2.75 :)

My sweet Rowan Christian is 2 3/4 today. I know, any reason for a post, right? Truthfully, he has been a challenge lately. He is very independent, very stubborn and very assertive. He can also the sweetest little boy with a very kind heart. 

We spent a week or two this past month with tantrum after tantrum. You could hardly speak a word to Rowan and he would be on the floor crying. He shouted and yelled at anyone and everyone who mildly got on his nerves. He spoke rudely to Roger and myself and was plain old mean to his brother. He brought me to tears several days from being just plain worn out... and also wondering how on earth I was going to manage this child! We developed a few discipline methods and reminded Rowan that we are his parents and that he must obey us. We also noted that Rowan was better behaved when Roger was around leading us to believe that he was missing his daddy a bit and we noticed that he was wanting to be held a lot more which made me think he was craving some snuggling time. We were diligent with our discipline methods, Roger made sure he was home earlier and I snuggled Rowan every chance I got. We've had some great days since then and I am so thankful for those.

Today Rowan played in the splash pad at the outlets, which is a big step in overcoming his dislike for spraying water. Rowan had the best day he's had all year at school yesterday. Rowan puts his dishes in the sink when he's done eating or having a snack. Rowan approached the lady with the stickers at Walmart and without any prompting said, "May I have a sticker please?" Rowan is so great at smiling at people who say hello to him when we're out. I know he must bless others with the cheerful way he greets them. Rowan is so loving towards Cruz and always wants to know how he can help make him happy.

This is our Rowan. I know he's going to do great things in his life. We prayed long and hard for him and I know that God has a special purpose for him and that He's going to use every bit of Rowan's personality to fulfill it.

Great Grandpa and Linda

There's nothing like reading

a couple of bedtime stories

with Great Grandpa and Linda!


**photos taken on iphone. :)

In the Words of Rowan's Favorite Song....

Oh happy day,

Happy day,

You washed my sin away,

Oh happy day,

Happy day,

I'll never be the same,

Forever I am changed!!!

What a glorious, glorious day

I'll never be the same!!!

Happy Easter!!!

Song: Happy Day by Tim Hughes

New Life

Last Easter we celebrated the gift of new life in the form of a baby. Cruz is a continual reminder of the meaning of Easter. His name reminds us of the cross of Christ and his birth reminds us of new life which we have in Jesus through His death and resurrection. 

2 Cor 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 

Easter Interview with Rowan:

I thought it would be neat to ask him and eventually Cruz about Easter each year and see how their answers mature and change!

Me: Rowan, what day is today?

R: Easter!!!

Me: What happened on Easter?

R: Jesus died.

Me: Then what?

R: He walked away!

Me: He rose again, right?

R: Yeah

Me: Why did he do that?

R: 'Cause he's Jesus!

Brothers 17/52

This may be my favorite brothers photo yet. Its ranks in the top 3 for sure!

Thankful Thursday on Friday

212: I actually got to sit down on a chair in the backyard which is why the shadow is in this photo. The boys played quietly together at their sand table for over half an hour. It was fabulous!

214: I feel like the bad guy all day long so its nice when the weekend rolls around and the boys can get a little "daddy discipline" which always seems to go a bit farther. I didn't have a better photo than this. :)

217: I know that dying eggs isn't exactly cooking but we also made rice krispies treats and cupcakes. I didn't get any photos of that though.
**Based on Rowan's shirts in these photos I think its obvious that his current favorite color is green! :)

Easter Eggs!

We had a busy but fun day today! We skipped out on Bible Study because my stomach didn't feel good and neither did Rowan's. Our good friends are just getting over a tummy bug and the last thing I wanted was to do was have my boys throw up at Bible Study. Thankfully no one got sick! Tomorrow is Rowan's Easter party at pre-school so we made Rice Krispies Treats birds nests. We shaped the Rice Krispies into a nest, used green frosting and jelly beans. I think they turned out super cute although Roger says they looks like sushi rolls. :) 

We were planning on coloring eggs last weekend which never happened so I decided to do it with the boys today. Rowan was thrilled to be doing this on his own this year. The only thing he didn't want to do was touch the wet eggs. Cruz hung out in his booster. I thought it would be fun to give him an egg too. I saw the error of my ways though as he pounded the egg on the kitchen table and then took a huge bite, shell and all. :) We spent the rest of the day playing in the sand and blowing bubbles. 

Cruz is such a dirty kid! Check out his face, shirt and legs. Some days I feel like his name should be Pig Pen... you know, the kid from Charlie Brown. Cruz purposely seeks out messes and loves dirt. Its never ceases to amaze me at how different my sweet little boys are. :)

Memory Monday

M & S

More Walking!

12 Days and Counting...

A week from Friday we'll be hopping into our car, driving 6.5 hours and having the time our lives at Legoland, Legoland Water Park and Sea Life Aquarium.  I've been reading a lot of travel blogs and brainstorming ways to make this trip the least stressful and the most fun it can possibly be because lets face it, going anywhere with a 2 year old and a 1 year old can be a recipe for disaster.  Here is our motto for the trip:

Relax and be organized

 I know those seem to be conflicting but really, they're not. My plan is be as organized as possible. The car will be stocked with snacks and toys, each boy will have familiar things to sleep with at the hotel, I'll have maps to each destination printed out and I even went through the Legoland map and typed out all the rides that Rowan and Cruz are tall enough to ride to make park navigation simpler. I want to have everything I can think of organized and accessible to reduce the chances of meltdowns and issues. 

The relax part comes in when my plans for organization fail (which they undoubtedly will). When Rowan can't sleep in the hotel, Daddy can sleep in bed with him. When the boys get tired after going on only ONE ride at Legoland, we head back to the hotel to rest. When the goldfish and apple slices I brought in the car are no longer doing their job, we'll find the nearest fast food restaurant and get some fries to share. We're not going to push, we're going to the let the boys lead. We're going to leave our routines and do whatever is necessary to keep everyone happy and comfortable. Its vacation after all! I am beyond excited to spend this time with my little family.

Brothers 16/52

I debated using this as the brothers photo this week. I came up with a list of pros and cons and the pros won by a long shot!

Cons: 

-it was taken on an iphone and is of less than par quality

-the color is a bit funky

Pros:

-the boys both look relatively happy

-they are both looking at the camera (see, told ya i'd get one where they were looking!)

-I love the contrast between Rowan's long legs and Cruz's short ones

-both boys are happy. there is no fighting or grabbing of the other's steering wheel

-they are both wearing blue muscle shirts

-I love looking at them side by side. It makes me proud that they're OUR little guys.

Cruz loves his bouncing zebra! He can get on and off and make it bounce all by himself. Sorry about me chatting in the background of that video. I was on the phone. :) Cruz is walking quite a bit now. The chunk of steps he walked in this video is fewer steps than he typically walks at a time! He was somewhat distracted by Cooper and Rowan splashing in the pool. :)

Thankful Thursday

Sorry its late!! :) I haven't been blogging much lately because we just haven't had a lot going on. I haven't felt much like getting my camera out and snapping everyday type photos either. Hopefully I'll get going again soon. :) 

Last Thursday, we had Brayden over while his parents went to a Chris Tomlin concert. It was Skate Night for the boys' school and since I have such great memories of Skate Nights as a kid, I decided to take the boys. Roger stayed home with Cruz. Rowan and Brayden did such a great job! They both tried "real" roller skates but seeing as I was the only one there to hold them up we traded those in for the training skates that went on over their shoes. I was so proud of them for giving roller skating a shot. They each got to play one arcade game too. Rowan won 3 tickets and Brayden won 2. The nice kid at the prize counter let them each pick out a prize even though they didn't have enough tickets. :) I truly enjoyed spending time with the two of the together. They kept me laughing the whole time!

Brothers 15/52

This photo has some story behind it. Cruz was playing with the large green bucket when a little girl snatched it and walked away. Rowan said, "I'll get it for him, Mama!" He went up to the little girl and told her, "Cruzy was playin' with that. You needa give it back." He took it and brought it over to Cruz and sat down beside him to play. Although it looks like Rowan is hoarding the shovels, which isn't out of the realm of possibility, he's actually showing Cruz how to get a big scoop of sand into the bucket without spilling. My goal for next week is to get a picture of them both looking at the camera which is nearly impossible!

Go Cubs Go

Rowan is hoping to get to a Cubs v D-backs game this season... that wish just may be granted!
(to play video, there is tiny little "play" icon in the same box as the volume icon. I hope that makes sense, I'm not sure why it won't play by just pressing the large "play" button)

Anthem Days

The carnival was here again and Rowan was the most excited that he's been about it.

Since he's a little shorty, Cruz wasn't able to meet the 30 inch height requirement to ride the tamest ride of all, the Merry Go Round. So instead, he enjoyed a cup of juice and with big wide eyes, watched his brother and daddy ride it together.

Rowan is looking so much more like a kid these days and a lot less like a toddler.

Cruz and I sat out the Fun Slide as well but we found ourselves a nice spot on the grass to play around in while we waited for Rowan and Roger's turn.

I love to see the genuine smiles of delight on Rowan's face and nothing was better than zipping down a giant slide with his daddy.....

....except for maybe the fact that he is finally big enough to go on a ride ALL BY HIMSELF. He was delighted to ride on the swings alone. Every time he whizzed by me I saw a huge grin on his face. Only Cruz was completely left out of the ride fun. I took Rowan on the ferris wheel which he loved. Rowan did a fabulous job waiting in the lines today. We had a mostly cheerful attitude from him, which is always something to celebrate! :)

Thankful Thursday

The last photo should have been of the beautiful book that Rowan's pre-school class put together for their teacher who is moving away. I didn't get a photo before we presented it to her though so I took a picture of the materials we used. :) I am so thankful to be a part of the group of parents in Rowan's class who are so willing to share their time and money to bless the teachers.

Just Being One

I think I manage to capture all of Cruz's words (minus "mama") in this video. You have to listen closely but you should hear "hi" "uh oh" and "daga" (doggy). I can't believe how big he seems these days. He can take lots of steps but is lacking the confidence to do it consistently on his own. He's all done with bottles, drinks milk out of his sippy like a champ and loves to eat big boy foods! 

Cruz's Birthday Celebration!

One in a Nutshell:

-Stats: 19 lbs 8 oz, 28.5 inches (10th percentile)

-Words: Mama, Dada, Daga (doggy), Uh Oh, Hi

-Food: Whole milk (in a sippy!), sandwiches, bananas, pears, crackers

-Sleep: 7-6:30

-Steps: 8-10 
-Teeth: 6

Birthday Celebrations:

-Owl Themed party at the park

-loved eating cake

-birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse

-sat in the saddle to be sung to

-got the Bounce & Spin Zebra and a vacation to Legoland from Mommy & Daddy

-had ALMOST all of his grandparents here (We missed you, Grandma!)

Now, on to the photos

This one is on his official birthday. The other ones are from his party.

This one is a random one of the boys playing with Cruz's new bubble maker with Grampy. That thing shoots out some pretty huge bubbles!

Brothers 14/52

Enjoying their new sand and water table together.

Happy Birthday to Cruz

Baby Cruzy:

I remember the exact instant I first saw your face one year ago today. I remember how perfect it felt to name you "Cruz" on Easter Sunday. I remember thinking about how absolutely beautiful and perfect your tiny 6 lb 9 oz features were. I remember the awe on your daddy's face as he held you for the first time. I remember feeling the tremors from the earthquake in Baja as got to know you in that hospital room. I remember how content and quiet you were, just laying in your little bassinet. I remember so clearly the first time Rowan met you. I remember him pointing at your nose and your little hat. I remember being absolutely amazed at how great it felt to be a family of four. 

I can't remember what it felt like without you. I can't remember what our house was like without your joyful giggle. I can't remember what it was like to wake up in the morning and not snuggle with you. I can't remember what it was like to only buckle one little boy into a car seat. I can't remember how to be the mommy of one and I am so so glad. You are my joy, Cruzy. You are a blessing to me and to your daddy and big brother. Our family, with you in it, is perfect. We thank God for you every single day.

Happy 1st Birthday!