My Space

So why is it that people feel so inclined to be in another persons space? I've noticed in many different situations that I seem to attract people...not in a good way. I can park my truck in a huge empty parking lot, go inside a store, come out and there will be a car RIGHT next to my truck. Never mind the fact that there are 50 open parking spaces in the lot and I'm not even parked closest to the store.

Recently I was at the airport waiting for a flight. I was sitting at 7:00 am at the gate with rows of empty seats. I purposely put my head phones on so that I didn't have to talk to anyone. Within minutes a woman sits down RIGHT next to me. I couldn't believe it. Really!?! There were dozens of seats around the gate yet she sat right next to me. Not only did she sit next to me, her leg was pushing against mine.

This leads to my next issue....it is wrong to wear a bottle of perfume and/or cologne when you know you are going to be in tight public spaces! Example, an airplane! Or even if you are going to choose a seat right next to someone (practically in their lap) even when there are other seats available, then you should at least not put on mass amounts of perfume before you do it. Other places you should not where more than 1 squirt of perfume are church, the movies, the gym (perfume does not mask the smell of BO) or a restaurant (if someone at another table can smell your perfume over the smell of their food that is an issue!)

Anyway, as you can tell this is clearly a pet peeve of mine. Really I don't think I'm asking too much. These are all things that come with common courtesy.

Yoga

Last Saturday Ricky and I decided to attend the workout yoga class at our gym. I had NO idea what I was in for. I was already not feeling the best but I thought a nice relaxing class where I could stretch would probably be a good thing for me. Well, it was - in a way. I loved the last 20 minutes of class...stretching and meditation. As we were walking though the doors of the class Rick tells me it's a 90 minute class - I was thinking it was only 30 minutes.

This was the first yoga class for both of us so learning things like the down dog, warrior 1 & 2, cat & cow were all new to us. Five minutes into the class I was sweating! Then we got more advanced and the intensity increased. That wasn't what I signed up for! At one point during the class Ricky and I looked at each other in the mirror and we just started laughing. Of course we didn't laugh out loud because that would ruin the quiet peaceful ambiance in the room.

I realized that I'm not as flexible as I thought I was. next day I was so sore! It's a good sore but still sore nevertheless. It was a nice class and was fun to be there with Ricky. I look forward to going again.

The Arrival of the DOC Band

Logan's DOC band has arrived. Last Friday we went in for his fitting and left with the helmet on his head. It doesn't seem to bother him and he has done really well adjusting to it. The poor little guy sweats so much so we have to take it often and dry off him and the band. He wears it for 23 hours a day. We have several different ideas of how to decorate it but haven't finalized one yet. (I think we have several really cute, fun, and clever ideas so once we pick one we will post the others too.)

Ricky will be taking Logan in once a week for the next 5 weeks for adjustments. After that he may be moved to a two week schedule.

After we have some before an after pictures I will post them so we can track his progress. We are excited to get his treatment underway and done in 12 weeks.

Love the smile.

Modeling the profile view for you.

Sounds asleep on the way home from the visit. I was glad to know that it wouldn't bother him while he slept.

Swimming Lessons

We have a great city swim facility a few minutes from our house. We've only ever gone for open summer swimming but this year we thought it would be fun to put Lincoln in swim lessons. It's a 30 minute class where daddy gets to participate with him. Logan and I have gone a few times and cheer them on from the bleachers. Lincoln seems to have fun except he tells us the water is too cold. It's an evening class so I do feel a little bad that he gets so cold. His favorite part of the class is when they get to do the Hokey Pokey. They practice floating on their backs, going under water, using their arms and kicking their feet. I think he will be more excited about the summer swim class when it will be hotter outside and during the sunny part of the day. Aunt Natalee was here visiting on his last day of class so she took Lincoln to his lesson. The first thing they got to do was go down the big water slide. It's the first time they got to do that in class so daddy was pretty jealous.

Serious contemplating before jumping in the cold water.

With Daddy's help, Lincoln swam from one side of the pool to the other.

This whirlpool area is where they do hokey pokey and other fun games.

Catching some serious air.

Aunt Nat was awesome with Lincoln. He loved the slide but wanted to get out of class early because he was too cold.

Happy Anniversary!

Ricky and I have been married now for seven years. He is my best friend, the best daddy, and the love of my life. He inspires me, encourages me, supports me and makes me a better person. We've had seven years of fun and happy times, trials, adventures, new experiences and great memories. I'm so grateful for him and truly blessed to be in a strong, healthy and happy marriage.

Logan's DOC Band

Logan has been diagnosed with Plagiocephaly. It's basically a flat spot on his head but instead of being just a flat spot, the rest of his skull has compensated and shifted around. He has a very minor case that we discovered at about 3 months old. We were working with his pediatrician asking to see a specialist and she recommended repositioning techniques. We tried that for a couple months but they didn't help. We pushed to see a specialist and once we did they diagnosed him with Plagiocephaly.

Sometimes it's not even noticeable and other times it's very obvious. We decided to go ahead and treat it which will require the use of a DOC Band for about 4 months. The DOC Band, a 6-ounce device, consists of an outer plastic shell with a foam lining. Each DOC Band is different and made specifically for each child by Cranial Technologies manufacturing team in Tempe, Ariz. It's something that he will wear for 23 hours a day.

We are very lucky because there are only about a dozen Cranial Technologies offices Nation wide that do this type of treatment. We have to go to downtown Phoenix Children's Hospital once a week for the next 4 months for his appointments. Last week he had the digital imaging done so they can make his band (we call it his helmet) and we go back next week for the fitting. We are trying to think of clever and cute ways to decorate it once we receive it.

This is what it will look like before we decorate it. The shape will vary a little bit because it will be customized to Logan's treatment.

This is when he was having the digital imaging done. They had to put a see through stocking like thing over his head.

Logan kept trying to lick the netting. I'm sure it was weird having something like that over his face. He was a good patient though.

Happy Mother's Day

Today at church one of the speakers talked on Joy. She said that we should find Joy in being a mother. I have to admit that being a working mother of a energetic two year old and a teething six month old, sometimes it's hard to find the joy in being a mother.

I must say though that there moments that I get to experience as a mom that bring me joy. Like when I'm holding Logan and he stretches his hand in the air, closely watching it, and he discovers that he is making his hand open and close. When he simply looks into my eyes and touches my face with his hand and then flashes me the cutest ear to ear grin.

I was so excited and proud a few weeks ago as Lincoln, out of nowhere, began singing his ABC's and got through the entire song only missing the letter "K." Yesterday he sang the entire first verse of "I Love to See the Temple." Those are moments as a mom that I will cherish.

I am grateful for the blessing to be a wife and mother. My goal will be to find joy in motherhood more often.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is what Lincoln made in nursery for me today. I loved that he picked the black, white and red buttons all on his own.

Logan's Six Month Stats

Logan has hit his 6 month milestone. He went in last week for his shots and well baby visit. He is weighing in at 20 pounds and 29 inches. He was a trooper when it came to getting his shots. Rick said Logan just let out a little cry and then was fine a minute later. I'm so lucky that Ricky agrees to take him. Well, the deal is that if he takes the boys for their shots then he buys a book for himself as a reward for being a good daddy and having to witness your baby getting shots. I hate taking the boys in for shots so I think it's a great deal.

We've started feeding Logan stage 1 foods. He's had rice cereal which he doesn't like at all. He did much better with carrots and for the most part he's been okay with sweet potatoes. We will work our way through the vegetables and then on to the fruits. We finally got out the high chair and he loved sitting it in next to us at the table.

We know Logan is teething although no teeth have popped through the gum line yet. He hates tummy time but now that he's learned to roll over he doesn't seem to mind tummy time so much. It's become a game of, "mom puts me on my tummy and then I see how fast I can roll to my back." He loves to rotate between his bouncer, walker and play mat.

He is still sleeping through the majority of the night only waking up once for a bottle. He's down around 6:30 for the night and up by 7:00 am for the day.

He laughs and smiles a lot. He has gotten better at interacting with Lincoln. In fact, the other day Lincoln and Logan were laying next to each other on the floor. Lincoln tried to hit Logan. While Ricky was explaining to Lincoln that he had to say sorry and that we don't hit brother, Logan (with all his force) kicked Lincoln right in the head. The funny part about it was that Lincoln didn't even get mad that Logan kicked him. I think he realized that he may have deserved it.

Reflux and Barf Bowls

I don't think it's a good thing that my two and a half year old now asks for his barf bowl. Yes, lately there has been one in every room. For the last several weeks it's been hard for Lincoln to keep his food down. He will say that his tummy hurts and that's our queue that we are about to have a big mess. In an attempt to save our carpet, by the fifth or sixth time we decided it was probably a good idea to teach him about using a barf bowl. Luckily we did because they've been put to good use. We've been in to see his pediatrician several times in hopes of finding out what is causing this. The best we can come up with is that his acid reflux has returned. Apparently it's very common for kids would had reflux issues as a baby to have complication from it again between 2 and 3 years old. We put him back on Zantac which is the same medication he was on when he was an infant. This time around is hasn't helped. In fact, it seemed to get worse while he was on it. This week we started a new medication which is a tablet form of Prilosec. It seems to be helping. We are back in to see the pediatrician next week but it's still very likely that we will be making a trip to the GI doctor soon. I just feel so bad for him. It's never easy to watch your little one going through that and experiencing pain. Hopefully we will get some answers soon and we can either fix it or hopefully he will grow out of it.