Warmness.

We're beyond ready for consistently warm weather. Carter barely knows what "outside" is. I imagine we'll be spending a lot of time out on a blanket on the grass this summer. And I can't wait.

Double thumbs up!

She didn't want to go down the giant inflatable germ infested slide. But we're the kind of parents that kind of make our kids do scary things. At least once. So she finally relented knowing we (by "we" I mean "I") wouldn't quit bugging her until she did it. She was nervous. But as she ascended the stairs she gave me her signature sign--the double thumbs up. Yet another of hundreds of reasons I'm glad she's mine forever!

Just chillin'.

Hangin' in bed together while Jaida jams to her I-pod.

Marathons.

So in my insanity post-baby brain, I've signed up to do the St. George marathon. It's a lottery so I'm not sure I'm in yet, but we're trying.

In a moment of weakness while watching my in-laws run the St. Lake marathon, I thought I was ready to tackle my 2nd marathon. My performance in St. George 7 1/2 years ago was sub-par and I've wanted revenge on the course ever since. So I said out loud "I want to run another marathon" and my ever supportive husband took hold of that and has encouraged me ever since.

I've talked myself out of it and into it dozens of times since I signed up.

But when I came home from a training run (I fill silly calling it training when I can only run 3 1/2 miles right now) and my girls were standing in the driveway cheering me on, I decided I better stick with this goal.

And today, they just picked out the shoes they're going to wear to run the end of the marathon with their mom. No pressure.

Hope I can actually do it! Here's to a loooooong summer of training runs.

I'm very mature.

Jaida and I spent the morning playing on photobooth while we waited for Mya to wake up. She slept in until 1:30pm today (she's got a stomach bug).

And maybe I almost peed my pants when Jaida took this picture. I had to run to the bathroom right after. Not sure why it was so funny, but it was.

Storms

Dear wind,

We could have done without you last night. You were loud. And made our rain gutters whistle. Like a train. Jaida woke up at midnight. Mya woke up at 3 and said "there's a train". Seriously, she did. It was that loud. And honestly sounded like a train was cruising through our house. And then Carter woke up at 5. And 6. And 7.

Thanks alot for a sleepless night for us all. Don't come back soon. Or ever.

The Ross Family.

Here's what our room looked like in the morning after the wind storm.

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4 months old!!

He's already 4 months. Seems just like yesterday I was squeezing him out. And now he's smiling, and "talking" and grabbing for things, and almost ready to venture into the world of baby food.

He now weighs 16 pounds. 70th percentile for weight. And 90th percentile for height. Tall and slender (minus the chubby cheeks and double chin).

He's still pretty high-maintenance, but is thankfully getting much better.

He's very smiley so he makes up for some of his "diva" behavior.

more pictures are posted on my new photo blog www.lindsayrossphotography.com

Classic Jaida

The past few days, Jaida's been trying to get me to write her a note so she can stay in from recess. I've never been able to get the real reason why, but I think she just prefers to hang out with the teacher. I tried to explain teachers need "breaks" just like Moms. She's not buyin' it. She begged and begged for a note. I said "no". Later that day, I found the following note in her backpack.

"I cant go owt sid"

She'd written her own note. There are lots of parenting lessons I suppose I should take into consideration here. But for me, I mentally commended her for a.) her ability to sound out the words without asking me how to spell things, and b.) taking matters into her own hands.

We're going to have some significant "bumps" in the road in the future, but at least it'll be interesting.

Parental note: To all those who read this, please do NOT mention it to Jaida. She has no idea I found the note and I think we'll keep it that way. This is one of those "ignore it ever happened" things for me. I'd rather not draw attention to the matter. Thanks!

Easter 2010

A year of "firsts" for this little guy. Jaida thinks it's soooo cool. "It's his first Easter" "It's his first time at church" "It's his first time going to Walmart" (definitely note-worthy).

So this was Carter's first Easter. His sisters loved that the Easter bunny gave him candy he couldn't eat. They took care of it for him.

Jaida woke up early. She's a spaz about holidays (or anything out of the ordinary of our usual schedules). She gets up. Early. (Well, early is relative--anything before 8am is "early" for me). Wakes us up. Then begs to wake up Mya. Mike just took her down to find her basket before any of the rest of us were up. It was easier that way.

The girls got Zhu Zhu pets which they played with non-stop for 3 days and haven't looked at since. Kinda how it goes around here.

Later in the afternoon we dyed easter eggs. And then never hid them. We made it through the entire day without a "hunt". Everyone seemed okay about that.

Close call

My parents have a heavy, wooden, home-made bench in their back yard. The lid lifts up, and they store their basketballs and yard toys in there. The lid is heavy. And by heavy I mean it can crush a lot of things.

Last Sunday Jaida lifted the lid. Mya put her hands on the edge of the bench. Jaida dropped the lid. Mya didn't get her hand out in time. I heard the scream from inside. And knew instantly it was bad. You know the scream. By the time I got out there (I'm slower than I used to be) she had pulled it out, pulling lots of skin off in the process. It instantly began to swell. And she cried. And cried. And screamed. And cried. And shook. And quivered.

It took me an hour to get her calmed down. An hour. I tried comforting. I tried distracting. I tried treats. She wouldn't even take her binky. It was bad. Real bad.

And then I started talking about princess Tiana's underwear (because that's how my brain works). And the crying stopped. Temporarily at least.

And then she threw up.

My dad said nothing looked noticeably displaced so we decided to do the "wait and see" test. Wait and see if she uses it.

By Tuesday she still wasn't using it. It just hung there, limp and swollen.

We took her to Instacare for x-rays. Not a broken bone anywhere.

She just barely started using it on Saturday. 6 days.

It was definitely her worst life injury thus far. Unfortunately I'm sure there are more to come.

She wasn't a complainer though. Tough little kid. That's how we like 'em.

Mixed up.

Babies are supposed to love the car. They're supposed to fall asleep in the car. Carter did not get that memo. He still hates his car seat and does his fair share of crying/screaming in the car. It's moderately distracting while driving.

And he loves getting his diaper changed. Sometimes when we can't get him to stop crying any other way, we change his diaper (or pretend to if it's not wet). And the crying temporarily stops. I wonder what Freud would have to say about that.

He also loves a nice warm bath. And who doesn't, really.

Big sister.

She surprisingly doesn't pay that much attention to him. She doesn't bug him and doesn't try to tote him around. She occasionally asks to hold him and that's about it. And she likes to pick out his jammies at night. But for the most part, she still just does her own thing. I'm guessing when he gets a little more interactive, she'll swoop in to her "mothering" role. And I'm already planning on letting her feed him the baby food. She'll love it.

I don't usually let her hold him standing up. Mainly because he's 15 pounds and we have a lot of tile. Recipe for disaster. So it made her heart happy that I let her do this for a picture. I snapped it, and she said "I'm dropping him. I'm dropping him." End of holding session.

Back to Church

Every Sunday, they beg. And beg. For Carter to come to church. And by beg, I mean weep and wail. So finally, after 3 months, we took him to the full block of church (that's 3 long hours). And he looked pretty awesome if you ask me. First week back I had the pleasure of teaching 10 3 year olds for 2 hours. Try juggling a newborn and 10 3 year olds. I'm pretty much superwoman. And my husband is superman.

Now for an excuse not to go back. Hmmmm....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy 70th Birthday to my dad. One of the most amazing people I will ever know. Love you.

Treasures.

I was a little grumpy. And frustrated that my house was messy, and I never got time to myself, and I was constantly being interrupted. And Carter wouldn't stay asleep. And my days were unpredictable, yet so much the same. Over, and over, and over. And I was trying to pick things up while holding Carter and thinking of all the other things I needed to get done and how I could get him to sleep and the girls busy at the same time. And then I turned the corner to go up the stairs. And found this. And I smiled. And it completely changed my entire mood, and day for that matter. Because one day, there won't be dollhouse people carefully placed in shoes and lined up on the stairs. And I know without a doubt I will miss it. So for now, I will enjoy those dollhouse people and the adorable little girl who put them there.

From the past.

Just stumbled across this little gem while working on a project for my dad's 70th birthday on Wednesday!!

Man I love this girl.

He's been blessed.

Carter received his baby blessing on March 7th in our ward. For those not of our faith, baby blessings are just special prayers given by a priesthood holder. It's also where you "announce" the name of the baby that will be used in the records of the church. It's sort of a "guidance" prayer that the baby will never remember. :)

Mike gave the blessing, and did a fabulous job as always. He didn't bless him to be a star athlete that would make us lots of money like I asked him to, but at least he didn't change his name.

Carter pooed through his outfit before I had a chance to get a picture. There was a small debate whether or not he had to be dressed all in white. Traditionally, most people put their girls in white dresses and boys in an all white outfit. I, however, did not. Cause I'm rebellious like that. He was wrapped in a white blanket that I bought in Bethlehem and that's all anyone saw anyway so I figured it didn't really matter what he had on. So he had on a long-sleeved white onesie and gray pants. I think the blessing still counts. :)

So here he is after his bath later that day. I also did not get a group picture of everyone in attendance because I wasn't in the mood to get bitched at.

So here are some random pictures of some of the guests that day.

To Carter: Know that you are very loved and supported by a whole bunch of amazing people! You're very lucky and blessed. Don't ever forget that.