Twins ???

Is this scary for anyone else??

Grandma Dianne dug out this picture of mummy at 12 months of age (with food in her mouth) and we all just about had a heart attack at the likenesses.

We've had computer issues again at our house so recent photos and more news will be updated very soon.....hopefully. This is just a teaser to keep the readers interested!

Happy Birthday Ruby

We've made it. Ruby has managed to get to her first birthday without too many scratches, dings or any broken bones. It has been a bit of a challenging year for mummy and daddy what with the first few months of colic and then the teething and the lack of sleep to go with. Mummy having to go back to work and leaving her side kick half way through the year, the ear infections and the Roesola. Daddy has tried to sell Ruby a number of times but watching our beautiful baby turn into a gorgeous toddler has been well worth the hard yards. Who'd of thought we'd produce such an unbelievably adorable and beautiful girl, but then we're biased.

To celebrate Ruby's first year we organised a party in her favourite park with just about everyone she knows. Ruby arrived on her new bike decked out in pink balloons to a sea of people surrounded by pink decorations - yep, everything was pink, right down to the cutlery. Grandma and mummy had been baking all weekend to make sure there was enough food to cater for 5 babies, 2 kids and god knows how many adults.

Ruby couldn't have enjoyed her party anymore. She walked around (like Frankenstein, with her arms out in front) all afternoon, playing on the slides, feeding the ducks and just generally being the princess of the party. It was like she knew the party was all for her. We played 'pass the parcel' to a specially designed Ruby CD (thank you Aunty Porsha), fed the local ducks and opened heaps and heaps of pressies. There was so much stuff for us to get home, Ruby's new bike wouldn't fit in the back of the car. So daddy walked her all the way home - balloons and all. A big thank you to everyone who sent her cards and dollars from England. She received so many cards that when one of our neighbours came over to give her a present for her birthday he stopped at the door in astonishment as he couldn't believe how popular Ruby is.

On her actually birthday mummy took Ruby shopping to spend some of her B'day money. She got two new outfits and got fitted for some new shoes. Watching Ruby get her little foot measured and fitted for shoes was very cute. She just sat there and watched the lady messing around with the machine and her foot. Then once her shoes where on she did a parade around the store. She proceeded then to every other person in the store to show them. Ruby was so impressed with herself that she decided she didn't want or need to be strapped into her stroller and decided that she would walk the shopping centre to the car park. As you can imagine, it was a long walk to the car. Ruby would stop and change directions, she would get distracted and follow another group, she would stop and wave to the people leaving on the escalator. Lucky we didn't have any where to be in a hurry.

Ruby also had her 1 year injections this week. She is so brave. She had to have 3 injections in her legs and she only cried when they were going in. Once it was over she was fine and even walked out to reception on her own waving bye to the nurse. Ruby also had a quick measure and weigh at the doctors but not properly, we are due to get this done in early February so we will keep you posted on how much fatty weighs in a few weeks.

This last week Ruby has gone from just starting to walk to running. It's like she's been walking for months. We've had a few minor spills, especially as she gets tired, but nothing major. Oh yeah, she remembered how to sleep. Four nights last week Ruby slept for 7 hours straight. Last night however, was a different story with her waking every half hour. Ruby has 1 tooth still in her gums and we are hoping that this was the issue last night. On the tooth front, Ruby turned 1 year old with 15 teeth!!!!

Sleeping with Daddy - 1 day old

Chillin with Grandpa Norman- 3 months

Party time with Grandma Dianne - 6 months

Swimming lessons with Mummy - 9 months

On the slides at her B'day party - almost 12 months

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!

The future's so bright..

Ruby has survived her first camping experience (including 3 storms), her first Christmas and first New Year celebrations.

On top of all of this, the day mummy and daddy finished work to start the holidays Grandma and Grandpa moved into their brand new home. The ever helpful Abbott's rocked up at the end of the day and sent Ruby into to play in the pile of empty boxes and rubbish of wrappings from all of Grandma's new furniture. The neat pile was sent from one end of the house to the other.

Then off we went to Kingscliff to start our two week camping holiday. To accommodate our ever growing family it was decided years ago that we would camp and Uncle Jamie and Aunty Emma would set up a mobile caravan opposite the family van. On the first day of our holiday mummy and daddy put up our 2nd hand tent (thank you Aunty Porsha), without instructions and with two broken poles. Our accommodation was great. It was nicknamed the palace as it is big enough for daddy to stand up in. Unbeknown to mummy and daddy the two broken poles had been put in the front half of the tent, which we were so happy about when the storms hit and only the front half of the tent got wet and the back half - where we were sleeping - was perfectly dry.

Ruby decided early on that she much preferred sleeping on the air mattress with mummy and daddy. There might have been one night she stayed in her port-a-cot the whole night. During the day sleeping for Ruby was a little bit of a problem as the tent was like a sauna (very hot summer days) and the family caravan was getting constant traffic. By the second week we had our daily routine down pat. Up at 5am - too hot to sleep- brekky, then to the beach. After showering and snacking, Daddy would take the rest of the family fishing while mummy would get Ruby down to sleep in the van. The afternoons would mainly consist of a trip to the shops, trying to work out what everyone was doing for dinner and then have dinner and baths before Ruby got too cranky and was ready to go to bed for the night. This was the most difficult part of the day, as once Ruby went down to sleep someone had to stay with her or near the tent in case she woke up (the family van was too far away for us to hear her). So most nights, daddy would stay with Ruby while mummy had her shower, then mummy would jump into bed while daddy usually got his fishing stuff ready or hung out with the family.

Ruby's first Christmas was huge. Ruby got very spoilt, (thank you to everyone OS who sent her gifts, she is sooo very lucky). Unfortunately, Ruby wasn't the happiest that day, having issues with her teeth. But we still managed a swim, two naps and a parade around the caravan park in tinsel.

New Year's Eve we all went to dinner early in the evening, thinking Ruby and Isabelle would be to tired to eat later. But when we got back to the caravan park and all the kids were running around with fluro sticks and noisy toys the girls went hypo. Ruby managed to dance her way until 10:30pm before crashing - only just missing out on the first fireworks display (mummy was devastated).

The weekend we got back home we got to do Christmas all over again at Grandma Sheila's house, where Ruby got her first horse. That's right Grandpa Norman brought her a Fur Real horse, which we have named Neddy. He Neighs, eats and gallops when you hop on his back....very cool!

Ruby also got 4 more teeth while we were away. Only two more to go - the right hand side top molar and the right hand side bottom canine - and that should be it for a while. Both of these two remaining teeth are showing in her gums and don't look to be too far away either.

Ruby also finally started waving while we were away. She knows to say bye bye and waves (mainly to her dadda) all the time at the moment.

This week (as per previous post) Ruby has started to walk. She is getting more and more confident on her legs and today walked all the way from the kitchen to her toy box on the other side of the house (about 10 metres). Mummy and daddy are also madly organising the birthday party event of the year. Mummy did a test run of the birthday cake last night and Grandma Sheila and Grandma Dianne have been baking all week as well. Stay tuned to see all the photos from the celebrations.

Look out world she's walking!!!!

After doing laps of Kingscliff holding on to mummy and daddy's hand Ruby has today finally walked more than two or three steps on her own.

When mummy arrived at Grandma's to pick Ruby up after work she was told how Ruby had walked from one end of the couch all the way to Great Grandma Alice to steal her banana. Then for the next 30 mins Ruby showed mummy just how she could do it by walking backward and forward between her and Grandma. Then when daddy got home Ruby walked about 13 steps to meet him.

She is getting more and more confident with it and loves getting a big cheer when she is going. She has big smiles for you when she gets to her destination.

By the time she turns 1, Ruby should just about be a profressional.

stay tuned for more posts on all our holiday, Christmas and camping adventures