Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

My two year old doesn't actually have an arch enemy. But he talks like he does. "Somebody pushed me over. Dat not nice," he tells me if he falls over. "Somebody ate my cookie," he says when it is all gone. "Somebody tore my paper." You get the idea. That "somebody" sure is mean. It cracks me up every time he does it. It also reminds me that I am not so different. When anything goes wrong in my life, I am quick to find someone to blame. And the someone I blame is usually not me. Just like Judah doesn't want to own up to his messes, I don't either. I am working with Judah, explaining to him about how sometimes gravity makes him fall, how he ate his cookie and tore his paper. Trying to get him to own up it. And realizing that I need to own up to my own sins toward him and those around me if I ever want him to get it. More and more I realize that parenting is a completely humbling experience.

6 weeks- I apparently missed week 7. Oops.   8 weeks.   9 weeks.   10 weeks.  

I really didn't mean to step away from here for almost two weeks. It always amazes me how with two kids a week will pass and I feel like I just blinked. And did some laundry. We have had a busy last few weeks in between going back to work and then taking a trip to california. Those of you who know me in real life (or at least on facebook) will recognize these photos from my instagram feed (@aubreyruth)this past weekend. Jeff, Naomi, and I all flew to Los Angeles. Naomi did great on all the flights, and also on our long layover in Cincinnati on the way back. Judah enjoyed his stay with my parents so much that his first words to me after not seeing me for four days was, "You no come here. This not your house. I want Nana to get me up from bed." I didn't really talk about it before hand because I don't like to broadcast that we'll be out of town. Jeff had a job interview and it was great that the three of us could all go out together. One morning we dr...

And no, this doesn't include my kids, although of course I do love them. This is more of the material items I've been enjoying lately . 1. My mommy necklace. I just recently got my Naomi update. Get yours here .This was actually made by a friend of mine, who is married to a pastor and has three lovely daughters. 2. The Nana necklace. I didn't get it at the first place because my mom mostly wears gold. This was her birthday present and it looks wonderful on her. You can't see it very well in this photo, but each disc is hammered. Get one here . 3. These scissors . Melanie told me about them. They are toddler-safe scissors that actually cut paper. Judah enjoys them in as much as Judah's favorite kinds of crafts are the kind where you are destroying things. Here he is hard at work. 4. Do-a-dot paint set . Melanie also told me about these. I like doing craft time with Judah but often get frustrated because I go through the trouble to get everything o...

I finally managed to do a little sewing... I used the big butt baby pants pattern from Made by Rae - yet another fantastic pattern with good instructions. I did run into a little hiccup at the beginning - I managed to print out the pattern at half size, cut them out and start sewing before I realized that they were WAY too small. Mommy brain, I guess. I love how cheery these are, and the back panel makes them fit really well over the cloth diapers. I realize these aren't the best photos, but iPhone photos are most of what I'm managing to get these days. As much as I love my big camera, it's easier to pull out my phone to use. I also made a quick changing pad out of some laminate cotton that I got at Hancock fabric. i didn't use a pattern for this one, just cut two rectangles, put some batting in between them, and top-stitched some bias tape around the edge. Easy-peasy. And now I have a cute changing pad. Which I was very thankful for this morning when Naomi ma...

I just got back from the gym. It's the first time I've been there since before Naomi was born. I cannot even tell you how good it feels. A recent run-in with the scale (!!) was the last prompt I needed to get my butt in a (faster) gear. I've been fairly diligent about walking (our dog pretty much requires it or will drive us insane) but hadn't quite been able to coordinate a trip to the gym with my sweet baby's nursing schedule. Now that we are finally in a better routine with her, I was able to leave her and a napping Judah at home with my awesome husband while I went and elliptical-ed my way into a better attitude. I think the walls of our house had started to close in on me, maybe even more than I realized, since I haven't gone anywhere without my 10-lb (a guesstimate) partner in crime since she joined our family. Although I was worried how she would do, apparently Jeff was able to get her to fall asleep fairly easily, leaving him with a quiet house and t...