It's A New Season

It's Tuesday's meme:Wow, so exactly a week ago I was writing the post about my new life and then over the weekend I received an e-mail from my brother that couldn't have come at a better time. Over the weekend he was talking to a friend of his out in Los Angeles - an editor of a magazine that closed in the 1970s but they are bringing it back this June and she asked him if he knew any writers in the Midwest. Even though the magazine is just in California, they want writers all over the US to write columns with different perspectives and info. Being the wonderful brother he is, he told her about me! When I found out that I'd be flown out there a couple of times a year for celebrity events/parties I couldn't refuse!

I'm still learning all of the info about the magazine. . .and am beginning to wonder if I'm really what they are looking for or if I'll even be able to write what they want, but after last week's post about going out of my comfort zone, I told them I'd give it a try! Maybe having this on my resume or meeting people from other magazines out there could develop into something that is my perfect fit!!!!

As for my update for last week: as I said in my post Fun At The Zoo, Joe took Logan to the zoo last weekend and then I took him with Brooke & Kaelyn on Monday, March 15th. That evening we bought him an early birthday gift - a kiddie table! He had started falling off the regular chair (while getting his arms or legs caught in the bars) so I am so glad he loved this right away and has since been eating all meals there. It'll work great for when his friends come over, too.On Tuesday, March 16th, I went with Stacy to a place where she could get me some hair stuff since I loved the Moroccan Oil but it didn't work out for me. I guess this stuff is similar but not an oil so hopefully won't make me break out. Because, only this week have I been able to finally return to my Sephora make up and cleanser since it took awhile for my face to clear up just after trying the Moroccan Oil one day one week.

On Wednesday, March 17th (St Paddy's Day) Logan came down with the second fever of his life. I don't know whether it was a virus or teething, but whatever it was started in the middle of the night because he woke up crying so we brought him in our bed and he was SUPER restless. In the morning when I was changing his diaper and clothes I gasped at how burning hot he was! I took his temp and it was 102. So no Babysitter's house that day. Despite giving him Tylenol every 4 hrs it just rotated between 101.5 to 102 all day. He cried every hour and needed me to hold him just as often. It was the second hardest day of his life! (The first being last summer when he was 14 months old because that day he had decided to try and destroy the house as well. :p)

He was always better once the Tylenol kicked in, and thankfully we had nice weather so we were able to play outside without a coat in the backyard for the first time since last Sept or Oct! I had the windows open for a little bit (for the first time since then as well), however since he was screaming so much that day I kept them closed for fear our neighbors would call child protective services, LOL, j/k.

Thankfully, he took a good nap and slept without waking up all night, but he still had his high temp on Thursday morning, March 18th and spent the morning crying again. So I had to cancel my plans with Lisa & Andrea who had planned to come over for pizza and a playdate with their kids that day :( (By the way, Logan officially turned twenty three months old that day!)

Before noon Logan's temp went down to 99 and never went back up! He still wasn't his normal chipper self, but being outside again at least prevented him from crying all day. I went on my old half an hour to hour walk with him that I used to do last summer (I didn't remember it being as hard, ahem) and he rode his big wheel a little bit and sat on our neighbor's driveway while Jenn's kids colored with chalk. I was so happy to have Joe's help that night - he was told that his 60/70 hrs a week is over sooner than expected - yeay! Logan spent the evening hopping, skipping, and dancing - happy as could be. So he was back to normal on Friday, March 19th to go to Babysitter's house (and has been in a great mood ever since); that was our friend Chris' last day at work as she is moving next week to Washington D.C. She had a goodbye party and my parents came on Saturday, March 20th to watch Logan. Joe and I took advantage of our time together and went to see Valentine's Day at the movie theater, out to eat to Hector's (a Mexican restaurant - we'd never been to their main location before, it was good - however Roja is still my fav :-)) and then stayed in a hotel that night. I didn't expect to LOVE the movie, but I did!!!!!!!! Good message. We came close to not seeing it -- we had hoped to go to the Cinedine -- a new place in Omaha where you can eat a meal while you watch a movie, but I just wasn't interested in any of the films playing. I kept trying to talk myself into one of them, but we finally decided to wait until there is something interesting showing so that we can enjoy the Cindedine to the fullest :-)

We also bought Logan a second carseat. Until now whenever he rode with Joe he was in the same one we took him home from the hospital! Chicco makes carseats up to 30 lbs and since I am a stay at home mom we only needed that one until Logan wanted to face front, then my parents bought us the Graco one he uses now when he was 14 months old (even though he was 24 lbs at a year old). We moved the Chicco carseat to the other car and this has worked for us the past 9 months, but Logan is now 28 lbs so he's been overflowing in it the past month! So, we bought another Graco like the one in my car, it faces front and goes up to 100 lbs so this should be all that we need to buy forever!

Anyway, back to the goodbye party - I can't believe that I only met Chris a year-and-a-half ago. She wrote me the nicest letter and promised to keep in touch. I'm going to see her, her husband, and 13 month old son one more time (this weekend). . .I'm sure I'll cry!

My parents left on Sunday afternoon, March 21; last month I had written that Logan wasn't going to be having the solo weekends at my parents' place anymore but thankfully everything went well with them watching Logan at our place.

That evening we went to a pizza party hosted by Logan's babysitter so that all of the families could meet each other. I can't believe this Wednesday will have been a year since he started going (8 hrs a week until last month, now he goes 17 hrs).

Everyone came (13 total children, but all are part time so the most she has in one day is 7). There is Ryder (5 - he'll start kindergarten in the fall) and his brother Hudson (will be 3 in May or June); Henry (5 - he'll start kindergarten in the fall) and his two sisters that just come in the summer Josie & Jackie (9 & 7); Ryan (almost 4) and his sister who just comes in the summer Maddie (8); Jackson (almost 4) - he'll have a baby sister in 2 weeks!; Mia (the youngest, 8.5 months, and only girl during non-summer); and brothers Abrahm (5 - will start kindergarten this fall), Cy (3), and Zay (will be 2 in July).

Logan didn't really care about any of the kids except his whole face lit up when he saw Zay! He even said hi, waved, and reached out his hand towards him. Both boys smiled so cutely to each other! Too bad they're moving, I talked to his mom and she said they moved here two years ago from Idaho and are hoping to move back next chance her husband gets with his job. But all of the families who go to Babysitter's live in our neighborhood, so maybe Logan will grow up with some other kid he meets there (if we stay)! Because, so far none of his friends are going to be going to his same school.

At first Logan was acting very fearful and shy and clingy but I think it was seeing everyone in an unknown setting (we were at Johnny Sortino's restaurant where I'd only been once before and it was with Joe when I was pregnant. I liked it, though, so we'll have to go back)! Babysitter said that often when she sees the kids out in public they become statues, like they can't comprehend her in a different environment, LOL.

But, I think it's also what I wrote last month about how he's showing insecurity for the first time :( I was hoping since up until the past month or two he's never shown any shyness or stranger anxiety that he would keep that confidence, but I think it's like my dogs - I remember that when Bella was a puppy I was amazed at how nothing scared her but then overnight it changed when she was about a year old - then she was scared of everything she should have been and a few extra things, haha. So I think fear is just a maturity thing, it's healthy & good for survival, so my hope is that once he gets used to the new feeling, he will regain his confidence at the appropriate times. I don't care if he's the shyest, quietest kid in public - as long as he's happy and secure. (He still didn't mind us leaving him with my parents.)

Monday, March 22nd was "stay at home mom day" at Brooke & Kaelyn's house. Kaelyn turns 11 months old this Wednesday and is walking all over the place! She took her first steps at 9 months old but still crawled until a couple of weeks ago, now she's given that up completely! It's been fun to see all of her milestones/stages since we've been getting together regularly since she was 4 months old. (It's also weird to think this is when Logan started running all over the place. His first steps were on March 15th, 2009 but he was walking across the room within a week and after that never crawled again!)

Logan and I spent the rest of the day outside, it was a little chilly because of the wind, but the snow is finally 100% melted for the first time since last October or November so Logan had fun drawing on our driveway with chalk for the first time and he even ran around the block with me chasing after him!Nothing else to report, other than American Idol is on tonight! Lacey Brown was the first to leave the Top 12 last week. I liked her, but she wasn't on my list for possible winners so I wasn't surprised. I loved-loved-loved my fav's performance (Lee) last week. So it's official, that's who I'm hoping is the winner! (Until now I've teetered between thinking it could be him or Michael.) I wish that I had put Crystal and Siobhan on my list instead of Aaron and Andrew, but oh well. I still like Didi for the girls, but have a feeling she's going to go, however Crystal or Siobhan - if not both - are going to make it into the top 3. Just as long as Lee is there, too :-)

Two Weeks Til Spring!

Happy March! We've almost made it through the winter! The sun has been out the past couple of days - yesterday I almost went for my first walk since November but it's still a little too cold, however we're on the homestretch now!

Last night Lee Dewyze did not disappoint (he's who I said in my post yesterday, American Idol Season 9 , is my favorite this season of American Idol)!

I'm not liking "Big Mike" so much anymore, though - I mean, he did well last night but acted like a jerk pretty much every time the camera was on him. I was very impressed with Alex Lambert and really want him to stick around - so I have replaced Michael Lynche on my list with Alex!

As for "real life" updates. . .since my last posts (Randomness and Only Two Months Until Two), Joe had to work most of that weekend (Feb 20-21), as I said will continue to be the case for awhile. :( I guess we have been lucky, though, that since graduating college in December 2002, he really hasn't had to work overtime very often. Maybe a total of 5 weeks over the past 7 yrs. But two months straight of 70 hrs a week feels like it's making up for that! At least he's getting paid for it (he usually doesn't since he's salaried), but you know how I said that if we ever move it's going to be within the next five years? Well I wasn't thinking in terms of it being possible next year, but a lot of things have changed in his job since 2010 began, so depending on how things go this summer, it could end up happening as early as fall 2011.

As I posted in 2 Mos, 5 1/2 Mos, 9 1/2 Mos, and 22 Mos Joe was able to take a break that Sunday evening to get together with our friends (Matt, Stacy, and Jaxson) for a playdate & dinner. It was fun to see Stacy showing now since the last time I saw her was mid-November before she announced her pregnancy! They found out this past Monday, March 1st that baby #2 is a girl - how exciting!!!! She was so convinced she was having another boy, but that will be so fun for them to experience the opposite next time. I'm happy I get to help her prepare (I'm going over to her house next Tuesday to start!) and see what a little sister to a son is like. The next day was Monday, Feb. 22nd which was "stay at home mom" day with Brooke & Kaelyn - Logan and I went over there and then they came over to our place yesterday, Tuesday March 2nd.

Last Tuesday Feb. 23rd was a very sad day for my friend Lisa P and her family. They had to put down their beautiful dog, Euchre. It was a complete shock to me after what we went through with Cosmo in November - their dog ended up having cancer as well. Only it was stage 4 and she went downhill very quickly. I cried a bucket of tears and still get choked up when I think about it. Euchre was such a good dog - in fact, she's always who I compared my dogs to when they were having their behavior problems. Lisa has two young daughters and Euchre let them climb all over her. . .whereas Bella bit Logan last summer because he slightly touched her. Numerous times I said to Joe, why can't they be like Euchre?! She was a great example of a dog. There's no way she's not in heaven!!!!

Wednesday, Feb. 24th Logan went to Sitter's while I had my monthly eyebrow wax. Still not done. Mr. Lefty (eyebrows seem male, don't ya think?) does not seem to want to grow very fast so I've made another appointment the end of March where my esthetician will also be tinting my brows for the first time since I went blonde in January and my eyebrows are black.

Later that day I met with my therapist, and then on Thursday, February 25th Joe & I refinanced our house. He heard about a phenomenal deal so we closed last week and are now saving several hundred dollars a month which is comforting. Maybe now I can get our carpet cleaned since we're a couple of months overdue! :p Logan went to Sitter's again because they came to our house to do the paperwork, so since he's also going Fridays now that Joe is working 70 hrs a week, it was the most hours he's ever gone (25.5)! Three days felt like too much, though, at this point - I don't know if it was that or it's just his age but he has been clingy ever since. He's reached 27 lbs now so on Monday I thought I'd seriously hurt my back because for the first time in his life he wants to be carried around all of the time! Leave it to me to have an independent child as a baby but now that he's almost two, and dependent babies usually want their independence, mine goes the other way :p

Or, it could be Joe being gone in the evenings. Every night around 7 pm Logan starts crying "Daddy? Daddy?" because he knows Joe is usually home by 5:15. We had to laugh last night, though, because on Monday Joe came home with Girl Scout cookies that he'd bought from a co-worker and gave one to Logan right away. Well then on Tuesday when Joe walked in the door Logan put up his hands and said, "Cookie?" Joe and I looked at each other like why would he think he's getting a cookie? Since we didn't react, Logan started crying "Please Dadda! Please Dadda! Please cookie for baby!" (I was glad to hear Stacy say Jaxson refers to himself as "Baby" too, LOL, because Logan never says "mine" or his name anymore! He calls himself "Baby.") That's when I realized that he was remembering the night before! So of course we gave in to his pitiful request and gave him a Thin Mint :pI know, he's getting too smart, we're going to have to toughen up, haha. Over the weekend he was running around the house with an orange slice in his mouth so I said, "No running with food in your mouth" and so he stopped, spit out the orange on the floor, and continued running. :p

But back to the clinginess - he's also been showing signs of shyness for the very first time in his life with others, so maybe it's just a natural part of his personality now that he'll be turning two in a month and a half! Because, I am seeing some signs of potential bossiness for the first time (which is a definite "two" trait)! Not with anyone else, but with Joe and me he will demand that we sit certain places (most often his playhouse) and he has definite ideas of what we should be doing at each moment. I was just starting to think that the nurses in the hospital had been wrong when he was born since they'd said he was the leader in the nursery (most often he has such a passive personality that I can't see him being a leader in his life) - but now that side of him is showing more!

On the day that Jaxson had come over was the first time I had ever seen any reaction from Logan as far as sharing toys. He didn't throw any temper tantrums or anything - but whenever Jaxson would have one of Logan's toys that he wanted he'd look at me like hey - that's mine and so I'd say, "Good job sharing with Jaxson" holding my breath, glad there wasn't any grabbing or pushing or anything! Thankfully, both boys have very similar personality types, neither one is very aggressive, so hopefully that will help them to continue to get along and be best buds :-)

Finally, it could be those darn two year molars (his final-final teeth) that have yet to pop up. He threw his first temper tantrum in a long time yesterday (or should I say threw several tantrums) because he didn't want to eat anything that I was offering him. I do think he's getting picky again - but also when he'd finally eat something he'd chew it and then spit it out! When I asked him what was wrong he pointed to his mouth and said, "teeth owie." Since he has all of his other teeth, I'm guessing the last big boys are coming soon.Last Friday night he cried in the middle of night for the first time since Jan. so I brought him into bed with Joe & me and two minutes later he coughed and then I felt something wet next to me so I thought he'd wet the bed! I turned on the light and there were a couple of wet circles of milk on our sheets - like he'd thrown up! He didn't act sick or have a temp (but he started crying and requested water to drink), but he has never thrown up in his life unless you count a couple of times as a newborn when he was overfed. I'm still not sure whether to count this because I think he just coughed too hard. . .it was weird to say the least. . .we changed our sheets and then all went back to sleep and he slept in until 10 am - the longest he ever has in his life!!! His eyes were nearly glued shut, though, with yellow gunk (which had also happened when he woke up from his nap at Babysitter's that day) and he complained of his eyes hurting the rest of the day. So I thought maybe it was going to be the start of pink eye, but thankfully it wasn't and he's been completely normal ever since!

On the evening of Thursday, February 25th I had a massage for the first time since December! It was great to be back. Although, I left in tears because she told me how her niece lost her 4 month old baby to SIDS! How incredibly awful!!!!! It didn't sound like there were any blankets or bumper pads in her crib (not using those with infants has reduced SIDS by 90% as I stated in a post I wrote when Logan was 4 months old titled Returning To Normal - Is That A Good Thing?) so they are wondering if it could have been prevented had her niece breastfed. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I looked it up when I got home and it's true - hardly any breastfed babies die of SIDS - in fact, many reports say there actually hasn't even been one "strictly" breastfed baby (meaning, any breastfed babies who have died were also being formula fed every now and then or they were found sleeping on their stomachs). Every site/source says that bottle fed babies are three times more likely to die of SIDS.

My fav doctor (Dr Sears) explains: "SIDS is less common in breastfed babies for several possible reasons. One theory is that nerves around the respiratory control center may be better developed in breastfed babies because breast milk is rich in omega-3 fatty acids (especially DHA). These provide vital nutrients for myelin, the insulating sheath around nerves that help impulses travel faster. Breast milk is also kinder to tiny airways as babies are not allergic to mother's milk, and breast milk also contains immune boosters that fight against chest infection. Another perk is that gastroesophagel reflux (GER) -- which can often lead to stop-breathing episodes -- is less severe in breastfed babies. Finally, both experience and research has shown that breastfed babies sleep differently then bottle-fed ones. Breastfed babies awaken more frequently to feed, mainly because human milk is digested more quickly than formula. Could this easier arousability also "teach" babies to arouse from sleep when they have a need for air? Dr. James Mckenna, director of the Mother Baby Sleep Labatory of the University of Notre Dame has thoroughly studied arousability of breastfed babies, and has concluded that getting babies to sleep too deeply, too early, may not be in their best biological interest. In essence, sleeping deeper does not necessarily mean sleeping safer."

So next time you complain of getting up in the night with your breastfed baby, say a prayer of thanks!!!

On Friday, February 26th I had a hair appt. I told my stylist about my break outs with moroccan oil. . .even using it one day a week caused me to break out again so now it's been reduced to just special occasions. Unfortunately, it didn't take my hair long to go back to not looking as good, so I'll be going back to my natural/brown color this summer before I get pregnant. Oh well, I didn't mind that compared to when she informed me that I have my first gray hair!!!! :( My mom had always warned me that she got her first at 30 but I never would have known if my hair stylist hadn't told me because there are a few strands in the back underneath that were not there at my last appt. in January. Grrrrrr. Grrrrr. Grrrrr.

On Saturday, February 27th our neighbors Dave & Jenn invited us to a chili supper at their church. It'd been forever since we'd gotten together with them! We had a great time - Logan did excellent, it was fun to watch her four kids, and it was nice chatting with them. Their church is just down the street and everyone was awesome. I told Joe it's too bad that can't be our church community because it's so close, we have friends that go there, and the congregation is so much fun. Why can't we, you ask? They're Mormon.

Since all that I know about their religion is from Wikipedia and Big Love (okay Big Love isn't fair because it doesn't represent the LDS), we came home and read Joe's old college religion book about the Mormon religion. I actually agree with a lot of things they do. . .but not the main part (Joseph Smith) so we'll be sticking with our non denominational Christian church.Which reminds me, we finally went on Sunday, February 28th! After I last blogged about wanting to go, it was the weekend Logan was staying with my parents so we talked ourselves into taking our one opportunity to sleep in. The next two Sunday mornings Joe had to work. He still had to work this past Sunday but he did it later.

It was really great to be back (hadn't been in a year)!! Unfortunately, the whole reason why we haven't gone showed valid - Logan was fine through the music (the first half an hour) but then when the service started he was like, you expect me to just sit here and be quiet for the next 45 minutes? I looked around and there wasn't a single other toddler in the room. Joe took him out in the hall and said all of the other kids were in the nursery. I guess I was hoping because of that girl toddler I'd seen last August at my grandma's church (The End Of Summer) who had stood quietly still for an hour, that since Logan is better about that now compared to then at 16 months, maybe we could do it. But no, it's just not possible for most kids this age.

However, I don't like the idea of putting him in the nursery room at this time. If we'd been going since day one and he was comfortable there, knew everyone, etc. - then I wouldn't stress. But if we did that next Sunday? He'd scream the whole time! I want church to be a pleasant experience for him, not traumatic! A year from now (and all of the years in the future) he should be able to understand when I say "I'll be back in an hour" but right now he has no concept of time. So I guess Joe and I will have to take turns each Sunday taking him out when he gets rambunctious. At least it's a non traditional service so people (like him) can eat, and it's dark so he can play a little by our chairs in the back. He was just getting whiny this time (and a little scared every now and then of all of the lights from the band) so I didn't want him to disturb the message because - OMG - it was incredible! Talk about God making me go that morning - he knew it was going to be the perfect words for me to hear!!!!

For the past couple of weeks I've been struggling with the subject of joy -- I won't go into it because I already blogged about it last summer in my post My Update On My Writing. Well it was that exact topic! I'd had a huge conversation with Joe about it the night before, and then that morning there was the minister saying, "If this is you don't think it's a coincidence that you're here." Shivers!

I started reading the book You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay yesterday. It's super good!Nothing else is on tap for this week except my therapist appt. today (I won't be mentioning it on my blog anymore since it's every Wednesday) and then this weekend we're getting together with Chris and her one-year-old son Gregory. His twelve month birthday was on Feb. 12th but his first birthday party that was originally set for the 13th had to be rescheduled because his mommy & daddy were both ill. Since they are still in their apartment until they move next month, a co-worker was throwing it for them at her house. Unfortunately, then the co-worker's kids ended up getting sick last weekend (when try #2 was supposed to happen) so Chris decided to just skip the party idea.

Meanwhile, I can't decide if I'm going to do another big party for Logan this year. Birthday #1 was a no-brainer because it was his very first one, and from #3 on he's going to want one, so I feel like #2 is the only one I can get by with just having a small family get together! But then I think if I'm going to get a cake and decorations anyway (right now I'm thinking either Elmo or Thomas The Train) then I might as well invite all of his little friends, too. So we will see!

I just can't believe it's time again -- seems like just yesterday I wrote the post about his first party (Birthday Boy). But it's true -- just six and a half weeks away! That means I need to make his appointment for his two year old photos at Picture People for the first time (we're also going to try for another family photo since our 2009 ones didn't come out since I looked like Two Ton Tilly. I only lost 4 lbs during the month of February - I hate excuses but it was because I hardly worked out. The TV in our bedroom completely died, which is what I used for aerobics DVDs/videos and to watch while I did the eliptical machine. We've since moved another TV up there so no excuses for March as I still have 12 lbs more to go! The good news is that this makes a total of 10 lbs lost since the new year - putting me at exactly my pre-pregnancy weight for the very first time since last Feb (2009). I still have 6 lbs to go for my breastfeeding weight (i.e. what I weighed after giving birth to Logan thru January 2009) and then for the last 6 lbs it's been over four years! But I've still eaten plenty of junk food since 2010 began, so I'm glad I've even lost 10 lbs.)

Most important, though, is Logan's slideshow (last year I put together a 20 minute music and pic DVD of his first year and I want to do that again for his second year) as well as another timeline (last year's was my post titled Timeline-First Year With Son). But first -- my recommendations part 3 post -- coming this Friday!