Vacuum boy!

Logan used to be scared of the vacuum cleaner, but now, he WANTS to vacuum! He can't push the motor, but he'll yell, "Mama!" over the noise for me to come move it for him. Also, note to self, don't leave the vacuum out, because he'll want it "on" (even at 6:30 am), and he could vacuum all day.

Fun times!

Today was a fun day, even if it was a Monday (of course, Monday is the last day of Shane's weekend, so it's still good). Logan, Kayleigh, and I went to Kroger where Kayleigh sang herself to sleep, and Logan got to drive the cool plastic car in the front of the cart, and I made it out without spending a fortune! Yay!


Then, my sweet friend Jamie called. She's the proud mom of a little boy 1 month younger than Kayleigh, so it's fun to compare notes (seriously, talking about poop and diapers does not phase us!). It was so wonderful to get to talk to her, and hopefully, in the spring, we'll get to go visit them in Boston.


When Daddy woke up, we got all our bags packed and hit the road to the San Bernard River, with boat in tow. Of course, after Shane and I had both wakeboarded, the propeller decided to throw a shoe, well, at least the rubber hub failed. Happily, we were able to make it back to the dock going 7 mph, and the hub is a rather cheap part. Yay! Oh, and Logan and I backed the trailer into the water - didn't even have to pull forward to straighten out. Woohoo!


While we were at Marine Max waiting for Daddy to figure out what he needed for the boat, Kayleigh decided to sing and talk to herself. She is a yakker...enjoy!

Then we came home, and Shane took a bath with both water babies. Kayleigh stood up in the tub, with a little help from her daddy, and Logan splashed all around everyone, occassionally stopping to give Daddy a hug or kiss.

After bathtime, it was bedtime for babies. Kayleigh went straight to sleep, but Logan was having a time throwing his Nuki out of bed, climbing out of his crib, retrieving it, and climbing back into bed. He thought this was such good fun! But when the lights went out, he passed out.

Since the kiddos were asleep, it gave me a chance to play my early birthday present - "Mini Ninjas" on my PS3. So fun! Some of the cut scenes are even in Japanese. Anyway, it's a cute little game, and I'm having fun - and Shane was catching up on his nap as he "watched" me play.

Pretty good day, neh?

Arkansas

On September 13, the kids and I took a flight up to Arkansas to visit Gram and Bapa. That sounds so much easier than it was - imagine going through security with a toddler and a baby, having to take the baby out of the carseat, and yet still hold on to the toddler, all the while folding up the double stroller to go through the x-ray, taking your shoes off, and trying not to piss the people off behind you even if you're in the "we take forever" line. Ahh, the joys of parenthood. I had about 5 people ask me if I needed help while we were at the gate (trying to keep Logan from running down the jetway) or while we were getting on/off the plane. But we got there, and I didn't even have a nervous breakdown! Logan was hilarious - when we landed (both coming and going) he said, "Wheee!" as we touched down. We've got a thrill seeker on our hands.
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Monday night, we went to Lake Sophia, a small lake within walking distance of Gram and Bapa's house. Logan and Bapa picked up rocks and threw them in the lake. Bapa would find rocks and Logan would throw them. What a team!

Logan liked to throw two at a time. Once, he actually threw the rocks so hard, he went in after them, but he was having too much fun to let that stop him. (I told Shane this story after we got home, and his response was, "I'm not surprised")

Kayleigh-bob thought the throwing and the splash of the rock in the water was so funny! She sat in the stroller and laughed every time Logan threw the rocks.

Gram and Logan are "twins". Logan had to tell Gram that there was "wawa" in the lake and "flouflou" (flowers) in the grass.

On Tuesday, Miss Delma and Mr Wayne came over for lunch. Miss Delma, Gram's friend from pretty much infancy, just thinks Logan is the cutest little boy. She gave Logan a little pirate rubber ducky - which is great, because he's always asking for more ducks in the bathtub.

Miss Delma gave Kayleigh a hand and foot teether. Kayleigh loves them, especially the little plastic hand, because she can fit the thumb in her mouth and suck on it. She also loved Mr Wayne's thumb, but it was a little too big to suck on.

Logan had a great time hanging out with Bapa. Somehow, Bapa became the go-to guy for going to the potty. I'm totally not complaining about that! It got to the point that Logan would say either "teetee" or "stinky" and then "Bapa!" He got really upset one time I picked him up and took him to the bathroom. Guess Mama is not quite as good as Bapa...

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The two guys did lots of playing outside (when it wasn't raining). They moved rocks with the Tonka truck, moved rocks with their hands, did laps around the yard, and just generally had a good time.

But sometimes, they had a little downtime. Here they are watching "Robin Hood" and eating goldfish.

Although it rained pretty much the whole time we were in Arkansas, I still wanted to see Bapa's new boat. We went over to the storage shed and climbed in. As Logan "drove" his Bapa's boat, I remembered all the times Chris, Doug, and I got into Paw's (Bapa's daddy) bass boat and "drove" it when we were little. Fun times!

Bapa's birthday was on Thursday, so Wednesday night, while Gram and Bapa were at praise team practice, Logan and I practiced singing "Happy Birthday". I'd sing the song and when I'd get to "Happy birthday, dear Bapa!", Logan would yell, "BAPA!" Of course, when we actually sang it to him, he forgot how to do it. Oh well.

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Kayleigh had fun hanging out with her Bapa as well. They had a good time napping together a few times, and she loved the way Bapa can't sit still, because she likes to move it, move it, too. Bunch of fidgeters.

Kayleigh is doing great at sitting up and can sit up for a long time now. Now that she's mastered that skill, Gram decided she needed some home-ec lessons. So she learned to do some quilting as Gram worked on Daddy Shane's t-shirt quilt. A blanket made with love and spit up.

Sometimes it was nice just to cuddle and read on those rainy days. Gram must have a very mesmerizing voice, or just be a good cuddler, because Logan actually sat still long enough to hear two books - something a little wiggle worm usually doesn't do.

Kayleigh models an outfit that was made for Gram, many moons ago. She really looked like a flapper in that hat!

Thursday was a girls day out. We went to a tea room and had a yummy lunch and some orange spiced tea afterwards. I had a great time just talking with my mom. It's such a blessing to be able to have "girl talk" with my mom. She is one of the coolest people I know. Kayleigh had fun until we were almost done eating, then she decided that she was ready to head out. Maybe tea parties will grow on her.

We had a great time in Arkansas, and I got Logan's baby book finished (except for some journaling), and Kayleigh's book up to date (again, more journaling to be done). I finished about 30 pages. Yay! And Gram got Daddy Shane's t-shirt quilit finished. It was too big for me to take home in the suitcase, but we'll get it soon.

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Thank you Gram and Bapa for a super fun week! We had a great time!

Indoor laundry

It has been raining for the past week (so no mowing the lawn,which now looks a bit shaggy). Since it's either raining or more humid outside than inside, it makes it very difficult to get dry diapers. So I dried the inserts in our gas dryer and hung the diapers on the line - after I brought it inside. Nothin' like a little indoor laundry.

Baby shoes

Logan LOVES shoes. Most days, he sleeps with his blue crocs on. He tries to put shoes on his little sister. And now, he puts shoes on his sister's dolls. He was very proud of himself, and liked to hold it up for me to see.

Just in case you couldn't see it well due to Logan's megawatt smile, here's the baby doll with her new shoe on.

Squealer

Kayleigh-bob is a squealer - and a grinner.

Training pants

Logan has been doing pretty well at going teetee in the potty, so we bought him some training pants. Apparently, he's not doing that well, because all three pairs were wet! I wonder how different they feel from his diapers (he kept one diaper dry for 4 hours today, then he got caught up playing cars - oh well). He's doing great though!

Future gamer

Shane has been trying to conquer some of his PS3 games he has 90% complete. So he was playing Overlord 2 (which I think is hilarious, the minions remind me of my goofy brothers). Anyway, Logan took the controller from Shane, led me over to the PlayStation chair, and played it for about 15 minutes. He was very serious about playing. Yeah, he ran in circles, but for a little guy, he did pretty good!

Daddy was so impressed, and is thinking about getting him "Mater-national" because he loves cars (and "Cars"). The two of them will curl up in the PlayStation chair and play Shane's new downloaded remote control car game. Logan sits there and says, "Dar! Dar!" How fun!

Me and my home-dogs

Most days of the week, I take the kids and the "home-dogs" out for a walk. Gets Vitamin-D for the kids and exercise for the dogs. And a "why did I take a shower this morning" groan from me.

Anyway, the five of us must be quite a spectacle walking down the road! It's a good thing my dogs heel pretty well (and sit and stay well - how else would I have taken this picture!).

Kayleigh usually just enjoys a nap - though the other day, Logan was pointing out all the cars, and Kayleigh was talking up a storm about something. We were sort of a noisy group that day.

My little flapper

I tied this bow around Kayleigh's head just to see what it would look like. She kinda reminds me of one of the 1920's flappers. So she needs a different dress, but it was probably short enough...

Playing together

Logan and Kayleigh like to play together in their own way. Logan likes to show "Kaykay" how the toys on the exersaucer work. Kayleigh loves to watch her big brother.

But sometimes, all that playing just wears a girl out!

Putt putt golf

Today was the first time in a long time I've been putt-putt golfing. We took Will Chambers, Shane's Little - and a sophmore in high school, with us. First, of course, we had to go to The Spot for hamburgers and fries and onion rings. Super YUM!

This was Logan's first time to try putt-putt. The concept was a little lost on him, even with a little help from Daddy. Will said that was the theme for our golfing experience, "I get by with a little help from my friends", because we'd hit the ball while it was rolling, Logan would pick our balls up and put them in the cup for us (hole in one!), Logan would kick our ball, Shane would give us only a double bogey when really it was like 17 shots on a 2 par.

Logan thought you were supposed to put the ball in every grayish hole - including this one! Daddy had to come behind him and fish it out.

Yup, this is Texas. We have big ants.

Sir William defends the castle.

Will the knights in shining armor save me from the dragon? No, Shane got a hole in one on this one, and I got a triple bogey. Whatever, I had a wiggly baby strapped to my chest. Kayleigh did great and cheered everyone on for much of the time. She also enjoyed holding my putter...

The knights of the castle. Squire Logan, Sir William, King Timothy (because that sounds a bit more regal than King Shane or King Daddy).

Afterwards, since we were all hot and sweaty, we got some Hawaiian shave ice. Yum - even if there were no beans. We could have gotten ice cream in it, but that was a little heavy for being so hot.

Magic Carpet Golf is located on the Seawall. From where we were eating our shave ices, you could see the old pier that isn't there anymore. It's almost been a year since Ike, but you can still see the damage it caused. But the island is bouncing back!

Beater lickin' good!

I made brownies tonight, and Logan needed to help, so I gave him the beater to lick. I had to tell Bug "no" a few times, because the beater was in Logan-mouth range, which is Bug-mouth range. Logan did great at getting the batter ALL over his face...

As Shane took this picture, he said, "Logan, go give Mama a kiss!" It would have been such a sweet kiss!

Not only did my sweet boy love the batter, he loved the brownies as well. He doesn't get rich sweets like that too often, so it was a real treat for him!

Four month checkup

Kayleigh had her 4 month check up today. She is 25 and 1/2 inches long (81%) and 14 lbs 3 oz (50%) - long and skinny like Logan was. She showed Dr. Quillin her stellar spit up technique all over me. I'm glad I could be a showcase for her talents. He gave her a clean bill of health, and then we got 2 shots. There wasn't as much crying this time...she calmed down after a minute and by the time we were paying the bill, she was asleep.

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Kayleigh is becoming a talkative little girl! I was trying to have a conversation with Shane after we had gotten home and Logan was napping, but Kayleigh was squealing and laughing and talking up a storm. There was no way of hearing anything else! She did this off and on for about an hour! You'd think she's related to her daddy who can talk to a brick wall.

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All of us are really enjoying having her around. Logan has taken to kissing his "sissy" and giving her hugs (or maybe he's trying to pick her up, I'm not sure). What a joy!