Logan's 18-Month Photos

We headed into JC Penney yesterday for Logan's 18-month pictures.  Besides having to chase him out of the photo studio several times to grab him, he really did a stellar job thanks to a photographer who consistently produced a smile by throwing an apple into the air.  We were quite pleased with the finished product!  I tell ya, we have one cute boy on our hands.  LOVE his smile, his summer tan, and his longer, whimsical hair!

 

 

A Five-Year Old Farewell

 

Lia met her best buddy, Kaylee, when she was only a few weeks old and, believe it or not, these girls have been inseparable ever since.  The first year or two, they simply played by each other's sides--kind of oblivious of one another's presence.  Then they entered the toddler stage and fought a lot over toys while they attempted to play together.  But then something magical happened about age three or four as they began playing beautifully with each other.  They became best of friends and could not get enough of one another.  In fact, they would often times embrace and kiss each other when saying hello or goodbye.  It was the cutest thing.  Kaylee's mom, Megan, and I had grand plans for these two.  They were supposed to grow up together, enjoying the elementary school years, enduring the junior high school years, and loving the high school years together...and then they were going to go off to BYU and room together.  Oh, it was just perfect until something happened a few weeks ago.  Kaylee's dad got a wonderful job opportunity up north and before we knew it, they were packing up their house and leaving us.  It's been a sad few weeks for Lia as she has adjusted to the fact that her best friend is leaving her.  It makes me cry just writing about it.  So this past Saturday night, we threw a farewell party for Kaylee's family and invited all of our friends over for a BBQ to send our dear friends off with some love.  Lia spent the entire evening at Kaylee's side--eating dinner, playing on the swing set, riding their bikes on the sport's court, etc.  They are just the cutest pair.  And this is the picture that Megan snapped of the two as they were leaving at the end of the evening.  So, thank you, Kaylee, for all of the wonderful memories and for being Lia's first, official best friend.  You will always hold a special place in her heart.  Here's to hoping that we can keep this friendship alive in the years to come!

Growing Up!

Logan is definitely in the chapter of his life where he is into EVERYTHING!  He is seriously a tornado that swirls around our house dismantling everything while I attempt to follow after him and pick up what he has undone.  I honestly don't know how I am ever going to get anything done on the massive to-do list in our new house because it's a full-time job keeping up with this boy and attending to my basic, motherly duties.  Oh well.  I know that this is just a season of Logan's life and I am trying to enjoy every moment of it!  But I digress.  So today, in his whirling dervish mode, Logan climbed up on one of the kitchen chairs and started pulling out Lia's crayons one by one.  To prevent him from unloading the entire box in a matter of seconds, I quickly grabbed a piece of scratch paper and laid it down on the table in front of him.  And, to my amazement, he started coloring.  I was so shocked!  He looked so grown-up pulling out one crayon at a time and coloring with it while sitting in a "big boy" chair.  Here are a few pics I managed to snap while my aspiring artist was at work.

Choosing another color.

 



 

Coloring away!

Humoring mom with a quick look before returning to his work!

Priest Lake Reunion

For another summer, I tagged along with my parents to Priest Lake for my family's reunion in August when Ron had to work.  I spent the week up there with my children and the rest of of my family before Ron joined us the next weekend for a day before taking us home.  If it weren't for Logan having a cold which made him quite fussy and more difficult than normal, it would have been a perfect week up there!  However, we all survived and I was just grateful for another opportunity for my kiddos to be outside playing in the water and the sun with other children at their side.  Thank heavens for Priest Lake vacations every summer!

After playing at the edge of the sink one evening after dinner,  Logan somehow ended up IN the sink and in the water for more play time.  This was so funny to me as he has never done this at home!

Cute Logan and Spencer playing video games together one afternoon.  How fun is it to have a cousin 15 years older than you?!

As usual, Grandma prepared a scavenger hunt for the grandchildren to complete one day while we were there.  This year, Lia got to be on the same team as all of the big girls and enjoyed racing around the cabin and down to the beach following all of their clues to the reward at the end.

Here is Logan enjoying some of his spoils after the scavenger hunt was finished.

Logan spent many hours playing in the sand with the toys.  Here he is hard at work on the beach.

The "big boys" hanging out on the tube.

Lia coming up from one of her many jumps into the water.

Lia and the triplets floating along by the dock.

Logan inspecting the water.

Lia jumping in!

Lia and the triplets jumping in!

Logan shooting away with the water gun.

Some of the kids working hard on the beach.

Grandma and Bryce playing with Logan in the water.

My adorable water baby!

Logan enjoying a perfect summer afternoon.

Lia enjoying some inside cabin time with Kelsey and Vivi.  Look at that fancy hairdo she gave Kelsey!

A family photo on the dock after Ron joined us up at the cabin.

Our brave, water baby jumping to papa!

Father and son enjoying that beautiful water.

The Hartland Fam bobbing along!

Ron and the kids at the top of the stairs after a long climb back up to the cabin.

Eric decided to suck up some of Logan's hair while he was vacuuming in the kitchen and Logan LOVED it!  Look at that smile on his face.

A close-up of Logan and his suctioned hair.

Logan trying out the motorcycle with Uncle Eric one day.

The entire family on our last day there!

And all of the grandchildren with their grandparents before we went our separate ways.

1 1/2 Years Old!

 

Well, it happened.  Logan turned one and a half years old on Saturday!  I simply can't believe it.  Six more months and he will be a full-fledged toddler with no baby left in him.  It's been an interesting past month since we returned home from Japan.  Logan has definitely punished me more than Ron for leaving him.  He has preferred Ron over me the majority of the time and has definitely been more sensitive, temperamental, and overly dramatic.  Often times, when he is put down, he will throw a total tantrum including the banging of his head on the floor, the wall, or some piece of furniture.  Lovely.  Besides this not-so-fun side of his personality, Logan really continues to be a sweet, cute, and fun boy.  He has loved all the time that we have spent outside enjoying the sun and water this past month.  In fact, he is ready to go outside at 7 a.m. each morning and will either try to open a locked door to get out or he will bring me his shoes.  He is down to one nap most days, has developed a gigantic appetite, and is wearing 18-month size clothes comfortably.  Logan has also finally started to learn more than one or two new words a month.  He started saying me (instead of mine whenever he wants something), "wa wa" (for water and all other drinks), ball, boat (it sounds more like bow), yummy, owie,  "baba" (for grandma or grandpa), and he quacks like a duck.  However, his favorite word is still "uh oh" which he says 50 times a day and he LOVES barking like a dog whenever he sees one in real life or sees a picture of one or hears a dog barking off in the distance.  So funny!  Logan traveled on a plane for the third time last week when we went to visit Lola and has now been to his fifth and sixth states (Illinois and Indiana).   Like our plane ride to and from Hawaii, Logan nearly put Ron and me in a body bag.  Flying with a one year old on a lengthy flight is pure torture and we have declared that we will NEVER do this again with another child of this age in the future!  That's really our Logie boy in a nutshell this past month!

Chicago Family Reunion

We returned home on Tuesday, August 6th, after spending almost a week with Ron's family at his mother's house outside of Chicago.  We have not seen all of Ron's family since Austin's and Robbie's wedding in South Carolina a year and a half ago--so it was so fun to be reunited again.  Plus, this was our first chance to meet baby Jake who was born a year ago.  We had such a great time being with Ron's family--especially Lia who loves, loves, loves playing with her two girl cousins, Regan and Addison, who live in North Carolina.  We wish that we lived closer to everyone so that we could see each other more often!  Anyways, here is a recap of our week together at Lola's house.

After a long travel day on August 1st, we spent a slow, relaxing morning at Lola's house.  Here are Logan and Jake (who are six months apart) hanging out by the back door in the kitchen after breakfast.

 

We headed out on the afternoon of August 2nd to spend a few hours at Johnny's neighborhood pool.  Everyone had such a good time cooling down.  Here are Lia and Addison playing at the pool's edge.

 

Lia, Regan, Robbie, Addison, Austin, Logan, and Ron stopping for a group photo.

 

Logan enjoying papa's company in the pool.

 

The Hartland Fam doing what we do best in the summer--swimming!

 

 

After the pool, the three girls ventured out into Lola's backyard for some fun throwing rocks in the river that flows through her neighborhood.

Such cute girls!

 



 

Getting ready to throw some rocks!

 

Since there is a large population of Polish people in the Chicago area, the entire group spent a fun evening eating at the Warsaw Inn--a polish restaurant.  Here are Lia, Regan, and Sarah eating their food.

 

We finished off the evening with Logan and Jake taking a bath together.  I just love this picture as I have almost an exact one of Lia, Addison, and Regan together back in 2008.

 

 

The entire family spent most of Saturday, August 3rd, at the Deep River Water park in the near by town of Crown Point.  Ron and I spent most of our time in the kiddie areas with Logan and Lia, but we still had a great time.  Logan LOVED going down the little, turtle water slide!

 

Having fun with one of the many shooting water spouts.

The kids exploring the large, play structure!

 



We enjoyed going around the two lazy rivers several times.

 



 

Lia and Addison hanging out in one of the toddler pools.

Water + sun = one happy boy.

 



 

Lia going down a slide...

And swimming away.

 



 

The two brothers, Derek and Ron, with their baby boys.  How precious.

 

 

Lia and I running through one of the water mushrooms.

 

We finished off the day by stopping by a large, Asian buffet on our way home for dinner.  Since this was baby Jake's actual first birthday, we sang to him at the restaurant.

 

Addison, Regan, and Lia all buckled up and ready to head back home from the restaurant after a long day of play!

 

Sunday, August 4th, was the big birthday bash that Lola had been planning for months at a nearby park.  She decided to host a birthday party for 100 of her friends to celebrate Jake's first birthday and Logan's half birthday (which is just a few days later).  It was amazing to see all of the people who turned out for the celebration to support our boys who they didn't even know!  Here are Sarah, Addison, and Lia getting ready for the festivities.

 



 

Jake, Regan, Lia, and Logan starting to eat their lunch.

 

Big-boy Logie eating away.

 

The amazing, Pixar Car's cake that Lola provided for the party.

 



 

Lia, Regan, Evan, and Sarah posing with the cake before it was attacked by the masses.

The mother's posing with their birthday boys next to the banner that Lola ordered.  She really thought of everything for this party!

 



 

Papa helping Evan light the candles on the cake before blowing them out.

 

The Hartland fam after eating some cake.

 

 

The park where the party was held had a fabulous play area complete with a giant sandbox.  Lia and Regan spent quite a bit of time digging around in it.

 

And Logan spent quite a bit of time going down the slides.  I swear, this boy has NO fear!

 

Getting ready to go!

 

Finishing up a "run."

 

 

Cute Robbie and Austin--a year and a half later, they are still newly weds at heart!

The kids just hanging around.

 



 

The gang enjoying the teeter totter.

After returning home from the birthday party, we all changed into our finest travel duds to post for some family pictures in Lola's and Papa John's front yard.  Here are the girls dressed up in pink and ready to go!

 



 

Lola and her posterity.

Lola and her three boys--Derek, Ron, and Robbie.

 



 

Our little family. 

 

Austin and Robbie.

 

Derek, Renee, and their three children.

 

A very proud Lola with her grandchildren.

 

After the pictures, we went into the family room for the opening of all of the presents we received from the party.  It was amazing to be the recipient of so much love and generosity.  It reminded me of the day after Ron's and my wedding when we opened up all of our gifts!

 



 

Posing with some of Logan's new loot (please notice that he couldn't be bothered with looking at the camera thanks to his new, play phone).

 

Reading one of many cards with Logan and Lia at my side.

 

Monday, August 5th, was hand's down Lia's and my favorite day!  We got to go into the city to visit the American Girl Doll Store!  Although Lia got her American Girl doll at Christmas, we have never driven up to the one in our state (there are only 16 in the county).  So this was a first for the both of us and we loved it!  The American Girl Doll Store in Chicago is downtown, right on Michigan Avenue, and it is AMAZING and huge!  Here is Lia taking the trolley from Navy Pier to Michigan Avenue with Mirabella on her lap.

 

The girls and their dolls all lined up and ready to go outside of the restaurant where we had 12:30 reservations for lunch.

 

Regan, Sarah, and Lia awaiting the arrival of our lunch with their dolls sitting in their own, little chairs that attached to the table.  It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen!

 

The entire group of girls!  I absolutely loved this restaurant and all of the details that were included down to a little cup and saucer brought out by the waiters who we all wearing pink aprons!

Lia pretending to feed Mirabella a carrot stick from our appetizer plate.

 



 

The three of us having a grand, old time!

 

 

Lia eating the adorable dessert that included a chocolate mousse that was served in a miniature, flowerpot with a daisy "growing" out of it!

 

After lunch, the groups of girls spent a good hour or two shopping around the incredible, two-story store!  Lia and I were in American Girl Doll heaven!  Lola bought each girl one clothing item of their choice--so Lia was finally able to get the beautiful, Caroline Abbott nightgown and matching slippers that she has been drooling over for months from the catalogues that we get in the mail.  In addition, I treated her to one other thing she wanted....so we went and had Mirabella's ears pierced at the piercing station!  So fun!

 

Our day in Chicago was the perfect way to finish up our family reunion before everyone flew home on August 6th.  Thanks, Lola and Papa John, for the wonderful weekend!