What a week...

So it's been a little over a week since I last updated the blog...usually I don't leave you without photos for this long...we've been busy, busy...

Things started out slowly...evident here by Ruth Ann lounging in her pjs. Last year I started working 3 days a week & LOVED having a 3 day work week...now I appreciate this 3 day work week more than ever because it means I get to spend 4 days with this baby girl...here's how we spend most of our mornings together...



After we got out of our pjs we went to Grammy's pool and spent some time with our friends Auralee & Christopher and Heidi & Claire.



Then we headed to the tennis courts to watch Arch play tennis and spent some more time playing with Christopher...





And here's a first...guess who's sitting in resturant high chairs and grocery carts like a big girl???



This was at Baker Brother's last week...I don't have a picture of her in a grocery cart yet, but she has now cruised Wal-Mart twice from the front seat of the cart and she LOVES it!

We were at Baker Brother's to meet one of my very good friends for lunch. Jennifer (Hall) Golden and I grew up going to school, church and on family vacations together. We don't get together as often as we should, so it was great to catch up with her over some delicious salads.



It's amazing how quickly Ruth Ann is growing...which means she is growing out of all her cute little outfits that I love so much. Here's one of my current favorites...





I included this picture to show you how Ruth Ann spends most of her time...with her mouth open...she's babbling NON STOP!!





Then on Saturday night we had a shower for our friends the Clarks. Ruth Ann started the night in one of the cute outfits I previously posted for our 6 month photos, however, due to a leaky diaper she ended the evening in this outfit...it's equally as cute though!



Speaking of our 6 month photos, they're posted on my photographers website www.heidigraves.com From there go to "Sessions", our login in is ruthann6 and the password is 11703. They turned out FANTASTIC...my favorites yet!

Father's Day Weekend

What a busy weekend...many of you know that in our family's spring/summer equal one thing...BASEBALL...and baseball season seems to never end. This year Spencer made the high school B-team and played city league baseball. Then the high school team decided to have a summer league. Spencer had a double header on Friday and Saturday...Ruth Ann and I opted out of baseball due to the heat, but we got a phone call from Arch Friday afternoon reporting that Spencer started as pitcher and pitched a fantastic game...one of the few wins for his summer team...great job Spencer! I took a sewing class on Saturday...bishop construction...I've become pretty good at smocking over the years, but really lack a lot of skills in sewing a bishop dress. This is the 2nd class I've taken on bishop construction and I think this time it may have finally sunk in...thank goodness. Recently I've decided to give up playing league tennis and I'm going to start trying to sew more. I grew up a mother who sewed dresses for me all the time and I really want to be able to do the same for Ruth Ann...so starting July 15th I'll be taking classes twice a month...I'll be sure to post all my projects so you can see how things are going. Anyway, while I was busy sewing away, and Spencer and Arch were at the ball field, Ruth Ann was busy getting spoiled rotten by her Grammy who kept her all day Saturday. Then Arch and Spencer headed to the lake and Ruth Ann and I spent the night with my parents. Sometimes it's nice to go home...even if home is just 15 minutes away...to be taken care of by your momma for a little while. We ate a yummy dinner and then swam with Ruth Ann in the pool for a little while...I love the new pool! This was the first...of many...nights that Ruth Ann spent the night at Grammy's. Then this morning we got up and met Arch and Spencer at Arch's parents lake house. Unfortunately it was over cast and occasionally rainy, so it wasn't what I had hoped for, but we still put Ruth Ann in the lake for the first time...as I would have expected, she loved it! Griff was less than trilled to be at the lake...Arch was questioning whether he was really a Golden Retriever...but by the time I left this afternoon he was running in and out of the water like any good water dog should! Now we're all home and everyone is in bed except for me...they're all exhausted from our busy weekend!

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day...I'm thankful for my daddy, for what a great daddy Arch is to Ruth Ann and Spencer and remembering what a great daddy Adam was to Ada. I'm lucky to have so many great fathers in my life...Happy Father's Day!

I need help...

Ruth Ann has her 6 month pictures this week. I know it's a few weeks late, but between my photographers vacations and my family's vacation this was the first chance I've had to get this done. Do you know how hard it is to pick out a precious outfit to photograph a baby girl in??? It's even harder when you're as picky as I am about photographs...if you went to college with me, were friends with me during college or spend any time with me now you know I'm very particular about my photographs.

Here are my options for a casual outfit...

#1


#2


Here are my options for a dressy outfit...

#1


#2


What do you think...what should I have her photographed in??

Here's an extra picture because it was just too cute...



Last night I was chatting with one of my very good friends from college, Tracy. Tracy & I lived in the same dorm our freshman year and we may have been the only non-nerdy people to inhabit Broun Hall. We lived in the honors dorms because both our roommates were honors students...even though Tracy is one of the smartest people I know & should have been an honors student herself (Ms. Cummulative 4.0). Anyway, she is pregnant and expecting her first baby any day...she's 39 weeks pregnant. As I was taking these pictures of Ruth Ann tonight I was thinking about how much fun it is to have a baby girl and to get to play dress up with her any time I want. I've been preparing for this role my whole life and I'm loving every minute of it! Tracy doesn't know what she's having...if it's a baby girl, then Tracy, you can expect something pink, smocked and with a matching bow in the mail shorting after her arrival!! If it's boy...you can still expect something smocked, but it will be in a boy appropriate color and minus the bow! Keep Tracy and her hubby in your thoughts and prayers this week as they prepare to expand their family!

Ruth Ann's first dip in the pool

From our Disney post you know this isn't Ruth Ann's first dip in a pool... but it is her first dip in Grammy's pool...and we all know this pool's construction began because of her and her cousin Ada. For Mother's Day Toni got my mother a decorative life preserver that says "Grammy's Pool"...it's hanging from the sliding board and is super cute. She said she debated about whether or not she should personalize this way because she didn't want to hurt my dad's feelings...however, it should say "Ada & Ruth Ann's Pool" since that is who it was built for!


Here is Ruth Ann playing with my mom...I think she's always loved being a mom, but I think she's enjoying being a grandmom even more!



I think these two are going to be pool buddies for a very long time to come!

DISNEY 2009

Get ready, get set...this is going to be a very long post...enjoy!

On Saturday, June 6th, we embarked on our first (of many) Disney vacations. For those that don't know...my mother went a little "Grammy crazy" last year...construction on the pool began and she bought into the Disney Vacation Club to make sure she would be vacationing with her grandchildren for many years to come. Ruth Ann and Ada are very lucky to have a Grammy who loves them so very much.

Here are the girls loaded up and ready to head to Disney...





We headed out of town on Saturday to spend the night just outside of Orlando...then we would check into our resort at Disney first thing Sunday morning so we could enjoy a full day at the park of our choice . We got into Orlanda mid-afternoon. The girls did a little shopping in an outdoor mall next to the hotel and the boys headed to the pool. When we got back from shopping I took Ruth Ann down to the pool and she went swimming with Daddy for the first time.





I'm not sure whether Ruth Ann is a good Baptist girl and doesn't mind being dunked in the water or if we should tell Michael Phelps to move over because we have a future olympian on our hands...









For those of you gasping in horror at what we subjected Ruth Ann to...relax, she LOVED it...



Ruth Ann LOVED the water...which is good since Grammy spend a lot of money putting a pool in & Grandma and Granddaddy have a lake house...swimming will be a big part of Ruth Ann's life for many, many summers to come (and Mommy is hoping for a swimming scholarship to Auburn!) ! Here are some more of the highlights from Ruth Ann's first swim in the pool...





We got up early Sunday morning and made our way to Disney. Here are the girls dressed alike and ready to head to happiest place on Earth...





Here is Ada's response to the following request "Ada...smile."



When planning our trip we had been told that we could check in and leave our luggage at the front desk, but our room would most likily not be ready until 4pm...we didn't care since we would be enjoying our day at EPCOT...however, when we checked in our room was ready at 8:30am! We were very happy and our room was fantastic! To call it a "room" doesn't do it justice...it was actually called a "Villa"...it was a 3 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 2000 sqft villa! We loved it, but actually spent very little time there.

Here is Arch with Ruth Ann just before we headed to EPCOT. PS...I made the shirt and honestly I didn't see anything as cute the whole time we were there!



And here's Ruth Ann with her big brother who was equally as excited about being at Disney.



The animals at Disney were so friendly...not just the animated ones...the live ones too. Here is Ada within a few feet of duck...if that fence wasn't holding her back she would be in the loving that duck to death!



While the rest of our family rode on Soarin', Toni & I waited our turn with the girls outside. This ride was fantastic...at the end everyone clapped their hands because it was so great!





(I love how blue Ruth Ann's eyes look in this picture...so far they just keep turning a lighter shade of blue...where did this blond haired, blue eyed girl come from??)



We had heard in on of the gift shops that Snow White would be arriving shortly, so we sat around and waited on her to show up. Finally, we got to meet our first Disney character and get our audiograph book started. I wanted to get a picture with each character to go with their signature. I bought the same audiograph book I had with my parents took me and Adam to Disney world when I was in the 3rd grade. So far she has way more audiographs then we got during our visit.



Here are some of the other Disney characters we got to meet...













You may be wondering what Ada thought of the characters...you make your own decision...



She and Toni watched from what Ada determined was a comfortable distance...



For Christmas my mom purchased our park tickets and matching polo shirts with our names on them. Her only request...we do a family picture...



I had hoped to also get a family picture in front of the flower beds at the Magic Kingdom and/or in front of Cinderella's castle, but Ruth Ann was asleep going into and coming out of the Magic Kingdom. Ruth Ann actually did a lot of sleeping throughout our time at Disney...here's the proof...







I thought her sleeping through Animal Kingdom was kinda funny because this park is kinda like a zoo and Ruth Ann can't ever seem to stay awake when we visit the zoo in Columbia either!

We went to Disney Hollywood Studios on what had to be the hottest day of the week. Since we were eating dinner in this park I thought we should just stay there all afternoon...it was HOT, HOT, HOT. Here is my mom, Ruth Ann, Arch, Spencer and Ada trying to sit in the shade to beat the heat.









The only way to beat the heat was to sit in the pool. Arch's cousin Kelley was at Disney the same week and stayed at the same resort. She and her daughter Mia met us at the pool to cool off one afternoon.















On our last day we made it to the Magic Kingdom where Ruth Ann and Ada got to ride on their first rides. Here we are waiting in line to ride The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Then we headed over to the play area to take a quick picture infront of Rabbit's house.







So as you can see, we had a great time. I have some thoughts about how I would do things on our next trip to Disney, but I think our next vacation club vacation will be to a beach resort...we probably won't be going back to Disney until the girlies are a little bit older. It's kinda sad to have our summer vacation over so early in the summer...that just means we have the whole summer to hang out at Grammy's house and enjoy the pool!