Archive for February, 2012
Lil’ Miss Independent
It seems Sarah has decided that since she eats finger foods all by herself she should be holding her spoon by herself as well.
Stealing the spoon from Stephen last night
Eating breakfast all by herself
(with a little scooping help from me)
Have I ever mentioned how independent our little girl is? She’s been that way since she was born and watching her take on new tasks by herself, almost daily, just blows my mind.
I may be jealous of super cuddly and snuggly babies at times, but I wouldn’t trade our 6pm-6am sleeper, or any piece of her personality, for anything.
Guac Face
Sarah had her first go at some guacamole yesterday and I’m happy to report that she is a huge fan! It was a messy meal, but what food isn’t when you put it in front of a baby?!?
.
.
When she’s old enough to eat chips she and I can snack on this stuff all day long. It’s definitely been a nice surprise to have a child that loves every food we put in front of her!
Oh, and don’t worry, I don’t eat the stuff with my fingers the way she does. Although I do admit to some double-dipping action when eating at home. House rules are great 
.
Valentines Banquet
This past weekend we had the Valentines Banquet at our church. Grandma and Grandpa Ringl babysat for us so we could have a baby-free evening, which was nice since the banquet started at 6 and Sarah goes to bed at 6.
Last year when we went to the event I was over 34 weeks pregnant. This year I have an 11 month old. It’s crazy how much can change in a year :)
I mean, seriously, check us out last February…
.
And now this years photo…
Stephen looks exactly the same. Hooray, I married a man that doesn’t seem to age!
There ya have it. Our most recent night on the town, or more accurately, night in the church fellowship hall. We had a great evening hanging out with some friends and getting to know some of our fellow believers better. I was the ‘photographer’ for the evening so I had fun snapping pictures of everyone. The banquet is a youth fund-raising event, and they all did an awesome job waiting on the tables and serving all the adults. We have a great group of teenagers at our church with some big hearts for the Lord. Stephen, Sarah, and I are very blessed to be a part of our church and it’s loving ministry.
Okay, I gotta go whip up some dinner. Hope you’re all having a fantastic week. Tomorrow is Friday and we’ve got a big church yard sale on Saturday morning to prepare for. If you feel like driving out to Bagdad stop by and visit us, we’re raising money for our Brazil mission trip this summer, so it’s for a good cause. Here’s the website for the address and directions: http://fbcbagdad.org/
Have a great Mañana!
.
An Even 50
Saying Sarah is 50 weeks old just sounds weird to me. 11 months and 2 weeks sounds a bit more normal. I feel like saying such a high week number is like saying 36 months instead of 3 years old… it just seems strange. I guess I have a weird thing about numbers?! Who knows, my brain works in funny ways sometimes.
While this weeks photo op smiles were better than last weeks, it still took a lot of cooperation (and patience) on both our parts to get more than 1 usable shot.
.
.
After she found the barrette in her hair there was no way she was letting it make a reappearance, so for some reason I decided to change the fabric as well.
.
.
I love it when I capture her laughing
.
Only 2 more weeks until this project is done! An entire year of taking weekly pictures… I’m happy I will be able to see it to completion. I couldn’t even stay at 1 college for that long before switching to somewhere new ;) It’s a good thing too, otherwise I never would have met my other half!
.
Strumming My Heart Strings
I love listening to musical families. I think that is one of the things that drew me to Stephen when I first met him. Back when we were dating I used to sit on the couch in my parents living room and watch Stephen play his electric guitar. I would quietly observe as he picked through the different notes making them produce familiar tunes, such as the Mario Bros theme, or Jaws, and my personal favorite, My Girl.
I’m happy to report that I think we lucked out and Sarah has taken after her father in the music department. I may have played piano as a young girl, but that was with the help of lessons from a teacher. Not Stephen. Stephen hears a tune or a song and moves his fingers across the keys finding the notes required to duplicate what he just heard. It’s incredible. It’s something I can’t quite comprehend, and I absolutely love getting to watch his eyes and fingers go from thought to production. When he reads this he will think and probably tell me that he is far from a musician. That he doesn’t have real skills with instruments, but just knows his way around a few notes and songs here and there. Hogwash. My husband is humble, which is one of the many things that I love about him. Sure, he may joke about being awesome and rad and asking you for a high five when hanging out with friends and youth groups, he’s a kid at heart and I’m pretty sure he’ll always have that quality that keeps me laughing. But while he is a kid at heart, and a jokester to the core, he is also a hardworking husband, father, friend, son, youth leader, worship team player, employee, and mentor. That’s a lot of roles for one person to manage, and I’m sure he can get overwhelmed at times with filling those parts each and every day. After being together for over 7 years I think I know how he stays sane. Music. Music is an escape from the world and it’s many responsibilities. It’s a way for him to reconnect and focus all of his responsibilities around the most important role in life.
I know writing this won’t suddenly make his believe that he has a gift with music. No matter what you tell him he still won’t, and that’s not why I’m writing this. Stephen knows great musicians. He knows people that get paid to play music. People with top of the line equipment and almost a lifetime of experience. People that he admires and asks advice from. I’m sure they have helped contribute in his ability to learn new instruments and how to best work with what you have. The first guitar we bought Stephen was at a yard sale for $7. He still owns that guitar and I hope we never get rid of it. I’ve seen and heard him worship using that piece of equipment and it’s been some of the most humbling experiences of my life. To have the honor of listening to my partner worship our God that has given him that exact talent.. The God we have given our lives and marriage to. I hope that is something I never take for granted.
Music is part of Stephen’s soul. He gets joy out of showing others how to play and giving them tips that have helped him along the way. In my eyes, my husband IS the greatest musician I know. Every time he sits at the piano with our daughter in his lap and encourages her to bang on the keys, he is a teacher. When he grabs his guitar and sits on the couch to sing to our daughter, he is a vocalist. When he plays around with different tunes and cords, he is a composer. Even back when he put headphones on my belly when I was pregnant, he was a DJ. Every small thing he does, especially when he dosen’t know someone’s watching, he is using his gift to encourage people. He is using wood, strings, keys, and drums to show, speak, and spread his love for God and all the people who need to hear of that love. He is using something he enjoys for a cause much bigger than himself.
Today I got to watch the start of our next generation using an instrument for joy…
.
..
She’s no Beethoven, but it’s my favorite piece to date.
In case the video’s being goofy, click here
.
Our Very Own 49′er
Okay people, we’ve got 49 weeks down and 3 to go until our little bean sprouts into a 1 year old! I can’t believe her birthday is so close. It seems like each day she gains more confidence about walking. She has 2 ‘walk along’ toys that she is going to town on. Her current solo voyage has been 9 steps, and that’s just the highest one we’ve seen and were able to count.
With her new[est] found independence of walking on those cute little legs, her desire to stay still for some weekly photos was at an all time low this week. Girl just wouldn’t stop turning over, which is why I have a few different pictures for you this round.
With it being the week of Valentines I thought this onesie was all too perfect for the occasion.
we loooove our 49 week’er
.
since that was the ONLY photo I got of her on her back, here’s another just for fun
this tops off the cuteness
for a different angle 
best part, I didn’t even know that was on there when I bought the outfit!
.
I guess I can’t blame the girl for not wanting to lie on her back during the middle of her playtime. She doesn’t even sleep on her back. She’s a tummy sleeper, like her mom. Only we often find her with her toosh in the air, which is even more adorable than it sounds. I don’t think Stephen’s even found me sleeping like that… and if he has he certainly hasn’t told me, which he definitely would!
.
Behind Cracked Doors
We have been forming a new habit in our home. After exiting a room you pull the door closed behind you. Unless baby Ringl is still in there of course. Use the restroom? Not only do you need to close the toilet lid, make sure the TP is on the counter (not on the holder), and then close the door behind you, but go ahead and make sure she didn’t sneak in while you were washing your hands and isn’t trying to climb into the tub to get to her toys… girl loves her bath toys!
On Sarah’s 11 month post I showed you just 1 picture of a fun set. Here are the rest of one of her [many] bathroom hooliganisms.
.
this was her face when I found her
.
this is her ‘look what I found, mom’ face
.
this is where the real smile starts because I laughed at her
.
theeen, right before I threw the camera down because she decided TP looks tasty
.
I suppose with our baby girl getting closer and closer to becoming a toddler this was bound to happen, I just didn’t know it would approach so quickly! While her looks have gradually changed into what I looked like as a wee one her personality is definitely pure Ringl! The kid loves mischief! I’m glad she’s already getting a good scoop of her dads sense of humor With how much they both make me laugh I’ll be burning calories off everyday for the rest of my life! Which I’m 1000 percent okay with!
.
.
The Pressure is On
Last week I got to work on something I’ve been wanting to do since we moved into our house. It’s funny how when you buy a home you have all these projects in mind… each time I mark something off the list I seem to find something to add. Stephen isn’t particularly a fan of my lists. I don’t blame him.
My parents graciously lent me their pressure washer and I got to work on our back porch. Now before you look at the pictures you should know that I had no idea how disgusting and grimy the thing was until I started spraying it down.
So, you have been forewarned, prepare yourself for some rapid color change!
Here’s a side-by-side. On the left we have the after and the right is the, rather obvious, gritty before.
.
.
I didn’t know bricks could get so dirty until we cleaned half of them. That is a nasty 40 years worth of grime…
.
Another side by side
.
and for a little fun, name graffiti
.
Who would have guessed a pressure washer could work such magic. It was totally worth the hand cramps and unintended arm workout.
Has anyone else used a pressure washer lately? Those things are beastly. I sure wouldn’t want to get in the way of one, that spray is fierce!
I do hope you all had a wonderful valentines day. Wanna know something funny? At first I wrote “hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving”, instead of saying valentines. My brain has been on the fritz the past few days while working through some nasty bug or virus of some sort.
Speaking of Valentines, it’s time to hit up the store to buy some clearance candy… love myself some discounted chocolate
.
M.I.A
On Tuesday night I grabbed Stephens kindle to find something to read.
Less than 3 days later I had completed this series…
.
I don’t read very often, and I now remember why. I get so caught up in the alternate reality that fiction provides that once a series is completed I feel lost. I have to remind myself that what I’ve just read was a story. The characters aren’t real and I don’t have a relationship with them. It can be hard sometimes because while in this “other world” I feel like I know them. I’ve learned their habits, their likes and dislikes, everything and more that the author spreads across the pages. I suppose that’s how I know when I’ve read something spectacular. I have to break away from the relationship I have built. My brain has to re-adjust to reality and get back to my own life. I can see why my younger brother and sister read so much growing up. How exciting it must have been to use a childhood imagination to take the stories even further. To watch them like a movie in your mind.
I have a bit of a post-series habit. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people do something similar. My sweet husband sits back and lets me tell him everything that I loved, hated, feared, and was surprised by in what I’ve read. I like to talk myself out of their world and back into mine.
Basically that’s where I’ve been the past 3 days. I’ve been traveling through a different lifetime. It was sweet and short and in a way I’m glad it’s over. It was a wonderful and emotional journey.
I’m not going to tell you to go and get your hands on the books and read them immediately. I myself tend to go the other way when people tell me to do just that. Then again look where that got me, I plowed through them in record time!
I do feel comfortable to suggest that if you have some free time, are searching for a good read, or just have some major insomnia, jump on the bandwagon. Just make sure you come prepared for a non-stop ride!
Disclaimer: no children were neglected or harmed during these late nights and nap-time filled reading sessions ; )
Upper 40′s
Today marks exactly 1 month until our baby girl turns 1 years old! I can’t believe I just wrote that. Baby Ringl is nearing the toddler Ringl stage. Thinking back to this time last year I was begging my hubby for back rubs and getting up 35 times a night to pee. Nowadays I barely have time to pee and love giving our little girl mini back rubs (she loves ‘em!)
Now here we have weeks 47 & 48 photos. Enjoy
.
.
.
This face makes me laugh…
I feel like she’s giving me a ‘talk’ or something
.
Only 4 more weeks of photos until it’s birthday party time!!! I can’t wait to watch Sarah taste cake for the first time. If she’s anything like her family she’s gonne love it 
Oh, and to go off of and add to Mondays “what I’ve learned post”, I learned to never joke that you’re pregnant on your website… Apparently people stop reading at that point and start making phone calls. For the official record, no I am not with child.
But at least I got some fun comments out of it
.
