To the zoo...

This past weekend we headed to the zoo with Ada, Aunt Toni and Grammy. We started off visiting the baby fl amigos...they were so cute & they still had white feathers! The shrimp the fl amigos eat are what turn them pink or orangish. These babies haven't had their fill of shrimp just yet...



Then we headed over to the farm. The last time we went to the zoo we wanted Ada to ride the ponies, but they asked her age and we very honestly told them she was only one. This time we were ready...it helps that Ada looks older than she actually is...





However, we still weren't successful...Grumpy is going to have to start working on her horse back riding skills!



We also visited the goats...everyone else wanted pictures of the better looking goat, but I wanted one of this fellow...



Next was the giraffes...this friendly fellow was ready to see Ruth Ann...she was wearing her giraffe outfit, so he must have know she was a friend, but it didn't hurt that we had food to feed him!





And my favorite...the meerkats, they're so cute and the exhibit is very kid friendly!



And we did a little posing with Grammy...this was just after we tried to get Ada to ride the ponies, so she didn't really trust us to put her on anything, breathing or not...



But the biggest event of the day was that Ruth Ann made it through the zoo & she was still awake when we exited! This is the first time she has made it through a zoo trip awake the entire time...my baby is getting so big!

I heart pets!

I've always loved pets, but haven't always had pets around to love and to be loved by. My first cat was a Ernie. My only memories of Ernie are in pictures, so anything I know about Ernie has come to me via stories from my mom or grandma. My Grandma...whom Ruth Ann is named after...loved cats. I've said before that Arch should really blame her for my love of cats because I know she instilled this in me from a very young age. She gave me my very first cat...the above mentioned, Ernie. He was a beautiful white longed haired kitten and I very nearly loved him to death...literally. I'm told that I would take himwith me into the bath tub and throw him downstairs...so because my Grandma loved cats, she rescued Ernie and I didn't have another pet until I was 5 years old when my Grandma gave me my second cat...Precious. Several other cats followed, all of whom I have loved deeply and at times get a little teary when I think of them.

We didn't have a lot of dogs growing up until I was in the 6th grade and we moved to "The Country". We then had a long line of beagles who seemed to run away or end up on the highway near our house. That breed has a hard time looking out for where they're going when they're following their noses so intently. Now I have Shelby...who is on an extended vacation at my parents house until Ruth Ann is walking so I don't spend all my time with her cleaning dog hair off of her legs and fishing it out of her mouth...gross, I know. Griff (or Griffy Dog as we like to call him) lives outside so he continues to reside at our home.

I love watching Ruth Ann interact with them and am so glad that she's going to alway have memories of loving her cats and dogs. Here she is playing with her pets this week...



Doesn't it look like she's being so sweet to Lacie Lou...but wait for it...



Gotcha! I can't help but notice the look of pleasure on Ruth Ann's face as she tries to remove Lacie's left ear. We'll work on this!



Judging by how she treats Lacie, I'm not sure who the glass is really keeping safe.

Later that night at bath time, this is where I found Lacie...



She may have to find a better spot to hide when Ruth Ann gets a little bit older.

Ruth Ann's tour of the South East

I have officially awarded Ruth Ann the title of "World's Best Baby". To all my friends of small children, please don't be offended...I'm sure all your kids are fabulous too, however, when you read what I put Ruth Ann through this weekend, you too will agree with her latest title.

This past weekend my cousin Lynn got married in Nashville. Lynn announced her engagement to Mario earlier this summer and immediately my mom and I knew we wanted to be there. My mom had suggested we fly, however, the flight that landed on the Hudson's River had just happened and thoughts of flying with an infant scared me to death. I also have a friend who use to drive to Nashville on occasion and she didn't seem to make the drive seem too bad...FYI...Nashville is very far away from Columbia and from hence forth I will be flying to and from Nashville.

We started out Friday morning and head to Nashville via the mountains of North Carolina. Ruth Ann peacefully slept in the backseat and we barely heard a peep out of her all day...8 hours in the car. We made stops for diaper changes, bottles and feedings, but when she was in the car she was mostly sleeping or gazing out the windows. We finally rolled into Nashville around 6pm and headed to dinner with the Becker family. Since Ruth Ann had spent the vast majority of her day snoozing she was completely pleasant while we dined on Mexican food at Mario's favorite restaurant.

The hotel we stayed in was very close to the Grand Ole Opry, so Saturday after we did a little shopping we took a tour of the Opry. We didn't spot any country music celebs...the closest we got to country music royalty was our tour guide whose father writes music with Keith Urban...not too impressive. What I thought was impressive was Ruth Ann trying out her own vocal stylings in front of the Opry.



Here are some other pictures from the Opry...







Ruth Ann got a chance to meet some of her cousins while we were in Nashville. My cousin Jenny has 2 daughters who were fantastic babysitters when I needed an extra set of arms to hold Ruth Ann. Here she is with Kasey...



And here's Kasey's older sister Tayler...



Not a great picture of Ruth Ann, but a good one of Tayler.

Then Sunday was the big wedding. We all headed over to Lynn's house to help decorate of the reception which was being hosted by Lynn's neighbor. Here's some of the workers in action...


(This is my dad's cousin, Pat, taping down table clothes.)


(This is my Uncle Eddie supervising the work of his son-in-law, Tony.)


(This is my dad and my Uncle JR...I guess you could say their monitoring the work being done)



Sadly, all these chairs would never hold guests, the tables would never hold dinner plates and the touches would never burn...we got stuck in the middle of a terrible storm with tornado watches and all. So the party moved in doors...however, Ruth Ann was experiencing a little bit of a tummy ache so we didn't stay at the reception for long. Here are the 2 pictures I got from the reception...





So my mom, Kasey and I all headed back to the hotel with Ruth Ann for a slumber party...





While we were in Nashville I talked to my friend Mandy who lives in Huntsville, Al. She said we were just an hour and half away from her so we decided to go back home via Alabama to stop in to visit the Hiller family.




(Ruth Ann's sweet college roommate...Julianna)



Julianna showed Ruth Ann how to play with this toy.









Then we got back in the car to complete the longest leg of our journey...8 hours later we rolled into our driveway. Of course that means we stopped for lunch, dinner and bottle breaks...but all the while Ruth Ann slept peacefully in her car seat or looked out the window. So I think I've presented sufficient evidence to prove my claim that Ruth Ann has earned her title of world's best baby. If anyone wants to challenge her title I'll be happy to hear your argument...however, it will take a lot to take this away from her!

9 months old...

...and ready be to see the Auburn Tigers play! I can't believe Ruth Ann is 9 months old and that football season kicks off this week. I've already had a talk with Ruth Ann and warned her that her first football season may be the toughest year to be an Auburn Tiger...win or lose at least she'll look cute watching those Auburn Tigers!



It's hard to believe Ruth Ann is just 3 months away from her 1st birthday. Here are Ruth Ann's accomplishments at 9 months...

~crawling...much to quickly for us to keep her out of trouble
~babbling a lot ("mama", "dada", "bwah", "nini", "titi", & "ha")
~clapping
~pulling up to her knees
~playing peek-a-boo or as we like to call it "Where's Ruth Ann??"
~eating puffs, but hates stage 3 foods...they trigger a severe gag reflex

We're heading to the doctor tomorrow so I'll have stats to post later in the day. Until then here are some more pictures of my tiny tiger! Don't worry USC friends, she has a yard bird...oops, I mean gamecock...shirt to wear on Thursday!





Okay, so I may be reading into this, but I think Ruth Ann is attempting to say "WARRRRRR Eagle, Hey!"

Birthday Party...Round 2

This past Sunday we celebrated our friend Christopher's 1st birthday...I would love to direct you to his mother's blog at this point, but Auralee has dragged her feet about becoming a member of the "Blog Nation". If you know Auralee please encourage her to blog and blog regularly! Anyway, back to the party...Christopher is a very popular little guy so there was a house full of people...which means there was a mountain of gifts....



And every 1yr needs a little somethin'somethin' for Ralph Lauren....



This was a really cute polo shirt with his monogram stiched in...perfect for little Christopher because his Daddy has sworn off all John Johns after one year of age...he's a Yankee, so he doesn't have an appreciation for Southern children's attire. I'm hoping his mom will bend the rules and we'll see Christopher in some more John Johns.

And much like our first round of partys, Momma opened gifts and Dad held the birthday boy.



But I think Christopher was monitoring the present opening...



And then doing a little quality control to make sure the toys were as fabulous as they appeared to be...



Ruth Ann caught up with her friend Savannah. This was the first time they had seen each other since they were newborns.



Savannah appears to be asking Ruth Ann "What are you yelling about??"



Betsy cheesed it up for me as usual...



All in all it was a fun afternoon. Our next friend to have a birthday is Mason...we'll be celebrating the big 0-2 in just 2 weeks!

Fishy Face

I think Ruth Ann's taste buds are coming alive. Much like her Momma, her Daddy and her brother, Ruth Ann is an eater. I had not found a fruit or veggie that she would turn her nose up to. However, in the last few weeks I think her "sour" taste buds are waking up. Here's her reaction to a fruit....





So cute!!