Newborn Pictures

So, I finally got back all of my pictures of Ariana. I'm very happy with how they turned out. Just a warning....lots of pictures! But they're of a cute baby, so who can complain?













I just love this little girl! I can't get enough of her. She is such a good baby. She only cries if she's hungry. Yesterday, she was more fussy than usual because she had to get her 2-month immunizations. She is such a chunky baby. She's doubled in size since I had her. I took her to the doctor yesterday and here are her 2-month stats:
Height: 23.6 inches
Weight: 14.3 pounds
Yep, she is a big baby. The doctor pulled up her growth chart and she went from the 75% range for height and weight to 98% at 2 months. She sure is a joy to have in our home. Jace can be a little mean to her (if we're not watching him), but I think he loves her. She's starting to smile a little bit and sometimes I think she's cooing at me. It's hard to tell because she grunts so much. We're very happy to have this little girl in our home!

A little update

I finally was able to go to my parents' house and upload all of my pictures to her computer the other day, so I decided to update the blog. For some reason, my computer won't recognize our camera. I'm not sure why, but it's a pain not being able to put pictures on our computer straight from my camera. I guess that's my excuse for not blogging a whole lot....that and being busy with 2 kids and trying to sneak in sleep any chance I get. No, I can't complain. Ariana is a good baby and a pretty good sleeper. As long as she's changed and fed, she's pretty good about sleeping.

Last week, Jace was able to start up preschool again. We took him on Monday to a "back-to-school night" and once he got to go in his classroom and play a little, he was happy and excited for his first day. So on Wednesday, he was up bright and early and all ready for his first day. He takes the bus, so we went outside early to snap a couple pictures. He refused to let me do his hair. Oh well.


Isn't he so handsome? I was so happy he actually let me take his picture!

Then, on Sunday, we were able to bless Ariana in church. I went all out and got her a really fancy dress. I wasn't planning on it, but I loved the dress I found and it was the right price. I had been looking forward to her blessing day since I had her. I couldn't wait to dress her all up. As Jace put it, she was a princess.

Daddy and his little girl.




Lance gave a beautiful blessing. We had a get-together at the park after. The weather couldn't have been better. We're grateful for family and friends that were able to come.
Anyways, that's been our week. I started work again on Monday, but thankfully, I was able to come back to work PRN, which is basically oncall. No more 4 nights a week! Now I just work as needed. It's hard leaving both of my babies to come back to work, but I know they're in good hands. I miss them both like crazy. My first day back, I was nearly in tears I missed them so much. Today was the first day that Jace went back to grandma's to be babysat since both Lance and I had to work. He got there and automatically starting crying and went up to Lance's mom and said "Guess what grandma...mommy had to go back to work." It broke my heart knowing that he was crying that I had to leave him. Anyways, it's been a good week.

Soccer Mom

Lance and I have thought about putting Jace in soccer for awhile. We just thought it would be a fun activity for him to be part of where he can just run on the field back and forth and get to be with other kids as well. I found out from a friend that she signed her children up to play soccer, so I jumped and decided to sign Jace up as well. I told Jace about it and he wasn't very excited about it. I took him to his first practice and he started out okay running with the kids and enjoying it, but the second he got hot and tired, he was ready to quit (it was only a few minutes into practice). He wouldn't go back onto the field without mommy or daddy doing it with him. Let's say....I learned my lesson. Jace needs to have a nap and I need to learn to take a water bottle to practice for all of his "breaks."

Anyways, this past saturday was Jace's first game. We got there and the coach sent him in at the beginning of the game. He went out for about 5 seconds before he came back wandering to the sidelines saying he was tired. So, Lance and I pretty much had to go out on the field when they called Jace in and had to hold his hand. I haven't moved that fast in a LONG time (and I didn't even move that fast). Anyways, it turned out better than we thought it would. We were worried about Jace being the only one that didn't want to play or that would leave the field crying, but there were other kids that got knocked down and that refused to play. I mean, we were the only ones that had to hold our kids hand and run with him, but at least it got him to play. Here are some pictures courtesy of Lance's phone and his coach's wife.

Okay, not the best picture because you only see me and can't even see Jace.

Lance taking a turn running with him.

Here's a really good picture of him.

Jace's cheerleaders. My mom was nice enough to bring Brynn, Cambree, and Trevin to cheer Jace on.

I can definitely see soccer being in Trevin's future!

Lance took a video on his phone as well, but I need to figure out how to add it to the blog.

I need to apologize. I've taken so many pictures of Ariana, but my computer doesn't recognize our camera for some reason, so I need to put the pictures on someone else's computer and upload them to a cd so I can blog about her. But for now, here's a cute picture Lance took on his phone of her.

I can't believe my little baby is already a month old!!! She's growing so fast and starting to put on the pounds! I must feed her good. It's so fun to have a little girl to dress up and even paint her nails! She's still such a good baby. She wakes up in the night and goes right back to sleep after eating, but in the morning, she is starting to be wide awake and only want to be held....not good for days when mommy wants to go back to sleep until Jace wakes up. Anyways, she's a joy to have in the family. We are having fun with her!

Our baby girl

I know I'm overdue at posting this, but I'm happy to announce that our little baby girl has arrived! Yes, she was early, but she's as perfect as can be. Here's kind of how it happened. I started getting high blood pressure at the beginning of July. I began monitoring it and it wasn't really going down much. We went to Lava Hot Springs the second week of July and basically, I was just aiming to get through that vacation since it was planned way in advance. When I got home from vacation, my feet were like tripled in size and to the point I couldn't walk and my blood pressure was up. I went to the doctor on tuesday, July 19, and they sent me down to labor and delivery to be monitored. After lying down for awhile, my pressure went down, so they sent me home on bed rest. With Jace, I had a c-section, so with this second baby, I was really shooting for a VBAC. The doctor knew that and he kind of told me that they wouldn't induce me because if I didn't go on my own, then I probably wouldn't be successful in delivering the way I wanted. He also said that he did not want me to make it to 40 weeks because of Jace being so big and because of my blood pressure. Well, on Friday, I woke up and took my blood pressure and it was higher than it had ever been, so Lance drove me out to Salt Lake to the hospital to be monitored again. We dropped Jace off with an overnight bag at grandma's because I had pretty much decided at this point that I was just going to have another c-section. I pretty much knew things weren't going to work out the way I wanted them to and I wanted to be prepared for a c-section this time around (my c-section with Jace was miserable because I was so unprepared for it!). So, we went to the hospital and they monitored me and my blood pressure was not going down at all. So, when my doctor came in, I told him I was ready for a c-section and they had me in the operating room within a couple hours. It was a totally different experience from having Jace. I was able to have a spinal, which worked like a charm and I was able to be awake and aware of what was going on. It was a much better experience. So, our baby arrived on July 22, at 2:34 PM weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz. 21 inches long. I can't imagine how big she would have been if I would have gone the last 3 weeks! Jace was 9 lbs. 10 oz. I didn't want another 10 pounder! It took us a couple hours to settle on a name, but we finally decided on Ariana Aileen Rowley. Aileen comes from Lance's 90-year-old grandmother.

I love how clean babies come out when you have it by c-section!

Seeing my baby for the first time. It was sure nice being awake this time around! With Jace, I was knocked out, so I didn't see him until the next morning.

So happy to have my little girl here!

I wasn't sure how Jace was going to react to her, but he has loved her from the beginning! That first day, if anyone else held his baby sister, it was his turn. He wanted her all to himself. This was our "first family picture". I don't know why we didn't take one with everyone looking at the camera.

Getting ready to head home from the hospital.

When we got home, all Jace wanted was to lay on the bed with his baby sister. He's such a big brother!

Ariana is such a good baby so far. She's really loud and squeaky, but she rarely cried within the first 2 weeks of life. I've seriously never heard a baby grunt and make sounds as much as this little girl does.

When Ariana was 5 days old, I took her over to my sister-in-law's house to get some newborn pictures taken. With Jace, we never got newborn pictures, so I really wanted to get some this time around. Here is just a preview of them. I can't wait to get the rest!



Like I said, I seriously LOVE these pictures. Can't wait to see the rest! Hopefully with 2 kids now, I'll take more pictures and post more updates!

Dear Baby Sister,

Dear baby sister,
That's what you're known as in our house. I'm writing this so I can remember my pregnancy with you and remember how different it is compared to that of your older brother's 4 years ago. I am now 34 weeks along with you. 6 weeks left...hooray! Actually, I've been confused since day 1 of when your due date actually is. When I went to my first doctors appointment, somehow they came up with August 13 as the date. But everything I've looked up, including the doctors method of figuring it out, said August 11. Where did the 13th come from? Who knows? Then at your 20-week ultrasound, you were measuring to be due the 8th. Only 3-5 days difference, but every day matters to me. At my appointment a couple weeks ago, they told me August 8, but I really just don't know. I guess you'll come when you come. Your daddy and I have yet to agree on a name for you. We just haven't agreed on any yet. Your daddy has a family name that he has his heart set on (and we're not going to say what it is at this point), but I like the name more for a middle name. I guess we have 6 weeks to come up with a list to at least take to the hospital. You maybe be nameless for a little while.
My pregnancy with you has been different from that of your brother's. I have actually gained a significant amount less with you than I did with your brother, but a lot can change in 6-weeks time. I was hoping you might be smaller, but looking at my tummy and feeling your movements makes me doubt you're a small one. I think you're going to be big just like your brother was. As long as you're healthy, that's all that matters. Today was the first day in 9 months that I woke up and said that I was done being pregnant. I'm not sure I'm ready for 6 more weeks. I've had a lot more aches and pains in my legs and hips than I ever experienced with Jace. I really can't wait for you to come so that I can brush my teeth again without feeling like I'm going to throw up everytime, I can roll over in bed without saying ouch everytime, I can sleep for more than a couple hours without waking up with either acid reflux or having to go to the bathroom. We're getting really excited to meet you. I'm not sure what big brother is going to think, but mommy and especially daddy are really excited to meet their little princess. Give me 3 more weeks so that I can get my vacation in for the summer and then please feel free to come anytime!
Love, Mommy

Thoughts of a Working Mom

I have a lot on my mind today. I've been thinking a lot lately about being a working mom and how hard it is working the hours I do, especially lately. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's starting to take a toll on me. I've worked throughout the whole 4 years since I was pregnant and had Jace. As baby #2 quickly approaches, I keep thinking about how much harder it's going to be going back to work with 2 kids at home. I might ramble on a lot in this post because I'm not very good at putting things into writing. I know a lot of moms have to work and I honestly wonder how they do it. Lately, I've been working pretty much full time hours covering for other employees and to earn a little extra money before I leave for maternity leave. And I feel like everyday, it just gets harder and harder for me to leave Jace and Lance. As I've said before, Jace has been diagnosed with aspergers. Before he turned 3, he had a lot of social problems. We actually tried setting up a playgroup with a neighbor and Jace would always play by himself at the group. So, basically, the playgroup didn't continue because the kids were never playing together. Here we are a year later and Jace is like a new kid. All he longs for is kids to play with. And it kills me. Because of my job, we never have time to join in on those activities. A lot of kids go to McDonald's or to the park, but because I have to go to work, I can't take Jace. Today, I think it really hit me. We had someone come over to check out our swamp cooler and his kids came with. Jace was having so much fun with them that when they had to leave, Jace actually climbed into their truck and asked to go with them. I had to make him get out and he just cried and cried after that. We got invited to go with them because they were getting lunch, but because I had to get ready and go to work, I had to feed him leftovers and make him stay with mommy. I have never ever seen my little boy so sad in my life. It just broke my heart. Being a full time working mom is so hard. I wish I had the option of staying home with my little boy everyday and letting him go out and do fun activities with friends every once in awhile. We've never "clicked" with people in our neighborhood I think because we're never home.

I think working full time has taken its own toll on our marriage. I'm not saying my marriage is bad because it's not by any means. But things haven't been as peachy keen as they used to be when I only worked 20 hours a week. Lance and I just work completely opposite schedules. It's hard because I want to stay at home and cook dinner and sit at the dinner table every night with my husband and little boy. Instead, I have to hear about Lance and Jace sitting at the table together having fun little conversations. I don't enjoy cooking because if I cook, I just have to leave it for Lance and Jace to eat later. I long for date nights with my husband, but I work every weekend. Our only real days together are Sundays. I just miss all the time we used to have together.

Anyways, like I said, I'm not trying to sound like a complainer. These are just thoughts running through my head lately. Working is just something I've got to do at this time. Everyday, I secretly wish I could quit my job especially when my baby girl comes. I wish that we had the budget for me to quit. How do all you stay-at-home moms do it? Honestly! If you made it through this post, bravo. If not, I don't blame you!

Naptime

I know it's been awhile yet again since I've updated my blog. What can I say? I guess life just isn't exciting in the Rowley household. It's hard to find things to blog about. But anyways, here's at least a little bit of what we've been up to in the past couple months.

I know the past couple posts, I've talked about Jace's potty training, and I'm sure you're probably sick of hearing about Jace's potty training. It honestly felt like a never-ending battle getting him potty-trained. I didn't feel like it would ever happen. But last month, I finally got rid of his pullups. He now only has underwear and it's been going great! He doesn't really have accidents, except occasionally in bed. He only struggles when we're away from our house or mother-in-law's house. He can seriously hold it for hours beyond hours! He'll go all through preschool and not go potty, but he won't have accidents either. The main thing though is that there is improvement and he's doing very well!

We're approaching the last little bit of being pregnant with this baby. I'm now between 29 and 30 weeks, so we've reached the last trimester! Yay! Things with her are still looking good. We're getting pretty excited to meet her. I think my nesting has kicked in a little because I've been on a cleaning spree this week. Once I start cleaning, I just can't stop, and then I suffer later with being sore. But hey, it's worth it to have a clean house. I think my cleaning has motivated Jace to do his own cleaning. I got home at 10:30 last night and Jace was still up (he isn't usually up, but he took a really late nap). When I got home, all he wanted to do was clean his room. It wasn't exactly in my plans, but how do you say no when they're asking to clean? Then, today Jace pulled out all of my clorox wipes and wiped everything down for me from the side table in the living room clear to the kitchen table. Again, I wasn't upset because he's saving me a little extra work. Now that I've gotten the inside mostly clean, I'm VERY anxious to get some flowers planted in my yard. Last year, I made the mistake of starting working outside and I got so stuck on keeping it looking nice, that I neglected the inside of the house, so this year, I knew I needed to do it the other way around.

Preschool ended yesterday for the year. I don't know if Jace quite understands that it's over and he won't get to take the bus for a few more months. I'm a little sad to see it end because Jace loved it. I guess I just need to find some fun things for him to do this summer to keep him occupied. I'm very grateful for Jace having been to that preschool. I've seen so much improvement in him since he started there. I'm anxious for it to start again already.

Now, onto the title of my post. Jace is a funny kid. Lately, when he falls asleep in the car, he covers his head. I guess the dark helps him sleep better. So, whatever he finds in the car to cover his head, he'll use it to cover his head. \
For instance: his jacket

Or: his umbrella


So, anyways, that's about it for us for now. Hopefully as we do things this summer, I'll blog more about them, but this is it for now! Nothing exciting, as usual, but hey, at least it's something.