Happy birthday to our Ruby girl

Miss Ruby's Surgery

August 30th my baby had her surgery.  We arrived at Children's Hospital at 6:30am and were brought back relatively quickly to get things started.  I woke Ruby up to feed her at midnight since she couldn't eat past midnight and my little girl LOVES to eat.  I was really so worried about waking her in the morning and having her be starving, and I couldn't feed her.

She did ok....I think being woken up at 6am (she usually gets up around 7:30) and then being in the car, the hospital....it was enough "new" scenery to make her forget that she was hungry.  But her surgery wasn't until 8:30am and so that "newness" wore off quickly and she was pretty crabby.  We watched movies in the room, played with toys, read books and then they brought in clothes to get her changed into for the surgery.

Around 7:45 a dear friend stopped by to give us all a hug and drop off a little surgery gift for Ruby.  That was so sweet of her (she works in the hospital and knows the surgeon too, which we felt comforted by).

8:30am they came and got us. I got suited up in scrubs, mask and hat and went in with her while they gave her some breathing gas in order to put her to sleep so they could start the IV with fluids and anesthesia.

Blake and I waited and waited and waited until 11:45 when the Dr came out and said she was in the OR recovery and everything went great. They ended up removing the bones (as planned) but were a little surprised to see the bones were connected on both feet.  The surgery basically removed the duplication of the distal phalange in both great toes.  Meaning, Ruby had two little teeny bones in the end of her big toes which made her big toes extra wide.

They removed the extra bone, which was connected, shaved off the bone and then did reconstruction on the foot to make everything look normal once healed (skin, toenail, etc).  Here are pics:

Toes before

 

 

Baby girl cuddling daddy before surgery

 

 

The afternoon of surgery at home.....she was pretty crabby and uncomfortable.

Her little toes.....all wrapped up and protected.

 

The first few days we just kept her comfortable with meds and lots of cuddles.  By Saturday, she was getting right back to normal....playing, crawling and starting to pull up on everything.  Saturday night in her crib, she pulled off her right foot bandages!  Little stinker!

 

We're chuggling along. We got back Sept 11th for a check-up and I am praying that all is healing ok, that she is pain free and that the surgeon is happy with the results.

We're so thankful for such wonderful family and friends who helped us and prayed for baby Ruby. 

Update- Hudson 2 years (the rest to come)

I must, must, must make myself take a minute here to update what is going on in our life. Our kids are just so amazingly smart and funny and FUN.....I want to make sure that I document what's happening at this particular moment.

2 Year Stats:

28lbs

35.5 Inches Tall

15.9 BMI

You are perfect in every way! You will be playing independantly and out of nowhere come over and hug me or Harper or Ruby. You love to be rough and tackle daddy. You are extremely coordinated in sports, making baskets, hitting the ball and swinging a golf club. You're so cautious! WOW! You're more comfortable watching Harper while standing on the sidelines instead of jumping in and doing the swimming, swinging or activity yourself. You're observant, part of me wonders if you watch so that when you're ready to try it....you get it right. You're so strong. You swing from the table and now recently from the barre at gymnastics and you're upper body is so strong. You're methodical and a great problem solver. You stack and pile things and get a HUGE grin and say "wow" when you get something to balance. This is so strange. It's a sippy cup, with a piece of toast balanced, then a spoon, then a stacking pile of cheerios. Hahaha.....I love it! You line up your toys ALL day long! I don't know what this means.....but it must mean something!

You are great at throwing and hitting balls lately, hitting them almost as far as daddy!

You love cho cho trains (which sound like coo coo nain) and trucks (which sound like cucks) and saying what the trucks say "wee ohh wee ohh wee ohh). You're picking up Spanish really well.....but your speech is slower to develop so we feel you get frustrated (as well as us) when trying to figure out what it is that you want.  Oddly as it seems, your spanish words are more clear than English!  And you're really good at syllabals.  So if we say "Hudson, can you say Minnesota" you will say a blurry version of Minnesota but it will have the same voice infliction as we have. 

Hudson, you are my sensitive boy.  A kiss from mommy, daddy or "Yon" when you've fallen makes it all better. Seriously!  You give toys to Harper when she's having a fit, you run and give kisses to Ruby when she's fallen down.  You woke up the other morning around 5am and not thinking, I picked you up and brought you into bed with us.  You snuggled up with me and slept like a rock for the next 3 hours. 

You are truly amazing. You're our only boy and I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO happy I get to experience having a son. You light up my life. Your smile, your eyes and those curls absolutely MELT me!

Ruby's Appt

With the Ortho team at Children's today at 3pm!  Praying we can get a plan in place...soon!  Miss thing is busy crawling (July 10th) and pulling up on furniture.....I"d like to take care of the surgery soon so that it doesn't slow her down too much.
Will update after!

Red, White and Boom 2012

Starting off the day at the Parade....they had a blast even though it was unbeleviably HOT!!!

This serious little guy, he was SO hot!!!

With our amazing au pair

Me and my 3 little firecrackers! Love them so much!!!

My sister and her 3 little firecrackers as well!!!

HOT little guy, cooling off with some water

Always smiling

Red faces  at the park, closing down a wonderful day!

It was a VERY Mickey/Minnie Clubhouse! The twins turned two and we had a BIG bash to celebrate! Pics below!

New Room

So along with our big house project, we did a little musical rooms. Ruby moved into the twins old room, the twins moved into our old room and Blake and I got our new room in the addition. We changed a little bit in Ruby's room....but not much. The twins room.......Ugh what a sad sight it was. I just didn't know what to do. I think eventually it will be the girls room.....but I'm in no rush to switch the kids around again and if anything, I'll move Ruby into the room with them. So priority was to keep it gender neutral. I LOVED sharing a room with my sister growing up and in 5th grade, when we moved and we got our own rooms.....she snuck into my room our first night "alone". Anyway, I love thinking of the kids laying in their cribs (because I plan to keep them in cribs FOREVER) and talking and laughing together. Hudson sleeps through Harper's singing....every single day. This girl doesn't need sleep (or so she thinks) so she goes down for naptime and talks to her babies, sings, talks to the air....just jabbers on for 2 hours while he snoozes. I think Ruby will be a sleeper like her brother, and I think it's great that they can sleep through the chaos around them. Anyway, we decided the room needed a temporary fix. So we got busy. We painted a chalkboard wall, Ivonne and her friend Erika stenciled on the letters.....and the rest were just minor touches. It's not much.....but it's definitely more "kid" friendly now!

Ruby is 6 months old!

Dear sweet Ruby, WHY are you growing so fast??? Seriously, time is flying by faster than I can say. Baby girl is already 1/2 a year old. Unreal. A quick recap of jolly Ruby girl 6 Month Check Up 19lbs 11oz (98% percentile) 27in (99% percentile) Head was off the charts, but can't remember the circumference. Skills Sits on her own Rolls and rolls and rolls Can grab at small objects and trade from hand to hand. Loves to find her paci and flip it around into the right position then pop it into her mouth. Loves Bath time. Kicks when she sees the tub because she is so excited! Once in the water, she kicks and splashes around like crazy. Not being swaddled. We stopped swaddling around 5 months and now she's a free girl. Going in to get her in the morning is a joy, she's kicking her chubby legs like crazy but it's also so funny to see which direction she's squiggled herself into. Food. She loves most fruit (baby food), bananas (in that mesh snack thing), and her big 9 oz bottles. Life. She's just so happy. She loves being sung to, tickled, snuggled, kissed. She rarely ever cries. I am just so in love with this child!!! Hates Strangers. No, not really. But she does have bouts of stranger danger already. We're trying to get her out more so she sees more faces. Here are few pics of the sweetie. I can't believe a half of a year has already passed!!!

Hablas Espanol?

So....the kids are really picking up Spanish. It's totally nuts.....but because this blog USED to be a place where I'd document all things and has lately just been collecting dust.....I am going to record their adventures in learning Spanish. Ivonne can't be a part of their lives forever....unfortunately. I think we've convinced her to stay another year with us. I pray that is the case anyway. We will keep the kids immersed in Spanish always.....so this is the start of their learnings. :-)

Words learned since Ivonne arrived on Oct 21st, 2011
Agua- Water
Pan- Bread
Uvas- grapes
Leche- Milk
Fruta- fruit
Pajaro- Bird
Elefante- Elephant
Boca- Mouth
Cabeza- Head
Ojitos- Eyes
Orejas- Ears
Dientes- Teeth
Manos- Hands
Pies- Feet
Nariz- Nose
Chichi- pee pee
Cuantos Anos Tienes?- How old are you?
Como te llamas?- What is your name?

Somebody Pinch Me...

That's what way I feel these days.
Seriously.
Yep, I'm sleep deprived b/c Ruby girl is going through a little phase of waking a TON at night.
And yes, we've entered the terrible two's where both say "uppy" all day long wanting to be held OR have a meltdown over the teeniest little thing (Hello, how could I put water in THIS cup not THAT cup and without ice? Ugh, the little specifics)

BUT.....the pure JOY of being a mom, and not just a mom to any children but to MY 3 children is overwhelming.
They are so incredible.
Little people that Blake and I get to wake up to each day. Smiley Ruby, cuddly Hudson and chatty Harper. I'm greeted literally EVERY MORNING with the biggest hug from Hudson as he wraps his arms tightly around my neck when I lift him out of his crib. Harper quickly scrambles to her feet and says "Good Mornin, Good Mornin". And Ruby, sweet Ruby is usually all smiles with her chubby face poking out of her tighly swaddled body.
We have been so incredibly blessed with our au pair, Ivonne. I'm not convinced that she is real. She seriously just laughs and shrugs off the meltdowns the twins have or the fit Ruby has...she just seriously fits into our family and makes us so happy.

Yes, there are days when we collapse on the couch after putting all 3 in bed and look at each other in disbelief. They are exhausting. And we do get frustrated. But overall, above everything I feel like I'm the luckiest woman alive. I do feel like I need to be pinched...this is really MY life!

A post for Ruby Anna

4 months old already.
Seriously...where does the time go?

My- er... OUR Ruby Anna is a true joy. This child wakes up smiling and cries when hungry or tired. That's it.
Extremely happy and loving baby.....our world is so incredibly blessed. Ruby loves to be tickled, loves to be bounced and loves to be sung to. Any song will do....she just loves hearing voices.

Ruby had her 4 month Dr appointment yesterday, 16.2lbs which is 90%'th percentile for weight! Height is 26inches and she is all around healthy.
Developmentally, she's so smart and strong. She loves the Bumbo, lately has taken to the Jumperoo and can push WAY up when on her tummy. She loves her hands....wants them in her mouth non-stop. Sadly, she'd probably love Sophie the Giraff but everytime we get it out for her....the twins highjack it. Poor Ruby, all of her toys are not very interesting to the curious 20-month old twins that are always poking, kissing, "helping" her.

I love this phase, her awareness has really changed and she is constantly looking around in amazement at the busy life around her.

Lastly, sleep! She's rocking 12 hours at night. Sometimes she wakes up for her "chupo" or "cupo" as Harper calls it (pacifier for the non-Spanish speakers). And sometimes she needs a few ounces in order to doze back into Rubyland. But she's a pretty amazing sleeper!
We feel so blessed. It's incredible how after a long day of work or a rough night of sleep....the faces of our children wipe away everything. Life is quite amazing for us.....counting our blessings daily!

The picture collage is from Ruby's 4 month birthday...complete with a celebratory trip to the Dr for shots :-(