Roweyn's Very First Bang Trim

I had been thinking about giving Roweyn bangs for a few weeks but was never brave enough to do it. 

One day I had my shears out after giving my dad a haircut so I thought "Well, why not?"

She was so good the entire time. She sat very still and smiled. 

It was pretty much the sweetest thing ever!

She absolutey LOVED them!

And so did I!

Roweyn's First Bang Trim.

June 24th, 2012

My Baby Girl is Potty Trained!

Hey there!


I know I've been quite absent on here lately but things have been quite busy around these parts with a trip to Reno, getting the stomach flu while there and back at home, and Roweyn learning to use the potty in less than 2 weeks afterwards! Yes you heard that right! Roweyn is now a full time potty user!

First time she peed on the potty!

2/22/12

I am so proud of her, she did almost all of it on her own, I just followed her cues and she made it so simple! A few weeks ago I would have told anyone that I didn't think she was ready and I wasn't pushing it. She had never used the potty and was not interested in doing so. Then one day after a shower while she was still naked, she asked for the potty. I set it next to her and walked away thinking she just wanted to play with it but then she yells, "Mama peepee, I peepee in potty!!". I turned back around, thinking "Could she really have just gone?" took a look and she had, without me even asking her!! I was so excited, shrieking like a little girl, telling her she did such a good job and she was such a big girl and she gets a reward for using her potty. This all happened right after I got back from my Trip to Napa, the next day I let her run around half naked in the morning but nothing happened and as soon as I put her in a diaper, she used it. Then the next day she used the potty again while my mom was babysitting.

We went on a trip to Reno that weekend and she got the stomach flu the same night, we came home the next night and that morning I had caught it, so we didn't do any potty stuff again till Tuesday. On Tuesday I let her run around half naked all day besides dance class, outside time and nap time and she used the potty to pee every time she needed to go. And in less than 2 weeks she was trained! 


If you want to learn all the details of exactly how Roweyn learned, be sure to check back soon!

Napa, my First Overnighter without Roweyn Pt. 2

In case you missed Pt. 1 of my Trip to Napa, be sure to check it out here!

Alpha Omega Winery

Our second Winery for our second day was beautiful inside and out! The inside had incredible barn doors, vaulted ceilings and floor to ceiling windows with that photo above as the view. We tasted wines that ranged from $50 to over $100, all were great but of course we didn't buy any.

Haha this photo makes me think Sierra and I are a couple with the way we are sitting.

Sierra and I at one of our Favorites of the trip and the last one...Peju Winery.

This Winery looks like it came straight out of a Fairy Tale. It was such a cute place!

Photo credit: here

The Tower

Isn't it great?

Photo credit: here

The driveway had these crazy trees that looked like giant sticks that curved over their driveway, it was so cool looking!

After our last winery we headed out to find some dinner and then get on the road to head home.

The trip was a blast! I am SO glad I made the decision to go. It was just what I needed, a relaxing girls trip with nothing to worry about. One night away was definitely enough for my first trip though. It was refreshing and so nice to spend time with girls my age, all with similar interests and busy schedules as well, who all wanted to have a relaxing but fun time. I can't wait to go on another trip, not too soon though because I missed my girl lots! I'm thinking maybe in the fall. :)

Napa, my First Overnighter without Roweyn Pt. 1

So a couple of weekends ago I took the plunge and went on my very first overnighter without Roweyn! My brother's girlfriend was heading to Napa with a couple of friends for a girls weekend, invited me to go and it just seemed like an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I had about a month to prep myself for it which was really nice because I was definitely nervous about leaving her. I knew I would miss her tons and know she would do totally fine during the day with my parents but I was nervous for night time since she does still nurse and wouldn't be able to do so while I was gone. But it had to happen sooner or later and I think after 2 years with no me time, it was time to give it a go.


We made it to Napa mid Saturday and met my cousin who happens to go to school not too far from Napa and then we were on our way to our first Winery!

V. Sattui Winery

This was a very popular family friendly winery that served food & also had a little store to shop in so we decided to grab some food, a bottle of Chardonnay, find a picnic table and enjoy the nice weather.

My Cousin Paige and me

Paige, my brother's girlfriend Sierra and me

Inside the Cellar at V. Sattui

After we were done with our picnic we did some exploring around the Winery and checked out their amazing cellar!

Sadly after we were done at V. Sattui, Paige had to head back home.

We headed out to our next Winery, Velo Vino aka the Clif Family Winery who happens to be the owners of all the Clif Bars. Such a fun little place and very relaxed with lots of yummy wine! Sadly I didn't get a photo while there.

Whitehall Lane Winery

Here's all the girls (Holli, Jenn, Sierra and me) at our 3rd and last winery for the day. They were super nice and we had fun splitting up our tastings. They had a really great Dessert Wine that Sierra and I loved. It was something we had never tasted before in a wine, it was almost like honey. So good!!

After we were done at Whitehall we realized that all the Winery's were closing up for the day even though it was only 5pm! We found an outside bar that's attached to a restaurant and stopped by for a drink. While we were waiting in line to order a man cut in front of the 4 of us plus 2 other women and wow did he make a mistake doing that! He got his head chewed off by all of us. haha It was quite funny, I don't think he knew what he was getting into when he made that mistake.

We headed back to the hotel after that to get changed for some dinner and then out for the night. We found this cool place downtown called the Oxbow Public Market. It's basically a big warehouse with a bunch of restaurants inside. After we ate we realized we were all tired so instead of heading out we went back to the hotel and settled in for the night....mind you by the time we went to bed it was about 9:30. haha Wine makes us sleepy I guess!

The next morning we headed out to downtown St. Helena for breakfast and a little walking around to check out the cute shops, then it was off to our first Winery of the day!

Flora Springs Winery

We spent probably 2 hours sitting on this patio wine tasting. Our view was so beautiful it looked fake!

Sierra and me at Flora Springs

The girls at Flora Springs

It was another beautiful day and we were just getting started!

We visited two more Wineries after this which you can check out in Pt. 2 Coming soon!

Roweyn's 2 Year Check Up

So on Friday, Roweyn had her 2 year check up (a month late). We waited 45 minutes before we even went back into a room even though we were the first appointment after lunch, but we always seem to have to wait, no matter what. We finally went back and first thing they did was weigh and measure Roweyn. She was a little apprehensive since she remembers her appointments from when she had a UTI but over all she did great!


While we waiting Roweyn had a blast sitting in the Drs chair drawing on paper.

We saw an intern first who was getting more hours in to become a Nurse Practitioner. She asked me a bunch of random questions about Roweyn and the family and then got all worried when she saw Roweyn's weight since she is so much smaller than the average 2 year old but having gone over this since Day 1 with Roweyn, I wasn't too worried. She then proceeded to push me about vaccinations in which I just nodded and said okay and that I'd think about them. Roweyn still hasn't had any vaccines and at this point I don't plan on her getting any, any time soon. I know everyone has their own opinion on them and that's fine but this is my choice for her and I'm happy with it.

After the intern was done, Roweyn's Dr popped in for less than 5 minutes to chat. He said there are no worries with Roweyn's weight, his words and I quote, "She's tiny, we've already established that, she's just like you so no big deal!" 

So here are her 2 Year Weight and Height Stats!

We don't have to go back in until it's time for her 3 Year Check. Crazy to think that we're at that point now where they only need to see her once a year now! My little girl is growing up!

Oh You Know, Just a Little of Everything

I feel like I haven't posted anything on here in so long, even though I've been posting the entire month of January. It's just none of it has been that personal, mostly just some photos or updating old posts but i just feel like I don't have time to do anything more than that. I don't know what I want to write about or where to start with all the photos I have taken lately. 


My days have been filled with work and yet I'm hardly making any money, we've been sick and exhausted and there's been a lot of going to bed by 9:30 (for me) earlier for Rowe. There's been a lot of canceled plans...day of...that have just thrown me off and while I try to make the most of it, I end up feeling like I've accomplished nothing. I'm trying so hard to move forward with so many things in life and yet I feel like I'm constantly being held back, unable to change. 


Hopefully things WILL be changing by mid to end of February, the salon is going to see a little less of me in hopes of me seeing more of my clients (I know that sounds weird but it makes sense, I promise!), and not just that, but it should mean more free time with Roweyn. More play dates, more adventures, more of us being together. I am taking my very first OVERNIGHT trip without Roweyn. A HUGE GIANT BIG DEAL for me! I've never gone more than maybe 9 hours without seeing her and we've never spent a night apart in the 25 months that she's been out of my belly. But the opportunity presented itself and if I don't do it now, it might never happen! I'm nervous as heck and it makes me want to cry just thinking about spending the night without her but I NEED THIS SO BADLY! It just has to happen or I will just keep running myself into the ground. I am in a very slow process of weaning Roweyn, it's been rough with us both getting sick so we've moved forward, taken a few steps back and are moving forward again, also hoping that maybe this trip will help move it along even more!


I'm already thinking about our Summer schedule, a dance class for Roweyn and possibly swim lessons and will try to throw in a few short trips for some new adventures. Preschool sign ups for Fall are drawing near and I've decided to move her up into the next class that is called the Younger Side, which means she'll be going 2 days a week for 3 hours a day with me only there helping out in the class a couple times a month. It's a pretty big step for both of us, her class she's in now, I'm with her the entire time and it's a little less than 2 hours so a pretty big change, she'll also be a little younger than the other kids. I decided to do this because I feel like even now she could be in something 2 days a week. And I'll be able to work during that time on at least one of those days which will work out great.


Anyways I know I just threw out a lot in this post but it's the easiest way to get it out at this time and hopefully in the future I'll be able to spend more time writing! 


So now I'll leave you with a few of the quotes I found on Pinterest that I'm really liking this week!

                            

Source: etsy.com via Ash on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Ash on Pinterest

                    

Source: myrevelment.com via Ash on Pinterest

    

Source: sunshineandpearls.tumblr.com via Ash on Pinterest

Roweyn's Ramblings Wk. 28

What's that you say? I'm actually on time with a post for the first time in months?! I know I can hardly believe it myself!! 

Our friends left early Monday morning and for some reason our Monday was dead at the salon so I had the chance to get my own hair done! Well after I cut one clients hair. I decided it was time for a change so bye bye went the all over blonde; then Ombre and I met for the first time. I love it, it ended up a bit darker than what I was wanting so we are going to add more blonde on my upper layers whenever we get a chance. 
After many hours at the salon I ran home, changed into my swimsuit and then drove down to the river to meet up with my parents, sister and of course Roweyn for a little while. There was a mom there with her kids, she had a super pretty 2 year old boy, he had long hair that was in a bun so from behind we thought he was a girl and he had no clothes on. Even from the side, his face was so pretty he totally could have passed as a girl until he turned all the way around and we saw his little wee wee. haha 
But anyways this Mom was there with all NINE of her kids, by herself! And they were all so well behaved, the ages ranging from two being the youngest up to 16 being the oldest. And she HOMESCHOOLS all of them!! Totally crazy, I don't know how she could do that.

Tuesday after I got home from work we headed over to the park to go to the beach. We spent the evening there with some friends, snacking on food and playing in the sand and water. Roweyn had a lot of fun playing on all the floats on the grass and lounging on them. After we got home, I noticed Roweyn had some sort of little red rash on her legs, not sure what it was from and it didn't seem to bother but I threw her in the bath anyways just incase something was irritating her skin. It looked a little better after the bath and by the next day it seemed to have pretty much disappeared.


Wednesday we spent the day by ourselves recovering from all the busy activities we had done for the past week. So after breakfast we played with some playdough, one of her favorite new things to do! She's pretty good about not sticking it in her mouth although sometimes I do catch her licking it. haha

After we were done with the playdough we did some laundry and spent some time playing together. She climbed on the pillows behind my head and played with my hair, being a silly monkey. After lots of playing and some more chores, Roweyn went down for a nap while I did a little blogging and cleaning. 
When she woke up I fed her some lunch and while she was eating, her new Bumbleride Indie Stroller arrived on our doorstep! We were super excited as we had been waiting for about a week and a half for it to arrive! I put it together with no problem while Roweyn finished her lunch and then we tested it out in the house as soon as she was done! I think she likes her new ride almost as much as I do!
I haven't gone anywhere to even be able to put it to the test, but have been playing with it inside the house and am pretty sure I am in love!

Thursday was another day off where we spent a good chunk of the day outside. We played with chalk and made Roweyn a crown. We jumped on the trampoline with Auntie Tayelor and even Cyder joined us on it! Then we spent some time on the back deck when my dad/Roweyn's Papa called and Roweyn spent probably 15 minutes chatting with him on the phone. It was such a sweet moment. Every time we told her to say "bye bye to Papa", she would say "Nooo" and turn around so we couldn't take the phone from her.
I love how much Roweyn adores my dad. It took some time for her to warm up to him the first few months after she was born since he's only home every other weekend. But for the past couple weeks when he is gone, Roweyn walks around every day looking for him and when she hears a noise she points towards it and asks "Papa?" hoping the noise is him. It's the sweetest thing. I'm so glad Roweyn can have a close relationship with her Grandparents.

#flashbackfriday Me Summer 2007, gosh that feels like FOREVER ago! That was a fun weekend full of memories and firsts that I won't forget.


Friday night Roweyn kept waking up over and over and finally I decided to put her in bed with me after midnight. I also decided that it was time to night wean her because I feel like she just wants to nurse all night long and it's really interrupting our sleep. So I started that night, I don't think we fully fell asleep until around 2am, she kept waking up and fussing and having some fits since I wouldn't let her nurse or put her hand in my shirt which she likes to do for comfort. After 2am she fussed a couple more times off and on and then later that morning when it was light out I let her nurse.


Saturday we played with more playdough which as you can tell I had a little fun with! Mommy Loves Roweyn.
After her nap we played outside in her pool. That's the face Roweyn gives me every time I tell her to say "cheese".

Roweyn was being so funny with this towel, first she was dragging it around everywhere with her. Then she saw the cat laying down on the brick wall so she laid her towel out in front of it and laid down on it. Then the cat got up so she picked up her towel, sat down on the step with the cat and wrapped her towel around her. Got such a sweet photo too! After that it was back down to the beach with the towel where Nana wrapped it around her and she became a swaddled toddler!

Saturday night I was determined to keep trying with the night weaning so it was really our first real night of it. So she nursed around 9pm, I told her that Roweyn, Mommy and Milk were all going nigh nights and she could have Milk in the morning when it was light out and after we had slept through the night, I told her this a few times before she fell asleep. Then I put her in her crib sometime after that and she slept there with no interruptions until 2am. At 2 I pulled her into bed with me, I told her we needed to go back to sleep and she could have Milk when it was light out. She fussed a little bit a few different times between 2 and 6 but it was better than the night before and I nursed her at 6 and then again when we woke up around 8:30. 

I was reading some articles online that said to do 7 hour stretches between nursing at night and we ended up going longer than that last night because we were able to but my goal is to go at least 7 hours and we did so I know we are on the right path with a good start!

Today we got up, had breakfast and then got ready to head out to meet up with some people who wanted to buy Roweyn's Infant Carseat and Stroller I was selling on craigslist. I was a little nervous as I've never sold or bought anything on craigslist before and not only that, we had to drive almost 30 minutes to a meeting place as they aren't locals to our area. The meet up went well, they were happy with everything and I made some money! I'm glad I was able to sell it and so happy to not have to worry about it taking up space in the garage anymore! I'm thinking I might have to put a few other things on craigslist soon!


We got home fixed up some lunch and I put the kiddo down for a nap. Now she's up and we are getting ready to head outside!


We have a pretty busy week coming up. I start work over at the diaper store again, two days a week on top of my 2 to 3 days at the salon and we have some company coming for the day on Wednesday so posting will most likely not happen unless I have time to schedule something but in case I don't get to it.....


Have a great week!

Roweyn's Ramblings Wk.9

Well I can't say that this week has been as exciting as last week. The weather couldn't make up its mind...again!


Tuesday we planned to go have a picnic at the park after an appointment we had. The weather was so nice before our appointment and then when we got out, it was completely overcast and windy! So instead we went over to our friends house and just ate and played for the afternoon.


We worked on Wednesday, Roweyn only took one nap the whole day so it was very interesting. She got to play a bit with her friend because one of the other babies was there for part of the day. And we went on a short walk to get her out of the store for a short time. Then after work we watched my 10year old sister, Tayelor at her first softball game. She did great! She played first base, caught the ball and when she batted, she hit the ball and after 3 girls batted, she made it home!


We went to playgroup on Thursday. Saw some old friends there that we hadn't seen since last fall. Sadly it was raining and trying to snow the whole day. :( We went home and Roweyn fell asleep in the car, I decided to park in the garage, roll down the windows and leave the door that leads into the house open so that she could have a nice nap. She ended up sleeping for about 2 hours!! After that we did some major cleaning upstairs that was well over due!


Roweyn has a new favorite game that she started playing with her Auntie Tayelor. Tayelor lays a big blanket on the ground and then Roweyn lays down on top of it and Tayelor pulls the blanket around the house. Roweyn LOVES it! She will grab the blanket of the couch and bring it to us so that she can play.


She is talking a lot, sometimes using 4 word sentences. She was on the bed the other day and started to turn around to climb down and she says, "I'm gonna get down!" It's so crazy hearing her talk like that.


Roweyn really wants to feed herself now if a spoon or fork is involved, which is great, except she makes a way bigger mess than what she actually eats! Sometimes she will let us feed her if she has her own spoon and bowl to play with but it's not always the case anymore!


Yesterday, we moved her crib into her own room!! It's so weird having her in another room, even though its literally on the other side of the wall from mine.  She slept really well too! She woke up twice before I climbed in bed, which is pretty common, I'm not sure why she does it. But I just lay her back down and rub her back and she's back to sleep in less than 5 mins. After that she slept from about 10pm to almost 5am and then I let her climb into bed with me for the rest of the morning. So all in all it was pretty great! I'm curious to see how tonight will go!


I also got to trade cars with my dad over the weekend. He bought a 2002 Ford Escape about a month ago, as he needed a smaller car for commuting. He knew I wanted a bigger car though as my darling sporty 2.5rs Subaru Impreza was getting a little tight for us. So he took my car to get even better gas mileage and I get the bigger one. I am loving it so far! It's fun being higher off the ground, having way more room in the car, having a sunroof!!! (so excited about that) and being able to put Roweyn rear facing in the middle of the car instead of on the side. I will really miss my Suby though! I've had her since I started driving 6 years ago, she was my first car and we've been through a lot! I'm happy that she is in good hands though and staying in the family. :) hehe


Alright, well here are our photos of the week!

Finally, nap time at work!

Mommy time while the toddler sleeps before playgroup!

So content while Mommy cleans...that's a first!

Big girl alert!!

Since when did all her pants become highwaters??

I'm just gonna pretend she dressed herself this day.

Can you tell I'm stoked to be at the dentist?

Just me and my TOMS waitin around...

Movin' on Out...

So this weekend I'm finally thinking is going to be it....What's it you might say? Well it would be, moving Roweyn into her own room! Yeah I can't believe it either! I have been thinking about moving her for a while now but haven't been able to for a few different reasons, but we finally have the chance to this weekend.


My reasoning for why I think it's time...


She is almost 15.5 months old.


We have been sharing a room now, technically for 2 years, if you count the time I was pregnant with her. ;)


I think part of the reason she wakes up at night is because she hears me either breathing or making some sort of noise.


It's going to be interesting because she is still waking up at night to nurse, so I am a little unsure how that will go, but who knows, maybe she won't since she will be in a different room.


If it doesn't work out, I can always move her back into my room, but I think it is worth a try for a couple weeks to see how it goes.


This is a huge step for us and I'm really hoping it will be a step in the right direction. And I would love any advice or suggestions you may have for going about with this. 








P.S. We are almost to 100 followers! I am thinking there might be a Giveaway if you can help me make it there, or beyond! Thanks so much for getting us here!

Roweyn's Ramblings Wk.4

So I missed last weeks post for this because the week before ended up being in the middle of last week...does that make sense? ha So for this week, I'm just going to combine the two of them, which I think is going to be harder than I thought it would be...


Last week:


Roweyn had her first dentist appointment on Thursday! It was only like a 5 minute appointment. All they did was look at all her teeth and that was it! She did so good! And all the girls that worked there had to come in and see her! They were so excited a baby was there. ha


Friday it snowed at our house, which is very rare. It will snow up in town which is about 15 mins away from us, but it came all the way down, so we went in our backyard and played in the very little amount of snow we got! Here are a few photos! Finally photos for my posts!

My dad built that play house for me when I was around 9 years old.

After me, my now 10 yr old sister played in it.

After her, our niece now 6 played in it.

And now Roweyn gets to play in it!

That is a man made lake behind us and is big enough that it never freezes

Roweyn turned 14 months on Sunday! I can't believe it!! I will have a post up for her 14 month letter as soon as I can!

This week:

One of Roweyn's new things is opening her mouth and showing us whats inside. If we ask to see her teeth, she opens up. You can't really see them though because she forms a big circle with her lips and blocks all her teeth. It's so cute though! She did it for the dentist last Thursday. And Thursday at breakfast, I asked her if she was all done eating and she opened her mouth to show me there was no more food.

Thursday morning I was getting Roweyn dressed and I said, "Look how cute you are!" and she said "how cute"! It was darling and she said it so well!

I signed her up for preschool for the fall on Thursday too. She is going to do a toddler and parent class one day a week at this darling preschool called Tall Pines Nursery School. My sister went there when she was younger and I helped out on occasion and always thought it was great. It's a coop school, so the parents are very involved and help out in the classroom as well as events and other things that go on, which I think is great!

Last night when I got home from work I really noticed how independent she is getting already. From wanting to put things away on her own, to trying to clip her pacifier clip on her shirt, to attempting to drink out of regular cups, and trying to dress and undress herself, even washing herself in the shower. My little girl is growing up before my eyes, its crazy and so bittersweet.

Every day she does something new, I can't wait to see what happens next week!