I love this time of year, not to mention Halloween. We bought a costume for Ruby in August, I hope it still fits. We have been busy with work, running errands and playing with Ruby. Our lives seem so full.
We decorated for Halloween this past weekend. Here are some pics of our little pumpkin.
Once again we are on the look out for a new babysitter. We found out this week that Stephanie was promoted at her other job and will leave mid October. Although, we think her sister may be a candidate for the job. This has been very frustrating for us. The transition period between sitters is tough on Ruby 
. I think the most challenging part of parenthood (so far) has been the caregiver issue .
Anyway, we had a great time at Ian’s 4th birthday party. This was the first time that Ruby was able to ride on the swings. She wasn’t so sure at first but seemed to enjoy it once she got the hang of it.
This weekend we headed out to Oak Glen for the yearly Fall apple picking. This has been our second trip in one week. We have a great picture of Ruby grubbing on a Rome Beauty apple. She loved the banjo playing and was clapping her hands and laughing. I wish we caught it on video.
This is the link to Ruby swinging.
Ruby finally pushed those two lower teeth out. Whew! We are not use to having such a fussy baby but if this is as bad as it gets, we will take it! I love this picture of Ruby with Erin. She had my sunglasses in her hand and was so excited to hold them. Funny girl.
Hello all.
It is so H-O-T in Redlands! Yikes!!! We spent the long weekend running errands, having a bonfire at Capistrano beach with the Freedain’s and then a BBQ with the Lee’s on Labor Day.
Busy as usual……
We think Ruby is teething, she has all the typical signs. It would make things much easier if she would cooperate and take her Tylenol 
Our new babysitter, Stephanie, starts next week. Thank you Parker for the referral.
Our wonderful babysitter is heading back to college. We will miss her but we wish her the best of luck
oxoxoxoxoxo
We had such a great time in Chicago visiting family and meeting ones for the first time. We would have liked to have had more time to hang out and chit-chat with everyone but we didn’t have enough time. I am so glad we had this get together. Thanks to Dorothy, Sean, Ian, and Maggie for planning the events and thanks to Uncle Larry and Jim for cooking at the reunion. (Not to miss anyone else… but I appreciate all the work everyone did that helped make this happen.) 
I’m looking for a pic of Dan McLaughlin and his family (yes, we look like brothers in that pic) and a non-blurry pic of Tek, Ian, and Leslie.
Please let me know if I have someone’s name wrong.
We have a few more pics from the trip which I will put up later on. (No need to overwhelm y’all…)
;)
Also, if you would like a high-resolution picture so you can print it for yourself, please let me
know and I will get it (or them) to you.
-Matt
July has been really busy for us. Ruby had a bunch of “first” experiences. This included a trip to Chicago, a wedding, hanging out at Huntington Beach and having a babysitter stay with her part-time.
The awesome babysitter is Joleen. She makes going back to work a bit easier for Michelle, but we will have to find someone to take her place because she goes back to Sacramento State soon We will MISS her!
We are still working on posting the Chicago pics. Per Matt we have about 344. Thank goodness for digital.
We bought this blow up pool at Target (along with the fancy bathing suit) for the scorching summer in Redlands. Initially, Ruby was not so sure about it but eventually adapted to the idea of being in a big bathtub. We also had her taste her first solid foods…..Sweet potatoes and Papa Guy’s avocados. Yum! She has developed quite the palate…..mashed up bananas, applesauce and carrots are her favorites so far.
Matt celebrated his first fathers day at home. We invited Papa Guy over for some BBQ. The ceramic handprints showed up in the mail just in time for Father’s Day.
Notice the iDad t-shirt 