing in the next month and I am just so sad about it all. It seems like she will become more of a floor baby than a lap baby. She will soon be able to sit on her own for longer periods of time - although she's got to stop spitting up so much for me to let that happen, and she's reaching out for things and becoming so much more intentional about her play. I'm overwhelmed by it all. I'm excited and saddened. It seems like she becomes more fun and loving and challenging all the time. I guess this is parenthood, huh? Parents: what are/were your favorite baby and kid ages? Least favorite? A lot of people have told me that 6 months was the best baby age - do you agree? Leave a comment.

do it for ruby

watch me

healthy babies

For all you parents & grandparents out there, check this out. Print out the safer plastics guide & use it when you're shopping. (Especially if you shop for Ruby - we're a little paranoid about plastics in this house).

happy halloween!

Ruby turned 5 months old on Halloween. I was a gardener and she was my little gnome. I must say, she looked waaay cuter in person.

Here's Ruby's little buddy, the peapod, and the daddies.

My mom made this Halloween countdown calendar for Ruby. Isn't it great?! I know she'll love it when she gets bigger.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Before we moved into this house, I said, "I can't wait for Halloween in this neighborhood!" We heard from lots of people that we would get slammed, so I bought a ton of candy. We didn't get one trick-or-treater! Not one! Our neighbors on our street all had their lights out, so our street was really dark. And, we live 2 streets away from the edge of the REALLY good neighborhood in town. So, I think everyone hits that and we got missed. It was so sad. John and I ate our pumpkin seeds and watched a movie while the little gnome slept. But, Ruby was cute and thats all that matters. Next year, we'll find somewhere to take her for some Halloween fun.

Ruby's new tricks

Ruby is such a little Daddy's girl already. She can be crying and in so much pain from her teeth and then Daddy walks in the door and she's giggling. It's' adorable.

One of Ruby's new tricks is screaming. She has found her vocal chords and likes to use them. She screams when she's tired, when she wants to be picked up, when she's playing, and for no reason at all. I can't say this is my favorite thing she's done. I'm really hoping she'll stop being so proud of this new trick soon. We just try to whisper back to her, hoping she'll figure out that we don't talk so loudly. You probably think its funny, but its not. I'm afraid to take her out in public and afraid the mailman will think I'm beating her. But it will make for a good Halloween house.

She has also figured out how to kiss us on the lips now. It is the best! She'll kiss us and then pull away with her mouth wide open. This makes up for the teething and screaming combined.

update

make that two teeth in the back.

another tooth

It's hard to believe that a baby as calm and beautiful looking as her picture below could have been the same baby I had today. Ruby was MISERABLE. I could not put her down for a second and nothing seemed to make her happy - except kisses. Oh, and then when Daddy came home. She actually giggled for him. She was crying moments before. But I looked in her mouth and she's got another tooth coming in. This one is also on the bottom, but not in the middle! It's pretty far over to the side, a molar, maybe?? Is that possible? A bad day with Ruby is still better than a bad day teaching, that's for sure.

Yesterday was my birthday and John & Ruby made it special for me. John made or got all of my favorite foods for me and gave me some really thoughtful gifts. Ruby gave me a massage. The card said "because you carry me around all day, every day, I thought you deserved a break."

kisses

We have had a busy few days around here. We hosted a housewarming party on Saturday. We had about 30 people here and a lot of fun. There were several babies for Ruby to play with and watch. Ruby was incredible. She woke up about an hour before people arrived and ate. Usually she's up 2 hours before her next nap. Ruby took 2 very short cat naps during the party, but otherwise was awake a total of 5 hours. She also didn't eat until people left. She was just too excited by it all. She was a happy girl as long as she stayed with me or John.

On Sunday, John took us out to brunch at Gathering Together, the farm where we get our CSA. The food there is amazing. We stuffed ourselves like it was Thanksgiving as Ruby just watched patiently and practiced chewing. The food was overshadowed by the couple next to us that got engaged while we were there! It was so much fun to see that happen. They got to show off the ring to everyone right away.

But the latest of Ruby's tricks, might be my favorite...she's kissing us!!!! She's always loved getting kisses (even from her stuffed animals and dolls), but now she will turn her face to "kiss" our cheeks. She just leaves her mouth open on our cheek, but smiles afterwards. John and I are all slobbery now, but we love it.

Pumpkin Fest

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Originally uploaded by meg+john=ruby

Ruby gave me a hand while we picked out our pumpkins at the Pumpkin Festival. Gathering Together Farm hosts a pumpkin fest every year where you go on a hay ride, listen to bluegrass, have a homemade donut, and get to pick out a pumpkin from their pumpkin patch. GTF is also the farm where we get our weekly veggies from in our CSA that we share with some friends. The fest was so big last year that they had to start limiting the number of people attending by selling tickets. The weather so great for this time of year, meaning that it wasn't raining, and about 60 F. Ruby saw her first horses here and got to play in the hay; she had a blast.

Fall Fun

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Originally uploaded by meg+john=ruby

Brianne and Eddie were visiting this weekend. We drove down with them to Harrisburg, just south of us in the valley and went apple picking at a family orchard. The weather was beautiful, sunny and about 60 F. We picked a couple of pounds (40 cents/lb!) and came home to make some yummy apple dessert. Ruby had a great time checking out all the trees. Tree watching is high on her list of activities if you didn't know already. Brianne and Eddie had lots of fun with Ruby, and Ruby had lots of fun with them. She was so full of smiles and giggles whenever they held her. This morning when Ruby woke up and saw that Bri and Eddie were still here she was so excited. (Thanks for coming down B and E, we really enjoyed it and I know Ruby did too.) -John

doctor visit

We just got back from the doctor for Ruby's 4 month check-up. She had her shots, which are so hard on John & me. But, Ruby does okay with it. She is just over 4 months old and weighs 16 lb. & 3 oz. and is 25 1/2" long. She's huge! Check her out on the growth chart here.
The doctor said everything looks great and that Ruby is beautiful.

story time

Ruby had her first story time at the library today. We walked - yes, walked!- to the library all bundled up on our brisk fall morning. The library is a historic building with stairs and no ramps so we had to park the stroller on the bike rack and lock it up. Funny, huh? I got some weird looks, but what else was I going to do? The library has a fireplace and lots of little rooms. It's so cozy. There were 24 kids there. A pre-school class from a nearby church comes every week. It was hard for this former teacher to keep her mouth shut. Some of the kids were soooo loud!
Ruby was amazed by it all. The librarian was great, she had puppets and chose 3 interactive books to read. One of the books was about some monkeys making a birthday cake for their mom. They were trying to be quiet so they wouldn't wake her. When they mixed all the dry ingredients, one monkey said, "Don't sneeze!" and then Ruby sneezed. Everyone laughed, it was really cute. Then there was a little puppet show.
The whole thing lasted 30 minutes and Ruby just sat on my lap staring up at the stage. I can't believe she has such a long attention span. As soon as she was back in her stroller, she passed out. I'll have to take the camera next time to share a picture of her all cozy. She looked ready for snow. We did some more shopping downtown, then headed back home. It is so nice to be able to walk to fun little places. I hope we have some non-rainy days this winter so that we can take advantage of it.

Ruby in the Press 2

-John

4 months old!

We went to Ruby's little friend, MaryAnn's house yesterday to celebrate Ruby's birthday. We made chocolate-filled vanilla cupcakes. Yum! MaryAnn is 2 weeks older than Ruby and so cute. The girls are funny. They're just starting to reach out and pet each other, its really cute.
Ruby's first little tooth is beginning to poke out.
She & I went to "live and learn with your baby" class that the community college hosts. There were about 20 babies & moms there. Ruby was amazed. She laughed and smiled at all the big babies crawling, walking, making noises. She seemed to be taking notes. She especially liked one little boy in particular. MaryAnn is in the class too. We go once a week and then spend the rest of the evening trying to make up the feeding and nap she skips while there. There's too much to look at!
Keep the recipes coming - thanks to Christy & Bri for the ideas. I'll try them soon.
Sorry this is so scattered. Baking season has begun here and I'm writing this in between steps of some rolls I'm baking. (And of course, playing with and feeding Ruby).

teething

Ruby is teething. Ugh. Her little hand is always in her mouth or pulling something into her mouth. She's handling it pretty well - we've only had one major meltdown. We try to distract her as much as we can by playing with her and kissing her, which we all love. She's so snuggly in her p.j.s.




Ruby did a new trick yesterday. She sat on our laps without any support! I know, I know, teething, sitting, turning pages in books...I swear she's not even 4 months old!



In case you hadn't heard, we're no longer vegetarian. When I was pregnant, I could not stomach beans or tofu, but I needed lots of protein. Now, Ruby can't handle it when I have beans, and a girl can only eat so much cheese, tofu, nuts, and peanut butter. So we're eating fish, chicken & turkey. But, we don't have any cookbooks or very many recipes for these new foods. Anyone out there have any FAST (30 min. or less hands-on time) dinners they can recommend?

we've moved!

We're finally getting settled in to our new house and we've got the internet hooked up. Yay! Ruby has done so many new things in the past week. She's been a trooper through the move. She's a bit stressed, but she's handling it pretty well. She also started teething through all of this, which was really bad timing. Ruby rolled over from her tummy to her back once last week. She hasn't done it since, I think it was a little much for her. We met our neighbors across the street who have 2 little girls. They are so nice! They offered to help us move in and brought us home made chocolate chip cookies! The woman is a nurse in the postpartum dept. at the hospital and is training to be a labor and delivery nurse. What a great resource right across the street! When Ruby met the girls (age 4 & 6), she laughed more than she ever has before. It was so adorable. We've had great weather here recently, so Ruby and I have been outside a lot. We found a little canal that runs through the neighborhood that has a ton of ducks living on it. Ruby and I sat on the bench and watched them. She was mesmerized. We've been waiting to go back with John and some bread. Ruby and I spend a lot of time out on the deck, nursing and watching the flowers and leaves blow in the wind. Life is good. Okay, enough rambling. Here's a funny story:

Ruby was REALLY tired one day and I was carrying her around, singing to her until she fell asleep. When I laid her down in her bed, she all of a sudden opened her eyes, gave me a HUGE smile and then laughed so hard that she made herself cough. It was like the whole thing had been a trick.

We'll post some pictures of Ruby soon and the house later after we get some more of these boxes out of here. Be patient!

Having fun with Ruby

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Originally uploaded by meg+john=ruby

I love the weekends! I get to spend all day with Ruby and Megan, playing and having fun with my girls. When I come home from work Ruby always has a big smile for me, but I love being there when she wakes up from her naps during the day. Today we walked to the Co-op together, played with her mirror, read books, had tummy-time, and spent time together while she was getting ready to nap. Oh yeah, packing has also been a big part of this weekend, but here I am procrastinating at the computer looking at pictures of Ruby while she sleeps (one of our new hobbies). Back to the boxes! J.

Ruby in the Press

kisses

Ruby LOVES getting kisses. She loves them so much that she makes this cute little face whenever she gets them or wants them. Last night John & I were kissing her over and over and then we put her mouth to our cheeks like she was kissing us and she would giggle. I don't think I've ever heard a better sound than that. Giggling for kisses.

Don't ask how the packing is going - as Brianne said, we're on track to move in January. We close Monday! We keep getting distracted by the giggling, kissing Ruby, who can blame us?

Ruby reading her first book