1 year check-up!!

Ruby turned one a few weeks ago and today she had her 1 yr check-up and I was excited to see how "healthy" my baby girl was. If you haven't noticed it doesn't look like Ruby misses to many meals. She loves all food especially raspberries and veggie burgers, she literally inhales them. I love all my kids the same, but Ruby has been nothing but a joy since the moment she came into this earth. The Lord truly blessed us with a perfect baby. She has learned so much lately and I just want it to all slow down. My favorite thing is getting kisses from her, she opens her mouth wide open and goes in for the smooch! I'm NOT kidding I kiss her ALL day long and she seems to quite like it! All the kids want kisses first thing in the morning and as soon as they get home from school. I had to take a few shots of my heart and soul, she makes every single day for me.

Ahhhh!!!!

Don't you want to kiss those lips and checks, what a cutie!!!!

I love this so much, I know I will eat my words one day but there is nothing cuter than her sucking her thumb. She LOVES her blankie and thumb they are a package deal and it just melts me!!!!! She has to have her blankie to sleep and it is so cute at night when we can't find it and all the kids go running because they want to be the one to find it and be Ruby's "hero." She has completed our family and we all feel blessed!!!

Here were her STATS:

weight 23lbs 7ozs

height 30.5 inches

She is in the 85th percentile for both...healthy indeed!!!!

Puppy Princess

Claire is full of personality and yesterday was no exception. She found this costume and insisted she put it on. She made us call her puppy princess and asked us to pet her all day. Claire even had all the kids walk her on a leach. She wore it to car pool and when it came time for bed she HAD to sleep in it, you pick your battles with child and She won this one. This morning at breakfast she pretended her food was a dog biscuit, Evelyn said she is so crazy and I have to agree. Although there is never a dull when she is around, we wouldn't have her any other way!!!

Can you tell it is a couple of sizes to small?

Here she is all cuddled up in her bed, my little Puppy Princess!!!

She cracks me up!!!

Here is Claire and her pet pig....she said the pig needed to watch Dora saves the Crystal Kingdom with her and I couldn't help but take a picture. One day she will laugh that a ceramic pig was her favorite lunch companion!

Veggie Burgers are one of her favorites, yum yum!

A real Lifesaver!!!

I can not begin to say how much we loved having Brenda come and help us when we had the flu. The first part of her trip was pretty rough, lots of sick people and laundry and dishes and on and on. She worked her little tail off!!! I am sure when she saw the laundry room she wanted to cry..it was so bad!!!! ( I was so embarrassed, it got out of hand so fast while I was out of town and then sick). She did load after load after load, and we are all caught up thanks to her!!! We couldn't have done it without her, having such a wonderful Mother-n-law is such a blessing!!!!!

She helped Coleman with his State report on West Virgina, he had waited till the last minute and had his rough draft due and only 2 days to do it all in. I was NOT happy with him and I really wasn't up to doing all that work with him, well Brenda jumped right in and did the whole thing with him, I was so happy!!!! That was so awesome, I have helped with so many projects it could kill somebody (Brian always seems to be out of town or at class, so it all falls on me-BO), so to get a break from this one was a BIG deal!!! I couldn't go without saying a HUGE THANK YOU!!!! She also read a LOT with Evelyn and helped with all the homework, which was a lot since they missed so much school. She even joked that she should move out here and the kids could come to her house after school and she would help with all the homework and then send them home. I thought that was a great idea!!! I mean a REALLY great idea!!!!!

Brenda I hope you know how much I appreciate all you did for us and we love you so much!!!

These kids sure do love their Memere!!!

Claire loved watching Sleeping Beauty with her Memere!

Reading Heidi on the back porch!!!

Let's Party

Tonight we had Brian and Ruby's birthday party. Leland and Claire didn't get to go Trick or Treating so I promised them I would do a Halloween party. Evelyn was in charge of the games and did a great job. She made a ghost hunting game, pumpkin bowling and pin the pumpkin on the ninja (which was her). We had a yummy dinner of Tacos (Brian's favorite) and of course a yellow cake with chocolate frosting!!! All in All it was a great family night. :):)

That is one big family!

All the girls in their costumes.

Me and my Unicorn

Birthday Cake!!!

My perfect baby Ruby is ONE

I just don't know what to say, it makes me so sad to think this is my last 1st birthday, I got rid of all the bottles and Ruby is even starting to walk.....this is going way to fast. Tomorrow she gets her pictures taken so I will post some of those soon and I think we will have her party this weekend when everyone is 100% well. So today I will just say Happy Birthday to the baby that made me complete, she is perfect in every way and I can't imagine my life without her.

The girls said she HAD to open her present today and Ruby loves pushing it around and playing with all the really loud toys on the front:)! I am so blessed to be a mother and I am grateful for the 5 little people that make my life so full of JOY!!!!

Oh and I can't let this go without saying Happy Birthday to my Brian, he and Ruby share a birthday and he is my everything and I love him more than I ever thought possible!!!

Happy Birthday Brian, I Love you MORE!!!

H1N1,SWINE FLU, or stupid pigs!!!

I honestly feel like I have lost a week of my life!!! I started feeling sick while I was at Stacies, and by the time I was on my plane coming home it was not good. I am sure the people sitting close to me were ticked off to see me sitting there with my neck pillow, eye mask, and blanket all shivering and coughing my gross germs everywhere...I am so sorry to anyone on my flight who got swine flu due to me!!! I managed to make it through the day and then Brian went out of town the next morning and it just wasn't a good day at all. I was running a fever all day, but I just had to keep going and by the time he got home on Wed. night I was laying in bed with a 103 fever and begging him to put me out of my misery. I went to the Dr. on Thurs. and it was official I had the Swine flu, or as the doc liked to call it H1N1, how PC of him!! I came straight home and went to bed and Brian called his travel agent and got his Mom a ticket on a plane for the next day. Brenda offered to come and I am so glad she did, with no Mom to take care of everyone my house was falling apart!!! So I laid in my bed and moaned and slept and slept and moaned for the rest of the week. By Friday night Claire had a fever of 102.6 and we got her on Tamiflu and the next morning Leland had a fever of 103 and we got her on Tamiflu. Brian started a fever Saturday night and he got on Tamiflu the next day as did Brenda in the hopes that she wouldn't get the flu at all. Well she did get a very low fever and a little body aches, but all in all she avoided the worst of it. (I really would have felt like crap if she had come out here to help my family and ended up with the flu as well). Anyway Leland, Claire, Brian and I stayed upstairs and as far away from the rest of them as possible, but Sunday night Evelyn started a fever, I mean for the love, and by the next day she was miserable and got on Tamiflu. I was feeling pretty good by Monday and was able to help Brenda with all the sickly's. The amazing thing is Coleman and Ruby never got it and are still heathy, knock on wood!!! It has been a very long week!!! During this process I had 3 friends bring me dinner and 1 friend brought me some of the best pumpkin bars, I really felt loved. I have some of the best friends and neighbors around. I guess that is one blessing that came from this is I got to see how blessed I am to have these women in my life.

I am grateful for all the prayers that were said on our behalf, I know they were answered- things could have been a lot worse!

Here are sweet little Leland and Claire passed out in my bed :(:(

The other part of this that really stinks is I won't be able to run my 1/2 marathon this weekend, I still have a bad cough and it would probably just do me in...so sad!!! :(

Spook-tacular Programs!!!!

This past Thursday and Friday Leland and Claire had there Halloween Parties and Programs at school. Due to the fact that I had the H1N1 flu (which I will blog about later) I sent Brian and insisted he take pictures. He did great and he said the girls were so cute. The best was when he got home from Claire's program and he said when he first got there and the class came out to preform Claire wasn't in the group, so of course he went to the teacher and asked where she was to which she laughed and said well Claire told us this morning she would only be preforming with her friend Candy ( who is in her afternoon preschool class....yes she goes morning and afternoon-believe me I need the break). So Brian has to go get her and tell her he isn't coming in the afternoon could she please preform with her class, to which she said sure. The funny thing to me is that she TOLD her teacher what she was going to do and her teacher let her, believe me she is one strong minded kid and this just proves it!!! LOL! Anyway Brian got some cute pictures and here are a few of my favorites!

I can't believe Brian got his picture taken and I didn't even have to beg or yell. All I can come up with was a parent must have said to him "do you want me to take one of you two together?" and what was he going to say with Leland right there....no I don't want too! LOL!

My little sassy girl!