finding adventure | katelyn ryan

9 months of Ruby

Nine of the sweetest months of my life all thanks to this little growing girl.

I didn't plan her monthly photos, it just sort of happened when I chose to take a photo of her under her these letters when she was a month old. Life was pretty crazy then, so I think I barely found the energy to get some photos of her. I wish I would have thought through and done something else, but I think being consistent looks the best. Although, when putting this collage together I realized that at 3 months I didn't include all of the letters. Next month I think I'll just use just the R again to even it out. The past few months have been more difficult to get a photo of her staying still. But, I'm choosing to embrace it. I'm sure next month she will barely be in the frame, ha! or standing, yikes!

This girl is just growing right in front of my eyes. It's crazy. This first year is so, so fun. Challenging, yes, but also so rewarding. I can see all of those night feedings on those thighs and cheeks. This past nine months have not been the easiest, but by far they have been the most fulfilling of my life. Ruby, you continue to make me a more thankful, kinder, and joyful person. I love you, little one.

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, by katelyn

baby

Baby Clothes for Spring

My mom asked me if I needed any clothes for Ruby, because she has a coupon at BabyGap. I had fun doing some shopping for Ruby for the Spring and Summer. I can't wait until Spring gets here!

Here are some of my favorites pieces that I found:

Top Row: Ballet Dress, White Dress, Floral Leggings
Middle Row: Blue Dress, Gold Bunny Mary Janes, Floral Pajamas
Bottom Row: Floral Top, Floral Swim, Bunny Outfit

Give me all of the floral.

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, by katelyn

family

Family Valentine's Date

As I mentioned in my last post we took Ruby on a special Valentine's Day date, and hopefully the start of a new tradition, to a restaurant that may have not been totally suitable for this nine month old. We knew that it was a nice place, but didn't realize that it would be such a quiet atmosphere, with servers dressed in tuxes, white linens, and fancy china.

I was debating whether or not to share these photos, because they are really bad quality. I meant to bring my nice camera, but forgot. But, I always want to remember this sweet date with our little girl. It really turned out to be such a nice evening that I will always remember. So, please look past the bad, evening iphone photos.

So, How did we end up at this place on a Thursday evening, you ask? That's a really good question.

You see, I gifted Jordan a Groupon (basically a coupon for restaurants and such) for this restaurant, Giovanni's, for Christmas hoping that it would be a nice date for the two of us. There's an Italian district in St. Louis called The Hill and we love it, so I thought it would be fun to get some good Italian food. Although, we hadn't had a chance to go since the past months have been so busy.

Fast forward to the 11th of February and the coupon I got for Jordan was expiring. That day. We weren't sure if it would work out or not to go. Thankfully Jordan got off early that day, but we still weren't sure if we would be able to make it, or if we really wanted to go. We also didn't get around to getting someone to stay with Ruby.

Everything just sort of came together. I think we both were a little tired and would have been happy to stay home, but there wasn't anything keeping us back. Ruby took a late nap, so she would be able to stay up a little later. Jordan came downstairs dressed in a tie and a red shirt declaring that we were going, so I dressed Ruby and I up in some festive attire as well.

Just look at her.. I think she knew that this was special.

Jordan particularly loved this photo of her eating the table.

They brought out Ruby her own ice cream, so I guess they weren't too offended that we brought her to their fancy restaurant. Thankfully she shared with us.

Just look at her! She did so well. She was quiet and polite and only yelled a few times! :) She definitely proved to us that we can take her to nice restaurants more often! Well, maybe not his nice.

I kept the photo above because of her little fingers in the bottom corner..

Ruby, We hope that you know that you are incredibly loved. We are so thankful that you add a little more fun to our lives. We can't wait to take you on a little date again next year!

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, by katelyn

husband

links i sent my husband

I don't have too many links to share with you this week. Thankfully Jordan got off early yesterday, which was such a treat! And his day off this week is today, so we're currently soaking up our 'weekend'. I'm trying not to think too much about how he has to work the real weekend. boo.

Last night we took Ruby to a fancy restaurant with white tablecloths and servers in tuxes, somewhat on accident. Thankfully she was very polite and not too loud. I have some more grainy iphone photos if you would like to see more of our evening, which hopefully turns into a little tradition to come.

Well, here are the very few links I have this week, but I added a little story, so I think it's worth it!

The best dubsmash videos I've seen yet

This timelapse of Cincinnati gives me all the feels for the city I grew up in

Back in the day when I told Jordan that "I just wanted to be friends" he would show up at the art library where I would hang out between classes. He would be reading Harry Potter, my all-time favorite. It totally worked and now we often reread the series together.

I love that they are turning the eighth book into a play, and It seems only fitting that it comes out on our five year anniversary this year. I think I convinced Jordan that we need to visit London to see it and celebrate. I mean, we always wanted to visit Europe for our five year anniversary anyway. Reading the book will be cool too, I guess.

I also wanted to say thank you for all of the feedback on this random post. You guys are the best. I seriously just started typing and all of the thoughts swirling in my head just turned into words on the screen. I felt a little nervous and vulnerable after posting, and somewhat ridiculous, but am so thankful for you all. You are so kind.

Are you doing anything to celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend?

Jordan says that he's making me a nice dinner, and he's not bad in the kitchen, so I am pretty excited. I told him about my idea for homemade heart-shaped pizza and he just looked at me a little funny.

I also almost showed Jordan the card Ruby got for him early, but I stayed strong. I did read the book we got for her though, but she has no idea what's going on. :)

Also, we just booked a flight to Phoenix and Denver... what should we do there??

_______________________
photo above from our trip to Seattle

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, by katelyn

food

the best cake trick

I promise I'm not into Valentine's Day as much as it appears. Though, over the years I have grown to appreciate a celebration in the middle of February. As much as it looks like this cake is for the February holiday, I actually made it for some friend's birthdays. But, neither of those are the point of this post. I have been working on my cake baking skills while still using boxed cake mix, of course, and learned the best cake baking trick to date yet and I am so excited to share it with you.

I had some candies from my target run this week (remember, last post when I caved and got a Valentine to Jordan from Ruby, ha!) that I needed to get rid of before I ate the entire bag, so I used them to decorate the cake. So, I guess it did turn into a Valentine's Day cake. If that's what we want it to be.

Enough of this pretty cake, onto the trick I was talking about...

I know that this has been done before and I can't remember where I saw it first years ago. All I did was tie a wet cloth around the pan and THE CAKE COOKED EVENLY AND FLAT. It's a miracle. I still can't believe it worked. Even Jordan, the science guy, was amazed.

At first I didn't think that this would be worth the extra effort to do this... and is it really worth ruining a towel? Yes. Yes, it is. Trust me, your towel will serve a much, much greater purpose.

It actually ended up saving me so much time and energy. Since, the top of the cake was mostly flat I didn't need to trim the top of the cake, where usually it's rounded. Icing the cake was a breeze since, it didn't need to be trimmed, there weren't and crumbs to get in the way. I was able to stack the layers together, and it looked way better.

I was able to use a large square washcloth to fit both pans. I cut it out in a zig zag like pattern, so that the square cloth turned into a long strand. I wanted it to be long enough to tie at the end and not have to use safety pins.

Also, a quick talk about Funfetti. I can't believe that I forgot about it's goodness. I haven't had it in way too long. I always say it's my favorite, and a coworker even knew on my birthday a couple years ago, but I always forget about it when at the store. But, never again.

Also, I love how Natalie spotted the box in this picture on instagram. Haha.

Here are some tips:

1. Don't use an old cleaning cloth - as much as you will want to use an old towel or washcloth, don't use one that has been used with any type of cleaning solution. I almost did this, but realized I didn't want to ruin my cake with yucky chemicals, natural or not. (I settled and used a cheap washcloth we bought for Ruby at mealtimes.)

2. Soak the towel before use and then ring out - You can see where my towel got a little charred. I'm not sure if this would help, but I think I think it may be the safest bet instead of just quickly wetting the cloth.

3. You can also use safety pins if your cloth isn't long enough, but I think tying the ends is the easiest option, so try to make your cloth long enough!

4. You can use a square cloth for this! Just start cutting a strip off the end of the cloth, but before getting to the end, leave about an inch and start cutting at the opposite side to make a zig zag to make a continuous strip. Here's an image to help with that.

5. Because it helps the cake cook so evenly, it may cook a little faster. Luckily I checked the cake before the timer went off and took it out a few minutes early. So, just set the timer for 5 minutes less than the recipe calls for and begin checking to see if it's cooked all the way.

I will definitely be using this trick for now on. I am saving the cloth pieces I used, so it will even be easier the next time.

Have you done this before? I encourage you to try it if you haven't! Also, my next goal is to make a taller cake. Has anyone added more layers? or used more smaller pans? I would love to hear your thoughts if so.

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, by katelyn

baby

valentine's day with ruby

I had not thought too much about celebrating valentine's day with the ruby girl until last night while we were in target.

Granted, I thought about getting her a book or something, but was still trying to resist the consumerism urge. (She also already has this cute heart rattle thanks to Bannor Toys) But, while standing in the target card aisle, I totally caved. Hard. I never buy cards, I usually make them, but we stopped at the card section at target last night looking at cards to dad from a daughter. I just couldn't help myself. Everything about her relationship with her father makes me a little teary eyed and sentimental.

I decided to play a little game with Ruby to choose a special card for her papa.

I held up two cards so that she could pick one. I kept switching out the card she didn't pick with another one. I only had to do this a few times, because she picked out the same one each time and it was clear that was the card she liked best.

Of course for her papa, she picked one out of the 'from son' section, haha. I just know that her papa is going to love it. I may have also thought about picking up some little valentine's for her baby friends, but snapped out of it, and decided that was too far. (ok, maybe they didn't have any cute ones left)

After we got back and Jordan got home, I told him about how Ruby picked him out a card herself. He definitely asked about the details of my little game to see how legitimate her 'choosing' the card was. I assured him, that it was her favorite, albeit she may not know that it's for him, but I like to think so. :)

We both agreed to get her this book as a valentine from us. Ruby loves getting kisses and will sometimes even give me a slobbery one. I read the reviews and thought this would be another great book to add to her collection. I love buying gifts and Jordan doesn't, so we usually even each other out.

Books are always an easy choice though, and he can even justify them. I love getting books for holidays and writing the date and little mementos to continue to look back through the years. Such a sentimental, fun, and practical gift.

and just for fun.. here are some more sweet, pink, and heartfelt gifts for your little:
(all under 20 dollars, because that's how we roll)

more books:

the book I mentioned in this post
the other book I thought about getting for Rubes (I also saw this at Target)
for your princess
romeo & juliet boardbook
hug machine

other fun gifts:

the best baby socks ever
the heart rattle in these photos and this heart teether
this pink flower headband

and i've been eyeing this sweet ballet dress for Ruby (it's on sale! but, i will still wait for a coupon!) and this matching cardigan, and ballet shoes!

I already can't wait until next year when she will actually be able to pick out a card for her papa again. Hopefully this turns into a fun little tradition.

are you getting your little anything for valentine's day? do you have any traditions?

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, by katelyn

celebrate

cheesy valentines

These awesomely, cheesy valentines are from last valentine's day. This is only a handful of all of the puntastic creations I came up (googled) with. I spent the week before valentine's day writing all of these out and went grocery shopping for all of the items and set them out after Jordan went to sleep the night before. He woke up the next morning with a kitchen full of little gifts and valentines with bad puns. There were also some scattered throughout the house.

Jordan surprisingly loves cheesy things like this. Since he often doesn't love smaller gifts, and I can't quite afford the kayak off his wishlist for valentine's, I decided to go this route and go to the grocery. Because, who doesn't love food?

I'm pretty sure he loved it. In fact, the soda bottle I got him (Soda, you want to be my valentine?" is still on his bedside table. Chelsey was helping me go through some clothes and tidy our room this weekend, and he wouldn't let her throw it out. I'm glad he has fond memories of this.

So, if you don't have any ideas for valentine's day to show some love for your hubby, boyfriend, or friend, this is a fun and lighthearted way to show them you care. You obviously don't need to do as many as I did, but I fall into the 'go big or go home' camp. This year, I am definitely going home, but that's ok, because it would be pretty hard to top this anyway. Jordan is working this year, so maybe we will just make homemade pizzas or something, hopefully in the shape of hearts. Handwritten cards also go a long way with Jordan, so I will definitely write one.