Daredevil

Day 138 (5.18.10) - I have a million pictures of Ruby doing stuff she shouldn't be doing. Here she is standing up and climbing up on her highchair. I can't find the seatbelt for the chair - it's in a box somewhere but I need to find it soon because she obviously has no fear!

Window Watching

Day 134 (5.14.10) - My dad always jokes around that Ruby is the new Chynna. Chynna was our family dog who passed away last year. They have a few similarities - they both eat food off the floor, if you wave any food they both come running/crawling to you and lastly they both love to look outside the kitchen window being nosy.

Baby Doll and Stroller

Day 132 (5.12.10) - At her birthday party a few days ago Ruby got her first girl toy - a baby doll and stroller. She loves her baby and especially loves the stroller (and ride in it).

Under the Stools

Day 131 (5.11.10) - Lately Ruby has been obsessed with playing under the stools in the kitchen. She gets stuck and then screams (as she was doing in this picture) until someone helps her out.

Mothers Day and Birthday Celebration

Day 129 (5.9.10) - We celebrated Mother's Day and Ruby's First Birthday with a family dinner tonight. Ruby got to eat her first cupcake and boy did she like it. She picked it up put it to her mouth and didn't put it down till she was done. She was eating it for about 20 minutes and needed a bath by the time she was done.

Happy 1st Birthday Ruby

Day 126 (5.6.10) - Dear Ruby, Today you turned one year old. I’m not quite sure where this past year has gone because time has literally flown by before my eyes. On one hand it makes me sad that your babyhood is nearly over and you are quickly turning into a toddler and on the other hand it makes me so excited to see your wild, spunky, willful personality emerge. You are an amazing little girl and so much more than I ever could have expected. It is hard to believe that it was one year ago that I was waiting to meet you for the very first time. Not only did I think you were going to be a boy but all I could imagine was a clone of your big brother. When I first met you I couldn’t believe how much you looked like him and at first it seemed you were similar in nature but now that I have gotten to know you, it is apparent how completely different you are. At only one year old I know that you are going to do well in life. I know that probably sounds silly to determine that from such a small baby but I just know that you are going to do great things. I have never met another child who is so determined to do anything. Whether it is climbing up on the couch or getting to something you aren’t supposed to be playing with you never give up until your goal is reached. There is no distracting you with something else, you always have your eye on whatever the prize is.

I’ve always heard about the special bond between mothers and daughters and I have to say from the moment I held you in my arms I felt it. You were my baby girl and my heart was overflowing with love from the second I laid my eyes on you.....and somehow you transformed right before my eyes from this tiny helpless baby:

to this independent, energetic and sweet one year old girl.

You just started to walk and surprisingly you are cautious. That is surprising because you are so fearless with everything else you do but seem to prefer to crawl still. You are a thrill seeker. You are very lingual though and can already say a handful of words including mama, dada, apple juice (your current favorite word to say – even though you call all drinks apple juice), up, lolo (of course you melt your lolo’s heart when you say that), this and that. You follow directions well and you love the give big, slobbery open mouth kisses. We recently moved across the country to NJ and you adjusted without a flinch. It seems like you are happier than ever with so much family around. You love your mom and dad but you also just love and adore your big brother. You laugh so hard when he pretends to scare you and you are such a copy cat. You copy anything I tell you to do and copy everything Joey does without being prompted. You sleep great and you love to eat. I don’t think I’ve even found a food you dislike.

People (strangers and friends alike) laugh when they meet you, nod their head in disbelief and tell me I have my hands full with you. But everyone who meets you loves you. When you are happy you are happy, silly, giggly…..but when you are mad, oh boy, you get mad. You scream so loud its like you reach new decibels and it hurts my ears. You cry and let the world know you are angry. You are an emotional girl and the crazy thing is, I can see so much of myself in you.

Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl. It has been an amazing, wonderful year and I am so grateful to be able to spend each day with you. You fill my heart more than you will ever know.

Splashing Around

Day 125 (5.5.10) - It was a beautiful day today. The kids and I spend the day at VJ and Melissa's house. Since it was so hot and sunny out, Melissa took out the water table and the sprinklers for the kids to play outside. Joey and Ili had fun but Miss Ruby had a BLAST! She splashed and splashed around the water table, crawled head on into the sprinkler and just drank lots of gross water from the table. She was so happy - just look at her face!

Trouble x2

Day 124 (5. 4.10) - One of the things that I've been working on since we moved is child-proofing this house. There are so many knick-knacks and breakable things here that the kids keep touching. So, I'm in the process of packing up everything on these book cases in our living room because the kids are driving me crazy touching everything. So far I cleared off the first two shelves and this is what happened....

Hello? Hello?

Day 123 (5.3.10) - Ruby is such a sponge these days. She copies everything you do. She is a great copy cat. You give her a brush and she combs her hair. She picks up the phone and says "hello? hello?" She's always on the phone these days. I'm imagining this is what it will be like when she is a teenager.

Mmmm, Dirt

Day 119 (4.29.10) - It is only the end of April and I already have a million and one pictures of Ruby getting into stuff that she shouldn't. Today I got the kids dressed and ready to go out. As we were about to leave the house, I thought I should grab a jacket for Ruby so I ran upstairs for all of about 60 seconds and came downstairs to find this. RUUUUUBBBBY!! I swear I scream her name all day long. She was happily eating dirt (from one of my mom's potted plants) and a complete mess - her dress and face covered with dirt. I think I should make some sort of album of Ruby and all her mischief. She is lucky she is so cute.

Future Baker

Day 117 (4.27.10) - First off, let me apologize for getting so behind again in my posting. Our life is still kind of a mess from the move and I lost the USB cord for my camera. Of course we probably have like 20 USB cords but they are all in a box somewhere and the only one I had Joey was playing with and lost it! So, I finally found it and I have lots of pictures to update. Here is Ruby making her daily mess. She loves to play with my mom's baking supplies. On another note - how cool is my mom's kitchen aid cabinet. It rises up to counter level without having to lift it out!

Lolo and Ruby

Day 110 (4.20.10) - Since we arrived in NJ Joey has been really excited to see everyone. Ruby has been a bit more skeptial of all the new people she has been meeting and has been pretty clingy to me. We've been here almost a week now and every day since we've arrived, my dad would approach Ruby so he could carry her and every day she would turn away from him towards me. He would never push her, instead he would just say "that's ok, we'll try again tomorrow." Every day he would talk to her and he could make her laugh but she never wanted him to carry her. Well, today he put his arms out to her and wouldn't you know, she went to him. Yes she still looks around for her mama but looks like she is finally warming up to her Lolo.

My Little Thrill Seeker

Day 100 (4.10.10) - We had a busy, wonderful, fantastic day today. We had a delicious breakfast at Pipes, spent the morning at the beach, one of my best friends/gay boyfriend Torr came in from San Fransisco, we ALL took a nap (Nick, Joey, Ruby, Torr and I), then we partied it up at O'Sullivans for our going away party. So, as you can imagine, I have a billion pictures from today. Lot's of fun times! I had so many great going away party pictures but I had to post this one from the beach this morning. Ruby is such a crazy thrill seeker and loves to be tossed around. She puts her hands over her mouth, curls her toes under and just squeals in delight until her daddy tosses her up again.

Looking for a Snack?

Day 98 (4.8.10) - I went to pour Joey a cup of juice and left the fridge open for just a second and turned around to find Ruby IN the fridge. Maybe she was hungry and looking for a snack? The girl is into everything. Excuse the lack of food in the fridge - I've been trying not to buy anything to clean out our fridge before we move next week!

Jamba Juice

Day 96 (4.6.10) - Every day I've been trying to get something they don't have in NJ. I don't think they hvae Jamba Juice in NJ...do they? Ruby got her first taste today and she was hooked! Joey loves it too. He usually finishes his drink then proceeds to drink mine. Between both kids today I hardly got any at all. Look at the look of concentration on her face!

Who Needs Toys...

Day 95 (4.5.10) - ...when you can just play in a laundry basket?

Happy Easter!

Day 94 (4.4.10) - We had a pretty quiet Easter Sunday. We're thankful that we have great friends here since we have no family to spend evrey holiday with. Today we went to our good friend Patrick's house where his mom made a fabulous traditional Polish Easter dinner. The food was delicious and the company was great. Ruby looked adorable in this little dress. Not a typical Easter outfit but it has little bunnies on it so I figured it was appropriate. She's been taking a couple steps here and there but not really "walking" just yet.

Mt. Washmore

Day 90 (3.31.10) - I know my recent pictures are fairly boring but welcome to my life. Before I got married I could go weeks without doing laundry. Then when I married Nick I realized we had to do laundry every couple days. His clothes are much bigger than mine which equals more loads. Then we had kids and now we have to do laundry daily. If we skip a day we have to do 2 loads the next. The laundry never ends. Ruby's clothes are tiny and she seems to generate just as much as everyone else. Here she is "helping" me with the laundry.

Saturday Morning

Day 86 (3.27.10) - Here's a sweet moment from just another Saturday morning. Nick has gone to the desert for the weekend for one last riding trip before we move so the kids and I are on their own. Sometimes Joey calls Ruby "mine sissy" meaning that she is his. Not such a great thing when he is taking every toy she plays with away from her but he loves to hug her kiss her and let her sit on his lap. This is a very rare moment cause you know Ruby hardly ever stays still.

Self Feeding

Day 84 (3.25.10) - Ruby is a great eater and even though she has eaten every single thing I have given her (ever!), what is really annoying is that she doesn't like to be fed. So when I feed she eats stuff like yougurt, it can be a real mess.