More New Playroom Fun

I thought I would post a few more pictures of Ramsey enjoying his new playroom. Only a little bit of his toys are in there thus far but he loving it and I am too.

He was a bit afraid of this tunnel when I got it (at a yard sale!!!) a few weeks ago but now thinks it is super fun:

Room to move:

Double fisting:He has discovered the door stops and has to play with those for at least five minutes before moving on Oh, and they make a lot of noise...great!:

We also stopped by the playground on the way out of the neighborhood. He giggled the whole time:

I definitely think we're going to like it here!!! All we need now is our guy. Cope told me today that he has seen his name down for a flight in a few weeks. So we are hoping to see him before the end of October!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going Down Stairs

Ramsey is loving the 2 stairs in his playroom at our new house. He has thankfully figured out how to get down them without crashing. It is so funny to watch him figure out his world and I'm very excited that he has his very own playroom now. Although he hasn't made it far beyond the stairs as they have definitely captured his attention at the moment.

Makeshift Baby Proofing

I have decided that Ramsey and I are going to try to move into our new house in about 2 weeks. I originally thought I would wait until we got back from welcoming Cope home at Ft. Drum, NY but have decided it might be easier to try to get organized a few weeks before heading out of town for the big reunion. Another reason I think we're ready to go ahead and move is that I can fully (or at least try to) baby proof our new place. I love living at my Mom's but since they are moving soon too, their home is on the market and can be shown at any moment. We have done very little in the way of baby proofing there simply because I have not wanted to re-decorate their lovely home. Don't get me wrong, they would do just about anything I asked of them in a minute but since they have been so kind this past year I figure watching him like a hawk is the least I can do. It has been okay thus far but the more mobile he gets the more intense, constant attention he requires as to not destroy anything or hurt himself. Last night while we watched the UGA game we built a fort/barrier out of the furniture so that he would not leave the room to go explore. He loves cords, window shades, pulling things off tables or shelves, and mostly anything that is forbidden. He understands the word "NO" but only obeys when it suits his needs. So hopefully in our new place we can start off fully baby proofed. It will be hard to leave my Mom's as it had been a safety net for me this past year but I think I am ready to leap head on into our own life. May the next chapter in our lives be as blessed as this one has been.

We Be Working

Ramsey and I have been working hard over at our new house. We have spent several afternoons putting things together, putting things away, and just being thrilled to have our very own home. I usually work like a mad woman while Ramsey chills next to me in his pack in play. We put on music and I dance and act like and idiot and he laughs. It's fun! Since I haven't put much actual living stuff in it yet I only bring just enough to get us through that day like a jar of baby food, a bottle, and a diaper. Notice I said "a diaper" meaning just one. Yesterday he had 2 poopy diapers within an hour of each other and I didn't have a spare. Whats a girl to do? Hum??? Thankfully I remembered that I had brought over his box of beach stuff last week and I had some Little Swimmers in it. So while we worked Ramsey sported his swim diaper and big grin. If it hadn't been for those, I suppose I would have used paper towels and duct tape. Oh, the joys of moving!

The Hillbillies Ride Again

In a previous post I had mentioned that I am just slightly addicted to yard sales these days and often when I make my way home from them my car somewhat resembles the Beverly Hillbillies. Well, today was no exception. A girl from Morgan's law office had told my Mom and I about a big neighborhood yard sale in Kennesaw. It was huge! The neighborhood must of had a few thousand homes and therefore there were well over a hundred yard sales to scope out. My Mom drove so I could quickly buckle Ramsey in his car seat and get him out just as fast as we made our way through the neighborhood. We had some great finds and our car was packed at the end. We had to stop and head home when the car reached it's max. Who knew a sedan could hold a large cabinet, 2 wall mirrors, plants, a kiddie swing, a kiddie rocker, a stroller, tons of odds n ends, 2 adults, and a little boy? We had fun and again I just can't enough of yard sales. The total of everything in our car today was $90.00. If I had purchased those things at a retail store it would have been around $1,000. So go ME!!! Saving money and having fun...It was a good day!

I promise this pictures does not do the experience justice:Ramsey tired from his big morning of treasure hunting:

Excuse My Slacking

For those of you who read our blog please excuse my lack of blogging lately. I love blogging and try to post most everyday but things are just a little chaotic at the moment. All is well but just busy getting moved into our new house, getting really excited for Cope's return next month, and enjoying our little boy. I've also been very busy and often forget to take pictures to document our daily fun. I'll try to do better mostly for myself and Cope but also for those of you who read and support us in our daily adventures.

My To-Do list for tomorrow: TAKE MORE PICTURES!!!

Ramsey in Orange

We were headed into Lowes last night to get a few home supplies for our new place when we spotted their bins of Pumpkins out front. Since Ramsey was sporting an orange shirt Morgan thought it would be a terrific idea to put him in the bin and take his picture. Of course I had a camera in tow so we snapped a few quickly. I can't wait to carve one with him in a few weeks and maybe we'll be with his Daddy for his first pumpkin carving???

Mastering the Toy Box

In my post from yesterday I had mentioned that I had been finding the occasional treasure on my Yard Sale adventures. One of my latest finds was a little toy box that I could tote from room to room with Ramsey's toys to keep the clutter to a minimum. Well, last night Ramsey proceeded to dump out all the toys and tum the box completely upside down. He studied it for minute and decided it would make the perfect climbing apparatus. He played with it for about 1/2 hour and would climb on top, fall off, and go back for more. We had an amusing time watching him and his pride at finally mastering his new toy box. Here are a few pics from it and I think the progression to mastering it speaks for itself:

Simple Saturday Fun

We had a fun little Saturday which started with a few yard sales. I think I am absolutely obsessesd with them lately. Now that we have a house I need to fill it up and want to get good buys. It is seriously like a treasure hunt in that I never know what I will find. Most of it is junk but occasionally I find that gem that keeps me going back for more.

Later we went to a local arts and crafts festival and ate tons of junk. My favorite think being a homemade apple dumpling with vanilla Ice cream. I've been dreaming of it since I had eaten it at the festival last year. I was 29 weeks pregnant last year so I found myself feeling slightly more guilty this year in indulging in such a treat but man it was worth it. Yummy! Already looking forward to it next year!

Later we went to the park to feed the geese. Morgan (my step Dad) had gotten his granddaughter Ansley for the afternoon so she also wanted to play on the play ground there. The weather was absolutely beautiful today and I was glad we took advantage of it. Here are a few pics from the park:

Ramsey enjoyed the geese. We fed them Cheetos which were a BIG hit.

Ansley and Ramsey:Ramsey enjoyed the slide (notice his hand in his mouth as he is teething like a champ and prefers his hands to any ole teether):He liked going down the slide but much preferred to climb up it:

Friday Night BUNCO

Last night I played Bunco with a group of ladies from my new neighborhood. I thought it was so nice that they called and asked me to play even though I'm not really even moved in yet. I'm am totally up for meeting some of our new neighbors and I love a good game of Bunco so I said "count me in". It was a fun time and it was good to get out on a Friday evening. I think our new neighbors will be very fun and a great fit for Cope and I. Most of the girls have young children so we have lots in common. I also sat in our new house and had a quick dinner before heading over to play. It was super quite and I just looked around and said a little thank you prayer that this long deployment is almost over. I miss Cope so much and am so ready to be in our new home together and start making memories as a family.

2 Busy

Ramsey and I have been very busy lately. Well, I have been busy getting initial things at our new house put in place like buying furniture, buying a fridge, and getting fence and blind estimates. Cope's parents came yesterday to watch Ramsey upstairs at our new house while I cleaned the floors since it was just dirty from having sat empty for so long. I wanted to get it cleaned before I let Ramsey explore every inch of it. Cope's Dad also helped me work on putting up baby gates on the stairs. We tried 3 different ones that we found out won't work but I've since found some online and hope they'll do the trick? My Mom has been helping watch Ramsey so I can make my estimate appointments and get some other odd n ends done. I know I don't have to get it ALL done before Cope gets back but there is a part of me that wants him to walk in his front door and breath a sigh of relief knowing he can finally relax.

Ramsey has been busy getting into EVERYTHING! He is one determined little boy that is for sure. He has so much energy I get worn out just watching him sometimes. He loves the new house and enjoys the Iron railing at the top of the stairs very much (see the need for a good baby gate). He loves to hang on them and he also loves the 2 stairs in the bonus room. He went to story time again at the library this morning. He got kicked in the face by another little boy and he screamed his head off. Poor guy, but 3 minutes later he was right back in the mix of kids and toys. Oh, and he is getting his 7th tooth! Yep, I found it yesterday. He is drooling so much it is literally running off his elbows.

All in All were doing fine, just busy. We are super ready for Cope to get back and share in our adventures. It is just over a month now!!!!

Learning to Walk

Ramsey has started to use just about anything he can find to push across the floor and walk behind. This is one of his favorites in the form of a picnic basket. He seems to enjoy his new skill and sense of independence. I better be getting my running shoes ready...

One Sleepy Little Boy

This is a video I took of Ramsey this morning around 10:15 when he was way sleepy before his usual nap time of 11:00am. He had played really hard all morning and this was the result at meal time. Poor Kid.

The Glass Ceiling

Last night at dinner my sister had her bead necklace sitting on the table to entertain Ramsey. We let him crawl around the table, which is a glass table top. He could see the necklace through the glass but could not figure out how to get it or the other enticing items on the table. Needless to say we got a good laugh and and it kept him busy for a little while. I'm sure Cope is thrilled that we were letting his son play with a necklace :)

Indigo Girls

Last night we went to our annual Indigo Girls concert at our favorite venue, Christian. My sister and her friend Sandra came into town from Manhattan to join my Mom and I for a fun girls night out. The Indigo Girls were AWESOME and as usual they DID NOT disappoint. They sang lots of favorites including Closer To Fine, Get Out the May, Pendulum Swinger, and Galileo. I always love their concerts mostly for the music but the people watching is always quite interesting too. So fun night with good company. I'm sure Cope isn't sad he wasn't here for that concert. I dragged him last year :)

My Mom, myself, and my sister: Paige and Sandra:

More pics of our new house

Here are a few more pictures of the inside of our new home. We'll use these as the before pics and hopefully as this moving in process goes along I'll be posting more pics of the rooms as decorating and furniture brings them to life.

Looking at dining room and upstairs loft from living room:Stairs:Kitchen:Keeping room off kitchen:Ramsey's very own playroom. I'm most excited about this room and just letting him loose:View into living room from upstairs:

Big Day for the Rowell Family!!!

We have purchased our first home!!! Yes, we are super excited!!! Cope and I have been saving for almost 5 years now and saved our money from 2 long years worth of deployments and we're finally seeing the benefits of our having stayed the course. We looked at houses while Cope was home on R & R in July just to get a feel of how far our money would go in today's market. We went in the one we bought not even thinking it would be in our price range and all be darn, it was! It is a new home but was in forclosure. It has all the nice features we were hoping for and even some beyond that. So after Cope went back to Iraq from leave I kept thinking about that house and how great it was. So to make a long story short Cope and I decided to try putting in a low offer and just see what happened. So we did and after only 1 counter we got our offer accepted!!! I'm planning to move in gradually and not actually live there until Cope comes back in late October. Cope will be back and forth from Georgia to Ft. Drum, NY for a few months but will hopefully be here the majority of the time starting around Christmas. All we have to do now is find Cope a job in the spring. We just have faith that it will work out as it is supposed to and hope for the best. That is all anyone can really do right? We are so thrilled to finally be able to put down some roots and own a little piece of Georgia soil. As I told Cope "we're just living the dream". Ramsey and I are now more ready than ever to have Cope home so we can make our new house the HOME our dreams are made of.

Ramsey holding the keys to his very own home!

9/11

I seriously can't believe it was seven years ago 9/11 occurred. I never thought it would mean that Cope would have to go fight that war. Twice? I am so thankful each day for his safety and say a little prayer each time I get that daily phone call. As we all know 9/11 changed life as we had known it and will forever be a day we remember and hug our kids little longer and love our soldiers that much harder.

Crazy Morning

It has just been one of those mornings for me today. You know the type, where if you had 3 extra hours it still would not be enough to get everything done. It started off pretty smooth with a happy Ramsey, and a hot cup of coffee. I placed a few phone calls I needed to make and then it was off to the shower with Ramsey chilling in his exersaucer near the bathroom door. It was a little more rushed than usual because I was trying to get us ready to leave the house at 9:45 to make story time at our local library at 10:00. I showered fast, dressed, chatted with Ramsey, things were going great then WHAMMO.... I went to feed the dogs only to find out their dog food container (sealed properly mind you) was crawling with ants. Jeez, what should I do? The dog food is about $60 bucks a bag (last them a month, the cheap stuff tears their tummys up) and I had just filled up the food bin up. I decided all I could do was throw it out since it was so infested, spray, and curse under my breath. It was like flushing money down the toilet. Not to mention this ant issue took 30 minutes I did NOT have to spare.

Then it was time to try to get Ramsey to eat his oatmeal in now less than 5 minutes which he decided he would rather cry the whole time and swat my food advances out of the way. I just try to remember to breath, smile, and take it all in stride. Not easy for a gal like me, but I'm trying harder these days. He ate a little, we changed his diaper and rushed out the door to story time. I was totally sweating at this point.

It was our first time and there were about 20 babies under 18 months. Very fun! We read a few books, did a few songs, and then they just let them loose to a floor full of toys. Ramsey seemed to really enjoy it and would crawl up to most anyone and just smile and would occasionally steal a toy from another kid. Bully??? By the time it ended at 10:45 you could tell it was past or close to most little ones nap time including Ramsey's. It was fun and we're looking forward to next weeks "Rock and Rhyme Story Time".

So overall it has been a crazy morning and I'm hoping the day ahead doesn't prove to be so wild but so far that hasn't been the case. Maybe it will just be one of those days but at least Ramsey got to spend some time with other kids and I got to chat it up with other Moms, most of whom were having just as hectic of days as mine. It's good to feel normal on occasion.

Our Guy

Here are a few recent pictures that Cope has sent me of him in action. We talk so casually most days that I almost forget that he really carries a gun around ALL day and wears all that gear in 100+ degree weather. I could not be more proud to be his wife and we are so looking forward to his return so we can get back to forever together.

9 Month Check Up

Ramsey had his 9 month check up this A.M. and all went well. He weighed in at 18 lbs 6 oz. He's a little guy thus far with a BIG personality. He smiled and chatted with the Doctor the whole time. His height is above average so we might have a tall, skinny boy on our hands. She said we could start on 3rd foods when we want to but Ramsey has a pretty bad gag reflex so we'll just test the waters slowly. He had to get two shots since we split them up and he cried hard but only for a minute, then was smiling at the receptionist as we checked out. We also had to go over to the lab to have his blood drawn. He cried the whole time and had a cool bandage to show for his war wound. Now he is down for his nap and is wiped out from the experience. Hopefully he'll wake up happy and not remembering a thing. It is hard to see your little boy cry even if you know it is for their own good.

Finding Treasures

We've had a fun little Saturday so far. The day started early with YARD SALES! Lots of yard sales! I've decided I'm not going to be buying new toys for Ramsey unless there is just something we can't live without. I just figure second hand is a form of recycling, saving money, and not to mention kids like a toy one day and might hate it the next. So we found some really great treasures for Ramsey and even a piece of furniture and and planter for myself. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies on the way home. I was joking with my Mom that when I get really good deals I feel as though I've sort of beat the system. Ramsey was cool and took his bottle on the road and even had a diaper change in the car. Fun stuff. He also sported his new hand me down GA Bulldog wind suite which I totally adore( He has since spit up on it, pooped his other bulldogs t-shirt, and now is on to his jersey). So we had a fun time and now we're off to cheer on the DAWGS!!!

Ramsey ready for the treasure hunt!!!:

Watching the sun come up and the kitties eat their breakfast:My $10 furniture find:Catching a little snooze on his adventure:Checking out his new play room table:Testing out his new tunnel: