Pee Pee, Poo Poo and lots of drool

I've unofficially~officially started potty training Ruby. She is 19 months old and has actually gone pee pee on the potty once. It was probably a fluke, but since she was able to do this and has since told me that she has the urge, I think she's ready to start slowly.
She also will indicate that she is poopy. We started waving our hand in front of our noses to show her she stunk when messy and now she will do the same to tell us to change her diaper. Today, she woke up and grabbed her diaper area. I asked her if she needed to go potty on the toilet and she nodded her head "yes". I put her on it and ~Nothing~. But, no biggy. She'll do it when she's ready. For now, we're making it fun and interesting so that when she is ready, it's not scary or intimidating.
She did go poo poo in her diaper about an hour later and she told me by plugging her nose and saying "Woooooo EEEeeeeee!" Then waving her little hand past her nose! LOL!!!

Roman is getting his first molars still so there is a lot of drool coming from his mouth...constantly! He tried to wipe his own mouth yesterday as it was bothering him like crazy. At first I thought he had a long hair in his mouth but realized it was just his slime. He is almost walking. He will stand a lone for brief periods of time and has taken 2-3 extremely small baby steps. He's coming a long, though. For the rough start he had, we are amazed at his tenacity!

We have stayed well and none of us have gotten any form of the flu. I am successfully fighting off a cold but I don't think it's going to come on full force. We have had so many friends get sick. H1N1 or whatever. I've pretty much been hibernating my family except for taking Chloe and Elliot to school and picking them up. Doing grocery shopping requires me to really wipe down the shopping cart. Thank goodness where I shop they have the Clorox wipes to clean everything right there by the carts! The babies really enjoy riding in the little car carts w/ steering wheels, too! Who knows what runny nosed, coughing child rode there last, so I wipe them down extra well! This, coming from a mom who is so totally not paranoid.
I just don't want to get sick! For me to be sick would be really bad. Since Andrew is gone all week, it's up to me to keep the family on track and everything here at home running smoothly.

Well, it's almost time to boogy into town to pick up C&E. They are having a great year so far. Chloe will be running for either Class President or Spiritual VP. She is already on the social committee in charge of planning the rest of the year activities. 8th grade! Where has the time gone? Wasn't she just in kindergarten? Blink, blink!!
And Elliot has started up orchestra again. His humor and nurturing always amazes me. You'd think his sole purpose on earth was to entertain and adore Ruby and Roman. He is the most caring and loving 11 year old brother I've ever seen.

I am SO proud of my children.

drubek

Recent picture of the kids!

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SHEESH!!!

I can't believe it's been so long since our blog was last updated. That's what joining Facebook will do to a person! LOL.
This is a true statement. I get on there and keep up with everybody and forget what I did before joining...obviously my poor little blog has been completely abandoned!

But besides that, I recently lost my oldest sister, Julie, to cancer. She passed away Sept. 5 at 11:46pm. She was 52. The blessing is that each one of us were able to say goodbye and tell her we love her. We are confident that we will see her again in the clouds of glory when Jesus comes to take us all home. She is a peace now.

Well...let's see...updates, updates, updates. Ruby is 18 months now. Running all over the place and helping with everything she can. She is such a little mommy. She is quick to tattle on anyone, including the pets. "MOM! Uh OH!!!, MOM!!!" and she will take her little finger and point to the culprit. She also loves throwing things into the trash can. Thank goodness she has a good eye for what is garbage. Never one to put things in her mouth, she is good at throwing away gum wrappers, tags from clothing and lint. Ruby folds her hands to pray and says "Pay, Mom, Pay!" She loves to pray and we often find ourselves folding our hands and bowing our heads many, many times per day. Not as verbal as I would think she should be, Ruby does say a few words as mentioned in other posts. She says "Baby, kitty, hot, Delta" (one of our dogs), and several others. Ruby enjoys doing "big girl" things. And, often times, she amazes us on how grown up she really is. Ruby eats with a baby fork, blows on her food, wipes her face with a napkin, tries to comb her hair and loves rubbing lotion on her tummy and face.
Bath time is a favorite with both babies. Ruby loves to "wash" Roman. I can't say he likes it, but she tries her best to wash his back and face with the wash cloth. Ruby still only has four teeth! Sheesh!

Roman is 13 months old and doing the power crawl. He has a very lean but super strong physique. He is a go getter and has no problem going after what he wants. Trying to take something away from him usually ends in a struggle and whoever is quicker wins. Being a biter, a head butter and a hair puller gets Roman a lot of attention. But that ever beautiful, ornery smile and vivacious personality wins over every time.
Roman folds his hands to pray and says "Deedus" (Jesus). He also has said "gramma", "Hi", "Bye" and a few others. He hasn't said a lot of words yet either, but he is very verbal. He loves to scream and talk in his own jibber jabber.
Roman loves the dogs and cats. He will spend endless amounts of time chasing them. One cat will play back and delights in hiding in high places, ready to pounce on top of this determined little baby!
Roman has seven teeth and the 8th is trying hard to come through.
Roman loves people and flirts with everyone. He is quite the charmer and I'm thinking I'll have to watch that cutie pie as he gets into his teen years! LIKE A HAWK!!!

Ruby and Roman's favorite toys are their little piano and other musical instruments. Both LOVE standing at our family piano and will play there as long as I let them. This is usually a lock out zone for them as it's an entry way into a whole lot of baby trouble...cat litter, bathrooms, etc. So, standing at the piano is quite a privilege!

Well, for now I need to sign off. I have some writing to do for my sisters service on Saturday. I'm supposed to be writing a life sketch. I've read back over this blog (what I've just written) and it's clear to me that I'm in no mood for writing. I'm just not "ON"... ;)

Here are some pictures though! We've been taking them like crazy. Our family is growing up way too quickly! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday To Our Little Miracle!!

Frankly, I don't want to be blogging. It's been since June 5 (!!!) that I've updated, and I am still not really in the mood. I know, it is awful. I'm hot, tired and just want to facebook or watch TV or...I'm 100% being lazy. There is a part of me, or rather, us, that is totally used to the daily goings on of two babies added to our family. We have adapted well and it's not like we are still pinching ourselves every morning, yet, on some levels, it is hard to blog daily or weekly like I used to. Maybe it's just the summertime way of taking it easy. I hope others out there can relate...and for those of you still in the waiting process, I hope you will understand once your precious wee ones arrive home! But, it would practically be criminal not to blog and document such a wonderful occasion.

SO, I have titled this post with a happy birthday wish for Roman! Yikes, Yes!!! He is ONE YEARS OLD today!!!

I can't really believe it myself. He is so small, yet so feisty and energetic. This boy is all muscles and sturdy as all get out. He started sitting several weeks ago and then just took off. He crawls all over the entire house and licks the floors...yes, he is building his immune system! I'm pretty sure he ate a small clump of cat litter this morning. BLETCH!!!! I was sweeping near the litter box and Roman rounded the corner and scooped something up before I could stop him. I dug around for it, but between his tightly clamped mouth and quick swallowing, I didn't find a thing. I'm sure he will also find the cricket that escaped while I was trying to feed the lizard.

In the 5 1/2 months that I've known this beautiful little guy, it's like I've known him forever. He is a miracle to us. I can only imagine that his first mama is somewhere in the Amhara region, thinking about the baby boy she gave up in order that he may live. It's been a year ago to her...just a few months for me. I can only imagine...

So, the stats are: Roman is in the 10th percentile for weight, the 50th percentile for height and is waving, says "HI" once in awhile, says "Ma ma", "Da Da", "Dad", has said "Kitty", and his favorite, "Uh OH!!!!!" Ruby taught him that one! Although not quite pulling himself up yet, he is trying. He is still not real steady on all fours, but he's a little moose in his own right. This kid is very strong. I swear, when I'm diapering him, he sometimes seems stronger than I am!

Roman is extremely ticklish! I think every part of his body has a tickle spot. He loves to bite and I have the bruises to prove it. He is a hair puller and giggles with glee when told "NO!!!" It's great fun for him to get attention in this manner. OY! Are we in for it! What a stinker...Sometimes we can almost see the little horns growing out of his curly little head! LOL.

Romy was circumcised a few weeks ago. It went well and except for being one pissed off little dude when he was in recovery, he did great. He now has a normal Ferguson penis! Hee hee.

We are so much in love with this lil guy. He is cherished by his sisters and brother. His mama and daddy think the sun rises and sets on him. And yes, for all his orneriness, he can do no wrong in our eyes! :)

Let me switch gears now and concentrate on Ruby. What an angelic little girl! She is so gentle and kind. She loves giving kisses, saying and waving Bye Bye. Saying "HI!" to everyone and flashing those big dark eyes in flirtatious ways at the grocery store. Ruby and Roman are both huge flirts!! Ruby also says "Night Night", "Kitty", "Mom", "Dad", "I did it!!!", "What's This??", "baby", "Sammy" (who is our indoor dog), "Elliot", "I love you", "Hey baby!!!" (when talking on the phone), "NO NO" (which actually sounds like "Whoa, Whoa!" and also says in disgust "HEY!!!!" When something isn't going quite right for her. She never calls me Mama...it's always "MOM" very matter of fact. I couldn't figure out why she didn't call me Mama or Mommy until Chloe mentioned that Ruby hears her and Elliot reference me as Mom all day long, so why would she call me anything else! DUH.
Her favorite toy is a small plastic pitcher that goes to her kitchen set and also her toy broom. She loves the ride-on airplane which she actually just pushes around the house.

Ruby is caring and affectionate to us all. She loves giving kisses and will pucker up and give them over just about anytime, but esp. at nap times. She loves her baby brother and will often times kiss and hug him. She plays well with him and allows him to take her toys away from her. I tell her to get them back, but she usually just lets him get away with it. I will intervene at times and show her it's ok to not allow that!
Ruby eats with a fork and bowl at mealtimes and is very efficient. She also is only walking and practically running now. She never crawls. She gets around very well and FAST. She adores getting into my kitchen drawers and usually will put things back away when she is done exploring. I find her to be quite conscientious!

Ruby is still very bonded with big brother, Elliot. This afternoon she snuggled up next to him on the couch and they watched TV together. She also rested her head on his chest and started to nap. It was so beautiful.

Elliot went to Big Lake Youth Camp last week and almost made it the whole time. We were called and told he was pretty sick and needed to drive down and get him. Ugh...poor guy! He's had a temp of 102 consistently for six days now. I'm calling the Dr. tomorrow!

Chloe is at camp there this week. Both of my older kids are an amazing help to me and having one gone will be tough...not to mention how much we will miss her! Hopefully she stays well!

Andrew flew out today for a new assignment in Omaha, NE. He, too, was starting to feel flu symptoms. Praying that he gets better and Elliot also kicks this bug FAST. Not really wanting to think the words "swine flu"...

Well, I'm pooped and heading for bed. I still can't believe I have a one year old now! My heart is joyful and sad. Time goes too quickly.

Drubek

Firsts

Some firsts to document! Ruby has taken her very first unassisted steps! She took a few the other day in order to yank on the cats tail and when he bit her, she tried to go back and swat at him again! But he was too quick for her baby steps! Then today, Chloe told me that Ruby took another four or five steps! Yippeee. (I think! I may regret those words!) Ruby is almost 15 months old.
Roman has officially sat up by himself today! At 10 months, I was beginning to wonder if the lil guy even had a spine...I've been calling him noodleback! No crawling yet. He just figures that he can roll everywhere, so why should he learn crawling? :D
Summer has officially started in our home. The 2008/09 school year ended today and I now have an 8th grader and a 6th grader! I'm not looking forward to a summer filled with "I'm bored" and "What's there to eat?"...But I am looking forward to fun in the sun, at the river, at the coast, a trip to eastern WA & OR to visit friends and some annual camping trips. We also will have our annual Fireworks party again this year. We were debating on it and Andrew just can't stand the thought of no party to set off his homemade smoke bombs and his magnificent displays!

And more...