My New Love

I guess I should have seen this coming, but I've found a new love and Eric actually approves... SOCCER! Seeing as I married a soccer loving/playing enthusiast, I guess it was only a matter of time. I assumed that one day I'd be a soccer mom, but I didn't really think I'd be a soccer playing mom. I took a beginners soccer class back at BYU in 2008 right before I got pregnant with Logan and played two coed intramural seasons with Eric around that same time. While I really enjoyed playing, I assumed that leaving BYU and their intramural program meant my "budding soccer career" was over. Lucky for me a couple of friends from my ward volleyball team here in Idaho started inviting me to sub on their indoor soccer team. I was hesitant at first and didn't actually take them up on it until about March and since then I can't get enough of it. I now play on a coed indoor team and sub for a women's team and it's been such a blast. I come home from games bruised, winded and as happy as can be. I normally play (and prefer) defense since I lack a lot of ball handling skills, but recently my teams have been pushing me up on offense since we've had a lot more girls who want to play defense than offense. Part of me is terrified to play up top because I feel so inadequate, but it really has forced me to grow and I think I'm slowly getting better. Playing offense actually gave me the biggest high a few days ago when I scored my second EVER goal. It felt like a miracle because I barely beat the goalie to the ball and chipped it up over their head to score and I still feel all warm and fuzzy inside about it. :)

Here's a picture of my coed indoor team.

It's pretty fuzzy but they sure are a great group of people. :)

Cuteness Update

My goodness, how time flies! I feel like these last few months have just blown by and suddenly Summer is here and Claire is huge! Okay, so she's not really that big, but I just feel like she's growing up so fast. :) She's seven months now and full of smiles, especially for Logan. She absolutely lights up around him and he can get her giggling and laughing out loud more often than anyone else. Logan is so cute around her too. When he wakes up in the morning, if I don't catch him in time the first thing he'll do is run into the bedroom to wake her up with an enthusiastic "Hi Claire! Hi Claire!" He's also starting to recognize/place names to different emotions so he'll say things like "Baby's happy" or "Claire crying". The funniest is when he wants something so he'll start fake crying and if we ignore him he'll come up to us and tug on our pants and say in a completely controlled voice "I'm crying!" He makes it pretty hard to keep a straight face. :)

So our little family survived Eric's first "Busy season" out at work and we're SO happy to have him back. While talking with a few wives of other KPMG auditors this past week I heard them use the term "audit widow" for the first time in reference to the busy season and I had to laugh knowingly. It's only been a few weeks since its been over and we're trying to take full advantage of our extra family time. A few Fridays back we went to the MK Nature Center where we had a blast looking at fish, bugs, birds and plants with Logan. It was so fun to watch how excited he got over all of the fish (big and small), ants on the sidewalk, birds randomly flying by, etc.


Maybe he'll end up with an interest in science like mommy. :) Afterwards we headed to an adjacent park and got our fill of wood chips, slides, swings and sunshine.



Here are some cute pictures of Logan and Claire to catch up on the past few months. Enjoy!

A Haircut... Finally!

Not that he didn't need it sooner, but we waited to give Logan his first haircut until he turned two. We wanted to wait until my mom was in town so she could help us both do the cutting as well as hold him still if needed. He actually did really well and didn't need held down, thanks to a high chair and the movie Cars. Here are some before and after pictures of Logan's hair.

When we parted it we kind of had to tuck/comb it behind his ears so it wouldn't look so long.



Yes, on top his hair was nearly six inches long and you know I styled it like this all the time... ;)


Looking sharp :)


It took less than 24 hrs for me to go into shock over his haircut. The change seemed so dramatic to me, it felt like my little boy grew up over night. It was good though because if we'd waited much longer, he may have been mistaken for a little girl... ;)

Logan's 2nd Birthday

Just over a week ago we celebrated Logan's 2nd birthday, which fell nicely on the long President's Day weekend, making it possible for some family from both sides to come in town to celebrate with us. My dad lent us his handy man skills while he was here and helped us build one Logan's gifts, a set of PVC pipe soccer goals complete with nets. We were pretty excited to make these for Logan since he really seems to be liking soccer, but little did we know that when pushed together they would double nicely as a fort. It was a pretty exciting discovery for us, especially since it's been so cold outside that we've been spending most of our time indoors. To go with his soccer goals, we made him a matching soccer ball cake which was kind of fun. Among the other gifts he received was the movie Cars, which I love but have now nearly memorized since we watch it on average AT LEAST twice a day. Overall we had a blast playing with family and Logan's new toys. It was a great birthday but we sure miss everyone now that they're gone!

Lunch time... nap time... same thing

My childhood photo albums contain handfuls of pictures of me sleeping face down in bowls of soup or plates of spaghetti. I was beginning to think I was an extra strange kid or something because Logan is nearly two and he'd never once fallen asleep during lunch but it finally happened. A few days ago Logan was eating a pb & j in his high chair when I noticed that things had gone quiet, which is pretty rare with both Logan and Claire. When I turned around expecting something to be wrong, this was what I saw.


I was trying hard not to laugh, afraid it would wake him up, but he was out cold. He hardly even stirred when I wiped up his hands and face with a wet wash cloth. When I pulled him out of his chair, he woke up just enough to curl up on my shoulder and fall back asleep. I wish he was always that willing to take a nap. :)

Sweet Baby Claire :)

Disclaimer: Be prepared for lots of pictures!

She's finally here! Claire Fay Channer was born just over a week ago on November 8th at 8 lbs 5 oz. Labor and Delivery went as smooth as I could have hoped, and amazingly we only had to spend 24 hrs in the hospital post delivery. Logan's delivery was fairly smooth as well but we ended up having to spend nearly 3 days in the hospital because he struggled to breastfeed (which was miserable). Luckily, Claire came out eating like a champ, much to my joy and relief. The hospital is great and all, but nothing tops a short visit and a quick return to your own home. Claire is doing wonderful and Logan seems to be adjusting fairly well to her arrival. He surprised us in the hospital by identifying mommy, daddy and baby, especially since we'd never heard him say baby before. This morning he surprised us again by pointing to both himself and the Claire and saying "cute". Yeah, he knows he's cute. :) We definitely have to keep a close eye on him around her though because he's a little rougher than we'd like, trying to push her enthusiastically in the swing or touch her eyes when he's identifying body parts. I'm sure Claire will get used to being roughed up a little bit by her big brother. One of the cutest things he's done is sharing his fuzzy blanket with her and occasionally just coming up and giving her kisses on the head and cheek. Yesterday, while Claire was laying on a blanket Logan came and sat down next to her and started to try and read her some books. He nearly sat on her head, but he was trying to be nice. He really is a sweet boy and I think/hope he's going to be a protective older brother.



Grandma Stoker and Logan watching Claire through the nursery window




Deer in the head lights

Logan giving baby Claire kisses (this happens fairly frequently during the day)


Claire chilling with Grandpa Stoker

The Stokers minus Jacob (and soon Kait!)


I truly have been blessed, both with a wonderful husband and children, and also with amazing extended family and friends. Everyone has been so supportive and helpful, and we really have been overwhelmed with love. We were lucky enough to have my mom and dad come in town for a few days before Claire's birth and they helped us make final preparations on the house and spoiled Logan with all the attention he could ask for. My mom then stayed for the delivery, helped us out with Logan and literally served us all week long. I'm worried that Eric will have gotten used to all her good cooking and mine will pale in comparison from here on out. To top things off, my dad, brothers and Kait (my brother's fiance), all came this past weekend to meet Claire and spent an early Thanksgiving with us. There's been so much good food and wonderful company these last few weeks and it's only going to continue. My brother Jacob is getting married on December 4th, so we'll get to see them again in just a couple of weeks. Also, Emily and Adam are coming in town for a Channer Thanksgiving in just over a week and the rest of the Channer family will be coming to town in a little less than a month. We couldn't be more excited to see everyone and for Claire to meet the rest of her wonderful family! This truly is a time of Thanksgiving. :)

Mommy's Little Helper

As my due date has been approaching (less than a month away!) I've found myself riding a daily emotional roller coaster. Sadly, Logan has been forced to come along for the ride (on more than one occasion pushing the right buttons to set me off), but overall he's been a total stud. Eric's been working through a month and a half long mini-busy season out at work, so Logan and I have had a lot of one on one time. I've created a pretty intimidating to-do list for myself of things I want to accomplish before the baby arrives, and Logan has been right there helping me get things done. He's seriously been a huge motivator to be productive, from cleaning, to organizing, to being crafty. Especially the cleaning. If he ever finds something on the kitchen or living room floor (and he finds EVERYTHING), he gets all concerned and drags me around the house to pick them all up. Slightly OCD, I don't know, but it's definite motivation to vacuum and sweep, which he loves to help me do. Overall it just makes me really happy that whenever I need to get some cleaning done, all I have to say is "can you help mommy?" and arm him with a dusting cloth or wash rag and he's happy and helping. Things like unloading the dishwasher and folding laundry are occasionally counter productive or just take an extra long time, but I can't complain because if he really wanted to, he could make sure I couldn't accomplish anything. Plus, how do you stay mad or frustrated with a kid this cute?

Gotta Love Sesame Street

So in the past month or so, Logan and I have become fans of Sesame Street in the mornings and I tell you what, that show is hilarious! I don't know if in recent years the show has changed much, or if I just didn't catch the pop culture references and celebrity appearances when I was a kid, but this show seems aimed at entertaining parents as much as teaching kids. A recent favorite of mine was the appearance of "Iron Monster", Super Grover's spoof of Iron Man. We turned the show on halfway through the segment, which starred Super Grover all shiny red and gold with a laundry iron for a head, working his magic in the laundromat. The characters kept referring to him as "Iron Monster", but as slow as I am I totally didn't catch the reference until an electric guitar started rocking out when he said his own name. Maybe it's lame but I couldn't stop laughing. Anyway, if the opportunity arises and you find yourself in the room with an episode of Sesame Street, I personally recommend watching. :)

(image from toughpigs.com)

First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

We've taken the plunge and officially entered the "adult" world... Eric has a job! He started working for an accounting firm called KPMG in Boise on Monday and boy is he off to a start. He went in to his first day thinking he'd be spending a day or two glued to a computer screen completing training courses, and instead they have him helping finish some massive project that has a very strict deadline. Talk about hitting the ground running. His first day of work he didn't get off until 9:00P and tonight's even worse. He's helping wrap up their big project so they can meet the deadline in Asia, so consequently it's after one in the morning and he's still not home. Oh my heck. The time commitment and hours required for this project is abnormal but if I didn't know any better I'd think they were hazing the new hires or something. And this isn't even supposed to be the busy season. Gah. Here's hoping things mellow out a little sometime soon...

Here's Eric getting ready to head out the door for his first day of work.

Somehow I got lucky and ended up with these two handsome guys. :)

PUPPIES!

I never would have thought but we're currently the proud "parents" of a litter of puppies. Eric's oldest sister, Amy, and her husband Sam own a female border collie named Felina who gave birth to four beautiful little puppies just over a week ago. Amy and Sam didn't even realize Felina was pregnant until about 3 weeks ago, and it didn't come as good news because they're moving to New Mexico soon and they're only allowed one dog in their apartment. They're temporarily living here in Boise for another week so the puppies have been staying with us. Out of worry for the puppies futures, Eric and I volunteered to bottle feed them until six weeks when they'll be mature enough to go to homes of their own. After only a day we grew so attached that Eric and I have decided to keep one of the puppies. The puppies are half Border Collie, half Australian Shepherd, with coincidentally two of them looking just like their father and two just like their mother. We're planning on keeping the only girl, and Eric's brother Nate is going to keep one of the boys, but we're still looking for good homes for the other two. One is speckled like the father and the other is black and white like Felina. They should be great dogs since both breeds are very smart, obedient and fairly easy to train. My parents own a Border Collie/ Australian Shepherd mix and he's been a wonderful family dog these past six years. If anyone is interested in taking home one of these puppies in about five weeks, just let us know.

This is the puppy we're planning on keeping. Any ideas on a girl puppy name?

It's a girl!

This is a little belated, but we found out about a week ago that we're going to be having a baby girl! Before the ultrasound Eric and I made our guesses as to the gender and I was victorious. I honestly would have been just as excited about Logan having a baby brother to play with, but I was really hoping I was having a girl because this pregnancy has been different than my last. I was way lucky with Logan, with hardly any pregnancy complaints (besides 5 months of heartburn) but this girl has thrown me for a bit of a loop. For most of this pregnancy I've felt a little "off", with a bit of food aversion and of course some heartburn. I was really hoping that these general feelings of icky-ness could be a sign in the future to let me know early on if I was having a girl, and not just a sign that all pregnancies from here on out were going to be increasingly worse. Who knows if my system will actually work in the future, but for now I'm feeling pretty good about it. All in all though we're really excited to be welcoming a little girl into the family to even things out a bit. Now we just have to come to an agreement on a name. Wish us luck on that venture! :)

Oh Baby!

Baby Channer #2 is on the way! We're way excited about the newest addition to our family, and we're pretty sure Logan will be too. Since leaving Utah and my cousin's kids, he's been getting a little lonely without small people to play with. We're keeping him busy, but I'm sure he'll enjoy a playmate, be they girl or boy. As for me, I'm just starting the second trimester and I feel like a whale already. The baby's due November 11th and already that date can't get here soon enough. Yay for babies!

Way too excited

Our countdown is nearly over. Eric has one final left tomorrow afternoon and we'll officially be done with school! We've had a paper chain going for about 12 weeks now and there's only one link left. Both mine and Eric's parents will be coming for graduation and then we'll be saying our final farewells to Utah this Saturday. We're super excited to be progressing in life, but a little sad as well to say good bye to a lot of good friends we've made here in Utah. Hopefully we'll see many of them again, and if not, know that we'll miss you and we'd love to stay in contact. If any of you are ever in Boise, make sure and look us up! :)

"I've got not strings, to hold me down..."

Pinocchio's song pretty well describes how Logan was feeling once his IV, air tube and numerous other health monitors were removed right before we left the hospital this past Wednesday. Yes, Logan, Eric and I spent the first half of the week in the Pediatric ward of the hospital in Provo. Logan started coughing the previous Friday night, was still coughing and sounding kind of raspy and wheezy by Saturday afternoon and was downright struggling to breathe by Sunday evening/Monday morning. We had a nebulizer and breathing treatment medication on hand from Logan's brief sickness when he was a few months old, so we tried that for a day or so, but by Monday morning he woke up with blue lips and grayish skin so I took him directly to the doctor. I could tell that he was having difficulty breathing but I didn't realize how serious it was until the nurse took one look at him and rushed to get the doctor and an oxygen tank. It was one of the scariest experiences that I've gone through. Doctors and nurses suddenly filled the small room, checking his breathing, giving him oxygen and breathing treatments, and quickly announcing that Logan needed to be admitted to the hospital. A nurse drove over to the hospital with me, holding an oxygen mask on Logan's face in the back seat and helping me rush Logan to the pediatric ward where they were waiting for him. This is where Logan was quickly hooked up to every monitoring machine imaginable. Through tears I answered all of the doctors questions as they worked to diagnose Logan's breathing problems. They were pretty sure asthma had a part in it, but were also concerned about pneumonia and possibly RSV. Logan was essentially moving no air through his lungs when he showed up at the doctors office, and was only doing slightly better after they filled him with a bunch of medications and put him on 100% oxygen. It was the scariest thing to watch my baby hardly moving in that hospital bed, listening as the doctors and nurses made comments about the severity of his condition. For the first few hours they worried that he might have to be transferred to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake to be hooked up to a respirator, but luckily his breathing was showing a little improvement and his lungs didn't look like they were going to give out from exhaustion. That was comforting, but what could have made it MORE comforting would have been if Eric were there. Yes, Logan was admitted into the hospital at 10:15A Monday morning and Eric didn't find out until nearly 3:00P. We have just one cellphone, and generally Eric takes it to school so I can contact him, but that day he'd left it with me to contact the doctor and set up an appointment. I knew Eric was probably somewhere in the Tanner building only a few blocks away, but I had no way to get a hold of him and the doctors highly recommended that I not leave Logan's side at all. Luckily my mom was inspired to call me, and in a round about way my dad emailed Eric from work to let him know the situation. Eric hurried on over and spent the next few evenings doing homework from our hospital room. Besides Logan's improving health, we were super blessed to have so much love and support coming from friends and family. There were so many acts of service and prayers being said on Logan's behalf, and I'm convinced that those prayers and the his wonderful doctors lead to his amazing recovery. Doctors and nurses who'd worked the early shift and looked after Logan when he was first admitted couldn't believe he was the same kid when they came back on shift Tuesday morning. By Tuesday he had regained a lot of his energy and appetite, which was wonderful but made his inability to run around or leave his metal crib quite frustrating. All those monitors attached to him made it difficult for him to even move around in his crib without disconnecting one or two. I can't even count the times he tried to rip out his oxygen supply and his IV. By Wednesday I was going stir crazy from not leaving the room, and we were all ready to be discharged. The final diagnosis was that Logan had asthma triggered by a virus, and was potentially starting to get pneumonia. We were discharged around 3:00P, and after leaving Walgreens with a portable pharmacy we made it home at last. Logan's still on a pretty strict schedule as far as medications go but he's doing much MUCH better. With only some bruising left over from being pricked so many times, it's kind of surreal to think that it even happened at all. Here are a few pictures we took of Logan in his little hospital gown.

Spring Teaser

What a glorious week! We had a little bit of snow last weekend, but since then it's been nothing but beautiful and occasionally breezy. We've been trying to take full advantage of the sunshine by leaving doors open, wearing shorts and flip flops, doing yard work and having BBQs. After being cooped up way too long in the basement, Logan's enjoying the change of scenery as much as everyone else. Here are some pictures of playing at the park and in the backyard.

Let's Be Positive :)

Sorry, my last post was pretty negative and I hope it didn't rub off on anybody. How about a little bit of optimism/good news to shake things up a bit? ;)

While this last month didn't run the smoothest, it really wasn't all bad. For one, we got to celebrate both Logan and Eric's birthdays (turning one and turning 25). We invited over some family to celebrate the occasions and had a blast. Logan tried birthday cake for the first time and seemed to like it okay, but didn't actually get that messy. I baked the cake in the shape of a bear holding balloons (thanks again Mom Channer and Camille for the cake decorating book) and gave Logan his own cake balloon to destroy/eat, but he barely put a dent in it. He's so used to us feeding him that it was almost like he was afraid to touch the cake or get his hands dirty. We poked his fingers in it, and once we gave him a toddler spoon, he realized that yes, he does like cake and went to work.

When Eric's birthday rolled around a week later, we were pretty sick of eating cake so we made a birthday monkey bread ring instead. It tasted great and still held the candles so voila.
In terms of the weather, this month has actually been pretty nice. In the midst of winter I totally forgot how a nice dose of sunshine can turn your day around. There have been a handful of days this month when it was so nice, we practically had to go outside and enjoy it. Logan was still pretty clingy, but with footballs, soccer balls and sunshine calling his name, he was willing to get off my lap and wander a few feet away. It actually got me excited for this upcoming summer, watching him playing and walking around the backyard.

Speaking of Logan walking... he walks! He walks all over the house, and has even tried to run a few times. Both times quickly ended in a face plant on hard wood floors, but hey, he's getting there. He's also picked up saying a couple words, including "ball" and "uh oh". He's particularly fond of that last one. He's hit a phase where he throws just about everything, and right after he throws it, he says "uh oh" clear as day. It's super cute but slightly aggravating at the same time. While he doesn't comprehend the full meaning of "uh oh", sometimes I swear he does and he's saying it sarcastically after throwing his binky out of the crib. Another "trick" he's picked up is waving and pointing, the later helping us understand what it is he wants a little better. And lastly, drum roll please... he's super close to being transitioned from breast milk to cow's milk. Well, strawberry nesquik flavored cow's milk that is. I tell you what, no one is happier about this transition than me. I set a goal to make it a full year, and through all sorts rough spots, Logan and I made it and I'm ready to move on.

Another good thing that came of February was New Moon making it to the local dollar theaters. I decided a while back that I'd hold out seeing it until it came to the dollar theater, and then I'd make Eric go see it with me. There were a number of times I really just wanted to go see it, but I'm glad I waited because watching it with Eric in a half full theater at the spur of the moment was really nice. I won't go much into it, but I think my two favorite parts (for laugh out loud reasons) were: 1) Jacob suddenly taking off his shirt to dab at Bella's minor head wound, and 2) Jasper's response to Bella asking if he thinks she should become a vampire. It was something to the effect of "Yes, because I'd really like to not want to kill you all the time." Overall I thought it was a pretty good movie and there were a number of scenes, especially locations, that were almost exactly how I'd imagined them looking in my head. I thought that was pretty sweet since that's one reason I've been disappointed in a number of other books made into movies.