The Last Big One! (And it's a big one)

It's getting hard to blog with so much time in between! So I'm glad this is my last long post until I return to regular blogging/shorter posts -- since a week from today we will FINALLY be in our new house -- yeay!!!!We're not moving today (9 weeks of living in limbo) which is what I'd said in my previous update (We Sold Our House) because, as some of you know, our new house was delayed AGAIN. We are instead closing next Friday, October 14th. Aside from the issue with our cabinets which I blogged about last time, they also put on the wrong doors AND they put extra high vanities in the bathrooms. The doors looked nice and at that time we had just learned of the cabinet order getting lost so we didn't want to delay our closing any more, so we said we could be happy with them (they gave us $450 for the mistake). But, the extra high vanities I did not want to live with. I am short, I have two kids, and my dad actually has the extra height here and it has made me miss the standard height that we had at our old house.

Aside from those problems, though, the house really is looking great. (FYI, they moved the sump pump that I blogged about in My Two Feathers.) I think we will be super happy with it once it's completed. Unfortunately, though, we had already signed the contract with our old house to close on the same day (the 14th). We had thought we'd be able to move directly from our old house to our new house, but the only way to do that now would be for Joe to take off work Thurs, Oct 13 and Fri, Oct 14. Well, Joe used all of his vacation days when I had the baby (until January), so we preferred to move on a weekend -- but if we moved out the weekend before then we were going to have to pay for storage which would be a waste of money (since one week is the same as a month). We asked if our buyers would be willing to delay closing to Monday, October 17th (rather than Friday, October 14th), but they said no (we then suggested to still close on Friday if we could move out on Saturday and they could move in on Sunday -- but they said they were prepared for October 14th and that was what we had signed the contract for).

The word "jerks" went through our heads since we let them put their stuff in our garage FOR FREE as of September 29th. But, our realtor told us not to push the subject anymore and so I contacted our realtor here to see if we could store our stuff in our new garage so that we can still move out this weekend as originally planned. They said they won't get the occupancy permit until Wednesday, October 12th, but that we can store everything in the garage as of that day. So, since the cost for renting a U-Haul is for two days, we are going to Omaha tonight - Friday, October 7th - and staying until Sunday, October 9th. On Sunday Joe is renting a U-Haul to move the rest of our things out of our old house and then we will keep the U-Haul at my dad's until Wednesday (it's $40 a day after Tuesday). If all goes well with the occupancy permit then we will move our furniture into our new garage until we close on Friday, October 14th -- then we can move everything into the house! Whew! (If there ends up being anymore delays, we've asked our builder to pay for any additional days that we have to keep the U-Haul.)

I can't believe this weekend will be our final moments in our old house. We went back a couple of weeks ago (we had the broken window replaced but never did get the windows washed, unless you count me with a paper towel in Logan's room as someone had cut themselves when trying to open his window because there was blood all over his window, the blinds, and even the wall -- it was so disgusting!); silent tears streamed down my face as I watched Logan run around in the backyard. Our new backyard is the only thing that I don't like about our new house -- it's not even half the size of our old one. But, really, I wasn't crying due to the size. . .I was thinking about all of the memories I have of Logan running around out there. Now another little boy will take his place there.I discovered our buyers' names are Scott and Aleasa Armstrong. They have a 4 year old boy named Landon and a 1 year old girl named Lily. Aleasa graduated from high school in Omaha in 2001 and then went to College of St Mary. She is a nurse. They're moving from a house the same size as our first one.

My neighbor Brenda has been calling and emailing me regularly to keep me updated on everything over there.

Since my last update (We Sold Our House), things have been a lot better as far as my sanity, LOL. :-) Spending more one-on-one time with Logan has helped his behavior a lot (also he has definitely adjusted to our crazy living arrangement; I never thought I'd say this about him, but during these nine weeks he usually goes to bed between 11-12:30 every night and usually doesn't wake up until 10-10:30 am. It'll be nice when he has a healthy bedtime again, even though it'll mean getting up earlier in the morning.)

He has been his old happy, adorable self and has been talking nicer/sweeter to me again. Saying things like, "Jesus loves you, you know" just out of the blue which always reminds me that he is still an old soul. Sure, there have continued to be moments like I blogged about last time -- I took him around my mom's street on his scooter the other day and he was throwing a temper tantrum for no reason so I ended the walk -- but the majority of the time has been good again.

I forgot to mention in my last post (but wrote on facebook) that one day he said, "Mom, thank you SO much for giving me a sister." He's still really into "forever" -- like, telling me he's going to be with me forever, he's going to keep the baby forever (he still acts like she's a present on Christmas morning, every day) -- and that he'll always be in my heart. He says "I love you so so much, you're the best mom ever" so many times a day, I don't want to ever take it for granted. The other day he said, "I'm glad I picked you for my Mommy, I saw you at the store and said that's a nice Mama." (LOL, I'm not sure where he got the idea that he bought me at the store.) There are so many cute things he says. . .what I dislike the most about only blogging every couple of weeks (or three weeks as in today's case) is that I can't remember all of them! :-(

Another thing he keeps saying regularly is, "If you want to do [insert something] that's fine." For example, if he's playing with toys: "If you want to play with me, that's fine." Or if he's sitting on the couch: "If you want to sit next to me that's fine." Smile :-)As for Krissa, she's still a doll. It is amazing how being a mother of two feels like that's how it's always been, it's very natural now. Things have really slowed down (I haven't felt like someone in fast forward since my last update when she was 9 weeks old, so that feeling lasted a total of 6 weeks) -- life is calm and peaceful again and I actually don't feel that having two is any harder than one! Logan loves playing with Krissa so that helps a lot. Also, she started napping again a few days after my last update so maybe I was wrong and she WILL be like Logan who has always napped well/slept good during the day. (So there were just 3 weeks that she didn't nap for more than 5 minutes at a time.) When I read the posts that I gave links to in 2 Month Old Stats (that I wrote during this point with Logan), I saw that he'd fought his naps during month #2 as well.

Speaking of which, it is interesting to read about their similarities since most of what I notice in "every day life" has been their differences (although they sure do look alike -- somedays I still feel like I'm in a time machine with Logan).

She only takes the pacifier about 15% of the time now and is starting to favor her hand instead; I read that Logan was doing the same thing at this age. I had been worried he was going to suck his thumb (which I would prefer my kids not to do since you can take away a pacifer but not a thumb. . .and the thumb causes teeth problems, etc.) but thankfully he didn't (even though he no longer took the pacifier by 4 mos), so hopefully she won't suck her thumb, either because I think she's going to give the pacifier up completely even sooner than he did. (Although she can put it back in her mouth now on her own, only if it falls into her hand.)I can also tell she's going to put everything in her mouth like Logan did, because anytime anything is close to her (like, if I put a stuffed animal in her crib to play with), she immediately brings it to her mouth.

When I was re-reading those posts from 3 yrs ago, I was reminded how this time was stressful for a completely different reason than our move this time: Logan's brachial cleft fistula. It's interesting because I have found myself on numerous occasions staring at the exact place on Krissa's neck where Logan's hole was. It's like I just expect that as part of a baby's neck!

Have I mentioned that I didn't have the night sweats this time? (Common during the weeks following childbirth, which I had with Logan.)

Also common is hair loss. With Logan I started losing it around 4 months post partum. This time it was at two months already :(

I did not have any headaches during the 9 months that I breastfed Logan, however I have had three since having Krissa -- and the last one was a major migraine :( I can tell my hormones are a little different this time around because I also started getting pimples much sooner and my hair lost the fullness of pregnancy (my face was flawless for the three months after I had Logan, as was my hair). But still no post partum depression so that is the main thing. I'm hoping this time I don't get it after I stop breastfeeding (I had it for the month following the end to nursing last time). By the way, my breasts have never leaked this time; I did read that is less common with second, etc. babies.

Yesterday morning I woke up at 4 am because my breasts were incredibly engorged so I pumped 10 oz -- the most in one sitting so far. With Logan at this stage the most was 11 oz (I was taking fenugreek still with him).

I'm glad Krissa doesn't seem to have the bad dreams that Logan did. She had two crying-in-her-sleep moments during her first three weeks, but none since. (She also stopped grunting all day at about five weeks, LOL.)

Krissa began rolling over again at 11.5 weeks! She had done it regularly from her first week of life to five weeks but then stopped, although she kept trying. Then on Wednesday (Oct 5) she rolled over several times from both front to back and back to front as though it was no big deal at all! And here I thought girls were supposed to be later than boys when it came to stuff like that. . .but she's got Logan beat by a couple of months! (Although he could scoot on the floor at this point just like she can.) This pic was taken after she went from her back to her tummy -- she looks so proud of herself!Yesterday (the day before turning 12 weeks old) she laid in the swing for the very first time for more than two minutes without crying. (Logan had never cried in the swing during these 12 weeks.)

I've written before that her hair is a shade lighter than Logan's at this age and her hairline is the opposite, but it's a different TYPE as well. It lays perfectly in place compared to his. Maybe it'll be thick like Joe's? (Logan's is thin like mine.) She stopped losing it a couple of weeks ago so she didn't lose as much as Logan did, either.

I think it's safe to say she won't get cradle cap like he did; she's out of the zone. Her baby acne has been completely gone as of a couple of weeks ago.

I think Krissa's going to have Joe's color of brown eyes because at this point with Logan I could tell they were my color (and they are) but her's I can't tell yet, only that they are going to be brown. . .but there's like a sparkle in them :-) which make them look lighter (which would be Joe's).

I read how Logan was having several explosive diapers a day. I think she traded that for the spit up because I haven't had to change my clothes due to her pooping, but I have had to change my clothes numerous times for her spitting up (which she still does a lot), but I never changed my clothes for that reason with Logan. Thankfully, she only projectile vomits once every other week now. And she only chokes every other feeding now. (Also it's been weeks since she peed or pooped while Joe or I had her without a diaper.)

This was the age that Logan started interacting with Joe (cooing at him, etc.), and Krissa seems to be the same way, as both my kids tended to be fussy with him until two-and-a-half months old! :p (She's comfortable with everyone now, even when I'm not around -- I hadn't been away from her for more than a half an hour since the 3.5 hrs that I went to the movie with Brooke back in August, but a couple of weeks ago our longest time apart increased to 4 hrs and she did well. Still, I won't be ready to be away from her longer than 4 hrs for awhile.) Here's what I wrote on my old blog: It's also made Joe feel good that Logan has started recognizing and smiling at him, too. Until recently Joe would joke, "He doesn't like me," because Logan's face didn't brighten the same way as when Logan would look at me--but now it does. Especially in the mornings, it's like Logan is happy to see us after a night's sleep. :-) The other day I asked Joe to hold Krissa and I went to another room. A little later I heard him talking baby talk to her, it was so cute :-)Speaking of Joe, his boss told him he pretty much has to take the promotion this spring that they offered him in August that he declined. So hopefully his job won't get stressful because so far it's been perfect for the both of us these past 4 months. He'll have the same position that he had at his last job. The good news is that he will be changing locations in January (you might remember that ever since he started in June he's been working at a downtown location rather than their main office 7 minutes from our new house. The downtown location is 20 min from our new house but come January he will be closer, although we don't know if he'll be at their main location or somewhere else).

Anyway, this is the point (Logan was 3 months old) when we bought our eliptical machine and I began using it for the first time. I miss it! I can't wait to work out again, I feel so out of shape. Even though I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight quickly without doing anything, my stomach does NOT look the way it did before baby #2! Aside from a few stretch marks that I got this time, I need to tone up.

Also when Logan was 3 months old we had him baptized (or dedicated to be exact). I am anxious to join the church in Waukee that my HS friend recommended and get Krissa baptized/dedicated. . .I'm thinking when she is 6 months old (in January). (Back in September I wrote that Logan would probably start preschool in late January but now I'm guessing it'll be early March since we still have to find one but our move was delayed and then we have the holidays, etc.)

Just like last time with Logan at this point I still have "the line" (linea nigra). . .I had it until six months post partum with Logan.

In the past I mentioned that Krissa doesn't fall asleep while nursing -- well she doesn't even ever close her eyes! Logan always closed his eyes. . . but I think he just nursed for relaxation (and took bottles for nutrition), but Krissa nurses to eat, and seems to get her relaxation elsewhere.

She's continued her fascinating pattern of increasing her night hours by one every two weeks, so she's been sleeping 10 hrs+2 hrs since ten weeks old. (Goes to bed at 10 pm, wakes up at 8 am to nurse and then goes back to sleep until 10 am. From there her awake and sleep hours vary each day, depending on what we're doing/what's going on. She still eats 8 times a day, however as of eleven weeks old has increased her five minute nursing to ten minutes. Finally, when re-reading my old blog, this was the paragraph that caught my attention the most; I wrote this when Logan was Krissa's current age:

I saw a mother and her three-year-old son at the grocery store the other day and they were walking hand-in-hand and it was such a precious sight. I thought about how some day Logan will be able to walk side-by-side with me at the supermarket, how I can take him to the pool, the park, we can color. . .all of the things I used to love to do as a child I get to do again. :-) (I loved when my brother was three, as well as a Bible school class I helped teach a couple of summers in high school.) By that time, this little brachial cleft will hopefully seem like a little deal that happened a long time ago.

Awe! That's where I am with Logan NOW! Even though three turned out to be my least fav age with him, LOL, those images that I was excited for came true. I've had a wonderful time with my little boy walking hand in hand, going to the pool, the park, and coloring, etc.

Krissa is also doing the same thing Logan did in the following paragraph which I also copied (and despite Logan's moments that I wrote about last time, he still does this every day, too):

[Logan] looks & smiles at me like I can do no wrong. I've never had anyone look at me like that before in my life, haha! I know that some day it will change (I assume that happens around age 12 or 13) but it reminded me of how Dr. Phil always says kids should not fear their parents, but instead look at them like they make the sun come up in the morning. I hope that continues because it was the best feeling in the world to feel like I was this little guy's number one.
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The last time I posted an update was on Friday, September 16 (when Krissa turned 9 weeks). That day my mom let me use a massage appt that she had made with her massage therapist. It was EXCELLENT. But. . .it did make me miss my massage therapist back in Omaha -- I swear there can't be anyone better than Deb at Centerpointe Massage, but I hope to find one in Waukee. For supper Joe, Logan, Krissa, and I went out to eat to the only Mexican restaurant that we like in Ankeny (Cazador).

On Saturday, September 17 we went to meet the REAL Thomas the Train in Boone, Iowa. I'd been wanting to go since last year when I heard about it and saw pictures from friends on facebook the weekend that Joe and I were staying in Ames just him and me (First Try = Nay). Logan LOVED it! We first stopped for lunch at The Pizza Ranch which was yummy. . .have I mentioned there is one right by our new house? It's the closest restaurant to us! :-) Then, we spent almost 3 hrs doing the activities at Thomas the Train. The 25 min train ride itself wasn't anything special - and way expensive ($18 a person, even Logan) but everything else was free - they have bounce houses, toy trains to play with, legos, an art station, tattoos, story telling and movie viewing, meeting Sir Topham Hat, fun mirrors, a hay maze, musicians, a magician, and a gift shop where Logan had us buy a balloon that is still up in the air! Shortly after we arrived home, my dad did, too (from Michigan).On Sunday, September 18, since Logan had cried upon leaving Thomas The Train the day before and really wanted to go again (but it's only open two weekends every year), my mom and stepdad took him again! Meanwhile, Joe went to watch the Chicago Bears (lose, boo hoo) at a sports bar with Joe Grife (his HS friend who had the baby Sept 1st). Krissa and I went grocery shopping and did the laundry and cleaned.

On Monday, September 19 I assume we went to my mom's for Logan's nap. . .I can't recall that long ago anymore. :p Same thing with Tuesday, September 20. . .although pictures on our picasa site show that Joe and I went to look at the progress on our new house, LOL. So I think that was the evening Joe and I went to a Chinese restaurant for supper while my mom and stepdad watched Logan and Krissa -- but it was so awful that I could only eat two bites and that was it. :(

On Wednesday, September 21st we went to the pediatrician here for the first time. We aren't sure if we're going to stay with him or not. He had a fun personality (was a funny, nice guy) and we don't doubt he's a top doctor (it was hard to get an appt. with him for Krissa's 2 month well visit, and Krissa's 4 month appt isn't until a week before she turns 5 months old). But, he was like Dr. Taggart (my OBGYN with Logan) and our old pediatrician was like Dr. Sullivan (my OBGYN with Krissa). . .in other words, he didn't seem easy-going which we've decided we like with our doctors! (He had the stereotypical doctor personality: the God complex.)

For example, he gave us a huge long lecture about why he is against separating/delaying vaccines like what we did with Logan (here was the page on my old blog with links about why/what we did; Logan's doctor was 100% for us), so it makes me wonder how he'll handle Logan at his 4 yr check up and so on. Logan just caught up to everyone else at his 3 yr appt, so we don't want him getting the standard 4 yr shots until 6 yrs (then he'll be caught up again for the rest of his life) -- I don't want this guy insisting for some reason that he get shots at his 4 yr appt. Even though we plan to continue with the standard schedule for Krissa's 4 month appt and 6 month appt, I want to wait on the MMR and chicken pox vaccines until she's three yrs old like Logan was (usually given at 12 months). I've also heard some doctors push the flu shot, something I will never give my kids (who have never gotten the flu) nor myself (I didn't have it with either pregnancy).

If we had moved to Ankeny, I would have my kids go to Dr Bilgi, my old pediatrician who allows parents to make their own decisions regarding vaccines. It would have been fun to have MY old doctor be my children's doctor :-) Plus, every person I have run into in Ankeny with kids has him as their pediatrician! All of my friends when I was growing up had him, too. But, once we move to Waukee, Ankeny will be 31 minutes away so that's not practical. This guy we went to is less than 10 minutes from our new house. But, now that we're living here and our life has calmed down, I can check around to the other offices around our new house to see if there are any doctors who seem more chill (as with ALL areas we want a doctor who will listen to us and not just act like his opinion is the only right one).

It's funny because at Logan's 2 month appt the PA was all about getting him to sleep 8 hrs, even though I found out later that it's not natural for most breastfed babies to sleep 8 hrs at that point. (So I was a bit annoyed that she was telling me to do the CIO method.) Well this doctor was the opposite; he was like, "What?! She's sleeping through the night already?! At four months we expect four hours for breastfed babies." He told us we were in the lucky minority.He also told us that Krissa wasn't constipated like I wrote about last time. It is perfectly normal for babies her age to go up to a week without pooping. Real constipation is hard, dry, poop -- not the yellow runny poop that she's always had. Still, I'm glad she hasn't gone more than 24 hrs without pooping since that did make her uncomfortable.

By the way, I liked that they had a separate area for sick children vs well children (our last place didn't have that).

After we left, we went over to one of Joe's old HS friend's houses for supper. Jeff was in Joe's class and his wife Lindsey was two years behind. They got married in March 2003 (a month before we did) and had their daughter Taylor in November 2004 and daughter Leighton in August 2010. Jeff grilled out chicken and Lindsey made corn and tater tots; we enjoyed the meal and had great conversation. I was surprised how hyper and outgoing Logan was there! He was playing with Taylor like they were life long friends. :-)

Krissa slept the whole time we were there, but shortly after we got home she woke up screaming. She cried for over an hour which she'd never done before; all I could do was hold her standing up (she was worse if I tried to sit or lay down) and bouncing her around (she wouldn't nurse). It appeared she was in pain from the shots on her legs. Unlike Logan who always handled pain well as a baby (and didn't even cry the majority of the time that they GAVE him the shots, let alone acted any different in the evenings or days following), Krissa acts dramatic if the littlest thing hurts her so you can imagine this was hard to watch!

So, Joe went to the store, trying to find infant Tylenol while I tried to get a hold of our after hour's pediatrician in Omaha to no avail. Thanks to facebook, the girl who'd recommended the pediatrician here gave me the phone # for their ask-a-nurse who let us know how much to give her. However, Joe went to both Hy-Vee and Wal-Mart (since it was after 9 pm when Walgreens and Target closed) and neither of them had Tylenol! Thankfully, by then Krissa had worn herself out and fallen asleep so it was okay that we never gave her any. She slept most of the next day (that was when her naps returned), but was back to her happy, normal self with no other side effects from the vaccines which was a relief. (Here she is laughing)Thursday, September 22 is a blur so we must have just gone over to my mom's. . .Friday, September 23 my mom had another appt. with her massage therapist that she let me use! Thanks, Mom! When Joe got home from work we went shopping for a refrigerator since our buyers are taking ours. We chose a stainless steel fridge from Sears that is normally $1500 but we got for $1100. Now we just need to find a washer and dryer. . .

For supper we picked up a pizza at Godfather's. This was actually the second time we've had Godfather's here -- our favorite chain pizza place in Omaha -- however both restaurants here that we tried were NOT like the ones in the Omaha area! I assumed they'd be the same in Iowa but they are not as good :( I guess we'll have to find a different place here to order from.

On Saturday, September 24, my dad left for Michigan again and we left for Omaha. (He returns tomorrow.) We arrived at 3 pm and met with our realtor to sign all of the final papers. Then we went out for supper to our fav Omaha Mexican place, Roja, where we hadn't been since June (when I posted my Final Ultrasound pic of Krissa!)

After that, Joe took the kids to the school playground while I went to the movie theater with Brooke. We saw I Don't Know How She Does It which wasn't bad. (We took the dogs with us to Omaha; Krissa is showing an interest in them now and they are with her, too, finally!)

That night I made a bed of sheets on Logan's floor to see how he'd do sleeping by himself for the first time in 8 weeks! (At that time we'd been at my dad's house for 7 weeks and he'd been at Joe's mom's house the week before, so it'd been two months that he'd had roommates. The other time that we'd stayed at our old house, a month prior, he'd slept in my bed with Joe while I'd slept on the floor -- yes the floor -- with Krissa!) No surprise, he put up a bit of a fight at first, but eventually gave in and went to bed with no tears.

I also didn't know how Krissa would do, since she hadn't slept in her own room since she was three weeks old! But thankfully she did great, too. (Especially because she LOVED the mobile in her crib. Logan loved it, too, at this age but that is more common with boys so I didn't know if she would -- but it was so fun to see her smile and laugh at it and make signs that she wanted me to turn it on again and again. She LOVES music and gives me the biggest smile when I sing to her. Logan only responded to "Twinkle Twinkle" and that was it, but ironically that is the only song she doesn't respond to!)Soooo. . .at 10 weeks post partum Joe and I finally had "a chance." (In a previous post I'd joked that I might wait until November, well I soon realized that might be serious considering our living arrangement.) Well I don't know if it's because we waited 3 weeks longer than last time, or because I only had a 3-minute pushing phase compared to 4-hours last time, or as most people say -- this was my second child -- but it was no big deal AT ALL!!!! It felt completely normal, no sign that I'd pushed a 7 lbs, 10 oz baby out of me two months before and had an episiotomy and was breastfeeding. I was all prepared for the enoromous pain that I'd experienced after Logan, but nope. . .yet another difference!

On Sunday, September 25 we got together with our friends the Casson's (Matt, Stacy, Jaxson, and Olivia) for our favorite place in Omaha: Vala's Pumpkin Patch! (Here is Logan riding a pony there)I'm so glad we had a chance to go, since Logan had been asking ALL YEAR! It was fun to finally say, "It's open, we can go now!" Next year I want to get a season pass and come back 4 or 5 times. Due to our move, unfortunately, this will be our only trip this year. So we made the most of it and it was A BLAST! I have said this frequently since Logan and Jaxson met each other (which I read on my old blog at this point of Krissa's life with Logan) -- it is fun that as much as they change and go from one stage to the next, they always seem to be the exact same! For example, I've noticed that Logan's showing insecurity-type-shyness now. I have been contributing it to his crazy summer. But, Stacy said Jaxson has suddenly become the same way! If they see a bunch of children they don't know, they both don't want to play (in the past that never stopped them). It even took Jaxson more warming up to Vala's than Logan. So that made me relieved that it's not my fault, LOL!!!We hated to leave, we spent 9 hrs there. We packed up some more things to take back with us (and Sean & Brenda came over to chat; I had gotten my mail from Jenn the day before and also our neighbors across the street stopped to chat with us as well). . .and then headed back to Iowa. Joe taped the Chicago Bears game/loss :-(

Thankfully, Krissa is doing better in the car these days. She still cries every now and then, but has improved A LOT compared to how for over a month she cried every single time we were ever in the car (for the entire drive). Now the majority of the time she is content or sleeps.

Monday, September 26 does not stand out with anything to report. . .nor Tuesday, September 27. . .nor Wednesday, September 28. . .or Thursday, September 29! Friday, September 30 my mom and stepdad took Logan to a pumpkin farm between their house and my dad's house. It's really small and only open on Friday evenings and Sat-Suns but I'm hoping to take Logan before October is over (after that it's closed) because Logan had a fantastic time. I am glad that even though we won't have Vala's here (and to an adult nothing can compare!), there are places that he will enjoy just as much/he won't know any different.

Joe and I (and Krissa) went over to our new house and then wanted to go to PF Changs which is by our new house (since I didn't get my Chinese fix due to that other restaurant being poor), but there was a 45 min wait so we went to The Pizza Ranch instead, then picked up Logan.

Saturday, October 1 we got together with Joe's HS friends the Buckleys again, as well as his other HS friend/best man in our wedding, Andy Rebik (who was in Joe's and Jeff's class) and wife Ashley (who also went to Newton but was three years younger -- they were married in Sept 2008), Andy's 8 year old daughter Karlee, Ashley's almost 6 year old son Logan, and their 8 month old son Benton. Both families had told us about this area's version of Vala's -- a pumpkin patch in Cambridge, Iowa called CenterGrove Apple Orchard. It had a lot of the same fun things that Vala's had: the jumping pillow/trampoline, corn pool, ducks in water races, hay rack ride which stopped for Logan to pick out a pumpkin and do a corm maze, etc. He also did something new -- an apple sling shot! So once again Logan had a terrific time (Krissa was awake the entire day! I was glad she wasn't fussy because she wouldn't take the pacifier or bottle - she's had around dozen in her life now), and I enjoyed chatting with Lindsey and Ashley. It's funny because Joe, Jeff, Andy, and their mutual friend Jake who is married to my friend Melissa and lives in AZ (who used to live in Omaha and had the baby girl Sept 6) all married short (we're all the same height) brunette girls with similar personalities. Sadly, we learned that another of their HS friends, Ryan Repp and his wife Jenny (who used to read my old blog and she & I emailed like twice a month from fall 2008 to fall 2009, then it's been sporadic the past two years) are getting a divorce. They were high school sweethearts (at least they didn't have any children.) They moved to KC a year and a half ago so that's where she's staying, while Ryan moved back home to Newton. Joe and I always figured one or more of our friends would get divorced. . .it's crazy we're at that age now.

After the pumpkin patch, we all went over to the Buckley's house for pizza and to watch the ISU game (they lost).

On Sunday, October 2nd we went over to Joe's mom's house for lunch and to deocrate pumpkins :-) We also watched the Chicago Bears WIN! On our way back to my dad's house we stopped at Grife's house (I gave Jeannie the free newborn formula they'd given me at the hospital since Krissa still has a difficult time taking my pumped breastmilk in a bottle, let alone formula, but Jeannie's going back to work next week when Cooper is 6 weeks old so she said she'll take it even though she's breastfeeding, too). We then ate supper at a Mexican restaurant near my dad's house and played at the park near my dad's house for the first time, before settling in for the night. (This pic was taken the day before as Logan played in the leaves behind my dad's house)Monday, October 3rd is a blur (although I watched my third and final episode of The Playboy Club as it was the first of new shows this fall to be canceled. In my last update I said that I've been watching Up All Night, well I decided after saying that it might be Dec before I watched TV again that I would try to watch as many new shows as I could -- and I have caught 4 others: Ringer, Unforgettable, Whitney, and Pan Am. Pan Am is my favorite so far, with Ringer close behind, then Up All Night, and Whitney. I didn't care for Unforgettable which is too bad because I really like Poppy Montgomery and Dylan Walsh; we'll see if it's the next to be canceled or if it sticks around. I'm not surprised about The Playboy Club because it was on Monday nights. My first fav show since Sex & The City was What About Brian which was on Monday nights and canceled, followed by my next fav show the following year, Journeyman, also on Monday nights, and finally my most recent fav show, Medium, canceled last year even though they tried saving it by moving it from Mondays to Fridays. I don't know why networks are surprised by low ratings when they are competing with Monday Night Football. They will never have high ratings for any show! So I'm glad Pan Am is on Sundays because that means it has a chance.)

Tuesday, October 4th my mom took Logan back to CenterGrove Apple Orchard to experience it with him so they had a fun day.

Wednesday, October 5th Joe's mom spent the day with Logan as well -- back at her place in Newton. (We were going to all go to a wildlife place in Des Moines to see buffalo, but she heard that they weren't out right now after all.)

Thursday, October 6th I got my third day in a row of a break when my mom took Logan around to ALL of the parks around here! It's been beautiful weather so I'm glad Logan has been outside enjoying it. I've done some more sitting on the deck at my dad's, admiring all of the GORGEOUS colored trees. (My goal now that we've adjusted to having Krissa is for Logan to watch less TV at our new house compared to these past 9 weeks at my dad's house; the other day he was watching the Scout network or something like that while I went upstairs to eat lunch [it has a nice goodnight show that he watches before bed]. The next thing I knew, Logan was running up the stairs crying because there was a scary show that had come on [Lazytown]. Before living here I never had to worry about what he watched because mostly all we had on was IPTV. Yesterday it was funny, though -- Super Why's episode was about Pinnochio so Logan got a horrible look on his face and said, "Pinnochio is scary!" I thought about what I posted here in August and laughed and said, "Pinnochio isn't scary, do you remember the story?" He nodded and said, "He forgot to wash his hands!" Too funny.) Today, Friday, October 7th Krissa turns TWELVE weeks old! I bought size 2 diapers for the first time because I think she is 14 lbs now (Logan was 15 lbs at this stage). Logan has been going over to her and saying, "look at this giant baby!" to which I tell him she is not a giant baby, she is still little to me. :p Just like what I wrote about in Logan's posts at this point, this is when people start switching from weeks to months. . .in other words, next Fri the 14th she will be 13 weeks but the next day, Oct 15th, is her 3 month birthday so that's what I'll refer to from then on (she'll be 3 months old until Nov 15 then she turns 4 months old, etc.)

To conclude this huge post, I'll announce that Chris is the friend who I was referring to in my last update who is due with her second child in April. :-) (My friend from Omaha who used to work with Joe and moved to Virgina in 2010.) Also, my bff Sarah's brother is expecting with his wife in March!

Every now and then I get sad when I think about all of these moments with Krissa being my LAST for experiencing them with a baby! Babies are awesome!!!!! So I clam up whenever it's brought up about making two kids permament with Joe! He is all for doing it, and I think I am. . .at least I've always been, especially having one of each sex. . .but I don't want to make our fate this year. Because, the thought has crossed my mind: what if once Krissa is in school I miss all of this and get an overwhelming desire to have another but can't?! But, she'll be 5 yrs old and Logan will be 8, so chances are I won't WANT to go all of the way back here to the beginning -- I'll be too busy with whatever they're doing at that point in their lives. Plus, I'll be 36 so I'll probably feel too old (even though my maternal and paternal grandmothers were 36-37 when they had their third/last child, as was Joe's mom when she had her third/last -- which was Joe! And my dad was the third so it's a good thing for my life that both their moms went for #3, haha)!

However, most people who come from a family of three actually say they would have preferred two or four because there was always someone who was left out. If I don't have my third child until Logan is 8 and Krissa is 5 then that child would definitely be the one left out. Since my big thing this time was wanting my kids to be friends (and it sure seems like I got my wish), #3 would probably be the opposite experience (until adulthood anyway). And for some odd reason I'd only want my third child to be a girl which is weird since before I had Krissa I was 55/45 as far as 55% of me leaned toward wanting two boys. . .but now I really want Logan to be my only boy.

Finally, to quote Joe, we have a good thing going now, why chance it. I hate agreeing with that because I think that's a terrible reason, LOL, but it's true. I know a lot of people who had two easy children and their life was all nice and neat and then they had a third that really stirred thing up, caused them all sorts of problems. That's not to say any parent regrets going for the third, but Joe & I WOULD be outnumbered which seems like there would be more stress and work just for that reason alone. Not to mention, a third pregnancy for me does not sound appealing nor a third childbirth, LOL.

So. . .our plan is to still stick with two, but at this point we're not making any appointments because I just want to know the option is still there if I change my mind. I'll revisit this topic in a year. :-) Here are the posts I wrote when Logan was Krissa's age:
Brachial Cleft Fistula Surgery Delayed!

3 Months Old!