April 12, 2001

This is the day my other sister was born, Rubi Izabella Herrera. When my mom got pregnant for the 3rd time, she really thought she was going to have a boy and my parents were planning to name him Ruben Jr. after my dad. Well fast forward to 4 months later, my mom went to an ultrasound and it turned out Ruben Jr. was actually a girl.

My mom had a really hard time deciding what she wanted to name my sister. I remember her asking Liz and I, these were the names we gave her…Ariel, Samantha, Aurora, Molly, Barbie, Cinderella. And yes before you ask all of the names we suggested were things a 3 & 6 year old were obsessed which were Disney Princesses, Barbie, and American Girl Dolls. Honestly, I don’t really remember how she decided on Rubi but I’m sure Rubi is happy that our mom didn’t take our suggestions seriously.

I remember going to the hospital to visit our mom and Rubi who I honestly was still wishing that the doctors made a mistake and she actually was a boy. At the time, I was sort of upset that Rubi was a girl and not a boy…I was looking forward to having a brother which he eventually came 4 years later but that’s another story.

Fun fact the hospital that Rubi and Ruben Jr. were born shut down and was turned into a private Kipp School. Every single time we pass by, we joke around & say they could’ve gone to school at the building they were born in.

It’s crazy to think Rubi is now 19 and she’s still annoying as ever! Lol she will probably be rolling her eyes as she is reading this. Whenever I think of Rubi, I have this image of her being a little baby stuck in my head.

Rubi was born with a lot of hair so since I can remember our mom loved to put her hair into 2 piggytails on either side of her head. She looked like Kimi Watanabe-Finster from Rugrats! Since she was the 3rd girl in our family and got all of our hand-me- downs. But our mom loved to dress her up in flowery prints, her hair in piggytails and she always always had a chupon (pacifier) with the clip attached to her clothes because she lost a lot of them. I think that will always be my memory of her even after years continue to pass.

Ironically Rubi’s birthday falls on Easter this year…it’s ironic because out of all of us she is the least religious one. Because of the strict quarantine order, we had to celebrate at home. We surprised Rubi by putting sparklers on Zebra cakes (her favorite) and singing to her at midnight. 

 

If you know Rubi, you know that she can celebrate with or without people. As I’m writing this at 2am, she is blasting music in the living room dancing and doing karaoke…two of her favorite things.

Later in the day a couple of family members (literally just 3 more people) will join us to sing to her and cut her cheesecake for her birthday. Yes, Rubi is high key boujee and a simple chocolate cake will not do. Her birthday should’ve been more special but we did the best we could with this situation.

 

Happiest Birthday Littlest Sister! Hope you enjoy your last teen year and I wish you many more years!

Love Always,

Your Big Sister

 

P.S. This is the year you get over your fear of rides….Disneyland is waiting for us! 🙂