Happy 1st Birthday Rowan Matthew!!

Rowan had a wonderful birthday weekend! I'm working on putting together an album of pictures from his party to share with everyone. It should be ready within the next couple days...

It was one year ago today at 11:55pm that Jason and I were blessed with the birth of Rowan. He has brought so much joy and meaning to our lives..... I still look at him everyday and realize what a miracle life is.

Life is good

Love,

Jenn:)

Too cool for School

I think Rowan is easing into his big first birthday weekend. It kinda looks like he's trying to catch some rays while eating raspberries. The bottom picture cracks me up! The first thing that came to mind when I looked at this picture was from my days at PITT - walking through the streets and seeing a bum sipping beer from a brown bag.

In actuality - Rowan blinks from the flash all the time when I take his picture - I just don't post those ones. These were too funny not to post.

We leave for the burgh tomorrow night after work. I'm so excited for Rowan to be around his family and friends as he celebrates this very special birthday. Check back early next week for some snapshots from the weekend.

P.S. Hey Uncle Scott, please order us pizza for tomorrow night and make sure you have some food in the fridge for breakfast Saturday morning. Soft towels would be a nice touch if it's not too much for you. Chateau Lopinto - here we come!

Pictures from the day

Today was playdate Tuesday. It was a very fun playdate because Kai had a really cool sprinkler at his house that all the kids could run through. Rowan seemed to be the only one interested in trying to drink the water. Kai's mom, Jenny, made this phenomenal pineapple/zucchini bread and Rowan went to town on it! He ate one piece and then tried to open the container for another piece - he really liked it!

The top picture I snapped while the two BFF's were bird watching. I think Rowan is curious as to what Bart looks at all day, so he gave it a shot.

The middle picture is him napping after the playdate. I didn't bring a change of clothes after the sprinkler, so that's why he's just in a diaper. This sleeping pose has become his signature move.

The bottom picture is him patiently awaiting his oatmeal before bedtime. He loves to hang out in the exersaucer and watch Thomas before bed. I think it mellows him out and lets him unwind from the day.

BTW, I totally thought it was Jason that dressed Rowan yesterday, but it was actually Cristina! She is very trendy and hip, so I'll assume yesterday's outfit is the up and coming "look."

As Cristina would say, "Buenos Nochas!"

Hmmmmm........

I wonder who dressed Rowan today? It could of been a couple of people:

Me

Jason

Cristina

Bart

Who do you think is responsible for this fashion forward outfit?

Cool hat at the pool.....

Mommy is going to be home in less than 24 hrs and Rowan cannot wait... In the meantime, Rowan, Aunt Sara, Grandma and I hung out at the pool. Rowan decided he wanted to wear his cool hat to the pool.

The second picture is from lunch, he is anxiously awaiting some cantalope.

Now we going to watch Thomas and call it a day!

The Datsun Party

We are both sad, Mommy is in San Dawg for the weekend. However, Rowan and I went to a Dachshund birthday party Thursday night. It was a lot of fun, as you can see on Rowans face. It was good food and good fun. It was Sammys birthday so he got all the dogs a frozen yogurt.

Rowans told me he misses his Mom and cannot wait to see her on Sunday.

GO KARA!!

My friend Kara is running an ultramarathon on Saturday - 34 miles to be exact. It's on the Rachel Carson Trail in Pittsburgh. I believe it starts in Natrona Heights and ends in North Park.

Good Luck Kara - if anyone can do it - it's you!!

Mr. Big...eyes

This little guy is getting so hard to change! He wiggles, twists and turns so fast he's hard to keep in one place. This picture is another example of him on the go. I was trying to dry him off after his bath but he had other plans! So I snapped away instead.....

Tomorrow morning I leave for San Diego for work. It will be my first time away from Rowan and I'm having a hard time with it already. I know Jason will do a great job taking care of him, but it's going to be so weird for me to be apart. This will be good for Rowan though....so everyone keeps telling me! Hopefully Jason will post pictures of Rowan so I won't be so sad by not seeing him.

Off to bed......
Take care everyone

Pool Time=Nap time

This pool thing is working out well this summer. Rowan swims a bit, plays alot and then passes out as soon as he gets home. Today was no different. He has been so active lately - He climbs the steps, cuts the grass with his walker, babbles like crazy, and crawls real fast! It makes me feel good that he's hitting all his milestones. 2 more weeks until our little boy turns one!

Jason went to see Indiana Jones tonight so hopefully he'll write a review in the days to come.

The new Coldplay album came out today. Even though Chris Martin needs to get over himself, the album rocks. My favorite track is "Death and all his friends."

Jason's first Father's Day!

What a great day we had! Some Starbucks, a couple walks, some pool time and a cookout. Rowan was so tired after the pool again today that he took another 2 hour nap - we are loving those! He gave his daddy such a special Father's day gift -it was a book called "Me and my daddy."

I haven't had much of a reason to enjoy Father's day ever since my dad died several years ago, but this year was different. It's the beginning of Jason being honored for the wonderful job he does as a father. His presence and love is felt every day by Rowan and what more can you ask for. I try to stop often and realize how lucky we are to be together and share in this wonderful life.

Many thanks for all the positive feedback I've been receiving about the blog. I really enjoy doing it and the camera Jason got me for Christmas is his best gift yet!

Happy Monday!

xoxo

Jenn:)

Let me out!

Rowan can now make his way up the stairs. He's so quick and he babbles to himself the whole way up. It was time to block off the steps. This is him shaking the gate, trying to push through. We never watched the TV show Prison Break, but we assume it looks alittle like this.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Best friends

I captured these pictures VERY EARLY this morning after the Rooster woke all of us up. As you can see, Barty is still a bit tired. Rowan is so into Bart these days -he's always looking for him. Bart has done well so far. He submits to Rowan and allows him to "pet" him. I think Bart has also figured out that Rowan is a great way for him to get leftovers. Bart has taken a liking to Cheerios as of late!

Eat, Swim, Sleep....

Rowan had quite a weekend. We have been without AC for the past few days and it has been extremely hot down here. We've been able to improvise by moving his crib down to the extra room in the basement and hitting the pool both days to cool off. Before we hit the pool yesterday, Rowan had his first taste of McDonald's. He loved it! He ate a 4 piece Chicken Mcnugget (without the fried layer) in no time. Then him and I polished off an order of fries.

He did really well at the pool both days. We were able to play alittle in the water and take some snack breaks as well. We joined the YMCA today in Silver Spring. I feel alittle better being at that pool (it's 2 miles from our house) and there' s plenty of shade for us to hang out in.

Rowan speech is really coming along. He now says: "mama," "dada" and "baar" - which is his version of Bart. It's really amazing.

The above picture is Rowan napping this afternoon after a long day at the Y. I had to wake him up after 2 1/2 hours!

Have a great week!
Love
Jenn:)

Rowan meets the pool

We were finally able to try Rowan's swim trunks out on Sunday. We headed up to Jason and Bethany's place for lunch and some swimming. Little Leah was asleep the whole time, but Rowan really enjoyed himself. He wasn't afraid of the water at all - he even tried to drink out of the fountain! I'm so excited to start taking him to the local pool on my days off!

We're really looking forward to our July vacation to the Outer Banks with Jason and Bethany! Hopefully Rowan will love the ocean like his daddy does. Who knows, one day he may be a Navy Seal or a Shrimp boat Captain!