6 months old!

Its hard to believe Logan is already 6 months old! He continues to be such a sweet baby. He gets a little cranky in the evenings because he doesn't like to nap AT ALL! Life is just too much fun to shut his eyes.

He's eating solids like a champ now. He LOVES his baby food! He throws a fit when the bowl is empty. He would eat until he popped if we let him. He's eating cereal, banana, avocado, apples, sweet potatoes, carrots, and peas. He's not too crazy about peas, but if we mix them with the carrots or sweet potatoes he'll eat them that way.

He seemed like he was going to be really long. When he first turned 3 months old he already seemed like he was outgrowing his 3-6 clothes, but then its like he stopped growing because he still can wear his 3-6 just fine and is definitely small compared to some of his classmates. Brenden is a little guy too so it doesn't surprise me. Sean says its my fault because I am constantly telling them to not grow up :)

I took some pictures of Logan this weekend. He was in a good mood and I didn't want to make him mad by changing him into a cute outfit so I just threw on a sweater-jacket over his outfit.

This was the closest thing to a smile I could get. He was so fascinated by the camera that every time I put my face behind the camera he'd stop smiling and get this serious look on his face.

I LOVE this picture. Buddy decided to come by and see what was going on. How sweet is that?

He has the most expressive little eyebrows. He looks like a little muppet!


And we can ALL agree that he looks just like his big brother Brenden in this picture. Don't ya just want to squeeze those cubby cheeks!?

Logan's eyes are starting to have some hazel coloring to them now. Brenden's eyes were definitely brown by the time he was 6 months old, so we think he's going to have green-hazel eyes like his mama does and not brown eyes. His hair is also much lighter that Brenden's was at that age so I think he's going to be a little more blond. It kills me how much hair he has now considering he was born with a full head of dark brown hair. So this is his secondary hair growth, the first hair all fell out.

He is sitting up now with very little assistance from the boppy. He just gets SO excited and that's when he tips over. He rolls over quite easily and can scoot around on his back. He's got great hand-eye coordination. I can't have anything within his reach or he grabs it and shoves it in his mouth. He loves to play in his exersaucer. That's by-far his favorite place to hang out! He has his appointment next week and I should get an idea of his weight/height percentages at that time. I have a feeling he'll be on the low end of the spectrum - except for his head. He and his brother have nice big heads (because they have big brains!)

Baptism

The boys had their baptism last weekend. It was a very fun and busy weekend for us all. We started the weekend with a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese for Brenden's friend Eden. I really don't like that place on weekends, but the kids had a blast, and that's what's most important! If any of you know my son, you know that I constantly complain about what a battle we have trying to get him to eat. He proved me SO wrong that day, eating 2 slices of pizza without ever coming up for air!



And of course he could slide all day long!

Sunday we had the baptism for both boys. Logan was first to be baptized. He was screaming and crying the whole time! You can see Father Roger trying to "shush" him to calm him down.

Brenden did really good. He only cried when the water was poured on his head, but it was cold water, so I'd probably cry too!

Brenden thought the baptism candles were really cool. After we blew them out he kept trying to drag me back into the aisle to light it again.

After the baptism we took some pictures outside. We couldn't have planned a more beautiful day!

Brenden looked SOOOO handsome in his little suit.

And a rare moment - somebody OTHER THAN ME taking pictures of the family :) *thanks TINA!**

Speed Blogging

My little baller!

This is SO cool!

YAWN!

My brother is CRAZY!




Future Rock Star

The ups and downs of life!

I've been away from my blog a little too long. I had back-to-back cases of the tummy flu and then topped it off with a head cold so I've spent most of my free time laying on the couch trying to get better. I think I finally feel normal again.

Logan is becoming more and more alert and aware of his surroundings. He can sit up with a boppy around him for a few seconds before he gets excited and tips over. He can roll over and pivot around on his tummy pretty easily. If he's on his back he can now push himself with his feet all over the floor. If he gets his eye on something, he'll find a way to get to it! He's still just the happiest baby. He likes to hear the sound of his own voice and coos and babbles all of the time now. I just started him on cereal this week. At first he'd just spit it back out but by the third try he thought getting to eat from a spoon was the coolest thing ever. He wouldn't take his eyes off of the spoon and would just make this "ooooh!" face and kick his feet in anticipation of the next bite. I'm hoping to try some avocado and sweet potato with him this weekend.


"Give me that spoon!"




Brenden is your typical two year old. When he's up, he's really up, and when one little thing doesn't go his way, the whole world comes crashing down. The other day he had a bowl with some cereal in it and one fell on the floor and Sean threw it in the trash and Brenden proceeded to scream and cry by the trash can for 15 minutes afterward! He's learning to talk a lot more now that he's in a 2yr old class at daycare. He says the funniest things. The other day he was taking a bath, stood up and peed and as he was peeing he looked up and said "ooh! Its yeyyow!" Or the other day we had to give him some children's ibuprofen. The little medicine cup looks like a shot glass so we handed it to him and said "here, take your shot of medicine" He tipped it back and when he was done he said "Yay shot!" Maybe we shouldn't call it that from now on? :) He's getting better about saying what he needs. If his nose is running he will say "tissue" to let us know or says "biper" when he needs a diaper. He can count to 10 now and its so cute to hear him going "one, doo, fee, four, fise,sick, seben, eight, nine, den." He gets confused sometimes, especially once he gets past 5 but most of the time he gets it right. We are working on teaching him his ABC's now. He loves to play with balls/balloons, puzzles, crayons, play-doh, and mama & dada! We are his favorite toys :) He also likes for me to go to the Wiggles web site and play some of the interactive games there.

Things have been a little hectic in the Pray home. Sean lost his job a few weeks ago and that has been a little stressful. We continue to hope and pray something will work out for him. He qualified for unemployment so that will at least keep our heads above water until he can find something else. He's had a few prospects, but the application/interview process is long and time-consuming. A week in the business world goes by quickly, but a week of unemployment drags on for an eternity. So keep praying that something will work out for us.

Next weekend we are getting both boys baptized. I can't believe I've waited this long but it seems like something was always coming up and we never got on the list to make the baptism schedule.Then before I knew it Brenden was 2! They will finally be baptized together on March 7th. I am looking forward to getting that done. I'm going to a big consignment sale this weekend in hopes of finding them some cute little baptism outfits.

Even with our run of bad luck, I am still incredibly blessed to have such sweet, adorable little boys. They continue to give me a reason to smile every day!

Tuesday topic - on a Wednesday (again)

I'm a day late on my Tuesday topic! The dreaded tummy virus made an appearance in the Pray household with Logan on Sunday, me on Monday, Sean on Tuesday and finally Brenden got it today.


So this weeks topic is to list some quotes/sayings/lyrics/poems/etc that have been inspirational to you. I found this to be a tough topic. Its not that I haven't been inspired by the sayings of great people, but do I take the time to commit them to memory? Nope. How sad is that! I guess its just made me realize that I probably should take the things that I find inspiring and make an effort to remember them better so I can draw strength from them in tough times.


So I don't have any deeply profound sayings or phrases - most are pretty cliche but still are things that inspire me to live my life better.


1 - "everything happens for a reason" - I do believe this. I have had my fair share of negativity in my life and this phrase is what helps me gain focus. I find if I just try to find the "reason" that something happened, to find the good in a bad situation, that somehow I can make it through. I lost a brother but gained a dear friend that I cannot imagine my life without. I struggled with infertility, but feel like I am an amazing parent because I fought so hard to have my babies. The list goes on and on...


2 -


"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version.
Do I always live my life by this rule - eh, not always. But I DO try to always put myself in someone else's shoes before I make a decision that could impact them. That's not to say that I'm a people pleaser, because what is "best" may not be what makes people happiest. But I always hear the golden rule in my head when I am unsure of a decision to make. I think " how would I want someone to treat me if the roles were reversed"


3 - "Do not stoop to their level" - I say this all day long in rush hour traffic. When I see a car riding up the turn lane eager to find a spot to squeeze into and every feeling in my gut says "get as close to the car in front of you as possible, they will not break rank!" BUT - that makes me just as bad as them. For all I know that person was not from around here (big stretch, but hey, giving the benefit of the doubt) and didn't know the turn lane was about to end and they are just trying to get back into the main flow of traffic to avoid getting lost by being forced to take a turn they weren't aware was coming.


4 - "two wrongs do not make a right!"
-

This is sort of on the same line as quote number 3. When someone treats you badly the immediate reaction is to find a way to reciprocate the action. I remind myself that this doesn't really gain anything, and only validates the behavior from the other person. Its better to just be the bigger person. I actually find that tends to get the point across better than if I had reciprocated.


5 - "you can attract more bees with honey than vinegar" - I work in a customer service/support role. When people contact me, they are MAD already. I have learned that the nicer I am to someone, the better the customer experience is. I will not let their mood spill over onto me. The meaner they get, the nicer I get! In the end, I always get a heart-felt "thank you" at the end of the call (no matter how much they were sure they were right and I was wrong at the beginning) I remember calling an insurance company about a claim and when I called back later to get an extension on my rental car because the body shop found another problem they had to fix, they connected me to the woman I spoke with before when I first filed the claim (it was the other persons insurance as the accident was not my fault) and her first response was "Hey, I remember you, you were nice to me.. Let me get that taken care of" and got my rental extension approved immediately.


6. "Think before you speak." I simply do NOT buy into the concept of saying something you don't mean just to hurt someone and then expect to be able to take it back later. You may think you can take words back, but you can't. That's not to say I cannot forgive, but I will not forget. I hear the words in my head for years to come. I think people are too quick to speak when they are angry - which is never a good idea. Take time to think about what you are about to say.. do you really mean it?.. does it help the situation to say it?... Are you saying it just to be hurtful? Whenever I am angry about something I always try to let myself have time to calm down before saying something. I'd say a good 70% of the time I realize that it wasn't as big of a deal as I immediately thought and I was just in a bad mood because I was sleep deprived, or stressed from work, or something else. I just really think if more people would take time to think before they speak then there would be less "misunderstanding" and more communicating.


7. "Laughter is the best medicine"

I'll just post a video to prove my point. Brenden was jumping in the living room and Logan thought it was SOOO funny! The video is horrible because I was trying to hold Logan and the video camera at the same time but you can hear the laughter. I dare you to watch/listen to this and not immediately feel the need to laugh/smile right along with my boys!

My boys are growing up so fast!

The boys are growing up too fast. They change so much every day!

Brenden hit a HUGE milestone this past week. He is a big boy sleeping in his toddler bed! Way to go B! He sleeps great and hasn't figured out that he can just get up out of bed any time he wants. Its like there's an invisible force shield holding him in bed. Sean and I agree we will never teach him that he can get up on his own. The less he knows the better.

He's communicating better and better each day. He says the funniest things sometimes. Like when he reads his animal book and tries to say sheep - he says "shit!" instead. Or if he wants ice in his drink he points to his eye and says "eyes!"

He's definitely showing his 2-year old side more and more. Lately the battle has been dinner. He has these massive melt-downs at each meal because we won't let him eat in front of the tv. He is very strong-willed. I think also he is getting his 2 yr molars so that tends to make him a little more fiesty than normal. I told Sean that he has these "ugly" moments because if he was utterly adorable every waking moment of the day the two of us would just explode from all of the oowey goowey feelings he puts in our heart.

Logan is a SWEETHEART! He is cooing and kicking and playing with his feet. He is such a happy baby and a total flirt! Watch out ladies! He is finally out of my bed an sleeping in his pack n play. I love co-sleeping, but we were waking each other up all night long. Neither of us were getting good rest. So now we've put the pack n play in the bedroom with us and he sleeps there pretty well. I'm so proud of both boys for making a great sleep transition. Phase 2 is to put Logan in the bedroom with Brenden, but until I'm sure the two of them won't wake each other up and are completely adjusted to their new beds, I won't rock the boat. Logan just got his first case of pink eye. Blah! He seems perfectly happy still, but its just a pain having to be so careful about making sure he and Brenden do not swap germs. I'm hoping we get this taken care of and Brenden's eyes remain white!

We got a bunch of snow (for NC anyway) last weekend. Unfortunately it was immediately covered with a nasty layer of sleet and freezing rain, but we were able to let B go out and play in it for a little while. He likes the snow, but not the cold, so our adventures didn't last long.

Wordless Wednesday - Remembering Joe