traveling with a "toddler"

Ahh, the joys of traveling. Prior to having baby, we enjoyed many little vacays and trips. Our love for travel started with our honeymoon to Ireland. Since then, Shannon and I were constantly going somewhere.  Sure, our vacays weren't sunning in Monte Carlo or traveling all over France, but we had so much fun. We built a lot of memories in our 5 years of just us. We vowed that once we became parents, our little travels would continue. Rowan went on her first trip when she was 3 months old. Honestly, I think we would have gone earlier except I was so paranoid about her getting sick!




Rowan was a champ that trip, and from then on we went on various road trips with her. Each time she did great and adjusted well to her surroundings. Sure it wasn't all sunshine all the time, but I felt mighty proud I had what I called "an easy traveler". I felt like we had it down and I was quite smug.


 I'm sure the good Lord got sick of my cocky attitude, because that all changed once she turned one.


This past summer, we had 3 trips planned, 2 of those trips would be with my awesome family. Our first trip was to Angel's Camp. Rowan once again did decent on the drive, enjoyed discovering our cabin that we were in. However, the night was crazy. Usually on trips she would settle to sleep. Her first few nights she would scream off and on throughout the entire night. She wouldn't settle down, would wake up ready to go at 4:30 am, etc. It was  crazy. I had no idea what the heck she was doing, lol. Naps were even harder. We tried to respect her schedule, but she would take horrible naps those first few days. Thanks to that she would be an ABSOLUTE pill, rightfully so thanks to her lack of sleep. I felt frustrated and I wanted her to enjoy her trip.


After awhile, it got better and she was able to enjoy her vacation. Next trip was to Santa Cruz, and we would be gone a little over a week. I felt a little wiser and made sure to pack a little differently to help her transition better. Sure enough, the first two nights were rough. Her naps got completely messed up, despite our best efforts. However, the trip overall was great, and we created some incredible memories! I have to say a major shout out to my family, who were beyond amazing, flexible and helpful with the baby!


So, what did I learn, as a newbie mama?


1. The first few nights might be rough- In general, when I travel, I often don't sleep great the first night or two. That's the same way with Rowan. These surroundings are so different to her, and she needs time to adjust.


2. Be flexible-I am a stickler to her routine, mainly because she does so well with it. During these trips I have learned that she may not always take a great nap, and every little snooze counts. Sometimes even a half an hour would be enough to perk her right up. With that being said...


3. Sometimes a stroller nap isn't an option-I learned my child WILL NOT sleep in the stroller. Good grief we tried every trick in the book, she wouldn't cave! I did learn that she doesn't mind conking out in the moby wrap. She would sometimes sleep almost an hour in it! Despite that I have a chubby baby, the moby actually provided a lot of support and it wasn't so bad on my body! I love my moby wrap!


4. Keep your expectations low- I have a tendency to build things WAY up in my head. I tried as much as I could to keep an open mind and just simply go with the flow. Things would always end up better that way!


5. If you are traveling with family, consider it a blessing!- We did Angels and Santa Cruz with my family, and they were BEYOND helpful with Rowan! I know it may not always be like that with every family, but I felt so supported on these trips. I was so thankful for their help! Also, we got to have a date night on both of those trips, which is a MAJOR bonus!


So, what's next? Only a 6 hour drive to Southern California, and a trip to Disneyland! This time, there is no family, just us! Precious Lord help us, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 14 months Rowan!

I am pretty sure I am beyond late with this post. I thought I would have been a much more efficient blogger, but in reality, I suck. I am determined to keep up with these posts though. Rowan is changing so much. It blows my mind how much babies change. I am trying to soak in every minute! I truly can't believe how fast time is flying! So, this post is a bit old, but here we go....







Age:14 months, 12.5 months adjusted

Weight and clothing size: 
Rowan is a sturdy 25 pounds! Officially done with 24mo and wearing 2T clothing. Wearing size 4 diapers.



Eating:
Holy crap, I think I have a teenage boy on my hands rather than a baby! This girl finds so much joy in eating, and eats a TON. NO JOKE. She can pack away food like a guy, and in return, her poopies are HORRIFIC, LMAO!!!  Breakfast consists of a whole waffle, milk, and lots o' strawberries. Lunch is some sort of protein, sippy of water, and a good amount fruits and veggies. Dinner is usually whatever we eat, plus fruit and water. She gets snacks with water and a bottle at bedtime. Phew!



Rowan can:
-Is starting to cruise a little! She also is slowly learning to walk with her learning walker. She also likes to "walk" while holding our hands. No official walking, but again, not too worried. I remind myself that walking takes place between 9-18 months.





-do some climbing! She likes to climb into her toy box tubs, climb all over us, you get it. She is SO busy, and crawls so fast! She gets into mischief just fine. If she's this busy now, I can't imagine what she will be like when walks!




-mimics noises we do. If I clear my throat, she will do it. If I make clicking sounds, do silly screams, you bet that she will mimic almost immediately.




-can sign "more". We are teaching Rowan American sign language (daddy is fluent in ASL). We try to sign as much as we can. She now can confidently sign "more",which has helped from her screaming when we don't feed her fast enough. Oh Rowan.




-can point to where her nose is when asked  and knows where "ears" are. Love my smart cookie!




Rowan loves:
- to eat. I know this is repetitive, but seriously, she screams and squeals for meal time. She especially loves fruits and vegetables. Its quite hysterical! She starting to say "mmmmm!!!" with her favorites too, LOL!!
-actual babies, LOL! She joyfully screams at babies, points to them, and wants to touch (sometimes roughly) them. It's the cutest thing ever!

-puzzles. Girl is obsessed! My in law family got her some for her birthday and she is nuts for them! Now she isn't putting them together of course, but she likes to feel the pieces and put them in her mouth.


-the pool. We have gone at least 6 or 7 times in the last 2 weeks. Thank the Lord! Shannon and I were swimmers and water polo players all throughout high school. Shannon has been coaching swimming for nearly 25 years. So obviously we want her to carry on what we call "the Potter swim legacy" (it's even a hashtag, LOL). Anyway, she LOVES the water. Despite our best efforts to stop her, she also loves to drink it. I find that part so gross, LOL.




-her wubbanub pacifiers . I know people have opinions about pacis. We didn't have a choice since day 1 the NICU nurses put one in her mouth. Thankfully she mainly only uses it for bedtime, but y'all, wubbanubs are amazing! I love the precious little animals attached to them, and she loves them too! She has the: caterpillar, elephant, duck and giraffe (we keep it at mimi's). Yes, we may have a problem with buying them.





Rowan doesn't like: 
 -meat, mainly because of the texture. If I cut it into super small pieces, she does fine.


-HATES when we put her  puzzles back together. If she sees we put the pieces back, she will literally stop whatever she is doing to tear it apart. OH ROWAN.


-well this isn't a "dislike" per se, but she is into the tantrum stage. I am beyond ashamed to admit this but I sometimes get frustrated when this happens. I seriously don't tolerate tantrums well at all. I know this is just the tip of the iceberg, which makes me nervous for the true toddler years. I think part of it for me is I just want to help her and take away what's making her upset.  However, I quickly remind myself the reason she is throwing these little fits is that she can't talk yet. This girl sure has some sass!

Sleeping schedule:
Little babe still has the same sleep schedule. However she was having a tougher time with naps. Thankfully she got back into her routine and its pretty cut and dry. The only drag is Rowan STILL wakes up at 6:30, a few times even at 6. I know she can't help it but man it sucks, lol!


 

 New happenings this month:


-Getting a taste of the SAHM life! I am with Rowan all the time and it sure is different from working. Whoever says being a SAHM is easy needs to get punched. Its a lot of work, but also so fun! Going back to work is going to be a serious RUDE awakening!
-Rowan has gone to many birthday parties, but this month she got invited to her first Chinese 100 day party! It was super cool and fun! We were so happy to support our friends Logan and Anna in their journey of parenthood! Their baby Liberty is so beautiful! Rowan LOVED her but I think Lady Liberty was indifferent! Their little pic is below in the first set of pictures!
-Lots of pool time so far! She enjoys it so much!
-We did a road trip to Angel's Camp with my family. It was super fun and relaxing! However, I am noticing traveling is starting to become more difficult, uh I mean different with a "toddler" LOL.

10 things I have learned from being a mama

HI friends,


Wow, super ridic I am just now posting! Sorry for the massive MIA...so much to talk about, so I definitely will be posting more!


Well, this particular subject has been lingering in my mind since I have been a mama for the past 13.5 months. Now, OBVIOUSLY I am SO NOT an expert, not even close. Heck, are any of us really experts? However, I feel like  a completely different person from when I first started this journey. These are 10 little lessons that I learned from being a parent thus far...

1. Being a parent isn't a horrific as some make it out to be...

Before kids, I was beyond terrified to have them. Heck, we waited 5 years (okay, more just me) because people made parenthood sound like a version of hell on earth. Turns out, being a parent is pretty darn cool. I love being a mother, and my baby girl is a pretty darn good baby. She is sweet, hysterical, joyful and deliciously chubby. While she is our #1 priority and comes first, we told ourselves that Rowan had to go with our lives, not the other way around. She has fit seamlessly into our world and sharing it with her is INCREDIBLE. I won't lie that it SUPER helps having an amazing spouse to help and do life with, but with that being said, comes this next one....

2. BUT being a parent can be hard too....

I know for my grammar people I used "BUT" in the beginning. Sorry, get over it, LOL! Okay, so being a parent is definitely be challenging. Even though Rowan is an "easy" baby in some ways, it hasn't been all kittens and sunshine. We have had our really rough seasons, and her health was HORRIBLE during the winter. When you have a baby, your life does get turned upside down. It is a massive life change. There are times where I feel panicky realizing I am in charge of this human for the rest of her life. There are days I wish I could just be alone or sleep in. However, I wouldn't change this life for anything.

3, It is okay to mourn your old life

To be quite honest, this right here is the BIGGEST reason why parenthood has been so hard. Having a child was a HUGE life change for me. I remember last summer sobbing into Rowan's tiny newborn head when I realized we wouldn't be going on our annual summer Vegas trip. I was longing for the yardstick drinks and nightlife. I know, lame huh? I went from doing whatever the heck I wanted to having to slow down completely to care for my infant. I really struggled with it in the beginning, and sometimes I super miss my old life. That's okay to feel that way but find ways to adjust. When Rowan was really little, we would go to the drive in. We would still eat out, go shopping, do day/road trips, the only difference is she came with us. Which leads me to my next one...

4. Take your baby every where!

As mentioned in my earlier bullet, we found ways to "carry on" on our old life by just taking her with us.  By the time she was 6 months old, she had already been on 4 road trips. It paid off in the end, because Rowan LOVES to be out in public. She loves to people watch and loves being out an about. Thanks to this, she actually is a decent traveler!

5. The first real sickness is the worst
We were very lucky we went 7 months before Rowan got really sick, and that's that she was formula fed (haha, sorry had to throw that in there!). It came to a crashing halt on Thanksgiving when we ended up in the ER thanks to having difficulty breathing. Rowan's chest was caving and I remember the car ride was the most terrifying ride of my life. Turned out Rowan had bronchiolitis, and it sure as heck wouldn't be our last.  I remember thinking she was going to die and it was pure trauma for all of us. That's when we were introduced to the nebulizer, abuetrol and pulmicort. Doing treatments and seeing her cry hysterically was more than this heart could take.  Thanks to her preemie lungs, every cold she would get from here on out would basically turn into bronchiolitis. Each time she got sick, we would do the treatments and each time it would get easier. I still get so sick to my stomach when she gets sick. However, she just keeps getting stronger and  I am too.


6. Always go with your gut
I am famous for being a germaphobe and hypochondriac. I think I need therapy, lol. However, every time I got a pit in my stomach, I was always spot on. Always trust your gut. God gave us that intuition for a reason!
7. SCHEDULE, SCHEDULE, SCHEDULE...
Some moms may not agree with me. I get it. I remember planning a meet up with a fellow mom friend. I asked her if we could meet after 7:30, which is Rowan's bedtime. She was shocked. She said her 9 month son's bedtime was 10:30, sometimes later. My eyes got big from hearing that. Now I get every family is different, and that's great. That may work for some families! However, I think my child is a great sleeper because of being on a schedule. She flourishes from it. Its  never a fight nor issue. As working parents, we also didn't have a choice.  I am also somewhat blessed that I have kid who likes their sleep (yes, I know this will/can change). I think that having a schedule was so important and vital for our family. It's also nice because hubby and I get alone time and bond together, which is so important.
8. Make time for hubby
I never realized that being a parent would put my marriage in the backseat. In the beginning it was very hard, and I felt like we were roomates. Especially in the early days, we were running on no sleep, and being downright snippy with each other. We realized we had to put ourselves first from time to time. Hubby and I have  BEYOND supportive family, and we have gone a good share of date nights and often trade babysitting with my sister. It has helped our marriage and recharge us!
9. Dem hormones are real...
Recently I did a blog post about my bout with the baby blues. It was CRAZY AS HELL in the beginning. I felt like it wasn't normal, because the movies and people make it seem like everything should always be sunshine. I felt like no one was going through it. I truly thought I had PPD, though it was just the blues. The hormones were insane and yucky. I felt so sad, angry yet sometimes elated all at once. Oh my land, these hormones are REAL, NORMAL, and its okay if you have them. I feel sad because I feel at times I didn't always savor those first 2 months because of it. It happens and it's totally okay. It gets better
10. Enjoy every season...
People said this to me all that time, as well as "enjoy it, it goes by quick". After awhile I would get annoyed but guess what, THEY ARE RIGHT. I find myself poring over Rowan's pictures/videos when she was tiny and at times, I catch myself crying. Every season with an infant can be amazing and rough. I remember during the tough times wishing she was bigger but now I want to stop time if I can. I learned that every tough season doesn't last forever and you don't get that time back. That saying is true, "the days seem long but the years are short". I get Rowan is only 13.5 months, but I swear she was 3 months old yesterday. Ugh, excuse me while I go cry....


Being a mother has been the toughest but most incredible experience of my life. I am thankful God deemed me worthy to be the mother of this extraordinary baby girl!

Rowan: 13 months

Wow, how is this girl already 13 months?!?!? I have been a little bit of a hot mess since she turned one. I loved the baby stage and I must admit, I am nervous for the toddler stage! I hear its so not easy! I kinda went back and forth about posting these monthly updates. However, I am going ahead with it! I know I will love loook backing on these posts. I have done it with her baby ones and it's so neat! I am doing the format just a little different though...



Age:13 months, 11.5 months adjusted

Weight and clothing size: 
Rowan still weighs about 24 pounds. She still has her delicious rolls Pretty much ONLY wears 2t, and size 4 diapers! Still tiniest feet in the land! She is also SO short! It cracks me up! She is a chubby short person!!

Eating:
Rowan is a great eater! She eats mostly everything but doesn't like when her food is too dry. Her favorites are eggs, waffles, all fruits, veggies and cheese. She is drinking milk and water regularly out of cups. She also has gotten the hang of drinking out of a straw!

Rowan can:
-Crawl much quicker and is more confident in pulling herself up. No signs of walking yet. However, I have a peace about it and still learning NOT TO COMPARE. She is also still within the realm of normal, though some people still think its crazy she isn't running ,LOL. I don't think people realize but the norm for walking can range from 9 months up to 18 months! Every baby is different and God has made her uniquely her!

-Her fine motor skills are quite impressive and she's a great problem solver. For example, she had 2 toys in her hand, but wanted another toy. She bent forward and picked it up with her mouth, LOL! She's crazy!
  I know I am her mom, but I had to take an early intervention quiz about her progress. I obviously answered honestly and she still scored off the charts for fine motor! So proud of my little!

-She points to EVERYTHING and always says "dis?" or "Dat" while pointing. 

-She is getting good at recognizing objects and can tell you "where the cow is" and other objects. It a little bit blows my mind. 

-Rowan has always been saying mama, dada, dis, dat and der. She's still continuing to make long blends and sounds, and has full blown gibberish conversations with us and herself (LOL). I think we are going to have a chatty cathy on our hands! 

-learning more Spanish and seeming to respond!

Rowan loves:
- BOOKS. This makes my heart soar! She will pull out her books, and start "reading" them. What's crazy though is she will gibber jabber her way through each page and point. It is the darn cutest thing! She will also joyfully scream if she gets to a page she likes!

-dogs. She has been noticing more than usual and gets so excited. I wonder if we should get a dog, lol.

-Metal. I know that's weird, but any object made of metal she is immediately drawn to it and wants to bite it. What a crazy head!

Rowan doesn't like: 
 -When things are over. For example, She will scream and throw a fit if we stop her baby Einstein show. Or we pick her up from playing so we can feed her. Good grief! 

-Weird textures. If her food is super dry or has a funny texture, she will gag herself or make a crazy face. 

Sleeping schedule:
So far the same! A good morning nap and another in the afternoon. Sis likes her sleep and makes her a lot more agreeable if she's rested. Nights are still about 7:30-6. I am hoping over the summer she'll adjust her schedule and sleep in a little bit. HA yeah right!

 New happenings this month:
Honestly nothing too terribly new or different. Looking forward to when I am off in the summer, because we have 3 trips planned! 
-We tried Rowan in the nursery! She was fine for 10 minutes and then screamed the rest. Shannon got her midway and held her so I could enjoy the service. The following week she only cried for a little bit but then calmed down. Fingers crossed this keeps happening!

-We had a GLORIOUS play date with my BFF and her babies. This was a huge deal because they live in Texas and we don't get to see them often!
 

My Rowan dump:

Favorite Fridays: Oxygen Bonding Base Coat

I sure haven't done a Favorite Friday in forever! I think my last one was when I was pregnant! YIKES!!!

Well, I will try to keep this short and sweet. There's a product out there that is instantly my new favorite, Julep's oxygen bonding base coat!


Photo courtesty of julep.com

I'm a member of the Julep Maven Box. There are lots of beauty boxes around, but by far this is my favorite. For $19 I get a box with 2-3 full size Julep polishes plus a FULL size beauty product. Julep polishes retail for $14 for JUST one at Sephora, Ulta, etc so this is a GREAT deal. Anyway, I got the oxygen smoothing base coat with my box. I felt dismissive of it, because I haven't had any luck with any top or base coat. I have tried most name brands (Essie, OPI) to regular brands (Sally Hansen, etc) and nothing helps my polish from chipping after a day, sometimes it chips within the day! I decided to use it and boy, I am SO happy I got it. It dries extremely quickly, and creates a nice matte finish to your nails. However, the ICING on the cake is that after day 6 (did my nails on Sunday), my nails STILL HAVE NOT completely chipped off! I have the tiniest chip on one nail, but the fact that I have about 99% of my  nail polish on is truly incredible!! Here are my nails:

After day 6....not that bad!!!

 

Guys, can't rave ENOUGH about this product. It costs about $18 at your local Sephora. It may feel like a bit of sting, but if it keeps your mani on for a week, it's well worth it. I am so happy! Go ahead and get yours.

 

Happy Friday!

Mother's Day 2015

I hope all my pretty mamas had a wonderful Mother's Day! I know this is almost a week late, but hey, better than never!

Ah...what a difference a year makes....

 

 

The picture on the left shows an overwhelmed mama dealing with MAJOR baby blues and a tiny preemie baby. That mama was feeling so nervous and unsure of herself. This year's picture shows a mama who is much more confident, rested and feeling a little more sure of herself. I'm also blown away on how different "my tiny NICU" baby looks!

Mother's Day was super nice and mostly RELAXING which was so needed.

Our morning started us off with going to church. We tried Rowan in nursery for the very first time. She did great for 10 minutes then threw the BIGGEST drama queen fit in the world. Daddy entertained her in the hall while I sat through service. Oh Rowan!

After, we came home, Rowan went down for a nap, and I put on jammies and got back into bed! I caught up on some Nashville and took a quick snooze! SO HEAVENLY! When us girls woke up, I got my mother's day present, which was a pair of heels I was dying to have plus some gorgeous flowers! I'm not the kind of high maintenance gal who needs diamonds, etc (sorry if this offends you LOL) but I love getting gifts like shoes!!!

We then piled into the car and headed over to my sister's where the husbands cooked a DELICIOUS brunch with mimosas! We stuffed ourselves silly, took some more naps (YES!) and hung out! We spoiled my gorgeous mama with some well deserved gifts!  It was perfect! We ended up staying for dinner and my sister made this awesome bubble up pizza casserole. After, she and I went on a 3 mile walk and caught up on Scandal. Overall a perfect mother's day! I felt very loved and spoiled. I still can't believe I get to be the mama of my gorgeous girl! I hope the rest of y'all had a great Mother's day!

Behind the lens

I have been so excited to share this post!
This post is dedicated to our fabulous photographer, Jamie Cardoza! She is the owner of Jamie Cardoza photography and she is simply amazing!

Jamie has photographed Rowan from 3 months of age till now. I discovered Jamie through facebook as she had photographed a wedding of someone we knew. I was instantly drawn to her style of photography and how crisp her pictures looked.

I contacted Jamie and I explained how I wanted to do 3-6-9-12 month pictures. When we first met her, she was extremely friendly and put us at ease. I was nervous how Rowan would do. ROwan was a bit of a grump that first shoot, but Jamie was beyond patient with us. At her 6 months shoot, Rowan threw the BIGGEST fit I had ever seen her do. It was so awful! Seeing how she probably wouldn't recover, Jamie offered for us to reshoot later that week for no extra fees. That spoke volumes to me, as most photogs wouldn't do that.

When Rowan's 12 month shoot rolled around, I couldn't believe it was our last one! Once again Jamie worked her magic and got some spectacular shots. When our picture gallery came in, she included a note that brought tears to my eyes! She has felt like family!

Jamie spends tons of time with her clients and is easy to work with. She is also affordable and her talent speaks for herself. If you ever chose to go with her, you won't be disappointed! To book a session, email her at: jcardoza14@yahoo.com

Here is some of the work she did for Rowan, starting at 3 months. This is super crazy how much she has changed!!!:

3 months:

6 months:

9 months:

12 months