Grandma Nikki's Early Bday Celebration

Today we got dressed up and went to Der Dutchman Restaurant to celebrate Grandma Nikki's 50th Birthday (which is actually on January 1st). We had a great breakfast and of course Edwin was a hit in his tie (an outfit from Grandma Nikki)! Grandma Nikki and Mike are keeping Edwin for 2 nights - we don't have any big plans...but I'm sure we'll find something to do (even if it is some extra sleep for me) with Edwin in good hands for a few days!!!

New Clothes for Edwin

Edwin got so many cute outfits for Christmas...this is one of many...I couldn't resist posting a few pics!

Christmas-In-Review

Our family is too generous! I started to put everything away today and I simply am overwhelmed by the generosity from our family. It is unbelievable...Edwin didn't NEED anything and I don't think he WANTED anything this year - but man, he LOVES everything he got...he has trouble deciding what to play with.

My favorite part of the holiday (as Dave would say, if I were forced to choose) was definitely sharing the good news of Baby Ross on the way. It was so fun and a complete shocker for everyone because I hate surprises and secrets...can't believe we will have 2 kids to celebrate with next year! CRAZY!!!!!!!

Just wanted to say an extra BIG thank you to everyone for the gifts and Christmastime memories from this year...here are some of my favorite pics!

Dec 23rd "Cretaceous Christmas Celebration" (pizza party, gifts, and cookies)






Dec 24th Christmas Eve at Grandma Ross's







Dec 25th Presents from Santa

Happy New Year!!!

By now most people have received their New Year's Card from our family...

This was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever had to keep to myself - we are obviously so excited to share the news of another Baby Ross on the way. Our due date is July 4th, which makes me 13 weeks. We heard the heartbeat for the first time on Christmas Eve, strong and healthy - a beautiful Christmas moment with Dave and Edwin (they were both in the room with me)!

Thanks to everyone for the happy wishes and continued prayers as we continue on our journey and wait for the Ross Family to grow once again!

Happy EARLY New Year!!!

WEEK In REVIEW

What a busy, crazy , gift giving week! It is a bit overwhelming having a Christmas and a birthday to plan. WOW!

It began with the arrival of Chris and Megan and the completion of our dessert making. The girls helped out with the making of 'trash'. What an easy, yummy treat :) We escaped powdered sugar everywhere luckily.

On Christmas Eve, we again had presents extravaganza by Grandma!! The event began with the kids getting all their wonderful loot from Grandma and Aunt Mindy and Uncle David. Madeline's favorite gift was a Baby Alive doll that talks, eats, pees, poops, sings, etc. We think it is a bit creepy looking, but oh so cute! Madeline was an overprotective mother not letting us touch the thing. She actually faced her back to us while she took care of the baby. Too funny. And to think she said that she didn't want a baby this year. Meredith also enjoyed her new baby from Grandma. She did the chokehold on it for the rest of the night. Our traditional no peek chicken dinner was delicious, but was missing our yummy thumbprint cookie dessert :(. We again went to the later, much less crowded mass. At the beginning they asked us to introduce ourselves to everyone around us, and Edwin loudly stated, "NO!!". This of course made the surrounding people laugh and the gentleman in front of me turned around and said, "Now, I WANT to meet this little guy". HAHA. After mass, it was back to Grandma's to open her gifts.

Grandma gave Matt a hoodie as HE REQUESTED, but when he opened it, he didn't not seem enthused at all. We made fun of him for the lackluster response. And then he tried it on, and BOOM he loves it!

The girls were so lucky to receive a personal email from Santa!!! It even revealed their pictures in his book under the "nice" section!!! Madeline was so proud :)

Christmas morning everyone came over for make your own egg mcmuffins, danishes, caramel rolls, etc. Megan ate her traditional Christmas cookie breakfast! We actually had to wake the girls up and Madeline was none to pleased .

Santa brought everything the girls had asked for and more!! I think Edwin's favorite toy was the girls' blocks which he squealed with excitement to knock over! What spoiled little munchkins we have. Madeline did an EXCELLENT job with her school gifts this year. I got a snowman candy jar, Meredith got puzzles, Grandma got a Santa reed diffuser, and most importantly, daddy got a Pittsburgh Pirate hat. She was so excited to give daddy's gift to him!! (the funniest gift went to Papa.... a car scraper).

We finished the day with dinner and presents at Papa and Deb's. They got very nice dolls with great accessories from them. Madeline is enjoying shopping with her doll. After the dinner, we were off to Grandma Mueller's to complete the celebrations. We left again with more gifts, candy, and tired girls. They even had a mini dance party with Edwin and Sarah. Edwin gave up on his shirt at one point! I came home with a jar of chocolate covered peanuts as my prize from Aunt Carol's game.

The next day was our birthday celebration for Meredith and Grandma Audine at our house. We got an awesome Cookie Monster cake!!! Again, Meredith was spoiled with many gifts. On her actual birthday, we asked her where she wanted to eat and she insisted on Perkins. Madeline tried to convince her to go to Salsita's, but she kept to her decision. So funny.

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts!!! See you in a month for round 2.

Click here for all the Christmas and birthday photos!

Santa (AKA Uncle Rick)

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Christmas Cards Not Coming from KY Ross Family

No, I didn't forget to send our Christmas cards this year...we are doing New Year's cards...so they'll be in the mail soon. Many reasons, but one of the most important is that Edwin was not in the holiday spirit on picture day...just check out these photos...and they were the best ones. Doesn't he look thrilled? Still cute, because that is how he is - so serious sometimes...but not what I wanted on a Christmas card...so New Year's cards it is...hope you enjoy them, when you get them!

Here is one of our family pictures...at least we got a little smile on this one!

WEEK IN REVIEW

Happy Snow everyone!! (NOT!) I am finding it hilarious that my Southerner Facebook friends are belly-aching about their snow. HAHA. About time you feel our every other day annoyance :)

Anyways, we had a lot of Christmas events this week. Madeline had her preschool program and party. Originally she was to lead her class in singing Frosty the Snowman... using a microphone and all. However, her lead got the axe. HAHA. We don't know what happened, but were certainly disappointed, especially since the kid's hat in front of her was blocking her face nearly the whole performance. Uggh. Nanny Karen even got to come this time to see Madeline!!

We have been getting so much Christmas artwork that I will need another refrigerator soon. They are cute though!

Friday we ate some delicious Blue Wolf takeout with Grandma :) Her tree is up and decorated beautifully with angels (and some pictures of the grandkids including Sedona).

That night Papa and Deb spent the night after their Canfield neighbor Christmas dinner. The next morning was our cookie baking day! We got a lot done so I am officially finished baking. YAY! The girls were lot more helpful this year. Just giving them the task of removing ROLOS wrappers was exciting. I hate doing that. The flour from the cut out cookies was just about everywhere ... including stomachs, toes, noses, etc. Madeline and Meredith iced a few cookies too. And they didn't do half bad!!! Caught Madeline lick a knife (which we quickly put in the dishwasher). Gross!

That night Matt and I decided to take the girls out to see some Christmas lights. The roads were terrible with ice and snow. I guess the snow trucks were on break. Some of the neighborhoods had gorgeous decorations!!! I am so impressed. The girls would call out the figures they would see .. there's Santa, there's reindeer, there's a hippo walking! Even though I explained to Madeline that it was Frosty ice skating, she insisted that ,"NO , that is a HIPPO and he is walking!" The girls kept asking when we were going home or getting dinner. Kind of spoiled the mood b/c they didn't realize we were going for a "ride". HELLO!! For dinner we decided just to pick up some KFC. After ordering we find out that they didn't have any chicken to give us. KFC RAN OUT OF CHICKEN!?!? We had to wait (along with 5 other cars) for chicken to be cooked (20 minutes or so). NOTE: there are 3 different varieties to choose from, they had ZERO to offer.

Each night this week we have treated the girls to watching a Christmas special right at bedtime. I am finding this to be a bit of a torture for me. I can't stand a lot of the specials, ie. Frosty or Charlie Brown. But I suck it up and watch it for the kids :) I missed Rudolph which I love. Sniff sniff.

Cretacious Conifer

Edwin - 18 Month Stats

NOTHING NEW!!! Edwin continues to develop and grow on schedule. A little short, but that's what we expected...the dr. was very pleased with his vocabulary...he was quite the show-off at the visit!

Head:
48cm = 50th percentile

Weight:
25lbs 9 ozs = 55th percentile

Height:
30-1/4 inches = 20th percentile

Edwin - 18 Months Old