ALL I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS WAS A TIME MACHINE CHAIR

Belly Laugh

Roger & Patty's

At the end of October our friends, Roger and Patty, moved into a house down the street from us. Roger and Brian have been friends since high school. We are so excited to have close friends in the neighborhood! A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed a yummy dinner at their home and the company of other good friends. Logan had a blast as usual and enjoyed a nice nap in the master suite. I enjoyed hanging out with the cutest male toddler in town. Patty and Roger have a staircase that turns out to be more entertaining than any toy in town.

Playing, Chatting, Napping

Good times with family

About 3 weeks ago Logan and I made the trek to Asheville. Just the two of us. Logan finally got to meet my grandmother, 2 of my uncles, and my cousin and her family. The drive down there went well. Luckily he likes to sleep in the car! We pulled over at a Mickey D's because I was too nervous to do a rest area or gas station. Unfortunately pulling over with a 3 month takes quite a while: get the bottle ready, get him out of car seat, feed in car, burp, put him back in car seat, go inside so I can relieve myself, take him out, change him, get back in car. Wow there went an hour! Logan had so much fun visiting with all the relatives. I think his absolute favorite was playing with my beautiful neice Avery. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was such a little helper showing him books and toys, bouncing his seat, and moving around alot for him to watch. He was a super star at sleeping in his travel crib. I decided to start with the sleep sacs while we were out of town instead of swaddling and haven't turned back (mainly because he was becoming a certified get out of swaddle ninja). Logan had a blast cooing and smiling at Granny. The way home turned out to be interesting since there was a rockslide closing interstate 40 on the NC and TN border. I had to go an alternate route to johnson city, knoxville, then nashville. The foilage was beautiful and I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so tired from the trip and we were both coming down from a cold. Plus it added about 2 hours to our trip.
Logan's grandparents (Brian's parents) came into town for the Halloween weekend. We had a great time and Logan loved all the extra attention. Grandpa discovered Logan enjoyed the newspaper ads as much as his board books (esp. the Toys R Us one). I have the cutest video of him chatting it up with Nana, but I think it's too big for the blog because I can't get it too load (any tips blogger friends).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Baby Technology

I have been meaning to blog about all the baby technology that has made things a little easier these first few months. One of my favorite baby items is my awesome baby video monitor that my husband made me using an iPOD touch (now you see why the above picture is so fitting). He mounted a webcam that has special infrared lighting (so you can see the baby in the dark), and then made it so I can use my iPOD touch to see the baby or I can view him from any computer by going to a private website. The coolest thing about the camera is you can control it to view any part of the room. This will come in very handy when he becomes mobile and has a toddler bed. He is able to wiggle around and we switch which way we put him down to sleep to avoid odd head shape so it is so convenient to be able to swipe my finger across the IPOD screen and the camera move to his location. I don't think I could survive with out this! I love being able to look at him any time from anywhere!

My other favorite piece of technology that has made life easier especially when you are so sleep deprived is the Baby Brain application. It is so easy to track his pees, poos, and feedings. You can also track sleep but I didn't feel that was necessary for us. I would just whip it out at the doctors when they asked for all the details. This was so helpful when we had to pay such close attention in the beginning due to his jaundice and feeding issues. I also tracked when I pumped, how much, etc. What a lifesaver!

Logan's first favorite activity

What can I say the boy loves shiny things. I need to put photos in them stat. This video does not do justice to the smiles the frames bring to his face. He will sometimes cry hysterically when I take him away from gazing and dancing on his changing table. Don't worry his Nana was standing on the side in case he decided to roll a few months early :) He was 7 weeks in this video.

GROGAN

My dear, dear grandmother of 86 has coined Logan's first nickname. If you remember early in the spring one of my baby showers was held at her house. Some people even gave me things that had Logan embroidered on it. I was speaking to my grandmother while I was still in the hospital and she told me how she just can't wait to see the baby and had been telling all her friends about him. She kept saying how unique his name was and how all her friends wanted to know where it came from (was it a family name). She said his name a few times and I thought she was pronouncing it weird. I thought maybe I had just misheard. As I was getting off the phone she told me to give Grogan a kiss for her. Wait a second. Did she say Grogan? The day we came home from the hospital these were delivered:


Yes, she thought his name was Grogan!! Her hearing isn't well so when I told her the name last spring she couldn't understand it and I had my cousin tell her in person. Then the shower was at her house, etc. I thought she had gotten it down. Anyways, I still couldn't tell her it was wrong over the phone because she couldn't hear the difference! I called her the next day and she said she had been corrected by a family member and was so embarrassed. She told me that she had told all her friends the wrong name. Ha ha, that's why they all thought it was so unique! My grandmother than said "I liked Grogan, but I like Logan a lot better!" She even wrote him an apology letter for getting his name wrong. Brian and I call Logan by his nickname Grogan constantly. How special to get his first nickname from such a wonderful lady!

FIRSTS

First time meeting the grandparents













First car ride













First time home













First time meeting Mr. Bosworth and Ms. Pinkerton













First thumb sucking


First time in bouncy seat


First time in swing


First bath


First week (1 week old pic)


First tummy time


First time with Uncle Scott


First Walk

LOGAN JAMES RAUSCHER IS HERE

Logan James Rauscher arrived on July 14th, 2009 at 5:58 pm. He weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. He was born via c-section due to being breeched. All the doctors and nurses in the operating room laughed because he came out babbling instead of crying (crying came shortly after). Logan immediately received tons of love from us, family, and friends.

Nursery Update

The nursery is finally done! We are waiting on pictures from Logan's arrival to fill the 2 large empty frames.



We got the wall decal from this seller on Etsy.





Since babies love to look at faces more than anything I put together a picture mobile of Logan's immediate family (me, Brian, Pinkerton & Bosworth).



Bookshelf is full of old books of mine and of toys we received at our baby showers.



A drawer full of Logan's cloth diapers from Smile, Mommy.