Flashback Friday, Jersey Shore Edition

Here we are, July of 2002. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Young and in love.

And here we are now, July of 2010. Husband and wife. Not as young but still in love.

Trip to Philly & Jersey: Part One

As mentioned previously, both Ruby and Emilia are in Philadelphia and New Jersey visiting family, hanging with Baba and Gigi, and generally enjoying life.  Since I'm still in Texas until Wednesday, Emilia has been sending me pictures of what I'm missing.  A few to share:

Ruby's First Coloring Book

Ruby and I have been busy this morning, creating art.

Flashback Friday

Ruby and I are headed to the Jersey shore this afternoon for a relaxing ten day vacation with Gigi and Baba (David joins us on Wednesday). It's been over a year since the last time we were in New Jersey for the Memorial Day Picnic. I remember standing on the beach in Atlantic City and listening to my dad talk about how fun it would be "next year when Ruby can play in the ocean." Well Baba, Ruby loves the water, her suit is packed, and she's ready to build a sandcastle. See you at the beach!

And for the flashback portion of the post, some pictures from last summer:

Love dip?

Yes please.

If you've never had love dip, it's a fabulous dip sold at Central Market in Austin. It's creamy, tomatoey, and garlicky. And Miss Ruby L.O.V.E.S. it, as does her momma. MC, I also think i found the recipe here. Ruby and I will definitely be conducting a taste test soon.

Purple!

After reading my good friend V's blog updates about her front door makeover, I was inspired to do something fabulous to makeover our front door. A new glass door might not be in the budget, but a can of purple paint certainly is. V helped me narrow it down to a few different shades of purple, I ordered the paint, and David got to work. And here it is, the house with the purple door!

Before:

After:

Flashback Friday

While watching my beautiful girl run around the sprinkler park this morning, I started thinking about how much she's changed in the last year.

This time last year, Ruby wasn't even walking yet. Now she's running around the playground, talking to other kids on the playscape, and sitting on the big girl swings.

Where did my chunky monkey go?

I miss those rolls!

Under Construction

I am trying to update the blog and make some much needed improvements. I'm just looking for a good color scheme, some smart font choices, and a nice background that doesn't compete with Ruby's beautiful pictures. I don't think that's too much to ask. It might take me a few days, so please bear with me. Obviously, I am much better at making gorgeous babies than I am at editing HTML code.

Kisses!

Ruby Hits California

Happy birthday, Stella

Or, happy birthday, Ta, as Ruby calls her.

Our first little girl is five today.  We picked her up before we even got home from our honeymoon (we bought her from a family in Hutto on our drive from Houston).  She's been a constant, loving companion, and our home would not be the same without her wiggling ways.  We love her, despite her affinity for post-dinner snacks of, well, poop.

Thank you for your love, Stella.  I hope that we treat you as well as you have treated us.

Ten on Tuesday

1. We're teaching Ruby how to make silly faces:

2. With David as her mentor, she's going to be really good at it in no time.

3. Here she is, practicing a few of her new faces:

4. I was also able to get a few non-silly face shots of Ruby this weekend in her Fourth of July dress. She has an even more formal red, white and blue ensemble, but it was too fancy for an activity like horseback riding.

5. Ruby and I were also in Houston the week before last. We stayed at Gigi and Baba's house so that our good friends Jon and MC could easily commute back and forth for his appointments at MD Anderson. One year after his treatment and surgery, Jon got a clean bill of health. Congrats Jon and the whole Urban family! We are so happy for you guys.

6. Ruby fell in love with Tommy while we were in Houston. She loves his little brown curls and how he walks like a crab to impress her. Since we've been home, she talks about "Toppy" at least three times a day. Jack had better watch out that the younger Urban boy doesn't steal his girlfriend away.

7. We celebrated Toppy's first birthday with a cupcake and song. At first he wasn't too sure about the cake....

8. But he caught on pretty quickly.

9. I've started running. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm not going to say that I've committed to training for an event yet, but I have been enjoying the meet ups with two other mommas for some early morning exercise. I hope that talking about it a little bit on Ruby's blog will add just the tiniest bit of pressure for me to stick with it.

10. I just can't help myself.