May

I remember thinking in November that it seemed like such a long time before we would actually be leaving NY, but it has come rather quickly. Not that I am upset by that, I am ready to be a whole family again, but there is some sadness as well.

May as a whole has been a good month. MOST importantly we added Ruby to our family. She is such a good baby and I just pray that will continue as we make our trek across the country. The day before Ruby was born, we sold our house. This was such a blessing! I truly appreciate all the prayers in our behalf--I really was concerned about how long it would take to sell our house. I don't know that we will close before we leave, but just knowing it is all in the process is great! I don't know the family who bought it, but apparently they too have a large family. I am so glad--this house and yard need a family.

We had Brian here for over a week when Ruby was born. Kash became even more attached to his dad and now tells me several times a day that he misses his dad. It was great to have him here and he was such a great help. I decided that I am my biggest problem sometimes--Brian was so willing to help (and he did SO much)--but I feel so obligated to do "my job" if I am home. I relented some, I was SO tired, but it is hard for me. Simply having Brian here is a great help, just having someone to "have my back". Like I said, I can't wait to be our whole family again.

I was so grateful to have Pamela come and stay with us for a week. It was so great to just have another adult here with me. My kids LOVE her and were so happy to have her here as well. She and Kash became fast friends and played outside quite a bit. It was sad to see her go, but we look forward to having her come visit us in TX.

I had a very nice Mother's Day. Brian BBQ'd some great steaks and some chicken, we had Pamela here with us and we had the Torreys over as well. The kids and Brian got me charms for my new fabulous charm bracelet and I loved them & a whole bunch of homemade cards, which are my very favorite kind! But I think my favorite gift was the single rose that Ben gave me. Brian took the kids shopping and one of their stops was the florist. Ben told Brian he wanted to buy me a rose with his own money. Brian tried to talk him out of it since he was already buying flowers and also when they asked how much a single rose would cost ($4--can you believe that?!!!). But Ben was determined, so he bought me a rose for Mother's Day. I still get a little choked up thinking about it and how sweet he was when he gave it to me with my breakfast in bed. I still have it sitting on my bookshelf in my room--and I am not one to hang on to dead flowers. But each time I look at that flower, I see Ben and his beautiful blue eyes with all the expression he has a hard time verbalizing. In that moment, I felt like maybe I was doing alright as a mom and I knew Ben loved me. So...it was a GREAT Mother's Day!

The month has literally flown by. I can hardly believe that Ruby will officially be one month old tomorrow. We have lots to do in the next couple of weeks and I don't get so excited about all of that, but I do get excited to get to UT to see our family and hopefully some friends along the way. We can't wait to go to ID and see the much talked about Island Park and Ben is very excited to actually meet his Gpa Bob. We have some great stops to make along the way and hopefully we can enjoy this long road trip we are about to make!

Jake's concert

Jake had his spring chorus concert last night. Wouldn't you know that Ruby was great right up until Jake's solo and then she started getting a bit fussy. So my attempt to record Jake's solo is a bit shorter than I intended. He did great though, but is mostly excited he is done with chorus!

Those darn bees!

Today Kash was stung by a bee. A band-aid and Bob the Builder seemed to fix things. A while later I was changing Ruby's diaper and Kash was helping. I said, "Last job for you, Kash, go throw away the diaper." He looked at me so seriously and said, "I can't, Mom. I am naughty." I asked why he was naughty and just as seriously he responded, "The bee sting made me naughty." I think that darn bee sting is going to get him into a lot of trouble today and be his greatest excuse for a while. I love this little 3-year-old! He puts lots of smiles on the crazed mom's face! I just wish I could come up with the brilliant excuses he does! Even if people didn't believe me, they would let me off the hook for just being so darn clever!

Five Kids--Holy Cow!

I thought I would take a picture of all the kids today since my camera has been focused on just Ruby the past couple of weeks. After I took the picture and then put it on the computer, I took a look at it and just thought, "HOLY COW! They are all mine!" I felt a bit overwhelmed for a moment, but I just love them all so much! They all love Ruby so much--Sally & Ben cannot kiss her enough--Ben woke her up today with his kisses. Not a happy Jen at that moment. Pamela left today, we were all sad to see her go. She was Kash's entertainment all week and then once the kids got home from school she kept them all busy. We love Pamela! Anyway, we are still surviving!

Wahoo, Ruby!!!

We had Ruby's check-up today and she weighs 9 lbs 3 oz. I am so relieved!!! She gained almost a pound in one week--go, girl! She is doing great and I am just glad to know she is gaining weight and is a healthy little girl. I wish I could get a wahoo for gaining all the weight I have, but my wahoo will come with the loss of a few more lbs! All is well at the Owens house tonight--big pajama party plans--always good! Pizza guy should be here soon--even better--no dinner to fix!

Just about 2 weeks

Ruby is doing great. I thought I should update everyone. She is a sleeper though and the first week we had trouble getting her to wake up enough to eat. At her first appt. with the dr. she had lost 2 more ounces. She has another appt. tomorrow just to make sure she is gaining weight--I am keeping my fingers crossed. She is a sweet little girl and we just love her! I never thought Jake and Ben had so many kisses to give! Kash still calls her Binga, but now it is Binga Ruby. Sally is very sure that she waves to us and all her little grunts are actually words. So I am thinking we must have a genius on our hands! Not only is she super cute and sweet--she will be at Harvard by age 10! It was hard to have Brian go back to CA after he had been here for over a week, but we are thrilled that Pamela is here visiting--she has been a tremendous help just playing with the kids--especially Kash! Other than being a bit tired, I am really feeling good. More later, I am sure!

Ruby T.

I should be taking a nap--but I am too excited to share more of Ruby with everyone! She is doing really well, although I think she is looking just a bit yellowish. I will have to get her in the sun the next couple of days for sure. But she is is truly a "jewel"! The kids all love her and it is just nice to be home.

I won't go into lots of details, but everything really went well with the delivery. The dr. started the induction around 8:30 am and she was born at 1:36 pm, really fast considering the fact that is was an induction and it could have taken forever!

Kash "named" the baby a few months ago and has been calling her "Binga". I thought it would go away when she came, but so far he is still calling her Binga. A few times times he has called her Ruby, but he is pretty set with Binga--darn cute if you ask me!

As for her "real" name...Ruby Teza...While I was in college, I met an elderly woman who I really grew to love, her name was Ruby and I have always like it. Our Ruby's middle name is Teza after my grandma. According to my mom, my grandma didn't like her name, but we still decided to go with it because I think my Grandma Teza was one of the world's greatest grandmas. I would take little cakes that I had made to her house and she would have special tea parties for the two of us. She would let us stay up late and give us all kinds of good food when we stayed at her house. She played games with us and cheated so we would always win (made my Grandpa mad, but he would always laugh). My Grandma Teza would have the best sleep overs--and when we woke up she would fix the best breakfast after we had crawled in bed with her to watch "The Price is Right". Even after I was older, I always liked sleeping over at my grandparent's house. I took my friends there and never thought twice about it being inconvenient because my Grandma made me and whoever I brought with me feel so important. She really was one of the best! So although she may not have liked her name, I loved her. Ruby might have quite a name to live up to, but I think she can do it!

We love our little Ruby and we are just thrilled she is here!