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...



Saturday, October 31, 2009

Some updated pics of Ross...

One week old now... man, time is flying by so fast! So far Ross is a very good sleeper... which we're hoping sticks around for a while :) He is not back to birth weight yet so we're still setting a timer to wake him up every 3 hours at night and 2 hours during the day. His brothers love him so much. Ryan is a big fan of helping with him. Reid loves him but is pretty busy with his own life for the most part. That's about all the updates on Ross for now so here are a bunch of great pictures.


Hanging out in his swing...




Being held by his big brother Ryan...




Posing with both of his big brothers. Ryan loves holding him...