I wanted to tell you about Ruby’s BIGGEST fans…they are these special ladies named Faith and Hope. They were at the hospital the day she was born.

And their mom, one of my bestest of friends and an amazing mentor, kind of likes Ruby too…

I don’t get any attention anymore. Lindy doesn’t get any attention anymore…Ruby is LOVED by these 2 little ladies. She gets ALL the attention.

We went to DC for Thanksgiving. Faith and Hope took care of our cats. We came home on Saturday night and every dirty dish that I had left in the sink was clean. The dishwasher was even cleaned out. These girls have a heart of serving and have been a blessing to watch grow up into young ladies. I am excited to see them grow up and figure out how they can serve Jesus with their lives.

AND they were big fans of Lindy too. Can you see any resemblances below of Lindy with Ruby above? Yes, the two pictures below are of Lindy. UNCANNY!

If you have a baby, BEWARE! These girls will smother your baby with so much love! If they were just old enough to babysit…I’d give them a call all the time.

It’s back! McKmama has brought back “Not Me Mondays” where she posts her crazy stories by being brutaly honest. I have decided to post as well. Read some of my old ones.

Surprisingly, this weeks has a lot to do with grossness. Weird.

So, as I was trying to figure out this nursing thing with Ruby and trying to get my supply up, there is no WAY I even remotely considered having my 4 year old nurse so that my supply would be ramped up. Nope. I never would have had that conversation with my husband. Gross.

Our washing machine broke. I went to the laundromat about 3 weeks ago and in the meantime, I haven’t been able to find a few of our clothes, specifically, my favorite shirt. I decided I must have left something in a washing machine. I did go back last night to see if they had kept any clothing from the machines and I did NOT proceed to dig through bags of moldy laundry to try and find our stuff. Gross (P.S. I did not find the clothing).

Lindy and I decided to tackle her room and get it cleaned. She tends to take out every piece of clothing in her dresser and throw them on the ground. When we were all done cleaning, she did not say, “Mommy, I found 3 rotten apples in my room. The more older they get the more rotten they get. The more rotten they get the more squishy they get.” I always make sure her bedtime snack is cleaned up before I go to bed. I would NEVER let 3 apples rot on her nightstand before cleaning it up. Gross.

We had a special weekend in Pittsburgh a few weekends ago and we made a point to make it to the event. We had our annual Pittsburgh dance event: The PittStop Lindy Hop! Every major city hosts one of these exchanges during the year. People from all over the country come in to dance with each other. We hosted two people from Baltimore in our home -a great way to meet other people who love the dance and music as much as we do!

I was able to secure some trusty babysitters and went to 2 dances. I was nervous about a babysitter, I haven’t left Ruby with too many people. I figured she would cry all night or not eat or cry or I don’t even really know. Hah. The first night, she fell asleep and didn’t wake up the entire time. The second night was pretty similar. Go figure. I think she puts on an act just for momma.

Friday night I went by myself. Not as much fun without my hubby. I was very self conscience about my weight. Ugh. I was annoyed. I clearly got looked over because of it. Someday it’ll come off. Just gotta work hard at it (and no it is not Ruby baby weight…it is Everett baby weight). I’m already down to my pre-Ruby weight, but it is all leftover from my Everett weight. Just 45 pounds to lose. Ugh. I think most of it is tied to my diabetes regiment as well.

Saturday night was way more fun with Dale. We did the shim sham and most of the time I just fake my way through it. I need to sit down and seriously learn how to do it. I’ve been dancing for *ahem* 15 years now and I don’t do the shim sham well. At the VERY end of the dance, at midnight, they had a jam session where the band actually came out onto the floor and played in the middle of it. The Gordon Webster band was AMAAAAAZING. Check him out!

Can you see Dale and I above?

I’m so glad Dale and I still enjoy dancing together -I love being in his arms and sharing such amazing music together. We had a great date night and enjoyed meeting lots of new people. The Lindy Hop IS how Dale and I met. I searched all over the internet for my “how I met Dale” story that was published online at the Cornerstone Festival blog and I could not find it anymore. bummer. Someday I’ll share our story again.

Every once in a while, I get behind on all the pictures and stories that I want to tell, so I created a hodgepodge of stories. Usually ends up just being a “mess of stories.” Oddly enough, this one has a lot to do with animals. I did NOT plan it that way. weird.

While we were in the hospital for heart surgery, I signed Ruby up for “Pet Therapy”, rather I signed myself up for it. If you know me, you know how much I LOVE animals -especially dogs. Well, the very last hour we were in our hospital room, a fabulous dog stopped in to visit us -Shiloh. Amazingly gorgeous dog that I couldn’t help but get on the floor with and cuddle. The owner actually mentioned she had never seen an adult get so excited about the dog. What can I say. Look how beautiful he is! And because I’m a dork…check out the video.

Ruby loves her play mat -especially the toucan.

Remember when our cat got hit by a car shortly after Ruby came home from the hospital the first time? And did I ever mention the 2 new additions to our family? Well, long story short, one time, months ago, when we got really bad news about Ruby, we made a purchase that was well…furry in nature. We were just going to the store to “look” at cats. Well, we went and found one we loved. It was a done deal. BUT it was cheaper to by 2 cats than just one. They had 1000 kittens THAT month alone and they were trying to get rid of them. Well, we walked out with 2 sisters, we named Alaska and Kansas. Looking back, probably not the best purchase. I can’t even remember what we were so upset about the day we bought them. Oh well. We all love them now.

Alaska thinks she owns the play mat that Ruby lays on. And being even BIGGER dorks. We didn’t realize that our pet’s names are all states until we had them for a week. Just to clarify…the dog is “Indiana Jones”.

The cats wondering why the dog can’t get through the door.

I think I’ve decided that Ruby is just going to be a bad eater and sleeper and I just need to jump on board with it and pray I don’t lose my mind. It really just hit me this week -I don’t think things are going to change, outside of a divine miracle. We meet with a GI doctor next week, but I’m not sure what they can/will find. We thought she lost weight last week and then this week, we weighed her and she was up 6oz to a total of 13 pounds! So, she is eating enough to keep gaining weight I guess.

She also rolled over yesterday for the first time! She has been throwing her legs over to one side and then yesterday she went all the way over! She is getting more and more fun each day -we are enjoying her smiles and coos and strong spirit.

Last Tuesday, we were sitting at our dining room table for lunch and I decided to drive to DC to surprise and see my sister. Our days and weeks get long since Dale is rarely around. We miss him a lot. Lindy and I packed up our bags, cleaned the house and then us three ladies and the dog got in the car. Not too bad of a trip, only 4 hours and Ruby and Lindy were troopers. We had a great visit. Lindy and her cousin Kellyn start out playing good and end well but the middle time is always a bit rough. They both need their space and they both like to lead the playtime.

Uncle Kavan babysit one night and Liz and I went and watched a movie, “In Time.” It was incredible. Seriously. LOVED IT. Very entertaining. Ruby ALWAYS falls asleep in Uncle Kavan’s arms. He is awesome.

Then, on Saturday at 7am, Lindy and Ruby and I were sitting on our couch and IN WALKS DALE!!!!!! He took a bus to DC and literally had 29 hours free to spend with us and DRIVE home with us. I was glowing that I had my husband. We got a babysitter and then the 4 of us went out for dinner. The five of us (dog, 2 kids and 2 adults) BARELY fit in the car on the way home.

Well, (mom) is that a good enough update? ha. Hope you all enjoyed the stories.

Well, folks. We made it our first week, how’d you do?! Were you able to carve out time to meet with Jesus? To read His Word and to talk to Him? I had a few rough days, including one day that I didn’t do it first thing and then planned on doing it later and later and later…until it was too late and I was crawling into bed. Remember, it is not about being perfect, it is about being intentional -even when we don’t “feel” like it.

Lindy usually sleeps until 8:30 or 9. One morning, I got up at 7am and guess who came walking down the stairs at 7:15? Little miss Lindy. Up a whole hour early.

I finished the book of Job and have moved onto Daniel.

I have a friend who is going through a rough time right now, she said earlier this week, since she started the challenge, she has felt her heart soften. I understand completely. That really stuck out to me, that my heart has softened too. To God. To Dale. To my kids. To the bitterness inside me.

I even found myself wanting to spend more time in prayer -there is SO MUCH to pray about.

Anything stick out to you as you were investing your time?