Rodeo

Ryan took the day off yesterday to take us all out to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. We had such a fun family day! We watched pig races, did the petting zoo, rode ponies, ate delicious rodeo food, got chocolate milk from Elsie the cow, saw newborn animals, played on tractors, and did mutton bustin. It was a beautiful day, and we just had the best time!

Mutton Bustin' is like bull riding for kids. Except instead of bulls, they ride sheep! It is hilarious! This year at the Kids Country area they had a mutton bustin arena with shows every hour. We got Jackson signed up for the 12:00 show. He was so excited about it! 

 brave boy ready to ride

 the mutton bustin cowboys & cowgirls

 yummy rodeo food!

 silly brothers

 in line to ride a pony

 sweet little cowboys

 Of course the boys wore their cowboy belts made by Great Dad!!

 sweet Ruby was such a trooper all day

 ready to watch the pig races

 tractors!

 the petting zoo

 We loved the little piglets!

 Jackson was teaching Ruby all about the animals. She learned a lot! ;)

Video of Jackson Mutton Bustin'!! They asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. Jackson's answer was "a person who breaks down towers." I'm a proud mama- haha!

Ruby's 1st Birthday Party

We had a little family birthday party for Ruby. Everything about it was just perfect! The party guests included Papa John, Nana, Uncle Morgan, Pops, GranMartha, Uncle Ryan, Kaki, James, Jude, Mommy, Daddy, Jackson, Ben, and the birthday girl!

pink & white table

 We served Jimmy Johns sandwiches, chips, & fruit for lunch.

 For dessert, we had french macaroons from The Sweet Boutique, strawberry cupcakes made by GranMartha, pink & white animal cookies, pink & white marshmallows, white chocolate covered pretzel sticks, & marshmallow pops.

 The roses and marshmallow pops were in Ruby's great grandmother's hobnail punch set. So special!

 Nana made the banner out of scrapbook paper and doilies. She clipped the "R" on with one of Ruby's hair clips. I ordered a collage from Shutterfly of Ruby's first year.

pink lemonade & water to drink

 Tia Leah made Ruby's onesie. It is the number "1" made out of little pink rosettes. She is so talented...I wish she would just open her own little baby boutique! :)  Nana bought the leggings and tutu to match! Ruby also wore her bow socks from Kaki and her pearl bracelet that Becki Glover made her.

 party people

 Ruby got some fun new toys and very pretty clothes for her birthday!

 

You can read Kathryn's post about Ruby's party here!

one

Miss Ruby turned one year old on January 27th. I can not believe my baby is one!!! That first year always goes by fast, but for the third child it really flew by!

I just don't think it's possible for us to love little Ruby any more. She is such a delight and a joy to our family. She has such a fun, sweet personality that we can't get enough of. Her brothers adore her and she adores them. Her first year of life was so wonderful and we're excited to see what this next year brings!

*For my records
At one year old Ruby...

• weighs 18 pounds
• sleeps 11-12 hours at night
• naps twice a day for 1.5-2 hours each
• eats 3 meals a day plus snacks (will eat pretty much anything i give her!)
• nurses 4-5 times a day
• drinks water from a straw cup- never would take a bottle or a sippy cup
• scoots on her bottom instead of crawling (doc said not to worry)
• is starting to pull up on furniture
• wants to play outside all the time (which is nice since that is what we typically do!)
• loves to look at pictures of people she knows and say "who's that?" in a really high pitched voice
• points to the correct person in a picture when i ask (ex: where's daddy?)
• nods her head yes and shakes her head no when i ask her a yes/no question
• will hold up one finger when asked how old she is
• gets so excited about bath time
• says the words: bath, ball, who's that, what's that, pops, mama, dada, mum mum, yeah, mmm (when she smells food), light, dog, moo, roar, poo poo (thanks to older brothers), & baby. 
• points to belly, toes, & nose when we ask her where they are
• loves her baby dolls and pats their backs
• is loud! 
• gets so excited when daddy comes home from work
• gives the best kisses
• claps and dances when she hears music 
• loves her cradle roll class that her daddy & mommy teach :)
• takes her hair bows out as soon as I put them on her
• puts every little thing in her mouth, then takes it out of her mouth and hands it to me
• is the sweetest, most adorable baby girl!!! 

We had a wonderful little birthday party for our Ruby last weekend. Pictures coming...

Disneyland

Pops & GranMartha took Jackson to Disneyland January 21-25. (They have a deal with the grandkids that they get to go when they are 5.) They had a magical vacation! Monday they flew to Cali, checked in to the Disneyland resort, swam at the hotel pool, and had a character dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday they went to both Disneyland park and Disney California Adventure. Friday they flew back home. Jackson felt so very special and had the time of his life!!! Thank you Pops & GranMartha for taking Jackson to Disneyland! He seriously hasn't stopped talking about it since he got home!

You better believe they were first in line! (The Norman's don't casually do Disney...we dominate it!)