Gallery Opening

Ruby attended her first gallery opening at the Kettle Art Gallery in
Dallas tonight. We went to see our friend Andy play and are glad we
did. He's in a band called Man Factory. Yup. A few of the band members
played an accoustic set for the opening. I haven't been to a gallery
opening in a long time and really enjoyed myself.
Ruby was really popular of course and seemed to like taking in all the
sights.
We went to Cafe Brazil afterward and enjoyed some of their English
Toffee coffee. Mmmm. Another activity I enjoy and haven't done for,
well, over a year.
I really needed tonight. I've been mourning my pre-baby life lately so
it was really reasuring to do things I'd been missing with Ruby.

We'd make lousy models

We're both right on the verge of laughter. This was taken at a friend's wedding last July. I was planning on wearing the same dress to another friend's wedding in Jan.or Feb. but it didn't fit and we didn't make the drive both due to my pregnancy. It's wierd looking back and remembering the plans we made and what we thought our life was going to be like. I'm glad God knows the plan for my life as I tend to be short sighted. I'm also glad that although I wasn't thinking about having a newborn when this photo was taken God was.

New Necklace

I got my hairs cut last night but I'll have to post a photo tonight as this computer doesn't have a working USB. But it's not too much shorter. It's now a medium bob you could say.
What I can do is show you a picture of my new necklace.

http://charmingsam.com/ornate-gemstone-resin-necklace.html

Isn't it gorgeous! It's made by artist Amy Steinberg. Her shop online is called Charming Sam Studios. She's got lots of great jewelry, collage art and ephemera. It's really cool so a while back I signed up to recieve the newsletter by email. Well, I've been getting it for a while but wasn't too involved with it until it came last thursday (it's called Third Thursday Threats) and not only was there a free print to download and print but there was this contest for a necklace. All I had to do is email Amy to be put in the running and this morning I got an email back saying I had won! Wow! I know I've probably won things before but I feel like saying "I never win anything!" In conclusion, I'm very excited about it and you should check out Charming Sam Studios!

The weekend

Just a brief update for you. This weekend I had a garage sale, it went pretty well but I don't enjoy sweating that much to do one again in August.

Ruby drank from a bottle! This may not seem too exciting to most of you but let me explain... I start school tomorrow. I have class from 9 to 1 and my sister-in-law's sister-in-law will be watching Ruby. In order to keep Ruby happy and taken care of she would need to eat during that time and a bottle was the option. Until two days ago she wasn't having very good luck with the whole bottle thing but now, she's got it! It takes her a little while and she still prefers to nurse (I must admit I'm grateful for that also) but she stayed with Lindsey today (as a test run before I was in class and couldn't rush home as easily) and she ate and did well! YAY!

We went for a bike ride to the square last night. This is a big deal for me because A. I haven't ridden much more than a few blocks pulling Ruby  B. The square is about 5 miles away and  C. I don't like to sweat. BUT I had a good time! The way there was harder than the way back - Thank God for that, He only gives us as much as we can handle and I really don't think I could have handled the way back being harder or more uphill than it was. I'm actually looking foward to doing it again soon! Chuck rode his knew bike creation, check it out on his blog. It's pretty cool!

" 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Phillipians 4:4-7

Pictures at last!

Happy Weekend!

So here are some pictures of Ruby to make up for my lack of posting pictures. We finally got the internet and the photos coordinated - thank you Chuck my wonderful techy husband!

The first one is Ruby in her "baby legs" leg warmers and her headband. The other three are arm length portraits that I took of us the other day in hopes I would get a good one for an announcement or at least to hang on the wall. Hopefully I can save my pennies and have my friend Kim take some of her and get some really good ones. Enjoy!

My new table

Some photos for you, finally! And hopefully a few more tonight if we can get all our technical ducks in a row... or something.
Two weeks ago Chuck's dad and his wife visited to see Ruby and help celebrate Dominee's graduation. He brought with him news from CO and my brand new dining room table!!! Yes, three exclamation points. It's awesome. So here it is. I love handmade things and love that my father-in-law made me something that will get loved for many years.
You can see some of his other projects on his website Ranch Classics. His wife, Maggie, makes journals and photo frames also and will probably be opening an etsy shop soon. I'll keep you posted.

Congrats Dominee!

I'd only need a crow bar, right?

How about this for a kitchen? Yeah, I thought so. I doubt it's as easy as I'd like it to be to rip out all my cabinets and install shelves though. Probably not. I'll run it by Chuck and see what he thinks. What if I rip out all the cabinets????

At least I didn't miss another day

Just got home from visiting my mother-in-law. I love my mother-in-law. I wish my mom was closer (my family is in MN) but it makes it easier having my mother-in-law nearby. Ruby is asleep and so I should be too but I wanted to at least get a quick post in to say "hey, I posted today!" So... Here I am... Posting...
Goodnight.

3 years

Yesterday was my 3 year wedding anniversary. As I write this I'm nursing my almost three month old daughter. I live in a state almost 1,000 miles away from where I grew up. I'm not a famous photographer in a big city who wears outfits that only match because they don't match.
I could never have imagined my life would be what it is today 3 1/2 years ago when I met my brother's goofy best friend in Florida. I was on my Christmas break from school and had sworn off dating "boys." I would not have believed you if you told me I would marry him, move away from MN, give up my dreams of becoming a stylish, feminist photographer, have a baby and live a life full of more love than I thought possible.

Chuck, I love you more than I can find the words to say. Thank you - for pursuing the Lord, leading our family, loving me and our daughter, being so funny and open, loving people, being my best friend, knowing so much and not minding me asking a million questions about everything and for your sweet words... - for everything.

I promise to love you, serve you, listen to you, talk to you, raise a family with you, follow you anywhere and never leave you. As long as I'm living my best friend, lover, husband and baby's daddy you'll be.

The two of us last summer (I think) :)

Excuses, Excuses

So sorry I missed another post yesterday, but when Chuck would have been showing me how to post pictures we were at the emergency room instead.

Chuck was screwing a screw into something and the screwdriver slipped and the drill bit went into his finger. It made a deep "puncture" as he called it. I personally didn't inspect it as I avoid that sort of thing. I just looked up an emergency care center and got us packed up to go. It only took a few hours and he didn't even need stitches but it did prevent us from doing anything else with our evening.

Right now I'm listening to the rain and the little squirmy noises of my baby who is supposed to be falling asleep. I love quite afternoons like this. I also love that the air conditioning isn't even on because the rain has made it a delightful temperature today. Days like today make me really ready for fall. They also make me really miss MN because fall there is so beautiful. I bet I'd like fall on the east coast too. If anyone lives out there, or somewhere that has a wonderful fall, let me know how you like it.

Also, have a pleasant Monday.

p.s. You can learn more about birth centers and find one near you at the American Association of Birth Centers.

Teething

Having a two and a half month old who doesn't sleep the same way day after day is not congruent (that doesn't sound like the right usage of that word but I can't come up with the appropriate word... that's been happening a lot lately) with posting each day I've decided.
I've also decided that Ruby is officially teething. I bought her a teething ring yesterday from Etsy seller PappysWoodworks and hope she likes it. I like it. Of course she may not actually get any teeth yet, they could just be rubbing against the surface and bugging her. The teething tablets I got from one of my baby showers are really helping though. And she's slept through the night for 4 night now! Yay! And she went right back to sleep this morning so hopefully she'll catch up and not be so cranky and spacy. I'll get Chuck to sort out all the computer issues today so I can post pictures.

We've had some awesome rain the past few days and I'm hoping it will stay cooler today and into this week. That would be awesome. Ruby and I took a walk yesterday and didn't even break a sweat!! I know that the heat will last well into September (or longer) here but I can't wait for cooler weather! Mainly because I don't like to sweat and I love scarves. Love them. When I get my money saved these will be part of my fall wardrobe. (click the picture to go to the seller's page!) Of course I found more autumn goodies but most were a bit out of my price range so I didn't bother to put them on here. Etsy is just packed with cool stuff. Well, until next time, have a wonderdful weekend!

Blah

Alas, the computer situation is the same and I have no pictures avaliable to post. I've taken lots! But none are on this computer and I don't know how to get them here. Sad day.
I also have a baby that's decided to sleep all day for two days and then not sleep at all for two. We'll see if this is going to be a regular occurance. If so, I'll post a few for two days and then not at all for two.

Chuck's dad and his wife were up this weekend to see us and his sister's graduation. They brought us a new dining room table that his dad built. Totally awesome. You can see some of his other work on his website here.
I love having a table that was made by someone who loves my family and I know that it's going to get loved and used and enjoyed for years and years.

Well, I've got to pick up my crying baby now. Have a great day! Hopefully I'll have some better posts for you this weekend.

Goob

This morning Chuck and I once again chuckled at the similarity between Ruby and Michael "Goob" Yagoobian from "Meet the Robinsons." If you haven't seen the movie I recommend it, it's super cute.
Well, Goob doesn't get much sleep as he's kept awake by the main characters all-nighter inventing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised then that Ruby is pulling all-nighters. Hopefully the similarities end there..
I couldn't find a good picture of Goob for those of you who haven't seen the movie, here's what I could find. It's just after he's lost the little league game and he puts the steak up to his black eye declaring "Mr. Steak, you're my only friend."
Enjoy your day and watch out for bowler hats!

Trying to shine on very little sleep

So I didn't post yesterday. I'm already a slacker. Ruby slept more that night, however, and I was greatly encouraged only to find last night that her time has just shifted to 3 to 7am. Any suggestions? I'm going to try to keep her up longer between naps today so maybe she'll be to tired to be up for 4 hours in the middle of the morning.

I tried to take some pictures yesterday also but am not really excited about any that I took. Mainly I miss using my old SLR. Nothing is the same but film is so expensive and I'm out of practice. *sigh* I did enjoy trying to look at my every day tasks differently so I'll continue to do that.

I'm going to make a poster of sorts to hang on my wall today to remind myself not to complain. Complaining is so easy but it doesn't draw me closer to God. In fact, even with what I would consider the smallest complaint I separate myself from God and impact others negatively. Maybe not complaining will get people asking what's different. Have you ever noticed that women especially love to complain? You can compliment a woman and she may give you a funny look but almost always you complain about something like the bathroom being dirty, the weather being gross or the line being long and she'll agree, chat you up about it or at least smile and nod. Weird. So I'm going to try to be weird and not complain. Would you like to embark or this journey with me? Accountability is always helpful.
Here's the verse I thought of and am going to frame. I wanted to put verses 1 through 16 but that's a lot and then no one would actually read it. If you're interested you can read them here.

"14 Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world..." -Philippians 2:14-15

What I'd like for you to know

I'd first like to share this ingenious tutorial by Flickr user ladinka on how to make a toddler one-piece outfit from an old tank top. I know Ruby is only two months old but she'll be toddling in no time!


I'd also like to tell you about a blog feature I found and read today. I stumbled upon a blog called Rocks in My Dryer and really like it. She's on a break right now but you can read all her old posts as well as her feature called "What I'd like for you to know." Four women speak about what they'd like people to know about being the mother of a dozen children, being the mother of a stillborn baby, being the wife of a deployed soldier and being the mother of autistic children. I really learned a lot from reading each woman's entry.

I was inspired by these women and thought about writing my own "What I'd like you to know" but it's going to take me some time to get my thoughts together. My life isn't one that people would associate with difficulty or misunderstanding but I'm finding more and more that writing is therapeutic for me and so I'm working on putting my entry together if for no one else than for me. It's tentatively titled "What I'd like you to know about being a selfish, sinful woman responsible for another life."

A drop in the bucket

 I had big plans to blog each day in August and I've already missed three four (I started this post yesterday) and today is pretty much gone.

My desire to blog more often is three fold.

1. To rekindle and improve my photography skills - although I can't promise to have a picture with each post as I'm having USB issues

2. Because secretly deep-down I'm disappointed when blogs I enjoy reading aren't updated each day and I don't want to disappoint anyone

3. I wish my family were closer and I know they wish they were too so I need to keep them updated as my life changes and Ruby grows each week (and each day, she's growing so fast!)



So... Today I'd like to tell you about how Ruby is growing and developing.

Just in the last week she's increased her happy alert time as well as her ability to react to people and smile. She smiles at me everyday and even plays with me a little. If I gently poke her bottom lip she smiles and seems to understand that we're having fun. She's laughed a few times but not really in response to anything yet. I'm really looking forward to her giggling. She's quite the talker, also and has a very big voice for such a little person.

Here are a few pictures of her smiling one at my brother's apartment and the other at Transform (a really cool service project we did this summer and last - transformdfw.com).

Unfortunately another development is that she's not sleeping at night (1am to 5am this past week) so I'm a little bleary making my resolve to post each day seem daunting. Hopefully it was a week long phase and we're going to grow out of it soon.