Dear Santa, gimme gimme gimme!

Downtown Macy's 'day in the life of an elf' with Leightyn and Wrigley (Naiah and nana)! Way too much fun, but thank Goodness it wasn't busy. Also, Brinley shows you his "scary face" that he learned all on his own. Don't blink or you will miss it. (He puts his fingers in his mouth and pulls his cheeks back :))

Quick clip blogs from the iPhone

A Sweet 4 year old and his party

I can not believe that my precious boy is 4. What a wonderful gift it is to be Rowan's mommy. I knew from the moment Andy and I got married that I wanted to be a mom, but never could I have imagined what a beautiful experience it truly would be! Andy and I are still just as smitten with Rowan as we were when he was itty bitty and coming home from the hospital. Honestly, he is such an amazing little boy and we can't seem to get enough of him. I can't even begin to try and share all of the wonderful things we experience every day. This past year has been extraordinary! Rowan's now starting to become a little adult, it is hard for me to admit that because I try to shove those thoughts away as quickly as they come. But honestly having him be a little older has so many new exciting things that come with it. His imagination is EXPLODING. He is thinking extremely UNIQUE thoughts and saying the FUNNIEST things I have ever heard. He is really quite clever. I am starting to see the world in a new way, and I can only thank Rowan for that! There are definitely challenges faced with raising a child in this day, but I truly believe that his gentle demeanor and kind heart will stay with him forever. I just can't believe this journey can get any better and every day it DOES! I love being a mommy and taking in every moment as my children grow. I love you my little Row Row!

On a star wars related note:

Last year for Rowan's 3rd birthday he received a light saber, in which, he had been begging for. I didn't think much of it considering he truly had no idea what it was or what it is used for. In fact, he had little knowledge of Star Wars all together! Little did I know that I was permitting a new obsession. WOW! One year later and we are full on Star Wars. I am not exaggerating... it is one of the only toys Rowan likes to play with for long lengths of time. When I think back on his tiny 3 year old habbits I mostly think of sports guys. Now Star Wars villains are creeping in every nook and cranny. So it was only fitting that he chose a Star Wars themed party. Enjoy!

ps Rowan wanted a transformer cake...haha he is so silly!

 

 

STAY TUNED...

Pictures of Rowan's fourth STAR WARS themed birthday party to come in the next day or 2!

Carwash

Brinley and mommy take a quick trip through the carwash...

His giant laugh is worth the headache

Cloudy skies

This gloomy day has kept us in our jammies. I was surprised to find something that made me happy with the sun's absence. These are precious, no? Perhaps they could be incorporated into my boys room when I do the Star Wars revamp shortly after Rowan's birthday. They scream galaxy to me. I was pleased to find some grey and black tones (let alone with a small dash of purple) enjoy! Courtesy of The Butter Flying

 

Pre-K update

I first off want to say how blessed I am that my husband and I both graduated from a private school that holds high standards for education and GOD! We have definitely been blessed to do the same for Rowan. I can see major changes happening at the young age of  3 (almost 4).  A couple weeks ago Rowan kept repeating "I am healed from the top of head to the tips of my toes" it is a scripture in the daily confessions that they do in school. It sparked something in me. I was given those confessions early this year and encouraged to do them with him at home. Like most things I started out VERY ambitious, and like most things I do, it quickly got forgotten. I was so thankful to know that his teachers are MUCH more pro active! When I initially looked at them I was wondering if these tiny tots would really be able to know them all. Guess I didn't give Rowan enough credit he knows most of them.We have been successfully been doing them at home for 2 weeks now. On top of that I have encouraged Rowan to take over for a little bit when we pray on the way to school he always prays for the kids in his class who were out sick for the day. It is the most precious thing to see that he is really learning to care for others.

Today while I was giving Brinley a bath I overheard Rowan is his room blabbering on and on and on like he usually does. Then my ears perked up, he was saying something that I recognized. He recited the ENTIRE pledge of allegiance. I got misty eyed and my heart was thumping with pride. It was so humbling to hear him say such profound words. It is such an amazing feeling to know you live in a free country where we are able to raise my kids with religious freedom. That is something worth fighting for! It really breaks my heart to think there are schools where God has been removed. how can you look at your child and tell me there is no God?

Sorry I did not intend for this to become so deep.

Among these huge leaps he also has a fast growing love for singing songs that his wonderful teachers share with him. He loves telling me the months of the year...I don't think I knew those until like 2nd grade!!  He can now write his name without any help and he loves to point out what letters he recognizes while we drive. He also points out kids in target who look like his classmates or one of the toys that another kid brought for show'n'share. Most of all he loves recess, go figure. I love hearing the kids tromp back into school (after playing outside )and try to hang their things back up. They are becoming so independent! I am so thankful that we made the decision to send him this year. We are only 2 months in so I can't imagine how much fun he is going to have the rest of this year.

{above:rectangle day at school~even the fake stamp was a rectangle:)}

  

Guh, he is growing so fast

 

Little boys grow up. It is true. It is also a hard thing to grasp. Brinley is getting into all kinds of trouble. Among his favorite things like unplugging things from outlets, digging receipts out of my purse, and throwing my cell phone He has added pulling the milk out of the fridge to this endless list. This boys loves getting dirty. It also doesn't help that we often laugh at him cause he looks so cute and innocent. It is hard to be frustrated when he is giggling and his belly is jiggling. The messy moments are often my favorite. I just wish I could bottle up every moment. There are just too many that seem to slip through my memory. I am lucky if I get any of it on video, they never seem to perform for the cameras. Brinley won't even walk for the camera. We have tried so hard to catch his laughter when we all applaud his walking efforts. 

If you can't tell Brinley is one of the happiest babies I have seen. He is always smiling and waving at people. He even crawls up to snuggle on laps of company and guests in our home. He is a lot more predictable than Rowan ever was. It is so fun to see how different their personalities are. I can see that they will be so good for each other when they are older. They will teach each other so many wonderful things in life. I am so happy that I get them both to teach me. I know I have to let them grow up and learn things on their own I just can't promise that I won't try to capture it all.

Fashions Finds

I often have a hard time finding things that I ABSOLUTELY love my boys in. I have a feeling that ZARA will be a new go to for me. Plus, the prices are very reasonable. I often like pieces from odd and end stores carrying boys items... but little do I find that the way the clothes are styled to be appealing. I may not have a girl but I don't feel that boys have to be grubby. I am all about making them look and feel unique:) Rowan loves to wear his minnetonka moccasins and I don't think his style ends there! Can't wait for some of our new things from other online shops to arrive!

A Scary Story

A long time ago in a far away village {not so far away, and not really that long ago} a little boy was born. His mommy and daddy had lots and lots of time to give to him. So they spoon fed him {for way too long} so he could keep his precious little hands clean. They bathed him (even when he was not smelly~ because, well, they had the time.) They even put a clean shirt on him if there was even the teeny tiniest crumb on his current shirt. One day something FRIGHTENING happened. The mommy and daddy had another baby. YIKES! Not so scary you say? Well, now, that mommy and daddy had less time to clean that first little boy's hands and shirts (SHRIEK!!!!!!!) On the other hand Rowan's new little brother was not so clean. Brinley stuck his hands in the dog's food, ate things off of the floor, and he would even reach into the potty to splash around in the water. Rowan was terrified by these monstrous behaviors. And here comes the scary part. On a day that started out as clean as any other... that little boy, Rowan, who did NOT like messy hands was FORCED by big, giant people to stick his hand inside a ooooooey gooooey pumpkin! Rowan flailed, shrieked, and pleaded for them to stop, but they didn't. They let out roarous laughs "Bwahahaha" at his expense. They even recorded the torturous moment. They forced Rowan to, to, to GET DIRTY! It was terrifying. It gets worse... Rowan had to watch wide-eyed as they got his little brother. He was so little and helpless. But it happened. They made Brinley stick his hand in there too NOOOOOOO. After Rowan's tears started to clear he realized Brinley, WILLINGLY grabbed chunks of pumpkin out with his bare hands. Brinley loved the messy pumpkin, he went so far as to eat that ooooey gooooey orange thing. Now Rowan is now walking around with messy and hands and is slightly ok with it for once (insert screams of terror.) No one ever knew what happened after that... did he ever wash his hands again? Did he like the pumpkin? Did he like being messy? (DUN DUN DUN) We may never know...

 

and they lived happily ever after!