My little loves

I really do adore these two.  Of course I have a lot of hard days. Days where I can’t wait until nap time. Days where I cry the moment Russ walks in the door because I’m tired and held it together all day in front of the kids. Days where my house is a mess and no matter how much cleaning I do, I just can’t seem to be on top of it. Days where I’m in my pj’s until lunch. I have moments each day too, where I can’t wait until everyone can use the bathroom by themselves, or just play by themselves in their own rooms for more than 2 minutes in an entire day; where I can actually take a shower without an audience. But honestly? I KNOW I will miss these days more than ANYTHING on earth. I already do, as weird as that sounds. It’s going so fast. Until then, I plan to rock my babies to sleep, and play with them as much as possible. Rowan has two favorite games right now: Can’t catch me! ( self explanatory) & Hide! It’s a monster! The other day it was kind of chilly outside, Isla was on my lap on the couch and Rowan brought over a big fuzzy gray blanket, and threw it on top of us. he quickly crawled underneath and yelled, “ hide mommy! It’s a monster!” I did it a few times and he laughed hysterically. At one point he stopped, looked up at me, and with the blanket over us said, “ This is SO much fun mommy!” with the biggest look of joy on his face. I don’t know what set that moment apart from all the rest, but I knew I wanted to remember it. Every detail. I just had this overwhelming sense of joy and love and was reminded that THIS is the stuff life is made of. It really doesn’t take much to make them happy.

Russ snapped this photo today and its just absolutely perfect.  I look half crazy but we were playing,  Hide it’s a monster! lol

here’s a playful one of me and my girl too. :) She’s just so beautiful and full of life.

Isla is 11 Months!

 

Our big girl FINALLY at 11 months has 1 tooth on the bottom, and the one next to it is just starting to poke through as well. I was wondering if she’d have any teeth by her first birthday. She is getting faster at cruising around and has been letting go and standing quite a bit. It’s funny how she’ll be holding onto a toy and think she can stand, but if you take the toy, she’ll immediately drop to the ground. Rowan did the same thing. She has really started getting a little personality as well. She waves at everyone in a store and then will cower away and giggle or smile when they wave back. She says “Dada” and “Mama,” is clapping, and started pointin this week. She loves to crawl super fast and when we say, “ I’m gonna get you!” she laughs and crawls faster. She has started giving Rowan a run for his money too by poking him, scratching him, taking his toys, etc.. and honestly, he is SO good about it most of the time. I think he really understands that she’s little and doesnt understand. He will usually say something like, “ Sorry Isla! You can’t have that right now.. here’s a toy!” and when she pushes him, he just moves. This took a few months, trust me… but it’s really sweet. he still gives her lots of hugs and kisses too. Oh, and Isla is finally really starting to like eating more. She loves to be able to pick up little pieces of food and feed herself. Her favorite? Stone ground whole wheat tortilla, black beans, and fruit. I’ve started planning her party. Only one month left until our baby is 1!

grumpy face! Trying to take the sticker off… once again!   Rowan decided that it was his turn. he’s obsessed with stickers these days.   Take a picture of me, Mom!

4th of July 2013

We had such had such a fun 4th of July this year. Last year I was 8 months pregnant, hot, and uncomfortable, and I remember watching the fireworks from our balcony. This year we started the morning off at the kids and pets parade downtown Issaquah. The parade is seriously not that cool, and I swear there are more people IN the parade, than watching it (although there were plenty of people watching too), but.. it’s tradition ( I was in it, and went as a kid) and Rowan loves this stuff..so that’s why we do it! My mom came with us which was fun too.      My friend Corey and her twin girls that were born a week before Isla. I swear EVERY picture I have of Rowan outside in the last year is of him wearing this hat. When he was younger, I really pushed him to wear a hat outside to keep his little blonde/bald head from burning and I guess I made my point. I tried taking it off of him several times and he was like, NO MOM, I have to wear my hat!Okay and can we please talk about this outfit?! I’ve been waiting for months to put her in it, haha. So dang cute!

  After the parade and events downtown we went home and put Rowan down for a long late afternoon nap. He doesnt nap anymore and is usually in bed at 6, so we figured we better get him down for a nap so we could have him stay up for the fireworks.

We live in the perfect location for the huge celebration and fireworks show in Sammamish. We literally just walk through the fence and across the Catholic church parking lot and we’re there. Didn’t have to worry about parking, etc…

Watching the live music  Playing at the playground waiting til dusk.   Isla’s first pair of Toms. Sparkly silver. So darling! We prepared Rowan for the fireworks by showing him a few youtube clips and talking to him about the noise. I’’m glad we did because it was LOUD. He loved it though and did so great! I put the big hot pink headphones on Isla and she slept in the Ergo for most of it, thankfully. We got home late and both kids passed right out.

Summer Lovin’

We have been really loving the heat wave around here. It was nice though, to escape to Bellevue Square the other morning for a few hours to meet up with my mom and be in the a/c. We needed to get Rowan’s haircut and decided to go to Dooz in the mall. Usually I take him to bratpack in Redmond but the service can be pretty spotty. Dooz doesnt exactly have all the fun toys, and he didn’t get to sit on an animal chair, so Rowan wasn’t quite sure what to make of it all. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so serious or quiet. He sat just like this, the ENTIRE time. he wouldn’t smile or talk, or answer a question. Poor kid!Isla with her Mor Mor!Rowan pretending to be a pirate at the indoor play area. We got there at opening before a million kids showed up (along with their germs, ha!)We’ve literally spent the last 5 days in the pool. Isla had her first swim and she is a true water baby! She was born into the water, so I figure she has to like it, right? ;-) Rowan still loves the water too and is actually a little too comfortable sometimes. Makes me nervous. I wouldn’t take both kids to the pool by myself at this point. Just don’t feel like it would be too safe!

       We checked out the splash park in Crossroads. Very cool and VERY packed.    Excited for more summer adventures!

Fire Safety Day

I am all about free or cheap local events that get our family outdoors. It’s great subscribing to macaroni kid, red tricycle, and parent map, because I get emails all the time outlining upcoming fun! We decided to check out Fire Safety Day in Seattle. The event was in the parking lot of the Museum of Flight which made it even cooler since we got to see lots of planes taking off the whole time.

This post may look a bit like our touch a truck photos, but this was great because there were not nearly as many people. Lines were only like 2 or 3 kids at the most. They had a lot of safety vehicles, and booths, but Rowan’s favorite (of course) was the rescue helicopter. All of the firefighters, police officers, pilots, etc.. were super great and made Rowan feel really special. He got stickers, and activity books, and all sorts of goodies. Here are some pictures I took on my phone.

In absolute awe sitting in the helicopter. He says he wants to be a “helicopter man” when he grows up. Wouldn’t be surprised. :) Hopefully this is the ONLY time in life I see him in the back of a police car, lol.   Meeting Sparky the dog. Tried to put Isla in a mini fire truck. She wasn’t so sure about it. I had to take this pic because I just think it’s cute to see Russ with both kids and my girly diaper bag, ha! This fire hydrant was like a little robot that moved around and talked to the kids. Rowan was actually kind of scared of it but wanted to watch the other kids interact. Cute photo op, but nearly impossible to get Rowan to look at me. Cool planes all around! It’s fun having a toddler boy!