Rowland Ramblings: January 2014

scenes from our blizzard...notice you cant even tell where our cultisac is out there....

a drift on our deck

the driveway path I shoveled so Will could make it home from work

1 down 11 to go, 2014 is well underway. We rang in the new year in Emporia and celebrated a late Christmas with the Rowland family. Then we headed home and just in time because we spent the next 2 weeks (well practically) snowed in! The first major winter storm of the year hit us hard with a blizzard! We got 12 inches of snow and some of the coldest temperatures in over 20 years. Then several days later another 2 inches. Rex's first whole week back to pre-school got cancelled and we definitively broke in all the new presents from Christmas.

enjoying a warm-ish day to get outside for a bit

Will and Beth:

This month brings some major changes to our normal daily lives. Will's shift change comes January 22nd and this year he has been assigned to the night shift. Which means he will be working from 6pm-6am. Which also means he will be sleeping from approximately 7am-2 or 3pm daily. Which would also mean Will needs a quiet place to sleep all day. Ummmm Stay at home Mom with 1 year old soon to be tantrum throwing 2 years old and 3 year old soon to be frustrating 4 year old are also going to be home all day everyday and not sleeping this should be interesting. The thought of it is a little daunting at first but I think we can make it work. Our plan is to have Will sleep in the extra bedroom in the basement and the boys and I will do as much playing as possible upstairs in their rooms during the day while Will sleeps. We will also do as many errands, outings, and when the weather gets nice playing outside as we can in the morning hours. We will seriously miss having Daddy around as much on his days off and we will just really try to make the most of the family time that we do get. We are a week and a half into the new schedule and so far its going amazingly well, praise the Lord! Will is actually getting good sleep in the basement and we are doing great upstairs playing!

Rex:

Rex loves his new light up guns.

Super Heroes are big this month especially Batman, Ironman, and Dr. Doom and so were all the new Star Wars Lego sets from Christmas. I think Rex had a growth spurt this month! (maybe we can finally get rid of all the 24 month pants!). He has been eating, eating, eating, and sleeping hard at night, and we have been noticing pants and sleeves being a little short on many outfits. Speaking of outfits, Rex is starting to dress himself! This really shouldn't be exciting news for a 3.5 year old but getting dressed has been a big battle for a long time with him and suddenly I lay his clothes out and he has been taking off his pajamas and putting on his clothes unassisted (or mostly unassisted socks are still tricky). This means I may not have to go to college with him and dress him every morning before class after all! YAY!

Spiky Rexie after a bath.

How I wish we played with Legos.....neatly, orderly, in an organized fashion

How Rex plays with Legos.....but they keep him so busy and entertained and I cant say I hate rebuilding them nightly.

Rex getting to play with his Angry Birds telepods on Papas ipad

pretty sure I should never let these 2 sleep together in the same bed

I was moving all the furniture back in place after I took the tree down and the boys LOVED the couches together. Its funny how such a small things is so much fun sometimes.

Grant:
Grants had a pesky cold for the first part of the month but has stayed healthy since then. Yay for healthy Grant. Grant just talks and talks to us these days. He is full of phrases and sentences and its so fun to see what he's gonna say next. He and Rex have even had a few first conversations all on their own. They have also been having some good playtimes together this month. Mostly they run around and chase each other with guns but they have also had some sweet moments of sharing a toy together and getting along, they are also getting into mischief together....surprise surprise. Grant continues to do better sleeping all night and is sleeping until 7 or even later most days. Hallelujah!