Logan Lately

I've been really bad about doing monthly posts on Logan, so here's Logan from the last couple of months. On December 13th he was five months old. At his four month appointment, he weighed in at 14 lbs. 4 oz. and 25 1/4 inches long. In the last month he has started laughing a lot more. He's so ticklish and really cackles when you tickle his thighs. He really belly laughs sometimes too, it's hilarious. He is such a happy, smiley baby. All you have to do is make eye contact with him and he starts smiling like crazy. There has been several times now that someone has told me he's the happiest baby they've ever seen! For the most part he's a very easygoing baby. We are often on the go and you sometimes forget he's there because he's quiet and just goes with the flow. Even when he wakes up from a nap, I won't even know he's woken up until I see him moving in the monitor. When I go up to get him he's just smiling and playing with his feet and never made a peep! Except for an occasional nighttime wake up, he sleeps through the night and lately for 12 hour stretches. On the days I have to work, I will often go in and get him up for a feeding before I go to work and he'll go back to sleep. He has recently settled into a pretty good nap schedule. For about two months he was doing the 30 minute catnap thing several times throughout the day. However, he finally in the last few weeks started taking a long morning nap, a long afternoon nap and usually a short evening nap. I looked in Izzy's baby book and she did the same exact thing. She did the 30 minute catnaps for a couple months and just like Logan, she started on a good nap schedule right at five months. He's still a very good nurser and eats about every 3 hrs. I'm pumping on the days I work and he's doing good taking bottles for Daddy, 8 oz of breastmilk at a time. We've done rice cereal a few times and he's not very fond of it. He makes faces and actually gags on it! I'm thinking when we introduce baby food he'll really love it. He has started grabbing at toys and holding on to things. He's very alert and follows us with his eyes as we move about the house. He loves to watch his big sister play and act silly. His new favorite trick is blowing raspberries with his mouth, silly boy :) He's such a precious baby and I feel such a strong mother/son bond with him. Thank you God for blessing us with Logan Jeremy :)

Izzy's Third Birthday

Izzy's Preschool Class



Singing "Happy Birthday" to Izzy at preschool







Daddy and his little girl



Being silly with her friends



I can't believe my baby girl is 3 years old!! To me, 3 seems so much older than 2! Anyway, we all really enjoyed her birthday this year. Her actual birthday was on a Tuesday and Izzy goes to preschool Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Me, Jeremy, Logan and Jeremy's mom came to Izzy's class and brought cupcakes and goody bags for the kids. It was so fun to watch Izzy at school. She was very well behaved and did everything the teacher asked of her. Isn't it amazing how kids can be so well behaved for other people?! After watching them do circle time, all the kids sang happy birthday to Izzy and then enjoyed their cupcakes, it was a lot of fun. After school that day, we went out to a pizza restaurant and met Karli and her daddy for lunch. Later that day after naptime Izzy opened her presents from us and other family members. Izzy loves to draw and color so we got her an easel and she loves it.

That Sunday afternoon we had a little party for Izzy at our house. We invited some of our friends from church and life group and also had some family. It was a nice day so the kids ran around out back and had fun playing in the playroom. We played some games and had tons of food, it was a really nice time and we appreciated all who came to celebrate Izzy's birthday.

It is so amazing to see Izzy become more and more of her own person everyday. It also amazes me how smart she is and how we have can have full conversations now! She's been very inquiring lately. If I say a word she doesn't know she says "(insert word here)"....what does that mean? while shrugging her shoulders and holding her hands up...it's too cute. She has always been quite the drama queen, but as she gets older she's really learning how to work it!! For example, yesterday she was pushing her play food cart around the house, and suddenly decided it was too heavy to push with all the stuff in it. I told her she was doing just fine pushing it before. She then proceeds to push it about two more feet, fall to the ground on her knees, and say "see, it's too heavy, I can't push it!" Quite the character for sure! Singing has definitely been her number one hobby lately. She comes with me to my women's Bible study every Wednesday and goes into a class. They learned "God Bless America" and she has been singing it non stop at the top of her lungs around the house for about two weeks now! She knows every word to it and actually sings it quite well :) I love my sweet Isabelle and am so thankful for her and the joy she brings to our hearts.

Halloween!

Izzy, Robert and Karli at Trunk-or-Treat



The cutest little hot dog you've ever seen :)



The blind ref and his little cheerleader

We had a really fun halloween this year. Our church had a huge trunk or treat event. It was a major way to reach out to the community with the message of Christ. This year around 45oo people walked through trunk or treat. There were about 30 trunks and a special pumpkin tent for the kids to walk through that told of how God cleanses us from our sin and puts His light inside of us. Jeremy and I both volunteered in the morning, I did greeting and Jeremy was helping with the food. Later we came back with the kids so they could enjoy the festivities. My sister Jill and her kids also came with us. The only drawback was the freezing temperatures and cold winds that day!! On Halloween night we hit the streets with the kids. Izzy was so fun at halloween this year. She actually got the concept of running house to house getting treats and she loved it. I was a little under the weather so I mostly strolled down the street with Logan while Izzy and Jeremy trick or treated, but we all had a lot of fun. Even though we moved to a different house in the same neighborhood, this side of the neighborhood is so much more fun!! In past Halloweens there were never a lot of kids out running around and we only got a few trick or treaters. This year, being on the other side of the neighborhood, the streets were filled with people and we got so many trick or treaters at our house we ran out of candy!

Busy Busy Busy!!!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged! It's been a very busy couple of months. On September 22 we moved into our new house and we couldn't be happier with it. We have a lot of decorating we still want to do, but are pretty well settled in. I've also gone back to work since I've blogged last. We've adjusted pretty well to our new routine, but life has gotten very busy since then. Thrown in with all of this has been Halloween, Izzy's birthday, church activities, and family in town. I'm determined now to get my recent pictures organized and posted. So, there's lots to come, but above is a couple pictures to hold you over :)

2 months old

Watching the kickoff after church for the first Sunday football of the year

I really think she loves him now!

Sweet Logan

Yesterday, our sweet baby boy, Logan, turned 2 months old. I can't believe it's been two months since he joined our family. At his two month appointment he weighed in at 12 lbs. and he was 23 inches long. He's in the 50th percentile for weight and height. Izzy has always been in the 5th percentile for weight, so it's so different to have a meatier baby! The doctor said he is doing great and growing well. For about the last three weeks, Logan has been sleeping 7 to 9 hour stretches at night! It has been wonderful! He catnaps often during the day, but occasionally will take a good long nap. He continues to be a good eater and nurses about every 2 to 2 1/2 hrs during the day. He smiles all the time these days and has been cooing a lot lately. He is such a sweet baby, and I can already see some of his personality. He seems very sensitive, but easygoing. He doesn't cry very much and is pretty content. The days that he really isn't napping well at all he'll stay pretty fussy, but otherwise is a happy baby. Logan has adapted well to being on the go a lot since having an older sibling busy with preschool and playdates. It's so funny how different it is with a second child! With Isabelle I didn't take her out much and let her nap at home often. However, having an energetic 2 year old being cooped up in the house all the time doesn't go over too well! We just put Logan in his carseat and we're off! He will nap off and on while we're out and I'm getting more comfortable with nursing in public, but will often nurse in the car before we go in somewhere. I feel like we are now all pretty well adapted to our new family of four. Isabelle still is clingy and wants to be the baby, but she's getting better. She is also much nicer to Logan now, she really loves him. We are moving into our new house in a week, then I start back to work Oct 6th. Please keep us in your prayers as we make even more adjustments! I'm going to miss being home everyday with my babies. However, I am thankful to be able to return to a job I love full time, but still only working 3 days and having 4 full days off. It's been an awesome two months since you've arrived, I love you so much Logan Jeremy!

30th Birthday, 4th Wedding Anniversary, 1st Day of Preschool

Izzy on her first day of preschool, she wasn't feeling good so this is the best I could get!

Off to our dinner date!

As you can see, September 1st was a big day for us! With so much going on lately, my birthday really sneaked up on me this year! Before I knew it, the day had arrived and I had entered my 30's. Turning 30 had a little bit of a sting to it, but overall I'm excited to see what the next decade will bring. In addition, we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. It's been quite a four years, but it's been awesome and I'm so thankful for my husband and my family. We started out the day taking Isabelle to her first day of preschool. She was a little under the weather, she had a cold for the last few days so she definitely wasn't herself. She was a little clingy when it was time to drop her off, but overall she did well considering she wasn't feeling well. We really love the school we enrolled her in. It's at a Presbyterian church not far from our house. My niece and nephew both attended there and I was always impressed with the staff, facilities and activities. They learn a lot of fundamental skills as well as learning about God. She didn't tell us much about it when we picked her up, but she seems to like it and her teachers are very nice. I can't believe my baby girl is in preschool :( I'm so proud of her though and I think this will be very good for her.

After picking her up, we came home for lunch. Jeremy, Izzy and Logan gave me a gift certificate to a spa for my birthday! I'm very excited to use it :) Next, I put Izzy down for a nap and headed to the salon to get my hair done. The hairdresser curled it all over after doing my cut and color for my anniversary dinner date with my hubby. It was very relaxing to have a little bit of "me"time and I really enjoyed it. A couple days prior my mom took me shopping for my birthday so I enjoyed that as well. I'm so thankful to my hubby for watching the kids both of those days so I could do special things for my birthday.

When I got home from the salon, Jeremy and I got ready and headed to New York Prime for an amazing anniversary dinner. Jeremy arranged for the table to be decorated with balloons, confetti and a dozen roses welcomed me. We had an awesome meal and really enjoyed ourselves while my parents watched the kids. The following week we went out to dinner with my parents to have a birthday dinner...gotta keep it separate! All in all, it was a great day at our house!

Crazy Girl!!

Isabelle has been so silly and so funny lately. Her personality is totally coming out more and more everyday. We are amazed at some of the things that come out of her mouth lately. In the picture above you can see the mess she had made on our living room floor. I swear the girl is a human cyclone! She can destroy a room in a matter of minutes. However, we are working very hard on cleaning up one mess before starting a new one! As you can also see in the above picture, she's sporting her straw hat. Lately, every morning when we come into her room to get her she has taken out her basket that has her hats in it and she's wearing one. She then proceeds to make Jeremy and I wear one of her hats as well (too bad I don't have pictures of that!)

If you look closely at this picture, you can see that Isabelle has her travel neck pillow around her waist and says it's her boppy like mommy! She puts her baby on it like Logan lays on my boppy when I nurse him. Surprisingly, she hasn't tried to actually nurse her baby dolls yet! She likes to say that her boppy is "Izzy sized!"

It is not uncommon to see Izzy sitting in this swing, or Logan's bouncy seat, or lying on his playmat. I understand there are probably some jealousy issues going on and she wants to be the baby. However, she is getting better with this, and thankfully she's light enough to not break his things yet!

Jeremy's mom was here for most of the summer and actually just went back home to Erie today. Mary drinks decaf tea everyday and Isabelle has joined her in this ritual. She has her pour tea in her little tea cup and Isabelle insists they put their cups on napkins.

Although she is in the prime of her terrible twos and having a little brother come along hasn't helped, I can also say that she's never been sweeter. She's been so loving and she will often just randomly hug me tight around my neck and say "I love you sooooooooooooooooo much!" She drives me nuts sometimes, but I couldn't love her more.

1 month old

Sweet sleeping baby

Hanging with Daddy

I don't think it will take too long to pass up Izzy in size!

All ready for his first time at church

Can't believe a month has passed already since our sweet Logan came into our lives. It's only been a short time, but I already can not imagine life without him. He is so precious and is really a good baby. He continues to grow and grow, he currently weighs just over 10 lbs. He is a good eater and is overall a pretty content baby. Like most, he cries when he is hungry, sleepy, dirty diaper, etc., but doesn't do much crying for no reason. For the first few weeks he was consistently up every three hours during the night, which was to be expected. For the last few nights, however, he has been sleeping in 5 and 6 hours chunks! (don't worry I was knocking on wood as I wrote that!) He has also started to make the occasional cooing sound and we've seen a few intentional grins. As far as his relationship with Izzy goes things are getting better. She is still competing for attention and acting out, but not nearly as bad as it was. She also still randomly attacks Logan, but again not as often as before! We've learned to never turn our back on the two of them even for a second! All in all, we're settling in as a family of four and really loving it. We are thankful for our precious son and the joy he has brought to us.

2 weeks old

Logan 2 weeks old

Isabelle 2 weeks old

Logan 2 weeks old

Isabelle 2 weeks old

What do you think? Similar or different?

On July 27th, Logan was two weeks old. The first two weeks were kind've a blur. Between the lack of sleep, getting used to having a newborn again, breastfeeding again, and dealing with all the issues of having a 2 1/2 year old with a new baby brother...it was all pretty exhausting!! However, as we are now going on three weeks, things are starting to settle down. Logan is a very good eater and still sleeps quite a bit. After having fits of screaming after every feeding, we realized he was suffering from acid reflux. At his 2 week appointment, the doctor started him on Zantac and he's doing much better now. Taking care of Logan is a breeze compared to taking care of Izzy these days!! She has had a real hard time adjusting to having her baby brother at home. She has been misbehaving and acting out a lot and doing things she never used to do. She is being very defiant and also isn't sleeping well. Not to mention, she pinches and pulls Logan's hair any opportunity she gets!! It's been very difficult to deal with her behavior since we know it's mostly due to all of the changes. On the other hand, hurting Logan and much of her behavior has been completely unacceptable and we've been having to punish her A LOT! We've had several talks with her about all of these issues and constantly reassuring her of how much we love her, but I hope she is starting to understand that Logan needs our love and attention too. As time goes on, I believe she will start settling into her new role as big sister and this new normal in our home. We are so thankful for our sweet Isabelle and our new blessing Logan.

Welcome to the world Logan Jeremy!!

Excited to meet our son!

8lbs. 1oz. 20 inches

Excuse my hair! It was all fixed, then I started pushing and was sweating like crazy!

Proud Daddy

Our little family!

On July 13, 2011 our lives changed drastically once again, we welcomed our son into our family. It was definitely a wild, crazy, unexpected day. I had a doctor's appointment on July 1st and was found to be 2.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced. When I was pregnant with Izzy, I had an appointment on a Monday, was 2 cm dilated and had her that Saturday. I was thinking we'd follow the same path with this pregnancy, but he stayed in a little longer than Izzy did. Since that July 1st appointment, I had some lower back pain off and on and definitely more and more Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing regular. Everyday I kept thinking, today will be the day!! Work was getting harder and harder on me, so I would pray every night before work that I would go into labor so I wouldn't have to go to work that next day! On Tuesday, July 12th, I had a pretty busy day. My mom and I took my nephew Robert and Izzy to an indoor bouncy place (karli was sick), and you better believe I joined them on those bouncys to try to get things going!! Later that day, I went outlet shopping with my mom and that night we had a baby shower at our lifegroup meeting. It was a long day, but I didn't feel any different than I had been feeling.

I woke up Wednesday morning around 6:45 am with some pretty strong cramping pain in my abdomen. I didn't think too much of it, but quickly realized it was coming at pretty regular intervals. I woke Jeremy up and we started timing them and they were coming about every 8 to 9 minutes. We already had an appointment with our OB that morning at 9:30, so we just decided to go ahead with the appointment and see what was happening. However, in those next few hours leading up to the appointment, my contractions were getting progressively stronger and closer together. It wasn't long until I realized that today was going to be the day! We got ready and put the bags in the car, we were pretty sure we wouldn't be coming home. By the time I got to the office I was in pretty bad pain and contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes. I went right up to the window and said, "is he backed up at all, because I'm pretty sure I'm in labor." Needless to say, they brought me right back! Within minutes the doctor checked my cervix and I was 5 cm dilated, 100% effaced and had a bulging bag of water! He told us to go straight to the hospital and I better not sneeze on the way because we'll have wet seats!

I was settled into my room by 10:00 am and let them know I was definitely ready for my epidural. My contractions were 2 minutes apart and getting stronger and stronger. My mom, sister and Jeremy were in the room with me. At first I was talking and laughing with them in between contractions, but eventually I was curled up and in tears with pain. They kept telling me they had put a call into the anesthesiologist and he was on his way, but he just wasn't showing up!! Around 12:15 my doctor comes in and is pretty upset I hadn't gotten my epidural yet. He checked me and I was at 7 cm. at this point and in a tremendous amount of pain. He went and got the doctor himself and by 12:30 I had a spinal done. It was supposed to work faster than an epidural, but only lasts about 3 hours, but my doctor was certain I would deliver before then.

I finally was getting some relief, and I was 8 cm. about 30 minutes later. I was resting comfortably, until I started feeling a lot of pressure. I let the nurses know and when they checked I was completely dilated! By 2:00 I was pushing and my doctor was in place. We knew pretty quickly this was going to be a bigger baby than my 6lb 4 oz. little Isabelle!! However, I gave it my all and he was born at 2:20. My spinal was wearing off right at the time that I was delivering so I felt a lot of pain. However, it probably helped me to know when to push. The doctor had to use a little bit of vacuum to help with his shoulders, but he came out healthy and crying! On one hand I was surprised that he was 8lbs. 1 oz., but on the other hand I wasn't surprised since I was soooo huge!

In any case, we were in love at first sight. We are so thrilled to have our precious baby boy in our family. We are thankful to the Lord for a safe and healthy delivery and baby...God is so good!!!

Life Group Shower

For the past two years, Jeremy and I have been involved with a lifegroup through church. We meet on Tuesday nights at the home of Charlie and Holly. We have a pretty large group and lots of kids. We also have a babysitter who watches the kids upstairs as we meet. This past Tuesday night, July 12, our group surprised us with a baby shower. Everyone brought gifts and there were baby boy cupcakes and cookies. Holly also had packets of Pop Rocks out with little tags that said "Amber is about to.." and then the next word was the big POP on the packet, lol. We had a great time, and who would've thought the very next day I would actually pop!!

36 weeks!

As I write this I'm almost 38 weeks, but I'm trying to catch up from not having our computer for a while! Anyway, my last month of pregnancy has been pretty typical. I've been pretty tired, back aching, heartburn, swelling, etc. However, I am thankful that I've only been dealing with normal pregnancy ailments and we have otherwise been doing great! Can't wait to meet our little man!

Weekend in Charlotte

Memorial Day weekend, I got to visit a couple of my very best friends. Casey lives in Charlotte, and Danielle and her family came down for the weekend to check out the city, and are thinking of moving there. So, Jeremy and I took the opportunity to see both of them and headed up with Izzy for the weekend. It was a quick trip, but we really enjoyed it. We stayed with Casey and her husband Chuck. Danielle and her family came over for a barbecue. Danielle and James have a precious baby girl, Madison that we got to meet for the first time. It was definitely overdue and we had a great time with great friends (and great food too!)