Improvements and Happy Birthday Steve!

Well last week we had our doctor checkups.  Ross was the most compliant I've seen him with the doctor.  He usually refuses to stand on their scale.  The only issue we had this time was he had a hard time wanting to take off his shoes.  They are both quite healthy and on completely opposite spectrum when it comes to their body types.  

Ross is 3 feet tall and weighs 35lbs.  He's 10th percentile for his height and 75th for his weight.  He has Stephen's body type - he's always just been a thick kid, and he's always been just a bit short.  He has a good chance of being taller depending on when he hits puberty.  His vocabulary is amazing - he's always talking.  He still would like to just dig and organize his toys whenever we go outside.  The second we get our own place he's getting a sandbox.  I think that is his happy place.  Somewhere to do some serious digging with his toys. :)  He isn't so scared of dogs anymore.  Grandma and Grandpa White's neighbors have a huge, friendly dog named Tank that Ross thinks is actually fun now.  We got him the Go Fish game which he absolutely loves.  Stephen can't wait to take him fishing (though I think Ross will need a little more entertaining than just leaving the hook in the water and waiting).  He's been fascinated with names lately.  He likes to talk about how my name is Stacey and Daddy's is Stephen, and we have Grandpa Don and Grandpa Stan.  I love how interested in language he is.  We've also been looking for bugs lately with our bug catching nets we got for Easter.  It reminded me that I use to get caterpillars for my 1st grade classroom and we'd watch them make their cocoons and turn to butterflies.  So I ordered one for us.  Ross is going to LOVE it.  We love the Very Hungry Caterpillar book so seeing it in real life is going to be great!  He also loves flying kites.  I leave the kite in the car and he always wants to hold the handle of it while we go somewhere. (I think he hopes we'll stick the kite out the window and fly it while we drive haha).  

Bubble Guns are the best!

Success!

I tried to get Ross to take a picture with me...can you see him saying, "cheese" as fast as he could?

Cute mom and son pic - fail ;)

He did WAY better with his last two swimming lessons.  The second one I got in the water with him and he complied much better with his teacher.  We also found they had a clown fish (Nemo) that Ross loved and became key to him being happy in his class.  Last night we took him to his third - Grandma and Grandpa White came.  After getting over having to let got of Grandpa, he did great!  Woot woot!  I had bribed him that if he did well for his teacher and didn't cry he would get a Finn McMissile from Cars 2.  The second he got out of the water he was asking me for Finn McMissile.  Haha - we'll see if he clinches it the next time.  

Playing with his buddy Nemo

Back floating - too bad the boy next to him was splashing like crazy. ;)

Ross just before the big splash!

His favorite foods include: cheerios with honey, hot dogs if we eat them outside, goldfish "fish" (said with a southern accent - I have no idea where he picked that up), pretzels, bananas, pears, apples, carrots, fruit snacks, and popcorn.      

Ruby is 32 1/2 inches tall and weighs 24lbs 7oz.  She's 95th percentile for her height and 75th for her weight.  She is just a LONG girl.  It's funny - she and Ross came out measuring the same length, but she was always seemed a bit longer.  There is a chance she could be an inch or two taller than Ross.  If this is the case we may have a wrestler and a volleyball player on our hands. ;)  They are both nice and healthy though which is the main thing.  Ruby is above and beyond her age for development (I've heard that for girls).  The doctor was shocked how well she could speak and that she's even doing phrases now.  He only expects around 5 words at her age.  I've said - this girl is not a baby or even a toddler - she's just a little person now determined to move up in the world.  She's extremely friendly to just about everybody (which makes me nervous on a different level) and will be happy to go and play with them if they look fun or have fun toys.  
 

She is the most beautiful girl in the world - no contest!

 

Ruby saying "Cheese!"

 

She is pretty good with a spoon and fork and eats better for me if she gets to use them herself.  She LOVES stuffed animals.  Her hippo and Ross's monkey are her favorites.  Whenever I put her down for a nap she always hugs her hippo extra tight and waits for me to put her blanket on her. :)  It's adorable.  She's still our dancer and loves to run everywhere.  She's so funny to watch too, because when she decides she's going to run she leans forward first with her head and uses the falling motion as her kick start before she takes off.

Ruby thought she sounded really cool talking with the Mega Blocks bag on her head (I know I'm a great parent)

Ruby and I had a girls day yesterday while Dad studied and Ross was with Grandpa and Grandma.  We went to the library to start :)

Picking out books can be tricky!  We went to Target, Gymboree, and did my Visiting Teaching together afterwards - she was a champ!

She's saying a lot of words she's gotten from Ross like, "It's okay!" (He always says that if a spill happens or something breaks), and she's learning all the names of Disney Pixar characters: Nemo, Dori, Woody, Boo are what she's has down so far.  Her "talking on the phone" now consists of, "Hello?  Hi!  uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, You don't say. How are ya? Bye!"  She's a professional now!  She loves all the animals and especially dogs. Her favorite foods are hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and peas (seriously she lives for it), blueberries, string cheese, pretzels, cheerios in milk, and yoghurt melts.  Her favorite thing to do at playgrounds is go down the slides and put all the wood chips in her mouth that she can while running away from me.  That about sums it up. :) 

Today is Stephen's birthday!  He's taking his boards so there hasn't been a huge focus on that at the moment, but there will be afterwards!  He's going to do great!  We'll share his birthday celebrations next!    

Last weekend I headed to my parents so Stephen could get some serious studying done.  I left him some "Pick Me Up" envelopes to get through all that alone time, and we went and played hard at my parents.  Well - they did teach me how to play Farkle - it's pretty fun actually and my sister took the cake by getting around 8 Farkles in a row.  THAT takes talent.  We laughed extremely hard which is good for the soul, and had some cake and ice cream for my dad's birthday (we're doing the big celebration with Steve's next week).  My dad was also so kind as to watch my kiddos while I went maternity clothes shopping for my sister and got some summer clothes for the kids. 
 

They even had fake bellies to try on with your clothes! ;)  Rach is no where near this big yet!

 We had a blast just hanging out all together over the weekend even though it rained the entire time!  Love family - they're the best. :)

Ross's First Swimming Lesson...

So Ross thinks water is awesome.  He loves fish, whales, baths, fishing, putting his feet in the ocean - are all so fun.  Deal with new experiences without mom or dad even if a pool is super cool, is a whole other kettle of fish.

We signed Ross up for swim lessons since we'll be going to Hawaii this summer and being in the ocean a bunch.  Always good to be prepared!
 
I pretty much tried to pep him up the whole day on how fun it was going to be and how he could show his teacher how he can float on his back and blow bubbles all ready.  I also threw in some bribery that he could have a surprise if he did everything the teacher asked and was a good listener.

This is how we started...
 

Not quite sure what's going to happen...

Mom's holding me - so I'm okay right now!

We got to the pool and the nervousness started to show.  He kept telling me he wanted me to come with him even though I had been pretty clear on him going with his teacher like in nursery.  He then started clinging to my arm and wouldn't sit next to the other kids when their little group was called.  

His teacher, Abbey, came over, who was very sweet by the way, and pretty much had to peel him off of me and carry a crying Ross into the pool.  The rest of the half hour was spent with me ducking behind pillars so he wouldn't see me and get worked up all over again and taking a few pictures.
 

It's funny because his fear had nothing to do with the water and everything to do with mom not being there.  Sometimes firsts are hard things to go through!

Abby was pretty sympathetic to him though. :)

Ross was pretty sad the first half of the lesson and the second half just stood near the teacher, but wouldn't try anything she asked.  He was a bit offended still when I went to get him at the end and wanted me to hold him all the way to the car.  Poor thing.  Sometimes to get him to try new things, it's a bit like throwing him in kicking and screaming so he can get over it and learn something or realize he actually enjoys it.  It's hard being the first kid!

I have a feeling Ruby will be throwing herself in the pool before she even has a clue about swimming which is a whole different kind of worry.  Whew - give her a few years though!

Anyway - we survived and made some goals on how the next lesson will be.  His teacher was really positive and hopefully we'll have some progress. ;)  Wahoo for firsts!

Happy Easter!

Well Easter this year was fun to spend with family.  It was a little tricky for Steve getting study time in, but he enjoyed the break. :)  

The kids went to sleep at Grandpa and Grandma White's on Friday and had a blast.  Steve studied like mad and I stayed up way too late with the knowledge that I could possibly sleep in the next morning (9 was a blissful time to wake up).  

We joined them around 5 for a BBQ, egg dying, and an egg hunt.  I've learned that to Claudia, egg dying is a craft, so eating them is out of the question afterwards (especially if they have dye on the inside).  The boys had fun throwing them out in the field afterwards.

Ross discovered a neighbor of Grandpa and Grandma's has a pretty sweet sandbox complete with dump truck and excavator.  You can guess where he wanted to spend all his time outside. :)  He and Ruby are also not afraid of the neighbor's dog, Tank, (and he IS a tank) anymore.  

We had a great Easter message given by Grandpa and remembered the great gift of the Resurrection.  

The next day we went to church with Steve's family and Ruby made friends with every and any one in Relief Society.  That girl is BUSY!  
 

Easter Picture!

Girls Pic!  Ruby's 18 month old dress is quite SHORT - we were going for Little Rascal's era. ;)

Pretty girl!

That evening we had dinner with my family - Rahmschnitzel - which is a Swiss dish, and had a hunt for Easter baskets.  The kids were quite thrilled with their finds.  It was nice to visit and enjoy the good weather. When it was time to go home (side note - naps were few and far between over the weekend) Ross was NOT happy about it.  He loves being with his grandparents and always seems to feel we cut his time too short.  We so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents who are so involved.
 

There was no way these guys were going to look up from their finds.

Happy Easter!

Steve's Pre-Birthday and Spring!

Well, Steve has pretty much become hibernated in study-zone...as in I probably won't see him surface until he takes Boards on the 30th (which happens to be his birthday).  I've found the entire time we've been in his grad school program he's had to take a test on his birthday or be studying for finals which were shortly after his birthday (this making any celebration a bit on the un-fun side for him).  Why not finish grad school with the whopping giant all encompassing, culminating, humongous Boards exam?  PT school really knows how to give birthday presents doesn't it. :)

Anyway - I decided to do a little pre-celebrating and take Steve to see Les Miserables at the Hale Center Theater.  My dad was so nice to come and babysit once again so we could go to dinner and the show.

We headed to our favorite Indian restaurant - Flavors of India.  Seriously - if you like Indian - you need to go there!  We've been three times now and have gotten to know the management well - they recognize us when we come in.  I've found that I have this innate need to tell waiters or any help at restaurants how much I love their food (when I love it).  Well - that habit of mine has paid off my friends, because you are looking at the proud owner of the VIP member card to their restaurant.  We now get 20% off EVERY time we go there.  Also, we got free take out rice to go with our leftovers, as well as a complimentary appetizer for our dinner there.  I was QUITE satisfied. :)
 

The happy payer ;)

The play was fantastic and I really enjoyed the rotating stage and amazing scenery.  It was so creative.  Jean Val Jean was incredible as was Eponine, and Javert.  Oh that music is so incredible and the story so powerful. 

Woot woot!

As of late, Steve has had this thing of pointing out random people we pass proclaiming he has to know them from somewhere and comes up with all these scenarios.  The last one was how determined he was that this guy at Cafe Rio had been on the BYU basketball team years ago...or in a commercial...and he was wrong.  He gets actors mixed up all the time, swearing that so-and-so DEFINITELY was in that so-and-so movie too.  We have to cut him some slack.  He's stuffing PT information in his head morning, noon, and night so nonessential information comes at the end of the list.

Anyway - at intermission Steve saw a man in a suit and then told me he was a General Authority and he was going to look for him in the audience to see if he could find any other GA people.  I laughed and told him nice try.  He was pretty determined, and tonight he proved me wrong.  Elder Tad Callister of the Presidency of the Seventy was at the play last night and he and Steve passed a knowing nod to each other.  So one point for Steve!
 

Elder Callister

We also notice a missionary from Steve's mission was actually in the company.  He plays Javert, but wasn't performing that night unfortunately.  His voice is incredible as I'm told, and he's also been in commercials - a claim to knowing fame! ;)  
 

Steve's mission friend's poster for an upcoming play :)  I made him let me take this picture. :)

Overall it was a fabulous night and now we're back to not seeing Steve ever and just biding our time until he passes his Boards and we can resume normal life. :)

In other news - Spring is definitely here and we have been enjoying great weather!  Ruby is sporting an adorable Spring outfit with her cute little legs, and we've been outside a lot more.  We recently got a free exercise bike and treadmill which is great for me!  Ross and Ruby are totally fascinated by it and want turns...fun.  Anyway - Ruby has turned part of the bike into a slide for stuffed animals.  Enjoy below. :)

She is ADORABLE.  And the headband is just tight enough that she can't whip it off her head. :)  Also I tell her it's pretty so she likes it. :)

Strike a pose girlfriend!

Hilarious story - tonight at dinner we were singing "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" (yes, we are that family) and I asked Ross afterwards if when he grows up he wants to go on a mission.  
Ross promptly replied: "I don't grow up!" 
Me: "You do grow up, but slowly.  Don't you want to go on a mission when you grow up?"
Ross: "No, I'm not throw up.  We just grow up in bowls"
Me:....."What?"
Ross: "We grow up in bowls"
Me - racking my brain trying to connect the two...ding!
Me:  "Oh you mean we THROW up in bowls...when we're sick"
Ross: Look saying, "Duh mom!"

We then talked about when he gets bigger he can go on a mission, and Ross said, "Yeah - and I'll get bigger and bigger and BIGGER!"  He really wants to grow a foot or two. :)

We started a little Preschool here.  The group is really young, but we had a great time starting out.  We learned about the letter A and its sound.  The kids did well with their moms there for the most part and we made some alligator A's.  Ross was a stinker and wouldn't leave my side (just like in our Preschool before).  Ruby was a CRAZY social bug.  While I was teaching I'd look out of the corner of my eye every so often and she was ALWAYS somewhere different - looking at a baby, trying to poke him, sitting on the couch between two moms chatting them up with "Hi's!" and "Hello's!", stealing kids' goldfish or apples during snack time, picking off their marshmallow teeth we were gluing on to our alligator A's mouths, or doing some perimeter checks.  Everyone told me how amazed they were with how 1) social she was and 2) how fast she is.  Have I mentioned she's in running mode now?  AND she has the dodging and darting down to an art.  I'm just lucky I have a longer stride than she does.  She keeps me burning calories all day.  Outside play is a crazy game of "I'm going to get you" with how interested she is in putting EVERYTHING in her mouth and setting herself RIGHT in the middle of all the action (which may be RIGHT between two kids swinging on the swings - that's not terrifying for a parent at all ;) ).  

Anyway - it went well and was fun to meet some new little friends.  
 

Our little group :)

Ross finishing gluing on the marshmallows.  I had to bribe him for every marshmallow he glued he got one to eat. :)

Ruby has been upping her vocabulary quite a bit lately.  She is pretty good at expressing herself and what she wants.  She can say, "outdide (outside), be  (bath), Hi Ra (Hi Ross) - one of her favorites and always gets in Ross's face until he says hi back to her, a bite, boobee (blueberry - I know totally inappropriate sounding), awbee (strawberry), pea, pee, plea (please), hole me (hold me) or hole you, ell me (help me), boddle (bottle), kidded (kisses), Hi Baby (said VERY clearly), a buh (a book), hippo, dinky (binky), and a whole bunch more I'm sure.  She is just a busy body in mind, body, and spirit!  She is determined to get going with all these skills.  She's pretty good at putting some of our simple puzzles together and the shapes in the right holes of the bucket.  She's a little smarty pants that one. And she has gotten three molars.  The last two came together this last week and the fourth is on its way.  Sheesh!

Ross has become more of a deep thinker. He's gotten really good at connecting ideas, words, situations with his already collected knowledge.  He's very curious and likes to ask me lots of question now - mostly in the form of him telling me but with a questioning tone for me to confirm or clarify (although clarifying takes a little while for him to accept.  He likes to say he tooted instead of peed and had a hard time believing my corrections were right).  He also has gone through the night without any sort of diapering thanks to my dad actually!  While he babysat he just put him to bed in his underwear (which I hadn't clarified anyway) and he woke up nice and dry!  Wahoo!

The other day I came in his room to find THIS:
 

He's really excited to show me this!

Proud

I LOVE his face!  And that definitely is an empty toybox.

He was really excited to show me his pile of his ENTIRE toy box in a heap.  It gave me a flashback to when I was three (my earliest memory almost) and my brother and I decided we wanted to camp outside that night, so we felt we needed to throw our entire room out the window...as in everything.  I believe we only had a little basket of something left when our mom found us.  I was pretty proud of our idea, but my mom felt otherwise.  Needless to say we didn't camp out that night, and had to pick up every last toy we owned outside and bring it back in.  Oh good memories.  At least Ross didn't try to throw his toys out the window.

I came back in later to find this:

Just transferred - very clever. :)  He definitely has some hoarding habits in him.  He likes to pile up his toys so they are properly inventoried and protected from intruders.  I'm practically Ruby's bodyguard when she's playing with something of Ross's that he hadn't even noticed until she took it.  He watches like a hawk for when she puts it down.  She seems to turn any toy into gold for him.  It's crazy!  They are two cute kids though.  I love them with all my heart!

  

Testimony FHE

Well, over the weekend the kids got to hang out with the grandparents to allow Steve some serious study time.  I dropped them off...but then had to come back up here to transport Steve from work to home.  So we basically had the weekend without kids.  I had this crazy itch to do all the things we can't do with kids...like just leave to somewhere on a whim, or have the TV volume up at an actual reasonable loudness without worrying its going to wake the kids, or go to a late movie like when we were first married.  All these things bounced around my head only to realize I would be doing them by myself since the whole point of having the kids with grandma and grandpa was so Steve could study.  This deflated my excitement a little bit...and left me feeling a bit without purpose not having anyone to look after.  Seriously.  It was the weirdest feeling.

My mom gave Stephen a cute "good luck studying" goodie bag which included a gift card to Olive Garden.  I did convince Steve to take a quick dinner break to go there.  DELISH - and surprisingly quick on a Friday night.  We got back and Steve followed up on his studies so I decided to have a date with Thor 2.  Oh Thor - I can never quite decide who I prefer more - you or Captain America.  You both are so yummy.

The next day we went to my cousin's wedding and I attended the reception with my parents while Steve went back to studying (side note - it may not seem this way - but Steve really is sick of studying...he's sick of talking about studying, thinking about studying...just the idea of studying!  Unfortunately that is pretty much his life at the moment until Boards...then he may get a life back and I'll have more to report on him. ;) ).
 

Ross has decided that if Daddy studies...then Ross has to study to.  He picked out his own book and everything - looks like he's studying the foot - and wanted a pencil to "write" in it too. (Hence the paper next to it to avoid any "extra notes" he wanted to add in.)  Ross LOVES being like Daddy :)

Story break!  They live for Daddy time.

My parents and I had a quick lunch break in between the wedding and reception to The Dodo (lots of eating out this weekend!)  We had the tollhouse pie, Banana Creamcheese Pie, and the Mocha Chocolate Cake.  All winners.  I got to spend some one on one time with my parents which is rare since I usually have my kids, and it was nice to just chat with them while we went to the reception and back.
 

My cousin Jillian and Dale.  It was a beautiful sealing and such a reminder of all the amazing blessings that come from making covenants in the Temple.  I love the Gospel!

THEN I finally was reunited with my kids - whew - I missed those babies.  They truly are my life and it never feels quite right without them around - even at their craziest. :)  

Anyway - so tonight we had our family home evening lesson Stephen prepared which was on Testimony.  I had shared my testimony in church a couple weeks ago and Ross came up wanting to have a turn, so he shared how he loved Heavenly Father and our family.  It was really sweet and touched my heart.  So our lesson talked about what a testimony is and how to share one.  Ross practiced sharing his just like King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah chapter 2 verse 7.  He stood on a tower and shared what he knew about the Gospel.  Ross loved it.  He was so sweet. :)  Also, Ross seems to have found a signature introduction of himself lately. If you ask who he is he'll say, "I'm Ross!  Ka-Chow!" It seems to just flow right off his tongue.  Cutie :)

Ross bearing his testimony!

He's offering his testimony to you. :)

Anyway - it's awesome being a parent and I know without my own testimony of my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, I wouldn't realize how incredibly important and beautiful it truly is being in this role.     

Ross got some SWEET PJs in the mail from Grammy Joanne.  Can you tell he loves them?  (Also, standing on my piano bench has become quite cool.)

Muscles.

Sweetest face ever!

This is all Ruby would give me...silly girl.  :)