Changes All Around

Cribs, cereal, rolling over.  Discuss…..

 

I can’t even believe the time is already here for all these changes with Oliver.  Those newborn days seem forever long in the beginning and then by the time 5 months goes by it seems like you didn’t get enough time with them in their “I just want to eat, sleep and cry” phase.  In just a few weeks Oliver is already going to be 6 months old.  (Is it too early to plan a birthday party?)  Oh wait, I guess I better plan Evelyn’s FOUR YEAR OLD party first.    FOUR!!!  Anyways, we have had some big changes these past couple of weeks.  Two weeks ago we finally moved him out of the basinet and into his crib.  It was long overdue.  When he is hanging his foot over the side I think that’s a sign that he’s too big for it.  I wasn’t sure how he would do overnight away from us.  Okay, let me be honest, I wasn’t sure how I would do overnight with him away from us.  I’m not good with change.  At all.  It takes me a few days to get used to new routines in my life and I was used to him being right there where I could hear every little scratch and movement.  It’s what needed to be done for some time now and now that a couple of weeks has passed by everyone has adjusted well.  I’m getting a little more sleep now.  Just a little.  And thank you to my husband who held me while I had a teeny tiny break down his first night away from us.

 

Another new thing going on with Oliver this week…..rolling over!  I’m not sure if babies are supposed to roll from back to belly first or belly to back but he has decided to start with back to belly.  He rolled over once on Mother’s Day but I didn’t see it happen.  I was out of the room no longer than 5 seconds to put something away in Evelyn’s room and when I returned there he was, flopped over and holding his head high like he knew he did something special.  So of course I called in Zach, flopped Oliver over and waited for the glorious moment to see it again and again.  Nothing.  That’s right, 16 videos later of me trying to capture the next roll and I got nothing.  Well, I got 16 videos of him just lying on his back looking around.  Then last week he did the same trick on my mom when she was watching him.  As soon as she walked into the kitchen he made his move but never tried again.  I knew it was only a matter of time before he would strike again with his little trick.

 

When I picked the kids up Friday from my mother-in-laws there he was, lying on the floor and giving me the show I’ve been trying to see for almost 2 weeks.  And it was the most precious thing.  These little milestones may not seem like much to some people but in my world it’s time to buy a cake and celebrate and text everyone you know the news and smack it right on your Instagram for everyone to see.  So needless to say he has been rolling all weekend and even started rolling over while he sleeps.  That first imagine on the baby monitor caught me off guard and made me do a double check on his breathing.  Now, let’s move on to crawling :)

We've noticed he really likes sleeping on his side.

 

Also, this past weekend we pulled out the spoons and bowls and gave Oliver his first taste of cereal.  Exciting, right? Well it is to a momma who knows this is one step closer to the end of her pumping days.  Bring on the solid foods!!

 

New seasons are coming and I am truly grateful for this life the Lord has given me!

Can't leave her out :) Can't wait to see her shake her little bunny tail at her recital in a couple of weeks. 

 

Have a wonderful week and go Thunder!!

 

-April

Thirty-Five and Four Months

Guess who turned 35 last week and doesn’t feel a day over 25?  This momma right here!  Well, sort of.  I used to think 40 was so old and so far away when I was a teen and even into my 20’s and now it’s just a short 5 years away.  Gasp!  It really makes me start to wonder what have I not done with my life that I still want to do?  Is it too late to follow my dreams?  Is it too late to switch up where I work? Have I hit the age where I shouldn’t listen to the newest pop songs?  Am I too old to listen to Justin Bieber?  You know, the important questions in life.  Not that I am creeping on retirement but as I get older and start hitting those key ages it makes me look at things a little differently.  At this point in my life my children are taking front stage and I’m working on being the best mom I can to them and make them proud to have me as their mom.  I want to be that mom that my children know they can come to with anything and know that I will love them and support them.

She's never too far from her brother.

Now that we are talking about children can I just say how cool I think my kids are.  Evelyn absolutely lights up my whole family.  She has got such a funny personality and sometimes I forget she is only 3 years old with the way she talks and interacts with us.  I can only imagine how grown she will be a year from now after having a year of school under her little preschool belt.  Like,  she will be going ALL DAY in public schools.  When we go back-to-school shopping I better pick up some of those 3 pack Kleenex boxes…..for her daddy and I.  She is going to love school and I’m excited to start on this journey in her life.

When you match the cat on your shirt you are cool!

I LOVE this headband on her.

So grown up looking.

At least you still have a baby at home, you say? That’s true.  But he doesn’t seem like a baby anymore.  He is growing so fast that I feel like I didn’t get to experience the newborn stage with him.  Maybe it’s because it wasn’t new to me this time so I wasn’t letting every moment sink in the way I did with Evelyn.  And with moving into our new house and it being Christmas time I think there were other distractions that kept me busy and just trying to get through each day.  I’m trying to do better about that.  I don’t want the days to pass me by and I look back and didn’t document milestones or take the gazillion pictures like I took of Evelyn.  I’m just so tired and there is always some kind of chore that needs to be done that I’m not taking the time to just stop and watch.  Even when it comes to Evelyn I have noticed me putting her on hold for a little bit and again I need to remember that she is just 3 and she doesn’t understand why I can’t always put her needs first or play with her when she says “I’m so lonely in my room.”  I know I give her excuses of why I can’t play in her room and to be honest I sometimes just want to sit on the couch and not do anything.  That lasts about 3 minutes and then it’s on to the next task.  It really does give me some mommy guilt and I know when I stop pumping and as Oliver gets older and can sit up and play that I will have some more freedom.  I guess for right now I just need to enjoy the moments where Oliver just wants to be held because this stage is only for a little bit and before I know it he is going to be a grown man who’s probably going to tower over me.  Oh man, I’ve got to stop.  Gonna get all teary eyed over here.

We have finally found our toes!!

So precious!

Just a swingin'

More toes!!

Okay, moving on :) Let’s talk about Amy Schumer.  My husband took me on a nice little birthday date last weekend and we went and saw Amy Schumer at the BOK.  Haven’t seen any of her stand up before so I didn’t really know what to expect.  I’ve only seen her on Comedy Central’s roasts.  She seemed funny.  I don’t really like nasty comedy and she was a little much at times but all in all she was okay.  I just think you can be funny without being gross.  Yes, I laughed at  some of her “I would be so embarrassed if I heard this in front of my parents” jokes but some of it just left me staring at her wishing I didn’t have a headache and maybe it would be funnier.  So I guess on a scale of 1-10 I give her a 7.  That’s good, right?

Okay, so I get some of these rules but some just seem a little extreme.

My handsome date!

Oliver had his 4 month check-up last week and he was just about as perfect as he can be :) He weighed in at a whopping 17.2 pounds and has 2 little bottom teeth poking their way through.  This explains all that lovely drool and wonderful crying out of nowhere :)  #blesshisheart .  He has started laughing out loud, or should I say LOLing, and it’s so adorable.  For the most part he is a happy baby and I just love to see his grin.  It will capture your heart every time!  My cousin is due with her baby girl in just about 6 weeks and I can’t wait to see how big he looks compared to her.  He’s going to be a giant! He already is wearing his 6-6/9 month clothes.  Bye bye 3-6 months.  Those didn’t last long.

And finally, I was very sad to hear about the passing of Prince this week.  His music is absolutely a part of my life soundtrack and I will sing along to his songs a little bit louder now.

Thank you for reading and have a very blessed week!

-April

Guess who’s back? Back again…..

Well, the time has come folks. I can’t believe it’s happening already…..I’ve returned to work!  I remember walking out of my office in December thinking ‘alright, I’ve got the next 3 months off and it’s going to be such a long time’.  And now here I am with maternity leave becoming such a blur.  Honestly, I’m glad to be back at work and I think it will be a good thing to be around some adults and actually put on make-up and do my hair for a change.  I do miss my babies like crazy but it is a nice little break to be concerned with only myself instead going in several directions trying to please all the kiddies of the household. (This includes the dog :))  Let me tell ya, I love on them babies hard when I get home.

The work week wasn't too bad.  It kind of feels like I never left.  Trying to get back into the groove of things.  It was nice to come back and feel like people actually missed me and were glad to have me back.  The worst part so far has been the traffic though.  Ugh!  At least it’s been spring break and less cars and buses have been out.  But still.

I guess I should confess and say that I didn’t even work a full work week this week but it wasn’t the plan.  Oliver had a doctor’s appointment to check on something on his little butt and it turned into something the doctor wanted us to see a surgeon for.  So they set us up for an appointment the next morning and said he needed to have his last feeding at 7pm, could only have Pedialyte from 7pm-4am and then nothing after 4am in case the doctor wanted to do anything.  So I’m thinking what does that even mean?  What are they going to do to him because it sounds like they are prepping him for surgery. Made me nervous.  One, because my baby is probably going to have to have surgery and secondly, I have to withhold food from a 3 month old baby who eats every 2 hours and has a weight to prove it.  (I love my little chunky monkey)  So this mommy was trying to hold it together and not have a melt down from instantly feeling overwhelmed.  Keep in mind I had already gotten up the past 2 days at 3 in the morning just to make it out the door by 7 to be at work by 8.  #mommymeltdown #workingmommy

He woke up around 3 to eat so we gave him some Pedialyte and he kind of went back to sleep.  Long enough for me to put my makeup on but then he was ready to roar again cause he was getting hangry!  I skipped doing my hair and just threw it in a ponytail so once I got him a little sleepy again I put him in his swing and curled up in the recliner.  I so badly wanted to recline but we have a push back recliner that is not exactly easy to recline in.  I literally have to throw my whole body back against the back of the chair to make it work.  I wasn’t about to cause that kind of racket so I just curled myself up and tried to get a little bit of sleep.  That lasted about 20 minutes until the next cry episode began.  I scooped him up and just spread out on the couch with him on my chest hoping he would just be cool.  It was one of those moments where I was praying “please Lord, just let me have 30 minutes of quietness” then all of a sudden there was a knock at the door.  Now, I had told my mom to be at my house at 6:30 and it wasn’t even 6:00 yet when I heard the knock and then the doorbell rang.  For whatever reason there is no peep hole in our door and I couldn’t see my mom’s car in the driveway so I stood at the door holding Oliver asking “Mom, is that you?” I mean I knew it was her because who is going to rob me by knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell first.  You never know. So she answered back and me being a little nutty sleepy opened the door and set the alarm off.  Goodness, what a morning it had been so far.  

Finally, we made it to his appointment where the doctor only looked at his spot for no more than 5 seconds and suggested surgery…..that day.  (Gulp)  Trust me, I know how blessed we are with healthy children and there are a lot worse things that could be going on with my baby boy but to be told your baby is going to have to have surgery that day makes a mommas heart a little weak.  We agreed to do the surgery and before we knew it we were taking the long walk across the hospital to one-day surgery.  Thank goodness they were kind enough to bump us up in line since he is a baby and he hadn’t eaten since 7 the night before.  Everything happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to think about much and certainly no time to Google anything.  That’s a good thing!  I knew everything was going to be just fine but I was nervous about him having to be put under anesthesia and having a little shot put in his back that they compared to an epidural. 

Snuggling with daddy at the hospital.

At home feeling better.  Hospital shirt was too small. #gusgus 

To sum it all up he did excellent during surgery and the healing seems to be going well.  Hasn’t been too cranky and I can tell he hasn’t been as fussy about things like he was. The surgeon said it has probably been pretty painful for him so hopefully he will be a happier baby and not be uncomfortable.  

I’m thankful that it’s over with and that I have my first week of work out of the way.  It’s always the hardest.

Thanks to everyone who texted and commented on Facebook about Oliver.  It’s nice to have a great group of people who truly care about you and your family.

Here’s to a great 2^nd week of work!!

-April

Rowell, Party of Four

Well, okay, it's been awhile since my last post and I am taking some time out today (which I really have none to spare) to update you all.

Last we talked I told you about being pregnant and waiting for our house to be built.  Now it's about 2 plus months later and I am now the owner of a new baby and a new house.  Let's talk about my sweet Oliver first.....

Oliver is 6 weeks old TODAY!  I can't even believe it's been 6 weeks already.  Which means I'm half way through my maternity leave :(  I think it's going to be harder to return to work this time around because I have spent so much time with Evelyn.  She's not going to want to leave me and I'm not going to want to leave her. #workingmom  Even though I will be sad to leave my kids (it's still weird to say "kids")  I will be ready to get back to a daily routine and actually get dressed and put on makeup.

So here he is.....Oliver Louis Rowell

Born December 16, 2015 at 11:11 a.m.

9 lbs 6 inches

21 inches long

Just stretching it out

Can't believe this guy was so big. No wonder I was completely uncomfortable the last couple of months and everyone kept telling me how big I looked.  Thanks friends ;)

Didn't take long to fall in love with this face!

Sister getting to hold him. It's amazing how her maturity level went up from the time she first saw him.  She has been an awesome big sister and wants to make sure he is taken care of.  Only a couple of times has she told me "Just put him down" when she needs something :)

Love those chunky cheeks!

6 weeks later.....

He has lost some of his hair and is around 11 pounds.  Big Boy! During the day he eats about every 2 hours and has been going 5-6 hours at night between feedings so that's been nice.  Of course that doesn't mean I get that much sleep.  I still have to get up and pump in the middle of the night.

I had some struggles with breast feeding so I had to go straight to pumping while in the hospital since he lost 13% of his weight.  I've attempted to breast feed a couple of times since but it's still a little painful and I find comfort in knowing how many ounces he's getting with each feeding and I've been able to start a good supply of frozen milk.

Oliver has pretty much stolen everyone's heart around here.  Obviously he has his times of screaming like a crazy person but he's a baby.  They cry.  Over all he is a good baby and LOVES to be held and loves to eat.  Maybe he won't be as picky as an eater as his sister :|

Now to the house.  Not a lot to say on it right now.  We have only been in it for a week and a half so it's not together AT ALL.  I knew I had a lot of stuff while packing the house but now that we are unpacking it I'm a little overwhelmed.   I still feel like it's a strange place but I know before too long it will feel like home after pictures and such are hung up and things are organized.  Right now I'm just shoving things in cabinets just to get the boxes unpacked.  Probably not the best plan but when you have two kids needing your attention and you have to take the time out to pump and make sure the dog is getting some love too, you just do it.  I'm very thankful for a husband who likes to cook and take care of kids after he's had a long day at work.  

So there it is, the first blog of the year and your first look at my precious new baby boy.  I can't say it enough, I am beyond blessed!

Happy New Year to you all!

-April

Homeless and Thankful

Well, my goodness! With all that's been going on in the Rowell world I can't believe how long it's been since a post.  I am finally making myself take some time tonight for catch up.  Where to start?? Well, let's start with being homeless.  Not trying to be dramatic but technically I have no home as in I am not currently a home owner.  And right now that makes me THANKFUL!  

We put our house up for sale in August (I think, I'm getting forgetful) and it sold in a week.  Hallelujah!! Now, the whole selling a house thing took a lot longer than a week with all the offers (I mean, we had 2 that first week) and then after deciding on one and going back and forth with the potential buyer and then all the inspections and appraisals and walk throughs and closings and on and on, oh, don't let me forget packing up the house, it's a process that I don't want to go through for a very long time.  As in the kids will be having their graduation parties FROM COLLEGE in the new house.  Oh, and don't forget I am very pregnant.  (40 days to go if you're counting.)

Currently, we are so blessed to be living with my in-laws.  They have so graciously taken us in with all our essentials (which is actually more than I thought it would be) and made room for us.  I can't thank them enough for opening their home to us.....and our 3 year old....and our 70 pound dog.  They must really love us :)

We are still up in the air about a closing date for the new house.  It's coming along (not without a few phone calls and visits from me)  but I'm seeing progress and that makes me happy.  As of last week we were told we are over half way there and that they are hoping to close on all the new houses in that phase before the end of the year.  I kindly reminded our sales guy that I had 46 days until birth and would not be available a few days in the middle of December.  He said 46 days was about the time they needed.  I suggested they finish in 40.  Hoping for an answer next week on a predicted closing date.  I don't care if it's the day before birth, I would just like to be in my house even if it's just us on a pile a mattresses.  

Baby boy, which by the way has had an official name for a while of Oliver, would like to come home to that wonderful new home smell.  Aaaaahhhh, I can smell it now :)

So, with everything that has been going on I feel that I have done a pretty good job of keeping my pregnancy crazy at a good level.  At the end of the day I know this is all temporary and before I know it Oliver will be taking his first steps and this time in my life will just be a memory to look back on.

This little girl has been a trooper through it all and such a good helper.

So very excited to see this precious face!

I think he might look a little like his sister.

Growing and growing by the day!

So there it is.  Just a little update and now it's time to go to bed, where I will be up several times throughout the night and toss and turn because I'm extremely uncomfortable even with a pregnancy pillow.  It's just that time of pregnancy I guess.

-April

Gender Reveal

Well,  my goodness! I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about this wonderful news I have!  Sorry, I've just been a little busy making a baby registry and pinning stuff for baby showers and BOY clothes.....eeeeeeee!! Yep, this family is getting themselves a boy :)  I had a feeling all along that's what was making itself comfortable inside my body.  We are totally excited for this news and are excited to see his sweet little face.

We knew we would have to break the news to Evelyn and that she wasn't going to be happy. She's been saying for awhile now that she DID NOT want a boy, she wanted a girl.  In the video we took while telling her the news she told me to "change it, change the baby."  She seems to be coming around now :) We went shopping that weekend and picked out some baby boy clothes.  It was different looking at something besides pinks and purples and glitter and bows.  

Helping momma pick out some stuff.

We still don't have a name picked out yet.  I was hoping to have one by this time but we can't totally agree on first and middle names.  So far we've just been calling him brother.  Hopefully we will settle on one soon and I can give this child an identity.

Have a wonderful day! 

-April

Growing momma!

Birthday Weekend

Busy, busy, busy! And I don't see it slowing down any time soon. Lots of stuff on the horizon for both home and work.  I'm finally getting a chance to catch up on Evelyn's 3rd birthday.  With all that's been on the agenda lately there just wasn't time (or should I say I didn't make the time) to plan a birthday party for Evelyn this year.  The past 2 years have been pretty expensive when you add up the price of the venue, food, decorations and goodie bags. So I don't feel like I've lost any mommy points by not having an actual party with invitations.

Note to self and others: don't use Dollar General for helium for your balloons.

a) you first have to purchase a package of balloons

b) you have to pay $1 per balloon for helium

c) they don't give you string or weights for them. They just shove them in a Dollar G plastic bag

d) they will be on the ground the next morning when you go to decorate your doorway

These balloons are only "floating" because they are taped to each other and to the sign

Never again.

Let's be honest, she's three and the parties so far have been for my enjoyment because she isn't going to remember these when she is older.  But I will have a gazillion pictures to show her :)

We started the day at Chuck E. Cheese because she had been seeing the commercials for it for a few weeks.  I knew she wouldn't be all about Chuck E. when he made his appearance but all in all it was actually a really good time. I wasn't too excited about it at first.  Dirty facility? Dirty pizza?  But I was gonna do it for her.  Turns out, the pizza was pretty darn good and the only thing dirty about the place was the smell when you first walked in.  Ya know, that dirty kid feet smell.  After about 5 minutes you got used to it.

First trip to Chuck E. Cheese. 

After an hour or so there we headed to the mall to Build-A-Bear.  Not our finest visit there (okay, it was only our second) but we had a tired little girl who needed a nap but wasn't quite to crazy-kid level yet.  She picked out a dragon and all was going well until it was time to give the thing a "bath".  That burst of air was it for her.  She was over it.  Even though she was the one who picked out the dragon it took her a couple of days to come around and be friends with him.  We I named him Elliott and I thought he was the cutest thing.  I was actually starting to feel sorry for this little dragon.  Poor thing.  Had to sleep in the living room by himself for a couple of nights until he was upgraded to Evelyn's chair.  So glad that she has accepted him!

See how happy she is with Elliott! :-\

After Build-A-Bear we took a trip to Toys-R-Us to pick out some presents.  Yes, I wanted her to be able to rip open presents and of course take 100 photos of this happening but she's at an age where she knows what's going on in the stores now and I can longer just throw something in the cart.  No, I don't feel bad about it because it was fun to take her through the aisles and let her pick out stuff.  When we got home she couldn't wait to take everything out of it's package.  Hey, I saved on wrapping paper and tape.

One tired little 3 year old!

The next day we had a little cookout for the Fourth of July (that was not a birthday party) but she really wanted a Scooby-Doo cake so we bought  a cake and found some Scooby-Doo decorations and celebrated Evelyn's birthday again.  Why not?  Evelyn wasn't scared this year of the fireworks and it turned out to be  nice little evening with family.  The next day we were worn out!

The many faces of Evelyn!

Front yard party!

So, no big party this year but it was a wonderful weekend and I saw how much love this little girl has and it's pretty amazing.

-April