Thought for the Day.

One of the photographer blogs I stalk on a regular basis had a great post today. She's not only a great photographer, but the girl is blessed with the gift of writing and expressing herself. I found her post to be exactly what I needed as I feel bogged down by life lately. So I'm stealing it and posting it here for everyone else's enjoyment. And as a reminder. To just breathe.

"We strolled the aisles of Whole Foods in Laguna Beach in search of the perfect snacks. Just minutes from resting along the shore, we grabbed a salad, a sandwich, and a bag of cherries to share. As JD guided me down the steep dirt path, the smell of the ocean made me breathe a little deeper. Once the towels spewed themselves on the sand, we opened our lunch. Each cherry tasted a little like sunblock, one of the perils of applying lotion before you eat.

JD dove into the ocean and I read. The usual. Once the heat became unbearable, I followed JD into the ocean and we conquered the waves together. We laughed and joked and made fun of each other. After a while, I became tired and wanted to head back to the shore. I tried with all my might, but I couldn't beat the strong current. JD yelled from a distance to swim back past the waves' breaking point, but it was too late. I was caught in the white of the waves. With each passing wave, I tried to catch my breath, but they came in such rapid succession I couldn't. I kept on getting tossed even when I tried to dive under them. So I panicked. JD told me to stay calm, but me and Calmness weren't friends when I was getting pummeled.

JD noticed I was in bad shape, so he dove underwater and pushed me up so I could take a couple deep breaths before getting hit again. Even with his help, I just couldn't see straight. Out of nowhere, a lifeguard appeared. And then I almost fainted in his arms like he was Fabio on a cover of a romance novel. He wrapped me in a red inner tube and pushed me to shore. I almost died. From EMBARRASSMENT. Once on the shore, JD and I sat on the sand and I layed in his lap. Okay, so I cried a little too. A few hours later, on our way home, we recounted the day's events. And laughed. No, we rolled until our stomachs ached. JD made fun of me...I harassed him about the lifeguard stealing his I-Saved-My-Wife thunder...we laughed about the sand in our hair.

After a few moments of silence, I realized our reactions to the waves were indicative of our outlooks on life. I was worried about making it to shore, and JD was merely focused on getting through each wave. Breathe in between the waves, he told me at my most panicked state. Today, I firmly believe that's a principle for life in general: Don't worry about making it to shore...just be sure to breathe between the waves."

Published. Sort of.

I don't know if you can count being featured on a blog as being published, but I'm counting it. My first photography event (or whatever you call it) has been featured on the Utah Bride Blog. Kind of exciting. Not anything huge, but you've got to start somewhere. :)

What happened?

Somehow I have lost total and complete control of my time. I have WAY overscheduled myself. And it's getting ridiculous. And so, I sit and blog. Because it's therapeutic and keeps me from having anxiety attacks. :)
time to get to work.

Grandpa babysitting.

This is how my dad keeps the girls busy when he babysits. For some reason my parents own dozens and dozens of salt and pepper shakers. So my dad let them get them ALL out. And yes, they were all full. And they had a party. Because my dad is happy to just let kids be kids, no matter what the mess. No wonder they absolutely adore him.


And then they invited the neighbors over to enjoy in the mess-making.

I did have to let my know that this particular activity is not one I sign off on. Mainly because now they think playing with full salt and pepper shakers is perfectly acceptable. Not in my house. Save it for grandpa.

Tour de France.

Seriously. Is anyone else following the Tour? (besides you, summer:) ). It's fascinating. I watch it every day. And Mike loves to tease me about it. Those riders are insane athletes. They go straight up a mountain over 20mph. Who does that? They're not completely human. And it's so much more than just riding a bike. Craziness. If you haven't read "It's not about the Bike" by Lance Armstrong, you should pick it up. It's a great read. I read it after Lance supposedly retired so I was bummed that I didn't get to follow him in a Tour. But now he's back. so I'm reading it again and the whole thing (the tour) is absolutely amazing! Love it.

Ross. Party of 5.

So I suppose at some point it's appropriate to make a blog announcement that we're adding a 3rd little monster to the Ross crew. I am now 16 weeks pregnant, feeling fat, and always tired. But VERY grateful to be pregnant. Well, at least to be having another baby. I don't dig being pregnant.
We waited to tell the girls until I was 12 weeks because secrets are not well kept in our house. Jaida couldn't even speak she was so excited. And Mya had no clue what we were talking about. But then she caught on and started telling everyone her mom was going to the hospital to have a baby. She doesn't understand the concept that babies take forever to grow.
We're obviously excited. Yes, the baby was planned. I had a mild panic attack when I first found out just because the whole thing is kind of scary. We're also a little nervous about having to switch from a man-to-man defense to zone defense, but we should be okay. Mike and I are pretty good defenders. :)
We will be having an unltrasound in 3 weeks to make sure the baby has all it's limbs and organs. We'll also find out the sex, only because we're curious, not because we care. :)
The official due date is January 4th, but I will most likely be induced the last week of December cause my babies get BIG.
So here's to baby number 3. We're looking forward to meeting you.




Just because I knew you all wanted to see the stick I peed on.

Anyone need a cake?!?

My sister-in-law, Wendy, makes cakes. Any kind for any occasion (weddings, birthdays, whatever). And she's good. Really good. The girl can work fondant like you wouldn't believe. Next thing you know, she'll be working for Charm City Cakes.
So if you need a cake, check out her blog or give her a call. I'm not sure what the prices are, but if you've ever worked with frosting before, trust me, it's worth paying someone a pretty penny to do it for you.
Wendy also makes a mean loaf of zuchinni bread, but I guess that's not terribly relevant. Just sayin'.
Check her (her cakes I mean) out. www.grandfinalecakes.blogspot.com

One of their favorite things to do. . . .

. . .ride on the "tractor" with Grandpa. We're loving my dad being semi-retired. He's become my resident babysitter and child entertainer and the girls LOVE being with their Papa. Yes, he drives like that with them on his lap. And yes, he lets them steer. I'm sure that's one of the reasons they love him so much--he pretty much lets them do anything.

Pools.

Who knew such a small space could provide such fun and happiness.

Catch up time.

I'm way behind on journaling. Not because I'm a lazy blogger. I simply haven't had time. But I'm resolving to make time. Because it's important to me.
So we'll start with Jaida's graduation from preschool. I still find it kind of funny that there's a preschool graduation. They sang songs and recited poems. Jaida just stood there. Not because she didn't know the words. She knows all the words. But there's no way someone's going to tell her she has to do something. She didn't want to sing, and so she didn't. Well, she did a few times, but most of the time she gave the other kids questioning looks like "Why in the world are you making such fools of yourself." Love that girl.
Congrats to Jaida for making it through her first of many, many years of school.