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.

Teething Bites

Warning: this post is one part ranting, two parts venting.

I loathe teething! Logan didn't get his first tooth until early January and since then they are popping up left and right. He now has three teeth with his fourth painfully working its way through his upper gum. This has consequently left me with a very clingy, very unhappy baby for over a month. The combination of clingy and sad has made it near impossible for me to accomplish anything. These last few weeks escalated to the point where I didn't think things could get worse, but I was wrong. On top of teething, both Logan and I are now sick. Fevers, coughs, runny noses, it's wonderful. I thought Logan was clingy before, but now that he wants constantly held and I now have even less energy to do so, my perspective is changing. Luckily, Eric was sweet and stayed home from school yesterday to take care of us, and I think it helped because we may be starting to come out of it. It's amazing what a little bit of rest can do. Logan's coughing has caused his naps to be much shorter than usual, which hasn't lead to a speedy recovery, but today was better. We both enjoyed a beautiful 2 hour nap so we're living in a temporary oasis of happiness and content and faring quite a bit better. Maybe the end of this sickness is in sight and then I can be grateful for only battling teething. Talk about a paradigm shift... :)

Our Luxury Vehicle... ;)

Great news! We just found out that we own a luxury car! Surprised? So were we. The biggest surprise is that we've owned it for years and never realized it. Take a look, what do you think...?
That's right, according to a real life example from one of Eric's fraud text books, our Jeep Cherokee is considered a luxury car. This couple that embezzled $3 million dollars went out on a shopping spree, including buying "five luxury cars- a Maserati, a Rolls-Royce, a Jeep Cherokee, and two Audis". Right up there with a Rolls-Royce and Maserati. Pretty sweet. ;)

Baby steps...

Step one for Logan, he's finally cut his first tooth! The tooth broke through right before we headed home from holiday break, and observant parents that we are, we hadn't even realized he was teething until he refused to eat a biter biscuit (which is abnormal) and I happened to feel the little jagged tooth sticking through his lower gum. He'd had a runny nose and an occasional low grade fever, but a crazy 24 hr. sickness had been running its rounds through the Channer household in Boise so we just assumed he'd caught something there. Lucky for us it was the tooth and not the sickness.

Second step, Logan can now climb up stairs. Emphasis on UP the stairs, not DOWN sadly. He's managed to fall down a handful of times already and I can't seem to interest him in learning to go down. Every time I try he screams and cries leaving me with the impression that he hates my guts. The stairs are too wide for a baby gate, so in order to get anything done without fear of him falling, I have to continually invent new ways to block them off. Without fail he's discovered ways to overcome the obstacles I've placed in front of the stairs within a couple of days.

Step number three is Logan learning to walk. Over the break he learned to stand on his own, and just recently he's started literally taking baby steps, but only a few at a time and generally never when Eric is home. He's gotten up to four consecutive steps before I catch him, but he always seems to get stage fright when I try and show Eric. He'll just stand there forever, grinning and clapping for himself, but if Eric's watching he won't move one step. I'm pretty sure he'll have to outgrow that one... ;)

Logan's last baby step is learning to fall asleep on his own. He's nearly 11 months old and every day of his life we've wrapped him up burrito style, put a binky in his mouth and rocked him to sleep. It generally doesn't take too long, but we've created a highly dependent monster. Tonight is actually the first night that we're trying to teach him to sleep on his own. Based off my cousin and my parent's advice, we prepared Logan for bed like we always do, laid him down, told him we loved him and walked away. He started screaming almost instantly, even though minutes before we had to try and keep him awake to put on his pjs. Apparently we're supposed to go in every 5 minutes to check on him/comfort him, without picking him up, and then walk away again. I've been told this can take a few days before Logan will really grasp the concept, but right now I'm just trying not to cry every time I go in to check on him. He's so worked up, and when I walk in he looks up expectantly at me, so sure I'm going to pick him up and calm him down, but I can't. I'm pretty sure that emotionally this is one of the hardest things I've done. Please pray that Logan figures it out quickly and I don't end up a complete emotional wreck in the process.