Another Waiting Game

I've decided my children are quite stubborn.  Ross was born five days late.  He was pretty determined not to come out until my doctor told me he couldn't get me in to be induced because it was too busy.  Apparently that bothered Ross as my water broke two hours later sending me to the hospital whether they had room for me or not.  We've been waiting around a while for Ruby now too.  Yes, she's not due technically till Sunday, but seriously folks, I have no idea what she's waiting for.  
I've resorted to stuffing myself full of spicy, garlicky foods, entire pineapples, lots of walking, working out more at the gym - you name it.  She's just as stubborn as Ross.  What am I in for?  
We've been keeping busy lately with Steve starting his internship that got switched (due to miscommunications) to Hillsboro (which is actually much nicer for our family since it's so close) and Ross and I battling during his naps.  Grandpa Don ruined him with their stay during Christmas.  Ross has it in his head he needs to be rocked to sleep or have his hand held until he's fully asleep.  (Grandpa Don is the king of rocking in rocking chairs and Ross was spoiled rotten with it!) :) I am in the process of breaking him from this as our little addition is coming soon (we'd like to keep thinking that anyway) and I am pretty sure there will be zero energy to rock or hold a hand for 30 minutes before each nap.  I think I may be slowly wearing him down as he's recognizing our regular routine now that Steve's gone during the day again.  I can't confirm that Ross has actually gone to sleep during nap time this past week, but I can say he hasn't been wailing the entire time anymore either.  Putting him to bed at night is a cinch - it's just the darn naps that give us trouble.  And he used to be SUCH a good sleeper!
Funny Ross story.  So we've been trying to make scripture study time at night more interesting for Ross (since he not so subtly has showed us he thinks it's boring by trying to close our scriptures every time we get them out and handing us a different book).  We've been using a Gospel Art book we have and telling the stories to Ross more to keep his interest.  His favorite one is when Jesus calms the storm - mostly because there's a boat in it.  We talk about how there was a big storm, making our arms big and making whooshing sounds as the boat is tossed about - Ross loves this and does it too.  Then Jesus calms it - we make our arms go still and say that Jesus said "Peace" to the sea to calm the waters.  Ross will also say "peace" at that part.  Totally adorable.
Well we were having Ross show and tell Grandpa and Grandma White the story.  He did the storm sounds and actions and when we got to the part where Jesus calms the sea I asked him, "What did Jesus say?" and Ross says "Dadgum!"  Yes....just like Mater from Cars.  You can see how we're doing as parents can't you?  That and the fact that when Ross sees Noah he calls him Santa.  We've really got our priorities straight don't we...ahem...We're trying!  Redeeming factor - Ross does recognized pictures of Jesus and calls him by name.
Yes Ross keeps us laughing regularly.  He thinks he's a real clown in front of the mirror and loves to dance around watching himself and making faces in it.  He still likes vacuuming the floor with his popper and prefers to make his little cars crash together now.  He adores pretzels and marshmallows and is still creating wars during dinner.  We're super excited for him to be a big brother.  He'll be a hoot. :)
Anyway - there you have it...we're just waiting around for something exciting to happen - just like you! :)

Here's our little Batman - his cute cape needs a little adjusting...and convincing him to wear it. ;)

We stopped at the Visitor's Center at the Portland Temple that had just been built last year.  Very quaint - but they sure used the space well!  There was a wonderful little film they showed about the family and The Plan of Salvation.  Ross LOVED it too. :)  Also - yes, thanks for asking, I do feel like I'm ready to pop.

Ross couldn't take his eyes off the fountain - it was the coolest looking bathtub ever! :)

He LOVED it - even though it was FREEZING outside and windy.  Just look at his face!

Also - Ross LOVES his firetruck jacket.  He'll be really sad when he outgrows it I think.  He's so adorable.

We love the Temple too - I'm so glad that we can be an eternal family!

      

Did You Get a Little Artichoke With That?

Well Ruby has decided to sit out New Year's as well.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed still for a before-the-due-date debut.  We've pretty much just been managing the house lately and keeping Ross entertained these last few days.  The sun decided to welcome the new year in today by showing itself here in Oregon.  Unfortunately, however, the temperature hasn't cooperated with the sun.  But the rule in Oregon is when the sun is out - everything else gets put on hold so you can go out in it.  We put on some jackets and headed to the park...and lasted all of 15 minutes before deciding it wasn't worth it.  Ross didn't even complain when we headed back home.  

Having The White Grand Prix to ring in the New Year.  Tractors aren't that fast.

To ring in the new year we invited our friends, the Jepsons, over for an array of appetizers and games.  Ross threw in the towel early by about 8:30 with a little help from mom and dad, but little 9 month old Paige managed to outlast all of us!  We celebrated the new year about 11:30 (yes we're old) after finishing our games of Trivia for Dummies and Hand and Foot.  We toasted to Martinelli's sparkling cider and called it a night.  

Cheers with our Martinelli's! :)

Yes we're tired :) Happy New Year!

We had some rousing games for sure.

The Jepson Clan

Carl forgot that you're not supposed to down the whole glass after just one toast until everyone gets a turn...oh well - more Martinelli's for him!

A cute New Year's baby. :)

When Steve and I were cleaning up we noticed it was midnight so I turned to give him his first 2013 kiss only to find he had just taken a big spinach and artichoke dip bite....yum.  And the first thing he said to me in 2013 was "Did you get a little artichoke with that?"  That statement has now been christened the theme of the year...however you want to take that!  Haha - considering last year's new year complete with fireworks, I would definitely say we're not in the newly wed phase of marriage anymore. :)  And we're both okay with that.  Here's to a year of more new adventures and fun in Oregon!  Happy New Year!

 

A White Christmas

What a fun Christmas holiday we've spent!  Steve's family drove up to spend it with us and we couldn't have loved it more (well - maybe if my family had come too). :)  We hadn't seen my brother-in-law Michael since he had left on his mission to blessed England, so we were way excited to get to spend some time with him.  We settled them in and then the next day decided to give them a taste of Portland.  Ross was so kind as to be completely better by the time they came so we weren't quarantined anymore.  

That morning we had a pancake and buttermilk syrup breakfast to start my father-in-law, Don's, birthday off right and had him open his presents - we all pitched in and got him a nice juicer and Claudia put all his mission pictures on a CD so he can print them.  We headed to Voodoo Donuts afterwards to continue the holiday stuffing of ourselves and to sample their delights.  Everyone was quite impressed and we made sure to get the maple bacon donut it's famous for.  I got my regular blueberry cake donut and tried an oreo one which I very much approve of now.  To make the Oregon/Portland experience real - it was quite drizzly for us.  Ross did NOT like being stuffed in a puffy winter coat and a stroller one bit.  Grandpa was so nice as to take him back to the car and play with him while we took the rest of the fam to the last Saturday's Market of the year.  It was super fun to see all the booths and handmade items.  I was totally sold on this one booth with an amazing baby sling that seemed to do everything but change the baby's diaper - sadly - as with most amazing craft booths - it cost an arm and a leg so I had to refrain.  Oh well.  Ross then went to see Santa Claus of course - it didn't turn out quite like last year.  He's over the shock now of Santa and more into the scared mode.

The Siblings going for a run before we stuffed ourselves with pancakes!

Portlanding! 

Voodoo Donutting - in the rain - yum!

Meghan approves. ;)

Enjoying the Saturday's Market...a little too much.

At the river.

It was snowing inside the mall!

Maybe if Santa had had a McQueen car or Mater in his hand - Ross might have felt differently about him.  He wouldn't let go of me!

I guess we put him through enough suffering - poor thing.

We finished off Don's birthday by going to Sweet Tomatoes and stuffing ourselves one more time before heading home.  We even had to save his birthday apple pie for another day.

Sunday we enjoyed church and relaxing together.  Steve and his brothers finally taught me how to play Risk - to their own destruction.  Steve and Thomas were nice to help me a long with some tips and advice at first, but when I started to dominate all of Middle Earth (It was the Lord of the Rings version) they backed out and started to plot my demise.  However, Michael's armies were hanging in the balance and he took it upon himself to be my mentor after that.  So - in essence - they all created a monster who could not be beaten.  That, and I told them after midnight I didn't care anymore and was going to bed since I was 37 weeks pregnant.  Gotta love playing that card.  They all seceded which left me the Risk Champion of 2012. :)  Really - I took all their brains and used them to my advantage.  Go me!  In honor of Michael being home from blessed England we watched the King's Speech which I had edited which basically made it a PG movie after you take out some of the language in two scenes.  We had a great day.

Sunday is a serious day of rest. :)

For everyone but Ross that is...

Our sweet game of Risk - note the green everywhere on the board - yes - that was me!

Auntie Meghan and Ross did some puddle jumping.

Grandpa thoroughly enjoyed rocking his grandson to sleep...and the grandson enjoyed rocking Grandpa to sleep. :)

Some serious relaxation here.

 Christmas Eve was spent doing some shopping for our turkey dinner (by my in-laws - I was so mean putting them to work!  That included having them take Ross with them) while I wrapped presents and Steve and his siblings went to buy tickets for Les Miserables the next day.  We then went to see the Hobbit - which was fabulous while Grams and Gramps tended Ross and basically cooked our nice turkey dinner!  Maybe I'm playing this pregnancy card a little too much?  Although - I think they enjoyed spending time with their grandson.  That's what grandparents are for right?  

We had a great dinner and a lovely devotional afterwards about Christ's birth and memorable Christmases.  We opened one present each and then headed off to bed.

And we're doing the movie bit!  Hobbit and Les Miserables - in two days!

Merry Christmas!!

In my nesting mode I've been in - I whipped up these babies in time for Christmas - Ruby did a no show though.  Guess we'll have to save hers for next year. :)

Christmas morning was super fun.  I think it was the latest we've ever had Christmas!  Ross slept in till 8:30 and so did the rest of us.  We definitely loved having this Christmas with Ross.  Though he still doesn't understand Santa - he definitely understood presents. :) Whenever he would unwrap a present he would chant about what it was (e.g. a book about trucks - "Truck! Truck! Truck!") and then if it was in a box or something he would hand it to one of us directly and command "Open!" "Open!"  It went really well with taking turns opening presents so he had a chance to play with one of his before opening another one.  Grandpa and Grandma Staheli gave him an adorable Noah's Ark that he loved, a BYU outfit, some truck books, and other goodies.  Uncle Dallas and Aunt Janae gave him some trucks and a snow hat and mittens that were so cute too.  Great Grandma Staheli gave him a nice little wooden train set, and Grandpa and Grandma White gave him a firetruck that hasn't left his side.  He was very impatient to get that thing out of its box.  Claudia also got him some Batman PJs with a cute black cape she made him to go with it.  That comes from a hilarious story back when Steve was little.  She had made him a batman cape and he was running around wearing it.  When she called "Stephen!" to go do something he turned to her and said "I'm not Stephen - I'm batman!" which was totally adorable. :)  Now Ross can relive it!  Uncle Thomas got him a Lightning McQueen which may be glued to his hand as well.  Anything with Cars is an instant hit!  Santa brought him a tractor pop up tent that folds down a flap to that has roads and buildings all over it.  Ross loves playing with his toys in there.

Ross woke up wanting to watch Cars (figures).  He hadn't even turned his head to see the present yet.

It's starting to dawn on Ross.  Nice face Steve. :)

This would be me at 37 weeks.  You'd think Ruby would want to come out by now!

Ross getting into opening presents.

The truck books were a total hit - thanks Grandpa and Grandma Staheli!

Steve might borrow Ross's snow hat.  Ross is taking a drinking break.

And he opened a firetruck!  Look at his face!  Guess what he's saying to me?

"Open!" "Open!" He's being very helpful here too. :)

Playing with the firetruck in his tractor tent - heaven. :) 

Another drink break.

Thom the camera man.

Michael excited for presents. ;)

Meghan too! ;)

Me getting some sweet piano music!  Woot woot!

Playing with Meghan's awesome gift to us - the human body!  She REALLY wanted to play too. ;)

Don got Claudia an iPad - now they're twinners! :)

A nice bum picture - from us to you! ;) 

Please note - we had all just woken up.  Here are the traditional Christmas pajama pants - thanks to the nesting instinct!

Ross also got a vacuum from us since he LOVES it when we vacuum.  We decided to make him do the cleaning up. ;)

We had a great Christmas as well.  I got Steve a Harry Potter trivia board game which has SUPER hard questions, a new water bottle (since Ross demolishes ours), some movies (The Dark Knight Rises of course), and a nice watch to use as a PT.  My parents got him some nice exercise bands and a nice reflex hammer.  Our sister-in-law, Becca, made him a sweet BYU quillow and Ruby a gorgeous little quilt and hat.  I got piano music, double stuffed oreos (heaven! - and hilarious since I got Stephen them as well), some movies, and Settlers of Catan from Steve.  We also got a fun FHE packet and objects and a beautiful hardback copy of The Book of Mormon.  It was a fun Christmas all around.  Thank-you for all the gifts and thoughtfulness to everyone!  We skyped with my family that morning, and I was so sad not to be with them this year.  For sure next year though! 

Playing some Harry Potter trivia!

We played some games and went to Cinetopia to see Les Miserables.  I just finished the abridged book of Les Mis and now want to read the unabridged.  The movie was wonderful - different than the musical, but I was very satisfied with how they did.  I just LOVE the story all around.  It's so moving and deep.  I - of course - cried through it.  Everyone should read the book.  
For Boxing Day we headed to the Aviation Museum exploring the airplanes and spaceships.  Ross loved it again, and everyone was quite impressed.  I watched more of the films they were showing about the different planes.  That night we watched Sherlock Holmes, and I convinced them all to stay for one more day (okay maybe it was the bad weather they would have been driving in and the fact that Don had gotten a cold that sealed the deal - but I'll still take credit). :) 

Gorgeous Megs!

What a nice, proper looking set of siblings...

Ross was all about running around the HUGE museum. 

Which one is Thomas?

Ross thought the pole was really fun to swing around on...a little pole dancing here?  Oh my!

Ross really wanted to push dad around on the airplane instead of get on one.

Very cool

Don learning to fly.

I think Meghan might be presenting this helicopter to us, Steve is trying to catch a ride, Claudia is waving hello, Thomas is being a mime, and I think Michael may be trying to seduce the camera...maybe?

I'm not sure we'll ever get everyone to be straight faced in a picture. :)

I pretty much followed Ross around like this.  He was content, and I was content.

Ross saw Steve taking this picture.  Ross is saying "Hold you!" right now to him.

Cute little boy on a cute little plane. :)

Helping uncle Thomas steer the helicopter.

Yeah - I have no words for this picture. :)

Ready for take off.

Of COURSE Meghan knows how to fly this thing.

Family pic!

The Spruce Goose - pretty sweet.

The last day of the White Christmassing was spent indulging in Oregon's best kept secret - ultimate thrifting!  I took everyone to the Goodwill Bins - which is basically a step up from dumpster diving. :)  We all found some GREAT stuff including a Mister Rogers t-shirt, Ninja Turtles t-shirt, some ABC and 123 foam puzzles, golf clubs, and some great clothes.  I, of course, couldn't pass up the cute girl clothes I found and boy ones for Ross.  The best part is realizing an item you got probably cost about 25 cents.  Fabulous.  Right after that we headed to another Thrifting joint - Thrift City - which was 50% off that day too.  Michael found five pairs of shorts, and Claudia got Ross another McQueen car which is strapped to his other hand now.  I wonder how that kid is going to eat with all his toys he doesn't let out of his sight or hands.  To finish off the ultimate thrifting I found and bought a gorgeous white dresser to put Ruby's clothes in for $30 off of craigslist!  Woot woot!  It was a definite steal.  
That night Steve and I and his brothers went to the temple (much needed) and ended the day on a high note.

Ross was really good at saying everyone's name.  Meghan was his big time fan club. :)

Enjoying some trucks and Auntie time.

Note how there is a McQueen in each hand while he wears his firetruck pjs from Grammy Joanne.

 Thomas was training Ross in this video - note the distribution of candy here as a reward. :)

Ross thought this was hilarious...and you gotta love his laugh. :)

Ross even convinced Grandpa to come play in the tractor tent!

  
We were so sad to see his family go.  We all had such a nice Christmas.  Ross misses them like crazy.  He LOVES an audience and having so many people who want to play with him.  We don't quite know what to do with ourselves now.   Maybe Ruby will show up soon to mix it all up again. :)  I am DEFINITELY about ready for that to happen.  She is more than welcome to come a little early. :)  
Anyway - Merry Christmas!