"NO"

Jaxon said his first word a few weeks ago. Guess what he said? "NO." Not "Mama" or "Dada" but "No". Of course. He already has a mind of his own.

Birthday Bash

For Jaxon's 1st birthday, we had a John Deere themed party at the Hogans house (hence the John Deere blog background.) It was so cute! My mother-in-law decorated the house with John Deere streamers and balloons. And I have to say that Jaxon is the most spoiled 1 year old in the world!!

Look at all those presents!! He got a cute John Deere outfit from Grandma and Grandpa May, a couple of cute shirts from FL from his Aunt Lacey and Uncle Todd, a Batmobile from Aunt Kalei, and a totally cute John Deere quilt from Aunt Leisel.

And since he is so fond of blankies, I even attempted to make him a quilt. It was the first sewing project I did (mostly) by myself. (I had a little help from Jaxon's Grandma May!)

And then, of course, he got TONS of toy tractors from us and his Great-Grandma Gruwell.

I even made him a birthday cake! (I thought it turned out pretty well for my first decorating experience.)

Shane even got his first experience putting together a toy. The Hogans got him a little car he could ride around in and it required assembly. But Jaxon absolutely loves it and hates when we take him out of it!

Overall, Jaxon's 1st birthday party was a smashing success! Thanks to everyone for their sweet presents and for making Jaxon's 1st birthday so special!

Tall and . . . Small?

Jaxon just had his 12 month checkup. He is such a tough little kid! I always dread the shots because I hate to see him in pain but he only cried for a second and then the nurse gave him a lollipop and he was done. What a trooper!

They took his measurements and he is 30 inches long and weighs 20 lbs 14 oz. His weight turned out to only be in the 22 percentile! This is crazy because he has always seemed like such a big kid. He must just be getting skinnier from all that crawling around. I totally miss his baby fat! He had the cutest rolls and they are almost gone! I hate this growing up stuff!

Happy 1st Birthday, Jaxon!

My little Jaxon is 1 year old today!! I can't believe a whole year has gone by already. Everybody says the day their child was born was the best day ever. I don't necessarily agree since giving birth was seriously not that great but Jaxon IS the best thing in our lives.

Over the past year, I have loved watching Jax grow and learn. He is so smart and curious and has already changed so much in just 12 short months. He has such a fun, outgoing, and loving personality. And I just love him more every day! Happy birthday, my sweet little angel!

1 Day

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 Year

New Addition to the Family

I just wanted to congratulate Shane's brother and his wife on their new addition. Her name is Isla and she is the first niece on the Hogan side of the family. Welcome to the world, little one!

Face Lift

I am so way behind on blogging but I just wanted to mention our summer project of fixing up our house.

My parents have been to Logan three different times to visit us and each time we have wrangled them in to working on our house. For those of you who don't know, my Dad is a general contractor and an all-around pro handyman. Basically, if it wasn't for his skills, our house would have probably fallen down by now!

The first project we did was to paint the house. This is the "before" picture of our grayish-purple house.

Unless you are up close, you can't tell how bad the paint really was. It was chipped and peeling in so many places and in certain lights, it looked purple!

Me, Shane, my Dad and Mom, and even my sis-in-law Kalei all painted for two days straight! It was a ton of work but the end result was fabulous!

Jaxon loved being outside and "helping"! He especially loved Grandpa's tools.

Our second project was fixing our roof where there had been water damage. For this one, us girls weren't as much help but my bro-in-law Todd came to help also. And it was tough work being on the roof in 90 degree weather!

These are my three favorite "boys" hard at work!

And just this past weekend, my Dad finished fixing the water damage by redoing part of the wall in our garage.

Thanks so much for all hard work, Mom and Dad! And thanks to everyone else who helped give our house a much needed "facelift"!

11 Months!

My little man is almost a year old! I can't believe how quickly it went by!

11 favorite family activities to do with our little guy:

1. Swimming! This is by far our entire family's favorite summertime activity. We love to go to the pool all together. And Jaxon still loves to swim!


2. Hiking. I think Jaxon likes to go hiking. Whenever we put him in the backpack he falls asleep! No, he really does love it and it is a good workout for us too!


3. Traveling. Surprisingly, Jaxon is really good at traveling. We mostly go visit family (since we are on a budget) but he loves going new places and is usually really good.


4. Listening to Music. No matter what kind of music is on, even from the TV, Jaxon starts bouncing up and down. No wonder Baby Einstein works so well!
   
5. Crawling up and down Stairs. No, this is not one of mine and Shane's favorites but Jaxon has just recently discovered that he LOVES to climb stairs! And of course he can't do it by himself yet so it becomes a family activity (though we have to admit that he sure looks cute doing it!)


6. Visiting Family. We spend a lot of time in the summer visiting with our families here in Logan and up in Jackson. Jaxon loves his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! And he especially loves to be the center of attention! (And Shane and I love the extra helping hands!)
7. Having Conversations. Shane and I have definitely regressed in our speech since we have had Jax. "Baby talk" is spoken in our house on a continual basis. And Jax sure is a big talker! I really think he thinks he is having a conversation with us!
   
8. Watching Baby Einstein. Once again, this is DEFINITELY not one of mine and Shane's favorite activities but Jaxon is still very enthralled with it so we end up being mesmerized right along with him.
   
9. Reading Books. I am so proud! Jaxon is really starting to like reading books and both me and Shane have a great time reading to him.
   
10. Being Outdoors. Just like Shane and I, Jaxon loves the outdoors! We are all much happier when we can be together outside. We love the summertime!


11. Snuggling! OK, so maybe this is Mommy's favorite activity but Jaxon is sure a good snuggler! Of course, he only likes to snuggle with us when he is overly tired but I'll take it whenever!