Yesterday Logan started out his birthday celebration week with party number one of three! We escaped the forecast of bad weather, and made it to the pool for Logan's birthday party with our playgroup. It even ended up being a beautiful day! Logan had so much fun playing with his friends in the pool, opening presents, and his favorite part...eating cupcakes! We are so thankful for our friends!
We've been asking Logan how old he'll be on his birthday for a few weeks now, and he always responds, "Two (holding up 2 fingers)! I'm one now!" Sometimes he says, "I'll be two on my birfday (SO cute)!" A couple of days ago we started thinking that Logan might have trouble adjusting in a short time period to the idea of actually being two years old. So we told him that he's two a little early! He's pretty excited! He goes around the house saying, "Happy birfday Logan! Happy birfday Mommy/Daddy! Happy birfday to MEEEE!"
We're so excited about the Lord allowing us to continue watching our little "big" boy grow even more!
Nothing extremely exciting has been happening here lately, but I just wanted to post a few of the fun everyday moments. We're still talking up and looking forward (bittersweetly) to Logan's birthday next week. I am more and more thankful everyday that the Lord blessed me by allowing me to care for, love, and enjoy this sweet little life!
We've been hanging around the house a lot...Logan was sick this week. And even though we have a million and a half toys, Logan seems to be finding creative uses for other things (when he's not playing trains)! Check out the pics of him and his boxes. We can play "Where is Logan (or anything else)?" for hours it seems! It's just getting harder for me to come up with new places for him to say, "Noooooo" to!
We had a moo-mentous dinner with our friends, the Stambaughs last week! We all dressed up as cows, went to Chick-fil-A, and got free meals. I think Radez and I told every pregnant cow joke there is on the way there! We had a blast meeting the big cow, and hanging out with friends.
We also had a party for our homegroup at Jordan Lake last weekend. Logan got to ride a real boat for the first time! He was pretty quiet once we sped up, and the wind was a little more forceful. He usually seems to take in new experiences like that...just observing everything going on around him. He said he liked riding the boat though, and was pretty excited he got to go!
Just to explain the pics of Logan with his car and the things in aluminum foil... He helped me wrap corn on the cob (or "cob on corn" as he calls it) for Radez to put on the grill, then decided he needed to take it for a ride! He was pretty cute trying to pack it all in the car with him!
I thought I had lost the pics of our ultrasound where we found out the sex of the baby, but I found them...Yay! I think we have officially decided on a first name for him... Tate! We haven't decided on his middle name, but are very excited to be able to call him by his name now. I'm 24 weeks along, and feeling great! Tate is quite a little kicker most of the time, so we'll see if he's going to be an active baby once he gets here too! Just from looking at his ultrasound pics, I think that Tate is going to look a lot like Logan... and that means like his Daddy too!
We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July with old friends in Greenville this past weekend! We got to hang out at the Johnston's house for a while, and then go to a cookout with lots of Crossroads friends. It was such a sweet time to catch up with people we love! After dark, a couple of the guys actually set off firecrackers in the backyard! I really thought Logan would be terrified of them, but he did really well. He watched with Daddy for a little while, and then hung out with Mommy on the deck. I asked him if he liked them or if he was scared, and he said, "I'm scared." He never cried though.
I've been trying lately to do more activities with just Logan instead of over scheduling activities with other people. We love getting together with others, but I've been realizing recently how important it is for us to love being at home too... even if that just means inviting others to our house instead of going somewhere else. One fun thing we did this week was to make a surprise for Daddy! We made him some banana bread...his favorite! Logan did a great job helping with this more involved recipe. He stayed involved through the entire process, and it was even a good lesson in sharing when I had to take over to complete a step. Logan is really into doing things "by myself". He started saying he wanted to do things "self" several months ago which was exciting, but it's becoming a finer line between being excited about his independence and choosing which things he really shouldn't do by himself yet.
Some of our good friends from church welcomed their second baby, Sophie, into the world last night! Logan had his first sleepover (without a friend's parents here) with his friend Natalie. They had a blast playing at the pool and at home together! They both (Logan more than Natalie) wanted whatever the other was playing with though. That's where the pics of them each holding their Elmos, the same sippy cups, and snacks come in to play. By the end of Natalie's stay though, they were learning how to play with the same toys together! Logan has recently had a difficult time sharing his toys with others (especially at home) so I am thankful for this opportunity to focus on that, and it always helps when Radez gets to see what kinds of issues Logan is having that usually occur without him around. We also had a playgroup at our house this week which forced him to share with lots of friends at once.
When we dropped Natalie off at her house, we got to sneak a peak at Sophie! I explained to Logan that she was the baby that was in Ms. Alana's tummy and she came out last night, and we can see her now. He looked at me and very emphatically said, "Baby brother come out Mommy's tummy now and see me!" I thought it was the sweetest thing ever!
We are surprised at lots of the things Logan is coming up with to say now. A few days ago, I was rocking him for a couple of minutes before nap time as usual, which sometimes if he's exhausted he may fall asleep during, and with his face turned away from me he started yelling, "No get me, no get me!" over and over. I turned him towards me to find his eyes were still open, so I asked him what he was talking about. He said there was a tiger in his room! His imagination is certainly growing! He constantly finds different uses for things other than the ones they were intended for. It is really fun to see him becoming so creative! Another cute thing Logan says now is, "I'll be 2 on my birthday!" He holds up two fingers at the same time for everyone to see!
One last thing... Logan passed out from a breath holding spell for the first time since last September a couple of weeks ago. We were at a birthday party at the park, and he fell down but didn't really get hurt, just scared. It the first time Radez has experienced this firsthand, and it definitely made a lasting impression on him. As awful as these things are, I am thankful that the Lord uses them to teach us so much. I became very fearful of what could happen if I didn't have time to get to Logan while caring for an infant (head injuries, etc). I was once again reminded that God's perfect love drives out fear. He loves Logan more than I ever could (which is hard to imagine), and his eyes are on him even when mine are not. It is easy to try to control all things with Logan, but please pray that I would continue to trust God because his plan for Logan's life is better than mine could ever be.
WARNING: Really looong post! It's been too long. Don't feel pressured to read all of this, but I like to write it out for myself anyway!
To catch up with the biggest news I haven't blogged about yet... we're expecting a baby boy! His due date is October 27th. We are so excited about this little blessing from the Lord! I've gotten out of the habit of blogging lately since I've mostly wanted to sleep whenever I have free time. Getting further into the second trimester has helped give me more energy. Hopefully I can catch you up quickly on what's been going on in our lives. I started this entry a while back, and looking over it to actually publish it, a few things have changed!
When we first told Logan the news about the baby, we were surprised to see that he too was excited! He said things like "baby Mommy tummy", and when asked when the baby would be here his answer was "8 months"...for about three months of the pregnancy! Whenever we asked Logan what he thought we were having, he was pretty consistent, he said both little sister and girl...we'll find out soon if he's right!
In April, we took a family trip to Chicago to tag along with Dan as he went to a conference. His sister Molly came along also. She made it possible for Logan and I to go sight seeing. Chicago is not a stroller friendly place! We carried Logan up and down many sets of stairs in the train stations. We had such a full, fun trip! We made it to Navy Pier, the Chicago Children's Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, The Art Institute, Sears Tower, China Town, the Shedd Aquarium, and of course shopping on Michigan Avenue! It only took a day or two for Logan to adjust to the time difference and sleeping in his stroller while we were out and about. His favorites were the Children's Museum and the aquarium, but he hung in there through the guided audio tours we took of the Sears Tower and the Art Institute like a champ!
Otherwise, we've been trying to keep up with our everyday activities while Mommy has not been feeling well. The Lord has been teaching me so much about denying myself through this pregnancy. This life is not about me, it's about Him! I'm sure I'll need to be reminded of that again once the baby arrives!
Some of the things Logan is really into now are:
PLAYING HIS GUITAR (or turning things into drums) - his hit single is "Een Een Washed Out" (with the excited emphasis on "washed out")! Otherwise known as "The Eensy Weensy Spider". He'll play and sing a little, but if Daddy plays, he can do all of the hand motions too! We tell Logan that he "rocks out" on his guitar when he plays. Well, one day he wanted to bring a rock in from outside so I let him. He went over and put it in his guitar, and said, "get rock out please Mommy!"!!! He cracks us up! He loves to sing and dance. He can learn just about anything through music! He's recently learned several scripture verses through songs. Whenever applicable, we can sing them during the day as reminders of what God's word commands us.
DRIVING THE CAR - his biggest obsession! He looooves to sit in the driver's seat, push all of the buttons, and steer the wheel. If I leave my make up in the car, he'll also open up the mirror and put some on! He's too cute to stop! He doesn't like to beep the horn though. He tells me at random times driving down the road not to beep the horn, and I assure him that I won't unless it's necessary! He's warming up to it though.
LOVING HIS ANIMALS - this has been a long time favorite of Logan's, but it's been interesting to watch his "relationship" with his animals change as he develops. He's always fed, hugged, and kissed them, but now he reprimands them for things that he knows are not allowed and then proceeds to discipline them if they disobey. They learned to climb, jump, and do flips right along with him. They even act out some of his favorite stories. Logan's animals have begun to eat with him too. We were having a difficult time at mealtime until the horse starting taking turns eating with Logan. He's actually eaten a few new things that he would not even touch before like salad!
JUMPING - Logan set a goal for himself to learn how to jump, so for most of the month of April it didn't matter where we were or what we were doing we would see Logan trying his hardest to pick his little feet up off of the ground! Then by the end of the mongth, he finally learned to jump one day!!! Now he jumps all over the place saying, "Mommy, Jump high!".
TRUCKS, TRUCKS, AND TRAINS! Logan loves any type of truck and loves looking out for them on the road or listening out for them in the house. We MUST make it to the window to see any truck that drives by! If he's waiting for me to get him out of his room in the morning, he lifts the blinds up to watch. He especially loves dump trucks, tanker trucks, buses, and mail trucks. He recently got some tracks and trains that he loves to play with. He loves to say, "Mommy come play trains me!"
As Logan is starting to speak much more clearly, one of the things he says that we think is adorable is, "Moo Me" or "excuse me". We're holding on to the little fun words and phrases now that remind us he's not quite grown up yet! Ok, so this has changed since I originally started this post...he now even says that correctly. He often says, "Mommy/Daddy look at this!" and "What is that?" His longest sentence (that we counted) so far has been 10 words (2 thoughts put together)!! He's usually talking in 3-6 word sentences.
One last thing that we've been excited about lately is Logan's love of counting! He sometimes breaks out counting in the middle of playing alone even. He counts to 11 very easily, then with a little prompting can count to 20 (but usually skips 13 and 14).
We just had our first weekend away from Logan a couple of weeks ago. We took a trip to Wrightsville Beach while Logan hung out with Uncle Brian and Aunt Wendy. We had a wonderful time and so did he! We had no idea how he would handle us being away, but thankfully he did great! He talked about us, but never got upset that we weren't there while he was at home. We're a little relieved to have that experience out of the way before we go to the hospital with the new baby! We've found that the more we talk about things in advance with him and prepare him for what's going to happen, the better he does.
I'm sure I've put in too many pictures in the slides, but they're way too cute to cut any more out than I already have! Hope you enjoy!
I've been meaning to post lately, but when I realized that Logan turned 19 months today, I knew I needed to actually get it done! This has been an exciting time in Logan's development! So much has happened with him that I'm not sure where to start...
One thing that has blown me away is that Logan can recognize all of his letters and tell you what sound they make! I've been singing a song of letters, sounds, and a word that starts with that letter to him off and on casually for a while. Well, the last week of January I bought Logan a puzzle of the alphabet. I thought since there were so many pieces it would be too difficult, but left it out for him to play with just to see how he did. Boy was I wrong! Logan could already tell me about a quarter of the sounds, and had no trouble putting the puzzle together! In about a week, he was telling me about half of the sounds, and a month later he recognizes them all, knows all of the sounds, and is starting to recognize some lower case letters too! Who knew he had been listening to my song all along! He loves music and sounds. Letters are beginning to be the new obsession... he loves to point them out everywhere. He's even sounded out words in order, the sounds just don't blend yet.
There is a pretty funny story about his letters. We were blowing bubbles the other day on his alphabet mat, and I could not get him to stop putting the bubble wand on his lips. As we were playing, I asked him what sound P made. When he answered, he unknowingly blew a bubble from the bubble residue on his lips!
Another thing that Logan has significantly progressed in is numbers. Most of you know about his obsession with clocks... I can't tell you how many times my child has asked me to count the numbers on a clock! I think this is what contributes to his number recognition. He recognizes numbers 1-12, but sometimes confuses the 6 and 9. He has also counted more himself. If I say one, he can say 2, 3, 4, 5, I say 6, 7, he can say 8, 9, I say 10, 11, he can say 12. He doesn't do this often, but I've started counting to 20 with him now to challenge him more. He also understands one to one correspondence. He usually moves things one at a time as I count.
Logan also talks in many more short phrases and sentences now. He usually strings together 2, 3 or 4 words. His vocabulary has increased tremendously this month. One day early in the month, I was astonished at how many new words he said, and counted 16 in one day! I don't think I realized how much he talks nonstop at home until I was sick recently and couldn't sleep because I kept hearing his sweet little voice (which has no quiet setting!)
Being a former kindergarten teacher, I am super excited to be able to teach him all of these things!! Logan constantly amazes me doing things I don't expect him to be able to do. It makes it even more fun that he enjoys learning so much! I pray that God would use these things to show Logan Himself. He is the One who created them all. Even though I teach them to Logan, He is the one who allows him to understand. I have to remind myself constantly that none of these things matter without Christ. Proverbs 10:14 says, "Wise men store up knowledge." I hope I can teach Logan to balance that with 1 Corinthians 8:1 that tells us "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up!"
So I'm a little late in posting about our fun snow day. As soon as we could all get bundled up after breakfast, we headed out into the snow to play:) I found a small toddler sized sled at a yard sale last year for $1, and picked it up just in case we ever got a chance to use it (highly doubted it though). Logan absolutely loved it! The snow was so deep, he wouldn't have been able to stand up for very long without freezing. We got about 6-7 inches!! We love our view of the woods and going to look at the creek behind our house, and it was even more beautiful laden with snow. God has been reminding me of His work in creation lately as I teach Logan that He is the creator of all things. I've been asking Logan who made him or whatever we're looking at, and it is the sweetest thing to hear him say, "God" even at such a young age.
Shelley K. tagged me. The things in bold apply to me () added for clarification. I tag Rockie and Jennifer!
1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland/world (world in college...road trip with Joslyn!) 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables (ok, there were a few that lived) 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China (I came close!) 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Gotten flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee
I began writing this post last week right before Radez went back to work after his two week vacation. I've been trying to find time to get back ever since! Radez has been in Boston for five days and boy have we missed him:( Logan and I have had a great time bonding together! We even got to spend the night with Mimi and Papa. I feel like maybe I have a better idea of how what my days would look like if we had more children...crazy!
We had a blast hanging out as a family and with friends this while Radez was home though. We really tried to take advantage of our time... Radez biked his longest distance yet last weekend - 58 miles! Logan turned 17 months old, and has learned his basic colors and shapes. He's really started having more of an interest in colors since he got his table and chairs and easel for Christmas. Although some days he can tell me every color correctly, and others he won't. He learned his shapes several months ago, but colors have been more difficult. I've heard that some children who learn shapes easily have a more difficult time with colors and vice versa. I think that all the variations in colors can be confusing to transfer from the primary colors on crayons and books. Maybe Logan is a more concrete thinker like I am. It's so neat to see his personality unfold. He loves to paint and draw now, and can even draw a circle! I think he really loved moving on to the next step in shape sorters too - the little ball that's red on one side and blue on the other for those of you who have kids:) He also made a major accomplishment of screwing the lids all the way on his toothpaste and a water bottle. He has been screwing the lids back and forth for a long time, but now he screws them on so tightly that he can't get them off! I guess that comes next. Logan can sing the "clean up" song now. He loves to sing, dance, and do motions to songs and rhymes! He also loves to slither around the house and make hissing sounds like a snake! OK, so he only actually slithers backwards, but crawls forwards. One more super cute thing that we've been doing that I don't think I've written about is having "conversations" with Logan where we say something then he says something and so on. Whenever Logan tells us something, it's almost inevitable that it's followed by him nodding his head in agreement with himself! He must tell a lot of jokes, too. He's always cracking himself up! Sometimes we understand what he's saying, sometimes we don't! The same probably goes for him too. I think Logan understands quite a bit, though. He follows directions very well (when he's obeying). But whatever he does or does not know is exactly where God would have him to be right now. My prayer is that God would show me how to most effectively teach Logan as an individual, and that Logan would learn from the way that I teach him so that ultimately I can be an instrument in Logan learning his need for a Savior.
We also got to go to Marbles and Monkey Joe's (inflatable jumping) as a family. Logan eventually warmed up better to jumping with Daddy along. We had a great time catching up with some old friends from college at the Braddy's for a New Year's party. We had a blast playing the infamous "Celebrity Name" game. We also got to meet baby Isaac Mehaffie! Check out the pic of Radez holding him...I think he's starting to get the itch for another one! What do you think? Logan on the other hand camped out by the sweets. Check out his sad puppy dog face after being told he couldn't have any more! Don't feel too sorry for him though. He shoveled in his fair share of chocolate covered pretzels and puppy chow before that! He was very obedient, just looking and not touching... somewhat uncharacteristic of his recent behavior patterns. He's been testing us quite a bit. I've had a difficult time dealing with the fact that we need to discipline him more firmly now that he's getting older and less responsive to what we've been doing. It probably hurts my feelings as much as his to see him be disciplined sometimes. I've even selfishly overlooked a few offenses not wanting to have to follow through in discipline.
Thankfully, God is faithful to give us exactly what we need when we need it. I've been reading Feminine Appeal, and just finished the chapter on discipline. I highly recommend this book, and this chapter has been particularly convicting as well as encouraging at this stage in my life. In Titus 2, women are commanded to love their husbands and children. The type of love Paul is referring to here is the Greek "phileo" which describes the love between very close friends. It is tender, passionate, and affectionate. It enjoys and respects. Carolyn Mahaney argues that women have a much easier time showing love by sacrificing and serving others than passionately enjoying them, hence the need for this specific command. In regards to my struggle with discipline, Proverbs 13:4 says that the avoidance of discipline is an expression of hate, not love. I certainly want to love and not hate my child. I pray that God would give me love and that this love would stand out to him as love that can only come from the Lord.
