Our little Roo

jnwphotos.com

Fun at the Beach

It is hard to capture a picture of Annie when she is REALLY smiling and having fun, so I love this picture because it reminds me of how much fun she had at the beach running up and back from the ocean waves all afternoon.


This trip is from last month when we were in Aptos, CA. Jason was awesome and played with Annie pretty much the whole time because I was feeling morning sickness. Jason is the BEST dad!!

Ben's Baby

Brendan Anthony Rowe was born in September. He is so adorable and Annie LOVES him and calls him Baby B since Brendan is too hard. We got to be in Sacramento for the baby blessing at their church. We are so happy to have a cousin. Ben and Savannah are awesome parents.

Annie's Announcement

Sorry to all my blogger friends... I kept forgetting to get this posted because we have been so busy. We are super excited for number 2! Now that I am in my second trimester I have finally started feeling better and I have a lot more energy. We find out what we are having at the end of November. Yea!!

Annie's best friend

Ryder is Janille and Aric's son (our neighbors). He is about 9 months old and because I watch him a couple days a week Annie gets to spend a lot of time with him. Whenever she wakes up she asks if Ry is awake yet. Sometimes when we eat dinner she will ask if Ry is eating dinner and at night she will ask if Ry has gone to sleep yet. She does really good with him and LOVES being with him. Watching him has also made me more confident for my future with another child. Hopefully I get one that is as easy as he is. But for now we hope that their friendship will last forever.

A trip to Grandma's house in August

Annie and I went to Modesto, CA for my brother's baby shower.We went to Micke Grove Zoo with my cousin's and their kids. We love getting together with them as much as possible while we are around.



We loaded up 3 kids in the backseat of my mom's car!! The boys were cracking me up. They know the names of every kind of tractor that we saw on our way. I was impressed.


We went to a local park that had a splash park section. I was unprepared so yes I let her run around in her diaper... I thought it was cute.

Lake Powell 2010.mov

Freedom

We went to Lake Powell with some friends a couple of weeks ago. One night after dinner I peaked out to check on Annie and I found her strolling along the river bank without a care in the world. She stayed out there for over an hour until we made her come in. The things you can get away with as a child...

Annie Go Skateboarding Day 2010

Annie garbage day

Trip to California

We went to Jason's mom's house in Aptos which is right by Santa Cruz. Jason "tried' surfing which means for him that he got up the first time and every time and was a total natural. Big surprise...

It was really cold at the beach so we just played in the sand every day.

Annie can say skateboard and she asks dad to "outside, skateboard." She really likes it already.


Annie had lots of fun with Grammy

and Taylor. She would laugh at Taylor all the time. It was really cute how they got along so well.

Annie stated going down the stairs standing up... it makes me nervous.

We also went to Modesto and saw Grandma and Grandpa Rowe.

Annie woke up the first morning and as soon as I came in she started shouting "papa!" "papa!" She loves her grandpa!

Annie loved being out in the yard with Grandma.


Visiting all my Rowe cousins (actually their wives and kids) really made me wish I could move to California. I haven't really felt that for a long time. I loved spending so much time with all of them.

We got to meet baby Isaac. Jeremy and Emily Minson's baby. He is SO sweet!

This started the coloring craze. Annie loves to color and it seemed that yellow was her favorite color. She always wanted the yellow crayon.

I DO NOT believe in Diets!!!!!

Okay so I didn't win the contest. Our friend Devin won and he lost 33 lbs. But I feel like I won.... I lost 17 lbs!! Where did all the weight come from? Here is the breakdown: 8 lbs - getting married. 7 lbs- when I stopped nursing but didn't stop eating. 5 lbs - were gained just from the holidays right before we started the contest. So now I am pretty much back to my wedding day weight. We ended May 1st and I am still losing weight.

I say I don't believe in diets because I don't think there are any quick fixes to lose weight. I did it slowly and by exercising and eating smaller portions. I still ate dessert! I believe that any diet that makes you feel guilty for eating dessert is never going to get you anywhere. I could go on and on about it. If you need any advice or words of encouragement let me know I would love to talk about it! Good luck to all of you that are trying to lose weight. It is battle, but I know you can win!

The Biggest Loser

On Feb. 1st a few friends decided we were going to lose some pounds. We all paid $20 into a pot and whoever loses the biggest percentage of weight wins all the money and a night of babysitting! We have made lots of changes around our house:

1. Exercising is a priority so I do it everyday
I swim two days a week, play basketball one day, cardio (bike or elliptical) two days, and lift weights or do yoga one day
2. We follow the food pyramid eating lots more fruits, vegetables and whole grains
3. We eat smaller portions
4. We only eat dessert once a week

Not really anything dramatic but we are losing the pounds. I am really happy I have lost 10 lbs so far and I am able to fit back into some of my FAVORITE pants!! I have been feeling a lot more energy and feeling a lot better in general. It is hard to break habits... like having an addiction to chocolate and eating it everyday. I don't crave chocolate anymore which I never thought was possible.

The contest ends May 1st and I am 6 lbs away from my goal. I definitely think I can do it!! Wish me luck!!

A trip to the zoo

My friend Stephanie and I braved a cold snowy day to go to the zoo for FREE. I was surprised at how much Annie liked seeing all the animals. The monkeys and birds were her favorites.

These little guys were scratching at her through the window. She thought they were pretty funny.
Here is her little monkey sounds... ooo ooo ooo ah ah!

My new Obsession

COUPONS!!

I started grocery shopping with coupons last October. I try not to be obsessed but the deals out there are ridiculous and it is hard to miss out. I have a binder full of coupons and I am learning a lot about the art of couponing. So here are my last 2 shopping trips:

Smiths: I spent $8.52 for ALL of this. I saved $59.41

Albertsons: I spent $8.58 and saved $47.39.

Are you convinced?!? It does take time but it is worth it. If any of you have any blogs or websites you like please let me know....or any tips. I want to get my food storage stocked up and I want to learn to be more self reliant. Last year I learned how to can and I also learned how to make the best wheat bread I have ever tasted. I love learning these skills and the money saved is a HUGE added bonus.

Growing up and snow

I am a very simple person with my own hair...it's usually in a pony tail. So now that I have a a little girl I feel so awkward trying to do something cute with her hair. She just started letting me do her hair....so here are Annie's first little pig tails.




Annie loves wearing her hat and mittens. Sometimes she will get them and bring them to me meaning that she wants to go outside. She loves playing in the snow and Jason is very happy about that!