Two and a Half

This devastatingly handsome boy is two an a half today.  Can you believe it?  I can't.  

Just yesterday, Logan was playing dress-up with Avery and two of her girlfriends.  He was a topless Snow White with princess shoes and a crown.  After eating ice cream, he walked up to me and said, "I got my dress dirty, mommy."  I never thought I would hear those words come out of my son's mouth, but I love that I did.

My sweet boy lights up my life.  He constantly makes me laugh, challenges me, surprises me and fills my heart with love.  Logan wakes up in the morning ready to start the day with a huge smile, kisses for mama, a bowl of cereal and a big fight while getting dressed.

At two and a half, Logan is a master at testing his limits and loves being naughty.  (His time out chair is often used.)  When he's not being naughty, Logan is generally a happy, fun toddler.  He is his daddy's little man and has the ladies in his life wrapped around his finger.  His latest manipulation technique with me is when he grabs my face and gives me kisses and says, "Mommy, you're my best."  How could anyone say no to that??

Logan is still a terrible eater.  He likes spaghetti and meatballs, dinosaur nuggets (don't judge), fruit, peas, peanut butter sandwiches, cereal, cookies and ice cream.  He loves trucks (especially diggers), trains, dinosaurs, puzzles, iPads and books.  Logan recognizes all letters in the alphabet and can name at least one word that begins with each letter.  He can count to twenty, knows the words to about thirty songs, loves telling jokes and is really good with puzzles.  After spanish or sign language class, Logan loves coming home and teaching Luke and me his new words.  He has trouble with colors and Luke and I suspect he might be color blind.

At Logan's well child check today, he threw an extra special fit when the nurse told him he had to get undressed.  He then told his doctor that his feet are stinky and that he has a big penis.  I couldn't get out of the office soon enough.  Logan's two and a half year stats weren't surprising.  He is 34" tall which puts him in the 6th percentile for height and 22 lbs, 11 oz which is less than the 5th percentile for weight.

Happy Half Birthday, Sweet Logan!

Pretending to be a baby stygimoloch dinosaur.

I Love Surprises!

We leave tomorrow morning to take the kids to "Mickey and Minnie's House".  They have been asking to go for months and we found some $25 direct airfares flying out of Columbia.  We just couldn't pass up the chance to take the kids to Disney World.  The best part of this trip is that it is going to be a complete surprise to the kids.  Thats right, the kids know nothing!  Our plan is to pretend we are taking them to school in the morning and drive to the airport instead.  I downloaded some extra Disney apps and shows on their iPads and bought Disney books and coloring books to keep the kids entertained on the flight.  I also bought each kid a new pair of Disney jammies and special Disney shirts from my friend at Too Kute Boutique.

I can't wait to see the kids' faces when they figure out where we are going.  I will definitely have my cameras ready!

Meeting a princess in February 2010

Our Family in February 2010.  I hope to recreate this with the addition of little man.

Wordless Wednesday

Standing Your Ground

Lately, the weather has been terrible in Missouri.  Cold and rainy for weeks days.  Unfortunately, being house-ridden makes the Musselman people quite cranky.  After an especially rainy day, I decided to do something special with the kids last week.  When I picked Avery and Logan up from school, I told them I would take them to Going Bonkers (indoor play place heaven) after dinner.  The catch?  The kids had to try everything on their dinner plate.  You see, I am not a believer in making kids clean their plates, but I am tired of my kids eating nothing but chicken nuggets and pizza.  At school, the kids have a "try it and you'll like it" theory started to implement that at home.  Avery is an eater and does a great job trying new things.  Logan does not.  His preferred diet is limited to yogurt, chicken nuggets, pizza, hot dogs, pancakes, cereal, chocolate, fruit and peas.  I know, I know, there are worse things in life than having a picky eater.  I'm just tired of being a short order cook.

On this particular night, I made grilled chicken, cous cous, peas and blueberries.  Avery, being so excited about Bonkers, quickly ate everything I gave her, went potty and got ready for Bonkers.  Logan wasn't quite as obedient.  He ate his peas and blueberries, but refused to touch his chicken or cous cous.  As a rule, I don't push the starches on the kids (pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, etc.) so I wasn't concerned about the cous cous, but the chicken was a battleground and we were on opposite sides.  Logan is two so he only had to eat two bites of chicken to get to go to Bonkers.  He didn't eat his chicken so Avery and I left him home with daddy while we went to play.  Mom guilt quickly set in as I listened to Logan scream, "I want to go Bonkers.", when Avery and I walked out the door.  It broke my heart to make Logan sad, but I am a big believer in consequences and follow through.  (Of course I sent Luke a text the second I got to Bonkers telling him that I wanted Logan to be with us.  Fortunately, Luke and I are on the same page and Luke stood strong and kept Logan at home.)

Avery and I had a great time playing together and having a little playdate.  After Bonkers, Avery and I decided to pick up frozen custard.  She asked me to get some for Logan.  I complied, but told her Logan could only have the custard if he ate his two pieces of chicken.  We got home and Logan hadn't eaten his chicken.  He wanted ice cream so I told him he needed to eat his chicken.  He sat at the table and ate more peas, but no chicken.  He watched Avery eat ice cream and begged for his own ice cream.  He never at chicken and went to bed without ice cream.  I know, mean mommy.

The next morning, Logan woke up happy, gave me a big kiss and said, "Sorry, mommy.  I don't yike (like) chicken.  Will you please take me Bonkers?"  We still haven't been back, but the next time we had chicken, he ate three bites.  Maybe things are turning around??

Love Her

Being silly and refusing a serious picture.

Flubber and the $4 Wal-Mart princess jammies she just HAD to have.

She loves sledding with her daddy!

This Is Two...

This is two...I wake up giggling.

This is two... and I'm learning how to be part of a group.

This is two...One day I will learn that vacuuming isn't so much fun.

This is two...Makeup? Who cares, I can pretend to wear it if I want to!

This is two...I now know the magic of Santa and his reindeer.

This is two...Sure, puppies love drinking from a baby bottle.

This is two...And I terrorize my sister!

This is two...Who wouldn't want to sleep on the stairs?!?

This is two...Wait until you see me in college.

This is two...I perform my tricks nightly.

This is two...Since I'm no longer a 'lap-child' my parents are looking for other ways to fly me for free.

This is two...I like trucks.

This is two...I cry throw fits without notice.

This is two...We love each other.

This is two...I can be a crocodile whenever I want.

This is two...My dad rocks!

Snow Day

All week, the weatherman threatened us with a winter storm hitting Columbia and the rest of Missouri today.  As per usual, I took the threat pretty lightly.  On Wednesday night, Columbia Public Schools cancelled classes for today and I simply laughed as I hadn't even seen a flurry.  This morning, I woke up, looked outside and got myself ready for work and the kids ready for school.  I dropped them off at 8 to light flurries.  Twenty minutes later, I left my first office and serious ice was coming down.  I decided to attempt one more office building.  I went to three offices with all but two doctors out of the office and therefore smarter than me.  By the time I got out of the office, it was only 9:30 and over two inches of snow had fallen.  We were being pounded by thunder, lightning, snow and ice.  I immediately decided to pick up the kids.  Avery was exstatic and Logan was a little confused.  Our normally 25 minute drive home took over an hour with two stops to deice my windshield wipers.  Shortly after I got home, the highway shut down.  No one should have been on the roads.  I guess the weather predictions were correct; as of 9:30 pm, we have at least nine inches of snow and sleet.

Anyway, Luke is in Milwaukee and Minneapolis this week so it was just me and the kids.  As soon as I got to school to pick them up, Avery grinned, jumped up and down and said, "Now that we are going home, it must be time to play in the snow."  Don't worry, I didn't deprive my girl of her snow time.  I even took her out to play a second time while Logan napped since he hated the snow so much.  Overall, we had a great day playing dress up, making snow cream, playing in the snow, reading books, watching a couple shows and practicing letters.  The kids were so good.  I might even stretch to say that this might have been our best day as three.

Enjoy our fun pictures from our fun day!

We didn't have snow pants, so layering with sissy's leggings had to do.

"No, Logan do it."

Lost in the snow.

"Mom! I think I'm stuck."

Pure Joy!

Avery loves the snow, Logan does not.

Maybe we should have just watched from inside.

Post snow Lorax watching. 

Second Serving

Snow Cream!

Third Serving

We Wear Two Ponytails On Tuesdays...

You know it's going to be a good day when Avery marches into your room first thing in the morning and declares,"I need two ponytails, like Josalyn is going to wear." Let's be honest; her hair is certainly not thick enough for ponytails so hence forth we will refer to them as 'pigtails'. When she asked for pigtails, I didn't think about it too much. She looked just a little more grown up and was so excited to see herself in the mirror that she giggled. Sure enough, when I dropped Avery off at school, Josalyn was wearing two ponytails.

Today, Luke asked Avery if she wanted pigtails again. Her response: "It's not Tuesday so Josalyn and I only need one ponytail." I just smiled as I put one ponytail in her hair. When we arrived at school, I had to check out Josalyn's hair. Sure enough, just a single ponytail.

We love Josalyn and I think it's great that Avery has a bestie at school. It's even better that Logan also loves Josalyn and Luke and I get along with her parents (Luke and Matt seem to enjoy an adult beverage every now and then). I just don't know how I feel about my three year old already planning her hairstyle with her friends.

No, mom, I really do need two.

Thank you.  Now we will look alike while we work on our plan to grow up too quickly.