Ross in a Box Part 2

So we were finally going through filing papers and all the tidbit things that are always left out waiting to be put away, and to keep Ross happy and not flopping on his back, bonking his head, we put him in our filing box - which he was content in for quite some time.  What is it with Ross and boxes??

Happy as a clam!

Bath time again! Got the splash in action. :)

 
So it's been raining for a while now - a couple weeks - and I'm still okay with it.  It stops enough to go for a little walk and then drizzles some more.  It feels very fall-ish here - which I hear is not how it is back home in Utah.  Utah always seemed to have drastic weather changes - only allowing a few days of the perfect weather in between summer and fall/winter.  I'm wondering how Oregon is going to be this winter.

Steve is starting his next round of exams - this time they are all spread out so it's about one a week.  This morning when he was stretching his neck he apparently pulled too hard.  He's pretty miserable.  Hopefully it goes away soon.  His constant studying doesn't leave much time for him to be as active as he used to be.  He also got a calling!  He is now a third Sunday Elders Quorum Teacher.  He says he's not a fan of teaching in church (his mission would say otherwise), but he's decided it will be good for him, and also good for his school schedule.  Wahoo for callings!

I've noticed that Ross is starting to act like the only child that he is.  He wants to be entertained all the time now and if I leave the room for a minute - he's not too happy about it.  I don't blame him though - he really is my main job here at home so why wouldn't he expect me to wait on him hand and foot?  Haha - so I'm trying to hold back a bit more and let him sort himself out sometimes.  It's funny how hard that is for me to see him crying about something - I used to be really good at dealing with crying as a teacher...now my own son has me wrapped around his little pinky toe!  Well - we're all learning here aren't we. :)

I found out my little sis and my dad are both coming for my birthday in November!  It will be fun to have them around and spend some time with Ross.  They sure miss him.  We'll be missing my mom in that bunch.  Hopefully she'll get out this way soon.  

So Ross Just Keeps Getting Cuter and Cuter

This little guy loves it when you copy what he's doing.  Everywhere I go people stop and coo at him and oogle over his big blue eyes.  Yes - I'm bragging.  It's probably something everyone does to babies everywhere...but I'm taking it as my baby being the cutest guy in the world.  Although, he's been a bit of a stinker lately with waking up early from his naps and in the middle of the night the last few nights...until I finally realized after referring to my trusty Babywise II book that I need to phase out the late afternoon nap.  It's so weird how everything Ross has been doing fit right into the cues it said to look for when needing to phase out a nap.  How did people raise children when so many self-help books weren't around?  How did they know what and how to feed them?  How did they know how to get naps organized?  How did anyone survive in this world without the help of self-help books???  It's a miracle.  Haha - okay - I'm kidding...sort of.  As you chew on that enjoy this cute video of Ross...he truly is Tarzan - except he beats his belly instead of his chest. :)

 

Sitting Up

Giggling Some More

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.