Logan Can

A Lifestyle Blog about Marriage, Parenting, Fashion and Fitness

Summer Travels: Orlando

Ryan and I traveled to Orlando last week for a conference. We stayed at the Gaylord Palms Resort, and let me tell you, it was nice. I seriously felt like I was at a resort in the Caribbean rather than Orlando. Ryan worked most of the trip, although we did have dinner together both nights we were there. I left Hampton with my mom for the first time and it was tough being away from him, but it was really nice to get a break and be able to relax for a couple of days. I read 2 books and lounged by the pool. It was pretty great.

They had a sail boat in our lobby, I say “our lobby” because there were several. I also enjoyed a Starbucks and got a couple of great workouts in at their Fitness center. 

The gators in the hotel were neat and creepy at the same time. They fed them at 6:30 a couple of nights a week for all the guests to come watch. I skipped out on that. Ryan and I enjoyed dinner at a Mexican Cafe and Joe’s Crab Shack. Not in the same night, obviously.

I honestly preferred the kid’s pool to the adult one because…who wouldn’t with this play center?

Who wants a $25 sandwich? #resortprices

Of course I had to purchase the book I’ve been anticipating all year because it released while we were on our Vacation. 
And then I was reunited with my baby love! <3
Do you have any summer vacation plans? Have you ever been to Orlando?

Saturday Shenanigans

Do you ever look around you and think, wow, is this really my life? I had that moment Saturday. I’m not going to lie, I felt like superwoman/ the luckiest most blessed mom and wife on the planet. Why? Because. I slept maybe 4 hours total Friday night. Yep. Hampton is waking up every 2 to 3 hours again. He has been for the last month. Anyways. I woke up to this precious face and had some serious snuggle time with my boys. I feel pretty blessed to be their mommy/wife.

I then cleaned the house and did ALL of the laundry Saturday morning. Holy, wow. Then I ran a 5k. My fastest one yet. 35 minutes is a pitiful time, but for me it’s pretty awesome. I’ll take it.

I then cleaned out my car, went to visit my dad, and took Hampton to Toys-R-Us for the First. Time. Ever. Yeah, I did that. He may have left with a few items. Some necessity, some…no, all of our purchases were necessary. Among these items was Frozen! I have been about to die to see this movie. Needless to say, we had a movie night, popcorn included. I may have fallen in love with Olaf. Hampton passed out in the car on the way home. I wore him out. Which if you’re a mom, you know that is a very good thing! Peace.

Helping me clean my car…sort of.
Passed out after we hit Toys-R-Us.

He was pretty excited when I showed him his fave new movie…if you can’t tell.

I even took a bath later that night. That has only happened probably one other time since Hampton was born. I couldn’t believe it.

I do believe this is the first time since his arrival that all the laundry has been done, the house and car (and me) have been clean AND I got in a good workout all in the same day. Yippee! #MyLifeRocks At least it did Saturday…

Change is Good

I hate change. There. I said it. Change makes me anxious. I am the type of person who loves lists and lives by a schedule. When that schedule is interrupted, it throws me off my game. Although the interruptions are daily and way too often for my liking.

Via

With that being said, our family is undergoing a pretty big change. Not only do we have a new baby and are still trying to get him on a schedule and adjust to life with him, Ryan also just accepted a new job! It is a huge answered prayer and blessing. He is excited about it and I am excited for him.

Here is the thing…I have worked from home for almost three years now. I love what I do and I am so thankful for my job because it allows me to be home with Hampton. Ryan’s new job will also require him to work from home. That’s right. 2 grown-ups working from the same home with a new baby. It is going to get pretty interesting, folks. Let’s just pray we don’t drive each other crazy!

I am excited about this new change, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried about how it will all work out. God is in control and he knows what he is doing. I trust in his plan wholeheartedly, so I know this is going to work out. But don’t be surprised if we start a reality show soon…

How is God working in your life? Are you going through any big changes?

Happy Birthday, Ryan

Today is Ryan’s 28th birthday! What do you say we send him tons of Happy Birthday tweets? His Twitter handle is @ryankcantrell.

Ryan, I am so blessed to have you in my life as my partner and best friend. I can’t wait to watch you become a father any day now. I know you will be a wonderful dad just like you are an amazing husband to me already. Thank you for working so hard to provide for our little family and for showing selfless love to others all the time. You have taught me so much about how to live a more positive life and never let others interfere with that happiness no matter the circumstances. For that I am very grateful. I love you to pieces! Happy Birthday!!

A Male’s Perspective

My husband is taking over my blog today to talk about what the pregnancy process has been like for him. I’m so excited to share his thoughts with y’all! Thank you for writing this for me, babe! 🙂

So, Logan asked me if I would write a little something about what our pregnancy journey has been like from a guy’s point of view. So I am going to do my best to give you an honest, male perspective without embarrassing my wife and making women everywhere run at me with torches and pitchforks.

After going through this process for nearly eight months now, I can say that pregnancy is good preparation for being a parent. I know, you are shaking your head saying, “what could a man possibly learn from ME going through all this? He hasn’t had to do anything!” Well, let me tell you. Over the last eight months I have learned what it is like to feel absolutely helpless. 
I will never understand what it is like to be a pregnant woman. And because of that, I will never understand what it feels like to be craving one thing and then ten minutes later be craving something completely different. But I do know what it feels like to be the one trying to fulfill that craving. I will never forget the first time I had to go to three different places to get one meal (sandwich from one place, fries from another place, and a Frosty from Wendy’s). Nor will I understand what it feels like to become overly emotional over the slightest thing. But I do know what it feels like to try and console this overly emotional pregnant woman. I could go on and on with examples of a how a husband can feel completely helpless in these types of situations. 
But in the end, I think all this is just a primer for what most guys go through as parents. Most guys are wired to try and solve problems. We may not always be able to (some wives would probably say we rarely actually do), but we are at least going to give it a shot. That is why this feeling of helplessness during pregnancy can prepare us for the ultimate feeling of helplessness – a crying baby. 
In my somewhat limited experience with kids (nephews, random children on the street, etc), the thing that drives me crazy more than anything else is not having any idea what to do to make them stop crying. Not because I am mad they are crying – I know that is their only way to communicate – but because all I want is to know what to do to make them happy. I remember baby sitting for a relative one time. It must have been a bad night for the poor baby because he did not stop crying the entire time. We fed him, changed his diaper, rocked him, walked around with him; none of it worked! It leaves you wanting to pull your hair out. Again, not because I am mad at the baby, but because all I wanted to do was satisfy whatever need he may have.
So, all of this is to say the lesson I have learned the most through Logan’s pregnancy is that I am not always going to be able to fix the situation. I am not always going to have the answer. And instead of allowing that to frustrate me, I need to embrace it. Because in the end, it’s not always about having the answer to every problem. It’s about making the most of every moment you have with them, regardless of the problem.

Friday’s Letters

Dear Fall, thank you for finally hitting the great state of Alabama with your cool mornings this week. It has been a nice and welcomed change. Dear husband, thank you for keeping me sane during my nesting phase and putting up with me this week when I asked you to put 1,000 things together. You are a real trooper and baby H and I are lucky to have you. Dear neighbor, as sweet as you are, I just can’t handle when you ask me if I’m having triplets while I’m out exercising. Obviously I am about to pop and my confidence is a little low as it is. You probably shouldn’t ask any other pregnant woman that question again because they may not be as nice as I was. Dear Starbucks, thank you for your incredible Pumpkin Spice Lattes and for my third craving this pregnancy. Thank you also for spilling my drink and giving me 2 free ones for the inconvenience which really wasn’t an inconvenience to me. Dear Hampton, please come a week or two early. Mommy wouldn’t be mad if you did. In fact, it is encouraged. We are so ready to meet you. Dear Florida Gators, please don’t embarrass your fans tomorrow like you did two weeks ago. You about made a pregnant woman cry. I would really love it if coach Mushroom gave you a stern talking to and you pulled out a win.


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Labor Day Weekend 2013

This Labor day weekend was spent celebrating our family. We started the weekend off by celebrating Ryan’s great-grandmother’s 90th birthday! She is the sweetest and most generous person. It was so much fun to see the family and enjoy time with her.

Sweet Tanner sporting his Auburn hat at Nanny’s party.

Later that day, we took a fairly spontaneous trip to Jax Beach. We decided at the very last minute to go. We celebrated my grandfather’s 80th and my grandmother’s 75th birthdays. We surprised them by showing up late that night. The weekend was very relaxing. Pippa seemed to enjoy the trip.

On Tuesday we went to a few used bookstores that we like to hit when we go down there and we hit the jackpot! 22 books for $19! Now we just have to find a place to put them all. We also lucked out and found a highchair for baby H! I’ve been looking every where for an old high chair like this one. It does need to be re-painted, but we have just added that onto our list of things to do before baby. I’m absolutely in love with it! We found it at a yard sale for $20. You can’t beat that!

I hope y’all had a blessed holiday weekend!

Love and Marriage

I’ve been talking a lot about pregnancy in my corner of the internet for a while now because that is the stage of life I am in. It is important to me that I also focus on my marriage, no matter what else is happening in my life. When it comes to priorities, my husband is second only to God. Our relationship is extremely important not only for our health and happiness but also for our children’s well-being.

I recently started a devotional by Kay Arthur called A Marriage Without Regrets. It was recommended to me by another Alabama blogger, Kalyn. I am so grateful for her because this is a study I needed to be doing right now. Please visit Kalyn’s blog. She is so inspirational and encouraging.

In the 5th chapter, we discussed love in marriage and Kay reads from Ephesians 5:25-33 which says:

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her26 to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[c] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

This talks a lot about love and the commands that God gives to husbands on how to love their wives. As wives, we are also called to love and respect our husbands in this way. Kay talks about the fact that love is not just an emotion, it is a choice. You hear all the time about how people are divorcing because they “just don’t love each other anymore.” Can I just say that that’s bull? If love were just an emotion, it would not be a command. Love is so much more. Kay lists out:

Love requires action.
Love demands deeds.
Love wills.
Love acts.
Love moves on behalf of it’s object.

I believe we can apply this not only in our marriages but also in our relationships with our families and friends.

If you are interested in doing a devotional on marriage, I highly recommend this book. It has caused me to refocus my attention and actions on my husband in a very positive way. It is very encouraging and the prayers at the end of each chapter are beautiful. I’m so blessed to have a wonderful marriage with God in the center of it, but we could all use time to refocus on our marriage, daily.

Game Day

For those of you who weren’t around last year, fall is my favorite time of year. I am a little obsessed with the lovely leaves changing, pumpkin spice lattes, scarecrows, pumpkins and pumpkin patches, sunflowers, the cool nip in the air, and most importantly, Football. You have to be if you live in the south. After all, the SEC is the dominant conference. Sorry y’all, but it’s true. In our house, we are War Eagle fans, but I’m also a Gator fan. Blame it on my dad. Every college football day is a big deal in our household. You will find us eating an excessive amount of junk food and yelling at the T.V (when we aren’t tailgating) every Saturday. Chances are, we are sitting on the couch, I’m trying to squeeze into my Florida jersey and sipping a pumpkin spice latte while watching gameday. Happy game day! Oh, and War Eagle / Go Gators!

         

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