The White House: Survival, Pre School and Showers

Well...we survived Steve's ridiculous 6 day work horse schedule. It was the first time he's had to work on Sunday, and I have to say - I didn't like it. I did church by myself which, tender mercy, went surprisingly smooth. We missed Steve like crazy though. I got to attend Relief Society this time, a break from teaching Primary since I had to keep Ruby with me, and I was very nicely edified and spiritually fed. I was so glad when Tuesday came around and we got to have Steve around. Ross was a bit of a wreck through the week. He missed his number one hero pretty bad - considering for 6 days he only saw him in the evenings for maybe 45 minutes or an hour before it was bedtime (okay we let him stay up a little later a few times). Ross would cling to him and behavior would go downhill if Steve was out of sight or had his shoes on even (a sign of him leaving) - since he was desperate to spend time with him.

During the week Steve was so busy we did do a few things including another trip to the farmer's market (my favorite). Ross started his pre-school - aka glorified play group introducing a form of academic structure. Some of the moms around here got together and we decided to do a twice a week for two hours each little school. We rotate who's teaching each week - meaning that the other 7 weeks you're not teaching, you get to get things done. For me, Ruby takes her nap then, so it really is free time for me! Woot woot! Really what I've done this week is exercised and showered (both essential for the day). Ross has learned about the letter A and number 1, apples, and the rules song. He came home singing it the second day "Never hit, never hit, never hit" - I'm glad he at least learned that important rule. Hopefully he's keeping it and not just singing it. :) He's sporting his McQueen backpack thanks to the Vosses for snagging it for him - he LOVES it. My week is in October and I'm pretty excited to teach. I miss it these days (not all the grading and disciplining all the time, but the introducing something new and guiding discovery - it's fabulous). I'm pretty much expecting play group, but it will be fun to try out the teaching.

Ready for school!

Gotta show some muscles before he goes!

This is Ruby's "pre-school" time. :)

She's still smilin'

We had a few play dates too which was nice and a good way to mix up the week.

But now we've got Steve for 5 days and we've been soaking him up. I must say - I'm not a fan of this starvation and binging schedule of Steve time. I'd prefer consistency to be honest. In the few days we've already had with him, we have been pretty busy. Ruby decided, in celebration, to start crawling. Really? She's not even 8 months yet! It's the army crawl, but if there's a toy in front of her - she can sure as heck get to it. She also enjoys being on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth like crazy - it's like she's just charging herself up before she takes off. I'm getting sad that her sitting and not going anyway phase is coming to an end so quickly.

Can't you just see why we want this guy around all the time!

Some girl time!

Ready for another farmer's market trip :) I LOVE this hat.

Ruby likes to make all kinds of noises - raspberries, helicopters, frogs, growls, grunts, squeals, burps, shouts, - you name it - she does it. She likes to sit and play with her toys for a while, but if she wants something she happily pitches forward to her belly and scoots on over somewhere else. I've decided she's little Miss Disneyland. She is always up for a smile and a laugh - even if she's whining about something for a second, the second you catch her eye and smile - she's got a big ol' cheeser on and is ready for some fun. I just have to squeeze her all the time! The only thing I wish is that she'd be in to snuggling more - she just wants to be moving ALL the time.

Ross is currently in the mode of being addicted to outside. I let him back on our back patio sometimes when I have to still take care of Ruby - if I can't see him I call to him and he says "Coming mommy! Coooommming!" - regardless if he really is or not. I think he thinks if he says it to me - he can keep doing what he's doing and keep me at bay for a while. Little stinker pants. He loves preschool and has been able to become better friends with Jack since we got to swap babysitting so we could go to the temple. It was so refreshing to go to the temple and remember and renew our covenants. They had a new temple film which we enjoyed too. Oh how I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it's true and I know only following His commandments are what will make our lives fulfilling and happy.

I've gotten into a sewing nitch lately too. Since I was throwing my friend, Kim, a baby shower, I got the juices flowing on what to give her. The Sunday we were without Steve I noticed that Ross was pretty much too big for his ties, so I decided to make him some which led to my baby shower present. I got in a bit of a tizzy and spent quite a while making them throughout the week. I also did a freezer meal swap with some friends which was the best idea ever from my friend, Jessica. It was like trick-or-treating for moms. We all made 8 of the same dinner to freeze and then swapped them so we could each have 8 different dinners. We're set for a while - I just wish I had a bigger freezer to be honest. Oh well.

The baby shower went beautifully. My friend, Kristen and I threw it for Kim. Kristen did the decorations and delicious cake pops and I did the rest of the food. We made a few scrap book pages for the baby's 1st year, chatted loads, and opened presents. It's always fun to get together and chit chat - it's what we ladies do. ;)

The set up and spread :)

The party :)

The Party Girl - it's now okay for this baby to come!

Later that same day I went to my friend, Rebecca's baby shower and came home to Steve and his fellow BYU cougar fans trying to watch the football game. It had gotten delayed 2 hours, so the wives showed up and we all finished it together. It was really fun and went pretty late and we won against Texas of course. Go cougs!! It was a lot of socializing that day to say the least. :)

The shirtless Ross. When I asked him where his shirt was - he said "All wet - popsicle got it all wet" to which Steve promptly said "I told you not to tell your mom!" since he apparently had eaten 2 popsicles by 10 that morning. Glad he's so easy to get information out of. I'll remember that in the future. :)