Uh... how is it July?

I've been rather neglectful lately. Is it really possible that my last post was in May? Yes, it is entirely possible. Oops. I guess this means that I'm going to have to dump a ton of updates.

So here's what happened these past two months (in no particular order):

- Logan got a haircut! I really struggled with the decision to cut his hair because I loved his long locks and I don't like making that sort of decision for someone, but I could really tell it was bothering him. Plus, Mo- the stylist- assured me that he would keep his curls and finally be able to see without hair covering his eyes. She was amazing with him.

- Logan now weighs 21 pounds, 13 ounces and is 31.25 inches long (65th percentile!). He's still super cute. New words: kitty (which is often pronounced with a "t" at the beginning. We're working on it), diaper, down, and a bad word that he heard from Mommy. (My language is definitely better now.)

- Our new house is coming along. Here's a picture of the front from when we first moved in. Just imagine an agave and yucca plant next to driveway and new, tiled numbers.

- Here's what I have decided is the library (minus the glider in the corner):

- Our living room doesn't usually have wood on the ottoman and floor, Nick is working on a project for class/home

-Our kitchen, which sadly is usually this unorganized. We're working on it.

- Late June, Nick's wonderful grandmother Janet came down to visit the family here in New Mexico with her sister and brother-in-law (also wonderful people), so we went down to Mountainair for a NM Tafoya family reunion. It was so nice to get together with everyone, especially those we haven't been able to see in a while. And Logan loves his great-grandma. I only took one picture while we were there, which is sad, but it's kind of cute:

- Also in June, Nick turned 27. We had a little get together, but I didn't take pictures of course. For Nick's birthday I got him a keg set (for beer) and a couple of weeks ago he was finally able to use it. The beer came out great too.

- Nick and I have been getting our craft on lately. I've been working on Logan's big boy viking themed room and I decided it was time to get him a growth chart, but I wasn't about to pay $50 for one. So I made one myself. Nick is taking a couple carpentry classes and is currently working on a giant workbench, so our garage has become a workshop for him. Saw dust smells great. He also made me a beautiful cutting board (which can be seen in the far corner in the kitchen picture).

- We also celebrated the Fourth with the McMillans, and as always it was great. Logan lost interest in the fireworks after five minutes, but he had a blast exploring the deck.

- I recently started working for my mom as her assistant photographer/ human slave. I like photography, so it will be fun. I also got proof of all my hard work:

- Lately, Logan discovered his inner artist. Here's my favorite photo from the ones he took the other day:

-Finally, the monsoon started. We've need rain so bad, so this is a very welcome sight. However, we will need real gutters or this is going to cause huge problems in the future.

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope everyone is doing as well as we are and I hope to have pictures of the upstairs uploaded soon- because, after all, I good photographer always has her camera.

Excitement excitement!

May has been pretty exciting for us so far.

L is now 13 months old, is speed walking, and can say "dog," "hello," and "pop." Oh but let us not forget the time he said "hey babe" to the very pretty salesperson at Zales. He's a ball of trouble, a constant flirt, and absolutely adorable! I love that he's so curious, so excited and so happy, though I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty exhausted too.

We are now homeowners! Its a beautiful two-story home in Rio Rancho, and I love it! There is a lot more cleaning to do than I originally expected-- whoever lived here before us never heard of putting glossy paint in bathrooms or cleaning showers-- and I seriously hate unpacking, but I do love it. L is having a blast running around and exploring. I will post pictures of it once we're settled and I have the motivation to do it.

We got Nick a new truck the day after we bought the house (and are finally paying less a month for his vehicle! Yay!) It's a 2011 Nissan Frontier in blue. It's really nice, and he totally deserved it!

I also graduate with my BA in History on the 14th. Its still strange to think that I'm finished since I've spent the better part of a decade there. I don't know if it has totally sunk in yet.

Finally, I totaled my car this afternoon. Both Logan and I were in it at the time, but apart from some minor bruising (on me) we're both fine. It was, however, the scariest experience of my life. It was my first real accident and I may never forget the sounds of it (L's screaming being the worst part of it.) All I can say is thank God for a good car seat. I am so glad that we decided to keep Logan rear-facing rather than turn him around. My neck is pretty sore, so I could imagine how he would feel if he had been forward-facing.

One Year Stats

L had his 12 month checkup today.

He didn't even notice the toe prick, but I'm sure the whole office was aware of his shots.

Poor thing.

He now weights 19 pounds, 11 ounces (around the 25th percentile)

He is 30.5 inches long (50th)

And his noggin is about 45cm (25th).

I'm so relieved that he has put more weight on, we were a little worried for a bit. The doctor says that he looks great and is hitting all of his milestones right on schedule. I'm so proud of my little man!

One

Where did the last year go?

It really does seem like just yesterday that the OB plopped this tiny little boy onto my chest

and now that wonderful little boy is a toddler.

Did I mention that as of 5/11 he has been a walker?

He just got up and walked all of a sudden and has been doing it 90% of the time ever since.

We celebrated his birthday yesterday and had such a blast, though I have to say, hosting birthday parties is exhausting!

Here are some of the highlights:

Playing on his little piano

Too busy walking to let me take his picture

Cake! I'm pleased to say that he didn't get sick afterwards

Applauding himself! He was great!

I am so honored to be little Logan's Mommy and though I am sad that my little boy isn't a baby any more, I am so excited for what this next year has in store for us!

10 and 11 months

We are all super worn out and I swear my brain is dead, so I'm going to update on what I can remember and then fill in the blanks during the post about our vacation. Oh yeah... we're going to Milwaukee tomorrow. Yay us!

L can stand all on his own! He doesn't do it very often, but he no longer freaks out when he realizes that he's not holding on to anything (which he did for weeks).

While standing on his own, he took one teeny step and BOTH Nick and I were home to witness it!

By the time we get back from vacation L will have 6 teeth instead of 2 and he is being a champ about having four teeth ripping through his upper gums all at once.

I'm trying to get him to say "Cowabunga"- so far I've gotten Wawawawa in response and I think that's amazing since I'm not really serious about him saying it (he still only says "mum," "dada" and "hey" to Artemis.) I also think he occasionally says "I did it" but I think it's really my brain running away with me.

He's been drinking 3oz of organic cows milk a day for a week now. It's a little early, but since he eats so much yogurt, the doc felt he was ready. We won't replace the rocket fuel completely for a few more months, but it's a start (and oh so much cheaper!)

Sadly, L seems to lost all interest in books. He doesn't want to sit still long enough to be read to and he likes to scream when we just read aloud while he crawls around. He doesn't even chew on them anymore. I really hope it's just a phase because it's breaking my heart a little.

Ok, that's all for now. We haven't packed anything and we have to leave the house by 4 tomorrow morning. But before I run away, here are some recent pictures of our little Monster:

Nine!

This month L has been sick. The plague went around our house during Christmas and then made a second round a couple of weeks ago. The second time hit our poor little Monster really hard. He’s now on probiotics and a soy formula until the lining in his stomach heals. Poor little guy. He’s a million times better and happier after a few days on the new formula, so hopefully in a week or so he’ll be back to eating like normal.

Now that he’s feeling better, he’s been really mobile. He’s been getting a little bored just hanging in the living room, so lately we’ve been roaming around the nursery and hallway. (Though he often stops to strum the radiator thingy.)

He’s been trying to open doors... when he’s not crawling into them.

He enjoys hiding from me. The first time he snuck into our bedroom and second he hid under the crib. He laughs like crazy when I find him... and then he tries to crawl away from me. He’s so freakin’ cute!

L was having some difficulties sitting back down while standing, but he has it mastered now! He’s so much happier now for it!

L finally let me get a picture of his little tooth! In two months he will go to the dentist for the first time. He’s supposed to be the best in town, but I’m still super nervous about it (I have a crazy fear of dentists.)

We’ve been spending the weekends watching the NFL playoffs and L seems to enjoy the game almost as much as his daddy. We’re trying to get him to do the “touchdown” sign, but haven’t had much luck yet.

The diaper situation looks like it has finally been resolved. He still has one little patch of rashiness, but his pediatrician says that it’s nothing to worry about. Words cannot explain my relief.

In other news, Nick is enjoying a semester off from school before starting back up this summer at CNM and I go back for my final semester tomorrow. I am in no way ready to go back to school, especially since the monster and I have been having so much fun lately, but it will be nice knowing that I’m almost done.

So 2011 isn’t off to the best start, but we’re still excited for this year. Now if only I can make up my mind on things for L’s first birthday party...

How what should have been the best Christmas ever turned out not so great... and 8 months.

Sorry all, I've been a slacker, but in my defense, I had finals/a giant research paper, then I got a seasonal job, and the holidays are always insane and a half. In case you didn't read the very creative title of this post, Logan is now 8+ months old. And very sick.

On Thursday night I started feeling pretty yucky, which turned out to be the plague stomach flu. I was sick until Christmas afternoon, Nick got sick last night (and is still battling with the aches) and now our sweet little boy is sick. He seems to be handling it better than I did, and I'm hoping that the worst of it is behind us. Yes, I am the worst gift-giver ever.

On to happier news, a lot has happened concerning our little Monster's development, some of which happened in the last week (so not a terrible week, all things considered.)

-L is sleeping through the night! He wakes up every once in a while, but soothes himself and gets anywhere from 11 to 13 hours of sleep a night. And he still naps a couple times a day. It's amazing.

- Logan is crawling! It's more commando style than full-on crawling, but he's super fast and I don't know if he will switch styles since this one suits him so well. We ended up having to get a safety play yard fence thing to keep him away from cords and the Christmas tree. It's exhausting at times, but so exciting.

- L is definitely a big boy now. He eats two to three servings of solids a day, though his current favorites seem to be carrots, cheese, and these organic baby cheerios.

- L's first word is "Dada" and Nick is thrilled (even if he won't say it.) I'm still a little sad that he hasn't said "ma" at all, yet, but I love how excited my boys are to see each other.

- December has been relatively warm in NM, so L got to go to the park for the first time. (I know, I'm a slacker.) The one we went to didn't have a swing set (the whole reason we went), but it did have a slide and L loved it. Sadly our trip was cut short once I heard the coyotes yipping. Thankfully I was able to get some great pictures of L before we ran to the car.

- As the previous post demonstrated, L loves to be scared. It is the one thing that is guaranteed to make him laugh. It's the funniest thing. I just hope he doesn't become a horror fan in the future.

- L can now sit up from any position and even more exciting, he can pull himself up to stand on his own! Ok... so exciting, but scary and tiring at the same time. There have been quite a few tumbles (nothing serious though). I promise to take a picture soon.

Now for some Christmas pictures!

Below left: L opening one of many gifts. I was still pretty sick. Below right: L lovin' on his grandma

Left: L playing with his new Leap-Frog book (complete with British accent) and me just happy to be alive. Right: L riding the rockin' dino that Nick and I bought him.

All things considered, it was a very exciting month and it wasn't a completely horrible holiday after all. 2010 was a great year for the Tafoya family and we can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us!