I swear, friends, I'm loosing it! I forgot I already wrote about my trip to the ER a few posts back. I re-wrote it and almost posted it and realized, OMG I already did this! While I love this time of year, I will be SO glad when things calm down after the 1st.
We got snow last night and it's still coming down! Logan loves it! He says over and over "nnnnoooow" since he can't say his s's yet.
We went out to dinner as a family last night. I let him have some apple juice with dinner and lots of water. He soaked through his PJs by 1030pm and at 230am he thought it was a great time to get up and play. Didn't anyone tell him Santa doesn't come until the 25th?! He laid in bed with us for an hour. The moment I thought has asleep I'd look up at him, snuggled in my arms and he'd grab my cheeks with both hands and say "mama!". It was precious, but why oh why at 230 in the morning? I loved our time laying together but I have no idea why he woke up like that. He was acting like it was morning, asking for milk and to eat. It was bizzar. I'm guessing he was cold, because the house was down to 63* and that maybe something scared him. A dream? The dark? Being cold in the dark?? Either way, I really hope he sleeps through the night tonight!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Top 12 Posts of the Year
I love blogging in December, though I find it very difficult to make the time, I love going back and remembering all the crazy, awesome, happy, sad, exciting things that our family experienced. This is one of the greatest things I value about blogging. This online journal keeps my memories fresh and creates a keepsake for our family to one day look back on someday.
So here are the top 12 posts of the year (one from each month) based on my favorite post, not on commets, etc. Because while I LOVE the comments and all you amazing readers, that is not why I blog. I will also be doing a post on the best 12 photos of the year because this amature photographer can't NOT have a post like that. Enjoy!!
January: Death of the Perky Boobs
February: Valentine's Day 2011
March: Milestones
April: When do I say 'enough'?
May: Best Mother's Day Ever!
June: Finding My Passion...At the Hospital
July: My Most Favorite Poet
August: The One in Which Tulo Jumps Through a Window
September: Thank You Isn't Enough
October: Dear Logan
November: The Devil Car
December: that one time...at the movie theater
Merry Christmas!
So here are the top 12 posts of the year (one from each month) based on my favorite post, not on commets, etc. Because while I LOVE the comments and all you amazing readers, that is not why I blog. I will also be doing a post on the best 12 photos of the year because this amature photographer can't NOT have a post like that. Enjoy!!
January: Death of the Perky Boobs
February: Valentine's Day 2011
March: Milestones
April: When do I say 'enough'?
May: Best Mother's Day Ever!
June: Finding My Passion...At the Hospital
July: My Most Favorite Poet
August: The One in Which Tulo Jumps Through a Window
September: Thank You Isn't Enough
October: Dear Logan
November: The Devil Car
December: that one time...at the movie theater
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Santa's Little Helper
Our trip to see Santa this year was nothing short of an epic fail. The morning started out great. Logan was in a good mood and we were having a great family day. B was heading to Denver later in the day with Logan and I had to get some time in with my boys. We headed to the mall and even while in line, Logan was not totally opposed to the idea of Santa.
There was a little girl in front of us who was just a month older than Logan. She set the bar by wailing and screaming her way off of Santa's lap. Logan stared at her and the closer we got the more sullen his face became. No more smiles and no more "uh-hus" when we asked if he was ready.
I stepped behind the photographer to take my own photos while B managed Logan. As you can see, he was not too keen on the idea of sitting on this strange mans lap! Afterwards he was given a candy cane and of course that cleared up his tears quickly. This kid LOVES candy and ate his candy cane before we'd even gotten to the car.
My dad mentioned how he's "too young" to be going to see Santa and I could not agree more. However, getting the shot of Logan crying on his lap feels like one of those parental rights of passage that you just have to do.
__
In other news, Thursday's 21 Questions will return in January. If you'd like to be featured, please email me samama8 at gmail dot com.
I pray you all have a fantastic and blessed Holiday weekend with your families. Celebrating Christmas with a toddler is SO MUCH FUN!!
One more post coming up: my trip to the ER a few weekends ago!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
bye bye babyness
I started writing this on December 8th...
Today, my squishy little boy is 22 months old. That's only 2 months away from being, you guessed it, TWO YEARS OLD!! Every parent from across the world will never EVER stop saying things like "I can't believe how fast time goes," or "I can't believe he's turning two!" or "They grow up so fast," and so on. Seriously, two years of my life has never gone faster since I've had Logan in my life. I mentioned to my mom the other night how when I was 22 months old she had my brother. I cannot imagine already having gone through 9 months of pregnancy again AND having a new baby right now...I know God blesses each of us with what he knows we can handle. I'm glad He knows I would go crazy!! However, that is not to say we are done having children-at all...just not yet.
I have mixed feelings about Logan's babyness fading away. I love watching him learn and grow up into an actual person with a personality, likes and dislikes, wants and needs...all of which make him more of a toddler and less of a baby. And yet I miss his infant stage, the frequent naps, nursing him, and experiencing all those new baby firsts. His firsts now are involve new words and new independence.
Last night I could not find his paci. We left the sitter, who doesn't even give him a paci, and the first thing he starts talking about in the car is "bapie! bapie!" so I tell him we're going home and we'll get it then. On our drive I kept thinking, you know...I hope we can't find a paci and in the same breath I realized I was wishing away one of the last baby-ish things about Logan. He no longer sleeps in a crib, uses a bottle, wakes up every two hours, rather he uses words to express himself, says "toot toot" when he farts, and plays hide and seek around the corners. The paci has never been something that B and I have liked, but it certainly saved us countless times from uncomfortable car rides and wakeful nights. Getting rid of the paci has been one of those things we started to fret about a year ago. We wondered if taking it away sooner rather than later would make the transition easier. In fact, it made it worse! Not two months ago he started needing not one, but TWO pacis to go to bed. He was carrying one around with him everywhere we went and without taking the paci out of his mouth he'd be asking for a 2nd. His talking through his paci was a huge problem to me. We don't want anything to interfere with his language developement or his teeth and we knew the longer we kept the paci around the harder it would be to get rid of it.
So when we got home and after I turned up every couch cushion, searched through his toys, all our secret hiding places and even out in the car again and I still could not find a paci I said "that's it! No more paci!". Well, not out loud like that. But as Logan sat on the floor crying for bis "bapie" I gently told him that there was no more paci. He paused a moment and said it again. I said, "Logan, you bapie had to go and be with another baby. Your bapie went bye-bye." He stared at me for a few seconds before throwing himself on the floor, where he stayed screaming for the next 20 minutes. I tried offering him comfort and he refused my efforts. I let him mourn his paci. It broke my heart to see him so sad about his bapie, but I knew this had to be a "cold turkey" type of thing.
Logan went to bed surprisingly easy and slept through the night
As of today, Logan is nearly paci-free. The few times we've pulled it out is at night or early in the morning to help him get back to sleep and the minute he is up we take it away. If he asks for it during the day we just remind him that he gave it away to another baby. He seems to understand this and accept it without issue. The second night he did have a full on meltdown in which we did not cave, although we were tempted! While Logan mourned his paci, I mourned his babyness.
Today, my squishy little boy is 22 months old. That's only 2 months away from being, you guessed it, TWO YEARS OLD!! Every parent from across the world will never EVER stop saying things like "I can't believe how fast time goes," or "I can't believe he's turning two!" or "They grow up so fast," and so on. Seriously, two years of my life has never gone faster since I've had Logan in my life. I mentioned to my mom the other night how when I was 22 months old she had my brother. I cannot imagine already having gone through 9 months of pregnancy again AND having a new baby right now...I know God blesses each of us with what he knows we can handle. I'm glad He knows I would go crazy!! However, that is not to say we are done having children-at all...just not yet.
I have mixed feelings about Logan's babyness fading away. I love watching him learn and grow up into an actual person with a personality, likes and dislikes, wants and needs...all of which make him more of a toddler and less of a baby. And yet I miss his infant stage, the frequent naps, nursing him, and experiencing all those new baby firsts. His firsts now are involve new words and new independence.
Last night I could not find his paci. We left the sitter, who doesn't even give him a paci, and the first thing he starts talking about in the car is "bapie! bapie!" so I tell him we're going home and we'll get it then. On our drive I kept thinking, you know...I hope we can't find a paci and in the same breath I realized I was wishing away one of the last baby-ish things about Logan. He no longer sleeps in a crib, uses a bottle, wakes up every two hours, rather he uses words to express himself, says "toot toot" when he farts, and plays hide and seek around the corners. The paci has never been something that B and I have liked, but it certainly saved us countless times from uncomfortable car rides and wakeful nights. Getting rid of the paci has been one of those things we started to fret about a year ago. We wondered if taking it away sooner rather than later would make the transition easier. In fact, it made it worse! Not two months ago he started needing not one, but TWO pacis to go to bed. He was carrying one around with him everywhere we went and without taking the paci out of his mouth he'd be asking for a 2nd. His talking through his paci was a huge problem to me. We don't want anything to interfere with his language developement or his teeth and we knew the longer we kept the paci around the harder it would be to get rid of it.
So when we got home and after I turned up every couch cushion, searched through his toys, all our secret hiding places and even out in the car again and I still could not find a paci I said "that's it! No more paci!". Well, not out loud like that. But as Logan sat on the floor crying for bis "bapie" I gently told him that there was no more paci. He paused a moment and said it again. I said, "Logan, you bapie had to go and be with another baby. Your bapie went bye-bye." He stared at me for a few seconds before throwing himself on the floor, where he stayed screaming for the next 20 minutes. I tried offering him comfort and he refused my efforts. I let him mourn his paci. It broke my heart to see him so sad about his bapie, but I knew this had to be a "cold turkey" type of thing.
Logan went to bed surprisingly easy and slept through the night
As of today, Logan is nearly paci-free. The few times we've pulled it out is at night or early in the morning to help him get back to sleep and the minute he is up we take it away. If he asks for it during the day we just remind him that he gave it away to another baby. He seems to understand this and accept it without issue. The second night he did have a full on meltdown in which we did not cave, although we were tempted! While Logan mourned his paci, I mourned his babyness.
Plans Change
I can't catch a break. Everyday, something else is going on with my health and well-being, or so it seems. On Friday night I was walking quickly through the parking lot carrying a rather large bottle of wine when I slipped and fell on some ice. I saved the wine! But my wrist? Mildly sprained and then yesterday my low back flared up. Awesome.
The results from my ultrasound last week are normal, but I did not find out from my doctor or from looking the results up myself. On Saturday, we had big plans to have a Christmas party with B's family. We were so excited. I went shopping and bought everything for a really yummy salad, we went a cut down our Christmas tree, and only a few things to do before they arrived. All morning, however, I was actually having some serious stomach issues. I could not keep anything I ate or drank inside. But I tried to push through it. I assumed it was just my stomach acting up, of course, when we have something great planned. I took my meds and hoped for the best.
As the day went on I started to feel worse. I laid in bed until everyone arrived and put on a smile, pushing through and trying to hid any of the pain and discomfort I was feeling. I knew in my heart this had to be something more than just my stomach being dumb. I felt ill.
I looked awesome. I had been planning my outfit for the party for a week and tried to convince myself that I looked good so I feel good. That ran through my head over and over to no avail. We watching Logan open Christmas presents. He totally gets it! With hardly any help from his Nona he was ripping paper off and saying "out, out, out" after seeing his new toy. His grandparents absolutely spoiled him, in a good way of course! I'll post pictures as soon as I can, but watching Logan really enjoy Christmas for the first time was priceless. I am so thankful that I was able to hold out for that.
We took a break and I mustered up any strength I had to help make the salad and get things ready for dinner. Standing up made me feel as though I would faint and I pushed through those feelings as long as I could until I went back to lay on the couch. I felt terrible. Our family was doing everything and here I was laying on the couch. I hated, and still do, that I was not able to be in the mix with everyone, sipping on homemade eggnog and wine. My heart still hurts that it did not go that way.
At one point while I was laying on the couch B came over and asked if I needed to go to the ER. I had those thoughts in the back of my head but it was the last thing I wanted to do. But then we thought about it. It had been over 12 hours since I had been able to keep anything from coming right back out and sipping on water was painful. The cramping had me keeled over and I knew I was becoming very dehydrated. We made the decision to go. I was devastated. I was leaving Logan with our family and I knew he would be fine, but B was also leaving his family and we don't get enough time with them as it is. But I was going downhill so fast both B and I were scared. We could not worry about those things.
Only one other time in my life have I been in the ER. When I was in college the week before spring finals I became sick. I passed out in the dinning hall and was taken to the ER via ambulance. Diagnosis was sever dehydration and a viral infection.
When we got to the ER, things moved quickly. We didn't have to wait long and in no time I was having blood drawn and an IV put in. The fluids were a welcomed relief. I went through a liter in less than an hour. After anti-nausea meds, 2 liters of fluids and good blood work, I was sent home. I felt worse, though, because the body aches had kicked in. The drive home was just as bad as the drive to the hospital when I was in labor. And yes, I made that connection! lol
In the end, I slept until 130pm the next day and slowly regained my strength. Today, I am totally back to normal, stomach pains and all. The meds I'm taking for that do keep them under control and on the 19th I have a follow up to find out if this is going to be a life-long battle.
The moral of this story, friends, is to WASH YOUR HANDS and DON"T TOUCH YOUR FACE! I know these things are so simple and "DUH" even, but until you start paying attention to how often you touch your face, you don't even realize you do. My official diagnosis was the flu and gastritis. YUCK! Stay healthy friends!
The results from my ultrasound last week are normal, but I did not find out from my doctor or from looking the results up myself. On Saturday, we had big plans to have a Christmas party with B's family. We were so excited. I went shopping and bought everything for a really yummy salad, we went a cut down our Christmas tree, and only a few things to do before they arrived. All morning, however, I was actually having some serious stomach issues. I could not keep anything I ate or drank inside. But I tried to push through it. I assumed it was just my stomach acting up, of course, when we have something great planned. I took my meds and hoped for the best.
As the day went on I started to feel worse. I laid in bed until everyone arrived and put on a smile, pushing through and trying to hid any of the pain and discomfort I was feeling. I knew in my heart this had to be something more than just my stomach being dumb. I felt ill.
I looked awesome. I had been planning my outfit for the party for a week and tried to convince myself that I looked good so I feel good. That ran through my head over and over to no avail. We watching Logan open Christmas presents. He totally gets it! With hardly any help from his Nona he was ripping paper off and saying "out, out, out" after seeing his new toy. His grandparents absolutely spoiled him, in a good way of course! I'll post pictures as soon as I can, but watching Logan really enjoy Christmas for the first time was priceless. I am so thankful that I was able to hold out for that.
We took a break and I mustered up any strength I had to help make the salad and get things ready for dinner. Standing up made me feel as though I would faint and I pushed through those feelings as long as I could until I went back to lay on the couch. I felt terrible. Our family was doing everything and here I was laying on the couch. I hated, and still do, that I was not able to be in the mix with everyone, sipping on homemade eggnog and wine. My heart still hurts that it did not go that way.
At one point while I was laying on the couch B came over and asked if I needed to go to the ER. I had those thoughts in the back of my head but it was the last thing I wanted to do. But then we thought about it. It had been over 12 hours since I had been able to keep anything from coming right back out and sipping on water was painful. The cramping had me keeled over and I knew I was becoming very dehydrated. We made the decision to go. I was devastated. I was leaving Logan with our family and I knew he would be fine, but B was also leaving his family and we don't get enough time with them as it is. But I was going downhill so fast both B and I were scared. We could not worry about those things.
Only one other time in my life have I been in the ER. When I was in college the week before spring finals I became sick. I passed out in the dinning hall and was taken to the ER via ambulance. Diagnosis was sever dehydration and a viral infection.
When we got to the ER, things moved quickly. We didn't have to wait long and in no time I was having blood drawn and an IV put in. The fluids were a welcomed relief. I went through a liter in less than an hour. After anti-nausea meds, 2 liters of fluids and good blood work, I was sent home. I felt worse, though, because the body aches had kicked in. The drive home was just as bad as the drive to the hospital when I was in labor. And yes, I made that connection! lol
In the end, I slept until 130pm the next day and slowly regained my strength. Today, I am totally back to normal, stomach pains and all. The meds I'm taking for that do keep them under control and on the 19th I have a follow up to find out if this is going to be a life-long battle.
The moral of this story, friends, is to WASH YOUR HANDS and DON"T TOUCH YOUR FACE! I know these things are so simple and "DUH" even, but until you start paying attention to how often you touch your face, you don't even realize you do. My official diagnosis was the flu and gastritis. YUCK! Stay healthy friends!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
words
(our front window covered in ice!)
- I have a cough that will not go away. I think I'm on day five or six. At night, I feel like I'm dying from all the coughing and no amount of nyquil or tylenol cold medicine can keep it at bay (not taken together, obviously).
- I'm drinking coffee, yo. For the first time in over three months I am sipping on a caramel latte. I'm hoping all the meds I'm on will allow me to enjoy it without pains.
- I've been pain-free for FOUR WHOLE DAYS NOW!! Thank goodness for meds! (I'm not usually all about meds. In fact, I've avoided taking them for some time now and boy am I glad I changed my mind!).
- B is super sick. Fever, aches, and overall yuck. Taking care of him and Logan and our house all while I'm not up to par either is soooo hard! I'm pretty sure that if I put my head down I'd pass out right here. Hence, another reason for coffee.
- Logan did not puke again on Saturday so we are 100% positive it was motion sickness. I had it when I was younger on long, windy car rides.
- It' is BELOW 5* outside right now. SO COLD!
- I have something really cool brewing in my head about a charity I want to start contributing to. As soon as I'm able, I will share those deets with everyone because I will need your help as well! More on this later (hopefully by Jan 1st).
- A new post will be up soon on my midwife blog about losing all the fear you have about pregnancy and childbirth so that you can *try* to get the exact birth you and your partner are hoping for. I'll post a link when that's up.
- And that's all. Have a great Tuesday friends!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
that one time...at the movie theater
A few months ago I wanted to take Logan to see The Lion King in the movie theater. I didn't for several reasons, the biggest being I wanted B to come with us and it just never worked out. So instead, B bought the movie and we've watched it at home.
For Christmas, I was given the choice of picking from five options what I wanted from my employer. I picked the family day at the movies. They rent out the entire theater, pass out snacks, have balloon animals, family pictures, hot chocolate...we couldn't wait! Yesterday morning we got up early to find six new inches of snow outside. Perfect movie day weather! We all dressed semi-nice for the family photos and off we went. We arrived just as the doors opened, grabbed our snacks and popcorn, and headed to the theater. Happy Feet 2 was the movie I picked for us. Logan still has a very short attention span for TV and movies and I knew he'd last at least a little while with this one. We were so excited. I cannot say that enough because what happened was so not on our radar...
We settled into our seats and B went to go get us hot chocolate. I stood in line with Logan so he could get a monkey from the balloon animals lady. He was being so good. All morning, though, he'd refused to eat. I offered applesauce, which he had two bites of, and two animal crackers along with lots of pedilite juice. B returned with our drinks and the trailers began. We got a booster seat for Logan and he was sitting so proud in his chair. He loved moving his drink around to the cup holders and was in a great mood. He sat on my lap for a few trailers and then I moved him to his seat just before the movie started.
Not 10 seconds later I heard him coughing. He's had a cough for a week or two now, nothing serious. And it happened. His cough turned into full out puking. He puked all over himself, into my purse, all over me and B and the stairs as I was getting out of the theater as fast as humanly possible. He finished up in the trash can and I almost started crying. B went to tell someone and I took Logan to the bathroom. I stripped him down to his diaper and a white tee he had on under his sweater which was still dry. I rinsed his clothes out in the sink and put everything into a trash bag. B went back into the theater to gather our things and when he came out I asked how bad it was. He said the guy in front of us, whom Logan had barely missed puking on (how, I honestly don't know!) and he was laughing at the movie. The smell though, oh man the smell! It was so rank. Ugh...
B went and pulled the car up. Remember how I said it had been snowing? Well it had stopped but it was still barely 25* outside and Logan was half naked. I wrapped him up in my coat, which was vomit-free, and loaded him into the car. And that was the beginning of a different kind of family day. We waited in anticipation to see if Logan was truly sick and if we'd be cleaning up puke the rest of the day. Thankfully, it was just a fluke. We actually think Logan got motion sickness from all the movement on the screen, the loud speakers, etc. Needless to say, we will not be going back to the theater with Logan for a long time.
For Christmas, I was given the choice of picking from five options what I wanted from my employer. I picked the family day at the movies. They rent out the entire theater, pass out snacks, have balloon animals, family pictures, hot chocolate...we couldn't wait! Yesterday morning we got up early to find six new inches of snow outside. Perfect movie day weather! We all dressed semi-nice for the family photos and off we went. We arrived just as the doors opened, grabbed our snacks and popcorn, and headed to the theater. Happy Feet 2 was the movie I picked for us. Logan still has a very short attention span for TV and movies and I knew he'd last at least a little while with this one. We were so excited. I cannot say that enough because what happened was so not on our radar...
We settled into our seats and B went to go get us hot chocolate. I stood in line with Logan so he could get a monkey from the balloon animals lady. He was being so good. All morning, though, he'd refused to eat. I offered applesauce, which he had two bites of, and two animal crackers along with lots of pedilite juice. B returned with our drinks and the trailers began. We got a booster seat for Logan and he was sitting so proud in his chair. He loved moving his drink around to the cup holders and was in a great mood. He sat on my lap for a few trailers and then I moved him to his seat just before the movie started.
Not 10 seconds later I heard him coughing. He's had a cough for a week or two now, nothing serious. And it happened. His cough turned into full out puking. He puked all over himself, into my purse, all over me and B and the stairs as I was getting out of the theater as fast as humanly possible. He finished up in the trash can and I almost started crying. B went to tell someone and I took Logan to the bathroom. I stripped him down to his diaper and a white tee he had on under his sweater which was still dry. I rinsed his clothes out in the sink and put everything into a trash bag. B went back into the theater to gather our things and when he came out I asked how bad it was. He said the guy in front of us, whom Logan had barely missed puking on (how, I honestly don't know!) and he was laughing at the movie. The smell though, oh man the smell! It was so rank. Ugh...
B went and pulled the car up. Remember how I said it had been snowing? Well it had stopped but it was still barely 25* outside and Logan was half naked. I wrapped him up in my coat, which was vomit-free, and loaded him into the car. And that was the beginning of a different kind of family day. We waited in anticipation to see if Logan was truly sick and if we'd be cleaning up puke the rest of the day. Thankfully, it was just a fluke. We actually think Logan got motion sickness from all the movement on the screen, the loud speakers, etc. Needless to say, we will not be going back to the theater with Logan for a long time.
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