Things To Remember

I can't believe how fast you are growing up little Ruby girl. You are full of personality. You are a total girl...you love to play dress up, and the moment you get your princess gloves and dress on you start singing, "be the good girl you always have to be..." from the movie "Frozen". It is adorable. You like to do my hair and "make-ups". You like me to paint your nails, and then you usually pick it all off in the car when we are driving somewhere. You always are picking something...a scab, your nails...ahhh..it drives me crazy! Today in church you snuck to the end of the bench to pick at your toenail...you thought you were being sneaky, but I knew what you were up to ;). You are so independent...getting in the car and hooking yourself in all by yourself (even if it takes 10 minutes), putting your shoes on all by yourself. I love how you want to do things yourself...it is teaching me a good lesson on patience ;). You are going to be a great big sister in a couple months. You are loud and crazy and fun and shy all at the same time. With big groups of people and kids you usually stay close by my side and want me to hold you. You like to observe and see what everyone else is doing, and sometimes will join in with the big crowd.

At night when I lay by you before you go to sleep you show me your pretend, "baby chicks". I hold them and feed them, and we put them to bed. I love your little imagination. You like to pretend you are a cat sometimes, and eat pretend food out of my hand. I love in the mornings when you come in my room with your crazy hair and come snuggle me in bed. It is the best part of my day. You love chocolate milk, shredded cheese, chocolate, ice cream, and noodles.

You love to color with markers and cut up your coloring books. I pick up little tiny pieces of cut up paper everyday from under that little red table that you sit at. I love your creativity and how detailed you are with your coloring. It is so fun to watch, and see what you draw and come up with.

You are often found singing a song...usually a primary song or a song from Frozen or Tangled. You are the sweetest little girl, and I love being your mom.

A Rough Week and A Good Week

This past week we had one really warm day...it got up to almost 70 degrees! It was beautiful and we spent it all at the zoo. The next day it was down in the teens and beginning to snow again. :( That is the weather here in Ohio. We had so much fun at the zoo with friends. You love running around with all the kids, but also like to stay close to me and ride in the stroller. When there are lots of kids you get a little reserved. I like that you come to me and hold my hand, and want me to go on the playground with you.
The rest of this week was good. We had our friends, the Israel's come and visit on Friday and Saturday. They have a little boy Jacob just a little younger than you and probably twice your weight and size.
This week was much better compared to the week before. You were sick the week before, and had tantrum after tantrum everyday. I felt like you were always screaming, and kicking and crying about something all week long! I didn't always handle every situation how I should have, and was on my knees asking for forgiveness a lot. Then, Sunday came. Your dad was on call and gone all weekend. I just needed a peaceful Sunday. We had a good day at church, came home, and you took a long nap...which you haven't been doing lately. Gavin and I played games and listed to church music. I made some banana cake for after dinner later with the missionaries. It was such a peaceful day...just what I needed, and just what Heavenly Father knew I needed.  I am so grateful for the small blessings in my life and I know that Heavenly Father is always looking out for me. I hope you know how much he loves you, and that is is always there for you.
I am grateful for Sunday's to recharge my soul, and to give me a new start to the week.
Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, so we made homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream today in preparation. You and Gavin sat on the table and finished off the leftovers from the bowl with giant spatulas. :) Then it was time for bed. I laid by Gavin and Dad laid by you in your bed. We all fell asleep and then I woke up and woke up Dad. We went out, but your dad had me go back in to look at you. At some point you had taken off your pants and your pull up and were laying spread eagle in your bed. Such a silly girl.
Love you Ruby girl.

Sunday Journaling

I am off to a good start in journaling in here once a week. This was a good week. Nothing special...we took Gavin to preschool and then you came with me to the YMCA where I exercised and you played in the little daycare there. Whenever I go to pick you up you are either playing in the kitchen and pretend food area or with the baby strollers, babies, and baby car seats. You always have to put everything away before you come with me to go home. You are definitely a girl, and love to do motherly things. It's fun to watch you play.
You are not taking naps anymore so by the end of the day you are tired and grouchy and ready for bed. You fall asleep after singing a song or two or talking to your pink bunny that you sleep with every night. You love that bunny and your "bee blankie".
You are getting quite the personality...so sweet, and so spicy too. I love it all. Today in church you were flipping through a farm animal book singing Ol McDonald pretty loud. It was so cute, but I was trying to teach you to whisper. That didn't work out too well. You love to sing and dance and read books to yourself. It's so cute to hear you read...always making up silly words. Your voice is so cute and little.
You love your dad and get so excited when you see him come in the door from work. I love you sweet and tender heart and for how much love you have for your family.
We went on a walk the other day. It was so nice and sunny and fairly warm out!

 This was at Costco a few days ago. You and Gavin just sat there watching the big machine with arms wrapped around each other. So sweet.

 Gavin was tucking you in saying, "shhhh....it's okay....Daddy's here."

 You told me you wanted to take a nap around 4 the other day so I put you in your crib and came to check on you about 25 min later...this is what I found. :)

 I was taking a shower and somebody decided to get out the Costco size bag of Craisins and dump them all over the floor. You did this a few days ago too. Hmmm....little mischievous you are.

A Few Things

Some things I want to remember:

You call chap stick/lip gloss "chip chips". You call your beanie your "bean". You love to sing and are very into the movie "Frozen" and "Tangled" right now. The other night you had been up watching the "do you want to build a snowman" song from Frozen on you tube before bed. Later that night when you were asleep your dad went to check on you and you turned over in your sleep and sang "do you want to build a snowman" then turned back over and were back to sleep. So cute. You also love singing many of the primary songs: "I Am a Child of God", " I Love to See the Temple" are amongst your favs. You love to read books. Tonight before bed you laid me on the floor and tucked me in with blankets, pillows and stuffed animals. You then made a little bed for yourself and brought over a stack of books which you read to me in your cute little 2 year old voice. Nothing better than those little moments with you.

This week has been rough. We took your binkie away a couple days ago, and you weren't too happy about it. You haven't taken any naps all week, and have been grouchy and tired, and I have been grouchy and tired. But, you are getting better, and don't really ask for it anymore.

We went sledding and played in the snow for a while yesterday morning. You love being outside in the snow. Your little cheeks are always red and snot dripping from your nose, and a big smile on your face. I love that you love playing out there, and shoveling the snow. It is pretty cute to watch you.

Tonight while I laid by you and Gavin while you went to sleep I felt so much love for the both of you. I feel so blessed to be your mother, and to be with you every day. You make me so happy, and teach me so many things each day. I know Heavenly Father loves you and Gavin so much, and you are so special to him. You are so special to me. I love your innocense and joy for life. I love watching you laugh and learn, and I love how tender your little heart is.

My goal is to write in here once a week, and to do a better job at recording and keeping your life/my feelings update in here. Love you Ruby girl.

My Cute Little 2 Year Old

Back in September (wow, time flies) you turned two! Probably the cutest two year old I have ever seen. We ate yummy rainbow cake, you opened presents; a dolly, necklaces, a purse, a bike and some clothes. You are one loved little girl.

You love Gavin even though you guys fight. You give him the biggest hugs when we pick him up from preschool. When you call him "Gav" it makes me smile.

You are so independent. You must do EVERYTHING on your own. It's pretty cute, and sometimes if you can't figure out how to do something then you finally ask for help.

You call knives "sharks". I think you heard me wrong the first time you heard me say sharp and that is how you have said it ever since.

You are gentle, loving, sensitive, sometimes loud, and so much fun. You love to read books and the swings are your favorite part of any playground. You also LOVE to swing on anything you can get your little hands on...monkey bars, the bar outside Gavin's preschool, the pews in front of us at church...anything.

You are still in your crib. You can climb out, but we just haven't gotten a bed yet for you. Someday we will.

You still have your binkie. You love that thing, and your blankie and your cup. Those three things just go together.

You are such a blessing in mine and your dad's lives. You bring so much joy into our home. I am so glad Heavenly Father sent you to us. I love hearing your little laugh, giving you big hugs, and reading with you. You make me smile each day. You are growing up so fast.

You are definitely a two year old. Mad if I help you get in the car etc... But I love your spunk and silly personality.

Mother's Day

I started writing this a few months ago, and completely forgot about it. I truly am blessed to be your mother. It's not always easy, and a lot of the time I feel like I am failing, and am not living up to my potential. But there are so many moments that I feel and know I am a good mom. I want you to always know how much I love you, and that you and Gavin and your Dad come first in this life after your Heavenly Father. Being your mother makes me want to be better each day. I am continually praying to my Heavenly Father to help me and guide me so that I can be the mom that you and Gavin need. I pray for patience daily, and pray that I can remember to not lose focus on the things that are most important in this life. You are so special to me Ruby, and I am so grateful Heavenly Father sent your little spirit to me. I am honored to be your mother.

Remembering The Little Things

I feel like my head is going to explode right now if I don't write everything down about you. You are changing so fast, and I keep meaning to write in here, and then time gets away from me. Ruby,  you are seriously the. cutest. thing. ever. You walk around with your little pig-tail on top of your head and usually two in back with a cute little smile pasted across your face. You are still missing four teeth; two on top and two on bottom, both in the same place. You have little gaps on both sides of your mouth. So cute when you smile. You have lots of spunk, and think that meal time means making the biggest mess possible, and sometimes eating a little too.
For a while whenever we would ask you a yes or no question and you would answer yes you would say, "huh" in the cutest little tiny voice. Just recently though you have switched over to the big girl way of saying it..."yeah, or yes." Still cute, but we were sad when you left the "huh" behind.
Forever you called Gavin, "Ga-gee," and now you've mastered the "Gavin" or "Gav". I'm sure Gavin is happy about that since a couple times when you called him "Ga-gee" he got a little mad and stated, "it's not Ga-gee Rubes, it's Gavin."
You love to color, and pay attention to the little details. I love watching you when you are in the zone coloring. You aren't much of a movie watcher, and are so squirmy still when we go to movies. You sing the ABC's in the cutest voice ever. Tonight while I was laying with Gavin before bed, you were on the floor looking at books and singing the ABC's to yourself. I often hear you sing them and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at night in your bed before you go to sleep.
You love to be naked, and if I haven't seen you for a while, I usually find you naked somewhere. Something about being so free I guess. ;)
I love it when you are trying to tell me something. I know there is so much going on in your little head, and it's so cute to hear you explain whatever it is you are trying to say, or show your excitement.
We recently got back from Medford, Oregon. We were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Merrill. You had so much fun swimming in their pool. You love Grandma and Grandpa, and for the longest time you called both of them, "grandma and grandma" or "grandpa and grandpa."
We were gone from home for three weeks, while Daddy was here working away. When he picked us up at the airport both you and Gavin ran as fast as you could and jumped into his arms. You love your dad, and he adores you.
I wish all the time I could bottle up this stage of your life. You change so quickly and are always saying and doing the cutest things. I know these moments are short, and I have to always remember to cherish them, and to take life slowly so that I can be in the moment with you and Gavin.
You also love gum, and are always trying to get in my bag to steal it. A couple times I'm pretty sure I have caught you with at least 3-4 pieces in your mouth. Little stinker.
You love to ride your bike, and be outside. I love watching you. You are the sweetest little girl, and make me smile every single day.