Father's Day

Yesterday was a special day for me, it was Eric's first Father's Day. You may be wondering why it was so special for me when it was really his day... well, there are a few reasons. First, I love him even more now that he is our son's daddy. From the moment Rowen was born I fell more in love with my husband- and I didn't think I could love him more because I already loved him so immensely. Second, I have always known that having children with Eric would be special. He is a fun, loving, serious, goofy, responsible, hardworking, thoughtful man and all of these qualities and many more make him a wonderful father to Rowen. And last, Eric is healthy! He gave me a big scare recently with that whole pneumonia thing :). I don't know what I would do without him and right now I am just so grateful that he is mine!

Happy Father's Day honey!

I would also like to say Happy Father's Day to my dad... still my number one hero! Thanks for all you do for me and my family dad.

5 months old and lots of "firsts"

Rowen is 5 months old. He weighs 17 lbs and 12 oz.
Here is what he has been up to...

First taste of solid food... yummy rice cereal.

Rowen is really enjoying solid food. So far he has had rice cereal, a little apple sauce and bananas. He didn't care for the apple sauce so we moved onto bananas and he gobbles them up. There are a few videos of Rowen's first taste of solid food on our website under Videos of Rowen.

First meal in his new high chair.

He looks angry doesn't he? "Mom- hurry up. I'm starving!" Or maybe, "What have you put me in now? I am always being placed into strange contraptions and then people stand around and smile at me and take pictures!"
No. He is just waiting patiently for his delicious rice cereal :).

Sitting up on his own.
He is still pretty wobbly but he is getting better each day. What a big boy!


Realizing his feet are a fun toy.
Rowen has been grabbing his feet for months but he has just realized that they are pretty fun to play with. He will hold onto his feet like in the above photo for quite some time and talk to them. It is so funny to watch. When his is sitting up he will lean all the way forward so that he can get his foot into his mouth :)!

First drink from a sippy cup.

We put some breast milk in it for the first time but I really want Rowen to learn how to use a sippy cup so that this summer he can drink water out of it and stay hydrated. He is doing pretty well with it. He is pretty surprised when he gets a mouthful of liquid.


First cold. I don't have a photo for this one- sorry.
Unfortunately Rowen could not completely escape getting sick. Poor little guy- his nose is stuffy and he has a little cough. It is just heartbreaking watching your baby feel icky- you just want to make it all go away :(. We took him to the doctor on Friday. Eric and I were both worried about the cough due to Eric having pneumonia but the doctor said that Rowen's lungs sound very healthy and that it would be very unlikely for him to get pneumonia just because he has been around Eric. Rowen just continues to surprise us though... even through having this cold he has been such a good boy, smiling and playing like he feels just fine. He has only had a few cranky moments but overall it has been really smooth so far.

Happy Baby

Rowen is just so much fun! I say that all day long because I am having so much fun with our little guy. He is so smiley and giggly. We just are so in love with him. Here are a few of the most recent photos we have of him taken on Sunday.

I love you Daddy!

It has been a challenging past few weeks. Eric was very sick with pneumonia. Pretty shocking to all of us! His left lung ended up collapsing and he was admitted to the hospital. He spent 9 long days there and endured some pretty painful procedures to get that lung inflated again (however- no surgery- YAY!). We are so thankful that he is feeling better and back home with us where he will continue to recover. Rowen and I missed him terribly. Eric and I are both very thankful for our parents who helped me out by taking care of Rowen and supporting both of us through such a trying time.

We love you!

Happy Mother's Day

Today was a special day for me... my first Mother's Day! I had a great day with my family. We had breakfast at my mom and dad's house (delicious french toast T.J.!) and then went furniture shopping- my choice! The best part of today was just looking at Rowen and knowing that I am his mommy- I couldn't ask for anything better.

Happy Mother's Day mom! I love you.


For fun I have posted a few photos below of Eric and I as babies.

Rowen Update

In the last week Rowen has learned to do two new things...
1) Roll onto his tummy from his back in his crib at night
We knew he could do this for the past few weeks but he was not doing it at night in his crib until last Sunday night. I swaddled him up as usual and put him to bed when only a few hours later we heard him crying. I went in to check on him and found him on his tummy in his swaddle unable to roll back over! I quickly unswaddled him and put the swaddle blankets away for good! Now he rolls over onto his tummy and usually wakes up crying. He is learning to soothe himself back to sleep thanks to that handy thumb but he is still learning how to deal with this new "trick" at night. Sometimes he rolls back over onto his back but other times he just stays on his tummy and fusses until we roll him back over. I am trying to be hopeful that it will get better :).

2)Suck his thumb
Rowen has been sucking on his fingers for a long time but just the thumb is new. I don't know if it will last but it is sure cute! We don't necessarily want a thumb sucker but he won't take a pacifier so what can we do? When I go to get Rowen out of his crib in the morning I often find him on his tummy sucking his thumb like the above photo shows.

This is Rowen's new friend- Ribbit the Frog. He loves to talk to Ribbit and suck on his eyes. He has another little green stuffed frog that he also just loves. The other frog actually "ribbits" when you squeeze his tummy and Rowen just smiles with delight when he hears it. So for now his two favorite toys are frogs- if that doesn't say he is all boy I don't know what does.

Talking to Ribbit.

On Thursday my very good friend Maddy came back to Cheney for a visit. I had really missed Maddy- the last time we were together was in early December at her baby shower- we were both still pregnant. I was so happy to finally get to meet little Clara! While we were together I got to hold Clara while she took a nap- what a sweet and snugly little girl! We got together with Josie and Bennett as well. It was so fun to be with two of my best girlfriends and their babies. It is amazing how our lives have changed and to get to share it together is so much fun. The three of us have been close friends since we were in elementary school. I always knew that someday we would be moms together. Bennett is 6 weeks, Clara is 2 months, and Rowen is 4 1/2 months. They are so darn cute all lined up together!

Last Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day with Les and Theresa. Theresa is an amazing mom to Eric, mother in law to me and Nana to Rowen. Rowen loves spending time with his Nana- he is a very lucky boy. Thank you for all of your love and support Theresa. Happy Mother's Day!

Bath Tub bath!

Tonight Rowen enjoyed his first bath in the real bath tub upstairs. Up until now Rowen has been taking his baths in a baby bath tub that we put on our kitchen counter. He seemed to really enjoy this new experience, kicking his legs and smiling at daddy while they played.

Bath Time Waterfall

Here is a short video of Rowen taking a bath.

He loves his baths but he sure takes them seriously :).