Eight months and the end of summer

Elisabeth celebrated her eight month birthday on Sunday and has grown so much this past month! She is crawling (rapidly) all over the place and loves to chase her kitty all around. She would really love to pet her, but we have to explain that Annie is a "look don't touch" cat as she still has her claws and has been known to be a swiper in the past! Nevertheless, Annie provides lots of entertainment for Elisabeth and I think Elisabeth really likes being able to follow her around.

Elisabeth has quite the healthy appetite and has been doing great with new foods. This month we introduced bananas, carrots, oatmeal, peas, and applesauce. I bought her the Jongold variety of apples to make applesauce and they are so delicious! I'm usually indifferent towards apples but these are amazing! Her favorite food is still her cereal which she eats before bedtime.

Her eighth month included another wedding of former students as well as her first trip to the zoo. Her first animals to see were the lions (notice them in the picture below!) She also rode on Daddy's shoulders for the first time and sat in a baby swing at a playground--two big occasions in the life of a child!

The KU Fall semester begins a week from this Thursday and we have our student leader welcome back barbecue on Monday. The summer reading assignment for our leadership team was "The Cross Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney, which is a mini but mighty book on how to keep the Gospel at the center of everything. I will most likely be re-reading the chapters many times!

Enjoy the remainder of your summer!

Seven Months in the Summer time!

Since we've been married, we've spent every summer at our Summer Training Program in Jacksonville, FL with students and staff from around the country. We really see the value of training programs as they are life-changing for all involved. This summer we were only there for two weeks in the beginning and have been back in Kansas traveling and working on funding and other projects. Jason took a trip to Houston just a few days after we returned from Florida, but the girls stayed behind as we thought it would be too much back-to-back travel for Elisabeth. We missed Dad but were so excited to pick him up from the airport on Father's Day! Elisabeth is so blessed to have an amazing Daddy like Jason. They are big buddies!

We spent a week in Wichita around the 4th of July visiting friends and family, and Elisabeth made her crawling debut at Grandma and Grandpa Kester's the day we left to come back to Lawrence. She's now officially mobile! While in Wichita she also met her Great-Grandma Reba for the first time and also visited Grandpa Pat at his office. He had such a great time showing her off! (See pic below) It was too cute. Elisabeth also made friends with Grandma Donna's sweet kitty, Snow, and fun petting a real cat's fur for the first time! Our cat, Annie, has claws and has been known to have a "cattitude", so we're a little nervous as to how the two "sisters" are going to get along. Elisabeth sure does get excited every time she sees her, though!

This summer has gone by quickly but we marvel at how much we've already done. We are looking forward to having the students return!

PS-Rice cereal update: after a week, Elisabeth became a rice cereal eating champion! We're now ready to move on to mashed bananas!

Six Months Old and Rice Cereal!

Elisabeth turned six months old the day after we returned from Florida, and we celebrated by offering her some tasty organic rice cereal for the first time! We are now on Day Five of solid food training and so far she hasn't really taken to it, but does enjoy spitting out her tongue (cereal included). Day Three of solid food training she was holding on to a spoon and actually stuck it in her mouth the correct way. She looks so cute sitting in her new high chair with her new bib!

Mom and Dad celebrated her six month birthday by visiting Sylas and Maddy's, a local ice cream parlor that makes homemade ice cream with flavors such as "Kansas Twister" and "Rock Chocolate Jayhawk". Yummy! Here Jason and Elisabeth celebrate with a waffle cone!

Our trip to Florida was quick but good, and it was interesting doing life with a baby in a dorm. If we go back for a summer in the future, I've taken lots of mental notes for how to "nest" with a young family in a dorm! It was fun to connect with the staff and students and see the program off to a great start. Elisabeth enjoyed wearing her sun hat, even in the dorm, and playing cards with some KU students.


May you have a wonderful and sunny summer!
Love,
The Rosses

Beach Baby!

We arrived in Jacksonville, FL last Tuesday after two flights that went great with Elisabeth. She seemed to enjoy herself and even made friends with a flight attendant who nicknamed her "Smiley". It was cute to see her stop the beverage service to make faces at Elisabeth!
This past week Jason has been busy helping launch the Summer Training Program and preparing for all the students to arrive. On Saturday around 35 Team Leaders arrived and then tomorrow around 140 more students will descend on Jacksonville! It's neat to see the dorm come alive with excitment.
Saturday morning we took a short family trip to the ocean for about 30 minutes and Elisabeth was the Belle of the Beach! Below are a few highlights of her first trip to the ocean. She's wearing a sundress and sunglasses her Grandpa Kester bought her and a sunhat that her Daddy bought her. She was so cute that she was even turning surfers' heads as they ran by!

First Mother's Day and Five Months Old!

Last Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day for the first time with Elisabeth Anne and on the same day we celebrated her five month birthday! The three of us traveled to Wichita to spend the weekend with family, and it was an extra special trip as Elisabeth met her Great-Grandma Kester for the very first time (see picture below). What a blessing to have four generations from one family together at the same time!

Elisabeth continues to amaze us with her development and the way she's constantly learning. One of her new feats includes rolling all the way over, and over, and over...we have to lay down a "landing strip" for her as once she starts to roll she just keeps on going until she runs into something! It's quite the amusement! She gets lots of praise and seems quite happy to have the attention! She has also started to reach for and grab at things, which is so sweet to see her interact with us. We took a trip to campus to take pictures with the beautiful red tulips in bloom, and Elisabeth looked so sweet in her matching red outfit.

This weekend is KU graduation and Elisabeth attended her first graduation party yesterday of one our dear students. In the picture below she is at the party with the recent grad, Sally, wearing her "future Jayhawk" t-shirt. A few weeks ago we attended a wedding of one our former students and Elisabeth made it through the entire ceremony!

We can hardly believe another school year has come to an end. We will head to Jacksonville, FL on May 25th for two weeks to help get the summer training program up and running. Coming up next month: photos of Elisabeth on the beach!

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