back to blogging

a couple of weeks ago my sister-in-law sent me a text message that said she was in desperate need of some updated blog entries. at the time i was too busy playing all day, everyday with these people to do any blogging.

but most of them have been gone for over a week and i have no more excuses (other than being lazy and a slacker). so watch out for lots of pictures to come from our week of todd family fun (i don't even know how i am going to narrow them all down). trying to get a decent picture of everyone was a challenge. and trying to get a decent picture of my parents with their 12 grand kids was just plain funny! there was always someone looking away, making a funny face, crying etc.

we tried bribery before and during and with promises for treats after. and the group of parents behind the camera calling at their kids to "smile," "look at the camera," "put down your hands" etc. was hilarious!

with all that work i think this is the best we got, even with brandon picking his nose, sophie trying to wiggle out of spencer's arms, josh partly covered by my dad's head and logan with his hand in his mouth!

man, i love my family!

ONE!

(logan at his birthday party modeling the "1" onesie i made for him. thanks mindy! i couldn't have done it without your help)

logan's one year stats:
20 pounds, 8.5 ounces - 20th percentile
30.5 inches - 75th percentile
head - 45cm

moving up in the world

for the last 6 months logan has been eating in this chair

and for awhile now when we went to pull him out, the bumbo would get stuck on his chubby thighs
thanks to some generous aunts and uncles, he doesn't have to eat in the bumbo anymore!this seat seems a little more suitable. he (and we) love it!

logan turns 1

to celebrate the big O-N-E we had a family birthday party for logan. it worked out that my whole family (minus matt) was in town for a reunion and logan was lucky enough to have almost all his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents there (we missed you erin, john and matt). a set of his great grandparents were even able to come! logan has gotten into trucks lately and so we decided to go with a truck theme.

the invite
(thanks to the skills...and computer program of mindy smith)

the cake
(thanks to the skills and creativity of my mom. isn't she clever and amazing! we had the most incredible cakes for our birthdays growing up. brown sugar, oreos/oreo crumbs and pretzels to decorate. she's a genius! )

the decorations

the guests
(a few even performed a skit for the birthday boy)

the birthday boy
(this picture could sum up his feelings about his 1st birthday party)

cupcake time

i had the "brilliant" idea of giving all the kids party horns to blow after we sang happy birthday to logan. i thought they would love it. they did. logan didn't. it freaked him out (looking back, i should have realized this).

he didn't want anything to do with his cupcake. so sadly (for me), no cake smeared on the face picture :( his pappy got him to taste a little, so this is the best we got

he preferred to get down and crawl among the chaos

doesn't he looked thrilled about his first birthday party?!

the presents

(of course he was spoiled!)

dave put together an amazing movie of pictures of the 1st year of logan's life. it was so fun to watch it and be reminded of all the fun we've had over the past year. we can't wait for all that is to come. we love you logan!

clarity...four years later

before dave and i started dating (during the year of "just being friends") he was in a band called "clarity" with 3 other guys. the summer of 2006 the band broke up when their lead singer moved to california. this was them, 4 years ago at their last gig (i think).

since then there has been marriages, moving, babies (actually, i guess just one), degrees earned, new jobs, etc. last month the whole band was back together for the first time.

we started off the night at gunther toody's, a 50's style diner with amazing malts


and then it was time for a jam session

it was really fun to hear them play again and they settled back into their old groove quite nicely after a 4 year hiatus. logan was a rock star (pun intended) and slept through the whole thing which is quite impressive since we had a full blown concert going in our living room (2-3 amps, guitars, drums, singing) and our house isn't that big. it was a great night! can't wait to see what the jam session is like in another 4 years!