Saturday

Yesterday, I tried my hand at newborn photography. I played around a lot when Brody was born, but since then have been really studying and figuring out how to edit, what angles to shoot and have been looking through newborn photos like crazy. All of this because I knew that I'd be doing a line of photography head props for my new website and wanted to make sure I made them look right.

So, yesterday the kids and I spent the morning taking pictures of little Miss Claira-lynn and then we edited them in the afternoon. I say we because Brody sat on my lap while I edited and Logan looked at the screen and told me what she liked and didn't like.

Here's a preview (these were my favorites), you can see the rest on the blog.

Logan "helped" with the pictures by making sure the backdrop was straight and then sitting on it after it was, thereby undoing her work and making her start it all over again. Brody sat like a champ. Here's his "are we done yet" face.

I'll be doing a couple of catch up posts tomorrow, so watch for them!

Tickled Pink!

First of all, I snapped this picture of Logan while she was sleeping the other day. She had dressed herself up for bed. She really is SUCH a princess!

Next, I wanted to let everyone know that I've re-launched my clothing/bow website! I know, I feel like I do this once a year, but I've taken down my etsy site and am only doing bows/clothes through this website and my facebook page. This way I don't have to pay the added cost of listing on etsy and giving them any kickback when I sell things. So--head over to www.tickledpinkhairbows.com and check it out! Bookmark it, share it with friends, place some orders. Just kidding, you really don't have to place orders. Also, would you do me a favor? If you have a facebook page, would you LIKE the business facebook page? It just gives it more credibility with outside buyers if there are a good amount of people who like it. Thanks!!

Preschool In Review: Weeks 5-9

We've moved away from the letter/number/color routine and have started doing different themed units every week that incorporate everything. It's been a fun change and we're both really enjoying it. Our first theme was Veggie Tales because it's a new favorite in our home. She colored each of the vegetables in their proper colors and then we labeled the colors, stapled them together and put them in the book. She colored veggies with different numerical values, counted them, labeled each page with the correct number. She spelled out her name that week and we made fun letter cards that she has in a pocket in the book and can pull out and put it in order. Just to give you a taste of what she's doing in her units. :) We've done a Handy Manny unit and part of a princess unit and tomorrow we'll start Ballerinas.

I've tried to be really intentional about our playtimes, too. I found these fantastic colored counting blocks in the dollar section at Target and we use them for so many different things.

I picked up three packs and I put a letter of the alphabet on each one (upper and lower case).

She plays match the upper to the lower case.We play "find me letter......" with them. She sorts them into color piles. She counts them. We put letters together to make words (well, I put the words together and she identifies the letters once together). She stacks them and lines them up in color patterns. They've been great. Well worth the $3.

Logan continues to impress me with how much she's learning! She knows the letters by sight. She knows about 1/3 of the sounds in the alphabet and can recognize when they are used in words (example: when eating popcorn she said "p-p-p popcorn starts with P!"). She knows how to count to 20 and recognizes numbers 1-10 (usually). She knows most of her shapes (circle, star, heart, diamond, rectangle, square, triangle). She knows all of the colors. She can sort colors into groups (great for laundry). She can tell stories by looking at pictures. She's just a little smart cookie and it's so much fun to watch my own little one learn!

Lazy Sundays (and some 2 year old conversations)

I've actually been meaning to post these pictures all week! I took them last Sunday when the weather was cooler and we were playing outside after Mike got home from work.

L: No, Brody, you're not old enough to play with the volleyballs yet. Grow a little.

I think Brody looks so much like my dad in this next picture, from the shape of his face to the squinting of his eyes! It's so fun to be able to pick features out and pinpoint what family member they came from.

Some more Loganisms and quotes:

Logan calls commercials amarshmallows. I thought for a long time she WAS saying marshmallow but then one day she was watching something and an advertisement came on and she sighed heavily and said, "ugh. not another amarshmallow."

Last night I was reading a Clifford story to the kids and Logan stopped me and said, "I don't need a Clifford. I have a Brody." I guess he does drool, play fetch and do things on command right now...I can kind of see the similarity.

I was cleaning a bathroom yesterday and was getting tired and stopped and put my hand to my head. Logan came in and said, "I'm going to handle it, honey. Don't worry."

I snuggled Logan before her nap a few days ago and she hugged me tight and said, "Oh mommy! Please stay here with me forever!"

Logan's new phrase of the moment is "you're the best!" She'll point her finger at you and say, "Mommy you are THE BEST."

Logan's favorite game of the moment? Hide and go peek-a-boo. We keep trying to tell her she's talking about two different games but she insists this one exists.

Speaking of hide and seek....Logan really needs to learn the rules. She tells you to count, then tells you to come find her then pops out of hiding and yells, "HERE I AM!"

I love, love, love having a 2 year old. She's so sweet and views the world with such innocent and unsuspecting eyes. It really makes me see "faith like a child" in a completely different light and I am so thankful to get to see it in this new and exciting way.

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Today we headed over to Hillridge Farm to celebrate Olivia's 3rd birthday! Olivia is one of Logan's good friends here in town. We are in a small group with her parents so they see each other quite often.

It was rainy this morning so we threw on raincoats and were very thankful for our ergo so we could keep Brody close and dry!

They've moved the pumpkin patch so now you have to pay to go in and get pictures...we're hoping to find another one in town free or cheaper so we can get some good fall pictures, but if not, here's our pumpkin patch picture this year!

The girls had fun together on a hayride:

And Logan loved the Hello Kitty cupcakes:

A lot.

Then we headed off to the train and took a quick ride (how crystal clear are his eyes?!):

And capped off the day with this crazy slide.

Yes, our fearless girl did go down. Over, and over, and over again.

I have a feeling we've entered the season of life where birthday parties are the norm.

Fun New Toy!

Logan had a BIG day yesterday! We loaded up in the car and I told her we were on our way to get her a big surprise. She was so excited the whole car ride there (which ended up taking 35 minutes because of traffic) and was slightly disappointed when I popped out of the car, grabbed her new toy and stuck it in the trunk before she saw it. This meant she had to wait another 25 minutes to get home before she actually laid eyes on it. I think it was worth the wait, though!

Logan's legs have gotten just a little too long for her push toys and she has started to scuff ALL of her shoes by dragging them when she's riding. So, Mike and I decided it was time to upgrade to a tricycle and started scouring craigslist for a good one.

And I'm so glad we did, because this bike is just perfect for Logan! It's pink and purple and has lots of sparkle and is adorned with princesses. She's loves it. And we loved the price. We paid less than 1/3 of what it cost new, and the previous owner kept it in pristine condition.

It rained last night so we couldn't ride it this morning because of the large amounts of puddles and mud, but she's just itching for her daddy to get home this afternoon so she can go out and ride some more. We're so excited for our big girl!

6 Months!!!

Happy 6 months to my sweet, sweet Brody! Can you believe it's been half a year?! I can't!

Brody is SUCH a charmer! He'll smile at anyone for any reason. Even Logan, when she's screaming and throwing a fit, can pull a huge smile from Brody. Not sure how she'll feel about that in a few years...

And yes, he does smile all the time. That's why there aren't many pictures without him smiling. He is seriously always happy. It's incredible. You can wake up in a bad mood, go in to get him out of bed and you just can't stay in the bad mood.

He looks like a little chub sometimes, but don't let that fool you! He weighed in at 17lbs even, is 26 inches long and has a big head. :) A cute big head, though! He's in the 50% for weight, 80% for his head circumference (told you) and is in the 25% for height.

He still is sleeping through the night. I put him to bed between 6:30-7 most nights and he'll wake up once before 10 and then quickly goes back down until 7am. We are so, so thankful for a good sleeper.

He is so snuggly. That 10p wake up? Usually just wants a few minutes of snuggling and then happily falls back to sleep. Melts my heart.

He's just slipping into his 6-9 month clothing.

We've sadly had to retire the small cloth diapers. He's moved into the one size diapers. We are so thankful for those and that we don't have to continue to buy diapers!

Big boy mastered sitting up just before his 6 month mark. He got tired of laying down and just went for it when I sat him down. It took a few days but he no longer wobbles and can actually get onto all fours from the sitting position and then get back up into it. Strong, strong boy.

He loves to give sweet kisses, which actually feel more like you've got a blow fish suctioned to your face (I've never felt that and cringe at the thought, but it's what I picture it'd be like). He also gives great "hugs."

He has started to try and reach for people he wants to hold him. While he can't quite get his arms out to reach, he leans his whole body into wherever he wants to go and tries to get his hands and arms to follow his body.

He is SO close to crawling, it's scary! His motivation? Anything Logan DOESN'T want him to have. If she makes any mention or motion to keep him away from something, he goes for it. He does know how to scoot his little booty and can move a bit that way, but he's recently been falling onto all fours and trying to get to things that way. Time to double check our baby proofing! I actually have a feeling he's going to get into a LOT more than Logan ever did.

Brody continues to adore his big sister. He gets so giddy when she gets down on the floor with him to play. They sit for hours in the morning together playing, singing, "talking" and enjoying each other.

We've heard a lot of babbling this month! A lot of it sounds like "a bababababababa" with the occasional "mamamamamama" in there. I know he'll probably say "dada" first and mean it, but I like to think maybe somewhere deep inside they know that babbling mama means they've said my name first. I know I'm just lying to myself, but it's ok.

They seem so sweet and innocent in so many of their pictures, but this one really shows the true meaning of being a big sister. Brody is just biding his time before he can get even, I'm sure. He has that look in his eye, doesn't he?

And lastly, this month we started solids, again! Don't worry, I threw the oatmeal cereal out and WILL NOT be trying it with any subsequent children. We started with some peaches and sweet potatoes (I'm doing homemade stuff again) and he's also tried bananas, apples and mango. So far he's loved all of it and we haven't seen any tummy issues. He gets about a tablespoon at breakfast and a tablespoon at dinner and then nurses the rest of the day. We'll throw in a third meal in the next week or two and see how he handles it!

Here's his post-eating, pre-cleaned face!

And here are his shots at all six months! I seriously, seriously can't believe he's already half a year old. Crazy.