Thanksgiving 2012

James loved the fire pit at GG and Pops' house when it got dark after dinner! Aunt Cassie enjoyed her some James time :-)

I didn't want to take Logan out because he was a bit under the weather, so Gma Sharon (Brian's mom) played with him for a few minutes while I checked it all out.

 

Logan thought he was hysterical sitting in the booster when it wasn't attached to a chair. He chilled there for a good 20 minutes before getting antsy. We had a great trip and really enjoyed the extended time with family since we don't see them as often as we'd like to see them.

Brotherly Love

Even though it tends to be tough love, there is definitely love between these two brothers!


Hug Tackled



Lion Hugs



James being a helpful big brother at bed time...he loves to give Logan his bottle

Picnic after a dr. appt, just outside the office, we got some strange looks :-)

Halloween 2011 :: Execution

James was excited to go to school and dress up "in a costume" today. Logan and Mommy were able to join him for a parade through the attached school (which had all the students and faculty ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the Young Preschool and two tag along Infants' adorableness). I'm happy for maternity leave as Logan and I were able to get to school in time to participate as this is probably my only chance to attend an event like this because my school district usually schedules a Teacher Institute day on Halloween (and you don't miss those in these tough times of RIF-ing teachers). Ms. P told them all to grab a teacher or a buddy's hand and off we went! They were actually very good at walking and staying together, you can tell they've been practicing.
After the parade, Logan and I headed home for him to eat and to let James enjoy learning the rest of the day (they had dry erase boards and black paper w/ chalk out when I left for practicing writing skills; also, he was excited to get a turn wearing the astronaut dress-up as I believe they are talking about astronauts this week). The rest of the day was hectic trying to get things done at home, finish up a training session for school (didn't have to do them on maternity leave, but don't want my name on any "list," especially with a new principal who may not know I'm on leave) and then back to pick up James. Gma Chele was at home when we got back, she helped me get James into lion form and I moved a (finally) sleeping Logan into his puppy costume and into the stroller (had a tough afternoon). Daddy got home from work, got his camera and adult beverage and we were on our way for some trick-or-treating :-) Gma Chele was nice enough to stay at home with Easton and hand out our goodies so we didn't eat all the left overs :-) Uncle John surprised James with a visit too on his home from work!

Now the hunt begins for next year's costumes!

My Boys!

So the computer doesn't like it when I upload pics to my camera, email them to myself and then download them to the computer -- I keep getting these half-loaded pictures. Usually it corrects itself if I try it again, but honestly, this is the first time I've sat to blog in how long (Logan's almost 6 weeks old and these pics are from when he was 2 weeks) so I better just put them up and hope that one day I'll get around to fixing it. The important parts of the pictures are there for your viewing pleasure.
One of the million kisses Logan has gotten from his big brother James :-) So sweet!
Jimmy and his boys (Logan :: 2 weeks and James :: 2.5 years)

Logan's First Week

Logan's first week was filled with visits from family and friends and lots of sleeping (for him) and eating (also for him). He is eating about every 2 hours, which equals one tired Mommy, especially when he needs to be supplemented after each feeding (until next dr. visit) and then I have to pump to keep the milk supply up. Logan and Mommy have been staying downstairs as much as possible for Mommy's incision to heal from the c-section and to keep it a bit more quiet so James doesn't wake up at night. We have gotten into a nice little routine and my TV crush on Jimmy Fallon has been renewed :-)
Logan v. Teddy :: Week 1
Logan's belly is almost the size of Teddy's, must have just eaten!

Love those chubby cheeks -- just so darn kissable :-* MWAH

1st sponge bath from Daddy! We've been lucky enough that Jim could stay and work from home for the first two weeks. He has been amazing at doing pretty much everything non-Logan related around the house (and some of that even, too) and working almost a full day. What a trooper! We Love you, Jimmy/Daddy!!!

I sent Jim to the bi-annual re-sale they have in Hoffman with a very specific list. He did a fantastic job finding clothes for both boys (James and Logan are different seasons, so not all the hand-me-downs work this time around) and found this Maclaren double stroller at quite the bargain! Got it for under $100, normally at least $180 used and $290 new. Is very gently used and was only missing the rain cover and possibly a drink holder -- SCORE!!! James was soooo excited to share a stroller ride with his brother, so we attempted a family walk down the street before dinner on Sunday (James was restless from being trapped inside all day). The boys all did great, I only made it to the Wehrle's house and had to stop w/ belly pain and asthma (allergies have been nuts and it was my first time moving lots outside -- also put two and two together later to determine I'm probably allergic to tiger lilies, which were in the beautiful bouquet of flowers Jim and James got me in the hospital and was now in our kitchen -- kept wondering why it only triggered in the hospital and when by the kitchen sink! Happened with James too -- only breathing issues once those tiger lilies opened up)! I can't wait to use this stroller more, it did the trick!

Hospital Stay

We stayed a day less this time around, but Momma and Logan were ready to head home and start our adventure! (Obviously, not when the picture above was taken...this was the first time I had gotten out of bed - still had IV and catheter hooked up, yuckies)!

Gma Chele finally getting to hold Logan -- Gma and Uncle John only got to see Logan through the nursery window the night he was born -- hospital rules make pre-term babies stay in the nursery for observation for 6 hours before getting to meet people, which was way past visiting hours at 12:30am when we finally got to see him for more than a minute (even though his APGAR scores were good at 8 for 1-minute and 9 for 3-minutes, still have to follow protocol)

Uncle John doing double nephew duty :-)

One of the pictures that the professional picture people from the hospital staged with Logan in Jim's hand (thanks Amanda for snagging it)

Logan meets Aunt Jen

Meeting Aunt Amanda

Pops and his grandsons!!! What a handsome bunch!

Aunt Cassie and Logan getting aquainted

Living the Thug Life -- C$ is ready to go home (and not too happy about having real clothes on - which are a bit big since they told us he was going to be huge and only had 0-3 month clothes with us, haha)

Hi there, Lowgs, Momma loves you and that dark hair with light blue-grey eyes (hoping they stick around)

Logan passed his car seat test the night before (an 1.5 hour test all pre-37 week babies have to take which measures their oxygen levels while sitting in the car seat), so we're ready to go home!

Let the real fun begin! It was nice and calm outside with beautiful weather and not too many visitors at the hospital on a Sunday night at 7:45pm :-)

Finally Meeting Brother!!!

James kept right in stride with being a loving brother once Logan arrived. First thing he did when Jim brought him into the hospital room was announce "Mommy at doctor" and went straight over to give his brother a kiss. Logan probably gets +100 kisses a day because his brother is such a love bug (usually when Logan is sleeping, but we're working on it).
Working on "gentle" touches and leaving Logan's face alone (i.e. no honking his nose, haha)

Proud Big Brother!!!

Our first attempted family photo -- I'm sure there will be many more of these pictures as we have two squirm worms on our hands now to try and get to cooperate (not likely)

Jim (31 years), James (2.5 years) and Logan's (1 week) hands

Family Pics - August 2011

Jim set up our living room to be a home studio and got some awesome family pictures! I really wanted some family pictures with me pregnant (35 weeks here) and was starting to get worried that Cash wasn't going to cooperate! Whew, we got 'em! Good timing too because Walgreens had a promo running for discounts off of poster sized pictures -- got ourselves a new picture to update the scene over our engagement photo!
Lovin' from my Bug!

Belly shot

Proud Papa and Momma -- almost a 5 year anniversary picture, too!!!

July Randoms

Above :: light vs. dark colors
Below :: 1st drawing described to me by James as "Our Family" -- used the Doodle Bug app on my iTouch (I feel this one is a huge milestone, very proud)!

Practicing those fine motor skills with some stacking at school

Daddy making a James burrito with my yoga mat -- James thought it was a riot!

Trying to get a picture of him and Brother -- of course, kept missing the extra cute photo ops. I think I was about 34 weeks pregnant here.

"No pictures, Mommy"

Playing around with Dad

32 Weeks of Cookin' Cash

32 weeks of cookin' Cash = 1 huge Momma! Jim and I are convinced he's going to be bigger than James, although the weight gain is still right about even (12 lbs with 7 weeks left, perfect for a pound a week)! Went to the doctor on Tuesday, July 19 and all is looking good! Holding steady at 14cm of amniotic fluid (normal 10-25) and he is DEFINITELY a boy ;-) haha! He's moving around a ton and has finally flipped himself into the head-down position (thank you for a bit of breathing relief) although he's on the edge of my pelvis walls, pushing out a bit (not so much thank you for the continued pelvic pain). His heart rate is consistent, still at 146bpm (perfecto!) Going to appointments once a week now and non-stress tests starting in 2 weeks -- getting close, better get ready for C$ to come!!!
Jim won a lottery for 2 free tickets to the VIP opening of the new Rivers Casino. I was the lucky one to be his date, so we enjoyed a night of awesomeness (technically, there is a basement below it that has water in it to count as being on water) as James hung out with the Schillingers.

One of my favorite parts :: the parking garage has colored lights above each spot so you can tell if the spot is open or not without having to drive down the aisle (although I wouldn't trust them, some were green that had cars in them)!

They had some interesting characters walking around all night with plates of desserts and other samples. Something I over heard, the imported wooden design on the ceiling in this picture cost approximately $3 million.

The delicious desserts at the buffet -- we came back just before leaving for a re-tasting :-)

The way my VIP card hung made it look like Cash was the VIP and I was just the body who was transporting him around :-)

Fun Pics

Amanda was babysitting her nephew, Davin, so they came over for a play date. I don't know how, but they managed to squeeze themselves into this storage bin together :-)
The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but James was rockin' some SA-WEET hair when he woke up from his nap :-) Very Adams Family-esque
He loves going around both school and the house saying "I fixin' " and pretending to fix everything -- the loft, his mower, our ottomans -- all boy!

Playing with Daddy (BEWARE :: you never know when you'll be attacked by the jumping toddler)!