Ladybug

My little ladybug has three teeth poking through and a nasty cold right now but she didn't let that ruin her first Halloween! Daddy took Ruby to a few houses with a bunch of the neighbor kids. Then we just relaxed out front with a fire and handed out candy! Ruby was just as content watching the kiddos come to our house!

Grandma made Ruby her very own "Ruby" pumpkin!

Hattie's "Angry Bird", my OWL, Grandpa Bill's antlers, Grandma LaDonn's ghost :)

Ten Months

Ruby seems to be learning new tricks everyday! Some of her favorites as of late are doing "touchdown" and "pig nose." She says "mama" whenever I ask her to and she gives lots of kisses...sometimes without us asking! She is standing up on everything but she still seems too shaky to take any steps too soon! Her top two teeth are starting to poke through which have caused some interesting nights... but I can't complain about a little extra snuggle time in the middle of the night! :)

We got to take a trip to the Butterfly House for the first time.

Stef and Sydney came for another visit!

Ruby seems to have a sweet tooth... just like mommy and daddy! She LOVES ice cream!

"Pig Nose"

Nine Months

Our sweet Ruby girl turned 9 months on Saturday! It was a great day as the Hawks had an awesome come-back to beat Pittsburgh! Although Ruby's shirt is hard to see, she's sporting a pink-sequined Hawkeye onesie. The pictures below seem to portray her attitude throughout the game!

Ruby still only has two teeth. She is crawling all over the place - she likes to follow me around! She is starting to pull up on some things. She loves her bath, rough-housing with her daddy, and being held by mommy!

Ugh...the Hawks are losing...

Yay! The Hawks finally scored!

Oh boy, this game is making me nervous!

Woo hoo! The Hawkeyes WIN!!!!!

And just a few other pictures as of late...

Jon, Stef, and Sydney were able to spend the night at our house on their way to Fargo, ND.

...and Happy Birthday to Papa Gary!

Road trip to Iowa City

This past weekend we traveled to Iowa City to stay with Jon, Stef, and Sydney for a few nights. We had a great time with them just hanging out and relaxing. One of the nights we were able to meet up with our good friends Scott, Nicole, and their little girl Lauren as well as our friends Evan and Jen. Although life in Sioux Falls is treating us well, we sure do miss these people!

For the past couple of years the Van Heukelom boys have given each other ridiculous gifts when it comes to birthdays and Christmas... thus the Vikings "beard heads" above. Luckily, the girls weren't even phased by their dads' goofiness.

Ruby absolutely LOVED being around Sydney! She tried very hard to keep up with her all weekend long! It was a very hard task for her though! :)

Sydney likes her hair "wild" but we talked her into wearing one of Ruby's flowers for just a couple of pictures. These two sure do take some cute pictures!

Eight Months

Ruby's two teeth!

If this look tells us anything about the future, we may be in trouble!

Ruby and Grandma LaDonn

Being silly with Grandpa Bill

Ruby and Papa Gary

Getting stronger!

Snoozin' with Grandma Ruth

First trip to Falls Park

Ruby's arm stuck in her hairchair!

Swimming on the deck!

Ruby is getting quite the personality! She has several funny faces that are quite difficult to capture on camera but make us laugh everyday! She can't quite get her tummy off the ground to fully crawl but she can get wherever she wants by scooting or doing some form of the army crawl. Ruby loves when daddy throws her in the air. She loves peek-a-boo and being sung to sleep. She raises her hands when she wants to be held and has started to give kisses...the very slobbery kind.

Visitors!

We had lots of visitors in August and we loved it! First, Stef and Sydney came and spent a couple of nights.

Uncle Paul helping Sydney feed the goats.

A couple days later we were able to spend a morning with our good friends Jen and Claire.

And then a couple weeks after that we got to see more good friends! Kyle, Katie, Anika, and baby Amira made the trip to the midwest from Baltimore. We were so glad they could stop in Sioux Falls for a little while to see us!

Grandma's Garden

Ruby and I traveled back to Sibley on Sunday to spend the day with my parents and grandparents. We had to visit Grandma's garden and take a few pictures as well. I've often said that my mom doesn't just have a green thumb... but that all her fingers are green! Her garden is AMAZING and it looks so good right now!

Ruby with Grandpa and Grandma Great!