Happy Halloween!

I have been so excited for Halloween this year, because Logan has been excited about Trick-or-Treating! He picked out his own costume this year, and probably from here on out I imagine, and has wanted to be "Buzz Lightyear in his clothes" practically every day. He loves pretending to shoot bad guys with his laser and flying away with his jet pack and wingspan! This kid makes me smile and laugh so much...

Hunter is Russell from the Disney Pixar movie, Up. I know He doesn't understand the whole trick-or-treating thing, but doesn't he look too cute?!

I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did!

Vacation Photos

We went on a family vacation at the end of August to Page to visit with my Dad and Kathryn and the kids. We had a great time with family and even old friends, and as always with vacations it went by too fast! Enjoy some pictures of our vacation and Hunter's 1st Birthday (the awesome cake was made by Kathryn with some help from me too):

ONE!! (sorry for the delay in posting)

Hunter William is ONE! Can you believe it?! It feels like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital... my how time can fly!

(newcomer to the outside world)

(6 months old)

(1 year!)

Hunter is a wonderful baby... well I guess he's not so much a baby anymore but technically a toddler, but you get what I mean. He is not afraid of anything and wants to do everything! He started walking just before 9 months (trying to keep up with his big brother no doubt) and he's very vocal no matter if it's happy chatter or if he's letting you know he wants something right now! He loves music and dancing (I think he gets it from my side of the family) and I think he's already developing selective hearing ;)... I am so blessed to have him (as well as Logan and Robert too but this isn't about them) and I excited to see what the future beholds!

My First Bountiful Basket

I have been introduced to Bountiful Baskets (thanks Jackie)... a wonderful co-op for produce. This is my first time participating, and I have no doubt that it won't be my last. Saving money, eating healthy, and supporting local (as close to local as possible) growers - What more could you ask for right? I was so very excited to see what I would get in my basket this week! I also added a nine grain bread to my basket which I hear is delish! Anyhow, this weeks goods are:

• Cantaloupe
• Grapes
• Bananas
• Mangoes (huge ones I might add)
• White Plums
• Peaches
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes
• Yellow onion
• 6 ears of corn
• Broccoli
• Romaine lettuce
• Green Chilis (No kidding I got 23 chilis!!!)
• 5 loaves of 9-grain bread (an addition to the basket for $10 and it is soooooo good -I made a piece of toast so I could test the deliciousness)

I was surprised at the amount you get for $15... seriously this would easily be $40 at a grocery store!

I arrived early at the pick up site because this week was an Organic week as well so it was expected to be busier... Well I sure am glad I did because I ended up helping (the truck was late) so I got to pick an 'extra' (I got a 2nd head of lettuce) AND I got to be first in line for my basket :) It is strictly volunteer run so I think I'll show up early every time I get a basket so I can help too!

I am so excited to participate in this and change my eating habits as well as my families...

Logan couldn't wait to try something!

If you're interested check it out here http://www3.bountifulbaskets.org to see if there's a pick up near you!

Something New and Exciting (for us anyway)

We bought a new (new to us) minivan! Ok, so it was really a couple of weeks ago that we got it but better late than never, right?

Robert and I had been down to one vehicle for a while now, and for the most part it worked for us. What with Robert on the over-night shift and me working days we just traded off in the morning. We had been talking about wanting another vehicle that was roomier and at least had a/c vents for the rear passengers (IE. the boys) so they wouldn't be dripping with sweat five minutes into a ride somewhere. So I looked and looked, researched, and figured out what we could afford, and this is what we got:

I can now officially join the soccer mom minivan club! We LOVE it!!! And I owe a big thank you to my Dad... Thanks Dad for helping make this possible for us. We now have a roomier, cooler, more dependable vehicle to take our family the places we want to go!

Just a little funny, brought to you by Logan.

The other day Logan was playing with his trucks and of course Hunter wanted to play too or at least take a truck and chew on it (he's teething like mad now!). Logan didn't want Hunter to take his toys and "eat" them so he pushed Hunter away and Hunter fell on his butt and started to cry...

Mom: "Logan you need to be nice to Hunter! Don't push him because it's mean and he could get hurt."

Logan: "Aaaawwwhhh, now I have nothing to do mom!" (said in the most disappointed tone a two year old can have)

Logan is sooo funny sometimes! It amazes me how quickly this kid picks up on things and puts things together...

We have entered the world of potty training! (Sorry if there is tmi for you)

So, Logan is two and a half and I have been thinking it was time for us to really start potty training. We have had a potty around since Logan was just one-ish so he could get used it... well it became a toy, toy box, step stool to get whatever we didn't want him to have, etc. I was starting to think he would never show interest in being a big boy. He did show all the other signs of being 'ready' such as staying dry for longer periods of time (even through naps!), hiding or changing his stance when pooping, etc. but whenever you would ask if he wanted to try the potty he would refuse.

I have sought advise from friends and family who have been through the process before (thanks by the way!) and I ordered a book specifically geared towards potty training boys. The book, 'Potty training boys the easy way: helping your son learn quickly--even if he's a late starter', was great in my opinion. The style of training used in this book just felt right to me and was pretty much how we had already started with him without even knowing what we were doing.

So, from the advice from our training guide, we went to the store and let Logan pick out his own potty and big boy undies (cars, buzz lightyear, nemo, etc. of course!) in hopes that this would make him super excited to use the potty and be a big boy. Well... it worked!!! That same evening he went pee in the potty! He has since kept using the potty (pee pee wise) and even stops in the middle of playing to use it (if he's bare bottomed only though... were working on the undies and pulling them off and all that goodness).

We still have a ways to go, but I'm such a proud mommy that I had to share this with everyone...

Photo Thursday?

I recently got a new Blackberry phone and I am having fun figuring out all the things it can do. One of which is share photos and make blog posts...so this is my little experiment. Enjoy a photo on your Thursday from us to you!



Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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A couple of updates

Update #1 on Hunter's 6 month check up:


Hunter had his 6 month check up on Monday and he certainly is growing like a weed! He now weighs 17 pounds 8 ounces (putting him in the 50th percentile) and is 27.5 inches long (in the 90th percentile)! To think that when he was born he was barely touching the growth chart curve (<5th percentile) and he's now reaching the top of it, is crazy! He's doing great in all other developmental areas as well! He's on the verge of crawling and get so frustrated that he can't get to where he wants to and that he ends up further away from it (because he goes backwards!). Hunter is such a joy and a blessing in our lives! He is a happy baby, quite vocal, and very determined. He simply adores Logan and always looks for/watches him when we're all in the same room. I can't wait for all the brotherly love and fun yet to come!




Update #2 on Logan being afraid of the bath:



So, for at least two weeks we fought with Logan over bath time and tried everything possible to get him to calm down and just take a bath... Well one evening Robert had started to get the bath ready and of course Logan automatically ran to hide. I asked him why he was hiding and he said he was afraid of the bath, so I reassured him that the bath was nothing to be afraid of. I told him that he was dirty and needed to take a bath to get clean. "Dirty?" Logan asks... "Oh. Dirty? Bath clean me?" Yes, I reply... "Ok Mom." AND THAT WAS IT! He took his bath, no crying or fighting at all, and when he was finished he came and showed me how clean he was! I couldn't believe that all it took was me telling him he was dirty... Now we have a clean and happily playing in the bath Logan again. YAY!

Holy scary bathtub, Batman!

So, all of a sudden Logan is terrified to take a bath and it was literally over night that this change happened. Normally Logan would be hard to GET OUT of the bath because he was having too much fun splashing and playing... but the other night (actually about a week ago) apparently he saw a little piece of grass or something in the tub with him and it freaked him out! Robert got it out of the bath as fast as possible and showed Logan that everything was good, but he was still saying 'big bug' and clawing his way out of the tub. Let me add that Logan has never seen a bug in the tub because there has never been a bug in the tub... I don't know why he thought it was a bug in the first place. Since that night he has watched me bathe Hunter and we have shown him that there is nothing in the bathtub. Yet he still acts scared, and we can't not bathe him... I don't know what else to do to help him not be afraid. I've offered to let him shower with me, but he doesn't like the shower. We've tried to have him take a bath with Hunter so he can see that there's nothing to be afraid of, but that didn't work either. I am open to any suggestions here.

Oh, boy... it's been a while!

Why is it that I feel like I have no time at all?!? Oh wait, I have a two year old and a five month old. Now I get it. So let me take a minute to catch you up on everything that has been going on since.... Thanksgiving!

Well, Christmas was wonderful! We stayed here in Tucson and had Christmas Eve festivities with Robert's side of the family. All the kids were very spoiled and they had a blast with each other! There was a Cookie Monster pinata and a cake for Logan too. Hunter looked a bit terrified when we were singing to Logan- it was kind of funny. Christmas morning was spent opening yet even more presents and playing with all the toys Santa brought as well! Logan loves his new tricycle- Thanks Santa! I cooked a turkey with all the fixin's. Then we had more cake and birthday presents with Logan (This kid is not going to be missing out on anything having his birthday on Christmas!) in the evening. All in all this was a great holiday... I especially loved to see Logan's face light up when he saw what Santa had left for him and Hunter... or even any time he would look at the 'hoho tree'. And next year will be even more fun with Hunter being a more active participant too!

New Years... came and went. Robert had to work that night so I went to bed with the kids. I woke up just before midnight and sent out my text messages and went right back to sleep! It was kind of nice.

Since New Years we've basically been doing the same old thing... well all except Hunter! He is just growing like a weed and he's bound and determined to catch up with Logan! He can now sit by himself... not completely sturdy yet, but still by himself. He is also getting on all fours and starting to rock back and forth. Crawling here we come! Logan continues to stretch out... at his two year appointment he measured in the 90th percentile for everything. He's getting taller/leaner and definitely expanding his vocabulary! It's like a light switch was flipped on and now he's saying all sorts of things! One morning he said "NO Suki, I want the ball!" and it was pretty clear too!

I promise that I'll try to be better about posting in the future... I'll end this with a couple of pictures so you can see how big my boys are getting. Sigh.