Getting ready to party!
Because our Christmas was such a downer, we're making up for it by having an extravagant New Years Eve. We were going to have a couple of friends drive up from Denver, but because of the ungodly amount of snow that's still around, it's not safe for them to make the hour & a half trek up here. So, it's just us. Which is still OK.

We've become such foodies since Logan's been born. We've been addicted to shows like Top Chef & many shows on the Food Network. Bill has to work tomorrow morning, but will be home early. He's going to make a spinach dip appetizer to start our evening off. We'll enjoy a couple of cocktails before dinner. Then it's surf & turf...steak & shrimp, followed by chocolate coconut sundaes. After that, at the stroke of Midnight, champaign. Yum!

We're so excited about our dinner. We've been total dorks & talking about while salivating since we planned it a few days ago. It's going to be great. I can't wait!

Bored? Lonely? Hmmm.
Logan has been incredibly tired today. He slept in until 8 ish. We hung out & watched Little Einsteins. I nursed him, leaving him with Bill & went to an appointment. I got home around 9:30, gave Logan breakfast & not much later, he went down for his morning nap. He didn't wake up until 12:45 pm. That's sleeping for almost three hours.

After he woke up, I nursed him again & waited for Bill to get home so we could switch. I had another appointment at 1 pm & Bill watched Logan on his lunch break. I got home, fed Logan lunch & played for a little bit. He was super tired again. He went down for another nap & has been asleep for a little over an hour. It must be all of the walking that's wearing him out.

So here I sit, pacing back & forth. Surfing the internet. Checking out different blogs. Bored out of my mind! I really don't feel like cleaning. That's no fun. Everyone is either at work, or snowed in from the second storm we endured last night. While I really enjoy some time to myself, some peace & quiet, I don't know what to do with it when I get it. It feels kind of pathetic.

2006 year in review-Another crazy year!
January started the year out with the birth of our first baby boy. Logan's birth was & will always be the most amazing moment in my life. There aren't words to explain how I felt. They just don't do it justice.
The following weeks are a total blur. Faded memories clouded by fatigue, sleep deprivation & hormones. If it weren't for blogging, I wouldn't remember what happened for the rest of the year. There was a lot of laundry & I didn't take a shower on a regular basis. However, time flew by. It seemed as though every time Logan woke up from a nap, he grew up. It was a strange feeling realizing how fast life really does go by.
February was full of discovery. For us & for Logan. Bill & I were learning our new roles as parents while Logan was learning about the world around him. There were first stroller rides, a first trip to the store, doctors appointments & nick-names: Mr. Fussy Fuss. We were learning about Logan as a person while learning more about ourselves in the process. Mothering came easy for me. It was automatic. Breastfeeding, changing diapers, comforting my crying son. What was everyone complaining about? Parenting a newborn is difficult? It was hard work, but it was easy. Because I loved it.
There were difficulties in that first month though. It was the beginning of our issues with Grandma L. It was also the end of a life in our family. Our Beagle, Beck, passed from a seizure.

March brought more experience for all of us. The realities of parenthood became clear. It was more difficult than those first adrenalin fueled weeks where everything seemed easy. It was the beginning of lessons on patience & dealing with frustration. We survived growth spurts. Logan went to the chiropractor for the first time. We celebrated when Logan's umbilical stump finally fell off. We were in awe at how much Logan was like Bill. Our hearts melted when he started to coo. I was inspired to make up a very special lullaby just for our baby. It was a whirlwind of a new life.
I was so thankful that we were willing to do whatever possible so I could stay home with Logan. We made many sacrifices. Bill worked hard for our family & I wished we could have it all. I wished he could spend more time with us at home. Then it happened. The pay raise with more time off. It was too good to be true.

Bill & I also celebrated birthdays that month. My 26 th & his 28 th. Nothing like a birthday & being a new parent to make you feel old.

April came in like a lion & went out like a lamb. Logan started to sleep in his own room & did so wonderfully. He went in for his second month check up & received all of his scheduled vaccinations. He had a reaction that lasted a week. That was pure hell. The week after, he was feeling better & we went on our first family hike. It felt so good to get out & feel the fresh air again. Logan was a peach, sleeping for the majority of the time. When he was awake, he would look around at the trees & sky. This was also the month that we discovered Logan's sensitivity to dairy & soy. What great times we had scooping samples of baby poop out of a diaper to send to the lab for analysis.
As almost every new mom does, I chopped my hair relatively short. I donated my pony tail to Locks of Love. We also had a great day going to the zoo for the first time at the very end of that month.

Logan grew stronger everyday. His baby workout routine was fun & enabled him to crunch out of his swaddle. I wished that I was a strong as Logan when Bill & I talked about selling our brand new house. It was hard to think about, but easy to follow through knowing that this was just another sacrifice we had to make for the quality of our family life.

May was fun with the ever growing boy. He loved to play with his toys, smile & discover his hands & feet. Taking pictures of him was a part of our daily routine & it was so easy. He just sat there looking cute. There were more growth spurts, our first trip to the aquarium, more hiking & my first Mother's Day.

The middle of the month was very stressful. We had dealt with Paypal fraud where someone stole a good chunk of change from our checking account. Bill's job security was a little shaky & the possibility of me having to go back to work loomed above my head. We eventually got our money back & my worries were pushed back when Logan learned how to roll. We spent the end of the month swimming for the first time, taking care of rashes from the pool & reflecting on the anniversary of the positive pregnancy test.
June was the beginning of summer. It started out perfectly. Logan felt grass for the first time & laughed out loud when I sang "Head, Shoulder, Knees & Toes". He went to his fourth month check-up & we agreed that his rash was eczema. Lucky for him that it runs in the family. We talked about his vaccination reaction & made the decision to go with delayed single dose shots. He did great with that plan.

Bill & I celebrated our 7 th anniversary. It was a good time to look back on all of the highs & lows that we had been through. If there's one thing that changes a marriage, for better or for worse, it's the addition of a baby. Remembering all that we survived, it made the adjustment of our new life easier & helped us become stronger.

There was some excitement when we took our first road trip to visit Aunt Ju-Ju & Uncle J. Logan was quite mobile, rolling everywhere & began to sleep without being swaddled. He learned how to turn the music on for his crib toy & took a bath in the "big tub" for the first time. Bill celebrated his first Father's Day. Not too much later we went on our first family vacation to see Bill's family in North Dakota.
It was back to business for Logan in July. The vacation was over & he was ready to work on more milestones. He worked on trying to crawl. He played the keyboard for the first time. This was also the time I underestimated his mobility & he rolled down a flight of stairs. He was fine. I was not. My heart was bruised for days to come.
We found a gorgeous high chair & Logan started rice cereal. He also ate graham cracker on his first Independence Day. Logan wowed us by demonstrating that he learned how to call Kitty & Buddha over. He taught himself some sign language. We were amazed & quite proud of our little Einstein.

The end of the month was a challenge with trying to find a place to live & planning an out of town move. I began speaking with my dad again, mending a relationship that had been strained for 16 years.

August was the big move. Another change for our little family. It was one of the most stressful times in our lives. While I hated the house, I loved the town. After we got settled in, Logan began sleeping through the night. That was AWESOME. We had fun family times going to festivals, ice cream shops & checking out our new city. It was also another growing point for our marriage.
Logan decided that he was ready to crawl & pull himself up. He loved jumping in his jumperoo & exploring the outdoors. He's such an active little guy!

In September we had a visit with my dad & his girlfriend. They had a lot of fun meeting Logan for the first time. We did more family hiking & enjoyed our days at the park. Logan had some allergies from the change of seasons. He started watching morning cartoons & we went to another festival. There was a first cold & then our first time visiting the farm. We had so much fun in the petting zoo & getting lost in the corn maze.
October brought fall in with beautiful colors. We played in the leaves & dealt with the beginnings of stranger anxiety. We also welcomed the birth of Logan's cousin, Baby B. He was a few weeks early being born by c-section due to his breeched position.

After dealing with family drama, it was easy to delight in Logan's new tricks. He learned how to stand up & shake his head "no". We joined MOMS Club & met new friends to hang out with. There was the first snowfall where Logan was evidently over dressed. We had a blast at our first playgroup date. Logan got his second cold & started eating finger foods. There was more hoo-ha with the in-laws, but Logan's first Halloween faded those anxieties. Even though it was too cold to go trick-or-treating, we still had fun dressing him up in his adorable lion costume.
November got off to a rocky start. Bill lost his job, but we weren't too stressed about it. Logan made it easy by doing cute things like waving "bye-bye" & pushing all of his toys around like cars. We welcomed another cousin to the family, Baby M. She was born by emergency c-section. We were thankful that Aunt R & Baby M were OK.

Logan went in for his ninth month check-up & was the perfect little patient. He got a shot & did OK. We had our first embarrassing kiddo moment when Logan threw up at the MOMS Club meeting. Fortunately it was a one time thing.

Logan got his first tooth & tooth brush & went on another vacation to meet his Aunts & cousin Baby M for Thanksgiving. We had a really nice time with them. Our days were filled with fun with Logan learning how to talk & reading books to himself. The little smarty pants.
Logan learned how to clap in the beginning of December. He took his first steps. We went to our first music playgroup & had entirely too much fun. We saw that second tooth come in & celebrated the holidays with a party with the MOMS Clubbers. Then it hit us. The first flu. It got to Logan first. Even though he was terribly sick, he was still easy to live with. When it hit me, that was a different story. I think I whine too much when I'm sick. Then Bill got sick & we had an entire house full of sickies.

While being sick, we experienced Logan's first blizzard. It was a good time to be snowed in. These two events combined put a damper on our first Christmas. We were too sick to get a tree & very late in getting our cards & presents out. There was holiday drama with Bill's family, but we still had a good time celebrating Christmas Eve & Christmas Day as a little family. Logan loved all of his presents & they've kept him entertained for hours.


This year has been bitter sweet. It's been absolutely amazing melding together as a new family. We've learned so much about ourselves & about each other. It's been fulfilling. More than I ever expected. Our joys were accompanied by challenges. The loss of our new house, a move to a new town, a job loss & trouble with family dynamics.

I know 2007 will have some sweet surprises in store for us. I also know that we'll be thrown for some loops. I think the past year has helped us stick together so we can enjoy those good time & hang in there for the bad.

46-47 weeks old
Logan's developments are fast & furious. Now that we're all feeling better from our bout with the flu, Logan's days are back on track. He's still waking up at 6 am to nurse, but considering that he lost weight, I'm not going to try to get him to sleep in yet. Once he goes back to bed, he stays there for a few more hours. This morning he woke up at 9 am & played with his new crib toy. It was a nice change to hear him playing rather than screaming at the top of his lungs for us to get him out.

His appetite is completely restored. He's eating great, except for now he's not that fond of broccoli, zucchini & yellow squash. It may be a texture thing. But he sure does love his peas & carrots. Post-flu, we've discovered that he likes saltine crackers. He never favored other crackers, like the whole wheat bunny crackers, or banana teething crackers. He would always feed them to Buddha. Yesterday I was eating some of the whole wheat saltines that we had. I gave Logan one & he stood there watching T.V. & nibbling on his cracker. It was way cute.

Another new thing is the end-of-the-world temper tantrums he has if you don't share any food. Bill bought pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner & we were both eating a slice. Logan threw a fit with huge tears streaming down his face. "Why don't you give him some? He can have pumpkin, can't he?", Bill asks. "Other than the fact that pumpkin pie is full of sugar, yeah. I guess he can have a taste", I replied. So Logan tasted pumpkin pie on Christmas & loved it. I figured it was a special occasion & a good time to try it for the first time.

He's been having a great time playing with all of his Christmas toys as well. He loves his chunky wooden puzzles, but the books are by far his absolute favorite. He will sit & read to himself, flipping pages. It's adorable & he looks so smart (because he is!). He's figured out how to turn on his busy ball popper. This toy is more work for me than anything. Balls go flying out all over the place & I have to chase after them to put them back down in the chute so they can pop out again. Logan is content once he has a hold of one ball. Then he sits there holding onto his ball watching me try to collect all of the others that are rolling around the house.

He is still clapping all of the time, but has also learned how to play peek-a-boo by himself. He covers his face with his hands while peeking out between his fingers. Sometimes he pokes himself in the eye. It's pretty funny.

He's getting better at walking everyday. He still cruises, but walks by himself across the room until he falls. Sometimes it's 4 or 5 steps, other times is 5 or 6 feet. He gets incredibly excited about this. It's like he knows he's about to do something special.

He's still really vocal, but no real words yet (we're thinking "Mom" was a one time deal). However, he understands everything I say, for the most part. I have to tell him "No" a few times, but he thinks that's funny & gives us a little grin. What a stinker!

It's going to be interesting to see what the next couple of weeks will be like. More teeth? A first word? Maybe a sprint across the room. He's halfway there already.

Literally tagged
Just before the holidays, I was tagged by Debra. Now that the hustle & bustle, flu & blizzard are gone, this is the perfect day for it.

Here's the story...

Find the nearest book. Name the Author & title. Turn to page 123. Post sentences 6-8. Tag three more people.

This is where everyone will see that my choice of literature is quite boring. I'm so not in to fiction. I read nerdy science stuff. But, I guess it's interesting to me! The book that is on the computer desk, waiting to be returned to the library (with a lovely late fee due to the blizzard & flu)...

Super Baby Food Book, by Ruth Yaron
Page 123, sentences 6-8: "I feed my baby this meal in the morning at around 8-9 am, after I've gotten the older kids off to school. The baby can wait to eat his breakfast because the milk feeding he drank upon awakening tides him through the early morning. The main meal includes egg yolk".

See! I told you! Totally nerdy & boring. Hopefully the three people I tag will have something better. Like Lizzy, Jezer & Alissa

Merry Christmas!
What a fun morning it's been! Well, it started off a little rough because Logan was quite cranky for a few early hours, but after breakfast he was set to watch cartoons & play with his Christmas toys. Bill & I were a little tired because last night we had coffee & cookies & stayed up really late (like 2 am late). This batch of cookies are delicious though. They were so good that Bill had to eat two of them in bed. I thought that was pretty amusing.

We spent the day just hanging out & relaxing. I was able to take a long nap while Bill played with Logan, then put him down for his nap. That was a much appreciated break. Bill made a great roasted chicken for dinner. It was really nice to just have a mellow, lazy day & it made for a good first Christmas.

First Christmas Eve
Today was a nice day. I got all of the presents wrapped with Logan's help. He had a great time playing with wrapping paper & testing out his toys. Bill had to work this morning. He came home at 3:30 pm, but was home for only a quick second. The guy that built Logan's book case had just finished it this morning, so Bill went to go pick it up.

The book case is amazing. The guy used cedar wood from a fence that was 37 years old (& still in great shape). It has the perfect rustic look that matches Logan's boyscout room to a T. I'm going to have him build a matching toy box for Logan's first birthday.

After Bill got home with the book case, we sat in the living room & opened presents. Logan didn't really open them by himself. He needed a little help. He really liked all of his presents though & we played with them before dinner.
After dinner, we played with more toys & practiced walking. Logan walked by himself halfway across the room. He was so excited & quickly wore himself out. I got him ready for a bath with his growing flock of rubber ducks while Bill went to Aunt Ju-Ju's to visit with his family.

It's been a nice night & it will be capped with fresh from the oven cookies & coffee for Bill & myself. Tomorrow will be a relaxed pajama day (with new PJ's for Logan) & Bill plans on making a great dinner. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of playing with toys too! Hopefully I can get some good pictures because the ones from tonight didn't turn out that well.

Holiday drama
Well, it's been a while since there's been any major drama with Bill's family. The holiday visits are upon us & it's all unfolding now.

After the email exchange with Grandma L last week or so, Bill & I had a major sit down. We called in the reinforcements & from that day, our marriage & relationship has been amazing. A lot of things became clear to us & it helped to gain a different perspective on the situation.

Since then, there were a couple of emails that I received from Grandma L & Aunt Ju-Ju (who has become a side kick in the issue) trying their best to divide & separate Bill, Logan & I...unless things go their way. It was very difficult to not engage in the "email war", but with Bill's help & support we responded together saying that all we want is for Logan's first Christmas to be nice & we're willing to work on things.

Grandma & Grandpa L flew in on Friday. Bill went to dinner with all of them, being that it was Grandpa L's 60 th birthday. I was not invited & Bill left Logan home with me (smart man). After he came home, we talked about what was going to happen in the next couple of days. We really felt like a team & as nervous as I was about the visit (it didn't compare to how I felt about previous visits), I felt OK. I had done everything I could to work on the situation. I've always been willing to talk (without freaking out) & have sought a professional opinion (who completely validates how I feel). It was the other adults having temper tantrums like toddlers.

This morning Aunt Ju-Ju called & again told Bill that they would open presents tonight, but I wasn't invited. Bill reminded her that it's all or none. Shortly thereafter, Grandma L called to see if we would go to the toy store so she could buy presents for Logan & afterward we would meet up at the hotel they are staying in to talk. We agreed.

We met up with Grandma L to shop for Logan. Things were civil, but fake (& to be expected), but it went well. She bought some things that Logan will love to play with & keep him entertained for hours. He got a busy ball popper, a crib toy (AKA: entertainment center) & a wooden bead maze. We checked out & met up at the hotel.

We sat in the room with idle chit-chat, playing with Logan. He crawled on the bed, played with toys & cruised the room. We were there for quite a while & it was getting close to Logan's bed time. He was beginning to fall asleep on his toys. I started to pack the diaper bag & Grandma L said that we needed to talk before we left.

She wanted to know what we were going to do to resolve the situation. She wanted an immediate resolution. I explained that things are going to take time. "For an immediate resolution, I need people to take responsibility for their actions. That's not going to happen, so Bill & I are learning about different personalities in the family & their communication styles. At this point, I'm not comfortable being honest with you. I don't know how to communicate with you without having you offended & getting upset. Once we learn how communicate with everyone, we'll be able to start on a resolution. Right now, this is a work in progress & we don't have all of the answers".

There was a lot of back & forth, Grandma L crying, Grandpa L freaking out on me while I did my best to stay on point without re-hashing what was said over Halloween & Bill backing me up. I told them that we need to be respected as independent adults & that we don't want to be treated like children anymore. Grandma L was catching on to me hinting that I think they're controlling & manipulative with zero communication skills. She tried to get those words out of me. I resisted by saying, "I'm not going into detail until I learn how to communicate with you. It will only get everyone upset & make things worse. We are in the process of working on a resolution right now. It's just that these things take time & we've only just begun".

Then they wanted to know what happens from here. We talked about how we were willing to go over to Aunt Ju-Ju & Uncle J's to celebrate, but Aunt Ju-Ju needs to be on the same page with us. Otherwise, they could visit with them on the day they have planned & then they're more than welcome to come over to our house the next day to open presents with us. I told them, "One thing that won't be happening is the division of our family. We will all go, or none of us go".

Grandpa L said that that's not happening, freaked out on me again & stormed out of the room. I packed up the rest of the diaper bag, got Logan's coat, we said good-bye & left.

We got in the car with tears in my eyes. Bill held my hand telling me that everything would be OK. "Don't listen to my Dad. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't have any communication skills at all. It's like how I used to be". That moment meant so much to me.

We got home & I fed Logan dinner while Bill finished some last minute Christmas shopping. He came home with some burritos from my favorite place. Just before we were heading to bed, Bill got another scathing email from Aunt Ju-Ju. We just rolled our eyes figuring that we'll have a nice Christmas with or without them. This is a decision that they made & true colors are really showing.

Regression
Not only does the flu make you sick for a week, but it screws up a kids schedule...BIG TIME. Logan is having a hard time with his sleep schedule. He went to bed as usual at 8 pm, then woke up & cried for half an hour at midnight, 3 am, 6 am & 7 am. He was playing the part of Mr. Fussy Fuss all day & will receive an Oscar for his performance. It got to the point where I had to leave him crying in the living room so I could gather myself & take a breather. I took a shower. For 30 minutes. He was still crying when I got out. He cried for two hours straight as well.

He throws most of his food on the floor leaving Buddha to eat it. Logan has lost some weight this week ( I don't know how much, he's just much lighter & his clothes don't fit anymore) because of being sick & I'm kind of freaking out inside that our Pug is getting the nutritional benefits of the food rather than our son. We've gone back to a rigorous nursing schedule again. Every three hours. At least he's getting something.

He's fine if he's sitting on my lap cuddled up to watch T.V. That's all fine & dandy when we're snowbound & sick, but it's starting to feel like too much right now.

I'm not sure if this is the after effect of the flu or maybe he's going through some serious teething. He may also have an ear infection. He's tugged at one side a few times. It's not red & it looks normal though.

I hope that this only lasts a few more days (at the most!) because it feels like our nice little groove is gone. It took some time to get the flow going. I want it back for all of our sanity.

Colorado blizzard of '06

Holy crap, did we just get a ton of snow. The whole town shut down yesterday because of it. It stayed that way today too.

It was kind of fun watching the snow pile up on the deck in the back yard. We got snowed in from the back. Buddha is used to going out back, so I had to let him out the front door. The snow didn't pile up as much up there & there was room for him to move around. He didn't want to go outside. At all. I had to push him out & shut the door behind him so he would at least pee outside. The same thing happened this morning.

Bill woke up this morning feeling well enough to try & get into work. He called the gym. Nobody answered. After calling the manager, he was still going to try to make it later that afternoon. He took a step outside to asses the "damage". It looked like a lot of work. We watched all of our neighbors shovel their driveways & try to uncover their cars that they parked on the street. It took them hours.

We had to go to the store because the initial snow fall hit on our shopping day. Besides that, we were sick, sick, sick that day. So Bill had Uncle J come out to pick him up. They have a huge SUV, while we have a Subaru. Which is good, but low & Bill would've been stuck.

When Bill came back, he said that there's no way he's going to make it out of the neighborhood to get to work. The main roads are clear, it's just a matter of getting there though. We hung out & watched some other neighbors try to get down the street to only turn back around & stay home.

We watched movies, played with toys, watched more T.V. about how the whole state is in a state of emergency (which I'm going to drastically limit once everyone is better & we're not snowbound). Logan got a kick out of seeing it all pile up.
It was good that we had another snow day to give us some more recovery time. Bill will work on shoveling the driveway tomorrow because the plows are supposed to clear the neighborhood roads tonight or tomorrow morning. Logan & I will stay at home because there's no reason for us to go out. I'll probably make more of those buttery pistachio cookies.

The third victim
The flu has claimed it's third victim in our house. Bill woke up this morning violently ill. Once again, Logan seems to be on the mend (knock on wood). He's nursed a few times, drank quite a bit from his sippy cup & is eating saltines by himself for breakfast. Last night I felt like I was taking two steps back & had to take another reglan. I woke up this morning still ill, but not nearly like I was at the beginning of the week.

Bill really felt like he needed to go into work today (that's the hard part of having commission only) because he missed the last two days taking care of us. There's a sever weather warning here where everything is shutting down. We're expecting two to three feet of snow. I guess today is better than any other to get sick. We're definitely going to have a white & ill Christmas.

On the road to recovery
Man, has this been a crappy week so far. Yesterday Logan started to feel better, then out of nowhere, pukes all over the place. I was on my death bed & Bill had to go to work. Fortunately, he took the rest of the day off & took care of the both of us.

He was a genius & remembered that I had left over medication from the pregnancy. It wasn't the wonder-drug zofran, that literally saved my life & Logan's; but the reglan that I tried at first & it didn't work. Well, it worked last night. After Logan went to bed, I took one & was out like a light & not worshiping the bathroom like a holy temple.

I slept on the couch the whole night. Logan woke up at 5 am, I tried to get him back down. He relaxed until about 6:30 am. I got him up to nurse & cuddle on the couch. He wasn't going for it. After being hysterical for half an hour, I just put him back in his crib. He slept until about 7:30 am.

After that, he seemed to be OK. I was feeling better, albeit, very, very, very sore. I had enough energy (barely) to clean the bathroom & do some laundry. Then, after lunch, Logan hurls again. Bill seems to have been spared, so far.

It seems like just when Logan's feeling better, he's sick again. I have a feeling that this is going to take us through to Christmas. Speaking of which, we won't get our tree this year because it's too much of a hassle right now. I haven't wrapped any of Logan's presents, or sent any out for that matter. PLUS...the in-laws are coming.

DOUBLE YUCK!
Well guess who has the flu now. Me. This really sucks. I've been up all night, all day, every minute being sick. I can't even keep water down. This is where I really need help. It's incredibly difficult to take care of Logan when I don't even have the energy to get up the stairs.

Bill had to go to work today, but is coming home early. Thank God. This reminds me of how sick I was during the pregnancy & let me tell you...the first thing that came to my mind was that Logan is going to be an only. I don't think I could live like this again for another nine months. That was just a flat out miracle that we survived. Really. Hopefully there's another miracle coming & I get better by tonight.

Logan is better though. He hasn't been sick since yesterday morning. He's just really tired. I don't blame him. He was able to eat banana for breakfast just fine too.

***Christmas Notice For Family: It looks like everyone is getting their cards & presents before the New Year. SORRY!***

Day two of the flu
Since the post from yesterday, Logan threw up three or four more times last night. It's so heart breaking as a Mom to watch your baby endure illness & there's nothing you can do to fix it. All I could do was sit with him, hold a towel for him to throw up in & rub his head & back.

He didn't nurse too often yesterday, maybe twice. We pumped him full of Pedialyte, which he really liked. But, that didn't stay down very often. He was still his happy little self, playing & walking, chasing Kitty & climbing over Bill. He did sleep through the night & without getting sick.

My hopes were high for him this morning because of that. He woke up at about 7 am. We hung out in the living room to watch cartoons & cuddled. He played some more. After a few hours I decided he was probably OK to nurse. He ate well & kept playing. Bill left for work at 10:30 am & I thought that Logan was in the clear. We were just going to lay low, watch the snow fall outside & read books.

Then it started all over again. He got tired & wanted to snuggle more. I hugged him while we were sitting on the couch with his head buried in my shoulder. He then leaned over & puked all over the couch.

I got him cleaned up & cleaned off the couch (thank God for microfiber). Shortly after everything was clean, he hurled again. I got everything cleaned up again. We sat on the tile of the entry way by the front door. He drank some more Pedialyte, played with toys & cuddled. I was talking to his Aunt J on the phone, then he puked again.

I cleaned everything up, checked his temp & called the advice nurse. His temp is fine, his attitude is great (he really is a little trooper) & he's not dehydrated. The nurse said to keep up with what we're doing & if he can't keep anything down after 8 hours or if his behavior changes, then bring him in. Hopefully we won't have to see the Doctor tomorrow morning.

***Christmas Notice for Family: We haven't mailed out our cards or presents yet. We were supposed to do that yesterday. We hope to get them out by Tuesday. Everyone might be getting their stuff late this year***

YUCK!
This morning Logan woke up at 8 am. When I walked in his room, I noticed that he threw up. He didn't have a fussy night, except for a little whine at midnight or so, but he quickly fell back asleep. So I'm not sure how long he had been in his crib while being sick. I felt really bad for him. I got him undressed, cleaned up & nursed him under a blanket. Then I got him in the tub.

He had a great time in the bath. He didn't act sick at all. I got him dressed & brought him down into the living room to play while I washed his sheets & pajamas. After an hour he seemed just fine. I thought it might have been a one time deal, maybe his stomach didn't feel good from dinner. I made him some breakfast, thinking that we were in the clear.

He ate almost all of it. He played some more, pushing his walker around. Then he started to get pretty tired. He kind of flopped from my lap to Bill's & just seemed exhausted. I put him down for a nap.

After 20 minutes, he cried for a second & went back to sleep. Or so I thought. It was quiet, but I thought I should check on him. I walked in with him awake & covered in his breakfast. I got him cleaned up again, washed his sheets, again & sent Bill to the store for some Pedialyte. It looks like we might have the first flu on our hands.

So here I am with little sicky. Other than being tired, he seems fine. Not really grumpy, not crying all of the time. Just tired & wanting to cuddle. I feel so bad for him. Being sick is the pits.

Here we go!
Logan is getting the hang of walking. He's taking more steps everyday & gets so excited about it. We practice everyday (almost all day long, until he gets tired of it), then he resorts to "crab walking" on his hands & feet. He gets into a standing position without pulling up onto anything. He also does "downward dog" looking at everything upside down. I'm halfway expecting to see him just up & walk around any day now.

I am so proud of him. I actually teared up while cheering him on yesterday. I'm such a dorky Mom.

Baking up a storm
Now that Bill & I are working on a plan of action for handling holiday madness, my appetite is back & I've been doing some baking. This is one perk that I love about MOMS club. I get to bake yummy stuff all of the time. It's a great excuse.

A while back, I made pumpkin chocolate chip hazelnut cookies for a baby shower. They were delicious! This past weekend was the family holiday party. It was a brunch potluck & I made a French toast casserole. Granted, I didn't eat much there at the time, but it was really good. Then yesterday was a cookie exchange. I made buttery pistachio cookies. Totally yummy.

Every family has traditional foods & cookies that someone makes every year for the holidays. I think the pumpkin & pistachio cookies will be part of ours from now on. The next baking project will be Logan's birthday cake & food for his birthday party. I'm really excited about that.

For anyone who wants to try them out (& for future reference for myself), here are the recipes:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies
Just mix in chocolate chips & chopped hazelnuts (no other nut compares!)

Marmalade French Toast Casserole
This is super sweet & really good

Buttery Pistachio Cookies
Dip or drizzle them in white chocolate for the best combo of sweet & salty

44-45 weeks old
Well, it's been a fun few weeks in development over here. He's still sleeping great. Down at 8 pm & up at about 7 am. Naps are getting longer (sometimes), an hour to two hours. He's eating all table food, all by himself. We figured that he doesn't like Cheerios or crackers & feeds them to Buddha. However, he loves cheese, fruit & veggies. I've taught the boy well.

Logan is always on the move. He never stops. He crawls laps around the living room, back & forth, as fast as he can. He cruises the couch at a sprinting speed. He gets into everything. His favorite thing to do (that also makes him laugh pretty hard) is to make a mess. He will sit with his blocks then start throwing them everywhere, waving his arm through them. He pulls himself up on his push-walker & walks laps as well. He screams when he gets stuck, but has figured out how to back up & turn around. Sometimes he needs help though.

He's more vocal, but not really forming words. He found out that when he emptied his bucket of blocks, he could "talk" into the bucket & make funny noises. We had a good time sitting together talking into the bucket. He likes to sick his thumb in his mouth & say, "eyea, eyea, eyea, eyea, eye", over & over. He is making distinctive grunts & squeaks when he finds something, or makes some kind of discovery.

He learned how to clap & does it all the time. It's really cute when he claps at meal times, or when he thinks we aren't watching him. He sit & clap & watch his hands very carefully. It's so cute.

His second tooth as cut through. It's the bottom right. He looks adorable with his two teeth. When I sing to him, I sing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". He laughs, which makes me really laugh.

When Logan gets fussy or antsy, I've found that he really likes to hear me tell stories. Yesterday I was too busy to read him a book, but I made up stories to tell him while I was cooking or whatever. He stopped crying after a while & smiled. Then he forgot all about what he was fussy over & crawled away to play.

He's having a great time at playgroup. He crawls around with other kids, plays with toys next to them & is just very interactive. I'm so happy we joined the club. It's been so much fun for him.

One thing I've noticed this week, is his potential to become a T.V. zombie. With the drama of the last week, I was less than stellar with my playing skills. All I wanted to do was plop on the couch & watch endless amounts of T.V. Logan played, but if the T.V. was on, he would stop every now & then & veg out with me. While I didn't really care about it this last week, I know that this can be a really bad habit & hard to break. This week I'm being more mindful of when it's on & what is on. I'm going to play more Christmas music for distraction.

Everywhere we go, people tell us how cute Logan is. The Moms at MOMS Club just adore him. Logan is one special little kiddo. I love him to pieces.

Calling in reinforcements
It never occurred to me how stressful the holidays could be when you have a baby...& have to deal with the rest of the family. I've lost about five pounds (I'm guessing) because Grandma L sent me a little email (that wasn't completely nice).

A few weeks ago, she had the idea that after calling me names & cutting me off from the family last month or so, that I should be the one to send her an email. I told Bill no way. I want an apology for her tantrum or we're spending Christmas Eve without them. They can come on Christmas Day, but we'll be opening Santa gifts without them.

That apparently got her attention, because she sent this email to me last week. While she did apologize for calling me names, the rest of the email was very passive aggressive & snotty. I could tell she didn't want to send it in the first place.

I wracked my brain about how I was going to respond. I felt like anything I said was going to be offensive to her, because she only wants to hear that things will go her way. I asked Bill for help. "Do what you have to do. I just want it over with". That really didn't help me too much. I felt like I was thrown to the wolves to fend for myself.

So, after sitting on this email for a week (staying up at night thinking about how I could put it nicely that we're going to have boundaries, whether she likes it or not), I decided that I just have to respond honestly. So I did. And she didn't like that too much. Go figure.

It's become very clear how this is affecting our marriage. Which I don't write about very often. But, it's time that we call in reinforcements to help us deal with the shenanigans that are going on so we can be a team & cope a little bit better this holiday season. That gives me some hope.

PS- Thanks for the thoughtful comments. They made me smile. Which I really needed to do.

Not much to say
There's not much to write about, other than the doom & gloom that's going on over here. It's been a really difficult week. I occasionally use the blog as a venting forum, but I don't feel like writing about it right now. I haven't had anything to eat for a couple of days & I'm loosing weight. Not really the right way, so it's not exciting.

I'll write something happy in the next couple of days, like how Logan's second tooth is starting to become visible or new developments that he's achieving. It just might take me a day or two.

Toys, toys, toys
We've been busy shopping over here. It's a lot a of fun. Logan will have quite the collection of rubber ducks for bath time, cars to push around, a hammer that lights up & makes noise, a harmonica & wooden peg puzzles. There are a few things that we're still going to get for him.

There is a crib toy that I want to get so Logan will stay entertained when he wakes up early. I have to order his red Radio Flyer wagon online. The ones that they have in the store are plastic. We want to get the old school wagon like Bill & I used to have as kids. We also want to get him a bookcase. Bill was going to make one before winter started, but Mr. Procrastination over here let it slide. I put an ad on Craigslist & someone offered to make one for us at a reasonable price. Then to top it all off, Bill had the great idea of getting a fish for Logan. I thought that was genius. Logan loves animals & we thought it would be so cute to say good-night to his fish before bed.

There's a lot more, but I think we'll wait for his birthday to get the rest. It's not that much later after Christmas anyway. I might be able to find some good sales. Which brings me to a funny thought I had the other day while doing some shopping online....

I was looking through the toys that were on sale. The first thing I thought of was The Island of Misfit Toys. I haven't watched the video in years, but looking at toys that were on clearance just made me think of the defective & unwanted toys on the island. I laughed, then decided I didn't want to buy any toys on clearance. Yeah, I'm weird.

Music playgroup
Today Logan & I went to our first music playgroup. It was on the MOMS club calender as a demo class to let us get a feel for it & see how our kids liked it. The class goes for $54 for nine weeks. There is also a three week mini playgroup that goes for $18. I've wanted to find a music class for Logan just because he loves to play with instruments so much. This was something we couldn't miss today.

Logan was the youngest one there again, but that didn't stop him from having a really good time. The class started right in the middle of his morning nap. I thought he might get grumpy, but nope. He was good & didn't fuss at all. He was very well behaved.

We started out siting in a circle & singing songs. We played with instruments, scarves & balls, danced around & had a lot of fun. Logan was incredibly cute. He stood there (by himself), right along with the "bigger" kids, shaking bells & egg shakers. He played with drums. He clapped his hands. He loved it.

He liked it so much that we're going to sign up for the next session (at the end of winter-early spring). Logan will be quite the social butterfly going to two playgroups a week.

Two steps!
This afternoon while Bill was at work, Logan & I were playing in the living room. We've been practicing walking for a couple of weeks now. He loves to walk with his push walker, doing laps back & forth until he gets so tired he can't stand up anymore. Well, we decided to ditch the toy & try some unassisted walking...AND HE DID IT!

He stood up, clapping & I held out my hands. He took two steps towards me, all by himself. I was so excited & so was he. So excited that he quickly crawled over to the couch & cruised laps back & forth along the side, literally running. He kept laughing & giggling & side stepping, running away when I asked him to walk over to me. It was so funny. We both couldn't stop laughing.

I sent Bill a text message telling him what had just happened & tried to see if Logan would do it again. This boy is as stubborn as I am. We're in for some trouble. He does things on his own terms, on his own time. We practiced & played some more until he was so tired he was almost falling asleep on the floor. Hopefully he'll be rested enough for when Bill comes home for lunch.

Well, it looks like I have some videography homework to do. Filming playtime, clapping & now walking. This is a blast!

This is fun
Logan has learned how to do a couple of new things in the last two days. First, he's been saying, "mmmbabababab", over & over & over. It's pretty darn cute. He does it all the time, where ever we are.

Then this evening after we got home from Christmas shopping, I was at the computer looking into items that we couldn't find in the stores, Bill was sitting behind me on the futon & Logan was crawling around, being loud & cute. "Hey! He's clapping", Bill says, trying not to be loud & distract Logan. I look over & there he is looking at us & laughing & clapping. It was hysterical. "Good job sweetie pea!", I almost yell with excitement & Bill & I start clapping along with him. Logan got a kick out of that.

So now he will clap (if he feels like it). It's way cute & I have quite the list of things to video tape. Hopefully I'll be able to get them in the next couple of days.

Today I was going to write about how crazy I am
However, I changed my mind. We all know it anyway, so it's not a newsflash or anything. Let's just put it this way. I think I have OCD, or OCPD, or whatever. How did I come to this conclusion?

I switched to Beta the other day. What's the problem? The labels. What's wrong with the labels? Nothing, other than the rest of the blog entries didn't have them. So what did I do? I went through the entire blog, all 300 or so of them & labeled every singe one. Not once. Twice. Why? I had to go back & "double check" my work & correct some labeling mistakes.

It was then that I realized I'm certifiably crazy. It could have been worse though. I could have gone back & corrected all of my spelling mistakes from the early entries. Because there are many of them. This was when Logan was a newborn & I was running on empty. I had no brain cells to spare. Maybe I still don't, but there are a ton of mistakes.

So, I was going to write about how I had to do this, because the blog didn't feel right otherwise. But, like I said....this old news. I'm crazy & there's no changing it. Medication is out of the question. I don't feel like I'm that crazy.

So for my enjoyment & twisted sense of "balance", everything is labeled from day one. The good thing about it was going through the last year & seeing Logan's newborn pictures. How much he's changed, all of the challenges we've been through, just looking back at our life as a new family. Everything that's happened this year? Now, that's crazy.

43 weeks old....10 months already!

10 months. We're now in the home stretch into toddlerhood. Everyday it becomes more evident that Logan is not a baby, but a little boy.

He's still sleeping in (except for this morning). This feels like a miracle to have your baby sleep for so long. I forgot what life was like with a decent amount of sleep. His naps are consistently an hour or so, compared to the 20-45 minutes in the past. Sometimes he still takes two naps & will have one nap days when we're running around doing our thing.

His is still a wonderful eater. I'm not really making "baby food" anymore, other than applesauce & pearsauce (because I like them too). He's eating all table foods & mostly feeds himself. I only feed him breakfast because it's really messy. Oatmeal, banana & yogurt combo isn't a great finger food. Since our vacation, when we go out to eat, Logan sits with us at his own place with his own meal. It's a lot of fun to order off the kids menu. It's also interesting to see what kids eat off the menu. There have been times that I have to order a side dish that is a lot healthier for him. But he loves it nonetheless. He looks so "grown-up" & I think he feels that way too.

Playtime is still a barrel of laughs. He is really into his books right now. He is constantly sitting on the floor reading a book to himself, upside down. He loves it when I lay on my stomach next to him so we're at the same level & I read to him. He pays such close attention. Just not for very long. He is great at putting his blocks away in the bucket. We're working on hand-eye coordination so he can put them through the shape sorter. He is playing pee-a-boo by himself (sort of) by pulling a blanket up to his face, or hiding behind the couch. This is far & few between. His new "trick" is walking with his push-walker across the room, back & forth, over & over again. I'm going to try & get some video of this.
He still pulls himself up onto everything & cruises very fast. Bill & I play "balance" with him where he stands by himself & gently sits down. He thinks this is pretty fun. We watched him doing squats holding on to his walker the other day. I wonder where he got that from! Today we started practicing taking unassisted steps between us.

His social development is great. He's becoming more confident at playgroup & wanders off, exploring the house we're visiting. He plays next to the other kids, but still prefers attention from other Moms. There's still a touch of stranger anxiety, but it's turned into more of a separation anxiety. This is hard for me. While it's cute to always have him hanging on me, it gets old fast. He has total melt downs if I leave the living room/play room to go into the kitchen to load the dishwasher or cook him a meal. He hangs on the side of the baby gate, watching me, screaming & crying at the top of his lungs. It's very frustrating & I really hope this phase doesn't last long.

He is totally having temper tantrums now. He's been having them for a while, but his frustration is more evident. This mostly happens when I can't hold him, or he doesn't want a diaper change (staying still) or he can't make up his mind on what to do (on the couch or on the floor....over & over & over). When he's really frustrated he grunts, & strains his arms, flexes his stomach & grits his tooth.

He isn't talking yet & the very rare "Mom" is extremely elusive. He is working on "K", "Ga", "Ah" & "Ki". He still loves to "sing" at the top of his lungs almost all day long. He has a really cute squeak that he makes just when he sees Kitty or Buddha (or any other animal for that matter). Our pets are his best friends.

I was looking through all of our pictures last night & was in shock. Logan has changed so much in such a short amount of time. It really is amazing & I'm so happy that I could be around for all of it. We're looking forward to having a great holiday month & all of the new adventures with Logan.

Starting good dental hygiene
Logan's tooth has erupted enough that it can be brushed. We got him his first tooth brush & toddler tooth paste yesterday afternoon. So after dinner, I showed it to him, put a little tooth paste on his brush & brushed his tooth.
He was so good! He sat there & kept his mouth open & didn't try to push the brush away. I was very impressed. After I brushed his tooth & gums, I gave him the brush to try it out for himself. It was really cute. He did a fantastic job.

Two Colds & a Flu
Our house is not only filled with the holiday spirit, but germs as well. Logan got his cold the day we were coming home from vacation. It didn't seem that bad, just a runny nose. Then the next day, I start to get it. Then yesterday Bill came home early from work because he was sick to his stomach. Now we're all sick.

Logan seems to have the most mild case in the house. A little cough here & there, some sneezes & sometimes a little runny nose. Lucky guy. I've been hopped up on Vicks Vapo rub & & hoarding tissues like there going out of style. Bill seems to be better today, maybe he had the 24 hour crap.

Nothing like a house full of sick people!

Officially sleeping in now?
Ever since we've been back from Oregon, Logan has been sleeping in until 8 am & has dropped his 6 am nursing time. He might wake up for a minute, but then falls back asleep. Nothing too major & I usually don't hear him enough to get up. He's now sleeping a good 12 hours at night. This is awesome! I get to sleep in & really get a full nights rest now! 8 solid hours!

This makes me wonder if he's starting to self wean. He still nurses at all of his other usual times & he isn't putting up a fight. I'm still going to shoot for breast feeding for 12-18 months, but it looks like I'll have to start reading up on weaning & baby self weaning. Just in case.

I love this time of the year
Other than Halloween, Christmas is my next favorite holiday. I don't know what it is; the holiday feeling, the lights, the smells, warm fires, Christmas carols; it's just a great time of year.

I've spent the morning cleaning the house (our vacuum cleaner broke before I left) & had Bill pull down the holiday decorations from the garage. I've been playing Christmas music all day & getting the house full of that holiday feeling.

This year feels a little different too. It feels a little more special than Christmases of the past. I think this year being Logan's first Christmas makes it feel that way. I am so excited to pass down & create our own traditions & watch him open his first presents. I've been on the hunt for a first Christmas ornament, but I can't find one that I like. I may have to make it.

Then there's the shopping. Oh, my. I don't typically like to shop with the masses, but this year I would be willing to brave crowds, insanity, rain, wind, sleet, snow & enjoy it because I'm getting Christmas presents for Logan. It's so exciting!

Home again, home again
It feels good to be home. To be sleeping in my own bed. To be next to Bill. To have Kitty snuggled up. Logan & I had a great time on vacation, but it always feels so good to be home.

Logan's first Thanksgiving was great. Uncle K made a great dinner. His turkey was so moist & juicy & just so good. I was going to hold Logan on my lap to feed him, but them Aunt R mentioned that we could put a towel on the floor & Logan could feed himself. That was an excellent idea. I got Logan's plate made up with sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, dinner roll & turkey. He went to town & loved it. He even tried to feed the cat & dog too.
After dinner we vegged out watching TV & taking pictures. I tired to get pictures of Logan & Baby M, but I think Aunt R got some better ones. Aunt J took a lot too, but they're all on her camera phone. We had fun just hanging out as a family & playing with our babies.
On Friday, Aunt J took us out & about again. We started our day with crepes for breakfast. They were so good. Crepes are one of my favorites & we don't have them here in town. Logan was good & ate a bagel with cream cheese. He was such a little flirt too. There were two blond girls sitting behind him in his stroller. He would take a bite & then turn around to look at them & smile, with cream cheese all over his mouth. Then he would play peek-a-boo with them. They got a kick out of that. So did we.

After breakfast we went downtown to do some after Thanksgiving shopping. We found some Christmas presents for Logan & battled the holiday crowds. We went out for lunch where Logan did his little antics again, making friends where ever he goes.

We then said our good-byes to Aunt R, Uncle K & Baby M, then Aunt J took us to the airport. We got there really early because I thought it was going to be a mad house. It was practically empty. We hung out for a bit & then Logan & I headed through security. We ate dinner & waited to board the plane.

The trip back was a little stressful. Logan was not a happy camper. He was tired & got another cold that morning. Fortunately we were smart & packed some medicine. He fussed & cried & screamed at the top of his lungs while we waited. I could tell that the rest of the passengers were thinking "I hope this doesn't go on for the whole flight". After his meltdown, we boarded & got settled in. He had a couple more episodes, but I didn't feel that stressed about it because there were a few other families with screaming children.

Overall, it was a great week. It was nice to see my sisters again, introduce them to Logan & meet Baby M while she was still so small. We had a lot of fun.

I'm thankful...
To have a home with room for Logan to play
For a reliable car that fits a car seat, stroller & everything else we need to lug around
For the ability to stay at home with Logan
That Logan is a good sleeper
Being married to Bill, even during the rough times
For sisters that I can talk, cry & laugh with
To have a son that makes me smile & laugh more than I ever thought I would
For Kitty & Buddha & their ability to be good baby entertainers & cute cuddlers
For everyone's good health
That Bill found a job before Christmas
For the experiences & life lessons that I've learned this year as a Mom
That I found a nice MOMS club
For the internet & everything I can learn at the stroke of a key
To have met so many awesome Moms through blogging
That I blog so I remember what happened yesterday, let alone last year
For my exercise education & experience
That we live in the mountains & have the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors
For coffee, chocolate & wine!
For nights by the fireplace when Logan is asleep
That we have a DVR
That Bill is really smart
That Bill likes to cook & is a incredible one at that
That Logan is not a picky eater
That we took a million pictures this first year as a family

I have a lot to be thankful for.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Next time we go on vacation & someone has to stay home, I'll need to be reminded of how much being apart is going to suck. Sleeping alone is not fun. Especially when you're not angry with each other.

Other than missing Bill, our day was pretty good. Aunt J came over again & picked us up to go shopping. We ate at The Cheesecake Factory where they brought Logan banana slices & bread to eat while we pondered our orders. This vacation is the first time Logan sat in a high chair & ate from the kids menu. Today was the first time he ate bread too. He loves it.

After our lunch/dinner, we walked the mall looking for good deals. We found a really cute outfit for Logan at Gymboree that was on sale. That almost never happens. Then we went into Victoria's Secret.

Now, I have a gift certificate that I've had since March. I haven't been able to find anything that I like, or justify spending an arm & a leg on, especially when I would rather use that money to buy something for Logan. Then there's the whole identity crisis that happens when you become a Mother. I was telling Aunt J that getting something other than underwear just seemed silly now. I've walked out of the store on two separate occasions, almost in tears, because of these two issues.

Aunt J pushed Logan in the stroller while I browsed around. We walked by their Italian line & noticed the 40% off sign. And there it was. Something nice, not that pink & black crap that would make me feel silly & they had my size. This almost never happens. This time I almost walked out of the store in tears because I was so happy. It's kind of ridiculous, but it really made my day.

We came back to Aunt R's place & Logan was super hyper-active boy. He crawled around everywhere, chasing the cat & dog, getting into everything. It was like he just a a big cup o' joe. Aunt J & Aunt R had a good time laughing at his craziness.

Vacation post
Yesterday morning, we got up practically in the middle of the night to drive to the airport. Logan stayed in his PJ's. Traveling wasn't that bad. It was kind of a pain going through airport security, but there were a few people who helped me collapse the stroller & get our bags through the xray. There was another man on the flight who helped me get our carry-on on & off the plane. He mentioned that he had a two year old & his wife often traveled alone, so he knew what a pain it was. It was really nice to have this help.

Logan was pretty good on the flight. However, next time we fly, he's going to have his own seat. He was a wiggle worm. He fussed only a bit & I nursed him without any problems. I'm glad we had such an early flight because he slept for most of it.

He was a bit grumpy for the rest of the day because his schedule was all out of wack & he didn't have much of an appetite. We got to Aunt R's house & Logan was so excited to play with their cat & dog. The dog kind of freaked him out a bit because he has a million times more energy than Buddha, but he got used to it & crawled around after them. All day long. He had a good time.

We met Baby M too. She's relly cute & tiny. It's crazy to try & remember that Logan was that small at one time. Well, she's a tad smaller. She was born a little more than 4 pounds. Seeing the two of them together, it really hit me that Logan is almost a toddler. Not so much a baby anymore. That & his temper tantrums. Wow.

We hung out for the rest of the day yesterday & today I took Logan for about a 2 hour stroller walk (because I got lost). Aunt J came over & took us out to an early dinner. We did a little shopping (or browsing) & laughed at Logan singing at the top of his lungs in the stores. She also thinks that Logan sounds like an owl, hooting all of the time.

Our vacation has been really good so far. I really miss Oregon. A lot. Plus, it's been nice to have my sisters finally meet Logan & see his cuteness up close & personal.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving vacation
Tomorrow morning Logan & I fly out to Oregon to see my sisters & new niece for Thanksgiving. I haven't seen them for almost three years & they have yet to meet Logan. I'm pretty excited. It sucks that Bill has to stay home, but I'm sure he's going to have a great time playing video games non-stop, eating whatever & enjoying the Thanksgiving party that he'll go to with Aunt Ju-Ju, Uncle J & Baby B. So at least he won't be alone.

Other than eating dim sum & crepes from my favorite places, we don't have any plans. I might do some shopping (no sales tax). I was thinking about taking Logan to the coast, but it's been flooding for weeks & the roads are destroyed. Maybe next year. It will be nice to just hang out, play with Logan & talk about our new kiddos.

This is just ridiculous
So ridiculous that I had to post about it. What is going on in this world??? Why is breast feeding so offensive? It just blows my mind that something so natural, healthy & beneficial; something that has nourished human kind since the BEGINNING OF TIME is "offensive".

I knew that I wanted to breast feed Logan from the start. Fortunately, it came easy for us & we've been going strong. I hope to continue until he's between 12 & 18 months old.

In our months of nursing, I've had some "comments" about breast feeding (mostly from family). I'm relieved we haven't been humiliated in public. But then again, I actually go out of my way to find a private spot to breast feed Logan. Not because I'm ashamed, but because if anyone said something negative to me about it, I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut.

When we're out & Logan needs to nurse, I hang out in the car or find a "mother's room" if there is one. We've been to the zoo & I nursed him under a blanket by the monkeys. When we went on vacation this summer, I nursed him on the plane. So far, so good. No comments from the public & no glaring looks either.

Logan & I will be flying out to Portland to see my sisters & meet Baby M for Thanksgiving in a couple of days. The flight times are crazy (so we could maximize our time there) & Logan will have to nurse on the flight & in the airport. I'm a little nervous because Bill won't be able to come with us. He starts his new job the day we fly out. I hope our successful nursing in public streak continues.

However, that fact that this is even a concern is stupid. Why do Mother's have to think about what may happen if they need to feed their babies in public? The rest of the world thinks the US is insane because it's an issue. Mother's in Norway don't have to think twice about it.

I just don't get it. I really don't.

There is a petition from Moms Rising to help support Mother's rights to breast feed in public. I signed it & I hope all of the other blogging Moms will sign it too.

Turtle, Sloth, Snail
Logan may be a fast crawler, but he sure does have some slow growing teeth. Two weeks later, his first tooth has finally cut enough to show some sharp edged white (without having to open his mouth or squint). Finally! He's been teething for how long now? It's going to be a while longer, because this is only tooth number one.

His second tooth is on it's way, but I have no idea when seeing as though these teeth like to take their sweet time. I'm hoping they all pop up at the same time. But that would be kind of weird. I might be a little freaked out if I got him out of his crib & he suddenly had a mouth full of pearly whites.

I've figured that getting a picture will be next to impossible, especially since it's getting more difficult by the day to get just a regular old sitting picture. We'll see if miracles happen.

40 weeks old
This has been a fun week for Logan. Physically, he keeps moving & moving. He's been crawling faster than his arms will go & occasionally trips over them, resulting in a face plant on the floor. He continues to pull up onto everything, especially the couch. He's cruising faster as well. He stands by himself for a few seconds. We practice, but he thinks it's a game to sit, rather than balance. I'll hold his hands & ask him if he's ready. He giggles & squeals & gently sits down. It's pretty funny. We've been "walking" around the living room while I hold only one of his hands. He does really well with that. His favorite however, is pushing an empty Pampers box across the room. He walks all over the place with that. Who says you really need baby toys?

Logan is more involved with his toys now. He sits & "reads" to himself. He'll flip the pages of his books. He knows how to put blocks in his bucket & toys in the toy box. He knows how to turn on all of his battery powered toys. When he gets really excited, he kicks his legs up & down. He does this when he has a tantrum too. The playgroup has been great for him because he gets to play with a lot of new toys. He likes puzzles & cars (of course). He loves to play with the activity tables too. He thinks being chased is the most fun game ever. He tries to get Buddha to chase him still, but with no luck. He also tries to give Buddha his binky. Gross, but funny. He's tried to get some of the kids in the playgroup to chase him, but they haven't caught on yet.

Socially, he's having a blast. He still has a bit of stranger anxiety. Some days are better than others. After he warms up, he becomes adventurous & explores who's home were at. He's not as timid with the other kids & has started to take his toys back if someone takes them from him. He's even been the one to take away toys from someone else. He still flirts with the Moms more though & they all think he's so cute.

Logan is more vocal this week. He's been making "K" sounds, but not much more than that. We haven't heard anymore "Mom" cries. He made some "G' sounds for a few days, but it didn't last long. His ultimate favorite is singing. He sings "Ahhhh" at the top of his lungs, where ever we go. In the car (for the entire ride), on the changing table, in the store. We went grocery shopping yesterday & he sang the whole time in the cart. So much that the old ladies laughed & commented on how they think we have a natural born singer on our hands.

He continues to eat mostly table food. He still stores spoonfuls in his cheeks like a squirrel. It still scares the crap out of me. We think he might be allergic to eggplant because after he eats, his mouth turns red just like a Kool-aid smile. He's had yogurt & cheese & it hasn't bothered him at all. He continues to nurse every three hours, but we're working on every four to five hours. He's made it a few times. I think he is getting more to eat that way because I've noticed a small decrease in his appetite at the table. He's not that interested at times. I've also read that this is a normal stage at this age, so who knows.

His sleeping habits are starting to change a little. He still goes to bed at 8 pm. He still wakes up between 6 & 8 am. It's his naps that are off. Some days he's now taking just one morning nap. But others, he's back to two or three nap days. I think he's trying to ween down to one, but he's so busy that he just wears himself out.

Logan is a snuggle baby. He won't cuddle with Bill, but when I'm on the floor playing with him, he is constantly laying over my lap so I can rub his back, or laying his head on my lap so I can play with his hair. He will stop playing every now & then to climb up into my arms & watch TV for a minute, then goes back to whatever he was playing with. Sometimes I wonder if he's learned how to kiss because he'll come at my knees with a wide open mouth, but he doesn't bite or gum. Just drools. He did this with my hand while at the store yesterday. I'm still wondering if it's teething (which will be a topic for another day).

This month with Logan has been so fun. He is growing up to be such a cute, sweet & smart little man & way too fast!

Working my stay at home skills
This afternoon was a playgroup & baby shower combo. The shower was for one of the Moms in the group. I've only met her twice, so I decided to make cookies instead of bringing a gift.

A few weeks ago we saw a recipe for a cookie on one of the national morning news shows. It sounded so good, we just had to make them. Bill & I looked high & low for this recipe. It turned out to be slightly different from what we understood. We thought it was a pumpkin chocolate hazelnut cookie. It turned out to be just chocolate hazelnut & we couldn't find a chocolate pumpkin hazelnut recipe at all. I ended up making one up.

These cookies are awesome. The other Moms really liked them too. I told Bill that I want to send the recipe to a cookie competition & see what happens. He happily agreed to be the cookie quality tester.

This was a little gross
This morning Logan & I went to the Moms club meeting. We sat on the floor & played with other kids while I listened about upcoming plans & events. After about an hour, Logan decides to be more adventurous & crawls away to the other side of the room (which is quite large) to follow some other kids. Then he stops. He sits still for a second. He then proceeds to puke all over the place. I'm not talking spit up here. This was projectile. Not once, but three times.

"Oh no!", I gasp & jump up from the floor to go grab him. I swoop him up & out of the room, making a mad dash to the restroom to clean him up & move him away from the other kids, just in case there was more to come.

While we were in there, he seemed fine. No more purging. In the process of getting him out of there, I forgot the diaper bag. We went back to go get it while one of the Moms met me in the hallway asking which bag was ours. I forgot to pack a pair of pants, but fortunately had a onesie.

Back in the room, the Moms had blocked off the spots where Logan lost his breakfast. They said that they were going to get a carpet cleaner in there & to not worry about it. They had it taken care of. They were all very nice, asking if we needed anything, offering their babies clothes, blankets & plastic bags to put his dirty clothes in. They also assured me that this has happened before.

I thanked them for all of their help, gathered out things & said our good-byes. I didn't want to keep Logan around, just in case he was going to get sick again. I got him in his car seat wearing a short sleeved onesie, a winter hat & wrapped in a blanket. I cranked up the heat in the car & we went home.

Bill kind of laughed at how he was dressed when we walked in the door & I told him what had happened. Even while dressed funny, Logan still is adorable. He took his nap & hasn't been sick since. I guess this was a random act of upset stomach. He's been eating fine, playing in the living room with Bill & watching me make cookies.

It's kind of funny being a Mom. I used to get sick at just the site of puke. Today however, it didn't even phase me. It's like it wasn't even there. I didn't bother me that I had it all over me either. I'm just glad that Logan isn't very sick.

A little less stressed
Well, this has been a productive few days. We got the rest of our stuff from the house & got it set up for a short sale & then as of today, Bill is no longer unemployed.

He sent resumes out the day after he lost his job. He talked to three or four different gyms here in town. He met with the manager of one last week & they offered him a job on the spot. Bill thought about it for the rest of the week & waited to see what the other managers had to offer. He met with the same manager again today & took the position.

He'll be home on "vacation" until next week. He still plans on following up with the other gyms just to see if they have something better to offer. It sounds like this will be pretty good though.

Not that I was really too worried about it, but I can sleep better knowing these two tasks can be checked off of the "worry list" & the holidays won't be as tight as we might have planned.

Now we're just waiting
This morning Bill got a truck from U-Haul & went back to the house to FINALLY get the rest of our stuff. Logan & I stayed back where we have heat & toys. I never thought I would be so excited to get our washing machine, dryer & the rest of our appliances back.

After loading the rest of the house & sweeping it out, Bill took our friend that helped him load out to lunch & is on his way back now. Uncle J is coming over to help unload. Once the truck goes back, we are finished with the house. Now we just continue to wait for a buyer.

This is the part that kind of sucks. Waiting. We have done everything we can to sell the house & we're now looking at a short sale. According to Bill, our (crappy) realtor has filled out all of the needed paperwork & is just waiting for an offer.

I feel better knowing that it's out of our control. Whatever happens, happens.

Random Cuteness

39 weeks old with a fauxhawk, guitar T & his favorite puppy dog slipper. This boy is too cute for words.

Having fun on the slide at the park for maybe the last time this year. It may be all about sledding in the next few weeks.

Researching
After Logan woke up from his nap yesterday afternoon, he seemed to be a little bit better. So, at Bill's urging, we went to playgroup. Logan wasn't himself, clingy & mostly sitting in my lap. It wasn't like last week where he roamed around, climbing on the other Moms. He even was fussy & stayed a bit grumpy. We got home & it was like night & day. He was back to himself. Thank God.

Bill & I had another discussion about his vaccinations after he went to bed. We have different views on the subject & it's difficult to compromise. What we have in common is that we both want what's best for Logan & we're both concerned.

Bill is all about conventional medicine & believes everything that he's told. He doesn't question anything. I, on the other hand, question everything. I research. I'm involved in health care decisions. I get second & sometimes even third opinions. I work things out in my head until I know that I'm making an educated, rational & ultimately, the best decision.

Before Logan was born, or even a twinkle in our eyes, I had been involved in pro & anti-vaccination education for myself. I worked in chiropractic & read many articles & papers on the subject. I researched the topic even more when Logan was about to get his 2nd month shots.

I didn't want to do go through with it, but after talking with his first pediatrician & compromising with Bill, Logan got all of his scheduled vaccinations. He ended up having a reaction that was reported to VAERS.

At his 4th month check-up & a new pediatrician, we talked about his reaction. I told her that initially I wanted to do single dose shots & was told that it wasn't an option. I was very worried about Logan going through another reaction. She was awesome. She said that we could do single doses & was willing to work with us on a personalized vaccination schedule for Logan. She figured that it was DTaP-HBV-POL (Diptheria, Tetanus, acellular Pertussis, Hepatitis B, Polio) combo. We did a single shot for DT (Diptheria, Tetanus). Logan was fine & didn't have any reactions.

Because of our insurance coverage mess & the move, Logan missed his 6th month check-up & the subsequent vaccinations. Now we're picking up where we left off with a new clinic. I'm not at all worried that he missed his shots. I'm a fan of delayed & spaced out vaccinations. Bill is on the other end.

My only worry is that we don't know what caused Logan's reaction. So every time he gets a shot, it's like playing Russian roulette. The only way to figure out what shots work for him & what ones don't is trial & error. This doesn't make me very comfortable. Bill is worried about what would happen if Logan contracted one of these diseases.

Now I'm doing more research. More specific anyway. I'm looking into all reported cases of these diseases in our state. Then I'll find the reported cases of reactions (which may be challenging because most of them don't get reported). I'll break them down into statistics to weigh out the pro's & con's. It's looking like it will be quite a bit of work. But, Logan's health is worth it.