2 years old...

...today! December 27, 2009 at 6:15 am.

I love these photos. I took these a few days ago while Ro and I were having a great time playing pretend with his stuffed animals. He loves to wrap them up in his "baby" (his blue blanket) and walk them around the house, talking to them, singing to them, rocking them, etc. He is always the one to initiate this game and he is so gentle and sweet to his babies. I just love this side of my Rowen. He is rough and tumble one minute, crashing his toy cars into the walls and then the next he is this sweet, gentle soul. I couldn't be more proud of my big 2 year old boy.

Wordless Wednesday

Holiday Brunch 2009

We have started a new holiday tradition... brunch with the Donnellys and Sackmanns and a book exchange between the three boys. The food was amazing but watching the boys play together was the best part of the morning. They are really starting to figure out how to play with each other and it is too cute!



The video is of Rowen opening his gift from Bennett. His reaction is priceless!



Bennett gave Rowen the most adorable book. We have read it many, many times already!



Eric and I are so fortunate to have such amazing friends and we are so glad that Rowen has Bennett and Cooper to grow up with. We look forward to experiencing many more holiday brunches with these two families over the years.

Breakfast with Santa!

We had a very special breakfast with Santa today!



Rowen really liked the Elf but wasn't too sure of Santa.




After the introductions we enjoyed an amazing breakfast! Rowen ate and ate and ate!




After breakfast it was time to get some photos with Santa. I knew that Rowen would not sit on Santa's lap so I just held him and sort of sneaked in next to Santa. This first one went ok only because Rowen wasn't really sure what was happening at first...




Then he realized what was going on...




"Daddy, get me away from this guy!"



We walked around River Park Square for awhile and tried to get a family picture in front of the Christmas Tree... yeah, that's about as good as it gets!



Rowen let us know that it was time to go home and take a nap! It is hard to tell, but he really did have a good time :).

Eric and I are both loving watching Rowen enjoy all the wonder of Christmas time. He loves all the lights on the houses and trees and is delighted with every Christmas decoration in our house! I am just soaking in every bit of this time of year with my little guy... nothing compares.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Wilbur at my Uncle Kevin's. My dad and Kevin recently built a huge shop on my Uncle's property so when the guest list reached 20+ the shop became the perfect place for a big Thanksgiving Feast.


It was so special to have my Papa there along with several other family members that Rowen hadn't met yet.

Rowen really enjoyed playing with Gracee, my cousins daughter who is 4 now. She was darling! Gracee let Rowen ride her big girl bike around the shop and they colored together later on in the evening.

I really enjoyed getting a chance to chat with my cousins who I haven't seen in several months and to catch up with my Uncle Jeff and Great Aunt Jeannie who I haven't seen in years!

Thanks Uncle Kevin for hosting such a special Thanksgiving!

Disney On Ice

Rowen is crazy about Lightning McQueen! So you can just imagine how thrilled he was to see Lightning up close at Disney On Ice. Papa and Mammy treated Rowen to this amazing night. He is such a lucky boy!



Rowen, all decked out in Lightning gear :). Rowen has no idea how awesome this night is going to be!



The man of the hour... Lightning McQueen






Papa and Mammy bought Rowen this Lightning McQueen car. It is really fast!

Thank you Papa and Mammy for such a fun experience! Ro loves you both so much.

November 20th

November 20th is a special day...

First, it is my dear friend, Josie's Birthday. We have been friends for 27 years! We met in ballet when were only 3, went to Kindergarten through 12th grade together, then were roommates at EWU in the dorms, then moved into an apartment together with Devri for a year, were in each other's weddings, had baby boys exactly 3 months apart, and through all of this only became closer friends. Jos is a wonderful woman who I admire and love, I am honored to be her friend! On Friday Josie turned 30!!! We celebrated her birthday on Saturday with a day full of fun. The day started with Josie, Devri, and I doing the Jingle Bell 5K in Riverfront Park. It was a beautiful morning- sun shining on the river and crisp fall air. Then we dropped Josie off at home and headed to her SURPRISE party! She was surprised :). Then later that night we went out to dinner all together (with our husbands) to celebrate again. What a fun birthday celebration, Josie! Thanks for including us.



I now have another reason to love November 20th...

My little cousin, Olivia, was officially adopted by my aunt and uncle on Friday! It was a very special and emotional ceremony. We are so fortunate to have Olivia in our family- she is loved and adored by us all.