Letters to Louis...

Dear Louis

....Yesterday you left for South Carolina. It was so nice to get to talk to you and text you. It felt like you were still close. I know it will get tough as time goes on and I don’t get to talk to you and see you all that I want to! But, I know it is temporary, and that you are doing something awesome, so I’ll get through it.

Today I am printing pictures for Ruby’s Daddy Book that I’m making. I also printed her 18 month pictures to give to family and friends! Better late than never, right? Can I send you pictures? Well, I will until you tell me not too =)

Ruby had a good day with Grandma yesterday. She napped for 3 hours. And I brought home Jack in the Box for dinner. She was super excited and ran to the kitchen table when I got home. Haha. They have “new fries” that look like McDonald’s fries but taste exactly like the old JIB fries. My mom was impressed, but I was not.

Ruby woke up in the middle of the night asking for Daddy. “Where’s Daddy?” she would ask me. “South Carolina!” I would tell her. I also told her that you loved her and missed her lots! And that we’ll see you soon. She looked confused =). She just didn’t want to sleep. Hopefully we’ll have better luck tonight!

...Yesterday was first actual day of boot camp! I wonder how it was. What it what you were expecting? Hope it went ok… For the first week that you were gone, I got to text or talk to you pretty much every day! That was awesome! I think in a way, you spoiled me. =) I was actually thinking these 9 weeks might not be so bad. I’m sure a reality check is on its way though. But we’ll make it through. If you can do it, we can do it!

...On Sunday Ruby and I went to Earth Day at Balboa Park. Ruby didn’t nap, much to my dismay, but we decided to go anyway. I figured she would just sleep in the stroller if she got tired. She did fall asleep in the car on the way to Paul’s house, but only for about 10 minutes. We got to Paul’s and put Ruby’s stroller and car seat in his SUV. We had heard parking would be a beast and figured he could drop us off and find somewhere to park. Thankfully though we found parking at the zoo. As soon as we made the turn by the merry go round, Ruby started saying, “The zoo! The zoo!” and was laughing and smiling and so excited! Awww, poor Ruby. If she got upset I totally would have just taken her to the zoo instead! But she didn’t mind when we went to Balboa Park. Earth Day was huge but not that exciting. Lots of green themed booths, products, vendors etc. Lots of doggies to look at for Ruby. And it was great weather, so it wasn’t so bad =). We let Ruby run around in the grass for awhile, which she loved. And of course the best part of my day was getting to talk to you one last time. It made it feel like you weren’t so far away.

Ruby was being a total chatterbox and Paul and Nickel were loving it! On the way home, she was talking about you almost the whole time. I don’t know what she was saying exactly, but I had told her that you called and it was Daddy this, Daddy that, my Daddy! So adorable.
The good news is after we got home, and had dinner, she grabbed her kitty and put herself to bed. Ahhhh… sweet sweet sleep! =)

...Ruby is doing great this week. She actually cut a molar! It’s on the top on her right side, in the middle. And it looks like her eye teeth are about to come through too. She hasn’t been too crabby, but I’ve been giving her motrin at night to help with the pain. It looks like it hurts! She’s been eating a lot of baby carrots which I think must feel really good.

...Yesterday was our anniversary! Happy Anniversary! Three years already. Boy do we squeeze a lot into 3 years! =) I feel so lucky to be married to you. You’re quite a catch ya know. I wish we could have spent the day together, and gone to Adam’s Avenue Grill so you could color for me on the white paper tablecloths. We’ll have to go celebrate there when you come home. I got the best present yesterday too, letters from you!

...Last night Ruby got sick. She puked in her bed, then the end of our bed, and all over the carpet. It was horrible. She was super upset, not only because she was getting sick, but because it was messy. You know how she likes her hands clean. Poor baby! She must have puked 8 times. Not sure if something didn’t sit right or what. I put her in the bathtub to clean up. My mom sat with her while I cleaned everything. No fun. You missed out! Haha… We layed in bed and watched backyardigans and she finally went to bed at 9:45pm. Thankfully she didn’t get sick again and seemed fine this morning. Fingers crossed it’s done and over with!

...After you called on Sunday I played Ruby the voicemail I have from you. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed the phone and said “my daddy… Hi Daddy!” with the phone held up to her ear! It was the cutest thing ever. She was so excited to hear your voice. I will have to make sure I play that more often. I am very happy that she doesn’t seem to notice that much time has passed, and she still talks about you and recognizes you like you were here yesterday =). I uploaded the video of you reading to her to my facebook account, so I will play that for you tonight. I’m sure she will love it!

...So in Ruby news, your daughter smacked me in the face yesterday. So my mom said, “It’s not nice to hit! We don’t hit mommy! You need to say you’re sorry.” So Ruby looked at me and says, “Sooowwwy!” Awww! I said, “Good job Ruby! You said sorry!” So adorable. Yes it was the first time she hit me, but it was also the first time she said sorry. Cute...Oh yes, and after I got home from work the other day, I played Ruby the videos of you reading to her. She was so excited to see you! She squealed and pointed saying Daddy! My daddy! And then she proceeded to stand up on the chair and hug the computer screen. It was so cute. She loves you so much and I can’t wait for her to get to come see you and give you a real hug.

...Sunday arrived. Mother’s Day! I decided Ruby was taking me to breakfast. So we went to the Broken Yolk and got a table for two. I got French toast and Ruby got pancakes. We were both happy. Ruby sang the Backyardigans to me. I think I got it on video! The waitress gave me a rose and I gave it to Ruby. She got to pull the petals off and throw them out the window of the car. She was quite happy with herself.

...Before I go I just wanted to tell you that Ruby now points at the computer and says Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! And demands that we put the video on for her to watch over and over again like it’s the newest episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. She'll even throw in a Puweeeease! How can I say no to that? I only wish it was longer than 4 minutes =) She'll just sit there and smile and talk to you and herself, and squeal. I love it

...This week Ruby started saying Moose when she sees Moose E. Moose on the tv. It sounds like Moosssss. Then she started saying Bubbles! We were in the tub and her little fountain was on, and she was pointing and saying bubbles? Bubbles?

...Ruby is getting some molars so we’ve have some melt downs at bedtime. We’re getting through it though. Twice this week she’s ended up in my bed around 4 am because I just could not keep getting up. She has has two molars that are partially through on the top and two more about to come through on the bottom. Her second eye tooth is also coming through. So all things considered she’s handling it like a trooper!

...26 days to go. I know I can make it but I wish it was over already! Being apart just feels like forever. I know we’ll both be better for it in the end though. I just want you to know how much you are loved and missed. The good times just aren’t as good without you by my side. But I’ll keep smiling, thinking about seeing you again.

...I’ve been teaching Ruby shapes while we color and she is now an expert when it comes to circles, squares, stars, hearts, moons, and butterflies. I think those were all the shapes I could think of at the time haha. Then I wrote down her name and told her that this says Ruby, can you say Ruby? And she did! She said Ruby! It was the sweetest little noise =)