Our Favorite Sleeping Position

It seriously takes all our willpower not to start squeezing that cute little bum when we see her sleeping like this!

Yard Sale

So in preparation for moving next year, we've been cleaning out the house. We did the attic a few weeks ago and the basement last week. Yuck, there is so much junk in this house! Bobby will probably start groaning here about how much of his stuff we're getting rid of but I will have to insert how much of the stuff we're cleaning out is mine. We had a yard sale on Saturday to sell the unwanted goods and it's safe to say we didn't do as well as we hoped. We did make some money, which is good, but we were left with a lot. There was absolutely NO WAY that stuff was going back into the house. So we lined it up on the curb with "FREE" signs on it. This is what we had after the sale was over on Saturday.


And Sunday evening there were only two boxes left. Both are headed to Salvation Army today. Not bad, huh?

6 Months

Ruby went to the doctor today and she's doing just fine. She's a lightweight at 14 lbs. 14 oz. and is right in the middle in length, 25 3/4 inches. She had to get three shots, but totally surprised us by only crying for about 10 seconds and settling right down.

She's doing great and is sleeping off her busy morning like a champ.

Visiting Daddy

Ruby and I were in rural West Virginia this week visiting Bobby. We had a great time...alas, Bobby forgot to take pictures of the clinic where he's working, so we'll have to try to remember next time. We mostly got cute pics of our girl, which is just fine with us; we could look at her all day long. And we do. After she goes to bed, we often look at old blog entries or our photos on the computer. I think it's safe to say we're head-over-heels for this little miss.

By the time Ruby and I arrived, she had enough of being in the car (it's a 2 1/2 hour drive after all) and was very excited to see her daddy.

So she had dinner.


Took a bath in the sink.


And got ready for bed...of course Daddy had fun playing with her hair.


And when Daddy was at work we just had fun hanging out together until he got home.


We'll be headed down again this week, so we'll be sure to get some more photos of the actual town where Bobby is staying, instead of just Ruby (though I'm sure you don't mind.)

Rolling can get you stuck

A ride in the exersaucer...

Dear Ruby,

Today you are 6 months old! You are the most beautiful little girly I could ever imagine. You're becoming so much fun to play with and you always are amazing your daddy and me with everything you do. Here's what you're up to these days:

* Almost sitting by yourself. I can prop you up between my legs or in the boppy and you can sit for long stretches without needing me to balance you.
* Rocking on your hands and knees. You're going to be scooting soon and then I'm going to panic!
* Experimenting with new sounds. The other day you started clucking your tongue and your current favorite is gurgling your drool.
* Loving solids. You are such a good little eater. Right now you love pears, bananas, and sweet potato mixed with peas.
* It's getting easier and easier to make you laugh. I love to hear those little giggles!
* Your exersaucer is your favorite thing right now. You smile and bounce and wave your arms when you play in it and your little fingers are always busy with the toys.

Ruby, I love you so much! You are so sweet and always charm the socks off us...We can't wait to see the little girl you're going to become. I love you from here to the moon.

love,
Mommy

Rural Rotation

Ruby and I visited Bobby on Thursday to see what he's been up to on his rural rotation. All the fourth year dental students spend about six weeks in a dentist's office somewhere in West Virginia getting actual experience in a real world clinic. Bobby's been loving his experience...he's in Cowen, WV which is in the middle of nowhere and has a population of 500, so when we say rural, we mean rural. He really enjoys the clinic, doctor, assistants and everyone he's working with. They've welcomed him with warm southern hospitality and he's already done quite a few procedures.

Another reason he's enjoying his stay is his housing. A house is provided for all the students going on rural rotation, but when Bobby checked into it, there were several girls already in the house he was assigned to and he didn't think that would be quite appropriate for a married man. So he called around and the branch president in the area has a little apartment built off of his home and that's where Bobby is. It's a beautiful property, backing onto a river with woods surrounding and it's absolutely peaceful and lovely. And the Hamrick's are such wonderful people, very sweet and accomodating. They live in Webster Springs, which is a booming town compared to Cowen...they have a population of 900.

We had such a nice time with Bobby after not seeing him for a couple days. Next week we'll go see him again and we'll take pictures.

Technology Junkie

Ruby loves any gadget she can get her hands on: a cell phone, Bobby's Ipod Touch, the computer. But she especially loves the computer because she gets to push buttons.

Sippy

I started giving Ruby a sippy cup about a week ago, just to play with and become familiar with. She actually caught on to it quickly but just doesn't have the coordination yet to drink from it...she hasn't figured out how to tip it enough to get anything out. But she loves to gnaw on the spout because it makes a little squeaking noise when she does. Plus, it's just kind of fun to throw around.

A New Toy

Hey everybody! Look at the new toy Mommy and Daddy got me...it's an exersaucer!


What's that you say? What's an exersaucer?


Well just look at it! I get to practice standing and walking, and just look at all these toys to play with!

It's so much fun, don't you wish you could be here to play with me?

Big People Food

Ruby has made the leap to solids. I started her two weeks ago on rice cereal...yeah, she's not a fan...I've figured out she'll eat it if it's got another food mixed in, so the girl gets her grain by the conniving of her mother. And she's had pears (her current favorite), sweet potatoes (a close second), avocado and peas (both of which she still grimaces a little when she eats them). She's a great eater, is fun to watch try to figure out what everything is, and is oh-so-cute...of course, she's always cute but watching her try new things just brings out the cuteness!

I decided when she was born that I wanted to make her baby food. It's so easy and is a great way to save money and feel good about what I'm feeding her. It really takes next to no time and I love opening the freezer and seeing my little stash of homemade baby food. I'm a dork, but labeling the freezer bags gives me a little smile.

Here's the little bug trying avocado for the first time: