Halloween and fall fun

My hard drive crashed on me a few weeks ago and I haven't been able to update the blog in a long time. It was really stressful as I was SO worried about losing all of my pictures. Luckily the data was recovered, a new hard drive was installed, and I have rid myself of Windows Vista and am now running Windows 7. My computer is running much cleaner and faster now. I am going to invest in an external hard drive so I can back up my pictures regularly so I don't have to worry about this happening again!!!

My boys are getting so big. Brenden is a little boy now. I can't even call him a toddler. He's so independent (when he wants to be) and thinks his way is the ONLY way. He really teaches you patience! He is very particular, very demanding, and very LOUD haha. He hasn't figured out that its rude to interrupt. He likes to dominate the conversation by volume.

Logan continues to grow at an exponential rate. He is my little Chubbers (his nickname). That boy loves to eat and has more chubby rolls on him than Brenden ever had. Logan officially has thicker thighs and a bigger rear end than Brenden does! Look at those chubby cheeks and curly locks of hair!

I love this picture. He's watching the Wiggles and putting his "hands in the air" so he can rock-a-by his bear. Its too cute. He will clap and shush along with the song.

I treated myself with a new lens for my camera for my birthday. I got a Nikon 50mm f1/1.4 Prime lens. It took me a while to pick something but eventually decided I wanted a lightweight fast shutter wide aperture lens. It takes really crisp clear pictures. Its hard to get used to the wider apertures but its fun to play with. I end up with a lot of depth and clarity in the pictures.

It doesn't have any zoom on it, or as a friend told me - it has "Sneaker Zoom" .. i.e. zoom in, run forward - zoom out, run away. I like the depth in this picture of Brenden. His face has such clarity and the rest of his body quickly fades into the background.

 

Here is Logan sitting inside of one of the bar stools in the kitchen

And here is what a fast shutter can do for you. Air Logan!

Another beautiful picture of Logan!

Turns out that Brenden loves Logan's bounce house more than Logan does! Logan has a short attention span and gets bored with it quickly where Brenden will BEG for it every day. It was a good investment!

We took the kids to the Renaissance Festival again this year. They had a nice time, but with 2 mobile babies Mommy and Daddy got tired quickly! Here is Brenden playing on the climber/slide.

And his favorite attraction "the painted lady" - she has a big dress/blanket/hat and tells stories while she lets the kids paint her. The little ones find her SO fascinating!

For Halloween this year Brenden was a fire fighter. My mom had given me the jacket and pants and I spent 2 bucks on a hat. I love a cheap Halloween costume!

Logan got to wear Brenden's old Peanut costume. I love this costume!! Logan didn't want to wait to eat his candy (I later had to take this away because he managed to bite right through the wrapper! He will eat ANYTHING.. leaves, paper, stickers... lol

The boys had a great Halloween. Brenden LOVED going door to door and getting candy. After the 3rd house he wasn't interested in eating the candy, he just loved the attention and the fact that people gave him stuff. By the end of the night he was trying to walk into people's houses and just help himself. He is in a gymnastics class now and loves it. He asks me all the time now to go to 'nastics' and play. He is really developing his imagination. The other day he was playing with the soap dispenser and a washcloth in the bathtub. He kept telling the soap it was going nite nite and would put the washcloth over it. Then he loudly exclaims "Hey Towel!!! You hurt Soap!!" and then gave the soap dispenser a kiss and told it "all better!" I laughed so hard. He's so funny!

Logan is sick*ish* right now. His eyes have been draining something terrible and they look just awful. I took him to the Dr because daycare was concerned that he had something contagious. However it clearly wasn't pink eye as the whites of his eyes were fine. He had no fever, no loss of appetite (hahah.. as if that ever happens anyway!). Just really goopy draining eyes. The Dr asked if he had blocked tear ducts as a baby. I told her yes, they had been blocked up until he was about 9.5 months old. I was worried they would never open. She said that most likely whats happening is they are still partially blocked and anytime he has any sort of sinus irritation, it clogs his ducts up and it has no way to drain out of his eye (its the 'drain duct' that's blocked) and so he ends up with these red, irritated, icky eyes. He is on a mild antibiotic now just to ease the eye discomfort, but she said he wasn't really sick/contagious so not to worry about that.

He's really talking more and more. He will say "eat" and point to his mouth. If you ask him if he wants to eat he RUNS to his high chair seat. He can say more and do the sign language for more as well. He says mama, Dada, baby, bye bye, peek a boo (tick-a-too), shoes... I know there are more words but that's all that I'm thinking of.. oh and thanks to his 2yr old brother he can say MINE lol.. but it comes out as Me me me me meeeeeee!!



Welcome Fall!

First I'll start on a positive note :) I'm SOOOOOOO glad Fall is finally here. I'll be the first to stand up and say I HATE being cold, but I have realized now, especially with kids, is I HATE being hot too!! We could hardly go outside the entire summer. It was too hot for the kids to play and the humidity here makes it that much worse. We still have some hot days going on but the heat index has gone down quite a bit and there's an amazing autumn breeze to keep the air cool. I love it!

We've had a rough couple of weeks. Logan started out with a mild cough. It only acted up at night. Then he suddenly started running a fever and was so lifeless. This is a kid that never slows down, even for an illness, so this bug really had me worried. He went to the Dr and she said his ears were clear but his sinuses definitely looked nasty and she'd put him on an antibiotic for a sinus infection. She suspected bacterial over viral because his symptoms came first, followed by a fever. She said viral usually starts w/ a fever followed by symptoms... an interesting factoid for future reference. 3 days into the antibiotic and he was still a pitiful sight. He was barely keeping the fever down between ibuprofen doses, he was vomiting and had diarrhea, he wasn't sleeping at night yet couldn't hold his head up either. I've never felt so helpless and heartbroken before. Finally on the 4th day the fever broke and he finally started getting better WHEW

Here he is one day in his swing trying so hard to fight sleep. He probably dozed in and out for about 3 straight hours this day. You couldn't lay him back because he'd get mad at you trying to help him sleep, so he kept falling asleep face-first on the tray. Poor baby!

Sunday we went to our friend Asa's first birthday. Poor Logan was too sick to attend but big brother Brenden represented the Pray kiddos for him. He had a great time and was SO well behaved.

Love this picture of my little man! He found his pockets and thought he was so cool (which he is!)

Logan's first day back at school after being sick did not turn out so well. He was still pretty groggy from not eating well and his balance was horrible. Well he fell down on the sidewalk of the playground and totally tore up his nose. If you saw the playground you'd see that 90% of it is artificial turf and there's a tiny section of sidewalk for the kids to ride car-type toys and push walkers on. Of course that's where he'd fall ... sigh.. its hard to wipe a scabby nose (factoid #2). You can see the center of his forehead joined in the battle against the sidewalk. Nothing will make you freak out more than to come into daycare to get your recovering baby - hoping he had a great day - and see him covered in scabs and bruises :( I know it wasn't their fault - they don't have a 1:1 ratio of kids/teachers, but it still hurt me to see him hurt.

Even roughed up, he's still a cutie pie. I remember Brenden wearing this shirt -- it really doesn't seem that long ago. I can't believe it already fits Logan!

Mr Grumpy Pants (I want goldfish for dinner!!!! Don't tell me no!!!!)

And here is Brenden before school this morning. It was share a pumpkin day in his class, so he brought in what he refers to as his "pumpkin ball" -- its just a stuffed pumpkin, but since its round in his mind its also a ball.

Logan is developing his language and also able to react to vocal commands (like "sit down!" often repeated in the bathtub numerous times!) He says ball and if he sees you eating he will come up to you with his mouth open like a baby bird and say "biiiii biiiiiiii" which means Bite! and then he makes this funny loud chomping sound when he takes a bite. I'll have to get a video of it. Its too funny to explain. He will give hugs and kisses and likes to play peekaboo and dance. He loves singing along with the Wiggles just like his brother. They are too funny to watch sing and dance together. He likes for his daddy to toss him up in the air and while he's up there he will laugh and put his hands over his eyes. Its so strange and yet funny at the same time. We can't figure out if he just doesn't want to watch, or having his hands over his eyes just makes it more thrilling. He laughs the entire time and throws the biggest fit when daddy stops.

Brenden is talking up a storm. He wakes up with a big teethy smile on his face and chatters away from the moment his eyes open. He's all about saying "what's your name? Whats my name? Whats your name" -- some of the little girls in his class do this and now he's doing it too. He continues to be so smart. In the hallway at his school they made silhouettes of the kids in his class and put everybody's name on them and he was able to identify about 80% of his classmates based on the name he read. You could tell it was more recognition of the first letter of the name, but it was still impressive for a 2yr old. He loves to count things and is just such a silly boy. He has his 2 yr old moments, but mostly he's just a bright-eyed energetic sweetheart of a boy. We are not making a whole lot more progress in the potty department. Some days are good, some aren't. Its actually quite hard to train him with Logan because there are no bathrooms on the main level (split level home) so I have to go upstairs to take B to the bathroom and that means either leaving Logan  unattended or bringing him into the bathroom with us, which is often too distracting for Brenden. So I know I don't push him to go every 30-40 minutes like I should simply because its difficult to do with Logan the trouble maker getting into everything the minute I take my eyes off of him! We'll get there in time. The goal is to have him 100% diaper-free before age 3, which is what daycare prefers as well. Wish me luck!

Zoo and Birthday pictures

It took an eternity for me to get these out here but here are the pictures from Logan's first birthday and our family trip to the zoo. Both were SO fun

We went to the NC zoo in Asheboro NC. Its a great zoo. Its set in a very wooded area and they left up most of the trees so all of the walking paths are naturally shaded. Is really big and the exhibits are spaced out so its a lot of walking, but also makes for less crowding.

The boys loved looking at the chimpanzees!

Brenden liked telling us all about the animals he was seeing. We got to see zebras, giraffes, elephants, gorillas, rhinos, baboons, birds, lizards, fish, snakes, bears, otters... so many cool animals!

Brenden stopped to pose for me on a bench near the elephant exhibit. I love this picture!

Halfway through the zoo the boys passed out, but they really were awake for the most interesting animals. It was nice to just get to stroll along w/out having to load the kids in and out of the stroller for a bit.

After their naps the kids got out and played around in some of the natural areas they had set up in the zoo. It was good for Logan as he wasn't too interested in the animals but enjoyed the day outside.

Logan had a great first birthday. He did NOT want to nap before the party so we put him in the swing, and in the end... the nap won!

We just had a small party with only a few friends. We didn't want anything too crazy for a 1yr old party. It turned out to be the perfect number of little playmates!

Singing happy birthday and getting ready to blow out the candle:

The whole family - the kids were happy, they just didn't know what to make of the person other than mommy behind the camera!

Chocolate frosting!!! YUMMY!!

Brenden had a hard time understanding that all of the presents weren't for him, but luckily Logan hasn't learned how to say "mine!" yet. Brenden LOVED this little monkey-jack-in-the-box that Daddy got for Logan. When it popped up he'd yell 'surprise' and LAUGH so hard. It was precious.

Love my guitar!

Logan's birthday boy sticker. We felt it had a better chance of staying on if it was on his back!

Logan got a bounce house for his birthday. Unfortunately it rained ALL day (hadn't rained in 3 weeks up until that day). At the end of the party a tiny speck of sunshine broke through and we inflated the bounce house. The kids were happy for about 4 minutes and then everybody came crashing down from their sugar rush and we called it a day!

The birthday boy had his 1 year checkup. He's 29 inches long and weighs 20 lbs. He's in the 25th percentile for both length and height so he's perfectly proportional. I really thought he was bigger than what Brenden was at this age, but its about the same. He was a champ for the Dr. He didn't cry at all when they pricked his finger for a blood test and though he did cry during his shots, he immediately calmed down once Mommy picked him up. He's wearing a size 4 shoe now and is moving into his 12-18 month clothes but can still fit in a lot of his 12 month stuff. He finally is taking milk from a sippy cup after weeks of refusing it. He still gets mommy milk and also gets some cow milk at daycare. He's eating solids really well now, but is a very picky eater just like his brother. He's walking all the time now and quite fast too! I'll try to get some video of my little guy walking laps around the table. He thinks its SOOOOOOO funny to instigate a game of chase and will just run around the table laughing whether someone is chasing him or not. Its too cute!

Random Brenden moment

Again, this is probably one of those things thats only funny to me but Brenden cracked me up at daycare and I wanted to save the memory.

Let me set the stage...
At daycare each of the kids have their own cubby that has things like change of clothes, his naptime teddy bear, his naptime bedding, his daily folder w/his artwork and other paper items the teachers send home. The kids also get a daily sheet that has good info like when they changed a diaper/potty use, when they eat and how much, when they nap and how long, etc. Its an important sheet to review! It may or may not be on top of their cubby. There are also 2 classrooms, one for younger 2's and one for older 2's - B just moved to the older 2's room last week.

Today I go to pick him up from daycare and he's outside playing with his class on the playground. I go get him and his teacher says his daily sheet is with another teacher in the adjoining class. When we come inside Brenden heads for the door...

Me: Brenden, wait, mommy needs to go in the other room to get your sheet
Brenden: Oh I get sheet mama (starts rummaging through cubby)
Me: Brenden, honey your sheet isn't in there its in the other class
Brenden: No mama, its right here (still looking in cubby)
Me: Brenden I know your cubby is in this room now but your sheet is in the other room
Brenden: No mama, I get it (still pulling all items out of cubby and starting to make a mess)

Enter teacher from younger 2's room with Brenden's daily sheet and hands it to me while B continues to go through his belongings in his cubby behind me. I turn around...

Me: Okay Brenden, we can go now, I have your sheet
Brenden: No mama, Brenden has sheet!

and sure enough, tucked under his arms, what he had been looking in his cubby so desperately for.. the sheets to his mat for naptime... I guess he knew where the 'sheet' was all along and I just wasn't understanding him LOL. Once I realized all that time he was trying to show me his sheets I just laughed my head off

Me: yes Brenden, you are right, those ARE your sheets! Please put them back in your cubby for tomorrow and carry your PAPER (not sheet) for mama.
Brenden: Okay mama!!!



LOOOOVVEEE that little boy!!!!

Happy First Birthday Logan

To my baby boy on his first birthday:

My dear special Logan Alexander. One year ago today at 7:49 a.m. you entered this world. It still feels like yesterday.. my big belly, an IV that took way too many attempts to start, a C-section and you were here. You looked just like your brother Brenden as you drew in your first breath and screamed your little head off. That is the only time in your life that I will ever find your screaming music to my ears LOL! You were a good sized baby at 6lb and 14oz. You had a full head of stick-straight dark brown hair. Who would have known that it would all fall out and this blond curly hair would emerge in its place. And you LOVE hair, you love to stroke your own hair when you are sleepy and to hold my hair when I rock you and to pull all of your friend's hair at daycare!

You are so different from your brother, but in a wonderful way. You are wild and rough and SUCH a little boy. You love to tackle and destroy things. You climb on everything and DANGER is your middle name! Your nicknames are things like Loganator, Godzilla, Logan the Destroyer, Maximum Destruction, etc. You are LOUD and your crying makes Brenden's fits seem like a whisper. You are a lover and a hugger and the daycare is constantly telling me how someone was in your classroom just to take advantage of your willingness to give everybody hugs.

If you could skip the age of 1 and go straight to age 2 I think you would. You SO want to do everything your brother does. You are walking a good 2 months sooner than Brenden because you want to keep up with him so badly. You are having a tough time transitioning to solid foods but you have a touchy gag reflex that makes textures icky for you. You are stubborn and like things your own way and make your opinion about it known! You HATE getting your diaper changed because that means you have to sit still. You smile and make silly faces and point at everything. You fake sneeze and say "aahhh - doo!" and bob your head up and down. You like to dance along with the Wiggles with you brother. You are fully capable of climbing all 3 stairs on Brenden's slide, getting to a sitting position, and sliding down. We keep pillows all around the slide because it doesn't always happen in that order!

You have grown up so fast and somehow it seems like you transitioned from baby to toddler overnight and I'm not sure how that happened. I must have blinked at the wrong time. You continue to amaze me every day and make me smile. My heart was full when I had Brenden, and now with you, its overflowing. You are a great brother and son. You are your own individual and I love it! I just assumed that you would be exactly like your brother but you have proven me so wrong. I wish you the very happiest of first birthdays! Thank you for bringing so much joy to my life and would you mind not turning 2 quite as fast as you turned 1??!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Logan!!

- Mama

*** And I might as well update on Brenden...

He is potty training now and is about 50% of the way there. Some days are better than others but I am proud at how much effort he is putting into it. He gets gummy fruits (called potty fruits) when he goes potty and its so cute to see him run out of the bathroom saying "I go potty! I did it! I get potty fwoot!!" He is so proud of himself when he goes. He says the funniest stuff to us all the time. The other day I poured a soda and when he saw the fizz he told me my cup was raining. How cute!

Other famous Brenden quotes

B: I go potty (in the car)

me : did you go potty just now?

B: yes I pee pee on robot

-- he has pull ups with a robot design and we tell him not to pee on the robot lol

-- one day he didn't like how stiff his pull up felt in the crotch area so I asked if he needed me to shake the pull up out a little to make it softer. I grabed the sides and gave it a good shake/wiggle just to loosen it up. Now when we are out in public he grabs his crotch and says "Mama shake it out??"

B: I toot! (pass gas)

Me: no you did- (TOOT, giggle)- n't

-- guess it was a warning and not a declaration

--Brenden likes things in increments of 5 - five crackers, five monkeys, five cookies.. five is a good number. He stuck his hand in the box of cereal and pulled out a giant fistful and said "wow, thats a lot of fives!"

-- for some reason one day he pinched my chest and I told him no, that was not nice. So now he waits until we are out in public to grab my chest and say 'Nooooo pinching!!!" Yes Brenden, that is correct, no pinching!

I could go on and on but most of what he says is just funny to me :)  Its just so fun to watch how his brain works and how he translates that into words. He thinks birds that make squawking sounds are monkeys, he thinks any triangular shape on a building makes it a castle,etc.

Logan is getting a bounce house for his birthday. I can't wait to post pictures of the boys playing on it!! The birthday party is this coming weekend, but unfortunately being born so close to labor day means most people are on vacation the weekends before and after your birthday. Logan is such a happy kid he won't even care.

Love these boys

Some videos of the boys.

Logan is attempting to howl like a wolf. I wasn't talking loud so you can't really hear my commentary, so to summarize, it's just a cute video of Logan trying to howl.

This is of Brenden imitating "Five Joeys jumping on the bed" (The Wiggle's rendition of Five Monkeys)
It just cracked me up every time they said 'One fell off and bumped his head' Brenden would say "OW!" and grab his head.

Visit to WV

My brother Tom came to Princeton, WV (the town we grew up in) for his 20yr high school reunion. He lives in Denver Colorado so I seized the opportunity to visit him while he was in a reasonable driving distance. Of course traveling with 2 kids ages 2 and under is always an adventure, but we did manage to get a few fun moments in between all of the chaos!

Hanging out in Geema's room playing with the Thomas table

Brenden had a sinus infection he was getting over and it made his eye water. He rubbed it so much he made it bleed :(  Luckily he's doing much better now.

Who needs a high chair. The tray can be both the seat and the tray!

We went to Tom's friend Wyatt's house for dinner one night. He had a little bounce house set up outside and Logan LOVED it! My little tackler!

Shhhhh.. don't tell him, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be getting one for his birthday next month!

Its an expensive gift for a 1-yr old, but LOOK how happy he is!

And if he shares it with big brother Brenden, then its double the fun!

A group shot of the whole family. Geema (that's what Brenden has decided we should say instead of Grandma) bought the boys matching shirts to wear. Needless to say Wyatt and his wife had no idea which kid has what name, we barely kept it straight!

From left to right -- Me, Logan, Will, Tom, Noah, Jen, Brenden, Mom (Geema)