Logan- 3 1/2 years old

Logan officially turned 3 1/2 on January 8, and I truly cannot believe he is halfway to 4.  Logan is still the same energetic, sweet boy that he has always been, but I am reminded everyday how quickly he is growing up.

Logan is continuing to expand his imagination and love for superheros.  Our car rides to school and back now consist of me making up stories about Logan and his superhero friends.  They typically start with, "Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Logan who LOVED superheros..."  There is always an "All of a Sudden, the bad guy (insert name) shows up" involved in the story.  I am often corrected in the midst of telling a story if I do not get it just right!  Sometimes I grow weary of making up stories over and over, but then I glance at his face in the rear view mirror and keep going.  He gets so excited, and that smile can just melt my heart in a second.

As previously mentioned, Logan is enjoying interacting with Grayson as he grows and changes.  Logan loves taking Grayson's hands for patty-cake, and Grayson smiles from ear to ear.  Grayson also giggles very loudly when Logan tickles him, and he is fascinated when Logan blows bubbles.  Grayson will soon be on the move, and I will be interested to see how Logan reacts to Grayson getting into all of his toys!

Logan still gets into trouble and has to try and keep his behavior under control, but I think we have seen significant improvement over the past few months.  He certainly still has many moments of misbehavior, but I think most of it is part of his age and figuring out limits and how to control his emotions.  We all just do the best we can and hope that what we tell him is resonating and will be reapplied in his life as he grows up.

Logan has a personality than wins people over- at school, church, and everywhere we go.  His teachers at church tell me that Logan answers all of the questions during Kid City in front of the class.  I am so thankful for our church and school's commitment to teach Logan important truths from the Bible in an age-appropriate format.

I could not be more proud of my sweet Logan and the big boy he is becoming!

Christmas 2013 Celebrations

We are so blessed to have lots of family to see during Christmas!  This year was a lot of fun.  Logan and Grayson are at good ages for traveling and visiting family.  Logan (almost 3 1/2) can play alone or with the other kiddos without constant supervision, and Grayson (6 1/2 months) just goes with the flow and will sleep anywhere.

Our Christmas celebrations started on Sat., Dec. 21 at my Dad and Sandra's house in McKenzie.  We had a great time visiting with everyone!

Daddy & Sandra with the Tuckers and Cousars.  Bosco & Zeus tried to get in the picture, too.

Jason photo-bombed the only picture where Logan was remotely smiling!

Our sweet Daddy

The wild & crazy kids table: Logan, Graham, Isabelle, and Audrey

My sis!

Sweet Grayson's first Christmas

Isabelle and Logan were buddies!

On Christmas Eve we went to Aunt Alice's house for a celebration with my Mom, Grandmother, The Cousar's and the Nelsons.  Miriam is my Mom & Alice's first cousin on my Grandfather's side.  We always love seeing them at Christmas!

My boys were not too interested in taking pictures. Too much to do!

Aunt Alice, Grandmother, Holly, Me, and Mama

Everyone says my Mom could be our sister!

Alice, Grandmother, Mama, and Miriam

Miriam, Jack & Grayson

Sam & Grayson. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Sam & Logan because they were buddies.  Sam was so sweet with him!

Christmas morning was lots of fun!  Logan was SO excited about Santa Claus, and it was a super-hero themed Christmas for sure!  After lots of play time with Santa gifts, we had Christmas breakfast at our house.  My Mom cooked a wonderful breakfast, and we were joined by the Cousars, Grandmother, Aunt Alice, and the Nelsons.  We had a great time!

Santa Claus visited our house!

Cuties in their Christmas pajamas. Grayson is a drooler so he is always wearing a bib!

Logan's Avenger action figures

The sweetest baby!

Logan trying out his Spider-man boots and Captain America shield

One of Logan's many superhero costumes from Santa Claus.

Logan let Grayson borrow his Hulk hands.

On Christmas night we celebrated with Brian's side of the family.  We started by opening presents and then had a wonderful dinner.

Sweet brothers

Logan, Grayson & Kaylie- it is impossible to get everyone to look at the camera!

Mimi, PawPaw & their 3 grandchildren

We are truly blessed to have had such a wonderful Christmas.  We love our families and are grateful for each and every one of them!

Making Christmas Cookies

This weekend I made cookies for Logan's cookie party at school on Tuesday, and I let Logan decorate some cookies (for only him to eat!) as well.  Decorating cookies shirtless is the only way to go when you are 3 and kind of messy.  Grayson was very interested in what Logan was doing, and I know he will be joining in on the fun next year!

Logan trying out one of his creations while Grayson looks as sweet as can be.

He said he was painting the cookies

Icing is yummy by itself, too!

Grayson- 6 months old!

6 Months Old- 12/12/13

5 months old 11/12/13

Our sweet Grayson is 6 months old! He is the happiest baby, and we just love being around him!  The past two months have been busy and lots of fun.  Grayson is becoming more interactive and alert all the time, and he and Logan have actually started to play together.  Logan pushes Grayson around in his high chair all over the house while giving him toys and tickling his feet, and Grayson just laughs.  It is so sweet! I know they will continue to be able to play together more in the months and years to come. 

Grayson started sucking his thumb shortly after turning 4 months old when we stopped swaddling him at night.  At first we tried to stop him from sucking his thumb, but there is no stopping that boy!  However, now we love it because he can soothe himself without a pacifier or help from us most of the time.  It is pretty sweet to watch him!  

Speaking of sleep, Grayson goes to bed about 7:00-7:30 p.m. each night and usually wakes up once to eat around 2-3 a.m.  He then goes immediately back to sleep until about 6 a.m.  Grayson is a big boy wearing size 12-18 month clothes and size 4 diapers.  We took him for his check-up, and his height is 29.5 inches and weight is 23 lbs., 8 oz.  Both of these measurements are off of the growth charts for his age (greater than 97th percentile), which was no surprise!  Grayson also just hit another mile stone- his first tooth!  It popped through the day after he turned 6 months old.  He had been drooling for months, and we were glad to see that first one finally appear!

Grayson is becoming very active and grabs everything in sight.  He enjoys sitting in his high chair playing with toys, and he also loves his jumparoo.  He can easily roll over from his tummy to his back, but he still has not completely mastered rolling from back to tummy regularly.  I think we still have a little while before he is mobile.  He loves to jump in my lap when I am holding him, and his legs are getting strong!

Grayson says lots of things like "da da da," "ga, ga, ga" and "ag-goo."  He can also squeal very loudly, and his laugh may be the sweetest sound I have ever heard.  He is eating and enjoying all of the stage 1 fruits and veggies as well as oatmeal and rice cereal.  He nurses about every 3 hours when I am with him, but he can wait 4 hours when he has bottles at Mimi's or school.

Grayson is such a happy, easy-going baby, and he has the best smile! We love him very much.

Christmas Card, Santa & Other Fun

Our 2013 Christmas card. I actually got both boys to smile for a picture!

We visited with Santa at Collierville mall on Friday night, and both of my boys were perfect!  Logan got right in Santa's lap and told him he wanted superhero costumes and helmets.  Grayson was not phased by Santa and his beard, and both boys gave us a good smile for the picture.  

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we went to the "Big Red Barn" at the Agricenter for some Christmas fun with the cousins.  Logan, Kaylie, and Graham had a great time playing, and Grayson was as sweet as could be.  Here are several pictures, but I could not get a picture of Graham.  He is never still!  

Thanksgiving

We hosted the Barcroft Thanksgiving at our house this year, and we had a great time visiting with everyone!  Here are a few pictures I managed to take:

My big boy ready to host our family. He was so excited!

Sweet baby at his 1st Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving Hosts

Siblings: Aunt Kate, Daddy, Aunt Jane & Uncle Tim.  We were just missing Aunt Betsy.

Aunt Kate lives in Oklahoma and has not been able to join us in several years.  Aunt Jane lives in Knoxville, and Uncle Tim lives in McKenzie near my Dad.  My Daddy is in the midst of a very tough battle with advanced melanoma, and he was feeling fairly well during Thanksgiving.  I was so glad to see him visiting with his siblings, nephews, nieces, and other family.  

We had about 30 family members in attendance and a great time was had by all.  I just wish I would have taken more pictures!