There's a Snake in My Boot

Anyone who knows Logan knows he is a cowboy at heart and is obsessed with Woody. I can tell Logan is running through the house when I hear the high-pitched "clank, clank-clank, clankity-clank" of Woody's boots hitting together as Logan carries him by his head.

So last Friday we took Logan to his first movie to see...

First we ate dinner at the mall.

Here's Logan before the movie dressed as, of course, a cowboy.

Woody had to come along too.

We loved the movie (did anyone else find the ending heart-wrenching?) and Logan did SO good in the theater (phew)! He sat the entire time, completely entertained by the movie. Yeehaw.

New Miscellaneous Photos...

...are appearing on my camera.


Any idea who's responsible?

Someone needs to tell Logan that rule #1 of sneakiness is to leave no evidence (i.e. Woody socks). Nice try, pardner.

Thomas

At the end of May, Thomas the Tank engine came to the Heber Valley Railroad for "A Day Out with Thomas." We took Logan because he LOVES Thomas and it was like Christmas morning all over again! I'll admit, though, even I was a little giddy and excited.

Before the ride

Life-sized Thomas. What could be better?


Lincoln and I tagged along too.
Apparently the girl taking the photo didn't realize that we actually wanted ALL of Thomas (the main attraction) in the picture too :-) Oh well.


Ben, why didn't you get a Thomas tattoo on your cheek too? You know you wanted one...

They had all sorts of games and activities for the kids to do before and after the train ride, like tattoos, picture taking with Sir Topham Hat, movies, miniature golf, coloring, stamping, puzzles, and (of course) train building. Dad and Logan on the train. Linc and I stayed behind for the 20 minute train ride.


More train (they're in the second window).


Anxiously waiting.

Worn out after 2 hours of pure joy and excitement.

Linc n' Beans

...the endearing name that Logan has given to Lincoln. Almost like pork n' beans, but not quite.

Ben: "What's your brother's name?"
Logan: "Lincoln."
Ben: "What's his full name?"
Logan: "Lincoln Beans."
Alrighty.

Here is some catch up of Lincoln's life at home so far:

*He's already 6 weeks old!
*He's been a good baby thus far and pretty content.
*His eating isn't the greatest, but doesn't take nearly as long as Logan, so I'll take it.
*He likes bath time and doesn't cry during diaper or clothes changes.
*He is a grunt factory. He is always grunting and moaning and is a noisy eater.
*He's been sleeping about 6 hours most nights for a couple weeks now (horray!). I can function on that so I'm a happy Mama.
*He has started cooing more and more.

Life with 2 has definitely been an adjustment but I absolutely love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. And I think I'm finally getting the hang of it nowa days. Getting around town takes more time, but I still manage it. My memory is worse than ever before, but oh well. Please take no offense if all of a sudden I can't remember your name. :-)

His first bath at 1 week old

Our first family walk at 1 1/2 weeks). Complete with Woody (who must be strapped in, of course) and furry Abby (in the background). It was bright so Logan was trying to keep his eyes open.


Lots of Nana time



and lots of Marmie time.



Soaking up the snuggle time. Next time I blink he will be off and running, refusing anything close to a snuggle.



Linc started smiling a couple weeks ago at 4 weeks. Finally a little reward. He smiles most right after a feeding when he's content and ready for play time. I have yet to get a great pic of his smile, but these will work for now.



His neck is getting strong and he holds up his head pretty well now. He's already out of the floppy, new born, sack-o-beans stage. :-(



Story time with Logan. He loves to read to his baby brother and sing him songs (I am a Child of God) when he's crying. So sweet.



Naked hugs. Logan loves to give naked hugs at night when he's changing into jammies, and Lincoln, of course, needs them too.



Holding hands. You can see how happy Linc is about it.



Everyone needs a monkey. Monk is Logan's most prized possession and I'm so proud of him for sharing it with his brother.

I heart boys...

...especially MY boys.

Yep, these boys.

NOT these boys...

I love my boys, especially when they have a bad case of fuzzy head.
(See any resemblance?)

...and when they have no fear of getting wet.

...and when they eat cookies, but leave some to share with others.

(this is what you get when you leave pink cookies with sprinkles on the table over night and your toddler wakes up at 5:30 am)

...and when they love to snuggle with Mom

...and especially when Logan's proud to be a big brother

...and even when they work on each other with wrenches (and an assortment of other mini tools)

I love them when they ride awesome bikes

...and when they get their diapers changed together (hopefully that will change soon)

...and when the most exciting part of their day consists of eating a huge doughnut


...and especially when they know how to automatically pose for a super hero shot.
(Thanks for the awesome costume Marmie.)

Who needs bows, lace and ruffles when you have Superman? ;-)

Please Help

We're asking a big favor from friends and family -- see below and keep reading please.

Well it happened. Our external hard drive crashed.

*The hard drive that's holding ALL of our photos from the past two years? Yep, that's the one.
*The hard drive that has photos documenting 2/3rds of Logan's life? Yep, that's the one.
*The hard drive that's less than a year old? Yep, that's the one.The hard drive that we were told could cost $600 to $2,000 to restore? Yep, that's the one.
*The hard drive that we don't have that much money to fix? Most definitely, that's the one.


We thought a man from our ward would be able to repair it for much less, but no such luck. He said it has to be REBUILT if we want any of those photos.... costing thousands of dollars. We don't have the money for that, assuming it could even be rebuilt and photos resurrected. I can't even think about what this means without balling my eyes out. (And of course Ben gave me this news right before Primary today when I had to give sharing time and I couldn't keep myself together at all).

What does this mean? It means that besides the measly amount of photos that I've posted here, I have no physical memory or reminder of our lives over the past two years. I don't scrap book, and I'm awful at journaling and blogging. So this leaves us with very little. I'm heart broken.

Holiday photos, birthday photos, family reunion photos, special firsts for Logan that can never be redone, all gone. All of Ben's cycling races he's competed in and so proud of - gone. My awesome trip to New York - gone. Videos of Logan, tracking his development, showing how he talked, moved, walked, etc. as he has gotten older - gone. Special funny times with Logan spent at home - gone.

And I think those random ones of Logan are the ones I'll miss most, because I can't even remember what they are! There's nothing to reminisce with, because I've taken the photo and then forgotten the funny little things he's done. Instead of journaling about it, or scrapbooking about my sweet boy, I've just taken the photo and done nothing with it, and now there is nothing. Stupid, stupid me.

Luckily, all of the photos of Lincoln's birth until now are on Ben's laptop and our camera still. It's just poor Logan who will be missing two years of his life in photos and videos.

From then:

until now:

Nothing.

So here's the huge favor I'm asking of all our friends and family:

Could you please go through your photos and pass on to us any pictures that include us over the past couple years? To be specific, from May 2008 until now. I know that's asking a lot, but without these we have no memories to pass on to Logan or to remember down the road and look back on. Please, please, please. I would be so grateful for any pictures we get.

Also, if you have any advice, recommendations or info on rebuilding a hard drive, please enlighten us.

Although it doesn't take away the pain of our carelessness, we have learned our lesson... we will definitely back up our photos much more frequently now.

And for anyone still reading this who hasn't backed up their photos, go and do it now. Learn from our stupid mistake.