SNOW!

It actually snowed in Baytown, as many of you may know, on December 10th. It was such a good surprise, because I knew it was going to be really cold that night, but I was expecting sleet, not 3+ inches of snow! And the funny thing is we would have probably missed the whole thing if it weren't for the girls, our furbabies :-).

Logan had already gone to bed and Michael went to let the girls out to go potty one last time before we went to bed and when he opened the door it was snowing! My mom had called earlier from my sister's house in La Porte and said it was snowing, but I was skeptical until I saw it myself. I wanted to wake Logan up, but Michael said, "how you you like it if someone woke you up out of your peaceful sleep to take you outside in 33-degree weather?" When he put it that way it didn't sound like such a smart idea since he's not old enough to appreciate it anyway.

Bailey just loved it once she got over the initial cold shock. Zoey & Bailey both ran around like wild animals, but Zoey was ready to go in after a few minutes. Here is Bailey trying to get Zoey to play. Z looks pitiful, doesn't she?


Here's B trying to bury her "bird" in the snow. It's actually a rope bone they they play fetch with.

We had to make her come inside and then Michael let her go out again a little later and we took more pictures because the snow just kept falling. Here's a picture of the palm tree in our back yard the first time we went outside.

Here's the poor thing when we went back out an hour or so later.
Here's our house the next morning.
The pictures I took that night of the house didn't turn out too well. I couldn't figure out how to get the camera to focus on the house and not the snow that was falling right in front of me, especially in the dark. That's definitely something I'd like to learn how to do, but not a technique I will be using very often.

I wish Logan could have seen and played in the falling snow, but I'm sure there will be many more opportunities for him to experience that. Hopefully the next "big" snow fall won't follow a major hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast. I guess the snow surprise was God's way of helping us forget, if only for a few hours, the horrible aftermath of Ike and reminding us that with Him, anything is possible.

Logan's 1st Thanksgiving

So, I'm behind; what's new. I finally have a chance during lunch to put the few pics I have up. My mom has a couple of cute ones of him standing, but I don't have them electronically yet.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Here's Logan pre-lunch in his AgHorn shirt.

Talk about a confused baby! Michael and I argued over what he would wear for the big A&M/UT game and he ended up wearing neither school's colors. He was asleep before it had been on an hour anyway. I did sneak in an Aggie paci, though, and notice the table he's sitting at. :-)

Logan loves sweet potatoes (especially when they are coated in sugar) and rolls, but he tried some other dishes, too. He actually eats pretty healthy (green peas are his favorite finger food) and Thanksgiving, with all it's delicious sides, isn't the most healthy meal.

Here he is with his sweet potatoes in my high chair from when I was a baby. Holly and I both used it. :-)

It was a very good Thanksgiving. After all, we do have multiple blessings to be thankful for: a healthy, happy baby; our families; our friends; our health; and always having what we need. And I got to eat most of my meal before Logan decided he was done and it was nap time!

25th Percentile!

I just wanted to share Logan's good news before I get too far behind since I haven't even posted Thanksgiving pics yet. Michael took him for a weight check the day before Thanksgiving since he's been in the 5th percentile since he was 6 months old. We've been having to go in for weight checks every month since then and he's stayed consistent at 5-10th percentile. But now he is in the 25th percentile! Michael said the nurse was so excited and said he looked really good. Honestly, we didn't think he was skinny before, but apparently babies should be downright chunky to be considered "healthy." Too bad that expectation changes as you get older, huh?

Hopefully I'll get the Thanksgiving pics up soon. It hasn't been at the top of my priority list, with Logan's birthday and Christmas coming up. But I did get my blog background changed!

Two special people, one very special day

My two sweethearts, Michael and Logan, were baptized at St. Mark's United Methodist Church on Sunday. It was a wonderful day, especially since our families and some of our closest friends shared it with us. We didn't take any pictures during the service, so we didn't capture an image of my favorite moment, but I will certainly never forget it.

Michael was kneeling after he was baptized and the minister, associate pastor, and chaplain were laying hands on him. Mike, the pastor, asked me to put my hand on him, as well, so I put my left hand on Michael's back. I was holding Logan on my right hip when he reached forward to lay a hand on Daddy, too. He put his little hand on Daddy's back and my heart just melted. I think it was the sweetest thing I've seen him do yet, even if he didn't realize how precious it was.

Here we are with Pastor Mike after the service.

Here we are with Michael's side of the family. GG (we nicknamed Logan's great grandma Lucile that this weekend) even came all the way from Phlugerville with a handmade quilt for Logan.

Here's the Roberts and Shaw crew.

We barely all fit in the picture, plus it's hard to get a great picture of this many people and a baby who's getting fussy. You can see Aunt Kari peeking out between Michael and me. You can tell we were on borrowed time (from Logan, of course).

By the end of all that picture-taking (because there were many cameras and multiple pictures taken) Logan had just about had enough. But we still wanted a picture with Melissa and Kylie, our good friends who came all the way from Austin. Michael and I are Kylie's godparents and she just loves "baby Logan," as she calls him. I was determined to get a picture, but Logan had other ideas, like lunch and a nap!

Here's our first attempt. If you look close, you can see the cross embroidered on Logan's sock.

We finally gave up with picture etiquette and Michael put Logan on his shoulders, where he knew he would be happy.

And he was! So much for perfectly posed pictures; we have great memories that are worth more than photographs ever will be. And thank you, again, to all of you who were there with us, to support us and share in our joy. We are truly blessed to have you in our lives!

A sweet tooth already?

Here are the pictures we took of Logan on Halloween night, when we passed out candy. Michael and Logan went to Wal-Mart that day and bought enough candy for the entire neighborhood, so we had plenty leftover. After we emptied a box of Junior Mints we let Logan play with the box until he tried to chew a piece off. He doesn't yet know what candy is, but I'm afraid it was foreshadowing of things to come. Michael and I have such sweet tooths that I don't know if there is any hope for Logan avoiding it. But we have tried not to keep too much sweet stuff in the house recently. There is always ice cream in the freezer, though!

These are just some pictures we took the other day that I thought were cute.

Logan's first deer lease trip

I thought I would take a minute during lunch to post our pictures from last weekend. I don't want to get behind again. We went to Michael's deer lease. I had never been to this particular property and it was Logan's first visit to any lease, so Michael was pretty excited. The 5 1/2-hour drive wasn't too much fun, but Logan really was a good sport.

We drove around in the truck with Michael while he checked feeders and cameras (we were getting pretty bored in the camper with no TV, radio, and a limited amount of toys and books and wanted to see the ranch). We figured since we were on private property, going about 5 mph Logan didn't have to ride in his car seat. He sat in my lap in the front seat and was so excited once he realized he didn't have to ride in his car seat. He was bouncing up and down and watching Daddy's every move as he drove. Then Daddy let him sit in his lap and he was simply giddy. When Michael had to get out for a minute, he handed Logan to me and he threw a little fit because he had to move. He loves the steering wheel.

Actually, I took Michael's truck to work today so he we didn't have to move the car seat (yes, he's almost outgrown the infant seat!) and Michael and Logan walked me out because Logan fussed when I tried to leave. When he saw me get in the truck he got all excited because he thought he was going to get to "drive." I had to let him stand in my lap and hold the steering wheel for a minute; then he "let" me leave.

We took a ride on the ranch-owner's 2-seater ATV and Logan really liked that, too. But he didn't get a good nap that morning and was almost asleep by the time we got back to camp.

The other highlight of Logan's trip was meeting Hannah, the deer. She showed up at camp last year and the guys have been feeding her ever since. We fed her carrots and celery, which we discovered she liked enough to eat through the plastic bag! She's a bit pushy and not very timid, as you can see. I couldn't get those carrots to her fast enough.

"What, there's a camera? Dang, I wasn't smiling. Take another one, Daddy!"
Logan wasn't afraid of her, either.
He even tried to eat the carrot, but Hannah was still right there, waiting.

Those of you who know us well know that my dad, brother, and husband are all avid deer hunters. And I'm sure you're wondering how Daddy will teach his little boy to hunt if he's used to petting and feeding a deer. Well, once the carrots were gone Hannah thought Logan's finger was a carrot and gave it a little nibble, much to Logan's distaste. I don't think she really hurt him; it didn't even leave a mark, but it certainly scared him and he got pretty upset. So, Daddy might make a deer hunter out of him yet.

I'm well aware that hunting contradicts everything I said in my last post about innocent animals dying. But, like I said, I was born into and then married into a crew of devoted hunters. I've hunted and killed a deer before, but I felt so bad that I don't know that I could do it again. Especially after meeting Hannah.

Rest in Peace Mac

I just heard today that Mac, the youngest of 6 elephants at the Houston Zoo, passed away Sunday from a viral illness. It saddens my heart when any innocent animal dies, but especially such a young, well-loved one. Mac just had his 2nd birthday on October 1. We took a picture of Mac and his playmate, Tucker, when we visited a few weeks ago; they were running around, entertaining their attentive audience.

Here's another pic of Mac and Tucker showing off, courtesy of the Houston Zoo's website.
My heart is also still very sad from the passing of Duncan, my mother-in-law, Carlie's, chocolate lab. He was such a sweet, gentle dog and he will be dearly missed by his pals, Lucy and Zoey, and all of his people-friends. I know he is running around in doggy heaven, though, peeing on everything and having the time of his life, pain-free. He was at least 10 years old, but had the heart of a puppy, especially when he swam. Here he is on the right with Zoey and Major, the determined Yorkie.

I'm sorry to bring up two heart-wrenching subjects at once, but I wanted to pay tribute to our animal friends who will always be loved and will be dearly missed.

And, don't to forget to thank a veteran today for all they have done to protect our freedom and our country!