Where did the weekend go?

Time is just flying by these days. We got home about 9pm tonight and I immediately started putting away items, starting a load of laundry, taking care of a few emails and now blogging before hitting the sack. Where the hell did the weekend just go?? I'm exhausted!

Yesterday was a pretty mellow day for us. Jon was kind enough to let me sleep in while he and Logan took off about 8am for (what is becoming) their weekend morning tradition. The two of them go to a local donut shop, sit at the counter, each eating a donut with coffee (Jon) or milk (Logan). Logan loves the one-on-one time with his Daddy and I'm pretty sure Jon enjoys it too. :) Jon ordered a few more donuts on their way out and met up with one of Jon's old eBay coworkers and his son, Max. The boys had a fantastic time playing at a nearby playground all morning while the Dads caught up on geek-speak. They had such a good time, in fact, that they didn't get home until about 12:30pm that afternoon! After sleeping in (until the super late time of 9am - jeez am I old or what?), catching up on a few of my TV shows, getting my exercises done, taking Lola for a walk and putzing around the house - I was starting to have some serious Logan withdrawals and was glad Jon finally decided to return back home! ;-)

Last night, we dropped Logan off at my parent's house so that we could attend a house-warming party for one of Jon's rugby buddies. The drop off at my parent's went fine - at first he was EXTREMELY upset when we got up to leave, shutting the front door and asking us to stay. But then Jon asked him if he wanted a lollipop and suddenly he was totally EYES ON THE PRIZE and Bye-bye Mommy! Bye-bye Daddy! without a second glance back.

Apparently, staying the night with Zafu and Zabuton is not as good as being with Mommy and Daddy. However, Zafu and Zabuton PLUS a lollipop trumps Mommy and Daddy.

Good to know.

It was really nice to get out on our own since we haven't done a solo couple's night in awhile. And, it was great to sleep in this morning as well (however, again, "sleeping in" was until 8am because apparently we have been trained to wake up early now). The one thing I did think was funny was when, after we got home from the party last night, we climbed into bed and Jon flipped on the TV. Pretty standard evening for us before we fall asleep. However, he had the TV sound on so damn low, that I seriously couldn't hear most of the conversation. So I finally said, you know Babe, Logan's not here tonight so we COULD actually turn the sound up to a normal level and watch the show like normal people. Oh right - totally forgot. :)

Logan had quite the adventure while at my parent's house last night and this morning. Last night, they decided to go down to the basement and start a fire while watching an Elmo movie before bedtime. My dad started the fire but forgot to check the flue, which happened to be closed. Sooooo, the entire house immediately filled up with smoke - which then activated the indoor AND outdoor alarms. The alarms at my parent's house are INSANE. They are loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear, I'm not kidding you, and when inside the house, are DEAFENING.

Logan freaked out and got pretty scared by the entire event. :( It didn't help that it's been so long since the alarms have gone off, that my dad couldn't remember the code to turn them off. :) So, my mom and Logan went outside to wait (he actually told her to go outside, out to the street!) while my dad spoke to the alarm people on the phone and deactivated the alarms. Once the alarms stopped, Logan immediately started clapping and cheering from the street - YAAAAYYY!

It actually took a bit of time for my parents to convince him it was okay to go back downstairs to finish their evening. They finally did and he fell asleep on the couch watching his fave character, Elmo, in action.

This morning, my dad decided to whip up some of his DELISH homemade pancakes for Logan. My brothers and I grew up eating my dad's pancakes many a Sunday morning, so it's a really fond childhood memory for me. I remember it was always (and still is) a hugely lavish and decadent treat. :) To this day, I'm not fond of eating pancakes made from box-batter recipes because I grew up spoiled on my dad's buttermilk and butter-laden pancakes. YUMMMMMmmm. (I also can't stand anything but REAL maple syrup so it drives me BANANAS when Jon insists that I buy the sugar water crap with some fat woman pictured on the front that he calls syrup for him, which is so NOT real and full of preservatives that you can actually just store it in the cabinet, rather than the fridge. Ack!! Yep, I grew up not only spoiled but a foodie all in one). ;-)

He was actually MUCH happier than his face shows right here. ;-)

Anyhoo, this morning of all mornings, I think my dad just created a pancake monster foodie out of my son as well. And thankfully, he not only scarfed up every little bit of pancake but enjoyed them smothered in REAL maple syrup and REAL whipped cream too. :-P Besides the end product, I think what sold Logan was the fact that he got to help out in making them too. I remember this being a huge deal for my brothers and I as well - although I think my brothers enjoyed flipping them more than me (I just liked eating them). So, it's no surprise really, that Logan loved getting his hands a bit dirty in the kitchen today! :)

This is his response to my mom telling him to "Smile!" :)

After we picked him up, we headed over to the Jodoins for a playdate with Robert, since Logan has been asking to see "Bobert" all week. The boys had such a fantastic time playing all day long that we extended our visit well after lunchtime, well after naptime, and even some after dinnertime! But, it was awesome because the boys really wore each other out and Jon and I got some quality time to relax and catch up with Jenn and Jarrod (and visit with their little baby Connor - who will be chasing the boys soon, before we know it). Thanks again guys for such an awesome day, we really had a blast!

All in all, a fantastic weekend! Now off to stumble into bed. :)

Hanging with the Jodoins

We've been hanging out with the Jodoins most of the day and having a great time. We haven't seen them in a long time and Logan's been begging to go to "Bobert's" house all week. Hopefully he's getting his fix in. :)

Fancy Rainboots

Along with Logan's new umbrella, I also bought a new umbrella for myself and these très chic rainboots. Love 'em! :)

New Bike

We're trying out Logan's new bike today. When I asked him where he was going he said "Going to the park! Bye bye Mommy!"

Closing out the 2nd Trimester

I realize I haven't been blogging as much these days - nor do I make much time to blog about my pregnancy - so I figured I'd take a quiet Friday night like tonight to finally provide some sort of update. Let's call it the SO HOW ARE YOU DOING? update.

I'm doing fine. In fact, I'm radiant.

Here are some of the experiences I've had, second (feels funny to say third?) time around.

I'm overcome with a spidey sense of smell, even considering my daily congestion. Case in point - anytime Jon comes home after a night out with his work or rugby buddies, I can smell the liquor on his breath, emanating from his skin, even if he had just one drink many many hours ago! It's really weird (and makes me sick to my stomach).

So it was the most bizarre experience for me ever, the other morning, when I was sitting in a meeting with probably 20 other people in the room, and I was HIT, HIT HARD I tell you, with that same sickly smell of liquor. I was sitting between two men, and so for the rest of the meeting I stifled my gag while looking at each of them, back and forth, out of the corners of my eyes, trying to determine which one could it be that had been drinking. I tried convincing myself that it wasn't possible - it was 10:30am in the morning for God's Sake! (not to mention we were at work) - but I couldn't think of any other explanation. One of these guys was hittin' the bottle a bit early.

I definitely am feeling an increase in back pain and overall achyness. I've heard from a number of people that the more pregnancies you have, the harder and more terribly painful it is on your body. I would agree it's definitely harder and more painful, but not terribly painful as many people emphasize. I think you're just older (obviously) and possibly not in as good of shape as the previous pregnancy, and your body is just having a harder time with the stress that pregnancy causes on all of your joints, ligaments, body and mind. That is, anyway, what I'm chalking my aches and pains up to.

There's no doubt my body was stretched to its limits with Logan's birth - and it's clear I have back problems - so none of this has come to much surprise.

What has come as a surprise to me is how EARLY on in the pregnancy I've noticed the aches and pains. I'm back to seeing my Physical Therapist weekly now, and she's confirmed my pelvis is loosey goosey (usually a good thing right?), which is ohhhhh so bad. Because guess what happens every morning and sometimes during the day too? It POPS. My pelvis POPS out of place and if I'm lucky, it POPS back into place. That, my friends, can be a bit more painful than a few stretching ligaments.

This little guy is more active than I ever remember Logan to be. Logan was a roller (and hiccup-er). He ROLLED from side to side, he ROLLED up and down, he ROLLED back and forth. I imagined knees and elbows and feet and a head all vying for more space or perhaps a better position to hang out in. This little guy has found his favorite spot - LOVING my left side - so he's content to stay there. But, he can't stop moving. He's my ridiculously hyper ninja. He boxes and kicks like crazy. Non-stop. Like, morning, noon and night non-stop. It can be hard to fall asleep some nights, with this little guy just poking me every second. POKE. POKE. POKE. POKE. Mommy are you still awake? Yessssss. POKE.

Let me just say I'm not looking forward to another round of sleepless nights once this guy joins us in the outside world.

Since I've been through it before, I know what to expect. And that is why I've been procrastinating taking my glucose screening test (to check for gestational diabetes). I know, I know, it's bad. But, I guess I'm waiting until the very last minute? I don't know. If you've never taking a glucose test before, it's pretty yucky. You have to down this bottle of sweet syrupy stuff one hour before your blood is drawn (and after fasting all night). The test looks at how well your body is able to metabolize the sugars in your system.

When I was pregnant with Logan, I didn't pass the first screening so I had to go back for the second (glucose tolerance) test. The second test was way worse. You have to drink another bottle of sweet syrupy stuff - but MORE of it - because they want it to stay in your system a bit longer. You then sit and wait, having your blood drawn FOUR times after that, once per hour. It's a long (starving) morning and isn't any fun at all. I did fine after the glucose tolerance test but my previous OB was a little more relaxed than this one is - so I have a feeling a few more flags will be raised on me this time around. And Lord knows, I CAN'T GIVE UP MY CARBS!

Okay, I can. For this little one, I can. But, I will wait until the very last minute for them to tell me I have to and will only do it if they say I must. Damnit.

Just this morning as I was wrapping up one meeting and heading to another, my stomach started GROWLING louder than ever. In a MEETING. In front of MY COWORKERS. In front of my MALE coworkers. Good job Bree, so feminine and coy. *sigh*

It reminded me of a few times Jon and I were lazying around in the den, watching some TV before going to bed. My stomach would start to gurgle those digestive noises that happen after a big meal I guess? I really don't know - but let me tell you - I think they are 100 times louder when you're pregnant. And just when I thought, well maybe they are just loud to me because you know, I'm right HERE and all, Jon would look up from across the room at me and say "Jesus Babe! Is that your stomach making all of those noises?!?!?"

Every other day, if not every day, someone comments on how BIG I am (No seriously Bree, you are really really big! Like, bigger than my sister who is due next week, big!) and inevitably asks the big question "So WHEN exactly are you due again???" As if to say GIRRRRRL you look like you are about to pop, so shouldn't you be home and having that baby already?

Thankfully, I've got a pretty tough skin and frankly, have gotten used to the insensitive and rude comments that people think they can get away with just because you're pregnant.

But, the few who have actually said something more positive are the ones who make my day. Thank goodness for those precious few in my life, because even a girl with thick skin needs a pick me up from time to time.

I think I've mentioned it before, but with Logan I would read my pregnancy journal every night and squeal with excitement at the idea that he's now the size of a sesame seed. Oh! He's the size of a dime. Wow, Jon can you imagine? Now he stands about as high as the short side of a credit card!

And so on, and so on.

This time around I'm lucky if I can read my journal once or twice a week and usually read the updates with a different light of discovery. "Huh. Would you look at that. He's just about 2 lbs now."

And with a blink of an eye, I realize that I'm already closing out the 2nd trimester and turning the last corner of the run home.

Just in time for the next storm

Logan is very fond of his new umbrella. He's walking around the house saying "I see you!" while looking up at us from under it. :)

I remember loving these umbrellas as a kid so I decided to get him one when we had the recent rain. Luckily, the umbrella came today, just in time for another storm that arrived this evening!

Destructo

I'm not sure how toddlers do it. But Logan managed to pull off all the
stickers and labels from my prescription bottle in under 2 seconds.
That would have taken me days! (after soaking in hot soapy water). ;-)

A way to a boy's heart is also through his stomach?

Jon was out this afternoon fixing a broken sink at our rental house, so Logan and I had the afternoon on our own. As we approached dinner time, I asked him if he'd like spaghetti - at which he answered "YEAH!" and immediately climbed into his high chair to get ready.

Because I hadn't made it yet, I gave him a bowl of fruit first while I cooked the pasta. He polished off the fruit pretty quickly and let me know he was ready for some spaghetti.

He polished off TWO BOWLS of spaghetti (after the bowl of fruit!) - I was amazed, since our picky little eater doesn't normally eat much of anything. While working his way through the second bowl he turned to me and said "Thank you Mommy. Spaghetti [is] good!" And then smiled before turning back to his dinner.


I guess he liked it. :)

Running Errands

We need to get into the habit of bringing a stroller with us again. *sigh*

Lazy Sunday

Logan woke up early this morning (6am) so we decided to hit up our fave breakfast spot, Stacks. He was a monster all morning until we got some food in him. :( Now that he's full, he's passed out for an early nap.

(The pacifier is a two-prong looking thing that helps massage his back molars that have been bugging him. He loves chewing on it and apparently, sleeping with it.)

A Giggling Machine

I don't often think about shooting videos anymore; I barely have enough time to grab the camera for a quick snapshot. But, last night Jon was reading one of Logan's favorite bedtime stories and I always listen from the other room through the baby monitor because it just makes me smile like crazy.

Logan's starting to understand comedy - what's silly and funny versus not. We've seen him catch on with jokes and silly antics on tv shows or movies (Kung Fu Panda comes to mind) more and more. This particular book strikes him funnier than most - and no matter what, he can't stop laughing at each page's punchline. I figured a video was appropriate, as any amount of descriptive prose I'd write just wouldn't do it justice.

Enjoy.

Pulling out the pull ups

Tonight when we got home I needed to do a bit more work, so while I typed away on the laptop, Logan played with his cars next to me. Before long, he started trying to poop - and without me asking or prompting - he looked up at me and said "Logan going poopy! Potty! Potty!" and started walking back to his bathroom.

I jumped up, eager to support him in any potty training he does on his own. I stripped him down and left him sitting on the potty while I went back to finish up some emails (he usually sits on the potty for quite awhile). In a few minutes I hear him yell from the bathroom "All done!" and next thing I know, he's walking back down the hallway toward me, pulling up his jeans (without any diaper on).

So, I steer him back around so we can clean him up and get a diaper on him. I took a look in the potty, not expecting to see anything but whaddya know, he had gone pee! We dumped the pee down the toilet (he LOVES to flush the toilet) and seeing as how he pulled up his jeans on his own, I opened up a bag of pull-up diapers I had bought awhile ago (just to be ready). I showed him how to put the pull-up diaper on, and pull it up on his own.

We moved back into the main room where I did a few more emails and Logan picked up his playtime right where he had left off (picking up cars, putting them in a tupperware box, then dumping them back onto the floor again). Once more, he started doing his poop-grunting dance, only this time we didn't make it back to the potty in time. Still, he insisted on sitting on the potty again anyway.

So, I stripped him down again and sat him on the potty. And before you know it, he's going pee again!

With another pee earlier this morning after he woke up, that counts for THREE successful pees on the potty in one day. Pretty cool. :)

Chatterbox

Almost overnight, it seems, and little Logan has turned into quite the chatterbox. I'm blaming it on his new classroom - which he absolutely LOVES - and where he's surrounded by older kids (since he just moved over, I'm guessing he's one of the youngest in the class). And, what's more, his classroom is next door to the Pre-K class which means he's exposed to 3-4 yr olds as well! (his class is mostly 2-3 yr old in range).

He's recently picked up a game that he loves to play on the ride home - or anywhere really - where he hides something (usually his "Big Kitty Cat" but he's also been known to hide his cars or food or anything else that happens to be in his hands) either behind his back or behind his head (when he's in the car seat).

Then he chants "Where'd it go? Where'd it go?" over and over and OVER and OVER.

AND OVER.

Until I finally say - I don't know Logan. Where is it? Is it hiding?

And he pulls it out from behind his back (or head) screaming "THERE IT IS!" All super proud of his accomplishment at being the best Sherlock Holmes of this century ever.

(Speaking of Sherlock Holmes - Jill and I stole away from the kiddos last weekend to watch it and I'm so glad we did. What a fun movie it was!)

Mama's Boy

Hey Logan, let's go change your diaper.

No no no no.

C'mon - you're pretty stinky.

No.

*pause*

I love you Mommy!

Ha. Nice try kid.

You never know what you might find in our fridge

Logan's contribution to the deli drawer.

Ready for takeoff!

Logan just told me he's ready to go! We had a great time down in San Diego and are now about to takeoff and head home. The weather was crazy stormy here (as it was up in the Bay Area we hear) with several delayed flights but we somehow made it onto our flight just fine. *phew*

Go Chargers!

Amelia is really into this football game. She can't even contain herself next to the rowdy boys jumping up out of their seats and yelling at the screen.

Chillaxin'

Just hanging out after a bath. Logan's so huge now, especially next to Amelia. :)

Happy 4 Months Amelia!

Amelia turned 4 months old today. She's absolutely adorable and we're having a great time visiting. Logan thought she was particularly funny kicking her little legs like crazy. He'd put his hands or face in front of her feet, waiting for Amelia to kick him and then laaaaaaaugh hysterically once she did. :)

Sunny San Diego!

Here's Logan, flying in his OWN seat for the first time! What a big boy!

We just landed safely in San Diego, here to visit our friends Eric and Jill and their little baby girl Amelia (who we haven't met yet!). Looking forward to a nice long weekend with friends. :)

(unfortunately I forgot my camera so iPhone pics are the best I can do this weekend)

Paul's 60th Birthday Bash

I'm pretty tired and only 75% done with packing (yes, we're leaving for another long weekend trip tomorrow!), but wanted to get this out before I completely forget about it. A few pics from last weekend's trip down to LA, for Abuelito Paul's SURPRISE 60th Birthday party!


We drove down on Friday - Logan slept for a couple of hours, which was great. The drive was only 5 1/2 hours but felt much longer than that. Still, it was uneventful and we even stopped 3 times to let Lola out to pee and grab some snacks and drinks along the way. When we got into LA, we put Logan down soon after the "hellos" and then drove over to Curtis and Renee's house to visit with Jon's brothers (Daniel, Aaron and Curtis) and Renee and Kristin (a friend of Renee's) for a bit before heading back to Jon's parent's house to crash for the night.

Unfortunately, Friday night was tough on Jon and I. Logan was really antsy all night long - and woke up about 3am, dazed and confused. I had him crawl into bed with us (thinking it was much later than 3am!) and he tossed and turned the rest of the morning until he was awake for the day at 6am. UGH. Neither Jon nor I got a good night's rest and we were exhausted.


We headed down to visit my brother Kai, who now lives in Fountain Valley, a suburban town in Orange County. We grabbed a really scrumptious brunch at a surfer-type spot in the middle of Huntington Beach. We also stopped by his apartment afterward, which was really nice!! His bachelor pad is all set up! :)


We convinced Kai to drive back to Burbank with us to hang out with the rest of the family at the birthday bash. So we all headed back in time to get over to Curtis and Renee's house and wait for the big surprise.

There were probably about 25 people at the party - all family and close friends. I'm not convinced Paul was actually surprised - given all his kids from out of town were popping up the night before. ;-) But he acted surprised and seemed to really enjoy the get together.


Logan had a ball visiting with his cousins Luke and Stella and friends Annabella and Nathanael. He also really loved all the attention from his uncles who spent the day tumbling and wrestling and having tons of fun with him. Because we didn't get much sleep the night before, and we had a pretty full day of activities, we actually headed home earlier than we expected. But, I was really really glad we did - since Logan slept through the night and gave us a full night's rest ourselves.

First row: Aaron, Grandpa Negrete, MaryAnn, Abuelito Paul with Stella, and Lola

Second row: Aunt Diana, Sarah, Abuelita Alicia, Renee, Curtis with Luke, Daniel,
Jon with Logan and Mama Bree (with big ol' preggo belly)

Sunday morning we took our time packing up to head home. We stopped by Curtis and Renee's again for waffles and eggs and chowed down before hitting the road. We had a really fun time seeing the family and I know Jon was especially happy to spend some time with his brothers (and sisters). Of course Logan also loved the non-stop attention he received. :)


Happy birthday once again Abuelito!!

Today's Lesson

Logan was quite the turd tonight.

He was REALLY into playing at school and didn't want to leave. I literally sat with him and his friends (one in particular, who LOVES to cuddle up close to me and have me read him books whenever I arrive) for about half an hour, waiting for him to be "ready" to finally go home.

As we were approaching 6pm (when the school closes), one of his buddies that is a bit older and had moved up to the "big kid" preschool class a couple of months ago, stopped by Logan's classroom SPECIFICALLY to say good bye to Logan. His poor Daddy was probably itching to get home too, but was good natured enough to stop by and say good bye to Logan. These kiddos have been known to get down with their bad selves in the past, and since Logan has been visiting the "big kid" preschool class this week, I'm guessing the little boy has remembered what a cool, fun and hip friend Mr. Logan was - and is.

Unfortunately, Logan wasn't too cool, fun or hip tonight - completely ignoring the poor little guy. Seriously, all the kid wanted to do was say GOOD BYE to Logan and Logan completely dissed him, more interested in playing with his trucks and books and looking the other way anytime his friend (and his Daddy) tried to tell Logan bye-bye.

I was so embarrassed!

*sigh*

So in the car ride home, our conversation went something like this...

Logan, how come you weren't very nice to your buddy tonight?

One. Two. Three. Four. Nine Cars!

Logan, I'm serious. Your friend wanted to say good bye to you. Why didn't you say good bye?

Juice Mommy! More juice please!

You better watch how you treat your friends. Do you want to be treated like that?

Train! Train Mommy! Over there!

If you continue to treat them like that, you aren't going to have too many friends left.

Stop it Mommy. Please. Bye bye!

So much for my little pep talk, eh?

"Big Kitty Cat"

Logan is telling me that "Big Kitty Cat" (this stuffed animal's name) is sleeping. He says "Shhhh, be quiet!"

This little beanie baby is about 12 yrs old and Logan recently took a liking to carrying him around every morning and night. Who knew a stuffed animal from college that I carried with me across the country and back would one day come in so handy for my 2 yr old son! ;-)

25 months old

Another month has come and gone! I’ve debated back and forth about whether to keep these monthly updates going, especially now that Logan has passed the two year mark. But, it’s a nice way for me to round up everything that’s been happening over the last month, that I haven’t kept up with on regular/individual posts. So for now, I’m going to keep at it. I may change my tune once the 2^nd one arrives. We’ll see. ;-)

So, Logan! He continues to be ultra charming and cool. Some of the unblogged-about events that have peppered this last month, are:

• He started the transition to his preschool class yesterday! He'll transition over part time throughout this week and then start full time next week. This is big! Not only will they start potty training him (more seriously) and keep him much more active with a lot of independent play and arts/crafts in this class, but our fees went down as well. SCORE. :)
  

• We were driving in the car when a song on the radio came on, and out of nowhere, he starts yelling out “Cars! Cars! Cars!” Since we had been on the road for sometime already, at first we had NO IDEA why he was suddenly pointing out the cars all around us. But, after a couple of minutes I recognized the tune (from the movie "Cars") and told Jon, I’m pretty sure he’s talking about the song on the radio! It was really interesting to us.

• Ever Mr. Independent, Logan really enjoys doing things by himself as much as possible. Which can really test your patience when his little hands and fingers and legs don’t move as fast as ours. But, more importantly, it can be frustrating when he can’t work something out himself because THEN. Well THEN he gets VERY impatient and upset. So, I’ll generally move closer and ask him if he needs help. His response? “Go away please!” or “Stop it please!” (while he’s holding up his hand to wave me off) At least he’s polite about it?

• Right around Christmas time Logan started getting out of his crib in the morning or after his nap and open his bedroom door himself. So, we now are usually greeted by a little half-asleep munchkin asking to join us in bed (in the morning) or walking into the room that we’re in. The first time he did this was after his nap, and he walked into the office where Jon was and exclaimed to Jon “Logan [is a] big boy!” thumping his chest. Indeed he seems to be. We’ve actually kind of enjoyed the morning greetings since it means neither Jon nor I now have to get out of our warm beds and walk into his room to pick him up. ;-)

• The one downside to learning how to open our doors is his habit of getting into anything and everything. Most specifically, we have caught him opening the front door of our house, to walk outside into the front yard (one of us has been out front which is why he does this) a couple of times. So, we now have to keep the front door locked at all times and Jon’s thinking about a better solution for long-term use (like a locking latch higher up on the door).

• Besides the constant reminders that “Logan [is a] big boy!”, he’s also learning that a baby is growing inside Mommy’s belly. And, what’s more, it’s his baby brother and Logan is going to be a big brother. He loves repeating that any chance he can get, often times running up to me and patting my belly at the same time. I have to say, it’s quite adorable. :)

The funniest development of all, however, is how SNEAKY Logan has started becoming. He’s always had that mischievous glint in his eyes, but the latest stunt he pulled (Sunday night, after our drive home as we were unpacking and settling back into the house) was the best so far.

Jon was out picking up Odin at the Hickson’s household and I was at home with Logan getting him ready for bed, unpacking, starting the laundry and dishes, feeding the animals and generally trying to tidy up and settle in after a long weekend away. For the most part, Logan was following me around from room to room and getting into trouble when he could – excited to be back home (and out of the car, I’m sure). At one point, however, he snuck off to another room without me. I was pretty sure I saw him out of the corner of my eye, walking into our room, but I wasn’t positive. Since I was unpacking in there anyway, I went back into our room but didn’t see him anywhere.

I called out his name – but it was silent. Like, dead silent. I thought, how strange, if he was hiding surely I’d hear him. So perhaps he went into the living room to play with his toys again. So I continued to unpack but still felt like Logan was in our room – especially since I didn’t hear any toys banging or clanking from the other part of the house. I called out his name again; silence again. I noticed our bedroom closet doors were closed shut, and we usually have one or two kept open, so I thought he was probably hiding in there (since he likes to play with the doors, opening and closing them). Still, it was hard to tell since it was SO DAMN QUIET!

Then, from the vicinity of the closet, I heard the faint crinkling of a candy wrapper. I walked over to the other side of the room and opened the closet doors. And there, hunched over and sitting on the floor of our closet, was little Mr. Logan looking completely guilty. In his hands, was a little peppermint candy (I had a couple I was carrying in my pockets and had emptied them onto my nightstand), that he was trying desperately to unwrap.

AHA! I said.

He screamed.

It was a delighted “you caught me” scream but also a NOOOOooooo LEAVE ME ALONE! scream. It was pretty funny.

He stood up and tried to close the closet doors again – not wanting me to take his precious little treasure away from him. When I asked him if he wanted help, he then stood up and handed me the candy saying “Help please, Open please”. I unwrapped the candy and bit into it, to break it into smaller pieces – but as he saw me putting it in my mouth he started to break out into tears, suddenly feeling betrayed that I took his toy away from him, and running back to my nightstand to grab the OTHER candy that was still left sitting there. I finally convinced him that I was just breaking the candy into smaller pieces and gave him one or two. He put them in his mouth, sucking hard and saying “Yummy!”, forgetting about the other candy (that I quickly grabbed and hid back in my pocket).

I am still chuckling over how WELL he kept quiet and sneakily hid from me for so long – but then broke his cover once he started trying to unwrap a piece of candy. It was one of those wake up calls for me that he’s just going to become a more stealthy guy as he gets older. Eeeps!

Rocket Fizz Soda Shop

This was Logan's response when I said "SMILE!"

We made a quick stop at an old fashioned soda shop around the corner from Curtis and Renee's house before hopping back on I-5 to head home.

Logan immediately eyed a bucket of mini tootsie pops when we walked into the store and insisted on having one - which was fine by us that all he wanted was a mini pop in a store filled to the brim with sweets! (his father, on the other hand, bought several sweets for the drive home)

This is what Logan thinks of LA

Not impressed. ;-)

And we're off!

An hour later than we had planned but we're finally off! Logan has already forgotten about being cranky, once I handed him Daddy's iPhone, set up with a few movies for the road. ;-)

The Clueless Parent

You would think that some slight diarrhea and a mild temp (99.9) over the last couple of days would be a sign (instead we thought he was starting to get sick and have been watching him carefully since we're about to take off on a long road trip).

You would think that gnawing on his forefingers would be a sign (funny side story, he keeps holding up his index fingers saying "Owwwwie!" but nothing looks wrong - I guess chewing on them all day long can lead to sore fingers).

You would think that the loss in appetite would have been a sign (but c'mon now, he's already a picky eater, so we just look past a lot of the non-eating stuff).

You'd think that his increased punchiness this past week would have been a sign.

You'd think the instant overnight change from happy-to-play-by-himself-with-his-trains-and-cars to I MUST DESTROY EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE OR IN THE DRAWERS OR IN THE CABINETS THAT I CAN REACH would have been a sign.

But no. None of that clued us in.

It was finally this morning, as Logan was helping me fold and put away laundry, that I noticed it. I asked my son to hand me another hanger to hang up a blouse in the closet, and instead saw him gnawing on one end like it was a tasty treat.

Huh. That's strange.

Logan's 2-year molars have cut through. I can see the lower right and left ones very clearly with the four little white tips waving "Hi". The top ones are harder to see since he won't let me look into his mouth for too long - so I'm not sure how many we have coming in right now.

Just in time for our road trip (we leave in about an hour).

Wheeeeeee.

Boy have I been a crappy blogger!

It's been almost a week since my last post. Totally not like me but when I think about what happened between then and now I remember I was busy and exhausted every single night.

I hosted a large holiday dinner party for a number of our close friends on Saturday night. I spent the day cleaning house, doing chores and cooking. We played games that night and I was beat by the time I went to bed, about midnight.

The next day I was pretty sore from the previous day's activities. Besides the after-math clean up, we took down our Christmas tree and decorations. (sigh) We also went shopping and bought new towels (all towels were ruined by a kitchen sink "explosion" that happened at the last minute, in the middle of my cooking on Saturday night), as well as a new garbage disposal. Our last day of "vacation" was spent handling house chores.

This week Logan returned back to school and Jon and I returned back to work. It's been challenging adjusting everyone back to our daily routine but we eventually figured it out. Logan hasn't minded returning to school (Thank God!) but what has been an interesting (and absolutely wonderful!) change, is his excitement and thrill upon seeing me pick him up at the end of the day. Before, it'd be hit or miss if he was happy to see me or not. This week has been so great. The minute he sees me, he makes a run for me, grabbing and hugging my legs, and yelling "MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY!" I tell you Internets, it's the best feeling in the whole wide world and my heart just swells thinking about it. It makes me love being a parent more than anything.

Earlier this week I had a horrible nightmare. I'll spare you the gory details but essentially Logan was killed. In front of my very eyes. And I couldn't stop it in time. I screamed out but my voice was silent and gone. It was horrifying and although I knew immediately it was a dream, it still stopped my heart. The rest of the day, my memory taunted me with flashing images of that disturbing dream. I have always had pretty vivid dreams, and they were definitely more so when I was pregnant with Logan, but this one hit my core harder than any other has before. One of the not so great things about being a parent? (and being pregnant)

My body feels every pregnancy ache and stretch much more readily this time around and although I usually think I'll be just fine during delivery, I've lately been worried that I won't be as fit as last time and might have a harder time at it. Thus, I've started wearing my maternity support brace much more often (even though I hate it) and have scheduled appointments to return back to PT which I haven't been as religious about as I should have. Hopefully the change in attitude will help down the road.

The good news is, I just realized today, I have about 3 months left at the office before I slow down and work from home until the baby arrives. Having that sort of short deadline in front of me has given me a small new burst of energy! Yeehaw!

Tomorrow we leave for a quick weekend road trip down to LA to visit Jon's family and my brother. We haven't done a long road trip like this in some time, so it'll be interesting to see how Logan (and we) manage, given how much more active and mobile he has become. I'm also not sure how I'll fare with my growing belly and aching back. And because we're always up for a challenge, we are taking Lola with us as well.

Wish us luck - we will need it.

Spaghetti Squash

I thought this montage of photos showing you how big your baby is throughout the pregnancy, was pretty interesting.

So how far along am I? The baby is now about the size of a spaghetti squash.

Twenty Ten, Here we come!

Happy New Year to all!! We rang in the new year last night with a number of our best and closest friends. Jenn prepared a wonderful yummy feast and the kids kept busy giving each other "sleigh rides" on Jamie's sleeping bag in the hallway (unfortunately my iPhone doesn't take great action shots, but you get the idea).




We successfully put all 6 kids down without issue, under one roof! What a great way to start off the new year is what I say. :) After the kids were asleep, the adults played a few games, talked and tried to stay awake to see the ball drop. ;-)


Today is also my dad's birthday - Happy Birthday Zabuton!! :)


We hope everyone has a wonderful Twenty Ten - I know we will! Of course, our biggest event to look forward to is the arrival of Logan's baby brother. We are so very excited and can't wait to meet him!! Hope everyone has a healthy and prosperous new year. :)