Bairy Exciting News

Toddler Whisperer

2012-02-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

So as many of you know, I've been potty training Logan. We're on day 12 and still not potty trained. Oh sure, we've had accident free days and days without ever peeing in his bed but not without a fight. I have to force him to go when he wakes up, before he goes to bed, before we leave the house, when he grabs himself or shows any indication of needing to "go." All my attention and energy is on Logan and making sure he "goes" where he's supposed to go. That's progress though right? He can hold it when he needs to and he can go when he needs to. Now I just need to get him to tell me when he needs to go or just go into the bathroom on his own. He's done it plenty of times before. Seems simple enough. Well now he's started peeing in his bed instead of crying for us to come or getting out of bed to go toward the bathroom. He's also started standing right in front of me and peeing on the floor, or the couch for that matter. All the while looking me right in the eye laughing about it, knowing exactly what he's doing. I've read books, researched online, asked everyone I know what worked for them, got every one's opinions and 2 cents whether I wanted it or not. I've tried everything. He picked out his underwear, was told how big he was, had him throw out his diapers for the last time, had him watch daddy and tried to get him to be like him, tried shooting cheerios in the toilet, tried having him run around with all his clothes on and tried it with all his clothes off. Any time he goes in the potty, he gets all things potty party...treats, stickers, toys, getting to leave the house, more positive feedback than I ever thought I could muster, etc. All that worked to an extent. It's almost like now he's over it. He'll do it when he wants something, but if not, he just goes where he pleases. I give him the talk. Where are you supposed to go potty? With a huge mischievous grin on his face he'll answer "the floor, the couch, the bed, on my race cars" usually wherever he just finished peeing. I'll ask again making sure this isn't a communication problem and I get the same blatantly wrong answers and a laugh. He'll eventually give the right answer but it's all a game to him. Did I mention this is attempt #3? This is the last and FINAL attempt. Oh I listened to those of you who said "he'll go when he's ready" even though I knew he was ready, I tried to believe you anyway because I was exhausted, frustrated, and beat down. So where do I go from here? Logan is obviously a rare case so I figure I'm done listening to the "experts" and reading their books. And I'm done listening to what worked for you, or your mom, or your friend, or your sister. I'm changing things up and it's gonna get much worse before it gets better. Since he's purposefully doing the opposite of what he's supposed to and I'm done dealing with his shenanigans, it's time for punishment. Oh I've read all about how that will really mess a kid up but I'm out of options. Logan's always been a stubborn, strong-willed, rebelious child but when I've played some serious hardball, eventually he straightens up and we never have a problem with it again. I used to force him to go sit on his potty chair when I would see him hold himself, but that would always result in a fight and then a successful pee, or whatever but I can't do this forever. I still make him go before bed but now I'm having him choose to go. If he says he doesn't have to go, I don't make him. This is usually what happens. He holds it, I continually ask him to tell me when he needs to go, he keeps saying "no need go potty" and then he inevitably pees his pants. When that happens, he goes in time out. That's only been successful to an extent so today I've added taking toys and TV away. It's awful and I hate it all. As if potty training wasn't horrible enough, I've made it even more miserable which I didn't even think was possible. I don't know for sure that this will work but I'm done trying to be politically correct and I'm just gonna do what I think will work for him. This kid is a species all on his own. What I do know is this is one of our many over dramatic power struggles and no matter how bad I want to, I'm not giving up. This is one fight I cannot lose. So why document this awfulness that is my life right now? Well, I know my child is MUCH more difficult than most but, it seems to me, that potty training is a little like child birth with parents. The amazing result of actually potty training your child just completely overshadows all the pain and suffering you went through to get that result. So here I am, documenting it so I don't say something like "Oh fruit snacks, otter pops, and stickers were the trick." or "Potty training wasn't that bad with Logan." Because that's not true at all. Fruit snacks may help but THERE IS NO TRICK. Otherwise, I would have a potty trained child by now. So what I'm really hoping for is a miracle. God knows I've been fervently praying for one. In the mean time, if anyone knows a "toddler whisperer" or a "potty wizard" of some sort, send them my way because we need some supernatural powers in this house. If not, just pray for us because that's the only way that Logan will ever get potty trained and that I'll be able to avoid a complete mental breakdown.

Happy Halloween!

2012-01-26T16:23:00.001-08:00

I was so excited for the holidays this year because Logan is now at the age where he knows what's going on and can more fully appreciate all that comes with celebrating the holidays. For Halloween, Logan was his favorite thing ever...Lightening McQueen and Grayson was a monkey. I decided to make Logan's costume out of a cardboard box. Logan loved it at times and hated it at others so it was hit and miss getting him to wear it at the appropriate times. When he was wearing it, he was running as fast as he could so I really didn't get any good pictures of him in his costume.

This was one of those times he wasn't in the mood for much of anything so trick or treating was pretty short-lived. It was the first year we actually took him around to go trick or treating. We just did a few doors at our complex before he was done. I think he would've been much more excited had he given it just a little more time. As luck would have it though, he hadn't slept well and was tired and cranky. Maybe next year will be better.

One night for FHE we had the Pobsts over to do pumpkins and have some Halloween treats. I think the boys were a little young still to appreciate my mummies.

Our ward had probably the coolest carnival I've ever been to at church. It was at our now bishop's place of business, outside of course since the weather was perfect. There were booths with games and prizes for the kids, a cake walk, a haunted house, a chili cook off with cornbread, chips, and hot dogs, and then trunk or treating afterwards.

Logan won a goldfish at one of the booths and was super excited and proud of that thing. I was determined not to let it die as soon as we got it and after all the shaking Logan was doing to that thing, it's amazing he made it home alive. I'm not sure what happened to my formatting but here is also a picture of the giant cupcake I made for the cake walk.

The Happiest Place On Earth

2012-01-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

In October we bought season passes to Disneyland and California Adventure. We have had SO much fun being able to go there anytime we want during the week. We go with friends or family, meet up with Scott after work, and even go just me and the boys (Scott and I have plans to do a date night. It just hasn't happened yet). Every single time we go, we have a blast. Logan is the type of kid that's up for anything so he jumps on every ride he can and never looks back. He's such a little dare devil. The first time we went, we found out he was tall enough to ride the Matterhorn Roller Coaster. I was a little nervous about it, especially since I rode it first and it was no kiddie ride. It made him a little nervous, but he never cried and it didn't discourage him from riding any other new rides. He even rode it again with Dad. During the week, at this time of year, there are pretty much no lines so we can ride whatever we want over and over. Only a couple of times have we been able to ride the fun "big kid" rides since we have the boys with us but it us just so fun to see them have so much fun and get so excited. Logan knows his way around the parks in a few places and can point the way he we need to go to ride whatever he wants to ride next.

Our attempt at a family picture on one of the rides.

I got to ride some of the rides I've been wanting to ride for a long time with my niece Grace. She's tall enough to ride pretty much everything and since we were with babies, pregnant ladies, and toddlers, we were riding buddies. It was so much fun! That's me and Grace and some other kids on splash mountain. Writing this blog I'm realizing I need to take a lot more pictures at one our favorite places in California.

September Makes My Heart Sing

2012-01-25T09:45:00.000-08:00

The first weekend in September is one of my favorite times of year. Why? You ask. Well, one big reason is that college football starts. After a long summer of having no "good" sports on TV, (in my opinion of course) it's like Christmas morning when I can wake up, turn on the TV, and watch guys clobber each other and score some touchdowns. I love the sound of helmets and shoulder pads crashing together, and the all too ridiculously early talk of team rankings and preseason stats. I look forward to my Sooners actually going all the way to the championship every single year usually to get my heart broken by the end of the season, as well as joining my annual fantasy football league which also usually ends in heartbreak. Call me a sucker for pain, but every year I have faith things are gonna be different. Despite the usual end-of-the-season let-downs, football will always hold a piece of my heart. I'm literally getting butterflies as I'm thinking about it now.

Another big reason I love this time is it's the one time a year I can celebrate myself. This year was a particularly big year because I turned 29! Every single time I say it, I still can't believe it. You know how some people pick an age and then just stick with that forever? Well this is the age. Am I right? When a woman is lying about her age she doesn't say 30. She says 29, 25, or 20 something anyway. It's so weird to hit the age you never imagined yourself when you were younger. Then once you hit your 20's, you never really picture yourself any older... especially not 30! Don't get me wrong over 29-ers. I don't think this is old either. It's just such a weird feeling every time you hit an age that you always saw as old before. You all know what I'm talking about. The good news is, I feel great and look forward to my 30's. I think about how wonderful my 20's have been to me and all the amazing things that happened during that time that I can't wait to see what the next decade of my life brings. Anyways, since this is my last year in my 20's, I'm gonna make the very best of it. Woot woot! This is gonna be an awesome year.

Scott started things out right with a dozen doughnuts just for me and a Reeces/Butterfinger/Brownie/Ice Cream cake (with the help of bro-in-law Matt). My hubs knows just how to get right to my heart. Delicious! Scott also took me out to Javier's off Newport Beach. It was super nice, delicious, and had a beautiful view but we sadly didn't see Jim Rome or anyone else famous like we were hoping. We also went to the biggest theater ever, like 10 times the normal theater size, to see the Help. It was only us and 2 other couples so it was pretty crazy how big that thing was. Anyways, as usual, my birthday was awesome.

Logan Update

2012-01-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

It's pretty obvious how much kids change when they're just babies but sometimes I forget how much even Logan changes in such a short time. It seems one minute he's barely saying words and the next he's having full conversations like a real "little adult." It seems like he's grown up so much so we need some serious updating.

Here's my attempt to recap the past 6 months for Logan:

Speaks in about 4-5 word sentences

Everyone can understand him, at least, most of the time

He's actually pretty good with pronouns but he still says "hold you" when he wants us to hold him and I love it!

He sings lyrics to songs

Is not even slightly scared of water (He'll jump in the pool or in the ocean in a second. Scary I know!)

He plays pretend and is developing quite an imagination

He loves to play with trains, cars, trucks, tractors, airplanes, construction vehicles

He LOVES movies. His favorites change a little but the staples are pretty much always Cars and Cars 2

He's a huge helper and will take care of feeding Grayson or picking up a room all on his own at times. He's VERY good at picking up his toys and is very particular making sure everything is put up in the correct place. Hmmm...wonder where he gets that?

He knows some colors

He can count to 10 but sometimes likes to just stick with 4-9 over and over

He's been sleeping in or at least able to sleep in a big boy bed for at least 6 months now

He still loves music and dancing and is constantly moving, running, jumping, spinning, somersaulting...you name it.

He has absolutely no fear and will climb any ladder or go down any slide at the park without any hesitation. He's my daredevil and I'm finally starting to get used to it and not freaking out every time he does something dangerous.

He loves going on bike rides, climbing trees, finding bugs and snails, wrestling and anything dirty or "typical boy."

He started preschool last fall where all the moms take turns for a week and we just let them play and teach them a letter and do activities that go with it. Sometimes it sticks and sometimes it doesn't. But he recognizes some letters when he sees them and gets super excited when he knows what a letter sound makes or words that start with that letter.

He loves to ask questions especially "why"

Some of the new words he's started to use are "cause, actually, uh..., hmmm...," and I know there's more but I can't think of them. I just think it's so funny to hear him add these words to whatever it is that he's saying.

Something funny that he always asks about whenever we read the children's scripture stories or watch the movies is when people don't have shirts on he has to know why and where their shirts went. He's always very concerned about it. I laugh every single time. He also calls the prophet "Thomas the Train Monson". Logan is getting pretty good with some of the words to Primary songs and is starting to say prayers along with us. He loves nursery and anytime we put a button up shirt on him or nice pants he wants to go to church.

He's really cute with Grayson and I'll catch him trying to teach him to play with something or how to say something. He seriously loves being a big brother and, besides his occasional over zealousness, he's great at it.

He has a ridiculously good memory. He'll recognize people and say their names after not seeing them for many months. He'll remember where something is that we've been missing for months when he finds out I'm looking for it. I've learned just to ask him if I've lost something and he usually can remember where it's at. He remembers where he dropped his straw 6 months ago or a place he got a hot dog one time a year ago. It's seriously so impressive.

Though I'm 99% sure he's never seen a show with guns before, he has 3 nerf guns and immediately knew how to hold them, what noise to make, and the type of intimidating face a person would make to someone he were holding them at gun point.

He loves playing with play-do and drawing pictures (or rather having mom make cars and trucks out of play-do and drawing all the "Cars" characters)

His favorite places to go lately are, of course, the beach and Disneyland. He would go every single day if I'd let him.

Logan is seriously so full of love he just over flows with it. He wants to just smother everyone he loves with hugs, kisses and lots of cuddling. Some people, especially Grayson and cousin Westin, don't like it much but even though it drives me crazy at times I just love it. It's just so sweet and tender to see him showing so much love with no boundaries. Logan has so much emotion that when he's happy, which is almost all the time, his face is practically beaming, his smile fills his whole face, and his laugh is contagious. When he's sad you'd think his heart was literally going to break and when he's mad...well you get the idea. He keeps life exciting and entertaining. Because he has so much enthusiasm for everything, he helps me be the same. Okay so maybe I won't scream "the beach!" and laugh every time I see it but I'll definitely feel a lot more joy and gratitude and I may not run up and squeeze every person I'm excited to see but I'll be a little better at showing them I love them. He's loud and crazy but he's so full of life and loving every second of it and I'm getting better at being more like him. There's a whole lot we can learn from our children and I just hope he's learning some good stuff from me too.

Grayson update

2012-01-19T13:46:00.000-08:00

Since I've been super lazy about blogging, my children are not getting updates near as much as I'd like them to. The first year has so many milestones that I don't feel I'll ever get everything as documented as I'd like to but I'm going to attempt to do my best right now.

Milestones:
Rolling: 2 months
First teeth(he got the bottom 2 at the same time): 4 months
First food: avocado...he gagged but now it's one of his favorites
Giving kisses: 4 months (although at that point it was mostly just to mom)
Crawling: 5 months
Deciding there was too much to see and do to nurse: 6 months (my heart was broken)
Pulling up to stand: 6 months
Standing with no help: 8 months
Climbing: 9 months
Walking around the house pushing things: 9 months
Waving: 10 months although it resembles more of a "Hitler greeting" than a wave
First word: Mama! (10 months) I seriously couldn't have been more excited about that. Logan's first word was Dada and it took him forever to say Mama.

Favorites:
Food: banana, bread, avocado, anything sweet that he can get his hands on and anything unhealthy. (Logan was such a good eater and now I'm realizing it had nothing to do with what I did. Grayson is a terrible eater and I did the same thing with him.)
Person: Mom of course. He's a huge mama's boy. Though Dad and Logan aren't far behind. He literally lights up the second either of them walk in the room.
No-nos: eating unauthorized food(he recently snuck Logan's chicken nuggets and had eaten 4 before I put a stop to it), climbing on top of things to reach what he wants, pulling hair, throwing things, making noises as loud as possible, playing with anything bathroom- toilet, toilet brush, scale, toilet paper, and every time I can't find him, he's in the shower.
Activities: Swinging, singing songs, banging on everything like drums, playing with toys, especially things with wheels...go figure, wrestling with dad and Logan, shoulder rides, baths, crawling everywhere and getting into everything.

Currently:
At 10.5 months he's about 19 lbs. and 30 in. long. He has 5 teeth, 2 on the top and 3 on the bottom. He still isn't walking which totally surprises me since he's been on the move for so long but I don't think it'll be much longer.

Mr. Personality:
I really thought Grayson was going to be my mellow child and compared to Logan, it may still be true but this kid is a ball of energy. He is constantly in motion. He's been around the 90th percentile for his height and about 20 for his weight ever since he could move because he hasn't stopped moving since. He's pretty easy going and happy all the time. He smiles at everyone he sees and has a few tricks up his sleeve to get the attention of anyone that's not giving it to him. He makes super loud noises to get someone to look and then he flashes a huge smile at them. He also makes the funniest face where he wrinkles up his nose and starts snorting. It's hilarious! When Grayson gets excited or thinks something is funny, he usually raises his arms in the air and opens his mouth as wide as it will possibly go. He has that same attitude Logan does. If he doesn't feel like doing it and it's not his idea, you're just wasting your time. (stop snickering Mom and Scott) When we try and walk with him holding his hands, he'll just sit down. If he doesn't want to eat it, he won't no matter how hungry he is or the fact that he's had it every day for a month. If he wants something, he'll get it no matter what he has to do to reach it or get someone to reach it for him. Unlike Logan, he is very content on playing all by himself. He doesn't need to be in the same room as everyone and easily gets lost because he's so quiet just playing with toys and getting into whatever he can. He's also super ticklish. Just fixing the back of his shirt or putting his socks on him gets him cracking up. He also loves his big brother. He wants to be where Logan is and play with whatever Logan plays with. They are seriously so cute together and are going to be such good buddies.

I remember thinking how weird it would be to add another person to the mix and wondering if it would feel out of place. I remember wondering how I could possibly love another person the same as I love Logan. Now, it seems so silly that I ever thought that would be a problem. I can't imagine our family without him...like he's always been a part of it. From the second he was born I found out you really can love multiple people that much and in that same way. His easy going, yet outgoing, happy, noisy, busy personality fits right in.

Nana and Papa to the Rescue!

2012-01-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

About a week after we got back from Bear Lake, Scott had to move out to California to start working. We found out on our trip that we no longer had renters lined up and despite our diligent efforts, realized we still had tons of last minute packing we had to do. We also still didn't have a clue where we were going to live since we hadn't even been out to find a place. It was possibly the most emotional and stressful time in my life. I would be left behind to handle whatever didn't get done before Scott left and to be a single mom for 2 weeks before Scott came back out to move us to California. Long story short, we got renters, found a place to live, and I survived thanks to my parents coming all the way out from Oklahoma to help me take care of the boys, pack, and most importantly keep my sanity.

My amazing parents also decided to drive on out to Huntington Beach to help with the boys on the drive and help with the move in. I can't express how much they helped out and how impossible it would've been without them. I really couldn't have done it without them and can't tell them how grateful I am. Anyway, it wasn't all work. We got to go to Knottsberry Farm and the beach while they were here. We all had a blast.

The night dad finally came home...

Hopkinson Family Reunion

2012-01-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

Surprise! I bet y'all thought I'd never blog again. Well I wondered myself if I'd ever get the motivation to catch up but we've seriously had such a fun and eventful year I just can't let it go undocumented.

So... here goes.

This summer we went to Bear Lake for Scott's family reunion. It was the perfect escape from the AZ heat and we couldn't believe how perfect the weather was...in July! This is everyone and I mean everyone. It was such a blessing that every person from that side of the family could make it. We got to see people that we haven't seen in years and I got to see people I'd never even met before.

We all took family pictures. This is one just of the cousins.

Except for a few people who stayed in a nearby cabin, this is where we all stayed. Pictures really don't do it justice. It is absolutely gorgeous and ginormous. It was so cool that we could all stay there because it gave us a chance to hang out all the time and get to know each other better. This is Scott's Aunt Royce and Uncle Scott's cabin in bear lake. They live here during the summers and were kind enough to accept Scott's invitation to host the whole family for a reunion. We seriously had the best time all thanks to them.

One of the many fun things to do at the cabin was zip lining. There was a more mellow line that even the kids could go down which was fun but then there was a much faster, adventurous one. One ride down the little one, I knew I had to do the big one. No one bothered to tell me that it still had some kinks to work out before I rode it but I'm not sure I would have listened. I was too excited. This picture is me when I took off...before I hit the end, banged my head, and sliced my ankle. It actually was really fun and fast and I would've done it tons of times had there not been multiple injuries on that thing. Now I have an awesome scar across my ankle to remind me how tough and adventurous I am. One day we went to the lake and just hung out.

We also went to some caves, which were pretty cool, but would've been a lot cooler had we not had to listen to the tour guides tell ridiculous stories about stalagmites look like the Grinch or the seven dwarfs when really there was just a green light shining on it or seven all in a row. But obviously I'm over it now and I just remember how cool it looked. I'm pretty sure this formation was called strawberry cause it's red, of course :)

We also got to go rafting the Snake River. It was probably the funnest and scariest thing I've done in a long time, or ever, maybe. I rafted the snake river when I was a teenager but I don't remember it being all that crazy. Apparently they had had a lot of rain so the water was really high which also means it's very fast with big rapids. Before we started we learned that LOTS of rafts had flipped already that morning. We weren't going with guides because Scott's uncle and cousin are experienced but I have to admit some of us were a little nervous about it. The raft in front of us, which had a guide, flipped on pretty much the first big rapid and I thought we were done for, but I was wrong. Our rafts were literally vertical and people were thrown on top of each other but despite the class V rapids and the fact that most of us were obviously inexperienced, neither raft flipped and no one fell out. We really could've used a GoPro (a video camera specifically made for capturing events just like that). We came back feeling like we could take on Godzilla himself...or someone big, mean, and scary anyway. Although we were pretty adventurous that day, I have to say the ones back at the cabin with all the kids had to be the bravest of us all. Here we are before we headed out.

Saturday was the "official family reunion." We played all sorts of games like donut on a string, 3-legged race, water balloon volleyball, who's that baby?, tug-o-war, water relay, and much more. It was a blast! I can't wait til we do it again someday.

It was brought to my attention that I forgot to mention a big part of the trip...the nightly game playing. We stayed up playing games every night and Mafia was pretty much the game of choice. I'm not certain who was pushing it multiple times EVERY SINGLE NIGHT or why we all agreed to it, but it always ended up being a good time. We learned a lot about each other playing that game :)

Some recent pictures

2011-09-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

Umm...I guess I started a post and never finished. Here's some pictures.

2011-09-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

Where the heck has the time gone?

2011-09-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

WARNING! THIS IS A LONG ONE!

Ok so I'm 3 months behind on blogging and every time I would think about it, I'd get less motivated and put it off...one of my favorite things to do. Today is the day I actually begin the process of catching up! Last night as I was talking about how much Grayson has changed and how guilty I was feeling about not documenting it, I decided enough is enough.

Well...where do I start? We have been moved into our apartment in Huntington Beach for over a month now. We've already given talks in our new ward and have met lots of new friends. Life here is fun and exciting and very busy. The beach and downtown Huntington Beach is like 2 miles away, we have tons of parks within walking distance, an awesome library, lots of people to have play group with, and probably 10 toddler age kids right in our little complex for Logan to play with. Oh and did I mention they're also in our ward? The weather is perfect pretty much every second of the day. Scott's really liking his job and the people he works with. I've had to adjust to the crazy life, Scott getting home later than 4:30 every day, and a little apartment but I really can't complain.

The boys have really grown up in the past few months.

Here's a Grayson update...I know this is ridiculous but I need to give a summary of the past 3 months for him. Lot's of changes with this guy.

At 4 months he weighed 14.9 lbs (50%) and was 25.25 in (75%)

He's now 16.5 lbs and 30 in long

He started eating cereal at 4 months and loved it so much he didn't even make a face.

He started scooting at 4 months (I think I already posted he could roll over at 2)

He laughed and cooed and squealed

At 5 months he was getting up on his knees and rocking. He also would get up on all fours and try to move which always resulted in a nose dive.

At about 5 and a half months he started going from his back/stomach to a sitting position.

At 6 months he was crawling and about a week later he started standing up by pulling himself up on the toy box...yep I'm in serious trouble.

He has started taking steps while we hold his hands.

He reaches out to us when he wants us to hold him.

He just cut his 2 bottom teeth but I'm happy to report he didn't have near the trouble Logan had when he was teething. Just a few wake ups in the middle of the night and that's it.

He has eaten squash, avocado, teething buiscuts (his favorite), and cheerios. Real food wasn't as easy with Grayson. He gagged to the point of puking the first few times I gave him squash and avocado until I toned them down with cereal. Now he handle's them like a champ.

I recently started giving him pieces of avocado and cheerios to see if he could pick them up to eat and he does pretty well.

He is a mama's boy and will look right at me and make loud squaking noises to get my attention.

He's already very particular and will do everything in his power to get the specific toy he is after.

He is definitely a pacifier baby. It's like magic how that thing just calms him right down and puts him to sleep.

He has a laugh that sounds like he's crying and the only way you know which on he's doing is by looking as his smiling face.

Everyone comments on how happy he is and how much personality he has.

Okay now it's time for a Logan update...

Logan is talking in sentences now and is a little parrot. Everything he hears, he says. Some of his favorite phrases stolen from mom are "Oh man! Shoot!" "Oh my gosh!" "Crap!" and "Dangit!" I really have to watch what I say. I'm pretty sure he's heard me say those phrases once but that's all it took.

He got put back in his crib with the move and mom getting little sleep but he learned very quickly how to climb out of it. He also climbs into the pack n play to wrestle with Grayson and pretty much climbs up onto anythng possible. He's our little monkey and nothing is out of his reach.

Logan can open all the front and back doors/screen doors AND unlock them. The only one he doesn't usually attempt is the deadbolt. It's been quite a challenge to keep this boy detained.

He LOVES the beach and loudly announces to everyone when we're going to the BIT** as he pronounces it

We started a "pre" preschool with 5 other boys and their moms. 2 days a week we take turns hosting and Logan absolutely loves it. He proudly carries his "letter book" and repeats "A" for alligator "A" for apple.

One of his new favorite activities is jumping off things. For Logan, the more dangerous the better.

His absolute favorite song is "wheels on the bus" which he could do for hours and never get sick of it.

Who would have thought...

2011-06-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

My life has been a bit of a whirlwind over the past couple weeks. If you would have told me 2 months ago that Scott would be starting a new job and we'd be leaving everything we love behind in Gilbert and moving to Huntington Beach I would have said you were absolutely crazy. I'm not sure exactly how it all happened. I guess it really started around Thanksgiving when Scott's brother in law, Matt, told him he should learn his job and come work for his company. Scott looked into what he does and thought it seemed interesting but that was about it. We really didn't think much about it after that. Then Matt mentioned it again about a month ago and Scott just decided to send in his resume. For some reason, this time, it seemed like a good idea. Well, long story short, Scott got a job in California, a different one but for the same company as Matt and he's starting a month later. What? One minute we're just living our normal day to day lives working on projects around the house and making lists (Scott's favorite thing to do) of new projects we plan on starting and next minute we're picking up and moving...leaving it all behind. No matter how great of a career opportunity for Scott, how much money they would pay, or how great living by the beach would be, we have to be crazy moving our family of 4 to California of all places into little apartment. Yet it just seems so right. We knew it was what we were supposed to do the moment Matt mentioned it the second time, we just didn't want to admit it. We had so many concerns. Would we be able to rent out house out for the price we needed and would we be able to find people who would take care of it? Would we be able to afford Cali? Would be be able to find a place to live that has everything we need and want for our family? Would we be able to do all this in time for the job to start a month later? 2 hours after we put our house up for rent, we had multiple people wanting to see it and 2 days later, it was rented to a family that we really feel will take great care of our home. All of our financial and medical cost concerns were resolved. It's mayhem here, but we're almost all packed up. All we need is a place to live and, though time is running out, I know we'll find it. We are so excited to live in Huntington Beach just blocks from the sand, minutes from Disneyland, and enjoying 70 degree weather every day of the year. Our prayers have been answered. This definitely isn't what we thought we wanted or what we were praying for, but the Lord knows better and I trust in that truth. Here's just a picture of the place we'll soon call home.

3 months and 25 months

2011-06-21T08:34:00.001-07:00

I know this post is almost a month behind but I mostly just wanted to put up some recent pictures. I'm having so much fun with my boys. I'm getting so used to everything being rough and loud and crazy and everything exciting involving cars, trucks, sports, danger and any creature that growls. Anyways, Logan is still loving being a big brother and Grayson is still so laid back he doesn't mind Logan's over zealousness. In fact, he lights up every time he sees Logan and gets a huge grin on his face even when Logan is being a little too rough with him. I can already tell they are going to be best buds and it just melts my heart every time I see them together.

Logan's first attempt at eating corn on the cob like a big boy. He actually did a pretty good job at taking care of that corn.

This is Logan's favorite place to hang out. That morning he decided he needed to watch a movie on his own personal DVD player with breakfast.

Birthday and Blessing Day

2011-06-03T10:02:00.001-07:00

May 1st was a big day for our family. Grayson had his baby blessing and then we celebrated Logan's birthday with all the family and friends that came for the blessing.

I, of course, had to make Logan a car cake. He didn't really eat any cake but he was super excited about his new cars.

Aunt Sue and Nana and Papa came in town for the big event. I didn't, however, get any pictures while they were here except this one.

Logan got to celebrate his birthday for a few days. Notice in every picture he's opening a present, he's wearing a different outfit. Yes, for at least 3 days in a row Logan got to open presents.

Grayson wore the same blessing clothes that Logan wore. I decided to include pictures of both boys.

Grayson...

Logan...

Sadly I didn't get any pictures of everyone that was able to come so I'll just include a list of all the people who could make it.

Nana/Papa Vawter

Aunt Sue

Grandma/Grandpa Bair

Thompsons

Grandma Donna/Milt

Uncle Matthew

Knapps

Hamberlins

Kings

Bruce/Melanie/Alex Bair

We were so glad those who could make it could share in our special day with us.

Up to something...

2011-05-27T09:51:00.001-07:00

Here's just a few things I've been working on that I took pictures of. This table and chair set is VERY OLD (I thought you'd like that Mom and Aunt Sue). The stamp on it says Dec 1956. My mom and aunt played with it when they were little, my brother and I played with it when we were kids, and now my boys get it. It's in great condition but I thought it might need a little updating since the paint was wearing off a little and the vinyl was a little stained. Here's the before...

And after...

I got this giant cupcake tin for Christmas and finally got around to trying it out by making it for Scott on our anniversary. I was kind of in a hurry so it's nothing fancy but here it is. No matter how lazily you decorate a giant cupcake, it still looks cute.

Logan's room is sports themed and I've been trying to spruce it up since we moved him into the guest room when Grayson was born. I just bought those frames from Savers and spray painted them and just put scrapbook paper in it. It's not that cool but a super easy cheap way to decorate.

I started this a long time ago but never finished until now. I think this frame was from Good Will. I spray painted it too and just put some hooks and wires in it.

There's a few more things I've been doing but no pictures yet. Mostly I've been working on replacing all the velcro and elastic in the boys' cloth diapers. I don't have much free time lately but when I do I'm either reading or trying to figure out new cheap, easy way to decorate my house. I'd love to hear if anyone has any good ideas.

Oklahoma

2011-05-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, my Grandpa Vawter passed away on Easter Sunday. We flew out that night for the funeral. It was bitter sweet to be back in Oklahoma. We were sad for the reason but happy to see family and friends. Grandpa has been sick for awhile and, though we'll miss him terribly, he's happier now and is with Grandma. I guess we all deal with some sort of regrets when someone we love dies. I wish I would have taken more pictures when we visited last and I wish we could have seen him more and that he could have met Grayson before he passed. (We were planning a trip Memorial Day weekend.) But we have so many great memories and it was great to talk about some of those when we went back. He was the kindest man who loved and served everyone and yet had a very spunky side as well. He loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren and these are only a few of the many that he has.

"Granny G" got to meet Grayson for the first time so we got some sweet pictures of them.

Here's Logan with a couple of his favorite cousins.

Logan absolutely loved watching all the airplanes and other vehicles while we waited for our plane. He also loved flying in the plane and looking at all the cars down below.

We were so happy we could go back and celebrate Grandpa's life. It was a perfect time as we remember our Savior and His resurrection, we could rest assured that Grandpa, too, will be resurrected and will live on forever. I know Grandpa was happy to know that all his family was able to be together during that time. We love him and miss him but we know we'll see him again.

Easter

2011-05-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is the best picture of Logan I could get in his Easter outfit. He looked so handsome. I didn't even get a picture of Grayson in his outfit before he outgrew it. This post is going to go backwards since that's how I did the pictures. Sunday ended up being a sad and crazy day. My grandpa passed away that morning so we unexpectedly flew to Oklahoma that night.

On Saturday we went to Scott's parents' house to celebrate Easter. It was beautiful Easter weekend so we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the weather. Instead of looking for the eggs with his cousin Grace, Logan decided to just run around the backyard pushing the cart.

I couldn't find the boys for awhile and when I found them, they were playing with Scott's cars from when he was a kid. How this can possibly be hereditary I will never know but Logan loves cars and plays with them exactly like Scott did when he was little. I can tell you Scott didn't teach him, he developed the love of cars all on his own. So funny.

Saturday morning we took Logan to an Easter egg hunt some friends of ours throw every year. There were tons of families there so there were LOTS of eggs to find. Logan found a couple and then decided the swing set was where the fun was really at.

On Friday we did Easter baskets, which I didn't get a picture of, went on a walk and played at the park, decorated Easter cookies, and dyed Easter eggs. This was the first year Logan could really start enjoying that kind of stuff.

His creation...

Recent Pictures

2011-05-14T15:27:00.001-07:00

Logan does this with his cars at least 5 times a day. He faces them all the same way, sometimes forwards sometimes side by side, and rearranges the cars to his satisfaction over and over. He's very particular about his cars.

Love this picture. It's my boys to a "T".

TWO!

2011-05-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Logan turned 2 years old and Grayson turned 2 months this past week so it's time for an update. (Um..this post has been waiting to be finished for awhile so that's a little outdated at this point)

Grayson:

*Can hold his head up

*Can sit in the Bumbo

*Rolls from his stomach to his back (yeah it's no joke)

*Has been sleeping through the night since he was about 6 weeks old

*Smiles, coos, and even giggles...I have to add that he does this especially when he sees or hears mom

*He still LOVES to be swaddled and will go right to sleep if he's wrapped up nice and tight

*He's a bit of a mama's boy. Since the second he was born, I'm the only one that can get him to stop crying just by holding him with my magic touch.

*He's already on the move. Whether I lay him on his stomach or back, he will literally move all around. In about 15 min he went from laying on his back facing our tv to facing our kitchen to facing our backyard to facing our long couch to back to facing the tv.

*He's 12 lbs 14 oz and 24 in long.

Logan:

*He says more words than I can count now and even puts two word phrases together.

*Can open every door in the house. I've had to start locking Grayson's door so he can get some good naps without Logan interrupting him.

*Has become quite the Romeo and has started kissing girls, or should I say A girl, in nursery.

*Loves to take off all his clothes and then his diaper and run around naked.

*Loves to race and yell "ready, set, go!"

*Can put together puzzles (I know this happened a long time ago but I never mentioned it)

*Can watch the movie Cars over and over without ever getting tired of it and also works the DVD player pretty well.

*Still LOVES playing with cars.

*Weighs 24lbs 8 oz and is 34 in tall.

I know there's probably more but that's all I can think of specifically. It just shocks me how smart kids are at such a young age. Every day Logan does or says something that I just can't believe he's already doing. ( I would have had more pictures but Blogger hasn't been working for me lately. More pictures to come...)

Father's and Son's Campout

2011-04-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

Scott took Logan to the Father's and Son's campout a couple weeks ago. He literally has been looking forward to this since I was pregnant with Logan and now he was finally old enough to go. The weekend of the campout we had record breaking cold temperatures here. I tried to talk him out of taking my baby camping in the freezing cold but he insisted. It pretty much turned out how I expected. I'm not sure if anyone nearby their tent got any sleep. Logan either wouldn't or couldn't sleep and then wanted to play outside the tent where it was freezing cold, wet, and even snowing. Needless to say, Scott came home cold and exhausted. If Logan was tired, he didn't show it. Scott would never give me the satisfaction of saying he wished they hadn't gone but it definitely wasn't as good as he'd hoped. Now he has the camping bug and wants to give it another shot when the weather is a little more cooperative.

This is Logan "helping" Scott unload the car after their big weekend. You'd never guess it was freezing outside or that he had only slept a few hours the whole 24 hours before. This kid is seriously the energizer bunny.

A New "Do"

2011-04-13T08:52:00.001-07:00

Ok so I'm in desperate need of a haircut and I've been trying to figure out what to do with my hair. I know I want it long but it needs some shape. Anyway, I found these pictures and I'm curious what your opinions are. I know which one is my favorite but I'm not sure if either of these will even work with my round face so I'm a little nervous to do anything. So...what do y'all think? Should I do one of these or keep looking?

Visitors

2011-04-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

After Grayson was born my family came to visit for a week. Even my brother Jared got to come which was really exciting because he's never been able to come visit before. We had so much fun just hanging out, going out to eat, going on walks to feed the animals and to play at the park, and going to the AZ museum of natural history.

Here's just some family pictures.Jared was loving being an uncle. He and Logan were best buddies and Logan would pretty much go to him over anyone else. In this picture they are chowing down on both of their favorite snack popcorn and I was unsuccessfully trying to take a picture during the all important movie "Cars." They were two peas in a pod.Here's just some pictures from the museum. There were lots of dinosaurs, bones, panning for gold, and digging for fossils. Logan loved it all.

Updates!

2011-04-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

So I haven't done an update on Logan in awhile and now I have 2 updates to do each month so I really need to get on the ball. Grayson went to the doctor at 4 weeks and he was 10lbs and 22 in long. He started having little belly problems from the beginning. He spit up a lot from the first time I fed him and he started screaming and crying during and after all his meals like he was in pain. I knew it was reflux since Logan had the same problem. The doctor put him on some medicine and he seems to be doing a lot better. After all the tile, carpet, and furniture cleaning I did the first year of Logan's life, not to mention all the wardrobe changes, I really hope it doesn't last near as long for Grayson. He's almost six weeks now and he slept til 5am this morning and I'm hoping it's not just a fluke thing. He loves being swaddled and after a lot of coaxing, loves his pacifier and will go right to sleep. He's a champ napper and only smiles when he's falling asleep or eating. Logan was a terrible napper and smiled in response to people at 9 days old. It's funny how you can already see differences in your children at just a few weeks old. It's so exciting to see this little guy's personality unfold.

These pictures were taken at 2 weeks by my friend Kim. I may not be the most objective person but they're all beautiful. I have them all posted on facebook if you want to check them all out.

Logan recently turned 23 months. I can't believe how much he's changing into a little boy. Logan is very independent and has to prove it by not doing anything YOU ask him to do until HE decides it's the right time. I'm afraid the terrible 2's have started because he has become extremely defiant and does exactly opposite what we ask and with that much more intensity. He has finally started embracing the idea of talking...using real words. Every day he shocks me with new words he just pulls out of nowhere, however, it's not guaranteed he'll say it later when I ask him about it or want to show someone else his new word. He is still obsessed with cars, trucks, and anything else with wheels. He loves playing at the park and can go down slides by himself, swing on the big swings, and climb ladders that would make any mom nervous to watch their "not even 2 year old" climb. He has also become an amazing helper. He'll get me diapers, wipes, blankets, burp cloths and anything else I ask for. He still loves to clean up. I'm proud to say he got this from me. It has evolved into him picking up toys and taking them to his room when he's on his way back there, putting trash in the trash can, or even picking up after other people like taking Scott's shoes and putting them in their spot in the closet without being asked. He absolutely loves being a big brother. Grayson gets about 100 kisses a day and anytime he cries, Logan has to go check on him and make sure mom takes care of him. Scott was feeding Grayson a bottle the other day and got up to do something and turned around and Logan had picked up the bottle and decided to take over the feeding. He can now reach most of the light switches and some door handles and has gotten very skilled at getting anything that was once completely out of reach. His new favorite show is "mighty machines" which we rent from the library and he figured out how to use the DVD player. I could really go on and on. Logan seems to learn something new every five minutes. He just loves life, loves playing, and loves his family. He is just so full of love and doesn't know how to show it so he hugs and kisses EVERYONE and EVERYTHING.

I thought this was so funny both of them watching TV. Grayson in his "cage" straining to see the TV and Logan watching his favorite show but staying as close to Grayson as possible.

Logan's become more of a Daddy's boy since Grayson came along which has actually really helped me out. When I took this picture Logan had laid down right next to Scott and was doing every single thing he was doing. If Scott's arm moved, so did Logan's. Of course the second I got the camera out he moved his arm so I couldn't get him in the same position as his dad.

I'm glad to say we're finally getting into the swing of things and I'm figuring out how to balance out time and attention to everyone. I have really gained a greater respect for people with lots of children all close in age. Go super moms! Maybe I'll be like you someday.

I know. Finally...

2011-03-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

So it's been awhile but I still wanted to blog about having Grayson. I was scheduled to be induced on Friday at 10am but at 9:40 I got a call and found out there was no room in the inn. Since I was literally about to walk out the door, I didn't want to just sit around the house waiting so Scott and I decided to look at model homes. After two more calls to the hospital they finally told me I could go in around 4pm. That was only the beginning of how completely long the labor process was going to be. They decided to take the very slow route and give me something to prep my cervix that took 12 hours. That didn't start the labor like they thought it would. Then they decided to break my water early Saturday morning which definitely increased the contractions but also didn't progress anything. They finally decided to give me the smallest dose of pitocin which increased the contractions and pain more but only got me to a 3. So, after a few hours they decided to increase the amount of pitocin which put me in excruciating pain with contractions every couple minutes but after a couple hours of that, nothing had really happened and I was asking for the epidural. Well apparently that's what I needed because just a couple hours after that wonderful epidural I was at an 8 and 45 min later Grayson was born after only 3 pushes. I hated their method of trying to start labor without actually inducing because of how long it took but this time around was a piece of cake. Unlike when I had Logan, every nurse was wonderful, my epidural didn't wear off, they let me hold him and nurse him immediately after he was born, and I was able to get around by myself within a day. If it hadn't taken so long, it would've been absolutely perfect. My prayers were truly answered. Even Logan did wonderfully. He stayed with Scott's parents and was completely happy and loving every minute of it. He didn't miss us one bit. Right before pushing time.A proud but slightly awkward dad...not quite remembering how to hold a newborn.The first time Logan came to see Grayson, he was completely uninterested. The second time, he was hooked. Ever since then he's been a very attentive and loving big brother. The only problem is that involves Logan trying to smother, kiss, pick up, high five, give knuckles, hold, and feed Grayson. Pretty much nowhere is safe for Grayson so I have to watch the two of them like a hawk. It's exhausting and puts me in a very tricky situation to make sure Logan doesn't kill Grayson but continues to love his little brother instead of resent him since he's always getting in trouble for bothering him.Me and my beautiful boys.Home sweet home on Monday morning.

It's a boy!

2011-02-26T17:06:00.000-08:00

Grayson Maddox born 4:23pm 8lbs 3oz 21 in long. Mom and baby are doing great. Pictures to come.

21 Months

2011-02-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe how old Logan is getting. Every day he amazes us with how much he's learning and growing. Here's some pictures and just a little update.

One of Logan's new favorite places to play is the laundry basket, toy box, or anything else he can fit in. He's also starting to love hats.His new way of eating green beans...opening them up and eating the beans out of them.

Just like dad. He watched Scott loosen the tires to prep them for rotating and the second Logan could get his hands on this tool...whatever it's called...he had to get to work on the tire as well, grunts and all.

One of Logan's other new favorite places to play...the car. He would play in there for hours if we'd let him. When we get in after him, the radio is all the way up, the a/c is blasting, all the lights, blinkers, and hazard lights are on.

Logan has started gathering things for fun. He's always very proud of his collections.

Hiding in the closet. One of his favorite things.

*New words/phrases:

Sure, bubble, hat, chair, tickle-tickle, no-no-no, two (which says over and over as he's trying to count), this, choo-choo, papa. There's probably more but that's all I can remember.

*He does somersaults.

*He likes to help clean and pick up.

*He understands EVERYTHING we say even if we aren't talking to him and can pretty much point out any object in a book even if you've never taught him what they are.

*He can tell you what an elephant says.

*He sleeps in a new big boy room. He just thinks he has 2 rooms now instead of one.

P.S. I hate that blogger doesn't keep my format. That's why this looks so messy.

From Basketball to Watermellon

2011-01-30T16:24:00.000-08:00

Scott always claims I exaggerate the size of my belly during my pregnancies. Pictures prove otherwise. I can barely see myself behind all that belly. I knock Logan over, get stuck in places an elephant could fit through, and even lose things because I can't see past it. Logan uses it for a table and likes to put his cars on it and watch them race down. This is me at 35 weeks and, last I heard, I still have another 3 or 4 more to go. Hopefully the 5 shirts that still fit over this belly will make it. I can definitely say this pregnancy has treated me much better than last time and I feel very blessed but I have, however, hit the point where I am very ready to meet this little kung fu acrobat in person.

19-20 Months

2011-01-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

I have been very behind on everything lately including my blog. Between everyone getting sick, Christmas, and being pregnant I don't know if I'll ever get caught up before Baby Bair 2 comes but I'm working on it. So...Logan's due for an update.

Logan has finally started showing interest in talking. Some new words and phrases are:
ball, car, go, thank you, shoes, juice, "ashes, ashes, all fall down", ready set go, fish, and any other word he decides to copy when he feels like it. He also signs a few more things however the only one I can think of now is cold.

He now "folds" his arms for prayer. Which really is just him putting his hands on his chest for the first few seconds of the prayer. It's a miracle if he makes through the whole thing.

He knows what a lot more animals say like monkey, sheep, and all the ones that growl like bear, tiger, dinosaur, lion etc.

He's learning more body parts like teeth, tongue, head, feet, fingers, and arms.

He's started eating with a fork and spoon but usually gives up after a few seconds. He also eats like a big kid at the table with dishes without dumping or dropping his plate on the floor...usually.

He's now a pro at walking up and down stairs. No more scooting backwards to get down.

After like a year of trying to get him to do it, he finally blows kisses.

He "winks" which is, of course, is just exaggerated blinking.

He tells me when he needs his diaper changed by tugging on his pants but doesn't like the idea of a potty seat.

He gives hugs.

Uncle Matthew got home from his mission a few weeks ago and got to meet his two nephews. It took some time for him to warm up but now Logan loves playing with Matthew.
Logan's absolute favorite thing to do is play outside. When the weather is nice I will just leave the back door open so he can go in and out whenever he wants. This day it literally rained all day and Logan was begging to go outside the whole time. I finally gave in and let him out to play in the rain. He LOVED running around and stomping in the puddles. I finally had to bring him inside kicking and screaming before he got too cold.

Logan loves to help mom and dad with anything he can. He seriously is a huge helper taking things to the trash, putting toys away, handing us things, wiping the table, and he loves to sweep. This is just another Saturday working outside with dad.

Logan has become quite the pro at hiding. He hides to play and also hides when he hears it's time to change his clothes or diaper or anything else he doesn't want to do. When he finds a good hiding spot he's actually hard to find because he can keep quiet for at least a couple minutes.

I'm sure I'm forgetting things but that's all I can come up with after being so behind and living with a "pregnancy brain."

30 Is the New 20 Right?

2010-12-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

Last week Scott turned 30. Like every year, he got Thanksgiving dinner for his birthday. I thought it was quite appropriate since I'm so so very thankful he was born. Scott isn't big on being the center of attention, but I talked him into letting me throw him a birthday party for this monumental year. How cute is this invitation?
Anyways, we had all his favorite snacks and all his favorite people there (that weren't out of town or sick that weekend.) We had a "How well do you know Scott" game with 30 questions, of course, and a picture game where you had to guess his ages in the pictures, plus fun facts about every 5 years of his life. Scott was a great sport about everything and I think he actually ended up having fun with all the attention. Sadly the only pictures I took were when he blew out his candles.

I feel so lucky and blessed to have him in my life. He's such a wonderful husband and father and, like I tell him every year, I love celebrating his birth because it's just as big and important a day for me as it is for him. My life is forever changed because of him. I love him more than I could ever express in words. He becomes better with every passing birthday and I'm loving every minute of "growing old" together.

Halloween

2010-11-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

I decided this year that Logan needed a bucket to go trick or treating with. He loved it so much, he filled it with his cars and trucks and carried it around the house every day until I put it away after Halloween. I took Logan to the store and asked him which costume he liked the best and he immediately went for the dog costume (his favorite animal). I tried to show him a cute fireman and giraffe costume but he wasn't having it. He just kept barking and cuddling the dog one. When I would show him what he looked like in the mirror wearing the costume he would get so excited, laugh and just start barking.We took him to our Trunk or Treat but he wasn't sure what to do. It was really dark so he was a little hesitant to go up to people when he couldn't see them. Needless to say, his candy stash was pretty pitiful. We went to a couple Halloween parties so I decided to make something cute to take. I made cake balls which I've blogged about and listed the recipe here and just decorated them like eyeballs and spiders. I used red velvet cake and just white frosting and they were delicious.

Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plains

2010-11-16T19:41:00.000-08:00

In October Logan and I went to Oklahoma for 3 1/2 weeks. It was the longest time we've ever been apart or away from home. Luckily Scott got to come out and visit for a weekend. It was the big OU/Texas game so my grandparents and aunts all came over and watched the game with us. We had so much fun while we were there. We took lots of walks and trips to the park taking advantage of the beautiful weather while it was still scorching hot back in Arizona. Papa took us to the Orr family farm. Logan had so much fun playing with the animals in the petting zoo, jumping on the "jump thing," riding the pony, carousel, and hayride, picking out a pumpkin, sliding down the slides, and playing on the mechanical rides. Logan was pretty tuckered after such a fun day.We also got to go to the zoo with Nana and Papa, lots of cousins, Aunt Diana, and Uncle Kenny. Logan's favorite person was Katelyn who took good care of him and took him down the slide as many times as he wanted.Another main event of our trip was my friend Sarah's wedding. We were able to go to the sealing and wedding reception. It was beautiful and wonderful to be a part of it.Logan was lucky enough to dance with the gorgeous bride.

We had such a great trip being able to spend time with all the family and lots of friends. We ate like piggies since Arizona just doesn't compare to the delicious grub in Oklahoma. After we got home I was wondering how the good food was just going to show up on the table. It had been so long since I'd had to cook. Logan got spoiled too and was so used to having crowds around him and being the center of attention, he kept looking around for an audience after we got back home. It was sad to leave but nice to get back to Scott and home sweet home.

17-18 Months

2010-11-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

I always give Logan updates every month but we went to Oklahoma for almost a month and I got super behind on absolutely everything. Anyway, I'm doubling up to attempt to catch up. I'll warn you now, this is probably going to be a very long post.

Here's what's new with Logan:

18 month stats- 31 in. tall (10-25%) and he weighs approximately ( I say approx because he was freaking out when they were trying to weigh him so it was just an estimate) 24 lbs (25%)

He can snap his fingers.

Can tell you what a dog, duck, snake, and pig say.

Can point to eyes, ears, nose, mouth, toes, belly and hair.

He can run.

He can put blocks together with no help.

I'm not proud of this but he LOVES watching TV. It's already become a struggle every time he asks to watch it and I tell him no. It's kind of scary how much he understands. He laughs when things happen like someone falls and dances and claps to the music. His absolute favorite show is Family Feud. He sits and watches the whole show, reacts to whatever happens, and sometimes even tries to put his arms up in a strike sign.

He dances complete with fancy footwork, spins, and flailing arms.

He loves to spin in circles until he falls down.

His favorite game to play is hide and seek.

He loves to pick up and be a big helper in whatever way he can.

I started taking him to nursery early while we were out of town to see how he did and he's been loving it ever since. We drop him off and he never looks back.

He seems to understand pretty much everything we say and will act on things that we mention or things we ask him to do. He'll get his shoes or a diaper when we ask him, put the phone on the charger, put his toys where they belong, or head for the door when we tell him we're going outside or bye-bye.

He refuses to talk. Despite pointing and labeling everything, repeating what things are over and over, saying things simply and slowly...you name it, I've probably tried it but he just isn't interested. He communicates with signs (some ASL, some his own), noises, and a lot of actions. He signs milk, food, more/want, all done.

He loves FHE. We started having him join us for very simple FHE lessons about a month ago. He surprisingly will sit through 2 prayers, a few songs, and a lesson...which is shocking since he can't even sit through one prayer before he goes to bed. The songs are, of course, his favorite.

He loves anything he can take apart and attempt to put back together and anything that has lids he can take off. He is surprisingly good at taking all kinds of lids off things.

His favorite toys are cars or anything else with tires. He makes vroom noises when he plays with them. He even has to check all the tires on real cars to make sure if he needs to fix anything.

Logan still LOVES the ladies. I was watching my friend's kids and he just would not leave Sadie alone. I had to pull him off of her a few times.
Here he is after I got him from smothering her so he had to keep his arm on her at least.Just another girl Logan had his eye on... Logan won't sit still for long but he does love looking at books even if he can't sit still for mom to read him an entire book. He started deciding that his toy box in our living room would make a nice seat and stool to climb onto our entertainment center as well.

His favorite bunny and blanky.

Scott recently got a bike and chair and since the weather has been nice they've been able to really enjoy it. Logan, of course, loves the ride.

We have security screens on our front and back doors and once the weather got nice I started leaving our doors open with the screens locked. After Logan saw me use the key just once, he was telling me he wanted to go outside which I told him no for one reason or another. It's hard to see the keys in this picture, but he just decided to get the key try and unlock it himself.

My little kitchen helper decided to climb my stepping stool and then help himself to some frosting.

After helping himself to a few spoonfuls of peanut butter...

Prego Belly

2010-11-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with Logan, I was terrible at taking pictures of the progress so I decided this time I would be better.

Here I'm about 9 weeks and yes by then I already couldn't fit into all of my pants.
13 weeks... 21 weeks...That's as recent as I have for now.
As for this pregnancy, it hasn't been easy but it's definitely been better than the last one. I was throwing up until I was about 22 weeks or so but by then usually only a few times a week. I've been much more tired this time around but I'd have to attribute most of that to my extremely rambunctious little Logan. The diabetes management hasn't been quite as hard and so far the only other complication has been a placenta previa diagnosis that hopefully will correct itself before it causes any problems. I have a long way to go but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all the yucky stuff doesn't show up at the end like it did last time. Now I'm just enjoying the rest of the 2nd trimester when it's the easiest. Oh, and I'm about 24 1/2 weeks now.

16 Months

2010-08-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

New Logan updates:
* He's finally completely walking. At a little over 15 months he finally gave up crawling completely.
* He signs "milk" and "dog"
* He's learning to kiss close-mouthed.
* He can reach door handles and can almost open them...SCARY!
* He's started trying to imitate anything Scott and I do.
* He's discovered jumping on furniture...the bed is his favorite of course.
* He is now up to 12 teeth. He got his last baby molar.
* Logan has a new love of digging through the trash. Though he has never had pop before, one of his favorite things to do is get my cans out of the recycle bin and drink the very last drop.

* He loves watching TV. I'm already in trouble.
* He shakes his head and violently turns and holds onto things when you try to take it away.
* He loves ocean water, bath water, and rain. This is him playing in one of our recent monsoons.
* He loves playing with cars and trucks and has just started making noises sometimes when he plays with them.

*This is one of his most favorite things in the world...the phone...of which he has claimed ownership and is one of the main causes of his fits.

*Here Logan had somehow grabbed every blanket within reach (4 total) and managed to cuddle with all of them while he was sleeping.

15 Months

2010-08-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

15 Month Stats:
Height: 30 1/2 in.
Weight: 21 lbs. 10 oz.

What's new with Logan at 15 months?
*Logan went from having 4 teeth to 11 teeth all at the same time. It was a long, miserable couple of weeks while those teeth came through.
*Logan got his first bug bite...or should I say bites. He put his hands on an ant hill for one second and instantly had like 100 ants biting his little hands and feet. Thank goodness we could run over to the pool. His hands were completely red with welts all over them but luckily he got over it really quickly.
*He's started throwing fits. He throws himself on the ground and rolls around crying. We always ignore him and we'll catch him peeking at us out of the corner of our eyes to see if we're paying attention to him. Luckily he gets bored with it quickly and it only lasts like a minute.
*Logan had his first haircut with the clippers...and absolutely hated it.
*He has started spitting...when something gets taken away from him, when he's getting in trouble, when he gets in a very hot car, when he doesn't like the food, or when he's just being a stinker. The funny thing is he knows it means something bad and he certainly didn't learn it from us.
*He claps. Yeah he's a late clapper.

*He points the remote to the TV and usually figures out how to turn it on, the volume up, and change the channel.
*He walks about fifty percent of the time...he's really taking this whole walking thing gradually.
*He is Daddy's Little Helper. Whether Scott's working in the yard or some project, Logan has to be right there acting like he's helping out. He loves to get dirty and doesn't even mind the heat.Look at that dirt. He's seriously all boy.This is after he "helped" pick the peaches off our tree. Though he'd never had one before, he just chowed down on one when we weren't paying attention. How funny are these faces...

I'm Back!

2010-08-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

Okay so it's been FOREVER since I've blogged. I've been behind for awhile and I just love to put off things when I start getting behind. I still haven't posted about our Hawaii trip, San Diego trip, or Logan's 15 month post. Since Logan's almost 16 months I figured it was time to get back on track and stop putting it off. I love to make excuses and, well, I'd like to think I have a valid excuse right now...that I'm very sick and very tired.
That's right. I'm pregnant...3 months now... and this is how we broke the news to our families. Between being sick, chasing around Logan, the awful heat, and my normal responsibilities around the house and with church I just haven't had the energy or motivation to do much else. Since I'm wrapping up the first trimester I'm hoping this exhaustion will start easing up. Anyway, we feel so blessed and happy about our news we just had to share it with everyone and, lets be honest, I can't hide this rapidly growing belly much longer. People have already started talking. With that being said, bear with me as I attempt to catch up the last few months. Logan has gotten so big since my last post and yes, mom, videos and pictures of Logan are coming next.

14 Months

2010-07-15T08:00:00.001-07:00

Most of my pictures of Logan for this month were either from Hawaii (next post) or of him getting into things....and, of course, then him posing for the camera. He is such a cheese ball. Anyway, here's what's new with Logan:

~He's 21 lbs but I'm not sure how tall. We'll find out at his 15 month Dr appt.
~He took his first steps a few weeks ago and continues to take a few steps at a time but is not walking yet. For the first time in his life, he's acting hesitant and scared to hurt himself.
~He waves.
~He points.
~He finally says "mama" and "dog" in addition to his favorite word "dada".
~He loves piggy-back rides.
~He is very attached to his blanky. He tries to bring it with him everywhere...even to the table.
~He bites when he gets excited :(
~He plays hide and seek.
~He thinks you can't see him when he shuts his eyes.
~He gives "french" kisses.
~He loves the pool but not going under water.
~He loves hanging from trees.
~He has become a ladies' man. A group of guys can walk past him and he won't give them a second look. A group of guys and ladies walk by and he pulls out all the his tricks...his fake laugh, his cheesy smile, his hide and seek game, whatever he can to get their attention.
~He makes it through all 3 hours of church without having to take him out...usually.
~His favorite toy is his bunny that he sleeps with. He's also formed a little attachment with that.
~He puts the phone, a remote, a calculator, and anything else up to his ear that may resemble him talking on the phone.

I think that's all I can come up with for this month. The big post I've been putting off (Hawaii vacation) is next.

Joy in the Journey

2010-07-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since I've posted anything. Once I get behind on something, I just put it off more and more. It's a terrible flaw I have. Anyway, I'm finally attempting to catch up.

On Memorial weekend I went to our ward's girls camp. It was from Saturday to Tuesday so it worked out really well since Scott could watch Logan every day except Tuesday. Thanks to Scott's family for helping out on Tuesday : ). By the way, much to my surprise, Logan did great and didn't even notice I was gone. This was the first time I've been to girl's camp since I was in young womens. I had forgotten how fun girl's camp really is. It was like a 4 day slumber party with skits, good food, games, crafts, dancing, singing, hiking, and of course some spiritual uplift. The theme was Find Joy in the Journey and I'm pretty sure everyone did. Honestly I didn't have too much responsibility when it came to camp and it was actually a nice little vacation for me. I had great food that I never had to prepare and I didn't have to worry about cleaning up the house or changing diapers. It was wonderful. The only thing I can say is I was having a huge insomnia problem and literally didn't sleep more than about 2 or 3 hours a night. I remember the good ol days when I could do that and not collapse. Well lets just say I'm too old for that now and I almost died from exhaustion by the time I got home.

They made the most wonderful doughnuts I've ever eaten...and boy did I eat them. I think I had 4 or 5. I wasn't the only one that went overboard. Some of the girls were eating like 10 doughnuts. Needless to say, that was the beginning of mayhem. They were all high on sugar and went bonkers...wrestling, giggling, screaming, and playing pranks on each other.

We had Sacrament meeting on Sunday which was really cool just being out in nature, feeling the Spirit, and not having a toddler climb all over you chatting your ear off. It was a really spiritual, relaxing day. Yes, we wore dresses at camp.

This is where the leaders slept.
This is one of the tents where the girls slept. Sometimes you get special privileges when you're a leader.

Our ward has a goal to make a certain number of bears ( I can't remember how many. Maybe 100) so one of the things we did on Sunday was this service project craft.

13 months

2010-06-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

Logan's been 13 months for over a week now so I figured I better get on the ball and post some updates on our little man. As for his size, I don't think he's grown at all since his last doctor's appointment. According to our scale he weighs about 19.5 lbs. I think last time he was weighed and measured he was around the 15th percentile. It's gotta be because he's so active cause he eats like a large man even though he's itty bitty.
New Tricks:
*Logan is still not walking. He actually seems very uninterested in it. He walks holding our hand perfectly and has been standing up in the middle of the room for awhile now but he just chooses not to do either almost all of the time. When we try to get him to walk he just sits down. He knows what he wants and is very determined to get his way even in regards to refusing to walk.
*He's getting very talented at climbing. He loves climbing up the step ladder like mom so he can reach things that are too high. He's also found out he can climb on our taller couches and onto the window if he climbs on the leather chair first. One of his very favorite things to play with are the blinds. He loves banging them against the window so I try to keep them out of his reach.
*Logan still doesn't say any words seems completely uninterested in doing that as well despite our efforts at pointing out things and trying and get him to repeat us. He does, however, know how to shake his head "no" whenever he hears that word...which is all the time.
*Logan is becoming quite the dancer. Not only does he bounce and rock when music comes on he moves his head to the music. He also likes to "sing" by making loud noises when we sing to him or when we're singing at church.
*We have a refrigerator with the freezer at the bottom which I absolutely love except for now Logan has discovered how to open the freezer and get into all the food. He can open packages, bottles and many containers we didn't think he'd be able to open for years. (just ask Grandma Bair)
*Logan also loves opening and closing doors which is pretty fun until he locks himself in a room. He loves to push those doors at church that have no door knobs and escapes Sunday school whenever he can.
*He also has started playing hide and seek with everyone. He'll crawl behind a door or duck down behind something and peek at you to see if you're coming to find him. He's also using this new found talent of hiding when he doesn't want to be social with other people. He just hides his face when he's being shy...which I thought would never happen but lately has been kind of common.
*I seriously don't understand people with toddlers that have clean homes because I'm literally following Logan all day long just picking up after him. Whatever room he's in is completely terrorized in 2 minutes. He empties drawers, cabinets, boxes, closets...you name it. It's exhausting. He can make a complete mess quicker than it takes me to walk over to wherever he's "playing" at the time. By the time I get done picking up that mess there is, of course, another one. He has started to love playing with all his toys by himself in his room so, for that moment, the mess is somewhat confined.

*Sometimes I let Logan run around the house in his diaper if we're not going anywhere and it's hot. Well the other day I went to get him up from his nap and he had his diaper off. I thought I had just put it on too loosely because he had just slid it right off. I didn't think much about it because there was no mess and I figured I'd just put it on tighter from then on. A few days later Scott went in to get Logan up from his nap and this time he had unvelcroed his diaper and there was a HUGE mess. So, yeah, he can take off his diaper which means no more sleeping in just a diaper anymore.
*Logan graduated from his baby car seat and got a big one. I actually thought he'd be pretty excited about it since he sits up higher and faces forward so he can look around but he doesn't seem any more excited about it than he was his old car seat. I really miss the days he loved riding in the car all the time. He did love playing with the seat after we bought it and the box it came in.

*One of Logan's absolute favorite things to do is read books. If Logan won't go to sleep or won't stop crying or is super hyper, all we have to do is sit him down and read him a book. It's the absolute only thing that he'll sit down for.
*Logan also loves pushing things around the house. Even though he loves to ride his four-wheeler, he loves to push it around almost just as much. He pushes chairs, boxes, people, and anything else that's big. The heavier the better, it seems...such a boy.Well I think that's about it. Here's just a couple more random pictures.

3 Happy Years

2010-05-24T11:09:00.001-07:00

Scott and I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary. I remember on the day of our wedding feeling so peaceful and so sure and thinking that I couldn't possibly be happier or more in love with Scott than I was at that moment. (Scott on the other hand was about to pass out he was so nervous). But I was wrong...and so was he. I've never been more in love with Scott or happier in my life than I am right now. And now Scott knows there was nothing to be nervous about...right honey? Three years seems so short considering how much we've grown individually and as a couple since that day. We have overcome differences that I thought would take a lifetime to figure out. We have so much fun together and we really are becoming better people because of each other. The two of us together, no matter how different we are, makes so much sense. I feel so blessed to have him in my life and I'm so excited to see what forever brings us.

A special thanks to Scott's parents for watching Logan last weekend. We saw movies, went to dinner, got frozen yogurt and even slept in...or attempted to sleep in. 8am is as late as we got. Even though I really missed Logan, it was wonderful.

Party Time

2010-05-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

Apparently according to some people we had quite a party for just a one-year-old. Well, if you've read my blog before you know birthdays are a big deal. You only turn one once, right? It really wasn't a big deal. We just had some of Logan's favorite foods strawberries, bananas, oranges, cheese crackers and, of course, cake and ice cream. About 30 friends and family members came (including Scott's sister Christi on Skype). Logan was extremely excited to have so many kids to play with and so much attention from everyone. He was overwhelmed with all the fun new toys and books that everyone got him. He actually was so distracted by everything he didn't hardly eat any of his cake. Here's some pictures of the big event.

This was my first time decorating a cake. Luckily I had my mom, the expert, to give me some tips.

Logan was more excited about the candle than the cake.

Here's some of the many people including Christi on the TV.

Present time!

Logan decided he needed to play with sidewalk chalk with the big kids. He, of course, tried to eat it and got it all over himself.

I'd say it was a pretty Happy Birthday. We're so grateful to everyone that came and made his birthday so special.

I know I've posted a couple extremely long posts with all these pictures but don't forget to check out the video of Logan riding his four-wheeler. I just recorded it today and I think it's hilarious to watch him ride around the house running into everything.

Fun With Nana and Papa

2010-05-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

My parents came in town for Logan's birthday. Since they don't see him as much as they'd like, they always spoil him extra when they do get to see him. They took him to toys r us to pick out a birthday present. Just when we were about to leave with a rocking/bouncy horse, Logan started playing with another toy so, of course, they had to get that one too. He also got to go on walks every day to his favorite places, the park to swing, or to see the animals by our house. We got to go out to lots of yummy restaurants and even Scott and I went to dinner and a movie so they could spoil Logan even more while we weren't watching. (As a side note, if you haven't seen Date Night, you have to see it. I laughed so hard it hurt.) Anyways, one of Logan's favorite things that we did was go to the zoo. We saw lions, bears, monkeys, giraffes, rhinos, tigers, etc. but I think Logan's favorites were the animals we see by our house all the time...the goats and horses.

We had so much fun with them and, as always, the trip was just too short. And hopefully Uncle Jared will be able to come for the next trip.

Four-Wheelin

2010-05-10T13:45:00.001-07:00

Uncle Jared decided to go birthday shopping for Logan to find him the coolest gift a one-year-old could possibly get and ended up buying him a four-wheeler. According to Jared, it's his job to spoil his nephew and so far he's doing a very good job at it. I have to say, though, Logan absolutely loves it. Every time he gets on, he has a huge grin on his face. It only took him a couple days to figure out how to get it going, only he has no idea how to steer it yet. Please ignore my very annoying laugh. I seriously need an editing program so I can cut myself out of these videos.

12 Months

2010-05-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

Things have been really busy around here so I'm kinda behind on my blogging. This is all I have for Easter pictures. No, he didn't get chocolate. The Easter Bunny brought the big kids something too. Logan got a pail and shovel, some balls to play in the pool with, some bubbles and something else I can't remember.
My parents sent his Easter gifts in this huge egg. It was before he got sick, so he had a good time with that. Logan was very sick that whole weekend. He didn't sleep pretty much for 3 days straight and his fever got up to 102.7. Logan doesn't sleep when he's being held, rocked or is in the same room as people. He is just too social, too excited, and too wiggly to cuddle. Obviously this was a once in a lifetime occurrence. I'll admit I was a little jealous.

Logan turned one last week. I still can't believe how fast it's all gone by. Here are some updates...
He's almost 20 pounds (19 lbs and 14 oz to be exact) and 29 inches long.

Though he's still not walking, he climbs on top of everything! Once he gets on top he stands and raises his arms like he's the king of the world...very scary since his balance isn't spectacular. Some of his favorite things to climb on are the leather chair sitting right by the tile floor and some curtains he loves to pull on and the dishwasher where he loves to pull out all the silverware (including the cutco knives) and throw them around the kitchen. If he's too short to climb on top, he just uses something else to boost himself up. I can't believe how smart he is. I literally have to watch him like a hawk and yet he still finds ways to destroy things and injure himself. I know. You don't have to tell me, experienced moms . It'll only get worse.
Logan also finally got his top two teeth. It seems like he's been cutting those suckers for months.

Logan is completely weaned. He only drinks whole milk from a sippy cup now. Which, can I just say, no one warned me how emotional it would be on me. I was worried about Logan having a really hard time and, though it wasn't easy, I think I cried more about it than he did. I miss that snuggle time and my little baby.

Logan's new favorite food is strawberries. He could eat them for every meal, every day, for the rest of forever and I think he would be completely happy...but I don't let him. He still eats like a champ with both fist fulls going at once and pretty much any food I give him.

I'm realizing this is very unique. He still takes three naps even after sleeping 11-12 hours a night. I'm starting to see he gets a lot of traits from his mama.

He knows how to get off furniture by himself...though sometimes he forgets and tries to get down head first.

Logan LOVES kids. He will follow them around and try to be involved in everything he can. His cousin Grace stayed the night a couple weeks ago and he literally followed her everywhere like a little puppy dog.

There's probably more new things but that's all I could think of right now. He still loves music, animals, books, being outside, going to stores to meet new people, squealing very very loudly, and being naked.

Everyone who meets Logan says he's just the happiest kid they've ever met. If he's not sick or tired, he's smiling, laughing, squealing or bouncing for joy. You just can't have a bad day hanging out with someone like that all the time. I cherish every moment with him. It's a joy and love I've never known until he came into my life and I thank Heavenly Father every day for blessing our family with him. Being a parent is amazing and having a kid like Logan just makes it that much better. (I know, we all think we have the best kid but humor me.)

Here's some of Logan's many faces...

Stay tuned for zoo and birthday party pictures!

I guess we all have our quirks

2010-04-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Just a little about my husband... He LOVES ties. He has about 50 of them. Yes, he does wear them to work every day but 50? Really? Not only that, but it's a regular occurrence for him to ask out of the blue "What do you think of my tie today?", "What's your favorite tie?", or "What's your favorite thing about this tie?" With a little eye roll, I humor him and answer his questions. I gave Scott one of those revolving tie hangers for Christmas one year that holds about 70 ties so he, of course, thinks he "needs" more. Using this fancy tie hanger, he has developed a system (don't ask me what it is) where he makes sure he wears every tie once before he wears the same tie again. Since everything is coordinated with the tie, sometimes this means I have to wash certain dress shirts or pants so he'll have the outfit to match the tie. Another thing about my husband...He LOVES numbers/statistics/facts. I can't tell you how many times we (by we I mean he talks while I try really hard to listen) have talked about probabilities, statistics, trends, etc. of anything and everything under the sun. Scott literally makes spreadsheets for everything from info about all our bank accounts and our medical expenses, to his test info on what he's studying and info on houses around the Phoenix area... Some of this he does for organizational purposes and some he does just for FUN. Well the other night, these two passions collided and I was stuck right in the middle of it all.

We were going to bed (I was already in bed actually) and Scott proceeds to put all his ties on our bed because he needs to reorganize them. We discussed color or print order. We discussed ties from his mission. We even discussed the origin of each tie. These exact words came out of his mouth and are the sole inspiration for this post, "I wish I could make a spreadsheet for all my ties." 45 minutes later, he decided to mix them all up and randomly organize them. I tried to convince him of what a great wife I was and that if I even began to talk about my shoes like he does about his ties I'd lose him in 30 seconds. He'd die before we ever saw 45 minutes. He just doesn't see the similarities in those two situations. As much as I HATE numbers and spreadsheets and statistics, I just can't help but love my husband more for it. We could not be more opposite. I love to talk about how I think and feel and he loves to talk about facts and numbers. I'm chatty. He's quiet. I love to dance around and sing to music and he hates dancing and listens to talk radio. I love reading. He hates it. After the tie organizing incident, he just made me realized how perfect we are for each other. I love that we're so different and can learn from it. Though we don't understand each other sometimes and probably never will in some instances, we can love and appreciate each other's quirks and differences.

Logan videos

2010-04-05T16:08:00.000-07:00

Okay so these aren't the most exciting videos but I figured I should post some since it's been a little while. As soon as the camera comes out usually he stops what he's doing and comes after the camera so the first one is really short. He walks around the whole living room but wouldn't do that when I was recording, of course.

This one is really long but I wanted to show how this animal eats. He actually slowed down significantly once I got out the camera. There's always two fist fulls of food going in his mouth at all times.

11 Months

2010-03-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Yep. It's already time for a monthly Logan update. I can't believe he's getting so big so fast. Crazy! Logan's new and favorite things lately are:

"Helping" with the dishes. The second he hears us moving a dish he is there in a second. He loves to stand by the dishwasher and play with the silverware.

Eating...everything! He's a human garbage disposal eating anything spicy, bland, sweet, sour, crunchy, dirty, old. If it's in front of him, he'll eat it. He doesn't care.

This is what happens when I get the camera out. He immediately starts showing off.

Squealing as loud as possible

Walking all over the place holding onto whatever he can push around with him...chairs, boxes, toys, etc.

Music...he bounces whenever he hears music he likes

Hugs. He wraps his arms around my neck really tight and gives me hugs which I have to say is much better than his kisses which usually involve his teeth. (I hate to admit it because I'm sure it sometimes hurts Scott's feelings but I think I'm the only one he actually hugs.)

Animals...I don't understand how he all of a sudden knows a horse from a bicycle but he just laughs and squeals every time he sees any kind of animal and just wants to touch them.

Brushing his teeth. Yeah I don't know how long this will last but he gets excited the second I get out the toothbrush.

Being naked. The little stinker throws a fit every time we change his diaper or his clothes and the second he's naked he's on the run just laughing the whole time.

Playing with blocks. He likes to take apart whatever you build. That's how we play with blocks.

Anyway, I think that's about it. Here's just some recent pictures of our little guy. We just can't get enough of him and that cheesy smile of his.

Before...and After

2010-03-24T12:44:00.001-07:00

I always have some sort of project going on to add something to my day that doesn't involve diapers, cleaning, dishes, laundry, cooking, or Logan. I mean I love staying home with my little guy but, you know how it is, some things get SO old and I need something else to focus my energy on. Anyway, I wouldn't say this has been the most exciting project, but I'm accomplishing something that's been on my list for awhile and I think the end result was worth it. We painted our whole house last year right before Logan was born. By the end, I was so big and tired Scott had to pretty much do it all himself so we never got around to painting the doors. I decided it was time to get it done, which has been extremely drawn out since the only time I can do it is when Logan is sleeping and I have nothing else going on during that time. We also have hideous, brass door knobs on all the doors so I decided I had to do something about that as well. Since door knobs are so expensive, I decided to try and just paint them. So I just sanded them down a little and sprayed them with a metallic paint for made specifically for metal. I'm pretty happy with the results so far and the best part is it only cost the price of two cans of paint. I'm not quite finished with all the doors but here's what one looks like.

Before...After...

P.S. The new paint looks sparkly in the picture but it doesn't actually look like that in person.

10 Months

2010-03-10T10:12:00.000-08:00

Logan turned 10 months last week. Once again, time is flying by. Logan hasn't had such a drastic change as he has in the past but he's still doing some new things. He's about 19 pounds and 27.5 inches long. According to my 9 month post he hasn't gotten any taller and has gained about a pound and a half. It's a little hard to believe he hasn't gotten taller since he can now reach a lot more things than he could a month ago. Anyway, here are some new things about Logan...most of them he was already doing, it's just more or better now.

He's into everything! He spills my drinks, puts his hands in the toilet, plays with toilet paper, gets into cabinets and drawers, plays with electrical outlets, pulls things off the shelves at stores, tries to climb up my step ladder, opens his wipes and pulls them all out, pulls stuffing out of our leather chair and eats it (There was a small rip that Logan has turned into two large rips.), etc.

Needless to say, if it is within reach...it's not safe. Don't worry grandmas. We've put in safety plugs in the outlets and baby locks on the cabinets and drawers.

He is starting to do some serious baby chatting. It's actually starting to sound more like talking. I will admit "da da" and "hi da" is one of his common noises and even though he mostly says those when Scott's home, I don't think he has a clue about what he's saying. Despite my daily and sometimes hourly coaxing, nothing even close to "mama" has come out of his mouth yet.

Thankfully, he's been much less clingy to his mama.

This has been going on for a few months but I keep forgetting to mention it. He smiles and kicks his legs in excitement every time he looks at the picture of Jesus in his bedroom. I had never pointed it out to him and one day I was putting him to bed and he looked right over at it and smiled and laughed like he was seeing someone he loved. I'm convinced he knows exactly who is in that picture. Now, before I put him to bed every night I take him to the picture and talk about Jesus.

He can stand up all my himself for awhile but once he notices he's not holding onto anything, he gets nervous and sits down.

He walks anywhere there's something to hold onto.

His favorite places to be are outside and at a store (he makes lots of friends every time we go out.) He and Scott have some serious father son bonding on Saturdays when they work out in the yard. He is such a good helper.

He loves to roll and throw a ball back and forth. No, he doesn't have any control over where it goes but it's still impressive.

He loves to pull hair and poke people's eyes.

He's started making this ridiculous face where he squints his eyes and opens his mouth really big. I have no idea where he got it but it's so funny. Hopefully I can get it on video sometime.

He eats like a champ. Hmm...wonder where he gets that. Anyway, he literally eats enough to satisfy an adult during at least one of his 3 meals a day.

He's terrified of loud noises like from the hair dryer, blender, and vacuum. He is so scared of the vacuum that he'll keep his eye on it and his distance from it if it's out of the closet and not turned on.

I don't have many pictures from this month. Mainly because he won't sit still long enough to get a decent picture. Plus, he seems to have snot on his face the majority of the time and, therefore, has dirt on his face all the time.

Here, I needed to get some things done this day and since he has an attention span of about 2 minutes and gets bored with his toys easily, I decided to just dump them all out. Surprisingly it worked and he was entertained for a very long time.

Here's when we went hiking with Stacy and Grace. Just another one of Logan's favorite things to do.

Is it just me or...

2010-02-27T18:03:00.000-08:00

Okay so I've been really enjoying the Olympics. Go USA! But I have one huge complaint...Lindsey Vonn. I mean, yes of course, I'm glad she represented and got us a gold but so did many other great Olympians. What's so great about Lindsey? I turn on the TV, Lindsey Vonn. Turn on the radio, Lindsey Vonn. Turn on the computer, Lindsey Vonn. Heck I'm sick of hearing about her and yet here I am blogging about her right now. She just seems so whiny and just begging for attention and, for whatever reason, everyone gives it to her. I guarantee she's not the first person that had a small injury and still pulled off winning a medal for us. I don't want to minimize what she did but seriously if I hear one more word about her bruised shin I will just scream. I hate to admit it but by the end of the women's skiing I was rooting against her. All I wanted was for Julia Mancuso to kick her little blond behind. Anyway I'm sure she'll have a ton of endorsement deals so I know it's not all over but I can't tell you how excited I am for this Vonn obsession to eventually die down. I was just wondering if I was the only one who felt this way or if someone could shed some light on what I'm obviously in the dark about.

My recent projects

2010-02-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

You know those bloggers that create these gorgeous, creative home decorations, clothes, hair bows, jewelry, furniture, etc from things like the trash in their kitchens or the dust on their neighbors furniture (because they don't seem like they'd ever have dust in their own houses.) Well my crafts are like the 99 cent store version of their Nordstrom crafts, the cubic zirconia instead of diamonds. Pretty much every idea I have, I steal from someone else and my projects always take me twice as long as they should and they never look near as cute as I imagine them. Anyway, I think crafts and projects are fun and even though they are 99 cent quality, I'm still proud of them and thought I would just post some things I've been up to...

You're probably wondering "What's the big deal about hanging up pictures?" Well the answer is these frames didn't always look like this. They were bought from Savers and the Good Will in a much uglier state and much uglier colors. They were about $1 each and I just sanded them a little and spray painted them.

I couldn't really get a good picture of this one but I'll just tell you they're much cuter in person. I just made these from styrofoam squares by gluing and mod podging paper on. Then adding some ribbon and black glitter.

I made these for Valentine's day. Some are just dipped strawberries but most of them are cake balls. They are delicious and if you want the recipe here it is.

This is what I made Scott for Valentines day. I just got this jar for 99 cents at Savers and mod podged some tissue paper and scrap paper to the inside and added a ribbon. I cut out hearts, 155 to be exact, and wrote love notes and things that I love about him on them. Originally I planned on making 365 for every day of the year but there wasn't room in the canister and once I got started it proved to be a rather daunting task to make that many hearts. So 155 days of love will have to do...once again, a cz instead of a diamond.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm currently working on another project right now that started out simple and easy but things aren't working out as I planned so stay tuned...

Yum!

2010-02-11T09:12:00.001-08:00

I made some pancakes the other day and I was so excited about them I thought I would share. I will preface this by saying I just made it up based on some things I like to eat...protein pancakes and chocolate covered strawberries. I just made the batter like I normally do (from the box) then added cinnamon, vanilla, chopped pecans and almonds, granola, chocolate chips, and strawberries. Anyway, that was just one of my most recent "concoctions" as Scott likes to call them and I thought maybe someone else would like to try them out.

Logan's spider crawl

2010-02-11T09:06:00.000-08:00

So I'm a little behind considering Logan's been crawling and walking on all fours for a while now but I thought I'd share a video of it.

Little Joys

2010-02-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

I love this picture because he gets this same look on his face every time we let him free so he can go get whatever he's after.

Mama Lovin

good night kisses...

I have said before that Logan has been clingy...well this is what he does when I try and get things like dinner done. We're gonna have to figure out a solution very soon.

So Logan and I just love to go outside because, for whatever reason, no matter what kind of mood Logan is in, the second we go outside he is happy. Scott decided to do a photo shoot the other day since we don't really have many pictures of the two of us together and because he likes to document the progress of our yard.

Daddy Lovin

good night kisses...Like Father, Like Son

If you can't tell, they're both on their laptops.

9 Months

2010-02-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

Logan turned 9 months last week! How fast time flies. We went to the doctor on Friday and Logan weighs 17 lbs 13 oz and is 27.5 in long. He's turning out to be quite a shrimp after being such a chunk when he was little. I swear I feed him. The doctor was a little concerned about his weight when I told her how much he still spits up. That's right I said still spits up. 9 months of spitting up 10-20 times a day has done quite a number on our carpet and couches...especially since he eats food now. Anyway, after seeing how happy and active he is she no longer thought it was a problem since the spitting up doesn't seem to bother him one bit. She increased his reflux meds and hopefully he'll grow out of this very soon. There probably won't be quite as many new updates since I blogged a couple weeks ago but here are the new things:

He "cheeses" big time when he sees the camera come out.
Can stand up without holding anything for about a minute or so.
Crawls everywhere now...no scooting anymore.
Walks holding onto things.
Has two beautiful bottom teeth.
Has started drinking from a sippy cup.
Likes to try and get mom to chase him...laughing the whole time
Has to be held down in order to have his diaper changed. Yes I have resorted to straddling him with my bum in his face just to change his diaper.
Loves to bang his hands on his tray and smash all his food.
Has lots of accidents...for example has pulled the bar stool on top of himself.
Thinks everything is a game and laughs when mom says "no" even though I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what that means.
Has become fascinated with his tongue and is starting to make clicking sounds with it.
Loves to blow through his lips so spit comes out...not sure what you call that.
Is very very ticklish.
Recently loves dogs and cats and probably any animal if he got close enough.
His most excited time of the day is the second dad walks in the door.
Loves going out. The second I pick him and the diaper bag up he squeals and kicks his legs with excitement.
Has become extremely chatty again...always making noises and jabbering.

First times:
Swinging
Sliding down a slide
Hanging from one of our trees (with mom's help, of course)

Logan with Penelope and Amanda (a couple of my beautiful beehives)

Hanging out with cousin Grace at the park.
First time swinging all by himself.

This is the smile he gave me when I woke him up from his nap on one of our walks.

Looking out the window to see when dad was coming home.

One of his new things...squinting one, or both of, his eyes when he smiles for a picture.

Woot! Woot!

2010-01-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know that Scott has been preparing to get his Series 7 License. He loves to plan and figure out things so he, of course, came up with a perfect study schedule and had it all planned out over the past few months. I'm happy to say he took that 6 hour test in about 2 and a half hours and passed with flying colors. He worked hard and studied nearly every night and I have to say I, too, worked hard so he could study every night. Logan and I are excited to have him back and I think he's happy to have us and his free time back. Congratulations honey!

8 months

2010-01-14T14:30:00.000-08:00

Okay so I'm so behind Logan's closer to 9 months than 8 at this point but I've been posting every month so far and I don't wanna stop now. I usually give an update of his height and weight but we'll just wait til his 9 month check up. Here's a list of new things he's up to:

Pulls himself up to standing position.
Can and has crawled across the room but usually prefers scooting.
Is currently cutting his two bottom teeth...yuck. He's running 101.5 temp, not sleeping or eating and cries all the time. It better not be like this for all his teeth.
Can go from the crawling position to the sitting position and the other way around.
Reaches for people when he wants them to hold him.
Has a very strong preference for his Mama and has become very clingy.
LOVES to play peek-a-boo.
Gives kisses.
Can throw things.
Can feed himself finger foods. Cheerios are his favorite.
Spits and locks his mouth shut when he doesn't want to eat something.
Has a huge sensitivity to eggs...we had two very bad experiences involving a lot of vomit and a splotchy face.
He walks on all fours. He started doing this when he wanted to go into the kitchen, but not touch the cold tile, he'd just get up on is hands and feet and move that way. This is a pretty new discovery so he doesn't go too far.

A few firsts (many of which occurred during the Oklahoma trip):
Cheerios
Bread
Pancake
Cracker
Black beans
Pasta
Egg : (
Broccoli
Spinach
Meatball
Apple
Banana
Snow
Plane Rides
Illness (pink eye and ear infections)
Christmas
Opening presents
Being away from Dad
First time in Oklahoma
First "girlfriend"...he met her at church in OK and it was love at first sight.

Most likely there's a lot more updates but that's all I can come up with right now.

Here he is with his huge stuffed dog at Nana and Papa's house. When he was tired, he'd just cuddle right up to it (and he's not cuddly).

This was Nana's favorite bib. I forgot to post it last time so here it is.

Fun in the Tub.

I always try to get a picture of him grabbing my face and giving me kisses but they always turn out looking something like this.

Enjoying some first foods.

I wouldn't let him have any frozen yogurt but I let him wear a bowl as a hat. He actually kept it on for quite awhile.

Christmas

2010-01-13T13:15:00.001-08:00

Well I found my camera and I have a lot of catching up to do so here goes....
For Christmas we went to Oklahoma. The day before we left, I took Logan to the doctor to get his flu shots and decided to have him checked out because he had a fever and was not acting normal. I found out he had ear infections and pink eye. It as obvious the poor little guy was not feeling well and I was worried everyone back home wouldn't get to see the "real Logan" but after just a couple days on the meds he was back to his cheerful self. Logan and I went a week before Scott so we could spend more time with my family which meant that I would be flying with Logan for the first time all by myself. I was pretty nervous because Logan won't go to sleep when people are holding him, he always wants to move around, and, like I said, he was sick. Everyone at the airport and on the plane was really helpful. He, of course, made a few friends with that big smile and contagious laugh of his. After wiping down everything in reach with antibacterial wipes and cleaning both our hands with antibacterial gel multiple times, I ended up passing him around to a few nice people wanting to play with him and help me out. He did cry some and he didn't sleep much at all but, with those people's help and feeding him practically the whole time, we made it. Logan got spoiled rotten by all the friends and family excited to see him. We had to make a trip to the school my mom teaches at for some lunch and a little "show and tell." He loved all the attention and so did Nana. We mostly just visited family and friends, made treats, ate treats, and shopped the week before Scott got there. Here we are decorating some sugar cookies. Over half of them were eventually eaten by Scott.

It was the first time Scott had been away from Logan and only the second time away from me for that long since we've been married. Scott productively spent his lone time watching all the seasons of "The Office" and cleaning out the refrigerator. Whenever we'd talk on the phone, I'd put it on speaker and Logan would just light up as soon as he heard his voice. We were happy once he finally joined us the day before Christmas Eve. We were so glad he came when he did because that night it started to snow and on Christmas Eve it was an all out blizzard. The winds were 50-60 mph and snow drifts were piled a few feet deep in some areas. Cars were stuck and abandoned in the middle of the roads. Highways, streets and the airports were all closed and visibility was pretty much non-existent. It was a huge mess because snow plows and sanders couldn't get out since you couldn't see 3 feet in front of you and once they did, all the abandoned cars that got stuck in snow in the middle of the road made it difficult to plow them. I have a feeling another state a little more equipped for this type of thing wouldn't have had quite as many problems. Needless to say, unlike most snow storms, we were completely snowed in Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We watched a lot of movies, played games and ate the whole time. Had it been any regular day I wouldn't have minded it but it kinda put a damper on our celebrating. The pictures don't do justice but they're all I got.

Papa likes to introduce Logan to new foods every time we see him so this time he fed Logan snow.

Because the winds were so strong, snow was coming in under the doors. Since Logan liked it so much the first time, he decided to help himself to some more.

Logan was pretty excited about all his presents, (and by all I mean we came home with a large suitcase full of Logan's just toys and still had to ship some) but the paper and the bows were definitely his favorite part.

He's such a good helper. Here's Logan with some of his favorite people.

We had a great time and even after 2 weeks it seemed too short. We didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see and eat everywhere I wanted to eat but other than that I have no complaints. I came home 5 lbs heavier which to me signifies a good trip. The flight home was much easier with Scott there and I think he gained a little more respect for me seeing how difficult it was even with the two of us there.

My parents got him this outfit but sadly he didn't get to wear it for them since they cancelled church so we had to do a little photo shoot of the little handsome man.

Oh P.S. I want to make a christmas tree ornament or decoration of some kind each year using a picture so if anyone has any ideas please let me know. Obviously I have yet to do this year's.

A Little Set-back

2010-01-11T13:24:00.001-08:00

I'm very behind on blogging and I blame most of it on the holiays. I have attempted to start the catch-up process but realized, after looking everywhere imaginable, I have misplaced my camera with all our recent pictures still waiting to be uploaded to the computer. Stay tuned. Hopefully it will turn up soon.

7 Months

2009-12-08T12:14:00.001-08:00

Logan turned 7 months last week. I know I say this all the time but I seriously can't believe how fast time flies and how much he changes. He weighs about 18 lbs. and is 26 3/4 in long. He still isn't crawling but he's getting very quick at scooting. He can sit up all on his own and in turn can now ride in a cart without his car seat. Yay! Literally every time we go to the store at least one person comments on how excited he looks to be alive. He just thinks he's livin the high life riding around in the carts like a big boy.

One of his favorite things to do is stand up to play. He was kinda cranky one day and wasn't very interested in his toys so I just decided to stand him up against our couch and he was immediately entertained. You will notice in this picture our ottoman is in front of the tv. That is because he's decided one of his other favorite things is crawling under the tv and playing with the dvd player and whatever else in under there.

He's also started exploring the whole house. I used to bring him into whatever room I was in and he's just move around in that one area and play. Now he's going into the kitchen, living room, family room, down the hall, in the closet, etc. Each day holds a new discovery for Logan and more work for mom and dad.

I just wanted to post this picture because I think he looks so big. He's almost too big for his baby tub. Now that he's bigger, sometimes I give him baths in our bathtub and he just loves it because he can kick and splash all over the place.

Since he can't pull himself up and can barely sit himself up with no help, there's not a lot of things within his reach and yet he always manages to find something to get into.

We recently discovered that Logan loves being outside. I take him out on our porch swing and he's just fascinated with everything around him. Scott will take him out with him on Saturdays while he's working on the yard, putting up Christmas lights, whatever project he's working on and Logan is completely content. He, of course, likes to eat grass, leaves, dirt, and yes I've caught him with rocks so we have to keep a close eye on the little guy. Here he is helping Scott rake the leaves and help me pick grapefruits in our backyard.

Some other new things Logan's doing is he loves playing peek a boo, he cracks up every time we dance, and he gives his mama kisses. He actually started doing that all on his own. One morning I got him out of bed and he grabbed my face and "kissed" my cheek. I pretty much kiss him every time I get him up or put him to bed so I'm guessing that's how it got started. Now, if I tell him "dame besitos" or "give me kisses," he'll give a slobbery, open mouth kiss. So far that's only a mama thing. Scott still hasn't gotten a kiss from him yet. He's also a very good eater and will literally eat anything new I give him with no problems at all. His favorite food, however, is still paper. Though he seems a little young for it, he actually loves to sit and look at books while I read them to him...the baby proof ones that he can't eat of course. Though I almost hate to admit it, I think he's turning into a little bit of a mama's boy. He loves everyone and has no problem going to even perfect strangers but when he's tired or cranky, sometimes I'm the one who has the magic touch. I just can't help but feel proud about that. He's also had his first haircut and sometimes I even style what little hair he has. Here he is in his George Costanza pose that he does all the time.

This first one is a picture of him doing this thing where he puts his lips together and kind of spits. I'm not sure what to call it. The rest are just random pictures.

The Neverending Day

2009-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving morning we went over early to Scott's parents' house so we could all go on a hike. I wasn't sure how Logan would do just because he had a short nap, doesn't really like the sun in his eyes and we'd be hiking until his lunch time. Well he had the time of his life. I really wish I would've taken more pictures because he and his cousin were so cute in their little hats. Anyway, Logan literally chatted, smiled, and laughed the whole time. He loved just looking around, being outside, and having so many people around him. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Scott's family just eating and talking. Here's a couple pictures from a little photo shoot of the cousins but I'm pretty sure Christi got some much better ones with her camera. Scott's sisters, Stacy and Christi, had been talking to me about staying the night at his parents' (they live an hour away) and going Black Friday shopping with them. I was undecided and with the rush of trying to get Logan and the food ready that morning, I completely forgot about it. Though I didn't have a change of clothes or a toothbrush, after a little coaxing, I decided why not. I have fond memories of going Black Friday shopping with my dad where we would get up around four. We'd wait in line for maybe 30 min or so. He'd get whatever gadget or electronics he was after and then I would just shop around the mall and get whatever deals I could find and when I was ready to check out, he'd show up with the money. Obviously things were much different this time around without dad but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The mall opened at midnight so about 11:30 we left the kids at home asleep with grandma and grandpa Bair and headed to the mall. We assumed there would be a good number of other crazy people like ourselves but when we pulled up, we saw lines about 4-5 people wide from every entrance going all the way out to the parking lot. Here we are in line. This is the beginning so we have big smiles of anticipation for our all night shopping extravaganza.
Now I should mention that this mall was having a deal where if you spent $100 between 12 and 3 am, you could get a mall gift card for $50 from the service desk. We didn't have anything in particular that we were going to buy but we figured that between the 3 of us we could certainly pull that off. Well it seemed like everyone else in the world thought the same thing because by the time we stepped inside the mall, people were already lined up for this gift card. Apparently we are complete amateurs because we found out people went to the mall the day before and scoped out everything they wanted, tried everything on, etc. and then came in groups the next day so they could split up, buy everything, and stand in line all at the same time. Stacy found this, this, and this picture online from the mall we went to. You wouldn't ever believe me unless you just saw it for yourself. Needless to say, we gave up pretty much immediately on getting a gift card but I can honestly say I have never seen anything like that in my life. It was incredible. We followed that with a trip to Old Navy which opened at 3am and then to Target which opened at 5am and then Joann's which opened at 6am. We got home exhausted and delirious. I learned a few things from this trip that I thought I'd share. 1. Have a detailed plan. There's way too many people to be browsing around or trying on clothes. You should know exactly what you're getting and where it's at before you step foot in the store. Also, you should never waste your time buying things you could get for the same price any other time. Get in and get out as fast as humanly possible because the more you wait, the longer the lines and the crazier the people get. 2. Bring snacks. By 4am I was so hungry I was tempted to eat my own arm. 3. Dress for winter. Yes, it's nice here in Arizona in the winter but it still gets down to the 30's and 40's in the middle of the night. We were reminded of that while were standing in line outside in our short sleeves. 4. Go armed. I haven't decided what the best method of protection would be, but you definitely need something. We did have a little "secret weapon" of our own thanks to Christi but it just wasn't enough against these people. Nothing dangerous happened to us this time, but it's important to note that on Black Friday all societal norms and rules go out the window. It's complete madness. On that day, normal people are found pushing and shoving, cussing and yelling, cutting in line, running inside the store, stomping on feet, ramming into people with their carts, etc. We've all heard the stories. People get trampled to death for goodness sake! So be prepared to fight for your life. 5. This one is most important. Take a nap! At 6:30am after shopping for seven hours, going on 24 hours of no sleep, I barely had the energy to breathe and was just about to pass out when Logan woke up. I didn't even get to take a nap until about 9:30am and I seriously thought I would die. I have told people to remind me of how I felt at that moment so I never make that mistake again. To top it all off, I haven't been able to sleep since that night. I'm averaging falling asleep at about 2am so if I seem a little edgy, you now know why. It was, however, quite an adventure and now I have some good stories. I did end up with a couple good buys but IF I ever do that again, I will be much more prepared the next time.

29 Reasons

2009-11-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

I'm a little behind on my blogging but last week Scott turned 29 so I thought it'd be appropriate to make a list of 29 reasons (in no particular order) that I love him. I realized as I was doing this that it was very hard to narrow it down to just 29. I decided to pick some reasons that maybe you didn't know about him. I think it'll be much easier when he's 50 to make this list.

1. His snoring not only wakes me up but wakes himself up
2. He's funny but doesn't try to be
3. He calls me Hon, Honey, Hottie, and occasionally Lil Muffin
4. He makes "to do" lists of things he wants done every night and on the weekends
5. He likes to skip around and chase me around the house
6. He doesn't know all the words to ANY song but he sings all the time
7. He loves to people watch
8. Though he comes across as emotionless, he's a softy and cries during movies
9. He loves to cuddle all night
10. He plans on buying a cabin near Payson
11. He steals the covers every night
12. He does laundry, cooks dinner, cleans the house, and loves to vacuum
13. He's a great money manager and actually does "number figuring" and math for FUN
14. He has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen
15. He flosses every single night
16. He's very humble and never gives himself credit for his knowledge and abilities
17. When we were married he wouldn't eat any vegetables and now he includes them in dinner when he cooks
18. He would use his only free moment to help someone else...even if he doesn't know them
19. He would do anything to make me happy
20. He hates most games...but loves card games
21. He is quietly confident...I don't know how else to describe it
22. He loves to listen to the Jim Rome show and could sit around and quote it (usually incorrectly) for hours at a time
23. He's constantly trying to be better
24. He wishes he could dance
25. He loves sports especially basketball and baseball
26. He would do ANYTHING for me and Logan and loves us more than anything
27. He has a great laugh
28. He's the man of my dreams even though he's not over six feet tall
29. He loves the Lord, honors his priesthood, and has a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ

Happy Birthday Scott! I love you Honey!

Scooter

2009-11-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

Since Logan has started to scoot around a couple weeks ago, he's progressed very quickly. I wanted to get this up before he starts full-on crawling. I recorded him scooting today to get one of his favorite toys, his phone. Yes, one of Scott's old phones was dubbed "Logan's phone" in hopes that he would leave ours alone. P.S. I apologize for my annoyingly high voice. I've tried to stop but Logan just responds so much better and no matter what I do, I just can't help it.

6 Months

2009-11-03T12:38:00.001-08:00

Logan went to the doctor last week for his six month checkup and shots. He did really well with the shots. I was very prepared and gave him his Tylenol right before he even got the shots. His growing has really slowed down since his last checkup. He weighs a little over 16 lbs and is 26 in long. Instead of being on the large end of average, he's now on the smaller end.
Here's just some pictures I took the other day.

This is one of his most common faces lately. He loves sucking on that bottom lip.

He wanted to help out with the picture taking and grabbed the camera right as it took the picture.
Logan is a great eater and has become very interested in whatever food we eat. He loves trying to help feed himself and really loves playing with the bowl afterwards. It's a good thing he's cute cause he is such a mess. I'm doing laundry and scrubbing the floor a lot more often than I'd like to.

Some recent accomplishments are that he can grab anything, big or small, within his reach. He can hold his own bottle (when he's not being lazy). And he can not only roll everywhere but he's now starting to scoot and "inchworm" around, especially when there's something he wants but can't reach.

I'm not sure why we buy him toys because his favorite things to play with are my water bottles, cell phone, and any kind of paper...especially magazines. He'll choose those over his noisy, light-up toys any day. If any of those things are in sight, he will find a way to get a hold of them.

Logan still loves looking at and talking to himself in the mirror. He loves being outside or just looking outside. Whenever he gets upset, as long as there's a window or a mirror to look at, he's pretty happy. He no longer likes his car seat as much or anything else, for that matter, that restricts him from moving how he wants to. He's also started to try and pull himself up and sit up all on his own. Both are still a working progress but we lowered his crib just in case. If I don't keep an eye on him sometimes he'll even unvelcro his diaper. He hates getting his face and hands cleaned and to get his clothes changed. He fusses any time he can't move to where he wants or reach whatever it is he sees. Needless to say he's become much more mobile and much more opinionated. I think I have my work cut out for me. For the majority of the time, however, he's a great baby. He eats and sleeps like a champ and is, for the most part, always happy, especially if he has someone to play and talk to him. Every morning I get him out of bed laughing and squealing with excitement. We just can't get over how much he's growing and changing. His sweet little face just melts our hearts.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Here's Logan's pre-Halloween outfit. The Friday before Halloween we made an appearance at our ward's trunk or treat. Logan loved riding around in his stroller and getting lots of attention. We spent Halloween with Scott's family. Christi and her family were in town and Logan was loving being around his cousins Westin and Grace. We just hung out, took family pictures, and some pizza and walked around a little with Grace while she was trick or treating.

Here's our little monkey.
How funny is this face?

I don't know what we were doing but we missed out on getting pictures of the cousins. I got this one from Stacy's blog. Here's Grace in one of her costumes. I love this picture. It's so Grace.

I'll have to get one of Westin when Christi gets her pictures up. He was so stinking cute in his little army outfit.

Squash

2009-11-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

Last week I started Logan on foods other than cereal. I had decided before Logan was born to make all his baby food because, though some of them are much better these days, I'd just like to know exactly what is and isn't in his food. Plus it's cheaper...win, win. Well I had no idea how to do it so I did some research and found out the easiest way to cook a squash and keep in all the nutrients was cut it in half and bake it face down in an inch of water for about an hour. Then I just scooped it out and put it in the mill. So easy! I froze about half of it in ice trays and then bagged it up so I can easily defrost the amount I need when I need it. I absolutely love the food mill and am looking forward to putting all kinds of stuff in it. Apparently you can put in whatever you're eating for dinner and make it into baby food. Anyway, I went to take it out of the dishwasher and found the base melted to the bottom. It is dishwasher safe when it doesn't fall to the bottom and the heat dry option isn't on. I'm so upset about it cause I only used it once and it was such a good time. I do have the option to just order the part that melted but it will end up costing about half the price of a new one anyway. So now I'm on the lookout for a cheap one on craigslist. If you happen to see one, let me know.

The exciting part is, of course, not the making of the food but Logan's reaction to it. So here are a couple videos of the big event. They're kinda long cause I kept trying to get him to eat more since I knew he'd be very hungry if he didn't. I'm sure the grandmas will like them no matter how long they are.

I had decided to mix it with his cereal to see if he could handle it a little better so that's what this one is. It's kind of annoying at first cause he's so noisy but in the end he ends up liking it a little more and helping me feed him. If you listen closely toward the end you can hear Scott singing to himself while he's doing the dishes.

I'm happy to report he loves the squash now. It pretty much only took a day for him to get used to it.

Halloween Jars

2009-10-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

This week I made a little Halloween craft thanks to my sister in law Christi who organized the whole thing. They are just made out of Mason jars with some modge podge and tissue paper. It was my kind of craft...very easy and cheap.

Nana and Grandpa visit

2009-10-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago my parents came to visit for my mom's fall break. Besides skype, they haven't seen Logan since July so he's changed quite a bit since then. Logan was getting spoiled rotten and absolutely loving all the attention. He got lots of kisses and snuggles from Nana.

I got a nice break from feeding the little mess since Nana took over that job for me.

We went on walks pretty much every morning since the weather is perfect here now. There's a bunch of little farms by my house so Grandpa made sure Logan got to see all the horses, cows, pigs, emus, and goats.

He also made sure Logan got into as much trouble as he could. Since my parents came a week earlier than I expected, I was still working on organizing Logan's clothes before my parents came, which by the way happens about every few months since he's in and out of clothes so fast. Anyway, so Grandpa saw Logan eyeing the piles of clothes and thought it would be fun to let Logan play around and drool on his nice clean clothes. He also attempted sneaking him some chocolate but luckily he failed and just got it on his shirt. Busted! I have to keep a close eye on Grandpa cause is always getting into trouble whenever he's with Logan.

Something new that Logan did get to eat while they were here was some sort of baby rice cake. He wasn't sure what he thought about it at first but eventually figured out how fun it is to play with the mushy pieces.The last day they were here I made a big breakfast of banana granola pancakes, turkey bacon and eggs and we watched the OU v TX game. It was a heart wrenching game. Despite losing our quarterback officially for the season which is sad story in itself, the Sooners sucked me in and tricked me into being hopeful for a victory. In the end, we couldn't pull it off and lost by a field goal. We did a photo shoot before the end of the game. As you can see, we still have smiles on our faces. Sarah, a friend from back home that lives in Flagstaff came in town for the big game as well. I'm not sure why but apparently Grandpa and Scott didn't make an appearance in the shoot.

We mostly just hung out and enjoyed spending time together but we also went shopping, out to eat, and my dad's favorite...to the movies. Twice. I was a little worried about Logan cause we haven't taken him since he was a newborn and he just slept a lot. He actually really enjoyed it because he loves watching TV so imagine the excitement of a big screen. The only problem was he got extremely noisy. Not because he was fussy but because he was laughing, squealing and talking too much. We had to take him away from people in both movies because of that. We had so much fun together and were very glad they came but the trip was definitely way too short.

Oops. Were you talking to me?

2009-10-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

When I was going to school and working, the only books I would read was the required reading for tests or homework and church literature. Now that I'm out of school and after first reading Twilight, I resurrected my long lost love of books. I haven't looked back since. Scott took this picture a few months ago. Apparently he was talking to me but I was so enthralled by my book I had absolutely no idea he was even in the same room as I was. As I'm seeing Katniss, torn between her two loves, realize she must go back to the games and fight to the death...I'll notice everything is quiet and I'll look up and see Scott just staring at me. "Oops. Were you talking to me?" I'll say as innocently as I can, not having a clue how long he'd been standing there waiting for my response. He's gotten used to this now and knows that no matter what I say, if I'm not looking at him, I'm not actually hearing him. After I read an amazing book, I try my hardest to convince him he's GOT to read this book. But so far, no luck. I'm hoping in a few months, after he's done studying for his Series 7 that he'll give it a try. I just need a great book to get him hooked. I never know what books I should read which is why I love going to book club cause they pick some really great ones. I'm also taking suggestions. So if anyone has any good recommendations, for me or Scott, I'd love to hear them. I started a list of what I've read recently, the ones I can remember, because for some reason I can't for the life of me remember what I read.

5 Months

2009-09-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

This week Logan turned 5 months. I seriously cannot believe how fast he is growing. Every day he's learning or doing something different. Everybody warned me about this but it never really sunk in until now. I measured and weighed him on his 5 month mark and he weighs 15.5 lbs. and is 26 in. long. He's grown a half an inch but hasn't really gained any weight. Hopefully that's not a bad thing. I figure since he's not underweight there's probably nothing to worry about. He's a drooling machine and he literally is chewing on something all the time. He loves eating his cereal and, if I let him, he would eat the whole box at one time. He can take off some of his bibs and loves to throw them and everything else he can get his hands on to the floor. Yeah, he's already discovered that game. Now he rolls not just one way but all over the place. If he wants something bad enough, somehow he rolls and scoots and finds a way to get it. It's been great because it seems he's much happier when he can get around. The only bad thing is he's been rolling into things and banging his head. He's definitely getting a lot more reckless. I have a feeling I'm in big trouble when he actually starts crawling. His new favorite toy is my new cell phone. He loves how it lights up and apparently it's the perfect size to chew on. Also, he doesn't just squeal when he's excited like he used to. Now he squeals and screams all the time. I think he just loves to hear himself and sometimes I swear he's playing a game to see how high and loud he can scream. It hurts my throat just to hear him but he seems to like it. Another new thing he's started doing is attacking our faces. He has to feel, grab, scratch and if his mouth is anywhere near, he'll try to eat it. It's the worst when I'm feeding him. It's like all of a sudden he's fascinated with our faces. He's gotten much more needy in the entertainment department. Sitting and looking around doesn't cut it anymore. He needs to be involved in everything, see everything, play with everything, and have all the attention. It's exhausting sometimes and I wonder if I've somehow spoiled him into this or if this is normal at this age. The good thing is, he LOVES laughing and talking to himself in the mirror so when I want to get some things done he can entertain himself that way. Also, with some exceptions, he usually wakes up around 8 or 8:30am and goes to bed around 8:30 or 9pm which has been wonderful. So, I'm guessing it comes with age and solid foods but everything about him is stinkier...his dirty diapers, his spit up, and (I'm sure he gets this from Scott) his gas. It's awful. I'm already starting to feel very outnumbered with these boys in the house. As you can see, he's started sucking his thumb and, that's right, his toes.

This is another thing he's doing. He just opens his mouth for no reason as big as he can. We've decided that he's doing this because we all open our mouths really wide when we talk to him and try to get him to smile. He's just trying to look as silly as the rest of us do.

When he doesn't have a toy, he's always got his hand to chew on.

This is how he likes to sit on the desk when we're busy at the computer. Notice the drool.

Here are just a couple other pictures.

And a video...

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

The Friday before Labor Day we headed to Huntington Beach. That was also my birthday and I was having one of the worst days I had had in a long time. Our air conditioner broke around 3am which we were actually happy about because it was under warranty but we live in Arizona and it's summer here until Halloween. Need I say more? I didn't sleep pretty much from then on and I definitely don't do well without sleep. I guess Logan isn't a huge fan of the heat because he wouldn't eat or sleep that day and I couldn't get him to stop crying. Dealing with him and my own discomforts of heat and fatigue as well as pretty much being trapped at home since we had to be there while the AC was getting worked on made for an extremely long day. And the 7 hour car ride hadn't even begun. The trip wasn't too bad but I couldn't sleep partly because I was too wound up and partly because our car is too small for 3 adults and a car seat. (Scott's sister rode with us too). Of course with less than an hour left, Logan decided to start screaming and he just wouldn't stop no matter what I did. This is extremely rare for him, if not unheard of, and I had already dealt with it all morning so I was ready to turn around and go home at that point. To make things worse, it was even hot in Huntington Beach when we got there that night and I was absolutely sick of being hot and uncomfortable. It seems silly now but I was just having a hard day and wanted to go to bed and get that day behind me. After that, things got a little better. Scott's family watched Logan and let Scott and I get out by ourselves for a little while. I'm sure after my behavior the night before they were willing to do anything to make me a little more pleasant since they'd have to be around me all weekend. It was nice, though. We just ran some errands and walked around downtown. Scott's bro in law Matt and his family are big BYU fans and though I went there myself I was born and will inevitably die a Sooner fan so we were pretty excited about the game. This picture was taken before the end result hence the smile on my face. For those of you that don't know, the ending results were a terrible loss and an injured quarterback for OU. I was no longer smiling to say the least. Not a great start for my team on the opening weekend of my absolute favorite sport.

The reason we went to Huntington Beach was for Logan's new little cousin Westin's baby blessing. We took lots of cousin pictures. Logan was absolutely fascinated with Westin which was interesting since he's never paid attention to any other babies he's been around. Only this could put a smile on my face after that game.

Grandma Bair got the boys matching outfits. Westin was nice and mellow while Logan wiggled all over the place, wouldn't look at the camera, and tried to move Westin to where he thought he should go.

We even did bath time together which was pretty hilarious. Logan was having a good ol' time. To him, having people around, regardless of who or what the situation is, is a good time. Westin took a little beating with Logan's excited kicking legs and Logan just decided to take advantage of the situation and chew on his feet. As you can see, only Logan thought this was a fun idea.

Here's a picture of Scott's family that went to the blessing, which was absolutely beautiful. It was great to be a part of that big day.

We've been working on getting some pictures taken as a family so Matt and Christi took some pictures of us. We took a lot of really cute ones on the beach but Logan was not looking up or smiling because it was apparently too bright. Though we woke someone up in the process, we luckily got a good picture next to this wall by someone's bedroom window.

In the end it was a great weekend and I was so glad that we went. We had a really good time hanging out with Scott's family and meeting cute little Westin. Once we got home, we were extremely happy to walk into a nice cool house and have an air conditioner that didn't require us to turn up the tv or yell in order to hear over the awful noise it once made.

Happy Birthday...I think

2009-09-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

My birthday was September 4. This is always a joyous occasion for me since I love celebrating ME. The excuse "but it's my birthday" applies all month and I make sure we have multiple celebrations of birthday shopping, dinner, and parties, with cake, friends, family, etc. so it is sure to last as long as possible. Friday Scott gave me my present which was a shirt he picked out all by himself and a card he wrote telling me all the things he loves about me. I got some money and clothes from family and Matt, Scott's bro in law, made me an ice cream cake that was delicious. We haven't finished celebrating yet because I have lots of birthday shopping to do and we haven't gone out yet so things are going according to plan. But...this year feels a little different. I just turned 27. For those of you who are older than I am, I mean no disrespect. But wow! I'm getting old fast and it seems like I'm getting smacked in the face with it. I noticed toward the end of my pregnancy that I was getting dark circles around my eyes and here we are, almost 5 months later, and they never went away. I hear that's a sign of aging. I was told by my doctor for the first time the other day, "sometimes that just comes with age." I just about fell out of my chair and then I didn't know if I should laugh, because surely that was a joke, or cry. Also, it could be a combination of post baby body and my obviously ever increasing age, but I'm finding that no matter how much weight I lose I just can't seem to get that body I once had. I'm also nursing and, yes, I can already see "the ladies" succumbing to gravity. And last, I noticed as someone was editing my picture on their computer that I'm starting to get those little creases around my eyes that some call crow's feet. The funny thing about getting older is you remember when you're younger imagining how different you'll feel once you get to a certain age. But you always feel exactly the same as you did before with just a few more life experiences and knowledge. I went to an enrichment a couple days ago that talked about not taking on more than you can handle and prioritizing things in your life. With my birthday in mind, I really got to thinking how short life is and how important it is to just enjoy every minute of it and not procrastinate your dreams, or doing things that are important to you. I've also decided to try to not dwell on the floor that needs mopped or the laundry that needs to be folded or the fact that Scott leaves his shoes everywhere and doesn't wipe off the counters after he cooks. (I know. He cooks and I still get annoyed.) Last year on my birthday I was praying and fasting for a baby not knowing if it would ever happen and 3 days later we found out I was pregnant. There's no telling what this year will bring and I look forward to all the experiences that come, good or bad. I plan on focusing more on cherishing each new day I have with my sweet baby and loving husband. That's the good thing about getting older. You go through life with the experiences that make you who you are...and hopefully become a better person along the way doing the things you've always dreamed you'd do.

By request...rice cereal videos

2009-08-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

The second video is better but I decided I'd just put both on.

Big Day

2009-08-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I decided to go get Logan a booster chair and rice cereal and start him on some solid foods. I have read some books and talked to my doctor about it and was expecting a fairly difficult task. Well it really wasn't bad. Logan did make some funny faces, but he ate most of it and didn't spew it all over me like I was expecting. (He already likes to spit and spew milk at me.) I got video of the exciting event but won't bore you with that. Here's just a couple photos. Isn't he growing up so fast?

Since Logan got his shots on Monday, he was running a low fever and just wasn't quite feeling himself on Tuesday and Wednesday. Since he was so mellow, I got a lot of cuddle time in.

Also...yesterday I went to my young women's activity like I do every week and left the boys at home. Apparently, Scott didn't have enough to do with his time just taking care of Logan so he decided to shave his head. Even though he had mentioned a couple days ago while looking at pictures that he might want to do it, I didn't expect him too and definitely not out of the blue while I was gone. Though I think he looks great with his hair short, I was pretty surprised to see him when I got home.
Oh by the way...it was a all young women combined activity on modesty and it was great. It was filled with great speakers, games and activities, a fashion show, visual aids, etc. If anyone is in young women's and wants to hear more about it to get some ideas let me know. I was really impressed with everything the Laurels came up with for that activity.

Another Video

2009-08-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

So I wasn't going to post this but I figured since I put it on youtube and my family was showing everyone anyway I might as well. This is Logan's new thing. The moment we pull up his feet he starts cracking up.

Apparently I'm hilarious

2009-08-25T13:03:00.001-07:00

4 months

2009-08-24T14:27:00.001-07:00

So today we went to the Dr for Logan's 4 month appointment. He is getting HUGE. He weighs 15lbs 7oz which is in the 50-75% and he's 25 and 1/2 in. long which is in the 75%. So far he's proving to be a fairly tall kid which is funny since neither Scott nor I (especially me) are tall at all. Logan is changing so much. New developments are...he can officially roll. He mainly rolls from his stomach to his back but occasionally from his back to his belly. His favorite position, though, is to just roll onto his sides. He stands up when you hold him on your lap and he's talking, laughing and squealing even more. Yes, mom, I do have video of your grand baby but because the program is a little weird I'm still working on figuring out how to get it posted. Anyway, he goes to bed without any problems for all his naps, he's been consistently sleeping through the night and on a solid schedule for about a month now which has been amazing compared to the first month or two. He's starting to drool and chew on everything but no sign of teeth yet. Good pictures are few and far between first, because our camera broke and we just had our phones for pictures and second, because the new camera we got has a red light before the flash goes off that stops Logan from smiling or doing whatever he was doing and puts him in a trance.

Also, he's starting to really love playing with toys and can now sit up really well with a little support so he likes his jumparoo and his bumbo.

Now when I'm cooking, he can be mama's little helper. This week we'll be starting Logan on rice cereal. I can't believe he's big enough to eat with a spoon now.

He also has become extremely interested in the tv. When I turn it on I purposely turn him away from it because he becomes so mesmerized but, as you can see, he still finds a way to watch it.

Another recent development is that I've been using cloth diapers. I initially became interested in them because some friends and even perfect strangers randomly told me how much they liked them while I was pregnant. I honestly had never even considered them but after talking to them and doing a lot of online research I decided to give them a try. After a little over a month of trial and error I have to say I agree with everyone I've talked to. They really are great. There are quite a few reasons why I like them so much. First, they're cheaper. These diapers are one size adjustable which means this is what Logan will wear the whole time he's in diapers plus all children to come after him. They're just like regular diapers with velcro...not like the old school kind my mom used with large safety pins and towels. They're also really good for babies' skin and they keep the bum so dry I don't have to change him near as often. He's never had diaper rash by the way. Also, we haven't had one blowout since I started using them which is a huge deal considering how many he had before then. They're not hard to clean and I only have to do laundry every few days. (The cost is still significantly cheaper with the laundry factored in.) Plus, I'm being so trendy by being green and saving the environment. And, last but not least, they're cute.

Here's just a pic of my little guy in his cute bum genius diapers and his little band-aid from his shots today. I'm glad to say I was prepared this time and gave him Tylenol immediately so he didn't have to suffer like last time. The poor little guy did much better this go-around.

Another Little Craft

2009-08-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

As you can probably see, this whole crafty thing is very new for me. I can only do very simple things and I have to steal all my ideas from other people. I'm not sure where I originally saw this but I just thought they were so cute. Logan doesn't really have church clothes and I'm not about to buy him some since he grows out of clothes after a couple weeks. Plus we have tons of extra white onesies so this was the perfect project for me. Anyway, I've been planning on making some of these since before Logan was born and I finally made some this week. Yes, we're still in between cameras because I can't make up my mind about what i want so the picture is crappy but you get the idea.

The Jim Rome Show

2009-08-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if many of you know, but I like to listen to a sports talk radio show called the Jim Rome Show. It's on Monday-Friday from 9-12. When I worked, I'd make sure I wouldn't have to make any phone calls for those 3 hours, would organize all my work so I could have my headphones on at 8:59am and would only get up from my desk to take care of things during a commercial break. It was the best part of my day and, sometimes, the only way I got through it. The show makes me just laugh out loud and I'd always have to explain myself to my co-workers why correcting mutual fund problems was so hilarious. Scott introduced me to the show and our relationship has gone to a new level since I started listening a year and a half ago. I do love sports and that's mainly what the show talks about but there's also this other side that includes ridiculous and off the wall news. Usually he has a funny or sarcastic take on everything and I absolutely love it. Well since I've been home, I haven't had the chance to listen as much and I've really been missing it. Last night Scott and I were up late just talking about all the funny things on the show and started listening to all these clips on youtube and I decided I had to just put this on my blog and share a little piece of Rome with the rest of you. If you listen, make sure you stick out the full 3:46 cause the end is the best. It's one of my many favorite takes on the show. I just want to thank Miss Teen South Carolina, or whoever she is, for being so ridiculous and Jim Rome for making it even more funny than it already was.

Mom's Little Joys

2009-08-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

I think it's funny how a person this small that can hardly do anything but eat and sleep can always find a way to spice up my day. This may not be that entertaining to most people but, as his mama, pretty much everything Logan does entertains me. So today I put Logan down for a nap and later checked the monitor to make sure he had fallen asleep and I couldn't find his head. I went in to check on him and this is how I found him; passed out with his taggie pulled over his face. I guess the daylight was just too bright for him.

San Diego

2009-08-08T10:23:00.001-07:00

It's a tradition in Scott's family to take a week of vacation in San Diego to escape the smoldering heat of Arizona during the hottest week of the year. Rumor was that it got up to 117 while we were gone. Anyway, there's a huge group that always goes and this year we had a record breaking 68 people there; cousins, 2nd cousins, siblings, parents, grandparents, and friends. I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of everyone. It was my first time going for the full week so I'm a very new addition to the group. I learned all the rules and traditions of this self proclaimed "beach crew" such as the importance of beach position. A few people go out to stake claim on the prime spots no later than 8am every day and anyone who dares to jeopordize that will face the consequences. A certain woman in a small bikini learned that the hard way. 90 percent of the time was spent relaxing at the beach. There was also a lot of surfing, boogie boarding, digging, and burying. Due to an extremely unfortunate situation, of which I'm still getting over, my camera stopped working so I have very limited pictures and the ones I have are poor quality. Anyway, just imagine a bunch of people passed out on the beach. Logan fit in extremely well.

Grandma Bair and Logan are looking too cool in their shades.

One night Matt engineered an amazing bonfire to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. Yummy! Surprisingly no child fell in. Notice how many people are wrapped up in jackets and blankets. Now that's how it's supposed to be at night...cooler than 100 degrees.

We went to this burger joint called Hodads which is defined as "a nonsurfer who spends time at beaches masquerading as a surfer." We may have had some hodads in our group. Anyways, the place was awesome and I literally had the best burger I've ever eaten in my life. Thank you Chad for introducing me to a little piece of heaven.

I believe Matt had that camera glued to his hand most of the trip.

Grace was being a good big cousin and she can't wait to start bossing the new little cousins around.

There's a key element in this picture I would like to point out. That royal blue fleece fabric is not that of a blanket. No sir. It's much more. That is a snuggie. As most do when referring to the "blanket that has sleeves," all the family joked about bringing the snuggie to the beach. Well Chad really did and it was a hot commodity. People on the boardwalk could not stop staring and though it was a running joke, it actually became quite practical when we got chilly and needed to use our hands. Please see the following video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xF0oUwJe6s&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpobstfamily%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded

In addition to beach bumming it, we had such a good time just sitting around and chatting, eating, playing celebrity challenge, and watching Joel do impressions. It was so nice waking up and falling asleep to the sound and smell of the ocean...not including the sound and smell of Logan. Anyway, we were so sad to come back to the fiery furnace of purgatory aka Phoenix. There's a reason people pay millions for a little place on the beach in So Cal.

Here's some pictures of our little guy that I just thought were cute.

3 months

2009-08-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

Logan has really grown in the past month or so. He's now 3 and a half months and weighs 15 lbs. and is 23 and a half in. long. I seriously can't believe how big he's getting and how much he changes...each day it seems. I know I'm jinxing myself but he really is such a good baby. Now that he sleeps all night, takes his reflux medicine, and is finally following the schedule, he's a perfect angel. He's started to get a lot more coordinated and can grab onto things really well. Pretty much everything goes in his mouth. He has figured out how to use both hands to make it a lot easier on himself.

He looks right at people when they're talking whether they're talking to him or not. He loves lights and surprisingly he's not so mesmerized by ceiling fans as he once was. He's also very chatty. If he's not sleeping, he's doing his version of talking. He can't get through a meal without taking a break to talk and laugh about something. He also finds something about the windows very amusing. I haven't figured out if it's the curtains or what but out of nowhere he'll just look in the direction of the windows and start laughing. He is definitely a daddy's boy because the second he hears Scott's voice he just lights up. No one can get him to laugh as hard or smile as big as his dad can. It's like he's the funniest, most interesting person Logan has ever met. Scott just eats it up and Logan knows he has his daddy wrapped around his little finger.

He can also hold his head up sit up pretty well when he's propped up. I got out the bumbo and, though he seems a little small still, he sits in it pretty well.

Since the "Rollin" post, Logan has not rolled at all. When I put him on his belly, he kicks and lifts himself up but just can't figure it out. He gets frustrated and cranky after only a couple minutes and I have to roll him over. Despite his inability to roll, he's found another way to be on the move. Every time I get him from his crib, he has moved to the opposite end of the bed and has turned his boday at least 90 degrees around.

He loves taking baths now and thinks it's hilarious when I splash the water around.

Oh Happy Day

2009-07-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to bed at 11pm and didn't wake up until 6am. Do you know what that means? Logan slept all night long! I was so excited I couldn't go back to sleep and all I wanted to do was wake Scott up right then and tell him the good news. I put Logan down at 10:30pm and got him up at 7am. As far as I know, he didn't cry once during that whole time. It was amazing. As many of you know I have been trying to do babywise and it's been a little difficult for us. It was very apparent Logan didn't read the book because he wasn't cooperating well or acting at all like the babies were supposed to act according to the book. He's bad at taking naps when he's supposed to and sleeping as long as he's supposed to. I was rereading parts in the book on Monday to find out what I was doing wrong since Logan was hitting 11 weeks on Wednesday and almost all babies on babywise supposedly sleep through the night between weeks 6 and 12. I found out that I'd been doing things all wrong. I was going by the "eat every three hours" rule but not by the "be on the same schedule every day" rule. So I was convinced I had ruined him and that we would never have a "secure, happy" baby like the book promised. Ironically, I was talking about it with Scott last night and he reminded me of the progress we had made and how completely over dramatic I was being. Needless to say, I was shocked. The day has been amazing ever since. Logan's been following the rules and taking his naps well. This is truly a day to celebrate.

So Crafty

2009-07-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a picture of my new dry erase board. I have been trying to pick up the hobby of being crafty but I don't really have the creativity for it. Luckily, I'm discovering there are lots of blogs and websites to take care of the creative part and then I just have to make it. I stole this idea from Make it and Love it. It was just an old picture frame I wasn't using and I just covered the cardboard with fabric and write on the glass with dry erase markers. I can handle crafts that are that easy. I'm looking for more cheap, cute ideas for decorating so if anyone knows any or knows of some good sites, let me know.

Two Weeks Notice

2009-07-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

This morning I told my leader I was not coming back to work. It was really hard to do. Any other time I've quit a job, it's been because I was moving or was completely unhappy there. But I actually really liked the people I worked with and, on most days, also really liked my job. So, as great as not working sounds, it was a little bitter sweet. I've been working since I was 16 and full time since I graduated high school so being a "housewife" might be a bit of an adjustment. However I'm getting pretty used to this staying home thing since I've been on leave since mid April so I might already be past the adjustment phase. I'm really excited to officially start my now one and only full-time job of being a mom. With the exception of one, I've always had jobs I liked but I still felt very unfulfilled. It was like I was never being challenged enough or was never using any real talents. I was spending the majority of my day doing things that didn't really matter to me in the long run. Now I feel like I'm doing the most rewarding thing I can possibly do. I am actually molding someone's life and giving all my time and energy to someone I love. And though I don't have a clue what I'm doing, I'm finding talents I never knew I had. Though I'm cutting down big time on one of my favorite things to do...shopping, we won't be able to go out to eat as much as we used to, and we are getting rid of cable tv and our dvr (ouch!), it'll be so worth it. There's no greater thing you can possibly do in your life than be with your children to love and teach them. Thank you, Scott, for making this all possible.

Rollin

2009-07-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I put Logan down for some "tummy time" and two minutes later he rolled onto his back. The look on his face was priceless. He seemed shocked like he had no idea what he'd just done or how he did it. I've been waiting for this moment for a couple weeks because he's been getting so close. I was excited to videotape it and show Scott when he got home but he hasn't done it since. We've been putting him on his tummy, coaxing him and cheering him on but it just doesn't happen. He pushes himself up, kicks, and leans on one side but just can't quite figure it out. He works on it really hard for a few minutes and then gets worn out and angry until we put him on his back. We'll see if there's more rolling to come anytime soon.

D-Backs Game

2009-07-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

Scott won free tickets from work to the Diamondbacks game on Friday. We, of course, took Logan since he's such a baseball fan (according to Scott) and because we're too cheap to pay for a babysitter. Here he is all decked out before the game. I was a little worried about how Logan would act since we've never taken him to a sporting event before but he did pretty good. It was actually a pretty exciting game since the d-backs were winning for once and we had really good seats. I've never sat that close at a game before so it was pretty cool. It was a little difficult for Logan to get a nap in with all the cheering but he somehow found a way to sneak a couple short naps in. At times he wasn't a huge fan of all the noise so I took him for a walk around the stadium and he stole the show. I was ready to go back and just sit down because every person we walked by wanted to chat about Logan in his little shirt at his first game. He was a big hit. This will be the first of many games these two will attend together. Notice Scott, the real d-backs fan, is the only one without a team shirt. We're gonna have to do something about that.