A Couple More Pics...Weekend Stories Coming...PROMISE...

WEEK IN REVIEW

Our doing nothing weekend quickly turned into one event after another! Friday was Madeline's last day of school. It was an outdoor picnic with 2 jump arounds, hot dogs, Popsicles, etc. It was sooooo hot on those black topped parking lots where the jump arounds were. Madeline jumped for probably an hour. Her cheeks were the rosiest I had ever seen. I kept pushing the water, but she didn't want to take a break. I got Meredith's head into the jump around before she promptly yelled. For whatever reason, Meredith is terrified of being bounced by someone else. I am sure she would love it if she were the only person in there! So I took a picture of her putting her shoes back on.

That night the girls had a sleepover with Grandma. That gave Matt and I a chance for some dinner and Handel's ice cream. We even got to sleep in. What a luxury. Who am I kidding, Matt lets me sleep in most days. Thanks!

FANS FROM CHINATOWN FROM JILL!

We had our first trip to the swim club after we picked the girls up from Grandma's. PERFECT day for pool weather. We had so much fun that we decided that we would invite Papa and Deb to a day at the pool and picnic for Sunday.

That night we got invited to our neighbor's house for a picnic. The girls played until I drug them away at 9:30 p.m. We enjoyed some adult conversation, micro-brewed beer, corn hole, and s'mores!

Sunday was our trip with Papa and Deb to the pool. The girls got to show Papa just how well they learned to swim (or let go of one hand in regards to Meredith). Grandma came over for the picnic that followed. Matt did a great job cooking up some shrimp, steak, and chicken. YUM !

And finally to our only "planned" event of the weekend, we celebrated Memorial Day and Papa's 60th birthday party in Pittsburgh. We were able to get seated with food before the skies opened up and dumped on our picnic. We luckily scurried everything inside and escaped a disaster. Papa escaped any embarrassing over the hill gifts. They really under-estimated the amount of food we needed. HAHAHA. For all the pictures from Papa's birthday, click HERE.

Eventful Weekend

This weekend has been nothing less than eventful. It deserves a longer post...but here are a few pics to hold you over...

Learning Bike Parts with Edwin Ross

THURSDAY

WEEK IN REVIEW

Busy little bees we have been! This week was Madeline's preschool Nursery Rhyme program. About a month ago, we were sent home a sheet saying that she would be doing Polly Put The Kettle On . She would also be doing this with another girl. OK, keep in mind they are to dress the part. So I am thinking, wow this is easy! I told Madeline we would send her with aprons, a kettle, and some teacups. Done. Fast forward to 2 days before the program. Madeline informs me that she is doing There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe. Uh Oh. I told her that she needs to make sure to tell me important changes like this b/c I was sending her with tea time props! What in the world was I going to send her with for an Old Woman?!? The morning of the program I thought of an idea (yes, it took me that long!) . I found a shawl and rubber banded 3 of her babies together to hold. DONE. NOTE: some kids weren't dressed the part or didn't have a prop, so it would've been okay. Madeline did a wonderful job walking across the stage ALONE (no classmate with her) , going to the microphone, and clearly and slowly saying her nursery rhyme! Whew.

Friday between 11 am and 12:10pm, I had 3 visitors. 1) the playset people to stain and re-tighten everything, 2) my dad for lunch, 3) the garden store to dump mulch in our driveway. Everybody overlapped so, I had to kick my dad to the curb, or his car that is, and the mulch guy kicked the playset people out. What a crazy time!

Saturday I was to go to my cousin's Westminster College graduation, but it rained. I didn't have an indoor ticket, but we went for the yummy dinner that night in New Wilmington, instead. I think David was happy to be done with school. The girls were just thrilled to be all over Jill.

After a baby shower on Sunday, Matt and I decided to get some trimming, weeding, garden planting, etc done. It took about 5 hours to complete this, and so far 24 hours to get over the pain. We must be getting old... so SORE! To top it off, Matt decided to start the mulching today while I was at work. It hurt too badly to do a lot for him. HAHA. We have been tormented by a raccoon as of late. We even called the cops on it. TOO FUNNY! Anyways, he comes out around dinner time. I finally got a photo of the nasty creature escaping its home. Sunday , we found that he opened our huge trash bin, pulled out Matt's leftover wings, and ate on top of the regular trash can. The telltale hand prints everywhere. It gives me the willies! The girls and I screamed around the house as we chased it in front of the windows (us inside, raccoon outside). :) Keep in mind, I just squealed watching a mole scurry across our front mulch while talking to Matt. He thought something major was happening. Oops!

This is Madeline's photo from dance.

BIG BOY update

Edwin is officially a big boy. Dave and I couldn't be more proud and surprised by the ease at which he made the transition into his big boy room. The next challenge - actually letting the baby have his old room...now appropriately called the BABY'S ROOM...

Napping and overnight, Edwin is already a pro! Let's hope he keeps this up!!!!

Edwin is Growing Up!

Tonight is the long awaited transition to Edwin's BIG BOY ROOM and BIG BOY BED. He's been in his bed for the last 30 mins and so far, so good...we'll see how the night goes. We still have some finishing touches to do over the weekend, but thought you might enjoy a couple pics! More after our first night...and his first attempt at naptime tomorrow afternoon...please send positive thoughts our way!

I took this picture this morning when I went to get Edwin out of his BABY BED...I was reminding him that it was Friday and that he would sleep in his BIG BOY BED at night...he was so excited!

No News?

So, I've been trying to think of something worthwhile to post on The Ross Experience and I've got nothing. We've been checking stuff off our to do list lately, which is great...but probably boring for our regular readers. So, WARNING - stop reading now if you're not interested in getting a general Ross of KY update...

1. New dishwasher on backorder - not sure when it will be delivered or installed.
2. Items I "must" have before baby arrives have been bought including new flip flops b/c I'm sure my feet will start to swell before too long.
3. New desktop computer assembled and AWESOME! Working on setting up my scrapbooking/couponing/blogging/photography/misc crafting area downstairs.
4. Edwin will make his big transition into his big boy bed tomorrow night following a BIG BOY PARTY - special dinner/celebration to say goodbye to the baby's room.
5. I'll be 34 weeks pregnant tomorrow - remember the goal is to make it past Edwin's birthday (FYI: I'll be 37 weeks for his bday which is considered fullterm, so after his party - C'MON BABY!!!)
6. Landscaping project next to our back patio is in progress. Dave has been spraying "brush be gone" for several weeks and it is working. June 5th he and a friend will be removing all of the (hopefully dead) stuff, and we can make decisions about next steps.
7. We have our hospital tour on Saturday. Since we are switching hospitals this time, I thought we should do the tour...hoping they serve cookies like our last tour!
8. Enjoyed a "Mindy is Special" day last weekend - girlfriends took me to lunch, pedicure, and dessert...the whole day was delicious!
9. Dave got a promotion at work...since he hasn't posted anything about it...I just want to let him and everyone else know how proud I am to have a husband that works so hard so that I can stay home with our most important business - Edwin and Baby #2!
10. So excited for Edwin's 2nd birthday...it will be great to celebrate with family and Edwin can't wait for his PIRATE BIRTHDAY CAKE!!! (Me either!!! hahaha)

WEEK IN REVIEW

Of utmost importance, Matt "lost" his shed keys this week. This means that the jungle of a yard couldn't get mowed. :) He called the shed builder, and they promptly mailed a set out to us in the mail. There must be only a few different locks to have keys on hand! So the yard is now mowed; all is well. UNTIL, I went to Wal Mart today for groceries and surprise!!! I found the keys in my jeans pocket. Yep, I had them all along. :) OOPS! I don't have any idea why I would have even touched the things .

Matt has had a stomach thing and now a cold and now a crusty eye this week. The girls and I have been avoiding his germball self. Knock on wood, we are all still healthy. Whew.

Friday , Papa came to visit the girls and me. He came bearing birthday gifts and souvenirs. The girls got kaleidoscopes. Meredith didn't understand at first, but now knows to look THROUGH the hole, not to hold it up to a closed eyelid!

We decided to head over to Whitehouse for some produce and donuts. YUM! Then Papa took us to Zenobia for lunch (his treat!). Madeline ordered grape leaves for her meal. Meredith got the grilled cheese. Totally different children!

That night we went out to dinner with Grandma to Los Gallos (her treat!!). We had never been there before, but we were impressed with the atmosphere and coleslaw you get alongside your salsa for the chips. Delicious. I noticed we didn't wreak as much as we do when we leave Salsita's. Hmm.

Saturday morning we had a surprise visitor, Aunt Terry. She came over to deliver a peanut butter cheesecake to Grandma. We went to Panera's for breakfast with her (Terri's treat!!!). Yes, I had to be awakened and told to get moving to attend this breakfast at 8:30am. Ugh! HAHA. At least we got our day started early. We did a bunch of outdoor cleanup and my sore legs today can testify for that. OW! The girls did a great job de-weeding my flower bed. I am so thankful for helpers.

We got Quaker Steak and Lube wings for dinner (we actually had to pay for a meal!). After eating, we got a call to come over to Grandma's house for a piece of that peanut butter cheesecake. It was very tasty!

The girls and I spent some outdoor time today playing "house". I didn't play, b/c the girls like to be the mommy. I guess they don't need a real mom. HA!

I'm H-A-P-P-Y!!!!

SURPRISE ULTRASOUND

I had a dr appointment yesterday (32-1/2 weeks) and my checkup was in the room with the ultrasound machine...so the dr had gave me a quick peek at Baby Ross #2. LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!!!!!

approx 4 lbs
head down
heartrate in the 140s

Won't be long now...so exciting!

WEEK IN REVIEW

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

DESPITE IT BEING VERY COLD, BRRR, WE ARE ENJOYING A LOVELY MOTHER'S DAY IN CANFIELD. THIS WEEK HAS BEEN ONE STRANGE WEATHER EVENT. WE MANAGED TO ESCAPE THE TORNADIC THREATS THAT OCCURRED JUST NORTH OF US. WE ALL KNOW I WOULD HAVE BEEN CAMPING OUT IN THE BASEMENT. OF COURSE, NOW IT WOULDN'T BE THAT CHALLENGING AS I LAY ON A COUCH DOWN THERE. HA! IT WAS SO BAD THAT THE COVERAGE HAD 3 METEOROLOGISTS FROM DIFFERENT STATIONS TOGETHER FOR THE DOPPLER READINGS!! THE GIRLS WERE IN OUR ROOM 2 TIMES THIS WEEK B/C THEY WERE AFRAID OF THE THUNDER. MEREDITH TOLD ME THAT SHE WAS ,"ASCAYWERD OF TUNDERTORMS". IT LOOKED LIKE STROBE LIGHTS GOING OFF IN OUR BEDROOM, TOO. GLAD THAT IS OVER FOR NOW.

LAST SUNDAY, WE AND GRANDMA WENT TO SESAME STREET LIVE! IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY WATCHING MEREDITH GET HER GROOVE ON THE ENTIRE SHOW. SHE WAS MIRRORING THE DANCE MOVES THAT WERE HAPPENING ON STAGE! WE CAVED AND BOUGHT THE EXPENSIVE ELMO BALLOONS DURING INTERMISSION. **THIS MEANS THAT MATT AND I HAD TO HOLD THE HUGE BALLOONS UNDER OUR LEGS FOR THE REST OF THE SHOW! MADELINE WAS BEING QUIETLY RESERVED IN HER SEAT, BUT DID RESPOND EVERY TIME BIG BIRD ASKED FOR PARTICIPATION.

FOR MOTHER'S DAY, I BOUGHT MYSELF SOME HANGING BASKETS, BUT THEY HAVE YET TO BE OUTSIDE DUE TO THE COLD, NASTY ,RAINY WEATHER WE HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING. SO FOR NOW, THEY LOOK GREAT IN MY GARAGE! WE WENT TO CHURCH WITH GRANDMA THIS MORNING AND THEN OFF TO BLUE WOLF FOR THEIR BUFFET. IT WAS YUMMY!! I HAD THE CARVED LAMB. I AM THINKING THAT THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE MEAT OUT THERE. THERE IS JUST SOMETHING ABOUT IT. yum yum yum

AGAIN, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Since I didn't post the picture on Friday - here I am at 32 weeks (and a couple days) with Baby #2...the bump continues to grow. Dr appointment tomorrow...hoping for another positive report!



Fort those of you keeping track, this was me at 32 weeks with Edwin:



What a beautiful day! The sun is out - it is a little cool, but gorgeous in NOKY. I got up around 8:30am today and came downstairs. Edwin was VERY excited to give me a card that he colored and to tell me Happy Mother's Day (Dave had been practicing all morning)! We went to Mammoth Cafe for brunch (Edwin got his normal blueberry muffin) and then we headed to the park for some camera practice (LOVE MY NEW BAG!!!) and walking. We stopped by the playground on the way home for Edwin some slide time...and now he's napping.









So blessed to be a mom and have two great mothers in my life. Happy Mother's Day Mom #1 (Nikki) and Mom #2 (Mary Lou)!!! Love you both more than I could ever write!