SNOW!

It actually snowed in Baytown, as many of you may know, on December 10th. It was such a good surprise, because I knew it was going to be really cold that night, but I was expecting sleet, not 3+ inches of snow! And the funny thing is we would have probably missed the whole thing if it weren't for the girls, our furbabies :-).

Logan had already gone to bed and Michael went to let the girls out to go potty one last time before we went to bed and when he opened the door it was snowing! My mom had called earlier from my sister's house in La Porte and said it was snowing, but I was skeptical until I saw it myself. I wanted to wake Logan up, but Michael said, "how you you like it if someone woke you up out of your peaceful sleep to take you outside in 33-degree weather?" When he put it that way it didn't sound like such a smart idea since he's not old enough to appreciate it anyway.

Bailey just loved it once she got over the initial cold shock. Zoey & Bailey both ran around like wild animals, but Zoey was ready to go in after a few minutes. Here is Bailey trying to get Zoey to play. Z looks pitiful, doesn't she?


Here's B trying to bury her "bird" in the snow. It's actually a rope bone they they play fetch with.

We had to make her come inside and then Michael let her go out again a little later and we took more pictures because the snow just kept falling. Here's a picture of the palm tree in our back yard the first time we went outside.

Here's the poor thing when we went back out an hour or so later.
Here's our house the next morning.
The pictures I took that night of the house didn't turn out too well. I couldn't figure out how to get the camera to focus on the house and not the snow that was falling right in front of me, especially in the dark. That's definitely something I'd like to learn how to do, but not a technique I will be using very often.

I wish Logan could have seen and played in the falling snow, but I'm sure there will be many more opportunities for him to experience that. Hopefully the next "big" snow fall won't follow a major hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast. I guess the snow surprise was God's way of helping us forget, if only for a few hours, the horrible aftermath of Ike and reminding us that with Him, anything is possible.

Logan's 1st Thanksgiving

So, I'm behind; what's new. I finally have a chance during lunch to put the few pics I have up. My mom has a couple of cute ones of him standing, but I don't have them electronically yet.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Here's Logan pre-lunch in his AgHorn shirt.

Talk about a confused baby! Michael and I argued over what he would wear for the big A&M/UT game and he ended up wearing neither school's colors. He was asleep before it had been on an hour anyway. I did sneak in an Aggie paci, though, and notice the table he's sitting at. :-)

Logan loves sweet potatoes (especially when they are coated in sugar) and rolls, but he tried some other dishes, too. He actually eats pretty healthy (green peas are his favorite finger food) and Thanksgiving, with all it's delicious sides, isn't the most healthy meal.

Here he is with his sweet potatoes in my high chair from when I was a baby. Holly and I both used it. :-)

It was a very good Thanksgiving. After all, we do have multiple blessings to be thankful for: a healthy, happy baby; our families; our friends; our health; and always having what we need. And I got to eat most of my meal before Logan decided he was done and it was nap time!

25th Percentile!

I just wanted to share Logan's good news before I get too far behind since I haven't even posted Thanksgiving pics yet. Michael took him for a weight check the day before Thanksgiving since he's been in the 5th percentile since he was 6 months old. We've been having to go in for weight checks every month since then and he's stayed consistent at 5-10th percentile. But now he is in the 25th percentile! Michael said the nurse was so excited and said he looked really good. Honestly, we didn't think he was skinny before, but apparently babies should be downright chunky to be considered "healthy." Too bad that expectation changes as you get older, huh?

Hopefully I'll get the Thanksgiving pics up soon. It hasn't been at the top of my priority list, with Logan's birthday and Christmas coming up. But I did get my blog background changed!

Two special people, one very special day

My two sweethearts, Michael and Logan, were baptized at St. Mark's United Methodist Church on Sunday. It was a wonderful day, especially since our families and some of our closest friends shared it with us. We didn't take any pictures during the service, so we didn't capture an image of my favorite moment, but I will certainly never forget it.

Michael was kneeling after he was baptized and the minister, associate pastor, and chaplain were laying hands on him. Mike, the pastor, asked me to put my hand on him, as well, so I put my left hand on Michael's back. I was holding Logan on my right hip when he reached forward to lay a hand on Daddy, too. He put his little hand on Daddy's back and my heart just melted. I think it was the sweetest thing I've seen him do yet, even if he didn't realize how precious it was.

Here we are with Pastor Mike after the service.

Here we are with Michael's side of the family. GG (we nicknamed Logan's great grandma Lucile that this weekend) even came all the way from Phlugerville with a handmade quilt for Logan.

Here's the Roberts and Shaw crew.

We barely all fit in the picture, plus it's hard to get a great picture of this many people and a baby who's getting fussy. You can see Aunt Kari peeking out between Michael and me. You can tell we were on borrowed time (from Logan, of course).

By the end of all that picture-taking (because there were many cameras and multiple pictures taken) Logan had just about had enough. But we still wanted a picture with Melissa and Kylie, our good friends who came all the way from Austin. Michael and I are Kylie's godparents and she just loves "baby Logan," as she calls him. I was determined to get a picture, but Logan had other ideas, like lunch and a nap!

Here's our first attempt. If you look close, you can see the cross embroidered on Logan's sock.

We finally gave up with picture etiquette and Michael put Logan on his shoulders, where he knew he would be happy.

And he was! So much for perfectly posed pictures; we have great memories that are worth more than photographs ever will be. And thank you, again, to all of you who were there with us, to support us and share in our joy. We are truly blessed to have you in our lives!

A sweet tooth already?

Here are the pictures we took of Logan on Halloween night, when we passed out candy. Michael and Logan went to Wal-Mart that day and bought enough candy for the entire neighborhood, so we had plenty leftover. After we emptied a box of Junior Mints we let Logan play with the box until he tried to chew a piece off. He doesn't yet know what candy is, but I'm afraid it was foreshadowing of things to come. Michael and I have such sweet tooths that I don't know if there is any hope for Logan avoiding it. But we have tried not to keep too much sweet stuff in the house recently. There is always ice cream in the freezer, though!

These are just some pictures we took the other day that I thought were cute.

Logan's first deer lease trip

I thought I would take a minute during lunch to post our pictures from last weekend. I don't want to get behind again. We went to Michael's deer lease. I had never been to this particular property and it was Logan's first visit to any lease, so Michael was pretty excited. The 5 1/2-hour drive wasn't too much fun, but Logan really was a good sport.

We drove around in the truck with Michael while he checked feeders and cameras (we were getting pretty bored in the camper with no TV, radio, and a limited amount of toys and books and wanted to see the ranch). We figured since we were on private property, going about 5 mph Logan didn't have to ride in his car seat. He sat in my lap in the front seat and was so excited once he realized he didn't have to ride in his car seat. He was bouncing up and down and watching Daddy's every move as he drove. Then Daddy let him sit in his lap and he was simply giddy. When Michael had to get out for a minute, he handed Logan to me and he threw a little fit because he had to move. He loves the steering wheel.

Actually, I took Michael's truck to work today so he we didn't have to move the car seat (yes, he's almost outgrown the infant seat!) and Michael and Logan walked me out because Logan fussed when I tried to leave. When he saw me get in the truck he got all excited because he thought he was going to get to "drive." I had to let him stand in my lap and hold the steering wheel for a minute; then he "let" me leave.

We took a ride on the ranch-owner's 2-seater ATV and Logan really liked that, too. But he didn't get a good nap that morning and was almost asleep by the time we got back to camp.

The other highlight of Logan's trip was meeting Hannah, the deer. She showed up at camp last year and the guys have been feeding her ever since. We fed her carrots and celery, which we discovered she liked enough to eat through the plastic bag! She's a bit pushy and not very timid, as you can see. I couldn't get those carrots to her fast enough.

"What, there's a camera? Dang, I wasn't smiling. Take another one, Daddy!"
Logan wasn't afraid of her, either.
He even tried to eat the carrot, but Hannah was still right there, waiting.

Those of you who know us well know that my dad, brother, and husband are all avid deer hunters. And I'm sure you're wondering how Daddy will teach his little boy to hunt if he's used to petting and feeding a deer. Well, once the carrots were gone Hannah thought Logan's finger was a carrot and gave it a little nibble, much to Logan's distaste. I don't think she really hurt him; it didn't even leave a mark, but it certainly scared him and he got pretty upset. So, Daddy might make a deer hunter out of him yet.

I'm well aware that hunting contradicts everything I said in my last post about innocent animals dying. But, like I said, I was born into and then married into a crew of devoted hunters. I've hunted and killed a deer before, but I felt so bad that I don't know that I could do it again. Especially after meeting Hannah.

Rest in Peace Mac

I just heard today that Mac, the youngest of 6 elephants at the Houston Zoo, passed away Sunday from a viral illness. It saddens my heart when any innocent animal dies, but especially such a young, well-loved one. Mac just had his 2nd birthday on October 1. We took a picture of Mac and his playmate, Tucker, when we visited a few weeks ago; they were running around, entertaining their attentive audience.

Here's another pic of Mac and Tucker showing off, courtesy of the Houston Zoo's website.
My heart is also still very sad from the passing of Duncan, my mother-in-law, Carlie's, chocolate lab. He was such a sweet, gentle dog and he will be dearly missed by his pals, Lucy and Zoey, and all of his people-friends. I know he is running around in doggy heaven, though, peeing on everything and having the time of his life, pain-free. He was at least 10 years old, but had the heart of a puppy, especially when he swam. Here he is on the right with Zoey and Major, the determined Yorkie.

I'm sorry to bring up two heart-wrenching subjects at once, but I wanted to pay tribute to our animal friends who will always be loved and will be dearly missed.

And, don't to forget to thank a veteran today for all they have done to protect our freedom and our country!

Logan's first trip to the zoo

We went to the Houston Zoo a week or two before Halloween. We obviously weren't thinking clearly; that's what sleep deprivation (since Logan's waking up at least once a night again) and the sheer joy of seeing a smile on your baby's face will do to you. Anyway, we recently discovered Logan's love of animals and spontaneously decided to take a trip to the zoo that weekend. Usually we have things like this on the calendar for weeks or they don't happen, but we were so excited to see Logan's reaction to so many different animals that we thought, "why not?" I guess we weren't thinking about traffic (part of I-10 is down to one lane in Baytown) and the hoard of people that are probably always at the zoo on a Saturday, especially considering the perfect weather. And I-10 probably wasn't the best route anyway, regardless of the traffic, but we weren't thinking about that either.

We finally made it to the zoo after much frustration and trouble finding a parking spot (Logan did get a good nap in, though). Not to mention they had the main zoo entrance blocked off. I think we drove around the zoo about 3 times before we finally found the parking lot that wasn't blocked off. Then it was so full that I felt like I was back at A&M, driving around the Zachry lot looking for a spot. It was usually so bad that you just sat at the end of a row and waited for someone to leave. We were almost to that point when we saw a family leaving and snatched their spot, in the shade, too!

It was all worth it to see the look of awe on Logan's face. He loves to watch people, so at first it was hard to get him to focus on the animals, not the interesting assortment of people passing by. We went to see the elephants first and he was speechless. He didn't make a sound at first, but just sat and watched in awe, perched on Daddy's shoulders. The two baby elephants were playing; it was pretty cute. The animal Logan really loves and sees every day is a dog (several, actually), so now he thinks all animals are dogs and started saying, "dagga" to the elephants.

I think the giraffes were his favorite. He called them "dagga," too. We tried to get a good pic in front of the giraffes, but he was still people watching...
and giraffe watching...
then we finally got a good one!

He really liked the meerkats, I think because they were right there on his level and he could watch them scurry around and play in the sand. You can't actually see any of them in this picture, so you'll have to use your imagination.

By the end of the day (we were really only there for a few hours) he was exhausted, but I think he enjoyed it.

Our Lil' Punkin

Logan had portraits taken last Friday because I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some good shots of him in his pumpkin outfit. I just really can't do him justice yet with our new camera. I'm still learning. I do take plenty of practice shots, but I don't have the lighting and backdrop that really makes a difference.

It was so funny, because Michael bought the little brown shoes Logan's wearing a few weeks ago, but we had never put them on him. We put his outfit on and we both had a shoe, trying to get them on. They almost wouldn't go on, but we were determined and all three of us were laughing by the time we got them on.

This was one of the first pictures the photographer took. He was in a pretty good mood, but tired because he didn't want to take a nap that morning. How is it that babies know when they really NEED to take a nap because they have a big day ahead and they refuse?! Anyway, the first few came out pretty cute.

This is one of my favorites. :-)

I think he was starting to get tired of being photographed here (or the hot pumpkin suit!), but it still made for a very good picture. The photographer called it an "eyelash" shot. Whatever you call it, I think it's precious.

My favorite things

In response to Alice Ann's blog from almost a month ago (yes, we've already established that I'm behind) here are a few of the things I've grown to appreciate since becoming a mom.

• HGTV, especially House Hunters and Property Virgins - they come on every night and I watch them after Michael and Logan go to bed :-) - I'm hooked!
• DVR, so I can watch Desperate Housewives in one sitting
• Parents magazine, along with Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living - the best for parenting tips and recipes
• Anita soft cup nursing bra and Blue Canoe Jane's bra top - I searched high and low and these are by far my favorites
• Lansinoh nursing pads
• Like Remica said, the Boppy has gotten a lot of use at our house, too; I caught Bailey (one of our dogs) snoozing on it this morning :-)
• Nurse n Glow nursing pillow - for nighttime and early morning feedings in bed; it was great until the LED's (I think that's what they are) started going out
• Our new Maclaren Volo stroller - it's perfect for walks, is lightweight, and can zip through a crowd of people (trust me, Michael tried it at the zoo the other day)
• Graco Pack n Play - Logan slept in the bassinet part for several months in our room and still plays in the play pen when I get ready in the morning if he's up

The pack n play also keeps Bailey from obsessively licking Logan

My favorite baby things:

• Philips Avent iQ Electronic Bottle and Baby Food Warmer - it's fast and the formula usually ends up the right temperature; Logan even knows what the beep means when it's ready
• I have to agree with AA and Remica on the pump; mine is the Ameda Purely Yours Double Electric - it was cheaper than Medela and worth it's weight in gold, no telling how much money we saved on formula!
• Pampers diapers and Huggies wipes; we tried Huggies diapers and they aren't bad, but I think Pampers are still our favorite
• Aveeno diaper rash cream; it's the only one I've tried that doesn't stink and isn't as messy as some
• The bouncy seat and play mat before Logan could sit up on his own and now the walker and jumperoo - they keep him entertained while I get chores done
• Kozy Pal cart cover - it fits on all shopping carts and restaurant high chairs and keeps the germs off and gives the seat a little padding
• Gerber fruit puffs - these things are life savers when we are out to eat and Logan wants what we're eating; they dissolve, making them a good first finger food for learning to chew
• YoBaby yogurt - Logan will eat almost anything, but he loves his yogurt; when he's tired and fussy from teething sometimes this is all he will eat!
• Avent pacifiers - I think most moms probably think "my baby won't use paci's", but, yes, at 3AM, you tend to change your thinking and do whatever makes baby happy
• Johnson's baby Q-tips - they are big enough that they won't damage baby's ear canal, but go far enough in to clean little ears; we just discovered that Logan sits so still when I use them because he finds it relaxing - I've found my new secret weapon!

Logan's first Canton trip

We took our first trip to Canton as a family a couple of weeks ago. Well, I go every year with my parents and Logan went last year (in utero), but it was Michael's first time to go with us. I think I had the most fun, but Logan didn't seem to mind being along for the ride. He had it made, as you can see, with Ellie to entertain him, to boot.

He was good, for the most part, and didn't try to climb out of the wagon. He loves to play with Ellie's leash.
He even kept his hat on. I was so proud of my little guy!
Here he is all dressed up in his new pants and crocs (please make a note; he's got shoes on!), ready to go shopping. It was pretty chilly in the mornings, but by lunch he had the pants and shoes off. At least he wore shoes for a little while...
Poor Logan was exhausted by the end of the day. Looking cute and riding around in a wagon or stroller all day is hard work, you know. But, I have to say, he was a really good sport.

Logan's 9-month checkup

I can't believe Logan is already 9 months old, but the calendar doesn't lie. Actually, he's almost 10 months, but I'm a little behind, so humor me. We went for his 9-month checkup about a week after he actually turned 9 months. I wasn't dreading this one since he wasn't due for any vaccines. He ended up getting a flu shot, but one shot is better than four, right?! His weight is still on the low side (5-10 percentile), but his height and head circumference are at 25-50 and 75 percentiles, so that's good news. He just has a high metabolism, I guess! The doctor said it is fine if he stays in that percentile as long as he doesn't drop off the chart next time. She told me to put butter in his baby food :-0 and to come back in a month for a weigh-in. I have yet to spoon feed saturated fat to my baby, but he has tried avocado and loves it. I feel better about that since it's high in calories and fat, but it's unsaturated fat, which is exactly what he needs. I also put a little extra formula in his bottles. He doesn't look underweight to us, and he's otherwise healthy and happy so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing for now.

9 months is also when they take blood and test for common issues, one of which is anemia. Nana Kay took Logan to get his blood taken a few days after his checkup so he didn't have to get pricked twice in one day. She said Logan sat in her lap and the nurse raised his foot and pricked his big toe. He didn't cry! Then the nurse squeezed his toe to get a sample into the glass slide things they use and said, according to my mom, "this is usually the part babies hate." And he still didn't cry! He just watched her do her job. He's so curious and is just growing up so fast.

Here Logan is in the parking lot of the hospital trying to pull the band-aid off already.

Needless to say, my mom let him pull it off and then took it away. I had warned her about band-aids, after reading an article about a 5-month old who swallowed one. Then, what did I do? I left his band-aid on from his flu shot until he took a bath and didn't even think about it! To my credit, it was on his leg and it would have been pretty difficult for him to get it off himself and he wasn't nearly as interested in it as he was in the one on his toe. But, regardless, I'm going to try to follow my own advice a little more closely in the future, especially that about safety.

We survived Hurricane Ike

I'm trying to get the hang of blogging, but I can't seem to find the time between being a mom, cooking dinner, doing laundry, and tidying up between visits from our cleaning service. I could update it while Logan's napping on the weekend, but 2 hours sure flies by fast when you've got all those other things to do. Before I know it he's awake and on the move again. I could update it after he goes to bed on week nights, but I'm addicted to HGTV and that seems to occupy my time while I get lunch and Logan's stuff ready for the next day. Of course, I should also use that time to exercise, but I haven't been motivated enough to do that either. One of these days... We do take lots of walks, though, especially since it's not so hot, but now we have mosquitoes to contend with. I know, excuses, excuses.

Anyway, I digress. I was just thinking about how I have lots of stuff I could blog about, but not enough time to post it. But I found a spare moment, so I thought I'd share how we fared the hurricane with those of you I haven't already talked to about it. We, along with everyone else in my family, were very fortunate. We have several shingles missing from our roof. Well, they aren't really missing; they are stacked neatly on a window sill on our back porch for the adjuster to view if we ever get a hold of him. But that's not where they belong, so we're hoping he'll agree that we need a new roof. And a couple of sections of our fence were knocked down, but Michael had them up in no time. He's such a handyman. We couldn't trust our dogs not to wander into the neighbors' back yard, so he fixed it as soon as he could. One of the "whirly birds" (you know, the spinny things they used to use, before ridge vents) on our roof came loose during the storm, but our wonderful neighbor climbed up there and put it back on (we were at my parents' house in Cleveland). I think the winds had died down by that point, but it was still raining. So we had minimal water get into the attic and no damage to speak of. Others around Baytown and LaPorte, where my sister Holly lives, were not so lucky. There are whole houses demolished and others whose contents were completely ruined by rising water. Several of the houses in our neighborhood have pretty big pine trees on them. I guess that's a risk you take when you live in a subdivision called Pinehurst.

Our power was only out for a week, thank goodness, and we had a generator running our fridge, freezer, and a window unit in the bedroom at night. Logan and I stayed at my parents' house Saturday night after the storm while Michael went home to assess the damage. My dad had a generator running part of the time to keep the fridge cold and we turned a fan on to keep Logan cool. It was still pretty warm, so Logan was wearing nothing but a diaper most of the time.

He is wearing a diaper in this picture! And, no, he couldn't reach the fan with his hands. I know at 9 months old we should be breaking him of the paci soon, but it keeps him from putting other things in his mouth. I bet those parents whose kids still have paci's at the age of 4 said that, too, when their kids were babies. :-0 Anyway, he developed an interest in flash lights while there was no electricity since we were all carrying them around. He thought he needed one, too, so we found this little plastic one, removed the batteries and let him play with it, supervised of course. He really doesn't need toys, like my mom says, he's just as happy with Tupperware (Gladware, these days).

Besides the heat, Logan didn't know anything was going on. He enjoyed all the attention and we took walks every day. After all, what else were we going to do but play with him? It was a good break and I really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with him and Michael, but after a week off work, with no electricity, we had all the songs on his Fisher Price activity table memorized. I'm still trying to get them out of my head!

Rockport 2008

Logan took his first trip to Rockport this year and even got in the canal! Here he is in the big float Nana Kay and Papa Dave brought. Here he is in his float, inside the big float, just kicking back and relaxing.

Here's Logan and cousin Kaleb.

Logan eating

Logan loves his baby food and you can't feed it to him fast enough! Sometimes he wants to help.

He's thinking, "where's my food!?!?"

Happy baby with a full tummy!

The next Michael Phelps

Logan loves the water. Of course we haven't dunked him yet, but he doesn't mind getting water on his face. He just loves floating around and hanging out. But we have to make sure he's shaded or covered in sunscreen because he's got his mom's complexion!

This was his first swim in Nana Kay's pool. He's a natural!

This was his very first swim (in Lake Travis in Austin). The water was a little chilly still since it was only May, but he's such a good sport. He didn't seem to mind, at least not for the few minutes we stayed in.

More pictures from Nana Kay's. And, of course, the dogs have to be right there where the action is.

Swimming with Daddy (notice the mohawk).