Ruth is 6 months old!

Well Easter was a hit! J.R. said he got so much candy that he must have been a "really good boy" this year! The night before Easter I had a revaluation, J.R. is a smart little boy now and I have to be more "sly" when it comes to the holidays. J.R.'s room overlooks our yard where we hide the Easter eggs and candy so we had to somehow hide and place the candy and eggs before he woke up in the morning. J.R. wakes up such random times, it could be 7am or noon, you never know! Operation Easter begins: I got Sandi to hide the eggs and candy while I held Ruth at 7:15am praying that J.R. would not wake up, look out the window and see Sandi hiding the eggs. As I was holding Ruth outside she starts talking the only problem is when Ruth "talks" it's actually a scream! I ran inside with Ruth praying she didn't wake up her brother! After Sandi hid everything we went upstairs to see if J.R. was awake and found him sleeping soundly. Operation Easter was a success, thank you god for not ruining Easter for J.R.!

We've finally made it back to church, we haven't been in so long. I love the church I found when we moved to the northwest, even better than that is J.R. loves Sunday school! He looks forward to it every Sunday. We scheduled a playdate for this last Sunday and when I told J.R. he said, "Mom, why would you do that, you know we have church!" I responded, "Well little guy, we are going to church then we'll have your playdate after church.". I had to chuckle that he was scolding me thinking I didn't plan for church! 

After church we went to Bucca De Beppo, we couldn't believe how empty the place was, we had our own section. Ruth sat in a highchair and did so good during the entire lunch! Ruth is so interested in our food! She's eating her baby food really well except for the fact that her tongue gets int he way. She recently found her tongue and is not sure what to do with it.. yet! 

Later we went to Ralph and Mary Lou's, they had some Easter goodies for the kids. We had Ralph hold Ruth to see what she would do and once she was in Ralph's arms she looked at him and cried! So it may be that Ruth does not like men to hold her, she may have a grudge against men and not just her daddy! We are going to Ruth's pediatrician for her 6 month shots on Friday. Please say a little prayer for us, this is always a rough day after her shots! It will be interesting to see how much she grew. She's so big, my arms are getting a workout carrying her around and holding her while she bounces. Bouncing is her favorite thing to do this week, I hold her while I'm sitting, she stands on my legs facing me and then she jumps! She gives me the biggest smiles and I try to hold out as long as my arms can take it!

Here are some more pictures from the last few weeks!

J.R. with his Pipers Easter Egg from Chariton Iowa!

Ruth holding her Easter basket tight!

Cheese!

J.R. entertaining Ruth!

J.R. with ONE of his Easter baskets.

J.R. and Ruth can finally sit next to each other. Great job Ruth!

J.R. LOVES to hold his sister, she's only half the size of him, haha!

From Tootsie's view point!

This is the only thing that Ruth will let us put her in and she won't cry. She'll stay there for 20 minutes if we are lucky!

Ruth trying to EAT her Easter basket. Everything she touches goes into her mouth.

Notice the shoe on J.R.'s right foot.

Ruth jumping, mommies arm workout!

Ruth constantly tries to eat her feet. 

Happy Easter

Easter is in 2 days and J.R. is very excited for the Easter bunny! He and Sandi decorated Easter eggs last night, almost 2 dozen eggs! We will be having deviled eggs and potato salad for a week!

Ruth is doing better, I lover her tons but man, she is work or maybe I'm just too old, haha! She is sitting up by herself, sometimes she will fall over but if you spread her legs far apart she's a "sitter"! I have to say, time is going by so fast! I remember when J.R. sat up by himself and it seemed like it took FOREVER but with Ruth she was sitting up before we knew it! Ruth has the biggest smiles and she tires to flirt with that big smile to get you to pick her up!

J.R. is such a great big brother, he LOVES Ruth. He likes spending time with Ruth and playing with her. He says he can't wait until she can crawl or walk (me too buddy!). I wonder if he will really like Ruth following him everywhere once it happens?

So, I have another J.R. story to tell.. I either have the sweetest little boy in the world or a brilliant little guy who knows how to play his parents. It's spring break this week and Amy is watching Ruth for us at home. I told J.R. not to ask Amy for anything period, she is here to watch Ruth not play with him. The next morning J.R. came upstairs to my office and said, "Amy said when Ruth wakes up from her nap we can go in the pool." Knowing that going in the pool is one of J.R.'s favorite things to do.. I asked J.R. if Amy offered to take him in the pool or if he asked Amy to take him in the pool? J.R. responded, "I don't remember.". (ugh).. so after 5 minutes of badgering J.R. he came clean and told me he asked Amy to take him in the pool. I made J.R. follow me to where Tony was and together we told Tony the details of how J.R. disobeyed the rule. In the midst of the conversation, I told J.R. he would have to be punished but he could pick the punishment. J.R. stood there with his big watery eyes and said, "I don't get to play all day." Tony chuckled and told J.R. that it didn't have to be that bad of a punishment. Tony told J.R. that he was going to go into the pool with him now but the punishment could be that J.R. had to wait until later in the day. J.R. still had big tears in his eyes and said, "no, I don't get to play." and he went into our loft and laid there on the carpet. Tony and I looked at each other and said, "Wow, this kid just won that battle and now he's making us feel bad for punishing him!"  J.R. sat there for an hour while I worked in my office. I had to leave for an appointment and as I left I told J.R. that he could get up whenever he wanted, this wasn't the punishment I suggested, he did this to himself. Tony told me that he sat up in the loft in the corner doing nothing for another hour! So this kid has my tenacity and both Tony and my hardheadedness... I think we are in for quite a ride! OMGOSH.. help!

Here are some more pictures from the last few weeks!

Ruth falling asleep during our dinner feeding.

Ruth and J.R. with Auntie Lori's Easter gift!

J.R. at Bacon Bar for lunch!

ruth's chubby little feet!

Sleeping Ruth, this is the only time she's quite.

One of the few times Ruth has let her daddy hold her.

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Ruth finally figured out how to jump in her jumper. She's a jumping queen!

Ruth wearing her 12 month White Sox's dress at 5 months old. The dress is tight we will only be able to wear this a few m more times!

After dropping J.R. off at school one morning I found this in his room. He laid out his clothes he wanted to put on after school... notice the underwear!

Ruth in her jumper!

This is a rare occasion and only lasts a few minutes without crying.

J.R. still loves hockey!

Pictures from the last few months since Ruth arrived!



After I hit the pool for the first time!



Before I hit the pool for the first time.

"I wear my sunglasses at night"

J.R. and Ruth playing together.

Ruth laying with her dog, Toots!

Ruth and mommy by ourselves after Nana and Papa left.

Auntie Lori Christmas 2013.

I love to lay on my big bro!

We are now sucking our thumb!

Uncle Scott holding Ruth falling alseep and J.R. photo bombing!

J.R. with Audrey sharing a noodle!

J.R. LOVES his baby sister.

Valentine's Day 2014 in the Vodka Room.

Cute picture of Ruth!

J.R. at Hulk Hogan's hotel/resturant in Tampa!

J.R. playing hockey!

First time eating solid food. You did not like carrots and at 5 months you are still trying to figure out how your tounge works when you eat. This picture was taken at 4 months old!

Ruth sleeping and thinking!

This is Ruth when she was a few weeks old.

And we're baaaccckkk! Needless to say life has been hectic but we are getting into a routine and things are getting back under control. Baby Ruth is 5 months old! She's not a little baby anymore, she's getting so BIG! I can't believe she is SO long she's wearing 12 month sleepers. Everyone said every child is different, no two are alike and I'm finding out that is SO true! Ruth already has an "attitude" she knows what she wants, when she wants it and how she wants it. If she doesn't get her way she'll get mad and she'll let you know about it! Her Peditrican said now that she's 5 months I can let her cry it out and not hold her all the time. Oh, did I mention Ruth likes to be held,CONSTANTLY! Well when the weekends come Ruth and I have some come to Jesus meetings I shut her bedroom door, sit in a chair next to her and let her cry it out. Oh yeah, did I mention that she is persistant and hard headed like her mother (pay back is ....)? She will cry up to 2 hours wanting to be held and getting so angry but I hold out and so far I'm winning. I'm beginning to set boundaries with Ruth and I hope she's starting to realize crying does not equal getting her way. Ruth does not seem to care for her daddy right now. Tony and I play a game and it goes like this: I hold Ruth,she's smiles and happy I hand Ruth to Tony and she looks at him, get's mad and cries, I grab Ruth from Tony and hold her and she's all smiles and happy again. We can do this back and fourth and we get this reaction every time. I know Ruth will eventually love to have her daddy hold her and I know Tony if fine with not having to take care of her while she's this little but it will be nice when they can finally get along! On the other hand Ruth LOVES J.R. She sees him and she is all smiles. J.R. is such a good brother, he is SO sweet to Ruth. He will watch Ruth for me for a few minutes here or there. The other day I had to take a shower and I asked Tony and J.R. if they could watch Ruth. They put her on her tummy time mat, Tony sat back on the couch and J.R. played with Ruth the entire time. Now that is an awesome brother. When I take them to school (J.R.and Ruth go to the same school) J.R. always wants me to drop him at his class first so he can show off his baby sister to his buddies. Today they have school pictures and they are getting pictures taken together. I can't wait to see how they turn out! Our family feels SO complete now that Ruth is here. When it was just J.R. I always felt like something was missing and now that Ruth is here we feel complete. We have a lot to come in the next few years and it will be fun watching our family adapt. I am so thankful for my family and friends. We have built such a great life and we are so fortunate.

4 weeks until Baby Ruth!

We have 4 weeks until my due date, November 15th! Baby Ruth is moving like CRAZY. The other night she stuck her butt out on my right side and the right side of my tummy was sticking out about 1 inch more than my left then you could see her kicking. I told my OB the other day that she no longer punches me, it's more of a shifting feeling now. He responded that she's running out of room and can't punch anymore! J.R. is getting excited. He continually tires to take care of me, not wanting me to bend over, doing little things for me around the house, getting me water when I run out. He's going to be such a big brother. He also keeps telling me all the things he's going to do for her and teach her. He's going to change the pee pee diapers, hold her and feed her. He's going to teach her how to box, play baseball and hockey! Tony is taking everything in stride like he did with J.R. I on the other hand am 5 years older and this time around it's not as easy. I'm swollen and tired but the indigestion is KILLING me. This girl is going to have a beautiful mane if that wise tail is true. Here's some pictures of J.R. from the last few months.