Blessing Day!

We feel so blessed to have this special little guy in our family. He truly is a little Angel. He has such a calm demeanor. He is just precious!

Handsome...

4th of July

My parent's get the month of July off. So their first stop this summer was to Seattle! Yeah!
We enjoyed a nice and relaxing 4th of July with the family.

Brandon and Tommy chillin'.

Grandpa taking the grandkids to the ice cream shop! Yum :)

The kiddos playing a game of Let's Go Fishin'

It was so fun to have my parents here for the long weekend.

When a Little Boy has a Big Sister.....

Two Cutie Pies

New Addition

A few weeks after giving birth to Tommy, Brandon took Ellie on one of their Daddy-daughter dates. They came home with the above addition to the family. As soon as Marla (named by Ellie :) ) entered the house I made it known I would have no responsibility for this new addition. I had too many other people to take care of! I wasn't about to add a fish to my list. Ellie promised she would feed it. It is in the fishbowl in her bathroom. Occasionally I'll ask her if she has fed it. In all honesty, I have no idea how it is still alive!

Miss Ellie turns 4!

We celebrated with friends and cousins at the water splash park.  Ellie decided on cupcakes and popsicles for her yummy treats.  The kids braved the clouds and had a fun time running around.

Then off to ice cream as a family.

Then we celebrated with Grandma & Grandpa the next day.

I can't believe my little girl is 4 already.  She is loving it.  She is officially a "big girl" now.  She is declaring her new age to anyone with listening ears including all grocery store clerks, little old ladies sitting on benches at the mall and anyone working on their yard during our daily strolls around the neighborhood.

1 Month Old

A Perfect Day...

We set a new record in Seattle yesterday.  It was 91 degrees on June 4th.  We loved it :)  Ellie, Tommy & I headed down to Grandma's house and cooled off in the pool for the afternoon.  Ellie and I swam while Tommy got to chill out in Grandma's arms.  It was a nice for Ellie and I to get a chance to play together while Tommy was otherwise entertained.  And it was a special treat for Ellie to get to see her Grandma mid-week.  Thanks Judi!  We had a great time!

Sleepy Head

I love seeing the sleeping positions of little ones.... from the roller coaster ride to sweet dreams.

Hanging on...

Tommy LOVES to chill out in the Baby Bjorn.  He seems to fall asleep instantly whenever he gets in that contraption.   I don't know how I would get through a trip to Costco without it.  Tommy isn't too fond of his car seat so shopping in the car seat doesn't happen much.

A Day at the Beach...

We went to the beach this week to cool off.  Ellie and Hazel had a great time :)  Tommy was such a great sport.  He didn't complain until he got a little too hot at the end.  

The Big Sister

You know a big sister loves her little brother when.....

-she showers him with kisses to the point that no one else gets a turn

-whenever you are otherwise occupied and the baby is fussy she runs to get a pacifier or toy to   

  keep the baby happy

-she covers the baby with her absolute favorite thing on this earth (her gappy aka blanket) and dog dog

Ellie has been such a great sport with the transition of this new addition to our family. She is such a great little helper!

My favorite quotes from the big sister:

On the day Ellie first met him she was instantly in love.  She and Brandon went to preschool that day and upon returning to the hospital she said, "I love Tommy. He is my best friend."  It didn't take long for that to happen :)

When we first brought Tommy home and he was crying in my arms Ellie said with a bit of a twisted face, "Mommy, he doesn't really like you very much."

When a friend of mine asked Ellie what she thought of being a big sister she sighed and said, "It's a lot of hard work."

Spring Celebration

Today was Ellie's last day of preschool for the year.  They had a Spring Celebration concert.  I was so excited to see it.  She had been practicing the little songs for weeks.

Our first family outing.

On to Pre-K next year. Time is flying by too quickly!

It's a BOY!

Thomas Dean Rowley

May 6, 2009

7:29 pm

9 pounds 7 ounces

21 inches long

Alkai Beach

When spring hits in Seattle- you head outside. No matter how pregnant you are. Ellie and I did some serious power walking during the months leading up to Tommy's arrival. Ok- so Ellie rode her bike and I walked. But Alkai Beach was our favorite place to go. Nothing like some good scenery when you are trying to induce labor :) Brandon just unloaded this picture off of his phone. So I had to document it!

My Prego Belly

A friend and I were heading to the park the other day and she mentioned she needed to take some pictures of a pregnant Mama for a church assignment and she wondered if I would be her victim.  I was a little hesitant but agreed.  She took a few shots while we were at the park.    I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  Not that I questioned my friends talent, but that I wasn't sure I was going to be excited about pictures of my pregnant belly.  I haven't been as diligent about taking photos this pregnancy so I am happy to have these.  Here are the rest of the photos.

Easter Egg hunt

We went to a pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt with Ellie's cousins on Saturday.  The hunt went so quickly we didn't even get a clear shot of Ellie until after it was all over.  This is the best we got before the battery died.  But she had a fun time hunting for eggs and eating candy at 9 am.  She was happy to see her cousins again. They had been out of town for a week visiting family and Ellie continually questioned me as to when they were going to return. I think she feared they were never coming back!  

Her hair...

So the other day I got out of the shower to realize Ellie had been busily working on her hair for some time.  This is what she had come up with.  She is rather particular about what gets done with her hair these days. Haircuts are out.  Growing her hair out to match the picture with the pretty long curls is in.  "Bows are for babies."  Hair clips are a maybe.  "The headband with the pretty things on it (jewels)" are a sure bet yes.  Any other headband is definitely not ok.  

Seattle Children's Museum

On the last day of spring break our friends invited us to head to the Seattle Children's Museum with them.  We hadn't been in a couple of years and were excited to try it out once again now that Ellie is a little bit older.  She loved it!

Climbing through the caves

Being eaten by the whale

Curious George was the traveling exhibit at the museum right now and Ellie couldn't have been happier.  

Blasting off on Curious George's rocket ship

The master painter couldn't be distracted with a photo while concentrating on her artwork

Creating with clay