Christmas Time

My favorite time of the year. It's super cold outside which is my absolute favorite. Last week Jared, Rubes, and I were at Wal Mart and I was almost in tears in the Christmas section with the Christmas music playing. Ruby makes my life complete in a way I never thought possible. I can't wait to spend the holidays watching her eyes light up to all the Christmas lights. I'm hoping to take her to see Santa with Lindsey and Jake this weekend and if I'm lucky, Macybeth too. Happy Holidays!!!!




Love,
~Sarah~

Thanksgiving Weekend

This is going to be random and quick because it's 10:19 pm on Sunday night and I need to be sleeping. :)

We had a great weekend. Tons of family time and we really enjoyed it. It was bittersweet and as I type this you will understand why.

Thursday started at my Dad's with the Elmore side. It was really good but also somewhat somber. As many of you know we lost Kristi over the summer. She is my Dad's sister. I could feel the void as I'm sure most everyone else could. Besides that it went good. Ruby got to see her cousins, aunts, uncles (soon to be anyway), grandma's and grandpa's. I love and miss my family so much. If there's one thing about the holidays I love it's getting to see them.

Then we went to Jared's sister's for dinner with the Inman's. We never see them so that was nice too. Ruby met her cousin Austin Inman for the first time as did Jared and I.

Friday I woke up to find out our Poppo Loyd passed. He was in the last stages of Alzheimer's. So as I said, bittersweet weekend. Please pray for my family. My dear Mommo has lost her daughter and father all in the same year. Within a few months as a matter of fact. Very hard to stomach what she must be going through and all I can do is hope she will not try to be so strong that she doesn't ask for help if it's needed. I love you Mommo!

I also got to meet up with my long time best friends Merri, Staci, and Laina for lunch. That was really nice. They were just dying to see Ruby more than me of course so I'm glad they got to see and play with her.

Saturday was a disgusting rainy day most of the day so we just sat around lazy as can be at Briana's just watching tv and doing some online Christmas shopping. I did NOT do the Black Friday shopping this year. I have been so exhausted that I knew no matter how much fun I had (like every year) with my sister I'd regret not sleeping instead.

Then Saturday night we had Jared's granna's Thanksgiving in Mountainburg then had to zip on over to Fort Smith for my Papa Bill's surprise 70th birthday party. We came back to Fayetteville right after that.

The whole weekend was busy busy busy. We stayed at Briana's for 3 days. Ruby did great considering she was completely confused and her schedule was off. I'm hoping to get back into our routine soon. She didn't go to bed until 7:30 tonight which is really late for her. Her and her daddy let me nap from 10-1:30 today. When he came in to get her medicine I asked him what time it was and when he told me I about went crazy. I did not believe him. Sad thing is I could've slept for another hour. When I got up Jared had the Christmas tree up! I just have to decorate it and make a centerpiece for my table out of some votives I had lying around. I had 3 days worth of laundry and unpacking to do or I would've done it today.

Anyway, I feel rested and I'm ready for the week. It's surgery week and I will be attending the funeral so it will be a busy one. Please keep my family in your prayers not just for our loss' we've faced the past few months, but for other reasons as well. Family is the most important thing to me and my heart has been breaking over some of our struggles that are on our plate.

Just a couple pictures you might like to see. Have a good week!




Our first Thanksgiving as 3.




Ruby and her cousin Reggie, they are 5 days apart. She was really loving him.


This is Ruby after eating some banana's with cereal in them.



This started out as plain white. The background had some pink polka dots on it. Ruby's Glamma Linda found it for like $4. We re-did it. Love it.



Thanksgiving at my Mom's and Ruby's 5 month birthday.

~Sarah~

Short and Sweet

Just like the title this weekend was short and sweet. Or at least it seemed like it was. So I decided this week's blog will be too.

Ruby had her first slumber party with Grammie and Papa Wayne last night. It was a little easier than I thought it would be. We got her down before we even left the house. I told mom if she woke up it was "change diaper, feed, back to bed. No lights. No playing". Well, she woke up and Grammie and her played. Ha! What are grandma's for though right? She did great. Mom said she only cried a little. We were there to see her shortly after she woke up this morning and she had a big smile on her face.

Then today Mom and Wayne had their big annual Thanksgiving dinner. It was fabulous! The food was DELICIOUS and the company of our wonderful family was even better. Ruby did great all day! She just loves her aunts and cousins so much. I bet mom and Wayne are really exhausted. Thank you both so much for having everyone over again. I know all the hard work you both put in to getting our family together and for that I am truly grateful.

We were missing a key member of the family but I guess that's just how it's going to be. I don't know what else to do at this point other than to hope said key member comes around some day. I thought I had made peace with it but I guess it's kind of hard to do when you have no idea the reasoning! Oh well!

On another brighter note, Ruby is 5 months old today! Happy 5 months princess! You are getting so big. I think I will try to make a blog dedicated to just her this week. Let you all in on her loves and not so much loves. :)

Have a GREAT WEEK and Happy Thanksgiving!


~Sarah~

Time Flies!

I can not believe it is already November 14th tomorrow! Where has this year gone? Ruby will be 5 months old this week. I just can't believe that. She's getting so big. She plays all the time now. It's a huge step from when she was first born and wanted me to hold her 24/7 and I am
not exaggerating. It's sad to me a little. Back then (5 months ago) I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me I would want it back. I so desperately wanted to be able to put her down especially at night so I could sleep normally but it just wasn't happening. Now when I'm holding her she wants to stand on me and bounce and play. I can see it in her eyes that she wants to just take off and I know it's just a matter of time. This afternoon she fell asleep on me, well she always does. She requires being rocked and nursed to sleep which is ok with me too. But usually I put her in bed and this afternoon I sat with her on me through her entire nap. It was lovely. So peaceful.

On a "growing up" note... My nieces and nephews are getting so big and old. Most of them are so busy with their friends and their sports schedule I'm lucky to get to see them. Yesterday I got to see 3 of them and today we saw Tucker. That was nice too. Macy spent the entire day with Ruby and I. I just adore her. She called today to ask if she can come spend the night "not this Friday but the one after that". I wish so badly I could say yes! But unfortunately it's thanksgiving weekend and we'll be down in the River Valley all weekend. I told her she could the next weekend she's with her mama. I'm looking forward to it. I'm gonna soak up this time with her because in the blink of an eye she'll be too busy with her friends too.



Macybeth and Ruby yesterday. Rubes loves her.

We had a great weekend. Jared was off Friday so we literally just sat around all day and didn't do much of anything. I did the normal cleaning, laundry, etc but Jared made sure to remind me he was "on vacation". Haha! So he played with Ruby a lot while I tended to the chores.

Saturday I met my sisters, mom and stepdad for lunch at the yummy smokehouse. It was fun! I was supposed to go out to see Lins and Jake but we decided since there had been sicknesses at her house earlier in the week we'd play it safe and not take Ruby around it. So then us three girls went to A to Z to kill some time. That place is nuts! I mean people literally pushed Macy and I out of the way to get to some solar powered lights that they had just marked down for $1. Really people?!?! I kept my cool though. So that's when I decided I'd had enough of it. I asked Macy "do you want to get something to drink or some ice cream or something?". She replied "we probably should get some ice cream". OF COURSE! We got our ice cream then went to my Dad's to see him and Linda aka Glamma. That was fun too. I don't see my family near enough.

Today we met the Inman's at the Blue Bird for lunch. Then we went to Wal Mart and Lowe's. Ruby has been a trooper all weekend. She's definitely pooped though.

Well I'm looking forward to a good week at work. My doctor leaves Wednesday for a week and a half so I'll be getting some organizing and cleaning done at the office. Oh and I didn't mean it was gonna be a "good week" because he's leaving. Haha! I just meant a good productive week in general.

Oh guess what?!?! We don't have one single leaker this week! All the storage bags held up! I'm so happy. No lost milk.

Well have a good week everyone!



~Sarah~

Fill in the blank.

Well it's Saturday night at 8:30 and all I can think is it's way past my bed time. So why not blog while I'm trying so hard to stay awake?!?!
1. My favorite new blog of the moment is: I guess my own? Ha! I don't really have a fave. But my favorite thing right now to look at is Pinterest!


2. Something I am thankful for is: My Family. Best on earth.


3. Something that made me laugh this week was: Hmmm...what stands out is a lunch time conversation between my co-workers and I. 4 cheeks is all I'm saying!


4. An item that is currently on my wish list is: iPad. Or the new Kindle Fire. That will work too.


5. I am excited about: Ruby meeting Santa. Haha! She's gonna hate him.

6. If I were a color I would be: Purple. As if you had to ask.


7. My favorite way to spend a chilly fall day is: Inside my house in my sweats watching movies with my husband and eating everything in sight without gaining a pound.

I guess that's all. That was fun.

Can I just go off for a minute?!? So every Thursday I ask Kathy how she is on milk so I know how much to thaw out on Friday for the next week. It's quite the process. Well it never fails that I have AT LEAST one bag that leaks all over the fridge. Any of you who have breast fed knows it's not cool to waste one single drop of it. So Jared did some research on how to avoid losing any. We decided we'd put the storage bags inside gallon size freezer bags to save the milk. Well tonight we got it all out to get it ready and all 4 gallon size bags had milk in the bottom. Jared, to the best of his ability took out the ones he thought weren't leaking and we poured the milk over into new bags. When we went to put them in the walmart sack with the other ones we noticed the entire counter was covered in milk! So we're both frantic, he's pissed, I'm pissed, and we're both just snapping at each other. This IS NOT OK!!!!! When he did his research it pretty much said everyone has had the same problem and they told their solutions and that there isn't really any easy way around it unless you freeze them without touching anything and treat them like they are glass. That is not ok either. How are you supposed to do that when you are limited on freezer space? We are already using two. The people online said if you write Lansinhoh a letter they'll send you some free bags. Well how about they send me my hard earned breast milk?! Oh wait that's right, they can't replace that. So if any of you out there have a better solution I'm all ears. I feel like I've asked my two friends (Bonnie and Carrie) all the questions in the world so I don't want to bother them. I'm frustrated and I'm tired!!!!!!!

Ok I'm done. It can always be worse. I just really wanted to gripe for a minute.

Anyway, so we had a great weekend. Friday Ruby went to daycare for a little while and I got my errands done. Saturday Mom and Wayne came up again so we could go tailgate. That was fun! I had a great time. Then we came home and had dinner here with them and watched the game. I was in bed extra early. Today we just hung out at home, got some cleaning done, and played with Ruby. She's pretty special I tell ya. I thank God for her every single day.

Here are just a few pictures....



My very good friend Laina and I and that's her goofy husband back there.






Mom, Ruby, and Sammie... Sammie is mom's very spoiled lap dog. He was so jealous but so gentle with Ruby.






This dress Ruby is wearing has been in Jared's family for over 50 years. His mom wore it when she was a baby. We didn't go anywhere in it, just had a photo shoot. :) She loves those!

I hope you all have a great week. It's surgery week two days out of the four this week at the office so we'll be extra busy. But that's ok because I love it! And I love y'all! :)

~Sarah~

Halloween!

Well not a whole lot to say. I've been struggling with something for a long long time that I finally made a decision on yesterday. My heart hurts but I know things will happen the way they are supposed to, so pray for us. It's very hard being the bigger person and for me, keeping my mouth shut. But what will be will be and I am just going to continue focusing on my husband and daughter because they are my #1 priority.

Monday was Halloween. That morning I put Ruby's costume on her that I got her. I wanted a picture with her since I dressed up as a cowgirl so she was literally only in it for about 5 minutes. Then that night she put her pumpkin suit on that we borrowed from the Thomas'. She only lasted until about 6:00 then she was ready for bed. She didn't quite grasp the fact that I was allowing her to stay awake if she wanted....she didn't want.









Hope you're all having a great week! It's almost the weekend! Wahoo!

~Sarah~