our 2nd Christmas!!

and Ruby Belle's 1st Christmas in Shreveport!!

Since we weren't able to celebrate Christmas with my family on Christmas, we celebrated on New Year's day. the day after we moved in. it was small, sweet, and fun! I think we all had fun, but as you can see...Uncle Ty and Aunt Stephanie stole the show (and this little one's heart!) with this great present!! (and how precious is that cute little crown from Aunt Stephanie!!!)

Road warrior!!!

Yes, that's my daughter...texting while driving and carrying a baby in the front seat!!

Overall it was a great 2nd Christmas!!! and better that we were all setteled into our new place!...now to adjust to our new life!!!

Moving day

Moving day has come and gone, but now we're all setteled in, so i thought i'd catch up on blogging. SO much has happened in the last few weeks and it's been a bit crazy.

really though, i can't think of much to say. we moved. it was fun, crazy, busy, hectic, not fun, etc. like moving always is. it was pretty successful...except the grill flew out of Justin's truck on the way down, but otherwise, successful. My parents came up to help us pack and move. they were a ton of help! we (my mom and I) packed the first day while my dad played w/Ruby Belle all day, then justin, my dad, and mom all moved the stuff into the appropriate truck. We borrowed a motorcycle trailer, had my dad's truck, justin's truck and my car, loaded them all up to the top and headed south! that's pretty much how it went.

(sorry for the picture quality...iPhones only do so much!)
My little packing warrior...yes, that bow has only been worn once and here it is!

playing in the empty (and no longer child-proof) cabinets!

then we immediately unloaded all we had...which was a much quicker process especially since we had Ty and Stephanie to help unload.

and we only had so much to unload since we're staying in Ty and Stephanie's mother-in-law suite. we'll now call it the Smith's Suites.

it's actually pretty cozy! it's 2 rooms...one for us and one for Ruby Belle. our room contains the living room, bedroom, and kitchen complete with a mini fridge. then there's also a nice size bathroom. really, it's cozy...but not in a terrible way. i have only been here a week officially, but i really do enjoy it. it's SUPER easy to clean such a small space (and also easy to destroy just by walking in the door) and it's kinda nice to walk down stairs to see my brother and sister-in-law. they have already entertained twice since we've been here and i think we have the best room in the house! we can come down for the fun, and then go back up when we're done! no driving, no clean-up (yes, Stephanie, i promise one day i'll stay up long enough to help you clean up!!), no packing the kid up to go somewhere and even better, we can just put her to bed upstairs and head to the fun downstairs!! oh, and to top it off, they cook often...and we have reaped the benefits a few times!! i must say it's a pretty nice treat for folks who rarely cook!! ;) we're gonna have to take them out to dinner soon!

our 1st Christmas this year

Our 1st Christmas this year was a little crazy. the weekend before Christmas we went to Branson to visit Justin's parents and for his dad's side of the family Christmas. It was nice to see that side of the family and our brother and sister-in-law, Brandon and Jamie and their 2 kids, Mason and Mallory. Ruby Belle had such a good time playing with them, and I think they had a great time playing with her!

the cousins at a nativity display in Branson

Then Justin and Ruby Belle went back for Christmas weekend (while I was working) and had more fun with the cousins and playing!

And apparently she LOVED sitting here and watching the fishy screen saver! it is pretty fun to watch, I must admit!

help!

does anyone know how to get my "header" or title to show up on these types of blog backgrounds?

15 months

again, it's been a while since i've given a Ruby Belle update! she turned 15 months on Dec. 16th, so i'm a little late, but here you go!

15 months stats:
20lbs 6oz
29.5 inches

other updates:

*still sleeping great. goes to bed around 8 and gets up around 7. takes 1 nap daily for 1.5-2 hrs

*eats 3 meals and 2 snacks daily, plus a bottle before bed

*yes, i said bottle. We REALLY need to break her of that!

*good news...doesn't use a paci or suck her thumb and never has

*love to feed herself. usually that's the only way she'll eat (unless she's STARVING)-she's really showing her independent side

*still won't eat much protein. but she will if it's mixed with spagetti/tomato sauce (lasagna, chicken parmesean, spagetti)

*much pickier about veggies - will usually only eat canned green beans...and she'll eat LOTS of those, but rarely she'll eat some bits of other veggies

*can say "more" in baby sign language...working on others
*she has LOTS of conversations with herself, i still can't understand any of them!

*she sometimes says "thank you," "dog," "cat," "mama," and "dada"

*cries when told "no"

*cries and stomps her feet when you take a toy (one that's not supposed to be a toy...like a wire - she LOVES wires) out of her hand

*has learned to throw temper tantrums with the best of them (see earlier post)

*giggles all the time...and is especially ticklish

*has gotten much better at giving kisses, but still only does them when she wants to :)

*loves to pet and chase the cat and dog

*has had 2 "accident reports" at school...both involving fights over a toy

*loves to climb on anything she can reach

*plays well independently (but loves attention!)

*loves going down slides

*loves to clap when you say "yay!"

*has several teeth - 12, i think

*still using cloth dipers at home

*is going to be a BIG SISTER!!!

She just gets to be more fun each day!! It's so fun interacting with her and watching her grow up! i can't even put it into words! she definitely has an attitude, though! it's been challenging trying to learn how to parent and discipline. we're still trying to figure that out. and i'm sure we'll be trying to figure that one out for the next 20 years at least!

pic while we were waiting for our shots at the doc's office!

that sweet smile! this one was priceless!

like i said...loves to climb!

and more climbing

Success!

playing with Meme and Pops

the Magic of Christmas

i woke up alone this morning...Christmas morning.

first because i couldn't sleep at 4:30 (pregnancy insomnia), then at 6:30 because work called, then just on my own. As i lay there, deciding on whether to get up or not, i couldn't stop thinking about how i missed being there to see my sweet 15 month old daughter's reaction to Santa Claus. and, of course, i was sad. but i knew she was in good hands and having a great time. She and my husband went to Branson to stay with his parents, brother and sister-in-law (Brandon and Jamie), and their 2 kids (Mason and Mallory) because i'm on call and have to work.

i worked all day yesterday and will be working from noon until 6:30 or so tonight. sad about this because i missed my favorite church service of every year...the candlelight Christmas Eve service. But, all of that is ok with me because i DO love work (well, it's kind of a love/hate relationship), and i do love my staff. so, spending Christmas with them isn't so bad. it's quiet, easy and someone's got to spend Christmas serving those who are in the hospital on Christmas! I've tried to remind them over the last several days, that although they may not want to be at work during the holidays when everyone else seems to be off, neither do the patients. and that's who we're here to serve and the least we can do is smile and make their day a little brighter. not sure how much that worked, but most of them seem to be in good spirits.

again, i'm sad...because it's the last Christmas i'll be spending with them. yep, the move is SO upon us. T-6 days and counting. you think i need to be packing? um, yep, but instead i'm sitting her reminiscing, listening to Christmas music, and blogging! (and just finished the huge pancake i cooked for myself!)

as i was also laying in bed, thinking about the reason for the season and thanking God for his Son, i opened my eyes and saw white! ... just a little bit of white, but enough to call it snow flurries, and have a dusting on the ground! a nice, and seemingly magicaly, treat for my last (lonely) Christmas in NW Arkansas.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas!!

(Ruby Belle is!! enjoying an Oreo at her daycare Christmas party!)

the countdown is on...

so, we're all set.

It's been a while since i've posted about our upcoming move...well, really i only posted the initial celebratory post. so, update:

1. official move date - Dec 31st

2. we have not sold our house here yet, so we'll be living with my brother and sister-in-law, Ty and Stephanie (we can't thank them enough for allowing us to be live-in roommates in their "MIL above garage studio apartment"...i mean, really, they JUST got married and even agreed to this!)

3. we are praying we sell our house within the next 2 months so we won't over stay our welcome and so we don't have to get into a lease/rental contract at another place.

4. justin and i both have jobs...and we start Jan 3rd! (poor planning on our part...why move on a Friday and plan to work on Monday?!? i don't plan on up and moving my whole life again, but i would definitely do a few things differently!)

5. Justin will be working at a local law firm and is set to take the LA bar in Feb.

6. I will be working with a contract foodservice company (different from the one i work for now, sadly), and will be working with nursing homes. (currently i work as the Director of Foodservice in a hospital) The plan is to work in a nursing home until we aquire a few more in the area and then i will be the manager over the foodservice in a couple nursing homes within driving distance.

7. Ruby Belle is all set for new daycare...not our top pick, but this is the story. i called 34, yes 34, day cares/Mother's Day Outs before finding one that could take her in January!!! I've been on the list at 3 day cares since September, but started calling again at Thanksgiving b/c the waiting lists were still...waiting. 34!!! (apparently i need to go ahead and get her on a list for preschool somewhere!) Anyway, we're staying on the waiting lists at the top 3 picks and will move to one of those in the Spring/Summer when supposedly they will have an opening!

8. Maggie (my dog) is set to move with us.

9. Keek (justin's cat) is hoping to be adopted! we hate to do it, but i'm allergic to Justin's cat, and we've decided that this was a good time to part ways. (man, that sounds so heartless!) I think we found a home, but nothing is set in stone.

ok, i think that covers it.

in the meantime, there will be lots of tears. well, there already has been...and there will be more. it's really exciting to move closer to family...and what i've wanted for a while, but it's also really hard to leave a life you've built in a place you've lived for the last 13 yrs! (wow...i'm getting old!) really hard.
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