The Cowley's

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Jenna turns 3!

Jenna turned 3 on Oct. 2nd. The Sunday before we had a family birthday party. Jenna wanted a Halloween party. It is an understatement to say that Jenna LOVES Halloween. We did our best to not disappoint!

Jenna taking a turn playing "Feed the Ghost"

How to play:

Standing over the ghost bag, hold a clothes pin up to your nose
and try to drop it into the bag.

See how many you can get in!

Abby LOVED this game.

She would say "my turn" after each person who went so she could go again.

Shannon even took a turn!

Next game was Pumpkin Bowling!

I took Jenna's bowling game and covered the pins with paper towels and tied them with black yarn so they looked like ghosts. Got some foam pumpkins from the dollar store and Voila!

So simple and so fun!

Jenna retrieving the pumpkin for a second try.

Claire throwing a pumpkin at the ghosts.

Claire and Jenna

Cousins and Best Friends

Jenna opening her gifts!

A book from Grandma and Papa

Clothes from Mama and Daddy

Blocks from Aunt Whitney

New boots!

An apron made by Mama and Grandma.

Waiting at the top of the stairs for the last gift.

A BIG smile for what she saw coming up the stairs!

A new Kitchen!

Jenna's reaction was priceless!

She saw what Austin was bringing up the stairs, started jumping up and down and yelling "Wahoo! Wahoo!"

Unfortunately I didn't get it recorded because I was trying to take still photos.

It was the hit of the night!

All the cousins had fun playing together!

Notice Jenna is already on the phone in the background. :)

Happy Birthday to You Dear Jenna!

Decorating cupcakes

Mallory

Smile Jenna!

Jenna's decorated cupcake

Oct. 2, 2012

Being grumpy and not let Daddy take her picture.

A happier birthday girl at preschool!

What a pretty 3 year old!

A final present

Jenna was thrilled to get a shopping cart to go with her kitchen!

For a 3 year old, she got a haul!

Jenna at 3:

Jenna loves to dance and sing.

Any song she knows and hears she says "It's my song!"

Her favorite night time song is Twinkle, Twinkle.

Curious George is her favorite TV show.

She loves Disney movies and music.

Swan Princess is her favorite movie right now.

The ipod is her life line! She knows how to use it better than mama and daddy!

Her favorite color is purple.

She sleeps in a big girl bed now.

She loves treats!

Her favorite food is bananas.

She loves to go to preschool and play with her friends.

She loves to talk on the phone and mimic what she hears mom and dad say.

She is excited to be a big sister.

She keeps us laughing all the time!

We love our Jenna!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

August and September

August and September came and went with many comings and goings!

Jenna and I taking a Sunday afternoon nap.

My belly has gotten too big for her to cuddle up to the front of me,

so she used my thigh for a pillow.

Wearing Eliza's socks and cowboy boot slippers at the cabin.

She is such a silly girl always looking for the reaction she'll get for doing things!

Playing her plastic spoon violin.

I don't know where she comes up with these things!

One of her many days waking up with "crazy hair".

We spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Cowley at Aunt Whitney's house.

Jenna had a fun time helping to rake their millions of leaves!

Wanted to have a go with the shovel.

My 32 week belly.

Jenna had a rough day.

She had fallen at preschool and scrapped up her elbow and

when she got home she turned right into the cutting board.

She ended up with a bump on her head.

Poor thing!

Showing off her owwie.

School started and we have been running ever since!

Austin is at a new school this year and working toward his Master's degree in Administration.

We're just biding our time till baby sister arrives!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Family Pictures

Due to my brother Patrick and his family moving out of state this summer, my family had pictures done. Didn't want to be pregnant in them, but not much I could do. :)

My siblings and spouses

(Love how my belly is hidden!)

Siblings and spouses with my parents

My immediate family

Alyson, Eliza, Josh, Dad, Patrick, Mom, Robert, Shannon, Caleb, Meghan, Marianne

Group candid shot

Grandkids and Grandma

I love the light shining through Jenna's hair!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

The most requested activity by any of the grandkids is to have Grandma or Grandpa read to them.

My mom and dad sure love their grandkids!

The whole gang

Love Jenna's face in this one!

24 and counting!

It was definitely a challenge to get this many people looking and somewhat smiling.

I love my family and am grateful to have them all in my life!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Some Summer Fun

We have had a fun summer together. Here are some of the things we've been doing!

Jenna has enjoyed helping Daddy wash the cars in the driveway.

Playing in the soap!

My sister Eliza had her final ballet show with the
company she's danced for for the past 6 years.

Jenna and I went on a date to the show.

All dolled up and ready to head to the show!

My 20 week belly.

Mama and Jenna

We spent some time at Grandma and Papa's house digging up the rocks in their garden.

Claire and Jenna helping with the digging.

Best friends and cousins!

Jenna is now in a BIG GIRL BED!

We took off the front of her crib and turned it into a toddler bed.

The transition has been awesome.
I was worried about her being up and down
all the time in the night, but she stays in bed until morning.

She loves the freedom of getting up on her own.

Showing off her bed!

Such a big girl!

Playing with Play-Doh has been one of Jenna's favorite summertime activities.

The teacher in me loves how this is helping her fine motor skills!

Rolling a snake.

Using a cookie cutter to make a cat.

POTTY TRAINED!!

This summer we tackled the task of potty training.

It has been frustrating because Jenna is the one who totally calls the shots.

However, she's done really well. We've been lucky to have very few accidents.

She asked to have a magazine to look at while she went.

She is so a "monkey see, monkey do" girl!

Having some fun at Pottery Barn!

We spent an afternoon with Grandma Summerhays,
aunts, uncles and cousins at the Living Planet Aquarium.

It was a lot of fun!

The highlights were the otters (we saw one eat a fish right in front of us),
the penguins, and the sting rays.

Jenna kept going over to the sting rays to watch them.
She thought it was neat to be able to be so close to them.

Measuring up to an Emperor Penguin.

(She's taking a picture of me with her fingers. Little goof!)

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Curious George

Jenna's favorite TV show is Curious George. We stream old episodes through Netflix and so she watches it ALL the time!
One morning we were outside doing some weeding and yard work. Jenna insisted on having a pair of gloves since mom and dad were both wearing a pair. I gave her another pair I had and she was quite content. A few minutes later we look over and she has her shoes and socks off and she's put the gloves on her feet! Austin looked over and busted up. She looked at him and smiled and stated, " I'm a frog!" Then she said, "I'm like Curious George! I have 4 hands!" We were in tears from laughing so much! Oh, the imagination of a 2 1/2 year old!

Notice she put her socks on her hands.

Little goof!

She definitely is our little Monkey!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

31

Last month I turned 31. Ugh. I don't feel 31, but unfortunately, the reality is, I am. I would still love to be 25! Oh well, right?
That day couldn't have gone any better, though. It was a school day and usually I try to keep my birthday on the DL at work. But this year my whole class knew and it was kind of fun. They were really sweet telling me Happy Birthday all day. My principal, secretary, and librarian came down to my room and sang to me. They gave me flowers and candy! Then my room-mom comes in with some of the other mom's of students and brings me this amazing school supply cake! It was so fun. They also brought donuts for the class. Everyone sang to me. I felt really special that day.
My sister came over to watch Jenna so Austin and I could go to dinner just the two of us. I was craving Olive Garden, so we went there. :) Love that!
At home that night we had my dad and a couple of my sisters come over for cake. My mom was out of town for work. I love that it was a no stress event.

My yummy pineapple strawberry cake!

My cute school supply cake!

Funny story: A couple of days before my birthday a gift arrived in the mail for me. When Austin got home he took Jenna in the bedroom to show her what it was. A minute later Jenna comes out of the bedroom saying something about my present. I had my Webelos there so I didn't quite hear what she was saying, so I said, "What did you say about my present?" She replies, "Mama, it's a necklace!" From the bedroom I hear Austin say, "You weren't supposed to tell her!" I bust up laughing. I told her it was supposed to be a secret and to go tell daddy sorry. She runs back into the bedroom and says, "I'm sorry daddy, it's supposed to be a secret!" It was really funny.