over the weekend

I can say with complete satisfaction and total honesty that we had one hell of an amazing weekend!!

The girls had fun (minus one bad stretch of night for Sidney) and Justin and I managed to get along the entire time -be sweet to each other, even- and we were surrounded by family, friends and food. It was perfect. Even the weather was nice enough to us!

See?

I finally got around to getting some pictures of Rhealen with Justin's side of the family (now I just need to get some with my side), so I can quit feeling guilty that poor little RJ doesn't have enough baby pictures!

And I got some cute shots of Sidney + Rhealen.

See?

And I was featured in a Guest Post over at my friendly ad-swap partner's site, Newfoundlander at Heart. Go HERE if you'd like to read my advice for new moms and friends of new moms!


I'm hoping this week will zoom by for all of us and we can do it all over again next weekend! There's just something so refreshing about having a good weekend; it sets you up to have a good week.

Here's to holding onto that weekend feeling all the week long!

my sense of humor is clearly better than my sense of fashion

So the other day I had some time to kill and I thought to myself, "hey, why not go try on some clothes!"

Whenever I'm bored and have some extra time I like to go look at things just for shits and giggles, things I don't intend to buy but just enjoy looking at (if you work on commission anywhere, sorry that's just how I roll). I like to test drive cars just for fun, go look at mobile homes for the heck of it, and apparently, try on clothes just to make a blog post out of it!

And let me say, the "fashion" of today scares me. Like, really scares me.

I discovered two things while browsing around:
#1 I have a very distinct pattern of things I like to wear
#2 I am way out of touch with the "in" crowd when it comes to clothes

So without further ado, here are some looks I put together that are flattering, horrifying and everything in between!

Look #1


At first, I thought to myself, "This isn't half bad" - then I tried to move around a little to see how it looked.



And then I was all, "WHAT THE HELL?" - this shirt is the absolute least flattering thing I've ever put on my body. Who does this look good on?

Correct answer: no one.

Look #2


I like this shirt - I think I have this shirt in about 10 different patterns and colors at home. It's a definite thumbs-up for me.

Look #3


And to get all saucy and daring, I threw on a little caplet thing. And I felt like such a hipster!

Look #4


I loved this pattern and this material, but it was a wee big tight on me. Looks pretty good standing there, sucking my gut in, but as soon as I sat down the rolls came popping out all over. Not hot.

Look #5


Definitely a thumbs down! You can totally see my bra and my muffin top pooching out over my jeans. I know what you're thinking, "just wear a tank underneath" but no. I don't want to buy a shirt that I have to wear another shirt underneath it just to be decent in public.

Look #6


Okay, here's thing about this shirt: I do not wear belts of any kind. Not on my pants, not around my shirts. But I know this is trendy, so I figured I'd give it a try. Looks so-so from the front, right? Not too bad?

Well look at the side-view:


My back-fat is totally munching on some belt. Not exactly hot in my book. I think I'll live this trend to the hipsters and skinny bitches.

Look #7


This shirt, as corny as it is, is totally up my alley! I feel like John Travolta (obviously) and very comfortable.

And as you can see, the best part:


No back-fat, baby!

Look #8


This top? I love it. I love everything about it. It's black. It's flattering. It's black. It's girly. It's black. I die.

Look #9


And to finish off our fashion show, I thought I'd try on a dress - but I wasn't about to take my pants off because then you'd see my pale white legs and lovely, unshaven hairs. So this is what you get. I feel like a total hippie in this dress, and not the good kind. The cheap, trying-too-hard, polyester version.

And double-whammy:


Why, yes, I did just have a baby. Eight months ago.

As you can see, clearly I have zero fashion sense. But I do have a sense of humor. And that makes any trip to the dressing room a little bit more tolerable!

just 'cause

I don't have much to say today -- I've been working on (finally!) writing Sidney's birth story. It has consumed me; I've been making sure I get every detail down that I can before it's gone completely.

I also went back and updated Rhealen's birth story, but I have a feeling I'm going to add more the further I get along in Sidney's story.

I never want to forget these two days -- they were the two most important days of my life!

And since I'm feeling all sentimental, you get to see two photos from those two special days. The three people I love the most in this world!

Look for Sidney's birth novel story coming soon! 

For Those With Depression

Recently I've been reading a lot of posts from some of my favorite blog authors disclosing their private battles with all shapes and forms of depression.

To me, depression is one of those ghost like apparitions that can't be measured, can't be proven. It exists only because people say it exists. For those who experience depression, it's as real as stone. For those who have never been exposed, people like me, it's hard to fully grasp or understand.

My peronsal compass and continued education tell me never to judge a person's level of depression, their depth in the darkness or their path to finding the light again. I may not be able to see it, touch it, help them with an instant cure - but I am here to listen. I am here to offer whatever support I can and be a friend to those who need me.

I'm so thankful to live in a world and time where we can talk about these sort of things more and more openly as the days roll on. We are finally peeling back the layers on this once incredibly taboo illness. As more and more people admit to battling depression, more and more people are finding comfort in the simple fact that they are not alone. There is unity in groups, a sense of comfort-however small- in knowing that we are not alone, in any facet of our lives together here on earth.

If you are suffering from depression, I hope you have resources available to you. I hope you can and are willing to seek help, professional help. I hope you have a friend to hear you and a shoulder to cry on. I hope you see the light at the end of your tunnel, and I hope these dark days will soon be behind you.

I may not know you. I may be your best friend. Whatever I am to you, know that I am thinking of you and hoping for the absolute best for you. There is so much beauty and light, love and wanderlust in this magical world of ours, I can only pray your eyes are opened and your heart is lightened so that you may see it.

{just a friendly little reminder}

Don't forget to check out my awesome ad-swap partners this month:

Margot is a sweet gal living in Ontario (but dreaming of Newfoundland often) and is expecting her first baby this spring! You can learn more about Margot HERE.

Victoria is exceptionally creative and has an eye for design, style and art. She features some awesome DIYs and free printables. You can learn more about Victoria HERE.





And if YOU would like to particpaite in a blog ad-swap for the month of March, please email me at maryruthcan{at}hotmail{dot}com


Thanks!  

{a little bit of me}

Rhealen asleep with the sun on her face.
The way she prefers to be in the car.

I say all the time how this child is the opposite of me and the replica of her Daddy.

But in this moment she is me exactly.

We are both flowers reaching towards every square inch of sun we can find. Every streak of light is our bed.

She may be the image of her Daddy. She may have his surly, burly attitude sometimes. She may adore her sister and follow in her mannerisms moreso than most.

But this little one here is mine.

#JuanitaWeasel (NSFW)

Yesterday, I just couldn't help myself. The Bloggess has sucked me into her zany vortex and I spent a good part of the day coming up with Juanita pictures in my head.

But here are a few I made in real life. Because, you know, I just had to.

Do you read The Bloggess - here's my endorsement telling you that you should, really. Jenny is everything I hope to be in my darkest dreams.

Oh and for those of you totally lost on the whole Juanita Weasel thing, go read HERE for some context.

Ad Swap

For the month of February, I've been participating in a blog ad swap with two other great blogs (their buttons can be found top right of the screen ----> over there) and it's been great!

I mentioned the importance of ads and promoting your blog on other sites, so this has been a great transition into hosting other blogs here on mommaruthsays and getting my blog out there to other readers. So now I ask...

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SWAP ADS for the month of March?

If you're interested in hosting an ad here on mommaruthsays, please email me your button and link to maryruthcan{at}hotmail{dot}com sized 225x200

I'd love to swap with you and keep the flow of readers going from my blog to yours!

come here, go there: link love

• Joanna shared The Venus Project - and I have to say, I prefer the curves and real bodies. Don't you?
• Melissa's little boy Arlo makes the cutest cupid I've ever seen! 
• Emma posted the recipe for a Baked Egg Boat that had me licking my computer screen - I wish I was more handy in the kitchen! 
• Jess is giving away a $100 Target gift card - you know you want it!
• Love is having another baby - this'll make her 8 sweet kiddos! Congratulations! 
• I love that Cindy keeps it really real, all the time - plus she and I are twin mommys with our girls so close in age! 
• Heather is back after a blog hiatus and I'm so glad to see her blogging again! Sounds like the break did her mind and body good. 
• Katie only confirms my desires to start embroidering, she makes the cutest stuff - it's on my "to learn" list! 

Other note-worthy stories:

• Jive Turkey has a post up over at MamaPop that describes how I feel about this whole Whitney Houston and the media response thing that happened this week. 
• Who's excited about seeing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? THIS GIRL! 
• The Bloggess can unite us like no other - and the big question, did Simon Pegg ever hold the twine?!?! UPDATED: YES HE DID!!!!! 
• My favorite (and most random) "Pins" of the week HERE, HERE and HERE. 

See also: 

Hell yes, I did that. 

valentines for my friends

I haven't had to spend a Valentine's Day "alone" in over eight years -- but there have been many times throughout the years when my friends were just as much my valentines as my dear husband.

And since said husband is busy this evening, I'm dedicating this one to my friends. I hope your day is filled with love and sweetness and all the wonderful girly things that make us blush and squeel a little louder than normal.

I love you, my friends.

{our little family}

A few weekends ago, we had some casual family photos made and I couldn't be more pleased with how they turned out. It's hard to catch our family in motion, so what came out of our little mini-session was definitely a pleasant surprise!

And yes, I know it's a total contradiction that we live in Virginia and root for Tennessee - I blame it entirely on my husband. 

photo an hour

My first attempt at this - I spent most of Thursday in the car traveling for work, but I thought it'd still be fun to see what I came up with. It's a lot harder to remember to take a photo every hour on the hour than I thought it'd be!

9:00am


10:00am


11:00am


12:00pm


2:00pm


3:00pm


4:00pm


5:00pm


I'm definitely going to do this again soon - I'll try to catch a day when I'm not driving all over God's country Virginia so you get more than just road views!

there's no point to this post, other than the fact that every now and then I like to smile like a goofy idiot

So, yeah, I'm just casually sitting here in my chair at home browsing the internet late at night. The rest of the house is completely quiet and asleep, as I should be, but there's internet memes to look at and tweets to read and gossip to be caught up on.

And while I'm innocently browsing around Tumblr, I stumble upon this site Old Love - and I'm in new love with Old Love because this is exactly the kind of time-suck I get into. No point to it, just love it.

And when I get to page 35 (yes, I went even further than that) I see a picture of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling from the MTV Movie Awards way back when and then I can't control myself - I had to go over and watch the video and OMG:


And then I'm sitting in the dark living room, smiling the biggest smile my cheeks can handle - because DUH! it's sweet and I secretly wish these two would get back together every single day because, hello, have you seen The Notebook? They were meant to be.

Also, I'm a permanent 12 year old girl stuck inside this body.

So from there, I'm reminded of another time I sat in front of the TV smiling like a dork because another fictional-couple that dated in real-life were winning that same award several years later:


And I can remember being in the game room of Dobby's grand-mother's house in Florida having a total panic attack with full-blown hyperventilating because ZOMG, they were about to kiss and he did the hair ruffle and I have a soft spot for Kristen's nervous twitch thing.

And then they didn't.

And I died a little inside that day.

But it's stupid, silly little love things like these that make my heart soar with love and teenage hormones and a million other crazy feelings I love to feel. Some people may hate the cheesy things in life, but I LIVE FOR CHEESE.

Bring on the cheese, baby. I need it to breathe. And since V-Day is fast approaching, I'm stocking up on the sugary sweetness of love and life. We all need stuff like this to make us smile. And it moments like this that make me so happy I'm a girl and not some silly old boy who could never appreciate things like this. 

little ice cream dates

Whenever the girls and I have time we need to kill or a few extra minutes to spare, we love to stop for ice cream dates! Sidney could eat a vanilla cone every day of her life, probably twice a day and never grow tired of it. And Rhealen is already starting to profess her love for ice cream; she'll gladly cause a scene wherever she's at if you don't feed her fast enough.

It's a fun little date we girls have together, and it helps teach Sidney how to share with her sister. Soon enough I'll be forced to buy two vanilla cones and then it'll be every girl for herself!

Doing little things like this with the girls makes my heart feel full and happy. It isn't always the big dates and fun, new exciting things that build warm memories. Sometimes it's just the simple ice cream dates and hang time with Mom that leaves an imprint. 

{8 Months}

Our little Nugget hit the 8-month mark yesterday. She's 2/3 of the way to her first birthday (which I must tell you, Sidney is already planning for her with great delight)!

This past week has been a bit of a doozy for her; she's been quite the sick little ladybug and wants to be held and loved constantly. We took her to the Dr yesterday and she has a case of RSV and an ear infection, so it's antibiotics and lots of humidified air for this girl. If I leave her sight, it's instant meltdown. Even her big sister isn't enough of a comfort to her - although Sidney recently discovered her snake-charming side. She found a way to kiss Rhealen's cheek that puts her in a total trance. It's the cutest!

Rhealen has mastered the art of sitting up, but no crawling yet. If she's on a slick enough surface, she can scoot clear across the room! She will put her hands down in front of her and try to rock back and forth, so crawling is only a matter of time.

She still has the best appetite of any baby I've ever seen. There's nothing this kid won't eat! She loves fruits, veggies, meats, breads - all of it. Some her favorites include pears, bananas, asparagus, mozerella cheese, pizza, sour cream & chive cheese crackers and waffles. Of course, she also has a penchant for iced tea and ice cream, but I'm not supposed to admit she eats that stuff! Or eggs and peanut butter. Or double-stuff Oreos.

As of right now, she sleeps almost 11 hours every night - most of the time through the night, but sometimes she wakes up rooting for her paci. If you pop it back in quick enough, she goes right back to sleep. We recently moved her pack-n-play out of the living room and into the girls' room and the transition has made a world of difference. She sleeps better, longer, more soundly. She's also a huge fan of white noise, so I think we're going to invest in a sound machine sometime in the near future.

She can clearly say "da-da" (her favorite word), "mom-mom" and "num-num". We're working on more, lord knows Sidney is dying to hear her say her name. I don't have the heart to tell her it'll be awhile before she spits that one out!

I honestly don't think I could ask for a better baby - she's sweet as can be, loves her family and has a great adaptability to roll with the punches (most of the time). She loves to be on the go in the car, and yet you can almost hear her breathe a sigh of relief when we walk through the front door at home. She plays well by herself and is in love with taking showers with me. She has a lot of little quirks and habits that remind me of Sidney (like sticking her left leg up on the table while she eats in her high chair) but she's so totally opposite Sidney sometimes, it's amazing they're even related.

I look at her sometimes and think to myself, I made you. I carried you. I felt your first movements, your first kicks. I was the one you heard first, and I'm the one you knew first. How blessed am I to have known her first, to be the one who shared a body with her and helped her grow into this being of light and love. She's been outside of my body almost as long as she was inside.

Happy, wonderful 8 months, my sweet Rhealen Jo. 

come here, go there: link love

Danielle explains to us why we put bumper stickers on Ferraris - you get 'em girl!
If Jess doesn't want her ass, I'l take it!
Amy has the best way with words - I love her poem series.
Jessica has created the perfect clock - describes my life to a "T"!
February is a big month for Margot - I'll be part of that big sponsored giveaway she's talking about.
Gabi has an awesome VDay giveaway happening now!
Holly Sarah finally welcomed baby #3, little Oscar is so cute!

Other note-worthy stories:

The Hunger Games is getting an IMAX release - woot woot!
Android users are more likely to put out....say what?
Do you take a birth control manufactured by Pfizer - better start counting the days!

Also, I have to share this video (I've watched it 100+ times, Kristen Bell is the cutest)!

{sick}

I've been way sick the past two days, this morning is the first time I've felt near-human in over 24 hours.

Hopefully in 24 more hours I'll be back to 100%.

In the meantime, I'm going back to bed and keep getting real familiar with my bathroom.


{PS Winner of the Blog Birthday Giveaway is Czesia! I'll be emailing you soon!}