Happy Halloween...wait no Happy Holidays!

A great tradition we have in our little family, (well not so little anymore), is to decorate cookies. Last year I think we missed it and I made sure we got to do it this year. We bad a batch yesterday but I didn't feel well enough to decorate them. The girls were really happy to make their own cookies and do their own designs. I did try to make a deer by hand but it didn't turn out well. Next year I'll make sure to get that cookie cutter as well as a tree and Santa. Anyway enjoy the photos.


A Vampire...No a Bat...oh yeah an angel.lol

love

The Rowes

Couldn't say it better myself

“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Countdown to Thanksgiving 11th day away

 

My little Nova. She is my little shadow and keeps my day busy. At 3 she is a handful and a blessing. She is rough and tuff and yet a huge lover of all things Princess. A sweet heart to all animals and babies yet hold her own and then some with the girls and anyone who gets in her way. We love our little November Mae Rowe:)

Countdown to Thanksgiving

 

I thought I would start a new tradition on my blog by doing a 12 days to Thanksgiving countdown of the things in my life I am grateful for. This first choice is a great one because I can truly say it as of today that for #12 I can great full for our bed and to be lucky enough to have a bed and home to rest our heads. (More and more people are not able to say that this year and I am truly truly thankful to be able to)
So I still had planned to do this post today but originally when I was planning my posts (I do plan many of them out you know) it was going to be a little more funny and sad as I talked about how I am grateful for the bed (again truly am) but not so much the mattress. The mattress we had (will explain) was given to us in CA by the sweetest lady I had met who had to upgrade to a new mattress. We had a full mattress and as we just had Kennedy we needed to upgrade to a new larger size. We had talked of getting a king size but hadn't when the opportunity to take her old mattress was given to us and I seized it. It wasn't the greatest mattress but it was big and that was enough for us then. Now 5 years down the road and a few moves later we were dying with it. It has lost any charm it once held for us. The girls, however, loved it. Many times they had fallen asleep on it and in the morning told us that they wished they could have it. Why I do not know but it's true. Anyway we talked again of getting a new one but our resources lacking we had to wait until we could afford a new king size one. Then today it hit me that we should switch the girls twin mattress which are very comfortable with our crappy to us but not to them one. This works because we recently redid the sleeping arrangments in our home. The girls who have shared a bedroom since birth have always slept in the same room. When we moved to a larger home Ava was given her own room to share until Riot was older. This was good in theory but not did not work at night. She always got in bed with the girls. Shane decided they needed their beds (twins) to be pushed together to keep them all together. That made a king size bed and they have been sleeping happy since. We then have turned Ava bedroom now into the play room leaving her twin in there as a couch until we find something more suitable. So now they have a king size mattress and we do to (or two twins pushed together which also work. I have to say it's been a long time since I've looked forward to going to sleep:) We'll still eventually get a better bed since one day they'll want to have their own individual beds but for now, for tonight, I'm can truly say "I love my bed!" Now if I can get Shane to stop snoring in it. hmmm!!!

Another great day! We got to spend time with our friend Laurie and her kids Zenovia and Alexander. Home Depot provided a fun project (spice rack) which was easy for the younger kids to do. We got to have lunch with Laurie and family before heading over to Hobby Lobby for some craft stuff. (Pictures to post once they are done) and then over to Dusty and Sandy's house for a little visiting time. I love the fall, not to cold to want to stay home and not to hot to avoid the heat outside:) Next trip will be the Diary of a Whimpy kid event:) Looking forward to it!!!

Painting Pumpkin Party

We meet some friends at Trader Joe's today to do a pumpkin painting event. The kids loved it! Their clothes got ruined but I figured it was going to happen so I put them in old clothes. After seeing the clothes come back from Kindergarten I'm not surprised anymore at how bad they ruin their outfits. After the painting event we went to Barnes and Noble for story hour. It was an great Saturday! Lets hope Trick or Treating goes as well:)

My guys:)

Hard to imagine that at this time last year having a son was never a true dream for Shane or I. We had three beautiful girls and had no plans for another baby, much less a son. Then on Nov. 5, 2009 our world changed as the stick showed the line that meant we were indeed going to have another baby. It goes to show you that you can NEVER say never. Riot is 2 1/2 months old and already has a special fondness for daddy. Shane will hold Riot and talk to him and Riot coos and oohs and speak to Shane like he is singing a song. He only does this for Shane. I might he an ohh or a ahh here and there but for Shane he sings them. Am I jealous? Yes but then again eventually he starts to cry for me and all is right. As far as having 4 girls vs 2 boys while the girls might have the majority so far the boys seem to be in control as Shane is totally their favorite and Riot has his Mommy wrapped around his fingers. Who knew having a son would be so wonderful?

Bff's, Kids, and Nature

Recently I got to share lunch Shalini whom I have known since the second grade. It was a rare weekday treat as she works full time and I have more kids than I know what to do with. We decided to go to the Rio Grade Nature Center, a place I love but don't get to often enough. We had my youngest two in tow and Shalini and Nova got to be pretty good friends. Shalini "shared" her lunch with Nova, (Nova pretty much stole it from her) and they played together in the kids center. I had my hands full with Riot so I was not much help. I did stand, as told to, for this picture but could not work Shalini phone to take on of her. (Phones hate me) Before we knew it it was time to go but I think we'll try to go again, maybe next time when the temperature is cooler. It's nice to be able to tell your kids that you still have the same friends you meet 25+ yrs ago
PS All pictures taken by Shalini and not posted with her permission but as she sent them to me I post them as mine!

My Space, His Space, Our Space.

After having little room for ourselves we finally moved to a bigger home. Getting settled has been happening gradually and we still have quite a few boxes to revisit but are unpacked for the most part. Shane had been looking forward to his office longer than we have had half of our children. I looked forward to him having it as well, no longer having all the clutter in the bedroom or living room. I assumed he would spend most of his free time in said office therefore I was surprised when he took to using a laptop at the dinning room table over the office pc. I think he realized he likes the noise of his family and felt left out when he is in the office. NOT ME! I set my sewing table up in a "pantry" off the kitchen where I realized I was in need of more space and less traffic. Once I realized how little Shane used his space I moved in for the kill and suggested we share it and my former space would be a much needed area for storage. He was surprisingly quick to agree and I moved my thing in over the weekend. I still need a little more room (meaning the shelves to the left) but that will take a while to clear off. Shane has one large bookshelf in the office and with the office door and french doors leading to the back yard there isn't room now for another. Either we build a bookshelf to fit by his door or hang more shelves, either way it will be a few month before we can do that. Still I'm thrilled to have a designated space that I can leave the table open and ready to sew, (my previous home had me blocking the front door while I sewed and you can imagine how inconvenient it was). I was able to get one square done and that was it as of yesterday. I guess the baby doesn't realize yet that I have this new area. Hopefully I'll get more use of it soon. Happy Days are ahead:)

Kindergarten Kennedy and the unhappy crew!

Today was a bittersweet day for us as Kennedy started Kindergarten today. Just like Ava did on her first day she put on a butterfly shirt and headed off to take her place in the world. There is nothing like the first day of Kindergarten. Kennedy did awesome and looked so cute in her outfit. I think she was worried I would be sad but I think I'm in shock or just sleep deprived because I did well at dropping her off. The pictures were taken by Shane and as you can tell Nova and Riot were pretty pissed at him for taking them. Hopefully one day we'll get a good kid shot were no one is crying. Anyway I can't wait to her how her day went. Hopefully as well as Ava's has been. We'll see.

New School, New Grade, Great Friend!

This is a big year for Ava. She started the 4th grade yesterday which she has been looking forward to for a while. She also started a new school this year and has been very brave about it. I'm probably more nervous for her than she has been, she is a real trooper. Thankfully she has a good friend, Allyson, who attends the new school. It's been comforting knowing that she will have at least one friendly face she recognizes. (Kennedy will as well as Ally's brother Sam will be starting kindergarten at the same school on Friday) I shouldn't have been as nervous about Ava though because she came home yesterday and told me she already had a BFF in her class. I'm looking forward to meeting these new friends and getting adjusted to the new year. Tomorrow will be Kennedy's big day:) Then a peaceful weekend I hope!

The Big Sister

I want to take a moment to share a sweet picture of Nova. I feel like Shane captured her essence in this photo. Nova is all about being a princess, about dressing up, and flashing her charming smile while tilting her cherub head. Riot's birth had the most affect on her vs the other girls because it took away her position as the baby and made her a big sister. She has fit herself into the role but it took a little bit of time. She loves him or (her) as she says. Nova will always get to be the baby girl and I think will eventually love the role of big sis. Now if I can just keep her from changing clothes every few hours all will be wonderful.

Riot and I

A quick post for Riot's 3 week anniversary. He is doing well and getting a little chubby in the face. I think he looks adorable in brown and blues. He gave himself a little arm hickey when I didn't get his bottle fast enough. He laughs in his sleeps and loves to be held. He has three older sister's who fight for his attention. He is a little man and we are so thankful he is ours. Thanks for sharing!!!

Riot Mark Shannon Rowe

He's here! Riot Mark Shannon Rowe came into the world on July 14th at 4:30 am. He is a small little guy who weighed 7lb 5 oz at birth. (nursery says 2 oz) He was 19 1/2 inches long. He's keeping me busy which is why I can only write this small paragraph about him and haven't been able to post before this or even get newer pictures up but eventually that will change. Here is the first birth picture of him and one from his first bath. Thanks to everyone for thinking of us and looking forward to introducing him to you.

Twelve years later...

Today is Shane's and my 12 year anniversary. With luck we'll be able to have an actual date on Sunday if the babysitting goes through. It's hard to find a babysitter anymore. The more kids you add it seems to get harder. Lol This year finds us packing and pregnant. The apt is starting to look bare but not as bare as I would like. The girls are pretty much packed and the linen closet and pantry are done with the exception of the food for the next two weeks or so. The living room almost done aside from the art and pictures and the kitchen is nowhere near done. Still I'm ahead and for being 8 months or so I think doing pretty well. I can't wait to be unpacked and organized and with luck have a week or two to enjoy the new place, especially the backyard, before Riot is born and the breastfeeding and diaper changing begin. It's hard to believe that 12 years ago Shane and I were spending the day getting small things done for our tiny backyard wedding/elopement. That included meeting with the ordained minister and stealing some flowers from UNM for my and Kari's bouquet. ( I was at the duckpond this past weekend and they smelled wonderful!) Shane put the finishing touches on our vows and I think we both had a little big of cold feet. At that time I was only thinking about the day and Shane, I don't think it ever crossed my mind then about the life we were beginning. Not that it has all been easy, (8 years ago we had a week that I thought was going to kill me) but for the most part it's been filled with a lot of love, happiness, and laughter. (mostly from me as I am hysterical and he is almost as funny but not really. Then again he can fix my computer so I better give him credit for that) It's been full of girls and in the good way! Our daughters have been the greatest sources of joy and parental pride. This year we'll add our son and I look forward to seeing that change in our family dynamic. I've seen Shane be a dad to girls and it's going to be wonderful see him be a father to a son. So here's looking forward to a wonderful new year with Shane and our family. Now I guess I have to go and explain the birds and the bees to Kennedy as she was asking me earlier about her arrival into this world. Ava has her convince she was an egg and I think she might believe she came from a chicken. Lol Life!

Nova and the scissor fiasco

Well she did it. She cut her hair. Yesterday during another full day of packing I found a pair of small school scissors under a bin of clothes in the corner of the girls closet. I had already packed away the art supplies so I put the scissors in a box of misc. stuff I had going with the intentions of packing it full and taping it up. Of course something distracted me and I walked away never to return. (I got sidetracked and packed my sewing cabinet contents.) I had forgotten about the open box until Kennedy came out of their room last night before bed with a handful of Nova's hair to which she said "Mamma Nova cut her hair!" I sent Ava to get them as I was having some hard braxton hicks and she came out with the scissors, Nova, and some hair. Nova looked incredibly proud of herself. Shane was surprisingly calm but I was horrified. Right away I saw the cut. Side of the head and short. I had one of two options. Either cut it all the same length in a bob or give her a mullet. Somehow the idea of business in the front and party in the back didn't seem to be Nova's thing so I sadly decided we had to cut it. This is the part that I partly blame Shane for. I got up and said. "Nova lets go take a bath and cut your hair." Shane had to have heard that and he should have firmly said "No Natalie you take her tomorrow to an ACTUAL hairstylist." He didn't and he knows that I envision myself as a home stylist. I'm not suppose to cut their hair, at all. It doesn't stop me but he should have. So instead he let us go and off we went to the bathroom for a little hair cut. The problem with cutting Nova's hair is that she moves, A LOT. I'm looking at her hair now and it's horribly uneven. It's going to need to be straighten but I'll wait. If I take her in now it will be even shorter and I don't think I could handle that. I do think she looks cute but still I'm sad. Also I should mention that April spent the night last night due to some work issues and it was a little hectic getting her and the girls settled. Maybe that's why I didn't remember the open box. Yes it is. I blame my sister.

12 week countdown

Had my ob apt. yesterday. Have about 12 weeks left until we meet the last arrival for our family. Unlike my last pregnancies I feel very unprepared. Having a boy after 3 girls is a big change. Shane has very specific ideas of what a boy should wear and what his gear should look like. It's very frustrating. I know it will all work out in the end even if it means that Shane will be at Target day of buying his son all the necessary equipment to bring him home. I'm going to enjoy the last 3 months with our girls and savor the all girl childhood. Then when Riot comes home we'll settle down with our new baby and begin our new adventure:)

I have felt a lot of differences with this pregnancy. The morning sickness tapered off sooner than it did with the girls, but that was traded for exhaustion. Being pg this time is tiring. I hadn't felt this tired with the girls until the last month. Also I have felt him move differently than the girls did. Each girl parked her behind right by my upper right side and didn't move from that spot. They kicked some but not as much as Riot. I have felt him low in the stomach and he moves a lot. It's been pretty uncomfortable truth be told. The reason he has felt different is that he is head up. Thanks to having the previous pregnancies the uterus is larger and he has decided not to move down yet. I'm not looking forward to feeling that. My mom had the same issues when she was pg with Fred and she told me that she felt him moves into position. Not fun! Still better than having to have a c-section.

It's hard to believe that I'm at the beginning of the third trimester. I'm hoping to make it until the 18th of July (due date is the 19th and Kennedys' b-day is the 17 which I want her to keep alone ) but have doubts about that as well. Something tells me he'll be early like his sisters. Then again a lot has been different so we'll see. As long as he is not born on the 17th I'll be happy:) Here's to the last trimester I'll ever have to be pregnant again!

Crazy Mary

This is one of my favorite songs Eddie Vedder has performed. Shane introduced this song to me before we were married and it touches me to hear it to this day. The words are thought provoking because most likely you will have someone in your town that you think of when you hear it. I do. If not you should still enjoy it because no one sings like Vedder.

Crazy Mary

My sometimes arch enemy

For the past few weeks Shane and I have made a large switch to having a healthier lifestyle. Manly the focus has been on eating at home more and less processed foods, although I have always cooked from scratch at home but I will admit we ate out a lot. It's been a lot easier than I would have thought because like I said for us the main problem was the crap you get from the restaurants. But some things had been hard to do, like find ingredients without sugar or corn syrup. Today I wanted to BBQ chicken, as usual, I didn't get it set out in time to thaw for cooking. I had to run to the store so I thought I'd pick up thawed chicken and some bbq sauce without the syrup. WRONG!!! I looked through every single one and found nothing I could use. I then decided that I would do a dry rub, but not before the kids drove the other shoppers crazy. That and spending what I thought was hours buying curtains for the hall made me super ready to come home. After Shane was home I got the chicken ready (if your lucky I might one day share my secret seasoning but not today) and then set out to make the deviled eggs. Again I wanted to make a healthier version so I substituted plain natural yogurt for the mayo and added the other ingredients and was pretty happy with the results. Shane came in for the chicken and asked what the side were and I said our usual chunky garden salad, the chicken, and the eggs. He made a face like "Is that all" and I told him he could make asparagus. He said ok and got out the tin foil and snap peas, mushroom, asparagus, spaghetti sauce. I had my reservations about the sauce but decided to go with it and was pretty happy that he was sticking to plan for eating better. (The sauce also was sugar and syrup free!) Then, and I swear he does this to be my nemesis, I look over as he dumps a bunch of butter on the mix and closes the foil and take it to the bbq. He put is on and comes and tells me "I think it kinda neat that you took a normally unhealthy dish and make it healthy and I took a healthy dish and made it bad!" Ha Ha. (You have to picture him laughing with a sinister snarl. Like Boris. Shane = Nemesis

To think about...

This is copied from several locations and has been passed on to be shared. I posted on my blog because it expressed the outrage I have felt for the 8 horrible years of the Bush/Cheney administration.

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.

You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate
energy policy.

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.

You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.

You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war.

You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.

You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.

You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.

You didn't get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich.

You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.

You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans...oh hell no.

You didn't get mad when the president ignored the clear and timely warning that terrorists were going to hijack planes and fly them into the WTCs.

You didn't get mad when the weapons inspectors, who said there were no WMDs, were ignored.

You didn't get mad when hundreds of thousands of people died in Iraq.

To Kindle or not to Kindle

I am making this new post from my first "own" computer. Someone has caused havoc on Shane's computer (wonder who) and I think he thought it was time that I get the heck of it and have my own. So I picked out a relatively inexpensive but sweet one. My criteria was a bigger screen and a pretty mouse. "Pretty" almost always being the main criteria. But the point of this post was about the Kindle and I'm going to get right to it. Last night Shane was standing near one or a generic version and asked me if I had considered getting one. I said no immediately and he began to explain the pros of one. He is so used to me resisting all technology, (you should have heard the conversation between he and the ATT rep regarding my refusal to get an IPhone) that he knows it takes me a while to embrace new gadgets (unlike himself). So I patiently waited for him to explain about the readers and then when he was done he looked to me and I told him my reason, "I like books with pages you turn and are made of paper." That's it. I like going to the bookstore, picking up a book and turning it over in my hand to read the back cover. I like feeling the pages in my hand. I like flipping through the pages to determine if the writing is a style I like or not. I like everything you find in a bookstore such as the fancy notebooks, the stuffed animals, the coffee, the music, and most of all the ambiance. You simply cannot get that from a machine not matter how fancy they are. I understand all the pros like many books in one, quick access to books, cheaper rates but the pros, for me, are not good enough. So I'll keep my many books that are stored in every possible place at our home, and in storage and I'll leave the Kindle to the rest. Give me a used bookstore, a comfy chair, and a good cup of coffee and I'll give you a perfect afternoon.

For thought

I used one very similar to the one pictured when Kennedy was born. I didn't use it very long as she outgrew it quickly and I was very paranoid about her suffocating in it (this was almost 5 years ago before the outbreak of stories related to this product). She did sleep very peacefully and I loved that I could easily breastfeed her in without a fuss. However I can easily understand how these children can die in them. Very sad.

story

New but not really new.

When I went back to work in August the agreement between Shane and I was to try it for a year and if it didn't work for the family I would stop working. It was a scary time for me, finding daycare for Kennedy and Nova and not being there after school to pick up Ava but I was determined to make it work and I did. The daycare, Monte Vista Day Nursery, was great in so many ways. The staff treated the girls wonderfully and I felt very blessed to have found another great place to have my kids in. But then the cold/flu season hit and it hit hard. I knew that the girls would catch a few colds but I was no prepared for the amount they did catch. In general it's not uncommon for kids in daycare to catch between 8-10 colds a year and yeah they mostly happen in fall winter. This is a good thing though as daycare kids tend to miss less school due to colds than those who are new to environment with multiple kids. That being said it's not a good thing when your new to a job and can't get your sick leave built up quick enough. I also didn't expect to be pregnant again so soon after I began working. I will say that everyone at the HSD was wonderful and understanding even when I gave my notice 3 weeks ago. As of March 5 I have once again become a homemaker. This decision was pretty hard for me but the right one for our family. I had been thinking about resigning after the 4 or 5 cold but didn't until the second to the most recent one the girls had. I had to miss another week of work (Shane took of a day the week before and it took him a weekend to make it up) Then after I gave my 2 weeks notice I had to call in sick for the week as the girls and I got the flu bug and Nova ear infections. Talk about being stressed. Now this week was been my first week at home and in a way it's been hard readjusting (6 months of working took it's toll on the housework) plus cramming in the dentist and doc apts we got behind on and a parent teacher conference it's been a busy week. Not to mention the kids adjusting to new schedules (they love sleeping in) me adjusting to less morning stress (I love that part!) and Shane coming home to dinner being made and a clean house. (I think he might be the most happy). For now it's a nice time for the family. I don't regret going to work, I learned a lot about social work and made some great friends and one really great friend and now I look forward to having summer with the kids and getting ready for the new baby. I also look forward to not having to call in when the kids get sick:)