Life. Love. Lams.

Scripture Mastery.

2012-01-21T08:07:00.003-10:00

Whenever Daddy is home we like to go in together to get Rowey out of nap time. It's always a big surprise for Daddy to be there! The other day we snuck in ready to surprise Ro and found the cutest thing. He was sitting in his dark room with the scriptures open on his lap, studying away. It was so cute I was almost crying as I ran to get the camera. He looked just like a ittle old man studying away! So sweet.

Countdown!

2012-01-11T11:56:00.002-10:00

The real countdown to baby has officially begun! Here is the belly at 35 weeks...it's all bigger, more swollen, and less cute from here on out! :p

Mommy and her #1 ChooChoo!

Tucson trip.

2012-01-11T11:30:00.004-10:00

Tucson Tucson is so fun!!

I didn't take too many pictures but still got a few cute ones to capture the fun we had. We are getting to be pros at the Provo to Tucson drive. We got to Phoenix in 12 hours after many stops along the way. I was paranoid I was going to get a blood clot so we stopped every 2 hours to walk around! Ha!

Arizona activities included:

1. Dinner with Auntie Bree and Uncle Kev before the headed to Florida for Kevin's surgery.

Rowan thought Uncle Kev was pretty cool!!

2. We could not wait to meet precious Tenley. Rowan surprised us by wanting to hold her. He sat on the couch...supervised of course!...and held that sweet baby girl. He even kissed her cheek unprompted. Maybe he is more ready for his brother than we realize!

3. We loved playing with cuzzies Aden and Eli. Ro and Eli are 4 months apart and at such a fun stage together. They played so nicely together and even threw in a few hugs and kisses.

Twins?? Nope, just cuzzies!!!

Ro loved Aden!! He especially loved jumping on the trampoline together...cute videos to come!!

Sorry to lazy to flip the pic... :)

This life sized hamster ball as I like to call it was also a huge hit with the boys!

4. We had a blast with the Lams as always. We opened presents, ate our traditional Mexican feast (Thanks Lainey and Amy!!), and played our hearts out!

All of the currently born Lammy's. We'll need a new picture next month!!

Ro loved snuggling/playing with his Big Cuzzies!

5. We also had a blast hangin with Poppa Eric. We have been wanting to take Ro to the zoo for a long time, but needed some awesome Tucson weather to make it really fun!

We were so grateful that Grandpa treated us to a day at the zoo!

Feeding the giraffes!! It was kinda gross/awesome!!

Ro wanted to climb in with all the animals! Eeeeek...shoulda brought the leash! :p

6. I had a great time meeting up with girlfriends! I caught Chels and Maris each before they left for new destinations and I am so grateful for that!

We loved our Tucson visit. It was relaxing and subdued. We soaked up that sun like nobodies biznisssss! We sure needed it!

Christmastime.

2012-01-11T11:03:00.005-10:00

Better late than never, right!? I figured I better blog about Christmas before Easter comes!

It was such a fun Holiday for us. Santa started early...like September...collecting fun things for RoBoat. He is at such a fun age for holidays and loved opening his gifts and traveling to see our fam.

Christmas activities included:

1. Christmas Eve at the Sandgren's. Complete with Xmas carols and yummy yummy food.

*Our best attempt at a fam photo ;P*

3. Christmas Eve PJ's and slippers. Cutie pie!

3. Christmas morning. Mommy and Daddy woke up early and opened presents from each other (Daddy did really good :) ). A sleepy boy waddled in around 9 and found a huge stuffed dog and note from Santa. Santa said the doggie is named Marley. Ro and Marley are already BFF's. :) After Poppa Dave's famous buttermilk pancakes, Ro got to open the rest of his presents. It was a blast seeing him discover all the new things.

After a crazy morning Daddy went to work for a little bit then joined up with us later that afternoon. We visited some more fam and then came home to prepare for the journey to Tucson!

All in all it was a great Christmas! I can't wait for more and more to come and the opportunity to teach my babies about the true meaning of Christmas.

Off to Tucson...

30 weeks.

2011-12-04T16:46:00.003-10:00

100th post at 30 weeks!

My poor second baby! If I wasn't chasing a cutie toddler around all day I'm sure I would have many more posts about this pregnancy. So, we'll just do a recap here at 30 weeks and call it good. :) Poor baby!

This pregnancy has flown by. I swear I found out I was pregnant, and grew a huge protruding belly over night! Only 10 more weeks to go until we have a baby.
We are soooo excited to meet our boy, but I am a wee bit nervous to see how it will all work out. Rowan has become a bit of a momma's boy and loves to be with me all the time. We have been working on having some alone playtime during the day and "Mommy Mornings" on the weekends (where I get to lock myself in the bathroom for as long as my heart desires and Dan the Man takes over). I love that part!
I have been craving a lot this time around! MILK!! I could drink a gallon a day. I also have been wanting cereal in the mornings. This really is amazing because I'm typically a steak and eggs....or Chinese food....kinda breakfast eater. :) I have also been wanting a Cafe Rio pork salad EVERY.DAY. Luckily I limit myself... to every other day...just kidding! Maybe one a week, OK twice a week. Baby needs it right!?
Second pregnancies seems to take a larger toll on the bod. I ache, I'm tired. and have grown an exorbitant amount of veins... :/
Baby was pretty quiet for a long time, but now has no trouble kicking my ribs and bladder simultaneously. Oh JOY!
Rowan is in love with my belly. If I ask him where is baby, or brother, or baby J he will lift up my shirt, give my belly a raspberry and hug and love on it. I think he gets it...a little. We spend a lot of time talking about babies and practicing being gentle with them. He loves our little neighbor girl who is 8 months old and will bring her her paci and bottle without being prompted. I think I have a helper. I hope!
We sure love this babe already and can't wait to meet him. I have a feeling the next 10 weeks are going to fly by.

And for the record here's the belly:
xo

Fall wrap up.

2011-11-06T09:03:00.004-10:00

Well that's it for Fall! We had our first snow this morning, which is always bitter sweet. I LOVE the sight of gently falling snow, but it sure is hard to dress a boy (soon to be 2 boys) up so he stays warm. Maybe we can squeeze a few more nice Fall days out of November...please oh please!!

Here is a wrap-up in pictures:

Ro loved scooping up the leaves and plopping right in them.

Some of Provo's finest fall colors!

Punkilins.

My little baby...not so little anymore. I thought he looks 16 in this picture!! :(

Halloween party at GG's (Ro's great grandma...still can't believe Rowan has such a young GG!) with cuzzies Zader Aligator and Owey.

Eating the slimy worms!

Me and my babe on Halloween night....just to prove we still exist! :p Our non-costumes were pretty lame this year. Next year will be better!

Rowan LOVED trick or treating with Daxon and Macie, and we loved being the adults with Chris and Jenna! Ha! Dax would knock on all the doors say trick or treat and Ro would come up from behind and cash in on all the treats! It was SO fun to see Rowan walk up to every house in the neighborhood and grab a stash of candy. He really got into it!! After 2 hours we were glad we had the wagon to wheel our tired babies back home!

Fall Festivities.

2011-10-26T10:28:00.007-10:00

Fall has sprung and we love it. I look out my front window to beautiful yellow leaves dancing in the wind all day long. The growing piles on the ground mean it will all be over soon, but for now we ENJOY it!

Here is our Fall so far in pictures...

Lookin' cute and coy with our punkins.

My sweetness roaming the pumpkin patch.

Feeling really silly about the bunnies! Ro kept stealing their food and trying to hand feed them...he has a thing for animals, this kid!

Cheeeeeeeese. Our little scarecrow!

Our handsome boy.

Sometimes we just need our mommas. Tuckered out after the corn maze!

Helping Daddy "scoop" the pumpkins gizzards. Ro wasn't too sure he wanted to get that dirty!

And lastly,

the newest lil pumpkin...
xo

The big 3!

2011-10-24T10:55:00.003-10:00

Rowey's bestest big buddy Daxon turned three! He had an awesome party at Kangaroo Zoo (basically a big warehouse with inflatables). Ro loved it until the very end....note mommy had to hold a large screaming baby in the group picture. Haha! Guess he had about 20 minutes too much fun!

We love you Dax! Thanks for being an awesome example for Rowey. You teach him so much!!

Comfort.

2011-10-24T10:03:00.003-10:00

See how happy this woman is!? Well every night I wipe this silly grin on my face and snuggle into my sweet pregnancy pillow. I love it. Every woman needs one. If you are pregnant, RUN don't walk and grab one! Thank you so much for letting me borrow my new best friend sis. You are the best!

Video overload!!

2011-10-24T10:00:00.003-10:00

I thought our fam and friends who don't get to see Rowey's little personality on a daily basis may like to see a few videos of him in action.

Here is a glimpse into the craziness...I don't think the hubby thought I would post this as he probably wouldn't have recited his rap about changing diapers and certainly would not have made Rowey's favorite burzuuuuurt noises...hehe! Oh well.

Dax and Ro play together all the time! Their little partner in crime is Tiko the kitty. Rowan is in LOVE with Tiko and would play with him for hours if I let him. Free babysitter, right!? p.s. This cough is finally gone...

Ro also loves to watch Tiko eat his food. He has loved feeding Tiko every morning while our friends Chris and Jenna have been on vacay!

This is one of the many AWESOME parks in Utah County. Seriously we have the best parks! Ro was crazzzzzzy about this glider. He wanted to go on it over and over and only wanted to use one hand of course. Little daredevil!!

xo

Newsworthy.

2011-10-13T10:39:00.003-10:00

Don't you hate those parents who think EVERYTHING their child does is the cutest/most beautiful/most awesome newsworthy event of the century....well we are those parents. HA! With no further ado, here is Rowan eating a nectarine. :p It really is the cutest thing, I promise. Those chubby fingers are everything. :)

*DOn't mind my unkempt bed...some days we make it :)*

Tink.

2011-10-05T09:35:00.005-10:00

What happens when you're chillin' with your awesome girl cuzzies??? Well...you get dressed up of course. If I do say so myself, my sweetie pie boy makes a pretty amazing Tink. Every boy HAS to have a picture like this...for posterity of course!

Belle and the Purple Princess were equally as enchanting. :)

....and to make up for it here I am looking messy holding a screwdriver. ;)

xo

Mommy's B-day!

2011-10-05T09:17:00.003-10:00

Happy Birthday day to big momma!

I turned the big 2-5 last week! That's right, I am officially in my mid twenties and it feels so good! I had a splendid day with my boys. Shopping, eating, an outing ALONE with the hubby (thanks to sweet Jenna)...what could get better!? I wanted nothing more than to be with my sweeties and it was perfect. xo

Gettin' our shop on in the glory that is the Forever 21 jewelery section! HA! Nothing I love more than cheap accessories!!! Wowza!!! p.s. If you look real close you can see a hint of the baby bump...yes I'm large. :/

Ma' boys. I love these two to pieces...almost as much as the Boston Creme Pie cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy I had just devoured. Shout out to that fairy...she is awesome!!!

Back to it!

2011-09-23T10:35:00.004-10:00

After a short (hmmmmm not so short) break from blogging we are back to it! Rowey is as fun as ever and excited to be a big bro. That's right, my teeny tiny boy is going to be the big boy now. Little bro is due Feb. 11! We are excited, but still in that dreamy baby naive phase. Reality will hit Feb.11th! Wouldn't want a different reality in a million years though. I LOVE my little family.

Short Rowey update (16 months):

He has really broke out of his little shell and is quite the social boy. He'd much rather be running around with others kids than stuck with mama!
He is SOOO affectionate (no surprise here!). He loves to hug and kiss his friends, acquaintances, the stray cat that hangs around our house, anything really. Gotta get that under control at some point! I hope he ALWAYS kisses his momma though!
He LOVES his Dada. Every morning he wakes up with "Daaaaaaaaaa, Daaaaaaaaa". He also like to pretend to call Daddy on the phone and runs to him whenever he gets home. They are buddies times a million!! He loves mommy too, she just gets kinda boring after so long. :)
He is becoming much more verbal (still going a little slow though). He says cheeeeeeee (cheese), Ahhhhhh done (all done), yaaaaa (yes), maaaaaaaoooo (meow), ooooooahhhhhhh (monkey noise), dada dada (yo gabba gabba), up up up (when he wants to be picked up)....etc...
He loves to sing, dance, jumpy jump, and march like a dinosaur. He is also getting good at riding his little push bike.

He is sure blossoming and becoming an AWESOME big boy! We love him sooooooooo much.

(Drinking out of the hose like a big boy!)

(He loved this bear in Park City. He was convinced it was the coolest thing ever!)

(Loving the cow tongue! Think we have a future vet on our hands!!)

(While the other children are a little worried about this horse my child is kissing it!! ;) )

(Some little fella got into the sour cream....um yuck!)

(And that same little fella found half a snickers bar in my bag...good thing we have no peanut allergies! My favorite part was the snickers flavored drool oozing out of his mouth... :/ )

Stay tuned for pics of the littlest Lam and the belly.

Summer means...

2011-08-04T13:09:00.001-10:00

You are special!

2011-07-30T13:05:00.004-10:00

I love to celebrate!! Birthdays, anniversaries, special holidays, I get exited for them all! I love making my family feel special on their special days throughout the year, and can't wait to keep celebrating as we all get older! I have always loved this ... but $30 + for a plate...no thanks! So I decided to make my own! Here it is in all it's home-made glory!

HA! I think I could have worked on it for hours, but I finally decided that my family won't be looking for tiny mistakes or critiquing my work! (Danny loves it btw. Such a sweet hubby!)
Can't wait to use it...maybe I'll be the first with the big 2-5 celebration in September!! Eeek!

School is in session.

2011-07-14T10:04:00.005-10:00

Life is crazy!!! With work, school, homework, research, volunteer work, GRE study time, and 'can I have a moment to myself time time' Daddy is pretty maxed out. A maxed out Daddy = a maxed out Mommy for sure! Anyway, only a few more weeks until some of the craziness dies down. We are counting down the days...
During the past couple months, Mommy has found herself without a car much of the time so we have become home bodies to the max (the bike and stoller have saved us on many an occasion)! You can only play in the grass, run around making messes, and taking down mommy's decorations for so long before we all start to get a little shack wacky! A schedule is a must. The newest addition to our schedule is schooooool time!! That's right, Rowan has enrolled in Mamma Lam's Pre-Pre-Pre K School for Brilliant Children. :p He sat for a whole 10 minutes today everyone!! Whoooooo!
We did these... working on animal sounds...Ro has the monkey's "Ooooo AHHH AHHH" down pat. :)

and read these...

and sang these...

I will call it a success! Now we have done all these activities before, it was just a nice change to sit Ro down and capture his attention and brain for an extended period of time.
I am sooooo happy that I get to stay home with my baby and soak up every minute he is awake. I am so grateful to my husband for working so hard so I can do this. He is incredible. Love my boys.

Farm country.

2011-07-08T06:42:00.003-10:00

We love visiting the Judd farm in Genola. It is so beautiful and makes me want to live on a farm for a minute ;). It's so fun to chase the chickens, pet the horses, and smell that fresh cow patty air! We even got to take home a dozen fresh eggs. We collected brown, green and even blue eggs! They were gorgeous...and tasty!!!

Update on the boo.

2011-06-27T10:29:00.002-10:00

I was so diligent with Ro's monthly updates for his first year, but have completely slacked lately! So here is a quick little update on our cutie pie...
Things we love about Ro at 13.5 months:

He is so smart! He can point to his belly and nose...well he violently beeps Momma's nose when I ask "Where is Rowan's nose!?"...think I might hold off on teaching him eyes for a while... :). He can point out characters in book. He can imitate some animal sounds...mostly "WOOF WOOF", his favorite. He can identify lots of objects and will pick them up when I ask.
He loves to hug and kiss!!!
He hit another child for the first time at Church...after he was corrected I said "Please give her a hug and a kiss" and he so generously gave her an open mouth kiss on the head.
He loves to run with the big boys!
He is a dancer (*bouncer*). He will dance to the music on his piano, play table, anything really!
He is loving taking a bottle of milk at night and in the morning...no more nursing for boo boo. I think it hurts momma's heart the most!
He loves his glow worm Auntie Lainey gave him. It puts him right to sleep! Well...sometimes I hear the glow worm playing long after I have put him down. He loves to press the button when he needs a little friend!
He loves to go for bike rides, wagon rides, anything-rides!
He LOVES slides and want to go down them all by himself. Swings are also a big hit!!
He is soooooo sweet to babies. He somehow knows to be gentle and will sweetly touch their hair and give them love.
He will eat just about anything he is offered. Any kind of fruit will be devoured in 2.5 seconds!
He has become so coordinated lately. He scales stairs going up and down, he can get down off the couch and bed all by himself and he loves to navigate play structures!
If we say "Oh man", "Oh geeeez" or "Oh no" Ro will slap his hand to his forehead as if to commiserate with us!
We seriously love everything about this kid. He is so special and sweet and we couldn't ask for a better son!

Picture update.

2011-06-22T08:02:00.003-10:00

Stuck under his toy...what good parents we are to just giggle and take pictures :p

Momma's Helper!

Buddies.

Our little astronaut superstar!

My smiley, sweetie, honnybun!

I be crafin'.

2011-06-22T07:52:00.002-10:00

Cool summer nights are the puuuuuurrrrrfect time to craft. Baby is asleep, crickets are chirping, and momma is spray painting :).

This stool I found at a garage sale. It was pretty cute just as it was; chipping ivory paint and sparkly red vinyl seat. I was just going to paint it, but ended up giving it a complete make over after I had a boo boo with the paint! It's perfect to have little ones help in the kitchen!

This is a DI lamp that was not so cute, but had an awesome shape! It was brass before, but now has a new life as a retro, apple green, hanging sculpture in my living room. :)

This momma loves to craft!

Goof.

2011-06-16T13:00:00.004-10:00

Rowan sure is a goof ball! He loves kissing, hugging and discovering new things. Recently he paired several of those activities together...he discovered our book shelf doors and wanted to kiss momma through the glass. Lucky Momma!!!! Than he got his head stuck...classic...

Talent.

2011-06-01T13:50:00.002-10:00

My child came up with this all on his own. He is a ham. Wonder where he gets that from? ;)

Mother's Day Sweetness.

2011-05-11T17:56:00.000-10:00

Being a mother is literally the best thing that has ever happened to me. Sweet Elaine Lam always used to tell me "You were made to be a mommy". I never believed her of course, finding it easier to hide away in low self worth. BUT, now I believe her, oh yes I do. Being a mommy is what fills my soul with joy. I still have a lot of growing and learning to do, but in this moment I rejoice in the fact that I created a human being with the person I love, and that I get to nurture, love and raise that sweet little boy. I'm loving all of the parts of this journey....well actually most of the journey...I did find a pile of p**p on my floor yesterday. I thought an animal had broken into our house, but no it was just my sweet diaper-less boy. Guess we can't air out as much anymore... ;). But seriously, my heart has never felt more full and my soul more alive. I am happy.

My mother's day appreciation gift:

Exactly my style (it was even called the Emma Locket) and such a precious surprise inside. OOOoo my heart just melts.
Love you boys and thank you.

Eastertime.

2011-05-09T18:02:00.004-10:00

Snapshots of Easter.

In love.

The Lam babies. We make cute kids.

We loved spending the day with our families and reflecting on the true meaning of Easter.

*As soon as I have Collignon part pics all add those too :)

THE BIG ONE!

2011-05-08T18:07:00.008-10:00

We wanted to have two parties for Rowey's Goldfish-themed FIRST birthday. Crazy, I know. I don't think we'll ever do it again. HA! Party #1 Tucson with the cuzzies. Party #2 Provo with more cuzzies and buddies. Both parties were so much fun and well worth it! We love our little buddy. Is he really one...OY VEY!! Ooooooooo kisses to infinity RoBug.

Tucson.

Rowey and baby E (his closest in age cuzzie).

Some of my girlies. Maris and Chels were in Tucson from far away, and Ash is chillin' and recovering to full awesomeness in Tucson!

DAaaaaaaaarcy! OOoooo love this buggy.

Had to included this one of Aunt Amy and Uncle Quint. SEXXXXXXY!

All the cuzzies!
Gavin, Eli, Aden, Rowan, Darcy, Maya, Tristan.

Me and Uncle Josh. We like to be cool!

Provo. Playing in the water table. It was a big hit!
Oliver, Daxon, Owen, Rowey, Zade, baby Macie (who was resting in the shade).

Party people chillin'. It was such a beautiful day we just sat outside for hours!!

My little fam. xo

Tucson.

2011-05-08T17:43:00.006-10:00

We traveled to the desert a few weeks ago for some vacation time. We soaked up the sun and the fam. It was loverly.

San Xavier Mission.

Downtown Tucson beauty.

Playing at Tohono Chul.

Skinny-dipping

Chillin'. Nakey.

Playing in the sand.

The Lam Fam.

Thanks Poppa C. for letting us stay with you!!! (you gotta send me the pic. of you and the boys.)

We moseyed on home stopping in the red rock area of Page, AZ. We three snuggled up tight in a king size bed in an awesome hotel, and day dreamed the whole car ride home.

Hopefully see you soon Tucson and all you Tucsonans! We miss and love you.

Busy bees are back to bloggin'.

2011-05-01T17:05:00.010-10:00

The past few days have been busy.

We reorganized ourselves after vacation.

Visited Thanksgiving Point to see the freshly hatched baby animals. I loved the little calf (I named her BlueBell) and the foals. They were to die for. Rowey loved the lambs, and Danny the baby goats. We loved it, and it looked something like this...
(expect imagine a small boy named Rowan)

Went to an end of the year Ward picnic resembling this...

Then to Provo Beach Resort for the some fun with our awesome neighbors and friends. Imagine this...
(again with cute Rowan in the saddle...)

Then to swim at our friend's grandparents' indoor pool (saweeeet), and watch a movie in their theater room (even sawwweeeeter!)
Something like this...

And lastly some relaxation, and soaking up of the crisp spring weather with my boys. Views like this...

I would have had personal images of all of these events had our camera not been stolen! :( BOOO! So we also got to do this...
I am bound and determine to find it, and I WILL!!

Anyway, lots of blogging to catch up on. Until the next!
xo

First Steps.

2011-04-08T11:00:00.002-10:00

Our little buddy taking his first steps!! Please excuse how insane we sound...it was an exciting moment. :p Also don't look at my kitchen. It's gross. We keep it real on this blog!
Anyway, take it away walker boy...

Now Summa...

2011-04-05T12:04:00.004-10:00

Can we just skip to summer?? Ha! I love summer here in Provo. The kids are out from dawn till dusk, parades fill the streets, the shave ice stands open, and water parks are packed. Can't wait to see the little boo soak it all up! We are prepping him for the joys of summer!

His first romp in the grass! Of course he headed straight for the dirt. ALL boy.

Mommy and Daddy finally got it together and got the bike seat attached. We did a family bike ride around the neighborhood and it was so fun! Ro did great. He sang the whole way because he liked hearing his voice shake with the bumps!

Rowey's summer chair I found at a thrift store. Ah, I just love paying nearly nothing for something, cleaning it up, and bringing it home!

Don't get me wrong we seriously LOVE spring around here too, but there i something definitely special about summer! Life is really good. :)

Springtime...

2011-04-04T04:39:00.005-10:00

I think (hope) we have had our last snow of the season. I think it may be wishful thinking... We had a day in the 70's, went to bed and woke up with 3 inches of snow! Kind of discouraging, but at least it was beautiful!
Daddy snapped some beauties...

Mmmmk Spring. Me, my tulips, and my baby are officially ready now. :)

R is for...

2011-04-04T04:33:00.003-10:00

RRRRRRRRRRRR OWAN!

Daddy is getting to be a great photographer. We love seeing his pictures! He snapped this one downtown. Keep 'em coming babe!
xo

10 months.

2011-03-28T11:03:00.007-10:00

Can't hardly believe it. 10 months...well 10.5 now. Wowza.

What we love about Rowan at 10 months:

He is moving!!! CRAWLING, CRUISING, PULLING UP. Todo...except walking. We are all not ready for that one yet.
Now that Ro has hit all his proper developmental milestones, he is much more of a handful! I need a vacuum cleaner to follow him around and a nap in the afternoon. :)
He has learned to pull up to standing in his crib which means new nap-time games. Mommy feeds Rowey, reads books, rocks, and puts in bed. Normally Rowey would fall asleep, but now it is sooooo much fun to stand up 3 or 4 times and yell for momma. I would just let him be, BUT he has not figured out how to get down from standing! The only way he know to get down is to fall back stiff as a board (we are working on falling on our bums), and that makes mommy kinda nervous in a wooden crib. YIKES.
He officially needs a helmet. His head has become a battering ram for all things in its path.
He is becoming more social. He will go up and "introduce" himself to people nearby Mommy and Daddy.
He will pat anything and everything he loves. PAT, PAT, PAT. So if you get a head pat from Rowey you know you are in the club!
His fav. food is noodles and sauce. He is his mother's son! I finally discovered orzo pasta for him...no cutting needed! Wahoooo!
He loves little baby friends, and has a special affinity for one of the cutest little baby girls ever...she is half Asian, half Caucasian. His mother is VERY happy about that!!!
He is getting much better playing with a ball. He loves to roll it back and forth with me.
He loves to play hide and seek with me! He thinks it is super funny when I hide and then pop out and surprise him. Now that he can crawl I will hide and he will crawl to find me laughing all the way!
He loves to dance to music. I am trying to introduce him to a variety...Raffi, Lady Gaga, Mozart... ya know, all the classics. :)
He is understanding Skype a little too much for a baby. When he hears the little Skype call ring he gets very excited and happy. He also loves to touch people's faces on the screen...he especially loves to honk noses...
Lastly, his top two toofers are poking through. :)

We sure love this little booger.

Big Boy.

2011-03-25T11:11:00.004-10:00

This is how I find Rowey after every nap now. Love his sleepy eyes, rosy cheeks and bed head. He'll jump and play until I come get him. I love these precious moments. I am one of the luckiest!

Firsts at 10.5 months.

2011-03-23T11:32:00.003-10:00

Well development has finally caught up with Rowey this week. After months of being a chill baby boy who sits and plays, Rowey has taken off. He crawls, he cruises, he stands on his own, and as of today he pulls up in his crib. Oh yes he does. We snuck by his room as he was supposed to be sleeping to find his chubby cheeked, smiley face looking at us through the crack in door. "Look at me mom and dad!! I am so awesome!! ". It was pretty cute.

Here is Rowey crawling. I caught his second time on tape!! The first crawling episode totally threw me off guard! Rowey was hungry and whiney, but I wasn't going to feed him until I got a good video. :p

Also, Rowey has learned some Zumba moves. I have taught him well. :p

A whole new world.

2011-03-16T10:13:00.003-10:00

The mess.

The culprit.
I don't think I'm ready for this! Haha! Rowey has been crusin' more and more...no crawling...just crusin'. Today we ate breakfast in the living room, and that is where I went wrong! Left the cereal on one end of the the couch, Rowey on the other, went into the other room for for exactly 35 seconds, and came back to find this. I love how he so graciously rubbed in the cereal to make sure it became encrusted to every micro-fiber of our couch. :D But, seriously as soon as I saw his face I had to giggle, through my stern "Uh-Oh" expression. That is truly how you survive being a Mommy! Also, a magnet is missing from our fridge...should I be worried about that ;). I am definitely not ready for this!

Reading.

2011-03-14T12:02:00.002-10:00

Let's try this again...don't think my last video was visible!

*Rowey turning pages.*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibgVsHCeebo
(sorry I couldn't embed it this time)

Nana ReRe.

2011-03-14T11:53:00.002-10:00

We had a lovely time when Nana ReRe came for a visit. We got her for the whole weekend. Unfortunately, we were sick puppies. Fortunately, she did not get sick and we were still able to have fun. Rowey loved his singing Nana! I think he learned about 10 new songs! :) We loved having her to talk to and laugh with...come back!!

The documentation...unfortunately only one picture actually has Nana in it!
Fun clown toy from Nana. Rowan is in love with it!

Playing at the park.

Eating breakfast at Communal. Rowan loved himself some Eggs Benedict. :)

Independant.

2011-03-06T18:08:00.004-10:00

Rowey is growing up before our very eyes. The latest and greatest is that he loves to turn the pages of books as we read them. Not sure how he caught on, but he sure loves turning those
pages!

3 day Heaven.

2011-02-23T11:12:00.005-10:00

We were so happy to have Daddy home with us for 3 days to celebrate President's Day. I am now convinced God created 3-day weekends for stay -at- home mommas! We had so much fun just being together.

We played.
(Rowey will only ride his truck in this fashion. It's pretty cute!)

Hung out at the mall.

(This is Rowey's Justin Bieber hair. We tried to use this hair-do to convince Daddy to take us to see Justin's new movie put he just wouldn't do it! ;P)

Surfed.

Rode the carousel at Provo Beach Resort. Played a lot of arcade games.
(The little boy chose a big elephant to ride!)

The spoils.

xo Love this little fam! xo

Valentine Shmalentine ;)

2011-02-16T07:57:00.011-10:00

Usually I am not that into Valentine's Day. I usually save the "let's be romantic" energy for birthdays and anniversary. With that being said, we had an awesome Valentine's Day this year thanks to some special people. We decided to go out for a Lover's Lunch on Saturday because Danny had a full day to spend with us and we could avoid the war-zone madness that is Valentine's Day in Provo. We went to P.F. Chang's thanks to an unexpected donation from a very special someone (xo love you sis!). We stuffed ourselves silly, like about to keel over silly, and forced ourselves to take a walk to help the digesting efforts along. It was a super fun day and we loved having little Rowey along for the ride (He loved being fed rice with chopsticks. He turned into my cute baby bird!)
We got to go out again, sans Rowey, on the 14th. Our awesome neighbor friends (Summer and Sean) suggested we exchange babysitting services (BRILLIANT and THANK YOU!!) so we could each enjoy a little date with just our hunnies. Danny and I didn't quite know what to do with ourselves so we decided to do what we do best, bargain shopping. We ventured to a thrift store that we have heard magical stories about and wandered around to our hearts' content. One vintage pyrex, one hanging lamp, and two lawn chairs later we made our way to Heaven on Earth, Cafe Rio, to grab some dinner. You bet I called ahead and you bet I fought off "hundreds" of swooning co-eds for my carnitas salad. Oh yes, it was the perfect end to our date. Rowey had tons of fun playing with Oliver and didn't even care when I burst through the door saying "Mommy's here Rowey!". Oh well, I know he loves me! The next night we got to babysit Oliver, which was a blast! He is such a fun little guy! He kept us in stitches the whole night. Rowey had a hard time keeping up with him, but was so happy whenever he got to be near big boy O. I had to keep moving R, like a little whirling dervish, to wherever O moved to next because he just wanted to play with his bud.
Anyway, we had a blast. Thank you to all who made it possible!!

Happy day Lover boy, I LOVER you!

Sweetie Faces.

2011-02-13T17:42:00.005-10:00

Sweet Ro's personality is really coming out these days. He is still pretty shy and quiet in public until he feels comfortable then he'll really let his crazies out! For example, in Church he will stare blankly and everybody interacting with him for the first hour, but during the second and third hours (yes we go to 3 hours of Church...) he goes wakadooooo. At home, he is a sweetie pie all the time talking, laughing and squealing. Sometimes D and I look at him and then each other and ask ourselves how we got so lucky.

Here are some sweetie faces. Love staring at this mug all day...

* On a side note, Ro is still not crawling and mom is trying not to stress :) I guess it fits in with his kinda chill, somewhat lackadaisical personality!

Rowan at the Movies.

2011-02-01T18:43:00.003-10:00

Thought it would be fun to switch things up and incorporate some home videos! I love video recording, but am not a professional yet so sorry if you get motion sick! :)

8 months.

2011-01-21T11:29:00.006-10:00

What we Love about Ro at 8 Months:

He is starting to dance. He loves to rock out (mildly) while standing at his music table. It is the cutest thing you ever did see. Imagine a little baby booty bounce! He got that move from his mama. :) We have tried in vain to catch the act on video...he does not perform for free!
Ro still loves to be read to. We have started giving him two choices of books at night just to see what he does. If "Where is Baby's Belly Button" is a choice, he will pick that 100 % of the time!
He stands supported very well and has started moving from object to object!
Not a crawler yet! We do our little exercises everyday, but Ro just doesn't have the interest yet. He is very content playing with toys next to him and is not much of an explorer. I'm sure this will change once his muscles are working for him! Right now we are counting our blessings that the house proofing can be put off a little longer.
He is back to eating really well! Nursing is still our fav. activity of all time, but he is really enjoying self feeding too! His pincher grasp is awesome and has recently added shredded cheese to his repertoire.
Speaking of cheese...it has turned out to be the new fav. I give Ro his veg first, but will put a little cheese on his tray if he doesn't want to eat any more. He will attack that cheese like I never have fed him! He tries to shovel mouth full after mouth full in his happy little face! It is quite funny! The cheese also allows me to sneak in more bites of veg! With us as parents it's no wonder he is a cheese lover...it's in my genes. :)
He also loves to eat bananas, pear, sweet potatoes, peas, avocados, "baby cheetos", baby puffs, and baby yogurt...and ANYTHING that Mommy or Daddy is eating.
He has got wackadoo hair! His bed head is somethin' else and I haven't figured out how to tame it just yet. Gel or wax just seems to make the situation worse!
He got a tooth! Finally one of his bottom teeth has popped up! I'm thinking the one next to it isn't close behind!
He loves to open and close things! His baby lap top is his fav. He loves to hear the sounds it makes when you open/shut, open/shut, open/shut, open/shut...you get the idea!
He has started to clap...well...his version of clapping. It involves clapping his fingers together in a horizontal fashion...hmmm...see if you can even imagine that!
He still loves to give kisses and hugs, and is a big snuggler.
He loves to talk. His favorite consonant/vowel combo is DA DADADADADADA DADADA DADADA DA. All day long!! We've been working on MAMAMamama too, but the closest we have got is na na NANA. :) He also says something remarkably close to "Hey Dad!". It's pretty funny. Danny always responds, "Hey Ro!".
He loves to pat and scratch EVERYTHING!
He loves bath time and all the bath toys he got for Xmas!
His nap time schedule has become much more flexible. I am still BIG on the schedule, but if we are late or if there is something we really want to attend, nap time is able to wait for a bit!
He is a big people watcher. He loves to watch other babies and will sometimes try to get their attention with high pitched sounds...I mean really high...ear piercing high... He sure has a great range!
He has started reaching out for a person he wants (mostly momma. *insert heart pitter patter*) and it is truly the sweetest thing. It makes me feel so good especially because Daddy is certainly a favorite around here!
He loves to reach his toys up to the sky.
He loves knobs, switches, buckles, zippers, nipples (oops did I say that!? Daddy had an unfortunate run in with a curious boy and a deadly pincher grasp. :D hehe! It was quite funny and let's just say Daddy has a new found respect for breastfeeding...)
He loves to rough house. He will squeal with delight if he is twisted, thrown, tickled or wrestled!
He gets really proud of himself when he does something special. He gets especially excited and happy if he successfully puts a bite of food in his mouth. We go crazy each time he works hard to do something...gotta get him on the self esteem train now (Mommy and Daddy's biggest parenting goal!).
He has got the sweetest demeanor. This little boy sure has a light to shine and we know he is going to be an incredible person!
Looking up to his cousin. We hope Ro is as sweet as Tristan!

Getting in to position!

While Daddies were away snowboarding, Owen and Kim came over and we took the opportunity to bathe the boys! We tried to keep Owen modest! ;)

Momma and baby.

Booty.

My baby.

2011-01-19T12:32:00.004-10:00

I just couldn't do it. I could NOT put away Rowey's swing. When he was itsy bitsy he spent hours in it sleeping. Putting it away would mean that my baby isn't itsy bitsy anymore, and I just couldn't face it. So...I transformed the swing into something new, cool, and perfect for a big boy! We can still have a piece of the swing out (so I won't have an emotional breakdown), but it can be purposeful and fun for our boy! Perfect, perfect. Oh, and Rowey LOVES it too!

A reading, playing, chillin' baby fort!
Reading (well mostly eating) Winnie the Pooh and having a blast.

Thoughts.

2011-01-12T17:32:00.009-10:00

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”
-Anna Quindlen

I love the quote above and feeling that it gives me. I also love being a mother. I am convinced it is what I was put here on this Earth to do. It is the duty that is meant to teach me the most, to cause me to grow the greatest distance on my journey.
I love my son. No matter how pessimistic, negative, or sad I feel about our world or bad people or unfortunate circumstances, I can look into the eyes of my boy and see a light from the Heavens above and feel complete joy.
He gives me purpose; to strive to be a better human being, to treat others more sweetly, and to scatter sunshine as I walk about our sometimes darkened world.
I have never felt such happiness as during my time as the mother of Rowan David or as the wife to Daniel James. I am grateful beyond words. And of course I struggle everyday, but by nothing that cannot be crushed by the weight of my blessed existence.

(Some of my thoughts that arose due to the tragic shooting in Tucson on January 8, 2011.)

Book worm.

2011-01-11T10:45:00.003-10:00

I just love this little boy. He has such a gentle, fun, loving spirit...and he LOVES books, Jamberry being his current novel of choice.

xoxo to the moon. Love you Baby Boy.

T.G.I.S.

2011-01-08T12:51:00.006-10:00

Rowey and Mommy couldn't be more excited because we have officially stolen our Daddy back for Saturdays this semester! Danny has worked Saturdays for our whole marriage which was a real bummer when I was in school...and when we lived in Hawaii...and when we had a baby...heck it's ALWAYS been a bummer! Since Sundays are always filled up with Church activities we've never really had a whole day to spend as a fam that wasn't a precious vacay day! Anywho, we are super excited and had a wonderful first Daddy Saturday. We did whatever we wanted. We woke up late, cuddled skin to skin, ate cereal in bed, took naps, went out to lunch*, went to the mall, and even rode the kiddy train. It was a big hit!! Rowey and I crammed into our very own train car and rode the "Mini Express" chooo chooooo all around the mall. I of course tried to get Rowey to say CHoooo CHooooo the whole time and made him wave to every mall patron and cell phone salesman (since it is Uncle Quint's old stomping grounds I felt like we needed to be extra friendly!). We had a blast.

Don't worry there were some clothes involved here! ;) Daddy just got back from the gym and had a very sweaty shirt.

Here's to many more lovely Saturdays!

* Rowey made me cry while we were out to lunch. I put him in a little highchair, put crunchies, cheese, and sweet potato in front of him and he proceeded to eat his whole lunch by himself. He has a stellar pincher grasp and did an awesome job getting his food in his mouth...that part made me super happy...seeing my little baby being such a big boy made me shed a tear right there in a booth at Wingers. :)

Withdrawals.

2011-01-06T16:20:00.005-10:00

Poor Rowey is going through serious Daddy withdrawals. I had a feeling this would happen as we had 2 blissful weeks to spend as a family; no school, work, or homework to steal our precious Daddy. Now when it is just Mommy home during the day we have lots of crying, refusing to eat...it is quite dramatic! I chalked it up to teething today, but then Daddy comes home and all is well in the world again! I laugh and sing and play all day, but nothing makes up for the simple presence of Dad. It's very interesting indeed and I've decided not to take it personally. Rowey is just a darn Daddy's boy, and I know he loves me too...I have the milk after all. :)

A New Year.

2011-01-03T16:51:00.022-10:00

Good-bye 2010, Hello 2011. Although I am very excited for our future I would like to take a moment to thank 2010 because you were a freakin' awesome year!

January
We moved to good 'ol snowy Provo from sunny Hawaii. I think I was a little disappointed by the weather at first but as the year torn on, I grew to love it more and more!
We also celebrated our first year anniversary.
(Eating and drinking our Mocktails at Spark in downtown Provo. Yum.)

February
We had a blast preparing for the arrival of our sweet bundle of joy and sight seeing around Utah before we knew we would be house bound for a while!

(not taken by us! ;) )

March
I traveled to Tucson for a beautiful baby shower. Intimate and relaxing, just what I wanted!

April
We celebrated Danny's Bday, and watched the belly grow! Looking back we also got to watch my FACE grow!! Holy swollen! :p

May
This was the best month of the year! We welcomed Rowan David Lamoreaux on May 4th weighing 8 lbs. 11oz. at 10:53 am. Our lives got so much more exciting, and we fell in love...big time.
(Fresh from the oven! It was a very undramatic birth for both of us...thank goodness!)

(Showing Ro off one Skype date at a time! I think Grammy must have been wanting to hold Rowey! ;P)

June
We watched Rowey grow, visited the Farm, got a few Lam visitors, and blessed Ro.

July
We listened to first giggles, celebrated the 4th, took a trip to the lake, and took many summer walks.

August
Rowey took his first airplane ride to Tucson to meet lots of important people and celebrate Grandma's big bday. Daddy also started another semester at school!

September
We took our first road trip to California to attend a friend's wedding, Ro started solids, mom celebrated a birthday, and we gained a new family member, Eli!

(Fresh Eli)

October
The weather cooled and Rowey got even cuter. We said good bye to summer and hello to beautiful fall. We thoroughly enjoyed a visit from Grammy and Poppa Collignon, and celebrated Halloween.

(thanks to the photog Poppa!)

November
We continued to enjoy the beauty of fall, made a surprise trip to Tucson for Thanksgiving, and had fun with bath time and new hairdo's!

December
We continued to get cold in Provo so we snuggled, snuggled some more and then snuggled with people in Tucson where it was much warmer! We danced, laughed, cried, and loved our time spent as a family over Christmas break. I sure love these boys and am so grateful I have an eternity to spend with them!

(Sorry for picture overload. I just had so much fun recounting our memories!)

First Christmastime.

2011-01-02T16:51:00.023-10:00

We sure had a wonderful Christmas holiday. We traveled to Tucson and stayed for the whole break from school. My parents were kind enough to let us stay with them, but we were able to visit the Lams a bunch and even snuck in a Red Rock sleep over. Our visit was filled with dancing with the LamFam, eating at our fav. Tucson spots, soaking up the sun (for a few days), playing with cuzzies, visiting friends, celebrating birthdays with extended fam, reading Christmas stories, being on the nice list (Santa came all the way to Tucson for Rowey!), opening/playing with presents, visiting parks, petting kitties, cuddling grammies, riding on airplanes and celebrating New Years!

Here are a few pics to sum up the trip...
(Technically, this is before our trip, but I wanted always remember what Santa brought Rowey his first year...an awesome play table!!)

(Chillin in the AZ sun before the cold front hit. CUTIE PIE!!)

(Our Elfy Boy!)

(Uncle Josh warming up for the groovin'!)

(Rowey got lots of kisses this vacation. Here are some from second cuzzie Callum at GGma Jane's 90th bday party.)

(Soaking up more of that awesome AZ December weather!)

(One of Daddy's awesome photos! A trip to Reid Park Zoo!)

(Cuddling with Uncle Kev. He is very cuddle-able!)

(Momma being silly dancing our the annual Christmas Eve fire ;) )

(Christmas morning. Opening my presents by soaking them in saliva first!)

(Checkin' out his new kicks!)

(Daddy's wildest dreams come true!)

(Cuzzie Tristan, who is the sweetest boy ever. All of Ro's cuzzies are sooooo sweet and love him to pieces. I think Ro loves them all right back!!)

(Checking out cuzzie Gavin!)

(Goofin' with Nana ReRe)

(Family Piktcha!)

(Mommy smoooooochies.)

(Darcy tickles!)

(Checking out Chick-fil-a with Daddy, Uncle Josh, Aunt Lainey, Maya and Darcy! Mommy was home fighting a fever so this was Daddy's first solo outing!!)

(Rowey would not nap on the plane, so after 2 minutes of being in his carseat in the car I look over and he is OUT! This was the first time he really conked out and it was really cute!)

Phew. Glad we got a lot of pictures on this trip! Unfortunately we got almost none of my side of the family, but I promise they were all there! Thanks to all who made our trip fun, comfortable and memorable! We love you all.

6/7 month recap

2010-12-13T16:35:00.011-10:00

What we love about Rowey at 6/7 months:
I never got around to posting a 6 month Rowey blog :( . He was just too much of a delight and we were enjoying him too much to stop and blog! The 6 month of life is sure a good one. Just the right combination of growing independence with still needing his mommy's love and comfort. So, just to sum up we loved everything about Rowey at 6 months! Plus- he did not get sick once these past 2 months (knock on wood)!!! I guess the Doc's suggestion of bathing our little germy boy every night worked!

On to the 7 month:

He really is growing into his sweet personality. Ro is a ham! He loves to laugh, smile and scream little bursts of sound to show his excitement.
He is starting to become more comfortable around new people! If he has seen you a few times he loves you and will give you kisses and snuggles. If you are still new (or if he is tired) he can be quite serious! His serious face is still pretty cute!
He LOVES when someone claps for him and tries to clap along too.
The latest thing that Rowey thinks is hilarious is if you wave HI or BYE to him. For some reason it is super funny!! We sure love to see him laugh and will both do pretty much anything to keep the giggles comin'!
He is not as good of an eater as he once was. We try to trick the food in, but sometimes the lips are sealed! He DOES want to eat anything that we are eating, however! We were sharing a banana the other day and instead of wanting the tiny bite size pieces on his tray, he wants to bite a LARGE chunk off mama's piece. Very interesting, but I am willing to share if it gets him the nutrition he needs! New favs are bananas, pears, and apples!
Ro is a full time sitter! He loves to sit and reach for all his toys. He has recently started going from sitting to crawling position! We will be knocking him down and not encouraging the crawling until after XMAS! :p
Like a typical baby, it seems Ro gravitates to anything that is not one of his many toys during playtime. Some favorites are Daddy's Mac cord (we are trying to kick this one quick!), any paper product especially the mail, and Mommy's face is still a favorite. We are trying to kick the "gnawing on mommy's chin" habit as well! It is a little difficult to redirect however, when he grabs my ears and pulls my chin to his mouth in the blink of an eye! Kinda funny.
He loves to stand on the couch and look out the window at the trees, cars and animals passing by.
Bath time is a fav. He loves to play with his rubber ducky and other bath toys! Does not enjoy getting water in his eyes though!
He still LOVES music. His favorite is to hear Danny sing and play the guitar (especially Nick Drake songs).
He loves other babies, and is interacting more and more with them. He loves to talk, hold hands, and give head kisses.
So far Ro is a pacifist letting any baby take anything from him...I'm SURE this will change, but for now it's kinda funny to just see Ro look at them like "Hey Dude, that's my sippy ". ;)

We are seriously in love with this baby. We get to the point around 10 or 11 at night where we miss him, so we often sneak in to peak at our sweet boy. We couldn't imagine our lives without him, and are SO excited to see him grow and encourage him on his journey! Life is awesome.

Screaming at cuzzy Owen! What happened next was a full on head kiss...Ro grabbed his sweet hair and slobbered all over O. By the time I got him removed from Owen's head, O had a sweet slobber mohawk! Good thing neither O nor his momma minded too much. We are working on 'gentle'. ;)

Gangsta Ro with his bling bling chain. :p

I had to include this picture because I thought it was the sweetest thing. At the Church Xmas Party, Ro's neighbor buddy Oliver came up to him and gave him hugs. He just kept hugging and hugging him! I think I scared O's momma Summer because I yelled to her "Look at what he's doing!!!" It was the sweetest thing ever!! We love Oliver. (Happy B-day today Buddy!)

Rowey playing the part of Santa. :)

Chillin' with the baba watching the trees.

Playin'. Playing right now consists of staring and sharing slobber, but it is still really cute. Rowey thinks little Abby is quite pretty!

Momma and the baby. Hard to get pictures of us together! This is the best I got while trying to smile and make funny noises to make Ro smile too! Mmmmm love his kisser!

Fall.

2010-11-08T12:31:00.011-10:00

When we moved to Provo it was the dead of Winter and all the trees were bare. Then came Spring, Rowey's birth, and little green leaves popping up everywhere. Next came summer with lush green filling every branch you could see. As the first few cool days hit in October, the leaves started to change. Yellows, oranges, and brilliant shades of red took over our neighborhood! I had forgotten about Fall, and am so glad Ro was able to experience it! We just had a blast with it!! I use the past tense because today it is November 8th and it is raining...and we have forecast of snow... Oh well! It was beautiful while it lasted and we are moving on to new firsts for Rowey, like CHRISTMAS!! :D

Our beautiful trees outside our picture window.

Beautiful colors in our neighborhood! Photo courtesy of Papa. :)

The full Halloween outfit!

Our little Viking! He loved the hat. It was so comfy, soft and ...yummy?? Photo courtesy of Papa again!

Rowey's little pumpkin all lit up Halloween Eve. You can see grammy's punkin in the background! It was awesome!

Playin' in the fall leaves! Gorgeous. Also, Rowey is sitting up! :)

Good bye Fall, hello Winter! We are ready for you!

And for good measure...
I think we all know where he inherited that... ;P

When Grandparents come to town.

2010-11-08T11:46:00.014-10:00

Although it was several weeks ago, we are still basking in the delight that was the visit from my parents. We had so much fun doing many of the tourist-y things Utah has to offer. I think it is safe to say we ate our way through Utah County...and it was fabulous!

It took Rowey a few days to get used to having new people around. He seemed very confused to hear Grandma's voice coming from a real person and not the 2-D Skype version! :) After those initial days of being unsure, he warmed up to them quite nicely, cracking smiles and giggles all around. He had a special affinity for Papa...I think it was the fascinating white gotee. All in all we had a blast. D and I even got a date night! Wahoooooo. We went to SLC to see one of our favorite musicians Jonsi of Sigur Ros. It was the best concert we have EVER been to and we are so grateful to mom and dad for babysitting...even when they had to deal with a baby boy that would NOT take his bottle and "sang" to sleep. Sorry about that mom and dad!! He really does love you! ;) It was a sad goodbye, and Rowey really missed their presence, but we will see them soon enough!

A picture tour through our staycation with mom and dad Collignon:
Corn maze/punkin patch. We got lost in the corn maze (despite Danny's innate sense of direction ;P) and had to make the entrance our exit! Here is our little Halloweenie family. I'm partial to the little black kitty! xoxo

Lost in the maze. Rowey concentrating on finding us an exit!!

Our little punkilin.

Grammy picked Rowey right out of the cabbage patch!

Best buddies.

It rained the day we had Park City on the schedule, but it was gorgeous and fun none the less!

Dog that was the size of a small elephant. There were 3 of them in this store! Grammy was in love!

Grammy knit Rowey a scarf...like seriously, how cute is that! Note the booties. Grammy really wants Ro to stay warm this winter!!

Swimmin' at the poooool. Rowey LOVED it until he remembered it was nap time and Grandma scared him with bubbles. :)

Revealing to Rowey his Halloween costume!

Farewell dinner at Tucanos where we just about all died from a meat attack!!

We loved having you here Grammy and Papa (these are my official names for you... ;) ). Come back next weekend. We'll reserve your room for you!!

So sorry for the lack of pictures of Daddy and Papa. Papa was our main picture taker and Daddy had limited days with us...darn school!

Ro the Hat Man Doooo!

2010-10-27T10:47:00.010-10:00

Our little boy looks good in a hat! He is starting to have quite the collection due to a mother and mostly a grandmother who are shopping addicts...I mean experts, ya EXPERTS! One thing is for sure his sweet little pea head that we loooove (25th percentile... ;) ) will sure stay warm this winter!

(more about this one later!)
(and it's nap time.) :)

New cuzzie.

2010-10-27T07:49:00.003-10:00

We are so excited to welcome our newest love into the family. Welcome to the world little Eli Tannamer Parmer. We love you! :)

5 months.

2010-10-27T07:11:00.012-10:00

What we love about Ro at 5 months:
Poor thing is almost 6 months now so gotta get this post going...
Ro is a joy. Even when he is being a fuss button he is cute. He'll let out this little grunting type of cry "Ehh Ehhh Ehhh" and scrunch his nose into a fine piggy shape. It is really cute and so I just giggle at him!
He is doing really great at sitting up! All I have to do is hold his little leg and he can balance in a sitting position.
He LOVES to eat!! Oh my deary this boy is going to eat us out of house and home. He has loved everything we have given him so far...squash, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, summer veggies (whatever that is!), peas, rice cereal, hamburger buns, peaches and avocados. Holy moly. I am so grateful that he is such a good eater, and so willing to try new things. I hope he keeps it up!! GO RO!
Along with the solids comes a change in diapers...mmmmmmm....it is definitely more eventful when we change diapers now! I just have to mention that the "getting red, pushing face" is the cutest thing I have ever seen!! ;p
Ro absolutely loves when daddy plays him guitar. Sometimes it is the only thing that will calm him down as we count down the minutes until bedtime.
We have definitely gotten on a great routine for nap/bedtime. Just read him a few books and feed him and he is out! (2 two hour naps during the day/feeding once at night with a cuddle in the morning)
He is staring to be able to stand up while holding on to something all on his own!
Love, love, love you Chubby ChooChoos!

Rowey, Zader, Owey. Cuzzies within almost a month of each other!!

My rotisserie baby. :)

Eating one of my first sewing projects!

All tucked in ready for a walk!

The sweetest thing!

2010-10-12T10:57:00.004-10:00

Rowey just loves his Daddy to pieces. I mean, mommy's pretty cool too, but Daddy...he has it all! D can make Ro laugh like no other and he squeals with delight when they play. Ro also LOVES when D plays him music. That is the absolute best. The other morning we were having our early morning family hang-out in our bed (my fav. time) and all Rowey wanted to do was get to Daddy. I was trying to let D sleep just a little but longer, but Ro wasn't having any of that! He practically climbed up to D's face using his ears as hand holds to get to him. Then, he fell asleep on his chest. Oh my gosh, my heart melted! I had to snap away!

*PLEASE forgive the unmentionables in the background...* ;)

Hitting our stride.

2010-10-12T10:20:00.009-10:00

I really feel like I am finally getting the hang of things, and so is Rowey. And to think it only took us 5 months! You know what, I think he must have sensed my shift in confidence and decided that he can make it nice and easy for me from here on out. Ya, that's it!! ;) This 5th month has brought many changes in the Lam Casa. RoBug has started eating solids. Waaahoooooo. Seriously. Looking back I think Ro has been ready for a while. Poor thing has a mother that deprived him of the yummy stuff. We started him on rice cereal, but he got quite plugged up (if ya know what I mean), so we decided to try some veggies and apple juice to de-plug him. It worked and we found out that Ro LOVES veggies. Must have gotten that from the Collignon side! He LOVES peas and sweet potatoes. Those are the only 2 we have tried so far and they have been a big hit with Rowey flapping his arms for more, MORE!!

Ro has also stared...DRUMROLL PLEASE...sleeping through the night (*only eating once at 2 am*)!!! Hallelujah!!!! We have been doing our sleep training routine for a month and a week back made an addition from the Farber Method. Ro had been going to bed at 7 and was waking up at 12, 2, 4, and 6. We would go in and rock him. It would only take a minute and he would go back to sleep, but we were getting pretty tired! I decided to try something new (thank you Farber). First night- When he woke up at time he was not supposed to (12am and 4am) I went in and made sure he was dry and warm, patted his little bum and left. He cried and I went in 10 mins. later. Patted his little bum again and he fell asleep! It went as well as I could of hoped! We tried this a couple of nights. One night I heard him cry at 12 am. I woke up and thought I'll give him a few minutes then go in. Well, I ended up waking up an hour later and realizing he must have fallen asleep on his own. I fed him at 2. He woke up again and 4 and cried for just a few minutes before falling back asleep. Wahoooo. From that night on he has slept the whole night through, not crying at all except for his 2 am post dinner-dinner. I think it must have been the easiest "cry it out" session ever!!! What a great baby!
He is so fun and giggly. He is growing some lovely cheeks...both sets ;)...that he definitely got from his momma. We love him dearly!

First bites! It helped that we used Daddy's Ninja Turtle Bowl. He used to eat "yayowee" (cereal) in it everyday when he was a wee little boy! :)

What are you giving me momma?! I don't know about this!

I think I like it!

We found Rowey sleeping like this one afternoon. Daddy thought it was hilarious and it made me nervous! I quickly freed his breathing passageways!

Rowey wants ANYTHING that mommy is eating/drinking. Guess that will be good later when we transition to big people food!!

* Sorry for ALL the details. I have to write them or I forgetttt!*

4 months.

2010-09-20T13:50:00.000-10:00

What we love about Ro at 4 months:

He has learned to raspberry. It was really cool for about a week and now he isn't as impressed with himself so we only see it occasionally.
He is on an official nap schedule thanks to his Aunties who have coached momma. They vary depending on when he wakes up...sometimes it's before 7 am ugh...but usually they take place from 9-11, 1-3, and a short cat nap during dindin.
Ro loves going to bed early. He crashed at about 7 every night.
Who needs an alarm clock??! Not us! Rowey wakes us up every morning with his bowels. Yes, he poos right on cue every morning! It's loverly.
Lately, I have found him sleeping on his tummy during nap time so...
he can ROLL all the way over! Yea! Dr. Kendall taught momma how to practice rolling with Rowey and he caught on right away...he even rolled on the Dr.'s table after she showed me a few times. Guess he is a quick learner. :) The rolling is made especially cute when he works so hard he toots. ;)
He is full on teething! GoolllllyGeeeeeee! We do a little night time ora-gel at night and that helps him sleep a ton. We have teethers galore, but Ro's favorite has turned out to be mommy's chin and jaw bone. Very weird, but kinda funny.
Ro loves to sing as he is going to bed. I usually rock him for a few minutes and he sings away. So sweet.
He LOVES Daddy! He is at that age where it's not ALL about mommy anymore, and has found that his papa is quite lovely. He loves when Daddy sings to him, throws him in the air and beat boxes. He loves the beat boxing which is hilarious.
Ro is a quiet little bug in public...unless he is hungry...he loves to just stare at trees, people, animals, whatever!
He had a couple really long hairs on his head. They are like 3 inches longer than any other hairs. Danny threatens to cut them, but I think we'll keep them a little longer!
He loves when we can him by wacky names. His favorites are Rosen Burgerstein and Chubby Choochoos. He laughs and laughs and laughs.
He is a tall boy. 98% right now...maybe one day he'll be a basketball/volleyball player...or just a really tall musician. Whatever he chooses will be grrrrrreat! :)

We just love this boy to pieces. He is a bright shining light in our lives and probably the greatest joy we have ever known. He has brought Danny and I even closer together, united in the cause of raising our son. I often say I'd have 10 if they were all like Rowey...but I won't!!

Ro's pillow arm chair. It only took one accident a month ago for us to realize he can no longer be propped on the bed without support!
Out to eat at Communal in Provo. The whole menu was made from local food and tasted delicious. It was a treat!!!

In love.

2010-09-13T18:32:00.008-10:00

I am in love with two men...there I said it...the first is a sweet boy who drools on me, cries out for a snuggle, and creates lots of messes :/, the others name is Rowan. Oh JUST jokin'! DannyBoy dosen't cry, just whimpers. ;) My sweet husband is quite a guy I tell 'ya. I held his hand in Church on Sunday and was quite alarmed by what I found. On his palms, under each finger is a big callus...I almost cried. Carpet cleaners have it rough. He is such a hard worker and although he doesn't always find joy in scrubbing rugs around the valley, he does it for our family. I think sacrifice is the mark of a true man...or woman...D is a true man. He is also turning out to be quite the father. Ro loves him with a capital L. After a long day with Mommy, Daddy is a sight for sore eyes for our little Buggy. He will just stare at Daddy's face and after registering it for a few seconds, will let out a whole body smile. You know that smile...his arms will come up to his face, head shrinks down to his shoulders and his legs ball up then kick out with joy. That is the mark of true love. I love these 2 boys and find such peace knowing that I get to spend each day with them. Sometimes I get annoyed with school, homework, the gym, and work stealing Danny away, but when I find myself in a quiet moment I always think about how blessed I am to have an adoring DannyBoy and a sweet, healthy, cute-as-all-get-out Rowey. I am a lucky- lovin' 2 men- lady.

xo

A month in review.

2010-09-07T08:56:00.010-10:00

Here are a bunch of pitctures from Rowey's 3rd month of life (and the first week of his 4th) that I just couldn't fit into blogs. We sure love this little buggy even at 3a.m. ;)

First trip to the Lake! Not a fan...yet!

Picnic at the park.

Monkey bootie.

Jammin' out.

Meeting little Cannon.

Almost caught that smile...It's like Big Foot, hard to capture a picture!! :)

First swing ride.

Road trip to California.

xoxo

¡Escuela!

2010-08-31T18:30:00.006-10:00

Today was Danny's first day of school. We are kinda excited for him to be back in a school routine because I think we may see a little more of him. Well...at least he'll be in the same space as us doing his homework! Rahoooo! D was only 20 minutes late to his first class. :) We got the starting time of the class jumbled in our heads...typical first day of school move for me!

New outfit and fresh haircut, must be the first day of school! Ooooo love that Rowey face and the cowboy p.j.'s!

Go Cougars. ;)

Sicky Boy. Sleepy boy.

2010-08-31T09:44:00.011-10:00

Well we have survived our first illness...only 502, 567 to go... We think Ro caught a cold on the way back from Tucson and it lasted a good 2.5 weeks. I called him my little snuffleopagus. The first few days were a little rough, but Woody and the humidifier got him through. Poor buggy.

Now that he is back to his normal nasal activity, we are on to sleep training...it's all momma can think about (she is trying desperately not think too much!). I believe I am a little petrified of the whole sleep thing because of the many times I have been told I was a horrible sleeper. ;) Karma has a funny way of working! But Rowey is doing a really great job! Last night he fell asleep by himself and slept in his big boy crib on his own...well momma and daddy slept on the floor because momma is a typical crazy first time mom and didn't want him to feel "all alone" :) ...for half the night, then his pack and play by the bed for the other half. He woke up twice to eat, which the book tells me can be typical up to 9 months. I'm not expecting any less from our son who loves to eat!!! Anyway we are on our way to falling asleep by ourselves, then sleeping through the whole night. We'll give him a few more months! This is the sleeping philosophy we are students of... :)
(we are taking some from this book some from Dr. Sears and customizing our sleep plan.)

Here are a few of my favorite things.

2010-08-23T17:30:00.002-10:00

At nearly 4 months (1.5 weeks away!), Ro has started to play with toys...well mainly eat them...and it is so cute! I wanted to remember some of his favorite things right now.

This is Ro's best bear friend affectionately named Woody or Teddy; it varies day to day. Ro loooooves him. His nose is conveniently shaped very similarly to Rowey's favorite milk producing body part so he can be entertained by Woody for a very long time! :)

Ro loves books and will sit through 3 or 4 just staring at the pictures and batting at the pages. This is one of his favorites because not only does it have words and pictures, it CRINKLES. This makes it awesome!

This is another recent favorite because it is extra special. Auntie Bree filled its pages with pictures of his family on mommy's side. Rowey loves to look at it as I identify everyone! Even though we are far away we get to look at your faces each day.

Ro loves to chew. Grab, chew, lick, nibble, suck, and repeat. I'm sure this will continue more and more as the chompers set in. He loves this apple because he can grab it easily and chow down.
(Ro's is red!)

Another fav teether...this one squeaks and has lots of squishy parts. Plus it is super cute and all the rage. Gma V accidently paid an arm and a leg for it...guess she should start looking at price tags ;). Thanks Gma V!

Last but not least is a recent find: Baby Paper. It is one of those things that I wish I had invented myself because it is just so darn awesome. It is some extremely crinkly material covered in cloth. Simple, yes, but entertaining as all get out for a 4 monther! We love it! A must have!

Watch Dog.

2010-08-19T11:17:00.000-10:00

Rowey had some great babysitters while on vacation...some with four legs. Jack and Lucie were very protective of Rowey and would come to his side whenever he cried. They loved to be close to him, but also would leave him alone when necessary (when mom had enough of their big bodies). Mom was so grateful to have some extra eyes...and drooling tongues and wagging tails... :)

Reminds me of one of my favortie books as a little girl...

A cute series.

2010-08-19T06:52:00.007-10:00

I sure love being a mommy and Ro sure loves to fly.

p.s. Ro's dada is turtely awesome!

A Trip to Tucson.

2010-08-16T10:43:00.029-10:00

This past week and a half we were able to visit our home in Tucson. We had reasons to celebrate (Gma V, Gma R, and Uncle Josh's birthdays), but we also wanted Ro to meet all of his family. We had a blast, but I tell 'ya that heat almost got the best of us! :) We got to swim, eat, celebrate, shop, relax, play, ride air planes, take naps in cool places and have a date night (no Rowey involved here!).

Rowey on the plane to Tucson. He was very happy when he woke up, but then realized his ears hurt! He nursed and all was well!

We ran out of diapers at Gma Renee's house so she fashioned me a towel diaper while Daddy went to grab some real diapers. Gma Renee cleaned up my messes (she is so sweet), and didn't even mind that I pooed on her floor a little bit (imagine Ro sitting on Mommy's lap and a mess shooting up the top of the diaper landing on the carpet...quite dramatic!). We are glad she is so laid back and loving!
*Don't I look like such a big boy in this picture*

I loved meeting all of my cousins, aunties and uncles. Here I am meeting Cousin Aden and Auntie Jess. I loooooved Auntie Jess's baby shelf. I could sit right on top of it and relax. Aden made me lots of gifts including an abc book and an origami diaper (think that will be best put to use in the baby book)! I can't wait to meet my newest cousin in 1 month!

Meeting my Auntie Bree. We are so thankful that she came down even though she had so much studying to do. We love her and Rowey thought she was quite snuggable.

Gma V's birthday! She loved her cake and her birthday book.

Gma R's bday! We were able to surprise her with a photo of all the grand kids. Lovin' all the cutie Lams!

Meeting G.Gma Jane. A little too heavy for her!

Swimming with Gma V. Ro loooooved the water. He would kick his legs and flap his arms. Maybe he'll be on a swim team one day. He even fell asleep in the pool laying on my shouder one day! So cute!!

We loved hanging out with our fellow Lams! Here are Tristan and Maya entertaining Eeegee's patrons with a rousing rendition of a rock song from Caillou.

Chillin' with Blane McGee. He's super cute and smiley! We are buds. xo

Meeting Christy and Sabrina. Ro was way tired so the bright lights of Frost had him in a trance!!

Eating dinner with Shelly, Kelly, and Aparna. Ro was till adjusting to Tucson time and was a little groggy, but we had a fun time!! I was so glad Rowey got to meet these awesome girls and eat some Sauce!

Meeting Chel! Ro loved spending the day with Chels and Ashley. They were so sweet to come down from Phoenix to see me! I loved kissin' Chels and staring at beautiful Ash!

phew. What a trip. We can't wait for Christmas!

3 months.

2010-08-13T19:59:00.000-10:00

What we love about Ro at 3 months:

Everything we loved about him at 2.5 months +...
He can roll from his back to his side and from his side to his back (not as impressive...kinda a back flop!)
He loves chew toys/teethers...still no binkie. We have loaded up on teethers including his fav Sophie.
He is giggling. It takes a full belly and usually some armpit kissing.
He loves his cousins and they love him...and grandparents and aunties and uncles.
He is liking his car seat lately...may just be the vacation.
He loves sleeping on his side and looks like such a little boy when he does!
He is very long...growing out of some of the 3-6 month onsies.
He no longer needs a diaper change during the night! YEA!
He loves crunchy things and mirrors. He thinks that baby looking back at him is pretty cute!
He has started reaching and grabbing for things of interest (toys, shiny things, hair, etc...)
He loves the bum spank. Just a couple pats on the back side will put him back to sleep immediately.
He is very interested in dogs, especially big black and white ones.
He has quite a few fake sneezes that are very loud and funny.
He loves kissing, and always sneaks an open mouth.
He flies really well. He cried while we descended but was comforted by nursing.
He has got the cutest bootie.
18. He can melt your heart with once glance.(photos curtosy of Uncle Josh Awesome)

Motherhood.

2010-08-12T20:16:00.000-10:00

I can do it by golly!

Vacay...

2010-08-10T12:51:00.002-10:00

We are on vacation therefore we are also vacationing from blogging...willll blooooogggg sooooon! xo

And laugh too!

2010-07-29T16:21:00.002-10:00

We caught Rowey's first laugh on tape! How fun! At first I wasn't sure what it was because he wasn't smiling, but I have officially decided it was a laugh (there have been more with smiles!).

BaaableGoooooAaahhooooo!

2010-07-29T16:06:00.003-10:00

Rowey has learned to baaaaaaable! I love it! It melts my heart.

Just for fun.

2010-07-28T06:25:00.006-10:00

As soon as Ro popped out I thought, "Now that is my baby!". He had my lips, hair, and cheeks for sure. It was an instant bond. It felt like I had always known him. I still feel that way, like it has always been in our paths to meet.
3 months later he definitely has taken on more of his Daddy. I see Danny in him when he smiles...or cries! I love it. He is a wonderful mix of mommy and daddy, and oh so oh so cute.
Just for fun lets take a peek at mommy and Rowey 24 years apart...

The first installment.

2010-07-21T11:12:00.001-10:00

Since this blog's purpose really is to document the life of my Ro Bug I thought I'd start a new set of installments, "Things we love about Ro at [insert age here]! So here we go...

Things we love about Ro at 2.5 months:

He has learned to suck his hand. He will not take a paci (despite my efforts), but loves his hand particularly his chunky pointer finger.
He loves to smile after he eats and is giddy in the morning. He especially loves to smile at momma, but is starting to recognize daddy too.
He has the softest skin that has a lovely olive hue.
He loves to blow bubbles.
He can talk! :) He says "Goooooo", "Ahooooooo", and he howls quite well.
He has the most beautiful blue eyes courtesy of his papa.
He would rather stand with assistance than sit.
He loves to say family prayer (hehe.) It's really cute.
He loves nap time in his swing, but will sleep in his crib when we try that too.
He sleeps in his pack 'n play at night and will generally sleep 3.5 hour stretches. He gets really sleepy at 10 /1030 each night and will sleep in until 830/9 in the morning.
He loves looking at momma at night. We will stare and smile at each other in the dark while daddy sleeps.
He loves to snuggle, and ride in the snuggly Moby wrap.
He is a taaaaaallllll boy. All of his 3 month footie pj's are getting a little snug.
He has had 2 throwing up episodes that have been quite dramatic.
He loves looking at lights and fans.
He is great at tummy time. He can get his head up so far! Auntie Jess says he is impersonating a loch ness monster (lovingly called Nessie!).

Sacrifice...

2010-07-21T08:23:00.004-10:00

Last week I had my first scary mommy experience. I was changing Ro's diaper when I found something quite strange. I won't share all the gory details, but let's just say his sweet little poo was accompanied by something that should not have been there! My first call was to my mom, who in all her motherly wisdom, suggested I stay calm and call the doctor. So I did. Gosh those nurses have a way of scaring you. Don't they know new mother's are on edge as it is!? She instructed me to come in right away and bring the infamous diaper with me...gross. :) So I did. After waiting 20 minutes, that seemed like an hour, the doctor came in took a look at the poo and said, "do you eat a lot of dairy?" Why yes I do! Ice cream sundaes, grilled cheese, yogurt, sour cream...I could go on and on. "Well", she said, "no more dairy for you!". Whaaaaa?! I guess my sweet little boy's intestines are just not as strong as I had hoped. He, like a lot of babies, seems to have an intolerance for dairy products. I was SO releaved that I had not given my baby e-coli or some crazy bacterial infection that I did not even think about the whole giving up dairy thing. Motherhood is made out of sacrifice as I have come to find out, so now I just say bring it on! Given the sacrifices other mother's are forced to make this now seems like nothin. It'll be a piece of cake...minus the eggs and the milk... :)

So farewell for a year (that's the goal) my sweet

and don't forget me...
I am a Wisconsin girl after all.
I will be back in a year...or maybe 6 months if intestines are stonger...It's all about the sweetest thing in my life right now, my little Ro Bug.

Meet the Mormons ya'll

2010-07-16T10:44:00.004-10:00

Ro and I watched these for a long time today. Take a peak...you might be surprised.

http://mormon.org/people/

I thought he was cool :)

Loved her story

A perfect momma

2010-07-15T14:37:00.009-10:00

When Ro was born I stared at him for hours...well I still stare at him for hours, but in the beginning the staring was accompanied by so many thoughts running through my head. Oh goodness I was exploding with love and anxiety, laughs and tears. I cried every day for a week at 6 o'clock on the dot (can you say hormones!!??). Anyway, whenever he would open his eyes, I made sure his gaze met mine. His deep gray eyes would look right at me and all was well in the world. The weeks have passed quickly and we still stare. Now we stare and smile and then coo. Ooooo those melt my heart. I feel so much love. He looks at me with an eye of perfection...he thinks I am perfect...uh oh. One day my hormonal anxiety snuck in and I thought, "Oh no. When will he realize I am not who he thinks I am...I'm not perfect...". As a new mother I have such a strong desire to do everything right. I have been given this sweet boy to take care of, to guide and lead through life. What if, in my imperfection, I mess him up (for a lack of better words!)? Oh man, new mother anxiety will take you over.

I became a little too consumed and created too much pressure for myself. I quickly became tired with those icky feelings however, and decided that I want to live a life that is as free from anxiety as possible, a life that is not pressured, the life that I was put on this Earth to live. We come here to learn, to experience trials and grow from them. We will be perfect one day, but not now. Imperfection is a condition of being human, and of being a mother. My sweet husband (also a recovering perfectionist) shared this with me..."Perfection is man's (or a mother's) ultimate illusion. It simply doesn't exist in this life." Huh! So it's totally ok that i am not perfect? Oh well great! I can just go ahead living, revealing to Ro that his mother is not perfect, but she tries her best, that he is not perfect, but he tries his best, and that as long as we have our minds and hearts centered on an eternal goal we are ok!! Hooray for feeling free.

But seriously, is there anything more perfect than this?

p.s. sorry about my grammar... not perfect... :)

Just a little somthing to tide you over... :p

2010-07-15T08:15:00.003-10:00

The blog is back!

2010-07-15T08:11:00.003-10:00

Well, I'd say it has been a little too long since I have blogged. Sorry to all of you dedicated followers out there (my mom)! I have renewed my dedication to the blogging world in order to keep a journal of life happenings for my BABY! It's all about posterity, right!? Well, this is all I can muster up right now, but will blog again REALLY soon...I promise! xo

Happy Tummy

2009-08-11T17:35:00.003-10:00

My tummy spoke to me. It said, I need something that reminds me of home...so I made chicken dumpling soup (my most favorite as a little girl). Nothing like hot soup on a hot, humid day, but my tummy sure was happy!

2009-08-08T12:08:00.003-10:00

I think this movie is going to be lovely...

Jake Shimabukuro: an ukulele GOD!

2009-08-01T09:17:00.009-10:00

D and I got to go to an awesome concert the other night! BYUH was putting on a little concert series and the headliner was Jake Shimabukuro! D and I had heard about him a couple years back from my mom. My little momma tech wiz found him while surfing YouTube!! Being a Beatles gal, she fell in love with his version of George Harrison's While my Guitar Gently Weeps...we did too! So when we saw the posters all over campus we ran to get tickets! D bought tickets 1 and 2!! :D It didn't hurt that they were only $5!! Whoooo! So anyway Danny and I were so excited to go hear some amazing ukulele music, and we weren't disappointed! We heard some originals, some classics, and even an uke version of Thriller!! Danny brought his ukulele to be signed just in case...

We took tons of videos, but aren't able to upload them so check him out on youtube here (the video that made him famous), here (this one got the crowd goin'), and here (made me wanna groove)!

Jake jammin on his tener ukulele

Excuse the blur: Jake signed Danny's Uke!

I am such a dweeb! I totally got in his way and made him step all over my feet! ooops!

There we go!! Feet in the right places!

The Hukilau!

2009-07-27T19:37:00.003-10:00

Danny and I headed to our local beach for our morning run/powerwalk the other day and came across a local tradition here in Laie. It is called a Hukilau!! Big nets are brought out into the ocean by divers, a bunch of fishies swim into their path, and when it is time whoever is there gets to help reel in the catch! There were a bunch of community members at the ready to pull in the nets, so Danny and I decided to seize the moment and grab onto that rope too! It was hard work, and after a while we felt a little in the way, but I think we did our part! Anywho, cool little adventure...even if we didn't get in our run/powerwalk!

Here is a Hukilau from days gone by! We looked just like them! :p

HAaAaaaaa!

2009-07-27T19:14:00.004-10:00

The other night Danny and I were able to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center's NEW night show called "HAaaaaa Breath of Life". Gotta love the PCC employee discounts! The show was great!! The story of a family was followed throughout. They sort of traveled around to the different islands and a new life adventure took place for the young boy at each place...think becoming a man, falling in love, getting married, etc! The music was great and the dancing was spectacular as always. After the show I just couldn't stop saying HHHhhaaaaaaaa! I loved it :)

The show is so new that they aren't even advertising on the PCC website yet...so no pic available!

Check out this video of the oldie but goodie Horizons night show! Fire and dancing, YES please!!

Worker D makin' money at the PCC

2009-07-18T17:57:00.003-10:00

By popular demand, here's a photo of polynesianized Danny on his way to work at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We dig his pink hawaiian shirt (very masculine ;) and polynesian man-skirt, aka sulu. D likes the sulu cause it provides superb ventilation in the hawaiian heat! The newest addition to his uniform is a sweet ukulele (not pictured here) that he takes to entertain his tour group with. Once he completes the look with a nice, even tan we won't even be able to recognize him as a mainlander anymore (well, the blue eyes and sandy blond hair might give it away)!

4th

2009-07-05T19:51:00.009-10:00

Danny and I had a magnificent 4th of July. D had to work in the morning so I did a little 4th of July cleaning (not so fun).

We ate BBQ chicken, watermelon, and ice cream and set off to Turtle Bay Resort for fireworks. We pulled up our own little patch of comfy grass laid back and enjoyed some uke music until the fireworks started. Perfect holiday with my perfect guy :)

When we got home we set off our own fireworks, which I haven't done since I was a kid. It was a BLAST!

Tahiti, and Tonga, and Fiji, OH MY!

2009-07-03T10:48:00.009-10:00

A couple of weeks ago (sorry about the late posting) Danny and I got to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center on his day off. He started working there 3 weeks ago and is already taking his own tour groups!! GO D!! It was nice to have my own personal tour guide for the day!! We went around to all the different villages which represent each island of Polynesia. D says- polynesia comes from 2 Greek words; poly (meaning many) and nesia (meaning islands). Gosh darn he is full of fun facts! ;) Anywho, we had a great time. We learned how to throw spears Tongan style, weave a fish from coconut leaves, and even endured the pain of Fijian tattoos!! We splurged on dinner and the night show to end our evening. Holy Moly that Kalua Pork is somethin' else!

I wanna see samoa that! (D's contribution to this post!)

(Whoooo! D almost won the spear throwing contest. I think he found a new calling!)

(our Tongan fishy)

(The Tahitian dancers were my fav. They could shake those booties somethin' fierce!)

(My tattoo meant queen! D thought it was fitting ;) )

(The night show)

A day late...

2009-06-22T10:58:00.005-10:00

Even though this is a little late we wanted to make sure we gave our papas a Father's Day shout out!!! Danny and I have the best Dads in the universe. They do so much for us and we couldn't be more grateful. We hope they felt our love all the way in Tucson and NYC. Hope you had a great day dads, you deserved it!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Finding our Inner Hawaiians

2009-06-20T18:17:00.014-10:00

So Danny and I went to the PCC the other day (blog to come soon!) and checked out the Samoan show. It was one of the best!! Anywho, we saw a man husk and crack a coconut in like 2.5 seconds flat! I mean it was pretty impressive! A couple nights later D and I found a ripe coconut and decided to try our hand at husking!! How hard can it be right?! I mean the other guy did it practically with his eyes closed.

We banged that coconut against every hard surface we could find trying to break it open a little.

30 mins later...

Danny found a screwdriver! It helped a ton and we were able to start peeling the husks off!

45 mins later...

we struck the coconut!!! WaaahooooOOOOOooooo!

15 mins later...

we dug out the coconut!!!

5 mins later...

We busted that thing open! We drank the juice inside and ate some of the meat, but it wasn't the most tasty thing without all the sugar! Oh well it's all about the adventure. So, to sum up: Time it takes native Samoan to open a coconut - 2.5 seconds. Time it takes these Lams - an hour and a half! ;) I don't think we have struck out inner Hawaiians just quite yet, but we are getting there!

MAHALO, GRACIAS, THANK YOU!!!

2009-06-13T11:13:00.005-10:00

We have the best parents in the whole world! Today we went to the post office to pick up a mysterious package. It was the sweetest care package from our loving parents in Tucson. Thank you mom and dad soooooooooo much!!!! We love everything inside. It is just what we needed. xoxox

love, d and e

Laie Falls*

2009-06-07T10:26:00.010-10:00

After the malasada incident, we decided we may need some more exercise!! We did a hike up to Laie Falls. It was kinda difficult, but the views and the falls were beautiful! There was a sweet man also enjoying the falls who reminded me so much of my Daddy it was uncanny! He was so nice and took lots of pictures for us!!!

Malasadas; A hawaiian treat/heart attack in a box!!!

2009-06-07T10:10:00.007-10:00

D and I found a list of things to do before we head back to the mainland. #1 on the list was to eat a malasada from Leonard's Bakery Truck! We had no idea where this infamous truck was, but as we drove to the store one day we spotted it sitting in the parking lot!!! Wahhooo....anywho we went home to google malasada so we knew what we were getting into! We found out it is a Portuguese donut that made its way to Hawaii years ago. It has become a local fav ever since. Dan Dan the Donut man was extremely excited about this potentially delectable dessert truck located only minutes from our house!! That night we went to the truck to order our first malasadas. Thinking they were the size of donut holes we order a dozen so we could try every flavor(cream, coconut, chocolate, cinnamon sugar...mmmmmmmm!!!). Turns out the donuts are quite large, quadruple fried, and injected with massive amounts of filling!! I was able to eat one before I could feel my booty and thighs start to jiggle a little more and my heart strain harder due to rapidly clogging arteries. ;) D couldn't have just one of course, but bottomed out at 2!! Whoooo we were sure defeated by these donuts which have found a new home in our freezer. Maybe we'll bring some back to share!

Life Lessons Continued.

2009-06-03T14:54:00.004-10:00

We learned...

Never hit bananas with a fly swatter!!!!!!

HEhehehehehehehehehehe. At least D got the "stupid fwy".

Baby steps to Pipeline!!

2009-06-03T13:59:00.008-10:00

We are trying to sneak in a little fun here before the real fun starts (school, work...can I get another BOOOOOOO). Anywho, we decided to try out our new body board that we got from someone moving out of the BYU apartments. I was super stoked about our new board, but D was a little bummed it wasn't a surfboard! It was my first time so I got a little tossed and turned by the waves, and drank a little too much seawater!! D was a star!!

Our night ended with washing the seawater down with pizza and watching movies from the local Ohana Video. The only movie store in Laie is one that rents edited movies (so funny right)!!! I love it!! We rented Slumdog Millionaire (one I have been dying to see) and the Matrix (that freaked my freak!). We thought it was hilarious that they edited out the throwing up scene in the Matrix. I mean, who hasn't thrown up, been witness to it, or cleaned it up right!?!? ;) Oh well, we still got the gist! Mmmmm other than that it was a good day in HI.

Employment Update: E had an interview at Turtle Bay Resort and is waiting to hear back!! Cross your fingers! The job would be in part a pool safety girl (pretty ironic right!) D has a couple applications in at the school. He should find something when the semester ends this week! Yay!

Until the next...

Lessons learned thus far.

2009-06-01T18:50:00.013-10:00

Although we have only been residents of HI for about a week, we have learned many interesting things about our new state...

1. The humidity is Crazy with a capital C! The weather couldn't be more different than AZ. Bathing suits are never dry after a dip in the ocean and towels always have that yummy wet dog smell about them! I couldn't get over my coke glass the other day; it left a condensation ring on my placemat for 2 days!!! AY!!! It just wouldn't dry! The craziest thing about this humidity we are experiencing is what it does to my hair...no explanation needed... ;p
2. I guess babies are water resistant. Ok, so I have nearly had to perform 2 water rescues already! On several occasions we have seen daddies with 3 or more kids at the ocean...by themselves (NUTS right Lainey!!). :Z One is thrown over their shoulder, the other is attached to a boogie board, and the last is bobbing up and down in the water!! I am so on edge watching them it is crazy!! I nearly ran after one today baywatch style! We even saw a daddy with twins who were just walking, and at least 2 more kids in the water. These crazy little babies were not afraid of the water!!! I think he should have paid me for babysitting, I had my eye on them the whole time!! ;) They were also naked, so I could resist snapping a naked Hawaiian baby shot... hehehe.

3. Little buggies also love the humid weather. We have a bit of an infestation of ants and termites in our little apartment which is a little yucky. We have just tried to think positively however, and now don't freak out when we see gaggles of dead ants in our bed!! :) It's kinda funny right!? New bugs we have discovered include: lots of misquotes (booooo), flying cockroaches (D's personal favorite), and tons of slugs when it rains (I have restrained myself from touching them...they just look so squishy!!)!

4. The scenery is beautiful.

Love you all, until the next...

After much procrastination...

2009-05-31T11:07:00.004-10:00

Phheewwww! We finally made it to the blogging world! I am so exited to keep in touch and updated with all our friends and family back home. Sometimes I am just so grateful for technology (Skype and blog are my newest tech obsessions!). We hope you all enjoy hearing about our adventures we are trying to cram in here in beautiful Hawaii before we rejoin you in almost as beautiful Arizona! We love you...until the next blog!