Santa's littlest (and cutest!) helper

Hey everyone! We're only 11 days away from Ruby's first Christmas and Shane and I couldn't be more excited. 

This Christmas is going to be a little different than usual, and not just because we have another stocking to hang up. For the first year in either of our lives, we won't be spending Christmas in Knoxville with our families. Both sets of parents and my sister are planning on visiting us around Christmas, but we won't be making the rounds of Christmas parties or seeing any of our extended family.

It was a really hard but necessary choice for us to stay in Nashville this year. Ruby will be just twelve days shy of two months old, which means she won't be vaccinated yet. It sounds like tempting fate to have her in close contact with so many people at the height of cold and flu season. We're just not ready to test the limits of her little immune system yet and would rather not spend Christmas Day in the ER for a fever. It also doesn't sound like much fun to cram her, our two dogs, and our luggage plus Christmas presents into our VW Golf for a three-and-a-half hour car ride. Considering she screamed her head off on the way home from the grocery store right down the road, I don't think she's ready for long trips yet. 

In spite of the change of location this year, we're determined to have an awesome Christmas. It would be impossible not to, with such a little cutie pie to celebrate with! Check out our fun Christmas activity from last night, a photo shoot with our little elf baby in front of the Christmas tree! 

Disclaimer: I am in no way a professional photographer and was using a camera borrowed from my sister. In case you notice the lighting looks a little funny, it's because I waited until nighttime to take pictures (silly me) and was depending on lamps for assistance. 

I know all people think their baby is the cutest, but c'mon...she's adorable! 

I'm still amazed we were able to get this shot. This took a lot of patience and Shane dangling a dog treat over my head. They'd each take turns trying to come get the treat from him, so it's a Christmas miracle that both dogs were still and looking at the camera at the same time. 

If you look carefully in the background, the large white oval on the tree is her footprint ornament. Directly under it is a Santa head ornament with my fingerprint on it from my first Christmas. Didn't plan that but it's a nice coincidence :) 

Elf feetsies! The booties are from Target.

  

Ruby with her reindeer ornament from Little Sapling Toys, it's personalized with "Baby's First Christmas 2015" engraved on the back. 

She's getting a few of their adorable toys in her stocking but shhh, it's a surprise! 

We'd already bought her plenty of gifts but I couldn't help myself when I was shopping for the other kids in the family a few days ago...so the new presents got tagged from Santa to cover my tracks ;) 

Eventually even the best models get tired and ready for some milk. This was the one good shot I was able to get of her adorable Rudolph onesie from Hello Half Pint which we bought at an arts festival this summer. She had so many cute tie dye onesies and shirts for little ones, it was hard to pick our favorite! I'm sure we'll be visiting her booth the next time she's in town. 

To our friends and family in Knoxville...we hope you have a wonderful celebration this year, and hopefully we'll get to video chat you. We look forward to visiting you all at the next big holiday celebration when the weather and new parent stress levels are more amenable :) in the meantime, if anyone's ever in the Nashville area, be sure to stop by! 

Ruby Recap: Month 1

In case you missed Ruby's birth story, you can read it here. 


"Move it, peas! You're in my shot!" 

  

Yes, she did actually whack the peas out of her way. 

It's hard to believe that our little girl is one month old already! It's not been an easy month, but it's been the best month of our lives. Here are some of our favorite moments from the past month. 

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Ruby's first... Thanksgiving! Her due date was supposed to be three days after Turkey Day, so our plans changed a bit from what we'd expected. Instead of me sitting around hugely pregnant and uncomfortable, I got to enjoy the holiday with a sweet little baby! Shane's parents, my parents, and my sister Hannah all came to celebrate with us. Shane is so awesome, he did ALL the cooking without any help from me! It was really nice to be able to relax instead of stress. Thanks Shane!

Everyone made it into these photos except Ruby...she's in her rocking chair on the floor next to me. 

We learned the importance of having a backup holiday outfit. Ruby started out the day wearing an outfit with cute little turkeys printed on it..and then she peed on it...twice. Good thing we'd bought this onesie as a backup just in case! 

As it turns out, adult size turkey hats make really good baby turkey costumes! Look at my silly little turkeys :) 

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Ruby's first... visit to see Santa! Like crazy people, we took her to the mall at 2 weeks old to get her first Santa picture made. I figured it would be better to take her early before it got too cold outside and the lines got too long. We still had to wait over an hour! 

This picture is adorable and hilarious. Just check out Ruby up close. I got worried about Ruby getting big kid germs from sitting on Santa's lap after so many other kids, so I decided to hold her. I should've looked at us in a mirror before they snapped the picture. I promise she's not slumped over, it's just her outfit was a little large and bunched up right around her head. It does make her look like her shoulders are about to her ears though!   

Ruby and I also had our first public breastfeeding experience that day. Of all places, I wouldn't have imagined trying it at a Bass Pro Shop in a busy outlet mall, but when a baby's gotta eat, she's gotta eat! I was able to keep myself covered without having to cover Ruby. I felt a lot more comfortable with it than I would've thought. And thankfully I didn't even get any weird looks from others! I honestly don't know how many people really even noticed I was feeding her. 

Breastfeeding is NOT an easy thing to learn how to do, and looking at this photo makes me really proud of myself. At this point, I was still having a lot of trouble getting her to latch on. I had just gone to a breastfeeding support group two days before, and thanks to the techniques I learned there, this was also one of the first times I was able to get her to latch properly. 

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Ruby loves... planking! You know, like the social media trend from a few years ago? Our little goofball loves to relax by sticking her arms and legs out stiff as a board. 

Ruby loves... her play gym! She isn't really big enough to play with toys and she can only see about 12 inches in front of her face, but she DID seem pretty interested in the hanging rattle after her hand accidentally whacked it. 

Ruby loves... her big brothers! Charlie and Sheldon alternate between ignoring Ruby and being completely entranced by her. They get really concerned when she starts to cry. If we don't get to her quick enough they'll start barking as if to say, "the baby's broken, fix her!" 

The first few days we had her home, Sheldon (on the right) would NOT let Charlie near Ruby at all! If Charlie got close, Sheldon would growl and snap at him like some sort of vicious wild animal. I had to catch and hold Sheldon so Charlie could get some Ruby snuggle time. 

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 You had to be there... 

Ruby was wearing a 0-3 month size gown and it was way too big on her and at one point the neck hole was halfway down her chest. Shane took a look at her and said, "Ruby, I can see your cleavage! You need a cami secret!"

She sleeps in a cradle in our room. One night I had a hard time getting her to go to sleep; anytime I'd put her down, she'd start crying again. I finally got her down and she seemed okay, so I crept back to my bed as quietly as possible. I laid down, pulled up the covers...and farted. Really loudly. Ruby immediately woke up and started crying. 

You'll never believe it, but the other day, Ruby and Shane sneezed at the EXACT SAME TIME. Seriously. It was the weirdest thing. And today, Ruby sneezed a second after I did. I think she's got some sort of psychic / sympathetic sneeze thing going on. 

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Happy one month, Ruby! 

P.S. How cute is she in that fleece vest and those jeggings? She doesn't wear "outfits" very much, we typically have her in gowns or pajamas, but when she does...she's way more stylish than I am! 

Our gender reveal shower & why I cried...

My little sister Hannah called dibs on throwing us a gender reveal party pretty much the minute I announced I was pregnant. As it got closer to the date of the party, we realized it would be much more convenient for everyone involved if we combined the gender reveal with the baby shower for the whole family. With these details set, all that was left was to wait for my anatomy scan at week 20! 

Shane and I had no preference on gender -- we'd honestly be happy either way -- but we were getting excited to find out if for no reason other than to help us pick baby name ideas. Girl names were coming easier to us, but we were having trouble picking out boy names. Plus we're both terrible at waiting for surprises. With the advancements in prenatal testing and ultrasounds, I don't know how anyone is able to hold back until the birth of the baby to find out! Some women say they "just know" what their baby's gender is, but I had no inkling whatsoever. Most old wives' tests were useless, since my baby bump was barely showing. The ones I could gave me 50-50 results of boy or girl. I did take an online "ancient Chinese" gender prediction test, which said I'd be having a boy, but considering all it asked for was my age and month of conception, I was hesitant to put stock in the results. 

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I'd been having weird pregnancy dreams for months, a common symptom, but a couple weeks before the scan I had one that felt so real. I dreamed that I was walking into my baby shower with my mom and sister. I walked through the door and saw my Granny Opal sitting on the couch. 

A little background: Granny Opal was my mom's mom. We lived near her growing up, and she took care of me and my sister every day after school, so we were close. She died of cancer in 2008 just a few months before our wedding. By the time the doctors found the cancer, it was so spread throughout her body that they weren't sure of origin but suspected it started as colorectal cancer -- what my mom's dad died of when I was a little girl. I helped drive her to chemo appointments, held her hand when she cried as they'd take blood, and towards the end, I helped take care of her at her home. She was the glue that held my mom's side of the family together, and her passing was hard on us all. While I was so glad that she'd gotten to know and love Shane over the previous six years we'd been together, I couldn't believe that she wouldn't see me get married or have children. 

Granny Opal with my sister Hannah

So back to the dream...I walk into the baby shower and see Granny Opal sitting on the couch. She didn't say a word, just sat there and smiled at me. I stared at her, confused. Even though it was a dream, I knew she shouldn't be there. I kept wondering how she'd gotten a day pass out of the afterlife to come to my baby shower. The more I stared at her, I noticed something strange. She was wearing a pink outfit. This may not seem like much, but her absolute favorite color was blue. Just about everything in her house was blue, and all her favorite clothes were blue. I knew she wouldn't wear pink unless she had a good reason. 

I started to think that maybe this wasn't just a dream...maybe it really was her, visiting to let me in on the secret that I'd be having a girl? 

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Shane and I didn't want to know boy or girl until the big reveal at the party, so my sister came along to the ultrasound with us. She got to watch the ultrasound tech reveal our baby's gender, and then she had to keep it a secret for two whole weeks until the reveal party! She did tell two friends, who she swore to secrecy, but try as they might, no one else was able to get it out of her. I still don't know how she did it! Shane and I were also dying to find out and waiting two weeks seemed like such a long time! 

The day of the shower came around and I was a ball of nerves. You'd think I would be happy since it was party day, but I was in a pretty grumpy mood. I wrote it off as pregnancy hormones and general party nervousness. I put on my pink and blue tie dye t-shirt (which we'd made special for the occasion) and a smile, ready to at least pretend to be having fun. 

Our "boy or girl, no clue!" photo. 

There's a baby bump in here somewhere, we swear! 

We decided to do the reveal first thing, as none of us could wait throughout a whole baby shower to find out boy or girl. 

It's a GIRL!

After the box opened and those balloons came out, I kinda went into shock. After a few moments of letting it sink in, I burst out into tears. 

Can you believe that in the weeks leading up to the shower, I completely FORGOT about the Granny Opal dream? All of a sudden I realized why I had been so nervous all morning...I wanted so badly for the dream to be true. Not because I wanted a girl more than a boy, but because I wanted so much to feel that she's still around and watching over me, Shane, and our baby. And I think she is! 

Now that I've cried all that my eyeballs can handle for the day, here are some other adorable pictures from our shower :) 



We had pink and blue beads and tiny glittery cowboy hats so everyone could wear their guess! And of course we had to make some tie dye onesies for baby Sweetpea while we were making our t-shirts! 

Isn't that watermelon baby the cutest thing ever? And my mouth is watering remembering those delicious macarons. The pink ones were filled with raspberry and the blue had lemon cream filling. Yum! Piggy banks and rock candy sticks made cute and tasty table decor. 

Pink and blue food is a must, right? You don't even want to know how many of the Sweetpea (that's the baby's nickname) onesie cookies I ate...we got to bring home the leftovers and there were a LOT. The delicious pink and blue chocolates and Oreo truffles were made by my Aunt Sandy, the gracious host of our shower :) 

Everywhere you looked, there was something cute and adorable to get you in the baby mood! My mom and dad spray painted a ton of flamingos for cute yard decor. We had clotheslines of tiny newborn sized onesies. And that in the middle? Just the cutest baby shower game trophies with tiny polymer clay pea pods made by my super crafty little sister (we actually all forgot to play the games, whoops! so we just handed them out at the end of the shower). 

With my parents in our photo booth. From the left...my mom Tanya, my sister Hannah, me & Sweetpea, Shane, and my dad Paul. 

Shane with his dad Steve, his mom Debbie, and his grandpa Kelly. 

The secret keepers! The only three to know what color balloons would pop out of that box. From the left...Taylor, Christina, me, Shane, and my sister Hannah. I still don't know how you all managed to not let it slip! 

And of course a group shot with the whole gang! We felt extremely blessed to have so many family and friends who were able to come celebrate with us. Little Miss Sweetpea is one lucky lady and she can't wait to meet you all! 

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All photos are thanks to the wonderful Megan at Break the Mold Photo in Knoxville, TN. I'm so glad my mom thought to have a photographer come to our shower...it really helped us enjoy the day and not worry about having a camera ready! 

The force is strong with this one...

I'll admit, I've been MIA lately, but between hectic school finals and finding out I'm PREGNANT :) I think you'll forgive me, and also understand why the weekly weigh in posts have stopped for now...

I've known I was pregnant since around week 5. I had a dream one morning that I got up and took a test, and it was positive...so I climbed out of bed at 5 a.m., and guess what! My dream was right! I woke Shane up right away and told him. We're both horrible with secrets, so we figured we better tell everyone else ASAP!

Our parents and my sister were the first to hear the happy news on the Saturday before Easter. We took both families out for dinner and while we were waiting for our food to arrive, I passed out plastic Easter eggs containing a "sample of my latest project"...which were tiny green peas I'd made out of clay to represent the size of the baby that week. Most everyone was confused (my sister thought I'd made her a custom Shopkin) until Shane pulled out a baby bib. 

Unfortunately my dad was home sick :( like he'd been all week, but that just meant we got to have a special moment with him as he opened his own egg! 

We surprised the rest of our families along with announcing on Facebook and Instagram on Easter Sunday. Needless to say, everyone is overjoyed.

Considering we got engaged when we were 18, we've been fielding the "When's the baby due?" question for nearly 10 years now. But over the past year or so, Shane and I finally started feeling like we were more ready for the challenge. We've got our own house, Shane has a good, stable job, we've made a lot of health improvements, and I'm working towards more career options with going back to school. We didn't exactly plan it, but we can't be happier that this is finally happening. 

*** Warning : Rant ahead ***

I tried to go to my first OBGYN appointment a week and a half ago, which ended with me in the bathroom in tears. Thanks to a scheduling mishap, they had me (at 8 weeks pregnant) on the schedule ONLY for a pregnancy test, and when they heard that I'd been to my regular doctor to confirm pregnancy (using a test just like home pregnancy tests), they told me that I'd need to reschedule for their next available first appointment in JUNE (when I'd be 16 weeks). 

Considering that there are a lot of important things that happen in the 1st trimester, this was unacceptable. It's an important time for development, and I needed reassurance that I wasn't doing anything that could possibly be harmful. Also I just wanted to be sure there was actually a baby in there. While I was in the bathroom bawling my eyes out (sorry to the lady in the stall next to me), Shane and my mom talked to the receptionist and found out that they had another office with an earlier opening (which she didn't even suggest or try to look up until they asked, UGH) and got me on the schedule for today. 

*** Rant over. ***

Thankfully today's appointment went MUCH better, and I like the new office a lot better anyways. Like Shane said, maybe it all happened for a reason. 

Today, on Star Wars Day & my parents' 30th anniversary, we got to see our little baby! It measured at 10 weeks 4 days, putting us right on track to our previously estimated due date of November 29th. Looks like we may have a little Thanksgiving turkey baby :)

It doesn't look as much like a real baby as it did live and in person, but believe me, it was adorable. That thing can MOVE, too! At one point it was just kicking its little legs and swimming its little arms and going crazy in there! Then I think it tired itself out, cause it stopped for a break. 

We even got to see the heartbeat, which was so cool! I didn't really know we'd be able to see it on there, but she pointed out the spot, sure enough, that little blip was fluttering away. 

I go for another testing scan in two weeks, and after seeing the little guy or girl for real today, I can't wait!

Day 29: I'm on top of the world!

If you've read my posts in the past couple of days, you'll know I was buried under a mountain of math homework and desperately cramming for a math test that I just knew I was going to fail. I'd procrastinated on studying and just wasn't getting some of the concepts. In the end, I had to make the tough decision to skip one biology lecture (I get four absences and so far had perfect attendance) right before my test so I could cram rather than sit in a three-hour lecture and work myself into a panic. 

I'm not usually one to toot my own horn, but this time, I can't help it. TOOT TOOT! I got a freaking 99% on the test! And the one part I got wrong...I didn't so much get it wrong as there were three solutions to the problem and I only listed two, so partial credit. 

According to Shane, he knew I was going to do great even before I took the test. I'm thankful he has so much faith in me, even at times when I don't. 

Not to jinx us, so knock on wood (unless that makes it a double un-jinx)...but I feel like things are going really well for us lately. Not only did I do pretty gosh-darn awesome on that test, but I also figured out some computer science projects that were really giving me trouble. Shane and I are in a good place with our diet, our exercise routine is challenging and fun, plus we've started a 30 day yoga series which is cool. It just seems like we're on a roll, and I like it. Even our two doggies seem extra happy and perky. 

Don't get me wrong, any day our little family spends together is always awesome. But it seems like our days have been extra awesome lately. I don't know if it's because it's springtime, when everything is green and sunshine-y and full of optimism and new little baby chickens and ducks and bunnies. But if so, I hope it will stay springtime forever. 

Day 28: Wednesday weigh in (on a Thursday)

To see all past weigh ins, click here. To see my whole weight loss journey, click here.

I laid in bed last night, not able to sleep, knowing that I was missing something important. This morning I realized I had completely forgotten my weigh in post! Oh well, here we are now. 

There's not too much to update you on because we're still on the same routine and doing the same thing every day. It can get boring sometimes, but at least this particular plan is only four weeks, and we're halfway through. Let's see how it's affecting our weight...

My progress: I have maintained since last weigh in for a total of 44lbs lost.

I'm now at 182lbs.

Shane's progress: He has lost 2lbs since last weigh in for a total of 45lbs lost.

He's at 264lbs.

I'm not too disappointed by my lack of progress this week, just because I feel like I've been losing and gaining the same 5lbs for months and months. I am still really proud of Shane, because he's the one keeping us motivated, especially with the meal prep. I feel like our motivation goes in waves...he's strong and motivated to cook when I'm weak, and I'm able to keep him running laps when he's getting a little tired. It's when our laziness syncs up that we're in trouble!

Bonus: here's a shot of us enjoying a post-workout protein shake on our back porch yesterday. I'm so excited that the weather is getting nice and we'll be able to relax outside regularly :) 

Day 25: Shopping spree!

Today Shane and I went to Lowe's to pick up supplies for several projects around the house. We've got a lot to catch up on now that it's warm enough to work outside comfortably. I noticed some peeling paint around the back door today and we've still not stained our new decks yet. We've still got to wait until dryer weather for that one, but we can at least get started on some other items on our list! Like new shutters (ours are wooden and rotted), new front porch lights, plants for the front yard, and raised vegetable beds for the back yard. 

Don't listen when people tell you that you need a truck to haul stuff. We've proven time and again that a VW Golf will do just fine ;)

It was supposed to rain this afternoon, plus a friend borrowed our drill, so replacing our lights was as far as we got. Here's the before shot:

Our front porch lights were a dark brown / bronze color when we moved in, but since then they'd faded to light brown. They weren't our style anyways, but now that the paint looked so terrible, we decided it was time to find them a nice new home on Craigslist. 

The new black front porch fixtures will match our new black shutters, and they're a much more classic style than the old ones. On the right is our old garage light and new one. Our house needed some more night lighting, so this one will do just the trick.

Cross your fingers that the weather stays nice and we'll be able to work on some of our other projects soon!

Day 24: We're cheaters

Today Shane and I woke up early and hit the gym for our core and circuit day. It was pretty tough and I'm proud of us for making it through. Here's what we did:

10 pushups

20 kettlebell swings

30 situps

40 squat jumps

50 jump ropes

And do the whole thing 5 times through!

The whole routine took us about an hour with lots of water and breath-catching breaks. Once we were done, an older lady who was walking the track told us that we inspired her to keep going. She said she normally gets tired and wants to quit, but if we could be doing all the crazy stuff we were doing, then she should surely keep walking! That was nice to hear and I'm glad we were able to help motivate someone else. 

We had our own motivation to make it through five rounds, and that was the cheat meal we were going to eat after the gym! Our diet plan is pretty strict, but it also has one cheat meal per week. The only rule is that you shouldn't eat fast food. Shane was craving a burger with pimento cheese and sweet potato fries, so we chose Burger Up for our delicious delicious meal. This is one of those types of places where they make their own ketchup, so you know it's good.

I went for the cheeseburger with bacon and sweet onion rings. All the food was super yummy...but honestly after a week of eating the way we have, it was a chore to finish our meals. We had to keep taking breaks for our food to settle, and Shane ended up with about half of my onion rings. Next week's cheat meal will most likely be something more veggie-friendly.

After lunch, we took some laps around the mall, and on our way back home we stopped for the real planned treat that got us through circuit rounds 3-5. No frozen yogurt will ever be as good as our favorite place in Maryland (which is the only place I've found tart strawberry, so good), but Sweet CeCe's and their new smaller $3.99 flat price bowls will do. They're just the right size for a little swirl of your favorite flavor along with one of every yummy topping.

We weren't even hungry when dinner time rolled around, but we were good and got out our chicken and veggies anyways. Gotta get our daily protein!