Macnab Family Portrait - September 2011

Ruby came home with a note from her preschool asking for a recent family picture for a craft they will be doing. I looked through our pictures and realized we didn't have any decent ones since around Christmas of last year.

So, we did an impromptu family portrait session...and amazingly we managed to catch all three of us smiling with the camera's self timer!

So, here is the result!

Ruby's first day of preschool

Last week Ruby started at a 2 day a week mother's day out preschool.

Such a cutie!




She was excited to wear her backpack and carry her own lunchbox.







She walked right into her classroom and started playing before Alex and I could even say goodbye. She is very confident and comfortable in new situations, so I was happy about this. But, at the same time Alex and I both got a little teary eyed because there she was on her own, growing up, becoming more independent, spending the day away from us. Even though it isn't full time day care it was a big day for her...her first introduction to schedules, discipline from other adults, waiting til snacktime for a snack, napping on a napmat, meeting all new kids. But she did fine and the teachers even got her to take a nap (which amazed me).





Proud daddy with Ruby.






Update: after just one week of school I have already seen two positive changes in Ruby. She is much more helpful picking up her toys (and even did it without me asking once) and is much more cooperative getting her diaper changed. I thought she would come home with bad habits learned from other kids, but none so far. I think there are a good group of kids in her class.

Favorite activities - Cooking, tea parties and dress up

Ruby has become much more interested in creative imaginative play lately.

She cooks in her kitchen...



And we have tea parties with all her babies almost every day...






She loves when her friends come over to play dress up!

Swinging!

Ruby loves going on her backyard swingset!

Strawberry hat

Ruby's uncle Preston and aunt Camlin gave Ruby this cute strawberry hat a while back. It is now one of her favorite dress up items!

Ruby and Mama (31 weeks pregnant)

Well, it is near the home stretch for this pregnancy. I have a c-section day...11/1/11/. They offered me an end of October date, but I don't want to miss Halloween with Ruby and 11/1/11 is a pretty neat birthday.

Everything seems to be going fine except for my extreme tiredness and sleepless nights. I can't wait for this whole pregnancy thing to be finished...and to hold our little baby boy!

Ruby hair update - 28 months

Ruby's hair does seem to be growing a little bit...

I do like that we can get up and go without having to 'fix' it, but I can't wait for it to grow in and look like proper little girl hair.

Alex and I currently use the hair dryer as a motivator for getting her out of the bathtub. We say if you want to use the hair dryer, you have to get of the tub...and it works! She loves getting her hair dried and seeing mama and daddy blow dry their hair too.

Ruby portraits

Ruby and I were playing outside late one afternoon and the lighting was really nice so I took these portraits of her. She is getting quite the range of expressions now and it makes her daddy and me smile all the time!

Spray park fun!

There are only a few spray parks that Ruby likes and fortunately, she likes the one in our neighborhood. It is a nice way to cool off on the super hot days!

"Cool" day and trip to the zoo

A few weeks ago we had an overcast day and it stayed below 90 degrees for most the day. And since we hadn't been to the zoo since April, Ruby and I made a trip!

We had such a fun time walking around.

She loves the fish, snakes, frogs and spiders.




They have a really neat bird enclosure where kids can feed the birds seeds on sticks.





Ruby was thrilled that the birds were perching on her stick, eating the seeds. So sweet!





And we rode both the carousel and the miniature train!

More Snow Cones!

We love going to get a snow cone before going to the pool!

Grannie Lynn comes to visit

My mom and Mollie came up to visit a few weeks ago. They got lots of fun playtime with Ruby!

Swimming with the Robersons

Kate, Allen and Lil' Alex came out to our neighborhood pools a few weekends ago.

Snow Cone!

We found a great snow cone stand that has a covered tent area. Makes enjoying a delicious snow cone much nicer when sitting outside in the 100 degree+ heat!

When we walked up to the window, Ruby said 'I want the rainbow one lady.'