Incident

Dear Local Target Employees,

I want to apologize for the scene you may have witnessed in your store today.  You see, I was the one who was running through the housewares aisle with a screaming baby.  I can assure you that I had made all the proper precautions to ensure this wouldn't happen: the baby had been fed, changed, and should have been sleeping.  You'd think the stroller and car ride would have lulled her into a peaceful slumber, but no, my child eludes every sleep plan thrown at her.  I did not mean to practically knock down customers in order to make my way to the door, but when a baby is screaming like a wild banshee, well, you'd probably do the same.  Oh, and yes, that was my full shopping cart left in the middle of the store.  I realize one of your employees had to put all those items back, but surely it was worth it in order to have the frazzled mom and screaming child out of there ASAP.

Please, please forgive me.  I understand that today I was "that mom." The one who leaves her full cart in order to get her kid out of the store.  The one who plows through customers to get to the door quickly.  The one who has a kid that can be heard from the opposite end of the store.  I take full responsibility.  I wish I could say it won't happen again, but I'm learning that sometimes I just have no control.

                                                                                                        My deepest apologies,
                                                                                                        Julie


P.S. - Look, it worked....she was like this by the time I got home!

P.P.S. - Okay, the truth is she woke up as soon as I took this pic.  Still, I wanted to capture the image just to know that it's actually possible for her to sleep at all.

Photo Tour: The Nursery

I have finally finished the nursery.  Well, mostly finished the nursery.  There are still a few finishing touches, but it's basically done.  I'm really proud of how it turned out and I definitely couldn't have done it without Noa's help and advice from friends and family.  I really hope that Ruby is happy in there when she moves out of our room.

I began the design process by looking at photos of nurseries online.  I saved the photos I liked and then looked for common themes among them.  The common traits seemed to be gray walls, white trim, and punches of color.  Using those elements, I began creating a room for Ruby that was clean, crisp, but still childlike, but didn't break the budget.  It's hard to say what I like the best about the space.  I think the best part is how it all came together so well and fulfilled my original vision.  

Without further ado, welcome to your photo tour of Ruby's room!

I think she likes it!

Sources:

Book Slings: made by Grandma

Book Shelves, Dresser, Fur, Round Mirror, small lamp, frames: Ikea

Chair: yard sale

Ottoman, Crib Skirt, Blanket, Artwork: Etsy

Number Flash Cards & Changing Pad Cover: Land of Nod

Floating Shelf & Capiz Chandelier: West Elm

Jenny Lind Crib: Amazon

Flag Bunting: made by a friend

"R" monogram: Anthropologie

Don't Go, Grandma!

We were so blessed to have Carol, Noa's mom, out here to visit for two weeks.  She was a huge help to both of us with keeping up with the house, Ruby, and giving us a chance to go out on a date now and then.  We loved sharing our lives with her: meeting our friends, walking around town, or just hanging out at home.

It's amazing how fast time flies when loved ones are in town.  We said good-bye to her last night as she traveled back to her home.  Thankfully, we'll see her again in a few months.

Love you, Grandma!  Come back soon!

Go Pats!

We're super excited around here about the New England Patriot's win yesterday over the Baltimore Ravens to clinch the AFC Championship title. 

You can tell that Ruby is a little worried on how they'll play against the NY Giants in the Superbowl in a couple of weeks.  Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Go Pats!!

Snow Day

We had our first snow of the season last night.  We woke up to a beautiful winterwonderland that caused school closings, traffic problems, and outdoor revelry all over western Washington.  When I went outside to take pictures, I could hear the neighborhood kids having a blast sledding nearby. 

We got about 8 inches in our neighborhood, but the accumulation totals really varied around the state.  Some areas definitely got more than a foot.

I think our little blue house looks so cute in the snow.

Noa still had to go to work this morning, but was sent home early (yeah!), so we spent the day hanging pictures and shelves in Ruby's room, working on a puzzle with his mom, and relaxing by the fireplace.  Ruby spent most of the day doing this.*

 All in all, it was a fun snow day.

* Don't worry, she's always supervised when laying on her tummy.  

2 Months

Today is Ruby's 2 month birthday, so I pulled out the 12-month onesie, the quilt and the camera to document her growth.  

Here she is: Ruby at 2 months old (giving the classic Ruby "look")

Age: 2 months

Weight: a little over 8 pounds

Length: 21.5-ish inches

Sleep: usually a 3- 4 hour stretch at night, still wakes 1-2 hours after that, doesn't nap much during the day, but will occasionally have a marathon nap

Eating: exclusively breastfed, will accept a bottle

Appearance: blue eyes, light brown hair

Ruby is beginning to grow out of her newborn clothes (she is getting too long for them) and began wearing 0-3 month clothing.  She also began wearing cloth diapers part-time (we are comparing the different kinds before buying a large set).  She can often be found nestled in the Moby wrap, hanging out in her swing, or getting carried around the house.  Ruby began smiling and making cooing/babbling sounds around seven weeks old.  We can tell her eyesight is improving - she loves to look at picture books, mirrors, skylights, and faces.  Oh, and she loves baths!  She's lays in the baby tub contently and smiles and coos.  She is learning to use her face for expressing emotions and boy, can this girl can make a face!  One minute she'll smile and the next, she'll give us "the look" with heavily furrowed eyebrows.

Here's a few more photos from today:

Happy girl!

Giving "the look" again and again (this girl has some intense eyebrows):

Not happy one bit:

Calmed and happy again:

And lastly, a close up:

Afternoon in Port Townsend

With Noa's mom (Carol) in town and Noa off of work for the day, we decided to go to Port Townsend for the afternoon.  Although it was chilly, it was a clear day and we walked around the downtown area after lunch.  I took my camera along in order to get a few pics of our afternoon.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering, Part 1

I've been interested in cloth diapering for years, long before I had my own child.  They've come a long way since I was a babe and the cost savings* won me over.  Plus, I'm always looking for ways to reduce our trash output (seriously, it's amazing how much trash one small family can generate!).

Although I have wanted to try this, it's still an intimidating undertaking.  It does require an initial investment and there are specific ways to launder them in order to keep the diapers in top shape.  So, I'm taking baby steps with this whole process and trying to be realistic.  For example, I know that I won't use cloth diapers 100% of the time.  I'm sure there will be times when disposables make sense, but I hope to make cloth our primary method of diapering.  

Last Friday, I went with my friend Amy (who's expecting her own little one in a couple of months) to a specialty cloth diaper shop in downtown Olympia called Simple Cloth.  After spending about 3 hours in there and asking the sales lady about a million questions, Amy and I both walked out with bags of diapers.  I decided to try several different kinds of pocket diapers: bumGenius, Thirsties (size 1, duo diaper), and Fuzzibunz (perfect sized).  I also picked up one cover (Flip) with three inserts and ordered some all-in-ones from bumGenius.

So, today was day one and Ruby seemed intrigued. Here she is modeling her Bum Genius 4.0 one size pocket diaper, which is a little puffy for her skinny little self, but she'll grow into it.  

First, she's happy...

Then, she decided to give her best Elvis impression.  

And then, she just wasn't sure about the whole diaper situation after all.

But I think we'll make it.

I'll keep the blog updated on our progress in a few weeks.  For now, I'm staying hopeful and positive and reading about a gazillion cloth diaper websites in my "free" time.

On a random note, don't you just love how her hair is sticking up?!  

*Cloth diaper calculator & Reasons to Cloth Diaper

Baby Steps

My family has left to go back home to NH.

Noa is back to working overnight shifts.

And I took the baby out by myself.

Okay, so it might have taken until 3 o'clock that day to leave the house with her, but I did it.  

We did it.  

We enjoyed a beautiful Poulsbo sunset together by the marina. 

The new year is looking promising, as long as I just keep taking baby steps.