Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Happy one month Ross!

Yep, already, our baby boy is one month old t0day.
After we did school and daycare drop-off we ran by the dr's office to get a current weight (below). When we got home I decided to take a picture but it was obvious that he was hungry and tired because he did not want to be put down and this was all I was getting:
So... I fed him and laid him in his big boy crib for a nap - he slept for two and a half hours!!! I got SOOO much done around the house. Ross is really starting to do well in his crib.
When he woke up from his nap, he was much more cooperative. Here are two shots that I got of him right after he woke up. We might try to take pics in this same spot each month but no promises there - we might be lucky to remember to get a picture as it is.




Some information about Ross at one month:
weight - 9 lbs, 12.5 oz
height - 20.5 inches

Ross is one noisy baby! He grunts and makes noises more than any baby ever! He also "toots" A LOT. Some of them are like a man!
He still likes his pacifier. He doesn't have it all day long but definitely has a need to suck on it at times and it seems to work often. Both Reid and Ryan have learned how to give it to him and hold it in for a second until he gets going on it good as his first instinct is to spit it out. Ross has definitely started to put his fist in his mouth and trending more towards his thumb as well. I am betting that he is going to be our third thumb-sucker in a month's time.

Ross is also the most difficult baby to burp that I have ever met. We're lucky if we get one or two burps a feeding and then he still ends up spitting up quite a bit. We told Reid about the acid reflux problems that he had until 22 months old so he loves to ask us who holds the record for spitting up the most... It's obviously still Reid and we're hoping he holds that title. Hopefully we'll find the key to getting Ross to burp a bit better.
Ross is typically not a car seat fan but once we've driven a while he will usually fall asleep unless he is hungry. And if he has eaten his car seat almost always puts so much pressure on his tummy that he spits up... so it's quite the dilemna sometimes as to when to head out.
On weekdays we drop Reid off at 8:00, Ryan after that and then get back home at 9:00. We leave around 3:00/3:15 to pick Reid up, followed by Ryan. In the six hours that we have at home we have yet to establish much of a schedule as our days are always different... and they fly by VERY fast. We do errands, laundry, dishes, workouts, feedings, walks (and even did our first two mile run this week), and lunch dates with dad sometimes. I can assure you that a day at work never goes as fast as Ross and I's days at home. We're loving our time together and very sad that a month has flown by already. My work calls this "baby bonding" time... and I can tell you it has worked. Ross is quite a fan of mommy... and I'm pretty sure he's a keeper too :)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Christmas list time...

We've tried to get a good picture of the three boys a couple of times but just haven't come up with a great one. We tried again last night and got this one (and tater tot even decided to join in the fun). This is about as good as it gets for now...


The boys were bouncing off the walls tonight and LOUD so we decided to slow things down a little. We tried talking Reid into writing his list out for Santa but he didn't really want to do that so we got out the toy catalogs and both boys cut out what they wanted and glued them on a piece of paper.

Ryan's... he's tough this year - has basically everything and really isn't into anything special.

Reid's. Reid wants EVERYTHING and he'll be very easy to buy for. Notice that he wrote his name AND address on the top of his paper... wouldn't want Santa to get the wrong house :)

Monday, November 16, 2009

3 week checkup




Ross had his three week checkup today. He is now 9 lbs, 3.2 oz and just over 20 inches long. He looks so big in all the pictures we take, but he's really our little guy. He has skinny legs and a little head. The pictures above were taken this morning on our way out the door for the dr appt. Grandpa and Grandma Sharp had sent Ross this cute little hat in the mail this week and given that it was rainy/snowy and COLD we thought we'd wear it. The size says for 0 - 6 months and it looks little... but it was a wee bit big :) His head is currently 14.75 inches. He looks like one of those Russian guards or whomever it is that wear those big poofy hats. (I need to ask Russ - he'll know). Needless to say we didn't quite get to wear it today... but Ross promises he'll grow into it grandpa and grandma. Thanks again!
An update on his kidneys... Ross' ultrasound after birth showed a bit of fluid on his left kidney (hydronephrosis). We did a follow up ultrasound on Friday morning and the results still show the hydronephrosis. Our pediatrician is sending us on to a specialist at Children's Mercy. We are still waiting for their call to schedule our appointment. I asked our pediatrician a few more questions today. It sounds like there is a valve that could be allowing the fluid back into the kidneys. This could lead to increased infections or even kidney damage if not repaired. He said that a surgery may need to be done to fix it but Ross would have to be under anesthesia so they would probably wait until he was a year old. They may also decide just to monitor it with ultrasounds every 3 to 6 months. That's about all we know for now. Nothing "major" or urgent but we're anxious to at least figure out what it is that we're dealing with. We'll keep you all updated and appreciate all the concern and prayers that we have received. We know that we're blessed that this is the worst that we have to deal with.

Friday, November 13, 2009

A surprise visit and a great weekend!

Last weekend was Russ' annual trip to Columbia, MO with his marine friends so Grandma Cella was coming up to stay with us and lend me some extra hands. On Friday night Courtney showed up from Chicago. She had driven in for the weekend to surprise us. We had a great weekend! Attached are some pictures from a trip to Fritz's Railroad restaurant - a local restaurant where you order your food by telephone and the food comes to your table by train. Both of the boys had a really good time - we even ended the meal with sundaes for Courtney's upcoming birthday.







Thursday, November 5, 2009

What's in a Name?


A lot of people ask us how we came up with the name Ross so I thought I'd share the story behind it. We agreed from early on in our pregnancy that we'd do another "R" name for a boy. Russ and I had pretty different lists of names that we liked. I had originally ruled out 'Ross' as it was so close sounding to Russ.
Our family is housing for the local hockey team again this year and our player's name is Ross Kovacs. One night Reid and Ryan were downstairs playing with Ross while I was fixing dinner. When it was ready I hollered down the stairs, "Reid, Ryan, Ross... dinner's ready." It immediately clicked for me and I went to the office and asked Russ what he thought. He said he liked it! We knew from that day on that we were going to have a little Ross. The nicknames "Hockey Ross" and "Baby Ross" have stuck for now and seem to be working.
Above is a picture of our "Hockey Ross" holding "Baby Ross." I'm not sure how comfortable he was/is with babies but I didn't really give him a choice :) because I wanted a picture of them together.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009



We had a long night last night, something had Ross' tummy upset so we were up for most of the night. I'm up this morning getting Reid fed and off to school... thankfully Russ took Ryan off to daycare at 7 for breakfast as he's usually full of energy (and sometimes piss and vinegar) in the a.m. I'm not sure I had it in me to deal with that this am.

So anyway, checking facebook and e-mail while Reid ate his breakfast and was delighted to see a preview of some of the newborn shots that my friend, Suzanne, took on Sunday of Ross. The shoot was pretty comical in the sense that our baby that ALWAYS sleeps wouldn't fall asleep and then when he did he managed to pee all over and then poop all over. Once we got him to sleep things went pretty smoothly. Ryan was hanging around "helping" and Suzanne had SO much patience with both boys... no wonder she has FOUR little ones.

Check out her website for more pics of Ross and pics of Reid and Ryan on 9/30 as well. She's officially launching her own business and she's going to do fantastic!

http://www.4inspirationsphotography.com/

Sunday, November 1, 2009

A visit from Grandpa & Grandma McDowell

Russ' parents came up to visit on Saturday to meet Ross. We had a really nice time just hanging out, talking, and letting them get their fill of holding their new grandson. Grandpa spent a lot of time holding him and Ross spent quite a bit of time sleeping. Below are the better of the pictures that we captured throughout the day. The group shot on the couch was a challenge - getting six people, including a 3 year old and grandpa, to look at the camera didn't work for any one shot so I included two different ones :)






HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We had a great Halloween. Ross wore an adorable jack o' lantern onesie during the day and an orange and white striped 'My first halloween' sleeper in the evening. Reid was a Star Wars Clone Commander and Ryan was a tiger. Russ took Reid and Ryan trick or treating on our cul-de-sac and then Ryan came home to help me pass out candy while Reid did one more street with our neighbor's teenage son. They were COMPLETELY hyped up but had a great evening.

Ross in his jack o' lantern onesie...



The boys in their costumes...


Ross sleeping during the trick or treating time...



Ryan home with his bag dumped out on the table surveying goods and then Reid with his...


Ryan helping hand out candy with mom...