Our life lately...

Life is good at the Ellerman home!  Not a whole lot of things going on, but it's good!  Ruby keeps us entertained (especially me) all day long.  She'll be 21 months the end of this month and I can't believe it!  She jabbers non-stop and has to be doing something AT ALL TIMES.  She's a very busy girl!  She loves showing off and when she thinks she's doing something tricky she yells "mom" as loud as she can to get my attention... even if its stepping on a book or putting a leg in the air.  She still says "hi" to everyone we come in contact with and often gives them a hug if they give her the attention she wants.  It use to be cute but now its just frustrating.  We added a cute Golden Retriever to our family and Ruby is OBSESSED with him!  Every morning she demands she goes outside to hug him.  He is an amazing dog, I've never seen a better dog with kids, so I think he's a keeper!

She built this tower of toilet paper all by herself, I was pretty impressed!

If you look close, there's a tiny pink tea cup in her hand and kept filling it up and sipping it! Silly girl!

Family Vacation 2011

Our first official family vacation-- Success! 

Brian, Ruby and I all hopped on a plane and flew to San Diego (Silly you might think, but driving in a car with Ruby for 8 hours does NOT sound like a vacation to me!).  Just us 3.  And it was a blast!

We got to San Diego and headed straight to the beach but ended up putting on our sweatshirts and walking around to all the fun shops.    We checked in to our hotel later that day and went back out to grab a bite to eat and go to the S.D. Temple...  Good day!

The next day we got up and ate breakfast at Ihop and spent all day at Sea World.  It was probably more fun for Brian and I than it was for Ruby... all she wanted to do was either hold the animals or run around everywhere and she didn't get to do either.

Then the next day we got up and ate breakfast and went to the San Diego Zoo.  We'll probably never do that again... First off, the Zoo is stinkin huge and we got a work out walking up and down these huge hills.  Second, None of the animals were out... if there was an animal, it was behind a tree or everyone was huddled around it so you couldn't even see.  San Diego Zoo-- Overrated!  But we still had a fun time and we know what NOT to do next time we go to San Diego!  So, we left the Zoo around 3 and drove over to Coronado Island while Ruby slept.  Brian and I picked our favorite houses and decided we wouldn't mind living there.  Super cute town!  Later, we went  to the Mormon Battalion in Old Town.  That was really really cool and I highly recommend it to everyone!

 Next day, we drove thinking to Ocean Beach but the GPS took us to Mission Beach... Lots of fun stores and shops so we hung out there for a while and looked at more fun houses (one of our weird hobbies, obviously).  Then, we took our little rental car back and headed to the airport!  When Ruby got home, we could tell that she would just much rather stay home!  She dragged every toy out and kept running around the house!
I loved our vacation!  It was a perfect three day time away from everything! 

Family Pictures

So a few weeks ago my great sister in law took some family pictures for us.  Thanks Sarah!

Ohhh Ruby...

This is my child.  My wild and crazy child.  This is what she normally looks like by the end of a meal time after demanding that she feeds herself.  She acts like life is too short to sit and relax, so she does the EXTREME opposite.  I change her clothes AND my clothes usually 3 times a day.  Church is torturous... for all three of us.  Eating at a restaurant is normally a disaster.  Ruby thinks stores are one big race track.  She runs up to people and holds her hands up like she wants to be held (strangers in the store--Yeah, scary!)  I can honestly say... My hands are full! 

 On the positive side-- I think she is stinkin hilarious.  She thinks she is stinkin hilarious.  She full blown dances with hips and shoulders wiggling as fast as they can go with a little foot stompin' in between.  She has to say "hi" to everyone that is even kind of close by her.  She has two of the biggest front teeth I have ever seen on a baby with about a half inch gap in between.  She still takes two good naps during the day and sleeps 11-12 hours at night.  She still drinks a bottle and I'm okay with it.  She is obsessed with stuffed animals and always has one under her arm.  She gives the best hugs and kisses a mom can ask for!

My heart is full of love for this out of control little girl!  I would not trade ANYTHING in the world for my life as a mom, I absolutely love it.  She just makes me so happy!

Girls Day!

This past weekend all of us Hoopes girls (minus Elyssa and Carsyn because they live in stinky NM) went to the Cinderella Dinner Show in Mesa.  We had so much fun!  All the little girls loved it and surprisingly Ruby did too!  I thought she was going to be wild and I would end up chasing her around while the play was going on, but she just sat and watched just like all the other big girls!  Super fun and super cute and I'd recommend it to everyone!  After the show we all went shopping together and laughed and made fun of eachother with the clothes we tried on... Hannah :).  So, it was just a great weekend and I loved it!

Ruby's ONE! What the?!

My heck! This year went by way too fast...  and it's been an eventful/fun one!  Ruby turned one on Wednesday and we had a fun birthday party for her.  She had lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends come (43 people, eek!).  It was a little wild and crazy!  We had a big blow up water slide and a jumping castle (Thanks Sarah!) and water slides... even though Ruby didn't even get near any of them.. She was glad that everyone was enjoying themselves!  It was a really fun party and it makes me sad that she won't even remember it!

Ruby is somewhere in the middle of all of this!

She was a ham!

She thought she was a funny girl when all the kids started laughing at her

Ruby was dancing when we started singing Happy Birthday to her!

Proud momma and daddy!

Ruby is FINALLY crawling... The week before she was 11 months she just started scooting everywhere, and one week after that she started crawling.  Now, she's bear crawling to get to places faster and just today she took her first few steps by herself!  She still only has two bottom teeth that she's had since 7 months.  She says hi, mommy, dada, and baby. She calls all of her stuffed toys, and the ducks and chickens and goose "baby".  She blows kisses and dances really wild as soon as she hears music.  She nods her head yes when she sees or tastes something she likes and shakes her head when she doesn't want something you're trying to give her.  She knows where her bellybutton is and likes it a lot.  She likes when people laugh at her when she picks her nose, so she keeps doing it.  She holds my cell phone up to her ear (and the baby monitor) and says "hi".  When I go to get her out of her crib she lays her head on my shoulder and pats my back and says "hi" in a really soft sweet voice.  She loves when you sit on the ground so she can climb all over you. Ruby makes me feel like my heart is literally bursting with love for her!  It's a weird feeling, and I never knew I could feel this way about a little tiny girl!  I'm a lucky person to get to spend every day with her!

One year old Stats:

Weight: 21 pounds (48%)

Height: 30 inches (75%)

Easter Time

Easter is a happy day for me!  And when we get to celebrate it with a little girl it makes it that much happier!  Holidays are definitely more fun when little kids are there to celebrate them with you... in fact, it's probably funner for us parents than it is for the kids.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for weird little animals and so I talked Brian into getting some little ducks and chickens for Ruby for Easter.  We got to the feed store and I think Brian secretly fell in love with the animals... so, Ruby didn't get one or two ducks and chickens... she got 1 goose, 2 ducks and 5 chickens.  Just call us Old MacDonald!  Anyways, the three of us love them and it made Easter a great day!