The Good with the Bad

Last night was a crazy night... Ruby has been waking up at night for a week - I don't know if she's growing or if I've created a bad habit, but she has been eating twice a night and seems to still be hungry in the morning. This has been the most sleepless week of my life since Ruby was 8 weeks old. She had two great months of sleeping 7-10 hours at night, then BAM - this week happened.

Today, however, is a good day. To make up for last night Ruby has been nothing but cooperative in every way. She is currently playing in her room by herself, squealing, hiccuping, and generally enjoying the sight of her own feet and the sound of her own voice. Her demeanor today has given me time to work out, pack, clean and do a couple loads of laundry. Thank you dear child!

We introduced Rice Cereal on Monday, and Ruby has been steadily gaining skill in the "using a spoon" category. Today was the most successful yet - she nailed about 1/4 cup of cereal and apparently loved every minute of it. When I wipe her face off she sticks her tongue out. The thought of the taste of paper towel makes me gag, but she doesn't seem to mind it.

To top it off, we get to see Bryan and Michelle and our friends Aaron and Ashlee this weekend! It's always fun to visit our old stomin' grounds in Chicago.

Leaves, Leaves and more Leaves

Ryan worked hard all day yesterday, then came home and worked some more. He spent hours raking and mowing the yard... unfortunately, this is the view of our yard today.

I have a feeling Ryan's not gonna like what he sees!

How many leaves can fall overnight?

Apparently A LOT!!

My friend Missy

Yesterday morning I got to hang out with Missy, my roommate from Hope! When we lived in Chicago I got to see Missy more often, but it's been a few years and was fun to catch up. She is superb, and I'm thankful she's my friend.

Scut Monkeys - The Final Game

The Scut Monkeys were brutally defeated during tonights single-elimination tournament. The team they played hit 4 home runs over the fence... we are going to petition that they move up to the next league level next year!

We bundled Ruby up in a little knit number that Ryan wore when he was a baby. She enjoyed watching her dad and her Nana and Grandpa Cox had fun with her in the stands.

Ryan was on call and happened to get paged during the 4th inning, that's what happens when you're a team full of doctors. He returned the page, took care of things, then got back out there for the finish.

It was an incredible season... that just kept going and going. Next year the competition better look out! Residents have a lot of free time for softball practice... (yeah right).

Comfort

Ruby loves to have her blankets all up in her face. As soon as she was old enough to grab stuff, she would get ahold of her blanket or her shirt and pull it up on her head. This is how I find her most times she wakes up from her naps. I've learned that she falls asleep well when I help her put her blanket on her head. Then I just walk out of the room and she's snoozing in no time.

Happy Birthday Sista Sista!!

I love you so much Angela. You make me laugh more than most people on this planet and the bond we share is something I cherish. I am so thankful that you're my sister, so thankful that you're Ruby's Aunt Gela and I'm so excited for the sweet baby girl you'll have in March! You are going to be an awesome mom and I can't wait to be with you through this phase of our lives!

Rice Cereal

We gave Ruby Rice Cereal for the first time tonight. Mom and Dad were here for the fun. She actually did pretty well considering she'd never had anything grainy in her mouth before. The biggest problem was that initially I didn't quite get the consistency right so I was basically spoon-feeding her breastmilk. Ryan helped me get it right and it went much better after that.

Here's a video for ya.

Ada Bible Church

Today was a very special day. My mom and dad got to come to my church with me this morning... typically they are pretty busy on the weekends with the whole "Pastor of Granger Community Church" thing, so it was really awesome that this worked out! Dad had been training United Methodist Pastors earlier this week in Northern Michigan, so mom and dad stopped by GR on their way home today.

I took them with me to the 11am service at Ada Bible Church. I'd told dad before about how much Ryan and I love Jeff Manion, the pastor and how he is an outstanding teacher who makes us want to dig deeper into the Bible and learn all we can. Jeff's sermon this morning did not disappoint! We're in the middle of a 14 week series about the Travels of Paul. Jeff has really brought the book of Acts to life during the last 7 weeks and I'm excited for the next 7!

You can listen to pervious weekend messages HERE.

Squealing

Ruby has discovered that she has a voice... so she's been trying it out a lot. Apparently high-pitched squealing is her favorite thing to do. She did it about once every hour last night from 11pm-7am. Usually when she makes sounds in her sleep they don't wake her up, but the squealing is so loud she ends up startling herself awake. Any advice on how to get her back to sleeping through the night? This has been happening since we got home from Washington.

It's pretty funny though, so here's a little sampler for you:

Fall

It's Fall where we live... and this fiery Japanese Maple in our front yard is my favorite thing to see when I open the blinds each morning.

Kyle Took These Pics

I Love Local Commercials

You can thank Ryan for this little beauty. He showed it to me when he got home from work tonight and we've been laughing ever since.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

You are the most incredible woman I know. I want to be just like you when I grow up.

We're home from DC!!

Amazingly, we made it home from Washington DC late last night after driving ALL DAY. In a weak moment we thought it would be a great idea to drive there. We would save lots of money by not flying... except that parking our car downtown was $33 per day and gas prices spiked right before we left...

Either way, we had a fun time together in the car, telling stories, laughing, listening to Ruby blow raspberries and stopping along the way to enjoy the many visitor centers along the Pennsylvania and Ohio Turnpikes. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day yesterday, which made it harder being trapped in the car instead of hiking around in the woods. I'm praying for another few beautiful days this fall.

At least we had some good tunes for our listening pleasure:

• Bon Iver
• Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
• Ryan Adams
• Fleet Foxes
• Matt Kearney
• Hillsong United
• David Gray
• Martin Sexton
• Imogen Heap
• Coldplay
• Bic Runga

Arlington

We had such an awesome time in DC! This has been a great city to spend a week in. Our hotel was right downtown, so we could walk out the front door to everywhere we wanted to go. Also, all the museums and tourist spots were free to get into - so we saved a pile! Awesome places to eat, incredible places to see and my absolute favorite people in the world to spend it with!

Roll Baby Roll

Ruby rolled over for the first time yesterday at the hotel!

Check her out!

Washington DC

yacktastic

Ryan totally deserved this for doing the airplane with Ruby right after I fed her! She was giggling and squealing, then yacked, then giggled and squealed some more. Hysterical!

Momentous Monuments

Classic Tourist Move

You know that classic pose that tourists do with the Washington Monument? The one where it looks like you're holding it or leaning on it? Well, Ryan didn't realize that's what I was trying to do when he took this picture.

The worst part is that he didn't say "Boy, you are really doing something weird for this picture." No, he just went ahead and took it even though he thought I looked ridiculous. Then I explained what I was trying to do and we tried again. Hilarious.

Dr. Harvey Karp

Ryan ran into Dr. Harvey Karp from “The Happiest Baby on the Block” yesterday at the conference. Ryan told him “We’ve got a 4-month old and we’ve been singing your praises!” So Dr. Karp gave Ryan a book and DVD of Happiest Toddler on the Block, so awesome!

Anyone out there who has an infant or is about to have an infant… you should totally get the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD!! It worked wonders for us, as I mentioned HERE.

American Academy of Pediatrics Conference

Ryan is at the AAP conference, so Ruby and I are along for the fun!

Yesterday we checked out the Smithsonian – American History and Natural History museums. They were full of soggy tourists. Apparently a “nor’easter” is causing record low temperatures and lots of rain… but we haven’t let that slow us down! Everything is within a 2 mile walk of our hotel, so we just bundle Ruby up, put up the visor on the stroller and go. I wish we would’ve remembered to bring our raincoats!

We topped off the evening with Sushi! Our favorite thing to eat! Spicy Tuna, Salmon and Cucumber and Tuna and Avocado Rolls. Kaz Sushi Bistro is melt-in-your-mouth delicious! The place was about a mile from our hotel – so we walked there in the pouring rain with the stroller again.

Luke Joel Hunter

Joel and Lizzy's baby boy is here! Welcome to the family Luke!! You are so loved already!!

Awesome Photos by Josh Hunter

Happy Wednesday!