14 Weeks Tired

I thought it would be a breeze.  Well, maybe not a breeze, but as simple as my first.  Boy was I wrong.  14 weeks into this pregnancy and I am still waiting for my energy to surface.  Why is it so much more difficult this time around?  Is it that I am older?  Is it that I have a toddler to chase around all day (who still wakes more nights than he doesn't)? I figured that being a stay at home mom would make it easier to handle the minor discomforts that come with pregnancy, however I am finding it was so much easier when I was simply a mom to be with a full time job.  Perhaps being in the office day after day was a blessing in disguise.  I was able to sit at my desk much of the day and was distracted by my work duties so I may not have noticed that I was feeling a little nauseous.  That being said, I am much more ill this time.  I was dizzy and hunched over the toilet bowl daily, multiple times a day for weeks until recently.  Luckily I think the worst is over.  I now appreciate that I was able to go out to lunch everyday when I was working.  I ate some amazingly delicious food while I was pregnant with Logan.  I find myself craving some of the lunches I used to have but the restaurants are too far away to justify visiting frequently.  Now I have to actually cook lunch everyday.  It used to be fun.  Now its a chore!

Yes, I had it easy prior to being a mom.  I would come home from work and plop down on the couch if I so desired, snoozing for a bit prior to making dinner.  I recall phoning my boss on more than a few occasions to let him know that I would be in late because I hadn't slept throughout the night and felt like crap in the morning as a result.  I could take a three hour nap on the weekends.  When I had to walk the dog it was easy.  Simply throw on shoes grab the leash and we were off.  Those were the days.  It is so unbelievably difficult to walk the dog now that Logan wants to walk but won't hold my hand and always wants to walk in the opposite direction from the dog.  I can't seem to get the two of them in sync!  Logan is becoming more heavy as the weeks go on and carrying him while walking the dog is equally as uncomfortable as struggling to walk with the two!  We don't take a lot of walks now.  We tend to go outside and throw the ball for the dog so he gets exercise.  Thank goodness I have a husband.  If I had to do it on my own all the time I would lose my mind.

All that being said, I am so grateful to be expecting baby number 2!  I love being a mom and can't wait to have another peanut to snuggle.  I am so excited for Logan to have a sibling! Time is flying by and I know the new little bundle will be here before we know it, which is scary, but luckily there isn't a whole lot we need to do to prepare.  Well, except get a new home.  There's that.....

I'm A Lucky Gal

Did you all have a splendid St. Patrick's Day?  We did! It was raining most of the day but we made the most of it!  In the spirit of the holiday we did some crafts and made green the theme of the day!  I feel so lucky to have such a beautiful family to have spent the day with.  My son is so much fun to be around.  I love playing with him, dancing around and even doing chores with him.  He is actually a good help!  I am a lucky gal.  

For our first craft we made a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!  The little guy enjoyed placing stickers on the paper and gluing pieces of gold into the pot of gold.

Next was finger painting a clover!  Logan really enjoyed getting into the paint.  Good thing it washes off easily!  

Finally, we made a leprechaun hat.  Logan likes to try to roll the paper into a tube (he does the same thing with magazines)!  It is so cute!  

We even had a green shake for a special treat! 

My lucky charm?  My husband, who made us dinner and gave the baby a bath last night.  Love him.

I'm Dreading Sleep Training

It has become a struggle to get my little guy to go to sleep.  Once he is sleeping, he sleeps fairly well, but getting to that point has proven to be a rather large challenge.  This time change doesn't help either.  He is a complete night owl.  I am ready to go to bed before him.  It's my fault.  I didn't sleep train him when he was smaller.  I now need to get him to the point where I can put him in his crib awake, but it is a battle I am not looking forward to.  I kept saying "when we get a house I will make this happen" but who knows when that will be.

Tonight after we finished our night time routine my husband and I turned off all the lights (and the tv was off of course) and tried to get him to go right to bed.  I put him in his crib, but it was clear that this was not going to work as he was literally trying to climb out.  I think we can put the mattress down one more notch so that is the next step.  We instead put him in his swing after I tried simply rocking with him.  We need to stop using the swing and get to a point where he can soothe himself to sleep.  We gave him a toy to play with and sat with him until he was sleeping. He was asleep about 40 minutes earlier than the past few nights so I can't complain, but I think the time has come to sleep train.  I am going to need a serious bubble bath to handle that stress!

Monday Fun Day ~ Alphabet Board

Our Monday Fun Day Activity was another fun with felt project!  As you may recall, we made a felt board months ago that we used as a story board, starting with one of our favorite books, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?"  Today we are using the felt board to begin our alphabet series.  We made letters A, B, and C today.  Each letter has an object beginning with the respective letter to go along with it.  A is for Apple, B is for Ball, C is for Cat, etc.  Three letters were about as much as the little guy could take.  His attention span didn't allow for more! We reused our cat from Brown Bear (the purple cat) and created the apple and ball today.  Once we make all of our letters and objects, I may go back and spell out the name of each object.  One step at a time!

This was a fun project.  Logan enjoyed playing with the felt, scrunching it up in his hands and straightening it out! He also likes pressing the pieces onto the board.  We set the board up on a easel and I imagine he will be pulling the pieces off the board and reapplying them before the end of the day!

Channeling Warmer Weather

Since today was on the cool and windy side, I focused my thoughts on the glorious time we had at the beach on Sunday.  The first weekend in March and we had 80 degree weather on the coast!  Too bad I was wearing jeans that day.  Oh well we still had a blast.  Logan loved playing in the sand filling his pail and emptying it all over himself and our blanket!  We took a walk along the water, which he wasn't too sure about, but ended up putting his feet in before walking back to the blanket.  A short time later we went to the wet sand area to build a sand castle and Papa buried Logan's feet in the sand!  It was such a relaxing and peaceful day.  I only wish everyday was so spectacular.  Today the little guy got some vaccines and he is not the happiest of campers.  My poor angel.  On the bright side, he is currently content on the floor next to me drawing with a pen (his new favorite activity)!

Monday Fun Day ~ Gardening

It is beautiful today in Los Angeles which makes it the perfect day to do some gardening!  Today's Monday Fun Day activity is to grow your own flowers!  One of Logan's books came with a strip of seed paper (the paper that has the seeds in it).  Having this product available makes it super simple to complete this activity with a toddler.  

We gathered up our supplies:

• A small pot to plant the seeds in (we ended up planting the rest of the seeds in a large planter that we have outside)
• Potting soil (we used an organic blend)
• Seeds
• Watering can with water

And we were good to go!

The little guy had a great time putting some soil in the pot and then watering the soil.  He then proceeded to water other plants and didn't want to stop.  We could have stayed outside all afternoon! This project could be done with any plant or seed, we simply used the flower seeds because this is what we had.  Now to see if they grow!

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La La La La Logan's Song

Each morning when my son wakes, he looks forward to viewing two Sesame Street videos.  He becomes a little perturbed if I don't play them.  Usually, Logan will crawl into bed with me and we load the videos on my phone.  He impatiently waits for the video to begin but as soon as the songs start he looks at me with the biggest smile you can imagine beaming across his face! He has two absolute favorites that we start each morning with! 

Feist singing 1,2,3,4

AND

Elmo's Song

After viewing the videos it is time to get up and start the day!

A Visit To Shane's Inspiration

Picture from shanesinspiration.org

Yesterday I took Logan to play at Shane's Inspiration playground at Griffith Park.  I love this outdoor playground and the sentiment behind it.  Not only is there lots to see and do, but the park is built to be a place where children of all abilities can play.  

"The mission of Shane's Inspiration is to create inclusive playgrounds and programs that unite children of all abilities"

Logan had so much fun playing and of course didn't want to leave!  He especially enjoyed swinging, sliding down the slides, playing in the sand and walking through the various mazes of adventure!