Ma-ma

He's on a roll...Brady said this to me this morning while we were playing!

Easter Weekend

We....took off Good Friday and played with the boys, headed to El Agave on Friday night for dinner, weathered horrible storms and tornadoes that wrecked parts of north St. Louis and the airport, headed to Washington for errands on Saturday morning, went to Aunt Carrie and Uncle Creep's for fresh fish that Uncle Creep and Uncle Boog caught that afternoon, walked to get ice cream with the Ross crew after dinner and ended up getting caught in the rain (the boys loved it!), Skyped Baa-Baa and Papa Mo on Sunday morning after an egg hunt around our house, enjoyed a huge meal at Gma and Gpa's before another Easter egg hunt, played in the puddles with Luke, blew bubbles and road the Zuma. And finally, baths and bed for all after one fun-filled, family-packed, yet rainy and cold Easter weekend. Whew.

Rain boots were a necessity this weekend.


I didn't intend on an action shot, but this is what I got!


Brady loves to wrestle with his daddy.


You almost have it, Brady!

Da-da

He said it this morning as I was changing his diaper.

Likes Peas and Carrots

They are finally starting to hang out together!

Brady's 9 mo stats (late again!)

Weight - 24 lbs (97%)
Height - 97% (I lost the spec sheet and can't remember anything other than his percentile.)
HC - NO CLUE....I did remember to bring Brady home with me, so that's good.

Carson's 9 mo Stats
Weight - 22 lbs. 12.5 oz (85%)
Height - 30" (95%)
HC - 45.6 cm (55%)

For Bowen

What's up?

Since my last post....

1) I was in the hospital for extreme dehydration after days of the flu. I'm better now though!

2) Brady has had two ear infections, though you wouldn't know it. The kid is the happiest baby on the block - he eats well, sleeps well, loves his bath, smiles and giggles throughout the day, loves to sit by his brother and is still a mama's boy. Too bad he isn't crawling yet. His 25 lbs of girth is whipping my "summer arms" in to shape!

3) Carson has had the flu and battled a cold. After 4 missed days of day care and a persistent 100 degree fever, he's finally back to carrying on adult-like conversations with who ever will listen.

4) Nate was sick. He is NEVER sick! He's still battling a bad cold but is on the mend.

5) My parents visited us. (My dad actually held down the fort at our house while I was on an IV drip and Nate was taking care of me - THANK YOU, Papa Mo!)

6) Carson has become quite the little helper. When I pulled out my carpenter-grade tape measure to see how large our great room was, Carson was in-toe with his mini-version tape measure. Minutes later Carson decided to measure the back of the couch. When I asked him what it measured, he said, "Five toes." I was like, "Five toes? Oh, my goodness. You mean five feet. It's feet, Baby." Too cute!

7.) Nate settled a major case he was working on, so Daddy is around more and less stressed.

8.) We booked a trip to Florida this summer! Nate and me, the boys and my parents are going to load up the Yukon in August and head to the beach for an entire week. We're so excited!!!

9.) I deactivated my Facebook account. It really isn't all it's cracked up to be. Who really cares what acquaintances (at best!) are having for breakfast anyway?

10.) We bought a gi-normous swing set for the boys. It's still a work-in-progress, though Nate and his dad made major strides yesterday. I can't wait to see the look on Carson's face when we cut him loose on it!

3 (pees) + 2 (poops) = (high) 5

We're getting there! Potty training has not really been a challenge for us...yet that is. We have yet to put undies on Carson and head out for the day, but we have rolled sans diaper and in a t-shirt only for the last two days. I'm happy to report I haven't had to clean up any messes! Here's the catch - Carson literally pees 15 times a day on the potty. He hasn't quite mastered "holding it" or "letting it build up." Hence the millions of "itty-bitty-teeny-weeny pees," as he calls it.

Cutie Pie

I may not be crawling, but so what. I have my mom wrapped around my finger, and I'm pretty sure she'll carry me forever if needed.

Carson-isms

"I'm eating these green beans like a monkey eats bananas!" Seriously? For you grammar buffs, yes, that's a simile.

BaaBaa - "What's your mom's name?"
CER - "Trish Ross"
BaaBaa - "What's your dad's name?"
CER - "I'm not sure. I think it might be Nate."

"Daddy says, NO. Mama says, YES." Right on, little man.

"Mommy, I will take care of you. I am a doctor. Now let me kiss your forehead." Carson said this to me after I explained to him that I couldn't carry both him and Brady up the stairs at the same time because my back hurt. Sweet boy.

"Mom, don't freak out." I'm sure this had to do with some sort of mess he made. : )

Howdy!

Brady is getting so big (literally and developmentally!). He now drinks from a sippy cup, devours any type of grain he's given (crackers, cookies, Mum-Mums, Puffs, graham crackers, etc.), and tries to wave when he hears the words "bye-bye."

It's exciting, but....sniffle, sniffle. Who stole my newborn?

Three's a Crowd

(more) Carson-isms

"I'm a man to do this." Carson said this to me as he lugged a 3/4 full milk jug to me from the fridge.

"I want candy canes, marshmellows, tacos, hot dogs and bread." This is what you get when you ask a toddler what they want for dinner.

"You have Cripes, Mom?!" It was taking me forever to pull on to the highway from our house, so I said under my breath, "Oh, Cripes!" I erupted in laughter at Carson's reaction to my frustration. Then I responded, "Yes, Honey, I have Cripes." At least he didn't ask me to further explain.

Brady has a tooth! (teeth, actually)

Brady's lower left, front tooth is in! His right front tooth is right behind it. The kid who never throws a fit was slightly fussy the last few weeks, so I knew something was up. And then...his first tooth magically appeared. No wonder he's doing so well with Ritz crackers - lots of slobber to soak up the starch!

Disney Live! Mickey's Magic Show

Or, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, as Carson would say. Last night Carson and I had our first ever date night! We went to see a Disney production at Chaifetz Arena with my friend, Heather, and her little boy, Brodie. Both boys shoveled in popcorn until they nearly burst. Carson of course had to have candy, too, so he rounded off his popcorn "dinner" with Skittles. My little man did really well -- we only had to get up once to burn off some energy. (Dancing in the lobby was fun!) Other than that, he sat through the entire show, clapped when Mickey needed applause and thanked me for taking him when we walked to our car at the end of the night.

I can't wait for our next date!

Carson-isms

"Mom, you're pretty." He says this every time I put on make-up and dry my hair. Hmmm, what does he think I look like on weekends or when I work from home?!

"Guys, get out of my bed. This is my bed." He said this to Nate and me this weekend when we piled in to his bed as Papa Mo was reading him his bedtime story.

"Brady, it's alright. I'm here, Honey." He says this every time Brady let's out the slightest whimper. And sure enough, Brady always smiles when Carson magically appears.

"Can I have a Skittle? I'm a good boy." I once told Carson that Skittles where for "good boys." Nice to see he's put two and two together.

"Let me see the bottom of the bottle. There is still some in there." On the way to school on Monday, I was drinking a bottled water. Carson asked for a sip and I told him it was all gone, when in reality there were a few drinks left. I just didn't want to hand the bottle back to him and risk him spilling it all over the place. The kid can not be fooled; he called me out and asked to see the bottom of the water bottle!

Snow Days

I love them!

Brady Developments

Well, Brady has finally mastered rolling across a room. Up until this point, he's been able to roll over from his tummy-to-back and visa versa, but never more than one roll at any given time. After a weekend visit from BaaBaa and Papa Mo, he's mastered rolling across an entire room! (Thanks to BaaBaa's baby boot camp, maybe?! And perhaps Brady is getting used to maneuvering his enormous body?!) I'll try to catch this on video....he literally looks at you in between rolls for some much-deserved "Yeah, Brady!!!" followed by lots of clapping.

Brady has also started to "talk." His favorite (and only!) consonant sound to date: G. Yeah, Brady!!! (Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!)

Brady - 7 Month (Oops - a little late scheduling the 6 month appt!) Stats

Brady is large and in charge!

Height: 28 3/4" (95%)
Weight: 22# 8.5 oz (95%)
HC: 44.2 (50%)

The Boys

A few funnies that have come out of Carson's mouth these last few weeks...

"Mom, that's a UPS truck. He delivers packages. Where's my new seat?" (Brady is too big for his infant car seat, so we're moving him in to Carson's convertible seat and upgrading Carson to a booster. My kids are giant, because this transition should not be happening right now for either of them! Needless to say, I mentioned to Carson that I ordered his new seats online and that they would be delivered to the house by Tim, our UPS guy.)

"Touch me. You make me feel better." (Carson said this after he stubbed his toe and came over to me for some consoling.)

"Baa-baa's a teacher. Papa Mo's a farmer. Gpa is a doctor, and Gma is a nurse." (Good to know he has their occupations down. When you ask him what mommy and daddy do, he says, "You are my daddy. You are my mommy.")




Brady is growing up so fast. He's started to....

Sit up on his own!

Take baths with his big brother. They both enjoyed bath time before, but now they really love it. And honestly, I'm not sure who gets more joy out of it, the boys or Nate and me.

Brady now has a personal body guard - CARSON! He's very protective of Brady and often times steps in front of the girls in his class who are swooning over Brady. "That's my B-man. That's my brother. Be careful!"

I did it.

I finally created a Facebook account. What's taken me so long, you ask? Pure stubbornness....after attending meetings in Houston last week for work and learning just how "connected" the world is via Twitter, Facebook, email, etc., I realized the Facebook ship sailed a long time ago, so better to jump on board than be left behind. And seriously, my mom had a Facebook account and I didn't. Need I say more?

Destin

Nate and I escaped to Destin between Christmas and New Years and left the kids at home with my parents. Thank God we were only gone for a few days - I'm not sure my parents could have handled more than three days sans Trish & Nate. The boys really gave them a run for their money!