Happy 18 months Rowan! The year and a half year recap...

We have made it to 18 months! Holy cow! 

 In the last week and a half, I have been reminded to be thankful for this precious child of mine. As I wrote in my previous post, I lost a beautiful, young friend to a horrific cancer over a week ago. While my sweet friend Emily knew Jesus and is in heaven, I can't help but mourn her loss. I often think and pray for her parents, who had to bury their child. That right there makes my heart ache. 

I look at my firecracker of a child, and can't believe what we have been through. The crazy hospital stay, NICU, and now a healthy baby girl is a reminder of what we have overcome. I'll be honest, it sometimes isn't easy to be her mom. Rowan is a sweet and great baby, but she can be a handful sometimes. She can be VERY stubborn, can be fussy about things, and is becoming a professional at throwing fits. I often get frustrated, like most parents. However, Emily's death was a smack in the face. While parts of being a mom isn't always fun, I see Rowan and I reminded that she is my miracle. So many things could have happened and gone wrong, but God always prevails. I look at those beautiful almond eyes, those chubby hands, and hear that precious laugh, and feel thankful for my baby girl. The sometimes fits and sassy personality can be tough, but this time of her life is fleeting. I don't ever want to take her for granted. She truly has changed my life for the better and is my biggest blessing! Okay, I am crying now and this NEEDS to be lightened up, STAT! So here we go....

Age:18 months, 16.5 months (ADJUSTED AGE)

Weight and clothing size: 

Rowan is a sturdy 28 pounds, and still has her yummy rolls. About to bust through size 4 diapers (I'm thinking we maybe have a month before we should move). Depending on the brand she can be between  18/24 months (Gap and Old Navy), or 3T in other brands (Target and Carters, instagram shops). Pants FOR SURE have to be at the very least 3T, she has some very big glutes!

Eating:

Rowan is starting to get more pickier, but for the most part eats decently well and with good portions. She really has been enjoying meatballs, pretzels and fruit pouches.

Rowan can:

-can sign mama, thank you, more, please, mama, deer, wind, rain and milk. It helps her father is fluent in ASL, but she legitimately picks it up quickly!

-If you ask her if she has a "poopy diaper" she will frantically look around and pull up her shirt, LOL!

-knows parts of her body when asked

-trying to say "yes" when you ask her something. It starts off as a "hmm" and then sounds more like an "uh huh"

-is good at climbing things (much to my dismay), but also is good at carefully lowering herself down.Thanks MyGym!

- learning to say "manzana" (apple) which sounds more like "manana". She also is getting better at saying "agua" (water) which sounds like "aaaaaaawaaahhh". She doesn't say a ton of words, which sometimes worries me. However, she babbles CONSTANTLY and says strings of sounds together, which leads me to believe she may be working on some stuff. I know I will regret this worry when she is 3 and won't stop talking, LOL!

-If I am in another room and I call to her, she will come over to where I am.

Rowan loves:

-to color! Seriously, she screams with joy if you give her a crayon or marker. She loves to make long scribbles, doodles, and small lines when given paper. We have to watch that she doesn't eat them!

-loves fruit pouches, but boy, we have to be careful. They cause MAJOR crazy poo, especially anything apple! We learned the hard way while we were driving down to Disneyland.

Rowan doesn't like: 

 -loud, shrill noises

-being dropped off in nursery. However, if there is a male nursery worker, she calms down almost immediately. Oh Rowan.

-doesn't like it when mommy cooks. This is when she magically becomes clingy and whiny. I usually will almost always pick her up, since I love the cuddles. But man, it takes me forever to cook! I am learning how to make my lille carrier into a back pack! Hopefully that helps.

-hates when meal time is over, or when she's done with her favorite foods. She will scream and throw  a fit. 

 Sleeping schedule:

Her sleep got majorly disrupted thanks to Disneyland this month. However, this girl takes her sleep with stride and is pretty flexible. We were so fortunate she easily slipped back into her routine once she was home. I am sure she was glad to, it was tiring! Girl does love her sleep! I know we are so lucky in this department. I am certain if we have another baby someday, it may definitely not be like this! I am savoring it while we can!

 New happenings this month:

-We went to Disneyland!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went with two friends of ours and with my friend's little son. It was pretty packed, and the heat was horrific. LA was going through a freak of nature heat wave, with VERY HIGH humidity. It was awful. Despite all that, we did our best to have fun anyway. ROwan was much fussier this trip, but mainly because she was so hot. Don't blame her!

-We took our 2nd annual Potter family trip to Fog Willow pumpkin patch! It was so much fun, and they even have animals! Rowan joyfully screamed at those poor animals and was livid when we had to leave.

-To piggy back off the first two, we spent 2 glorious weeks together thanks to our fall break. I loved getting a change to play "stay at home" mama. The working mom guilt is unreal and awful, so I treasure these breaks so much!

Crazy a year and half has gone by! Love you forever Rowan! 

Emily

I met Emily back in late summer of 2001. I was a freshman at Fresno Pacific University. When I first met her I wasn't in the best place. I was struggling to see where I belonged. I wasn't having much fun and at that point, I considered going back home.  Emily was one of those cool girls that was full of life. She was vibrant, hilarious, and definitely outgoing. She was definitely one of the more popular girls. I remember feeling quite intimidated by her, and at first I don't know that she super liked me either. As time went on, Emily and I became fast friends. She loved to call me by my childhood nickname, "Karlita". She was the kind of girl that would cheer you up, encourage you, and make you laugh even when you were at your saddest point. She was an incredibly strong Christian woman and was definitely an inspiration to me in my own faith. Emily was two years older than me so I only had two years with her in college. But in those two short years we had built lots of memories with our incredible group of girlfriends. Dance parties, pranking our favorite group of boys, acting silly, our inside jokes... I could go on and on.

      After she graduated college we lost touch. She went back to Southern California. I saw her a few times after she graduated but we mostly would have some contact on social media. When I was pregnant  with Rowan, I found out that she was fighting a rare form of adrenal cancer. I was stunned. Emily was in her very early 30s, healthy and full of life. How could this happen to her? I felt sort of shame that I had just found out but Emily reassured me that she wasn't making it very known and was slowly starting to tell people. Since I was so far away from her, I felt helpless as to what to do. However the one thing I knew I could do was pray and pray with fervor. 

Every day for over a year, as I would take Rowan to my moms house, we would pray for Emily. I have a list of people that I pray for every single day and she was at the first person we prayed for. 

Throughout her battle with cancer Emily fought the good fight. Her faith in the Lord never wavered and that was what was so amazing to me. She had an incredible group of friends and family that rallied behind her every second of the way. A mantra was adopted in honor of Emily which was "Choose Joy". A Facebook page was dedicated to her and this beautiful saying. Watching people post how they chose joy for Emily was moving. I often think about choosing joy in everything I do. I have often thought about it when I would get upset over the stupidest things or get anxious about minor things. I would think about how Emily would choose joy rather then wallow in her sorrows. Not to say that I'm sure she had her days, but the way that she persevered  can be a great lesson to all of us. 

       On Wednesday, October 14 Emily lost her battle to cancer. We had just gotten back from a long, hot day at Disneyland. I was tired, grumpy, and snippy with my husband. I got on to Facebook and saw the news. It was like a slap in the face. I was stunned and centered me back to reality. While in some ways I was happy she wasn't suffering, I was just stunned that she had left so soon. Memories of us flooded my mind and the tears just flowed. My heart ached for her family, especially her parents. No one should dare have to bury their baby. I held Rowan even closer that night. My heart hurts for them. 

 Emily is truly a hero in my book and she left such a powerful legacy that no one will never, ever forget her. She was an inspiration to many. I know we can all honor Emily by continually "choosing joy". Emily, I know you were at rest and you are in the arms of our heavenly father. I will miss you and your beautiful soul. I'm thankful for the memories that we have, and I'm so grateful that I was able to call you my friend.

Happy 17 months Rowan1

Annnnnddddddd as usual, I am basically so unbelievably late with this post. Along with this post, I have about 3-4 blog posts that need to be finished and published. SIGH...thank God this isn't my regular job. I'd probably be fired  :(

Back to Rowan....17 months. Holy cow. Honestly, I feel like I was just pregnant with her, now we are on the brink of having a 1.5 year old. This month has been another great one for our little babe. I am learning more about her and her very funny personality. I am so thankful she is mine!

Age:17 months, 15.5 months (ADJUSTED AGE)

Weight and clothing size: 
My pretty babe is 27 pounds. I am loving and savoring all those chubby rolls!!! She is wearing 3T but can still wear 18-24 months in Old Navy and Gap clothes, since they ACTUALLY size their clothes to the age that they state, lol.

Eating:
My baby will now eat meat as long as it's tasty, LOL!!! Don't blame her! Now likes pasta, but starting to not love veggies as much, UGH! From time to time we make homemade pizza and calzones, and she SCREAMS for joy as she eats it. Its hilarious!

Rowan can:
-can sign "mama" in sign language, mastering how to say thank you. Also does more, please, all done.

-Has about 12 teeth, holy cow!!!!

-tries to open door knobs....oh boy.

-Starting to put puzzles together, likes to stack blocks on this stick thing she has. Not to be braggy but she is very good at her fine motor skills and picks up on things of that nature pretty quickly.

-does a lot of pretend playing like "cooking", stirring pots and pans, and pretending to taste what she is "making"

-Starting to feed herself with a spoon and fork. She's getting good at it! I think it helps that she does that a lot when she plays in her kitchen.

-likes to help by handing us things we need (like shoes, clothes)

-NO walking as of  now. However, no one Doctor wise is concerned. She does have some low muscle tone, which can make walking harder. I can't help but feel worried, but if they aren't, I suppose I shouldn't be either. She is starting to walk more comfortably only holding one of our hands. I'm feeling she is so close. A lot of the issue is that she is stubborn and doesn't seem very interested. Good grief.

-Can identify cow, sheep, pig, bees, and dogs when asked.

Rowan loves:

-OBSESSED with books. She will sit for chunks at a time going through her books. Of course, we read as much as we possibly can with her.

-loves playing with remotes and pressing every button imaginable.

-loves to hug and kiss her "babies" (aka stuffed toys).
 

Rowan doesn't like: 
 -when I take her away from daddy (like when I need to take her to my mom's). She is SUCH a daddy's girl. I get jealous, LOL!!

-gets angry if you take one of her remotes away 

-Rowan is getting into the lovely stage of toddler tantrums. If you take things from her that she shouldn't have, she loses her mind. 

-Still doesn't like loud, shrill noises. 



 Sleeping schedule:
Sleep is still decent, thank God. From time to time she will cry in her sleep but most of the time she is fine. 


 New happenings this month:
Since school started back up, we haven't had an eventful month. She caught bronchiolitis BAD this month and almost was sent to the hospital. Good GRIEF! Thankfully she bounced back quicker but still, my heart was a hot freaking mess!

We are one day away from a 2 week break! Thank you JESUS! I look forward to cuddles and time with my girl. We are also going to Disneyland in a week and half, YAY!!!! I also am super looking forward to the holidays with the girl. I think now that she's a little older it will be even more fun!

Obligatory Rowan dump: