Wordless Wednesday

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Finny! 

Who could have imagined that when we met more than 14 years ago that one day we'd be celebrating your First Father's Day together!? You would, that's who! 

You've told me time and time again that you always knew I was the one for you and the one you wanted to be the mother of your children. You have never doubted, not even for a single moment, that I would be the one to make you a proud father.

Our road to parenthood wasn't one for the story lines of "16 and Pregnant" (thank goodness!) and it wasn't the easiest task we've taken on.  From the day we heard the words "fertility treatments" until the day I showed you the positive pregnancy test, it was a long and emotional roller coaster. We had many laughs and plenty of tears. But, it was one of the most rewarding journeys I have ever been on with you!

One year ago today on Father's Day, we were too nervous to pee on a stick. I didn't want to have to tell you, again, that you were not going to be a father (yet). We had the family over and I spent much of the day with the dream of you getting to celebrate this special day as a father next year. The following day we found out that we were in fact pregnant and we were both so nervous and excited that we couldn't fall back asleep (and it was only 5am)! Our lives were instantly changed when that little white stick said "pregnant" or had two blurry lines, whichever way you prefer to remember it! ;)

Fast forward nine months to March 2, 2012. The day that you became a dad. Although really, I am convinced that you were born to be a dad. We welcomed Dempsey Mason Ruehrdanz into the world at 8:58 pm, he weighed 7lbs, 10oz, and was 20 1/4" long. He was beautiful in every way. He was happy and healthy. You received the most excited dad, EVER, award from our doctor and your emotional reaction to the arrival of our son was so touching I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. Your scream, laugh, cry, ecstatic-ness was so amazing to see. You didn't want to let him leave your arms. You were in love, more in love than you had ever been in love before. You had a son. You made him. You couldn't have been more proud. 

From that day on you had shifted from Finn, a best friend, a son, a soccer player, a coach, a fanatic, a son-in-law, a brother, and so many other things to DAD. You didn't lose any other part of yourself, but it was as if that one final piece of being a dad made your life so much more complete. You took to the role with such ease and grace, it was as if it was always meant to be (which of course it was). 

You are the world's greatest dad to Dempsey. You have given him nothing but 200% of everything you have to offer since the day you two met. You are an expert diaper changing, swaddling, shushing, rocking, bouncing, entertaining, baby-wearing, smile-inducing dad. Dempsey is the luckiest boy on the planet to have you as his Dad. I cannot wait to watch the two of you grow up together. I know that you will be the best of friends and you will be so proud of one another. And I know that one day he will exclaim "Dad, you are the best!" Because, hunny, you really are the best.

I'm so blessed to have you as my best friend. My husband. My soul mate. The father to my children. My everything. 

I love you more today than I did the day before and that gets truer everyday.

Today, my lover, it is all about you. Here's to wishing you the Happiest First Father's Day Ever!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Top Ten Tuesday

10 Random Facts About ME!

1. My childhood nickname was Mason. Papa Smurf was also given to me by some friends in high school (I really have no idea why). Mason was used a lot!. I don't have a nickname anymore, although I do get called Ash by a few people.

2. If you want to spoil me rotten, buy me a vacation to somewhere tropical, with a beach!

3. The television character I most identify with is Lisa Simpson. She is the smart, overachieving, dorky middle sister on The Simpsons. My family resembles The Simpsons quite a bit actually! But I relate to Lisa since she is all sorts of nerdy but is still so super fabulous. Although I pretty much never wore a dress as a child and you will rarely find me in one today. Oh, and I'm not too yellow and my hair isn't spikey! ;)

4. If I had a whole day to go shopping and money to spend, I would go to a whole lot of places, since I have all day! :) If I had to choose a couple places they would probably be: REI, Title Nine, IKEA and the Nike Outlet. 

5. The most wild and crazy thing I have ever done (that I can admit to publicly) is jumping out of a plane in Cape Town, South Africa! It was an amazing experience!! I am so glad I did it! I would love to go again, but being a mom does make me more wary - so weird how that happens! 

6. The one thing on my bucket list that I am most eager to do is travel outside of the country for something other than the World Cup. I mentioned this in my last Top Ten Tuesday post. I would love to take a nice vacation with my guys!

7. My family will always be loyal to each other! Finn and I both come from pretty tight knit families and we want Dempsey to experience that as well. 

8. If I could spend a day with a celebrity I would choose Rob Dyrdek! One of the main reasons is because I know my day would be an action-packed adventure full of ball pits, motorcycles, pranks, etc. That guy is hilarious and seems super down to earth to boot.

9. In my opinion, the best invention in the history of the world is electricity. Without that crucial building block the rest of the amazing technologies that exist today wouldn't exist at all!

10. When life hands me lemons, I make ice tea because I love it with tons of lemon!! But none of that Arnold Palmer crap - it is NOT the same thing as ice tea with lots of lemon!! 

Three Months

How in the world did another month pass already!? I'm pretty sure that time speeds up once you have a kid. They are constantly changing, right in front of your eyes. Dempsey is no exception. He has changed quite a bit this past month. He is really starting to get a personality, that's for sure! He smiles all the time, has all sorts of new noises, follows people and dogs with his eyes and is showing more interest (and disinterest) in a variety of things! We have started reading to him and he really seems to enjoy it! He likes his bouncy chair again and that is awesome because I am now able to make dinner, etc. and he can happily sit and watch! He is getting so close to having his first real belly laugh - we can't wait!! He enjoys tummy time and can hold his big noggin' up like a champ! His hands are his best friend, he thinks they are the greatest thing ever!!

He weighs about 13.2 lbs and is around 2 feet long. He fits in most 3 month clothes, although his long legs tend to make his 3mo pants look like shants!

Routine - if there is such a thing with a 3 month old. Sleeps generally from 9:30 or 10pm - 4 or 5am. This sleep cycle was disturbed in his last week as a 2 month old due to mom going Paleo. The Paleo part wasn't/isn't the culprit, but the rapid weight loss I experienced was! I am working on building that back up! During the day he generally eats every two to three hours and takes a few good naps during the day (each lasting several hours). He gets a bath every other night and it is always his favorite time!

Other things that have been going on in the family:

I finished another semester of grad school - and I am rockin' a 3.9 gpa (not too shabby considering full time work, being pregnant, having a baby, and all the other awesome things that come with being me!)

The Ruby Hill Community Garden which I am a co-leader of is going well. It is truly "up and running." We have three pretty large plots and were able to get most of our planting done on Mother's Day!

Finn and I both had our first overnights without Dempsey. I went to Moab for a girls' trip, you can see more pics from that here. It was definitely emotional, but a great experience for sure! I had to pump to keep my milk supply up and to have some to freeze once I got back since the stockpile had was definitely used greatly while I was away. The following week, Finn headed to NOLA for work for nine days! It was tough, but thank goodness we live in a time where technology allows us to video chat, text, email, etc. every day! It was fun skyping with Finn in the evenings so that he could see Dempsey being the goofy kid that he is.

Dempsey's aunt Hanni got engaged!! We were all very excited and we went to Ernie's to celebrate! We know that Dempsey will be the cutest little guy at the wedding, no doubt about it!! :)

A Girls Trip to Moab: Cool!!

On May 18th I took a final, went out to dinner to celebrate my sister in-law's engagement and then packed my bags for a weekend trip with some fabulous ladies!

One of my good friends is moving to Madison, WI in July and had never been to Moab, UT and really wanted to go. I've lived in Colorado and UT my entire life and have never been myself!! I wasn't entirely sure I would go at first since Dempsey was still so young and I knew I had to save up a good supply of milk in the freezer to last 2.5+ days! But, it was important for me to go for a number of reasons.

The trip was great! We ate some delicious food, including pudgie pies which were the best camp food EVER!! We saw some amazing sites, including Arches National Park and Hanging Lake. And we just had an all around good time chatting, hiking, camping and the like.

Since so much of the trip is girly stuff and funny weekend joke phrases, I will just share with you all some memories through picture collages! Thank you, Nature!