My Very Own Quiet Book

So I have been working on a quiet book for Ross when he's older and we're at church.  I borrowed my mom's old one I used to play with as a kid and I have done some researching on the internet.  Let me tell you - there are so many ideas out there it is nuts!  I want to do all of them, but then his book would be as larger as an encyclopedia...plus I don't have that much patience.  I like the idea of being able to get a page done within an hour or so.  Here is what I have done so far (I've taken these ideas from my mom, other websites, and my own pretty little head):

This one was super easy to make - just draw the picture, sew together the boat and sew on the buttons to button the boat to.  I LOVE my new sewing machine that sews the button holes for me in 1 flippin' step!

I made this one up which I am very proud of.  I've decided felt is my new favorite material - it is so easy to use for a quiet book. 

This was another of my brilliant ideas ;)  Haha - okay - but you either velcro or snap on the different parts of his suit.  He's already "wearing" a shirt though.  I am going to sew a little suitcase next to him to keep the clothes in.

I love this one.  I had a lot of fun sewing the numbers.

Nothing like a good ol' Lace the pattern deal.

Button the flowers on at the temple.  Always a good idea!

My next page I'm hoping to do is unpacking the picnic basket (with a buckle) and setting the table.  I also want to do a lace the shoe and a road to drive a car on....and a whole lot of other ones.  We'll see how it goes!

I love this one!  They have to undo the buckle and set the table.

This one took forever because of the finger puppets (yes a random array of animals).  Steve designed Noah.  Ross is going to love this when he's old enough!

Tie the shoe - it turned out quite cute I think.

I love this one - I cut out cars and trees from some extra material I had from a baby blanket.  Love it!

Growing Growing

Well summer has officially begun!  Steve and I cleaned out my classroom.  I think he might have had a mini mid-life crisis with everything I had there.  Steve is our organizer of the family.  Whether it's clean or not doesn't bother him - but if it's not organized he can sit, sleep, or rest until it's done.  Now - I'm not a messy or particularly cluttery sort of person, but being a teacher requires lots of manipulatives, files, posters, etc. to teach. I left a TON of stuff for other teachers to hoard and savor, and I was quite proud I only used 4 large bins to keep all my stuff in - two of which were solely books.  Steve kept saying how we'll never need to go to the library ever as he packed them away.  Hey - I got some GOOD deals on all those books and every one was bought with the intention of using them for our kids.  Ross will definitely be a reader!  So basically we've cleaned out my classroom and are adjusting to our summer-fun life!  Steve only has to work afternoons right now so we get every morning together with Ross which is nice.  We are way tempted for him to just quit his job for the summer since I still get paid as a teacher.  It would be the only time we could do it and get away with it!

Ross and Daddy ready Conference talks together

You can tell Ross is very interested! Haha.

His smiles just keep getting cuter and cuter!

Smiling at Daddy

My brother's girlfriend gave us this outfit.  He looks so handsome in it.  Too bad this picture makes his feet look giant and he looks shocked! :)

Here's the cute outfit with the still shocked face!

Cute Ross

These are Ross's little friends.  We got him this little gym since he loves laying on his back all the time.  He is quite entertained by it.  Steve and I have been debating for some time now as to what the toy in the middle is.  I fully believe it is a mouse - however, Steve thinks it's a crane because it has long legs.  Cranes don't have whiskers though.  Tell us what your vote it!  For now we have deemed it "Crouse."

Ross stares down his little ball.

This is one of the only pictures where you can actually see his neck!  Hilarious :)

Ross made himself modest all by himself in the bathtub!

We use Louie the monkey to help keep in Ross's binky...you can see he's slacking on the job right here!

He's sooo happy right now to be burped in the middle of his dinner!

Aunti Rach came over for a walk one day.  We had a grand ol' time!

Steve was trying to get Ross to smile.  You can see how intently he is watching him.

There we go!

I still have these moments where it dawns on me that I actually have a baby.  No - I'm not babysitting for anyone, he's mine all the time.  It's overwhelming in every sense of the word.  He is so fun to have and keeps us on our toes all the time.  Just when I think we've got him figured out and into a routine - he throws another loop in!  Right now we're working on naps.  He's decided 45 minutes are enough even though his little body is saying he needs more.  Steve has a method of getting him to sleep that involves rhythmic shushing and bouncing.  This is both good and bad!  Steve calls him a cute little poo - whether or not it is endearing - we don't know.  Ross also discovered his hands yesterday.  He gets completely mesmerized by them until they get too close to his face and he goes cross-eyed.  He prefers his left hand to look at though which makes us wonder if he'll be left handed.  He has discovered many things he can do with his spit as well.  He can slobber all over his hands or drench his shirt.  His favorite is blowing bubbles with them though - he's been doing that for a week now.  We weighed him yesterday and he's almost 13 1/2 pounds of baby!!  My arms are getting their workouts.  We made it through 3 hours of church yesterday and by the end of relief society my arms were dying!  He is definitely chunking up which is fun.  He really is the best little baby ever. 

Moving Forward

Well it has been an insane last few weeks with me finishing up school and juggling everything else going on.  I am up finishing burning slideshow DVDs for my little first graders as a end of year present.  I must say - I am quite proud of how it's turned out.  Movie Maker is a GREAT program.  Since Ross is fed and asleep for the night and I have to stay up to finish these, I figured - what better to do than blog!  I've come to be a bit of a blog stalker.  I love to look up and see what everyone else is up to - and it's so much nicer than facebook.  Anyway - my last few weeks have been surprisingly smooth teaching.  Don't get me wrong - I really don't wish being a working mother on anyone.  I understand if you have to do it, but it is SO tricky and sleep depriving.  It helped Ross and I get on a schedule however which has been heaven.  I didn't find it funny, though, when he would be so cute and smiley in the morning and I had to leave him.  Steve has been quite the Mr. Mom for this temporary time.  He has informed me many tidbits of advice in how to take care of Ross.  My burping techniques have been corrected many a time and how Ross likes to be held has also been shown to me.  It has been so nice having Steve be with Ross and my lifesaving in-laws taking care of him a few times a week while Steve went to work.  I'm so grateful family has been able to take care of him while I've been gone.  I have loved teaching first grade and have not quite come to the reality of tomorrow being my last day of teaching ever.  I am so thrilled to be a mom at home, but I do have melancholy feelings about not having my little ducklings following me around and hearing all their hilarious stories and helping them learn how to add, tell time, and - my favorite - read.  Being a teacher has prepared me in so many ways to be a better parent and also feel satisfaction with the education I have gained.  It has been an awesome phase of my life that I will always cherish.  I've made some great friendships among teachers and parents of my students and have adored watching my students grow.  The adventures ahead will be wonderful I'm sure, but I'm glad to have made the memories I have now of a chapter that's ending.     
On an updated Ross note - he is getting bigger by the minute.  Steve and I are definitely getting our arm workouts constantly with this little tubber boy.  He was 12 lbs. 3 oz. last week and growing.  He has gotten much more smiley which melts my heart every time he tosses out that toothless grin.  I didn't know I could feel so loved by such a little person.  He is doing much better holding up his head by himself though he still has some bobbling going on.  Four nights ago he slept for 8 hours for the first time and I felt like a new woman.  It is so encouraging knowing that it just gets better and better with kids.  He did a 2AM sneak attack on us last night, but I have high hopes he'll sleep all the way through tonight again.  He is truly a great baby and so fun to have in our little family.  Steve is the greatest dad that ever lived I believe.  I cannot believe how involved he is with everything.  I'm so glad to have such a supportive husband.  He really is my best friend in every way.  
Here are some pictures with what's been going on lately:     

Ross enjoying the sling - I'm still so proud I made it!

My cute smiley boy!  I love the tongue sticking out!

He really is the cutest thing that ever lived.  He enjoys talking with people now and showing how he can hold his own head up (mostly).

When he gets really happy he kicks his legs a ton which then causes his head to do this!  So it's a nice up-the-nose shot. :)

Totally precious

Steve found another use for my Boppy pillow...Queen Amidala all the way.

Don't you just want to kiss that face?!!

My baby sister just graduated - boy I am old!  She is a great sister and is going to do some wonderful things with her life.  Congrats Rach!

We have had "Vacation Week" for the last week of school and went to Hawaii.  My mother and brother-in-law came to teach the Maori stick game to the first grade.  So fun!

Of course I have to have a picture of my cute first graders.  This was our Olympic Party - quite legendary.  I'm going to miss them!

Week of Events

Well there have been tons of things happening.  I will say having to go back to work (even though it's only for 3 1/2 weeks) is NOT fun after you've had a baby.  Steve is wonderful with Ross, don't get me wrong, but it is heart wrenching to have to kiss my little baby good-bye, especially when he's started to get more smiley in the mornings.  He, of course, has no clue what's going on, but I miss him so much! 

We have been up to a TON of things lately with family and friends.  

We were hanging out with our friends the Dille's who are now "Homeowners" which is their new title that follows their name.  We had given this gorgeous bird feeder to Jordan for his birthday (a well saved up wedding gift that needed to be re-gifted to the right person.  When we showed up for dinner in their new home - guess what was the center piece?!  Haha!

It was my dad's birthday and we celebrated at Brick Oven - yum.  We then came back to our apartment where I had made his homemade birthday cake from the recipe found in the luxurious bridal edition of Betty Crocker!  I was quite pleased with myself.  My dad's the one waving in the back. :)

Grandma Staheli with Ross

Steve's 25th birthday!  Another bridal edition Betty Crocker creation!

I had to include this.  Steve's sister Meghan had to take care of this baby doll for her class through the weekend.  It was so creepy!  It would cry or poop all the time.  She tied a handkerchief around its head to keep it from "breaking its neck".  Haha!

Family hanging out

Steve graduated with his bachelors degree in Exercise Science!  Wahoo Steve!

Ross was blessed on May 1st.  His baby blessing outfit was actually Steve's blessing outfit when he was born!  And the gorgeous blanket he is laying on was made by my dear friend Pam's mother.  It is so beautiful!

Ross's baby blessing was beautiful.  He of course was grunting through half of it.  Later Steve told me he felt Ross starting to get fussy and he opened one eye to peek at him and saw this hand come in and poke his binky back into his mouth.  Steve's dad was the heroic hand!  The blessing was amazing - I'm so grateful for the Priesthood.

Having a snuggle with Grandpa White

Ode to a Loyal Pair of Shoes

 

Born in 2001 and semi-retired in 2011

The New Rookies

My mother bought me these shoes when I was a junior in high school and I thought they were weird shoes that I would never wear.  I found them in my closet some time later and decided to just try them out since I couldn't find my tennis shoes that day...thus began a love that has never died.  These shoes had everything a tennis shoe should have but they had one extra trait that made all the difference - the slip on element.  I have never loved a shoe so much in my life!  They have been everywhere from my being a summer camp counselor in Maine to my semester in Nauvoo to my mission in England to all through my pregnancy being the only shoe that my swollen feet would feel comfortable in.  They are beaten and ugly, but the comfort and sweet memories cannot let me ever throw them away.  My mother and sister have attempted to sway my affections for another pair of shoes that slip on...which, I must say, they are a sweet pair of shoes, but I don't know if I can ever let the old ones go.  So this is my ode to them in their semi-retirement.  Cheers to the shoes of a decade!

Housewifing

Ross in his cute pajamas his grandma got him - he's a candycane!

Haha - can't resist the bug eyes.  He's got the nickname Bugsy.  Love those cheeks!

Cute boy - getting over a little baby acne.  He's taking it like a champ though!

I broke out my new sewing machine and made a baby sling! 

Ross seems to find it suitable. :)

Our little Ross is a whole month old now!  I can't believe how the time is flying.  Of course it does with a newborn - the days all just blend into each other.  If you catch a few hours of sleep in between you're lucky.  I wish I were more used to only having a few hours of sleep - it never seems to get any easier!  Ross sure is growing.  He is 9lbs. 9 oz. now and chubbing up.  I just love chubby babies so I can't wait for the rolls to come.  He's already got some cute ones on his legs.  His cheeks are puffing up too.  He is more of a talker - even in his sleep!  We've caught him laughing and talking a little more too.  I even got my own smile finally today!  Steve is finishing up his finals and our fingers are crossed that he doesn't need to do any more classes this summer so we can just enjoy our little family.  It's always better having Steve home - he brings out the humor in everything which I need! 
I've been attempting to be a housewife and I'm finding I am so not as good at it as I thought I would be.  Our house is usually a wreck with laundry half done, dishes half done, cleaning half done, and me half dressed!  So...I think I'm a half-housewife right now.  I'll be working on becoming a whole one someday.  It's funny how you picture yourself in situations, and then find how unprepared you are when you're actually in them.  That's the fun in it though right?  Fun, fun, fun!  
I've broken in my new sewing machine and made a baby sling.  I tried Ross out in it and he immediately fell asleep - genius!  I did happen to make it too big though and had to improvise to shorten it.  Oh well.  When I went into the sewing shop to buy some material and a pattern (note - it's been about a million years since I've really been sewing) I felt like I stepped into a Japanese speaking country.  I've forgotten all the lingo and terminology for sewing - so I looked like a total dorkface asking obvious questions.  I even took my sewing machine back in saying there were tension problems when I just was threading it wrong.  At least I'm not afraid to admit I'm a total beginner! 
Steve will be graduating tomorrow which is SO exciting.  He can't wait to be done.  I can't wait for him to be done.  It's been a long semester that needs to end.  Hooray for him graduating!  We'll be celebrating all weekend!