Ruth's 11th Month Home

Since Ruth's birthday fell midway between months 10 and 11 I will try to keep this post brief.  If you have read anything I've ever posted about Ruth, you will already know that Ruth is a delight to our hearts.

Last speech therapy with Miss Julie.. she moves up to the 3+ program

She is loud. Bossy. Opinionated. Determined. Competitive. Driven.

On a mission

No more crib!

I can scooter AND sweep. What can you do?

Tire Swing Queen

I can skate, too!

Cousin egg hunt!

Learning to write the letter "t"

She is also sweet. Snuggly. Affectionate. Tender-hearted.



If girls are sugar and spice, I'd say she got an extra dose of spice.

Locking Carrie and cousin Matteo in the chicken coop. 

She's just right.



Ruth loves singing (loudly) at church. She adores music, dancing, and flowers. She loves her chick, "Baby" and almost all foods.


Being outside is her favorite. We learned she seems to have a pollen allergy, but that drippy nose and cough won't stop her from wearing dandelion crowns.



We've been amazed, humbled, and awed at how well Ruth fits into our family. We are grateful we followed the will of the Lord and trusted in him throughout Ruth's adoption.

Pretty sure I have a picture of all 5 of my girls making this face.

Since I can't imagine being able to say it any better, I'll close with what George Muller wrote in his autobiography, "We are never losers from doing the will of the Lord."

Happy 11 months home, my darling!

Ruthie’s 10th month

Ruthie continues to grow, to learn, and to thrive. She is a tenacious girl, full of life and spirit. This month is marked by snow. We had more snow in March than we had all winter, with the first two days of Spring being most significant. The girls all enjoy the snow but truthfully I’m over it (mainly the pile of snow clothes, boots, hats, gloves, and sleds littered by the back door which spreads into the living room).  

Ruth had a great month and continues to make progress in her speech therapy. They are baby steps, but steps nonetheless. For example, when attempting the /f/ we say to bite her lower lip and all the air comes out of her mouth. While she still isn’t making the sound or getting the air out of her mouth, she is finally able to bite her lower lip. Since she has an underbite this has been a huge challenge. See what I mean? Baby steps. 

She loves taking care of all the baby dolls. She’s a good little mommy. 

She’s becoming a whiz at pretending. 

Pattern blocks with Carrie are always fun. 

Ruthie had her first week in Sunday School three weeks ago. We were a little nervous but shouldn’t have been. Where Caroline goes, Ruth is quick to follow. I’m tremendously grateful for these two sisters. Carrie is very devoted to seeing Ruth succeed. 

Proud sisters! Someone mentioned how their mannerisms are similar and it’s true. What a gracious God we serve. While Ruthie may not “look” like her sisters, they do make similar faces and have body language that makes them look alike. 

We developed a pattern of snow, sleep, snow, sleep. She loves playing in the snow but it definitely wipes her out. 

She slept in the toddler bed a few times. We didn’t take the crib out of her room so she has since gone back to just the crib. But, I know when we decide to make the full transition it will be relatively simple. 

Always such a good sleeper!

Ruthie’s first smiley face. She is so proud of the faces she can draw. She had also started adding legs, ears, and arms occasionally. I’m so proud of how she is developing! What a clever little girl she is. 

These two think cleaning is fun. (Sometimes). 

Playing in the woods with sisters at dusk is always a good idea. 

Oh, and more snow. Thanks, mom, for giving us my childhood toboggan. 

Even mom goes sledding sometimes. 

Ruthie’s a brave sledder!

Catching snow. Her face mask is perfect for shielding her eyes while the snow falls into her mouth. 

Snowmobile riding with Daddy! Trent’s Dad often brings his snowmobiles down to our place once a winter if we get enough snow. I think this is the first year he’s come in Spring, though. 

Palm Sunday at church! See how brave she has gotten! 

Waving palm branches and singing, “Hosanna!”

Technically yesterday was 10 months home but as you can see, she was in no mood for a happy picture. 

Even coffee and farm puzzles didn’t help. 

And her nap was short-lived. I think she may be getting a new tooth as she has been chewing on her finger, had the grumps, and occasionally woken in the night. A little Motrin and a good night of sleep worked wonders. 

Happy 10 months home, my love. I don’t know what we would do without you!

Proud of her sticker. 

Oh Ruthie V.! We love you! Thanks for all the joy you bring. We are blessed to have you as our youngest Hess girl. 

Nine months of Ruthie

Nine months! I can’t say enough how much we love Ruth, how much she has changed our lives, and how we wish every home could have a Ruthie V. 

Ruth and Caroline continue to be BFFs. Trent and I often look at each other and ask, “What did Caroline do before Ruth came home?” The answer is probably “puzzles” which she has scarcely touched in nine months. They are always together, playing, running, chasing, bathing. 

Ruth loves doing whatever the big girls are doing! Look at those amazing fine motor skills she is learning by stringing fruit loops!

She watched history happen when the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl. This is how she felt the next day when she was still tired. She had asked to get down from lunch and I told her to wait. She completely lost her mind, pulled her ponytails out, and sobbed. Needless to say, she had a great nap that day. 

We celebrated Valentine’s Day with lots of snuggles and kisses. 

She ate and highly enjoyed spaghetti at the Youth Group’s spaghetti dinner. 

Took her bike for a walk. She’s not quite tall enough to sit on the seat-hopefully by summer she’ll get it!

Played in a box. 

Celebrated Chinese New Year! 

Told her daddy how to open the butter properly. 

Played “dead” in her glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas. 

Played memory with daddy. She is starting to learn the rules to some games and seems to enjoy them!

Wore the most adorable panda shirt that was gifted to her from another little girl, Finlay, who was also a Peace House / foster baby at the same time as Ruthie. I’m blessed to be in contact with two families with girls from similar situations as Ruth. 

We ate the first ice cream cone of the season which ended poorly for this girl. 

Ruth looks angry here, but I promise she was having fun! They were playing school. Maggie and Abbey were the teachers and Ruth and Caroline the students.  It cracks me up when they play school in the evenings since they’re in school all day. 

Ruthie chilling at Aunt Audrey’s house while the big cousins played pool. She was literally the only smal kid left in the basement. I went to check on her and found her like this; totally absorbed in her play phone. 

These two love playing “mommy”. This day I was grandma and was babysitting all their dollies. The doll babies wouldn’t stop crying because they only wanted grandpa. When I asked if he was at work Carrie said, “No. He’s at the hos-ba-ble because somebody shooted his hand.” Never a dull moment!

This was their shadow monster. 

Ruthie loves books! Isn’t she so sweet reading to herself at the library?

I wanted a 9 months home picture of Ruth but she was more interested in having pictures with her sisters. 

In fact, she turned her chair around until I agreed to do a sisters picture. 

She is full of sass and big personality. Her speech is slowly but surely improving. She still has limited sounds that she is capable of saying but she makes up for it in volume. We’re still working on getting her to understand that just because she says it louder doesn’t mean it’s more intelligible. 

This is her “not impressed” face. 

And her “cheese” face. 

Happy nine months home, little deer! 

We love you, so much!

And, she’s off! We’re so excited to see what joys the next month brings. 

Special thanks to my mother-in-law who has helped out multiple times this month when we’ve had so many appointments for speech transition and when Ruth was sick. I know sometimes people think I am a super-mom but I’m really not. I have a very supportive family who are truly amazing! I wouldn’t be who I am without them.