Home

We have stayed home for over a week now and I am getting cabin fever. I miss being out and about. I am still barely sick, this is the weirdest cold and it lingers forever. The girls are feeling tons better, but they are really sleepy and a bit irritable still. Hoping to get out for a long walk tomorrow and get back on track with my goal to lose weight and be healthier.

Elsie was really playful today. She would make a noise and I would make one back and then she would laugh. We would keep doing this back and forth for a long time, so much fun. I absolutely love her personality that is already shining through. Before I put her down for bed, I was hiding behind the kitchen counters and playing peek-a-boo with her. She was totally into it and thought it was really funny. Just love to get her laughing!

Ruby has been into reading lately and will sit and listen to any book you bring her way. It just amazes me with the details she retains. Today she would bring me a book, we'd read it, then put it back on the shelf only to grab a new book.

She has been so cuddly lately, when she wakes up in the morning she will ask for a blanket and snuggle in my lap. When we are on the couch, she will nestle up beside me.

Before nap today, I decided to show Ruby how to cut a snowflake out of paper. She did not want to watch me do it because I had the scissors and she wanted them. Once I was done, she was pretty impressed and thought it was quite cool. She then folded hers up and cut into it. I turned it so that she could cut some pieces out too. She was really proud of her finished snowflake and taped them both to the window to look at. We also hung some ornaments on the tree. Ruby kept picking the same branches, I was afraid they would all be too heavy in one place but they are doing okay so far. So funny to see them all in one cluster on the tree. She was so tired, that she actually started to fall asleep during her lunch so I brought her into her bedroom and she fell right asleep. A two hour nap, yay!

We went to Ruby's favorite store today, Huckleberries! I love it too! They have tiny carts there and she immediately goes and gets one to push around while I put groceries in it. Works well for both of us. She also loves to put the groceries on the counter for the clerk. The clerks there are getting to know her name now. Mike came with us today, love it when he can be with us, makes the shopping a bit easier and manageable.

Birthday Party

Today we went to Makenna's birthday party. The theme was "princess", so everyone decorated a crown and played games that were centered around this theme. Ruby decorated her crown very simply, with one gem stone on each point. Ruby tried to peek when it came time to play pin the drawbridge on the castle. They also played "Frog, Frog, Princess" and when Ruby got picked, she ran around once and then ran right into Mike's lap. It was really funny. Everyone got a chuckle. All the kiddos were really cute together. The cake was really neat and so yummy, we all enjoyed that. All the girls wanted to hold Elsie or just talk to her, but Elsie was not having it. She did not want anyone else to hold her while we were there. Ruby also tried summer sausage as a snack, I was really surprised to see her eat an entire slice of it. She usually is much pickier with spicy meats, she just gobbled it all down.

I must have told Ruby 40 times today not to pull Elsie into her lap, it was really frustrating. Ruby continued to try over and over and Elsie just kept getting more and more upset. She is on the go and doesn't want Ruby to hold her down. Also, Ruby grabs her pretty abruptly. Mike and I had to be firm with her today, that she must ask us for permission before trying to hold her. She loves her sister, but is really getting possessive now that Elsie is mobile. It is hard to share your things when you haven't had to for so long. We have just noticed this the past few days. Hoping she settles down a bit, I know she will, but hopefully it is sooner rather than later.

I gave Elsie some pears to taste today, from the can. She really liked the taste and kept putting them up to her mouth and licking them. Once she got the pears into her mouth, she didn't seem too impressed about their texture though.

Moses Lake

We spent most of the day in Moses Lake and Ephrata with Mike's family. It was good to see that Steven was healing so nicely and that his vision is slowly returning.

We drove up to see Lynn and the boys first. Wish we lived closer and could be more help. The boys are so cute and Ruby loves to be around them all especially Michael, she asks about him all the time at home. Mike went and got us all food from DK's, it was really good. Just so nice to sit down and talk/chat with Lynn. Ruby and Michael ran around while Elsie and Paxton explored together. Paxton and Elsie are only 3 weeks apart and doing the same things right now. So cute to watch them together. Paxton just wanted to grab Elsie and touch her, she is alittle bashful and hesitant with other babies it seems. They did play a bit, but then she got upset and wanted me to hold her. If she is in my arms she is perfectly fine around other babies, she just gets overwhelmed when they grab at her face or reach for her. Michael also wanted to hold Elsie, but she just doesn't want to be held down these days. Michael and Ruby played around the house together, Ruby wanted to put him to bed of course. He wasn't too keen on the idea. She is all about bedtime right now since we have been working on it with her each night. She is such a little mommy to other kiddos. When we were getting ready to leave, Ruby wanted to hug Michael, but he wasn't interested. She loves hugging now. Aunt Lynn gave her a big hug and she was able to hug Paxton, so this satisfied her.

Next we dropped Mike off at his parents house to visit his brother. We left and went to Walmart to pick up a gift for Ruby's friend Makenna. Ruby picked out a barbie horse of course! She is so into horses right now. When we were in line, an old friend of Mike's family, Alice, came over to say hi. She met Elsie for the first time and Ruby was about two years younger when she saw us last. It was really good to see her! By the time we were done buying that one gift, it was time to head back to get Mike.

When we got to Mike's parent's house, they waved for us to come inside. Ruby bundled up and headed in and I brought Elsie with me. Mike and Steven talked to Ruby about Steven's injuries and she was able to look at him up close and give him a hug. She immediately wanted to get the leggos out of the back room to play with, so she went back there and got them with her grandma. Mike worked on those with her while I sat Elsie on the floor for her grandma to watch crawl around. Elsie played a bit with some individual leggos and then Mike's mom brought out some stacking cups to keep her interested. After a little chatting, we decided it was time to head home.

Ruby and Elsie both slept the entire trip home and Mike just transfered Ruby into her bed. She was so tired. I am a bit worried about her, she hasn't been eating as much lately and she has circles under her eyes. I am going to keep my eye on her, right now I am thinking that she is still just sick. Poor girl!

Christmas Tree

We decided that today would be the day we went up to Camden Tree Farm to pick out our Christmas tree. It was a really nice day, not too cold. Once we were there, we decided to go on the hay ride up to get our tree. Ruby and Elsie enjoyed the ride. Once we were up at the top, we all unloaded and began our search of the perfect tree. We all walked to the top of the hill they were on and quickly found the perfect tree. Mike cut it down and then said, "I hope this wasn't sold already?" We were so excited that we found the one, that we didn't even look for a tag that said whether is was already sold. Sure enough, once we inspected it, we found a tag tucked inside the tree next to the trunk. So frustrating. Mike had already carried it down most of the way, and then decided he needed to bring it back to the spot we cut it from. I went down and explained what happened to one of the workers and they were really understanding. They just told me to have Mike bring it down and they would call the people who had already bought it and explain. So....we were back to square one and looked a bit more before finding another tree. Ruby said she didn't like it, but wanted another one that close by. She really liked this particular tree, so we decided that was the one. It had a bent trunk, but we went with it anyway. Mike was able to cut it so that trunk really didn't matter. We took the hayride back and went directly to the store to pay for the tree. Then it was time to get our cup of apple cider, yum, it was the real thing, not the stuff from the envelope. Ruby is always worried about how hot things are,so she tried a sip but wouldn't drink much more because it was hot. We went back to the waiting area to wait for our tree. They had a really nice place to sit next to a fire. Ruby could see the workers putting the trees in a shaker and through the binding, she thought it was pretty neat. Mike was able to fit the tree in the back of our Durango, I was amazed. It is nice to have a larger vehicle this year. What a great outting, I just love doing things like this as a family and making it a tradition.

Ruby and Elsie were really tired. We saw a deer on the ride back into town, Ruby was really excited to see it jumping through the field. She also loved all the horses in the pastures. Ruby grabbed the book Cinderella and read it silently to herself, enjoying the pictures. Elsie slept the whole way back to Spokane.

When we got back to Spokane, it was past lunch so we decided to go to Olive Garden. We love it there! I ate way too much, three bowls of soup, one of each type except the chili one. I can't believe how hungry I was today. There was no wait either, we went in and they seated up right away. So nice, there is always a wait it seems.

After enjoying our food, we then headed out to the valley to pick up Elsie's 7 month pics. by this time, Ruby and Elsie were sound asleep. The sunset on the ride home was gorgeous as always, it was bright orange.

We rearranged the living room to fit the tree in, I love it so much. It is absolutely perfect and smells sooooo good. Elsie was really good with it today too, she hasn't been pulling at it or anything. I am going to put very little on it this year too, so she doesn't want to touch it too much. She has been so on the go lately and can grab things so fast, it is quite the experience. She is also sitting up every chance she gets and speeding through the house to get to where she wants. Everything happens way too fast during this phase.

Ruby and I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for Daddy tonight, although I think we ended up eating more that he did. He really wanted us to make them for him, and I promised we would make them after returning from our family christmas tree trip. It just seemed like the perfect way to end the day. I think she enjoyed pouring the ingredients in and stirring them and eatting the cookies too :)

Mike ate his leftover meal tonight, he was looking forward to it all day. He ate in the living room on a TV tray and we never do that, Ruby had to have her own too. She shared the meal with him, turkey and mashed potatoes, but didn't eat Daddy's favorite part the stuffing. Hopefully she will grow to like it since we love it so much.

What a great day!

Thanksgiving!

Dinner turned out great and everything we exactly as planned. Mike asked me to make lots of stuffing, so I used two whole loaves from Costco to make it. He is in heaven with that! I also decided to serve broccoli as the vegetable, it went perfectly. I was looking up the time for our turkey on the internet today and found out that we could cook it breast side down for juicier meat. I tried it, and it was really good! Yum! Elsie tried broccoli and mashed potatoes for the first time, she was really messy. Ruby wasn't a big fan of the stuffing and tried a bit of her turkey. She really wasn't feeling up to par, so I didn't expect that she would eat much. Later when we ate pumpkin pie, she asked for a slice.

Neal and Janessa came by for a brief visit on their way home. I wish we lived closer to them, such awesome friends. Hoping we can get together more often after the winter is over and Elsie is a bit older. They left us with divinity and fudge, it is soooo good. Hard to stop myself from eating it all :)

It was a very nice day of sitting around and relaxing (aside from all the cooking I did).

I am thankful for my family and everyone else God has blessed me with throughout my life.

I told Ruby today was a day to give thanks for the thinks we are grateful for, and I asked her if she was grateful for Elsie. She quickly said "yes!" They are so fun to watch together, can't wait to watch them blossom as sisters. Mike made me come into the living room today so I could see them crawling together. So funny, it is neat to see that even though they can't communicate verbally yet with one another, they find other unique ways. Loving it!

Food

Yesterday, Elsie pulled herself up to standing for the first time. That girl is on the go right now, she is booking it from one thing to another, hard to keep up with her.

Ruby played UNO with Mike yesterday, the child's version. We noticed that she was turning her cards so the numbers were not upside down. She is now recognizing that the numbers match and putting those in the pile all by herself, in addition to being able to put the same color together.

Last night Ruby had 103.5 temp, we called the consulting nurse and she was surprised that we hadn't dealt with this before. When we called it was only at 102 and she said that was normal, Ruby's had never even been that high before. Mike went promptly to get children's motrin and it took the fever away by 1 am. Thank goodness! So scary! Elsie had a fever about a week ago, so I think that they both had the same thing but it took Ruby longer to get the same cold. It sure kept us on the edge of our seats though.

Today, Ruby grabbed a mouthpiece of a trombone that Mike had sitting on the counter. I told Ruby not to touch it because it was full of germs and dirty. She sat it down and looked at it for a while and then said, "Did a dog pee on it?" I told her no and then she said "Is it a bell?" I was laughing so much, she just didn't quite understand what it was and why I was making such a big deal about it.

Ruby's temperature was down all day and she is feeling much better, thank goodness.

Elsie is pulling up on everything these days and following us around the house like crazy. When Mike came home today, she immediately started crawling toward him trying to get his attention. When he picked her up, she was so happy and just staring at him and smiling from ear to ear. She is so content just being held in our arms and looking around at everything.

Mike decided he was going to work on fixing a part in Ruby's little kitchen that was broken. When he sat down, Elsie crawled over to his leg and pushed up on it and watched everything he was doing. Ruby came in behind him and crawled all over him too, they were definitely missing him today. It was so neat to see them loving on him and just wanting to be with him.

Later at dinner, I made pancakes. I gave Elsie some broken up pieces of pancake on her tray. Usually she just pushes food I give her around and it ends up on the floor. I was so surprised to see that she was taking the pieces and trying to feed them to herself. So cool! She was gagging either, yay! I was totally excited and couldn't stop watching her, she is just amazing me lately. She is also sitting herself up in the sitting position all the time now. I cannot wait for her to be pulling up and then pulling around the furniture.

Ruby had a hard time going down without me today, but she is in there sticking it out. A tiny fuss, but pretty quiet so far. Hoping she can get to sleep easily tonight.

I am SOOO blessed and thankful for my two beautiful girls. Not a moment goes by where I forget to count my blessings!

Looking forward to Thanksgiving tomorrow...still praying for Steven and that his eyesight fully recovers!

Standing

Elsie still has a cough and runny nose, but that didn't slow her down. She pulled up several times today to a standing position. She has also be crawling all over the place and so fast. I find her sitting up on her own all the time now. I think she is teething because she gets pretty upset when I don't hold her and bites down on her fingers quite a bit.



Neal, Janessa, and Samuel came by today. Ruby was so excited to see them. After only about 15 minutes though, I noticed that she was laying down with a blanket in the living room, which is totally not her. She was starting to get sicker and develop a fever. Even though she felt icky, she still managed to eat one of the cupcakes they brought and run around with Mike and Sam a lot before they left. Elsie was so relaxed too while they were here, usually she is a bit skeptical of having guests and wants to be held by me the whole time. Janessa actually held her quite a bit and she was all smiles with Neal and Sam. Once they left, Ruby was so sleepy that she fell asleep on the couch with Mike and when she woke up she had a fever. We gave her tylenol and she was fast asleep again. Thank goodness, she woke up feeling much better. Mike actually had to wake her because it was getting so late and we were afraid she wouldn't go back to sleep at night time. It was so funny because Mike kept saying quotes from one of her favorite movies "Shark Tale". After he said a quote, he would ask her who said it. She actually identified a few, but was so irritated with him bugging her that she finally got up off the couch and woke all the way up.



Mike played a few games with her before dinner. Ruby wanted to play UNO, the child's version. Mike noticed that she was turning her cards in the right direction, making the numbers face the correct way. We both noticed that she was able to match the numbers this time on her own, instead of only recognizing that the colors were the same.



We received good news about Mike's brother Steven today. His right eye is in better condition than originally thought. It has a cut that is 50% deep rather than 90%. He still cannot see out of it though, so we still need prayers that he will have a full recovery and regain eyesight. We are hopefully going to spend some time with them on Friday.

Almost Well Again

We all felt better today, but still holding on to runny noses and coughs. So...I decided to stay home all day with the girls for one more full day of rest.

Early in the day, my sister in law called to tell us that Mike's brother Steven was injured badly at work. Since Mike had a half day, he traveled up there to be with him. I prayed for him all day. Although his injuries are pretty bad, we are thankful that they were not worse. The amount of pressure that was exerted on his face could have caused way more trauma. Now I am praying that he can rest for the five days needed and that his eye sight comes back fully in that eye. So hard to know your family is in pain.

Elsie ventured out further into the house today. She was down our hallway with Ruby quite a bit and then came into the kitchen and pulled up on the dishwasher while I was loading it. She is getting to be quit the big girl these days. Also, I officially witnessed her sitting up on her own without just falling into position. I noticed that she is bouncing a lot, especially when I hold her. I think she is getting those little legs ready for standing! I tried to give Elsie some applesauce today, and she just gagged again. So interesting to me, Ruby never did that. They look so much alike, but are so very different in so many ways.

Ruby was really antsy today, especially with Daddy gone so much of it. She wanted to climb on me all the time. She is really into horses right now, and will act like she is riding anything. She gets on my back when I am laying down and says "Giddy Up!". She also sits on Elsie's back too, acts like she is a tiny pony. She doesn't bounce thank goodness! I have had to keep my eye on her more these days when she is with Elsie, she always wants to pick her up, carry her, lift her. Scares the life out of me, I definitely can't leave them alone together, that is for sure. Most the time Elsie just thinks it is so funny and smiles at Ruby, but sometimes she gets irritated with all the attention and handling. She just wants to be on the go and Ruby slows her down by sitting her up in her lap or laying with her.

Ruby drew a tiny, tiny banana today and then showed it to me. I was so surprised, it actually looked just like a banana shape. I actually had to look closely for it when Mike got home, so I could show him that she made it. She is also drawing so well these days, coloring in specific areas rather than all over the place. She is still outside of the lines, but definitely picking objects and staying with them. It is so cool to see her do that.

The other day I used a thermometer to take Elsie's temperature and ever since Ruby has been acting like she is taking our temperature with anything that resembles a thermometer. Today it was a crayon. What cracks me up is that she will take it and put it in the crevace of our elbows rather than under the armpit.

Glad to have Mike back again :) Looking forward to seeing our awesome friends Neal, Janessa, and Sam tomorrow. Yay! We miss them so much and they are stopping by to see us on the way to see family in Spokane.

Another Lazy Day

We woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground. I would have love to go out and play in it, but Elsie was still sick and I am even sicker today. I am so congested and the same for Elsie. She is coughing too. I cannot wait to get back to our normal health. So once again, we just sat around the house most of the day.

I was able to get Mike to play a new game that we never openned. His parents bought it for us last year. It is a version of UNO that spits the cards out at you. So much fun! It said that you had to be 7 years old to play, but with some assistance Ruby was able to play it with us. She loved watching the cards fly out and getting a turn to push the button. I have been dying to play a game with Mike, and thank goodness he gave in and played with us. We were all laughing and having a good time together. We used to play games all the time, it was fun to do it again after so many years.

Ruby went into her bedroom and wanted to try and nap on her own. I left her there thinking she may be able to do it on her own, but sort of knew she would play around in there. Oh well, at least she got a few moments of relaxing and quietness. While she tried to nap, I actually was able to look through some pictures and put them into a frame. I rearranged the photos on the fridge and on the wall. I really like it, but it is pretty crooked. I think I am the only one who will notice anyway.

Later in the afternoon, we decided to head into Costco to buy a few necessities for Thanksgiving. The roads were totally clear the entire trip into Spokane, but it is covered with snow out here in Cheney. The first thing we saw were two booths offering chocolates to eat, we were right no top of that. So yummy! One was a truffle, love those! I was just telling Mike how I never ate chocolate much before we got together. He eats it so much, now I crave it sometimes. Ruby loves it too!

When we got home it was time for dinner, I decided to make chicken tacos. Mike held Elsie and watched the movie "Heidi" with Ruby. He could not believe how grabby and squiggly Elsie is, he could hardly keep her in his arms. The moment she sees me, she wants me to hold her. So I spent part of the time holding her as I finished the last of our meal.

The days are going by way tooooo fast these days. Elsie is now sound asleep in bed and I am soon to follow. She has been getting up at 5 or 6 am, so I am exhausted by this time each night it seems.

Lazy Day

We all were sick today except Mike. So...we spent most of the day just relaxing around the house trying to get better.

Mike worked on cleaning up the yard all day, since the snow is probably going to hit us tonight. We were so behind in recycling, the whole truck bed was totally full to the brim. Our truck is sooooo old and we really don't want to put much money into it, which is a total irritation for Mike. The battery needs replaced along with the cables. He spent hours trying to get it started. I had to go out and help at one point, but it finally was fixed and on the way. If he leaves it running, then it will stay running and he can make it there and back. If he shuts it off it needs a jump.

While he was at recycling, I set Ruby up for some finger painting. She really enjoyed it. It is so messy though, and Mike can't believe it when he sees how much she gets all over everything.

When he returned, I quickly got lunch ready and served to Ruby and then sent her outside for some fresh air while Mike raked the leaves up and put them in the truck. She enjoyed being out with her Daddy, I watched through the window and saw her trying to help him. She really wanted to ride her bike, but he didn't have the time to take her up and down the street because he was trying to get everything done before dark. Also, she had torn off all the little pads inside her helmet, so it was unfunctional. She was outside with him for a good hour and a half while Elsie and I watched from the couch. Elsie is much sicker than we all are. All she really wanted to do today was nurse. So I was for sure stuck inside. It was nice to get some magazines read though, I really enjoy that.

Ruby came in for her nap and Mike for some lunch. Ruby actually asked me to leave her in her room alone to go down for her nap, but there was so much noise in the house that she never fell asleep. Mike was searching for a wrench and couldn't find it, he needed it to get the truck started. So noisy as he searched, and totally frustrated. Elsie woke up and Ruby was back out on the couch again. I ran next door to borrow a wrench, but the truck still wasn't starting. Ruby was so sweet and kept saying that she knew how to start it. Finally after probably 6 hours of being outside and working on the yard and truck, the truck started up again and Mike took it to the recycle center to get rid of our leaves.

We started Netflix, and I ordered "The Three Stooges" for Ruby since she loves slapstick comedy. I decided to put it in and she had a few good laughs, not as much as I had hoped though. Meanwhile, Elsie's temperature crept up and she was really not being herself. Her nose was runny and eyes watery, she was not playful but sad looking and irritable. Totally not her! Her temp was 100.5, I gave her infant tylenol and within 30 minutes she was back to her cheerful self and her temperature was down. Poor baby!

Thank goodness I put stew in the crockpot earlier in the day, so we had a nice warm dinner ready. We all love stew and it was perfect for this cold day!

Ruby and I read her curious george books from the library and she was off to bed. I am just so congested, it was really hard to read aloud to her, I sure hope I feel better tomorrow so I can keep up with everyone. Ruby is really into horses right now, and always expects Daddy to let her ride on his back from her bedroom to the bathroom and back before bedtime. She loves it. She was so tired, hopefully we all sleep tight tonight!

Picture Day

I spent the morning cleaning and getting ready for my sister-in-law to arrive. The house looks great now, but she actually had to go into work last minute and wasn't able to come. Nothing like a possible visitor to spur me into cleaning! Good to be caught up a bit :)

Ruby ate a raw spinach leaf today, she actually asked for it and took the stem off and munched it down. I was so surprised. I made cooked spinach yesterday and used some on my sandwich today. Usually she will throw it to the side when I make it or anything that involves a lettuce shaped food. I am thinking she sees how much I like it and wanted to try it out. She didn't hate it, I guess that is a good sign for sure! She's going to have to love veggies to be in this house, they are my favorite for sure!

After lunch, both girls were so tired because they are a bit under the weather. Ruby went to bed an hour early and and slept more than two hours. Elsie slept almost as long. Glad they are only slightly sick.

Later, we went to get Elsie's 7 month pics taken at JCP. I wanted a bathtub scene since I have a cute one of Ruby at this same time. Elsie was not too thrilled at first, so she nursed for a bit and we tried it again and I actually got some pretty cute ones of her. Mike held Ruby above Elsie for awhile to get her to smile. It is amazing what I try to get good pics! Elsie insisted on pulling up to a standing position during one of the pics, I was so amazed. She hasn't really been standing up as much as pulling up to her knees. I am thinking we don't have long before she is pulling herself around the edges of the couches. Spent way toooo much, why isn't there ever a time when only one picture is perfect and all the others have flaws. I always want to buy them all :)

Ruby was so hungry by this time and she kept looking at all the restaurants and saying that she wanted to eat at them, that they looked like a good place to eat. So funny! We ended up going to Applebee's. It was so packed. So many other customers that were waiting had fun watching Elsie smile and flirt with them. This kept her entertained for most of the wait. She is sitting in a high chair now and grabbing at everything. She doesn't really want to eat anything, just stick her tongue out over and over to taste it. Today it was the table, yuck!

We got home really late and immediately put the girls down to bed. Ruby had a harder time going to bed on her own tonight, but eventually fell asleep. Mike had to turn on the hallway light and that made her feel better. Mike told her that she needed to sleep with her babies that she had lined up on the bed beside her, and she took her arm and pushed them all off the bed and said "No, I need to have you sleep beside me!" I was worried that she wouldn't fall asleep, but thankfully she did within minutes of Mike's last trip to her room.

Thursday

We started the day off at Tanya's house. This is always something that both Ruby and I look forward to on Thursdays. Ruby enjoyed all the learning activities that Tanya planned for the group today. She especially liked a scavenger hunt for shapes and colors and then tracing the shapes she found with the color of the object. At one point I walked over to watch Ruby and Jacqueline tracing their objects, they were both doing an excellent job. Ruby saw Jacqueline tracing her object in a different color than it was and immediately let her know that she wasn't doing it right, that the object was blue instead of green and she need to use blue to trace it. So funny! For lunch, Tanya made tomato soup and Ruby has never had it before. She was willing to try it and ate about half of it, I was surprised. She just loved sitting with her friends at the table. It amazes me that she can sit so calmly in a group of toddlers. It was really cute watching her with them. Jacqueline loves babies, I have never seen a little girl that loves them so much. She always asks if she can hold Elsie, so I propped her up on Jacqueline's lap and she was just as happy as could be. It is so funny to watch her hold Elsie, Jacqueline is such a tiny little thing and Elsie looks almost as big as her when she holds her. Elsie is getting more active now so she doesn't want to sit still and be held as long. Ruby also did painting with these Crayola toddler paints, she is so crafty now. She was perfectly content sitting there filling her paper up with color. Later, Jacqueline wanted Ruby to go upstairs to her room and play. They had a book called "Pinkalicious" and I read it aloud to them, very cute and they loved it. After playing for a bit, we headed out. Always love going to playdates at Tanya's and thankful to have them as friends.

As I drove home, Ruby fell asleep and napped for a very short time. Mike arrived home shortly after we pulled up and helped me get her out of the car. She immediately woke up to see him and spend some time with him. Once she has slept at all, she will not go back down for a nap.

Mike was gone for his master's class all night, so we barely saw him at all the entire day. He has been gone a bunch lately, we are really looking forward to having him home for the weekend.

It was a really easy-going night. Since we have been working on sleeping alone, we spent a good part of the night with me as Ruby in her bed and Ruby as me. She loves to act out our everyday routine and be the mommy. She would tuck me in and tell me sweet dreams, turn off the light, and shut the door. Then return again to do the same thing. One time she said "Sweet Dreams" as she walked out the door and I said, "Sweet dreams honey" as she was leaving. She got irritated and came back in and turned on the lights to tell me that I was not supposed to tell her "sweet dreams" because she wasn't going to sleep. I got a good laugh about that. She also is loving acting out a birthday. She will sing "Happy birthday Mommy!" over and over and have me blow out the candles on a pretend cake. Elsie was with me this whole time, enjoying the attention we both were getting from sister.

Later, we went back out to the living room and read "Pinnochio" together. She is such a great listener and really pays attention to the small details as I read. We had just watched Pinnochio the night before, so it was fun to pull out a book and read the story again. She liked the movie and story, but doesn't like the sad parts and will tell you about it. As I was putting Elsie to bed, Ruby sat and read the book aloud to herself, or recited the parts she remembered as she flipped through the pictures. Quite the little reader these days!

She is really liking pears these days. Everyday she asks for one. I was having cottage cheese and sliced pears in a dish as a snack and she hopped up beside me and wanted some. She loves cottage cheese and wasn't so sure about the canned pears, but once she had the two together she asked for her own bowl and gobbled them all up. She is really branching out and trying new things these days. Just wish she would eat green stuff, seems like the only thing I can get her to eat is peas in that category.

Daddy got home late and Ruby stayed up to see him before going to bed. When she got back into her bed, Mike asked her if she wanted her 10 pennies in a stack or laying in a line on the dresser. She said that she wanted them in a stack because that was easiest, we both laughed.

A good day!

So excited....

Wow! That was really easy, wish I would have set this up earlier. I will mainly use this blog to document Ruby and Elsie's growth over the years, but will also write about our family events as well.

Ruby is now three years old. She has slept in her own bed and went to sleep without either of us by her side for the past three nights. The first two nights she cried a bit and asked for mommy, but eventually fell asleep on her own. Last night she fell asleep right away without a single peep. Mike leaves her pennies on the dresser when she wakes if she falls asleep on her own. So cute. She just loves waking up and looking for them. The first thing she does in the morning is get up and put them all in her piggy bank. Love this idea...so thankful he thought of it. Anything that doesn't involve candy is a favorite with me.

Lately Ruby has been talking in third person. I have tried to get her to refer to herself as "I", but she is just getting better and better with changing her sentences and refering to herself as "Ruby". I am thinking it may have been me who introduced her to this way of speaking, because now I am noticing that I call myself "mommy" all the time. It just amazes me that she is so good at changing her sentences around like this.

Elsie is crawling away and since yesterday I have noticed her venturing out much further around the house. She actually came into the computer room with me today and was looking around at everything. She is so fast now too! She also is pulling up on things, but not the couch yet. It scares me sometimes because she pulls up on things like shelves and drawers. She has even pulled up on our kitty Morris. Just a curious little girl these days, she is into anything and everything she can get her hands on. I sit her up at the table with us now, although she is not eating anything as of yet other than breastmilk. She always gags when I try to give her something, so I am trying every so often to see if she is ready. I do give her things to taste though and she sticks her tongue out over and over to taste it, but always looks at me to get reassurance. Yesterday we gave her a spoon at the table and that entertained her the entire dinnertime, she just kept banging it and passing it back and forth the entire time. Usually she drops everything I give her within minutes, this was the longest I have seen her keep interest and hold onto a spoon.

She has been grunting all the time too these days. Anytime she interested in something that comes in her view, she makes a grunting sound. She is a very vocal baby, it is really cute and gives everyone around her a big chuckle.

I have been on a workout kick lately. Last week we walked four days out of the week from 2-3 miles a day and I did a workout DVD three of those days. I am trying to continue the momentum. I have a new friend Angie who is awesome and walking with me. Yesterday was our first walk together. Boy, it is really a major challenge to walk with kiddos. I am so thankful though that they are cooperative and usually make it most of the time without a fuss. Loving the fresh air too. It is getting so cold!!! Not sure how many more outdoor walks we will be able to get in before winter sets in full force.

We are all looking forward to the holidays. I just received our two turkeys for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Mike wasn't too thrilled that we ended up with two small turkeys, he just loves the leftovers. Hopefully I will make it up by making tons of stuffing as he requested. We plan on going to get our tree earlier this year, the day after Thanksgiving. I just love going out and cutting it down, hopefully this year we will be able to go on the hayride up to get our tree, last year we waited too long and it was freezing up there.

Loving this new blog, nice and easy!