Ruby 1 year old

1st birthday

So much more to post. ... Just uploaded a bunch of pics so I'll get on that asap.... cute pic of my girl after her 1 year photo shoot,  wore her out!  It's exhausting being so beautiful! 

10 months/ 29 months

I am terribly behind again.  In my defense, I have had more than my hands full taking care of the kids and the task of showing/selling the house.  Finally we are under contract and set to close mid May.  I'm extremely excited to be moving to Ponte Vedra, it has been a very long time since I've lived there.  It is such a great city to raise a family in and I'm ready to be back by the BEACH!  My kids are growing up too fast I can't stand it!  Ruby will be 11 months old next Tuesday and Wyatt is almost 2 and a half! Time slow down please!!  I know it won't so I'm savoring it all every day and getting as many squeezes, cuddles, and kisses as I can because I know life is so short.  Ruby has been walking for over a month now- she is such a mobile, happy, cheerful, laid back, playful little girl it is such a huge blessing!  Wyatt is playing better with her now that she's walking and to him is probably more desirable as a play mate than she was before.  We still have quarrels and all, but that's normal, I'll take him being nicer to her at least half the time any day! Wyatt's speech has improved so much.  I am very thankful to his speech therapist, Miss Gene...she's been so great and Wyatt LOVES doing his therapy every week.  He's stringing so many words together now I can hardly keep up.  Secretly I still kinda like being the only one who can understand him sometimes...it's like a special mommy bond...I'm with him more than anybody so it makes me feel special.  I am so thankful for my children- they just make my heart skip beats all day long...they're just my heart!

Ruby's first steps.

9 months old and took 2 steps yesterday!  This little girl is so strong and on the move. Brother isn't too excited about her getting into his things!  Time goes by too fast.   We are moving to Ponte Vedra this spring for Nicks job and to be in my home town. I can't wait to be by the beach again and near my family. Stay tuned.  

25 months, 7 months

Enjoying life with two nuggets.  It is undoubtedly a very hard task being responsible for these little people all the time, but it is amazing all the same.  Recently we've had some huge milestones I'd like to record for myself more than anything.

Ruby

6 months- started crawling

6 months and 1 week- began sitting well unsupported

(I KNOW-she crawled before sitting...not fair.)

Almost 7 months- began pulling herself up onto furniture and steps

7.5 months- holding onto things with just one hand/eating lots of different pureed baby foods, likes gnawing on pretzel sticks and toast

Wyatt

24 months-finally will eat macaroni and cheese (right?!)

25 months- moved to toddler bed, kept getting hurt climbing out of his crib/doing much better with his speech, constantly refers to himself as Wyatt, which actually sounds like he is saying "Diet", pretty funny.  

As for mom and dad, we are well.  As close as ever, even closer really.  Ups and downs of parenting have their way of either drawing you closer or tearing a relationship down.  I'm thankful that we are learning patience and grace and to just not sweat the little things.  For example, Ruby had the most awful diaper rash you've ever seen in your life, seriously, for about a week.  It was a yeast infection on top of diaper rash.  I would upload a picture but that is not something I want the world seeing.  (yes i took pictures, but only so I could tell day by day if it was improving), one of the cures for this rash is to let the child remain diaper-less as much as possible.  I have news for you, with a crawler that has diarrhea (hence, the diaper rash), this is no easy task, but I HAD to do it.  Going around cleaning up poo and pee and spit up (yes she still spits up like a little monster too), was not my idea of an enjoyable week, but I got to where if she peed on the carpet I was like "oh well! I've got bigger problems."  These challenges tend to make me realize that stupid little stuff is not worth getting upset over.  Like my mother told me over the holidays, life is too short, "Just give them a doughnut."  That has become the joke around here...I am not exactly following that advice, just for the record, but the point is, that during times where I could easily get upset or aggravated or disappointed, or frazzled, or fill in the blank____, In my head, I think about what she said, "Just give them a doughnut!" Which I translate into letting the little things go and make things easier on myself as a mom sometimes.  My biggest battle right now is the nap fiasco.  Wyatt isn't napping well in the toddler bed.  We have to lock him in his room (go ahead and judge me, I don't care.) We do this at bedtime and at nap.  Bedtime, he will cry for like 10 seconds at his door, but then he gets in bed and stays all night...(of course his door is still locked so he couldn't leave his room even if he tried...we DO have a video monitor so cool your jets), nap times, however, are a struggle but I'm trying to just give it enough time and not give up!  Speaking of which, it is a miracle I was able to record even this much (I'm a fast typer), because he is already screaming in his room...it's 2:16 pm.  I usually can get closer til 2:30 before the monster rears his ugly head...errrr...I mean, My precious toddler, love bug, monkey boy, Wyatt-bear.  

Must go,

Megs

Wyatt 2, Ruby 7 months

It is amazing how quickly time is passing.  I am blown away at what both of my children are learning and doing each and every day.  (Perhaps that is why I'm exhausted all the time..?), time for rest later in life...now is not that time!  Ruby is the strongest little girl I've ever seen.  She began rolling over at 3.5 months, crawling at 6 months, shortly followed by sitting up within the first week or two of turning 6 months.  Now at 7 months, she is pulling herself up onto things and holding on with one hand....WHAT?!  It seems crazy, but she's just trying to keep up with Wyatt I suppose!  Wyatt is in the process of transitioning into his toddler bed, another HUGE milestone that I wasn't quite ready for, but he was ready.  He was aggressively climbing out of his crib ever since we got home from the Disney Cruise last week.  He has a black eye and several bruises on his legs, I'll take some pics...He took some falls needless to say, in his blind rage climbing out of the crib.  It was best for his safety to go ahead and make the move.  I'm way behind on updating so I'm going to bombard my page with photos, and unfortunately they're not exactly in chronological order, I'm doing this as quickly as I can while I have a minute to myself so this will have to do for now!

Had a visit from all the cousins for Wyatt and Ruby's dedication at our church a few weekends ago. The kids had so much fun!  

OH and by the way, Auburn is playing for the national title in a couple weeks?!  

Ruby's first wagon ride.

Getting a close up look at the gingerbread man pillow on our hearth.  She's so strong! 6.5 months in this pic.

Bon Voyage on the family reunion Disney Dream!  4 nights on the cruise, it was crazy and fun!

Nothing like a good veranda in your room to air everything out!!

More cruise pics...

3 generations

Unfortunately I think this is the best family photo we got...I think we need to do better.

Just hanging out on the top deck.

My little model, happy girl.

Definitely was cute seeing her bounce around on daddy all day, they are a fun little pair!

Love my niece, Isabelle.  She had a blast!!

Wyatt and Curran's first pina coladas!  I'm pretty sure Wyatt didn't take his mouth off the straw for about five minutes straight!

If only everybody could have stayed awake for pirate night! At least we got a cute pic!

Wyatt meets Jake!

Wyatt and daddy putting the toddler rail on and removing side of his crib this weekend.

Pics of the final result.  We left a twin mattress on the floor in his room along with his toddler bed.  I think he's going to adjust quickly.  Please God!  His first night went better than expected.  It did take quite a while to get him to go to sleep, but once he did, he stayed in his bed until morning!  He woke up a little early and tried to come out of his room but we are mean and keep his door locked.  It's safer to not take chances on him roaming the house in the middle of the night.  Naps this weekend haven't happened...because he just isn't used to his bed yet, so fingers crossed that today he will take a nap.  I'll probably have to lock him in his room....

We are just so proud of him, It is hard to watch them grow up because you want them to stay small and sweet forever on one side of the coin, but on the other hand it is so rewarding to see my little boy accomplish such great things!!  We rewarded him this morning with an early Christmas present since we are only two days away.  He got a  Buzz Lightyear plush toy to take in his bed with him.  He seemed really excited and we are doing our best to positively reinforce his accomplishment sleeping in the toddler bed.  

This pic was taken this morning, Dec. 23, 2013, She turned 7 months old yesterday.  She's a little stud muffin.

My 5 month peanut

I can't believe she is already 5 months (tomorrow), I just can't get enough of her. She is getting up onto her hands and knees as of the last few days! She is growing and thriving every day. Won't be long before she is crawling I'm sure.  I love my love bugs to the moon and back and treasure every day them.