Christmas Revisited

Christmas came and went rather quickly this year. We had a great holiday, but didn't have time to partake in a lot of our favorite holiday traditions. Sadly, we didn't even decorate our house or tree. We hung our stockings and bought a Christmas tree, but never had time to put more than lights on it. Of course I made sure to DVR plenty of Christmas movies and am still forcing Luke to watch one with me most nights.

We spent Christmas in St. Louis again this year. It was our first time travelling with both kids. I can't believe how much stuff we had to bring with us for a long weekend. The kids did great and Logan even started sleeping without his car seat. I know, it's about time! Unfortunately, Luke, Avery and I were all sick over the holiday. Thankfully, Logan avoided getting sick.
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Aside from being sick, we had a really nice few days celebrating the holiday season with family. Luke's grandparents came in town from Michigan to meet their first great-grandson, little Newtie (as Luke's grandfather likes to call Logan). It was really nice to spend some time with them. Of course Luke's grandmother was in heaven with a new baby to love on.

We spent a lot of time going back and forth between my parents' and Luke's parents' houses. It really is too bad they don't live closer. On Thursday, I was able to meet up with my sister to finish my Christmas shopping while Luke and the kids visited with his family. On Christmas Eve day, we had family pictures taken with the Musselman/Chamberlain/O'Sullivan family in the morning and spent Christmas Eve with my family and some family friends at my parents' house. On Christmas morning, we went to Luke's parents' house for gifts and breakfast and then headed back to my parents' house in the afternoon for gifts and dinner.

On Sunday, we headed back to Columbia to celebrate Christmas as a family of four. Luke was disappointed because I made him wait until Monday morning to celebrate our Christmas. By then, Avery had enough of Christmas and had very little interest in opening her gifts from us and Santa. She got a trampoline and some small gifts, but never wanted to open her other big gift, a bike. It's still wrapped. I think we are going to save it for her birthday. I know, Santa would be appalled!

Avery and Logan were spoiled rotten by family for Christmas. They have more toys than we know what to do with. The basement entertainment/man room is now a huge play room for the kids. Sorry, Luke! Next year, I think Luke and I will just give the kids money for either their college or car funds.

As always, I didn't take enough pictures of the kids. It just seems too hard to worry about taking pictures when I am trying to juggle both kids. Enjoy some of the pictures I did take.

Teaser

I have no time to write, but feel bad for my prolonged blogging absence so here is a quick teaser from our latest family photo session. Aren't my babies perfect?

Giving Thanks

I can't believe Thanksgiving is already over. It seriously seems like just yesterday, I found out I was pregnant and expecting a Thanksgiving baby. I was terrified at the thought of having two kids under two. Today, I am thankful for my two perfect babies. It is exhausting having kids so close together in age, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

I am thankful for my husband. Although we don't ALWAYS see eye to eye, I couldn't imagine a better partner in life. He is a wonderful father, husband and provider.
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I am thankful for friends and family, near and far. Luke, Avery, Logan and I appreciate all of the continuous love and support we receive from all of you.
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I am thankful for our jobs. Luke and I are fortunate to have careers we love that help us provide for our family.
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I am thankful for chocolate. Without chocolate, I am not sure I would be able to make it through the long nights with my sweet Logan.

I am thankful for a good country song. Today, I watched the Oprah episode with Garth Brooks and got to hear him sing my all-time favorite song, "The Dance".

I am thankful for the body's ability to bounce back after pregnancy, labor and delivery.

I am thankful for Avery's big mommy hugs. Nothing else in the world matters when Avery has her arms wrapped around my neck.

I am thankful for cuddle time with my little man. I just love falling asleep with Logan in my arms.

I am thankful for Skype and international cell phone access on Verizon. It melts my heart when Avery talks to her daddy while he is away.

I am thankful to have made it these first two days while Luke is in Taiwan. Of course I will be even more thankful when he gets back. Being a single parent to a 17 month-old and a one-week old is hard work!

It's A Boy!

On Saturday, November 20, 2010, Luke, Avery and I welcomed Logan Newton Musselman into our family. He was born at 4:47 am, weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs, 9 oz and measured 21 inches. Aside from the distinct size difference, he looks a lot like his sister did when she was born. He is absolutely perfect.

Although we had my induction scheduled two days later, Logan decided to arrive early and fulfill mama's desire to naturally go into labor. On Friday night, after Avery went to bed, Luke and I decided to sit on the couch, eat cake and watch some shows from our DVR. While we watched the shows, I had frequent contractions. Luke timed them and they were pretty close together, but not consistent enough or strong enough to convince me that I was in labor. Later, while lying in bed, I felt a really strange kick and immediately commented about how uncomfortable that particular kick was. About three seconds later, I jumped out of bed, ran to the bathroom and said, "I don't think that was a kick. I think my water just broke." Luke quickly jumped into panic mode and I was in denial. You see, we weren't quite ready for Mr. Logan to arrive and had a family weekend planned for Avery. I told Luke I thought I would be ok and maybe it wasn't my water. He disagreed and immediately started making phone calls. We needed to call our parents and find someone to sit at the house with Avery until our parents could get here. Luckily, my friend, Adonica, was able to come to the house. Thank you! As Luke and I headed to the hospital, he desperately wanted to run all the red lights so he would get pulled over and could proclaim, "My wife is in labor!" I wouldn't let him. Once we got to the hospital, I was in full labor and VERY uncomfortable. I couldn't get my epidural soon enough. Unfortunately, I had to get a full bag of IV fluids before the epidural could happen and three of us checked in at the same time with one anesthesiologist on call. I was not a happy camper. Once I finally got my epidural, labor and delivery were easy. I progressed very quickly, pushed for less than fifteen minutes and baby Logan was born.
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Before Logan was born, we had not finalized a name. We had a girl name picked out, but had only narrowed our boy list to three. We actually surveyed all the hospital staff that entered our room during labor and delivery. In the end, there was no overwhelming favorite so Luke and I had to make the decision by ourselves. The name, Logan, was the only name that had been on our list from the beginning so we stuck with it. We chose Newton as the middle name after Luke's grandfather. When we initially discussed boy names, Luke had no interest in having a junior or using his name at all, but he was very passionate about using his grandfather's name.

We are now home from the hospital. Avery is confused, but doing pretty well. She has had a few meltdowns during feedings, but is adjusting to her new brother. Logan and I had a long first night. He is a lazy eater and falls asleep, but wants to eat every hour or so. He loves to cuddle and I can't stop holding and staring at my sweet baby boy.

Catch Up

I had my last OB appointment this morning. It was rather surreal knowing that the next time I see my OB, I will be delivering a baby. Wow! This pregnancy has flown by! I hope Avery is more ready than I am for her life to be turned upside down. Dr. Jones was able to move my induction date up to Monday. Now, I will deliver on my official due date and won't have to leave the hospital on Thanksgiving.
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I will spend the rest of this week getting ready for baby 2 and hopefully finishing Avery's baby book. Luke and I are planning a special weekend for Avery doing all of her favorite things and eating all of her favorite foods. I can't believe it will be our last weekend as a family of three!
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We spent a long weekend in St. Louis with our families. I know traveling was a little risky, but we figured we could make the hour and a half drive if I went into labor. Luke had to make a day trip to CT yesterday so we waitied until this morning to come back to Columbia. Over the weekend, we had a great time celebrating my dad's birthday and just spending time with our families. Avery was able to spend two days with her Grandma and Grandpa Musselman while Luke and I had a little break. She had a great time going to the zoo, park and the Magic House.

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Two Weeks

Two weeks from today is my due date. Two weeks from tomorrow is my induction date. I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has gone by. Sometimes I think it has gone by too quickly, but it seems that we are finally ready to welcome baby Musselman #2 into this world. I can't wait to meet and hold the newest member of our family.

I started my maternity leave last Friday. It is nice to have a couple weeks off to get organized before baby 2 arrives. Today, I had a lot of work to wrap up, but wanted to spend the morning with Avery. After breakfast, I asked Avery whether she wanted to spend the morning with mommy or go to school. She quickly responded, "school", and did a little dance. Although I am happy that Avery likes school, her friends and her teachers, it hurt a little to hear Avery choose anything over spending time with her mommy. It starts way too early.

I had my 38-week OB appointment this afternoon. Everything looked great, but there hasn't been any progress other than the baby dropping a little. I am measuring a little small at 37 weeks and the baby's heartbeat has consistently been in the 140's. I am dilated to 2cm, but Dr. Jones says that a little dilation is common with pregnancies so close together. Aside from being 38 weeks pregnant and constantly chasing a VERY active one-year old around, I feel pretty good. I have a lot of aches and pains, but nothing I can't handle.

Luke is in Wisconsin all week so I am crossing my fingers that baby Musselman won't decide to make an appearance. Luckily, I have friends and family on call for back-up!

Happy Halloween!

Once Avery got a hang on the whole trick-or-treat thing she was a very happy girl. However, we think that she just loved being outside, after dark, with her friends!

Fall Fun

A couple weekends ago, we had an unusually warm fall weekend. Because of this, we decided to spend most of the weekend outside. We took Avery to the pumpkin patch and multiple parks. For those of you who know Avery well, you know that "side, side" or outside is Avery's favorite place to be. It was a perfect family weekend.

Making chocolate-covered pretzels to finish up the weekend. Avery wasn't too interested in helping.

Missouri v. Oklahoma

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Mizzou hosted ESPN's College GameDay today. Although we did not camp out at 3 in the morning, we did visit campus before all of the GameDay set up was broken down. Avery had a lot of fun playing on the quad and in the "Spray Fan" booth. She also enjoyed seeing all of the HAPPY people tailgating and walking around the MU campus. Surprisingly, we even took a few pictures.



Missouri is currently winning the big game 20-14 with 6:25 left in the 3rd quarter. Hopefully the Tigers can hold up and give us a win. The announcers mentioned that Bob Stoops has beaten Mizzou seven times in a row. I think it's time for a change.





*Update: Mizzou WON! It was the first time in MU history that the football team has beaten a BCS #1 ranked team and the first time since 1998 that MU has won against OU. Columbia residents and MU fans alike are happy today. When I woke up this morning, I had to ask Luke if they really won. It's a good time to be a Tiger!

ESPN College GameDay

Tomorrow is a big day in Columbia, MO. Not only is it homecoming weekend at Mizzou, but it is also the first time ESPN has hosted College GameDay on the Mizzou campus. It's definitely an exciting time to live in Columbia. Too bad I am nine months pregnant and can't partake in some of the activities. Oh how I miss Trops during football season.

Because of all the GameDay craziness, I am tempted to spend the day at home, but I don't want to keep Avery and Luke from enjoying all the people and festivities on campus. I don't think she would ever forgive me!

Tonight, I took Avery to enjoy one of my favorite Homecoming traditions, House Decs. Unfortunately, Luke's flight home from Canada was cancelled so he was unable to join us. Thankfully, my friend and her baby boy came along. For those of you who did not attend Mizzou, house decs are themed cartooon scenes that the sororities and fraternities spend months putting together by painting and pomping. Each house dec has a theme and skit that goes along with it. This year's overall theme was board games. Avery's favorite was the Hungry, Hungry Hippos. It was adorable! Of course I didn't get a single picture because I was too busy trying to chase Miss. Avery around. Maybe we will get some tomorrow.

Here is a picture of what the Mizzou Quad will look like tomorrow for GameDay. Hopefully Missouri can upset the #1 Oklahoma Sooners. We're due for a win against them...

Too Tired For Words...