Home Sweet Home!!

We have finally moved into our house and we love it! Closing went well on the 22nd and the movers came with our things on Tuesday the 23rd. It's been a lot of work, but our house is really coming together! We love pulling in the driveway and knowing that this place is ours and it's really starting to feel like a home. Brian's been really busy with training and hasn't had too much time to unpack so I did a lot of it myself, with plenty of breaks! :) My parents and Casey (their dog) came this past weekend and were soo much help! We honestly couldn't have done it without them. My mom and I finally got the nursery put together and I feel so much better now that that is done. We washed all of his clothes and things and now he can come anytime! It was great to see them and we really appreciate all of their help.

On Friday, Brian found out that he will be flying the Rivet Joint which is a model of the RC-135. His new squadron is the 343rd squadron. We don't know much about it now, but once he finishes training in July that's where we'll go! He's been working really hard. He's been having 10-12 hour days with 1-3 hours of homework and studying at home. That on top of having to do things to get settled in has left him super busy! He's a trooper though and I love him! :)

Rascal loves his new house and his backyard. He likes chasing the local bunnies and just wandering around the yard. We've been going on walks in the neighborhood and he's been checking out the local dogs and best spots to pee. I think he's finally realized that we're staying put for awhile so he's relaxed a lot.

I will be 36 weeks tomorrow and am definitely ready for this baby to make his entrance into this world. Moving at 8.5 months pregnant has been no picnic and I do not want to do that again! I have started my weekly appointments now. At the last appointment I was not dilated at all but was 60% effaced (thinned-out) so my body is definitely getting ready for labor. She said that my belly is all baby and that the next weeks until he is born is going to be very uncomfortable for me due to my very short torso. I've been having contractions daily now and last night had them for 5-6 minutes for 4 hours. We thought it might be time, but went to bed, and they went away. My doctor said that due to the baby's size she would be comfortable with me delivering at any time now so I don't have to make these contractions go away. I hope that at my next appointment on Wednesday I will have made more progress! For now, I'm going to try and enjoy these last few weeks of silence and time with Brian before he comes. :)

Our house really hasn't been decorated yet, but I wanted to share some pictures of what it looks like so everyone can see our house. I will put up after pictures once every room is decorated. Get ready for a lot of pictures! :)
Rascal was the first one in the house. Mom, is this house ours?!

The front of the house with my car in the garage!

Brian, Rascal, and I by our new grill on our deck! I am looking huge! :)

The Ross Family in front of our house

A close-up picture with Casey in the doorway!

The kitchen

Another view of the kitchen looking out into our backyard

Our living room (huge mess!)

The hallway to the bedrooms and bathrooms

Brian and my dad setting up the crib!

The crib and changing table with Rascal sneaking in!

Not completely done decorating the nursery yet, but here's his dresser/bookcase

Our bedroom, the master bedroom

Guest bathroom

A view of our backyard

The back of our house

On the deck looking into the kitchen/living room

Our downstairs with the fireplace. This room is mess so that's the only view I'm putting up! :)

Our front yard


The plane Brian will be flying

He had an "assignment night" where he got his new squadron. I thought it was funny because he's in class 10-04 again!

Brian with his new squadron patch

Close-up of his new patch

Large and in charge! 35.5 weeks and looking tired!
Front view of the belly on an unpacking break

Happy Friday!! Rascal and I are cheering on the Gophers in the NCAA tournament. It's funny, I will watch a Gophers basketball game every once in awhile, but during March Madness I watch almost every college game that's on! Brian and I both filled out brackets and I am doing so bad so far. Too many upsets by teams I wouldn't expect to win! Oh well, we just need 40 points to win a free appetizer at Old Chicago's! Speaking of Old Chicago's, Brian had something exciting happen to him this week. He became a member of the World Beer Tour and completed the Tap O' The Morning mini beer tour and got a free t-shirt. He was pretty happy! :)

Things have been going well here. Brian continues to have training every day. He has his first simulator next week so he's pretty excited. I still don't get to hear much of what he does because it's "super secret" as Brian calls it. He can't even bring things home with him to study for tests because it's all top secret. It'll be even more interesting when he's actually flying and can't tell me where he's been or what he's done!

I've been getting bigger. I swear every day when I look in the mirror, my tummy is just a little bit bigger! I'm at 34 weeks now and life has been better! :) I have good days and then some bad ones. I've been having some trouble sleeping at night due to horrible heartburn, leg cramps, and just generally being really uncomfortable. I guess it's good practice for the sleepless nights to come! Brian has been the best, not that I thought he would be anything but. He's always asking if I need anything, taking Rascal out for me, cooking dinner, and filling up my water glass! I am so spoiled and blessed to have him. I'm excited for my doctor's appointment next Wednesday to see where I'm at!

Rascal has been doing well. He loves sleeping in with mom and is a great snuggle partner. He's been playing lots of ball and enjoying the warmer weather. The highlight of his day is when his dad comes home and they play ball. He's been such a good boy! He's excited to see Casey next weekend and show her Nebraska.

We are soo sooo excited to close on our house this Monday!! We have a walk through this afternoon to make sure that everything is in good condition. We are so ready to have our things and get everything set up and settled! I will post pictures of the house once we are moved in!

Here are some recent pictures of the Ross family:


We have officially cut off all evidence that we lived in Mississippi! :)

Tori, Brian's car is now a Nebraska resident!


I love Mondays when Brian wears his blues. Even though he makes funny faces, I think both him and Rascal are adorable! That's our super white kitchen in the background of the furnished apartment we're in.
A close-up of my men!

34 weeks

Feeling huge! :)

Hello from snowy Omaha! Unfortunately yes, it is snowing here again. I really thought spring was almost here, but no, it's been snowing all morning. :( Things have been going pretty well here. Last Saturday Brian and I went to our prepared childbirth class at the hospital we're delivering at. It was 8 hours and most of the information we both knew, but I think we both feel a lot more prepared for what to expect. We were trying to do breathing and relaxation exercises but of course with Brian the way he is, made me laugh the whole time! We also got a tour of the maternity ward and it was super nice and calming so I honestly feel a lot better about it since I'm not a huge fan of hospitals. Brian was excited about the flat screen tvs with built in dvd players and the fancy lights he could play with. :) I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and everything is going really well still. I will see her in 2 weeks where she'll start checking me weekly and I think we'll know more at that point whether we'll go for a vaginal birth or a c-section. We learned that Alegent Health has a 12% c-section rate compared to the national average of 30%, so I'm thinkin we'll probably try a vaginal birth. I'm at 33 weeks and feeling ok. Some days are better than others. My heartburn has gotten really bad and it's getting hard to get out of bed, and put pants, socks, and shoes on. I'm starting to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it's still a distant light! :) It's going to be interesting moving in to our house on the 22nd but I am so thankful my parents are coming out that weekend to help. We are so excited and so ready to get settled in and set up the nursery. Rascal's excited for his fenced-in backyard! Brian started his training this past Monday and is liking it for the most part. So far it's been mostly briefings (a lot of them are top secret so he can't tell me anything!) but he's starting to get back into the flying mindset after being casual for a month and a half. Some of you may be familiar with Mustache March. It's a tradition in the Air Force to grow a mustache in March, and it was super big at Columbus Air Force Base. I am happy to report that at Offutt AFB it is much less popular and after 5 days of growing his, Brian decided to shave it because he just looked the creepy lone guy in training! Here are some pictures from the past week:


The Gene Ferrey pedestrian bridge that links Omaha to Council Bluffs, IA. It was a horribly dreary day but it was fun nonetheless!

Downtown Omaha from the bridge.

More of the bridge

Rascal in Iowa and Nebraska at the same time!

Me too! Yes I know we are dorks! :)

Brian's turn!

Brian playing on a statue. Rascal and I pretended we didn't know him!

Flashback (3/18/2009) This is what I got to look at last March

This is what I get to look at this March!!! :) Brian with his new patches. It's like he's a real pilot!

My belly at 33 weeks. Rascal gets annoyed now that when we snuggle my belly is in his way!

Ultrasound!

Today we had another ultrasound to see how big our little boy has gotten. And big he is!! I had my ultrasound at the Offutt AFB hospital and it was amazing! I was able to have an hour ultrasound and even got a 3D photo of him! He was asleep most of the time and didn't really want his picture taken so we had to try every position just to get a somewhat good picture of his face. We had this ultrasound to estimate his size (from now on he will gain a half a pound a week) to see if my small pelvis could accommodate him or if a c-section would be a more practical option. At 32 weeks he is 4 lbs, 12 oz, so at his time of birth (assuming he came at 40 weeks) he would be right around 9 lbs!!! I have an appointment next week with my doctor, this guy was just an ultrasound tech, but it's looking like we may have a c-section or be induced early since he's so big! Must be those Ross genes! :) He really has gotten so much bigger since the last ultrasound at 18 weeks and it was so fascinating to see the 4 chambers of his heart, his spine, kidneys, little butt, and bones, and of course his sweet little face. He was making the cutest faces! His head is down, and his butt is pushed up into my ribs which may be why I've been so uncomfortable this week. I'm not sure of exactly how long he is, I will have to ask my doctor next Wednesday, but everything looked good! He said the way the baby is measuring, he would put my due date 13 days ahead of where I'm at now. Which would make it April 16th! That's not completely accurate though, because he may just be a big baby. So we will see! Another fascinating thing on the ultrasound was seeing his hair, and he has a full head of hair! That explains all the heartburn! :) Brian and I are just so excited and can't wait to meet him! Brian's ready for me to have him now, but that may change once we go to our childbirth classes this Saturday and he sees what it's like!

This week is Brian's last week on casual status so we have tried doing something every day since he won't have free time like this for a looong time! We've gone indoor mini golfing, walking, shopping, and we even made a casino trip (not successful though). We went to the Omaha Zoo yesterday and it was great! It was really big though and spread out so after about two and half hours my body said no more! I can see why it's a renowned zoo because the exhibits were awesome. Here are a few pics:

The 3-D image of his face. Kind of hard to see, but it's a profile shot of his eye, nose, lips. chubby cheek, and a little bit of his chin. He kept turning his head so this is the best one we got.

Here's the 2-D image of his face. Kind of hard to see again because he just did not want to be photographed!


Rascal doing what he does best!

Horrible picture but we went to a local park for a walk since it was a warm 38 degrees out! We're not in Mississippi anymore, that's for sure!

Brian and Rascal walking around in sweatshirts! No more jackets!
The Omaha Henry-Doorly Zoo

Monkeys!!!

Brian pointing at the monkeys in the indoor jungle. I swear people he is intelligent!

Me walking across a slippery and scary bridge!
You can't really tell but there's a waterfall behind me

A gorilla! Brian turned his back to him and the gorilla got really mad and pounded on the glass. Can't take Brian anywhere. Seriously.

Inside the desert dome. I don't know why he takes pictures like this. People probably thought I brought him out for a "special day out". Like I said, can't take him anywhere.