Some sitting (not spitting!) up pics

I'm making up for lost time this weekend! :) Here's some pics of Ru sitting up on her own.

8 months old!

I've finally got a minute to post her 8 month pictures! (It takes a while because I have to go thru the jillions we took and pic the best three) We took these on the same day as the snow pics so the outfit might look familiar.

She can sit by herself now, altho if there's any distractions (like me with my camera) she'll usually topple right over. She also has started babbling a LOT during the day, she's working on her "b" sound now... blah blah blah blah... I told Brian last night it will be fun the first time she says that nice and loud during the sermon at church...

She also has FINALLY decided it would be cool if she could move herself around. Of course, she hasn't a clue how yet, but rather than immediatly flipping off of her stomach she finally has starting reaching forward....and then getting frustrated and yelling about it. ;) She also will walk around if we hold her hands so she can balance. (and occasionally shift her weight so she remembers to take the next step)

A bath in the big tub!

Daddy and Ru decided to try a bath in the big tub. Ru didn't seem to care so much, she likes the shower as well. She can splash in either one. Mommy had fun taking pictures tho!

We prolly won't bath down there too much just yet, until she seems to actually have a preference. It's a long ways away from the bedrooms and there isn't a convenient place for drying her off and dressing her downstairs. Maybe in the summer when we aren't as concerned about her getting too cold. :)

Brodhagen family peffernuts recipe

My brother asked me for the recipe as he lost it several years ago. Since I typed it up for him, I figured I'd share here, too. :)

3 cups sugar
3 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup HOT water
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp clove
1 tsp baking powder
5 cups flour
2 tsp anise oil (or 4 anise extract)
1 cup finely ground pecans (other nuts will work)

Mix together both sugars and butter. Add eggs and water, mix well.

In separate bowl sift together spices, baking powder, and flour. slowly stir into sugar mixture.
Add anise and nuts, mix well. Dough will be thick.

Roll dough into 1 inch (or smaller) "snakes." slice into small cookies. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes. (original recipe said 350 "until done" but we kept burning the bottoms with raw insides so we turned the oven down. Acutally the original recipe called for way more flour, and you were supposed to refridgerate before rolling into snakes. But this works better for us!)

Ru's first snow!

I think technically it snowed/hailed once after she was born, but while she was still in the NICU (it was a kinda freak thing in late april) but that doesn't count because she didn't get to see it.

She needed a nap after church, so she might be more excited after she wakes up from her nap. This is how excited she was when we took a couple pics before putting her down.
I do LOVE her little letterman's jacket. Strawberry shortcake, and the hood zips up if we wanted it. But we were only outside for a few minutes to take some pics, and her santa hat is pretty dang cute, too. (it says "I love santa" on it, we gotta start buttering the old man up early! ;)

I also love her green stripey legwarmers. I LOVE baby legwarmers. I tried tights once. We didn't even get to church before I'd decided I was done with them. If you're thinking about a christmas gift, babylegs brand makes some adorable ones, but I'm not stuck on that brand... ;) bonus, she won't outgrow them next week! (or ever, really, altho the won't work as tights forever! and they will have to switch to armwarmers someday...)


More pics later this week, today is her 8 month b-day plus I took some great bathtub ones last night when she had her first bath in the big tub. :)Happy Holidays!

More milestones

Ru can sit in chairs pretty well now, as long as they have arms....and she doesn't see anything else interesting she needs to nosedive for....

She also has been more and more vocal this past week. Her first word has become quite clear, and I'm quite happy to report it is "mama!" Well, more accurately it's "ma ma ma ma." Close enough for me! She only uses it when she's sad or upset, but I'm sure we'll expand that later.

her second word will most likely be "hi" as she has the h sound figured out. I'm sad to report the d sound is not one she has played with at all, so we'll keep working on dada.

We tried on our christmas eve pajamas today, I haven't taken any pictures so no sneak previews--yet! :)

Check out Ru's Choir Robe!

One of the ladies in the choir made this for Ru! We'd been joking she should have one since we process down the isle at the start of church some weeks, and she's the only one sitting in the choir loft (at the front of the church, and we sit in the front row) not wearing blue. So Bonnie "whipped one up" for Ru, isn't it adorable!?! And the color matches our robes just about perfect. I love the built in Stole. (sp?) Of course, it's just the right size...right now. Bonnie will prolly have lots more sewing to do in the future.... ;)