Brothers Playing Blocks

Logan is really loving his blocks lately.  Its a great activity for us to do together.  We especially love building big towers and bridges.  Its also great because sometimes Logan will keep himself busy with the blocks while I work on other things around the house.  Well, Bennett sure doesn't want to be left out.  When he sees Logan busy with something, he wants IN!  So, I let Bennett down on the floor with Logan and we all played.  Sometimes Logan has a hard time sharing with Bennett, so we're working hard on playing together...soon Bennett will be mobile and giving Logan a whole new perspective on sharing!

Mmmmm!

Bennett had his first food on Sunday: sweet potatoes!  Yum!  I'm not sure what he thinks...he only takes a few bites each time we offer it, but I think he's getting the hang of it!

Baking with Baggie!

Baggie wanted to have a special day with Logan baking cookies, so she came over last Saturday!  She brought gingerbread dough along, so Logan and Baggie got to get right to the fun of rolling, cutting, baking, and decorating!  Logan woke up that morning and the first thing he said was, "Baggie is coming TODAY!"  It was lots of fun!

Christmas-y Bennett got a few snuggles from Baggie before taking a marathon nap (woo-hoo!).

Logan's favorite part definitely using the cookie cutters.

 

Yum!  Gingerbread cookies are so yummy....

Baggie brought this special apron for Logan (how cute!), but he didn't want to wear it until the end.  He looks so cute in it, I couldn't get over it!  Thanks for such a special day, Baggie!

Logan's Library

Way back in May, my dad finished putting together this bookcase with materials that my Grandpa Sherman cut out for Logan last winter.  We needed a good place for all our books (this is just one small collection of the MANY books we have!) and I remembered that my grandpa had made a nice bookshelf like this for my cousin Jody.  So, grandpa cut the pieces and sent them home with my parents where my dad was able to put them together for us.  Logan loves his bookshelf and is so lucky to have so many great books!  THANKS to my 93 year old Grandpa Sherman (and my dad, too!).

28 months!

Logan is now 28 months old....rapidly approaching two-and-a-half!  Wow!  He is growing leaps and bounds everyday and its the most amazing thing to witness.  Having kids really is the biggest miracle.  Logan is very verbal and continues to express himself very well, now able to connect feelings and emotion.  He surprises us everyday with new words, expressions, and construction of his sentences.  Some of our recent favorites: "That is very dangerous", "It was an accident, I am sorry", "I sure did have a good nap", Bennett is my little brother - he's so cute!".

Some other phrases we hear often (and like a little less): "Something hurts!", "I'm sick", "My shirt (or sock, or shoe, or hat, or anything) feels funny, I don't like it", "I need one more (referring to a snack....)!".

Logan knows his ABCs and sings them beautifully...usually not leaving out any letters.  He loves to count and can get to 16 without missing a number.  He loves to sing and dance and do hand motions that go along with the songs we've learned.  He is really into building anything, so we spend a lot of time with blocks.  Cars are still his favorite toys, next to any kind of ball.

Logan is also really a great big brother!  I'm sure he can't even remember life before Bennett!  He loves trying to entertain Bennett and can always make him laugh.  He likes to cover B's mouth for him if he coughs and wipe his nose if its running...quite the little caretaker.  Of course there are equal number of times when Logan is found sitting on or "steamrolling" Bennett...poor baby!

Most of all, Logan likes to do things "ALL BY MYSELF!".  Yesterday, he wanted to wash his dishes.  So, I let him wash and play in the sink for a while.  I have a feeling this winter will be filled with all kinds of weird "activities" like playing in the dishwater.  Haha!

It was all fun and games until....

He got soaked.  Then the game was o-v-e-r.  Oh what fun two year olds are!  :)

Yummers!

Bennett continues to love his rice cereal, so we are soon going to move on to more baby foods!  He has so much fun eating, it cracks me up!  He's just so cute and these photos were too fun not to post...

Yummers!

Bennett is 6.5 months old now and right on track!  He is rolling all around the house and is able to get into a little trouble if he wants!  Oh boy!  He's able to sit up for a few minutes by himself and loves being upright.  He also loves to stand and jump in his jumperoo - his favorite activity.  Bennett loves to put everything in his mouth...he would eat a magazine if you let him (yikes!).  This week is learned how to say a "G" sound, so we've been hearing lots of "Gagagaga gooogooogooo" - we get an earful!  I love it! Bennett likes to be in on the action and cries if he thinks he's been left out...don't worry, buddy, we couldn't forget about YOU!

Friday Night Christmas Lights!

Last Friday we decided to eat and bathe the kids early so we could bundle up and head to Irvine Park in Chippewa Falls for the Christmas light display!  Logan soooo loves Christmas lights that he was giddy as soon as we told him our plan.  So, we ate, bathed, jammied, made some cider (just for Mom and Dad), bundled and drove to Chippewa Falls for some Christmas cheer!

Waiting while Daddy warms up the car!

So excited!

Snuggled in the car!

The lights and even a couple Christmas stories before bed.  Both kids were fast alseep when we got home.  Oh what fun!!!!!  Love this tradition!

Just Because....

my baby Bennett is so cute...

So close to sitting up on his own!  Just a little wobbly yet!

Sweet sweet baby B.

Winter Blizzard 09

We had our big winter blizzard this week...just as much of the country did.  It was quite a sight!  Our area ended up with anywhere from 6-12 inches of snow!  We think we have about 10 inches at our house, which means the drifts are even waaaaay bigger than that!  Wednesday was an official "snow day" around here: schools cancelled, no mail, our street didn't even get plowed until 8:30 pm (the snow came overnight) so we literally could not get down the street!  The kids' and my activities were cancelled and John was sick with a stomach bug, so we all hunkered down for a day at home.  Too bad I had to quarantine John to our bedroom while we ran wild in the house all day.

What to do on a cold, snowy day...

Lots of baking and decorating Christmas cutouts...then big long naps and a movie!

We even pulled out the snuggly jammies early for a cozy afternoon!

Bennett was wearing this cute, festive fleece when Logan said, "Look Mom, Benny is a girl!"

Lots of playtime and plenty of snuggles around here!

Happy Snow Days!  Stay warm!

It's a YL Christmas

The Chippewa Valley Young Life Christmas Party is gaining a lot of notoriety within our community!  We play an unapologetic game of "Greed" where we exchange elephant gifts; share great food and fellowship; and have a Christmas Sweater competition.  Its the most fun gathering of the year and we always look forward to it!

A super huge thanks to all our staff, committee, leaders, and supporters!  YL would not be happening if it weren't for YOU!

One of our Young Life College students, Katie has been our awesome babysitter this year.  She is a great friend of ours and we feel so lucky to have her in Eau Claire.  She's spent evenings with me and the boys when John is gone late and the boys have spent lots of time with her this fall...its been so great!

Wanna know what was so funny?????...............

LOGAN was so funny!  He got these glasses from someone and Katie found him this guitar.  He kept saying, "Guys, I'm a rock star".  He had to put on a few concerts for everyone!  Two year olds are so entertaining (and exhausting)!

Bennett is 6 months old!

I keep saying it, but I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!  Bennett (or "Benny", as Logan has nicknamed him) turned 6 months old on December 5th!  Bennett had a great well baby check up with Dr. Gilmartin and is growing and developing right on track!  We get to try more foods (Bennett is a champ with rice cereal already) and even start playing with a sippy cup!

BENNETT'S STATS:

17 pounds, 12 ounces

27.9 inches

We have another big boy on our hands and we love it!  Click here to see Logan's six month blog post.

Bennett is a pro at rolling over and is getting better each day at sitting up on his own.  He's currently in the "tri-pod" phase of sitting up (using his hands between his legs to prop himself up when he sits).  Bennett is a talker!  He doesn't give us much quiet time around the house...not that there would be much with Logan around anyway!  He squeals and giggles constantly: proving that he's the happy baby we think he is!

Lately we've noticed a bond between Logan and Bennett.  Logan is the best at making Bennett laugh.  Logan has nicknamed Bennett "Benny" and rarely calls him anything else.  Logan wakes up wondering where Benny is; and has to tell Benny good night before bed.  Its really amazing to watch the sibling bond form and I just can't imagine what fun we are in for with these two boys!

Bennett loves to watch Logan play and will soon join in!  Bennett scoots himself around when laying on his back...usually in the direction of the action.  I can tell he is dying to pick up a ball and play catch with Logan.  I know that day will come before I am ready!

Bennett is such a ham!  He LOVES to smile and giggle.  All it takes is just one glance in his direction and he melts.  He gives the biggest, more genuine little grins...we always get comments on his sweet smiles and big blue eyes.  He's a knockout, for sure.

I have some great videos to post, but I need John to help me, so hopefully I can put them on later this week.  For now, here are the most recent photos of the brothers (taken last week)...poor Benny was getting squished!

John's 30th!

Happy Birthday to John!  He is 30!  We have had a great time celebrating this milestone birthday and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful dad and husband!

The festivities started last night when we went to Stillwater to go out with friends - no kids!  Both Bennett and Logan stayed with my mom, Andrew, and Amy while we went out for a great dinner with Kyle and Jen Exsted at Marx.

We enjoyed catching up with Kyle and Jen over a fabulous dinner.  The best part is that Kyle and John share the same birthday - double the celebration!  John and Kyle have been good friends since high school and we all did Young Life together in Minneapolis (John and Jen were both on staff in Mpls).  Our kids are close in age and we've all enjoyed hitting such wonderful milestones in our lives together!

The guys didn't expect this, but I brought in a special cake and had them bring it out after our meal...this is what 30 candles looks like!  :)  I think our server made a comment about getting a "sunburn" from the extreme heat barreling off these flames...haha!  We had such a great night out and the kids did great...why don't we do that more often????!  Thanks to Kyle and Jen for meeting up with us in Stillwater!

Today we celebrated a little more!  Since John had YL tonight, the boys and I baked a cake during the day and showed up at the pre-club dinner with all the leaders to help celebrate.  I cut "30" out of fruit roll-ups and put it on the cake, along with another 30 candles...just in case John forgot how old he is now!  Logan did most of the candles himself and he was pretty proud!

Happy Birthday, honey!  Can't wait to see where the next 30 take us...