been a while

sorry it has been a while since i posted, it seemed sort of trite to post about how great we are when that sweet family buried their baby this week.

things for this week

• mags is really frustrated b/c she is about to crawl she is up on her knees rocking back and forth, i will try to get a video of it...
• she is having a hard time sleeping unless she is with me, i think i created a monster. but she slept 12 hours last night when she was in my bed so i think i will deal with it for a while so we can all sleep, to me that is better than having her cry from 3am - 5am. am i wrong in that? probably, but she wont be in the bed with me when she is a teenager right? we will eventually get through this phase
• she is eating solids two times a day and seems to love them

that is really it for the baby this week for mom and dad? we are good, dad is out of town in las vegas at his yearly convention for his work. i am just plugging along doing what i do each week.

things are good..enjoy the pics i just took about 5 mins ago.....bad lighting :( but cute baby :)

sweet baby copeland

hi all ~ i hope that some of you were able to read the below blog this week. i know i was inspired and challenged in my faith. this mom has been so vulnerable and yet so strong in her faith.

her sweet baby copeland died tonight.

if you havent read below please visit their blog so you too can be touched by this sweet family.

pray for this family ~ NOW

i was sent an email last night about the farley family who has a sweet baby named copeland who was born last tuesday, she has trisomy 18 which is a genetic chromosomal disease that will take her precious life. most babies dont live to be a year old. this family has the most amazing faith i have seen in a long time. powerful testimony but mostly you just need to see the sweet face on this little girl and pray for her...

http://www.conorbootheandgirls.blogspot.com/

need some advice on 2 things

i am hoping to acquire some wisdom from those of you who have gone before me in this parenting thing..

first ~ how do you get your baby to sleep through the night? mags was doing so good for about 3 months and now every night she is up at midnight which she seems to be able to go back to sleep on her own just fine but the next time around 2-3am she just wont settle down, she cries and cries, (i do let her cry) and just wont settle down. after about an hour or so i usually just go and get her so that we can all sleep, she then will sleep with me...i know i know, dont do that...but how long is too long to let her cry and if i let her cry all night will she or will she eventually settle down? an hour of crying seems like enough....thoughts?

second ~ what activities are fun for a 4 1/2 yr old to do? we are not sure what sort of fun things to do with Nick (my step son)?? HELP!! we watch entirely too much tv with him....we need to get out and about but what is there to do????

thanks!!

nick and maggiemae and the "guys"

this video is sort of long but worth it :)

first family update

things are going well with us, i of course love my job and christian is doing well with his vending business. he is up to about 80+ machines now which is huge for one person to do! he is all over atlanta but he loves it and wouldnt do anything else.

for those of you who dont know i work for a church www.buckheadchurch.org. i love my job, i get to work with an amazing team of volunteers. as of right now our team of volunteers is 500+ strong! amazing!

christian and i just celebrated our two year anniversary and went on a marriage retreat last weekend. it was nice. it was our first chance to get away as a couple since mags was born. we missed her like crazy but it was good for us. the retreat was fantastic. basically it taught us marriage principles that i think a lot of couples learn late in their marriages or not at all, how lucky and blessed we are that we got to be a part of this after being married for only 2 years.

the one thing i took away from the conference is that fulfillment is only found in relationships.

i think too often i try to find my contentment and fulfillment in other things like my house and what i do or do not have in it. my clothes, how skinny i am (or am not since having a baby!) what kind of car i drive, what kind of marriage i have, anything that i can compare to other people. this retreat really taught me that i really dont need to be too concerned about all that, God wants us to be content in Him and then in each other.

i think i can work on that b/c i know i have tried all the other things and it isnt working :)

the mom again

so this is the mom again we are doing well. she is getting so big i cant believe that it goes by so stinkin fast! she is sitting up like a champ by herself and is rolling over from front to back etc. the is up on her knees a little bit here and there and will soon be crawling i am sure. she is scooting backwards right now :)

she still isnt sleeping that great but i know it is probably my fault! i just dont like to hear her cry for too long. anyway that is about all i have on the bug. stayed tuned.

oh and i am becoming more and more inspired by friends blogs to do more than baby updates so stay tuned for life updates from the ritter family.

happy in my exersaucer - 6 months stats

today (sept 20th) i went to the dr. i weigh 18.6 lbs and i am 27 inches long...my dr measured me twice b/c she wasnt sure i was that long!! i had several shots but i am ok, i slept a lot today but i think all went well. they also did a vision test on my eyes, i didnt like that but they said my vision is great. so all in all i am happy and healthy....my mom made a bunch of baby food for me today, i did NOT like apricots, but i did like butternut squash :))

we will see how all the other stuff she made goes!!

chunky thighs

my shirt says i make chunky thighs look good :) and look at me sitting up like a big girl!

as always i am happy!

i might just be the happiest baby ever!

elton john has nothing on me ;))

new bib

new bib b/c i make a mess :)

because i am cute

i was making funny faces....

pretty in pink and brown polka dots

i might just be the cutest baby ever! at least that is what my mommy thinks..but these pictures are pretty darn good!!

poppop came to visit

nick, poppop and me :)

pool time at gmas!

me in the pool at grandmas