Missing...

One front tooth!! It's official, Logan FINALLY lost a tooth! He was 1 when he cut his first tooth so the dentist said it would be a while before Logan lost any teeth, boy was his right! His "big" tooth has already grown in behind his baby tooth, that's what helped get it going. Logan has been "loosening" up the tooth for about a week. Last night Mike and I went out to dinner and got a sitter. When we got home Logan came running to me with a goofy grin on his face and a hole in his mouth. He was SO excited because he pulled the tooth himself. I asked him where it was and then he got teary eyed and said he lost it! WHAT!!??!! You just pulled your first tooth and you lost it already?? He proceeded to tell us that the sitter told him to go rinse his mouth out and then put the tooth in a safe place until we got home. (Later the sitter told us as soon as she told him that she had the thought that she should have taken the tooth from him then but did not) Logan went to the bathroom to rinse his mouth, while holding the tooth in his hand over the sink. It fell out of his hand. He said he wasn't sure if it went down the drain or not. Mike broke out the tools pulled the trap and NO TOOTH! We questioned Logan again, do you think you dropped it on the floor, are you sure it didn't go down the drain, etc.? So everyone got down on their hands and knees looking for Logan's very small, white baby tooth on the floor. Mike picked up the bathroom rug and gave it a little shake and, tink...tink...tink. NO BODY MOVE! The tooth had fallen out of the rug and we found it!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Logan was so happy and now he has a great story to tell along with losing his first tooth! KIDS I TELL YA!!

Congrats Logan and the tooth fairy made her first appearance at our house!!

After surgery

Here is a picture I snapped of Logan after his 3rd surgery last week. He was very angry coming out of the anesethesia this time. He was swinging and yelling and the nurses were yelling at him because he was being combative. This picture is when they passed him off to Mike and he passed out again for about 3 minutes. Logan was also sick all day from the anesethesia this time, unlike before. He threw up all day and couldn't eat a thing. So far, so good though this time around.

We'll see how it all ends up in a year or two.

3rd times a charm...we hope!

Logan has had 2 sets of ear tubes since he was 3. He will be 8 this summer and tomorrow will be his 3rd set! He's just "one of THOSE kids", we've been told in not so many words. He doesn't have ear infections but when he does get fluid in his ears his body does not re-absorb the fluid and it builds-up and builds-up in his ears until it turns thicker than glue. Then it starts to bulge his ear drum out and cause hearing loss. We've been "yelling" at him (not because he's always bad - but because he CAN NOT hear). He can't hear anything under 35 decibles, which is bad. The poor kid can't hear the TV, radio or toys that are sometimes making noise. I've noticed his speech and reading are being affected too. So, back to the ENT and our 3rd set of tubes. Hopefully this will be it and he'll finally out grow it or his body will do what it's supposed to.

WISH US LUCK!! :-)

Christmas Part 3

We were finally able to celebrate Christmas with Mike's family on Sat. Dec. 27th. We opened presents, played and ate Christmas dinner (all over again, for the 3rd time!). It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time with some of their new toys. They sure made out like bandits this year! Carlee and Sara got matching helmets, very girlie ones with flowers and they are bright pink. Logan finally got his guitar hero for the Xbox and a new Full-Auto Nerf gun. The kids also got their traditional handmade blankets from grandma. I'm so thankful that both of our families live so close and we are able to spend time with them. It's especially meaningful around the holidays. Thank you to Grandma & Grandpa, Scott, Lindsay and Sara for a wonderful Christmas (and awesome gifts)!

You'll shoot your eye out!

Remember the old movie "A Christmas Story" with the little boy who only wants a Red Ryder Bee-Bee gun for Christmas?? Well...Logan didn't ask for one but got one any way from Grandpa Cronin. Mike has taught him all the rules that go with owning/shooting a gun and they have had some fun out in the backyard. Logan even got a bullseye after a few minutes of "practicing". He's a natural! It was really cold this particular day but Mike had been gone to work for 48 hours and Logan was dying to shoot his new gun. They both bundled up and I had to make hot chocolate for them. It was only 52 degrees, and we all know that is COLD in Arizona!

Mike was a good sport and let Logan shoot for about an hour.

Thank you Grandpa Cronin!

Christmas Part 2

Mike had to work on Christmas Day (he was not supposed to but traded with a guy who really wanted to be home for his twins first Christmas, we were happy to accomodate him - tis the season). Mike starts shift @ 7:00 AM. So, we woke the kids up at 5:00 am and had "our" Christmas before Mike had to leave for work. The kids must have been very good this year because Santa went all out! Logan got a new Freestyle bike from Santa, he has already learned some new tricks. He also got a leather office chair for his computer desk in his room. Carlee got a boombox/CD player so she can sing her little heart out and a nightstand for her bedroom. After Mike left, I opened several gifts for each kid, gave them some milk and cereal and went back to bed! I was exhausted...and everyone knows I'm NOT a morning person! The kids played really well and had fun with their new toys and games. Then we went to Mike's grandmothers house to visit with his extended family and have some Christmas brunch, yummy! The kids and I played some more at home and opened more toys. Can I just say how tired I am of trying to open things that have a MILLION zip-ties and twist ties with plastic shrouds!!! GRRRR!! We then ended up at my parents house for the evening. The adults resting while the kids all played (Jared, Nicole, Audrey & Livvy came too).

We had breakfast for dinner and watched the rain and clouds over the Superstition Mountains.

It's so pretty out there when it storms!

Christmas Part 1

As every year goes, we had to "do" Christmas over a few days because of Mike's work schedule. We got together with the Cronin's on Christmas Eve to celebrate with them. We had 2 hours of opening presents!!! THANK YOU GRANDMA & GRANDPA CRONIN!! All the grandkids received laptops (kid ones, not real ones). This was their favorite gift (which I neglected to get pics of) the boys got Batman, Carlee got a Barbie and Audrey & Livvy got Baby Einstien laptops!! Then after all that excitement and use of energy we had a wonderful Christmas dinner (mostly thanks to Mike for cooking while we finished opening gifts). We had a fabulous time and we loved hosting Christmas at our house this year. I truly love my family and don't know what I would do without them! My favorite thing is to BE with my family, no matter where we get together. I love the kids running around, being able to visit and catch-up with everyone about what's going on and eating!

Merry Christmas and thank you to all my family!

Cool pics

Our last Dune trip was the weekend before Christmas. There was hardly anyone there, it's like we had the whole place to ourselves, thousands of acres of sand, freshly groomed from the wind and rain!

It ROCKED!! Mike got pretty proficient at doing wheelies in the sandcar and shootin' a big rooster tail. Here are a couple pics to enjoy. The kids also thought it would be fun to have a "long jump" contest in the sand, down a hill. They convinced Uncle Scott to do it with them (daddy said no because it made his knee hurt just watching them, it's only been healed for a little over a year).

All who participated had fun and we laughed a lot!

Logan's quad broke down, bummer (2 strokes stink), so between Logan, his father and his uncle they decided it would be a good idea to put Logan on the pit bike that Mike has. This is a "suped up mini dirt bike". Mike uses it to play around and follow the kids. Here is Logan giving it a try and giving his mom a heart attack!!! Thank goodness he had ALL his gear on! He did fine and thinks he wants a motorcycle now!! UGH! Boys and their toys!!