{ she's four..... }

my sweetest little rowan-bug,

today is your fourth birthday. and surprise, surprise... i'm really emotional about it. i think you might just have to get used to that happening on your birthday's, from now until forever. i've realized it's because birthday's have a way of making your reflect. reflect on the person you're celebrating. and you, my sweet girl, are so so special to me.
as i reflect on your young little life today, i just think that you are such an amazing little girl! your daddy and i were out to dinner the other day, and of course, talking about each of our girlies. and when i started talking to your dad about you, i started crying. you have such a special spirit about you, rowan. everyone around you can feel it, but since i am your mom & have interactions with you all day, i feel it times 100! you tell me at least ten times a day how much you love me, you forgive me for all my imperfections as a mom, you are the best big sister to greer, for a four-year-old you are extremely obedient, you are so polite, you say things to me during the day like "mom, i love your shirt", "mom, you look so pretty", "mom, you clean so good"... truly, you compliment me all day and it makes me feel so good! i really could write a million things about you that i love. your heart is made of gold, rowan. you're so innocent, and so pure. i hope you always keep that special spirit about you.
you made me a mom for the first time, four years ago. you were especially sent by Heavenly Father to be the oldest sibling in our family, and i believe it's because you will set such a good example for the rest of your siblings. thank you for being the precious girl that you are! truly, i thank Heavenly Father every night for you, because i learn so much from you. i couldn't love being your mom any more. and i know daddy feels the same. and greer too :) you are such a special part of our family. we love you forever and ever and ever!

happy birthday little lovie,
love mom & dad

{ christmas card photo shoot ... }

after we had that amazing photo shoot with my sweet little girlies back in october, i asked the photographers to just snap a few of our family for our christmas card. yikes.. rowan and greer had HAD it! rowan was so over smiling for the camera, so she decided to be angry for 99% of them. and it's really too bad, because the mountains, the colors, the warm and cozy coats, they had potential to be amazing. and after all, i'm still sending one out for the card. but hey, you win some and you lose some. this just happens to be how the girls are right now. a perfect description of us at this time ;)

{ thankful.. }

our thanksgiving 2014 was not as lovely as it has been in years past, but it still was a very sweet day being surrounded by our family near and dear, and remembering all that we have to be thankful for. unfortunately we had a very sick babe on our hands... and so most of our day was spent being worried about/taking care of her.... ( my dinner was cold, sigh). she really was the sickest that she's ever been in her young little life. it worried me all day long. and even though it was sad and a bit of a hard day, i still couldn't help but get emotional when i thought of what a lucky girl i am, for many reasons! holiday's, since jord and i have been married, have gotten so chaotic. it's trying to figure out going here and there, and not missing this family's thing while trying to make it to that family's thing. it sometimes takes away from the spirit of the holidays. and thanksgiving morning, i just thought that it was much better to have too many places to be, than none at all. we're so grateful to be able to be surrounded by soooo many family members that we love sharing the joy and spirit of the holidays with!

i love this time of year.

especially feeling thankful for these little turkey's, who make me feel so complete.

at the staples for dinner..

and how cute are these table decorations made by my cute SIL katelin?

  rowan enjoyed her turkey dinner verrrrrrry much! she ate just as much as i did.

 giving thanks for all of our bounteous blessings!

{ cause dats what all my fwiends do..}

i really am such an amateur photographer. actually, i wouldn't even call myself a photographer. but i like to take pictures... i'm just not that great at it. but practice makes perfect, so sometimes i just grab rowan so that i can figure things out. i took her outside one day last week and all i said was "k rowan-girl, smile pretty." and then she threw this random peace sign up.

i kind of laughed to myself
me: rowan, why are you doing a peace sign?
rowan: (said in the most teenager way possible) cause dats what allll my fwiends do.

instantly i had flashes of my future...
"rowan, why are you dressed like that?".... "cause that's what all my friends wear"
"rowan, why did you steal our car last night?".... "cause that's what all my friends do"
"rowan, why do you never listen to us?"...... "cause that's what all my friends do"

YIKES! i really didn't think those words would start coming out of her mouth for many years down the road. she's only 3! but i guess i'll be thankful that her friends are only throwing up peace signs for now..... and maybe we need to have a family home evening about being a leader instead of a follower. ;) oh man, she makes me laugh.

peace and love, people.

{ sisters & teething .. }

someone has taken my sweet, angelic & calm-natured baby. i really miss her.
teething has taken over our lives. i never remember rowan having this hard of a time teething. and maybe part of it is just a phase of her personality... but greer is whiney alllllllllll the time. she's so sad. she's so mad. she's so angry. she growls and swats me away. like seriously, what happened? rowan is doing her best to be protective and caring over her little sis. it's actually really sweet to watch! but let's just hope and pray that this is a phase. cause greer's 180* turn of personality is not okay with me. and i'm pretty sure its not okay with her either.

i mean, isn't that the saddest face ever?

good thing big sister comes to the rescue.

{happy halloween!}

we had a fun halloween this year! since i was so focused on greer's birthday, i dont know why, but i just wasn't that into halloween? i hope its not like that every year. but i was definitely ready to have it come and go. however, it was still alot of fun. our costumes weren't the most creative, or the funniest. i just found this cute shop on etsy that sold animal ears/tail sets. so i got a set for each of the girls and decided we would be hunters. (truth be told, i was supposed to be a deer, but couldn't pull it together). i promised rowan that if she would be a wolfe to our halloween party, that she could be a princess trick-or-treating. DEAL! and she was great about it. that girl is way too funny. 

she did, however, keep changing her mind from a princess to a blue spider-man a couple times a day. (she only has boy cousins, mind you.) but in the end, she decided to go with the princess. 

good choice, rowan girl! ;)

our foxy lil' lady, and our 'scawey' wolfe girl.

happpppppy halloween!

{cornbelly's}

for greer's birthday we decided to finally cross off cornbelly's off our 'have-to' list. we loved going with our cousins, and rowan had a blast. and i think the birthday girl had a good time as well!

hours and hours of fun! we love that place.

i thought i told you no more pictures? -greer