And in this corner, weighing 13 and 1/2 pounds...

It's Ruth Nellie!

On Monday, Ruthie turned 3 months. To celebrate, we weighed her. And she came in at 13 and a half pounds! Considering that most babies are 12 lbs at three months, I'd say she is doing great! It's pretty incredible to think that for the past year, I've sustained her life entirely out of my own body. God sure knew what he was doing, huh?

(In case you're wondering, she's in that wrap because she's about to go to bed.)


What a big girl!

New Girl Cousins - Yes, Plural!

I mentioned in a previous post that Ian's sister, Heather, just had a baby girl. Finnley Meredith Matthias joined our family on March 7th and we're so excited!

Here is Ruthie and Finnley - as you can see, Ruthie is already showing Finnley the ropes about how to lift up one's arms. Finnley is catching on!

And in other very exciting news, my sister Mary just had her baby, and it's a girl too!!! I'm so excited. I was trying to play it cool, since we didn't know what she was having, but I really wanted it to be a girl so Ruthie and she could be friends. And I know Mary wanted it to be a girl, too. How great that our wish came true! Clare Sunukjian Matthias was born this morning at 9:15, and I can't wait to meet her. I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from Mary telling me I can come.

I can just see the three of them now, Ruthie, Finnley and Clare, playing, growing up together and being good friends. And I can see Ruthie pulling rank, bossing everyone around just because she's a few weeks older. =)

I'll be back later with a photo of Clare, as soon as I get my hands on her!

In the meantime, I leave you with a Ruthie photo.:

Movie Musings

Last night we saw Ides of March. It's a political drama with several actors that we really like - George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ryan Gosling and Paul Giamani. I was excited to see it, since I usually like movies about politics and the actors were all so strong. While we were watching it, I was very interested and engaged. But after the end of the movie, I felt, I don't know, blank. I don't want to give it away in case any of you want to see it, but it's a pretty brutal look at politicians and the ending is especially harsh.

I know not all of life is rosy, though I do tend to be on the optimistic side. But there were no redeeming characters in this movie. There was no one you could cheer for. I think I've learned that even if a movie is sad or full of brokenness, if I have just one character to root for, it's all right. If you're in the same boat as me, you may want to pass on this movie. There were some profound truths in it for sure, but some things you just don't want to be reminded of, you know?

Life with Ruthie

Apparently, I have the maturity level of a junior higher, because so many of my posts have to do with bodily fluids. But seriously, look at this photo:

Impressive, huh? We weren't even into the park on Sunday when we had to have a complete costume change. Ian did the honors, since all the bathrooms in and around Disneyland have changing tables in both the men's and the women's restrooms. Just another reason we heart the Magic Kingdom!

The past few weeks have been action packed with Ian's side of the family - his sister and family both moved into a new house and had a baby! So we've been hosting grandparents and cousins and helping pack and move and oohing and awing over a new baby. I'll try to get a picture of her up soon. Ruthie is no longer the littlest cousin - now, she has Finnley Meredith Matthias to teach the ropes to!

Anyway, here is Ruthie, snoozing on Grandma. Having all that company wore her out!

Apparently, "tummy time" is very important for a baby's development (not to mention, it can help prevent the flat head syndrome!). So, we try to give Ruthie some tummy time every day. Sometimes, she likes to be propped up on my nursing pillow. Pretty cute, eh?

One of Ruthie's favorite things to do is stand - she thinks she's such a big girl. Here she is a few nights ago at dinner. Aw, look at my cute family!

It's a strange thing, really. We knew we wanted to have kids and we were so excited when we found out we were pregnant and thrilled when Ruthie finally came. But nothing could have actually prepared us for how wonderful it is. This little girl brings us so much joy. Thank you, Lord, for our sweet pea!

Life With Ruthie

We try to fight it, we really do, but we are already turning into those parents who think their baby is the brightest and the best. But you look at these pictures and tell me that she isn't amazing. I dare you to.
And how do you choose? I know these photos are almost the same, but she's so stinkin' cute in both I couldn't decide!

Talk about not being able to decide - check out these photos of our smiley bug-a-boo!

We love our girl!

You Know What's Awkward?

Discussing health plans based on their maternity benefits with a total stranger.

Since leaving full time work, we've had to get health insurance for me and Ruthie (Ian's school doesn't cover families). Because we are also trying to be frugal, we got a pretty cheap plan that doesn't currently include maternity benefits. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but then we got our bill from having Ruthie. $20,788!! Of course, with my DLBA insurance, our portion was only $1,500, but it sobered us up. If we get pregnant sooner than planned, we could be in real trouble.

So, I decided to call the insurance broker and see what our options are. Apparently, the law is changing so that in June, all health insurance plans will have to include maternity benefits. The guy was basically like, "Just don't' get pregnant before June." It was a bit of a strange conversation, trying to assure him we had no immediate plans to get pregnant, but also acknowledging that things are always in our control. Anyway, awkward.

You know what else is awkward? Going to Target and buying one item (to remain unnamed because it's embarrassing enough to even hint at it). But after receiving aforementioned bill, that one item seemed like a REALLY good idea.

Frugal Cooking

It is high time for an update on my frugal cooking attempts. I have become a fairly regular maker of granola, for several reasons. A - Store bought granola is expensive. B - It often contains items I pick out, such as raisins. C - Store bought granola has high fructose corn syrup and other not-so-good-for-you items. The beauty of homemade granola is that it solves all those issues - it's cheaper and way more delicious, plus I control the sugar and fat contents. Win, win, win.

Plus, aside from the stirring (which when you don't have a pooping baby is really not that bad), it's pretty easy. Here are the basic ingredients for the kind of granola Ian and I like - oatmeal, sesame seeds, coconut, almonds, honey, brown sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla:


Of course, since I follow no recipe exactly, I sub out a little of the honey for molasses. I did it the first time out of necessity (we didn't have as much honey as the recipe called for) and Ian and I both liked it so much that I always do it now. And I use less brown sugar than it calls for, because this recipe is already pretty sweet. Also, it technically calls for canola oil, but I don't always have that on hand, so I use vegetable oil. You just mix the dry ingredients and melt the oil and honey/molasses/brown sugar together.

Stir it all together and throw it on a pan lined with parchment paper (makes cleaning SUPER easy).

Out it comes, 20 minutes later (plus a few stirrings), clumpy, crunchy and delicious. Of course, I have a reusable container that just gets filled up each time after I make it. Yummy!In this particular batch, I also threw in some wheat germ and oat bran, because, well, I had it and it sounded virtuous. It came out great!

I am also in the process of making my own vanilla. I bake a lot and vanilla (real vanilla) is expensive. Plus, my sister Sarah wanted to try it out, so we ordered some beans from Madagascar (did you even know you could order beans from that far away?) and man, oh, man, do they smell incredible.

Here are the bean pods:

I had no idea the actual beans were so tiny. But once you slice open the pods to scrap out the beans, they are like tiny little black pin heads.

Anyway, in go the beans and pods into a jar (yes, saved from a used up jar of olives) and then you pour vodka over it. I had NO IDEA vodka was the liquid in vanilla. I guess I never really thought about it before, but isn't that interesting?

Seal the lid, shake the contents and wait...three months.

In May, we should have some delicious vanilla.

Note to self - do not wait to make vanilla until you are out.

I will report back and let you know how it turns out. Or better yet, if you live nearby, why don't you come over from some cookies in May?