Ears, tubies, and other musings...

Well for Pete's sake, this blog needs to be tended to!


It has been a wild few months, and super busy! Right now it's 2:30 am, and I can't sleep. So, here we are! If chunks of this post seems weird or has mistakes, just bear with me, it's late, k?!?!


Well, lil' miss needs an update. Some of you may be wondering about the title! As Rowan was nearing 2, I noticed she wasn't saying the "obligatory" 60 words (or is it 50?) that a 2 year old should be saying. I also noticed if I would call her, she wouldn't turn to me. My sister brought it up, which confirmed to me that something was a bit off. We had a hearing test set up.


We went to her hearing test, and were told that Rowan has a mild hearing loss in both ears. We were told this was due to fluid being in her middle ears. The doctors were shocked she's never technically had an ear infection. The doctor said her hearing was the equivalent of her hearing underwater. It made me feel sad for her! We got another appointment to meet with a surgeon to discuss options, as they thought tubes could be an option.


We met with the surgeon and were given 2 choices. Tubes or have her take antibiotics to clear up the fluid. The latter choice I was told, could possibly not even work. I am a firm believer you shouldn't take antibiotics if you truly don't need them (hello antibiotic resistance!). So after some discussion, we chose to go with tubes. I know this is a beyond common procedure, and I felt this was the best way to go. I was told that if she gets tubes, she may not ever be quiet again! Oh dear....


About a month or so later, we got a referral to be seen by a group  called ALTA, which specializes in speech therapy. Considering 2 months have passed since she turned 2 and her hearing loss, she says quite a bit now. However, I still wanted her to be observed. After a 45 minute observation, we were told Rowan had a vocabulary of an 18 month old, and was on the borderline to be qualified. She did end up being qualified for speech, which was great! The therapists did mention (like the doctor) that these tubes could dramatically change everything!


So... there ya have it. Did I mention tomorrow is when Rowan gets her tubes?!? Even though pretty much 8 out of 10 kids get this done, I am a bit nervous! Any pearls of wisdom?!?

2 months late but......Rowan is 2!!! Happy 2 years Rowan!!!

Ugh.... this is shameful! This should have been posted 2 months ago! I had started this but never finished. Well, here we are, two months later!! I am finishing where I left off. Mind you in 2 months, things have changed! For the sake of the original post, I am not doing a total current update!

Holy crap. Rowan Decaris is officially 2.

Also, because this is my official last monthly post, as I won't be doing it any more (well accept for maybe when she is 2.5 and when she turns 3 lol). It's probably a good thing because I can't get my act together to get these done on time! It has been an incredible, tough, and beautiful two years! Rowan has changed our lives, and it has been incredible to watch her transform to a tiny, 5 pound NICU baby to a healthy, chubby 32.5 pound little girl!! I know our journey is only beginning and I am so excited!

Age: 2 years old! No need for adjusted age, hallelujah!

Weight and clothing size: 

Rowan is 32.5 pounds, wearing 3t and 4t clothing depending on the store! Most size 5 shoes don't fit, so heading over to 6! Wearing size 5 diapers! 

Eating:

Two year roundup: sis STILL doesn't care for meat, unless it's super seasoned and moist (okay I get that lol). She loves to eat beans, peas, green beans, any kind of cheese, EVERY FRUIT, smoothies, yogurt, dried fruit, ANY CARB (just like mama!) and peanut butter/jelly sandwiches. LOVES ice cream but we give it to her if she is at party or special occasion. Loves to drink milk and water. We give her juice sparingly, but she loves it! Loves to eat her meals with her spoon, especially cereal with milk. She feels very grown up and is doing a pretty good job!

Things Rowan does:
-hold her spoon and eat relatively cleanly for the most part lol. She screams for joy if you give her cereal with milk! She thinks she's hot stuff lol. 

--in addition to ALL her previous words from the last few months: she now says
"ba-yew" for blue,
"ello" for yellow,
"geen" for green,
"Ed" for red,
"bluck" for black
"brownah" for brown
"Bun" for Ben (her uncle).
 "quack quack doh bye bye!"
"ello mama" (pretending to talk on a cell phone LOL),
"dada all gon?" (since Daddy gets home after us),
"dizzy" for Daisy
owl for Owl (says it pretty clearly)
"muck" for milk
"bug" for bug (lol)


(update: Rowan says a ton more words now!)

-Loves to climb up and stand on chairs, much to mommy's chagrin

-loves to hide behind curtains and couches and tries to scare you

-Loves to climb up slides (much to mommy's chagrin)

-pretend plays with her babies and her kitchen! She loves to "cook" and "bake". Cutest thing ever.

-will try and read to you. She will pull out all her favorites, sit you down and babble her way through the books. 

-Says and identifies most colors. Knows numbers 1-5, and can count with you.

-When pointing at the alphabet, she will clearly repeat all the letters after you. Very proud!! (update: recognizes a good bunch of letters without us prompting!)

-If you ask her for things like diapers, shoes, clothes, bows...she will run and get it for you.  Knows at mealtimes she needs a bib and will definitely tell you if you forget. 

-Tries to dress herself and put on her own shoes. 


Rowan loves:

-STAMPS and PAINTING. Omg, the screams when I pull them out! 

-loves to sing songs and is getting good at "trying" to sing them. 

-water play outside. 

- Loves to watch MMC and Sheriff Callie before bed

-to wave "hiiiiiiiiiiiii" and
"byyyyyyeeeee" to anyone who even somewhat looks her way LOL!



-Climb on everything at the park


-loves to blow bubbles and kick in the bathtub (our future swimmer!)

Rowan doesn't like: 

-when you take her paci away. We are going to stop pacis later this summer and I'm honestly scared lol! It's going to be a rough summer! 

-doesn't like being woken up for school. I feel so bad but we have to! She hates it! I'm appreciative sis likes her sleep!

-hates kidney beans. We tried them and she makes the craziest faces!

-fireworks. Oh boy she had a love/hate relationship with them when we were in Disneyland!!

 Sleeping schedule:

Sleep is still pretty normal when she isn't sick! She sleeps from 7:30/7:45 to 6:30 on work days, usually 7 or 7:15 on the weekends. She takes a good 2.5 hour nap from 12:00-2:30, some times even three hours. I am so thankful for a sleepy baby!

 New happenings this month:

Oh boy, where do we start?


-We had a wonderful Easter with family! The easter egg hunt was even more fun since she is older.
-we had an awesome Disneyland trip over spring break! SO FUN, but it was HOT for being March, ugh! Rowan met Kylo Ren and had zero fear! Proud of my young jedi!!



-Well, sis turned 2!! We had a wonderful Minnie Mouse themed birthday party and it was wonderful! Despite "trying" to keep it small, we had a good turnout of almost 50 people! On her actual birthday, she was sick! She came down with a random high fever, boo!


-I shot Rowan's 2 year shoot! As many of you know, hubs and I are starting a photography business! We shot Rowan's shoot at West 12 ranch and it went fairly well!




-Rowan had a hearing test done after her well check. Turns out she has a mild hearing loss because of fluid. This is a longish story and will be told in the next post lol!




-We have a Disney trip planned for June! Yee haw!!


Obligatory Rowan dump!

Happy 23 months Rowan!!!

Say it ain't so!! 23 months!??!?!? I am in HUGE denial she will be two so soon! I just can't deal!!! We had another fun, sometimes crazy month with our precious girl!!!

Age: 23 months, (21.5 months adjusted age).

Weight and clothing size: 

Rowan is now officially 32  pounds! She's quite solid and quickly gets heavy after a few minutes lol! Wearing all 3T clothing, even 4t depending on the brand. Size 5 diapers, shoe size is inching towards 5.5

Eating:

Mealtime is kinda getting better. She has been sick a portion of this month, so her appetite has been out. However, she has been enjoying eating black, white and pinto beans, loves homemade chicken noodle soup and loves string cheese. I have been introducing organic tofu in her meals too which she seems to enjoy. At Disneyland, she got her first taste of cotton candy and OBVIOUSLY loved it (bad mama LOL)

Rowan can:

-legitimately say and recognize the letters e, t, o, and u! I'm so proud!

-in addition to her previous words, she now says "neigh neigh" for horses, "uhhhhhh ohhhhhhh", "Gah" for God,  "Dizzy" for Daisy, "Bahbee" for Abby (LOL), "Nam" for Sam, "bahbules" for bubbles. 

-can sometimes not be a good listener 😂 but can follow directions if she is told.

 
-can recognize blue, yellow and red

-loves to put together her alphabet puzzles. Doesn't always match the letters but she's learning lol!

Rowan loves:

- to play with stickers! More like obsessed! 

-loves to sing songs and is getting good at "trying" to sing them. 

-loves to play and drink out of the hose lol! 

-loves to take off her shoes in public (mommy doesn't love this lol!)

-loves to play with refrigerator magnets. Of course we are careful but man she loves it! 

Rowan doesn't like: 

-when you take her paci away. We are going to stop pacis this summer and I'm honestly scared lol! It's going to be a rough summer! 

-doesn't like being woken up for school. I feel so bad but we have to! She hates it! I'm appreciative sis likes her sleep!

-hates kidney beans. We tried them and she makes the craziest faces!

-fireworks. Oh boy she had a love/hate relationship with them when we were in Disneyland!!

 Sleeping schedule:

Sleep was legit nuts this past month! She sadly got croup. For off an on for 3 weeks, she was sleeping like a newborn thanks to her cough! It was awful, exhausting and kinda scary at times. We are using the nebulizer 2x a day now!

 New happenings this month:

-we celebrated Easter with our precious girl! We  didn't actually sit through the service, because I doing Sunday school with the three-year-olds. Rowan had a hard time with her nursery so she ended up being with me LOL! We spent the afternoon with family and it was such a lovely time! It was a wonderful way to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!

-We did a full week in Disneyland! I know I know, but we have annual passes we have to use them! It was so much fun! It was another fantastic trip and the weather was simply beautiful! It actually wasn't hot! It was a lovely time and I had a hard time coming home!

-as mentioned earlier, Rowan got croup.  First I thought it was regular old bronchiolitis. We were doing our normal routine with her with the nebulizer. However she wasn't getting better, and she actually got super, super sick. I've never seen her that sick since her first Thanksgiving in the ER. It was really scary! We ended up taking her to urgent care. She got a different type of steroid that thankfully calmed down her cough but man it was nuts! We have had to miss so much church and baby gymnastics because of it 😭.

We are just in shock and awe she will be two so soon! 

Obligatory Rowan dump:

Disney with my muggletines

Ahhhhh......love love love how this Valentine's post is basically a month late, bahahah!

I am glad this blog is not my sole job. I would probably be fired! 

So as you guessed it, this is a Disney post. We sure are making good on our annual passes! As we speak, we will be heading back to Disney the week of spring break, the same week the entire world has spring break. 

Since we can't ever go to Disneyland during off peak times (thanks dumb jobs) we have to suck it up and go with the masses. I heard Valentine's weekend can especially be brutal. However, we were prepared. Also, I don't know if my brain took a mental valium, but I was SUPER relaxed the whole trip. I know that makes me sound bad, but I have a tendency to be a bit high strung on vacays.  Maybe I am turning a new leaf! Here's the breakdown of our trip:

The drive down:

We officially hit the road closer to noon that Friday. I was battling a cold and not feeling well at all. I loaded up on sudafed and we made our way down. The drive down was pretty decent, not a lot of fuss. We made stops to let Rowan stretch her legs. OF COURSE we hit LA around 6:30 when basically when hell is unleashed, especially because it was a Friday. We took the 210, and even that was psychotically packed. So we did something nutty and drove city streets of Pasadena all the way through to the 57. It was a little crazy but we avoided so much traffic. We ended up at our hotel around closer to 9.

The hotel:

We booked our hotel through priceline and we stayed "off campus" (aka not the Disney row of hotels)  and stayed at the ALO hotel in Anaheim. I wasn't exactly excited we were a 10-15 minute drive to the park, but it was fantastic. We took the shuttle everyday at 7 and it dropped us off right smack at the front. Rowan LOVED the shuttle too. Let's get back to the hotel though...holy crap it was super lovely, amazing staff, and we overall had the BEST experience! They also had a yummy buffet breakfast each morning! I HIGHLY recommend this hotel. Pardon the crappy photo quality and the mess of our room lol!

Actual time in Disneyland: 

Everyday we got to the park by 7:15-7:20 each day. We were only there for Saturday and Sunday, so we wanted to take advantage of every second! Guys, I can't stress enough how important it is to come early if you actually want to enjoy your day. Because of that we were able to do so much and enjoy ourselves. Sure enough, it got crazy packed by the afternoon and it didn't help that it was an ungodly warm that weekend too. In the afternoons we didn't get to do nearly as much because it was so packed, but because we came early, we weren't stressed about it. We did one parade and I had to yell at a lady for trying to push me out of my spot. Besides that, no one died LOL! Rowan super enjoyed all the rides she could go on, but didn't really like the Haunted Mansion. I also got to sample some of the Star Wars treats that were pretty good! We did all the fast passes for all the big rides and felt satisfied! 

Breakfast with Minnie:

SO we bit the expensive bullet and had breakfast with Minnie! It was amazing! As most of you know, Rowan has a MASSIVE love for Minnie. It was also a great opportunity to  meet all the characters! We booked the earliest breakfast you could get (7:20 am) and I highly recommend that. The place was empty and we got MASSIVE quality time with the characters, it was unreal! I was nervous about Rowan being scared but she wasn't! She loved everyone! Her reaction to Minnie drove me to tears! I think I was just as excited as her! Since this breakfast ain't cheap, I literally ate my way through the place. Rowan hardly ate everything and towards the end was getting antsy and acting a little wild. I think it was huge sensory overload for her, but it was worth every penny!!

Stuff we learned:

By now, I feel we have a good handle on traveling with the girl. However, every dang time I feel like we learn something new! Here's some things I learned:

-Rowan HATES HATES HATES lines.

 I know this is a big fat DUH but it never was an issue before, LOL! Oh lordy! That was hard trying to entertain her! We thankfully didn't wait horribly long for a lot of stuff but the worst was the 45 minute wait for Dumbo. We did snacks, sang songs, and eventually broke down and put on a show on our phones. I'm sure I got judged, but at least she was quiet, right!?! Anyone have tips? 

-HAVE ALL THE SANITIZER WIPES. 

I know everyone is different, but I personally like carrying hand sanitizing wipes. I buy 2 big containers and pack about 20+ wipes for the day. However that wasn't enough. Rowan and I got pooped on by a bird and we were down to 3 wipes. I was almost in tears because as y'all know, I am  HUGE germaphobe, like I may need therapy bad. I was freaking out lol! I learned we personally should just pack the whole container. 

-You can never have enough clothes.

I pack about 2 changes of clothes for Rowan, but I think we need to do three. One of the days Rowan peed through her diaper and got her pee everywhere. Another day was the bird pooping incident. I feel we went through her clothes like no one's business.

I think by far this was my most favorite Disney trip! I am so thankful we have the opportunities to do these trips! 

Happy 22 months Rowan!

22 months is well underway! What a month we had! We had some interesting firsts, like hand, foot and mouth, locking ourselves in the bathroom and our first real haircut. Rowan, as usual, keeps us at attention! She is a spitfire but such a joy at the same time!

Age: 22 months, (20.5 months adjusted age). We are almost to the end of adjusting her age! For preemies it stops when they are 2!

Weight and clothing size: 

Rowan is now officially 31 pounds and so solid! She's super heavy and my body is constantly sore!  Wearing all 3T clothing, even 4t depending on the brand. Size 5 diapers, shoe size is inching towards 5.5

Eating:

Mealtime is something I have been dreading at times. She can be so picky! It was becoming such a battle and I know her stubborn sass comes from her sensing my frustration! I have really learned lately to rein it in and be creative! My girl baby still really loves her carbs (who doesn't, tbh?), string cheese and peas to name some. Since I feel she is lacking iron I found a pinterest link that shows you the top vegan foods that provide a great punch of iron and protein. And no, we aren't going vegan lol! She absolutely loves gobbling white beans ( a great iron source) amongst other types of beans. She also likes dried fruit as well as fresh fruit. I am thinking of doing a blog post of some healthy recipes that has worked for us! 

Rowan can:

-locking doors. UGH.

-in addition to her previous words, she now says bus, peekaboo, mickey, daddy, "plis" (aka please), goodnight moon (sounds like "muhmight moo").  She also says "mumbo" for Dumbo. She easily is repeating much of what we are saying, which is awesome but kinda scary!

-Says "whoa" and "woooo" when she is swinging or on a ride, LOL!

-if the stove is on or she sees a steaming bowl of soup or coffee, she says "haaa, haaa" while tapping her mouth

-If you ask her what a dog, pig, sheep, horse, and cow says, she can say their sound.

-learning how to lower herself from our bed. I am nervous about when she will do this with her crib, lol!

-loves to climb up slides (YIKES) among other dare-devily things. Oh boy....

-tries to jump though its more like a hop, LOL

Rowan loves:

- The dumbo ride, all the carousel rides and the spinning teacups at Disneyland
-has discovered she has a LOVE for raisins.
-She has a major obsession with the ball pit at My Gym.
-We bought her a Mickey plush (thanks buy one, get one for $1)  and she screams joyfully at them in the mornings when she gets up.

Rowan doesn't like: 

-This hysterically cute, Frozen short on Disney Junior. It straight up terrifies her! I'm not totally sure why, but here is the scary show if you want to be "scared" LOLOLOL

-Since we are talking about being scared, she doesn't exactly love the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. She actually wimpered through a few parts of the ride, which made me sad 

-sharing. OH LAWD! This girl can be bratty about sharing with others, and she makes it known. This bothers me tremendously, so we have been working hard for her to be a "nicer friend" about sharing. 

-gets stressed out if she pulls off her "pretties". Rowan has a tendency to pull off her headbands and wraps, which DRIVES ME FREAKING CRAZY. However, it somehow bothers her too because tries to put them back on and when she can't she gets flustered and frustrated LOL!

 Sleeping schedule:

Sleep is still the same. Sleeps usually from 7:30-6:30 on school days, when we are home or on the weekends usually to 7:30 or 8! Takes a midday nap from 11-1:30/2. Forever thankful I get decent amounts of sleep! 

 New happenings this month:

-Rowan had her first real haircut! I was super sad to get it cut, but knew it was time! It was so scraggly and she had such crazy length! She got a cute bob, aka Lady Mary Crawley style from Downton Abbey!

-Rowan got hand, foot, and mouth disease, UGH. Catch up here:

- Rowan locked herself in the bathroom. I feel this deserves a post for memory's sake, LOL! It was super scary and traumatic, mainly for me. She recovered fine, LOLOLOLOL!

-We did a super fast, Disneyland trip during Valentine's weekend! It was a quick trip but OH SO FUN!!! Yes, I am working on a post! One of the best things? Breakfast with Minnie, which is worthy of its very own post! Since we have been to Disneyland 4 times now, I feel it gets easier each time with Rowan! We are planning a week long trip to DL  in March during Easter break!



Obligatory Rowan dump:

the adventures of hand, foot, and mouth disease

Oh, the joys of hand, foot and mouth. 

If you don't know what it is, you basically need to know it sucks. Its a VERY CONTAGIOUS disease that causes high fever, sores on around the mouth, hands and feet (hence the name). It can be extremely uncomfortable, and very painful. I'm writing this post to share of a wonderful remedy that helped us tremendously! There was literally nothing online on how to help heal, nothing even the mommy blogs. I taking it upon myself to write this to be helpful to someone in the future!

I had heard stories of this stupid disease. It happens to even kids who stay at home with their parents, as well as daycare kids. It can be on any surface and it's easy to contract. I was praying to the good Lord Rowan wouldn't ever get it. Well, that dream was shattered.

It all started when  a preschool mama friend sent me a text about her daughter, Rowan's mate. She had left preschool early on a Friday due to a high fever that came on suddenly. Then, her mama noticed she had a blister on her mouth. Fearing the worst, she texted me so I knew, and to prepare myself it could HFM disease. 

At that moment, Rowan was fine,  but I was praying nothing would happen. Saturday came and she was fine...till nighttime. Rowan was tossing and turning, and being super whiny. Sure enough, she had a fever. Come Sunday, the bumps came around her mouth, and the fever shot up to 103. Rowan was miserable,  She wasn't very hungry and very clingy. Poor baby! Hubby made lesson plans for work, while I made an appointment with her pedi for Monday. 

Monday morning at her appointment, it was confirmed she had HFMD and there was nothing they could do, just motrin for pain. She also saw sores in the back of Rowan's throat. We were told to be even more diligent with cleaning and anything that goes in her mouth has to be washed! It was so stressful! Rowan was very miserable, but ate better than the day before. We were beyond frustrated as to what to do, especially since we could possibly contract it. 

I am an expert at consulting with Dr. Google (LOL) but even with extensive research, there wasn't any good remedies to help with the sores. Literally nothing at all. We finally read somewhere that Milk of Magnesia was good for the skin. This was after combing through pages of google results!

We weren't sure about it, but my mom found a bottle and gave it to us. Soon enough, this beauty down here became our BFF :

We very carefully would apply this to Rowan's sores 3-4 times a day, using a washcloth. Poor sis had so many around her mouth, hands and feet! Even her tummy! We had to be really careful and make sure she didn't put her hands in her mouth, as it can cause crazy poo (since it's a laxative). However, the sores were calming down, even disappearing after a day's worth of consistent use! It was amazing! By Wednesday, her sores were nearly gone! Rowan was much happier and way more comfortable! 

So, what did we learn?

1. HFMD sucks. Duh. 

2. Milk of Magenesia is your BFF for this disease. Buy the actual Phillips'  kind. Apply 3-4 times a day. Rowan doesn't sit still to save her life, but watching Mickey saved us. Use whatever you need to keep them distracted when you apply it. 

3. The fever comes first, but usually goes away by day 2 or 3. 

4. Smoothies were king in our house. I packed mine with extra peanut butter and even spinach for iron and protein. 

5. Clean, clean and then clean some more. This made my OCD shoot through the roof. Again, anything they put their mouths on has to be cleaned. It can be so hard, but this HELPS in spreading it! We are proof of it, because neither of us got sick!

6.If a grown up gets it, it shows up more as a fever and sore throat. 

7. This one can sound yucky, but toenails and hair can fall off, even after 4 weeks after exposure. This can happen though it doesn't happen often. So far nothing weird on Rowan!

So there ya have it. We lived to tell! My sister and husband remarked that they were proud I wasn't a basketcase! I think I am starting to finally toughen up a little!!

As usual, there's a photo dump. I know its ridiculous that I took pictures, but I know seeing pictures of other kids with HFMD helped me as to know what to expect! Hopefully none of you will have to deal with it!

Before she got her sores, day 1. She was so miserable :(

Day 2, the sores came on something fierce! Made my heart ache! 

Some of the blisters on her hands :( 

Even with blisters, I love those chubby rubber band wrists! 

End of day 2, it was getting worse but then that's when we started our milk treatment! Within a day after using, it was disappearing! 

Happy 21 months Rowan!

21 months??! Say it ain't so! Time is flying and this girl is blossoming into such a precious little girl! I literally feel so emotional thinking she will be 2 soon! I feel like I was literally JUST pregnant! I miss her baby days at times, though this phase of her life is so wonderful! 2nd birthday plans are already underway!

Age: 21 months, (19.5 months adjusted age)

Weight and clothing size: 

Rowan is almost 31 pounds. Wearing size 5 diapers, size 5 shoes, and 3T in clothing.

Eating:

Rowan now apparently doesn't like meat, sigh. She will eat spaghetti (she likes to talk to it, LOL), fruit all the live long day, most veggies and anything carbs. She sometimes doesn't mind breaded chicken, and recently tried an oreo, which she joyfully freaked out about (who wouldn't?!)

Rowan can:

-open doors. Looks like we need those knob covers!
-in addition to her previous words, she now says amen, boo and buh bye
-color with a slight purpose now instead of the table, LOL! She loves anything art. 
-Likes to "helpful" by trying to sweep
-Rowan is getting pretty good at throwing and kicking!
-Identifies shapes and most colors. In her shape sorter, she is actually matching the shapes and pushing them in!
-can do certain puzzles! She is a smarty!
-does hand motions to songs like "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider". So dang freaking cute!
-Starting to dance more when songs come on. She's not a big dancer (weird because I LOVE to dance) but she is getting into it!

Rowan loves:

-The song "Walking On a Dream" by Empire Of The Sun We discovered the song trying to find a Baby Einstein video. The song is SUPER catchy and I totally love it too! I never heard of this band, but they are wonderfully weird and random. Check them out! Rowan LOVES it, watches the video with rapt attention and sways to the beat, LOLOLOL!

- OH MY WERD. This girl loves bubbles! If you want to see her nearly have a brain aneurysm from excitement, just blow bubbles! She loves them so much!!!

-loves anything with shapes and music. 

-loves the card section at Target! She likes to look at every card, and I am teaching her to put it back by herself. While this is cute, tantrums ensue if we have to leave. Le sigh.

-Loves to wave at everyone who will look at her. She also likes to walk right up to people and get in their face. It happens mainly at my gym when parents are sitting or at restaurants when we are walking to our table. I always apologize but people are super great about it and love on her lol.  

Rowan doesn't like: 

-holding hands. Since she hates being tied down to the stroller and cart, we hold hands with her but boy its a fight!!!

-If she is being redirected and doesn't want to go, she will squat and won't move a muscle! I'm pretty sure she has the strongest legs because of this, Oy! This is a concern because she will be in a wedding as the flower girl. I am terrified she won't walk LOL!! 

-throws fits when we have to leave something she's enjoying. A basic, constant main example is leaving the store. We will allow her to explore and for the most part, she is quite behaved. However, if we have to move or go, she screams and gets all crazy. For all the past parents I gave stink eye to, just know karma is now getting me!!!!

-on that note, the fit throwing is in full swing. Luckily it doesn't happen a TON but when it does it sure isn't fun. LORD JESUS take the wheel! 

-she doesn't really enjoy going to nursery. She will cry the minute we leave, but eventually calms down as we never get called back. I feel really bad, I hope she grows out of it!

 Sleeping schedule:

Sleep is still decent. Sleeps usually from 7:30-6:30 on school days, when we are home or on the weekends usually to 7:30 or 8! Takes a midday nap from 11-1:30/2. I am always thankful. I know toddlers who still aren't sleeping! If I am tired, its usually because it's my own dang fault!

 New happenings this month:

-She celebrated her second NYE! We get together with my sister and friend Amy's families. It's very fun! She obviously went to bed before actual midnight but still very fun! 

-We did a wine country trip with Rowan and my mom! We went to Windsor and Healdsburg. If you are California native, please do yourself a favor and go! TEN TIMES better than Napa!!! I am going to post on our trip, but it was sure interesting! We had some bumps in our little trip, but it was still very fun! 

-We started back at teaching (BOO) and our regular routine. I was in tears going back! The working mom guilt is so real!

My obligatory Rowan dump:

A very Disney Christmas: recap and tips

Yes, Christmas happened forever ago. However, I couldn't pass up blogging about this!
Disneyland is pure magic at Christmastime. The decorations, parades, music...it just feels wonderful. However, every single person thinks that way too, which makes Disneyland practically unbearable with the massive crowds. It gets especially worse the week of Christmas, as we all know.

And that's when we decided to go, HAHA.

Partly we had no choice. Our winter break started then, and we couldn't take time off, mainly because we have to keep our days in case girl baby gets sick. We mentally prepared ourselves that it was just going to be crazy.

So...how was it? It was actually fun! Of course, we had bumps in the road, but we still had fun!

The ride down:

The first part of our trip was a bit disastrous. While trying to grab lunch on the fly, our car battery died while in Lodi. Thankfully, we were around the corner from Chevy, but it set us back a good hour and a half. I was trying to not freak out (I'm a control freak bahaha) and kept reminding myself this could have happened in the middle of nowhere. I'm so thankful it happened right at the beginning. Once we were all fixed up, we bolted. We stopped in Coalinga for dinner, at Harris Ranch. Literally this place is in the middle of nowhere. It was nice, clean, and the food was decent. It gave a chance for Rowan to stretch her legs, which is huge. While the food was great, it was just a bit pricey for my liking. We ate quickly and got back on the road.

 I am pretty lucky Rowan is a decent car baby. She will watch Baby Einstein and she is happy. The drive was looong but we made it safely to our hotel and went straight to bed. 

The hotel:

I get lots of questions from people in regards to where we stay. If we can, we try to stay at our timeshare, Worldmark by Wyndham. However, if it's booked, we stay at the Super 8 near Disneyland. I am not a total hotel snob, but I was leery about it the first time we booked our stay. Turns out the rooms are pretty nice, CLEAN and does their job. This was our second time staying and didn't disappoint. For reviews, click here.

Actual Disneyland:

We went to the park Saturday-Monday. Honestly, Saturday and Sunday were GLORIOUS! We made it a point to get to the main gate by 7:45. I personally wanted to leave earlier, which caused bickering among hubby and I. Is it just us, or does everyone bicker with their spouse on vacation?! LMAO! Sadly, the morning is our worst because we have different ideas. Luckily we get over ourselves quickly! Going back to going early... everyone seems to go early, and it can be a little irritating when you  see the whole world flooding towards the gate. HOWEVER....don't let that scare you. Once you get in, the crowds disperse and it's empty. Y'all, it's worth getting there early. We did SO MUCH each of the days! We even went on Haunted Mansion 3x in a row because of the low crowds! Of course, it peaks around 4. Saturday and Sunday weren't bad at all, but Monday became psycho with all the Christmas crowds flooding the park. Thankfully we left that afternoon.

What we did:

Okay, the obvious, going on every ride we could! We utilized the rider switch pass as much as we could. The one big thing on this trip, is that Rowan pretty much hates the stroller. Now that she is an accomplished walker, all she wants to do is walk (why, dear Jesus, why did I stress about her walking!?!? LOL). I will admit it sucks being in the stroller, so we really focused on rides that she could do. If you didn't already know this, toddlers can pretty much do any ride, besides Indiana, Star Tours and Space Mountain. Rowan absolutely loved the carousel, Dumbo and especially small world. She had me in tears because her joy was so precious! Since the afternoon was the worst each day, we took it upon ourselves to do a show, or a parade. The Christmas parade is way too precious and Rowan loved it! I started bawling because Mickey caught Rowan's joyful screams, pointed and actually spoke to her from his float! I about died! The next day, we caught a showing of the Disney Junior show in California adventure. While all the kids enjoyed it, I'm pretty sure us parents were singing along just as loud as the kids! I highly recommend that show if your kid loves Disney junior. This was Rowan's face the entire time:

I think Rowan didn't even know what to do, lol! She  got especially screamy and shook like a leaf when Mickey and Friends came on!

What we ate:

Disneyland is quite costly with their food, but it is also super good! We were pretty disciplined about bringing our own food for lunch, and eating breakfast in our room. We saved so much doing that! Now, I know everyone knows this, it isn't new. However, if this is your plan, truly stick with it! We saved so much money that way. We of course treated ourselves with hot chocolate, frosted sugar cookies, churros and popcorn. Restaurant wise, we like the Pizza Port right near Space Mountain. It has decent choices and the food isn't half bad. We also tried out Carnation Cafe, which was pretty decent! I LOVED how they fixed Rowan's plate!

We also ate off site once, at California Pizza Kitchen. We also saved money that way, as it seems  a litle cheaper than in the park! While in California Adventures, we like eating at the Cocina Cucamonga right next to wharf area. We didn't eat there this trip, but worth a stop if you want Mexican.

A shout out...
While in the park, we stupidly left our backpack on the bench in DCA (in front of the Little Mermaid). While it thankfully didn't have our wallets, it sure did have our Disney pins (which are like gold). I was sad and  but MORE annoyed at ourselves. We reported it missing and 2 days later, we get a call from Disneyland! They found and immediately shipped it free. Cheers for Disneyland!

The drive home:

My biggest regret of the whole trip was my constant worry about the weather. Specifically, I was worried if the weather got bad on the drive home, they would shut down the grapevine. For my non-Ca peeps, the grapevine is a MAJOR ROUTE between North/Central California to the South. If it ever gets shutdown, there are alternate routes, but your drive increases by hours (4-5+ hours for us) and basically all hell breaks loose. Back in October, we nearly got caught on a horrific mudslide on the grapevine, so I am a bit traumatized. Anyway, we weren't supposed to leave till Tuesday. Weather reports said Tuesday was supposed to be all day rainy and crazy. So, I begged to leave early. Hubby was actually pretty upset about it, and we lost some money on the hotel. However, I had a feeling that we should leave and I am thankful we ended up leaving early.  We left around 5:30 that night, which is insane. The drive home was fine, a bit long, but uneventful. Traffic actually wasn't bad for LA and we got home around 1:00 am. I just wished I didn't worry so much about it. Lessons learned!

Tips that were helpful to remember:

-PACK PACK PACK extra clothes!!!!!! 
I can't stress that enough! I planned 2 outfits a day for Rowan, but for some reason, it didn't seem like enough. You never know what can happen.

-Plan for the weather.
 We knew there would be a chance for rain, so we stocked up on appropriate jackets and a stroller rain cover  for Rowan. It did actually rain while we were there!

Wipes, wipes and more wipes...
     enough said. You can't pack too many!! Also, this goes for diapers too!

-Don't forget baggies, plastic baggies (for poopy diapers), and knives (for cutting). 
This is big if you buy food and store it in your room. Every night I would pack our lunches. If you are cutting up anything, a knife is useful. I have been on a trip or two where I don't have cutting utensils and I feel helpless! AND DUH don't take it with you to the park and if you are flying in, obviously don't take a knife.

-Sanitizer, all purpose cleaner, santizing wipes- 
Now this is only if you are a germaphobe like me. When we get to hotels, I sanitize and wipe down everything. Don't forget the paper towels too! I also carry those wipes and hand sanitizer in the park, Major lifesavers!

Baby wearing is essential
People give me a hard time for  still wearing Rowan. I LOVE it though, I'm addicted! I use the Lillebaby carrier in black and gray and it is wonderful! It was a nice break for Rowan and she even slept almost a good two hours in it! She is a chunkette and this carrier gives me tremendous support! Carriers can make life easier and we always have one on hand!

Utilize the baby centers:
I am in love with how amazing they are. They are located in both parks  and are a perfect place to go for a break or a diaper change in a clean space.

Plan a medicine kit:
I always have one on me for trips. Ours has neosporin, bandaids, advil, tylenol, motrin, a thermometer, pedialyte packets and hair ties. We also pack the nebulizer with the appropriate treatments. This kit is so useful!

Be advised..
Thanks to the idiots, oops I am mean terrorists that have ruined things for everyone, Disney has upped its security. I am actually quite thankful for that. Due to that, check in at security is now a little longer because they randomly select people to go through metal detectors and now really check bags thoroughly. Honestly, I am thankful!

If you read this, I am high fiving you!! Despite the small bumps, I am so glad we went! And of course, a recap post wouldn't be the same without a photo dump!

Christmas with a toddler: The Christmas recap

Welp, the holidays are very much done and over with. I am a major fan of the holidays, so in a sense, January is a major let down for me. With that being said, I definitely want to recap the holidays. I know I can be long winded with my posts, so my goal is to keep this concise, HAHA!!

Holidays with a toddler can be stressful. I was worried how Rowan would do with the decorations, the tree and all of the events. However, my daughter is very visual, and she immensely enjoyed everything!  

The Christmas Tree:

I know many people of young kids don't put up a tree, or hardly do any ornaments. Without trying to sound rude, the thought of not decorating irked me. My mom (who has been running her own preschool for 12 years) has a house full of decorations, and every kid who has been in her school has had to learn that they don't mess with the tree or decorations that are hung. I wanted to follow that with Rowan, and she did just fine! She LOVED the tree! We had a habit every morning we would do a countdown and turn on the tree lights. Every time we did it, her face would light up and she would gasp. CUTEST THING EVER!

Christmas Traditions we did with Rowan:

As a family, we are starting to build our little traditions. Every year we do Christmas cookies with our Finney cousins, which is so fun! Rowan is still pretty little to help, but she did what she could! We usually do a pasta dinner or pizza, plus a Christmas movie. It was so fun! We also go to see lights every year which is always fun! We also went to  Breakfast with Santa, which is an event Elk Grove puts on. $5 gets you a pancake breakfast complete with you taking photos of your child with Santa. Truly a genius idea! We saved so much instead of going to the mall. Rowan shockingly wasn't afraid of Santa! We will definitely be adding this to our repertoire of Christmas traditions. We also participated in Mimi's Annual Preschool Christmas party, which was so fun! My mom is so cute with this tradition! We had a yummy brunch with Rowan's mates, along with a gift exchange!

A very Disney Christmas:
A HUGE thing we did was go to Disneyland! We went December 18-21st, right when it starts to get insane.  This section deserves its own post, so I will keep it brief. We had a marvelous time! We had some trouble on our way (car battery died in Lodi) but once we got going, we didn't stop! We spend a a glorious time in the park. Of course, it wasn't perfect. Like most couples, hubby and I bickered every morning because we always left later than I would like. And naturally, a crazy busy park with a toddler isn't always easy. However, we made the most of it! My biggest regret was my constant worry about the weather. We ended up leaving a day early (my idea not hubby's) because we had heard the weather was supposed to be insane on the grapevine, and I was worried about it getting shut down. I just wish I hadn't worried so much about it, but I am a huge worrywart. However, we still had fun AND made it home safely, which was important.

Christmas Eve Eve:
Christmas Eve is very tricky for us, and sometimes very stressful. Both sides of our families celebrate Christmas Eve, because on the next day, my sister and sister in law celebrate with their other sides. Thankfully this year was pretty smooth in celebrations, and on the 23rd we celebrated with my family. However, that afternoon, Rowan randomly broke out in a 103 fever with no symptoms. Since my sister's house is basically my second house, we still did our celebrations, but poor Rowan was simply miserable, even with meds. I was so disappointed, because I wanted her to enjoy herself. I felt so bad for her! However, that's how life goes! We managed to still have a good time with our family! My sister made a yummy ham dinner, and we brought ice cream cake! Before presents, Ben (my brother in law) read the birth of Jesus from the book of Matthew. Such a beautiful reminder of the real reason for the season! We sure got spoiled by our precious family!

Christmas Eve:
On actual Christmas Eve, we spent it with our Potter side. Miraculously, Rowan's fever literally disappeared as fast as it came! Thank God! We brought dessert over and had a very yummy turkey dinner. Rowan wore her pretty Christmas dress and stole the show with our Potter family! We also got spoiled by our family! The Potter family has a tradition of playing the card game 31 and of course, they played a good couple of rounds! I used to play but since having baby, someone has to entertain her! However, she joined in on the fun too! Rowan conked out in the car for sure! We did make sure to leave Santa cookies and milk before Rowan went to bed!

Christmas morning:
Christmas morning began with our "tree lighting" countdown, with Rowan's same reaction, LOL! We had so much fun passing out gifts (complete with Christmas music in the background) and watching her open them.  Hubby totally outdid himself in gifts and gave me way too much. So thankful for him! We have a tradition of big Christmas breakfast, so we had a ham and potato egg casserole. I also made orange breakfast rolls, per hubby's request. After our delicious meal, Rowan played for awhile and then took a really long nap, much to our delight, LOL! We have another tradition of watching at least 2-3 Christmas movies, so we fired up Home Alone. I hadn't seen that since I was little! After Rowan woke up, we ordered in dinner. Our traditional Christmas dinner is either Chinese or pizza. We did pizza this year and it was yummy! Rowan went to bed around 7:30, and we ended our night with junk food and Elf. What a perfect way to end the night!

If you stayed with me, wow, thank you!!  I couldn't have asked for a better holiday with the ones that I love! Only 354 days till Christmas, LOL!!!