Christmas Outfits

Ross got a lot of clothes which he needed desperately. We were so grateful for all of his new outfits.

My sister Stephanie gave him this beanie. My cousin Mishayla makes them. They're so cute! www.crochetbyshay.blogspot.com

From Grandma and Grandpa. My first Christmas sleeper.

From Aunt Lisa. This is just about when he was starting to get sick. :(

Hopefully starting to feel better. Even though he's ornery and a stinker a lot of the time, we just think he's such a cutie!

Opening Presents

We got a couple videos of Ross "opening" his gifts. He had fun.

Christmas Day

I would bet that this Christmas we had more presents under the tree than we have had throughout the last 6 years combined! Ha ha. Our parents and family definitely spoiled us and little Ross. He was happy to wake up and see all the presents that were waiting for him!

All the goods.

Of course he loved the wrapping paper.

Don't mind me, early in the morning. It's Christmas, I can be lazy!

For those of you that know Dave's dad, these are the usual "gifts" we find in our stockings each year. I don't know what he's going to give us when he retires!

Our Christmas was very different this year being away from everyone. It was nice not having to run around all day, but then it almost didn't seem like Christmas. We are so blessed and so grateful for the season and our Savior.

Noisy Boy

Ross is learning more what his voice sounds like and likes to squeal a lot. We also got him on this laughing kick. It was hilarious. The second video we were feeding him dinner. It took a good 20 minutes to get him to eat his peas cause he kept squealing like this. Love these videos and my sweet boy.

Merry Christmas!!

We took Ross to the mall to get his picture taken with Santa. He did great! As soon as we got there, I did warn Santa saying 'He'll probably do better if you don't talk to him'. Ha ha. Ross never looked up at Santa. He kept smiling, but by the time the photographer got out of the way and tooked the picture he stopped. Oh well. Everyone knows we're cheap, I mean, thrifty and frugal, but we did have to splurge and spend the $25 bucks on one 5x7 and two 3x5's.

Ross also went to the Dr. on the 16th. He was pretty ornery throughout it. He's starting to be more afraid of strangers. Mostly if it's just one on one someone trying to talk to him. So he was crying for the Dr. before he even got his shots. Here are his 6 month stats:

Weight: 17 lbs 14 oz --50th percentile

Height: 27 1/4 inches --75th percentile

Head: 17.5 inches --75th percentile

Still just growing and getting bigger by the day. Dave and I joke about how small he looks in the mornings when he wakes up compared to how big he is by the end of the day. And he definitely feels heavier than 18 lbs. Sheesh. Love our little guy.

Ornament Exchange

A woman in our ward asked me to be in an ornament exchange with a few other ladies. They had to be homemade. I warned her that I am not crafty in the least bit. Ha ha. She still wanted me to participate so I did. I tried to wrap mine up cute so people wouldn't notice that it looks like a 6 yr old made it. Oh well.
All so different.

This one was the best. An ice cream sundae. At least now we have a few ornaments to put on our tree!

Heid's and Onondaga Lake

This is another restaurant we saw on Man vs. Food so we wanted to go here.



It was kind of a dive, but it was pretty good . . . . . . for hot dogs.

Ross wasn't too amused.

But we did enjoy our walk around the lake. It was a pretty nice day. Ross was sporting his skunk jacket.

Early Mornings

I think Dave's favorite thing about being home on the weekends is that he's able to get Ross out of bed in the morning. This morning we heard Ross giggling in bed. I got up to get him and Dave said, 'Bring him into me.' They had fun playing together before breakfast.

Ross loves playing with his Dad. And I love watching them.

Thanksgiving 2011

Well we did it. I decided that I wanted to cook Thanksgiving dinner for our family this year. We didn't have anyone over so there wasn't much pressure. Ross slept in until 8:30 that day, sheesh! So Dave and I got to enjoy two Thanksgiving Cosby episodes while eating breakfast together. Then Ross napped perfectly for the day and Dave took care of him while he was up (i.e. watched football together, ha ha just kidding) so I had the day to get things ready. I made the rolls and froze them on Tuesday. Made the pies on Wednesday then did the rest on Thursday.
I told Dave his only job was to carve the turkey. He looked up how to online and he did a great job. My mom told me that she got her 16 lb turkey for .77 cents per pound. Wow. I guess food really is more expensive here. I bought a 6.5 lb turkey for $4.69 per pound. It was a $30 turkey! Crazy. But it turned out good and we had plenty leftover.

Here it is. Of course my homemade stuffing didn't taste like Dave's Grandma's, but it was still pretty good. We almost had problems with the homemade gravy, meaning I put in a bit too much corn starch and it looked more like caramel, but we were able to salvage it and it tasted great.

And the pies. Man these were good. Ok I didn't eat the pumpkin but Dave said it was possibly the best pumpkin pie he's ever had. I did spill it a bit while getting it into the oven but oh well. The apple pie with the crisp topping was divine.

Throughout all the cooking, I only burnt one finger while handling the pumpkin pie spill so I was pretty proud. It was fun doing this though and I was grateful everything turned out. As always, the holiday was a great reminder of all the wonderful blessings that I have in my life.

Videos

Just some fun videos for those that care to watch em. He's such a cutie!

He's trying

Ross has been trying a little bit of everything lately. Here he is trying to be a big boy sitting up. He does alright, still a little wobbly at times, but getting there.



We always joked how he's so chubby that he wouldn't ever be able to grab his toes. But he made it!

This is him trying to look sweet an innocent after being up for about 5 hours straight and not wanting to sleep, even when mom takes the time to bundle him up and go out for a walk.

Ross is fascinated with this huge water bottle I drink out of. After I finished it, he just wanted to hold it and try to get a drink out of it.

And here he is trying to sit up out of his chair. He's so funny. I have a feeling he's going to get into everything!

And lastly, here he is trying to eat Dad's hand for dinner. Ha ha. This kid chews on everything.

Green Beans

At first he wasn't sure what he thought of the green beans . . . now he loves them. He's had green beans, peas and squash. Carrots will be later this week. He loves his solids though. Can't get enough.

Miscellaneous

Random pics of Ross, what else??
I love these striped pj's. Ross still loves laying on his changing table. He's been trying to roll over more on it if I take too long picking out something for him to wear though. Gotta watch that kid.

Whenever I sit him in my lap to read or watch his baby einstein, he always scoots down like this so he gets to recline.

It's so hard for me knowing that my family can't see how cute and sweet he is. Pictures just aren't the same. Dave was trying to catch a picture of Ross' eyelashes. Love his long lashes.

And a happy little guy telling you all to have a great Thanksgiving week!

Ross and his Dad

You probably see the picture below and think, Oh how sweet, Ross loves cuddling up with his daddy. . . . . . .


He would love cuddling up with anyone if they let him watch T.V.!! Mom doesn't let him so he loves to hang out with dad. Dave always says, He just wants to watch football with me. Yeah right.

Quick note on Dave. He is still doing great in school. VERY busy and overwhelmed. He's been able to do some fun things and go to an SU football and a basketball game. The semester is almost over!! He is planning on writing two 30 page papers over the Thanksgiving break. Yay. . . . :( At least we'll get two whole weeks with him during Christmas. I'm so proud of him for all that he does for our family. He seriously works hard and I'm so grateful. Today is our 6th anniversary. Man time flies. I feel like just yesterday we were dating, engaged, just married, etc. Crazy. But I love him more now than ever. He's such a supportive husband and a loving father.

Walks

The weather has been pretty nice the last few weeks so Ross and I have been able to get out and walk around.
Saw this little friend in the parking lot. There are often deer just above where all the cars are parked.

This is the view from our bedroom window. I love to see the leaves changing.

So happy and excited for our adventure. This is the first time he sat in his stroller normally, not in his car seat.

Apparently our walks are very relaxing. He sits like this for most of it.

Another walk. I love how he's holding onto the belt. He holds onto everything.