Thursday, July 31, 2008

Someone Keeps Moving My Chair



Only Rubini like Houdini could get stuck in a chair while trying to perfect the art of levitation.




Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Who Let the Dogs Out

We went over to our friend's, Mike and Rose, house for dinner and some puppy loving. They foster dogs until they are adopted out and at the present time they have 11 dogs! Five of the eleven are the cutest 6 week old puppies we had ever seen.

Ava was so excited to see all the puppies and claimed that all five of them were her favorite. Ruby didn't particularly care for any them. When they tried jumping on her, she gave a look of disdain and kept shoving them off her. She's more of a laid-back girl and the puppies were just harshing her mellow. She's definitely more of a cat person like me.

Don't get me wrong, I like dogs...other people's dogs. The constant attention, daily walks, picking up poop,the smell of dog breath, and did I mention the picking of poop......just doesn't appeal to me. I like to wear black a lot and dogs shed a lot therefore the combo just isn't in the cards for me to have a long term relationship with a dog.

Cats are more my speed and energy level. All they need is food, water, and an occasional rub now and then. Perhaps when the girls, most likely just Ava, is old enough to care for one on her own then maybe I will re-think the whole dog thing.




I like this one, this one, this one, this one and ooo, this one too!



Mom, HELP!



You see cute, I see a lint brush's dream. Plus, I don't dare wear white pants.


All right, I admit they are damn cute and this little one stole my heart.


Crosseyed and Painless

At least for the next 4hrs.

For the past 9 months following Ruby's birth I had been experiencing what I can only describe as continued morning sickness.Throwing up almost daily, heartburn, and experiencing very slow digestion. I thought that my hormones were just adjusting from having a baby. Then I went back on birth control that I had not been on for at least 4.5 years and I thought that may have been contributing to all the body madness. It wasn't until I started having chest pains that would not go away that I knew something wasn't right.

On Monday I ended up in the E.R. with severe chest pain extending to my upper back. While on vacation I had six of these attacks and my mother-in-law ,who is a nurse, suspected it was gallstones. So when we got home from vacation I quickly made an appointment and then just had an ultrasound this past Friday. I had not heard back from the doctor regarding the results or the next course of action by Monday, when by then I could not tolerate the pain any longer.

I called the nurse to advise me on what to do next because this time the Aleve I had been taking was not working and I was starting to vomit and feel shaky all over. I was breaking in hot and cold sweats throughout the morning and was sure that I was going to pass out at any moment. She told me to get to the ER stat and off we went. We arrived and I waited briefly and was given morphine for the pain and wheeled in to another room for yet another ultrasound. The ultrasound confirmed that indeed I was suffering from multiple gallstones, I am to meet with the surgeon tomorrow to access situation and to schedule surgery. Thank God!

I have never been so excited to have surgery as I am this time around. I've been feeling like crap for a long time and can only guess that I will be feeling like my old self....soon.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Don't Panic





Howz about a little kiss?



*July 2008- the first and last time a biter biscuit would EVER enter my home

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Straight Up

If watching "The Two Coreys'" is so wrong, than I don't want to be right.


***************************************

Highly doubtful that I can convince the momtourage to watch "Sisterhood Of the Traveling Pants 2" with me, so I won't even try. (And yes,I saw the first one.)

I'll try a little....look there's 4 of them and 4 of us. I will be the token hispanic girl. Shan you can be alternative girl. Mel you be "Gilmore Girls" girl and Rach you can be popular blond girl. Now let's see if we can find us some of those magic jeans! I'm thinking Nordstrom's?


*****************************************

I don't know about you, but I never get tired of singing along with Elton John and Kiki Dee belting out "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".

Friday, July 25, 2008

Say My Name


Rubes
"the Rubester"
little miss
Ruby Tuesday
tinky tinkers
RubyScoobySnacks
ooobee
Rubert
Rubini like Houdini
Tornado
Rubilicious
ruby dooby do
Filibuster
rubyrubyruby


Shouldn't her nicknames be shorter than the four letter name, Ruby?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Summertime Rolls













Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Reunited




We've been home for a little over a week and have already spent four of those days with Loic. Ava misses him terribly and I do too. He was a willing accomplice and a great source of entertainment for her.

Playing "treasure hunt" and "chase" with Ruby just isn't same or as much fun as it was with her bud. And poor Ruby, being fed pretend food over and over again is getting on her last nerve that she literally crawls away when she sees Ava coming towards her with a spoon and bowl in her hand.

That is why I am happy to report that Loic will be joining us again this school year. I will be reprising my "Miss Lisa" role so that we can begin our Montessori based curriculum this September. I love teaching them and now that Ruby is older and sans colic, it will be a lot easier this year than last.


"Reunited and it feels so good...."


Monday, July 21, 2008

Great DJ






"Where my party people at?"


Thursday, July 17, 2008

Hangin' Tough



Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Taking Care of Business

The Lady Business, that is.

When Ava was about 14mo she became very amused not only with hers but with mine as well.

I changed the term from vagina to Lady Business after, on two different shopping excursions, she just couldn't resist pointing out and then telling innocent passersby that her mommy had a vagina.

After many uncomfortable smiles and "oh that's nice" comments, I made the decision to change the name to a less obvious one. Thus the reason for Lady Business. Kudos for me, for not too many people know what the heck she is talking about.

-------------------

At the time some ideas just make sense but hindsight is 20/20 and I have come to realize this just recently.

When Ava was 10mos old, whenever she was pooping I would start singing the song "Push It" by Salt N Pepa accompanied with a snazzy dance routine. As she got older she would request that I sing every time she pooped until she was about 20mos and then she never wanted me to sing it again until she started using the potty at 2.5 yrs old.

No big deal, I was happy to revive my "running man"and "sprinkler"move and it was in the privacy of my home.

Keyword: was

Now my act has recently been demanded while out and about in the bathrooms of various stores we frequent often and now in homes of friends we visit.

A couple weeks ago while in the Chicago area. I had the fortunate luck to catch up with an old friend that I hadn't seen since 1992. Lucky for her, she got to witness the song and dance routine. Okay, not so much the dance moves, those were reserved for Ava's eyes only. She said something like how I was a good mother for doing this but I wonder what she really thought.

There's more.....

When training Ava to use the potty, I trained her to shake the excess pee as not to get all over the toilet when she got up to wipe herself. So me, being the smart mom that I am, I told her "To shake it like a polaroid picture." like in the song "Hey Ya" by OutKast.

Coming soon to a bathroom near you!

Crazy mom dancing around and singing "Shy push it, push it real good." and kid screaming " "Shake it like a polaroid Piiiiiiicture!"

Like I said hindsight is 20/20.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Bigger Than My Body

Upon entering Nana and Papa's house, I spotted this most hilarious object.



What's so funny? Look at it, it's frinkin ginormous! I just had to look at this thing and I would bust gut from laughing so hard.




Ruby on the other hand thought she had died and gone to heaven. Not only was the remote super-sized but Nana let her play with it all the time.





Why do babies love remote controls so much?



At home I don't let her play with ours because I know first hand what happens when a little baby slobber works it's way in....me getting up to change the channels....(gasp)MANUALLY. I've tried passing off the historic vcr remote control but she wants nothing to with it and I can't seem to understand why. Essentially the vcr has become obsolete but she doesn't know that....or does she?

I miss seeing that jumbo eye-sore and will be scouring the stores from which it came from this weekend. Not only will it provide me minutes of laughing enjoyment in my day but it has proved itself to be slobber- proof and hard to lose.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Summer Breeze


We were approximately two miles from Ian's childhood home when the car filled up with the familiar smell of the cow farm ahead.

"I can tell we almost at Nana and Papa's house."

I'm thinking to myself, this kid has a great memory.

"What is it that tells you that we are almost there? Was it the sign we just saw?" I inquire.

Taking in a big whiff she happily states, "Mmmm, I can smell the horses."

"Honey, that's not horses you smell...those are cows."

"oh"

We drive a little farther and come upon some cows.

"Look Ava, cows!"

"I don't like cows, they stinky!"


She liked the smell up until the point I said the word cow. The pig farm nearby doesn't smell any better, in fact, it smells worse and she likes that.

She must have some beef with the cows.

All Shook Up

We are finally back from vacation and as much as I enjoyed it, I am happy to be home among my comforts.

The three weeks went fast and we survived! No, I literally mean WE SURVIVED.

You see, in my previous posts I failed to mention that during our first week, there was a serial killer running rampant around my hometown of Sterling/ Rock Falls for several days.

I woke up a Friday morning and saw on the news that they had found a body of a man in the trunk of a car who lived 8 miles from Ian's parents house.....the house we were staying at. At first, I thought it was just an isolated incident since things like killing are rarely heard of around these neck of the woods. But as the day unfolded it became clear that one incident was to become a starting point for many more to come. That night we slept with the doors and cars locked, which in not the norm or need in a sleepy town such as Coleta.

The next day we tried to carry on about our day but the thought of a serial killer nearby kept us mindful of our surroundings. Now that we had an actual picture of what this guy looked like, thanks to the daily paper , I swore every guy I saw looked like this Sheley character.

When Ruby went down for a nap that afternoon, I decided to nap too. I barely slept the night before because every sound I heard, I was preparing myself to defend me and the girls....with an iron and large piece of wood. Hey, that's all I had. I was going to starch the hell of him if I had to!

So anyway, after our nap Ruby and I awoke to an empty house. I was scared and a little peeved that Ian left us there by ourselves, knowing the circumstances surrounding us. I quicky rang his number and demanded that he finish having his fun and come rescue us from possible danger. He obliged and quickly came home. We survived another day.

I was never so happy to see Monday approach for that was the day we would be leaving for Chicago to see my sister, Cat. How ironic is that? That going to a big city, where crimes are abundant, would make me feel safer than the situation that we were in.

Everyday we heard about more bodies being found. My heart broke when I heard he had brutally killed a two year old. That's when I decided that perhaps the death penalty wasn't such a bad idea.

On Wednesday, he was finally caught and we were able to breathe a little better and enjoy the rest of our trip.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Slow Ride





Lucky Ball and Chain

-15

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Poor (Failure)

Take the test!



I guess I won't be taking any awards home with this score. This little test solidifies MY need for a wife. Any takers?

The Sweet Escape


When it comes to planning vacations, some people automatically think of tropical, cultural, and adventurous destinations. We, here in our family, always think of going "back home" to vacation.

Ian and I grew up in a small towns and most of our family still resides there. All the Nanas and Papas are there, so Ava and Ruby are in their own sweet paradise.

We always stay with Ian's family and he grew up in a quiet town with a population of 200. I feel at home there, more so than any other place...including my own home. Sure they don't have all the modern technology I am used to......ok, mainly high speed internet. But maybe that's a good thing because I can easily get sucked onto the computer instead of enjoying my idyllic surroundings.

We've been here two weeks already and have another one to go and I am already getting sad that we will be having to leave soon. It's been nice to have extra hands around to help with the kids. I have thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in, showering by myself, completing a meal, and date nights with my squeeze.

As much as Ava loves her Nanas she has begun asking to go back to Minnesota. She misses her swingset, her Pablo doll, and her friends the most. I think she misses her routine and the comforts she is used to. I know Ruby misses her home too. Since we arrived, she hasn't slept well and won't unless I lay down with her. I forgot (ran out of room) to bring her comfy and very portable Amby bed with and she is refusing to sleep in the playpen. Oh well, at least I am getting in some more zzzz's and sweet snuggle time with the babe.