Finally!

This was originally written on Wednesday, May 13, 2009:

TODAY WOULD HAVE BEEN LOGAN'S BIRTHDAY HAD HE BEEN BORN ON HIS DUE DATE!

Finally back to getting caught up! If you look at my archives, you can see that each month I wrote a summary/update of Logan at 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, etc. The last one I did was at 11.5 months and now this post was written five days shy of 13 months. So, since I missed 12 or 12.5 months, I've decided I won't do them anymore - but I'm still going to write out an update on our past month. So, here is the first part of our update since Logan's birthday!

I've decided that whenever Joe & I move, we are moving somewhere that's sunny year-round. Until now there was something wrong inside my brain because I thought that I HAD to live where there were all 4 seasons - yes, even winter, because I didn't like the thought of Christmas without snow. But, first of all, it seems like we never have snow on Christmas Eve/Day anyway. Our snowiest months tend to be January & February. And now that I've had a baby and I realize that we can't get out of the house basically from November thru March unless I want to endanger our lives because so many days the roads are scary, winter just doesn't appeal to me at all anymore. Plus, after my depression in February I realized that EVERY winter I probably have some type of SAD (seasonal affective disorder), it was just this year I actually noticed it because of other factors. If I look back on my life, winter has always been my most stressful, least fun time of year despite my birthday and all of the holidays. Whereas, even though I've always thought I hated our summers (because of the intense heat), I'm genuinely pretty happy every summer. Of course, fall is my favorite time of year, everything about the months of September & October in the Midwest are perfect to me. And, spring (the months of April & May) are usually without complaints as well (except for this year because we've had more rainy/dreary days than sunny). So, I've decided that with family & friends still in the Midwest, we can just travel here to see all 4 seasons in the future!

We came very close to moving to Austin, TX a few years ago which I was really excited about because the only thing that didn't get an A+ for me was it only has one season. However, it's not like Houston (that's pretty much "burning up" year-round); the average temp is 69 with 300 days of sunshine per year. There are 111 average days above 90, but I figured with air conditioning we'd be fine. So, I helped Joe research the area (we even looked seriously at houses online) and talked to family down in Texas (I have an aunt, two uncles, and three cousins between San Antonio and Houston). Joe passed three long phone interviews and was told that he had the job he'd applied for, they just needed him to come down in person because that was "the rule." The trip was scheduled for four months down the road because the opening wasn't going to be for five or six months -- but by then the economy went downhill and many businesses started cutting back, this being one of them. They decided not to fly him there because they completely stopped hiring that year.

So then we set our sights on Charlotte, North Carolina. We'd been to North & South Carolina for a vacation in 2005 and felt completely at home there. (I've done a lot of traveling in my life and been to a lot of states, but that's the only place I've ever felt that way about, aside from Iowa where I lived my first 23 years.) It was gorgeous -- the average temp is 60 degrees (compared to Omaha's 50 degrees), the hottest month is July with an average temperature of 90 degrees -- although, there are only around 36 days of the year where the temp. is above 90, compared to Omaha's 113; Coldest month is typically January with an average temperature of 51 degrees, compared to Omaha's 30 degrees. On average, Charlotte receives about 43.52 inches of precipitation annually, including a little snow (average accumulation is 6 inches, compared to Omaha's 29 inches). Still, the winters are mild and only 74% humidity in the summer (compared to 87% in Omaha). Hurricanes and tornadoes are a rarity in Charlotte. The city is located outside principal tornado zones and the typical path of hurricanes along the east coast is such that storm centers are usually at sea by the time storms reach this latitude. The few storms that pass close to the North Carolina coast have little adverse effect on Charlotte. Just as Charlotte's location offers residents the benefits of both the mountains and the ocean, it also offers the best of all worlds in weather. The year is filled with days which invite you outside to enjoy the clear blue sky and bright sun -- and the most gorgeous colors in the autumn; the perfect backdrop to Charlotte's beautifully landscaped neighborhoods, commercial areas, parks and lakes. Joe applied to a job in NC but got a call from the same company in Portland. He went ahead with two phone interviews and then they asked if they could fly him out for the final one. But even though I've heard Portland is beautiful, neither of us felt any pull there, so Joe backed out. At that point he saw a listing here in Nebraska (where we'd already been living for 4 years), applied, and immediately got the job -- thus, why we stayed here. We still love Omaha and aren't going to be looking to move soon, but we have discussed that we'll probably be ready in six years. We were happy to learn that our builder stopped building our house a few months ago so that should help us sell this one because there will never be anymore like it. So, we're thinking 2015 (12 years of living in Nebraska, 8 in our current house, Logan will be 7 and our other child possibly 4 - I want to move before he/she has started school and before Logan gets too attached to his life here, which I think will be the case any year after second grade) -- and Charlotte at least has some fall & spring mixed in with the summer, but a very little winter, so it sounds perfect! Plus, my high school best friend Sarah from Seattle is trying to move out there right now.

Speaking of Sarah, that brings me to where I left off with my last update!

The day after Logan's birthday, we met my parents & grandparents at The Summer Kitchen Cafe for lunch on April 19th. They took Logan to Iowa for his longest time away from me (72 hrs) while I fought back tears as I got into my car with Joe & Sarah. But I talked to my mom on the phone and she said that Logan was doing great, so I was then able to thoroughly enjoy my time with Sarah. We basically spent the rest of the afternoon and evening having "girl talk" and ordered pizza and ate leftover birthday cake. Our neighbors Sean & Brenda stopped over so we chatted with them for a bit as well.

The next day (Monday, April 20) Sarah & I went to lunch at Panera and then Sarah wanted a pedicure, so we went to a salon where we could sit side by side and read gossip magazines, but I decided to get a massage instead. All I could think about the whole time was "this lady is not Deb" (my usual massage therapist who I've been going to since September). Now I know why I thought she was the best - she is! The lady I went to on the 20th was my fourth in my life, not including Deb, and I would say all four were equal - but Deb is off the charts. I will never go to anyone else again because, yeah, all massages are good - but why go to "good" when you can have paradise?! Sarah said after hearing that, she wanted one! So I called Deb and asked if she had an opening for Sarah the following day and she did. Sarah agreed that it was by far the best massage she's ever had.

On Monday night, we picked up Carlos O'Kelly's chips & con queso w/ beef and a couple of DVDs (Doubt and The Reader, both fine) and came back to the house to veg out. We stayed up late again and slept in the morning which was a luxury!

On Tuesday, April 21 we went out to lunch at The Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant and then I dropped her off at Deb's while I went to get my oil changed. After I picked her up, we went shopping and then to the movie theater to see State of Play. It was super good!!! We then went out for supper at Texas Roadhouse. There was a little boy celebrating his first birthday with the exact same hat that Logan had wore at his party! So I told them that and we exchanged congratulations.

I couldn't believe my time with Sarah was already almost over. The next day (Wednesday, April 22) after getting ready, we left for Iowa. Her parents met us at my mom's house, Logan was napping so we sat around & talked until he woke up. I jumped up at the first noise he made and couldn't wait to see him again and scoop him up and kiss him! He was groggy and fussy so they didn't get to see the best Logan. . .and, like I said in my Terrible Ones? post he was kind of like that the rest of the week, but thankfully has been his normal self since a few days after we returned home.

On Thursday, April 23 my mom wanted me to meet her chiropractor so she'd had this appt. scheduled since my 3-day LexaPro in February. But it is unncessary now because I can tell my hormones are completely back to normal and I haven't had any issues with my back since I was pregnant. I don't plan on going to one again, as I was told that I'm going to get cancer if I keep using my microwave. I've never smoked (if you don't count 3 puffs one night in 2004), I'm hardly out in the sun (I've only had two sunburns in my entire life), and I follow the rules the best I can when it comes to being healthy - so if I get cancer from my microwave then that is just sad. We live in the 21st Century, we can't hide from everything. The microwave is one of the least of our worries. (Plus, studies testing the cancer theory have been inconclusive.)

Cell phones actually give out ten times more radiation than a microwave. I am not arguing that there are probably many things in our environment that are increasing the number of cancer in our society. But, we're going to have to move to Amish Country or a cult to be completely free, completely rid of everything. I'll do the best I can (for example, I always use my landline for long phone coversations), but it's not practical for me to never use my microwave. I have read that we all have cancer within us, it's just some people are more likely to have it show up. No, we don't know if we're one of those people so we should all do the best we can, but it is also possible for a person to do everything wrong and never get cancer. Just as, obviously people got cancer before microwaves and cell phones!

I wasn't able to make it a "visit friends in Iowa" trip (that's going to have to happen when I'm alone and not taking care of Logan), except on Friday, April 24 I met my college best friend, Christy, at Macaroni's in Des Moines. It was so awesome to catch up with her and great to go to that restaurant again (since they closed the one in Omaha last March). I found out later that Sarah was there at the exact same time with her family. Isn't that crazy? We never saw each other!

On Saturday, April 25 Sarah met me over at my parents' house and she drove my car while I sat in the back with Logan on the ride back to Omaha. Jaxson's birthday was the day before, but Matt & Stacy were having his party that day. Sarah said she needed a nap, so I dropped her off at our house and picked up Joe.

Jaxson's party was fun, too! Except, I had my first experience with having to apologize for my son! Here I've blogged about how I don't want kids to be mean to Logan, um yeah okay I also don't want him to be a bully!

Matt's sister & her husband were there with their two girls. The younger one was 10 months old and crawling around on the floor. Logan has always been so gentle around babies, like he knows the difference between babies and pets compared to adults. So his standard thing for the past several months has been to give them kisses. This is a totally natural thing, we've never taught him to do it, but we've always thought it was cute, so we don't discourage it. He was doing it to Paige and everyone was like "awe!" . . .until she let out a huge wail!

OMG Logan bit her!!!!

I was mortified. Luckily she didn't bleed or anything. . .we all kept going back and forth "did he really bite her?" Because some of the people thought maybe she just didn't like the slobber. But then Joe said there was a red mark. Apparently Logan thinks he's a vampire. :p

I felt so bad and apologized to them, letting them know that had never happened before so we hadn't realized he would do that! Logan was completely stunned, just staring at Paige like, "what happened?" She got over it, but it's too bad. .that was always so cute but now when he starts to make his "kiss face," we're going to have to tell him that he can't do that anymore (unless it's mommy or daddy). I guess now's a good time anyway since in school even the "nice kisses" aren't going to be allowed.

Back in my post, Catch Up Time, I had mentioned that Logan had started biting just Joe & me around 10 months old. But that was obvious and it stopped by 11.5 months old. He hasn't bitten anyone since Paige, so hopefully the biting really is over now! Like I said, we won't be allowing him the opportunity anymore.

We stayed for a couple of hours and then Joe was able to hang out with Logan for the first time all week, while Sarah & I went to see Obsessed. That movie was really good, too.

We weren't ready for the night to end, so we went to The Cheesecake Factory. Hopefully it won't be another year before we hang out again.

The next morning (Sunday, April 26th) Joe took Sarah to the airport - it was an incredibly dreary day, it rained non-stop ALL DAY. It was also Joe & my 6th wedding anniversary so it was hard to feel like going out and celebrating. So we didn't. . .but Joe gave me an ONLINE scrapbooking kit (I'm excited to figure it out whenever I get the chance). I got him a golf ball picker-upper because it was the only thing at the store that wasn't something he already has, but now I know why - apparently it's useless. (I'm not a golfer.) I wanted to get him a big flat screen but I have no knowledge of what is good and what is bad. What is a good deal? Anyone?

For Logan's 12-month visit he had his first dose of DTaP and last dose of PC as far as vaccinations and has been happier than ever so I'm glad we've made it each time without any side effects. Joe and I have to laugh - Logan never cries at things that seem worthy but instead he'll act as if the world has come to an end if I go to the other side of a baby gate. We've decided to pick our battles, though, and so now we leave it open when we go into the kitchen. I just have to watch him like a hawk because our kitchen is not baby proofed yet. Joe just got around to babyproofing our bathroom a couple of weeks ago (putting those cabinet things on is way harder than I thought).

Today I bought The Discipline Book by Dr. Sears (which I mentioned in my Attachment Parenting post). Our pediatrician recommended Bringing Up Boys by Dr. Dobson which I have already from my mom last year so I'll read that now, too, and my blogger friend Cascia told me about Toddlers and Preschoolers: Love and Logic for Early Childhood Six Months to Five Years. I finished my What To Expect The First Year which was a sentimental feeling, so I had planned on getting the next one today but it doesn't really help with "parenting" so I'm skipping it for now. If anyone has any other suggestions for the toddler stage, let me know!