exercise...where have you been?!

i've missed you SOO much!! i've just realized this week how much i miss you! i exerciseed all through my pregnancy and even after, but once i went back to work, it became a once or twice a week thing instead of a 4, 5, 6 day a week thing. now it's warm out and i LOVE it!! it's even better when it's 95 outside because i love to sweat! so, lately work has been more of a 40-50 hr/week instead of 45-55 hr/week. (yes, those 5 hours make a BIG difference when you're choosing b/t exercise and your child!) and i've been getting back into the swing of regular exercise. truly it hasn't been terribly important to me b/c i lost all of my baby weight plus some within 5 months (the plus some was probably muscle i lost since i wasn't really exercising much!) AND i wanted to spend the time i had with Ruby Belle. However, i do feel a bit guilty b/c i have lost most of my cardiovascular abilities. so, i'm trying to get a little back on the wagon, aiming for 3 days a week instead of my "before-baby" 5-7 days/week. besides, i've got to get back into the swing of things before we start thinking about trying for baby #2!

9 months

9 months...seems so significant since that's about the time it took to bring this little baby into the world (well, 40 weeks!!...that is NOT 9 months!) So, we had our 9 month doctor's appointment and everything still looks great!!

9 month stats:

weight: 17lbs 13oz (45th percentile)

height: 27 1/4th inches (50th percentile)

Ruby Belle is getting SO big. and SO much more fun and shows more and more personality every day! (right now she's playing by herself and i just looked up and she's chewing on a toy and spinning around in circles on her booty...something she just apparently learned how to do and thinks is fun b/c she's been doing it all morning!)

• smiles more than anything
• laughs/giggles at herself and when tickled
• loves to play peek-a-boo and giggles like crazy
• can wave..not exactly on command though
• just started giving kisses back when you get close and act like you're going to give her a kiss. she just leans in and puts her mouth on yours. (sometimes!) SO CUTE!
• puts everything in her mouth...caught her with a dead spider...YES, A DEAD SPIDER!! in her mouth a few days ago! SO gross!!!
• speaking of putting things in her mouth...i think we're going to really have to start watching her...she's a bit mischeivious!
• knows the word "NO" when you tell her, but it doesn't always stop her!!
• crawling everywhere
• pulling up on eveything...and when she does she often looks around to find you and then sort of waves and smiles
• busy, busy, busy!
• i think she may be a show off :)
• can take a few steps if you guide her
• still has only 2 teeth
• still wearing 6-9 months...can wear some 12 month
• still wearing #3 diapers and also cloth diapers
• eating 5 times a day - eats about 30-32 oz of breast milk and a fruit, a veggie and some cereal each day
• i'm pumping 4 times a day
• she takes 2 naps usually a day...one around 9 or 10 and the other around 1pm. sometimes falls asleep on the way home from daycare , too
  
  

a few new pics

traumatic events

yes, apparently they happen. and you feel like a terrible parent when they do. here they are:

1. Ruby Belle fell off the bed while i was watching her and ironing...a stroller she hit broke her fall and she was perfectly fine. still i felt like a terrible mom!


2. I was watching her last Saturday morning and she was playing in the living room while I pumped. I cleared the floor except for toys and let her play only to look up and see her make a funny face and realize that she had soemthing in her mouth. so, i quickly jumped up and did the finger scoop and pulled out a DEAD SPIDER!! SO gross, it shocked me and i slung it down and let go of her and she fell back and hit her head on the wood floor. She was fine, but again, i felt like a bad parent!


3. the VERY next day, Justin and I were getting ready for church, so we were all in the bathroom. justin in the shower, RB playing on the floor and me just getting ready. so, i walked in the closet, thought justin was watching her, and she quickly pulled my CHI down from the counter and burned her foot in 3 places!! this one was AWFULLY TERRIFYING! i felt SOO bad! SO bad. all day i was distraught. really, it was much more traumatic for me than her.

so, this is just the beginning i'm sure...of feeling like a bad parent! and trying to be a better one! i must say thanks to all my friends for all the "bad parent" moments they've shared w/me to make me feel not alone!! :)

our favorite new undies

Thanks MiMi for making these for us!!!

8 months

so here we are at 8 months and loving life!
Ruby Belle gets so much more fun and is showing much more personality each day!! here's what it looks like at 8 months...

• crawling everywhere! She loves to crawl around and chase Maggie...Maggie doesn't like it so much and runs away
• pulling up on anything and everything!
• super curious and loves to play, even plays well by herself
• Loves to chew up magazines!
• babbling w/the best of them, but only at home really...she gets shy around people she doesn't know.
• now experiencing a little separation anxiety...often when i walk out of the room at home she screams (even if daddy is around)
• Holds her own bottle
• loves to eat baby foods: cereal, sweet potatoes, green beans, green peas, some fruits
• doesn't like to eat: lasagna, some fruits
• eats 5 times a day now: 8:30am 7oz breast milk and some fruit at daycare, 11:30-12, 7oz milk and some rice/oatmeal cereal, 3:00pm 7oz of cereal, 5:30-6:00pm, 7oz of breast milk at home and some veggies or sweet potatoes, 8pm 7oz of breast milk
• bedtime: 8:15-8:30pm
• wakes up between 6:30-7:30am (of course, it's 6:30 on the weekends!)
• still wearing cloth diapers and size 3 Pampers
• still wearing size 6-9month clothes
• has 2 teeth!

as you can see, these pictures are getting harder and harder to take because she is SO active!! so, action shots it is!

another first!

Ruby Belle officially has her first tooth today!!! it seems like she's been teething since she was 3 months old, but never was it bad. i'm not sure all teeth will be this easy, but there's always hope! ha!

and now that she's been crawling for a month she's gotten really good at pulling up on stuff! she's SUCH a busy girl these days! and SO many milestones lately!!

here's the run down of where we are:

- Laughs when tickled and when you make funny noises with her
-loves to babble...especially "dadadada" :) we're working on "mama"
-likes to sweetly scream when she wants you to watch her play
-still loves her exersaucer...wishes it would bounce, but doesn't love the jumper thing yet
-smiles all the time
-crawling with the best of them
-pulling up on waist high items and in the pack 'n play
-and SO proud of herself when she does all of this!!
-likes to go for walks (and i love my baby jogger!)
-SO intrigued with Keek (cat) and Maggie (dog), smiles and laughs when she sees them and wants to pet (grab) them...they aren't quite as interested in her. :(
-LOVES to stand up while holding onto our leather ottoman/"cubes" and chew on the leather (our dog doesn't chew, our daughter does!)
-we think she has allergies (like her mom and dad)
-wearing 6-9 month clothes
-still doing cloth diapers...but only at home (day care won't do them), so we do size 3 Pampers (Huggies don't cut it)
-eats 6 times a day, has cereal (rice/oatmeal) once a day along w/a bottle and has veggies once a day when she gets home from daycare (snack before dinner)
-loves green beans, green peas, squash.
-will eat sweet potatoes
-won't touch carrots or the peaches/banana/rice cereal mixture
-still thinking about making my own babyfood, but just haven't made it happen
-last bottle (breast milk - have been exclusively pumping and bottle feeding since about 3 months) is at 8pmish and then straight to bed
-she goes down almost always w/o a peep
-best baby ever!! (we're kinda partial!)