spontaneous....

Last weekend following another awesome sermon at The Bridge (sidenote, but worth mentioning), we called up Brent and Lanelle and suggested a last minute trip to Disneyland. Being the great friends that they are they said, "Sure, why not?" Gotta love the annual passes! So we loaded up, picked them up from their driveway at 11:30, grabbed Subway, and hit the road. It was short, crazy, and so much fun. Josh and Charleigh got some good daddy-daughter time and I got to practice my tourist routine with the new Rebel. We were home around midnight and only poor Josh had to report to work the next day, but even he says it was worth it............

please be praying for....

Olivia Trammel

Olivia was born Monday night to some friends of ours and it turns out that she is very sick. There were no indicators prior to birth that anything was wrong, but when she was born they discovered that she has 2 holes in her heart as well as a defective valve. Her parents have been told that at the very least she will need surgery for the valve. The doctors told them that Olivia needs to be seen by a heart specialist from L.A., but that he won't be back up here for 2 weeks! So they are now faced with the possible choice of driving their sick newborn to try and be seen sooner. Please be praying both for Olivia's health and for her mom and dad as they are faced with the heartbreak and decisions during this time.

no more pictures....

I know that she is growing up. Really I do. But I don't think that it really registers until I see the change in photos. The last time I checked she was still my baby, but then I insert my camera chip and this little girl, this child, appears before me. So, of course, the only logical thing to do is to stop taking pictures. Then she stays my baby forever, right? Right?..............

countdown....

As if I don't already feel lame for the fact that I post so infrequently, now y'all are using these timed sidebars. So each time I go to you page, there it is. Staring back at me. Judging me. Two days. Five days. One week. Two weeks. Two weeks since I last updated on my oh-so-exciting world. Where does time go? Add one more thing to the ever expanding list of things I need to do.

Correction. Blogging is definitely not a NEED to do activity. But I do enjoy it. And I enjoy what everyone else shares and feel the need to contribute to that.

The verdict. Post more. Not feel so guilty.

christmas 2008: part two.....

It's that time of year again.

The Rosson Family Christmas party.

We were at my uncle Stan's this year in Madera. We had a small crowd but so much fun. We did the usual food thing, an ornament exchange, a "brag" time to catch up on each others' lives, and lots of general chatting.


Charleigh loved her Disney ornament....right up until my Aunt Melva stole it from her....

She had a great time playing with my cousin's daughter Katie.....
Tracy and Dalton admiring their ornaments......until Josh stole them..........

We're looking forward to next year......

busy little bee.....

For Christmas this year, I've been sewing. A lot. See, we decided back around mid-summer that this year we would make "homemade" gifts. My mom and aunt thought this was a great idea. I was on board pretty much and my cousin Candice thought we had lost our minds. Well, Christmas arrived and guess who the two were to make their gifts? That's right. Candice and me. Well, technically my mom too, but I was kind of the ghost seamstress for her gifts.

Let's start with mine. I went for the Christmas quilt/blanket option........

my mom's.......



my aunt Sandy's.......

my cousin Candice's........

my mother-in-law Joanne's..........

(thank you Lorie/Colleen for the Yellow Brick Road pattern)

And now for my mom's gifts....aprons..........

Sandy's Four Corners Apron and Candice's retro apron........

my SIL Karrie's ruffle apron from Strawberry Patches, JoAnne with Four Corners and Cabria with another retro apron design.....

(95% of my fabric came from F&M....I love that place!)

And last but not least came a 9-square blanket for my newest nephew Gideon who is due to join us sometime in the middle of May.......

It was lots of work, but so worth it in the end. I love, love, love to give gifts and it was so fun to see how much everyone liked their stuff. I'd love to say that I get a break for awhile now, but that is totally not true. Next up.....Charleigh's blanket and curtains for her newly redecorated big girl room......

christmas 2008: part one.....

Since I have been so lame about blogging lately, be prepared for LOTS of blogs in the coming weeks to get caught up. For now, let's start reviewing the wonderful Christmas we had. There was so much fun and festivities that it will definitely need to be a multiple parter, but first, for the fun new toy Mommy got..........


it was completely unexpected......


I cried like a baby when I opened it......


I am currently driving my family crazy with it........



any guesses?



I'll give you a hint........


Here's a picture from Christmas morning............

and here is one from Christmas evening............



Know what it is now??

That's right....I have joined the Digital SLR club! In a completely unexpected twist Christmas morning, my mom and dad gave me a beautiful Canon Rebel XS. It has barely left my hands since then. Granted 9 out of 10 pics are totally blurry and need to be deleted, I don't mind one bit. As a matter of fact, I tried to pull a Ralphie and sleep with it but Josh halted that idea. Oh well, it'll be there in the morning...........

now introducing.....

Boston Scott Saunders
November 27 2008
7:34 a.m.
6lbs. 8oz, 20 in.

Our new nephew is here! Cabria (Josh's sister) was due on Monday the 24th and when we left town Wednesday with no baby here yet, we knew that little Boston would choose to come while we were gone. And he did! We woke up Thursday morning to find out that he had just gotten into the world about a half hour earlier. We decided that we did not want to miss seeing him so at 3:30 that afternoon we left Charleigh at the coast with my family and took off for Bakersfield. Talk about a whirlwind trip. We were back in Pismo at 8:45. But it was sooooooo worth it. There is nothing like a newborn in the hospital. Mom, Dad, and baby are doing great. Congratulations again, Larry and Cabria..............

witnessing a miracle.....

There are no other words for it. For those who claim that miracles no longer happen, they need only be introduced to this family. I first found MckMama's blog through a prayer request on Angie Smith's blog in late July. At that time, MckMama was 23 weeks pregnant with her 4th child and had been hospitalized due to his severe tachycardia. Severe as in his heart was beating 300 times per minute. A couple of days prior to when I found her blog, she posted this about where their situation was:

"I am so sorry to have to tell you such awful news," the wonderful, kind perinatologist bent down, held my hand and put her other on my tummy. "I don't think your baby is going to make it. He is in heart failure and it's way too soon to take him out and give him a pacemaker. He would need to make it to 32 weeks and there is a 95% chance he will make it no where close to that point. I am so, so sorry to tell you this, but your sweet, sweet baby will probably be still born. I am so sorry."

Please pray for a miracle. Please pray for that 5% to belong to our baby. Be still and know that He is God.

Since that time, our entire family has followed Stellan's journey from what doctors deemed to be certain death, to what can only be described as divine healing from God. And today, after 14 weeks of ups and downs, we are among the many praising God for the following words:

Stellan
entered the world this sunny fall morning
at 10:19 am, CST
weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces
and measuring 19 inches long

Details on exactly how Stellan is doing as well as photos of the sweet baby will be forthcoming. But, let's just say that Stellan got a 9 and a 9 on his APGARS and the NICU team has yet to find a single thing wrong with him...

Happy birthday, sweet Stellan. You are God's miracle to us and you are finally here!!!!

Please visit their family site to read more of this incredible story. For now, it's enough to just stop and give God all the honor and the glory for this great miracle He has done!!!

things that rock.....

Anytime your 2 year old references Kilamanjaro Mountain, it's a good day.


More to come on Charleigh's verbal stylings......

babies, babies, everywhere.....

I came on here to check up on all the blogs this morning and what do I find? Lots and lots of babies!

This girl and this girl are having them.

This girl just had hers.

This girl still hasn't had hers.

This girl's isn't doing as well as he has been.

It's so fun to read about all the new little lives that are on their way. It makes me miss this little face......

worn out......

Life is so exhausting when you're 2.......

in trouble......

I did something recently. Something for which I got into trouble with my family. Something I told no one about and therefore did not ask permission to do. Something I do not regret.....

Want to know what that something was?

I got a new kid. Didn't know that was possible? Oh yeah, it is. It was so simple too. All I did was take this little girl into the shop.......

and voila! I left just minutes later with a brand new kid. Just look!

We miss the old Charleigh, but just look how cute this new little girl is.....

you never know.....

who might be watching the happenings in your backyard........

the aftermath......

Yesterday we went on the last summer hurrah Barbie had planned at Pump It Up. We have never been there before and truthfully, it was little overwhelming. Charleigh loved it, but having forgotten my camera, I have no pictorial evidence of that. All I have to offer is the photographic aftermath that was her run-in with a rude little boy who hooked her face (mostly her nose) and proceeded to basically throw her off the ladder. This resulted in lots of tears and a little bloodshed. Grrr.....

i won, i really won.....

As a person who NEVER wins at anything, I was more than excited to find out that I won this girl's giveway. Who would have guessed? And all for throwin' up some embarrassing pics of my kiddo. Nice.

In other Thompson related news, we went to their house Saturday night for some dinner and racing fun. Along with the 4 of us, Kurt and Alisha came too. *Sidenote: I really like K&A. We first met them on 4th of July and they are great. They were so friendly even though they knew no one really and it was the same Saturday. I love when you meet people that make you feel comfortable when you first meet. * We have talked off and on about watching a race together and we finally pinned down a date for Bristol, baby! The company was good as was the racing. See Barbie's blog for a picture of our adorable kiddos enjoying watching the race, er, I mean, Barney together.

And note to Barbie:

While I concede that Denny will never be this pretty........

it has been a much needed upgrade from this......

to this........

bloopers.....

Thanks Barbie for such a fun idea! Now I have a reason to actually use the random blooper pics I have stored all over my computer........

the goofy "cheese" face, I have hundreds like this.....
proof that potty training and photo shoots don't mix,

thank you Miss Lorie......
there are not even words...........

a good helper......

My kid can be so funny sometimes. I know that sounds biased because I'm her mom, but I really think it's true. I present the following case as an example:

*a little back story to understand the rest*

Seeing as how we have a 2 year old around here, there are times that instructions by us are followed by "no" or silence and a frown from her. So, much of the time when I tell Charleigh to do something I will say, "Charleigh, you need to (fill in activity)" and then I say, "Yes, Mama." To which she repeats "Yes, Mama" and 99% of the time does what I've asked.

Monday night around bedtime we told her that it was time to pick up her toys. She proceeded to walk over to her Woody doll, bend down and say "Time to pick up toys! Okay? Yes,Mama" (to Woody) then answered herself "Yes, Mama"

The pictures are a little hard to see, but she then picked Woody up and used HIS hand to pick up each and every one of her toys. Every couple of minutes she would proudly exclaim "Woody's a helper!!"
I'm telling you, this kid is a crack up. It took about 4 times as long as usual to clean up the living room because Woody is not as good with the motor skills as Charleigh, but it definitely provided endless entertainment.
I just love this girl!

cousins.......

...well, sorta. We recently stopped by Larry and Cabria's house to see their remodeling work and talk baby fabric. Our nephew is still "cooking" right now so Jake the dog is the only kid at the house. Charleigh loves Jake and spent much of the time laying on the floor like this just staring at each other. Every so often she would rub his nose and he would take his front paw and rub her arms. It was too adorable for words! The rest of the time she spent "sweeping" the floors.....

why we love davi......

Two Words: Tea Staining

Thank you, Davi!