ohio

Friday evening we drove the boys and Ava out to Ohio for Charlie's family reunion. Everyone did really great in the car. I wasn't sure how the seven hour drive would go with a five year old, three year old and three month old added into the mix. We stopped about two hours in for dinner and hit the road again. The boys were in their pjs since we'd be arriving so late and it helped them feel more comfortable while sleeping. We were welcomed by Uncle Dave and family late into the night. We had a nice visit with Great Granny and Great Grandpa W - they finally met Ava - and a fun meat-filled cook-out and Titan's cap fashion show with Joey and Ann Marie on Saturday night (don't ask! just imagine lots and lots of varieties of meat being injested by two grown men and Joey literally modeling every Titan's cap he owns! Good times, good times!). Sunday Charlie was able to play with his uncles - a little bags, some basketball. The kids and I spent lots of time in the pool and plenty of people were willing to hold Ava and keep an eye out while she snoozed in the pack-n-play. Sunday around 6:30 we were back on the road heading home to Chicago. Logan was asleep before we left the parking lot and Ava and Carter not long after. We saw three rainbows on our way out of Cleavland. Thank you Dave and Natalie for allowing the five of us to take over your crib! We had a great weekend and loved seeing you all!

great granny & ava

great grandpa & ava

logan & carter climbing the stairs to the waterslide

diggin' in the sand

what's he gonna bury?

me & charlie

happy birthday logan

Happy third birthday, Logan! Most Mommies say things like "I can't believe he's already three!" but I feel like I'm always needing to remind myself that he's ONLY THREE! When I think of how much he's accomplished and grown, especially over the past year and a half it's really incredible. He's come such a long way with his speech and his hard work has paid off! He starts preschool in the fall and is exctied to have a school of his own - I can't wait to see him with a backpack on! He's usually shy and a bit aprehensive in new places and wants to be held upon arrival - who am I kidding he's like that even in our neighbor's backyard and sometimes even Grandma's! He loves his blankies - all seven of them and wants to be covered up with them all at bedtime and will bring the mountain of them all downstairs with him in the morning. He'll eat two packages of apple cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast everyday and if we're all out, you'd better prepare him for waffles at bedtime the night before! Logan adores his little headgehog he calls mousey from Great Grandma Gridley, his "chocolate puppy" and Jack Russell. He'll sit and read books in bed before lights out and then comes out into the hallway where there's light to read a few more before turing himself in. He still naps well once a day when we're not running all over the place, but beware if he's fallen asleep in the car or if you wake him up before he's ready. He loves the sand and water. Logan can hold his own when taking on Carter. He is a great climber, likes to play bowling, is a switch hitter, knocking 'em out of the yard either way, has a great arm and is adorable when he pumps his arms before taking off running. Baseball is his favorite sport but loves watching race cars, hockey, golf, football, and the running of the Bulls. He wants his training wheels off to be like the big boys on the bike path. Logan is sneaky sneaky when it comes to snacks and has been found under the dining room table on many occasions with M&Ms, Oreos, Kisses, you name it and loves that Grandma's got the best desserts that he gets whether he eats all his dinner or not. He's good at blaming everything on Carter - "Ca-cur pushed me," "Ca-cur messed it up," "Ca-cur did it." His favorite food is chicken nuggets and wanted this as his birthday party theme if it was possible - cups, balloons, food and all! We did Nemo. He has the prettiest face and most beautiful eyes and I love love love his fresh haircuts. He wants to be independent lots of the time and I love how he says "me like it that way" when we point out that his flip flops are on the wrong feet, his shorts are backwards or his undies are inside-out. At the same time, he whines and whines and whines to tell us what he wants and makes it very difficult for us to help or meet his needs. He helps load laundry into the washing machine, wash dishes in the sink and wants to be part of cooking dinner or making lunch and makes the salad and the tea at Grandma's house better than anyone I think. He adores baby Ava and has taken very well to being a sweet, loving, helpful big brother getting her diapers, burping her, finding her a pacifier and covering her with blankies and I love that he tells her to "relax" when she's fussy. He's Logie, Lo, Loags, our Logan (Charlie, his name is perfect - you were right, he's so not a "Noah"!) and we love him so much! My baby boy is three!

july 20, 2006

july 20, 2007

july 20, 2008

july 20, 2009

cute

dear tooth fairy

Dear Tooth Fairy,
Carter lost his first tooth today. It was wiggly-jiggly for a couple weeks but we didn't expect it to come out so soon. He was riding his bike this afternoon and wiped out, bumping his chin on the sidewalk causing his wiggly-jiggly tooth to fall out! He's got a scrape or two, on his chin and knee, but that didn't matter to him when I told him his tooth was out. We found it on the sidewalk and dusted it off. Jack's letting us borrow his little pillow tonight, so take Carter's tooth with you when he's sound asleeep and add it to your collection. My little boy is growing up!
Sincerely,
Carter's Mom

grrrr! tough guy!

silly face!

cool kid!

happy anniversary

july 6, 2002

Seven years ago was the greatest wedding EVER! Yep, ours! Happy anniversary, Charlie.

happy fourth of july

Happy birthday USA! Hope everyone had a fun and safe Fourth of July! I know it was cloudy and continuously raining here from sun up until about 7:00 tonight. Oswego postponed their fireworks until tomorrow, but we were able to go out to Batavia with Natalie and the Lanzara's and see their show. I can't remember a Fourth like this since we've lived here. Usually it's about 95 and humid and we've got the air on and half of our party is inside keeping cool and the other half outside playing bags or in the sprinkler and the kids in and out every few minutes! Not this year, we laid low with just a few people over and stayed dry inside most of the day and put on jeans and sweatshirts for the fireworks. Fortunately the grass wasn't terribly wet and I was able to cuddle with Ava for her first fireworks show, which she was awake, eyes wide and staring at all the bright bursts of color! Didn't even flinch for a single boom. Charlie was chillin' in a chair, Logan cuddled up to Natalie and Carter was on his own blanket with his buddy Jake - what happened to the days he'd like to cuddle as we ooooh-ed and ahhhh-ed over every explosion?

sssssssssssssnake

Logan and Carter had The Wild on this morning and Logan was telling me there was a snake in the movie - he slid his finger down his arm and said it with a perfect "s" at the beginning! He consistently leaves that initial "s" sound off of words and it's one of his goals. It's kinda hard to hear, but he was producing that beginning "s" so perfectly when he'd say ssssssssnake! I was so proud of him and he kept doing it and doing it, so I got the camera...