Still nursing, although she's slowed down a lot this month. It's not really that she's eating very many more solids either, she's just always on the go and not as interested in stopping to nurse other than at nap time and bedtime.
Up until about halfway through her ninth month, we had been doing 100% baby lead weaning which meant that she just ate whatever we were eating in smaller portions. No spoon feeding and no purees. We've changed that this month and she's had a few purees. I suspect that a few of the things that Jon, Ari, Lucy, and I are able to eat with no problems as older people may have been a little bit too much for Ru's little tummy and she's had some digestive issues. We've slowed down a lot on table foods and tried to stick to nursing and plainer foods including a few purees. She seems to enjoy them and they don't upset her tummy as badly. She's had an apple/blueberry blend, plums and oatmeal, and peaches and oatmeal.
She also tried some yogurt!
Not sure how much yogurt was actually consumed in the feeding of this baby....
This is what it's like trying to eat in a restaurant with a 9 month old. She's all hands and she wants those chips!
Lucy loves to play mommy
Sleep:
She's down to about one nap a day and she's been having a really awful time sleeping at night unless everything is perfectly dark, quiet, still, and I'm right next to her. I really hope this passes because she used to be such a wonderful sleeper.
This is pretty much what we do from 8pm until at least 11pm each night unless she doesn't nap and is utterly exhausted.
My two tired loves
Sleepy sleeping McSleepy tired girl!
Health:
Her top left lateral incisor has appeared! This was a rough one for her and it it seemed to take forever before it finally popped through her gums. We can now see the right one right underneath the surface and again, I suspect that this may be the cause of her poor sleeping habits. Hopefully once this one comes in, she'll get a short break because we haven't seen any sign of any others yet.
Always chewing on something
Milestones:
We had a big one this month.....
Ruby Star is walking! She still prefers crawling as her main mode of transportation because she can get from A to B faster, but she's been able to take over 10 consecutive steps so I think it's safe to say that she's officially walking. I think by next month, she'll be walking more than she's crawling. Daddy called this one last month. He said that he was sure she was going to be walking this month and he was right!
Look at that big girl!
Climbing- this little girl is such a climber! It will not be long before she's able to escape the Pack & Play
We're getting closer and closer to one year old! Next month will be a fun update as we get ready to celebrate Ruby's last first holiday- Halloween! Stay tuned for photos of Ru in her costume and Ru in a pumpkin just like we did with Lu two years ago.
On June 9th, Arianna danced in her second recital with Stafford Dance Center- Billboard #1 Hits! Last year she did a ballet/tap combo class and her routine was tap. This year, she took Ballet I and Tap II as separate classes so she participated in two separate routines in the matinee show as well as an ensemble routine in both the matinee and evening shows. It was a long day for her, but she did great! We're very sad to be leaving Miss Karen and SDC as we head out to Arizona and can only hope to find a studio that's as good for Ari as this one has been.
The week before recital, we had pictures! She didn't do an ensemble photo, the costume was just a black leotard that she already owned and a periwinkle blue skirt.
Ballet Costume
Tap Costume
Recital day went surprisingly smoothly! The girls and I arrived at MVHS at 1pm and help Ari get back into the dressing room where she would spend the majority of her day. We went into the auditorium at 1:30pm and Uncle Bob and Aunt JoAnn arrived just as the lights were dimming for the show to start at 2pm. I was so grateful to have two extra pairs of hands to help with the littles so that I could take photos and video! When the first dance started, I took out my camera to snap some practice shots so that I would be ready to go when Ari went on stage. I turned it on and.....nothing. Completely dead battery. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty heartbroken that I didn't get any photos of Ari's last recital. I tried to snap some with my phone, but unfortunately the stage lights completely washed everything out and we were so far away (when you bring a toddler and a baby to a dance recital, you sit near the back in case you need to make a quick exit) that you wouldn't be able to tell which dancer was Ari anyway. I did get video of the routine though and we ordered the professional DVD so we'll have that.
***You will need to contact me for the password***
Recital:
Once you are logged in, click on the Stafford Dance Recital album and click "Show All". Ari's routines are shown in photos #16-29 and #373-410
Costume photos:
Return to the main page and click on the Stafford Dance Center Portraits and click "Show All". Ari is in photos #14, #15, #22-24, #125, #127, and #132-134
If you wish to order copies, you may do so directly from the website. PLEASE do not attempt to download the images without paying for them as this is theft. The business owners do have a way to track IP's and they have made it clear that they will pursue legal action against anyone downloading the photos illegally. I normally wouldn't even bring this up because I know it won't be a problem among our family members, but sadly some parents from the studio WERE caught doing this so I feel the need to put it out there.
October has been a very exciting month for us! Jon has been traveling a lot for events related to the upcoming election and the girls and I have kept busy by doing lots of fun fall activities. Check out what we've been up to!
At the beginning of the month, the girls and I took a trip out to Cox farms on opening weekend!
At the bottom of a giant haystack. It was pretty elaborate with hidden entrances and "underground" tunnels.
Ari coming out of one of the tunnels.
Climbing a rope to get up to the line leading to the swinging rope.
I think this may have been her first time swinging on a rope and she didn't quite realize how it worked. She started to swing and then let go as soon as it started to move forward, haha.
They had tons and tons of slides!
The was actually a pretty unfortunate event. There were so many big slides that she wanted to go down with Ari, but she didn't meet the height requirement. We finally found this little frog slide and she was so excited to go down. She climbed up all by herself, but when she went to sit down, her feet got caught up underneath her and she fell backwards down the stairs and hit the ground hard. Since I was in front of the slide getting ready to take her picture, I wasn't even there to catch her :( Thankfully it wasn't a big slide at all and she was fine, just a little shaken up.
This was taken seconds before she toppled backwards
She did decided to brave it again with sister's help!
You can tell she's a little bit nervous this time
Milking a real cow!
Her second attempt at the rope went much better! She held on long enough to swing back and forth a few times.
Enjoying a break and some funnel cake
Baby pigs
Picking out their free pumpkins!
Playing on the tractor before heading home
The second week of October, Ari was out of school for Columbus Day so we hosted a Halloween craft playdate at our house! We decorated, made Halloween themed food, and set up a bunch of supplies to make spiderwebs out of paper plates! It was hectic, but we had a lot of fun with our friends.
Ari and I did a test run a few days before and made a couple of examples.
Decorations up!
These are the only photos I got of her beautiful Halloween dress before she stained it with green acrylic paint. I completely forgot to put the paints up before the other kids arrived and Lucy and one of the other little girls found it and painted themselves. The only thing I could find online for removing acrylic paint from clothing didn't work (rubbing alcohol) so the dress now has green splotches :(
Pumpkin veggies!
PB and marshmallow apple teeth!
Not the best picture, but this was supposed to be shaped like a candy corn.
Ghost cupcakes!
Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got of the kids (and I didn't get a picture of the mummy hotdogs) because I was too busy helping everyone while we were doing the craft, but everybody really had a great time!
The third week of October was a busy one! It started mid-week with Arianna's Fall Walk at school. I went on the Spring Walk with her last year when she was in pre-k and the entire thing was about a mile long with only one big hill. I figured even being 36 weeks pregnant that was definitely something that I could handle! Lucy came along as well and since last year pushing the stroller up the hill was a pain and Lucy almost always prefers to walk, I decided against bringing the stroller.
This is how the morning went:
Lucy woke up cranky and I woke up sore. This honestly should have been enough for me to call Arianna's teacher and tell her, "I'm sorry, we will not be able to make it today due to Lucy being too much of a toddler and me being too much of a pregnant lady." Arianna had been talking all week about how excited she was that we were going to be there though and I just couldn't let her down. So off we went!
Like I mentioned above, I was expecting a mile long walk so I didn't bring the stroller or anything other than my phone really. Lucy walked for about 1/4 of a mile before stumbling over some gravel and falling to the ground. She wasn't hurt, but when she saw that her hands and the knees of her pants were dirty, she melted down and completely refused to walk any further. Even the age old, "Ok bye! Mommy is leaving!" *waves*walks away* trick didn't work and I finally realized that I was going to have to carry her. So I carried her for the entire mile. At the one mile mark (I recognized it from last year), the class stopped for a water break before we would turn around and head back.....except that we didn't head back. We kept walking. And walking (and carrying a toddler). And walking (and carrying a toddler while feeling like my hips were going to detach and run screaming from my body). Apparently pre-k does not walk the entire trail; kindergarten does. Good to know! I figured maybe the trail circled around and was relived when I finally saw a school building in the distance. My relief was short lived when I realized that it was NOT Arianna's school, but the elementary school on the other side of the base. At this point, I was convinced that the walk was never going to end. We stopped briefly at the other school and let the kids play and eat the trail mix that they had made the day before, but then it was back to walking. Thankfully, the trail back was shorter and there was only one hill. With a bag of trail mix in hand (which was made up of a lot of marshmallows, M&Ms, sugary cereal, and other goodies), Lucy was more content to walk and we finally made it back to the school in one piece. I may or may not have silently vowed never to walk again although I definitely know of a good trail to walk if I want to start subtly encouraging Ruby to come out!
I didn't get many pictures of the walk because all I had was my phone (thank GOD I didn't not bring my big camera in this particular situation!) and I had Lucy in my arms most of the time.
They did a nature scavenger hunt so they were constantly on the lookout for the things on their lists.
Water break. You can tell what kind of mood she was in.....
Friday evening was Jon's squadron Halloween party and the first time that the girls got to see him all week! He had been in Chicago and they definitely missed him. After Arianna finished with her ballet class, we headed back home, changed the girls into their costumes and headed over to the hanger. The enlisted wives club threw the party and they did a really good job! There was food and a raffle and all of the usual stuff, but the big hit of the night was the bubble wrap that they taped to the floor for the kids to run around on. It was pretty genius and probably really inexpensive!
As soon as we walked in, Lucy headed straight for the cake pops!
I actually don't have many pictures of Ari because she took off to play on the bubble wrap with some friends right after we ate.
Stealing Jon's brownie
Trying to sneak some candy
Bubble wrap!
Saturday afternoon, we finally went and got our pumpkins to carve! I know four days before Halloween seems late to just be getting pumpkins, but last year we got them really early and they were rotten and mushy a week before Halloween so we had to go out and get new ones anyway. I'm not sure if it's the weather that caused it or what, but I didn't want to take a chance.
Next year there will be three of them :)
Happy that daddy got to go with us!
Frustrated and claiming that Na-na (Arianna) stole her pumpkin.
Picking out her own pumpkin
She found one and is now frustrated because it's too heavy for her to pick up. Picking out pumpkins is frustrating business!
Weighing the pumpkins
We took it easy the rest of the afternoon before heading to the Stafford Dance Center Halloween party at 5:30pm! Arianna was really excited about going and it was so much fun!
Happy Halloween from SDC!
She found this leaf and wanted a picture with it.
Painting a baby pumpkin!
They were really freaked out by this mask!
Dance party!
Me looking huge and Jon looking awkward because he didn't want his picture taken.
Doing a cake walk.
She won a cupcake!
Arianna Breakdancing
Lucy dancing outside
Arianna dancing with friends
We wrapped up our pre-Halloween festivities on Sunday with pumpkin carving! We had originally planned to carve them the day that we got them, but everybody needed naps before Ari's dance party so we held off until the following day.
Getting ready to carve!
Last year she was grossed out by the inside of the pumpkin and wouldn't go near it. This year, she insisted on cleaning out her own pumpkin :)
Arianna's pumpkin face.
Helping take the mouth out after daddy carved it!
I'll get a picture of the pumpkins together outside on Halloween! I was in a rush to get this post up just in case we lose power later this evening. We're expecting to get hit by hurricane Sandy sometime between tonight and tomorrow. As of right now (10/28 at 5pm), I'm not entirely sure whether we're even going to be able to go out on Halloween, it will all depend on the weather.
***UPDATE*** Hurricane Sandy blew through yesterday, but for us was nothing more than wind and rain all day. We did lose power a little bit after 5pm, but went to bed at 7pm and it was back on just as we were all waking up around 8am this morning. Very grateful that we weren't hit harder and that crews worked hard to get our power back up so quickly! We didn't even lose any food this time. I'm hearing that those further north, particularly NYC is getting hit pretty hard so please keep all of those affected in your thoughts and prayers!
I am 32 year old working mama of three beautiful daughters. I am a recovering addict with 9 months sober as of June 1st, 2018. My former husband is a wonderful, hard working man and Marine. He has four beautiful daughters and is the best dad a girl could hope for. We all reside in the Arizona desert and are learning our way around co-parenting and being part of a blended family. We have survived many trials and tribulations and are grateful to God for His mercy and grace. My hope for 2018 is that all of our kids continue to be happy, healthy, and that we can continue to work together to give our kids a wonderful childhood.
The best way to describe our oldest daughter is, "one of a kind!" Arianna is her own unique person and sees life as an adventure. She is developing her own interests and style and is excited for the next phase in her life. She is a creative free spirit and she has an imagination that knows no limits!
Arianna loves cooking, baking, art, singing, and FaceTiming with friends. She also loves watching kids cooking challenge shows and is aspiring to be a baker.
Lil' Lady
Lucy is our easy going, but energetic second daughter who absolutely loves her role as a big sister. This young lady is full of personality and a natural entertainer, always putting smiles on the faces of those around her. She is a wonderful friend and truly values friendship.
Lucy loves swimming, gymnastics, helping others, and playing on the iPad.
Big Baby Sis
Ruby Estelle is our sweet and sassy little girl! She LOVES babies and is thrilled to have a baby sister to help take care of. She is small, but fierce and is determined to keep up with her older sisters.
Ruby loves cuddling, sleeping in, playing with her dolls, and bathroom humor (yup, we're going through THAT phase).
