The Ferrell Family

March pics online!

2008-04-03T16:05:00.002-04:00

Hello all. I am obviously not keeping up on the blogging very well, so I figured I would just send out a quick note to let you all know that I updated the dotphoto website with the March photos. For those who haven't been on in a while, there are pics there too from months prior.

Some quick highlights from the month that correspond with the pics:

-we went up to Zehnder's Splash Village with Hillary, Tom and Tommy for a Saturday night. It was a TON of fun and I would recommend it to everyone!
-I finally took some updated pics of Logan's playgroup-we're still trying to meet with them once a week
-The Cruz family came over on Friday/Saturday for Easter weekend and Logan got to hunt for eggs with his cousins. The Ferrell side of the family were over for the rest of the weekend. Grandma Ginny spent some time with the sewing machine and put together a new Diego room for Logan. I'll make sure to post some pics for next month
-we went to Toledo for Jessalyn's b-day last weekend. I can't believe she's 7!!! It was fun and it was great to see Doug Nicole and Gabby. She's growing so fast.

So, that's the quick rundown if you want to check out the pics-click on the photo album link on the right!

Long time, no post

2007-10-05T10:19:00.000-04:00

I'm not even going to try to make any excuses for my lack of posts over the past 6 months. I will say that I learned the hard way that if you get behind...it is very hard to catch up. So, I am going to start fresh and hopefully do a better job going forward. Thanks to Matt for the not-so-subtle kick in the butt in his blog:)

Things are going well in the Ferrell household! Logan is 15 months old now and rules the coop. He was 22 pounds and 32 inches long at his 15 month check-up. He has been walking since May and is now running all over the place. He is very hard to keep track of, but I am thankful that he is starting to know the limits and the meaning of "no". Sure he still loves to see how much toliet paper he can pull off of the roll or how quickly he can empty out the pan cupboard, but that's all in good fun. He stills ends most days with some type of bump or bruise..I like to call him the kamikaze kid. I've almost had quite a few heartattacks over the past few months (like last night when he thought he's try to climb up on the arm of the couch and fling himself over). Luckily, Alex grabbed him in time and distracted him with the pillow. He loves to run across the room holding the pillow and then flinging himself on it.

He is getting better at problem solving and loves to figure things out - like how to stack the blocks or find the ball under the cup. He loves animals and is getting pretty good at making the sounds. So far he can mimic a cow, a monkey, an elephant, a gorilla(including beating his chest:), a lion, a wolf and a snake. He is also expanding his real vocabulary too, but his favorite words are Mamma, Dada and dog. He loves chasing me around the house saying "Mamma, mamma, mamma, mamma...." Is is terribly cute, but also tends to try the nerves a bit. He loves giving kisses and hugs. I would still say that his favorite toys are balls and he loves to read books. He also loves being outside. I think we would be out 24-7 if he had anything to say about it. I don't know what we'll do come winter.

Alex's job is going well. He has been traveling quite a bit more than expected, but they are currently trying to hire another programmer. So hopefully, that will cut back on Alex's travel. The appraisal business is starting to pick up, so I have been working more too. We are both playing volleyball one night a week and trying to spend as much time as we can as a family. We both love being parents and are very fortunate to have Logan.

I didn't put a link in for the picures, but if you follow the photo album link on the toolbar it will take you to dotphoto. All the pictures from the last 6 months are there, so check them out if you have a few hours to kill!

Week 43 4/14-4/22

2007-04-23T08:16:00.000-04:00

Please click on the photo to see more pictures

Spring has finally hit opening up a whole new world for Logan to explore. We tried to get some cute pictures of him in the flowers, but he was more interested in playing with them. Last weekend, Alex's mom, grandparents, Uncle John and cousin Kyle came over on Friday night to play cards. Alex and I played in a 4s tournament on Saturday while Grandma Ginny watched Logan. It was nice because it was the first time we've gotten to play together in a while. On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and then did some relaxing the rest of the day.

This week has been a little hectic. Alex had found out that he has to head to North Carolina for work and we decided that it might be fun to all head down in the motorhome and camp while Alex is there for the job. We thought it would be at the beginning of May, but for once they are ahead of schedule and he needs to be there by next Wednesday. So, we have been frantically trying to get the motorhome ready to go. We're not sure how long we'll be down there, but it could be as much as a month. I may fly back with Logan if we get busy at work, but as of now we are planning on staying with Daddy the whole time.

My mom came down on Tuesday to help with the baby so I could get some work done. We still tried to do our playdates throughout the week since Logan won't see his friends for so long. We also had the parent's group meeting at our house on Wednesday night. This was our first meeting without a speaker. It went well and we're trying to plan some fun things throughout the summer.

We took dinner over to Alex's grandparents on Friday night. Grandma had foot surgery earlier in the week. They had to remove a good portion of her heal. Depending on how the biopsy goes, she might have to be off her feet for as much as 2 months so we wanted to see them before we left. Aunt Marcia was there and she gave Logan a really cool bubble machine as an early birthday gift. We went back over to Grandma and Grandpa's on Saturday morning to have breakfast with them, Alex's cousin Tommy, Hillary and baby Tommy. They just moved back to Michigan. Tommy was born 5 weeks after Logan so it's going to be a lot of fun having them grow up together.

I had an appointment to get my hair cut on Saturday afternoon, so Alex took Logan to Babies R' Us to get some things we decided we had to have for our camping trip. He got a really nice all-terrain jogging stroller and a hiking baby carrier backpack. We went to church on Sunday morning and Nate came over that night to help build a cover for the step in the motorhome so I don't have to worry about Logan tumbling out the door. So, it was a pretty eventful weekend but we did actually get a lot of stuff done. It's amazing how much more room we have in the motorhome when everything is organized..I guess that's true with most things though:)

In other big news, Grandma and Grandpa Helsom both celebrated their birthdays this past week. Grandma turned 58 on the 13th and Grandpa turned the big 6-0 on the 21st. They are going to come camping with us on their way back from Florida the first week in May. So, we'll be able to celebrate then!

Week 42 4/6-4/13

2007-04-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

Please click on the photo to see more pictures

Alex only had a half day of work on Good Friday so we went to church on Friday afternoon. We watched the service from the Family Room which was nice to be with Logan, but we did miss the atmosphere in the auditorium. Then, Grandma and Grandpa Helsom came down on Friday night to watch Logan while Alex and I went to Palazzo di Bocce with Sa and Chad. It was our first time playing bocce ball and we had a lot of fun. We had dinner there too and the food was great.

On Saturday, we all went down to Tamie and Arnold's for Easter weekend and to celebrate Jessalyn's 6th birthday. Her party was on Saturday afternoon. She got a lot of great stuff including lots of outdoor sports equipment. Gotta start 'em early. The kids enjoyed hunting eggs and searching for the baskets the Easter Bunny left on Sunday morning. Logan didn't quite get the concept, but he had fun playing with all the presents.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Great Grandma and Grandpa's house for Easter dinner with Alex's parents, Mandy, Marcia and Karly. It was good to see everybody and Logan enjoyed Easter dinner as much as everybody else did. He is really into people food at this point and loves to try bites of everything. He prefers that over baby food, but he still won't feed himself small pieces. He'll eat it if you feed it to him, but he only wants to play with it if it's on his tray. I'm sure he'll get it one of these days.

The good news is that the Prevacid seems to be helping his reflux issues. He's still up 2-3 times throughout the night, but he doesn't seem to be in as much pain as before. We also started him on yogurt (which he loves) to help his digestive system. Hopefully, things will get even better over the next week of the trial.

Logan spent the week perfecting his crawl and using the walker. He loves walking all over the house. He doesn't know what to do when he runs into something and just keeps ramming it with the walker until you turn him around. He's also learned how to get his toys out of his toy bins by himself. He loves to pull himself up and then pull everything out and throw it on the floor. It's very cute, but it will be better when he learns how to put it back in!

Week 40-41 3/22-4/5

2007-04-09T09:42:00.000-04:00

Please click on the photo to see more pictures

Wow! Week 40. It's amazing to think that if June 23rd would have been his conception date, Logan would just be due to be born. Granted, he didn't make it the full 40 weeks. But, it really puts how long pregnancy really is into perspective.

Alex and I were supposed to play in a tournament on the 24th, but we decided against it with Logan's ear infection and I still wasn't in great health yet. It ended up being for the best since we got a lot of stuff done around the house including some much needed baby proofing. A lot of decorative items were retired to the garage for the time being and we installed plug covers and other safety items like that. Logan and I spent more time recuperating the following week with a few activities mixed in.

The following weekend, we spent some time together as a family on Saturday and then we went to church on Staurday night. On Sunday, I played in the women's state volleyball tournament while Alex and Logan had a Daddy/Son day. Our church sponsored an Easter egg hunt and activities in a park in Southfield. Logan had a great time and enjoyed meeting the Easter bunny. Unfortunately, Alex forgot the camera so we don't have any pictures to share.

We decided to take advantage of the last warm day before the cold spell hit and went to the zoo on Monday with some of the Parent's Group babies. Logan was a bit crabby so he didn't seem too interested with the animals. We bought a zoo membership so hopefully he'll be more interested this summer. I went up to work on Tuesday so Logan got to spend time with Grandma Helsom. They just got back from Florida the weekend before. On Wednesday, we met Angie and Ella at the mall. On Thursday, we went to Grandma Ginny's to participate in the daycare's Easter egg hunt. It was a little strange hunting eggs in 3 inches of snow, so we only kept him outside long enough to get a few pictures.

He has perfected his crawling over the past few weeks and is getting pretty fast. He can also pull himself up on pretty much anything and is getting good at transferring from one object to another. Last Sunday, Daddy got to witness a great "first". Logan figured out how to push his Tigger scooter and walk along behind it. So, we pulled out the walker aid and he is getting pretty good at walking behind it. Logan's right front tooth also came through on the 29th. His left tooth made an appearance on the 3rd, but his gums have swollen around it again. Hopefully, it will pop through pretty soon.

Logan had his 9 month well baby checkup on the 5th. He offically weighs in at 19 lbs, 4 ounces. He's still in the 25th percentile for weight and head circumference and the 50th for length. The doctor decided to change his reflux medicine. Nights have been pretty difficult for the past 3 weeks or so. He can't sleep for more than 3 hours at a time and it gets worse towards the end of the night so most nights I end up holding him upright by the end of the night. I'm sure being sick didn't help matters any either. The doctor has put him on a 2 week trial with Prevacid, another acid reflux medicine. Hopefully this will work!

Week 38-39 3/10-3/22

2007-03-23T15:18:00.000-04:00

Please click on the photo to see more pictures

One thing is for sure. I am glad that I started this blog. I just read the previous post so I knew everything to include in this one and it is amazing how many new things Logan has learned just in two weeks! As you can see from the photo, he now waves. It has to be one of the most precious, heartwarming things to walk into a room and have your son smile and wave at you. I know I say that with a lot of the new things he learns and I'm sure I'll continue to be impressed and overjoyed with all the new things he does. Each new thing is so special.

He still says Da-da on a semi-normal basis and has also started to say Duh when the dogs are close to him. I've heard something that sounds a lot like Ma-ma when he's crying, but I refuse to accept it as a real Ma-ma until I get it in a happy context:) His baby babble is really starting to sound a lot more like true conversation. He also reacts well when you call his name and he understands the word "no" at this point too.

We had to upgrade to the next size car seat since Logan was getting too long for the bucket seat. It's a lot easier to carry him out and strap him in. He was getting way too heavy to lug around in the seat all the time. He likes shopping a lot better since he can sit up in the cart like a big boy. He loves to people watch.

He is getting better at crawling. Now, he'll get up on all fours and then lunge forward. But, he doesn't really want to work on the crawling as much as standing and pulling himself into a stand. His favorite pastime is having Alex or I lay on the floor so he can practice pulling himself up. He can stand for long periods of time by himself too to play with toys and is working hard to perfect his bending over to retrieve dropped toys. Sometimes I think he's dropping them on purpose so he can try to pick them up. I guess it's better than Mommy-pick-up! He also has learned how to furniture walk. He can walk along the couch and will also transfer back and forth to the ottomon or one of us. He's tried to go "no hands" a few times, but promptly falls on his butt.

We've picked up at work a little bit, so Logan has spent a few more days up at Grandma Ginny's daycare. It is a good thing too because he has started to refuse the bottle. We're not quite sure how it happened, but somehow Logan went about a month without having to take a bottle. So, we're slowly trying to get him back in the habit so hopefully I can wean him one of these days.

The weekend before last, Alex and I both played in the Doble. It's a big volleyball tournament one of our friends throws every year with a huge party afterwards. I just played in the tournament and then headed back to get Logan from Grandma's. He still isn't taking a bottle well enough to leave him for too long. Alex ended up staying out there for the night and had a good time at the party.

Last weekend we spent some time with Alex's family. Alex's Uncle Jimmy, cousin Anthony, Anthony's girlfriend Becca, and their daughter Kaylee were up to visit from West Virginia. Kaylee is 10 months old so it was cool to see some of the developmental differences. We went up there for a bar-b-que on Saturday and enjoyed some green beers in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Then, we met them for lunch at The Rain Forest Cafe in Great Lakes Crossing on Sunday.

Last week, Alex wasn't feeling too great and I ended up getting it this week. Logan had some really rough nights this past week and after a doctor's visit on Thursday, we found out he has a double ear infection. He's also getting hit with a double wammy with his top two teeth about to come through. They also increased his Zantac dosage since he now weighs almost 20 pounds. We're hoping the increased Zantac dosage will help since he is still up at least twice a night with the reflux issues. Hopefully, everyone will be healthy by the next posting!

Week 37 3/1-3/8

2007-03-09T08:42:00.000-05:00

Please click on the photo to see more pictures

Last Thursday, a lot of the stay-at-home/part-time moms from our parent's group decided to meet at Great Lakes Crossing. We usually meet at somebody's house, but it was a nice change of pace to go to the play area at the mall. Here is a pic of all the babies lined up. As you can see, Logan wasn't too happy about the photo op:( From left to right: Parker, Drew, Anastasia, Logan, Adam and Sebastian.

Friday was a busy day. Logan and I went up to Grand Blanc in the morning to take care of some things, then we went grocery shopping and then we were back to the house by 3. Debbie dropped off Anastasia for the night so they could go up to the Whiting to see the opera. One thing is for sure...I am thankful that Logan wasn't a twin. It is definitely a lot crazier with two to take care of...I'm sure I could handle it though (covering myself in case the next pregnancy produces multiples:) But, it was fun to have them interact together. Arnold also got some Red Wings tickets last minute, so Alex and Arnold went to the game and my sister and the girls came over to help out. Alyssa's reaction was funny when she came to the door. She said, "Logan looks different." Of course, I was holding Anastasia so we got a good laugh out of that.

On Saturday, we took the Cruz family out to lunch at a good Mexican place by our house and then we watched the girls while Tamie and Arnold went to get their taxes done. Logan and I had colds since we got back from Florida which we shared with Daddy so it was good to get some R & R on Sunday.

Logan had a big day on Monday. He learned how to army crawl sort of..he looks like an injured soldier dragging himself along. He's so funny because when he gets up on his hands and knees, he always ends up going backwards which makes him very frustrated. Now he's working on reaching out with his hands in the army crawl. So he's got the leg part figured out, now he's working on the hands, and once he puts them together...look out! It's actually pretty surprising how quickly he can move without doing a true crawl. It's been a lot of fun working on it all week.

He also learned how to twist himself out of the Bumbo seat. We had been using that to feed him on the kitchen counter. So, Monday night we put the high chair together and retired the Bumbo chair to the garage. It's a good thing because I have already started to give him more table food for him to try and feed himself. It's really a lot easier in the high chair...once again, we probably should have gotten that out sooner. He loves the teether biscuits and the wagon wheel snacks. The funny thing is that Logan won't try to put smaller things in his mouth (bits of turkey, puffs, etc) . He just likes to play with it. It's rather ironic that the kid puts everything else in his mouth.

On Wednesday night, we had our parent's group. It was the "focus on fathers" meeting where the men all took the babies to play and hear the speaker and the women went out to dinner. Logan had spent the day at daycare so I could get our taxes done and head to Grand Blanc to get some work done. I had a complete brain lapse and ended up not heading home until 6:45 (our meeting starts at 7). But, Alex was a trouper and went to the meeting by himself. I was able to drop Logan off to him at about 7:40 and then I went to meet the girls. He was glad he went to the meeting....even if he did have to show up without a baby. He said the speaker was great. He learned a lot of interesting facts about a child's development in correlation with the father's involvement and it was great to interact with the other fathers. I think all the guys opened up a bit more since we women weren't there:)

Weeks 35-36 2/19-2/28 Florida!

2007-03-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

Please click on the picture to see LOTS more photos

Well, we did it. Tamie and I successfully managed to take a 5 year-old, a 3 year-old and an 8 month old on an airplane to and from Florida. We left on the 21st and came back on the 27th. It actually wasn't too bad. Much thanks to Stacey for taking us to the airport and picking us up. Not having to worry about parking made things a lot easier. All three kids were great on both flights. We got in later on Wednesday night. My parents came to pick us up in the old motorhome and we stopped at a rest area for dinner and showers before heading back to the park. Have I said how much I love motorhomes and how convenient they make everything?

We spent Thursday at my Mom and Dad's park. The weather was pretty good and we were able to take all the kids swimming and they enjoyed being outdoors. On Friday morning, we headed for Orlando. We stayed at a KOA outside Disney World. It was nice to get there Friday afternoon and have some more time to spend in the pool and playground. My mom got Logan his own little life jacket and he enjoyed swimming around and floating on his back. It's amazing to me how much he seems to like the water. We're definitely going to have to get him in swim classes soon.

Then, we went to Disney World on Saturday and Sunday. I don't care how old you are...the Magic Kingdom is a wonderful, magical place. All three kids were GREAT both days. Logan loved watching the people and seeing all the sights. I ended up carrying him in the Baby Bjorn most of the two days. He seemed to enjoy being up at eye level with everything. He would just shriek with joy and laugh as we walked along. My shoulders were pretty sore after Sunday, but it was worth it.

We actually were able to hit quite a few rides too. I wasn't sure how Logan would react, but he LOVED them. We did the It's a Small World ride, Peter Pan's Flight, the Pirates of the Carribean ride, the Magic Carpet ride, the Jungle Safari Tour, the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, the Winnie the Pooh ride...I'm sure there's some that I'm missing. the only time he got a little scared was in the Pirates of the Carribean ride..it was pitch black and you went down a little waterfall, but he was happy again when the lights came back on.

But, the thing I think he liked the best was the shows and parades. He freaked out a bit on Sunday when he met the Genie from Aladdin. It was funny because the Genie "got his nose" and pinched his cheaks and then Logan decided he was scary and started screaming. But, I can't blame him too much. A big blue guy would be kinda scary to me too if I were that small. They had the Disney Spectromagic parade on Saturday night. It was really cool with all kinds of lights and music. All the characters were dressed up in lighted suits. Logan was in awe. It was funny because he fell asleep hard about 2 minutes after the parade was over. So, I think he had a great time even though he won't remember any of it.

Overall, it was a great week..the perfect amount of excitement, fun and relaxation. But, it was hard to go on vacation without Alex especially with the new experiences at Disney World. So, he'll be sure to join us next time...when Logan is a bit older and can understand everything going on.

Daddy did get a surprise the night before we left though. Alex was in on the computer and I was standing behind him with Logan. I took Logan in to change his diaper and Logan was twisting his neck around, looking back towards the office saying "Da-da-da-da" He proceeded to keep calling to him when I put him down on the changing table. We thought it might just be a fluke, but when Alex came in. Logan smiled and yelled Da-da. Alex left and came back in a few times with the same results. It was really cool! He hasn't said it a lot since then though. Hopefully it wasn't just a fluke!

Weeks 33-34 2/2-2/18

2007-02-19T11:03:00.000-05:00

Please click on the photo to see more pictures

Here's a cute pic of Logan with his new Uncle Bosco. We went up to the daycare last Wednesday(Valentine's Day) to go meet him and surprise Grandma Ginny. Alex's parents went and picked him up last weekend from a breeder in the UP; it was nice of them to meet his parents in Gaylord so they didn't have to drive the whole way up. He is VERY cute and is already well mannered. He seems to like all the day care kids, but I don't know if he is getting enough sleep with all the action in the Ferrell house. Logan enjoyed playing with all the daycare kids for his first Valentine's Day. He also enjoyed trying his first sucker. Luckily, he lost interest after a few minutes so I didn't have a kid on too much of a sugar high! Later on, we went to watch Daddy play volleyball. Logan had a good time "cheering" for him whenever he saw him.

This past weekend, Tamie, Jessalyn and Alyssa came to visit. We babysat the girls on Friday night and Saturday morning while my sister went to a conference. Logan got to go to Chucky Cheese for the first time. He loved looking at all the flashing lights and went down a slide for the first time. Tamie and I drove up to Grand Blanc on Saturday afternoon to go get my parent's van; my sister finally sold hers so they are going to buy my parent's. Tamie watched the kids on Saturday night and Alex and I went to see Night at the Museum. The movie was pretty good and it was nice to spend time alone together. Sunday morning we all went out to breakfast and to church. Logan stayed in the daycare for the second time successfully.

I'm really glad that we have gotten involved in activities with other kids. We have our Play Away class on Mondays and we get together with some of the other moms from our Parent's Group every week too. Last Monday, we met up with Angie and Ella at Twelve Oaks. It was our first time mall walking and it was fun to see Angie and the baby. I still can't believe Logan was that small just 6.5 months ago! So between those activities and going up to Grandma Ginny's daycare every so often, he is getting some exposure to other kids. It's amazing because he can be really fussy all morning, but then he is as good as gold when we get to a play group. He is starting to try to interact with the other kids more and just loves observing the older ones. It's great to give Mommy a break too. It's amazing how much you can miss talking to other adults!

Developmentally speaking, Logan has had a big few weeks. His first tooth (bottom left front tooth) sprouted on 2/2 and the second one (bottom right front tooth) came out on the 6th. He had pretty rough days the days before the teeth appeared. I felt bad because Alex and I thought his reflux was acting up and that was the reason why he was so fussy. But come to find out, a little Tylenol or Oragel might have helped him out. It will be so much easier when he can tell us what hurts!

He also started picking his belly up off the ground on the 3rd. He can push up all the way and will rock back and forth on his hands and knees. So, we had to stop putting him to sleep in his cradle since he could push up and almost see over the top of it. Having him sleep in his room has made it a little harder on Mommy during the night. He is still not sleeping through with the reflux issues; most of the time he just needs to be sat up and jostled a bit to help get the acid down. But, I'm getting used to it and I'm thankful that Logan didn't seem to mind the transition into his room.

Then, this past week he figured out that he can move when he pulls himself up onto his knees. He still can't go forwards, but he can make it across a room going backwards pretty quickly. It seems to frustrate him though because he can't seem to understand why he is getting farther away from his toys.

Logan can also pull himself up to a standing position when he's holding onto Alex or I. He hasn't figured out (thankfully) that he can do this on any object. His balance isn't quite good enough to do that on his own yet. He is also a lot more interested in whatever Alex or I are eating. He loves to have "bites" of our food. Sometimes it's tough to try and find foods that he can have (rice, cooked carrots, green beans, bananas, etc.), but he loves getting tastes.

It's just amazing how much he changes every week and all the new things he learns. We need to start worrying about other things now like childproofing the house. I don't think it will be too long before he figures out how to crawl forwards!

Week 32 1/27-2/1

2007-02-01T17:11:00.000-05:00

Please click on the photo to see more pictures

Things have been going a lot better since they put Logan on the acid reflux medicine. Thanks to Zantac, Logan is a new baby. He seems a lot happier overall and I swear he now has twice the appetite. He is eating 3 meals a day, putting away a full jar of baby food and at least 5 tablespoons of cereal at each meal. He is also nursing just as much. The only bad thing is he is still waking up throughout the night, but it is because he is hungry. At least he's not screaming because his belly hurts! The doctor thinks he's trying to make up for lost time and hopefully, he'll cut back on the night feedings soon on his own. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Tamie, Arnold, Jessalyn, and Alyssa came to visit last weekend. It was great timing since Alex was still stuck in Kentucky for work. I would take a house full of people over an empty house any day! The girls had a lot of fun playing with Logan and all his new toys. It's amazing how he lights up when they're around. They went to Kensington Church with us on Sunday and the girls enjoyed making new friends. I left Logan in the childcare for the first time during the service and they said he was an angel.

On Monday, we went up to see Grandma Ginny and help out at the daycare. Ginny was pretty upset because they had lost Bosco over the weekend. He ate a plant (which shouldn't have been fatal according to the vet and poison control), but it was. So, Logan did his best to help cheer Grandma up and I helped out around the daycare. Daddy got home on Tuesday night and Logan enjoyed going to watch me play volleyball. Alex spent a lot of time showing him the boys playing basketball in the other gym.

Logan is becoming more independent and loves playing with all his new toys. He actually figured out how to put the balls into the holes on his dinosaur on his own. He probably gets it in the hole one out of every twenty tries, but he's working at it! He also learned how to push himself up into a pushup, but then he just slides backwards. Another small step towards crawling. We also started trying to give him a sippy cup. He seems to understand the concept, but he seems more interested in using it as a teether at this point.

Week 29-31 1/6-1/26

2007-01-26T15:42:00.000-05:00

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Wow! I can't believe it's been three weeks since my last post. Our schedules haven't been quite as busy since the holidays are over. But, I guess that's a really good thing since Logan came down with his first true sickness. He had an ear infection, an upper respiratory infection and the flu. The poor little guy was miserable. But, the good news is that he got a kick out of throwing up all over Mommy which he did multiple times. He only got Daddy once, but it was a good one since he vomitted all over our bed at the same time. The antibiotics they gave him for his ear infection also caused him to have major diarrhea. So, it was a little bit of a battle to try to keep him hydrated, get him to eat, and keep him in clean outfits since it was coming out both ends so much. He seemed to feel a bit better after about a week and a half, but his tummy was still bugging him quite a bit. The doctor thinks that the flu might have triggered some acid reflux issues. He would wake up from a dead sleep screaming and you could tell eating was pretty painful. They put him on Zantac for a trial period. Hopefully it will get his system back in order and it won't have to be a long term medication. He's only been on it for a few days so we'll see if it helps...especially at night. Between being sick and the reflux issues, all the work towards sleeping better at night got thrown out the window. I'm lucky if he can sleep more than 2 hours at a time at this point. So, hopefully the Zantac will help and we can try to get back into a better routine.

We've gotten back into a "social" routine for Logan this week. We started a play-away class at the local boys and girls club on Monday afternoons. There are two other babies there from our parent's group and about 5 other babies. There are topics each week and then the babies get to play together. We also had a parent's group meeting on Wednesday; the topic was common illnesses and the doctor that came to speak was great. He answered a lot of our questions and explained the causes/effects of different childhood issues. We also set up a schedule with some of the stay-at-home/part-time moms. We're going to meet every week, alternating Thursdays and Fridays for a few hours in the afternoons.

It's great to have these scheduled playdates to get us both out of the house and get Logan exposure to other kids. It's amazing to watch them together now. They still don't "play" with each other, but there is definitely a level of interaction. You can almost see their little minds working. We were able to go see Angie and baby Ella yesterday. She was born on January 13th. Mom and baby are both doing great. I can't believe Logan used to be that little! It seems like ages ago.

I've been able to work a little over the past few weeks. Logan has gone to the office with me most days since he was sick, but he did get to visit the daycare one day this past week and he got to stay with Grandma Ginny a few Saturdays ago while Alex and I went to a Pistons game with Sa and Chad. Alex got in some quality Daddy time this past Sunday while I played in a volleyball tournament. It was a much-needed break and stress reliever for me. It's very trying on your nerves when your baby is sick. Alex is in Kentucky this week for work and will hopefully get to come home next Tuesday.

We were set back a bit in the new foods department over the past few weeks. He didn't want anything to do with solids while he was sick. It was hard enough to get him to nurse with all his tummy issues. But, he is now back eating solids. He loves to gum on real foods too, especially bananas. He is also sitting up all on his own! It makes playtime much easier now. He really likes to stand up too, but he still needs support for that. His "baby babble" vocabulary is also expanding. He talks away like he's having a whole conversation with you...now if I could just figure out what he is saying we'd be all set!

Week 28 12-29 - 1-5

2007-01-07T20:37:00.000-05:00

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On Thursday, Logan and I went up to my parent's house. My mom and dad were watching Jessalyn and Alyssa for the week while Tamie and Arnold got some things done around the house, so we went up to hang out for the day. Ginny and Sara came over and we spent some time in the pool and opened more Christmas presents. On Friday, Alex worked from home and I was able to get all the Christmas decorations taken down and we organized Logan's playroom (the old dining room). We practically need a whole wing for all the toys Logan has gotten already. I think we're going to go with the rotation method so he doesn't get sick of anything.

We went up to my parent's house on Saturday for the weekend. We celebrated Christmas with my family on Sunday morning and Logan got even more toys plus a bunch of hand-me-downs from the girls. We all got some really cool gifts including a new drill, clothes, new picture frames and decorations for above the entertainment center, and a portable DVD player for the car. It was great to hang out with the family for the weekend and Logan made a valiant effort to stay awake until midnight on New Year's Eve, but he finally fell asleep right around 11:15.

Logan has certainly joined in on Jessalyn and Alyssa's enthusiasm for Grandma and Grandpa's pool. He LOVES it! He loves to float around and doesn't even fuss when he gets splashed from the girls doing their cannon balls. He does a modified froggy-type breast stroke and he can even hold onto the bar all by himself while the current is on. Overall, the weekend was a lot of fun and we ate too much food yet again including our annual New Year's seafood dinner. The crab legs were huge! (and yummy)

On Monday, we went over to Jess and Will's to visit for a little while. We ended up coming home before the Rose Bowl because Alex had to get up at 4 the next morning to head to Battle Creek. Logan spent the day with Grandma H on Thursday while I did some work and then we spent the day at Grandma Ginny's day care on Friday.

Logan started to enjoy his solid food meals quite a bit more this week. He also seems to finally be feeling better so we think there might be a correlation there. Logan is getting better at sitting up but definitely prefers standing if someone is supporting him. It will be nice when he can sit by himself for longer periods so he can play with his new toys on his own. He still loves anything that makes sounds or lights up, but his favorite thing has to be the Jumperoo. Sometime he practically lifts the thing off the floor when he really gets going. He must take after Daddy in that respect!

He had his checkup at the doctor's on Thursday morning. He is weighing in at 16 pounds, 8 ounces. He is 26 3/8 inches long and his head circumference is 43.3 centimeters. So, he grew almost 2 inches and put on 3 pounds, 3 ounces in 2.5 months! He is finally into the 50th percentile for weight and height and is in the 40th for head circumference. It took him 6.5 months, but he is catching up!

Week 26 & 27 12/18-12/29 Christmas!

2006-12-28T05:42:00.000-05:00

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Vacation was great, but it was nice to come home to a housefull of Christmas decorations. Logan got to go to Grandma Ginny's daycare on Monday and Wednesday. Santa Claus made an appearance on Wednesday to hand out gifts. Logan didn't seem to mind sitting on Santa's lap and even gave his beard a few tugs. The present, of course, immediately got the taste test and seal of approval. We spent the rest of the week running around doing last minute shopping. Logan is still fighting his cold and ended up giving it to me, so both of us spent the weekend with stuffy noses and the coughs. It's a bummer that he didn't feel well for his first Christmas.

On Friday night, we went over to Nate and Raechel's for the Ferrell Family Christmas get-together. Everybody got lots of great stuff. On Saturday, we went to Clawson Steak House with the Cusick side of the family. Alex's grandparents take everybody out to dinner every year and then we all go back to their place in Berkley to hang out and play cards. Ginny and Roger spent the night at our house so they were here for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. My parents came down on Christmas Eve to spend the night. Mandy, Grandma and Grandpa also came over for Christmas Eve dinner.

I got up on Christmas morning with Logan and we made a big breakfast for everybody. I'm sure we won't be able to put off present opening until after breakfast next year! Logan got the hang of ripping the wrapping paper pretty quickly. He had a bit of a meltdown and had to take a quick nap in the middle of opening presents...I think he was too overloaded with all the great toys he got! Both sets of grandparents hung out for the rest of the day and we watched a few movies.

Overall, it has been a great Christmas. We're celebrating with my side of the family next weekend over New Years. Logan has gradually been getting better at eating solids over the past few weeks. He has tried applesauce, green beans and peas so far. It is funny because sometimes you can't feed him fast enough and he has no interest at other times. He has started sitting up better and can even stand with a little bit of assistance. He continues to do well on his stomach and you can tell he is working on crawling. He has also started to give lots of kisses and hugs. His kisses are hilarious because he will grab the side of your face(or hair..or ears) pull you in and give you a wide-mouth open, sloppy, wet kiss. We got some good pics of him getting some of the fam.

Week 25 12/9-12/17 Vacation!

2006-12-27T13:06:00.000-05:00

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Well, nobody can say that traveling is stressful until they've tried to do it with a 6 month old! But, I must admit that things worked out a lot better than I expected. Alex had to use some vacation time before the end of the year and we found a really good deal on a 4.5 day cruise to the Bahamas. So, we called up my parents and convinced them (we really had to twist their arms!) to go with us. So, we flew into Ft. Myers on Saturday morning and stayed for the first weekend at my parent's place in Punta Gorda. Logan was great on the plane and slept most of the way. You could tell his ears started to bug him a few times, but nursing really seemed to help clear them out for him. Then, we went over to Ft. Lauderdale to visit my aunt and uncle on Sunday. They just bought a new condo on the 28th floor of a luxury high-rise development. The views were unbelievable! Then, Alex's Grandma and Grandpa Swords were able to come up from Green Acres to meet us for lunch on Monday. It was great to see them and we were thankful they were able to meet us on such short notice.

Then, we jumped back in the car and headed over to Miami on Monday afternoon to catch the boat. We were a little leery with all the sickness outbreaks on cruise ships lately, but Royal Carribean did a nice job of trying to reassure everyone. There were hand sanitizer stations everywhere and they gave free doctor's consults to anyone that was feeling under the weather. So, we made sure to have our sanitizer and disinfectant wipes, and jumped on the ship. The first night at sea was a little rough, but Logan didn't seem to mind the motion of the boat. We set up a little bed for him on the ledge by the porthole in our room. It worked out perfect. Tuesday, we docked in Nassau, Bahamas. We walked around to some of the little shops in town and spent the afternoon by the pool onboard. We were bummed that the ship didn't have a kiddie pool, but we were able to sneak him into the hot tub (it was only warm like bath water) for a little bit in the afternoon. It took him a little bit to figure it out, but he enjoyed his first time swimming. He was pretty good at floating on his back and liked to splash at Daddy.

We spent Wednesday in Coco Cay, a private island with tons of sandy white beaches that Royal Carribean owns. Logan loved playing in the sand, but didn't care for his first dip in the ocean too much. We think it was just too cold for his little tootsies, but we had fun taking his pic with his Santa hat on at the beach. Logan took a nap in his stroller for a while (I swear that kid sleeps better outside). My parents kept an eye on him and Alex and I went for a walk around the island and played a little bit of volleyball.

We were in Key West on Thursday. Originally, Alex and I had wanted to try to get some more sun since the week had been mostly overcast up until then, but it was still cloudy. So, we decided to do a train tour of Key West. It turned out to be a great tour and we were both really glad we decided to do it. Then, we all walked around Key West and did a little shopping on Duval Street.

Night life on a cruise is a bit different with a 6 month old, but we still had a great time. We enjoyed dinner in the main dining room every night with my parents and went to most of the shows. Logan liked to watch all the colors and hear the music, but usually fell asleep during the show every night. Alex and I went to bed early a few nights too to catch up on some much needed sleep. It's funny the things you appreciate the most when you have a baby!

Overall, Logan was a big hit on the cruise. Lots of the staff knew him by name and our head waitress, Vilma from Lithuania, actually took him around to all her tables on the last night when we had him dressed up in his Christmas outfit with Santa hat. It was nice because we were able to eat our dinners uninterrupted and we always knew where they were from the "oohs" and "awes". Quite a crowd collected too when we were having his pictures professionally taken. My dad joked around that we should have charged admission. We tried to have family pics taken when we were all dressed up for formal night, but Logan decided to puke all over his outfit in the middle of them which the photographer caught on film. Even though it was pretty funny, we decided it wasn't worth the $19.95.

We deboarded the ship on Friday morning and headed back to Punta Gorda. We took Logan swimming a few more times at my parent's place. By the second time, he had already learned how to kick his legs and reach out his arms...it almost looked like the breast stroke..sort of:) There was a floating ball in the water that he did his best to try to grab. We can't wait to start swimming with him more back at home. Overall, the weekend was relaxing and we headed home Sunday night. Logan was great and slept almost the whole flight home.

So, there were quite a few "firsts" this week...first time on a plane, first time on a boat, first time on a cruise ship, first time to the beach, first time in the ocean, first time swimming, first time out of the country, first time to Florida...and first vacation (besides camping)!

Week 24 12/1-12/8

2006-12-27T11:42:00.000-05:00

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Well, I am officially WAY behind with my blog postings. So, I decided to work on three separate posts for the past three weeks since they were all jam-packed with so much stuff. The first week in December was spent trying to get ready for vacation and Christmas. I played in a tournament on the 2nd while Alex and Logan spent some quality time together. Then, we all worked on putting up our Christmas decorations on Sunday. It was pretty weird (but nice) decorating outside in a T-shirt! Too bad that weather couldn't last all winter! I love Christmas decorations and it was fun seeing Logan's reaction to the lights and shiny ornaments. I'm sure next year will be a bit more difficult when Logan is mobile!

Grandma Ginny came down on Wednesday morning to keep an eye on Logan and then the three of us went shopping in the afternoon. Logan discovered that he loves to play with water bottles and was actually pretty coordinated getting the opening to his mouth. We bought tons of stuff and Ginny came back down on Friday to spend some time wrapping everything up and to take us to the airport the following morning. Then, Grandma and Grandpa Cusick came over for dinner and we got some cute pics of Logan in his Santa hat and booties. Alex got back from Battle Creek late on Friday night (shortly after I finished most of the packing of course) and we finished getting ready for the early flight to Florida on Saturday.

Logan has really started to interact more with Cody and Calley. He'll watch them intently from wherever he is in the room and loves to get kisses from Cody. He'll giggle and do his best to "pet" them. Thankfully, they're both very tolerant of him. He has also been learning how to make more sounds and will often yell for no apparent reason. It's pretty cute...as long as you're not in the middle of the store:)

Week 22 & 23 11/18- 11/30

2006-12-01T17:20:00.000-05:00

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Grandma and Grandpa Ferrell came down to stay Friday through Saturday(17th-18th). They brought down Connor and Kyleigh to sleep over and help watch 'Peanut' while Alex and I went to play in a volleyball tournament on Saturday. Saturday went well except we found out that Logan's digestive system doesn't like it too much when Mommy eats Hungarian sausage. He was one gassy baby! Sorry Grandma and Grandpa!

Sunday, Logan came down with his first cold. He had the standard runny nose, congestion, and cough. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday just to be on the safe side before we went to Fort Wayne for the holiday. The doctor said his lungs and ears looked OK, so we should just let the cold take its course. We elevated the end of his crib to help with the drainage and bought a vaporizer, but he has still had some pretty rough nights between the cough and congestion. We have to take him back to the doctor again tomorrow since the cold is going on 2 weeks. I'm not sure if I hope it's something else so they will give us medicine or if I hope it's still the run of the mill cold. I just hope he gets better soon!

We went to Doug & Nicole's in Fort Wayne on Wed, the 22nd for the Thanksgiving weekend. My sis and the fam also went to stay, so they had a house full. My parents are down in Florida so they enjoyed their turkey in the 80 degree weather with other people in the RV park; it was weird not to see them at Thanksgiving, but they will be back around Christmas time. Alex's parents went to West Virginia to see Roger's family, so we didn't get together with his fam for the holiday. John and Christi (Nicole's parents) hosted for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday AND a second one on Saturday when Amy and Nick(Nicole's sister and boyfriend) could be home. We had a great weekend except for Logan's cold. It was nice to be able to hang out and visit for 4 days and we definitely ate WAY TOO MUCH. But, I guess that is what the holidays are all about.

We got together with Alex's grandparents this past Wednesday for dinner. Then, they watched Logan while we went to volleyball. They've helped us out a few Wednesdays now which we really appreciate.

Logan's sleep schedule at night has regressed, but we hope that his cold is causing the problems and he'll start sleeping longer when he feels better. He has also tried both barley and oatmeal cereal and is eating 2 tablespoons twice a day. He seems to like both, but he is still very messy when he eats so he's probably only eating about 2/3 of it. Logan loves playing peek-a-boo and singing interactive songs like "The Wheels on the Bus." He has also started noticing the dogs more and likes to reach out and pet them. Kisses from Cody also puts a big smile on his face. He seems to be happiest when he is interacting with one of us and is quick to protest if he is left to play on his own. We're working on getting a good mix of both.

Week 20 & 21 11/4-11/7

2006-11-22T16:20:00.000-05:00

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Here is Logan sitting in his new Bumbo chair. He really likes it since he can't quite sit up on his own yet. The chair helps him to be able to keep track of everything going on around. The weekend of the 4th was pretty relaxing. Jess came down on Saturday and hung out for the day. We had some fun playing with Logan and did a little cooking. On Sunday, my parents met us at Kensington to check out our new church and then we went to lunch at the Olive Garden afterwards. Then, we went over to Nate & Raechel's new house in Rochester. His sister Mandy is staying there now too so it was nice to see all three of them. They were still trying to get settled so we didn't stay too long. It's really close to church so hopefully we'll get to stop in more Sundays in the future.

The next weekend, we went up to Tony & Tiff's for Dani's 30th birthday party. We dropped Logan off at my parents house on Saturday; it was nice for them to get some QT in because they left for Florida the following Wednesday. Our parent's group met both the past two Wednesdays. The topics were Infant Massage and Feeding so both sessions were very benficial. The SAH mom's also met over at our house last Friday. We got a few good pics of the babies interacting.

Alex had to go back to Battle Creek and Kentucky for work most of the past two weeks. It was really bad this past week because I ended up with the flu. It's not a lot of fun to try and take care of a 5 month old when you're sick with the flu. But, we both survived..another mommyhood feat accomplished! My sister and the girls came up on Thursday for the day to hang out. It was good to see them and they were all surprised at how much Logan had grown and changed since they had seen him last.

Logan surprised us and slept through the night 3 times the week before last. We were hoping that he was starting a new trend, but then he had quite a few rough nights this past week. We're hoping he just wasn't feeling well this past week and will start moving towards sleeping through the night again. He is starting to take better naps during the day, so our hard work at making him stay in bed seems to be paying off a bit. But, he is still only taking 45 minutes or so. If we can get him up to 2 hours for his naps, I will be ecstatic! But, one thing that we have figured out about our son is that just when you think you have things figured out...they change! We also started him on rice cereal this past week. He loves it! He will actually grab your hand and pull the spoon towards his mouth. He gets most of it in his mouth, but he still ends up pretty messy afterwards!

Week 18 & 19 10/20 - 11/3

2006-11-05T21:16:00.000-05:00

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On October 19th, Logan and I went down to Fort Wayne in Grandma and Grandpa Helsom's motorhome to watch Doug & Nicole's sectionals. They coach varsity volleyball at Carroll High School down in Fort Wayne. The team won their match on Thursday night, so Alex came down from Battle Creek after work on Friday. The team won both of their matches on Saturday and won sectionals for the second year in a row. It was great to see Doug and Nicole and watch the girls play. Logan was either watching the games intently or he passed out sleeping...we joked around that we needed to make a tape and play it in his room with how soundly he slept through the loud, cheering crowd. Logan and I headed back on Sunday morning and Alex hung out until Monday morning since he had to drive back to Battle Creek for work. Doug's team lost in the regional finals the following weekend, so they ended up in the top 16 in the state.

We took Logan's 4 month pictures. It's a little harder to capture the smiles since he is enthralled with the red light on the camera. But, we managed to get a few good ones. The pic in his green hoodie is hilarious...we think it's a pretty good Yoda impression with his hands clenched in front of him and the squenched look on his face.

The following Wednesday, we had our second parent's group meeting. The group came over to our house and the topic was "adjusting to parenthood". It was great to relate to other new parents to find out we're not alone with the mixed feelings about the extreme life changes of having a baby. Some of the stay-at-home/part-time moms have also started to meet every so often during the day. It's great to talk with other parents that are dealing with the same questions and developmental milestones. The babies don't quite play together yet, but they are definitely aware of each other and seem to enjoy it.

On Saturday, we went up to Grandma Ginny's for the day. We played with Logan and watched a few movies. It was a nice relaxing day. Alex, Logan and I went to Kensington Church in Troy on Sunday. It is a modern, life-based Christian church. We really enjoyed the service and hope to get more involved going forward.

Tuesday night was Halloween. We had a few hand-me-down costumes, so we had to dress him up in all of them. So, he was a pea-in-the-pod, a yellow M & M and a flower. He looked pretty cute in all of them, but ended up busy eating through most of the trick-or-treaters.

I've been able to work a few days over the past few weeks on some deals, so my mom has been watching Logan. Logan also spent a day at Grandma Ginny's and enojoyed being entertained by all the day care kids.

Developmently, Logan continues to amaze us. He seems to enjoy tummy time more now and has rolled from his tummy to his back 5 times now. Hopefully the next time will be with Daddy since Alex hasn't seen him yet He can reach out and grab toys more effectively and has even started to "sing" along with his song books. One of his favorite games is to dive his face into Daddy's chest when Mommy is "gonna get him"..then he pulls his head back, gives us a big smile and a giggle and waits for me to come in again. I must admit that it's one of the greatest games I've ever played too!

Week 16-17 10/6-10/19

2006-10-18T22:20:00.000-04:00

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Alex has been out of town in Battle Creek quite a bit over the past few weeks. It's good that Logan has become more vocal because he can say "hi" to Daddy over the phone. It's still hard though and Alex swears he changes each time he leaves.Last weekend, Grandma Ginny came over on Saturday to babysit and we went downtown Detroit with some friends to watch the Tigers and the U of M/Michigan State game. We ended up hanging out at Cheli's right next to Tigers stadium. It was a lot of fun and the atmosphere was great when the Tigers won. Then on Sunday, we went to baby Tommy's baptism. Tommy is Alex's cousin Tom's baby. Hillary had baby Tommy about 5-6 weeks after we had Logan and baby Tommy already weighs a little more than Logan does. We all went out to Shields afterwards. It was nice to hang out with the family and good to see Tom and Hillary (they live in Connecticut) it's great that the boys are so close in age and I'm sure family get-togethers will be a lot of fun for them in the future. Alex and I started our volleyball leagues a few weeks ago. I play women's on Tuesday nights and he plays men's on Thursdays. Thankfully, his sister Mandy is still living with us. Since Alex has been out of town so much, she has pitched in watching Logan when I go play. It's a great break and it feels good to be able to play. We also play co-ed together on some Wednesdays. Last Wednesday we started our parenting group. It's a group of about 11 families..all of which had their babies at Beaumont Royal Oak and live in the immediate area. It's great because the kids were all born between June 6th-29th. The group meets every other Wednesday from 7-9. There is a guest speaker the first hour and then the second hour is for socializing. It will be great to compare notes with other first time parents and watch all the kids develop. Logan is the only true preemie of the group so it should be interesting to see if he is behind everybody else.Last Saturday we went up to the Stucky's house for their annual turkey fry. They organize all kinds of activities for the kids and have a big bonfire. It was pretty cold outside so Logan stayed inside with Daddy most of the time (I had to twist his arm to watch football and the Tigers:) Then, we went to my parents house to hang out, watch the U of M game and play cards.We're still pretty dead at work, so I have been at home with Logan quite a bit. I must admit that it has been great to be able to spend so much time with him. I am a bit bummed that the weather is turning cold and we won't be able to spend as much time outside. He is developing more each day. He grabs a hold of toys and puts them into his mouth. He can even pull his binky out and put it back in...he doesn't always get it back in the right way, but he's working on it. Here is a really cute picture of him trying to shove the binky and his fist into his mouth at the same time.

Week 13-15 9/16-10/6

2006-10-08T11:18:00.000-04:00

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The past few weeks have been pretty busy. The weekend of the 23rd, I played in a women’s queen of the court volleyball tournament at the Stucky’s house. The tourney was a bachelorette tourney for Shannon Gerbe. Alex and Logan came up for the day and hung out watching football.

The following weekend Mandy watched Logan on Saturday night while Alex and I went to the Tiffany awards. It was a dinner/fashion show raising money for breast cancer and honoring Michigan’s top hairdressers. Alex’s work was a top sponsor. They had installed the material handling systems at Nailco’s new facilities. It was actually pretty fun and it was great to meet some of the people that Alex works with. That Sunday we went up to the Ferrell’s so that Alex could do some work on his mom’s computer. Logan has already started to enjoy the wonders of Grandma Ginny’s….she runs a daycare and has TONS of toys. Logan had a great time playing in a bouncer seat for the first time. It was awesome to watch him figure it out and bounce around. You could tell he was proud of himself for making the music and lights go. We also got a chance to go to Past Tense, an old-fashioned store and cider mill with Alex’s parents, Connor and Kyleigh. As usual, Logan slept while Daddy carried him around in the Baby Bjorn. So, he seemed to enjoy it until the following day when the apple cider I drank hit his system…I thought he pooped a lot before!

The following week, Alex had to go to Battle Creek for work. I went to Toledo to hang out with my sister Wednesday through Friday. It was a great surprise for the girls because they didn’t know we were coming ahead of time. We got there after Jessalyn had already gone to school on Wednesday so she didn’t get the surprise until we picked her up at the bus stop later in the afternoon. But, we were able to take Logan and Alyssa to the Toledo zoo. Logan spent most of the afternoon sleeping in the stroller. There’s something about being outside that knocks that kid out! Later that night we went out to dinner for my birthday which was on Thursday. Alyssa had helped make an ice cream birthday cake for me and the girls had a great time singing happy birthday to me. Thursday was pretty hectic—we dropped Jessalyn off at the bus stop, took Alyssa to gymnastics class and then to speech class, went out to lunch, went to the mall…all before 2! I’m glad that we got to go see the gymnastics class…they really focus on helping to develop coordination through tons of fun activities. I really wanted to jump in the foam pit, but I had Logan in the Baby Bjorn; maybe next timeJ Then, I went to Alyssa’s special day at preschool on Friday. Her preschool is cool because the parent’s co-op and all take turns coming in the help out. (hence the kid’s “special day”) I went to one for Jessalyn last year; it’s amazing the difference between the girls and how they react in a school setting. It makes me wonder what Logan’s temperament is going to be when he grows up.

Then, I brought the girls back home with me for the weekend. It was a little crazy having three kids running around the house. Foreshadowing for years to comeJ Saturday we went up to Great Lakes Crossing to meet my mom and Judy (a good family friend) for lunch. The girls had a great time playing in the play structure and Logan enjoyed watching them. Then, we went to the Rainforest Café for lunch. The girls really liked the jungle setting, but the animated gorilla by our table scared Jessalyn right out of her seat at one point. Logan took his first bath with his cousins in the bathtub. Of course we got a few pics….every kid has naked pics in the tubJ Tamie and Arnold were able to hang out and watch football/baseball on Sunday before they had to take the girls home.

It’s amazing how much he has changed just over the past three weeks. He grabs a hold of toys and loves to shake his Pooh rattle. He is also making eye contact quite a bit better. He loves to try to imitate facial expressions and sounds. It’s a great way to keep him entertained in the shopping cart at the store. His little face screws up in concentration and then he tries to mimic whatever he saw or heard. He’s learned how to stick his tongue out (probably not the best thing to teach him, right?:) But, it’s still cute at this point. He likes the toys with lights and sounds and seems to take it all in. He’s learned that hitting the buttons makes everything work. He’s noticing his hands quite a bit more too and loves to try to shove his whole fist in his mouth. It’s so exciting to watch him do new things.

Week 12 9-9 - 9-15

2006-09-15T19:45:00.000-04:00

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Last weekend we went camping at Groveland Oaks up near Holly with Alex's mom, dad, and sister. The weather wasn't the best and we were stuck inside most of the day on Saturday. We went to Stephanie McKeachie and Mike Hotz's bridal shower on Saturday night while Logan hung out with Grandma and Grandpa at the campground. The shower was set up as a euchre tournament; unfortunately, neither of us did that well. It was nice to see Ryan (Stephanie's brother/Alex's good friend from high school.) He was in town from California for the shower.

Then, we went to the Renaissance Festival on Sunday. Logan was all bundled up in his Michigan gear and enjoyed snuggling with Daddy for the day in his Baby Bjorn. We made sure to get some turkey legs and kettle corn to take back to the campground. We stayed at the campground Sunday night and went to my parent's house on Monday. We winterized the motorhome and then we went to Lucky's in Davison for dinner. My mom watched Logan while I went to work on Tuesday. I took him to the office with me on Wednesday morning; Logan did pretty well his first day of work!

Logan's "vocabulary" has definitely expanded over the past few weeks. He is cooing more with a lot of oohs and aahhs. He has found his hands and likes to suck on them. He has also started to focus on objects in front of him quite a bit better. It's getting more fun to interact with him. He responds to tickling with big smiles and loves it when Daddy plays 'get your nose'. He's even started reaching out to grab toys. He doesn't do it consistently, but it is great to see his face when he does get a hold of something. Now if we can just get him to stop hitting himself in the face with the toys, we'll be all set.

Week 11 9-2 - 9-8

2006-09-08T10:11:00.000-04:00

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Labor Day weekend was pretty busy for us. Nate, Rae, and Antaras came over for dinner and a fire in the chiminea on Friday night. Saturday, we went to visit Aryn, Sue, Ashton and Abby. We picked up some more clothes for Logan and dropped off some clothes for Abby. Then, we went over to a park in Roseville where a bunch of friends were cooking out and playing games like volleyball(of course!) and cornhole. Jason and I only lost one game of cornhole(good thing he had played a lot before:) The weather was pretty rainy, so we ended up coming back to the house with Nine to watch the Michigan game on TiVo.

On Sunday, we went to Toledo for Alyssa's third birthday party. It was a lot of fun with great company and good eats. Arnold's mom always sends up brisket from Texas for the girl's parties. It practically melts in your mouth it is so tender! We stayed the night and I left early the next morning to go play in a women's tourney in Ann Arbor. My mom and dad dropped Logan and Alex off on their way back to Grand Blanc.

Logan is actually starting to grow out of 0-3 month clothes. It's funny because he still doesn't fill them out width-wise since he is so skinny, but he is getting to long for them. He has really started getting into the kick gym more this week. It's great to watch his eyes and face light up when he kicks and makes all the gears start spinning. He's even able to kick the hanging animals. He's precious because his gets this concentrated look on his face, pulls both knees back and kicks out. He's hits both of them most of the time.

Week 10 8-26 - 9-1

2006-09-01T14:57:00.000-04:00

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Logan went to his first volleyball tournament(all day) last weekend. Alex and I played in a reverse co-ed 4s tournament in Ferndale. Two of our other friends brought their kids along and we all shared a babysitter. It worked out perfect..thanks to Sue for a great idea! It was nice to be able to play all day, but still see Logan. I guess it's never too early to expose him to volleyball! He'll definitely be around it a lot growing up. That night some friends came over and we played cards and even had a full-contact game of spoons going for a while. It's good to know that we still practice the "you're never too old" motto. Hopefully, that won't ever change!

We went up to Grandma & Grandpa Helsom's on Monday and Tuesday since Daddy had to work late all week. Cousins Jessalyn and Alyssa were happy to see and play with their baby cousin. It's been great being able to get together with my sister and mom so much since he was born.

Logan had his two-month well baby checkup today(a little late). I must admit that I teared up when they gave him his shots. The look on his face was horrible....a mix of shock, pain and betrayal. Then, he proceeded to scream. He is still pretty fussy so he's been getting some extra lovins today. But besides the shots, he received a clean bill of health. He officially weighs 11 lbs. 4 ounces and is 23 1/2 inches long. He is only in the 25th percentile for weight but in the 50th percentile for height. The nurse practitioner was very happy with how he is progressing and was impressed by how strong his neck muscles are already. So, developmentally speaking, things are going great. Our little peanut is growing up:)

Week 8 & 9 8-15-8-25

2006-08-25T17:17:00.000-04:00

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Well, I waited to post this update to get my weeks back on track. Logan is officially 9 weeks old today and as you can see by the picture, he has started to smile quite a bit. It has been a lot of fun watching him become more animated and see him to react to colors and faces. He's even giggled a few times which has to be one of the best sounds I've ever heard! We finally had to retire the newborn diapers last week. He is officially wearing a size 1!

We went to visit Uncle Doug and Aunt Nicole in Fort Wayne last Sunday through Tuesday. They coach the Carroll Varsity Volleyball team and needed a little setting coaching. So, Grandma Helsom went down with us to keep an eye on Logan while we went to practice. I don't miss two-a-days! 6:30 am is just way too early to be in a gym:)

Grandma Helsom has also helped out a few days over the past few weeks keeping an eye on Logan while I went into the office. The commute to Grand Blanc is even more difficult trying to work around feeding schedules and baby nap time. I will be very happy when we sell our house and can move a bit closer.

Last weekend, Grandpa Roger and Aunt Marcia threw a surprise 50th birthday party for Grandma Ginny. She was completely surprised even though we had to relocate the party at the last minute. It ended up being a really nice night and it was great to see everybody. There's lots of pics from the party and the rest of the 2 month pictures. If you click on the picture, it will take you directly to the photo album in DotPhoto (thanks Matt!)

Week 6 & 7 July 31st-August 13th

2006-08-17T16:05:00.000-04:00

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Week 6 can officially be deemed "Baby Week". Logan got to meet 3 other babies, Dominick (Yvette's cousin), Jacob (Matt and Michele's baby), and Scott..AKA Puddle (Krystal's son). It was fun to see to kid's reactions to eachother. We were able to get some cute pictures of Puddle trying to give Logan lovins and the picture of Logan and Jake sharing a crib is just too cute. It will be great when they are all old enough to really play with eachother. We also got to see some friends at Marinelli's on Monday night since Sue was back in town for a visit.

Logan got to go to Grandma & Grandpa Ferrell's house on Thursday and on Saturday. They just bought a new trailer that was a definite fixer-upper. So, we went up to help out so that they could go camping the following week. Grandpa is very proud of Logan because he seems to like the sounds of the saws and nailguns! Future carpenter?? I swear that kid can sleep through anything!

Logan officially outgrewhis first outfit. We thought it was pretty ironic...the sleeper that he outgrew has a dinosaur on the front with the saying "I'm the biggest" on it. Too funny!

Then, we left on Sunday to go camping for a week in Howell. Grandma and Grandpa Helsom were there with their motorhome and Grandma and Grandpa Ferrell were there too with their trailer. We were also joined by Tamie, Jessalyn & Alyssa...Tamie's friends Joelle, Ted, Cameron and Connor, and Connor and Kyleigh-two of Ginny's daycare kids. Linda & Roger Locher came out on Friday for the afternoon too. It was a great week. The weather was perfect and Logan really liked the outdoor life. He is like Grandpa Helsom-just put him in a chair looking at the lake and he is perfectly content! The kids all loved playing in the "cool bed" in our motorhome (the front bunk) and they had tons of fun at the beach and playgorund.

I got a little break on Saturday and went to play in a mini queen of the beach tournament in Fenton. I didn't do too bad...but, not too good either. I definitely have a ways to go to get back in shape!

Logan seems to be growing like a weed. He is definitely smiling and reacts to those around him more every day. It's awesome because he will turn his head when he hears Alex or I come into a room. Hopefully we'll be able to get a smile picture for next week!

Week 5, 7-24-7-30

2006-07-31T12:40:00.000-04:00

The most exciting thing that happened this past week has to be the completion of the nursery. For those who don't know about the saga...we originally ordered our nursery furniture through DirectBuy, our buying service, on March 3rd. The items had an estimated ship date of April 15th. So, you would think that would be plenty of time, right? We started to get a little worried around the end of April when we were having problems getting an update and were finally told the dressers had to be ordered again because the finish didn't match. But the crib, the bedrails and the hutch could be shipped. It was frustrating that the three things that were shipped were all items we could do without right away. We had the cradle for Logan to sleep in already and the hutch was no good without the combo unit dresser to put it on. We really needed the dressers to be able to organize and put clothes away. Well, every time we called, we got the "two weeks" response. For those of you who remember the movie "Money Pit"...it was kind of like that:) We finally got the call that the combo-unit dresser was in the day Logan was born. So, my dad and Mandy went to pick it up. They brought it back to the house only to unwrap it and discover about 15 large gouges and scratches on the top and side. So, we called to complain and they had the audacity to tell us that we must have damaged it on the way home because it was fine when it left their warehouse. Long story short (I know-too late for that, right?) after much complaining and a million emails, they finally agreed to order a new top and have it fixed at their expense. The other dresser came in on the 20th and the fixed combo-unit was available for pickup on the 27th. S, it took almost 5 months and a lot of headaches to get everything in. My sister helped me FINALLY get everything organized on Friday morning. It's so nice to have it finally put together!

In other news-Alex had to go to Illinois for 3 days at the beginning of the week. It was tough for him to be away from Logan, but thankfully the trip wasn't longer. My sister, the girls and my mom came down on Thursday and we went to Cranbrook museum. Logan was a perfect baby and slept through the whole trip, including the planetarium show. Grandma and Grandpa babysat on Saturday night while Alex and I went to a wedding. It was nice to be in the "grown-up" world for a while, but it was hard to be away from him. Alex also played in Volleygrass (a big tw0-day grass volleyball tournament) this past weekend. They ended up getting rained out during the finals in the loser's bracket, so they took second based on their record. The week rounded off with Kim and Darryn coming over for a visit on Sunday afternoon.

Week 4, 7-16 - 7-23

2006-07-24T12:37:00.000-04:00

Logan is officially 1 month old! We can't believe how quickly it has flown by. He is growing like crazy and seems to change every day. He's finally fitting into most of the 0-3 month clothes..even though most shorts are big on his tiny backside! Going for walks is still one of Logan's favorite things to do. It's a great way to get out of the house and it feels good for me to get a little exercise. I'm anxious to get back into a good workout routine.

We got in some more family time this week. The Cusick fam got together on Thursday since Aunt Nancy and Uncle Kieth are in town from Colorado and Grandma Ginny spent the night on Thursday night. Then, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Helsom's for the weekend to celebrate Alex and Doug's birthdays. It was a great time for me to catch up on some sleep. Much thanks to both Grandmas and Aunt Tamie for helping out during the night shifts.

Then, we were able to get together with Great Grandma and Grandpa Swords on Sunday night since they were in town from Florida. Take a look at the Ferrell Photo Album link for LOTS more pics from this week.

Week 3

2006-07-17T16:27:00.000-04:00

We were able to give Logan a bath for the first time this week. He fussed a bit when we first put him in the tub, but quickly determined that he liked the warm water and cuddling up in his froggy towel afterwards. I must admit that he looks pretty darn cute!

We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Helsom's house last weekend. My mom and sis helped out with him at nights since he still thinks he should be awake around 3 am. Cousins Jessalyn and Alyssa enjoyed babysitting on Sunday and Alex and I went to the movies to see Pirates of the Carribean. It was hard to leave him, but I'm glad we took a little bit of time for ourselves. More friends came to visit this week including Stacie, Dawn, Yvette, Adam and Chad. I know, I know..I need to get better at making sure the camera is close at hand.

Logan also got to go see Daddy play volleyball the past two Saturdays and meet some of our volleyball friends. Alex did pretty well winning the tournament on the 8th and taking 2nd on the 15th. It was Alex's 30th birthday on the 14th so we took a cake up to the tourney to make sure to embarass him. We're pretty proud of him-he just hit the big 3-0 and he's still winning tournaments!

Logan had his 3 week checkup this morning. He received another clean bill of health for which we are very happy. He has gained almost 2 lbs. and is 1.25 inches longer! So, that puts him at 7 lbs. 14 ounces and 20.25 inches long. If he keeps this up, we won't be able to call him peanut much longer!

Week 2

2006-07-07T18:12:00.000-04:00

Here is Logan on the 4th of July at Grandma Ginny's house. Great Grandma and Grandpa got him some cool holiday onesies that actually fit! Most things are still too big on him because he is sooo tiny. Most of the Cusick fam got to meet him on Monday and everybody had a good time hanging out and playing on the water slide.

The 4 day weekend was another perk to Logan coming early. Dad got to spend some more time at home with him and help out at night. Aunt Tamie, Jessalyn and Alyssa came over on Monday. The girls loved being able to hold and feed him. They are great at taking care of their baby cousin. Sa and Dawn, Meghan and Brendan stopped by later in the week.

Logan is doing well. He is still eating well...unfortunately more at night than during the day, but we're working on it. He loves to go for walks and be outside. It's one of the few ways we can get him to wake up!

Take a look at more week 2 pics through the toolbar. Dotphoto is a free service-so if it asks you to create a login, go ahead and set one up!

Week 1

2006-06-30T11:46:00.000-04:00

Well, Logan is officially a week old. It has been an interesting week adjusting to parenthood. He still seems to have his days and nights mixed up. But, it is getting progressively better. Sleep is a treasured commodity now.

He had his first doctor's appointment and received a clean bill of health. They were a little worried about jaundice, but his bilirubin levels were down after leaving the hospital. So, he should be in the clear. The doctor was happy with his food intake and output and we don't have to go back for three weeks.

Alex had to go back to work on Wednesday, so both Grandma's have been taking turns staying to help out. Logan went on his first walk last night and lovely Michigan weather decided to start raining. So, Alex had to hussle back to the house with him. But, the good news is that the stroller is waterproof, so Logan didn't get wet.

Overall, we are enjoying getting to know our son. He is very animated with great facial expressions and hand movement. He has already learned how to roll onto his side and he picks his head up quite a bit. So, either his reflexes are pretty advanced or he's gotten a bit of Daddy's muscles. Take a look at more week 1 pictures through the picture link in the toolbar.

Coming home

2006-06-25T20:10:00.000-04:00

We were finally released from the hospital around 1:00 pm today (Sunday 6-25). It's nice to be home and Logan is settling into his eating, sleeping, and pooping routine. His "coming home" outfit is very cute, but you can tell by the pics just how small he is! The newborn size outfit looks like a gangsta outfit on him!

He's here!

2006-06-25T16:21:00.000-04:00

As some of you might know, D was put on bed-rest at 35 weeks due to high blood pressure, increased swelling and fluid retention, and constant headaches. The doctors thought she might be developing preeclempsia and as of June 21st, thought it best to induce labor.

She was admitted to the hospital at 6 pm after being between the doctor’s and the hospital triage since 7:30 am that morning! They started her on a magnesium IV to prevent seizures and lower her blood pressure. Then, they started administering the pytocin around 11 pm and added mezzo to the mix the following morning. It was slow going because she wasn’t allowed to get out of bed with the magnesium drip. Her contractions progressed throughout the day and her dilation sped up after her water broke at 3:30 pm. She reached full dilation at 1:30 am and was finally able to start pushing. Just 45 minutes later, our little guy popped into the world.

Little Logan Alexander Ferrell was born on Friday, June 23, 2006 at 2:15 AM. He weighed 6’3” and measured in at 19.5 inches. He was officially deemed “premature” since he was only 36 weeks and 3 days, but despite his small stature, he is perfectly healthy.

D had to stay on the magnesium drip for another day after Logan was born and was kept in the labor and delivery unit for close monitoring. We were finally moved to our post-partum room late Friday night where D was able to take a shower and eat…..she hadn’t been able to eat anything because of the magnesium since noon on Wednesday.

Since then, we have been hanging out in the hospital getting to know the little guy. Friends and family have been in and out visiting. Take a look at all the pictures through the link in the side toolbar. We’ll continue to post pics and updates so keep checking back!