Happy Easter from Australia! It has been a great day here. We went to Rachel and Matt’s church, and Ruby had fun in kid’s church–she especially loved the playground.
After church Ruby loved receiving her Easter basket from Uncle Matt and Auntie Rachel.
After a bit of a tough night (Ruby woke up at 1:45 wanting to play, but she eventually fell back asleep until 7), we had a nice second day in Australia. This morning we went grocery shopping and this evening we had a lovely dinner with friends of Rachel and Matt as well as Matt’s wonderful parents. Ruby took a very normal nap this afternoon and went to bed just before 9, so I am praying that she sleeps through the night and is officially on Brisbane time tomorrow.
I take pictures of Ruby fairly obsessively but rarely capture her genuine smile and spirit as well as Rachel did with these two:
I also just love this sweet picture of Ruby and her beloved Uncle Matt:
Here is a silly one of Ruby and Rachel at the fruit and veggie groce
We made it to Australia safe and sound after an unexpectedly pleasant 14 hour flight. Ruby started off screaming before takeoff and I could sense the apprehension of the people around us, but she nursed through takeoff and promptly fell asleep. She actually stayed asleep while Mom and I settled her into her makeshift bed, and slept for about six hours straight–hooray!
Ruby did fuss a little off and on but was pretty good for the rest of the flight–much better than I expected from an over active barely-two-year-old. She did have a major meltdown while in line at customs, but the friendly Aussie customs official ushered us to the front of a very long line as a result. Excellent.
Rachel and Matt have of course made us feel right at home immediately, and Ruby just adores both of them. Here she is helping fix lunch:
We just returned from a lovely walk where Auntie Rachel got to hone her stroller-pushing skills…
…and Ruby got to play at a playground that is conveniently located right by the house.
Ruby is now finally napping after a very long day and night. We all wish we had just a fraction of her energy!
We are in LAX right now, minutes from boarding our flight to Australia and one hour from takeoff. Ruby has been really great, but she is definitely a sleepy baby.
I was so thrilled to spend some time with my dear friend Cynthia and her sweet daughter Lily today. We tried to get some good pictures of the girls together, but this over-enthusiastic hug and little stand-off were the best I got:
This evening the family met up at Stone Brewery (aka Matty’s favorite place ever–we missed him!) for dinner. Ruby loved looking at the fishies in the koi pond, and luckily Auntie Elise and her boyfriend Michael kept a close eye on her so she wouldn’t jump in and swim with them:
Ruby also really enjoyed her delicious macaroni and cheese:
We had a fabulous day hanging out with Elise and Michael, and Adam after he got off of work. This afternoon we went to a gorgeous park in Solana Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean so that we could all enjoy the weather and Ruby could burn off some of her endless energy. She has really been a trooper so far and I am just amazed at how all the travel and the time change haven’t slowed her down one bit.
After a lovely and low-key 31st birthday yesterday, Ruby and I left on our big California/Australia adventure this afternoon. Ruby flew across the country a dozen times in her first year but has barely flown this year so I was a bit apprehensive about this whole undertaking. She actually did pretty well, which I didn’t realize until the people who sat across the aisle mentioned how good she was at the end of the six hour flight. I think that we are always hardest on our own kids. I know that it was really hard for her to try and sit still for so long, so all in all I will call it a success. Now to conquer the 14 hour flight to Brisbane on Wednesday….
When we finally got to San Diego my parents met us at the airport and we all headed up to Elise’s house for dinner (delicious) and to meet her boyfriend (two thumbs up). It was so nice to hang out and catch up with her and Adam, and Ruby was thrilled to reunite with her aunt and uncle, and Elise’s horse Charlie.
As of yesterday I am officially in my third trimester! Woohoo! The next three months are going to be super busy so the time should fly by, just like the first two trimesters have.
Matty took this picture of me tonight before I went to the Alexandria Commission for Women’s Salute to Women Awards Banquet. My Commonwealth Republican Women’s Club was a major sponsor of the banquet and one of our members received an award. I am pretty sure that out of the hundreds of people who attended we were the only Republicans, which ended up being nice because former Governor Jim Gilmore sat at our table. My family actually campaigned to elect him Attorney General back in 1993, along with George Allen for Governor and Michael Farris for Lieutenant Governor. That was my first foray into politics, and it was fun to talk to Jim 20 years later. He gave me a pin as thanks for my work back then, at the age of eleven.
For a quick Ruby fix here is our darling girl at Target today, eating the cherry Chapstick that she fished out of my purse. I am letting her because she is being quiet and well-behaved. Ah parenthood.
Our sweet Ruby turned two today. I cannot believe how quickly time is flying. She is so smart and just delightful. Every day she amazes us with new words and phrases, and her sentence structure is really improving. Ruby enjoys her friends and loves babies–she actually always wants me to hold the babies, which I think is a very good thing.
We are loving watching Ruby grow up and are so excited to experience this next year with her!
Ruby’s second birthday is tomorrow so I baked some red velvet cupcakes to share with her friends today.
It is hard to believe that two years ago today I was diagnosed with preeclampsia and induced, assuming we would have a baby by the morning. Well it was a very long night and whole other day before we finally got to meet our precious angel. Ruby is such a sweetie–today when some of our friends were leaving she yelled “bye! Thanks coming guys!”
Loudmouth Mommy 