The Ross Road

The Selfish Mom

2012-01-27T23:47:00.001-05:00

"You can do whatever you want", followed by, "Why are you so upset?" were the last things my husband said to me last night as I walked up the stairs in tears.

Whatever I want.

The truth is, I wanted to sleep. I was ~~tired~~ utterly exhausted and still battling a rough cold. I wanted to get the laundry and dishes done. I wanted to mop the floors. I wanted to get things done so that I could actually rest when I got a spare minute. Ha! Like that will ever happen. I've been wanting to get my hair cut for weeks or a pedicure for months. Maybe I could finish Korban's nursery bedding before she's a toddler. You get my point.

I put Korban down in her crib, only for her to wake up minutes later for a feeding. She must be able to hear my head hit the pillow. I listened to Eden cough like crazy while I nursed Korban and debated whether I should make a 1am Walgreens run for some cough meds or not (do they have that for kids under 2 anyway?).

Once Korban was back down, I walked in the living room to find Brian passed out on the couch with the TV on. He was doing what he wanted... what I wanted.

I decided that prayer might be just as effective as meds and laid awake in bed praying for Eden to feel better, praying for me to feel better so I could be a good mom, and praying that I wouldn't harvest bitterness toward my husband who just wasn't on the same page right now.

I realized the selfish mom is no mom at all. The needs of your family become your own needs. It didn't matter how badly I wanted or even needed some rest, I would lay in bed and listen for coughs and cries. In fact, all I've ever really wanted was wrapped up in those coughs, cries, and up all nights. The need to be a mom.

Tonight, though, some sleep would be nice.

Like Weeds

2012-01-25T15:30:00.000-05:00

...they are growing. I can hardly keep up!

I treasured some sweet baby snuggles tonight with Korban. We're to that stage that I love love love! You know, the one where she starts sleeping through the night but doesn't get into trouble yet? :) Awesomeness.

That sweet baby girl is 2 months old now! She weighed in at 9lbs 3oz and is 21 1/4" in length!

For comparison's sake....

Doesn't she just look so much bigger!? Maybe it's just me...

Eden is growing so much as well. The Dr. asked me how many words she knew and I was like, "Umm, a lot!" I'm not even sure I could count them. It must be upwards of 50 now. At her 15 month check up she weighed in at 22lbs 4oz and is 29 3/4" in length.

Our toddler is becoming mommy's little helper. I can't say that I don't repeat myself 500 times per day but we are taking small steps here, people. (that sentence has a double negative but that's how I would speak it so bear with me) She has started getting stickers for obedience. We are crossing our fingers that sticker incentive will work for years to come (wishful thinking?). I've also learned that her Lucy Lovey can be traded for any item or favor and, yes, I will barter, bribe, and bargain with it. She repeats everything we say now which is quite hysterical and scary all at the same time. What can I say, she keeps us honest! :)

Eden's 1st Birthday Party

2012-01-19T15:28:00.000-05:00

It's about time I did this post. Honestly, I was disappointed with the pictures we took at her party so I kept putting it off. I set our camera to the optimal settings for the lighting, etc. 2 hours before we actually ended up taking any pictures - and I handed the camera to a friend without activating the flash. Sigh. Regardless of how I feel about the pictures, I loved her party. She had a wonderful time and was in awe of all of the "ish", people, and presents!

Eden started the morning off eating breakfast with Grammy

She's a pro!

Then she helped PapPap clean up a bit outside

And praised herself for doing it

Our dining room turned into an aquarium (sorta)

"Ooooooo"

Brynn was Eden's first friend to arrive

About to start the fun!

She went straight for the goldfish on the cake - of course!

After the party was over she played in her pool with her neighbor friend, Annie

And made a mess

She then ended the day by snuggling up with PapPap

Happy birthday, sweet Eden! This year has been the best year of our lives. Praise God for His precious gift to us. We love you and look forward to many birthday celebrations to come!

The Disappearing Act

2012-01-18T22:37:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty good at this disappearing act!

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. Being a mom of two is... out of control. I'm learning :)

I've had tons of help and lots of company. Brian has started teaching again and demands a lot of computer usage because of it.

Things are finally settling down and I will catch you up soon.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T20:11:00.000-05:00

The Family Room: "After"

2011-12-23T08:11:00.008-05:00

A drum roll, please...

This is how the Family Room started out...

... and this is what it looks like now (well, now we have Christmas decorations up)...

Here's what all we did:
-Gutted the room completely
-Jacked up the sloping corner of the room
-Reframed the doors and walkways
-Lowered the ceiling in the "sunroom" to make room for can lights
-Insulated the walls
-Removed the floor radiators and capped off the loop
-Repaired the joint in the floor
-Rewired the room (for grounds) and wired it for some high-tech additions (surround sound, etc.)
-Installed a sub panel in the garage
-Lots and lots of finishing work (drywall, tape, mud, caulk, paint, trim, carpet, etc.)
-Made daily trips to Home Depot and the city dump

Along with this project we also finished the drywall in the kitchen and bathroom - woohoo!!!

If you ever want to tear a room to its guts and rebuild it in less than 2 weeks, just call these people. They work for Coke, Pizza, and time with their grandkids.

One Month Flew By

2011-12-21T23:02:00.001-05:00

I'm in denial... she can't be a month old already!

Korban has outgrown her preemie clothes and is growing so fast. Her sleep pattern is starting to mellow out *we think* :) and she's rolling with the punches each day. Eden loves to rock her in the car seat (yikes!) and "pat" her on the head and belly. Korban doesn't much appreciate all of her sisters expressions of love yet but I'm sure she will in due time. We are so thankful for our littlest blessing and her treasured first month of life. Happy one month, Korban!

The first month adventures of Korban...

Korban's Nursery and The Family Room

2011-12-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

I was absolutely mortified that people were going to see my house in the condition it was in when my water broke. If I hadn't been exhausted already, I would've gladly cleaned the house until my contractions became unbearable. It was that bad. Not to mention, the nursery was completely empty since we were working on the floors. Welcome home, baby girl, it's not like we weren't expecting you for 9 months. Ugh. We procrastinated a little too long on this project. Sorry!

The Grandmas, Brian, and I worked on the nursery as soon as we got home, passing Eden back and forth to be entertained by one of us while the rest built cribs, hung drapes, decorated, etc. By the second day home, it was "done". I put that in quotes because I still haven't finished those few pieces of her nursery bedding/drapery. Just act like you don't see that part in the pictures below.

About the time we got the nursery together my husband and his father started another one. The family room started to look like this...

...and then we did a lot of this....

...and now it kinda looks like this...

...except with new electrical and drywall...

...oh, and they called today to tell us that our carpet is back-ordered. Hooray!

Bringing Home Baby; A Belated Thanksgiving

2011-12-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

We were thankful for a completely healthy, albeit small, baby girl.

We were thankful for Grandmas who flew in immediately to help.

We were thankful for a loving and caring big sister!

We were thankful for Skype that allowed us to introduce Korban to her family in TX!

We were thankful to be home for Thanksgiving with our newest member of The Ross Crew!

Big Sis/ Lil Sis

2011-12-02T09:02:00.001-05:00

My mom flew in and picked Eden up from Friend 3's house around 2:00pm and headed to the hospital for the big meet-up. Thankfully I had put Eden's "Big Sister" shirt out with her snacks and such so that Friend 3 could dress her appropriately.

Mom brought Eden in and she immediately pointed to Korban and said, "Baby!" Once she got to see her sister up close she was a little more skeptical. That could've partially been due to Korban crying. She warmed up and seemed to embrace her immediately though. She began 'pointing' to her eyes, nose, and mouth and 'patting' her. Eden likes to rest her head on her stuffed animals to 'love them' and she did the same with Korban. It's so nice to have a 1 year old that understands and embraces the newest addition to our family.

My Labor Story... Round 2!

2011-12-01T17:05:00.001-05:00

My back has killed me throughout this pregnancy. You can imagine how it felt after scrubbing floors for hours on Sunday night. I crawled in bed and my back popped a few times. I found a decently comfortable position and started drifting to sleep. I was thinking back to the detailed events of my labor and delivery with Eden. I wondered if I would have time to get the epidural, or if I would even need it this time around. I thought back to her being in the "baby tanning bed" for a night and how I just wanted to hold her. I was almost asleep when I felt another "pop". I thought it was my hip popping at first but it sounded like someone had dropped a water balloon on the floor. I wasn't wet so I assumed it must've been my hip. I decided I would get up and go to the bathroom just in case. That's when the water started flowing and at 1:00am we were in desperate need of a plan.

2 weeks early.

I woke Brian up in half-belief of what was happening. He was trying to wrap his head around everything while making phone calls to each of our parents. Again, everyone was in shock. As I finished drying my hair and packing a bag we tried to figure out a plan for Eden. Had this happened after Thanksgiving, we were set. We had a plan. Before Thanksgiving, not so much. We started making frantic phone calls to neighbors and friends....

Friend 1: Out of town
Friend 2: Out of town
Neighbor 1: Not answering the door
Neighbor 2: Not answering the phone
Friend 3: 39 weeks 5 days pregnant... and, yeah, we went there. Friend 3 got the job.

I finally found Neighbor 1's phone number and got in touch with them. The 'plan' turned into neighbor 1 sleeping over until Friend 3 came to grab Eden in the morning. From there, we had no idea what was going to happen but that would hopefully get us through labor and delivery.

About to leave for the hospital. We weren't tired or anything after scrubbing floors until midnight :P

We left the house around 2:30am and I was checked in by 2:47am. They monitored me and baby, hooked up the IV, asked 100 questions 5 times and then admitted me at 3:10am at 2cm.

Filling out paperwork in the waiting room

The long morning begins

As soon as I was back in Birthing Room 6 (deja vu from last October!), they inserted a Foley Bulb to stretch my cervix. They did not do this with Eden and I was NOT a fan of that thing. By 5:15 it had done it's job. I was dilated to 4cm and they started Pitocin. We then waited...and waited...and waited. For four hours I went unchecked. Meanwhile, the anesthesiologist came in to discuss the epidural. I was just recovering from a mild case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease and the Dr. tried to explain how there was a correlation between HFM Disease and Spinal Meningitis. He said he would do more research and get back with me on whether or not he thought it was safe for me to have an epidural. That was the last time we saw him. Finally, at 9:15 they came in and checked me. I was 4-5cm. That was pretty disheartening. My labor was so short and quick with Eden. I was not looking forward to a much longer one this time around and the thought of doing it without the epidural. No progression in four hours...it was bound to be a long night.

Shortly after the 9:15 check a different anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself. He asked how I was feeling and said to be sure and tell him if I changed my mind about getting the epidural. Brian and I gave him a pretty confused look. Apparently the night-shift anesthesiologist just told him I wasn't interested in getting one. Haha - that's funny or NOT. By 9:45 this Dr. had done his research and given me the epidural. Praise the Lord that he decided to come in and introduce himself or I would've laid there in pain for who knows how long! I handled the contractions well but knew the epidural would help my body relax. It did. Less than 2 hours later our newest little girl would be here!

Ready to meet my little girl. I made my hospital gown which all of the nurses thought was so cool.

By 11:15 I was 9cm but Korban had not progressed past a 0 station. Her heart rate started to drop with each contraction so they were monitoring both of us closely. The Dr. decided to have me do a "practice push" to see if I could get Korban to drop further. That practice push turned into a real one. They rapidly broke the bed down and got everything ready for her delivery. Two pushes later, she was here! At 11:40am God gave us Korban Ruth Ross and we fell completely in love... again. :) I was so blessed to have another "easy" labor and delivery and I'm smitten with my new little angel.

Daddy cutting the cord (again)

I don't have near as many pictures this time since none of our family made it into town before I delivered but Brian and I tried our best to pass the camera back and forth as Korban made her debut. It was nice having time with just the three of us once she arrived. We had time to get to know her and love on her first; what an incredible blessing and bond.

Stay tuned for Big Sis/Lil Sis meeting for the first time

Eden's Belly Pics

2011-11-30T20:50:00.000-05:00

My little ham decided that my hooter hider made a wonderful cape and her stuffed baseball made a perfect pregnant belly. She has also learned to grunt as she pics things up off of the floor. Oh dear, what have I done!? :)

Twas the Night Before...

2011-11-28T08:56:00.000-05:00

(Be sure and check out my last post to meet our newest little addition!)

Last Sunday night Brian and I decided to work diligently in the nursery. Our hope was to have it complete by Tuesday evening so we would be ready for his parents to get here and then welcome our new little one shortly thereafter.

After the Cowboy game, I headed up to paint the bookshelves. We then took my 38 week belly pics and Brian started cleaning up the room and scrubbing the floors. I joined him. on my hands and knees. for hours. We were both exhausted so at midnight we called it a night and headed for bed. Well, Brian headed for bed and I headed for the shower! Once I got all cleaned up, I hopped in bed and started drifting to sleep, reminiscing of our hospital stay with Eden and wondering how the next one would be. Little did I know that within the hour I would start My Labor Story... Round 2! :)

38 weeks

Korban is Here!

2011-11-27T11:06:00.001-05:00

WOW!

There is so much to catch you up on...

including the promised birthday pics from E's big day. I'm going to write/schedule posts throughout the week again and hopefully all will be caught up on by the time Korban's EDD (Dec 4) rolls around... seeing as how she is already here!!!

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of The Ross Crew...

Korban Ruth Ross joined us at 11:40am on 11-21-11 weighing 5 lbs. 9oz. and was 19.5" long. She is healthy but very tiny. Although we are not first time parents, we feel as if we have started from square one because of her size. She has little bird legs and every time I change one of her (preemie) diapers, I think I'm going to break her!

She is a PERFECT gift from God and we are so blessed to have her as part of our family. We are in love... again! :)

More pictures and details coming soon!

The Not-so Nursery

2011-11-16T11:00:00.001-05:00

I will be 38 weeks along this coming weekend. That's a little hard to fathom but also very exciting as my body is refusing to cooperate most days and I'm utterly exhausted. Brian has been super dad/husband recently and I know it's hard for him to understand this stage since I'm always so active. Thankfully, he takes care of me and Eden with no complaints and we manage to get some work done little by little.

That being said, I thought I'd update you on the nursery progress...

Yep, that's it. Supposedly a baby will live in there soon. It's painted. The drywall in the closet is done. Now we have to populate it with furniture and accessories. Shouldn't be too much trouble, right? :)

We've been focusing more on the attic room recently. We had to get that in order so that I could set up my sewing station and get to work on all of the bedding and drapery! Most of it is complete. All of the important pieces are done. Now I just have the extra sheet, the crib pad, the quilt and one more panel to finish. Here's a sneak peek at my nursery inspiration picture, along with some other fun things I've incorporated. I can't wait to see it all put together!

Eden's 1 Year Photo Shoot

2011-11-05T23:19:00.000-04:00

Eden had such a ball when we took her 1 year photos! She hammed it up big time and our photographer captured her personality perfectly. I can't believe our little girl is 13 months now; momma is so proud. Enjoy the photos!

Thank you, Tina Dean, for the wonderful experience; we can't wait to use you again!

Happy Halloween, 2011!

2011-10-31T21:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for my costume Greatma and Greatpa!

I made my costume based on this one I found on Pinterest

35 weeks

Daddy let Eden try her first piece of candy tonight - a Kit Kat :)

Picture Journaling

2011-10-28T13:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was hard for a number of reasons...

Today has been hard for another set...

Brian recently started taking notes in church and from his daily devotionals by doodling and drawing to help him capture and remember what he learned and studied. I'm not an artist like he is but today felt like a good day to give it a try. I made a journal yesterday with some wonderful girls at church so this was the "breaking in". I've also decided to just pick a blank page to fill each day, rather than go in chronological order. I think it will prevent me from being so hard on myself if I miss days, or even months, of devotions.

Here is what I came up with.

It's simple, but captures my heart and prayer for the today, along with God's blessed response.

Try it and let me know what you come up with as well! :)

Homemade Baby Wipes

2011-10-25T17:18:00.002-04:00

I'm excited to announce that there are about to be some BIG changes to this blog! I won't give anymore away than that but keep your eyes peeled because it's going to be awesome!

One of the things I hope to add are some tutorials. Brian and I are big DIYers and we hear people say too often, "I just can't do that" when things are really not as difficult as they look. Well, at least they are worth trying.

So, I decided to do my first tutorial today. Since Brian is at work, I did an easy mommy tutorial for homemade baby wipes. This has saved me quite a bit of cash over the last year so maybe it will help someone else out too!

Here's what you need:

Baby Oil

Baby Bath Wash

Paper Towels (I highly recommend Bounty Select-A-Size! Free of prints)

Electric Knife

Large Plastic Container with Lid

Using the electric knife, cut the paper towel roll in half as shown below and remove the cardboard centers. I have found that getting your fingers around the cardboard as deep as you can, "pinching" the roll and then folding it in half works best to remove the center.

Don't forget to recycle the cardboard centers! Make binoculars for your child or donate them to your church Preschool or Children's department!

You should then have 2 rolls available. I always cut several while I've got the supplies out to build up a stock.

In a bowl or cup, mix:

1+1/3 Cup of water

2 Tbsp Baby Oil

1 Tbsp Baby Bath Wash

Place one of your halved rolls in your plastic container and pour mixture into container.

Place the lid on top of the container and allow some time for the roll to absorb the mixture. Pull wipes from the center when ready to use!

I store the extra rolls and supplies in a bin so that everything is ready to go when I need it. It's also handy to have another plastic container so that you can make more before your other is completely empty.

Putting together a bin or basket of these supplies has been of the most well-received baby shower gifts I have ever given. Even if mom doesn't decide to make her own wipes, she can still use the supplies for other things. You can't go wrong with this one! Enjoy!

**Katy asked some great questions down in the comment section of the blog so I thought I would address them here so everyone can benefit from the Q&A**

Is it really cost effective?
Most of you know that I am married to a numbers guru so that's not the first time this question had popped up. I ran the numbers using Target's published on-line pricing although I never pay this much for either paper towels or wipes! My last transaction for each of the items below was $13.49 for the Bounty Paper Towels and $2.99 for the 217 pack Huggies Wipes (after sale and/or coupons). I am also assuming a 1:1 ratio for Huggies wipes : half-sheet paper towel 'wipe'. I certainly feel like they are just as effective.

According to Target's pricing:

12 Pack Bounty Select-A-Size Paper Towels = $18.99

112 sheets/roll = 224 'wipes'/roll = 2,688 'wipes'/pack

2,688 'wipes/$18.99 = .007 cents/'wipes'

504 Pack Huggies Natural Wipes = $12.49

504 wipes/$12.49 = .025 cents/wipe

Comparison:

In this scenario, the homemade wipes are 3.57 times cheaper than the normal Huggies wipes. Let's say that I use 10 wipes/day or 300 wipes/month. At the above pricing, I would save $64.80 over the course of a year. I did not include the cost of the Baby Oil, Baby Bath Wash, or the container. I got so much of the first 2 supplies at baby showers that these have been free to use. The container I use was a recycled Clorox wipe dispenser.

Why do I chose the homemade wipes?

I chose the homemade wipes because I use the supplies for other purposes as well. Obviously, I use the Baby Bath Wash for every bath Eden takes. I also use the paper towels in the kitchen and Brian uses them in the garage because of their excellent absorbency. I feel like we use these items anyway so it's a great way to stretch them. Plus, like I stated above, aside from purchasing paper towels, everything else has been free up until this point.

How do they travel?

Not very well unless you tear off individual sheets to fold up in a small dispenser. I purchase store-brand or brand wipes with coupons to keep the diaper bag stocked. I'm always too busy throwing things in the diaper bag and running out the door for this to be worth my time.

Something "Lives" in our Wall

2011-10-22T05:23:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago we had a birthday party at the house. It was kinda a big deal. I started planning it months ago. I made the invitations, all the decorations and treats, and invested quite a bit of time and money (don't tell Brian) into the entire ordeal. The former Event Planner in me was revived and living full-force.

That's when the unexpected happened.

I used to deal with this type of thing all of the time. Nothing ever goes completely as planned. There is always a hiccup, a mistake, or an issue. Some vendors don't get along. Some people don't show. Sometimes your floor plan has to be tweaked because of a leak the venue is experiencing. You get the picture. I learned to roll with things while staying collected and cool.

This "unexpected" was not cool.

Just days before the party of the century, or maybe just the year, was to take place in our home, an odor became present. This odor brought me back to the first time we visited this house in October of 2008. Perhaps it was an anniversary present to remind us of how far this house has come in 3 years.

It was the smell of a dead animal.

The dead animal was somewhere in our wall or ceiling in a high traffic area of the living room. I was ~~calm, cool, and collected~~ freaking out! I kept asking Brian to get up in the area above the boiler room and go down in the crawl space to look for the animal. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly in an easily accessible place now that we had central A/C. It happened to be next to a hub for our duct work.

Brian started talking about pulling down the wall and/or ceiling and my blood pressure rose. It's enough that we have oodles of bare drywall, holes in the wall, and random other eyesores but did he seriously just propose that we take down the wall and ceiling days before the big event!?! Yes, he did, because parties just aren't his thing and the challenge of finding the dead animal was bringing out all illogical manliness he had.

We came to the conclusion that we should pull down a very small portion of the wall that could easily be replaced with a piece of drywall and "clean the area", stuff it with insulation sprayed with Lysol disinfectant, and caulk around the drywall to seal off any remaining smell. Although no animal was found when we did this, the smell was gone and we could all breathe again.

The party went off with no foul smell and I was one happy camper! However, the following morning it was back! And not just barely back! Really back.

Brian started doing some internet research about dead animals in walls and everything said, "Just let it die", proposing the smell would go away within weeks to a year. I'm sorry, but that's just too wide of a window. A year? Right. That would not work at all. Suffice it to say, I was ready to hop on the tear down the wall and/or ceiling bandwagon.

Several nights later, we heard some scurrying in our wall - the same wall where the dead thing was. I jokingly told Brian that maybe something came to haul off the dead body. Funny enough, I think that was the truth. We haven't smelled the dead animal since.

Now the problem is that scurrying sound has become more frequent. It's what prompted me to write this at 5:00am when I couldn't sleep. Something is now living in our wall.

I'm just glad it's not dead.

Our Pumpkin has Grown

2011-10-20T17:14:00.000-04:00

Eden's 1 year pics turned out GREAT! I can't wait to get the CD and share them with you all! I'm also in the process of sorting through the hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of pictures from her birthday week. She is one special little girl and we are so thankful she is ours to spoil! :)

In the meantime... this just makes my heart happy...

October 2010

October 2011

Playing Dress-Up

2011-09-22T12:32:00.000-04:00

Surprise! I'm back before October :) I just couldn't wait to post these pics of our little monster!

I LOVED playing dress-up as a kid. It was my favorite game to play and between Catherine Cannon and I, we had quite the dress-up collection. I would love to be able to pull an old picture of us all dressed up but those would all be on the hard drive of death (grumble, grumble). Eden has recently expressed an interest in Brian's and my clothing. She can say, "shoes" and frequently pulls my flip-flops off only to put them right back on. Other times she will just carry someones shoes around the house. I purchased a feather boa to use for her upcoming 1 year pics and she is in love with it. She will walk around the house for up to an hour wearing it or dragging it behind her. Today she wanted her sunglasses on as well! What a little diva! :) Having girls is so much more fun than I ever imagined! (and this is where I would insert the picture of my brother decked out in my ballet costume) I guess if we have a son he will be doomed from the start, haha!

Daddy's version of dress-up, "The Karate Kid"

So proud to have found daddy's shirt!

Apparently, this is SO funny!

Modeling on the runway

My gorgeous girl

Darn the paparazzi!

Yo yo! Wassup!?

It's tough to be this beautiful!

The Adventures of Eden: Part 4

2011-09-21T15:00:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe that we will be celebrating Eden's first birthday in less than a month! Time really does fly! She is a little Miss Prissy Pants now who has mastered the word, "No!" I mean, she has mastered saying it, not respecting it when we say it. I will admit she is definitely learning but still testing us daily. She has also started using her sign language over this past month. She will sign "more", "yay" (clapping), and "amen" (all the same sign at this point). Also, "drink", "hi/bye", "eat", and "all done" (essentially the same sign as well with very slight variations). Her favorite food is goldfish. That kid would live on goldfish if we would let her. She figured out the snack trap this week and carried it around over her entire hand as if it were a prosthetic piece. We started calling her "Captain Snack Trap", similar to Captain Hook. She also started WALKING on August 7 (10 months!)!!! It's as if she watched the other kids in the nursery and decided she wanted to keep up with them. She has a million bumps and bruises from face-planting into various things around the house but she just keeps going! We were very impressed with her progress at 10 months! I've looked at her so many times over the last few weeks thinking, 'She's not a baby anymore' and it's just killing me. If we weren't already pregnant I think now is when I would have the itch, haha! :)

Here are the latest pics of our little ham... (*warning* lots of pictures to follow)


I love to watch daddy work outside

And take trips with him to Home Depot


Sometimes you just need to stop everything and take a nap


I'm finally big enough to hang out with the big girls

Grandma & Grandpa came to visit during the last week of June. Grandma read lots of books with me.

Grandpa helped daddy finish the attic room

And played lots of fun games with me

I love my Grandma & Grandpa!

I rode on a boat over 4th of July at Nana & Pops Lakehouse

Nine Months, Dude!

Anna & Lucy came to visit and we all got matching dresses

Mommy tried to get some cute pictures

But we didn't really cooperate

I helped daddy unpack from his week in Pensacola

And got to see his new office

I love to dance and sing with my teapot!

Nana came to see me too!

Some people say we all look alike

I ate a cookie on the walk home from the petting zoo - can you tell?

Great Grandpa helped me take some of my first steps

I'm officially a toddler!

Sometimes I feel like I'm on display

Captain Snack Trap!

ok, mom, these pig tails aren't really flattering!

But you tried it again anyway

I LOVE the CFA cow!

I'm WILD about you!

Too bad we only caught 2 little fishies

Do you think they'll let me ride on the front like this?

Bubbles are so fun!

Mommy's belly is BIG at 25 weeks

She keeps saying something about being tired all of the time at 28 weeks (hello, 3rd Tri!)

I couldn't leave out #2! She and her sister are wearing me out these days but I'm so thankful to be in my 3rd Trimester. We have quite a 'To Do' list on our hands before she makes her appearance but I'm sure we'll get to it :P I have to remind myself that we were wiring Eden's nursery when I was 36 weeks with her. Korban's room is already rewired so it's just the painting and fun stuff we have to do. The attic is also nearing completion. Once we get the carpet in I will post the "Before" & After pics... unfortunately the "Before" pictures are really "In Progress" since we lost the hard drive :( That's ok though, I think you will still get the idea of how bad it was. Well, nap time is over so I'm back on the clock. Until next ~~week~~ month (let's be realistic!)...

Hurricane Irene

2011-09-20T15:00:00.004-04:00

We survived! Thank you for all of the phone calls, texts, and e-mails. We are truly blessed to have such loving and caring friends and family.

We were headed up to Annapolis, MD, for the weekend anyway for Jimmy Kepper's wedding but decided we should probably bring the dog along once they started evacuating portions of our neighborhood. Since we made it through the Nor'eastern back in November of 2009 without any flooding or damage (only loss of power for 3 days) we were pretty confident the house would still be here when we got back from MD.

We were actually surprised to find all of this when we returned...

The damage was still minimal and we were in a brown-out for only 2 days. We really can't complain. We're not even sad about the tree falling - our backyard looks so much bigger now! :) Brian had to sacrifice a day of hard labor to get it chopped up and out front but it was worth it. I'm trying to decide what bush to plant in the vacant hole.

Eden had fun with the lantern and flashlights when we didn't have power

She even helped daddy clean up the big mess

Gender Reveal #2

2011-09-19T15:00:00.001-04:00

If you recall, back in May of last year we had a Gender Reveal Party the day we found out Eden was a girl. Since we were going to be in TX for our gender ultrasound, we thought it would be fitting to do another Gender Reveal Party - this time with our family! We planned a bunch of games and even a name scramble. Each guest got a "Hello, my name is:" name tag with a letter on it. Ultimately, the letters spelled Korban's full name and the scripture where it's found in the Bible. My brother and Father-in-love were the first to figure out the name. Here are some of the pictures from our fun night in honor of our newest little girl...

Diaper Duty Challenge

Tony is a baby food eating champ!

Entertainment for everyone

bottoms up!

It's harder than it looks

With their dressed 'babies'

Grandma, don't talk with your mouth full!

Marshmallow #27?

Grandma and Grandpa did very well

Jason ultimately won - and his cheeks were bleeding

When will the water break?

Not soon enough!

Aaaaand I just realized that none of these include Brian or me. OR Eden. Nice. We were there, I promise.

Korban: A Sneak Peek!

2011-09-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

My cousin, Jill Davis, is an Ultrasound Tech and offered to do our gender ultrasound on July 5. We jumped at the opportunity! She took so much time and gave us a CD full of pictures - what a blessing! It's amazing to see that little heart pumping and to watch Korban wiggle around. We are in love again! :)

Heart rate: 134 BPM

It's a GIRL!

Hi Mom and Dad!

Hands Together

Shying away from the 'camera'

This takes some skill! Her legs were sticking out straight but she had the bottom of her feet pressed together - wow!

Korban's Profile

4th of July in TX

2011-09-17T15:00:00.003-04:00

We made a short trip to Texas for Fourth of July weekend and spent some great time with our family out at the lakehouse, The Ross house, and the Ranger game. Everyone got to try the new "thing" - wake surfing! Well, except Eden, she just watched in awe!

A Future Etsy Store

2011-09-16T16:00:00.002-04:00

Brian keeps pushing me to start an Etsy store. I would love to BUT (there is always a BUT)...

1) I am about to have baby #2 - right around the holidays - I'm sure I won't be busy or anything.
2) The attic room still lacks carpet - my workspace for sewing and crafting must be temporary until that space is finished or else I will get lots of 'help' from little hands.
3) I don't know the appropriate worth of my time in order to charge people properly.
4) I lack the proper equipment - I'm still waiting for a magically affordable and wonderful monogramming/sewing machine to pop up on Craigslist - my machine just doesn't cut it for these things.

At least I have a name picked out :) Mommy Sew Cute. Like it? I've already registered it on Etsy... just in case.

In addition to making some Nursing Covers, I've made some burp cloths and onesies. Here's a look at some of my stuff...

Matching reversible nursing cover and basic burp cloth $32

Horizontal name burp cloth $8

Basic initial burp cloth $6.50

Horizontal name burp cloth $8

Butterfly burp cloth $7

Vertical name burp cloth $8

Big initial burp cloth $6.50

Butterfly burp cloth $7

When finished, this onesie will have a vertical name next to it $12

Big initial burp cloth $6.50

Vertical name burp cloth $8

I post this so that YOU (my small group of friends and family that follow this blog) can request things if you want them. I have a lot of fun with these but I'm just not ready to go into mass production mode. Just shoot me an e-mail if you want something :)

The Wiffleball Tournament

2011-09-15T18:16:00.004-04:00

When we moved into this neighborhood we were the youngest homeowners by a long shot. Young and stupid? Maybe. We had a vision for this old house and our neighbors would appreciate all of our hard work as it would up their property value. We thought. I distinctly remember the day our new next door neighbors moved in. They drove a BMW. They were young - early 30s. They had 2 beautiful little girls and she was glowingly pregnant.

We were outside in the truck. No, literally, Brian was IN the truck, under the hood, covered in grease, and calling out, "OK!" to me every 5 seconds to start 'er up. I had no makeup on, my hair was thrown back, and I was dressed in my work clothes. Every few seconds I would turn the key and the truck would choke, 'K-rear, K-rear, K-rear', over and over again. The smell of exhaust was overwhelming.

Welcome to the neighborhood. We are the Beverly Hillbillies.

Did I mention that half of the garage was laid out on the front lawn too? Maybe they noticed the TX plates and it answered any questions they had off of the bat.

I was always worried about what the other neighbors thought of us... I mean, we live in one of those neighborhoods where work is hired out and DIY projects are more like spray painting an old patio set. We frequent the city dump. It's a Sunday afternoon tradition. Two Valentine's Days ago we went twice to dump loads. Romantic. The first question we get when talking to our neighbors is, "What are you guys working on now?!" The work is never-ending for DIYers.

I have to admit, I think my neighbors are stellar people. My next door neighbors on the other side have survived an IA deployment of their own, have a son in the service, and did SO MUCH for me while Brian was deployed. Eddie wouldn't let me mow my own yard or take out my own trash. They were God-sends. Others brought gifts when Eden was born and just go ga-ga over her when we meet outside. Some are a little more of DIYers than we originally thought and express their impressions with some of the work we've done to our house. Oh, and those young next door neighbors - they are REAL people and embrace the bond we have over trying to live in these older-than-dirt-drafty-rat-ridden houses. They weren't 'invited' to the Wiffleball Tournament this year either.

Back when we moved in, the neighbors slowly introduced themselves and told what a great street we were living on. They talked about all of the fun things they got together to do throughout the year, one of those being the annual Wiffleball Tournament. It sounded right up our alley. The street gets blocked off, they have team shirts made, they set up tents and BBQ on the front lawns. Sounded like home.

Fast-forward to September of last year. I'm not-so-glowingly pregnant and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby girl. There is commotion down the street and neighbors are coming out of the woodwork, dressed alike and toting coolers and chairs. The Wiffleball Tournament. One problem, we didn't get the memo. Not only that but neighbors are walking by greeting us but keeping mum about the Tourney. Seriously, two different neighbors that we knew well neglected to say, "Hey, are you guys headed down to the Tourney?" Hmmm. I was kinda offended. Maybe our invite got lost???

That brings us to August 6th of this year. It's our anniversary! What a happy day! We dropped Grandpa off at the airport, made a run to Home Depot, and came home to find the same commotion down the street as we saw in September of last year. What a not-so-happy day. Somehow our invitation got lost again and some of the same neighbors passed without mentioning anything again. I was highly offended. I opened the blinds and watched as my young next door neighbor headed down toward the party. I'm guessing she was then 'invited' to the party and was nice enough to extend the invitation to us as well. Being as it was our anniversary, we had to respectfully decline. But not until Brian and I discussed the predicament. After my ranting and raving and presuming and irrationalitying... Brian responded, "I just wish you didn't care what other people thought."

Cue the tears.

I was now sobbing, not because we weren't invited but because I was absolutely disgusted with myself. I definitely cared too much.

I care too much when I drive to the neighbors' house the night before trash day to take the perfectly good shutters they've tossed but would never do it in broad daylight. I care too much that I would never invite a neighbor into our house that has bare drywall or unsightly construction 'progress' in every single room. And I definitely cared too much that I was invited to a silly Wiffleball Tournament.

How sad. How terribly prideful and vain. We are making this house a home and we should be proud of the blood, sweat, and tears we've poured into it. I should be proud of my talented and hard-working, albeit greasy and rednecky, husband and all that he can do to save us $thousands$. I should be proud of the fact that we are the youngest in this neighborhood and we are helping to revive it. Ugh! What is my problem?!

I decided to grow up and get over it.

Then yesterday we got an invitation to our "Annual Block Party" and I'm signed up to bring dessert.

I also invited all of the neighbors to Eden's birthday party.

Here's to new beginnings in old places. And Wiffleball Tournaments.

You Won't Believe It

2011-09-15T18:14:00.000-04:00

I'm going to do a post every single day this week. No, seriously, I am! They are already written and scheduled to post over the next week. I worked hard to get you caught up through the summer so please read them, haha! It's good to be back in the blogosphere :)

Look How Far We've Come

2011-08-06T08:40:00.002-04:00

6 years ago this morning I was eating pancakes in my parents' kitchen and getting my hair done for a big day... today I popped some biscuits in the oven before I fed a baby and threw my hair back in a ponytail without brushing it.

6 years ago today I spent the day being pampered and waited on...today I will spend the day playing chauffeur, cleaning, doing laundry, and fixing meals for my little family.

6 years ago today I listened to our talented musician friends sing....today I will sing and listen to Old McDonald Had a Farm and the Teapot song for hours on end, praising the dancing and clapping of a precious 10 month old.

6 years ago today I waited anxiously to see my groom at the front of the church....today I wait anxiously for that same man to walk through the front door every afternoon.

6 years ago today we had a steak dinner at a nice restaurant dressed in our best... tonight we will go to a family restaurant and try to keep Cheerios off of the floor.

6 years ago we had all the time in the world....today we tag team with Eden and projects around the house and hope to squeeze in some time after she goes to bed.

6 years ago today we celebrated a wedding....today we celebrate our MARRIAGE and how the Lord has refined us and brought us closer since that day.

6 years ago today I thought I could never love him more than I did at the moment....today I know my love for him increases with every passing day.

Brian Ross, I'm so thankful you chose me 6 years ago and you choose to love me today. I love you too!

*idea stolen from Erin

Korban Ruth

2011-08-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

No, it's not a name you hear everyday... I'm sure we are in for a lifetime of misspellings and mispronunciations; however, it is her name and this is why...

Korban comes from the Greek word korbanas which means, "A consecrated offering to God". Back in the day, folks would set aside gifts or offerings and declare them "Corban" (the English translation) which meant they could not be used for anything of personal or communal purpose; only for God's purpose. These could be monetary gifts, given to the church, or other resources.

The word "Corban" is only mentioned once in the Bible in Mark 7:11 when the Pharisees are being scolded for abusing the practice to avoid caring for their families. They would declare resources as Corban instead of using them to provide for their aging parents. Although the passage cites the term in a negative light, the practice of Corban is a highly positive act that was common in that day, much like tithing is to today's Church.

It is our prayer that this child will use her gifts and talents for the Lord's purpose, unselfishly. It is also a reminder to us that she is only on loan to us and we were given the awesome privilege to call her our daughter. Ultimately, she belongs to God and He has entrusted her to us.

Ruth means friend/companion and compassionate. Korban will share a name with two of her great-grandmothers, Ruth Alice Baker Morgan (my mom's mom) and Donnie Ruth Johnson Ross (Brian's dad's mom). Both are amazing matriarchs and Godly women who personified/personify the meaning of their name.

Since she will be so close in age to her sister, we hope she will be a great compassionate companion for her as they grow up. :)

We can't wait to meet our sweet Korban Ruth in December! Here's the latest pics of my growing belly at 20 weeks.

A Hard (Drive) Loss and It's A ____!!!

2011-07-26T22:48:00.000-04:00

I will start with the bad news first...

We lost our hard drive on the dinosaur. It's now extinct along with 6 years worth of precious pictures, financial documents, Masters coursework, resumes, and everything else Brian and I have ever electronically documented in our (month short of) 6 years of marriage. We have mourned. I am so incredibly thankful for this blog and it's partnership with Google. Praise God that every picture ever posted on this blog was saved through my Google account. Now if I had only been better about updating and posting pictures... motivation, perhaps? Also, I stored all of Eden's pictures on my Google account so we really are blessed that I was prompted to do those things months ago. Again, I'm so thankful that I started posting before and after pictures of the house on Tuesdays. It looks like the only room we are missing before pictures of upstairs bathroom (and that was a HUGE transformation). There is a lot to be thankful for despite the loss. We learned our lesson about backups though. Exploring the option of Carbonite vs. a simple external hard drive backup. Give me your two cents if you use one of these methods. If not, figure out something to backup your files on before you lose everything like we did...

The good news :)

It's A GIRL!!!

Eden is going to have a little sister! Oh, can you imagine all of the fun matching outfits and "Teas for Two" in my future!?! I'm so excited! I have to admit that I was in complete shock that it was a girl because I was 100% convinced I was carrying a boy! Hopefully we can get the other computer up and running again soon so that I can post our little black and white glimpses of our tiniest princess. We've also picked a name... but I'll keep you waiting for another post with that tidbit :)

The Laundry Room

2011-06-25T10:33:00.000-04:00

Second post for today! Playing cath up! Check out the Family Room reno. too!

Aside from the kitchen, this was our most drastic project! The boiler room was absolutely disgusting when we moved in. Picture a garage, a swamp, and an Gotham City all mixed together and that's pretty close to what that room reminded me of.

I had a hard time getting a vision for this room. Brian and his dad had to be the dreamers on this one. They did a great job! I am so thankful that I don't have to do laundry in the garage anymore!!!

Before

After

Before

After

This would sit smack-dab in the middle of our new laundry room if we hadn't removed it. Notice the window placement to familiarize yourself with the 'after' photo below

My favorite things:

-Doing laundry in the house!

-Panda's "stuff" having a home!

-Extra storage space!

What I'd like to see:

-A deck to walk out on from the back door. There are some very steep steps there right now.

Our plans:

-To build a deck

-To paint the step

The quirks:

- We didn't plan properly for the dryer vent hose so it doesn't back up as far as we initially thought it would. Let's just say that the washer and dryer are in quite snugly.

The Family Room

2011-06-25T10:23:00.000-04:00

I haven't done a house update in a few weeks because, well, we've been working on it! :) And we've have company for the last 3 Tuesdays - which has been a blast! (And then Blogger was having issues...)

I guess we can complete the downstairs tour with the Family Room and Laundry Room, which I will post separately for ease.

Before

After

The Family Room is a large, open, well-lit room that was an add-on sometime in the 60s. It has paneling and an area that was once a sunroom which pours light into the space.

Before

After

A view I unfortunately did not get a 'before' pic of

My favorite things:

-The natural light and the thermal curtains (it was a vertical blind overload when we moved in!)

-The size of the room

What I'd like to see:

-New carpet! we've done so many projects around this room that the cheap carpet could not keep up with the traffic!

-I really want to rearrange the furniture in this room. Once we redo the carpet, I will!

Our plans:

-To tear down the paneling and drywall the room, insulating the exterior walls as we do.

-To replace the carpet

-to *possibly* replace the doors windows in the 'sun' area for better insulation

The quirks:

- Someone did a terrible job integrating the sunroom into the Family Room and there is a large 'hump' on the floor. We are hoping to fix it when we pull the carpet up.

- There was an A/C unit in the wall (which is totally code-friendly - or not). Now it's a hole covered with a trash bag until we can tear the paneling out!

The Adventures of Eden: Part 3

2011-06-08T14:26:00.000-04:00

This little girl has changed SO MUCH in the past 4 weeks! I say, "little girl" because Little Miss Independent no longer acts like a baby to me. Part of me honestly thinks we could start potty training before her first birthday. She picks up on things so quickly! Here are some quick updates on Eden's growth over the past few months.
At her 6 month check-up she weighed in at 15.4 lbs and was 26.5" long (wow!). She is slightly underweight but nothing that her doctor is worried about.

She is eating solids and loves everything she can get in her mouth. Seriously. The kid eats lemons and pickles like they are candy. We are having to watch her closely though because she still has no teeth and shoves up to 5 Cheerios in her mouth at a time! We've had multiple choking scares because of this and the 'one-at-a-time' concept is quite difficult for her to grasp at this point.

Right after she hit the 7 month mark, she mastered the 'scooch' or 'army crawl' and is fascinated with the new world that opened up around her! Within 2 weeks of learning to scoot she figured out how to climb the step from the family room to the living room or kitchen (ahh!). There is no stopping her now! Two days ago she pulled up onto her feet (!!!). This all happened SO FAST. I thought this would span a period of a few months, not a few weeks!!!

Well, without further adeu, here are some pics of our pretty lady.

Wild Child!

This vanity is the perfect size for a fort!

Panda: "Are you going to let her take that?"

Panda: "Seriously?!"

Panda: "Thanks, I'll take that back now."

Memorial Day Weekend in the Pool

"This is so fun!"

Jon and Brittany came to visit

Olivia to Eden: "What do you think of the ocean!?"

Strikin' a pose

The bathing beauty

Fun in the sun

As to not neglect baby #2 - 12 weeks (4 weeks from the first pic. My due date was changed to December 4)

14 weeks

New York, New York!

2011-06-08T14:09:00.000-04:00

Let me start by saying that we.are.exhausted. New York cannot be done in a week with a small child, at least if you're staying on Staten Island and plan to see everything in Manhattan.

We decided to take this trip about 2 days before we left. This was after we realized that we could not take an AMC (military) flight overseas because our daughter didn't have a passport :( I was crushed. Brian was awesome and picked up my spirits by suggesting various other getaways and I honed in on NYC!

By some miracle, the Navy Lodge had availability and we were set to go!

Brian had a HUGE agenda planned... I mean, there would be no stone untouched if we had been able to do everything. However, my pregnant body and Eden didn't quite cooperate all of the time so we did most of the planned stuff with an occasional, "Forget it!" :)

Sung Harbor on Staten Island

E thought the penguins were so interesting!

Eden ate her breakfast on the Ferry each morning

All of the animals were out to see - what a fun day at the Central Park Zoo!

A Red Panda!

The Polar Bears were even out and about!

The Seals were our favorite!

Eden loved napping on daddy's chest as we toured Central Park

The Chrysler Building

Grand Central Terminal

The classic tourist shot :)

What a mess!

Fun with daddy - it's so nice to have him shore-bound!

Watching the Mets!

Times Square

Ground Zero - we were very disappointed that everything was under construction and we were not able to see a memorial of any kind.

Look closely in the fish tank. Akward!

E sporting her NY gear for her 7 month pics when we returned home

PS: This was the absolute hardest post I have ever done because our computer is SOOO SLOOOW! If anyone would like to send me a new one with Photoshop on it, that would make my year. Seriously. If I don't throw this one out the window before then.

The Downstairs Bathroom

2011-05-26T16:06:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that I'm currently doing laundry where our downstairs bathroom once sat and showering where we used to walk out the back door. We basically added a bathroom to this house. You could hardly call the old one a bathroom. You could use the potty and wash your hands at the same time, somewhat like an airplane lavatory.

Before - The old bathroom

Before - The new location

During - The new location

After

Because of the location of the old bathroom, we knew it had to move. I wasn't a fan of walking through the kitchen and butler pantry to get to the potty. Plus, it was a half bath and we were in need of a second bathtub/shower since the upstairs bathtub was leaking.

My father-in-law was again 'hired' as our framer and general 'get it done' guy. He even spent his 50th birthday here with us to ensure I would have a usable bathroom here before Brian left on deployment.

Our hard working boys :)

My favorite things:

-The ledge in the shower. It's so convenient to have a space for my soap and shampoo bottles! We saw this in a magazine and I never want to build another shower without one!

-The towel holder (courtesy of my Aunt Laura). It was white and I sprayed it gold, then black, and wiped it strategically to give it the oil rubbed bronze look.

What I'd like to see:

-Something to pretty up the "hole" behind the shower wet wall.

Our plans:

-To finish mudding the ceiling now that the roof leak is fixed.

-To repaint

The quirks:

- The area behind the shower wet wall (covered with the shower curtain in the pic) ended up being 3.5" smaller than expected because we had to build a false wall on the other side because of some complications; therefore, what we were going to use for shelving is now too small and we are stuck with an odd "hole".

- The vanity mirror is not balanced correctly so it constantly tilts too far down. It's almost impossible to put makeup on in that bathroom because the way the mirror tilts blocks the vanity lighting - grrrr

NBA Playoffs vs My Blog

2011-05-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

I have a blog written about the downstairs bathroom. I spent the day doing other things besides hanging out on the computer. I now realize that was a mistake. You know that dinosaur that houses all of our photos?? Yeah, the monitor is also the TV and the TV is occupied. Therefore, no blog update today. Does this sound familiar? Oh, yes, I believe this happened when the NFL Draft was on as well as March Madness. I'm not liking the trend... perhaps I need to start uploading the pictures to the laptop!

The Kitchen

2011-05-17T17:39:00.000-04:00

Where do I even begin.....

Before

After

We left no crevice of this room untouched. It was a complete renovation, from floor to ceiling. When we first viewed the house with our realtor, this room made me sick. I literally had knots in my stomach thinking about fixing meals in this excrament infested space, and don't even get me started on the thought of putting my Kitchen Aid stand mixer or Cuisinart teapot in one of the cabinets. We won't go there. Brian had to solemnly swear that this room would be made new within months of purchasing the home. That oath came close to, "Until death do us part" in my book.

We closed on the home November 26, 2008, and began work tearing down the cabinets and walls the very next day. It was our first project... and you'll notice there is still bare drywall... it is also destined to be our last project.

We had a vision for this room that we taped out on the floors and walls. We could visualize everything we hoped to see and started contacting people who could make that vision a reality. Our first call, to my wonderful Father-in-law, Mike. Mike built a 1200 sq. ft. barn with his own two hands. He even broke his back (no joke) when he perched an extension ladder in the bed of his F-350 to install the dormer windows. The man is determined. And given his impending retirement, we didn't want him to get bored. Mike framed and reframed portions of the space to make it more user-friendly. He also helped us rerun plumbing and electrical to bring it up to code. When he left, the room was taking shape with drywall and we I was left to tape and mud.

Brian left on his first underway and I was still seeking employment. What better way to spend my time than sanding drywall compound and reapplying it for hours on end. For a novice, I think I did alright.

At this point, I started doing research on cabinets, countertops, and appliances. We had already found a stainless steel stove and fridge on Craigslist so I continued the trend and came home with a dishwasher soon thereafter. Days after Brian returned from his first underway, we signed a contract with Steve's Cabinets and Rock Solid Countertops; our vision was coming to life.

Steve exceeded our expectations with the cabinets. They were beautiful, solid wood, stained with a special color mix, and installed with precision. I distinctly remember waking up the morning before the cabinets came to paint the kitchen but it was so cold in our house (in the 50s) that Adam (our roomie at the time) and I couldn't paint. Instead, that night we pulled in the space heater and got to work, praying it would be completely dry by the time Steve came in the morning. Once they were in we started grabbing tile samples to get the full picture. The problem was that nothing seemed to work with the countertops and cabinets. It wasn't 'pulling together' like I had imagined. So, 2 days before our countertop install, I called to change our granite. The lady thought I was crazy but since they hadn't cut it, she let me change it. I'm so glad we went dark instead of light! The installers had a little freak out moment themselves when the granite on the paperwork wasn't what was in their truck! The guy timidly approached me and asked what type of granite I had ordered. He had such a look of relief on his face when I said, "Uba Tuba, not St. Cecilia, I changed it."

Before

After

Before

After (I apologize for the dark pic)

Before

After

By April, everything was in place and I no longer did dishes in the bathtub. What a glorious day it was when I cooked our first meal in the kitchen. My mother-in-law helped me organize the items in the cabinetry and decorate a little while Brian and his dad dove into the next project: the downstairs bathroom, but we'll save that story for next week!

Before

After

*Two things to notice in this last pic: My favorite thing about the kitchen: the antique tin ceiling that I ordered from Canada; the table currently being used as our pantry also "covers" the radiator that was formerly housed in a cabinet in the butler's pantry (crazy people used to own the house, I'm telling you!).

My favorite things: (there are probably too many to list!)

- The antique tin ceiling

-The paint color (Prairie Grass by Valspar)

-The custom cabinetry
-No-slam drawers

What I'd like to see:
-it finished.

Our plans:
-To install the pot filler (already purchased) and put a slate tile backsplash behind the stove.

-To have the pantry done by July 1

The quirks:
-The radiator was in a cabinet when we moved in

-The stove was pushed up next to cabinet drawers which made 1/3 of the original cabinet space in the kitchen unusable.

-The natural slate tile has quite a few vairations in height and color. It's a booger to clean by, hey, we picked it!

-There are some wires underneath one of the cabinets because we were about an inch off on one of our measurements. If we ever remembered this when we had a junction box handy, it would be fixed in a flash!

-Since the ceiling has no sound guard and the upstairs bathroom is directly above it, when the toilet is flushed, it sounds like a flood of water is coming through the ceiling.

The Formal Living and Dining Areas

2011-05-10T23:30:00.001-04:00

Since we were in New York last week (I plan to post pics and such later), I am showcasing two spaces this week. First, the formal living room.

Before

After

This is the original living space for the home, with oak hardwood floors and wood-burning fireplace. It is a cozy space and too small to be a TV room. Since we didn't have furniture enough for two living rooms, I stalked some sweet antiques on Craigslist and filled it quickly with some old and unique items. My favorite is the little slipper rocker. Every kid that comes over feels the need to sit in it because it's their size. I would also like to add that I moved the piano with my dad. Just the two of us. Yeah. I think he might've carried most of the weight but I still get some bragging rights.

Before (Kinda- already pulled the carpet off of the stairs and started painting)

After

My favorite things:

- Having a real fireplace. Since we lost heat in the house as soon as we moved in (December or 2008), we slept on the floor in front of the fireplace, burning the old wood we had pulled out of the kitchen.

-The slipper rocker

-The player piano
-LIGHT! This room had NO lighting when we moved in! We added 4 large recessed can lights on a motion switch so the lights come on automatically when I open the front door. It's lovely.

What I'd like to see:
-I bought some custom vinyl lettering awhile back that reads, "A house is built with walls and beams, a home is built with love and dreams", that I plan to mount and frame to put above the fireplace or piano.

Our plans:
-To pull out the interior window and make it the garage access.

The quirks:
-The window next to the fireplace looks out into the garage (since the garage was an add-on).
-The lights on the motion switch will go off after 5 minutes of no movement so if you plan to sit by the fire and read a book you have to either wave your arms around every five minutes or manually flip the switch to 'on'.
-There is a coax cable sticking up in a random spot on the floor.

While Brian was on deployment and my parents were visiting, we repainted the living room to warm it up and papered, painted, and glazed the dining room. My mom used this technique in her foyer to match a leather burgandy Bible cover and I fell in love with it. Using her expert help, we turned this dining room around in a few days.

Before

After

Thanks for all of your help, mom and dad! :)

And Baby Makes Four!

2011-04-29T11:16:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter from the FOUR of us!!!

This post is a little delayed as well but we had to make sure certain phone calls were made before we announced it here! We are so thrilled/scared/crazy :) We're actually hoping to get our own TLC show soon... or have this baby on 11-11-11 since we couldn't make it to 10-10-10 with E. Rest assured, if we don't hit 11-11-11, we won't be trying for 12-12-12! My uterus needs a break. :)

10 weeks as of 4-25-11

Our first ultrasound is scheduled for May 9 and we can't wait to introduce you to the newest member of The Ross Crew! I could use your prayers though, morning (aka: all day) sickness hit me hard this week - with vomiting in public and all. It subsided by 14 weeks with E so hopefully I just have a short way to go!

From the Outside

2011-04-29T10:41:00.000-04:00

The design of our house is in keeping with the colonial architecture of this area. It still needs work (a lot of work), but it's certainly not an eyesore in the neighborhood like the inside was!

This picture was taken when we took our second "look" at the house before making an offer. I say "look" because we were probably there for an hour measuring spaces and mapping out rooms to see if we could make our vision come to life. One of my favorite memories is the phone conversation I had with my dad following the pictures we sent him, "Does the driveway not go to the garage!?" The answer is no. The garage was an add-on, probably done in the 60s and because of zoning and codes, they were forced to leave the driveway as it was (which would've led directly into the backyard to a shed or garage) and the new garage is off-set to the left of the driveway. Needless to say, we don't use the garage for a car, we use it for tools! :)

It was so fun to come home on December 26, 2010 to see our house covered in white! I honestly don't think I've ever seen icicles like the ones we had hanging from our eaves. Although we lost a large branch from our beautiful Magnolia due to the weight of the snow, we were just happy to find it still standing!

Every summer I get an itch to do a massive overhaul on our front flowerbeds. Last June, Brian came home to find this! The problem: I was 5 months pregnant! I went to a nursery and got a truckload of dirt found free via Craigslist, came home, unloaded it all into the beds (to raise them by a foot), went to Home Depot to get top soil and plants, came home and unloaded 20 40 lb. bags of topsoil, planted everything, transplanted the Monkey Grass from the backyard, and literally couldn't move for 24 hours following. I will never forget that day but I also don't think I will try it again anytime soon!

My favorite things:

-Brick! Although most of our house is aluminum siding (yuk!), we love that the front of our house is a low maintenance brick facade.

-Slate Roof: Supposedly, if maintained properly, it will last forever. The problem is the expensive maintenance but I think it is a cool feature

What I'd like to see:

-Shutters and a forrest green front door: I WILL paint the door this summer. I WILL.

-Flower boxes

Our plans:

-Get new siding and gutters put on (probably right before we move)

-Possibly redo the driveway

The quirks:

- The driveway

- Someone put those sticky 3M things on the outside of the house to hold Christmas lights but now half of them have fallen off and it looks terrible! Redoing the siding will fix it but, seriously, who does that!?!

- We have no gutter on the 2nd story of the front of the house but the downspout is still there!

More Excuses

2011-04-28T21:15:00.000-04:00

Hello, it's me again with the excuses! But, really, you can blame my husband. I am currently sitting in front of the TV (which also happens to be the monitor for the computer that houses all of the pictures of our home) documenting the NFL draft for my husband who had to run up to the Navy Exchange to purchase medals...

...the Dallas Cowboys just picked Tyron Smith, an Offensive Tackle from USC, in case you missed it...

It's not enough for him to grab the names off of ESPN.com. No. He needs a play-by-play so that he can forward it to all of his buddies that left yesterday for an underway. As much as I'm bitter about not being able to complete my "home" post, he's such a nice guy to do that for all of his friends that don't get to simply veg out on the couch and watch it.

He is running to get medals because he also received 2 awards yesterday when he detached from the boat. One was a Navy Achievement Medal for Junior Officer of the Year and the other was a Navy Achievement Medal for his excellent performance on the boat. Overall, Brian received five awards during his first tour which is phenomenal! He is so gifted and intelligent. Let's just hope our kiddos get his brains! :)

Well, there are lots of fun things going on in our lives right now and I can't wait to share them all with you tomorrow! Really, you won't want to miss them ;)

It's Tuesday

2011-04-26T22:05:00.000-04:00

It's Tuesday and I have not forgotten about my weekly house post. Here's the problem: I've been puking since around 8pm and the only thing I can manage to get out of bed for is running to the toilet. I had the laptop so I thought I'd just give you guys my 'excuse'.

Plus, there is a lot more to be excited about right now. For one, this is Brian's last night on the boat. Tomorrow marks his first day of shore duty! HALLELUJAH!

I'll post the house update tomorrow. Promise. Until then, who wants to come take the baby so I don't wake her up when I run to the bathroom? Ugh.

Eden (and the) Bug

2011-04-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

We've been spending a lot of time on the deck this week and Eden had her first encounter with a bug on Monday!

"Look, mommy! I think...

...I might...

...just...

...taste it!"

(Don't worry! I didn't let her actually eat [or taste] the caterpillar)

"He has a friend!"

"These are SO COOL!"

I Always Leave You Hanging

2011-04-19T10:52:00.002-04:00

For those of you that have been here along the ride of renovating our home, I must apologize for always leaving you hanging. I am usually unsuccessful at posting "After" pictures. You usually get the "Before" and "In progress" but never the final product. Perhaps that's because there's always something left to finish. The job is never done. There is still a laundry list of big and small "To do's". However, I was inspired by another blogger that is renovating a home just 10 years older than ours and decided to dig through the photos and give you some true "Before and afters". Each Tuesday, I will showcase a room or area in our home and reflect on my favorite memories and attributes of that space. Today is the "Walking tour" that we took our parents on when we were praying about making an offer on the house and then one that I shot today. Enjoy!

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

I am 6 Months Old! And a Trip to DC

2011-04-16T16:40:00.000-04:00

What an incredible 6 months it has been! Our little girl is so much fun and growing so fast!

Grandma came to visit and nanny while Brian and I got a grand tour of DC last week. Brian is one of the 2010 Junior Officers of the Year (one of 15 nationwide) so we got to meet with some big-wigs and get some special tours. It was nice to get away for a week and see some things in DC that we had never seen before.

We made a very quick trip to Brian's Alma Mater, The United States Naval Academy

Grandma and Eden got out to see some things too! Grandma is such a trooper... or a pack mule!

Our favorite part of the trip was going to the Naval Observatory. Although we were tempted to crash Joe Biden's party (he lives on the Observatory grounds), we were excited about the opportunity to look through a telescope magnified some several million times. We also got to see the GPS. The huge room of computers accepting data and spitting it back out to satellites so that you can figure out how to get to Aunt Lala's house. Amazing! The timing system there is as accurate as one billionth of a second! We also got to stand on the US "Prime Meridian". Before Greenwich was determined to be 0 degrees, the states had their own Prime Meridian at the Naval Observatory.

It's difficult to see in this picture but this the "dome" that houses the telescope

In other places where we were not able to take photos, we met Justice Scalia, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Vice CNO, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of Naval Reactors, to name a few. Hopefully I can post some of the professional photos once we get our copies.

We also sat in on the Senate budget debate which was shockingly disappointing. At one point, I looked at Brian and asked, "Is this how our government is run?" I am thankful that our leaders can at least have a civil discussion in the same room without harnessing weapons - some people are not so fortunate.

Since Grandma is a librarian, we made a stop at the Library of Congress. It was gorgeous! I love the detailed architecture in those buildings!

Our last night there was spent at the DC Submarine Birthday Ball. We were the little fish in the sea of brass but enjoyed our spiffy night nonetheless.

We made it home in time to make a dinner date with my roomie from college, Allie, and her husband, Jay, who were in the area for a wedding. It was so fun getting to catch up with them and introduce them to Eden.

Grace also came in for a short visit and the girls had such a blast playing together!

Lucy: 2 months, Eden: 6 months, Anna: 18 months

Our little heartbreaker!

Finally, it was time to send Grandma back home, but not before she taught Eden a few things...

1. Don't eat books

2. Don't give mommy and daddy a hard time

3. Drink Diet Coke

We miss you already, Grandma!

It's a Growing Season

2011-03-25T20:14:00.000-04:00

"When you're green, you're growing. When you're ripe, you rot."

-Ray Kroc

Every year this is a hard week. It seems like I am attacked in so many ways and Satan uses my mind as a tool for torture. I typically don't feel well, I'm unmotivated, I look at the worst in things, and I'm just downright 'Blah'.

It's getting close to the anniversary of Sarah's death. Last year, God blessed that day by giving me a niece and I am so thankful for her beautiful life and how it overshadows the sting of death. The sting of death, though, is still very much a reality.

Perhaps it was getting the news that a friend's mom had a severe heart attack, or some acquaintances whose 4 month old baby boy was life flighted to Philadelphia and put immediately on the heart transplant list, or maybe it's just my fear that is getting the best of me this week.

I have a completely new ~~perspective~~ fear about premature death now that I have a child. The care, the teaching, the loving, the provision for, the rejoicing with, the comforting, the praising... the pure investment of one's life into their child's is unmatched.

I can't imagine losing everything.

That must be what it's like.

God taught me how to pray for people after Sarah died. God is teaching me again through the life of my daughter. It's another growing season.

Father God, I cry out to you tonight. My heart is heavy and I am in need of the peace and comfort only you can give. Lord, I give you Eden's life, her death, and everything in between. Grant her wisdom and discernment as she faces the lies and sins of this world. I trust you and place my hope in you. Comfort those that I love as this tragic anniversary approaches. Guard their hearts from the questions and the dreaded unknown. Give them confidence in your greater plan for good and let your peace reign in their hearts and minds. Thank you for the opportunity to live a life worthy of your calling, and for one-thousand graces when I continually mess it up. Teach me to honor you, that my daughter will seek to honor you. Teach me to praise you, that my attitude would be pleasing. Empty me of my selfish desires, that I will put others above myself. I want to grow.

Tonya Murphy, I Know You're Out There!

2011-03-19T22:23:00.000-04:00

If you, like my friend Tonya Murphy, "Blog Stalk" me, you should follow me so I can read your blog too! It's only fair!!! :) Oh, and don't worry, I can't see you if you blog stalk me. Tonya just came clean to me last week.

Mom Came to Visit!

Can you tell we had a good time?

Convicted

2011-03-09T00:17:00.000-05:00

Do you ever wish the worst on someone? Maybe they cut you off or gave you terrible service... or maybe they were just plain mean. I do it. Probably more than I'd like to admit.

As I was driving to dance tonight (and running late) I approached the light at Granby that posts a distinct "No turn on red" sign above the traffic light in the right lane. I will admit, I've ignored it before, but today I was going to do the right thing and wait...

Apparently, the person behind me either didn't see the sign or was just being a jerk because they started honking at me. I just ignored it, determined to stay the course.

Once the light turned green, I turned and the jerk behind me swerved past and sped ahead. I thought, "I hope you get pulled over, idiot!"

A few blocks further, the jerk turned into the hospital parking lot.

Convicted.

Lord, let me be slow to anger and abounding in love...

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Psalm 103:8

A Weekend with Daddy

2011-03-08T17:13:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went on a ladies' retreat in the OBX and had a blast!!! God has provided a wonderful group of mommies for me to fellowship with and grow with as we learn to raise Godly kiddos. Since I was headed away for the weekend, Brian got to keep Eden. I was so nervous/excited/emotional.... and I was leaving her with her DAD! Haha! Brian was super-husband while I was gone. I came home to a clean house (including the dishes - which he hates doing) and a happy baby. Brian even managed to take her out on a walk, to Chick-fil-A, and the dump (we're starting her early, folks). I think he enjoyed getting to spend so much time with his princess, feeding her, dressing her, and all! :)

...and then when I got home she decided to get sick :( Oh well, I guess that's what mommies are for, right?

The Adventures of Eden, Part 2

2011-03-07T23:56:00.005-05:00

Month 3

Month 4

Anna liked poking me in the nose

Month 5

Pure exhaustion

"No way!"

My first time eating rice cereal!

I like to laugh at myself in the mirror

Out for a windy day at the park. Like my shades?

I found my feet! Mommy can't keep socks on me anymore!

My 'mean' face

A day at the spa...

My favortie bathtime activity - chewing on the wash rag

In the same outfit this month - mommy likes it a lot :)

In other 'Eden News', she started rolling over on the 15th of February. She also likes to "motorboat" or 'blow raspberries' right now. She LOVES Panda and is the happiest baby on the planet! We get so many comments from friends every time we are out and she truly is a delight to everyone she meets. We are so blessed. I just can't get over how much I love this girl!

This is Real Life

2011-03-07T23:56:00.004-05:00

This is real life. This blog is real life. This blog is real life for my family and friends spread all througout the country. It's also a platform for me to 'vent' or say whatever I'd like because in real life the person that normally gets to hear my ranting and raving is constantly out to sea. That is real life.

It's real life because I intend to post Christmas pictures and tell stories about my baby girl; however, that child demands my time and attention so my intentions are left at that... intentions.

It's real life so somebody can relate... and I can earn some empathy and advice.

And, let's face it, no one is paying me to write this blog... although that would probably be motivation to write more often, any takers? :)

With that, here go a string of posts about this oh so real life that I've needed to play catch-up on!

Christmas 2010 - Finally!

Road Trip!

Resolutions - an update!

Bust Out the Sewing Machine

The Adventures of Eden: Part 2

Bust Out the Sewing Machine!

2011-03-07T23:56:00.000-05:00

I forgot how much I enjoyed sewing! I made these reversible nursing covers for some friends last week and enjoyed it so much that I may try to sell some. Etsy store, maybe??? I am working on some personalized burb cloths this week :) Give me your 2 cents... what is a reasonable price to ask for one of these?

Resolutions - an update!

2011-03-07T23:55:00.001-05:00

Updates in RED! :)

GOALS FOR 2011

Physical
Jessica:
   To get to pre-baby weight by March 4 (Done February 27! - yay!)
    To walk with Eden and Panda at least 2 days a week  (doing good when the weather permits!)
Brian:
   To complete P90X within first 4 months of shore duty
   To drink no more than 80 sodas in the year (26 as of 3/6)
Financial
Jessica:
   To complete first diaper bag by June 1 (made out of Brian's uniform)
   To have one available for sale by July 1
    To sell/consign/donate items we aren't using quarterly (today starts my second round and I've already made some cash!)Brian:
   To complete taxes by March 3 (finish last night! 3/6)Both:
    To exceed short term limit no more than once per 3 months (did it in January - oops!)   $20 daily limit on short term purchases without discussion between us both (I screwed this up once but Brian forgave me)
Spiritual
Jessica:
   To offer at least one compliment each day (I've missed a few and this is harder than you realize - and really sad)   Read Bible once per week (I haven't been very consistent but I am reading much more)
Brian:
   To have dedicated "bedtime" with Eden to pray as a family (this has been so hard with Brian's schedule. Often Eden is in bed by the time he gets home so we're holding out for shore duty...)    To pray with Jessica once per week (do meals count???)
   Read Bible before the TV comes on (YES! Great idea for anyone!)

Stewardship/Productivity
House:
   To have AC contract signed by March 31 (installation begins March 22! yay!)
   To wire guest room by February 1 (done!) and lay flooring by February 7 (87% done - darn weather)   To replace fascia and gutters by March 7 (done Feb 19)
    To complete utility room window and downstairs bathroom ceiling by April 30
   To complete upstairs bathroom paint and shelving by July 1 (shelving done Feb 19 - thanks, dad!)
   To complete kitchen pantry and floor by August 15
   To complete family room closet (including carpet throughout the house) by December 1

Mustang:
   To fill with R-12 or convert to R-134 by May 1
   To replace the dash by July 1
   To replace seat covers by August 1 (if budgeted for)

It feels so good to look back on this and see so much accomplishment by March! Hopefully it continues! Thanks for your prayer and support!

Road Trip!

2011-03-07T23:55:00.000-05:00

Eden and I took a road trip Northeast while daddy was out to sea in January. We had such a fun time! Our first stop was at the Dow residence in Dover, DE! The Dow girls loved getting to hold Eden.

Our second stop, and the original intent for the trip, was in Groton, CT, where we hoped to be there to greet the newest member of the Becknell family. Lucy was cozy in Grace's belly so we didn't quite get to stay long enough but had so much fun visiting with Grace, Scott, Carrie, Rachel, and Steve. I took some maternity pics for Grace and tried getting some pics of Anna... have you ever tried to photograph a 1 yr old??

39 weeks preggo!

Our last stop was a short stay in Boston, MA, where we saw sweet friends from A&M, Jon and Brittany Yeager.

Did I mention that it was snowing everywhere we went! My little snow bunny was a trooper and did great while we were traveling! She is such a wonderful baby!

Christmas 2010 - finally!

2011-03-07T23:54:00.000-05:00

Eden's 1st Christmas in pictures! What a joy it was to celebrate Christ's birth with those that we love the most!

The Soap Box

2011-02-26T22:21:00.002-05:00

The ~~Soap~~ Diaper Box.

This is the reason my friends will send ME to get our money back for movie tickets... or ask for a rental car upgrade... or just about anything else that might possibly involve confrontation...

I'm not afraid to stand on a soap box.

This weeks victim... Pampers.

I love Pampers Swaddlers diapers. They are extremely absorbent and I've figured out how to get them at very reasonable prices (more on that later). What I love even more about them is the "wetness indicator strip" that turns blue when it's wet - genius! No more sticking your finger or, even worse, your nose in a diaper just to figure out if the baby needs a change. One problem: I have yet to figure out which type of Pampers Swaddlers include the strips. I have purchased the SAME BOX of diapers - one has them, one doesn't. It was frustrating me to no end! After discussions with multiple friends, we were all left stumped. One friend ordered a box within a day of me ordering mine from the same place - hers had 'em, mine didn't.

It was letter writing time... my soapbox.

No. This was worthy of a phone call.

Me: "Yes, hello Nancy, I was calling with a few questions about your products and probable complaints. Let me start with the most irritating dilemma... how can you tell which boxes of Pampers Swaddlers include the wetness indicator strips on the diapers? I have purchase the same box on different occasions and one had them, the other didn't."

"Well, our Swaddlers Sensitive always have the strips and they just started putting them on the regular ones again. They were, and then they weren't but now they are again. You should just buy the Sensitives if you want it."

"But the Sensitives are more expensive."

"I can send you some coupons."

"Okay, I will take them but can you tell me on what date did they start putting them back on the regular Swaddlers?"

"Well they did in 2009 but then stopped in 2010 but then started again like 6 months ago."

"I guess I'm asking so that I can look at the production stamp to ensure I am getting the right kind."

"Well if it starts with a '0' that means it was produced in 2010."

"But I thought you said they stopped for awhile in 2010."

"They did."

"So shouldn't I be looking for boxes produced in 2011?"

"If it starts with a '1' it was produced in 2011."

"Okay, thanks. So what is a size '1-2'? There's nothing about it on your website."

"It's a size 1 with the absorbency of a 2."

"Can someone please put that on your website?"

"I will pass your comments on to our marketing department."

"I just bought a 184ct box of 2s when I could've gotten a 234ct of 1-2s for the same price. If you had descriptions of your products on your website, I would've known that."

"I can send you some coupons."

"Okay, I will take them but I'd really like for someone to put that on your website."

"I will certainly pass your comments along to our marketing department."

So I came away from the conversation with the answers I needed and lots of free coupons which brings me back around to the way I get diapers for such a reasonable price...

First, I use Swagbucks as a search engine. You earn points or 'bucks' for using it that you can redeem for gift cards. My skeptical husband has even become a believer after I've used my swagbucks to pad our diaper wallet and he uses it now to do all of his searching. We installed the toolbar thingy so that instead of searching google (the default), I use swagbucks without even thinking about it. Here's the key - I use it for everything - even if I'm just checking my e-mail. I will 'search' aol or gmail instead of typing it in directly. It's an extra .02 second step that has earned me cash. The most wonderful thing to purchase with your swagbucks is an Amazon Gift Card (it's actually an e-gift card so they provide you with a coupon code). It costs 450 'bucks for a $5 card. I just add these puppies up on my Amazon account and they are automatically applied to my next purchase - AWESOME! So, I added the Swagbucks widget below for any of you guys who want to sign up. Just click on it - but I warn you - it will be your new addiction! :)

** I have removed the widget temporarily because it was not taking you to the correct page but you can click here to sign up for the awesomeness that is Swagbucks! :)**

Secondly, I am an Amazon Mom! 15% off of 'mom things' I purchase on Amazon, namely diapers :) I also use Subscribe & Save (sign up on the right side of your screen once you've found the item(s) you want from Amazon) which means I get an extra 15% off and they are delivered to my door with FREE Super Saver Shipping! Again - AWESOME!

Lastly, I get coupons from American Baby magazine and Baby Talk magazine (I also got them through Parents magazine but they have since discontinued the coupons) which a got free subscriptions to. Also, if you are visiting the OB, search through those mags!!! My friend, Stacy, is constantly grabbing them for me.

The coolest thing is that use can use all of these discounts at once! You can even use the mag coupons together ($10 off and 20% off) if you use the $10 off first!

To bring this full circle, I would also recommend calling Pampers with any comments/complaints whatsoever because they seem to provide coupons freely to customers.

Ok, I guess it's time to hop off of my soap box now but I just had to share the awesome diaper deals with everyone. My next soap box discussion... Picasa Web Albums - the super awesome new way I will be able to share pictures with you guys. I've been so wrapped up getting all of my albums in order that I haven't uploaded any pictures to update you guys on little Miss E! My sincerest apologies. This week. I promise.

Eden's Dedication

2011-01-29T11:35:00.000-05:00

It has taken me awhile to get caught up on all this stuff from our trip home for Christmas. I will try to post everything as I get it done. Tonight I was able to compile Eden's dedication at First Baptist Hurst on December 19. It is just the audio... perhaps one day I will get it synced up with the video but I'm not going to push myself. Enjoy celebrating our daughter with us! :)

Mr. Mom

2011-01-21T14:54:00.001-05:00

Let it be known that on December 15, 2011, I felt understood by my husband...

Brian has been Superdad. I cannot successfully convey the chaos that has bee the last two months. This man has done amazing things to support our family - the awake at all hours screaming newborn, the ~~terrible~~ toddler (apparently you can't say that until they are 2), and the slightly postpartum depressed wife.

On December 15, I took the newborn on a dinner date with a girlfriend who was moving back to Texas the following weekend while Brian offered to take the toddler to the grocery store.

I was so thrilled that he, 1. Offered to go to the grocery store for me and, 2. Was willing to take Eden with him on the errand

I made a specific list that put items in order from produce to dairy with everything but aisle numbers in between. There's no way he would miss the marshmallows when I said they were on the baking aisle below the jello, right?

He left at 6:15 which would give him approximately 30 minutes in the store before it closed after driving time was accounted for. He was also supposed to be back at the house by 7:30 because someone from church was planning on providing us dinner at that time (which he had already pushed back).

He got stopped by a train.

He sat there for close to 10 minutes, watching the precious minutes tick by...

Once he got to the Commissary (military grocery store) he unloaded Eden and headed for the door, only to realize he left his military ID at work. He put Eden back in the car and headed for WalMart. Needless to say he would not be home by 7:30. He was sincerely apologetic when he called the folks from church and felt terrible for wasting their night (and food) that they had planned to bring. Thankfully, that food was Domino's and he hadn't wasted their time at all! :) He could relax a little bit now and pick dinner up on his way home.

As he started through the aisles, he quickly realized that my super specific and helpful list was essentially trash... the marshmallows are not below the jello at WalMart. As he searched for the 40+ items on the list, Eden became restless and hungry, grabbing for things off of the shelves, whining, trying to climb out of the cart, etc. He finally made it home around 8:30 with a car full of groceries, a pizza, and a very cranky, hungry toddler.

As he divulged this gem-of-a-story to me, I couldn't help but feel understood. My life is plagued with days like this one and I'm glad he can now empathize; however, I don't think he'll be volunteering to go to the grocery store for me again anytime soon, and certainly not with a toddler.

Ah, I enjoyed it while it lasted and I'm certainly thankful for everything else this man does for us. He is a daily blessing.

We love you!

Resolutions

2011-01-10T22:53:00.000-05:00

It makes them official once you've shared them... so people can hold you accountable...

Here goes nothin':

We had dinner at Olive Garden on New Year's Day, courtesy of Grandpa Bass (thank you!) and made our list...

We broke it down into categories...

GOALS FOR 2011

Physical
Jessica:
   To get to pre-baby weight by March 4 (just 5 more lbs to go!)
   To walk with Eden and Panda at least 2 days a week
Brian:
   To complete P90X within first 4 months of shore duty
   To drink no more than 80 sodas in the year (2 as of 1/2)

Financial
Jessica:
   To complete first diaper bag by June 1 (made out of Brian's uniform)
   To have one available for sale by July 1
    To sell/consign/donate items we aren't using quarterly
Brian:
   To complete taxes by March 3
Both:
    To exceed short term limit no more than once per 3 months
   $20 daily limit on short term purchases without discussion between us both

Spiritual
Jessica:
   To offer at least one compliment each day
   Read Bible once per week (sad, I know, but I completely dropped it late in pregnancy :-( )
Brian:
   To have dedicated "bedtime" with Eden to pray as a family
   To pray with Jessica once per week
   Read Bible before the TV comes on

Stewardship/Productivity
House:
   To have AC contract signed by March 31
   To wire guest room by February 1 and lay flooring by February 7
   To replace fascia and gutters by March 7
   To complete utility room window and downstairs bathroom ceiling by April 30
   To complete upstairs bathroom paint and shelving by July 1
   To complete kitchen pantry and floor by August 15
   To complete family room closet (including carpet throughout the house) by December 1

Mustang:
   To fill with R-12 or convert to R-134 by May 1
   To replace the dash by July 1
   To replace seat covers by August 1 (if budgeted for)

These probably look silly to everyone else but we already have some good habits that we're assuming we will keep up too! :-)

*still working on pictures from Christmas and Eden's dedication - there are so many!!!!