Duncan is 1!!

I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by, but it has and my wee mannie is one year old.

He was so small...

But he's gotten so big and learned to do so many things!!

Like his brother before him, he is a very physical child. He climbed before he learned to crawl. He is saying a few words - Mama, Dada and No being the most often used although we occasionally hear yeah and fishie. He loves to eat and insists on drinking from a sippy cup - forget the bottle!

His favorite sippy cups have straws, so we got him a couple for his birthday. Logan thought he would like this pink one, and he does!

He loves books, particularly interactive ones with flaps to turn or buttons to push.

He also is enamored of anything with wheels, particularly tractors and trains. If it has wheels and buttons to push, well that is just a bonus!

He's a very musical fellow and his favorite "toy" is the piano downstairs.

He has decidedly un-toddlerlike taste in movies. His all time favorite is Despicable Me, but he also really enjoys The Incredibles and Toy Story. He won't watch "baby" movies like Baby Einstein or Elmo. He despises Hello Kitty and cries whenever Myra asks to watch it. We're on the same wavelength with that one...

For his birthday, I made Minion cupcakes, which were a hit with all the kids (and the adults, too if we're being forthright).

They were yummy.

Walking!!!

Duncan took his first steps on Thanksgiving. He's been slowly working up to real walking with a few steps here and there, but crawling is definitely faster! Today we caught his progress on video!

How cute is that kid???

Snow, and a big day for Logan.

We had our first "real" Utah snowfall last night.

The backyard looked kinda like a Christmas card. We've had a few small snowfalls that didn't stick, so Logan has been asking me on a near daily basis when it was going to snow.

He was pretty stoked.

Myra was excited, too. They sat at the front window and just watched it fall. I suggested that they have some breakfast and get dressed so that we could play in it...

Snow is good to eat.

and it crunches when you walk on it. Can you see how deep it is? The weatherman said we'd only get 3 inches, but it is at least 6.

Duncan didn't know what to think,

but Daddy convinced him to give it a try.

Even the ducks at the Jordan River temple were enjoying the chill.
After we played in the snow a while, it was time for a haircut for Logan. That is a pretty traumatic event for him, so after surviving his haircut, we went to Ikea, and got Logan...

a big boy bed!!! He chose the frame and the bedding. He's so excited to have a new bed that I'm pretty sure he's forgotten all about the haircut, but doesn't he look cute?

It doesn't hurt that the house still looks like this. The kids are fascinated by the snow.

Halloween!

Utah was kind to us for our first Halloween, and it was pleasant enough to wear our costumes without coats and mittens.

Here are my excited trick or treaters. This is the first Halloween that the kids have really clued in to the whole process, so they are really excited!

Myra's magic hair really did glow! It was the hit of the neighborhood, apparently. Yay!

Upwardly Mobile

There's been an awful lot of this sort of behavior around here...

and some of this...

and lots of this...

Logan and Myra walked at 10 1/2 months. Duncan has 4 weeks... Think he's gonna make it?

Patty Cake

They are just so sweet.

Duncan loves this SO MUCH!!!

Mobile

He crawls!!

Time for some more advanced babyproofing...

Cinders and Ashes, Logan is 5!

My big boy turned 5 yesterday, and we had a full day of fun! We started out with our first day back at gymnastics. Logan and Myra both have great classes with great coaches.

Upside down is Logan's favorite position. After gymnastics, we went to Target to pick up Logan's cake and have a treat. Our local Target has a great little snack bar and the seating area in the Starbucks is spacious and fun. From there we stopped at Sonic for drinks and then headed to a park we hadn't tried out yet.

It was awesome! It was a gorgeous day and the park has the most amazing view of the mountains.

Logan thought this rope bridge was the coolest thing ever.

Myra chilled out with her orange soda at the table, then she ran around with Logan. A couple of kids were there with their Nanny and the kids played together while I chatted. After prying the kids off the equipment, we headed home for a low-key afternoon. The best part of the day was when Daddy came home!! Mitch has been working insane hours this month and hasn't been home for bedtime about half of the time. We have all missed him, but Logan especially. It was so great to all be able to celebrate together. After we had a Logan friendly dinner of pancakes and fruit, it was time for presents!

Here is Logan's impressive haul. Yes, you should all buy stock in Thomas & Friends... We took a ton of pictures, the best of which can be found here. Click for all the details. After presents, we had cake. Logan broke with the traditional Lightning McQueen cake, and went with ... Thomas. I know, a shock.

I think the folks at Target did a lovely job. It is the first time we've gotten a cake at Target, and it was very good. Logan surprised us again by asking for chocolate cake. It was yummy!

Logan was really happy! He was so excited to see his name next to Thomas and the tracks!
After cake, it was time for bed. It was hard to pry Logan away from all the new toys. This morning it was imperative to break them in.

Still in jammies, and before even having breakfast, they had already built two different train tracks.

I convinced them to actually have breakfast by allowing them to share it with Woody, Buzz and Jessie. Those kids crack me up.

So freakin' cute!! (Warning:Seriously pic heavy)

I recently made Duncan a little romper, for which I had a photo shoot for the sewing blog. He just so darn cute, I had to share some of the pictures here as well.

I think this one is my favorite, but they are all so adorable, I just can't decide.

And the birthdays continue...

Poor Mitch sort of gets overshadowed for his birthday. Myra's is 4 days before, and then Logan's is a few weeks later (but he starts talking about it during the Myra birthday prep!) so he sort of gets lost in the middle. This year was especially challenging since he began his fellowship last month and has had very little discretionary time. Working 14-16 hour days 6 days a week doesn't leave much time for hobbies, fun or even sleeping. He did manage to get off work in time for a birthday dinner. Even Steven and Sylvia came! Yay!
Gifts were a wee bit tricky this year. I try to shy away from work related gifts, but he doesn't have time really for anything else.

Logan loves to open presents. This one is a pair of pants, yet to be assembled. it's a new pattern, so I need to fine tune the fit, so inside the box were the pattern and a muslin.

I know, a flash drive - so romantic. He broke his old one and he doesn't have time to shop for himself.

A book from his parents. He's excited about reading this one!

When I asked Mitch what he wanted for his birthday, he responded with some frustration, "I just want to have some extra tine to roast marshmallows with my little boy!" Maybe if the roasting is in the back yard, we can squeeze in more of it.

3!!

I cannot believe that my little princess is already three! She had one heck of a celebration, with a giant Rapunzel cake and an even more giant pile of presents. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The cake

Rapunzel!

The baby bed was too big to wrap, so we just brought it out, and she put baby down for a nap immediately.

Princesses from Oma and Pappy!

Jessie talks! Yee-haw!

Aurora!

Cupcakes to decorate from Grandma and Grandpa. She spent all evening feeding them to us and her dolls.

She loves books. Logan and Duncan got a kick out of this one, too.

No, Mom! You can't have my princess placemat!

In true princess style, she kisses the Handsome Prince(s)

Logan's favorites were the puzzles (natch.) and the Rapunzel figurines.

As soon as everything was unwrapped, Myra tucked in all the dolls.

She asked me to take a picture of Jessie.

Today, she and baby are wearing their matching Tiana dresses, and Myra is toting around an armful of new dolls.  All is well in her kingdom.