Moving

After nearly 3 years, Logan and I have moved for the first time!  We are very excited about the adventures ahead but sad because of what we will leave behind.  My sweet grandpa, who lives in the Holladay area, allows the grandkids to live in his basement and we in turn help him take care of his house and yard.  We can't wait!

As Logan and I anticipated this move, we discussed all of the good yet difficult things that will come with it.  Most importantly: We have LOVED where we are living!  We truly couldn't have asked for a better newlywed home.  Our landlady has been a dear neighbor and friend and took such good care of us when we needed it most.  We have felt so spoiled by our circumstances and couldn't have asked for anything more!

Just as important: The ward we have been in has been nothing short of a miracle.  Everyone from the sweet nursery kids on up have had a greater impact on us than they will ever know.  We were welcomed with open arms since day one, we were treated like everyone's family members during our days in the hospital and we have received the support we've needed since then without having to ask for it.  Both Logan and I have developed many friendships in this ward and I know we will cherish them forever.  There's no doubt in my mind we were supposed to be surrounded by this ward family and we will feel forever in their debt for everything that has been done on our behalf.  Please, please, please continue to invite us to baby blessings, farewells, homecomings and any other exciting events!  We will miss all of you so much!

Other random things we have been so grateful for and will undoubtedly miss: Living 90 seconds away from both of our families (especially when I had to haul all of our laundry to my parents' every week!), living in the same stake we were both raised in (it's SO weird to imagine being somewhere else!), living 5 minutes away from my work, and this sounds so lame but living minutes from a freeway entrance in any direction!

Going from our above-ground mother-in-law apartment with tons of natural light and vaulted ceilings to a basement with basically no natural light will be quite a change but well worth it, I'm sure!  We have heard wonderful things about the ward (my parents' dear friend is the bishop), Logan will have a short drive to work, we will live closer to some great friends and we will have a bit more space.  Above all else: It will be something different and different is what we need!

With all of that begin said, we couldn't be more thrilled for this opportunity to start a new chapter of our lives.  We definitely aren't closing the book, we have learned too many wonderful things and grown way too much to want to do that, but we are ready to take what we've learned with us and continue on.  When we moved into our first place as a newly wed couple, we had all of our dreams planned out.  It is difficult knowing we once had Eli's nursery all set up in our old apartment and realizing it won't be coming with us but we know he will be.  We feel him with us more than I ever imagined possible and I can't describe the amount of strength it gives to us.

Farewell, Crown Pointe!  Thanks for the memories!

The Twin Cities

I have always had a special place in my heart for Minnesota because my grandma was born there and I have quite a few relatives that still live there but my true love for the Twin Cities developed once Paul and Cheryl moved out there.  I have lost count of the number of times I've visited but each time I go it's as good as the last.  My absolute favorite time to be in MN is during the Fall--it is gorgeous!  My least favorite time to be there?  You guessed it!  Winter!  I hope we never have to live somewhere that is so cold for so long.  Opening the door for a mere few seconds makes the whole house freezing and walking outside only happened for me when it was an absolute must.  Thank goodness our primary purpose for the trip was to see that new little baby so we could just stay cuddled up by the fire most days!

I brought my good camera and for some reason never took it out of its case the entire time I was there.  I was too into all of my boys!  The only pictures I have were taken with my phone so forgive the poor quality.

Happy 1 month baby Stir Fry!

Sterling LOVES Will!  My mom calls Will the baby whisperer and it couldn't be more fitting.  Aside from his mom, Will has the easiest time calming Sterling down when he walks around with him like this :)

Lovin Frozen just like everybody else!

Love this boy!  None of these pictures show it but his eyes are quite blue!

We have a thumb sucker already!

 Aside from kissing on the boys as much as I could, we had a busy week full of fun!  My Aunt Deb (who is technically my mom's cousin) was able to come over for a visit and it was so good to see her!  She has been so wonderful to us the past year and donated much of what ended up on Eli's tree.  Love you, Deb!

Adam turned 4 the day before I got there and Tanner's 8th birthday is this week so they had a combined birthday party.  Around Christmas time the boys entered a drawing at Home Depot for a private party and they recently got a call saying they had won!  Home Depot has a craft/project event for kids every Saturday but this was their very own party.  We were so impressed with the setup and how well they took care of us we asked how much it would cost to do something like this again.  We were told they don't offer private parties as a rule so you just have to be fortunate enough to win.  The kids had a great time building, opening presents and eating cake.

Cooper, T, Alex and Max

Reagan, Lucas, Adam and Elizabeth (If only I could say those names in Adam's accent it would be 10x better!)

I have to give a quick shout out to my Tan Man!  To those of you that are lucky enough to know him: he is doing so well!  He has made SO much progress in every way!  Socially and academically he is leaps and bounds ahead of where he has been, it was so fun to see.  Thank goodness for the fantastic Minnesota school system!

Paul and Cheryl hired a babysitter one night which allowed the 4 of us to go out to dinner and enjoy a few kid free hours.  I unfortunately didn't take a single picture but I promise we had a wonderful time!  Our final evening was spent with some dear friends who recently joined the church and have become like parents to Paul and Cheryl and grandparents to their boys.  It was so good to see you, Jan and Duane!

Our trip went way too fast and I miss all of you already!  I'm already counting down the days until I get to visit again!

IVF & Baby Sterling

First things first:  My apologies to those of you that read the title of my last post and thought it was a pregnancy announcement from me and Logan.  That was definitely not my intention!  Another baby for us is so far off my radar right now that it didn't even cross my mind when I wrote that but afterwards many people told me that's what they thought it was about.  I love using this blog as a journal and am so grateful for the support we receive through it but I would never do something like that just to get more people to read what I write.  I'll be much more careful in the future!

With that being said, I'll share a quick IVF update so everyone has a better idea of where we truly are in that journey.  We received the happy news just last week that our insurance has approved the pre-authorization request for coverage of the PGD portion of IVF.  This will take care of a large chunk of the overall cost so we are very pleased!  Now that we have the okay from our insurance company, in the next couple weeks we will be sending the lab what they need to get the probes made for the test--our blood, Eli's blood (stored at PCH), and our parents' saliva.  Sending the lab all of that will allow them to create the most accurate test possible.  The test will take a couple months to create but it will be a great feeling knowing it's ready so that when we are ready to begin a cycle the test will be ready to go as well.  We are slowly but surely getting there!

On February 20th Paul and Cheryl welcomed boy #5 to their family!  It has been so crappy living away from them during all of the excitement.  I have never been more grateful for FaceTime!  Sterling Elijah, named after my grandpa and brother and of course our little Eli, is a healthy, big boy!  He was 9lb 2oz when he was born and has already surpassed his birth weight.  At his first doctor appointment he was in the 98th percential for height, 90th for weight and 90th in head circumfrence.  My mom and I are going to visit in a couple weeks and I can't wait!  I'm sure he'll be huge by the time we see him, especially compared to the 5 pound peanuts our family is used to lately.  Welcome to the Rowley clan, baby Sterling!

 

Logan has Spring Break next week which I am very excited for!  We don't have any big plans and he'll probably just end up working a lot more but it means that warmer weather is on its way!  Yahoo! 

Valentine's Day and More Babies!

Logan and I had a great Valentine's Day week!  We promised each other we'd make up for not being able to celebrate last year and I feel like we definitely did that by doing fun things all week rather than just on Friday.  On Monday we went to dinner with a group of fantastic friends from our ward.  We love these couples!

Don't mind the fuzzy picture quality

During lunch on Friday I ran over to Logan's work and filled his car with pink and red balloons. It wasn't anything too exciting but I wanted him to know I had been thinking about him throughout the day.  He totally blew me out of the water when he came home with flowers and some biking apparel that I can't wait to use!  This warmer weather the past few days has made me so excited to get back on my bike!

We headed over to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner--Asian Star!  Put sushi in front of us and we're always in heaven!

On Saturday afternoon we went with some other dear friends to their cabin in Midway.  We planned this little getaway a few weeks ago and have been so excited for it!  For some lame reason I didn't take a group picture but I'm sure that's because we were having so much fun!  We went sledding, ate dinner, played games, watched a movie and laughed a lot!  The highlight of the night came when we gave our boys a little V-Day gift.  It was nothing big but I think they appreciated it!

Once again, sorry for the fuzzy cell phone picture!

Thanks to our wonderful friends and my amazing husband we had a great week!  Thank you for making it so special, babe!

Happy news!  For those of you that didn't see the announcement on Facebook:

Blake and Staci are expecting baby #2 this summer!  This little boy means grand kids numbers 11, 12 and 13 are joining the Rowley family this year!  There aren't many things that are better than being an aunt so I can't wait to meet these little men and watch them become best buds!

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

A Year of Travels

Logan and I love to travel and have made it a priority to go on at least one trip together each year as long as our circumstances allow it.  We've had 3 amazing trips with just the two of us including Hawaii, a cruise to Mexico and Jamaica.  We are going big this year and just booked the tickets for the trip we've been fantasizing about for 3 years now--Europe!   Logan and two of our close guy friends all served missions in Germany so the three guys and two of us wives are heading back to visit together!  We are still working on the details but we do know one thing: August can't come soon enough!

Aside from our European adventures, I have a couple other getaways I'm pretty excited about.  My oldest brother's wife is delivering their FIFTH boy at the end of February so my mom and I are heading to Minnesota in March to kiss on that sweet baby as well as the other four rascals!  I can't wait!

A good friend of mine lives in New York and in April will be driving back this way for school so I'm going to tag along with her and her mom!  Details of this trip are yet to be finalized as well but we will probably take a few days to make the drive and we are determined to have a blast along the way!

Yesterday we planned what we thought was going to be a fun Super Bowl party at my parents'.  Don't get me wrong, being with my family and eating way too much food was fantastic but you all know how lame the game was.  I'm a Niner fan so I didn't care too much who won but along with everyone else, I was definitely hoping for something a bit more competitive!  This picture just about sums up how we were feeling/reacting the entire game:
 

It has been a few weeks since I've posted but not much is going on.  Let's face it--January is boring!  It feels so much better being out of that yucky month and into February!  Logan continues to enjoy work and school and I am very grateful for the job I have working for my dad.  Valentine's Day is just a couple weeks away and Logan and I are determined to make it fun!  Last year Eli was admitted to the hospital on the 13th so we never really got to celebrate.  We'll make up for it this year!

My Boys' Birthdays!

This time of year is exciting for us not only because of the holidays but because all of our birthdays take place as well.  First up: Eli on January 4th.  I had many different thoughts and emotions leading up to this day.  I was excited and nervous all at the same time not knowing how I would feel but also wanting to make sure we made it as happy a day as possible for him.  It was definitely happy!

I had the opportunity to spend the morning at a baptism for a man in our stake who's been investigating the church for a couple months.  I was fortunate enough to attend a few of his lessons with the sister missionaries and learned so much as I watched his spiritual growth.  Witnessing this man enter the waters of baptism definitely got me in the right mindset for what we had planned the rest of the day because it allowed me to have a much more eternal perspective.  

After the baptism we met our families at the cemetery where the kids had fun putting little toys on Eli's headstone.  Even though Eli never had a chance to do many "little boy" things, it made me so happy listening to his cousins talk about how much he loved playing with trucks because, naturally, that's what all little boys love.  We spent a few minutes talking and taking pictures before singing and releasing white balloons in honor of SCID awareness.  

There was a slight breeze that took the balloons as soon as we let them go so it seemed as though they were being taken straight to to Eli.  It really was a neat experience.

Afterwards we all went to lunch together and had a chance to reflect on the year.  My parents gave us each a gift "from Eli" that we loved.  I got a neat bracelet with Eli's name on it and Logan got a model airplane that says: "To My Daddy, Who Gave Me Wings To Fly.  Love, Eli" That couldn't be more accurate!

It's hard to believe Eli joined our family 1 year ago.  It feels like it was 10 years ago but I'm sure that's to be expected given what's gone on the last 12 months.   Although we had a wonderful day, I can't wait until we can celebrate all together.  Happy Birthday, little buddy!

**Many, many thanks to everyone for all the love and support on Eli's birthday!  It truly does make it so much more enjoyable having so many friends by our side.**

January 6: Logan's Birthday!

Some of you may remember that we were still in the hospital last year on Logan's birthday and I completely spaced it!  I couldn't believe I didn't remember until he said something about it halfway through the day.  To say I was mortified is an understatement.  I was bound and determined to make it up to him this year.  

During lunch I surprised Logan at work with some balloons and one of his favorite desserts: Kneaders' Fruit Tarts.  I didn't get to see him so I called him and asked him to take a picture but he wouldn't.  I know it made him happy though!

The treats were gone by the time he got home but at least I have a picture with the balloons!

After we both got home from work we went to Tucanos for dinner.  We both love it and always over eat.  Midway through dinner Logan said: "Please don't ask them to sing to me" so what's the next thing I ask our waitress to do?? Sing to him, of course!  I'm an awful wife.  I should have taken a video of them singing but I didn't even think about it.  They walked out yelling to the whole restaurant, shaking a tambourine and asked everyone to sing along while Logan stood up in front of everyone.  His face was priceless and I'm sure he still hasn't forgiven me!

We had a fun night and hopefully somewhat made up for last year's debacle!  Before my 

brother headed back to Minnesota we were able to celebrate Logan's birthday with my family so that was a lot of fun as well!  Happy Birthday, Rico!  Welcome to Club 24!

When all the kids were together for the holidays we were able to get this adorable picture of them.  Even better: This group will be expanded this year! (No, NOT by us!)

Left to Right: Adam (3) Tanner (7) Ben (3) Nathan (6) Klara (6) Will (9) Lily (1) Mady (8) Amelia (18 months) Not pictured but there in spirit: Eli (1) :)

Love you, little peanuts!

So Long, 2013

What a year.  My feelings about last year are hard to put into words.  I experienced the most happiness I've ever felt but I have also never experienced more heartache.  I have never been tried more in my life yet I've never been more blessed.  My faith has never been shaken harder and my testimony has never been stronger.  I can't deny that I'm anxious to turn the page and see what our future holds but I am absolutely grateful for everything I experienced the last 12 months.   

So much of our lives is vastly different from how we thought it would be right now but I truly love what my life has become.  As a result of everything that happened last year, specific people and opportunities have come into my life that wouldn't have otherwise and I couldn't be more grateful for each one of them.  It's always said that God only gives you trials you can handle but I know I was given such a trial because my testimony was lacking in many ways and needed help.  If this is the price to pay to become closer to our Savior, I know it will be worth it.

Logan and I are a happy family of three but people often ask when we will get pregnant again.  'One day' is all we tell them.  We are happy, enjoying being with each other, and healing.  In time our desire to expand our family will be there but not right now.  Through medical technology we will have the blessing of ensuring our future children aren't affected with SCID and we are so grateful for that.

One thing Logan and I constantly talk about is how grateful we are for the endless amount of love and support we have received from the moment everything began last year.  Every single thing that was done on our behalf, no matter how big or small, was more critical to our strength and healing than any of you will ever understand.  We are able to put one foot in front of the other each day because of the help we continue to receive from everyone around us.  We hope to one day have the ability to repay each one of you that have been such a blessing in our lives.

We hope everyone has a fantastic new year!

When we were living in the hospital, we had the opportunity to be a part of the StoryCorps project with Primary Children's Hospital.  We had a roughly 1 hour interview where Logan was the interviewer and I was the interviewee.  Our interview was condensed into a 5 minute segment and posted to the hospital blog.  For those of you that didn't see it on Facebook a few days ago, you can listen to it below:

http://primarychildrenshospitalblog.org/2013/12/30/elis-battle-with-scid-a-parents-perspective/#comments
(If the link doesn't work for you, go to www.primarychildrenshospitalblog.org and scroll down until you find out story.)

Other random happenings...We had a fun New Year's Eve with my family playing games and eating lots of food!  My brother had to take his family back to Minnesota this morning and, as always, it was sad saying goodbye.  I'm going to miss this face!

Some of our good friends invited us to the Jazz game on Monday and it was my first time in a suite!  The new video boards are absolutely massive and no picture can do them justice.  Many thanks to the Neff family for the invite!

Here's to a happy and healthy 2014!