Monday, December 30, 2013

Christmas Week

We had tons of fun Christmas week! Dave got off work half a day Tuesday, and the rest of the week off. It was so nice to have so much time as a family.


Christmas eve we had Dave's parents over to decorate sugar cookies (since it's was my parent's year for Christmas). Logan and I prepped the cookie dough and frosting in advance. Logan had so much fun making stuff. He wanted to sample every ingredient and would tell me if it was yummy (sugar), or yucky (salt, baking powder, etc). He kept sampling the dough and frosting.


He also couldn't keep his tongue off the dough while cutting out the cookies! Papa Bill would start rolling out the dough and Logan would grab little pieces.


He loved picking out which cookie cutter to use and pushing down the cutters.


Frosting was tons of fun too! We asked Logan which color frosting he wanted, then he would eat the sprinkles and bite the arms off all the gingerbread man cookies. I think he ate more cookies than he decorated.

That night I told Logan we needed to clean the house because Santa wanted to bring us presents while we were sleeping, and Santa wouldn't come if our house was dirty. So Logan was obsessed with cleaning up and putting his toys away. We read Christmas books and Logan went to bed.

Christmas day we woke up really late (Logan didn't get up until 9) and we opened presents. Logan had so much fun! He would open up a gift and exclaim "I love this, thanks Santa!" We would play with it for a while and then open the next gift.


That night we went to my parents house for appetizers and desserts. It was fun to try all the different things everyone brought and to chat. The kids had fun reading books with Grandma, and playing with all the toys. It was funny to see them interact with each other. Grandma Sheila would read a page and ask a question like "Do you have a stocking at your house?" and they would all answer. "Yes, mine is red", "Mine has a snowman on it!" etc. And each kid would look at the other and consider the answer.

Saturday my Mom came up and watched Logan and Dustin so we could go see the Hobbit! It was so much fun to go see a movie without the boys. And the movie was great. It was really long though. I wish they would have made it into two movies instead of one. They added a lot of unnecessary stuff to stretch it out to three movies. But they did a great job.


Saturday we took the boys sledding at the golf course down the street. It was warm out, and Logan had so much fun! Dustin thought we were nuts for being out, but we all had fun.


Logan would laugh the entire time he was going down and get so excited we got to take him down again and again.


I made the boys pose with Dave for a picture. They're so cute all together! After about a half hour the wind started up, and I took Dustin to the car to warm up. Logan and Dave sled for a while longer, and we headed home.

Sunday Dustin and I went to church with Dave and Logan, and it went well. It was hard making it by 9, but next week our ward switches to 11, so that should help. Over all it was a fun week!

December Recap


It's been a crazy month! I swear, it's flown by. We've been really busy, but a lot of fun. I don't remember the order we did everything in, but I'll update you on what we did this month.

We had our first away from Dustin date this month. It was for Dave's work Christmas party. It's at the Millcreek Lodge every year, and it's always fun. Our car's clutch broke on the way out, so we had to borrow a car to get up the canyon and go. The party was fun, and the food was fabulous! Since Dave's been with the company for 5 years, we both know all his co-workers and even the spouses well enough that it's always a fun party.

Challenge after challenge happened and we were out the car for a week! But thanks to family, friends, and even the manager of the auto place lending us cars, we were able to stay mobile the entire time. It was a nightmare, but we're glad to have our car back.

Our mortgage company had a free movie day, so we took Logan and Dustin to see the Disney movie Frozen. It was cute and Logan had tons of fun! It was his first in theater movie, and we were surprised how well he did. He was really into the story, and would lean over and ask me why the characters were doing things and what was going on. We splurged on popcorn, and had tons of fun!

Dave and Logan went sledding a few times over the month, and had tons of fun. Logan would laugh as they would head down the little mountain. They love sledding, and Dave said Logan would cry when it was time to go. We'll have to get a second sled for next year, because Dustin will be big enough to really enjoy it too and we won't all fit on one sled next year.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Ready for Christmas!


We're officially ready for Christmas! Dave finished the mantle he was working on, so the stockings are hung by the chimney. I'm so happy that we finally have a mantle above our fireplace! It's perfect.


I was able to finish my winter table runner before Dustin was born, so that's on the table making our kitchen more festive. The nativities are out and have been well played with. Logan loves playing with "Mama Mary", "Daddy Joseph", and "Liggle Baby Jesus, Like Dustin".

Logan's been doing a lot better lately. He had an accident free day Monday and Tuesday. I've totally bribed him with a new pair of underwear every day he goes accident free (Spiderman or Thomas the Train), and it's working! He even woke up from nap Monday, took off his diaper and went to the potty. Before he woke me up from my nap. So we're heading in the right direction!

Dustin had his two week doctor's appointment and got his hearing test Tuesday. He passed his hearing test and has gained a lot of weight. The doctors were happy with him. Having the two doctor's appointments was exhausting, but I'm glad they're done.

Wednesday was a fun day! My mom came up and kidnapped Logan and Dustin. Logan had fun decorating the tree and playing with grandma. I had a relaxing morning reading in bed, and walked over to the thrift store to buy some new clothes.

I'm tired of wearing my maternity wardrobe, and since I'm now a size bigger than my normal size, I decided to break down and buy some jeans and a few nursing friendly sweaters. I was happy to get 3 pairs of jeans and 5 sweaters for $40. Not too shabby for name brand stuff! And now I feel a lot better wearing normal clothes.

Friday Logan and Dave both got coughs and by Sunday Logan was all out sick. So we drank a lot of juice and watched a lot of movies. It's so pitiful to see him sick, but hopefully he'll get better soon. 

Monday, December 2, 2013

Thanksgiving & December

We survived the first week! It's been fun and exhausting getting used to two little guys. Dustin is similar to Logan in many ways, but different too. Dave went back to work Monday through Wednesday, then he was home with us Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving.

We spent Thanksgiving with Dave's family. It was fun to see everyone and catch up. Logan had tons of fun playing with his cousins. He talked about going to Grandma & Grandpa's house all week. We also discovered Logan loves pumpkin pie. Dave likes it, but I don't. So I've never made it for them. But he tried some and kept asking for "More please!"


Friday Dave woke up early and went Black Friday shopping at Lowes. He got us a fire pit for $40, and a pre-lit tree also for $40. Then Dave went to see Ender's Games with his Dad and brothers. Logan and I set up the tree while Dave was gone, and Sunday we decorated it together.


 Logan thinks the tree is the best ting in the world! He put on all the bulbs (with help). Logan loves turning the tree on and telling me "Look Mom, the tree glows in the dark!"


We also got out the advent calendar and I told Logan how we get to put on one ornament a day. He just loves picking one out and hanging it up. Dave doesn't believe in decorating before December, so he was a little concerned that I had the tree out on Saturday. But I told him Sunday was the 1st, so we would be ok.

Then Sunday he asked me if it was too early to get out the Christmas movies. I have no problem with that, so we watched Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. Logan LOVED it! He kept pointing out the reindeer and snow man and even "Christmas" (aka. Santa).

I've been buying one Christmas movie every year since we got married, so we have a few to pick from.  Only a few of them are kids movies, but I have another one that we'll get to open up some time this month. It's fun to watch over the holidays, and if I buy them we don't have to worry about when they come on TV.

I still have a lot of decorations to put out, but we're well on our way to starting getting festive! Maybe Wednesday I'll focus on getting everything out and decorated. We'll see how the week goes.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Longest Days and Shortest Week!

Moving from one to two kids has been quite an adjustment! The house is a mess, but the I've been able to stay caught up on Laundry. I forgot how much laundry a little person goes through! He's added an extra load of laundry per week so far. I'm sure it will only increase from there.

This has been a better recovery than with Logan. I tore really bad with Logan and it took 3 months before I felt 100% again. This time I only had two tears and am already feeling so much better. I've already stopped taking Ibuprofen. So hopefully I'll be feeling better soon.

It's been difficult for Logan to learn to share my time with another little guy. He's been having accidents again. Most of the time it's when I'm feeding Dustin. We're working on it a little, but I'll focus on it more when Dustin is sleeping better through the night.

Because I'm totally sleep deprived! That's one of the hardest parts for me. I was holding Dustin with one hand and playing cars with with Logan and totally fell asleep! I get between 4 and 6 hours of sleep total a night and one nap (1 - 2 hours). The interrupted sleep is not as good, but better than nothing!

Dustin is doing great. The pediatrician was a little worried about his weight loss, so we brought him in again Monday just for a weigh-in. In a week he is back up to his birth weight. Usually the goal is to get back up by two weeks, so he's done fabulous! He's such a happy little guy. He only cries when we change his diaper/clothes. He's so alert too.

As for what we've been up to, Saturday my family had our Thanksgiving Dinner. So we headed over to my Sister's house for a few hours of food and talking. Logan had tons of fun playing with his cousins, and just getting out of the house. It was nice to see everyone, and for them to all meet Dustin.

Monday night when Dave got home we ventured out to Target for a few baby supplies. Oh man, Logan and I went a little crazy in the $1 section! I got a few stocking stuffers for him (wooden whistle, slinky, stickers, socks...). So I'm officially don't shopping for him for Christmas. I need a few stocking stuffers for Dave and Dustin, and then we're done! Well, we need to get Dave and my big gift still (a couch for the basement), but that's scheduled for this weekend.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Dustin Glenn Plastow


Tuesday, November 19th at 6:07 pm Dustin Glenn Plastow joined our family! He weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and measured 19 inches long. 


Dave was a huge help with the whole labor process, got to cut the cord, and give Dustin his first bath.


Dustin is such a happy little guy! After each feeding (during the day) he is awake for a half hour to 45 minutes just looking around checking out the world!


He loves to snuggle and only cries when we get him dressed (yup, we have another nudist on our hands...) or if he's not getting food fast enough.


He sleeps like a champ! No day and night confusion for this little man, although he does wake up every 3 hours to eat. He also is a great nurser, which is such a change from Logan.


We were released on Thursday and headed home to spend lots of time resting and snuggling with Logan.


Logan just loves his "liggle brother" or "Mr. Dustin"! He requests to hold him, he peaks into his bassinet to make sure the baby is ok, and will tell me when it's time to feed him. Once he told me "It's time to put Dustin to bed and Mom play with Logan." Fortunately it was just after feeding, so I could easily comply and give Logan the attention he needed.

He had a real hard time coming home (from Grandma & Grandpa's house), and has had quite a few accidents. But we'll get it together. He woke up and asked "Where is baby Dustin?" I heard him tell Dustin a few times "I love you so much Dustin!" So we're getting there. It will just take some time to get used to a new member of the family.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Playing the Waiting Game

I swear this week has been all about waiting. We've just been waiting for this little baby to join us. I had my weekly Doctor's appointment this morning, and an Ultrasound. I guess over the past 3 weeks the baby hasn't grown as much as he should. So we had the Ultrasound to make sure everything is ok.

The Ultrasound showed everything is fine. He's measuring in the 35th percentile (approximately 7 lbs 2 oz). Head to body ratio is normal, the amniotic fluid is the right amount, and the umbilical cord is working appropriately. So no emergency, but we decided to schedule an induction for this Saturday.

The Doctor said we could go until next week Tuesday, but if we waited she wanted me in every two days for no stress tests. I did these every other day with Logan and they take about an hour a piece (if the office is running on time). So we decided it would be better to schedule an induction than having to deal with that and finding a baby sitter every other day.

So we'll have a baby for sure by Saturday. I'm really hoping to have him sooner, I would prefer to go into labor naturally. But whatever happens at this point. Logan and I went to the store and bought some more milk and cheese, so we are ready (again). I swear all month has been spent stocking up the fridge and cabinets. I'm glad the end is in sight. I hate shopping.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Leaves and Food

Logan's been singing like crazy lately! He loves singing church songs, but he also has been making up his own songs. My favorite, and coincidentally he's been singing a lot lately, is one he made up in the car driving through blowing leaves:

Leaves, leaves falling down
Down, down on the ground
Leaves, leaves falling down
falling down, but don't eat them!

This was the same day we raked up the leaves in the back yard and we had several conversations about not eating the leaves. Apparently it made an impression!

This week I stocked the pantry for the 3rd time in anticipation for the baby being born. Every week Dave sees all the food I've put in the pantry and chows down on it! One week we went through 4 cans of corn and 7 cans of beans! Kinda crazy, but I'm hoping we're done stocking this time. I'm tired of shopping so much every week.

Friday night we had a $20 date night. It's what we call it when we set a dollar amount and spend it frivolously. We got a Costco chicken and ended up going to Trader Joe's to blow the rest on snacks (Dave's Choices - Pine Nut Hummus, Jalapeno Lime Salsa. My Choices - Mango Sorbet, Gouda Cheese). It was fun, and surprisingly not too un-healthy. 

Since we decided on the chicken the day before I had prepped some mashed potatoes to go with it. I discovered a really quick and easy way to make mashed potatoes via the crockpot. I just wash 8 of them and throw them in the crockpot and fill it up half way with water. Then I let them cook all day. When it's time to make them, just throw the potatoes in the Kitchen Aid, blend them up and add the butter, milk, salt and pepper. No chopping or peeling, just easy.

Today I had another Doctor's Appointment. The baby has dropped down this week, but I'm still at 3 cm. My blood pressure was a little high, but nothing the Dr is too concerned about. They'll check me again next week if the baby hasn't joined us yet. Still could come any day now. 

We're ready. Well, Logan and I are ready. I have a week left, and statistically 50% of women have had their babies by their due date. So chances aren't bad. Logan has started asking "When is that baby going to come out of your belly?" He's even prayed for the baby to play with him soon. Dave has a shotgun shooting activity with the EQ this Saturday, so he would prefer waiting until after that's over. 

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Be Prepared

We've been keeping ourselves busy around the Plastow home. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and have progressed to 3 cm dilation. My doctor says most women don't get past 3 cm before going into real labor. So we're trying to make sure we're ready for a baby any day now!

This morning Logan and I mixed up some gluten free flour and made 6 different gluten free mixes (ex. cornbread muffins, waffles, brownies). I wanted to have some of these on hand for after the baby is born so I can easily bake. I'm not so great at following a recipe when I'm sleep deprived, and since I make all the GF stuff from scratch, this will be a big help.

I want to re-arrange the freezer this afternoon, and after that I'm pretty much ready for the baby. Well, and I have a quilting class on Saturday that I would prefer to go to before the baby comes. We have diapers and wipes. The baby clothes are washed and put away. The nursery is decorated and the bags are packed.

We've had a lot of fun this week too. We rented Monsters University from the Redbox for FHE this week. Logan had so much fun watching it and even insisted that we "make popcorn!" to go with it. It wasn't as good as Monsters Inc, but it was a fun one time watch. 

Wednesday I had a Relief Society meeting and Dave had Scouts. Since Logan was having a super grumpy day, Dave took him to Scouts. They were having a lesson on how to make fires and Logan had so much fun around the fire and roasting marshmallows. When I got home he told me "I ate two marshmallows!" He was covered in a sticky mess and stunk of campfire, but was really happy.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Halloween & Fall Pics!



We had a great Halloween yesterday! At lunch time Grandpa Mike came over and had lunch with us. He brought Logan 6 snickers and 4 of them were gone by the time Dave got home from work. Logan and Grandpa got to play trains and had a fun time! It was great to see him.


Logan was devastated at the idea of carving our pumpkins, so we didn't this year. We'll just leave them on the steps to decorate until Thanksgiving is over, or until they rot. They made for a cute photo shoot though! Logan lined up the pumpkins and wanted to sit in the middle of them.



We had to take a few breaks from posing to crunch in the leaves, but over all we got some good pictures. He had fun picking his costume and telling everyone that he was a fire man!


I asked Logan to say "candy!" and this is the silly face we got with candy.


We went to the trunk or treat at our ward building and Logan had so much fun! The first 5 cars, he was pretty shy, but once he got the hang of it, he would say "Trick or Treat" and even "Thanks" when he got candy. He was very honest too, only taking one at a time.


After Dave and Logan did a round, they came back to the car and helped hand out candy. After that we drove back to our street and trick or treated the old people on our street. One lady had a whole scary show she put on for Logan (she was dressed as a witch). After a few minutes Logan decided she wasn't giving him candy, so he started trying to give them to her! The lady was so impressed she gave him a stuffed animal along with his candy. He was very impressed with the whole concept of the night!


This morning Logan and I decided to go play in the leaves! Usually at this time of year we have tons of leaves, but this year, they're still hanging on the tree. So we raked the whole yard so we could have something to play in.


He would run back and forth in the leaves yelling "CRUNCH!" Then I would tell him to take a picture, and he ran right over to the tree to pose.


I asked him to sit by my pumpkin and he started singing a song about pumpkins. He loves to make up songs right now. Most of the time it's about Dave, but this one was very fall-ish. It was so cute.


I couldn't get him to smile at me in this pose, there was just too much to enjoy.


We'll probably go finish up the leaves this afternoon with Dave and see if we can get a few good pictures of him sitting on the fence.

Other than that, we've had a fun week. Tuesday Dave's parents treated us to a Halloween concert put on by the Utah Symphony. She babysat Logan so we could go out. We grabbed a quick dinner before, and walked over to the concert hall. It was fun, and we got some great costume ideas for next year. I have to get Dave to commit to one, and I'll start sewing. Well, maybe in a few months. After the baby is born and he's sleeping through the night.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Baby #2: Coming Soon!

This week has been a crazy one! Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment and was told I've started progressing and could have the baby any time (she gave me a week to a month). I was dilated to 2 cm, 80% effaced, and the baby is at a station 1. So we are moving in the right direction. I'm hoping for 2 more weeks before the baby joins us, just so I can get a few little things done. Nothing necessary, just nice to have done things. I'm not due for 3 more weeks, so It would be nice to follow that time table.

Wednesday my mom kidnapped Logan for most of the day and I got some time to myself! It was nice to get some sewing done. I also got 4 gluten free freezer meals cooked and in the freezer. I'm sure these will be helpful after the baby is born. I wanted to have something put away for the first few weeks of new baby survival. 

Dave's sister also had her first baby girl (Morgan) Wednesday, and we were able to go meet her on Thursday after Dave got off work. She is so cute, with chubby little cheeks! Holding her was fun, but she's bigger than Logan was. It was surprising how much difference 3 lbs makes.

We're done with the front door! We got the 3 coats of polyurethane done this weekend, and fortunately it was such a warm, sunny Saturday that we were able to get the door up before dinner that night. I'm so glad it's done, but it was so much work! Now we're officially done with everything on my list of things to get done before #2 joins us.

Sunday we had a casual day, which was nice. After lunch we laid down for a little while during Logan's nap. I read and Dave decided to take a nap. After 30 minutes of hearing Logan playing with his stuffed animals, we heard his door open. 

He stopped in front of our bedroom door (Dave whispered "pretend you're asleep", so we did). We then heard Logan sneak off to the kitchen. One of the chairs was pulled out from the table, we heard the crinkle of plastic for a few minutes, then he headed back to his room and shut the door. Followed by his going to sleep. He's been skipping nap time a lot lately, and I can't say I'm happy about that! I would prefer if he kept napping at least until the baby is sleeping through then night.

We made brownie sundaes after dinner, and Logan was just in heaven! Dave wants to start doing a special dessert on Sundays, and Logan is in full support. He finished off his bowl and said "Mommy I love ice cream! More please?" How can I say no to that?

Monday, October 21, 2013

A Fun Week!

It's been a fun week! Monday we did Joseph in Egypt for FHE and Logan had so much fun playing with the felt board people after the story was over. Sometimes I wonder if he's getting the point behind our FHE lessons, but we keep doing them.

Wednesday we took the car into the shop to have the rear struts and tires replaced. I'm glad we could get that taken care of before the baby is born. The mechanic told us last time we took them in to get it done soon, so better now than have it break down later.

Thursday Dave texted in the afternoon inviting Logan and I to meet him after work. So we made a picnic dinner and jumped on the train heading down town. Logan just loved the train ride, that in itself might have made it worth the trip. Since we drop Dave off on the train about once a week, Logan was so excited to be on the train "like daddy". He loved watching everything zoom by.

We ate our picnic dinner then headed to the Gateway (mall). Logan's favorite part of our roaming was visiting Barnes & Noble. He loves books, and they have a Thomas the Train set. Logan played for at least 45 minutes until we had to drag him away. We also really enjoyed the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Logan chose a green rock candy stick which made a huge mess, but was fun.

Friday we were supposed to start sanding down the front door, but kinda got distracted with relaxing and didn't get around to it. I did get the house cleaned up and everything prepped for Saturday dinner, but that's about it. Boy we regretted that on Saturday!

We woke up early Saturday to start sanding the front door around 9 am. Dave used his electric sander first to get the polyurethane and old stain off while Logan and I mowed the lawn and picked raspberries. Then I started sanding down the trim by hand while Logan played with his cars on the gazebo. We hand sanded until about 3 when we encountered the really intricate trim.

We had to use a chemical stripper for that area. We finally got everything off (and the stripper dried) around 5, put the first coat of stain and ate dinner with the "girl missionaries". We didn't get the stain completely done until 8 pm! We had to let that coat set up for an hour before putting the door back on and called it a night. What a nightmare!

We decided to wait on the polyurethane coating until next weekend. It will take 3 coats since this is an exterior door, and you need to let it set up for 4 hours between coats. So we plan to start that first thing next Saturday and hopefully be able to at least hang the door by the time we go to sleep. Hopefully the door isn't tacky still, but we'll see; it's supposed to take 24 hours to fully cure. I told Dave I can sleep in the hallway and guard the glass door over night if we have to. This was my crazy idea after all!

It's been insane the work we've had to put into this, but it ended up costing us about $50 to do (compared to the $1,000 it would cost to replace with a similar wood door). It looks fabulous and it isn't even done, so I'm glad we did it. Dave decided on a dark brown color this time (the old stain was honey looking) and I love the new look. I just hope it will last for a LONG time. I so don't want to do this again any time soon!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Pumpkin Picking!


Saturday we went Pumpkin Picking! We told Logan we would go after his nap, and all day long he talked about what kind of pumpkin he was going to pick. "I get a small pumpkin, Mommy get a middle pumpkin, Daddy get a BIG one."


But when we got there, he was singing a different tune! He wanted every pumpkin he could pick up, big or small! Finally he decided on a pumpkin with bumps for me and a medium pumpkin for him (it was the biggest he could pick up). Dave picked a pretty big one, and we called it good. Logan thinks both my and his pumpkin are his, and he was appalled when I told him in a few weeks we would carve them. "No cut MY PUMPKIN!". So we might not end up with jack-o-lanterns this year. We'll see.

About a month ago I made a huge list of everything I wanted to get done before baby #2 is born and we've been slowly chipping away at that list. So these little cleaning/organizing projects are consuming most of Logan and my free time. He's enjoying the crazy things I decide we have to do (his fave was washing the doors and walls). Since I'm due in 5 weeks, I'm starting to feel a little bit of a rush to get it all done. This weekend we did one of the "family projects": going through the shed and got rid of some stuff and re-organized it.

Next weekend we're hoping to sand down the front door and re-stain it. The front door gets a ton of sun, so it really takes a beating. If anyone has recommendations on the best way to sand it down and longest lasting products for re-staining/sealing we would love to hear them. We don't want to have to do this often!

Sunday I subbed in primary for the 4 year olds, and I was reminded how much I don't love teaching in Primary (I've actually only taught nursery...)! The girls were fine, but had zero attention span. We spend the second half of class coloring flowers to give to Bishop because I couldn't keep them focused on the lesson any more. I'm just glad to go back to teaching RS in a few weeks!

Logan also decided yesterday to have a Halloween fashon show for us. We have two costumes he's supposed to be picking between (a tiger and a fire man), so he crawled around growling as a tiger for about 45 minutes before switching to his fireman costume (which he wore for the rest of the night). I don't know how he's going to pick on Halloween between just one!

That afternoon it rained the whole day, so we spent a relaxing day enjoying each other. We watched Toy Story (Logan's first time for that one), and Logan insisted we pop some corn to eat with it. We tried to teach Logan UNO. He didn't get the matching colors or numbers, so we ended making 4 piles (one for each color), and he would organize the whole deck by color. We read a million books, made a batch of Muddy Buddies and just had fun.  I could use a few more Sundays like that!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Conference Weekend

We've had a fun week! Friday night was a rough one for Logan (I think he's teething again). He woke up screaming bloody murder around 4 and refused to go back to bed for a while. So Logan ended up in bed with Dave and I ended up sleeping on the bed in the basement.

I was woken up at 9 to a little voice beside me saying "Mom, can I snuggle with you?" We snuggled for a while and Dave came down to tell me breakfast was ready! What a nice surprise. We had eggs, hash browns, and sausage. We spent the rest of the day watching Conference.

That night we headed down to my parent's house to enjoy Priesthood Session and girls night! The ladies headed out to DI followed by pizza. The guys went to the Stake Center followed by Panda Express. When we all got back together, we put the kids to sleep and played games. It was a fun night.

Sunday was full of great food and more Conference! We headed home after the second session and went on a walk and played at the playground across the street. When we got back, Dave's parents stopped by and we had some lemon cake with them before putting Logan to sleep.

Monday we did Daniel & the Lion's Den for FHE. Logan was quite impressed that the hungry lions didn't eat Daniel. Kinda a rough story to explain to a little guy, but he didn't seem to be upset over it.



This morning Logan and I installed a new towel bar in the bathroom. Dave and I wanted to get a second on for the bathroom for when we have two little guys running around. Even though we have a second bathroom/bath, we generally use one bathroom for all bath time. When we went to the hardware store, we discovered they sell double towel bars. Someone wanted to be in the picture so bad... I couldn't help adding one with him posing.

The one we got only sticks out 2 inches more than our last one, and it looks better than having two hanging on the wall! I feel silly for being so excited about a towel bar, but I hung up our towels and am so excited to get to use it. Logan had so much fun helping me put it in too.


I've also been working on a stocking for boy #2. I realized I probably won't want to work on this right after he's born, so I'm trying to finish it before he's born. I have the gingerbread man appliqued onto the fake leather, now I just need to cut out the remaining pieces and sew them all together. Probably will only take an afternoon, if Logan's good for his nap!

I'm excited to have a fire place this year and I'm hoping to convince Dave to make a mantle to go above it so we have somewhere to hang them. If not, I'm sure I'll make something else work!

Monday, September 30, 2013

Weekend in Moab

The last week has gone by in a whirl wind! Packing and trying to plan everything for our trip to Moab. I  looked into Hotels and at first couldn't find anything under $180 a night! Some places were even booked solid. But Dave's Aunt Suzy was able to get us a room for $50 a night. We decided to share with Dave's sister Lucinda and her husband Aaron, and $25 was far more doable.

I convinced Dave to take off work Friday so we could head down a little early and get a little relaxing in before his Grandma's Funeral on Saturday. So we checked into our hotel and tried to get in a nap. Logan was too excited so we headed out to Arches to do a few hikes. 

Logan was completely in LOVE with Arches! We get out of the car and he exclaims "BIG ROCKS!" He takes off running and yelling "Hide behind big rocks! Come find meeeee!" He would run up the trail, hide behind a pillar or in a cave and laugh when we found him. So many people just stopped to watch him enjoy himself. He was also very impressed with the "Holes in the mountain" or arches.

We headed back to eat dinner with most of Dave's siblings followed by swimming in the hotel's pool. We swam for an hour or two, and Logan had so much fun splashing all the uncles, jumping in, and being thrown up in the air by Dave and his Grandpa. We got him to bed around 9:30, and he totally crashed with the lights on and everything. I guess all the fun just wore him out.

The next day we packed up and went to the funeral. It was good to hear the stories Dave's Aunts told, and learn more about his Grandma when she was younger. Then there was a luncheon after and we got to visit with all the relatives. I slipped into one of the rooms in the church to convince Logan to nap, because he was pretty ornery.

Afterwords we headed over to Dave's Grandpa's house to visit and look at his paintings. His Grandpa is a professional western painter. He's got paintings in the Smithsonian and in the fall he will be featured in a show in China. So it's always fun to see what he is working on.

Logan didn't last long in the studio, so he and I walked around the property and visited Greatpapa's horse. He was fasinated with the horse eating hay and walking around the pen. He didn't want to pet it, but loved watching from a distance. He also had fun collecting rocks and throwing them at the wood pile.

After that we were in for a LONG drive home. Dave's legs were hurting from driving, my hips were aching, and Logan didn't want to be in his car seat any more. We heard a lot of "I'm stuck, LET ME OUT!" followed by tears.

Sunday I taught Relief Society again. It was on the forgiveness of the Savior, and although I didn't expect it to be a hard one, the questions the ladies asked made it rough. Things like "There are a lot of young couples that just have sex and get sealed a year later. They're not even sorry or anything. How is that fair?" It was hard to navigate through, but I think it turned out ok. The ones asking the difficult questions had positive things to say after, so hopefully.

That evening we just focused on relaxing. I watched the General Relief Society broadcast while Dave and Logan cooked dinner. Dave was very disappointed with the salmon and wild rice he made. It was nice to hear him tell me I make them both better :). We had ice cream Sundays for our dessert and I let Logan pick his toppings (bananas & chocolate syrup). 

Today Logan and I have spent all day unpacking, doing laundry and cleaning up the house. It's always a mess when we get back from a trip, and we still have laundry to fold and beds to make. But we'll be all cleaned up soon.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Pumpkins for Decorating & Eating

It's been a busy week. Dave's Grandma Plastow died this week. It was all pretty sudden. She fell and broke her hip and died right after the surgery to fix it. So we're working out all the details to head out to Moab this weekend for her funeral.

Last Thursday Mike, Alison, Andrea and Sara came over to drop off a Luv Sac and visit. Dave is doing some graphic design in payment for the Luv Sac, so the two of them talked about what already was done and what needed to be completed. Alison and I hung out on our (now two) big beanbags while the kids played. They had fun!



Monday Logan and I visited my parents for the morning. It was nice to catch up. Grandma gave Logan some pumpkin decals for the windows, and Logan has had a grand time moving them from window to window. He has played with them for about 45 minutes a day since getting them. The only bad thing is they're on the front glass door, so I'll be working on something and I'll realize Logan's not around. I'll find him with the front door open playing with them!

Grandpa also gave him a little pumpkin from his garden patch. Logan has been carrying it everywhere! He insists on eating lunch with it, he even brings it to bed with him. He's taken a few bites out of it because he thought it would "taste like zucchini". It must not have tasted too bad, because it has about 10 bites out of it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Library and Conference

I'm starting to get some projects out of the way. I made a list of all the deep cleaning and sewing projects I want to get done before baby #2 is born, and I've been slowly been knocking them off the list. Logan thinks some of them are funny (like he got a kick out of washing the walls). But at least he's letting me get them done.

Saturday I went to my quilting class in the morning and Logan and Dave mowed he lawn. Logan loves to play in the kid's house while we work in the yard, so he did that while Dave worked. 

That evening we had a BBQ with my parents, then they watched Logan while we went to the adult session of Stake Conference. It was great to get to really listen to the talks uninterrupted. 

Sunday we took Logan to the Stake Conference broadcast. He was upset by our going to a different building, but not as upset as when he realized we weren't taking the sacrament! He kept asking for it "Where the sacrament? Bread, water, remind us of Jesus!" He was impressed by the "giants on tv" though and had fun playing with the little boy in the row in front of us.

Monday we headed to the library for FHE. They were doing a puppet show (the princess and the pea), so we watched some of it, checked out some library books, and watched the Library chinchilla eat their dinner. We had a good time, even if we were a little late for bedtime.  Over all it made for a good week.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Re-arranging

I think we've finally survived the heat of the summer! This week the highest high is 85 degrees. I can handle that! I'm really hoping we won't need the air conditioner any more this year.

Saturday we picked our nectarines. We got around 8 Walmart bags full. We shared 3 bags with the ward, some with the neighbors and some with family. We have quite a few left, and I'm trying to figure out how to use them all without canning them. I really don't want to do any canning this year!

For the past week we've been working on re-arranging our house! We moved the office furniture down into one of the basement bedrooms, and moved the exercise equipment into the other bedroom. 

I just love how the office turned out! We were given twin size antique day bed that fits right in the corner. So now if I'm sewing or Dave is designing and the other still wants to be in the room, we can read on the daybed or just hang out. I still need to organize the closet, but with the doors closed, everything looks great!

The exercise room is still a work in progress. We were given some weight lifting stuff and an exercise bike, but we're waiting to hopefully get the bench for the weights. Also Dave wants to get a treadmill. Dave thinks he can find a nice one used, so we'll see.

We also put together the nursery. I have more organizing to do in there, but it's off to a good start. I won't have a lot of time to work on it this week, but I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the month. We'll see how well I do on that.

Logan's been his silly self as always. He asked me this week to give him "a hugh like a rolly polly bug". It's just funny the things that come out of his mouth. He's also started to tell me about his dreams when he wakes up in the morning. One day he woke up crying and when I asked him why he told me there was a sheep biting him. It was scary. Another day he told me all about the silly dog he saw. I'm not sure if he knows they're not real, but he enjoys talking about the dreams.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Memorial Week & Weekend

Logan did a lot of coloring this week! I got him his first set of markers because a few weeks ago when I was trying to prep my lesson for church, he kept stealing my highlighters. He's really stepped up his drawing since then. As he's drawing, he tells me what it is.


He loves drawing dragons (the zig zag lines above)


He makes Turtles (the head is on the left, the pointy tail is on the right, and the rainbow body in the middle)


And the most frequent on our page is snakes (the strait lines are bodies, and the squiggles are the heads)


Friday we headed up to Heber Valley Camp for our Ward Camp Out. We got there a little early, so we hiked on a few trails before getting settled in and eating dinner with the ward. The trails were pretty vague and we got lost. But were able to find our way back.


As we unpacked our stuff, Logan played with a few other kids we were sharing a cabin with. He had so much fun with all the kids the whole time.


We put Logan on the top bunk which was way up there, but it had a rail, and the bottom one didn't. So we thought it was a better fit. He thought it was tons of fun to climb up there and mess around.

Logan loved exploring in the rocks and trees with the kids. Dave and I loved that he was 100% entertained so we could get to know other adults better. We let Logan stay up until 9:30. He was great, and went right to sleep. He did wake up around 12:30, scared because he didn't know where he was, but he went right back to sleep.

Saturday we headed home early, so we could make it to Sheila, Scott & Max's sealing. It was great to be able to be there, and it's always peaceful to be in the temple. My Aunt Kathryn was in town from NC, and it was great to be able to catch up with her. My Uncle James & Aunt Rebeccah were also in town from TN, and it was good to see them too.

Monday Blaine & Angela moved out of our basement. We helped them in the morning, and started moving a few things downstairs in the afternoon. We were able to get the tv room set up down there, and move a little of the exercise equipment into the back bedroom. Logan had so much fun exploring the new space, but he kept asking "Lindsay, where are you?" He's going to miss his cousin like crazy, but it's going to be good for them and us.

Today I've been working on filling up the basement kitchen and cleaning. I moved all our food storage downstairs, and filled up the basement linen closet. Also I re-arranged the living room (upstairs) and hopefully Dave will like it. He looked at it yesterday and told me now that we moved the TV and Luv Sac to the basement it looked too empty upstairs. I think it was way too full before, and looks great now... so hopefully we can agree now that everything is in it's place.

Monday, August 26, 2013

New Church Callings

A few weeks ago I got a new church calling: 4th Sunday RS teacher (the women's organization). So I get to do the Conference lesson. Sunday was my first week teaching, and it went great! I had so much discussion that I only got through about 2/3 of the talk. It's not a bad problem to have. I was really worried about the opposite, because it was a really sparse Sunday. But I have no fear from now on with filling the time.

I just love teaching adults! My fave calling up to now was teaching Gospel Doctrine, and this has a similar feel. Well, except the crying women. But we only had two of those on Sunday. I'm sure once I get the hang of it, this will be a favorite too.

Dave also got another calling this week. He'll be teaching Elder's Quorum on the 3rd Sunday of the month (from the teachings of the Prophets in the Men's Group). He's excited to start in about a month. He's still doing the 11 year old scouts, but I don't think the two will be too much. I'm glad we'll be teaching on different weeks, so one of us can get Logan when he needs to go potty. 

Potty training is going a little better. I re-introduced the underwear again today, and we've had one accident and the rest successes. At lunch time I was getting everything ready and I turned to find Logan alarmingly yanking at his undies. So we rushed to the bathroom and made it!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Biting Ducks

The last two weeks have been long! Logan has been missing having a friend around 3 days a week. He's been following me around like crazy and wants to play with me all the time. I'm thinking about starting a play group in a few weeks to give him some more kid interaction.

Logan's been having some potty training challenges since spending the night at my parents, so we've been working like crazy on re-committing. We've had to revert him to naked time again, but last week we had 4 accident free days in a row. I'm hoping the end is in sight. We celebrated by going to Sonic and getting Slushies after FHE! Logan loves slushies, so it was really exciting for him.

Last Saturday we had a fun family day! We spent the morning at Wheeler farm checking out all the farm animals and playing at the playground. Logan especially loved the sheep and feeding the ducks. We brought 2 loaves of bread and went through it all. 

Logan would feed about 4 pieces to the ducks, then take one for himself. At one point he was off feeding the ducks and one of the geese got up in his face and grabbed his bread right out of his hands! He came crying back yelling "Duck bit me! NO NO DUCK!" It was so sad and cute, we couldn't help but laugh while comforting him.

This Saturday we went over to Murray Park and fed the ducks again. After we stopped by the farmer's market and got some watermelon, peaches, and corn. They have been really tasty, although it's twice as expensive as I can get them at the store. Sometimes I don't mind paying for local quality though.

We've been experiencing more of the terrible twos recently. This week Logan told me he threw a fit, telling me he was mad at me and was just going to run away. I guess we've been reading him too many Little Critter books (he loves "I was so mad"). Hopefully he'll learn soon I'm less likely to give him what he wants when he throws a fit.

I asked Dave what we wanted to dress Logan up as for Halloween, and he picked a pirate. So I'll be designing a costume and hopefully putting it together soon. Well, some time in the next two months anyway. I started looking for inspiration online with Logan and his only input was "want big belt like him." So our pirate will have a big belt. Other than that it's still up in the air.

Monday, August 12, 2013

A Birthday & An Anniversary

This week was a fun one! Logan's second birthday was on Thursday! He also had his annual checkup, and is in the 40 percentile for height, 13th percentile for weight, and 80th percentile for head. That's a huge step up for height and weight for him (he was in the less than 3 percentile last checkup), but he's always had a huge head.

He talks like crazy all the time! I'm always surprised by what words come out of his mouth. He uses sentences, and will string a few of them together. He's recently started using pro-nouns, but is still learning how to use them right.

For his birthday dinner we had his favorites: hotdogs, french fries, strawberries and apple juice. Logan was in eating heaven. After dinner I was cleaning up the dishes and Dave was packing up his gym bag for the next day and Logan learned to climb up our 6 foot luv sac. 

He must have launched himself off the top, because we heard a loud thump followed by bloody murder screaming from Logan. I ran into the Living room to find him sprawled out face down on the middle of the living room floor. I think he tried to jump off of it. Sadly he ended up with a black eye.


For his birthday Dave made him a sand box, so that was his big gift (with some buckets and shovels). But we still had a few presents to open. He had so much fun opening his gifts and playing with them until bed time.


He had to have at least one toy in each hand for the rest of the day!


We made Logan Strawberry shortcake for his birthday dessert. He was far more interested in blowing out the candles than eating the cake. He probably blew them out 10 times before I had to tell him the candles needed to go to bed.


Finally Dave put some ice cream on Logan's plate, and after he finished that he tried the cake. He enjoyed about half of it before he was full.

Since our anniversary is also on Logan's birthday, we generally celebrate the weekend after. So Logan headed over to my parents house for Saturday and Sunday. He had so much fun! He has been quoting Nemo and requesting ice cream and cookies ever since.

We enjoyed a little break from Logan too. We went out to dinner, saw a movie, and just relaxed! It's nice to not have to worry about the boy, even if everything reminded Dave of Logan.

Monday Logan and I put some stuff away in the shed and pulled out the baby clothes. I went through the infant and 0 - 3 month clothes to see if there was anything we needed to buy for a fall/winter baby. Logan thought the little clothes were pretty funny. Especially the socks. He kept trying to putting them on and laughing.

I tried to explain they were his when he was a baby, but I don't think he got that. He did understand the socks are for the baby though. He kept going though the little hats and shirts. "For baby in mom's belly."

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Baseball & A Crazy Week

Yesterday was one of our most fun FHE's in a while. Dave's Brother's Wife (Anisa) won free tickets to a Bees game (minor league baseball) and we went to see half of the game. We had killer seats! The tickets said 7th row, but there were only 2 rows in front of us, and we were just to the right of home plate. We arrived about 45 minutes late, anticipating Logan wouldn't last long. Boy, were we wrong! Logan was inthralled with the ball players "throw the ball!" and loved watching the kids around him.

I snook in some dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, and water, so he had tons of fun eating like crazy, running up and down the isle (we had most of a row to ourselves), and watching the mascot walk around "BIG BEE, MOM!"

The absolute highlight of the night was Dave catching a ball to give to Logan. I don't know if Logan or I was more excited. Logan rolled it around on the ground, put it in the cup holders and kept talking about his baseball. "Logan catch the ball", "Grandma love Logan's baseball", "Logan proud baseball". He even insisted on taking it to bed with him last night.

We were planning on going out to ice cream after, but Logan had so much fun, we had to tear him away around 9:30 to get him to bed. Walking back to the car, Logan didn't even ask to walk by himself. He just laid his head on Dave's shoulder and snuggled with his ball.

Prior to that, it was a crazy week! Dave got the stomach flu (or food poisoning) and missed work while recovering. Day one went well, but day two I had Max (daycare), Logan and Dave was feeling a little better so was really needy. I didn't sit down all day getting toys, food, movies, and stuff for the three of them! Over the weekend he was feeling better, so we drove up the canyon to Solitude and hiked around the lake. Logan hiked the whole thing by him self, tripling the time of our hike, but he had so much fun.

Logan was fascinated with the bees, dragon flies, ducks, and water on the hike. He prayed for all of the above that night, and just loved being out in nature. I just loved that it was 20 degrees cooler up the canyon. It's been way too hot here this summer.

Max's mom quit her job this week, so she let me know this Friday will be the last day we watch Max. Logan will be devastated not to have his best friend 3 days a week, but it will be nice to have a little more time on our hands. I'm thinking about starting to do a play date with one of Logan's friends once a week. Not necessarily the same friend every week, but something once a week.

Sunday I finally got released from Nursery! I'm so glad, it was not my favorite calling. The kids were great, but the other leaders that were supposed to help out had a hard time remembering to show up. I've accepted another calling, but haven't been called yet. I'm super excited for this one, so hopefully it ends up going well when the time comes.

Monday, July 29, 2013

The 24th of July & Weekend


We had a fun week! Logan loved having Dave home on Wednesday to play with. We went on a bike ride in the morning, went to the park for some serious play time, and had a little BBQ for dinner. That night we set off some sparklers and pop pops. Logan LOVED the sparklers. He would make ovals with flame. He also would hold the pop pops over his head and drop them so they would pop.


Friday we had ice cream cones. Logan finally learned to lick a cone. He's been insisting on spooning his ice cream out of cones up until now. So instead of getting/making two cones I'm afraid we'll now need to make him his own. He kept stealing ours!


Sunday we made Broccoli Beef. While I was chopping up the other head of broccoli, I turned to find Logan chowing down on the second head. Apparently Logan loves Broccoli! He only likes the green tops, but he ate about 7 before stopping. He's been grate lately about trying new foods. He doesn't like a lot of the foods he tries, but at least he is willing to take a bite.


Logan's also learned to count to 10! His favorite thing to count is my star ice cubes. I don't love him playing with them, but if it gets him to count, I'm ok with that. Sometimes he gets caught in a loop (4 5 6, 4 5 6...) but if he's paying attention, he can count from 1 - 10.

He also has started to tease us. If I ask him if he's Mommy's boy he will smirk and tell me "No, Daddy's BIG boy!" If I ask him what's in my belly he will tell me different animals names or even types of cars. Eventually he'll tell me "It's a baby in there." but not before much giggles and different animals. I got a video of it, although Logan's pretty shy about taking videos.