First day :(

Today was my first day with my new job, and Rowan's 1st official day of daycare! We both survived.

Last friday, I took Rowan to the daycare for a few hours to play and see what it was like, how she would do, how I would do, etc...Let's just say, I failed, and Rowan did great! I didn't even get her into the classroom before I was leaking tears like a faucet. When I finally did leave, I didn't even say goodbye to her because I didn't want to break down again, and didn't want her to cry when I left!

Today on the other hand, I got her into the classroom and I made it back out to my car before I got a little teary, but nothing compared to last week! She did great both days! Managed to take a 50 minute nap both times, better today though! They nap on cots, so she isn't restricted in a crib like she is used too, I told them good luck! In my book, 50 minutes isn't long enough though, she has sort of been a beast in the evening due to lack of napping. So need to figure that issue out eventually! But today she was tired after their walk and all her playing, so she didn't fight the nap.

She hasn't cried at all while she has been there. Has been eating fine, playing nice, and very laid back. They can't believe she hasn't ever been in daycare, or a play group because of how well mannered she is around the other kids.

Here is Rowan enjoying my smoothie before heading off to daycare.
And this is her very first artwork from daycare! She made this one last friday, today they forgot to send her artwork home with us!
P.S. We are going to start referring to daycare, as school! We don't like to call it daycare! I can't wait until my first 3 weeks of orientation are over because then she will only have to go there 2 or 3 times a week versus 4 or 5!

Our weekend at a glance...

Our major project for the weekend was to add shelving to Rowan's closet. It started with one wire shelving all the way acrossed. We changed it to what it looks like in the middle. Sadly enough, the bottom shelving isn't empty, the clothing is just pushed to the far end of the closet! I am thinking I need a few more colored bins to make it look more uniform. There is way more storage though! I love it. I will probably reorganize it plenty of times before I am satisfied! Our closet is next on the list!
Here is our little easter bunny! Saving the Easter dress for next weekend! Stay Tuned!

Wouldn't be fair if we didn't involve the dog in some easter fun! You can see he hated it!

This is what Rowan was doing while we colored Easter eggs! Not quite her thing yet! But boy is she a master of the iPhone! She can unlock and find her games all by herself! Occassionally places phone calls and deletes applications! Rather harmless so far!

Here are our eggs! We had to get them dyed before lunchtime so we could make some egg salad for lunch. Ed had been craving it since we were in MI last weekend. They never followed through with the egg salad!

Wall of Rowan...

I did accomplish something organizational with my week off between jobs! I reorganized all of our baby things. Meaning all baby things and outgrown clothing. I had tried to do this before we moved out of our Hartland home, but tried the vacuum seal bag route, and decided I hated them. So now I went back to totes, all properly labelled! Much better!

Matching Stool/Chair...

Thank you, Thank you....to Nana and Papa for the matching stool and chair for our island and computer desk. When we moved into our Hartland house we got the 2 outside stools as a housewarming gift. And we decided we needed another stool at our island because we had the room for it, but the ones we had previously picked out were discontinued, so we found a style to compliment what we already had! They look great. Sorry the picture of the computer desk chair was taken at night with no natural light, therefore it looks yellow. But couldn't post without it! Therefore our sitting areas are now complete thanks to a housewarming gift from Nana and Papa! Rowan loves them! She has only fallen off once....so far!

Back for Dinner...

After our zoo trip we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Knutson's house for some afternoon fun and dinner! We got plenty of outside time even after the zoo. Blew some bubbles, drew with chalk, lots of walking outside, playing ball (with and without Colby), and eating popples too. Rowan even got an Easter gift before heading home for the night. We had a lovely dinner and then about 730pm (late for a girl who only slept 30 minutes in the car after the zoo) headed for home. And she fought the sleep idea until about 8pm, then she was out for the rest of the ride!

Stomping back...

Yesterday Rowan and I took a trip back towards our old stomping grounds to meet up with some friends and family.

We started the day at the Milwaukee County Zoo, with Andrea and the boys (Breyson and Sawyer), and Desiree and Teagan! Desi and Teagan were in town from CA visiting and house hunting (no not in WI, they will be relocating in June to Virginia) It turned out to be a wonderful day to spend at the zoo. A bit breezy at times, but overall beautiful. The kids were all well behaved, and us mommys got some time to chat and catch up. Not quite as much socializing as we were used to before having kids, but we managed!
We were in the lion exhibit right when the female was super close to the glass, so got a few fun pictures of Rowan and Breyson with the lion! Sort of scary that close up!

Age recap: Breyson 22 months, Rowan 20 months, Sawyer 4 months, Teagan 3 months!

Crystal's baby shower...

was full of babies...

Rowan was the oldest one there! And many of the people in attendance hadn't seen her since Crystal's wedding or bridal shower, when she was only 8 weeks old! Now she is almost 2! Yikes!

Anyway, we made it back from MI in plenty of time for Rowan and I to attend the shower. Rowan had lots of fun. Emma (O'Hern) was there with her mommy, Erika. Emma is 6 months old! Andi brought Sawyer, who was all smiles (4 months old). And Teegan (Desiree and Erin's baby) was in attendance too with his Aunt Dina! So our table had a hard time paying attention to the rest of the happenings, but were all in all very well behaved! Kenadee Grace Grulke is due to join the rest of the crew May 30! Can't wait to meet her!

Kissing cousins...

Of course whenever the kids were doing super cute things, our cameras were with not ready or not even available, so these pics are super fuzzy, but very cute despite!

On a side note, Rowan and Kieran played very well together. Occassionally they got a bit crazy, but no major up-roars between them. They shared well, and when they didn't the other one didn't notice, so it was fine. Rowan was trying to give Kieran his coat when we were leaving this morning, she wanted him to come along! And Kieran was upset when they told him that Rowan was leaving today! Super cute! Too bad we are so far away, but truly the drive wasn't horrible!

Busy weekend in MI...

Not really sure where to start with our fun filled weekend in Michigan...

We arrived around 430pm on Friday, headed to the beach for some playtime for the kids knowing that the weather on Saturday wasn't going to be near as nice. Then we got some pizza to go for dinner, and continued the playing back at Blayne and Molly's house! Rowan maybe napped 40 minutes on our way to MI, and Kieran's nap was short too, so they were a bit wild and crazy and overtired.
Saturday we did many fun things. After breakfast and showering, we colored Easter eggs with the kids. But honestly neither of them were overly interested, and Kieran was waiting and waiting for Rowan to show up so he could color eggs. Oh well! Ed and Blayne were more into making the brown eggs than anything! Boys I tell you!

When the kids were napping, we hid eggs for them to hunt for when they woke up. But due to the extreme number of eggs, and the one room we used to hide them in, there weren't so hidden. Then to make matters worse, we got bored waiting for them to wake up, so we all started eating the candy out of them. There was plenty to go around even when they awoke. After the egg hunt, us adults played some pictionary! Molly and I killed Ed and Blayne.

Grady is such a wonderful little boy! Rowan was very good with him, and with his toys too. She found it necessary to test the bouncy seat out several times. She even helped him bounce when he was in it! When we were out and about, Grady just slept and kept quiet! At home he was very spoiled, by the BH (me, the baby hog as ed likes to call me). It's been so long since we've had such a little one around! I thought I controlled my baby hogging very well! Everytime I held him, Rowan was crawling on my lap to hold him too!

Saturday evening we tried out the new indoor carousel in St. Joe. Rowan wasn't a huge fan at all until the very end. And we were there right before closing, so the kids only got 2 rides. You can tell I took her on first, and she hated it, by the end of the second ride with Ed she was finally smiling and waving!

Happy 5th Birthday Gizmo!

Today is Gizmo's 5th birthday, and he is spending it with his second mom and dad, Karen and Doug. They were kind enough to watch him the next few days for us while we are travelling to MI to visit family! He is being even more spoiled with them then he would have been home with us. We plan to celebrate his birthday on Sunday when we get home!

Gizmo at 8 weeks old!
They even got him a gift and treats!

The devil aka step stool...

This is how much Rowan loves using her stool, washing her hands, playing in water....
These are the looks I get when I turn the water off, drain the sink, put the stool away!
She always wants the stool, she carries it from place to place to use it, but usually gets into lots of trouble with it too! Water everywhere, clothing soaked, has tried to put it in front of the stove (when things are cooking), in the middle of everything going on in the kitchen. So we frequently hide it in the laundry room, or put it up on the counter when we don't want her to use it, or whenever we leave the room! Starting to wish it would disappear, but she loves it too much!

Sunny days...

We have spent many hours outside the last few days enjoying the sun and warmth. Too bad we don't have a yard to play in, but Rowan has been fine with playing in the driveway, and road at times too (with supervision of course)!

She even does a little off roading at times! And gets stuck and requires assistance to get back on track! She still loves her 4 wheeler, but frequently refuses to put her feet up, and tries to use her feet to make it go!

4 wheeler is in the garage today charging its battery.

Serious?....Never!

No, No, No...

The look we get these days when Rowan doesn't want to follow directions! And she has learned the word No too, don't worry, she can sign it as well. Oh toddlers....

All Melted...

Here is what our house looks like with no snow. The junk in the yard is 100% visible now! Hoping to get that taken care of asap, our neighbors probably think we are trash!

So nice to be able to be outside without needing winter coats and hats to stay warm! Especially since Rowan takes her coat off with ease these days! DArn zippers, they need locks on them! Especially pajamas!

Naughty...

Never give a girl a bag of Bugles.....especially without supervision. No wonder she was being so quiet! Don't worry, Gizmo wasn't far away! Although he is a picky eater and didn't wany any anyway!