Logan is 1!

Despite the immense lack of sleep, the last year has really flown by! I can't believe our little Logan is already 1! He is an amazing addition to our family and has really made a place for himself.

At 1 Logan...

* is weighing 20 pounds and measuring 30 inches (in the 10th and 25th percentiles) making him our smallest kid yet.
* is walking and climbs on *everything*.
* loves wrestling and chasing his brothers.
* finally has 4 teeth.
* is saying a few words: mama, dada, brothers, cracker, all done.
* waves bye-bye.
* already has a sweet tooth - he refuses to eat any vegetable unless it's mixed with fruit.
* is a daddy's-boy.
* enjoys reading and looking at books.
* is very curious and mischievous.
* loves to explore and problem solve.
* has fun playing peek-a-boo and putting toys inside of containers.
* claps his hands anytime anybody else is clapping their hands (even if they're not interacting with him at all).
* dances whenever he hears music playing.
* overall is a very happy baby - unless he's not getting his way. ;)

When I tried to take his one-year pictures with Bananas the monkey, he was not very interested in cooperating.

 

 

 

On Saturday we had his 1st birthday party and he had a blast! He loved all the attention and playing with his big cousins. He had fun opening and playing with his gifts (even the clothes!). And he is my first kid to completely devour his cupcake. Colin was really only interested in the frosting and Eli cried. Logan was two-fisting that thing and it was very difficult to get a picture of him without his hands in his mouth. He was also making the cutest lip-smacking sounds. Like I said before, we definitely have a sweet-tooth on our hands!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 1st birthday to our littlest Ring! We have really enjoyed getting to know you over the last year and are looking forward to what the next year brings. We love you!

Logan is 11 months

With only a few hours left until Logan's first birthday, I figured I should at least put up a short post with his 11 month pictures (I may have also gotten a little nudge to do so from a certain great-grandma ;) ). At 11 months, Logan was doing most of the same - working on getting more teeth (he still only had 2!) practicing walking, wrestling his brothers, trying new foods, learning a few new words and getting into trouble. I swear, I have had to move more things for this kid than the other two combined! All of our CDs and DVDs have had to move to the basement, all of our books have been stacked on top of bookshelves, and if there is a power cord or an uncovered outlet, Logan has an uncanny way of finding them - even if they're hidden behind a massive piece of furniture. He's just so happy when he's making mischief though - it's so cute and I can't help but laugh (most of the time).

 

  

Logan is 10 Months

The biggest update on Logan at 10 months is that he's starting to walk. What?!?! I was not expecting this for at least another month but considering how active he is and how much he tries to emulate his brothers, I really shouldn't be surprised. He's only taking a few steps at a time, usually because he gets really excited and starts lunging toward whatever he's heading toward, but everyday he's getting steadier on his feet. The walking has definitely led to extra bumps and bruises but those don't seem to slow him down. This little guy definitely keeps us on our toes!

 

 

 

Spinning

What could bring this type of pure joy in one child...

...and apprehension in another?

 This bad boy!



Despite being worried, Eli wouldn't let Colin do something he wouldn't do. Lucky for the boys, Chris doesn't have a queasy stomach like some mamas I know.

Here's Eli feeling a little less concerned about the spinning strawberry. 

All 3 boys posing together on the 4th of July. 

Cooling off after all the excitement with a sno-cone.

Looks like there might be lots of carnivals and trips to Cedar Point in our family's future!

Logan is 9 Months Old

Little Logan is getting big and is already 9 months old! His 1-year birthday is in sight! At 9 months, Logan is a handful. He crawls everywhere and doesn't stay occupied with one thing for very long (unless it's making a big mess or involves electrical cords). He seems to always be looking for trouble and is very mischievous. Diaper changes with Eli have become lightning fast because even if Logan is in a different room, as soon as Eli is lying down with his pants around his ankles, Logan makes a beeline straight for his head and starts beating on him. It's all in good fun, but Eli doesn't appreciate it. I don't think it helps the situation that Colin actually likes when Logan wrestles with him and encourages him to attack his head on a regular basis by lying on the floor giggling "Help me, Logan! Help me!". Ahh, my sweet boys. Logan has also become a big fan of climbing. He enjoys climbing on the fireplace, which isn't that big of a deal since it's not that high and if he falls it's onto carpet. He *loves* to climb the stairs, but we thankfully have a gate back up now so those efforts have been thwarted. The problem is that he also loves to find ways to climb onto other pieces of furniture such as using the ride-on train to climb onto the train table. Hmmm, I think I have a plotter on my hands.

Logan loves to cruise and he's starting to stand on his own for a few seconds at a time. He especially loves to do this while holding one of his brothers swords and swatting at people with it. On a less violent note, he also loves the water and has really enjoyed our visits to the pool and the beach. His favorite toys right now are balls, which he loves to chase and those before-mentioned swords. He's a very fun and pleasant baby for the most part, except for when he's not getting his way. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinterest Fails

Like so many others, I have fallen into the Pinterest vortex of let's spend my non-existent free-time searching for more projects to do in my non-existent free-time. And just like so many others, I love it and can't stop. However, I recently decided that if I was going to be spending my time looking up all these projects/crafts/recipes I needed to start trying some of them. And what I have discovered is that Pinterest is a lot cooler in theory than in reality. Although I have had a couple recipes work out, I have had more result in disgusting failures and my first kid-activity was a double thumbs-down. Here are just a few of my Pinterest fails.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake:

I *love* strawberries and I love strawberry desserts even more. So, when I started planning a menu for hosting a Bunco party at my house I started looking for berry desserts on Pinterest. I came across a recipe for Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake and it sounded delish! Oh, how I was sooo wrong. First of all, it was a pain to make. But I figured, sometimes delicious food just takes a little time, a lot of patience, and a sprinkling of love. When I started frosting the cake, I took a little lick of the frosting and my stomach revolted almost instantly. I probably should have known better when I made a cake with the words cream cheese in the title. My body just doesn't seem to appreciate rich foods. But still, after all that work, I thought maybe it would taste better after being chilled overnight. Yeah, no. There was no salvaging the cake. My belly ached for a good 24 hours after eating just a few bites. The only redeeming aspect of the cake was that it was really pretty and no, my picture does not do it justice.

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs:

For the same said Bunco party, I searched for some snack foods I could make. I came across a recipe for Pepperoni Pizza Puffs. I already have a recipe for very tasty pizza rolls, but they're time-consuming to make and I was trying to make my life a little easier since as I mentioned before I don't seem to have any extra free-time these days. I thought who wouldn't love 2-bite pizza muffins. Right? Wrong! These were more like 2-bite spicy, rubbery sponges and they gave my poor hubby horrible heart-burn. Unfortunately for the blog, those little nasties ended up in the trash faster than I could take their picture.

Sock Bubbles:

In addition to new recipes, I like to search for fun things to do with the kids. I came across directions on how to make sock bubbles. I really wasn't sure if these would work. It's just an empty water bottle with the bottom cut off, a sock duct-taped to it and dipped in homemade bubble mixture (dish soap and water). So I started off making just one to practice on myself. Amazingly, they do work. After getting the first bubble maker going and adding a little blue food coloring for fun, I gave it to Colin and ran inside to make another one for Eli. Two minutes later, I came out and found blue dye all around Colin's mouth and realized that he was not just blowing through his bottle but was also sucking up the bubble mixture. I tried to show him how to do it properly, but at that point, the taste of the soap had hit his taste buds and he ran inside to wash off his tongue. Before running after him, I glanced over at Eli who was already trying to get his bubbles going and tried to impress upon him the importance of only *blowing* through the bottle and taking his mouth off the bottle before sucking in more air. Clearly I was not emphatic enough because after helping Colin clean his mouth and running back outside to check on Eli, I found his sock inflating and deflating like a lung. As I was yelling "stop" at Eli, he got the taste of soap on his tongue and ran inside to clean out his mouth. At this point, I thought my kids must have learned their lesson and would recognize the importance of only blowing through their bottles. Perhaps I over-estimated my childrens' abilities to follow that type of instructions because as soon as they both were given their bottles back, they both started sucking in the bubbles again. Needless to say, this project received a double thumbs-down and Colin continues to tell me that it was a really bad idea.



Despite these epic fails I continue to surf Pinterest and I know that I will continue to try new recipes and experiment with new activities on my kids. As I like to tell the boys, variety is the spice of life (these projects may have been just a little too spicy for our taste).

Happy Father's Day