Funny Ruthie Story

First things first, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We have had some fun times here at the Stout house today. Some cleaning, some crafting, lots of snuggling especially with the teething baby. We also had dinner with some friends from church and it was wonderful and I didn't have to cook anything!!!! 

Ok, onto the funniness! Ruthie is getting so big and growing so much. She will be 3 in January! It just doesn't seem possible. Anyway, with this age comes crazy stories right? Well yesterday we had one!

I dressed Ruthie and she had on a diaper. I left the room to take a shower and get dressed. Came back in the living room to get Ruthie to put on her shoes and get Olivia dressed so we could go run some errands. I asked Ruthie as we were leaving did she need a diaper change or need to go to the potty. Ruthie said no. Got the girls in the car and we went on our errands. We stopped at the church and I asked again, "do you need a diaper change?" and again Ruthie said no. We went to Target. When we went back to the car Ruthie was pulling at her pants as if she needed a diaper change and trying to put her hands down her pants. I asked one more time "do you need a diaper change?" and Ruthie said no diaper and when I looked to see if her diaper was dirty or wet she had no diaper on! Who knows when she took it off. Maybe while I was showering, maybe when I was in the church office and she was in the room across the hall playing with toys, maybe when we were in Target and she was in the cart. I have no idea. All I know is at some point my almost 3 year old took her diaper off and I had no idea for at least 2 hrs (maybe more). 1. That means she is definitely capable of being potty trained and 2. I need to pay more attention apparently b/c she is good at being sneaky!

***Sidenote: We have been trying to potty train Ruthie, but it is just difficult. I think she knows when she has to go. I know that she was dry from 9 to 12:30 the other day b/c she was without a diaper and she did not wet her pants. She sometimes asks to go potty even with a diaper on, but then does not go. Sometimes she will use the bathroom on the floor if she is without a diaper. She shows interest sometimes and then other times wants her diaper on and will be insistent and get very angry if she does not get her diaper when she asks for it. Other times she wants to go without a diaper. I'm telling you, she is like a teenager sometimes- so indecisive! Anyway, parents out there, do you have any suggestions? any idea as to whether we should just go cold turkey on diapers (other than nap/bed time) or wait longer? I'm just so frustrated and confused!

Olivia is 11 months old

Olivia turned 11 months old about 3 weeks ago, and I forgot to post the pictures. It has been saved with the pictures, but I did not post it so here you go!

not wanting to ever sit still anymore!

This is the best one I could get since she is all about some moving these days!

Olivia over the last month has learned to high five, hug, can pull up like a champ, eats table food with the family, knows her name, interacts a lot with her sister and us, and is all around a really great baby. She is much more clingy than Ruthie ever was. If I'm home she wants me to hold her and she loves her nursing. I'm not sure how weaning her is going to go since she loves it so much. We are working on it and now that she will be a year a week from Saturday she is finally down to only 3 nursings a day. It might have to be a cold turkey type of thing. Anyway, she is just growing so much and will be one so soon I can't even believe it. Stay tuned for some cute Birthday Pics and some party pics coming your way over the next few weeks!

Olivia's 10 month pics (and some other stuff)!

Yep, Olivia turns 10 and a half months old today and I am just now posting these. That's just how it goes these days. 

notice the hair bow

and the hair bow is coming off

and it's gone!

she also decided piggy did not need to be in the chair anymore. 

look at that tongue! she just leaves it out all the time and it is so very cute!

don't you just want to kiss that little face and hug her and love her so?!?

happy girl!

And this is the framer!

Olivia learned this month to crawl and pull up! It was a big month here at the Stout house for Olivia. She can now get to lots more stuff with no help. She especially likes getting in the dogs' bowls. She also likes sticking her tongue out as much as possible and likes giving high fives and waving when people come or go from a room. It is so funny! She is still pretty calm, but really likes laughing and playing chase with her big sister. Ruthie still loves Olivia very much and Olivia loves Ruthie the same. Olivia likes breast feeding and weening is NOT going well. I'm supposed to only be nursing 3 times a day, but this child loves it so much and wants to nurse all of the time! She is however eating 3 to 4 containers of baby food and 2 or 3 TBL of cereal a day along with some snacks like cheerios or crushed up goldfish in between meals. Somebody help. Anybody had a baby that just wants to keep nursing?

Olivia is having some separation anxiety, but once I am gone from the room she is fine. Olivia is just so sweet and funny and I love watching that little personality come out everyday! God knew we needed a child with Olivia's personality and temperament after Ruthie being so full of energy and spunk! 

Onto some other stuff that's been going on over here at the Stout's house: 

Ruthie went to swim lessons during August and September, and Olivia joined in! 

Ruthie is going to be a flower girl in our friends', Niki and Ray's, wedding. We had a practice session. 

Ruthie loves her hat.

I made the girls matching dresses and then bought a sewing machine and made our halloween costumes which I will post after they are complete and we win for best group at the church Trunk or Treat! hehehe

fun times were had at Target!

Matt and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. I can't believe it has been 6 years already! We didn't buy each other things this year in lieu of going out to a nice dinner. We went to the Coastal Kitchen. The scenery was beautiful and the food was delicious. We had lobster nachos, filet mignon, mash potatoes, sautéed veggies, and some drinks. It was delicious. When I say delicious I mean one of the best meals EVER! I didn't believe the lobster nachos would be that great, but they were and the sides were awesome. The filet was not the best I had ever eaten, but it was probably the 2nd best to Malone's in KY. Did I mention the dinner was delicious b/c it was? Since it was Sunday Matt got Rob (our pastor) to come teach youth group that evening so we really did get to just go and not have to worry about anything b/c our kids were at the nursery and our youth were in good hands. Here is a picture of us at dinner at Coastal Kitchen.  

bustin out the overall shorts that her momma (and aunts and uncle) wore when she was little.
Next up is for Olivia to wear them. 

My baby was sick!

but then she felt much better!

having fun coloring at the table while sitting on our new chairs we bought at Goodwill for $45 (4 chairs and a table). 

eating some cheerios while sister colors

see, they like chasing each other around and crawling all over the floor and laughing and "talking". It is amazing!

Ruthie and Olivia are so great. It is awesome to watch them sit together and interact. I know that they will fight sometimes, but I really hope it is mostly like this!

As for Ruthie, her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. She knows so much and speaks in long sentences now. She likes to tell us everything that happens and tell us everything she sees as we ride down the road (there's a truck, there's a car, there's a duck, there's a cat...). It is so cute! She also LOVES preschool and still greets everyone every day she goes with a hearty "Hello [name]!" and then a hug to each of her classmates and teachers. When she was sick her teachers said it was sad not having her around b/c they missed having her excitement and greeting every day. She is so full of exuberance and love. I am proud to be her momma! I am a proud momma of 2 beautiful, smart, and kind little girls and am excited to see them grow into Godly young women as I know their daddy is too!

Olivia is 9 months old

Olivia turned 9 months old about a week ago. She is just so calm and laid back (not anything like Ruthie). She laughs and plays and likes to snuggle too! Check out her pictures first:

excited to be sisters!

joy!!!!

where did that sister go?!?

Olivia is now 16.5 lbs and 26.75 inches long. That is just 12 lbs smaller than her sister and only 1/2 foot shorter. crazy!
She learned this month to get what she wants. She isn't crawling really, but she will reach and reach until she gets what she wants or if she can't get it will just sit back up.
Olivia is coming into her personality. She is calm, cool, and collected, but is also having some separation anxiety with momma.
She is sleeping about 10.5 to 11 hrs a night and taking two 1.5 hr naps a day. She is still breast feeding 4 to 5 times a day and according to the dr. she needs to be eating more solids. We were feeding her 1 to 2 containers of solids and 1 to 2 tbl of cereal a day. Turns out we should be feeding her at least one more container a day and one less breast feeding a day. YAY and an AMEN! less breast feeding means more freedom. I'm not saying I don't love those sweet times, but if you have or do breast feed you probably know what I mean.
Olivia really didn't do much more this month, but she sure is still getting lots of compliments on those big bright eyes and her sweet personality. As for now, we are enjoying watching the girls grow in love for one another!
Olivia loves squash the most of all the foods, but she likes to eat all of it! There's nothing that this girl will turn down. She will also put anything in her mouth including all kinds of paper.


Now for some fun pics from the last month of the girls!

my silly girl getting ready for pee schoo (pre-school for those who don't read/speak Ruthie)

found Ruthie in bed, just reading to herself one afternoon- she takes after her daddy

the girls in their outfits from Gigi

my new wreath I made for the fall season

it may be hot outside, but in my heart and this cup is a little piece of fall!

baby Livie loving some squash!

"cheeeeeeeeeessssssseeee"

Harrison wedding- August 24

So one of my closest friends from college, Scott, got married to Anna a few weeks ago. It was so great to see some of my college friends and their spouses! The 6 of us lived across the street from each other for 2 years of college. We spent many days watching football, movies, and pranking each other. 4 of us are married now that Scott is married and between the 6 of us we have 5 kids (or will once the newest baby arrives in a few months). Laura Lynn even lives in Haiti now and has a little boy she is adopting. We had such a great time catching up. The only sad part was that Matt and Ruthie stayed home b/c Ruthie was sick.

Here are some pics of the evening:

some things never change! 

all 6 of us

Olivia and me

the roomies

we decided to let the bride join in on the fun- We were making room, I could explain the holding our arms up, but it would not be very funny for you so I will just let that one go. 

here we are about 10 years ago and I'm pretty sure it was taken August 23, 2003 (that would be 10 years and one day before the wedding, how cool is that)- we were so young...

this is the day I graduated from college (May 05') - in front of the guys' house. 

the roomies 10 years ago

Deep Creek 2013

We went to Deep Creek in Bryson City NC again this year with the youth and another youth group from Savannah. Here are some pictures of our trip.