Last Saturday I posted this photo sharing that Ruby was 40 weeks and 4 days old. I'm not sure what prompted me to do this, but I know I wanted to compare what nine months in the womb looks like compared to nine months out. And maybe just to see how far we've come. 

Pregnancy is no joke. It's hard work and takes a toll on you, your body, your energy, your mood. The early months of taking care of a baby and recovering are similar. Your body still feels a little alien and you're now responsible for a tiny baby.

I can still remember our first night home from the hospital. Ruby was crying and after trying everything to get her to stop, all I could do was cry too. All I knew was that it was my job to provide every need for this little one. I felt this weighty responsibility that I wasn't quite sure I could handle.

For the first couple months I was a little insecure of taking Ruby out in public. I wasn't confident in my new identity as a mother. And was so afraid of looking like I didn't have it together (because, I didn't) We had to give Ruby bottles of breastmilk, and what if people thought I was giving her formula? Or what if I didn't know what she needed if she cried? 

It was too hard for me to imagine nine months later. The growth I've seen in Ruby is obvious, but I've grown too as a mama.

Here I am walking through contractions at the hospital.

Below is a photo at lunch right before we headed to the hospital.

Isn't it crazy what can happen in 40 weeks and 4 days? 

Pregnancy is also a time of crazy changes. I went from being someone who had never cried during a movie to crying at an episode of parenthood (who didn't though, right?) 

This isn't the best photo of me, but I don't mind sharing it with you. And, actually I am very proud of my chubby face and legs, questionable attire, and should we even mention that belly? It marked the end of a long, trying time of my life. I wasn't a fan of pregnancy. 

This day, was my favorite day of pregnancy. The LAST day. At this point I welcomed labor and giving birth. Even though I complained for nine months, I grew a human. And that is something to celebrate.

We thought about bringing champagne, and next time I definitely will. 

I love this comparison. It shows the hard, enduring work of motherhood. Of slow days and little day by day changes. It still feels a little weird that I am a mama. But, then Ruby catches my attention and tries to wink at me with her big, proud smile. She reminds me, and I am so thankful for her sweet little reminders.

She knows that I am her mama. And she doesn't know of any other mama. 

Jordan calls her my little koala, because she clings onto me (like in the top photo) and I'm her tree. 

I've never been so happy to be a tree. 

We're here, we made it. 80 weeks and 8 days. I feel like myself, but with little reminders of my time carrying Ruby. I'm glad that now I carry her on my hip. 

I'm also glad that I have a little of my sanity back, but that I also own my identity as a mother. 

The first few months of being a new mama were so weird. They're exhausting and the hardest part of caring for a newborn isn't feeding or changing diapers. It's the mental, hormonal battle of learning your new role. 

Nine months in, Ruby is taking naps consistently, has a bed time and sleeps 12 hours. She still wakes up at night and has times where she has blowouts twice or three times a day for a week (that's what we've been dealing with over here) but, I can handle it. (ok, maybe i'm the one gagging and saying how gross it is, while Jordan and her grandma do the dirty work) 

All that to say, It gets easier. 

To the expecting mama, and new mama:

Each day your little one is growing. Your body is changing and will someday be yours again, albeit a little different. You're learning and grow just as much as that little one of yours.

You are a mama. Because of that, I know you're little one thinks the world of you. And I do too. It does get easier. I'm only nine months in this whole parenting thing, but I already feel so confident in my new identity as a mama. It's one of my favorite titles

If you're an expecting mama, you may like this post too. 

Last week Jordan made one of my favorite meals and even managed to make it a million times better. He made homemade pasta. I love pasta, especially when it's made fresh. Pair it with a wine butter sauce and vegetables (peas and broccoli, please) and I'm happy.

The past couple months have been difficult with Jordan working long hours. Jordan is an intern in his first year of his medical residency. His schedule shifts often and he works long hours, like 80 or more hours a week. That's twice the amount of a normal person. 

I'm thankful for Jordan in that on his days off he is fully present. Even if he gets a few hours of sleep on a night shift, he's ready to do something together. We had a few bad days, and it's really hard when you can't talk or spend time with one another. Jordan knew that I needed something special and he really made me feel loved. Because, food is the best way to keep a marriage thriving, but you knew that, right? 

He even mixed it by hand, mixing the eggs in the flour. 

He even had a personal taste tester. She took her job very seriously.

She's admiring some of the snow still left on the ground. This was such a sweet little family moment, cooking and eating. These times don't happen too often, but I savor them when they do. 

We often like to eat dinner with Ruby, but this night we waited until after she went to sleep. I enjoyed eating a homemade dinner with my husband in our home. We talked about how much Jordan enjoyed making pasta. He even went on about a different type of flour to try next time. Now, this is a hobby that I can get behind. 

Have you made pasta from scratch before? Do you have any tips?

Here are more of our photos from our trip to the Pacific Northwest. The photos on this day were taken on June 27, 2014. 

In the summer of 2014, Jordan did an away rotation at Travis Air force Base in California. Since I was a teacher and had the summer off I went with him. We made the most of the opportunity and stopped by Seattle on our way out to visit friends. 

Our friends, Ashley and Kevin graciously let us stay with them and showed us around. We are so thankful for them, and they did such a great job of packing in so many wonderful things for us to see.

I loved everything about the trip, but driving around with these friends on this day was by far my favorite. Washington is beautiful. Everything is so green, and a little moody. I love that about this place. 

We hopped in the car and picked up these strawberries and cherries on our drive. (See these photos on instagram here and here) And it made it made the drive much sweeter. (i couldn't resist) I have such fond memories of snacking on fruit and taking in all of the landscape. 

We made quite the trek to the far northwestern part of the state. We drove from the various islands and one of our favorites was this area called Deception Pass. Below are some photos of the bridge, the park surrounding it, and the I believe the Puget Sound?? (I need to have Ashley and Kevin right this post) 

We made a stop to walk across this bridge and take a little walk through the woods. This bridge was beautiful and the architecture blended in so well with the landscape. And the trees here. I love the trees out here. 

Also, Jordan says he wants this haircut again.

I think I have a couple photos of Ashley like this, she has the best hair! 

Have you visited this area before? 

We hope to visit the Pacific Northwest again sometime. We flew right over Oregon and I feel like we really missed out on a good state. I would love to visit Portland. I think I may have to put it on our travel list for next year. 

A few times last month I volunteered to grab the garlic, or an onion for dinner at the farmers market down the street. And maybe I had ulterior motives. and maybe that trip also included a quick stop to the Salvation Army that's just a couple blocks down. 

The home we're in now is much larger than the homes that we lived in before, so that means more space to fill. I wish we had the means to buy cool art pieces, but for now these thrift finds will do. 

My new favorite thing is to upgrade the pieces that I find at the thrift store or yard sales. Sometimes I find a gem that's lovely and doesn't need any sprucing. However, most of the time I find a lot of bad or just ok art. 

When looking for a piece to work with: 

I look at the frames first. A lot of times the frame, especially vintage will be more valuable that the art itself.

I check to see if it's a real canvas. Our salvation army has a lot of the fake canvas and texture, over-produced kind of pieces. Which is what I used here, above is the original. 

I ask myself if there is a place for the art. I try to be careful about mixing in some of my finds with other mediums and try to have a place for them, so they don't take up space in storage. 

I also look at the size for similar reasons above. 

Here's how I went about creating this abstract artwork: 

I primed the canvas. I had a lot of blue, so I just covered the original artwork with a coat of paint.

I think of a happy memory, in this case a hike to a waterfall.

I don't look at a photo, I just try to capture the essence of the memory.

I try to do the initial layer (above) quick, that way I get just the key things in, sometimes less is more.

Since this is an abstract piece, it's not meant to be realistic. So I focus also on creating shapes and lines that I find interesting and help give the illusion of the waterfall and a faded memory.

I picked a color scheme. Colors that are cooler and close to each other on the color wheel (analogous colors) I also like these colors, especially yellow.

Mix colors. To make a piece look truly unique, it's best to mix colors. Sometimes I am lazy and don't and other times I mix a color with it's complement (green with red) to tone it down.

I add layers. I continue to add more dimension to the forms and colors that are there.

Lastly, I went over this with a wash of white paint and yellow.

I also add some little marks with a small white brush, which are a little hard to see. Some lines and some dots to add a little whimsy.

I don't mind the texture that was original to this piece. I really like the way it turned out.

In the end, I have an original artwork that is personal to me. Even Jordan noticed right away that this was a waterfall and was able to enjoy the artwork despite his dislike of abstract art.

The fun thing about abstract art is that it is up to your interpretation of shapes, colors, and lines. You can create your own abstract artwork and it can look completely different.

What do you think? Would you be interested in seeing the rest of my finds? or more art related posts? The art teacher in me really loved writing this post. Though I tried my best not to throw out to much art verbage. :)

At 6 months old, these were the items that we packed into this yellow bookbag for a little visit to a friends house. It was one of her first times staying with someone that wasn't family. A sweet friend graciously watched our little girl so that we could get dinner.

I realized that most of the items were all yellow, so I had to snag a photo. 

Although Ruby ditched the pacifier completely, these are still some of her favorite things. I love these items because one, they are beautiful. Also, they are of such great quality and really are the items she loves the most. We catch her giggling to herself as she flips through brown bear all the time. It's the sweetest thing ever. 

Here are the links to the items above: 

mini bookbag
giraffe teether 
pacifier
wooden rattle
brown bear
muslin blanket (different pattern, same brand)

One of our favorite experiences from our trip to California, was driving down Highway 1, or the Pacific Coast Highway, or whatever the locals may call it. We never looked like we belonged in California, but we did love everything about it. 

We didn't really look at the time and didn't have any agenda while driving. We would stop whenever we saw something interesting or just to take in the landscape. One of my favorite stops was to see the Bixby Bridge. It always reminds me of some death cab song. haha. 

Well, enjoy a few photos of the Bixby Bridge...

There was a man with a bunny on his head while we were there?

and here are some iphone photos to prove that we were there...