Archive for January, 2012
Touring a New Town
This past Saturday I visited a new place. I mentioned in my last post that Sarah & I went with my parents to St. Augustine to visit my brother, sis-in-law, and niece. The weather was so incredible that on Saturday we were able to pack up the babies and go stroll around Old St. Augustine. We had a fantastic time touring the area, and my brother Matt even filled in as our own personal tour guide. Of course his historical “facts” were more on the side of tales, since I don’t believe we actually saw the oldest window in the world that was sporting the oldest vase that was holding the contents of the oldest man… but it was definitely a fun tour filled with ridiculous and random tidbits. I can always count on my brothers for some good laughs.
We had lunch at Acapulco Mexican Restauraunt, which was across the street from the water and next to the fort Castillo De San Marcos. We had a great time visiting and walking around. It was really nice to get out for a while and enjoy the beautiful weather. Sarah loves going on walks, so she just chilled in the stroller the entire time. Next time we are able to go visit I think I’d like to go inside the fort and look around and read all the facts about it’s history. Speaking of forts… now I wanna go visit Fort Pickens. I haven’t been there since middle school.
Here are a few pictures we got throughout the trip.
A stroll around Old St. Augustine
(we got to avoid traffic and park at Helenas brothers house because he lives downtown)
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The 2 that started it all
(without them we 4 kids wouldn’t be here, so our spouses would have married someone else (or be CRAZY lonely), and our current and future children would never have come to exist… Yikes, I’m sure glad that didn’t happen. Thanks Mom & Dad!)
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Matt, Helena, & Graycie
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Gotta love photo hoppers
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Sarah was busy watching the boats
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We got to walk around the Lightner Museum
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We left Wednesday and didn’t get home until Sunday so Stephen was really happy to have Sarah and I back home. It was actually the perfect week for us to take a trip because the youth had their Disciple Now so Stephen was hardly home except to sleep Wed night until Sunday afternoon.
It was a wonderful trip getting to love on my brothers family. It’s crazy how much Graycie has grown since they were here for Christmas. She & Sarah were very entertaining (and exhausting), but when are babies not!?
We also celebrated Helena’s birthday while we were there. Saturday night my dad taught Matt how to make the family grilled chicken recipe that my Papa taught my dad, and for dessert we all chowed down on oreo ice cream cake. Thanks for the reason to celebrate in style Helena, it was a delicious 29th bash 
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Florida Travels
I haven’t been on my computer much the past 2 days because I’ve been busy playing with these two gals…
Sarah telling Graycie to wake up and come play
I traveled with my parents to St. Augustine on Wednesday to visit my brother, sis-in-law, and precious niece Graycie (yes, you guys are precious too, Matt & Helena).
The girls have been giving us a run for our money with 3am wake ups, crazy short naps, and Sarah deciding every toy Graycie plays with is suddenly the toy she wants (we’ve been learning about sharing this week… ).
We’ve been enjoying all of this gorgeous weather we’re getting here in Florida. Mid 70′s in January is definitely a welcomed change.
Being able to go on walks with the girls has been a lot of fun.
Speaking of walking, I need to step it up a notch because I’ve been chowing down on these babies all day…
I don’t think I’ve had a butterfinger since the 90′s, yes as in the 1990′s. I have found a new favorite candy bar. They are soooo good! Everytime I eat one I hear Bart Simpson in my head, “Nobody better lay a finger on my butterfinger.” That’s some solid truth folks.
Alright people, its time for some Wipeout. Have a fantastic weekend!
4 to the 6
Being up to date makes it super easy to write a quick post and show you Sarah’s next weekly photo.
The backdrop from this weeks photo is special to my heart. It’s a childhood blanket that I recently found in my mom’s linen closet. Speaking of, I should probably return it to her…
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Biting her bottom lip
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Now I have a fun picture I didn’t even know I caught until I saw it on my computer…
the 4 teether
those top two teeth are coming in fast!
There you have it. Hope you have a great week!
p.s. I don’t think I could have come up with a lamer title this week… I am totally out of weekly title ideas (give it your best shot Matt, I know you were going to when you read that first sentence there…while you are at it, give me weeks 47-52 while you’re at it )
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Tree Removal
The “Before” Living Room Corner
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The Christmas tree is [finally] out of the living room and I have an itch to move around some furniture…
I’ll report back soon with my progress 
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45 Down, 7 to Go
Alright people, here ya go. I don’t know if you care to see a ‘weekly’ update as much as me, but with only 7 more weeks until our baby girl turns 1 and it is blowing my mind how close she is to being a toddler. I’ll have to do a side-by-side post sometime so you can see just how much she has grown. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long since I was pregnant, but at the same time it also feels like that was ages ago… weird how the brain works like that.
Here are the top contenders for Week 45. Enjoy
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I’m calling this look “the Dentist”
(an idea that I prefer over ‘giving me sass’)
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Here’s a newbie: Sarah’s 1st Bow Photo
Hooray, her hair can now hold a bow
(this is also the only shot I got before she took it out)
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“the Looney Tune sprint”
(where your legs are going fast but you don’t move)
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If you didn’t notice it at first glance, Sarah actually has the bow in her hand in that last photo. She grabbed it out and was ready to dash away and gnaw on the thing. It’s funny how babies want to eat EVERYthing; bows, toys, dirt, moms hair, moms legs, jewelry, all appendages, and everything else in the world they come in contact with. I guess they gotta build up their immune system somehow
Until next time, or as Porky Pig would say, Th-th-th-that’s all folks!
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Snippets of a 44 Week Old
As I promised, here is Sarah’s 44 Week update.
Sarah has been doing all sorts of things with her tongue lately…
this is just 1 example
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Here’s an action shot with her laughing it up while she was trying to escape
(this is what 60% of her photos look like these days)
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This here is a “Holy Smokes, look how big she is” shot
Her hair is getting so light and whispy
There ya have it. Week 44 simplified down into 3 pictures. Although it was the 2nd week of January Sarah was wearing a cute little Spring outfit most everyday that week because the weather was fabulous! We played outside a lot with our winter temp’s in the mid 70′s. I wish it were that pretty all the time.
Hope you are all have a wonderful Saturday.
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40 + 3
I know you are gonna be so excited to hear that I’m about to overload your eyeballs with Photo of the Week posts!
Weeks 43, 44, & 45 are gonna be popping up back to back so I can catch you up with our little girls current age, in the form of weeks of course.
Sarah turned 43 weeks on New Years Day. We headed straight from church to Village Inn for lunch with the Ringl gang. We sat in a corner booth and let Sarah roam from person to person trying to steal food off our plates, and dunk her hands in our drinks. It was a fun adventure, and she did such a great job considering she usually naps as soon as we get home from church. I guess if people were sharing their lunch with me I’d be happy too
Here she is kicking off the New Year with style in bright green & some leggings!
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Her entire foot may not have made the picture, but that smile is too sweet not to share
Is anyone else noticing how big she is getting??! That, and her hair is growing thicker. It’s so soft and I can hardly wait until I can stick it in some pigtails or maybe Pebble Flintstone style straight up on top!
Report back tomorrow for Week 44. It’s totally worth the 30-40 seconds it takes to check our site, and she didn’t hold back with the adorameter 2 weeks ago. The cuteness is off the charts!
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Celebrating the 19th
I dedicate todays post to this handsome man:
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Today is a very special day. January 19th 2012 marks 4 years that Stephen and I have been married. It was this day, 4 years ago, that we exchanged vows and were presented at Mr. & Mrs. Ringl . To make it even more memorable, just after that moment the Star Wars theme filled the church as we exited the room. What a fun and hilarious surprise that was (thanks babe!) ;)
Last weekend we celebrated our nuptials by heading to the beach and staying at the hotel where we spent our first night as husband and wife. Stephen took Friday off work and we stayed Thurs night to Saturday morning. It was a spectacular trip!
It was also our first overnight trip without baby Ringl in tow. She stayed with grandma and papa Wells and they had a great (and tiring) baby-filled Friday. Sarah did fantastic, and even took a BOTTLE, which she hasn’t done since she was 4 months old! We are so excited to feel okay about & confident for Sarah to have overnight visits with her grandparents! Hope you guys are ready because I sure enjoyed sleeping until 8am on Saturday!! ;)
We started our mini-vaca by dropping off our cutie pie
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After dropping off our luggage we headed to dinner
(luggage being our baggage, not our daughter)
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Friday was beautiful. We snapped a photo outside our room
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and then headed to the movies to see the 2nd Sherlock Holmes movie
(which was really good!)
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after the movie we went back to the hotel and took an afternoon NAP!!! It. Was. Awesome!!! I guess that’s a sign of parenthood. Your free time is used to do what you dream about… napping in the middle of the day
Saturday morning we slept in, packed up, snapped a picture on the beach and headed to pick up our girl.
I may have rushed Stephen when we stopped for brunch and when we finally did show up to get our girl she was taking a nap… I was so looking forward to seeing her ‘YAY’ face. Oh well, I guess we’ll have to try another weekend soon
Have you ever looked up the Wedding Anniversary Gift lists? It’s quite interesting. Interesting and also kinda strange… Apparently year 1 is Paper, and year 4 is Linen (I’ll settle for a bag of hershey kisses, sound good babe?!!).
I’m looking forward to year 6 which is Sugar (and wood?!?). It’s a pretty humorous list, but I suppose if you are creative and think ahead you can come up with some good and thoughtful ideas.
I hope you all have a wonderful January 19th! Tonight we will continue our streak of buying a movie and cuddling on the couch, a tradition we started on our honeymoon Stephen requested we get ‘Galaxy Quest‘. Now all we gotta do is find a place that sells it…
Thanks for marrying me, hubs! I love you with all my heart and can’t thank you enough for being such a strong and wonderful leader and challenging me to grow in my personal relationship with the Lord, and our relationship together in Him!
Love,
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What I’ve Learned: 10 Months
- Sweet potatoes look the same once they’ve come out as they do when they go in! Your welcome
- Sarah is curious but also very hesitant around animals.
- Gma & Gpa Ringl got a highchair at their house and it is so fun to watch Sarah play and eat near the table with us.
- Sarah is a big fan of oranges, bananas, and whatever you may be eating around her.
- She has cut her top middle 2 teeth. That brings the count up to 4 teeth now!
- Babies 1st Christmas was a great success!
- The poor girl does NOT like fireworks [yet]. She woke up on NY Eve totally freaked out by all the noise the neighborhood kids were making.
- So far we haven’t found a food Sarah doesn’t like.
- While she can stand without holding on to anything, she isn’t walking yet. Personally I’m okay with this. I’m in no rush to start chasing her around anymore than I do with her crawling.
- Speaking of crawling, Sarah has 3 speeds. First speed is normal. Second speed is more “I gotta get to (insert dirt/food here) before mom gets it off the floor”. Third, super warp speed. Normal is my favorite to follow. Super warp speed is my favorite to watch.
- While she isn’t drinking from a sippy cup yet, she will drink from a normal cup with our help. Matter of fact, if you are drinking you are pretty much guaranteed she’s gonna want to take a swig or two.
- We have entered the “If you are eating food I want some too” stage. We can no longer get away with going out to eat or snacking on the go without Sarah wanting some of her own to munch on.
- She is still a fantastic napper. When we are at home she will usually sleep 9-11/11:30, and then again 1-2/2:30. While putting her on a nap schedule wasn’t easy in the beginning it was definitely worth it! I don’t even have to check the time to know when it’s 9, the girl let’s me know.
- Sarah still nurses between 5-8 times a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I still really enjoy nursing. It’s quick, easy, there’s no cleanup, and biggest bonus: it’s free!!!
- Since I’ve never really shared our routine, I thought I’d share a breakdown of our schedule:
- 6-7am: Wake/Nurse, then Play
- 9 Nap
- 11′ish: Wake/Nurse, then play & go on our walk, then eat some lunch before nap
- 1 Nap
- 2:30′ish: Wake & Play, Nurse
- 4′ish Bath
- 5:30 Stephen gets home from work and they play and he feeds her dinner
- 6′ish: Nurse and Bed
- I’m trying to figure out a way to make bath time after dinner since Sarah can be a messy eater, but we haven’t figured out a schedule switch yet, and Sarah doesn’t want to push back her bedtime (crazy girl).
- Stephen/Sarah got me a video monitor for Christmas and it is my new favorite toy. I love watching her sleep and play in her crib. Sometimes she will quietly play with her animals for 30 minutes before going to sleep.
- One of my favorite things is when we see Sarah sleeping with her tush in the air. She sleeps with her knees tucked under her and her little derriere in the air. It’s hilarious and incredibly adorable!
- and lastly, she still doesn’t like having her diaper changed. I have to distract her with something so she’ll stay still. If I timed myself I’m pretty sure I could change a diaper in less than 15 seconds!
It’s Time for a DIY
Here’s a little teaser of what part of the house we are working on…
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Funny tip: I didn’t know Sarah was standing at the backdoor when I took this picture. Haha. Silly girl.
Any guesses what we’re going?
More to come later
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