He IS Risen!!!

Happy Easter!! I'm a little late in posting, but wanted to wish everyone a very happy and blessed Easter. May we remember EVERYDAY that our Lord is Risen. He is Victorious!

Ruthie enjoyed her Easter basket... immediately plucked the binkie out of the basket and put it in her mouth. Got to love a woman who knows what she wants!




Church was a beautiful time to celebrate and praise the Lord as we remembered his resurrection from the Grave.

Later in the day we went over to Tony's parents house and had loads of fun with an egg hunt, yummy Ham dinner, and fun outside for all ages!!

Ruthie and her cousins before the egg hunt


During the egg hunt


The motley crew!!

Easter Celebrations!

Happy Easter!! What a glorious and busy weekend we had celebrating our Risen Lord!!

Saturday we enjoyed an Easter celebration and Baptism at the home of one of our church friends. They invite the entire church, we all pitch in with a part of the meal, the kids enjoy an egg hunt, and we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord with Baptisms (we had 6 this year).

I decided to try these super easy sugar cookies from Linda at 2nd cup of coffee to take to the Easter celebration. They were easy, although my Royal icing didn't turn out... for a number of reasons. First of all, I ran out of eggs. Then my meringue powder didn't really work. But, if you didn't know (which now you do) that the royal icing (that's the decorations) was supposed to be some-what fluffy- I don't think you would know I did it wrong, but as I said, now you do...

ANYWAY!!! try 'em, you'll like 'em!



And, here are my broken pieces. Seeing the significance of being broken-especially during Easter- I decided they too would get the royal treatment. After all, once they're covered they looked and tasted great. (The parrellel to my own broken and sinful life with out the Lord is not wasted on me. Praise the Lord! I am covered in his "icing" -err I mean blood - and I have been made beautiful and tasty... well, you get my drift.)



Ruthie playing with her plastic eggs. I'm so proud of her- 8 months old and already racing the big kids to get to the good eggs. Ok, Tony and I helped her- a little!! :) But she did chew on her plastic eggs all by herself!

Eight Months!!

Once again, I can't believe how fast time is going... she is 8 months old already... time flies!!!

So here are some things she accomplished while she was 7 months old!

* Waves by-by- although she had this down pat she is now revolting and it takes an act of congress (and we know how quickly that comes) to get her to wave. She'll lift her hand as to say, "I know what you want me to do, but I'm NOT doing it!" Which totally warms this mommy heart... not!

* Last month I mentioned that she holds her hand out and gives puppy dog eyes when she wants to go to someone, well she's perfecting that art and now indicates she wants someone by either holding both hands out and kind of jumping up and down OR she lunges in the direction of the person HEAD first! It's crazy. But, it works- we certainly know what she wants.

* When you walk into the room where she is, if you don't give her the greeting and attention that she wants (especially Tony when he comes home from work) she says uh, uh, uh, uh with increasing volume and pace until you do acknowledge her appropriately!!

* She's perfecting the art of saying ba, blowing raspberries, started saying mmmm, and is talking more and more. VERY VOCAL!!! :)

* She was introduced to broccoli, plums, chicken, and oatmeal... and loves it all EXCEPT the chicken... she just plain won't eat it.

* She's started to sit up!!! She can do it and does until she decides she doesn't want to anymore and then she flings herself back. (I'm afraid she's going to crack her scull...)

* When daddy's holding her and she sees me turn she automatically thinks I'm going in for the "peek-a-boo" game. So she starts belly laughing!! It's so cute. AND, it immediately gets me to do the "peek-a-boo/I'm going get you" game to continue the laugh. She also does that same laugh when she's being held and she see Beethoven (our dog) running around the person's legs. That's cute too. At first I was so proud that I was the root of such a wonderful laugh, and now I share that proud honor with our dog!!

* Still no teeth... But lots of drool!

* She is just starting to crawl... well scoot around on the floor. After she perfected the art of travel by rolling, she's now moving on to more efficient ways of travel... the scoot. She lifts her hips to move forward. Here comes baby proofing...

Here are some pictures for your amazement!! :)

Our Sleeping beauty! She did have her right foot perched on the side of her crib. It was so cute, but by the time that I got the camera to take the picture she had moved her foot. But, she's still cute (no, the picture didn't wake her up!!) :)



Chewing on her frozen teething ring. She loves it!



Her precious winter hat (Thanks Aunt Mardi and Uncle Jack!) We LOVE this hat it is just too cute!



Look at me! I'm sitting up!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is my mom's birthday- So Ruthie and I surprised her by showing up at her school (she's a reading coach) after a hard morning of FCAT (Uggg) with balloons, flowers, and a birthday cake!!! All my mom saw when she rounded the corner in the front office was RUTHIE!!! That was enough birthday surprise for her I think (all the other stuff was just a little icing on the cake!! Pun intended!)

Then, for dinner we all went to Steak and Ale for some yummy birthday dinner.
Happy Birthday Mom. I love you!! Hope your day was as special as you are!!




Mom and Ruthie in her office at school!


Mom's b-day cake (In case you can't tell what all those m&m's spell out it's :Happy B-day- Sure do wish I could blame the messing cake decorating on my daughter... seeing that she's only 7 months old I don't think anyone will buy it!)



Tony and Ruthie at dinner



Sandy and Aunt Holly


Mom and me

Uppercase Living

Ever heard of them? Me neither, until yesterday. This has taken me by storm. I'm not usually such a "full steam ahead" type of person, but when I saw what this company does, and heard about it's business plan, I was HOOKED!!!

I feel like I'm cheating on Pampered Chef (what I do for extra money). And, I'm not getting out of Pampered Chef, but I am starting a new adventure with Upppercase Living. In case you are like me and don't know what I'm talking about go here to see what it's all about.

For the short version, this company does decorative lettering and embelishments that will adhere to any surface (walls, tile, wood, ceramic, glass etc.) so the possibilities are ENDLESS!!! You dream, we can create it! Especially with the custom creation part! But, for those of us who are creatively challenged they have a wonderfully designed catalogue with professional artist that can be ordered in 27 different colors, 2 metallic, and bond white (for cars!).

It's like designer decorating on a Target budget. All I have to say is, I'm in!!!

So, go and see what it's all about. If you want to view the catalog, place an order, or like it so much you want to get it at discount, email me and we'll chat!!

Until then, here's to having the last "perfect word"!

Waving to her audience

Ruthie's new trick is waving by-by. I've attached a video of this new accomplishment. We've been working on this for a while and for the first time yesterday she actually moved her hand like mine! She's been watching our hands move intently for a couple of weeks. (It's great to witness the mind at work... God is so amazing!) But, yesterday was the day that she realized that her hand could do the same thing!! Watch carefully or you may miss it... Also, you might want to turn your volume down a little as the video starts out with Ruthie "talking"!!!

Enjoy!

Miracles of Love

Words can't describe my emotions as I sit and rock my precious little girl with her head on my shoulder and her arms around my neck. She is playing with my hair. I am holding her tight. Rocking my sleeping little girl. She is growing up so fast. These last 7 1/2 months have just flown by. I am trying desperately to savor each day and each stage of her life, but I feel like they are slipping through my fingertips as she makes her way to the next milestone and stage.

My precious Ruthie is such a joy. The utmost honor I have is to be her mom. To love her, rock her, feed her, laugh with her, watch her grow and develop is what makes my mommy heart sing. Her personality is so sweet and loving. She truly is a loving and tender hearted little girl. She's funny and enjoys playing games and laughing. She's got the BEST tickle spots and laughs right out loud when's tickled. She plays with her friends Duck and Octopus and loves her shiny little fishy. Taggy is a constant friend too.

She sings and talks all the time. What a beautiful melody it is. I am so glad that my home will be filled with the sound of her voice for so many years to come. My heart wells up and spills over with wonder, amazement, love, joy and such a sense of awe. I can't believe that God entrusted me with this precious, perfect little life.

She loves others and interacts so well with everyone. There isn't a soul at church who isn't greeted with a smile on Sunday. She has enough love to share and shares it freely. Her smiles light up a room, and she draws people to her. Everywhere we go, she is the attention grabber.

I am absolutely humbled by my precious little girl. Truly grateful for the opportunity to guide, direct, teach, and observe this wonderful gift from God. If only I could bottle my feelings and make time stand still... but then at the same moment I can't wait to see her crawl, walk, and run. To jump and swim, to hear her talk and to watch her bloom even more into God's little girl. To come through those rocky years of adolescence and become close friends. I guess that is why my heart is so full. It is full of love, full of hope, full of wonder, full of dreams for the future.


I love you, Ruthie. You are my sweet pea, my lovie, my Ruthie Roo. You make my mommy heart sing.