Birthday Celebration

How awesome is this cake?!

Eamon marching:)

After everyone left, he had a blast with the balloons. He's still having a blast with the balloons.

Happy Birthday, Rowan!

When we found out we were going to have a baby Rowan, I honestly didn't know what to expect. I assumed that we'd never sleep again. Everyone had said that 3 hours of straight crying was difficult, and so I tried to prepare for that. I didn't know how hard it would be.


Hard it was, but I could've never fathomed how amazing having a little Rowan in our lives would be. Every day is something new that he's learning, discovering for the first time. It's pretty great to watch that little spongey brain as it is absorbing, soaking in the world.


The first birthday was really enjoyable. We had a party, had lots of family and friends to visit, had cake, had gifts. It was all great fun, and Rowan seemed to enjoy (almost) every minute of it.

Thank you to all of our family and friends who came to celebrate and who came all the way over to Birmingham. And if Rowan could talk, I think he'd be telling everybody thank you so much for all of his gifts and for the thought of just being there to share the day.

I have more than a few pictures. But it is late, and I really should go on to bed. So here's one to get it started:)

Visit from Dad

I just wanted to upload a couple of pictures really quick since our computer (or my camera) seems to have given up on me and will not load pictures anymore. Dad just emailed these to me at work, and they are from his visit to our house on Wednesday evening. It was a really nice visit! :)

The picture of Rowan in the kitchen - he looks like he's walking, but he's become a wee bit apprehensive of walking now. He'll take a few steps, but he's not quite "there" yet. He's got standing down pat! :)

Kathi

Kathi's visit was so much fun. We miss Kathi and Rita and love them very much! :)

Walking!

I can't believe I forgot to publish this, but Rowan's walking! It's not really speedy walking, but he takes steps now to get where he's going:) He started last weekend with some steps from Kathi to Em in a sort of stumbling fashion. It was definitely steps, but not necessarily walking. But this past weekend, he took a LOT of steps and went about 5-6 feet forward. Then he just sat down. It was deliberate and skillful. So he's walking! We are sad that Clarence is out of town right now, but he's not full out walking yet, Daddy:)

Rowan's reading corner

I wanted to make Rowan a little corner in his room to play and to keep his books. I got this cubby organizer at Target and then the little colorful bins to go inside.

I got home from work one day, and it was magically set up in Rowan's room. And it looked perfect!! Thanks, Em. You have been the biggest help, and such a sweet sister:) We so much love having you here.


Rowan loves pulling things out of the bins.

Also Rachel gave him this sheer, silky fabric, and he loves to play peek-a-boo with it.

Trisha gave us this really cute little owl rug!!

hehe...I snuck that last one in. She's nervously chewing our bedspread. haha. Laney dog:)

Photographer recommendation

My good friend, Rae, is coming to Birmingham! She is an excellent photographer and she took some pictures of Rowan. It was fun to see you, Rae. We had a very nice time.

If you are in need of a good child/baby photographer, check out her blog here:

http://www.raedyerphotography.com/

p.s. a couple of Rowan's pictures are there too:)

Picture from the beach

We did the maze at Panama City. Em carried Rowan on her back. Cute picture.

Laughing

One more for Daddy - here's Rowan laughing at Em.


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Some weekend pictures

Clarence,

This is me talking to you this morning on the phone. See how Rowan was asking to speak to you? ;) We love and miss you and can't wait to see you.

Yesterday we went fishing in the pond. Alex caught three, Dad caught three, and I caught one. We didn't catch any bass, but Alex caught a greenie (I'm not sure how you spell that), and I caught a blue...um... I can't remember the name.

Can you believe how much the pond has grown up?!

I got off to a bit of a rough start. It's been a while since I've gone fishing.

Here's my fish -

Last night, we went over to Mom's house. Unlce Terry, Aunt Myra, Uncle Jerry and Eleanor, Uncle Ken, Aunt Brenda, Rita, and Mike all came out to have a ride on the boat and for dinner together. Rowan seemed to really like Rita. He went right to her without being shy at all!! He also seemed to like Jerry. It was a really great evening, and I even left with a couple of Uncle Jerry's tomatoes! Yum.

Today we're just hanging out. Rowan's napping right now. I think we'll head back home tomorrow morning.

Just one for tonight

Evie and Rowan

Monday night we went over to Amy and Ed's to visit with Rae, Nathan, and the girls. The girls love to play with Eamon and Rowan, and the boys seem to love them too. I'm glad we're not to the cootie stage yet. Let's hope we actually never get to the cootie stage. That would be nice, right? :)

Evie is really great with the babies. She watched as he was holding my fingers and walking around the house. Then I came around the corner to find this (below). What a sweet girl! Well, they are all three sweet girls:)

It was great to see you all Monday night! Amy, thanks for letting me use your camera and for sending me these pictures.

Clarence, I hope these will count as your pictures for the day since the camera/computer connection is still messed up at home. We love and miss you!

For Daddy

Hi Clarence. We miss you. Here are some pictures from bath time. Love you!
The hairbrush -