Rocket Fizz Soda Shop

This was Logan's response when I said "SMILE!"

We made a quick stop at an old fashioned soda shop around the corner from Curtis and Renee's house before hopping back on I-5 to head home.

Logan immediately eyed a bucket of mini tootsie pops when we walked into the store and insisted on having one - which was fine by us that all he wanted was a mini pop in a store filled to the brim with sweets! (his father, on the other hand, bought several sweets for the drive home)

This is what Logan thinks of LA

Not impressed. ;-)

And we're off!

An hour later than we had planned but we're finally off! Logan has already forgotten about being cranky, once I handed him Daddy's iPhone, set up with a few movies for the road. ;-)

The Clueless Parent

You would think that some slight diarrhea and a mild temp (99.9) over the last couple of days would be a sign (instead we thought he was starting to get sick and have been watching him carefully since we're about to take off on a long road trip).

You would think that gnawing on his forefingers would be a sign (funny side story, he keeps holding up his index fingers saying "Owwwwie!" but nothing looks wrong - I guess chewing on them all day long can lead to sore fingers).

You would think that the loss in appetite would have been a sign (but c'mon now, he's already a picky eater, so we just look past a lot of the non-eating stuff).

You'd think that his increased punchiness this past week would have been a sign.

You'd think the instant overnight change from happy-to-play-by-himself-with-his-trains-and-cars to I MUST DESTROY EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE OR IN THE DRAWERS OR IN THE CABINETS THAT I CAN REACH would have been a sign.

But no. None of that clued us in.

It was finally this morning, as Logan was helping me fold and put away laundry, that I noticed it. I asked my son to hand me another hanger to hang up a blouse in the closet, and instead saw him gnawing on one end like it was a tasty treat.

Huh. That's strange.

Logan's 2-year molars have cut through. I can see the lower right and left ones very clearly with the four little white tips waving "Hi". The top ones are harder to see since he won't let me look into his mouth for too long - so I'm not sure how many we have coming in right now.

Just in time for our road trip (we leave in about an hour).

Wheeeeeee.

Boy have I been a crappy blogger!

It's been almost a week since my last post. Totally not like me but when I think about what happened between then and now I remember I was busy and exhausted every single night.

I hosted a large holiday dinner party for a number of our close friends on Saturday night. I spent the day cleaning house, doing chores and cooking. We played games that night and I was beat by the time I went to bed, about midnight.

The next day I was pretty sore from the previous day's activities. Besides the after-math clean up, we took down our Christmas tree and decorations. (sigh) We also went shopping and bought new towels (all towels were ruined by a kitchen sink "explosion" that happened at the last minute, in the middle of my cooking on Saturday night), as well as a new garbage disposal. Our last day of "vacation" was spent handling house chores.

This week Logan returned back to school and Jon and I returned back to work. It's been challenging adjusting everyone back to our daily routine but we eventually figured it out. Logan hasn't minded returning to school (Thank God!) but what has been an interesting (and absolutely wonderful!) change, is his excitement and thrill upon seeing me pick him up at the end of the day. Before, it'd be hit or miss if he was happy to see me or not. This week has been so great. The minute he sees me, he makes a run for me, grabbing and hugging my legs, and yelling "MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY!" I tell you Internets, it's the best feeling in the whole wide world and my heart just swells thinking about it. It makes me love being a parent more than anything.

Earlier this week I had a horrible nightmare. I'll spare you the gory details but essentially Logan was killed. In front of my very eyes. And I couldn't stop it in time. I screamed out but my voice was silent and gone. It was horrifying and although I knew immediately it was a dream, it still stopped my heart. The rest of the day, my memory taunted me with flashing images of that disturbing dream. I have always had pretty vivid dreams, and they were definitely more so when I was pregnant with Logan, but this one hit my core harder than any other has before. One of the not so great things about being a parent? (and being pregnant)

My body feels every pregnancy ache and stretch much more readily this time around and although I usually think I'll be just fine during delivery, I've lately been worried that I won't be as fit as last time and might have a harder time at it. Thus, I've started wearing my maternity support brace much more often (even though I hate it) and have scheduled appointments to return back to PT which I haven't been as religious about as I should have. Hopefully the change in attitude will help down the road.

The good news is, I just realized today, I have about 3 months left at the office before I slow down and work from home until the baby arrives. Having that sort of short deadline in front of me has given me a small new burst of energy! Yeehaw!

Tomorrow we leave for a quick weekend road trip down to LA to visit Jon's family and my brother. We haven't done a long road trip like this in some time, so it'll be interesting to see how Logan (and we) manage, given how much more active and mobile he has become. I'm also not sure how I'll fare with my growing belly and aching back. And because we're always up for a challenge, we are taking Lola with us as well.

Wish us luck - we will need it.

Spaghetti Squash

I thought this montage of photos showing you how big your baby is throughout the pregnancy, was pretty interesting.

So how far along am I? The baby is now about the size of a spaghetti squash.

Twenty Ten, Here we come!

Happy New Year to all!! We rang in the new year last night with a number of our best and closest friends. Jenn prepared a wonderful yummy feast and the kids kept busy giving each other "sleigh rides" on Jamie's sleeping bag in the hallway (unfortunately my iPhone doesn't take great action shots, but you get the idea).




We successfully put all 6 kids down without issue, under one roof! What a great way to start off the new year is what I say. :) After the kids were asleep, the adults played a few games, talked and tried to stay awake to see the ball drop. ;-)


Today is also my dad's birthday - Happy Birthday Zabuton!! :)


We hope everyone has a wonderful Twenty Ten - I know we will! Of course, our biggest event to look forward to is the arrival of Logan's baby brother. We are so very excited and can't wait to meet him!! Hope everyone has a healthy and prosperous new year. :)