Four months!

Elisabeth Anne turned four months on April 9 and had her check up yesterday afternoon. She did great! She weighs 13.8 pounds and is 24 inches long. She also had three shots, which makes mom a nervous wreck. She was a trooper and didn't have any bad reactions. Our doctor said she looks great, and for that, we are so thankful! We love her more and more everyday, and it's so amazing to have the opportunity to be her parents. I feel like I say that all the time, but I never want it to lose its awesomeness.

There are only a few more weeks left in the spring semester and then we are off to Florida to get the Jacksonville Summer Training Program off the ground and running. It will be Elisabeth's first time on an airplane, so if you have any magical suggestions for air travel with an infant, please let us know!

Happy spring!
Love, the Rosses

Happy Easter!

Elisabeth had a big first Easter last Sunday! She went to church all dressed up in her new Easter dress from her Kester grandparents, and she made it through the entire service! She really enjoys the singing in the beginning, which then calms her down and she will generally snooze off and on throughout the message. No offense, Pastor Bill...I promise Jason and I are paying attention!

After church she was just so excited about celebrating Jesus that she decided to roll over from her back to her tummy for the first time! We thought this was just great until the middle of the night when I found her rolled over onto her tummy asleep! Yep, our soon-to-be four month old will no longer sleep on her back. Of course, this freaked mom out, but the consensus in the medical community seems to be that once they have the strength to roll over it's generally safe for them to stomach sleep.

We had a fun day reading "My Very First Easter", "Bedtime Bunny" (complete with bunny finger puppet), and playing with her stuffed bunny and lambs.

Tomorrow is a big day: Four months old!

With love,
Jason, Kelley, and Elisabeth

Three months old and first trip to Texas!

Elisabeth has been a busy girl since our last posting! She's managed to turn three months old, travel to Missouri for two Navigator conferences, and travel to San Antonio for spring break with the "big kids". (That's what she calls the college students!) She has stayed in two hotels and seen her fair share of I-35 between Kansas and Texas.

Our trip to Maryville, MO at the end of February included a student leadership conference with students from around the region, and then a staff conference for regional staff. We learned later that this was the first conference where all staff entities within a region gathered together, rather than just the collegiate staff. We met a neat couple involved with the military ministry and it was great to learn from them. The International President for the Navigators, Mike Treneer, spoke to both students and staff, and this was a refreshing time for all.

Our spring break to San Antonio was just last week and we traveled with around 70 students from around the region to work at Habitat for Humanity. They worked for three full days and had the final day to attend Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We were able to see a few friends while we were there, and are quickly learning that her sleep schedule is top priority. We're currently working on establishing better sleeping habits for her, and it's difficult but necessary. As I watch our cat sleep nearly all day, I marvel at how it seems like every other animal has no trouble sleeping, but we humans have all kinds of issues with it!

Elisabeth and Dad hanging out with the "big kids" in Missouri during campus time:


Our hotel room in San Antonio after a massive Sam's run to organize lunches for the group for four days:


Family picture at Friedrich Park in San Antonio where Jason and Kelley got engaged March 23, 2007! What a joyous blessing to have our baby girl with us now three years later!

Spring Training

Every Spring we offer a five-week program for our new students called "Spring Training". Each week is hosted by a different family in the community, usually friends from our local church. As a family, they prepare a meal for our students and share a short testimony of their faith. As staff we then share on various topics over the course of the five weeks like: Who are the Navigators, what are our core values, etc. We also teach basic tools, such as "How to Have a Quiet Time" and time management. We've found this is a great way to build community and rapport, and at the same time help students understand more about what we're about.

This past Tuesday was our first night, and Elisabeth and I were able to attend for awhile before bedtime, which was fun for all of us. The family that hosted has a neat testimony of how God has given them a heart for Ethiopia. They've started an organization with an emphasis on adoption called Fields of Promise (www.fieldsofpromise.org). I felt so grateful that our young students have the opportunity to be influenced by such neat families!

Two months and counting...

It seems like I just posted Elisabeth's one month old blog update and here we are, February 9th, posting her two month update! This past month has been an absolute delight, and Jason and I are loving being parents to our sweet daughter. It seems like everyday she is doing something new.

Month two highlights:

*First time to church (we made it to the early service and Sunday school! No nursery for her yet--it may be awhile until we let her go!)
*First time to social smile. A true heart melter! (-:
*First time to make cooing noises, and they are precious!
*First time to hold head up while on her tummy.
*First time to go to Nav Night.
*First time to attend our student leaders' meeting.
*First time to attend a Bible Study (the girls insisted that we come "interrupt" study every week!)
*First time to wear cloth diapers. I was a little nervous as to how the whole system would work, but we are enjoying it so much! So far we have tried just one brand, Fuzzi Bunz, and they are awesome!

She is growing so fast and we are loving every minute with her!

Officially a Navigator!

Elisabeth attended her first Nav Night on campus last night and is now an official Navigator! Jason spoke to our students on the topic of "The Gospel", and I really wanted to be there to support him. It was Elisabeth's and my first outing completely on our own, and yesterday was an unusually challenging day. Yet, we drove to campus at around 8 pm, and arrived just after Jason started. She was perfect the whole time, and afterwards met SO many new friends who have been waiting months to meet her! I guess her Nav Night experienced tuckered her out as she went 7.5 hours between feedings-her longest stretch yet!

One month old!

Elisabeth turned one month old last Saturday! Monday we took her for her second pediatrician check up, and Jason and I were very eager to learn how much she weighs now. Jason guessed between eight and nine pounds, and I guessed seven-and-a-half. Well, the little lady with the hearty appetite weighed in at eight pounds eleven ounces! We're so proud of our little growing girl and so thankful she's thriving and healthy.

Today is the first day of classes for our KU students, and marks the beginning of the first semester Jason and I will work together officially as parents. We have much to learn!

Finally, my heart is burdened today for the nation of Haiti. As a new parent, my heart especially hurts for the young children affected by this tragedy. I am currently reading through a book called "Trusting God" by Navigator author and speaker Jerry Bridges, and he includes a chapter about God's power over nature. When these great tragedies occur, our first question is often "why?" A quote that jumped out at me from this book says that "it is not wrong to wrestle with these issues, as long as we do it in a reverent and submissive attitude toward God. Indeed, to fail to wrestle with the issue of large-scale tragedy may indicate a lack of compassion toward others on our part." He goes on to quote Isaiah 45:7, "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I the Lord, do all these things." Please join with me in praying for the children affected by the earthquake in Haiti, that they would come to put their trust in a great big God.

Here are a few recent pictures of our sweet little one-month old girl!