My boys

Happy Birthday Cameron and Carson!

I can't believe it has been a year since you were born!! (Yesterday was actually there bday, but it was also "torture Mommy day" at my house, so I'm a little late posting this.) Anyway, I just wanted to post a few pics of all the fun we had celebrating one year with these two precious boys. My little fatties! I could just eat em up!

Enjoy the fatness...

Valentine

Every year since Bay and Aussie have been old enough to talk they have wanted to exchange Valentine's with each other. This year was no different except that Luke and Brandon wanted to join in the fun. Bre and I decided that since neither one of us had babysitters for Valentine's Day that we would all meet at her house and have dinner together. We ordered pizza and the kids exchanged their gifts. Bre made cupcakes and I brought a bunch of different toppings so that the kids could have some fun decorating their own dessert.
It wasn't a romantic dinner for two like Valentine's past but it ended up being a pretty fun night. Besides, who needs a bunch of romantic gestures when you are blessed with men like these....

What's goin' on...

Life has been crazy as usual around the Ross house. I thought I would share some photos from the past few weeks...

Not long after the kids bday party they both caught a stomach flu. It was lovely. If you've ever seen the exorcist, that girl ain't got nothing on Presley! Luke's only lasted 24 hours luckily. Presley had it for a week. I really think she had salmonella poisoning. A few hours before she started throwing up she had eaten a package of peanut butter crackers. Of course, I read in the paper the next day that they are recalling all sort of peanut butter products! Anyway, she didn't eat for 5 straight days. The only way we got her to drink for several days was by forcing it in her with a medicine dropper. She was so pitiful!

This is the first day she wore anything beside PJ's in a week. She was a lot better but not 100%.
We actually got a little snow in M-town. Not enough to keep Bailey home from school though. She was not happy about that! After we dropped her off the kids wanted to go check it out. They played for a few minutes and tried to catch it with their tongues. It didn't take long though before Luke said "Mommy, it's cold! Let's go in the house!" Thank the Lord! I was freezing. I must be getting old. I could stay out in the snow forever when I was younger!

Presley

Luke

The next picture is kind of random but I had to add it!

This is one of my favorite pics! My kids love to make "Jimmy Neutron hair" in the tub. It took Presley forever before she had enough to do it!

Bre and Peyton were brave enough to have us over for dinner. :) We are definitely outnumbered by the little people! We had lots of fun though!

Mom and Bre

Double Trouble! Luke and Brando

Grammy, Grumps and the boys

Do you really expect our kids to be normal? (Bailey and Austin)

Grumps and his girl (Presley loves her Grumpsie! Go figure.)

Peyton was trying to get a kiss from Sassy. Can you blame her for reacting this way?

Mom and me

Bry and Carson

Cameron and Bailey

Presley LOVES babies! She wanted to hold Cameron. We couldn't convince her that he was a little to big for her. hehe. I love this pic of Cameron. SO Cute! Bre used to sit like this so much as a baby that her knees started turning in. Looks like it runs in the genes. All of her kids sit like this too. :)

Boys night

We survived Luke's first sleepover! Luke's buddy (and cousin) Brandon came over Friday night. It was his first sleepover also! I wasn't sure how it would be but we were very excited and just decided to play it by ear. The boys went right to Luke's room and started playing. They were so cute. I can't believe how big Luke is getting.

After playing with what seemed like every toy in Luke's room, playing hide and go seek in the dark (me, Bry and the girls played too) and watching a little t.v. Bry decided to put them to bed. Amazingly, they did great. We didn't hear from them until the next morning.

After having breakfast and lots more playing, we took them to Stix for lunch. My kids love that place and Brando does too. Next, we decided to let them each "Build-A-Bear". And since we were right next door we just had to stop in for a cookie. :)

Luke had so much fun! He loves his Brando. When it was time to take Brandon home he said "Um Angie, I'm still spending the night with you right?" I said "You already did bud. Don't ya wanna go home?" He said "I'll tell you when I wanna go home!" It was funny but it kind of made me feel good because Brandon is a homebody. The kid loves his home. :)

Anyway, it was really fun for them and actually pretty fun for us too.

Here are a few more pics...

The kiddos outside of Stix.

Luke with his tiger (Tiger Tiger), Brandon and his bear (Beary Bear), Presley and her cat (Ms. Kitty) and Bay with her bear (Blue). The names crack me up!

The boys enjoying their yummy cookies!

Moms can brag. Right?

I have to indulge in a bit of shameless bragging. First, we received a letter informing us that Bailey will have her second poem published this year. She entered a poem entitled "My crazy family". (How appropriate.) We are very excited about that and can't wait to receive our copy of the book. Then, Bailey entered a drawing contest that she found in JabberBlabber magazine. It is a kids magazine that you can find in random places around town. Anyway, the theme had something to do with recycling and she drew a park scene with people putting recylce bins to good use. Unfortunately I didn't get to make a copy of it before she sealed the envelope and sent it off. We had completely forgotten about it until she received a package in the mail the other day. Inside was a JabberBlabber t-shirt and a handwritten note informing her that she had won her age group in the drawing contest. They also mentioned the winners in this month's magazine. She was so excited and so were we!! My talented girl. I am so proud of her!! I can't wait to see what the future holds for my beautiful, smart and creative girl!

Here is a pic of her after she received her letter and t-shirt from JabberBlabber!

I don't get it...

For some reason, my kids feel that they have to join me when I go to the restroom. It never fails. I will wait until they are totally involved in something and then sneak off. I'll shut the door and take a seat...and then I hear "Mommy, where are you?" or they will just come bounding through the door unannounced.

Sometimes they come to tattle, sometimes to ask for help with something, but mostly they just come in and stand there. Why don't I lock the door you ask? Well, because they will hit and kick the door until I come out. Or they will take the locked door as an invitation to do something mischievous.

I know I'm not the only Mommy that goes through this. As a matter of fact, I can remember following my own Mom into the bathroom. I just don't remember why. Maybe they like the fact that I am stuck in one spot, or maybe they are afraid I might fall in?? I'm not sure.

Anyway, I took my camera with me the other day so that I could record the memory. I know one day when they are grown I will get used to going to the bathroom by myself again. I wanted a reminder of how different things are now than they will be then. I'm sure I will appreciate my "alone time" when they get older. But I am also sure there will be days when the bathroom feels a little lonely.

This picture is completely unstaged. I was using the bathroom and they all came in to visit. :)

Happy 4th Birthday Luke!

So there I was, nearly 5 years ago, married to my best friend, having a blast being Mommy to my beautiful daughter. We had just returned from an awesome Disney vacation and moved into our new home. I finished training to become a yoga instructor and only needed to take the written exam for certification. Life seemed pretty perfect. Sure, we wanted more kids, but had resigned ourselves to the fact that it wasn't going to happen the "natural" way. We visited with an adoption attorney and had started paperwork. Soon after, I went in for my yearly OB appointment. They asked the usual questions, including when my last cycle began. I started to answer, then looked at the calendar and then back at the nurse- she smiled and said "Maybe we should run a pregnancy test, just in case". She walked in a few minutes later and said "Mrs. Ross, you're pregnant." I said the first thing that came to my mind. "SHUT UP!" She laughed and said "I will not, you are pregnant." After telling her to shut up again, I asked her to take another test.

The other test had the same result and roughly 9 months later my tiny boy with a head full of jet black hair came screaming into my life! I was instantly and completely in love. Luke was such a sweet baby. His smile would make you melt and to this day his pitiful cry is enough to break my heart. It didn't take long for my tiny boy with the jet black hair to turn into a chubby little man with a head full of blond curls. And it took even less time for me to learn that raising him would be a lot different than raising Bailey.
He doesn't like to sleep, for fear of missing something. When he gets mad, he makes sure everyone knows it. And mischief is his middle name. There isn't a child lock he can't pick or an obstacle he can't climb in order to get into the trouble he has planned. His little mind never stops!On the other hand, he is charming, loving and kind hearted. He is fiercely protective of his sisters. He gives the best hugs! And I gotta say, the ladies love Luke. Everywhere we go, young and old, girls are drawn to him and they can't keep their hands out of his curly hair.
He is all boy. He loves rough-housing with his Daddy, playing with cars and his tools. But he also loves to look good. He looks forward to going for haircuts with Bry. After Bryan dresses him for church he will strut up to me, strike a pose and say "Uuuuuh-Huuuuuh!", like he knows he looks hot! :)
My sweet Luke, my first and only son, my precious little man- you've taught me patience, to expect the unexpected, because of you I've learned to not sweat the small stuff. You've kept me on my toes and you've worn me out! You make me smile and you warm my heart!
Happy 4Th Birthday Buddy!! I love you so much!