...and still, it gets better!

Week 56: August 24th - August 31st


The beginning of this week started out pretty good. Morgan started his classes and he taught his first lecture. Me and Logan get to spend a lot more time together. I think we're going to be able to handle this semester....that spoken, we still only have one baby. :)


I can tell that Logan already misses his daddy though, on Wednesday when Morgan was leaving for work, Logan just kept crying by the door, it was tragic. On a lighter note though, this week we made some good progress with sleeping and naptime. He hasn't been crying when I close the door for naptime or bedtime and if he does it's only for about 5 minutes and at least he stays in his bed. We gave him the binky back, but usually by the time he falls asleep it's gone anyway, but if it helps him sleep now and lets us sleep a little bit more before Damon comes along, I'll take it. We'll deal with the binky later.


Oh yeah, great news this week for us. We sold our townhouse in Lehi...again...sort of. :) We're doing another lease-option, but this time it's only for a year, so at least we'll have renters for a year if nothing else, but we both feel really good about the couple that's moving in and I really think that things will go through just fine and we'll soon be rid of the burden, and at least it's quite a bit lighter to bear. Morgan and I will both testify of the blessings that have come into our lives since we have been consistently having Family Home Evening and making more of an effort in our scripture studies and strengthening our home and family. The Lord is and will bless your lives if you strive to do what he asks. Just a quick side note that I can't pass up. As soon as we got the details for the house all figured out, it was just me and Logan so I said, "Logan, I think we need to say a prayer" and you know what, that little boy got down on his knees and folded his arms, it just melted my heart, he even almost made it through the entire prayer. I don't know how we got blessed with such a sweet little boy, but I can't imagine life without him now and we feel just as blessed to be having another one in just a couple weeks.


I have to relay a quick story about one of the things I love about Oklahoma. The people here are so friendly and willing to lend a hand...and not just members of our ward, but complete strangers. On Friday I was at the post office with Logan and ton of stuff I had to send to Utah to my work, Logan was being pretty squirmy and I'm ready to have a baby in 2 weeks and very awkward, needless to say it was quite easy to tell I was struggling a bit trying to hold on to everything while packing the boxes. Then, just out of the blue a lady asked if she could help, I said sure, so she helped me pick out a box, and while I was addressing everything (before packing) she was getting her mail done and just as she was about to leave, she turned around and came back to help me stuff everything in the box (it was quite the challenge actually) and helped me get it all taped up and ready to go. I have no idea who she was we didn't really even introduce ourselves, but I definitely count that as a blessing and such a simple one that probably often goes un-noticed by me most of the time. It made me want to be more aware of others around me and how I can help them in little ways like that.

On Saturday I was in charge of a Primary Pizza Party. We've been planning it for a couple weeks now and it actually turned out really well I thought. We didn't have a ton of leftovers and I think the kids all had a great time and we had a good showing. It was fun, but I'm also glad that it's over and now I can focus more on just getting ready for the baby to come. Although, it was nice to have a little distraction to keep me from getting so anxious about the baby. Good thing I still have a couple more weeks of work to keep my mind off it and help the time pass by faster.....then of course I would mind if time just stood still for a while. :)

So, when I was checking for pictures/videos this week on our camera, this was about all I found. We must have been busy with the first week of school or something like that ;) Logan found a new game with our Yahtzee Turbo. He was laughing hysterically for about 10 minutes before we decided to get the camera and of course, they always stop when they know they're being caught on camera. You get the idea though.......I'm still waiting for the batteries to die. :) Until next time......

Can it get any better?

Week 55: August 17th - 24th

Oh what a week, where do I begin...Logan is always a good place to start. It's been raining here for the first part of the week, but that has made the weather cooler, so Logan and I still ran our errands in the rain and on Monday as we were coming out of the Dollar Store he ran right for the biggest puddle before I could catch him and you should have seen the look on his face, I imagine that's what his face will look like the first time he understands Christmas. Well, I couldn't help so we splashed in all the puddles all the way to the car and by the time we got there both our pant legs, shoes and socks were soaking wet, but it was a blast, it's been a long time since I've jumped in rain puddles.

This week we tried to get rid of the binky. He's only been using it for sleeping and nap time, so I didn't really think it would be that big of a deal...boy was I wrong. I wish it were back to the days when he just had no interest, but we kind of pushed it on him to help him sleep through the night, and now we're feeling the effects of that. The first night we tried to put him down, I think I had to sit by his bed for almost two hours, he just kept sobbing and crying at the top of his lungs and trying to get out of the bed and now suddenly he HATES that I close the door when I put him down for the naptime too, it sounds like I'm torturing him. Anyway, after a couple days of this horrendous crying, Morgan pulled out his cot and put it up in his room and Logan will go right to sleep with Daddy sleeping there by him...but not me, he screams for Daddy, at least at nap time, but at least when he wakes up he gives me great big kisses. :) We're hanging in there and hopefully it will get better. Morgan has been so good to take turns with me helping him go to sleep so that I can get some rest even though he has to get up early too and go to work. By the end of the week we succumbed to giving the binky again though, so hopefully that will help. This week is going to be rough though since we're going to be doing a little more of the cry it out....we only have 3 weeks before another baby will be keeping us up at night. :) He did end up on cot one time during his nap during the week, I think he was missing his daddy at work.And now the topic of this blog. Morgan is the best husband in the whole world. This week has been a little rough, I haven't been feeling well and it's been one of those weeks where I'm SO ready to have this baby and one day he came home with roses, just out of the blue, it was so nice. And then on another morning after being up late with Logan he downloaded some awesome songs on i-tunes and left me a cute little note so I would find them and it totally made my day! It's those little things that he thinks of to do that make him so wonderful. He's working so hard in school and I'm so proud of him and it makes me want to be a better wife and mom so he doesn't have to worry so much...even though sometimes I'm so pregnantly emotional, he still puts up with me and loves me no matter what.

This weekend was also our last "event" so to speak before school starts for him, so we called some friends to go to a baseball game again since we had such a good time last time. This time it was about ten times hotter though and we did a lot more walking and waiting and I think it's the first time I can actually say that I got a little swollen from the pregnancy...you'll see in the pictures, I look like I just got my wisdom teeth out. :) It was really fun though. We had to wait about 30 minutes in line to get tickets and while we were waiting, this nice lady came up to us and asked us how many tickets we needed, we said 4 (we also had the 3 kids with us, but they're free still). She had three and wanted to know if we were interested and we asked how much, and she just handed over the 3 tickets that said they're free, Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. It was great, we only had to buy 1 ticket between the 4 of us now! The game was a little slow, but hey had fireworks after. It was a pretty good show, unfortunately by that time it was so hot and late that Logan slept through the whole fireworks show. We still had such a great time and glad we had some friends with us.

We stripped Logan down to just his pants and rolled those up, but it was still hot and sticky. Gotta love the humidity....oiy!

An now for your viewing pleasure, some of the things we learned at the zoo last week. :)

Wish us luck with the first week of the new school schedule. :)

What Does a Lion Say?

Week 54: August 10th - 17th

A few exciting things have happened this week. First, I learned how to make a really cool adjustable sling that I think is going to come in really handy when I finally have Damon. I'll be able to hold the baby and still have my hands free to play with Logan. Morgan can even use it. We tested it out and with Logan and it works quite nicely. I think I have found a rekindled enthusiasm for my sewing hobby this week. I also made a whole bunch of different colored drawstring bags to put different sets of Logan's toys in. He loves taking everything out of the bags and he's even starting to help us clean up a little bit.

Next is our progress on the toddler bed. Logan has not slept in his crib for an entire week now. We had a couple rough nights where I spent a couple hours by his bedside keeping him calm and another night with Morgan ending up in the recliner with him, but I think he's starting to get used to it. We've had more good nights than bad and he doesn't climb out and wander in the middle of the night. I think he's actually afraid of the dark a little, so this week I'm going to try and nightlight and see if that helps him sleep a little better. Usually for naptime and falling asleep I have to close the door so he can't get out and since we keep the toys in the ottoman in the living room, he found other things to play with until he finally crashed against the door. (I had to squeeze my arm around and move him until I could get in, then I put him in his bed and took pictures of the damage).

And most exciting of all.....we went to the zoo! It was our first zoo experience as a family and it was actually really fun. It got a little hot, but there was just enough breeze to cool you down every once in a while, since after about 10 seconds you were drenched in sweat and humidity anyway. :) We got to see all sorts of animals. Logan loved watching the chimpanzees swing around and made his little chimp sound, but the never fail sound is the lion. At any point we can say, What does a lion say? and he'll answer with a roar. He knows what a duck, dog, monkey, lion, & elephant say, but sometimes they all end up sounding like a lion. :) He is such a fun boy, here's just a few pictures. The only downer of the zoo trip was the lack of elephants, they were currently in Tulsa mating, but the zookeeper promised that they would be back with the baby elephants, so we'll have to go again when the elephants return. They're my favorite and I think Logan would have liked them too.

The rest of the week we just got to spend time together since it's the last week before Morgan's schedule gets busy. He was able to pick up work shifts Mon-Fri next week and then the week after that he starts school and his class/clinical/teaching schedule basically make it like he will be working a full-time job. This next year is going to go by so fast and we're already starting to dream of all the possibilities and opportunities the future will hold, but most importantly, being done with school!!!!!.....well, that probably comes second to having our baby. :)

We also got to go to a really good baptism on Saturday of one of our primary kids, and then we went to a birthday party for Brayden, and Gary and some of his kids. It was fun to hang out and see everyone and eat some delicious hamburgers. It was a good week! Hopefully this next one will be just as good.

A New Year Begins

53: August 3rd - August 10th


Well, now that we have been here a whole year, I think I'm going to start being a little more creative with our titles. I'm still going to keep track of the weeks, for some reason that makes me feel like the time is going by faster.


Morgan has been home this week since he hasn't had any classes or clinical hours and hasn't had any shifts at work yet. It's been so nice to spend extra time with him; he's going to be super busy this Fall semester and I think it will be the toughest on us. I'm glad I won't be working and I'll be able to have two babies to keep me company...well, Logan is more of a little boy now, but still he'll always be my baby. (sorry if that song is stuck in your head now).


Speaking of Logan, he got his first shiner this week. He was running around in the office being his hyper self and then all the sudden just tripped on the carpet and went head first into the futon and just happened to miss the cushy part and hit the metal frame with his face instead. At first he just cried really hard and I thought he might have broken his nose or teeth, but after a quick check, there was no blood and everything was in tact, but about ten minutes later we noticed some swelling in his eye and then the colors started appearing. Poor kid. He'd also taken a tumble earlier near the futon and had a big goose-egg on his head, which is now another bruise adding to his collection. He had a really rough day with all those falls...alas he'll learn. You just feel so helpless as a parent when you see it coming, but there is nothing you can do about it or nothing you could have done to foresee it or prevent it other than living in a soft cushy bubble.


This week we had a little "sizzle" added to our life and by sizzle I mean trial. In our most recent family home evening we talked about prayer and how sometimes our prayers aren't answered immediately or that they are sometimes not even answered the way we want and that sometimes a little "sizzle" or struggle is needed to help us remember that trial. We're feeling that way about our townhouse we're trying to sell in Lehi (small plug here, anyone want to buy the most awesome townhouse in the most awesome location?), but I digress from our real sizzle this week:


So, we were at Walmart running some errands and trying to track something down for a craft project of mine and Morgan noticed that the steel belting? (The metal wiry looking stuff inside your tires) was showing. We had figured that we needed new tires on the Camry and after checking our records we really did. So, rather than risk a blowout on the tire and something worse we decided to just bite the bullet and get the tires replaced at Walmart right then, it would either be then or very very soon. We probably could have made it another month had we put on the full-size spare for a while, but it just felt like time. We asked how long it would take and they said about an hour and half. Lowe's was just across the street as well as IHOP and it was about 11:30, so we decided to wait it out and go eat lunch and then pick up a few things at Lowe's that we were going to get at Home Depot and hopefully save a trip. So...we walked and walked on the hottest day of a very hot summer in Oklahoma with the humidity drenching us. And, oh yeah, did I mention that I'm due to have a baby in less than 6 weeks! I have to get some complaining out, the good part is coming. So we ate at IHOP and it was delicious and then walked around at Lowe's and ended up back at Walmart in an hour and a half. Perfect...except they hadn't even started on the car!!!


Logan was getting sleepy, and ended up falling asleep so we decided to keep waiting...I think it was another 45 minutes before we had our car done. We noticed several times one worker actually working on the car while two others were standing by...sheesh. Sorry that was such a long story, but here is what we learned:


*Sizzle:
1) financial hit having to buy 4 brand new tires-expensive even though we got the cheap ones.
2) Sitting around waiting for over 2 hours
3) Walking in near-death heat while pregnant and carrying Logan--well Morgan carried him whiile I carried Damon.
4) Not being able to find my craft stuff :(
5) Not finding what we needed at Lowe's


*Blessings:
1) Logan and I weren't by ourselves stranded on the side of a road because of a blowout that could have caused a major accident harming all 3 of us (in over 100 degree weather I might add again).
2) We got to go out to eat lunch with Morgan and Logan devoured his food and it was nice and cool at IHOP and we got to sit and enjoy a meal that we didn't have to rush.
3) We got to be together as a family.
4) We got some good exercise and I didn't feel bad at all about not going for a walk that day or for relaxing and watching "Wipeout" later that evening :)
5) We have 4 brand new tires on the Camry that will last us another 5 years and we'll feel confident this winter knowing that.
6) It was just by "chance" that we even noticed the tire based on how we parked since you could only see the damage from a specific viewpoint.
7) We had all our "big" projects done yesterday, so we didn't feel like the day was completely wasted.
8) I was able to order my craft stuff online and get exactly what I needed.
9) We didn't have to carry anything extra with us from Lowe's back to Walmart since we didn't get anything.
10) Morgan does have a job this Fall teaching, and I still get to work for 6 more weeks.


So, even with all that trouble, there is still more to be grateful about, even if it were only for the #1 blessing of our family's safety. I'm sure this isn't the first time the Lord has protected us from something like this. I know that was quite the winded story, but I really wanted to share it.

Morgan has an overnight Scout Camp this weekend. We're going to miss him. It's a good thing I got "Breaking Dawn" before and got it all read before he left though, so Logan would have some sort of supervision while I was lost in the book, which was everything I hoped it would be. I loved it. Anyway, here are some pictures of Logan just before Morgan was getting ready to leave and getting packed Thursday night.

See how grown up he's starting to look. It makes me sad and happy all at the same time. I think we're having another baby just in time. :) Logan had a Dr. appointment this week and is still growing, he's about 50% for height, I can't remember on his head, probably still around 16% and probably the same for weight. He's healthy, just skinny. He was being a nice little hyper jabberbox at the dr.'s office. It was fun...until the shots, you'd think he'd taken enough beatings this week. He's a tough kid though. His appointment was the day Morgan left for camp, so me and Logan just cuddled all day and watched some movies, and I did a little bit of sewing while he was sleeping. Ooohh ooooh speaking of sleeping. He slept ALL night in his toddler bed last night. WooHoo! I don't want to get too excited yet, but it's definitely progress...granted he was already asleep when we put him in there. He had a pretty tragic experience with a tick. We have no idea where he got it, could have been a million things from the tent that we were airing out, anything of Morgan's camping stuff...etc or even our own front yard, but last night after we finished our movie, we found a tick buried in his neck.

We got some tweezers and tried to hold him down to get it out, he cried and cried and cried, it took us a while to calm him down enough to pull it out, but we're pretty sure we got the head and everything is okay. After that, Morgan spent another hour or so tick-checking everything to make sure there weren't anymore. I think we're safe for now, but we'll keep an eye on things. Wherever we end up, I hope there aren't any ticks! And now finally, the end of the post with some shenanigans that Logan was up to last night as well.

"Logan, what did you do?"

"Uh-Oh!"

"But, it wasn't me mom, it was like that when I got here."

"Okay, okay, it was me, but, I love you!"

Oklahoma Adventures Week 52

July 27th - August 3rd

We've lived here for 1 year officially! Looking back now the time has gone by really fast and I think we're in for another speedy with a new addition to the family coming soon and Morgan only having 2 semesters left instead of 3.

This week has been very busy. We'll start with a few Logan moments. :)I've been trying to let Logan be more independent with his eating, he seems to do better that way. We also have a CD that we listen to in order to keep him from getting bored and distracted and it just happens to play "If you're Happy and you Know it" and one of the things it says to do is "cover your eyes" (peek-a-boo) and it was too late before that part came on and with PB&J covered hands, Logan quickly obeyed the song and ended up with PB&J all over his face, hair, eyes, well as you can see just about everywhere. It was hilarious.
We've still been working on the toddler bed sleeping issue since we now only have about 6 weeks to get him weaned from the crib...maybe a little longer depending on how long Damon will be in our room. We have to wait until he's really tired and ready for a nap..which also means he's getting pretty cranky too. I used to sit in there with him until he fell asleep then I would leave, it was taking less and less time, so I stopped sitting there, but if I didn't close his bedroom door he just gets out of bed and runs around the house and thinks it's a fun game. So, I put him in bed, close the door and turn on the monitor in case he hurts himself, the first couple times he did not like that, but after a couple days we made some progress and I at least found him asleep in the middle of his floor (above picture). The next day however, was even better, after playing around in the room for a while, he actually climbed back up in his bed and fell asleep, it was wonderful...then the weekend hit. Oh well, I guess we'll have some more work to do next week.

Morgan is officially done with his 3rd Semester and clinical hours for the summer, so he'll have a couple weeks to enjoy. An opportunity came up for his Fall semester that is going to be a huge blessing to us. His instructor asked him to teach a class for Radiation Therapy students for half a semester, so he'll have a job for the Fall and he only has to teach 1 day a week for 8 weeks, but will get paid for the whole semester. We're really excited for this since I will be quitting my job when I have Damon (YAY). This Fall however will probably be the hardest semester yet, so it's going to be really good that I'm not working and we won't have that extra stress around the house and I can really focus on our family.

In other news which we didn't want to bore you all for the past 6-8 weeks with the details, but we re-modeled our bathroom. We've been thinking about doing it for quite a while, and then Good ol' Uncle Sam gave us a little extra incentive to just get it done now before the baby and before Morgan's schedule got even crazier and harder. There were a lot of reasons to do it and a lot of reasons not to, but in the end, we felt it was the right decision to get it done. We have learned so much and blessed to have some of these projects to work on together and learn from. Morgan is truly Mr. Fix-it now and did such a great job. He ended up doing most of the work while I watched Logan and kept him out of the way. There were definitely times it was a challenge and a trial, but we had some great times working together too, especially towards the end. We were determined to have it finished this week and on Thursday we relished our success. It's not perfect, but it's definitely and improvement and we're very pleased with our project. Here are some before and after pictures.

And a brief video unveiling the finished product (well except for a few paint touch-ups)