Bug-a-boo

One year and four months ago we brought home this sweet baby boy. His official name is Lincoln Matthew, but we are those kind of annoying parents that actually end up calling their children some weird pet name. I don't know how we got to be those parents! Ruby is used to all of her pet names, so I wanted to give some aforethought to baby brother's even before he was born. Most of Ruby's names stem from "pook-a-loo" (I am so embarrassed just writing that out, looks and sounds ridiculous!). So, I wanted something kinda rhym-y, match-y! Bug-a-boo fit the bill. Well bugs/buggy and many other names I won't mention as I am already thinking of retracting this whole post- turned ONE YEAR OLD! I promise we really did celebrate on his birthday.... I miss a lot of things already, like the angelic sweetness that I could gaze at anytime, because he slept in a cradle right next to the bed. Now I have to sneak into his room, which doesn't happen much because his old door sticks and creeks so badly.

He was a finger, fist, wrist sucker for a few months. He never took to a pacifier, but it was so cute how he would try to stuff any and all of the above into his mouth.

Ruby still overwhelms him with attention, but he was so innocently unaware at first and never protested! Even with toys layered up to his chin!

I already miss some of the cute little clothes. Sure, boys clothes are not as fun as girls, we all know that. But, it is fun to have difference in our home! (grammy made the cute number shown above)

His personality is so strong, so sweet, so playful, so mischievous in a good way- and it was such fun to see it develop. It still is actually. As I said above, he never took to a pacifier, but he is known to carry any number of things around in his mouth- animals, balls, Ruby's tube of lip gloss- and inevitably leaves a trail of drool behind him! lovely

He got the celebratory number pancake and got a big kick out of it- look at how he's pointing to it!

A fabulous first cake complete with a birthday crown! He devoured it and made really cute "um-yum-num-num" boy noises too.

We love you so much Linc! We can't gush enough about our delight at being blessed with you in our family! Though I miss the days that have passed, I eagerly expect to be thrilled with each new day I get to spend with you. P.S. your sister would like to tell you that she is so glad to have a little brother and loves you so much (she really does, it is amazing how much she does)

We Are Adopting

For those of you who don't already know-

WE ARE ADOPTING!

We are in the paperwork, home study, fundraising phase of bringing home our daughter from Ethiopia! I wanted to interrupt the "regularly scheduled" posts to point you to our adoption blog at www.minusoneorphan.blogspot.com

- the link is also in the right margin from here on out. And if you head over this week, I've actually got a giveaway- like I'm foreal blogger or something! Oh, and I'll just be honest, I'd love it if you'd "follow" by hitting that button in the margin of the minus one orphan blog, it's weird how encouraging it is to see that people are actually following our journey, and the encouragement gives me renewed vigor when those days of "I must be crazy" hit! We covet your prayers and so my blog will be updated more frequently than this one to give specific ways you can be praying and if you feel so led, donating or participating in our fundraisers. We are beyond excited and just like any other parents expecting a child, just love sharing it all!

Ruby's White Dress

Now these pictures are really hard for me to post unedited! But, true to my word, I am trying to just catch up to the current date and activities! This one is actually out of order, because on New Year's Weekend some student's with RUF got married. Ruby was the flower girl and Jason conducted the ceremony. Can't believe I didn't get any with Jason, but, clearly, my attention was on Ruby. I knew Jason wouldn't muss his clothes, make weird faces, or generally make a spectacle of himself. Now, Ruby, that's another story. She is a very good girl, you just don't know what you're gonna get when you put a four year old in a white dress, with a basket full of her favorite thing-flowers, in front of a room full of people and ask her to walk down a long aisle at a certain pace then stand there even for a short period of time.

She did it all wonderfully! I think she was in awe of the whole thing, she'd only seen weddings on her Disney princess movies! Oh, the marvel on her face, and the good it did to remind of the wonder of this whole thing called marriage that starts with one special day. Ruby thought her dress was pretty great, but when the bride put on her dress, Ruby exclaimed, "mommy, she gets to wear the BIG white dress and be the bride!" I think I better start saving now!

It was a gorgeous day, with soft fluffy snowflakes coming down all day. The toughest part was her hair. We should've practiced more! We ended up curling it like three times and it still didn't maintain the curl! She got tired of pictures so the smile is forced and the body language says enough is enough! I still think she was the most gorgeous girl ever....

...and managed to maintain her sense of humor! She is one crazy lady in a white dress!

It's a Birth-WEEK!

Ruby turned 4 this January 22! She had a whole week of festivities! Can you believe all those presents in the picture above! She is way into princesses and dress-up! Her grammy keeps the dress-up wardrobe stocked and spares no detail in each costume- this birthday it was a cowgirl complete with pink hat, pink light-up boots, and a pink pony! At one point her daddy told her that cowgirls say "howdy partner," so she came upstairs to tell me she was a partner and that's what the outfit is now called- her "partner" dress-up! And she says it with quite the twang. The great thing about this ensemble is that each of its components can be worn with something else...

below, with jammies! But her fave is the vest, panties, and boots! Nothing else, just that! I didn't want to include that picture, but I can tell you it would make you laugh your boots off! (P.S. those jammies are a gift from her Aunt Ellen, they came with the book and are illustrated to go along with it, Ella the Elegant Elephant- our new favorite book, you should read it!)

I copied the tradition of a pancake shaped as the number of their birthday and it was a big hit (thanks Mer!) You can see her other quirk, she holds her hair back instead of keeping in the clip or hairbow or what-have-you that I put in her hair! She knows how to tuck it behind her ear but prefers to walk around holding it out of her face!

Another tradition we started last year is a trip to Build-A-Bear. This year she chose a frog and picked a fairy outfit, complete with panties! It's fun to indulge in anything she picks on this of all days, but we drew the line as she started to want a skateboard, stroller,and bed for this frog!

The RUF intern, Rachel, has a birthday just a few days before Ruby so we planned a joint surprise bowling party (since Ruby considers the grad students her friends, and those have become Rachel's friends too!) This was her first time bowling and it was a real hit!

They even share a love for the Little Mermaid, or "Lil lermaid," as Ruby calls her. So the birthday cake had Ariel and everything! A night to go down in the memory books!

Ruby is a fun girl! Her dad and I are always marveling at her constant joy! Now that she has been a big sister for almost a year we see that her sweetness is more patient and consistent than we could have imagined! The maturing from 3 to 4 is amazing. She is fun to talk to and is such a thoughtful little girl. We are so proud to be her parents and though we wish we could stop the clock, we look forward to all the years ahead! We love you sis!

Christmas in April

I am taking some online course on Photoshop and kept waiting to finish and edit some amazing pictures to post! Alas, it is taking me longer than expected and in the meantime it looks as if the Driggers family has not celebrated any of the holidays since I last posted. So, I am just getting the pictures out there, naked (the pictures, not me, I mean, the people in the pictures are clothed, but, you know what I mean!)....

I hosted Christmas at our house for the first time and Jason's family came up for a few days. We had a great time together eating, putting together a big puzzle, eating, opening presents, eating, playing video games, eating, watching movies, and eating some more! Ruby loved getting to know her two teenage-ish cousins and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Michael, who have never been able to visit before. Lincoln's present to mommy was to start sleeping through the night- "Merry Christmas to me and to me a good night!"





So proud of the deal I got on these matching Christmas jammies and the potential photo-op, Linc would have none of it!

Stay tuned, for more of the Driggers' happenings, unedited- oooh, aaah, the suspense!

Hornhog

Can you blame me for running to my computer tonight to post this, even though I am behind by like 3 events in my blogging timeline!?! I mean, how cute is he, and funny- man is he funny! He and Ruby take bathes together now and they both LOVE it. She fixed his hair like this tonight and called him a hornhog (she's pretty funny too), as you can see he thinks it is hilarious to be laughed at so much. There's just not much else to say, I hope this makes you smile as much as me!