Monday, November 28, 2005

One year old


My little peanut,

It's hard to believe, but today you're one year old. I get choked up thinking about hwo that can even be possible...how did you grow up so fast, my darling baby boy? It's so wonderful to watch you develop and grow, but it's bittersweet. You're now more than a foot longer than the day you were born, and you weigh more than three times as much! You still have the same sweet disposition, cuddling with your mom and smiling sweetly all the time. You're a joy to me every single day.

You can say mama, dada, dog, woof, and ball. You wave and nod and shake your head. Just over a week ago you took your first few steps. You're still not brave enough to take more than 3 or 4 at a time, but it won't be long before you're tearing all over the house.

You've conquered almost every child lock in the house. You're so smart. We're constantly trying to find ways to keep you out of the cabinets! You're infinitely curious, taking apart and examining everything you can get your hands on. I love to watch you learn - you're a wonderful mix of your dad's creativity and my analytical brain.

You're the cutest boy around - people ooh and ahh at you everywhere that we go. You're going to be a real ladykiller...I can see that already. You've won over every woman you've met so far!

Monkey, your mama loves you more than you will ever know. Perhaps one day you'll have a child of your own, and you'll get just a glimpse of the love that I have in my heart for you.

I pray that your next year is joyful. I pray that you're healthy. And happy. I pray that you continue to learn and grow, and that you never stop being so curious. I pray that you will always be so sweet and loving. I pray that you'll be safe. And satisfied. And peaceful. I wish you every good thing, my boy.

I can't wait for our next year together. I love you so much it hurts.

-Mom

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Little stinker

Despite the fact that Halloween is somewhat controversial among Christians, we've bought Joshua a skunk costume and we're doing Halloween on a small scale. How can we resist - it's his first Halloween!

Sunday, October 9, 2005

5 Things

Also for you, Lolo

5 things I hope to do once before I die
*Run a marathon
*Travel Europe for a month or two and take my time
*Spend a lot more time in Kauai
*See my baby boy get married and live a fabulous happy life with baby boys of his own
*Feel great about my weight and my hair and my skin and my wardrobe

5 things I can do
*Organize stuff...wierd skill but I'm good at it
*Bake a mean cheesecake
*Love my Joshua like crazy
*Make invitations and announcements and little card with lots of vellum and bows
*Love my family and my friends and be totally loyal and supportive and completely available. It's hard to win me over but once you do I'd do anything for you.

5 things I can't do
*Keep the damn bathroom clean
*Stay under my cell phone minute limit
*Not check to see if Joshua is breathing EVERY night before I go to bed
*Stay committed to the gym
*Go up in high places

5 things that make me hot about men
*Men that love their families...tender daddies that hug their babies and rock them at night
*Good listeners
*Compassion
*Man smell...I don't know what else to call it...a little sweat, a little cologne, a little outdoorsy.
*Men that want to love you and take care of you and want to be your safe place

5 things I say way too much
*"Dude" - thank you Chad Kimball. You broke me.
*"Sweet"
*"Don't mess"
*"Whatever"
*The F word - I really need to stop. It's not even funny anymore.

5 Peeps who must now do this fruitless exercise
I'm not going to try to come up with 5 people. Do it if you want to. Whatever.

Once Upon a Time

(Lauren, this is for you)

Ten Years Ago
Nate and I had been dating for almost a year, and I know he was THE ONE. He, however, was not convinced. It took another four stinking years for him to pony up and propose. I was living on 1N in Case Hall and spending way too much time smoking, drinking, and hanging out at Cafe V trying to look cool (I don't think it worked). What an idiot.

Five Years Ago
Five years ago my baby sister (okay, only sister but still a baby in my book) got married, I lived in a totally ghetto apartment in Shelby Township and hated my job. I loved my husband, one year into our marriage. Man, that first year was an eye-opener - did you know how MESSY men are, and that they don't put down the toilet seat or pick up their socks. If you did know, why didn't you warn me?

One Year Ago
I was pregnant. And crabby. I loved being pregnant but other people weren't so fond of pregnant Sarah. I had a run-in with a table saw and went to OB/Gyn triage to see if I broke Joshua (I didn't). I am such a chicken that I didn't leave my job I hated (see 5 years ago) until my water broke and I called in permanently sick. I was mid-way through Bradley classes trying to belly-breathe my way to a natural birth. We had coffee with the Steins for the first time...man, we love those guys! And on November 28, we had our peanut and changed our lives forever...in a really, really good way.

Yesterday
I attempted to coax Joshua back to sleep upstairs with us, after an hour of screaming at 5 am. That's probably an exaggeration but he was unhappy and I was tired. Instead he climbed up and down me and hung from the headboard until I put him back in bed. And then we all slept in...woo hoo. After we got up, we hung out in New Haven with the Vanovers. Nate worked on the garage with Adam and I played with my niece and hung out with my sister...and my mom for a little while (who makes me crazy). I swear she has been going through menopause for like 10 years. My niece is wierd and wonderful...seriously wierd but seriously wonderful too. I love her to bits. I also fell off the wagon and ate a LOT of tootsie rolls. We attempted to walk the kids in a wagon but nobody cooperated and we carried two babies around the block with an empty wagon.

5 Songs I know all the words to
- Rock Lobster
- All Grown Up (my angry teen anthem)
- Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Bret I still love you even though you've totally let yourself go)
- Victor Vito (what happened to me?)
- More (this was my first dance with my husband)

5 Snacks
- Bananas (I can't stop eating them until they're gone)
- Chocolate croissants
- Trader Joe's yogurt raisins
- Dried cranberries
- Twix (only the greatest candy ever)
(On a side note here, I'm really an equal-opportunity snacker. I'll pretty much eat anything that is bad for me. If it has a ton of fat, calories, sugar, lard, whatever...I'm all over it.)

5 Things I'd do with 100 million dollars
- Pay off the houses of all my family and friends
- Live on Kauai and snorkel all day and drink mai tais all night
- Shop at Ann Taylor Loft (a LOT)
- Hire a personal trainer
- Start a rescue/shelter/orphanage for all those sad little kids in Guatemala City...man they make me cry

5 Places I'd run away to
- Kauai (see above)
- Vancouver - I've never been there but I've totally romanticized it in my head)
- North Carolina...we will live there some day or I'll just die
- Europe. All of it. I'm not sure where but I could get a fabulous little Italian or German car and drive all over.
- Toronto. Not the stupid suburbs we're always in, but downtown Toronto. It's a highly Asian, clean, safe Chicago.

5 Favorite Books/TV Shows
- Blow Out
- CSI
- Alias - although I'm currently very angry at Jennifer Garner for being a fickle floozy and causing Michael Vartan to leave the show)
- How I Met Your Mother (my new favorite sitcom...it's legendary)
- Book - yes I know I'm wierd but I love Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman

5 Greatest Joys
- My baby boy...the greatest thing I've ever done
- My husband...the absolute love of my life
- Worship on a Sunday @ church
- My family...Kybaby especially
- Coffee...it's totally ingrained in me and an essential part of who I am

5 Favorite Toys
- My camera phone
- TiVo
- My Kitchen-Aid stand mixer
- The cable modem (yes I'm a nerd but I'd die if I had to dial up)
- My bike

5 People I'm tagging to do this
You. You know who you are.

Geez, this took forever!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Eating lunch with Aunt Meagan

Note the french fry in one hand and knife in the other...

Thursday, September 8, 2005

Top 10 signs you have a baby

1. There are (soggy) Cheerios in the bottom of your bathtub.
2. There are more things in your living room made of plastic than made of any other material.
3. You regularly find yourself rocking back and forth in line at the grocery store.
4. When someone greets you with "Hey, Victor" you promptly respond with "Hey, Freddie!"
5. Gymbucks are as exciting as real bucks.
6. You check inside your shoe for Hot Wheels before putting it on.
7. More than 50% of the food in your cupboard is in 4 ounce jars.
8. It takes you at least two hours to shower and leave the house.
9. You regularly watch PBS because the damn child safety lock keeps you out of the remote drawer.
10. You can't pee because there's a duck swimming in your toilet.

Duck!

Monday, September 5, 2005

Shake it baby, shake it...

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Happy 9 months, Joshua!

Well babe, you're nine months old now. You're still crawling like a maniac...really, really fast! It's all I can do to keep up with you. You love the dog, and chase her around the house. You have a field day at Aunt Meagan's house, chasing her cats.

You're cruising around the furniture and reaching for everything! I had to babyproof because you're so curious. You say "dada" and "mama" - you really just call my name from bed when you wake up and want someone to come pick you up! You know dada though - and you grin from ear to ear when we say his name!

My little boy...you've grown so much! It's hard for me to believe that you've now been out in the world as long as you were in me. I can hardly remember how tiny you were and how light! Now you're big and strong and getting so independent! I miss the tiny baby you were, but I love the little boy you're becoming.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Climbing the baby gate

Thursday, August 4, 2005

Why I'm vulgar...

i recently took a personality test that concluded that i an more vulgar than 87 percent of my peers. I couldn't understand how that was true but maybe the fact that i buy gifts like this for my 1 year old niece has something to do with it.

Monday, August 1, 2005

The house is starting to look like Toys R Us

Friday, July 29, 2005

Guess who can stand by himself now?!

Having a grand old time playing with Thomas the Tank Engine

And so it begins...

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Happy Father's Day!


Joshua smiling for his dad, as usual :)

Nate has a pretty amazing relationship with him - Joshua's face totally lights up when his dad walks in the room, and he laughs harder for him than anyone else. It's very, very cool.

We spent Father's Day @ the Fiddler with Nate's dad, mom, and Aunt Mary. I fear we may be turning into borscht people, if there is such a thing. At any rate, it was good, and we didn't pay, so I can't complain.

Seriously...isn't he the cutest baby ever?

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Happy 6th months, Joshua!

Well, Joshua is six months old today. I've been totally neglecting Joshua's site, so I thought I'd give blogging a go and see if I'm any more likely to keep this up to date. I suspect that I will have greater success, since it's really just a series of rambling emails and everyone who knows me can confirm that I'm VERY good at rambling...At any rate, the boy is a whole barrel of fun. We're enjoying every (ok, almost every) moment with him. He is way more mobile now...not exactly running around town, but trying to make a break for it in his own little way...primarily rolling through the house. He also makes like GI Joe and army crawls across the floor. It's pretty hilarious. He'll be head-to-toe rugburn any day now.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Something to blog about...

Well, Joshua will be six months old this Saturday. I've been totally neglecting www.babyross.com, so I thought I'd give blogging a go and see if I'm any more likely to keep this up to date. I suspect that I will have greater success, since it's really just a series of rambling emails and everyone who knows me can confirm that I'm VERY good at rambling...

At any rate, the boy is a whole barrel of fun. We're enjoying every (ok, almost every) moment with him. He is way more mobile now...not exactly running around town, but trying to make a break for it in his own little way...primarily rolling through the house. He also makes like GI Joe and army crawls across the floor. It's pretty hilarious. He'll be head-to-toe rugburn any day now.