October

Well, the cat is out of the bag.  I am pregnant!  That, and a new school year, are just 2 of the many reasons I have neglected blogging.  Here are some October Highlights:

Elia's first field trip to the pumpkin farm tuckered her out!

Alumni weekend- we spent Sat morning at UD
Cap Bar

Trail from West side to the art village

Swing by the fish bowl

My parents came to visit for a long weekend!
So did Grandma Rowles, but I took no pics.  :(

 

We explored Grapevine with my parents

Obligatory Pumpkin Patch photo

My awesome room mom threw me a party the week I revealed to my class I was pregnant.  She also had a baby blanket made- gender neutral, that says "Jesus loves Baby Rowles, and so does 3rd grade!"

Halloween- a zebra and a kitty cat

Bittersweet- probably our last Halloween in Carrollton!

Pregnancy details to come...

March Madness

Sweet G earned the kindness award in March!

Open House- they had been learning all about farms!

Spring Break- went to Grandma's house who had a little bit of snow left.

Grandpa's specialty- pancakes!!

His other specialty- the ipad.

Can you guess how old this stud turned?

A quick playdate with the McBrides!

Back in Dallas, we ditched the STP parade and went to the Arboreteum instead.

Cousin's Bday party- 1 of 5 G was invited to in March!!!

My sweet girls.  Yes, Elia insisted on wearing a Christmas shirt in March.

StL Weekend Surprise

All of the sisters COMPLETELY surprised my mom this weekend for her birthday.  Megan and I flew up to St. Louis.  She left the boys at home and brought sweet baby Anna.

On Saturday, we had brunch at Aunt Shanny's, and even did a craft. 

A Valentine Wreath

Then we went and saw Les Mis and out to dinner. 

It was wonderful, and the first weekend in a while I have been away from the girls in a while.  It was good to kiss their sweet faces when I got home.  Lovely Weekend.

While Chris is away, Grandma will stay!

Chris' dear grandfather is battling cancer, and so Chris went out to California to bring him some cheer.  Grandma came out to help while he was gone.  Chris was also able to go to a playoff Giant's game against my Cardinals, so he was super excited about that. I let Gianna take a personal day off from school and so Grandma and the girls did lots of fun things!  They walked to McDonalds and the park, did crafts, and baked cupcakes too.  Elia stayed home all three days so she got some much needed attention from her grandma.

Bead necklaces

As soon as we got home from the airport, they had to dress up for Grandma- she snapped this pic with her iPhone and it is darling! 

Halloween Crafts

Chris' Loot

Giant's Fans.

Please say some prayers for Grandpa!  Its been really rough, and he is in a lot of pain!

St. Louis Trip Photo Dump

My mom stayed in AtL for a few days and then we drove back to StL on Wednesday.  We stopped at Patty's, a restaurant in Kentucky that we always stopped in growing up after family reunions.  I felt like it was a right of passage for my girls to be there and eat!  It is very old time, they serve drinks in mason jars, have the most wonderful fried pickles and strawberry butter, and their bread is baked in flower pots!

We were only in StL for 72 hours, but we packed it in with a visit to the zoo, play time with Baby B, and lots of quality family time!

G said the bread grew out of the flower pot!

The girls helping Grandma make hamburgers.

Tummy time for baby Brendan

Photo-op at the zoo!

New Sea Lion exhibit that Uncle Tom's firm helped build!

This orangutan (sp?) got so close to Elia!  Their faces are so weird looking!

Bobby, the ever patient and fun loving Uncle, teaching G to pump gas. 
She held her nose the while time!

Baptism/Atlanta trip Photo Dump

It took us 14 hours to get to AtL.  We ended up stopping at Cracker Barrel for dinner 12 hours in.

The star of the weekend: Anna

Dad and Anna

Bath-tism dresses as Elia called them.

Uncle Ryan showing off his skills.

Grandma and Anna

God-Parents and God- Child

Gettin baptized.

Love this one.  Its like a family with 2 sets if twins and a baby!

The McHugh side

Sweet Uncle Ry holding back the hair.

I made bubbles for all the kids at the Baptism reception.  A pinterest find.  Bubble solution was great but the pipe cleaner wands didn't do as well as I hoped. 

Slippered cousins

G, as usual, always helping when a baby is around!

How cute is her swim suit!

Sweet action shot.

Skyping with Aunt Shanny and Baby Brendan.  All 4 cousins were pushing and shoving to be front and center.

It was a fabulous trip!  Plans are in the works for a 2 week stay at Aunt Megan's house next summer.  It is the perfect hosue for cousin camp.  Miss those crazy boys and sweet Anna too!