The Ross Clan

31 weeks and counting down....

2009-08-25T15:57:00.001-07:00

This pregnancy has been a breeze, and I am only now starting to feel encumbered by this massive belly. Sydney has been nothing but a HUGE help and we just know she will slide right into the Big Sister role. She has already been practicing doting on her stuffed Monkey and Bear.

I love this shot of Shawn- have you ever seen a more contented smile? Sydney brings this smile to him every day.

Sydney LOVES rough and tumble play. She loves to jump and climb and swing and squeal. Such joy!

BULBOUS and counting down.

Sydney's haircut!

2009-08-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

Knock Knock! Let me out!

2009-06-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

I've been prepping Sydney for the new baby... telling her how labor works and so forth. Here it is explained to a two year old:

"Your baby brother is in Mommy's belly. Right HERE (point to belly). When it's time for baby to come out, baby will go, "Knock! Knock! Let me out!" (in falsetto baby voice). Then we will go see the doctor and baby will come out to see the doctor!"

Sydney thought about it, and then decided she would role play as the baby. She started yelling (in a falsetto baby voice), "ME OUT! HELP! HELP! STUCK!"

Sydney shows us Mommy's baby......

2009-06-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

..... then she shows us where Sydney's baby is!

Memorial Day Munchies

2009-05-25T20:58:00.001-07:00

We had a great date with family- I hope you did too! Unfortunately for our expanding waistlines, my family shows our love to each other by cooking awesome, sometimes yummy and always a little time-consuming dishes. Here was a slice of what was on our menu today:

Fried Pickles- A+

Marlboro Man's Chicken Sandwich- A+

Artisan Bread- A

Tomato Mozzarella Salad- B

Bomb Burgers - C (they really did bomb)

The baby really liked those fried pickles. I might have to start making those more often.

Memorial Weekend Swim Party!

2009-05-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

Sydney got to swim for the first time this year. She took to it just like a fish! She was kicking her feet by herself (with arm floaties) and propelling herself back and forth to me, Shawn and Papa. I am so proud of her!

She has been loving to help Mommy plant and water in our yard. She loves when she can do things herself.

Sometimes there is trial and error period. She had quite a wet dress after this!

Funny face time!

In Which Sydney Scales the Mountain

2009-04-03T16:14:00.001-07:00

Special annoucement....

2009-03-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Shawn teaches Sydney how to catch a football

2009-03-06T22:06:00.001-08:00

Almost There!

2009-02-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well, in case you haven't noticed, we're about to close on our new house! Michelle and I are very, very excited, and can't wait for the day to come. It's looking like we'll be able to move the closing up one more day, which should give us more time to work on all the little things we want to do (paint, etc.)

Look for an update later this week, and possibly some pictures as we start making the space our own!

New House pics!

2009-02-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

I promised you that we would post some more pics of the house once we have them. Well, I created a Picasa Web Album containing the pictures, and here they are in a slideshow:

House update

2009-02-15T17:29:00.001-08:00

You've been asking, so I have a few updates for everyone about the house we purchased yesterday.

The house is a "split-foyer". What this means is that when you walk in there is a foyer, and you can then go either upstairs or downstairs. The downstairs section is all finished, except for the "laundry/utility room". The upper level has wood laminate floors throughout. Here are some specs on the home (mostly from the realty sheet):
3 Bedroom
3 Bathroom (2 upstairs, 1 downstairs, all full)
Great Room/Dining Room with attached Kitchen upstairs (one very large room that has all of them)
Lower level Family Room (with fireplace)
Lower level large office/extra living space, with closets and a full bathroom.
2 Car garage including some workspace
Rear Deck (exit from the dining room)

It's listed at slightly over 1200 sq. ft., but I'm unsure if that includes the basement. We love the layout, as it completely fits our lifestyle. As soon as we have more pictures of the inside, we'll post those also!

Ross House Hunt!

2009-02-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

Over the last 2 months, we've been on the hunt for a house to purchase. This may come as a surprise to you, and yet others have been involved with us in this process.

Well, we've hit a milestone in our search for a house to call our home: we've come to a verbal agreement on a contract. What this means is that a contract has been written, and we've come to verbal terms on modifications to make to the contract.

So, enough with the mumbo-jumbo! Here's some of the details:
Address:
24 Oakshire Ct.
St. Peters, MO 63376

Purchase Price:
had you going there, didn't I? ;)

...and, some pics.
From the street:

The kitchen:

From the rear "common area":

We'll post some other pics if/when we find some appropriate ones to add.

Needless to say, we're extremely excited, and at this point it's been an amazing experience to see The Lord move in both our hearts and the processes to make this particular house available to us.

We would appreciate your prayers as we move forward with all the formalities involved with purchasing a house. Our current contract says we will close by the end of February 2009 (extremely fast). Needless to say, that means we'll be very busy and rushed to get all the papers, etc. in place.

Sydney Desktop

2009-01-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

For family and friends- Sydney wallpaper! Click here or on the picture and right-click 'save as' to save this to your desktop!

2009-01-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

In lieu of our care group being canceled, I bring you your weekly marriage advice video. Men TAKE HEED.

Toddlers do not have an 'inside voice'.....

2009-01-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

To cause a bit of mischief

2008-12-23T00:28:00.000-08:00

The Scoggins' new minivan is cool, but it has the potential to become a Machine of Awesome. Please tell Amy that the above necessary modifications should be made, and perhaps the doors re-hinged Delorian-style.

Sydney goes to the dentist

2008-12-23T00:07:00.000-08:00

We went to the dentist today- Sydney was SO good and didn't cry for Mrs. Storm, even when we were rooting around in her little mouth cleaning! She loves her new toothbrush and helped Mr. Dragon brush his teeth too right after the picture.

Booger Beard

2008-12-21T13:20:00.001-08:00

We have all taken turns with the flu this past week. We had to miss the Care Group Christmas party.....SAD! I had been stockpiling White Elephant gifts for the whole past year. I was going to bust out a Tube of Walgreens Bald Head Cream this year. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Sydney got it and was barfing last night, which really weirded her out. She kept shaking her head and saying 'No, no, no.' You could tell she was really grossed out. After she barfed she asked, "Bath? Bath?" which was so adorable and sad at the same time.

She is currently sitting in Daddy's lap with her blankie and milk sporting an impressive Booger Fu Man Chu.

Halloween and the Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-31T14:10:00.001-07:00

Benny (Sydney's cousin) and Sydney went to the Daniel's Pumpkin Patch yesterday!

The only time I got Sydney to stand still for a picture with me. She had been running and yelling around the straw maze when she tripped and fell on her face. Unfortunately she didn't think to stick her tongue back in her mouth before she hit the dirt! FYI, straw is to tongues as flies are to flypaper.

Pawpaw is trying to convince her how much fun these horsie swings are.

Kiss attack!

Halloween Day and we are practicing our trick and treat skills on the Great-Grandparents!

Her treat consisted of grapes and cheese. She was nice enough to share a grape with Pawpaw.

Pawpaw Ross gave Sydney a little ride. She didn't get into it until he started whizzing along really fast!

Papaw Ross' backyard! Pretty!

Punkin Patch!!!

2008-10-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Apple Day and Hairy Eggs

2008-10-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have to say my favorite picture time is Haircut time (lots of pictures here). We are bartering with Mandy- an amazing stylist, and she comes over and in one fell swoop does a whole family haircut! Sydney always goes last . We get her straight out of bed and put her in her high chair with her breakfast. The plan is she will be distracted with her omelet- which usually works! The eggs are usually a bit hairy by the time her haircut is done, but she has never complained. You can even see she has sleep marks on her cheek where her face was laying her crib--

Missouri is busting full of apples this time of year. We had a Apple Day over at Mom Ross' house Monday (lots of pictures here). How fun!

Babysitting Kayden

2008-09-24T19:51:00.001-07:00

Sydney really likes pretending to be a big sister. Especially when he was willing to taste her imaginary cooking, which she likes to do in random Tupperware.

Balloon Glow

2008-09-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Holly's Baby Shower

2008-09-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Yay Holly! Hannah organized a baby shower for Holly at the Bread Co.- a TOTAL surprise . We were sitting out on the patio and Dean brought Holly up- she started smiling and waving and THEN realized that this was a party for HER! See all of the pictures here!

Sydney goes to college.

2008-09-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. But it seems like she is growing up that fast!
Shawn and I always laugh about how much Sydney stuffs in her mouth while eating. Scrambled eggs will be falling out all over the place, but she keeps stuffing it back in like a suitcase full of vacation clothes!

Here she is saying bye to Daddy in the car:

The first day of Mother's Day Out, a classmate helped push Sydney in the little car she loves so much.

So then Sydney had to get out and try pushing stuff for herself!

The next Mother's Day Out, she decided that SHE would be the pusher!

We always come into Daddy's office to say hello.

Labor Day!

2008-09-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

I hope you did NO Labor today (except for my friend Becca who is pregnant and due with her first baby). We had a great time with family and spent a good part of the afternoon watching 'Hercules in New York'. An hour of my husband's life that he will never get back, he was sad to find out.

It was all worth it to see a young Governator wrasslin' a man in a bear suit in New York Central Park. Quality!

Totally random: I've been mentally making a vocabulary list with seldom used words that I find awesome. I'm in a pinch figuring out how and where to use them. I kinda need some help with ideas!

1. Lithe

2. Insolence

3. Charlatan

We had dinner over at Meemaw and Papa's house. Sydney had fun in the sprinkler!

MMMMM! Hose water!

93-year old Grandma Tuttle came down from Iowa with her sister Kay, son Bill, and 30 ears of Iowa corn picked just last Thursday. Yum! Sydney's favorite vegetable!

Pictures too embarressing for the other blog

2008-08-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from our anniversary-
One: me being a pirate

Two: Shawn eating the best biscuit ever at Lamberts. I think he looked almost this blissful the day we got married.

Shawn's birthday teaser photo

2008-06-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Uh, Syd......you might want to.......you have a little.......it's kind of embarrassing.....

Rock Band Care Group!!

2008-06-25T11:31:00.001-07:00

It';s been decided. We are officially the most Extreeeeeeme Calvary Care group.
Witness the evidence here.

Sometimes life is SO hard.

2008-06-04T10:47:00.001-07:00

Memorial Day Leftovers

2008-05-27T14:49:00.001-07:00

Syd and I are cleaning up after the Memorial Day weekend. I get a lot of comments about getting albums and images done and up lickety split, which never seems like it's all that impressive of a feat to me. Now housecleaning? That's a different story. That takes some SERIOUS talent.

A reminder of yesterday, and what I think Summer is all about:

Sydney LOVES sweeping (aka hitting the broom bristles on the floor). The broom is 3x her length!

I call this one 'Twakk!'

Sydney's First Haircut!!

2008-04-03T10:54:00.001-07:00

Guess who got her first haircut today? Sydney!

Mandi, my bride from earlier this year, is a stellar hairdresser from Salon de Chiste. We are doing a little bartering action!

You'll notice the pictures are bigger- do you like it?

This is Sydney's before picture. Like the baby comb-over?

She has a plate full of Cheerios and hasn't caught on that this is a haircut and not a snack....

She's getting wise to what's going on behind her.....

Hey! What's the big idea!!

TP'ing the apartment

2008-03-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Sydney REALLY likes toilet paper. She will run into the bathroom, pushing open the door (even if it is occupied). She grabs the end of the toilet paper so she can have a white streamer while she runs across the living room.

I'm so proud of her. I think she looks pretty proud of herself, too.

Walking outside

2008-03-01T19:32:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful day today! Great for getting out and experiencing the fresh air.

Sydney and Michelle took a walking trip around the apartment, too.

2008-02-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

Sydney's second ear infection of the year ;(
She is taking great paints to learn about this affliction so she doesn't have to go through it a third time.

Also, see her birthday party stack-o-pictures here!

Sydney's first Banana's trial

2007-09-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

So today Sydney and Michelle had a little self-feed banana trial. It's amazing to see her learn of and feel new textures! Sydney didn't quite understand what was going on, but Michelle got some great pics.

2007-08-02T14:05:00.001-07:00

Shawn and I just got back from our anniversary weekend in Alton, Illinois. Fun!!
I saw a lot of potential photo locations, although I tried to keep my mind off work (which was hard but worth it!)
Photo Album here.

Sunday after church we went to the Finn Inn, home of all things fried.

My dinner was called Fried Bullfish, but I think looked a lot like Khan's pet in "The Wrath of Khan"

We also went to Cahokia Mounds, which was really pretty and peaceful, although a bit creepy (as ancient burial mounds go).
Here Shawn and I are on top of the Cahokian Chief's mound (you can see the Arch from there!

Both grandparents got to watch Sydney while we were gone- the pictures are courtesy of Grandpa Ross:

She is six months old now- and we just started solid foods, reading books and baby sign language. She is also REALLY close to crawling. As in any minute. Currently she is on her turtle playmat (thanks Elizabeth Nohren!) pushing herself up into almost a sitting position. Woohoo!

2007-05-20T14:57:00.001-07:00

Running out the door here but have to stick up my favorite picture of the weekend (out of two engagements, a graduation and a wedding)

Trip and Quinn

2007-05-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

I shot the Scoggins family last week- Here are a few fun ones:

Amy Scoggins trying to get the boys to smile (Love you Amy!):

And Trip!

I am still learning Lightroom, and the colors are a bit funky one this session to me- so Amy, if you read this I am going to edit another round of them so they boys don't look so... flushed ;)

2007-04-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

What an eventful week! My computer crashed (and burned) last Sunday night during some daily maintenance, and Shawn came to my rescue. We took the opportunity to upgrade to the new CS3 and Lightroom, which is awesome! Lightroom allows me to edit photos on the fly during your wedding day, which means the reception slideshow will have a bit of extra 'paprika' (as Jack Black says)!

Mike and Ashley are getting married this June and we went out to Foristell to a new park with a gorgeous lake. Such a beautiful sky during sunset! Here is the slideshow!

The proof book cover!

And this weekend was also Calvary Mid Rivers' Children's Musical- a takeoff from American Idol but with no Sanjiyah! Yeah!

I am researching labs where we can upload these pictures for all families to print and download these images for comparative prices to W*lmart and Costmo :) Look for a link to be given in the next week or so!
I know moms and dads will want these. I can't get enough pictures of my Sydney!

Last month's baby!
Today's baby!Big as the toaster yet?

Look what I found!!

Easter Sunday

2007-04-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

So this Sunday was Easter! Calvary Mid Rivers had four services, Calvary West had two and Calvary Mills launched their first campus. Lots of people and lots of work for my husband, the church IT/video guy, who put in close to 70 hours this week to help make it all happen! Thankfully, he is snoozing right now next to me on the couch, and hopefully will be able to be in that state for at least eight hours tonight... Here are some pics from today:

Yes, Dave is pointing at YOU!

Dave the worship pastor yelling, "Bottles and Cans! Clap your hands!" Or something to that effect...

We had a gazillion kids singing, and tons of proud parents!

I noticed one of the Poteet kid that was a bit confused at the hand motions!

After the service I snapped a family shot of the Clancy clan! Dan was one of the pastors that married us!

We headed over to family, where Sydney met her cousin Alex:

Alex is six months old and adorable!!

I took WAY too many photos of them: See Cousin gallery!
Now I need to get to bad... it's past one am!

Homesick Texan

2007-03-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

(Not my own photo)
I LERVE to cook. I'm a frequent Recipiezaar searcher and have also found a blog that makes my tummy so happy!
The Homesick Texan... mmmm!

As soon as I find out how to show links on my sidebar, this will be top of the list (besides care group blogs!)

Oma is 98!!

2007-03-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

Or two years old, as she has started counting backwards. Here she is holding Syd:
And blowing out candles in her birthday streusel!

Welcome to the World Campbell!

2007-03-28T15:18:00.001-07:00

Campbell Shaw was born this past Sunday- welcome girlie! She is beautiful!
Here she is- making a face but no sound came out at all! Looking at the photo you would think the windows were shattering, but she was just so quiet!

Bumbo Time!

2007-03-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Shawn and Sydney got some quality time on Saturday while I was shooting- they sat on the couch and watched basketball all day! Here she is in her Bumbo (thanks Julie!)
Seven weeks old today!!

Family Resemblance

2007-03-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

God is so cool! I was over at Mom and Dad Melton's Sunday and they had out baby pictures of my brother James. It was like looking at Sydney via 1981!

James:

Sydney:

Oh and Mom (Grandma), you can thank me later for cropping out your Eighties perm!

2007-03-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Way to go F3's! The Annual F3 Academy Awards were held last Wednesday-
it was so awesome to see everyone participate! F3's are small high
school student groups that meet during the week for bible study. Each
year a group puts together a video - anything from American Idol spoofs
to Star Wars battles. So far Shawn and I have helped with three years
running of Academy Awards. Everyone dresses up like stars and feasts on
decadent food!

Kyle and Jeff entertained the crowd with manly singing while votes were tallied:
and Francis Howell won best picture!!

The pics we took are in the youth office- in a hard drive :) Ask my hubby Shawn if you would like some!

Oh so cute!

2007-03-09T13:29:00.001-08:00

Watermelon Lemonade

2007-03-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

Holy junk, have I stumbled upon something yummy:

Watermelon Lemonade

1	cup lemon juice
1	cup superfine sugar
4 1/2	cups water
3	cups chopped seeded watermelons
2	tablespoons light corn syrup

In a blender, puree the watermelon with the corn syrup.
Strain to remove any bits of seed that remain.
Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a large pitcher.
Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Add the puree along with the water.
Serve over ice in tall glass.

I bought seedless watermelon at Costco and it was too ripe, kind of like biting into some Memoryfoam- so I looked for drinks on Recipiezaar (my new fave site). One of the raves about it said that 'it is the nectar of the gods', so I thought I would try it. So yummy!

Sydney's Big Bath Day

2007-02-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

Sydney got a bath today in her new bathtub (courtesy of Courtney and Kelly!) and she really had fun. She smells really good now! See the photo gallery here!

Children's Books

2007-02-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about having a little girl to grow up with is the realization that I will again be able to collect children's books. I had a Master's Collection in college thanks to the Columbus City Library's $1 discard book shop, with two whole shelves in my bookcase filled with children's books featuring awesome illustration.

The bad thing was that college people like me at the time move quite a lot- and those two shelves of books added up to massive poundage and achy back! So little by little I gave or threw them all away save for the Stinky Cheese Man (Lane Smith is my hero) and The Emperor's New Clothes.

Now I am married and old and have pretty much a permanant residence, so shelves, get ready!
This weekend the Friends of the Library are having a book sale which we will SO be at. It's like, a grocery brown bag of books for two cents. I remember going as a kid and the smell of the books and the excitement of getting them would make me so excited my stomach would get upset. I was kind of a wierd kid that way.

A list of books I loved as a kid and want Sydney to experience:
*Anything Frog and Toad
*Anything Beatrix Potter
*Anything Marguerite Henry
*Little House on the Prarie
*Narnia Series
*Babar the Elephant
*George the Monkey

I'm not sure if I'm going to introduce her to Captain Underpants. I like the book, but if she has an imagination like I did, she will try to BE Captain Underpants at the grocery store or something.

Almost a Month Old!

2007-02-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

Lookout! Cute Baby on the loose!
She is ONE MONTH old on Monday!

Sydney Desktop Wallpaper (1024 x 768)- right click and "Save as" to your desktop.

Mom trying on a baby wrap and Sydney almost falling out:

Shawn and Sydney falling asleep on the couch:

Great-Grandpa Eschner (well, his hands) holding Sydney:

Thanks Brenda!

2007-02-09T09:59:00.001-08:00

These ducky slippers keep me nice and warm!

Dad, the burping master

2007-02-09T09:59:00.000-08:00

More pics of Sydney!

Pumping Action

2007-02-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

So we broke down and bought a pump so Shawn can have 'Sydney' duty during the night... I was really leery of using it.. all I could think of was the Napoleon Dynamite time machine bit. I had these premonitions of yelling in pain to Shawn, "Turn it off! turn it off!" while the Medela pump makers just laughed at another chump mom.

BUT it turned out fine, and I was able to have a full night of sleep last night thanks to my wonderful husband. My only recollection of the night was Shawn laying down next to me around two a.m. and Sydney starting to cry a few minutes later. Shawn just cried out, "Noooooooo!" like Superman trying to turn back time after Lois died.

First Bath

2007-02-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of Sydney's first bath!

So tiny.

2007-01-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

How funny! Everyone keeps saying how small Sydney is. She just looks normal size to me, until I see a picture of someone's head or hands next to her. Even then I don't think she's small. I automatically think , "Jeez, I've got an enormous head!"

Thus the beginning thoughts of yet another parent whose child can do or say no wrong. I even can say 'her poop don't stink', truthfully!

Pictures and updates

2007-01-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well,

Between interruptions and other responsibilities (changing, feeding, etc.), it's only taken me (Shawn) 4 hours to make this post. Granted, I cherished and enjoyed every interruption!

Here's some pics and info for you:

Here's another pic of her with her beautiful eyes open:

Here's a pic of all 3 of us:

Here's a pic of (newly) Grandpa Ross holding Sydney:

Here's a nice close-up pic to give you some perspective:

Here's Sydney saying "wow, who are you?":

Here's a pic of the 2 leading women in my life:

Keep checking our blog, because I may be able to cut some video together later!

Thanks for everyone who prayed for this bundle of joy, Michelle, or I during the process of Sydney coming to us.

Pics set 1

2007-01-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple pics of our new bundle of joy for your perusal:

Sydney Grace not long after birth: (that's Shawn's finger being squeezed by her hand)

Another pic of her squeezing Shawn's finger:

Last shot of her doing her daily stretching exercises!:

And three makes a family!

2007-01-29T14:23:00.000-08:00

Soooo, how a perfect little angel graced our family.....

I started having contractions at 7am, oh, on Sunday morning. This is not counting the contractions I had saturday night from 6pm to 5am. So the Sunday 'wuss' contractions kept going and going every ten minutes or so during the day, through walking the mall and watching TV. During Happy Gilmore I was bouncing on the birth ball, walking the stairs, and eating like, fifteen mozzerella cheese sticks. The next hour, during Battlestar Galactica, the contractions got really bad and I cried like crazy over Lee and Dee's marital problems. Then Shawn said, "We should either go to bed and sleep or go to the hospital." so I promptly produced a bunch of barf and bloody show (TMI, hee hee) and decided we were going to the hospital. So much for the cheesesticks!

We take a twenty minute bumpy ride to the hospital, bumps negated by lamaze breathing techniques, thank you very much! Lauren, our doula met us at the ER. Walked up to the baby floor and found out I hadn't dialated anything since my check-up last week. Two lousy centimeters! Stink! So I was sent home with Perkaset and Ambien to sleep through the night. My stomach and uterus now felt like a big bruise from contracting for twenty four hours. Lauren came home with us, and a good thing too! The sleeping pill and the narcotic served to loosen up my cervix to four centimeters in one hour. Whammo! Did that hurt.

So back again to the hospital at four thirty in the morning on a bumpy road, and no lamaze breathing techniques were really helping this ride! We popped back into the old room from eleven pm. and called an anesthesiologist PRONTO. He was actually at the hospital and came in within about ten minutes. Meanwhile, Shawn was doing an awesome job keeping me sane by counting to four within two inches of my face. He said later that I was exhaling so hard I was drying out his eyeballs... and my breath wasn't so nice. But that's what love is all about!

So I recieved the epidural during contracting, which was kind of nice because I didn't notice this huge needle gong into my spine. I was too busy blowing on my husband's eyeballs.

So within an hour I was seven centimeters and within two I was fully dialated. Alisha had arrived for photographing the birth. Dr. Voegtle came to break my water and got the junk all over her street pants. Woops! While she went to change into scrubs, Sydney crowned and within ten minutes popped out. Whoopee!

Success!!!!

2007-01-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

Well, the next queen of the Ross household has arrived!

Sydney Grace Ross came to us on Monday, January 29th at 10:31AM CST.
She weighed in at 6 lbs., 9 oz., and is 19 inches long.
She has beautiful black hair with possibly some blonde mixed in. Pictures to come!

Edit: I changed the birth month to the correct month (January). I mistakenly put it in as September originally (in my half-awake state).

Progression...

2007-01-29T05:29:00.000-08:00

Well, we arrived back at the hospital @ 5am, and it's now 7:35am. Sydney will be making an appearance soon! For all of my geekiness, I have no clue what all this medical stuff is. It's truly amazing...

2007-01-28T22:33:00.000-08:00

Well, we arrived at the hospital tonight, planning on having the latest member of the Ross clan show up. So far, we're hoping and praying that she comes soon!

Count this as another rantable post in the "start labor now" category...

Get Outta There!!!

2007-01-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

Warning: Rant!

Can I just say that being pregnant is getting really old. Can I just tell you the things I have tried in the past 48 hours that have NOT sent me into labor?

*Eggplant Parmesan*
*Walking Three Miles*
*Bouncing on the Birth Ball*
*Pressure Points*
*Doing Married People things*

Can I just say that those have not worked. At all. And I have had little stupid contractions for two days that are just wuss contractions. Aaaarg! What's the deal?

2006-12-23T14:50:00.000-08:00

My husband is so funny. His brain is totally a sponge. I was reading about what to expect in the next few weeks and through I would shock him by a new fact I learned. Conversation went like so:

"Shawn, did you know that in the next week or so I'm going to drop out a MUCUS PLUG?"
He doesn't even look up from what he is doing and says, "Yeah, I knew that."

It's really weird to think that Shawn might know more about the birthing process than I do.

Also, I've noticed something when Shawn grows his hair out. It's totally Bill Murray hair. We need to get him a haircut.

2006-12-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

We decided to prepare for our baby coming with this:

2006-12-03T18:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of Thanksgiving at the St. Charles Eschner's table.
People:
Left to Right-
Lori E., Stephen/Steven (I always get it wrong) E., Mark E., Me, Kathy Melton, Steve Melton, Bill R.'s friend, Bill R., Anita R., George R., Peggy R., Grandma E., Oma E., and Grandpa Lothar E.

Food:
Stuffing and Dressing
Orange Fluff
Green Salad
Turkey
Gravy
Mountainous Mashed Potatoes
Weird Marinated Onions (one of my contributions)
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

2006-11-30T14:38:00.000-08:00

This is really cool! Find out which celebrities look like you!

http://www.myheritage.com

2006-11-29T19:51:00.000-08:00

Holy crap! Christmas is coming up super fast. I have a huge list of things to do and can't waddle fast enough to get them all done. Shawn has been working so hard at his new job (full time video production and IT support at the church) and I am so proud of him!

My birthday was Monday (pics to come later) and Shawn and I ate Imo's- yum! We got extra cheese and the guys ran out with it really fast so the cheese slid off the crust just an inch. Tuesday we had a family b-day party over at Mom and Dad Melton's. Shawn is really getting to know me too well- one of my presents was a calendar pack filled with Cat pictures. The highlight of the night was when we were able to share this SNL skit with Mom and Dad Melton from YouTube. Shawn and I cry laughing every time we see it.

Also, for updated pics, here is one from Halloween up above. If you can believe it, Baby is even bigger now. Every time I sit down she thinks, "Hey, start the ride up again!" and starts jumping up and down on my bladder.

I can't believe how much we've missed on the blogs! Drew has tons of hair! The Bonos are among us! Party time!

So much to do!

2006-09-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

It's going to be interesting when this little girl comes along- life seems overwhelming right now! Sometimes I will lay in bed in the morning and just think of this big overwhelming list of 'stuff' that has to get done ;) But when I actually MAKE a list and have it on paper the things don't seem all that bad. I guess it's the scary anticipation that makes each day seem so untackle-able!

Oh, we are watching dateline or something and the subject is baby names- in Los Angeles, 30% of African American names are unique, like Shaniqua and Shakira. Jason Lee from "My Name is Earl" named his kid 'Pikot Inspektor' and Gwyneth Paltrow named hers 'Apple'. I have a name I really like, but we are keeping the final decision secret.

Oh, and little Baby 'Shaniqua' in the oven is dancing around on my bladder day and night. I think she is singing, "Hello, my baby- Hello, my darlin'- Hello my good time gal!"She is definately taking dance classes if she keeps this up. It just makes me smile because no one else can feel her yet from the outside and right now it's my little secret!

Lots of Stuff!

2006-09-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

Actually, I have an excuse why I haven't blogged- I forgot my password and signin. Plus I didn't have my blog in my Bookmarks so I couldn't find it for a while, lol! Not to worry, it won't happen again.

Megan Ross will have fun with this- last night I dreamt I was flying over fields of fruit and would swoop down and take bites out of every different thing and one of the fruits was a rambutan, which is native to Thailand: Megan always sends us pictures of her eating a ton of these.

But bigger news than dream fruit: We found out about Baby Ross!

It's a Girl! It's hard to tell, but her tiny mouth is open and she is saying, "Feed Me!"
I swear, I never thought a human being could experience hunger like this. "Eating Dreams" happen almost every night, and then I wake up and daydream about eating.

Here is a picture of me at seventeen weeks and then eighteen weeks:
That's six more pounds of baby fat inbetween those pics.
If you'd like to see what's going on in there periodically, you can bookmark our Baby Calendar.

Oh, and I HAVE to share the latest recipie that we gobbled up. I am making this for our Friend to Friend snack this Wednesday: Butterscotch Buns!

Baby Ross is coming to town!

2006-08-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Finally us Rosses are getting caught up in the blogosphere with the coming of Ross #3.
Week eleven. where I look like I'm just pushing out my gut:

I just went out to lunch with two of my favorite mommies Julie and Elizabeth and it was so fun just anticipating mommy life. The morning sickness has finally dissapated and I am hard at work making our house a home for all of us. We have already been blessed with a gorgeous crib, changing table and baby books, and my mom is really excited about sewing baby stuff! The big question everyone asks us is, "Are you going to find out the gender?" We haven't decided yet- we might just let it be a big suprise!

My first order of business when I found out we were pregnant was to get my own pregnancy calendar and bookmark it. Every day I can see new things about what's going on inside baby's world and what baby looks like right now.

I really want to get one of these pacifiers too. I saw a baby with one once and couldn't stop laughing.

First peek at Baby Ross, at seven and a half weeks: