Due to popular demand.... PICS!

Trifecta - The Three Robert Jeffrey Ross's

BIG FOOT

Mom & Baby
Cute little guy!!

Robert Jeffrey Ross, III has arrived!

Hello World - this is Bob :)

I'm sitting next to Jen in our LD room after the amazing birth of Bobby! He was born at 8:22 am and weighed 5.62 pounds measuring 18.5 inches long. Jen and I both had a chance to hold him and give him kisses before taking him over to NICU for monitoring. He came out screaming and was breathing on his own. We will be moved to a room in the next hour or so and will stop by to see him again on the way.

Jen is doing great! She is recovering well and sleeping a little bit. What a great day!! We'll get some pics out as soon as we can.

Bob

Quick Update

I'm in Labor & Delivery... came in today for routine testing, and the baby's heart rate was dropping. So, at about 5 1/2 weeks left to go, we will actually be welcoming Bobby into the world by c-section at 8:15am tomorrow morning.

Please keep us in your prayers...and I'll update everyone as soon as possible!

Flashback Friday - 2004

Here is my first of many Flashback Friday posts, geared more towards our family and friends.

Enjoy!

Yep, that's me in the gorilla costume. This was taken in October of 2004. Bob was a gorilla for Halloween that year. I had to try the costume on (of course!) Here I am, breaking it down to what I believe was MJ's "Thriller." This was taken in our old house, when it was still a Bachelor pad. Notice the beers in the background.

Here is Bob earlier that same night at the Ale House in Altamonte Springs.

Lisa, this is for you! Here is our good friend Dale, who is married to my best friend. Lisa, I have no idea when this picture was taken, except that it was in 2004! He looks like his clenching his teeth over something! LOL

Kelly, these last two are for you. The boys were obviously on one of their work trips. You might have better details than me. I do know they were in California. Look how young and cute they are! (oh, and probably drunk in the last one, ha ha!)

FYI

FYI to all you preggo's out there - Babies R Us will not take ANYTHING back without a receipt. Luckily, I had only two toys that were not returnable, amongst my stuff. They will not take anything back period. It does not matter if you want a store credit, instead of cash back. Hang on to those receipts!

edited to add - if you are returning an item on your registry without a receipt, then yes, they will accept it.

The Rest of the Baby Shower Pics

Here are the rest of the pictures from my baby shower...

The cute and delicious cake.

The invite.

Me, large and in charge at the dessert and punch table.

Lorraine, Caryn, and Sherri working on the last of the preparations.

Clothesline full of baby clothes.

So, there you have it! Unfortunately, I obviously was not taking pictures during the shower with my camera, and don't have any fun, candid ones to post. (Mom, you need to send your pictures over on Shutterfly :-)!!!)

Also, I had my 33 week appointment today. My contraction stress test showed Bobby's heart rate dropping a bit too low during my last contraction (I have to have 3 within a 10 minute timeframe during the testing), so I have to go back tomorrow and have it done again. My doctor said it's most likely nothing, but he wants to make sure. He's always been right about this kind of stuff, so I am not too worried. On a more positive note, I did not gain any weight from last week! Still holding strong at a weight gain of 24 lbs. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with that, but I am. Sorry if it bugs ya!

Bob and I are hitting up Babies R Us tonight for some exchanging. This weekend is our last busy one until the baby comes. I am kind of freaking out, because the nursery really isn't set up at all. But, we have mostly everything, so how hard can it be? We aren't painting, so that's a relief. I still haven't found a glider yet either. Man, those things are pricey! I keep pricing them out online, and they all seem to be around $500.00. Geez louise!

I hope to post one more time before the weekend, but may not. I also still have more pictures to upload from our trip, amongst other things. If I don't post again until next week, I hope everyone has a great weekend! The weather here in Birmingham is beautiful today! :-)

Finally!

I finally have uploaded pictures from our trip to Orlando. Bob was gone all last week on business, and had the camera. Unfortunately, it is taking forever to upload more than these five on Blogger, so I will have to settle for now.

More to come tomorrow...

But, without further adieu, here are some pictures from my baby shower. The shower took place on Sunday, April 5th. Because Bobby's nursery is a monkey theme, the shower was too! It was hosted by my sister-in-law Caryn, who always outshines herself. She also hosted my bridal shower, and did an amazing job with both! She had plenty of help though from my family and her's. Thank you so much!

I snuck in some pictures with my camera before the guests arrived. And, remember, I am going to attempt to upload the rest tomorrow. There's lots more!

A diaper cake, made by Caryn. She used newborn sized Pampers.

Some of the loot before guests arrived.

This table was in the foyer. Guests signed the picture, which had the shower invitation in it. It's a great idea to remember who came to your baby shower. It will look great hung in the nursery! The favors were green jelly beans, with little monkey wrappers. The tree on the right hung necklaces with monkeys attached. These necklaces were given to each guest, and used later for a game.

Snuck this picture in as well... This was taken the night we went to see Wicked, right before we left for Orlando. Notice my new 'do in my shower pictures?!?

32 Week Appt.

Today I started my weekly doctor appointments. As you might remember, I have to start going weekly at 32 weeks, instead of 36 weeks, due to having high blood pressure. I also started my contraction stress tests today too. This was quite interesting, and not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I'll leave it up to you to google how one might cause themselves to have a contraction ;-).

Overall, both appointments went well. I had only gained 1 lb. in the past two weeks. I'm seriously not sure how this was possible, with our trip to Orlando, and all the Easter candy I've been eating. Oh well... I'll take it! That puts me at a total of 24 lbs. gained thus far. So far, so good.

Bob is out of town for the remainder of the week, so it's just me and Winston. I worked all day yesterday, and work tomorrow. Besides my doctor appointments, today's been pretty productive. I cleaned, and still think I may do more after dinner. I'm on a roll, and when I feel full of energy - I need to take advantage of it. Winston and I took a nice long walk too. It's been a good day, but I do miss my hubby. :-(

Speaking of.... Bob was here this afternoon. I'm jealous! Yes, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a die-hard Republican :-) Hope you still love me! xoxoxo

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all of our loved ones and readers of this blog! I hope this day brings fun, happiness, and joy to you and your family!

Love,

The Ross Family

Something One Should NEVER See

THE FOLLOWING POST IS ABOUT A MURDER-SUICIDE. PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO THIS SUBJECT.

I haven't uploaded my pictures from our trip yet, so I decided to just post about this experience my husband had while we were in Orlando. If you click on the link above, you'll be taken to Orlando's local news channel. You can either read the article or watch the video. If you see the video, you'll recognize Bob in the background a couple of times, along with his dad, and his friend.

So, assuming you have watched the video or read the article, this was probably one of the most horrific things to witness in one's life.

Bob and his dad ran some errands during my baby shower. After doing some shopping, they met an old friend at the local gun range in Orlando. His friend is interested in purchasing a gun, and wanted Bob and his dad to give him some instruction on how to use it. Bob's dad is a retired colonel, and the both of them are trained or experienced in handling a gun (along with myself).

While Bob did not actually witness the shooting, he did see the young man deceased. He was called into the range, because he knew CPR, and thought that he could help. Of course, he had no idea what he was going to see. He thought it was an accidental shooting, and it was a flesh wound. What actually happened was a mother (age 44), who was insane, took her son (age 20) to the gun range. She shot him in the head, and then turned the gun on herself. Later recordings of an audio she left behind, had her saying or thinking that she was the anti-christ. She shot her son, so he would go to heaven, and she would go to hell. Clearly, she was not all there. Her only way of getting a gun, was to go to the gun range, and I suppose trick her son. How horrible!

*and, yes, when you go to the gun range, they ask if you have had psychological problems in the past, or are on medication. Obviously, the system has loop holes in it.

So, as you can imagine, seeing someone who had been shot in the head is unimaginable. Bob has spared me the details for the most part (thankfully). He has told me a few things, but I am not going to share them on my blog. This whole experience has been crazy, and sad for him. It makes me very sad to think my poor husband had to see this. It certainly is not something most will ever see in their lifetime.

I know this is a gruesome, disturbing post, and I'm sorry. I don't know why I am really sharing it, other than the fact, that it has made for an interesting past few days for us.

I can only pray none of you all will ever have to experience something like this!

Catchin' Up

Well, we are back from our vacation...

There is so much to catch up on, so it may take me a few posts. I worked last Thursday, and go back today, so it was definitely a fun-filled week! The main, big thing that happened was we went down to Orlando for my baby shower. It was fabulous! I'll be posting pics soon.

We started of *our vacation by seeing Wicked Friday night, here in Birmingham. (Who am I kidding? It was really my vacation! Bob continued to work at his company's office in Orlando while we were down there. Poor guy!)

Anyhow, the play was absolutely amazing! We both enjoyed it a great deal. I will say that it ranks up there with one of my most favorite. It was cute too, because I kept having to remind Bob how certain things played into the movie. I guess I was a bit more obsessed with it as a kid.

The venue was great too! Although Birmingham is not as big as Orlando, I do believe downtown is. Our skyline here is much bigger, and more "city-like" than Orlando. Anyhow, the venue was at the BJCC, which is a huge cultural hub here in Birmingham. The acoustics were much better than the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in Orlando. And, the best thing about it - you are allowed to have food and drinks in the theatre!

Overall, the night was a great kick-off to a fun week!

I'll update more about the baby shower, seeing my family, the beach, and some other interesting things soon. I've got to take the pup for a walk before I head into work.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Nesting & Exercising

(Hoover Rec Center, courtesy of Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce site.)

I have a question for all you mommies out there.

Did you have a nesting phase in your third trimester? If so, when did it start?

I am so eager to experience this part of being pregnant! I feel like it has somewhat started, but I am also a bit OCD, so I'm not too sure. I have spent the past couple of days getting organized, and now I just need to carry out all of my To-Do's, and what-not. Anyhow, I am just curious as to what others have experienced with this phenomenon.

On a different, and more exciting note, Bob and I joined the Hoover Rec Center on Sunday. We were interested in a gym that had a pool, so Bob can train for triathlons. The gym is only $360/year for an entire family! Not too shabby. The best part (for me) is that childcare is offered. I am hoping to start back running as my main form of exercise once the baby comes, but I also like to do Pilates and Yoga for cross-training. The gym offers both, along with Spin classes. I probably won't use it until after the baby comes (my form of exercise now is just walking), but Bob has already gone twice. Suweeeet!

P.S. I found an ant on me, and I can't stop itching now! Ahhh!!!