Two Week Check Up

This sweet girl had her two week check up yesterday. She is a sleepy baby. For most feelings I need to wake her up, so I was a bit concerned if she was gaining weight like she should. As most newborn mothers I was finding something to stress about when there was no need. She is up to 8 lbs 3 oz, past her birth weight of 7 lbs 8 oz which they like to see the baby be back to at this point. Very thankful to have a good check up.

Reese continues to be a sweet mellow baby. For the most part she is a good sleeper and is a fantastic nurser. She has times when she has gas pains, so hard to see her uncomfortable. But I usually can get her to calm down by holding her, I of course don't mind sweet cuddles.

Abby and Isaac, for the most part, have adjusted to their sister. This is in large part to the wonderful friends and family that have helped Grant and I out by helping keep the older two on their normal schedules. Abby has still attended weekly story time at the library with Ms. Erin. Which is always a highlight for her. While Isaac has enjoyed a good amount of outside play time and bookworms story time, which he absolutely loves. Making sure they have their special activities, I believe, has really helped them in adjusting to the changes of bringing home a new baby. It lets them know that although things have changed they still are important and will continue to have their special activities. Once Reese is a bit older and we feel comfortable bringing her out of the house more I look forward to being able to bring Abby and Isaac to their activities.

I just need to build myself up to be brave enough to venture out with all three on my own.

Until I'm at that point we'll probably just stick around the house doing fun activities like playing in the back yard and painting.









-Peggy

Table of Four Adds One More

At 9:28 am, March 24th, we became a family of five. After 22 hours of labor (our longest of the three kids) we found out that our family would be complete with the addition of another girl. Reese Elizabeth weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz, and was 19 1/4" long. We are so thankful for a healthy girl. As my brother stated so well, "Poor Isaac has no idea what he's in for with two sisters."

A week out both Reese and I are doing great. Abby and Isaac have adjusted well with having a new sister in the house. Abby is thrilled that she was correct about her prediction of a baby sister and is enjoying loving on Reese. Isaac has accepted her as part of the pack and pretty much ignores her as he stays busy exploring the world.


















-Peggy

23 Weeks

So here I find myself 23 1/2 weeks pregnant. That’s right if you only know me through this blog that I’ve faithfully posted several times a week, or not, this is news to you.  When Isaac was around 9 months old we discovered we would be upping the excitement in our already busy lives!  After getting over the initial shock that we would have two kids 17 months apart, three kids 4 and under, we became excited that our family would soon be complete as a family of five! 

I'm over half way over with this pregnancy it has of course flown by.  Being busy keeping up with a happy three year old and an adventuresome toddler hasn’t allowed much time to sit and daydream about this pregnancy.  I’m glad to report that for the most part this pregnancy has gone very smoothly.  Morning sickness lasted entirely way to long, till around 18 weeks along, yuck. The other symptom I’ve struggled with is extreme fatigue.  Keeping up with both kids, having two pregnancies close together, and not sleeping well at night might have something to do with it. I, just like the kids, are in good need of a daily nap. 

At 23 weeks I am enjoying the sweet movements of Baby L. The gender remains a surprise, we are waiting to find out at the birth.  I’m enjoying having this extra bit of excitement with this pregnancy.  Abby is convinced she is getting a little sister and has been telling everyone her sister is in mommy’s belly.  We have had many talks about how it could be a boy, so her story is now, “I know a boy could come out, but my baby sister is in my mom’s belly.” What do you think? Come March we will find out!

Right after Thanksgiving my belly has popped out, wonder if this has any connection with the feast we enjoyed at the house? I am mostly wearing maternity clothing now.  I think a large part of my wardrobe will be leggings and boots.  The wonderful thing about boots is I don’t need to worry about my pants being long enough, a constant problem I encounter on a normal day, an impossible task when dealing with maternity clothing!

Here is a belly picture at 23 weeks and a few favorites from this fall to catch you up with what we have been doing.

We enjoyed several baseball games this summer. We love have a AAA team in Springdale!

A happy boy enjoying the beach on our trip we took to Florida in September.  He kept us on our toes as he attempted and sometimes succeeded at eating handfuls of sand.

One of our several Sunrise walks.  Grant was such a trooper and joined me on one of my favorite things to do when at the beach several mornings.

An attempt at a family beach picture. Sadly, this was one of the best.

Playing in the water with clothes on, what fun!

We got to enjoy a very special day at the Magic Kingdom!

This was the hit of the trip, a character breakfast.  Mickey, Minnie, and their friends stopped by our table as we ate breakfast. Abby was SO EXCITED!

This silly boy is into anything and everything and already has such a fun personality.  He definitely knows how to ham it up!

And here is a belly shot of me at 23 weeks. Why is it that these pictures always look so awkward? 

Buddy Boy

This is the nickname Abby and I have picked up for Isaac.  I didn’t realize how much I called Isaac this until Abby starting using the name too.  She sweetly said to me, “Mom, I like that we call Isaac, Buddy Boy, because he is my buddy and he is a boy!”

One of Isaac's many great faces.

Abby is in love with her brother and is a fantastic big sister. Most times when he is fussy she is the first one to him to get a toy or soothe him. In fact when he wakes up from naps she will run to his room saying, “Abby to the rescue.” 

Isaac just passed the 8 month mark. Boy is he growing fast, but what a happy boy he is growing up to be.  He definitely is a little flirt, making eye contact and smiling with anyone he can attract.  His sister is just about his favorite thing, she can get him giggling at the drop of a dime.  About two weeks ago he realized he can get around to where he wants to go by army crawling.  He can’t quite get his belly of the floor yet, its only a matter of time. Alley dog is kept busy moving, she is a popular target. 

Isaac has four teeth. His bottom front teeth came in around the end of May and his K-9 teeth just popped through, so for the time being he is our little vampire baby. This won’t last long as the front teeth are about to break through.  Poor boy has a runny nose that won’t quit.  He is ready for a break from the teething, so are mom and dad! 

This summer we have been spending a lot of time at the pool.  Abby is making good progress with swimming. She enjoys putting her head underwater now and is getting very close to floating on her back by herself! Isaac is definitely my water baby and absolutely loves the water and splashing around. 

Her are a few of my favorite recent pictures:

She is just getting so big!

She loves to hold her brother after nap time each day

Isaac's flirting smile

Just can't help but say awww.

My two favorite boys

What a smile

Moving

No we are not planning to move anytime soon. But after having trouble uploading items to blogspot for a while I have decided utilize my Mobile Me account and give the iweb program a shot. Playing with the program this afternoon I am already impressed. You can now find the blog posts at:

http://web.me.com/peggylogan/Just_a_Moment/Welcome.html

Taking Care of Callie

Abby is growing up so fast. I am loving the stage she is in right now. Her vocabulary is exploding with new words everyday. She is like a little parrot right now, trying to repeat things we say.

For my own record here is a list of words that she is repeating on her own without our encouragement. I'm not counting words that she just repeats after us because she hasn't internalized them yet.

shoes -my favorite word she has been saying, she emphases the "sh" of the word which sounds more like a "ch" sound
duck (du)
zsu-zsu- this is what she has named her baby doll that she has recently fallen in love with. Good friends, Carman and Andy, have a 4 month old daughter. They watched Abby for us the other day while Grant and I went to see Blue Man Group (great show by the way, you should definitely check it out if you get the chance.) As soon as she got home from spending the afternoon with the Swarts she went and found her baby and has not put her down since.
two- if I say one she will follow with two

hot- Every morning she will point to my coffee and loving remind me it is hot.

Abby is very interested in helping us. She wants to be apart of everything that is going on. Grant is working on repairing our deck. This weekend while he was working Abby watched her dad from the window desperately wanting to help him. She even went to her room to find her toy hammer and stood at the door wanting to go help her dad. Grant, seeming to be a point where he needed a break, let the back up crew jump in for a bit.

Before beginning Grant and Abby have a serious talk about hammer safety. Abby stayed very focused on this lesson.

Under close supervision Abby gets to work.

Taking care to do the best job that she can.

Abby is letting me know that her outfit wasn't the best one to be doing this type of work.

Since this post is jumping all over the place and your wondering what the title has to do with the post I will finally get to Callie. Abby has a very sweet relationship with both the dogs. She LOVES them. Callie, our German Shepard is 14 1/2 years old. Considering her age she is still doing well. Abby is surprisingly very gentle with her and as you see with this video cares for her very much.

A Summer Adventure

Abby loves tomatoes!




One day after tiring of the sprinkler, she decided she needed a snack.





Luckily she watched closely where mom and dad get the delicious treat.





This tomato was bit different than the others she had.





She forged on none the less.





But was met with a bitter surprise.





And Abby asked herself, "What is wrong with you dear tomato?"