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Our friend (and very awesome wedding photographer) Suzi Q stopped by to visit and meet Miss Ruby. She took some pretty cool photos, too! Aren’t we lucky?
Big yawn in the crib
She made that pink front door of ours look pretty good, huh?
Cherry bottom!
Click here to see more cool photos. Thank you, Suzi!
We had the most amazing opportunity to work with Laura Jane when Ruby was just 9 days old to get some newborn photos! The results were just incredible, and we like to think we made a new friend, too. :)
Click here to see a preview of the shoot on LJ’s blog!
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| From Homemade Craftiness |
As we’ve done for the past few years now, Mom & I got together to make our annual Christmas goodies. We decided to be a little different this year and try to make some candy! My favorite holiday treat is Peppermint Bark, so I definitely wanted to try making my own, and then I decided to make Peanut Brittle – because its old school and a holiday classic!
(See last year’s cookie packaging or my gingerbread and pumpkin loaves from the year before)
Its a good thing my mom had a candy thermometer. Talk about old school, this belonged to my Dad’s grandmother. The display shows “Soft Ball” & “Hard Ball” stages, as well as “Crack” stage and “Hard Crack” stage. Looking at it, I thought to myself what a lost art candy making is becoming. After all, “soft ball stage”?!? What? (click the photo to enlarge)
The Peppermint Bark was easy enough … just melt semi-sweet chocolate, add peppermint extract, pour in a pan and top with a layer of crushed peppermint candies. Set it in the fridge and let it cool for about an hour. After its hard, just repeat the same step with white chocolate and make a second layer. I love how festive it looks with the crushed peppermint candies on top! (It’s also no secret that my signature holiday aesthetic is red & white stripes).
The Peanut Brittle wasn’t as easy – but it’s something my mom & I won’t soon forget! It’s quite a process, but the end result was some seriously authentic Peanut Brittle! Here are a few shots throughout the process:
First, we had to boil the sugar and corn syrup until it reached 250 degrees (thanks, Candy Thermometer!) …
Then, we could add the peanuts and butter, and had to keep stirring until we hit Hard Crack Stage (290 degrees!) …
Once we added the baking soda, we got a quick, frothy surprise! This is when it really starts to look like the real deal. You have to get it out and pour into the pans quickly though, or else you’ll burn it all up …
It sets until cooled, then you break it all up. We got about 2.5 lbs. of brittle from this batch.
The finished product, in all it’s glory!
Of course, I always enjoy making the goods look good, so I worked on my custom tags for each candy:
I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did making it! And of course – thanks, Mom!
Well, the newest development in Rubyland these days is activity! She is quickly leaving her newborn doll-like stage and starting to move, smile and (we think) maybe even coo!
We pulled out her little activity mat yesterday, and she was really digging it. Looking at the objects and trying to bat at them. We’ve even spotted a smile or two in there! We are excited to see what’s coming up in the next few weeks!
She also really seems to dig her crib. She still sleeps in her bassinet in our room, but we take her in her room everyday to “test drive” her crib to get her used to it. I’m proud to report she seems to enjoy polka dots just as much as her momma! She started reaching for them and even tried to roll over to get them! We’ll outwardly admit that this video does nothing more than just entertain us with her cuteness, but if you wanna be charmed too … just check it out! We dare you not to smile, even if nothing really happens …
We wish we could say that our little bean enjoyed bath time a little more, but I have plenty more time to transform her into a happy water baby … ;) For now, I’ll leave you with my favorite part about bath time: seeing that adorable, teeny butt.
Ruby is one month old! Of course, it’s been quite a month, but our family is all starting to get settled in really well! She is changing so much … so quickly! She has definitely grown out of her sleeping/eating/pooping stage and is becoming quite a bit more social, which is very fun for us! In the mornings she loves to look around and shake her fists and entertain herself. Of course, this usually lasts about 10 minutes – but we’ll take it! :) She has been sleeping better at night (which is a big bonus for us) – she usually gets up around 3:30am, and she’s up for the day by 6:30am.It’s nice to have a little touch of predictability!
This is one of our favorite photos from the past month. She looks like a little green bean! So, Ruby’s nickname these days is “Bean”. Our little bean!
Ruby’s current stats (as of 12/2):
8 lbs., 12 oz. and 21 in. long
(And growing! We are noticing she seems to be in the middle of a growth spurt …)
Current likes:
Being held and walked around the house … and walked around again … and walked around again …
Taking walks around the neighborhood in mommy’s sling
Hanging out on her changing table and watching the shadows on the wall.
Current dislikes:
Getting put in the car seat
Having poopy diapers!
Notable events:
Ruby had her first Thanksgiving at Grandma & Papaw Facey’s house
She’s met lots and lots of family & friends!
Biggest talent so far:
Being super cute!
Wrapping Daddy around her little (very tiny!) finger
Ruby even got her first official piece of mail this week:
Looks like she’s officially a citizen of the United States now!
So, even if we’ve seen quite a bit of this during month one:
Lots of this makes it all worth it:
Be sure and check out the Ruby fix on the right to see daily uploaded pictures of Little Miss Ruby!