Adjusting to Toddlerhood & Christmas update

Well, it seemed with moving out of my parents actual home into our new place (across the driveway from them.  We mostly love it.  My parents made it possible for our lives to be much easier and affordable.  We live in a beautiful home.  It's 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, a kitchen with actual counter space (thanks to "the bat cave" for perspective- aka one of my 1st apartments that had my table as counter space, and many other odd features), it fits everything we need.  We got to picked mustard yellow for most of the house/apartment a light blue green for the bathroom and uneventful colors for Logan and our room.  Love it...I got so tired of all the white in all my previous places, it was tempting to go for extremes as fire engine red and hot pink.  Thankfully I was sensible...

Moving out created some computer challenges, not to mention Jimmy's computer is out of commission and has been for a while.  Making updating blog posts particularly challenging.  So here is what is feeling like may be a marathon of blog posts :)

Notice our pretty walls...uh I mean the cutest child on planet earth

Christmas time.  The past few years have seemed really dry.  There is almost no excitment.  Children change everything, including my favorite holiday.  One of the most notable was the Portland International Raceway.  It is lit up with the 12 days of christmas and tunnels of lights.  Honestly if we went a year ago, I would have been disappointed spending the money for something so dull.  Then there's Logan...  I let him up front out of the car seat.  What a treat.  He started by plastering his face against the glass and squeal at every little light.  Then it was jumping over to Daddy and "driving" the car.  I thought it was all cute until he reached to point out our speedometer light and honked the horn.  Suddenly I was embarrassed all the people thought we were upset with how slow people were driving through it.  If there was any concern I had I was going to be bored...hah, that quickly disappated.

Logan is a natural at being the center of attention (which 1 year old isn't?).  He loved dressing up as Joseph.

Mary & Joseph

Christmas morning was rather dramatic.  We spent it with the whole family, which was a little overstimulation for Logan.  It was a challenge for this child to understand the the center of attention is not always on him, but drifts to multiple people opening presents.  Once the dust settled we did pretty good with him and his presents.  However, despite Jimmy's wishes this child loves to play pretend with Naomi's dolls and pushing her strollers around.  Such a sweet boy.  Granted the strollers often turn into him parking his slightly oversized tushy (in comparison to a doll's) into that too small doll stroller and have his Dad fly around the house like a mad man.

Christmas morning

Probaby one of the most empowering moments was our realization that there is a our authority to exercise our powers as parents.  Time out has revolutionized our life.  He initially was in time outs frequently over being too loud after being warned, tossing food off his high chair, chucking the wash cloth out of the bath tub when he has been told multiple times no, getting into thing he has been told not to, biting, and whatever else a 1 year knows he can challenge the waters with.  Every day is not perfect, but he now is almost never in time out.  You either start counting to "3" and he stops to think about it and changes his mind now.  Honestly he is a great little one.  Below is our "time out corner", probably a little ineffective this time with it being a minor photo session from Dad.

Time-out

Logan LOVES to be outside.  This cold weather is challenging us all.  Hence probably why we got so desparate and came to the realization of time-outs.  Logan quickly picked up how to stay up on the swing and here is proof below.  Just working on the pumping and avoiding getting distracted by the cats.

Swinging

Puddle Jumping

One of Logan's ultimate favorite past times of all is Elmo.  If I ever need an instant babysitter, it is Elmo.  Elmo makes dinner time possible.  Elmo makes my sanity possible.  Who knew that I would grow to love such an obnoxious voice.

Elmo watching

When Elmo and outdoors are not occurring (and he is not getting into trouble), Logan is using all his powers to get us to read him stories.  Tonight for example, we have this "Heads" book.  It has all these pop-outs and pull outs.  It takes all our attention to keep him from destroying the book, he LOVES it.  Tonight after reading it about 4 times, we couldn't take it anymore.  It got chucked out of his reach.  You should have seen that tantrum...quite incredible and all over a story book.  Generally speaking this boy has got us wrapped around his fingertips.  

Below is my brother, this next week he leaves for Mexico for his mission.  It has been great having him home for a time, although he is getting antsy to move onto this next phase.  I will say, after speaking to my mom, I am worried that his area is not the safest.  Thankfully there is a loving Heavenly Father that we can trust in.  We'll definitely miss him.

Toddlers love Robert!

Beyond our child, work is going well.  In fact it is going so well, I'm afraid I'll be there forever.  The latest is me thinking about wanting to change my job only because I'm concerned I'll be locked forever into the nursing home.  It's hard coming to the realization that I actually love where I am and would be happy doing this as long as I am a nurse.  Truth is I love working with the elderly.  We have had some residents pass away that have come to have great meaning in my lift and it has made me realize the value of my work.  It is funny how so many people can jointly not find the nursing home to be their dream they wished at ending up in (myself included) and that shared reality makes everyone come together and appreciate each other that much more.  I have also found all my actual skills to be near the same of what was on the floor in the hospital, especially similar to comparison of the ER capstone.  I'll always miss one or the other...if I went to peds, I'd miss the elderly.  The grass is always greener, they say.  We had another really couple code blues on my hall, one of which a full code was ran.  It's never dull...

Jimmy continues to work through school.  We have come to realize it is likely another 2-3 years of school.  He is doing well, currently taking a speech class, spanish class, and a computer science one.  

Our big goal together, a 50 mile bike ride.  We'll see.  We initially turned to attempting a bike ride on a Sunday morning...a really DUMB idea.  I lasted maybe 15 minutes and then froze so bad, defrosting killed my hands.  This led to us purchasing and attempting the insanity challenge to assist us in getting in shape.  So far, so good...we're on day 5, so we'll see!

Life is good!

Vacation!

 What a treat it's been having Jimmy off school and taking a few days off work here and there.  We have been having a blast.  Love love summer...pretty much my favorite time of the year.  Our first adventure was camping, which was quite the dirty adventure.  The very first thing Logan does once on the ground...bee lines it for the fire pit and reaches in for a surprise.  We decide distraction is the best technique...so, you know those squeezy packets of baby food to aide in those without utensils and bibs.  We saw those in the store and thought this was indeed a clever idea.  What a better time to bring it out...  Logan loved the idea.  Initially it went really well...we got the tent halfway pitched and suddenly our son was rather quiet.  ALWAYS a bad sign.  The deed was already done...he discovered what a great tool it was to squirt across the tent and not only that, but let's include ALL over his shoes!  Ugh!!  Love camping...  Needless to say we did cut camping a little short.

Daddy consuming chocolate pudding off Logan's hand

He found it HILARIOUS

The next I hope posts well and it not a continuous obnoxious event while posted.  SO...of course I love the idea of burying my husband in the sand.  I thought Logan would love it too.  Come to find as we are burying his dad he suddenly looked at me with disbelief and was crying unconsolably.  His dad was losing his body it seemed to him.  Oh...it's so hard to describe his shock in his face that his own mom would do that to dad.  Of course, what a better time to pull out the camera.  The video is so short (thanks to drained batteries), but priceless.

Logan however is a fan of being buried...as
well as eating sand :)

It was beautiful weather at the beach, just eating it up!
When does this EVER happen in Oregon?!

Christina at her finest...stand in line boys!

Proof that we did have a big old beach BBQ with a wonderful crowd.

Which speaking of this BBQ who knew that bratwurst sausages are so amazing as hot dogs.  Never in my life have I had them until now, and honestly I wonder why I have not before.  Seriously think I'll be dreaming all year of those delicious hot dogs.  Makes my mouth water now...  good times.

Now, final super awesome story.  Work...well, to be honest I always have a story to share, but this one is worth sharing beyond this household.  My boss pulled me aside later in my shift, which always makes me a little nervous.  She stated that she had something to share with me that I would be entertained by and boy was I overjoyed.  To cut the story short, she relayed that there was a mistake in my pay.  When reviewing the raises for the year, she found my pay to be off.  Upon further investigation, it seems I was started out on LPN wages (licensed practical nurse aka less money), this led to her stating they are making it right.  PS. I am an RN (Registered Nurse) which typically means a couple more years of education.  Not only am I now getting the correct wage, but I am getting compensated for all the hours at work I have not made that appropriate amount.  Bottom line, we are getting a BIG FAT paycheck.  Woo HOO!!  Who does not love finding a secret savings account come to fruition.  SOOoo awesome.  We celebrated by purchasing furniture for our new home coming in around a month.  Pretty sure we're going to be counting our lucky tithing pennies.    Life is good!

Summer (birthdays, berry picking, swinging, bed time)

Wow, apparently if I take a million years to post something on here...a million picture accumulate to share.  Just a number of snapshots of our summer in Oregon!

at the duck pond...giving Jimmy homework time.

loving the bubble mustache and hair do!

Mmmm...brownie batter.

The windy beach

Never thought I'd like blueberries, but they are the easiest to pick.  No THORNS!!  Logan LOVES loves LOVES them.  He would help pick them as well putting all kinds in my bucket, eating unripe ones, not even phasing him.  It was quite the wild time!  We look good and tame at the beginning here...too bad we didn't take an after.  Had to strip that boy down!!

Yummy berry picking...mainly got TONS of blueberries.

29!!  He's officially in his "30th" year my mom has warn him, haha.  He has gotten to be rather old with a few more gray hairs popping out.  His greatest fear may be balding.  Got him some new biking shoes...which special in his size, means his 1 and only special present :)

coconut cake

Logan is learning he is a fan of birthdays

OUR BIG 1 YEAR OLD!!  How did we make it here??  It's been one crazy year and he has continued to be as wonderful as ever.  We love our little guy and can't imagine our world without him.  Our date nights we occasionally get just feel strange without our little man.  He means the world to us!!

Jimmy made this all by himself...scored and all ;)

and how to get a 1 year old to blow out a candle....

We practiced blowing bubbles, but that ended up always with eating the wand.  Jimmy had to hold this guys hands down.  He eventually just got his head so close a nice breeze from his breathe got that flame.

loving the balloons...

showing off his new toy that shoots out little balls.

quick!  take a picture in a white outfit.  love the outfit!
my grandparents got it straight from Thailand.

He loves bedtime with Daddy!

In fact, it's gotten to the point....no one but Jimmy can put him to sleep.  We get almost all the way there and suddenly as you think his eyes are closing...they POP open!!  "Dad"...."Dad!"..."dada".  UGH!  I often have to call Jimmy from homework to do the last 5-10 mins to get him to fall asleep.  He loves his daddy singing him to sleep.  No one can match this great man!!

the first time on the swing together!  We're both fans!!

Summer has been absolutely wonderful!  Our main project is getting our own separate space.  As I may have mentioned previously we are moving to the "shop".  It's a separate building that is getting entirely renovated with all the trimming of a regular apartment.  We will be there throughout Jimmy's schooling.  Life has been working out great here.  We are continually finding the best balance for our family, but bottom line is we are happy and would not change a thing!  Well...aside from magically making it so ALL our family lives closer :)  As for new things Logan has learned...he has learned how to smell the flowers.  SUPER cute!  He has learned spitting pureed food is naughty, but gets Mom to laugh.  It's really hard to stifle laughing at things you don't want your children to do.  He has started dancing to music.  Good times!!  Hope everyone else is having a great summer as well!!  Soon to come...summer vacation!  Hooray!!!

10 Months

Yup, pretty sure this is in fact my new favorite age.  He is SUPER cute.  He has learned his new tricks.  He's quite proficient at clapping at everything.  He's started pointing at everything he seems to find cool.  He attempts to say words like, "kitty"  "doggie"  "fishy".  He wants to eat EVERYTHING you are eating and he shares anything he is eating/half eaten.  He comes and gives you these wonderful hugs snuggling into your neck.  I think he is the most darling thing ever...then suddenly a big ole chomp is taken.  He has discovered his teeth and he has not quite understood everywhere is not appreciated to be bitten :)  He's quite charming and I am in love with this little man.

One of our early morning walks he clearly enjoys!

Haha...we're promoting sugar intake.
Life is always better with chocolate chip cookies!

We had a neat little mini-vacation to Silver Falls National Park and the Oregon Gardens.  It was super fun even for an overnight adventure.

The Hobbit door

Logan attempting to grab all the greenery.

LOVES water.

Our hike...

I will mention I thought this hike was 6.8 miles, turns out I was dislexic (sp?) it was 8.6 miles and was a killer.  Jimmy ended up doing that heavy lifting with the babe.  I forgot to pack a bottle and we knew it early on enough, but too late to turn around...meaning we were left booking it back in time to avoid a cranky child.  It all turned out well despite our absentmindedness :)

A fellow passerby offering to take a family photo.

The waterfalls are super neat because you get to see them at EVERY angle...amazing!  So...if you look close you can see the people able to hike behind the waterfall and obviously we are in front, but you come out initially from on top of it.  I forgot how amazing this hike was.   Love mini vacations!!

On of the waterfalls.

Proof that this little guy is crawling.

Yup...baby proofed the house and learning quickly what is not baby proofed, but needs to be.  Had our first call into Poison Control.  This little guy was at my feet while putting make up on.  The next moment I look down he managed to grab a can of powdered Comet and tilting it back as though he was chugging it.  When I took it away he of course cried and then proceeded to lick his lips like it was the best stuff ever.  He faired just fine...amazing babies make it out alive really.  They seem to be a magnet for anything that in a room that would be the worst thing for them to get into.  It gets us learning that part of our parenting role QUICKLY.

Mud Masks and Crawling

We've been LOVING the nice weather outside.  We get to be outside an lot and have no complaints about that.  Life is good!  Enjoy the pics.

Me with a mud mask, kinda creepy...

Whitney with a mud mask, looks kinda like a zombie

Logan and I reading books

Splashing in the water

One of Logan's classic faces

Loving the new pool

Bath time

Eating grass

Utah & Easter

Here are all our fun photos from our trip to Grandpa & Grandma's.  It was a super quick trip, but absolutely fun.  It was so fun to see the grandparents.  Grandpa Chris taught Logan how to high 5, now he does it all the time.  

Side note:  it's funny hitting this age, it seems you treat your child in a sense like a dog.  You teach them a trick (such as high 5-ing) and you get all excited when they remotely do it right (much like giving a treat).  Now it has progressed to working on patty-cake and waving.  We love our little dog...uh, I mean child :)

Taking a bath with Grandma

Getting ready to figure out what chickens are

Do you recognize where we are at?

Yup, if you couldn't figure out that lovely carpet...the airport.  It sometimes seems you've spent so much time staring at that ground at times the memory could never leave your mind :)  He was an absolute joy (wink, wink) hence the hanging upside down.  Anything to peak interest to keep his mouth from jabbering on about everything new around him surely.  Honestly though, we could not have asked for a better plane trip baby.  He was perfect.  Although our trip home the guy sitting next to us had two mini bottles of Gin...so maybe not that perfect.

Ahh...meeting Naomi again

They last saw each other when Logan was 2 weeks old.  Logan new something exciting was happening, but I don't think he knew quite what.  Naomi seemed quite skeptical of him and all Logan would do is smile away at her.  Scared the poor thing :)

and a big reason we went to Utah

How lucky was I to be able to see this wonderful lady get married.  It was priceless.  She was beautiful, the weather was gorgeous.  It could not have been a better day!

soaking in this wonderful weather, tongue and all

the long awaited intro to Aunt Janae...they're friends :)

And Easter weekend....

We dug out the bike trailer...he looks like he's done this forever!

This was a first for us, biking all together.  I have yet to try out a road bike until this moment.  It felt like a mini vacation.  It was just so wonderful outside with the beautiful weather.  Logan was soaking in every moment and life was just perfect in that moment.  We have the best cutest perfect little family and have no desire to change a moment together.  If only we were never required to work and could just have constant vacation time together :)  Life is good!

Coloring Easter Eggs together

A rare family photo, compliments of my mom