Memory-Keeping: Flower girl dress

When we got married and picked out our flower girl dresses (this was an Easter dress at Target for $17.99!) and outfits for our ringbearers (little guayaberas that matched Jude's!), I bought one extra of each of them for any future children we may have. We knew we were going to have a LOT of kids at our wedding, so we also bought little teddy bears--some pink, some green--for each child to keep. I kept one of each of those bears, too!

I bought a 12-month size in the dress, but my cousin Angie (whose adorable daughter, Abby, was one of our three flower girls) ended up having an extra one in a 2T size (she had bought multiples of the dress at the time, not knowing which size would fit Abby best) and sent it to me last year. When Ruby was about nine months old, I put her in the dress and did a little "photo shoot" in our living room with the pink bear from our wedding. Then, last month, with Ruby at 25 months old, I put her in the bigger size and took some more pictures. Really fun and special to see her in that dress...Our wedding seems like just yesterday and it really makes us stop and reminisce to see our beautiful girl wearing it now.

 

And here are the adorable little munchkins from our actual wedding day in 2007!

Memory-Keeping: "Face book" for baby

When I took this photo (the third one below) this weekend, I wasn't thinking about replicating any other photo...but once I looked at it on my computer, I realized how much it reminded me of my favorite photo of Ruby (the second one below) that I took last summer. I love this little face! I know I take a LOT of photos of Ruby, but I think I'm going to start a little book with a head shot of Ruby right around each of her birthdays, to see how that lovable little face changes over the years. :) Here are the first three!

Ruby at one day old, looking sweet:

Ruby at one year old, looking sweet:

Ruby at two years old, looking sweet:

Just Because: Girls will be girls

Gosh, toddlers are cute. These sweet little cousins reminded me a lot of me and my own cousins at their age. And the cycle continues...

Fun Stuff: Creepy Crawlies (Jumpies)

Nothing says Midwest summer days quite like dozens of mini-frogs collected from the yard by a group of rough-and-tumble cousins and plopped into a toddler water table. 

Sweet little Anya.

Pretty Hannah.

Note that Ruby has a piece of plastic that CAME OUT OF THAT FROG-WATER in her mouth! I took it away numerous times and even tried to hide it, but it always ended up back in that water and/or back in her mouth. Oh well. We love germs.

Memory-Keeping: Anniversary photo wall

I love traditions. Before we got married, my aunt Connie threw us a "traditions shower" where she asked friends and family to tell us about their family traditions so that we could start some of our own. One of my favorites came from my aunt Carol. Each year, on their anniversary, my aunt and uncle take a family photo. Initially, it was just the two of them, then kids began to be added, and now they have six grandchildren that are included as well! They have a wall in their house that is covered in these photos. What an inspiration to see their marriage grow!

We loved this idea and have started the tradition in our family as well. Our "anniversary wall" has a photo from our wedding, then a photo from each subsequent anniversary. Our first anniversary was spent in Ojai, California. Our second anniversary, however, didn't get a photo taken until the next morning...because I went into labor on July 6 and didn't give birth to our daughter until July 8! Since I was in active labor from start to finish on the day itself, I opted for our "anniversary photo" to include Ruby the next morning! Our third anniversary was spent on a trip to LA (we were still living in New York at the time). Today is our fourth anniversary. I had to begin working by 8 a.m. and Jude won't get home from work tonight until after Ruby is in bed, so we ended up setting up the timer and taking a picture of us in bed upon waking up! Silly, but sometimes you just have to make things work!

Here is our anniversary wall:

Here is today's photo (to be added to the wall soon!):