Halloween

To say Halloween was a hit with Nathan this year would be a huge understatement.  Matt and I started talking to Nathan about Halloween at the beginning of October so by the actual holiday Nathan was so keyed up he could hardly stand it.  Because I knew I would get induced with Logan before Halloween I got everything ready early which I don't think helped with Nathan's patience levels.  

My mom was off work for Halloween this year so we headed to her house to spend the day.  Nathan was supposed to wear his mummy shirt during the day but saw his costume in the diaper bag and that was the end of that.  That funny kid wore his costume everywhere we went that day including Which Which for lunch.  And boy oh boy did he eat a ton of candy that day.

After everyone got off of work we all met at my mom's for our annual Chili in pumpkin bread bowls party.  Even my Grandpa Kirby made it out this year.  Then the men took Chloe, Braxton, and Nathan trick or treating and the rest of us watched Halloween shows on tv.  

After Nathan got back we headed over to Matt's parents' house so they could see him in his costume and of course he got more candy!  He loved the costumes and the decorations but more than anything he loved the pumpkins!  Needless to say he was pretty much crushed when everyone threw their pumpkins away after Halloween.   I just love having a toddler, every holiday is so much more exciting when you get to share it with them!

Nathan wearing his Buzz Lightyear costume all over town

 Nathan did NOT like posing for pictures.  He was absolutely dieing to get out and trick-or-treat!

 Loved loved loved having Logan here for Halloween instead of being nine months pregnant like I was two years previously.

 

 Nathan could not get enough candy!

And Logan pretty much preferred to sleep away Halloween.  Just you wait until next year kiddo!

Four Month Dr. Appointment

Logan had his four month old check up with the Dr. last week.  We had all been sick with the flu just a few days before so I was worried how Logan would do but he did fantastic!  When the nurse weighed and measured Logan he would just giggle and give her huge smiles.  The smiles for the Dr. were not as big but he was still super happy.

My little babes weighed in at 14.4 pounds (37th percentile) and 27 inches (82nd percentile).  Which totally shocked me because Logan feels like hes enormous!  And surprisingly he was only in the 20th percentile for his head, Nathan was always in the 80th or greater until he was about a year old.  The Dr. said Logan is growing great and is perfect.

Because the boys had been at daycare that day and I didn't want to go back to get Nathan he came to the appointment too but I couldn't believe how well behaved he was.  And when the Dr. told him that he could have a sticker and a sucker he was just over the moon.  I'm so lucky to have a good helper.

Logan did really well with his shots too, only a slight fever and as long as we stayed on top of the Tylenol he was just sleepy the next few days.  He mostly just wanted snuggles and as long as he was being held he was one happy bug.

Logan at Three Months

Logan is just a little over three months old now and growing like a weed.  He is about 13 1/2 pounds and just recently got moved into nine month old clothing.  Which means he wore his six month clothes for a grand total of five weeks and since Nathan wore his three month clothes until the end of January I had absolutely no warm clothes and had to go buy new ones.  Epic fail right there.

Logan's personality has pretty much exploded in the past month.  He is definitely awake more than asleep and is all smiles and laughs.  He loves to "talk" and has recently learned how to make different sounds when talking.  Sometimes he will be talking to his toys and we will think he is fussing because he is talking so loudly.

Nathan and Logan are loving each other more every single day.  They are really starting to interact with each other and Logan will always scan the room for Nathan and then get a huge smile on his face as soon as he sees him.  Nathan is constantly bringing Logan toys and holding his hand and Logan loves to be doted on by his brother.

Logan is really starting to recognize people too.  He knows Matt, Nathan and I really well but recognizes grandparents, Brittany, and especially Shawn.  Logan has also learned to cry for specific people to hold him and makes sure he gets plenty of Brittany and Shawn time.

The interesting thing about Logan is that quite often he is perfectly content to not be held.  He loves to be under his gym and play with his toys.  He will play by himself for about a half an hour at a time right now and rolls himself from side to side.

And my biggest bragging right about Logan is that he sleeps through the night!  On Christmas Eve he slept his first seven hour stretch and has only been getting better.  As long as he eats enough during the day (5-6 ounces every 3 hours) he will sleep from 10:00 until 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning.  I am absolutely in heaven and can't believe how much easier everything is when you aren't exhausted.  All in all Logan has been an extremely mellow and easy baby and is getting more fun and more adorable every day.

First Day of Daycare

My mom took vacation time after I went back to work and watched the boys so even though I have been back to work for almost two weeks the boys still hadn't gone to daycare.  There were three days I had been dreading, first day back to work, first day leaving the kids with my mother-in-law, and then today, the first day back to daycare.

My mom doesn't go in to work on Thursdays until noon so she took the boys for the morning and then dropped them off at Aunt Loretta's.  (I know how mean is that to make grandma take them to daycare).  She said that Carl (one of the owners) was waiting for her to pull up and helped her get the kids inside.  Several daycare workers were there to welcome Nathan back and to meet Logan.  My mom said one of the workers immediately took Logan out of his car seat and began to talk and play with him.  Then Carl walked my mom and Nathan to his new class (he got moved up to the 2-4 year old class  but has never been).

My mom said Nathan was getting hesitant but as soon as he got to the new classroom and saw the buckets of cars and all the Batman toys he ran off to be with the other kids and didn't look back.  No tears, no sad faces, nothing!   They even had Nathan's lunch ready and waiting for him and were going to get him going on lunch as soon as my mom left.

It makes me feel so much better knowing that my kids are at a daycare where the workers interact with them and take good care of them.  Nathan will get to do learning time every day in his new class and will love to play with the older kids and the older toys.  And they only keep the babies in the cribs when they are sleeping, other than that they get held, put in swings and jumpers, and get played with.

Oh man I'm just so relieved that the kids first day back at daycare went well.  I knew Logan would be fine but I was really worried about Nathan and am so glad he is such a brave independent kid.  If I can't be home with them then the next best thing is knowing that they are happy and having fun.

The boys just before heading off to daycare.  My mom is so cute to always take pictures for me.

Back to the Real World

I have officially been back to work for one whole week now.  One whole week of not being home with my  boys, one whole week of leaving the house at 7:00 and not returning until after 5:00, one whole week of not knowing what my boys are up to every minute of every day.  One whole week of not being there to kiss their cheeks, fix them lunch, read them books, and sing them songs before nap time.

Maternity leave was like a dream come true that I never wanted to end.  This was the first time that I ever considered anything but working full time.  I wanted to be there all day every day and I rarely thought about work.  I loved being able to focus on the boys and give them my undivided attention and time.  I have never enjoyed anything more in my entire life.  But I knew it had to come to an end and I started back to work on January 17th.

I'm actually going to count the whole going back to work thing as a total success because I only cried in front of two co-workers and one boss and only called my mom to check in uh...oh I don't know probably four times that day (oops).  But every day has gotten easier and the boys are adjusting to their new routine way better than I imagined they would.

Matt has been a huge help as well and has been getting up early in the morning to clean, wash bottles, and get the boys out the door so that I can go in to work early.  I have been getting in around 7:30 every morning which means I head out the door at 4:30 and pick up the boys.  This has given me so much more time at night to get chores done, play toys with Nathan, and get lots of snuggle time with Logan.  We are falling into a pretty good routine and are getting a grasp on life again.

It's actually kind of nice to be back at work too.  I think the anticipation of coming back to work was so much worse than actually coming back.  I didn't realize how much I missed my co-workers and my job and actually just having some "me" time.  But there is nothing better than walking in the door to pick up the boys and hearing Nathan squealing for me and seeing Logan's huge grin.  There is nothing better than being a mom.

The boys first day at Grandma Lisa's.

All About Logan

• First of all, no one calls him Logan.  When Nathan came to the hospital to meet Logan he instantly started calling him "Baby Tiny".  By the time Nathan could say Logan everyone was already calling him Tiny anyway and it has just stuck.
• Tiny was 7 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches long when he was born.  He was born with a lot of brown hair that is growing in thick in the back and on the sides but has completely fallen out on top.
• Tiny has dark blue eyes.  When he was born everyone kept insisting his eyes would turn brown but they have only gotten more blue.
• Tiny is extremely mellow.  Like extremely.  Like to the point where we sometimes forget to feed him on time because he rarely cries and smiles all the time.  When he was born he only cried for about a second and then stopped and the nurses were worried there was something wrong with him.  They took him from me and made him cry, then gave him back to me and he stopped crying again.
• Nathan and Tiny bonded almost instantly.  Every morning Nathan will come down and tell Tiny good morning and Tiny always has the biggest smile for his brother. 
• When we brought Tiny home from the hospital he slept for four hour stretches during the night.  He goes to sleep fairly easy and is now sleeping between 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 stretches.  He is basically an angel baby.
• If you try to give Tiny his binky when he doesn't want it he will pull a face like you just put the most disgusting thing ever right into his mouth.  Then usually about half hour later he will change his mind and decide that he does indeed like it. 
• Tiny loves his sock monkey and Tigger. When he does get fussy we can just hand him one of the two and he will hold on to them tight and instantly relax. 

Tiny has been an absolute joy to have in our family.  It was crazy how he instantly fit right in and I can't imagine not having him now that he is here.  I keep telling Matt that the Lord gave us such a sweet easy baby because he knew if we got another hard one that we wouldn't have anymore kids.  Logan has the sweetest temperament and I feel so lucky to get to be his mom and have him as part of our family. 

Logan's Birth Story

I had been scheduled to be induced for a couple of weeks but the time was still tenative and just depended on how busy the hospital was.  But knowing the date for so long had me in a full panick my last week of being pregnant.  I ended up leaving work early Thursday afternoon because I couldn't focus and was just so done.  The hospital called us that night to say that everything looked good for us to be at the hospital by 8:00 but to call in and verify the next morning.

I think I got about three hours of sleep that night and finally just got up at 5:30 that morning and called in to the hospital.  They said everything was good for us to come in and to be there by 7:30 instead.  So I woke Matt up early, we got all ready, said goodbye to Nathan and headed out just before 7:00 to pick up my mom when the hospital called and said not to come in and to call back at 9:00.  So we headed back home and waited until 9:00 and when I called back in they said not to call back in until 10:00.  We were so worked up and anxious at this point that I couldn't stand it so my mom and I headed out to Shopko with Nathan and Matt turned on his video games.  We got to Shopko at 9:45 but weren't worried because we thought no way will they have us come in yet after delaying us all morning.  Well sure enough just because we hade other plans they had us come in at 11:00.

We got to the hospital and got all checked in and they took us back to the delivery room.  We were so surprised when they took us to the same delivery room where we had Nathan.  Matt and I looked at each other and both knew and at that point we both calmed down and knew it was going to be okay.  We got an awesome nurse named Sadie who got us back and settled and got me started on pitocin within 15 minutes.  At that point they checked me and I was dilated to a 3.

My doctor came to break my water around 12:30 and I had only progressed at a 3.5.  She broke my water anyway because she is awesome and told the nurse to get me my epidural because I would need one at this point.  I am so grateful she did that because as soon as my water broke the contractions became crazy intense.  Sadly the anesthisiologist was horrible and totally impatient with me and kept getting mad at me for not "relaxing" while I was having contractions stacked on top of each other.  It was still worth it though because it kicked in immediately and I felt so much better.

Sadie came to check me at 3:00 and I had only dilated to a 4 and when she told me Matt and I just about died and thought oh great, its going to be a long delivery just like Nathan.  I was feeling so discouraged at this point and then my epidural started wearing off.  I called the nurse and they said I had to be monitored for an hour to make sure it had really worn off before they could give me more medication.  That hour was so long and my poor mom sat next to me the whole time talking my ear off trying to distract me.  My contractions were coming every 30 seconds and lasting two to three minutes a piece.  At an hour right on the dot Sadie called the anesthisiogist back and I got more medication which immediately started working again. I told her how much pressure I was having and she decided to check me again.  In that hour I dilated from a 4 to a 10 and was ready to push!

Sadie called my doctor who said she would be there in half an hour so we decided to wait.  Matt and I were so relieved and excited that we would be meeting our baby soon and that it was not going to be 10 hours later.  My doctor arrived around 4:30 and we started pushing.  I only pushed three times and little Logan Daniel was born at 4:49!