breakfast with Santa

beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Say Uncle

The elusive Uncle Mark came for a visit the 1st week of December. We hadn't seen him since last Christmas! Luci absolutely adored him. She followed him everywhere and every sentence out of her mouth that weekend started with "Uncle Mark". Ruby also enjoyed meeting her uncle for the 1st time. While he was here, we got and decorated our Christmas tree, went to the Museum of Life and Science and went for a short hike around the Occoneechee Speedway. Mark also had NC barbeque for the first time, courtesy of Allen & Son's. Having Uncle Mark stay downstairs allowed Kai and I to get some extra sleep as Luci would wake up and then immediately go downstairs to hang out with Uncle Mark. We are happy he is coming back soon for Christmas!

The Roo Turns 3 Months Old

At 3 months old, Ruby is still a super sweet little gal. She is very smiley and so far a pretty chill baby. When Luci plays 'Big Sister' which sometimes results in slightly aggressive hugs and kisses, Ruby does not fuss. She only cries when hungry or overtired. She usually does a 5 hour stretch of sleep - from 9:30-2:30 and then is up for a feeding - she will go right back to sleep afterward, which is awesome, but then she will sometimes wake back up at 5, making for a very sleepy family. Her greatest sources of amusement are mommy and daddy's faces and the ceiling fan (yes mommy and daddy are on the same level as the ceiling fan) - she just loves to watch it spin around. This past weekend was the first time that she faced outward in the baby bjorn - she really loved observing all the happenings around her. We can't wait to see what the next 3 months bring (but we hope more sleep is involved)!

my maternity leave by the numbers

12:
Number of weeks I was home after Ruby's birth (thankfully I was able to use all of my sick and vacation leave [haven't taken a vacation day since Jan!] so that I was still paid while I was out on leave, making me one of the lucky ones - the maternity leave benefits in this country are abysmal)
840:
Number of diapers changed (based on a calculation of 10 diapers a day - in the beginning this # was closer to 15 and several diapers fell to the wayside in less than 5 minutes, and now it's probably closer to 6)
672:
Number of feedings (8 per day)
26,880:
Total estimated amount of time in minutes spent feeding the babe (using an average of 40 min per feeding) - it's a huge commitment!
252:
Number of outfit changes (using an average of 3 per day)
84:
Number of walks taken (took one almost every day and some days took 2 - thank you Woodcroft Trails!)
19:
Number of episodes of my so called life that i watched via netflix (sadly this is also the total number of episodes ever aired - such a great show that was canceled way too early, but i digress)
20?:
Total number of hours of sleep I got - *this is based more on a feeling than hard evidence
Infinite:
Amount of kisses, hugs and cuddles showered on Ruby
Unable to be calculated:
Just how much in love I fell with my beautiful little girl - I am sad to return to work, but still so blessed to be able to come home to such a sweet, amazing baby!

Poet's Walk

On the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, we ventured to nearby Hillsborough NC to Ayr Mount, a gorgeous plantation house that has a beautiful surrounding trail, the Poet's Walk, winding along the Eno River. It is truly an enchanting place and a great backdrop for some photos.

hanging with the kohl family

Taking a train ride around the park - check out the rainbow on Ruby's face - no idea how that happened

Feeding the ducks - Luci and Tami and Chris's 3 adorable children - Ashley, Dallas and Sophie

we mined for gems which we all really enjoyed, when we got home Luci wanted to examine and sort her gems (last picture below) - she was very excited that she had a 'ruby'!

It's become a tradition of sorts to get together with of my best friends, Tami and her family the day after Thanksgiving. The Kohl clan reside in Ohio, but around Turkey Day typically visit Tami's dad who lives in Charlotte. We have gotten together almost every year since 2006!
This year we met up in Salisbury NC at Dan Nicholas Park. About 15 minutes from our destination, Luci proceeded to vomit an extraordinary amount of liquid all over herself and the backseat - it was really quite impressive (in the grossest of ways). I think the poor girl was car sick (and no, it wasn't because of mommy's driving) - unfortunately, I only had a spare pair of pants and underwear for her to change into - I did, however, have a bag of baby clothing that I've been meaning to drop off at Goodwill, so Luci squeezed herself into a 6-9 month old top! and I managed to somewhat clean her jacket off so she wouldn't freeze to death. Anyhow, in spite of our misadventures in puke, and the fact that almost half of the attractions at this park were closed for the season (which was not communicated on their web site!), we ended up having a really good time. And I always love spending time with Tami :)

thanksgiving 2011

Ruby's 1st Thanksgiving was a great day. She wore the same Thanksgiving outfit that I wore my first Thanksgiving WAY back in 1977 and that Luci more recently wore in 2008.
We had a lovely Thanksgiving meal at Auntie Heather & Uncle Jeff's house (unfortunately, no pictures were taken) where all the traditional favorites were present. We hardly saw Luci and Eme because they are so terrific at entertaining themselves and Ruby was her typical sweet self - just smiling away.

Luci declared that she was thankful for:

1. her cousin Eme
2. her grandmothers
3. her little sister

occasionally 'mommy and daddy' were mentioned. She also has said that she is lucky to have:

1. a bus stop near her house (one of her favorite things to do is to take the bus 1 stop from our house to her school)
2. a pool near her house
3. a playground near her house
4. her cousin
5. her little sister
   

I am extremely thankful for my wonderful family, my health and for coffee and red wine!

(*this marks the 100th post since this blog was created back in July 2008 - I'm really not too sure who reads it these days, but I am also incredibly thankful to those of you who do!)