Pumpkin Patch 2012

Colin had another successful soccer game Saturday.  They won 3-1 and Colin scored all 3 goals!  The only game they have lost this season was the one I didn't go to, I'm starting to think either myself or this baby is his lucky charm!

Sunday, after religious education classes and church we all went to the Apple Orchard.  Unfortunately, all the apples have been picked for this season, so we just took the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch area.  The boys had fun picking their own pumpkins and Dennis stocked up in their store with some yummy treats (we had our minds set on apple pie...).

As for this week...I had my 28 week appointment.  Not much to report, all is looking good so far.  This baby is holding true to the myth that baby girls have a higher heart rate (it was 164), all my boys were much lower by now.  Now that we are in the third trimester we start appointments every 2 weeks.  I guess that is a sign we are getting close...

Logan and I are having a blast going to story time at the library on Tuesdays and the book store on Thursdays.  It has been really fun to have some alone time with him.  The only problem with story time at the bookstore is that Logan always wants to buy everything he sees.  Today he really wanted a stuffed owl.  I kept saying "No" and he kept saying "I want an owl Mommy".  Finally he whined, "But it's my birthday"!  I am not sure where he got that from!

Logan's 2 1/2 Year Well Checkup.

This week, Dennis has been in NY for meetings pertaining to his new position on the auto/risk side of the company.  Don't ask me what he does, because that is pretty much all I know.  Anyway, we are both a bit disappointed to be right back where we were a year or two ago...with Dennis traveling.  One of the main reasons we moved here was so that he wouldn't be traveling every month and now we are finding ourselves in the same position again.  Oh well, it is what it is, at least for now.

Actually, don't tell Dennis I said it, but things run pretty smoothly around here when he is traveling.  I think it has to do with me knowing I am alone, so I am better prepared.  I don't have any expectations that he will be the one to do baths or stories or clean something up, so I get myself ready way ahead of time and we aren't rushing.  We do miss his company of course, but everything works out okay.  Don't get me wrong though, I would love to move somewhere where he doesn't have to travel and settle there long term.  I know it will only get harder as we have 4 kids and more after school activities...

Yesterday, was Logan's 2 1/2 year well checkup at the pediatrician.  He was nervous at first when they called his name and he had to stand on the scale, but then he warmed up and was chatting away at the doctor.  In fact, when she was done with the exam, he asked her to check his legs and "feetsies", he couldn't understand why she didn't check every part of his body!  

Unfortunetly, the tears started again when he had to get a shot and the nasal flu spray.  But, before I could even get a tissue to wipe the tears, the nurse gave him a toy airplane and he stopped crying.   He has dropped in height and weight on the charts, but is around 50% for both (36in height and 31.2 lbs).  That is pretty normal for our kids, we aren't going to be raising the next NBA star. 

Logan at 2 1/2 is so much fun.  He talks a lot.  He knows what he wants and is very particular about what shirt he wears (if left up to him he would wear his Elmo or Yoda shirt everyday).  He loves to do whatever his big brothers do and is very affectionate with them, giving them hugs and kisses before they get on the bus in the mornings.  He sleeps like the other boys from about 7:45pm to 6:45am ish (give or take 15 minutes).  He still goes down for an afternoon nap from 1-3ish, but often doesn't fall asleep now.  I think being in the big boy bed is just too entertaining for him.  He usually just talks in there until I get him up around 3, but does occasionally fall asleep.  He does nap the 3 days he is at school.  He has fallen asleep on the couch a couple times while I am making dinner, so I know he still needs the naps. 

Potty training is going okay.  He will go most times I tell him to go, but isn't taking too much initiative himself yet.  I don't think he has figured out his body and when he has to go just yet.  In the meantime, he loves wearing pullups and his Mickey Mouse big boy underwear.  

Logan is a pretty good eater, but again, he knows what he wants and doesn't want.  He eats most fruit and some vegetables, but still seems to be partial to meat/chicken.  He loves to dip anything in Ranch or Ketchup or even eat Ketchup all on its own!  

Logan told the doctor he was having a baby sister and she was in Mommy's belly.  I wonder if he really knows what that means, but it is cute to hear him say it.  

He is just at a great age and is a lot of fun!

My 34th Birthday!

Last week I had was my 34th Birthday.  The actual day wasn't too much different than other Wednesdays, busy.  Dentist appointment, run errands, Evan's gymnastics and Colin's soccer.  Since we don't get home until 7 on these days I as usual, threw dinner in a crockpot so it would be ready when Dennis and Logan got home at 6 and us at 7.  Dennis did surprise me by leaving work early and making me a brownie "cake" with icing (He knows I love chocolate and would rather have a rich brownie over birthday cake).  

Saturday we had a babysitter and went to a nice restaurant, Recess.  The food was awesome and it had been a long time since we had gotten a sitter, so it was a nice treat (in fact this was the first time the sitter had seen me pregnant, so that shows how long it had been).  We are going to attempt to go out once a month until the baby comes, because we know it will be a very long time until we are able to go out again.

Evan Rides A Bike....

This was a pretty lazy weekend, but 2 big milestones did manage to occur...

First, Dennis bought Logan his first underwear (he picked Mickey Mouse).  He spent all Sunday wearing them.  Despite a couple accidents, he did go in the potty about 4 or 5 times.  He is no where near being potty trained.  He has yet to say he has to go and then sit on the potty and go, but he will sit on it when I tell him to and often does manage to pee a little.  He is so excited when he does go!

Next, we (by we I mean Dennis) finally got around to taking Evan to a parking lot to learn how to ride a 2 wheeler bike.  I warned Evan that he will fall a lot and not to be surprised if it takes a few trips before he learns to ride.  Well, Evan surprised us by picking it up right away!  Within just a few times he was able to ride the length of the parking lot!  Of course he still needs to work on his steering, he is still a little wobbly, but he picked it up super fast. He kept saying, "I know you are very impressed with me, right?"

While Dennis, Colin and Evan were at the parking lot, Logan and I spent some time playing with the sand box.  The rest of Sunday was pretty much just watching football.

Friday night the boys had a movie night, watching Star Wars with Dennis in the basement.  Saturday Colin had a soccer game, we watched the Hokies lose (boo) and then we had a nice family dinner out.  And that was pretty much our weekend.

Pee Pee In The Potty!

Evan continues to enjoy gymnastics.  His instructor today told me that he is doing really well and can sign up for the "Super boys" class next session if it works for our schedule.  This is a "by recommendation only" class, so that was pretty exciting.

Wednesday I also volunteered in Colin's class.  I told his teacher I could do one day a week until December.  It is fun to see how teachers manage the class as well as get to see my kid interacting with their teacher and class.  I am glad I get the opportunity to do it.  However, every time I leave there I definitely feel that I am so glad I never thought to become a teacher.  I don't think I am creative enough to think of all the fun ways to teach and I am certainly not too interested in all the cutting and projects.  And I certainly don't have the patience.

And so Evan doesn't read this one day and wonder why I didn't help in his class...I also told Evan's teacher I could help in his class, but she hasn't set up a schedule yet.

Logan in my opinion has grown so much over the last few months.  He talks, and talks, and talks (too many words to count now).  He is actually very similar to Evan.  He can say his own name now and can also kind of say Colin and Evan, but he still chooses to call them "Lo and E".  He is doing great in his big boy bed now.  Even though he can climb out easily, I still get woken up to him yelling "Mama, Mama, I awake!!!"  And when I say yell, I mean yell at the top of his lungs.

He has shown some interest in potty training, which is way ahead of his brothers at the same stage.  He will occasionally ask to sit on his potty, but nothing has come out, until last night!  He was so excited when he peed!  Now, I have potty trained boys enough to know that this could easily have been a fluke and it could still be many many months before he is potty trained.  But, it was cute anyway.  He doesn't seem as fearful of the potty as his brothers were, and is way more independent, so I am thinking that maybe he will potty train sooner than them.  He is also very stubborn though, so if he decides he doesn't want to one day then it could be a long time.  I guess we will have to wait and see.  It hasn't been something we have really tried to tackle yet.

Logan and I have been having a great time on the two days he is home with me.  On Tuesdays they have a story time at the library for 2 and 3 year olds that is real cute.  They read books and sing songs.  Logan is pretty shy and doesn't stand up and sing, but he does smile most of the time.  Then this Thursday we decided to try the story time at Barnes and Noble.  The lady reading the story was great.  They read a book about a boy who wanted to be a super hero and then the kids did a craft.  They all colored capes.  Logan was a little on the young side to fully participate and again was shy, but he did enjoy it.  I am trying to saver my time alone with him because I know it won't be long until I will have to split my time between him and the new baby.

The Bedroom Shuffle

My 6th month appointment well.  The appointments at this point last about 5 minutes and pretty much just involve the nurse listening to make sure the heartbeat is in a normal range (it was 152, which is just fine).  We have been thinking about names still, but haven't come to any conclusion.  I think we have our top 2, but I keep throwing out more ideas, to which Dennis usually says "no".  It will probably be down to the name we picked 8 years ago and another name that I have loved since high school.  At this point it might be a game time decision, because we don't seem to be any closer on deciding between the two.

Yesterday, I made the decision to quit my job.  Really, it was a pretty no brainer decision.  After one month of being "back to work", I hadn't gotten a call for a single patient.  Dennis and I decided that instead of sitting around waiting for a phone call to get a patient and it not coming, I might as well focus my time on other stuff.  I was hoping to get in some work hours toward my PT license before I quit in December, but it wasn't looking like that was going to happen anyway.  They have just been too slow.  With four kids to take care of, do homework with, and shuffle around to activities it seems to make the most sense for me to stay home with the new baby.  Especially with Dennis' new position requiring him to likely travel again.

When we moved to Indiana we had made the decision to make his job the priority.  I was hoping to still work some, but have not been very impressed with the job opportunities here and the standards they have for their therapists.  Maybe I have been looking in the wrong places, but as far as my job goes, it has definitely been a disappointment here.  It is hard to stop working though, because I worked hard to get my masters and my PT license.  It is a very hard to get in to PT school.  I have heard a couple doctors say they went to med school because they couldn't get in to PT school.  I did have to get a 4.0 through most of college to get myself here, so it is something I am proud of and hard to just give up on.  Also, if anything ever happened to Dennis, as a full time therapist we could still live off my salary if we needed to.  I like having that cushion.  But, for now I will take some time off and focus on family and just see what the future holds for us and reevaluate later if I want to go back.

The big highlight of the week was setting up the boys bunk beds.  Dennis spent Labor day putting it together.  Colin and Evan are now sharing a room, which is going well.  This meant Logan could move into his big boy bed (basically he just switched rooms and is now in Evan's old room and bed).  Logan was so excited to be in there, but I think he thought he was going to be sleeping with Evan, because as soon as it was time to go to sleep he panicked a bit.  It took several times of us going back in there and being reassuring but firm and he eventually fell asleep.  It was new for us to have to deal with any tears about a big boy bed, because both Colin and Evan made that transition easy when they were younger.  Luckily, day 2 went great and he fell right to sleep!  And, he has been fine ever since.

Today, we all went to Colin's soccer game.  When we got there we noticed the other team had an old classmate of Colin's, as well as three pretty good players from his previous seasons team.  I was nervous it might be a rough game for Colin's team, but I guess Colin's competitive nature kicked in against these kids he knew and he did awesome!  His team won 4-1, and Colin scored all 4 goals!  In fact, the only score the other team scored was during the last quarter when it was Colin's turn to sit out!  I still have no idea where he gets his competitiveness from or his soccer skills, but I do enjoy watching him.

While Dennis Is Away...

Movie night...

Wednesday was parents night for Colin.  Dennis relieved me at soccer practice so I could go.  Colin's teacher, Mrs. Lewis seems great. She has lots of experience and is very excited about her job.  She also raised 3 sons of her own and 3 step sons, so I know she should have no problem relating to boys.

Thursday morning Dennis left for Vegas before the rest of us woke up.  He is there until Sunday night for his best friend Jeremy's bachelor party (Dennis is the best man).  Luckily, our neighbor was willing to watch all 3 boys at her house so I could still make it to Evan's parents night that evening.  When I met Evan's teacher she told me that Evan said his dad was out of town and that he is friends with the president???  I have no idea why Evan made that up.  When I asked him, he said he was trying to trick her.  He is such a silly kid sometimes.  Evan's teacher, Mrs. Sizemore, seems sweet.  She is a younger teacher than Colin's, but Evan seems to really like her.

While Dennis has been away, I have been doing a ton of cleaning and organizing.  Friday the bunk beds and new furniture for Colin and Evan's room arrived.  I am itching to start getting the room set up, but since it is all sitting in the garage, it will have to wait until Dennis gets back.   In the meantime, the boys helped me by moving Logan's books into what will soon be his new room and putting Evan's books away for now.  I have also been going through the kids clothes to make sure they had the right sizes in their drawers and putting away what no longer fits.

Friday I met Evan for lunch at his school.  He was excited to see me, which was so cute.  We enjoyed talking to each other during lunch.  His teacher told me there were some tears after I left and that she held his hand walking back to class, but he recovered pretty quickly.  He is definitely becoming a more sensitive kid and is no longer the kid that doesn't get phased by anything.  I love that this school gives parents the opportunity to have lunch with their child whenever they would like.

I was hoping to spend the whole weekend at the pool, to enjoy it one last time before it closes for the year.  However, it is supposed to rain all weekend.  Since there is nothing worse than being out and about with 3 kids when it is pouring rain, we opted to stay in this weekend.  While I cleaned and did laundry, the boys helped me with a few little projects and some cleaning.  They also spent a lot of time playing together.  Days like this make me grateful for lots of kids.  Sure, it would be quieter with less kids, but at least they have each other to play with and keep entertained.  This left the "I'm bored" and "What is there to do" comments to a minimum.  We ended both Friday and Saturday with movie nights at home.  We are getting a little restless and I will have to be more creative tomorrow with stuff to do, but it's nice to have quiet weekends sometimes.

Logan has been talking a lot lately.  His language has just taken off over the last few months.  I heard "Mama what you doin'?"  many times today.  Except he says it with what sounds like an indian accent.

The boys have also kept themselves entertained by playing dress up....