Multnomah Falls

So post-Conference we were itchin' to get out and do something interesting.  Steve had the brilliant idea to go see some waterfalls he saw when he was driving here from Utah.  So we packed ourselves up and headed out towards Portland.  Totally worth it.  It was fun to walk around and see such beautiful parts of Oregon!  They have quite a handful of waterfalls.  We even passed a couple going up to this one.  

This waterfall is one of the few in the U.S. that doesn't completely freeze over in the winter...so I'm told...by Steve...who looked it up.

Cool furry moss trees.

Family pic

The view...

Ross in his blowing raspberry phase again. :)

 

Ross's First Haircut

Well we decided the old man comb over look for Ross was going out of style so we decided to boyify him.  It is really interesting trying to cut a baby's hair...and just cut babies' hair period.  We managed though...

Before...

After! 

He is too handsome...

What a hunk! :)

Trying to get Steve to help me fold some laundry.  You can see how enthusiastic he is about it. :)

Ross fell asleep on his daddy...and Steve was in heaven. :)

He sits up so well now!  He's still not allowed to sit up unattended though...we've had a few bonks with the toppling over...

Watching Conference...

This is just the cutest boy in the world...watch out ladies!

 

Berry Picking...

Yummy Raspberries!

So Ross and I ventured out to see some beautiful parts of Oregon in preparation for his 6 month shots (okay - maybe more for my preparation than Ross's).  We went with some great ladies from our ward and saw the beautiful farm lands here.  Duyck's Peachy-Pig Farm was one you just can't pass up - even just for the name!  You go and grab how ever many buckets you want to fill with whatever you want - tomatoes, zucchini, raspberries, blackberries - the works!  You just walk all over the farm and pick whatever you like.  Then you take it back to their little stand and have it weighed to buy.  I went strictly for the raspberries - they are so expensive at the grocery store!  I got about 2 1/2 lbs of raspberries and was charged $3...fresh raspberries...$3...are we kidding?  No...no we are not.  Best day ever!  It was sunny too - yes - I forgot to mention it has finally rained a few days here!  Just a couple days ago it started to feel like fall finally...and boy am I ready for a little coolness.  Anyway - raspberries, $3, dream come true.   I actually went home that night and ambitiously made raspberry freezer jam for the first time.  It's pretty amazing!  Steve is in heaven since raspberries are his favorite fruit.  I'm slowly becoming more domestic I think.

The perfect raspberry

 

The farm!

  

Ross was brave for his shots...okay - as brave as a baby can be.  I was better than I've been the last two times too.  He got four shots - including a flu shot, and cried for just a little while before going to sleep in the car.  He's a cute one.  He yells his "da da da's" all the time now, and is pretty good at sitting.  He likes to lean forward as far as possible when inspecting a toy and then lean to the side which makes him topple over on his face when I'm not looking.  He likes it though - so much more to see.  I'm wondering if he's getting into teething mode because he chews on his hands a lot more and is a little more drooley as of late.  He laughs a lot more which is so fun.  He's the sweetest little guy who gives out smiles like crazy too.  
Steve has done well on all 6 of his exams he has had to take within the last week and a half.  Seeing him at 8 at night or later makes for long days for both of us, but you do what you have to do.  He just told me tonight how weird he feels not studying for once - they sure take it out of you in grad school!  
I just got a calling to work in the primary - I'm actually kind of excited since I've missed teaching this fall.  We'll see how to juggle Ross with all of it, but it will be fun to be around more kids again.

 

Dance Party!

We watched Tangled and had a dance party afterwards....

Portland Temple Trip

So we went out on Saturday since I have been clawing at the walls with a sick baby at home all week.  It was nice to get out of Forest Grove and Hillsboro and realize things happen elsewhere!  We first went to a baptism in our ward which was a great way to start.  There have been three convert baptisms within the last couple weeks which has been so cool to see.  We headed out to Portland afterwards.  I just love this temple.  It's fairytale like with the secluded area it's built on and all the trees nearby.  They also have an atrium right inside the foyer area which is super cool.  We also realized this was Ross's first trip to a temple!  How exciting!  Sweet little guy.  He's getting better, but his voice sounds like a raspy old man's now.  Soon he'll be back in tip top shape I hope.  Steve also has done really well on his 4 exams he took this last week which has been reassuring that graduate school is the right thing to do!  He loves what he's learning even though it's pretty intense...for both of us!  Anyway - here are some pics :)

Ross looked like he was reading his book earlier, but by the time we got the camera he discovered he could fit it in his mouth and wouldn't pose for us anymore!

Portland Temple!

Ross was very mesmerized with the fountain.  We kept trying to take a picture in front of it, but he would just turn around to stare at it...so this is what we got. :)

Dad trying to keep Ross's attention my way!

So pretty!

So I'm wearing tennis shoes - haha - I have some stress lines in the bones of my left foot and have to wear orthotics - they don't fit any of my current dressy shoes unfortunately, so I bring my tennis shoes when I'm doing a lot of walking.

This boy is the cutest thing ever!

Testing out the water

 Trying to take a picture with Ross...

 

    Corn

Chowder

      Yum!

 

Ingredients

·         5-6 medium peeled & chopped potatoes

·         1/2 cup diced celery

·         3-5 carrots chopped

·         1 chopped onion (white or red)

·         1 (11 ounce) can creamed corn

·         1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

·         1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

·         1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper or paprika

·         3/4 tsp salt

·         1/2 tsp parsley

·         Handful of cheese

 

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, place potatoes, celery, carrots and onion with water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Drain.

2. Return vegetables to pot with creamed corn, corn, evaporated milk, cayenne, salt, and parsley over low heat. Simmer 20 minutes. Add cheese at the end.

 

Sick...I Mean Six Months Old...

I've heard how terrible it is to have a sick baby...I never realized what an understatement that is..Ross started being a little bit more fussy, but little did we know what was in store.  His nose got stuffier and his body got achier.  My heart just broke watching him try to sleep and not be able to because he couldn't breathe lying down.  That night was worse than any 7 nights grouped together when he was a newborn.  I had gotten used to getting a full night's sleep - and Ross just physically could NOT sleep!  Steve had exams all week which made me feel bad so I tried to stay up with Ross most of the night.  Poor Ross would try to hard to go to sleep in my arms and then his stuffy nose would wake him up a few minutes later.  We tried everything we could think of.  Saline, warm bath, sitting in the bathroom with the shower going, tylenol, rocking, a Baby Einstein DVD, we even tried to put him to sleep in his stroller.

You can see how miserable he was...and how desperate we were.  If it had worked Steve wanted to call it the Strolla-snoozer...unfortunately - it didn't work.

I made it until about 4AM when Steve got up to tag team me.  I got about 2 hours of sleep in before Steve had to get ready to go take his final.  I had to take him to school since Ross's 6 month check up was that morning too.  Ross fell asleep on the way driving so when I dropped Steve off I drove around for another 45 minutes to give the little guy some much needed sleep.  We went to his doctor's appointment...and I was ready to pull my hair out.  Ross was completely miserable by that point and was bawling his little eyes out.  So sad!  He didn't have an ear infection, but just a little fever and a terribly stuffy nose.  We nixed the shots till next week and got him some ibuprofen.  From there on out he started getting better.   That night I drove him around for him to fall asleep.  Steve came home sick too which made for chicken soup for dinner.

This recipe is super easy too - love it.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 stalks celery thinly sliced

1 small onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, thinly sliced

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into ½ inch cubes

6 -8 cups of chicken broth

2 tbsp.  chopped fresh parsley (or I did 1 tbsp of dried parsley)

2 cups medium egg noodles

Salt and pepper

 

Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add celery, onion, and carrots and cook stirring for about 5 minutes until they soften.  Add the chicken cubes and cook until they are no longer pink.  Cook the noodles until almost tender but still firm as directed, drain and set aside.

Heat the chicken broth and parsley in the same pot the noodles were in (saves on dishes!)  Add the vegetables and chicken and bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.  Add the noodles and cook for another 5 minutes until noodles are completely tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Then serve with your favorite crackers or grilled cheese sandwich! Yum!

The dinner that night soothed noses and bodies.  That night he slept in his carseat next to his bed with the humidifier going right on him. I fell into a coma of sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow after a long night and a long day with no naps.  Steve got up a few times to lull Ross back to sleep, but he slept which was an improvement!!  He's been on the upswing since thank goodness.  I was a walking zombie that whole time.  That whole "running on no brain cells" thing definitely came into play.  

We had Ross's 6 month mark!  He's getting so big. 

He loves to play with his sounds all the time saying "ba ba ba ba" or "ya ya ya" or "da da da".  He's also getting into that stranger danger phase which isn't so fun.  I need to get out more so he can see and interact with other people aside from boring old mom. 

He reaches more for things and like to chew on his fingers and suck on his thumb.

Dad can always get a smile out of him.

  We also were experimenting with his bag of tricks and this is what we found...

The boy can sit!  With a little support and some wobbling...we just might get there...

And here it is caught on video since sitting cannot be captured with merely a camera...

Posing for a Picture

So I uploaded what photos we had taken onto the computer and was just browsing through them and found these back to back...

Ross hazy-eyed

Ross hazy-eyed again

Mom hazy-eyed (P.S.  Ross has the cutest smile ever!)

And AGAIN...Ross hazy-eyed

We tried to redeem ourselves here...but alas -another hazy-eyed pic

It's about time to give up trying to take a good picture...

And this one is decent...

And here's the winner!  Cute boys ready for a walk!