Building A Legacy: 22 Months

22 Months Old!

The Stube Family LOVES Fall! What a wonderful season, and for many reasons! Ruthie is such a precious little girl. Blessing many with her beautiful smile and beautiful voice. She loves to sing for anyone who will listen... and if the song is just fast enough, she'll grab your hands and dance with you too! I know mommy's around the world probably think and say this... BUT!! Ruthie has such a fun personality. She continues to blossom and even when I don't think it's possible, she becomes even MORE fun!

For our first weekend this fall- we decided to take advantage of a beautiful sunny fall day and go to Harners Farm to try out our skills in a corn maze. We also thought it would be fun to pick out a pumpkin- but we ran out of time. (Don't worry- we're going to go with the Drakes ladies tomorrow!!) Ruthie had such a great time. Ruthie absolutely LOVED walking around the corn maze and finding her way to the different locations. Jonathan definitely thought he was the only one who could figure out the way... but Ruthie showed us very quickly that she was just as good... if not better!

(Ruthie loving all the orange pumpkins!)

(Ruthie working her way through the Corn Maze)
Harners Farm

Ruthie is continuing to grow so quickly and is towering over most two year olds!! As I said, she has a beautiful voice! We took her into Jon's lab where one of his colleagues was impressed with how well she sang and complimented her tone and pitch. She said that she was amazed ... most children sing mono-toned until age 4 or 5!! (Did I mention she is a Music Therapy Major!!)

Ruthie is almost completely accident free these days!! Potty-training has definitely been a huge success- although, very exhausting!! I'm so proud of her. One of the hardest obstacles (and really... I'd say there has been two) has been learning that we're going to hear her wake up anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 screaming she has to go pee!! A great thing- but MAN!! We need that extra hour or two each morning. Thankfully, she does go back to sleep or atleast lays quietly until 7:30!! Truly our other obstacle has been pooping on the potty. She's now done that four times successfully, and doesn't seem as scared as what she was in the beginning. I try to keep her well hydrated so that it isn't so hard for her- but... there is only so much you can do when she does her best to hold it in until nap time! :)

Ruthie has also aced her colors of the Rainbow! She can point to different items around the house and tell you what they are and what color they are! Her favorite color seems to be green... but we'll see! Her vocabulary is off the charts these days. She's a little person who can hold a decent conversation with anyone. She loves to chat about her puppies (Pup Pup, Puppy 2, Puppy Ruff Ruff, and Big (or the Other One) She also very much enjoys playing Ring Around the Rosie!! She LOVES to fall down before the "correct" time.. but man, you should see the HUGE smile on her face as she grabs for your hands and starts to dance!! Nothing in the world is better than those moments!

23 Weeks ... I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going. I def love this time around so much more! Maybe it's the fact that I'm running around chasing a 22 month and have no time to really focus on what's going on with my body- but whatever it is... I'll take it! I feel the baby moving and kicking around pretty much around the clock! He or she def loves to move around right before I settle into bed- which makes falling asleep a little bit of a challenge. I can now show off my round growing belly! I have popped in the last week or so- it's so weird to think that only a week or so ago people were surprised to hear that 1) I was pregnant and 2) that I was over half way through!! Now it's not as much of a surprise!! hehe :)

Letter to my sweet children & more pics:

Dear Ruthie & Baby:

My life is changing drastically and so dramatically and I love it! I am so happy and proud to be your mommy Ruthie Mackenzie and I am so excited to meet you little Stube. Life is wonderful and although tough at times, daddy and I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of your lives.

Ruthie: Keep showing off that gorgeous smile. You brighten the world. So many people compliment on how expressive you are and how much joy you bring them just by flashing that beautiful smile. I know daddy and I can't stop talking about you, even when we go out for a night without you. We have to laugh at all your cuteness. Some of the things you say and do are priceless. The other night, you asked mommy to sing you the ABC's. I sang it to you as sweetly as I could and when I finished... you said "good job mommy" and then turned to daddy and asked him to sing. When he finished you said "good job daddy" and then once again asked me to sing (as we were pulling into the driveway) I began singing again while daddy jumped out of the car to start getting you out of the ready... You looked right at me as I was singing my heart to you and said "get out mommy!" Cracked both me and your daddy up!! You are just to sweet and funny!!

Baby Stube: Keep growing inside me! We can't wait to meet you and give you the best sister in the entire world!! You are going to just LOVE your sister. She is going to spoil you with love. As I type this, she is sitting, resting on my leg. <3>

Pumpkin Patch: Here are so cute photos of my little pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. She had such a great time going around and choosing her perfect pumpkin. It really came to no surprise what you ended up picking out for you special pumpkin.... Please see below... Ruthie's Pumpkin!!

Ruthie's Pumpkin

Ruthie's favorite color seems to be green, so this should have been no surprise that she picked out her very own green pumpkin out of ALL the orange pumpkins around!!

Ruthie
Ways Fruit Farm
Pumpkin Patch