Can it be?

Is it true? It's really really true!!!

For the past 3 nights Ruthie has slept through the night!!! Yes, I feel like a new woman!

I'm fearful thought, of breaking this habit...so every night we hold our breath as we go through our nite-nite routine.

But, God is good and so is sleep (the former being good on a much greater scale than the later!)

One Month Old!

Ruthie is One Month Old Today!!! We had a little one month birthday party for her...as you'll see with the pictures below!!

Here is what Ruthie is up to in her first month:

* Weighs more than 8 pounds and 8 ounces and is 21 inches long
* Smiles
* Tracks objects with her eyes (especially people)
* Pushes up with her feet and moves her body while lying on her back (especially if she is mad)
* Bats at her toys (she just started this and sometimes I think it is on accident and kind of surprises her)
* She loves her mirrors (she has one in her crib and several other places) She is a princess!
* She loves her star (on her activity mat) It lights up and sings to her!
* Hates wet diapers. She seems to be ok with poopy ones, but hates to be in a wet one
* Likes her baths until you start to wash her hair
* She coos!!! It is so precious!
* She plays with her hair! She is always wrapping her fingers around her hair. It is so cute!
* Seeks out her mommy and daddy in a room full of voices - definitely knows and recognizes our voices
* She gets bright red when angry- officially known as the "mad bull" part of her personality


Ok, tonight we (daddy, mommy, Ruthie and Grandma) celebrated her one month birthday with a birthday dinner and cake! Ruthie however, was throwing a temper tantrum (yes already at one month) as you can see with the pictures below!




Dinner: Steak, baked potato, and corn on the cob with a fresh summer fruit salad




This is Ruthie "enjoying" her birthday dinner!! :)



Then she fell asleep! So, we moved her to her crib...



And she woke up!



Insert Paccy!



After a diaper change!!




Birthday Cake Anyone?

What's better than a paccy?

A pacifier and a thumb!

The other night while Tony was holding Ruthie trying to get her to sleep, she had her pacifier in her mouth. This is the kind they give you at the hospital (Soothie brand) and the nipple is hollow. Ruthie had managed to get her thumb perfectly inside the nipple of the pacifier and had her fingers wrapped around her nose just like she was sucking her thumb...except for it was inside the nipple of the pacifier.

It was quite funny! What a girl!

A Week Goes BY...

You may be wondering what we've been doing since I haven't left any message about a fabulous vacation....

Well, we've been busy:

Saturday: Daddy, Mommy, and Ruthie (and Grandma and our friend Sandy) went to the movies (Daddy spent most of the movie out in the lobby because Ruthie was still having tummy trouble!) (What a good man!)

Sunday: First time at church! She was the belle of the ball! And then we went to Grandma and Paw-Paw's house for some lunch!

Monday: I took Ruthie to my old school to show her off! We were there ALL day!

Tuesday: A friend came over with her two girls and we spent some time in the morning catching up! I had fun Teri, thanks for coming over!

Wednesday: We took Daddy to lunch and then met Aunt Holly and our friend Jenn at Starbucks (the one inside Barnes and Noble) and then went to Target!

Thursday: We met Aunt Mardi, Uncle Jack and Luke and Bailey at the Library!

Friday: A quiet day at home...

As you can see, we've been quite busy. Maybe next week will be a bit quieter? Probably not! :)

Tummy Trouble

Just when things are starting to get into a routine....

Pride comes before the fall...


YES, the afternoon after my "Each day is a little bit easier" post Ruthie came down with some tummy trouble. She was in pain and not a happy camper! We've been working on relieving her tummy distress for the past few days, and I'm not quite sure she's over it. After a panicked phone call to the pediatrician and a morning appt. the next day, we find Ruthie perfectly healthy! She's gained another 6 1/2 oz for a grand total of 8 pounds and 8 ounces.

Some Maylox and Mylacon and she does pretty well...

Just when you think you may be in a groove...the curve ball is thrown! I'm sure that my life will now be littered with curve balls!! Ah, the joys of motherhood...I wouldn't change a thing! Here's some recent pictures of my little beauty!



She love's her activity mat...especially the singing star!



How cute is that? Fresh out of her bath!

Every Day is a little easier!

Well, if you've been reading my blog then you know the ups and downs I'm going through being a new mom! Today, on Ruthie's 3 week birthday! we may have made a break through...I'm a little trepidatious at blogging this in fear I may "jinks" myself!

This morning as I noticed she was getting tired, I put her in her crib (with her paccy and her swaddle blanket) at 11:15. She was quiet for about 10 minutes and then erupted with crying. After about 5-7 minutes of crying I went in and reinserted the paccy and patted her tummy and stroked her forehead to calm her down (never picking her up!). I spoke words of love and clam to her and then walked out. She hasn't made a peep yet...and it's 12:!5!!!

Now I just have to keep this going and work on getting this to happen in the evening! :)

Strong Willed

That's my new tag for my little Ruthie. She takes very well after her mother!!! (When I was younger I noticed my mom's book A Strong Willed Child by James Dobson and figured it was for my brother, because he was certainly strong willed- Only to find out that she was reading it for me!!!)

Anyway, last night was rough. She didn't sleep from 4:45 in the afternoon until 12 midnight. I mean, she'd fall asleep in my arms or in daddy's arms but wouldn't stay asleep when we put her down in her crib. And, just forget letting her cry...she'd have cried all night.

So this morning as I noticed she was getting sleepy and ready for her mid morning nap, I put her in her crib before she was asleep and boy did she let me have it. Having more sleep myself at this time of the day I was able to handle a good old fashioned power struggle. Which ensued in our house until about 12:15 (we started this about 10:15) She was crying, I was desperately praying for her to calm down and go to sleep. Of course, I checked on her about every 10 minutes just to make sure she was ok, reinsert the paccy, and calm her down just a little before leaving the room again. One time I went in when she was totally quiet and as soon as she saw me she started screaming!! That's when I decided she knew what she was doing.

It's about 12:23 and she's been quiet for about 10 minutes. I'm not going in there...or I may start the whole thing over again!

It's Gone!

What am I talking about? Her belly button, of course! (actually it's her umbilical chord stump that's gone!) In it's place is the cutest, little innie belly button God ever made!! Of course, she lost it last night while my mom was changing her diaper. We did a search to find the stump, and after a while found it on the floor. We will be throwing it away, but I secretly want to keep it as a souvenir!

Little Ruthie is growing up! She can have a real bath now!

2 Weeks!!!

Ruthie was two weeks old yesterday and we have had such a rollar coaster ride these last two weeks. Every emotion possible has been felt in our home! We're working on developing a schedule (that seems impossible!). This will sound silly to many moms, but I never imagined it would be so hard to have a newborn in the house. I knew we'd be low on sleep. I knew she would cry and want to eat a lot. I knew that it would be a life changing experience. But, I never though I'd have so many questions and second thoughts. After all, I've had a lot of experience with babies. I know how to hold, comfort, feed, and change babies. The questions rage...Pacifier or thumb? (Don't tell my Pedi we've been giving her a paccy) Let her cry or pick her up? What if something's wrong? Am I spoiling her? Are we creating a bad habit? Will we regret this later? Will we regret NOT doing this later? And, the most frustrating thing about it is that there are no RIGHT answers. Everyone you ask has a different opinion, even the Pediatricians!

But, there have been many, many blessed moments with our daughter. She is so precious, perfect, and wonderful. She weighed 8 pounds and 2 1/2 ounces at her two week check up! She is growing and eating!! Here is a list of what we've learned about our daughter in these two weeks!

*She likes her tummy. She likes to pull her legs up and tuck her hands underneath her and to be held up on your shoulder or your chest.
* We call her many nicknames: Little One, Sweat Pea, Little Roo, Ruthie Roo, Froggy legs, Lovebug, Lovie, and mad bull (When she's crying so hard her face gets red!)
*She likes to play a little game we call- dirty the clean diaper we just put on! To no avail, at least once a day (and sometimes two times right in a row) she will poo in her just changed diaper! We can't even get her picked up from the changing table before she blesses us with another deposit!
*While we're on the diapering subject, she likes to pee while her diapers are off!! We change her clothes at least once a day because she has christened herself!
*She loves her car seat- when she's moving, but she HATES being put into the seat. She cries (screams really) every time we put her in!
*She has a temper! She will certainly let you know when she's not happy! I forsee some hum-dinger of tantrums coming when she gets to the age of 2!!
*She loves music. Often music will calm her down and/or help her to stop crying
*She does this really cute thing with her eyebrows. When she is sleepy or it's bright out and she just can't open her eyes but wants to respond to your voice talking to he. She raises her eyebrows really high without opening her eyes so you know she's listening!
*She does this really cute thing with her mouth. She has the cutest faces she makes and one that she likes to make is her little lips all set in a perfect "o". It's like you can hear her saying "ohhhh"
*She love's her daddy. She loves to hear him talk to her and is very calmed when with him!
*When you lay her down to sleep, if her legs lay flat then she's probably going to fall asleep/stay asleep, but if her legs curl up or if she holds them up then she's probably going to cry as soon as your head hits the pillow!
*We have a little sleep test to determine the depth of her sleep. (When she's being held...) If you hold her like your going to put her in her crib and her arms drop flat then she's really asleep and will probably make the transfer from arms to bed, but if she holds her arms stiff or up by her body then she's definitely going to wake up in the transfer. (Just in case someone is worried, we often put her in her crib while she's still awake in hopes that she develops the ability to get herself to sleep...we don't want a parent depended sleeper...but we've found it very hard to be consistent these two weeks in that. We'll keep working!!)
*She's ticklish!! (In all the right tickle spots!) We found this out when desperately trying to keep her awake during her feedings (so that she gets a full feed each time!) It's so cute to see her wiggle when we tickle her sides or tummy!

I am so glad that the Lord is strong in my weakness. I know that He has a perfect plan for her life and that he gave her to Tony and me knowing full well we didn't know what we were doing! We pray over her every night and ask the Lord for wisdom and guidance and grace. The very cool thing is that I've experienced in a very real way how the Lord's mercies are renewed every morning. Especially after a long night of eating, crying, and wake time (doesn't she know she's supposed to do that in the daytime?) when the morning comes it is bright and I'm revived and ready to take on another day! His promise comes to mind when I'm feeding her each morning.. MY mercies renew each morning! Praise the Lord!!