The Boy's Room

This weekend we decided to get babygirl's room ready since we have no good idea when she's coming and we decided we don't want to be finishing her room when she's actually here. We're not sure, but we think it will be easier to paint without a newborn in the house.

In order to get her room ready we had to kick Caleb out of it. So, this weekend, Caleb moved in with Noah and the Boy's Room was born. Since Caleb hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib yet and Noah is, obviously, still in a crib that means we have two cribs in the boys room right now. When you add the crib in the girl's room that makes for 3 cribs in our house right now. I'm pretty sure we're not insane.

Anyway, back to the Boy's Room....

We were pretty nervous, but curious, to find out how the boys would sleep in the same room. They've only slept in the same room once before, up at my parent's cabin. Let's just say, it wasn't very fun.

We started painting on Saturday so that afternoon Caleb was officially "moved" and we got to see if they would take an afternoon nap together. We put the boys in their cribs and then went back to work on our painting. What followed was roughly 1 1/2 hours of the sounds of two boys having a very good time: Funny noises from Caleb followed by chuckling from Noah, yelling, banging, etc. We'd check in on them and find Caleb walking around his crib and Noah doing his best to poke his head over the bumper to watch him. They seemed to be having fun and we were getting lots of painting done. Naps, however, were definitely not happening.

Luckily, that hasn't been the norm.

They've been in the same room for almost 4 days now and they seem to love it. For the most part, they've been able to take their naps together, they've been able to go to bed at the same time, and if one of them wakes the other up in the middle of the night they are able to go back to sleep without too much trouble.

I actually really like having them in the same room. It seems to have made them better friends (they play more with each other during the day) and there's nothing I'd want more for them. So when I put them down for a nap and for over an hour all I hear is the sound of playing and laughing, I don't mind....that much.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lest you think we aren't doing anything to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at our house.

Behold! The wearing of the green!

The New 'Do

On Tuesday we took Caleb to a salon to get his hair cut. It wasn't that we didn't like his nice long hair. It was just getting too hard to keep from getting little knots in it. Lint would show up in his hair often and it was just hard to keep it looking nice. I knew it needed a trim and we decided it was time to take him to someone who knew about his type of hair and get their opinion on what was best for it.

Here's what Caleb's hair looked like Monday night.

A. Dorable.

But it needed to be cut. Or trimmed at least. Zack found a place to take him, booked a time, and last Tuesday we went.

Chris, Caleb's stylist, told us that Caleb's hair wasn't mature enough to shave off completely. (Not that that was what we were looking for.) It would damage the scalp. If he did that then the hair would grow back thicker, coarser and harder to manage as he got older. So he said he would take about half of the hair off.

Half. Right.

Caleb was pretty good for him and sat in the chair. Zack tried to keep his attention away from the clippers. Chris started to take a few cuts off the top. And then, well, I'm not sure if he just decided it was too hard to style a toddlers hair or what, but the clippers came out and he shaved all but a half inch of hair off.

Caleb looks happy. Chris, not so much.

When it was all done, Caleb gave Chris a thank you and then a flirty smile that he usually reserves for flight attendants and blondes. (We didn't tell Chris that. Not quite sure if he'd take it as a compliment...) He also gave Chris some "knuck", so that was good.

With short hair, Caleb didn't look older to me like I thought he would- he looked younger. Kind of like when he was 6 months old. And, I hate to admit it, but I kind of missed the fro. That night Zack and I both thought Caleb looked like a middle-aged black lady with all that short hair.

The next morning I actually woke up feeling pretty bummed about his short hair. I really missed the fro. But, after looking at it again, it started to grow on me and I realized how cute Caleb looked.

He is looking more like a little boy!

And he can wear a hat!

When we put a hat on him with a fro he resembled Bill Cosby from the '70's. (Think little puffs of hair sticking out over his ears. Nice, huh?) No puffs of hair here:

(I just put this picture on so you could be jealous that I get to kiss those cheeks. All The Time.)

All in all, I think my little guy is a cutie with

OR without a fro.

Family Night Dance Party

Tonight, after a fine family night (where we learned about obeying your parents), Caleb treated us to a dance party. He danced. We partied.

My Favorite Things

It's almost midnight. Zack is on a campout. Yes, that's right. A campout. It's February. It's freezing AND windy outside. And he's on a campout. But it's the Klondike Derby, so it's worth it, right? ...right?

When Zack's gone I usually end up sitting on my bed with the TV on while I surf the internets watching shows or reading about things that make me cry late at night. Tonight it was the Scrubs episode where Dr. Cox's brother-in-law dies of Leukemia. I hate cancer. In the episode they play this song, which I think is kind of cool. Go ahead, listen to it, think of someone you love who has died, and then cry with me. Go on.

Okay, now that we have that over with....

My main reason for posting tonight is because, well, I'm awake and I don't feel like sleeping right now, and because I wanted to show you pictures of some of my most favorite people in the whole world. In no particular theme or order...

Here's Noah looking pensive.

Now here he is looking how he usually looks: worried and/or frightened.

And here is looking absolutely adorable. How can you not kiss that face? How?!

Lest you think Noah is the only cute one at our house, here's Caleb helping Dad with a project. Yes, it was early morning. And yes, his hair is awesome.

This is a face Caleb has been doing a lot lately.

Now back to Noah! This is a face that he does most of the time. Doesn't he look so cuddly?

Here are my boys sporting the two teams we like to cheer for in this house.

Does this one really need any caption besides "Ahhh! He's killing me with his cuteness!"

Caleb likes sledding!

A totem pole of fun! Yes, Caleb is just wearing socks, Yes, Noah is asleep and No, they didn't go down the hill as a totem pole.

Caleb and Dad making Stromboli.

Life is good.

The Boys

I thought I'd write a quick blog update just to prove to people that I'm alive and to show you how cute my boys are.

I tend to gloss over people's blog posts when they brag about their kids stats. You know what I'm talking about: "Junior is getting to be SUCH a BIG BOY! Even though he's only 2 months old he is already sleeping through the night, rolling over, crawling, eating with a spoon and using sign language to tell us when he needs to go potty!"

I try not to do that with my posts. But, unfortunately, my kids are so cute and smart and great, that anytime I write about them it always sounds like bragging. What's a girl to do?

Actually, I kind of understand why people would want to post stuff like that. First of all, some relatives (namely grandparents and such) actually want to read about it. And secondly, your blog is kind of a family journal and it's important to write this stuff down so it'll be there for your kids to read when they're older.

So, that being said, I'm still not going to give you a list of stats. But if, at times, it sounds like I'm bragging, just gloss over it and recognize that it's for the children. The children!!

Caleb is 15 months old now. He started walking as soon as we got Noah. He literally took his first steps in our hotel rooms. He also started signing more then, too. His first real sign was "book". He was already signing "please", but not consistently enough for me to believe he actually knew what he was doing. He also signs "more", "all done", "milk" (though now he just says "Muk" when he wants milk), "eat", "thank you" and "nap". He just recently made up his own sign for "Hey, Mom, let's sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"". I cannot resist that sign. I just can't. As far as speaking goes, he can say "mama" and "dada", but he doesn't really use them on us. His first real word, in my opinion, is "book".

Since he learned to walk he has explored pretty much everything in the house. He's pretty good about leaving stuff alone when we ask him to, but he's also pretty good about making us ask him to leave stuff alone. His current loves are Grandma, Dad, books, music and dancing, and pretty much anything made out of cloth: blankets, stuffed animals, shirts, socks, etc. He is old enough now for Zack to throw him around and it is awesome to watch them play together. He seriously gets more fun every single day.

15 months old!

Noah is almost 7 weeks old. He still loves to sleep and eat. When he's awake he pretty much just stares at us. I think I caught a smile yesterday, but I'm not sure. We bought a swing that swings from side to side which he really doesn't like. I pulled out our old swing that basically just swings (you know, the old-school kind) and he likes that. Go figure. I think I'll sell the new one on ksl or something. It just takes up space. Noah's real claim to fame right now is the fact that, starting this week, he's been sleeping for 6 to 7 hours a night before he wakes up and needs to be fed. This, combined with the fact that Caleb is now over his cold and is now sleeping through the night again, has caused my sanity to come back.

6 1/2 weeks old!

This week I started baby-sitting a friends baby 3 days a week. He's 3 months old. That's right. 3 kids under 1. I call my house "Baby City". It's been a challenge figuring out everyone's eating and napping schedules and trying to keep everyone happy all day. But, on the plus side, I don't have any problem getting to sleep at night and I'm never bored. It's hard to go anywhere with three babies, but I did manage to get a walk in. I carried Noah in the SleepyWrap and pushed the other two in the stroller. I might have looked like a crazy person, but at least I was a crazy person who wasn't cooped up in her house all day. The only down side is that I couldn't take the dogs. One woman, 3 kids and 2 dogs? Even III start to question my sanity at that point.

So, that's what I've been up to. These kids may be a lot of work, but I love it. Waiting 7 years for something really changes your perspective when things get challenging. When I start to get frustrated because there's a crying baby, or a toddler is trying to pull the blinds down, or there's clutter everywhere, I step back and think how lucky we are to have these kids. And when the clutter consists of baby books on the floor, tiny shoes, a couple boxes of diapers, burp cloths, and a bunch of bottles in the sink, I remember when the house was super clean and there were no baby items anywhere. And then I don't mind the clutter so much.

And I'm so grateful for these two boys.

Even when one is grumpy.... and the other won't look at the camera.

The First Day of School

Monday was my first day of no school. That last time I didn't start school was 27 years ago.

To honor the occasion, Caleb and I took a walk after 8:45 just to see what things were like when you are not in school. Can I just say that they are pretty fine? Everything was cool, crisp and clear. It was a beautiful morning.

Though, while the world around me was so nice, I have to admit my mind was in the classroom. I couldn't help thinking thoughts like:

"If I were teaching right now the kids would be putting their backpacks on hooks, getting their breakfast and finding their seats."

"If I were teaching right now I think I would let the kids get acquainted with just the room before I tried to show them the whole school all before recess."

"If I were teaching right now I wish I would have thought to contact each parent and find out something special about their child to share about them in class on the first day."

But then my thoughts would go back to the beautiful morning and the little guy in the stroller I was pushing and I would just smile.

Before I knew it my walk was over and we were home.

I went inside with my newest little pupil and we cuddled on the couch awhile. Then we started the first of the days lessons:

How to drink milk from a cup.

It was a pretty successful first day, don't you think?

I think I'm going to like my class this year.

Random Thoughts Thursday

I think my goal should be to write at least one post in between Thursdays so my blog doesn't end up being a string of Randomness. But it is better than not blogging at all...

While I was at the store today I saw that Crayola crayons were on sale for 35 cents. I bought 5 of them. I have no use for crayons. It took a lot of will power not to buy 25 of them. This whole not getting ready for school this Fall is going to take some getting used to.

I am really susceptible to the power of suggestion. While reading through some websites today I saw a picture of sauteed mushrooms and (on another site) read about Twinkies. This is why I'm eating a Twinkie right now and dreaming about having something with sauteed mushrooms tomorrow. I wish I had more brain-control.

I'm currently reading "These is my Words" by Nancy E. Turner. Any book that can make you simultaneously laugh and cry at the same time is a winner.

When Caleb starts eating dinner regularly with us do we have to stop having 7-layer dip for dinner? Because that was a really good dinner tonight.

I've recently started reading this blog. She's hilarious, but she drops the occasional f-bomb, so I haven't recommended it to anyone. You've been warned. Why must people use profanity?

This song has been in my head today. It's really catchy. I don't really agree with all of the lyrics because I'm pretty sure that God is a man, but I get the message that says God loves everyone. And he turns vegetables into candy!



We went to the whole foods market and bought some new oil for Caleb's hair. Up until now we've been using baby oil. I also bought a Mounds bar. Why?

Because this boy

now smells like coconut.

And if I didn't have a Mounds bar, I would eat him.

Blessing Day

Caleb was blessed Saturday evening, June 26th, along with 3 of his awesome cousins.

Three of my brothers had babies, respectively, in March, April and May. And they were all boys!

Alex and Kristi were kind enough to wait until they come up to visit to have Matthew blessed. Mike and Jodie were kind enough to wait an extra month or so for Trevor to be blessed (even if it meant he had the potential to grow out of this blessing outfit) and Danny and Rachel were kind enough to bless Tyson maybe a little earlier than they would have done normally.

I'm glad they all waited because it made for a great night. Each boy was given a wonderful blessing by his father. I'm so excited to watch these boys grow up.

Zack was a little apprehensive about giving this his first baby blessing, but he did a great job. We sang his favorite primary song, "Teach Me To Walk", right before he gave Caleb his blessing. It's close to our hearts because it reminds us of Joshua, so Zack struggled a little and it took a moment for him to regain his composure before he could start the blessing. :)

I didn't have a good view of Caleb during the blessing, but from reports on the ground I was told that he mostly played with his feet, looked around, and tried to grab the microphone a few times. When that was unsuccessful he groped around until he found Uncle Danny's chin and then played with that for awhile. I'm so glad he was good and didn't yell or squirm. And thanks to Danny for donating his chin for the occasion.

The blessings were given in order of birth, so Caleb was first, followed by Matthew, Trevor and little Tyson was last.

After the blessings we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever". (A special thank-you to the little girl in the back who obviously knew the words and sang with much enthusiasm and kept me from crying too much It's hard to cry when you're giggling.)

Then we retired to the carpeted gym and had treats, took pictures and talked.

It was a special night for us. Thanks to all of you who came.

And now for the boat load of pictures.

Dads getting ready to take a picture.

Dads and their boys. Zack pointed out the differences in this picture. Blond, blond, blond, brown. Dark tie, dark tie, dark tie, yellow tie. White baby, white baby, white baby, black baby. We just like to be different all around, I guess.

Me and my bros.

Moms and their boys.

Proud parents. We can't take all those shots without getting a group one of all of us, can we?

What a lot of the kiddies were doing all night. Kudos for whoever thought to bring in the nursery toys!

Cousins

With all the new babies around there was still time for uncles to have fun with nieces and nephews.

Mike and Jodie left earlier than the rest of us. I haven't the slightest clue why. Their kids don't look tired at all. I bet they could have partied all. night. long.

Proof that even though we left kind of late, some kids were still happy.

We're Eternal!

The last post was about all the legal, mortality stuff. This post is all about the eternal.
Caleb was sealed to us on June 26, 2010 at 1:00 pm in the Bountiful, Utah Temple
We have been waiting for this day for so long and it was all we'd hoped it would be.

We spent the morning getting ready and making sure Caleb got a nap in right before we left. At around 11:40 we woke him up and got him dressed to go to the temple.

Caleb getting his first (zipper) tie on.

The latest face he's been making.

Ready to go!

If it seems that we have taken too many pictures to document this day, rest assured Caleb probably feels the same way, as evidenced here:
Here's a better one. You WILL smile on this special day!

If we weren't short on time, we would have pulled out the tripod and taken a family picture. Zack had the camera bag, tripod, our 2 temple bags and I had the diaper bag. Sheesh. You'd think we were going to spend a week in there and not just an hour or so.

At the temple we were assigned our own personal escorts who walked us through everything. The first thing they did was take us to the Youth Center to drop off Caleb. There were about 5 ladies in there all smiling and ready to take care of him. Caleb, like his usual self, took everything in with his big brown-eyed stare. There was only one other baby in there at the time and he was just bawling his eyes out, so I'm glad Caleb was being so good.

After taking care of paperwork, Zack and I separated to go change clothes. It was kind of fun for me because they had me use the Bride's Room to get ready. All Zack got was a bigger dressing stall. It was so peaceful and pretty. A few of the tables in there had wedding gowns draped over them, just waiting for the brides to come in.

Zack and I got to sit in the Celestial Room for a while before we were led to the sealing room. It was nice to sit and talk and take in the peace and beauty that surrounded us, but we were also anxious to see our little boy.

After about ten minutes they took us to the sealing room. It's always so fun to see family and friends waiting for you when you walk in. The sealer seemed like a nice man. Later I told Zack that he was a fitting choice for this sealing because he was so similar to the man who sealed us when we got married; He knew one of my grandparents, he rambled on a bit more than I would have preferred, but he also gave us good advice.

My mom held Caleb at the altar while he was being sealed. The sealer talked to Caleb the entire time and Caleb stared right back at him. It was pretty cute.

We were so happy to have Caleb sealed to us. There are so many promises and blessings that are promised to those who are sealed. I'm glad Caleb gets to have them and that he's sealed to us for eternity.

We spent some time taking pictures outside the temple. It was such a fun day.

Caleb and Grandpa. Two of the four Rosses.

Who doesn't deserve two doting Grandmas?

(Almost) everyone who came to the sealing. Thanks to everyone who came!

Our handsome boy.

Caleb reminding us that we can't take pictures forever and he's overdue for his nap.

Tomorrow: The Blessing!