The Rowe's

conditions.

2012-02-17T10:32:00.004-05:00

So my sweet husband surprised me the day before Valentine's with the sewing machine that I have had my eyes on and my piggy bank saving for.

As soon as I opened my eyes when he gave me the ok, I was shocked and felt so bad for some reason (maybe because it was a ton of pennies....) So he said, "But there are some conditions with this new machine... You have to design 5 new diaper bags/purses and open an Etsy shop and try to sell the things you make."

At first my mind was doubting myself thinking I can't do that! BUT I CAN. How will I ever know if it will work out if I don't try? Remember in my birthday post I said I want to try new things and have an open mind blah blah blah....

This is it. Something I can do as a stay home mom and feel accomplished.

I get self conscious and think my stuff isn't good enough. I wonder if people will like it and want to buy my creations?

This is my first bag that I made for myself. I have had the fabric (which I am kind of obsessed with....) since my machine has been broken and couldn't get sewing. So this is my first design. My new machine sews like a dream BTW.. It's amazing.

I seriously LOVE this fabric. It's summery, bright, feminine, and just fun. I like my bags to be fun on the inside... It's like I'm carrying a party in my purse! :)

It has 6 pockets on the inside and a pocket on the back with a magnetic clip for easy access to keys, chapstick, gum...

It has a removable pin on the flap that I think adds just a little more to the outside. I can take it off if I want it just neutral. The outside fabric feels like velvet and looks like a tweed. It is so soft and divine.

I have used a heavy duty stabilizer in this bag so it will keep it's shape and it is super durable and thick.

Isn't it just fun? What do you think?

I need some help deciding what my pricing should be.. what would you pay for a handmade sturdy bag like this one? And also, what are your favorite color combos? Are there any features that you would like in a diaper bag that sometimes is hard to find?

{photo challenge}

2012-02-14T11:11:00.006-05:00

{photo challenge: heart}

This girl holds my heart with a tight grip.

Linking up to the paper mama here.

She wears this necklace pretty much everywhere we go. I wonder how she learns the things she does? I swear she was born with it.

I feel like we are counting down the days until spring. I can't wait to go outside to the park and play, I'm sure Aly feels the same.

It is still unbelievable how blue her eyes are when caught just at the right angle... it's amazing.

I love that Aly girl is my little side kick & shadow. Now that she is walking she follows me all around the house. Well sometimes I love it... I could only wish for my own potty break without a helper.

It amazes me how much she is changing on a daily basis. Her brain is a little sponge that soaks up everything she sees and hears. She is the funniest little person you could ever meet.

Our little walking girl!

2012-02-07T18:26:00.002-05:00

Aly is officially walking. It's pretty dang cute if you ask me. Sometimes she will stick out her belly too far then try to balance by leaning back then falls over. It's entertaining to watch her sometimes.... who am I kidding? She's always entertaining! Wish all of you could see her in person! She is getting so big it's sad.

love month

2012-02-07T13:38:00.006-05:00

I love Valentine's day. I love the girly colors, the hearts, the chocolates, the feeling of love all around, and the kisses. :)

One day I was sewing a project and Aly kept getting into things I didn't want her playing with so I handed her my jar of large buttons that I found while thrifting about 6 months ago. I bought them to make a quiet book or some kind of activity book with and just haven't. Needless to say she is pretty obsessed with them and drags them all around the house into the bathroom, her bedroom , our bedroom , under the couches... pretty much everywhere. She loves to take them out then put them back in, well the ones in her reach that aren't around the house.

Oh the many faces of our Aly girl. Her personality is bursting at the seams and she is such a goofball. She will be just like her dad. She is always doing funny things then looks to see if we are watching so we can laugh at her. She will be the center of attention I'm sure.

I got her to say "cheese!" and she did this right after..

I have found a few buttons in the car that she didn't want to leave at home. She took one to church with her on Sunday and I didn't even realize until the bishop said hi and asked her what she had, then she held it out to show him her shiny gold button. Then of course gave him the stink face.

At church Aly loves to pull every. last. thing. out of my purse and make a giant mess. SO I made her a little purse that we can fill up with all kinds of treasures for her to pull out then put back in..

My sewing machine has been broken since December and cannot be fixed so I am currently saving every penny to put towards a new one. I am not getting another singer because they have not proven to be good. I am researching which brands are the best and I'm going to spend a little more so I get a better quality machine that will last! I guess I just sew too much.

I actually was pretty mad about my machine being broken and checked the date on my receipt and realized I had only had it for 7 months until it crapped out! I took the receipt and machine to the place I bought it and they gave me the balance in a gift card. So needless to say I was pretty excited I got at least that and I can get boatloads of fabric for the amount!!!

I am currently using my sis-in-laws (which is a singer....) But it gets the job done when I need a sewing fix every now and again. I have only done a few projects lately.

I wanted to make something cheap for our table and door... (they are actually a deeper red and not orange)

So I used a cereal box and cut out the center then covered it with crepe paper rosettes for a wreath type thing that matches the red accents in our living room. Chris says it's not really a wreath, but I'm not sure what to call it. It's our cereal box door decoration?

Total of $2.00 for the wreath and cube on the table. I can handle $2 so then I don't feel bad when I just donate it when I'm sick of it. It really didn't take very long I just did it in the evening while watching tv.

{photo challenge}

2012-02-02T16:51:00.009-05:00

{photo challenge}: Favorite Photo of January

This pretty much sums up my baby girl. She is happy, spunky, talkative, and adorable. Never a dull moment in the Rowe household.

Linking up to the paper mama here.

hello?

2012-01-29T17:31:00.002-05:00

It is so amazing to me that babies figure out things just by watching their parents. Every time Aly sees anything that some what resembles a phone she puts it to her ear then looks at us and waits to hear hello? hello?

This is the one thing she will throw a tantrum over. If we take it away when she starts dialing she gets really upset.

Lately she has been obsessed with clips, bobby pins, bows, or anything she can hold up to her head to put on it. She will hold it up then look at me and gesture to have it put in her hair. She has been really into wearing the princess crown and will surprisingly keep it on for a long time!

I'm pretty excited she is getting girly and wants to wear clips now! I made her a bunch of bows like this and she loves them. I'm pretty sure she will have a large dress up stash someday.

{twenty-four}

2012-01-26T16:59:00.006-05:00

So yesterday was my birthday.

It was the perfect birthday filled with wishes, hugs, friends, restaurants, a happy baby, and presents.

Some of my friends in my ward took me out to lunch, it was so nice! I had a great time and felt really loved knowing they cared about me.

Then we did a little shopping.

Lenee offered to watch Aly so Chris and I could go on a date-babyless! So of course we took her up on it. We ate at cafe rio(surprise surprise...) and it was delicious. When we walked up to pay for our meals I thought I only needed one stamp for a free meal, so we could use that towards our dinner. Well, I guess I was mistaken because the top line was little and wasn't stamped for some reason. I said, "Oh man! It's my birthday and I really wanted a free meal!!" The lady hesitated then said, "I'll just give it to you, Happy Birthday!" I was so happy that she was so nice. So she stamped the card 3 times and then gave me a new one.

I am almost ashamed to admit that Chris and I both got our own tres de leches dessert and ate almost the whole thing! It was divine. (And now I get to go to the gym Saturday morning to work that whipped cream off my tush...)

We were gone for one hour that felt like two hours without our baby. Why is it that when we are away we just worry and talk about her? I guess over time we will learn to just enjoy our time away!

The ladies that took me to lunch made me wear the princess crown. Aly is so smart and knows exactly where it goes and tries to put it on herself, just like she does with my bobby pins and clips.

When I think about starting another year, I get excited and anxious at the same time. Looking at this last year I really can say I am "older and wiser too".

What will this next year bring?

I have learned so much about myself.

I have come to find what is truly important to me.

I have learned some lessons from decisions that weren't the best. I have lost some relationships because of words I could not take back.

I don't want to regret my life. I want to love my life and live it to the fullest. So this next year I am going to live it in a positive attitude and say What if? Instead of saying I can't. Sometimes I get comfortable in my own little routine and back away from something new because it is unknown. But the unknown sometimes can bring us the best things like happiness, new experiences, and make us grow into who we are supposed to be.

I want to be open minded and ready for anything that comes my way.

I want to befriend before judging someone.

I want to say I'm sorry first.

I want to try out a new hobby and see how I do.

I want to improve my cooking.

I want to improve my photo taking skills.

I want to learn how to be organized.

There are so many things I could improve on

So what if... and why not this year?

My fabulous sister Corinne got us this cute matching apron set. I can't wait until I can teach Aly how to bake.

She found the floss and I found her doing this:

Pulling the strand of floss out of the container.

As soon as I said,"ALY!"

She crawled as fast as she could up the step to turn around and give me the famous "stink face" that I was talking about in an earlier post. This is the look in action! Little stinkerdoodle.

And then the adorable little smile right after it.

My sister also gave me this adorable owl watch locket necklace that I love! She knows me so well. I love owls.

It was the best birthday and I felt so loved. I am thankful for so many wonderful people in my life. Especially this guy. I love him.

Twenty four is gonna be great!

Sunday best

2012-01-26T16:44:00.002-05:00

I owe my mom for helping me develop my home making skills. She taught me how to sew, crochet, cook, clean, and the list goes on...

She made this cute little dress for Aly and I think it is so special for her to have something handmade from one of her grandma's. As soon as our niece Samantha saw Aly at church she said, "Did you make that dress?!? I want one JUST like it!" She was so jealous.

I think it's so cute and girly.

Mom I'm tired of pictures! haha...

We had a really great day at church on Sunday. Not that we don't on other Sundays, this Sunday was just extra spiritual and uplifting which started my week out on a positive note.

I can say that I really do love our ward and we are so blessed to know the people here in Manassas. I know this is where we were meant to be during this phase of our lives.

{the library}

2012-01-24T12:01:00.009-05:00

Our big girl is now facing forward in the car. She seems to be enjoying car rides and is a little more patient because she can see everything.

The best way to entertain her in the car is to hand her a book. She will look at it the whole way to the store.

Obviously this car ride was over and she didn't want to wait around for a picture... she is showing her half smile half get me out face.

Our Saturday looked like this:

wet. snowy. and cold.

The library was the perfect way to get out of the house and do something that didn't cost money. This little girl had so much fun. It was her first time to the library.

I had no idea that our library had so many toys, puzzles, and games to play too! We will definitely be going back.

I have got to teach her to not be like her mama and not like books.

How can I teach myself to love to read? That gene skipped me I guess. I keep thinking I should pick up Chris' nook and read The Hunger Games. Maybe I should reward myself if I do! haha.. new shoes or purse? Maybe that might work.

every once in a while...

2012-01-19T13:47:00.010-05:00

One of my most favorite parts of the day is at the very end when my love and I lay in bed and pillow talk. We talk about our baby and ask "What did we do when we didn't have her? What was it like?" We honestly can't remember the time before her and how it used to be. She is just a part of us.

We giggle as we talk about the silly faces she makes, the cute little words she say, the way she nods her head with a big smile while she eats something yummy. Our hearts melt as we talk about her and the way she waves goodbye with her thumb tucked in her palm as she opens and closes her hand.

I used to think about what it would be like when I was a mom. I used to think it would be so hard and I was scared I wouldn't be ME anymore. Like my life would change so much and I wouldn't have the same interests and hobbies. But I have found that I am a better person who tries harder to be positive, happy, and productive. Being a mom has brought out talents that I didn't know I was blessed with. I have learned so much from everything motherhood has brought to me.

Sometimes it is hard. Some days I want to pull out my hair and run away for some retail therapy. But without those small hard moments I wouldn't appreciate life so much.

And every once in a while I get so caught up in in my own little routine, then a moment like this will come along and remind me how blessed and how happy my life is.

Her mommy is just so funny. We ate mac & cheese and fruit for lunch. She was cracking up while I slurped up a noodle off the spoon. The funniest thing, ya know? I guess it got her funny bone.

She now points with her finger.. at everything!

Then we watched one of our favorite cartoons together. We watched Tangled. One of the cutest movies ever. We laughed and played and had fun.

Even though sometimes it feels so routine and boring, everyday always brings new memories and fun moments like these. On an ordinary Thursday we had a great afternoon.

AND Little miss is so lucky. She got 3 new pairs of church shoes last week. I found the janie and jack ones with the original $49 tag on them marked for $5. This is why I love thrifting and the used kid store.

I think I have a new love for Thursday.

{photo challenge}

2012-01-17T16:36:00.015-05:00

I have seen multiple photo a day or photo a week challenges to capture everyday moments. I would like to start doing one to help me improve my photography. I think photography is so important, especially with a little girlie who is constantly changing.

I am going to start the weekly photo challenge from thepapermama. I love her ideas and how she states that her photo challenges should be based around your children.

{Photo challenge: White}

books & tickles on a monday

2012-01-16T13:43:00.005-05:00

This girl is so ticklish. Her super tickle spot is the inner thighs. She squirms and giggles like crazy. Sometimes I feel bad doing it because I hate being tickled, but it's the cutest thing to see her cracking up.

She recently learned she loves books. She will sit and read them to herself or bring them to us to read. She will read the same book over and over and want to look at it again. She could read books all day.

I wonder where she got the reading bug from.. must have been from her daddy? She does have some awesome books so I can understand why she loves them. Her favorite ones are the animal books that came in a set of four from Grandma Rowe for Christmas. It has polar, sea, farm, and jungle books. Sometimes she will sit and blabber at the book like she is reading it to herself. Cutest thing ever.

so proud...

2012-01-13T13:51:00.006-05:00

I am so proud of my hard working husband. Chris and his brothers( Josh, Matt, and Jon ) just went to the annual Carmedic meeting the first weekend in January. It was in San Diego this year. Aly and I stayed home and had a girls weekend while he was away. I figured if we were to pay for me to go too I would rather fly home to St. George to see my family (and to be honest that's just a lot of travel in 3 days with a baby..)

I don't normally brag about Carmedic and the success Chris has had with it, but in the last 5 years of him owning his portion of the company he has really grown in a lot of ways. He has really earned some bragging rights. In case anyone reading this doesn't know what Carmedic is it's paintless dent removal. They work on cars and fix dents on location at dealerships and also some retail.

That's the whole reason (obviously) of why we moved across the country. And it's blowing my mind to hear Chris talking and researching about the next place we will be moving to in spring 2014! So exciting, but I am finally feeling at home out here...

He will be traveling to the Albuquerque area and the Phoenix area the first week of March to check it all out and research some more since we have never really been there. It is crazy to think I could eventually drive to see family and it makes me so excited!

So at the annual meeting all 4 of the Rowe brothers received awards for 2011! Chris got the $125,000 that he set a goal for! I am sad I wasn't there to see them all receive them, but I am so proud of all of his hard work and how well he is expanding his business! (Now all we need is an office to hang his 2 awards... maybe someday.)

I am so thankful for the opportunity we have had to move to Virginia. We have grown as a couple and learned so much about life and what really is important. I am also thankful that I can be a stay at home mom and for a husband that makes that possible.

{stinkerdoodle}

2012-01-13T08:43:00.008-05:00

stinkerdoodle: An adorable child who is mischievous, up to no good, an explorer,and a mess maker.

A child who is a stinkerdoodle is a pro at the "stink eye" look.

I have no idea where this word came from, but it is definitely Aly in a nutshell.

She gives us a look "the stink eye" (Chris made up this name but it is spot on...) right after she does something she knows probably isn't good. It consists of one eye almost completely closed from squinting, her nose scrunches up like something stinks, and she has a grin on her mouth like "I am so sneaky..." So that is what her nickname is most of the time, stinkerdoodle. Whenever we say NO! She says NA! NA! back to us like she is mocking us, then usually continues to do whatever she was doing. Even if she will end up getting hurt or get her hand smacked.

A couple of days ago I was changing her diaper on the living room floor to be quick and ran out of wipes. I turned my back for seriously like 3 seconds and she was off playing with blocks. She looked at me with the stink eye and thought it was the funniest thing in the world. (thank goodness we no longer change her on the changing table because she would be all over the place. It made me nervous so we stopped that.)

Then the next day she found a bra lying on the ground after doing laundry. She took it away then came back like this and had one strap around her arm then the rest of it around her shoulder to the front. I guess she knows where that goes...

Then the next day when I was washing dishes she was being the stinkerdoodle she is and pulled my camera strap off of the tall counter. I saw it happening and tried to be quick and grab it before it landed straight onto her head. I was about a second too late and the camera landed smack in the middle of her forehead. She immediately started screaming and got quite the goose egg and bruise on her head. It's a pretty heavy camera. I felt so bad! She even got a scrape so we put a little medicine to make it feel better.

In this one you can definitely see the bump

Oh how we love our little stinkerdoodle! She is standing on her own now too! I don't even want to think about what she will be capable of when she is walking.....

first snow

2012-01-10T10:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday it snowed here in Virginia. I will be honest and say I dislike snow. Maybe it's because I grew up where it never really snowed. It's too cold. It made me in a total funk all day and that funk kind of drug on into today. I'm trying to get over it. It didn't help my headache situation. I have been having some crazy pressure headaches the last couple days that are awful. I am hoping I don't have some kind of sinus infection again. I need to get checked out.

Anyways....

So with it being the first snow of 2012 and I think Aly's first snow too, it was the perfect time for a photoshoot.

Don't mind the drool about to drip right off her chin onto her shirt. She has been doing some major teething getting her molars. She has 2 on the bottom on either side and one on top with the other making it's debut soon. She has actually been pretty pleasant. Although I think she is going through some kind of whining phase that I hope passes soon. That also doesn't help the headaches. ( Sorry if I kind of sound like a downer! It's been a rough couple days..have you ever had a bad headache? It makes me want to sit in a dark room with no noise all day...)

I totally love these photos because isn't she just a doll? I totally love her hat/glove combo.

She started warming up to the idea that she was sitting in snow...

And then she decided to taste the snow...

Then she was kind over the photoshoot idea.

bath time

2012-01-08T15:09:00.002-05:00

It seems as though Aly is out growing just about everything these days. She really must be going through a growth spurt. Her baby towels are so tiny she can barely get dried off. So I found a hooded towel tutorial via pinterest and I am so in love with the results. I almost want one in adult size for myself.. who can resist cute fabric, ric rac, and lace?

Of course I added my own pizazz to it...

They are made using a regular sized towel and a hand towel. Super cheap and easy. Total was about $7.00 from walmart.

Except she hates anything on her head and always pulls it off.

She loves her new bath buddies she got for her birthday.

She lines them up then pulls them down then does some splashing...

Yesterday I got a purple towel set and a green towel set to make a couple more towels. I think they are so cute and she can use these ones for a long time. They are a bit big so she can grow into them, but hopefully not too soon!

yellow & dvd's

2012-01-04T13:11:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I was doing some cleaning in the kitchen and had not heard anything from Aly in a few minutes so I stepped over the gate and walked around the corner to find her sitting in the middle of the room with her yellow blocks all in a pile. She looked up and got the biggest grin like "I know mom I am so smart!" It was the funniest thing. The yellow ones are her favorite and she pulls those ones out first.

She also thinks she is so smart when she pulls the dvd's out of the cabinet. We recently had to baby proof that cabinet because she slammed her fingers pretty hard in the doors.

That night I had to run an errand so she was home with her daddy. He had told me earlier that she was going to get hurt and we never did anything about it. So needless to say, the very next day there were cabinet locks on it, so she can no longer play with the dvd's. It makes less cleanup for me anyways!

This baby is not really a baby anymore. It surprises me everyday how big she is getting. She is almost like a toddler! Crazy how that happens so fast!

New Year's Eve party!

2012-01-02T10:51:00.004-05:00

We had such a fun New Year's! It was more fun than Chris and I expected. We went to Chris' brother Josh and Lenee's house. They invited the carmedic gang. We always have so much fun with all of our partners. I am so glad we get along and like spending time together. We are so blessed to have wonderful people in our lives! We couldn't make it out here without them.

We had a soup buffet with different kinds of soups, rolls, salad, and of course way too many treats and chips and dips.

The girls played phase ten while the boys played some board game...

Then we all made it downstairs to try out their new game they got for Christmas. It is a Michael Jackson dancing game! You stand in the middle and it scans your body movements as you dance along. It's kind of like dance dance, but better! It was so fun.. Until it came to my turn.

I could say I am good at many things, but dancing is NOT one of those things. They practically had to twist my arm to get me off the couch. It was hilarious to them I am sure.

I am sure these pics will make my family laugh because they all know that I cannot move my body! Chris on the other hand I think is half black sometimes... that guy can groove! hahaha.

Lenee and I didn't want to do it but the group insisted since everyone else had a turn. So we decided to do a group one and switch off. It made it less scary since she dances about as good as I do! Maybe we should practice together then show them all up next time??!

So you can see it shows your body outline and you have to follow the backup dancers.. it is so hard! For me anyways...

It was SO fun though. I love all of these people.

The only thing that could have made the night better is if we had more family there and if we could have actually stayed up until 12. Chris and I made it to 11:37. Yeah. We are old farts! haha

Christmas

2011-12-28T10:19:00.013-05:00

We had a fantastic long Christmas weekend. We went to the Bull Run Light Festival on Thursday night for the first time. It was so busy and took forever to get there due to all the traffic but it was a great show! It is a park that is covered with different light displays and is a drive through thing.

On Christmas Adam we celebrated Aly's birthday.

Then on Christmas Eve we went to Josh and Lenee's house for dinner and some activities. I made my mom's stuffing and turkey casserole with pimento gravy. I think it turned out really yummy!

We read the Christmas story out of the scriptures then we opened new pajamas and read the night before Christmas. It was so much fun! We all got new jammies!

{December 19th?} Don't exactly remember...

Santa Claus came to the Rowe's house! Because we had the Breakfast in Bethlehem instead of a dinner in our ward, we didn't have a santa to see. Brother Rowlett in our ward knows my in-laws from way back when they were in this very same ward. He was so kind to dress up in his totally legit costume to come make a special appearance for our kids. It was perfect. He read a special book and gave out candy.

She didn't even cry! Where on earth did this totally chill/friendly baby come from?? (I secretly hoped she would cry because I think the santa/crying baby pics are so funny...) haha.

We decided to do the something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read thing this year. I thought it worked out great! It really kept me under control and we did great with budget. (Well I did.) I felt like it kept it more even and gave Chris an exact idea on what to get.

Christmas morning was so much fun and filled with surprises. I was so happy to be celebrating with our Aly girl! It wasn't exactly her "first" Christmas, but last Christmas we came home from the hospital on Christmas without her (She stayed 2 more days in the lights) I was so sad. So I wanted to celebrate it this year.

Aly wasn't exactly interested in opening presents. She had no idea what was going on. She just wanted to play with the paper and treats out of the stockings.

Grandma Schmalz made this amazing and totally darling dress! Chris opened it and said, "wow! I love this.." I told him to look at the tag. He then said, "I'm SO not surprised she made this! That's exactly where you got it from is your mom!" So thanks mom for teaching me how to sew! I will always be thankful for that.

Aly got this awesome face plate from grandma & grandpa Schmalz. I can't wait to use it!

Chris surprised me with this amazing cookware set. I felt like such a "mom" to be asking for this for Christmas but I just about cried when I saw how nice and *gasp* expensive this set he got was. I LOVE IT! So that was my "need"...

Then to top it off........

A new laptop for me? wow. I opened it and looked at the desktop and the tears came immediately. I saw he had gotten me photoshop cs3 already installed and ready to play with! I have wanted it for a while. He was so thoughtful with gifts this year. He said the laptop was my "read" (because I'm always reading something online...) and the cs3 was my want. ( I know this post is all about me, isn't it?) I got him a cozy sweatshirt, socks, a beanie, & movies.

He definitely spoiled me this year.

Lenee got us an "elf on the shelf" I think this will be a really fun tradition. They do it in their family and the kids have so much fun with it.

Aly had fun dumping all of our movie basket goodies out and played with the basket... We got 4 disney movies- I was so excited. I have been wanting to start collecting them for Aly to watch.

I got Aly a cute little glow worm that plays music, I made a cute new hooded towel and blanket, and she got books too!

When she opened this doll from grandma she immediately started picking at the blue ribbons in the dolls hair. She loves any accessory and is definitely a girl. She notices the smallest of details, it is funny to watch.

The wrapping paper sat there for a while. She loved playing with it more than her new toys. Babies are so funny.

More birthday fun....

2011-12-24T12:19:00.010-05:00

Christopher took Aly's birthday off work so we took the birthday girl to lunch at chick-fil-a. It was fun! As you can tell we have really stretched her birthday celebration out over a week! I figure if I was in labor for 24 hours I can stretch it out and celebrate as long as I want.. The first birthday is for mom too, right? I think so! We survived!

We didn't do much on her actual birthday. We just spent time together then ate cake...

Enjoy some birthday videos!

She just hates to get those little hands dirty and sticky!

{12 months... or 1 year... }

2011-12-23T10:35:00.005-05:00

One year ago today.....

Our lives changed forever. We welcomed this sweet little angel of a girl into our lives. She has brought us tears of joy, hearts filled with love, a house full of toys, diapers, baby snacks, and laughter! So many things that words cannot express.

We decided we are going to write down the highlights of the year and put it an envelope then repeat every birthday until 18, then we are going to give it to her. I think that would be fun for her to look back on and it would be special to hear things from our point of view of her growing up.

This year has been such a joy. It is amazing how much love we feel for this little stinker. Even when she throws food on the floor... or at us. Even when she cries just to be picked up. Even when she gets snot all over the new couch. Even when she cries in the middle of the night just for comfort. Even when she knocks a full plate of food all over the floor. Even when she sneaks into the bathroom or bedroom when we tell her not to... and pulls everything out of drawers.

Even when she smiles, or laughs, or claps with joy. Even when she hugs.

We love her no matter what and are thankful to our Heavenly Father for letting us be a part of her life. She has made us better people, who live with more purpose.

We love you with all our hearts little Aly girl!

Happy Birthday!!!

The Temple at Christmas time

2011-12-22T14:37:00.006-05:00

On Sunday we made the drive to see the Washington D.C. temple. Now that it is further away from our house, we don't make it out there too often. Maybe that will be my New Year's goal is to go to the temple more! I SO wish that we would have taken advantage of the St. George temple being so close to home.

There are over 500,000 lights that are put up at the temple! There is a gallery of nativities from all around the world and 16 decorated Christmas trees inside the visitor's center.

Doesn't it look like a castle? So beautiful.

As you can see we are quite bundled up! It was pretty chilly.

I had Christopher hold the camera while I snuggled with Aly girl, and I must say he was quite the photographer. Snapping photos here and there... great job honey :)

She loved the lights.

This is one of my favorite nativities. So simple.

The drive out to the temple isn't really that bad. Its about 45 minutes.

Last year we didn't make it out there due to a special little girl coming into our lives, and I honestly forgot how beautiful it was there at Christmas. As soon as we turned the corner to the temple it was like magic. Every branch was lit and sparkling with color. The temple itself glows. It is amazing how bright the temple is and how special it's purpose. I love the feeling even just being on the sacred grounds. I could really feel the Lord's love. I am so thankful at this time of year for the gospel and the knowledge I have in my life.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

2011-12-19T13:16:00.017-05:00

{December 17th}

We had an early birthday party considering Aly's birthday is so close to Christmas. We wanted to have our carmedic family and friends there. We had a combined party with Samantha since she has a December birthday too!

This is my favorite photo of the day. Priceless.

The simple decorations

I had all of the month photos printed and hung. It's amazing to see the growth in one year!

Baby cousin Ryan even wore a hat!

Aly liked the hats if they weren't on her head...

Aly's buddy Ansleigh was there...

It feels like just yesterday when Tana and I were pregnant together and talking about our babies. Now Ansleigh is walking and so big! Aly is getting closer to walking everyday!

Uncle Matt loves to do this to the kids. Before Aly was born and I watched him do it to Lenee's kids I said he couldn't do it to mine. It always makes me nervous! Sure. She loves it!

The birthday girls!

Alyssa:1 Samantha:5

Aly doesn't like to get her hands dirty so she didn't dig in like I was hoping.

She totally loves her hat, can you tell?

Once she tasted it she started picking at it.

Then she got lazy and started eating it right off the plate!

She's a genius.

Then she realized she was all messy with frosting.

She got some adorable things. A new cabbage patch doll that is a darling poodle, a new book, a picnic basket singing toy, a fun dinosaur that shoots balls in the air, a cute outfit, some play necklaces, and some new bath buddies.

Then we went home and played with toys

Look how long and thick her hair is getting! I cannot wait till she has more hair!

Happy {early} Birthday Aly girl!

Randomness...

2011-12-15T12:18:00.008-05:00

Here are some random photos that haven't been blogged..

They have been hanging out on the desktop.

She loves the play table grandma Schmalz got her from unique...

Grocery shopping with mommy

This was a sad day. The day we put up the baby gate to the kitchen...

She found the door stop...

She can climb up and down the front step

Sometimes all she needs is daddy to cuddle with..

{Breakfast in Bethlehem}

2011-12-11T15:55:00.005-05:00

On Saturday we were able to attend our ward's annual breakfast in Bethlehem. Everyone is supposed to dress up and eat on the floor to imagine what it would be like back then. We were given a certain amount of coins when we arrived to "buy" our food. There were different stands and tents with food to choose from like a market. We bought bagels, bananas, and oranges.

I couldn't think of what to put on Aly so I tied a blanket around her... doesn't look like a costume though...

Chris and I were asked to be Mary and Joseph for the Nativity skit. I will admit that I regretted saying yes. I was complaining and wanting to back out as soon as we found out Santa in fact wasn't going to be there. That is the main reason I wanted to go was to get a picture of Aly with santa for her first Christmas. The bishop wanted it to be spiritual and about the true meaning of Christmas. So I was anxious and felt obligated all week.

Come Saturday morning when we were getting ready, I was actually looking forward to it. We often times get so caught up in worldly things and need to seek out the spirit instead. I felt at peace about doing the skit and wanted to go be a part of bringing the spirit into the members of the ward's Christmas season. So we said a prayer that we would feel the spirit and be thankful that we sacrificed our Saturday morning for a good cause.

The skit went well. We went out and placed baby Jesus in the manger then sat as the Shepherds and animals surrounded us. I definitely felt the spirit and of course started crying. (I told everyone I was just acting and trying to play the part because I'm sure Mary was crying...)

This is about the time I started crying. Chris leaned over to kiss my forehead and I started thinking, "How did Mary and Joseph feel that night being turned away in a time of need? How did Mary survive giving birth in a stable? Did she have any comfort from the spirit?"

It turned out to be a great experience and I learned a lesson. I really didn't want to do it. Neither did Chris. But we did anyways and it opened my heart and started our Christmas on the right note.

After our breakfast we went to Samantha's ballet performance of the nutcracker. She was so cute and did a great job! It was fun.

She was a little mouse...

It turned out to be a wonderful happy day.

Gingerbread houses...

2011-12-11T15:30:00.008-05:00

On Friday night we went over to Chris' brother's house to make gingerbread houses. It really was such a great night. I haven't had that much fun in a while. I just get really into stuff like that.

Here's our masterpiece all finished! We even have a Christmas tree in our backyard.

Sometimes pictures speak for themselves. I'm not sure what a lot of these are trying to say...

Here we are posing for a nice family photo and then we weren't exactly paying close attention to our baby...

And she got a hold of a gingerbread man...

YUM! I could have been a healthy mom and take away the cookie, but I really wanted to decorate... so I let her enjoy herself!

Once again this little girl's parents weren't paying attention and she got a hold of Ryan's binkie that looks just like hers... Lenee grabbed her camera to snap the evidence ..haha

So much fun! I LOVE Christmas time!

Lights

2011-12-08T10:55:00.002-05:00

Annual Christmas Parade

2011-12-05T10:25:00.006-05:00

We went to the Christmas parade in old town Manassas on Saturday. It was our first year and it was fun! Aly was tired and it was a little chilly but she did great and was so good at watching the parade.

She did not like that I put her down on the chair for a picture in her elf hat. She is such a mommy's girl when she is tired.

These mini pony's were so cool

And we even saw Mr. and Mrs. Claus...

There are so many cool things to do here during the holidays and I'm excited to go and do some this year... and I am glad I'm not huge pregnant this December so I can enjoy myself.

Handmade Stockings

2011-11-29T15:59:00.005-05:00

I believe everything is better and has a story when it is handmade. It is unique and cannot be duplicated. I decided to make some stockings for our little family since we have a little one this year. I wanted them to be different but similar to match. So this is what I made...

I like the way they turned out.

They aren't perfect and I could nitpick all of the things I could have done better, but nothing in life is perfect right? It would have been a bit easier with a pattern. I'll just tell myself it adds character and they look handmade.

Here is the back of the stockings...

And here is our other tree...

For the last couple of years I have put up 2 trees. I use the one we got for our first Christmas for all of the redskins ornaments Chris has and all of the ornaments I have received through the years. Our big tree is just a pretty one..( I still need a tree topper and a tree skirt) I LOVE having Christmas stuff out and it just brings a special feeling into our home. It's cozy and helps us feel closer to each other and to our Savior.

first little piggies

2011-11-27T13:35:00.002-05:00

Today Aly had her first little pigtails. It was seriously so funny and cute. She left them in almost all the way through church.. once she remembered they were there she pulled one out. Now her hair is straight up in the air for the rest of the day...

She looked so cute for church today. I love having a girl!

{Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!}

We had a great Thanksgiving with our family and Carmedic family here in Virginia. We made the turkey, pumpkin pie cake, and chips with dip (of course I took dip because it's been a tradition in the Schmalz family always!)

I am so thankful for my family, a wonderful husband (who totally cleaned the whole house on Saturday!), our little doll face baby, the gospel, and all that we have. I am so blessed.

{11 months}

2011-11-21T10:10:00.006-05:00

One more month and this baby will be one year old! I still love her chubby cheeks. I still love her cuddles. I still love her smile. This little girl has really made our lives so much happier, but you all know that already because I say it often.

She changes everyday and it is amazing to watch.

She loves to smack her lips whenever she sees food she wants. It is the cutest thing ever.

She likes to pull the DVD's out of the entertainment center, and give mommy an extra chore.

She follows me all around the house like she is my little shadow. I love it.

She is my little sidekick.

She can crawl like she is in a race. She gets going pretty fast! Especially if we call her to come back to us... she takes off faster while laughing. She thinks it is the funniest thing in the world.

She loves to eat anything mommy is eating. Even if I give her the same thing on her tray she would rather eat mine like it is something different.

She is starting to copy sounds we make.

She LOVES it when she sneezes and always smiles super big afterwards.

I cannot believe how fast time flies. I am so blessed and thankful I am able to be home with her, so I don't miss a minute of this baby stage. She is the best!

Big Girl & Baby's First Ornament

2011-11-18T13:50:00.003-05:00

This little baby is not all that little anymore...

She has learned to pull herself up and stand!

It is amazing that one day they are more independent and learn new things. I love watching her grow and learn, but my baby is getting to be a big girl.

The other day I made these ornaments for Alyssa's first Christmas. I like the way they turned out considering I had to re-do them about 20 times to get them the way I wanted. They aren't perfect but will do...

I used an embossing ink pad and glitter to do the prints. She kept just wanting to grab the ornament and her hand would slide all over and smear the print... Finally I got a decent one and wanted to be done!

The foot print was much easier and took just one try. She couldn't move it as much as her hand. It needed a little something so I stuffed a bunch of the bridal netting that I have for making hair accessories inside.

I put up our Christmas trees today and I feel so excited to have them up! Last Christmas was crazy and we didn't have much of a Christmas considering we were in the hospital with a 2 day old baby. I am so excited to celebrate this year with our baby at home as a new little family. Bring on the holiday season!

{Family Pictures Fall 2011}

2011-11-14T18:39:00.009-05:00

We had multiple photo shoots this fall because I just love this time of year! And we can never have too many pictures. We had my sister take some while she was here and on Saturday we tagged along with Lenee and Josh to help them with their pictures so we got some too! The place we went to in these pics is an old mill that was built in 1742. It was amazing and so rustic with the huge gears. It is located right off the freeway and every time we drive by I kept saying that would be an amazing place to take pictures. So we did it! These were my favorites.

This is her excited face. She smiles so big and scrunches her nose while she breaths out of her nose real heavy. So funny.

Anytime we say YAY! She will clap her hands like this and get excited.

Here are the pictures we got taken a couple weeks ago when my sister was here. She did a great job even though she didn't know how to use my camera and was probably nervous with me telling her what to do every 5 seconds but she did awesome. These are my favorites that turned out. We had fun. I could almost do pictures every weekend. I love picking out outfits and places and all that. Chris would definitely not go for that so I'll settle for every 6 months. haha.

pumpkin patch & halloween & other adventures...

2011-11-07T10:52:00.020-05:00

*Click on older posts to view the rest of Corinne's visit* It posted them backwards....

We went to Ben & Jerry's

Aly tried ice cream for the first time and then she wanted lots of tastes... Sorry baby girl I shouldn't have given you a taste.

Then we tried to squat down by the ben & jerry's cart for a pic and couldn't really get the sign in it... then Corinne totally fell over on the floor. It was awesome and the guy working there probably thought we were so retarted cracking up..

It was a good try though.

The Pumpkin Patch was the one thing Corinne really wanted to do and I think it was a success. It was cold and we were all bundled up but it was super fun. The best patch ever. Cox Farms. We went last year when I was huge pregnant and I couldn't do anything so it was a lot more fun this year.

She didn't want a pic with the piggies...

Chris took Aly on the giant volcano slide and she liked it!

That is until she saw mommy.....

Then we gave her some snacks to make her happy and she couldn't get them...

We had to take a glove off...

Corn maze....

Corinne ate some corn and kissed her new boyfriend...

I looked at this and almost didn't post it. We are special. :)

We went on an awesome hay ride through this forest.. I couldn't go last year so it was way fun! The guy driving the huge tractor took us through some crazy stuff including a lake. Yeah it was scary. I thought we were all going in!

We went with our partners and their families... This is just a couple of them. All the other kids were off playing

By the end she was done with pictures. It was really chilly.

Our ward trunk-or-treat! We had fun this year because we had a little one to dress up! I made Aly's costume out of a sweat suit, some flannel, some fuzzy yarn, and fabritac. It was a hit! I love the way it turned out...

Chris did the honors of taking our little owl across the stage to show her off. She was such a HOOT! She flapped her arms and smiled so big! The audience loved it and she looked like a bird flapping... She WON the most creative costume award!!! Yeah! I was so excited. She did great.

And then she slept in her skeleton jammies! They glow and are so cute.

On Saturday it was SO cold so we went to lunch to the silver diner then shopping at a huge outlet mall (indoors). Aly got her first balloon! Sorry these are sideways! It was the point and shoot camera.. She totally loved this balloon and banged it around all during lunch.

Aunt Corinne's visit...

2011-11-07T10:15:00.013-05:00

These are not in any order... Just the million pictures we took while Aunt Corinne visited from St. George. We has so much fun and did so many new things with her! We went to Mt. Vernon, on a country drive to see the leaves, downtown DC, pumpkin patch, shopping, a little more shopping, unique thrift store, DC cupcakes in Georgetown, out to eat, Iwa Jima memorial near Arlington Cemetery, trunk or treating, Krispie Kreme doughnuts, football watching, Teddy Roosevelt Island(not to be confused with the other Roosevelt... we got lost a million times trying to find our way through DC), and just hung out! We had a blast and it went by way too fast... enjoy the picture overload

Mt Vernon- It practically rained the whole time but still fun of course. Don't mind the horrible hair day...

Aly all bundled up trying to keep dry.

The view off the back porch is gorgeous. The Potomac River.

I had to go buy boots that were waterproof.. darn it. I wore them all weekend and they came in handy.

Roosevelt Island

Iwa Jima

{ten months}

2011-11-01T13:12:00.005-04:00

We are a little late on our monthly post due to a special visitor.. Aunt Corinne came to visit from Utah! We had a wonderful week with her and got to show her these beautiful fall leaves! We hope she enjoyed it here in Virginia! (thanks for the cute hat Aunt Corinne!)

Aly is now 10 months. She is getting SO much personality. Sometimes a little too much. I think she might be a handful when a bit older... We love her so much though and of course think she is the cutest.

She weighs 19 lbs. 6 oz. (21%) and is 27.75 inches(20%)

She is starting to like real food more than baby food. She likes to feed herself.

She is sleeping through the night in her own room! Hallelujah!

She likes to let out little screams for fun here and there... especially in church.

She is crawling on her knees.

She can pull herself up on furniture or on anyone sitting on the floor near her.

She recently discovered she doesn't like getting dressed, changing her diaper, or getting buckled into her carseat. She is getting good at arching her back. Chris says to ignore her but it is kind of difficult when we need to do those things. Hopefully it is a tiny phase that will soon pass.

She loves to blow raspberries on everything that will give a good (toot) sound.

She found out where we store the dvds and likes to pull them out.

Her new favorite toy is her mega legos that I got her for $5 bucks. Best spent money in a long while.

She loves to click her tongue. She will do it then look at you and expects to have you do it too. Chris did it one day and she picked it right up the next day... she's been doing it ever since. She loves it.

She is getting too big for her baby bath, but I am not ready to upgrade her to the "big girl tub" because it will be a lot more work to get her to stay. (yes, I sound lazy... anything to make my life more simple is awesome.)

She is such a happy girl and I hope she can stay that way for life. It makes things much more enjoyable.

Avocado Fries

2011-10-20T09:38:00.002-04:00

Here is a little video of Alyssa trying a new recipe I made.. Avocado fries. They are sliced, dipped in egg, then in seasoned bread crumbs, then baked until crispy. I swear she will eat everything. I didn't really care for them. Don't mind my baby voice... isn't it funny how retarded people sound while talking to little ones.. I do it a lot.

Living Room.... new furniture!

2011-10-17T16:57:00.007-04:00

Welcome to the tour of our living room. We recently purchased some super comfy awesome new couches and we love them! They are leather sides with chunky corduroy microfiber on the cushions. So soft and cozy. As of today it looks like this:

And it might change tomorrow, because I get bored. But for now we like it.

These are the new pillows I have made for the couch. I wanted to challenge myself and try some quilting for the first time! From far away it looks good.. maybe with more practice I'll get better. Quilting is hard! This pillow is called my "charming window pillow" I really love it. I have one to finish for our "chair and a half" too.

Here are the others...

The backs..

We tend to pick really big furniture and apartments can be hard to arrange. So we ended up putting our old TV table (which is the old table that I made) under our ikea light, next to the couches to fill the big gap. It fits great and Chris still has his baskets for needed work stuff..

I also brought out the old ottoman that I made out of a planter box (with the help of my dad to cut the wood peice...) It opens for blanket storage. I made it when we were first married. I like it and I'm glad we can use it again! It totally matches.

I saw this idea on pinterest.. Put a picture frame around the thermostat! Love it.

Here is the new entertainment center we got. I am so proud of this thing. I put it together (with a tiny bit of help from Chris to tighten the screws tight) and I really surprised myself by unhooking all of our equipment and hooking it all back up in the new center! AND it all works! Surround sound and all! So proud. It feels great to be the handy woman in the family. I really surprised the Mr.

I had to throw this photo in. She sat like this all day after church watching football with her daddy. So funny. She sits so still for him.

totally ghetto to totally fab & a candy corn baby

2011-10-13T14:18:00.005-04:00

This pretty little number was a whopping $5.00 at the thrift heaven... the only problem is that it says G UNIT on the back and across the arm! What? yeah. Totally ghetto. BUT I loved the way it fit and the color/stripes and all that... so I bought it. ha.

So totally ghetto to totally fabulous.....

I used an antique lace place mat to cover that hideousness. Now it is lovely.

I made Aly this candy corn dress out of T-shirts and her friend got one for her birthday!

Yeah I know, she is pretty much adorable!

"treasure hunting"

2011-10-10T09:08:00.003-04:00

Yup. You heard it right. Treasure hunting. Chris has recently discovered a new hobby. He had seen a show on TV of these guys who hunt for meteorites and pieces of UFOs and such with metal detectors, so after that he was hooked. He was going to get one. And soon. Metal Detectors are pretty expensive. So he researched and watched tons of youtube videos and couldn't stop learning more about this nerdy thing he would start up.. He said it was nerdy so I'm just going off that! ;) Anyways... His brother helped us out and found him one in a used add that was an awesome deal. So we were off. We drove an hour away to check out this special new toy that Chris just couldn't shut up about. We live in a place that is oozing in history and awesome places to explore so he is excited and will hopefully find something historical (or maybe a diamond! I wish.) I think its great he is so passionate for things! That's the way we roll... go all the way or go home.

And we are the sidekicks. Just along for the ride.

We went over to his brother Josh's on Saturday afternoon so of course he took it to start practicing. It actually seems complicated. Different sounds and signs to look for.

All I can say is he is super happy and excited so that's all I care about.

strings...

2011-10-09T13:39:00.004-04:00

Aly found this piece of thread near my fabric stash and was obsessed with it. She played with it for quite a long time then later went back to find it where she left it.. funny girl.

She would sit and stretch it out, then bunch it back up, then taste it, then rub it on the floor...

Then she would remember there were buttons on her pants.

Conference Weekend

2011-10-03T10:13:00.011-04:00

::picture overload-but that's not new on this blog!::

We had such a good weekend. I feel like conference always comes at the perfect time. It has been a little hard lately to be spiritually fed at church with a wiggly tired baby. So it was really great to hear all of the wonderful messages from our church leaders. We also had a great time just hanging out at home being lazy and enjoying our heated home. It was so cold. In the fifties.

Here you can see Aly now likes to play and pull her own hair ( yes I am wearing a redskins shirt and I said I never would.. It is cozy and by me wearing it they won their game Sunday....I gave them good luck.)

On Sunday I tried a new recipe found via pinterest. It is cream cheese pumpkin won tons with a caramel sauce for dipping. They were good, but only with the sauce!

Chris really liked them though. I ate too many then felt sick.

This is the tree outside our balcony. It's changing leaves are so exciting!

Aly got her first haircut. Well her first bang trim... you cannot really see because they are so thin but they were hanging down past her eyebrows.

She didn't know what to think haha..

that's better. Now when they fall down they won't get in her eyes. She was always moving them with her hands because they would tickle her face.

Aly learned some new tricks...

It is so funny. She likes to lay like this with one elbow and one leg on the ground.

Then she is doing push ups.

And just being cute.

Aly watched conference too...

A few weeks ago I found this awesome chest at joanns and I used a coupon so it made it even better. Then I painted it. First I painted it yellow then green then distressed and antique glazed it. Chris calls it the toy treasure chest. He says it looks like a pirate treasure chest.

I made a drop cloth out of table cloth material(thanks for the idea Neil & Sara). I have been looking for a tablecloth that is neutral but I didn't want a huge one so I just bought tablecloth material then sewed some bias tape around the edges to finish it off. After a certain incident involving my leftover cafe rio salad being pulled off the table to land all over the carpet, I decided we needed something easily cleanable placed under this little monster. And she needed to be further away from anything reachable. I wish we could just have tile or hardwood in our dining room, but maybe someday when we are not apartment living.

I found this johnny jump up-or I guess to be politically correct- jenny jump up a while back at Unique for $4! I was checking some out at the used kid store a while ago and they were $16. I didn't get one back then because I wasn't sure she needed it or would like it. So I was excited to find this one for cheapo!

She likes it! For only so long though. It was funny, the other day as we were getting into bed I said to Chris," I wish she could just sit in one spot and play with one toy like she used to so I could get some things done..." We both laughed and reminisced about the olden days when she was content to sit. haha. I'm afraid it's just begun. We have no idea.

My favorite highlights of conference were:

-Sister Elaine S. Dalton who told a story of her son asking how do you raise a daughter? The most important thing you can do is to love her mother. Then she will know what she wants in a spouse someday and will know how she needs to be treated. She will know by example what a priesthood holder should be like. She said to "be a guardian of virtue" how true is that in these latter days? She also said" Be loyal to the royal within you". I like that. We are royal sons and daughters of a Heavenly King. She also said "Fathers, you are your daughters hero".

When thinking about my own father it is true and I am so thankful for him loving my mother. I remember everyday after he got home from work, my mom would be in the kitchen cooking dinner, he would go up behind her and kiss her on the cheek. And sometimes give her a smack on the bum. hehe. I love that. He has always been a great example of how a loving husband and priesthood holder should treat his wife. Mom, you are so lucky.

-Brother Tad Callister talked about the book of mormon and my favorite thing he quoted was," If ye shall believe in Jesus Christ, ye shall believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ." He talked about the Bible and the Book Of Mormon and there can only be drawn one line between them. There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. There is only one true church and it is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

-My favorite of all time was the talk given by President Uchtdorf in the Relief Society broadcast about the "forget me not" flowers. It was so inspiring and uplifting. It is important to hear that we are not forgotten by our loving Heavenly Father. Sometimes we can feel small and unimportant, but to him we are special and very important. He knows us personally. He loves us.

Here are the 5 petals of the flower...

There were many more talks that were inspiring and uplifting, but I just wanted to share my favorites... what were yours?

We had a good weekend. How about you?

grandma & grandpa Rowe

2011-09-30T10:00:00.002-04:00

We had visitors for quite a long time. Grandma & grandpa Rowe came out in the beginning of August for our OBX beach trip and they stayed until the end of September! Because it is expensive to fly and Lenee was due soon, they decided why not stay? They just sold their house in Troutdale, Oregon (right outside Portland) and were kind of homeless.. so it was an easy choice! We had lots of fun while they were here and we always love when family come to visit.

We were sad to see our visitors leave, but Chris was glad I didn't have a shopping buddy anymore! Michael and I had way too much fun going to thrift stores and anywhere else we wanted to! I had a great time spending time with her. She is fabulous and we would talk crafty stuff all day.

Now we are excited for our next guest to come! Hurry up end of October! In the mean time we are enjoying our nice weather and are excited for the fall leaves and activities. I love fall on the east coast.

{nine months}

2011-09-23T16:31:00.005-04:00

It took nine months for Aly to get to us after finding out we were expecting a little bundle of joy and it really felt like forever. Now I cannot believe it has been nine months since she has been here with us. I know I say it every month, but it is so crazy. Three more months and she will be a year old. Wow. I feel like she has changed the most within this last month. She is getting so big and even more personality is coming out every day. Not to mention she is becoming mobile, so things will be changing even more for us here in the Rowe home.

Aly loves to eat. Anything. She especially loves it if she can feed it to herself. Such a big girl.

She weighs 18 lbs. 9 oz. now.

She likes to put her fingers in mouths. Anyone who is holding her or talking she will stick her fingers right in. It really is gross. I don't like it. Especially if it is someone other than her parents. weird baby girl. weird.

She loves eyelashes lately. She will sit and watch when I blink then reach up and try to pull at them. Sometimes it catches me off guard when I am holding her and she pokes me in the eye.

She has 8 teeth. It makes her look so big.

She loves tupperware. More than toys.

She loves the mirror. I recently put a mirror in her room so I can peek in and see what she is doing and usually she is staring in the mirror or tapping things on it. (Maybe it's a bad idea to put a mirror in there so soon... she will be stuck on herself... haha. ) It is fun for her.

Sometimes I catch her doing something or making a face that is so silly. I know for a fact she is going to be a jokester. She is so happy all the time. Just like her daddy.

She has the cheesiest smile and it is so big. I love it. It melts my heart everytime she smiles huge.

I was looking at some of my baby pictures and she really looks tons like I did. But of course she is way cuter!

BTW I got this awesome teal samsonite suitcase for $5 at Unique. I thought it would be another great storage thing for my space...

I totally love that face. I am so happy I can stare at it all day.

My Space

2011-09-22T16:26:00.007-04:00

This is my new sewing/craft nook in the corner of our bedroom. Apartments are so hard because they have limited space and storage and it drives me nuts... but I am willingly ok with this because I don't want to buy a house out here. So that means we will live closer to family someday. So for now our bedroom is my space. Like I said, the desk was in Aly's room and the fabric and other stuff was is plastic bags/diaper boxes and stacked all around her room. It was a mess. Here is the before when it was in her room: not very inspiring...

Now here is the after: I love it. Now I want to sew some more and get creative.

Organized. Clean. Colorful. Everything has its place. I will eventually paint the desk & chair. I got both from Unique along with the 2 shelves and frame I already painted. Then I turned the cupboard door into a cork board.

Here are a couple before s:

Now after some love:

I used a Costco sized diaper box and covered it with coordinating fabric and it fit PERFECT on the shelf I got from Ikea. It was like a dream. It holds all my scraps for a rainy day. And It definitely looks tons nicer than all the plastic bags. It was a disaster.

I cut (technically Chris cut) foam board pieces for my mini-bolts of fabric. I love it because I can see everything neatly and it stays way better than stacking and it just looks nicer. I just used push pins after wrapping the pieces around.

The jars and vases are also thrifted and they fit perfect. It was meant to be.

I have a few more darling sayings I am going to hang but haven't printed them yet...

Now I have a space just for me and Aly has a space just for her....maybe someday Chris will have a space just for him. Maybe. haha.

baby A's Room

2011-09-18T15:31:00.008-04:00

Baby girl's room is finally done and set up the way I want. For a long time I had my sewing/craft nook where the toy box is and now that she is getting into things I wanted a room just for her that is safe to play. So this week I have been doing lots of changes. In almost every room. (Posts of other rooms to come soon.......) So here is the newest additions to her room... I made some embroidery hoop art with hoops I got for 50 cents each at thrift stores and scrap fabric I had on hand.. I pretty much love it and it goes perfect with the bird mobile I made a while back....

I made these before she was born out of cabinet doors. They finally have pics in them and are on the wall.

Up close peek:

A few before/afters: they both got a fresh coat of white paint and the dresser got new hardware, stenciling, and distressing.

Now they match perfect.

I got lazy and left the inside the original stain. It took a million coats of white and I should have primed it.

I gave the new dresser the same hardware as her original dresser. I have been debating stenciling it to match as well... not sure. So I really like the way it turned out and my latest favorite is the hoop art!

Aly scooting...

2011-09-14T18:47:00.002-04:00

Alyssa Mae is SO close to crawling! She is scooting and getting all over the place....

create. I love this.

2011-09-14T12:02:00.000-04:00

the park.

2011-09-10T19:24:00.011-04:00

After a whole week of rain, clouds, and humidity today was a blessing. It was sunny and warm with a breeze. We went to the park to play with cousins. It was nice to be outside in the sunshine!

Newest addition to the Rowe family : Ryan Christopher Rowe

(They actually were stuck on two middle names- Christopher & David - both of which are my husband's name... So I guess it was appropriate to say he was named after Christopher...)

He has so much dark hair!

Aly had fun on the swing..

Most of the time she had her feet up on the swing just chillin..

{the cousins: Adam, Danny, Samantha, & Aly}

She had fun picking up the bark and inspecting it...

She is no longer afraid of grass. She likes to pick it and try to eat it.

It was a perfect day for the park.

Labor Day

2011-09-06T09:17:00.007-04:00

Chris decided last minute that he wanted to take Labor Day off. He is such a hard worker he deserves a day off! So we all headed up to Mike's in Linden (near Shenandoah National Park) to have some fun. I will admit I was skeptical on the drive out there because it was pouring and we were planning on being at the lake next to his house and sitting out in the rain for the kids to swim and play just didn't sound fun. After last week and my migraine days and sinus infection, I didn't think the rain idea was very smart. I am on an antibiotic now and don't want to relive last week. I was on the couch in so much pain with headaches and I didn't do much. So I decided I would sit in the car.

When we got there it was barely sprinkling and our friend brought a big pop up tent so I was feeling a little more open to playing out there. It ended up being a perfect gorgeous day. The rain stopped and it was nice and cool. Not hot and humid like it has been. I really enjoyed myself. So did everyone else. I have photos to prove it. Aly was an angel (no surprise) she sat on the blanket under the umbrella and played and entertained everybody. It was nice to be feeling better and to get out of the house. (Notice our tops... they are both thrifted! Love it.)

A monumental moment happened unexpectedly. ...

I had fished once or twice before with Chris and at this same lake. I know how to cast out the reel. I know how to hold the rod. It is just the fish catching and the lingo that I do not know. So I pretty much looked like a sissy. Which I am ok with. Really. So I said to Christopher, "Honey. Come take a picture of me fishing so I can put it on the blog and pretend like I am really doing it...."

Then about 5 minutes later when everyone was on the other side I start yelling, "I got a biter! I got a biter!" They start cracking up and run over to see what was really going on, because no way did Lindsay really get a bite. I starting reeling in the fish line and I could feel something! I yanked it out of the water and I had a flippity flopper going all over the place. HA! I did. I caught a fish for the first time in Lindsay fishing history. It was pretty awesome. Even if the little guy was only about 6 or 7 inches. It was bigger than what the others got. They didn't get any. Not that I saw. HA! I win. Did I touch it? NO. I let the boys do it. That's their job.

Aly and grandpa Rowe. He is such a hoot. Always saying funny things to make people laugh. That's where Chris gets his funny personality. Just like his dad. So goofy on purpose. They are so easy going and always happy. It's nice to be around. (Grandpa Rowe is never seen anywhere without something redskins or the colors of redskins...)

Here is Aly clapping. It's so darn cute. She waves now too. She waves to herself when you wave and say HI! We love it.

I have seen some leaves lately looking like this:

And It gives me the goosebumps for fall. I love fall out here. I can't wait for this fall, because I can finally show it to someone in my family. It's gonna be a blast.

We went with Josh and the kids and our business partners and their kids. They are close friends to the Rowe family so they are part of the gang. It's been really fun getting to know all of these different families and having them come to everything. It's like one big Carmedic happy family. The only problem is they talk work all the time. Blah. At least the girls can hang out...

We had fun. They had fun. Aly had fun. It was a nice day that ended with chick-fil-a and shopping at the mall. AND I didn't even buy anything. Chris got new nikes and aly got cute Sunday shoes. But I still loved being with my favorite people.

(I forgot to mention: we also bought new living room furniture on Saturday! YAY. We don't get them till the end of the month because they are making them-which is nice to know they will be awesome and brand new! So until then we still have to sit on the crumby uncomfy loser couch. I cannot wait. We spent a good amount on a nice set instead of going the cheapest route. We learned our lesson with our Value City Furniture purchase.)

OBX leftovers...

2011-08-31T12:27:00.005-04:00

The Rowe Reunion group...

{Josh. Lenee, Adam, Samantha, Danny, Dave, Allison, Mary, Lindsay, Chris, Aly, Gary, Michael, Jon, Jacob, Sadie, Matt, Kendra, Sara, Mike(who couldn't be there)}

When we saw this picture Michael took we were cracking up! Check out those legs.. that's all I've got! I always knew my legs were long, but the picture looks crazy long!

A happy Anniversary...

2011-08-30T09:17:00.003-04:00

To us!

4 years ago our lives changed in a big way...

We were sealed in the St. George Temple..

That was then and this is now...

We have a wonderful life and couldn't be happier. We fall in love more and more over the years. Everyday brings something new and we grow together as a family...

And we love more than ever being new parents

to a little stinker that is adorable... even right out of the bath :)

We celebrated over the weekend since our anniversary landed on Thursday this year. I woke up to breakfast in bed that was my favorite. Nothing is better than warm chocolate chip pancakes! How romantic! Even a little cup with flowers :)

We went out to dinner to olive garden and that really was a treat. We never eat there because if we did often we would probably be 20 lbs heavier! It was so delish. We took Aly with us and we were totally fine with it. She is such a good little lady she just sat there and ate her little snacks. We decided to go on Friday because the hurricane was supposed to be happening on Saturday. It was a good choice. It poured all day and was windy but nothing too bad. We were inland far enough so didn't get hit really. Thank goodness! We survived an earthquake and a hurricane last week! whew. Happy Anniversary to us! I wouldn't want my life any other way. It is a good life.

Thrifted, some cookies, & some new hair..

2011-08-30T08:38:00.006-04:00

My sweet mother-in-law (and father-in-law) are staying here in Virginia with us until my sis-in-law has her little baby boy who is due to arrive on Sept. 15th. They came out here from Oregon (right after selling their house) to go on our beach vacation, and since they don't have a place to live they decided to stay a bit. They are expecting to move to St. George after their adventures here. While she has been here we have had some fun times shopping, thrifting, and crafting. These are the latest finds that I think have a lot of potential...

A wire rack that will hang behind our bathroom door for my jewelry to hang on...

A dresser for Aly's room that will be painted with new hardware...

An adorable toy chest that is perfect size will be painted to match her dresser and room...

It's in perfect condition! Love it.. didn't love the bunnies at first but I think I could make them cute...

A shelf to hang over my sewing station for thread or whatever... will be painted a fun color.. along with my desk that needs to be painted..

An adorable little cabinet that will fit lots of Chris's work folders and such will be in our dining room. I am going to leave this one alone because I think it's really pretty the way it is...

A cabinet door and a piece of cork that will be painted a fun color and made into a cork board for the sewing room..

I embellished the jewelry rack a bit so it's not so plain...

I made cream cheese filled snickerdoodles...

oh my, oh my they were perfect.

I got lots of cute clothes from thrifting this week as well... I got 4 button up blouses, 2 vintage pencil skirts, and a pair of capris. Here is one of my new skirts. I wasn't sure about the high waistedness because my torso is so short already I try to avoid making it look shorter so I bought them anyways. $4 wasn't going to stop me from trying.

It has pleats in the front with pockets that are fun.. I was also unsure about the pleats. A little secret that is embarassing is I woke up with a crazy zit right on my forehead that was almost past the zit stage and onto a thing stage. I pulled out my hair stuff and chopped some bangs to hide it. So now I have bangs and look like my sister Corinne's twin. Really. Which I wouldn't hate. She is amazing and beautiful.

I got a lot of compliments at church about the hair and the outfit so I didn't feel so stupid. Either that or they were just being nice :)

Oh and I got all that stuff for $60 bucks. I would have payed that just for the dresser somewhere else!!! Instead I got tons of stuff. I am really excited to make her room cuter and I love the toy chest.