Merry Christmas!

Here is a copy of the first (and only?) Christmas letter that we've ever sent. If you didn't get one I'm sorry, it's probably because I know you read this blog. Or because you live in Vancouver and know what we're doing. Or because I didn't have enough stamps to send one to everybody. Or because you're blog-stalking me and I don't know you.

Whatever the reason, due to the magic of technology you too can be a part of our lives!

Dear friends and family,

Well, another year has come and gone and for the first time we have decided to write a Christmas letter. We have graduated, moved, bought a house, gotten a “real” job, and had a baby so pretty much every aspect of our lives has changed in the last year. As good a time as any to update everyone I’d say!

Tyson graduated last December from BYU with his Doctorate in Electrical Engineering and got a job with a company called nLight doing high tech top secret stuff. It’s not really top secret, but since I do not have a PhD in EE, it may as well be. In Tyson’s own words; “I work on designing and manufacturing lasers for various government uses.” Ok, maybe I know more about his job that I thought because those ended up being mostly my own words. Anyway, since nLight is in Vancouver, Washington we moved here at the end of last year and began a life outside of Utah. Tyson is also working hard in church with a calling as a primary teacher. He teaches the 10 turning 11 year olds and they love him.

I (Mari) graduated Summa Cum Laude in December from UVU with a Bachelor in Music Education. Before the ink on the diploma dried we found out I was pregnant and eagerly began preparing for our baby’s arrival. I elected not to get a job and instead spent my days searching for a house that we could raise our family in. We found a beautiful new home and quickly discovered that one apartment worth of furniture does not a decorated house make. I have loved the opportunity to paint and decorate our home although I still have a long way to go. I am also working hard in church with callings as ward chorister and as 1st counselor in the Young Women’s presidency.

Logan Grant Lowder was born September 25 after a fairly easy 23 hour labor. He has been a wonderful baby who already sleeps through the night and eats like there’s no tomorrow. Tyson and I will do anything to make him giggle and spend countless hours tickling, cooing, and grinning at him.

The three of us are thoroughly enjoying our transformed lives here in Vancouver. We have made so many friends here already and have found that we don’t miss being in school at all! We are looking forward to the next year and can’t wait to see what it brings us. If you would also like to see what it brings us, you are welcome to visit our blog at www.just-me-and-t.blogspot.com. You can also go there to see a current family picture since my desire to send a birth announcement usurped the traditional family portrait.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Tyson, Mari and Logan Lowder

And, as a bonus for reading the blog you get a family picture too.

:-)

A Christmas Miracle!

If there ever was a time for miracles, this would be it! Unfortunately with the stress of shopping (which is normally a fun thing), struggling to come up with the perfect presents, fighting crowds and traffic, and watching our bank accounts dwindle down alarmingly fast I think lots of us feel more stress preparing for Christmas than we should.

This year I've been trying to look for happy little things that make the mundane activities miraculous. Allow me to share them with you.

1. Tyson and I went to Winco on Saturday. A bad idea in general to be true and an even worse idea the Saturday before Christmas. But alas, it's grocery day so we went. And what do you know, we got the closest parking space in the first row we went down. And when you're carrying a heavy sleeping baby and it's raining that spot becomes all the more coveted.

Christmas miracle!

2. During that same shopping trip we discovered raisin nut bran (Tyson's favorite cereal) was on sale. It's never on sale, at least at winco.

Christmas miracle!

3. My trunk has a hard time latching closed and there have been several instances where I've come out of a store to find it open, and my car not broken into.

Christmas miracle! (and a reminder to always double check it after I think I've closed it)

4. Last Saturday (again) we went to wal-mart. This was a worse idea than going to winco but it had to be done. After looking for a parking space and realizing the parking lot was full all the way to the end of the lot, something I'd never seen before, we questioned our sanity but drove around to find a place anyway. We completed our shopping and joined half the store in waiting to check out. We happened to be standing right next to lane 13 which wasn't open. We daydreamed about how wonderful it would be if an employee came out and said to us "I'm opening right here, come on over". But that never happens, right?

Until it does!

Seriously 2 seconds after I contemplated putting our stuff on the belt in faith that someone would magically appear to check us out, someone magically appeared and invited us to check out on lane 13.

Christmas miracle!

5. Logan slept all during that huge shopping trip.

Christmas miracle!

And here's the best one of all.

6. After paying an extra $1000 in totally unexpected medical bills we got a check from our mortgage company for over $1000. Something about how they overestimated something so we overpaid by that much.

Christmas miracle!

-or-

Paying your tithing miracle!

Either way, yay!

So, my friends, if you're feeling stressed this season don't forget to look for the miracles in your life right now. Pay extra attention the next couple of days and tell me about them. Or your spouse, or your kids. No matter what, find a way to let the chaos lift you up.

Love you! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Hurrah to December!

Gingerbread mania!

You would think that 4 adults + 2 premade gingerbread creations would = a fun night of Christmas crafting.

But alas, you have entered the house where easy things become hard and thus we have this,

and this,

and a little bit of this.

Speaking of making easy things hard, I accidentally put my pictures on the left instead of the middle and now I can't control my blog. This is why I find what works for me and stick with it. I don't want to start over so you get what you get with this one.

Mom made the comment that she loved how our train was just like the box... besides that the lines were twice as messy and 4 times as thick.

Whatever mom, whatever. Pretty sure they're only twice as thick.

Personally I liked how my dad got creative with his side of the roof.

Mom's side.

Dad's side. When asked what it was, he said a smile. I figure it's like that commercial with all the faces in household objects. Sometimes you can see it, sometimes you can't.

In the end, we found a special sort of pride at conquering the gingerbread. The roof didn't slide off the house and the train didn't tip over.

Total success.

And I somehow put this last picture on twice. I'm just gonna leave it as a final testament to this jacked up entry.

Logan's big day!

We blessed Logan on Sunday!

We started off the day by having to wake Logan up at 9:30 so that he would be ready for church on time.

I know, right?

I just gently unswaddled him and made some casual coughing noises while he stirred, hoping it would ease him out of dreamland without making him cranky. It totally worked.

And I know I'm totally not biased but holy crap, isn't that the cutest little outfit you've ever seen!?

Actually, I probably shouldn't say words like crap when talking about something like a blessing... but then again maybe I should because guess what leaked out of his pants after church.

Yeah, it never ends.

We were very careful before church to prevent any mishaps though. I put on his bib as soon as I got him dressed and then I heard him go potty pretty much immediately after (of course) so I quickly yanked his pants off until he was done and I could change him.

Here we are doing a little more quality control...

So I am posting this picture because I think it's a good one even though none of us are looking at the camera and also, let's be honest, I look about 10 lbs lighter than I really am. It was a wonderful lucky thing. Those are Tyson's parents by the way.

Here's sweet Logan with his other set of grandparents, my mom and dad who were able to fly from Michigan for the event!
In reality, we blessed him this day because they would be here, not the other way around.

Tyson did such a wonderful job doing the blessing in spite of Logan crying not before, not after, but during the blessing. Whoever was in charge of the mic kept it right at Tyson's mouth though so we could hear him very clearly. It was wonderful.

After sacrament meeting we went back to our house with friends and family and enjoyed a fabulous meal.
Here's the spread of food we enjoyed. So delicious...

Funny story about that poinsettia over there; I was tidying up the kitchen when I noticed a puddle of water underneath the pot. "Wonder where that came from?" I thought to myself, milliseconds before the truth hit me.

"Mom, (in my sweetest innocent voice) did you water my poinsettia for me?"

"Yeah I did."

"Well thank you but... it's fake"

Guess that's one good looking fake plant although according to my Mom it looks a little dry. Ha! Luckily the Styrofoam was no worse for the wear although the fake dirt on top washed away a little revealing some of the white stuff underneath.

Poor Logan got so tired at the end of the day. Here he is all tuckered out after getting changed into a new outfit due to the poo.

It's hard being a star!

GOOD Mom vol. 1

So I was making a video for my mom of Logan and me. After carefully setting it up on the windowsill, propping it just so, and finding the perfect zoom to maximize Logan's cutability I started recording.

He giggled a couple days ago; I was trying to recreate that moment.

I failed.

But anyway, mid tickle I looked over and noticed a SPIDER CRAWLING ON LOGAN'S CHAIR!!! Darn you, real Christmas tree and the nature you've brought into my home!
(This one had built its web between a chair I sit in every day and the tree. Shudder...)

You know me, you know my fear of spiders, you wont fault my first instinct that made me shriek and push the whole chair away from me. But no, must save the baby, must fight the natural man. Or was I already fighting the natural man by not saving my young at all costs?

Whatever. I grabbed my baby out of that thing and stood up, ready to walk away from the whole situation until Tyson got home.

And yet... taking my eyes off that spider would mean that it could creep around anywhere he liked and surprise me in some other terrifying way. Sorry spider, once you leave the ceiling you have entered my territory. Death must ensue. My weapon: a shoe.

I really need to practice my accuracy in shoe throwing so I can hit a spider from afar, but I've been busy doing other important things like raising a child and feeding my husband so I had to maintain a firm grip on the shoe while I beat that spider down. I emerged victorious and looked up to see the camera still recording.

Sweet!

I gave that camera a point (it would have been two handed but I was still holding the baby) and said "HA! Take that!" to my mom who had once expressed disbelief in my ability to kill a spider on my own.

I then picked up the camera to find that my heroic act had NOT been saved for posterity seeing how I neglected to push the record button.
So be it.

This is Logan's "chair" in case you were wondering.

Just because

Well ladies, looks like that husband of the year award has been clinched.
If not it's Mr. Congeniality for sure.

I made this for him

I'm so glad he's totally into my crafts.

This will surely continue as he gets older.

Bad mom Vol. 2

Told ya there'd be more.

Well, bitty baby is 2 months old now and he had his Dr. appointment exactly on his two month birthday, last Wednesday. He's running a bit big which is fine with me except that I have to carry him everywhere. Here are the stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 10 oz - 75%
Height: 23 1/4 in - 70%
Head: I forget the exact number but 60%

I was thinking his head would be bigger? He seems pretty well proportioned though.

So for Logan's 2 month appointment he of course got a ton of vaccines. Oh the trauma.


We started with an orally administered one. The nurse was saying beforehand that some babies liked the taste and some babies hated it. With Logan being so happy cooing and gurgling she was betting he'd like the taste.


Here's hoping she's not a betting woman.


After the crying, gagging, and coughing was over it was time to pin him down for the shots. I'm sure you can imagine how that went. He reached a new level of loudness that I'd never heard and I about joined in with him when I glanced down and saw the little blood pools forming on his legs. I LOATHE getting shots myself so I could totally empathize with his pain. I still feel like I deserve a reward when I get a shot and don't cry.


I was worried that he would be super cranky after all that, but after a feeding and a short nap it seemed he had pretty much forgotten all.


Fast forward to later that night. We were getting Logan ready for his bath and discussing how to best get those band aids off. Mom and Dad thought to themselves we'll just get it over fast with the quick pull.


No. Mom thought that. Me, the mom, you know, the one with the intuition and stuff?


Tyson went along with it and in one swift yank we brought back all our baby's pain and agony and he wasn't as quick to forget this time. We snuggled and cuddled and tried to pacifier him up and then just stuck him in the bath to get it over with. This was where we added insult to injury by singing "If you're happy and you know it" and then dissolving into giggles because his face just wasn't showing it.


Poor baby.


An hour later we got him calmed down, fed, and in bed. I was gearing myself up for him to be fussy all night and wake up every hour or so wanting to be held.


Wrong again mom.


He slept 8 hours straight.

Might've had something to do with all that crying?

Brother/Uncle came!

Austin came to visit us from BYU for Thanksgiving. His visit was preceded with some questions via text:

A: Do you have towels?

M: What? Yes, of course we have towels.

A: Does Tyson have a pair of brown shoes I could borrow?

M: You could, but he wears a size 7 (Austin wears an 11)

I suppose he was packing at the time.

Logan loves him, although it's sometimes a love mingled with fear.

We decided a trip to the coast was in order. After a delicious visit to Tillamook where I conceded that my craving for their ice cream wasn't just a pregnancy thing, we went to exotic Cape Meares.

I tell you this as if you should know what it is.

It's pretty much some gorgeous cliffs.

And a lighthouse.

And the closest scenic point of interest next to, of course, Tillamook, my real reason for driving two hours away from home. Dang that ice cream, I can't get off it!

We stopped at the beach on our way out for no other reason than to say we were there and snap a quick picture. You can't tell here but Logan was not happy.

Maybe you can tell.

Overall, the trip was awesome except for that part where Logan decided he'd had it with his carseat and started to seriously lose it. The result of this was me nearly losing it and a 45 minute stop at home depot (the first place I saw off the freeway) where I ended up feeding him while sitting on the bathroom floor. But alas, we did make it home in the end.

p.s. I totally didn't expect so many awesome comments on the working out post, but I should have because you guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all the advice!

Here's the plan for now: I borrowed P90x from my brother in law (thanks Tad!) and I started it yesterday. So far so good! I like it because a) I can do it at home while the babe is asleep b) it has variety and room for improvement c) no one is around to laugh at me while I flop around the floor like a dying fish trying to do AB RIPPER X (spoken in an echoing man voice).

I do, however, fully plan to make Tyson do it when he gets home from work so I can laugh at him.

Thanksgiving

Well I did a terrible job photo documenting Logan's first Thanksgiving.

Shoot.

In a nutshell we used up our daily allotment of calories on breakfast, which consisted of cinnamon rolls, bacon, sausage, and orange juice. Then I shrugged my shoulders, called the day shot anyway and added extra butter to the dinner rolls I was making.

It was a pretty low key day at Tyson's parent's house with delicious food (have you ever had carrot souffle? It's amazing, gosh I love it), a game, and a blow out. The only thing this Thanksgiving was missing was an afternoon nap. Guess that's what happens when you have a kid.

You'll notice this Thanksgiving was joined by Brother John, Brother John, morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing, ding dang dong, ding dang dong...

His name isn't actually John. It's Austin.

But his middle name is John and since he is my brother I think of that song when I think of him so there you have it.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

He'll get anything he wants with this one

Occasionally we have flashbacks to earlier baths.

And it makes us sad.

Life's hard.

Advice, anyone?

I was mid hallelujah/celebratory dance upon finding that an old pair of jeans fit (and by fit I mean zipped) when the button popped off. While the oldness of the jeans may have contributed to the button being loose, let's be honest, it had help.

*sigh*

It would seem that my vigorous regiment of breast feeding and eating leftover Halloween candy has taken me as far as I can go. It's time to get serious, folks.

Therein lies the dilemma. How do you work out with a kid at home? Ideally I would like to run. Somehow. So there are a few options; (1) run when Tyson gets home, (2) run with a jogging stroller, (3) get up early and run before Tyson leaves in the morning.

I would like to point out the flaws in each of these.

When Tyson gets home it is dark. And cold. But I'm not afraid of the cold. Or the dark but it does seem rather dangerous and Tyson doesn't want me doing it anyway. Strike one.

I don't have a running stroller which is a major flaw in plan 2 and with the thousands of dollars in medical bills that we are receiving each day (remind me to not have the next kid near Christmas) it doesn't seem wise to make extra purchases. Although now that I'm thinking of Christmas I suppose I could ask for a stroller but I just need so many other things (read: PANTS). Plus, from what I've read kids aren't supposed to be in those until they're 6 months old anyway. Strike two.

According to the wise words of Tyson his opinion on plan 3 is, "Do you really need to be more sleep deprived than you already are at this point in your life?"

NO. I. DON'T.

Strike 3.

Pass the Halloween candy.

But seriously, what should I do? I'm highly considering getting some workout videos so I can just stay inside but they can get so boring. Am I wrong? Then I suppose I could get a gym membership somewhere with a day care, but Logan is just so young for that! Or I could use the gym after Tyson gets home...

Help me.

The A difference between Tyson and Me

When Logan is looking particularly cute, or if it's a special day I work really hard to capture a good picture of him (well, within my totally limited and mediocre photography abilities).

Because of that I take many many pictures and discard ones like this...

and this...

before being satisfied with one like this. His eyes are open, it's in focus, and he looks cute. Done!

When Tyson takes a picture you usually only get one shot.

And if your son looks drunk on his first day of church? So be it.

No cavity club

You'll be interested to know that Tyson and I accidentally left the crock pot on for three days and the house is still standing. Go team!

And, on an unrelated note, I decided it was really time to start flossing every day. Is that gross that I didn't already do it? I brush a lot, but I usually reserve flossing for the two weeks before I go to the dentist and after eating corn on the cob. However, after watching a brief portion of Dr. Oz about dental health I figured it was time to get serious about it.

I did not figure it was time to get the tongue scraper they were showing. Those things totally gross me out, hence watching only a brief portion of el oz.

Speaking of dentists, guess how long it's been since I've seen one.

Five, maybe six (!) years?

I don't even know but what I do know is that when I finally go, it ain't gonna be pretty. Especially since I just had a baby and apparently that totally kills your teeth. This is what happens when your mom doesn't make you do stuff anymore.

But do you think that since my teeth don't hurt I'm probably ok? Perhaps I haven't acquired any cavities in the last six years? I think part of the reason I don't want to go is because as far as I know, I've never had a cavity. I'll be so sad if I ruin my streak! One of my crowning moments as a child was winning not one, but two drawings in a row out of the no cavity club.

Pretty sure this made me the favorite of the Hammer kids after Austin threw up in the lobby cause he swallowed his fluoride.

Ha ha.

Anyway you guys, I'm not even sure where I'm going with this anymore. Just felt like talking I guess? And maybe I'm looking for someone else who is worse about going to the dentist than I am? Misery loves company folks, if you're out there we can go together... later.

Let the good times roll

So I'm sitting on the computer looking down at Logan who is sitting in a little chair that I'm rocking with my foot. He's glancing around nonchalantly as he unloads in his diaper, typical baby behaviour, and I debate whether to pick him up now, or give him a few minutes to finish up.

Experience has taught me that it's probably better to wait for a few so I get distracted by facebook and dink around for a while.

I glance down and Logan is looking especially cute so I pick him up and give him kisses and snuggle him and nibble his neck and... feel something wet on my arm.

There is mustard all up and down both sleeves of my white shirt.

No. Not mustard.

Baby poop!

I look at my sweet innocent baby and then look at his chair.

Poop.

Look at my hands.

Poop.

Look at my pants.

Poop.

Look at his legs.

Poop.

Look at his clothes.

Poop.

You get the picture. It had come out the bottom of his diaper and was now covering every surface that he may or may not have come into contact with.

Now I pause. Who gets cleaned up first? He is still happy as a clam so he can wait a few minutes, but does that make me a bad mother? Then again, if I clean him first, I'll just transfer stuff from me back onto him.

Sigh.

I figure either way, I'll be cleaning myself up twice so I wash my hands and try to wipe off my shirt and pants as best I can, then tackle the baby. The damage isn't as bad as I thought, looks like he can wait til tonight for his bath (I'm working on a bedtime routine and the bath is part of it). I undress him, get him in a clean diaper and stick him in his crib. Now it's my turn.

There is no way I'm taking these clothes more places than I have to so I go right into the laundry room to undress. Problem, our laundry room doesn't have blinds yet (now a priority) and we have construction workers everywhere. So I'm ducking below the window level and trying to take my clothes off while avoiding the poop and spraying everything with oxy clean.

Meanwhile the baby has realized he's by himself and in his crib so he starts crying, but I need to clean the fabric on his chair before I forget and stick him back in it. This leaves me running around the house in various states of undress trying to get to the baby as fast as I can, dress us both, and make sure everything is clean.

I text Tyson the situation and we decide that we're going out for ice cream tonight.

And I deserve double.

(Innocence)

My boys and their hair

I was sitting on the couch with Tyson the other day telling him about my day (no doubt a story about blow outs or spit up) when I noticed something looked a little different.

M: Babe? Are you doing something different with your sideburns?

T: No, I don't think so.

M: Well this side looks shorter than usual. Like, way shorter.

T: Um...

M: Turn your head, let me see the other one.

...

M: Babe! Your sideburns are totally uneven! What happened?

T: Well... I'm just really tired in the morning. I must have just... shaved it off...?

M: Ha ha ha. How long do you think it's been this way?

T: I don't know. A couple of days maybe?

M: So are you gonna shave off the other one?

T: Nah, I think I'll just let this side grow back.

Let's hope that doesn't take too long.

Then there's this one.

It's a little hard to tell in this picture but he basically has a halo of baldness goin on now. Poor kid just loves looking around at everything while he's laying on his back. Rubbed his hair right off of his head.

Also, he is showing signs of a little male pattern baldness and his hair struggles to stay flat where his lump still is from being vacuumed out. It's like a cross between Alfalfa and Alton Brown.

I'm pretty sure there isn't anything I can do for him. Please tell me it will grow back! When he was born his hairline on the sides came all the way to his eyebrows. And now... well you have eyes.

My sweet bald baby.

Working 9 to 5.

Last night I went to a Mary Kay party. It takes a special woman to be a successful Mary Kay consultant. A woman not like me. How do I know this? Well, in the time before Tyson I held many a job. Among the TEN jobs I had in college, I worked at not one but THREE telemarketing places (yes, that was me you hung up on), sold jewelry at the mall (that was the best of the sales jobs) and sold t-shirts door to door.

Yeah, t-shirts.

These shirts had coupons on the back for a bunch of free stuff and the proceeds went to the boys and girls club. A nice idea, but unfortunately the shirts were totally ugly and really, who buys a shirt from a door to door salesman?

Well, besides college age boys and families who felt bad for the 20 year old girl wandering around at night in the winter.

Surprisingly, the t-shirt place went out of business and I think I quit two of the telemarketing jobs by calling in sick about 10 times in a row and then just not showing up.

Needless to say, those jobs were conspicuously absent from employment applications.

As you may have noticed there wasn't a sales job that I could resist in those days, so when Mary Kay came a knockin', I signed up. And so did my roommate. After going to a couple motivational meetings and learning the right way to put on nail polish I decided that I didn't like to sell stuff and I definitely wasn't going to win a pink Cadillac by peddling makeup to poor college students.

A few months later I got a letter in the mail that read something like:

Oh no! It looks like you have been TERMINATED for not keeping up your sales. Happily, all you have to do to return to Mary Kay is sell another product...

I forget exactly how it went, but this was basically the gist. So yeah, I got fired from an at home business where I was my own boss.

This was information I neglected to mention to our consultant last night where I laughed too loud, only spent $10, and tried to get everyone else to buy their stuff from me.

Just kidding!

I'm the stinky cheese man!

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your eyes.

For we have had total success in the bath department. Along with your wonderful suggestions, I found something that helps Logan be happy and content while I bathe him.

Singing primary songs.

I discovered he loves primary songs a few days ago when he was being just a tad fussy. I got him to take a pacifier and started singing. He spit that paci out and started grinning and cooing at me. I sang every song I knew, some of them twice before he needed the paci back and went to sleep.

So that's what I did during his bath.

*sidenote* I'm watching biggest loser right now and has anyone noticed that Jillian Michaels runs like an awkward person? I would not imitate her style if I was you.

Anyway, I sang him those songs and he was so content he let me wash the lint out of his toes and the stinky cheese out of his neck rolls.

What?

My child is perfect and smells like roses and don't you forget it.

In addition to the bath my own faucets started running and leaked all the way through my shirt and my jeans before I even noticed. Apparently I had pulled my legs up to my chest at some point or something. Who knows? My worst fear right now is that it's going to happen while I'm in public and totally embarrass me. Like when I'm conducting the music in church or wandering around the grocery store or something. Especially since I don't seem to notice until there is enough milk to feed my child on the front of my shirt.

And I do wear pads in case you were wondering.

The flow overpowers all.

Do boys read this blog?

If you are boy reading this blog and you feel awkward right now, I'm sorry.

Just think of how I feel with liquids gushing out of my body at inopportune times.

Would you like me to end this entry with a picture of my lovely totally non-stinky child?

My pleasure.

I think...

Logan just broke my ear by slamming his head into it. I heard a crack.

He appears to be fine. I am crying.

Just kidding, I'm not. Even though it hurts.

Oops.

Well, the kid had another blow out and I had to give him a bath by myself again.

And even though I was careful to keep the water and my hands warm... screamfest.

Apparently a cold wipe on the back is as effective as an ice cold hand and there was no amount of high pitched talking and trying to get his attention that was gonna make him forget it.

Poor kid.

So I gave up on getting him dressed afterward, wrapped him in a warm blanket and snuggled him for the next three hours. I think he forgave me.

Can I just say that I am so grateful that this baby is cute to me? I was super worried that I would have an ugly baby. Do other people feel this way? I figured I would love him no matter what, but I felt like if he was ugly I would be able to tell. And be secretly sad. Is that bad?

This totally makes up for getting pooped/spit up on every hour today.

Happy Halloween!!!

Love,

The Lowders

p.s. Logan is a giraffe in case you can't tell. A giraffe who's hood is too big.

Pumpkin patch!

Well folks, its time for the obligatory pumpkin patch photos! We took advantage of some gorgeous weather on Saturday and went to battle the crowds.

But first we got distracted by Logan in this outfit for the first time and took pictures.

My friend loaned me her moby so I could try before I buy and let me tell you I love it! Logan is so happy being wrapped up and carried around. Putting him in it pretty much ceases all crankiness.
He was super into the pumpkins let me tell you what.
Speaking of into pumpkins... Tyson loves to find the biggest pumpkin he can that stands up on its own. Our traditional location in Utah just writes a price on the pumpkin, this place charges by the pound.

87 lbs later we were on our way.

It was pretty awesome watching Tyson carve that beast.

It was just a little bit thick.

Oh look! It's as tall as the baby!

The obvious next step is putting him in the pumpkin.

Tyson's pumpkin is representative of something in your house. Props if you can guess what it is.

This post brought to you by one handed typing moms of america.