Happy St. Patricks Day!

Crazy hair!
Yummy taco!
Wearing my taco meat on my face!
Our little leprechaun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Early March

15 Weeks

Our Fish

We bought fish tonight! 2 male guppies. We asked Rowan to name them. So now we can introduce to you: on the left is Baba and on the right is Di. Di seems to be the leader and Baba follows him everywhere. So far both fish are fairly content.

I'm a Cheetah

Now, I can run fast like the cheetah!

February Snowstorm 2007

Snow on back patio.

The drift inside the fence is about 3 feet tall.

We packed Rowan upright in a drift. She didn't appreciate it.

Rowan and Dad made a snow man

using tomatoes for nose and eyes.

Rowan enjoyed eating her first snow ball.

Plows piled snow high upon the curb.

And like usual, the plow packed in the end of our driveway.

We received 6-7" of snow on Saturday, Feb. 24th.

We received another 6" of snow on Sunday, Feb. 25th morning.

They forecast more snow yet on Sunday.

Hope you are safe and warm this weekend!

Happy Valentines Day

This Valentines Day, Andy got the family a fish tank and filled it with origami fish. (Some of the fish fell down). Inside each fish was a love note. So I had to open up the fish to read them. Now we have the tank all set up and running and we just need to purchase some fish.













I also got a dozen red roses.
One of them broke, so Rowan got her own rose.







These are Rowan's new knitted overalls.
They work great with her diapers
and they look cute!

The Entertainer

First Baby Photo

Today I had my first prenatal appointment at 11 weeks gestation. I saw a new OB in Oconomowoc and liked him very much. I was pleasantly surprised when he offered to see the baby. I got to see the heart beat and the umbilical cord pulse. So the baby is real! Here is the evidence. I took the liberty of labeling the photo so you could better understand the orientation of the baby. Enjoy!
~Janea

Early February

Here's a few pictures to start out the month!

Yummy! Blueberry Pancakes!

A very rare snuggle caught on camera!

I've got pig tails!

Rowan's first beef taco.

Just plain silly!

Recent photos of Rowan

Here are some new photos of Rowan. She is eating soup here.
This is a picture of us "giraffes" at the Milwaukee Zoo.
The "giraffes" needed hats because it was cold outside.

Rowan is showing off one of her trial diapers. Bumkins All in One.
Dr. Seuss pattern - One Fish, Two Fish

Bumkins cover over a standard prefold.
Dr. Seuss pattern - One Fish, Two Fish

Monkey Doodlez All in One Diaper

Birth Slideshow

Here is a link to a neat birth slide show. It is not graphic, but you will see a lady in a bra.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=341D4EA36BA4AF87

Happy New Year!

It is now the year 2007, and along with a new year we bring new life! Here is how it started....
Andy and I found out that we were pregnant around December 20th and decided to tell our families when we got together for celebrating Christmas. We stayed with Andy's family in Green Bay on the weekend of Christmas Eve and visited with his mother's family on Christmas Day. Then we visited with Janea's family on the weekend of New Years Eve which happened to be when we opened Christmas presents with them. Both weekends were fairly busy and Rowan slept great 50% of the time.
So far Janea has only felt fatigue and no morning sickness. We are crossing our fingers that it will stay that way. Now that we are back home and not traveling quite as much, we can spend more time cleaning and setting up interviews for health care providers. Looks like we may not use the same folks as last time. It is still very early, so no decisions have been made as of yet. Our final deadline will be around Labor Day 2007, when baby will be ready to join us. Hopefully, we will have something accomplished before then!

Rowan is still doing great. She has been a walker since she was 10 mo old (she's now about 14 mo). She is currently working on running and climbing furniture. She has 6 teeth - four on top and 2 on bottom - and she seems to be constantly teething. She hasn't had an official word yet, and we hope that she will start that soon. As far as personality goes, she may end up being like her mother. She wants to do things in her own particular way and if you deviate from her plan, she will get very upset with you. She also seems to want to do things just like the grown-ups. I am sure that she will be a great sister.
The weather in Watertown has been exceptionally mild. In fact, I may go out for a stroll with Rowan as it is 44 degrees this morning. I thought this was winter! What happened to winter?
Hope you are all doing well and keeping in good spirits (or at least drinking good spirits)!
Andy and Janea

Early December

wanted to post some photos we have taken this month. We have a good amount of snow, decorated our Christmas tree...and as always, Rowan is up to her daily antics!

Can you spot my favorite ornament?

Rowan's Musical Debut

Thanksgiving Feast

This year we hosted the Allord family Thanksgiving dinner. Each family arrived on that Thursday and brought food with them. Most of the cousins participated in crafts such as hand print turkeys and decorated gingerbread people. Grandpa Allord led the family in prayer before dinner. Lauren requested that each family member write what they were thankful for and put it in a turkey bucket. At dinnertime, she and Elijah read each slip of paper. It was a very special moment. Before dessert, we tried to get some family shots in the living room. As you can see some of them turned out pretty good. The Jolly family departed that evening and the Allords stayed overnight. It was a good time and we were glad to have everyone with us for the holiday. One more month and we will be busy with Christmas travel.
Hope to see some snow by then!
~Janea, Andy & Rowan

Florida Vacation

We recently returned from our trip to Daytona, Florida. On the 15th we took two flights down with Andy's parents. Rowan slept on one flight and was pretty content on the other. When we arrived in Daytona, we visited with Andy's sister, Anne Marie, for a short time. Rowan got to meet her cousin Katie since she was born in June. Rowan did well, but seemed to be more interested in Katie's toys and Katie's cats. Because of space limitations we stayed at a condo rather than the Cummings residence. Dennis and Darlene rented a beachfront condo, our rooms on the 8th floor. We had quite a bit of nice space with a full kitchen, two bedrooms, two baths and a balcony. Our bedroom had a nice walk-in closet that was re-named "Rowan's Bedroom". She stayed in her "room" happily. While in Florida we walked the beach a lot, went to the Farmers/Flea Market, climbed a light house, saw a movie (Stranger Than Fiction) and had a Thanksgiving meal with the Cummings Family in our condo.

On the 20th we returned to Chicago and met up with Grandma and Grandpa Allord, who lovingly watched our dog, Maverick. He was very excited to see us again. We drove home that night and had smooth traffic....making it home before 8:00 PM. Yay! We look forward to seeing the rest of our family later this week for Thanksgiving. Hope you all have safe travels!
~Janea

End of October

Hi there! October is quickly coming to an end and I thought I'd post some pictures. We had a lot going on.
Rowan and Janea took a day to visit the Allords in Stevens Point. There were some snow flurries, but the drive was pleasant and safe. Rowan had a great time playing with Maylie. We tried to get them to take a nap, but the two of them decided they would rather "sing" a duet instead. I guess sleep was not on their agenda. Rowan also got to see her cousin Elijah after he came home from school, and her Uncle Doug. He came home from work for lunch. We had a blast!

On October 21st, Janea threw a surprise party for Andy and Rowan. Andy turned 30 and Rowan turned 1. It was a complete surprise to Andy, so I guess Janea was successful in planning. Andy was taken to Milwaukee to play paintball with 4 of his friends. 2 of the friends drove down from Green Bay. I hear that they had a great time even though some looked battered and bruised. When they returned, they were greeted by Jack and Donna, Dennis and Darlene, Aunt JoAnn and Uncle Don, and Lisa & Morgan Wiercinski. Janea had the three main rooms decorated with balloons and crepe paper streamers (orange and green). We had a lot of pizza, snacks and soda. Andy and Rowan opened presents and got a lot of very nice gifts. Rowan will have a lot of clothing for a while (which is a good thing). We ended the night with some carrot cake provided by Dennis and Darlene. Rowan thought it was yummy!


On Sunday, October 29, Watertown held trick or treating. Rowan was dressed as a performing monkey this year. Janea made the costume and was quite happy with how it turned out. She was afraid that her sewing skills would not be up to par for this project. Rowan, Janea, Andy and Maverick walked around 2 blocks in our neighborhood. We met some of our nicest neighbors and got a lot of compliments on Rowan's monkey suit. We also got a nice little stash of candy that Rowan will happily share with her Mom and Dad. She was able to eat one little pouch of Goldfish crackers. Rowan walked about 1/3 of the route and rode in her new wagon for the rest. Once again, she behaved like a little angel. Some people held out a candle bowl and tried to persuade her to take a piece on her own. She just stared at them in an unsure way. She would not take her own piece. How polite of her :)
After we returned home, we watched the second half of the Packers/Cardinals game. Needless to say, we were very happy to see that they won. Hopefully, the can keep it up!

We hope you had a good October and we look forward to November. There will be much to post next month!