Exciting Times

Wow so it has been a while. I guess I can't say I've been super busy, cause I don't really do too much - besides taking care of Rowan, Sean, 2 dogs, and 3 cats, and everything else - but nothing too out of the ordinary. Anyways. Lots of new things have been going on in our world, so maybe that's why? But here I finally get a few moments to sit down with my Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup and click away for a few about whats up.

We survived the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas were lots of fun, and Rowan really enjoyed ripping open presents. He got some great new toys from all of his grandparents and aunts/uncles, an awesome hat crocheted by his Aunt, an awesome book from his Grandpa that has the recording of said Grandpa reading, some pretty neat blocks too. We had lots of fun here at our house, getting a Christmas tree and putting perdy blue lights on it. All in all it was great fun, and makes me look forward to next year all the more (especially if Renee and Ryan come out :)).

Rowan Patrick got his first pair of shoes! He has been pulling himself up and standing at the coffee table in the living room lately, and since we don't have carpet his poor little feet were sliding about at times, creating the not so happy baby who was falling down and going boom due to slipping. So we were out at the store the other day, getting something else, and ended up getting him the cutest little shoes.

That little - well big really - thing we happened to be out shopping for was a bed!! We got Rowan a mattress and all the fixin's and he has started to take his naps in his own little bed in his own room! I have been super impressed with how the transition has gone, he has taken it like it was no big deal at all. Which is super cool. I'm just wondering how the transition for night time will be. But that I'm not even thinking about yet, so why worry? I'm not! Its great. He is actually in his room taking a nap right now - hence the blogging. It is super neat though, he is doing great with it, and there have been no changes at all in his napping habits - well except he is actually going to sleep easier now then he had been before, which is great! He is usually down in 5 minutes or less, which is really nice.

Another exciting event hasn't quite happened yet, but it is about to! This Saturday will be Sean and I's first year anniversary - I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. We are going to go to the coast - with Rowan of course - and go to the aquarium, and stay the night. It will be great. A good friend of ours will be staying here at our house with the dogs, so everything is taken care of! It will be our first trip as a family that we are doing just purely for fun. Not to visit anyone - which is fun, but not quite the same - or do anything in particular - except have fun! Rowan has never been to the ocean before, so I am excited! Plus he really likes fish, so I know he is going to dig the aquarium!

And since I am talking about dates, today is actually Rowan's 11 month birthday. Pretty fancy stuff. I can't believe how much he has changed and grown in the past year, it really is astonishing. Lately he has been walking with our help, and he is doing so good with it, getting better every day, I can't imagine my little baby walking sometime in the near future. It is insanity! But super wonderful.

Well that is all for now, sorry there are no pictures, for some reason it isn't letting me load any :/ So I will try back later when I can and put some in! Love you all!

Nikon D5000

So I've been wanting a SLR (single lens reflex) camera for quite some time now, and after some saving, I finally broke down and got one. It is amazing. I am already taking such better pictures, and it is super exciting. I went back and forth about getting a Canon Rebel or the Nikon D5000. I ended up with the Nikon, and couldn't be happier. I got 2 lenses with it, a 18-55 mm and a 55-200 mm. It is so much fun! I just can't wait to go to the pumpkin patch with family this weekend and take lots of pumpkin/kiddo pics! yay!

                                                                          ...Alto...

                                                                ...Rowan Patrick...

                                                                         ...sky...

                                                                       .....water.....

                                                                ...walks with grandma....

                                                            ....sleepy walks for Rowan....

                                                                       .....beauty....

                                                                        ...Rowan...

                                                                  ....Papa and Son...

                                                               ....music with Jampaw....

                                                               ...my handsome husband...

                                                     .....Grandparents with their baby....

                                                                     ...onions...

                                                                .....bath time...

                                                               ...Sean and Fritzy...

                                                               ...Mister Fritz....

So far, lots of fun. Who knows whats to come? All I know is that I am very excited, and am in love with my new camera. Hope you enjoy!

Arizona

So we made our first road trip with Rowan, and it was a complete success. On the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend, Sean was talking about how much he wanted to go visit his grandpa. He is 90 years old, and had some stuff going on, and no other time seemed better. So I said, do you want to go? After a frenzy of packing, and preparing our house and animals for us to be gone for a long weekend, I barely had the time to think, are we crazy? 20+ hours in the car with a 3 month old baby? But much to our happiness, he did wonderfully! We left very early in the morning, and drove straight through, arriving at Sean's grandpa's house in Sun Lakes, just south of Phoenix, at around 5 the next morning.

Rowan had quite the adventure - swimming several times, watching his great grandpa play tennis, going out to a restaurant for his first and second time, getting to meet his great grandpa, and many of his friends, getting to see his grandma a week early - she was planning to come visit in Oregon - all and all a wonderful weekend. and he did so good! I was such a proud mommy during those 5 days. Hours and hours in his car seat, new places, people, and things. And such a wonderful boy! It really makes me look forward to the next adventure, and wonder what that may be!

And here is a picture of the four generations together! I am so glad we made the trip!

Five Weeks

I sit here in absolute amazement looking at the calendar; it has been five weeks today since my little bundle of joy joined us here in the great big outside world. I look back over the past weeks and can't believe that it has only been five, it feels more like fifty! How much he has grown, and changed already shows how much more there is to come in the future weeks and years. How much Sean and I have grown and changed as well. It is amazing to think on the past, how five weeks ago at this very time we were still at the birth center, possibly visiting with our families who had come to welcome Rowan into the world. That five weeks ago was our first night at home together as a family, the two new parents asking each other what he should wear to bed that night.  How I was terrified to even pick him up for the fear of hurting him. Amazement at how much we have grown together as a family, how this is my family.

I look at the past week and think of how much he has changed this week alone; looking us in the eye, starting his own baby jabber language, discovering his hands, sleeping so much better at night. How scooting is now an exercise event for the whole family to enjoy. He is helping us mold our family sculpture into being, how I am as a mother, and Sean as a father. It truly is amazing to watch all of our progressions, and how quickly they have occurred in only five weeks. Only 35 days.. amazing how much life can change, can progress, in such a short amount of space. It leaves me thinking of the future, and how  much more we will gain, and grow, in the weeks to come.