happy feet

No, not the movie. These feet...

These feet are perfect. They haven't grown since the day she was born, literally. They are so tiny. The smallest size shoe is still too big. I love her small feet. They smell, they really do, but I love it. These feet are ticklish, and full of good kisses to steal.

tiny, stinky, beautiful, sandy feet are the best. 

 

She loved her toes in the sand. O the places these feet go.  

mama da ma dada ma

Update: Just so you know - Logan slept all night!!!

That is the sounds Cody and I are currently listening too - from Logan. Crying in her crib. Sounds horrible doesn't it? We both have been in her room, rocked her, held her, cuddled her. Nothing is wrong with her. She is not deprived of attention, nor is she sick - checked that yesterday. She is simply wanting us to come get her, rescue her from her horrible crib. We are going to attempt to do a modified version of "cry-it-out." It's horrible. I think it is strange that we are having to do "sleep training" at almost 11 months old. Logan has always been a perfect sleeper, she trained herself to sleep through the night from about 3 months on. Maybe by the time I finish doing this post she will be asleep.....this may be a long post.

She's quiet right now...

Tomorrow is the big day for Cody's dad! He will be coming home in the morning - I know he is so excited. This has been such a long road for him, and everyone. A couple of months ago, we did not know if this would ever be a possibility. I know he will be relieved to be in his own environment, surrounded by his own things. He will not know what to do without a roomate. she's still quiet. could she really be asleep? We wen't today and got his bed/room all set up. We are anxious to have him at home so he can watch Logan play!

She is asleep. Wow - that wasn't as bad as I expected. About 15 minutes. Anyone with experience with seperation anxiety - tips, hints?

We are off to watch SwampLoggers - (however that's spelled or written). I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself. It is our Friday night TV show. We are so exciting.

Over the last few days, Logan has been increasingly "clingy" to Cody and I. Yesterday; she was whiny and especially clingy to me, not really her usual behavior. Last night, she woke up screaming. I went and got her, she immediately hushed. I rocked her for a while (this is how she normally goes to sleep) and she never would close her eyes - but the rest of her body appeared to be asleep - limp limbs, even breathing, etc...So I tried to lay her down, with no such luck. Over the next three hours, Logan fought sleep terribly. I tried everything. I rocked, sang, shhh'd, talked, bounced, patted, and let her cry (yes, I realize I could have let her "cry-it-out", and she would have undoubtedly made herself throw up, and yes, I know I could have left her and she would have eventually fallen asleep; but I'm just not that strong). If she let her eyes fall shut, then her hand would start patting. If her hand stopped patting and fell, her foot started tapping. Anything to not fall asleep. It was wonderful cuddling with her, but at 2am, I was desperate for her to go to sleep! After several failed attempts at getting her back to sleep, (I could get her to sleep, but she woke up when I laid her down and walked out of the room. She kept a tightly clinched fist around the neck of my shirt, not letting go) I laid her down, she whimpered (not screamed), I walked out. After about 15 minutes of whimpering, she hushed. I never heard another noise. Thank you Lord.

This episode warranted a trip to the doctor. Not because, "my child doesn't sleep through the night!" but because this is not her normal behavior. She usually sleeps 11-12 hours a night with minimal interruptions. We took her in, and she checks out perfect!!! Apparently, she is just at the right age for "separation anxiety." I am glad, however, that she is not sick. She had fun at the doctor - she usually does.

I love the scrunchy face. It's attractive. Maybe the doctor will think so.

Hope she did, because Logan obviously thought she would love it.

We love Dr. H!

After our fun, uneventful trip to the doctor, it was therapy time! Logan is doing better crossing her midline, but still has a saggy tummy! Silly girl. She tried different ways to encourage Logan to play on all fours with her tummy up, Logan loved it - Not. Maybe over the next few weeks she will develop an interest. We have an appt. next Thursday for a speech evaluation with Children's.

Am I going in the right direction Dad?

Cody's dad comes home Saturday - Welcome Home Brian! Hope everyone has a good weekend.

my little girl

my little girl

melts my heart

each

and every

time

I see

her beautiful, serious, smiling, happy-go-lucky,

 silly, energetic, perfect self.

Stuff

UPDATE:
Logan had her evaluation this morning. The lady came to the house, it was very nice. Logan qualified for several of the programs Babies Can't Wait offers. Am I glad she qualified? No, but I am happy that there are services available to help her. Logan was delayed in; gross motor, fine motor, communication, problem solving as well as personal/social. Someone will call us in the next few day to set up a more in depth evaluation. We will see where that leads us - She is napping, she is always tired after any type of therapy, it's hard work!


This afternoon Logan and I went to visit a friend who has recently had a baby. Her baby is beautiful and I enjoyed being able to spend time with them. Logan was great - entertained herself playing in her diaper bag. It is her new favorite thing to do. She is so nosey.

She is always peeking her head around to see what's going on

Tomorrow Logan will be having a Babies Can't Wait evaluation.  I am not real sure what the evaluation consists of. I know they will test her in all areas of development and see if she qualifies for any of their services. For development, doctors/therapists go by her adjusted age, because it is not fair to judge her on her actual age, because she is not supposed to be that old - does that make sense? The problem comes when she falls behind her adjusted age. She is receiving rehab services at Children's and we are very pleased. The evaluation tomorrow is just to see if she would qualify if we were to need them in the future. Let's pray it goes well.

Memory Lane Monday

I love the title - stole it from Lindsey's blog. She won't mind :-)

When I saw the title of her post, I couldn't help but think what I was doing this time last year. This time last year, I was pregnant with Logan - about 26 weeks. We were incredibly excited - couldn't wait to see what she looked like. We just knew she would be beautiful, no matter what. As I looked through pictures to post tonight (because I know you really want the pics), I stumbled along some ultrasound pictures. Lo and behold, a year ago today, we had a 3D ultrasound of Logan. We didn't get the best pictures because she was so low (we later found out that was because she was getting ready to come!). These pictures are precious to me; hope you enjoy them as well.

Can you make out her face?

She is yawning in this picture - see it?

I love all the memories I have, and I am loving making new ones.

big girl

Remember this post? Notice how she is pulling down on the bumper pad? Notice that she is still laying down?

Not anymore...

This is how we found Logan the other day after her nap! Her crib looks huge compared to her. Needless to say, Cody lowered her crib, again. Poor baby, can't get ahead.

 She has been eating really well lately. Friday night, she had stuffed shells. Have you ever had them? They are large pasta shells stuff with ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese (and some other stuff). Let me tell you, they are delicious. If you haven't tried them, do. Venture out - you will appreciate it. Logan loved it. She also liked spinach. She is turning into a good eater - I hope it last. Speaking of food, Logan is still learning to feed herself finger foods. She is doing well, it's cute to watch her.

Please pay no attention to her Christmas pajamas - I know it's January, and Christmas is over. Sorry.

I hope everyone had a great weekend

thankful

Today, I am thankful for a beautiful little girl that smiles when you walk in the room, and gives kisses on the cheek. I am thankful that I woke up this morning and put my feet on the floor. I am thankful for a supportive husband. I am also thankful for a supportive family. My parents are amazing. I am also thankful for supportive church families.

Tonight, we attended a benefit for Cody's dad, Brian and his wife, Tina. The benefit was to help with medical bills since the accident, as this is a long road to recovery. To say it was, "overwhelming," is an understatement. The amount of people that showed up to support this family, was amazing. The place was overflowing with people and love. People were having to leave in order for new people to have a place to park. The groups that sang were wonderful and a true blessing to everyone there. To the people that worked so hard to put this on, thank you. To the people who came, thank you. We are truly grateful.

wordless

bed rest

Top howevermanyreasons you know you were on bed rest for too long

Disclaimer: This is long. There are a lot of reasons, 22 to be exact, and I'm just getting started.

You call to order your meal, (in one of the largest hospitals in Atlanta) and the lady who answers knows who you are. No name, no room number, no nothing. She also knows you are not a big fan of breakfast, not to force it.

Every tech that comes to get your weight, every morning (Yes, every morning, first thing) knows to cover the screen so you don’t have to see it.

If your nurse comes in before you want her too, you pretend to be asleep.

You have “pet therapy” once a week, and you don’t even really care for dogs. You also begin to have weekly visitors.

You know every nurse by name, and what they are doing when they get off shift. You even begin to ask how their families are.

You have watched every rerun of Law and Order (SVU is my favorite), and feel sort of disgusted when someone interrupts an episode, even though you’ve seen it before.

You get excited when they change the light colors on the King and Queen Towers. (Only for people in Atlanta who are lucky enough to have a room with a view.)

Look forward to “beef tips and rice” night for dinner. It was Wednesday's.

When you’re being monitored, and the baby moves away from the monitor - you don’t call the nurse, silly. You find the baby again yourself.

You tell the nurse where your veins are, and not to fish, stick again.

You have your own bed sheets and comforter, in a hospital bed.

You look forward to “shower days.”

A doctor that comes around weekly exclaims each time, “You’re still here!”

The acrylic nails (pink and white, actually) that you just got filled in (the day before you were admitted) need filled in so terribly bad, they are about to grow off. You begin searching for mobile manicure companies. There are none out there that do acrylic, FYI.

You got a ten minute wheelchair ride to go outside for some fresh air. Ten minutes is up before you even get outside.

Your husband’s air mattress, on the floor, makes a lot of noise at night.

Nurses and staff come to hang out in your room when they are on break (and even when they are not) because they need a break, and you’re the cool room-only because they know you personally because you have been there for so long.

You are awake in the middle of the night before the nurse comes in to wake you to take medication. You can sit up in bed, reach for your water cup, have your blood pressure taken, and take a pill from the nurse’s hand, sip, and swallow – all with your eyes still shut.

You have music therapy. Enough said.

You start to estimate how many cc’s you urinated (I know, gross) because you are tired of peeing in a hat. And you’re actually quite good at it.

When there is a tornado warning, which is the only time you have been in the hall, you see every woman in the hall is sitting reclined in their wheelchair to keep pressure off the cervix. Lovely sight.

You make a howevermanyreason list, so you will always remember your hospital stay!

schedule

In the beginning, Logan was on the NICU schedule - up every three hours, no matter what! After we came home, Logan was held a lot, and got used to "cat napping." When she napped, she slept on us. When she ate, we held her. For the first few months, she was colicky, so during the day when she was awake (and not screaming) we held her ALL the time! And no, I do NOT regret this. I LOVED this. However, when Logan got old enough to "fight sleep," and she would only sleep 15 minutes if you were holding her; she was misererable due to lack of sleep, we knew we had to do something.

I decided it was best if Logan was on a schedule, and not feeding/sleeping on demand. I decided no matter what, she would get up at 7:30 in the mornings, even if she was sleeping. Never wake a sleeping baby! Not me, I woke the little booger up every morning. Soon, she began waking herself between 7-7:30, and currently still does. She takes a bottle and plays. About two hours later, she goes down for a nap. We essentially follow a 2-3-4 schedule. Two hours after the child awakes, they take a nap. Three hours after the child awakes, they take another nap. Four hours later, they go down for the night. This schedule works extremely well for us.

It even worked for us at the beach. See what happens when your out at nap time!?!?!? She was so relaxed, she fell asleep in her float!

We are making an attempt at transitioning Logan (not 100%, more of an introduction) from 100% baby food purees, to doing some table food as well. She really enjoys table food. However, if she solely eats table food, this will significantly cut down on her number of calories, so we are still doing purees, which she is enjoying too! When we started the schedule, she cut out one of her bottles (on her own) and eats only solids for dinner. She has now cut out another bottle, and is eating lunch. What a big girl.

new toys

We went to Target today (surprise!). While there, Logan got some cool stuff. She loves to shop. Really, she does. Look what she got.

Look what she did next...

She surprises me everyday.

We purchased these blocks upon recommendation of the occupational therapist. She gave us several exercises to do with them. Logan is supposed to be exploring new textures, and develop her fine motor skills. With the block, she is to "bang, bang, bang!" Also, she is to bang them togeher. Today, we just explored with them. She explored with her mouth mostly. We are also supposed to attempt PlayDoh.  PlayDoh with a 10month old?? I'm looking forward to that.

Logan also got a swing! She LOVES it! She stayed outside (her favorite place) for about 30 minutes swinging.

That is her new face. It is hysterical. She scrunches up her face, squints her eyes, pokes those lips out, and sniffs. It gets me every time.

On a serious note, would everyone please remember my husband's family in prayer. His father, Brian, will be discharged home at the end of this month. While we are excited he will be in his own environment, a lot goes into this. Also, Pop (Cody's grandfather) was recently admitted into a nursing home due to Alzheimer's Disease. This has been a difficult transition. While saying your prayers, remember them please.

toothless prisoner & therapy

What do you do when you hear your child crying from their crib? Why, any decent mother rushes to go get their child!! Or, get the camera.

Poor little Logan, my toothless prisoner. Behind bars and cannot get out. Isn't this pitiful?!? For some odd reason I find it a little cute, so I took pictures :-)

Just so you know, I did not let her cry for long. Just long enough for me to take a picture (or a few).

On a different note, Logan had an OT (occupational therapy) evaluation today. She did really well during it; however her score indicated she is slightly delayed. We expected this. She sent us home with some really fun exercises that we are anxious to try. We are not going to do "treatment" at this point because the PT is more important right now, and insurance doesn't pay for both, lovely.Thankfully, both therapist work together, and the OT can check on Logan often to make sure she is not going to get further behind. She also is going to refer us to speech therapy. Speech Therapists deal with all things oral, not just vocal skills. Should Logan qualify, this would help her with different textures/liquids going in her mouth. More on that later. She did very well, and we were proud of her, as always!

so serious

seriously beautiful.

car seat

Logan has never been a big fan of her car seat. She usually screams like a mad woman when we put her in it (she is actually getting better).We have checked everything, nothing is hurting her. Not sure if she doesn’t like being backwards or what it is. My gut instinct tells me the only problem that she has with her car seat is that she is not being held. Usually after a few seconds, she calms down, after she realizes she’s strapped in for good!



Babies are supposed to be rear-facing as long as possible. Most infant seats rear face up to 20 pounds. It is best if they can rear-face until the age of two. There are even some convertible seats that rear face (up until a certain weight) now. I said all that to say….poor Logan, she hates her seat. And lucky for her, we purchased a rear-facing infant seat that goes up to 30 pounds!! She will be going to Kindergarten riding backwards! My little darling will be in her rear-facing infant seat for quite some time. O well, she will be safe. Read this article for more information about car seat safety for children.

Look at how Logan has changed - in her car seat :-)

These pictures are of  Logan taking her "car seat test" at the hospital. She had to sit in her seat for an hour with no apnea/bradys/destats in order to be discharged. She was about 5 pounds.

taken at one and a half months

taken at nine months

All of the pictures were taken in the same seat. Notice the headrest is gone in the last one. Can you see the yellow label in the first two pictures compared to the last picture. The particular brand infant seat we purchased was one of only a few that actually fit preemie babies. The straps are now on the highest setting, the headrest is gone, and the bottom rest is about to come out - look how far she has come. I am glad my baby will be safe for a long time in her seat - little peanut.

uncharted territory

This morning I woke up with my tongue feeling about 10 times larger than it should. Just a hunch, I thought something may be wrong. I assumed I had strep throat because this is exactly how it felt last time. Yes, last time. Logan and I both had it only a month and a half ago. Cody took Logan downstairs to play while I got ready to go to Urgent Care. I was already panicked that Logan had it too. I tested positive, no surprise. I figured we should take Logan in, because if she did in fact have it, I did not want her symptoms to appear this evening and it be a weekend. Thankfully, Logan does not have it. While I have been resting, Logan and her Daddy have had a fun day. 

Logan has recently discovered her way into the kitchen, new territory for her. We have letter/number magnets on the refrigerator - no, I don't think my child can spell at 10 months, nor count, but I think every kid should have them, and I couldn't resist when I saw them in the store. They scream, "There is a kid living here!" (As if all the other toys lying around don't). Anyway, this afternoon Logan wandered into the kitchen and found the numbers! She loved them, and was even lining them back up in order when she finished playing with them! Just kidding, they of course went straight to her mouth, see?

 

She sort of reminds me of a puppy in this picture -

She frequently has toys hanging out of her mouth. I love the look.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend!

blue eyes

Would you look at those eyes?!?! We wondered at first if her eyes would stay blue. At 10 months old today, I would say they are. Notice the orange on her neck? That's squash, butternut squash. Her favorite. Not sure how it ended up on her neck, but it did. I think it adds character.

Bath Time

Soon after Logan woke up this morning, we discovered we forgot to remove the tape off of her back last night. It is not tape you can pull off like a Band-Aid, but it will gently come off with baby oil. I found after searching through all the baby bath items we have, we do not have one bottle of baby oil. However, I do have vegetable oil. That's right; I soaked my child with some vegetable oil this morning to remove the tape. She smelled like she was ready to be fried, but the tape came off great. Anyhow, this obviously led to Logan getting a bath.

As we were getting everything ready to give her a bath, I couldn't help but remember how giving her a bath used to be. The first time I gave her a bath, I was absolutely scared to death. Uncle Brady, Aunt Beth, Cody and I, drove down to the hospital one evening so we could watch the night nurse give Logan a bath; watching was not a part of the nurses agenda. She thought we should learn hands on. I felt a huge lump in my throat - "how on earth am I going to bathe this little girl, surely the nurse will just do it and I can watch and learn." She had other plans, so we undressed Logan, took all of her monitors off and I was shaking like a leaf! 

Hold her by her head? Are you kidding me? Are you sure I'm not choking her?

love this picture.

First time after Cody and I gave her a bath at the hospital -

Moving along, here are some pictures of Logan in the tub since her first bath. She has always loved bath time, since day one. Well, not exactly since day one. She wasn't too happy here

Can you see how red her skin was? She was NOT happy. Since then however, she has always been a happy little camper in the bathtub, see?

She has finally outgrown her baby tub and we had to get her a different one. Just wait until you see her new big girl bathtub - she sits up in it like a champ. Look for pictures of her new tub soon!! Needless to say, our bathtimes have changed a lot. Shes getting to be so big - what a blessing.

Ear Piercing

For those of you who don't know, Logan has her ears pierced! Cody and I debated whether or not to do this at such a young age. Everyone had an opinion, people either said, "Do it while they are young so they do not mess with them," or "I'm going to let my daughter make her own choice when she is old enough." I agreed with the later statement, but the selfish part of me thought it would be really cute. So..while at the doctor's office, the nurse asks, "Would you like to pierce her ears today?" There I was, faced with a decision. "Sure I would!" Yes, they pierced her ears at the doctors office, with a sterile medical plastic. She has plastic bling in her ears now. She has had them for over a month and they are doing perfect.

Poor baby had no idea what was coming her way. Yea, she has one sock on and one off. Thats how she rolls. They are her favorite toy, what can I say?

still no idea...

still nothing...

BAM! Now she knows! She has her ears pierced. She and I both cried, but honestly, I am so glad I did it because they have not caused her any problems and they are cute as a button :-)