Welcome Baby Callen ....... And So Much More

Well, last weekend started out with our good friends Seth and Kimiyo welcoming their new baby girl on Thursday morning at about 8:30 am. This is their first baby and everyone is doing well.

8lbs. 13oz and 21.5 inches

Proud Papa

Logan Meets Her New Friend

After meeting baby Callen we headed off for our trip to Seattle. It was action packed! Friday Logan got to go to Pike Place for the first time. We bought a load of seafood and headed back to Uncle Bob's for a feast! About 15 friends joined us and we ate until we could eat no more. 

Saturday Logan and I hung out with Auntie Hill. Where we got to witness her first rollover from back to belly! She accompanied that with some crazy laughing at a new toy that Auntie got. Too cute!

Here are some fun pics!

November 2007

Logan Laughing

Logan Rolling Over

Saturday the boys headed to AppleCup where they had too much fun. The Cougs can play bad all season if they want, as long as they beat those Huskies!

AppleCup

Go Cougs! 

Sunday was finished up with Earl running the Seattle half marathon. He did it in about 1hour and 45min. Best time out of his group! Go EARL! After that we packed up and headed home. The drive was nice. Logan slept pretty much the whole way. She is such a good traveler. 

So now we are back to some normalcy. I seem to have healed well after my fall, so I'm back to riding again. Thank goodness. Now I gotta get motivated to workout again. Three weeks off is enough to fall off the wagon. That combined with the weather turning cold makes it real hard to get back on. But I will...........brrrrrr. Speaking of brrr........Logan had her first snow this week. Too little to take her out to play, but she sure likes to look out at it.

Meme

Ok, so Sarah tagged me for a 'meme'. According to her post it looks like 5 random facts about me. The thought of coming up with 5 random (and interesting) facts about me has been driving me nuts. Trying to think of something, anything that was clever, cute, fun and not to deep has left me racking my brain and soul searching. Ahhh, sometimes I'm too internal in my thoughts.

Here goes nothing:

1) The first time I kissed Earl was in HighSchool. I remember thinking how "slobbery" it was, LOL:) Don't worry, the second time around (as adults) assured me that my man is a good kisser.

2) In preschool I would wear my WonderWoman outfit to school. Then I'd take ownership of the "fort" and kick anyone who I didn't deem worthy (primarily boys) off.

3) I catch myself humming Kingdom Melodies in my head..........I think I'm turning into my mother.

4) I miss my dad...........but I'm glad that Logan looks alot like him. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

5) The BIGGIE....... I actually looked forward to turning 30? You say "what". Yep, you heard me. My twenties have been very eventful. There has been love and loss, death and birth, marriage, house, move after move after move, etc, etc, etc. Yep, they've been packed. But as I approached 30 I began to realize that I was coming a bit full circle. Those pieces of my personality that I liked but lost in life's caos have seem to come back. And those pieces that I have not liked so much seem to have faded. I am more secure with myself now than I have ever been before. I like myself probably the best right now. I love my marriage and the person I'm married too, Earl. I love my baby. I see my thirties as an opportunity to try new things and continue to grow as a person. I have actually developed a saying for myself......" I am that person"...... you know how sometimes you see someone, like what they are wearing, and you think " I wish I dressed more like that". Or perhaps you notice a personality trait on someone and you think "I wish I were more like that". Well, instead of saying "I wish", I've decided to say "I am". When I see something that I think I need to embrace into my personality I am going to do just that. So I'm thinking my 30's are gonna be some good years:)

Ok, so let's hear it ladies:
Molly
Kaelee
Erin
Heather
Miranda

Bed Head

Bed Head

Rats Nest

Ahhh, the hair of an infant. In addition to the morning rats nest, this hair has to be washed, combed and BLOW DRIED regulary. Who ever heard of such a thing?....

Practicing Rolling Around


Logan can successfully roll from belly to back plus wiggle herself around a bit. Too cute!

Mmmmm, Rice Cereal
In My Highchair

She actually likes this stuff! We're not giving her much. Mostly just at dinner time to socialize her and give her something new to do while we eat. But I'm pretty sure food is NOT going to be a problem for this little chunk!

Fun w/Nana

Nana came for a visit this weekend. She got lots of baby sitting time in. Ahh, nice to have the break. Earl and I got to go out to dinner Sat. night. What, a DATE? This was our anniversary date.......yes, we should have gone back in June, but Logan blessed us with her presence instead.

Chunky Monkey

Well, it's official. Logan is one Chunky Monkey. She had her 4 month check up last week. She weighed in at 18lbs and 26inches!! That put her off the charts for weight and 97% for length. Hmmmm, perhaps her and Cole will be competing for a linebacker position after all:)

We had dinner with our friends Tim and Sarah last night. Here are some cute pics of the girls. Gracie is 14months old and barely bigger than Logan. They were pretty cute together.

Cute Logan Pic
The Girls Playing
Thanks for the Sweater Auntie Hill
Cute Gracie Pic

In other news Uncle Bob got baptized two weekends ago. We had fun together. The guys also went out with part of their gang for a 10 mile run. They have a half marathon coming up next month. Everyone said it was a training run. I say they went to scope eachother out for competition. Earl came in 1st (yes, bragging ) and Bob came in 4th. Way to go guys!

Here are some pics.

Bob's Baptism">

HATS!!

So in an effort to keep Logan warm for the winter we got her some hats. They are too cute!! This is definitely a good look for her.
Shopping for Hats

I Love this little one on her!
Love Looking at My Daddy
I think I can fit the whole thing in my mouth!!!


My Elmer Fudd Look


Thanks Uncle Jason

Logan is growing like a zucchini! She turned 4 months to date on Sat. Her 4 month check up is next Wednesday. I'm sure though that she is going to probably exceed the chart %%%. This weekend we saw some family. My cousin was there with her 10 1/2 month old....They're the same size!! Ok, almost. We weighed them and Logan was 1 lb lighter. We stood them up side by side and she was basically the same height. My aunt took a pic of their heads next to eachother. You can't tell the difference in age. They even wear the same size diaper. Earl calls this "mamma's mana".... good milk:)

So this little baby girl is getting quite the personality. She is using her voice often....I'm just trying to control those high octane screams - THEY ARE LOUD!!! She has also gotten pretty demanding of being "played with". She just really likes the interaction. So she's still easy, but definitely has me on my toes more. With are both really loving this side of her. It's fun watching her grow, being more interactive, and really being able to play with her.

Earl has got himself scheduled for a half marathon next month in Seattle. Hopefully he'll "take the cake".....ok, at least against the crew of guys he's going with. I'm just riding away and trying to stick to some sort of regular workout routine. Good Times:)

Logan Talking

So Logan has taken to talking. She loves to explore her voices. But not having too much control, she primarily eeks out these little screams. Too Funny!


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7081041485606805547


Ahh, so I'm not crazy. I can't link this or post the video because I'm on a Mac and blogger doesn't support me well enough. So you can type in the link to see the video. I might have to do some blog hosting shopping or switch to mac to get better support. We'll see.

Pink Smurf

So Logan has this little pink outfit that is way too cute. But everytime she wears it I can't help but think that she looks like a little pink smurf:)

Watching Cougs w/Dad
How Funny if She Could Walk at this Size
A Little Pink Smurf

We haven't been up to much. Friday the weather finally turned cool and a bit rainy. I LOVE the warm weather, but I also LOVE my warm clothes. So it's a win, win situation. Logan however, doesn't have a ton of warm clothes since she's a summer baby. So I've been doubling up her onesie's (which is quite handy for those daily blowouts) and keeping a sweatshirt on her. Hmmm, time to sneak in a little baby shopping!

The weekend before last Nana and Uncle Jason came up for a quick Sunday dinner visit. Logan is still easy, but as gotten a bit more demanding of her level of entertainment. She doesn't like to be overstimulated but likes to be kept busy. I have this great book called Tails. It has pages that move and all sorts of textures and colors. She loves this book. Especially the peacock page (shiny tail). So here's a cute pic of her being read to.

Reading w/Nana and Uncle Jason

Fishtrap

Well, not much new has been going on here. We've kind of just been plugging away at the day to day stuff. Earl went on a company golfing trip to Lake Chelan over the weekend. I would have loved to gone, but stayed home to throw a baby shower for my friend Kimiyo. Both of us had a good time. Tomorrow we are getting new gutters on our house, yipeee! That's gonna look better.

Here are some pics of us at Fishtrap. This is where we usually go for our weekly family hike. Our dog LOVES fishtrap. It's thousands of acres of BLM land, so she can run free and hunt galore. We adopted her out from a field trial competition home. Since she was trained to compete in hunting (most gordon's are trained to point and hold), she was NOT trained to be handler bound. So typically on our hike she isn't much closer to us than about 500 feet unless she is looking for water! At competitions they actually ride horses to keep up with the dogs. We spend most the hike with her out of sight, I know, sounds scary. Some owners actually use gps collar trackers so they don't lose their dogs. But this route is familiar to her and she knows it well, plus she is a 4 wheel drive machine. We walk a couple miles and she does like 10. She weaves and works the fields like crazy. And since we aren't "training" her anymore, she gets to chase what she finds ( I can see all those hunting dog trainers cringing now, "noooooooo" they say). Don't worry, she was adopted out to a pet home because she started leaving point. Think she's too sensitive for the intense training. Fishtrap is fun because we usually see some wild animals (deer mostly) and occasionally the free range cows are roaming around. Fortunately they haven't chased us yet:) Here are some pics.......isn't it pretty.

Fishtrap

Love Those Family Weekends

Well we ended up having a really nice family weekend! It started out with Earl getting to take off work early on Friday. Then he headed to the Tri-Cities on Saturday for another triathlon. This was one was an Olympic distance (those sprint distance ones were just a warmup). Anyways, he finished in 2.5 hours. Not bad considering he got a flat on the bike. He still placed in the top 1/3 of all the entrants. This group was way more competitive than the previous two. Tri season is coming to an end, so that was probably the last one for the year. Now he can train over the winter as next year he wants to do at least a half-ironman.

Saturday night my mom stopped by and we all went to Wingers for dinner. Earl LOVES that place and I'm developing a new appreciation for the family friendly restaurants! Not because Logan is difficult, because she is rediculously well behaved (yes, I'm enjoying while I can as I know that switch could flip any time), but who wants to get stuck breast feeding at a five star dinner? Anyways, that was great. Then mom headed home and we hung out a bit before bed. Followed that up with the whole family sleeping in until 9ish. Logan did great too as she only woke up to eat at 6 instead of her usual 3am feeding. I was actually doubting that. I kept telling Earl "I don't think she woke up earlier, I don't remember feeding her." Too funny. Then we finished up Sunday with dinner at our friends house.

Yesterday we slept in again! Earl and I got up around 8:30, but Logan slept until after 10am! You can clean alot of house that way! Earl worked in the yard too. I love having a clean house and yard! Earl's mom and Geoff stopped by for a quick visit with Ben who was catching a flight back to Portland. And we finished our weekend up with nachos and a movie.

Sometimes there is nothing better than a good weekend at home!

Good Doggy........

We just got back from our trip to Seattle. I gotta say. Rumor gets the "good doggy" award. We stayed with Bob and the guys did a triathlon on Saturday and then we had a BBQ with like 30 people, 10+ of which were kids. They love dogs and Rumor had one attached to her pretty much the whole time. She has never been around that many kids before and she just lapped it up. She was totally chill. That combined with her typical good behavior and calmness made her the best dog this weekend. Of course Logan gets the 'best baby ever' award. She was amazing on the trip. Fed her and loaded up Friday night. She just went to sleep. Got to Ellensburg where we stopped and she barely woke up to eat. Back in the car and she was out like a light. Stayed that way all the way to Bob's house (which included a stop at the park to pick up the packets for the meet). She didn't fuss once all the way over. Saturday she chilled with me and Auntie Hill while we shopped Ikea and went to lunch. And back at the house for the BBQ she was still in relax mode even with all those people. Went to bed around 11 and slept until 9am (woke up for a few minutes to eat twice, but that's no biggie). Sunday she slept in the car on the way to Aunties'. Chilled out while we had lunch. Slept in the car again all the way to Moses Lake. Woke up for about 10 minutes to eat and change and then she was out again until about an hour AFTER we got home. What a good baby!!!!

On the Bike
Starting the Run.......Sexxxyyy:)

Earl did awesome on this tri! His total time was 1hr 15 min. Which placed him like 3rd in the Clydesdale division and something like 40th out of 435 people. There was also a kids tri which some of our friends kids did. Soo cute. Yes, we fully plan to mold Logan into a triathalete!

With Auntie

Look How Big I Am!

2 Months and Growing

Logan had her two month appointment last Tuesday. She was 12lbs. 10 oz. and 24 inches long. That put her in the 95% for weight and 97% for length! She has gotten really active in the past few weeks. She is getting really strong with her arms and legs. Her hands are everywhere, including my hair...............now I see why moms cut the locks! She is cooing too. One of the sounds she makes is her version of 'love you' (that's mom's interpretation :) We are reallly enjoying her smiles, they're just tooo cute. And I'm totally loving staying at home with her. I just can't imagine turning her over everyday for someone else to enjoy. She really is a good baby. Usually sleeps in with Mom after Dad leaves for work and then keeps me busy afterwards. But I pack her around, on walks, to the barn, store, etc. and she just seems to enjoy the ride. Loving it!

So mom is silly and here are the pics to prove it. I went to check the dryer (which occasionally just shuts off....thinking it might not last much longer). Anyways, it had finished drying the load. And there I found myself ready to switch loads. So instead of going all the way upstairs to put Logan down some place safe, I figured a clean load of clothes was just as good!




New Highchair! Well, it's actually an old highchair. It's the one my mom used for all of us kids and her mom had given it to her. It was in pretty rough shape. So Fun Uncle Bob (maybe we should call him Uncle Fun) had it completely restored as a present for Logan. This thing is geared up for another many years of use! It looks amazing, almost too good to use, and goes with the house decor too! Double bonus. Thanks Uncle Bob!!



And we're off in the BOB, BOB stroller that is! One of Logan's favorite things is going out in the Stroller. I usually go out for a 2.5mile walk/jog every day. She can't get enough of this thing. Normally they need to be a bit older than her to fit in this type of stroller. But I have a little insert that makes her fit. Isn't she just too cute in her little sweater from Uncle Jason!

Tri Time

Triathlon Pics

Well, it's been a couple years since Earl did his last triathlon. So this weekend he decided to warm up with a local sprint tri. The park it was at was only about 15min from our house and was really nice. There were 169 entries and Earl placed 31st! He was only 12min behind the overall winner. Not bad:) Of course I told him that I expected him to be in the top 3rd. Nothing like a little pressure from the wife who assumes that this would be a cake walk.......hey, he sets that standard on his "physical fitness".

This tri was about the size of the one I did two summers ago. So I think I'll do this one next year. I hate the swimming part, a little scary swimming with the masses in open water, but I think I can handle this swim. So that's two goals for next year, STP and Sprint Tri.........now I gotta go and get back in shape:) Hey Hill, are you gonna join me?

Logan was a real trooper Sat. She went to the Tri, then Costco, then two feed stores (horses), plus the barn. All that and she was just chill. What a good baby! Yes, yes, I know............savor this while it lasts cause I'm sure she's gonna change her mind on all this good behavior!

Pretty In Pink

So my mom got Logan this pretty pink dress. I think it was in fear that this may be the only "girly" thing she ever wears! She was just too cute in it so I had to take some pics to share. Hope you enjoy them.


Coug Baby

Faces of Logan

So I was having some fun with Logan and went a little camera happy.......oh well, there are several pics, but they sure are cute. Enjoy!

Last week I started feeling a little under the weather. Nothing to go to the doctor about, but just not well. Of course, Logan started showing signs of the same thing. Her temp never broke 100, but she just wasn't real happy. Over the weekend she was awake pretty much all day Sat. and most the day Sun. Sat. was the worst day for me and Earl was gone ALL day. So we had a sick baby and a sick mom with no help. Needless to say I wasn't happy when Earl got home after 7pm, after leaving at 6:30am. But he was gone for a good cause, so I had to think " there's always tomorrow". Of course tomorrow came and Logan still wasn't happy, plus we had obligations to do stuff. We went to a picnic with our congregation......I'm pretty sure I suffer from social anxiety. Not only am I shy in large groups, but add a cranky baby and women who want to help (when you're not ready to pass your 6 week old around), kinda a bad recipe. Hope no one thinks I'm unfriendly:( Gotta laugh at it though. I do however have to figure out how to be less reserved in groups............

Yesterday Logan was feeling better but still needed to catch up on her sleep. So she slept all day! It was kinda nice as I managed to get alot of stuff done. We went and met Earl at work. Then we headed to the YMCA to get a family membership. I'm a big Y fan. When we lived in Portland I was a Site Director for the Y. That last summer there was a ton of fun. I worked with some great staff and great kids. Anyways, I really support how the Y provides for the community. The gym facilities are geared toward families. This one has family and lap pools, rock climbing, cardio, weights, exercise classes, gym, game room, pool, computers and free daycare for members for ages 6weeks to 6 years. All for a reasonable price (less than regular gyms). Plus your membership helps allow programs for families with less money. So I'm pretty excited that we joined. I'm really excited about getting back in shape. I've been walking and have an eliptical at home. But I LOVE going to the gym. I told Earl he'll have to go with me the first time that I drop Logan off as I'll NEED the Moral Support!! Earl is excited that we joined too as he's looking forward to the swimming. He is training for an upcoming triathalon. I did one two summers ago, so I'll probably train for another next summer too.

We'll that's all for now. Gotta get some stuff done around here:)

Our House

Our House

Ever wonder where we live? With so much distance between everyone, I thought it would be fun to post some pics of "our house". We've done alot of work to the house and have plenty left. Most recent project was removing paneling and sheetrocking the basement. We also have a remodel going on the basement bathroom. Plus we are trying to do some landscaping......I know, the pics tell all!

STP

Well Earl did the STP this month with bittner and some other Seattle friends. It's a 200 mile bike race from Seattle to Portland. They rode 140 miles day one and the remainder day two. If they do it again next year I think they will go for all 200 miles in one day. Earl said it was a blast, making me jealous. Who knows, maybe I'll train to do it again next year....... any takers on riding with me? :)