Grilled Cheese Gala

This year's Fancy Dress Grilled Cheese Gala was fancier than ever-- and a total success!  I feel so great about how it went.  Instead of just our normal crowd, we invited them + other friends from different social spheres and for once that actually worked!  Lots of people didn't know each other, but we all had a great time mingling and meeting folks. We rearranged our furniture to an arrangement more conducive to a cocktail party (and by "cocktail" I mean "Shirley Temples") and to accommodate more people than have ever been in my house at the same time.  My camera, however, was both running out of batteries and out of space on the memory card--because I'm an idiot.  We got enough shots to remember the party at least.

We arranged the bookshelves according to color, I like it so much!

The bar

 The baby

Ruby was the belle of the ball. We got this adorable dress from Kyle's sister Jennifer, and I LOVE it.

Ashley arrived early to help us out, bless her heart.

It was so great that everyone dressed up. It really added to the fun of the evening. Unfortunately we didn't get pictures of everybody.

We didn't take pictures of the 3 kinds of grilled sandwiches we made.  We made a MILLION--like 40, cut in half, and they were all gone. I didn't even get any!  Plus we had Lil Smokies (because a party's not a party without Lil Smokies, in my opinion) and I didn't get any of those either.

These are the dessert grilled cheese sandwiches that I'm pretty sure we invented.  French toast bread + mixture of ricotta/cream cheese/nutella/cream/powdered sugar.  SO DELICIOUS.

I wore a dress I got from Savers for $4.  Kyle wore a DI tux with a sweet suit coat he got while working at Dillards (I think. Maybe it's DI too?) He looked GOOD.

And at the end of the night, I got to go (stay) home with this guy.

So I call that a success, indeed.

4 months

At her 4 month appointment, Ruby:

is 25 inches long (83%)
weighs 14 lbs. 5 oz. (64%)
has an average head (54%)

Ruby rolled over for the first time on January 9th, and has rolled over 2 times since then.

She entertains herself for quite a long time in her jumper. I love it because it gives me a chance to get ready in the morning.

She drinks 7 or 8 oz. every 3 hours. I can hardly keep up with her!  I guess we'll start introducing solids soon, which will probably help.

Ruby is super social.  She smiles at anybody willing to play with her.  She's now razzing, laughing and starting to say consonants (her first was ah-goo, and now she's starting the "b" sound) so playtime is even more fun.

She's growing out of clothing at an alarming rate. Every day I discover something that is too short for her.

Ruby is a total daddy's girl.  She loves me when we're home together, but if Kyle's around, all she wants to do is beam at him and play with him.  He is way more fun than I am!  It doesn't bug me though, because it means I can get a lot done while Kyle takes care of her, plus I'm the one providing the food so I don't feel too left out.

I'm trying to get Ruby on a schedule--turns out it is trickier than I thought.  Any good ideas on how to extend naps? These 45 min. naps just aren't long enough and she's still tired when she wakes up.

The shots were sad and hard, but she was fine by the time we got in the car.  Brave girl.  Man, I have never seen her face get so red--or heard her scream so miserably.  Glad that's done for another 2 months!

bazinga

I'm feeling GOOD.  Ruby is sleeping in today, which meant I was woken up by the sunlight and my own internal clock, not by her talking to herself.  It was nice. I do look forward to her waking up though, because she greets me with a huge smile every morning.

Last night I went out dancing.  I know.  I a) don't dance, and b) am a wife, a mother, and a lactating woman.  It was strange.  It was weird to not check out boys. It was awkward when I accidentally met eyes with a boy above the heads of the crowd while dancing--usually that is reserved for flirting.  I also learned that I am not up on the hip hop music of today's youth.  But I had a ton of fun with my friends, and as out of character as it seems, I got my dance on hardcore.  And if afterwards we ate ice cream and watched Underworld 4: Rise of the Lycans, well, what's done is done. Kyle watched Ruby for me because he is wonderful.

Katy is living in Orem and I'm loving it.  She taught me to spin (Wool. On a spinning wheel.) and we decorated her room and she comes over every day and we run errands together and have many grand plans of crafts and great meals and awesomeness.

I'm totally behind on Connect! 2011.  I bought a gift and just need to give it. I decided who to write letters to but I still need to write them.  Kyle and I know what we're going to do to "meet the neighbors" but I'm dreading it and it hasn't happened yet.  As for service--I'm not sure what to do yet.  I gave away my HoHos--does that count?

Odds and Ends

Ludichristmas

This year was wonderful.  The scale was greater than ever before--friends were invited!  That meant more treats and more presents!

Katy got matching outfits for Eliza and Ruby, super cute and cozy.

These cupcakes from Ashley were AMAZING. I'm still dreaming about the gingerbread cupcake. 

I love the ratio of presents to tree.  It's a little out of control.

New Years Eve

Nieman came over and Mom chaperoned the stake dance.  We had a Weenie Night--hot dogs, mini bagel dogs, and Lil Smokies.  Katy and I stayed up til 12, but Dad and Ruby went to bed.  We enjoyed some Martinellis, Supernatural, and the traditional burning ceremony.

She wants her mom to abstain.

A Surprise

Two friends of ours started dating.  Each other. AND DIDN'T TELL US.  Knowing that we'd be pleased with the news, at Ludichristmas they handed Kyle and me a present:

It's a funny way to announce something.

Connect!2011 Letter 1

This month I'm participating in Connect! 2011.  Here's why I'm doing it:  you do some things (really really difficult things like writing 4 personal letters, attending a party, etc.) and at the end of the month you can enter to win $30 at Amazon.  Ok, that's not really why I'M doing it, because as the wife of the creator I'm not eligible to win, dang it.  But that's certainly why YOU should do it.

The challenge is designed to bring us closer to the people around us and strengthen our relationships.  The first goal I'm working on is writing 4 handwritten letters (and actually sending them).  At first, I thought I'd write to my husband, my 2 sisters, and maybe my mom.  BUT that is kind of a cop-out.  (Possibly.  They still deserve letters though, so I'll probably just write more than 4.) I think for this to really be awesome I should do something that requires a bit more thought.  And then I decided to write a letter to the owners of Donut King in Pleasant Hill.

Donut King is run by a Cambodian family--they are magnificent people.  Mom has taught 2 of their kids in her kindergarten class, and they still give her money off and free donut holes.  They remember that Danny's favorite is the cinnamon crumb donut, so they always throw in an extra one of those.  When I go in without Mom, they recognize me as her daughter because I look so much like her, which gets me free donuts too.  More than all that though, they are just really kind people. Because they know who we are, they greet us with huge smiles.

I went in there last week to grab some croissants to bring for Mom's lunch.  (Oh, in addition to being really nice, the make the best croissants I've EVER HAD IN MY LIFE.)  I ran in, ordered my stuff, and realized I didn't have any cash on me.  They only take cash.  SHIZ. I was going to be super disappointed and just turn around and race to Taco Bell, but then Mr. Cambodian Owner Man (I still don't know their names!) told me to just bring the money the next time I came in.  "ARE YOU KIDDING ME??" is what I thought.  Do people really still do that in this day and age?  Are there honest people out there, and people who will actually trust them?  I thanked him profusely, and then he still gave me extra donuts because he's great.  I ran back in later in the day with the money I owed.  I also went in there for croissants every day the rest of the week because I am obsessed with their croissants, but also because I wanted to give them business.

The Donut King people restored some of my faith in humanity, as silly as that sounds.  They were so kind, so small townish, and so decent.  They deserve a letter telling them how great I think they are--and how incredible their croissants are.

(Plus I think this should count for the one goal I'm not excited to do--reaching out to a neighbor. Don't you think?)

If you want to participate in Connect! 2011, read about it here.

Ruby's First Photo Shoot

We had a great time getting Ruby's pictures taken today!  We got some shots of Ruby and a couple of the cousins in matching outfits for my parents to wallpaper their house with.  Ruby wasn't feeling as smiley as she normally does, but the great thing about her is that she is adorable even when she is looking solemn--or even when she's screaming bloody murder, really.

3 months

In her third month, Ruby weighs about 13ish pounds, and who knows how tall she is.  She's getting too long for a lot of her outfits, so we know she's growing.

Ruby is all smiles these days, talks all the time, and has started laughing at our antics.  She is happiest when she is standing up, or at the very least sitting up.  Her funniest cry is when we try to burp her in the middle of a feeding--she is just so MAD.  She is freakishly strong (especially her neck, legs, and core) and continues to be ridiculously good-natured.  Seriously, she is such a happy baby.  She rarely fusses and cries and is more often squealing with delight than anything else.  Almost every morning now she wakes up smiling.

Oh, and she has now managed to pee in her eye AND in her mouth.  She goes through phases of peeing while I'm changing her diaper.  It's pretty hilarious.

She's outgrown her swaddler, which I'm very sad about.  I now have to swaddle her with a blanket, which I'm proving to be very inexpert about, even with the awesome aden + anais swaddling blankets.  I'll get the hang of it.

Katy and I made this bib. IT IS PERFECT FOR HER.

I'm growing more and more in love with Ruby.  She is so dang cute, sometimes I can't even believe it.  It's almost too much.