we are thankful!

we had a lovely thanksgiving and i got a slew of fun pictures that i wanted to share. we had a very busy, but exciting, few days in both WI and MN (for ruby & i). it was soo good to see so much of our families. we don't get to see our sickels' side nearly enough and although T wasn't able to go up with ruby & i, i was still grateful to be able to visit for the holiday. here are some (okay, many) snapshots of the holiday festivities.

we spent thanksgiving day with T's family at his parent's house. we ate a ton and had great company. it was a good day. :)

yay! it's thanksgiving! let's eat!

some QT with grandpa sun

 funny! ruby and her auntie rhonda

just chillin' with grandpa sun. no big deal.

ruby was not all that interested in the packer game.

max, however, captured her interest. ruby loves pets. she always laughs at them and gets very excited when they come by her. it's pretty sweet.

cuddle time with dad :)

our favorite! it's time to eat!

 friday morning, ruby and i got ready for ruby's first airplane ride. it was pretty exciting. i was a little nervous about traveling alone with ruby and how it would all go, but seeing as how the flight to MN would only be 45 minutes, i knew it would work out fine. and it did! i managed to pack all of our stuff for the entire weekend into one backpack, which was super convenient. ruby played with her toys while we waited to take off. i fed her before we took off for both flights and she fell fast to sleep. and i was out-of-my-mind with happiness that we didn't have to drive 5 1/2 hours to get there. score!

ruby's favorite thing to do - read books! she was very interested in this one while we sat and waited to board the plane.

hanging out with her catepiller in the terminal (and check out her mad sippy cup skills!)

watching the planes come and go

more reading! and this time with cousin hannah. this is too sweet. :)

oh more sweetness! quality time with cousin hannah. ruby, as always, loves to be with her cousins. she watches their every move and laughs at them when they play. she's such a social little lady. i love it.

ruby has started feeding herself her food. she concentrates really hard and is pretty impressed with herself when the food actually gets in her mouth. and even more entertaining is when the food doesn't get in her mouth, ends up on the floor, and she looks around down at her hands as if to say "where'd it go??" and as with every new milestone she reaches, i'm so proud of her.

the night before we came back home, we helped lisa and her family decorate their christmas tree.
 ruby likes the lights, although mostly she just wants to eat them. :) we stayed up way too late helping with the tree and (as you can see here) ruby was pretty much zoned-out by the end of it and in much need of some sleep!

in collage: july fourth weekend

i've been meaning to document some fun pics from our trip up to MN for the july 4th break. ruby was a trooper on the drive up (from the smile on her face in the carseat pic you'd think she actually liked that thing. um, no. carseat = torture device in ruby's eyes.) we stayed at my sister and brother-in-laws house and as usual it was a blast! our nieces, teagan and maren, are a hoot. they are full of non-stop fun and excitement. and they love ruby. i *cannot* wait until she's a bit older and can really play with her cousins. we also got to spend a lot of time with my younger sister, sam. sam is one of the sweetest, most caring people on this planet. she is a beautiful person inside and out. we don't get to spend any where near as much time together as i'd like us to so being able to enjoy each other so much this weekend was wonderful. and yup, she loves ruby, too. :) i don't have pics of it, but we also got to see my mom. she came up to lisa's for a day (and brought me a huge jar of rhubarb champagne jam - sweet!). we also got to see my dad and mom, along with more extended family, at a delicious (can you say brisket? oh lordy!) bbq. it was an awesome trip - nice and long (and included a trip to ikea!) and filled with lots of love and laughter with our family.

fun weekly pics!



on the road! we traveled to MN to stay with my sister, wendy, and her family for memorial day weekend. most of my siblings were there and so was my mom.



memorial day weekend bonfire with my siblings and good music = my personal heaven

my nieces nori & hannah dressed my niece maren up in what they called an "asian wizard princess". i couldn't have described it more accurately myself.

it was *fantastic* to see my brother dale and his family. i was psyched for them to all meet ruby. my sister-in-law, candi, was lovin' the baby time with ruby. dale's a great dad. they are a really fun family and we were grateful to get to spend time with them.

maren absolutely *loves* ruby. she is constantly around her, observing her and commenting on her behaviors. "she's crying, mommy. she's happy! it's baby ruby." i just love it. i am so looking forward to ruby getting a bit older so that they can play together. maren kept giving ruby very loving, excited hugs. in this picture she had just elbowed ruby in the face during one such hug. ruby didn't seem to mind at all. :) she loves cousin-love.

after a long drive home, ruby was spent. i had to snap this pic b/c she looked so angelic and heavy in thought, as well. really, this is just her i-just-slept-for-hours-in-the-car-and-don't-know-where-i-am face. either way, i love it. beautiful girl. and considering we kept her in the car seat (which she considers a torture device) for a good five hours, i think she did a fantastic job on the ride home.

ruby has really begun discovering that she's an actual person - beginning with her fingers. i, of course, think this it is the most adorable thing ever. as an added bonus, it's like having built-in toys. we were stuck in line at the store and she was more than happy to sit and chew on her fingers.

ruby usually wakes up around 5 or 6 am and if left alone in her crib, will slowly wake herself up. but, if i scoop her out and snuggle her in bed next to T & i, she will usually sleep another hour or so. it is the sweetest thing to wake up to this scrunched up, chubby-cheeked girl. definitely starts my morning out on a happy note. :)

we bought ruby her first pair of jeans last week and i have to say, she freakin' rocked them. even if she does look not the slightest bit entertained to have her picture taken - AGAIN. :)

more of ruby discovering that she exists. :) she cracks me up when she sees herself in the mirror and just stares at the reflection. or when her hand passes in front of her face and she stops and stares at it. it's almost like you can see by the look on her face exactly what she's thinking - "holy moly. i think that's mine!" she's getting bigger so quick. she's definitely leaving that newborn baby stage.

 
ruby has been seriously hamming it up! her smiles are much more frequent now, especially when she sees someone she knows. these were just a couple i caught on camera this week. (don't you just love the hoodie? and the little birdie? too cute.)

this is definitely my favorite picture of the week (definitely worth the double-post this week!) it just melts my heart. i love watching ruby's eyes light up when she sees that her dad is home or when he sits down to give her a bath. i have a feeling she will be a little 'daddy's girl'. and yeah, i'm ok with that.

ruby and i spent saturday morning with one of my besties, sarah. we spent some time down by the lakefront, then picked up a 6 pack of a new glarus brew, and chilled out at our place. sarah and i worked together at the UWM Children's Center so i can count on her to not mind screaming children at all. which was a good thing b/c ruby was in rare form (until sarah left, at which point she took a 2 1/2 hour nap. go figure.)

we've discovered ruby is pretty entertained by the tv. yup, i am a terrible mom. i let my 3 month old watch tv. it's pretty hilarious. she watches it like she totally knows what's going on. and notice the sitting up position. yeah, we're 3 months now so we don't like to lean back on mama's knees anymore or (gasp!) lay on our back. no, we sit up. and we watch tv. goofy girl.