Mother's Day...

So I've noticed everyone on their blog has been posting about Mother's Day...so I thought I'd jump in the wagon too...or off the cliff...or in the boat.  However you'd like to see it.  My brother's wedding is this weekend so I decided to go to Utah early to help with his fiance - Janea's - bridal shower and any other wedding stuff...I didn't realize until after the ticket was booked that I would be in Utah for Mother's Day without Steve...so so sad!!  He was so sweet - the day before I left he brought me some beautiful yellow tulips and told me what a great mother I have been to Ross.  After having Ross - we've never been apart more than a day!  Poor Steve had a whole weekend by himself, being sick and no one to take care of him.  He's a good sport though.  For Mother's Day Ross decided to wake me up a few times during the night to remind me I'm a mother - thanks for that by the way - and then also decided to only take an hour and a half nap total for the day - just to make sure I remembered I was a mother.  Other than that he was pretty good.  We enjoyed church, I loved Relief Society, and came home for some naps before our delicious steak dinner my dad cooked.  Yum!  My mouth is still watering.   I gave my mother, mother-in-law, and grandma some of Oregon's signature marionberry jam to enjoy.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself visiting with family and catching up with Dallas and Janae.  They're excited to get hitched - I just love weddings!  That night - a big first - I let Ross stay up until 10 so that we could talk to Uncle Young who's on his mission in Taiwan and also see his Grandpa and Grandma White, Auntie Meghan, and Uncle Thomas.  When we got home and Ross went to bed, I stayed up playing some Bohnanza with my fam.  I love playing games with them.  It's such a great time.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Steve with us.  Anyway - sorry no pictures - I'll have to update them when I get home. :)  
As for the being a mother part of this entry - I still love it.  I have the handsomest, cutest, biggest character of a little boy in the world.  I love how the way he looks at me makes me feel like I'm the most important, funniest, nicest, most loving person in the world.  He makes me want to be that way more.  Ross sure was a sport the whole first year of his life with me figuring out how this whole mom thing works.  He's enriched our lives so much.  And having Steve as a support makes me feel that much better about being a mother - he definitely holds up his end of the bargain in being a dad.  I love him with all my heart.  He truly is the best thing that ever happened to me.  Well - there you have it.  Happy Mother's Day!

The Children's Museum

So our friends the Rasmussens invited us to go with them to Oregon's Children's Museum.  We had a blast!  I must say - it was refreshing going to a place where I wasn't worried that Ross was going to touch something he shouldn't or get hurt.  

A very cool train outside the museum.

Learning to brush teeth on a crocodile. :)

Ross and his friend Carter getting ready to work!  This was a cute room in the middle of "construction". :)

Coming up with some plans with dad.

They had a room for kids only 3 and under.  It was GREAT.  Ross could have stayed in that room forever!  He's checking out an "ocean" lit place and some shakers.

This was a little "stream" that trickled drops of water.  Ross LOVED splashing in it.  So did Carter. :)

Having a friendly chat during the fun.  For some reason this picture reminds me of this one...

But maybe Ross and Carter look a little happier. :)

Loving the wet feeling. :)

We put Ross on a "water bed".  He wouldn't move a muscle and then started crying for us to pick him up!

Playing with magnets - his favorite - at the Veterinarian room.

The theater room was equally fun - especially banging on the drums!

Carter the magician!

Ross was so involved he wouldn't even look up at the camera!

Driving a bus

Playing with trains

Our cool museum stamps!

This digging room was pretty cool - especially after Ross realized you're not allowed to eat the rubber chips.

Playing with a giant lite brite!  We ended the day here.  Ross could have done this for ages!

We will definitely be going back.  It was so fun - and totally perfect for Ross.  It will be even more fun when he's a confident walker! 

Happy Birthday Steve!

Steve’s birthday this year wasn’t quite the usual birthday he’s enjoyed in the past.  We didn’t officially celebrate it until the 2^nd when he was officially done with school…officially.  You see Steve’s actual birthday just happened to fall on the same day as the monstrous Dr. Jopst test…yes – the real name of the class has no significance to this test – it’s the professor that makes this test what it is.  Just coming from the bystander – the simple wife of the victim – I would describe this professor as being terribly brilliant.  Any question someone may have about the Physical Therapy world could ask her and get their answer.  From what I’ve heard – she knows everything about everything in every class required in the graduate program…which of course extends into her exams.  Again, from what I’ve gathered from Steve, the questions can get down to the very scrawny last detail as to whether you would be correct or incorrect in your answer.  Hopefully that gave you a taste of what kind of craziness Steve was going through to be prepared for his test. 

Back to his birthday – that morning I baked him some blueberry coconut muffins to do a mini celebration (note – do not put wax candles in muffins right after you pull them out of the oven…they will melt).  We sent Steve off to his doomsday test.  He returned to us quite deflated – feeling quite unsure as to whether he had passed or not.   The problem with graduate school – at least this one – is if you fail a test – you have a huge chance of failing the class…which is not acceptable…which requires you to redo the semester over again the next year – thus wasting $50,000 for tuition.  This is what makes graduate school so scary!  Steve didn’t even let me make him a cake that night…so I made him banana bread instead…I have learned recently that there is something with men and banana bread.  I have yet to meet a man who doesn’t prefer banana bread over many other baked goods.   I think maybe the banana bread, some serious prayers, and doing well on his next exam made him feel a bit better.  He had emailed his professor to see what his score was, and when she emailed him back – he found out he had gotten an A-!  I think if Steve would have known how to do cartwheels he would have done them around the room!  Heavenly Father sure watches out for us – this I know. 

Needless to say – I made Steve the dinner of his life – Italian Pork, broccoli, and Macaroni Grill style rosemary bread.  And a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!  He got some new clothes for his internship he has this month from his parents and mine.  Ross and I gave him some popsicles (he’s a serious addict when it comes to those) gum, the Wolverine movie, and – my favorite -  a water proof deck of cards for playing killer spoons in the pool!  He was super excited.  So in the end he did have a GREAT birthday.  26!  He’s got a lot under his belt for being that young!  Happy Birthday Steve!

Baby Goslings

Spring is so crazy here in Forest Grove.  I love it.  It seems to last forever - just like fall.  I think it makes the seasons so much more enjoyable that way.  The crazy thing about spring here is hearing all the birds that fly over in droves.  They are so noisy!  I've started to notice that different species of birds actually make sounds that are different from each other.  I know - I should totally be a birder.  I could probably count on my fingers and toes how many different species I've already seen.  Now I just need a sponsor to send me all over the world to find the others.  If you feel like sponsoring me - go ahead and set it up with my people.  My people as in Ross...though he just likes to smile, push the buttons on the phone and throw it across the room so calling might not be such a good idea... he also likes to smack all the keys on the computer's keyboard - so that might also not be a good line of communication either.  Good luck getting in touch with my people.

So we like to visit the wilderness preserve here - known as Fernhill.  Our neighbors informed us the goslings were out so of course we made our move and showed up loaded with bread.  We walked for a while finding zero babies.  I was beginning to doubt and while sharing that thought with Steve, he of course spotted them...

Cute little babies!

Ross taking lessons on throwing bread.

He looks like such a little boy in this picture...what happened to my baby?!

Cute boys in orange.

So the fish were going CRAZY when we went - they drove the ducks away from all the bread we were throwing.

Crazy!