Merry Christmas

One of our family photos from our Christmas card photo shoot (not the one we chose, but a cute moment anyway)

Saturday at Home

After a couple of busy days (Thanksgiving Day on Thursday and "Sweatpants Thanksgiving" on Friday), the boys just needed a lazy Saturday at home.  Owen spent literally just about every moment playing with the marbles he got last Christmas and running around in the leaves outside.  Meanwhile, Logan tagged along with the marbles, grabbing at the tower and inadvertently almost destroying it multiple times, and outside he played with a leaf for like an hour.*
So for those who keep asking what the boys want for Christmas, here is what made them happy today: 1. furniture (see below), 2. last year's Christmas present, or 3. a leaf.  There, shopping done.

 

 Logan playing peek-a-boo behind a dining room chair 

This marble tower started out innocently enough...

...but it quickly became serious stuff.

In every one of these pictures, Logan is holding a leaf.  When it comes to his "toys," it isn't hard to please him.  I finally had to take away his leaf once we were back inside and he started to eat it.

Owen probably would have run around on this hill anyway, but the leaves made it much more fun.

 
*...and then he had a massive poop that wins the award for "worst poop" I've ever had to clean up.

A Real Smile

Owen does NOT like having his picture taken.  (Lucky me.)  So it's rare that I get a photo of him where he looks happy, let alone natural.  If I tell him to smile, he does weird, cheesy things with his face (eyes closed, teeth clenched, etc.).  And if I try to catch him by surprise, I usually end up with a photo of the back of his head.  This is one of the few pictures that shows his real smile.

Little Logan

And to conclude our SoCal weekend...

Logan, happy in his hotel crib (aka his holding tank while we packed up to go home)

Jeremy and Logan during one of our many stops on the 8 hour drive home on I-5.
Traveling with a baby: good times.

Spencer & Leah's Vintage Hollywood Glam Wedding

We Salibas clean up alright

The whole family

Matt & Robin, vintage style

Me & Robin...

...and once again (being photobombed by Blair)

There was a pants-ripping incident

So, no pictures of actual wedding stuff?  Owen was being extra "special" that night, meaning not much time behind the camera.

Pillow Play

We call Logan "Morning Bird" because he wakes up in the morning so happy and ready to play.  Mornings at our hotel were no exception.  Despite waking up every few hours at night, Logan woke up bright eyed each morning like usual.

Disneyland

Back in January when I was six months pregnant, we took Owen to Disneyland as kind of a last trip as a family of three.  I had high hopes--Owen loved Disneyland at age one--but I was completely let down.  Owen was afraid of everything, he thought it was too loud, he didn't want to go on any rides or do anything really, except "go back to the hotel."  How could I have given birth to a child who hates Disneyland?  So when the opportunity came up to give it another try (like I could go to Orange County and NOT go to Disneyland?) we decided to go for it.  And what a relief to be able to say that we had a really great day.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...for It's a Small World

While we ate lunch, Owen got to see "the real" Darth Vader at the Jedi Training Academy

Auntie Robin and Uncle Matt met up with us

Owen could have spent the whole day at the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.  Thanks Grandpa, for helping him search for pirates.

Dinner at Cafe Orleans

Light painting with Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Riding Dumbo the Flying Elephant with Owen was special because it's the only ride we went on together, just the two of us.  In line we got to talk about our day, and as it got closer to our turn, he just stared at the elephants, trying to pick which color elephant he wanted to ride.

Pumpkin Patch

6 Months Old

It's hard to believe my little munchkin is already 6 months old!  We just put Owen's old rainforest musical soother in Logan's crib, and he was mesmerized.

Logan is getting stronger and stronger, and he is on the move.  He's not crawling, but he can roll himself just about anywhere.  Tummy time, which used to be the worst, is now something he loves.

Brothers

Before Logan was born, I got some customized superhero Big Brother and Little Brother shirts on Etsy with two visions.  Number 1: Owen would wear his Big Brother shirt to the hospital to meet Logan when he was born, and he would feel special to be a big brother (mission accomplished).  Number 2: When Logan grew into his onesie, I'd take some super awesome photos of their loving brotherly relationship, and the shirts would be front and center.  Well there were a few things I didn't anticipate, like the fact that Logan still can't sit up by himself and therefore slumps so much you can't read his shirt.  Or the fact that the two of them move so much that you can never read both shirts at the same time.  So while I'm disappointed in the shirt aspect of these photos, I think I still captured the special relationship my two boys share.

...and I love this last one because you can see that Logan's eyes are turning brown, but right now they're an odd bluish-grayish-speckled-brownish color, and they will only be this way for a short time.

Happy!!!

The comment we hear most frequently about Logan is how HAPPY he is.  Although he has his fussy moments, he is definitely has a contagious smile that lights up his whole face.  It's impossible for that smile NOT to cheer you up.

He is 5 months old now and he has just sprouted his first two teeth.  His blue eyes are becoming speckled with brown.  He still loves being held, but he needs to see what's going on, so he has to twist his whole body around when you hold him.  He and Owen are best buddies.  I love watching them in the rear view mirror when I'm driving-- Logan looks over at Owen waiting for him to do something funny so he can laugh.  Then they just sit there and giggle at each other.

I've been feeling pretty lucky lately to have these two little guys.

Roly Poly

Here is Logan checking out his new room! Lately he has been rolling over here and there, tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy, but today he really figured it out. He was lying on a blanket on the floor and he just kept rolling over and over until he was off the blanket. He has also been turning himself on his back a lot. I'll leave him in his crib or Pack n' Play for a few minutes and come back to find him turned around 180 degrees.

A Week's Worth of Naps

 

Why is this post called "A Week's Worth of Naps"? Because any mother of babies and/or small children knows that nap time is prime time to get stuff done. And a week's worth of naps is what it took to get Owen's room transformed into "The Boys' Room." A paint job, some rearranging of furniture, and a good closet clean out-- that's what it has taken to get the job done. I wanted to get the boys sharing a room before school started, but painting wasn't something I had necessarily planned on doing; I kinda woke up last Tuesday and decided to do it. I'm really glad I did. I'm happy with the result- it's very bright and cheery, and now it feels like a boys' room. And it's the first big change since we bought the house a year ago.  Besides paint, I pretty much worked with what we already had and didn't really buy anything new.

 

And because I am a HUGE fan of Before & After home improvement pictures, here is the room before (so dark! so messy!).  And then there's Owen "helping" to paint the closet (I made him strip down and put on a diaper so I didn't have to worry about him getting paint all over his clothes.  Let's just say it's a good thing I did that.)

Layers

What happens when a stack of coffee filters falls into a baby bathtub full of water on the kitchen counter? Well they become unusable for coffee, that's for sure, but they also soak up the water, expand, and become beauuuutiful fluffy works of art.

Daddy's Office

Jeremy usually works from home at least once a week now; sometimes the boys "help."  On this day, Logan was fascinated by the new pack of paper on Jeremy's desk, and Owen was playing in Logan's crib.  (The crib has been in Jeremy's office temporarily while Logan adjusts to sleeping in it.)

P.S. Wait, what is that on Jeremy's monitor?  Well the left monitor is his work, but the right monitor is Breaking Bad.  He started watching it from the first episode a week or two ago and he is already caught up to the current season.  He is obsessed with it.  He lives and breathes it.  In fact, as I sit here typing, Jeremy says, in a conversation to his friend regarding Breaking Bad: "It's all I care about."

Grammy!

Owen always looks forward to Fridays, which he calls "Grammy Days" because his Grammy takes care of him. (Soon it will be Logan, too!)