Birthday Fun!

Ruby's birthday party was over a week ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting the pictures from the party.  We had a fabulous time at her backyard cowgirl celebration! Ruby and her friends dressed in their western best for a rootin', tootin' good time! We spent the afternoon jumping on the trampoline, playing on the bales of hay, and eating yummy cobbler and ice cream. Ruby loved having all of her friends and family (minus a few special people) in one place. Some highlights from her special day:

 

 

As always, there are a ton of shots that I wish we had gotten.  There are no pictures with any of the grandparents or honorary grandmothers who came from out of town, there are no pictures of Ruby's fabulous outfit from head to toe (including my twenty-nine year old cowboy boots), no pictures of all the favors set out on the table.  There are some awesomely bad group pictures that I tried to take that we'll post later this week.

Flashback Friday

If we HAD done Christmas cards last year, this picture would have been a definite finalist. Gotta love a family in coordinating denim!

Christmas Cards

We decided not to do holiday cards in 2009 in order to save a little bit of money. I really missed doing them and wanted to find a way to send one out this year. They're such a great way to share a cute picture with family and friends. And we have no shortage of cute pictures of Ruby this year, thanks to David's awesome camera and my talented photographer friends.

This year, I was excited to see that Shutterfly was offering 50 free holiday cards for bloggers who posted about the awesome shutterfly card options. A win, win for everyone. Now I just have to decide which card to send.
Some of my favorites:

Sending Holiday Cheer

Oh Holy Night (D's favorite Christmas song)

Merry

Holly Jolly Christmas

There are about fifty other ones that I also love, but I figured I would just choose a few to share. I'm sure the final decision will be made by David, as he makes all "artistic" decisions in our household. He has an eye for these things, you know :)

Extended Breastfeeding

Before having my own children, I always assumed I would breastfeed for the first year.  I thought that once my child was able to walk up to me and unbutton my shirt that I would be done.  HA! The crazy parenting ideas we have before actually becoming parents....

Ruby is almost two and still nursing, four times a day actually.  Most days I love the nursing relationship we have.  I truly believe it is why she is so smart and healthy.  Ruby has definitely moved beyond being able to unbutton my shirt and latch on herself, waaay beyond it.  She now has the ability to bargain for her "milky", as evidenced by the following conversation:

Ruby: Momma, I need milky.
Me: No, Ruby.  It's not time for more milky yet. Would you like some cow milk instead?
Ruby: No cow milk. Momma milky... please?
Me: No, not until bedtime.
Ruby: Just a lil' bit? (smiling sweetly and tilting her head)
Me: No. Not until bedtime.
Ruby: I have a lil' bit? Just a minute, Momma?

She definitely gets an A for effort :)

My Cowgirl

Our Friday Jam

I've already made Ruby listen to this song six times today. As Ruby would say, "I LOVE IT!"

My View

I was in the kitchen doing dishes this afternoon and looked out the window to see this. 

It made my heart happy.