Blogging Again...

A couple of weeks ago we had a chance to see lots of good friends that we hadn't seen in a while!  We packed in the fun starting in Greenville getting pictures taken (if you want to see those you can go to capturedmomentsbykaren.lifepics.com and enter event code radez), then catching a pampered chef party at the Johnston's, then coming back to Apex for my "little sister's" wedding.  It was so much fun to see Logan and Sadie playing together again, especially since the week before we went Logan said "Sadie" for the first time!  They had a blast staying up way past their nap times!   Logan has been talking so much lately that I actually made a list of all the words I could think of that he says on a regular basis and there are over 50!!  He also readily repeats words too!   Then off to Chris and Danielle's wedding where we had a photo shoot with the Delzers.  I'm sure Logan and Miles will be playing together soon!  Logan went out with the bachelors to catch the garter, but he must have realized what was happening right before it was thrown because he ran away just in time!  

Settling In

I'm not quite sure where to begin, but I'll do my best.  We have been super busy over the last 2 months.  We are settling into our new home in Apex, NC.  Thankfully, I still feel that this has been a good change for our family.  I think that the transition has been as smooth as it could possibly have been.  God is so gracious!  We have begun the process of finding a new church family, and are quite excited about the new family we have started to get to know.  Radez and I do tremendously miss our family from Greenville though.  

Well, Logan is now one!!  In the process of posting pictures, I figured more people look at Facebook than our blog, so that's where the 1st birthday pics went first.  I've just recently been reminded of my desire to continue blogging.  It seems strange how God uses people and events in our lives to remind us how important friendships, and keeping in touch with other people are.  Logan's first birthday was just as exciting as I had hoped for.  I documented on camera almost everything he did throughout the day!  It was so much fun to watch his excitement even though he didn't realize what was going on.  We'll definitely have to work on the cake eating for #2.  Both parties he had, he dug right in with his hands but hardly ate any cake. Even after trying to force him to eat a little, he seemed not to like it.  I guess that could be a good thing!  Playing in it was definitely more fun than eating it!    

I think in the slide show posted below are pictures from my brother's wedding and our vacation to Cape May, NJ with family.  Brian and Wendy's wedding was beautiful, and I'm so glad to have a wonderful new sister-in-law.   We've really enjoyed spending time with them since they've come home, and are looking forward to many more memorable times with them since they'll be staying in America!!  

Our time in NJ was amazing!  We drove through the night right after Brian and Wendy's wedding so Logan could sleep through the entire trip...mostly.  We had a great time sitting out on the porch and on the beach relaxing and hanging out with family.  I think we had ice cream 4 nights in a row, and Radez and Molly had creamed chip beef 3 days in a row (kind of like biscuits and gravy...not my fav)!  Good thing we go for walks every morning!  Logan LOVED the beach!  An unending sand box can entertain him for hours!  One of the cutest things he did was try to chase the birds down the beach!  He kicked his crawl into high gear, and followed a couple of birds as long as they would let him!  The water was unusually cold even for NJ, so he wasn't thrilled about the ocean until it finally warmed up...the last day we were there.  Thank goodness for video cameras!  We were able to capture his excitement.  

Other minor exciting things we've been doing around town are going to the library for story time, going to Bruegger's Bagel Shop for music time, and we recently got a membership to Marbles Kids' Museum in Raleigh.  Logan and I love getting out during the day.  It's been a great way to meet new people, and I think the social interaction has been wonderful for Logan!

Click on the picture to see more.  It's a little long.  I'm still trying to figure out how to select a few without selecting all.

First Steps...

Logan took his first three consecutive steps Friday night! He wanted to get from one chair to another on the back porch of his Grampa Radez's house. We've noticed his balance greatly improving after walking in the baby pool so much recently. He is able to take several steps independently in water up to his chest. He usually progresses gradually in major milestones, so in the next couple of weeks we expect he'll be walking around everywhere! I'll post pictures when we get home (we're in Raleigh), and video whenever we can capture him in the moment!

We also took our first steps to moving into a house in Apex, NC. We signed a contract yesterday on a house that we are hoping to buy in a couple of weeks! Time is flying by! God is so faithful to provide all that we need for life and godliness! We are so thankful that although plans did not come together in our timing, His timing is much better. He used this circumstance to grow and teach us in several areas. Patience was a big one! Due to the last minute timing, we were also able to get a better deal on this house! I'll post pictures soon...or you can view it on Radez's blog.

Summer Fun!

Logan has had a busy week playing with friends! We've been trying to make the most of our time left in Greenville by spending time with friends. Logan had a blast playing in the sand with Sadie. Sadie just learned to share, and had a busy couple of days trying to teach Logan how. He tried to imitate her sharing by holding a toy out to her. But when Sadie tried to take the toy, Logan did not want to let go. That didn't stop Sadie, though!! She can pull pretty hard! Logan also had fun playing at Barnes and Noble and at the pool with Bryce and Molly! He's so excited that Bryce is starting to like the water as much as he does! And today, he had fun playing with Mallory Kate and Connor. Mallory Kate was pretty upset that he wasn't staying so she could babysit him! They had fun playing anyway.

We've been trying to adjust Logan's nap schedule, so he's been quite tired in the mornings.  I thought he would at least wake up for lunch when we got home this morning!  I was wrong...I did wake him up to feed him.  

Click on the picture to view the slideshow!  By the way, Logan did not actually drink the beer!

We're back...for now!

It feels good to be home!  I'm not sure how long it's been since we've spent an entire week in our house, but hopefully this week we'll be here all week!  We have been super busy trying to find a house in Apex.  We are under contract on our house, but there are still details to be worked out before we can make an offer on the house we like there.  We should be able to make an offer in the next few days though.  We are excited about the upcoming move, but we are starting to realize how short of a time we have left with our friends here in Greenville that we will miss so much!

Our new favorite activity is going to the pool together!!  Logan absolutely loves the water!  He has no fear.  He loves to walk around in the baby pool, play with other children (he tries to "talk" to all the kids), and jump up and down in the water.  When we pull him around on his tummy, sometimes he kicks his legs and paddles with his arms (check out the video!).  He even tried to blow bubbles in the water after watching us blow bubbles today!  Logan had a great time swimming at the pool in Granny and Grandpa Ellis' neighborhood when we spent the night with them this week!!

Logan has been crawling now for a couple of weeks!  I've been trying to capture a good crawl on video, but of course he doesn't crawl long distances when I'm video taping him.  I expected him to be into everything, but he's learning his boundaries well for the most part (especially at home).  He responds fairly well when told he's not allowed to do something... most of the time. 

Logan is beginning to become more snugly!!  We love it!!  He's starting to give hugs and cuddle longer.  He even went around his room one day hugging his stuffed animals!  It was the cutest thing ever!  When I was giving him a hug and rubbing his back before bedtime, he started rubbing my back, too!  The funny thing is that my mom loves to tell the story of when I used to pat her back when she patted mine too.  We hope we can continue to teach him to be loving and kind, and that he would understand what that means. 

Click on the picture to see the slide show!

The verdict is...

It has been two weeks since I started the poll to see when people thought Logan would start crawling.  Only one person thought that Logan would crawl in two weeks.  I have to admit that that person would be me!  I had faith in my child even though no one else did!  Friday night Logan took a couple of "crawls" and then stopped.  I debated on whether or not to count that.  He must have known his time was running short because yesterday morning he crawled right over to the computer!!  Granted it was only about three or four feet, but that has to count!  He definitely is able to crawl.  The key is finding things that are worth crawling for.  The computer is off limits for him so of course he wants it the most!  Isn't that how it always goes?  It reminds me of Romans 7...even though we died to the law through Christ that we might belong to him, the law is not sin.  The law showed what sin was so that sin could be recognized as sin.  In setting rules and boundaries for Logan, we hope to show him that he is a slave to sin without Christ.  We hope one day God would change his heart so that he desires to turn away from sin and to Christ.

A few days ago I posted that Logan was getting better from his cold...not so much!  Monday night he woke us up approximately every half hour or so since we could hear him coughing through the monitor.  We took him to the doctor Tuesday and found out he has an ear infection (possibly both ears).  He's now on antibiotics, and doing much better!!  We're still trying to recover from exhaustion and the beginning stages of colds ourselves.  Thankfully we have a long weekend to rest and recuperate!

We took Logan to the strawberry patch a couple weeks ago, and wanted to post a few of those pics here.  This was when he first started getting sick, so there aren't many smiles.  There are still some pretty cute pictures of him though.  We'll have to go back again soon!  And yes, the strawberry stains came right out of his white shirt!!

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Bath Time

I know some have you may have already viewed these on the Johnstons' blog, but they are too cute not to post!  These are a couple of videos of Logan and Sadie playing in the tub together one night while JJ and Shelley went out on a date!