Sleeping Babe- yes? no?

Currently my child seems to be boycotting certain naps. :(
"Not a good idea, my child." I say to that. Makes Mama tired and crazy. And we don't like crazy Mamas around here.
Rowan's been a good sleeper since she was around 3 months old, and we trained her to be. It took a couple hard days, then she got it. Then I'd just put her down, place the blanket over her face, and off she went to lala land. *Sigh* Oh, those were the good times. She'd take a nap every 2-3 hours or so. Now....she gets testy, I put her down...maybe a little crying...15 mins later...talk, talk, talk (that's her)...go back in, tuck her in again...15 mins later...talk, talk, sing, talk...15 mins later...  You get the idea. In other words, no such luck napping like that anymore. Well, here's to a new schedule! We'll see how it goes.

Wake: 6:30 am
   (she does that on her own, I don't promote such an early morning for her, or me ;)

First nap: 7:30 am
   (will probably be short, but I can get ready for the day at least)

Second nap (here's the tricky part): Hopefully by 12 or 1 pm.
   (This is after much playing with her to try and wear her out. It may only last 1/2 hour or it could last 2, whatever it is I'll take it!)

Third nap: 5-6pm or 6-7pm
   (Not really sure how this one will work, but if I can run a lot of errands and tire her out I might get it, but that's wishful thinking. I may only be down to the two naps from now on.)

Bedtime: 8:30 pm
   (She always goes to bed at this time)

So, that's my plan for now. We are going to Utah next week, and I'm hoping she'll be really good about it. 'Cause it seems that whenever we go there and I wanna...*cough* show off how awesome she is *cough, cough* of course something goes on where she's not as awesome as she is at home, and I feel like a liar 'cause I tell everyone what a great sleeper she is and then, nada. So, I hope she'll be good! :)
Wish me luck!

Spring Break!

For spring break (back in mid-March) Ben, Rowan, and I went to California to visit family! Here it is in pictures:

That was at Mark's Pinewood Derby, where he won 2nd Place!

Flying in Paul's hommade hot air balloon! I loved the numbers printed on the parachutes he used, just looked so cool. It was so fun flying high up there with nothing to guide you, but the wind. Crazy, but awesome! We were only in the air like 1 1/2 mins, but still awesome! We love visiting over there! Oh, and the tutu Mariah's wearing, and the Apron Grandma's wearing are both some of the Christmas presents I made. I hope they liked them as much as I had fun making them. :)

~Crystal

Chocolate Cake in a Cup?! - Recipe

That's right. Make yourself a 'one serving' cake in a cup! Or mug, or whatever.

This lovely recipe comes from Ben's very sweet Aunt Gale.
It takes 2 minutes to cook (in the microwave) and doesn't take very many ingredients. Serve with vanilla ice cream...yum!
Here you go:

Chocolate Cake in a Cup

2 T - Flour
3 T - Sugar
2 T - Milk
1 Egg
2 T - Oil
2 T - Cocoa
2 T - Chocolate Chips
Splash of Vanilla
*Most of you know that I'm not a big chocolate fan, so I only put 1 T of cocoa, and omit the chocolate chips. That works great for me. I also heard from chocolate fans that with just 2 T of cocoa it's plenty chocolaty and doesn't need the choco chips. Just so you know.*

Mix dry ingredients together first. Then add oil and mix. Then finish adding wet ingredients, mix thoroughly. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.

When you microwave it, it will rise above the cups rim and look very tall.

No worries, it'll come back down once it's done.

After it's done serve with ice cream and enjoy! It will have a funny "cup" shape to it, but it tastes great!

I'm Walk'n on Sunshine!

And don't it feel good!

On Saturday afternoon, while Ben and I were racing eachother to the finish line on Mario Cart (yep, we're still kids at heart), I turned to Ben and said "It's such a nice day! Let go on a picnic!"

So we did. :)

We packed a lunch, grabbed the sunscreen (which we forgot to use), and the pumpkin (aka: Rowan).

We went out towards the lake but stopped at a river spot with lots and lots of clovers (or something like clovers. And had the most wonderful, relaxing, sunfilled time!

Rowan getting ready to go. Hat and all!

Look at all the green! Perfect for the fast approaching St. Paddy's day ;)

 Here's Rowan after lunch. What a mess, little piggy. Haha!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture!

She's laughing 'cause I'm tickling her by munching on her side. Haha, so cute!

Our Little Angel in all the green...

eating plants...yum! They're not poisonous, right? ;)

Drool!

And that's it for pictures. We had a blast, and plan to go on many more picnics!

Hickey?

Yesterday I went to check on Rowan and she had a big mark on her hand.

A hickey? Yes, she gave herself a hickey on her hand. The picture doesn't even do it justice, it was pretty dark. Crazy girl. I hope she doesn't do that again, it make me sick to see it. Blood to the surface...blehhh! No more of those please!

It's been a while

I've been away from blogland for a while, and now that I've got so much to catch up on I almost don't want to. But, it will be done!

Just an update on us, in case you're interested: Ben is doing awesome in Organic Chemistry, and being a great student in general. I am keeping busy with a million different little things, but oddly enough I can't think of them right now, haha. Rowan is now rolling on both sides. She has been rolling from her back to her tummy, and has just barely started rolling from her tummy to her back. When she first did it Ben said "She's mobile!" Well, not quite. She's only done it 3 times in the last week or so, and thank goodness 'cause our house is not baby-proofed for a crawling baby yet. ;)

That's pretty much it. We're busy, but not really with anything worth noting. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, I'll try to be better!

~Crystal

A baby's infectious laughter!

I have to say, there is nothing that will brighten my day; make me smile in a split second; and make me laugh so hard with sheer joy, like a baby's laugh will.



Yesterday night we were having dinner at our friend's house, and they have a huge husky dog named Rocky. He's a super sweetie pie. Anyway, after we finished eating we were all sitting at the table chatting and Bethany was holding Rowan. All the sudden Rowan lets out this big giggle! We all turn and stare at her, wondering what provoked this reaction. Turns out it was Rocky, their big dog! He was the first dog she'd ever seen. And he wasn't even really doing anything really special, just following Bob around and wagging his tail. As you can see she just kept going and going, as Rocky proceeded to bark, wag his tail, and lick a plate (remember, we were done eating). I thought when he was growling she'd get upset, but she just kept on laughing! So precious! She has never, ever laughed like that before. So funny!

Of course now that we know she can laugh like that, Ben and I are always trying to make her laugh, but I guess we're just not as funny as we thought ;)
It's amazing how my life has changed since I've had her. I love her so much! She is my life; her and my Ben.

You know what's funny? Now that I can see her and hold her, I feel like I've always had her. Like she's always been with me, even though I couldn't see her and I wasn't taking care of her, it's like she's been in the family the whole time. I like that feeling. :)
And I love my baby girl.