Little Taste of Spring

We hit 65 degrees today and it is just BEAUTIFUL! It reminded us that winter does not last forever. I know, some of you live in places much much colder than we live in now...but I haven't lived in a place this cold since I was about 10 years old so it's been quite an adjustment! Mike and I took a walk to a local playground after Logan's first nap to let her play a little.

She enjoyed going down once, but once was enough. She definitely didn't want to go back up again! The park we took her too was a little too big for her, they had one baby slide but the rest of the equipment was for children a bit older so we took her back to the playground in our complex to use the swings.
She liked the swing less than she liked the slide, though! It's funny, because I took her there several weeks ago and she loved the swing, but she didn't want any part of it today. We walked around the park for a while:

Holding daddy's finger:

Then we came home, pulled her push toy out of the living room and let her play some more outside.

She much preferred just walking around the neighborhood, today, though.

She played with the mailboxes some:

Daddy held her up high so she could see what was going on other places:

More playing with mailboxes:

And running away from daddy (she reminds me of a little mouse in this picture):

She has finally mastered how to sit on her push toy and move herself along without being pushed around:

Then she found her puffs and wanted to have a snack!

So, we obliged, it was so pretty outside we didn't want to go back in!

She likes to really stuff her face:

We're hoping the weather holds up like this for good, as of now we've got a great forecast for the week with high's in the mid 60's and low 70's so maybe we'll get some more good outside time. Dare I say, "Welcome, Spring! We've been counting down the seconds for you to arrive."

Ordinary Day

We've had a pretty ordinary day here. Mike is closing tonight, so he got to spend the morning with us and we didn't have to babysit today so Logan got both mommy and daddy all to herself (which she LOVES). This made her one happy, happy girl:

Last month, at Logan's 12 month checkup, her hemoglobin levels were just a touch too low so they put her on iron supplements for the month to see if we could get it back up. They say it's pretty normal for a 1 year old to have low iron for a little while because their bodies have used up the iron reserves that they acquired while in mommy's womb and they are trying to adjust and figure out how to regulate themselves. It is really fascinating! So, we went in and she was all smiles:
Until they poked her, but she only fussed for a second and then was fine. Her levels did go up, which is great, but they didn't go up enough, so it's another month of supplements! They gave us some extra suggestions to go along with the supplements that she can have now that she's over a year that should help. They're just barely under what they want her levels to be so they aren't too worried, but we do have to go back in next month to check again.

After the appointment and a nap, Logan and I ventured out to the KidAround KidSale which is a large consignment sale that goes on twice a year here. I hadn't checked this particular sale out before but was glad I did! We got several bubble rompers for the spring/summer, a couple pairs of shoes and a booster seat/tray all for under $20. I think that for the fall one I'll volunteer so I can shop early because I went looking for some specific clothing that they said they had before the volunteer shopping opened up but were gone by the time I got there (5 minutes after it opened to the public). I don't know how they manage to stay open for two days, by the time I had been there an hour everything was pretty picked over and you could barely MOVE!

We got home and had a package from Logan's great grandma Natalie and her great grandpa Niels, it had two wonderful books in it that she's already torn into!

I'll get in a little closer in this picture so you can see one of my favorite purchases today. We only wear slippers and socks in the house during the day to avoid scuffing up the carpet and Logan's old slippers are pretty worn out so she needed a good pair of new ones and I found these gems that are essentially brand new (no marks, the soles are absolutely pristine) for a dollar!

I have to share that Logan has developed a great love for "talking" on the phone. She doesn't really do it when there is someone else on the other end (in fact, if you tried to talk to her on the phone she'd just sit there and make Mike and I look crazy for telling you how much she likes to be on the phone); but she likes to take the phone and put it to her ear and say "i" (hi) and bye-buh. Today I was talking on the phone as we were on the way home from the sale and Logan sat in the back with her hand to her ear saying "yeah, yeah, yeah" and then "bye buh" as I hung up. I almost had to pull over because I was laughing so hard! :)

Swagbucks and Budgeting

I'm not a huge fan of advertising on blogs because I think that a lot of people just skim over those posts and then avoid your blog because they think you're trying to sell them something but I can't give this one up. Today we sat down and tackled the big "B" word for our yearly finance checkup (budgeting) and I was actually really impressed with how well we've handled the finances the last year or so. We've definitely gone down a pay grade or two but are doing really well with it, all things considered. It's been an insane faith builder and for that I'll be forever grateful--being broke a lot of the time has actually been a blessing! :)

We've started cutting corner's in a lot of places to help us with the budgeting. Getting haircuts at home (yes, I know how to do men's hair now and actually really enjoy it), spending an hour or two on Sunday evening clipping coupons, spending an hour a week getting ready to go grocery shopping so that I know which coupons to use with which sales to get as many free items as possible, doing creative dates at home or cheap ones out, cloth diapering (which saves on average $50-75 a month in diapers) and other things. However, probably the biggest goldmine for us has been swagbucks.

It's an internet search engine (powered by google and ask.com) and you get random amounts of points for doing random searches (i.e. you don't get points EVERY time, but if you do 4-5 searches a day you're bound to get points for one of them) and you can trade in the points for prizes. Our favorite prize, by far, is the amazon gift card. We, on average, earn one $5 gift card a week. Just for searching the internet. No catch. Seriously. I've already redeemed them and used them so I know there isn't a catch. So, we're using our gift cards to get things for her basket and then we'll start saving them up for birthdays and Christmas. I've had friends use it and actually pay for Christmas presents entirely with swagbucks gift cards earned by searching the internet. What do you have to lose? Use one of the links above, or click here and register. If you use it, great, if not...well, you didn't pay anything and they don't spam you (I get MAYBE an email a month from them and you can opt out of those). Who knows, maybe you won't have to shell out a dime of your own money at all this holiday season. :)

Here's a picture of Logan (because I know you all read the blog just for those) doing her favorite thing in the world:

That's right, the girl would rather spend two hours tearing up paper towels than she would doing anything else. (I promise, I'll try and get some pictures today or tomorrow and do a Logan post to make up for this one-ha!)

Little Mama

Logan has been such a great little mommy lately that when we saw that Target's toddler play strollers had gone on sale this last week, we jumped at the chance to be able to get one for her to play with. She and I went to Target yesterday and she actually got to pick which color she wanted (I'm pretty sure I got it right...ha!) and then we brought it home and opened it up for her. As soon as we got it together she went and picked up a babydoll to put in it (so she knew what to do with it), mind you the baby was upside down, but we're getting there!

More Outside Fun

Mike got home from a rough work day today and it was a beautiful day outside so I took Logan out for a walk so he could have a nap.

Logan was so excited to be outside AGAIN, twice in two days, we haven't done that since the fall!

She was a big girl and walked all by herself for quite a while!

Funny story about those wild pants...when we were in Ohio over Christmas we stopped at a Gymbo outlet in Cincinnati and I saw these pants. I had been looking for a pair of them FOREVER and couldn't find them (try searching them online, it's not easy). Of course they were $13.00 and not on sale so I sadly put them back on the shelf only to get an email TWO days later saying they were 60% off. Being nowhere near Cincinnati, I looked up Gymbo outlets here in Raleigh and found one! It didn't look too far, so L and I loaded up the car and started driving. 30 minutes into the trip I realized this was probably more than I had bargained for but I couldn't turn back now, I had already gotten more than halfway there. So, we ended up driving an hour and forty five minutes round trip for those little pants....which I now make sure she wears at least twice a week. ha! (I did make the trip a little more worthwhile by purchasing enough hand soap, body wash and air fresheners for a year at the bath and body works outlet...but still.)

She had so much fun outside! We're SO ready for spring.

She stopped for quite a while to watch the little boys that were playing in the yard behind us.

Sweet mommy/baby shadows.

She had so much fun outside that when we got to the top of the stairs and I opened the door she turned and ran the other way! Then threw a fit when we actually did get inside and woke up her daddy making our trip outside virtually pointless. Sigh. I don't know how we'll handle the terrible twos. :)

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

So, *fingers crossed*, spring is right around the corner. Thank goodness. I'm having to pull out Logan's spring/summer dresses and layer them because most of her winter stuff is just a tad too small now. I don't want to buy any more since she'll only be wearing them for (hopefully) a matter of weeks before it warms up again. While some of her winter clothes don't fit, her tiny feet haven't grown and so her winter uggs DO still fit! So, today it was a pretty day and I love the outfit that we put on her this morning, so, I threw her boots on and we went outside for a few minutes to get some MUCH needed vitamin D (and to have a photo shoot...you know, priorities).

"I can't believe we're outside! What do I do with myself?!"

Trying to get used to walking on cement, she held daddy's hand for a while.

We made it out into the sunshine.

LOVE this shot!

It got pretty windy and so we got chilly and had to turn around and head back in soon after this shot was taken.

But not before shooting a couple more:

This one is just so classic, I love how her dress really makes her big blue eyes pop. I think I'll take up photography. It's my new favorite hobby. (how can it not be with a subject so fun to shoot?)

Random Thoughts at 13 Months

I don't have anything in particular to post about today, I just know that the grandparents are probably going through Logan withdraws at this point so I wanted to post a few pictures and some of Logan's new developments! (count this as her 13 month post, if you will)

She's a smiley girl today because her cold/respiratory problems are nearly gone! Just a loose cough is left.

Logan is doing MUCH better with her cow's milk lately. She wasn't too keen on it at first, but she's starting to drink at least a full sippy cup of it a day. Very huge development in our world!

We've been working on getting Logan to drink from a straw, too, because the sippy cup we take with us to the nursery is one with a straw (because it's got a flip lid to keep it from spilling in the diaper bag) and she finally got it! Another big development for us.

The biggest development in the last week or so has been Logan's ability to follow commands. I was very impressed the other day when I asked Logan to get her milk and bring it to me and she walked across the room, grabbed her sippy cup (took a sip) and then brought it to me. Since then, she's also learned how to put toys away (they get kind of close to her toy bin) and to hand me different items. The command she likes the most, though, is "Logan, jump!" to which she bounces up and down. I was so glad that Mike was around when I asked her for her milk because it was so much fun to see his smile when she accomplished the task--he doesn't get to see too many of those "firsts".

She's learned several words (though she says them her own way for now), and as of now she knows these:

Mommy

Daddy

Here (he-uh)

Come on (mon)

Bye-Bye (bye-buh)

Baby

Night Night (nuh-night)

Bubbles (bubs)

Diaper (piper...I have only gotten that one about twice, so I'm not totally sure it's a word she 'knows')

No (no no no no no no no no)

Yeah

We're working really hard on learning our body parts right now. I'm sure it'll take several weeks but so far we've got belly down and we've got nose down -- about half the time. As in, when I ask Logan, "where's your belly?" she pats her tummy and when I ask her where her nose is she points to her nose! When we've got the body down we'll work on animal sounds.

Logan has started dancing when music comes on. Theme songs, music on itunes, commercials, anything that has a beat.

She loves to brush her OWN teeth. You can brush them for her, but heaven forbid you put that toothbrush in her hands and she'll brush her gums to death and you may never see the toothbrush again!

She's started to really pretend. She loves to pretend to fold clothes. She'll pull burp clothes or blankets down if I don't have a pile of laundry out and just shake them out over and over like mommy does when she's folding her clothing. She also likes to pretend to do other housework (sweeping, dusting, etc). She's a girl after mommy's heart!

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but she's quite the little mommy. She loves to rock carseats, bounce bouncers and be on call whenever we have a baby around. If I'm not there within seconds, I know Logan will be whenever one starts crying. If she does make it there before me she holds her hand out to keep me away as if saying, "I can handle this one, mommy." She'll make a great big sister one day! (not in the next nine months, so stop wondering)

I've been dying to use this Elmo bow I made for Logan and the other day in the Target clearance section I found this shirt for under $3! I was so excited, they're made for each other!