Daddy Day Ritual...

I guess I need to carry on the tradition and keep the "DAD" photos rolling. Before that, we had a fantastic Father's Day weekend. Kicking it off with finding out that we have a Baby GIRL on the way! Petrified and overwhelmed is how I am feeling about that. Anyways, we carried on our weekend, filled with birthdays and parties and a nice relaxing Sunday ending with some homemade Beaufort Stew, DELISH... I got Shawn something he has wanted pretty much for at least the last eight years. Season tickets to the South Carolina Gamecock 2014 Season!! To say he was excited is a complete understatement. Logan cooperated (which is far and few in between these days)and took new pictures for Shawn. 2012:

2013:

2014:

Mooooom Eatloaf

When we were home in New York for Christmas, Logan had a new experience. He had to sleep in a big boy bed for the first time. He did great.

This led to something that I have been dreading since, well forever! Ugh, Logan has always been a superb sleeper. Unless sick or infrequent nightmares, he has always slept through the night and until 8-9 on the weekends. I had always said that we would never switch the bed until he climbed out, which he never has. Deep breath, home in South Carolina, switch the beds. Logan loved to help rebuild his bed. My first night, DREAD. But guess what?! He slept through the night, never got out of bed. Matter of fact, it has been over a month and still has yet to get out. Like refuses to get out even in the morning unless we come in to get him. It has turned comical. He screams "MOM, MOM, MOMMY, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM". Shawn thought it would be funny to teach Logan to add some words. So in true Will Ferrell fans form. Shawn appropriately taught Logan to start screaming not just MOM but MOM, MOM, MOM, THE EATLOAF (silent M)MOM... Even though, wake up time has changed to roughly 7, waking up to mini Will is completely hilarious!!

So proud of you...

I seriously need to get better at this. Minutes turn into hours, days, months, years all too fast and I am forgetting things that have happened. Within the past two weeks I have had some fantastic and heartwarming conversations with Logan. Honestly, I don't want to forget them ever. Here is one from the drive to school the day after his Christmas Concert: Logan: I wuve you mama.. Mommy: I love you too buddy! Logan: Mama, I so proud of you... (He had been showered with the SO PROUD's since his stellar singing debut...) Mommy: You are buddy, why? Logan: I so proud you my mama, mama... SERIOUSLY!!! Love him and don't want to forget these little day to day happenings... Try harder mama!!

You've Been BOOOOOed

Last year our great friend Jenn and mini friend "Grahamy" used to leave little packages for Logan here and there. I wanted to make sure G got the same treatment but knew I had to do it in a special way. BECAUSE Jenn is pretty much one of the most creative, crafty peeps I've ever known. So 1.) I had to be on the top of my game and do something new and 2.) It had to be top secret, sneaky and awesome... And of course I had to include my little Finn man in on the fun! Thank you Pinterest!!.. Grahamy and Finnley were both BOO'd by the Logster. I'm not going to lie, it was a major adrenaline rush trying to get both baskets on the front porches with OPEN doors and the occupants inside. All that was going through my head was, be like a ninja, tuck and roll. Hey, you've got to keep it exciting sometimes. I was pretty much cracking up at the texts of Tara trying to figure it out... Jenn was sly and knew immediately, obviously... Anyways, Happy Booing! Here are the two baskets!!

Garnet, Garnet, Garnet, Black.... Friday and SATURDAY

What happens when your father is an Alumnus of a pretty stellar College that has a pretty stellar football team?!.. You get a little guy that wears a LOT of Garnet and Black on Friday's AND Saturday's. No we can't go the true southern style and slap a huge bow on his head like the girlies do, so we have to get creative. He is being trained. Columbia is FULL of Gamecock clothes wearing people, EVERY DAY of the year. Don't worry, Logan points them out, EVERY time he sees someone wearing Garnet or Black, or the symbol or USC or South Carolina. He will try to carry on a conversation with them, letting them know that he also has "Gamecock, too". If he is wearing the attire he does everything but strips to show them the emblem. Enjoy our little Gamecock!!

To Infinity and BEYONDDDD...

A boy and his best friends. I wasn't kidding when I said that this boy has an imagination. One of his favorite past times now is to hang with Buzz and Woody. He plays many roles in his playtime with his Toy Story friends. Sometimes he is a toy just like Buzz and Woody, looking for the name "Andy" on the bottom of his feet. Other times he is Andy flying around the front yard or bringing them for a ride on his four wheeler. He cracks us up everyday and continues to astonish us with his thought process. In his words "Not Andy on my foot, MOMMY DADDY on my foot". That's right buddy you are all ours and we love you so much!!

TWoooooooooo...

Two Years Old... Two Years Old... I just don't quite believe that two years have passed since this: (Photograph by Dimples and Curls Photography) You are so grown up in so many ways. We are still waiting for your two year check-up because your doctor is super busy. You did however just suffer from your first (and second) severe ear infection EVER. I mean seriously you waited two years and just when I thought we were in the clear BAM double whammy. I am thankful that you have not suffered from them up to this point BUT I do hope that was it. Anyways at that appointment you weighed about 31 pounds and that's pretty much the same weight that you have been for quite a while. I feel like you are pretty tall for your age, 36 inches (3 ft). You are in size 5 diapers but we are hoping that you are going potty REAL soon. We tried in July but that was a no go. You liked it at first but then after a couple of days you became terrified, oh well. You looked so super cute in your big boy pants. You are still semi in 2t clothes but have slowly switched over to 3t's. Your feet have practically tripled over the summer. Before we went to New York you were in size 5's, like just in size 5's. Three weeks later I have you sized and you are in size 7's?!?! What?? How did that happen. So there goes a couple of shoes never worn, packed away. Oh and the Nike sandals and shoes I bought you for next summer (size 8, thought I was safe), yeah you are wearing those now. (Photograph's by Meredith Jameson Photography) You are a personality and a half. You know how to flash the devilish of grins, give the biggest hugs (little pat, pat and all), but Ohhhhhhhh do you also have a major attitude, throw a raging tantrum, and the casual bite at school NO BITING LOGAN... You have started saying this, so much so that people ask how your day is and you say "No bite, I get ollipop"... Yikes STOP BITING... Your vocabulary is beyond impressive, you carry on full sentence conversations with us. You can count to 13 (thanks to our stairs). You love to sing, read and DANCE man oh man do you love to dance. You are so into music that you have begun telling me "Next song, peas." Speaking of your "Peas", you like to occasionally throw out a "Pikepeas" day! Where I put gel in your hair and you rock your "pike". We have been trying your colors for MONTHS but much to our dismay everything is still ORANGE, I think you just say the color to mess with us, especially daddy. His Gamecocks archnemesis' school colors are purple and ORANGE, OH NO!! You love to play and play HARD, oh my goodness I don't think I have ever seen a two year with the imagination that you have. Speaking of which we slightly believe that you have some type of photographic memory. Seriously you see something ONCE and you don't forget, it can be days, weeks, months and you seriously remember EVERYTHING... Just the other night we went to a favorite pizza shop that we hadn't been to in month, we pull in the driveway, JUST in the driveway, and you SNAP. You want out of the car ASAP because they have painted circles in their parking lot and you want to jump from one to the next. WHAT?? It has literally been months... We go to a different place for dinner near our house where you are kind of a celebrity and help with the register and seriously after a long hiatus you stroll in the place go straight behind the counter and pull yourself out two lollipops, SHEESH... You amaze us with everything that you do. You are growing up and becoming such a fantastic little guy. I'll take your tantrums daily and your attitude and your sideways looks any day because you know what, every night you still want "Mama rocky".. You snuggle up and give a big hug and we rocky. And when you say "I wuve you so much too mama", melt my heart. I love you so much my little buddy and I hope you continue to grow mind, body and soul to be the best little guy you can be. And a little southern gentleman at that, "Yes mam!" (we are still working on the "sir")!!

Thirty in the City...

While we were in New York this summer we decided to make daddy feel extra special with his big 3-0 birthday. I decided awhile ago that I wanted to do something extra special for Shawn because he is a pretty amazingly, special person. We have always talked about going to "The City" but never have had the opportunity to go. I got Nannie and Poppie on board to join us. Oh my goodness, we spent three days in the city and we spent every waking moment on the go. It was simply incredible and INCREDIBLY HOTTTTT. I believe that we all inhaled about thirty gallons of h2o in those three days Although this was a trip for daddy, Logan had so many firsts here... His first train ride, his first double decker bus, his first Yankees game (it was also his daddy's first)...

We saw many parts of the city mainly because we took a double decker tour bus, it was AWESOME. We got off at Ground Zero and that is an experience we won't ever forget. We also took Logan to the National Museum of History. He went BONKERS... He literally ran, jumped up and down at each exhibit making the sound of that animal. And the dinosaur exhibit, forget it, he was a ham. Shawn and I were able to meet up with a college friend and he rolled in to his new decade of life having a blast in the big city. I am so thankful that we were able to take this mini trip and that Logan, Nannie & Poppie were all there to experience it with us. As always hundreds of pictures were taken!!..

D-A-D Day in a Year...

For some reason lately I can not even GRASP how much our little man has changed in one year. I was looking through pictures (again) and came across part of Shawn's Father's Day gifts from last year...

And then the light bulb went off... Yes it was Saturday at 3:00 while Shawn was at a baseball game, literally hours before Father's Day started but you can't stop a great idea!!... The onesie was still in Logan's closet (it was really big last year!), I had crammed the letters in my craft section of the house, and the chair was in the garage. Now all I needed was a cooperating (rare these days) little man.. Check, check and CHECK... Seriously, he woke up from his nap in a fantastic mood. Throw in a little gel with a "pike".. One hour Walgreen's photo and BAM, a sweet new tradition!! Love it...

I smell a tradition coming on!!!

Where is my BABY?

I went back through my photos and found pictures of Logan on his three, First Days of School. Infant Room: October 2011, Toddler Room: August 2012, Two Year Old Room: June 2013. It makes my heart sad and happy at the same time. As I looked through the pictures I can see that he has grown up so much in the past two years. My baby is gone. But something that I also notice is that he has not lost that twinkle in his eye. He has always killed us with his personality. So outgoing and keeping everyone on their toes at all times. He loves life and makes us love every second of his. He has brought so much joy into our lives. Has he also made us question ourselves and question if we are doing the right things? ALL THE TIME. His vocabulary and wit sometimes scares us. I mean someday soon he will surely be outsmarting us, SCARY. We think we might have a hold on him, as all parents say "We've done it all". But goodness we are going to have to play tough and be ten steps ahead!! He is loved by everyone, seriously, I laugh all the time. Strangers will say oh my gosh he is so sweet and so well behaved. And I think back but didn't you see that melt down that lasted a couple of minutes. But then think really hard and heck that is well behaved, sitting on a plane for 45 minutes before take off, then for an hour and a half plane ride, ONE MELTDOWN... Man I don't give him enough credit sometimes! We love him sometimes and forget that although he is incredibly smart that he is NOT EVEN TWO yet!! Goodness... Stop growing buddy, we love you so much!!

Summer Adventures...

This is our first official summer that all three of us are on vacation!! We are so excited for the many adventures and activities that we are going to embark on. Our first one took place literally the day after mommy got done school. No, I'm serious I got done work at 2:30 on a Thursday. We were on an AAAAAAYYYYYYPANE high in da skyyyyyy at 12pm Friday! We wasted no time my little buddy! We surprised your three cousins in Maine for their dance recital weekend. Mommy was so excited to be able to be there with them because it had been so long since I was able to be a part of their fun times in life. I was also excited because I knew you were going to go nuts being with them and vise versa... And oh my gosh I was wrong. You were beyond nuts and they were beyond crazy with you. Especially Jenna... You two are going to cause major ruckus in life. I am not sure that I am prepared for any of those shenanigans! We had a fantastic weekend filled with laughter, love and tears. Seriously you threw some of the WORST tantrums you have ever thrown, like even through your sleep. The night of your REALLY bad one (that lasted one and a half hours)you would randomly wake up still sobbing saying, "Juicey, NOOOOOOOO, MILLLLLKY{".. Um yeah that is what you were freaking about, you couldn't decide which beverage you wanted! OYyy my boy. Any ways a part of my summer to do's is to update this as much as possible! Until the next adventure my little man!!

Ridiculous..

Absolutely ridiculous that it was Christmas time when I posted last. Here is to getting back on track starting with Spring and summer adventures. You have obviously changed by leaps and bounds since my last post. But this has got to be one of my favorite recent videos of you. You are so observant and are a total sponge. Seriously, you see something one time and recite it 10 days later. Your connections throughout your day to day life are so outrageous that daddy and I giggle and remain in a constant baffle because where did you come from my boy!?... You love to read, always have but seriously you and books are bffs!!.. You have always looked at books by yourself but you have started to read to yourself and to us. I also need to catch you in the act of singing your nursery rhymes, because meeewooly, meeewooly, meeewooly is too much to handle (Row, row your boat). But for now keep telling your stories my baby!! Seriously the last part, tugs at my heart... I have always, ALWAYS rocked you to sleep at night... Daddy occasionally does, but that night night time has always been our time. For you to pick out the Mama rocky in the book?! That tells me that you also cherishes those last few minutes of each night. Read on big boy, but stop growing so fast please!!

Singing isn't the only way to spread Christmas Cheer!

You have got quite the moves little man... Always have... But the best is when you sporadically break out in the middle of nowhere... And ESPECIALLY when I don't even realize music is playing. Yesterday we went to breakfast at Denny's before we hit up lap time with the Big Guy (Santa Claus!!).. When we walked out of Denny's you immediately busted out some moves. There was music playing from the outside speakers and you took full advantage! And then got some more people to join you.. **Don't mind what daddy calls my creeper laugh, you just CRACK ME UP!!

Gameday...

What a difference a year makes... We even had to buy a new jersey because the first one was too small.. Wow where did that little peanut go!?!

It's Hard to Jam out in Jammies!!!

Logan LOVES to dance.. He is constantly adding new material to his sweet moves.. He comes from two parents who love to boogie.. No wonder his skills are top notch;) He couldn't quite get his groove on in his feeties!!

Shocker... Whoops..

Just realized that I never posted your Eleventh month photo collage.. Because let's face it I'm lucky to get your pictures let alone actually write about you:/.. Although right at the end of your eleven months you started to REALLY walk. You took your first steps quite a bit ago but you you really, really, REALLY started walking without any help and preferred over crawling about a week before you turned one!!.. Anyways here is at least a photo montage of your ever so cute sticky chest pictures:)

Quack, Quack!

I am playing major catch up buddy. It seems that I have become extremely bad at keeping this blog updated. Insert: Not enough time in the day! Anyways back in the middle of August we had your First Birthday party!!.. You have been completely obsessed with Rubber Ducks for about 6 months. One of your first words was Quack! And you have always ATTACKED rubber ducks. So thanks to pinterest I got to work and put together your very first birthday party! I am pretty sure you enjoyed it, although you got an extreme sugar high and then kind of burnt out for presents! Oh well I still think you had a fantastic time surrounded by people who love you, including a guest surprise visit from Nannie & Poppie on skype!!

Go Buddy Go!!

Logan has been taking small 1-2 steps for about a month now... Starting last week he started doing 3, 4, 5, 6 steps and walking on his own from furniture to furniture... He isn't very daring on that part yet... Although he is a little daredevil at every other thing he does... Unfortunately, I haven't caught a good video of him taking those steps... This is the best I can do for right now and I usually catch him RIGHT before it is a crash down into bedtime routine!! So excuse the fussy little man in the video.. Yayyyyyy Logan!!

Chair, Golf Clubs Or Mommy?!

Decisions, decisions!!!.. This babe is constantly on the go... He never stops.. No joke.. Here is an example!!

10 months..

Sorry just pictures for the 10 months... We were in Ogdensburg, visiting Nannie and Poppie (kind of)... We staged your pretend pictures in front of the St. Lawrence River.. You loved it.. You loved every second we spent up there.. I will ((hopefully)) be posting about that adventure very soon!! Happy 10 months for now.. Even though you are closer to 11 months!!..