and here comes number 2!

here is the most recent scan shot of our work in progress! we found out that it is a girl and are very excited! we make such good girls around here, why not another?? she is due sometime near the end of June/early July. still working on a name, we will keep you posted!

florida, christmas and 17-18 months, oh my!

it has been a while since i posted, and i plan to make up for it. ruby and i spent a month in florida, with david meeting us there for the last 2 weeks. going somewhere warm in december is becoming a tradition which i call the "thaw out" and this year it was. the weather in florida was mostly in the 70s, with a few days in the 80s and even fewer in the 60s. damn, it felt good, even though it took ruby a while to get used to the heat (she was happy to run around in a diaper as much as possible).

we stayed with my parents and used that as a base to visit friends and family. with the holidays and sicknesses, we didn't get to see as many people as we had hoped. we did get to spend time with my friend's 3 month old girl which was very important for us (ruby loves babies), we went to Miami for a few days, and then attended a wedding on New Year's. Christmas was spent at my parent's with friends and family in attendance. it was a whirlwind, and here i was thinking that 1 month would be enough time! ha!

we have now been home a little over a month and things have been very good. it seems that ruby has decided to learn to talk, ALOT, and wants to know every word for every thing! her favorite books right now are ABC books, or Picture Dictionaries so that she can learn as many new words as possible. problem is that most of the words sound incredibly similar to the untrained ear, or she forgets the word and simply calls it "da-da" until she is reminded what it actually is named. She says such complex things as 'purple', 'outside' and 'stroller' but doesn't know how to say easy things like 'poo'. it is a riot!

in other news, I am pregnant with our second (and last) baby! I am due the end of June and so far things are going really well. We hope to find out the sex this week, although Ruby says it will be a boy. Ruby is very excited about being an older sister and gives the baby kisses all the time. We just hope she is this happy when reality strikes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

nothing makes you more homesick than Thanksgiving. I don't know exactly why. Maybe it is the food, or the American-ness of the holiday, or just the fact that you know the rest of your family is together. Perhaps it is all 3....
David is at work, I am attempting to make something Thanksgiving-y (pumpkin pie in oven, turkey burgers, stove-top stuffing, and maybe corn casserole), but it isn't the same. I can't even get the Macy's parade on TV!!!
But i will be in Florida soon, 10 more days in fact. Can't wait!

15 months

Ruby was yoda for halloween, although she didn't get to show her costume off to the neighborhood since the weather wasn't cooperating. she likes the costume, so maybe she can still wear it around for everyone to see!

Right now, Ruby's favorite place to go is the park. She really likes to go down the slide head first, which stresses me out just a little. Sometimes i remember to bring her ball and we play with it in the grass. Most of the time she likes to walk into the cafe at the park just to say 'hi' to the lady behind the counter.

Ruby enjoys saying 'hi' to everyone. When she is in her stroller she waves to people we pass, she says hi to everyone at the grocery store, and also walks around Starbucks saying "hiya" to everyone who will give her any attention. Usually this includes anyone who has a baby with them, because right now she is really into babies, so much so i gave in and bought her a baby doll. I am certain it will show up in a picture soon.

Not only is she friendly, Ruby is also very helpful. She likes to help you do whatever you are doing- putting laundry in the dryer, putting groceries away, dusting, feeding gratch. gratch doesn't mind because this means he might just get extra food, not that he needs it.

american

it is weird living in a foreign country, no matter how much you get used to it or how much you consider it home. when i moved to Scotland, i was glad to be moving to be with david, but i was also glad to get away from the US, especially george w.
I am a liberal, very liberal, so liberal that some have called me the dreaded C- word (communist). I have also been a huge critic of American politics, ethics and economics, and still am. But the funny thing is, living in a foreign country does something to you. You start to miss all that you complained about and maligned. You start to see that America is good, that it is screwed up surely, but it is still home. You start to get mad at the foreign press' picking on the US, blaming it for the woes of the globe, and misunderstanding its culture. You speak loudly enough so the person behind you in line knows that you are an american when they just finished saying something anti-american to their mates. You keep your homepage on .com, not .co.uk, and you watch CNN and the Daily Show whenever you can. I am not saying that I'll stop critiquing america, but i can do this because it is MY america, as much as I am hers.
I am extremely proud of the US right now. As I look back on the last 30 years, I am amazed at how much it has changed and how incredible it can be that Obama is a major party candidate for the Presidency. It makes me believe that anything is possible, and that dreams are obtainable.

14 months

the past month has seen ruby come into one of those 'stages' that we were dreading. she has become very clingy yet headstrong. she wants held when i am cooking, but doesn't want to be touched when she is closing gratch in his crate (a favorite game of hers). She points and says "that" wanting whatever she is pointing at no matter how dangerous it might be (like a knife!). She is getting good at having little strops, she stomps her feet or shakes her fists, and might even scream. she doesn't want to get dressed when naked no matter how cold it might be.... the thing is, i laugh. not 100% of the time (sometimes my patience wears thin), but i try to. if i laugh, she laughs and it passes by. and i want to laugh because here i am watching my little baby become a toddler, becoming her own person, finding her way in the world! what could be better than that!?!?!?
Ruby is expecting the arrival of her US passport any day now! we got it in anticipation for our big trip to florida in december. Although we are looking forward to seeing friends and family, we are really looking forward to meeting Mia Bella Menster! yes, my best friend kim has had her first baby too, and we can't wait to see her.

13 months

officially a toddler now, ruby is really coming into her own. It is funny how you realize (when around other babies) that things you just thought of as normal baby behavior, are actually not universals, but part of your baby's personality. Then again, if you asked me to describe ruby's personality to you, i would have to use other babies i know to define it, such as "she isn't as shy as eva, but not as outgoing as max. she is gentler than libby, but not a pushover either."
after ruby's love affair with crayons at playgroup last week, david and i went and bought her some of her very own. it took us 4 stores to find crayolas, which i couldn't believe! we had a roll of paper and let ruby go for it on the kitchen floor, which she really loved. she is really into boxes and containers right now, so half the fun of coloring is putting the crayons back in their container. let's hope this fascination with putting things away sticks around for a while!