New Adventures in Christmas Cards

So I have been having a blast creating our Christmas cards on Shutterfly this year. I usually do it all myself through Microsoft word and then print it off and stick it in a premade Christmas card. The Shutterfly cards are beautiful and there are so many options. I have selected the one that you can see on the right of the blog page. It allowed me to include a photo and our personal letter, which is really important to us. These are some of the photos I considered using before choosing one of our most recent professional family pictures that you see in the card.

Scott and Rowan on a walk

Rowan playing in the mud

Caitlin and Ted on the coffee shop circuit

Scott posing in Iraq

I am so excited about getting these in the mail and sending them out to all of you. You should look at what Shutterfly has to offer. They do so much more than Christmas cards like photocalendars, photobooks, wall art, and thank you cards. You should check out the following links:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards

I hope you all have as much fun as we did sharing your pictures and stories with one another. Keep your eyes open for our cards coming in the next couple of weeks. Remember to include a little love and laughter in each day and to capture as many of the memories that you can!

Scott is finally back from an almost year long deployment in Iraq and we are back in Kansas as a family. So it is time to update you with some of what has happened lately. Scott will be done with the Army in June!!! Looks like we may be moving closer to my parents then we ever expected but we are excited to have this opportunity. Baby number 2 is due in April and then we will be moving within the month. It is all going so fast. Rowan is a whirling tornado of energy but he brings joy and laughter to our lives! We feel so lucky to be together and excited to see what the next few months hold!

Summer Vacation

So in looking back at previous blogs Scott and I discovered that there are no pictures of his side of the family. When I got lazy with the blog just happened to coincide when we finally were able to get together. Somehow Greg and Dustin managed to escape all of my photos, but I am searching for more. So here are snippets from our trip to Arizona and our vacation to the Grand Tetons with my family.

The cousins love playing with each other or maybe it is just that they love to play with whatever the other one is holding.

Mia and Rowan crashed after a morning of playing.
Lois and Rowan checking each other out.

Babies, babies, babies!

Scott and Rowan hamming it up.

The Gordon kids and their kids. We are growing fast.

Scott, Rowan and me at the Rainforest Cafe. Rowan could not stop staring at the animated elephants.

The breakfast scene in the RV.

Liss left before we thought to take a group picture in front of the RV, but this was our mobile hotel.

We had one great day dedicated to fishing. This is Grandpa, Scott, and the fish that got away.

Rowan and Nana hanging riverside.

Rowan got a taste of his first ice cream and loved it.

We rented a canoe and kayaks and spent a day on the lake. Here we have Grandpa, Nana and Rowan on his first canoe experience.

There were some beautiful hiking trails. Rowan loved holding onto the walking stick.

Rowan got to see his first waves at Yellowstone Lake.

One of the many incredible views of the Tetons.

After trekking back to Colorado we headed to Fort Collins to spend some time with Great Grandma Gordon. I love this shot of Great Grandma and Rowan holding hands.

Rowan and Scott at Terry Lake.

Great Grandma Scott and Rowan.

Great Grandma, Rowan, and me.

And so ended our block leave and family vacation. We had a great time spending 3 weeks together on the road. It was nice to be able to see family before Scott leaves for this deployment.

Rowan First Steps

The biggest news for our almost one year old is that he has taken his first steps. We had him doing it for a really long time so of course he did better before putting him on camera. We are so excited! We have been doing a lot of practicing.

Rowan and Scott at the park.

Checking out the grass in between tries.

Walking the stroller around the house with Scott.


And finally the video of the first steps. Just click the link to see it.

http://picasaweb.google.com/WebGordon/RowanSFirstSteps?authkey=Gv1sRgCLC22PmBkM2jOA&feat=directlink

So, I failed to keep the blog up to date. With a new camera and Scott leaving in two weeks I am determined to be more consistent with updates. We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather (hot but beautiful) and spending a lot of time outside. Frequenting the park after dinner is one of our favorite things.

Rowan loves the swings.

We also had the opportunity to go to the Salina Zoo with our friend Mindy. Here are some pics from our day.

Rowan, Scott and Mindy at the beginning of the zoo journey.

Scott and Rowan enthralled with his first camel.

Mindy and the giraffes.

Scott, Rowan and me with the elephant.

He was so excited about all of the animals and people. He is getting so big so fast!

We are busy trying to rent out the house and get Scott ready for Iraq. I have no idea what I am doing yet perhaps travelling back and forth. We are just waiting to get this thing over with. Be back soon with more updates.

Warmer Weather and Trip to Connecticut

The warmer weather has allowed us to spend more time outside. Rowan seems to like the sunshine, and as with everything else tries to put all the leaves and grass in his mouth.







He is very inquisitive about all the new sights and sounds.

This time in the sun has necessitated some pretty stylish shades.

His newest skill is sucking on his toes!

He is getting more and more active. He rolls in all directions and scoots backwards all over the place. Movement is constant and he rarely lets an obstacle stop him. He scooted up and over the closed laptop the other day.

For Valentine's/President's Day weekend we traveled to Connecticut. Grandpa, Nana, Aunt Becky and Aunt Lissa met us there. Rowan was able to meet Uncle Mark, Aunt Mary Jo, Michael, Jen, Damon, Alexa, and Poppop! Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary Jo were nice enough to put us all up for the weekend. Rowan had such a great time playing with them on the floor.

This was Rowan's first time being up close and personal with another baby. It was so cute seeing Alexa and Rowan together.

Damon and Scott spent time watching HD and playing with the trains with Uncle Mark.

Alexa is such a sweetheart. It was great to spend time with Jen and to spend time talking "new mommy" stuff.

Nana, Grandpa, Aunt Becky and Aunt Lissa fought over him like they always do. He is so lucky to be so loved.

I think that Alexa is winning.

Grandpa loves this little boy.

Just wanted to leave you with a picture of our dapper little boy.

Early 2009

I swear he is getting bigger every minute. There are mornings when I look at him and he looks completely different from the night before. We have so much fun spending the days together. Bath time is still his favorite time of the day and he now can grab his toes in the air and play with the water with his fingers. He rolls consistently now but only from back to stomach and only to the left.

Playing with the water.

He found his toes.

He puts everything in his mouth.



My little model.

Is that not the cutest face?

For New Years we were lucky enough to be able to go home again. This time it called for a road trip. We are lucky, Rowan is such a good traveler. We got to watch Grandpa and Lissa jump into Evergreen Lake for the Polar Plunge.

Ortho Otters Polar Plunge

Rowan participating in the Polar Plunge

There was lots of cuddling, playing, eating, and laughter.

Aunt Becky came to visit for MLK day weekend. We had so much fun doing absolutely nothing! We ate way too much and played all day long.

He has recently learned to scoot backwards on his stomach until he hits something with his feet. It is so cute to watch him scoot around.

He is becoming more and more vocal. At first he would only "talk" when someone's fingers were in his mouth. Now he talks all the time, and his facial expressions crack us up.