24 weeks: A trip to visit Uncle David

Today was a bit of a hard day. Reid has not been sleeping well the last two nights, I'm really not sure why. So I've been really tired. And Ruby has been a handful. I just keep praying for patience and energy to keep up with everything. Maybe I'll catch up with sleep and house chores some day.

I forgot to post last week about Ruby starting to say her R's. It's really cute. One day it was raining outside and she said, "Look at all that water." And since then she's said "r" at the end of words, and she's starting to say it in the middle of words too. She says words like "color" really clearly now.

Reid has been moving around a lot. He scoots a little bit on his back and loves rolling over. He's only done back to tummy a few times, mostly trying to get his paci that fell out.

 Ruby's really been into reading her books lately. She likes the alphabet and can recognize "R" "W" "O" and "X." I'm sure she could do more too, we just need to work on it. :)

 She has a new chore too, and has put the silverware away three times this week. :) She does such a good job, she gets every piece in the right place.

On Friday we drove down to Medford to visit my Uncle David who has a terminal brain tumor. I'm so glad we went. It was nice to talk with him for a little while and to be with my family. I'm so privileged to have such a close knit family. We have prayed around the clock for him, and we have a Facebook message going that keeps us all connected. It's really special. Uncle David ended up in the hospital on Saturday morning, so we got to see him there and give him a quick hug before we left after lunch. He had surgery that removed 90% of the tumor yesterday, so that's good news. He still has an uphill battle to try to get the rest of the tumor to shrink instead of grow. But our God is bigger than any brain tumor. He can heal, and that's what we're praying for.

First time in a back carry! I had to do all of the packing while Andy was at work on Friday so we could leave after lunch. This was the only way to possibly get all of that done around here. He did drool all down my shirt though.

We got down to Medford on Friday night for dinner. We went straight to Uncle David and Aunt Jenni's house. It was nice, because not everyone was there yet, and we got to visit with Uncle David for a little bit before the chaos. 

Reid and my Mom with David Daniel and Aunt Mary. I'm sure a picture like this exists somewhere of them with Carla and I. 

We slept in Lia's room and Ruby had her first night in a sleeping bag. Well, she was supposed to be in it. This is where she woke up.

 She did not like the flash! Hilarious.

 Reid loved this exersaucer at Aunt Cindy's house.

This is Ruby playing with the same toy at the same age. :)

 Mom did a puppet show with the girls.

 Lia and Ruby decided that they were pregnant. Then the whole rest of the trip (and even today) Ruby would stick out her tummy, and then grunt for a little bit and say, "I had my baby."

 Quin is so strong!

 Waiting to see Uncle David at the hospital.

 David Daniel and Reid, ages almost 9 months and 5 months.  These boys are going to be trouble in a few years.

 Carla and I with our boys.

 Ruby wanted to use this little potty at Aunt Jenni's house. So then we got home and ordered one for our bathroom too. We're going to work harder on potty training this week. 

 Helping me make grilled cheese sandwiches after church. The poor girl has still been sick with her cold, so she sat through first service with us (and did really well!) and then we came home instead of me helping out with middle school group. Also, she bumped her head, so she got a bandaid and put it on all by herself.

 Reid loves playing music with Daddy.

 Feet!

 Andy went to youth group on Sunday night, so Ruby and I played with the dominoes and trains. We made a house, grocery store, gas station, and a park, and the trains had fun going to all the different things. I think we played this for about an hour.

 On Monday I took Reid and went shopping for some much needed clothes while Andy stayed home with Ruby. It was nice to get out with only one kid.

 Reid on the move.

 Ruby hurt herself somehow, so she ran to her bedroom and put her blanket on her head and cried. I'm not sure where she learned that, but it sure was funny. Poor girl.

 She likes playing her matching games.

 He's been pretty hard to get down for naps lately. He sleeps really good on my chest after lunch (like for 2-3 hours), but his other naps are not so good.

 There's a picture of me like this when I'm little too. I just love her eyes.

 The Giants made it into the World Series again! So we went to the Butenschoen's house to watch the first game on Tuesday night. Ruby had fun playing with her friends, and she even kept her headband on.

 Eating some dessert. At least she only dripped on her jeans and not on the chair.

 Hanging out with Tyler.

 Her new pirate mask from Grandma Patty.

 It rained a lot this week, so we did some puddle jumping. She loves it.

 Ruby put a headband on him and gave him Lupe. I told my brother he's going to have to teach Reid how to put up with a big sister.

 He sits in his high chair really well now, and really loves putting everything in his mouth.

 I made some delicious butternut squash soup yesterday. It was so good. That's bacon, sour cream and apple slices on top.

 Ruby was painting with water colors and decided to paint her nails instead of the paper.

 While Reid napped on Daddy's chest.

 And she put paint on for lipstick too.

 This morning she got her own bowl of cereal ready all by herself (except for the milk). She likes a little bit of all of the different kinds of cereal, and yogurt, and bananas if we have them.

 Napping with Mommy.

 Reid has had a bad diaper rash for about a week now, and I can't get rid of it with desitin. So we're trying to do more naked time to let it air out.

 He's so cute.

 It's wet outside, so she rode her bike in the utility room.

 After Andy left for youth group the kids and I walked to Safeway. It was dark by the time we got back and Reid took a little nap. It was nice to get of the house for a little while.

Ruby trying out her new potty!