The Rowe Crew

Cool Guy or Dapper Dude...you decide

2011-03-11T22:13:00.001-05:00

Joyland Choir Spring Concert

2011-03-09T22:12:00.002-05:00

I just love that our little ladies get to spend Wednesday nights at church, worhipping our God!! And I love that we got to catch a glimpse of what Emerson has been learning at her concert tonight. Precious precious kiddos! I know God was loving their hearts ;). Here's my favorite thing she comes home saying..."I don't know why you're here, but I'm here to PRAISE THE LORD!!!"

Dollies Day Out

2011-02-28T22:12:00.000-05:00

Their babies needed some sun ;).

We're SO thankful that spring is on the way!!

Daddy's day off!

2011-02-23T21:58:00.019-05:00

We LOVE when daddy gets the day off! So thank you, Presidents Day, for allowing us to hang out with our daddy today. (And for the little history lesson I just read about your origin on Wikipedia. Ha!!).

First up, we got to celebrate our buddy, Pierce's, birthday at his Dino-FOUR party!! It was PRECIOUS and we all had so much fun! Happy Birthday Pierce!

Next, we had planned on going to the zoo. But when we told the girls about our plan, they requested that we go back to the aquarium instead. Seems it was still fresh on their minds from a few weeks ago and they were both really excited to show daddy all they had done there. So off we went. And it was SUCH a wonderful day!! In fact, it was even better than our first trip! I loved watching them show daddy all their favorites and loved watching & hearing their conversations. It's just so much more fun with daddy! He knew all these random facts and just made it all so exciting. Plus it was such a gorgeous day...family fun day for sure!

Personalities

2011-02-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

I was looking through our pictures from the Aquarium today (more on that later) and realized that we had gotten one shot of each kiddo that REALLY descibes their personalities perfectly.

Emerson

Our inquisitive, thoughtful, gentle, caring, little learner!

Hayden

Our joyful, life-loving, busy-bee, excited bundle of emotion!

Lincoln

Our sweet, precious, smily, happy baby boy!!

Chicks Dig Me...

2011-02-19T11:38:00.002-05:00

...and my big sittin' up skillz.

(At least my mommy & sisters do).

Sweets & Treats Party

2011-02-18T23:34:00.003-05:00

Hope you didn't think our Valentine fun was over, because there's just a bit more!! Last Saturday, we were able to attend Rachel & Avery's 3rd Annual Valentine's Party!! It was precious, as usual, and was really fun because all the daddies got to come this time!! The girlies got right to work on their cards and yummy Valentines trail mix. Avery, Rachel and their mommies always do a fabulous job coming up with activities that we LOVE!!

Here are the lovely hostesses! Thanks gals, we had so much fun!!

And here are a few of the other fun party guests...such a fun excuse to get to spend the morning with our friends!! We love them for sure ;).

And we couldn't leave before decorating some cookies! We even made one for brother...too bad he can't eat yet ;). The girls just felt so bad that he slept through all the fun. Ha!

I'm Yours.

2011-02-16T07:18:00.002-05:00

How could I forget!?! I received this PRECIOUS Valentine from my baby boy!! I mean, BLESS. MY. HEART. These pics were taken during his very first time at MOPS and he had quite the photo shoot. He was the only baby in his class that day, so they really posed him up and got lots of great shots ;). Thanks girls!

More "Love Day"

2011-02-15T14:25:00.000-05:00

Well this year wasn't a "traditional" Valentine's Day at our house. First, we decided to celebrate a little early when daddy gave his girlies our beautiful flowers on Sunday. He got us all our favorite colored tulips (mommy's fave!) and the girls were really SO proud of them!! They keep going over to the table to peek at them and remind me to add water. I love to watch them get loved on by their daddy! Oh, and our annual V-day Newspapers are in the works....we all kind of forgot this year, but daddy has assured us that they'll be off the printing presses soon ;).

When we woke up on Valentine's morning, our sweet Hayden Kate had a fever. Poor thing. She was okay, but definitely wanted a few more cuddles throughout the day ;). Perfect day for cuddles, don't you think!? We kept it low-key at home, but they really wanted to still cook a special dinner for daddy like we had planned. SO glad we did. It was super yummy and we had fun preparing it for our "Balentime". We made heart-shaped meatloaf, roasted potatoes and asparagus, plus cupcakes, of course ;). But the best part...daddy convinced us to dine on the patio with him! It was positively wonderful!! And dinner was followed by an exciting game of "Hop on Pop" with daddy and his girls ;).

And I especially treasured the time I spent with my "little Valentine" during this day!! I can't explain how sweet it is to share this day (and every day) with my baby boy! I'm so thankful that God has allowed me to be a "boy mom". He melts my heart. Even if he DID poo all over me for his v-day present ;). Ha!

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

2011-02-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

Snowman Day 2011

2011-02-10T20:04:00.003-05:00

I was starting to think it wasn't going to happen! We'd planned on doing Snowman Day with Tristan and Sharee, but after being stuck apart for a week during the storm and then some sickness, we ended up just deciding to do it separately...bummer. We'll get 'em next year though ;).

So here's a look at our 3rd Annual Snowman Day...it was a DOOSIE!!!

The girls woke up to a fun Snowman game..."Toss the snowball in the Snowman". They loved it and spent just enough time playing that I could fix them a very Snowman-ish breakfast ;).

Milk snowmen, donut snowmen and bagel snowmen with chocolate chip eyes & mouths, sprinkle noses and fruit roll up scarfs. Oh, and coconut snow ;).

Next we got busy...

Em used her "snowball stickers" to put as many on as the # on the card...here are her #2 and #16 cards. Pretty good! She did get a little bored with it after several, though, and decided to head back to the snowman toss. HK didn't have to match up her #s just yet, but she had fun just pealing and sticking.

We had more fun with the tummy-less snowman by pretending he ate the girls. They LOVED this and did it over and over as I would warn them to stay far away from that snowman cause he'd gobble them up...of course they kept running back for more ;).

Then Emerson modified it a bit and decided to throw the cotton-snowballs into buckets. She's always full of good ideas!

What was Lincoln doing during all this snowman fun?? He was busy practicing sitting up and grabbing toys! He got pretty pumped about holding this little rattle for quite some time ;).

Next we used our cottonball snowballs to glue our very own snowmen!! They were both very proud of their work and Em did a great job helping her little sister put all the pieces on just so.

Hayden had fun playing with the "winter box" and liked showing us all the stuff she found.

While I was feeding brother, the girls did this "Mixed Up Snowman" activity. I gave them each a baggie with all the mixed up snowman parts...marshmallow bodies, sprinkle noses, jr. mint hats, chocolate chip eyes, fruit roll up scarves and pretzel arms. They sorted them into the (well-used) muffin tins and then took turns drawing cards to see what parts they could eat. Of course they loved this one ;).

And just because God is so awesome that He prepared SNOW for our snowman day, we spent more time playing with it in the sink. They spent so long doing this (plus brother was napping) that I really got to spend a lot of time on their snowman lunches...SO fun!

Banana snowman on a stick: banana body, fruit roll up scarf, chocolate chip eyes & mouth, sprinkle nose, pretzel arms and a cheese & grape hat.

PBJ snowman: PBJ body, fruit bar hat, craisin eyes & buttons, carrot nose, pretzel arms and cheese mouth.

Veggie snowman: carrot body, pea buttons, corn eyes and green bean arms

After lunch, we did one more little activity with our marshmallow snowballs...we sorted them by size. Small, smaller and smallest. When I found those GIANT marshmallows at Walmart the other day, I just knew we'd have to do this. It was a great one for Hayden and she really loved it!! Plus I let them eat a giant one when we were done...until they both decided their tummies were starting to feel a little sick ;). And I don't doubt it because they had eaten a LOT of junk already!!

Almost naptime...here was my view as I read them a bunch of snowman books. Is that precious or what!? I'm afraid Lincoln is already following in their "Lovie-loving" footsteps ;).

After nap it was time for....another snack of course!! (Seriously, I don't know how they didn't get sick eating about a million marshmallows today!). I found this one here and knew we HAD to do it. Here is our RoweCrew snow family!!

And the rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur. Our always-super-easy Lincoln picked Snowman Day to be one of his toughest afternoons :(. So while I was busy trying to keep him happy, my sweet little ladies carried on in great fashion!! I had pulled out last year's flannel snowman and they had a ball. But the best part...Em totally took pictures of each one they built. She said they wanted me to be able to see them. Oh. My. Word. I mean, really? I have been letting her use my camera some lately, just for fun, but wow. Think I'm a bit too camera-happy around them!? (I thought about cropping them a bit, but left them just like she did took them...great job!).

They also spent some time playing with the snowman puzzle and blocks that we made over the past couple of years. Hayden seemed to like them okay, but a certain big sister kept wanting to show her how to do it "better" and she did not appreciate the help ;).

We finally got Lincoln to nap a bit so I could make our traditional "Oh no, the snowman melted Potato Soup" for dinner and it was a hit for most of us...especially when we let the girlies slurp it up with their snowman straws ;). We skipped the snowman sundaes for dessert because, really, I couldn't bear to give them any more sugar today. We'll do that another day.

And what better way to end our day that with a good 'ole fashioned {cotton} Snowball Fight!?! I think you can tell how much we all enjoyed that one ;).

So that's it. Snowman Day 2011. It was fun and I was exhausted by the end of the day!! Not to mention the fact that I never made it out of my jammies, our kitchen was a DISASTER from all the special snacks and there were snowmen all over the house. But if you ask the kiddos, snowman fun was totally worth it ;).

Pajama...er, SNOW days!!!

2011-02-09T14:19:00.000-05:00

Last week was SO crazy! It iced and snowed all week. Needless to say, we were stuck in the house ALL. WEEK. LONG! So what on earth did we do to stay busy during that CRAZY, wintery week!?!

Here's the theme...anything we could do without getting out of our jammies. Ha!

We made an awesome fort with our quilts and daddy's ping pong table. The flashlights were super fun and all our Toy Story guys loved it too ;).

There were TONS of projects...sock puppets, popsicle stick towers, sticker art for our Compassion kiddos, watercolor pictures, tons of coloring and anything with plain 'ole sissors and glue. Whew.

We made some awesome marshmallow-toothpick creations. And ate a bunch too ;).

Then there was play-doh, putting on puppet shows, tons of playing babies, dress-up galore, tea parties, baking and DIY projects with mommy.

And we played with some snow. Inside. We just dumped buckets of it in the sink and had fun squirting it with colored water, scooping it up and making mini-snowmen ;). Fun for hours!

Of course, don't forget our friend, movie time!! We watched tons of Hermie, Olivia and an "oldie but a goodie"...we watched Lady & the Tramp for the first time ;).

I know it sounds crazy, but we are snowed in AGAIN today!! But this time I was more prepared...we've been having our 3rd Annual "Snowman Day" and it is FUU-UUN. Check back tomorrow to see all our "snowy" fun!!

SNOW!

2011-02-06T20:57:00.010-05:00

This week has been SO crazy! God decided to dump a big 'ole ice storm on us early in the week and followed it up with a snow storm on Friday. And after a week of being stuck indoors with a wintery-ice storm, we were all so excited to get out there and play!! Well...that's not entirely true. Hayden was very excited about it UNTIL we started putting on our snow gear. She cannot stand wearing hats and was putting up a huge fight. I basically just held it on her head, told her she at least had to try going out and carried her out kicking and screaming. She was mad. But she also has the sweetest daddy ever and he immediately got her excited about the snowman that he and Em were busy building!! And after only a few (not torturous) minutes she exclaimed, "this is fun!". So we were good. She ended up having SO much fun!!

Emerson made good on her promise to throw snowballs at mom and dad, make lots of snow angels and make a snowman. She was in snow heaven!! I LOVED watching the joy all over her sweet self ;).

And don't forget brother!! We knew it was a little too chilly for him out there, but we bundled him up and had fun dressing him up in all his great hats from Sharee & Tristan and my Aunt Kim & cousin JuLea. Isn't he PRECIOUS!?!

Somebody found his hands!!

2011-02-04T21:20:00.009-05:00

And so far, he's favoring the first two fingers, just like big sissy Emerson. But, he could always go with the thumb, just like Hayden. Either way, he is following suit...none of my kiddos have taken to a pacifier. They'd rather suck on those fingers ;).

A Rowe Puppet Theater Production

2011-02-04T14:21:00.000-05:00

We are simply loving our new puppet theater!! It was so funny at first because it took me a moment to realize they had NO idea about what to do. But after watching a few YouTube puppet shows and acting out lots of scenes from Toy Story, they were all set. They'd gotten some fun new puppets for Christmas, plus DeeDah and PawPaw gave them some great animal masks that work well too. Of course, they also discovered sock puppets during our "research" and we just had to make some of those as well! Hayden was hesitant to try any of them on at first (my ever-wary one) so she took the "director" position and Emerson ran the show (shocking!). But maybe their favorite part is choosing what time it will be for the next show ;). Silly girls.

And what a precious audience, don't you think!?

**This post made possible by Gigi & Gebo's puppet theater donation, Karo & Kbobs bucket-o-craft-supplies and DeeDah & PawPaw's animal mask gift. Boy, do our grandparents get us or what!?

Fishy Fun

2011-02-03T23:19:00.001-05:00

Last week, before the CRAZY snow-fest, we tried out the new aquarium at Fair Park. It was perfect for our little crew. Lots of hands-on stuff and not too huge. Plus we practically had the place to ourselves. They all really loved it!!

Kennedy and Emerson touching the hermit crabs. The guide was super helpful and taught us all a bunch.

Hayden and Briggs weren't too sure about touching the crabs so they opted for checking out the fish ;).

Check out the size of that guy!! There were giant sting rays and sharks in this tank. So fun to be up close!

Feeding the sting rays! Em ended up being the only kiddo brave enough to touch them but the rest loved watching them swim so close.

Coming up...how on earth did we fill our days during "snow week"!?

Brown-Eyed Boy??

2011-02-02T13:40:00.003-05:00

I'm about 90% sure our little man is going to be our first brown-eyed kiddo! Yay for looking a little bit like mommy!! Right now his eyes are still a grayish color, but even the pediatrician said she thinks they'll be brown. And by this point, I knew for sure that the girls had big baby blues (although Em's turned green around 18 months). Guess we'll just have to wait and see...

The best one yet!

2011-02-01T19:29:00.000-05:00

Always on the hunt of getting a good pic of all of them together! And I LOVE this one!!

Curly Sue!

2011-02-01T13:00:00.002-05:00

Guess who found the fun of SPONGE ROLLERS!?!

We put them in before bed...

And here's our "Curly Sue" the next morning ;)....

They couldn't take it any longer!

2011-01-31T13:02:00.001-05:00

Gigi and Gebo couldn't take it any longer...they HAD to see those grandkids!! We all had a fun day ;).

We cuddled with Lincoln.

We read books and played darts.

We put on some puppet shows.

And just had a TON of fun!

Why we love 70 degrees in January...

2011-01-30T19:26:00.000-05:00

We can spend the whole weekend outside!!!

Tyranno - {Scared} - Us Rex

2011-01-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was SUCH a beautiful day that we knew we couldn't stay inside. AND...we'd really been wanting to see the Heard Museum Dinosaur Exhibit before it leaves in February, so this was the perfect day! I knew that those big 'ole guys were probably going to be scary for Hayden, so we talked about them all morning, made some dinosaur crafts and decided to be "brave" when we saw them. Ha! Poor little gal...she was NOT a fan. But what really surprised me was that Emerson was a bit freaked out herself! I mean, they do look very real, move about and make loud noises, so I can totally understand. Em warmed up to them a bit by the end of the trail, but HK never did...she literally clung to me the whole time ;). But she did perk up when we headed over for a picnic lunch. And the little guy...he was perfectly content in his ride and really seemd to enjoy getting a little fresh air. Ahhh...why can't it always be 70 degrees in January!?!

Talking and Texting

2011-01-28T15:49:00.000-05:00

On this particular day, we were telling GiGi all about our morning ;)

"We have bek-fast, we make a pa-ject (project), go to Miss Sharee and Tis-tan's house yater. Okay. I text you now. Bye!"

Our Dapper Little Dude

2011-01-24T23:35:00.000-05:00

Whew...these people Wear. Me. Out.

2011-01-20T16:22:00.005-05:00

Lincoln's first bottle!

2011-01-20T09:23:00.042-05:00

Courtesy of his big sisters ;).

Today was the big day!! The girls have been REALLY eager to feed Lincoln, but I was waiting to make sure he wouldn't give up on mama too quick ;). So when I pumped and gave them a bottle today, they jumped & laughed and got really excited. And they both did a GREAT job! Hayden gave him the first ounce and was so careful and proud to be helping baby brother ;). When she was finished, Emereson gave him the rest. She was SO sweet with him and would just ask me to help when he needed a burp. I had the best time watching them ;). And the little guy? Lincoln LOVED the bottle!!! He sucked it right down and was a little sad when it was gone. Ha! I'd say that "operation bottle" was quite a success.

Tool Girls

2011-01-18T16:17:00.003-05:00

Can you tell that I've been getting Scott to measure and hang a bunch of stuff lately!?!

The Dress-up Box EXPLODED!!!

2011-01-17T16:02:00.012-05:00

This all happened within about 30 minutes. I'm telling you, this girl LOVES to dress up! And today she wanted to "try on LOTS of outfits and make a show for you and Hayden and brother". Well, alright. And the poses were all her own too...no coaching from mom. That girl can work it ;).

Little Angel *** Jessie (I especially love the tights!)

Sweet Pea Beauty (from Veggietales) *** Cheerleader

50s gal (with her own poodle, of course) *** "Flying" Butterfly

But our ultimate favorite...wears it about 90% of her life....Miss CINDERELLA!!!

Hayden-Speak

2011-01-17T12:29:00.015-05:00

She’s a funny, funny girl, our Hayden Kate! We just LOVE her precious little voice and all the hilarious things she says. Here are a few I don’t want to forget…

"Oooo-kay, I weeee-illl”. This is her response when we ask her to do something that she doesn’t necessarily want to do, but she gives in.
“Did you know dat?” I guess she thinks that most of what she says is brand new information. Funny that it’s usually something her big sister just said. Ha!
“Ak-shu-wee (actually)…” She loves to throw around some big words and this is a fave ;).
“Bu-vur” - Brother. We say it A LOT!
“I used to do dat.” She loves to hear stories about when she was a baby and now tells us all the things she “used” to do.
“I hun-gee, dawg.” This one is thanks to her daddy. Great. I must admit, it’s pretty hilarious to hear her say it!

“I wi-wee (really) hun-gee”. Another one we say All. The. Time. Because that kid is ALWAYS hungry!! Don’t know where she puts it.

Adding some BOYS to the mix

2011-01-16T22:43:00.006-05:00

That's what we've been doing in the Rowe family this year! Not only was our own little man born this year, but we also welcomed a BOY cousin this week too!! Uncle Greg & Aunt Gina & Ava welcomed precious little Austin to their family on January 12th! We couldn't wait to get to see him...and everyone else too. They were so sweet to let us crash and spend a little time loving on the little guy and the girls had SO much fun with Ava. Austin is adorable and just look at all that hair!! Lincoln was SO jealous. It was a trip to see all FIVE cousins together!! I'm so excited for them to get to grow up together ;). The only sad moment of the trip came when I realized just how fast my little Lincoln is growing!!! He looked huge next to Austin's "newborn-ness". Crazy!

Bless my heart!!!

2011-01-16T12:25:00.009-05:00

Welcome to Joyland!

2011-01-15T11:23:00.003-05:00

Today was Lincoln’s first day to go to Joyland! And he was SUCH a good boy! We just feel sorry for his teachers because they didn’t really get to play with him (or see his dapper outfit!) because he slept the whole entire time ;). Sweet boy!

Besties!!

2011-01-13T12:20:00.001-05:00

Daddy - HK Date!

2011-01-12T12:14:00.006-05:00

Daddy took his little girl on a date tonight. And she was SOO excited!! We got her all dressed up and ready to go, he came home to pick her up and from what I hear, they had a great time. We’re talking candy-topped pancakes and Half-price books. Sounds like a fun date to me!

Oh, and the fact that she cannot quit talking about it (rubbing it in our faces ;)), I think she had a great time ;).

Ahhh, Geee, Hi!

2011-01-10T21:02:00.003-05:00

He may be a boy, but Lincoln is SUCH a chatterbox! Must be from trying to keep up with the incessant dialog all around him ;). We hear lots of aah, gah, gee, owww and daddy just KNOWS he said "hi" the other night. Ha!

Working at the Car Wash!

2011-01-10T00:37:00.000-05:00

It doesn't pay well, but we've got to do something while mommy's feeding Lincoln!

It's more fun to clean in a TuTu ;)

2011-01-09T11:31:00.008-05:00

Our little ballerina wanted to help daddy vacuum the bathroom the other day. At least it LOOKS like more fun in a TuTu!!

Family dinner turned Slumber Party!

2011-01-07T23:03:00.005-05:00

Have we mentioned how much we LOVED living with the Formans and just how much we MISS them!?! So we've decided that we need regular "family dinners" each month. It's been so crazy after moving, Lincoln being born and the holidays that this was our very first dinner since October. And we had so very much fun that we convinced them just to stay the night. I mean, we did stay in their guest room for over two months so we at least owe them one night in ours ;). The kids were so excited to see each other the next morning. Here they are playing a little Starfall on my phone. Ahhhh...just like the old days. Ha!

You're Invited...

2011-01-05T22:56:00.015-05:00

...to our Tea Party!!

Thanks to the super fun tea party set from Aunt Sarah, we've been having all kinds of tea party fun!! Today we invited Kennedy.

We just didn't realize Briggs would want to crash the party ;).

But Lincoln was too busy playing on his mat!

You've got mail.

2011-01-05T20:24:00.005-05:00

Em has been really into mailing things lately. So when I found these precious mini-mailboxes at the Dollar Spot in Target, I knew we could have a ton of fun with them. We spent the morning "mailing" each other coloring pages, cut-up constrution paper, whatever we could find. And after nap, they each found their mailboxes had NEW mail and a snack!! So fun and easy.

Oh, and I received my very own mail later that day ;).

Cutest kitchen helpers!

2011-01-02T23:42:00.003-05:00

Hayden stirring...

Emerson stirring...

Lincoln Supervising ;).

He doesn't stand a chance!!

2011-01-02T00:33:00.000-05:00

One of them is pretending to doctor him up and the other is pretending to cut his hair. Poor little guy just wanted to sit in his new chair ;).

Such a BIG boy!!!

Bringing in the New Year!

2011-01-01T07:31:00.088-05:00

We didn’t make it till midnight but we DID have some great fun with sparklers…just look for yourself!

Is that a SMILE I see!?!

2011-01-01T00:33:00.000-05:00

God blessed us with such a sweet, happy boy!! Lincoln’s first real smile came for mommy on his 1st month birthday and melted her heart!!! Now he’s passing them out right and left, and we were finally able to catch them on camera! Nothing beats our baby boy’s toothless grin ;).

Cooking with Aunt Sarah

2010-12-31T21:26:00.031-05:00

While the boys were out golfing, the girls (and Lincoln) went over to Aunt Sarah’s house for a fun “Lightning McQueen” kind of day! They made “Lightning” wraps from Sarah’s new cookbook, watched a little bit of Cars and had fun playing with Willow. And our favorite quote of the day came from Miss Hayden Kate. Aunt Sarah mentioned that they could watch the Cars movie after lunch and after sitting there very thoughtfully, HK asked, “Do you have a couch?”. Guess that’s a requirement for movie watching ;).

Rowe Christmas

2010-12-30T21:29:00.083-05:00

Next we were off to the Rowes for a little after-Christmas celebration! We were so excited to get there because we had a brand new thing to show off…Brother! Lincoln hadn’t met his Aunt Sarah or Uncle Brad yet, so it was fun to get to introduce them. But there was obviously something missing L. Uncle Greg, Aunt Gina and Ava weren’t able to come this year. But it’s for a really good reason…we are getting a new cousin very soon and they weren’t able to travel. It’s okay though, we’re going to go see them just as soon as little baby Austin arrives!

I‘m afraid the girls are going to expect to get a few presents each day for the rest of their lives after all the unwrapping they‘ve been doing lately ;). And we were all over-blessed again! We had a great time playing with our new toys and all our favorite people. (That includes Willow, the dog. Ha!). Next we were off to the quilt store where Karo has started working. …she wanted to show of the grandkids ;). And I’d say they were a hit! The girls had so much fun running around and looking for the fabric from their quilts and brother just made the ladies swoon.

Karo made each of the girls a precious quilt that I know they'll treasure forever ;).

We were so thankful to be able to spend several days just hanging out together and loving on our sweet family. We know how fortunate we are to have people who love us so and we love them too!

He's Cute!

2010-12-30T09:30:00.017-05:00

Baylor’s in a Bowl Game!!!

2010-12-29T21:20:00.014-05:00

When our good ‘ole Bears clinched a Bowl game appearance, we knew we’d do everything to be there. Luckily, the Texas Bowl was scheduled for the time we’d be in Houston with Scott’s family, so it worked out perfectly. Plus, his parents and sibling agreed to keep the big girls so we could go together. (And from what I hear, they didn’t miss us a bit because they had so much fun with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Brad ;)).

So off we went to the game. Scott, me and our little Baylor Bear!! Isn’t he just too much!?! Uncle Ross and Amanda had gotten him this precious bear suit before he was born and I had been waiting for the perfect place to wear it. Clearly, this was it. He did SUCH a good job at the game and got plenty of oohs & aahs while we were there. Unfortunately, our Bears did not fair so well. But we still had fun seeing all our friends and cheering for our guys. So here’s to next year. B-A-Y-L-O-R Baylor Bears Fight!!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus!

2010-12-27T21:31:00.052-05:00

We love celebrating Jesus’ birthday and love getting to do it with our little family of five! As much as we LOVE being with our families on Christmas, we just feel like it’s important for us to create some fun family traditions of our own. We like to incorporate things from each of our childhoods, but like to start some new traditions too. So on Christmas Eve, we spent our night decorating for Baby Jesus’ birthday, making Him a birthday cake and listening to daddy read about the days leading up to His birth. Then we opened just one present… new Christmas jammies (just like daddy used to)! It was a wonderful night with sweet memories…even if we didn't get a single picture ;).

On Christmas morning, Lincoln woke up about 7:30 and I fed him while we listened to the girls chatting in their room. They were excited, but still stayed in their beds like they’re always supposed to (such good girls)! So we went to get them up and they scampered down the stairs to celebrate. We checked out our stockings first to see what Santa had brought and the girls were SO sweet to help brother open his stocking & show him all his goodies! And they loved their goodies too ;).

Next we had our party!! We sang happy birthday to Jesus, ate cake for breakfast and put our last ornament on the Jesse Tree after daddy read the Christmas Story (just like Gebo always did). Oh, and brother did a great job supervising.

Afterwards, we opened presents from each other and spent the rest of our day playing! I know I’m crazy sentimental this year, but I just can’t get over how blessed we are!! God is good and was especially good the day he sent His Son to be our Savior!! Merry Christmas!!

Naughty or Nice?

2010-12-27T09:34:00.029-05:00

It might say Naughty, but this guy’s been nothing but NICE!!

What a day for a Birthday!

2010-12-26T21:36:00.077-05:00

This year was the first year we got to celebrate Amanda’s birthday and she has one of the best days ever…Christmas!! That’s right, she gets to share her b-day with baby Jesus ;). And since we had done most of our Christmas the day before, we were able to celebrate her a bunch that day. We played some Bingo, the girls and Gigi threw a fabulous little party and the grown-up kids got to go to the movies while Gigi and Gebo kept the little kids. Hope she had a very happy day!!

Carlisle Christmas

2010-12-25T21:37:00.072-05:00

This year we got to celebrate Christmas a little early! We figured out the best day we could all get together and we celebrated the Carlisle way on Friday ;). Gigi outdid herself on the food, we were with our very favorite people and were blessed beyond measure. It really is so much fun to get to watch little kids experience Christmas! The girls had so much fun handing out gifts and even more fun tearing into them. But even better than that was what followed...LOTS of playing!! We played, played, played for days! Some of the favorites were Bingo, Go Fish, purses and of course some dress up and playing babies. Poor Gigi and Gebo’s house looked like two little girls’ world just exploded ;). And don’t forget brother. He didn’t get in on all the games and playing, but he sure did find lots of people willing to cuddle and love on him. I hope my kiddos always know how blessed they are to have so many people willing to drop anything to help them put on their gloves, play a game of Bingo or just read a book. And that’s what made our Carlisle Christmas so great…thanking God for all the blessings we have, especially for the birth of His Son. Merry Christmas!

Daddy's Birthday!

2010-12-22T21:38:00.007-05:00

This year we got to celebrate daddy’s birthday for two days instead of just one. Because, come on, having a birthday so close to Christmas could be a bummer unless you do it up right ;). We gave daddy all his presents and took him to his favorite place, Roadhouse, for dinner….one night early. Kind of a Happy Birthday Eve. He loved it ;). And just in time for his real birthday at midnight, we got a fun visitor…Amanda! She came to stay the night on her way to her family’s house. So she got to help us celebrate daddy’s real birthday with an “A for effort but C for execution” breakfast by mommy. She tried so hard, bless her heart ;). Daddy was sweet and assured her it was a great birthday breakfast. Ha!

Then on to Granbury we went. Gigi & Gebo had a fun party waiting for us…complete with daddy’s favorite lemon cake, presents and a trip to Babe’s for dinner. And daddy was SUCH a good sport…he got up and danced like a chicken for his 31st. It was a fun day! (Sorry the pic is so blurry...had to get it quick!)

1 Month Old

2010-12-19T21:40:00.118-05:00

Can't believe our little man is already one month old!!! And as much as I'm REALLY trying to soak it in, time is flying by! One thing is for sure...I'm not sure how we made it around here without Mr. Lincoln. He is PRE-CIOUS and we all love him so much. He is an amazing baby and really only makes a fuss when he's hungry or dirty. We can deal with that! Of course, his sisters are his biggest fans!! They LOVE to hold him and he doesn't seem to mind ;). We have transitioned into a family of five very easily...praise God!! Plus, we're not competely sleep-deprived around here. Our little guy is eating about every three hours and at least four hours at night. Most of the time, his last feeding is around 11:00 pm, he eats around 3:00 or 4:00 and is back down until about 7:00 am. It's glorious! And having a little boy is so amazing!! Honestly, I can already tell this mama is in trouble...I'm having a hard time not letting him be a complete mama's boy ;). And I don't even care. Ha! We love you, little guy. Can't wait to see what next month holds!

Likes:                                                                          Dislikes:
mommy ;)                                                                    baths! although it's getting a little better every day
his daddy & his sissys                                                  diaper changes & clothings changes (being cold)
being swaddled up cozy                                               when the car stops too long at a light ;)
being nice and warm                                                    not too much else!
car seat & riding in the car
paci
his swing!!
being held

Our biggest goal for this first month has been getting some weight on this little guy!! From the time we left the hospitol, they were worried about his weight and we've had to go into the doctor each week for a weight check. Of course, I've been a wreck about it since we had the same issues with Hayden, but they've finally decided he's doing great! Praise God!!
1 week - 6.8 (13%)
2 weeks - 6.15 (8%)
3 weeks - 7.13 (18%)

Wake up, Sisters!

2010-12-19T21:40:00.117-05:00

Lincoln loves to wake his sisters up in the morning. They love it too! And mommy just loves kiddos in Pjs…warms her heart ;).

Cowboys

2010-12-18T21:41:00.011-05:00

Rooting for their Cowboys. Unfortunately, it did not work.

Visiting Grammie

2010-12-18T09:42:00.025-05:00

The girls got to stay with Gigi and Gebo the other night while mommy & daddy went to a little party. So of course we had to visit Grammie while we were there so we could introduce her to Lincoln! Naturally, she loved him ;). And she got to witness one of the "rare" times the girls were not into sharing. Ha! Thanks for letting us come visit, Grammie!

Santa Sighting

2010-12-17T21:44:00.015-05:00

We almost waited too long, but we made our Santa sighting just in time! It was not our most successful visit because it was too cold outside for Lincoln to meet him for the first time and Hayden was just not too sure about the whole thing. But Miss Emerson did get to chat with him a bit and was all smiles. And although he wasn't the most authentic looking Santa, he was for sure the absolute sweetest Santa…came over and asked mommy if she wanted to be in the picture so that Hayden would agree. And after we got back in the car, Em said the sweetest thing. “Mommy, I told him that I wanted a Cinderella, but if he doesn’t have enough, it’s okay if he brings me something else.” So sweet!

What a hoot!!

2010-12-16T22:01:00.012-05:00

Our second-born is SUCH a ham!! She completely cracks us up, especially her daddy!! They have so much fun together and he loves having another little jokester in the house. Just looked what happened when they got ahold of my phone the other day ;).

(Sorry for the blurriness...my iPhone isn't that great).

Mama's Boy

2010-12-15T21:45:00.023-05:00

Our Little Gangsta

2010-12-14T09:47:00.011-05:00

Who shall I be today!?

2010-12-13T21:47:00.025-05:00

Emerson has been doing a LOT of dress up around here lately. Like from the minute we wake up until the minute we go to bed. Unless mommy spoils our plans with errands or something like that ;). Hayden is not quite as fond of the frequent clothing changes, but every once in a while she can be convinced.

And don't forget this guy! Mommy knows that they say boys clothes just aren’t as cute, but she sure is having fun dressing him up!!

Snoozing

2010-12-12T21:51:00.007-05:00

Lincoln is SO good at putting his daddy to sleep. Works every time ;).

A yummy tradition

2010-12-10T21:55:00.045-05:00

Tonight the girls and daddy made their annual Gingerbread house! Just knowing the three of them, I’m surprised any candy ended up on the house at all and I was VERY impressed with their skills! Oh, and don't they look especially precious in their gingerbread outfits!? I can’t wait until next year to see what brother adds with his “boy” point of view ;).

Sweet little mother

2010-12-05T21:58:00.014-05:00

Our Emerson is becoming SUCH the little lady! We say it daily and can hardly believe how old she seems sometimes. Her latest idea just cracks us up and melts our hearts. After dressing up at church last week, she came home very determined to create a Mary costume. And she wouldn’t let me do another thing until I helped her do it ;). We dug through all my fabrics and came up with two different blues, just as she specified. And don’t you think we came up with a pretty good looking Mary? She has been having a ball playing “baby Jesus” and throws on her costume the minute she gets out of bed. We keep trying to convince Hayden to dress up as the Angel Gabriel, but so far she’s not interested. Maybe next year??

Jesse Tree

2010-12-03T23:31:00.012-05:00

We’re SO excited to get started on one of our favorite family traditions!! Daddy put up our Jesse Tree, mommy and the girls threw on some ribbon and we placed a heart on top...seemed like the perfect topper for a tree teaching us about Jesus. Tonight was our first devotional and we got to hang our first ornament. We are looking forward to learning a little something new each day and preparing our hearts for Jesus’ Birthday!!

"Can I hold him?"

2010-12-02T23:43:00.016-05:00

I cannot even begin to count the number of times I hear this each day. From both big sisters. All. Day. Long. But don’t get me wrong, I’m super thankful that they LOVE him so and we can always take time to do a little baby holding ;). I love watching their faces as they discover new things about this little boy they call “Brother” (or “bu-ver” if you’re Hayden). They are so gentle, so curious, so sweet and so proud of him. It is truly precious to watch and I’m thankful I can!

2 Weeks

2010-12-02T23:32:00.014-05:00

Ms. Pattycake Concert

2010-12-01T23:59:00.045-05:00

Emmy just had her very first Joyland Choir concert at church and they were fortunate enough to get to share the stage with the one-and-only “Ms. Pattycake”! No one at our house had heard of her before, so I don’t think we even realized how awesome this was. But every Wednesday night after choir, Em came home singing her songs and was SO excited to meet her. And WE couldn’t wait to see our big girl on the stage!

Waiting for the concert to begin with her buddies, Kennedy and Karis.

The concert didn’t disappoint. The kiddos were precious and adored Ms. Pattycake. They sang songs about Jesus’ birth and did all the precious things little kids do on a stage. We got quite a kick out of watching our little lady. Apparently, some other little girl came and stood in front of her and her friends and they couldn’t see. So there was a bit of discussion and some riser-hopping for a while. I’m happy to report that they got back to the front and were able to see Ms. Pattycake with ease. Ha!

And what about her adoring fans? We were those annoying parents that had the video camera and camera clicking away as she sang. Although, we did realize early on that we had pick the wrong seats. Next time, we’ll sit where we can see her face…you live and learn. Hayden made her way through her snacks very quickly, but got right in on the action and started clapping away. And sweet baby boy just slept the whole way through. Angel baby!

But the very best part of all (if you ask Emerson) was getting to meet Ms. Pattycake after the show was over. She waited in line (sort of) patiently and literally lept into Ms. Pattycake’s lap when it was her turn. Sweet thing. I’d say our first concert was a huge success!!

My heart smiles!

2010-12-01T01:20:00.001-05:00

Tummy Time

2010-12-01T00:55:00.032-05:00

I don’t know many other babies that have such a huge cheering section during tummy time. But our little Lincoln sure does! And when he’s getting a little tuckered out, they like to rally around and keep him company. We love our brother!! Oh, and we think he’s freakishly strong! He rolled from his tummy to his back today and we couldn’t believe it. So just to prove it to us, he did it again. Naturally, we think he is brilliant!

World’s Best Little Brother!

2010-11-30T21:02:00.001-05:00

I’m pretty sure that’s the general concensus around here ;). We LOVE our little boy and every little thing about his almost-two-week little self! He’s such a great baby so far. Lots of sleeping, lots of diapers and lots of cuddles! I don’t know why I’m surprised, because it happens every time, but I can’t even imagine what it would be like around here without him! God is so good to give us the World’s Best Little Brother!!

Tiny Tots n Tunes

2010-11-30T20:15:00.020-05:00

Although the semester stated out a little shaky for our “hesitant to try new things” Hayden Kate, she ended up LOVING her Tiny Tots n Tunes class!! She couldn’t wait to go each Wednesday night and would tell us all day long what she’d get to do…”I sing songs, Briggs be there, I get shakers, I get stampers!” And it was such a treat that we got to do the evening class because daddy was able to join us! While Emerson went to her Joyland Choir, we would get to spend some good quality time with mommy, daddy and Hayden. Tonight was our last night & she even got to show off her new baby brother! Here are some of her favorite songs…The Dinosaur song, the “jumping song” and anything that involved instruments. They usually got to use shakers, sticks and bells each time and she was very enthusiastic about her music making ;). She even got brave enough to touch the parachute by the last class.

But her very favorite part of the class came at the end…each kiddo got to go up front and get a “stamper”. She told us every time, “I get stamper, just like Emmy. I go show her.” She loves being like her big sissy (who gets stampers at gymnastics). I’d say that Hayden is quite the fan of music class and we’ll be back at it soon!

“I love going to the Dentist, mommy!”

2010-11-29T15:28:00.005-05:00

Time for a little “bad mommy” confession…my 4-year-old little lady JUST had her first trip to the dentist. And I made her daddy take her because I just knew she’d come away with a ton of cavities. I was totally projecting on my sweet little girl because of my dislike of the dentist and horrible amount of cavities :(. Poor kiddo. But she sure proved me wrong!! She came home, cavity free, proclaiming that “I love going to the Dentist, mommy!” I was so proud of her. Her daddy reported that she was SUCH a big girl, did great with her x-rays, loved getting her teeth cleaned and was pumped about her new toothbrush and toothpaste. So we are fans of the dentist. I couldn’t be happier! And who knows, maybe I’ll take a cue from my 4-year-old and get myself to the dentist too ;).

The only bummer of the trip was that Dr. D told Em that it was about time to give up sucking her fingers. We all knew it was coming, and she only does it at naptime/bedtime, but I just don’t have the energy it will take with a newborn. So, we are waiting to tackle that when mommy starts getting a full night of sleep again. We’ll keep you posted, too….we’re sure to need lots of prayers for that!! Ha!

Oh Christmas Tree

2010-11-28T15:33:00.013-05:00

Don’t you love our little purple tree!?! We got to decorate it all by ourselves this year and are so excited to turn it on every morning!! It really is SO fancy, don’t you think!?!

Just Relaxin'

2010-11-26T15:39:00.005-05:00

Turkey Surprise

2010-11-25T15:46:00.020-05:00

I guess Gigi, Gebo, Ross and Amanda were feeling a little sorry for us having to miss Thanksgiving...or could it be they wanted to see the baby...because they brought us a Turkey Surprise!! Apparently, Uncle Ross and Amanda couldn’t wait to meet our little guy and Gigi and Gebo were gracious enough to pack up their Turkey-day meal and come our way on Friday. We had a wonderful day…wonderful food and made wonderful memories ;).

Turkey Day

2010-11-24T15:54:00.049-05:00

We had a really low-key Turkey Day this year. Since our little guy was due so close to Thanksgiving, we knew we wouldn’t be able to make it to the Thanksgiving celebration with Scott’s family this year. Total bummer, but we were okay with just hanging out at home as long as we could be with our little brother. And we were totally fine with waiting for next year to get our turkey on ;). So we just spent the day...

Watching Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving in our jammies

Eating yummy “turkey” treats

Making turkey puppets

And posing for pics. It sure is hard to get THREE turkeys all looking at the camera at the same time. But they sure are cute turkeys ;)

Gobble Gobble!

Bubba's first bath

2010-11-23T20:28:00.007-05:00

Like sisters, like brother.

So far we’re 0 for 3 for our kiddos liking their first bath L. And we really thought we’d prepared better this time. Breaks your heart, doesn’t it!?! At least he loves the cuddles afterwards!!

First visitors!

2010-11-23T18:33:00.002-05:00

Tonight Uncle Jim and Aunt Traci came over to meet brother and bring mommy some goodies. The girls were SO excited to show off brother and mommy was so excited to get our sweet Grammie’s dining room table. We hope she can come see it in our house really soon!

First well visit

2010-11-22T15:54:00.010-05:00

Today was brother’s first well visit. Not gonna lie, it was pretty crazy hauling this whole family of five into the pedi. office…which may explain why the only picture we got was of sweet boy in his carseat.

It was actually a fairly eventful trip. Lincoln hadn’t gained as much weight as they’d like him too and when I mentioned that HK had trouble nursing because of her tongue tie, the doc checked him out. Sure enough, little guy had a tonuge tie too! I had already decided that if he did, we would definitely have it clipped because I always wished I’d pushed for it with Hayden. So, we did it. And it wasn’t a big deal at all. AND, he’s nursing better already. Praise God!! That is one of the main things I prayed for his entire pregnancy and I’m so thankful God is answering that prayer!! We do have to go back in for a weight check next Friday, but I'm confindent it will be great!

Stats:
Height - 19.5 in. (36%)
Weight - 6 lb. 8 oz (13%)
Head - 13.75 in. (28%)

Sweet Baby Boy!

2010-11-21T16:18:00.027-05:00

Welcome Home, Brother!!!

2010-11-21T14:33:00.020-05:00

Lincoln was welcomed home by his SUPER excited big sisters and Karo, Kbob & Gigi (poor Gebo had to leave earlier). They had even made him a "happy birthday" cake and everything. And we were SO glad to be home as a family of five!!

Seriously, can you tell the girls are excited he’s home!?!

During our stay...

2010-11-20T23:53:00.025-05:00

While we were in the hospital, we had our parents and several dear friends come visit. And I did a terrible job of getting pictures of them!! I hate that. So thanks to our parents, the Bertrands, Hortons, Formans, Reddings, Jessica, Meme and Ms. Pennie for visiting...such fun memories of introducing you to our little boy! Here are the few pics we did get of our friends and family with our sweet Lincoln!

This time around we were SO ready to bust out of that joint the minute we could! I remember feeling like they were kicking us out pretty quick when Emmy was born, but this time it seemed to drag on and we couldn’t wait to get Lincoln home and get back to the girls. Ready to hit the road!

Sisters are great!

2010-11-20T23:12:00.033-05:00

Today my big sisters came to see me again! They are very sweet and I can tell that they REALLY love me!! Do you know what they did? They brought me my very own Build-a-Bear puppy that they made for me. I love it already. And I had a little surprise for them too. Mommy had helped me get some presents ready for them and we nailed it. I got Hayden a new Bitty Baby that she decided to name “Sophie“ (just like the one she had given Emerson the day she was born) and I got Emerson a big-girl James Avery necklace that says “Big Sister“. They both loved their gifts and but I think they love me even more!!

Family of FIVE!!!

2010-11-20T00:04:00.010-05:00

Happy Birthday, Lincoln! (Part 3)

2010-11-19T22:42:00.009-05:00

Scott's parents arrived about the time Lincoln was brought to our room and we all had a wonderful time loving on our new little man!! Scott and I had SO much fun introducing the girls to their new little brother and they were both smitten with him right away!! What a HUGE blessing...watching my husband take time with each of the girls to show off our sweet baby boy. I just wanted to freeze those moments forever!! They were both so careful, so excited and so very proud. Precious!

After a while, the girls left with our parents. We were SO thankful that both sets of our parents were willing to stay with the girls! How fun for them and reassuring for us to know that they were getting loved on ;). Then Scott and I spent the evening just loving on Lincoln, snuggling, learning to diaper a boy ;), staring at him and thanking God for this wonderful blessing!!

11-19-2010. What a WONDERFUL day!!!

Happy Birthday, Lincoln! (Part 2)

2010-11-19T22:01:00.010-05:00

Of course, the minute I saw him I melted!! SUCH a sweetie! And he looked just like the girls…those crazy strong Rowe genes ;). Of course, I pretty much expected it and loved his sweet little face. He was cuddly from the first minute and his daddy was beaming!! We got a lot of congrats on him being our first boy from everyone in the room too. I had guessed he’d weigh somewhere in the 7’s and he was exactly 7 lbs. I just felt like he was this little manly dude from the very beginning and I knew that I’d have to try very hard to not let him be a complete “mama’s boy” ;).

Scott and I got to have some special time alone with Lincoln and soaked him all up! I was so proud to watch “my man” with our very own “little man”. And I loved getting to join the “boys mom club” too!

Next, my parents got to come meet their grandson! By that time, Courtney had gone to pick up the girls at Sharee’s house and brought them up to meet their baby brother!! But when they got to our room, he had already gone to the nursery. I was just SO ready to see them and I LOVED getting to ride over to our recovery room with them holding my hands the whole way ;). They did stop to see Lincoln in the nursery and got to watch as daddy helped give him his first bath.

Stay tuned for Part 3......

Happy Birthday, Lincoln (Part 1)

2010-11-19T21:58:00.012-05:00

What a WONDERFUL day it was!!! I cannot believe he’s here and I’m SO in love with him already!! This entire pregnancy, I had really been hoping and praying that I would go into labor on my own instead of being induced like I was with the girls. I actually had really great experiences with both of their births, but I thought I’d really like to feel what it was like to go into labor, just in case this is our last ;). Anyway, I had made some progress the few weeks before he was born, but we just weren’t sure. And I didn’t want to miss out on getting to use my own doctor if she was out for Thanksgiving, so we had set an induction date for November 22nd, which also happened to be my Meme and Granddaddy’s anniversary. I loved that they would share a special day and was pretty sure that’s what would happen. But God had other plans!!

On the morning of the 19th, I had a scheduled doctor visit at 8:30. I had just planned on taking the girls with me, hearing that it would be a few more days and taking the girls to Sharee’s house while Scott and I attended our baby shower at his work. Plus, we had planned to have a special “last time as a family of four” and decorate for Christmas that weekend. But when I got up around 6:30, I noticed that I was having pretty consistent contractions. I went ahead and got ready and when Scott got up, mentioned the contractions. He was not convinced ;). As the morning wore on and I got the girls ready, I started feeling really uncomfortable. I convinced Scott that he should at least follow me to the appointment just in case, so that he could take the girls for me if she sent me to the hospital. And if not, he could go on to work. I told him that I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the baby came today. He still wasn’t convinced.

So once we got to the doctor, he stayed with the girls in the waiting room while I went back. When the doctor came in, I told her, “I’m pretty sure I’m in labor.” She said, “well, let’s find out”. When she checked my progress, sure enough, I was dilated to a 5!! Halfway there! She decided to hook me up to the machine that monitors contractions before sending me to the hospital just to make sure I was close. I texted Scott that I would be in there for 30 minutes or so and he decided to take the girls to eat breakfast in the hospital cafeteria. At that point, poor guy STILL didn’t believe me and texted our moms that he didn’t think it would happen today. Stinker ;).

After what seemed like an eternity of sitting on an uncomfortable table and having really uncomfortable contractions, my doctor check the machine and told me we’d be having the baby today!! She went to fill out my orders and I called Scott to tell him it was go time. He was shocked! I guess he didn’t realize I knew what I was talking about! So he and the girls headed over to L&D and waited for me to get there. He also called our parents so they could hit the road as soon as possible. The sweet receptionist walked me over and the first person I saw was one of our friends from church…he and his wife had just welcomed their own little guy on the same day! We had joked our entire pregnancies that our boys could have the same b-day, but I don’t think we believed it would really happen. SO fun! Once I got to the room and was able to tell the girlies “hi”, reassure them that I was okay and get them excited about brother’s birthday, we said “goodbye”, and Scott took them to Sharee’s house for the day. I missed them for sure, but didn’t worry about them a bit while they were with their “other mother” ;).

At this point, it was about 10:00 and the nurses were doing all the initial paperwork, setting up my IV and getting us ready to go. The first thing I said to my sweet nurse was, “I’m ready for my epidural just anytime”. Ha! She assured me that he’d be around soon but that I had to have one IV full of fluids before he could give it to me anyway. Man, was I ready when mr. anesthesiologist walked in!!! He did a good job and I felt relief pretty quickly. Scott had missed the epidural this time, but I knew he wouldn’t mind. He’d just be glad I felt comfortable by the time he got back. And I was thankful he’d come with me that morning after all!!

When he got back, we laughed about the shower we’d be missing, called several friends and family and just waited. It was fun to talk about the two times we’d been there before and think back to the days that Emerson and Hayden were born! We were so excited! And he LOVED watching my contraction monitor and telling me, “ooh, that was a big one!”.

My doctor came in around 1:00 to check on my progress and we’d made it to a 7. Good news! But my water still haden’t broken, so she did that and told us she’d be back in a few hours. Scott decided to go grab some lunch and by the time he made it back, I was starting to feel some pain. My parents arrived pretty soon after that and I tried to mask my discomfort, but they could totally tell I was hurting. I asked Scott to go get the nurse, because I had been pushing my epidural button as much as I could, but was feeling a LOT more than I ever did with the girls. (I never felt a thing during either of their labor/deliveries). Sure enough, when the nurse came in to check on me at 1:45, I had dilated to a 10 and was ready to push! She called the doctor, but it took a while for her to get there. In the meantime, I was hurting pretty bad and really had to concentrate on breathing through the contractions. Scott was wonderful and let me squeeze his had to death as we waited. I was REALLY ready to push by the time the doctor got there around 2:30!! Our little guy joined us just only a few minutes later (after only a few pushes), and I got to experience a LOT more pain during his delivery than I ever planned to! At the time, I was not too excited about it, but already looking back, I’m glad I got to feel as much as I did ;).

Stay tuned for Part 2....

Lincoln Scott Rowe

2010-11-19T16:39:00.013-05:00

Lincoln Scott Rowe

11-19-10

7 lbs

19 ½ inches

2:40 PM

Ready for Brother!

2010-11-13T00:01:00.064-05:00

Whew! Just in time. We got brother his special gift and now we're dying to give it to him!!

A few days ago, we went to make brother his very own Build-A-Bear! Since Emmy has her puppy, Dae, and Hayden has her teddy, "Abby", we thought brother needed one too. Just like Em had done when Hayden was on the way, we wanted to give him a special gift to say, "we love you, welcome to the family!" We actually chose a "boyish" looking puppy for him and it turned out SO cute!

Choosing the perfect one.

Picking out his little "puppy" sound.

We kissed the heart and said a little prayer for our baby brother. First, Em did some stuffing, and then it was Hayden's turn.

Gotta give him a bath.

All done!! Come on, brother! We're ready to meet you!!!

We love Aunt Sarah!

2010-11-12T23:31:00.004-05:00

31st

2010-11-08T23:30:00.001-05:00

Well, I’m closer to 40 than 30. That’s sad. But Sharee was sweet enough to help me celebrate it and made me take a picture. Ha!

38 Weeks

2010-11-07T23:34:00.014-05:00

Brother

Emerson & Brother

Hayden & Brother

Mommy and ALL my kiddos!!

Hayden - 2 Years

2010-11-05T23:40:00.003-05:00

Emerson - 4 Years

2010-11-05T22:45:00.006-05:00

Sisters

2010-11-05T21:47:00.005-05:00

Party in your PJs!!

2010-11-05T04:55:00.000-05:00

Two birthdays within one week + one VERY pregnant mommy + just moving to a new house = two sisters sharing one birthday party!!

And we all had the best time!! I knew several months ago that we would definitely only be having one birthday party for the girls this year, and that might have even been pushing it a bit ;). But we planned ahead, had help from our precious friends and I had to be okay with not going all out like I usually do ;).

Emerson had asked for a surprise party, so we had to come up with a way to make that happen. Hayden didn’t seem to have an opinion, but I do know that that girl loves to eat! So I borrowed the “breakfast party” idea I got from my friend, Leslie, Sharee helped me with the invites and we got to party-ing!

Scott figured out someway to get the girls out of the house that morning so we could give them a big surprise! And boy, did it work! Em came in SO excited!!! Hayden was a little bit more timid, but got VERY excited when she saw her buddy, Tristan!

We got right to the birthday cake part because they were the stars of our breakfast!! Hayden had a big “2” donut hole cake and Emerson had a big “4” donut cake!! They watched and listened as their friends sang “Happy Birthday” and then blew out all their candles.

Then it was time for some breakfast!! We had the girls favorites…cereal, donuts and fruit to snack on and all the kiddos just piled on our quilts in the living room. It was so cute.

After they ate, we had a fun little area set up to make Fruit-Loop necklaces or Sprinkled Donuts OR the “Breakfast Café” area set up with a bunch of little kitchens. The kiddos just played in their jammies as the mommies got to visit and it was such a fun morning!

We’re so thankful for all our sweet friends and for their sweet hearts. Probably my favorite part of this “PJ Party” was that all of our friends brought one pair of jammies that we were able to donate to some kiddos that really need them!! And I loved being able to watch my girls learn that giving really is better than receiving…even on your birthday! To thank our friends for coming, we sent them home with some stuff to have a breakfast party of their own ;).

Hayden turns TWO!!!

2010-11-04T23:07:00.008-05:00

How on earth did our baby girl turn TWO!?! She is just growing up SO fast! Little Miss Hayden Kate woke up on her birthday morning to balloons in her room (like usual) and telling us, “today’s my birf-day!” Of course, she had been saying this for over a week as we had just celebrated sissy’s, but today she was right!! And she was excited! We had a special #2 pancake breakfast, daddy gave her some pretty flowers and she got to open her presents. The only thing she had asked for was “a puppy and kitty”. Since we were NOT going to get her the real deal, we tried to get as lifelike as possible. Think she loves her new puppy!?! And we prayed her special verse on her Bible over her one more time.

After daddy headed off to work and we got ready for the day, Hayden got to show off her new puppy to Briggs and Kennedy at gymnastics. And they were so sweet to get her a new Toy Story game. We had to play it the minute we got home and then Hayden’s bestie came over to play! Tristan and Miss Sharee were so sweet to get her the other thing she wanted…a kitty! And we all had such a great time playing together all morning ;).

When Tristan had to go home, we took naps (with the puppy & kitty, of course) and then headed to the pet shop for some puppy-watching. She LOVES doing this, so we thought it would be perfect for her birthday! We watched the puppies forever and then met daddy for dinner at none other than Gatti-Town. Of course she loved the pizza & cupcakes, but she REALLY loved the games. It was so sweet to watch her enjoy her day so much and she went to bed with a smile all over her face ;). Happy birthday, sweet girl!

A Princess and a Kitty

2010-10-31T22:57:00.006-05:00

I’m not gonna lie, I’m not the biggest fan of Halloween. I just never have been. And I’m always so bugged by all the scary/creepy stuff they have out this time of year because of Halloween. Just not a fan. But…the girls seemed really excited about it this year so I just had to deal with it. And I’m so glad we did. We had a great time as a family and the girls were so excited!

Emmy had insisted on going as Cinderella because that’s what Kennedy had decided to be as well. And they were so precious! I was planning to let Hayden be a princess too, just because she didn’t seem to have an opinion and the “type-A” in me needed them to coordinate (ha)! But at the last minute, she started telling me she wanted to be a kitty. Yikes! Luckily, one of our friends had two kitty costumes and let us borrow one of her ears & tails. Throw on a black leotard and a tutu and you’ve got a kitty! At least we thought so ;).

The outlets near our house had advertised that they were handing out candy, so we decided to try it out with Kennedy and Briggs. No doubt they were the cutest princesses, kitty and football player there, but it was kind of a bust. Not many stores had candy left, but the kiddos didn’t care at all! They got plenty of practice “Trick or Treating” and had a GREAT time! So all was not lost ;).

After we were done there, we headed home, had a yummy pumpkin pizza from Papa Murphy’s and enjoyed some time in our new neighborhood. We knew this would be a great opportunity to get to know some of our neighbors and we were right! It was SO fun to watch the girls pass out candy and we got to meet lots of new people. Not to mention it was a beautiful night!!

So Halloween was a success! And we’ve got the candy to prove it ;).