Weight Watchers

So, Jared and I started Weight Watchers together about 6 weeks ago. Together, we have 100 pounds to lose (actually, split pretty evenly too. Ok, I have five more pounds to lose than him...) As of this week we've lost 24 pounds together. (and yes, Jared has lost more than me, but he's a man, so I'm not taking it personally). Quite an achievement. He can wear a suit he hasn't worn in a while, and I noticed last night at taekwondo that he's looking a lot better in his uniform, namely the shirt that used to accentuate his belly is now baggy there. Nice job, honey! Looking good!!!

Ruby's 2 month pictures

Here she is, two months old. I really can't believe it. She continues to be a sweet sweet baby. At her 2 month checkup yesterday, she was exactly 10 pounds. This makes her 25% for weight, 25% for height, and 35% for head circumference, which is a first for us. They boys have always had little heads. Which means she has to work harder at tummy time to get that huge noggin up:)

It was our last visit to this pediatrician, who has seen the kids since Pearl's first newborn visit. She will be sorely missed. Especially when she looked at the growth rate and mentioned that Ruby's rate of growth has slowed considerably, then in the next breath said that it was probably genetics working on her. How nice is it to have a pediatrician who knows without looking it up that all my other kiddos were 5-15% kids? Sigh.

Anyways, she's a perfect angel, one of her favorite things to do is lay on the bed and watch me fold laundry, which is win-win, because I can get something done:) She's spendidly arrayed in pinks and purples daily, but no pants, since I have discovered that it is SO MUCH EASIER to change diapers when they wear babylegs instead of pants.

She smiles and coos quite a bit, she's really got a nice sound repitoire, I would know:)

Still so so much work to lift that head....
And now she's tired:)

Sundays

This is what I found when I came home from choir. I think the fact that the boys still have their matching ties on is especially precious:)

Twins

For years, one of the joys of my life has been dressing Sam and Max in matching outfits. Every Sunday for church, probably since Max was 6 months old, they've been matching, or at least coordinating for church. In fact, their current outfits of khakis, long sleeved dress shirts, and matching ties is SO ADORABLE and I just haven't gotten around to taking a picture of it. But, I digress. I also love to put them in matching jammies. Such as seen in this fuzzy picture I snapped in the the dark in our hotel room without a flash (thus the fuzzy, I had to hold the camera still for like 2 whole seconds WHILE pulling the curtians back a bit... just enough to get the shot without waking them up...)

Anyways, one of the first things that Pearl asked me about when we found out we were having a girl, was could they wear matching outfits. Not so easy to do when there is a nine year age difference, as opposed to a three year one. But, I managed to find one (actually two) at Osh Kosh. Pearl is wearing the size below the largest available, and Ruby is wearing the size above the smallest available. And, of course, they were on clearance. Thank heavens for the internet! Ruby's been getting pudgy so I thought it was time to try the 3-6 month clothes... and this was the first outfit we had to try:)

These girls are so pretty they make my heart hurt.
And we see the full effect with the matching leggings:)
I think they love each other. Which is good. They'll be sharing a room for a while.
Love my girls! (so so fun that I can say "girls" instead of "girl" now!)

PS Don't tell Pearl but I did find them a pair of matching jammies for christmas!!!! She'll be so excited!!!!

The Beach

We kind of have a tradition of taking the kids on a mini vacation during thanksgiving week. We like to go Monday/Tuesday while most people are still working. I approached Jared with this last week, and my thought was, "let's take the kids to the beach." (I love the beach. I'm pretty sure it's not a vacation if there is no beach involved.) Jared's idea was "let's take the kids to the mountains." We live in California, so we decided to do both, as well as visit my sister in Ukiah. All those goals in a short time made for a lot of time in the car...

So, since Jared insisted that we NOT go straight to Ukiah and head to her local beach, but first go south to San Francisco so we could then drive back up the coast (I know, I thought it was crazy, but, whatever) we left the house at 8:30 in the morning and didn't get to the beach until 3:00. We made a LOT of stops, and had to nurse the baby almost every time. The most hilarious one was the first one we made... we hadn't had breakfast yet, so we stopped for 45 minutes to eat and feed the baby before we even got on the freeway. Then, as we were getting on the freeway, we realized we only had about 1/3 of a tank of gas, so we stopped AGAIN 45 mintues later. Then, driving through San Francisco, we found the most country like place (a huge green belt with a playground) to stop. Apparently we're not city folk.

Anyways, we finally made it to the beach, and it was beautiful. Worth the drive.

Isn't she pretty? She's at a kind of (ok, REALLY) annoying age, but when I look at her I still think she's just a pretty girl.

And the boys... yup, they were once again not allowed to wear pants at the beach. It's just safer that way.
Sam and his sand angel.

This was Ruby's first beach trip. She spent the first half doing her favorite activity...
then the rest of the time wondering why there was so much wind.
The saturday before we were to leave, I asked Jared if we were really going to the beach, because I said if we were that I was going to buy a tripod at target. He looked at me for a minute, sighed, then admitted that he'd had one in the trunk of his car for a month to give me for christmas. So, we brought it, and I was able to use my remote to get us some family pictures on the beach:)
Us. On a side note, I decided that this is going to be my weight watchers before picture. I've been going for a little over a month now (lost 8 pounds, wahooo!) and still haven't taken a picture. This one is good... you can see my body but I don't look all miserable to be fat. We'll check in again in another 45 pounds or so...
The beach was fun. More about our trip to the mountains later:)

Baby Quilt

This is my friend Luan. She is amazing, a true artist. I think if you asked her, she would say quilting is a hobby. But I kind of think it's a necessity for her. My first Luan quilt was purchased by my mother in law, Sherry, who just happens to be a very close friend of Luan's. It's currently on my bed, it's moved around over the past ten years, but every once in a while I get sick of my duvet cover and it gets moved from the living room couch back to my bed. I love it.

When Max was born, she gifted me a quilt for him. One of these days, I'll have to take pictures of his quilt too, because I absolutely love it. You see, Luan is a true artist, with the eye and the ability to take these tiny scraps of fabric, (even ones that would be ugly on their own) that I would probably throw away and make a masterpiece. So, when it was time for the big kids to get new bedding, I decided I'd rather spend the money on something so genuine than on another quilt from pottery barn kids that they would grow out of, so I bought one for Pearl and one for Sam. It's been about 6 months since I purchased them, and every time I walk by I have to look at them again, they are that beautiful. She now sells them on Etsy, you can see her shop here.

So, needless to say, I was thrilled when she said I could come pick out a quilt for Ruby. I know how much time goes into these quilts, it's an amazing gift.

The deal is, Luan gets to hold the baby while I pick out the quilt. Both parties involved (meaning Ruby and Luan) were quite happy about it.

Here is the one I picked. Not like I could have gone wrong, but Pearl's quilt is really bright with a lot of orange overtones, so I wanted something that would coordinate. This one happens to have been a joint effort between my friend Darlene, who made the squares in the middle then donated them to Luan. Then, Luan put it all together and added the boarders. So so crazy cute!
This pattern is called a Dresden Plate. I have always loved them, all flowery looking, and they're mainly the reason I picked this quilt. The yellow middles make my happy. I still don't see how she can take such a hodgepodge of colors and patterns and make them into such a cohesive picture! Then, she finishes it all off by hand quilting every seam. Gorgeous.
Max decided that the stripey pattern on the boarder was a road.
See, he even told me:)

It's nice and big, so it ends up being a fabulous place to chill...

and to practice lifting your head,
or NOT lifting your head as the case may be...
and to spend quality time with your big brother.
Or, to get poked, if your big brother happens to be Max:)
I love it so much, thank you thank you thank you Luan!

Go Pearl!!!!

Pearl tested for her green belt this weekend. Last test, (I actually think I have to go back and blog about that still) she had a hard time... she got an incomplete for not being able to do her forms in all different directions, and it took her like 20 tries to break the board. She got kudos for perserverence, and she was able to finish her testing requirements during the next class, but it was a harrowing experience for her little soul.

Not so this time. She did an awesome job on her form, got complimented on her much improved balance, totally rocked the oral exam (Master Yi said she got 1000%:), and got an award for most improved in taekwondo.

And she broke her board in one try. I showed my mom the video. She said (with surprise) "she even looks graceful." Yes, that is what 18 months of taekwondo will get you:)

So proud of you Pearl!

Blessing.

We decided to have Ruby's blessing during sacrament meeting the same day the children had their primary program. Pearl was asked to play "I am a Child of God" for the children to sing, so I told my parents if they came to the primary program I wouldn't invite them to the recital. Lucky them. (She did absolutely amazingly fabulous, by the way, she even followed the conductor and everything, I was so proud of her!). Anyways, it was a busy morning, we have early church and live about half an hour away from the building. I got up and got myself ready, got the boys ready, and at the last minute, got the baby dressed and sat down to feed her right before we left.

See? What a pretty dress! It's the same one that Pearl and most of the Weir girl cousins were blessed in... it's beautiful. She should have been honored to wear it.
She wasn't. Five minutes after I got it on her, she had her 2nd blowout in her entire life. Seriously. You wait until today? We had 10 minutes before time to leave, so I quickly slipped the burp cloth underneath her so she didn't get me, finished feeding, snapped a few pictures (yes, these were post-poop) and got her in one of her regular church dresses.
So, this is what she got blessed in. She's still adorable, and I daresay, much much cozier. Do I think she did it on purpose?
Yes. That is one smug little smile:)

How I know...

I have a crooked smile. In fact, I think my whole face is crooked.

How do I know that Ruby is my daughter? Take a look. Totally my kid.

'Cept I think she's cuter than I am:)