One Month Old and the rest of October

This is a photo of Laney when she is 1 month old. She is a good baby. She is very content, even when she is drug around to all that everyone is doing. The kids are adjusting well. The girls are excited to see her everyday when they get home from school. Logan does pretty good. If Ryan is holding her, he will tell him to give me the baby, so he can play with him. Here are a few of the other things that we did this month.

Bailey had a space project due. She had to make the solar system accurate in size and scale. Lets be honest here, Ryan and I were heavily involved, but she really wanted to make it her own and did all that she could. It turned out really well and her teacher asked to keep it as an example.

Ellie was picked to be Principals Pride by her music teacher. She got to attend a special ceremony in the morning before school and she got to hang out with the principal during her last recess. Her teacher said that she is always sweet and enthusiastic. Good job Ellie.

I am also proud of the fact that we all made it on time to the ceremony at 8:30. Everyone was very cooperative this morning. It made a world of difference.

Ellie was able to go the Ag Expo for a field trip. I was able to go with her and take Logan. It is a fun event that they do every year. The kids get to see animals, agriculture and enjoy some milk. They also had.................



HUGE John Deere tractors. This little man couldn't get enough. I spent a good portion of our time out looking at these. He couldn't stop talking about it. He still loves to look at the pictures.

Logan is adjusting well to sleeping in a big boy bed. We made the change a few weeks before Laney was born. He has always been such a good sleeper, he really loved his crib so I was a little worried, but he did great. He looks so grown up in this big bed.

Ryan went on his second annual pheasant hunting trip with his dad, brothers, brother in law and a few of his dads friends. They drove all night to North Dakota and hunted for a few days and then drove home. They all think it is the best time ever. I am not so sure, but I say whatever makes you happy, and I don't want any pheasant!

More Laney photos

Her cord fell off at about two weeks, then she could take a real bath. I had a lot of helpers for this. Logan and Ellie helping with the washing, Bay with the photographing.



Her sisters love to hold her and pose for a photo

Cute girl

First Week at Church

Labor Day, Happy Birthday to Ryan & A Few Other Things

We spent Labor Day in Burley this year. The first night we stayed in a hotel so the kids would be able to swim. They love swimming with their cousins when we all get together. The weather wasn't the warmest so it was a simple solution.

Everyone swimming in the hot tub

The next day was a little warmer so we went over to Julie's to enjoy some outside water activities. They set up this tarp and put some and water on it for the kids to slide down. Logan rode down with Kristi, El was brave enough to go alone, and Bay went a few times then went to go find grasshoppers with the boys.

After the sliding we headed down to the dock for some jet skiing. Julie took the kids out for rides. This is one of my girls favorite things, it was the first time Logan really remembers going out on one, and we was in love I had to pry him off so the other kids could have a turn.

Logan trying to drive

Ellie and Allie with Julie

Bailey and Jaeli having a ride

Where are the men?? Labor Day weekend is also opening weekend for College Football, therefore the men are pretty much non existent. They did manage to fit in an early round of golf before kick off. 4 months to go!

On Sunday we went out to Ryan's dad house for dinner, he and Dee always put on a great spread. This is the first time all the girls were able to get together and wear their Easter outfits.

Totally Picture Worthy

So cute, love all the variations of this adorable outfit

At the beginning of the summer our neighbor Jon (a John Deere lover) gave Logan a John Deere movie. Logan had started noticing tractors and was particularly fond of the green and yellow ones, Logan was expressing his love to Jon one summer evening when Jon informed us that he had a Jon Deere movie. He let Logan borrow it, and overnight Logan's love turned into a full blown obsession. We were not aware that Papa's lawn mower was a John Deere so imagine Logan's excitement when we walked into the garage and saw this......

Papa even had a hat

He sat on this thing for an hour

We had a great weekend in Burley, it is always a good time hanging out with everyone.

Loggy and Daddy looking at tractors in this book. I think I lost this book at Applebees the night before Laney was born. I called but they couldn't find it. Hum.........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!

Ryan getting ready to enjoy his Blueberry Crumb Cake

I tease him that he always picks the ugly cakes for his birthday. He says he doesn't care how they look, he likes the way the taste. I found this recipe on Pioneer Woman over the summer and it quickly became one of his favorites. Served with caramel ice cream and he is a happy man.

Dinner at Cheesecake Factory


Happy Birthday Daddy we Love You!

I was happy when I found out Laney would be born in September. Everybody has a birthday buddy now. Ellie and Logan in May, Me and Bailey in July, and Ryan and Laney in September. If you have anal tendencies like myself you understand that this is cool. Having her born in October would simply not do. We must even it all out. Good thing it worked out, if not it would have bothered me until the end of time :)

Every year our awesome neighbors the Peterson's put on an outdoor movie. It has quickly become a neighborhood favorite. We all look forward to it every summer. This year we were favored with a little Scooby Doo. It wouldn't be summer without it.

Another season of soccer occurred this fall. Bailey had the same coach, who is awesome, and her 2 other friends that she has been playing with forever. It was a good season she worked hard. It finally paid off in the last game when she scored TWO goals. Everyone was so excited for her. I tackled her after the game. I think she was embarrassed :)

Good bye summer. I always miss you. Our life is about to change. Another little one. Hopefully by next summer we will have a grip on it all. We shall see!

Happy Birthday Logan!!

L o g g y is 2

I can't believe this little guy has already been in our lives for 2 years, but at the same time I can hardly remember what it was like without him.

He got really excited about the party at Ellie's birthday so I knew he would be super excited for his special day. He LOVES cake!! He also gets really excited for the balloons, decorations and especially the candles.

He was pretty much speechless when he saw all of the "party" was centered around things that he loves. Choo choo's and hoops. I think he said choo choo a million times that day.

He had cancakes (pancakes) for breakfast, he is a fan of cake in any variety

After we took the kids to school he was so excited when we got back so he could see his choo choo party again, "there it is, my party, my choo choo party"

He decided to start opening this gift when no one was around. It was the Little People garage, he got it from my mom and dad. He loved helping Ryan put it together.

Another Loggy favorite for lunch, cheese and dot dog on his Thomas plate of course

When the girls got home and after he played cars with them for a little bit, we went and got some dinner. A fabulous meal at McDonald's, he said he wanted nuggets and dip (ketchup), it's his day!

After Bay's soccer game we went home for cake. He really did love this cake. I was a little worried that the front car looked more like a bus, but when he woke up from his nap and saw it, he said "my choo choo cake" so bus looking or not to him it was a choo choo.

Sneaking some nandy out of the train cars


He loved having us sing to him and blowing out the candle. He got some of his favorite things for gifts. A basketball hoop and more trains and tracks. He still plays with them regularly. He also got a mini John Deere tractor that has started a serious obsession. More on that later, it deserves its own post. He says that he is 2 but he still only holds up one finger. We are working on that.

Hey guys do I look like my dad?

Shootin Hoops

I love these two pictures of him playing trains because you can actually tell that he is saying choo choo, while he plays.

Love this little guy!

The next morning when he woke up, we could hear him downstairs saying something. When we came down we could tell he was saying "my choo choo cake yum yum" he was just helping himself to a little breakfast.

Things we Love about Logan

• He makes me crazy and makes me laugh everyday. He is such a little boy and I love learning all that includes, but sometimes he really is out of control. He still gives me hugs and kisses whenever I ask though.

• He gets so excited about life. He loves his surroundings, his bed, his house, outside, any animal, bus, or tractor that we pass. He takes it all in. He loves when dad comes home or when anyone who has been gone comes home, but especially dad.

Love you tons Logan!!

Logan's 18 Months & Full of Crazy Antics

Logan is officially a year and a half old. He is so crazy and so much fun all at the same time. I really don't like to wish my kids lives away, but on Sunday's 18 months couldn't get here fast enough. The kid is a terror at church,. One week we walked into the chapel and he started crying, he knew what was coming. He has been going to nursery for a few weeks now and is doing great. He cries a little at first but adjusts quickly and when I go check on him he is having a great time. I did watch the teacher try to keep him in his seat during singing time, it was entertaining to watch. I am grateful for her efforts in trying to start him out on the right foot. These photos give a pretty good peak into the life of Logan.........

This stool is my nemesis. He uses it to climb onto everything, I put it up but someone always gets it down. Ellie uses it to wash her hands. Logan uses it to wreak havoc, he also uses to climb up by the phone and push all the buttons on the answering machine portion. He makes the base ring, he turns the answering machine on and off because the guy says "calls will not be answered" or "calls will be answered" he thinks its hilarious. And of course most of the time he leaves it on calls will NOT be answered, and then people have to listen to my phone ring in their ear like 20 times. Sorry.


He has discovered markers, pens, pencils, anything he can find. I call them writing utensils. So usually I hear Ellie yelling "Logan has a writing untincil, Logan has a writing untincil." You must get there quickly when this is the case, if not this is what you get. I did make him take a picture with his master piece, just so I can show his kids someday.

He is definitely a Payne, he LOVES to dip. He will eat anything if you give him a little ketchup to go with it. This is during dinner, his typical is.... he climbs out of his highchair, climbs onto the table and starts eating or stepping in every one's food. This is actually some ranch dip that he found on the table and took one of Bailey's carrots and helped himself to some dip.

He loves to get in the fridge, he can hear you open the door from just about anywhere in the house. He likes to sit in there, or look for his milk or a string cheese, and when you close it......he is not happy. It is helpful when I am trying to cook dinner though.

Good thing he is so dang cute. He loves to RUN, play with balls and cars, watch football with his dad, and play with his sisters. He is obsessed with dogs, he points them out on anything and everything he sees, he barks like on dog 100+ times a day (he also things most animals are dogs, he barks at everything). He loves to read Panda Bear Panda Bear and Goodnight Moon. He will bring them to me and climb up on my lap, so cute. He is a good eater and a good sleeper. He loves his binky and blanket he doesn't have words for them, he just grunts and points when he wants them. He is in the 27% for weight and the 83% for height (we've never had a kid over 40% in anything). He is spoiled because we all give into his every desire, although I will not get a dog. I love you Loggy but even I have my limits.

Since I didn't have this blog when the girls were 18 months I thought I would just keep track of a few things they liked at that age..........

Bailey: 15-20% for everything, loved the book If You Give a Pig a Pancake and could say the last word of each sentence. She loved the movie Monsters Inc. she watched it a million times over the Christmas break when she was this age. She always had to have bink and case (her binky and a ratty pillowcase that she always packed around). She had tons of hair and cute dimples, she was not a good eater, we would chase her around with food trying to get her to eat. She did finally get some teeth at this age. She was a great sleeper once she got to sleep. She never wanted to go to bed, she wanted to stay up and see what was going on. This did not get better until about age 4 or 5.

Ellie: 20-30% for everything. Loved the book What Makes a Rainbow, she knew her colors at a pretty early age. She said a lot of words at this age, I think she listened to Bailey's every word and wanted to be able to communicate with her, she spoke clearly pretty early. She loved shoes, it was her first word, she always had to have at least two pairs on, hers and mine usually. She was a good eater and a good sleeper. I think the sleeping wasn't an issue because she always wanted to be where Bailey was. She always said "I hold you" when she wanted me to pick her up. She has always had her strawberry blond hair and bright blue eyes, she also had really chubby cheeks at this age with little dimples. She called her binky, night night and her blanket mae mae and could not sleep without them.

I love this age, when the world is such a mystery and they are still so innocent. I love watching them learn from their surroundings. I love that they aren't sassy yet and still dependent on me.

The time goes too quickly !

The CrazY Month of MaY ...........cont'D

May 28th (Thursday)
--Ellie has dance pictures. She is so excited to finally get to wear her dance outfit. This has been a fun group of girls. She has really enjoyed them and its been fun getting to know some of the moms too.
--Another hot day the girls beg to go swimming. Ryan has to go to a meeting so I agree. We head to the pool for an hour. It was great for them to get cooled off and get their energy out. Logan was great to just sit in his wagon and play with toys.

May 27th (Wednesday)
--Ellie had a pizza party at school. She was most excited about it. She kept telling Ryan "dad you aren't invited to my pizza party."
--We head to the mall, Ellie is most insistent that we get Ms. Heidi (her teacher) a new coffee cup and she has her eye set on the one at the Life is Good store, so that is what we got.

May 26th (Tuesday) --Logan poops on the floor EVERYWHERE. Additional details of this are not needed for my memories, I doubt they will be forgotten anytime soon.
--Logan has his 12 month check up today his stats are:

--WEIGHT: 20.75 lbs. 15%
--LENGTH: 30.5 " 75% (the highest any of the kids have been in anything ever, go Log)
--HEAD: 17.8 " 20%

--His ears looked much better. The Dr. wasn't totally on board with me lowering the dose of the medicine, she thought the rash was from him playing in the dirt on Sat. Not sure what to believe at this point, but the rash is gone and the ears are clearing up so I am just going to keep doing what we were doing. Seriously so sad when they get their shots. Happy his are done for a little while.

May 25th (Monday) --Ellie wakes Ryan up to tell him to go and work on the swing set. 8 a.m. swing set work begins.
--Rash is totally gone!! YaY Logan is feeling much better.
--Another long run
--Ryan informs me that when I moved the flower box over..... (I moved it over because it wasn't centered on the fence and it bugged me, so before we filled them on Sat. I centered it on the fence)...I covered up a sprinkler. Perfect! So I undig the flower box, move it over and replant it. Not very much fun at all. This is what my anality gets me.
--I take the kids swimming while Ryan continues to work on the swing set. It was great weather to be outside.
--Dave comes over to help Ryan with the swing set, it was great with the help he actually ended up getting it done today.
--BBQ some hot dogs and have ice cream sandwiches. The kids are loving the swing set all of the kids in the neighborhood are enjoying it too.
--Finally take a shower and call it a day!!

May 24rd (Sunday) --Rash is still hanging around. Our gut instinct is that it he is reacting to the medicine but does not have an allergic reaction. We thought the dose was kind of high for his weight so.... We call the Dr. to be sure. Memorial weekend = run around. Dr. was a total bitty not impressed with her at all. We take matters into our own hands. Reduce the dose and pray. Ryan takes girls to church.
--Loggy and I are totally late for church. I bring Benadyrl to church just in case :) Church is still craziness even with my tardiness, but still good.
--Ryan's aunt, uncle, and cousins come over for a visit. It was so fun seeing them. His cousin lives here and her parents were visiting. Note to self......get together with them more often.

May 23nd (Saturday)
--Logan's fever is already gone and he seems to be getting back to himself already.
--The work begins..........
--We borrow our neighbors truck (are we ever going to get one of our own?? hope so) we go to Toys R Us and get the last swing set of the model we were looking for. Not the one I had been searching out initially but I think it will be good. Just happy to have one at this point. Run to Target for a few quick things. It never ends up being quick with both kids looking at every single thing in the store. Meet Ryan to pick up dirt in our neighbors truck, dirt is needed to fill up the garden and flower boxes. 2 loads of dirt later and many a many trips with the wheel barrow back and forth the boxes are now full. Logan eats lots and lots of dirt!!
--Ryan starts on the swing set, I head back out for seeds and flowers to plant in the boxes. At 8 that night we start to wrap things up. Significant process was made on the swing set and the garden and flower box both got planted. A successful day.
--I give Logan his medicine and take him upstairs to get his pajamas on. When I take off his shirt his back is covered with a rash. My initial thought is that he is allergic to the antibiotic. Which would totally stink. Then we start thinking and realize that he has been on it before and he has been on it for over 24 hours without a problem. Humm. Ryan starts thinking and we start researching an amoxicillin rash. More thinking. We give him Benadryl to be on the safe side. Pray that he is okay and doesn't have a reaction that night.

May 22nd (Friday)
--Logan's fever came raging back on Friday morning. Too much birthday fun? Back to 103, so a Dr. Appt. was scheduled for later that afternoon. First we had to stop by Bailey's class to celebrate the summer birthdays at an "unbirthday" party. I think this is great that her teacher does this. Being a summer birthday myself, I remember feeling a little jipped not being able to have a birthday at school. Although, now you are not allowed to bring cupcakes or anything really unhealthy. So I made up a trail mix of healthy and some unhealthy stuff (swedish fish, peanut m&m's, plus pretzels and goldfish, they even each other out right)? Birthday bags and balloons it might as well have been July 19th!!


--Logan's doctors appointment informed me that he had a double ear infection. Fantastic! I was actually relieved it wasn't something worse, but I feel bad. He has probably had it for a while. Walgreens drive through, here I come AGAIN. Gotta love the drive through though.