Christmas Break

Ruby Ann- 6 months

Well another month has flown by and I haven't posted about Christmas yet! On the 18th, Hannah came home from the army for 2 weeks. We were all so excited to see her. We had tons of parties to go to over the holidays and it was great to see all of our families.

Wearing Hannah's army hat

On December 23rd, I took Ruby in for her 6 month check up. She weighed 16 lbs. and 15 oz. Her weight is in the 65%, her head is in the 50% and her weight is in the 50%. She got the H1N1 shot that day and a flu shot, plus all of her others. I think there was 6 in all. She was not a happy camper! She has had a cough since about the 15th of December but my doctor said not to worry unless she has had it for more than 7 or 8 weeks. I have definitely decided that I like the warmer months better, because she was never sick!
Ruby can now sit up on her own. She has been doing this since the middle of December. She can sit up for a long time. She has skipped rolling because she HATES her stomach. I have tried and tried but she just screams after about 2 minutes. My doctor said that she might just skip that since she is already sitting up on her own. She started drinking 7 oz today and she still loves to eat. She really, really likes sweet potatoes. She is a great sleeper and she is always so happy!

Sitting Up

Ruby's 1st Christmas was really fun (well besides the fact that I was running a fever and had an ear infection). Ruby loved to play with the paper and she kind of liked the presents. We would give her one side of the paper and then we would roll it away from her so that it would rip. She got tons of presents from everyone and she looks so cute in all of her new clothes. Abe got a stocking full of toys that he plays with all the time. I got a few books, some cds, and new boots! Will got a few beanies, a few cds, a movie and some socks. We also bought a Wii. We weren't going too, but we have so much fun playing other people's that we thought we should get one.

Abe with his toy
Opening Presents
Christmas PJ's
Hiding behind the paper
I like dad's presents too!
Christmas Eve with the Bawden's
Grandpa and Ruby
Eating my present from G & G Wood

The day after Christmas I was still really sick and Will was being a great husband and taking care of Ruby. Well, that night when my medicine finally kicked in, Ruby started to get REALLY fussy. By about 10 o'clock we had a screaming baby with a fever and a runny nose. And I mean SCREAMING!!!! I was up with her until about 3. I would rock her and finally get to sleep, and then I would barely even move and she would start screaming again. I kept giving her tylenol and then I tried orajel thinking that she might be teething. Well that would work for about 2 hours and then we would have screaming until the next dose. On Sunday, we went up to Morgan for Quincy's blessing. Ruby was still having issues but it all seemed easier in the daylight. She was okay until about 4 o'clock and then she started screaming again. I had now moved onto motrin and calling my doctor. The doctor thought it was her ears. He said we could wait it out another night until they were open the next day, or take her to an instacare. We opted for the instacare. It turned out to be her ears! After getting some amoxicillan and numbing ear drops, we were ready for another night. She actually slept pretty good. I only got up twice to give her motrin and her pacifier.
On Monday, Will's family was going up to their cabin for a girl's trip. Well, now that Ruby was doing better I thought we could attempt this. Monday was not so great, if she wasn't crying she was whimpering. My poor baby. By Tuesday, the medicine had kicked in and I could see signs of my happy baby returning. We had tons of fun at the cabin but it was great to get home and sleep in our own beds. That night I realized that Ruby also had her 1st tooth coming in! It is on the bottom, in the middle and it will be so cute when it finally comes all the way in. I think that she got her ear infection from her tooth, but who knows! At least my happy baby is back and this sure made me appreciate how great she really is.
We had a very eventful break and I am now back to work. Ruby has a new babysitter that she goes too. Her old one went back to school. Brooke it great with her and Ruby is always happy when I get there. It was a VERY long week back, but we are now on the downhill to the end of the year.

The Last Few Months

Sorry that I am such a slacker. I have been trying to find a way to be a mom, a wife, a teacher, a housekeeper and a blogger. But as you can see I am still working on the last one! Life is great! We are busy but we're doing good. I took Ruby for her 4 month old appointment back in October. She weighed 15 lbs. 3 oz. and she is growing strong and healthy. She was in the 80% for her weight and the 50 % for both her height and head size. She now eats 6 oz. every 3 hours and we have started her on cereal. She loves to eat from a spoon and she is doing great! I take her back for her 6 month appointment on the 23rd. I also brought her to my school to get her picture taken. Every year I get a free picture package, since I'm a teacher, so I had my mom bring Ruby to get her picture taken. She smiled as soon as we sat her down and her picture turned out so cute!

For Halloween, Ruby was a bee. She was so dang cute! My parents have started doing a Halloween party for all of the grandchildren on the Friday before Halloween. They get to come and have pizza, have a parade for the parents and then sleep over at grandpa and grandma's house. This year Ruby got to stay for the parade but not for the sleepover. She is still sleeping through the night, but they have to be 2 to sleep over. On Halloween day, we went up to Will's parents to show them Ruby's costume. Then that night, we went over to Liz and Allen's house. We went trick or treating and then just hung out for a while.

The Bawden Grandkids
The Wood Grandkids
Quincey and Ruby, they're 3 months apart
I love her fuzzy hair!

My favorite picture of her!

I can't believe that Christmas is only 12 days away! I love this time of year. We went to our 1st Christmas party yesterday. It was the Forbush party! I was excited to see how Ruby would respond to Santa. Well, she didn't really care. She just looked at him. When he brought out her present, she reached right for it and then she just played with the paper. Then he gave her a candy cane and she loved just sucking on it. She kept gagging herself with it but she was loving it. We also were able to go on a hayride around the park to see the lights. So we got Ruby all bundled up. She loved the lights, but she was asleep before we even made it back!

Ruby and Santa
She loves candy canes!
All bundled up
Done for the night

Me and Will were able to get away for our anniversary this weekend and we went up to Midway. We have been married for 5 years on the Thursday. This was the first time that we have left Ruby overnight. She didn't even care! She went to my parents and she was great. She slept through the night and she was really happy when we got there to pick her up. I can't believe that we have been married for 5 years. They have flown by. I love you Will!!!

Update on our Life

Sorry it has been forever since I have posted. Ruby has a new cousin! Emily, Will's sister, had another girl on September 7th. Her name is Quincy and she is so cute. This now makes 4 girls and 1 boy for Emily and Brady. Poor Issac!!!Here were their kids before Quincy came along!

Here's Quincy at 1 month

Will's sister Hannah also left for active duty into the Army on September 14th. We were glad that Quincy came early so that Hannah could see her. She is at boot camp right now until February. We had a big get together the day before she left. We miss you Hannah but we're so proud of you!

Hannah with the Grandkids

As you all know we have a dog. His name is Abe and he just turned 2 yesterday. We were a little worried about how he would respond to having a new person in the house, especially when it bumped him down to number two. He is such a great dog! We had him lay down and told him to stay. He stayed there and then we were able to lay Ruby on him. She loves Abe and she loves his kisses. Look at these adorable pictures of her and Abe.

Look at that Smile!

Ruby is 4 months today and I can't believe it. She loves her hands now. I take her on Tuesday for her appointment and more shots. She is still sleeping through the night. She now goes down about 9:00 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00. I have a GREAT baby. She is always so happy, but she makes sure we know when it's time to eat. I started her on cereal two weeks ago and she loves it. She still eats 5 oz every 3 hours and it is starting to show. I am interested to see how much she weighs on Tuesday. Ruby loves her daddy and it is so much fun to see Will with her. She loves to tell stories and talk to us. We have also pulled out our toy saucer. She loves it because she can see everything.

We got family pictures taken with my family a few weeks ago and they turned out so cute. It was hard to get a good one of everyone cause there are now 20 of us. Ruby was really good for the first part and then she was done. Here are a few of the good ones.

All 20 of us

The grandkids
My Mom and Dad
Aubree
Koby and Mandy
Chad, Amanda and Paislee
Terah, Dylan, Brooklyn, Nate and Brianna
Kaloni, Tutoe, Mafa and Leta
The siblings with our parents
Just the brothers and sisters

Ruby's Blessing

We blessed Ruby today and it was great! It was a good day but I am glad that it is over. I was really stressed trying to get everything ready. We blessed her at our house and we had a ton of family and friends show up. Thanks for all of your support! My mom made her dress and she looked adorable. Will blessed her and it was such a sweet blessing. Ruby slept the whole time and she didn't even make a peep.

Her cute dress that my mom made, she also made the shoes and head band.

Say Cheese

Ruby and her Daddy
Ruby and her Mommy
Our Family
Exhausted after her long day!!!
She always sleeps with her hands up when she is really tired.

She is getting so big and she is so much fun. I had to go back to work on the 17th and it was so hard. I sobbed the whole way after I had dropped her off. When I went to pick her up, she was perfectly fine and that reassured me a lot. She is getting so smiley and she is a really good baby. She now goes down around 9:30 and gets up about 6:30. I had to go in and wake her up today at 7:30 and she was still totally out. We are so lucky!

Wearing her new beanie that her daddy bought her.
She also has matching vans shoes that go with it.

I have not posted any pictures of her room, but I need too because it is so cute. Will's parents made the crib, my parents bought her dresser, Will's aunts and Grandma bought us her rocker, and my sister Mandy made the cute letters. It turned out so cute and we love it. She had been sleeping in her room since she was 5 weeks.