Happy 1st, 28th, and 32nd Father's Day!!!

Happy 1st Father's Day to my sweetheart Ben! Logan couldn't ask for a more incredible daddy and he loves and adores you so much! Thank you for all that you do to help take care of Logan and me too:) We love you!
Happy 28th Father's Day to my wonderful dad! I hope that you had a very special day and I wish that I could be there to spend it with you:) You are such an incredible dad and I feel so blessed to be your daughter. We can't wait to see you in July! Logan is so excited for all of the adventures that his "Ampa" is going to take him on this summer! We all love you very much!
Happy 32nd Father's Day to an amazing father-in-law! We hope that you had a wonderful day, as well, and we wish that we could see you more often:( I am so thankful for the wonderful example that you are to us all, especially to Ben. He strives to be a father just like you and so far he is doing a pretty good job:) Thank you so much for all that you do and we all love you very much! We're looking forward to seeing you this summer!

Our little Bear Grylls

Last Tuesday, I was at a church meeting and Ben was home with Logan. Nothing unusual, until I received a call from Ben. Between laughs, he said that he me had something to tell me about Logan. I guess, Ben was at the computer and Logan was trolling around the house, when Ben heard the all too familiar sound of Logan gnawing on something he shouldn't have in his mouth. As usual, Ben had a hard time sticking his finger in Logan's mouth to pull out the foreign object. Finally, Logan cracked open his mouth and Ben was able to quickly scoop out the item. To his amusement/horror, a gigantic COCKROACH lay in his hand!!! It was about 1.5 inches long and worst of all...it was still alive!!! Ben quickly gave Logan water and snacks to cleanse his palate so that he wouldn't have cockroach breath (brilliant, I know). Then he put the disgusting cockroach out of its misery.
We know that Logan is already showing signs of being the "outdoorsy" type like his dad, but eating bugs already...YUCK! After chastising Ben for not watching Logan well enough, I made him promise that he would call the Pest Control guy immediately! I can't believe that Logan put that in his mouth, but it is one of those stories that you will never forget and one that Logan will love to hear when he gets older:)

It Has Been A Week Of...

1) Logan discovering...

how much he loves to look at himself (or that other baby that lives in our house:) and give kisses!!! It has become a little competition between us and the Ropers to see who will be the lucky one and receive Logan's wet and pretty aggressive kisses! I guess I'm winning because every morning he greets me with at least two big, wet, open mouth kisses! His sweet little, well not so little, kisses make my day:)

2) Logan pulling himself up to standing

After he started crawling, we knew that it would only be a matter of time before he would start pulling himself up, cruising, and walking. Thank goodness, he is not walking yet, but he is getting into all sorts of trouble with just the standing part!
ie: attempting to climb the stairs (don't worry, they are fully gated)!!! Don't you love how he knows he is being mischievous:)

3) Teething
This has been Logan all week, except he usually has his entire fist in his mouth trying to work his new little teeth out! After much work, and I mean a lot of work and a few 102 fevers, Logan successfully cut his 5th and 6th teeth!

4) Being silly!!!



Yes, he fell asleep sitting up and collapsed forward! I guess, being 10 months old can be very tiresome!!!

It Has Been 3 Amazing Years & 16 Years Since...

As the title says, it has been 3 amazing years of marriage! This Wednesday, May 21st, Ben and I celebrated our Anniversary. I can't believe it has only been 3 years because I feel like I have known him my entire life!

Ben, I just want you to know how much I love you and that you are my best friend, comfort, and strength. I am looking forward to many years of celebrating our anniversary and to all of the other joys that life has to offer. You are my eternal companion and I couldn't ask for more! Love you:)

Now that I am done sounding like a Hallmark card, here are some fun pictures from our wedding!






Now for the 2nd part of my post...16 years since...I CUT MY HAIR!!! I know, this is a big and dramatic change for me, considering I haven't cut my hair since I was 10!!!

I don't know if many of you mothers have had a similar experience, but giving birth did quite a number on my hair (ie: hair falling out in handfuls on my pillow, in the shower, etc., and an emerging frizzy/coarse texture) and it hasn't been the same since. Also, between Logan pulling on it constantly, stray hairs wrapping around his little body parts, and wearing it pulled back in a not so cute bun/blob thing 6 out of 7 days a week...I decided I was so over having long hair!!!

So, last Saturday, I went to the salon and said, "chop it!" and that is exactly what she did! I donated my ~12 inches of hair to "Locks of Love" and honestly, I did not and have not shed one tear since the day of my chopping! I actually, am really enjoying my new do even though I don't think that it looks all that great, but boy does is feel great!!!

Here are the before and after shots. Please be forgiving because I still do not have a clue on how to do short hair!!!

Before (hideous, I know. Why didn't anyone tell me?)

After (much better, but definitely needs some work)

Here we are just about to go out to dinner for our anniversary and that round brush technique that the hair stylist taught me takes way too much coordination! So, my hair is looking a little flat, but I am still learning:)

Welcome Baby Trent!!!

This Wednesday, Jen (my older sis) had her third little boy!!! His name is Trenton Gary Roper and he weighs 7 lbs 9 oz and is 20.5 inches! He is very healthy and both he and his mommy are doing very well. Jen is a superstar in the delivery room...she has very high pain tolerance, stays very calm, and always keeps her composure (I need to take lessons from her:). We are so happy that he is finally here and I know that Jen, Matt, Wade (4), and Seth (2) couldn't be anymore delighted to have him join their Roper clan!

Happy Mother's Day Jess!!!

Since today is Mother's Day, I told Jess that I was going to take care of her post this week. "I" being Ben, Jess' awesome(?!?) husband. Anyway, I really want to let Jess know how much I love and appreciate her.

For any of you that don't know Jess that well, she is probably the nicest person you'll ever meet. She is friends with everyone, and is somehow able to look past other peoples' flaws (thank goodness for me). She is also one of the hardest workers I have ever met. She makes me want to be a better person and always strive hard to achieve my goals. I hope that we can pass those traits on to Logan and our future kids.

As far as being a mom goes, she does soooo much! Most importantly, she takes care of Logan. She rolls around on the floor with him all day. When I come home in the eveninig I usually come home to the two of them laughing it up. It makes me grateful that Logan has a mom that is so dedicated. Jess is also great at keeping the house neat and clean and is working hard to become a good cook (keep it up!!!).

Here are just a few pics of Jess that show her progression from little girl to a bonafide mom:


As you can see, she's always been cute as a button!


She's always tried to make me feel comfortable, though I've discouraged her from using the same tactics on Logan as she used on me.

Jess isn't afraid to serve up some old fashioned discipline (to me only, of course, not our little Logi).
How can anyone resist this couple?

Jess, I hope you had a wonderful first Mother's Day! Logan seemed pretty excited about the whole thing and I am looking forward to spending many more Mother's Days taking care of you. Love you!!!

Ready or Not...Here Comes Logan!!!

He became a little crawling machine overnight! We've been frantically trying to babyproof the house all week, but we still have some work to do. He gets into EVERYTHING now and, I know, this is only the beginning:)

Sorry, the swimming video is a little blurry, but here are some pics of Logan at the pool:






He had no fear, he was crawling in the water straight into the deep end! He was trying to play with all of the big kids out there:) I am thankful that he likes the water because we are going to be doing a lot of swimming in the 110+ weather that is soon on its way!