No, she's not ours, although she's so cute I wish she were.
My sister Adrienne had her little girl two weeks early.
Introducing ...
So my little lady turned TWO yesterday! Unbelievable. It feels like I was just posting about her first birthday and now here we are. Here's a little recap of my sweet little girl's journey in this world so far:
38 weeks and 6 day old fetus, just hours before her grand entrance
1 day old, basically the cutest thing you've ever seen
6 months old, still the cutest thing you've ever seen
1 year old, definitely the cutest thing you've ever seen (even without hair, thank you very much)
And today (still cute even though she's finally got some hair but refuses to let me do anything with it)
Here's the rundown of the big day:
Pigging out on a birthday doughnut (she's so much like me it's scary)
Trying to shake off the birthday nap/coma (not to mention the wicked case of bedhead)
Employing her big guns to really get into the meat of that present!
Obviously, the exertion was well worth it in the end
My humble efforts 
Blow, Ruby, blow!!
There are so many things I love about my girl. She is so funny and quirky, and she knows it. There is a big side to her though that is G-R-O-U-C-H-Y and we're not afraid to admit it. She is my little grouchy girl but for whatever reason, perhaps it's because she's mine (just a hunch), it makes her that much more endearing to me.
We love our little Ruby Jane and can't imagine our life without her!
Yes, for one more day anyway. Here's what went down in Montana:
Proudly displaying our freshly-carved, super traditional jack-o-lanterns (Henry insisted on wearing his costume during the festive activity)
At the ward trunk-or-treat
Ruby's super scary Halloween face
Ruby's first real trick-or-treating door of all time (for being a shy lady, she sure wasn't shy about trying to bust into people's houses once they opened the door)
We had unseasonably warm temps this year so we couldn't bring ourselves to stop trick-or-treating because it felt so great to be outside. Being people who don't enjoy dressing up, this is definitely one of those times where Scott and I had such a great time simply because our kids were unbelievably excited about the whole process. We had a great Halloween!
Yesterday was Henry's Halloween party at preschool. Of course as the only boy in the group, I knew his costume would probably be different than all the little girls.
Turns out, it was pretty different. It did, however, fill a role that all those little princesses were missing ...
Well, it's only happened like once or twice before and I guess there's a slight possibility of it happening again sometime in the next millennia but I was WRONG and Scott was RIGHT ....
People. Something big is going down. I'm 20 weeks pregnant, which not only means my "kumquat" has grown a great deal in size but also that we find out what we're having today! Hooray.
So I'll let you in on a little secret:
Today is my little brother Blair's birthday. By turning 27, he has successfully made me feel old. Thanks for nothing.
There are a few reasons, however, why I will forgive him for this major trespass against me.
And they are (in no particular order):
He is crazy. Seriously, he makes me laugh so hard. Between his spot-on impersonations of random people (B-rad from our cruise) and random things in life (our Grandma Hazel's golf swing), he can get us rolling on the floor in no time.
He married one of the cutest, sweetest gals I know. We love Kim and are so glad she chose Blair (although, really, how could she not?).
He is a GREAT uncle. I know those of us who have kids in our family feel so grateful for the relationship both Blair and Kim have with our kids. They truly are the fun couple and the kids flock to them. I am so grateful for what a sweet uncle Blair is to my kids. 
Blair, you truly are one of my most favorite people in the world and I am so grateful you're my brother.
We love you!
I looked out my front window this morning to see this:
Okay, so that's not exactly the quaint little view from my front window (it's actually the Norsey Wood in the UK but pretty, right?) and we didn't exactly get that much snow (but it would be cool, right?).
But it's snowing! Has been snowing lightly all day!
Usually I'm not a big fan of snow coming so early but I am this year because that means the seasons are changing and changing seasons means the bun in the oven is one season closer to being born! Wahoo! But seriously, if I had to live through one more Indian Summer day of beautiful temps in the 70s I was going to kill myself.
There's something about the first snowfall that makes me want to do crazy things. And Henry too, apparently. After staring at it out the window, he turned to me and said, "Mama, we need to put away this Halloween stuff and get out our Christmas decorations."
I think he's onto something.
Just don't tell Scott, he's weird about putting up Christmas decorations in early October. Sometimes I just don't get him.
We spent a glorious General Conference weekend last weekend in Yellowstone Park and then at the cabin. I love the cabin. How could you not when it looks like this? 
Watching the wildlife
Overlook of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Watching two "unique" sisters gazing at the waterfall in an inappropriate embrace
(Is it mere coincidence that Kate asked me this weekend if I thought they were weird?) 
Enjoying the overlook with my original baby
Watching Old Faithful (which, by the way, is becoming less and less faithful. What is happening to this world when even Old Faithful starts letting us down?! First the economy and now the geyser!)
Helping Grampy Hal stain the deck
(Henry and his Grandpa call each other "Good Helper Guys." Henry becomes Hal's shadow whenever there is work to be done around the cabin.)
Enjoying Disney's pure digital magic inside while it rains outside
Just melting my heart, chapped lips and all
Unbelievable Fall colors
(I told Scott on the beautiful drive home that the colors of Fall prove God's existence. If it were up to simple nature and evolution, the leaves would just turn brown, die, and fall off. But of course God could do much better than that. I'm so grateful that God thought of making our Earth more beautiful, even when things have to die.)
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Today I was running errands with Ruby, just trying to kill time until Henry's preschool let out.
At 10:55 a.m., I felt the need for some nourishment and coincidentally happened to be passing McDonald's. I'm usually not a big fan of Micky Dees but I needed SOMETHING. So Ruby and I made a quick stop through the drive-thru, ordered a medium Diet Coke (it's slowly sounding more appealing to me -- I'm comin' back to my old self!) and cinnamon roll (mmmm) and as we're pulling out, I heard it ... a little voice from the back seat saying,
"I wanna fench fie!"
How is it that my not even two year-old daughter has gotten so accustomed to drive-thrus and their evil purpose? How is it that there are some people in this world who only feed their children organic foods and then there are others, who shall remain nameless, whose 22 month old kids recognize drive thrus and beg for french fries?
Look at them! They're darling!
I seriously started wondering today, am I failing them? I don't mean to be all dramatic. I'm not going to draw a juxtaposition between feeding my kids fast food and giving them cigarettes but stilll ... I can't help but wonder ....
Yesterday was Henry's 4th birthday.
I could easily write a very long list of why I love him so much but I have one main reason,
Anyone who knows my husband well knows that the boy can NOT sit still. I, on the other hand, feel perfectly fine sitting (or lying) still for hours at a time.
So these days, what with my "delicate"condition and all, Scott has taken to getting both kids (and dog) out of the house and into the great outdoors.
Of course one of the main activities is fishing.
Henry, reeling in a big one in Yellowstone Park.
Fishing and wading on another outing. 
Even when I try and put the kibosh on his plans, Scott adapts. When I said they couldn't go camping a couple of weeks ago because it was too late and I didn't want them to go far away, he was not to be deterred. Here they are camping in our backyard:
(No, Ruby was not invited for the actual sleeping part of this camp out. Lucky her, she was completely unaware upstairs in her comfy crib of the 5 a.m. crawl into the house when Henry peed his pants and had to come in for dry clothes and a warm bed. Also, please note the mountain man beard Scott grew for Alaska, which has since been remedied. )
Hanging out at Ruby Reservoir.
Throwing rocks (who knew Hen had such a mean arm?).
