Rowan Elizabeth

Meet Rowan Elizabeth Fuller!

She was born at 39 weeks on March 17,2010 at 7:52am.
She was 21 inches long and weighed...

That's right, 8lbs 11.6 oz!!!

Mommy and Daddy were very surprised when that number was announced in the operating room to say the least!

After an hour in the recovery room and Daddy sharing the good news with our family in the lobby we were able to head up to our postpartum room. Rowan was still getting a bath in the nursery when we arrived in the room so the girls (and our family) were able to come in and "check on Mommy". After about 30 minutes Rowan made her way to the room and Daddy grabbed her Big Sisters in the waiting room to come meet their new baby sister.

Here's Peyton (L) and Grace (R) seeing Rowan for the first time.

To which Peyton announced, "She's beautiful!". We couldn't agree more!

Rowan then played her first (and I'm sure not last) game of hot potato!

Here she is with Grandma & Grandpa.


Ganmamma, Popa, Nana, and Daddy.


Luv


Uncle Ryan


Not even a couple hours old and we decided to test Rowan by playing with fire as we put our newborn daughter into the hands of toddlers!

Peyton was first...

...with the help of Grandma.


Then it was Grace's turn...

Grandma again played a very important role!


Daddy's Girls...
(Peyton, Mommy, Rowan, & Grace)

I beg you to remember that I had just had surgery about two hours earlier... thank you.


Here is Daddy getting back into the groove.


Although with just one baby to change this time around I don't expect any complaining, which will be nice.

Here is Rowan all geared up and ready to ride to her new home in the outfit her big sister Grace picked out for her. That will be our explanation when she grows up at least.

Our little bunny!

So far (on Day 13) we couldn't ask for a better baby! She rarely cries, only when she's hungry or getting her diaper changed, if that. She's been sleeping well and we haven't had to use a bottle yet. Coming from our last experience of running the dishwasher 3 times a day and using around 16 bottles or more a day - this has been a HUGE change from what we are used to. She rolls with the many hugs & kisses, excited shouting, and singing her big sisters throw at her at any given moment with the grace one would expect of a third child. She left the hospital weighing 8lbs even and when we went to the doctor 4 days later for a check-up she was already up to 8lbs 4oz. Our doctor thought she was on pace to exceed her birth weight by the time we go back for our 2 week check-up (this Friday).

She was declared "perfect" by our doctor after the check-up and we couldn't agree more!

We are so happy she is finally a part of our family and can't wait for the memories to come!

Although in full disclosure, we are a tad terrified of the three weddings in our future.

Thanks to everyone for the sweet wishes in person, through the mail, and on Facebook! We are so lucky to have such great friends share in these exciting times!

Am I crazy?!

I get asked a lot if the girls are ready for the new addition. To be honest, it seems like right now that answer is an easy "yes". Maybe I am super naive but the girls couldn't be more excited about Baby Sister's arrival (tomorrow)! I am pretty sure they do actually grasp the concept. They know she's in my tummy, that she will come out when I'm at the hospital, and that she will come home with us soon. The only thing I'm not sure about is our hospital stay after the c-section when they'll come visit but won't be able to stay with Mommy & Daddy and Baby Sister... we'll see though. I know they have a lot of fun things ahead of them this week to keep their mind off of all of these changes which makes me feel much better about the whole situation.

In preparation for the new addition we started talking a while ago about the changes that would happen when Baby Sister gets here. Here is what we have all mutually agreed on:

1. They will split diaper changing duty - alternating who gets the stinky diapers every other day.
2. While they won't have to do the laundry they will be expected to fold it.
3. They will be expected to entertain and and stop any crying outbursts Baby Sister might have (although not
during the night - that would be cruel!)
4. And my favorite - other duties as assigned.

So obviously I'm kidding here, Peyton will only have to take care of #1 and #2 while Grace will be expected to complete #3 and #4.

About 20 or so days ago we made a "Countdown Chain". You know, like the kind you did in school for Christmas where you would tear off a ring every day as you anticipated your presents on Christmas morning? Same concept. I gave the girls each a sheet of paper and had them use crayons and stickers to decorate their pages. Once the stickers came into play the crayons might as well have been broccoli. They wouldn't touch them. I took their sticker books, aka pages, and cut out long strips that eventually made up our chain and put it on the mantle. I hoped this would give them an idea of the time frame we were talking about since weeks are a tad hard to grasp still. Days of the week we are good on, but once you get past Sunday into NEXT Monday I'm pretty sure we lose them. While I'm not sure it helped a whole lot regarding the time concept, I think they started to appreciate we were finally able to do some things for our baby sister, besides shop.

Which leads me to my super awesome and HIGHLY insane idea for our last weekend as a family of four (hence this post's title). Stephen had to work on Saturday morning for a couple hours so I thought, this would be the perfect time, at 9 months pregnant and by myself, to break out the easel that Grandma & Grandpa bought the girls for Christmas and PAINT a picture for Baby Sister! (By the way, Grandma & Grandpa, the drum set should be arriving today if not tomorrow at the latest!)

Here they are all smocked up and ready to go!

Peyton doesn't like the flash (who does?) and she's learned to anticipate it with great accuracy.


My Picasso's... (Peyton on the left, Grace on the right)



Here is Peyton showing me just how difficult it is to get the proper amount of paint on the brush so as to make sure it takes longer than 24 hours to dry.



Here is Grace double brushing it.



Here is Peyton showing Grace the intricacies and power of the color blue when applied correctly.



Grace proudly proclaiming, "Somebody get me a GALLERY!"



Here is Grace's painting for Baby Sister...

We are still working on smiling AT the camera.


Here is Peyton's finished painting for Baby Sister...

I like to call it "no stone/paper left unturned" for her use of the ENTIRE page. I promise she was very excited and happy about her painting for Baby Sister and I promise the kitchen is now clean.

This whole experience ended up being almost better than an hour of Play-doh (crazy I know!). The BEST was when either of them would go check out the others painting. It was hilarious! They would shout "It's beautiful, Grace!" or "I love it, Peyton!" Here is some video of one of those exchanges as Peyton goes over to view Grace's work. Look closely at Peyton really studying Grace's picture. Too cute!

I love Peyton's encouraging words for Grace, "It's beautiful".
She's not too excited when she says it but it's enough encouragement to propel Grace to do her very best for Baby Sister on this project.

Each of their paintings, 4 total (which have finally dried), are taped to Baby Sister's closet doors to welcome her home.

And show her what she's up against.

Stranger Danger!

A BIG shout-out to the wonderful teachers the girls are lucky to have at our daycare. They are awesome and the girls enjoy them so much!

Case in point: I posted a status update on Facebook that one of them saw and she was sweet enough to realize my children (and the rest of the class) needed some serious help fending off strangers!


They worked for a whole week on strangers and what to do if someone approached them. We even got handouts so we could re-enforce what they talked about at school. It was great!

Then they were sent home with their art projects... the BEST ones we've ever seen!!!

Here is Peyton's "strangers" page.

Considering this lady has been in prison before, it's safe to say Peyton's gut reaction to label her as a "stranger" is dead on! However, I did let her know that if this lady offered to pay for her college education and wedding that we should re-evaluate her "stranger" status. Also, puppies can be strangers too!

And here is Grace's "strangers" page.

First of all, kudos to Grace for going above and beyond and not only showing a stranger but also representing a common theme they often use to lure in their child targets, candy. Second of all, and most importantly, if Grace see's this particular "stranger" (aka Jake Gyllenhaal) I told her to bring him to mommy.

Grab your sunglasses!

You're certainly going to need them!!!

I've mentioned previously the beautiful color we've chosen to apply to our precious 3rd child's room... Planet Krypton Green.

Actually, Behr Paints, found at your local Home Depot, calls it:

After applying it, I'm thinking I would have called it "Fairway Missed".

We thought it was going to be subtle... until Stephen and some friends put on the tinted primer. That's when we knew there was no turning back and our precious daughter might resent us for the rest of her life. After adding the coats of paint it has toned down slightly. But we are still offering sunglasses for visitors to borrow before walking in. Just pretend you're at an amusement park (Disney) at a 3D attraction!

We promise once you enter there will be throwing up, crying, and messy pants... just like the real 3D rides!!!

So at this point there is nothing else I can do or say but show you a picture of the crib, decorations, and the "Green Monster" wall.

I beseech you NOT turn off the lights at this point in the blog.

Disclaimer: We are not responsible for any medical conditions caused by viewing the neon color found in the above picture.

Overall, the room really is growing on us. I just keep reminding myself of the positives - like when she wakes up at 3am in the morning I won't have to reach for the light...