day of the walking exhausted.

I am so incredible exhausted. I have gone to bed at 2 am the last two nights in a row and woken up at a fairly decent time, leaving me without my 10 hours of (what seems to be required) sleep. The graduation festivities are over which is a relief and yet sad. Family is gone, baby brother is graduated, and no more packed week and weekend for me. Fortunately, we didn't have much company (other than family) because our house still seems to be in limbo. Dare I say we have been in this limbo area for nearly two years. Pretend you didn't know that part. we have been looking for nice end tables for quite awhile now, and have yet to find any that we just love. Dilemma: our living room is quite small, and way too small for a coffee table (and a soon-to-be toddler. Can't believe I really just said typed that), so I need our end tables to be functional and the right style for me. And let us not forget that we are without a dining room table..which is quite a pain. We just recently picked that out, however, and will be getting it soon.

I'm not sure if all of our company has acted as a catalyst for Ruby's animated behavior or not, but it seems like so much of her personality has unfolded here in the last few days. We have dubbed her new (prominent) facial expression as her lizard face which made its big debut when Ruby met her little cousin Dezi. And in case you are interested in reenacting this facial expression, here's how: press your lips together and then pull the corners of your mouth out as far as you can. Now, either stick your tongue out and move your mouth up and down all while keeping it spread open quite far, or repeat the sound "tap" while keeping lips spread.

baby kisses are so gentle, are they not??

Seeing the two little ones together is something that I really enjoyed. Remembering Melissa and I playing when we were younger (which really doesn't seem like that long ago!) and knowing our own kids are about to embark on their own play adventures (where make believe towns made up of trees and bikes are the town cars may or may not be included), it just something that really touched me. I'm betting the hours of barbie playing, Nintendo conquering and Ace of Base jamming are out for them since those things are kind of...old school. They're still a little too small to interact. I'm gonna have to teach Ruby a lesson on how to come across as a non-dominating and intimidating female, because she didn't allow Dezi to get a word in with their conversation. She's gonna scare all the boys away blabbing like she did. We'll consider that a good trait until she's about thirty. With all of the unraveling of the personality, she has proven herself to be the town's very own Chatty Cathy-and she makes sure that her words (garbled consonant sounds, more like) are heard.

And that little chunky monkey you see is now eighteen pounds. She's waving, sitting, laughing, and "speaking." It's quite funny to watch her realize that her actions elicit another person's reactions-she's still feeling her way around with this, but she is definitely beginning to do things and watch for the reception.

I'm not too sure how I feel so much busier than I did when I had lessons to plan and people to correspond with on a daily basis with school. Things keep piling onto our schedule and I keep looking for room to squeeze other things in. Is it really any wonder that Ruby has suddenly become such a little busy body?!

I'm wondering how many of you stopped your reading to attempt the lizard face.