five months

our sweet ruby girl is 5 months old.

at five months . . .

ruby weighs 13 pounds.
she's a smiley, happy baby girl.
she mostly sleeps through the night....until an early morning feeding around 5 or 6. then she goes back to sleep for another couple of hours.
she's starting to get a little more predictable.
she's pretty cat-nappy in the mornings but usually takes a good, extended afternoon nap for me.
when she's getting changed, she loves to grab her toes and hold her feet.
she loves to chew on a teether and she especially loves ones with a face. :)
she is a very contented baby girl.
she has bright eyes and seems to be taking everything in.
ruby is very easy to take care of.  she is easily entertained with teethers or small baby toys.
she still blows raspberries but she also squeals and coos.
she's a very flexible, go with the flow kind of girl.

she's getting a tiny bit of blonde peach fuzz on the top of her head....but mostly still pretty bald.
we love our little ruby jane!

while we were taking these photos on sunday, she did this . . .

for the first time ever.   :)
so exciting to catch her first roll on camera.

and since she had an audience i guess she decided she might as well roll from back to front as well.

we are so thankful for our sweet princess.


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instafriday

well my instafriday is pretty lame this week.
i didn't take as many pics as i usually do.

i was looking through papers and found this old photo of avery from when he was three.
look at those sweet baby cheeks!
why oh why do my babies grow up so fast???

this week AJ and avery got to have a special father and son outing.
they went to cheer on the hogs at a razorback basketball game.
woo pig sooie.
they had a blast.

it's really fun to see him start to understand the game and really enjoy watching it.
last friday night the boys and AJ watched The Pistol (pistol pete maravich story).
avery's been dribbling the ball constantly since then. :)

found these beauties at the thrift store yesterday.
look brand new.
i usually don't look at the shoes, but i spotted these and knew that our Ruby needed them.
seriously, they're so awesome, right?

did you watch my vlog yesterday?

so that was fun . . . and nerve wracking.

i felt like i was sending a note that said, "do you like me? yes, no, maybe?"

:)

alrighty friends....thank goodness it's friday....have a great weekend!



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my first vlog

okay.... so...i may regret doing this.
but here it is... my first ever vlog.

excuse my weirdness, looking at the wrong part of the camera, thinking my tattoo was backwards, etc.
this is {very obviously} not edited.
because honestly, i have no idea how to do that.




if you are at work at can't watch the video....it's just basically a bunch of me cleaning out my junk drawer.
i know.
exciiiiiiiiting stuff.
only the best for you guys.
you. are. welcome.

okay don't hate me.  keep reading, k?

and p.s. is that what you thought i'd sound like? bet not.


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paper hearts ~ a simple little craft

just brought a little happy to my mantel this week.

i made a stack of hearts while we watched the cosby show on sunday night.

i ran them through my sewing machine to make a simple valentiney garland.

this is seriously easy.

it makes me smile every time i see it. :)

i used extra scrapbook paper and card stock that i had on hand.

if you'd like to do this without sewing you could punch holes in the hearts and string them on red yarn.

happy crafting!

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confessions of a slacker mom

i only make my bed when we have company . . . and even then it's iffy.

i have the boys make their beds about once every two weeks.

i forget to have the boys practice piano until the day of lessons.

i am terrible at working with the boys on spelling words, math facts, etc.

i am likely the most unorganized person in the whole world with regards to printing photos, backing up photos and well.....organizing them.

i pretty much always miss sign ups for activities and either have a late fee or miss the thing all together.

i spit washed some unidentified white spot off our couch yesterday.

at this moment there's a container of molded food in the back of the fridge that i am ignoring.
ignore it and it will go away.

there are enough toys in our van to keep a preschool class entertained for a week.

i never fold the clothes right out of the dryer. they usually sit crumpled up in a basket for a few days before I fold them. then they sit folded for another few days before sawyer tosses them about and mixes them up with the dirty pile and we start the whole thing over again.



now don't you feel better about yourself?
you're welcome. :)

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instafriday

hi.
it's friday afternoon and the house is quiet.
three littles are asleep {meliyah is here} and i'm enjoying some lovely alone time.
also very much looking forward to a weekend with my family all together.

this picture is so grainy because i was so far away...but i love it.
AJ is coaching avery's upwards basketball team.
we are currently spending two nights a week plus two hours on saturday at the gym.
the boys love. it.

this is sawyer's outfit.
every day of the week.
as soon as we walk in the door, he strips his clothes off and finds a cape and a weapon.
not sure why he has to be half naked.
a few days ago, i said, "sawyer, you can be a superhero with your clothes on."
he burst into huge tears and was so upset.
clearly i am wrong about that.

the sky was beautiful this day.
the clouds were moving so fast past the window.
the boys were enthralled.

shooting the window with nerf bullets.

brothers.

tie tuesday.

AJ will be embarrassed that i'm posting this here.

but it's my blog and i can do what i want. :) 

 i think he's hot and i don't care who knows it.

this girl is a little bundle of J.O.Y.
she grins so. big.  aaahhh love her.

we brought home a little friend yesterday.

ford and sawyer are buddies and really adorable together.

they are both such sweet boys.

it's been another great week....just doing normal life.
thankful for God's goodness to us. :)

happy weekend.



p.s.  can any of you smart friends out there help me figure out why the reply button isn't working on my comments??

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good links.

things i'm liking around the interwebs these days . . . 

love this garland. 

i'm wanting to do a garland across the top of ruby's window.

i've been looking for vintage doilies...but this is really fun too.....

ashley at thehandmadehome.net does a free printable every month.
loving these happy number cards. 

i've had different baby shoes bookmarked since before ruby was born and i have yet to make any.
these are adorable.

i'm planning to diy a play kitchen for ruby when she gets a little older.
i am excited about that project.
i can't wait to sew a little skirt for it and paint it and just make it adorable.

loving this one that john & sherry made for their girl, clara.

this play kitchen  is really pretty.
lovin' that strawberry fabric.  also the fridge door with magnets and the chalkboard sides.

well i love just about everything from this space....but i'm really loving that dream banner.
it's has the circus font that i adore and would also be a fun option for ruby's room.

i think ruby needs an adorable tote like this one from sew. craft. create. 
it looks really fun to make.

isn't this boyish hoho doll from littlebitfunky fabulous?
she made it using outgrown little boy clothes.
yes, that is awesome in every way.

so..... those are my faveys lately.

what about y'all?? finding anything good?? share, please. :)






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mini chocolate chips = healthy

have you tried these???

they are so good.
and addictive.
i think they're called energy bites.

i can't stop eating them.
i'm convincing myself that they're healthy so that i can eat them as much as i want.
they've got a cup of oatmeal in them for pete's sake.

the boys love them as an afternoon snack.
i like to eat them with my coffee in the morning {and on and off throughout the day . . . shhhhh}

you probably have all of the ingredients except the ground flax seed & mini choc. chips so you could make them right away.
i read that you can substitute some of the ground flax seed for wheat germ.
i think i'll do half and half next time.

yummmmmm.............

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chicken tortellini soup

this soup is so yummy.
my friend liz brought it to us when we had ruby.  
it was so great, i had to have the recipe.


we had it for dinner last night...perfect winter night soup.


ya wanna make it?


here's what you need . . .

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (15 oz) can Rotel (diced tomatoes with chilies)

12 cups chicken broth

1 traditional rotisserie chicken, boned and cut into bite sized pieces

1/3 cup jarred pesto sauce

20 oz package fresh, refrigerated cheese tortellini

2 (10 oz) bags fresh spinach, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

{a cheaper option would be cooking your own chicken & making your own broth. obviously that's a bit more time consuming}

i don't love cutting chicken off the bone...who does? 

it's pretty grody.

but it is nice to have an excuse for some quiet time in the kitchen.  

do you have one of these things?

it is a must have for me.

for onions.

i used the heck of the one we got for our wedding and it finally gave out.

i bought a new one at walmart for like 10 bucks. 

i was crying just from cutting the onion into big chunks to put in the chopper.

i put a matchstick in my teeth and it helped immediately.

so crazy.

learned that from the help. 

·   Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and sauté for 10 minutes or until tender.

·      Add the garlic and Rotel and sauté for 10 minutes

·      Add the broth and bring to a boil. 

·      Add the chicken and reduce the heat to low.  Stir in the pesto and tortellini and simmer for 5 minutes. 

·      Add the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Season with salt and pepper and serve

it makes a ton.

that's an 8 qt. pot and it was nearly full. 

it was so yummy....we stuffed ourselves.

yes, our whole family eats this. 

we don't make separate meals for the kids...what we eat, they eat. 

i would definitely say that spinach is probably not their favorite. 

they didn't say so, but they did refill their water glasses about 4 times during dinner.

so i guess that's a clue. :)

but i'm proud of them....they're learning to eat whatever is served to them with a happy heart.

that's a big deal to us.

we want them to be able to eat at anyone's table with a grateful attitude. 

we also want them to appreciate all different kinds of foods.

we don't want them to miss out! :)

let me know if you try this. :)

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a january weekend

friday night we had a date night. 

we came home by 8:45 because we're old fogies.  

we brought dessert home and ate it in bed while watching The Middle. 

yes, we lead a glamorous life. 

saturday we got to sleep in until, like, 7:30. 

it was awesome. 

we ate breakfast, lazed around the house and i read blogs until it was time to head to the boys' basketball games. 

i did a necessary grocery shopping trip in the afternoon and stocked. up.

it might last through the week. 

i go to walmart way too much. 

saturday night the boys had a boys' night and watched the broncos.

my little artist avery, made a tim tebow sign for the game.  

i left to go have coffee and girl time.  

sunday we had church and some friends over for lunch. 

i made bbq chicken sandwiches.   

in the afternoon i watched netflix, drank hot tea, {are we starting to notice a theme?} & started making an "our home" tab for the blog. 

last night we got back to our sunday night ritual of having a "picnic" in the living room & watching a show together. 

we usually do afv, this week it was cosby show.

after the boys went to bed we snuggled up on the couch & watched the next three days. 

it was really good. 

so it was a pretty uneventful weekend but nice to have a lot of relaxing time after the christmas crazies.  

ruby is a very good blogging buddy.


so what about you?
what did you do this weekend?




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instafriday

here we go...my weekly pics taken with my instagram app.

i love making these yarn wreaths. that's my kind of therapy.

our second boy, our little finley, decided he was ready to ride his bike without training wheels.
that's something about my fin, you can push him all you want, but when he's ready, he's ready.
he took off and that was that.
he loves it so much he rides every day after school.

i used up some left overs and made us smoothies for breakfast.... frozen berries, juice, fresh spinach and carrots.
yum.
sawyer loves him a "smoovie."

 my "beauty" routine....ha ha ha.
i don't wear much make-up...probably should. but i can't be bothered.
i do triple love moroccan oil. that stuff is the best.
it smells amazing, makes your hair blow dry faster, helps it flat iron better and cuts the frizz.

ruby still falls asleep in her carseat.
love this age for that.
around 3 months old she decided she no longer hated the car seat.
thank you ruby, that is very helpful.

i got out our big box of puzzles for sawyer.
i realized i hadn't opened that box since we moved here a year ago.
he's lovin. it.
they were like new toys.
and they have entertained him all week.

love this happy girl.
her thighs are getting so big that she's about to outgrow her jeggs.
you could see her fat rolls through her tights on sunday. :)

where she sleeps . . . with her thumb in her mouth.

my girls.
meliyah loves baby ruby.
i wasn't sure how she would react to her, but she is so sweet and always wants to hold her.

last night was a great winter night.
cozied on the couch with a blanket, some hot tea, chocolate, a fire going, watching netflix and working on the blog.
i'm spoiled.

do you post photos on instagram? 

join the instafriday party over here....

and hip hip hooray i'm going on a date tonight!!!

have a lovely weekend....are you all getting a 3 day weekend?

AJ doesn't but the boys do so at least we get that. :)

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