Summerfest: August Edition

Well here we are, halfway through October, and I'm finally getting to August. I was hoping not to have to do a catch up on September, but it'll be done, I'm determined. We started off August by FINALLY getting our pictures hung up. My mom and Tanja came over and spent most of the day figuring everything out with me, bless them. It was a lot trickier than I thought it would be to hang the same things in a new house. I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out.

Ellie has started to actually play with her toys as they are meant. All of her princesses are a family and they spend their days going in and out of the front doors of their castle or dancing the night away. It's pretty fun to watch her grow and develop, especially with her very eclectic fashion choices.

We had quite a few rainy days in August. Ellie was so very worried about getting wet so we made sure to have umbrellas on hand and we spent countless car rides singing "it's raining, it's pouring" and "rain, rain, go away".

We spent as many days as possible at the pools and splash pads before they closed for the season. That's always the saddest thing about summer coming to an end. Ellie Bean loves the water, as long as she stays warm. She hates being cold as much as she loves the water.

We were finally able to settle on a name for baby brother, for the most part. We both had our moments of doubt, but ended up agreeing on Fitzgerald Dean Ruesch. Just for records, our other contenders were Ezra, Liam, or Wells. Picking his name ended up being much more challenging than I thought. We both loved these names, we just couldn't decide. We lucked out and I think Fitz fits him perfectly. We loved seeing his face for the first time, such a sweetheart.

There really was endless playing for this girl. I was dead set on getting every bit of fun and activity for her because I knew the few weeks after Fitz came would be tough ones for her. One of her favorite things is that dang bubble wrap from our move so every few days we'd pull out a new piece for her. She was in heaven.

When I first got pregnant I kept telling myself that Ellie would keep growing up and getting easier. She would of course be so much easier by the time the baby got her. Well, all through August she continued to keep me on my toes. She ended up in the bath fully clothes several times, and each time she was pleased as punch with herself. She loves watching her bath animals and putting them on a "boat" and of course splashing a majority of the bath water onto the floor.

We spent a lot of time with Brooklyn and Kendall. Ellie just loves them. Her world revolves around them and she asks to play with Brookie and Keni on the daily. Her and Keni were digging the chalk art this summer.

We kept up on the hobo dinners and even added in some banana boats a couple times. They're soooo good and if you haven't tried them, you must! Fall is still perfect evening fire weather. Take your banana and peel back a section of the peel. Scoop out the banana halfway down. Fill with chocolate (I love Hugs), mini marshmallows, and caramel syrup...or really any other sugary treat you can think of. Then fold back the peel and wrap in tin foil. Keep over heat for 10-15 minutes until everything gets hot and melty. Heaven.

We had a fun outing with Ellie's little buddy Holden. We decided to try out the Museum of Natural Curiosity on one of the cheap days. It was of course a zoo, so we didn't last too long. I'm not a fan of crowds and Ellie wasn't a fan of being told to not run away. We took a break and feasted on McDoubles and then found THE BEST splash pad. It was more of a river and the kids had a blast. Please please please Davis county, we need one!

Along with making sure Ellie had the best summer ever, I was also dead set on getting all of my painting projects done. At the beginning of the month I was able to paint all of my shutters blue, except for the tall ones. So, they sat there for 3 weeks, just being brown. Lucky for me, my sweet brother Cale and his friend Maddie were willing to come and paint them for me. The blue made a huge difference. Once they were all done I would just drive by my house anytime I was out just to admire them. I'm so lame.



I also got Ellie's room painted and put together. I feel bad that her room was the last to come together, but sometimes that's just how it goes. She loved it. We decided that night to transitioned her into her big girl bed. Her daddy spent the first night with her. While we've had several bumps in the road, she's done really well and can be considered officially transitioned.

We visited the Davis County fair and rode some ridiculously overpriced rides...

...and fed some ridiculously cute goats. Ellie about died. She kept saying "yook mom, kissed me!" Also, it was ridiculously hot. Being pregnant and hot, not so pretty.

I went through the normal crazy emotions of feeling so guilty that Ellie's days as a single child were numbered. I know nothing is better than a sibling, but I also knew it would be so hard for her to understand in the beginning. I loved the one on one time that we had the last few weeks and I'll cherish them forever. She's my little lady friend and I'm think thankful that she's mine forever.

My littlest brother Cale got his eagle just days before he turned 18. We're so proud of him and how hard he worked. We loved hearing my grandpa speak as well. I love watching him and Ellie together. We were hoping Cale would have gotten his mission call that night, but he got it the next week and we're so excited (and saaaaaad!) to send him to Vina Del Mar in Chile on December 1st. He's going to do a wonderful job!

This is a random story, but Ellie discovered her love of corn on the cob this summer. She had the hardest time remembering the name of it. Every time she'd make it through a cob she'd promptly ask for "more nana". She was on point with the color.

Another little moment, I love dressing this girl up, especially on Sundays. She's always the most cooperative on Sundays as well, probably because she knows nursery with friends is coming. This is one of my favorite outfits of hers this summer. Those shoes!

We also made sure to get some good family time in as a family of 3. We spent a day at the zoo and Ellie loved showing her daddy around. Her favorite were, and still are, the elephants. We also made a quick trip down to Fairview. It was so nice to get away from it all, especially cell phones and internet.

August, you lived up to your reputation and were deliciously fun. However, I gladly kissed your pretty face goodbye because September = BABY!

LOVE STARES

I think I can safely say that we're finally getting the hang of this mother-child thing. Of course, I say that now and Ellie will enter into a new stage that will throw it all off, like tomorrow. That's okay though, this little gal keeps me on my toes and enjoys watching me do it. She's changes so quickly and I can't seem to keep up, no matter how hard I try to live in the moment.

Want to know a sad thing? I realized that I haven't rocked Ellie to sleep in basically forever. When she was itty bitty she would fall asleep on me all the time, so I got some good rocking to sleep and snuggling. When she started sleeping a little less I would get her to sleep and immediately race to get some work, cleaning, or exercise in. I'm not gonna lie, Ellie is kind of a champ sleeper, not perfect, but pretty champ-like, so getting her to sleep is quick and (mostly) painless. This translated to her being able to put herself to sleep and she just didn't need her mama for that. So we do our little bed-time routine and down to bed she goes. We're also believers in the 15 minute cry it out, call me a meanie if you must, but a little crying never hurt anyone. Okay, it hurt me a little, but even the most sensitive mama hearts can usually handle 15 minutes.

Okay, I totally veered, but basically I wanted to say that tonight I rocked my sweet babe to sleep. I sang her about 10 songs and we stared love stares into each other's eyes for about 15 minutes. I loved it, every second. My teeny tiny is almost 6 months old and she's growing up before my eyes. By gosh! I've got to rock that girl to sleep more. Oh, and that gummy smile. Heaven help me!

Ellie's witching hours are most definitely 5 p.m. - 8 p.m., off and on, but girl loves to fuss the second I decide it's time to make dinner. At that point I can't wait for 8 to roll around, and then, the second that she's safely tucked away in her own room, I miss her like crazy! She loves when her daddy comes home, she takes a break from the fussing and concentrates her efforts on showing her daddy her rolling skills and favorite toys of the moment.

Does anyone else struggle major with bedtime routines? The actual making them happen isn't the hardest thing, it's really just being home on time to begin them. Her bedtime comes so quickly when we're out and about. Luckily, she's flexible with us and only screeches at us once in a while. This is where I think the rocking to sleep should come in, yes, I've just decided. Whenever we get home late and disturb her slumber, some love stares and singing will be in order. It's only 2-3 times a week. The rest of the week, every baby for herself.

...and since we're taking bedtime routines, I think I'll just type mine up. Like I said, these things change so quickly. I really do wish that a bath could be part of our routine, but my poor little one shrivels up like a, I don't even know, something peely, dry, and red. so we don't bathe much around here. Judge me, I dare you :) anyway...

1. We clean her earrings, ears, neck, and behind her ears. It's amazing what she can hide in her neck.

2. She is then promptly slathered in her smell-less eczema cream (oh how I long for a sweet smelling babe!).

3. Bum is changed and creamed.

4. Jammies are put on, it's a battle to get those arms through the sleeves every.single.time! We also put socks on under her footie pajamas, is that weird? And then she goes into the sleep sack. We don't have bumpers so we've sturggled with her getting her legs stuck through the crib bars. Sad.

5.  She eats her little heart out.

6. We read a book (Fairy Birds and The Biggest Kiss are our favorites right now)

7. We sing a song - or 10, if we just can't bear to leave her sweet smile.

8. We say our family prayers.

9. She receives about 5 trillion kisses.

10. We turn on the humidifier, say I love you, and close the door. Crying usually ensues for a couple minutes. She's turning out fine.

Oh, this girl has my heart!

YESTERDAY I RODE THE BUS HOME FROM WORK

...and a couple other random things that have been going on in our neck of the woods. Plus random pictures and captions sprinkled in that are totally unrelated. Of course.

We'll start with the bus and how big of a baby I am. At the beginning of May j.rue's work team was transferred up to work at the U. Yay! for me, not so much for him. It about doubles his commute time and the parking sucks, even worse than parking downton SLC. A couple nights after he found out about his move he suggested driving together in the morning and then one of us me taking the bus home. I was not so thrilled on the idea. But then he laid it out for me: my UTA pass: free, driving one car (his) up to the U: not so expensive, driving my car up to the U: A/C but gas hogger expensive, driving both of our cars up to the U every day from Kaysville: ridic. Basically, really ridic.

(J.rue's baby sister, Tori, is safe and sound at the MTC learning her Spanish. We're so proud of her!)

So, we agreed that 2-3 times per week I would ride to work with him and then take the bus home. Honestly, without trying to sound disgustingly bratty, I was dreading it. I don't have anything against riding the actual bus, I just don't handle things I don't know well, like bus schedules, and stops, and how to "tap on, tap off". Dumb I know. But, plus it takes me a tiny bit over an hour to get home when I could get home in 35 minutes driving myself. Again, this is where the compromise comes in and I still get to drive up to SLC basically when I need to.

Back to yesterday, I LOVE THE BUS! Because really I do. I talked on the phone, read an ELLEN book, played Candy Crush (kind of embarrassed about this one, but YOU GUYS, I've been stuck on level 23 for almost a week), and then I napped. Napped! It was lovely and I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna do it again tomorrow. Also, I learned that bus stops aren't that hard. They're just not.

(Little Quinn, my cousin's daughter. I just couldn't squeeze her enough. Oh the rolls! Little Rue please be pleasantly plump)

Secondly, the dogs. If you don't have/like dogs you won't appreciate this and will probably find it slightly repulsive, so just skip it. For those of you with dogs, maybe even just one, I think you will appreciate this, unless the talk of pooing still disgusts you. On Monday we were taking our daily walk and Coop decided to take care of business, so I pulled the poo baggy out and expected this to be probably 1 of 3 AT LEAST. Then to what do my wondering eyes appear? Maggie squats down right next to him and takes care of her business BEFORE I got to Coops. So not only did I use 1 poo bag for 2 dogs, they both only decided to go once. Really, if you don't like dogs and are still reading this, it's really not my fault. You were warned about 4 sentences ago. Any who historic for the Ruesch family. Historic. One poo bag.

My brother, Micah, graduated from seminary on Sunday and has HS graduation tonight. I really can't believe it?! Then he'll be off on a mission and I'll cry for about 2 years)

Is it dumb that I've already bought my baby a swim suit for next summer? Kind of, unless it's ruffled, bowed, and polka dotted, right? J.rue doesn't think so.

Lastly, and most importantly, did you know that Wendy's can put a frosty in waffle cone? Yes you just read that sentence correctly. A frosty in a real life waffle cone. I haven't even gotten to try one because every time we've gone the line has been at least 12 deep. I'm not that patient.

GREEN

Remember this picture? This is the night we found out. My eyes are puffy because I had a panic attack not too long before. I think I was a zombie for the next 48 hours, but hey, we're good now.

And nope, not a St. Patty's post. I actually forgot about that holiday, but luckily wore my green jacket to church. So, no pinches for me, except from j.rue, but his bum pinches come on a daily basis. It's fine. Anyway, the actual point of this post is about my cravings and other things actually. Because lets be honest, I can never keep it to just one topic. How boring.

Thus far in my pregnancy (the whole 11 weeks of it, I am such a wuss) I haven't had any of those pickle and ice cream cravings. Instead, if I hear something that sounds good I basically obsess over it until I can get my grubby hands on it. For example: soft pretzels (which I have yet to obtain), caramel apples, buffalo wild wings, crinkle chips with french onion dip, and now green fruit. Oh, the green fruit. I literally CANNOT get enough of it. On Sunday I at 6 kiwis. In probably 5 minutes. 6! I'm pretty sure that we can't afford for me to eat 6 kiwis a day, unless I sell my car or something. Does anyone want to buy an 11 year old RAV4? Her bumper's only been ripped off twice...

Want to see the picture that spurred this green fruit lovin'? It's from this website, so I hope this isn't considered stealing? Dang blogs! If they aren't causing me to covet another woman's closet, it's making me envy her green fruit!

How divine does all of that look!? I'm for sure making my way to TJ's during lunch to pick up as much green fruit as possible. Yes, it needs to be green. Apples make me want to gag and you don't even want to know what bananas have been doing to me lately. Also, don't even get me started on eggs (not a fruit, I know).

Lastly, the gender. I think boy. My cousin thinks boy. My SIL refers to b.rue as a boy. My mom has wished boys on me every time I was naughty since age 6. Random people say boy. So I would like to just know that I'm having a boy already! Do you know how many cute boy nursery things are on sale right now? I have this perfect vision, but can do absolutely nothing about it. And now it's only appropriate to add: #firstworldproblems 

Feel bad for me. Please.

People have been asking me if I have a preference. I don't think it's wrong to have one. Even those saintly gals that just claims to want a healthy baby (duh, who doesn't) have at least a tiny 1% of a preference for some reason or another. It's okay! Really. When I answered people I said I wanted a girl, even though I know there is a boy fetus growing inside me. Want to know my reasoning? 

I'll actually tell you anyway. I've always wanted a girl first just to know that I would have one. I would take 4 boys after that. Really, I would. I think boys are going to be so fun. But since my mother has been cursing me with boys boys boys every time I would hit, trip, or sit on one of my brothers, I'm thinking that she rid me of producing any little ladies (just kidding mom, kind of.) But really, that's the only reason why. And if I never end up getting my girl, did you know that I have a niece that shares my birthday? And that her mom basically gives me free reign on what I buy her? So really, my life isn't that sad. Plus, a girl would kind of mess up my nursery plans considering everything adorable that I come up with pertains to a boy. See? I just know.

Also, is it bad that I can't tell if I'm actually starting to grow a bump or if it's just the food baby that I've tried to rid myself of for the past 3 years? #nonflatstomachedpregnantladyproblems