9 months

Miss Paisley turned 9 months on February 13th.  She is at such a fun age.  She is the happiest little bugger and such a sweet little angel.  She has finally mastered sitting.  It took her a little longer then normal, but it's hard work holding up that heavy head of hers.  She isn't crawling yet--although she does get up on her hands and knees and rocks.  She rolls around and scoots so she manages to get where she wants to go which is usually under the coffee table.

I took her to doctor last week for a check up.  Her stats are weight -18lbs 45%, height - 28 1/4" 75%, head - 17 3/4" 85%.  She's a little smaller then the other girls were at this age (Payton was 20lbs and Piper was 19lbs) but she is growing nicely.

Here are some other things about Paisley (Some of these things she has been doing for a while but I haven't been very good at updating the blog and I wanted to make sure I wrote it somewhere so I will remember it.)

• She finally started eating baby food at about 8 months.  She tried to fight it, but we kept trying and she will eat almost everything we try now.
• She is going through the stranger anxiety stage.  She doesn't want to be held by anyone but mommy and daddy (Grandma Ross doesn't even make the cut.)
• She is a daddy's girl just like her sisters.  
• She has more hair then the other girls did at this age (they were completely bald.)  
• She has been sleeping through the night since she was 6 weeks old.  My angel baby! 
• She has her two bottom teeth.
• In typical Ross girl fashion she always has her tongue out and makes silly faces.  The bitter beer face must be hereditary.
• When she gets excited she twirls her hands and feet. (I need to get this on video)
• She loves to dance or bounce.
• She has found her voice and loves to babble. 
• She's also turning into a little parrot and loves to sing.  We sing to her (lalalalala) and she will sing back to us.  
• She loves her sisters!

 Love those big blue eyes!

Just hanging out with daddy.

Christmas

 We had a full house this year for Christmas.  My parents and two brothers came from Washington and my sister and her family came from Virginia.  My Mom came on the 20th so we had her to ourselves for a few days.  We kept busy getting things ready for everyone else to come and finished some last minute shopping.
Christmas morning was a Sunday so we made the kids suffer a little and didn't let them open any presents until we got home from church.  Surprisingly we didn't have any complaining.  We came home to some delicious monkey bread and piles and piles of presents.  We all got super spoiled.  The girls got the coveted dolls they had been begging for for months and plenty more.
Monday we headed out on the town and spent a few hours at Cabela's.  The kids loved all the animals and the aquarium.  They also got grandpa to use his gift cards and buy them toys.  Payton picked out a stuffed pink camouflage wolf and Piper got a pink camo pop gun which she thinks is a fishing pole.
The rest of the week we did some more shopping, lots of eating, watching movies, more eating, and just relaxing at home and playing.  We also talked dad into buying a kindle, he ended up giving it to my mom and went out and got himself an iPad which kept him entertained for the rest of the trip.
The girls had a great time with their cousins and we were really sad to see them go.  I hope we kept everyone entertained enough, there isn't much to do in Kansas.  We really enjoyed them being here and are grateful they made the trip to see us.

The girls in their new Christmas pajamas

All the kids: Samara, Logan, Landon, Gavin, Payton, Paisley, and Piper

The girls decorating cookies for Santa

Grandma and Piper at Cabela's

Paisley and Uncle Tanner

Paisley and Landon

Halloween 2011

Payton and Piper decided to be Cinderella and Rapunzel this year. The girls collected tons of goodies at our ward truck-or-treat and trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. We made the annual trip to Schaake's Pumpkin Patch with Devin's family to find the perfect pumpkins. Devin and Payton did a great job carving our pumpkins.  Piper helped design the face she wanted on her pumpkin but wanted no part in carving it again this year.  Paisley was all smiles for her pumpkin photo shoot.

Paisley's blessing

While we were in Washington, we blessed Miss Paisley. Devin did a wonderful job and Paisley was an angel as always.  She was awake and looking around throughout the whole thing. It was so nice to be able to bless her in the ward I grew up in, and to have most of my family there to help us celebrate our sweet little girl. My parents threw a nice BBQ after church with some friends and family. It was a wonderful day.



Daddy and his princess

All the boys minus Tanner (his best friends baby was also blessed that day in another ward)

The whole gang

Washington 2o11

Our trip to Washington started off a little rough.  What was supposed to be a one day trip with two flights turned into a two day trip with four flights.  Our flight leaving Kansas was delayed because of a thunder storm in Denver.  By the time we finally made it to Denver we had missed our connecting flight to Washington. Because it was a weather issue the airline would not put anyone up in a hotel, luckily my Mom's sisters live in Denver not too far from the airport.  They were nice enough to pick us up, give us a place to stay, drive me around town at 11:30pm looking for an open store so I could buy diapers and formula, and get us back to the airport the next day.  The girls did pretty good considering all that was going on. All I can say is thank goodness for Ipads, candy, and grandmas.  I am so grateful my mom was with us, or I would have been a hot mess.
Once we finally made it to Washington and had a good nights sleep, the rest of the trip was great.  Grandpa build a swing set, sand box, fire pit and playhouse.  The girls spent the majority of time outside playing.  They have never been so dirty in their lives -- and they loved every minute of it.  They also had a great time playing with cousins.  Payton and Grady spent every moment possible together, and Piper enjoyed  playing with Reese and bossing around poor little Reggie.

Here are some of the highlights:

• swimming with Matt and Tanner at the pond
• tractor rides around the yard with grandpa
• BBQs
• sliding down the monster slip and slid at the ward party
• roasting marshmallows around the bonfire
• swinging with grandma
• swimming
• lots and lots of fishing
• Payton lost her first tooth
• Piper finally decided to be potty trained
• Easter egg hunts, yes I said Easter egg hunts.  My crazy mom thought it would be fun to hide eggs around the yard and leave a note from the Easter Bunny saying he was friends with the Tooth Fairy and she told him we were in town so he left them some eggs and toys to find.  My kids believe everything you tell them.
• Visiting the Tri-Cities Temple
• Having treats and watching cartoons in the playhouse. My dad wired the playhouse with electricity and moved his tv in it for them for a few days.  Playhouses don't get much cooler then that.
• Paisley's blessing
• Movies -- We took the girls to "Smurfs."  The girls liked it, I hope I never have to sit through that again.  My mom and I also went to see "17 miracles," the story about the Willie Handcart Company.  It was a good movie but be prepared to cry.
• playing ball with daddy
• bunny hunts
• finished up Payton's school shopping
• a date to PF Changs
• beautiful weather

The girls and I were there for almost three weeks.  Devin came out to join us for the last week and help with the trip home.  We all had a great trip.  It was nice to be home and spend time with family.

Birthday Girl!

Piper turned three on July 8th.  She sang "Happy Birthday to Me," all day long.  We picked up some McDonald's for lunch and had a picnic in the basement while we watched "Gnomeo and Juliet".  When Devin got home from work we went out for Pizza and then came home for presents, swimming, and cupcakes.  It turns out Piper is afraid of fire and wouldn't even look at the one candle in her cupcake. 

I took Piper to the doctor last week for her 3yr check up.  She has done a lot of growing and changing this year, finally reaching the 50% mark on the growth chart.  She weighed in at a whopping 28 lbs and 36 in tall.  We are hoping the rest of her body is finally catching up with her head.

Piper is our most stubborn and mischievous child so far, which makes for some frustrating days.  She does things at her own pace and is very independent.  She is also our little entertainer -- always dancing, singing, and trying to make us laugh.  We may be in trouble with this one.  Piper is all girl.  She loves dressing up and never goes anywhere without her pearls.  She is our little princess and we are so grateful she is part of our family.

June Happenings

This summer has flown by fast.  We are already back in school and looking forward to fall.  We spent most of the summer inside hiding from the heat. It was just too hot to take a newborn out.  We did manage, however, to make a trip to Deanna Rose Farm.  The girls love the farm and had a great time hanging out with cousins.  As always, they enjoyed feeding the baby goats, riding the little tractors, and seeing the cows and chickens.  This trip I let them ride the horses for the first time --  it was a big hit.  Technically you had to be at least three years old to ride, so I stretched the truth so Piper could ride.  Which was all fine and dandy until she almost fell off.  Again, mother of the year.

As always, a great group shot.

We were also able to get Payton some swimming lessons. Last year we tried hard to get Payton to put her head underwater.  We even tried to bribe her, but nothing worked. So we decided she needed some swimming lessons just to help her be comfortable in the water. She now loves putting her head underwater to see how long she can hold her breath, picking up toys from the bottom of the pool, and jumping off the side. So thankful for an amazing and patient teacher. It turns out Piper is our little fish -- she has no fear. She wasn't taking lessons, but she was in the water the whole time swimming around and jumping off the sides.