Left to the Nest...

Well the day I hoped would never come has come!  We are about to be grandma-less...heaven help us!  These last four weeks have zipped by and these last two have especially gone fast.  We have thoroughly enjoyed having Grandma Claudia here with us and are so sad to see her go.  I need to figure out how to grow another pair of arms so I can juggle these two little rascals by myself during the day while Steve is out making the dough - or I should say getting his degree to make the dough. ;)

Steve and Grandma had the great idea to do some hand impression keepsakes - totally fun!

Ross was a champ spreading his cute little hand out.

Ruby took quite a few tries - this was the best we got.  She kept trying to claw the clay, making it look like a paw print!

Playing some cars together!

Feeding the ducks AND fish!

LOVE this picture. :)

I've decided this last week to loosely start the Baby Wise method with the Eat, Wake Time, Sleep cycle with Ruby.  I've made more of an effort to make sure she goes to sleep in her bed and is just drowsy looking when I put her in rather than in a full sleep.  The moment I started it - she's become a dream (knock on wood) - well mostly a bit more predictable.  In the last two weeks she's become much more pleasant when she's awake (until she gets tired) and she has finally started to sort out her night sleeping only waking me up once after the late night feeding before the early morning feeding that starts the day.  I've been spoiled with having my mom and Steve's mom come in that I can feed Rubes and then pass her to grandma while I crash in my bed a bit more.  I'm really REALLY going to miss that.  Thankfully this last week I've gotten Ross and Ruby somewhat sleeping about the same time so I can take a nap too hopefully.  
Claudia was SO amazing to finish Ruby's baby blessing dress for me and a few other odds and ends in sewing that have been nagging at me.  Ruby needs to pack on some more pounds to fit into her blessing dress, but it's gorgeous!  I'm so excited for her to wear it. 

The beautiful dress - that currently drowns Ruby. :) Hopefully she'll put on some more pounds.

Steve and I went out on a nice date to my favorite restaurant The Cheesecake Factory for an early Valentine's date since Claudia leaves tomorrow.  It was, of course, delicious.  Avocado eggrolls and the chicken bellagio dish NEVER fail to completely satisfy me.  We were quite happy - Happy Valentine's to us!
Ruby had her one month check-up (a few days early) and is a whopping 10lbs!  She's 22 1/2 inches as well.  The doc told me she's 75 percentile for her weight (following her brother's footsteps), 90 percentile for her head (also following her brother's footsteps), and 98 percentile for her height!  So it's not just her fingers and toes that are long!  We've got a tall one on our hands!  She's already growing out of some of her newborn clothes (boo!) mostly because she's too long!  I noticed today that her long sleeved onesies are too short in the arms now when she stretches them out.

Cutie girl. ;)

So snuggly!

 A bit wide-eyed. :)  VERY observant though.

Claudia and I think she's probably going to keep blue eyes - they're a pretty deep blue already.

Ruby has gotten a few other nicknames as of late - Steve likes Rubik's Cube and I love to call her Ruby Jubilee.  I constantly have to sing "Wake up little Ruby, Wake up!" (To the song "Wake up, little Suzy, Wake up") to keep her awake enough to eat.  She doesn't listen to me very often - though she is eating more consistently.  She's getting more alert when she's looking around and a couple days ago she was looking at me and smiled while I was talking to her.  THERE'S the validation I've been looking for!  She's started cooing a bit and I'm betting she'll be exploring her voice soon.  I wonder if she'll be like Ross  in her vocal performances. :)  She's becoming more and more like a baby and leaving the newborn phase (I won't lie - I like the baby phase a bit more than the uncomfortable newborn one.)
Ross has become more and more of a character.  He loves being silly and dancing around for you if you're watching him and then he's very dedicated to involving you as well.  He's a GREAT sharer (even if you kindly say no-thank-you, you will be shared with).  He LOVES to be helpful still and enjoys doing housework.  His haircut this time around went better than last time since he actually did get distracted for a little while in the midst of his protests while we had him watch Stuart Little 2 ( a new favorite movie of his ).  His favorite shows include and ARE limited to: Cars, Mater's Tall Tales (Mater-McQueen), Stuart Little 2 (Mouse), Dumbo (Jumbo), Curious George (George), and Thomas and Friends (Thomas Choo-Choo).  He loves to go on walks with Grandma Claudia (Bama), help with laundry, empty the dishwasher, vacuum, and play "Ashes Ashes" while you fall down on your back and shout "Feet up!" while putting your feet up in the air (thanks to Grammy Joanne).  Ross loves to snuggle more since Ruby joined the fam (wahoo!) and will tell us when he's tired now.  

Doing some serious vacuuming! 

A moment he was distracted for me to be able to cut his hair.

Some more freaking out - nice muscle Steve. :)

Trying to recoup from mom's traumatizing cutting.

He survived - just barely though!

Ross wanting some camera action. ;)

Hanging out with Grams. :)

Our poser.

And performer

Oh how I love this face!!

Waking up. :)

Playing the "Hugs" game - Ross runs from the door at full speed into you.  Takes little to no effort on our part and wears him out nicely. :)

Cute Boys

Steve has been loving his internship and has been utilizing his Spanish speaking a ton with it.  He has to dress up a bit more for work and looks quite sharp actually.  These last couple days he's gone to help interview candidates for the school's PT program.  We've reminisced back when he was one of those.  Now we're all grown up graduate students with two kids!  Crazy.
Anyway - there's the update.  I'm sure I'll be having a very different week this week, but I get to look forward to my best friend, Maren, coming next week to recoup!  Wahoo for things to look forward to! :)  

Another Dose of Grandma :)

I won't lie - I planned my life well convincing my mom to come for two weeks and my mother-in-law to come for two weeks after that.  I feel like I'm healing nicely and getting enough naps in to make up for the miserable midnight hours and I have time to plot how the heck I'm going to manage two children by myself during the days while Steve finishes school...I still have another week to come up with something so don't ask me what I'm going to do right now - because I have no idea!
Claudia has been amazing.  It's so nice to have another pair of hands to hold a baby, change a diaper, play with Ross, make a meal, and let me nap.  On top of all that I have also manipulated  convinced her to finish my unfinished (as in I cut out the pattern and material) baby blessing dress for Ruby.  She has it practically all finished and it's only been two days of her working on it!  That would pretty much be like 3 weeks of hard work for me and my lazy simple sewing skills.  Wahoo for awesome grandmas who save the day!  
We've enjoyed some amazing sunshine the last couple days (we forget what that's like here in Oregon) and we've stayed outside as much as we can getting some happy rays in.  
Ruby continues to fatten up weighing in at 9lbs now only being 3 weeks old!  Ross had a little check up and weighs 28 1/2lbs.  He better watch out - at the rate Ruby is gaining she's going to catch up quick!  The goal Claudia and I have had for her stay is get Ruby to really love the binky and also get some better sleeping patterns in at night.  So far it's about every other night she's sleeping well.  I found out she was a bit tongue tied and had to have under her tongue clipped a little to help with nursing (mama's been having some issues with that lately).  She took it like a champ though and hasn't let that hinder her need to nurse.  

This is one of Ruby's favorite positions to be held - and bounced - you get a nice arm workout that way. :)

Cute PJs from her Great Auntie Renee - look at those toes!

Yes - I do kiss that all the time. :)

Claudia has also shooed Steve and I out to go on a bunch of dates while she's here (we're so spoiled!).  We've found a cute new little diner called the Cruise in Diner - a 50's style burger place out in the middle of no where - everyone seemed to know each other there and it was pretty busy.  Delish!  We also did a repeat of seeing the Hobbit at the posh movie theater - Cinetopia.  We saw it in the movie parlor and quite liked it - it was cozy in the chairs and we shared some mud pie ice cream - yum!  
Other than that - Ross keeps entertaining everyone with his dances, marching around, and playing with toys.  I just want to eat his cute cheeks up everytime I see his face.  He's started a random trend of pulling his socks off his feet before going to sleep at night.  I always have to go in there and put them back on again.  He loves the peanut butter and jelly song (though we say honey since he had a peanut butter and honey sandwich when we introduced the song to him).  He'll sing "peanuuuuuuuut!!!  Butterrrrrrrrr!  Honeyyyyyyyyy!) Totally cute.  He can now count to 14 fluently - but prefers to count every other number with you if you want him to do it for you.  He knows his colors - purple, blue, green (most of the time), red, orange, yellow, pink, and white.  He does better when you ask him to show you where the color is though rather than ask him what the color is.  He knows the letter a,b,c,f,i,j,k,l,o,r,t, and z.  The other letters - it depends on his mood.  He could probably tell you every kind of truck that exists in the world (and - no - he's not going to be a trucker when he grows up...maybe he could be a mechanical engineer though). :)  He is a fabulous brother to Ruby and still brings the binky to the rescue for her, puts blankets on her, and tries to share his toys with her.  He also loves giving her kisses.  I never dreamed he would be so sweet right off the bat.  I LOVE that boy!  
Here is his "Happy Day!" energy for you to enjoy. :)
 

Ruby LOVES to be snuggled and has gotten much better at enjoying laying down and looking around observing everyone for longer stretches.  She's filling out her newborn clothes more and smiles like crazy in her sleep - totally cute.  I feel like I catch her comprehending her surroundings more in her eyes and sometimes I swear she's looking back at me.  Her lower lip trembles when she cries at times and she doesn't mind tummy time so much - especially if she has a binky in her mouth.  She and Grandma Claudia are best buds and love to have some snuggling time together.  
We are definitely getting adjusted and I look forward to Ruby getting more sleep at night in the future. :) Hooray for another week of the fabulous family of four!

2 Weeks Old, 2 Kids, 2 Crazy!

These last two weeks have gone extremely fast!  I am definitely not okay with my mom leaving...it all just worked so well.  It's a good thing I planned for my mother-in-law to come the day my mom leaves...after that I'm sure we can all expect a melt down from me.  
To celebrate Martin Luther King Day with Steve having the day off and my mom being here we headed into Portland to VooDoo Donuts where we experienced complete diversity and equality. ;)  We sampled some new treats and all agreed that the Mango Tango donut was to die for!  I'm still thinking about that one.  I was quite proud that I made the trip with Ruby.  We enjoyed our donuts out by the river with the sun out while we froze to death.  A fire truck passed us which won Ross's good graces and we had a nice stroll back to the car.  Ruby needed to eat so we went to Finnegan's toy store to entertain Ross while I nursed her in the car...in a parking lot...next to a dumpster...where I found a few homeless people staking out.  One particular homeless man noticed I was in the car (as I completely avoided his gaze) and placed his suitcase and bucket down quite close to our car and just hung out there - awkward.  He seemed a little distant in the mind, and not particularly dangerous feeling, but all the same I lobbied Steve to come back and sit with me for protection.  What a nice scene that was I'm sure.  Leave it to me to be paranoid.  Better safe than sorry though!

The sun came out and we even went for a walk!  (I know - I'm amazing - walks, Portland, restaurants - all just after having a baby - woot woot!)  Grandma and Ross became perma-pals.  She's "Bama" actually - to be verbally correct. :)

Ruby's in there somewhere - all ready to go for her first walk!

We had to check out the garbage truck of course.

He's too adorable!

Pretty sure Ruby was out cold the entire walk - nice and snug though. :)

Waiting in line for some donuts and entertaining Ross - nice shades!

Ross and Grams

Enjoying donuts on the river!

Ruby has toyed with us a bit with whether she wants to be awake during the day or sleeping through most of it.  She's done better at night lately, but has definitely gotten grumpier while she's awake - she's very particular how you hold/bounce/rock her...and she can change her preference at any moment.  You may think you're in the clear with her snoozing in your arms and suddenly she is no longer happy with you or your methods....we've got another Ross on our hands - two strong minded children - ooo la la!
We do get to catch Ruby being pleasantly awake too however.  Her eyes are getting brighter and her facial expressions are hilarious.  I think she finds it quite funny to wait for us to be in the middle of changing her diaper and then unleash everything else she's been storing up for us.  She's soaked through multiple outfits in a day.  Maybe she just didn't like the outfit she was wearing and that was the best way to communicate that to us.  Oh girls.  
At her two week appointment she weighed in at 8lbs 6oz.  This girl knows how to pack it away!  6oz up from her birth weight.  Ross was only up 1oz at his two week.  She's giving him a run for his money I think.  She is ALWAYS acting hungry so it's not surprising she's gained so much.  She's now 21 1/2 inches long.  Can you imagine growing an inch and a half in under two weeks?  CRAZY.  I can't wait for her to chub up.  They did the PKU test, but it was amazing because they let me nurse her while they did it so she only cried for a total of 5 seconds.  With Ross they took him away and I had to watch through a window (sobbing of course) and it took ages to calm him down afterwards.  Oh what different experiences.  

Steve sleeping on the job.

A kinked neck to welcome him awake. :)

Ruby likes being bounced and sometimes prefers the binky while being bounced - not right now though...

She does like being swaddled...but tries to get her hands out ALL the time - little stinker.

Our Two Week Beauty Ruby :)

We also trekked out to a new restaurant here in town called Stecchino Bistro...INCREDIBLE italian food.  I HIGHLY recommend it.  Their bruschetta and caesar salad was TO DIE for and their entrees were delicious as well.  Everything was fresh that day and very unique.  We will definitely be doing that again.  Ross and Ruby also behaved well while we were there.  Ross was entertained by the mirror that was behind our table and Ruby slept the whole time - score!  
Last night we also got to skype with Steve's family because his sister Meghan (where Ruby got her middle name) got her mission call!  She's going to the Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh mission on June 5th English speaking.  SO fitting for her.  We're so excited she's going!  She will be an incredible missionary - I still can't believe she's going so soon.  This whole lowering the age eligibility has thrown me through a loop.  It still feels like I just got home from my mission to England...but then I think about it...and I'm married with two children now so I guess it's been a while.  
Anyway - it's been a good week and we have LOVED having my mom here to stay.  There's nothing like having your mom to take care of you - especially when you're trying to figure out how to be a mom all over again in a new way.  Love you mom!
    

One Week Old Ruby

I can't believe Ruby is already a week old!  I suppose having all the days meld together makes it easier for time to pass - especially when you're sleep deprived.  Ruby has decided that she is a night owl.  From about one in the morning until five or six she thinks it should be permanent snacking time and is quite annoyed at being put to bed over and over.  Hopefully we can switch her from being a day sleeper to a night one soon.  
A few things we've noticed about Ruby:

• She's a snorter.  When she's made or trying to eat and frustrated - the snorts come left and right.  Seeing how Ross was the grunter - how appropriate that she's our snorter. :)
• She can be stripped naked, have cold feet, and a wet washcloth on her face and STILL sleep while she nurses.
• She's a twitcher.  She is very wiggly when she sleeps and often wiggles her way down her swaddling blanket.
• Her face still looks like a little raisin when she scrunches it up and cries.
• Ruby is still deciding how she feels about a binky, and can get bored with it quickly.  

Things continue to go well in the household.  My mom is holding down the fort, and Ross's solution to Ruby's crying is to find her binky and give it to her - totally adorable.

My great friend, Kim, took some family/newborn pictures for us.  Ruby was a little stinker and toyed with us as to whether she would comply or not.  Kim got some great shots out of her though.  So happy!

Family of Four!

Ross loves kissing Ruby - Ruby usually likes it too. :)

I LOVE baby feet - here are her extremely long toes!

She is so perfect.  The white blanket is a gift from my friend Pam's mom from Wales - she knit it herself for Ross.  Beautiful.

LOVE that we got a smile out of her!

Grandma and Grandbaby

LOVE our new family. :)