A Whole LOT of nothin...

I swear, every day as I am showering or driving (my quiet time and reflection times these days), I think, "I need to blog about this...I need to update this...I need to write about this..." then the day goes on, gets away from me, I forget and bam...the moment is GONE! Story of my life, but wouldn't change it for the world.

I absolutely love being at home with Rhowan and not having to work. Yes, it is a lot of work, but it is so much fun. The teething makes it challenging at times, but I wouldn't change it for anything. This is my first summer not working since junior year of high school, so I have just been enjoying. The other day she woke from a nap, hysterical might I add because I was in the shower while she woke up, and I sat there, holding her, on our bed, in my towel, with her cuddling up next to me, just taking it in, the times where she will just lay there and stare at me, not trying to get away to crawl, put something in her mouth, etc. are rare these days, so I had to take full advantage. I had a full on conversation with her, cried, reflected, made promises of the mom I hope to be and want to be for her and just loved it. Ok, so I am a bit crazy, well a lot crazy, but I just love being a mom, I feel like it is my true calling. Yes, I have always wanted to be a teacher, but I, for the first time in a loooong time, feel totally complete, minus the frustration of not being able to find a job that I have been so passionate about and have dreamt of, I don't even focus on that anymore because I am a mom and will never get these years back. So I stopped worrying about the job front and crisis our state is in and economy, we are all struggling, but let's keep looking ahead at the positives and not worry about that for now!

So yes, I am still looking for a job and hoping to find one so that we can have two incomes, I am just not letting it control me. I am trying to be a better person in the sense of stress at least ;). I leave messes now, small ones, baby steps to leaving messes. I used to walk in and be extremely anal that things were not in their place or out of their order and would instantly start picking things up, putting them away, putting Rhowan's toys in their place, etc. FREAK, right? Well I am slowly trying to let go of that and realize, the house will get out of order and it's going to be ok, you can clean it before you go to bed. ENJOY your moments with Rhowan and relax. So I am trying to get better about that.

My sister and I have started yoga at a local yoga studio. We had our first class on Sunday and it went very well. We started with a basic class, stretching and real calm breathing and balancing. I was sore the next day but felt really relaxed leaving. I felt like my back got stretched so well after having problems with it ever since my bad epidural experience. So we thought we would step it up a notch and do the "all levels" class for a challenge. It was two and a half hours long of deep breathing from your obdela (spelled phonetically, he kept talking about our obdela???) then long, deep stretches, holding positions I never knew my body could do, sweating my freaking butt off. I was so into the class and keeping up with the guy that I couldn't even look over to see how my sister was hanging. I just kept trying to stay "in tune with my zen" and focused, but wanted to laugh at times and think, "am I in a movie?" Anyway, I love it, it is a great work out and relaxing and it gives us both some much needed quiet time. We have been walking as well, I am trying to get rid of these last 10-15 lbs that I have so unacceptingly kept on. However, I am sure Vegas food and drinks, my meals that I can sometimes fit in and snacks I make up for with no meals don't help the cause. Whatever, I am still working on it.

What else? My baby/hubby is coming home next week!!!! SUPER excited to have daddy home. I am strill trying to cross off as many of my never ending to do's during the summer. It is baby proofing time, we are in the process, I feel like it will be any day now that she starts taking those steps on her own. She stands alone without holding onto anything for longer and longer periods of time. She is into everything, but surprisingly listens and understands the word, "no!" She is talking more and more, trying to repeat whatever you tell her to say. She actually tries to say Lexi and Auntie,, me and my sister will say, "Auntie or Lexi" then Rhowan will say it. It's cute. She is just getting so big. Rhowan has done two photo shoots for a lady's clothing line Baby Lulu. She sells her clothes to specialty shops and boutiques. www.babylulu.com She will be in her upcoming catalog, so I am very excited to see the outcome. She does so well, changes through all the different outfits, smiles, does her poses and then she is exhausted. :) It is fun and makes us feel a lil special. :)

Well I know this was all a bit scattered, but welcome to my brain and my world! I guess I should start carrying a pad of paper around for all those moments I think, " I gotta blog about this." Or hey, an even better idea, babe, I know you are reading...an IPAD would be tremendous and solve all these problems! :)

It's my bedtime. Hope you all are doing well and more to catch up on later.

Rhowan's 9 month check up

Can you believe our lil princess is nine months as of yesterday?! Wow, where does the time go? I get so sad as she gets bigger and cry with every milestone, however as she is coming into her own lil personality and getting bigger, it is getting more fun. She is at an age that she just loves to interact with people, especially little kids and babies. She gets so excited. We'll be walking in a stroller and she will see another baby or kid and go crazy, squealing, kicking her feet and getting so excited that she can't even contain herself. Ahh, the simple things in life that make her happy!

Our princess had a Dr appt yesterday, only one shot to be given, yay! She was a good girl at the Dr, our first appt where mommy had to put her big girl panties and go alone with her...yes, my big girl panties, I hate doing things like that alone!
Rhowan weighed in at 20 lbs and 7 oz. she is in the 75th percentile for weight. She is 29 1/2 inches tall in the 95 th percentile. She is almost off her chart for height, she hit a huge growth spurt from her last appt at six months. She was a good girl, a busy girl. The Dr was probably thinking, control your baby lady, as Rhowan was crawling all over the office, under the table, pushing chairs, etc. I just continued talking and continued to pick her up, let her scream, put her down, all while talking with my 101 questions. But hey doc, my daughter is a crawling machine and there is NO holding her back! lol.
The Dr said she looked and sounded great. Her gums are swollen all the way around, so teething in more areas then one. She is a little "advanced" in her gross and fine motor skills and an early crawler. The Dr was very excited to see her babbling so much, waving bye and hi, saying "momma" and "uh oh" every time she would throw something down on the ground, her favorite game, as is with most babies.
So, I know I have created a monster by rocking Rhowan to sleep for naps and bedtime...I knew that all alone but it was something I started while nursing and just loved having that time with her and never stopped it. Now, the rocking is turning to full on bouncing, walking, pacing and humming full force to get her to fall asleep...unless, she has had a very busy day then she knocks out. Like tonight for example, she crawled her little booty around all day, had two play dates, went with mommy grocery shopping and took a bath and bottle and was OUT! Yes, that's what I love. So, the Dr didn't stress it too much, she said, do what my comfort level is, it will take time, but I should start putting her down half asleep and letting her put herself to sleep. hmmm, yeah sounds all great when you say it doc, but not gonna happen. Oh am I in a world of hurt when baby number 2 comes. Whatever, I don't even care, I love my baby girl and in 18 years she will NOT want to cuddle with me...it will be slamming doors, attitudes and maybe a few choice words in there, so I am taking advantage people. :) LOL.
So back to my update. It is time to start Rhowan on 3 meals a day and more nutritious foods. I have raised thus far quite the picky baby...warm bottles to a certain temp or forget about it, she will NOT take a bottle and you are in a world of tears my friend. Well she only likes, plain bland ol oatmeal with not enough nutrients that she needs. The Dr says, oatmeal once a day and its time to bring in more foods (which I knew already, I've been reading up on ideas and knew after all our travels I would start.) I tried the whole jarred food thing while in Alaska, but after mommy's yummy homemade food, she pretty much shook her head no so hard that I got the point. Are you saying diva yet? Would you expect anything less? Why would she want fake tasting, processed food after bland, healthy, homemade food?! lol. So we are starting on that. I will update you on how that is going later, stay tuned.

Since we've been home from Alaska, we went to Vegas and now its time for all the laundry all over again and can finally get settled being at home. I have quite the lil traveler on my hands and am so happy I took every ones advice, stopped being so frantic and anal and started her early getting used to being off her typical schedule. I have learned that she will adjust, structure and routine is good, but she will get back on it, so getting off it won't kill her. I am hoping I don't eat my words in a week if she hasn't gotten back on her schedule after all this being on the go.

Rhowan is pulling herself up on everything, standing on her own, wanting to take those steps but only goes as far as her hands can hold on walking along furniture, waving bye and hi, saying momma, uh oh, shakes her head no, laughs and smiles like crazy, eats good, grabs anything she can get her hands on, so much fun! I just love being home with her, teaching her, spending time with her and loving her. I am taking it all in and enjoying each moment for what it is. The house to do's, my own personal to do's can all wait. Yep, I said it, it can wait! Aren't you proud of me?! I am even getting better and not cleaning up her toys the very second she is done with them and leaving them there or leaving a bottle in the sink to wash for later. I know right, big freakin deal!

I will post updated pics and updates on our summer adventures later.

Talk to you all soon.

Lots of hugs and kisses your way.

Leaving Alaska...

It was sooooo incredibly hard to leave TJ/Daddy in Alaska. He begged for us to stay with him until August and I felt absolutely terrible for not planning to. I just felt like there was so much to do and take care of at home, I felt unsettled. But then, I felt like I was ripping our family apart and all TJ kept telling me, was that as long as we were all together who cares about anything else. Well yes, true, however, we all know what a stress case I can be and I just couldn't do that. I knew I'd be lonely when he was at the field and Grandma could only stay for so long to do things with us and venture out with us while Daddy was at baseball. We pretty much cried in the airport before going through security and then I cried all the way through security. I am sure people were staring at me like what is this woman's problem, but I didn't care! Thank goodness for Grandma being there because she pretty much put all our stuff in bins, 9 to be exact, that is how much crap we had, while I stood there crying and doing nothing to help her! :(

I just felt awful, torn, sad, and already missing TJ like crazy.

However, looking back at all our pics now, the ones I posted are seriously just a few glimpses, I am so happy that we were able to go, make a vacation out of part of it and see and do so much. We really did do a lot and I grew to love Alaska. It is a beautiful state, with so much nature, friendly people, no sales tax :), and just an awesome place. It reminded me of our childhood camping days, traveling the states with my parents, it reminded me of being in Europe with the weather and all the green around you. It was just a great trip. I wish the sun came out more that last week and a half we were there, but we made the best of the weather and didn't let it stop us!

We can't wait for daddy to get home, but we are so proud of him and what he is doing. Everyone loves him out there and the locals of the team were all begging us to move there! :)

Keep following your heart babe, you are an amazing dad, husband and coach and have truly learned how to balance it all. I was so proud sitting at the games each day watching you coach.

We have been home almost a week, and lil miss Rhowan's sleeping schedule is still all out of whack. You'd be surprised how much daylight 24 hours of the day really throws you off. Even though its only an hour behind our time here at home, we all got totally messed up. Rhowan some nights goes down by 9 now that we are home and does pretty well, but sleeping in til like 11 am, yes, 11 am, can you believe that. However, other nights she is wide awake past midnight, ready to play, take baths, etc. Not to mention she is teething and I think ready to cut her top two teeth, so that hasn't helped the sleeping cause much, but we are dealing. I am for now, letting her just get as much sleep as she needs and will worry about a bed time later, she is still good with her routine, its just the times that are way off, but I figure as long as she is getting her ten plus hours a night, which she is doing about 10-14 hours, then all is good! I am not working this summer, so we will adjust slowly back into it and let her get back on track on her time for awhile.

Well now that we are home, we are getting ready for a weekend Vegas trip for Auntie Kate's 21st! Then its time for park days, beach days, and some fun in the sun at home for the rest of the summer. Oh and the 101 things to do on my never ending list that I'd like to accomplish this summer, but hey, enjoy each moment I have at home with Rhowan is number 1 on that priority list!

Keep the prayers coming for TJ to get a coaching job when he gets home and a job for me would be great too! We love and miss you all and hope you've enjoyed our Alaska pictures and updates.

Love,

The Bruce's

And our final day in Alaska...

We found a favorite restraunt while being there, Humpy's. They had the best Halibut fish and chips and bloody mary's. We had our last lunch there after our flight tour.

Rhowan was only awake for the take off and landing, she knocked out during the entire flight tour!

Our take off...

TJ as co pilot...and a nervous wreck, but lookin good as always babe!

Mommy, Grandma and Rhowan in the back, ready for our take off! We got to experience such beautiful views, more glaciers, we saw moose roaming, no bears, but that's ok. They even did a landing right next to a glacier, so we could take some pictures. This was a fun experience, also on the top things we did while there.

More pics...

Our last day in Alaska we wanted to do the ultimate tour to see Alaska, a flight tour on the little plane you see below. TJ was a nervous wreck, he is scared of heights, but he was such a trooper! He didn't talk much throughout the tour, we all had our own headset and mic, it was pretty cool. It was an incredible way to see all the mother nature that makes up Alaska!

Our plane has arrived for our flight tour! It was just us in the plane with our own pilot/tour guide!

4th of July after Daddy's game. They had a double header and then a firework show, which was pretty good. The fireworks didn't begin til midnight, but they weren't bad for not being completely dark in Alaska, it was a pretty good show! After the game, TJ came up to sit with us and watch the show as Rhowan was passed out sleeping, the booming didn't even phase her! However, she was wide awake after we got into the car, hence her sleeping is all out of whack right now! Oh well, for a good cause! :)

At one of daddy's games...she is just teething on this, she never actually got a bite of it, stop judging me! LOL!

Daddy coaching 3rd base. It was so awesome watching him be in charge. His confidence, his passion and just seeing in him action up close and personal was priceless. It makes all the ups and downs of being a coach's wife well worth it! :) I am so proud of him!

More Alaska Pics...

First train ride...on our way to Whittier...there was such beautiful scenery on the way, this totally reminded me of Europe and how much I want to go back. I wish TJ was able to join us on this day, but he had a game that evening and wasn't too interested in the Glaciers at the time! :)

This was on our glacier boat tour, probably one of the highlights of this trip...amazing to see in person, never really understood all the hype of a glacier or what it actually was...it is just a ton of compacted, frozen, ice...pretty amazing to see. We even got to see pieces of it falling off, I forget the technical term for that, but it was really neat. This was a long day, with the train ride to Whittier, but it was amazing. We even saw whales on this cruise, pretty awesome!

Grandma, Rhowan and mommy

She was such a good girl on the boat cruise.

Rhowan and Grandma (look at all the brochures grandma is holding...we went to the visitor center to plan out our trip and all that we wanted to do!)

More Adventures...

The petting zoo with Grandma...Rhowan wasn't too into touching the animals!

The gift shop at the Acquarium in Seward...

At the animal conservation center...yes, that is a live, brown bear walking toward Rhowan, behind the fence!

Alaska Adventures

We stopped at the visitor center on our drive to Seward...this was our day long trip when we went to the animal conservation center, stopped at Portage where there is a glacier and did some sight seeing.
What a good lil traveler she is...

Trying to get the pluggy out of her mouth, but hey, you can't always ask for perfect family pics with lil ones, right?! This was the first glacier we saw while in Alaska, behind us, between the two mountains. Yes, white snow on the mountains still, in June!

A stop along the highway on our day long drive...

A day in downtown Anchorage

A few more pics...

Rhowan and Ivy today before going to daddy's baseball game

Moose at the Conservation Center

Seward Highway, driving along the scenic route...

Alaska Pictures

Brown bears at the Wild Life Conservation Center (basically a drive through/walk through zoo)

and bison...lots of them

Fish at the Seward, AK Acquarium...

On our drive to Seward, I guess I missed the shot of the glacier...oh well, we'll post real glacier pics later!

On our drive home at almost midnight...beautiful views

Alaska Adventures

After an afternoon at the Anchorage, AK zoo...This is her new bff, Ivy...she loves her so much and gives her kisses non stop! :)

We saw black bears, brown bears and...

real polar bears! It was amazing! Polar bears won't bother humans, black bears may, but be aggressive and fight back, brown bears, you need to play dead, they will kill you. There are all three types in the wild here in Alaska that they tell you to watch for when hiking, etc.

The tigers were pacing back and forth...they were beautiful...

and here is Rhowan watching them pace. She loved the tigers and the wolves, (I think she thought they were a bunch of Jada's in a pack!)



As you all can see we took a trip to the zoo this week. We have actually done a lot, so stay tuned. The zoo here is very small, but actually a perfect afternoon and day adventure. It wasn't too overwhelming or big, it was just enough to keep you busy and not totally ware you out. Rhowan has been such a good girl, she is a traveler, just like her mommy. She didn't last long in the stroller, so baby bjourn it was, "Little Miss Nose Bud" doesn't like to miss a thing! We took so many pictures of all the animals, but most are on our camera, so I will post those as we get home from our trip. After our trip to the zoo, we dropped daddy off to the field for his games for the evening and spent the rest of the day out and about until game time that evening. Oh and Rhowan's new bff (best friend forever), Ivy, she gives her kisses, and hugs, again, a Jada look alike. lol.

We have had a busy week, we drove into Girdwood, a small ski resort town. Then the next day drove about 2 hours out to a small, small town Seward. We stopped at a Wild Animal Conservation Center on our way, I will post those pics as well, it was weird, kind of like a drive thru zoo, then we saw the Portage Glacier, took a few pics, walked through the visitor center and then continued on our drive to Seward. We did a quick visit to the aquarium because it was closing soon, then walked around the small town, walked to the boat docks where there were some restaurants and had some of the most amazing seafood ever. Yes, I have been venturing out with seafood. I have come to love, love halibut, it is so fresh here and yummy! :) Not a fan of the Alaskan King Crab, I know, I know, just the texture, I can't do it. Nor am I real big on the Salmon, its kind of too fishy for me, the smell or the taste of fish just doesn't do it for me. Halibut taste like chicken so I like the halibut fish and chips and halibut by itself as well.

TJ was over our tourism after the scenic drive to Seward, so Grandma (Teri), Rhowan and myself took a scenic train ride along the coast to Whittier, a small, small, super small town (no single dwelling home, everyone lives in one complex and you have to take a tunnel to get in and out of the town that is shared with the train that goes there), so we took the train ride and did a boat, glacier tour. That was absolutely beautiful and AMAZING. Soooo gorgeous and neat to see up close and personal. Honestly, I never really knew the true definition of a glacier. But we learned it! I will post all the other pics from our adventures this week in a bit.
We have been keeping busy, but took it easy these past two days. Tomorrow we have a double header at the Anchorage Bucs field with a firework show following, then just Monday and Tuesday left to fit in whatever we have not done yet! We hope you all have a safe and fabulous 4th of July and will talk to you all soon!

xoxoxo,

The Bruce's