The Many Words of William!

Worst blog updater ever - checking in after...2 months! Goodness gracious! I have no excuses!

From the first "Dada" and "wawa" from the tiny lips of my sweet little man, I have been keeping a (not-100%-diligent) list of William's vocabulary. I'm in awe of every new word that he picks up and every miraculous phrase he forms. He's a genius. I'm sure of it. ;) haha His tiny little voice asking me questions and identifying the objects in his ever expanding world melts my heart. I constantly ache with love for him - motherhood is insane! :)

I will now share The List:
(in no particular order)

up
down
night night
cheese
milk
water
cookie
ball
kick
dog
mama
dada
grandma
grandpa
nonie
hello
hi
bye bye
eye
ear
nose
mouth
hands
toes
eyeball
earring
horse
bear
outside
shoes
pants
socks
blanket
OK!
yay!
mooooo
woof woof
meow
slide
spin
swing
car
door
chicken
dino
frog
duck
juice
chair
fork
spoon
bath
baby
bird
bug
airplane
hug
kiss
please
thank you



This is my son. My greatest achievement. The accomplishment of which I am the most proud. The boy who hugs and kisses and says "please" and "thank you" and charms the pants off of everyone he meets. I'm so ridiculously blessed to be his Mommy. For the Mom of a boy with so many words in his arsenal, I'm frequently left with none to describe the love I have for my W.

3 months, 3 holidays, 1 anniversary, and a million diapers later...

here we are! Goodness gracious I cannot believe it's been so long! Hello obvious indicator of the swirling chaos that is my day to day!

At last update, we were crammed into our tiny apartment, had no clue which new job Marty would be offered/accept, didn't know where we would live when our lease was up (not even which state!), and I was physically holding myself back from ripping my hair out from the silent stress of the unknown. My reaction to change is to panic. Healthy!

My, my! What fabulous coping skills you have!

I will begin by prefacing this quickie update with news that all is well and (soon-to-be) settled in the Loggins sphere now. Just took a few months to get to this point! I will also warn that my memory is about 75% shot - either I'm getting old, my past party years finally caught up to me, or...wait...I'm the Mom of a toddler tornado! Did I even eat dinner last night? Can't remember a darn thing!

October brought many outdoor, Fall-tastic events, costumes, play dates, climbing, road trips to Arkansas for M's interviews, and lots of fun in the warm weather!



November brought cooler temps, family and friends in town visiting, a very successful road trip to Mena and Bentonville for Thanksgiving, and William's first mini-break at Lake Eufaula (gorgeous!), and finally, M's decision to accept a new job in Lewisville! I was over the moon, and flew even higher when his current company basically lost their proverbial shizz at the thought of him leaving and countered. What a nice counter offer it was! Sooooo after all the traveling and negotiating and stress, we came full circle and aren't going anywhere! Well, we did find a fabulous little house for us to rent in Frisco as we continue to save for a down payment for our "real" home (if only we were independently wealthy...hah!) :) The temporary casa is small and adorable and brand spanking new - can't wait to make it our own when we move in at the end of January!



December brought our 2nd wedding anniversary, wonderful holiday celebrations with family and friends, my dream bling from hubby, and the launch of the aforementioned home search!



January so far, has been the busiest month of all! Aside from touring exactly 73,004 houses, we found THE one. Papers were signed. Money was forked over. Boxes are packed. Movers are hired. We got the keys today!!! I am looking forward to play dates, potty training, new memories, outdoor space of our own, a garage, a laundry room, pool, splash park, playground, and all of the every day tiny wonders that happen when you hang out with William (who is growing like a weed!!!).

Life with a toddler. In an apartment.

Is very much like living in a clown car. Being crammed into 1,000 square feet, we are short about 5 rooms that we desperately need . M needs a man cave. (Lord PLEASE send us a man cave for all of this video game equipment!) W needs an official playroom so I'm not tripping over toys in the kitchen/bedroom/bathroom every 10 seconds. We need a guest room. Or we just need to stop inviting people to stay the weekend, but I love love love having company, so...no. We need privacy. As soon as W fell asleep for nap, our next door neighbor took out tools and apparently redecorated her walls. The maintenance guy then took his cue and banged on the door a few times before barging in to complete the "preventative maintenance". I didn't even have time to get downstairs to the door before he was in and on his way up the stairs!

If we are going to Arkansas for a better job for M, cool. If we're staying here, even better! Either way, I just need to know where we are going to be. I'm not a gypsy. I am done with being in limbo. I feel like I've been living in a waiting room for 2 years. We are paying $1,100 a month in rent for what we could be putting toward a mortgage on a home twice this size! Such a waste.

I need roots. I need to get my stuff out of storage. I want to set up a home, sit down, take it all in, and exhale.

Unplugged. Literally.

So, as almost anyone who knows me knows - I thrive on being connected. In the loop. Online. Plugged in to anything and everything going on!

Well about 5 weeks ago, my precious, tiny, fits-in-my-purse, netbook computer finally crapped out. Ok so it was overrun with some kind of icky virus and I'm still waiting on a knight in shining geekdom to come and rescue it. And me! Needless to say, without the daily dose of FB/Blogger/Gmail/etc, I have missed out on quite a lot. Events. Messages. Photo albums that crash my ancient, cheap-o phone that I refuse to part with...le sigh. It's lonely out here in the 1800s...my hoop skirt has broken and I can't even Google how to repair it.

To make matters 90 times crazier, during this period of - let's just say - anachronistic "fun", quite a large life change possibility has come about - and me with no way to research it day and night! *pulls out hair* Fixing the netbook was lovingly added to my honey's to-do list and was then rather cast aside by said honey. I'm beginning to suspect him of desiring to keep me unplugged...but no such luck! He is sleeping and I have hijacked his work laptop for the night! I may never sleep!

Back to the "big change" - M has been searching dilligently for a new/better/family friendlier job and he just may have found it. More money. Less hours. Less travel. Buuuuuut (oh of course there's a but)...it's in Van...Buren...Arkansas.

Kill me.

Big city girl + small small town (no mall no airport!) = disaster! Talk about the ultimate unplugging!

I don't deal well with change. I haven't changed my hair in years. I've moved 3 times in my entire life. My idea of "going away to college" was moving 30 minutes away from my Mom and Dad. The very thought of moving 5 hours away from my friends and family here has yielded more than a few panic attacks, let me tell you. If said move happens, it may just break me. I may crack. Rocking chair + attic = home? Possibly. Help!

Ok yes,
I am dramatic.
I was born this way.
Mom said that as a child, I was the princess from "The Princess and the Pea"...you know the one.
Once I discovered boys and cattiness, I was Scarlett O'Hara.
And then I chose the boy whom I would allow to bring me barbecue while I sit under a tree surrounded by cute...er...married my stubborn/control freak/twin of an only child husband and things have only gotten way more interesting! He's a gypsy. Lord help us!

Share with me, if you will, your experiences with big moves. Away from family. And friends. And the city. Oh my my...*fans self*

I kiss better than I cook

Case in point:

I've got a new way to walk (walk walk)

William is officially walking more than crawling now - he smiles and shakes his hands in happiness as he toddles along! Today was really the day that sealed the deal - I was afraid to say anything too soon and jinx his progress, but there is NO stopping him now!

Until I get a good vid of him in action, I'll share our song of the week with you (courtesy of old school Sesame Street haha!). This one goes out to all of the fellow new walkers out there ;)

Mamaaaaaa oooooh oooh oooh ooooooooh

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of my favorite people in the world! She's smart - she's sassy - she makes me laugh more than anyone else I know...oh yes! AND she gave me life and literally has KEPT me alive (and halfway sane!) throughout my first (and then some) year of motherhood - my Mom :)

There's no way I could ever pay her back for the decades of fun she has brought to my life - the love, the adventure, the imagination, the patience. She is the kind of Mom I want to be - open, accepting, ready for anything. My confidante, teacher, and best friend - I love you Mama!

Happy Birthday!!!

Paul Simon always reminds me of the two of us driving around in the Brown Toyota (which i bet is still happily rolling around Duncanville somewhere) off to another adventure :)