The Carroll Family

Spring Is In The Air

2009-03-24T18:34:00.001-07:00

While I adore the fall and it remains my most favorite season, I am definitely looking forward to spring and summer this year. Tonight at Target I saw this sassy little swimsuit and could not say no! Visions of lazy Friday's spent at the pool are dancing in my head :) We did a practice run before Rowan's bath tonight and I must say, she's pretty pumped about her new suit too!

The SPF 50 sunscreen has been purchased (in bulk from Costco- us redheads have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the sun!) and I've still got my eye on a pool floaty w/ a canopy for our new little swimmer!

Oh, the booty ruffles!! I can't stand it!

I'm all ready- let's go!

Lots of giggles :)

Please feel free to join us any Friday at the pool starting in mid April... we're ready!

A Gift From Weekday...

2009-03-18T19:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday when I picked up Rowan from school I was greeted with a cute, smiley little girl in a different outfit than the one I dropped her off in.

When we got home, I opened her diaper bag and was greeted with this sweet treat...

I love that her teachers have a sense of humor!

BTW- The onesie could not be salvaged and went straight in the trash :)

Friends

2009-03-14T19:08:00.001-07:00

Our neighbors, Marc and Jennifer, had a date this afternoon and we watched their sweet 8 month old, Corinne. Rowan was so excited to have a friend come over to play! They had a great time sharing toys... and stealing socks and bows as you can see in the picture below :)

Corinne has hair and eyelashes every girl dreams of!

It has been such a joy to watch these girls grow and develop. We are definitely looking forward to trips to the pool this summer!

Not So Little Anymore...

2009-03-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

Today was Rowan's 9 month well baby visit at the pediatrician. Our girl is weighing in at 21.9 lbs!!! and she is 28 3/4 inches long! She talked the whole time we were at the Dr. and was VERY brave when she had to get her shots. Here are a few pics of our not so little baby from today!

She hasn't quite figured out that she can pull up in her crib yet (fine by me) but she L-O-V-E-S to stand up!

Not the most flattering picture but a good shot of her top two teeth making their appearance!

Thinking she's hot stuff when she pulls up on the outside of her crib! (Notice the Snoopy band-aid from her shot)

"Staycation" Adventure!

2009-03-13T17:20:00.001-07:00

Well, our "staycation" was awesome! We had lots of time to hang out and sleep in :) Rowan had a blast with Aunt Lollie and Uncle Patrick. You can check out all of her fun adventures on Laura's blog- Praying Till the Peace Comes. I knew that Ryan had something up his sleeve for Friday but I wasn't sure what. We met up for lunch because he had to work in the morning and after lunch he asked me pretty nonchalantly "How long will it take you to pack an overnight bag?" Um... not long!! He surprised me with a fun night at The W in Buckhead. It's pretty swanky and the rooms are decorated so cool! I kind of felt famous! Here are some pics from our fun night!

This is the rooftop pool overlooking Buckhead. We came out here after dinner so Ryan could smoke a cigar. The pool's heated so I stuck my feet in and you can see on the left there is this tiled edge you can walk on :)

This is one of the posh cabana's by the pool. It's pretty obvious people don't go to the pool to swim... they definitely go to be seen!

Self-portrait by the pool... reminds me of all of our honeymoon pics with Ryan using his go-go gadget arms to take the picture!

We're so VIP right now! Sister- that was for you!

Sweet Ryan had made plans with the concierge to surprise me and have rose petals and chocolate covered strawberries waiting in our room when we got back from dinner with a CD playing of songs Ryan had chosen (I know, I'm a lucky girl!) BUT when we got back from dinner none of it was done :( To make up for their mistake, they sent up a bottle of wine and some strawberries and truffles...

Then the next morning while we were at breakfast, they came with the rose petals and strawberries...

Very sweet but not the same at 11 a.m.!! Ha!

It was a great getaway but we were both ready to get home and see our little girl! Thanks for planning such a fun surprise Ryan! I love you and can't wait for many more years together!

9 Months!

2009-03-10T19:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Rowan turned 9 months old! It is hard to believe that her 1st birthday is right around the corner! We are having so much fun with our girl and are enjoying EVERY bit of our time with her. It is amazing to me how much she has changed over the past 9 months and how much we are all learning. We are so thankful that God has trusted us to be her Mommy and Daddy. Here are a few pics from her monthly "photo shoot" with the alligator :) It's hard to get a good shot because she loves to play with her stuffed friend!
Pulling up on everything :)
A special squeeze from Mommy!

"Staycation" 2K9!

2009-03-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

This weekend our best friends, Patrick and Laura, are watching Rowan so that Ryan and I can celebrate our Anniversary and my B-Day! In light of our economic times :) we've decided to have a little "Staycation" at our house. So, tomorrow we're packing up the noodle and sending her up the road to Aunt Lollie and Uncle Patrick's to play!

My mom asked me if I was nervous to leave my girl since this will be the first time I will be away from her since she was born and I can honestly say no. I don't think there are two people who love our little girl more than Laura and Patrick and the feeling is definitely mutual with Robo! I think she knew Laura's voice before mine when she was born!! We are so lucky to be able to share life with these special friends who are truly family to us. We love you guys!
Here's a fun shot of our princess ready to be packed up for her sleepover!

Happy Anniversary to Us :)

2009-03-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our 2nd wedding anniversary- It's hard to believe that two years have gone by (and almost 8!!! since we started dating). Nana Roni came over to watch the noodle so we could go out to dinner. Our schedules have been so crazy over the past few weeks that it sometimes feels like we are just passing each other on our way in or out. We had such a great time at dinner laughing and reconnecting. After we got home we watched our wedding video and reminisced about our special day. I know that everyone says this, but I loved everything about our wedding day- even the crazy lady at the church :) But the thing I loved most was our ceremony. My Young Life leader James did such a great job of making every moment personal and reflection of our hearts for each other and for God. We were lucky enough to have Buckhead Church's own Moxie Davis and his wife Clarissa sing for us- such a gift, and we were surrounded and supported by all the people in the world who love us most. We are truly blessed.

Snowy Surprise!

2009-03-04T18:15:00.000-08:00

We had about an hour of really great snow on Sunday and we couldn't wait to take Rowan out to play... Although she was more interested in all of the neighborhood kidddo's that were playing in the snow and really wasn't in a "picture mood" Ha! I do love the one with her Daddy though :)

Where has the time gone?

2009-02-16T18:05:00.001-08:00

Here are some catch up pics from the past few months. I have her 5 and 6 month alligator pics, I just have to find them :) Enjoy our girl- we sure are!

L-O-V-I-N-G the slide!
Nice work Daddy!
Not sure how I feel about the swing- giving it my "blue steel" face!
Laughing with Mommy at the park!
This cracks me up!
8 months- loving on her alligator friend
Watching the duckies at the pond by our house
She really was laughing in this one :)
7 months- my big girl!
Christmas 2008- 6 months
Thanksgiving- 5 months
Before school photo shoot with Daddy- 5 months
Love life with a live-in photographer
The first 4 months of pics... I'm SO mad we didn't change her 2 month picture! She was so sick and miserable but I thought we HAD to take it on her actual 2 month B-Day. I've loosened up a little :)

I'm a bad blogger....

2009-02-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

Shame, shame on me for not updating the blog.... I had great intentions but if you know me, than you know I'm full of great intentions! Ha! Well, here are the most important stats about our girl... She turned 8 months old on Monday and she is definitely not our "little" baby anymore! As of her last weigh in at the pediatrician she was 19.5 lbs and while I'm not quite sure how long she is I do know that she comfortably wears a lot of 12 month clothes! We are having so much fun with her and I often find myself getting teary eyed as I praise God for the gift that she is to our lives. Rowan has two teeth that made their debut in November at the tender age of 5 months :) she is a "puff-a-holic" (those dissolvable puffy cereal things) and would eat the whole can if you let her! Since birth she has had a total aversion to tummy time and we assumed she would just skip crawling and move straight to walking but in the last few weeks she has decided that tummy time isn't half bad and she is on her way to being fully mobile... watch out Mommy and Daddy! Her laugh makes my world stop and she talks up a storm- I'm really not sure where she gets that from... We made the big move last month to her "big kid" car seat and she L-O-V-E-S it! Now she gets to sit in the high chair at restaurants and in the shopping cart at the store. Gosh, she is such a big girl, I can't believe it. We have been battling an ear infection for the past few weeks and were put on our 3rd antibiotic today. Pray that this will help clear things up- I hate when my girl is hurting. I'll keep this short and put up some more pics soon and I will definitely try to update more often!

I am holding the world ransom for....

2008-08-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!

2 months old and 1st cold :(

2008-08-27T18:27:00.001-07:00

Our sick little munchkin being a good sport for mommy and daddy's photo shoot!

So I'm a little late but here is the 2 month update on our sweet girl. Rowan weighed in at 12 lbs 13 3/4 oz and was 24 inches long! She had her first shot and I'm pretty sure I cried more than she did! Sadly, the day after her check-up she came down with her first cold. Luckily it wasn't anything some saline and the "snot sucker" (bulb aspirator) couldn't handle! We are still on a good routine and the munch now sleeps until around 8am- YAY! She has been waking up in the 5-6am hour with gas which is odd, since her last meal is at 11pm but what are you going to do? Hopefully the gas thing will pass- haha! We have definitely been blessed with such a happy, healthy baby and we are so thankful to be Rowan's parents.

Happy Baby!

2008-08-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

It has been so fun to see Rowan's little personality start to come out as each week passes. One thing is clear- she LOVES to smile! This afternoon we had an impromptu photo shoot while she was having quite the good time in her bouncy seat!

Looking at Daddy
Pardon my hand in the picture- I was trying to wipe some spit up off her mouth which she found to be very funny :)

We Heart Dr. Lewis!!

2008-08-06T12:40:00.001-07:00

Dr. Lewis is pretty famous with the North Point ladies. I think he has delivered 6 of the 9 babies that have been born in our Family Ministry department in the last year- including one on Monday! When we were surprised in October to find out we were expecting little Rowan, I knew just who to call. Dr. Lewis and his awesome nurse Kym helped make my pregnancy and delivery such a wonderful experience- I can't wait to do it again! Well, maybe I can wait a little while :) Yesterday I had my post-partum appointment so we packed up Rowan to get a pic with man who literally brought our sweet girl into the world. It was great to catch up and talk about delivery day and how fun it was that Angela and I (he delivered her little boy Silas 1 hour before Rowan) were there together and that we had so many North Point visitors- many who have had babies delivered by Dr. Lewis. If you find yourself in the market for an OB/GYN- I've got the one for you!

Twins!

2008-08-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors across the street, Marc and Jennifer, had a little girl Corinne on July 13th! It's been so fun to compare notes with them. We even got to wave goodbye as they headed to the hospital when Jen's water broke 6 days early- which is funny because I went into labor 6 days early too! Jen came by on Sunday for a visit and we realized that the girls were wearing the same dress, so out came the cameras! I think they're destined to be friends :)

What you really want part 2!

2008-07-25T08:44:00.001-07:00

Maternity pics at Barnsley Garden's on our Anniversary

With our Anniversary/Babymoon gifts from the "Fairy Godmother" at Barnsley Gardens
Sisters!
Being silly the night we put Rowan's crib together... check out those hair bows :)
Aunt Lollie practicing for Rowan's arrival!
Love Cakes by Darcy, YUM!
My beautiful Sister-In Law Lindsey
Good times with E-Coli

What you really want!!

2008-07-25T08:31:00.001-07:00

The "Daddy Diaper Kit" compliments of Noel!

Ready to pop!!
Sura and Lura
Right before Rowan's arrival
Laura and Leslie waiting patiently
Small Group Love!
The BSB Girls!
North Point Ladies
First family photo before we left the hospital
Pop-Pop Mac and Robo with the paddle hands!
NanaRoni
The look of pure exhaustion!
Daddy's Girl
The new family at home!
Proud Daddy!

Back to work!

2008-07-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

Monday was my first day back at work and Rowan's first day of school and it was a great day for both of us! We made it to NP on time and my sweet boss Mandee helped me get Robo checked in to her new classroom. Surprisingly no tears were shed by mom... or baby! It was fun getting to catch up with my work friends and have grown up conversations and it was great to be able to pop in to weekday during the day to feed Rowan. She got a great report from her teachers saying what an easy baby she is and that she has very cute hiccups! Thanks Ms. Genice and Ms. Suzanne(the amazing baby teachers) for a great first day!

She Smiles!!

2008-07-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Fastest month of our lives...

2008-07-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well, our little girl is officially 1 month old! As of last Friday she was weighing in at 10 lbs 1 3/4oz was 21 3/4 in. It is already hard to remember what life was like without her. Each day we fall more and more in love and get excited to see what new things she will do. Rowan has started smiling which we are desperately trying to catch on film or video because it is most definitely her best trick to date!! She's starting to coo and chat with us a bit and since she's chunking up, has become much more sturdy and is able to control her head more and more. We are getting on a good schedule- we start the day around 7:30 or 8:00 and she nurses every 3 hours during the day and we put her to bed after her 7:30/8:00 feeding. Ryan gives her a bottle I've pumped at 11:00 while she's sleeping and then she eats again around 4:30/5:00 am. She's been waking up for a diaper change around 2ish but we're trying to phase that out. We are SO lucky to have such a happy, healthy baby and the extra bit of sleep we're getting isn't hurting mom and dad either!!

Last week on her official 1 month B-Day we had our first play-date with my friend Angela and her little boy Silas. Angela works with me at North Point and our due dates were two days apart. Since this was her 2nd baby she was getting induced on June 9th and I kept teasing her not to leave me behind... well low and behold, I went into labor and we ended up delivering exactly 1 hour apart- Silas Briggs Nowery was born at 3:31 pm and Rowan was born at 4:41 pm- we even have the same doctor! Hey, some people meet for coffee, we decided to meet to have babies! It was fun to lay them next to each other and see how they have grown. I will try to post the picture from my phone as soon as I can.

Ryan started his last quarter of school last Monday and I can't believe it but I go back to work one week from today! Time has definitely flown by and now it's back to the real world. I'm only working Sunday, Monday, and Thursday until September so we can ease into this whole working/having a baby thing. I am so blessed that Rowan will be able to come to work with me at NP's weekday preschool that they have for staff. Ryan's schedule is pretty flexible this quarter so we are lucky to have him home to play with us lots too!

3 Weeks Old!

2008-07-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Rowan is already three weeks old. Seems like not that long ago we were still wondering when she would arrive. But strangely enough, I already don't think I can remember what it was like without her. Still trying to adjust, and slowly trying to establish some kind of a schedule. We're getting there, and loving every minute of it!

2008-06-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

We finally have it completed...well sorta. We still have some paintings and pictures we want to put up, but for the most part it is completed. We added the white paper lanterns in the corner of her room which really ads some dimension and visual interest. Overall I'm lovin it!

A couple more photo's of Rowan

2008-06-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

We're home!!!

2008-06-13T08:11:00.001-07:00

We are finally home with little baby Rowan. All seems to be well with her. Her doctor appointments have been going great and she is finally starting to game some of her weight back. The first night we had a little of a tough time sleeping and feeding, but last night was a dream. Now we will slowly but surely work towards getting caught up on our sleep (if that's even possible.)

Rowan Elizabeth Carroll June 9 2008

2008-06-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

Kelly is Mad....

2008-06-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

Kelly is mad because I have not updated in 5 months... well, here goes

I am huge- Come out Rowan, come out!!
Yes, these are my cankles :)

In the beginning...

2008-02-13T18:46:00.000-08:00

There was a blog and the blog was good. Hopefully this will be a great way to keep friends and family updated on the bean- Rowan Elizabeth Carroll due to arrive June 15th :) Check back for more.