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Friday, October 30, 2015

Lucy's First Food

Today is a crazy day in Austin. It hasn't stopped raining since early this morning and there is flooding across our city. For a city who has experienced a multi year drought, it is great, but man it's intense! Since we planned on staying home all day, it was finally time to start Lucy on solids! In typical 2nd child fashion I have been meaning to start them this week but then time gets away from us and I postpone. I spent a whole day last week making a bunch of homemade baby food. Like with Ford, we plan on doing purees for a couple of weeks then transition into baby led weaning. Lucy has shown major signs that she is interested... grabbing our food, opening her mouth, and loving puffs and mum mums. I decided to give her sweet potatoes since that was Ford's favorite and I used a store bought Gerber brand because it is really thing and pureed (my homemade food is thicker). She was funny about it and got over it pretty quickly. I assumed she was going to plow through it but that wasn't the case. She did want to grab onto the spoon to gnaw on. I am in no rush to go full force into food but we will try again tomorrow! And just like Ford, Lucy had her first food off of a beautiful silver spoon gifted to us by my grandparents (and they gave me one when I was a baby too!). I love incorporating family traditions into any experience for my kiddos.



Googly eyes for her daddy








Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Lucy 6 months

Lucy Joy is 6 months old today and I really can't believe it. As of now we are closer to her first birthday than her birth day. Wow time flies when you are busy with babies (and also having fun). Lucy is such a sweet little girl. Jon and I both agree that she is starting to develop her own little personality (not just a baby).... she is shy at times, opinionated at times, let's you know what she wants, and pretty much smiles 99% of the day. She knows our faces and loves her big brother. It is so much fun to watch her play and learn, gosh she is learning so much this month! 6 months is a huge milestone... we survived! 6-9 months was such a fun stage with Ford (before the dreaded crawling starts) and I can't wait to see what the next month brings for our happy little girl!

Picture taking is starting to get interesting... girly doesn't want to sit still and likes the taste of the sticker












Monthly stickers via Baby Bump Bundle/Lucy Darling
  • 16lbs 5oz (55th %), 26.25in (66th %), head circumference 44cm (92nd %)
  • We had Lucy's 6 month well check this morning and she is a healthy and perfect little lady! She was showing the doctor how she sits up on her own (and clawed her a few times) and lots of smiles. Doctor doesn't think she'll get teeth anytime soon and encouraged us to start solids... more on that below. She got 3 shots today including her flu vaccination (I am so glad she is 6 months at the start of the season)... poor girl screamed but stopped right when I picked her up. Baby shots are so sad! I hope we don't have to see the doc much this winter... one can only hope.
  • Peanut Lady, Peanuts, Chiquita
  • Wears 6 month and 6-9 month clothes, 6 month jammies, 1 pair of newborn shoes, 1 pair of 0-6 month moccs but still too big on her tiny feet
  • Cloth diapered during the day, just moved up to size 3 disposable diapers at night
  • Bed between 7-730pm, sometimes sleeps til 7am, sometimes nurses between 5-6a then sleeps til 8a. She sleeps with a few loveys and clutches them it is SO cute! She is a back sleeper and wakes up really mad when she rolls on her tummy (she can't figure out how to roll back yet). 
  • She takes 3 naps a day, 1-1.5 hours in the morning, 1.5-2 hours in the afternoon, 1 hour in the late evening. She isn't great at sleeping on the go so I make sure we are home for at least 2 of her naps each day (she gets a car nap on Ford's school days if Jon isn't home to take F) but we are home for most of them... I knew this day was coming! Hoping to transition her to 2 naps within a month or so.
  • She nurses every 3-4 hours during the day and gets 1 bottle in the evenings around 4-5pm of formula (Similac for Supplementation). She takes 4oz but I think we are going to up that soon.
  • We haven't started solids yet but I've given her a few mum mums and puffs and she kind of likes them. She will love it for a second then gag but she is really good at using her little pinchers. I spent a whole day last week making a few types of baby food and we plan on starting soon.... just kind of dreading the mess and added thing I have to do... just milk is so easy! She has been reaching for food so I think she is ready. 
  • She has been sucking on her top lip a lot lately and also does this funny/cheesy smile that makes me think she is really teething.
  • Smiles ALL the time, I don't just post her best pics... she really doesn't stop smiling.
  • No teeth yet but chews on EVERYTHING, including her feet. She found them this month and loves them
  • Jon calls her violent because girlfriend can SCRATCH. I started wearing a nursing necklace (The Vintage Honey Shop) because she loves to scratch and pinch. She loves to get Jon's beard too. When people play with her I tell them to beware because she can be giving you the sweetest laughs and smiles and grab for you and boom, she's clawed your face off. Such a sweet girl haha.
  • As of last weekend she can sit up for 2-3 minutes on her own! We got the activity table out and took the 2 front legs off so she can sit up and play. I think she's finally learning she needs to balance to stay up.
  • She rolls non stop... but only back to tummy and then gets mad. Tummy to back is so much easier but she hasn't figured that out.
  • Despite not being able to crawl, Lucy gets from one side of the room to the other by scooting and gyrating haha. I think she'll be a good dancer because girlfriend can move.
  • Lucy is OBSESSED with her jumperoo and is a maniac in it, just like Ford was. Her ideal afternoon is jumping in there while watching football with Jon. 
  • She loves her banana brush, soft rattle baby doll, wooden ring teether, banana brush, Pony Tails book.
  • I don't think we will keep the swing or Mamaroo out for much longer, she likes it for 10 minutes then is done. 
  • She is so cute in her highchair during our meals and loves interacting with us, especially Ford. He can really get her laughing and now he's taught her to blow spit bubbles.
  • Ford is SO sweet with her. He loves when he gets to run into her room and stand on the stool to see her in her crib. He plays peek a boo with her, shows her all of his toys and crafts, and talks in a high voice/baby talk to her, it is the sweetest thing. 
  • We flew to Chicago for a family visit and Lucy stole so many hearts! You can read about our trip here
  • She is very ticklish, like me, and loves to be tickled! 
  • Loves her bath and starting to splash and kick a lot. She is getting too big for the Angel Care seat so we are going to switch her to a bath ring soon. She loves her bath and Ford and her often get into giggle fits when they are in there. 

Monday, October 26, 2015

Trunk or Treat

One of the many things that drew us to our neighborhood was the community. We live in a super family friendly master planned community (basically every has kids or is now an empty nester and once had a house full of kids) that celebrates all of the holidays with parades, events, and community outreach. I am really excited about this holiday season with Ford. Last year he loved Halloween and Christmas but was still so young and now he is so impressionable and at such a fun stage. He is scared of the scary Halloween decorations but is all about anything pumpkin, skeletons, and of course, Trick or Treating. If you know Ford in real life, you'd know that he is very enthusiastic about the littlest of things so you can imagine what a blast he had at our neighborhood's Trunk or Treat event last night. He was in heaven! He went from car to car saying Trick or Treat and in polite Ford fashion, saying thank you to each person. He was thrilled with how much candy he got and could have eaten 10 Dum Dums if I would have let him. He refused cotton candy and face painting but ate a whole bag of popcorn and got to hold a baby bunny, a 2 day old chick, and a bearded dragon. I went into the petting zoo with him and he told me that the baby chick was saying "Daddy! Dadddy" when he was chirping. He gets this high voice when he talks to Lucy like a baby and he was doing it to the animals, so precious! He and Lucy went as Mickey and Minnie... stay tuned for mine and Jon's costumes on actual Halloween! Oh what a fun night it was! Our community group all went together and we met up with other neighbors and friends. My heart is so full getting to celebrate holidays with friends we love. And this week we have a few more Halloween events coming up... a party for our moms group, another Trunk or Treat for church, a visit to Sweet Berry Farm, and of course... Halloween Trick or Treating! As much fun as the Halloween season has been, I am GIDDY about Christmas and what he will think.













Friday, October 23, 2015

A girl can never have too many...

....headbands, bows, hats, ribbons, top knots, accessories.... am I right?

All of you girl moms know where I am coming from. The second I found out I was having a girl (which was super early at 14 weeks), I started shopping. And I can't stop. At least once a week I tell myself, "No more clothes Ruthie, no more headbands"and then I just happen to stumble upon an adorable outfit for next summer for 90% off at Target or a headband on Etsy I just HAVE to have. I am too afraid to count the number of head accessories she has because I know it is over 100. I have at least 30 that are packed away because they don't fit her anymore (please God I need another girl someday!) and 30 grosgrain bows that I am dying to put in her hair as it gets longer. I have a system for hair accessories and am SO excited I just got a new wooden display for Lucy's headbands from E Squared Designs. I have clips and bows on a chicken wire frame outside of her door, top knots in a gold basket on her dresser, and now all of her dainty headbands are beautifully displayed and easy for me to match with any outfit.



Elizabeth from E Squared Designs is a talented mommy who makes each headband display by hand and customizes to match your sweet girl's nursery. I hung ours right by her closet and low enough that she will be able to reach them when she inevitably starts wanting to pick out her own clothes and accessories (hopefully I have a few more years before that!). I can't get over how beautiful all of her little headbands look hanging! Each clip is attached via wire and strong enough to hold even top knot headbands (I just have too many and I didn't want the display to look cluttered... yes I am OCD). I love making headbands for Lucy myself and some of my favorite shops are Little Elle Boutique, Sweet Babes Bridgeman, and Thread Enthusiast. Girl mamas you need to snag a custom made headband display from E Squared ASAP! Use the code RUTHIE15 for 15% off of your order through the end of October.

And some Lucy girl for your enjoyment....







E Squared Designs



Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The Pumpkin Gospel

A few weeks ago the girls in my missional community group (our church's home group/small group) were brainstorming ways we can love on our neighbors and ultimately share the gospel with them. Having kids makes it really easy to get an "in" with your neighbors so creating events for the kiddos is a huge win. We decided to do a pumpkin painting party where we would read The Pumpkin Gospel and teach our children about how God cleans out our insides of sin, gives us a new identity/face, and gives us the light of the Holy Spirit, just like a Jack O Lantern! I really love these sweet teachable moments with my kids, especially during the fun holiday season. It is so easy to use the holidays as a vehicle to point them to Jesus. We each invited a few families and it was so much fun! We pre carved the pumpkin to make it easier and let the kids touch the pumpkin guts and throw them in the trash, just like God throws our sin away. Ford is now at a really impressionable age and although he's not understanding the depth of the Gospel, he knows who Jesus is, learns about him all week at school and Sunday school, and gets excited about lots of things so I really look forward to doing similar stuff with him for Thanksgiving and of course Christmas! After we read the story we let the kids paint pumpkins and use Halloween stickers. Having kids really makes the holidays so much more fun!











I posted a few pictures on Instagram and people commented that the book The Pumpkin Gospel is almost impossible to find online. I did some searching and you can find it right now on Diapers.com for $10.99. We also have the book The Pumpkin Parable that I got on Half.com but it will be better for Ford when he is a bit older. 

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Chi Town

Last week we packed up both kiddos and approximately 1000 articles of clothing and flew to Chicago. I was born in the suburbs and my entire family, sans my parents and siblings, are still there so we try to go up once a year. We've been into the city before but now that babies are in the mix, the trip is purely family time which we love. We stayed with my aunt and uncle in Naperville and completely descended into their home with our junk. Luckily we were able to use 3 separate rooms so we didn't have to shack up with the babes and everyone slept great! We were up there last November when Lucy girl was just a tiny bean in my belly so this was the first time everyone got to meet her and she quickly stole hearts. Ford was a doll the whole time.... we've really been working on manners at home so everyone loved how polite he was. Ford can be shy at times but was so happy when new people came over and quickly became BFFs with our family. It was COLD there y'all. Basically it was as cold as it ever gets in Texas but it's only October... I don't think I could live in the north. It did get m excited for colder temps because we left 97 degree heat, ugh. We ate, relaxed, played, drank, went to a super fun pumpkin patch, and ate some more. Lucy got to meet her great grandparents (Ford was named after my papa James Ford) and even her 2nd cousin Lily who is 2 months old. It really is such a treasure to get to share our kiddos with people who love them so much. It was such a nice time away, crazy enough I felt rested and relaxed when we left (usually not the case traveling with kids!). The plane rides were a little eh... having us decided we don't want to fly with the kiddos much any more haha. They were SO well behaved but never slept despite flying during bedtime both there and back. Lucy is becoming such an active little girl and wanted to be up bouncing the whole time. It was exhausting but first world problems right? No tears, no meltdowns, just two wide eyed energetic kiddos who gladly stayed up 3-4 hours past their 7pm bedtimes. As hard as good byes are (and were this weekend!), we get to host our family in Austin in January/February so it was bittersweet! Now some pictures of our family loving on the Hart littles. 



























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