Red Head

When Carman and I got married I always thought it'd be fun to have a little girl with strawberry blonde hair. Of course, when we get our little boy, he's the one who gets Daddy's hair! Just after he was born and the nurses were cleaning him up they said, "Wow! He has red hair!" The other replied, "Yeah, you don't see that very often!" The first picture below shows the best (but still not quite accurately) how red it looked at first. After his bath, it looked a little more on the strawberry blonde side. The poor little guy doesn't have much hair so its still hard to say exactly what it'll be! The last picture is the back of Clara's head. I just thought I'd throw it in to compare. Emmalynne and Clara's hair was the same at birth so to get something different was a shocker.

                                          

Its A............

BOY!!!! 

I'm so extremely happy to introduce 

Benjamin James Ragatz

Born 1/26/12

Weight: 7 lb 12 oz

Height: 21 1/2 inches 

Baby Names

A couple days ago Carman and I were trying to come up with a name for this little baby. Emmalynne joined us and gave either her approval or disapproval of each name. We were having a really good time. As we were trying to think of girl names, Carman suggested his favorite (but not mine), Kelsey. Emmalynne readily agreed on the name. Its actually been a favorite of hers and Carmans for awhile. After that I suggested my favorite name, Ruth. (Carman very much dislikes it.) Emmalynne scrunched up her nose and said, "...maybe if its a boy!" Carman was enthused that Emmalynne takes his side-not that she gets any pull in naming the baby.

Another name I suggested was Melanie. Emmalynne politely said, "No, I don't like that one." So I then suggested "Smellanie." Emmalynne smiled really big and as she shook her head up and down she said, "Yah! I like that one!" Again...Emmalynne doesn't get any say in what we name the baby!

A few of Emmalynne's own suggestions were: Zach, Megan, and Laura. Since those are all names of my sister and her kids, I tried to explain that we already had one of those in the family and we want to try to pick a new name. Her next suggestion was.... drum roll please..... "Bum."

Happy Birthday

I wish I were saying "Happy Birthday" to the baby, but alas, its Carman. Yesterday was his birthday. Although at first he didn't want to have his birthday and the baby's be very close together, yesterday he was very willing and ready for me to have the baby. When he got up that morning he said all he really wanted for his birthday was a baby. We're all getting anxious around here! Here's our traditional birthday dinner with my sister and her family. Carman chose a delightful italian dish that I'm sure made everyone gain a pound or two!

 The girls enjoyed helping Carman open his presents.

 My favorite gift was the one I gave him: new glasses. Obviously he has to go to the eye doctor and everything. In order to have something to wrap for him, I made a pair of glasses out of a toilet paper roll, popsicle sticks, paper clips, and lots of tape!

 Megan sports them very well if you ask me!

 Party guests, Mike and Jared. I like the contrast in the faces they are making!

 One candle is better than none, right! ...I didn't have enough, so we went with just one. For his birthday treat, he had the same as last year- an apple tart type of thing.

 The boys helped Louie get dressed up for the special occasion.

 Clara was thrilled about rice krispy treats. She ate 2 big ones. Plus she periodically kept trying to steal Megan's.

 Maybe its just me but I think my face is getting fatter...

Caught You!

Little miss Clara absolutely loves to sit at the computer desk and get into mischief. Its a big "no-no" at our house. Emmalynne got a camera for Christmas because she loves to steal mine and use it. I absolutely do not like it when she does that. Tonight I FINALLY convinced Clara to let me do her hair. After I took a few pictures of her first teeny, tiny pigtails I decided to upload them to the computer. When doing so I found about 50 pictures I didn't take of things like the wall, Emmalynne's finger, etc. As I mildly scolded Emmalynne for using my camera, I found this picture she took of Clara. Turns out they were both up to no good! And I was also impressed with the picture she got of Louie. 

 Emmalynne doesn't like to have her hair done most of the time. The way its always in her face drives me nuts. She was the first one that was willing to let me do her hair today. This is her "cheese" face and straining to keep her eyes open through the flash.

 Finally, here are the little pigtails I've been wanting to try to put in Clara's hair for a few months now. She is so determined. I wasn't sure if she'd ever let me do it.

 If Clara were a teenager or older, she probably wouldn't let me post this picture since it shows off her hot double chin!

Nice Question

Clara was taking a nap and Emmalynne and I were enjoying some one-on-one time together. We were really having some good and needed bonding time. We sat down at the table to have lunch together. Which means Louie wasn't too far from the scene. He knows hes not allowed in the same room as us when we're eating so he hangs out right in the doorway, as close as he can get without being in trouble.

There we were eating our lunch and enjoying ourselves when Emmalynne scrunched up her nose, turned to me and asked, "Mom did you poop?"

HA! It was so funny. She asked it as seriously as she possibly could have. I suppose it comes from me asking Clara if she pooped every time I smell something stinky.

It didn't take but another second and I smelled the foul smell, and explained to Emmalynne, "No, I didn't poop. Louie tooted." To which she responded, "Oh. That's gross." I readily agreed and we continued with our lunch. Hopefully this isn't one of those stories that you had to be there for it to be funny...

I love this picture of Louie despite the spooky eyes. He can frequently be caught with his lip curled up like this. Either he smelled his own fart or he's practicing his Elvis impression for when America's Got Talent comes to Charlotte!

Highlights

It was requested by my sister (who can't wait just a day to see me in person) that I post pictures of the highlights I got this morning. Other than the picture of Emmalynne strangling  hugging me, I took these all myself. Just like my haircut, it isn't exactly what I was going for. However, I like it. 

A Big Cut

After a lot of debate, I decided to get my hair cut. At first it was too drastic of a change for me to like it. I had it done a couple days before Christmas. I'm finally used to it now. Its nice to not have to do anything to my hair and to feel like it looks good. That was the main thing that made me want to get it cut. Emmalynne was cute. I had a friend come over and cut my hair after the girls were in bed. The next morning Em said, "You cut your hair like me!?" It took her awhile to get used to my new cut too. For the next few days she would randomly comment about me cutting my hair like hers or ask me about my friend coming over while she was asleep. She likes that my hair is "just like hers." Unfortunately, she won't let me put hair things in her hair very frequently because she wants to wear her hair "just like mommy's." Oh, and we took this picture on Saturday, when I hit the 37 week mark! About 3 weeks to go. I really can't wait to be done! If you want a super duper good reason for me to have the baby any day: my FAVORITE maternity pants (which I'm sporting in the picture below) got a ginormous, irreparable hole! Maybe wearing them practically every day was a bad idea.

Family Time!

I'm not really big on New Year's Resolutions. Last year was, perhaps, the first time I had one. It was to have Family Home Evening every week. I'm happy to report: we did it!

This year I've decided to make another goal. I do want to loose some weight, but that's more of a pregnancy/having a baby issue. I don't need a "New Year's Resolution" to achieve that! I'm going off of last year's goal. I want to continue to have FHE every week-with a few improvements.

• put more preparation into the lesson
• make sure we have an activity (not just a lesson)
• have a treat together

Last year we always made sure to have a prayer, some songs, and a lesson. For last year, it was great. We got going. We hadn't ever really had FHE, so this was a good place to start. And now we need more.

I remember having FHE as a child sometimes. All I can remember is my dad playing the piano, us kids (or at least me) sitting beside the piano singing. Most of all, what I really remember is getting to have a treat! I'm sure we had a lesson, and I'll bet it is sort of principle that I still believe today. However, what stands out in my mind the most is being together (uh... and eating).

Hence, my goals for this year are to try to improve the quality time together during Family Home Evening.

Carman had already made a goal (not necessarily related to New Year's) not to eat any sweets this year. Ridiculous. WAY TOO lofty of a goal for me! When I talked to him about my FHE desires, I seriously had to twist his arm until he conceded to participating in the treat. He has vowed that for this year, he will only have one treat a week: our FHE treat. Thanks, honey. :)

Christmas Afternoon

After church we went to my sisters house. The week before Zach had a white elephant gift exchange to go to. He thought it would be hilarious to give a single chip as a gift. I asked him how he'd feel if that's what he opened. He sad he'd think it was funny. So, that's what we gave him for Christmas! Although he smiled, he didn't seem to think it was too funny. He emphasized that it was only for for a white elephant exchange.

 When Jared opened up his gift and found a McDonald's gift card, I think Zach was a bit jealous. Before I made him hate me, I made him check his wrapping better until he found his gift card too. It might have been funnier in my head than it was in real life...

 Clara found a big piece of fudge on the table and helped herself.

 Megan is quite the makeup artist these days. She loves putting lip gloss on Emmalynne and Clara too.

 Most of the group had a fun game of The Great Dalmuti.

 I already forgot exactly what happened in this picture. Jared either startled Carman or gave him a semi-gentle kidney shot. Whatever it was, it caught Carman off guard and Jared totally got him.

 Poor Carman is doing a lovely job at getting used to my lame traditions. On Christmas day we have finger foods. Its all I remember ever doing. Carman is used to a nice big Christmas dinner. However, I have no desire to cook on Christmas! This year, (despite all the finger foods that totally filled most of us up) we also grilled steak for dinner. It seems as though Carman was happy to get some real food on Christmas day.

Pretty Princess

Boy were Emmalynne and Clara spoiled on Christmas! I dare say this was their favorite gifts. Carman and I unintentionally left these two boxes from Grandma and Grandpa Ragatz for last. It was a good thing because I don't know if we would have convinced them to open anything else! They each got a princess play mat, a baby princess with tons of accessories and even new princess bedding (not pictured). They set up their little princess stations in the front room. 

 Please note this horse that Clara is clinging to. After the girls set up their princess stuff they went upstairs to get their blankets and snuggle up with their new stuff. While upstairs, Clara grabbed her horse. She recently got it for her birthday from her Uncle James and Aunt Amanda. She loves that horse! It has replaced her last love, the Scentsy monkey. Coincidentally, that was also from James and Amanda!

 Most of the damage seen here is from the huge number of boxes that were shipped to us. We were all very spoiled this year.

Short Christmas Recap

We got to see Santa at our church Christmas party. When we walked in he was giving a child a treat. My girls watched intently. When that kid got down, Clara quickly walked over to him and reached up to him so he'd pick her up. When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she pointed to the candy basket below the tree. Gee, she's easy to please! 

 Emmalynne followed suit, and also asked for candy, despite having just told me in the car that she was going to ask Santa for toys. I guess she was easily persuaded by the chocolate that was available.

 With my youngsters and their curiosity, we chose to lock all the presents in the baby's room. On Christmas Eve we had the girls help us bring all the gifts down to put them under the tree. They had a blast! I even stopped helping so that they would be able to carry more.

 Christmas morning I did a pretty bad job at getting many good pictures before the camera battery died. :(  Emmalynne and Clara each got a framed picture of the two of them to put in their rooms.

 Here I am opening my lovely gift from Emmalynne that I helped her wrap for me. Not too long after I opened it, she asked for it back. In preparing for Carman's upcoming birthday she's hid a lot of her favorite toys that she wants to give him. I'm trying to help her understand what it means to give a gift. When I told her if she gives it to him, he gets to keep it, she told me that she wanted to "share" it. We're getting there. She is so sweet.