{oh happy day..}

 i've thought about my little bug turning one for so long.. i cant believe its come and gone so fast!
well, needless to say- i loved every single part of planning this party. i enjoy planning this type of stuff anyways, but she is my firstborn, and her turning one was a big deal to me  us! {there were a few sleepless nights of coming up with all the details, ridiculous, i know.} i knew that this was one of the few parties that i could do everything myself.. because i know kids start coming up with their own ideas for their birthdays. from the beginning, i wanted to do something vintage-ish, and everything just stemmed from there. i started getting things crossed off my list weeks in advance, so it was really stress-free. but as always: i must give a shout out to my mom and sisters who knew this was a big deal to me and worked tirelessly the night before to help me set-up and make food/desserts. i appreciate their love and support more than they'll ever know!

so like i said, i really loved planning every detail of this party. this stuff is FUN for me! and i also love taking pictures. so you can imagine the length of this post. ha ha! and if no one enjoys this but me- i wouldn't care one bit.

{the invitations}

i did them all differently... just on my computer. 

 i found a punch at michaels and punched the edge of the envelopes to add a sweet detail.

{the party}

{oooh, the cake. i just loved it!}

courtesy of chubby hubby cupcakes.

rowans birthday fell on general conference weekend (we might be battling that the rest of her life ;)

so we decided to have lunch for everybody since it was inbetween conference sessions.

{the little birthday girl with mom and dad}

when i was telling my mom about the vintage theme i had, she said

"you may want rowans birthday present a little early.."

and out she pulled this adorable little vintage pink kitchenette.

ooooooh my word! i just about died.

and it worked perfectly for the party. 

{cant wait to look for all the vintage kitchen accessories to go with it!}

that brown chair was given to my mom after my little brother, mckay, died.
it was special to me to have it there.

for the favours i filled these boxes with vintage treats:

 like lemon drops, caramels, tootsie rolls & smarties.

and then of course, rowan had to eat her (cup)cake! she loved every bit of it.

and in true rowan fashion, she loved all the attention as well. ;)

{sitting in the same high chair i sat in on my first birthday}

{i love this picture}

im pretty sure i could eat her.

there is something so special about your firstborn,

she means so much to me- and im so grateful to be her mom.

.... and i cant believe my baby is one!.....

happy first (and golden!) birthday little lovie,

your daddy and i love you more than words can say.

{12 months...}

april 1, 2012

my sweet little rowan girl,
one year old... how in the world did this day come so fast? part of me feels like you have been one for awhile, because i feel like your personality is way beyond 12 months old. but the other half of me is in shock that my baby came to be one year old so quickly. i remember sitting in that hospital bed, one year ago from right now wondering how i could have been so blessed to have such a beautiful and perfect baby. and i can honestly say little miss, that my feelings haven't changed one bit. you are the most beautiful little girl and seriously, the most perfect baby. you are every mothers dream-of-a-child, and have been from the very beginning.
a couple nights ago i walked by your bedroom. you had been asleep for a couple hours, but the second i passed your door i just missed you. so i quietly walked in and watched you sleep for a minute, but then i wanted to hold you. (forget the golden rule of never wake a sleeping baby). i picked you up and you moved for a split second, but immediately fell asleep on my chest as i walked over to our rocking chair and just rocked. i just couldn't help but cry, anticipating your first birthday, of all that we have been through the last year. you have changed your daddy's and my life completely. it was impossible to know that love i had in my heart before you came into our lives. your smile lights up an entire room and grabs everyone's attention. you have about a million and a half different faces that you make, and can show all of them in about 2 minutes. you are so friendly with everyone around you, unless someone has crossed you- then you definitely let them know about it. ;) you have many tricks (and learning to crawl 2 days before your first birthday was the best one.) you are incredibly entertaining and love to have the attention on you. and i, like a true mother, feel like you are the smartest baby around. one of my favorite and most rewarding things to experience as a mother is to watch you learn [i cried the first time you did sign language back to me]. and i just feel so blessed to be able to be in such a position that i get to watch you learn and progress. i love to hear you giggle, i love to see your face light up when you see me in the morning, i love when you cry on my shoulder when you get hurt, i love to see you start rockin your body when you hear a beat, i love to see your face when your daddy walks in the door, i love to see you smile at people in a store, i love to hear you talk jibberish all day long- and you know exactly what your'e saying, i love to see you cuddle your blankets, i love to see you bark at dogs, oh the list could go on and on.
i just want you to know my baby love, always, but especially on your first birthday, how much you are loved. you have such a wonderful life ahead of you and you are loved and supported by so many people. my heart aches for the first time you will scrape your knee, or get your feelings hurt. but i want you to know that your daddy and i are always here for you, and will always love you. I also want you to always know how much your Heavenly Father loves you. Never forget who you are, Rowan. Never. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for sending you to us. I'm the luckiest momma in the whole world! You are the light of my life baby girl, and that will never change.

Love you forever and ever. happy first (and golden!) birthday sweet little bug,
love, momma.

12 month stats:
weight: 18.7 lbs (28%)
height: ? (85%)
head: ? (55%)


okay... and i know im all sorts of emotional today, but i totally bawled reading my little sisters letter to rowan. i am so grateful for such a loving a supportive family. rowan is a pretty lucky girl..

look how my little babe has grown!

zzzzzz  <------------ rowan just typed that. apparently she had something to say. ;) 

{one year pics...}

we are in desperate need of family pics.. and i thought i would've combined the two, but since that wont be happening til the summer, i just decided to give rowan's one year pics a go, myself.

and by far my favorite one.......

{because i just cant get enough of that smirk on her face.

oh how i love that little bug. soooo much.

and then i let her eat cake. 

and she enjoyed it so much that she wouldn't smile for a pic-

she was just too into it. 

and let me just insert what you are thinking right now....

i'm really good at making cakes. 

they are really proportioned, 

really smooth,

and not a crumb in sight.

{yikes, good thing rowan doesn't care!}

she thought i was the best mom after that.

yes, i am still trippin that my baby is going to be one on sunday. many tears have been shed already. 

but they have been shed over cutting, gluing and tying...... because her party on saturday is going to be off the hook. (ha ha, kidding!) but seriously, the laughs have not stopped from my family because they think i'm going a little overboard with this party-for-the-one-year-old-who-doesn't-care-or-even-know-its-her-birthday.

they are totally right.

but i dont care one bit.

{party pics to come!}

{ a story..}

i took these pictures last sunday after rowans nap. she was so happy.

i tried to narrow all the pictures down, and i did the best i could. 

but i feel like they tell a story about her, and her personality right now.

i bought this giraffe before rowan was born, as a decoration for her nursery.

she found it the other day and hasn't let go of it since.

but this is the first time i've noticed her being so lovie to something.

she gives her giraffe hugs all day long- and squeezes it until i think the seems are going to rip.

this little girl is going to be the best big sister.

{that wasn't an annoucement... i'm just sayin!}

and her faces still kill me. 

{11 months & sledding!}

my little rowan girl,

11 months old.. wha? how is time flying by so fast. i cant believe you are turning one in a few weeks. it's just insane. well, i must say, you went from 10 to 20 months this past month. possible? i never thought so. but somehow you grew up so much this past month and i have people around me saying "oh my word, she's not even a baby anymore, she is a little girl now!". stop growing up baby love!

- you have turned into a complete HAM this month. the faces, oh the faces. its just too funny. you can throw somebody a glare and then seconds later you flash the funniest and cheesiest smile. especially me. you know when you are in the spotlight and you are so entertaining!

- we started feeding you real people food, and now you are very much done with baby foods. which i didn't think would happen so fast? but you just cant stand the thought of BABY food cause you are a big girl now! you are in love with anything mom and dad will feed you off our plates. and with all those teeth you have made the transition quite well!

- one of your favorite things to do is go through the diaper bag and pull every.single.item out! it find myself cleaning up that mess about 3 times every day. ;)

- your aunt lu-lu got married this past month. yay for welcoming uncle parker into the family! we flew down to california (you didn't like that flight) and spent a few days down there doing stuff for the wedding and also spending time at the beach, and disneyland! it was your first time for all of those things, but we were extra excited to take you to d-land. you absolutely loved looking around at the millions of people we saw. and i think you even enjoyed some of those kiddie rides. your daddy and i hope we can take you often cause we love that place. it was such a fun trip!

- i cant believe that i havent said this before, but you love details. you will find a teeny string or crumb within a 10 foot radius of where you are sitting. or you will find a thread that is out of place on dad's shirt and want to find out about it. you love to play with momma's eyelashes. and you love to play with our fingernails and pick at the creases in our fingers. the list goes on and on, but you love details. i think you got that from your momma.

- you are starting to show signs of wanting to be independent- not letting momma put things in your mouth, you want to do it yourself! 

- you are very into reading books lately. you will sit through about 3 books before you get sick of them. but you love to feel different textures in your books, and you love turning the pages. i hope you always love reading little bug. 

- we're trying some sign language. and finally i think you have picked up on "more". its so fun to see you learn new things!

- you have become obsessed with the corners of your "tree blanket". they are a little bit hard, and i think you just love to chew the heck out of them. i was laughing so hard when i caught you searching for it for the first time. so funny. and so random!

- i dont know who taught you it, but you picked up chinese this month. you talk ALL. THE. TIME. and you know exactly what you are saying. its hilarious. and yes, definitely sounds like chinese. 

- you are not crawling, nor standing, nor walking... still. and really, i sometimes pretend like i care to some people because i feel like they think i should. but in reality, i dont. i know that you will- and i dont want to push you into doing things that you are not ready for. you have proved with other things that you will do it on your own time. so we'll probably leave it at that. however- i do feel like you have made so much progress within the last couple weeks. you are so close. i guess we'll see. 

- i bought a giraffe for you before you were born, as a decoration for your room. you discovered it a couple days ago, and you haven't let go of it. its so cute how much you love it! you wrap your arms around its body and bury your face in it and give it the biggest squeezes. it was the first time i thought about your next sibling (not to come for quite some time, dont be alarmed..) but i just thought of how you are going to be the best big sister. again.. when the time comes ;)

- you are showing a little bit of attitude lately. when you don't want something you will turn your whole body and head to the side and go "egh."

- your uncle jensen also got home from his mission this month. you weren't too sure of him at first, because it was the first time you guys met.. but now you are a fan. (especially because he is the only one who is into face-timing with us).

- you are still sleeping so awesome. 12 hours at night and 2 two-hour naps during the day. heavenly! (for both of us).

we were so busy this last month with alot of family things, so we are excited to chill this month and get ready to have a one-year old. (what? thats just crazy!) cause trust me, momma is gonna need the entire month to wrap my head around my baby turning one. maybe you could just stay 11 months for little while longer.....? think about that, okay? thanks for being such a fun and good baby. i love you sweetheart and you make me so happy!

the world is yours rowan,

love momma

------------------------------

it seems so funny to post snow pictures today because it was such a beautiful day outside! but then again, the 4 o'clock news said that another winter storm was comin... to whatev. still gotta post them. a few days ago when we got lots of snow, jord said "we've never taken her outside to play in the snow" so he came home from work with an infant sled and we went out to play in our backyard. rowan showed NO emotion whatsoever. no smiles, and no tears. but she was definitely fascinated with all that white stuff, 

she just stared at it.