Ru's new word

Tonight, Brian was holding Ruby and she bit him on his shoulder. This is really out of character for her - she's not typically a biter. She wasn't upset or anything, she wanted to be held - I think she was just restless and overtired.

He put her down, and calmly but firmly told her, "Ow, Ruby, that hurt." He signed 'hurt', too.

She studied him for a minute, and said, "Sorry," and she did look so sad & sorry, her bottom lip quivering.

But it's notable, this little moment, because she took it all in, and without any prompting said - actually SPOKE - the correct word for the situation: "Sorry". This has been happening here & there lately, and it's so fun to watch her language grow.  Now, hopefully her language will continue to grow AND she'll keep her teeth to herself.



We took Braden & Ru to a little parade this past weekend - and it was beautiful out, perfect parade weather!

Braden was on candy patrol - he had his bag about half full by the end of the parade! 

This & That

Braden has 2 pairs of croc-style shoes.  One is red, the other camouflage.  He's begun wearing one of each wherever we go - it's his style.

He's also being bitten up by something - he has 4 HUGE welts on his arms.  This happens every spring, it seems he had to build up a tolerance to bug bites.  This is late in the season for this to begin, so I'm not sure what exactly is going on (or what is biting him) but Brian will spray for bugs around the house again tonight.  Poor Braden, these bites swell up to over an inch in diameter, they itch and they're warm to the touch.


Karly seems a little invisible around here lately ... and for good reason.  She's not here!  She's gone to summer camp for 2 weeks.  It's a really super camp that she loved last year, so we're pretty optimistic that she's having a good time.  It's for kids who've had or have cancer - and you'll never meet a nicer bunch of kids than a group of kids who've battled cancer.  Seriously, we were so impressed by how kind and friendly these kids were last year when we picked Karly up.

Now that my trip has been postponed, I'll be able to go with to pick Karly up from camp next weekend.  I bet she'll be too tired to even notice that I'm there...


Our little kiddie pool had some holes in it, so we pitched it last summer & I picked up a new one on clearance.  Braden is NOT impressed.  It'll be a good size for Lily & Ru to play in, but it's about half the size as the old one.  It doesn't help that the neighbors have a HUGE pool they put up recently.  (Again, have I mentioned I think we need to fence in our yard?)

Ruby ran to the grocery store with me this morning.  I handed her the list, and she signed, "ice cream" - which was not on the list, but we did pick some up.  I mean, she requested it!  How could I not buy her some ice cream after that!?


We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Lily ... can't wait to get that girl HOME.

Braden's Day

Tonight during dinner, we heard the ice cream truck! We've lived here 4 years & never has the ice cream truck gone by, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Braden was so excited! But ... he doesn't like ice cream.


He does, however, like ice cream sandwiches!


Then after finishing dinner, but before he ate his ice cream sandwich ...

His other front tooth fell out!


(Not sure why, but since Nana & Nice Wolf's visit, Braden seems to think all pictures of him must have this face...)

Ruby, Growing Up

Last October when Nana & Nice Wolf were here - we teamed up to trim Ruby's bangs.

She didn't hate it, but she wasn't willing to sit still, either.

So it was almost like a fairy tale today ... I asked Ruby if I could trim her hair. She went with me to the bathroom to get the scissors and comb. I set her on a kitchen chair, and she sat like a little queen. I put a towel on her lap, wet her bangs, and trimmed them.

That was it! No drama, no wiggling - just a big girl, sitting still for her Mama to trim her hair.

In fact, the only time she moved was when Brian walked by the patio door (he was outside mowing the lawn), she pointed and said, "Dad!"

Even though she doesn't speak like a typical 3-year-old, she really does comprehend so much of what is going on around her - and she communicates in her own way.

Also, today she was able to blow bubbles!  She's tried in the past, and today she did it.

A New Smile!

Yesterday, Braden & I brought Ruby to her ENT for a checkup on her ear tubes. As we were waiting, for the doctor to come in, I said, "Braden, how's your loose tooth?"  Well, he wiggled it - and pulled it right out!


He lost the bottom front 2 ... and I expect the other top front tooth won't make it to the weekend.  It's super loose already!  I hope the tooth fairy won't mind visiting us again so soon!

This is Braden giving the "Evil Eye" for Nana & Nice Wolf :)

Happy 4th Anniversary, Reece's Rainbow!

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My Homies

Braden's always loved to wear hats ... and Ruby loves to wear winter hats ... the kind of hat that doesn't fall off, and she can put on by herself.

Recently, she found one of Braden's winter hats & put it on, to this adorable effect:

My smug little bug

And, meanwhile, Braden has been wearing plastic construction hats around the house. Usually, 2 at a time.  He'd probably wear more than two ... but I'm pretty sure that's all we've got.

Tennis

Braden is taking Pee-Wee tennis this summer, and it's super cute. It's 30 minutes, twice a week - and while there are 2 other children signed up for his class, there's only been one other there when he's gone - a very nice girl he knows from school.

Being a lefty, he faces her while they practice sometimes, and it seems every time he swings he takes a step forward. Luckily, they haven't gotten near enough to each other ... and the young man who teaches the class is very observant that they stay apart, too.



Tennis is at a park near our house, so on nice days we get to play afterwards! Ruby & Grover are big fans of the slides this summer.

Stuck!

Ruby loves to drop her little toys & books between our little couch and the wall.  Today, she discovered she can slide down there, as well.

I tried to pull her out, but she didn't want me to get her.  She was enjoying this spot, squished between couch and wall, watching Max & Ruby.

Good grief, she keeps me hopping - it's going to be so interesting when Lily comes home ... think there's room for both of them back there?

Award Night

Last week, before we returned home, Karly & Nana went to awards night at her school.


Karly received her 8th grade certificate - and a special award!  She received the Acorn Award, which is best explained as being for growth & perseverance.  Only 3 students received this award, so it was quite an honor!

We are so proud of Karly!  She's moving on to the high school next year ... how does that happen?!  She was just my baby a few short years ago...

Adoption Update

I know not everyone has been reading our (now private) blog about Lily's adoption - and I've had several emails this week about how the adoption is going.  People have figured out we're home and they want to know what's up!

Things are going well, things are moving along as they should be.  We are home, for now, and Lily should be home the first week of July or so.  We have to both go back for court (a short trip) and then I will go back on my own after the mandatory 10-day waiting period, to finish up paperwork and bring Lily home!

Lilya is a wonderful, delightful girl, and we love her already - she's going to be a great fit for our family, and the kids can't wait to meet her!  Ruby loves to watch the little videos we have of Lily, and I hope she'll be that excited when she finally gets to meet Lily live and in person!


If you'd like to follow along on Lily's private adoption blog, just send me an email or leave me a comment with your email.

5 minutes to myself!

I love when Karly goes out to play in the sandbox with Braden and I don't even have to worry about them ... I can actually deal with laundry & dishes & go to the bathroom & not check on Braden out the window every few minutes.  


A huge shout out to Miss Ru, for actually napping today!  Thanks, little birdie!  (Now, I'm off to wake her up since she's been down for over 2 hours, and I'd like her to sleep tonight...)

Field Trip!

Braden's class took a field trip to the local ice cream place the last week of school. All the classes do this at the end of the year, since the ice cream  place is so near the school.

The only problem is, he doesn't like ice cream.  (I know, right?  How it is possible that a child of mine DOESN'T like ice cream, I'll never figure out!)

Nice Wolf went with Braden on the field trip

And when they got there, Braden was allowed to order something from the menu!  So, he ordered ...

French fries!  What a lucky guy!
(Last year, he just didn't get a treat on the field trip)