Monday, July 29, 2013

Wonderful Walker Weekend

This past weekend, we went up to Walker to visit Sue & Roger and for Shawn to compete in his second triathlon! The Tri went great and the boys made some great memories (I hope) :) I loved the cooler weather (60's)!

    Couldn't be a better ending to the race!!
    Melt my heart!!
    Making ice cream with Grandma Sue!
Snuggled up watching The Lorax - brought on lots of giggles!!

I have one more photo from The Legion to add from my other camera later tonight :)

Thanks for having us (and our energetic boys!) up for the weekend Grandma Sue & Grandpa Roger!!














Saturday, July 20, 2013

Logan: 1 Year Pictures [Update]

Official 15 month stats: height 30 3/4" (25-50%), weight 20 lbs 15.5 oz (25%), head 46.7cm ((25-50%)

Logan, you are one already! It's funny how the late evenings and interrupted nights seem endless when you were an infant and now it seems so long ago and like it wasn't so hard. 

Just before you turned one, we weaned you to whole milk.  Ever since that moment, I felt a huge weight off my shoulders.  Your dad and I started alternating getting up with you in the morning (rather than just mom) and that seemed to make life so much easier (I don't know if your dad would agree!)  Now if I don't get enough sleep, its my own fault for staying up late.

You are almost 15 months.  You are a great sleeper.  You love to nap.  You still reach for your crib at naptime and sleep for about 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.  You sleep at night from 7:00pm to 5:30 or 6:30am.  We are working on making 6:30 the norm.  You seem to need the sleep. 


You are the happiest when we let you climb, explore and basically "be free".  You almost never sit still.  I can't believe I caught these brief nano-seconds of calm...You have so much energy.




You love to be chased by mom, dad and Ryder.  Especially when you are causing mischief (which is most of the time)...


You are discovering all the things your little one-year old self can do..."Indian calls" (above), clucking with your tongue, blowing bubbles in the water of the bathtub...


I am in love with your beautiful blue eyes and blonde curls!




You still put everything in your mouth.  This is the toughest at the playground and beach because I seriously think you would choke on handfuls of sand if I didn't keep a close eye on you.  You also try to eat stickers, newspaper, and sidewalk chalk.  This is the biggest reason we keep a nuk on hand and won't be giving it up anytime too soon.

You love to watch everything Ryder does and then you try to copy him.  You just started trying sommersaults like him.  You guys are so close and get along so well.  You give each other hugs in the morning, he reads to you, you walk up to him and sit in his lap...we feel so lucky for this and hope it doesn't change!

Most of my time is spent following you around...you and I both love it.

You are a climber!!  We hardly have any chairs in our kitchen because you slide them around and use them to climb onto the kitchen counters and table.  You also tip them over and use them as a jungle gym.  You climb baby gates.  You climb out of your stroller and out of shopping carts.  It amazes me how coordinated and strong you are!  Thankfully, you cannot get out of your carseat, the ergo or crib...yet.

Other things you love at this age: Baths! No matter what kinds of mood you are in, a bath will bring out tons of giggles and smiles.  You love drinking from water bottles.  We cannot use them in front of you unless we plan to share.  You love the Highlights "Hello" magazines we have been reading.  You gigle whenever we grab one and you see the cartoon babies on the cover.  You love your nuk, but you are fine when we take it away as long as you can't see it.  I think you'd throw a fit at bedtime without it though.  You like your bedtime routine (brush teeth, nuk, read, sing ABC's, you reach for your crib)

You are not afraid of anything.  You even love loud noises.  You giggle when I use the blender and coffee grinder.

You have also been doing great at signing.  You point, talk and sign to communicate.  You sign "more" and  "milk" regularly, but I have also seen you sign "eat" and "all done".  We are working on "water", "please" and "thank you".

Logan, you sure keep us busy chasing you around and wake us up early, but when we see this sweet little smile, it is sooo worth it!!  You are so loved by all of us and we tell you this every day.  I am so excited to continue to watch you grow!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Friday Art

I'm trying to get back into some sort of routine on Fridays.  It's good for the kids and good for me (to make sure we make time for all the fun stuff I like to do with them).  Art is one of the things I like to do on Fridays.

Today I tried to think of a summer project.  I thought of butterflies using the boys' footprints for wings.  Ry's response "Ooor, we could make baseball guys?" One more little reminder that he's growing up.  He asked to do a boy art project, not a girl art project.  

So instead of butterflies, we made these:
    Our art mess!  (Waiting for the cars and track to dry)

     Project is a success!! I guess they are a bit more fun than butterflies :)









When Ry Grows Up...

Me: Ryder, what do you want to do when you grow up?
Ryder: Play baseball!! Fireman!! Mom and dad (be a parent)!!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Logan's First Race!!

Logan ran in his first race as part of the Maple Grove Days this weekend: the Diaper Derby!  He was in the lead for the first half of the race until he froze and turned around to run back to Dad!!  We got him to finish, but barely!

I think the best part was the celebratory hug Ryder ran and gave him at the end, saying, 'Good job running, Logi! :)  

We hope you enjoy running / fitness as much as we do someday!

    Going...
   ...Going...
   ...Stopped! Lol!
   The celebratory hug :)
    Proud Mama



Campout

Last night was Logan's first time camping!  Well, sort of.  We had a camp out on the Pederson's backyard - a perfect blend of a camping experience with the conveniences of a home nearby.  (Conveniences such as Logan sleeping inside in a pack and play!) Ryder and all the "big kids" enjoyed sleeping in tents.




   The kids getting amped up to hit the beach!


   I loved how Ryder was trying to make [teething] Cora smile :)

   Miss Rory

    Logan: So giddy on the climber!
   Pretty exhausted
    Out for a walk
    Pitching to himself


   Autumn was so good with Nalu!

   Aaron putting Cora to sleep :)






Thanks for being such great hosts Jen and Aaron!