4 Months Old

A few things we've learned about our Ruby:
- She loves people and hates to be left alone
- She's a happy girl who loves to watch her big brother, especially when he's eating.
- She gets so excited to see her dad at the end of each day. She wiggles and squirms with excitement.
- She gets a little angry at toys, they just don't cooperate like she'd like.
- She's not of huge fan of long car rides.
- She has her daddy's resonate voice. Lets hope she's a singer!
- Her cheeks are to die for.
- In the middle of her two yummy sweet cheeks is a tiny little chin. Its so adorable.
- She's the perfect addition to our little family!

Having a rough day?

This will make you feel better...

sneak peak at tomorrow's action...

Picture's only....well mostly.

Can you guess where we've been the last two weeks?

And by the way, aren't my kids so darn adorable?


















Dinner is always rather exciting these days. Ruby can't stand to miss out on the event so she's usually perched on the table in her bumbo, or on me or Dave's laps. Sol is all over the place. He stands on his char, he jumps in his chair. He tries to dish up more food. He tries to grab the salt, cries for the salt, tries to get the ice cubes out of my drink and then dad's drink. He slips ella some food, tries to feed us his food. And occasionally he'll take a few bites himself. Its crazy but fun. I like my family.

Oh, and we've been in Wyoming and Colorado visiting my parents and sister's fam. We had a ball!

guess who I ran into at TJ Maxx...

Well it was acutally just the dude and his first wife. They got in line behind me. I did a double take.

They were super nice, very sweet and charismatic. I asked them about doing the Oprah show mainly. They were happy to share. They seemed very normal. I found myself thinking "Who cares that you have 4 wives. If that's how you all like it then go right ahead."

Okay, I still think its bizarre. But kudos to them for being so darn nice and approachable.

Sweating with the swiss, rocking with the band, hiking with goblins, whitey tighties, and Ruby

I haven't been in blog mode lately, I guess I'm trying to get used to life with two kids. Not to mention life without auntie Michelle. She was here for the last 6 weeks doing a medical rotation for her Physician's Assistant schooling. She was such a huge help. Sol and Ruby were head over heals for her. So here are some highlights and pics from the last 6 weeks:

Swiss Days! So everyone rave's about Swiss Days in Midway Utah. We've missed it several times but this year we were able to go. "How was it," you ask?

This picture describes it well. It was HOT. And it was very crowded. Our kids nearly melted. And the lines for food were so long that we didn't get to try any of the food we'd heard so much about. The pie and ice cream were yummy.

The craft booths were amazing but again, they were SO crowded that we couldn't really look much.

We actually had to ride a shuttle to the event. Parking near the event was impossible to find.


We were able to cool down in the air conditioned basement while rocking as a band.

Sol sings...

And plays drums.

He's rather intense about the drumming.

Well, until he find something more fun to do with those sticks.

These are our groupies.


So on our way back from Lake Powell we stopped at Goblin Valley. We'd both heard about it but never been there. Its right off the road so we stopped to do some 'esploring.'

Dave got several awesome pics of Sol. He was in heaven here. Dirt, rocks, and lots of 'esplorin.'
I'm actually in this picture, can you find me?

I love his little hips in this pic. He's a boy on a mission.

Solomon the Giant.

Bliss

I haven't said much about Ruby. It's cause she's so awesome! She hardly ever cries. She's so happy and chill. I love this picture cause I have a picture of me at this age asleep on my dad's lap while he was also sleeping.

We also enjoyed a great day at the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point with friend Logan and his mom and bro.

Here are our white trash kids. :) We forgot swimies.

The huge sandbox ate up like an hour of time. We couldn't get the boys away from it!

And this last picture I took just today. Here's our sweet beautiful Ruby.

Sorry for the ultra long picture post. We're really enjoying life as four.

How to take a vacation if you only have 24 hours.

1. Drive to Lake Powell one evening after work. Get there about midnight.

2. Board a beautiful 73' house boat and get a great nights sleep. You're kids have to be amazing sleepers like mine. And a little benadryl helps too.

3. First thing in the morning leave the marina to find a place to park the boat and play.

NOTICE: This next step is important, if it's excluded you'll fail to complete your vacation in 24 hours.

4. While attempting to park the boat, the driver should accidentally hit some large rocks that are hidden well beneath the surface of the water.

5. Damage to the lovely houseboat should be significant enough that you'll hear the words "Grab the buckets boys, we're bailing water!"

6. Quickly repack your bags while the boat is towed back to the marina. Be sure to get off the boat when its at the dock before the pull it out of the water. Otherwise you'll be passing your babies down and scaling the side of the boat while its trailored. It will be at least 10 feet above your head.

7. Load up the car with babies and all your stuff, and head home. You should get home about 24 hours from the time you left the day before.

Unfortunately you won't have any pictures to show for your vacation as the excitement and adventures will keep you too busy to have time to get your camera out. But the memories will last forever.

Sad. We would have had such a fun weekend. Maybe next year. :(

For Grandmas... and anyone else who wants to bask in Ruby's beauty.

I got a CD full of pics from Tiffany (my good friend who took Ruby's newborn pics). I wanted Grandmas to be able to see them all so they could pick a few out they'd like to have printed. Here they are:


(you can click on the slideshow to view any of the pics up close)

Family.

So things are going good. I'm still on a postpartum high. I really missed my energy, my appetite, my ability to bend over, my ability to chase Sol, to hold him normally, to read him stories with him on my lap. I missed feeling like myself. I really missed being able to sleep under the covers with my hubby instead of sprawled out on top of the sheets with the ac blaring and a fan blowing on me while I still sweat. I missed my girly figure. There are lots of other things too.

But she was definitely worth it. I'd do it all again to get her here. To get to meet her, get to know her (we're still working on that). To look in her intense alert little blue eyes. To hear her purr while she sleeps. To kiss her delicious little chubby cheeks. And she's such a good baby. Really. She's amazing.

Poor little Sol really struggled as an infant. He had pretty severe acid reflux. His medication made it so he didn't scream 24/7 but he still was in a lot of pain. He had to be held a certain way, he had to be bounced almost constantly. As soon as he got a little older, around 6-8 months, he turned into a different child. He's been the easiest, most delightful kid since. But those first 6 months were really hard. I did not enjoy his infant stage. I was ready for a repeat with this baby as reflux runs in families. But Ruby is a totally different baby. She's been sleeping 6 hours a night for the last 2 weeks. She only gets up once, eats, and then goes back to bed. Its awesome! She does have a touch a reflux which I spotted right away (once you've suffered through it with one baby you can spot it easily) and got a pX for her. With the prevacid she is seriously the easiest baby ever. Thanks for that one Heavenly Father. I appreciate it so much.

Sol is struggling with the changes. He's having a hard time sharing the attention. He's been naughty, on purpose, to get attention. It makes me so sad cause he's such a good kid normally. He's showing some signs of frustration, not toward Ruby but toward me. In the past I've told so many of my friends in the same situation "Don't worry, every first child goes through this. In a few months he'll be back to his normal self." But right now I'd really like someone else to tell me the same thing. I just don't want it to change him forever, for the worse. I'd love to hear some words of encouragement, or advice.

So that's where things are today. Day 2 with 2 kids by myself. Its not so bad.

Actually today started out pretty rough. I woke up with a pounding headache. I have hypoglycemia and sometimes nursing totally depletes me. I got up twice to eat a snack last night and still woke up ravenously hungry. So this morning I loaded up the kids and went to McDonalds where I ate 1.5 McGrilddles and a large glass of ice water. I know, thats a lot of calories, but whatever. After letting Sol play for about 45 min we left for the grocery store for my first solo trip with Sol and Ruby. On my way out of the parking lot I backed into a white dodge stratus that tried to squeeze between me and another car right as I looked over my opposite shoulder. I didn't even feel the car hit because I was going so slow. None the less there was white paint on my bumper. Dang it.

My head was still pounding. By the time we got home from the store Ruby was starving so once I got her fed, and Sol fed and down for a nap I felt wasted. I took one of those giant motrins left over from the hospital and laid down with Ruby. After a little nap we're all much better.

Okay, now for the real reason I sat down to write this post...Family! We had lots of family around for the 2 weeks after Ruby was born. Dave's family had a sort of reunion planned during that time and so we decided to bless Ruby then so everyone could be there. Here are some pics of Dave's fam (minus Lisa :() one night that we hung out at uncle Mikes farm. It was so much fun! The weather was awesome and the chickens provided awesome entertainment for the kidos. And then some pics from Ruby's blessing day.



So life with 2 kids is not so bad. Not as hard as I thought it might be, but I know I'm just at the beginning.

Ruby's Birth

Ruby was born right on time- on her due date. She's a punctual gal. The day before she was born I was dilated to a 4. I woke up at 3:45 on Wednesday, the 4th, with contractions occuring every 3-4 minutes. It was time to go! As we got ready to go a storm was building outside. We could see flashes and hear thunder. As we went outside we were surprised to see crazy lightening all over the sky. We sat out side and watched it for about 15 minutes, until I was feeling to impatient to enjoy it. It was incredible. As we were driving to the hospital we could see big bolts of lightening hitting Mount Timpanogos. We could see the actual point of contact as it would flash bright red. Very cool.

When we got to the hospital I was dilated to a 7. I opted out of an epidural as I'd been planing a natural birth. The contractions were strong but manageable. They came in and broke my water which caused the contractions to get stronger (aka more painful). The next hour I had very intense contractions. Dave did a great job of coaching me. He was so encouraging.

The last 20 mintues were the hardest. It hurt bad and the contractions were so close that I hardly had a break between them. I was going through transition (the last stage of contractions before you get to push). I then started wanting to push. However the doctor was not available, he was doing a c-section. So they had to call in another doctor. It took her about 10 mintues to get there. Okay, that really sucked. It hurts to not be able to push when your body is basically doing it anyway. She finally showed up and I was able to push. Whew! She was out in about 10 minutes. She was big and beautiful.

They laid her on my tummy for just a minute as there was merconium in my fluid so they had to make sure she hadn't inhaled any of it. Then she was so pale from the cord being wrapped around her neck so I got to see her for another minute before they took her away again for about 2 hours. I hated not being able to see her for so long.

Finally they brought her in. She looked so good.

She's an incredible baby. So good. In fact she slept 6 hours last night - woohoo! She rarely cries. We actually didn't hear her cry till she was 5 days old. We love her so much. Here are so more pics...

Ruby

My very talented friend Tiffany took some pics of our Ruby girl yesterday. Here's a sample. We took some in her nursery that are so colorful. Ruby was such the little model. She just chilled the whole time. Thanks so much Tiff!

Ruby Jane Cook

Born August 4th at 7:33am
8lbs 12 oz
19.5 inches long
She's perfect.

You're still here?

Yes. Still pregnant. I really thought she was going to come early. Guess not. I've been having consistent contractions on and off for days. Its like they get started for like an hour and then fizzle out. Its wearing me out emotionally and physically. So that's all I'm going to say about that. The rest of this post is going to be totally random bullet points.

• IMPORTANT: Never say to anyone, pregnant or not "You look like you're ready to explode!" Just don't say it. How can that be a good thing? There are better ways to comment on the fact that your belly is sticking out so far that it's starting to sag and you're hands and legs are swelling sickening amounts. A lady at church actually said this to me. Dave later made me feel better by telling me I should have said "I could say the same about you and you're not even pregnant!" It made me feel better. Especially because she is quite overweight.

So this is how I look, right now as a write this. I'm kind of hot and sweaty even though it says its 70 degrees in here. I'm hot. I've got prego face. My belly is really big. I thought about retaking it but what's the point? Do I look like I'm 'ready to explode!'? Don't you dare say yes.

• Sol is in a big boy bed! Thanks to his dad he now loves his new big bed. I realized that I was the one who was having a hard time with the transition. Sol moved over like it was no big deal. Dave had the great idea of showing Sol how to make a fort. They made this cool fort and were camped out in there for a while.

pretending to sleep...

• Sol wanted to go night night in the fort. Dave told him instead that he should go night night in his big boy bed. He took him upstairs, laid on the bed with him and talked to him about how cool it was to sleep in a big boy bed. He then told him to go to sleep and then left. Sol did just that! He didn't try to come out once. My neighbor gave me a great suggestion. She said instead of getting one of those gates keep them from falling out of bed just roll up a blanket and put it up under the fitted sheet. You can kind of curl it around below them and it makes a sort of nest. It works great. Sol's never fallen out. And I think it makes him feel safe to be all nestled in like that.

• Dave completed an Xterra triathlon in Vail, CO. He did awesome! He improved his overall time by 30 minutes from last year. Sol and I were bummed we couldn't go with him. We're hoping to make it a family vacation next summer. He said it was gorgeous. And I think he enjoyed the guys weekend with his buddy Corey.

Can you tell which one is Dave? ...me neither.

• Here's a random picture of my fleshy swollen hand. They're particularly bad in the morning. And you can see my fleshy little foot in there too. Lovely.

• Here's random pic of my adorable saucey pants.

• Here's a self portrait:

• Our bounteous harvest:

That was just one day! The garden has been a success so far. I've definitely learned somethings not to do next year (like don't plant your squash next to your watermelon or you'll have squashy watermelon, not so good). But it's so fun to actually be able to watch, pick and then eat the literal fruits of your labors. Everyone should grow a garden!

That's what's been going on for now. Hopefully the next post will bring more exciting news!

I read this quote on Dr. Laura's blog. Pretty awesome coming from an extremely opinionated person...

"I’m convinced too much of the time it has become more natural to dislike the person whose message is counter to your preference than it is to simply agree to disagree, or congenially debate without hate. However, hate has become the current means of dealing with differences of opinion."

Crazy-train

First off, sorry to leave the mushy post up there for so long. That post was really just for me and I realize it could have been a little nauseating for some. Thanks for indulging me.

So I've kind of been in my own world for the past few weeks. I'm definitely on the crazy train, the end of pregnancy horemone fest where I'm either a) really frustrated and angry with everyone around me and especially myself for no great reason. b) weepy and sad about my current condition (I just know I'll be pregnant forever!) c) bouncing off the walls with energy to get things done before this baby comes. And while the list of things to get done before baby comes does get smaller, I keep adding to it so it really won't ever be done. I'm kind of crazy and I know it. Sorry Dave.

I've kind of lost all my social skills as I often find myself staring at someone who's talking to me with a blank 'stupor of thought' look on my face, having no idea what they're saying and nothing in particular going on in my brain. I don't really feel like talking, especially small talk with strangers. I about decked the cute little hostess who sat Dave and me at Chili's the other night because she said "2 and a half?" with a cute little smirk on her face while she eyed my bulging belly. Not a reasonable reaction to someone who's kindly nodding to the fact that you're 9 months pregnant and look like you should have given birth yesterday. When she brought crayons and a kids menu to the table to really send the joke home I shot her a seriously dirty look. That's really not like me. But I'm afraid I've turned into prego-zilla. Rahhhrrrrr.

So a few weeks ago I started having contractions off and on, nothing consistent but real contractions none the less. These have basically carried on for the last 2 weeks, some days being worse than others. I'm getting tired. Baby girl keeps dropping and then dropping more, and then dropping more. She's really ready to come. Sometimes I'm afraid she's going to suddenly stick her head out and say "whats up mom?"

And I don't know if it's horemones but I'm freaked out about loving another baby. I know I'm going to love her as much as I love Sol and something about that scares me. I think it scares me how much I love Solomon because I know how vulnerable that makes me. When I think of having another, part of me somewhere in my head is going "WHAT? You're going to add another amazing cherub to your world?! You're nuts! They they have your heart, what if something happens and you get crushed forever?" And that little nagging fear really flares up when I start to have contractions. Is this normal? I've been pregnant for 9 months and now in the last few weeks the idea is starting to really freak me out. I know I can handle it. I know we'll be happier being a family. But it scares the whits out of me to think of loving another child as much as I love Sol. Maybe that's why I keep starting contractions and then stopping, my subconscience is screaming "SLOW DOWN!"

On the other hand I can't handle staying in the prego-zilla condition for much longer. I'll make myself and everyone around me crazy. She'll be here soon. In fact she's so close I can almost smell her. I'll see her and instantly fall in love with her and everything will be right in the world. For now, I'm on the crazy train. Be warned. :)

On a happier note, Sol is so much fun right now. He's really such a good boy and only goes to time out for roughing up Ella (the dog). He thinks its so funny to chuck something big at her or jump on her and watch her scramble to get out of the way. He's such a boy. Ella still loves him though she's a little nervous around him.

We spent some time with extended and immediate family up in Idaho this last week which was really great. Sol had a blast on the 'forver' (four wheeler) and swiming in Grandma's ditch. He loved playing with his cousins and riding in Grandpa's boat.

On the way home we had some drama with Mazdy car. The engine blew up. I guess you could call that drama. Luckily we were in Layton and made it to a Walmart parking lot where we could call Dave's sis that lives in the area. They rescued us and helped us tow Mazdy to the car hospital where they are still troubleshooting the problem. It's not looking good. Dave loves that car almost as much as he loves peanut butter bars so he's rather distraught over the whole thing. Especially because it doesn't yet have 100k miles on it and its just out of warranty.

Oh well, at least its a car and not one of us.

Well if you're still reading I'm impressed. This is one looong post. Here are some recent pics for the skimmers...

Fathers Day. While trying to get Sol to say 'Cheese,' Dave pulled the 3rd grade class picture smile out. Nice.

Sol's new skill: somersaults. He really just rolls around on the ground but he fully believes he's somersaulting like the big kids.

Swimming in the ditch.

My family had a lovely baby shower for me where I felt very loved and showered. I'm not thrilled with the pics as I realize I'm all boobs, belly, and elephant legs. Oh well. The shower was still great!

AF City parade!

Sol discovers they throw candy.

It was a long parade. Thankfully uncle Steve had his phone with the Helicopter video to keep Sol entertained.

ttfn! Hopefully the next post I write will be a little less crazy. However, I make no promises.