InstaUpdate

reno temple watercolor for a friend // ruby loves to stick her tongue out and i love her.

i can't get over how cute this girl looks in a pair of shades // it was warm for a few days (today we have snow)

ruby's st. patrick's day get-up - too cute to pinch! // hanging out with great grandpa alleman

new springy curtains - can i just tell you how difficult it is to photograph a window? // ruby's baby play date with virginia 

all pictures from instagram // @candaceworkman

My Trader Joe's Faves

Yesterday, I went to Trader Joe's with my friend, Melissa. It was her first trip to Trader Joe's. It was really fun going with someone for their first time. We definitely loaded up our carts! She was getting a bunch of recommendations from all of her friends on what the best things are. 

This got me to thinking: What are my favorite, must-have things? Here is a short list of the things I always throw in my basket on my monthly pilgrimage to the world's greatest grocery store. 

• Frozen Turkey Meatballs - Ruby LOVES these plain and they are awesome with spaghetti. 
• Organic Creamy Tomato Soup - Perfect with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich! 
• (Apple, Strawberry, Blueberry) Walks into a Bar Cereal Bars - So much better than NurtiGrain Bars. 
• Kettle Corn - Dan's Mom would always bring me up a couple bags of "Pink Popcorn" from California! 
• Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies
• Fruit Leather - Any flavor is awesome!
• Frozen Mashed Sweet Potatoes - Ruby loves these also and it's so much easier than actually roasting sweet potatoes. 
• Frozen Veggies and Fruit - I especially love the frozen sweet corn. 
• Sparkling French Berry Lemonade - I actually usually don't let myself buy this because I drink it too fast. It's that yummy. 
• Roasted Coconut Chips
• Sweet, Savory and Tart Granola Bars
• Cranberry, Almond and Cashew Granola - Great as a cereal or over yogurt. 
• Everyday Seasonings or any of the seasonings in grinders. 
• Frozen Steel-Cut Oats
• Frozen Orange Chicken, Frozen Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Rice - This combo makes a great meal! 
• Frozen Mac & Cheese - Ruby and I like to share this for lunch. 
• Hot & Sweet Mustard - Great on sandwiches or I love dipping pretzels in it. 
• They also have a great selection of fresh flowers at rock-bottom prices. I got a couple of bunches of Daffodils this last trip and they make me so happy! 

Ok, SO basically anything is good at Trader Joe's. That list wasn't very short and I'm sure I've forgotten a few things on this list. I recently discovered this blog and realized that there are so many more things that I haven't tried yet.

 Do you have any favorites? I'd love to hear!

This post isn't sponsored by Trader Joe's or anything. I just super love Trader Joe's. 

dear ruby

dear baby girl, 

you are growing up way too fast. do me a favor and just stay little a little bit longer. 

love, momma. 

InstaUpdate

a little tiny bit of easter decor is up + look at these pictures of little ruby // ruby the reader -
it was such a nice day, we walked to the library

ruby is 16lbs and a "cruise-control baby" as the doctor said // started working on some paintings -
this one's for my momma

ruby is definitely teething // happy birthday daniel

grandpa came bearing gifts from massachusetts // lunch date with leesie lacey lou lou belle -
a.k.a. aunt elise

all pictures from instagram // @candaceworkman

Ruby & Her Daddy

As much as I love setting up photo shoots, I think these moments in real life are just too precious to be forgotten. Dan was playing with Ruby in her room one average, ordinary afternoon. I love capturing moments like these. Ruby is such a Daddy's Girl and she is the apple of his eye. I just love them. 

San Francisco!

Here is the obligatory post-trip photo heavy blog post!

This was our first real vacation as a family where we didn't plan our trip around seeing family or a business trip. We thought that San Francisco was pretty close and had a lot to offer, so that was our destination! 

First off - Ruby is a great traveler. She did relatively well on the 12+ hour drive and endured our marathon-style tourism. 

We kind of front loaded our trip which was a great thing because Dan got food poisoning on the last day...he was so miserable! 

Here's some of what we did: 

I think Ruby is a fan of vacations. 

happy thoughts

Via 

*I hate shopping in Utah. There! I said it. My sister, Elise, and I went shopping this weekend and I didn't buy a single thing. Generally, I only buy things on sale. It's just the way I am. The bad thing is, I think most of Utah County is like this too. That's one of the top reasons I love going to Massachusetts. Let's just say I got a Banana Republic silk skirt at a consignment shop on my last visit for $2.50. That is not a typo.

*I am hosting Book Club at my house this month and the book takes place in Ireland. Perfect because it's March and it's St. Patrick's Day! I think it'd be really fun to make some Irish themed snacks. I don't know whether to go all kitchy St. Paddy's Day or go with more traditional Irish fare.

*I would really love to make some hair clips like these for Ruby. They look really pretty simple. Also related to hair, I've been wearing my hair like this way too much lately. I really need to switch it up.

*On Netflix, I've been watching all of the Disney Parks features and it's pretty dangerous. The Disney Fever is pretty bad here. I really super want to take Ruby to Disneyland or Disney World. It'll be like the greatest day of my life.

*I'm so excited for it to be SPRING! I'm so excited for skirts, nightly walks, open windows and fresh fruit. I'm even excited for spring cleaning. And I'm already making lists of all the things I *get* to clean!

*This is such a cute idea. I plan to do it. Really soon.

*I've got a hefty private board on Pinterest with tons of inspiration for Ruby's 1st Birthday Party. Less than three months! Oh goodness!

*Has anyone out there seen Rogers & Hammerstein's State Fair? I've asked a couple of people lately and nobody seems to know what I'm talking about. I love that movie. I'm going to need to add it to my Netflix queue.

*Does anyone want to be in a Craft Club with me? I have all these projects I want to do, but I know I won't do them without the peer pressure of a club. I'm serious.

Happy Birthday, Dan!

All I can say, is "Poor Dan". 

This has been the least-pleasant birthday for him - ever. He didn't even get an awesome blog post. He had a hernia repaired the day before his birthday and spent the whole weekend recovering.  His birthday was filled with pain meds, nausea, ice packs, milk of magnesia, and lots of resting. 

We had a little impromptu birthday cake Sunday night, but I still think Birthday No. 26 needs some redemption once Dan is feeling back to tip-top shape! 

Ruby - Nine Months

This has been such a great month with Ruby. It's been kind of a crazy month on pretty much every other front... but with Ruby, it's been great!

She is such a social, friendly girl and this month perfected the wave and the clap. It's so cute. She waves at everyone and anything - cars driving by, ceiling fans and movie posters. And it's usually not a shy wave but a full-bodied, double hand wave. She's very enthusiastic.

Ruby's two bottom teeth came in a couple of weeks ago and she is working on cutting the top teeth. She loves getting her teeth brushed. If I'm brushing my teeth, she has to have her teeth brushed too.

Ruby is perfectly content to just sit and still doesn't seem to have any interest in crawling. I'm not complaining.

Ruby is done eating pureed baby food and eats pretty much anything that we eat. We haven't really run into anything that she really doesn't like. She has quite a sweet tooth which is no surprise to me - she is my daughter, after all.

She's got her 9 Month Doctor's Visit this week so I'll have the specifics on her stats and such later. I know for sure that she is tall & skinny! And that we love her so so much. Multiple times a day, Dan or I will say, "I just love her so much!". And we really do.

Monthly Stats:

Weight - Getting bigger but she's still a dainty little lady. We'll see soon. 

Diapers - I think we can probably move up to Size 3, but we're still finishing off the box of Size 2. 

Clothes - Ruby wears all different sizes. It's kind of all over the place. She'll wear a 3-6 Month sweater with a 9 Month onesie and 6-12 Month pants. All I can say is that it's a good thing that the weather is warming up because Ruby's pants are often high-waters and that's only sort of acceptable because they'll end up looking like capris. 

Likes - waving & clapping, sticking her tongue out, chewing on EVERYTHING, kicking in the bathtub, playing peek-a-boo, being held upside-down, giving pat-pats on the back. 

Dislikes - sitting in the backseat of the car by herself, having her boogers sucked out (she'll cry if you even touch her nostrils) & being immobile. 

I can't believe this girl is going to be ONE in less that three months...This year has FLOWN!