2012 in Pictures

It's become a tradition around these parts to do a recap of our year in pictures. It's fun for me to look back on all the years I've been doing this, and I'm glad to continue the tradition this year.
What a year it has been! I can say with 100% certainty that this has been the best year Andrew and I have ever had. We grew so much together, and then grew our family by 1 (2 if you count Banjo, which we totally do).
Without further adieu, 2012 in pictures:
(see 2009 here, 2010 here, and 2011 here)

January:
Juju visited and I thought that I was "showing". If only I would have known that my belly still wouldn't look that good 4 months postpartum...

February:

Our (wonderfully) weird friends dressed up and went to see Star Wars. We gladly babysat Nolan while they went. He's so little in these pictures! Sigh, they grow up so fast. 

Taylor's face looks so strange through that mask...

March:
Andrew got to pray at the Hornets game. They happened to be playing the Mavs that night which meant I got to watch Dirk warm up from the side of the court, oh and Jason Terry smiled and waved back at me when I said hi to him. This was also Nolan's first NBA game. What a night!

April:

Easter with our crew and Ruby's first concert (in-utero) at Jazz Fest. 

May:

We met this three crazy pups and chose our boy. 

June:
Celebrated one year of marriage with a baby in my belly, a pup on my hip, and my love by my side.

July:

The boys ended their most successful baseball season to date. We are so proud of the progress (not only in sports) that they have made this year. 

August:

Nothing important happened this month.

JK. We had a baby. Our beautiful, wonderful, sweet, precious, darling girl! 

September:
We spent a lot of time staring at Ruby in awe. Ruby mastered her famous "oh face".

October:

The only pictures I have from this month are random ones of Ruby and Halloween. Halloween was really fun.

November:

Ruby's (and Banjo's) first Thanksgiving and LOTS of sweet smiles. Mama also had her first day back at work and Ruby had her first day of school (saddest day EVER, for me at least). 

December:

Sweetest, most special Christmas ever. 

2012 was a year full of new adventures for us. We feel so very blessed and have full hearts reflecting back on such a special year for our family. We thank God for his faithfulness, provisions and unending love and are looking forward to what 2013 has in store for us. 

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord if my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.' The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him." -Lamentations 3:22-26

Ruby-- Four Months

Our sweet, sweet girl turned 4 months old on Christmas Eve. It was warm enough outside to take these pictures with Rubes in her short-sleeved onesie. Ruby is getting to be such a fun little girl. She is gaining a little sassy personality that makes us laugh. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. 

Like I mentioned, her little personality is just blooming. She is a very happy baby like she always has been, but has grown a bit of a temper. She gets SO easily frustrated if she can't do something, like put a whole block in her mouth. It cracks us up, but most of the time we have to take away whatever the toy is that is frustrating her or she will just get herself way too worked up. 

Ruby's hair is SLOOWWLY growing. She still has a good amount of brown hair in the back, but as you can see in the picture above it's definitely growing in a little blonde. Her hair has started doing a little alfalfa curl on top and it is just the cutest thing I've ever seen.

We've been battling a nasty little cold since her 3 month post, and this month it unfortunately turned into more than just a little cold. Rubes was diagnosed with RSV and an ear infection. It was SO SAD to see our sweet, happy baby so miserable. She had a rough time breathing and had enough snot in her nose to fill up a cup (gross). We got her on some antibiotics for her ear infection and it cleared up pretty quickly. Happy Ruby was back in just a few days.

We had to deal with some sleep regression this month (I'm guessing because of her being so sick). She had a few nights where she'll wake up every 2 hours to nurse. This made getting up and going to work even more hard than it usually is. Thankfully, she *kinda* got back into the swing of things and is mostly only waking 1-2 times per night. She seems to be going to bed later and later though and I'm not really sure why, or how to change it. Part of me is grateful for it because it means I get lots of extra time with her after the day is over, and part of me would enjoy some time to wind down myself. At the end of the day, though, there really is nothing sweeter than Ruby cuddles.

The girl has an obsession with her hands. Well, really anything that she can get in her mouth (your hands, too if you let her!). She is constantly chewing on something, and hands are just SO convenient. She's not much of a thumb sucker, she prefers the first two fingers after her thumb.

You can almost always guarentee that Ruby has a hair stuck between her fingers. She is constantly grabbing hair. No matter how often I spread those chubby fingers apart and pry the hairs out, she somehow always ends up with more. I keep thinking about cutting my hair, but I'm not sure that would really make a difference. She pulls Andrew's hair and it's not even an inch long!

We've had a bit of a set back in the eating department (again, thanks to our friends RSV and ear infection). She had lost almost a pound the last time we took her to the doctor. It definitely doesn't show, and her double chin has not suffered one bit. Even with her feeling better, her appetite still hasn't returned. I had been pumping exclusively so that we could monitor how much she was taking in, and she had gone from eating 5 oz per feeding to 2 oz. The past couple of days she has eaten between 2-3oz, so I'm hoping this means her appetite is starting to come back. 

I'm pretty sure she is starting to teeth. Like I mentioned before she is constantly chewing on something, she is also drooling probably a gallon of slobber a day. She's slightly irritable and a lot more needy than usual. Last night I let her suck on a slice of frozen peach that I was snacking on and she absolutely loved it. It was so cute to see her little brain working thinking "this is NOT milk...but...mmmmm...it's GOOD!" We'll be taking her to her 4 month appointment sometime this week or next, and maybe get the clear to start trying some foods with her. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that step, mostly because it makes me sad to think about her growing up. We'll see. I might hold off until 6 months. 

I say it every month, but I feel so blessed to have such a happy girl! She is definitely easy to please, and smiles almost all day long. Her teachers at daycare rave about how darling and sweet she is and say to me all the time "she's such an easy baby". I'm thankful that the transition to daycare has gone so well for all of us. Andrew checks on her multiple times a day and sends me texts like "she's playing on the floor and smiling" or "she's napping in her crib all bundled up...i love her". It definitely makes my day go by faster knowing she is loved and cared for. SO very grateful for a loving place to take her while we work.

Ruby is a daddy's girl through and through. He gets the best smiles and cuddles from her. She has gotten to spend a lot of time with him recently with her being sick and Christmas break at daycare. Andrew had sick time that he could take, and had an end of the year break from work that thankfully coincided perfectly with hers. I love watching their relationship form and grow. They are a sweet pair.

Our Love, 

Happy four months! You are changing daily, and Mama & Daddy love to watch you grow. You are so sweet and happy. It warms our hearts to see you smile and her you laugh. Every little part of you is incredibly beautiful and you make me proud to be your mom on a daily basis. God has blessed us more than I could have ever imagined by you, darling girl. You're the best. 

We love you, Sunshine. 

Mama

Nakey

These are a few of my favorite recent pictures.
Messy hair, drool on my shoulder, and a dimply baby booty. Simply the best.

I love this chunky girl SO much.

Ruby--Three Months

3 months old (plus 10 days)! Here I go again saying that time is just flying by way too quickly. 

Ruby gets more and more fun every single day. She is truly full of sunshine and happiness and makes our lives so much sweeter than we ever could have imagined! 

I really have a lot that I am excited to blog about (Ruby's first trip to Texas, Thanksgiving, other fun events), but just have not had the time or energy to get around to it. Hopefully I can soon! I'm feeling accomplished enough just getting this post up, though! 

We definitely have a little chatterbox on our hands! I have told Andrew several times that once Ruby decides to start talking (like with actual words) our ears are going to be worn out, because this baby LOVES to hear herself talk. She is quite vain, actually, and loves to look at herself in a mirror while talking to herself. It's adorable and makes me smile like nothing else. 

We've been to the doctor twice since her two month visit. Once to check out her head and torticollis, and a second time to check out a little cold she had. Both times she has surprised us with her weight gain. The first time (which was right around her 3 month birthday) she weight 13 lbs. Needless to say, the girl isn't going hungry. She is our happy little chunk. 

Speaking of her torticollis (mentioned in 2 month post if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about), she is getting MUCH better at looking left (see below pic)! We have tried to be very diligent about doing her neck stretches, even though it's a horrible feeling to make your baby cry. I can definitely see a difference. She looks to the left without even being prompted by a toy or voice. I'm so proud of her. We were getting a little bit concerned this month about the right side of her head getting pretty flat. I had read a lot about positional plagiocephaly (basically flat head syndrome), and just wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing for her. Our doctor confirmed that she does have mild positional plagiocephaly, but he didn't recommend any type of correctional device, like a helmet. Since then she has started sleeping on her belly because she sleeps remarkably better that way, and I can see a difference in her head shape already. We're encouraged by her progress and know that this is something I'll look back on and probably not even remember how much it stressed me out a few years down the road. I am grateful for a great, understanding pediatrician who is conservative and not to hasty to jump to unneeded interventions.

A couple of nights ago Ruby slept for a whole EIGHT hours straight. Pretty amazing! I woke up to my alarm, jumped out of bed, and ran into her room to make sure she was still breathing because it freaked me out so bad that she hadn't woken me up at 3am! She was still breathing, and even slept for another hour to let me shower and get ready for work. Boy, did I enjoy that! Good thing, because it ended the next night. I didn't change anything about her schedule, feedings, ANYTHING, but she was back to waking up once a night the next night. It's really not a big deal to me, I honestly really enjoy the time I get with her at our 3am feeding. I definitely wouldn't mind a few more 8 hour stretches of sleep, though! Whenever you're ready Rubes, I am too, until then I'll soak up our middle of the night cuddles. 

She seriously is the most happy go lucky baby I have ever known. I can't get over how much she doesn't cry. She gets annoyed if she has to wait for a meal (but who doesn't?!), and gets REALLY angry if you pick her up from her crib after a nap or bedtime and then go straight to the changing table. She's all "UMMM, HELLO! I just got done laying by myself for over an hour and now you're wanting to set me down AGAIN?! No thank you....I wanna cuddle!" So generally (unless poo is involved), we let her get a few minutes of hold time before changing her diaper after a nap. Easy-peasy. 

Ruby is still in size 1 diapers, but I think after this pack we might try out some size twos because she has had several blow outs this week. She fits into almost all of her 0-3 month clothes still and is comfortably wearing most of her 3 month clothing. She wears a couple of 3-6 month onesies that I bought at Old Navy, but they are still too big. I busted out the 3-6 month box of clothes that we have, but decided it was too early since she still fits into all of her 0-3 month stuff...I get too excited about all the "new" clothes we have waiting for us! 

I think we are going to have a little blondie on our hands. She has recently sprouted some very long hairs on the top of her head (you can kinda see them in the above picture), and they are all blonde. She still has her dark brown swirl in the back, but is starting to loose some of it from laying on her back. It's going to be fun to see what color/type of hair she ends up with. Either way, it'll be beautiful! 

Ruby is the girl of many nicknames. Poor thing might not know what her name is we call her so many different things. Ruby, Rue, Rubes, Rue Rue, Boo, Chick, Chicken, Turtle, Birdie, Baby girl, Punkin, Sweetie, doll, and the list goes on and on. Don't ask me why she gets called so many animal names...it just happened...and I like it!

 

She's hanging onto the baby blues for now...we'll see if they change. Her doctor mentioned randomly to me that most of the time when babies eyes are as blue as hers are, they generally stay blue (or a like color). This is surprising to me...for some reason I always figured my babies would have brown/hazel eyes like their daddy...but it's looking like Ruby has got her mama's eyes. 

We are SO blessed by this girl! So very thankful to have her in our lives!

Darling girl, 

Oh my goodness, we love you SO much! The other day when we were riding in the car to church, you were just singing and chatting to yourself in the backseat and your dad and I just smiled at each other. Daddy said that he can't imagine our lives without you, that you're apart of us and it's so perfect and wonderful. It's true, we really cannot imagine not having you with us. It's such a blessing to get to be your parents. It's definitely the best thing we've ever done! You make us laugh, smile, and light up our world every single day. I hope you grow to know how much you are loved by us, and that eventually that translates into you being able to understand the love of Jesus who loves you so much more perfectly and endlessly than we ever could. 

Happy three months, Ruby girl. 

Love you to the moon and back, 

Mama

"Alright guys, enough pictures!"