Friday, December 31, 2010

Last Post of 2010

Happy New Year blog world! And what a year it's been! Here are a few highlights of 2010 for us:

January: Announcing to the world that we were expecting

February: Finding out we were having a boy!

March: Enjoying an extravagant (but FREE) babymoon in Hawaii

April: Birthdays and Baby Showers Galore!

May: Finishing Logan's nursery

June: The birth of our son

July: Jason completes his first 1/2 marathon!

August: Logan met his Aunt Gretchen, Uncle Nate and Cousin Luke, Uncle Jarod, GiGi and Great Grandpa Laub for the first time

September: Logan flew on an Airplane for the first time

October: I went back to work and survived

November: Logan celebrated his first Thanksgiving in the Bay Area with his family

December: Logan celebrated his first Christmas in Seattle with his family

It has been SUCH an amazing year for us, we have felt SO blessed to have Logan in our lives. He has made an amazing life that much MORE amazing. Here's to hoping 2011 is just as good if not better!

Happy New Year everyone!!

Love,
Jason, Ashleigh & Logan Laub

Starting Solids...take 2

We took photos of the VERY first time Logan ever tried solids....but I accidentally deleted...D'Oh! So here are some shots of round 2....he's a bit more interested, but just as messy as he was the first time! Enjoy!




Tomorrow we take on Carrots!

CHRISTMAS 2010!!

We started out the Christmas Holiday at our apartment on Christmas Eve with Iris, her friend Emily, Dave and Hillary. The next morning we opened presents with our family of 3, and that afternoon flew up to Seattle to be with my family for the week! We had a lot of family time, a day trip in to the city, spend several hours with Lindsey, Jason and Brock Brown, saw 2 of my oldest college friends for a few hours before we left and then headed back home on Thursday morning. It was a great trip- I'm always so sad whenever I leave Seattle...thank goodness my cousin is getting married in February, so we'll be back in the Emerald City in 6 weeks time! Here's to hoping it flies by! Merry Christmas Everyone!















Logan Going Bananas!

He wasn't such a big fan...

Happy Half Birthday Logan!

Logan's a pretty special boy- he gets to celebrate his half birthday every year on Christmas Eve!
Enjoy!

Is this Logan or a young Clark Kent?


He looks like such a big boy here!


Silly Baby!


Loving his tummy time!



Naps With Daddy

If it were possible, my heart would have literally melted when I walked in to see this scene...instead it just fluttered quite a bit :) I love these guys!






Thursday, December 23, 2010

Today is Brought To You By The Word: Unremarkable

Unremarkable [ˌʌnrɪˈmɑːkəbəl]
adj
not worthy of note or attention



That's right....Unremarkable is the word of the day hands down. Because THAT was the word that the pediatric neurosurgeon that we saw today said about Logan. The word has NEVER sounded so sweet!

To give you a little insight in to what Jason, Logan and I have been going through over the last few days, I need to take you back to last Friday. I made an appointment with Logan's pediatrician to have him checked out because he'd had a cold for a week and it didn't seem to be getting any better. The cold ended up being nothing and Logan was fine. But while we were in the office, Dr. Brown wanted to take a quick measurement of Logan's head. She has been concerned, as has every doctor that's seen him, that his head was a little too large (A little too cute is what she meant I think). She did the measurement, and sure enough, it had grown more than she would have liked since his 4 month appointment on October 22nd. So because of that, she decided to set up an appointment for Logan to have an ultrasound done on his head to make sure there wasn't any fluid on his brain. FLUID ON HIS BRAIN? Ummm....roller coaster of emotions, commence....NOW.

So Monday morning, Jason, Logan and I headed in to Redondo Beach to have his ultrasound done. They do it just like they do on a pregnant woman's belly...gel on babies head, wand over gel on babies head. Logan did pretty good considering the situation. Well, once we were done, the technician said she wanted to call the doctor in...our hearts sank...the doctor came in, looked around and said that she DID in fact see some fluid on his brain. She tried to comfort us by saying that the amount there is small enough that it usually resolves itself with age. Somehow, that didn't provide ANY comfort for Jason and me.

We get home, and I'm a bit upset. Jason did an amazing job of supporting me and telling me that everything was going to be fine...too bad he didn't listen to his own advice...apparently he was a wreck all day! When he got home that night, he confessed how concerned and upset he was, so then it was MY turn to support him and tell HIM that everything was going to be alright...this time I should have listened to my own advice because the next day I was a wreck!

So on Tuesday, we try to call Logan's pediatrician to figure out what our next step is...too bad she decided to leave on vacation until the following Tuesday...great timing. I explained to the nurse who answered the phone what the situation was, and she assured me she would get another pediatrician in touch me with before the end of the day.

Well, Jason and I couldn't wait until the end of the day so within an hour, we were in touch with my Uncle in Colorado who is a pediatrician, Jason's co-worker's friends who is a pediatrician in Arizona and Logan's former pediatrician here in Santa Monica begging for some advice. Even without seeing any report of the ultrasound images, ALL of the doctors told us this was normal and that as long as Logan was developing as he should be, that everything was going to be fine. We still weren't convinced.

Later that day, Dr. Malla from Dr. Brown's office called us and told us that she was going to show some neurologists Logan's report and images so that they could have a better idea of what we were dealing with (While I'm sure this was all supposed to make us feel better, the idea of a neurosurgeon looking at images of my son's brain was VERY unsettling). She didn't think that the fluid they saw was a big deal, and that since Logan was a happy child who was developing normally, that we would be fine. We felt better after speaking with Dr. Malla, but we still felt very RAW and unsure about what to do next.

On Wednesday, I received a call that Dr. McComb, a pediatric neuro surgeon wanted to see us on Thursday afternoon for a consultation...we were a bit relieved, excited and scared. A Neuro Surgeon? Wow. that's pretty scary stuff. When we finally met with Dr. McComb, he calmed our fears immediately. He told us that it's NORMAL to find fluid on the brain of a baby with a head as big as Logan's. He did a quick physical exam on Logan to make sure everything was functioning properly, which it was. Next, he measured Jason's head and sure enough...Jason's head circumference is ALSO in the 98th percentile, JUST like Logan's!

At the end of the consultation, Dr. McComb told us that Logan is a perfectly normal boy, he is unremarkable and he does not see the need for any further testing.

Jason and i could have KISSED Dr. McComb when he said all of that. I felt weightless as he left the room. I'd been SO stressed and SO upset all week, that it was surreal to know that I could finally relax and that Logan is going to be Ok. Even now, 6 hours after we left the Doctor's office, just thinking about it all could bring me to tears.

This week has been an emotional roller coaster. Not that I ever doubted my love for Logan, but this week really put it in to perspective and showed me how much I do love him and how i Just want the very best for him.

Now that all of this is behind us, I'm looking forward to celebrating Logan's first Christmas on Saturday morning and flying to Seattle for a week of family and fun Saturday evening.

Merry Christmas All! And to all a GOOD NIGHT!

Love,
Ash


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Gift of Reading

At all of Logan's showers, we received several awesome books! But we've read them all! And to be honest, I needed something MORE...or, I mean LOGAN needed something more! So Jason and I put our heads together and ordered him some of our favorite childhood books as a Christmas present! Here are the books we purchased:

I had to represent Seattle!

Jason's favorite

My favorite

Jas wanted to represent San Fran
(We read this one to him last night, it was actually a REALLY cool book!)

Merry Christmas Little Man!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Schedule Schmedule

So...I was just perusing Babycenter.com just looking around for things I should know about my 5.5 month old (I constatnly feel like I don't know enough of what I should know...thank goodness for babycenter updates and friends who have babies and their blogs because I learn a lot from that stuff!). Anyway, as I was perusing babycenter.com I stumbled upon their section on Baby Schedules and I stumbled upon this:

Schedule 8: A breastfeeding and pumping working mom of a 6-month-old

Editor's note: This schedule is a parent-led routine

5 a.m.: I hear D start to whimper in his crib. I get up, change his diaper, and bring him back to my bed where we nurse lying down.

5:30 a.m.: Burp and cuddle with D while he falls back to sleep.

5:45 a.m.: I pump the other breast and get bottles ready for the day.

6 to 7 a.m.: I shower and get ready, wake D, change his diaper and outfit, and we're off to the nanny and work.

9:30 a.m.: I sneak off to my car to pump. The nanny feeds D a 4-ounce bottle of breast milk, followed by playtime and a nap.

12:30 p.m.: Again, I sneak off to my car to pump. The nanny feeds D a 4-ounce bottle of breast milk, followed by playtime and a nap.

3 p.m.: D has a 2-ounce bottle of breast milk, usually followed by a nap.

3:30 p.m.: I leave work and pick up D. We make it home by 4:30.

5 p.m.: Nurse.

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.: I play with D, make dinner, and clean my pump supplies.

6:30 p.m.: Dinner — D has pureed veggies mixed with rice cereal while my husband and I eat. Then we have playtime and a walk.

7:30 p.m.: Story time, bath time.

8 p.m.: Nurse.

9 p.m.: I put D in his crib and he falls right to sleep.

9 to 10:30 p.m.: I get ready for the next day.


This schedule- the way it was written ANNOYED the crap out of me! haha...doesn't it just sound like it's written by little miss perfect? "I Burp and Cuddle D while he falls back to sleep" and "I put D in his crib and he falls right to sleep" Seriously? Umm...Mom's of 5 and 6 month olds out there...does your day look REMOTELY like this?! Here's the schedule *I* would have written:

Schedule 8: A breastfeeding and pumping working mom of a 6-month-old

Editor's note: This schedule is a parent-led routine

5 a.m.: I hear L fussing in his crib, and i subconsciously turn off the monitor because I'm still exhausted and want to sleep.

5:15am: I hear L SCREAMING across the apartment, and I immediately jump up and run in to his room thinking "I'm the worst Mom EVER for turning off the Monitor!! I'm so sorry!!"

5:30 a.m.: Feed the chunk-o-munk on both breasts leaving none to pump at 5:45 as the previous schedule says.

5:45 a.m.: I get L ready for the day, make lunches for Jas and I, scramble to get the bottles ready for Lisette, try to do the dishes that weren't done the night before, try to pick up the place so Lisette doesn't think we're TOTAL slobs (Though, she must know by now that we are).

6 to 7 a.m.: Hopefully I can shower at this point, try to look somewhat decent for my day

9:30 a.m.: I pump in my office, freaking out every time I hear someone walk by...pray for 6oz...got it!

12:30 p.m.: I eat lunch and then pump again...praying for 6 oz...dammit! Only 4!

3 p.m.: *Ok, can we just comment on the previous schedule...a TWO OUNCE BOTTLE?! Are you kidding me?! Two ounces? Babycenter...why even put this on there? Why? Who does this help? I don't think Logan has had a 2oz bottle since the first day he arrived!

3:30 p.m.: I pump again, still praying for 6oz...dammmmm! only 3!

5 p.m.: Stumble in the door, say goodbye to Lisette, pray that Logan has JUST eaten so I can pump again to try to make up for what I didn't get earlier in the day... what's that? He hasn't eaten since 3 and he just woke up so he's hungry now. Damn.

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.: I play with L, make dinner, and collapse on the couch.

6:30 p.m.: Play with Logan.

7:30 p.m.: Jason gets home, we put Logan down..

8 p.m.: Jas and i eat dinner, watch TV, try to catch up.

9 p.m.: L gets up for one last feeding.

9 to 10:30 p.m.: Put L down for good, continue watching TV, fall asleep on couch. Get ready to do it all again.


It may not be as PERFECT as the first schedule, but its what we got and I love it!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Christmas Cards...Take 2

Last year we did Christmas cards...what's that? You say you didn't get yours? Don't you remember, it was 2 pics of Jason and I, and one pic in the middle with the words "We're Pregnant" written in the sand...no, you don't recall? Oh...that's because we never mailed them! But this year will be different...I PROMISE! Wanna know why? Three reasons:

1. We have a blog
2. We're going to use Shutterfly
3. Shutterfly has an amazing deal going on right now for bloggers- 50 FREE photo cards! We can't pass this deal up!

I've been looking through all of the awesome holiday card options they have, and I have found quite a few delightful ones....I like this one for just the little man making 3 of his best faces, this one for a pic of the family, then a couple of Logan and maybe one of the cats (And don't forget the fish!) and then, if I know my husband (And I do) he'll want this one because it's sleek, simple, elegant and timeless (But not quite as much FUN!).

Jas and I have used shutterfly forever...we love it. I think I've made him at least ONE calendar over the years, their Thank You cards are fantastic and I can't pass up the awesome wall art they have that you can make out of your very own photos!

So bring on the holiday cards....look for yours in the mail sometime "soon" (Please note- "soon" is a relative term for a family with a 6month old...soon may mean April!!).

Merry Christmas!

Love
Ash

Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Tree Is Here!!

Trimmed and in place...it is OFFICIALLY Christmas! We just need our Stockings to arrive, which should happen sometime this week!







Saturday, December 4, 2010

Baby's First Christmas

Christmas Time is Here!! And what a fabulous time of year it is! Christmas presents have been ordered, Christmas Music can be found playing in our home many hours of the day, and the tree is arriving tomorrow (Well, we're going to GET it tomorrow)! On Cyber Monday I found a great deal at potterybarn.com , they were offering FREE shipping and FREE monogramming on certain items, I found these and snatched them up right away!!




It's funny because even though Jason and I have shared Christmas together for the past 4 years, we STILL don't have stockings (until now that is). It's probably because we're rarely actually in our own HOME on Christmas. This year, however, we fly to Seattle on Christmas evening (and Yes, Logan has a Christmas appropriate outfit for the plane ride...one that will guarantee he gets all the best attention from the flight attendants). I'm so excited to hang these up as soon as they arrive- I'm contemplating getting 2 little stockings for the cats, or maybe one medium sized one so that we can use THIS to hang them....what do you think? Ok, I just mentioned that to Jason and he thinks I'm crazy (but hey, if I get the PEACE one, then we HAVE to have 2 more kids right? Because everyone determines the size on their family based on their Christmas decorations right? Right.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!!!!