The Strickland Family

Introducing Finnegan!

2012-01-13T15:45:00.001-06:00

"Hey people, my little brother is here! Why am I not back in there with Mom & Dad?"

"It's bright out here, where am I?"

"Giving my little brother kisses, I'll just keep holding him, thank you very much!"

Daddy holding Finnegan.

"Look Mom! My baby! Do you see him? I want to hold him now!"

"I don't care if you are taking my picture I'm more interested in holding my little brother."

Finnegan Alexander born January 12th. 7 pounds 8.4 ounces, 20inches long. Totally rocking the faux hawk.

Reminiscing....

2011-10-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

I was going through old pictures of Logan reminiscing and thinking about what Finnegan will look like when he's born and the changes in Logan are just amazing. In just a little over 2 short years he's grown oh so much and he's constantly learning about the world around him.

Here he was just after he was born in Jeff's arms.

(I just asked him who was in the picture and he said "Me, Da Da!" )

Here he was in postpartum in one our early morning gab fests.

And look at him now! He's a busy active toddler, constantly learning and seeking information.

And he loves books!

The big question is how will he feel about having a baby in the house 24/7? He's very interested in babies when we are out & about so I guess there's nothing to do but wait and see. Although he does like patting my belly and blowing raspberries on it and then uproariously laughing after he does it. Hopefully that will bode well. I guess we'll find out in January. I'll try to update more between now and then lol.

Logan....

2011-06-19T22:08:00.001-05:00

....is going to be a big brother in January! We're very excited, Logan is excited although I don't know if he really knows what all being a big brother entails lol. Jeff's youngest brother and his wife had their baby yesterday, we're going out to see them later this week, we'll post pictures then, Logan is very excited and every time he sees pictures of little Kolby he yells "baby!", so maybe he kind of gets it.
Jeff got a motorcycle yesterday.
More updates to come later!

Just a quick update

2011-05-24T14:19:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick update to let everyone know that we are all ok. We didn't have any damage from the tornado Sunday, at least not at home. The hospital it hit in Joplin is the one I work at so not entirely certain what all will be happening there. Just trying to help out as much as possible.

Blizzards of fun!

2011-03-05T02:14:00.001-06:00

My what difference a month makes! We had a blizzard in the beginning of February, the snow was so deep Gwen wasn't able to make it into the yard. After a few days we dug the car out and got around. Logan pretty much thought we were loons for letting him touch that cold white stuff lol!


"Look at all of this snow!"

"I don't know about this stuff....why did you order it again?"

"I think I'll stand right here."

Love his hat!

"Hmmmn. It's cold, white...I wonder how it tastes."

Mountain Division, how appropriate lol.

So pensive

"I'm cold. Are we done out here yet?"

"Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Most of the snow had melted off by the following week. Then not even a month later our temps were in the 70's so we went and played at the park, well two parks actually on Thursday, there were a lot of kids out. Logan wasn't too sure of what to think about that. But we had fun.

"I'm looking for the ducks..."

"Still looking..."

"Ah! I see them!"

The apples of his eye lol.

And a Canadian Goose that's been in the park lately.

"Play with those screaming kids? No thanks, I'll just play in this mulch instead."

Look at those toes! (Yes he wore shoes to the park lol.)

"OK, it's time to go, put my shoes on please."

"I said 'Get me out' not swing me!"

"Is this a squirrel? How can you ride a squirrel? I thought they were small...."

Look! He left his shoes on for a little while!

Merry Christmas 2010 & Happy New Year 2011!

2011-01-13T02:14:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! We've been battling the creeping crud and croup the last few days so it's taken me awhile to finally post some updates. We had a very busy Christmas weekend.

We started off with Christmas at our house for my side. I think it turned out very well seeing as how I worked the night before. Jeff gets the credit for the last minute cleaning.

Logan with Auntie Sarah, she opened his

M&M's candy cane for him.

Logan with Uncle Billy.

Logan passed out all the presents,

and he did a very good job!

"Now who does this one go to?"

"Here you go Grandma! Gotta keep working.

I'm going to get yours Grandpa."

"May I open things now?

Or do I have more to deliver?"

"Oh! Thank you Auntie Sarah & Uncle Billy!

I don't have Curious George yet!"

Uncle Billy showing Logan how

to play the xylophone.

Uncle Billy & Logan having a moment.

Logan with the giant bow off of

Uncle Billy's golf bag.

"Well what's yours is mine and

what's mine is mine, right Mommy?

So I guess that means this

book they got you is for me too right?"

After the family Christmas we had our own Christmas later that evening before bedtime. Logan got an animated rocking horse that he is quite enthralled with, but he only wants to pat it not ride it lol.

With his Playskool racing track.

"Do it again Daddy! FASTER! FASTER!"

With his Hershey Kisses Candy Cane.

Then we had Christmas with Jeff's parents on Christmas Day. First we went to his Mom & Jan's. We saw lots of people, including Cousin Deylan.

Cousin Gabe & Aunt Megan

Cousin Kaylee

"Obey the Light Saber you must!"

"This is all for me?

Why thank you very much!"

Then after Jeff's Mom's we went to his Dad & Paula's to finish out the night. We got a group shot of all the grandchildren. Granted if one was posing someone else was making faces or moving or....well just being a child lol. So this is one of the better shots.

Logan, & Cousins Kaylee, Gabe & Wes

Aunt Kacie, Wes, & Uncle Jeremy were in from Oklahoma.

Everyone loved their backpacks.

Logan with a gift bag that he took for his own.

We hope everyone had a good year and hope that 2011 will be even better!

Halloween, Thanksgiving & preparing for Christmas

2010-12-02T03:09:00.000-06:00

Yes I've been a slacker here lately. But I'm fixing that tonight lol. Logan has been a busy busy boy since our last post, we had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and also started to prepare for Christmas.

We'll go in chronological order so I'm not back tracking like crazy in this post.

We went trick or treating at 4 family members houses. We saw Uncle Billy & Auntie Sarah; Grandpa Steve, Uncle Glen & Uncle Sam; Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa Moffet, and Grandma Paula; and Grandma Cathy & Grandpa Jan. He was a busy boy, with a lot of candy lol!

Logan picked out his own Halloween bucket.

Trick or Treating at Auntie Sarah & Uncle Billy's.

He was a skeleton, the hood wasn't quite

what we had expected though.

And carrying his own bucket too!

Checking his loot!

Logan & Daddy at Great-Grandma & Grandpa Moffet's

"Trick or treat Great-Grandma!"

No, he didn't say it but he did get the

concept...of candy in the bucket at least lol!

I think those little pelvic bones on the

butt are just too cute!!!

"Peanut butter chocolate pumpkin? Don't mind if I do!

Hold that for me."

"I'll just shove the rest of that in there! Yum!"

Mouthful of candy.

At Grandma Cathy & Grandpa Jan's.

A whole bag of animal cookies!

Thanksgiving we had at Grandma Paula & Grandpa Don's. Logan had a great time. Lots of food, he ate so much he couldn't walk straight when he was done, staggered around for awhile! But he eventually got his sea legs lol.

Such a sweet smile!

Getting some cuddles from Mommy!

Hanging out with Grandpa Don!

Logan decided he needed to sweep

so he would be good & hungry

when it was time to eat.

Eating dinner. Look at that plate of his!

He ate almost all of it!

Logan has decided pistachio pudding and

Goldfish are a great mix.

I declined trying the combination. Look at that grin!

Such a happy guy!

Big blue eyes, and a killer smile.

"Hey! There are gators on my feet!"

At Bass Pro in the super long line for Santa,

we ended up not being able to see him,

but that's ok we'll go to the mall.

Looking at the reindeer at the top of the slide.

Going down the slide with Mommy

Going down the slide by himself, and flipping over.

Looking at the fish in the aquarium.

Driving the speed boat

Looking at the turtles, he almost climbed in there.

Wow! More fish!

So all in all a very busy few weeks, I'll update more when we finally are decorated lol, hopefully by next week.

Birthday Weekend Getaway

2010-10-14T19:31:00.001-05:00

For my birthday weekend we went to the Renaissance Festival and also the Kansas City Zoo. We even got to go see Jason, Megan, Gabe & Kaylee.

Renaissance Festival was great even though it was really hot out that day. Logan had a good time watching everyone and also eating a turkey leg and a fresh chocolate chip ice cream sandwich.....hot, fresh, and oh so messy lol.

After awhile we got tired of the heat and went to Cabella's and wandered around for a few hours looking at the animals and all the different things.

Then on Sunday we went to the Kansas City Zoo and had a great time.

We saw the polar bear. We got some cool video of it swimming around but the pictures don't do it justice.

The cheetah going for a stroll.

Look at that toothy smile! He even has 4 molars now!

The lionesses sitting on their sunning rock.

The baby chimp that spent about 15 minutes spinning around in circles.

Having a great time!

The scarlet macaw that was putting on a show for us, dancing and bobbing around.

We got to see Jason, Megan and the kids before we came home, we all went to Culver's and had ice cream and then we all went to the park and played for a few hours.

We had a good time but we were all glad to be home.

Logan's first haircut 07-15-10

2010-07-15T14:17:00.000-05:00

Well today was the day, the big day, the day of the first haircut. My little guy went from looking like a baby to looking like a little boy, his hair was getting into his eyes and ears and bothering him so.....it was time. First some before pictures of my little man with all of his riotous curls.

"Why am I awake so early?"

Sweet Binky smile

Daddy & Logan

Riotous curls, my little baby

Back view

We went to my beautician Janie and she did a great job!

Getting ready with Mommy

Getting on the hair cutting drape

"No! I don't want to! Leave me alone!"

So we had to take a break and I got my hair trimmed while Jeff held Logan, we then decided to let Daddy hold Logan and it worked so much better.

The first snip

Look at those curls

"I dunno what's going on but I don't know if I want to be amused or not."

"I think we're about done...right?"

"Well I guess it's ok if I can hold this comb"

"This comb is pretty darn cool."

Look at those eyes!

"Am I done yet?"

"Yeah! Janie said I can keep the comb!"

Presenting the cutest little boy ever!

St. Louis trip

2010-07-15T13:35:00.000-05:00

Logan did well on his first long road trip, we went to St. Louis to see Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma Swann and he had a great time! We had a busy first day. We had Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, it was Jeff & Logan's first time in a Dunkin....wish we had one closer to where we live, but alas, no such luck! Then we were off to the St. Louis Zoo! Logan decided to fall asleep 1/2 way through and slept the remainder of the way.

Inside the Welcome Center

Uncle Billy (white shirt) Aunt Sarah (plaid shirt), me, Logan in the stroller. Cousin Lauren (pink shirt with striped jacket) and Cousin Stephen (yellow shirt)

The campybara (they don't have one at Springfield)

The hyena with his (or her) dinner

And Logan sleeping with Grover and his cup....don't mind my hand lol. He picked Grover over Elmo and Cookie Monster and he really enjoys playing with him, granted he's never seen Sesame Street but he still likes him.

We had lunch at the zoo, which Logan slept through. And got to pet stingrays while we were there, Logan just watched them, but Jeff & I petted them, it was a very unusual experience. One really liked to be petted and pushed up into my hand so I really got to feel his musculature which was awesome!
Then we went to the Missouri History Museum and saw the Vatican Splendors....it was interesting, we asked Great-Grandma Carmella if she had been to see it and her response was "No, but I've been to the Vatican." So we wandered through there and also the rest of the museum, got to see the Spirit of St. Louis and Charles Lindbergh exhibit plus the exhibit on the St. Louis World Fair. But no cameras were allowed in the museum, I almost got tackled by a curator for putting on lip gloss (which they didn't say wasn't allowed by the way) so we didn't try to sneak any pictures lol.
We also went to the Arch at night after we tried to go to Ted Drewe's but they were wrapped around the building at Ted Drewe's so we didn't stop, then we ended up on the bad side of town by accident and left very very quickly before finding the Arch. The Arch at night is amazing!

My camera just didn't do it justice.

We also went to White Castle (yum!) and both Jeff & Logan had their first White Castle!

Logan with Uncle Billy, eyeing the White Castle box

"Look Logan, it's your size!"

"Here Mommy, you hold it and feed it to me."

"This is pretty good!"

Our second day we spent the day visiting with family and had IMO Pizza for lunch, the pizza was pretty good, different but good. We had a great time, I wish I hadn't let the camera get packed the second day because I didn't get any pictures of family! But we'll make another trip before too long.

Logan is ONE!!!!

2010-05-19T20:40:00.000-05:00

Time is flying by! This time last year I was posting our first "we're home" photos blog update.
So much has happened lately. Jeremy got married in January (I misplaced my camera so I just found the pictures), Logan had his first swing ride and went on the slide for the first time on Easter, Jeremy graduated boot camp, Kaylee turned two and on Friday Logan turned ONE! How is all of that possible? I swear he was just born!

Getting ready for Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Kacie's wedding...handsome fellow.

Gotta love that hat!

Grandma Paula, Papa Don and Uncle Jeremy

Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Kacie cutting the cake.

Papa Don, Grandma Paula, Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Kacie, Aunt Jessica, Mommy holding Logan and Daddy!

With Papa Don on Easter!

"I got my shoe! What are you gonna do?"

First swing ride. "This is pretty cool."

First time down the slide. Not scared of anything!

Hunting for Easter eggs! Isn't his Easter basket the coolest thing?

Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Kacie and Cousin Wes at Uncle Jeremy's boot camp graduation. We're so proud of him!

Daddy, Uncle Jeremy, Logan and Mommy after graduation.

Logan at graduation with his monkey from Bass Pro, he's quite friendly with his monkey...he likes to bite it's nose.

Cousin Gabe, Cousin Kaylee, Papa Don and Grandma Paula at the little birthday party for Kaylee, she turned two!

Birthday donut! "This thing is AWESOME! And it's all MINE!!!" The majority of it ended up all over the bed and all over me....but he had a blast!

Logan's birthday cake. We even made the frosting for it, Grandma Paula decorated it for Logan because I'm not that kind of talented but she is. Aren't those figurines awesome?

Logan's personal cake, yes it's a bear and yes it sits up by itself. He loved it! Like the chocolate chip eyes?

Rambo and Gwen fresh from the groomer.

Grandma Cathy

Aunt Cami

Grandma Paula and Logan taking a break before the party

Aunt Sarah

Cousins Tiffany and Ella

Cousin Carson

"Hear ye! Hear ye! You may now eat hot dogs, bratwursts, potato salad, chips and baked beans!"

"Yeah! Presents! For me?"

I love this shot!

"Look at this ball! It's huge!"

"A truck AND a bulldozer! Woo-hoo! Can I play in the dirt now?"

"Two workbenches? Awesome! I can work while sitting down!"

Camo sippy cup...."No drink in here people!"

With his bobby ducky.

"Giant Lego's? And they're in a wagon?! Oh this is too freaking cool!"

"Ooh! New clothes! Look at these colors! I like them!"

"Happy Birthday" by Dr. Seuss. "I like books! Especially shiny ones!"

Eating his bear cake. Feeling the frosting.

"Mmmmm! Yummy bear ear!"

"This thing is great!"

He had a great time with everyone, did start feeling a little overwhelmed towards the end of the party, but bear cake fixed that.....well that and a quick bath.

His one year doctor appointment was today and he was 20 pounds 6 ounces, 29.5 inches long and got four shots, that part he wasn't too happy with, but he's feeling good now and playing with his toys.

Another trip to the zoo and Logan's Lemonade Cake

2010-03-30T18:49:00.000-05:00

"What is this zoo thing of which you speak?"

We went back to Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield on March 24th. It was a nice day a little cool out but a beautiful day still. We went to Bass Pro after the zoo trip which Logan didn't mind but didn't enjoy quite as much. We went into the zoo with socks and shoes on, during the course of the day he took his shoes off, we caught him doing that so we have them, then he took his socks off and lost them and we never did find them even though we backtracked...so he liked it so much he left a little piece of himself there I guess.

"Oh! There are animals here! How exciting!" Just look at that hair!

"Let me in! Let me in!"

Dancing in his stroller at the ticket window.

Loving the flamingo exhibit, you get to get up pretty close to them.

"Those birds are pretty cool!"

One of the swans, he was putting on pretty good show swimming around.

The goat who tried to eat Logan's stroller last time. Hmmmn.

Logan after we looked at the kangaroos.

One of the foxes.

The otter swimming in his pool.

The lions relaxing in the sun

We take him to the zoo and the most exciting part of his day is when we give him his ring. Yes his ring. His favorite thing ever, lol.

"I've had enough zoo now I want to leave."

He had his picture taken with a lamb a few days ago so waiting on getting those back and I'll post them then.

Found another cake recipe idea for his birthday it's a lemonade cake. It has lemonade, lemon zest, and lemon extract in it. I dyed it blue but it turned green when mixed with the pink lemonade mix in the batter (yes that is what it called for but it would have made a PINK cake lol). I think it turned out pretty good, I dyed the icing too it's color turned out better.

The finished product.

A slice of the cake. I'm pretty proud of it lol.

And the taste test results are in and it is "YUMMY!"

Ok well time to go make dinner and keep uploading my Ipod music since my desktop crashed and erased everything. Nice.

Sir Cranky Pants

2010-03-06T11:54:00.000-06:00

Logan has been up to a lot lately....crawling, jabbering, chewing on everything he can fit in his mouth, cruising, playing with the dogs, visiting Grandma & Papa's house when we're both working, playing with cousin Wes.....and today he's sick. So I'm typing one handed so he can have my other arm and entire lap to nap in.

After a bath awhile ago....he was showing me his dance moves in the crib...I just love this shot!

Eating his snowman duck he got at Christmas in his stocking from Mommy & Daddy.

Having Cheerios and peaches....the only way to eat peaches...he refuses them any other way...that and bananas but bananas are always refused....look closely at our little Oompa-Loompa!

"Hi! Oreos ROCK!!!!! But if you touch mine I'll bite your fingers off! Rawr!" He actually took that Oreo from Jeff and was in 7th Heaven lol!

"Ooh! You're letting me keep it....heh heh heh I knew I scared you!"

"Oh sweet chocolatey goodness! I hear they make cakes with these things....can i have one for my birthday?"

With his blow-up lion from Target...now this provides HOURS of entertainment.

"Take THAT Mr. Lion! I'm TOUGH!" Lol!

So onto the sick little boy now in my lap....he's got a cold today, first one ever....cough, congestion, irritable, slight fever. Doesn't help that he's trying to cut some new teeth as well his gums over his upper canines are pretty swollen especially the left one. But Baby Tylenol, baby saline nasal spray, humidifier at full blast and only a diaper on have made him a little better. Plus he's refusing to leave my lap so we're rocking and listening to music making a new playlist for his blog.
Looking forward to St. Patrick's Day and Easter...and also Uncle Jeremy's boot camp graduation in April.

Merry Belated Christmas!

2010-01-03T03:22:00.001-06:00

Merry Belated Christmas! Oh! And a Happy New Year!Logan rang in the new year with a nap lol.

The Christmas tree at the Catholic Church in Carthage

The Christmas holiday was a pretty busy one for Logan as he had 5 Christmases to attend! Wow! We started off with a visit to the Catholic Church's Christmas display in Carthage....lights are very hard to photograph I've found, but some turned out ok.

The giant stone lion outside the entryway

And the only time Logan opened his eyes lol, well a little bit anyways

Then we had Christmas at our house on 12-13-09 and Auntie Sarah, Uncle Billy, Grandpa Steve and Uncles Glen and Sam were there.....Logan slept through the entire time Grandpa and Glen and Sam were there but he had been awake for about 6 hours at that point. We got some pictures when he woke up though.

This is before he fell asleep, I love his expression lol

Sitting with Uncle Billy...gotta love those socks!

"Like my teeth Uncle Billy? They're sharp huh?"

Gwen after her grooming so pretty, even though her nose is shaved :(

Logan liked the shiny paper and pretty bows

"Bows, bows, bows! All mine!"

Look at how well he unwraps presents! His gift from Grandpa Steve, Grandma Sue and Uncles

Glen & Sam is in next to what he's unwrapping.

Look at those curls....

Logan while we were decorating the tree

So many pictures!

Logan in his Santa hat

Logan and Daddy after the tree was done

Logan on his scooter from Auntie Sarah & Uncle Billy

"This thing is so cool! Thank you!"

Logan & Daddy

"Lemme at it, I'm not done!"

"Riding along, singing a song" lol

Christmas morning started our at our house....here's Daddy waking us up.

"Daddy I don't want to get up yet!"

"Fine I'm awake, but I'm not ready to give up my bows to unwrap presents"

My new camera!

Jeff's new Kel-Tec holster

"I dunno if I want my ducky or my Binky...."

"SCORE! Chocolate orange! What do you mean it's Daddy's?"

"I want a chocolate orange next year! My own!"

Then we went to Grandma Paula's & Grandpa Don's Christmas afternoon. Uncle Jason, Aunt Megan, cousins Gabe & Kaylee, and also Uncle Josh, Uncle Jeremy and his fiance Casey and her little boy Wes and also Aunt Jessica were there. We had dinner and then opened gifts.

"I hear there are going ot be mashed potatoes at this here meal...and I get some!"

Logan in the portable high chair from Great-Grandma Westerhouse.

Logan riding around on Daddy.

Cousin Gabe opening his Mr. Potato Head from us.

Jeff and Aunt Jessica

Grandma Paula & Uncle Josh

Cousin Kaylee, she's so fast all my other pictures are just the back of her head!

Uncle Jeremy & Uncle Josh

Jeff & Uncle Jason

Grandpa Don & Aunt Megan

Aunt Megan & Tisha (moi lol)

Grandpa Don & I

Logan, Gabe, & Kaylee

On the 26th we had Christmas at Great-Grandparents Moffet's house....which I didn't get any pictures of but Grandma Paula did so I'll get some of those later. That was also my last night at the job I've been at for almost 7 years so I was feeling a little maudlin. But the girls on South kidnapped me for a bit and made my night, almost had me in tears. Lots of good, bad and sad memories in that hospital but it was time to move on.

Then on the 27th we were supposed to have Christmas at our house but with all the snow and ice our hill was too treacherous so we changed the venue at the last minute to Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Jan's....but that was fine because I didn't have to do clean-up lol!

Kaylee eating a donut

"I keep finding these cool bows everywhere, this is nice"

Logan unwrapping his present from Grandpa Jan and Grandma Cathy.

It's a hat rack for his hat collection!

Cousin Carson helping Cousin Gabe with his dinosaur.

And now Logan has a new trick, he can do the SPLITS! I ache every time I see him do this lol.

"Here we go!"

Look at the precision, the balance.....and oooh how I'm wincing lol!

Still not crawling but it should be anytime now, he gets up on his hands & knees and rocks but still not moving well other than backwards or doing face plants into the floor....but it will be soon....scary stuff lol....then it'll be time to watch the dogs who he'll be attempting to ride like horses.....oh dear!

Almost 7 months old and 2 teeth!

2009-12-07T18:52:00.000-06:00

Ok well I've been slacking but Logan doesn't seem to mind lol! Logan turns 7 months old (WOW! When did this happen?) next Monday.
But last Sunday November 29th, he obtained a TOOTH! I felt a hard spot the night before but nothing was through and he didn't act like anything was going on, the next night when I gave him to Grandma Paula, so I could get ready for work...he bit her and left an indentation on her finger! Yes we have a tooth! And then on Friday we started another one! I tried to take pictures of it, but he won't open his mouth big enough for me to get a good shot and when I held it to take one, well let's just not discuss how that shot turned out!

But they are bottom teeth at least. This is the most non-indecent looking picture I could get.

"Here let me have a nibble on your finger"

"Look I said no pictures!" Check out Mr Attitude! Lol!

Gotta love that curl!

Big blue eyes

"OMG! PIGGIES!!!!"

And he STOOD all by himself on Sunday December 6th....and I have the pictures to prove it!

Look at that one handed action!

He then proceeded to spin around and land on his back which he didn't find very humorous, but no damage so that's ok.

"UPSIDE DOWN! I'm UPSIDE DOWN!! Hey! This is kinda fun!" Notice the saturated hoodie front, that he had been dressed in about 30 minutes prior to his pictures being taken.

"Mommy I want to play with my bounce-bounce but I don't want to be in it, so just hold me in your lap and let me play with it that way. If you dare to put me in it right now I will cry." His legs must have been tired.

Ok well I need to get busy and work on cleaning house since we are having Christmas here this weekend and then again on the 27th....and I start my new job on the 28th....going to the CVICU. Pretty excited about it, nervous but so far everyone I've met there is really super nice and friendly and it will provide me with learning opportunities I don't have available to me currently. Will stay on nights and work the weekends...but they pay me more that way....and that makes me happy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-27T02:07:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!
Logan had a very busy first Thanksgiving. He napped until 11:00 a.m. then we got up and we to Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa Moffet's and had lunch with Great-Grandma, & Great-Grandpa M., Grandma Paula, Grandpa Don and Aunt Jessica, and Great-Aunt & Uncle Dan & Brenda. Uncle Josh, and cousins Tiffany, Cory, Tambra, Gibriel and also Kadie and Lilah were there! We left our house so fast, we left our camera on the desk so I'll post pictures later since Grandma Paula had her camera. I'm working on remembering that camera. Lol.

Then after we visited and ate (Logan still gets his reconstituted) we came home to take care of the dogs and give Logan a fast bath, then we went to Grandma Cathy & Grandpa Jan's for another Thanksgiving dinner. Uncle Josh and Daddy's friend Rick were there so Logan got to be passed around and visit with people....after he finished his nap lol.

Hanging out with Uncle Josh.

Visiting with Cousin Deylan...he's 19 months old....wow Logan will be about that size next year....that is so mind boggling!

"Wow Mommy! That flash sure is bright!"

"I like playing with Uncle Josh! Lemme have that hat!"

"Hanging out with Grandma Cathy.....they still won't hand over the turkey, meanies!"

"I'm going to eat my shoe since you won't hand over the turkey, or mashed potatoes, or the deviled eggs or well you won't give me anything but milk...what in the world?"

"Ok Mommy, I'll just eat your finger instead! You're gonna give me some of this stuff next year right? I'll have TEETH then...well I plan on it anyways...better work on my chewing practice huh?"

We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends and families. So thankful for having met each other and choosing to stick together through the rough patches we've encountered and oh so grateful for the little boy who joined us in the outside world this year. We had no idea such a little tiny person would change our lives so much, but it is all for the better. And we are so excited to be there to take him on his journey in life and help him grow and learn.

Happy Thanksgiving from Jeff, Logan & I! We hope it is wonderful!

Rice Cereal, 6 month doctor appointment and Tiger outfit too!

2009-11-18T21:26:00.001-06:00

Logan turned 6 months old on Saturday! He got to go to his pediatrician on Monday, his appointment went great he's up to 16 pounds 12 ounces, and 27 inches long! Still no teeth, but continues to drool and gnaw on everything. Got his 6 months shots as well, then he has been upset since, but he's better today. Thankfully!
First time to eat Rice Cereal was today....yes I finally came to terms with it....he had about a tablespoon mixed with an ounce and a half of his favorite flavor { ;-) } and well, he ate some of it...mostly he tasted then blew bubbles but some went down....MAJOR excitement, not too bad of a mess but he went right into the tub afterwards lol.

Look at that excited grin!

And his eyes look great in this shot!

Just pleased as can be!

Tasting...do I like this or not? Hmmmmn I dunno yet

Come gimme a kiss! MWAAAAAHHHHH! You know you want to lol.

I'm getting pretty done now.

I like this bowl and spoon thingy......

Then he proceeded to toss it on the floor to the dogs, but he tried lol.

Here he is in his other Halloween outfit, a TIGER at Grandma Cathy's....he was kind of interested in Daddy more than the camera lol.

Ok well the Cranky Bear is back so I have to go....past time for his Tylenol....and another nap. Lol.

Rawr!

2009-11-04T07:25:00.004-06:00

Well Logan has been a busy busy boy here lately.
Jeff and I both worked on Halloween so he went Trick or Treating on All Saint's Day (November 1st before you ask). But earlier in the day he went to church with Grandpa Don and Grandma Paula and had a blessing/naming ceremony he had a good time playing with people, flirting with the girls and biting Uncle Jeremy's finger plus yanking Mommy around by the hair (where did I sign up for that kind of abuse by the way?)

Here is Logan in his lion Halloween costume!

Blowing raspberries at Grandma (raspberry blowiing being our new favorite thing to do by the way.)

Exciting times! Having a great time!

And "It's piggie-time! I love my piggies!!!!"

We went shopping at Babies R Us, really there should be a law against that place....geez....I spend too much time there, but anyways we found this awesome little elephant and Logan is bonkers about it....and I do mean bonkers!

The wheel in the middle spins, lights up and plays music....he's absolutely in love.

I think he likes it? What do you think?

It truly is amazing how much space a small little boy can take up of a king size bed lol! He has about 3/4 of it at all times, preferably the middle with us on our sides on the edges so he can have more rolling and creeping room. He gets around really well in the bed, not really interested in crawling yet *thankfully!* He gets around pretty well with his two legged carriers.

The elephant's trunk is a perfect chew toy in his opinion.

We went to Benefit Bonanza for my work (I got my flu shot *ouch* not H1N1 just seasonal) and Logan flirted with every female we saw. We got to visit with Dara and Richard for awhile. And we then went to Miami and put out Jeff's order.
Oh! And we're contemplating thinking about maybe cutting a tooth. He's been drooling and gnawing lately but it kind of comes in spurts sometimes not quite so much sometimes we're getting new clothes on every few hours lol!

Gotta love that grin!

What has Logan been doing lately?

2009-09-28T03:57:00.003-05:00

So what has Logan been up to lately? September 14th he turned 4 months old and the following day he went to visit the doctor, weighed in at 14 pounds, got his check-up and his 4 month old shots that was followed by almost 48 hours of Little Mr. Cranky Pants coming to visit. All I can say is Thank God for Childrens Tylenol...I'm looking forward to being able to give him Childrens Motrin but not looking forward to him turning 6 months old lol. I know I know....I'm just a mass of contradictions lol.
But after the he got over being a little nose stung bear we went on an Art Walk in Joplin on Thursday September 17th with Uncle Billy and Auntie Sarah...granted Logan slept through it...all of it...he rode around in his little backpack carrier and slept the whole time. He woke up during dinner.
September 18th was my birthday and the three of us hung out and just enjoyed being together.
We went to the Newtonia Fall Festival on Saturday the 26th and toured the Ritchey Mansion. Logan really enjoyed the tour he listened to all of the speakers and looked at everything and also baptized the floor twice...yes we cleaned it up lol. He had a good time. He even got to be passed around the lunch table and play with Auntie Jessica and Grandma Paula and Grandpa Don.
Sunday the 27th was a busy busy day. We found the bouncer we wanted and also the high chair which I was shocked about because the store only listed it as being available online but we found it in the store so awesome luck!
Some awesome pics of bouncer time.

"Is this for me? All mine?"

"What is this green thing? And what are all those things under it?"

"This is mine, you no touchy Daddy" A nice thank you for all the hard work Jeff had to do to put this thing together. Lol. But he understands because he really liked this one too, he actually picked it out.

"All the colors, all the animals.....woo-hoo!!!!!"

"I like this, can I keep it please?"

"Ha-ha! Yup! I get to keep it! Which is good because I just gotta bounce!"

"ARGH! I teach you Mr. Bear for being in my bed!"

"Hey! Do you mind? I'm having an intense conversation about personal space and boundaries here!"

"Ah Mr. Lion! How do I love thee let me count the ways...you crinkle, you're brightly colored, you smile, I can chew on your feet and your head rattles....yes I love you. Now c'mere so I can show you that love!" Gotta love those feet! He puts them up and together like that all the time lol.

"That's all for now folks! I gotta go talk to some boobies and get some sleep." I'll get some high chair shots later.

Piggies and rattles!

2009-09-05T19:54:00.003-05:00

Well Logan has officially discovered tootsies AND piggies! And boy oh boy are piggies interesting! You can wiggle them, bend them, curl them and make them turn into all sorts of colors...white, green, shades of blue, gray, and flesh colored!

No he's not able to sit up by himself just yet, but he's working on it, he's still working on that whole balance thing but he's lasting longer in between face plants in to the cushions lol!

Going, going.....

Gone! But this is even more fun!

And yesterday he discovered his rattles, he's always had them but normally all they elicit is a bored look, but now...they're awesome! He even HOLDS them occasionally now!

He was enjoying EATING Tweety more than rattling, note all that nice saliva all over his face...yes he's getting his clothes changed more and more due to extreme dampness, he's gnawing everything but no tooth buds yet...thankfully lol! And check out that foot in the action lol!

And here is some double-fisted rattle action! He has one in each hand....he then proceeded to smack himself in the head and was no longer amused, but it was fun while it lasted!

He's 16 weeks old, 13.37 pounds and a BIG talker now. He's cooing and shrieking occasionally too. He laughs sometimes but what got an uproarious laugh once doesn't work later that day but might two days later. Ah well he's enjoying the world a lot more now, or maybe i should say interacting with it. We went to PetSmart Wednesday while Daddy was in class, he enjoyed looking at the fish a LOT and he found the Sun Conure fascinating, but Daddy isn't cool with a $650 price tag so no birdie yet...but I'm working on talking him into a pair of parakeets much cheaper and chirpers not screamers like cockatiels, we had one a long time ago never again.

Logan turned 3 months old 08-14-09

2009-08-15T04:15:00.003-05:00

Well Logan is now officially 3 months old! Wow! The time has flown, I swear I'm going to wake up and still be pregnant and have a few weeks left lol!

Look at those chubby little cheeks!

He was enjoying making faces at Daddy before we went to town.

Gotta love that tongue!

So photogenic too!

He had a fist sucking night a few days ago he did this for about 10 minutes didn't want his pacifier or to eat just was enjoying his hands.

July 22, 2009 First trip to the zoo & Bass Pro

2009-07-23T14:34:00.009-05:00

July 22nd, 2009 was an exciting day. We went to the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield in the early afternoon and to Bass Pro in the evening. Logan showed his excitement by blowing bubbles when we got there...bubbles without bubble gum so I'll let you figure out what he used as his bubble medium lol.

It's a really nice zoo with water features like fountains and waterfalls. This is as close to the waterfalls as we could get but it still made for a good picture.

We got to see lions and tigers and bears...oh my! Sorry I just had to say it! It was pretty warm so most of the animals were sleeping. Here is Logan at the lion enclosure. The lioness is on the ground and the lion is sleeping on top of the wooden platform. Like Logan's "ceiling fan"? It works perfectly! Kept him nice and cool and me from fretting the whole time about him getting too hot! Jeff gets all the honor for coming up with the idea of attaching the fan to the carrier shade.

The Malayan Tiger was awake and pacing in his enclosure...but he was kept going and waiting at the building so I think it was feeding time. Here he is in the grass.

The only time Logan opened his eyes was after the Malayan Tiger exhibit...he slept through 3 hours of the zoo...but we still had a good time.

We had some ice cream to cool down in the shade. Jeff eating his ice cream.

And turn-about is fair play so he took a picture of me eating my ice cream. I have my sunglasses on in all the pictures or I'm squinting so sunglasses it is lol.

The giraffes were really really tall and we got to get up on the observation deck and take some pictures. Here's Logan with a giraffe behind him....sorry about the trash can but it was the only place the stroller would fit for a picture where there wasn't a bunch of little children running around....well little children who didn't need to be in our photos anyways.

And this giraffe liked to have its close-up taken so I took one lol!

We went in the snake and amphibian house but everything is behind glass so the glare pretty much obliterated the photos so here's a picture of one of the many statues through out the zoo of a bullfrog that's outside the amphibian house.

We made Logan two souvenir pennies in the gift shop, one has a lion on it and the other has an elephant but I can't get a decent picture of them because we used brand new pennies so they are really shiny. Here's Logan doing pretty much what he did all day...yes sleeping!

Then we went to Bass Pro but didn't take any pictures there. He slept through most of the store and they were doing a bunch of construction as well. We had dinner at Hemingway's and just browsed the store. But it was a good day in Springfield. Next time we're going to try to go to the Civil War Museum as well, it was closed when we got there yesterday.

July 14th, 2009=OUCH!

2009-07-15T15:25:00.002-05:00

Logan had his 2 month doctor's appointment yesterday. He's a whopping 10.12 pounds, & 23 1/4 inches long. He scored average on his height growth chart and just a little below average on his weight growth chart but he's not on formula so his growth is good. Everything went good...well until he had to have his vaccinations...he got two shots on his left leg and one in his right....poor guy. I know they're necessary but still pretty heartbreaking to have to watch him cry and not be able to prevent it. But I gave him some Infant's Tylenol beforehand so after he quit crying he went to sleep. He also got a Rotovirus vaccine but it was oral so that wasn't bad. Next appointment is 3 days before my birthday so I'm going to try to get that week off.

Happy 4th of July!!!

2009-07-04T18:47:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to put up a quick blog wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone had a great and SAFE 4th! So glad I'm not at work tonight or since Missouri started selling fireworks anyways...I remember last year and the firework injuries....I prefer not to smell burnt human.
Logan is doing great. He was 10.83 pounds earlier this week when I weighed him....wow....growing like crazy, wanting to be awake and interact more...of course I'm missing him taking naps where I could lay him down, he's been waking up within 3 minutes of being laid down this week, makes for a long day....oh well, this too shall pass. He's starting to do better with it.
Some pictures I've taken in our early morning sessions...he looked like he was dancing when I snapped this one, I can almost hear him singing "We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind, 'cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance well they're no friends of mine..." Although he doesn't have the weird hat and bullwhip that Men Without Hats used in the music video lol!

"Hey! Get that camera out of my face!!!!!"

"Crud! She is sooooo going to post that....sheesh what am I gonna tell people?"

And here's my favorite pajama outfit we bought him it reminds me of the fox from "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery....it's a great book...give it a read.

We went to my Dad's wedding on Sunday, here's Logan in his attire sitting on Daddy's lap...had to put up the close-up of his face, too sweet.

Wow! I'm a slacker lol!

2009-06-26T01:37:00.004-05:00

I just realized I haven't posted a blog in 3 weeks! Oops!
Hmmn I guess I'll go in chronological order...when Logan was 3 weeks old he got a visit from his Great-Granny Westerhouse and his Great-Uncle Randy. He slept through most of it. But it was great seeing them as we haven't seen them in a long time. They both look and are doing great!
When Logan was 4 weeks old his Great-Grandparents Swann came down to visit. It was really nice. We went to Bella Peppers with Logan's Uncle Billy and Auntie Sarah and went back to their hotel suite and visited until Jeff had to go to work. But it was nice seeing them, we haven't seen in them in over a year & a half, it's been even longer for Jeff because he was out of town last time they came through the area. They had just gotten back from a safari in Africa and told us all about their adventures there. This was also the week our air conditioner quit working....so I felt like we were IN Africa!
Logan got to visit both my and Jeff's work on the night he turned one month old. He got to be held by Barry, Dara, Michelle, and Stephanie and he weighed in at a whopping 9.24 pounds (4.2 kg), but then they had patients so we went to Jeff's work where he got to meet Lacey and Amanda...he slept through both places which was kind of surprising.
Finally got our air conditioner fixed, a part either fried from a power surge or it got struck by lightning in a bad storm we had...but life became better after that!
Week 5 was pretty uneventful, we stayed in most of it, but we had Grandparent time which was nice. Logan got to hang out with Grandma Paula and Grandpa Don while Jeff and I took a nap after we'd all gone and ate Chinese...well Logan got his a few hours later, he's still loving that processed food lol but it was nice. And it was so nice of Don to help Jeff mow the lawn since our mower's deck broke...I was losing Gwen right outside the door, the grass has been growing like crazy with all this rain!
Yesterday was the first day of week 6, we went to my doctor's appointment...it was good, I'm released so I can now start working on P90X...I've already lost everything I gained with pregnancy but I want to be in better shape, so Jeff and I are challenging each other to do it....seems straight forward enough...I'll update on progress. Then we went to Babies R Us and bought shoes for Logan to wear to my Dad's wedding to go with his outfit..glad he was wearing the outfit he'll be wearing that day because the shoes I was crazy about looked horrible with it so we got some cute little blue shoes. Then we went to Cheddars and he slept through it all.
Have to do more shopping today...later today...make some important phone calls....and then hopefully sleep....but it's 0200, and Logan is asleep so I'm going to get the laundry in the dryer and move him downstairs and we are going to go to bed.

3 weeks old and an innie!

2009-06-05T13:51:00.003-05:00

After my last blog, I changed Logan and he had lost his umbilical stump, so we now have an INNIE! It's too cute, haven't been brave enough to tub bathe him yet, he's doing ok with sponge baths for now lol. He smells like a baby so obviously it's working.
Definitely nocturnal, he wakes up between 0300-0400 and stays awake until 0500 or later....he's done this all week, so I'm getting used to it, not crying, not screaming just hanging out, so I lay him in bed with me and we cuddle. I know when he's older and able to loco-mote he won't want to be held and cuddled very much because there is just too much stuff to see and get into so I'm trying to get in as many now as I can.
Enjoying my time staring at this cute little face....his hands are getting pudgier and it's just wild to feel and see the differences in him in just 3 short short weeks!

3 weeks old tomorrow!

2009-06-03T18:01:00.003-05:00

Logan turns 3 weeks old tomorrow. He's still nice and mellow, although now he's starting to wake up around 0400 and stay up until 0500 or so, not crying or anything, he eats, gets his diaper changed and then just wants to be held while he looks around at the world.
He's gotten to meet a lot of people, he seems to do okay with meeting new people for now, although he's not a huge fan of people not knowing how he prefers to be held and then he gets fussy.
Here he is at the "Welcome Home Logan" barbecue at Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Jan's. Lots of people, great smoked chicken and barbecued brats, very tasty, of course he did have to have his re-processed but he didn't seem to mind.
This is after he'd had his clothes changed 3 times (we had some spit-up and pee issues) and he was finally asleep, the picture is a little grainy because I took this with my cellphone.

One of our 0400 hanging out sessions. How can anyone mind staying up to look at this face?

Worn out and napping in the nursery, we take a nap every day in the glider lol.

Another 0400 session, our little night owl! Thank God for Nuk binkies otherwise he's scratching his face with his hands trying to figure out how to suck on them.

And he is still in newborn diapers and clothes! Still has his umbilical cord stump, but it should be coming off any day now...he's growing so fast! But he still can't wear his 0-3 months clothes because they're too huge on him...soon though....of course he's too darn cute in his newborn stuff, yes I'll be crying when he outgrows them! But he has lots more cute clothes just waiting for him. Jeff is just waiting on him to be big enough to wear his "Army of Darkness" onesie....might have to buy a 0-3 one the one we have is a 3-6 month...thought he'd follow in our nephew and niece's footprints and be wearing 0-3 at birth, but the no sugar after week 24 diet from Dr. Lacey did help keep him small, and the weight off of me too! Our neighbor didn't realize we were pregnant, asked if we were babysitting when we brought him home one day when Jeff went to show him off, of course I slept pretty much all day every day while I was pregnant though and tried to stay out of the sun as well so they didn't see me that much. The neighbors with the pit bulls have finally moved out, thankfully. The dogs think he belongs to them, Hannah guards the Pack 'n Play at night and Gwen tries to eat anyone who comes near him....she'll have to start with the pinkie toe of course since she's so small herself lol.

One week old today!

2009-05-21T19:51:00.003-05:00

Wow! It's hard to believe that Logan's already one week old! Everything has been going really well. He had his first doctor appointment on Monday, he has to go back to be re-weighed tomorrow since he was 6 pounds 10 ounces on Monday which is down from his discharge weight of 6 pounds 11.9 ounces, but he's eating and needing his diaper changed like he should so I'm certain it'll be better tomorrow. He didn't even have to be checked for jaundice he looks so good! Tomorrow he also gets to go to Miami for the first time, but he rides great....just sleeps through it so it'll be good. Here he is when we were about to go for a ride. He prefers his Nuk binky to the one from the hospital, he spits that one out but keeps the Nuk in.

He sleeps really good, no not through the night, but he sleeps for at least an hour and a half at a time, normally more like 2 to 2 & 1/2 hours at night. Here he is in his crib, just sleeping away. He put his arms like that by the way, and kept them there for about an hour too.

And I FINALLY caught a smile! Ok, well a half smile but it's still a smile! He normally just smiles long enough for you to point the camera at him and then quits! So we have a bunch of straight-faces pics or smirks lol, but I caught one! Yes he's absolutely precious and I still get distracted looking at his little toes and fingers lol. Hard to believe something so small and fragile could completely change your life and how you think about things....but it does, it definitely does.

Logan is here!

2009-05-14T22:29:00.001-05:00

Introducing Logan Connor Strickland!!!

Logan Connor was born at 7:52 pm on May 14, 2009. He weighs 7 pounds and 0.004 ounces. He is 21 and 3/4 inches long. Everything went well other than him having his leg up on his chest with the cord wrapped around it when he came which explained why he was having some heart rate decelerations. But 30 minutes of pushing and he was out. I'll post pictures later. He seems to have reddish-brown hair and blue eyes so far, cute little ears, all of his fingers and toes. Just too cute for words.

Logan at about 4:30 in the morning, when he was about 9 hours old.

Logan at home while Daddy was holding him in the rocker.

Logan in his first outfit.

Logan right after he was born in Grandma's arms.

We've officially made it to May!

2009-05-02T23:50:00.002-05:00

We have officially made it to May! Woo-hoo! Now we're just counting down. Just a few more weeks, maybe less, we'll see.
Everything is looking good, and progressing like it's supposed to. I've even got the diaper bag packed to take him home from the hospital....I don't have the suitcase packed to GO to the hospital but I'm ready to take him home lol! I'm planning on packing that tonight....but I do have a list made....that's a big start for me.
So that's pretty much it for right now. Will update more...well...when I know more lol.

Week 35 appt/ultrasound, and nesting lol

2009-04-17T18:14:00.003-05:00

Wednesday was our week 35 appointment and last ultrasound, everything looks good, he's approximately 5-5 1/2 pounds right now which puts him in the 30-35 percentile for weight but he's appropriate for me and what I've gained and my amniotic fluid, so that's good, Dr. Lacey says as long as I behave myself that he should be about 7-7 1/2 pounds when he's born, I guess that means I'm not to indulge my urges for some Shake's Cookie Dough soft serve huh? *sigh* But I'm all for him fitting in his newborn diapers lol.
Here are his ultrasound pics.

He wasn't impressed with her messing with his foot, but you can count all 5 toes. He kept drawing his foot up when she was trying to measure it.

His chubby cheeks, he was sleeping when she did the ultrasound so you can see his eyelids lol. He's facing straight forward in this pic.

This pic is a little brighter, his hand is up by his cheek, but still sleeping.

She kept trying to get a clear shot of his foot and when she went back to his face after getting it he had covered his face completely with BOTH of his arm! I think he's going to be just as cranky as Jeff and I when he's woken lol!

I've been nesting lately, so today Paula and I tackled the kitchen and dining room, it was all day task almost because we re-arranged cupboards and cabinets and swept and mopped and just scrubbed. I also worked on the living room this morning....we *ahem* just took down our Christmas tree, but it's down and put up and I also vacuumed and moved the furniture to get underneath it. Plus I worked on the bathrooms, I'm still working on the upstairs one, but I've made a huge dent in it....have the dog shampoos organized and cleaners, it's nice. Still have to finish cleaning the master bathroom but I'll do that later. Then we only have to tackle the guest room which is our current storage room and straighten the office and the basement living room, so HUGE progress. That's pretty much all I've been doing, cleaning and nesting lol. Just need to pack the suitcase and the diaper bag the rest of the way to feel like I'm domestically ready.
Next doctor's appointment is next week, so lots of fun!.

Nursery pictures as promised!

2009-04-04T04:23:00.004-05:00

Ok, I keep getting nursery picture requests, so here they are....although we did re-arrange the furniture after these were taken lol. Here is the crib with the diaper organizer, and quilt and bumper pads and bed skirt that Grandma Paula made for Logan.

Here is a close-up of the safari toys from the baby shower that Aunt Sarah threw for Logan and the Bumper pad fasteners.

The crib.

Gwen guarding my lap from Rambo, he has his gorilla in his mouth, so she won't let him near me. Lol.

The dresser/changing table covered with Logan's presents from the baby shower.

We painted the walls, and touched up all of the trim, I'll post a few more organized pictures when it's all done. Just a few more things to do to it!

Next appointment/ultrasound

2009-03-28T03:47:00.002-05:00

Our appointment yesterday (the 27th) went well, his heart rate is good and he's head down or at least he was when the doctor felt him. Our next appointment is going to have our 35 weeks ultrasound too so it will be very early in the morning on April 15th, well it won't be that early considering I have to work the night before but it'll be early for Jeff lol.
The nursery is mostly finished just have to touch-up a few spots on the window trim but when we get that all done and dried I'll post some pics...oh and when we take the paint and painting stuff out of the room too lol. Yeah that might look a little tacky otherwise. But it looks great....of course I may be biased....I dunno.
Ok well that's pretty much it for now.

Almost week 32

2009-03-24T03:40:00.002-05:00

Well tomorrow is the beginning of week 32, exciting times. The nursery is mostly painted....we only have to touch up the trim since someone who is taller than I am kinda sorta painted the window trim a few times. Of course Gwen thinks it is her room, every time the door is opened she goes in and inspects it! I'll post some pictures after we repaint the window trim but it's called Aloe Green it's really pretty, looks great with the oak furniture we bought, and the white window and door trim.
Next doctor' s appointment is Friday morning, that will be fun because I have to work a funny shift (my last one! Thank God!) on Wednesday and then my normal shift on Thursday, then be at the doctor's office at 0900...yeah fun good times. Still taking the Protonix for now but it keeps the heartburn controlled so I can't complain.
Work is going good, of course the other RN who is due soon (she's due in April) and I are running bets on when we'll have ours since the one who was due in March had hers at the end of February....so we're wondering lol.
He's moving around a lot, getting hiccups, still dances to Josh Groban and Frank Sinatra, doesn't like it when I lay on my left side...which is just fine by me I prefer my right side anyways.
We gave Lia back to Craig, which was pretty rough but the others have been fine with it, and I know she's in a great home and having fun so that makes it easier. Rambo and Gwen have been pretty protective lately which is really quite funny when Gwen is guarding my lap and Rambo is wanting a back rub...she bites his ears and hangs off of them until he moves away from me lol. Hannah is well....Hannah, she doesn't seem to care one way or the other lol. Oh well.
Well that's pretty much it lately...so I'm off to play some solitaire.

28 weeks

2009-02-27T08:07:00.002-06:00

Week 27 was pretty uneventful, failed my sugar tolerance test, then took the 3 hour sugar tolerance test and passed that, how odd. But much better than a second failure. Everything looks right on schedule, and he's moving a LOT....pretty much if I am comfortable in bed he is squirming around like crazy, if I'm uncomfortable he is still.
Next doctor's appointment is March 27th, should get to schedule my ultrasound for the following appointment!
We have cleaned out the nursery, well most of it, I still need to clean out the closet completely, and steam clean the carpet a few times, then we're going to paint it before setting up the furniture, so it's all very exciting. Granted it does require me to have energy, which I don't have much of right now lol, but I think it's just because the weather has been crazy here lately, 80's one day then 20's the next....maybe snow on Saturday...we'll see.

26 weeks and counting

2009-02-11T14:32:00.002-06:00

Wow! The time is just seeming to FLY by...which is rather odd when you think about it. I'm 26 weeks today.....or 6 1/2 months....it crazy to think that in under 4 months Logan will be born, it feels like just yesterday that I found out and told Jeff!
We've ordered his crib, changing table/dresser and car seat/stroller, they'll be in around the end of this month, we're getting more excited as the time progresses, we're starting to look into buying some clothes but not going crazy buying them since we want to buy clothes that will fit, but I've started getting socks and bibs already.....then when we have a better idea as to how big he'll be we'll get clothes, contemplating just buying 3-6 month stuff and then if he's small enough picking up some newborn stuff after he makes his debut lol. We'll see.
Right now we're busy dealing with the renters next door and their aggressive pit bulls, which when we got our homeowners insurance they asked the breeds of pets we had, down to our CAT before they'd insure us, and I know they wouldn't have given us such a nice price if we'd had a German or pit or Doberman or anything like that. So we'll see. I'm not trying to start a breed war, I know pits can be wonderful and they are really intelligent and can be quite loving, HOWEVER you have to be the proper owner for the dog and not just toss them in the backyard and not bother to train or socialize them or anything. So I'm aware they can be good dogs, but these were not given the proper training, socialization, etc. that they needed to become what they could be, and they are very aggressive.
Well that's my update for today, going to go take my sugar tolerance test on the 19th, get my blood work and RhoGam done too, then our next appointment is the 23rd. Pretty soon I'll be having more frequent appointments, but I don't think that's until like 9 months or so, I have no clue, this is my first time on this ride lol. But I'll keep updating! Our next ultrasound should be around April 15th or so, but will have more information on that as time progresses.

February 5th, Happy Birthday Jeff!!!!

2009-02-06T03:42:00.003-06:00

So I'm writing this for February 5th, but I know it's the 6th now, I was perusing Wal-Mart when the day changed.
February 5th was Jeff's 27th birthday, I think he had a decent day, we went out for his birthday on the 4th since he had to work tonight, went to eat dinner, and saw "Gran Torino", really good movie, but made me cry. :-( But I won't ruin it for anyone, go watch it for yourself! Although it does have some strong language and violence in it so don't take the kids! Saw a preview for "The Soloist" that looks really good, I think we'll catch that when it opens, Jamie Foxx was playing a cello in the preview and as long as the music played Logan was still but when it stopped he'd move, so I think he liked it. Poor guy will probably be the only one in kindergarten singing Frank Sinatra instead of Barney or some other stuffed creature's songs.....THANK GOD!
We went to Don and Paula's today and I was leaning on the couch because I ate too much at lunch and Logan was invading my lung space, and I looked down and there was this huge lump in my side...well upon further inspection it was either his head...or his butt, not certain which but he left it there for awhile so I was letting everyone feel it which was pretty neat....and then he re-invaded my lung space. So that's pretty cool, I can figure out where he is now, he's a lot more active, which is good because I know he's doing ok, but bad because he wiggles and squirms and stretches while I'm trying to sleep so he wakes me up, but that's ok.
Get to go take my fasting sugar tolerance test on the 19th and get some bloodwork and my RhoGam shot *whimper* I'm going to the hospital where I work though because the last blood draw I had was sucky and I want someone who actually knows what they are doing with a needle drawing me this time. So I've already told my phlebotomist friends and they'll be there for me. My doctor's appointment is on the 23rd woo-hoo! We're at 25 weeks, only 1

January 26, 2009

2009-01-26T16:47:00.002-06:00

Well it is now sleeting and icy and just plain nasty outside, thankfully our doctor appointment was this morning not this afternoon!
The doctor appointment went well, he seemed pretty happy with my weight gain...or minimal weight gain I guess I should say, I've gained 8 pounds & 8/10ths per their records since I got pregnant, so from my last appointment to now they say I've gained 8/10ths of a pound, of course per my scale at work it's more like 3 or 4 pounds....but he's happy so I'll be happy.
He measured my uterus I'm at 27 cm.....which I don't think means a whole lot it's just my starting point so they can monitor how big Logan is getting.....Logan who decided I needed to wake up at 4 a.m. this morning and didn't let me go back to sleep before my appointment....so I gave up and took a bath. Logan's heart tones sound good, nice and steady starting to slow down a tad from where they were, but baby boys run slower than baby girls so that's to be expected.
Learned a whole bunch of things today, namely that I'm probably not being kicked in the bladder at work every time I have to make a mad dash to the bathroom, but that I'm contracting! :-O So now I'm supposed to monitor those and make certain I'm not doing that too much, he showed me what one felt like because I had one when I laid down for him to measure my uterus and dopple Logan's heart tones....here I was just thinking it was my abdominal muscles making a valiant effort to work! Lol! Ah well.
My sugar tolerance test is in 3 weeks, and I'm also supposed to eliminate free sugar from my diet which kind of sucks since I don't really eat sugar anymore, I mean once in a GREAT while I will have some ice cream or some chocolate milk that is mixed with mostly skim milk....but those...well that and Dr. Pepper are my only vices in the sugar world, so now I get to lose those too. How sad, but then again I'd like him to weigh about ummmm 6-7 pounds preferably less than 8....because I have been drooling over some cute little newborn outfits! We found one at Wal-Mart that is a little argyle sweater vest with a button down shirt and little khaki pants...Jeff would have bought it on the spot if I had an idea what size we needed to go home from the hospital in....I may just buy one in newborn and one in 0-3 months for the trip home....Jeff's already concerned about putting shoes on him....so I have no doubt that when he is born sometime before he comes home that Jeff will be taking a footprint and going and getting a pair of shoes for him! Ah well, I know he's excited, he likes to look at the baby clothes as much as I do....but he won't admit it lol.
Next appointment is at the end of February, I'm still trying to get all of my calendar information back into my phone since it freaked out and erased it all for me....how nice of it. That's all for now.

Week 22/23

2009-01-20T16:51:00.002-06:00

So far everything has been going good in terms of how I've been feeling, went off of my Protonix, tried Zantac for awhile now I've weaned myself down to Tums and Rolaids Soft Chews....it's seeming to work. Just have heartburn when I lay down or move too fast.
Feeling a LOT more movement, he seems to really enjoy Josh Groban and Frank Sinatra when I play them he just starts kicking and somersaulting like crazy.
The dogs have definitely figured out I'm pregnant, or at least Gwen has, if the others come near me with a rope tuggie she attacks them....they're not allowed to come near me unless I'm sitting and they're calm if they try to jump up or anything she attacks them! And considering she's 7 pounds and the next smallest is 28 pounds, it's a pretty funny sight! Sucha a ferocious little thing she is!
Next Doctor appointment is January 26th, so next Monday morning. I think I don't get another ultrasound until I'm 35 weeks roughly so sometime in April I think.
Now I'm just trying to figure out how best to paint the nursery. that may take awhile lol.

Nursery Theme

2009-01-06T15:42:00.002-06:00

Well our nursery theme has finally been decided! We're going with a safari theme mainly lions and elephants, we went and set up our registry at Babies R Us and also at Wal-Mart . Babies R Us has the nursery bedding set we've decided to go with. It's called Cocoa Baby by Lambs & Ivy and has soft earth tones like sage and green and browns we're both pretty excited. It's just too cute. So I'm debating painting the nursery room either a soft sage or maybe a tan, leaning more towards a soft tan I think, right now the room is off white but we're ready for a change. Lol. Of course our guest room is going to be moved to our spare room and the nursery will be put in the current guest room but it'll have plenty of room for everything.
Downside to registering is it's so hard to judge clothing sizes, we really didn't register for that many clothes because Jeff and his brothers were all 10 pound babies and his brother's son weighed 10 pounds 10 ounces when he was born....so we were worried we'd register for all of this 0-3 months clothes to discover he'll need 3-6 months at birth....well I guess there are no guarantees huh? So we're just not really choosing clothes yet, but we found some adorable outfits and sleepers and bibs, they have so much cute baby stuff anymore!
After browsing at several locations for a gliding rocker, we found one we like at our local furniture store Mills Park Centre, they are just wonderful, so nice and friendly and helpful! They ordered the glider for us so we got to choose the fabric and rocker style and wood type as well. I'm so excited! Of course it'll be a month before it comes in but by then I plan to have the guest room emptied out and repainted so all we have to do is start putting the nursery in. I have big plans we'll see if Logan will let me feel well enough to accomplish them lol. I've still been pretty exhausted but I'm starting to get some more energy. Who knows? I may nest and completely repaint the house! Perhaps not. We'll see.

It's a BOY!!!!

2009-01-01T20:32:00.005-06:00

Our 20 week appointment was on December 31st, we got our definitive ultrasound and Logan just decided to show the ultrasound tech exactly what he was!

She took some interesting pictures, you can see that his bones are ossifying and getting harder in them. You can see the bones in his forearm in this one.

Here he has his hand tucked under his chin....poor little guy, you'd think we were bothering him!

Here is a close-up of his face but she actually caught the lens of his eye in the picture, so that's what that odd ring in his eye is.....kinda cool but also a little different looking. She said that it looked really good.

And this is I think the cutest picture we got, he kicked his foot at the transducer and just kind of held it there, so you can even count all of his TOES! It was pretty neat.

The doctor says everything looks good, the spine looks nice and closed and he was wiggling both of his arms and legs so that's good, all the organs they could see look good too. He also said that we're right on track for a May 20, 2009 due date as well! So that's awesome! Jeff's pretty excited too, now we just get to make the important decisions like what what color to paint the nursery and what crib bedding to buy, I'm leaning towards rampant lions and elephants, Jeff found a sailboat set he likes.....but sailboats and lions don't mix or sailboats and elephants for that matter! Oh well we have a little more time to make a decision I guess. But I would welcome votes....

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T21:53:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Only one more week until the 20 week ultrasound! We're sooooo excited! Of course we have a REALLY strong idea as to what the baby is....but we're not telling!
Of course the only thing I'm thinking about Christmas wise is if someone is going to make deviled eggs so I can stuff myself on them.....hmmmmmn...will update that question later lol. So far that's been my only craving....deviled eggs.
Anyways, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

17 weeks

2008-12-12T15:15:00.002-06:00

Week 17 has been decent so far, only had heartburn once but I'd forgotten my Protonix the night before and only had to pay homage to the porcelain God once as well. Nose bleeds on the other hand, I've gotten about one a day so that sucks, have to go get another humidifier to put in the bedroom, even though we already have one...and it's going at full humidity and full blast....hmmmn.
The baby's moving around a lot more, well sometimes, especially if I lay on my stomach that seems to make the baby upset. I must have had a tumbling mat in there last night I felt somersaults almost all evening until I ate dinner. Now when I lay on my stomach it feels like laying on a cantaloupe instead of a small rock/boce ball. So I'm having issues only being able to sleep on my sides, if I sleep on my back I get stuck and can't turn over....now I know how a turtle feels....geez. Not even 1/2 way there and already can't turn over, how sad. And yes there is only one in there....so don't ask if it's multiples.

16 weeks

2008-12-03T08:08:00.005-06:00

Well 16 weeks today, so far, Protonix is a God-send, it's really knocked that projectile vomiting thing and heartburn hell way down. Still getting queasy occasionally but so much better than it was! Starting to feel movement...or at least I think it's movement lol. It happens so fast I'm not so sure all the time. Everything is doing good. Time to go eat some breakfast and go to bed. Night!

2008-11-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

The Baby....so far

2008-11-25T21:27:00.005-06:00

Well, tomorrow the baby will be 15 weeks old! So far we've seen the Ob twice, everything looks good, other than the RhoGam shot that is looming in my near future, a few more weeks before that though. Here are some ultrasound pictures that were taken on our first doctor visit...

The baby's heartbeat was about 169 BPM at 10+ weeks, nice and steady....that little dotted line going through the baby is showing where the heart is located. The head is on the left and the body is on the right.

The head is on the left, body on the right, the little white spot is a fist....I think anyways.

Pretty much like the last one but the body is a little clearer.

We have our official sonogram on December 31st to find out the baby's sex but we're already pretty certain (99.99999%) what it is however we're not telling! Anyways name choices are: Logan (Celtic for "Little Hollow") Connor (Irish for "Lover of Hounds") for a boy and Callista (Greek for "Most Beautiful") Abigail (Hebrew for "Father's Joy") and no we did NOT choose Callista after Calista Flockheart...it's a child's name from a book I read.
The estimated due date is May 20th, 2009.
Nursery themes are: Lions & Elephants for a boy (mostly lions) and Carousel Horses and Carebears for a girl.
I'll try to keep this updated pretty regularly and post new pictures when I can.