happy birthday baby!

Ruby turned one on September 23rd. 
All my life I've heard people say "enjoy every minute... it goes by fast!" and similar things regarding their kids.  Well... they were right.  The year has gone by super fast.

We celebrated Ruby's first birthday last Saturday with our family and friends.  It was a grand success!

This is me and my baby.  We're in love.  

Ruby and Elliott may be in love some day..... He's a great dresser so that helps! 

This is Ruby after eating her birthday cupcake...

And this is a great shot of the whole Party! 
Everyone's here except Ryan.... he was the cameraman.
Oh wait!  There he is in the mirror!

there's a first time for everything....

Along with all the amazing firsts in Ruby's life come the not-so-amazing firsts.  Unlucky for her, these not-so-amazing firsts have happened recently, rather close together.   Her first tumble down the stairs took place on September 1st.  I won't go into details but I felt like I was the one who had fallen down the stairs.  Unfortunately, Ruby's still sporting the blue bump in the middle of her beautiful forehead to prove that it was definitely her.  Sorry Ruby.

Her first fever graced us on September 15th in the middle of the night.  She was pretty miserable for three full days but the girl is back.  :)  Check it out.  This is our Ruby.  Living with such a chipper little cutie ain't half bad.  She inspires me to be more chipper myself.

She's playing with my scarf here.  :)

Big Day!

Two weeks shy of being one year old, little Miss Ruby Grant is walking!
She's been getting closer and closer over the past few weeks but courage took over on Saturday and she totally went for it.  Grinning ear to ear, she walked around our "circle" twice.  (the circle being from living room down entry hall into kitchen into dining room and back out into the living room.)  It was quite spectacular and we're so lucky to have captured it on the video recorder!  These are actually her first steps!  Wow! 

Oh... I can't forget to add that she also started eating from a fork today too!
What a day!  What a BIG day!

Note:  We do have videos of these but are suffering from technical problems with our computers.
I'll get them up as soon as possible.  In the mean time, here are a few random shots of our cutie. 

 Playing the piano...

Swimming in her pool...

Going on vacation to PEI...

Eating lunch...

348 days late

Well... I'm finally getting around to starting a blog.  I'm only 348 days late.....
It's hard to believe that almost an entire year ago Ruby was born.  She came a week early and changed our lives in so many ways.  I wanted to start blogging when she was born but won't make any excuses.  Life is much busier now, that's about it.  

I won't be able to recapture every single precious moment of this past year but I'll do my best to provide the highlights.  She's gone from being helpless and completely dependent to a very strong-willed little girl in her short time 'on the outside'.  It's truly remarkable how much growth and development takes place in the first year of human life.  I often find myself in awe.  In awe of Ruby and how beautiful she is.  How smart she is.  How loving, happy and curious she is.  And then there are the moments when I find myself wondering "why the $#@! won't you sleep?!"

A year ago, I couldn't have imagined what life would be like now... I have a daughter... I'm actually somebody's mother.  That little someone holds my hand and gives hugs and love bites.  And now, I don't know how I managed to survive for so long without her.

Here are some bits and pieces of us during this first year of Ruby's life.....