Ketchup or as Simon says Ketbull

yup...i know, i seriously owe u an update... here we go

Ruby's birth story and one week letter im combining....why not just tell her, her birth story - im working on it - will post soon... but i will say, she is simply amazing...gorgeous and such a great great baby.  i cant believe she is real.  love that she looks like simon, but doesnt.  she furrows her brow alot and i wonder if that means she will be serious.  it appears that she has dimples on both sides, but its hard to ttell since we really only get gas smiles right now.  she also has a herniated belly button...i was really hoping she wouldnt.  its not nearly as big as simons was though so we are hopeful that it will close up and suck in and she wont have to have surgery.  They usually don't do it until they are 4 or 5, and I can already guarantee that ill be a nervous wreck when simon goes in...i deny that it is going to happen for now ;)

from content to sad...poor girl

so we have been up to alot, as you can imagine.  ruby was born and by all acounts i had an easy labor.  recovery has been slower than i remember though.  when i had simon we lived in the loft where everything was steps away.  here we have a downstairs and an upstairs and I wasn't really thinking about that.  Plus the day after we got home I felt great, so i started organzing and got way out of control.  Not being able to do anything with this house since we moved in I was so excited to do something.  Well all of that plus up and down the stairs many times completely killed me.  The next day I could barely walk...so for days i then i had to pay for it by yet again sitting around.  lesson learned.  i have resisted picking up simon as much as i can and limited my trips up the stairs.  i have started working on the office but alot of it right now is filing and sorting and i can do that sitting down.

i wanted to make sure i got some pics of me an ruby so i set the timer and put the camera on the floor...going to try and use that timer more often

so i mentioned the office...thats my first project on maternity leave...its a HUGE mess, with stuff dumped all over and crappy mismatched furniture.  today ill have to take some pics so you can appreciate the before and after.  it really needs to be painted and the giants football border removed from the top of the wall from the previous owners...ugggh, how i wish we could have done that when we first moved in.  i also had a harddrive fail...the one with all my usic on it.  decent timing because at least we have everything out of storage and i can access my cds to start re-ripping, i can hardly anticipate the fun.  i have lots of other things on my to-do list...another big one is photo books....i want to scrap some and then just do photo books to catch up.  my journaling is so much better when i scrap the event after it happened and not wait a year later.  yeah i know, go figure.

love that simon let me take photos of both of them...im going to try some more soon

Simon has started whining and its driving me mad.  I absolutely cannot stand whining.  Other than the whining he has been wonderful with the arrival of Ruby.  He will not really touch her yet.  He is very hesitant about that.  So we ask a time or two a day but drop it when he says no.  he will tell us who she is, and ask about her if she is in the room.  Cory has been getting up with him and i get to sleep in some with Ruby and when he comes upstairs he puts his hands up (as in to say "where is") baby ruby.  When we change her he runs to get her diaper and and wipes...hes a very good helper.

While I was shooting Ruby in her room I let Simon hang out with me.  He found this mirror and this hat and had me dieing laughing trying to fit it on his head...he totally looks like an elf

So I am going to talk about some pregnancy stuff, maybe not as easy to talk about because it's things people can be very judgmental about.  So read on if you want, but keep in mind if you want to think something about me or say something, you can rest assured I have already beat myself up about it way more than you ever could.  Again in parenting we are reminding ourselves to follow our gut and not what others think.  

i stopped breastfeeding and we switched ruby to formula.  in under a week.  i fought it...ruby and i tried, but it only made meal time a huge struggle where she spent alot of time crying, as did i.  and we still couldnt get it to work.  yes maybe had i stuck with it, it could have worked out.  but it just wasnt working for us.  and i needed to stop...for her, for me, for all of us.  this of course is a tricky subject in motherhood.  there is so much pressure for moms now to breastfeed.  as cory and i have both said before whatever side of the fence you are on you can find research to back you up.  im not going to go into all the details on this but i did want to put it out there.  

good times with the godparents

facebook i love you.  ive been on facebook for a long time and i still find myself enjoying it.  who knew status updates would keep me in touch with people.

one of my favorite things simon does right now is answering his own requests or questions with the word "okay".  i will need to get this on video because its so hilarious.  

Read book - okay!

More Fries - okay!

the power with which he says it is the best part

simon still loves clothes, especially pjs, so the other day i took a box and made him a dryer.  so far its a big hit.  today we almost had a disaster when he started to climb on the dryer, but i caught him in time - whew crisis averted.

what we did yesterday

Comments

[Laura]

Great entry...about time...just saying...if you need any tips for organizing, you know who to call sista...

[Jennifer]

So many comments:
1) You look like your sister (finally) in the pic of you looking at Rubes. I never think y'all look alike but in that one you do!
2) Breastfeeding is YOUR decision, despite what a lot of a-hole people try to make you think. You did what you knew was best for yourself and Ruby. That's all that matters. And, with everything that goes on with being a new mom (all over again), just try to give yourself a break and don't beat yourself up. :)
3) She IS so beautiful. Have I ever seen more perfect baby skin?
4) Simon is a hoot. Love the answering his own requests with OKAY! That's so funny and I hope I get to hear it firsthand.
5) Do a bunch of relaxing on maternity leave. Forget that office, girl! Do it later! Be lazy! :) Or, make Laura come over and do it. She'd get a kick out of it! (Love ya Laura)

[Jennifer S.]

Beautiful!

[vanessa]

Simon's pic cracked me up!
I totally agree, you have to make your choices as a mother on what’s best for you and baby. I was told everything under the sun to breastfeed and with the 1st one I just couldn't, the 2nd was easier but to the docs and other people told me it wasn’t long enough, and the 3rd, well the third went on tooooo long and I got comments about that too. To me it's no ones place to tell you. You’re a wonderful mother. It was nice to chat with you yesterday. I love facebook now. I think I have found almost everyone that I became friends with at each of our duty stations. Take it easy.

[Lynne]

Love your update and I think I'm the only person who didn't take a photo while Pres. Obama was being sworn into office. Your photos turned out great of Ruby and I LOVE the one of you and her where you are kneeling over her, priceless.

I've been watching this show called "Clean House" and it's really been motivating me to get things organized. I do have a problem with the show though because those slobs really do not deserve others cleaning all their crap up. Seriously, some of those houses are terrible! You have to watch it sometime.

I've got a ton of things to do today again, so I may not be on to chat later. We'll see.

[Rebecca]

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you all!

[jade]

I don't know Vanessa, but I think she makes a good point...no matter what you do, somebody tells you you should have done something else.

Ruby looks pretty healthy and lovely to me. And Simon, man...I love that kid.

I miss you guys.