~One Week Old~

Dear Rowen,

Today is your one week birthday Chicken Little.  This time last week we didn't know that in less than twelve hours you would be here with us!

Wednesday night quickly rolled into Thursday morning and we experienced for the first time your sleeping eating game, where as soon as you start eating, you fall asleep.  This game hasn't changed much yet, but you sure do love eating, or at least pretending that you are hungry.  

On Friday afternoon, after waiting what seemed like forever, we were allowed to leave the safe haven of the hospital and bring you home, where your big brother Jack and big sister Lola were anxiously waiting for us to come home.  They don't really know what to make of you yet, but they love to stop your swing and look at you when ever you are in it.  You also had some visitors on Friday, Barb and Tim, who came bearing yet another beautiful blanket for you.  You came home in the blanket Barb had made for you for Christmas.  Friday night you didn't really want to sleep, so you stayed awake with your night owl Grandma for most of it.

Saturday saw us saying goodbye to grandma and having to figure you out by ourselves.  We learned you enjoy being swaddled like a little burrito, you aren't a huge fan of your crib yet, but you like sleeping in your swing and your stroller.  As I type this you are sleeping in your swing.  And you absolutely LOVE your hands.  Every chance you get you have them up by your face and you haven't quite figured out how to keep them in your mouth, but you are starting to get the hang of it.

Sunday we were lazy just hanging around holding you and watching all of the silly faces you make, and on Sunday night we gave you your first bath at home.  You only cried a little and it was over before you knew it, but for us it was a pretty big operation.  

Your Dad has been able to stay home with us this week, which makes the week so much more special and on Monday we all jumped into the car to take you to your first doctor's appt.  You have only lost a little bit of weight since being born and we were reassured that we seem to be figuring this baby thing out alright.  You also got your first visit from your Aunt Gail, who has been anticipating your arrival with us for quite some time!

Yesterday way a pretty good day as Monday night you started to get the hang of sleeping during the night, and even gave us a few 3 hour stretches which I promise we greatly appreciated.  I spent most of the day being in disbelief that you were almost a week old.

And now the day has come, Happy One Week Chicken Little, we love you so much!

On the Day You Were Born

Dear Rowen,

On the day you were born...

The last picture we took before you came....

We knew you might be coming that day, and were anxiously waiting.....
Your Dad left for work bright and early knowing that we might not be coming home that night....
I ate a big bowl of fruity Cheerios as my last meal before you were born....

On the day you were born...

Your Grandma and I left the house bright and early to head to the hospital, and I said goodbye to your brother and sister for a few days.... 

We arrived at Southern Maryland Hospital, and before we knew it, they told us we were there to stay...

And shortly there after, your dad arrived....

On the day you were born...

Things moved pretty fast...
And before we knew what was happening, the clock struck eight....

And you, Rowen Joseph Rivera, joined the world!

 

Ten fingers, and ten toes, all 7lbs 10oz of you were perfect....

 

First you were held by your dad....

who might of cried just a little bit when he met you....

And then by your grandma....

 

And finally, after knowing you and your kicks for nine months, I got to meet you...

 

On the day you were born....

Our world changed forever.....

And WE became a family!

 

 

 

The end of 2010 and the start of another great year

New Years has never really been my favorite holiday.  The last two years I had duty on NYE and this year I think we celebrated just as I would of liked to in, the comfort of our home, surrounded by all the things that we built in 2010.

2010, it was a year for the books.  This time last year I was making the decision to move my wedding up to the summer, which looking back probably wasn't the greatest idea ( with everyone moving, starting new jobs, etc.) but I'm still glad I did it then.  And the second half of the year brought us an unexpected but very welcome surprise when we found out we were expecting our first little boy.  I feel like 2011 will be the year all about him, but its a little early to tell.

I came up with a few things that I would like to accomplish this year,  I don't really like the idea of making resolutions, but I thought it would be good to have a list of at least a few things I would like to do.  None of them are earth shattering but are important to me.

1. Get in shape (during and after the baby comes)
2. Learn to cook and make healthier meals
3. Utilize menus
4. Use coupons consistently
5. Scrapbook
6. Blog more
7. Try to get less worked up about little things
8. Start sending more hand written notes
9. Improve my handwriting
10. Start sewing again
11. Save money
12. Read at least one none romance novel a month

Again they aren't anything large scale and are pretty random but I have them written down to keep me aware of them.  These days I find that I like having lists, and that is my list for 2011.

Rudy is traveling this week so it is just me and the pups and I have a list of projects I am trying to accomplish.  I will blog about some of them later (its on one of my lists!).

A Secret Thats Not So Secret Anymore

A few weeks ago things were easier to hide....

But in the last two weeks, something has become very apparent....

We are expecting a BABY! We wanted to keep it quite for as long as we could but Baby R has decided to start showing off! We are over the moon excited, and are expecting the baby in early April.  The above picture was taken on Halloween at roughly 17.5 weeks.

Two weeks ago Baby R decided to tell us...

That 'it' is a BOY!  We were convinced that he was a she but we are super excited none the less! More to come on Baby R, but here is our halloween photo, taken on Baby R's almost first Halloween!

Too Much Tuesdays

Last Night when the Hubs and I sat down to watch tv I quickly realized there is too much on Tuesday Nights.  Starting at eight we watch Biggest Loser, Glee, Flipping Out, Teen Mom, and Sons of Anarchy.  We ended up only watching Biggest Loser, which was a great start as always, and DVRing the rest.  And we have spent a big chunk of time today trying to catch up on all the shows.  Whats disappointing is that Wednesdays have almost nothing on to watch, so I wish one or two of the shows could switch over.

Today I was off so we decided to go to a matinee and we saw Easy A.  We really really liked it, I won't spoil it for everyone, but I think the reason I really liked it was all of the eighties movie references. I have a small love for eighties movies and it reminded me very much of one!

Today I'm also pretty excited because I picked up Catching Fire, which I am so excited to read.  I read Hunger Games, and could not put it down, I think i finished it in less than 12 hours, and that included sleeping four six of them!

I'm excited for the Law and Order SVU premiere tonight, happy hump day to everyone!

Manic Monday

Another Monday has come and gone.  It was a rough morning waking up because last night I just couldn't seem to sleep when I needed to.

On Saturday, we coached our first soccer game! The girls didn't win, but I think they had a lot of fun and we found things that we can work on this week at practice! 

We spent the better part of Saturday and Sunday just being lazy and watching football.  Once the weather seemed to clear up we went out and made a few fall/house purchases that I am really happy about.  First stop was Joanne's and I was so excited to see the new country living on the shelf!

They have a lot of great fall ideas and some really neat pumpkin designs that we are looking forward to trying out next month!  One of my favorite stores is the Christmas Tree Shop and they had some great fall decorations that I simply couldn't resist.  I think fall is the only time that I enjoy the color orange.  Being an almost ginger kid orange just isn't my color, so fall is really the only excuse I have to use the color.  One of the things we have been looking for is accent tables.  For our main entry way we really needed one that wasn't too big because of its location near the main hallway.  We found one that we loved and now all we need to do is find a picture/mirror to go over the table!

I found this great wire pumpkin at the CTS and am in love with it!

We also needed another table for behind the den couch.  The pups tend to like to play right in that area and I just have this fear that one day they will put their foot through the couch.  Luckily we found a table that fit perfectly with the space and really tied the room together!

One of the things I added to the table was some of my favorite pictures, which includes this one of Jack when he was about ten weeks old.  It was his first trip to the beach and he didn't really like the water but loved the sand.  And I always get reminded of South Carolina when I look at this picture!

One of the other things I added to the table was a mason jar of leaves.  I got this idea from Country Living and I absolutely loved it.  One of my favorite aspects is that I am able to use one of the mason jars from our wedding to house the leaves!

One last 'fall' element that I added to the table was a metallic pumpkin that I got at CTS.  I decided to add a monogram to it and I think it turned out pretty cute!

Today we have just been hanging out for the afternoon gearing up to watch the season premiere of Oprah.  Rudy has never seen Oprah so he is in for a real treat with this being the last season.  I took this picture of Lola, 

about ten minutes before we got a little surprise!  We were sitting in the living room watching tv and all the sudden we heard a big "splash", Lola had fallen in the pool! I think she was a little freaked out but Rudy got her out quickly and gave her a bath and she is now resting comfortably at my feet! I think she made us more worried than she was!  I hope you are all having a great start to the week!

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We spent the weekend pretty much being lazy, and trying to accomplish things around the house.  We finished a bunch of our thank you cards but still have a few more to go.

Today it was a little warm but the last two days it actually felt like fall and it was wonderful.  We were able to take the dogs for a really long walk which they loved and have the windows open and air off the entire time.  Its supposed to be warm for a few days this week and then cooling down again and I can't wait!

One of my favorite things about fall is sweaters.  I love sweaters, in particular cardigans.  I even bring cardigans with me when I go to florida in the middle of the summer.  One of my cardigans is the one at Lands End.  I think right now I have it in about four colors and am looking to get a few more colors for the fall because it is such a great sweater.

Tomorrow it is back to the grind!  While my job isn't hard, waking up at three to go to work just messes me up! I feel like during the week all I do is work, eat, and sleep.  I have this schedule for the rest of September so hopefully I can adjust at some point.  Tomorrow we also start coaching girl's youth soccer.  Rudy and I both played soccer growing up and we thought that it would be a great way to get to know new people, so hopefully I will have some pictures to share from that!

Tomorrow is the first day of school for my brother and sisters and if Marmie sends pictures my way I will have those to share as well.  Tomorrow might be the warmest first day of school they have had, but 90 degrees was normal for school in North Carolina. 

Its bath time for J & L, happy Monday and the start to another week!