Neat Freak

Logan is SUCH a clean kid. She h-a-t-e-s it when she has anything sticky/wet/messy on her and immediately will ask to be wiped down if she does. She's loves to take the dust pan and the small dust broom and go around the kitchen getting crumbs cleaned up and she really loves being given a rag so she can go around the house and wipe things down. It's like heaven for me to watch her because I know one day it's really going to come in handy. :) In fact, she's so clean that to get her to pick up her toys and her books at the end of the day, I have to bribe her by telling her she can vacuum.

It works for me because the clutter gets picked up and my house gets a fresh run of the vacuum every night! And she really does a decent job with it, two days ago I let her loose in our room and she vacuumed the entire thing and when I went back over it I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had gotten most of the junk out of the carpet. Here are a couple of videos of my little neat freak in training:

17 Weeks

I am 17 weeks pregnant today! The morning sickness subsided a little more over the past week. It's only hit 2 or 3 times really hard, so things are looking brighter! I'm feeling movement close to every day, now. Usually in the evenings, but occasionally during the day when his/her big sister is running wild. We're about two weeks away from finding out the baby's gender, so big things are coming up! (I'm not sure why the picture ended up looking so grainy, but it'll have to do)

Animal Sounds

Logan and I have been working really hard on getting animal sounds down. It seemed like things were moving along really slowly (she and I have been doing them every day for several months) but a few weeks ago it all clicked and she's been picking them up really quickly ever since. These are the ones that she knows the best (cow, sheep, duck, dog, lion)...she's missing the first letter off of a few of them--and yes, she says "tack tack" for a duck, but she gets the idea. She's also recently picked up the letters A, B and C and can point them out in alphabet books and say them in order (if she's in the right mood).

Best Buds

We are so sad that John and Lindsey only have a few more weeks in VA, because it'll mean that instead of being only 2 hours away, they'll be moving about 10 hours away. It's been so nice having them so close for the last few months, but we're excited that they'll finally be able to live in a house of their own for a while. Logan will be particularly sad that she won't be able to see her "u-non" (uncle John) and "a-sey" (aunt Lindsey) every few weeks. She thinks that John is her best buddy and has so much fun when he's around.

She loves to play hide and seek with him (though she doesn't quite understand the concept of truly hiding yet):

And helps him when he blows up and then tears down the air mattress:

She adores all of the attention he gives her and looks for him for hours after he's left.

They came down this weekend to go to the Alabama/Duke game and it was nice to have them in town, especially since I was sick and they were able to help out with Logan so much. We look forward to seeing them again in a few weeks after John's graduation from his training!

16 Weeks

16 weeks down, 24 to go! I FINALLY got a morning sickness break this week and was only sick about 4 of the 7 days which is wonderful. Yesterday it hit pretty hard, but today (so far) has been ok. I've really felt some stronger movement this week, though it comes and goes and never has a good pattern. We're really excited about finding out the gender in about 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I'm starting to feel a sinus issue and can't take much. I used a Neti-Pot for the first time ever today and am impressed at how nicely it cleared me up for a while. I just wish I didn't have to use it every 3 hours.

Logan wanted in on this week's photo shoot. She played dress up this afternoon, hence the leopard print leggings and tutu.

Oh Sweet Clean Day!

About three weeks ago our vacuum sputtered to a stop while I was trying to rid the house of goldfish crumbs. I knew it was coming, but was hoping it'd hold out on us a bit longer, but I guess it had other plans. We've been through 3 vacuums in 4 years. It's crazy. And we know the culprit is my long hair-- it jams them up and eventually you can't get it unjammed and the vacuum dies. So, instead of dropping 80 bucks with the knowledge that the new vacuum would probably only last a year or two, we decided to hold off, borrow vacuums and save up some money to get a good one. My main goal in finding a vacuum this time around was looking for one that had reviews specifically linked to the hair jamming issue, this, along side of a glowing recommendation from a friend led me to this baby:

I'd like to introduce you to Miele, my new best friend. It came in the mail last night and I think I've vacuumed the house 3 or 4 times just because I can. I don't think these carpets have ever been this clean and I have a new bounce in my step today because of it. It is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Even Logan loves it (and she's never been a vacuum fan):

The best part? It's a $300 machine and we only paid $24.00 for it (and it's got a 7 year warranty on it so we know we're good for at least that long). It's true. We got a very nice gift from someone to help with the vacuum and I traded in several swagbuck points for amazon gift cards and that was our leftover balance.

We're excited, as you can tell:

That's Logan's new "cheese" face.

18 Month Appointment

Logan had her 18 month appointment today (only about a month and a half late this time), and she's looking great! She weighs 24lbs even and is 33 inches long, that puts her in the 75% for her height and the 45% for her weight--tall and skinny just like her daddy.

She is:

-saying about 90 words now

-putting together small sentences

-following commands (i.e. Go get your bow from mommy's room)

-is able to play on her own using her imagination

-feeds herself with utensils

-is about 85% potty trained

- recognizes and knows the sounds for the letters A, B, and P (I know, random)

- plays cooperatively with other children

- can tell the stories in books she's had read to her several times (as in, she knows what words come next and can point to pictures and "tell" you what's happening)

- knows several animal sounds

- knows all of her body parts

According to her Dr., this means that she's developing more on the level of a 2-2 1/2 year old. We met with our favorite Dr. today and got to brag on our Bum Genius cloth diapers because she's about to have her first baby and is planning on using them, as well! Logan was very happy because she didn't need any vaccines today (though I didn't tell her we'll be going back in a few weeks for a flu shot) and because she doesn't need to go back otherwise until she's 2.

After we left the Dr. I took Logan to the playground in the mall so she could play for a bit (and so I could get some pictures for everyone).