Ruby D at Thirteen Months

At thirteen months you:

-Can point out and say: nose, eyes, belly, toes. You can also usually point out teeth and hair.
-Say so many new words and phrases every day. You are extremely verbal and can even say short sentences. Some of your most often used words: mama, daddy, sissy, butt butt, nose, down, that, i need, baby, mommy's baby, i ru ru.
-Usually take one nap a day (around 1 with Mommy and Sister) for two to three hours. If you get up too early or are cranky you take a short morning nap as well.
-Still only have two teeth. You drool and chew on everything all the time, but so far no new teeth have appeared.
-Love to play with blocks, the Gabbas, baby dolls, stuffed animals, and pretend food.
-Point at anything with a circular shape and exclaim, "Ball, ball!"
-Love to take your bath and be in the pool.
-Get so excited when we play "When you're up you're up."
-Tend to get very loud in church. You don't cry, but you want to talk and squeal.
-Are still not the best sleeper. I can usually get you to sleep between 8:30 and 10 (even though you want to be up and playing), but unless I am holding you you have a tendency to wake up. I sometimes can get you to sleep on the couch next to me, but usually I just hold you until I take you to bed with me around 12.
-Drink from a cup at breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. You still breastfeed first thing in the morning, after you wake up from nap, before bed, and at least once during the night. I don't have any plans to drop any of these feedings anytime soon.
-Have switched from the generic form of your medicine to Synthroid. Your doctor hopes this will regulate your levels so that you don't have to have a blood test every month.
-Are starting to warm up a little bit to other people. You know Mimi and reach for her especially if Mommy isn't there. You do not like when Auntie Ann gives you a shower though.
-You love doggies from afar. When they get close to you not so much.
-Are still a Mommy's girl through and through.
-Nicknames: Ruby D, Ru Ru (what you call yourself), Butt Butt (what Gracie calls you, what you call yourself when you are being naughty), Sister, Ru Ru Ma Goo Goo

Remembering My Grandma Bowser

Sometime in the next few days we will be going to Ohio for my Grandma Bowser's funeral. I am very sad, but I know that Grandma is happy to be with my Grandfather after missing him for the past two years. I am also glad that both of my daughters got to meet and see my Grandma quite a few times.

My Grandma was funny, sometimes inappropriate, loving, teasing, and supportive. She loved babies, dogs, cats, reading romance novels, and her soap operas. When I was little I spent a week each summer visiting her. For my birthday every year she and my Grandpa took me shopping and out to supper. We always had a bedtime snack and stayed up late talking and watching movies. She and my Grandpa visited our house all the time when we were little for holidays and school events. They always made sure I knew how proud they were of me. My Grandma made me laugh all the time, and I find myself repeating her sayings all the time. She loved my babies and loved to see them and hug them. She was always interested in whatever I had to say and wanted to know everything going on in my life. She and my Grandpa taught me so much about how to be a good person, how to be a loving spouse, and how to enjoy life.

(I am on Glimmer, not my computer with all of my pictures files so I plan on adding more pictures to this post later. These pictures are from March-our last visit with my my Grandma.)

Ten on Tuesday

1. We spent Sunday and part of Monday visiting my sister. She got into a car wreck on Friday night and was without a vehicle. We took her grocery shopping, to Wal-mart, and helped arrange for her new furniture to be delivered to her house. Before we left town on Monday Andrew was able to take her to pick up her rental car and put the legs on her new couch/loveseat. We also made time to go to Ulta, Old Navy, and Bakers Square. It wasn't Free Slice Wednesday, but we still got pie. Andrew and Gracie shared a piece of Oreo pie, and I had brownie pie a la mode. It was delicious.
2. Ruby D is switching meds from Levothyroxine to Synthroid. Her levels keep jumping up and down every few months which means that not until do we have to keep readjusting her meds, but she also has to continue having a blood test every single month. Her doctor isn't sure if her barely nonexistent thyroid is occasionally producing a spurt that messes her levels up or if the generic medicine isn't working for her. So I guess we try this and go from there.
3. I am so ready for fall. Every year around back to school time I feel this way. The sweaters and boots in all the stores don't help any either. I also always feel like completely making myself over every year around this time. The fall fashion magazine editions don't help that.
4. My jeans are either falling apart or don't fit (or both) so I did buy a few new pairs at Old Navy ($15 for almost all styles-I think the sale is still going on this week). I also bought a pair of skinnies at Wal-mart. Two of the pairs I bought need hemmed so I need to take those to the dry cleaner that Andrew uses for his uniform.
5. Gracie picked out florescent cat fabric and circus fabric for Wanda to make some new clothes for her. She also wants crocodile fabric to make a pair of ruffle pants, but I haven't found any of that yet. The fabric we bought was for the main portion of her skirt or pants so we still need to find something that coordinates, but we should be able to find polka dots (my budding fashion designer told me that is what she needs) at Jo-Anns or Hobby Lobby.
6. Ruby D is a talking machine. She already can say a lot of two word phrases and repeats words all the time. We are working on body parts, and she already can point out and say: eye, ear, nose, belly, boob, and toes. What I love to hear the most is when she says, "Mommy's baby, I Ru Ru." She certainly has me wrapped around her finger.
7. On that note I have no idea when I am going to wean her. During the day she really is mostly weaned with the exception of naptime. She gets a cup of milk for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. I'm trying to only feed her before or after nap (not both), but it really depends on the day as to how that goes. Before bed and during the night I don't even want to start the process of weaning. She isn't a good sleeper even though she cosleeps. I don't know if it is her medicine or what the deal is, but she very rarely sleeps longer than four or five hours in a row. Depending on the night I can sometimes get her back to sleep without feeding her, but more often that not she just screams or pulls down my shirt until I cooperate. Oh well, breastfeeding is so healthy for her, and it's not like I mind.
8. Ulta is one of the very few locations that carries NYX cosmetics. They are cheap, pretty, and shimmery. I really have stopped using glitter, but shimmer is another story. I love the jumbo eye pencils. My favorite so far is Pacific which is this blue/purple shade.
9. Gracie goes in spurts of staying dry all night for weeks and then randomly starts peeing in her diaper again. There really is no rhyme or reason to it. I know it isn't a big deal, because she is so little, but it makes it hard to know when to try putting her in undies overnight. Hopefully now that we are home and eating at normal times she reverts back to her normal pattern.
10. I want to try to stop drinking so much pop, but it's easier said than done. Oh Mountain Dew, why must you taste so yummy?

My girls

Crazy haired girl

Silly faced girl

Cute as a button girl

Sticker arm girl

 
Make me laugh girls

Mommy's baby

Mommy's best girl

Naughty bunny girl

Oh how I love these girls

Linkies

Recent websites/websites I love/am addicted to:

The Disney Food Blog
-Oh how I miss you Disney World. I am hoping to try a few new restaurants the next time that we go. I won't lie though, I'm most excited about trying fun new desserts. I totally want to try the cupcake challenge too. 
 All That Glitters
-How cute is this girl?! I love her makeup tutorials and her beauty hauls. Now if only I could have her fun beachy hair.
Betsy McCall Paper Dolls
-I love these! Eventually when the girls share a room together I plan on framing a few of these and a few of my Mary Englebreit ones and hanging them on the wall. So so cute.
Ruche
-Pretty, vintage inspired, feminine clothes, jewelry, and accessories.
I WANT these shoes
-and these, and these. So sexy, and even better, reasonably priced.
What I Wore Wednesday
-One of my very favorite blogs. I love WIWW. Maybe someday I'll actually participate. I just think it's fun to look at other peoples outfits and how they put certain pieces together. I really want an Allora handmade necklace as a result of looking at so many pictures of it worn with so many different things.

It's Paradise

visiting my sister for a week. we've faired, gone to lunch "where they have balloons", visited the local playground, watched gracie's new gabba dvd more times than i can count, covered everything with stickers, and shopped our hearts out. gracie is having a ball. ruby is having a ball until it comes to bedtime. i think she is teething, but whatever it is, she is sleeping horribly (even for her). poor baby. at least naptime is a breeze getting both of them down. i love naptime. and my silly little girls.

Gracie decorating herself with stickers. Auntie Ann always has a large supply waiting for her.

Where do you want to go for lunch Gracie?
The place with the balloons.

Animals my size Mommy!

Auntie Ann and Gracie feeding the animals at the petting zoo. Gracie especially liked to feed the llama out of her hand (It tickles Mommy!).

 

Happy girl! I bought her a wristband for unlimited rides. Sadly she was not old enough for most of the rides she wanted to go on (side note: why do you have to be five to get in a rubber hamster ball and spin in water?). I also had to go on quite a few rides with her, which was fine with the exception of the obstacle course slide. Going over two suspension bridges while trying to keep on my soaked shoes (part of the course was wet) and get Gracie across-not fun. She loved it though.

The Dizzy Dragon Ride. Complete with spinning wheel. Gracie wanted to spin as fast as possible.

 

Taken from the very top of the ferris wheel (the biggest rip off at the fair. because yes, Gracie had a wristband, but Mommy had tickets, and it takes four to ride the ferris wheel. crazy!)

Stocking my Closet

I (for some unknown reason) said that I would stop shopping in juniors when I turned thirty. Sob. Unfortunately that means I really can't shop at Wal-mart anymore, because their women's clothing is crap. I do not wear oversized t-shirts, or elastic waist pants, or strangely patterned tunics. Occasionally I find a pair of jeans that fit, but I am in between a juniors five and a woman's four. I might have to break my rule already though, because they just put out a display of skinny jeans in juniors for ten dollars. I want skinny jeans, but I don't plan on wearing them a lot, and every other pair I have looked at is over twenty dollars. The two stores that I shop at the most for clothes aren't even in my town. Sigh. I wish our mall would get a H&M. I don't really care as much about getting a Forever 21, because I have much more luck shopping their online site. The actual store is just so crowded with all the clothes shoved together on the racks. A lot of the stuff at Forever 21 is too young for me, but they have really pretty shirts that are more grown up (with a more grown up price tag). The problem with my clothes is I buy cheap stuff and then I wear it to death, so I have to replace pieces a lot. That and my children like to get stains on everything I own (and everything they own). Luckily their clothing is still cheap.

To Do List

Now that our summer visitors are gone and Ruby D's party is over I should have time to finish working on some things around the house. What I would like to get done:

• hang my new stained glass window in my dining room window. I actually just need to buy/install a hook to do this; I just keep forgetting every time I go to Wal-mart.
• wash all of the outside windows. This is just pointless to do right now, because the sprinklers hit the windows every single time Andrew waters the lawn.
• put hooks on both sides of the window hanging in the hall, string twine, and hang my favorite scrapbook layouts.
• spackle the scratches on my breakfast nook table (Andrew cut through garlic bread without a plate underneath it) and touch up with paint.
• organize the master bathroom closet (basically figure out what I want all my scrapbook stuff to go into).
• get baskets to go on the shelf in the laundry room.
• find a new toy box (because the one we have is completely falling apart).

I would eventually like to:

• put in a back splash in the kitchen.

(ohh, pretty)

• have a fence installed in the backyard. 

(pretty much the exact fence I want, pretty much one of the most expensive options out there. My husband would say this doesn't surprise him in the least.)

• replace carpet in the dining room with hardwood.
• have a pocket door/door installed in the master bathroom leading to the closet. 

Unfortunately all of these projects will probably be a long time coming, because they take a lot of money. We don't plan on moving until the girls graduate high school though, so it isn't like we don't have time.