Fair-ly Good Weekend

 Actually, it was a GREAT weekend filled with lots of activities. One of which was the Tulsa State Fair. Rowynn and I got to go twice!

Poor Rowynn didn't get to try any fair food this year but he did get to see lots of animals! Since the line to get into the petting zoo was a mile long, we settled for the bunnies and birthing center.

 He liked the bunnies. They made him giggle and smile just by moving. Could a kid get any easier to please?! I think not. I know, he's perfect! He does come from me though so what else could you expect? Oh yeah, he is part Rusty so I guess Rowynn's perfection could have come from him. On second thought... it's all me!

 Oh my goodness, the cutest baby goats I ever did see. While standing there letting Rowynn laugh and the beautiful, sweet goats, I whispered a promise in his ear, "I promise you will have a goat". I can't break my promise so I guess Rusty better get back in that field and put up some sort of fence to keep the goats from going into the back neighbors pasture. Until then, we will wait for the dogs to leave this earth so we can put the goats, chickens, sheep, geese and what other animals I can talk my husband into in the "dog" area.

Other than checking out all the CUTE animals, we did get our eat on! Don't judge. We both LOVE food almost as much as we love each other. Sometimes we may love food more! Not often though.

I'm rambling. Sorry.

As for the food. Between the two of us the food consumed: 1 gyro, 1 order of fried green tomatoes (way to salty this year, blek), 1 corn dog, 1 fried cheese on a stick and 4... four...FOUR caramel apples!! You read that right, I said four. We are little piggies and I know that. But in our defense, the fair only comes once a year!

I told you not to judge. STOP JUDGING!

Also in our defense, we walked the fair for three hours. That had to have burned off at least half of a caramel apple.

 Seeing that Rowynn didn't sleep at all the entire time we were there, he crashed on the bus ride back to the parking area. He didn't even wake up while being buckled into his seat. I know he is tired when he doesn't fight the carrier.

 I guess the gentle swaying of the bumpy Tulsa roads just put him out.

 Even with mommies sunglasses in hand.

It was a GREAT day.

Website I LOVE...

My mom introduced me to this website through Facebook and I have fallen in love! Hey It's Free let's you know all the offers on the web for FREE stuff.

In the picture you can see the free stuff I've gotten over the last FOUR days (minus the Life cereal bar I ate).

I'll keep you posted about all the other GREAT stuff I get for free.

* 1 Wisk HE laundry detergent
* 1 Life Cereal bar
* 1 Box of Kleenex tissues
* ProForce glass cleaner, heavy duty degreaser and 2 reusable
   towels

Check it out if you want to get your hands on some free stuff!

WW - week 8

Well, this is hard to admit but honesty is the best policy. I gained 2 lbs 1 lb over the last two weeks. I am up to 164 162 (I reweighed right before getting in the shower last night) right now. I'm really sad and upset with myself  but I know that I will get the weight off, eventually.

The last couple of weeks were emotional for me and I am still struggling to get back to a better place. Unfortunately, I am not a person that seizes to eat in the midst of sadness; I do the opposite. I have turned to food for much of my comfort and I am having a hard time stepping away from the kitchen and putting my fork down. I know that this too shall pass but it is frustrating.

Hopefully I will have better news for you all, and myself, next week.

On a side note, I started up a food blog so I would have a separate place to enter my recipes. If you want to see all the fun cooking and baking I do around here, check this out.

8 Months

Yesterday was the 5th of October and that means that Rowynn turned 8 MONTHS OLD! My baby is getting closer to being a toddler. Oh my goodness!

 Rowynn is doing okay with his solids. He prefers to just take a few bites and then play with the spoon. So, I have been giving him half masticated chunks of my food. He has now had french fries, sweet potato fries and pizza. I'm sure people around me might think it is gross for me to chew my food then take some out to give to him but I'm just not ready for the choking thing.

As for his mobility, he is CRAWLING like a mad man! He now has full ability to roam our house whenever he pleases. And, he is FAST. If I put him in the living room and then go to another room, he is not far behind.

Also, he likes to go up in the push-up stance but with his cute, little booty in the air. And he is also contemplating the whole pulling up thing. He likes to put his hands up on things while on his knees. It is the whole pulling up and standing thing he hasn't quite tried or conquered.

Oh yeah... he also can sit up on his own now. It is so crazy because it is like it happened over night. One day he couldn't quite get it and the next it became a part of his life!

I think that is all of Rowynn's new milestones in a nutshell!

Fun, Fun and More Fun

After our short stay in Eureka Springs, the real fun began! We headed to Branson where we spent the remainder or our weekend. Most of which was spent at Silver Dollar City. I LOVE Silver Dollar City. I love the food. I love the super friendly people that work there. I love the food. I love the fun rides. I love the hilly, tree filled walkways. I love the food. I love the little shops with all of the handmade tickets. I LOVE THE FOOD! If you ever want to hit up an amusement park with great food, Silver Dollar City is your park! Maybe this love of food is the reason I have 20 pounds I'd like to lose!

 I think our rolly-polly is loving being out doors and out of his car seat!

After a few hours of SDC time we checked in to our hotel and headed off to shop the outlets. Funny thing about that, I remember when all the shopping was for Rusty and I; this time around I didn't get one thing and Rowynn made out like a bandit!!

Our second day at SDC was a little bit on the cooler side. I believe that fall has finally arrived!! Yay, I have been waiting all summer for this. We also found that SDC has put in a small petting zoo. I made a b-line for the donkey! As you can tell by Rowynn's face, he liked the donkey too!

This sweet donkey licked my hand for ~10 minutes! I fell in love with this donkey and wanted to bring him home. I don't think the people at SDC would have been to thrilled with that idea, darn it.

Before heading out, we decided to take a few fall photos in front of the lovely set-ups they had all around.

We left SDC just in time to make it to our room for the OU/Texas game and a nap for Rowynn. I would have LOVED a nap but it just wasn't in the cards. The elephants above us saw to it that there was no nap for the mommy!

We then headed back out for a little more shopping, a mirror maze and some miniature golf. All of which was an absolute blast!

Heading into the mirror maze!

 Rowynn did so good in the mirror maze. He only cried once or twice and it was because a witch lit up within one of the mirrors and was loud. Other than that, he did GREAT!

 We even went through twice. The first time we went in circles and ended up in the same spots probably 6 times! The second time it only took one pass.

 Our favorite miniature golf course has a train that takes you up to the starting hole. It was fun to take Rowynn back to this place. He went when he was 4 months old but he slept through the WHOLE thing.

 Not this time!

 He was WIDE awake.

 There were times where I let him get down on the "grass" and crawl around.

He even went over the bumps on this hole!

Although the 30th of September represents the most painful day of our year, it was nice to take a painful day and fill it with love and memories. We had a wonderful family vacation and we are enjoying watching Abigayl's little brother hit all the milestones we couldn't wait to see her hit. It makes them twice as exciting! We cherish our memories of Abigayl and we really enjoy seeing Abigayl shine through Rowynn. God gave us a beautiful gift when he allowed us to see Abi in Rowynn.

Eureka Springs

  

Sadly, when we got to Eureka Springs, all of the shops has closed and there was not a lot to do to keep us all entertained.

But, we got to stay in the Basin Park Hotel in the heart of downtown Eureka Springs. The hotel was built in 1905 and it is always amazing to stay in old hotels.

Poor Rowynn didn't have much room to crawl around and I think he felt a little caged in. Also, since we were only staying for one night we didn't want to bring in all of his toys because we knew we would have to load them back up the next day. We all made the best of it though! It just meant a lot of floor and bed time with mom and dad.

                                                   As you can tell, he was so excited!

 

Before we left on Friday, we took a walk around all the shops and I think Rowynn just enjoyed being out and about! 

The funny thing about our room is that the shower and toilet were in one area and the sink was across the room. I love old hotels!!

Abi's Angel Day

Thursday was the second anniversary of Abigayl's angel day. As Thursday approached, I had a difficult time keeping "flashbacks" from haunting me. Thankfully, I had Rowynn to tend to so I had a lot of distraction.

Last year Rusty took off work and we spent the day together. This year, Rusty took the day off of work but we decided to go out of town. We had already booked a trip to Branson for Friday through Sunday so we decided to head to Eureka Springs on Thursday and stay the night there since it would only be an hour drive over to Branson. I hope that a family getaway will be our new tradition for Abigayl's angle day. I think staying busy and being away helped the hurt not be as severe. Not to say we didn't think about her; it just helped to be away and not be dwelling in the loss.

Thursday morning we went to visit Abigayl and left her a bouquet of pink and white flowers with butterflies in the bouquet. Rusty and Rowynn had picked out a beautiful pink, clip-on butterfly that we clipped in the bouquet and they also got her a ceramic pumpkin. We left Abigayl her gifts and sat with her with her little brother. Rowynn got to touch her marker and see her pretty face.

It is always so touching to watch Rowynn touch her marker. He sees and smiles at her pictures all throughout the house. I think it helps to have pictures of her on her maker so he can recognizer her there too.

Since Abigayl's passing, it has always been hard for me to go to her spot to visit. I thought that with time it would get easier for me but it has not let up yet. I still can't go visit her with out crying and feeling the pain of her loss. Maybe it is that seeing her spot really drives home that she was real and that I really did hold her in my arms and that I really did lose a child. I love her so much but sometimes she doesn't seem real to me. My time with her was so short that it felt like in the blink of an eye she was gone.

I miss my little girl so much. My heart hurts for her and I long for and Rowynn to be able to play in the yard together. I wish I could see her interact with her little brother. I wish I could hear her talk. I wish that when we were at Branson this weekend I could have ridden a ride with her. Fed her all the junk that I ate. I wish I could have done SO many things with her.

I thank God every day for every moment I did get to spend with her. I thank God that I have the knowledge of heaven and that I have faith that when I leave this world I WILL get to spend that time with her.