Update on Logan

I've been bad at updating everyone on Logan's health. But...no news is good news! He's had a really good summer without any major colds, praise God! This next month however, we're gearing up to see his new cardiologist. (Hopefully this one's a keeper!) Here's a reminder of what happened at his last appt.

He's scheduled to see a dr from Riley Children's who is suppose to be one of the best in our area. He's ordered an echo which was done at a hospital near his pediatrician's office. (Pictured above.) Then a chest x-ray was ordered which I was able to have done here at our local hospital. (Saved me another hour drive to the other hospital.) And finally, he's requested an EKG that will be done at the time of the appt. So all bases have been covered and I feel like he'll be well informed about Logan's anatomy at this initial visit. (Something I wasn't so confident in with the first dr.)

Logan also had his 4 year check-up ( a tad early due to preschool requirements) and he did really well. He weighs 36 lbs and is 37.25 ins tall...which is 75% in weight and 5% in height! That's our Logan! :)

I'm a believer!!

In coupons that is! I've spent the past week learning how to "play the game" with coupons. And I was surprised to learn that it wasn't as confusing as I once thought. However, I will admit that all my free time this past week has been spent on the internet learning just how to really use coupons. I mean, there's using a coupon...and then there's USING a coupon! Today, I went to my local grocery store with 4 coupons in hand and 2 that I loaded on my shopping card. What I walked out with is pictured above...for only $12.70! Not bad for a first-timer I thought. Just the 4 boxes of cereal alone usually costs $12 in the grocery store. And I've never bought a box of hamburger helper in my life, but I figured it might make a warm lunch in the winter afternoons here...the boys will eat almost anything, right?! For only $0.39 each, who could pass that up?

We're still here!

Seriously, it's been since May that I last posted? Where has the time gone? As I sat here looking through our summer pictures, I realized that a lot has happened in our family since May. I'll try to briefly recap our summer so scroll down to see other pictures.

In June we took the boys to the Indianapolis Airshow. When we visited the Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL, the boys became enamored with the Blue Angels. We figured this would be a fun thing to take them too. Although it was really HOT, we had a great time.

Our perfect seats for the show! Now we're just waiting... :)

The boys in the Presidential Helicopter.

We were also able to visit a home game of our local AAA Baseball team, the Fort Wayne TinCaps. In fact, here's a neat story about that... We drove an hour on a whim to take the boys to this game. When we got there (after paying for parking) we discovered the game had been sold out an hour before. The kids were broken hearted and began to cry. We were all set with our blankets and snacks, ready to enjoy the game from the grass stands. Then, a lady walked up to us and asked if we needed tickets. Before Nate could answer, this totally rude man stepped out of nowhere and said, "We do, we need tickets now!" The lady looked at our boys with their crocodile tears but since Nate backed away she reluctantly offered these tickets to the rude man. He took one look at them and realized they weren't all together and there was no way he would sit in the grass! He stomped off and we just stood there in surprise at this man's un-grateful heart. She again offered us the tickets and we gladly accepted. However, she would not allow us to pay her for them. Yep, she freely gave them to us and encouraged us to have a wonderful time. Once inside the park, we quickly found out that the grass seats were completely taken but one of the ticketed seats had a huge group of seats together where no one had showed for the game. We enjoyed our free seats right along the 3rd baseline just to the left of home plate. Our boys had a blast in the stands and I fondly refer to that woman as our "baseball angel".

This kid can't take a serious picture these days...geesh!

July

In July we took a trip back home to CA. We were able to spend the 4th with our family at GG's house and we all had a great time. The boys were able to play all day with their cousins that they miss so much. Below is just the beginning to what amounted to an all day water gun and water balloon warfare in the backyard.

Next on the agenda of our trip was the annual family camping trip with Nate's family. We headed up to Trinity Lake for the week and it was awesome. The weather was better than we've ever had and due to the false rumor of low water levels, we were virtually alone on the lake. We rented a huge double decker patio boat one day that had a water slide off the back 2nd level. We enjoyed a yummy BBQ lunch and soaked up the sun. The girls were able to take a trip into town one day and look through all the cute little shops while the boys fished and hiked, and wake boarded. The last 2 nights we were there, we were visited by bears which I now know I'm horribly frightened of. Above is a typical picture of Nate's immediate family. However there was 24 of us in total.

One last monumental hurdle was that at the end of our trip back home, Logan officially gave up the "bidget". Here is the last actual picture we have of him with it, sitting on cousin Colten's lap at the campfire one night. It took a couple of weeks to adjust, but all is well now. Sadly, my baby seems like such a big boy without it. :(

August

I was feeling like one last adventure was in order before summer came to an end, so the kids and I loaded up the car and took a road trip to Maryland to visit "Uncle Nick and Aunt Angie". It was a 10 hour trip and I am amazed at how well the boys do in the car that long. Mind you, we stopped at almost every rest stop through the state of Pennsylvania and Ohio though.

When we returned we were surprised to learn that Nate's parents were able to make a trip out to see us during their well deserved sabbatical. We walked around Navy Pier in Chicago, spent the day on the beach on Lake Michigan at Warren Dunes, ate yummy homemade Amish ice cream in Shipshewana and the boys toured the Hudson Auto Museum while the girls learned all about the Amish and Mennonite communities at Menno Hof.

Then came Monday, Aug. 17th, the first day of Kindergarten for Luke! He was so excited! I was more nervous than he ever was! Grandma Beckie and I drove him to school his first day and Daddy met us there so we could all walk in together. The second day he decided he was brave enough to ride the bus even! We're the last stop before school so sadly, I cheered him on in his new-found independence.

Tuesday, Aug. 18th was Logan's first day of preschool as well. And to my relief, he was equally as excited as his brother had been the day before. There was an orientation the night before where he was able to stay and play in his classroom and I think that made all the difference. He'll be attending school Mon.-Wed. for 2 1/2 hours in the morning. Now...what to do with my free time, hmmm....