Earth Day and Stuff.

It's been a crazy week in the Hill household. Jason has been working extra long hours and Ruby and I have had a full social calendar. It's nice to be back home and into our routine. Today was the Oak Ridge Earth Day Festival, so we went and walked around and had a blast. Ruby met one of the K-9 officers and a miniature horse (boy was she in heaven). And I decided to donate blood since I hadn't done that in awhile.

Also, Jason and I were able to go on a date last night. We went out for dinner and then bowling for one of my friend's surprise birthday party. Ruby was with a new babysitter -- a woman in town who does babysitting and daycare has a night once a month where parents can bring their kids from 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. and she will do an art project, feed them dinner and play (all for $15)! Ruby did really well with this and I think it helped that she knew one of the other little girls there.

In "Ruby news" she has started to prefer walking over crawling. And boy does she talk! She attempts to make an elephant noise, can bark like a dog, and meow like a cat -- she even started to make the monkey noise. She also says "hot" (when near the stove), "ball." She says "mmmm" when putting food in her mouth and "oooooh" when looking at something with a bright color. And, she will put a "phone" to her ear and say hello!

Enjoy the pictures.

Ruby with "Mooney" a miniature horse.

Ruby and the K-9 Cop.

Ruby and Daddy at the Earth Day Festival.

Visiting an owl at the Earth Day Festival.

Needed a bath after having raspberries.

Ruby after eating some black raspberries.

Update

Ruby and I leave Omaha in the morning, meet up with Jason in Atlanta, and will return home in the late afternoon. It's been a fun week for all of us. From what I've heard from Jason, he's learned a lot at his conference and got to see a little bit of the city.

I found out today that I did not pass the Tennessee bar exam. And, while that really sucks, I've decided not to stress too much about it -- my dream job would be working with children in the court system (not necessarily as their attorney) but maybe in the Department of Children's Services. So, for that I don't need to be a licensed attorney. For now, though, I am going to enjoy being a stay at home mom.

I think Ruby had fun playing with her grandparents. By the end of the week she went willingly to both her grandma and grandpa -- and basically became her grandmother's best friend. She would follow her around the house, and fuss if she got out of sight. Ruby also made friends with my parents' three kitties. We now say "hi kitty" every time one is near.

No pictures for this post. Next week we'll get back to life as usual and probably have some more pictures and video of Ruby walking up a storm!

Trip to Omaha

Ruby and I have been spending the week in Omaha because Jason is at a conference in California. So far there is no news on my bar results ... but we've been having a great time. Ruby is trying all sorts of new foods, we went to the Strategic Air and Space Museum, the zoo, and Jason's mom came out for a visit.

And, while we've been here, Ruby has really gotten a hang of walking. So far she has shown off this talent to everyone, except her father!

Some bad news about our planned trip to Iowa in May -- we've had to cancel it. Jason has been swamped at work and can't really afford to take time off right now. We'll hopefully be up for a visit later in the summer.

But, check out these pictures ... we're having a blast!

Ruby found the kitty (bobcat) statue.

Chillin with the monkey

Have to pet the goat "gentle"

Ruby just after the monkey ran by banging on the glass.

"Hi, monkey"

Vegging.

Figured out the walking thing!

A missle just my size!

Flying.

Cool museum.

I think I'll have some mustard.

Will Walk for Food

Ruby is really starting to get the hang of walking. She'll actually walk quite a distance if you're holding a cracker in front of her face! (Mean, I know, but I do let her have the cracker when she sits down). I'm trying to get a video of this feat, but it's hard to hold a cracker and a video camera and get her to walk at the same time.

Other than that, today was an indoor kind of day. Let me tell you, we don't need SNOW here in Tennessee ... you can take it back now! Enjoy the pictures!

Our adventure into self-feeding mashed potatoes.

Ruby and Connor ... glad I don't have twins ... they're a heavy pair!

Ruby was in a bit of a mood and decided to remove all of her diapers from the diaper stacker.