Happy Birthday, Ruby!!

It's hard to believe that two years have passed so quickly! There were days (and nights) that we thought would never end, but those hard moments were just that--moments. For the most part, our days have been full of new discoveries and accomplishments (for all of us!) along with a healthy dose of laughter and smiles. Ruby is still teaching us how to be good parents to her. She forces us to look beyond ourselves to God for the guidance we need--drawing us closer to Him and each other.

On this second birthday, we are so thankful for the precious girl God has entrusted to our care. She is a daily blessing to us with her compassionate spirit, her silliness, and her joy for the outdoors. Ruby is a girl who knows what she wants and will go to any extreme to get it... I think that this is a trait that will serve her well in life--as long as she finds some more constructive ways to focus her energy (read: quits throwing tantrums!). She has always loved to pretend, especially to pretend that she is a Mommy. Her precious "baby" Trixie is her constant companion from the sandbox to watching movies to her afternoon nap. She takes Trixie for walks kilometers long every day (of course the scenery doesn't change much in our small house!) and is always diligent in sharing her juice and snacks.

This year we decided to have a princess themed party for our Little Princess. Believe it or not, we managed to pull off the party the Saturday before her birthday, just two weeks after Max made his debut. Unfortunately, Jared went back to work (after his paternity leave) on that Thursday afternoon, at which point both Ruby and Max started to run fevers and Ruby had a terrible cold.

Sooo, we didn't have a very cheery girl at the party (as you can see in the pictures!). We did have a wonderful group of friends there though and a yummy meal of BBQ chicken, salads, crusty bread, and of course cake and ice cream. Ruby didn't have enough of an appetite to even eat cake, but the rest of us enjoyed every bite!

Ruby invited some of her special friends from church and our Moms'N'Tots group including Carter, Nathan, and Camilla. Her best "big kid" friends, Brett & Sarah were able to come too! Everyone pitched in and helped to make the day really special and one that we'll always remember (even if Ruby eventually forgets it!).

In the background of this picture you can see the green and red sandbox, which was her "big" present from us this year. I'm sure that Jared will never forget the logistics of getting her this gift with only a bike and bike trailer to work with! It took several trip to get all of the parts: sand toys one day, the actual sandbox tied to the trailer another day, and then 200 pounds of sand IN the trailer on the third day! Ruby really has a SUPER DADDY!! Jared also showed off his cake decorating skills on Ruby's princess castle cake. We were able to borrow the molded cake pan from Claire, but the decorating was ALL Jared! I took the much easier task of decorating the cupcakes!

I'll leave you with a picture of what Max did during Ruby's party--a whole lot of snoozin! All the other moms were thrilled though, since they were able to cuddle on Max without any of that troublesome crying!

Happy Birthday, Ruby! We love you more every day...