Month 5

Wow!  I have a 5 month old!  Here is the latest:

Ruthann is 16 pounds and nearly 25 inches long.  She has tiny squishy feet a big round belly.  She loves to snuggle and will sit content in my arms for long extended periods during the day, often times all swaddled up.  She eats approximately 12 times a day!   She sleeps about 12 hours a night and naps 2 or 3 times a day.  When not snuggling her feet kick continuously.  One of her favorite day time activities is trail running with her mom and dad.  She looks all around and watches the trees zip by, often times singing and blowing bubbles as she goes.  Anytime she is upset we go outside and her crying stops immediately.  Sometimes she just hangs out on the front porch in her carseat just as happy as can be.  She also has really started to take a liking to all of her toys.  She also adores grabbing and chewing on everything, especially my hair and glasses with ice water.  She loves to stand up and sing "oooohhhh oooohhhhh."  She lights up when people pay her special attention, and if you get her at the right time she will squeal with delight.  She is a happy baby and typically only cries if she is suppose to be sleeping but would rather be playing or hanging out socializing.  She knows no stranger and makes friends easily.  Happy 5 month Birthday dear sweet Ruthann!  It is so much fun watching you grow and develop!

parts

Ruthann

I'm not exactly sure my full end goal with this blog post.  I know  I want to make a tribute to my grandparents, in particular Nancy Prancy who passed away this past week, just a few days after our visit and thank her/them for the way they've impacted me, in positive ways as a person, and maybe even in so far as how I choose to parent an their impact on my children a.k.a. Ruthann.

So here I go... PARTS:

It is amazing, when it boils down to it, how little I actually know about my grandparents.  My namesake, Emily died when I was just 8, so nearly all I know of her comes from stories.  I know she was adored by all who knew her, she loved to talk, was the center of parties, made legendary biscuits, and by the time she finally married at age 28 everyone had written her off for an old maid.

In honor of Emily, a talker.

I was given a little more time with her husband, Bill, who died when I was 19.  He greatly valued education and started a college fund for all of his grandkids.  He had a quick wit and endless expressions, many of which have stood the test of time.  For example, hardly a day passed in my childhood where I wasn't awoken by his phrase "It's not whether you get up but how."  He also made quite a breakfast spread, unfortunately for his grandkids you had to be up by 6:30 in the morning to enjoy! He was a skilled parallel parker, due to his time spent in Washington D.C.  He had voluptuous   lips and a rather large derriere which was later coined "the Bradford butt" fortunately all 3 of his sons inherited! I also remember he had a great love of ice cream though he didn't "love things, just people."

In honor of Bill, a doer.

In honor of Rudd, a mover.

I'm grateful to have had even more time with Rudd, who just passed a few years ago.  Like Bill, he too had a way with words.  The stories from his youth could be made into movies.  He was frugal, strict, had a mean vegetable garden, kept honeybees, and had all his animals well trained and wrapped around his finger.  Rudd was an outdoor enthusiast if there ever was one.

                                                                           


His wife, Nancy also loved both the outdoors and animals.  She drove convertibles, loved to shop, I was a recipient of many a themed sock!  She was quick to laugh, quick to love and incredibly sweet in every way.  She adored her husband and her pets. She and Rudd traveled the world over.  They walked nearly everyday, together until practically the end.  They also road bikes together.  Nancy, my last remaining grandparent died this past week, in her sleep.  We knew it was coming.  Ruthann was able to meet her and say both her hellos and goodbyes.  It was a sweet memory.  I'm so grateful we were able to have it.  And I'm grateful for all the parts of my grandparents that I know, values they shared and passed along.  I'd like to think I am a mix of their various parts.

In honor of Nancy, a laugher.

BLUR...

2 weeks, 2 states, 1 wedding, 95 dear family and friends later we are home.  Aaron and I had the privileged of heading south for my little brother's wedding on November 23rd.  Since it was a brutal 2 day trip we decided to stay for a while, attend Thanksgiving and spend some quality time with family and friends.  From the moment we arrived we were in a whirl of commotion.  It was good.  It is also good to be home.

The wedding!

Ruthann got to meet her grandad!  This is them together at the wedding.

One of my most favorite singers, Gillian Welch!  We were able to attend her concert in Charlotte.  Here she is singing the classic Miss Ohio.  

Ruthann hanging out with her GREAT grandma!

The finish line of the Turkey Trot!  Here are the family finishers!  Unfortunately, and embarrassingly my brother beat me and Ruthann.  We let him win because he just got married.  

Thanksgiving day in our backyard. At some point during the trip we were able to see all of my family minus 4 of my cousins.  

My mom and her sisters at Thanksgiving.

An even newer member of our family, welcome Aunt Katie, my brother's wife!

Ruthann playing with my childhood teddy bear.

We even made it to my old home and stomping ground, Asheville NC!

We were able to squeeze in a 4 generation photo before we left.  Nancy is now in hospice care.  Goodbye sweet Nancy Prancy.  We love you! 

welcome fall!

What a wild ride it has been these past few months.  We are still on heels of the most spectacularly sunny Sitka summer I've ever experienced and now entering the most lovely of falls.  The sun makes such continual appearances I am beginning to forget the Sitka rain.  In fact brilliance has been everywhere!  We've had more fall colors than in my prior 6 falls, crazy amounts of mushrooms , whales singing and breeching galore, endless days of sunshine, northern lights, a much delayed first snow, plus we have the sweetest baby! 

I've been enjoying it all and taking absolutely nothing for granted.  This past week we also welcomed another Sitka baby into the mix, little Livi Rose born in Fairbanks, medevac'd to Anchorage and arrived in Sitka happy and healthy this past Monday. 

Ruthann has also had a lot of firsts.  She made her first girl friend, made her first mountain summit and saw her first northern lights!  We will save the trips out on the boat for later, so sorry Ruthann no whale viewing yet!

We have a week before Ruthann makes her first transcontinental fight to her uncle Joseph's wedding in York, SC, where we will introduce her to the entire Ross and Bradford family's, take her first 4 generations photo and charm them all with her sweetness.  We are basking in Thankfulness this November. 

The new family coming home from Anchorage! 

The northern lights from our bedroom window...!

Halloween at Family Night Dinner at Edgecumbe, Ruthann didn't like being a mermaid! I guess she wanted to be some other sea creature?

I'm in love with this photo. 

Party hostesses for Livi Rose's baby shower, fun and delicious!

Waiting for the guests of honor to arrive... Girls and decorating, we had a blast!

Here Ruthann is listening happily to her day rock out on the guitar! 

Here is Ruthann's first mountain accent, yes, she did sleep through a huge bulk of it!

She woke up at the top to check out her first snowflakes!  Puffin was even kind enough to stop frolicking for the family photo.

Here is Ruthann after the hike, wide eyed and ready to party.

Here is me after the hike, thank you Aaron Christopher Routon for a delicious meal of pan fried salmon, rice, shrimp and a yummy salad.  Can't get much more delicious than this!

And here are the wild mushrooms growing in our yard, they are everywhere!

Ruthann and her dad :) I love these guys so much!

WHALES!!!!  No dad, they didn't hit the boat this time... notice no zoom and Mnt. Edgecumbe in the background! 

hat collection

Thank you friends for adding to Ruthann's amazing hat collection!

a pictures says 100 words... week 11

Thank you Macy's for a beautiful photo session while we were down in Oregon.  It was fun to capture the sweetness of little Ruthann and our growing admiration for her!