Christmas Cards 2018

It's December 1st and you know what that means... our family Christmas cards signed, sealed, and on their way to be delivered to family and friends all over the US. If you know me personally, you know that I don't waste time when it comes to Christmas cards. I am the crazy lady who works on updating my address book throughout the summer so I am ready to rock and roll come fall. I think it's funny when people say that Christmas snuck up on them and they didn't have time for cards... you guys... it comes the same time every year! Okay rant over, I am just a Christmas card obsessed gal. Jon has been wanting to take family photos in his 1949 Ford F1 for a while and this year we used Logan Fahey Photography to make his dreams come true. I think I say this every year but these may be my favorite family photos to date (you'll see more of them later this month!). Using Shutterfly to create our Christmas cards is a no brainer, we have been loyal customers for the past 4 years for both Christmas cards and family year books (be on the lookout in the New Year for our family yearbook!). You can see our past Christmas cards using Shutterfly below!

2017 // 2016 // 2015 // 2014 

I basically wanted to us 25 pictures for our card but narrowed it down to 4 on the front and 3 on the back. I love how Shutterfly gives you premade templates where you can play around with how many pictures on that template. I went with a rustic yet simple shiplap template and was able to completely customize the card (I love having a faith based message on our card). Because we've used Shutterfly for years past, most of my addresses were already uploaded and it look me about 5 minutes to add new addresses, choose my envelopes, and order. Boom. 

Shutterfly has a new feature that I thought was super cool (but I had no idea how to use because I am by no means a graphic designer). You can upload your OWN design and have it made into a custom Christmas card. How neat is that for all of you creative techies! Deals are crazy good right now, shipping is fast, and the quality is top notch. If you haven't thought about Christmas cards this year, hop on over to Shutterfly.  The Shutterfly team makes it incredibly easy to create and order your cards, they even have designers who will review your card and give you feedback on layout, wording, spelling, etc. 

Here is a sneak peek of our 2018 card. 

Shutterfly

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A blanket with my face on it!

You guys. I am writing this post on my couch, fire in the fireplace, Christmas tree lit and twinkling, and wrapped up in a blanket with my face on it. Yep, and I am 0% ashamed. We took our family photos with Logan Fahey Photography in the back of Jon's 1949 F1 earlier this month and when I got them back, I basically wanted to decoupage all of them onto my walls. Wall paper is back in style right? Knowing that would be a little over the top, I opted for a plush blanket with my babies' beautiful faces on it. Earlier this fall I ordered canvases for our canvas wall from Collage.com and I noticed they had blankets with photos on them and I knew I had to have one. Growing up I used to think how boring it was that my parents and grandparents always got pictures of us kids as gifts but now that I am a parent... I get it. Give me all the hand print turkeys, homemade frames, and anything with pictures of my kiddos on it. Using Collage.com was just about the easiest thing ever. I chose my favorite pictures from our photo session and thought I would spend an hour on the layout choosing where I wanted pictures. Wrong. It took about 5 seconds for the pictures to upload and wa-la, the blanket was done. The layout was perfect and I was ready to order. Shipping was fast and the quality is amazing y'all. My kids can't get over that we have a blanket with their faces on it, they think they are hot stuff. I had originally thought of giving it to my mother in law for Christmas but I love it too much and ordering her one of her own! I ordered a 5 foot Sherpa blanket, perfect for Texas winters. It is so smooth and cozy and the colors of the pictures are clear and vibrant! I can't believe it.

Pointing out everyone's faces on the blanket. Mommy! Daddy's truck!

The kids have been fighting over who gets to cuddle under the new blanket. Or use it as a dance floor!

Collage.com has incredible deals all the time, be sure to visit the website for your Christmas and holiday gift needs!

My Canvas Picture Wall

Ever since Ford was born 5 years ago (what?!), I've been printing photos on photo canvases with the vision of having an entire wall in our home with canvases of our family as it grows. I envision a wall without an inch of free space because there are photos of tiny babies, family vacations, Christmas card photo shoots where behind the smiles are 10 pieces of bribed candy, and kids who are growing at an exponential rate each year. We've had our family picture taken twice in the past year, once for Christmas cards and once for our church to spotlight our adoption story, and I haven't printed out any of the pictures yet. Knowing we have Christmas card pictures in a few weeks (how is it almost October?!), I knew it was time to order last year's canvas! I ordered two canvases from Collage.com and I can't tell you how satisfied I am with the quality! The canvases themselves are thick and sturdy, unlike some others that I've ordered elsewhere that are ridiculously flimsy. The colors are bold and bright and the picture is perfectly clear. I was shocked that the canvas came with hanging hardware already installed, I've always had to take them to a frame shop to get wires installed to hang. And let me tell you about order them for a quick second. It was easy-peasy and took me less than 5 minutes to upload my photo, choose my sizes, and complete my order. My order was to my house in less than a week! I highly recommend using Collage.com and they are constantly running killer sales! Right now everything is 50% off using the code FALL50. 

Here is a sneak peek at my canvas wall. 5 years down and lots more pictures to go!

Gideon's New Car Seat, Evenflo SafeMax

As a 3rd child, Gideon gets the brunt of a lot of hand me downs. Fortunately for him, we don't have an extra convertible car seat so he actually gets something brand new, yay! We upgraded cars last summer to an Expedition XL with captains seats in the middle so our previous requirement of slender car seats wasn't an issue when choosing a seat for Gideon. To be honest, I never really thought of Evenflo for car seats until now. After reading recommendations and reviews online, the Evenflo SafeMax All-in-One Car Seat was an easy choice for our little man! Although we do plan on using it for Gideon, I love that the car seat fits the needs of each of my children and can grow from a rear facing infant, to rear facing toddler, to forward facing toddler, to harness and booster for an older child. It's nice to know we have the option of playing musical car seats if needed! The SafeMax literally looks like a plush movie theater seat made of temperature regulating fabric that helps balance your child's body temperature (Gideon is already a hot-natured baby and it isn't even summer yet!). We've never had built in cup holders on our car seats and boy are they convenient! Prior to us getting the Evenflo SafeMax for G, I would put his bottle, paci, a burp rag, and sometimes my cell phone or keys in his car seat for safe keeping. You will see in the pictures below how Lucy loved using the cup holders for her ponies! Safety is key when choosing a car seat and the Evenflo SafeMax Car Seat offers an integrated steel frame, extensive, rigorous rollover testing, and passed 2X the federal crash test standard. I am so thrilled with our car seat choice and highly recommend the Evenflo SafeMax All-in-One Car Seat!

Testing out the Evenflo SafeMax All-in-One Car Seat before we put it in the car!

Lucy wanted to take a spin in the SafeMax and there was plenty of room for her ponies, loveys, and doll. 

I think Ford was a little jealous of how comfortable the Evenflo SafeMax carseat is...especially on those days he wakes up at 6am, doesn't take a nap, but passes out in the car at 6pm. Whoops. The SafeMax has a SafeZone headrest with an added insert for littler ones like Gideon. 

Bringing Her Home

I came across Lucy's coming home from the hospital outfit a couple of weeks ago and oh man my heart was a mess. How could she have ever been that tiny? Lucy wore the most beautiful jumper, bonnet, and booties from Baby Beau and Belle home from the hospital and I pray that she has a daughter one day who will do the same. Since we are having our 2nd girl, you'd think she would get stuck in all hand me downs but we are running into a huge problem. Baby girl will be born in the total opposite season as her big sister Lucy so anything besides jammies won't really work (which you don't really have to tell me twice to go shopping for tiny little newborn girl clothes). I am ALL for hand me downs and borrowing because cliche... they grow so fast... but I wanted our sweet 2nd daughter to have a beautiful coming home outfit that will become a family heirloom for her. The thought of bringing her home (and yes she has a name but we decided not to share it until she's ours) is very emotional. I know she will beautiful and I want what she is wearing on the day she becomes ours to be beautiful, special, and sacred. To semi-match her sister (because I can't get enough of matching sisters), we chose the Clementine Jumper and set from Baby Beau and Belle. Y'all I can't even describe the beauty and quality of this collection and how much I love this company. The lace is so beautiful and intricate, even the tiny newborn booties are so detailed and unique. Baby Beau and Belle collections make the perfect outfit for baptisms, christenings, sip and sees, weddings, and holidays. And sizing is not just for babies, they have boys and girls collections and gifts as well. I cannot wait to see my daughter in this gorgeous outfit, knowing she is mine forever!

Shop Baby Beau and Belle

If you aren't familiar with adoption... I will explain how things will work. We have talked tentative plans but you know babies... they come when they want, sometimes with no warning, sometimes they have to be booted out so we are flexible and just so excited for the time to come! When our expectant mama goes into labor she will call our case worker. Our case worker will call us to give us the low down and meet our EM at the hospital. Once it is confirmed that our EM is truly in labor (dang false alarms), we will hop on an airplane to start the journey of picking up our daughter. As amazing as it would be to be at the hospital when the baby is born, we are praying that the labor and delivery for our EM is short, safe, and easy. Luckily there are a few daily direct flights from Austin to Las Vegas on Southwest and we have a gaggle of miles so hopefully we'll be able to get on a flight asap! We will head to the hospital where we will get tagged with parent bands and get unlimited access to our girl. The hospital our EM is giving birth at is extremely adoption friendly (makes me sad that there are hospitals that are not) and give adoptive parents lots of support. The required period before birth parent relinquishment is 72 hours in the state of Nevada so then we wait. And pray and get to know our baby girl. We won't get custody of her until relinquishment is signed. If there is room in the hospital, baby will stay there for 72 hours/or until relinquishment but if the hospital needs beds and baby is ready for discharge, our agency has a cradle care family that will care for our baby. Cradle care is temporary foster care and this family is so gracious to offer their home and loving services to families waiting to get custody of their fresh newborns. Once relinquishment is signed by the birth family, baby is ours, irrevocable in court. At this time, the state of Nevada will submit an ICPC (Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children) to the state of Texas and we must remain in the state of Nevada until we are approved to come home. Basically it is one state saying "This baby was born and the adoptive parents are from your state, can they come home" with lots and lots of legal paperwork. We are told to expect it to take 7-10 business days so Las Vegas will be our home for the first few weeks of a family of 5. I've had friends who it has taken 4 days to be approved and others 2 weeks so again... everything is up in the air. We've decided that my parents will fly up to Vegas with Ford and Lucy once we get custody of our daughter, I would be able to do 4 days but can't imagine 2 weeks without my babes. We don't have to stay in Vegas specifically, just the state of Nevada while we wait. We found out that part of the Grand Canyon is in Nevada and 3 hours away from Vegas so we may go there for a few days... not knowing what life will be with 3 kids, 3 and under. Once ICPC gets approved, we head home as a family of 5 and let the fun begin. Hopefully all of the people on our flight back from Vegas will be too hungover to be annoyed with our crew... 2 lap children and a 3 year old. YOLO.

Will we have a Halloween baby? Will we spend Thanksgiving at a casino buffet in Las Vegas? It probably sounds stressful to most people the thought of not knowing when and where you'll be for up to 2 weeks with a newborn but that's what makes this even more exciting. God HAS provided and He WILL provide.

We will finalize her adoption 6-8 months after she is born. What does that mean? We will have physical custody of hers and she will be OURS, but our agency will have "official custody" of her until we finalize. I put that in quotes because I am not sure what it is called. She will be our daughter, on our insurance, we can fly where we want, do what we want, so there is nothing to worry about. We will have a few visits from our social worker from the time we get home with her until finalization but nothing should stop finalization. And that will happen over the phone for us since we are out of state.

Phew that was a lot of information! Sorry for the overload but I realize that very few people know how the adoption process works. If you have more questions, feel free to email me!

Truth Ink

Graphic tees are all the rage these days. I probably see at least 5 a day on Facebook or Instagram that I say to myself, "Yep I need that". Whether they are printed with sayings about motherhood, working out, or Jesus, I love me some graphic tees. I started following Truth Ink Apparel a couple of months ago when a neighbor of mine posted a picture of her sweet 3 and 5 year old girls wearing Christian graphic tees and I instantly fell in love with all of their encouraging, faith based items. I ordered Jon a custom made shirt from them for Father's Day....

(and if you don't know what Jesus rap is... check out Lecrae or Trip Lee)

Looking cute and loving Jesus, amen?

Well I finally got my hands on my own tank from Truth Ink and I couldn't love it any more. So many of the shirts are not only faith based but encourage you to keep your body healthy (I am eyeing a tank that says Mommin' Is My Cardio). Jesus and fitness are two of my favorite things hehe. 

"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8

You can shop Truth Ink Apparel on their website, Instagram or Facebook and be sure to pop on over to my Instagram account for a GIVEAWAY!

Dressing her up

If you've met Lucy girl in person, you'd understand my pure enjoyment of dressing her up and taking her pictures. We've had some beautiful spring like days and I've been going through her spring/summer clothes (think adorable smocks and bubbles) and couldn't handle how cute this outfit was. I also can't get over this chick's hair. It's getting long and thick, she's such a little lady! With Easter right around the corner, we got this adorable pink headband from Sweet Babes Bridgeman to match her Easter dress (yes I am crazy and have multiple Easter dresses for her already). Lucy girl has a few other bows from Sweet Babes and I can't tell you amazing they are. They are the softest things I've ever felt, even the band is super soft which is good because Lucy wants to rip anything right off of her head these days. And y'all... this headband is $5.99! Stock up for Easter and spring mamas. And any of her bows can be made into bow ties for your little Mister. 

Head over to my Instagram for a Sweet Babes Bridgeman giveaway!

And use the code RUTHIEHART for 20% off your purchase of $10 or more. 

Eating with Lucy

If you read any of Lucy's most recently monthly updates, you'd know that we had previously struggled with her liking actual food. Not just table food...purees and basically anything but milk. So we started Ford on baby food at 5.5 months and by 7 months he was no longer eating purees and eating 3 solid meals a day. So you can see why I was shocked that at 8 months Lucy was not interested in anything but a boob, bottle, or occasional puff. I know Ford was an early eater (and a good eater!) so I was trying not to stress about it but I can't lie, She would gag on even the smoothest of mixture. I tried homemade, store bought, pouches, everything. I was worrying about her possibly having tongue tie or issue with her palate. I had heard of mamas having to take their littles to therapy at a year when their kiddo wouldn't even eat purees so I said I would talk to her pediatrician at her 9 month appointment. Lo and behold, the week before she turned 9 months old, something clicked. Here we are a few weeks later and girlfriend eats full grilled cheeses, quesadillas, yogurt, cheese sticks, potatoes, and so much more....with no teeth. So how did I do it? I really can't say much but don't give up. Again... I really wasn't going to get worried until we had hit the 3 month mark of her not eating (and I was worried about her gag reflex, not the fact that she wasn't interested), so I kept trying. I was surprised to see so many moms in a forum talk about how their babes didn't start eating food until 10, 11, and even 12 months. You may be thinking I'm nuts for even worrying because "they" say that food before 12 months is just for fun but I plan on weaning Lucy right at a year like I did Ford.

So mealtime now is fun and messy with Lucy girl. She is very independent and wants to do everything on her own. I try to give her an array of options on her tray and she almost always gravitates towards the dairy and carbs. She still has an empty mouth so I make sure things are soft enough for her to chew, although I am shocked by how she can gum the crap out of foods. I also try to give her something to gnaw on like an apple slice or pepper to soothe her gums. I still do offer her purees once a day to get veggies in her. Her favorites are sweet pea/apple and pumpkin/sweet potato/carrot. And because a girl has always gotta look cute, I got a new set of Lemonade bandana bibs and we LOVE them! We've tried a few different brands of bandana bibs and these are the biggest and softest. They are fleece lined which means her precious little outfits won't get ruined and the patterns are cute! You can get them in a 4 pack for $14.99 on Amazon...killer deal! Head over to my Instagram for a giveaway!

Lemonade Bibs

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Color Outside The Lines

Days with my 2 kiddos are funny. No two are the same and everything is unpredictable. As much as I love a well planned out week of scheduled outings and events, some days (a lot lately) we fly by the seat of our pants depending on little Miss Lucy's naps. This morning she slept until after 8am, the first time she's slept 13 hours straight, and as much as that is something to be celebrated, I knew I wouldn't be able to leave the house with the way naps would fall. The old Ruthie would have a mini panic attack but today we played outside, did some chores, and Ford colored his very own t-shirt. Yes you heard that right. Last year Art Feeds sent me one of my favorite shirts that says Color Outside The Lines. And this year they've added a DIY color yourself kids t shirt with the same saying and I knew Ford would love it. The kit comes with a set of fabric crayons that are so easy to use (I'll have to hide them from here on out!). Ford is such a mixture of me and Jon and it is fun to watch his personality grow and change. He is meticulous like his daddy but he is creative like me. He loves coloring, painting, and anything having to do with crafts so it is always fun for me to find new projects he and I can do together. Being the little engineer he was, he was confused (and concerned) as to why we were coloring on a T shirt but he got the hang of it and had so much fun wearing it around all day. This Color Outside The Lines kids t shirt makes the perfect Christmas gift for your creative littles! You can purchase one here. 

  Art Feeds believes all children are artists. They exist to feed creative development and facilitate emotional expression in children through art and community. To do this, they provide free therapeutic art and creative education programs within schools and children's organizations by mobilizing teams of community members to bring all forms of art into classrooms. To learn more, visit www.artfeeds.org.
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