Snow!

We haven't done a great job of getting Ruby out in the snow.  We have gotten plenty of it, but it always seems way too cold or so warm that is melting.  So today we went for it.  Ruby and Mama - we made snow angels, threw snowballs, and went sledding down the hill in the front yard.  Luckily there is a nice ice barrier made up along the edge of the sidewalk from plowing all winter, so there was no way she would fly into the street.  Though she did fly half way out of her sled once. :)  Ruby loved it and actually, Mom did too.

Hamming it up!

Trying to make a snowball... 

Loved the sled and went down the hill as many times as I would let her.

First snow angels... she made as many as I would help her make.

Hot cocoa. :)

Ruby just after her 2nd birthday

This video has it all... the good and the bad.  Life with a 2 year old!

Birthday Girl

Ruby turned 2 on February 18th, a Monday.  We had a party for her the Saturday before.  Many of her favorite people were there.  She loved having the attention on her and was very excited about all the presents.  I don't think she really cared what was in them... as long as they were presents.  When it was all said and done, it seemed some dress-up necklaces, some puppy toys, and a book of stickers were her favorite.  Of course, the simple things.  We had a crayon theme for the party.  Ruby loved coloring with her guests and digging into her crayon cake... though she did prefer to use a fork this year. :)  One benefit of the theme this year was that she learned her colors.  She has got most of them down, her favorite still being green.

Ruby got a few outside toys including a trike and a new picnic table.  Though she wanted to open and play with them right now, we quietly tucked them away in the garage.  It will be fun to relive it in April when we can finally get them out again.  (There was a bit of a fit thrown about giving up the trike... but luckily she forgot about it the next day!)

Ruby's third year has already brought us a very independent girl.  The most common phrase we hear out of her mouth is "I got it!" -said with a bit of sass.  As if, how dare her mother try to help her with something like cutting up her chicken or how dare her daddy try to hold her hand while she is walking down the steps.  O goodness... it will be an interesting year.  We just keep telling ourselves with independence comes learning and learning she is!

Camera Practice

So my personal goal for the year was to learn how to use my fancy camera... we got it right before Ruby was born, and I have been a bit preoccupied. :) I know, excuses, excuses...  Anyway, after a month of reading camera blogs, I started shooting in manual mode.  Unfortunately, it all came clear to me just days after Ruby's birthday party (my pics from her party kinda stink... but those are for another blog).  I was feeling pretty good about myself and finally figuring it out, and so I started trying to take some pictures of my favorite subject, Ruby.  It didn't take long for me to realized that the lens that came with my camera was not meant for Iowa winters.  The lens took great pictures outside, but Ruby and I haven't been spending a whole lot of time outdoors. It was a bit of a bummer... had I known what I was doing when I bought my camera, I may have made some better choices.  I wanted to practice so badly and was feeling bad about not having many pictures of my daughter as a two year old.
My sweet husband bought me a new lens for a late Valentine's Day gift (we decided to defer Vday gifts to later in the year...it didn't take long for me to "need" something thought I truly wasn't expecting him to buy it!)
Anyway, here are a few of the pics.  You will notice that many are by the kitchen door.  Even though my lens lets more light in and allows me to shoot more indoors... it still does better prefers that brighter area of our home.
I know this blog isn't much about life with Ruby, but I thought you all might enjoy the shots.  If anyone wants to print any of these please let me know and I will email them to you.  Saving them off the blog will probably result in bad quality prints.

Enjoy!

Potty Time

So, the potty training has begun.  For the last 4-5 days, Ruby has been wearing her Elmo and Abby panties. For the most part, Elmo and Abby have stayed dry.  The first few times she was alone with Steve, Elmo got a shower, but Steve has learned to just put her on the potty every 45 minutes no matter what she says!  The other day while I was in the shower she did have an accident of the other sort... I won't get into details, but only one of those so far - I am thinking that's pretty good.  Naptime and bedtime are still pretty wet, so we do 'sleep diapers'.  I was so excited the other day when she told me she had to go when we were in Target that I told the cashier all about it and bought Ruby a bouncy ball.  The small things in life, ay? Now every store we go in, we run to the bathroom... but I'm hoping that will fade to just when she really needs to go at some point.

I wouldn't go as far as calling us potty trained yet, but working on it for sure!  Say some prayers of patience for us and go Ruby go!

(I have no pictures of Ruby going potty... I know some parents do that sort of thing, but we are going to spare you all those details!)

Our little Sunshine

As Ruby approaches two, she surprises us everyday with the new things she is learning.  It is especially amusing to watch her vocabulary and memory grow.   I learned this week she knew the last word to every verse of You are My Sunshine... come to find out she knows most of the words.
Lately if say something like, "You are sassy today" or "Are you happy?" or "Ruby, you're cute!"  She responds to all of them, "No, just Ruby".
She loves to count and I hear her doing it to herself quite regularly, but no matter how many things she is counting, she doesn't stop until somewhere between 7 and 10 and she always skips 4. :)
She always gets excited when we say we are going somewhere with kids or pets and her feelings were hurt a few weeks ago when she tried to kiss a dog and it barked at her.  She is used to Ruff Bailey, we probably need to teach her about all dogs not liking be touched in the face.
Anyway, we thought we'd share a song with you all.  Let's hope I got it uploaded right this time.  ( I couldn't figure out how to rotate it and Steve's at the ISU game - so just tilt your head to the left) :)