Rowan comes to Aunt Beth's!

Last Friday I got to babysit little Ro-bee!!

WooHoo!!

Rachael claims that I was doing her a favor,

but anyone who's laid eyes on her

sweet little girl will know that she was doing

ME the favor!!!

She dropped her off around 2:30 so that she could

make it to her hair appointment and run

a few other errands....

and then...

It was just me and baby...

in my house!!

Weird!

I kept looking at her sleeping thinking,

'ohmygosh, theres a baby....in my house...

...on my couch'

For some reason it was just really striking

a chord with me and I was having

all these thoughts about what it will one

day look like to have a baby of my

own sleeping on my couch...

Needless to say, little Rowan was an

angel and so much fun.

I think I may have felt my ovaries kick me a few times...

but don't worry, I told those two ovary hooligans

to get back in line!!

And then Roy came home and was excited to 

finally meet Rowan!

It was pretty cute.

We talked and played with her and

she did super-cute baby things and

made super-cute baby noises.

Roy styled her hair into a mohawk and

then deemed it a Ro-Hawk.

I showed him her cloth diapers and he was

impressed by the fact that they were such fun colors

with easy to use snaps...

he was totally picturing old fashioned, 

white cloth diapers with pins and all!

I was glad that I got to give him some sort of

an introduction to cloth diapers, albeit brief, cause

it's something I'd really like us to consider

doing when we have a baby someday. 

And of course...I took pictures! Duh!

She was sacked out and didn't even

bat an eye when I took her out of her carseat.

You'll notice a common theme here that I'd like to 

call holycraptheresababysleepingoverthereonmycouch!!

Hence the 24 pictures I took of her sleeping!!

Rowan says 'Hey, Roy!' with a friendly wave.

Roy looks leery but I think he was 

mid conversation

What a freakin' angel. 

She's awesome.

Point. Blank. Period.

Thanks for coming to play Ro!!

Come back soon and see us!!

Welcome baby Rowan!!

I figured I ought to go ahead and write my post about the arrival 

of Rachael & Matt's sweet baby girl....

Rowan McKinley Clark (ah-dorable name)

6lbs 11oz (of perfection!!)

born July 1st 20120 (an awesome date if you ask me!)

I'm totally smitten...

I mean, holy moly this kid is freakin' cute...

not that we had any doubts, but working in a NICU

gives me the opportunity to see  A LOT of newborns

so my standard of 'cuteness' is pretty high...

and Ms. Rowan is just beautiful!!

Rachael started pre-laboring Saturday morning 

(much to my overjoyed-ness) 

and by Saturday night when I talked to her,

 her contractions were becoming fairly painful and weren't 

allowing her to get any sleep..

(hence the reason she called the only other night-owl she

knew would be awake!)

I woke up at about 10am on Sunday morning to a text message

I had received at around 5am saying that labor was in full

swing and they were headed to the hospital. 

I literally squealed and then FLEW 

out of bed and started running around my house getting dressed.

A million thoughts were racing through my head!

This is where I got taught a serious lesson in patience!!

I knew that Rachael and Matt didn't want anyone at the hospital while 

they labored, and I wasn't about to try and text for updates so I started the

painful waiting process.... 

I sat,

and I paced, 

I called my mom,

I called our friend Alicia,

and I sat, 

and I paced 

and tried to do anything I could think of to distract myself!

Finally, around 1:00pm I got a long awaited text that read 'She's here"

Well now I was just about to lose it and I had to use every bit of

self control I had, not to jump in the car and go flying up to the hosptial...

but Rachael and Matt both have big families so I knew that there would

be no shortage of visitors and that I'd have to wait my turn!

An eternity later (well 3 hours felt like an eternity...) I finally 

got a text announcing a name and weight and I told Rachael I

was going to lose my mind if I didn't get my butt up there ASAP!

And then I met her. 

And she's perfect.

Rachael and Matt are such an amazing couple and they're

going to give Rowan such an amazing life.

I'm so happy for my friend.

This is all still just so surreal.

I've never gone through this experience with someone

who I'm so close with...so it's been very much the

'vicarious' experience for me...

I know that in some ways our friendship will change, 

but I'm just so excited to get to know this sweet little

life that God has blessed us all with!

So many people love you little Rowan!!

Rachael's Shower!!...much belated I might add...

I dont know what they heck has kept me from

posting this for so long....

I think I somewhat mentally checked-out after the

shower finally happened.

But...All in all I'd say it was a success!!!

Alicia came over at about noon the day of and

we spent about 3 hours getting everything 

set-up and ready.

Rachael came over a bit early around 2:30 to get 

first glimpses of all the preparations...and

I think she was pleased with how things turned out!

The rest of this post is going to turn into somewhat

of a picture dump....so, enjoy!!

The Wall-O-Belly Pics

Tissue poms and cute girly dresses

These pictures turned out so dark :(

But here was the food table as we started getting 

things set up and arranged.

Wish Tree!!

I made little birds that people could either

write a wish they had for Rachael & baby or

guess the birthdate/weight. 

People seemed to prefer guessing the

weight and birthdate!

Rachael is not a big fan of cake...so it only seemed

right that we have an ice cream sundae bar at her shower!!

The guest of honor in front of her food table!

I used mason jars and paper straws for beverages

Guests starting to arrive

Last fall when we went to the Plaza Art Fair Rachael &

I saw this booth of paintings that we really liked. I made a 

mental note of the Studio's name and ordered a print a few

months later. This is my replication of the print that I ordered.

It has a lot of the colors that Rachael & Matt are using in their

nursery and I hope it's something that Baby Girl can have in

her room for a long time!!

Present time!!

Rachael was excited to get lots of 

practical gifts from her nursing friends...

Yay for breast pads and nipple cream!!

She had lots of little helpers carrying away 

tissue papers and ribbons...

Ashley and Rachael

Becca & Megan.

Becca is expecting her first just a few

weeks after Rachael!

Molly and her sweet new baby Ellie

Amelia, Mia and Rach

Miss Mia is just too cool for skool...

Rach & Stacey

Baby Savannah, Cathi and Rachael

Alicia & Rach

Rach and myself

Guests crafting headbands for Baby Girl Clark

Last but not least, your hostesses...

Alicia & I!!

Phew!!

Who knew throwing a baby shower could

be so stressful?! I'm sure it has much less to do

with the actual party and a lot MORE to do with my

neurotic personality!!

Now all thats left to do is wait for Baby Clark

to make her highly anticipated appearance!!