Ruby's first time to visit Santa!

Over the weekend, we took Ruby to Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth to visit Santa! I was a little nervous about how she would react - she's always been so good with strangers, but lately has been getting a bit skeptical of them. We bundled her up over her little Christmas dress because it was a bit chilly. Luckily, there wasn't too much of a line. Finally, it was Ruby's turn to sit on Santa's lap!

Checking out the jolly old man....

Nope, we're done.

But her mood quickly turned around once she realized that Grandpa was taking pictures. She's such a ham!

It's Christmas Time!

I decorated the house for Christmas right before Thanksgiving. I just couldn't wait! Everything looks so festive and cozy, and Ruby just loves looking at the Christmas tree. So far, she's been really good about not touching it. I have a few strategically placed bells on the lower branches of the tree to give me a heads-up if there is a little elf in there.

This is what I love to see on her face - she's so happy all of the time! We sing Christmas songs when she's eating (I've found that the easiest way to get her to eat anything is to distract her with some animated songs - and no, I won't be posting video of that!). I can't wait until Christmas morning so that she can open her presents. I'm entirely aware that there's a likely chance that she won't want anything to do with the gifts themselves, but will be much more excited about the paper and the boxes. Whatever makes her happy!

Hope that everyone is having as much fun "fa-la-la"-ing as we are!

Ruby is walking!!!

Today Ruby is 11-months old. Today is also the day that she officially turned into a "toddler"! That's right, she took her first wobbly steps today!

Ruby's beginning to go through a phase where she loves to share. If she is happy with something, she wants you to have it too. When we were playing in her room this afternoon she was holding one of her toys and she wanted to share it with me, so she just started walking towards me with it! I made her do it a few times before I grabbed the camera just to make sure that it wasn't a fluke.

Of course, I immediately started crying. I'm happy that she just accomplished another big milestone, but I'm sad that the time is going by so quickly. And maybe I'm a little bit nervous because chasing around someone on their feet sounds a little more challenging than chasing someone on their hands and knees.... Well, another adventure begins!

Happy 11-month birthday, princess. I love you more and more every day.

Little Miss Sassy Pants

Ruby keeps getting cuter and smarter every day! She has a handful of words in her repertoire including: duck, dog, mama, grandpa, down, no, and baby. I think that she's a little too smart for her own good - she has figured out how to get into anything and everything around the house! I buy her all kinds of fun, educational toys and all that she wants to play with are my cell phone, the remote control, my laptop, and my toes....

I honestly have no idea where she gets this trait, but she is so stubborn and definitely is beginning to have her "diva" moments. No clue. 99% of the time she's the sweetest smiley little girl in the world. Then there's that 1% of the time when she doesn't get what she wants and everyone better watch out! She'll make herself cry so hard that she throws up. So essentially, she has us trained to give her exactly what she wants, when she wants it. Again, no earthly idea where that could've come from. ;)

Ruby has been sick the past week or so - she was diagnosed with viral pharyngitis, an upper respiratory infection, and a viral-associated rash. Not fun. She's a tough little baby though and has been smiling through the pain of her sore throat. Hopefully she's on the mend, but she'll still be contagious for a few more weeks. Which means that now me, my mom, and my dad all have the same bug. It's honestly the most helpless feeling to have a sick baby - I would do anything to make her feel better. Here's a picture of how we've been spending a lot of afternoons. Luckily she has been very snuggly lately.




Hope that you enjoy the cute videos of Ruby (please excuse the snotty nose, it's kind of a mainstay this week). We got her a set of alphabet books - her favorite is the letter D - watch her reaction to Page 2 - she does this every time and it never gets old. She spends hours each day reading with me and Nana.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving next week! Hopefully Ruby will be feeling well enough to enjoy some new menu items.

My little pumpkin

Yesterday we took Ruby to a pumpkin patch at a church near my house. My dad took some really great pictures of her - he is such a great photographer! Ruby wasn't sure what to think when we set her down with all of the pumpkins at first. But being the little ham that she is, as soon as she realized that we were taking pictures she started flashing that grin like a pro. We are going to a Halloween party next weekend with some family friends, so I'll have more pictures then!

Ruby is doing great - she's 10 months old (I can't believe how quickly this year is going by!). She now has 8 teeth and is figuring out how to use them to her benefit. She can stand up by herself, but hasn't taken those first steps yet. She loves to push her little baby stroller around the house though - she'll go 90-mph with that thing until she runs into a wall or other obstacle.

She is still as sassy as ever. Now, the one thing that will make her cry is getting out of the bathtub. She looooooves taking a bath, and repeatedly says "duck duck duck duck duck". She's the sweetest baby in the world, and I am such a lucky mama!

In other big news, one of my best friends, Lindsay, had her triplets last week!!! Everyone is doing really great and I am so excited to meet Ruby's new BFFs. Check out her blog on the right side of my page - "Hat Trick".

Aloha from Ruby!

Aloha everyone! We just got back from a 2-week visit to Honolulu! Before you get entirely jealous, I was there for work. However, we were there over the Labor Day weekend and had some time to do some fun stuff on the island! My mom and my Granny also came with us, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have 4 Generations in paradise!!! We had such a great time and 2 weeks seemed too short.

During the day while I was at work, Ruby hung out with Nana and Granny. They went shopping, walked along the beach, did some more shopping, napped a bit, and shopped some more.

After I was done with work for the day, we went to some great dinners. Some of our favorites were House Without a Key and Orchids at the Hotel Halekulani, Azure at the Royal Hawaiian, and Mariposa at Neiman Marcus.

September 5th was also my mom's birthday! We had a great day, filled with a visit to a Macadamia Nut Farm, a scenic drive on North Shore, playing for a few hours at the beach, lunch at Giovanni's Shrimp Shack, shopping at a craft fair, a tour of the Dole Pineapple plantation, and a celebratory dinner at Orchids and a relaxing walk on the beach. It was an eventful day and was so much fun. I am so blessed to have such an amazing mom - I wanted to show her how much that she was loved and appreciated. She was Queen for the Day! I even went as far as letting her control the A/C in the car - hahaha - so we all froze to death! Ruby is a very lucky girl to have such a wonderful Nana. Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you very much!

I can't believe what a difference a year makes. Reading my blog entry from a year ago, I am surprised how happy that I am today. I didn't believe anyone who told me that I would eventually be happy, but I'm glad to admit when I was wrong! Thanks to all of my amazing friends that have helped me through the past year.

I hope that you enjoy some of the fun pictures from our trip! Ruby is getting bigger and bigger every day. She's so funny - she's learned to play patty-cake (which involves a big grin and rubbing her hands together), and she's crawling about 90-mph. I think that she's minutes away from taking her first steps and you can tell that she wants to talk so badly! She's still such an angel - she was perfect on the 8-hour flights, she's still SO happy, and such a fun baby.

Little Miss Jet-Setter

I just got back from a two-week trip to Madison, Wisconsin, for my work. Thankfully Ruby and my mom were able to travel with me! Madison is such a great town - the weather was absolutely gorgeous, the people are great, and there is so much to do. We had a really fun time while we were up there!

Ruby was a champ on the flights again. I am sooooooo thankful that she's a good baby on the plane. But I don't think I'm nearly as thankful as the people sitting around us! She got so many compliments on what a good baby she was - it made mama proud!

A little travel tip for any moms out there - if you're going somewhere for longer than a week, don't bring any toys! I know that sounds strange, but I have the best thing to do. We found a cute little resale shop up in Madison and worked with the manager. We explained our situation and he let us purchase enough toys for two weeks, then sell them back to him at the end of the trip. We shipped some of Ruby's favorites home, but sold most of the big stuff back. It worked out great! She had a TON of toys - our hotel room looked like a daycare! Saved a lot of $$ too compared to some of those toy rental services that you see on the internet.

While up in Madison, we spent a lot of time in the downtown area near our hotel and the capital and we spent a few evenings over at our friend Teresa's beautiful home. Ruby and Nana went to the Madison Zoo one day (Ruby was more interested in the other kids than anything else). On Saturday we were official Wisconsinites - we went to the amazing farmer's market on the square, ate fresh cheese curds and sweet corn, had lunch at State Street Brats, then ended the evening with some Spotted Cow (Wisconsin beer) and watched the Packer's game!

I haven't put our suitcases up yet because we are leaving on Tuesday for Honolulu for almost two weeks!! I am so excited about this trip - I can't wait to see Ruby at the beach. This will be the first time that I've ever had any free time while I am in Honolulu too, so it will be nice to get a day or two of rest & relaxation (or frenzied sight-seeing and shopping while wrangling a very mobile 8 month old....)

Which reminds me, Ruby now has 4 teeth - her two top ones came in last week. Good for her, bad for me - she drew blood the other day when she was nursing - ouch! She is on the move too - we can't keep up with her! If you set her down in one room and turn around to do something, she's gone by the time you turn back around. She's also learned how to wave at people which might be the cutest thing ever because she's actually just waving at herself. And the biggest news of all - she said "mama" for the first time!! It brought tears to my eyes and I was so happy that was her first word! I know that some people might think I'm crazy, but I swear her second word is "grandpa". You have to hear her say it - it is hysterical! It ends up coming out more like "bumpa", but it's her favorite word. She knows what she is saying too - she says it all the time around my dad or when we're talking to him on the phone. I have a genious baby. Very sweet!

Stay tuned for photos from our Honolulu trip - I need to clear off my memory card and charge my batteries because I know I'll go picture crazy!!

Seven Whole Months!

Wow - seven months has flown by!!! I can't believe how big that Ruby is - I can honestly tell that she grows every day. To put it in perspective, here's a picture of her from the other day and one of her on the day that I brought her home from the hospital.

I bought her a "big-girl" carseat - a Britax Marathon. She's pretty much outgrown this one, so it's time to move on. Just in the nick of time too - carrying around her and the carseat has to be easily 50 lbs. Great for an upper-body workout, but it wears me out! I'm hoping that she likes her new one.

In other Big Ruby News, she has her first tooth! It came in yesterday - it's the bottom front left tooth. Her other front tooth should be coming in any day now too. I guess that I missed this in all of my reading, but I didn't realize how jagged baby teeth were. It's like I'm breastfeeding a shark. Not sure if you can see her new pearly white in this picture, but it's definitely there!

Ruby is getting the hang of baby food. She still hates squash, carrots, and rice cereal (with a passion). Oddly enough, the one food that she actually likes is prunes. Yuck - she can have them! :)

Here's a fun video of her crawling. She's still a little awkward at it, but she's getting the hang of it. I don't think it's possible for her to be any cuter!

Lazy Saturday Morning

Here are a few fun pictures from our lazy Saturday morning.....if you call waking up at 6:00a.m. and entertaining/chasing after a 7-month old "lazy"!! I still have the happiest baby on the face of the earth. She's pretty much crawling now (however, she's still working on the forward-motion), and her two bottom teeth should be coming in any day now.

Ruby's First 4th of July!

Ruby had a very fun 4th of July! We went over to Aunt Lindsay & Uncle Paul's house for a cookout. They live in our neighborhood and have the best yard for watching fireworks - we could see three really good shows from their front yard. Ruby had a blast spending time with everyone. She made a new best friend - Milton the Bulldog. She was hysterical with him - she was absolutely infatuated.

Ruby got to give the "Stretch Limo Stroller" a test for Aunt Lindsay - she's pregnant with TRIPLETS! Check out her blog - "Hat Trick" - the link is to the right. Ruby is very excited to meet her new friends.

Ruby also danced to some George Strait with Lindsay's dad, Doug. She didn't stop smiling all night long.

She loved the fireworks, but didn't last through the first show. She fell asleep in her carseat watching them. She wasn't scared of the loud noises at all!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Six month pedi appointment

Ruby had her 6-month pediatrician appointment today, which meant more shots. Boo. I hate to see my baby girl cry, but at least thist time I cried less than she did. Her physical exam was perfect (as if we'd expect anything less). She's in the 55th percentile for head circumference, 75th percentile for weight, and 95th percentile for height!!! She's a tall girl!

What a month!

It's been quite an eventful month for Ruby, who is now officially 6 months old! She's now sitting up on her own and is very close to crawling. Her favorite thing to do is bounce. And bounce. And bounce. And bounce. See video below to witness how dang happy my baby is - I wish I got that excited about anything!

Ruby not only started on rice cereal this month (yes, the look on her face is one of sheer terror)......

But she also had her first food! We tried squash for the first time on June 28th. She helped me pick out the exact one, we talked about it, and she was very excited about it! Yay Ruby! She's very proud of herself here.

But unfortunately she didn't like it either. I'm not sure if it's the taste, or just the fact that it's on a spoon. I've heard that we just have to be persistent, so squash it is until she gets the hang of it! In her defense, I tried a bite and I would've hated it too...

Ruby also took her first out-of-state trip! We went to Madison, Wisconsin, for a week for my work. My mom and Ruby came along and enjoyed the slightly cooler weather up north. It was Ruby's first time to fly and, I'm not going to lie, I was a bit nervous. I've heard such horror stories and I know that feeling of defeat when you realize that a mother with a small child is sitting next to you on the plane. I didn't want to be "that lady". Well, lucky for everyone, Ruby is a champion flier! I nursed her on take-off and landing, she slept most of the way, and was just smiling at everyone the rest of the time! She makes friends quite easily. In fact, on the flight home, a woman stopped us as we were boarding and said "Hi Ruby, have a good flight!" She was on our flight up to Madison and remembered Ruby! Everyone at the hotel in Madison just loved Ruby. She even got some gifts from the hotel management! Shameless plug - if you're ever in that part of Wisconsin, stay at the Concourse Hotel - it's wonderful! Here's a picture of Ruby and I at dinner at the Old Fashioned in Madison next to the capitol - and of course, we had to have fried cheese curds - yum!Ruby had a big play-date on that Friday morning too - she got to play with her new friends Emily, Zander (who was one week old!), and Oliver for the morning. Here's a cute picture of Ruby and Emme. I wish we lived closer together - Ruby had so much fun with her! Big thanks to Teresa and Kacey for baby-sitting her that morning, and congratulations to Kacey on her new baby boy!!

The worst blogger ever....

After receiving numerous complaints and some downright threats for not updating my blog in over two months, here it is! I'm going to fit a lot in this post, so I hope it keeps you interested. Sorry to everyone who has been checking in on us only to be dissapointed that there wasn't an update. I promise that I'll start to do a better job again.

So much has happened in the past two months. We said goodbye to our house in Carrollton and moved into our new home in Fort Worth! My divorce was finalized in early April and I'm moving on with my life. I really don't remember the last time that I was this happy. Work is going great - I'm beginning to travel more and Ruby and my mom are my travelling entouage, so they go with me everywhere. I'm having such a fun time with Ruby, with my wonderful friends who have been there for me through everything, and with my new friends that I have made here in Fort Worth. I'm a very firm believer that everything happens for the best.

It's the sweetest home - it was built in 1926 but has been completely updated on the inside. It's the perfect house for me and Ruby - lots of character with hardwood floors and the sweetest nursery you've ever seen. It's a really great neighborhood and I just love all of my neighbors. If you're ever near the Arlington Heights area in Ft. Worth, stop by and visit us!
Ruby is doing really well - I can't believe how BIG she is getting! She is very sassy - she always crosses her little legs in her carseat and really only gets angry if you remove any accessories such as bows, etc. She is still just a rediculously happy baby. I think that she is starting to teethe so she slobbers like a bulldog right now. So she always has this big drooly grin on her face. She is the sweetest little girl and is my absolute best friend. We have so much fun together! I think that she'll be sitting up on her own any day now and she has started to roll over. She loves her exersaucer and can spend an entire teleconference in there, which is great when I get to work from home!

Like I said, I'll start to do a better job of updating our blog! Ruby and I love y'all!