Our Weekend

We had a really great Saturday. First we drove around Mt. Hood with my parents (it was supposedly the "bloom festival" but none of the orchards had any flowers on them). Then we ate a big yummy lunch with pasta salad and mini sandwiches and strawberries and chocolate. Then we went to the Rhododendron garden near Reed College. It was so beautiful and we took lots of really great pictures. It was the perfect day too, which is lucky in Oregon; it was around 7o degrees and sunny! When we got back to my parent's house we ate home made sausage and mushroom pizza. Then they watched Ruth while Brad and I bummed around Wal-Mart and bought 188 diapers. We all watched Saboteur, a Hitchcock and then drove home. It was such a pleasant and relaxing day.

My Birthday

So it's been more than a week since my b-day but it was soooo wonderful so I have to write about it. The best was that Brad totally surprised me with tickets to WICKED! My mom and I went (Brad's not into musicals) and we had such a blast! I hadn't seen the show before and it was marvelous. We were worried when we heard the understudy was playing Glinda, but you wouldn't even know. But the star of the show is definitely Elpheba, her voice was incredible. I just got goosebumps when she sang. I loved at the end of Defying Gravity how she was lifted up into the air...wow. This show was definitely comparable to Mary Poppins in London. I was so in love with the music I had Brad download it as soon as I got home from the show. Thanks honey!

My parents also got me a beautiful pot of flowers (orange gerbers in the middle surrounded by little purple flowers) and some chairs to put on our deck...yay. Once it gets a little warmer it will be so nice to sit out there, especially since Brad got a grill for his graduation present!

I also got these great oil scents from my bro and sister in law which we've used up half of. Then my friend Katy Wall came into town for her spring break and she took me and Ruth to the zoo! We had so much fun looking at all the animals. My favorites were the sealions an the otters. Ruth liked the polar bears and we all loved the birds. It was so amazing. They were really tame and would fly right up to you and right in front of your face. I was just glad that none of them pooped on Ruth!

I also got my sewing machine and supplies, but that was more of a graduation present from Paula and Asa. I went to my sewing lesson to learn how my machine works and went right home and made a table cloth. It doesn't sound like it would be hard to make a table cloth but I wanted it to look really nice. I stitched over the edges so they won't fray when I wash it and then did a cool decorative stitch with contrasting thread. It looks really pretty.

Thank you everyone for such a great birthday! In other news, Ruth has continued to nap really well (1 to 2 1/2 hours for two or three times a day) and has started rolling over again!

Ruth Has a Tooth!!!

Ruth has been eating rice for about 2 weeks so I decided it would be fun to try a new food. Today she had green beans and loved them! (I actually tasted a bit and they are really good!) My neighbors brought us some baby food that was apparently "too rich" for their baby. So yay! She ate a heaping tablespoon of green beans, and didn't even make that big of a mess!

After she ate her food I was cleaning her up - wiping her face down - when I stuck my finger in her mouth and felt a very sharp prick! Oh my goodness, can it really be? I probed further and realized that the last two of her crankiness and everyone telling me that she was teething has paid off! She's been much happier the past 3 or so days and I figured it was just a weird phase, but today her tooth has finally poked through! I can't express how proud I feel. It's the strangest thing to say that I'm proud of her growing a tooth but that's the only word that expresses how I feel. I'm so proud of my girl. I can't wait for Saturday, when Brad can stick his finger in Ruth's mouth too!

TOYS AND A BIG THANKS!

Ruth has really been into toys lately but she has a hard time playing with them because she can't quite sit up on her own. I jerry-rigged this play stand for her from a shelf that we have. This way her toys can hang down at her while she's laying on her back. She seems to like it a lot. I really like that the shelf is on top so she can look up and see her toy that flashes lights to the rhythm of classical music. YAY!

I now must thank Dani and Kamille for informing me that 30 minute naps were not normal. Ruth is now taking two 2+ hour naps a day...HALLELUIA! Now I have time to do the dishes, laundry and read without feeling like a bad mom for neglecting my child who just wants to play. THANK YOU!

We also had a fun outing this last weekend. We went to Chipotle for lunch...DELICIOUS...and then went to a chair outlet store and then to the Home and Garden show at the expo center. It was pretty much for the hippies of Portland but we had fun looking at the organic baby clothes and new designs for electric cars.

Big Girl

I'm just shocked how pretty my girl is. We both miss Brad a lot. We're glad that we are half way done with being apart. It's been really nice to have family close by so I don't feel so alone. My ward has also been super great. Sunday during church a lady asked if Ruth and I wanted to go over to their house for dinner. I told her I didn't have a car and so she sent her son to pick me up. I spent 3 hours with their big family laughing, eating and watching the Amazing Race. And it seems that everyone in the ward is that friendly. That makes it much easier and more homey to feel like I already have friends in this new place. Since we don't have a tv, but do have the internet Hulu.com has become my favorite new thing. I've been watching the most recent season of Hell's Kitchen.

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Ruth is now wearing 6-9 month clothes even though she's barely 4 months old. This is her sporting her purple sweat suit. She was feeling pretty gangster that day.

I am once again connected to the world wide web. I have missed you for the last week as we traveled to Oregon, unpacked, met my new boss and several strange tenants, gotten sick, cured diaper rash and begun feeding solid foods. Ruth and I are completely settled except for 2 boxes of books that we have no shelf room for! Today my relief society president came over to visit and is totally amazing. And I just got a call from another young mom in the ward, Eliza, who is coming over tomorrow to visit! Yay for friendly people. In a few hours my older brother will be here to deliver my new washer and dryer (well I bought them used and refurbished, but they're new to me)! Have I mentioned that I once again have the internet...ha ha ha. Living for a week without it has been hard! Especially since my stupid phone keeps dying for no reason...no dead zones, HA, try my apartment Verizon!

So here is a picture of our living room. The room in the back with the filing cabinet and baby swing will soon have our dining room table and to the right of that room is our kitchen.

This is our office. It still looks cluttered in this picture. And it's a lot bigger than it looks in this picture. to the left of the desk is a huge closet and baby's bed.


So the adventures of solid food eating have begun. Yesterday was a mess, it was like the scene in Beauty and the Beast where the Beast picks up his bowl of porridge and scarfs it down and has food all over his face and slopped it on the table. Today was much improved, she learned very quickly that she doesn't get food if she puts her hands in her mouth. And I could really tell that she likes the rice cereal because every time I took the spoon away she would whine until I brought it back and she would slurp it all down.

Here is a video of another thing Ruth has started doing since moving to Oregon.



Oh! In other really exciting baby news, yesterday Ruth took a 3 hour nap! YES! And then she went to bed at 9 pm and slept until 4, do the math that is 7 blissful hours of uninterrupted sleep...because yes I also went to bed as soon as she did. After she ate she slept until 7:30. I almost feel like a normal person again. And I have time to do things around the house...oh yeah, and my job!

Letters to God

I thought these were good.

A Conversation With Oregon

Me: That's what I said, this weekend; we're getting the moving truck on Wednesday, and driving out Friday the 13th...I just realized it would be FRIDAY THE 13TH! But I don't think that's a bad omen ;)
Oregon: Wow, I can't wait to see you? But what about Brad finishing school?
Me: Well, he's just driving the moving truck out and then he's taking the car back to Utah to finish up school. That stinks. But this way he'll be able to really focus on school, finish up, and by the time he's done we're hoping he'll be able to come out and have a job.
Oregon: So where are you going to stay until Brad comes out?
Me: Well, the apartment managing job I got gives us free rent in a 2 bedroom apartment with...A DISHWASHER! For the first time in 3 years we'll have a dish washer, I can't wait. The first thing I'm going to get is one of those little plastic bins to wash binkis and bottles in!!! The other funny thing is that I told my friend Katy, whose parents live in Tigard, and she said we'll be in her parent's ward. We'll also be really close to the temple and to Joe, Meg and Brynn. Well, here's a pic of baby Ruth so you'll recognize her.

A Family of Hobbits and a Family of Elves

I found a site where you can generate you hobbit name and your elvish name. Here are ours:

Hobbit:
Katie - Tigerlily Boffin of Whitfurrows
Brad - Togo Boffin of Whitfurrows
Ruth - Esmereldat Boffin of Whitfurrows

Elvish:
Katie - Tári Mithrandír
Brad -Mablung Mithrandír
Ruth - Andúnë Mithrandír

If you want to know your own, go to http://www.chriswetherell.com/hobbit/

Nap Time! Finally

(This picture was taken at the risk of waking the baby and to provide proof of baby's napping ...and of course she DID wake up the second the flash went off.)

I have a napper! After 3 1/2 months she finally will lay down for a nap; I cannot express my elation! She sleeps just over an hour in the late morning (usually 11) and then takes two or three 30 minute naps in the afternoon/evening. She still doesn't go to bed until 10ish, but hey 10 beats 4 am any day of the week.

She has also cultivated her slobbering and grasping. I feel worried that she might be teething or "pre-teething" if that's real because she has started to drool on a constant basis...tons of sticky spit. She also is very interested in gnarling on my knuckles. I say gnarling because she does not just suck on them she chews and bites, I would even say attacks my knuckles. Brad pulled down her toys this week and she also went to town on them. I was so excited that she could hold onto the toys. And even more excited once she figured out how to maneuver them into her mouth. It was hilarious because at first she tried getting her fist in her mouth while holding the toy...which wasn't working. But after a few minutes she realized can get just the toy into her mouth; what a smart girl.


In other news I've started running. I was looking at myself yesterday and recognized my face but not my body. I had been exercising before I took my trip to Oregon, but vacation got me out of the habit. And now I'm back on track (more than a month later). Today was a total of 26 blocks, most of it was speed walking but you have to start somewhere. Anyways, I'm feeling good and will hopefully be able to report some weight loss in the next couple months.

A New Game!

I love that Ruth is actually looking at the camera in this picture.

Brad discovered a new game to play with Ruth this weekend. I love when they play because Ruth's laugh is really funny...listen.

Bear Suit or a New Bed for the Red-Head

My mom got this little snow-suit for Ruth to wear that looks like a pink bear. I love this picture because it looks like she is growling. This face also reminds me of Mowgli from Disney's Jungle Book when he sees a girl for the first time. I put her in the suit so we could go on a walk to the post office and Smith's. I thought I'd try out putting her in the stroller without the carseat. She stayed awake for a lot more of the walk than normal because she could look around.

And of course I have to include another picture of Ruth in the bath. I decided I would start leaving her little blue tub inside the big tub because she makes a huge mess with all her splashing. She's also big enough that now I don't have to leave the little hammock in to support her, she can just sit up in it!


I dyed my hair red today, but you can't really tell in this picture. But the really exciting news is that Brad and I finally got a new bed set! We had been using Brad's old one for the last three years and it had finally gotten so many tears and holes in it that we got a new one. And because I'm such a great bargain hunter we found this complete bed set for $35: originally $129! Hooray for the clearance aisle in Target.

As you can see, Ruth was the first to enjoy the new bed.

The Number 3 or the Curse of the Bald Spot

Tomorrow Ruth will be 3 months old. I took a picture of her in a church outfit, the same outfit I put her in at three weeks old. You can really see a change! At 3 weeks the sleeves had to be rolled up, her tights are loose on her legs and the shoes didn't fit. At 3 months her head is a totally different shape and the dress is way shorter!


In exciting 3 month old news, last night Ruth rolled over. I was on the bed and I flipped her onto her tummy. When I looked back down at her she was on her side kicking her legs. As I watched she slowly but surely pushed herself all the way over onto her back. My eyes were filled with tears. It is so exciting to watch my baby grow and change and develop. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right to see that she is developing and learning new tricks. I'm so proud of her. I wanted to make sure this was not just a fluke, so after hugging and kissing and praising her for her hard work I put her back on her tummy. This time it didn't take so long, she got right to work: dropping her shoulder, kicking her legs and pushing with her other arm. YAY!

Because of all this growing and developing she is also wiggling a lot. And that wiggling has rubbed a huge bald spot into the back of the poor girls head.


In other news, we went to the Market Street Grill yesterday for lunch. All I can say is WOW. I don't even like fish that much but I guess that if it's prepared well it's delicious. My new favorite food is scallops: delicious!

How to Care for Books

April is coming near. This means two things for Katie and I: Graduation and moving. In anticipation of the move I have started to gather boxes and pack certain things we don't use that often. Some of those things include books. The other night I was placing books in a box when Katie interrupted me to inform me that if I didn't want to ruin the books, I was to put them spine down. Her knowledge of book care was gained while working at BYU library for most of her undergraduate schooling. This was not the first time I had heard how to pack books correctly. In fact, today as I was cleaning out my nightstand, I found this comic I drew for her during the first year of our marriage:

















It is funny how objects and subjects surface and resurface together. You will be thinking about someone one day, and then the next day you run into them. I often wonder if coincidences are real. what do you think?

Happy Valentine's Day

So I totally surprised Brad today with an early Valentine's Day treat. We don't normally do anything but I woke up this morning after having a dream about a great spaghetti surprise. So, I got up, got Ruth ready, and we went and picked up a few things from the store. By the time we got back (we walked) it was nearly noon, so I only had 2 hours to pull the whole thing off. First of all I had to clean the apartment because it was a mess. I had to set up a special eating area in our back room. Then I had to get cookin'! I made special spaghetti with hot sausage and baguette crisps and Sprite with frozen strawberries for ice and dessert was cheesecake with a home-made strawberry sauce, YUM! I picked Brad up from school and he was completely shocked when we got home. The best thing too was that Ruth was so cooperative during all my cleaning and cooking. I put her in the swing and talked to her and she was just as content as could be. However, by the time Brad got home she was ready to spend the rest of the day being held and cuddled...but she earned it for being so great!
And in case you were wondering...she still loves bath-time and has recently discovered that she loves the feeling of her bath towel!

These are some other pictures from the week.

This is me and baby just hanging out. I was so excited that I had a hair clip that matched her outfit!

Baby also won her big fight, this is her cooling down in her swing afterwards.

And this is Brad, sympathizing with baby when she was a little grumpy.