Attic Remodel Reveal

Finally! I've been waiting to share this for way too long! Are you as excited as I am? This is seriously awesome! Kevin did such an awesome job! I'm so proud :-)

It isn't finished. I'd say we're about 90% done. The banister needs to be put up, window casing installed, the stairs painted and photos hung. But I can't wait any longer. Those things will take time, especially since school's back in session.

We started with a hot mess! Like bare bones, studded out, filled with junk kinda mess.


The week before we moved in we rented a dumpster and most of the junk got trashed.


The week of Christmas break the insulation was installed.


And then we were stalled. Stalled because of our budget. Stalled because it was the school year. Stalled because the next step was drywall and that wouldn't fit in either of our cars.

Enter the back door replacement. Our good friend Brent had to pick up the door to install it, so Kevin was able to throw a few pieces (26) of drywall in the back of his trunk. Then they sat in our dining room for-ev-er! He swore he was taking pieces upstairs, and there were pieces creating walls, and little piles of white dust downstairs, but the stack never seemed to go away.

Finally the walls were up and painted, Kev's bro and dad came over to help install the floors, chair rail, baseboards and quarter round were painted and installed, and the furniture was brought up.

(Just to show I helped in the process :-) )

And....

We have a room!



Big change, huh?


Before :
After :

Props to Kev to doing most of it himself with help from a few friends and family :-) Pretty good, huh?

Logan - 6 Months

September 27, 2011


(GO PHILLIES!!!)

Half a year. Six months. 26 weeks. 183 days.

That's how old my baby is. Sniff, sniff, sniff.

How is it that time seems to drag on when you are waiting for something, but then seems to fly by? I remember being 26 weeks, entering my third trimester, excited to meet my little one in 3 short months. How long in felt for me to reach that point.



Now, another 26 weeks have past and it seems like just yesterday (okay more like last week) he was a newborn in my arms trying to hold his head up, but bobbling around. Now not only can he hold his head up, but his entire body as he scootches across the floor!

With movement comes new territories. Nothing is off limit. Including kitty toys. I guess cat toys make good baby toys and baby toys make good cat toys.


As always you are a drool machine. I guess it could be worse, but I'm not enjoying stepping in the puddles across the floor.


And everything goes into the mouth. Seriously. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

Or just poking yourself in the eye trying to get it to the mouth.

You tried your first fruits and veggies and love everything but avocados. You started with carrots, then had green beans, apples, pears, bananas, butternut squash and potatoes. All of it homemade by momma. Next up is meat. You definitely love your food! And this photo makes me want to eat more on the back porch before it gets too cold.



You are a fantastic eater, whether it's solids or nursing. You still nurse about every 3 hours except overnight. Some nights you are the good sleeper you used to be and only wake up once. Other nights you may be up 2, 3 or even 4 times! Momma is hoping that stops soon because she has gotten used to her beauty sleep.

Naps have gotten a lot better thank goodness! I typically only have to go back in once before you fall asleep. Although it still only last about 45 minutes.

I'm wondering if all the moving, moving, moving doesn't wear you out? Not only are you creeping along but you also sit like a pro!

Oh, and gone are the days where I can simply prop you up and snap a photo. Nope, my love, you are a mover.
Can't even lay you on your back to measure you against your monkey!


You are still able to wear a few 0-3, although momma is working on packing them all up, so you will strictly be in 3-6. Your doctor's appointment isn't until Monday, so we'll have to wait to see how much you weight/how long you are, but my guess is that you're close to 14.5 pounds and maybe 27 inches?

You are still in clothe diapers on the same setting and can still wear size 1, but they are getting small, so we'll have to use up the last few that are still laying around. Since starting solids you poop 2-3 times a day and go through more diapers than we're used too, so it shouldn't be too hard to use them up.

Logan,

Even thought it's *only* been 6 months, it feels like a lifetime, and I can't imagine life without you. You are such a light and just draw people to you! Constantly getting compliments where ever we go on how good you are or how cute or how amazing your eyes are.
You share your parents passion for the camera, although I'm not sure if it's just because it taste good.

You are the light of my life and I love you!

Check month 5, month 4, month 3, month 2, month 1

(Edit: Check out his 6 month stats from the doctors here)

Fall Fell on Us

Seriously though, fall fell on me like whoah! Where did the time go? I love the fall though. If heaven were just one long season I would imagine that it was a crisp fall day where all the colors of the leaves were showing their most colorful selves and the air was filled with a cool breeze that sent only a small chill down your back. Nighttime would consist of standing around a fire drinking something warm and laughing with friends. And when you lay down for bed you cuddle close to your loved one to stay warm through the night.

So this post is in honor of all that I love about fall!

To kick off the fall season we went to a Penn State Football game which we blogged about earlier. If you missed it you can read it by clicking here....or here.

But to really officially kick off Fall (after the official First Day of Fall), we went to Linvilla Orchards in Media, PA to check out the Apple Fest. It was a great family time, and Logan absolutely loved it...we know this because when we put him belly down on a pumpkin he began to move frantically, while slapping the pumpkin and giggling. Here are some pictures from the adventure:

We were baffled at how they had Pick Your Own Trout Fishing...maybe they had fish in the trees from the hurricane???

Strapped Logan on to Mommy and they were ready to go.

Logan does a good job of keeping us a tight-knit family.

This was his first Pumpkinland experience, he really seemed to enjoy it.

Logan even earned a position there directing the visitors to the hayride.

This is what I was talking about when he went cray and began banging on the pumpkins.

This was one of those outtake photos, where Logan decided that if the pumpkin looked good...then it must taste good!

He enjoyed seeing the "me-sized" pumpkins with mommy.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarf Pumpkins were there.

As well as Cinderella and her Pumpkin Carriage.

And the giant 20ft scarecrow!!!

Logan hasn't quite grasped what to do with his head in these photo stands.

Mommy couldn't resist.

And neither could Daddy.

Logan even showed us how to take the bull by the horns.

All in all it was a great day, despite the Eagles loss to the Giants. This coming weekend will be another fun packed weekend as we take off Friday night to go to Lancaster, PA to visit a local fair. Then on Saturday we are going to go apple picking with some good friends of ours and hopefully make some awesome fall goodies. Can't wait!

Coming Up This Week

Is it really the last week of September???!?!? Wow!

I don't like how fast time is going. At all.

I have a few post I've been meaning to write, that I'm going to tackle this week.

* Logan 6 month

* Attic Remodel Reveal (yes it's finally as finished as it will be for awhile!)

* Recap on our beach trips

Now that y'all are expecting these, I need to get my butt in gear and get them written :-)



Yesterday was Apple Fest at Linvilla Orchard, and we are suppose to go apple picking with some friends on Saturday, so I'll have fall post with Logan coming up soon. If you're on facebook you've seen an overload of these, but here's one from our time at the fest. :-)



Oh, and Logan should have a little buddy any day now! We have friends who are due today (or Wednesday depending on which doctor you talk to) so we are anxiously waiting to hear if he's going to have a best friend or a girl friend :-)

Linking up to Mingle Monday for the first time in a long time.

We Are...Penn State

Penn State University. Land of the creameries and sticky buns. Infamous Joe Paterno. State College is home to 40,000 + students, PSU itself containing 80,000+ students throughout all of their campuses. If you are quiet at night sometimes you can hear the Nittany Lion roar! During the fall season one of America's favorite sports gears up, and that is non other than football. When you have attended PSU you know the dedication, passion and joy that comes with Penn State football. It was a honor and priveledge that friends of ours had presented us as a family the chance to go to our very First Family PSU football game.


My head was held high this day and my chest was puffed out. It meant a lot to me that we were able to go because I take great pride in my Alma Mater. Below is a photo story of how the First Family PSU game went. September 17, 2011 PSU vs Temple at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.

We had to get Logan all decked out in his PSU gear. Later we found out that they make Nittany Lion outfits complete with the lion head gear....something for possible future games???

This was a very proud moment for me as a father, to see my son dressed in his PSU gear. We were ready to go and route on the Lions!

Mom was even in her PSU gear, sporting her pinkie Penn State hoodie!

Logan was taking in every aspect of the atmosphere. For the first solid 20 minutes he was content just looking around at the players, the field, the fans and anything else that comes with being at a football game.

In Logan's mind he was the real reason why there were thousands of people gathered on this day. I do have to admit he stole the thunder when we walked in a few minutes late to get our seats. He had so many people talking about him and how cute he was. The girl sitting behind us told us that we should have painted his bald head and face...maybe something else for the future???

Mom was getting into the game and sharing the excitement with Logan. The game had us on the edge of our seats for some parts.

The band took the field at half-time.

The coolest usher in the world came out at half-time, since we told him it was our first family football game, and so he climbed a few rows back and snapped some shots of us all together at the stadium.

In the last 5 minutes PSU had possession and led an attack down the field trying to come from behind and take the victory.

Going for 1st down at 4th and 2.

Ready, set, hike.

PSU has possession.

They had to bring out the chains to make sure that we had the 1st down.

Penn State drove into the end zone with only a little over a minute left.

Temple tried to make several attempts to get back down the field, but the PSU defense was too much for them.

Temple failed to bring the ball back, leaving PSU in the lead for the victory.