Out For a Ride

Last week we had one day that was 38 degrees!! Alex and I ventured out to play around 3:30pm and he had a great time riding his bike on the sidewalk. We won't see the grass for a few more months but occasionally, everything melts enough that the sidewalk becomes visible. 38 degrees felt so warm compared to the sub-zero temps we've been experiencing so this was a great break! Makes us eager for spring :)

How Quickly It All Comes Back...

Abby, 3 weeks old.

It is amazing how fast it all comes back to you. We had forgotten (or perhaps just blocked out) a lot of what babies do.

They poop, all the time. How did we forget this?

They get on these spit up kicks where you just about get them into dry clothes when they spit up again, so you change them and again the spit up comes as you lay them down until you finally remember to put a bib on them! Today this was occurring and when I picked Abby up from changing her diaper, the back of her head was covered in spit up, eww. All I could do was grab a towel, dry her off and head for Alex's preschool to pick him up. When Alex was a baby, I'm sure I would have cancelled my plans to stay home and get him cleaned up properly in the tub.

I think we had also forgotten how little sleep we actually get in the middle of the night. Abby appears to have the same symptoms Alex had when he started with reflux--all we can do is be prepared for the spit up barrage each feeding and not wear any nice clothes for a while. I'm sure the Dr. will prescribe her Zyrtec or whatever it was they had Alex on, but truthfully I'm not sure it ever really helped.

She cries, a lot more now, and a lot louder than she did those first two weeks, but we know it will all be over in a few short months so we'll continue to cherish all her awake, crying times AND her awake non-crying times. I use the term "cherish" lightly, as we don't cherish much at 3am other than sleep, but we're getting caught up on the news and late night talk shows at that hour. Leno was on at 3:30 or something last night and told a joke so funny I think we were still laughing about it this morning! All that crying has brought back the swaddling to keep her from flailing her arms all over the place and getting even more upset.

This is how I left Brad, Alex and Abby on Sunday morning when I went grocery shopping. Abby, all swaddled up and everyone else, still in PJs. Later in the day I asked Brad how it was with the two by himself and he said "piece of cake". I then reminded him that he was still in his PJs without a shower and it was 3:30pm. I think he has an appreciation for our daily routine.

8:30pm has become a very reasonable and very real bedtime for the adults in our house! Last night Abby slept from 9:45pm-3:30am, what a treat :)

The infant car seat is a blessing. Abby takes long naps in there. Today I brought it upstairs with me while I took a shower and did laundry. She didn't seem to mind!

Making dinner is best done in bulk on the weekends and frozen, or at any point during the day when baby is asleep.

Abby is adorable and we are loving having both a little boy and little girl in the house. Her very dark brown hair is starting to fall out so we are eager to see if we'll have another little blondie!

Blast Off!

Last night at the dinner table, Brad was telling a story and referring to a woman's height as "probably no more than 5'4"". Without missing a beat, Alex heard "5, 4" and chimed right in with "3, 2, 1 Blast Off". It was so funny and we had a good laugh with him!

Our First Big Family Outing

Last weekend we thought we were hot stuff taking the kids to Applebees for lunch. "This is easy" we boasted. Ah, lets up the ante this weekend. This morning, desperate to leave the house after staying home all week, we ventured into Chicago. Our passes to the Museum of Science and Industry expire at the end of January so we wanted to use them one last time.

Holy cow. After loading up a diaper bag for Abby (it has been so long since I've needed little more than a large purse with Alex) and a small backpack for Alex to take snacks and a change of clothes, we were ready to hit the road. I packed the camera, unfortunately the battery was dead, sigh. Abby slept the whole time in the Baby Bjorn carrier and Alex had a blast checking out his favorite exhibits. I think we stayed there the longest we ever had, probably because everything took us a little bit longer. We only ran over a couple of unsuspecting people with the supersized stroller too!

We'll get the hang of it :)

Status Update

Brad logs on his work computer each night to create a "status update" and while I'm not sure what that all entails, I thought I would do one as well tonight.

Things are going well here on the home front. Abby is doing so well waking herself up to eat now and is having more awake time each day. She sleeps in 3 hour or so intervals. She sleeps mostly in the bassinet in our room still or in our arms. For example as I attempt to type this, Abby is sliding down my front onto the keyboard. Perhaps I should put her back into the Baby Bjorn carrier which she really enjoys.

She has spent some time in her crib too, just looking around. I'm not sure if she can see the mobile or not but she stares at it. Nicci and I found some great 75% off deals at Babies R Us over the weekend in my first excursion out of the house since Abby was born--mobile included!

We are eager for the temperatures to shift but realize we still have several months left of winter. I have fun dressing her up in all the super cute girl clothes that have flooded her closet--even if we don't leave the house on any given day.

Alex remains generally unbothered by the baby but has had a little trouble with some potty training regressing. Today we had a great day and hope that they continue. He sleeps through her screaming at night which has been a blessing.

I have more photos to upload but my camera is across the room and I'm not able to get it right now due to the aforementioned baby on chest. I'll try to add photos tomorrow.

Matching Pjs

It was so cold today that I figured these fleece PJs were warmer than some of their clothes! Alex was not too interested in holding Abby today so we just propped her up in the corner :)

Brrrrrr

It is so cold here today that the outdoor digital thermometer is reading simply "LO"...

First Week Back to Work

Brad had been home since Christmas and two days ago was his first day back to work in over two weeks. Needless to say, he is particularly tired this week. Here's a photo from last night, taken around 8pm.

Abby gave us a run for our money last night and was up from probably 2am-4:30am or so. I guess we can write in her baby book "At 10 days old, Abby finally woke up!". She had a great weigh-in at the dr. and is back up to 7.7oz so they were pleased. She does not go back again until she is one month old.

They'll Stamp Anything at the Hospital...

When you have a baby, they'll stamp anything at the hospital! When Alex was born he had a nice baby book that we had stamped and the hospital stamped his footprints on a hat emblazoned with the hospital's name. This time around, I remembered my friend Missy had told me years ago that lots of Ohio moms (and others who are into Longaberger) order the Longaberger Kiddie Purse Basket when they know they are having a girl and have the feet stamped on the top of the basket.

This basket was on sale months ago and I optimistically ordered it...figuring I'd just keep it as a cute basket if the baby wasn't a girl. Then, I packed it in my overnight bag for the hospital and thought I'd have it stamped either way, boy or girl. The nurse told us to line up any items we wanted the baby's footprints on, prior to the c-section, so Brad slid the basket across the counter. This nurse said "I wish I could say this is weird, but I've actually done this once before". I think it turned out so super cute and hope to give this to Abby one day when she's older and can appreciate this keepsake :)

Baby's First Bath

We realized we hadn't so much as wiped Abby off since she's been home, so tonight Brad and I made time to give her a little sponge bath. She smells so sweet and has soft, clean hair again. Abby did not really enjoy being so cold so we tried to make it a quick process and warmed her back up right away.

We are enjoying some awake time with Abby tonight as she seems to sleep lots--lots more than I remember Alex ever sleeping. Abby goes back to the pediatrician tomorrow for another weight and jaundice check, but her feedings have definitely picked up so we don't anticipate any trouble.

Abby Lynn

Here are some much anticipated photos of Baby Abby. Brad, Abby and I came home from the hospital tonight around 5. Alex and Grandma Kathy greeted us with balloons and a welcome home cake for Abby's "party". She is so sweet and sleeps lots :) We think she looks a lot like Alex, just with much darker hair. Thanks for all the well-wishes!

Welcome Abby Lynn Ross!

We welcome the newest addition to the Ross family, Abby Lynn Ross! She was born at 9:53 pm on Sunday, January 4th, weighing in at 7 lbs, 13 oz, and measuring 20.5 inches long. Mom and Abby are doing great, and Alex is about to head to the hospital to meet his little sister. More pictures to come...

Pre-delivery

38 week update

Here's a 38 week photo. If I'm still pregnant on Tuesday, we'll take a 39 week photo :) I do have a doctor appointment scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and the c-section is scheduled for Friday at 9:30am. Brad was off all of New Year's week and we accomplished so much. We played a lot, we cleaned a lot, and we organized a lot. Today I made a variety of meals for the freezer and I doubt anyone will starve here. For some reason these cats think the baby things are theirs to sleep in and we are trying to break them of that habit. If memory serves me correctly though, as soon as that crying baby gets here, they will stay as far away from it as possible!

Alex Learning to Walk in Skates--Video

Just trying out this video upload option to see how it works. We figure with the new baby it might be fun to use.