Pumpkin Painting and Carving!

We painted and carved our Halloween pumpkins the other night. This year we had Logan paint his pumpkin, we figured that would be more fun for him and that way it was truly something he did. Logan has never done the whole carving of the pumpkin, his first Halloween he was only 2 weeks old so I did his pumpkin for him and stuck on of his binky's in it. Last year only Matt and I carved, it was all very last minute since we had just moved and the house was a disaster zone. So Logan got to experience his part of Halloween for the first time. Logan took to painting his pumpkin right away. He was very serious about the whole thing and his pumpkin turned out really cute.

Matt and I carved our pumpkins later that night after Logan went to bed. A tradition we have been taking part in for the last 10 years! I went with a cute face and Matt having just gotten an archery set for his birthday, decided on a pumpkin who crossed Matt while he was practicing...

Happy Halloween!!

Update on Brandi

Several people have asked me if I have had my post D&C blood work up yet, and the answer to that is: this Thursday. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it this cycle, things were a little goofy timing wise, but it all worked out and I am able to get into the doctor at the right time in my cycle for the work up.
They will be checking my post ovulation progesterone level. The doctor wants to take a look at my progesterone level while not pregnant to see if I have a problem that is not pregnancy related. I have a family history of progesterone problems, so if I have it too, the doctor can then decided ahead of time when he wants me to start the progesterone in relation to getting pregnant. I may have to take the shots or the pill before I conceive, as it is most helpful at that point, which I learned when I went on it with my last pregnancy, usually by the time you start bleeding it is to late for the progesterone pill.
So we all want to be prepared next time, and while the side effects of the progesterone are no fun, it pails in comparison to having a healthy full term pregnancy. I should hopefully be able to get the results the next day, and I hope to get the results of the pathology from my loss. I am sure they didn't find anything important since I never was called with the results, but I know they ran tests since we got a bill for it. If nothing it will just confirm it was a random chromosomal occurrence or a progesterone issue.
That's all for now!

Happy 26th Birthday Matt!

Sunday was Matt's golden birthday (he turned 26 on the 26th) and he celebrated with a laid back day at home with the family. I made breakfast for Matt and in the process set off the smoke alarm which set of Logan which woke Matt up, so he didn't get to sleep in as late as he wanted, but he did get to sleep in a little which is what he wanted. For the record I didn't burn anything, the smoke from the sausage set off the alarm because I forgot to put the range hood on. Matt hung around with Logan while I did some cooking and cleaning for when our families came over in the afternoon. Matt got some great gifts and we thank all our family for coming out and celebrating with us. After the party, we fed Logan some dinner and got him off to bed early since he didn't take a nap earlier and Matt and I ordered some sushi and watched a movie. Matt enjoyed his day, and I am happy did, he works so hard for Logan and I and has given me the wonderful gift of being able to stay at home with Logan for the past two years, so I always like to make his birthday special, since he does so much for our family. Logan and I got Matt an archery set, which he has expressed interest in a few months back, I think he really likes it since he would not put the bow down all night, I think he was really itching to give it a try. Anyway, happy birthday to the best husband and father in the world!

Pumpkin Farm Time!

This past Friday we took Logan out to Gobberts Pumpkin Farm to pick out some pumpkins for Halloween. We took Logan to the same pumpkin farm last year so I guess we are starting a tradition. I went there when I was younger both with my family and school so it's fun to take Logan to the same place.

Of course the first thing Logan found was the bug train so we spent a good amount of time playing with the train.

Next we went into the Animal Land they set up during the Fall Festival at Gobberts. They had all kinds of animals to look at. Logan liked the ducks of course and the cow and pigs. He was a little afraid of being really close to some of the animals, but I think he stilled enjoyed it.

Logan and Matt had some fun in the hay maze, and we took some fun pictures of Logan.

Then it was off to play on the train again, and then pick out some pumpkins. Logan wasn't too into picking out pumpkins, but he showed some interest in the small pumpkins and when he picked one out he tried to eat it, it was funny. I picked out some neat gourds and corn to make a center piece for Fall/ Thanksgiving. We took some pictures of Logan by the big charters, he saw his favorite Toy Story friends and Elmo, and waited for the Great Pumpkin again.

We had a fun time at the Pumpkin Patch before we left we took a picture of Logan waiting for the Great Pumpkin, a picture we took last years as well, so here are the two pictures of Logan waiting for that darn Great Pumpkin!

2008

2007

Of course before we left we got some more apple cider and Matt found some dill pickle popcorn seasonings and being the big popcorn lovers we are, we had to try it. Verdict: I loved it, Matt not so much.

A Wonderful Fall Weekend in WI

This past weekend we took our last trip up to my families place in WI (the farm as we call it) for the season. Matt and I always love going up in the fall, and it has actually been 3 years since we have done so, it was nice to be back in the crisp fall weather with all the trees changing, and of course the yummy apples and apple cider that fall brings.

We left on Friday after Logan’s OT session, and of course after we were up on the expressway, luckily not to far, I had realized we did not have Logan’s Ducky, so back home we turned to get it. There was no way we were going to brave a weekend without Logan’s lovie! So we got up there later than planned but no worries.

Friday night was interesting however, Logan has been fighting a cold and it was in the coughing at night stage last weekend so with the heat and smoke from the fireplace and wood stove it was making Logan cough. He woke up at 2:30 I think and would not go back to bed, the coughing was keeping him up. So we bundled him up and ourselves and went out for a drive in hopes the cold air and the dive would put Logan back to sleep, which it did. Matt drove us all over, it was really foggy so we were glad we had our GPS or we would have been lost in the country up there. When we got back to the farm, we did not want to wake up Logan so we kept the car running and slept in the car for over an hour. I got to see the sun start coming up over the hills of our property which would have been romantic of Matt was up, but he was happily asleep next to me. Once we went back in the house Logan feel right asleep so we did get a little more sleep which was nice.

Saturday we picked apples from our own apple trees. Matt did most of it, and Logan was helping of course. Logan loves apples so he a few while the picking was going on. Logan loved climbing up and down the ladder, and wanted to get up in the tree with Daddy.

Later on Saturday we went out to Gays Mills, a town full of apple orchards, in which we stopped at two, to get some yummy salsa’s, cider, apple pie & other wonderful fall treats. Logan was sleeping through most of the fun though, but that is OK, he was tired.

Logan had fun being outside all weekend, running around, exploring, and doing some 4 wheeling! It was a nice relaxing weekend, after the crazy birthday weekend the week before. All good things come to an end though and Sunday we headed home, with a detour in Dundee so I could make my skating lesson, Logan got to watch some figure skaters and he seemed some what interested for a brief moment. Next year he can get out on the ice with Mommy!

Neurology Update

Logan's neurology evaluation will be November 3rd at 10am at Lutheran General's Children's Hospital. I was recommended to a great neurologist that works out of LGH by a Mommy friend of mine, but she was booked until December 15th, which was way to long for us to wait. Their next free appointment with another neurologist was November 24th, but as we were talking, she had a cancellation pop up for November 3rd with one of the neurologists from the practice that I was recommended to, so we took it. We are thankful that we won't have to wait too long for answers this time. People have been asking what the possible issues are, and the first issue which was brought up a year ago would be fluid on the brain which is called hydrocephalus. The other possible problems that were brought up were genetic syndromes and brain structure abnormalities. Logan's sudden jump off of his distinct head size curve along with his developmental delays are what is prompting the evaluation. Of course the two issues are most likely we hope, not related and Logan just takes after Matt in head size. We would have done this after his 18 month appointment but it was not seen as necessary at the time because he was still following his own head size curve that he had been on since birth. We trust Logan's doctor 100% and are very glad she is proactive about the situation. She was right on about his developmental delays, and was always mindful and making sure we were following up with Logan's former cardiologist. Several people have asked if we are going to get a second opinion, and the answer to that is no. It would always be in the back of our head and we don't want to live like that, always wondering what if. Please keep Logan in your prayers that the evaluation won't lead to a CT scan and if it does that nothing is found to be wrong.

Logan's 2 Year Check-Up

I took Logan for his 2 yr check-up today and other than his developmental delays that we know about, his doctor was once again concerned about his head size (for those that don't remember he has always had a large head but he has been off the chart since before he was a year) and he is no longer following his curve his head size jumped way up and off his curve at 53 1/2 cm. This jump in size along with his developmental delays is concerning her again and she wants him to be evaluated by a neurologist and let him/her decide wether or not he needs the CT scan to check for fluid/brain structure issues (which is what she wanted to have done after his 18 month if there was a significant jump but there wasn't)
She started asking me all these questions about my pregnancy/delivery with Logan and stuff about our families, so I know she is way more concerned than the first time she brought it up. She started talking about possible genetic issues etc, and then at the same time it could be nothing, since Matt has a HUGE head.
She told me the best neurologist's are at Children's Memorial downtown, but I asked her if there are good ones at Lutheran General as that is where he has always gone for speciality stuff and obviously was born there and I would rather keep all is medical information and care at one hospital. So we are going to give LGH a try first we have always been happy with the care both Logan and myself have gotten there and I know they have a great children's hospital and not to mention it's only five minutes away from us.

Please say a prayer for Logan, he doesn't deserve this or anything else he has gone through in his short 2 years.
Other stats: 31.5 pounds 37 3/4 height (she also made a comment about his height and was asking how tall Matt is and the men in our family are, he was 34 in at 18 months and I don't think this is right, I am going to try to measure him at home, because he doesn't fit in a bunch of 2T pants and if he is really that long he should fit in them.)
53 1/2cm head

I will update when we have more information about his evaluation.

Logan's 2nd Birthday

Our sweet little baby has turned into a fun, loving, busy two year old boy! We celebrated Logan’s 2nd Birthday this past weekend with a Monkey themed birthday party on Saturday and a fun day with Mom and Dad on Sunday (his real birthday). It’s hard to believe that he is two years old already, we really have no idea where the time went. I still feel like he was just born, yet I can barely remember what it was like to have a baby. Logan’s birth was nothing like we expected and the week following his birth was at that time the hardest week of our lives. When Logan’s birthday rolls around it brings back all those wonderful and scary memories but it was all worth to have our little man here with us. It has been a wonderful two years being parents and we are so greatful to have Logan in our lives.

I started planning Logan’s party awhile ago, I knew I wanted to do a monkey theme, I figured this would be the last year I get to pick the theme for his birthday party. I researched and came up with some fun ideas to make the party a smash!

My first project was making the monkey goody bags for the kids (the big kids also got one since everything came in a pack of 12 from Oriental Trading)

Next came the cake which my Mom helped me with since she is way more artistic than I. It took three cake mixes and a good six hours (and one shopping trip) to finish, but it was worth it, the cakes came out perfect!

I made monkey face cupcakes to go with the cake and we made a mini monkey face for Logan to eat.

I used lot’s of blow up monkey’s and a monkey theme birthday set I found on-line for the finishing touches.

I also made some yummy Monkey Munch (also known as Puppy Chow) for the party and for a favor along with a recipe card for everyone to take home.

I think Logan had a pretty good time at his party, he was excited that morning when he saw all the decorations and he kept yelling out “2” since they were all over the house. Of course being a big two year old he had his moments at the party but that was expected. Everyone has told me how nice the party was and what a good job we did, so I am glad it was fun for everyone.

Logan ate his cake after everyone left, he loved it of course!

Logan’s Favorite present was his new train table from Mommy and Daddy.

On Sunday which was Logan’s real birthday we took him out to lunch at the Choo Choo here in Des Plaines. It has been around forever, I use to eat there when I was little. It’s an old style diner and there is a train that runs around it and brings you out your food. Logan was feeling a little under the weather but he loved watching the train go around, but he didn’t want to eat much other than his chocolate milk.

We opened more presents on Sunday and then Logan tried out his new quad from Grandma and Grandpa Kois, which at first he would hold the button to make it go and run along side it, but eventually we got him on it and he loved it! We just need to work on steering now…

All in all it was a fun weekend and Logan had fun which is all that matters. Now on to birthday number three!!