Winter Wonderland

Everything shut down yesterday as we eagerly awaited the snow that didn't come and didn't come (so glad I didn't tell the girls we were going to get snow). FINALLY about 8:30 last night it started snowing and it accumulated fast. It snowed until about 1am and this morning we had 2.5in at our house! Last night we got the girls out of bed to show them the snow when it started and I wish I had recorded their reaction...they were so excited and Emmie immediately began making plans to build a snowman.
We had fun playing out in the snow this morning. Emmie had a BLAST and Ellie thought it was ok but quite chilly...she is definitely not as cold tolerant as Emmie. Ruthie even got to come outside and she was not super impressed but was content to hang out in her bear suit. Franklin had a BLAST and loved chasing the snowballs we threw. We did manage to make a snowman although he's really more of a snowblob. Our snow is really powdery and dry so we had to work hard to make it stick together!

Yay for snow!

 

snow angels!

 

 

The girls LOVED eating the snow!

Paul and Ruthie think it's never too cold to lay in a hammock.

 

working on the snowman

 

I love this picture of Paul, Emmie, and Ellie discussing how to fix up the snowman.

We had to improvise with the face and hat. Only in the south do you use a beach toy as a snowman hat!

 

Hot chocolate time.

 

1 month

 

 

I am 1 month old!

• I eat every 3 hours during the day. After I eat I usually stay awake anywhere from 1-2 hrs and then take a nap in the swing (although we're starting the transition to the crib...we'll see how that goes). I have my bedtime feed about 10pm and then sleep for 5ish hrs (give or take an hour) and then sleep for about 4 more hours. Generally I go right back to sleep after my feed in the middle of the night. At night I sleep in my crib.
• I wear 0-3mo clothes and a size 1 diaper.
• I am a spit up queen. Mommy has to do a lot of laundry. I'm really good at the projectile spit up...sometimes it's so forceful it comes out of my nose! (By the way, Emmie loves to wipe up my spit up...she's always on the lookout and always knows where a burp cloth is.)
• In addition to being the spit up queen I'm also the wet diaper queen. Generally Mommy changes my diaper before she feeds me and right before I go to sleep and then again before my next feed and they're ALL soaking wet!
• I LOVE my big sisters. I love to watch them play and I'm definitely happiest when they're around. I'm not 100% sure about Franklin yet but I'm getting more and more used to him.

 

• I'm generally a very easy baby and am content to lay around and watch the craziness around me. The last few days I've been wanting to be held more but Mommy thinks I'm going through a growth spurt so hopefully I'll go back to my normal laid back self once I get past that.
• I've had a few real smiles! There are lots of times I smile with my eyes and one side of my mouth twitches up but I can't quite always figure out how to make my mouth smile all the way!
• This month we went to Greenville for a night and then went to Maggie Valley, NC for a weekend with Daddy's side of the family. I did pretty well being in a new place...it had me a little out of sorts but nothing awful.

 

• I love to listen to books. I really like it best when I can sit in someone's lap so that I can see the pictures too.

 

• I enjoy going on walks around the neighborhood especially if I get to look around. (If it's cold Mommy puts the shade on the stroller and the carrier up so I'm all closed up.)

 

• I take real baths in my baby bathtub now and I think they're pretty nice although I spend most of the time trying to face plant in the water...hopefully my muscles will get stronger soon and I'll be able to play more!

 

• I've started sitting in the bumbo some. I do great holding my head up for a few minutes!

 

• I like to do tummy time...just not for too long. I'm really good at lifting my head up and am getting stronger every day! I also do the crawling motion with my legs and toss them around like I'm trying to roll over.
• I don't like being put in my carseat but once we start driving I'm very content.
• I have a fair amount of baby reflux but so far it doesn't seem to bother me too much.
• This month I've been to Emmie's school, dance, My Gym with Ellie and on Wednesdays I go to bible study with Mommy. 



Emmie at 1 month                                                       Ellie at 1 month (and her blog post)

 

 

 

 

So who do you think Ruthie looks like?

Mountain Trip

This past weekend we went to Maggie Valley, NC with Paul's family for a weekend in the mountains. We had a very nice weekend and had lots of fun (although we were really hoping for a light snow while we were up there...perhaps next year!). Saturday we hung around the house all day and just relaxed. Paul, Emily, and Blake went tubing and apparently the hill was really fast this year (it was 60 degrees when we went last year and was pretty much a big mud bath) and they had a great time. I didn't go this year because none of the times worked out with Ruthie's feeds and I was trying not to give her too many bottles.
Sunday morning Emily and Blake slept in and the rest of us went to the hill we discovered last year to go sledding. Snow stays on this hill on the side of the road so much longer than it does anywhere else and even though there wasn't much snow on it this year we got a fair amount of speed going down the hill and the girls had a blast. Last year we had to force Emmie to go down the hill and this year she hopped right on the sled with me and had a big smile on her face the whole way down. She really shocked all of us this year when she told us that she wanted to go down by herself! I was so proud of her for being brave and she was definitely proud of herself and I think it made her feel grownup! Ellie knows no fear and squealed the whole way down the hill each time and then immediately would hop up and say she wanted to go again. After Emmie went by herself, Ellie of course wanted to go by herself...and had a blast doing it!

getting ready to go sledding

Ruthie was wearing the dreaded bear suit that was handed down from Emmie. You literally have to stuff her in the suit and then she looks like the kid on A Christmas Story...hilarious.

snowballs!

making a snow angel

I love the expression on Gin-g's face!

So proud of my brave girl!

Sunday evening we went skiing. I was very excited about going because I wasn't sure when the trip was planned if I'd be able to and I love to ski. Paul, Blake and I went and it was pretty much pure ice on the slopes. I like to go fast but I also like to know I can stop if I need to and there was no stopping on the ice. We'd been there about 5 min and saw someone with a broken wrist and as the night wore on we kept hearing more stories of broken bones and such (we even got stuck on the lift for about 15min because someone broke their leg getting ON the lift...it's probably good they didn't make it to the top). After we saw someone being put in an ambulance on a back board we decided perhaps it was time to head home! Emmie said that she wants to go skiing so I think we're going to take her next year...should be interesting...and hopefully not so icy!
While we were skiing the girls stayed at the house and watched a movie and drank hot chocolate with marshmallows...needless to say they had a great time. My girls LOVE marshmallows!
We headed home on Monday morning with a stop in Greenville to pick up little puppy from my parents house. He had a great time going on lots of walks with Gran and chasing Grandaddy around the house.

2 weeks old

Little Miss Ruthie is now 2 weeks (and 1 day) old! She is such a joy and we're all adjusting pretty well to life as a family of 6 (we have to include Franklin in the count of course!).

I will say that the adjustment would be even smoother if it was a tad bit warmer and stopped raining...the big sisters are going stir crazy...and so am I!! (There is hope...tomorrow is supposed to be 60 and sunny.)
Ruthie is still getting up every 3-4.5 hours at night and goes right back to sleep after she nurses so I'm managing to get a fair amount of sleep. Ruthie is such a content baby and I finally have a child that seems to somewhat enjoy the swing! The only time Ruthie fusses much is when she's tired, hungry, or needs a diaper change (and this little girl can go through some diapers...I generally change a soaking wet diaper before I feed her and before I put her down for her nap which is about 1.5 hours later and sometimes I change one in between those!).
Paul's parents came last Saturday and took the girls to My Gym, the library, and chick-fil-a. The girls enjoyed their outing and I definitely enjoyed the extra sleep I got!

My mom spent a few days with us last week and is coming back for a few days this week. It was really nice to have the extra pair of hands plus she cooked dinner for us every night and left us with a stocked freezer!
Yesterday Ruthie had her 2 week appointment and she was 8lb 3oz and 20in long and got a clean bill of health. I must say I was pretty impressed with myself yesterday. Ruthie's appointment was in Lexington (a solid 30min drive from our house) at 9:30 in the morning. I managed to get everyone fed, dressed, in the car and to the doctor's office ON TIME. I'm going to confess...I'm pretty good at making it most places on time but I can't ever seem to get to the pediatrician on time...I'm always about 5 minutes late and it doesn't seem to matter how early I leave! So needless to say I was quite proud that I managed to get THREE children there on time.
I'm thinking that we can do this whole 3 little girls thing.

You want how big of a wedding?!?

All About Ruthie

Ruthie is now 1 week (and 1 day) old and life in our house is settling into a routine.  We were able to come home from the hospital after 24hrs as both Ruthie and I were doing well and I was quite happy to not have to spend an extra night in the hospital!

Sleep: The first few nights at home were hard as Ruthie had her days and nights mixed up and thought it would be fun to just hang out with Mommy at 3am but Paul was home so he was able to watch the girls during the day so I could sleep. Fortunately we got Ruthie turned around quickly and now she is up every 3-4 hours at night (although we had one night where she had a 6hr stretch between feeds!) and goes back to sleep pretty quickly after nursing and this schedule is pretty doable! During the day she generally nurses every 3hrs and then stays awake for 1- 1 1/2hrs (sometimes even 2hrs) before going back to sleep until her next feed. During the day she sleeps in the bouncer and at night she sleeps in the crib.

Baths: Ruthie has gotten a few baths since she came home from the hospital and isn't completely opposed. She's still getting sponge baths but I think she'll really enjoy her baths once she can sit in the water! One of the advantages of being baby #3 is that your Mommy can give a really fast sponge bath!

Play: Ruthie is a SUPER alert baby. She is very aware  of what is going on around her and loves to sit in her bouncer and watch the chaos of our house! She also loves her play gym and is content to lay there for extended amounts of time, especially if her sisters come sit by her and read or play. She has done some tummy time as well and will usually lay on her tummy for about 5 minutes quite happily. She is VERY strong loves to lift her head and kick her legs while she's on her tummy.

Ruthie loves listening to the bedtime story.

 

 

Siblings: Ruthie LOVES her sisters and they love her. From the day we brought her home she has been very responsive to Emmie and Ellie's voices. Emmie and Ellie love to hug, kiss, and hold Ruthie. Emmie has gotten pretty good at holding her and remembering to hold her head. Ellie doesn't really "hold" Ruthie...she just wants to kiss all over her! Franklin loves Ruthie but Ruthie is still trying to figure Franklin out. Sometimes he'll get right in front of her face and her eyes get really big! Ruthie has seamlessly transitioned into our family. The girls talk about her like she's always been a part of our family and Ruthie seems to love the chaotic world that she was born into!

Every little girl needs a guard dog!

 

 

 

Outings: We haven't gotten out too much but we have managed to take some walks (when it wasn't 30 degrees outside...it's been so cold this week!) and Ruthie seems to enjoy her walks. Today Ruthie and I dropped Franklin off to be groomed and then ran a few quick errands...she was quite agreeable as she slept the entire trip.

On Sunday, Emmie and I took Ruthie on her first walk around the neighborhood.

 

Visitors: Ruthie has had mostly just family visit her. This past week I've been focused on adjusting to our new normal and recovering from all the excitement and events of the last few weeks so it's mostly just been our little family. We have had a few visitors though. Clara, Brooks, and Mary Ruth came by on Sunday (Ruthie had to meet her "other sister", Mary Ruth...also when I go back to work Clara will have Emmie, Ellie, Mary Ruth, and Ruthie...do you think anyone will ever get called the right name?) as did my friend Elizabeth and her husband and little boy and everyone brought us dinner. My friend Brooke also braved the awful cold rain on Thursday and brought us a meal. I have been so grateful for their meals as they got us through the week without us having to get takeout and I didn't have to cook at all. This was especially helpful since Paul worked 3 days last week. One of my college roommates, Julie, came all the way from Myrtle Beach to visit on Wednesday and I LOVED getting to catch up with her (and she brought us Groucho's for lunch!)...we definitely don't see enough of each other. My parents also came on Wednesday afternoon and they also brought dinner. (Did I mention we've eaten VERY well this week!) Paul's parents came today and helped out with the big girls, taking them to My Gym, the library, and then out to lunch. This afternoon they watched the girls and I got the BEST nap! Paul's dad did fixed a few things around the house while they were here and this evening they went and picked up Red Robin for dinner...yumm! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to take care of us!

 

Grandaddy and all his little girls!

 

Julie and Ruthie

All about her name: We had a boy name picked out from the beginning (Jonathan Paul Jr. "JP") but even going into the hospital we still hadn't settled on a girl's name. For awhile we'd been down to two names: Charlotte and Evelyn. Then we sat down and really talked about names and added some to the list and when we headed to the hospital we were down to two names again: Ruth and Rose and decided that when we met the baby (if baby was a girl) we would pick a name. For a long time the girls had called the baby "Baby Rosie" and after hearing the name for months it really grew on us. Ruth though was a very special name. My mom had a sister born with Spina Bifida who passed away as a child and her name was Martha Ruth and I've always loved the name Ruth so at some point a few weeks before my due date Ruth was added to the list. After we picked December 27th for the induction I found out that Martha's birthday was December 27th. When our baby was born I took one look at her and knew she was Ruth and I loved the fact that she was born on the same day as my mom's sister who shared her name. Ruthie's middle name, Mitchell, is a family name on my side. Mitchell was my middle name, and my dad, granddaddy, and great-grandfather's middle names. So, Ruth Mitchell has a pretty special name!