Our baby, a ONE year old.

What do they say? The days fly by but the minutes tick on?  Don't we all get to the end of a year and say, "where did the time go?"  I do not want to sound cliche but I have to say it.  The time of Rowan as a baby was so short.  I don't know what it was, the feeling that she was our last, the fact that our life has changed drastically, the fact that I HATED my job that made my days away from her so heart wrenching.  I wanted to absorb every last minute of her, the baby, the smell, the coos, the snuggles.  It felt impossible to be away from her but as every mother feels, while I was with her (and Lily) the only thing I could think about was everything that needed to be done: you know the laundry, the dishes, the meal prep- so I don't have screaming ban-chis at 5 o'clock, the packing and unpacking of diaper bags oh and the pumping.  Most of my life over the last year was spent pumping.  Rowan did not make this easy on mommy, BUT it was worth every last second to know that she was a breastfed baby until the age of 1.  A gift for my baby girl.  Needles to say the year was a hard year.  A year of adjustment. 

However this gift or shall I say THESE gifts are beautiful.  Everyday they bring laughter, love and an appreciation for  not only the little things in life but also the bigger picture.  The awareness that life is bigger than dirty diapers, packing and unpacking and the ins and the outs of a day.
(Thank you Elise Hibbard http://elisehibbardphotography.smugmug.com for the beautiful photos)

Over the last year Rowan has surprised us.  She is a bit of an introvert.  She loves to discover, play independently, use her hands to play and to jump.  She LOVES her sister to no end, every morning when she wakes up, she points at the door, asking not to be laid back down.  She leaves the room looking for Lily.  She is a bruiser, Lily wrestles her, snuggles her tackles her and overall watches out for her.  As a result Rowan spares no mercy.  She hits, she screams and she pulls hair.  She pulls the 'I am the baby in this family card' and I should get what I want. 

Lillian is the best big sister ever.  We knew she would be.  She is empathetic, loving,  caring and overall just wants to help Rowan at every corner.  There are definitely moments when Lily wants to play alone and does not want Rowan to touch her toys and who can blame her, she is such a big girl she deserve big girl time to herself.  But the best part of our day is when Lily and Rowan chase each other around the house, playing hide and seek, giggling, tackling each other or playing ball.  The interaction is such a gift.

Rowan is introspective. She is reserved, she does not hand out her smiles for free.  She is a happy baby, laughing and smiling frequently for those who know her best.

She took her first steps the week before the age of one and by one week after her birthday she had mastered walking.  Including walking up and down the one stair in the house.  She is now running -  3 weeks later.  She loves jumping on the couch, eating, her shoes, music, dancing, her sister, wearing necklaces and being carried around.

She is not as verbal as Lillian is, she says mama, dada, nana and recently go.  She roars like a dinosaur and has the cutest cackle ever.

Chicago!

Birthday girl.

Our baby girl.

One year ago, we had no idea what our family would really be, the dynamics, the needs, the laughter.  Now in the blink of an eye, here we are a year later.  Our lives, never before so full.  Rowan you have taught us about the need for time, space, laughter and reservation.  You balance us.  You are beautiful.  And I can tell already that you will march to your own drum, disregarding the things that do not matter in life and really absorbing those that do.  All we can say to that is thank you and we love you for the gift that you have given us, the gift that we - all of us - needed.

Where to start......9 months, 10 months......and so much more

Summer has been awesome, full and tiring.  I  cannot say how many times a week I say, " there are not enough hours in the day."  We have packed our summer and taken advantage of so many things yet I find myself regretting not making enough of our summer favorite meals, regretting not having enough BBQs; but truthfully it is not because we have not taken advantage of summer, it is because we have lived this summer with two young children to the absolute fullest.  Our days are no longer full of Saturday night BBQs, spending time making dinner with friends and enjoying a nice bottle of wine or beer.  Instead our days are enjoying activities that we love with our kids and running to the grocery store late night to prepare ourselves for the week.  A different type of fun.

In July we had our first annual Charnelton, Nye, Olech, Simpson Camping trip and it was great.  The kids swam, canoed with the dads/Uncles, we hiked, occupied crazy kids with learning how an old water pump works- teaching them how to pump water, hiking, smores and good ole' just playing in the dirt.  Relaxing - NO - fun- YES.

Rowan was 4 days short of  9 months here.  She started rolling and crawling during this time time.

Wesley and Rowan loving the water and mad that we would not let them get in further since we had a long drive home following this.

Shortly after camping we flew to Seattle for a wedding.  We realized even more than we already know- how much we miss our friends.  Every day was FULL- sun up to sun down of friends.  Laughing, talking and truly just understanding and taking care of each other.  The time was priceless and just what we had been longing for.  Lillian has come a long way with her traveling skills.  She was a true champ. The girls only napped in the car, went to bed late and woke early; by the end we were all in trouble but the she did a great job on the flight.  She loved playing with Rosie and doing whatever Rosie did.

Oh Puget Sound, Point Defiance we have missed you so.  You made us feel right at home with rainy mist all day long, on our only day with Mike and AD.

Lillian has grown so much this summer.  She is writing her name, spelling her name counting to 40, playing more independently and slowly doing away with naps.  She continues to be smart, happy, precocious, a leader and very detail oriented. 

All Rowan wanted to do through the month of August was stand.  She wanted to walk, hold onto furniture and walk holding your hand.  If I am in the kitchen she thinks she needs to be eating - even if she just ate - she LOVES the experience of food.  She will take a bite of something and if she does not like it she throws it across the room. She is just starting to really find her voice.....mama, dada, baba, ahhhh done.  It is a work in progress. She continues to be an introvert, needing obvious quiet time away from anyone but mommy.  She continues to stand back and watch and not really care what anyone but Lily and mommy are doing.  She casts a watchful and introspective eye on all- nothing is missed.

The wedding in WA was amazing.  Brian and Tiffany were so beautiful, the ceremony was perfect, the grounds were PNW at its best.

We took the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle.  It made me feel alive.  I could not stand to be in the cabin I HAD to be on the deck taking in the view and the oncoming city.  We spent the day with the Torseth and Gregory Family.

The girls play together all of the time.  Lillian really is such a great big sister.  She shares, she teaches, she guides, she loves.  Rowan just follows Lily around, she wants to be right with her, playing with the same toys.  No one can make Row laugh like Lillian can.

We visited Grandma Vivian and of course Lily had to see her bed and all of her jewelry.  Who doesn't need  5 bracelets on?

We saw Thomas with our neighbors~!  We road Thomas and spent most of the day doing Thomas activities.  They had so much fun they did not want to finish there ice cream because they were afraid Thomas was going to leave without them.  Mid-way through the day Lily asked about every 3-5 minutes if it was time to ride Thomas.

Top to bottom - Mitchell -4, Ryland -2, Lillian- 3.

A happy 10 month old baby.  At this point crawling stairs, cruising furniture like a champ, talking more and more and eating all of the time.  She is loosing her baby chub and that is a little sad.  Rowan has 6 teeth and 2 more coming in right now.  Her hair has filled out in the last month and she is more and more beautiful everyday.  

Playing were Lillian in the tent, a dream come true.

We took our first true Burley trip Labor Day weekend.  We only biked 5 miles but boy did it feel good to get out.  The girls did great but they were done at 5 miles so our dreams of 30 in a month are spoiled for sure.

Our little food explorer.  She LOVES food, all textures, shapes, sizes, flavors.  She is looking more like her sister yet she actually looks a tad bit like her mom.  This weekend we were in Chicago with all of Colin's family and Aunt Diane said, "we have the same head shape" oh sooooo true.  Yes she is clearly Colin's baby girl.

Chicago for another wedding.  The girls woke at 6 am so we were able to make it to the park before EVERYONE else.   It was a great trip and made me realize how much I miss the city.  It was so good to be with family.

My big girl starts preschool tomorrow.  So big, smart and full of life.  My wish for  her at this wishing well was that she will always hold the world in her hands feeling in charge of the world, instead of vis versa.  She is strong, beautiful, smart and full of everything needed to make this place a better world.  May the world be kind and loving and take her on a journey that will only help her grow in the kindest of ways.  We love you Lilybean, you will always be our little Bean, taking the world in YOUR reigns.
(Ironically her wish at this wishing well ("like the Genie") was wishing for cookies. I guess she is my daughter after all. 

July 4th and other summer fun!

Oh three year olds are so delightful in so many ways and so challenging in so many other ways.  I keep thanking our lucky stars that we do not just jump right into pre-teens and that we get to play a hand at parenting a 3 year old first.  In many ways I imagine they are similar: sassy talk, "no" and stomping out of the room, temper tantrums because I asked her is she wanted the red or the purple popsicle, "don't see me" and shutting her bedroom door, "ugh" while cocking her head to the side, rolling her eyes and walking away from me.  I imagine this time will replay itself in our future and I pray that I do a better job then than I am doing now.  This picture was an escapade I pulled to get Lily to stop screaming/crying in the bathtub for no reason at all.  It worked after I showed her how ridiculously cool her hair looked in the camera, but as you can see she refused to smile.

We have one very small garden this year, which is one more than we had last year.... and I came home from work the other day to find beans!  It was the best thing ever.  Rowan loves gardening with Lillian and I.  She will stand at the box Colin built for us and dig her hands in the dirt forever.  She typically screams at us when we pick her up.

For the weekend after the 4th we made it to the cottage for the weekend.  We had a blast!  Jumping off the dock.  Swimming. Roxy fishing every chance she got.

This is the response I got when I asked her to stop so I could take a picture.

Then I said no honey, please show me a sweet face for the picture.  This is what she did instantly. So my test worked, she does know what the difference between sweet and ummmm not so sweet is.

Colin and I got on the wind surfer......with not much success.  However we have decided to blame it on the lack of wind.  Here I am 'killin' it.  We also kayaked a bit and saw the bald eagle.  

Lillian LOVED playing with Will, Katy and Mike's son.    She is 3 and he is 18 months.

And here is a picture you have to love, to just melt your heart.  Two of their favorite things, water and being nakey, nakey, chicken bakey.

8 months and it is finally summer!

Some of the most amazing moments of the last month have just been moments of passing.  You all know the type, the moments that pass without a thought until you are settled for the night and you think back and realize how incredible something actually was.  I have loved making dinner and looking over at my little 8 month old trying her hardest to grab a toy out of her reach, trying so hard to make her body do something she does not know is yet possible.  

I love how Rowan grabs my face and smoothers me with a giant open mouth kiss when she sees me at the end of the day.  How she pats my shoulder when I pick her up and looks at me with so much joy and surprise, "really mom? you are picking me up, this is the coolest thing ever."  

I love how she cackles at her sister.  She squeals when she sees her.  She coos to herself when she eats or when she is COMPLETELY happy and in herself, by herself.

Rowan is working so hard on pulling to stand. Standing all of the time and trying to move into quadruped.  She is working on moving from standing to sitting and she is finally rolling!

Lillian is turning into the sweetest big sister.  Helping Rowan when she is  struggling, cheering when she succeeds.  She lights up just like I do when Rowan does something new.

She has also quite obviously become a 3 year old.  So many new feelings, emotions, freedoms, jealousies, that she is unable to understand or channel.  Typically the challenges come out with me, mommy.  She is perfect angel with Colin and the second I come home she melts.  I have silently, to myself threatened to quit on many occasions.  I have also threatened boarding school (silently) when she turns 13, God help us, it is not going to be pretty.

So far we have been busy this summer, classes, tests, moving friends/family, Colin's shows/band schedule, work.  But we have had a few moments of summer beauty, like strawberry picking with friends and family.  Ben and Lily at the strawberry farm!

Playing in the pool.

And watering the flowers or Lillian's head.  Every time I get the hose out and the bucket out to water this is what she does.  Oh the beauty of childhood.