my living room smells so good

The baby is sleeping. Probably for about two more minutes now that I'm actually trying to do something. We're going on two days in a row of only two naps! While it may seem like more naps is better, it's not. I mean, if my child was an easy napper and stayed asleep, it might be nice. But when I have to lie down with him for half an hour to get him to sleep only to have him wake up twenty minutes after I left, it's not worth it. However, this two naps a day thing is rockin' my socks off. He's already been asleep for over an hour! That was wishful thinking mere days ago. And tonight I'm going to be strong. I'm going to resist his cute little sleeping face snuggled up next to me... and I'm going to move him to his own crib. He will probably wake up. And I will simply do everything I can to get him back asleep... in his crib. Whether he'll sleep in the crib all night long has yet to be determined. But he'll at least start there. I waver in my determination much more when it's the middle of the night and I'm not fully awake. [Two minutes! Told ya!]

OK, so now that I'm writing this with an awake baby crawling around my house, you may want to lower your expectations for coherence and organization and not-repeating-myself. I'll do my best though.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I'm saving my floor-cleaning for tomorrow. Today is the last day the dogs will be going in and out of the doggie door [tracking in dirt and leaves, etc.] for a few days, so I don't see any reason to clean the floor today. It's only going to get worse before the day is over. Logan loves to eat the leaves the dogs track inside. I've offered him a myriad of [mostly] age-appropriate human snacks... but he wants the leaves! I also have a whole mess of lovely toys for him to play with... but he wants plastic bags and power cords. Oh babies.

And here's a concise-ish list of the other things going on in my life:

• My sister is at basic training for the army right now. We finally got her mailing address, so we can now communicate with her. Yay! [Logan's been wearing a lot more camo in honor of his aunt. It's also adorable on him.]
• Last Saturday we bought new furniture. It was delivered this morning. It's leather. Our living room smells gooood!
• The hubs let me buy new throw pillows for the living room. And curtain rods and curtains. He had more restraint than I did and vetoed a few things. Unless I try to wear him down another day. Hah. ;)
• Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs are cooking in the crockpot! All I have to do is heat up some rice and open a can of green beans. (And heat up the green beans, but that just goes without saying...) I love dinner that involves so little work!
• My wonderful husband made the most amazing Fajitas for dinner the other night. I mean really though. He was worried my expectations were too high... which may have been a good thing, because he really kicked it up a notch. If it weren't for the fact that he has the good job that brings in all the money, I might let him be the stay-at-home-parent. He's already the better cook! But my English degree leaves much to be desired by way of job opportunities. 
• No matter how many times I try to divert Logan away from the hearth [because it's brick and I have horrible visions of his face meeting the brick], he will crawl back to it every. single. time. No toy is more exciting than pulling himself up on the hearth. Joy of joys.
• Sleep training is hard. I absolutely can not do "cry-it-out" for anything in the world. I've tried. [I've only ever lasted about three minutes.] I've failed. I just have to come up with a less heart-wrenching method. For now, we're getting sleep and that's what matters today. 
• We might get a TV. It's in the talks. Hah. 

When Logan gets excited, he starts panting. He also tries to chase [a very slow chase] the dogs around and eat their rawhide bones.

Three Countries, Three States, and Back Home

We were gone for three weeks. And you know what I learned during those three weeks? Traveling is exhausting. And when you have a baby with you? Three weeks is a really. long. time. Don't get me wrong! It went by really fast and was so much fun! (The flights, not the best. But I expected that one.) But babies change so much. When we left Waco, Logan was [mostly] immobile. He liked pulling himself up (but was still a novice at it) and could only kind of crawl backwards. He had no teeth and only a little bit of hair. Oh. And his pants were all a bit long on him. Every single thing I just mentioned has changed. He is an expert at pulling himself up. He crawls forwards very well. He has two teeth (not all the way in, but they're still there) and lots of much-lighter-than-when-he-was-born hair. His pants are the perfect length now. And he's started blowing raspberries. And drinking from his sippy cup [yesterday]. And eating solid foods without gagging at each new texture. How can so much happen in such a short time? We have to get him a bigger carseat too! Crazy growing, changing kid.

But more happened on our trip than the ever-changing Logan. To start with, Indonesia was wonderful. Even though it was the first time I've gone back to Indonesia and didn't think of it as "home," it was still familiar and comfortable, even though so much has changed in the last six and a half years. If possible, it's more crowded and less organized than before. Hah. But it's also wonderful. I had KFC nearly everyday. [At least I tried to.] I didn't get a picture of my KFC, because once I had it in front of me, I had no self-control. Every time. We had KFC for breakfast (chicken strip and scrambled eggs on a tortilla), for lunch & dinner (two pieces of chicken and rice). I wish American KFC could figure out how to make their chicken as good as Indonesian KFC. We also got sate (satay) with sweet soy sauce (I'm not a peanut sauce fan); mie goreng (fried noodles); kue putuh!! (steamed rice flour filled with brown sugar and topped with shredded coconut); roti cane/canai susu (fried bread (?) dipped in sweetened condensed milk); Chinese noodles made by a good friend of ours; and nasi tumpeng (yellow rice shaped into a pyramid surrounded by chicken, eggs, potatoes, and other such sides). We took Logan to the women's prison in Bandung. They loved him! He met new people everyday and seemed to love it! He really liked all the jilbabs (head coverings the Muslim women wear)! They were so brightly colored and had pretty patterns! Hah. He did not, however, like the call to prayer. There are so many mosques that it seemed extra loud and long each time it went off (five times a day)... the worst one being the 4:15 am. Thankfully, he got used to it after the first few days and didn't wake up every night.

I would also like to talk about the wonderful pampering I experienced. One creambath, one full body massage, one 45 minute foot massage, and one 1.5 hr foot reflexology (that also included a back/head/shoulder segment). And I spent $10 or less for each of those things. And then Travis and I got to go out on a date to watch Night at the Museum 3 at the "Velvet Class" theatre. It was a bed, you guys! We got to watch a movie at the theatre on. a. bed. With pillows and a blanket! And food service, if we so pleased. It was the absolute best way to watch a movie. I don't know that I can ever watch a movie in a regular theatre seat ever again. I've been far too spoiled. Oh. And did I mention that it was only $12 for both tickets? For a bed!!

Oh yes. And Logan survived all the plane rides without a single blowout! Yay!

Here are some lovely pictures from our trip:

Nasi Tumpeng! It was so good! (My mom was given the honor of cutting the top off and presenting it to someone. Traditions.)

Logan on Christmas morning! He was as excited about his stocking as the gifts inside.

Logan with Daddy on Christmas morning! He always smiles for pictures with Daddy...

And with Mommy! In case you can't read his shirt, it says, "Gift to the Ladies"... isn't he though? Hah!

This was my dad's first time meeting Logan--his first and only grandchild! It was fun to see them together!

The kue putuh man came by on Christmas day to give me kue putuh! I told him to come back and he only came back once. Sad. But still delicious!

I was really terrible at taking pictures while we were gone. We basically took pictures on Christmas day and the day we left. Pathetic. Hopefully my dad and sisters took more pictures that they'll be happy to share with me. :) After Indonesia, we spent almost a week in Wisconsin with Travis's family. It was freezing! We went from tropical weather to bitterly cold weather in a matter of days. And it's no secret that I prefer the tropical. Hah. But we survived. There was snow. Lots of snow. I was hoping to get a picture of Logan in the snow, but the windchill was often in the -20s, and I didn't feel like torturing my poor baby boy. Or myself. Hah. We'll have to get snow pictures another year. (Unless it snows in Waco this year... which would be pretty crazy, but it can happen.)

Our dogs have been surprisingly mellow since we got home. I think Sabre is sick. If he doesn't start acting like himself soon, I might just have to take him to the vet. He threw up last night and has been lying in his crate most of the day. Tatum hasn't seemed sick, but she's also just sleeping all day. Silly puppies. I can't tell if they're just recovering from all the fun they had while we were gone, or if they don't sleep well when they're not with us. They've done this before after we board them (not the sick part, just the sleepy part), so who knows. But on the positive side, it rained a lot a few days before we got back, so our backyard is a bit muddy. Usually that would be a terrible thing, but with sleepy, lethargic dogs, it's quite manageable.

This post has taken most of the day to write. The joys of a mobile baby. And a baby that will only nap if I nap with him. Sometimes, when he's actually distracted by something and enjoying himself, I avoid eye contact. Because if I look at him, he often decides that he's no longer having fun and we have to find something else to do. Something less calm and more work. Hah.

And it's time for a diaper change. Happy New Year, friends!