Catching Up

I have a LOT of catching up to do on the blog this week. We took an ELEVEN day vacation with three different stops so I've got a lot of updates to do. I'm waiting on pictures from our first five days so my updates may not be in order.

First up... Baby Ross Jacob is getting so close to being Big Boy Ross Jacob. He turned 8 months old on the day that we left for vacation. I was trying to get our final items packed so Russ could get the van loaded up so we tasked Aunt Courtney with taking Ross' birthday pictures so we didn't forget them. She did a good job at getting him to smile (HA - he ALWAYS smiles)!

Ross at 8 months:

* Still no teeth (although you did get your first one only a few days later!)

* Continues to be the happiest kid ever, you smile all the time... even when greeted by strangers

* Starting to crawl more and more, it's an army crawl but you can get to whatever you want when you try to

* You've begun to say "ma ma ma" when you are crying. Not sure if you know what it means but it still makes your momma feel good

* You are starting to figure out how to wave "bye, bye" and will move your hand open and closed sometimes.

* You are a good sleeper now. Most nights you sleep almost 12 hours straight and you go to bed with your "night night" blanket without much fuss. We put you in bed awake after your bottle and you grab your fleece blanket and stick your thumb in your mouth and go to sleep.

Words can not express the joy that Ross has brought into our life. The fact that he smiles all the time is very apparent but what goes unnoticed sometimes is that he also makes all of us smile a lot more as well. He is such a joy to have around and in our close, special family times it all just feels right. The other two boys adore him and are creating their own special bonds with him as well. I can't wait to see how his personality blossoms and the little boy that he will become. In the meantime I soak in all the times I have with my little guy and enjoy our peaceful rocking each night before bed as he snuggles in on my shoulder. After the pregnancy worries that we had I think we truly embrace Ross' life with all that we can. We are THANKFUL... he brings a smile to our faces, laughter into our home, and completing our family in a way we didn't know we needed. Sure, our home is quite crazy, a little less organized, and certainly overwhelming at times... more often than it used to be... but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy 8 months Baby Ross Jacob!