Out of the Woods...Maybe?

Well we have had quite the last week and a half!  My wonderful friend Maren came with her daughter, Ally (aka Ross's betrothed), to visit.  It started out great - we got to have some serious girl chat, chick flicks (including Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - I need to SERIOUSLY get to Greece!), and convinced Steve to hold down the fort so we could go get some delicious dinner without kiddos one night.  It was hilarious because Ally and Ross were pretty much on exact opposite schedules.  Ally took two naps and Ross just took one in between.  They did get to see each other in the morning and night though.  
The sad part came when Ally seemed to go from a runny nose to a touch of the croup by the fourth day they were here.  They ended up cutting their trip short and headed home the next day.  I was SUPER sad to see them go, but we were all hoping Ross and especially Ruby wouldn't catch anything either.  I needed some serious Maren time and we'll just have to make up for it this summer!
Sadly, we didn't dodge the sickness, all of us got a touch of it one way or another, and are getting over it now.  It wasn't a bad bout though - so we're super thankful.  It seems like everyone is getting sick these days!
 

The two lovebirds!  Note - Ross's cement mixer in his hand.

Giving a luv - Good thing Ross's onesie is covering up what would probably be a plumber's crack. ;)

She has the cutest smile!

Ally definitely knew how to eat - it was a whole experience in and of itself! 

Ruby is 6 weeks old now!  Steve and I consider this the "out of the woods" time with getting her more adjusted to sleeping and us actually becoming real live people once again.  Last night Ruby was sounding more congested with a touch of fever, and I was concerned it was starting to affect her breathing so we went to the doctor today to make sure it wasn't developing into anything else.  She's just fine though - just dealing with a bit of congestion in her nose.  Sleeping just isn't so fun for her...or mommy for that matter.  We found out she weighs 11lbs 15oz now!  SHEESH!  She's already up a pound on her brother when he was her age...she's longer though so she carries it well. ;) This girl is taking advantage of getting those cute baby rolls going now too.  Her legs are chubbing up and her cheeks are getting more and more kissable!  She likes to have conversations with you - mostly you talking, but she will happily smile.  Her smiles are to die for - she'll scrunch her nose to one side sometimes and open her mouth like she's going to laugh.  Steve got her to laugh two days ago when he was whistling at Ross to get away from being GLUED to the TV.  She thought it was quite amusing. :)  Oh I love it when they laugh and smile - definitely an "out of the woods" feeling.    

6 Week Smiley Pants!

Her signature half nose scrunch smile. :)

Ross got a fever and quite the runny nose.  He handled this illness like a champ though!  He was a bit grumpy, but enjoyed popsicles and watching TV while we tried to get him to rest.  He slept that night for 14 hours, only waking up when Steve went in to check on him.  He nipped that sickness in the bud with his excellent sleeping skills!  
He currently likes to line up his cars and trucks on the kitchen table and take head counts as to if he has all of them.  He likes to play with them on the stairs as well. (This proved to be a problem when Ally came since she was still in the phase of not quite getting how not to fall down the stairs when sliding down them...we had to block the stairs much to Ross's dismay.)  He calls marshmellows "fallows" and fruit snacks "nick nacks".  
Last night I had a realization of how attached Ross is to his blanket...Steve had put him to sleep without it initially since somehow it had gotten into our room instead.  Ross then began crying hysterically calling for his blanket....oh may we never lose that thing!  We'll all be paying for it.  
Speaking of crying - whenever Ross finishes crying (as in he's calmed down but the tears are still on his face) he looks at you and says "cryin'! cryin'! sad!" - totally adorable.
Ross is getting more fun every day.  He is talking so much more stringing more words together.  I love it.  Whenever he starts doing something he shouldn't, I'll tell him to "look at mommy" and when he does I'll tell him his choices of what he needs to do and he'll look back at me and say "dank you!" while he does what I asked (since I always tell him thank you after I tell him to do something).  He truly is the sweetest boy.  I think some of his greatest gifts are his sweetness, his ability and excitement to share, and his love of helping.  I'm so proud of him and what a good boy he is.  

We're having some scripture study time.  Ross likes the boat pictures best.

Enjoying some story time with Daddy.

We went to check out a cool train around the block with some of Ross's buddies (Ruby is in the back). 

I guess they wouldn't all look at the camera at the same time!  Stinkers!

I think he was hoping for Thomas the Train - or one that at least talked. ;)

Nothing like a cool train to capture some boys' attention!

Ross the sickie...sporting a fire truck onesie, fighting a fever and a runny nose (as you can see).  Also - he can lift his leg up high. :)

Playing a little b-ball!  Ross got distracted.

Steve and I are hanging in there.  I'm boggled at the idea of how people handle more than two kids.  It's nice when he's home and we each can be taking care of one of them.  Steve is trying to nip his little cold in the bud, but is also trying to juggle that with school, two little hoodlums, church callings, and a needy wife.

I am trying to figure out housework, cooking, planning an exercise schedule, play dates, and two kids still.  It's fun but still a bit tricky.  I'm sure in the distant future when we have three I'll be looking back thinking two was a cinch, but it takes time to get to that point.  Sheesh - it took until getting Ruby to think having just one was a cinch - before that it took both Steve and I to handle Ross. :)  Oh the fun-ness of parenthood!  

Happy Valentine's Day 2013!

Well I have to admit I did WAY better with Valentine's last year but I also hadn't given birth the month before - so all in all - I think I'm doing sort of okay. :)  At least I've got some cute pictures to celebrate!  

When I woke Ross up this morning - he popped up (just like his dad does when he's woken up) on his feet and started chanting to me "Wessey's house! Wessey's house!"  I told him I would call his mom to see if he could play after breakfast and then Ross persisted to remind me all throughout getting dressed and eating his oatmeal and blueberries.  His little best friend Wesley then FINALLY for what seemed like light years away to Ross I'm sure came over and all was well again.  

We've adopted a fun little game Wesley and his parents came up with of posting letters on the walls and having Ross take a pointer stick to find and smack point at them when he finds it.  Since Wesley was over we were playing it for a little bit, but Ross got creative and found some tongs....and then thought it would be fun to pull OFF all the letters rather than just point at them.  Very inventive.

The Alphabet game.  Ross would pinch them off and Wes would flip them off - very fun.  Wes should get his game patented. :)

We had a Valentine lunch, watched the very beginning of Dumbo (that's the best part anyway with the animals, train, and songs - the rest of the movie is pretty sad...and I never realized that Dumbo and his mouse friend get drunk before figuring out he can fly at the end...hmmm), and then had a photo shoot at mom's request.  After exhausting the subjects during the shoot we've all settled in for a bit of a nap.  So here's some pics and I'm off for my afternoon nap!

Some Valentine quesadillas, apples, and party pooper peas that didn't join the heart theme.  We had to get some veggies in there...and I didn't have any that I could make into hearts.

Yum

It took some coaxing to get Ross to agree to a photo shoot...

A lot of coaxing...

We took a break from getting Ross to pose.  Here are my BEAUTIFUL flowers from my hot husband.  He did good - real good (and this is knowing how he feels about flowers too). :)

Ross is back...I had to take pictures of his trucks to get him to let me take some of him.

There's like a billion more of these. :)

And here are some good ones!  He's surrounded by friends - lots of friends.  I think he would sleep with all of them if we'd let him.  I love that face of his!

My little love bandit. :)

Loving some snuggle time. :)

Pink!

Her cutie Valentine outfit she wouldn't stay awake in.  I put her in it twice...each time she went right to sleep - little stinker pants. :)

Kisses!  Ruby is reminding Ross to be soft. :)

Ross wouldn't hold Ruby for me...so this is what I got...

He wanted to watch Dumbo...

She sure knows how to pose - even in her sleep!

And a cute heart baby bum to finish off the post.  LOVE baby girl tights!

 

One Month Old Ruby

To start off - I'd like to report that the house has not yet burned down like I was so convinced it would with grandmas leaving us to act like we know what we're doing raising two kids now.  I have learned a new level of tiredness, but have also learned how to tolerate it better too - go me! (Considering that the lack of sleep is my kryptonite and I become the Hulk when it gets messed with).  I am a serious schedule person when it comes to our kids so I have had to set up what we're doing throughout the whole day for me to feel like I can cope - it's worked fairly well and we've only had a few both-kids-crying episodes so far.  I just laugh while they're both crying since at least one of us has got to do it to keep the family together! ;)
Ruby has hit her one month mark!  I can't believe it!  She's becoming more of a baby every day.  She was so excited for her one month birthday she decided she was going to try to stay up until the exact time she was born a month ago...2:08AM.  She was quite diligent in her quest no matter what her mommy or daddy would try to do to get her to sleep.  Eventually she became quite frustrated with our efforts and let us know that.  2:08 was almost within her grasp, but mama pulled out the big guns at about 1:15 after daddy had gone in circles luring her to sleep with his awesome bouncing skills only for her to start squawking moments later once he'd put her down, and fed her leaving her to conk out at about 1:45.  Needless to say the next day mom and dad were zombies.  

Look how excited she is!  She's even trying to hold up one finger! ;)

Love those baby blues. :)

Yeah - so I'm one month old - what of it?

We've found that Ruby likes to try to escape her swaddle just like her older brother (see her freed hand)

Love a good baby yawn :)

She's such a beauty!

To celebrate Ruby's one month oldness we had a little photo shoot.  She got to eat all her favorite foods - milk, milk, and more milk (though sometimes it wasn't to her taste and decided to spit it all over her mama).  We also went for a walk - all three of us by ourselves!  (I know - I'm brave).  Rubes decided it was nap time the entire walk which was fine with Ross so he could run around and play at the park for a while.  She also laughed and laughed and laughed (okay more like stared wide eyed and cooed with an occasional smile) with mom and dad while they watched Parks and Recreation that night. All in all - it was quite the celebration!  Ruby is very happy to be one month - no regrets and with lots of good goals for the future (like sleeping through the night!).  

Ross continues to be the most adorable boy of all time.  He sports some smokin' hot shoes all the time (courtesy of Bama Joanne who has outfitted his cute feet) that get rounds of compliments wherever we go, he has a fire truck and dump truck (courtesy of Bama Claudia who has outfitted each hand) that he carries with him wherever he goes and is happy to show it to anyone who will give him a chance.  He recently has become a bit more cuddly and snuggly with me when it's just the two of us which I totally love too.  

Ross has to continuously look at this picture.  Also - I had to take pictures of the fire truck and dump truck before he would let me take one of him.  This truck stays glued to one hand.

Ross's other hand's companion.

Here is the evidence that both hands are always filled with these.  Note - Ross didn't want to put his pants back on after a diaper change.  His legs are so dang cute I gave in. :)

This is a place you fill find Ross daily playing with his trucks. :)

Our walk in our super cool Phil and Ted Stroller.  Ruby is in the back.

Sneaky huh!

I love sleeping cozy babies. :)

So hooray for handling half a week of doing it on our own!  We may figure out this parenting thing just yet. :)