Weekend in Photographs

This weekend was a quieter one...lots of quality family time with Kate and the kiddo's, meals outside on the deck, early morning cuddling, dress up, a trip to LeGrands, and lots of music.  I hope you had a great weekend!

Peace,
Ross

Santa'd.

The girls saw Santa today. Hopefully he'll deliver...



Peace,
Ross

The Weekend

I love living in St. Louis! We're close to so many cool things, and can walk to a ton of great places...not to mention, there's a lot of great places to snap pictures of the girls.


Over the weekend, we were also fortunate to see the Monet exhibit at the Art Museum.


And Olive decided to go in a gnome motif...

Peace,
Ross

First Day...

CRAZY...CRAZY...CRAZY!!!

Today was the 1st day of preschool for BOTH girlies!


That is all.
Except for this fun video from breakfast...

Peace,
Ross

Past.Present.Future

There's a tendency to always want things the way they were, "back in the good ole' days." Its the way we are with music, movies, decor/clothing styles, the way(s) we worship, the cars we drive, the politics of the day, etc.

Or maybe you want things preserved as they are right now in the present. My 2 little girls are healthy, innocent, and cute, but are growing up very fast right before my eyes.

Cora got a "big-girl" bike yesterday (w/ training wheels), and already is tooling around the neighborhood. I'm not ready for that! I'm not ready for kindergarten, crushes, college, and weddings. But that's quickly approaching...

Thus, my preservation ideals set in and I do everything in my power to keep things "as is." But alas, the future is inevitable. (and I'm just not that powerful)

The future is amazingly liberating, as well as scary. It is the unknown, the un-chartered, the paradoxical. There's hope in the future. Its a clean slate.

But the future lacks original 90's music, John Hughes comedies, the best SNL cast, my little girlies riding bikes and learning to talk.

So what do we do?

Soak up today.
Remember and give thanks for yesterday.
And be hopeful and legendary tomorrow!

The future is already here, so it might as well be embraced and dream(t)!

Peace,
Ross

our weekend in pics...

This weekend was another GREAT one! We celebrated mothers. And the rain finally let up enough to go out and enjoy some time outside. So here's what I have to show for it...






Peace,
Ross

Weekend at the Lodge

The family spent the weekend at Trout Lodge. We had a great time paddle boating, fishing, and campfire-ing it up!
Hope you had a great one too...

Peace,
Ross

Weekend Review in Photos

We had another whirlwind weekend!

Travel and concerts...but alas, we also had a beautiful Saturday to go out and take advantage of the day, ( and snap a ton of pics).

Enjoy!






Peace,
Ross

A Recent Photo Shoot w/ Ollie

Here's some cute pics from a recent photo shoot with Ollie. It was a nice day, she was in a great mood, and she had some amazing hair going on. Enjoy!


Peace,
Ross

Walk This Way...

January Had Other Plans...

Welp, January's weather wasn't the best for touring. The month had other plans than we did. We got some ridiculous snowfall these past few weeks! We will reschedule the canceled dates, so stay tuned. But if you know me, I make lemonade from the proverbial lemon...



This morning we took advantage of the foot of snow we got and took Olive on her 1st sled ride. She was quite the fan!

Peace,
Ross

Things are interesting with little ones...

Things are interesting with little ones...

2 weeks ago, Cora got a nasty cold, and kept it for a week.

Last Monday, Kate got the cold, and kept it for a week.

Last Friday, I got the cold, and I still have it.

2 days ago, Olive got the cold, and still has it.

Thanks a lot Cora!

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Peace,
Ross

Homemade Boats & The Yellow Submarine

Yesterday we bummed around the house all morning having fun in homemade boats and singing Beatles tunes (one of Cora's new favorite things to do).





After that we went to The Magic House and played for a few hours. 'Twas an eventful Friday.
Today I'm rehearsing, but mostly looking forward to this evening...my "2 hopes" shall come true!

Peace,
Ross

ADVENTure

"HOORAY, HOORAY!"

That was what Cora was shouting from the backseat last night as we drove the neighborhoods of St. Louis to check out the best-of-the-best, Christmas Lights and decorations (how can you go wrong with an 8 ft. snow globe inflated about 75%?)

Cora is what I would call excitedly-dramatic...and I love it! Her 2-year-old personality really comes alive, and advent has been a blast seeing her get pumped night after night for little special treats, trips, foods, and projects. She also has the uncanny ability to get Olive in a frenzy - cast & all.

Sunday night we all got Christmas socks - one of my personal favorites. Tonight, who knows...cookies, paint a Christmas picture, homemade ornaments...you'll just have to wait and see.

So to tide you over, here's a quick little video from the other night.



Peace,
Ross

Another Dinnertime Rock-out Session...

Hope this gets you through your Friday...have a wonderful weekend!



Peace,
Ross

Olive: Our Little Trooper

What a few days...

Sunday night, Olive was walking alongside the couch and plopped down to crawl to Kate. She started crying hard and didn't really show any signs of slowing down. We called urgent care and they said to give her some ibuprofen, that that should take care of it (doubtful of any injury from sitting). She fell asleep.

Monday, she wasn't showing any desire to crawl or attempt walking. That is weird for Olive.

Kate took Olive in to the Dr and they did an x-ray...fractured tibia!

Who breaks their shin sitting down???

Yesterday we went to the orthopedic Dr and got a festive cast put on her. She never cried (except for the time they pressed on the fracture), she was mostly curious of the casting process. Cora showed more concern. She held Olive's hand. Though I think Olive was doing the real comforting.

So what's next...3 weeks of the cast, then 3 weeks with limited movement. How exactly do you keep a 1 year old from moving???

Craziness!
-Ross

My Queen of Hearts...

This weekend we went to KC for a kid birthday party for our best friends, the Schultz's. It was an Alice in Wonderland theme party and was quite cute (see more pics here). Cora has been talking about it for weeks (possibly months). Olive was the Queen of Hearts. It was perfect, red hair, un-proportionally large head, etc. 'Twas a nice little road trip!



Peace,
Ross

A Few Words About My Olive

Olive is a character.
She's always making silly faces.
She's got the greatest smile.
Her laugh makes me a better person.

She's recently taken an interest in scarfs.
Strawberries are her favorite food.
She calls them "shem."
If we tell her "no," her feelings are incredibly hurt; as if she's disappointed us greatly.
That fact may come in handy in her teen years (i.e. "we're not mad...just disappointed.")
She's a talker.
She loves to watch her older sister.
She is quite a champion of peek-a-boo.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
Peace,
Ross

On the Last Day of September...

Cora has a favorite nursery rhyme that ends, "...on the last day of September." So naturally, Kate and I planned Olive's birth accordingly (or perhaps not).

It's hard to believe that 1 year ago today we were going to bed with only 1 little girl; that we were a family of 3. It's hard to believe that we were planning to wake up and head in for the c-section from hell - or rather the 1/2 c-section from hell (Kate had a wild and painful ride). And it's hard to believe that 1 year ago tomorrow, we got to meet Olive Mae for the very first time!

Time really has flown bye...enjoy the pics (day 01 & 365).



And here's a song I wrote my little Olive:

Olive, May I
(c) 2009 Ross Christopher Donaldson

verse 1
we were two, three, now four
and we've made this love story;
a perfect story of who we are
and here we go...

CHORUS
olive, may i have this dance
to settle your tiny cries of midnight
let's dance till you smile
olive, may i have this dance tonight

verse 2
through many sleepless nights
i hold you tight, i hold you tight my love
and i see your smallest smile,
to know its a complete love

BRIDGE
so we dance
and we sing
and we love what we've become

Thanks for reading and Happy Birthday Olive Mae!
-Ross

...we're back!

And we're back folks! This past week, we rented a cute little Victorian house on Lake Michigan. Here's a quick pic to tide you, but I promise much more detail each day this week.


Peace,
Ross