More Fun Summer Things

On my birthday, we went to see Bela Fleck and Bruce Hornsby. We met up with Mike's cousin Erica, and her husband John. We all had a great time!! It was raining like crazy on the drive up, so we were really unsure about how the concert would turn out, but amazingly the storm missed the venue completely. The weather was perfect, and we had a really great time on our (me and Mike) 2nd night out together since Liam was born. Seriously, we need to do that more often!!!

I had to pack some rain coats and umbrellas, so I didn't bring the nice camera...but I did bring my point and shoot, and got some video's.

Happy Birthday to our Wonderful Boy!!

We saved a piece of cake in the freezer from the kids birthday party for Liam to have on his actual birthday. We lit a candle, and sang happy birthday to him.




And let him have his presents from us. We found this cute little chair at Costco, and put a big bow on it.





And we also go him a really cool backhoe loader.


Liam really 'got' his birthday this year. He understood that it was a special day for him, and was excited for his gifts, and could tell people that he was turning 3 by showing 3 fingers. He has changed so much since a year ago. His communication has improved greatly! He is really loving going to preschool, and loves his teacher, and his classmates. He loves to sing, and cook, and loves to play with his cars and trucks. He loves his little sister and is a really good older brother-most of the time ;)

He is taking after his mom in that he likes to color and paint. And he's taking after his dad by being very independent and always wanting to 'do it self'! He continues to surprise us by the new things he says and does, and is always keeping us smiling. Happy 3rd Birthday Liam! We love and enjoy you everyday!!

Happy Birthday to our Wonderful Little Girl!!

So the store we bought the kids birthday party cake at offered a free 4 inch smash cake for baby's first birthday. They forgot to make it for our party, so we went back for Rowan's actual birthday and asked for the cake, but it ended up being 8 inches. Not sure why it was so big, and they also spelled her name wrong..But, cake is cake, and free is free, so we can't complain! We lit the candles and sang happy birthday to her. We ended up just cutting her a slice since it was such a big cake. She wasn't sure what to do with it, and she started to cry just like Liam did with his first cake. I put a little on her lip, and then she decided she actually liked the cake!



Click on picture below to see the video:


Liam helped her open her presents. She got a Fisher Price Talking/singing tea set, an Abby Cadabby 'P is for Princess' DVD, and her first doll. She still is more interested in chewing on Liam's cars than snuggling a doll, but perhaps that will change when she gets older : )


Anyway, we just can't believe that she is ONE already?! This year just flew by, and she is just growing and changing so quickly. Everyday we just marvel at how wonderful a baby she is, and feel so grateful to have her in our lives. We love you Rowan!

Liam and Rowan's Birthday Party

We had Liam and Rowan's Birthday Party this past weekend. Rowan turns 1 on November 26th, and Liam turns 3 on December 7th. We decided to have the party early because some family members will be out of town during their actual birthdays. Anyway, we had our party at Arete Gymnastics. We had the whole place to ourselves for 1 hour of playtime, and then 30 min. to have our cake and gifts. The kids had a great time playing! There is a link at the bottom of the post for more pictures of the party. (I'm using the site on a trial basis, so they will be available to see for 2 weeks. Then I will have to decide if I want to pay for the site).

Rowan and Mom


Liam in the foam pit


Rowan and Dad in the foam pit


Their cake...well we had a Curious George theme, and we ordered a monkey cake, similar looking to George, but they did not have the kit to make it. So we had to pick a different design at the last minute, and we ended up with Finding Nemo...so we called this theme 'Curious George Goes Scuba Diving'. We put 2 monkey's on the cake, one for Rowan and one for Liam!


Right before we lit the cake I was looking for Mike to make sure he had his camera to take pictures, and while I wasn't looking poor Liam lost his balance on the bench and fell backwards onto the concrete floor! He hit his head pretty good, and I felt so bad. He cried for a bit, but he was OK thankfully. We sang happy birthday to the kids, and enjoyed some cake. We let Liam open his gifts, but we were pretty pressed for time, so we took Rowan's gifts home to open later. All in all I think the party was a great success! And I have a whole year till I need to start planning again : )

Thanks everyone for coming, and for the gifts! They will surely enjoy them.


CLICK HERE TO SEE A SLIDE SHOW OF MORE PICTURES FROM THE PARTY

Happy 2nd Birthday Liam!!

So we froze a little of Liam's birthday cake so that he could have a piece on his actual 2nd birthday. Here is a picture of him enjoying it.



Below is Liam's yearly 'watch me grow' pics...it's fun to see how he has changed since he was born...

Welcome Thanksgiving Baby

I will post the birth story soon, but just wanted to announce that our little girl came one week early in the evening of Thanksgiving day, November 26th 2009. Her name is Rowan Kendall, coming in at 6 lbs. 15 oz. and is 19 inches long. She has a lot of beautiful hazelnut brown hair, and we are already smitten by her!


Mom and baby

Proud Daddy


Rowan sleeping 3 days old

Happy 2nd (Early) Birthday Party!

For Liam's 2nd birthday party we decided to host it at The Living Planet Aquarium. We also had his party one month early because Rowan is due right around his real birthday which is Dec. 7th. We had the party room for 1.5 hrs. so it was a bit rushed, but overall I think everyone had a good time. We first had a light brunch with bagels and fruit, then we had a treasure hunt with the kids. Liam did not like the activity at all, he just wanted to run around the aquarium and do his own thing...after the treasure hunt, we had to quickly have cake and open presents. Again, Liam didn't want much to do with this, he just wanted to run around and play...guessing this is normal for his age.

I think his favorite part of the whole party was his balloons. He held onto those things and punched them all over the place, it was pretty funny!


He also liked the fish tank in the Sunken Ship party room...Here is a picture of him and his 2nd cousin, Rainier checking out the fish.


And here is a picture of him and his cousin Madison checking out the tank.


And he and his friend Landon checking out the tank....


Here is Liam taking a rest on the floor after running around...


And a picture of his Birthday Cake!


And Liam showing an interest in his gifts for a short second!

After the party, all the guests were free to explore the aquarium...Liam loved splashing in the stingray tank, and crawling around in the ocean caves. Overall I think the party went well. It felt a little hectic and rushed to me, but that is probably because I was the host. It was fun, and the best part of all was I didn't have to clean our house at nine months pregnant : )

Happy 1st Birthday Liam!!

On Saturday the 6th, we had a Birthday party for Liam with our family. We had some good food, and Grandma P. made a Winnie the Pooh cake that was like Mike's when he was a kid. He got some new toys (thanks everyone!), and then we sang to him and enjoyed some cake and ice cream. He held up pretty good, although toward the end he was pretty overwhelmed with all the attention and tired too.

On the 7th, which was his actual Birthday, we gave him birthday hugs and kisses at his birth time at 10:27 am. He enjoyed playing with all his new toys. He tried some salmon and cow's milk, both foods that our Dr. recommended waiting till he was one.

We reminisced about the day he was born, which was one month early. Even though it was pretty scary being a month early, and a little frustrating getting him to eat in the hospital, we both have fond memories of that time. We also can not believe that an entire year has flown by already. Although at the same time it's hard to remember life without him. He is such a joy in our lives and we are so grateful he is in it.

MORE PICTURES HERE: