Lake Day

On Thursday we spent most of the day at the lake after my sister's last day of 6th grade.

It was a pretty warm day and I surprisingly got a little sunburned even with sunscreen on.

Roweyn had a blast playing in the sand, lake and on the playground and swings.

Rowe making a water pit with her cool sand toys her Papa bought for her.

Lovin on her Mama

Taking an unusual nap while we were at the beach.

She's not big on sleeping places besides at home or in the car

but she took a great nap at the beach even while she was in the middle of

a circle of adults that were chatting the entire time.

Roweyn's Ramblings Wk. 62

Back to work in the salon on Monday morning. Roweyn at dance class on Tuesday striking a pose.

 Park playdate with Roweyn's best friend! And what not napping looks like after the park!

Friday morning shenanigans. Spinning on toys at preschool.

Happy 18 and 19 Months!

This summer has been so busy that I have put off posting my monthly letters to Roweyn, so a couple of them will be combined months.


Roweyn,


My darling Mini Me, not just with your looks but your personality too! You have been very busy the past couple months, exploring, learning, talking and always going. You want to be outside any chance you get, playing in the rocks, the grass, your play house, the sand and the water. You are so curious about everything, always wanting to know what "it" does and how "it" works. You listen to me so well when I explain things and are so eager to learn.

This Summer you went through a phase of not taking naps in your crib, but napping in your stroller instead. You would only sleep for 15 - 20 mins in your cirb but would nap for an hour or two in your stroller. It was so silly and I couldn't understand how it could be that comfortable but I went with it because you were happy doing it.

You are talking more than ever, one of your favorite sayings right now is "No way" and it's probably one of the cutest things in the world, you also said "Darn it" recently while pretending to wipe something off with a washcloth. You can show me and say "Nose, Ear, Hair, Teeth, Mouth, Eyes, Feet" and most likely a few more! The other morning you said, "Whoa, I see you" while we were hanging out in bed.

Everyday you become more of a Toddler and less of a baby and it's very bittersweet for me. I love watching you learn and grow and blossom into the darling little girl you are becoming! But along with that comes more independence for you, which means you need Mommy's help less and less, it also means less snuggling for us, as you are always on the go.

Your hair grew so much this summer too! You wore your first ponytail and pigtail on top of you head at the end of June and your first pigtails on 4th of July!!

Your favorite activities this summer were going for rides on the boat and jumping on the trampoline! I watched you go from being unsure about the trampoline, having to hold onto me or your Auntie Tayelor at all times on it, to running around and jumping all by yourself! It was really neat to see the change and I am so proud of you!

I bought your very first potty for you at 18.5 months old. Although you weren't quite ready for that big step, I wanted you to get used to having it around and trying it out whenever you wanted. You were pretty excited about it the first night I brought it home.

We took a trip to the Zoo for the very first time and you loved seeing all the animals but I think you favorite was definitely the Giraffes. You couldn't take your eyes off them!

After we got home from the Zoo we played with bubbles, I really love this photo of you because you were having so much fun.

Sometimes you like to dress up and pretend you are mommy. Wearing your bathrobe and drinking out of my coffee cup, well I guess I should say pretending to drink out of it, since it was empty. Our clothes always seem to be matching too! A lot of times I don't even realize it until someone points it out.

No matter what we're doing you always find fun things to do and ways to make me laugh, which usually means a big clean up afterwards from me, but you are getting really good at helping pick up after yourself. You also discovered your love of climbing! I always have to keep an eye on you because you find some scary things to climb on.

Another couple of your favorite activities were laying down on a blanket while someone pulled you around the house and playing outside in the sand. I love hearing you squeal with laughter on that blanket and building sand castles with you and then us laughing together while you tore them down.

This summer has been such a fun adventure with you! I really can't believe how big you've gotten, that you actually turned 18 months and then 19! It all goes by so quickly and you really are growing up right before my eyes. I am so happy to be your Mama, to teach you all about this world we live in, while watching you discover so much of it on your  own too. I think most of all though, I'm so happy to know that we have a lifetime together, you will always call me Mama, and I will always be able to call you my daughter.

I love you so much!!

Love,

Your Mama

Roweyn's Ramblings Wk. 32

Well I'm finally getting a chance to post this. Between getting back from our trip, getting ready for our photos a couple weeks ago and then fighting allergies and sickness for over a week now, I've been just a little busy. Since it's a rainy day and the kiddo is down for what I hope to be a nice long nap, I get a chance to do this!! 

The Tuesday after we got back from our trip I worked, so our one  photo of the day is our night time snuggles. Love moments like these and love it even more that I will have pictures to look at, even though I'll never forget those precious moments.

Wednesday afternoon we headed over to what I was hoping would be our locations for our outdoor photos. We went out in the evening to check the lighting and figure out the best time to take the photos. I was ecstatic with what I saw and Roweyn had fun exploring with me. The last photo is take over at the park in front of the lake where I had thought about taking some of our photos too if we had the time.

After we got back, Roweyn pulled out her shoes and successfully pulled one onto her foot. I was so proud of her, even if it was the wrong foot! Then she tried on half of an  outfit I was planning for photos but she ended up not wearing it.

Rowe was being super cute at work on Thursday. Love that color shirt on her! We were playing peek a boo over the wall! Then later I caught her rocking her stuffed animal in the chair. She was such a good girl that day!

Obsessed with putting on hats while there, I couldn't help but snap a photo of it.


#flashbackfriday Newborn baby Rowe, freshly baked, she was soo teeny!! It feels like just yesterday that I gave birth to her but then at the same time it feels like forever ago. I can't believe it has almost been TWO years!! Only a couple weeks old she was already doing cute things! Either that or she was tired of her Nana snapping photos of her! Ha!!

Outside play time at Tall Pines, she was welcoming me to her cabin. Another #flashbackfriday photo on instagram, Roweyn's first photoshoot at 3.5 months old. She actually looks chubby!!


Saturday it was back to work for us where Roweyn is loving bouncing on Rody more and more!!

After work we met up with my mom and sister at the Italian Festa that was going on at a park for the weekend. Roweyn obviously loved it and of course we had to go since we are Italian! :) We ate Fried Artichoke Hearts and a big Italian Meatball Sandwich, along with some Pizza! It was all SO good! Then later I grabbed some Vanilla Bean Gelato, couldn't leave without eating that too, while watching the dancers and Italian music up on the stage!


Sunday I tried out a new way of napping for Roweyn at home. I was getting really tired of putting her in a stroller for nap time since she refused to sleep in her crib during it. I knew it couldn't be that comfortable for her, even though she slept for over an hour in it. The next weekend I was planning on switching her Crib to a Toddler bed so until then I put her in the big queen bed that is in her room. We read some stories and then cuddled until she fell asleep and she slept there I think for about 1.5 hours!






*Of course Roweyn wakes up after only napping for 20 minutes....must have jinxed myself when I wrote up top that I hoped it would be a long nap. Whoops!! I think I got her back down though...fingers crossed! 20 minutes is not a long enough nap time!!*