Sunday, December 30, 2012

December was a blur...

So, I'm a bit behind on posting...so much has happened in the 2nd half of December...and I just now got a new SD card reader and was able to download my camera pics...so many memories to share, but I'll try to be brief for your sake!

Dec 19 - Edwin's Christmas Program
 This is how he looked during most of the program...
 However, I did get his attention for ONE smile...so cute!!!
Lyla was so excited...and thanks to my neighbor for holding Louie - I actually enjoyed watching the program this time!!!

Dec 24 - Christmas Eve at the Ross House
We hosted Christmas Eve for my family this year and had a great time. We served Honey Baked Ham, which is always a hit! The kids had so much fun playing together...and of course the Christmas spoiling began strong...special thank to everyone for helping make Christmas Eve so special for our kids!!!

 Louie spent most of his time sleeping...LOL
 COUSINS x 3
 FAMILY of FIVE...Christmas was crazy, but SO much fun this year!!!
 COUSINS x 4...can't wait to try this next year with 5!!!
I think Louie looks a lot like my dad...what do you think???

Dec 25 - Santa and Pittsburgh - what could be better? :)
Edwin is always so excited when we get to go where the Steelers live (Pittsburgh)...and this year he was extremely excited about Santa coming...

Santa didn't have time to wrap presents and instead used our blankets to hide the kids' piles...What an awesome idea - and so much LESS trash!!! Loved it!!!

 We started Christmas morning by letting the kids exchange their gifts from each other...Louie got Edwin a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and Lyla got him a new Batman action figure.

 Edwin got Lyla an Aquadoodle Bear and Louie got her a diaper bag kit for her babies.
 Lyla got Louie a dinosaur onesie and Edwin got him a laughing toy...which he LOVES!!!
 After the kids opened all of their Santa gifts and their gifts from Dave and I...we loaded up and headed to Pittsburgh. It isn't a bad drive, especially on Christmas Day...NO TRAFFIC...and no bad weather to contend with this year! We were all so thrilled to see the family. Great Grandma Mueller sure knows how to host an awesome party!



Louie got to spend some quality time with his Godmother...

Dec 26 - Christmas in Canfield
Yep, you guessed it - MORE GIFTS...We spent the 26th at Grandma's house eating pizza and cookies, watching it snow, and opening more gifts!!!

 Grandma's Imaginext castle was definitely a winner for Edwin!!!
 Louie enjoyed being passed around...
 and playing Peek-A-Boo!
 Cousins x 5
 With Godfather - so happy!

Dec 27 - Meredith's Birthday
We went out to dinner for Meredith's birthday...can't believe my Goddaughter is getting so old. Still remember how awesome it was to meet her and find out that I would be her Godmother...so special!  and it just kept snowing and snowing and snowing in Canfield...so after dinner, we let the kids walk in the DEEP SNOW...of course, I didn't pack any appropriate snow gear (ex: gloves, snowsuit, etc), but they didn't care...and LOVED it!!!

Dec 28 - HOME SWEET HOME
Since another round of snow was scheduled for Saturday, we decided to head home a day early. After a morning playdate with the girls - we packed up (with more than we came with - how does that always happen?) and headed home. All was well until just past Columbus. A section of the highway was closed due to an accident, so we took the LONG ROUTE HOME...it was a VERY LONG DAY...but worth every minute to see our family.

Dec 29 - Finally, TIME TO PLAY!!!
Finally time to open all of the toys...and PLAY PLAY PLAY...2013 is going to be a great year for the Ross Family of Loveland...I can feel it!!!! SO many new things to play with and activities to do...so many cute outfits to wear...so much to do!!! and hopefully I'll get back to some good posting!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!!! and LOVE to you all!!!! Thanks for reading!!!!




Friday, December 14, 2012

Louie 4 Months

Today was Louie's 4-month dr appointment. He is doing great! The doctor said we could start feeding him cereal and by the looks of his gums and his constant chewing on his hands - he is teething!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT????

Weight 15lbs 7.2ozs = 55%
Height 25-1/2" = 75%
Head Circumference 11-1/2" = 50%

as a point of reference...I couldn't find Edwin and Lyla's 4 month stats but at 6 months:

Weight: Lyla - 19 lbs 7 ozs 80th percentile and Edwin - 17 lbs 15.9 ozs 75th percentile
Height: Lyla - 25.5 inches 50th percentile and Edwin - 25 inches 25th percentile
Head Circumference: Lyla - 40th percentile and Edwin - 60th percentile
Interesting, right????
 BTW - he rolled from his belly to his back yesterday - so now I know he can roll both ways!!! The doctor said that this is early to reach this milestone - hope this doesn't mean he is going to be early mover!!! LOL

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

I'm going to be an AUNT again...





It is official - I'm going to be an AUNT again! Congrats to my sister and Matt on their expanding family...and the best part - the baby is due on Lyla's birthday...how awesome would that be!?!?!?!?!

So excited!!! Please keep her in your prayers as her pregnancy progresses!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Louie's FIRST Roll

Louie's FIRST Complete Roll...can't believe I caught it on tape!!! Only took 3 kids to capture this milestone on tape!!! LOL

Party Rock - Christmas Style

Edwin performs Party Rock - Christmas style...he was singing this as he helped put up the Nativity with me on Sunday - he totally made it up on his own...I was amazed and couldn't resist asking him to do it again on film!!! "Baby Jesus in the house tonight..."

Our German Reindeer

So my great friend Regina always gets the kids unique gifts...and Louie will be no exception! Check out this German Reindeer suit...her family is VERY GERMAN and I traveled with Regina to Germany when I was in high school - my first international travel experience...our paths have continued to cross and she remains a great friend and I LOVE THE SUIT!!!







Monday, December 3, 2012

weekS in review


I just checked the records...I totally missed out on posting in November for November-related events.  What a failure!  I didn't even remember my damn camera for Thanksgiving.  Could someone please send me some photos of us for my scrapbook :(
Ok, what have you guys missed??  November 11, 2012 , Grandma Ross hosted her family for dinner.  The elders had some estate planning to do , but everyone else came for food and fun.  The younger generation was having a great time playing with each other.  How cute! 
Because I am so dang busy these days,  I didn't bother to schedule a photo session.  That left me to do the photos.  So here is a glimpse of our "shoot".  They were FREEZING.  What troopers! I didn't want them to wear their sweaters and hide their pretty Christmas dresses.
 
November 22, 2012...Thanksgiving.  Yep, no photos still.  Dad , help me out!! We spent the first half of the day at Papa and Deb's and the last half at Muellerville.  Megan and I did a lot of baking, cooking, making a mess (Megan + powder = dust everywhere).  EVery time we take a Coors Light out of the fridge we are reminded of the spill.
November 24, 2012....Deb's daughter, Sarah had her baby shower.  This I had my camera ready.  Megan, the girls, and I made teddy bear chocolate suckers and creepy baby shaped wintergreen cream cheese mints.  The mints were super easy to do .  The suckers were quite time consuming , but definitely turned out great.  It is so nice to have the girls helping out! 
We are happy to announce that John the Elf has returned to our home.  He is keeping a watchful eye on the girls.  Meredith continues to be creeped out by him, but I catch her whispering stuff to him.  Hmmm, what is she telling him? Probably explaining herself b/c of all her dramatics.  :) The girls from the moment they open their eyes want to go find John.  That is one way to get their butts out of bed easier.
Speaking of, I had last week off from work.  I slept in until 9:30 a.m. each day.  What a rude awakening today when I was awakened by hideous country music THREE hours earlier. Ugh.
November 26, 2012....DECORATION TIME.  Once again , these girls are becoming quite the help. Shockingly, no broken glass ornaments this year.  Now this tree is a new one for us.  I had kicked our old one onto the porch last season b/c of how annoyed I was with it.  I am happy thus far with my never-seen-out-of-the-box tree (purchased after Christmas last year). 
November 30, 2012...Canfield had their "lighting of the Green" in the center of town.  It really wasn't exciting, but we did get to ride this horse (can't see it) drawn carriage around the Green.  That was the only memorable event of that night. HAHA.
December 1, 2012...finally in the correct month.  My office had the Christmas Party.  It felt really early this year.  And the weather has been warmer so it didn't feel very festive.  After I got a bunch of gifts, I was definitely feeling more Christmasy. HAHA.  I had the girls try to take our pics.  These are the best we got.