Moments.... (aka big, giant, ridiculous summer post)

The last few weeks have been filled with these incredible moments that have made me realize that my little baby is not going to be a baby much longer. She's evolving from this tiny, helpless, adorable little infant to an independent, curious, exciting little person. She's closer to being 1 year old than she is to being brand new and I feel this tiny little (or maybe big, giant) twinge in my heart when I think about all that we've accomplished and all the little tiny moments we have yet to discover....

Lately, Ruby insists on "helping" mama with everything.

Laundry for instance, is a very fun chore.

She's getting a little neater when it comes to eating.... sort of.


Diesel is very inconspicuous and sneaky about helping her clean up though....


Helping Mama with makeup is a new favorite morning game. My girl has good taste...she only eats the expensive ones.


She's also started this thing where she crawls right over to the scale in the bathroom when I'm getting ready in the morning and just screams at it... of course she's completely ridiculous when I don't have my camera. That's how most photo opportunities go, I'm learning. I tell her that only Mommy is allowed to talk like that to the scale, but clearly it's done something that she simply will not stand for....



Swim lessons might have to be a whole separate post...but we have to show you her new "keeni". Nona sent a swimming suit for her and we took the opportunity to model it for everyone via text message while Ryan and his immediate family were in Texas visiting Uncle Reid.





Here's a sneak peak at our little baby fish. She loved the water and all of the excitement of the other kids in the class.




I have started to train for a 5k in the fall. It sort of symbolizes the end of a period of almost two years of events I never would have imagined I would be lucky enough to experience. Pregnancy was a surprise and something I was told that because of my Diabetes, might never happen, or happen successfully... and then there it was...this little bump that kept growing and flourishing despite the doubts my body could handle it...

And then with minor hiccups...our baby girl was born - as perfect as any baby of a non-Diabetic mama would be... (minus all those little pesky tubes)

She's growing into this amazing little lady, and she's helping her mama grow too...

She's taught me from the first positive pregnancy test (because there were like, 12 pregnancy tests taken for validation...) that just because someone says that if you are 'x' you cannot/should not/could not be 'y'... does not mean you have to listen. You are only limited by yourself....

and these little fiery eyes know that already


I'm sore and tired right now... my house is a mess and my laundry pile seems insurmountable. There are dishes in my sink and I desperately need to clean my bathrooms.

But my baby...

she looks like this:

and my family looks like this:

and everything seems right in the world....

I thank God for little moments like this.


Until next time...


"Show me a day when the world wasn't new." Sister Barbara Hance

Time Flies!

Baby is sleeping, dishes are half done, laundry is half washed and folded, trash is out, dog is walked, dinner is cleaned up, and for the first evening in many there's a nice cool breeze flowing outside even with the fires looming to the north ...I've decided all of this makes for the perfect blogging conditions.


This summer has been flying by. I can't believe that it's already July! July means fireworks, and watermelon, BBQs and air conditioners.... July also means Ruby is 8 months old, and my sweet girl simply can't be that old already. As much as I imagine she is still my teeny tiny baby, she is anything but. 7 months brought us words, 2 more teeth, self-feeding, wild, unbridled baby squeals, and an army crawl that would give any soldier in boot camp a run for their money.


As I was trying to capture a sweet 3 toothed smile for everyone - the faces Ruby was giving me amidst my pleas and silly faces and fake sneezes to make her smile reminded me of a comic I used to read as a kid. Calvin and Hobbes was one of my favorites - and Calvin's dad was forever trying to get Calvin to pose for one "nice" Christmas card photo.... Here is what Calvin gave him:

I put together my own version of what my "film" looked like after I downloaded my photo session and there were some striking resemblances :


I didn't get a smile in the bunch! But i did capture this sweet little signature "mmm" grin:


And this determined little face showing me that she can, in fact, pull herself up to a standing position in her playpen if she feels so inclined:


And a guilty "I wasn't doing anything, mom, I swear" face - that's becoming all too familiar:

Oh... and have I mentioned the potatoes?




Or that maybe, just maybe, because the regular potatoes were so fun we had to try sweet potatoes?



We need to invest in a higher high chair because Diesel is all too willing to be "helpful" in the clean up phase.

I found a picture of this sweet little girl as I was sifting through photos...


Then thought about how this sweet baby girl sees that same Boppy pillow as a mere speed bump in her never ending quest to seek and freak out Diesel....


I hope this post appeases the picture fix you've been craving. :) We love you all a lot!

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July Weekend!

"Mama"

Today Roo said an audible "mama" for the first time. I realize she's not entirely sure what she's saying - she's just repeating sounds for now... but it's cute and wonderful and it melts me everytime regardless..even when we're walking through Wal-Mart and she's squealing "mama" to the bananas... and the toys... my necklace... the nice lady in isle 9...the checkout clerk...the Redbox... etc.

Next on deck: "dada".

Houston: We have Mobility..Commence Crawling Sequence

We've been scooting around for a little more than a week now and I finally got it on camera! Her favorite places to scoot to tend to be the most dangerous; power cords, underneath tables, big books, Dees's paws...etc. I guess it's time to baby proof! We can stop spending money on toys and put it towards some gates - you'll see what I mean when she crawls to her favorite "toy" in both short videos. The first video is a bird's eye view of her hunting her toys.







One more short video - a baby's eye view, if you will. :)







*sigh* ... she's getting too big too fast.

Stay tuned, folks - she'll be driving soon.

Dog Days of Summer.....

With the weather getting so beautiful, we've been slathering the sunscreen onto Ruby and Diesel and heading to the dog park. Diesel, however, would much prefer to sit under a shady tree with his favorite little sister than run around in the hot desert sun with the other dogs at the park - and that's OK with us. :) Roo loves to look at and try to touch the other dogs. They're all so sweet and can't resist the smell of a baby doused in Banana Boat (I can't blame them). Diesel keeps a very watchful eye on his baby though. He's never aggressive but when he's had enough visitors he just stands in front of us blocking access from curious passersby with his giant body. We then head out to the grass to cool off and play. This was Ruby's first time seeing real grass! The strings of drool are indicative of how fascinating she found it all to be. You'll also notice a very content Diesel with his baby all to himself.

In other news, our sweet baby girl has teeth! Two of them so far and enough drool pouring from her mouth to make me believe she's growing 2 rows of teeth like a baby shark. **even Mama learns from our field trips***

Also - she has the brightest, most incredible ocean greeny-blue eyes. They ooze perfection, sweetness, trouble and adventure.....

COMING SOON TO A BLOG NEAR YOU:

WHEN BABIES ATTACK - CREEPY CRAWLERS

Tickelish...

Just to add a little smile to every one's day....

Baby giggles are the best noise in the world. Period.

Fun at the Aquarium!

Me, Ryan, Donna (Nona) and Ruby just spent a wonderful day at the Albuquerque Aquarium! Here's a little peek at what we saw.

There you have it - The only fish in the desert.

The End.

Just kidding.... There weren't many, but the fish we did see were fascinating to Miss Ruby.

These guys were especially cool:

We even made a friend. Her name was Arianna - she kissed Ruby and sat in my lap in the first minute and a half we sat down next to her by the viewing window. She was four and her favorite fish was the Sting Ray with the crooked tail. When I asked her how the Sting Ray got a crooked tail she told me he backed up into another fish. Something tells me Arianna's mom has some blemishes on her driving record...

Here's our attempt at a family picture. It's a good thing Ryan can follow directions...


Here's another attempt...'2 out of 3 ain't bad..."
With a hop, skip and a jump we crossed over to the Botanical Gardens which were beautiful and green; something we're lacking in the brown obscure beauty that is New Mexico. Ruby was exhausted from playing with all the fish but we'll have to take her back so she can have her first tastes of Daisies and play in real grass.




Our day came to an end with some teething biscuits and a nice air conditioned ride home. It was most definitely a wonderful way to spend my very first Mother's Day weekend.

And now that Ruby is officially 6 months old..(eeep!) Her future's so bright....

she's gotta wear shades.... :)