Mother's Day

Being a mom is everything and nothing like I thought it was going to be. I can't believe how quickly my life changed, and how easy it was to let it. To be responsible for another human being is so scary- so much pressure. Knowing that every decision Shannon and I make will have an impact on his entire life can sometimes get overwhelming. But really being a mom is about tuning out everyone but your own instincts. Every parent is as different as every child is. What works for one baby won't work for another. Just as what works for one parent won't work for another. With that said this year I got to celebrate my first mothers day, one day before Quinten turned 8 months old. My day actually started Saturday after Shannon's ride he brought home a beautiful vase full of flowers! Then Sunday began a little earlier than I'd like (5:25 to be exact) we are cutting through tooth #5 so our sleep and eat patterns are just a little off! We ate and went back to bed till about 7:30. I got a wonderful card from Quinten (thanks dad) and a #1 Best Kitchen Fairy (you'll see the pic) and 2 new 8gig cards for my camera! Then Shannon's mom came over and Shannon made pancake and eggs. After the food settled we all took a walk to the new local park. We all had a blast (yes even I played around). We then walked home, showered, napped (well the babe did), and then headed off to my Grandma's house for an afternoon linner. We celebrated mom's with my parents, brothers family, and 2 of my aunts and uncles and my little cousins. It was great. We came home relaxed a bit and then put the kiddo to bed and enjoyed some parent time. It was a wonderful day... here are some photos of the day.

My Flowers :)

My New Fairy

Wildflowers on the way

Walking

Playing

Monkey Bars!

My Family

Smiles

Grandma!

Playing

Fun

Holdin On

Playing with mom

Smiles

My Mom!

Being a mom is that I started this post 2 weeks ago and I'm just able to finish :) Being a mom is scary, exciting, entertaining, busy, exhausting, trying, and most of all blissful. Its as if this little man who really has only been in our life for a little over 8 months has truly been a part of us forever. Its learning something new about yourself every day, good and the bad :). Its opening yourself up more than you ever have. Its just sitting back sometimes and smiling thinking to yourself 'I love my life.' Mothers day is supposed to be a day for others to celebrate the mom's in their life. But I also took advantage of it and celebrated my little man, because really I wouldn't have had a mothers day if it weren't for him. And he is something to be celebrated.

First Foods and Fun Times

Well it happened. Somehow over night our son grew up and is now trying out some solid foods! I know "they" say that babies can eat solid foods around 4 months but to me that was just way too young. I mean there are a lot of things out there we can do, but that doesn't mean we should right? We waited until the signs were obvious that he was ready to eat. The kid couldn't take is eyes off us while we ate, and would even mimic our chewing :) So I guess that was a tell tell sign that he wanted what we were having! So for our first food we tried some of mom's banana...

Shannon and I were cracking up!! It was more the texture than anything because he swallowed every bite. Its been about 2 weeks now and he enjoys the banana a lot more now we now sit on the couch and he takes little bites right off my naner :)

We then tried some sweet potato... the faces, oh the faces

How could you not crack up to that!! The texture was a little thick for his first time so I've thinned it out with some rice cereal and breast milk and now he's an eating champ! We've eaten banana, sweet potato, green peas, and apple sauce. All home made with love from mom! I think next on the menu is carrots and zucchini! Shannon built a new "table" in our kitchen so we now can have family dinners at a table every night. Oh and I'm sure you noticed that we were eating on the couch... not any more! His high chair finally arrived, he loves it! He bangs and squeals and plays and eats. Oh what fun it is to grow!

Besides eating we play. And play. And play some more. He loves to interact, roll around, kick and bang toys together. He is turning into quite the typical little boy :) and we couldn't love him more. Play time with dad, gotta love the faces he makes when you blow in his face :)

On that note... have a great day!!

A Quick Catch UP

Growing up sure can be exhausting!! Nap times are crucial in the life of a 7 month old... but man o man what if I miss out on something?? The acute awareness of my surroundings have made naps, eating, and diapering a whole new challenge :)

We gave the sippy cup a try and might I say we did very well for Take 1! At first he thought it was a toy, shook it as hard as he could (thank God for one way spouts), got frustrated because it didn't rattle, then once he discovered it had milk in it... it was on!

Big smiles are something we are very used to around the Cowan household... especially when we bust out the camera. He is quickly turning into a camera ham :) As soon as that flash pops up the smiles come on!

One of my best friends Caitlin came into town for Easter and got to spend some time with the family. As I have said a million times before it is always amazing to see friends. There really is no substitution for some good quality girl time!

We played with dad (another usual around the Cowan household). He just loves his daddy, and within the last few days has started to say da-da. It makes it that much harder for Shannon to leave when Quinten is laughing and playing and saying his name! What a great daddy he is!
We then celebrated Quinten's first Easter! Our little bunny boy :)
He absolutely LOVED his basket! I don't think we had even put it down before he was grabbing at it and pulling things out! He got a new car seat toy from mom and dad, a new pair of shoes, and some tub toys! Grandma Carrie got him a Toy Story lunch box (sooo cute!) an outfit, and his first cell phone :) which he loves! Unfortunately Grandma was recovering from a stomach bug and couldn't join in the festivities, but... we'll make up for it! We'll do something equally fun for her!
Ohhh the fun!
Our little man all decked out for the special day (and playin with his new phone)
Love that hat (thanks Grandma Joy)
Our family at my parents house.
His new Toy Story book from Grandma and Grandpa.
The cousins
What a beautiful and blessed day it was. God showed us some beauty on the way home with a beautiful rainbow! Thanks for your gifts big and small!

The Toy Story!

For a while now Shannon and I have wanted to change Quinten's room... terrible I know considering he's hardly 7 months old! But the room just never really pleased us. It started as one thing and then slowly changed into something else. It ended up kinda miss-matched and annoying :) So this is how it was...

So after many weeks of thinking, and googling, we decided to do the ultimate little boy's room... Toy Story!! Shannon and I are huge fans of Pixar movies and what better for our first little boy than the first Pixar movie! First I repainted the letters of his name...

And then painted some boards for some photo collages.

Then we painted the red block and and clouds. We made our own stencils from the Toy Story website and Shannon MADE sure we followed their pattern as well :)

Thats our little guy!

We placed the army men all around the doors and inside the circles :)

Then Grandma Carrie helped out and ordered some FatHead stickers. Shannon awaited anxiously for them to arrive and the minute he walked in the door, they were up!

The finished product!!

Tada!!