Christmas Lights

We went with our small group to look at Christmas lights last Sunday. We had a nice dinner and then got to see some beautiful lights. These were actually taken at the second place we went to look at the lights.

Baking with Logan

Need I say more.(He dumped his blocks and also the container that holds the sweet n low packets. Plus he had his blanket and pillow with him.)

Pregnancy Update

Here are some pictures of me at 35 weeks. These pictures were taken right before my baby shower. For your information I will be 37 weeks on the 24th of December. That is correct only 3 weeks to go. It is crazy how quickly this pregnancy went. I think that it has a lot to do with the fact of keeping up with Logan and also getting ready for Christmas right before I am due. The doctor says that I am right on schedule for my due date. We have an ultrasound scheduled for next Thursday to check her size. With Logan being such a big baby, the doctor is concerned that I will tear again and she wants to prevent that if possible. BABY SHOWER PICTURES

Logan enjoying his cupcake

Opening presents with Logan's help Little snowsuit from The Roby's

This was Logan's favorite present besides some of the toys. After I was all finished opening presents, he went back to the gift bag that this was in and pulled it out and started rubbing the soft sleeves against his face.

Snow in Oklahoma

On December 7, we actually had snow in the evening. Ben was working on fixing my car window (we won't talk about that), so Kara and I took Logan outside for a few minutes to enjoy the snow. We figured we better take advantage of the snow while we could, because we never know if we will get more snow here in Oklahoma City.Watching it snow

Touching the snow Unsure of what to do with snowballs Little footprints in the snow

Enjoying My Birthday Cake

I spent my birthday with Ben. Kara, (our friend who is living with us) agreed to watch Logan, so that we could go out for my birthday. It was really nice to be able to have an adult conversation without a little person constantly saying, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, etc." After a very enjoyable dinner, we went and did some Christmas shopping. After shopping, then we went and watched a movie. It was such a blessing to be able to spend this time with Ben. On our way home, we stopped and bought an ice cream cake. Logan was already asleep when we got home, however, he definitely enjoyed my cake the next day. Ice Cream Cake makes good hair gel!

Sure or Unsure

We have all seen this commercial. If Ben is getting ready and Logan is in the bathroom with him, Ben will PRETEND to put deoderant on Logan. Yesterday I was brushing my teeth and Logan got my deoderant out of the drawer. He proceeded to take the lid off and put it on his pajamas, (probably because he couldn't actually get to his armpits.) I guess he wanted to be SURE yesterday. Then later on in the evening, Ben gave him a bath and asked if he needed new pjs and I had to tell him that yes he would need new pjs because of what he TAUGHT him.

Fun in the Tub

Ben usually takes care of bath time. The one evening, it sounded like they were having a lot of fun. About that time, Ben yelled for me to come back so that I could see what was going on. They were playing with a ball from the avon soap. Ben said that at one point in time, Logan was laughing so hard that he thought he was going to fall over. I absolutely love his laugh in this video. (SIDE NOTE: It was a little difficult to get this video, b/c I didn't want anything to get exposed and Ben kept moving his head.)

Halloween

I had such good intentions to make Logan's costume this year. However, once I saw the price of the pattern, I had second thoughts. Then I was on base and found the exact costume that I was planning to make for only $7.50. I didn't buy it, but came home and told Ben about it. He told me that I was crazy for not buying it, especially since it would cut down on the frustration I would possibly experience while trying to make a costume. So a few days later, I went back on base and didn't see the costume. I moved a peanut costume and there was the costume. I used a price checker to check the price and it was still on sale, so I bought it. In case you are wondering, he is a circus monkey, aka fez monkey. I took Logan to the church for a carnival and then on down the hall to a Bible walk. (Ben was a tour guide for the Bible walk.) He wasn't sure what to do initially, but he soon figured it out. He definitely liked playing all the games that had a ball involved, although he didn't want to give the balls back when he was finished playing. Unfortunately for me, every time he picked out a piece of candy, he picked out lollipops. I personally didn't want lollipops, I was hoping for chocolate. By the end of the night, we were able to help ourselves to whatever candy we wanted, so I was able to pick out some chocolate. The Bible walk was a very interesting way to tell Bible stories. It was very well put together and the kids really enjoyed it. At each station, the kids got a piece of candy to represent the story. It only took Logan one possibly two stops to figure out that the characters were going to give him candy when they were done, and he would walk up with the other kids to get his candy.

A big boy in the making

I feel like I am forcing Logan to grow up so much more quickly, because we are expecting another child. As I have already said, we are working on potty training and then this week, we decided that since I needed to change his sheets we would see how he did in the twin bed that was already in his room. On Tuesday, we put him down for his naps in the twin bed and he fussed a little, but went to sleep. We figured our big challenge would be that night. Before we went to bed that night, I heard him crying and went back to find that he had fallen out of bed and was totally confused. I put him back in bed and never heard from him until the next morning. We have continued to use the twin bed, in fact the crib doesn't even have sheets on the mattress at this point. This morning after Ben left, at 7:40, Logan came carrying his blanket over to my room. I tried to convince him to climb up in bed with me, but he just looked at me and said "Breakfast." I told him it was still night-night time, but he once again said "Breakfast". I got up, but had to make a pit stop and this didn't make Logan very happy. Once I was finished, we walked out, he went to the pantry and I got his cereal down. He carried the cereal to the counter and then pointed to his bowl. I got it down and then we went to the refrigerator and he helped me carry the milk. I told him to get a spoon and he went over to the drawer, opened it, but wasn't able to reach his spoon. I gave the spoon to him and then carried his cereal to the table. He went to the cupboard and got the peanut butter. (He has seen me put peanut butter on my cheerios and now thinks that his apple jacks should have peanut butter also.) It was very cute how "helpful" he is/was, if only it could have happened a little later in the morning.

Logan's Artwork

I bought Logan a few things to paint while I was buying the letters for Audrey's side of the room. The one day I left him get a head start. He also enjoys going out to the garage with Ben. Ben has been trying to finish some more of my cabinets for the kitchen. I think he realizes how much easier it will be to keep Logan out of the cabinets if there are doors. At the end of the video when Logan throws his hand up in the air, that is his way of dancing.

Baby Update

I have reached the third trimester, which doesn't seem real to me. I don't think that it has sunk in quite yet that shortly after Christmas there will be another member of my family and the fact that we are celebrating Halloween this weekend. I am 29 weeks today, but the pictures that I am going to post were taken on Monday, so I am 28 weeks in the pictures. For the most part, I am feeling good, except I am dealing with some congestion at this point in time. At my last doctor appointment, she said that baby is growing right on schedule. She also said that I passed my glucose test with flying colors and that she has no reason to be concerned. We are still planning to have another ultrasound closer to my due date to check on her size. If she is going to be as big as what Logan was at birth, then we will talk about birthing options (possible induction, c-section, or continue as normal). So I am not sure why I never posted my ultrasound pictures before, but here they are. I know they aren't very big, but if you click on them they should get bigger in another screen. One final note, we think that we have decided on a name. However, it is subject to change until we sign the birth certificate. As of right now, I think that we are going to call her Audrey Joyce after both of our maternal grandmothers.

Logan Stories

I decided to put some fun stories regarding life with a Logan. NOBODY MESSES WITH MY APPLE On Wednesday, October 20 I was in charge of making supper for the Wednesday night crowd at church and I knew that I would have to spend the afternoon and evening at the church. I didn't plan on doing much in the morning, except gathering everything up to take the church. But we thought that Logan had an ear infection, so Ben got up first thing and made Logan an appointment to be seen. I took Logan to the doctor to find out that he has some of the cleanest ears the doctor has ever seen and no ear infection. So that my trip wasn't a complete waste, I asked if they had the flu shot available for dependents (active duty take precedence over dependents). The doctor told me that it was available for children under 3 but she didn't think that it would be available yet for me. Logan got his shot and then we walked to the immunizations clinic just to see if the shot would be available to me. The clinic was quite busy, but I asked anyway. She told me that it was not ready for dependents except for children under 3. Then she looked at me and realized that I was pregnant and said that it was available. The clinic was closing in 15 minutes and she said it was up to me whether I stayed or not. I decided that since we were already out and about, that I might as well stay and get mine also. After I got my shot, we went to Sam's to buy rolls for the dinner. I really wanted Logan to take a good nap before we went to the church, because I knew I wouldn't be able to guarantee that he would get his afternoon nap. We got home, I left him play and then put him to bed. He slept through lunch, so I decided I would take something for him to eat. I had put an apple, an orange, some vanilla wafers and pasta on the stove to take with me. Once I got Logan up from his nap, I started to load the car with the groceries necessary to make dinner. I came back in and Logan had grabbed the apple off the stove and started to eat it. I figured it wasn't worth the fight to take it away from him, so I left him continue to eat it. I took another load out to the car and pulled the door closed but not latched. I didn't know that Logan was standing at the door and I ended up hitting his hand when I came back in to the house. His apple went flying, so I picked it up so that I could wash it off. Logan was very upset about this. He didn't understand that I was going to give it right back to him. After I gave it back to him, he was fine again. Seeing as the reaction I got by trying to clean his apple, I knew that I wouldn't be taking his apple so that we could drive to the church. I tried to be very careful driving and made sure to check on his progress often. I looked back the one time and he only had about an inch left. The next time I checked, it was gone. I asked him where his apple went and he told me "all gone." When I say all gone, I mean everything including the core and seeds were nowhere to be found. I had removed the stem so I know he didn't eat that, but he ate the rest of the apple. HOW DO YOU EAT AN ORANGE? Logan has always enjoyed fruit. Now that he knows where we keep it, he goes to the refrigerator and tries to help himself. Fortunately, he can't open the door yet, so we still have to help him. I can't remember what day it was, but he got my attention and took me over to the refrigerator. He tried to open the door with no success. Since I didn't know what he wanted, I opened the door for him and he tried to get the drawer with the apples and oranges open. I opened the drawer and he pulled out an orange. He proceeded to try to eat it, like an apple. I guess he thought that if this is how you eat an apple, you should eat an orange the same way. I DON'T SPEAK MONKEY Right before we went to Branson, our former children's pastor was looking for a place to stay until she figures out her job situation and where she will be living. I talked to Ben about it, and we agreed that she could stay with us, if she wanted to. She agreed that it would be closer to the job she has right now and had no problem with any of our "rules". Shortly after she moved in, Logan was "talking" to Kara and Kara finally looked at him and said "I don't speak monkey." Logan likes having someone besides mommy and daddy here at the house. Although, she doesn't always take his side when he is getting into things that he is not supposed to. When she comes home from work, Logan gets excited and says "Kawah." We walk by her room and Logan looks at me with a puzzled look on his face and says "Kawah". I explain to him that she is at work and will be home later. Since she has been here, she has gotten much better about "speaking monkey". We came back from Branson on Saturday and Logan was excited to see Kara. However, when we got here, she had gone on a day trip with her church. She didn't make it back before Logan went to bed. Sunday morning before we left for church, Kara came out of her room and as soon as Logan saw her he ran to her and said "Kawah". He wanted to go to church with Kara and was very upset that she wouldn't take him with her. After we got home from church, I was doing something in the kitchen and Kara was standing over by the pantry. Logan was trying very hard to get Kara to understand what he was saying. He finally got frustrated and looked at me and said "Mom" with attitude. He then proceeded to repeat and point to what he wanted. I walked over to the pantry and grabbed the swiffer and handed it to him. He then walked off toward the living room. On a side note, I really like having Kara live with us, because it gives me an extra set of hands to help with Logan. She also cooks once a week, usually Friday or Saturday, which are the nights that I least like to cook. Finally, she likes to bake and she makes really good scones and many other desserts. This isn't good for controlling my weight gain during my pregnancy, but I guess I will enjoy it while I still can. BUGS Last Friday, Kara made taco salads for supper. Logan was eating his and he picked up a bean and said "Bug". We started laughing and the I explained to him that it wasn't a bug, it was a bean.

Update #1 of many

A lot has been going on since Logan and I got back from PA. However, since I am not into writing a journal or taking very many photos, I can't remember everything. I will do my best. Shortly after we got back, I needed to take him to the doctor for his 15 month check up. I knew that they would ask me about his vocabulary. So the night before I took him, Ben and I came up with a list of words that Logan says consistently. We came up with at least 30 words, but after that we quit counting. As I was filling out the paperwork, I came to the question about his vocabulary. The question stated, "Does your child say 7 words besides Mom and Dad?" When I told the doctor that he says more than 30, she told me that was advanced for even an 18 month old. He also signs some of these words, which is really cute. We have been trying to work on please and thank you. Now he thinks that when he says please, he should get whatever he is asking for. His stats which I am not sure are totally accurate were as follows: Head Circumference: 47.25 cm (His head really didn't shrink from his 12 month visit, she came back in and remeasured it, but didn't change it on my paper.) Length: 31.25 inches Weight: 21 lbs. With Logan able to get around much quicker, nothing is off limits in his mind to climb on. We still have his exersaucer in the living room and he has decided that it is a lot of fun to climb in and... He has recently become fascinated with putting things on his head. Anything from my cowboy hat, to my visor, to a bucket, and many other things including a silicone baking mat. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this, because every time I grab the camera he thinks that he should stop and say cheese. He has mastered walking around with things on his head, mainly the bucket, which is quite comical. Hopefully, I can catch him doing it one time, so that you can enjoy it also. Since we have been back, we have introduced the potty to Logan. He hasn't got the concept of telling us when he has to go, but if we pay attention we can usually get him to go at least 3-4 times a day. Also, we only throw #2 diapers in the diaper genie and these have greatly decreased since introducing the potty. As a matter of fact, there were only two in there when we took out the trash last week. While sitting on the potty, we usually have Logan read at least one book, but he usually ends up reading a whole lot more. When he is sitting on the toilet reading, he looks like (1) a professional and (2) an old man.

A Growing Family

I know that I have already told many of you, but I was updating the blog and I figured I would include this news. Our family will be welcoming a little GIRL in January. I am feeling great and have much more energy than I did in the first trimester, although, Logan does keep me quite busy. She is definitely becoming more active, especially in the evening. We have not decided on a name yet, but we will let you know.

Waterpark

Shortly after we got back from PA, our church hosted a family fun night at a local water park. Here are some pictures of Logan... Waited a little too long to move .

Catching Up...

Logan and I spent the first two weeks of August in PA visiting family. We were able to be there for the arrival of Aidyn Timothy. He was actually supposed to be born before we got there, but he decided to wait until we got there. I wanted to put some meals in Tessa's freezer while we were home. I guess this was Logan's way of "helping." I guess two inches is a little too high for Logan's comfort zone. While visiting, Logan got to experience some firsts. Grandpap Smith took him on his first four wheeler ride. Logan really enjoyed being able to help Grandpap Smith with taking out stuff to dump. Allen would say "Logan do you want to go for a ride?" and Logan would go over to the door and wait to go outside. Logan also got to go his first pony ride. Emily and Susan brought down Emily's miniature pony and took Logan for a ride. He wasn't so sure what to think about this, but he at least gave it a try. Finally, Logan went skinny dipping. After helping my dad with mowing the grass, Dad put him in the pool. Well, needless to say, Logan's diaper collected a lot of water. I went outside to take some pictures and then Logan wanted to get out of the pool. So we took him out of the pool and took his diaper off. Then he wanted back in the pool, so he got to go skinny dipping. Logan was able to spend time his cousin Austyn who took him for a ride. It is probably a good thing that these two don't live close to each other, otherwise it could spell TROUBLE!!!