I would like to say that we had a great weekend and it was all fun and games, but that is not the story for the Ross family this past weekend. Really it was just me-but it impacted Justin and Taegan too!!! I had been having some lower back pain starting last Wednesday and I contributed it to being "that time of the month" until Friday. WOW-I woke up and could barely move let alone get Taegan out of her bed. I thought I was going to cry all day long. I had to work on Friday afternoon so I put a hot pad thing on my back(thanks Mom) and headed into work. Good thing it was only a half a day and I was subbing for PE which had another teacher for it as well or I would have never made it. I tried to get into my chiropractor but he was closed. So first thing Saturday morning I called and got it.

That's when the fun begins...after laying on the table for 20-25 minutes and him being ever so gentle yet not at the same time, I was leaving the chiropractor. That was after the 10 minutes it took me to hobble to the car and cry all the way home as I drove myself. The pain was very strong. He advised me to go home and sit...and not attend the K-State game! What a downer that was. This left me at home alone with Taegan and I can't bend over or look down for the life of me!!! Becky(MIL) gave me some muscle relaxers and told me to only take half while I was home with Taegan alone. It was a quick rest of the morning and I ate lunch and put Taegan down. I took a pill and we both slept for 3 hours!! That was a blessing. I woke up still unable to pretty much move and had to lay on the floor while Taegan played. What a bad mom.

I ended up taking a full pill Saturday night once Justin got home and that was a HUGE mistake. I felt like I was a walking zombie until Sunday at about 4 in the afternoon. I was really just a waste of space all Sunday and did nothing-thank goodness Justin stepped up and helped out!

Now I have a busy, busy week ahead. Tomorrow is MOPS from 9-11, a special dinner at 5:30, Wednesday I need to get back to the doctor, clean the car, pack for 3 people for 5 days, clean the house, attend Kate's volleyball game, clean the salon, oh yeah and do laundry in there somewhere. We are leaving on a jet plane Thursday-which I am trying not to be nervous about with a 17 month old!!!

Today Taegan is 17 months old...what a special little girl she is!!! She is talking up a storm and showing more and more personality everyday. We are so lucky. For now I am off to make a to do list for the next three days! Wish me luck.

So big...

As I sat here playing with Taegan this morning I was shocked at how old she looked and how big she is getting. On Monday she will be 17 months old and I really am not sure where the time has gone. I am so glad I am staying at home with her because it is such a fun experience. She has learned so much just this last week that I am in awe of how her brain works. What a neat journey we are on with her and her ability to take in so much. On Monday Justin and I were sitting down playing and talking with her and I asked her where her eyes were and she said it and pointed to them, and then her ears, nose, mouth, hands, hair, belly, feet-WOW!!! She only knew feet and belly before I asked her that day. We couldn't believe it. She continues to try and say everything we are saying-which is causing us to be VERY careful in our word selection!!! I know the words she can't say she is working on in her head and one day will just pop out!

Since I thought she was so big this morning I took a few pictures to show you what she is up to right now....

Sitting playing with her Little People
She crosses her feet anytime she is sitting.

Look at her hair-it is getting SOO long!!!

Where is my baby going??? She is becoming a toddler overnight:(

A success...

The garage sale is over and it went pretty well I would say. Friday was much better than Saturday, but overall I got rid of a lot of stuff and put money is savings! I kept a few things behind that didn't sell that I am going to put on Craigs List and see if I can get it gone as well. As for how Taegan did during the sale, lets just say she was the best part of the sale. People loved talking to her and admiring her K-State gear she was wearing.

Mom got her surgery scheduled and we are heading into meet with the doctor to ask questions and get things all lined up on Wednesday. Mom is very upbeat and doing much better-she is however doing WAY too much research about it on the internet. Some of the info is very helpful and other stuff is not what she should be reading. Oh well, she is a big girl I suppose.

I hope to have some pictures up tomorrow of Miss Taegan-can you believe that next week she will be 17 months old??? Holy cow I have a toddler on my hands!!!!

Garage sale and news....

Well I am ready for the sale tomorrow and Saturday-I think. I really just want it to be over and put some money in the bank. Everything not sold will be going to Goodwill or the trash, it will not come back in my house!!!

On Wednesday we found out that my mom has pre-cancerous cells and will need a complete hysterectomy soon! This came as quite a shock to the family and it took us an evening of praying and being together to realize this isn't life threatening, just not what we had planned for our family. We have two big family trips planned coming up and the doctor has agreed to do the surgery between them so we can do both! This was also a huge wake up call that God is much more in charge of our lives then we are. He is the one who makes the decisions and we get to hold on for the ride. So, after a night of sleep and rest we are ready to face this, and look towards the future! I love you Mom!!!

Off to rest before getting up early for the sale-wish me luck.

I can't believe what all we got done...

What a great weekend on so many levels!
*We started Friday night out hanging out with Amy and Katie-we have missed them. We tried to go out to Huff and Puff here in town to see the hot air balloons, but after waiting in line for 20 minutes and a cranky girl we headed to grab some dinner and play at home. Once Taegan went to bed the girls helped me clean out the crawl space and get things ready for the garage sale. Justin was at class until 9:30 so we were very productive.
*Saturday Taegan and Justin slept in while I relaxed alone for an hour in the morning-that was nice. We went and got some Sonic for breakfast to get us energized for a busy day. We cleaned the entire garage(I would even eat on the floor of it now), the patio, the shed, and got the computer working and connected to the TV so we could watch the K-State game at 6! This was such a good day....until we watched K-State lose miserably:(
*Sunday we woke up at 6:30 to go see the hot air balloons do their final launch with grandma and grandpa-Taegan LOVED the balloons.

Here she is watching it blow up with Grandma.

And here she is pointing to them as they are taking off!!!

*Once we got home Sunday from the balloons we continued with the motivation outside. We did all the yard work, picked the rest of the tomatoes that were growing and removed the plants, finished the swing set, got Taegan's new playhouse in place next to the swing set, did 3 loads of laundry, moved all the garage sale stuff to the garage for me to organize it, and even got in a nap!!!

Here is the finished product...I LOVE IT!!!

*Sunday evening we went to dinner and came home to let Taegan play outside in the area we just finished. She had a ball laughing, playing hide and seek with Daddy, and going down the slide. What a blessing it was to sit on the patio and watch her play with Justin and just giggle. It melted my heart-I am so lucky!!!

She is playing peek-a-boo in her house!


Right when she found Justin out the window and laughing so hard.

Here is to a great Monday-and week.

Busy weekend...

I will be up to my ears this weekend getting ready for the garage sale I will be having next Friday and Saturday! I have started going through some stuff, but I have a long way to go. I need to clean out the garage(and organize it), the shed, the crawl space, and the laundry room. That is just to get the stuff out that I want in the sale. Then we need to get it all to the garage-where my car will not be parked for the next week-and start getting it priced and labeled.

I have a lot ahead of me and frankly I am pretty darn excited about doing it. I love a nice clean, organized, free of clutter house. That is my goal...

Oh yeah-and we have a K-State game this weekend too(thank goodness it is on TV). Oh wait, it can only be on TV if we can get ESPN 360 from the computer to the TV!!! Good luck, Justin.

I will let you know how the busy weekend went on Monday, until then I will be hard at work!

Slacker...

I have been a blog slacker lately and hope to get better about this because there really is a lot that goes on around here that I should update on(even if it is just for myself to have later). Taegan and I are really starting to get in a routine now at home and what we do each day. She loves routine, it makes her feel like she is the leader when she knows what we do next!!! We have been having circle time in the morning where we sing and read a book and then we start playing with different things each day to work on different skills. It is amazing the things she is picking up on and how she changes each day. I get so excited to tell Justin what she did during the day.

She continues to stay with my mom or his mom when I am subbing which is such a blessing. She absolutely LOVES her grandmas and enjoys every minute she gets with them. I am still liking subbing, and am doing my best to keep busy. I have three this week and one next week so far. Three is usually more than I want-but 2 are half days, so I am still with her all morning!!!

This past weekend was the first football game of K-State and we had a great time, but I got the flu right after the game. I am not kidding-threw up all that night!! What a way to spend the evening when Taegan is staying the night at grandmas-in the bathroom with Justin sleeping in the basement. I finally felt good on Monday, so Sunday and Monday were spent doing nothing. We loved every minute of it.

I will leave you with a few pictures of the last week-I have been a picture lady lately!!!

Climbed up on her toy box to read her books.
We visited Jeanette and she got to paint with her buddies.

The cutest little KSU cheerleader!

Family picture on Gameday.

Her newest skill-putting on our shoes.

I am back...

Wow I feel so much better. I really thought at the beginning of the week I wasn't going to make it through the day. I headed to the doctor on Monday, got some medicine, and feel like a brand new girl! Thank goodness because we have an important weekend coming up...the first Kansas State football game. And a three day weekend that we get to spend together as a family-could it be any better???

I am still loving subbing and staying home with Taegan. It truly is the best of both worlds and I am eager to go to the classroom on my days to sub. I have only had one day this week-which is not my norm-and I was a bit bummed. I will make up for that next week with 3 days!!! Should be fun.

Taegan is doing amazing-she really is. I got us started in the parents as teachers program this week and am pretty excited about that. Our educator came out on Wednesday to get a bunch of paperwork and get to know yous done and will be back next Wednesday to finish up that stuff and then the fun begins. I LOVED bragging on Taegan and getting to tell her all about her. It was neat to be able to answer a bunch of questions about her and be able to share her strengths. I look forward to being able to further her growth and knowledge!!! What a treat to have this free program. She also provided me with a list of play groups that we can attend and some free events for us to go to. I am eager to get involved and allow her the chance to meet new kiddos and learn how to interact and play with them.

She is now 16 months old and I am shocked at home much she has changed since she turned 1. What a difference. She is becoming more vocal and really trying to say what we are saying! This has caused us to really watch our language and be careful about what we are saying. She is starting to really hug and kiss us a lot more(which we can't get enough of) and she is loving creative play!!! She has also started some fits a bit-but we are working on redirecting skills that have seemed to work pretty well so far.

I hope you all have a super Friday-I am off to have a great weekend. See you soon!!!