Baby Blog

These Days

2012-01-24T22:16:00.000-06:00

Here is our life lately:

Tyson had his 2 year old well child check. He weighed 29 lbs and was 36 inches tall. You know what that means? He can ride the rides at Silver Dollar City! He will be one happy boy.
At his check up, the doctor noticed that he was wheezing. Here we go, another kid starting albuterol. Wonder if this one will end in an asthma diagnosis too?

We started visiting a new church, South Telegraph Christain Church. We really like it! After the first week, Logan told me, "The teacher's there are just really great."
The only crazy thing is that the first week we went, Tyson was apparently exposed to whooping cough. The children's minister called to notify me, which I thought was sweet. Then the health department called, which I thought was scary.

Tyson went to see an audiologist. It was a Cardinal Glennon audiologist and I have to say, it was one of the most kid friendly doctor appointments ever! When he got restless during his hearing test, the audiologist took a break and let him run up and down the hallway. Now there's someone who understands two year olds!

Logan got to have his first "drop off" playdate. I took him over to Luke's house and I left him there. Of course, Luke's mom was there to supervise, it's not like the two boys were ruling the house. Then again, they could probably handle it. They are pretty cool kids. I was wondering if he'd be ok with me leaving him. He marched up to the door and looked at me like, "why are you coming in?" I think I could have driven by, opened the van door, and honked the horn! Luke and Logan had a ton of fun. And guess what they played? Deer Hunting. Their daddies will be so happy!

Logan enrolled for PreK tonight at Wee School. It feels like seconds ago that he was 10 months old and I was dropping him off at Concord for Sunday School. He loved the enrollment night. And he especially loved meeting his teacher. I showed him the calendar and the schedule in the room. The kid is pretty much obsessed with schedules. He made me read it to him three times. He never looked at any of the toys the other kids were looking at. He looked at name tags and hundreds charts. I told the teacher he might need to be pushed more into play. He's so "work" oriented! After we met his teacher, we had cookies upstairs. He scarfed down his cookie and then said, "When I'm doing eating, I'm going back to my class." I'm not sure what he's going to think about waiting 8 months for school to start!!

Greg and I are leading a small group bible study on Friday nights. It's awesome. We have 3 other couples with young kids (10 in total). We hire 2 babysitters and throw all the kids in the basement. We stay upstairs and snack and drink and enjoy adult time! Then we study the book of John or we just talk, whatever the group seems to need. I am making amazing friends. The kind of people who help me solve life's great crisis like, "What do I do when my 3 year old is done with napping but I still need a break?" And friends who I can't stop talking to even when it's time to leave! The guys all get along too :P

Ready. Set. Read! is hopping and I'm even beginning to work on some collaborative blogs, work with some teacher groups, and work with some great companies. It's busy but still fun... most of the time. Tonight I was sick of looking at all things educational, crafty, and early literacy. So I jumped on here to share a bit of our life!

I am beginning to learn that life is a series of seasons. There's good and bad to each one. Recording the highs and lows helps me to go back and see how God has carried us through a season with blessings in the midsts of hardships. As my (twitter) friend Mandisa says, "In the middle of the crazy, God your love is so amazing"

Two

2012-01-12T23:03:00.000-06:00

Tyson

happy, busy, loving, funny

lover of family, mac and cheese, and shoes,

who feels happy to go to Grandma and Grandpa's, sad when anyone says "bye-bye", mad when Logan blocks the TV,

who needs apple juice, his "baby" and 4 blankets to sleep,

who gives kisses on the lips, a constant smile, and laughter,

who would like to sneak up Logan's bunk bed ladder just once, play with Logan's leapster, and be a big boy,

who lives with his family

Higgins

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyson! Our family is so blessed to have you!

Christmas Morning

2012-01-09T21:08:00.000-06:00

Tyson woke up first on Christmas morning. He had fallen asleep on the way home from a party with Greg's extended family-- about 5:30 pm on Christmas Eve. Logan also feel asleep on the way home, but woke up around 8 pm wanting a story. He also wanted to get up for Christmas so I set his clock in his room for 7 am and told him he needed to wait until the clock said "7:00". About 9 pm, Greg heard Logan playing in his bed. He went in to check on him and asked him what he was doing. Logan said, "I'm waiting for my timer to go off so I can get up and see my presents from Santa!" Obviously, he had trouble sleeping that night and he did sleep in until 7 am!

Tyson woke up around 6. I kept him in our bed for a while but finally let him go into the living room where he discovered his little people bus!

Santa also brought him a Vtech helicopter and a Nerf Gun!

When Logan got up at 7 am, I asked him to look for his presents. He had a little trouble finding the presents that were right under his nose!

He finally found his Leapster Explorer. He had asked Santa for "dinosaur video games" . Fortunately "Santa" found a Leapster game called Digging for Dinosaurs. Unfortunately, Santa bought games for the wrong kind of leapster, so Logan didn't have any games for Christmas day. We were able to buy one game online and hopefully we can return some to Amazon.

Then it was time to open our presents! Logan really likes building sets- like legos- that are really too hard for him, but he likes to be like his big cousins. He also likes transformers and had gotten Optimus Prime from Grandma and Grandpa Higgins. He also got a playdough set, a book, a watch, and a toothbrush!

Tyson loves little people and drawing. He got a little people DVD. He got an Aquadoodle-- big hit for an almost 2 year old! He got an Elmo playdough set. He loves Elmo and had gotten the movie, "Elmo in Grouchland" from Grandma and Grandpa Higgins.

Greg got a popcorn tin from the boys. Logan loves popcorn and will probably eat the whole thing. He also got a trail camera and accesories. Greg and I had opened one present on Christmas eve-- he got a camo raincoat!

Greg got me a really cute pair of pj pants, slippers, and socks! Of course, Tyson loves socks and shoes so he had try them on!

We always get a new ornament each year for our tree, too!

We had a very relaxing morning at home. We ate cinnamon rolls and bacon and eggs for breakfast. My little carnivores mostly just ate bacon, though.

We stayed at home until about 1:30, let Tyson have a little nap and then headed to Grandma and Grandpa Bradley's for one more Christmas party!!

For Always

2012-01-08T21:56:00.000-06:00

"Do you want to be my best best friend?"
"Yep."
"Ok, and daddy too. He can be our best best friend."
"And Tyson, too?"
"Yes, all of us. For always."

Higgins Family Christmas

2011-12-27T14:44:00.000-06:00

Since Grandma and Grandpa Higgins purchased a new house for Christmas-- and closed on it the week of Christmas--- we had Christmas with Greg's family at our house this year! It was on December 23rd which was really the night before the night before Christmas. I made a "night before Christmas" themed kid's table anyway!

Not a Creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

(or placed on a table with stickers and ribbon for threading)

We ate a lot...

Opened presents...

Hung out and played...

We ended the evening with the usual wrapping paper war. Jacob thought it was so much fun!

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

2011-12-24T08:51:00.000-06:00

Looks like Santa's getting ready to ride...

Dressed in his Santa suit.

Feeding the reindeer.

Giving them lots of extra love to get them through the night.

Saddlin' up

Ready to ride!

Have a happy Christmas Eve... and watch out for the Grinch...

Or monster hunter, or whatever he is today!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-14T14:37:00.000-06:00

Before the entire fall slips away... it is going so fast this year... let me post a few pictures of my adorable kids in their Halloween costumes :)

Tyson really hated his costume until the day of Halloween and then he decided he was ok with it (thankfully). He tried to accessorize with mommy's boots! He loves shoes. He puts them on and takes them off about 100 times per day. He'll put on anyone's shoes he can find too.

Grandma and Grandpa Bradley came up on Halloween to give the boys a treat. I didn't tell the boys it was Halloween until they arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon! Tyson was a pumpkin this year and my friend Adriane Muehleisen knitted his cap.

Logan decided back in September that he wanted to be a ghost so he could scare people. Remarkably, he never changed his mind. This was a pretty easy costume.

Tyson and Grandma

The boys with Grandma and Grandpa in our front yard.

Logan the ghost.

Three little pumpkins!

Logan with his ghost eyes waiting to go trick or treating. We tied on the bandana because I had glued a baseball cap into the ghost costume to hold it in place and it was hurting his head. I guess the bandana made him go gangsta!

Before they went trick or treating, the boys watched Scooby Doo. Tyson held his flashlight very protectively the entire time!

We should have turned on the flash for these outdoor pictures. I tired lightening them in photoshop but I guess I don't know what I am doing because then they just looked weird. So here are some dark pictures of Greg and me and the boys.

Greg stayed home to pass out candy and I took the boys out trick or treating. We went with a huge group from our cul de sac area. We only went on our street and Estates and Jeanette and the boys candy buckets were so full, nothing else would fit in them.

The boys even stopped by our house to get a treat from daddy. I had lots of help during our trick or treating, which was nice. My neighbor, Kim, walked Logan around because he could hardly see out of his ghost eye holes. Her kids are older and didn't need much help anyway. I carried Tyson and then I would set him down on the porch. He ran to the door and held out his bucket. When they gave him candy, he said, "Dee Doo" (Thank you). Every time the person would say, "Oh, he said Thank You! How cute." Then they would add MORE candy to his bucket. I think he learned that the word Thank You would get him more candy because he was sure to say it at every stop!

Whittle Valley Shortline Train Store

2011-10-19T21:57:00.000-05:00

We visited this fun little train store in Valley Park this week. We met up with our friend, Luke and the boys enjoyed a little train play and a little puzzle play. Tyson was the one who really got into it, though. I think he could have played all day.

The store is located in the Old Frisco Hotel Building, built in 1880. It is located across from train tracks and was built to house railroaders who were passing through laying tracks. Later it became a commercial hotel. It has a lot of character!

Here is Logan playing with his friend Luke. They are always on the move, so difficult to get a picture of them.

The biggest train table in the store has space for kids to play on the outside of the table or to crawl under and play on the inside of the table.

Of course, my little book worm found the book basket. He also found a sunny spot to read!

It is free to play at the store, but they do have a place for donations. After seeing their BADLY beaten up book basket, I was thinking we might just bring books to donate to the book basket on our next visit ;) Seriously we could not find a book that wasn't ripped or missing half the pages. At least they are well loved.
I hope we can go visit this cozy play spot again soon.

E is for Eckert's

2011-10-18T20:10:00.000-05:00

On Monday, we took a trip to Eckert's Family Fun Farm in Millstadt. Generally admission is $10 per person but on Mondays it is free. Granted, the rides and the entertainment are closed, but it was perfect for the boys. There was still plenty for them to do and I'm pretty sure Tyson couldn't have ridden the rides anyway. The best part was that it was empty. We had the run of the place. There were probably only 10 to 15 cars there when we left. (When we arrived there were about 5 cars!)
We rode the wagon out to the apple orchard. (This was actually on the return trip, they never would look at the camera... too many distractions).

Tyson ate three apples while we were there. Now that we're home, he could care less about the apples.

Logan picked apples and carried the bag.

I let Logan buy taffy hence the green thing in his mouth.

Since the shows were closed, the boys did their own shows on all the stages.

They played on the playground area.

And got dirty in the hay and the sandboxes.

They even drove "tractors"... well John Deere tricycles.

Most of the tricycles didn't really work but since they were the only ones riding, they could try out all of them!

Both boys loved feeding the animals. Logan liked this antelope. It was very gentle.

This little guy was not so gentle. However, he wasn't as tough as the big horned sheep that rammed Tyson's hand into the metal fence. His little hand was stuck between a horn and the metal. It was so red when he pulled back, poor boy.We didn't buy any food for that mean sheep. (or goat or whatever it was-- we didn't take its picture either).

They loved all of the little houses.

And they had fun in the corn maze too. I was a little worried about getting lost in there so we didn't go too far.

Logan did this giant underground slide. Tyson would have loved to try but I didn't let him.

We had such an amazing day and we' ll probably do it this way every year until the boys get a little older and can handle the crowds. Next year, we may go every Monday!

A is for Arnold Rec Center

2011-09-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of summer, we joined the Arnold Rec Center. It has been a lot of fun for our family. Greg and I can now work out together every night and Logan and Tyson love going to "Kidzone"-- the gym childcare. Logan loves it because they have a Wii and Tyson loves to terrorize the babies. That's right, he is the gym bully. He tries to hug all of the babies that are littler than him and knocks them down!
Not only is there a place to work out, there is also an indoor pool and and outdoor pool. Both pools have small slides for the kids and also larger waterslides. They both have whirlpools and lazy rivers. The boys LOVE it!
The outdoor pool is so much fun! I feel like we are on vacation every time we go there... which is a lot. (It's been a relaxing summer, I guess).

Even the baby pool is fun. There are fountains all over the place. These pour into the little baby pool. The other side is a zero entry-- great for wading.

There is also this fun "castle" to play on. Of course, when we took Nick and Alex there one day, Nick called it the "jail" not the castle.

There is a small blue slide that Logan loves. It's made for little ones, you have to be under 48 inches to go down it but I never let Tyson go down it because they move pretty fast and it pushes you under the water. Well, we went with my dad and guess what? Grandpa let Tyson go down the slide. And he loved it!

There is also a three story water slide that Greg and I both took a turn on. My dad tried to get Nick to do it with him but once Nick got to the top, he thought it looked a little too scary.
Logan has learning how to swim "under water"... well at least with his face in the water.

We've had a lot of fun at the outdoor pool but the best part is, we'll still have the indoor pool when the weather turns cooler!
And our boys love swimming so much, that when we tell them it's time to go swimming, they will work together to get dressed (or undressed first) and out the door!

T is for Tower Grove Park

2011-08-24T15:14:00.000-05:00

Logan has been to Tower Grove Park several times with Grandma and Grandpa but I hadn't been in years so I really wanted to go check it out this summer.
Tower Grove park is located in South St. Louis county. It is a very large park with lots of large green fields for play. They also have a children's wading pool/ fountain. On the weekends the pool is filled with shallow water but through out the week, they drain it and there is a large fountain and pop jets.
We took our "new Aunt", Kari, out with us for the day. (She's actually been around for quite a while but since she just married the boys' Uncle Brian, they title of "Aunt" is new to her.) The boys adore her and I was happy for some company and help with the kids. She is also new to St. Louis so I thought it would be fun to show her around.
Both of the boys enjoyed the pop jet fountains.

At first Logan was scared to go under the large fountain but he warmed up after a while.

Actually, we all "warmed up" it was a HOT day. Kari and I didn't mind standing in the midsts of the fountains and getting a little wet ourselves.

Looks like Tyson made a friend.

After we played in the fountains, we ate a picnic lunch.

Then we let the boys play on the playground for a while.

The good thing about Tower Grove park is that they built the playground around old, large trees. What is with the trend of knocking out all the trees on the newer playgrounds?

The boys had a lot of fun on the playground, but even with shade it got too hot after a while.
I tried to take Kari home a different way... should have brought a GPS because we got a little lost in South City... ended up on Grand... it started looking a bit ghetto so I turned the minivan around! I did get us home safely in the end.

The boys were pretty tired after their outing with Aunt Kari!

M is for Magic House

2011-08-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

For one of our Summer Fun activities we visited the Magic House. My college, Missouri Baptist, was having a FREE alumni night at the Magic house. My sister is also an alum so we both signed our families up for the event. Logan had the stomach flu earlier in the week and Tyson had a cold but by the night of the event everyone seemed fine. We had been fever free for 24+ hours and vomit free as well. We stayed vomit free until the ride TO the Magic house. I looked back and Tyson was losing his lunch about 1/4 a mile from the Magic House. Luckily since Julie was coming too, Greg just dropped off me and Logan. Julie and the boys were nice enough to give us a ride home! We waited outside for Julie to get there. There was a nice picnic area with this water feature. Since it was about 104 degrees, no one else was out there with us.

We had to wait outside so we could put our carseat into Julie's car.

When Julie and Nick and Alex got there we went inside. We started in the Alice in Wonderland area. Here are our very tall boys! They must have eaten the cake. (Is that what made Alice grow?)

Logan, Nick, and Alex playing on the mushrooms.

After pretending to be Alice for a while, they assumed the identities of Jack in the beanstalk and the giant. Nick was the first one to be brave enough to climb to the top.

Logan and Alex quickly followed!

Since it was Mobap night, the whole magic house was closed to the public and open to only Mobap alum! The Spartan was there to celebrate the night. Ok, I know we were the Spartans when I went there but I do NOT remember a physical mascot ever appearing. Is this new? I'm sure I would have remembered something this scary. Logan waved to the mascot from a distance but would NOT go near him. (Smart kid.)

Nick's picture with the Spartan landed on the top of the alumni newsletter. Probably because he is so cute!

Alex may be try to take out the Spartan???

I LOVE this picture of Logan being a tough guy hockey player. They have a really cute hockey reading area. There is this "locker" plus a hockey net. And a bookshelf. Wouldn't that be fun for a classroom and totally motivating for boy readers? They could read by the locker or read in the hockey net. I might have some hockey connections that could hook me up with a cool sport themed reading area?
Then the boys tried to make a giant bubble that would encompass all of them. fail. but they had fun!

Logan's favorite area is the fishing pond. He would stay there all night!

I'm thinking one of these would look great in our backyard.

All of the boys liked the grocery store.

I told Nick he could pretend like he was working at Grandpa Bradley's cucumber stand. He got a little excited... or maybe he was excited by all the $$ in the cash register?

Logan also loves the baby hospital. They get to take care of the babies and then put them in the bassinets for their mommies. This baby is kind of barring all... they are very "correct" little babies!

The boys had a lot of fun playing together at the Magic House. Just don't tell Tyson how much fun it was...

Vacation Bible School 2011

2011-07-17T21:12:00.000-05:00

Before

During

This was our Bible Story room. I taught in this room with my friend, Dana. Her husband, Todd, made the taxi cab and the New York skyline background. I had so much fun teaching with her. We're very similar in our teaching styles and I learned a ton from her.

Every day we had a puppet named, "Maxi" the taxi driver. He came out and introduced the Bible story. The kids were so cute with him. They would start begging for him the minute they got in the room. Even when we took the puppet out from behind the car, they would talk to him like he was real.

This is Dana teaching the best class of the week!!!

Ok, yes, it was the class that had our two little boys in it so maybe I was partial to this class. But they were all super kids. 5 boys who were relatively calm (for boys) and several darling girls. Seriously, these boys are going to want these girls to stick around because they are beautiful and sweet little girls.

After

VBS was exhausting for all of us. Tyson was especially worn out on Friday. His teacher, an older gentleman named, "Mr. Don" took Tyson on a walk all over the church to see the big kids. He even took Tyson to the "teacher break room" and let him have icecream for a snack. I'm pretty sure Tyson was the only kid who got to have icecream. Can we say spoiled? No wonder my boys have always loved Mr. Don.

Logan got to sing on the stage on Thursday night-- along with all of the preschoolers. He loved the stage!! He cried afterwards because he only got one turn on the stage. I think he wanted to stand up there all night and sing. I'm thinking a homemade stage and a talent show are definitely in our future. Anyone want to come perform or be our audience?

Brian and Kari's wedding

2011-07-14T21:22:00.000-05:00

We drove to Macomb, Illinois on June 24th to get ready for Uncle Brian and Aunt Kari's wedding on June 25th. The boys did well on the almost 4 hour car drive. Tyson only slept for about 20 minutes and Logan didn't sleep but they read lots of books and played with stickers and other toys that I passed back frequently.

There was NOTHING worth looking at out the windows. I think this was the view. the. entire. way.

I didn't take any pictures on Friday night at the rehearsal and dinner because it was a little crazy with the boys. We rehearsed at the church and Grandma and Grandpa Higgins were in charge of all four boys... in a church... we just wanted to provide them with a challenge. ;)

The boys woke up early on Saturday morning and Tyson crawled in bed with Logan. They drank juice and watched TV for a while. Then the girls left to get ready... leaving Greg to dress himself and the boys. He did a great job-- well, until later in the day when he microwaved Logan's sock, but that's another story.

Everyone was in the wedding so it took a lot of family members, friends, snacks, and energy to keep up with the four little boys. I was thankful for all the people who helped with the boys. It really made the day a lot of fun for us.

Tyson wasn't technically in the wedding. He just got to get dressed up and look cute. Isn't he doing a good job?

I tried to take a good picture of Logan in his suit but... he's three.

Greg was a groomsman-- and I got to walk with him. I felt very lucky walking with the handsomest man at the wedding.

I was a bridesmaid.

Brian's groomsmen.

Kari's bridesmaids.

My awesome sister in law, Pam, was a bridesmaid, too. I had fun with her at the wedding and realized how much I miss her now that she lives far away :(. Now I have 2 awesome sister in laws. Yeah!

Logan and Jared were the ringbearers. They did really good at "walking down the island" as Logan called it.

Of course, Jared spent most of his time picking up girls at the wedding!

Here's the happy couple after the ceremony. I think this is Kari's "AHHH! I'm Married!!!" face.

After the ceremony, we took a ride around the block in the trolley. The boys got to go around the block and they loved riding the trolley!

Kari had to show the driver around town... and put up with people like her brother in law, Greg.

I guess he just wanted to have a good time with his brother!!!

When we got to the reception, Logan could not wait to dance.

I made him wait until the first dance was over.

But then he couldn't wait a minute more so I let him dance along with the mother/son dance!

This one is blurry but I love that my boys are dancing together....

cause apparently, that's what brothers do.

These boys know how to get down!

Again, we had lots of help, which allowed us to have a great time at the reception. Greg's uncle Jerry did a wonderful job of spoiling Tyson. He fed Tyson all the pineapple he could eat... and Tyson loved him for it!

James and his wife Sarah were great with both of the boys.

We did have so much fun! These Higgins sure do know how to party!

I have to be honest. Greg actually has some pretty good dance moves but Logan was apparently teaching him the moves of the next generation... there was lots of kicking involved.

They ~~could have~~ danced all night!

Both boys fell asleep on the car ride back to the hotel. They were OUT. Greg and I were cracking up as we unbuckled them, carried them upstairs, put them on the bed, undressed them, put on jammies, and put them in their beds... and they stayed asleep until the next morning!!!

Our party animals out for the night!

We are so happy for Aunt Kari and Uncle Brian and we know they are going to make an amazing couple!!!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

2011-06-07T22:10:00.000-05:00

I need play a little catch up on my Baby Blog. I have pictures of the boys I want to share and cute things they've been saying that I want to record. Be prepared for a lot of ramblin' on this one, folks!

Tyson isn't a big talker yet but he is getting the basics down. He can say hi, bye, yes, more, juice, cheese, cookie, ma-ma, da-da and a few more. He calls Logan "Ya-ya." most of the time. He loves to sing ring around the rosie and sings, "ashes, ashes, -- -- down." His favorite word, though, is "uh-oh". If you're around him for a few ~~minutes~~ seconds, you'll know why:

Don't look at my messy kitchen, but these boys are BUSY!

Tyson also likes to do animal sounds. He loves dogs and whenever he sees one, he says, "Woof! Woof!" He also loves to roar like a tiger and make an elephant sound. His favorite game is chase mommy with a toy snake. He yells, "sssss" and he loves to make me scream! His brother has also taught him to play "shooting games" so he loves me to shoot at the snake or he loves to shoot at it. Luckily, Logan still says, "I'll shoot you with water!"

Logan now picks up anything and everything that we say, that the kids at the park say, that he hears on TV, that he hears at church, etc. We have to be careful around that boy.

Some of his phrases don't come out quite right. For instance, he likes to say, "See you Crocodile. Hello Alligator."

Some of his accessory choices don't come out right either!

He's also figured out past events and present happenings but he can't quite get the language down. He says "next day" (tomorrow) and "last day" (yesterday). Although, he does pretty much have the days of the week down pat... thank you Leapfrog.
His vocabulary is really growing and I've heard him using words like, "postponed" "exhibit" and "fantastic"-- yeah for early book sharing. Grows that vocabulary by leaps and bounds!

He's quite a problem solver. He makes up songs and he makes up games. His instructions are usually very long winded and I usually have no idea how to actually play the game! Sometimes his problem solving is a bit askew.
"My feet was all dirty so I put them in the toilet." - Logan
No it wasn't a clean toilet. In my dreams.

For the most part the boys love each other. But they are typical brothers. The other day Logan told me, "I don't want Tyson by me. He smell like donuts."
Buddy, sometimes that kid smells a lot worse.
We've started taking them to "Kid Zone" the childcare facility at our recreation center for 1 hour/day while Greg and I work out together. Logan is a good big brother and watches over Tyson the whole time. The teachers told me that every once in a while, Logan stops what he is doing and says, "Where's Tyson?"
Of course, he loves to tattle on Tyson too. When we picked them up from kidzone tonight, the entire car ride home Logan said, "Tyson, don't hit the babies. Tyson, don't hit the babies. Tyson do not hit the babies." (At least he said it in a very pleasant tone so I know the workers are being kind!)

This picture has nothing to do with "Tiny Talk" but I think it's funny... and random.. so where do I put it?

A bird flew into our window and was "stunned" for a while. Greg went out and held it up for the boys to see. Logan was having deep conversations with the bird through the window of our house!
Well, everyone in my house is sleeping soundly now... so goodnight!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2011-05-17T21:08:00.000-05:00

On Easter weekend, Logan got a special surprise... a Saturday ball game with daddy. Logan and Greg took in Logan's first game at Busch Stadium. I wasn't there so maybe Greg should blog this... well, I'll just convey the stories he told me.

When they got there, Logan was completely captivated and stood at this rail and stared for a looong time.

Here's the view from their seats and the St. Louis skyline.

They found their seats and setttled in. Logan was still a little overwhelmed by all the loud music.

But after he got snacks and a balloon and a Sprite, he started to enjoy himself.

He even started clapping! Go Cards!

They made it to the 7th inning until the tarps came out.

I forgot to ask who won the game... well, I guess they left before it got over. I know that Pujols hit a homerun and there were fireworks. Logan tells Tyson about this frequently. He also tells him, "You too little to go. you have to get big."
In other news, Logan LOVES to play baseball. He'll assign the positions, "You be the thrower, I'll be the hitter." If I pitch to him and he misses, he says, "Try again Mommy." He's already got that male ego going-- of course he couldn't have missed it, it MUST be momma's pitching! He's pretty decent at hitting the ball now and he doesn't even use the tee anymore. I'm pretty sure his athleticism has now surpassed him mommy's.

Easter Continued

2011-05-06T20:55:00.000-05:00

After church, we went to Festus to Grandma and Grandpa Bradley's house.
Nick and Alex were there and Logan and Tyson were ready to play with them.

The kids played with toys from the Easter bunny.

We ate.

We ate other things besides cookies but these were my contribution.

And we had an egg hunt.

It was raining outside so we hunted in the basement.

Each boy was assigned a color so there were no fights!

Tyson mostly just wanted to drive the car!!

Then we went upstairs and checked out the goodies.

Tyson's favorite thing was this ring pop.

It made quite a mess!

A good Easter was had by all!!

The boys fell asleep in the car. Tyson was asleep before we even hit the highway-- Logan shortly after. We woke them up when we got home and tried to get them to eat supper. Apparently they had already consumed all of their daily calories in SUGAR.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T21:07:00.000-05:00

Logan woke up first. He ran in looking for the Easter bunny. He totally passed up the baskets and was confused... until he saw the basket of CANDY on the kitchen table.

His excitement woke up Tyson

who also broke out a smile when he saw the basket of CANDY.

The boys had so much fun exploring their baskets

Tyson even gave a little clap to show his appreciation

Somebody loves peeps!

Logan loved his Spiderman coloring book!

After feeding our kids candy for breakfast, we dropped them off in the church nursery. There is a special reward in heaven for the Easter Sunday morning Sunday School teachers!
We had a great service at church celebrating our risen Lord.

Who told them they could grow up?

2011-04-25T20:09:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to our Cousins

2011-04-18T20:44:00.000-05:00

--- and one Uncle. Two of Logan and Tyson's cousins and one of their Uncles all share a birthday week. We've had lots of fun birthday celebrating.
We started by taking a trip out to Warrenton to visit Grandma and Grandpa Higgins. Logan enjoyed the car ride.

But Tyson fell asleep :)

Once we got there, Tyson was ready to party!

It was a beautiful day. It was 90 degrees. Pretty warm for the beginning of April. Here's the birthday boy hanging out on the porch with Grandpa and Uncle Brian.

The boys were all anxious for cake!

That's a lot of boys! Jared was turning 5 years old! His dad, Uncle Jason, also has a birthday the same week.

These two cousins are only 6 weeks apart in age. Don't you wish you could know what they are discussing?

We had fun with Uncle Brian but we sure missed Kari!

The next weekend was dedicated to celebrating Nick's birthday! Nick had a swimming party at the Ste. Genevive Rec Center. Logan loved the big pool. After we went swimming we went to the party room to PARTY!

Again, that's a lot of boys! Nick opened his presents-- with a little bit of help from his little brother.

Nick had a Penguins of Madagascar birthday party. Julie made the poster backdrop.

Logan loved getting to celebrate Nick's birthday-- and eat pizza. I've been telling Logan that his birthday would come after Nick's birthday. As the party guests were leaving and the party was wrapping up, Logan leaned over to me and whispered, "Now it my birthday?"

Tyson liked hanging out with Grandpa. Tyson DID NOT like the water. He would not have anything to do with Grandpa while Grandpa was in the pool. Once Grandpa got out, he was happy to hang with him.

Tyson also loved playing with Nick's balloons and being around the big boys!

Happy Birthday to Jared, Nick, and Uncle Jason!

The Four Seasons

2011-03-22T13:54:00.000-05:00

In the past two weeks, we have experienced at least 3 of the four seasons:
Last Monday, March 14, we had 2-3 inches of snow. I bundled the boys up in two layers of clothing and we treked outside to play in the white stuff.

Tyson didn't really like the snow and prefered to swing instead. I think he was wishing for playing outside weather.
He got his wish because by Thursday, March 17th, it was warm enough to play outside on the swings at Grandma and Grandpa's House.

And by March 20th, the first day of Spring, it felt like SUMMER around here with temps in the 80s. In fact, I heard it was warmer in St. Louis on Sunday than it was in Miami!! I guess our Miami relatives will have to come visit us for a tropical get a way. Oh wait, it did just snow last Monday. Never mind.

We've been practically living outdoors. We eat our supper and then go outside. The neighbor kids wait for us and start trickling out of their houses. Usually by the time we send them home for "bedtime" (at least bedtime for our kids) we have about 9 kids at our house ranging in age from 14 years old to 14 months old and we usually have a basketball game, a soccer game, and someone wildly swinging a bat at a T. It's been fun so far and we'll take more sunny days and less snowy!

Two Year Theology

2011-03-22T13:39:00.000-05:00

Spring has sprung! Our yard is filling up with a few blooms like this one from our Magnolia tree out front. The whole neighborhood has been over to admire it. Ok, the whole neighborhood has been over because they dump all their kids in our yard every night... but that's another story. (And we do enjoy our neighbors and our neighbor kids so it's a good story)
Yesterday, the tree flowered and Logan looked outside and said, "Look at that tree, mommy. Daddy made it." Cause, you know, anything that's cool was built by daddy. And so I said, "You know what, Logan? God made that tree. Not daddy." Logan looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Why?"
"Well, God loves us and he wants to show himself to us through the things that he makes." Right after I said that I thought, "Where did that come from? No way will my 2 year old understand that."
Logan looked at me thoughtfully and said, "God is beautiful."

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

I am so thankful that God chose to reveal himself to my two year old through the beauty of his creation.

Bieber Fever

2011-03-07T14:46:00.000-06:00

One result of your child spending every Friday night with older kids-- and 3 teenaged babysitters-- is a new knowledge of pop music. We've joined a lifegroup through our church. The adults meet together for 2 hours on Friday evenings and we send all the kids to the basement to play. Since there are 12 kids ages 2-7, we have babysitters to supervise. (Tyson just has to sleep during it, poor thing. He doesn't know about the fun he is missing.)
Our babysitters are AWESOME! At the end of the evening, they have the kids clean up and then they sing silly songs with them. Logan now sings, "Bazooka, zooka, bubble gum" and "Baby Shark do do do do do do." He also has a good rendition of Justin Bieber's hit, "Baby".

Since he has the singing down, I decided to do his hair like Justin.

My old camera.. so dark!

If only he would let me use a blowdryer on him. I'm pretty sure I could have made it look amazing! He got a hair cut today so no more Bieber hair until it grows out again.

What My Children Actually Look Like

2011-03-07T13:59:00.000-06:00

I got a new camera!!! I'm so excited and I've been snapping pictures and taking videos like crazy. It's so great to get pictures that really show the kids well.

Even the snotty noses! It's constant drip so getting a picture without snot is pretty much impossible.

I just don't want to miss out on any of this cuteness!

I can record the messes.

Sometimes I can even get them to hold still for half a second while I snap a picture. But that usually doesn't happen while they are also clothed... too bad.

Luckily, my camera takes action shots too.

It can even get Logan's monkey face!

1-11-11

2011-01-17T20:41:00.000-06:00

This boy turned 1 on 1-11-11.

Sounds pretty lucky, huh? Unfortunately for him, that wasn't really the case. He was fighting an ear infection and landed at the Doctor's office on his first birthday.

He had been sick with a cold for a while and had been to see the Dr. a few weeks earlier. But on Saturday, the day of his party, he woke up with a fever. Luckily, I had only invited a few family members and most of them couldn't come. The ones who could come had recently spent time with Tyson so I figured they had already been exposed. (And my pediatrician said that Drs. invented birthday parties so kids could spread germs and keep them in business!)

We had a fun "transportation theme" party.
He did feel well enough to blow out his candles, try to eat a cupcake (hard to do when you can't breathe out of your nose) and open presents.

Of course, he did get some extra help...

Logan had a lot of fun playing with his cousins.

We saved some cupcakes to have on Tyson's birthday night. He had started the antibiotic that afternoon and was a little better. He seemed to enjoy his cupcake more.

Happy Birthday, Tyson! I can't believe you've grown from this

to this

We love you!

Noon time New Years

2011-01-09T14:12:00.000-06:00

I read a great idea on JDaniel4's Mom blog for celebrating the New Year at noon on New Year's Eve. This way, you can still party it up, have a count down, etc, but no one has to stay up all night. So here is how we rang in the New Year noon time style.
First we had to "make a party" as Logan calls decorating. I hung some streamers while Logan used a poster paint marker to trace the numbers 2011. Luckily, those are easy numbers. The 2 was the only one that was hard for him. He's good at making the letter o, so I showed him how that was the same. Then when he made the 1 he said, "Start at the top and go down." He did it all by himself!

After making the party, we had to celebrate.
First, we had a dance party.

Practicing for Brian and Kari's wedding

Then we had a tornado! Ok, that part of the party was not planned. We were inside dancing away when it started looking ominous outside. Greg and Logan went out to watch.

It was almost 70 degrees at noon on New Years Eve. It was in the 20s by the next morning!

I heard Cindy Pressler saying, "If you live in Barnart, Arnold, Fenton... take cover NOW!" So I went out and told them to come in. We actually went to the basement.

A view of the storm from our basement.

The tornado blew right over the top of us and there was no damage in our area. However, parts of Fenton did get hit pretty hard.
We actually had to toast the New Year at 12:01 after the tornado was over. We had kiddy cocktails of Hawaiian Punch and Sprite. We counted down and everyone gave each other hugs and kisses. Logan still says, "Happy New Year!" and then gives me a kiss.

Logan got to open a firecracker shaped treat. It had candy inside. It actually did "explode" because he ripped it so hard that the candy went flying.

Then we ate Chinese food for lunch since it was January 1, 2011 in China.
After our big party, it was nap time!
We had a lot of fun ringing in the New Year. After our disasterous December, we are looking forward to 2011 being a better year.

Remember when New Year's Eve used to be about partying it up with all our friends. But now, I'm very happy to be spending a New Year celebrating with this little man and his big bro and his Daddy!

Tyson's First Christmas

2011-01-08T21:40:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm finished with my bottle. Time to open a present.

Wait. I could climb up here...

and sit on the present!

What? I'm not supposed to climb on the presents?

But I'm so cute on the presents. I'm totally getting away with this one!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-08T21:35:00.000-06:00

The boys had fun on Christmas morning~ especially Logan!

He really loved that Santa brought him presents and CANDY- that was the big highlight, the boy loves candy but doesn't get it too often. Tyson has been fighting a cold for a while now so we have been giving him a bottle of 1/2 juice + 1/2 water in the mornings. He really needs to chug some liquids straight away when he gets up or he is just one congested baby so the bottle really helps. He was much more interested in snuggling with his bottle in daddy's lap than the presents. But it kind of made it easier to only have one kid grabbing for presents.

We also had a white Christmas this year which was very beautiful!

We had enough time to play with some of our toys before heading to Festus for the evening.

Luckily we didn't get enough snow to make the roads dangerous on Christmas day so we were still able to make it to my parent's house (although we were very nervous about going because we were driving their borrowed van).
We loaded up the car and went to Festus after nap time. We opened presents first and then ate a delicous dinner.

This year we had Christmas in the basement- which despite the noise level was a lot of fun. We could all hang out together and there is plenty for all the kids to do: riding toys, video games, trains.

Nick and my mom even set up a "store" in the closet. Nick would push "his baby" (Tyson) in the car to the store where my mom would sell stuff to them.

I think Nick bought this hat for his baby. Isn't he cute?

We stayed until the boys' bedtime. They fell asleep in the car and we put them to bed at home. It was a good Christmas day. Greg felt ok for most of it and nothing eventful happened. We were thankful for days like that in December.

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-04T06:49:00.000-06:00

We had an interesting Christmas Eve this year- it was a very "interesting" December in general. Greg had an accident in the van a week before Christmas. We had to jump through a lot of hoops to get the police report and to get a rental van. In the meantime, Greg got sick and we got dumped with snow on Christmas eve. Not wanting to take a sick husband out and infect the whole family or drive my parents borrowed van in the snow, we weren't able to go to Greg's family Christmas party- it ended up getting cancelled anyway. So we stayed home together. Greg started feeling a little better by the afternoon/evening-- or he just faked feeling good to make his wife happy. And we stayed in and did stuff as a family.
Mid-afternoon the UPS guy brought by a Tinkertoy set that I had won off the Scholastic blog!! Logan thought it was Santa, in a big brown suit.

Then we did some family crafting.

Logan made a "birthday cake" for Jesus out of playdough.

We lit the candles and sang. The boys got to open one present- a book to read for bedtime.

Logan was SO excited about Santa coming he could hardly stand it. This was a first for him and it was fun to see him get so into it.
After the boys went to sleep, Santa came!! (Even though we forgot to leave cookies out for him).

Then "Santa" went to bed early because he wasn't feeling so well. :)

Cousin Christmas Party

2010-12-24T06:50:00.000-06:00

Logan went to his annual Cousin's Christmas Party on Wednesday night. Grandma and Grandpa Bradley take all the Grandsons- wait all of the Grandsons that are "old enough"- out for an evening to see the Christmas lights at Tillis Park. Last year, Logan was old enough for the lights but not really old enough to handle a sleep over with his big cousins. This year, he was old enough to spend the night!! Grandma and Grandpa had a free hotel room through their rewards program so they took the boys to the Best Western in Festus (it used to be the Holiday Inn- if you are Festus folk.) The boys got to swim and sleep in the same room as Grandma and Grandpa. I think they had a blast. My parents delivered a very, very, very tired little boy back to us at noon on Thursday. After he had taken a loooong winter's nap, he told us all about his time out. I thought it was cute that he can now retell everything that happened so I interviewed him and wrote down his version of events.

Did you go see the lights with Grandma and Grandpa?
Yes. There were lights. There was a penguin too.

What did you eat for supper?
Sausage!!! And eggs! And Grandma love eggs!!
I think you ate that for breakfast. What did you eat for supper?
I don't know.
I think you went to Burger king.

Did you go swimming at the hotel?
yes. Grandpa hold my belly and help me swim. Nick can swim by himself. He go fast. He go SO fast. Someday I swim by myself. Someday I will.
Did you go under the water or jump in?
No. I swim and say, "Sharky, sharky follow me. Sharky, Sharky, follow me." so then I say, "I get you, Nick. I get you, Alex. I get you Pa-pa."
What about Grandma? Did she swim?
Not really. She sat in a chair. The water was very cold. It too cold. Grandpa and Alex get towels.

Did you eat breakfast at the hotel?
I eat eggs! (Let's just remember that this kid won't eat eggs at home.. or mac 'n cheese-which is what Grandma says he ate for supper... but I guess when his big cousins do it, he joins right in.)

Other things he told me:
I go to Julie's house. She have SO many presents. So then, I see presents. I see a present for pa-pa and one for MEEEEEEE! (And then he danced for a few minutes).
I see Casper. Julie have a dog. Julie have a dog Casper.

Needless to say, he had a blast at his cousin Christmas party. Don't tell Tyson how much fun they had.! Tyson did enjoy staying home with mommy (and a sick daddy) and getting lots of extra attention.
Well, off to celebrate Christmas Eve with my boys and Greg. We are staying home due to sickness, not having our van, and snow! We are just going to try and relax and enjoy being together. Merry Christmas everyone! I'm sure I'll have pictures of a fun Christmas morning up soon!

Advent- Week 2

2010-12-14T13:54:00.000-06:00

Here are some things we did for Advent in the past week or two. (I'm losing track of time, I think ;)
We made a whisper tube and talked about how Jesus's birth was the good news. We talked about sharing the Good News of Jesus with our friends. We practiced whispering things into the tube that we could say to our friends about Jesus, like, "Jesus loves you."

You never know if any of the things you are doing with your kids are "sticking" with them. But this one did! We made our whisper tube in the morning. Greg got home really late that day and Logan was ready to go to bed. Greg and Logan were talking in the bedroom and I heard Greg ask Logan if he had learned anything that day. Logan said, "yes. I learn about Jesus." and then he whispered to Greg, "I love you." I just thought it was cute that we had practiced telling our friends Jesus loves you and then he whispered it to Greg :)

We also read Luke 2: 1-5 and talked about how Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem. We talked about how they might have gone on a donkey or walked or ridden in cart. We talked about how they would have been outside. (Thanks to Julie K. for the outside idea). Then, since it wasn't so bitterly cold as it was earlier in the week, we went outside for a walk. The boys rode in the wagon and we went around and looked at all of the neighbor's Christmas decorations.

Seriously, that is how they rode. With Tyson all laying on Logan like that. They seemed to enjoy it. Eventually, though Logan was ready to get out and pull the wagon. (Ps. Tyson always does the #1 sign when he sees the camera. He is really a crazy kid.)

The next day, I gave the boys a flashlight and we talked about how Jesus is the light of the world. Except ALL of our flashlights were out of batteries... so that was kind of a bust.

We also learned about Jesus in the manger. I gave the boys a shoe box, some "straw" (a cut up Hawaiian skirt), and a blanket to swaddle baby Jesus. We also put a bow on Jesus to show that he was the best gift of Christmas. They love playing with this. We made an edible nativity. We used a cupcake holder, some corn flakes for straw, and marshmallows for baby Jesus.

We also celebrated Grandma and Grandpa's Birthdays with a BIG PARTY! I'll post about that soon!!!

First week of Advent

2010-12-10T14:09:00.000-06:00

We are celebrating Advent at our house this month. Usually I blog about all of our fun activities at my "other" blog, Ready. Set. Read! But since none of these ideas are my own ideas, I decided to just record what we did here on my Baby Blog. I want to remember what we are doing each year and hopefully create some memorable traditions that carry on from year to year. So here is what we did last week. First of all, I decorated for Christmas. We have this really ugly wall in our house that we haven't been able to redo yet. AND, I had this roll of really BAD wrapping paper from Target that I got last year. I rips every time I try to wrap with it. SO, guess what I did? I covered the whole wall with wrapping paper. Now it's like a giant bulletin board to post all of our Christmas crafts. I thought Greg would freak out when he saw it but he just said it looked better than before!

Day 1- We got out our Little People Nativity Set, minus baby Jesus. I introduced the "cast of characters" to Logan and Tyson- while Tyson gnawed on a donkey head and Logan banged Tyson in the head with a sheep. Once we got all of that settled out, we decided to "look" for baby Jesus. I gave Logan a present to unwrap and Baby Jesus was inside! We talked about how Jesus is the best gift of Christmas.
Then we did a lot of playing with gifts. We hid toys in gift bags. We shook the bags to see what sounds they made. Logan played a memory game where he tried to remember where I had put certain toys. Tyson enjoyed pulling things out of bags, dropping them into bags, and eating bags!

Day 2- We read Luke 1:5-25 and talked about the angel telling Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a baby. We talked about how Angels in the Christmas story bring Good News!
We made a shape angel.

We reviewed the shapes, triangle, circle, and oval.

Day 3- We read Luke 1:26-38 We made handprint and footprint angels.

I made one for Tyson and one for Logan. Then I taped them to a toilet paper holder and used them as our tree topper. I know not everyone would want this on their tree but it's special to me, I don't care if it doesn't look "fancy".

Day 4- Read Luke 1:57-80 and Matthew 3:1-11. Logan dressed up like John the Baptist, in his "camel hair" robe and leather belt.

We played a game where we matched pairs of socks and laid the matching pairs in the hallway, which made a straight path for us to run on. We talked about how John was born to prepare the people for who was about to come- Jesus! I talked to Logan about how our life is all messy (like a pile of socks) but when we follow Jesus, he makes our paths straight. Matthew 3:3 "Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight paths for him."

Day 4- We actually messed up and did Day 4/5 out of order but it's ok! We read Luke 1:39-56 and made a Joyful Tambourine to represent Mary's song of Praise.

I've found that I can read to the boys from the Bible while they are in the bathtub. They are contained and they listen (somewhat). God says that his word does not return void. I know that even if they are spending most of their time splashing and playing, the seeds of Gods word are being planted in their hearts. I pray that someday they will know Jesus, the reason for Christmas.

Thankful

2010-11-27T13:37:00.000-06:00

I am so thankful that Greg and I both have such wonderful families.

I am also thankful that they all live relatively close. We were able to see both families in the same weekend with minimal time spent in the car.

I am thankful for the amazing food we ate! But not for the numbers that will be on my scale this week!

Greg after a delicious meal.

The boys having dessert. I didn't get any pictures of the meal because I was feeding kids!

I am thankful that my kids had fun people to play with all weekend!

Logan loved playing with the big kids.

Tyson and Jacob (his cousin) sharing a toy.

Logan doing a puzzle with papa.

Tyson riding in the car in Grandma's basement.

Logan helping with Grandpa and Alex's windmill project.

On Thanksgiving day, we went to Greg's Aunt Donna's house for Thanksgiving dinner.

We got to see Greg's Aunts and Uncles and cousins and Greg's parents and sister and kids. My kids really enjoyed seeing everyone. Even though they don't always see their extended family, they warmed up right away.

After Thanksgiving dinner, the kids played with toys and the adults talked.
Then we celebrated Jacob's first birthday!!

The kid is such a neat little eater! I didn't get any messy cake pictures at all. This is the only semimessy one but it's blurry.

On Friday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Bradley's house. We had a yummy dinner. Then the boys all went to the basement while Julie and mom and I cleaned up. You will notice there are NO little girls in any of these pictures- there are no little girls on either side of the family! But I have to say, we're getting pretty good at the "boy stuff".

Nick played video games. (Look at Uncle Greg buggin' him while he tries to concentrate!)

Alex worked on cars.

Logan learned to ride a bike!!!!!

(I'm very excited by this one! Doesn't he look big riding that bike all by himself. At first he could only pedal but couldn't steer or brake. That was wild. But then my dad taught him to even steer and brake by himself!)

Tyson rode in the little car for more than an hour-- until he discovered that he could push the car-- which was much more fun!!

It was a fun and crazy day and I am thankful for that!

My Super boys

2010-11-24T22:26:00.000-06:00

Logan and Tyson dressed up as Superheros for Halloween this year. Logan was Batman. He requested his own costume this year. The only thing he knows about Batman is that he likes Batman fruit snacks!

Tyson was Superbaby!

Logan got to go out for Trick or treating for the first time. We just went on our street and part of Estates. Logan had so much candy in his pumpkin, it was overflowing! Our neighbors were all so thrilled to see him and so sweet with him.
He wasn't so sure about it when we started off. He knocked on Kim and Terry's door and Terry came to the door. Logan said, "Trick or Treat." and Terry gave him a huge bag of candy. After that, he was pretty much sold on it and kept saying, "Let's go another one house."
He even said, "Thank you." and I didn't have to remind him! Daddy really works hard with Logan on manners and it is paying off.
I honestly wasn't sure I would enjoy trick or treating. I mean, it seemed a little uncomfortable to go to neighbors houses and beg for candy. But Logan and I had a blast. All the other kids were out on the street and weirdly enough, they all mostly knew Logan's name. Most of the kids on our street are upper elementary aged but most of them stopped and talked with us and made a big deal out of Logan's cute costume.

Tyson stayed home with Daddy and helped pass out candy. Logan thought it was super hilarious that we trick or treated at our own house last and that Daddy got to give him candy.
The next morning, at 7 am, Logan told us, "I want to go trick or treating again." Hope he can wait a whole YEAR for that.

Ps. I love this picture! I love that Logan can WAVE at the camera but he can't bother to LOOK at the camera. LOL!
Now, we're outta here..

Chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga,

2010-11-03T19:57:00.000-05:00

Choo! Choo!
I took the boys to the Museum of Transportation for a fun Friday outing. It was actually the easiest and best outing I've done with them by myself since Tyson was born. I think they are starting to get to the ages where going out and about will be easier.
We started our morning by going to Creation Station. With an adult admission, you can purchase admission for you and your kids to Creation Station for $1.50 per person. I didn't have to pay admission for the boys to the museum so we did Creation Station. I'm so glad because it was the best part of the day. It is a giant playroom and you get one hour of free play time. It is geared for preschoolers but the lady in charge had put down a blanket with stuffed toys and books which was perfect for Tyson.

They got to dress up

play with trucks and cars

play with the train table (imagine every single item from the Thomas catalog. It's like kiddie toy crack!)

Climb on a wooden boat and dress up as pirates

and play together and with other kids

After Creation Station we rode the train. It's about the same size as the zoo train. Unfortunately, it doesn't go very far. And it costs $4.00 to ride (in addition to the price of admission for the museum.) But you can't go to a museum about trains and not ride the train. So we rode it.

After riding the little train, we went and explored the big trains. We spent most of our time in the freight train area. We could go inside the cars and the boys both loved it.

Then we went up to the passenger train area.

We couldn't get into all of the cars. They were fun for me to look inside but the boys could have cared less. They were getting tired and also hungry.
So we left and went to McDonald's for chicken and fries. (Well, Tyson actually had applesauce and sweet potatoes. poor thing!)
They are building a new visitor's center at the museum of transportation. We'll have to go back and see that some day.

"Daddy caught a catfish."

2010-10-28T15:29:00.000-05:00

About 5 times a day I hear, "Daddy caught a fish. It was tall. It was messy. It was a catfish." After naps I hear about how many fish each person caught... (cause I think Logan is dreaming about fishing already). I hear, "Papa caught 1 fish. Daddy caught 1 fish. Brian caught 2 fish!" All of this is because way back in September, we took Logan to "THE LAND."

We took our minivan off roading through mid missouri to some property of Greg's parents, affectionately known as "The Land."

We went with Grandma and Papa and Brian and Kari for a family day of fun and fishing. It was kind of chilly but Logan and Tyson really enjoyed their time at the land. And we were able to go into the barn when it got cold.

Grandma made chili and hotdogs and Grandpa came up with a very ingenious plan for cooking the dogs.

After lunch we headed down to the lake for boat ridin', fishin' and hanging out.

Logan was so comfortable at the land. In fact, I took the boys up to the barn and while I was putting Tyson down for a nap in his pack-n-play, Logan took off. He walked all the way to the lake (where Greg was waiting) by himself. He was wearing a bell necklace that day and Greg said he looked up and saw Logan, walking down the path, singing 'Jingle Bells' at the top of this lungs!

While we were waiting for everyone to pack up, Logan and I took a wagon ride around the land.

Notice he already has his jammies on. We had 2 very tired boys after a busy day of play at the land.

It's time for a good snowball fight!!

2010-10-13T13:59:00.000-05:00

Are you wondering where we found a snowpile in September?

We've been loving this nice fall weather. We also love that we live close to some amazing parks. So the other evening we headed out to the park across from Suson Park- next to the ice rink and the golf course. Ok, if I knew the actual name if it, I'd tell you but I don't.

The boys loved playing together. Both of them like to swing. Since we were the only people at the park, we hung out on the swings for a while. Logan just likes to go higher and higher and higher.

Tyson just likes that he's big enough to get in a swing now!

I'm gonna go ahead and point fingers here: Daddy dressed Logan for the park. He claims he matches. You be the judge...

Logan got to play on the big equipment with the slides and ladders. Tyson got to play on the little kid stuff. He really liked showing off his crawling skills in this tube.

Also, in true Higgins boy fashion, he is already mastering the art of climbing UP the slide. (You other playground moms hate me already!)

Tyson wasn't completely content on the "baby" stuff. He did want to go check out the big boy ladders.

Logan came over and showed him the ropes.

and climbed up some ropes. This is Logan's great accomplishment of the summer. He can now climb this wiggly ladder thing.

We all had fun on the slides together too!

After we played, we found the snowpile in the parking lot next to the ice rink.

And had a snowball fight!

And practiced climbing up mountains of snow.

I love my family!!

9 months old

2010-10-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

Tyson is 9 months old today.

He's crawling and pulling up.

He can cruise on the furniture.

He likes to sit on the little stool (with help).

He likes to bang and drop things! Helping me cook is one of his favorite things!

We drag him on a lot of outings with his big brother so he has already been to The Land.

He's been to play at the Transportation Museum.

He's gotten to sit in the big train there.

He's been to play at the playground... and boy does he think he is a big boy there!

He's such a happy baby. When people are around him they always say, "Is he always this happy and contented?" Pretty much. He really only fusses when he is tired, hungry, or when Logan has just pushed his face into the floor or something brotherly like that.
He is also "talking". He loves to say "ma-ma". Seriously, that is his favorite word. Do you know how happy that makes me. I'd love for him to say "Da-da" more for Greg too. He also tries to repeat the word "ball" when I hand him a ball.
He can wave bye-bye. Sometimes he waves to himself, which I love! He also signs "more" and sometimes signs "all done".
He is eating more solid foods: little pieces of banana, chicken, and peas. He also eats baby goldfish, mum-mums, and crackers. I think he has also had a fistful of dirt, leaves, grass, Logan's pretzels... but those were not intentional.
He loves his brother and his daddy. He wants to be right where they are all the time. He loves being one of the guys. Logan loves to boss him around and say, "No, no baby." But when Tyson cries he says, "It's ok baby, it's ok." Tyson is such an important part of our little family and we all love him to pieces!

Powder Valley and Pizza

2010-10-05T14:16:00.000-05:00

Greg sister, Pam, and her family came to town last weekend. We met up with them at Powder Valley. Powder Valley Conservation Area is one of our favorite places to take the boys. It is close to our house. It has a small museum that is geared toward kids. It also has an area to sit and look at deer. They feed the deer and the deer come right up where you can see them. The area to sit and view the deer is very cozy with couches and a fireplace.

They also have lots of stuff for the kids, including two puppet areas,

a tree house, coloring areas, a book area, animal displays, and a fish aquarium (actually it's an outdoor pond that you can view from underground and inside). They also have an indoor honeybee hive. The bees fly into it through pipes in the walls. It is enclosed in glass and you can view the bees while they work. Here is my honey.

(I told you I'd put it on the blog!)
After playing in the museum we went on a walk outside. They have several hiking trails and some of them are paved.
We went and ate at Incredible Pizza after our hike. It's a great place to take a family of all boys! They have a pizza buffet, which even our youngest boys enjoyed.

They also have games and kiddie rides. The big boys and the little boys loved the games!

We had a lot of fun hanging out with Grandma and Papa Higgins.

The Bradleys go to Branson

2010-10-05T13:58:00.000-05:00

We took our annual trip to Branson- Silver Dollar City in September. We had so much fun in September but I'm about 5 blog posts behind!! Greg, Logan, Tyson, and I rode with Grandma and Grandpa Bradley in the red van. Julie and Ryan, Nick and Alex came down after Ryan got off work on Friday. The boys were very good travelers. See my other blog to see what I packed for them to do in the car. Logan stayed pretty busy on the way there. His favorite activity was the sticker books. He also liked that Grandpa and Grandma packed their portable DVD player so he got to watch an episode of Blues Clues and a home video of himself! That definitely helped when Tyson needed to sleep. We only made one stop for the bathroom and to feed Tyson. Logan kept his pull-up dry all the way until we stopped at the gas station (and then he used the nasty gas station toilets. Should I celebrate that? Gross. And um, why do they have to touch all the parts of the toilet??????) Ok, back to the trip... we arrived in Branson around 5 pm, unloaded, and went to eat supper. We ate at Pizza World. It was a Pizza buffet and it was really good... or I was really hungry but regardless, I loved it. Logan ate pizza but Tyson just flirted with all the older ladies in the restaurant. (I knew all the old folk in Branson would love my Tyson.)
After dinner we went to the hotel to swim. I have swimming pictures on my camera but I'm having fits with them. Greg?? Help?? Please??? Logan loved swimming.. Tyson- not so much. In fact, he wouldn't even look at anyone who was in the pool because he was terrified someone would make him get in! He ended up sitting out on the side and taking a bottle from Grandma.
The first night there, the boys didn't really sleep much. They kept waking each other up and when we would have let them cry at home, we had to get them up at the hotel. They also woke up at 4:30 am and did not go back to sleep. They were both pretty tired for Saturday. I was kind of bummed about that because I wanted them to have fun at SDC. It worked out ok because they BOTH took naps during the day at SDC.
On Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then went to Silver Dollar City. At SDC, they measure the kids and give them a colored wristband which denotes which rides they can ride. Tyson couldn't ride any of the rides-- except the train. But he just enjoyed being with everybody.

Logan could go on the bugs and the butterflies by himself and most of the other rides with an adult. He couldn't ride any of the big people roller coasters except for Fire in the Hole- but I nixed that! None of the rides scared him. He even liked "the fast boats." I rode that one with Alex and I gotta say, it is pretty intense for a kid ride. I was holding on the Alex. I think he thought I was pretty strange. Logan's favorite ride was the frogs. He rode it several times.

Our very nice parents decided it would be fun for Julie and Ryan and Greg and me if we all got a "break time". Julie and Ryan went off by themselves in the morning. I think they went dancing and shopping :) We stayed with all of the boys.

Then Greg and I went off by ourselves in the afternoon.

We went on the cave tour.

It was a hot day and much cooler down there. It's nice to just "escape" and see some natural beauty.

I couldn't go in the cave last year because I was preggo.
After the cave, we all rode the train. If you've ridden the train at SDC, you know that they have a mock train heist with train robbers. It's the same thing every year- same corny jokes that would only work at a theme park like SDC. However, this time, my nephew Alex decided to spice it up. Alex loves to roar at people. So when the train robbers got really close to Alex, Nick told Alex, "You should roar at them." Alex got right in their face and roared. Alex loves to scare people so when the robber responded with a "He scared me!" (and I think he really did.) Alex was glowing! And the rest of us were laughing hysterically.

Logan was pretty tired by train time but Tyson enjoyed his only ride of the day.

Oh, yeah, Tyson also got to ride in his stroller.

All of the boys did really good. They took turns in the sit and stand stroller. Although, Logan was determined to walk the entire day!! When Nick rode in the stroller, I made Greg push because he is much, much stronger than me!

After SDC, we went to Country Buffet or something like that for dinner. It's a really, really, really yummy buffet. Seriously, I have never had food like that off a buffet. Luckily, Logan was free because I think he ate some shredded cheese and that was it, (Two year olds!) But Tyson loved the honey biscuits. After eating, all the guys played a round of mini golf (the restaurant is attached to an indoor mini golf course).

There was a lady waiting behind us who was obviously frustrated that we had brought kids to golf. I guess she thought Tyson would be holding everybody up because she huffed, "Babies? Golfing? Seriously??" By the way, Tyson did not golf- he just practiced his "walking" on the course and huffy lady picked the other course to play!

The boys slept much better the second night- hallelujah! Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel again, loaded up, and headed home. We had difficulty getting out of Branson because the Iron Man competition was in town and they had shut down all kinds of roads for them to compete. But the boys did pretty good on the ride home- despite all the twists and turns we had to make. We stopped at one rest area that had a playground and we tried to stop at Mc Donalds- but when we got off the exit, we saw that the McDonalds had been completely bulldozed over! So we ate at Burger King.
When we got on to Old HWY 21 headed toward our house, Logan said, "I want to go back to Branson." Ugh- no more long drives for now buddy-- but we'll take you back next year because we had alot of fun too! Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Bradley for treating us all to a trip to Branson. We love it!!

Tiny Talk Tuesday: Getting Dressed

2010-10-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

We were getting dressed the other morning to go to Bible Study. I guess I wasn't moving fast enough for Logan because he decided he wanted to dress himself. He said, "I need put on a dress now." (I guess he thinks, "get dressed" = "put on a dress").
He ran in his room and returned with a pair of shorts, a shirt, several pairs of socks, and a pair of shoes. He yelled, "Momma, I need underwears."
He did pretty good at getting himself dressed and then he watched me as I wrestled Tyson into some clothes and tried to get myself halfway decent looking. While he waited for me, he spun around and around and around on our bedroom floor until he got dizzy. Then he said, "mommy, I busy. I really, really busy."
I was pretty rushed to get out the door and ended up just pulling my hair up in a ponytail. I was feeling sloppy and not wanting to go to Bible study looking like a hot mess. Logan looked up at me and said, "Mommy, your beautiful."
Awww, he must have a wonderful daddy who has modeled how to make mommy feel wonderful!

Another night that week, two telemarketers (sans telephones) came to our door at dinner time to sell us AT&T phone and cable. The salespeople looked about 22. I answered the door with a baby covered in sweet potatoes. They said, "Oh, is it dinner time?" Gee, ummm, YES! They proceeded to talk to me while Tyson gave them the evil eye because he really wanted some sweet potatoes. As they were telling me how we could get TV, phone, internet all for $29 for the first month (and then $1,000 thereafter), Logan ran OUT THE DOOR naked (and wet). He looked at me and said, "Mommy, You're beautiful." First they said, "AWW" Then they must have noticed he was NAKED because they looked a little shocked and said, "It's dinner and bath time." I didn't want to ruin their future decisions to bear children and explain to them that yes, sometimes something SO gross comes out of your child at dinner that your husband has to stop eating and bathe the child!! So I just said, "Yep. Dinner and bath. We're gonna keep what we have with our TV, etc. Have a nice day." Seriously, AT&T just bring back the telemarketers. I can at least hang up the phone on them!

8 months old

2010-09-15T13:46:00.000-05:00

Dear Tyson,
Where did the time go, sweet baby boy, how are you already eight months old? Oh, and why are you wearing 24 month clothes.. oh, that's right, you love your food! You drink about 32 ounces of whole milk a day, you down a bowl of cereal and a banana every morning for breakfast, you eat 2 whole jars of baby food for lunch-- or if mommy makes your food, you just keep eating and eating and eating, and you eat 3 jars of food for supper! You love bananas, avacaodos, and yogurt. The only food you don't like is green beans. Even after a hearty meal, you still try to steal your brother's goldfish.
Speaking of stealing your brother's food, the other day, your brother feed you some plastic beads. Sorry if they hurt your tummy. I tried to stop him before they went all the way down! Of course, you get even with Logan. You love to try and get Logan's toys. You'd rather play with big boy toys than silly baby toys anyday!
And you are getting really good at moving to get the toys. Today you even started crawling!! You didn't go far and you didn't go fast but you worked on it as hard as you could. You're also good at scootin' on your booty and crawling backwards as well as sitting up and clapping your hands.
You love to clap to music. You love to laugh. You love to sneak a peek at the TV... ok, you're totally engrossed by the TV. You love, love, LOVE when daddy comes home. You like to dance while daddy sings.
You entertain yourself (with Logan's toys). You also like toys that play music, pull toys, and banging blocks together. You love to look at yourself in the mirror.
You don't talk too much. You sometimes say da-da and you like to make an "indian call" on your mouth. You love to shake your head "no". When we ask you a question or people talk to you, you usually just grunt a "huh". It's like you're saying, "Whatever, I'm easy to please."
Sometimes mommy gets to sneak out of the house for a walk, and sometimes she takes you along. During those times, I pray for you, Tyson (and your brother and your daddy, too). I pray that you have a personal faith in Jesus someday. I pray that it will help you to do "immeasurably more than I could ask, think, or imagine". I know that God has great things for your life and I can't wait to see the boy (and someday man of God that you become). But tonight, I just want to hold you and feel your squishy fat legs and listen to you breathe and be my baby.
Love,
Mommy

New beds = sleepyheads?

2010-09-14T20:36:00.000-05:00

We certainly did a great job of keeping Greg occupied this weekend. First he got to unassemble Logan's crib. Since Logan started climbing out of his crib a few weeks ago, sleep as been minimal in this house. Sooooo, we decided to spring for a big boy bed for Logan.

Then, Greg got to assemble a bunk bed. I can't believe my baby boy doesn't sleep in a crib anymore!
Logan's crib went into Tyson's room and got reassembled in there.

This is because Tyson's crib was recalled. So Greg got to unassemble Tyson's crib and we returned it to Wal-mart. The bonus is that we used that crib for 3 years and then got a full refund for it!!
I would like to say that sleep is better in our house but I don't want to jinx us, so I will say, "no comment."

Big boys in the bath

2010-09-14T14:02:00.000-05:00

Tyson got to move up to the big tub!! Now the boys can play together in the tub.

Can you tell Tyson is excited?

Logan, the big brother, is teaching Tyson how to splash and dump water over his head. Isn't he a good big brother??

Tiny Talk Tuesday

2010-09-14T14:01:00.000-05:00

Logan came in the kitchen while I was making chicken parmesan.
Logan: Mommy you making Wal-mart Chicken?

Logan came in the living room wearing nothing but mommy's belt wrapped around his waist.
Logan: I ready to go.
Me: Where are you going?
Logan: To church!
Me: You're not wearing any clothes!
Logan: I wearing a seatbelt, mommy.

Logan: I don't like being nice.
He says this quite often lately and so I try to come up with different responses, on this day I said:
Well, do you like having friends?
Logan: Yes
Me: Well, you have to be nice to have friends.
Logan: (thought for a minute). O-tay. I need be funny, too.

Logan: I want to go church today.
Me: Not today, tomorrow. What are you going to do at church?
Logan: color, eat goldfish, listen.
Me: You're going to listen? Are you going to listen to stories about Jesus?
Logan: And Esther.
(You rock, Concord children's ministry!!)

Logan: I read mine Bible. (Bringing me his Bible to read)
Me: (Opening the first page) Okay, In the beginning...
Logan: GOD
Me: created
Logan: heaven an' earf

And a sweet brother story...
When Tyson starts crying in the car, Logan leans over and says, "Almost there, Tyson. Almost there."
And when Tyson cries in the afternoon, Logan says, "Almost time, Tyson. Almost time Daddy come home." (He says that when I cry too... just kidding, lol)

The Deck Project

2010-09-04T06:59:00.000-05:00

Greg spent most of his summer working on our deck. As you can see, it's a big deck...

Also it had not been cleaned or waterproofed in a long time or ever???
First he had to clean the entire deck with bleach. He worked really hard every Saturday morning during a very hot summer.
Then he painted the rails.

My Dad came up and helped him for 2 days with the rails.

Still they put in about 40 hours just painting rails!
Mpm and I took the boys and went shopping!! Although Logan really wanted to work with daddy and pa-pa.

After the rails, he was able to spray the flat part of the deck with the seal.
It looks so fresh and new. We love our deck. It's a great place for the boys to play so I'm really thankful that Greg is maintaining it so well!

Potty Talk

2010-08-26T20:21:00.000-05:00

I actually did a quite lengthy post on potty training on my other blog, but I wanted to record some of my potty memories here as well. I don't know why I'll WANT to remember this stuff, maybe so I can cheer myself on and say, "You can do this!" when I have to potty train Tyson.
The day we started potty training was the.hardest.day.of.my.life. Harder than finals, reading recovery training, writing my master's thesis.. maybe even harder than having a baby... at least they give you drugs for that. Potty training is so physically draining... running to the potty, cleaning up accidents. It's mentally draining.. am I doing this right? Should I do some research? But mostly, it's emotionally draining. That KID has just peed on the floor for the 3rd time in a row. Doesn't he know to use the potty? I can't sweetly encourage him to do it ONE.MORE.TIME!!! When I hit that point, I usually threw Logan on Greg's lap and left the room. Thank goodness for a patient and helpful husband!!
We used the Dr. Phil potty train your child in one day method. As I said on my other blog, unless Dr. Phil's Days are like The LORD's days... you know one day is like a thousand days... Dr. Phil is lying about the one day thing. However, all other aspects of his program seemed to work for us.
We got a doll that peed, put him on the potty, had a potty party. We did dances. We did stickers. And when Logan had an accident, I put him on the potty 10 times in a row to build muscle memory.
It's kind of boring to sit on the potty 10 times in a row. Even for a 2 year old who loves repetition. So, we had potty relays. We would run, sit on the potty, and run back. We also skipped, jumped, hopped, danced, twirled. It took a while to warm up to the potty, at first Logan would say, I don't like it. NO, NEVER! But after all the parties and dancing, he gave in and decided to like it.
After about a week, he would tell me when he needed to pee on the potty. He also was able to go out in public, keep his pull up dry, AND use the public restroom.
At first, Logan didn't want to poop on the potty. In fact, one morning he came and told me, "There a dirty diaper in the room." Hmmm, since Logan wasn't wearing a diaper (or any underwear) and Tyson can't take off his diaper, I had to go check it out. There was no diaper but it was dirty!!
The second time that happened, I remembered to pick it up and show Logan that I was putting it in the toilet. I showed him how to flush it away and he LOVED it. He thought it was so "cool" (his favorite word right now) that "The water clean it." He stood over the toilet and said, "bye, bye poop." Then he wanted to flush everything else down the toilet as well. So, the next time he had to go, he was super happy about putting it into the toilet and waving bye-bye. Since then he's been telling me when he needs to go and he's been going on the potty. We just started wearing underwear (yep, I let him run around naked!) and learning how to get to the potty and take the pants/underwear off in time. Next we have to conquer naptime and someday we'll handle bedtime... oh, and before he is 5, I'll try to be brave enough to take him out of the house without a pull up!!
What a journey this has been. I had a million reasons for NOT doing it but Logan was ready and I'm glad we did it. I hope he doesn't regress at any point but if he does, I'll just revisit this blog post and tell myself YOU CAN DO IT!

Logan-isms

2010-08-17T13:50:00.000-05:00

Logan has many interesting things he says these days:

At dinner he will say, "This delicious."
After he tackled me one morning, he stood over me and said, "You gonna take that, Momma?"
When he was playing on the couch the other day he said, "I in the ocean. I go to Wal-mart."
He often tells us where he would like for us to take him. When we were leaving for church the other day he said, "I want to go to Target."
One of his favorite sayings lately is "NO, Never." So if we ask him, "Do you want to go potty?" He replies, "NO, Never." LOUDLY!
He also likes to express his opinions on a wide variety of things. He loves to say, "I don't like it." So if we're listening to the radio and he doesn't like a song, he'll say, "I want the wuderone (other one) song, momma. I don't like it."
He also has gotten tired of the extreme heat this summer (haven't we all). He will tell us, "It too hot outside. I don't like it!"
We may watch too much dinosaur train in our house because lately he yells, "Tickets, tickets please." And then comes around to collect tickets from me.
He likes to put daddy to sleep. He'll close the door to our bedroom and say, "Night, night, sweet dreams, daddy. See you 'morrow." Then he' ll come in and tell me, "Daddy sleeping" and run back and yell, "Daddy, wake up!"
When I put Tyson down for a morning nap he told him, "See you tomorrow, Tyson."
Tyson does some babbling and sometimes it sounds like he's saying, "I love you." Without missing a beat, Logan will say, "I love you too, Tyson."
Logan begs to go to the library. He's always saying, "We go library, remember, momma?"
After church on Sunday we came home and Logan was yelling, "SIT! SIT AT THE TABLE!" Hmmm, wonder what happened in Sunday school?
I asked Logan if he wanted to be a daddy someday. He said, "NO, I want to be a pa-pa." Smart kid! I think he has noticed that daddy has to do an awful lot of work!!
Logan will sing a song too me and afterwards say, "That a good one momma."
He also follows me around the house while I'm cleaning and says, "Good job, momma."
When he wants to leave a place he says, "I'm ready to go!!"

I love having a two year old who is funny and entertaining... and also exhausting but it's worth it, right?

Incredible

2010-08-16T07:24:00.000-05:00

We went to Incredible Pizza.
It was my Incredible Sister's birthday! (But I didn't take any pictures of her.)
We ate Pizza. It was sort of incredible! Ok, the Cinnamon rolls, those were incredible.
We rode incredible rides.

It was incredibly loud!

Logan kept his pull up dry AND used the potty in the restroom... incredible.

7 Months Old

2010-08-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it? My sweet Tyson is seven months old today! He is just a fun, happy part of our family. Tyson wakes up every day at the crack of dawn (or before). He is an early riser but he is happy and snuggly in the morning. Tyson and mommy have a little time to play before Logan wakes up. He is very contented to sit on the floor and play with toys. He loves trying to get balls out of a bucket. He loves feeling different textures. He loves blocks and banging them together. He likes to read books with mommy. We read a lot of nursery rhymes. Some of our favorite stories right now are "The Runaway Bunny" and "Goodnight my Duckling." He trys to turn the pages and eat the book.
Tyson loves his big brother Logan. When Logan gets up, Tyson will squeal! Logan loves to rub Tyson's head and say, "He cute." Logan also likes to give Tyson kisses. Tyson loves to try and get Logan's toys. He will sit and rock forward with his bottom and his hands, often crashing on his head, as he reaches for Logan's megablocks or sippy cup. Sometimes when Logan is in a bad mood, he will roar at Tyson. It used to scare Tyson but now he just laughs!
Tyson loves trying to pull up with my hands. Whenever we practice standing up, Logan wants to try it too. Logan will sit down and have me "help" him stand up.
Tyson loves to watch TV. If there is a TV on in the room, he will twist and turn and squirm until he can see it! He also loves to watch Logan, even more than TV. He thinks Logan is quite hilarious.
Tyson is a good eater. He is eating fruits, vegetables, rice cereal, and a little meat. He is drinking whole milk from a cup or a bottle. He doesn't like cold food or drinks. He also has a little bit of juice at breakfast, which he loves (and will drink cold!)
Tyson loves when daddy comes home each day. He can be super fussy and when he sees daddy, he'll instantly cheer up. (Which causes Daddy to believe that Tyson is a perfect baby all day long.) He loves when Daddy tickles him and will belly laugh so hard.
Tyson goes to sleep around 7 pm and sleeps through the night until 6 am (usually, this week he has been up by 5:30 am).
He is the perfect baby for our family and we all love him so much. I'm so thankful that God gave us Tyson seven months ago today!!!

Yard Work

2010-08-10T20:42:00.000-05:00

Tyson and I went to get an oil change in the van and took a trip to Wal-mart on Saturday. Logan stayed home with daddy to do yard work. He loved using his rake and shovel!

When I came home, I said, "Logan, did you do yard work?" as he was raking. He responded, "Yes, momma. Did you go to the store? Did you have fun?" I love how conversational he is becoming!!

I think Daddy loves how much he can help out now. Who do you think is doing all the work here??

Teething!

2010-08-10T20:36:00.000-05:00

Tyson had 2 teeth before this new round of teething started. This time he is getting FIVE TEETH at once!! Here are some of the things that accompany a teething baby.
Drool and snot. And a nasty rash. Ewww!

Pain, Ouch!

Tiredness and crankiness, waaa!

An adorable new smile, awww!

Logan had to show off his teeth too!

Lookin' good buddy.

Extreme Makeover: Logan Edition

2010-08-04T19:55:00.000-05:00

We gave Logan a buzz cut at home. Here is his "before" shot:

We sat him in a chair and let him pick out a movie- just like at the Hairy Elephant where he normally gets a haircut. However, he did not like his home haircut. In fact, he got so mad at us, that he started ROARING at Greg.

So we gave him a popsicle.

Which got hairy! And he got even madder. Of course, it didn't help that his mommy and daddy were falling on the floor laughing hysterically- partially due to stress, partially due to Logan's reaction, and partially due to the fact that a buzz cut looks BAD as it is going down.

After a while, he calmed down. We gave him a mirror and he just starred at himself but he did stop crying.

Here is his after picture. He looks so grown up. (But I think still adorable). I didn't get a great picture of the actual haircut because he wouldn't hold still. For some reason, he didn't trust us after that.

But basically, he's adorable and looks just like daddy!

Playdate with "Grace"

2010-07-30T14:07:00.001-05:00

So we have these really, really nice friends from church. They have a little boy whose name is Nathan. Logan insists on calling him, "Grace". I've tried telling Logan that his name is Nathan- to which Logan replies, "No momma, Grace."
So a few weeks ago we met up with "Grace" and his mommy, Jenn at Suson Park for a playdate. The boys played on the playground while Tyson had a bottle. Then they fed the ducks, which they all seemed to like.

Then we went to say hello to the animals. Here's farmer Logan with his cow! Just like his Grandpa!

We also walked around the lake at Suson-- until a HUGE goose with a HUGE tongue started hissing at us. It was seriously creepy and scary. So we ran away!!
It was kind of hot but since we met up in the morning, we left before it got too bad. Tyson was getting a little worn down by the end.

Oh yeah, and Logan fell into the water and got his pants all muddy. Not a great day to do that since we were going to Greg's work for family day after our playdate at the park. However, I had a clean pair of shorts for Logan since I know his tendancy to get dirty! It was a good thing I got him cleaned up because we ended up sitting with the owner of Aclara at lunch. Thank goodness the boys were well behaved!
Logan liked seeing where daddy worked. He really, really liked that they gave him lots of stickers, a bag full of toys, a balloon and cookies!! Tyson just liked going around the building and smiling at everybody!

All Aboard

2010-07-30T14:07:00.000-05:00

We took the Grandma and Grandpa Bradley express to the St. Louis Mills Mall last week. Logan got to ride this train around the mall with Grandpa. It's actually really cool. The last time we were there , there was just a little train on tracks but this train drives around the mall and puffs out smoke.

Logan absolutely loved it. He has told me about "The mall." and "The choo choo train." several times.
Tyson got to shop with mommy and Grandma.

Logan got to play on the playground, go to Cabellas with Grandpa and look at the fish and the stuffed animals, eat noodles and orange chicken at the food court, and then ride the caurosel with Grandma.

It's a zoo around here!!

2010-07-28T09:47:00.000-05:00

We went to the zoo with our cousins, Nick and Alex and Grandma and Grandpa Bradley. I've been to the St. Louis zoo probably a hundred times (no joke.) but this was my first trip to the Children's Zoo. My parents are zoo members so they graciously shared their passes with us! In fact, if I saw these pictures of the STL zoo, I would not even believe that was where they were taken!
We rode to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa. The big boys rode in the backseat.

I brought books about zoos for them to read. Nick was almost reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see?" by himself!!
It was a hot, hot day for the zoo so we enjoyed airconditioned buildings like this one in the Children's zoo.

This building allowed the kids up close glances at the animals. Here is Logan inside a tunnel looking at some Mearcats through the glass.

The zoo keepers also had animals like bunnies, guinea pigs, and the boys' favorites... snakes. The kids could pet all of the animals. (Nick kept trying to touch the snake's head. That's why Grandma is holding on to him in the picture- NO Fear!)

There was also a "tree house" that Logan liked climbing.

And a little kitchen area. Next to the kitchen, there was a "real" kitchen with a real chef. He was cutting up all the veggies to feed the animals and you could watch him.
They had a jeep to ride in the "Outback" and a tree kangaroo.

They really liked that building. I liked it because it was cool!
The boys also liked playing in this farm area. Nick mostly just sang, "The Farmer in the Dell."

Alex worked, and worked, and worked, and worked.

Seriously, the kid would have spent all day shoveling hay into wheelbarrows and wheeling it around the garden. I think the zoo should hire him.

Logan had fun playing farm, too!
Then we went to the children's zoo playground. There was a slide that went through the river otter's tank. It had glass sides so the kids could see the otters on the way down. Of course, Logan was so light, he flew super fast down it so he probably didn't see the otters.
We then brushed the goats. I liked this better than Grant's farm where you feed the goats and the goats go all CRAZY and attack to get food!!!!

Tyson liked riding around in his stroller and watching all the big boys do fun stuff.

We ended up our time at the zoo by meeting Julie and Hannah at the train and taking a train ride to cool off. Tyson liked the train-- except when we had to go through one long tunnel and the mom and little girl behind us screamed the whole time.

After the zoo we went to McDonald's and ate and cooled down.

The big boys played but Logan was too tired to play!

We had a fun, hot day!

Tyson's 6 month check up and a suprise check for Logan

2010-07-27T14:06:00.000-05:00

I took Tyson for his six month check up today. He is doing well. He is 20 lbs. 12 oz. He is 28 3/4 inches long. He is 90th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. I knew he was a big boy! He IS wearing 12-18 month clothes. And he's as big (if not bigger) than his cousin, Jacob, who is 6 weeks older than him-- and um, Jacob, he's no small boy!!
Tyson was super sweet with all the nurses and only cried for a few minutes after his FIVE vaccinations. The doctor said we can start fruits and vegetables now (oh yeah, I already did that ;) and he can start on the cup and drink whole milk.
The crazy thing about the visit actually has to do with Logan. Since Sunday Logan has had a runny nose and a slight cough. The cough keeps getting worse but he doesn't have any fever and until today wasn't sick acting. Today he was really crabby and clingy but we had an exhausting weekend so I figured he had a cold + he was tired. While our doctor was examining Tyson, he heard Logan cough and said, "I want to listen to that cough." I said, "Oh, that was Logan not Tyson." He said, "I know. But I don't like the sound of that cough. It sounds like wheezing." So we got Logan up on the table and he listened. He actually gave me the stethascope and had me listen to. He showed me how Logan's ribs were heaving every time he tried to take a breath. Let me tell you, I felt like mother of the year, not even noticing that my child could hardly breathe!!! No wonder he was crabby. But Dr. Glines was very helpful and not judgemental :) Turns out Logan may be irriated by allergens like mold or pollen or something else and those allergens may be triggering asthma!!!
So Logan is going to go on albuterol and we're going to see if that helps. I don't know when/how they diagnose asthma but I have to check back with Dr. Glines on Thursday. I never thought I would have a child with asthma. I breastfeed for goodness sake! And I'm sure my child has never been in the same room with anyone who was smoking. Ever. But I DO have allergies to things like mold and pollen and have struggled with them a lot especially in my twenties. Supposedly that causes your child's chances of having asthma to go up.
Now I've been reading about asthma and hoping that my child doesn't have it because it kind of scares me. We're going to pick up his prescription as soon as he wakes up from his nap. The doctor said the coughing should stop when the wheezing gets under control. Now that I know what to listen for, I can hear the wheezing every time I hold him.
The worst part about this situation is that for the time being, Logan is not supposed to play outdoors.... until he stops wheezing and can go off the meds. We have to keep him in airconditioning. For a child who would willingly live outdoors this is going to be hard!!
Anyway, this post is rambly and I might go back and edit it later so it makes more sense but I wanted friends and family to pray for Logan that his breathing will get under control and we'll be able to determine what is going on and how to treat him. I am so thankful for our wonderful doctor, Dr. Glines, who in the midst of examining a baby and talking to a mother, and answering the questions of a nurse popping in, can ALSO hear my child cough a few times while he's playing in a corner of the room and take the time to attend to him as well!!

Happy Ways to Spend a Day

2010-07-27T09:22:00.000-05:00

6 months old

2010-07-12T13:58:00.000-05:00

Tyson is 6 months old today (actually yesterday, I forgot to publish yesterday because we were at the land)! Can you believe it? He's halfway to one! It is going SO fast. Sometimes I'd even have to say it is going too fast! He is such a good baby. He's super smiley and laid back. He wakes up in the morning with a sweet smile and he stays that way-- as long as you give him plenty to eat! He is a big boy. He's wearing 12 month clothes and some of them are too small for him! He's got chubby cheeks that are so kissable and rolly-poly legs. He's probably so roly-poly because he's such a good eater.

He started eating solid foods last month. So far he has had rice cereal, bananas, peaches, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and pears. I've been able to make almost all of his baby food-- and many of the vegetables have come right from Grandpa Bradley's garden. He has also started eating Cheerios. He can rake them with his open hand and occasionally gets a few in his mouth. He seems to enjoy trying to get them into his mouth. He also started on the cup and is doing amazing with it! It helps having a big brother to watch.

He loves his brother Logan-- most of the time-- he doesn't like when Logan roars at him or when Logan uses him for a pillow. At least Logan warns him he says, "Tyson, pillow." and then lays on him. He likes to watch Logan play with his megablocks. Tyson also likes to bang the megablocks together and pick them up and drop them. He really likes toys and will sit and pull toys one at a time out of a container.

He also loves books. He loves to hear me read stories to his brother. He likes nursery rhymes and songs. His favorite books to look at are books with pictures of other babies. He can sit up all by himself and on Friday started trying to scoot himself on his bottom backwards. I'm not ready for him to be mobile yet. When you hold him, he kicks his feet the entire time or trys to squirm away-- unless he is tired and then he is a very good cuddler. He is the perfect addition to our little family and we all love him so much! Happy half-birthday, buddy!

Funny Boy

2010-07-10T19:48:00.000-05:00

Logan has been talking up a storm lately. Actually he never stops talking. He wakes up in the morning with this conversation:
Logan: Where Nick?
Momma: At home.
Logan: Where Alex?
Momma: On the moon?
Logan: No! At home. Where Jewie?
Momma: At Wal-mart?
Logan: NO! At home. Where Brian?
Momma: Don't you mean Ryan?
Logan: NO! Brian!
(He does have an Uncle Brian and an Uncle Ryan so it's confusing!)
Momma: I don't know. Where is Brian/Ryan?
Logan: At home.
I don't really know why we have to go through this every.single.morning. since he clearly knows the location of the entire Pruett family ,but we do!

He's been saying lots of funny stuff lately and I'm bound and determined to record at least some of it. In fact, I keep an index card handy and jot down what he says until I have time to put it on the blog. (My brain is feeble these days, I need a lot of help :) But I like to remember things like this:

Logan (as we are passing McDonalds): Momma, I want fries.
Momma: No, not today. Some other day.
Logan: Tomorrow?
Momma: No, not tomorrow. Just some other day.
Logan: Tuesday?
I didn't even know he knew there WAS a Tuesday.

Logan also has imaginary conversations. Usually they are between him and imaginary daddy (while daddy is at work). It cracks me up to hear things like this coming from the living room:
Imaginary Daddy (aka. Logan): Nogan, go get me a soda.
Logan: O-tay, Daddy
(Runs into kitchen and gets a soda and takes it to the living room).
Logan: Here go, Daddy.
(Logan pretends to open soda complete with sound effects "Pop, fizzzzzz.")
Imaginary Daddy: Thank you, Nogan.

Logan is also exploring and noticing everything he sees. Today he found a picture of an old fashioned TV.

Logan: Look, Momma, a be-bot (robot).

Greg's Projects

2010-07-09T20:53:00.000-05:00

Greg always has a project, or several projects, going on at our house. His current projects are cleaning and staining the deck and making a compost area.
We have a large deck and he had to clean the entire thing. Also, it hadn't been cleaned most likely for at least 7 years. It changed color. He still has to clean it again and then waterproof it or stain it or something.

He has also been working on making a compost area for quite a long time.

He moved all of the railroad ties in the above picture down to his compost area and dug it out.

He invited his little brother, Brian, over and put him to work.

I'm not sure how much working they actually did. It looks to me like they are having a lot of fun.

And taking lots of breaks.

Ok, maybe Brian did work.

And more work.

And Greg just played?

Oh, wait, he did some work too.

It looks great down there and is all ready for composting!

Bradley Family Camping Trip 7-4-10

2010-07-06T21:16:00.000-05:00

We went camping with Grandma and Grandpa Bradley and the Pruetts on July 4th. We went to Perryville Campground or as we call it, "Camping on the Highway." It's a little private campground right off Highway 55 in Perryville, MO. You can see the highway from our cabin-- so it's not really the great outdoors but it's pretty perfect for camping with little ones. It's small, it has a playground, a pool, and a small lake. There are plenty of things for our kids to do, yet their little legs don't have to walk all over to do it.

We left after church on Sunday. We fed the kids and planned on them taking their afternoon naps on the way there. Not so much. Logan was too excited to sleep but too sleepy to be good. And Tyson got hungry halfway there. We attempted to stop at a rest area but it was closed. (As in torn up.gone. closed! )So we stopped at the next exit and saw a Catholic church and school. They had a playground (in a cemetary, no less). There was a sign that said "NO tresspassing" but the gate was open so we decided the catholics would be forgiving and gracious to some weary travelers and we played anyway! It was a fun playground. They had one new playset but everything else was all of the old school dangerous stuff, like a merry-go-round!! Logan got super hot so we let him drink a giant Sprite (that they gave us for FREE at McDonalds).

It was a national holiday, after all, and his doctor said he's allowed to partake in the sugary stuff on national holidays.
We got back on the road and even though the kids didn't sleep they did better after our stop. Logan even read a few books.

We got to the campsite at the same time as Grandma and Grandpa. We checked into a little camping cabin. It was a one room cabin with a double bed and a bunk bed. Of course, our cabin also had 2 pack 'n plays (that we brought-- along with an entire VAN LOAD of other kid/baby gear). Logan followed everybody around begging to go swimming while we unloaded. Finally we got our swim stuff on and started to the pool. Just as we were headed to the pool, Julie and Ryan got there with Nick and Alex. We all had fun playing in the pool.

It was Tyson's first time to go swimming. He wasn't sure he liked it. But everyone else there sure thought he was a cutie!

We got out of the pool when the kids started getting hungry. We went to the cabins and ate hamburgers and hotdogs. Grandpa had grilled them ahead of time and kept them in the crockpot so we had a nice dinner without anyone having to do the cooking! Tyson ate Cheerios instead of hotdogs!

Logan had trouble reaching the table.. finally he decided to just sit on the table!

After dinner we fished and played. Our cabins were lake (pond) side. All of the boys liked catching fish.

Logan and Alex also loved digging in the dirt. Logan actually rolled around in the dirt.

Tyson sat on a blanket and played with toys.

I'm pretty sure Tyson never cried the whole time we were there. He loved it.
After fishing, we made a fire and roasted marshmellows.

Nick and Alex wouldn't eat the marshmallows. They just stuck them in the fire, burned them, and got another one. Grandma ended up with quite a large pile of burned marshmallows. Logan preferred to just eat marshmallows but he didn't want them cooked.
It wasn't quite dark yet so Grandma and Grandpa took the boys up to play on the playground and gave the parents a break. (Tyson was already asleep in the cabin). When it got dark, we got to watch a great fireworks show. Logan loved the fireworks. He even got to play with some sparklers at the campsite.

All the boys took showers and then went to bed. Logan stayed up until 9:30!! He has NEVER been up that late (well, I guess when he was a newborn he was up that late some but not in the last 1 1/2 years of his life!)
He and Tyson still woke up at 6:40, but they slept great all night in the cabin.
Logan sleeping in the cabin. (He was asleep the second his head hit the pillow1)

Tyson sleeping in the cabin.

We went out to breakfast at a really great bakery (I know, we were really "roughing it".)
Tyson took a nap in the cabin. And then "helped" mommy pack up. - notice the airconditioner (told you we were roughing it.)

The big boys played some more on the playground, and we all packed up, and headed home.

Both boys DID sleep on the way home. We were all fairly exhausted by the end of the trip.
I realized that once you have kids, you don't go on trips to get to relax. But you sure do get to see a lot of happy smiles on your little ones faces. And that makes up for the exhaustion you feel at the end!

Some of the reasons why I love them

2010-07-02T06:41:00.000-05:00

I love him because he is generally content doing this.

I love him because even though he gets in to EVERYTHING, he finds funny things to do with the stuff he's gotten in to.

(I do not love that he put the icecream scooper in the toilet last night. It will be funny someday when I read this back. Not funny today.)

Sick Day Stuff

2010-06-28T20:26:00.000-05:00

If you see someone walking around Arnold, MO looking like a zombie, don't be frightened. It's not a zombie. It's me. Mother of TWO sick children, two and under... going on day #6 of sickness. Logan came down with a fever last Wednesday. He ran a fever for about 24 hours and then was ok, not 100% but I thought he was ok. On Saturday he started complaining of "mouth hurt." and stopped eating. He has hardly eaten anything since Saturday. On Sunday, I self-diagnosed him with hand, foot, and mouth disease. Thank Goodness for webmd when the doctor's office is closed!! Today I called the doctor to tell him my diagnosis and he concurred that he probably has HFMD. His recommendation? Popsicles, icecream, cold drinks, jello. Why can't I have a doctor prescribe icecream to me??? (Ok, I don't really want to get HFMD, it produces very painful blisters in the mouth. Ouch!)
Last night, Logan nicely shared his fever with his baby brother, Tyson. Tyson ran a fever of 101-102 all night and through the day today. It seems to have broken this evening. I hope, hope, hope he doesn't get a mouthful of blisters.
So, what have we been doing to pass the time while we are home sick?
1. Playing with Trains

2. Watching TV

3. Building with Megablocks

4. Fighting over who gets to sit in mommy's lap

Sitting up

2010-06-22T20:25:00.000-05:00

Tyson has started sitting up for a minute or two on his own. He gets more sturdy everyday.

When he falls over, he works really hard to get back up!

I make him pose for me. He loves it, I promise!

You know what I love? These baby blue eyes!

Brothers in the Bath

2010-06-22T20:17:00.000-05:00

I was giving Tyson a morning bath while Logan watched Sesame Street. Unfortunately Sesame Street must not have been stimulating that day because Logan popped in the bathroom and said, "I wash Tyson." First he washed his toes. And then he just climbed right into the tub (with his diaper still on). Tyson just thought it was funny. Then again, Tyson thinks everything Logan does is funny!!

Pants on the ground

2010-06-22T20:08:00.000-05:00

Pants on the ground

Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground!

(But momma thinks you are a cutie!)

We're still working on getting dressed/undressed. It looks like we'll be working on fashion for a while as well.

Oh, and Logan, don't be suprised if some of these pictures show up at your wedding! Love, Mom

Par-tay at Grandma and Pa-pa's place

2010-06-18T13:44:00.000-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa Higgins had their hands full last weekend watching Jared and Jacob, so we thought we'd crash their party and make their hands be a little "fuller".

On Sunday afternoon we went to Warrenton so that the boys could play with Jared and Jacob, their cousins. They had a great time together. Logan followed Jared around. Jared was pretty good at showing him the ropes.

Anytime Jared would suggest something, Logan would say, "O-tay." After a while, though, Jared got tired of a 2 year old. He came in and said, "Jackie-a, Logan keeps asking me where'd the frog go? over and over and over and over and over." I smiled and said, "sorry, he's a 2 year old. They do stuff like that!"
We took the boys outside to keep them entertained. They liked playing in the pool. Uncle Brian gave them a little extra cold water out of the house.

Then we all went down to the lake (in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. Lucky!) Logan got to take his first boat ride with daddy.

Jared waited on the shore for his turn to go in the boat with Pa-pa.

Of course, Pa-pa jumped IN the lake for a swim! Then Pa-pa took Logan for a swim in the lake. Logan just laid on his back and floated with his eyes closed. Such a little water bug.
The babies went down to the lake too. Uncle Brian and Kari got lots of baby time!

I'm pretty sure Tyson is saying to Jacob, "Dude, you're hilarious!"

I'm pretty sure Jacob is saying, "Let's get out of here. They put a hat on you but I'm in full sun here. WHERE IS MY MOMMY?"

So, the baby boys went inside. Then all the boys had a little wrestle-mania, snacks, toy time, etc.

My kids were SO TIRED after playing all day. Logan fell asleep as we were getting on to Interstate 70 on the Warrenton exit. He slept from 5:30 pm until 7 am the next day!!!

Why I am a terrible mother...

2010-06-14T13:39:00.000-05:00

I took my boys to the zoo. Good mom.

I let them see the lions. Good mom.

I let them see the giraffes. Good mom.

I brought along their grandparents to fight over who got to hold them. Good mom.

I let Grandpa take Logan on the carousel. Good mom. (Or Good Grandpa).

I did not take one single picture of Tyson at the zoo. Bad mom. Horrible. Terrible. Mom.

When we got home I took this adorable picture of him in his stroller. C'mon buddy, that's all you did at the zoo anyway, sit in your stroller and look adorable! (And chew on things because your first tooth was about to poke through!)

Tyson: 5 months old!!!

2010-06-11T21:03:00.000-05:00

Tyson is five months old today. He's changed so much in the last month. He loves to play on the floor and roll around to try and get all of the toys. He talks a lot and very loudly!! He loves to smile and laugh! And he's so ticklish! He also drools. a lot!! There is more drool coming out of that mouth in a minute than oil coming out of the oil well in the gulf. (Not to be insensitive, people). As a result of his constant drooling, he has developed a bad rash on his face. He has persevered, though, and it's getting much better--- with LOTS of outfit changes and bib changes throughout the day to keep him super dry!

Tyson also loves the outdoors, loves to go on walks. He loves his brother, Logan... except when Logan roars at Tyson to make him cry! He loves to go to church. He has been the only baby in the nursery at church during first service. I think he likes all of the attention. I loves his mommy and daddy and gives us the best smiles!

Tyson has also started solid foods. He has had rice cereal, bananas, green beans, peas, and peaches. He has only had a few jars of store bought baby food. Since it's summer, I'm hoping to make a lot of his food from fresh produce.

He can also sit up for a few seconds at a time.

I've started doing a few little activities with him-- working on balance, reading books, doing music time, and sensory activities. I really feel blessed to have my 2 boys!

Of bubbles and babies

2010-06-11T20:35:00.001-05:00

We finished our Hubbard's Cupboard Unit on

Bubbles. We read a few books on bubbles... that Logan wanted to read over and over and over and over and we did the activities. Of course, we had to blow bubbles. Logan's favorite phrase, "I do it!"

We made a bubble "painting" with white sticker dots, glue, and glitter!

We painted with shampoo and food coloring.

We made a boat and tried to float our little people in it. Logan was great at this activity. I put the little people in the boat standing up straight. They kept drowning. THEN, Logan who had been studying me, took the boat and very purposefully laid the people in the "boat". It floated perfectly and I swear, if that kid knew how to roll his eyes, he would have rolled them at me right then. It's nice to be outsmarted by a two year old.

Both boys got sensory exploration bags to play with. Logan's had soap and hair gel. As he turned it, it made bubbles. Tyson's had water and lots of tiny things to look at (but not eat!)

I wrote more about the books we studied on my reading blog. http://www.readysetread2me.blogspot.com/ if you aren't a follower, head over, check it out, comment, and follow! I'd love to have you!

Look what I can do, I'm a BIG kid now!

2010-06-04T19:27:00.009-05:00

Logan is 2 years old now! There is so much more that he can do.

This month we started Joyful Learning Curriculum for 2s. First we learned about baby animals. Here's what Logan learned to do:

He can match things using 1 to 1 correspondance.

One baby animal in each bed.

Each baby animal gets a blanket.

And then he gets his blanket and lays down next to the babies... so cute!

Logan can also match the baby animals to the mommy animals.

He also can dig in his sand table. (It's oatmeal right now-- not sand).

He can play with playdough and share with his cousin Alex. (Is that the sweetest smile on the planet or what??)

We also learned about flowers/gardens this month.

Logan can make a coffee filter flower!

He can match flowers in his matching game.

He can try different foods like BROCOLLI... and decide that he doesn't really like it for now.

He can sort flowers by color and he almost knows the names of the colors!!

He can't quite figure out how to make or continue a pattern w/ different colors of flowers yet. Sorry but I think that's a kindergarten skill, Hubbard's Cupboard.

Tyson thinks he's big stuff too... If momma puts him on his back in the activity gym...

Whoops! He rolls right out. He's already rolling to get to toys that he wants. I guess he has to claim his "spot" as little brother.

He also can do the exersaucer! It keeps him entertained and he can keep an eye on Logan.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

2010-06-01T07:11:00.007-05:00

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend. On Friday, I took the boys to Suson Park to see the animals. Logan loved it! It was Tyson's first trip to Suson. I, sadly, forgot my camera... which was the theme of the weekend.
On Saturday, Greg did some work around the house and then we went to Mastodon Park. Greg and Logan swam/played in the creek and caught crawdads. Logan loved the fish! Tyson and I watched them for a while and then we went for a walk. Again, forgot the camera.

This was my sign for Greg this weekend. I should have made one for Logan too.
After church on Sunday, Logan was sitting in his booster seat being silly and flinging his hands around his face. We think he poked himself in the eye. He started crying but since it was nap time anyway, we just put him to bed. He went to bed fine. Two hours later he woke up and was screaming! He cried for an hour. (which is very out of character) He would not open his eyes. He could. He just wouldn't. When I turned off the lights in the LR, he finally started opening them just a little bit. I finally decided to call the on-call pediatrician to see if we could give him anything to help the pain go away. To my suprise, she told us to take him to the ER. She said it sounded like a corneal abrasion and while those usually heal themselves, if they get infected they can cause major problems in 24 hours.
The Dr. at urgent care acted like Greg was an idiot for bringing Logan in. But Logan did get this cool "Pirate patch".

When Logan got home, Grandma and Grandpa were there. (They were planning on coming anyway). Grandma + Grandpa + pizza for dinner = rapid healing eye.
Logan played outside all evening and was fine--- except for a little redness and some watery eyes. Greg had a bunch of rocks for my dad so Logan "helped" with the rocks. Then we sat on the deck while Logan and Tyson played.

On Monday, we relaxed! The "guys" played dinosaurs.

Then while Tyson took his morning nap, Greg and Logan and I washed our van and Greg's truck. Logan LOVED the car wash!

He watered the grass and the trees.

And he watered himself.

In the afternoon, we broke out the baby pool and Logan got to go swimming. I do have pictures of that. I think they're still on my camera. I'll upload later.

I do it.

2010-06-01T06:58:00.002-05:00

A 2 year old's favorite phrase seems to be, "I do it." Lately Logan has been trying to dress himself. He is somewhat lacking in fashion sense. 2 pairs of shorts and daddy's shoes. Nice!

Logan also likes to pull ALL of his clothes out of his drawers and play dress up. It sounds annoying but actually he plays dress up for about 1 hour and it only takes me about 10 minutes to clean it up. I think it's a good trade off. I need to make him some dress ups. I'm just kind of lacking in ideas for "boy" dress ups. We always had tu-tus and tiaras, dresses and high heels at my all girl house growing up.

Footwear is also important to Logan. He was ready to go with his baby booties and daddy's socks!

Wiggle Worm and Roly Poly

2010-05-31T11:07:00.004-05:00

Tyson is a very active baby. He loves to roll and has just discovered rolling over from his back to his belly. He's also a wiggle worm. If I put him in the activity gym he will wiggle right out of it and then roll over.

You get the picture...

2010-05-31T11:01:00.002-05:00

The Boyz

2010-05-26T06:25:00.003-05:00

Well, after yesterday's doctor appointments, I have to say- I am thankful that I am learning to grocery shop cheaply right now! According to the doctor's predictions, Logan may be 6'3" tall when he is full grown. Of course, Tyson's future height hasn't been predicted but since he is bigger than Logan was at this age, there is a good guess he'll be at least that tall.

Seckman High School coaches- take note!

So here are the stats:

Logan- 2 years old

Height 37 3/4 inches = off the growth charts

Weight 29 1/2 lbs.

Body Mass Index: 14 (not overweight!)

Tyson- 4 months old

Height 27 1/2 inches = off the growth charts

Weight 17.4 lbs. = 95th percentile

Both boys did really well and were very cooperative at the appointment. Logan didn't even cry when he got his two shots!! Tyson had to get 5 vaccines. He didn't cry for the shots in his arms but the shots in his leg must have really hurt. He just cried a little!

Dr Glines gave us his run down of rules for Logan:

No drinking

No smoking (kids must start really early these days!)

No ATV/ 4 wheelers

No Trampolines (he only breaks this rule on Thursdays)

No Kool-aid or soda except on National Holidays and Birthdays

No TV in his bedroom (do people really put a TV in a 2 year old's bedroom????)

Wear a helmet when bicycling

I'm writing these down for my boys to read later!

Grandma and Grandpa Bradley went with us and were a BIG help! Thanks!

I guess my boys won't be this little for very long so I'm gonna try and enjoy the craziness!

The most beautiful room in my house

2010-05-24T11:18:00.006-05:00

The Master bath!! It just got an EXTREME makeover. Here are some pictures of before, during, and after.
BEFORE:
Even Logan knew it was not pretty! There was a hole in the shower-- which made this shower completely unusable.

There were lovely light fixtures and cabinets. ugh!

There was a floor that never looked clean.

And the walls were peeling scraps of old wallpaper.

So, the whole room was gutted.

NEW drywall was installed.

The flooring and the subfloor were replaced. Tile was laid.

AFTER:
A new shower was installed!

New inset mirror and light fixtures installed!

Finished product: (Well, as soon as we get a shower curtain/bar that we can agree on!)

Coming soon... hall bath remodel but for now, he needs his privacy.

Goodbye!