Ruby,

Today you are one. You are one year old. You're a one-year-old.

I need to keep telling myself, because I can't believe it. I knew it was coming, but it's here. You are literally growing before my eyes. I think I blinked this month and you grew an inch.

Ruby, you are so fun & you love fiercely. Like grab your face and bite your shoulder along with a hug kind of love.

You make friends everywhere you go. You smile and wave and make everyone's day a little brighter.

And you're making our entire lives a little brighter.

I pray that you know that you are loved and that you are more than worthy.

You have completely changed our lives in a way that I can't even remember what life was like before you. You are a precious jewel, Ruby girl.

I love you, my little yellow flower.

mama

Guys, around this time last year I was packing my bags to head to the hospital. I'm spending my last hours before Ruby turns one savoring as much of her as I can. Going through all of the videos is definitely pulling the heartstrings. 

Time passes so quickly, and I am so glad that we have these little home movies to remember these sweet, sweet moments. 

Anyway, here's back when we had a little one month old! 

Ruby's first month of life was quite a big one! From joining our family, to moving to a new state, and all kinds of firsts. I still can't believe that this was almost a year ago. Here's the video if you would like to see some sweet moments from Ruby's first days. 

I hope all you mamas and soon to be mamas had a wonderful day yesterday! and to those of you who long to be mamas, I know it's hard. This day is for you too.

Yesterday, I celebrated my first mother's day.

I am so thankful for my little almost-one-year-old who made me a mama. More and more everyday I realize that she's my daughter. Last night she spent a good twenty minutes rolling around on the bed and on top of me, giggling, and biting my nose. We were both cracking up. She's hilarious.

It was a really good day yesterday. I had no expectations for this day. Which was so good for me. and I knew what I wanted to do anyway. I wanted to go shopping!

It actually ended up being a long day, we were at church for quite a while and drove to St. Louis to go to my favorite stores. I snapped some bad dressing room photos of some things I tried on in Anthopologie that I will share with you below.
We were all tired when we got home, and Jordan was able to take a nap before heading into work last night and I was so sleepy I went right to sleep, which is not normal for me when he's not home.
Jordan snapped some photos of Ruby and me in front of the mall. Jordan was in a matching blue shirt and yellow tie earlier at church. We don't normally match this well, but it just sort of happened. I love yellow, and we all ended up wearing almost the exact same shade. (even though I like more of a mustard yellow)

Jordan wrote down our itinerary for the trip we recently went on to Arizona and Colorado. I've been sharing bits and pieces of our trip, as I have a lot of photos! Since we're almost done with all of the photos from our time in Arizona I thought it would be helpful to share our itinerary in it's entirety. A lot of people were really confused on how we ended up in Colorado, we just flew! Since it was on the way back home, it wasn't much more to add in a stop so that I could see my friend, Jen! 

Spring Travel Itinerary

4 March '16 to 12 March '16 

Friday, 4 March '16 

Fly American to Sky Harbor, Arrive late evening in Phoenix, Arizona

Saturday, 5 March '16

Drive Honda Accord 4.5 hours to Page, Arizona

stop for breakfast | Flagstaff, Arizona

Antelope Canyon & Horseshoe Bend | Page, Arizona

Ate Little Caesers &

crashed at Wahweap Marina Inn | Page, Arizona

Sunday, 6 March '16

Lake Powell | Page, Arizona

Hike the Hoodoos | Utah

Eat BBQ Nachos (JR) | Page, Arizona

Hike Cathedral Rock | Sedona, Arizona

Eat Dinner | Sedona, Arizona

Drive back to Scottsdale, Arizona

Monday, 7 March '16

Sleep in, go to the pool for bbq

homemade pizza for dinner

& game night

Scottsdale, Arizona

Tuesday, 8 March '16

Movie (JR) & Last Chance 

Shake Shack & Spring Baseball Game (Reds vs. Giants)

Phoenix, Arizona

Wednesday. 9 March '16

Hike Squaw Peak

Driving Range at Top Golf 

Flower Child for Dinner

Phoenix, Arizona

Thursday, 10 March '16

Hike Camelback (JR) Breakfast at the Henry | Phoenix, Arizona

Last Chance (again)

(Flight Delayed)

Photos  by Lexi Moody Photography at Squaw Peak

Fly from Phoenix, Arizona to Denver, Colorado

Friday, 11 March '16

Arrive in Denver, Colorado after midnight

Sleep in, Brunch at Carbon Beverage Co.

& Red Rocks | Denver, Colorado
Sloan Lake Park

Avery Brewing Company

Avanti Food Court

Denver, Colorado

Saturday, 12 March '16

Rocky Mountain National Park

Speeding Ticket (JR)

Estes Park

Brewery | Boulder, Colorado

Fly Denver to St. Louis, Missouri

Pick up from airport by Tyler & Ana *thanks

Drive to Home in Illinois

I'll share this again once I get through all of our photos and post a summary of our trip with all of the new links! Slow and steady, right? 

Oh, and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

We're heading over to a Cinco de Mayo party tonight for some authentic Mexican food. I'm already hungry. 

Jordan and I got in an argument recently about cleaning.

A lot has changed since Ruby, and one of them being that I've taken on more of the cleaning responsibility around the house. I won't go too much farther, because the point of the argument wasn't about cleaning per say. 

Jordan would rather finish all of the chores and then do other things.

Ok, so maybe we do need some back story here. 

It was after that crazy hard week I was telling you about. Jordan was working nights and I pretty much turned into a zombie, because I can't sleep when he's not here.

By the end of the weekend the house was looking pretty rough.
But, you know. the usual. dishes in the sink, toys scattered everywhere. I was barely maintaining.
We both served at church that Sunday and were wiped. After we ate lunch at home, I didn't want to do another thing. I figured I'd clean in the evening and enjoy the day and rest during ruby's nap. I did clean up a little before when I sensed that's what he wanted to do. After getting lunch cleared and putting away a few toys, I just couldn't do any more. It could wait.

Jordan, on the other hand wanted to finish all of his chores. I mean, he's basically a machine. The man worked the entire night before. And then decided to do yardwork and wash the cars.

I think he tried his hardest to approach it in a way that was kind and loving. But, it just didn't work. I exploded. I was tired and already feeling a little down. I think he asked what we thought our cleaning roles were, but really wanted to ask, why does our house look like a disaster happened?

So, do you procrastinate, or do you like to get things done right away?

I'd also love to hear... 

Did you deal with cleaning issues as well as a new mother/newly married/roommate? Please tell me we're not the only ones that are getting in arguments over cleaning!