Silly Nilly

The other morning, Ruby went and got a couch pillow from the living room, brought it to the kitchen and did this:

She's such a ham - she knew she'd get a laugh!

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, FRUIT SALAD

I stopped by the used kids store (the store that sells used kid items, not used kids!) and found a Wiggles Guitar for Ruby!!

Guess what song we've heard 200 times in the past half hour? (Hint: It's the title of this post!)

The Best 7 Dollars I Ever Spent

My kids LOVE those musical cards - and I found the best card for Ruby. Even though it says, "Happy Birthday, Mommy" on the front - it played (almost all) of the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" which is Ruby's favorite song!

Keep an eye out for how she points up in the air for "Up above the world so high" - so cute! She actually knows all the hand-movements for this song, but can't do them all with the card in her hands. I should try to get a video of that sometime.

And, the reason it was even more pricey than the music playing cards usually are - it had that feature where you can record your own message. So, the card says, "Happy Birthday, Ruby" (in Braden's voice) before it plays the song.

She wore this card out. I'm so glad we got some video of her playing with it - because the other day the card fell into pieces and we had to take it away.

Play house fun

Braden & Ruby are giggling like crazy in the other room, playing some game with Webkinz & Ru's new house. We're definitely getting good use out of her new house!

Brian took a few pictures of them in the house earlier:


Braden kneeling is still taller than Ru

My favorite thing about this picture? Ruby's kangaroo looks like its trying to escape!

Quack, Quack

Last night I ate a granola bar, and I swear it had birdseed in it. Is that what "whole grains" means?

Karly calls these "Quacker" Bars - instead of Quaker. Is she right? Maybe they are quackers, because they're full of birdseed?!

Ruby vs. Lilo, round 346

Remember when we had 2 cats, Lilo & Belle? Only Belle had anxiety issues (seriously! The vet wanted to put her on an anti-depressant and I was like, um... I'M not on one, why does my CAT need one!?) So, Belle went to live with Aunt Cindy (and no that's not a euphemism for putting her to sleep. She really lives with Brian's sister Cindy now).

That leaves us with Lilo. Who, unlike her sister is not high-strung - but is another good cat.

Except. She has no sense of self-preservation.

Lilo likes to lie on the floor by the window. Ruby finds her, pats her excitedly - and grabs her tail. Lilo doesn't move away UNTIL Ruby has hold of her tail. Then, Brian or I have to run over, get Ruby to release Lilo from her two-handed grip - and shoo the cat away.

Because once Ruby lets go, the cat doesn't want to run off anymore.

Repeat 45 times a day.

We have gates Lilo can jump over, to be where Ruby can't reach her. She's also able to lie on the couch or on top of Ruby's new playhouse so she can see out the windows and be out of reach. But she continually comes back to lying where Ruby can reach her - like on the dining room floor.

I'm afraid that Lilo's going to turn on Ruby at some point - it would certainly be justified on her part, but we'd have to get rid of her. (Get rid of Lilo. Not Ruby. That was clear, right?)

This morning, Ruby tried to follow Lilo behind Brian's desk - and while squeezing between the desk and a printer table, Ru banged herself by the eye. Ruby screamed her "HELP ME! I'M STUCK" scream. (When Brian came downstairs afterwards he said, "I just figured you were combing her hair." because she screams like that when I hold her to me, and comb her hair every morning. She hates being held down. )

So, after several more attacks on the cat this morning, Brian took down the gate at the top of the basement stairs, so we can close the door. Lilo has been banished to the basement for now. We let her out while Ruby napped - but since she was attacked shortly after Ruby awoke, she's back down there.

I have no idea how to teach Ruby NOT to attack the cat. I mean, we do what we did with Braden - rub her hand and say, "Gentle" then teach her to pet the cat "Gentle". It's not sticking. As soon as she gets close to the cat - she grabs that tail.

And the one thing that makes this even more agonizing - Ruby LOVES the cat. EVERY time she spots her, she signs AND says "CAT!"

It's just problematic that she's now obsessed with pulling her tail. And in the meantime, Lilo is sequestered away like she's in some kind of witness protection program.

Purple

Our house is surrounded by purple this time of year. Lydia's color (if you don't know why purple is Lydia's color, I rambled on about it last year in this post).


Lydia's tree, a flowering prariefire crabapple

We're still trying to figure out if we want to landscape around it. I keep changing my mind... I think I want to brick in around it, make a little garden. Then, I think I want to leave it as it is, natural, with just her stone.

I'm afraid of doing it myself - I'm worried I'll mess it up or it'll be crooked and always bother me. BUT, I don't really know a landscaper and don't want to pay tons & tons of money to get a seemingly simple project done.

Lydia's tree, and the lilacs by the house

closer look at the lilacs

The far side of our house, by the garage

I realize I did a purple post last year, too. I guess it's a good tradition - especially since today is Memorial Day. The phlox aren't really out yet this year; we had a later spring - it stayed cold longer.

Ruby's New House

We've upgraded Ruby from her box! Since we couldn't keep her out of it, we got her one a little bit bigger ...

Ruby's birthday present is finally here - and even though it's technically an outside toy, we set it up inside for her. She's taking over Brian's office, with her toys.

She already has a favorite spot to sit - where she can look out the window & see outside (I could tell when Brian & Braden got home the other day, because Ruby began laughing and babbling).

Here she is, setting up house - and I love her bossy finger-pointing at me - like, "Don't you forget to mail my letter!" No shortage of personality here.

She was SO EXCITED while Daddy was putting it together

She loves opening & closing the door (She loves that with all doors, actually).

In her favorite spot - where she can look out the window, too!
The day this was set up, I knew when Brian & Braden were home from school - because Ruby started laughing when she saw them pull into the driveway.

"What!? No mail?"

Friday

Karly & I are going to hit the road soon; we're heading to Milwaukee. We have her every-two-months checkup with her oncologist today. These are the quick visits usually - she only gets scanned every 4 months. So I'm hoping we can get back on the road by lunch time and make it home before the holiday weekend traffic begins.

Last night I was rocking Ruby, and she'd hold my face and give me big, wet, sloppy kisses right on my mouth. She's such a ham! Every time she'd kiss me, she'd just start giggling like mad.

Yesterday, Ruby threw her hands in the air and told Brian, "Up!" Everytime the cat walks into Ruby's sight she says AND signs "Cat!" So we're going to work with her to learn signs for Karly & Braden. She tries to say Braden already sometimes, we just need to pair it with an easy-ish sign for her.

Okay, we're gonna hit the road!

What's up?

Karly started baseball this past Sunday (actually, she was supposed to start the week before, but we forgot to go!) It's a fun, non-competitive league for kids of all abilities.


Karly did great - and had a really good time! Brian even filled in as a coach, since the regular coach couldn't make it.

Run, Karly, Run!!

Braden's been building like crazy - he made this huge marble track. He really loves to build - legos, train tracks, marble tracks - even even likes to strategically stack his dirty dishes in the sink after meals. Not my favorite of his activities - but I can't complain. I'm sure someday he'll put all that practice into good use building at the Lego Store (his dream job!)

And yesterday was pajama day at school, so even though he's wearing super cool Batman jammies here, he's actually dressed for the day!

Ruby's become a box lady ... this is the box from her birthday gift from Nana & Nice Wolf, a cute little buggy car. And, while it's a great outside toy - the box is fun inside.

The other day, she dragged another of her favorite toys, the Learn Through Music (that used to be Braden's) into the box - and played in there. For like half an hour.

I love this "independent play" age - it's very entertaining to watch!

Can you hear me now?

I brought Miss Ru to the audiologist last week. She hadn't been in over a year ... I think last time she went was right before Karly got cancer and all was well, so we left it alone.

Once again, she had fluid in her ears - not too shocking. However, this time, it did affect her performance on the hearing part of the test. Not too much, but enough that we'll add another specialist to our lives and take her to see an ENT (Ear-Nose-Throat doctor) in a couple weeks.

I have a sneaking suspicion she'll get ear tubes this summer. We can handle that! And I bet we might be able to have it done locally - wouldn't that be a wonderful change!!

Anyone have any "getting tubes" or ENT advice, let me know! We're going to be seeing a doc at Theda...

Ruby Loves to Help

Good thing that new Dyson we got is easy to push around!

(And yes, my awesome husband vacuums!)

The Difference a Year Makes

Friday night I went scrapbooking at my friend, Ann's house. My friend Gretchen was there, too - and she showed me some pictures she has from last year. Henry, Gretchen's littlest guy, is a few days younger than Ruby.

Last year, we went to Henry's birthday party.

These pictures amazed me - I had to find mine from the same time to share.

Look at Karly - all pale, puffy and shiny. She was bald under that hat, and totally miserable about it. She was so weak, than when we left the party, she was climbing into our van and FELL. She fell backwards, landing between the curb and the van. It was scary, but she was okay.

This picture is also from Henry's party - Ruby, and Henry's big brother John.

I love this picture - because this was so Ruby's signature style last year - long sleeve onesie (with a jumper to dress it up), BabyLegs, and a flower clip to keep her hair out of her face.

Back when she used to leave the flower clips alone and they'd stay in her hair all day.


Now, look how much my girls have changed in a year!

It's things like this that make me SO GLAD we blogged through all of Karly's cancer treatment. Because while it is starting to seem like a distant dream - I'm glad we can always look back and remember just how god-awful it really was, so we can always be proud of just how tough Karly is and how amazingly well she's doing.

So Pretty

Ru at 2

Ruby is totally in a "Anything you can do, I can do" phase. It can get frustrating at times, but it's awesome how hard she tries. She's RUNNING around the house, and walking all over outside. She even walks around on the lawn really well.

Ruby will hold up her two pointer fingers when we say, "How old is Ruby?" yet she doesn't seem to believe she's actually two - she thinks she's five, like Braden.

Ruby has an awesome team, great therapists - but I think Braden is her best teacher. Today, he was playing with her and he said, "Ruby is cracking me up!" That's one of Braden's newest sayings.

Now that the weather is nicer - I can't get over how cute Ru is in t-shirts. Add a pair of jeans? And she's way past adorable.

This shirt says Little Miss Giggles - totally appropriate!

Dr. Ru, at your service
(She got a pet-vet toy for her birthday)

peeking over the gate
(See what I mean about the jeans & t-shirt?? CUTE!)

Coming for the camera

A full-on laugh

My girls, hanging out

Ruby climbed up to sit by her big sis

I feel like I keep forgetting to update on things - since I'm out of the habit of blogging every day, I know there are gaps. I just don't know what the gaps are.

ANYWAY - Karly finished her antibiotics today - and she did it! She actually swallowed them! Her new DS game is in the mail - she definitely earned it.

Not only that, but we were able to change one of her medicines over from taking 8 tiny dispersable tablets twice a day - to one tablet she can swallow twice a day.

I totally expect our insurance company to throw a party over that one! Do you think the insurance company would reimburse me for her DS game?


Karly's toe is finally looking better - we'll go back in a couple weeks for a follow up. We have a couple trips to Milwaukee this month - she also has an oncology visit coming up. Hopefully both will be routine and dull!

We're still tinkering with Karly's hormone replacement medications, but her hot flashes are rare and her mood much more even.

It's amazing to think how far she's come - AND, she's almost done with 7th grade. Crazy!

Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother's Day started off with a bang - literally.

Brian got up with the kids, and was downstairs feeding the breakfast when there was a HUGE crash - and then Ruby started crying.

She had pulled over our kitchen garbage can, and was frightened. We are so glad she wasn't hurt, since our garbage can sits in an oak box and is very heavy. She had just learned she was finally tall enough to open it this weekend, but we were totally unprepared for her to pull it over. Luckily she was standing next to it when it fell, and not in front of it.

After it fell, we moved it to the wall (it had been against a cupboard) and Brian used dresser straps and attached it to the wall. Every day it seems she finds something new to get into!

Happy Birthday, Ruby!

Our DSFN group had a playdate this morning - perfect timing for Ruby's birthday!


It's so sweet - Ruby LOVES cards.

(Think she'll be so easy to please when she's a teenager!? I can dream, right?)

Ruby climbed right into this wooden fridge at the Mom & Pop Place - it was just her size.

For more super cute pictures of Ruby & her friends, visit Melanie's blog - she volunteered to take pictures today and she does such beautiful work! Thanks, Mel - the pictures are wonderful!

And in honor of the big day - Daddy turned Ruby's car seat around! She's now forward facing, and really enjoying it. She gave me tons of high-fives on the way there.

On the way home, however ... she was too tuckered out to enjoy the view...

Brian figured she'd crash, so he took her shoes off before we left - and we brought her right up to bed when we arrived at home. She took a great nap!

I think it's safe to say she had a fantastic birthday!

Happy Birthday, Lydia

Lydia's tree is a flowering prariefire crabapple. There's a balloon from each of us, and they're all purple, Lydia's color - same as we did last year.

Such a bittersweet day.

On the Eve of Two

Tomorrow, Princess Ruby turns two. We'll have fun and make it a special day for Ruby; we have a playdate with a bunch of her friends in the morning.

It's also the anniversary of the worst day of our lives - the day when a routine ultrasound for two active, beautiful baby girls discovered one active beautiful active girl and one beautiful girl, still.

Two years. It's not that it doesn't still hurt - it does - but it's getting easier to accept that we're a family of 5, and not 6.

And that we don't get to share in the excitement that having TWIN girls would bring ... but we do have a twin - and boy is she special. But really, think about how much fun it would be to have two little girls running around ... it would've been so awesome.

We'll always miss our little Lydia.

Wordless Wednesday: She Works Hard for the Money

Friends: Ru & Logan

Last weekend, Ruby's friend Logan came to visit. I haven't put these pictures up yet because I was hoping Logan's mom, Mel, would put some pictures up on her blog - she's such a great photographer - and she has a photography blog, too!!

Anyway, Ruby is only 4 days older than Logan. They actually played together - sometimes not sure they wanted to share certain toys, but the did really well.

The fortress has been compromised

Ruby generally has the run of the first floor - there's still enough for her to get into trouble with, but at least it's limited.

A couple days ago, Brian asked Braden to check & see where Ruby was ... she was halfway up the steps. She pushed the gate over & went right over it.

There's not much that holds that little girl back!

Visitors

I know it's been days since I've blogged - but we have good reason. Nana & Nice Wolf came to visit this weekend!

Spring Sports, Yay?

Braden began soccer on Tuesday evening. He plays after dinner, once a week, very near our house. Isn't he so adorable in his soccer socks & shin guards?

It's set up to be fun and educational. In reality?
It was 44 degrees and windy. Brian stayed with him the whole time; Ruby & I ran to the pharmacy and warmed up for a while.

Hooray for spring sports in Wisconsin.