This Face...

How can I not be absolutely in love with this face...even if he was turning the TV off of my favorite show! Our evenings have been busy. Steve is finishing up painting the outside of the house. By the time we get dinner and everyone bathed it's 10:00p.m.

Need some advice from all the other moms out there...you'd think I would know these things since I'm a nurse but I don't! Do you really have to wait until the day your kid turns one to start introducing cows milk? I know it should not be their primary source of nutrition. Logan is weaning himself from nursing. Last night when I put him to breast all he would do is bite...little stinker. I know part of it is that he's getting a couple of bottom teeth in. So, I thought, ok I will just pump. What a joke! Pump for three ounces of milk...after 7 hours without him nursing.

He doesn't sleep well when we give him a big formula bottle before bed. I probably did a big no, no...gave him part formula and part whole milk. I figure he's 11 months old. Two ounces of milk isn't going to kill him. He slept from 10:00 p.m. to 4:45 a.m.

So that brings me to our next question...tricks to entice them with the sippy cup? I actually measured yesterday. Out of the entire day he only took about 2 1/2 ounces from the stupid thing. I know he isn't getting enough fluids from nursing. We've tried every different kind of cup. I have taken all the valves out because he won't suck at all with the valves in. I just can't see weaning him from the breast to a bottle. He really isn't attatched to bottles.

>I know give him time, right? I'm trying to be patient but I must admit it isn't one of my strong suits!

Texas Caviar

I made this yummy salsa-like dip for the get together on sunday. Head on over to MckMama's blogs where I stole the recipie to check it out.

Family Get Together

Cousin Mayzie pouting in the corner...
Silly Brylie
Mayzie's big blue eyes.

This afternoon we went to Haven for lunch with Steve's family. The kids were loud and crazy, the food and company were great...but I was so glad to be back home. I feel like all we've done all weekend is go, go, go!

Cousin Sleepover

What a ham...
Yummy measuring spoons
Playing with Cousin Brylie
Sticking toes in Nana's fish pond.

Brylie was purely entertaining last night. On top of entertaining Logan, she had me in a fit of laughter several times. I forogt how open and honest and without any filter four year olds are. I wish I could share each thing she said that made me laugh but here are a few...

Brylie: Where's Christopher?

Holli: He's with his mom, he'll be here in a bit.

B: But you're his mom.

H: No, actually I'm his step mom.

B: Why do you have to be so mean to kids?

The stereostype she has with stepmoms must be really bad...

Then, we were in the kitchen cooking dinner...

Steve: The hot dogs are done.

H: Well the fries are not.

S: Well I'm gonna get them off the grill anyway.

Brylie: When are we eating?

H: When the fries are done.

B: Your dad said the hot dogs were ready NOOOWWW.

She's a little confused about who is who. She calls Steve my dad.

In the car on the way to Haven...just left El Dorado.

B: Are we there yet?

H: No Brylie we aren't even close to there yet.

Five seconds later...

B: Are we halfway there yet?

S: Oh my God, are we really starting this already?

There were several things I'd like to share that she said but for the privacy of all involved and out of respect I will keep my fingers quiet...

A Full Day

I went to see my great-great granny today!

I did NOT want to sit still for a picture.

Granny let me talk on the phone...

...and she had a green apple that proved to be the best toy ever!

My Great Grandma Carver hadn't seen Logan for several months so today we made a road trip to see her. We picked up Grandma(Logan's Great Grandma) on the way and off we went. I was shocked when Grandma told me Great Granny was in the hospital...should be getting released and we were going to pick her up. She had several small strokes this week but is doing better. We waited for a little over an hour at the hospital. Logan was great. I dropped my phone outside trying to get everyone in the car and cracked the screen...rats...there's another $50.

We got everyone loaded in the car and pulled out from the hospital. Then, the car started dinging telling me it was overheated and to stop the engine. I pulled over and shut it off thinking maybe the thermostat was just out of whack. Turned it back on, same message. We made it to the pharmacy to pick up Granny's new meds. I tried to call Steve but he was too busy at work to talk. Ok, I told myself. I'm not sitting in the 100 degree weather in full sun in the car. I foud out there was a dealership in town and called. They were located way on the other side of town...called them and they recommended letting the car sit for at least an hour prior to driving there.

So we drove the few blocks back to Granny's. By then Steve had called and I convinced him he needed to come rescue us. So, he drove to Winfield to assess the situation. A bucket of water later all was well...drat...if I had known that was all it needed I could have done that! I'll know next time.

We drove to Augusta and toured an educational learning center we are considering for Logan instead of the home daycare he's currently in. We're ready for something new and different with a bit more structure. We will miss Jamie though and will probably visit her now and then.

What a day...Mommy's exhausted...Daddy's outside painting. He never stops going! Now I know where the boys get it from. Cousin Brylie is coming to spend the night tomorrow. Family get together with Nina's family is coming up on Sunday. Another busy weekend is ahead!

Weekly Zoo Day

Logan and Payton touching a bearded dragon
Tired baby

Sleepy tiger

We came to see the bears but Logan loved the drain instead of watching the bears!

We're finally big enough to ride the horsey!


We went to the zoo today before it got too hot outside. The kids were so well behaved. We attended the animal encounter and they got to pet a bearded dragon! Super fun!

Family Reunion 2010 part 2

Logan and Aunt Kate
Trouble!
What can I get into now?
Tired boys...

Family Reunion 2010

Well first I have to start by saying that I left my camera at home and took absolutely no pics of my own at the lake. The two pics above are courtesy of Aunt Kate. I do have more pics coming from a cousin but heaven only knows when!

My dads family gets together every year at Council Grove...we stay at the lake and do nothing but hang out as a family. We play cards, fish, ski, tube and knee board. This year my child taught me some new activites. Playing in the nice cool mud turned out to be Logan's favorite! He crawled around on the concrete and got into everything! There are two boys about his age and he was soooooo well behaved compared to them. They screamed and whined the entire time.

We cheated at night...we usually tent camp but daddy wasn't even up for attempting it this year. I must admit our air conditioned motel room was nice to go rest in every evening.

It was hot, hot, hot, HOT! More to come...Logan is throwing a fit at the moment.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

My boys crack me up! If there is a pillow on the floor and someone is laying on it, Logan thinks he needs to lay his head down too. Of course he never goes to sleep...just makes a big dramatic show out of plopping himself down. It is so sweet though and Christopher never tires of showing Logan things to do!

My Messy Boy

Daddy was feeding Logan the other day and these messy pictures are the result. I think he had more on him than he got IN him. It's been a busy weekend with something to do it seems everyday. Today we are doing Sunday lunch with Nana and Papa then running up to Cassoday to hlpe Ethi clean the new house and get to move in. She bought her childhood home and is so excited. I haven't seen this house for over 10 years so it should be fun to go back.

We had so much fun playing at her house as kids...tormenting kittens...playing with baby rabbits...feeding her bucket calves for 4-H...jumping out of the hayloft....running around in the garden and sand box without any clothes on...I'm sure our mothers were in heaven because we were always exhausted by the end of the day! It will bring back memories for sure. I hope someday Logan gets to go play with a cousin of his own out on her farm.

Nice July Zoo Day With Payton

What a gorgeous day today!

A Little Too Much Excitement

Who does this hair belong to?

Tonight we had dinner with Nana and Papa. Logan was really grouchy as has been his mode for the past few days. After dinner he breastfed and fell asleep for about twenty minutes...woke up a whole new kiddo!

Daddy was entertaining Logan and Momy took the opportunity to take Colby out to potty...little did she know this would be the most exciting part of the night!

Our house has two garages...one built with the house that is barely big enough to hold a Model T and another built on at a later date. We have doors through the kitchen that lead through one, then the other. Colby got all the way to the second door then started freaking out!

He was biting furiously at a broom head next to Steves work bench...then I heard it...grrrrr...I grabbed him and started screaming "HONEY, HONEY, HONEY I NEED YOU!!!" I dragged Colby outside and Steve who heard my cries was right behind. He said, "There's a possum in there!" Dear Lord...like we needed more drama for the night!

So, if you guessed correctly here is the head of the creature...little head but quite a big body!

Yummy Salsa

This morning we made salsa. I don't know why but for some reason my yellow tomato plants always do so much better than my reds. Thats true again this year. I only had one red tomato so the salsa was made entirely out of yellow tomatoes. It looks so fresh and summery and tastes great too! Here's my recipe:

Summer Salsa
32 oz of tomatoes(skinned)
1/2 red onion
1/2-1 jalapeno pepper
1 T garlic powder
2 T fresh cilantro
salt to taste

You can either use a chopper or a blender. We like ours to have some consistency so we tend not to use the blender. Yum, yum, yum!

Logan's 1st 4th of July

What a weekend! It all started after the carpet installation Thursday and Friday which by the way is being finished today. Logan's rash seems to be getting better but this morning he stuck his tongue out at me and he has thrush now! If it isn't one thing it's another. I guess there are some perks to being a NICU nurse. Of course the doctors office is closed but when I called to talk ot the doctor he said, "You know what thrush is...sure you see it all the time in the nurseries...I'll call in some nystatin."

Then the real fun begins. Nystatin to his cheeks and to my boobs four times a day. Just what I want to do! This means sterilizing nipples from bottles after every feeding for my hubby when I'm gone. I'm just thankful he doesn't have a diaper rash...yet. Hopefully we caught it soon enough. I'm done ranting about that now.

We actually celebrated the 4th a bit early shooting off our fireworks on 6/30 and 7/1. Christopher went back to his mom's last night and we didn't want anyone to miss out on the fun. Logan was mesmerized by the fireworks. He just sat there and stared at them. He wasn't scared at all but didn't really know what to think either. Last night Aunt Kate came over and we watched all the neighbors act like idiots.

We always miss Uncle AJ but especially missed him last night. He and Luke always put on a big redneck fireworks show on the 4th that was quite hysterical to watch. Miss you AJ! Hope you had a good 4th.