Winter Wonderland

Snow, beautiful snow.

I know we were wishing for snow all week long and although it would have been fun for David and family, I was glad I made it safely home to Colorado Springs. I had Justina over for a couple of hours last night and we were lamenting the fact that there was no snow on the ground.

Then I woke up this morning to SNOW!! I walked to church and sacrament meeting started with about 20 people. By the time the hour was over, the snow was beginning to drift and was still coming down strong. The Bishop decided to cancel the rest of our meetings for safety purposes. So I was home by 10:30. It has snowed all day and they have already called a 2 hour delay for school tomorrow's.

I put a log on and enjoyed a hot beef stew in front of 'roaring' flames with my Christmas tree lights shining and Christmas music playing. The only thing missing was my family that I already miss.

Thanks for a great Thanksgiving and for the visiting. I have to admit, family is exhausting but I am still looking forward to spending Christmas with the Arizona crew. Jenafer, you were missed and I look forward for a great visit.

I love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! I hope that you are all enjoying the cooler weather up north. Down here in Phoenix it is currently 75 degrees. We will nice and toasty warm while we eat outside this afternoon.
Love ya all!
Jen

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I have gained a new perspective on just how much goes into a Thanksgiving dinner this year, and I haven't even done a third of the cooking for it! So, thank you so much, Keryn and LaDale, for taking the time and putting in the effort to make this Thanksgiving great. I love everyone so much and I hope your Turkey day is fabulous!

Erica

Erica came downstairs this morning in tears. Yesterday, she had me put her hair into a ponytail while it was still wet. Today, she was crying, "My hair! My hair! It's not..." And then she made a circling motion in the air. Her curls had straightened slightly because of drying in a ponytail! I hugged her and assured her that it was tempory. She seemed very releived. "I love my hair." Was her comment as she went upstairs once again to dress for school.

I'm a daughter, not a sister!

Mercy just came downstairs crying, after yelling at Ezra upstairs. "Mommy!" she sobbed, "Ezra called me a SISTER! I'm NOT a sister, I'm a daughter!"

Amused, I looked at her. "You are a sister AND a daughter, Mercy. Can I explain to you how?"

"NO NO!" she yelled, throwing herself at the bottom of my bed. "I'm NOT A SISTER!!! I'm a DAUGHTER!!!" She then proceeded to sob loudly, face pressed to the sheets, refusing to hear any explanation.

Welcome to my three-point-five year old. Stubborn? You could say that. Adorable? Definitely. Amusing? For sure!

RE: Up on the housetop

Hey, Jen, we answered this exact question two years ago! Here it is!

And can I just say you are one brave woman, all those little girls in you house. Wow.

Video

Benjamin saw your adorable video and thinks that the real mastermind behind everything is...Agent almost 2.
I think that the Blue Doom should actually be called the Blue Box of Doom.

On a different note, I was singing to my children today and I can't remember all of Up on the Housetop. We all need to collaborate to come up with a single version.

Here's what I do remember, correct me if I'm wrong.

Up on the housetop, Reindeer paws,
Out jumps good old Santa Claus,
Down through the chimney with lots of toys,
All for the little ones Christmas joys.

chorus
Ho, Ho, Ho,
Who wouldn't go,
Ho, Ho, Ho,
Who wouldn't go,
Up on the housetop,
Click, click, click,
Down through the chimney with good Saint Nick.

First is the stocking of our LaDale,
Oh dear Santa, fill it well,
Bring her a dolly who laughs and cries,
One that will open and shut her eyes.

chorus

Jenafer's stocking is next in the row,
Bring her a dress with a fancy bow,
Make it the prettiest that you can,
We think that's a real good plan.

chorus

(I can't remember Keryn's verse at all! Help me out!)

chorus

Next is the stocking of David Mike,
Oh dear Santa, bring him a bike,
Give it a horn that will go toot, toot,
And please give him some cowboy boots.

chorus

Next is the stocking of Samuel Kip,
Oh dear Santa, don't you trip,
(I can't remember what comes next!)

chorus

(Did we ever even decide on a consistent verse for Telima?)

chorus


As you can see, I need allot of help!
Thanks!

Heather's party

Heather had her birthday party today from 10:00 to 11:30. I am utterly exhausted! We ended up having 16 girls (not counting my own) ranging in age from 7 to 11. We ate the entier sheet cake and a a full gallon of ice cream. Oh well. At least my house is still alot cleaner then normal. Jeff mopped this morning.

Super Spies!!

Want to see the most exciting, most fabulous, most marvelous spy adventure of all time? Don't go see Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond movie premiering today. Watch the B. Ross kids in the blockbuster new release, A Super Spy Adventure. (Made for our ward's home movie night. All rights reserved. No babies were harmed in the making of this movie.)

HOME!!!

Quite unexpectedly, we are home home home! YAY!

Heber's bilirubin levels went significantly down two days in a row, and he has been eating well (and doing a good job at what happens next, if you catch my drift), and so they let us come home this afternoon. Heber has to keep a "biliblanket" against his back skin all the time--it's a fiber optic stiff sheet that emits blue light--it's actually quite cool looking. We have to have tests run in the morning to make sure everything is okay. But here we are, where Heber can eat and be cuddled and loved and be at home!

And I am glad to be here, too. Thanks for all your prayers and love.

Life

So, I wanted to say that I love my family. I am glad to call each of you a part of my family. Maybe you might not want to call me a part of your family, especially when I dumped 10 gallons of nacho cheese on the new president-elect (just kidding). I find myself looking forward to the holidays coming up because I will be seeing, however briefly, each and every one of you during the next 2 months. I realized that I do miss you all and I enjoy your company. Thanks for reading my little emotional blurb. SKT

Music and BYU Students

(I just posted this at our religion blog, PonderIt, and thought you might like to read it, too)

My fourth child was born the day after election day, Wednesday November 5. He is currently in the NICU, being treated for severe jaundice and other blood-related problems. That's the bad news; the good news is that his levels are going down, he's responding well to treatment, he's not in any pain, and although we don't get to take him home for several more days, once he is released we don't have to worry about these problems again--it's a one time thing.

Still, it's been a bit of a bummer. With number three (my son with spina bifida), I was completely geared up to spend tons of time at the hospital, and emotionally (more) ready to do so. With this baby, it has been a surprise, which is always a little harder for me to deal with. My three kids at home aren't happy with my absence, especially the youngest--at almost 2, with a giant cast on his left leg because of recent surgery related to his spina bifida, he has been a bear with Grandma, and sometimes even with Daddy. Add to that the general exhaustion and hormonal shifts that follow childbirth, it's not a wonder that I am a little shaky and sad, prone to tears and frustration.

So what does this have to do with my post's title, "Music and BYU Students"? Simply this. It's Sunday night, I'm in the lobby of the main hospital in Utah Valley, which is very near BYU campus. I'm waiting until it's time to feed my little son again, and the lobby is quiet and peaceful. Various people walk by, most still dressed in their Sunday best, going to visit friends, family, or ward members. When a group of college-age people stop at the Information desk, I pay little attention to them until they begin singing.

It is one of my favorite hymns, "I Need Thee Every Hour", but oddly my first reaction is irritation at the intrusion into the silence. But then I feel my eyes begin to sting, and I look closer at the group. They are not singing loudly, nor are they facing out into the lobby--they are mostly singing for the elderly volunteer manning the front desk. They are not the most accomplished singers I have ever heard, but they are on-key and have some harmony. As I continue to listen, the words sink into my heart, and I have to blink rapidly to stop from crying.

I need thee every hour
Stay thou nearby
Temptations lose their power
When thou are nigh
I need thee!
O I need thee
Every hour I need thee
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come unto thee

When I was in college, I didn't usually participate in the hospital or nursing home singing visits. My general feeling was that a bunch of young, healthy kids barging into the hospital for an hour was an intrusion, generally unwelcome. And (like most activities in college) impressing the opposite sex was a large part of the draw, and I felt weird doing "service" with that end in mind.

But I may have to change my opinion now. For a few moments, unexpectedly, on a day that most decidedly does not feel like Sunday, I was privileged to feel the Spirit. I could hear the love those students have for singing, for the Savior, for others. I was reminded of all my good fortune, the tangible and real blessing of having the Gospel in my life--of having Christ in my life. I am comforted.

Thank you, singers. Whoever you are, whatever your motives, thank you for singing in the lobby of Utah Valley Regional Medical Center tonight. You brought peace to my heart.

...In a van down by the river

We don't get to come home tonight, either.

Heber's levels aren't where they should be, and so we are here another night. Except this time they don't have a little room for me to sleep--other moms need it more (which I totally understand). So Bradley just went home to get a sleeping mat, bag, pillows, etc so I can park in the van (and the hospital is sort of by the river) tonight. It will be more comfortable than sleeping in a chair (this hospital has a dearth of couches, oddly), and less time-consuming than driving back and forth btwn Spanish Fork and Provo. This way I can feed Heber every three hours and get him all better so we can go HOME!

Let's be honest--this is going to be a great story to hang over my Heber's head the rest of his life. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, young man! I slept in a VAN down by the RIVER for you!"

Day Two, unexpected stuff

So it turns out we don't get to come home tonight.

Heber's bilirubin levels were high, so the pediatrician ordered a few blood tests to see what's up with that. He discovered that Heber's hematocrit levels are also quite high (normal: 50; Heber's: 75), which has to do with the amount of red blood cells in your blood. Apparently, during delivery, it's possible for the levels between momma and baby to get messed up, and the baby's body can't easily deal with it.

So Heber gets to have a transfusion, through the belly button, to thin out his blood. He gets to stay in the NICU (our first baby to do so, how awesome is that?) tonight, and hopefully we'll get to go home tomorrow!

Day one of Heber

So, did the name surprise any of you? Just curious. If you hate it, too late...mwahahahahaha! Just don't tell me. :) No, we honestly didn't decide on it until about 9 o'clock the night he was born--he was three or four hours old.

He's quite the gorgeous baby, not that I'm biased or anything. His fingernails are superlong, his toes are long (Bradley's sisters call the long toes "Peters' toes", after Eva's family). Heber had his first video conference this afternoon, "talking" to Grandma and Grandpa in Tobago. It's amazing that they could watch and listen to him, thousands and thousands of miles away, before he's even 24 hours old. What an amazing world we live in! We sure miss Grandma and Grandpa, though.

It was fun but a little wild this morning with all the kids visiting--golly I miss my big kids! And now I get to include Gideon-boy in that group. (It's funny how I find myself doing certain things--being careful not to touch Heber's lower back as I position my newborn for nursing. Wait, I realize, I don't have to worry about that!) And let me tell you, Jayson looks HUGE now, whereas he was the baby of our little group for the last year. Of course, Gideon looked huge when Jayson was born, too, so it happens all the time, doesn't it?

I'm so grateful for Mema for dropping everything and coming up to take of me and my family. It's wonderful to have a little quiet time in the hospital room, with just Daddy and Mommy and Heber. We had a lovely afternoon-evening, complete with naps and nursing and cuddling and politics (duh. Of course Daddy was reading opinion pages to Mommy during part of the time).

And I'm very grateful to Telima for watching all five kids all day yesterday. I'm glad you got to go out last night, Telima. You totally deserved it. And I owe you! You can take it out of my hide when you get pregnant next!

Time for me to go to sleep. We'll get to go home tomorrow, all things going well (which they are right now). I love you all!

New Baby

Congratulations, Keryn and Brad! He is beautiful and I wish that we lived closer so I could get a baby fix.

I know exactly what you mean about Gideon only being interested in Mommy's lap. That is exactly the way each of the kids felt when the next youngest was born. The hardest one was when Erica wanted to sit on my lap after Lillian was born. We couldn't let her because of the C-section, and that was hard for her. She didn't understand at all!

Love ya all!

Heber Alexander Ross

Welcome to the newest member of the Ross clan: Heber Alexander Ross. He was born on November 5, 2008, at 5:50 pm, weighed in at 7 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches in length. He is beautiful, adorable, wonderful, and HERE!

I'm doing marvelously (tired, achy, absolutely thrashed) and expect we'll get to go home tomorrow. Ezra, Mercy, and Gideon (and Katy, Jayson, Telima, and Mema) got to meet Heber this morning, and although Gideon wasn't at ALL interested in anything but Momma's lap, the older kids seemed quite taken by him. Mercy especially.

Sorry I haven't called everyone...I'm exhausted and my phone doesn't have all your numbers. But I love you all tons and tons. Thanks for being my family.

Ode to pitocin?

Ugh. We've started the pit, but no epidural allowed yet. Ouch. David's the only one that doesn't know I'm in labor, as far as I know. Would someone call him and let him know, if you want? I don't have his number with me.

Love you!

Michael Crichton

(We interrupt this live-blog for this breaking news...)

Michael Crichton died today. I didn't even know he was sick. What an imaginative man he was!

Live-blogging Baby Awesome's Birth

Still slowly progressing. Contractions, however, are more irregular AND more painful. And they won't give me an epidural until the contractions are more regular and I'm a little farther along. Goodness, I'm exhausted--I didn't sleep at all last night (I got out of bed at 1am to check the weather; 2am to comfort Mercy and cover up Gideon and Ezra; I spent 3am to 4am playing internet games; 4am to 5am watching CSI: Miami...you get the idea). And I'm hungry, too, but at least the nurses fudged the rules a little and gave me some crackers before they started my IV. Oh, yeah, since my Group B strep test got messed up at the lab (mislabeled or something), I'm on antibiotics, too, just in case.

La la la...waiting, waiting.

good luck keryn!

remember who you are and laugh hysterically!
love caren

Here he comes!

Well, sort of. This boyo has decided that slow and steady wins the race, or something, because I'm barely progressing. But I am progressing enough, and so my doctor just came in and broke my water. So here we are, in a lovely corner room overlooking Utah Valley and Mt. Timp--if it wasn't covered in clouds. Hopefully baby Awesome will be born around 5pm-ish--yay! I'm SO SO ready (in case you haven't noticed).

Love you all. We'll keep you updated--the first live-blogging delivery? Maybe or maybe not. Depends on everything.

Good luck Telima!

Baby Awesome

Well, he's on his way! I don't know much yet, but Keryn was having contractions about 4 minutes apart when they left for the hospital around 9:30 this morning. I haven't heard anything else yet, so I'm assuming that means everything is going well. Mom is on her way up here now and I'm struggling through with 5 children until she gets here. =) They really are good kids, though, all of them. I'll keep you guys updated when I know...or Keryn will. She has her laptop with her and I know she was hoping for internet connection. Love you all!

Maybe...

Possibly, perhaps...here we go?

yes, I voted

Yes, I did vote. First thing this morning. I was actually waiting outside at 6:45 A.M. in a long line that actually only took 45 minutes to get through. Most were

Then, I tried not to think about it to much but I can't say I am TOO surprised.

What I really want is that snow!!!!

On the positive side...

We're supposed to get 2-4 inches of snow tonight, and another inch tomorrow morning. YAY!

Fat Lady, Sung

Ohio has been called--with reasonable clarity--for Obama.

Congratulations, President-elect.

Not looking good

Most networks are calling Penn. for Obama--not looking good. If McCain can't take Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, Florida...well, it's over.

Not that it didn't feel over clear back when the stock market crashed.

Whichever way it goes, though, all will be well. There's a lot to be said for being able to elect the first black president ever. And hopefully that will go a long way to healing the partisan and racial divide that our country has experienced.

Elizabeth Dole loses

(North Carolina senate race)

Can't say I'm sad. Anyone who runs an ad like the "Godless" ad deserves to lose. Even if she is Republican.

States to Watch

Pennsylvania

Ohio

North Carolina

Florida

Virginia

McCain needs to win PA and/or Ohio, definitely.

Exit Polls

Don't hold your breath for anything exciting, but also don't believe the exit polls right away. In blow-outs, they do okay, but in close races they really aren't that great.

(Sorry, but you-all get all my output while I sit here, watching Backyardigans, reading the blogs and news. Love you!)

Here we go!

(No, not Baby Awesome. I wish.)

It's Election Day! Time to start watching the news, the websites, the exit polls...or, you know, taking care of your kids and your job with occasional glances at the media.

Or both. Whatever.

Anyone have any interesting voting stories (please tell me you all voted!!!!)? What are you worried about locally (if anything)? (My local races are snoozers this year.) Feed my addiction by letting me know!

Or, you know, pay attention to the real important things like your family and friends, and ignore the crazy woman in the corner.

8th graders think i'm hot!

Samuel dressed up today in a suit because he requested his students at his fellowship to dress up for presentations. {they are requested to so he did as well, it's good to set the example.}
Only the 7th graders actually had to do the presentations and they asked why he dressed up as well. He told them it was because he requested that they dress up. His 8th graders posed the same question. He told them because he had a hot date tonight. They asked really? He then told them that he was expecting to see his wife tonight and that he thinks she is hot! Then he showed them pictures and the 8th graders said "whoa she really is hot!"
I have a silly husband.
love caren

Still Here

Still around (and round, and huge, and uncomfortable...), but I wanted to take a second to tell the world just how amazing my sister Telima is: A-MAZ-ING.

I really don't know what I would have done without her in the last couple of weeks. It sure makes a difference in your general outlook to know that, if you need to, you can call your sister and she'll drag her kiddos over to your house and let you take a nap. Or go to the doctor's appointment. Or whatever. She'll even call to see if that's what you need--before you do it yourself!

Or vote--take Halloween. Telima came over to watch the kids so I could have a nap before the ward Halloween party. I decided to "run over" to the Utah County Armory and early vote, since with my luck Baby Awesome would come on Monday night and spoil my chances to cast a deciding vote in this important swing state.

Apparently pregnancy has totally drained my brain, because despite the constant news stories about long waits, I was surprised by the 80+ minute wait. But--just like people in times of old who traveled long distances and faced dire hardship to exercise their right to vote--I perservered. And resisted the urge to skip ahead in line, the way everyone around me urged me to. (Hee hee, at one point in time while we were winding our way around, I discovered that my OB was in line ahead of me! So everything was okay, if I went into spontaneous labor in the poll line. Which I did not, unfortunately.)

And I voted, even. Yay democracy! And yay Telima, who saved me from having to take all three of my kids with me (can you even imagine? I cannot) for an 80-minute wait without a cool theme park ride at the end of it.

Thank you so much, Telima. You really have helped me SO much, and I love you for your selfless service.

QOTW

Sorry, Jen, I got nuthin'. I mean nothing funny in terms of Halloween candy. We're pretty boring here in Utah County, apparently. At least as far as the ward "chair trick or treating" goes. But a very good time was had by all. Even though my children chose to only go around about 1/3 of the circle of people. When I asked Ezra why he didn't go all the way around, he told me he got bored. A five-year-old getting bored of free candy. Yes, that's my Ezra. Hee hee.

As for the prescriptions, mine are only 525. Sorry. You win (but you already knew that). Have you thought about Lasik? I have--very very tempted, especially since my sister-in-law had such great results. Maybe once I'm done having babies I'll be able to save enough pennies to do it.

A big storm system is moving into Utah tonight. I have high hopes about barometric pressure change. C'mon, baby!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Caren

Hope you have a MARVELOUS year!

Question again

All right, since no one answered my last question, I figured I would ask another.

What was the strangest candy you either received or handed out or saw yesterday on Halloween?

I passed by the eyeball gumballs and the gummy Dracula teeth dripping in blood and all that and picked the pomegranate flavored tootsie roll pop.