We didn't have to dream

The dream of a white Christmas came true!  We couldn't have imagined of a better First Christmas for Logan.  We were able to spend time with our families, we had hours of fun playing with all the new toys, and to top it all off, it has been snowing for two days!! 

I think I could go on for hours about the past two days, and I have hundreds of pictures, but I'll keep it to my favorites!

Christmas Eve started with a yummy breakfast that Daddy cooked for us.  Then it was time for lunch and presents for the boys at Mimi and Pop's house.  To say Mimi and Pops spoiled the boys is quite the understatement.  They each got Radio Flyer wagons FILLED with goodies! 

"Who's a spoiled boy?"  "Me, Me!"

Our Family 2010

After unpacking and packing the wagons several times, we decided to head to church and let the boys nap on the way there.  Logan, had a short nap in the car, and got super cranky right before church.  Luckily, I got him back to sleep in my arms and he slept the ENTIRE hour of church, through all of the singing, clapping, and even through a screaming girl behind us.  He's such a good sleeper! After church, we headed back to Mimi's for more play time and dessert. 

Think someone's getting tired?

It was then time to head home to get ready for Santa! 

We put Logan in his new Christmas Eve pajamas, got the milk, carrots, cookies, and donuts ready for Santa.  Santa told me he wanted donuts, who knew?! 

Then it was off to bed for the babe, and Mommy and Daddy had a few things to take care of before hitting the sack. 

Christmas morning, we all woke up around 7:15 and crept downstairs to see if Santa had visited.  Just like we thought, Logan has been a really good boy and Santa left him some awesome surprises!

unpacking his stocking





My goldfish!  Keep your hands off!





This is the new Dance Star Mickey.  Can you tell he was amazed!  He couldn't believe Mickey was actually talking to him and dancing!



Daddy picked out Hokey Pokey Elmo!







I love my new chair!  It's so comfy!

Plus, it's fun to climb on!

Mimi and Pops came by for breakfast and to open their gifts.  Mimi made our favorite...Monkey Bread!  Logan got Pops a special gift to thank him for taking such good care of him while Mommy and Daddy are at work.  He got Pops a new laptop!  I think Pops was pretty excited!

After they left, we bundled up and headed out for a wagon ride in the snow.  It was really cold outside, but it was fun to ride and look at the snow.  Mommy had to get inventive, I didn't have gloves, so we improvised with socks!



Granddaddy and Ms. Barbara stopped by on their way home from Uncle Josh's house.  They actually got Logan his chair, but let Santa borrow it to put the stocking stuff on.  They also brought Logan this super cute book bag and a sippy and flashlight with his name on it.  Isn't it cute?



We went out one more time, but Logan wasn't too excited about the snow.  I tried to get him to touch it, but he wasn't very interested.  As you can see he was very serious!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!  Now it's time to get ready for Logan's First Birthday Party!!!  I have some crazy tick inside me that makes me incapable of sleeping or sitting still until things are organized and cleaned.  Last year, I took Christmas down the day after because Logan was only a few weeks away and I knew I had to have the house ready.  This year, I just had an itch to organize toys, but I couldn't completely do that until the tree was down, SO....I spent last night taking down Christmas.  I got everything boxed up, bubble wrapped and hauled into the attic.  Whew!  It was a lot of work, but the house is back in order, toys are organized and now the party organizing can begin!  I can't wait!!!! 

Catch Up!

For the past 5 nights, I have been meaning to sit down and write a few posts, and things keep coming up and getting in the way.  So, this will be a hodge-podge post of all that's been going on!

I don't think I've updated you on the stomach bug crisis of 2010!!  Chris and I both caught it for a second time!!!  It cost us both another day off of work, and another round of deep cleaning the house!  Thank goodness Logan didn't get it twice.  The only good thing that came from it all was that I was finally able to get into a pair of jeans, I haven't been in, in a long time.  I am happy to report we are all finally stomach bug free! 

We had Christmas with my mom last week, which was really fun.  Josh, Megan and Mackenzie met us over there and we had a quick dinner and exchanged gifts.  Logan's nap schedule was all jacked up that day, so he is pretty grumpy, but still seemed to have a good time opening his gifts.  Here are a few pictures:



Logan and Mackenzie opening their stockings



Riding his new horse from Ani!  Mackenzie got her horse last year for her birthday!



Enough is enough!  It's time to go to sleep!

Earlier that day Hope, Brian, Daniel, Mimi and Pop all came over to watch the Saint's game and Mimi wanted to get some pictures of the boys together.  She bought them each a Radio Flyer wagon for Christmas, so we made the boys promise they would act surprised on Christmas Eve, even though they had already seen their present.  :)

Taking pictures of one baby/toddler is hard enough, but trying to take pictures of two is darn near impossible!  I know I'm a little biased, but they are two of the most handsome boys, I've ever seen!  Here are a few of the pictures we were able to take that day:

"Why do they keep taking pictures of us?"  "I don't know, but want to make it really hard for them?" 

"Tada!  Now I'll smile for you!"

Logan also had his first spaghetti meal where we let him fed himself.  WOW!!  It was a mess, but boy was it cute!  I made Paula Dean's baked spaghetti, who doesn't love Paula Dean?  He was shoveling it, and smashing it into his mouth as fast as he could!  Luckily, he started the meal in just his diaper, but it still called for an immediate bath as soon as he was finished.

We are so excited to celebrate Christmas Eve tomorrow.  We have big plans to go to Mimi and Pop's house in the afternoon to do Christmas with Hope, Brian and Daniel.  We plan to eat lunch and go to church at 4:30.  Then we have to come home and get ready for Santa to come!  Santa is so excited and can't wait to see Logan's face on Christmas morning! 

One last update:  I think everyone who reads this, who knows my family already knows this news, but we are thrilled that Logan will be getting a new cousin around July 1st!  My cousin, Melanie, who has baby Jack, is expecting a new baby on July 1st!  We couldn't be happier for them!  They are sure going to have their hands full, but we can't wait to welcome another sweet baby to this family!

Merry Christmas!!!  Be good, Santa is watching!

Just for fun...

Can you believe how much that monkey shrunk?  :)

11 Months!




 

This post actually hurts a little to write.  Not because my hand is tired from grading 1,000 papers at school today, but because it hurts my heart to know that the next time I write a post like this, I will be writing about MY ONE YEAR OLD!!!  My little baby is rocketing himself into toddlerhood, although it is so exciting to see him growing, exploring, and learning, it makes me a little sad. 

I am so proud of my little man, and everyday he seems to do something new that amazes us a little more.  I know every parent feels this way, but I feel like we are so blessed and so lucky to have such an easy going and happy baby.  From day one, Logan has been such a joy and has brought nothing but joy into our lives.  I have the party plans underway (I'll save that for another post!), but I have to admit I went to pick out his first birthday card and I actually cried right there in Hallmark.  :(  I guess those mommy hormones haven't left just quite yet.

Weight:  23 lbs. 2 oz. He lost a little from being sick this past month and from all of his activity.  He is busy, busy, busy.

Length: 29 1/2 inches

Eating:  Logan is eating 3 meals a day and usually two snacks during the day.  He pretty much eats all the same foods as last month, which is almost anything we are eating.  He is still nursing three times a day, and gets one pumped bottle while I am at work.  I only have to pump 6 more times!!!!  After next Wednesday, I think I am officially retiring the pump!  I have about a month or two worth of frozen milk in the freezer and will hopefully introduce whole milk around the time I go back to school.  I still plan on nursing Logan until one of us decides it's time to stop.  I don't know if it was because he was sick the past few weeks or what, but he has become a little attached to me and the twins.  He seems content to nurse and then just hang out there for a while after, which makes getting stuff done around the house a little hard.  We've been trying to break this habit, but is a little extra snuggle time really that bad? 

Wearing:  He is pretty much in 18 month clothes.  He still can wear some 12 month clothes, but they are getting a little short in the legs.  We have a few more size 3 diapers and then we will officially move to size 4. 

Sleeping:  Let me start by telling you what has been going on.  Up until a few night ago, our little angel was waking up about 3 times a night, and because I knew he wasn't feeling himself, I would immediately go in, scoop him up and bring him to bed with me.  That lead to wanting to nurse every few hours and it also lead to an extremely exhausted mommy.  Now that we are all feeling better, we have decided to enforce the "Baby, you sleep in your own bed" law.  This however, involves the "I'm the worst mother ever" crying it out procedure.  We are on night three tonight and I have to say things are already looking up.  The first night, Logan woke up at least 6 times and cried for a while each time, but did eventually fall back asleep each time.  Last night, I think he only woke up 2 or 3 times and put himself back to sleep until I went in and got him at 4:45 to eat before I went to work.  Tonight I saw a huge improvement in going to sleep.  He lately, has been wanting to fall asleep on us and then we I go lay him down he has a fit.  Well, tonight, I rocked him and read him Goodnight Moon like normal, but tonight when I put him in the crib, he laid his sweet head right down, and didn't say a peep.  I was so proud of him!  Was it a fluke?  Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Social Skills / Talking:  Logan's little personality has started to shine this month.  He loves to wave bye bye to his Daddy and says, "Hey Dada" about a gazillion times a day.  EVERYTHING is da or dada.  He loves to laugh at himself and laugh when other people are laughing.  He also has figured out that he doesn't have to do things and will protest in a pretty extreme manner.  When he is finished eating, you better watch out because that means, he does not want another bite.  He has perfected the back arch and head toss, especially when he is sleepy. 

Motor Skills:  REI better get ready, because we have an explorer.  Logan has decided that once he sets his eyes on something, he is going to get it, even if that means having to crawl over things or wiggle his way through a tiny space.  He is walking everywhere with his push toys and standing against everything.  We are working with him to take steps, but he is very cautious and would rather plop down and crawl to what he wants. 

Our 2010 Christmas Card

Remember when I posted a few weeks ago about how much I love Shutterfly?  Well, by writing that post I got our Christmas cards for Free!  That's right my friends, I said FREE!!!  What do you think?

Peppermint Dots Christmas Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

Our 2010 Christmas Card

Well, Monday started great

I got home from work Monday and my mom had been over watching Logan for me.  She told me she was going to do our Christmas tree and a little Christmas decorating.  For the past four years, I have done our Christmas tree in a blue and brown theme, not very Christmasy, I know, but it matched the living room and I thought it was very pretty.  This year, we knew we wanted to do a very traditional red and green tree with a whimsical look.  My mom is an amazing decorator, so I knew she'd have some cute ideas up her sleeves. 
Left me just tell you, I was shocked when I walked into my house on Monday afternoon.  Let me just show you a few of the things she did in the few hours she was at my house, all while taking care of Logan. 

This is in our entry way

Garland going up the stairs

Over the fire place.  (G.G., we may need stocking to match Logan's new one) :)

Logan is obsessed with this!  The little tree behind Santa lights up and he loves to watch it.  He actually stood without holding on to anything for about 30 seconds the other night while watching the tree.

And last but not least....my favorite thing she did.....Our tree

I think it looks gorgeous!  We are so excited about the tree and it looks better than we even imagined it could. 

After my mom left Monday, we enjoy the tree and all the decorations for awhile.  I starting feeling a little sick around 6, but decided to make dinner thinking if I ate something I might feel better.  Luckily, Logan feel asleep early that night, around 7.  Not long after putting him down, the stomach bug attacked me.  Let me tell you, I have not been that sick in a long time!  I ended up sleeping on the bathroom floor.   It was horrible!  To make matters worse, **WARNING: TMI*** Aunt Flo decided to show her ugly face for the first time in almost 2 years on the same day!  Talk about feeling like crap!

 We think this horrible stomach bug started with our brother and sister and law and spread through our family like wildfire.  I was out of work yesterday and today, and poor Mimi and Pops caught it, too.  I thought maybe it had skipped Logan, but after being really fussy last night, I brought him into bed with us thinking that would calm him down.  Well, around 3am, he vomited all in the bed.  I threw Chris out of our bedroom and had him go sleep in the guest room.  Somehow,  by the grace of God, he has escaped this nasty beast, and we are trying to keep it that way.  I have spent the entire day, washing and cleaning everything in the house.  I always feel like I want to zip my family up into a little bubble after being sick.  I hate not being able to protect Logan from these viruses and colds.  At least I've been able to have a little extra snuggle time with my boo boo and hopefully we are pretty much over this.

We have to be well by Friday, because we are going to spend the weekend at Josh and Megan's with Melanie, Scott, and Jack.  Uncle Chris is finally going to be able to meet Jack.  Yep, finally after 7 months.  He is really looking forward to it!

Ho...Ho...Haircut!!

I was counting the minutes down today at work not only because it was Friday, but because we decided to take Logan to get his first haircut and to see Santa!  He is such a great baby, but I was a little worried how he would do with both, and I have to brag and say he was a perfect little angel!  I have a lot of pictures and I just couldn't narrow them down, so I'll use the pictures to tell you about our fun evening!

Daddy, Mimi and Pops met me at Pigtails and Crew Cuts.  It is this super adorable kids salon, that was recommended by several friends.  Our course we got Logan the "My First Haircut" package, which included a little keepsake card and a little bag with his first curl.  This was us while we were checking in. 

Could this place be any cuter?  They had several little cars to choose from.  We went with the fire truck!  As you can see Logan was excited to take his first spin behind the wheel!

The woman who cut his hair was great!  She was super fast and Logan was quite content just watching what she was doing.  He thought this part was funny. 

More cutting!

A little trimming...

Almost finished....

What a big boy!!!  All finished! 

Next we headed off to the mall to find Santa.  Of course, we had to watch him walk off to go feed his darn reindeer as soon as we were walking up.  So, after killing 30 minutes at the mall, we decided to go ahead and get in line.  Granddaddy works very close to the mall, so he was able to stop by and share this special event with us too. 

We all waited... 

and waited....and played a little "ride the horsey, ride the horsey"....

and finally got to see SANTA!!!  Logan sat right on Santa's lap and gave us a precious little grin!  Although our visit with Santa was over in just seconds, this picture was well worth the wait!  What do you think?

I had such a great time and this was exactly what I needed at the end of this week.  We are so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents, who care so much to take time out to spend these special moments with us.