Double Check ups!

The boys had their annual check ups today! I can't believe I have a 1 and 4 year old now! They are both healthy and doing well! They both did great, even getting 2 shots each and the shots happened to be the same ones; MMR & Varicella (chicken pox). Here is all their stats and comparisons:

Shaun @ 4 years:

Weight: 42 3/4 pounds, 92%. He gained 7.2 pounds in a year, up from the 84%.
Height: 3' 6", 85%. He grew 2.75 inches in a year, up from the 83%.

Logan @ 1 year:

Weight: 22 pounds 1oz, 33%. He gained 1.7 pounds in 3 months, down from the 48%.
Height: 2' 6.5", 66%. He grew 1.5 inches in 3 months, down from the 76%.
Head: 48.9cm, 96%. He grew 1.5cm, up from the 95%.

Here is how Logan & Shaun compare at 1 year old:

Weight: Logan is 1 ounce heavier at a year old.
Height: Logan is 1/2 inch taller at a year old.
Head: Shaun's head was .5cm bigger at a year old, but both of their heads are in the 96+%!!

Logan is supposed to stay rear facing in his car seat until 2 years old! This is a change since Shaun. He was allowed to change at 1 year. Sorry bud. He is trying to talk. He babbles so much! The "words" he babbles are "Dada", "boo" (balloon), and a bunch of others. He is eating everything we are pretty much, even milk with no apparent problems yet. At first we were doing part milk and part formula because he wouldn't touch it, but in the last couple of days he is totally on just milk. The next step is to switch to a sippy cup instead of the bottle. We tried that at first, but with his total refusal, we decided to take it one step at a time and work on the content first.

Shaun is not behind the curve in the area of not staying dry at night. The doc explained that the left end of the bell curve is 5 years, the mid point is 10 years and the right point is 16 years! So, at 4 it is fine to be wet at night! We are working on it, but not much luck. He continues to have fun in all his activities. The current sport is Basketball, which he enjoys, but doesn't have as much coordination/skills as it takes in soccer at this age. Next up: indoor soccer through the Y!

Happy Birthdays Boys!!

Happy New Year!

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted a blog! Life has been busy! Let's see if I can give an update on the boys:

Logan:

He is growing and maturing before our eyes!!! I can't believe his first birthday is less than a month away! He is now crawling like crazy. He is pulling himself up on everything and walking along whatever he can hold onto. He watches big brother do everything. He is also "talking" up a storm. He has at least 4 sounds that he says. It's hard to say if they are directly correlated to what they appear to be, but sometimes they seem to be! mamamama, dadadada, babababa, doidoidoi, etc. He is always jabbering away!!

Logan also travelled with Daddy & Shaun to all of Shaun's activities. Daddy & Logan went by themselves after dropping of Shaun at school on Thursdays to baby story time!

Logan at 11 months!

Shaun:

He is loving all of his activities! Morning activities are: swim lessons, story time and preschool.

Swim is on Monday/Wednesdays. The last session ended the week before Christmas and he graduated to preschool level 2, Jellyfish! He has been in the preschool level for 10 months and improving greatly the last few months. He loves to swim with the noodles, life jacket and jump! The last couple of sessions he was always way above the level of the other kids, so the teacher said he was ready to advance in January! They start the new class on Wednesday!

They all go to preschool story time at the library on Tuesday mornings. First they do a few songs with a guitar, which Logan really loves too and then are some stories. Then they pick out a few books to take home! The library has a list: "Countdown to Kindergarten; 100 essential picture books". We started the list in September. With about 2 years before Kindergarten, we are reading a book on the list every night for a week, so should finish the list right before K!

Thursdays and Fridays is preschool for 2 hours. There are 12 kids in his class. They do fun activities, crafts, a lesson, and a bible lesson. I love that they get a bible lesson every time! He can't wait until it is school day! They had a birthday party for Jesus on the last day of school before Christmas break!

Shaun & Mrs. Herbison

Evening activities include AWANA and usually a sport.

AWANA is on Wednesdays and church has dinner beforehand so I don't have to cook! He has to memorize a verse for it every week. He is good at it too! They wear a Cubbie vest where he gets a patch every few weeks or month or so after doing all the required memorization and activities.

In September/October he did outdoor soccer through the Y & LOVED it! They named their team the Lightening Rushers. The season had 6 hour games and about 8 45 minute practices.

Then he did indoor soccer in November/December for 35 minutes for 6 weeks through Kids Love Soccer.

Then he begged us to sign him up for basketball, so practices for that start this week and games start on the 14th! He is counting down the days! Who knew that he knew as much to ask to sign up for it?!?!?! My boy is a sports boy!

Well, happy new year to everyone! I hope that the year is a good one for everyone!

9 months!

Logan was 9 months yesterday! Today we had his well baby checkup; all is well!

He is super close to crawling. He can scoot across the room on his bottom, but not the traditional crawl on his knees yet. He is also trying to pull himself up. He doesn't quite have enough strenth yet. He is eating well. We will be starting table foods soon!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 20lbs 6oz; 48%

Height: 2' 5", 76%

Head: 47.4cm, 95%!

Here's how he compares to Shaun at 9 months:

Weight: 20lbs 1 oz; 44%, Logan is 5 ounces heaver

Height: 2' 5.75", 91%, Logan is .75cm shorter

Head: 47.6cm, 96%, Logan's head is .2cm smaller, but still BIG! :)

8 Months!

Logan is 8 months old! He has started clapping. He has 4 teeth. He pulls himself onto his tummy from a sitting position, but then is stuck and gets mad pretty quick. He hasn't had any desire to turn over yet. I have a feeling that there is going to be a very short period of time that leads up to full on moving, like walking from nothing at all.

Here is my happy little 8 month old!

Logan's dedication

Last Sunday we had Logan dedicated. This means that we are committed to raising him to know Christ. It is not a baptism, but a public showing of commitment. I pray for the day that each of my boys comes to know Christ personally and then publicly shows that by baptism.

Logan was also dedicated with 3 other babies; Madelyn, Drew & Leyla. It was fun to do it together with all of them and raise our families side by side.

We also have the dedication on video. We are not posting it online, but I can send it to you if you are interested in seeing it. Let me know.

Pastor Jerry showing off Logan; he did great!

Shaun's first day of preschool, year 1!

My baby is growing up! I can't believe that on Thursday, September 15, 2011, my baby officially started his school career. I took a couple of hours off in the morning so I could take him on his first day. He goes Thursdays & Fridays from 9-11am. It is through a Lutheran church which came with great recommendations from a bunch of friends! I'm glad he'll get to learn about Jesus in preschool!

I don't know if it is just a coincidence, but this weekend he has been trying to make the sounds of letters, so maybe he is already applying something from school....?! There are 12 kids in his class, 4 boys and 8 girls. We got to go to a conference the week before to meet his teacher and hear about the class. I'm super excited for the year!

Each kid brings snack once a round and on their snack day they bring in something for show and tell. Shaun's snack day is this Friday! I'm thinking of bluberries, cheese its and juice boxes. I think that will go nicely with the theme: circles and the color blue! Here are some pictures from his first day:

All ready to go!

Walking to class.....

Mrs. Herbison and Shaun

Bye Mom!

On September 11, 2001....

I had been married 1 month and 7 days…
At my job for 2 months and 17 days….
Was 22 years and 346 days young…
I didn’t know I was about to witness our country’s next Pearl Harbor.

I woke up to my alarm clock about 6am to a bunch of talking on the radio. I thought this was kind of odd since there was usually music or a commercial playing. I listened for a few minutes. They talked about a plane crash/explosion in New York and about President Bush in Florida. I remember thinking, “Why are they talking about that”? I got up and instead of getting in the shower right away; I went out to the living room to turn on the TV. There was news on pretty much every channel and they were talking about that same incident in New York. I was watching the coverage; they were showing the aftermath of the first plane’s crash when I saw on live TV the 2nd plane crash into the other tower. The announcers and everyone were quite shocked! We then learned of a plane crashing into the Pentagon and one into the ground in Pennsylvania shortly thereafter. I distinctly remember the announcers talking about the “accidents” at first until they realized that there were too many to be accidents. I remember watching both towers fall.

I proceeded to get ready for work, where we all tried to “work”. I think we were able to set up a TV and get some reception to keep up on the events besides just listening to the radio.

What were you doing when you learned of the attacks on our country?

It’s hard to believe that 10 years has passed since that awful day and that 9/11/01 is a day in past history. There are some for which it is a history lesson because they are too young to remember or weren't born yet. Our lives were so different on September 10, 2001 than they are today or any day since then.

But, I know that God is and will use Satan’s evil to His glory.

Here is a kid friendly portrayal of 9/11:

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4rsaPBd7OulZGU1MjRiY2EtMDU3Ny00OTA2LWJhYTMtMzYwMTgyMzI5ODlk&sort=name&layout=list&num=50