the normal stuff of life

I think June 2015 marked the first month I haven't written a blog post since I started this blog. I could be wrong. I've been wrong before. But I really think so. Although I do feel like I have a reasonably good excuse... maybe. Since I last wrote at the beginning-ish of May, we have gone to South Carolina for a week and a half, to Dallas for a weekend (plus two other drives there and back), to San Antonio for a weekend, and my in-laws stayed with us for a week and a half and just left two days ago. Logan's naps have been less than consistent (to put it mildly), and the times he did nap I chose to spend that time cooking/cleaning/folding laundry WHILE watching a TV show on Netflix. Hah. That's the thing about TV shows (or movies)--you can watching them while you do something productive. You can't type a blog post while you fold laundry. Impossible. (Or at least very inefficient.) So I indulged myself. I watched a bunch of shows that are no longer airing, so at least there was a definite end point. And now I don't know what else to watch. Which, as it turns out, is a good thing. As you can see, I'm writing. And in my free time now, I work on becoming a better direct sales consultant in my humble attempt at contributing something to our finances. I can't work out of the home without racking up a huge daycare expense... so why not try working from home? And I'm selling bags--I love bags! So now I still get to see all my son's milestones, I'm making some money, I get free bags, I watch TV, I write... it all seems pretty great! [Until, of course, Logan is throwing his tenth tantrum of the afternoon and I haven't been able to do any of that because all he wants to do is be carried around and/or sit on my lap and watch the Five Little Ducks song again. But you know, perspective.]

Also since I last wrote, Logan is nearly two months older! Where does the time go? Here are his new accomplishments:

• He has mastered walking and is trying desperately to run. Falling does not deter him. 
• He now says Dada, duck, go, down, and an assortment of "one time" words that we can't get him to repeat. But he does not speak by request. He only talks if he wants to. And he's still completely incapable (or unwilling?) to say "mama." In fact, he laughs if I ask him to say it.
• He hates the word "no" and wants to do whatever we're saying "no" to even more once we say it. He even tries to run away with his contraband (so many things) and do it further away from us. He's kind of a brat. A cute, lovable brat though. 
• Whenever Sabre stands up abruptly either to go out the doggie door or follow Travis/me somewhere, Logan frantically runs/falls to a couch and holds on for dear life. Apparently the poor kid has been knocked down a few too many times. 
• This morning I asked Logan to get his ball, phone, and shoes--and he knew every single one! I had no idea! He also knows which toy is the duck in his bathtub. :)
• Logan is starting to love the dogs. His love, however, is a bit violent. He likes to whack their faces repeatedly. They don't stick around for too long. He also likes to climb over them. Sabre just lets him. Tatum panics and moves away. He also tries to give them his toys. I've been very proud of their restraint in not actually playing (ahem, biting and destroying) the toys Logan hands off. What sweet doggies!
• Logan loves testing gravity. I was warned about this... but I don't think I realized how incredibly annoying it would be. Now I know: so. annoying.

The dogs have also had quite the month. Sabre had an intestinal infection that caused some explosive diarrhea all over his crate and the wall. Travis had to clean it up (because I'm nice like that) and moved their crates outside while Sabre was on antibiotic. But then we decided we liked not having the crates inside (they're not very pretty), so we left them outside and now the dogs get to roam freely in the house. And sleep wherever they want. :) Tatum had an abscess on her stomach (most likely the result of a bug bite) and was also put on antibiotic [side note: big dogs need expensive antibiotics], but it didn't heal up, so now she's finishing up her second round and I think it's pretty much healed. Both dogs had their bi-annual comprehensive exam and first teeth cleaning. Sabre supposedly needs to be put on a special diet for his kidneys, but we're hoping there's a better option because the kidney diet dog food would cost us around $120 a month--and then we still have to buy Tatum food! But now I think the dogs are doing better (I hope!) and we'll be able to stop taking them to the vet for a little while. 

Travis and I are coming up on our fourth wedding anniversary, so hopefully I'll have a chance to do my "lessons I've learned in another year of marriage" post sometime in the next week. Gotta keep up the tradition--if not for anyone else, for me! And I've learned A LOT this year! Hah. :) So stay tuned! 

This has been an incredibly unexciting post, but sometimes, that's life. It's just normal and mundane and not all that exciting--but still wonderful. Logan is awake and talking to himself in his crib. Time to get back to mommy-ing. 

Also, July 14th is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. And July 23rd is Free Tea Day at McAlister's. July is a good month, folks!