Ten on Tuesday, Again

1. We headed south last weekend to celebrate my birthday with our good friends, Jesse and Meaghan, aka Tio Chuy and Aunt Megs. We left Friday afternoon, drove to Robstown, and hung out with Jesse's family at his parent's house for the night. Jesse's parents were wonderful hosts, letting us stay in our own private guesthouse, supplying us with delicious food and alcohol, and having a beautiful backyard for Ruby to explore. Ruby loved spending time with Tio Chuy's mom and dad, and I think they liked her a lot too :)



2. After eating homemade breakfast tacos with fresh salsa on Saturday morning (omgyum), we headed to the beach.  I had never been to a beach where you drive your car up to the water before.  It's awesome to not have to drag all your stuff down to the water.



3. After the beach, we cleaned up a bit at the hotel, went out to eat some oysters and burgers, then came back to the room to shower and watch football. Unfortunately, the Texas game wasn't on the tv in the room or in the hotel bar.  We ended up just hanging out in the room, watching different football games on tv, and playing with Ruby.  It was a great way to spend our Saturday night and made for a super cute picture.

4. Tio Chuy and Aunt Megs ordered chocolate cake from room service to celebrate my birthday.  We didn't finish it all on Saturday night, so I ate leftovers for breakfast on Sunday morning. You're allowed to do things like eat cake for breakfast on your birthday.

5. Back in Austin, Ruby and I went with friends to Baby Bloomers at the Children's Museum on Monday. We haven't been in about a year, as I felt Ruby was just too young last time we were there. But she LOOVED it this time. She especially loved the room dedicated to milking cows. Surprise, surprise. Ruby also loved the huge sudoku puzzles and the shaving cream activity.

6. As we were walking towards the museum, I noticed that Ruby had snuck an extra skirt on under her dress. I wasn't too surprised, as she loves to practice dressing herself and is a big fan of layers.  I took off the skirt and we kept walking down the street. About a half a block up the street, I looked down and saw that Ruby was also wearing one of my thongs! It had fallen to her ankles and was dragging on the pavement.

7. I couldn't stop laughing as I took the underwear off of her ankles. She started laughing too, exclaiming "Ruby's rainbows pants!" She wanted to hold them, but I let her know that underwear wasn't for playing with in public. When we got home, I realized it was the same pair of underwear she was carrying around a few months ago.

8. During the sing-a-long portion of Baby Bloomers, all of the kids gather in the lobby for a musical performance. As the performer was singing "I've been working on the railroad," Ruby grabbed my arm and with a very concerned face said "No, Momma. Hook 'em horns song. Hook 'em horns." I think she already bleeds burnt orange.  I was so proud.

9. After hearing about the "Do Fun Stuff" album on several mommy blogs and from a few friends,  I downloaded it the other day on itunes.  It is awesome and much cooler than any other children's albums I've heard. Ruby has already asked several times today for the caterpillar song. Download it for your little one.



10. Ruby can drop it like it's hot. 

 

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head...

Today was rough - like really, really rough. There were tears. There were tantrums. And Ruby wasn't in a good mood either. Ruby is having some issues with napping (or should I say a lack of napping), making for a cranky toddler and a worn-out momma. The issues are further magnified by the non-stop rain that has been hanging around the last few days, flooding parts of town and keeping us inside the house.

But while today was bad, yesterday was awesome. It was one of those days where I go to sleep with a smile on my face, thinking about how lucky I am to be a stay at home mom and how much I love my perfect little family.  On days like today, I need to remember days like yesterday. So, for your entertainment and to get me back in a positive mindset for tomorrow, a recap of our rainy Tuesday at home:

We started our day with fingerpainting. Please note the blue paint in her mouth.

Then, the monkey and I ate some homemade banana-chocolate chip muffins while making animal noises.

We took full advantage of the sugar high by starting a dance party in the living room.

We moved the dance party outdoors and Ruby dressed up as a "bal-reena." We stomped in puddles, played in the "waterfall" (gutters) and laughed a ton. Ruby loved every minute of it, as did her momma.

The dogs did not approve of our shenanigans.

After our outdoor adventure, we came inside and got a shower.  Then, we put on fresh pjs and spent the rest of the day just reading books and hanging out in the playroom.

It doesn't seem like much when you consider that we never left the house, but it truly was a fabulous day.  It was the kind of day I imagined before becoming a mom, when I would think about how amazing it must be to spend every day with your favorite little person.  And lastly, a picture of my sweet little toddler to remind me of how gorgeous she is when she smiles.

21 Months

Just a week or so late.

Even Ruby is distressed at our procrastination:

Twinkle twinkle

Flashback Friday Saturday

From May 2009:

Five on Friday

I've decided to share five adorable things that Ruby is doing these days, as I think every single thing she does is adorable. Clearly, I am still working on my camera skills. But the dark, rainy morning threw me for a loop.

1. We've having smoothies for breakfast this morning while I write out this post and check my email. I love that eating a smoothie is a full body experience for Ruby. I don't even mind the huge mess it makes since she seems to enjoy it so much.

2. Ruby can now sing songs, the most impressive of which is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Nothing is cuter than your toddler sitting in her rocking chair, holding her baby doll, and quietly singing her a song. We're trying to get it on video, but she gets camera shy.

3. Our generous neighbors donated some of their stuff to us when they were moving to Ireland last week. They gave us two great little tykes sets for the backyard, cloth diapers, a ton of liquor, pantry staples, and frozen foods. Ruby's favorite items so far are the little tykes playhouse and pirate ship. She loves them so much, in fact, that she christened them yesterday by pooping in the playhouse, then sliding down the pirate ship slide before I could wipe her. I'll spare you the details, but it was super fun to clean up.

4. We've taught Ruby the 'real' names of our family members and she enjoys when we quiz her on each person's name. She gets them all right, but insists that Baba's real name is Dad. I guess that makes sense since I call him Dad when I'm not referring to him as Baba. She's a smart cookie, that Ruby.

5. While writing this post, Ruby dumped her smoothie all over. She immediately started yelling "I NEED TOWEL! I NEED TOWEL!" The dogs came running and offered to help clean her up before I could get to her with the towel. She loved it.

Ten on Tuesday

1. We spent last week in Mears, Michigan with David's family. We took over 500 pictures during our seven day vacation, but were able to get the online album down to our favorite 200. Here is a link to the full album for family members who have a few spare hours to look at dozens of pictures of Ruby.

2. While the lake house itself is on a smaller lake, the biggun' (Lake Michigan) is only a few miles away. As someone described it, it's like an ocean without salt.

3. The high in Michigan was never over 80 degrees while we were there. And it was down in the 40's each night. It was pure heaven, especially when I think about all of our Texas friends sweating in the 100 plus degree heat all week. When it's cool at night, you can huddle around a campfire and eat smores. Yummmm.

4. As we've mentioned before, Ruby has a bit of a crush on her Uncle Jake. Spending the week with her super cool uncle made Rubina love him even more. I think they might be the two most photogenic members of the family.

5. Ruby also loves her cousins. She wanted to be doing whatever they were doing...fishing, playing wii, practicing gymnastics on the lawn, and kicking the soccer ball.

6. Clearly, David is not the only one who is teaching Ruby how to make silly faces.

7. Ruby and I are in Houston to pick up the dogs, as Gigi and Baba were generous enough to take care of them while we were on our vacation. Gigi and Baba claim that the dogs sleep in until at least 9am every morning. I don't get it, as they are crying to go out by 7am every.single.day. at our house. Stella has never slept past 9am in her life. Maybe if we send Ruby here for a few days, she'll learn to sleep in too.

8. Gigi and Mimi bought Ruby the entire fall and winter collections from BabyGap today...and I'm not joking. Ruby is seriously going to be the most fashionable toddler in Austin. Two of my favorite items are her sweatshirt dress and fancy ballet flats.

9. Ruby will also be sporting this super trendy denim jacket(with matching jeans, of course). If they made it in my size, I would have bought myself a matching one.

10. OMG. How cute is my daughter?