The Much Awaited Videos...

So here they are...the latest feats my genius little boy has accomplished! The clapping, the crawling, the waving. I'm so proud! He's also taken a liking to most solid foods now. Seriously, over the last 4 or 5 days, the kid has realized that food you can chew and crunch is awesome. However, we have noticed that he only likes food that is big enough for him to hang onto and chomp on. He also doesn't like anything that turns mushy too quickly. I honestly thinks he likes the action of biting down on things and letting them crunch. It is pretty cute.



Also, both Zac and I finished our finals today. It was amazingly liberating. I ended up getting an 86% on my New Testament final. Which isn't bad. It's no 100% like I got on my Book of Mormon Final last semester, but it's not bad. That means I'll probably get a B+ in the class. Eh. My History of Creativity class' final was pretty easy (since I studied FOREVER) and I feel good about it. I think I'll pull at least an A- in that one, but I"m hoping I barely made an A. That would be FAB-U-LOUS. But we'll see. And my Shakespeare in Film class should produce an A-, too. But grades will be posted in the nest week or so, so I should be able to know for sure before too long.



And then the sleep training...it's still going very well! Last night was a little bit tricky because Aunt Savannah was over and, well, let's be honest. No one wants to go to bed when she's around to play with! But the second time he went down, I only went in once. So basically, the last three nights I've only had to go in once to reassure Logan that I'm there and he rolls over and goes to sleep. I'm soooo glad this is working!!!

Well, we're off to enjoy a few days of little responsibility before Spring Term starts on Tuesday, so I may or may not post until then. We shall see...love you all! Enjoy the videos!

A Few Things...

I need to be studying for my last final of the semester, but I'm not. I took a quick break just to blog. But I really need to study so it's gonna be super short.

Logan can wave now. Just not on command.

Also, the Pick Up/Put Down sleep training thing is fabulous. Last night I went in ONE time. That was all! Now just sleeping THROUGH the night...

Zac has an interview with a gaming company here in Utah tomorrow morning.

My tomato plants are like 4 inches high now.

My peas still haven't grown.

I think that's about it.

That, and this picture of Logan. Dani entitled it "Blue Steele." (Which won't be funny to you if you haven't seen the movie Zoolander).

Happy Birthday, James!!!

Well, Logan's very best friend, James, is 1 today! So we just wanted to wish him a very happy birthday! That is, until the party on Saturday (which also happens to be Aunt Savannah's birthday).

Also, a sleep update. The Pick Up/Put Down method is going well. Onto night #2. Last night went surprisingly well. Too well, I would have to say. The book warns that it is hard the first few nights and that you could have to do it over 100 times. Snap. Well, I only had to do it 8 times last night. And he slept until 7, at which time I fed him and he went back down until 9. So, this evening I have had to lay him back down 24 times thus far. Not too bad. Now he is laying awake, but not crying. That is the goal...for him to learn to put himself to sleep without crying. So, night two is underway and going well! Take care, all!

Sweet Relief...

Wow. So much has happened the past few days, I don't know where to begin. Wait, yes I do. CLASSES ARE FINISHED! Hence, the sweet relief. Along with classes being finished, so are the two projects I had looming over my head for the better part of the semester. Whee! My Queen Elizabeth Dress is FAB-U-LOUS...and I'll post pictures soon. And my Macbeth DVD couldn't have turned out better. I spent more time on it than I probably should have, but it's so cool. I made menus set to music, had a director's cut with commentary, and I even figured out how to rip clips form other DVDs (Elizabeth: the Golden Age and Lord of the Rings) and put a voice-over to them, too! Not to mention the incredible acting skills on the parts of my neighbors. It was all a ton of work, but a ton of fun, too!

Also, as if to compliment my good mood, the weather was wonderful the past few days. We even got to go mini-golfing with Mat and Dani and James. Granted, we should have been finishing projects, but you have to take a small break every now and then to keep your sanity. And just for the record, I came in second to Mat. I got a hole-in-one on the second hole!!!! Go me!!!



What else? Ah, yes. This could quite possibly be my favorite Logan story thus far. So Monday, I'm sitting on the couch, putting on my shoes, and packing my bag for class. Logan and I were just about to leave to go down to campus and I hear a "knock, knock, knock" on the door. So I answer it. It's a cop. In full uniform, badge and all. So I said, all nervous-like, "Can I help you?" *gulp* and he responds, "Yes, we had a 911 hang-up from the phone number linked to this apartment. Is everything ok?" So horrified, I looked down and saw the house phone laying on the floor. Connected to University Police. For the past 11 minutes. I grabbed it, turned it off, and apologized probably a hundred times while he took down my information. The officer assured me that it was fine, he understood, and that it happens more than one would think. So here is what happened: We live in on-campus housing, so we have a campus phone number. When you dial a campus number (such as the police) from any campus phone (such as our home phone), you only need to dial the last 5 digits. And the University Police number is 422-2222. Making it 2-2222 from our phone. So Logan managed to turn the phone on and all he had to do was push the number 2 at least 5 times. In the moment, I was soooo embarrassed. However, in retrospect, it is pretty funny. However, note to self: NEVER leave the phone within reach of Logan EVER AGAIN.

And last but not least, sleep training. I'm done waking up 2-3 times a night with Logan. He's big enough to be able to sleep for 8 straight hours. And I know I said it before and gave up, but this time I hope to stick to it. And the reason I think it failed before? Well, we were basically going for the Ferber Method...let him cry it out. Instead of it working, I think it screwed him up even more. After I let him cry three nights in a row, he stated to cry whenever I put him in his crib...something that never happened before. Before we "ferberized" him, Logan would, more often than not, simply roll over and go to sleep at night when we put him in his crib. After letting him cry it out when he woke up at 4 am, he hated his crib. So after some research, I decided to try the "Pick up, put down" method from Tracy Hogg, the Baby Whisperer. I read through the books yesterday and today and I'm going for it. I'll post more about it later, I'm sure, but it seems reasonable to me. My only concern: The book says that babies Logan's age don't need to nurse at night, but they simply need to suck and have been conditioned to breastfeed (or bottle feed) due to "accidental parenting." So it suggests giving your baby a pacifier in the middle of the night instead of feeding, then taking it away after they are done with it (normally 10 minutes or so the first night, decreasing it as the baby sucks less and less). Well, Logan doesn't take a pacifier. I'm gonna try it, but it really doesn't seem promising in my mind.
Well, this is a really long entry and I'm gonna go. Take care, miss you all, and I'll post again, soon!!!

Crawling and Clapping...

Yay Logan!!!! He finally did it!!!! Ok, it's been like a week and a half, but Logan started crawling! (Video forthcoming...the camera is in Logan's room and he's asleep. Not chancing that one!)Last Monday, he randomly crawled from one side of the living room to the other and hasn't stopped since! Well, ok, he does stop. He stops to climb up on the furniture, or to hang on to your fingers so he can walk. Or occasionally, he'll stop to look at himself in the mirror.


We also made a breakthrough involving clapping! Last Sunday during General Conference, we spent the better part of the afternoon session teaching Logan to clap. He didn't seem to get it. And then Monday morning while I was changing his diaper, he was laying on the changing table and just started clapping! It was the coolest thing ever...he learned something I taught him! (Video forthcoming...again.)

And the last little Logan update: we've made progress on the eating thing. He likes to eat "Biter Biscuits" from Beechnut. He can feed them to himself and they don't melt the second they get wet. That way he can gnaw on them and chew them and, eventually, swallow them. And he's getting a lot better with the jarred foods. Zac was feeding him Apples and Blueberries the other night, and this is what I came out to: Daddy made him look like a Hitler Baby. Silly Boys!!!

Layout Changes...

So I'm playing around with new colors and Layouts. What do you think?

And speaking of "playing," here is Logan playing with some of his friends!

Going on a walk with James!


Finally meeting Hodge!!! (Sarah Hodge from Freshman year now back from her mission!)


And of course with James again watching Saturday morning cartoons...silly boys!

Easter!!!

I promised Easter pictures, so here they are (finally)! I would have put them up sooner, but Zac stole the memory card from the camera and I couldn't. But here is some Logan cuteness for y'all!
I found my Easter Basket, Mommy!

Thanks, Mr. Easter Bunny!
Daddy and Logan in their Easter Outfits

A Masters? Really???

So as most of you know, I'm taking English 495: Shakespeare in Film this semester. I'm taking it from the same professor I took Shakespeare 382 from, Dr. Brandie Siegfried. And if you've ever heard me talk about her, you know I idolize her and think she is pure genius. 99% of the time, I'm hanging off her every word in her lectures, I invest more time in her classes than any other class, I am BARELY pulling an A-, but I'm perfectly ok with that. So, now that I've set up the repertoire I have with her and how much I respect and, let's be honest, want to be like her, I'll tell you what happened today.
I had a writing consultation with her, which she does for all of her students. She reviews all your papers you've turned in for the semester and offers you the chance to sit down and she'll critique your work. You know, tell you your strengths, weaknesses, and how to improve your overall writing ability. Well I did it last year and really feel that her insights helped me to become a better writer over the past two semesters. So naturally I wanted to get her feedback this time around, as well.
So...my weaknesses? I don't use semi-colons appropriately. Ok, I can live with that. Semi-colons to me are like those big chunky belts that are in fashion right now. They aren't my thing and when I try to pull them off by putting it over a cute shirt, it's all wrong. My other problem Dr. Siegfried pointed out is that I have trouble committing to a thesis. Again, I totally agree. I don't make bold, specific thesis statements in my paper because I don't want to be proven wrong. I tend to keep them general so if someone wants to argue against me, I'm not 100% wrong. And again, that's just my personality and a complex I have...I can't be wrong!
I'll skip over the strengths...to spare you my huge ego. But she thinks I'm fabulous. And then she came out of no where with, "Sarah, I know your life is busy right now, but I need you to promise me that some day you will pursue a Masters." WHAT!?!?! Then she went off for a while about how I have so much potential that a simple Bachelor's degree is not going to do me any justice. Then, to further that along, she wants to help me get published within the next year. She said it will help with an eventual Grad School application, plus she said it might help me comprehend that my writing is "quite exceptional."
Needless to say, I was more than flattered. I was FLOORED. The woman that I look up to, seek constant approval from, and respect above all other professors, thinks I am amazing. So yay me! However, I just looked at the MA for English at BYU and it's like 32 credits...about 2 years. So, maybe if we stay in Utah, I'll think about it. Anywhere else is just going to be too expensive in the near future, but I'll definitely keep it in mind. But again, yay me!