A double dose..

OK...both my ladies have had some b-day action, so let me just catch up and chat about both...

First off...WHERE THE HECK DOES THE TIME GO??   I mean it seems like only yesterday I was "curb walking" 5 times a day to try and get my 2 week late Ella Mae out of my belly...and in the blink of an eye, or so it seems, she just turned THREE!! She is her own independent lil' person, with likes and dis-likes, opinions...very strong opinions, on what she wears for the day, what she wants from Santa (we just wrote him the letter today and am 'sending' it in the mail tomorrow)...and most importantly, how much she loves her family....she tells me at least two times a day how much she does, and it melts my heart every single time.  She likes to do things as a family, which she will say in sign language, wether it be sharing popcicles or just watching a movie.  She squeezes her sisters cheeks so passionatley sometimes to kiss her I have to do an occasional mediation.

                                                                              

 And Ruby Doobs..oh sweet Ruby Doobs!!  Her birth is a little more 'at the surface'...I look down and see the scar on my belly everyday and am reminded what a miracle she is in every way.  She came so unexpected in every way...yet I would not change one single thing about her or her birth.  It does not seem like a year ago she came to us, but the emotions are still with me like it was yesterday. In just her short year here on this earth she has already taught me so much more than I have learned in my entire lifetime.  About resilience, about patience even when nobody is looking, about accepting and loving differences in others..even your own,about seeing every person as an idividual with love and worth...even if I don't know or care for them much,  about not just saying you will do or be something..but doing and being whole-heartedly, about being 100% present....today...now.  I don't want to miss a minute of this..........

        

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET LIL' LADIES!!  YOUR MOMMY AND DADDY COULD NOT BE MORE PROUD TO CALL YOU OUR OWN!!  WE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU BOTH ALWAYS MUCH AND FOREVER!!!

Here's a few B-day pics to recap the par-tay action........

This was Ella Mae's "first costume" when she came home from the birthing center at one day old...G-pa had to modify it a little to make room for her legs...but it still fit Doobers at 11 months!!  What a pip-squeak!!

Grandmother's cake creation...princess of course!!

Chaos came with the 'unveiling' of Ella's new dollhouse Grandmother got for her..the claws were out so I had to quickly distract and hide while no one was looking...

Matchin' outfits from G-ma...what a pair!!

Culde Crew ready for some trick or treat action!!

The girl can sleep...Doobs "passed out" (Ella's words :)) on our adventure through the hood...

OMG!!

Doobs first B-day cake from grandmother!!

Birthday girl!! (Sorry I can't figure out how to rotate the pic)

Rubinator's first cake!!!

                                                                    

That's all for now folks!!  I hope everyone is as good as we are over here!  Loving life and our girls :)

Gobble Gobble!!

Today is Turkey day and I have feel the need to give some shout outs to things I am most thankful for.  I realize I still need to get to Octoberfest part dueax but will chat about Ella Mae's B-day soon...

This year has been a very eye and heart opening year....although I never considered myself a person with a closed heart, I have to say that I am thankful for the "Doobers" extra 21st chromosome.  It has helped me see the world and the people in it with an even broader scope.  Not that her extra chromosome defines who she is, she is an individual first..an AMAZING individual first...but it lets other people know and see just how special she is. You can't look into these eyes and not see that she is going to change the world for the better..

It is ri-DONK-culous!!  I thank my lucky stars everyday for both my sweet girls.....

Not just because it is Turkey Day!  Luv to the peeps!! And Happy Thanksgiving! Check out the wonderfullness in all our rockin' chromosomes :)

Oh yeah..the hubby is pretty cool too....I have to say I am thankful for my Sweet lil' family  :)

                                               

                                                         GOBBLE! GOBBLE YA'LL!!
                                                     
                                                                           

Octoberfest

GEEZ!!  October is was a busy month even before Doobers came our way...now throwing the Buddy Walk into the mix....WHEWW!! Glad it has started to die down a bit before the holiday season starts!

Where to begin.....let's start with this

                                                                           

The Ruby Racers had over 50 walkers (the second largest team)....so much love and support for the Doobs!!  Aunt Terri (AKA Aunt TT) experimented with her new silk-screening doo-hicky and made us some shirts..                

Turned out pretty darn good for a first go around..Thanks Aunt TT!!      It was so wonderful to be surrounded by all these amazing peeps like my Ruby Doobs...not to mention surrounded by my amazing friends and family who give us so much strengh, love and encouragement...Doobs is one lucky lady and I know she gives back the love ten fold :)

"huggin it out' with G-pa

Luvin on her second family...Uncle P Aunt Lisa and Scarlett

Huggin it out again with Tatum

Enjoying a tasty beverage with G-ma

                                      

We also raised the 3rd most amount of duckets as a team...RAISE THE ROOF!!  Not bad fresh out the gates...if I do say so myself :)  Couldn't a done it w/out my peeps!!

G-ma and G-pa drove down from Michigan for Octoberfest 2011...we love havin' us some G-ma and G-pa!! I have to say I think they were equally impressed with our lil' lady...Both my ladies are pretty infectious....Octoberfest part two up next...but for now..sleep....

I love you always much....

That's what Ella Mae told me this rainy, lazy Sunday morning during our family "group hug"....I love you always much...  I love that...I think I am going to steal that one from her.

Ella Mae luvin' Rubers Always Much

                                                                                                                                                              

Ruber Doobs has been diggin' a little bit of independence in her excersaucer (luv that name)....she bounces up and down and is quite proud of the fact she can stand on "her own" when in it...



Ruby "gettin down" in her excersaucer!!



I think Ella Mae has gotten a little bit jealous of all the Rubinators "hardware" and has decided to take a few of them for "joyrides"...........

Ella Mae "saucin'" it up!

 She was swingin' in Ruby's swing this afternoon which I explained to her that is where she slept the first six months of her life...along with a blow dryer humming underneath...the things you do to get them to sleep!  How does one even figure out that the swing/blowdryer combo works??  Oh yeah...sleep deprivation will get you to try all sorts of things!!  Good thing the Doobers loves her some sleep..I am now that mom that I hated when they said "oh yes...she has been sleeping through the night since she was 4 weeks old!"  I never believed them...but now am glad to actually experience it first hand!  Now if I could only get the kitty to sleep through the night....Here's a pic of Biscuit luvin Srgt Pepper always much...    she still has a bit of a problem with "personal space"........

They are all getting along just fine though..I think it is hilarious in the morning when they all come runnin' to the kitchen to get fed and they all just kinda snack on each others food.  Nanners takes a lil' of Peppers, vice versa and then they all switch...it's kinda like a "musical chairs" breakfast. 

The girls have been enjoying their bathtime together...here's the proof...

Future hair stylist perhaps??

I think Doobers likes her new do!!

I am going to end this post with my girls before going to a "princess bike party"...

I sure do love those girls ALWAYS MUCH AND Forever!!

                                                                                                                                                                                       

And thus it begins....

A tale of a Princess and her Prince...and two cute sisters...

So we have been having playdates with another sweet lil' family that has a daughter Bailey with the same extra special chromosme as the Doobers who is only a month older....well...Miss Bailey boo has a older brother.  Do you see where this is going??  Ella Mae informed me the other day on the way over to our playdate (after squealing with delight when I told her we had a playdate with Taylor) that she was going to "wave her magic princess wand" and she was going to be a princess and Taylor was to be a prince!!  She said it with such enthusiasum and determination that I would not have been suprised if it actually happened once we arrived at thier house...it is also not like she has forgotten about her "magic wand" since then either.  I was asking her tonight after reading her bedtime book what kind of birthday party she wanted...to which she replied "a princess party " (big shocker)...and then she added "and Taylor's gonna be my prince"....

GEEZ..does it have to begin so soon?? It is so stinkin' cute though it kills me...I wish I could take a picture of her face when she says his name, or if I even mention it.  It is like this excitement she can't contain..yet shy look she gets....It makes me soak up and cherish every moment more with Ruby because I realize how fast they grow up!  I was thinking the other day about how at  Ruby's age now, Ella Mae was about 2 weeks away from walking...I wanted it so bad with Ella...and since then she has been a torpedo!  I am quite alright with the Rubinators pace..she will get there when she gets there and I will soak up every moment and spread my peacock feathers with every lil' triumph. Although someday I am sure she will find her "Prince"...and I will be sayin' the same thing..and thus it begins.....

Happy Monday Ya'll and luv to the homey's!!

Silence..and a little bit of the "Lord of the Flies"...

Let's just kick off this blog post with a lil' of this...............

So "silence" in the house when Ella Mae is around usually means she is up to something...for instance, she was silent for a few moments the other day and I went looking for her and she had a tube full of lotion and had lathered herself (among other things in the room) to the point where she was so slippery I reached to help her up and could not get a grip on her, and she fell (giggling all the way) back on her "bootie".  Long periods of silence usually mean extra trouble-making...but sometimes it is just worth it to have a few un-interupted moments.....so when I was feeding the "Rubinator" to sleep a few nights ago, enjoying a few one-on-one silent, quiet moments with her as she drifted into la-la land.....I knew my "payback" was coming.  I heard her calling my name and when I pulled the curtain to the back porch..........

It felt slightly "Lord of the Fly" ish to me...as I mentioned before, they do alot of exploratory play at her new school..so in her eyes this was just slightly "normal". She came home the other day from school and it was as if someone had dunked her from the thighs down in a vat of green paint.  I can't fault her..I mean, I left the finger paints there just begging to be, well..finger-painted.  Needless to say we had a good laugh about it and gave her a good scrubbing!  Not so funny when the "silence" led to marker on the wall yesterday...you win some you lose some...

It's finally not so hot, so Ella Mae, her BFF from the culde, and  Ruber Doobers decided to plant a few things from seeds to bring some color to the culde...

Cousin Courtney  brought it "old school" and loaned us her VCR (yes they do still exist!) and a bunch of Disney movies. You completely forget how good we have it these days until you are waiting 20 minutes for a tape to rewind...ridiculous!  Anywho...one of Ella's new fave things is to gather her "family" to watch...

even Captain Bananas and Biscuit wanted to watch "Lady and the Tramp"


We have been missin' our Sunday morning bike rides to Maudies for breakfast and down to the park  cuz we didn't have a melon protector for   Ruby-kins (new nick-name from g-ma)......she has such an itty bitty nogin to boot, but I finally found what I was lookin' for today (10 bucs on Craigslist..new in box..SCORE!!)   She had fun..but ultimately this was the end result.....

She has been rockin' it in the eating department...even started drinking from a straw today!  WOOT! WOOT!  It is really good for her oral motor skills to be able to do that..baby steps!  Here are a few pics from a typical eating session

you can see her tooth!

she has a second chomper coming in next to the other one!

Her second chomper came in today next to the other one on the bottom..she is feeding herself just about anything you put in front of her!  (taking after her mama :))

That's all for now folks!  Happy Monday!!

Hide and Seek...sort of

So one of Ella Mae's favorite games is "hide and seek".....or her own special version.  She tells you to count to ten and she will go hide in a pre-determined place that she has already announced.  When your counting is up and you head to "find" her..you can't just go directly to the spot that you know she is comfortably tucked away (usually under some blankets or banklets as she calls them) in her or our beds...you have to say something like "Where is Ella?  Is she in the closet??  NOO..she 's not in the closet...is she in the bathroom??  NOO..she's not in there...under the bed??....you get the idea.  If you go directly to her she will correct you and make you dance through all the hoops to find her.

I was actually invited to "hide" with her yesterday.  We both snuggled under the covers, awaiting daddy coming to tickle our toes..she kept saying " shhh....be quiet" in her sweet lil' whisper....we were nose to nose..I could feel her anticipation and excitement. I realized I kinda like her version of  "hide and seek".   I am hoping to be "asked back" again.

The Rubinator  is still killin' it..she has two new fave things...playing "ride that pony" on your knee...she really gets that momentum goin' and starts gigglin'....too cute.  Our neighbor Ron (he has no youngin's) gave us an old wagon that was never used that the "culde crew" was eyeballin'...it just sat on his porch lonely as can be..until the other day he was cleanin' some stuff out and brought it by.....

           

She is the laughinest lil' lady on the block..so easy to please!  Ella Mae pulls her around the culde and down to the mailbox...although Ruby Doobs gets a bigger kick out of it when sister actually gets in there and rides with her...I can see why after my "hide and seek" snuggle with "sister"...both my ladies are infectious and (in the words of Depeche Mode)...I JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH...

LUV TO THE PEEPS AND MY HEART AND THOUGHTS GO OUT TO ANYONE AFFECTED BY THE FIRES AND I AM REMEMBERING ALL THE AMAZING STORIES AND PEOPLE FROM SEPTEMBER 11....WE ARE ALL STRONGER THAN WE THINK!    I TRULY BELEIVE THESE EXPERIENCES BRING US TO OUR  HIGHEST POTENTIAL AS HUMAN BEINGS.......   LUV LUV LUV!!!                            

Wordless Wednesday...

Another addition of WORLESS WEDNESDAY..

The above photo is how my ladies come home from school...proof they are havin' fun :)

Seriously folks....

More smiles...

Nuff said!

This was taken after we put the bumbo chair in the wagon and Ella Mae pulled her around the culde...nice easy ride put  her into snoozeville...wish I could still sleep like that!! More when this mama has some time!