Good day for a Walk

Tuesday was so beautiful here. It was about 60 out and was so sunny - however, it was a little windy. Grams had come over that morning to watch Logan so I could go get my hair done and when she was leaving we walked her out to her car. Logan did not want to go back in the house! After getting him in and letting him take a nap, we went and picked Dylan up from school and then came home and got ready for a walk. He absolutely loves to be outside and does so well on our walks. We "talk" about the birds, dogs, and anything else we see. It is lots of fun! Getting ready for our walk
Playing with his toys
So sweet!

Pregnancy - Fun Stuff!

So, I am about 6 1/2 weeks along now and I am sooo tired all the time. I seriously need a nap daily just to make it through the day. I started exercising (finally) the week of New Year's (no, this was not a NY resolution - just a health decision). I had lost 11 pounds in 3 weeks, but now I am stuck and have actually gained back a couple of pounds. I know this is ok and I don't really want to be dieting and losing a lot of weight while I am pregnant, but I am trying to make this pregnancy healthier than the last 3. I just want to be able to get back in my "skinny" jeans one day and hopefully by working out throughout this pregnancy, it might just be possible. When I was pregnant with Logan I had a lot of nauseousness, but not nearly as much this time. So, I am hoping that it stays that way. I am really excited about getting to be pregnant again and having another baby. Although, I am a little worried about the hectic life I will have when the baby first gets here - making sure I spend enough time with both of them and Dylan, being a good mom to all of them, etc. But of course, I can't wait. A lot of people think that I am holding out for that girl, but I seriously have a strong feeling this one is another boy. We don't really have a name picked out for him yet, but are playing with some ideas. None have been liked by both of us though - this is a hard decision!!!

So, that is a little update on how the pregnancy is going. I'll just be happy when I get into my 2nd timester. I know it will go by fast, so I am trying to enjoy life as I now know it as much as possible!

Eating with Logan

Logan cut his right eye last week on one of his toys. He was walking along and fell and hit his head on the side of a toy. He screamed something terrible when it happened!!!


Here lately we have tried to get Logan eating more real food than baby food. That transition is not going so well...
Sometimes he will do really well starting out and then he decides to stick his tongue out and not swallow any more food when he gets tired of the texture. It is really weird how one day he will eat every bit of it and the next he will stick that tongue out once you put something in his mouth and he just lets it fall off - it's pretty messy! I can still get him to eat baby food for the most part. So, I am thinking this may take us a while.

Why do we buy toys?

Logan has loved laundry day for a while now and I finally got some shots of why... Any time I bring the hamper (that is on wheels) from my room to the laundry room, he will stand there and yell at me. The reason - I created a monster. One day, I was taking the hamper back to my room and I set him on top of it while holding on to him and just pushed him around. Well since then, he knows that he can get a ride and he loves it. The other day while Patrick was here we decided to stand him in it and let him hold on that way and that was a lot easier (and safer). I seriously don't think it is necessary to ever buy toys. Children always seem to like household items, the boxes, and anything other than the toy better!

Daddy pushing Logan
Here he is making a sound like a car makes. It is his new thing to do when he pushes his firetruck or dumptruck around.
When Patrick would stop, Logan would turn around and start yelling at him. But when Patrick would start pushing him again, he just preferred to ride backwards!

Dylan and Exams

Dylan has had semester exams all week and has had to study so hard. He is not really that motivated when it comes to school, so this requires Patrick and me to partake in his studies also. What we have been doing is letting him go over his notes and study for a little while and then we quiz him. At first he wasn't too happy about it, but for a while we let him try to do his work and study on his own and his grades have suffered. So, we now do it my way which is for him to be quizzed.

After quizzing him each time this week, he really seemed to know everything he needed to. Hopefully, he does really well on them and will have a better report card than last time.

He gets out of school at noon today and doesn't have to go back until Tuesday which will be nice for him. He deserves a break after all his studying and hard work he had to do this week. I know it has not been easy on him!

I am taking him to lunch at McAlister's today to celebrate his being finished and then next week we will be off to a new Semester!

I know he will be glad to finally be able to go back to Tae Kwon Do also - poor guy hasn't gotten to go all week!

The Life of Blake

I haven't really posted about Blake and Dylan lately, so I figured I would update you on how they are doing and what is going on with them. I'll start with Blake.

Blake moved to Georgia over Christmas and they are now only 3.5 hours away which makes it so much easier for Steve and me to meet and we get to see each of the boys more often. Blake started at a private/christian school on th 3rd of January and it was really bad. He was so upset when he got out of school that day. It was just so sad! First, no one talked to him and he had to eat lunch at a table all by himself - which just broke my heart. It is a private school, so there really aren't that many children to begin with. I know it is probably the age and that would have passed, but the really hard part for him was the lack of structure that the school had. Each class period they would take prayer requests which lasted about 20-30 minutes depending on the class and then once the teacher finally started teaching, the children weren't paying attention, were talking and just not what Blake is used to. I should point out that Blake was in all honors classes in a Texas school (which Texas schools are excellent to begin with), so he was used to being challenged and having some structure. This school did not offer honors classes or any kind of advanced classes for his age. He also said that when the teacher did get around to teaching that it was really slow and very hard to follow because they were so slow. He was most upset that if he stayed at that school, he was worried that he would be behind when he got to college. Luckily for us, Blake is ambitious and is working really hard to get a scholarship for college!

To make a long story short - Blake only went to the private school the one day and Steve went and enrolled him in the public school and Blake started there the following Wednesday. Apparently Georgia schools have a policy of testing people for their talented and gifted/honors classes rather than looking at their records. So, Blake went to the school on Wednesday and right away they began testing him. The school he is in doesn't offer History to 9th graders nor do they offer Spanish, but since he had already started both of those in Texas, they are letting him finish them so that he doesn't have to retake them and lose the credits he has already earned, so he does have to take some classes with Sophomores and Juniors. Of course all day on Wednesday, I was a nervous wreck and I kept praying and praying that God would help him to have a good day and that God would just put one person in his life that would befriend him so that he didn't feel so alone.

He got out of school at 2:45 and I had that phone glued to my side waiting on him to call....it took forever! He finally called around 3:10 and told me that he had a good day and that a little boy named Jordan saw him sitting at a table in the lunch room by himself and came over and invited him to sit with him and his friends (this is where I got teary-eyed). After hearing all about his day and realizing that he was now where he was supposed to be, I let him know that I had been so nervous for him all day and that I had been praying for him throughout the day. He was so sweet he said, "Thank you. I was hoping that someone would pray for me." How sweet is that?

After 2 days of testing, Blake aced the test for the honors classes and he started those last Friday. He has made a good friend in there named, Joshua, and really seems to be enjoying it. I will get to see him today when I meet Steve to drop Dylan off for the weekend and he will be coming up here the 2nd week in February for Logan's 1st birthday party. I can hardly wait!

Breakfast with Babies

It was very cold this morning, so Logan and I had to bundle up. The high today is only supposed to be 47! Since Logan still has hardly any hair, we thought the hat was definitely necessary today!
Landree and Jennifer G
Caleb and Tricia
Jackson and Denise
Logan and Traci
Jennifer B and Cooper

This morning Logan and I met some of our friends from Small Group for breakfast at I-Hop. It was lots of fun and all the babies were so good. It is really nice having them this age because they can sit in their high chairs and eat real food with you. Of course, the floor is an absolute mess when we leave (Logan and me, anyway). Logan has a bad habit of eating the food in front of him for a little while and then taking it and throwing it in the floor. He will literally take a piece and throw it in the floor, watch it fall, and then go get another piece and do the same thing. Sometimes he takes his whole arm and with one swipe cleans his place in front of him. We are starting to try and break that bad habit!

Disappointing...

I just have to post this story because I have been so mad and upset about a situation that happened to me today with a local business. I don't normally post about stuff like this, but it is just so maddening!

I had ordered Logan's 1st birthday invitations from Invitation Station on St. Andrews in Irmo(there is also a store on Harden). They came in today and I went to pick them up. They did not look like they were supposed to. I wanted them to look just like the example they had in the store with the exception of Name, date, time, etc. and I told the lady this! Well, the invitations didn't look the way they were expected to and the way that I had explained I wanted them. There was absolutely no spacing and no change in font size, so all the words pretty much ran on and on and together. It was terrible. It looked like a complete amateur had done them. I was kind of in a hurry because I had to leave to get Dylan, so I called up there and let them know that I was not happy with the invitations and that I wish that they had sent me a proof and then I was told that they do that and could have sent me a fax...of course, no one ever told me this. AND, I was under the impression they would look just like the example they had in the store, so I didn't ask to see a proof!

After 3 different phone calls with a girl named, Cindy or Cynthia, I was crying and so upset. I guess she is the manager or owner and basically she told me that I should have specified where I wanted spaces on the form that her clerk filled out and that I signed. Well, I let her know that I am not in the business of doing invitations, so I did not know I had to make sure the spaces and font size were written down - that was not my responsibility. I told the clerk/Gayle what I wanted and she wrote it down. The only thing I knew to check when I signed off on it was name spelling, date, time, etc. - this is what she told me to check! How was I supposed to know that there need to be spacing written down somewhere - all she told me was to check to make sure the wording read correctly. Cindy/Cynthia as awful as she was, offered to reorder them for me for 30% off - are you kidding me??? It was not my mistake - I told them exactly what I wanted and they did not do it. I told her I wanted my money back and that I was not happy and if she didn't give it to me I would dispute the charge with my credit card company. She told me she was not going to give me my money back and I would have to just dispute the charge - which is exactly what I did and I will be dropping the invitations back at her store tomorrow!

It was absolutely ridiculous and I could go on and on with more of the ridiculous conversation we had, but I will just leave it at this. I did let her know that I was going to pass on to all of my friends how horribly I was treated and how disappointed I was in their business and basically, she didn't seem to care. I don't normally try to tell people where to avoid shopping, but I hope that I have an impact on some of you and that if you are ever considering shopping with them for any kind of invitations or announcements, you will find somewhere more loyal to their customers.

Logan is going to be a Big Brother!

Mom and Dad - who are both so excited to be expecting again!
Logan's new shirt

We found out last Wednesday that we are expecting again - yes, this was planned for anyone not sure about that! I had just gotten a test from the grocery store and came in right away to take the test while Patrick unloaded the groceries and Logan. After he helped me for a minute, he was off to the lake for some hunting. In the meantime, I was impatiently waiting on Blake to call me about his first day at his new school which he finally did. While I was on the phone with him, I had gone to the restroom to put some stuff away and saw the pregnancy test was positive and I was pretty stunned! Of course, Blake could tell and so I told him exactly what it was and he is pretty excited. I then went and picked Dylan up from school and told him....all the while, Patrick still didn't know and was at a "meeting" at the lake.

He finally got home around 7 and I had laid the stick on his sink for him to find when he went to take a shower....only problem - he didn't take a shower right away. I waited about an hour and a half and finally I drug him in there and showed him.

He was really excited and kept saying, "I just can't believe how fertile you are." It was so funny!

I went ahead and took another test (another brand) the next morning to make sure it was positive and it was. So, we are definitely expecting.

We waited until Friday to tell Patrick's family so we could tell them in person. Logan wore a t-shirt over to their house that said, "I'm the big brother." It took a while, but finally Chappell got there and she realized right away that Logan was dressed different than normal and she asked what his shirt said. FINALLY - everyone else figured it out.

Since Sara was on the road headed out of town and Marty was at work, I sent them a text of Logan's shirt and told them it was from Logan. They were both happy for us and called me back pretty quick! It was a lot of fun telling everyone!

So, you will now get to keep up with a growing little boy and a growing momma again!

Baby Shower for Sara Grace

Today all the SPUDDS girls hosted a baby shower for Chappell and Sara Grace. It was so nice and everything was decoratedso pretty! This is the mantle with the invitation and some sweet sterling baby rattles, cups, etc.
Katherine, Karin, Ashley, Sara, and Elizabeth B.



Traci, Chappell, Linda, and Sara
Gloria (Chappell's mother-in-law) and Chappell
A beautiful blanket that Chappell's friend, Amy, gave her.

I love this!!!

Chappell opening some of her sweet gifts
Elizabeth's son, Maddox, even made an appearance for a little while. He is about 4 pounds lighter than Logan so it was fun to hold a baby that is not so heavy! Maddox is such a little sweetie!
Some of the girls during the shower
Elizabeth's son, James, trying to figure out why he wasn't invited to the party
All the hosts with Chappell
From left - Jennifer, Alexa, Chappell, Ashley, Meg, Cory, and Elizabeth

Chappell's shower was so wonderful and she and Sara Grace are so blessed to be loved by so many people. They really got some great gifts and Chappell had a wonderful time!

Dylan, Logan, and Charlie

Dylan and Logan played in Patrick's chair for a while this afternoon. Logan is learning to be sweet and love on people by laying his head on you somewhere. So, he tried this a few times with Dylan and it was so sweet
Playful little brothers
" Awww - so sweet" is what we say when Logan does this
Charlie came home Friday from his 3 months of dog training and Logan has had so much fun playing with him and his toy.
Logan had the toy and then dropped it in his chair and both he and Charlie were going after it
Logan laughs so hard when Charlie tries to take the toy from him.
They both kind of got the hang of the whole thing after a while - it was sooo cute!
Trying to keep the toy away from Charlie

January SPUDDS

Last night we had another fun and eventful evening at the Render's for our monthly Supper Club meeting. Cory, Matt, Elizabeth, and Chris hosted a wine and chocolate tasting that was so wonderful! Many of the men were absolutely hilarious and kept me laughing the whole time. I had tears in my eyes several times throughout the night. Marty, Chris, and Cory enjoying learning about the history of how chocolate all began, how much of a delicacy in some countries it is, and why some chocolates taste different - the whole experience was very interesting and fun.
Cory contemplating her chocolate and wine together
She really liked it!
Some of the boys cutting up
Alexa, Luke, and Chappell
Meg and Michelle
After our wine and chocolate tasting, a few of the girls got to feel little Sara Grace moving around. They were really excited to get to experience that!
Traci and Patrick
Yes, I did get a little crazy and go dark with the hair. I really like it right now (and Patrick approves, too), but I am not sure how long I will keep it this way.

Thanks for a great party, guys.
We really had a fun time!!!

My 11 month old baby!

Wow - Logan is already 11 months old! Time sure does fly when you have having fun and raising a baby!!! Logan does more and more every day. Where to begin...

His absolute favorite time of day is bathtime. As you can see, he has the best time and plays and plays. He loves to pull the drain up and watch the water drain out. He also likes to stand which we are working on keeping him from doing. We work on his holding a cup and drinking from it also while he is in the tub because he still will not hold a cup or bottle on his own. He has to be in the right position to do so. He'll get there though!
He is on a pretty great schedule right now. He usually wakes up around 7 and has his bottle. Then has his breakfast and goes back down for his morning nap around 9. Then, he gets up around 11 for another bottle and a veggie for lunch. Around 2-4'ish (depending on if we have to get Dylan from school) he goes back down for his afternoon nap which lasts about an hour and a half. Then he has another bottle and dinner at 5:30. Next is bathtime and he goes to bed at 7 each night. It is so nice to have him on this schedule and it really gives me time to plan my day and spend time with Patrick and Dylan at night!
During the day, Logan loves to crawl around and play with all his toys. He is so great at entertaining himself. His favorite toys are his little house, firetruck, anything with balls, and for sure the remote or telephone!
Here he is chewing on our phone and he did manage to call Stanley Steemer one day for me. That was quite embarrassing. He even had them on speaker phone. I know it is my fault for letting him play with it though!
We also pretend we are talking to daddy during the day. This picture shows Logan holding the phone "up to his ear" talking to daddy. It was kind of weird because right after we were pretending to talk with daddy on the phone, daddy called and he really got to talk with him.
Logan loves to talk and hear people on the phone. He can't quite figure out how they get in there though.

Logan loves to push his firetruck around the house (and anything else that is mobile). He does have a temper, so when he runs into something and can't get the truck moved to where he can continue moving, he tends to scream. We are working on sign language right now. He has signed "more" so far and we are working on several others. Our goal is to teach him to communicate with us by signing rather than screaming.
Santa brought Logan this little house for Christmas and it has been a wonderful addition to all his toys. His favorite thing on it is the doorbell. And when you press any button, shut the window, open the door, etc., usually music will play and Logan will dance. It is so cute to watch him just bounce up and down to the music. The only bad part is when he gets other toys playing music at the same time - it would give you a headache!
One of the sweetest things Logan does is when he is in bed. He loves his paci's. He sleeps with a bed full of them. He likes to have one in his mouth and one in each hand. We will watch him on the monitor sometimes and he will just roll around in the crib with those paci's and trade them in and out of his mouth, play with them, and then sometimes he likes to throw them out. He knows though that when he gets out of his crib he has to leave the paci's in there. He is really good to throw them down either before I pick him up or while I stand there, he throws them down and we hope they land in the crib. Then we walk over and he pushes the button to turn his music off. He pretty much points at everything all the time now, so it is pretty easy to just guide his little finger to the button.

The other day we were at lunch and Logan kept trying to chew on the table and Patrick kept pulling him off and telling him "no." Well one time, Patrick pointed at him and was getting on to him about it and Logan just pointed back at him and was yelling something jibberish. It was so funny. We are going to be sooo bad the older he gets. It is really hard not to laugh at all the cute and funny things he does - even if they are not appropriate.

Logan,

Happy 11 months!

We all love you and look forward to all the great things we get to experience. You truly are a blessing in our lives and we love you so much!

Love, Momma, Daddy, Blake, and Dylan