Saturday, September 24, 2011

Baby Connor

We are so glad we got to meet you, Connor.






Rowan and Lydia



Monday, September 12, 2011

Life at the moment

Life is good, and life is stressful, as it is for most people. I am sure of that. Lydia is doing really well. She is such a happy baby. She's roly poly, smily. She has a good sense of humor, and she mainly cries if she is hungry or not feeling well. Usually when she's tired she sort of fusses and then falls asleep. Often, it sounds like she's talking when she is fussing. Even when she's fussy, it is sweet. She can throw the cutest bottom lip pucker, and you know you're done for.

Right now she is going to a daycare in Hoover. The teachers seem so kind and caring. They scoop her right up everey day and love on her and talk to her. I am very happy so far. Clarence takes her to school and picks her up. I take Rowan. In January, she will start to Rowan's school, unless something changes between now and then.

I was reading a post that I wrote last year at this time, and I can't believe how much Rowan has changed. He speaks in complete sentences, sometimes using words that completely surprise me (words like, "recognize" and "imitate"). He often times sounds like some of the 4 year-olds at his school with his speech. He is learning so much. You can explain something once, and many times he will bring it up weeks later and remember what you told him (I need to start doing some studying because he asks me questions all the time now). He is so inquisitive. He's so attentive. He loves to visit with family and talk about things. Really, he talks all the time. He also can recognize all the letters in his name, except the "N," which he thinks is a, "W." He is constantly "helping" around the house. He helps me do laundry, put away the dishes, clean. He helped me clean the house the other day, vacuuming, wiping, etc.

He's starting to become interested in more sporty and active play, which he hasn't really been as interested in before now. He LOVES to swim. He loves his grandparents, his aunts and uncles. And he loves his baby sister. There's a lot of love going on here. I can't express how much I enjoy watching him learn and reading books with him. It's really one of my favorite things to sit and read together. I love our games and watching his imagination take off.

Of course, he is three. We are going through some rough times. He's had a lot of change this summer, and we've noticed some serious meltdowns. He got a new sibling and lost some attention in the process. He's not quite used to his new classroom yet, and he got new teachers. We LOVED Maria and Deonne, and it's been hard on all of us, this change. But I've heard very good things about Miss LaPortia and Miss Kimberly, so we are hanging in there, just getting to know each other.

I want to remind myself daily of how positive life is. We have wonderful family. We have wonderful children. I have a job that seems to be getting better. And we're getting adjusted to being a family of 4, but it is a happy time.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Happy Birthday, Rowan!

Happy 3rd Birthday, my sweet boy. I cannot believe you are already three. Life goes by too fast these days.

We had a wonderful birthday this year. Friday Rowan had a party at school. Clarence and I brought cupcakes and joined his friends and teachers, LaPortia and Kimberly, in a little party. Saturday we had a wonderful party at home. The guest list included GG, Emily, Grandaddy, T, Alex, Olivia, Grammy, PopPop, Jennifer, Andrew, Unlce Harry, Aunt Sarah, Amy, Ed, Eamon, Brady, Trisha, Kristi and her friend, Butch. I hope I didn't forget somebody. Please comment if I did!

Look at this cake Shannon made for Rowan! It is too cute.

Choo-Choo

Here are some pictures from the party:



Twyla brought their bouncy castle for Rowan and Eamon to play in.




Rowan wanted 7 candles on his birthday cake.







Jumping on the rocket Pop Pop gave Rowan.





Lydia was there too.






Rowan loves having Trish come and play and spend the night! He had so much fun reading and playing hide and seek and just having fun.


The next day, we played and played with all his toys. He was loving it.





Here are Clarence and Rowan putting together this truck. This is also a gift from Pop Pop since he and Daddy used to build radio controlled cars when Daddy was young.



 (Lydia's watching too)


This morning, we started the day off right with Trisha's cinnamon rolls and a few calls for happy birthday singing. Here he is on a call from Grammy and Pop Pop. 


We had to have more birthday candles and singing too!




A birthday train (according to Rowan).


Presents from Mommy and Daddy.






That's his very own digital camera!


Due to Tropical Storm Lee that has rolled in from the gulf, we are inundated with rain at this point. So we made the best of it, and Rowan ran around in the yard hopping in all the puddles, getting completely soaked and muddy.











I think Rowan had a wonderful birthday. Thanks everybody for coming to his party and being a part of it. We love our family and friends very much:)