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)