Playing in the backyard

Last the week it was nice enough for us to play outside in the backyard. Kayleigh got to experience the sandbox for the first time. I think she enjoyed the feel of the sand on her feet, since she was kicking them back and forth in the sand. Due to Hurricane Ike and all the junk in the bay after, Kayleigh didn't get to play at the beach this past year. Something we are sure to remedy!



The blue sky was absolutely gorgeous. This shot really doesn't do the intense blue justice. It was amazing!



Kayleigh had a great time hanging out - literally. to get rid of some of her diaper rash, I put her in her Baby Legs (thanks Doug and Ashley) sans diaper. Super fun!



Logan had a blast rolling things down the slide. We've sent a Little People airplane down, Duplo trucks, sticks, grass, dolls. Maybe he's trying to figure out the acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s2 - I didn't sleep through all of Physics 101!)

The many positions of crawling

Kayleigh is a yoga master. She likes to "crawl" in an almost downward-facing dog pose. She has also held a plank pose (top of a pushup) for several seconds.

But other times, she gets into the more traditional knees on the floor pose. Of course, this is right before morphing into the cobra pose...

New haircut

While I was giving Shane a haircut yesterday, Logan decided he wanted one too. However, he soon found out that it's not so fun - the hair that gets cut off gets on your tummy and itches, gets in your nose and itches, gets on your arms and itches. Shane likes this new haircut, and Logan really doesn't seem to care either way.

Here he is eating pudding. Yum! Chocolate everywhere!

We got the guitar out tonight, and after playing it on our bed for a while, Logan wanted to go to his room to play. And he wanted to sit on the deacon's bench - because that's where Bapa sat to play when he was here. Observant little guy!

He already has a groupie!

Logan made his own step stool from his toy tubs, and turned his lights off. And on. And off. And on. And off. And on...

Head and shoulders, knees and toes

Today in the car on the way to the gym, we were listening to "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes". Logan enjoyed singing along, though his version was, "Head, toes! Hhhheeeeaad, toes!" The "head" was held out because he had to wait for everyone to catch up while they were singing "knees and toes" over and over again.

Crazy weather

People in Houston are always sick in the winter, and here's the reason why. January 9 - the outside temperature was 19.8F.


Yesterday, January 21 - less than two weeks later, the temperature was almost 86F!

I'm not at all complaining about the cloudless blue sky and the warm temperatures. We went to the park today, took the dogs for a walk yesterday, and have been enjoying the awesome weather! Of course, next week it's supposed to get cold again (not frigid though)...

Shane keeps saying he's ready to go out on the boat with this warm weather, but the water temperature's still below 70F. Too cold for us warm blooded Texans!

Kayleigh's 9 month check up

On Tuesday, Kayleigh had her 9 month check up. Apparently, for being such a big baby, she's becoming quite a petite girl! She was 28 inches long (57%) and 16lbs 15 oz (13%). The doctor didn't seem to be phased by this, nor did he seem concerned that she wasn't pulling up, cruising, or crawling, all things Logan was doing by 7 months. Whenever we try to get her to stand up, she pulls her legs up. This frustrates her Daddy, who would rather have her crawling. She does get on all fours and rock and has taken one or two crawls, but doesn't use it as her mode of transport - that would still be us...

But on the good side, she is a talker. She says "mama" (usually when she's crying and hungry), "dada", "Bug" (okay, it sounds like "buh", but she looks at Bug when she says it), and she quacks like a duck. If you hand her a rubber duck, she looks at it and says, "quack, quack".

Logan, Kayleigh, and I also have screaming parties. I know, it doesn't sound like fun, but it's pretty funny when both of them are sitting on me and yelling, "Ahhhh!" They giggle and it's just hilarious!

Oh, and funny story. I was at the gym and had just picked up the kids from Kids Club. Logan wanted to see the pool, which was over by the locker rooms. A ripped guy (good looking too), with a tatoo on his arm, heavy metal t-shirt on, and spiked black hair came up to us and looked at Kayleigh. In one of those high pitched cutsie voices he says to her, "Aren't you so cute? Look at those big eyes. You're so pretty, yes you are." He must have kids...

Yay, Gram! Yay, Bapa!

This past weekend, Gram and Bapa came to visit for a couple of days. It was a pretty quick trip, but they got to see all the grandkids in one circuit of Texas, so it was a longer trip for them.

Logan and Kayleigh got "grandparentized" - they were held whenever they wanted to be, and had constant playmates who didn't have to cook or anything! Yup, the remainder of this week is going to be fun.

Gram gets some early morning lovin' in. Logan woke everyone (except Daddy, of course) up at almost 7am on Monday morning. This was surprising, since Gram and Bapa get up at 5:30 most days. Yeah, they're retired...

Let's play! Logan and Bapa played with trains, and Kayleigh and Gram played with pull toys and the learning table.

Sometimes, a girl just wants to be fed. She can hold the bottle on her own, she just chooses not to. And Bapa is a sucker for a pretty face.

Tuesday morning, we went to the new park in the back of the subdivision. It was a great time! Kayleigh was raising her hands to the wind and grinning. "I love you, Wind!"

Logan loved going down the tube slide. Bapa would look in the bottom, and Logan would just giggle and laugh, then dive head first down the slide. Then he'd jump off, run around to the stairs, and do it all again.

Kayleigh went down the baby slide (holding Gram's hands, of course). She loved it!

Having grandparents at the house does crazy things to kids. Not only do they try to go to bed an hour later than usual, but they also want to use things they haven't used in a year! Logan wanted to jump, so we got a jumper out for him, and he went crazy - jumping and spinning and swinging. What a time! Of course, the squishy diapers afterward from all the jumping was not so fun...

And this crazy girl decided to start pulling up on her crib. She almost got herself to standing - then fell and hit her chin. Ouch!

Tuesday for dinner we went down to Galveston to the Spot. Then Logan of the short attention span, wanted to leave the restaurant and go to the beach. The fog was rolling in and the wind was pretty high, so it was pretty cool. But Logan had a great time looking at the waves, running through the sand, and then walking out on the wave break.

Here are my model men. Seriously, doesn't this look like something out of a glossy?

Gram and Kayleigh had fun too. Kayleigh loved Gram's diamond necklace, and played with it whenever Gram held her. She never tried to rip it off, she just fingered it. Here Kayleigh tells Gram what she's thinking. Apparently, it's pretty funny stuff!

We had a great time with Gram and Bapa. Daddy enjoyed having a picked up house for once. Heehee. We can't wait to see them again!

Logan saw a Lexus in the gym parking lot today and said, "Bapa car!" The little guy is pretty observant!

Praying hands

Kayleigh is praying in her sleep.

Good thing she's learning, because Logan was going to teach her to hold hands and say "amen" at lunch today. We had to wait a few minutes before he finally gave up and the two of us just held hands and prayed.

Spinny spin!

Logan and Daddy like to spinny-spin (Daddy's phrase). Both of them get super dizzy, but there's a lot of laughter, so it can't be too bad...and Logan keeps coming back for more!

Here are the two of them spinning their lights out!


Logan from Daddy's perspective. Whoa!


Video of Logan while he's spinning. He looks so scared! But when he's done -


He looks like this! And comes back for more!! Spinny-spin, Daddy!

Never thought I'd say this...

Today in the bathroom: "Ouch, Mommy!" Logan is standing next to me, holding his penis.

"Well, Logan don't put your penis right next to the heater." Things you never thought would be in the same sentence..."penis" and "heater".

The Houston Boat Show

Today we took the kids to the Houston Boat Show at Reliant Center. Logan had a great time! As soon as we walked in, he climbed out of the stroller and started running yelling "Boat! Daddy, boat!" He was so super excited. It was like a 2 year old on crack.

Daddy said that Logan had short term memory loss but also must climb on every boat. This means, as soon as he gets off one boat, he wants to go on it again because he forgot he'd been on it 30 seconds ago! Not like he did much on each boat - he'd get in, play with the steering wheel, touch the seat, and climb off. But when there are hundreds of boats...

Here is Logan on a "Logan-sized" Boston Whaler. This boat can seat up to a whopping FOUR people. We actually think it's a lifeboat for one of the bigger yachts.

Kayleigh was a super trooper. She squealed and kicked when she saw such an excited brother. At one point as I was carrying K-bob around, someone came up to us and said, "You have such precious children." "We think so..." "And she looks just like a doll! What a sweet baby!"

The Boat Show had actual fishing demonstrations. Logan enjoyed watching the fish. "Mama, fishies! Fishies!" Also, the shoes were off because you can't have shoes on the boats. To keep from having to slow him down and put them on every minute, we just let him run around sock-footed. For 3 hours.

This is a picture of me "wakeboarding" behind a cable. Yeah, I fell down the first time (the guy operating the cable made it pretty "surgy"). Anyway, totally bruised my tailbone - this is concrete, not water. Yeah, I went to Rice, I must be smart. Anyway, it was a different experience, and the guy gave me some pointers on my stance. So, a sore bum now may be a good thing in a few months out on the water!

On our way out, we finally found the Ranger boats. Logan got to sit in an 188, similar to Bapa's. Of course, he had already sat in some tige (read super expensive) wakeboarding boats, saying "Bapa boat. Bapa boat." Please note, all of them were red, as is Bapa's boat.

Good hygiene starts early

Logan loves to take showers with anyone, but especially Daddy. I think it's because Daddy lets him smell manly - he uses manly soap, and sometimes gets shaving creme on his face. He even gets to put on Daddy's deodorant afterward. He's gotten good about not putting it on his tummy, but lifting his arms and getting one swipe on his armpit.

Here are my two clean guys after a nice shower. Matching towels!

Logan gets his ears cleaned. Daddy cleans his, so Logan has to have clean ears, too.

Daddy also flosses his teeth, so Logan needs to have his teeth flossed. With all the spaces in his teeth, he doesn't really need it, but it's a good habit to start.

Kayleigh likes to help with the dirty clothes. Logan's socks are especially yummy!

The Arctic Freeze

Wow, it's been COLD the last few days. That's right Houston, TX got cold! And poor Shane was working in it. Usually the hangar doors are closed, but one day, they weren't. Shane said he was up on the plane working and could see his breath. He couldn't work in his heavy jacket because he couldn't fit in places on the plane, and he couldn't wear gloves because then he couldn't handle all the screws and nuts.

Anyway, at 6:50 (our clock didn't change) it was 19.8F outside!

Here are the boys after insulating the sprinkler system with a towel and duct tape. Logan got cold and told Daddy that he was ready to go inside. His little nose and cheeks got nice and rosy being out in the cool air.

Sweet pictures

Here are some sweet pictures of the gang! They were too good not to share!

Kayleigh in one of her cute warm hats. Yes, Uncle Doug, it has a ball on top. No, you may not cut it off. It is not quite as dorky as Mom's (Gram's) was...

The kids and Daddy hang out and play a little PlayStation. They like cuddling with Daddy.

Kayleigh ended up falling asleep while Daddy played. He is pretty comfortable. This was just after her thumb fell out of her mouth...she must have been really tired!

Sometimes, Mama is just not good enough when you need to be comforted. Daddy is wonderful and strong!

Kayleigh has an attentive audience as she eats. Bug likes to "help" her eat Multigrain Cheerios (he is often brazen enough to eat directly off her tray!).

Aunty Phil and Kayleigh. We've been over at Hope and Phil's a lot recently. So much so that every time Logan walks out our door, he says, "Hope's house?" Or "Hope? Pheel?" It's often a struggle to get him into the car when he wants to go visit. Of course, they're at work, but he doesn't understand that, since they're always there when he goes over.

Truck keys

Logan has a truck with a working "gas" pedal. So naturally, he needs to have a key start on his truck. Shane decided to install a real key start for Logan.

Here the boys are using the ohmeter to figure out how many amps the motor draws. They ended up splicing a relay between the switch and the motor, since the motor drew more amps than the switch could handle.

Shane under the hood of the truck. He has to get under the hood of all our vehicles, even all plastic ones!

The final installation! Logan's keychain is Doug's old Accord fob (or clicker, as we call it). Fortunately, the panic button does not work on the truck!

Daddy shoes

Kayleigh and Logan like to wear Daddy's shoes. Kayleigh wears Daddy's shoes that are 32 years old and have a bell on them. She loves to kick her feet and make the bells sing. And you can see that the blue shoes looked great with her blue jumper.

Daddy's work boots are a bit too big for Logan...