Try Again!

Logan taught me something this morning. As he was climbing up into his booster seat, he slipped back down to the floor. I reached over to help him up and he said, "No Mommy, try again!" and climbed up into the chair himself. I was so proud of him! It reminds me that no matter how many times in life we slip back to the floor, the Lord expects us to try again to the best of our own abilities, but he is there with a helping hand, if we need it.

And a little child shall lead them. Indeed.

1PM church

I've been trying, since we switched times with the other ward, to resign myself to church at 1PM. Even before I had kids, I hated having church late. It seems like the whole morning is spent wasting time, no matter how hard I try to make myself do something. While I do believe that the Sabbath is a day to be spent resting from our weekday labors and worshipping the Lord, I don't think that He meant 'hang out in your pjs all morning, throw on something presentable ten minutes before services and get out the door just in time to be late'. And yet, that is what seems to happen, despite my best efforts. I find it a bit mind-boggling that when we have church at 9AM, I am always on time, and usually early. Now that we are at one, I can barely make it before the first hymn. What is that about?!

Now that I have small children, this has thrown a new monkey wrench into the gears. Logan naps between 12:30 and 1:00. He's got a pretty regular schedule - except on Sunday. Now, let me just say that Logan LOVES church. He loves to sing, pray, take the bread and water, and he especially loves his nursery class, where he gets to play with all of his best friends. Now that we are at church during what would be naptime, he's a complete maniac. He still has a wonderful time, but I am very grateful for his nursery leaders for putting up with his wildness. And I suspect he is not the only toddler in there who is lacking a nap... So, he runs around at church like a complete loon, and then is utterly unmanageable all night, until we all finally collapse from exhaustion an hour or so before his usual bedtime. Yesterday however, Logan made an eloquent statement about the condition of things. We took this picture at 5:30, while we were getting dinner on the table. I think it speaks for itself.

Poor little monkey.

Hair!!!

Enough for a wee teeny little snap clip, anyway. Hey, you gotta start somewhere! It actually stayed on surprisingly well, at least, until Logan yanked it out. That's what brothers are for.

Boy Bonding

Witness the man-type bonding over the tool set. Mitch teaches Logan how to use a wrench. Logan picks up the skill instantly, and spends the evening removing nuts from bolts...

Is this behavior linked to the Y chromosome, or what???

Favorite Things

Tupperware is a classic way to entertain your child. Logan loves it...

at 11 months old.

at 15 months old. at 18 months old.
and even at 2 1/2 years old.
The fun never stops!

First Foods!

Myra has been very ready to eat for several weeks now. She's been trying to take food off of our plates and wants to drink out of any glass you might be holding. While I was excited and pushed Logan into cereal at 4 months, I'm not quite as ready for Miss Myra to grow up. Still, I couldn't ignore her "demands" any longer, so we got some rice cereal and hauled the high chair down from the attic yesterday. Logan had to test it out first, of course. Seems pretty sturdy... Here is Myra, enjoying her first bites of rice cereal! She doesn't seem to be such a big fan at first.

But we are getting used to it...

Hey, My turn with the spoon!

Yeah! This eating stuff is fun!

And next, we'll have some of Mommy's pear!

While I do feel that pears are an excellent early food for baby, as they are mild, sweet and have very little allergenic potential, perhaps next time we'll mush it up a bit...

Sigh, another major milestone attained. As much as I love to see her learn and explore new things, it remains a reminder that she's growing up. Still, she's my little princess for now.

Vacation

Well, sort of. Mitch was working nights this week, so I decided to decamp, and come to visit my parents in Carthage, TX. Mitch is back in Temple, having a ridiculously wonderful time in the ICU. Although I suspect he misses us a bit, I am really glad he is loving work so much. We have really been agonizing over the decision to take the longer fellowship road, but this week has definitely cinched it. A fellowshipping we will go...

Logan, Myra and I have really enjoyed our week here. Since we just have one vehicle, Mitch drove us up here and spent the weekend - then took my truck back to Temple!!! Ahh! I was afraid that I would go stir crazy with no vehicle and just me and the kids all week. Mom and Dad were at work all day. I actually had a really nice time. When I am home, there was always something to do, but here, the pressure is off a little. Even though I did miss our usual weekly activities, like Music Makers and reading time at the library, we had fun playing together at home. We also got to have lunch with Oma a couple of times and I even got to be on the radio. Yes, Carthage is a small town.

A few highlights... Logan, in Pappy's recliner, watching Elmo.

Myra and Logan play together - so cute!!

Myra's "crib"

Logan makes cookies with Oma's Kitchenaid. This was super cute, as he did it all himself.

This is Myra, wearing a blessing/christening gown that was given to us my my Great-Aunt Neno. It has been in the family for several generations. Isn't it lovely? We took a picture to give to Aunt Neno, and Dan did some beautiful photo editing to punch up the color and take out the age spots on the dress.

We also got to celebrate Pappy's 53rd birthday while we were here!

Logan hands Pappy a present...

then helps open it.

Myra just watched.

Pappy's cool camping cake. You can't really see it, but the tent lights up.

Logan likes the cake, but what is that face about?

We also got a chance to have dinner with my Grandparents, so Logan and Myra got to get to know them a little better.

Myra has had a great week! She has mastered the art of rolling over and is getting better at the tripod - she'll be sitting on her own pretty soon. She also learned to blow raspberries (during church, of course), and Pappy taught her to stick out her tongue. She's been doing it all week. Very cute!

We're getting ready to head back to Temple this morning. I am so glad that we were able to come. I agonized a little over whether or not this was a good idea. It's so hard to be away from the comforts of one's own home, and especially without a car. That said, we all had a great time, so I think it was a success! Now, if only I can find all of the toys that Logan has scattered about the house...

Christmas Catch up

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Since we're still limping along with only partial computing power at home, I have been putting off posting, so now there is a ton to catch up!!

We spent Christmas with my parents in Carthage, TX. It was the first time that all of my siblings have been together at the same time in about a decade, so that was pretty cool! Of course, we had my 2 year-old to contend with, so the presents were caged... It seems that Logan enjoys opening presents without regard to their contents or intended recipient. On Christmas Eve we traditionally open one gift, for which we exchange names throughout the family. Here's Dad opening his - with help...

And Logan was kind enough to assist Mitch as well.

He likes the new sweatshirt...

Myra loves the butterfly that her Grandpa Deshazer sent. This Christmas thing is FUN!

Christmas morning - before the chaos. I made flannel pants for us all to wear on Christmas. The were comfy, and cute!

Here is some of the haul...

Rina's bunny slippers. It amuses me that we have both a Monty Python and Atlas Shrugged reference. My family is a bunch of nerds.

Dan's Wii Fit.

James' rock star duckie

The boys and their matching tool sets.

Myra likes the paper. She's not so fussed about the toys...

The uncles with their new niece. How sweet is that??

Logan spent much of the morning showing Elmo around the house. So cute!

While Myra crashed out in a box. Talk about no room in the inn.

And Rina enjoyed a kitty Dave backrub. When we got home, we got to start trying out our presents. Oma and Pappy got Logan a new desk, and he got right to cutting and coloring.
Grandpa and Grandma Deshazer sent Logan some airplane jammies. He's delighted!
And here he is trying out his new drill.And Myra is trying hard to sit up! Any day now...
We had a great Christmas as a family, and are so grateful that so many of us were able to be together for it. We missed the Deshazer half of the family though. It is so wonderful to watch our families grow, but it sure makes it harder to get everyone together for the holidays!