10 Months, Cruises, Christmas!

Hey Everyone,

I feel like life has not slowed down one bit since having Ruby 10 months and 2 days ago. That's ok. I would rather be busy than idle. I can't believe that Ruby is 10 months old. I feel like even more now than before she changes. Her personality comes out more and more each day and let me tell you. She is such a goof ball and I love it! She is honestly the happiest baby! I can't say that she has always been so happy. Remember the time that I was basically starving her? Yeah, she wasn't as happy then. :) She has been standing on her own for a couple of weeks now. Each time gets a little bit longer and longer. Her smirk keeps getting a little bit bigger while doing it. She's getting more and more confident and I don't think it will be long before she is taking the heel toe express. She did take one step the other day. I think on accident, but a step nonetheless. I feel like the hemangioma on her head keeps getting a little bit bigger. The hemangioma is really soft, but doesn't bother her any. Thankfully she is blissfully unaware. Some of you may know, but I had one on my forehead until I was about 4. Apparently they grow and grow until around age 1 and then gradually start decreasing in size until gone. You can have them surgically removed, but it isn't necessary. I didn't have mine removed. I still have a little bit of an indent actually on my forehead from it. At least Ruby's is on her head and will easily be covered by her hair. And if it isn't, I shall call it her beauty mark. ;)

Our cruise was a lot of fun. I was pretty nervous about it actually. I didn't know how Ruby would do on the plane, on the ship, how she would nap, how she would sleep at night, etc. Let me just tell you though, she was AMAZING! I honestly don't think she could have traveled any better. She had a nasty cold and ear infection the week and a half leading up to the cruise. It made me so sad to see her sick like that. I was worried that her ears would hurt her on the airplane. Well, God is good and prayers were definitely heard because her cold cleared up completely the day before we left and her ears didn't bother her one bit on the airplane or anytime for that matter. I was so happy to not have to use the nose sucker on vacation! Ben didn't fly with us on the way to Miami unfortunately. He wanted to put in one more day of work as he doesn't have a whole lot of leave. 2 babies in 2 years doesn't leave a lot of extra time I guess. haha. Waoooops. Anyway, I flew out in the morning with my mom, Jon and his family, Sarah and her family, and my first nephew Jaz. Ruby and I had a window seat. I broke the ice immediately with the kid (maybe in his early 20's) and told him that if Ruby got unruly that I was handing her off to him. He laughed and kept talking to me, so I didn't scare him off. Ruby fell asleep in my boba carrier about 20 minutes before boarding. Of course she woke up right before taking off. I panicked when she started crying and tried getting her bottle ready super fast so she would have it during takeoff. Well, I ended up pouring half of the bottle of water down my shirt. Oops. We got it worked out and she drank her bottle while we took off. She then played and was very curious. She fell asleep with about an hour left in the flight and woke up just in time for our landing. She was able to have another bottle to help with her ears. The cruise itself was a lot of fun as well. Not as easy having to work around a 2 naps a day little girl, but it was still fun. Ruby got to meet the disney characters and load up on some great food. The only bummer part was when we had our sailing day, we were traveling through rain and wind. This made for a pretty rocky boat ride. Who knew a giant ship could rock that much. Well, it did and it left Ben feeling a little green all day. He hung out in bed for most of the day trying to catch some relief. I think there was one member from each family who was sick. We went to a show that night and I kept waiting for one of the dancers to fall. It didn't happen. They must be used to it. haha. Anyway, our flight back went well too. This time I had Ben next to me, which was a big help He is a great entertainer and Ruby sure loves her dad!

Christmas! For those of you that know me well, you know that winter and Christmas time is my absolute favorite. Honestly, living in Alaska for 3 years made me love and appreciate winter more than I ever did before. I think the snow is absolutely gorgeous and such a great reminder that our sins are washed clean. Christmas is a great time of togetherness and it just seems like everyone around you is a little more cheerful. It seems like this year with everything going on around us in the world, we all need a little more cheer and most of all we all need a little more Jesus. I'm thankful for Jesus' birth and it is my prayer that He is the reason for this season. It is so easy to become wrapped up in the lights, the trees, the presents, and great family time and forget why we celebrate in the first place. I'm excited for Ruby to witness Christmas for the first time (outside the womb) So far she is more into the lights plugged into our outlet cover instead of the tree itself. I'm ok with that. I'm not sure that will stick, but here is some wishful thinking. I put up our little Charlie Brown tree in Ruby's room. It is fun praying with Ruby. She witnesses Ben and I praying and honestly whether we are praying at dinner or whatever, she silently just watches. Ruby is not that silent. It is just really cool to see her notice something a little different. I also sing to her every morning when I go get her in the morning This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it......She gets the biggest grin and dances away in her crib. It's my favorite. Anyway, this just goes back to my prayer of teaching Ruby about God and praying that she will grow up to follow Him. I think Christmas is such a great time to step back and focus on God and be thankful. Thanks for reading this long post! I appreciate all of you! Merry Christmas!!