29th Birthday and Some More Puddles

Well 29 came.  I actually haven't stated my age until tonight actually when I was telling the sister missionaries at dinner how old I was.  I was quite happy when they both told me I looked much younger than 29.  I don't really care if they were lying or not - I'm going to choose that they weren't.  
I remember the age when I wanted people to stop telling me I looked older than I was.  It was 22.  I think that was because I had decided I was going to be married by the time I was 22...which ended up being a lie as I was actually 25 when I finally tracked Stephen down and dragged him to the altar before I got any older.  ;)  Anyway - yes - at 22 I wanted to be told I looked 22 - not younger, not older.  By the time I was 25 I started wanting to be told I looked younger - that was a sad realization.  Now I'm just hanging on to being in my 20's.  Enjoy it while I can!  At least I won't be pregnant for most of it - which brings me to my next point.  I just realized I'm two days shy of being 32 weeks along...I could be full term with this little baby in 5 weeks.  This pregnancy has flown by!  I'm not quite sure I'm ready for the sleeping/nursing/recovering upset yet when the baby comes.  So I'm going to grant that she can stay in there for a good long time at the moment.  

Anyway - for my birthday - poor Ross decided to give me the present of him getting the croup (again)...I'm not sure why he feels the need to get sick on holidays - Christmas was another doosey which had included not only the flu, but Ross's first time having croup.  He woke up not looking so good, and my kind dad stayed home with him while Steve and I went to Church.  I have to say it was SUPER weird being at church childless.  We had to keep poking each other to stay awake and enjoy the speakers since we didn't have a little toddler to be worried about.  After coming home and everyone (including grandpa) taking naps - except poor Steve who had to study for his massive test - we had a delicious breakfast for dinner, and I got to open presents.  I got the timeless BBC Pride and Prejudice movie, a Thomas S. Monson book, shirts, a porcelain cup from France from my grandma, and rainboots!  Steve gave me a digital piano which I have absolutely LOVED as well.  I haven't been able to play the piano in ages so it's nice to have my fingers tickle the keys again.  We had birthday cake (which I made Steve make from scratch - no box cakes for this 29 year old!) and had a nice evening with my dad.  What a day!  

Ready or not - here comes 29!

Ross is so happy for me.

Note the 2 candles and the 9 candles.  I refused to have 29 individual candles! :)

Ross was a great help in blowing out the candles. :)

So I've been TERRIBLE at taking prego pics - here I am at 31 weeks - and yes - there are quite a few weeks left to go!

Unfortunately for my dad, Ross had a doctor's appointment the next day and was pretty much quarantined for the next two days so we mostly stayed around here.  That's what happens with sick kids.  I don't think he was too bothered though since he got to be with his grandson anyway. :)  
We LOVED having my dad stay - it was a great week to be with him!

Ross now seeks out all puddles everywhere.  So if you're a puddle - beware!  Good thing the cold is good for the croup.

"All Done!" he says to me whenever I get the camera out.  Because I need to put it away so I can go play with him.

Observing Grampa's approach to puddles.

He's pretty okay at it. :)

Mom - seriously - "All Done!"

Saying "I love you" to grandpa before he goes.  We love you!

 

Grandpa Visits and the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum

My dad decided to come help celebrate my birthday - aka get some serious grandpa/grandson time in. :)  We were all excited for him to come!  We were out playing and as soon as Ross saw him at the playground and I asked him if that was grandpa - he immediately ran to him and has not let him out of his sight since.  They are literally two peas in a pod.  We had some lunch together and then both boys went down for naps.  Grandpas need their rest too sometimes.  Grandpa took a better nap than Ross did though - little stinker.  

It's been really fun having my dad around.  Ross has to make sure he knows where "Papa" is all the time, and if he's not right there, Ross is constantly asking me where he went.  My dad has also been wining and dining us...we went to Out Aza Blue which is a little market/bakery/cafe off of the highway towards Tillamook that we've heard about.  We had burgers which were to DIE for on their made-from-scratch ciabatta bread.  My side salad was legit too - none of this iceberg lettuce junk you usually get.  I think I actually got something nutritious from it!  We will definitely be going back there.  My dad also treated us for my birthday dinner date with Steve to Cheesecake Factory AND babysat Ross for us too...Dad - would you mind moving in? ;)  

Yesterday we hit up the Children's Museum which Ross once again enjoyed even though it was completely overrun with kids and then today we went to explore the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville.  So I've decided our library is amazing because you can check out passes to go to both the Children's Museum as well as the Aviation Museum.  That's A LOT of money we saved.  Hooray for libraries and their cool resources!  

So I forgot my camera...and my phone takes TERRIBLE pictures - but we've got some diggers here once again - Ross's favorite place.

We LOVED the Aviation Museum.  The Spruce Goose was the big attraction...it is GINORMOUS, and a total waste of the 25 million dollars spent on building it with only having taken one sort of test flight that lasted about a minute traveling a mile 70 feet up in the air.  Still - it was super cool to look at.  All the planes were fascinating.  There was so much to see.  I was amazed at some of the stories they had tagged to the different planes, from enemy planes guiding an extremely damaged one of ours to safe territory to a pilot nicknamed "Cannibal Ken" who couldn't shoot down a fighter plane due to all their guns freezing up in the high altitude so he used his propeller to shred the rudder instead.  

We loved the planes that were EVERYWHERE including outside.

There's no way I could get the Spruce Goose all in the picture.

Fam Pic!

Two peas in a pod. :)

Ross pretty much refused to ever look a the camera.  There were so many other cool things to look at.

Yellow planes are pretty cool. ;)

Ross loved it all.  He ran from plane to plane yelling "Plane! Plane! Plane!" like we were missing the fact that they were all there.  He did really well and pretty much stayed out of the stroller until the very end when we forced him in since he was getting pretty cranky after missing his nap.  That and he's got a bit of a cold.  Strollers are becoming less of an option with him...oh dear.  We all came back pooped, but of course Ross was in no mood for a nap anyway - so gramps took one for him and Steve slaved away at studying again (after I convinced him he should go with us to the museum giving him less time to study).  

Their kid zone was super fun...yes - we as adults found it WAY fun.  These little plane riders were an instant fav of Ross's.

Checking out down below - and yes I know he needs a haircut.

His own plane!

Steve trying to steer a helicopter.

A better view of it all.

Getting stuck between guns...not a good place to be.

Ross was a little too scared to ride this cute little ride - he was happy to check out all the lights though.

"Yep - just me and gramps."

Oh what a cute couple we are!  Even with my chin cut off.  LOVE Steve's brown eyes. :)

Some tanks out back.

And Ross is "All Done" in his own words. :)

Tomorrow is my birthday...29.  Seriously.  How am I allowed to get this old?  My heart tells me I'm 17 (unless I actually see a 17 year old...then I know it's not possible because I SO didn't act like that when I was 17...at least I tell myself that).  I feel like once 30 (which is almost like a swear word to me) hits I can't have any more excuses to be immature.  It's like I have to become a real genuine adult then.  Yes, I'm going to be the mother of 2 children.  Yes, we live in our own place and pay bills like grown-ups do.  But Steve and I still play Super Mario Brothers sometimes...or binge on it at times...we stay up too late watching TV series on Netflix - like Psych - which is our new favorite.  We no longer have agency when double stuffed oreos are placed in front of us...the entire package will be gone within the hour.  I wish for sleeping in all the time...sometimes I stay in pajamas WAY too long, and yes - I like the boxed Macaroni and Cheese still even though I should eat the carrots and sugar snap peas I specifically bought to be healthier.  I wear a retainer to bed - tell me that's not a 17 year old!  I still have a baby blanket I adore, and I definitely still love the young adult genre best out of all my book choices.  I should not be allowed to turn 29.  I mean - it's the age people lie that they are when they're well over 29.  I shouldn't be at this point right now!  Okay - I've pled my case.  If you wouldn't mind being a witness in this case I would be quite grateful.  And if 29 comes anyway - PLEASE stop 30 from EVER presenting itself!  Steve laughs at me with my 29 worries...I think it's a man thing though - it seems age isn't as big of a deal.  Which is good since he is 2 1/2 years YOUNGER than me.  Double reason for him not to understand - he's just a baby - still enjoying his mid twenties...oh the days.  Anyway.  There's my spiel - I've let it out. I've got until 1 o'clock tomorrow afternoon to figure something out.  After that - there's no hope.  So we'll see what tomorrow brings.  

The Actual Halloween

Well we did actually carve Ross's pumpkin.  Steve did the dangerous work.  Ross tried to put the pumpkin guts back inside the pumpkin...it reminded me of that part on It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown where Lucy rolls a ginormous pumpkin into their house and starts to carve it - pulling out the pumpkin guts, and her brother, Linus, yells out that he didn't know she was going to kill it and starts crying.  Haha...but Ross didn't cry - he just wanted to put everything back where it goes. :)  

Ross was way more interested this year in what Steve was doing.

Helping to scoop out some guts.

Ewwww!

The pumpkin all finished.  Note - Ross's tractor in the background.  Those things are ALWAYS close by wherever he goes.

The finished works!

Mine and Steve's pumpkins were a bit squishy, moldy, and soggy by the time Halloween came around since they were out in the rain for about a week. :) Ross's was nice and fresh though.

We got to the trunk-or-treat late - I had stocked up this time on the candy, but since we were late - we were left with quite a bit left over unfortunately.  The weather held up for us at least which was nice.  Reminiscing from last year - my cute little rolley polley pumpkin is such a little boy now!  Oh my heart - why is he growing up so fast?  

I would love to know what Ross was looking at. :)

Sadly, last night was the mother of all tantrums from this little boy during dinner.  I had made ravioli - which he actually likes when he takes a moment to try it - but he had his heart set on goldfish...which wasn't an option.  The tantrum that followed wasn't pretty peeps - it wasn't pretty at all.  Why are we already in this phase?  I will say - tantrums haven't been a regular thing yet - but getting sneak peeks aren't something I'm into either.  I will give Ross credit though - tonight we had broccoli potato soup for dinner and he went to town on it.  He is quite the soup eater...he may be an old man at heart.  He also loved repeating the word "broccoli" every time he took a bite.  Needless to say it was much more pleasant dinner conversation this time around.

So a bi or tri-weekly routine we have in the mornings is making green smoothies.  Ross has to help...most of the time he just demands the banana that is supposed to go in the smoothie.

Starting on the spinach while mom's not looking.  At least he's putting it in the blender and not trying to trash it. :)

Ross explaining to me how blenders and smoothies work.

Also note - this is right when we wake up - Ross is WAY cuter than mommy in the morning. :)

We also survived Stake Conference.  Ross lasted about an hour and forty five minutes.  Not bad - I will definitely take that.  AND, I also got to catch some of the talks.  Win-Win I think.  Hooray for happy Sundays that way. :) 

Baby Parties

I'm sure I've talked about how our ward is one of those with half consisting of  the actual native Oregonians, and then the other half are all young students...with young families.  Meaning - BABIES BABIES BABIES.  Our Sacrament meetings are always "full of life" however you would like to take that. ;)  Ross is a great contributor to that by the way...today is Stake Conference - every parent's dream for their active toddlers who can barely make it through one hour of Sacrament meeting - let's double it!  I do love the talks at Stake Conference though so hopefully I'll get to catch some of it. :)

Anyway - we have lots of people who move in and out - and recently a family moved in who are also from our beloved hometown of Mapleton.  Well - they've been living in Oregon for a while, but just moved to our neck of the woods.  I went to high school with Nick - seminary to be precise, and his wife, Kristin is having twins!!  Can you imagine moving and being due for twins within a couple months of that.  I decided to throw her a little baby shower so she could get to know some more people and we could all get excited about babies and their adorable little clothes and accessories.  I think it turned out well for the most part.  I was running around a little bit and, also being pregnant, spaced taking pictures.  I only got a few - so don't judge the quality. :)

So made Kristin's little theme for the shower "Two Peas in a Pod" so I got the idea to do cake balls and pair them up.  I was really proud seeing how this is the third time I've made cake balls, and it was probably the most successful I've been.  Also - I am not an artist - so this is a big deal for me!. ;)

The spread. :)

So I told everyone to get their plates of food and THEN decided to try to take some pictures of the decorations...smart me.  I should have taken better pictures of this cute sign my friend Kim made that said "Two Peas in a Pod".

We played a nursery rhyme game, name as many pairs as you can think of, guess the mommy's belly size, and pregnancy concentration (which is up on the wall). :)

A couple of pea pods. :)

Some delicious homemade oreo cookies made by my friend Kendra.  Kristin's having a boy and a girl!