Logan's 1st Dentist Appointment

Today Logan had his first dentist appointment. We waited a bit longer than 'normal', but it's been kinda a crazy year.

I went first & had to get x-rays. The technician was pretty great with kids; she put Bubble Guppies (kids tv show) on the ceiling tv and while I got x-rays she told Logan they would play a game running back & forth (so he wasn't exposed)& he thought it was fun. After running back. & forth 4 times she asked him how many times they ran and he said, 'too many!'. Haha - that kid. He watched intently as they did some minor scraping and then polishing. Logan asked me if I hurt. I told him no and that the polishing kind if tickled. They offered to start cleaning his teeth while I got mine polished and I declined as I didn't know how he'd handle it (glad I waited).

He had no problems getting in the big chair...kinda excited cuz Mickey Mouse was now on. He got to wear cool guitar sunglasses. Enter the dentist. Logan was scared and said it would hurt. We assured him it was just a mirror that he was looking to count his teeth - so he was okay. Doc counted his teeth - all 20 present and accounted for! Then....doc saw some tartar build up. I knew it was there and we had gotten better at brushing those two bottom teeth, but alas some scraping had to occur. Logan wasn 't a fan (who is?!) but he did well. He eventually did shed a couple tears and said 'mommy, I think I'm done'. So the dentist just scraped a bit more then said there was only a bit more that he would get at the next visit. We will just make sure we brush longer and concentrate on those front teeth.

Then the assistant came in to clean - again, she was great! She let him feel the motorized toothbrush on each of our fingers first and we giggled pretending it tickled. She mentioned that the toothpaste was bubble gum flavor (he hasn't had gum yet so I said it was like candy). She had him smell it and he approved. He was scared but she did a couple then he realized it wasn't so bad. He also got vitamins for his teeth (it is so much nicer that they can paint it on your teeth and it just leave it rather than those icky fluoride trays back when I was a kid....I hated those!).

All in all he did great! He got to pick a treasure from the treasure box & chose a green fish/shark pencil sharpener. :).

Leaf sun catcher

Our theme in school the next two weeks is all about fall/leaves/apples. Today the boys made handprint trees & leaf sun catchers. They had a good time painting their hands & doing handprints....and shredding tissue paper!

In other school news, Logan had forgotten the number 7 the last two weeks when counting, but it appears that he found it again. :). We are working on correctly pronouncing all the 'teen' numbers and ensuring that they are said in the correct order. He does great with the alphabet.... Sometimes the letter K is said twice instead of J and LMNOP is said quickly, so we are slowing it down a bit to make sure he says it clearly. He enjoys saying the alphabet and we are certain to always give high 5's when he says it right! Sometimes he enjoys doing the robot dance while saying them....what a goof, but it is funny stuff to watch!

Here are some pics of them working on their projects:

Writing letters

In preschool, one of our daily activities is practicing writing letters....right now we've concentrated on Aa, Bb, & Cc.

Today we were wrapping a birthday present for his friend, Chayce. I wrote his name in pencil on the card and told him to trace it. To my surprise, he wrote above it and I watched him study the letters then write above them. He did a really good job; I was so proud of him!

Dinosaurs it is! (I think)

We have been discussing Logan's 4th birthday party. He wanted Spiderman and was very excited. I think he heard this from his friend, Jonathan and he worships the ground he walks on. I was all for this party idea, but as I researched it....we just don't know enough about it for me to go all out on decor and for him to understand. I then suggested an Octonauts party as that is one of his favorite shows. The characters are weird, but I had ideas flowing....an under the sea theme if you will. Then we ventured to Target for some essentials and we took a trip down the toy aisle. Well, he fell in love with a dinosaur. We've been home for 3 hours and it is all he is talking about. I asked if he wanted a dinosaur party and he seems very into that idea. As of right now, Spidey & the Octonauts have left the building. In fact, I got him a dry erase board (to practice letters ) and he paused to draw the dinosaur....inside Target, then proceeded to draw a map from our house to Target....to get that dinosaur! It is very cute! He is getting so big!

Ryan

Here are some pictures of my littlest man. At 3.5 months old he is smiling more & more, holding his head up pretty well and rolling onto his side. He loves getting a bath, he enjoys being held, he is a belly sleeper (only one of my kids that didn't like sleeping on his back), he can be a spitter if he is not held upright for about 5-ish minutes after a feeding. His schedule goes something like this:

Wakes only once during the night around 4-5am; sleeps till about 8ish, eats, looks around for an hour, naps till about 11:30ish & repeat around 3:40ish & 7ish. Then he tops off for the night around 8:30 and sleeps till 4ish. :). It is a pretty good schedule and works for us. We have to watch our noise level when we are upstairs doing school cuz he can wake easily.....I'm contemplating a sound machine.... During his awake times he is actually looking around, it's cute.

Preschool

We decided not to send Logan to a traditional 3 year old preschool for various reasons, but I still wanted some structure & learning to take place; I don't want him 'behind' when he attends 4 year old preschool next year. Enter my friend Jen that is homeschooling her sons...one that is Logan's age and another that is in 1st grade. Her & I developed a preschool curriculum....including our daily routines, weekly themes, worksheets, crafts and field trips....all kinds of fun stuff! We do preschool everyday. I turned our upstairs hallway into our 'classroom' where we do our daily stuff (prayer, color of the month, calendar, alphabet, counting, weather & pledge of allegiance). The boys have been into it everyday so far! It is mainly for Logan but Carter joins when he is awake. Here are some pictures of the projects we've done so far. The themes have been "All About Me" and the five senses.

Post from my phone?

Can it be? Why did I not look for this app sooner!!! If this works I just may be back into blogging. I loved doing it in the past and am sad that I stopped.

Here is a pic of Ryan doing his first push up....what a strong little man!

Hm...

So today I was searching for something on the lovely world of Pinterest....something about pregnancy - just getting random ideas for who knows what. I saw a picture of a pregnant lady with a dark line down her belly button....and it made me think.....hey, I had this with both boys...but I haven't seen any sign of this coming in this pregnancy just yet. I remember posting about it on my blog with Logan around 11 weeks; I unfortunately did not post about it with Carter (that I can easily find anyway). So who knows what that means. I had heard (amongst other stories) that it was a sign of a boy. So perhaps it hasn't appeared yet, never will and may have no sign of anything...but it was a though and was apparently post worthy.

Only 3.5 more weeks till we find out the gender!!!!!

Baby #3 16 Week Checkup

This morning I had my 16 week checkup and all is still well! The boys came with me and it may be Carter's last time...though I did forget Tao, so he may get one more try. He is not bad....just busy. I always have to pee in a cup so they can check protein levels and other stuff, I guess....and he runs down the hall...always stops to give whichever doctor there high five (which is really cute). Then the boys are touching some of the random things in the bathroom...today they found the floor drains fascinating...ew, gross. Then Carter thinks we go back to the waiting room, but I have to stop and get weighed. So I got out to the waiting room to get him and bring him back. I get weighed, then he must get weighed also. They both must stand by me when I get my blood pressure taken, but then I ask them many, many times to sit down. Logan spends his time walking over to Carter telling him to be quiet and asking me what all the buttons are for and taking the stirrups out. Carter is busy getting up in the chair and back down and pushing buttons and squealing. It is not a relaxing 10 minute checkup.

When the doctor came in, they both wanted to be right by me when she checked the heartbeat. I am measuring on target right now, so that's all good. She found the heartbeat right away and it was 143...then she said it jumped to 150 (probably because she just poked my stomach really hard measuring...). While I didn't want there to be any trouble with the heartbeat, what-so-ever, I was secretly hoping for an ultrasound since I know they can tell this early. The nurse said I should try to convince this doctor....but this was not one I would try to convince. She is not 'fluffy' at all. However, with the heartbeat being pretty much the same as both boys....I'm starting to think that I'm having a 3rd boy....we'll see what the ultrasound shows in 4 weeks. I am so excited to find out; the next 4 weeks are going to be loooong. This is where I wish I knew somebody that was an ultrasound tech or with access to one. :) But patience is a virtue that I need to have for at least another 4 weeks.

At this point, a strong beating heart is all I can ask for...and I got it. I love my 3rd baby and I cannot wait to feel more constant kicks and wiggles...bring it, baby!!!!

Baby Update

At the beginning of week 12, I felt very faint, very brief wiggles from the baby. Then the past couple weeks I didn't feel much. This happened with Carter and I remember getting so nervous that I actually made a doctor appointment and went in to hear the heartbeat for re-assurance. This time I am more calm about it. I do just LOVE feeling the baby move and am so anxious to feel it all the time. :) The past few days now, I have felt a couple more wiggles, so I am excited. Plus, I have my 16 week appointment tomorrow morning so that will be nice. There is a part of me tomorrow that hopes that I get another ultrasound....just because I will call John on the phone and have the doctor search for the gender. Oh that would be SO exciting! But it is likely not going to happen, so I won't get my hopes up. I am just excited to find out...one way or another. These next 4 weeks are going to be painful, so I must keep myself busy! :)

While I have been thinking that I'm having a girl, lately I've been thinking boy...but it could be myself just prepping for either direction. :) The other night I had a dream that we had a boy. I don't remember what we named him, but the boys kept calling him Teegan. I remember saying 'no, that's not his name...'. So who knows what that dream is all about.

I look for signs anywhere...it is so silly. For instance, today I was driving and I saw a minivan that had all those stick figure stickers on the back window (no, we don't have that). It was a mom, dad, 2 boys and 2 girls and a dog. I thought....ooh, that could be our family one day! Then I was reading a post on 1 of my 2 addiction sites (either Facebook or Pinterest) and saw something about 'my 4 boys'. So who knows. I also look at my friends who have 2 girls...then a boy....and or vice versa - any mix really. So I think that a girl is possible. A boy is what we 'know'. I am always one to 'make a wish' when the clock says 1:11 or 2:22, etc. and yesterday would you believe I just happen to look at the clock at 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44 and 5:55??? What are the chances? I do not believe in stalking the clock....then your wish won't come true. ;) Silliness, I tell ya, but I did think it was pretty funny that I caught it so often yesterday.

Right now, I am hoping for another good appointment tomorrow and a great date and time for our ultrasound. This baby also better cooperate....I've already told John that if the baby doesn't cooperate, we will pay to have a 3D ultrasound done early to try and look. I am impatient. Could I wait? Sure. But would I drive everybody, mostly myself crazy? Yes. And that is just not healthy.

Everything is still going very well. I still get carsick if I am not driving; I am still hungry, but not nearly so ravenous; I still fit into a couple regular pants, but am starting to prefer maternity...though I still need to use the be-band. It could be because the elastic on the maternity pants is a bit stretched out...who knows. I am promising myself to take an updated belly picture this week. I have certainly changed from the first picture. :)

Crazy moments from some crazy toddlers...

Carter's favorite phrase lately is 'Stop It'. Yes, I say it...apparently too much. If they are doing something they shouldn't, I say 'stop it'....so yes, it is said a lot. I really need to choose a more polite statement and add a please or something because now when he says it, it just sounds rude....cute, but rude. On his birthday, John and I were on either side of him and sang to him. He held up his little hands in front of our faces and said 'stop it'. If we are goofing off with him, even though he laughs, he says 'stop it'. If I am singing along to a tv show, he tells me to 'stop it'. I remember the first time he said it. I think it was for John's birthday. He had been doing so well with 'saying' prayers at dinner time. When John's parents came down, we all said it together and during prayers he said 'stop it'. I have noticed that it is mostly when a group of people are talking and when the attention is on him. It is like he is embarrassed. Silly kid needs to get over that quickly! :)


The other morning, I awoke at 3:45...couldn't fall back asleep until 4:45 when, just at the right moment, Carter woke up. He went right back to sleep, but there I sat for another 15 minutes trying to get back to sleep. John gets up at 6 and turns on all the lights (which he claims he does every day, but I think somebody is fibbin...) so I wake up again, with a headache. I manage to get back to sleep even with the little toddlers climbing on my bed to watch Disney. I get myself out of bed at 7:45 (thankfully the boys were good until then so I could get some rest), with a big ol migraine (I seem to only get these when I'm pregnant). I went to brush my teeth and I came back in the room. Carter stood up and said 'Ta-Da!!!!!'. Not knowing what he did I said something to the effect of 'oh you're, so cute'. I walked a smidgen closer......Carter had dumped my mug of green tea that I didn't finish last night so it had about 1/4 cup left....on my bed. He also dumped my glass of water that I keep by my bedside....on my bed. Oh what a stinker! My head hurt to much to discipline him more than just telling him it was wrong. The stinker proceeded to smile. I ran downstairs to take some Tylenol since I knew I couldn't wait until breakfast to do so. I came back up to shower. Afterwards as I was getting dressed, Carter proceeded to unroll the entire brand new roll of toilet paper. That got him a time-out as I was more on my game.

Thankfully the rest of the day was not as troublesome....but man, did it start out that way!!!

Today, it was Logan's turn. He is potty-trained (except for poop, gosh darnit) but the last day or two he has been holding it so long that when he is ready to go, he goes a tiny bit in his underwear. It does show great control that he's able to stop it, but today he had done a bit more and needed his pants changed - he even got some on his shirt (he's a tricky pee-er....or he was sitting down). I got him a new pair of underwear and pants, but didn't realize he needed a new shirt at the time. He said 'I need a shirt'...I said 'Yes, you do - why don't you go upstairs and grab one from your drawer'. The stinker said 'no, why don't you go grab it'...then this crazy toddler proceeded to turn his back to me, cross his arms and hold his head up in the air. Oh you silly child, do you think I'm going to go for that?!?! I told him to go get it and I walked away. He did. He has done this before and then usually turns around and laughs because he knows he's being.....ridiculous. And it is quite funny; I have to keep myself from laughing...but I certainly don't want that behavior to continue, so I hold it together.

Enter dinner. I gave Logan shredded chicken and some leftover-from-lunch macaroni and cheese. He really wanted pumpkin bread, which I told him he could have after he ate his dinner. I hear 'plop' and he said 'I dropped it'. It was a purposeful drop. And to time-out he went. He has NEVER...since probably 15 months, thrown his food on the floor...let's not start now. After his time-out is over, he came back, I reserved him some new food (new chicken...no more mac n cheese) and he ate it with no problems. What is up with this kid?

Shortly after, Logan goes potty and he washes his hands. I usually stand by watch him do it and move him along. The last day or two I have told him to wash his hands, turn off the water and dry his hands. This has been going well. Today I noticed that he was in there a bit too long. I walk in to puddles and a small bathroom splattered in water. AHHH! Dude...really?!? I expect that from Carter (mainly because it has already happened), but not from my neat kid! There I cleaned it up. I was going to have him help, but was worried he'd slip and fall on the ceramic floor and quite frankly I was just a bit surprised at his behavior. Sorry's were said and we moved on.

The rest of the night was uneventful...thank goodness!

Carter turns 2!!!!!

Today my little man, Carter turned 2!!! I could say all the cliche things, like.....'where did the time go?' or 'time goes by so fast' or 'when did that happen'....but those saying drive me nuts as on facebook for every kids birthday, the parent says one of those. And yes, they are true...time does go by fast and they are bigger before you know it.

Carter is such a cutie pie, which big blue eyes that sparkle, an adorable smile which he likes to show off often, especially for a camera, and a great head of hair which easily does the current and ever so popular, messy/shaggy look. Carter is messy...which is tougher to clean up, but fun to watch him in action. He is pretty good about saying 'please' and 'thanks'. He has gotten tougher, but depending on his mood, he may still fall apart if he bonks his head. He has followed Logan's steps in which he comes over to me and asks me to kiss his boo-boo. It is oh so cute. If I don't get the right spot, he is sure to let me know and has me re-try. He mostly calls me 'Mama' and John 'Daddy'...though sometimes he calls him 'John'. It's pretty funny.

Carter's favorite phrases are 'Stop It' 'It's so funny' 'Is it working?'. Carter's favorite movie is Wall-E, though he watches pretty much anything. He also really likes Mickey Mouse. Carter, just like his brother, plays with cars a lot and also does some great sound effects. Carter plays very well by himself and with others. He is standing up for himself a bit more these days with Logan. Logan used to take things from him and now Carter holds on for dear life or speaks up and tells Logan no.

Carter is still obsessed with his elephant, Tao. When Tao goes in the laundry, there are some tears, but distractions seem to work. He cannot go to sleep without Tao and we tried one time (when Tao just got in the dryer)....we had to wait until Tao was mostly dry to put him to bed. If Carter gets upset at all during the day or doesn't get his way he says 'where's Tao?' in such a sad, pitiful voice. We tell him to go get him and he says 'I get; I get Tao.' When Logan wakes up and Carter is already up, his face lights up and he gasps and says 'Wogan!!!!! Mama, looks...it's Wogan!'.

Carter loves to splash in the bathtub...and in the sink. He gets into a bit of mischief sometimes, but gosh do we love him! He is our little man and we are so blessed to have him in our lives!!!

Baby #3...Week 12 Appt.

This past Monday I had our first follow up appointment. I brought the boys with me as it should be quick and painless. They did very well. As I walked back to give a sample of my urine, they stopped and said hi to the doctor and nurse, which they both interacted with my kids...gotta love it. Afterwards we went right into the room (after I got weighed...so far according to my scale, 8 lbs. I tend to gain quite a bit in the beginning). The nurse took my blood pressure and the boys thought that was pretty cool. The doc came in quickly (thank you) and right away wanted to check the heartbeat...woohoo! Logan rest me assured that it was okay. They asked what he was doing and he told them. He reminded me that it could be early to hear it on this device. I also later learned that sometimes the c-section scar tissue can interfere. The doc checked for about 20-30 seconds and said 'eh, let's go to the ultrasound room'...um, okay!! I admit I was not very nervous about there not being a heartbeat (perhaps I should have been), but the past few nights I began feeling flutters, so I was re-assured. Plus, he moved so quickly and I was corralling the boys, so I didn't have much time to be nervous.

As the doctor put the scanner on my belly Logan put his hand on my leg and said 'It's okay, Mommy, the doctor is just going to check you'. Oh gosh, melt my heart...what a cutie pie! I already had my phone out because I was going to record the heartbeat for John. So instead...I got to record my ultrasound!!! Pretty cool! I got 2 minutes of a video of our baby!! Right away he showed us the baby and we saw the little heartbeat (whew). We saw the baby move and kick me! :) The boys were pretty enamored. Granted, I didn't look at their faces cuz my eyes were affixed on the screen, but they were asking questions and standing still.

The heartbeat was 161 beats per minute. (I didn't record Logan's at this stage, but Carter's was 170 a week earlier). The doctor printed out some pictures, but man...those pictures were crap! Thankfully I recorded it and thanks to my smartphone I can capture pictures during the video. So here they are... You may need to look at the picture for a bit before you decipher, but the baby is pretty big.

This first picture is the body of the baby. You will see a bright, thin green line going through the middle of the screen - that is how he was measuring the babies heartbeat. You can see the head, arms, hands, stomach, legs and feet!!! I asked if he could see girl or boy parts, but I don't think he heard me. I would've asked again, but I know at 12 weeks it is just too early unless you do an amnio, which I will not do. What a cute baby, huh???

This next picture is just the face. The baby after they were done playing peek-a-boo with their hands over their face, they looked right at the camera. So you should see the eyes, nose and mouth. You can actually also see the right arm hanging down. The head is big compared to the body at this stage...but when the baby comes out...all is proportionate!

I was so excited to get a surprise ultrasound! Next visit, I will not get one, however...the appointment after will be the big ultrasound! I am so excited to find out if I am shopping for pink or blue...time to set my budget for my initial shopping trip, now!

Playing

Carter has made some 'growing up' changes in the past couple months and one of them is how well the boys play together. Sure every so often somebody takes a swing at the other or they fight over a toy, but that's just typical. They both have similar interests in toys - cars, trucks, rockets and jumping on cushions appear to be their go-to's. They also are sound effect makers! It is so funny to hear them both making car sounds, plane sounds, rocket sounds....at the same time.

Last night John and I were sitting on the couch just watching them play. They built an obstacle course together. They would walk on the couch, climb over the back, go through the tunnel, come to me where I lifted the bridge (my legs) and then repeat. They were giggling like crazy and Logan, who is a little faster and not running with an elephant, kept saying 'come on, Carter'....and Carter was running as fast as he could. It was just too cute.

This morning, Logan found the tripod and told Carter to come over because he had to take his picture. He told Carter how to stand and then he used his flashlight as the camera (turned it on, then said click). He said 'Oh Carter, it's beautiful! Let's check it.' Carter sat there and said 'cheese'.

The other day Carter was walking into an area that had a lot of toys on the floor (organizing from Christmas). Logan stopped him and got down to his level and said 'Be Careful' (gesturing with his hands, of course....like his mom).

If Carter wakes up first, as soon as Logan comes out of his room, he says 'WOGAN!!!!!'. He is soooo excited to see his best friend. Now sometimes, Logan likes a little quiet and cuddle time when he wakes up. So often times his response is 'Stop it, Carter'. But it is cute how excited he is. When Carter is still napping, Logan also asks where he is.

Everyday they play more and more together and interact. I just love hearing and seeing it and I really hope that it continues for the rest of their life.

Baby #3 Update

Today we heard the heartbeat! What a most beautiful sound!!!! The heartbeat was 160 bpm - pretty much right on target with the boys. Not saying I think it's a boy...just simply saying. We also say Baby Battermann! We had the boys with us, so I was talking to the boys and showing them the screen. I wanted them to do another ultrasound after the boys left the room so I could just sit and stare at the screen and not worry about somebody touching a button or breaking a machine. :) The boys thought hearing the heartbeat was cool. I forgot to record it, so I hope to at the next appointment.

Though the doctor's office took FOREVER to get us through the appointment...which wasn't easy to accept seeing as how they knew we had our 2 boys with us...it all went well. They recognized me and they were glad to see the boys that I had spent so much time seeing them for. :) When the nurse was going through the entire book of things I should know...I kept saying 'yeah, I got it'....but I think she has some sort of obligation to still hit all the key points.

Anyway, at this stage, I have gained a firm 5 pounds. I typically (haha...typically, like this happens all the time...though it is becoming a bit of a habit) gain quite a bit in the first trimester. I don't know how girls only gain the 3-5 pounds recommended. However, I tend to not gain as much towards the end, whereas it is usually the opposite.

At this point, I just started with nausea....around 7.5/8 weeks. It is not as bad, meaning I haven't thrown up yet, and I am still able to function. It seems to come later in the morning and in the evening a bit. Regardless, we are taking a trip to Orlando right after the holidays, so the doctor gave me a prescription for the miracle drug, Zofran. I look forward to its magic...during our vacation, which include driving to Florida. :)

This pregnancy is proving to be different so far. Not only the nausea (I am still able to brush my teeth without a problem...it was very difficult with my last 2 pregnancies), but I am SO hungry! I've heard of pregnant people being always hungry...but with my boys, I didn't feel that way so much (even though I gained quite a bit of weight). So who knows.....could it be that for me a different pregnancy means a different gender? I guess we'll find out soon enough...

Oh and the due date is July 28th, but I'll be doing a planned c-section. I'm thinking the 21st sounds like a pretty awesome golden birthday! :)

A great appointment...yay!!!