Ruby amongst the Arboretum pumpkins

Ruby is sure getting to see lots of pumpkins this fall. She hugs and kisses them.





I made her this tutu and shirt just for the occasion.




Catch me if you can mama!





Such a fun day out with my cute daughter!

Meeting Allison

Alex, Ruby and I took some dinner over to my friend Jennifer who just had her baby girl, Allison in the last week. She is beautiful! I forgot what it was like to hold such a tiny baby.

Ruby also got to visit with Thomas who is one of buddies from our playgroup.

Date night!

Alex and I enjoyed a random weeknight date! We went to Hibiscus in Dallas...it was delicious. I had lobster and Alex had a nice short rib.

Thanks Macnabs for babysitting so we could enjoy an evening out!

Day at the zoo with Daddy

Alex took a random weekday off so we could all go to the zoo together (and avoid the crazy crowds at the weekends!). We had wonderful weather and got to see lots of animals. The zoo put out all sorts of fall and Halloween decorations which Ruby also enjoyed.









Daddy and Ruby feed the birds.

BEADS MAMA!

Ruby has always shown an interest in jewelry, but recently she's become even more excited about it. When I need to get dressed in the morning I will say, 'Want to play with beads?'. She squeels and runs to my room and points at the chest where I keep some old gaudy beads. I give her a handful and she puts the necklaces and bracelets on and looks at herself in the full length mirror. I hardly wear any jewelry so I don't know where she gets this from!


Anyways, she LOVES beads! I'm predicting she will absolutely love playing dress up when she gets a bit older!

Walker Shower

We recently attended a baby shower for the Walkers. They are expecting a boy named Evan in December.

Portraits of Ruby on a rusty truck

During our recent trip to a pumpkin patch we came across this neat old rusty truck. It made a neat setting for pictures of Ruby.

Her eyes are still blue.


She's often so serious and contemplative.




Pondering the pumpkins.





Striking a pose.

Another pumpkin patch!

I'm so glad there are so many pumpkin patches around. I love them!

All the fall scenery seems a bit strange though since it was nearly 90 degrees last week. Feels more like summer!

Mama and Ruby


Daddy and Ruby









Ruby rides the tractor.





Ruby and her friend Matias share a snack.

Ruby and her shopping cart

I bought Ruby this shopping cart at a garage sale. She likes it...as a riding toy. She's already taken one tumble out.

Ruby is now 17 months old

Ruby is now 17 months old.

These pictures were taken at one of her favorite places - the playground. We've been spending lots of time outside lately because the weather is getting cooler. Ruby loves to run, climb and slide. She has so much energy!

In these pictures you can tell she is getting more and more expressive and that there are some wisps of hair blowing in the breeze!!! She is still the baldest 17 month old that I know, but it is slowly coming in.

She is adding new words to her vocabulary all the time. Recent additions include outside, slide, cheese and water. Now she is babbling with more conviction and sounds really convincing even if we don't know what she is saying.

Some of Ruby's other favorite things include:

1. Her new pajamas that have kitties, dogs and monkeys on them...She makes the corresponding noises when we put them on her.

2. Playing with my jewelry. I have found if I give her a handful of rings, beaded necklaces and bracelets this provides just enough entertainment so that I can get dressed in the morning. If she meets strangers wearing gaudy jewelry, she becomes fast friends with them too.

3. Dancing to music. She was dancing in her car seat when the Beastie Boys came on. Her form of dancing includes waving her hands or bobbing her head.

4. Playing with her babies, feeding them and putting them to sleep.

5. Bathtime and playing in water faucets.

6. Digging in the dirt.

7. Things with buttons including daddy's blackberry, calculator and mama's iphone.

I believe Ruby is going through a growth spurt now because she is eating really well. For example, she had two pieces of raisin bread, a half of a bagel, and a banana for breakfast and then an hour or two later was hungry for a snack of cereal and strawberries. Fortunately she is open to new flavors and healthy things. She still eats spinach by the handful and loves fruit.

It is so much fun to watch her at this stage!

Senior craft show and Joe T Garcia's

Ruby and I went with Julie, one of our neighbors from when we lived in Grapevine, to her senior craft show. Julie knits and so was displaying/selling some of her items there. Ruby loved looking at all the crafts, especially all the Christmas stuff (I'm imagining having a Christmas tree will be QUITE challenging this year!).




Anyways, after walking around the craft show, we went with Julie to Joe T Garcia's for lunch. It is a yummy mexican restaurant with a HUGE outdoor patio area with lots of shade trees and fountains. It is such a great place to have a relaxing outdoor lunch in this pleasant fall weather!








Ruby enjoyed dipping a few chips in the (SPICY) salsa. She is a true Texas girl! At one point she started dipping her strawberries and blueberries in the salsa (repeatedly, so she must have liked the combination).

(Side note...Ruby is adventurous with her flavor combinations...just last week she dipped her banana in some ketchup and ate several bites...YUK).

Alumni weekend

Alex, Ruby and I spent some time at our university campus this past weekend. He played in the rugby game, but unfortunately rolled his ankle pretty badly.

Alex and his grill

Alex made us some awesome ribs last week using Woody's marinade. Yummy!

Playground Mania

Now that the weather is more bearable (highs in the 80s these days) we have been heading out to all the local parks and playgrounds.







Ruby loves to climb. On the one hand I am glad that she is independent and happy to try new things, but it also makes me very nervous! There are so many places she could fall or jump from high heights!

Anyways, I usually end up crawling behind her and going down the slide with her. Here are a few pics from some parks we enjoyed in the last week or so.

Flowermound pumpkin patch

We met our mom's group at another local pumpkin patch last week.

The Flowermound pumpkin patch was nice (with the exception of the bees everywhere!)

Ruby got to visit with her buddies, Maddie and Kaylee.






A bazillion pumpkins!








Mama and Ruby.

Pumpkin Express

Ruby and I met some friends at a pumpkin patch in Argyle, Tx. We rode this neat mini-train to get there.



They had a bazillion pumpkins and fun things for the kids to play in. Here we are in the cute little dollhouse.




Ruby loved running free through the pumpkins.







I love this time of year!

Pictures of Ruby talking

Since the weather is nicer, we've been spending more time outside. We got Ruby a little slide for outside too (since she loves the inside one so much!). She is so proud of herself when she gets to the top.






She starting talking very expressively, so I snapped a few pictures of her.

October Canton

Nicole and I went to Canton for the day last weekend. We walked and walked! It was Nicole's first trip to Canton and she loved it. So glad to introduce a good friend to one of my favorite places! We had perfect weather and found a few fun things.

Hudson's birthday party

Last weekend Ruby, Alex and I went to Hudson's first birthday party.








Jessica went with a monkey theme and all the decorations were amazing. Aren't the vines neat?!?

Here's Hudson enjoying his cake while the little girls watch.








Ruby loved playing.





Jessica crocheted all the babies monkey hats as their party favors. So cute!



Thanks for inviting us Marshalls!