Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year from the Rosses!

Elisabeth is now three weeks old and has enriched our lives more than we could ever have imagined. As I was growing up, my parents would say things to me like, "you'll understand once you have kids", and now I am finally starting to get it! Parenting has taught us about the beauty of unconditional love and the amazing miracle of life. Every day I stand more amazed at our daughter and how God created her to be just perfect for us. I look at her newborn pictures and marvel at how she has already changed so much. I know it is an inevitable truth that she will grow up so fast, so I want to cherish these sacred beginnings with her.

Jason and I spent some time today reflecting on the past year and are so grateful for the way God has worked in our lives during 2009. We look forward joyfully to a new year of many "firsts" for 2010!

Below are some holiday and recent pictures of our sweet Elisabeth Anne, two of which she is being held by her Grandma Donna and Grandpa Pat.






Blessings and love to you as you enter the new year!

Love,
Jason, Kelley, Elisabeth, and Annabelle

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Introducing Elisabeth Anne Ross!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14


She's here! On December 9, 2009 at 11:57 am, Elisabeth Anne Ross was born and our lives instantly and beautifully transformed forever!
Our last post was from her due date, and that night my water broke at 1:00 am, which prompted our trip to the hospital around 3:00 am and the induction process starting around 9:00 am on December 8. Labor was very slow in progressing, which meant increasing medical interventions to monitor Elisabeth's and my progress. Finally around mid-morning on Wednesday, December 9, after her heart rate was dropping consistently with each contraction, our doctor decided to do a C-section. After that the process was incredibly fast and she was here before we could even really process what was going on! It was a good decision as her umbilical cord was wrapped around her body several times which was preventing the normal progression of labor.
She weighed in at 5 pounds 14 ounces (the same as Mom when she was born!) and 19 inches in length. We stayed in the hosptial until Saturday and were cared for very well by the staff. The last few days have been adventurous, challenging, and so joyful that words just can't do it justice.
Elisabeth was born with a heart murmur that her pediatrician noticed and wanted checked out by a professional. We took her to the cardiology department at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City yesterday, and while she does have two small murmurs, the doctor is not concerned about them and told us to come back in a year to have them checked again. He told us to just pretend like they are not even there and to not treat her any differently because of it. This was very reassuring and we are thankful it is nothing more serious.
I plan to create some online photo albums with more pictures of Elisabeth, but in the meantime enjoy a few photos below!






Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support during this season of new life. We are so thankful to be celebrating our daughter's birth and the birth of Jesus so close together. Merry Christmas to you all!
Love, Jason, Kelley, Elisabeth, and Annabelle Ross

Monday, December 7, 2009

Today's the official due date!

Well, we made it to December 7th, our official due date! It seems that little Bambina is nice and cozy and not wanting to budge! We had our final prenatal appointment today, complete with a sonogram, and she is doing well and very active. She was even sticking her tongue out and sucking on her fingers. She had us all laughing! We can't wait to kiss those little fingers soon!
In the meantime, here are two recent pictures. One is of Bambina's new "friends" hanging out in her crib just waiting for her arrival. (I've already told them that they don't get to stay in the crib once she gets here, but they are cute for now!) The other is of of Annie having her own baby shower with some pink tissue paper from one of Bambina's gifts. Who knew it could keep a cat occupied for so long?



We'll keep you updated!
Love from the Rosses

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

November Showers

Even though it's December, November was such a fun month that we wanted to highlight some of its events before this month becomes eventful as well!

November was indeed full of showers. For starters, Lawrence had its first "snow shower" a few weeks ago on a blustery Monday morning. We walked out of our weekly staff meeting to a winter wonderland outside! We'll have to wait until perhaps January or February to have enough to make a snowman, but it was fun to see the snowflakes and anticipate the coming of the winter season.

We also had two baby showers in November, one with some friends from the Lawrence and Kansas City area and another with student friends from KU. Both were an absolute blast! It is always so humbling to be "showered" with so much love and support during a transitional time of life. We feel greatly loved! Below are some pictures from the showers. Laura, our sister-in-law, is also pregnant, so this was a picture of us and our growing baby girls at the shower on November 7. The babies' daddies are twins, so I wonder if they'll look at all alike? (-: (Both Jason's and Kelley's mom made it up from Wichita for the shower, and Kelley's mom is in the background.)

The next four pictures are from the KU shower and include a group photo, a picture with the two hostesses, Emily Clark and Kori Podszus, and pictures of the two handmade gifts from students' moms (little pink booties and a gorgeous white baby blanket!)






In the middle of the baby festivities, we had our annual Barn Bash, an outreach event consisting of games, testimonies, chili, cinnamon rolls, s'mores, costume contest, and of course lots of dancing with a live bluegrass band and official caller. It's a hit every year, and this year was no different. Below are pictures of one of the dancing sets.



We had our 39-week check up yesterday and our little girl is showing no signs of wanting to budge. We're thankful she's doing well and seems to be cozy! We set a "Plan B" with our doctor for an induction date of December 14th if she hasn't arrived on her own by then. We'll keep you posted, and in the meantime, below are some recent baby bump and nursery pictures from over the past month.





We'll keep you updated! Blessings and love from the Rosses!