Santa

Landon went and saw Santa today with his cousin Sean. Sean was a good little 3 month old and was oblivious to it all. Landon on the other hand at almost 21 months old wanted nothing to do with the jolly old man.

We got the "classic" Santa pic today.
Merry Christmas!
T,J, & L

Let the fun begin.

Thanksgiving was a blast. All Landon wanted to do was sit or ride on the riding lawn mower or sit on the tractor. This seems to be the newest thing, only wanting to be on machines. It is getting bad at stores with Christmas trains and rides. Anytime he sees one all I hear is "mommy pweese, pweese". Sadly, Landon is learning that please does not guarantee everything you want. He is finding this hard to believe and acting like a bear. I gave in at the mall yesterday because he was so good while we were in Old Navy and kept saying "choo choo, pweese mommy". What I thought was going to be the highlight of the day turned into a nightmare when it was time to get off. I was one of those parents you say thank goodness that is not my child. He threw himself on the floor screaming, then decided he would fight me to get back in the stroller. I promptly got the heck out of the mall and corrected him when we got to the car. That made him even madder and he cried the whole way home. Oh, the joys of hitting the terrible two that no one tells you start at one and progressively get worse the closer they get to two.
Today, I had to go in the office and took Lan with me since it is me and him during the day and then went to Publix to get a few items I forgot. It started again when I put him in a normal cart. Nope, that wouldn't do. Landon HAD to HAVE the cart that is the monster of all carts in size. The one that looks like a car. Since he asked nicely I switched him into it and he "drove" us through the entire store for our five items. When using this cart you should at least pile up enough to spend several hundred dollars. Everything was great with the world until it was time to get in the car and the tantrums started again. Thankfully it only lasted a few minutes compared to yesterday. My corrections are finally starting to pay off. It is back to preschool tomorrow and I am happy to get some time by myself to get some work done without Landon needing attention. I am in trouble at the end of the month when he is out for two full weeks! There is sure to be a common thing in all pics to come. In order to get a pic he must be "driving" something.m I took these with my phone so they are a little blurry.
The Choo-Choo at the mall.

The best invention for moms with boys!

Dedication Day

Today was a beautiful fall day outside. It was also Child Dedication at our Church this morning. Most of our family made it for the short dedication. I want to thank you all for coming, I know it didn't last long but it meant a lot to Tye and I for you to be there. Our Pastor preached on marriage today and how it is in trouble in our Country. I love how he doesn't try to be politicaly correct and will speak from The Word of God. Check out Ephesians 5:22-24;32-33. He also touched on the parent/child relationship. Matthew 7:11. I loved how the message went with dedicating Landon today or I should say it was really Tye and I making a promise to raise Landon in a Christian home and the Church to help us and hold us accountable. I find that both will be very important throughout his life. I have also been learning how important my marriage is in raising Landon and our future children. It is amusing how weeks before this sermon today things have been working in my life to show me how important it really is. Here are a few pics from today.








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Twilight

I got a girl's night out with my mom and sister tonight. Our wonderful husbands stayed home with each of our small boys. THANK YOU guys! My mom was so sweet to treat us to dinner at Tye's favorite place Applebees. Since he worked there through College we haven not returned to that Restaurant since. Then we went to the movie Twilight along with a bunch of pre-teen girls. They did make the movie more fun by cheering when Edward made his appearance and oow'ing and aww'ing through every kiss seen. I still prefer the book over the movie but considering the books content they did a good job with it. If you have not read the book you must read it before going to the movie or you will be lost. Now I am ready for the sequels! Landon had a wonderful day today. His great grandad came and kept him for a few hours while I went to an appointment and when I got back my Grandmother had come over too with food for him and were stuffing his face. I really think they don't believe I feed the kid..lol I took him with me to my office to pick up and drop off things and took him in for the first time not in a stroller. He was loving all the phones in the office and found a new challenge of climbing the steep staircase that he was pulled off of. My Listing Coordinator now understands why he is always strapped in a stroller when we go in! Lan played with Daddy all night while I was out and was fast asleep when I got home. It is also Lando's 20 month birthday today! I can't believe how fast the time is flying by.

Blizzard

This morning while I was getting work done like usual I gave Landon his cup of dry cereal for breakfast. He was being very good and playing nicely. He kept coming back to me for "moooore momma pweese" cereal. I thought to myself this kid is really hungry today but kept refilling at request just delighted he was actually wanting to eat! I get up and go check on him in the living room and I discover him dropping cereal piece by piece into Tye's beloved air filter. The minute Lan's eyes catch me looking he turns it on and a blizzard of cereal pieces fly through the air. It scared Landon and I couldn't help but laugh. I hope Tye can shake all the pieces out when he gets home this evening!

I upgraded today

I have never been one for tech savvy gadgets other than GPS so I don't get lost every two seconds. Never understood it and never wanted to learn how to operate things. Well after a very very long morning and picking Lan up from preschool somewhere between the car and his class my cell phone disappeared. I looked over the school parking lot twice and tore my car apart but nothing. My little worth nothing cell phone was gone. I don't care a thing about the actual phone, it is that little SIM chip in there that holds ALL my contact numbers from the past 5 years that I want back. I don't understand how a cell phone can just disappear into thin air! I am praying someone found it and will turn it in tomorrow. Then I left L with his great grandparents that were gracious enough to keep him while I went to my closing today. Still without my phone but Grandma let me take hers with me. Since Lan was doing so good I decided to stop at AT&T after my closing to get a new phone since it is my business line and only way to communicate without having a house phone. I decided to upgrade my little self and get a Blackberry. The thing is hard to figure out! It is more like a computer than a phone! It took me five minutes to make my first call on it. I am catching up with the times now and will have Internet with me everywhere I go. Don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I do have 30 days to take it back so if I am still lost with this magic device in a few weeks it is going back! Now this is one phone Landon will NOT be touching!

Never to early

to start teaching a willing 19 month old to vacuum. Landon LOVES vacuum cleaners. He has been crazy about them since he could crawl at 6 months old. As we were cleaning the house last night now that Landon is finally starting to feel better again Tye pulled out the vacuum and Lan was instantly excited. When I came back from the bedroom into the living room Tye was letting Lan vacuum the living room. The kid was having a blast! I grabbed the camera and started snapping away and took a few short videos. The front end of the vacuum was not touching the floor the entire time but what does that matter, I just hope he enjoys this as much when he is 7 or 8 years old! Who am I kidding by that age it will feel like punishment, but I will take what I can get right now in this moment.
I am looking forward to this week of having NO sickies in the house and resuming life as we know it. It is sure to be a busy week after being house bound for seven days. I would love to go to Church this morning but I am going to make sure Lan is 100% better before being around other toddlers.

My boy is sick

Landon has been so sick this week. It started with croup last week and then when on Sunday he acted very well, by late Monday he was running a low grade fever. Tuesday morning it was up to 103.8 so off to the Pedi we went. Landon was very lethargic and whining. Dr. T took a good look at Lan and said he has a swollen spleen and that it is either mono or another viral infection. No cure other than Motrin and Tylenol and of course time. Well here we are late Thursday night just when I thought he was getting better now his head is very congested. He hasn't eaten a meal since Monday and is now not wanting to drink anything because it is hard for him to breathe when he is trying to swallow. I am going to take him back to the Pedi tomorrow to make sure that he doen't have an infection on top of what he already has. Last night he was up and down a million times screaming when he would wake up. It is almost midnight and he has already been up twice, so it looks like another long night here. I just want my baby boy to feel good again!

A few more videos

These were taken on election night when we were sitting up for the results.

All Boy

I was not exposed to boys very much at all before having Landon. I have all sisters and one step brother, so the thought of a boy scared me a bit. I wasn't sure there would be any huge differences in the early years, but I was wrong. Landon is ALL boy. Cars, trains, danger, balls, golf clubs used as weapons is the norm in our house these days. It seems the more dangerous an item looks the more Landon wants to play with it. We went to the farm today which now that we are back I am not sure it was a great idea since he is recovering from croup. All he wanted to do was sit in Grandaddy's car and "drive" it. If he was not playing in the car he wanted to try to pick up logs from a cut up tree that were bigger than he is. I decided since he was so into pretend driving that Lan and I would take a drive in my SUV through the fields to visit the cows. I let him sit in my lap and steer us through the pasture. I am sure it was a site to see from far away. We got out and moo'ed at the cows until I think we upset a bull because he came to close for comfort, a few feet in front of us. I am normally not worried but I wasn't sure how I would wave him off while holding a 19 month old in my arms so we retreated back to the safety of the car. Tye was working on fixing a tire on our new but old riding lawn mower. Hearing my dad and Tye talk about it you would think it was the super stars of riding lawn mowers but check out the video and get a good chuckle on what it really looks like. The men got the idea to let Landon steer it around and he was thrilled to drive around on Grandaddy's lap for 30 minutes and screamed "more, more" when it was time to get off. I thought I might one day be able to live in this small town surrounded by nothing but land and a dairy farm but I was reminded today that I am a city girl and should stay put!


This is when we happily got back in the car.

Pumpkin Patch

I decided Saturday that we would go to a real pumpkin patch this year. There is a pumpkin farm about an hour away and it was wonderful. Lan was not in the best of moods, but I did manage to get a few pics. Daddy had to work on a project at work that was due today so he didn't get to go with us but G-G did go with us! They had hay rides and plenty of space for my little man to run around. Landon is trying to say pumpkin at the moment but is getting as far as calling them "pumps". We played in the yard today for a while once it got warmer. Lan thinks he is a goat and before I got to him decided to eat a berry from a lariope plant. Thank goodness I saved Poison Control on my cell because this is the third time in 19 months I had to call them. I am so happy that the people working there are concerned but still find a way to have a sense of humor! For the record they are poisonous, but only eating one should cause an upset belly.

My how time is flying by

We have had a busy three weeks around here. Visits from Nana and Grandad. Visits from my parents, Great Grandparents. Last but not least a visit from Uncle Casey(that is not uncommon many days a week), but this time will go down in the books. Tye and Casey cut each other's hair, so this was "cut" day for them. I decided to let L hang in the backyard with them so I could get some laundry done without hearing "mommy, mommy, mommy" for a few minutes. Instructions were given to leave Lan's hair ALONE, as in don't touch it, don't cut it, don't even look at HIS hair! I go check to see how the boy time is going out back and what do I find? You guessed they thought it would be cute, funny, annoying???? to shave the sides of his head above Lan's ears. The poor boy looked like Billy Ray Cyrus back in the day. I had been trying to thicken and grow his hair out for winter, with no luck it seems. I won't go into details on all that was said to Tye from me because it got ugly and his bed was the sofa that night. Three days later and a 45 minute one way mini-trip to my hair dresser later all is well with Lan's hair and is now in a summer short cut because there was no saving it. On the development side Landon's vocabulary is exploding. He gains at least a few words a day now and it is amazing. I am working with him on whining. I can't stand it and keep telling Landon that whining is not a language and to use his words. Thankfully, after that prompting he will use his words. It is also official now that keeping Landon contained in the exersaucer while I shower is a thing of the past. I knew this day was coming & was pleasently suprised it had not happened sooner but he can now pull himself out and destroy our bedroom while I finish getting ready. I am not sure how I am going to get a shower in the mornings anymore? I thought about showering at 5 am before he is up but that leaves me walking 3 miles after my shower and hoping body spray covers the traces of the morning walk. Our bedroom is simply to small to make it baby proof and our bathroom is also to small. I will just wait on the day we can add on or rebuild to have a "safe" place in the master bedroom/bathroom. We are going to do our best to make it to a pumpkin festival or farm this weekend, so hopefully I will have some pics to share after that adventure.

Landon has a new cousin!

Welcome to the world little Sean! What a beautiful addition to our family! I am so proud of Brooke and I am so happy that her and the baby are both safe and healthy! What a wonderful day. Landon did wonderful in Preschool today and it is a huge answer to prayers. He played with Daddy all day while I was at the hospital waiting on the little bundle!
Here is a pic from tonight

Happy 18 months!

Today Lan is 18 months old! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by and what a little boy he is becoming! Landon had a busy week of being passed from Poppy on Monday. He saved me by coming all the way in last minute so that I could make it to work. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Tuesday, Landon had a great time at school and was happy to see me pick him up. Then I had a meeting that afternoon so he hung out with Nanny. Wednesday night I got to "volunteer"(not sure I call it that when you are required to work two shifts) to help set up the Fall/Winter Consignment Sale for Landon's preschool. I enjoyed getting to meet some of the other parents. Thursday was back to school and Landon went in without crying but I guess he had a bad day because his teacher said he cried most of the 3 hours. I am hoping that something just freaked him out and this will not be a weekly occurrence. Friday we went to get our hair cut and mine colored. Landon's hair is finally all evened out after the nice lady butchered it to no end. 100 lollipops later my hair was finished and we went to Chik-fil-A to have some much needed play time and lunch before our long drive home. After a late nap after Church today and staying up until nine he is finally down for the evening.
Here is a pic from Labor Day weekend with Miss G and Landon playing in the water table. They had a blast and laughed so hard with eachother!

Busy few weeks in our house

Landon started Paren't Morning Out on September 2nd. His teachers are wonderful. They are caring and loving yet have reasonable expectations for a one and a half year old. I think it is a great balance. While we were out to dinner for Tye's birthday Landon had an incident. He was in his booster seat on a chair and kicked himself back and landed on the concrete patio with his head. His first trip to the ER. Thankfully the Dr. at the Children's Hospital deemed it a mild head injury. He scared us bad with that and convinced us that unless where we are eating has high chairs we will not be going there. At school on Thursday he got to stamp paper and according to his teacher he loved it! Then Saturday rolled around and he woke up with a fever. He stayed sick and with a fever until Thursday and is finally better! I am hoping for a healthier rest of the year at this point! Here is a pic of Lan before his first day of PMO.

Foot prints

I just adore this picture of Lan's foot print at exactly 17 months old. It makes me think of what "foot prints" he is going to leave on this earth in the years to come. My prayer for him everyday since the day he was born is that he will be a man of God and make a positive difference in this world; small or big. Today as he hugged and kissed me out of the blue was so precious. This week he has started "singing" with me when I sing "Twinkle, twinkle" before bed. The sound of his precious voice brought tears to my eyes. He can't say the words but he does attempt. I need to remember to get Tye to video it one night.

Middle of the week

Yesterday I took Landon to the Pediatrician because he has been pulling his ears and not sleeping good. I also thought all these temper tantrums may be him not feeling good. The good news is no ear infection and he gained two pounds! Now up to 22 pounds which is still low on the percentile chart but he is gaining weight. The not so "great" news the Dr. laughed and said welcome to the terrible twos they start in full force around 18 months. I was thinking great this is going to get even worse! He had already thrown about five tantrums in the Dr's office already. No one ever told me before he was born that small tantrums would start around ten months old and they just blow up from there especially when he is told "no". Throwing food while eating is a favorite of Landon's at the moment, which has been getting old & occasionally holding a straight face while telling him that is not appropriate(don't worry I uses more kid friendly words). Even through the temper tantrums and food throwing I am still finding a sense of humor, because even in the middle of all this he is so stinkin cute& the fact that this is normal developmental behavior.

Beach Trip

We had a fun week at the beach last week. We got back last night. Landon did fairly good other than since he is cutting some molars he was not in the best mood. Before I realized that it was teething I thought that we were in a really awful phase. He would throw himself down on the beach and scream at me. He turned 17 months while we were there and now loves to chase the birds and make them fly. His new word is "bird". I am convinced that the kid can say more than he does, because when he says most words for the first time he says them very clear. We prepared for Hurricane/Tropical Storm Fay but other than wind we were thankfully not hit. On Tuesday Sarasota and Barrier Islands shut down all stores, beaches, schools, ect. so we were stuck at the house. Video to come from the wind experience! Landon also learned from his Grandaddy that when the question "Who loves Landon to raise their hands" he will raise his hands as do we and laughs. We got to spend some good times with Aunt Alexis this past week and were sad to see her leave.

This is really for me to remember so skip this part if it bores you.
At 17 months Landon can point to his nose and belly button when asked where they are. He can follow directions by putting his hands on his head when you say freeze. He will now tell me "no" when he doesn't want something. He now has one molar fully in as well as 8 front teeth in. Lan is a master climber and will climb anything that presents a challenge. He is still very loving with other children and animals. Still a momma's boy although showing a lot more interest in Daddy these days. He now loves "match box" cars. He will bark like a dog anytime he hears one barking. He can make a huge tower out of blocks. Lan gave up pacis over a month ago and to our amazement has not wanted one since. He still dislikes meat but will eat any fruit or green beans like they are leaving this earth tomorrow.
Landon also loves to run into the waves now at the beach and is really good in the pool with swimmies. We tried a float for him but he quickly climbed out. He also got out of his buckled car seat twice on the way down! Enjoy some of the pictures and videos that I will add later.

Swimming with his new swimmies


What I bought to reduce the boredom with no beach on Tuesday


Beach time with Grandaddy


My little man


New face that he is making all the time. Little Monkey!


Momma time


The birds


More to come later this week.

It has been a long week here.

Oh where to start. First I want to say Congratulations to Kevin and Caitlin on becoming engaged. Welcome to our crazy family..just kidding, well maybe a little. Landon is now cutting his first molar. He was so cranky on Monday with a runny nose I thought for sure that he was getting sick. Then while brushing his teeth I decided to run my finger on his gums and to my suprise he is getting a top molar that is peeping through. Motrin has been our best friend every night and has helped him stay asleep. His second Monday with his Nanny didn't go as good at first. He screamed the minute she came in the door. I really have to work on this seperation anxiety with him. By the time I made it home Nanny was so sweet and she and Landon were playing and he even kissed her bye. Lan did keep telling her bye the minute I picked him up, I think he was making sure Mommy was not going to leave again. Tuesday, was a rough day Keagan had to be put down. Oh, how I love that dog. I was devestated and through my breakdown Landon responded with his own. It took all evening to refocus so I was not making Lan upset since he is to young to understand what is going on. Landon will still yell for Keagan in the morning and go looking for him. I really think it upsets me and he is just confused as to why he can't be found. Thankfully, Kasey has been really loving and letting Landon love on him and letting him throw things at him.(It is not allowed but it does happen with a 16 month old). Today Landon went to work with me all day. It took a lot of convincing him that it is COOL to stay in a stroller and not scream while Mommy is trying to take money. He is a smart cookie and didn't buy it and screamed anyway. I did discover that the saftey lolly pop that the nice lady at the bank gave him(I think it was a hint to get him to quiet down in the bank) will buy me 20 minutes of talking time in a meeting though. I didn't even think of wasting that precious lolly in the bank, I knew it would be of better use later. I am reserving tomorrow for Mommy and Landon time to play and rest. I think we could both use it before we take off to FL on Saturday. I am posting the last pic that was taken with Keagan a few weeks ago. Catherine, Caroline, & Lan are a littke blurry but Keagan is not.

Amazing strength

Oh and I am not talking about Landon this time. When I entered this blog world several months ago as a reader I have come accross some amazing women with strength I never imagined possible in times like they have experienced. These blogs have reminded me what really matters in this world and that is God. There is no hope in this world without him for me. I don't know if I would be ok facing tomorrow without knowing for a fact that He is watching over my family and me and has a plan for us. We have hard times recently and I really considered there was no hope. Then on one of the blogs I came upon during that time was playing the song Bring on the Rain by Mercy Me. What a powerful song and it was if God spoke to me through that song telling me He had in no way abandoned me that this was just a new path that I would be taking or a valley if you will. That I should draw closer to Him or continue the way I was going that was going no where but away from Him. I decided there was no way I was wasting more of my life on this earth without drawing nearer to Him. I have a long way to go but I am relieved that the journey has begun again. I love that I will be living a way that will teach Landon what life is truly about and to enjoy everyday for what it is and find the beauty no matter how dim it looks. Please check out these links to some of the blogs that started this journey for me. They will blow your mind.
www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com
http://www.noahsteven.blogspot.com/
www.mycharmingkids.net
http://jodyferlaak.blogspot.com/
Have a wonderful week. Happy Birthday Uncle Casey! We had a wonderful evening with you and Chelsea tonight!

Fun weekend and start of week!

Landon had a wonderful weekend with his Nana visiting. Thank you so much for all of your help while I was getting work done Nana! Nana took some very cute pics of Landon this weekend and played hard with him! I had to work yesterday so since my mom had to go back to work sadly, Landon has a new nanny. She is not new to our family she has kept my 13 year old sisters since they came home from the hospital and is truly a blessing because Landon was so excited to see her yesterday! He had so much playing with her and is now taking on Spanish as a second language. It was wonderful to leave for work with him telling me bye bye instead of crying. Today we went to Leapin Lizard with J and her two kiddos. Landon was not sure about it at first but once I went down the slides with him and showed him how much fun it was he dove in! He even climbed the tall ladders on his own and then would launch himself down. I was kind of let down because I was enjoying all the slides as much as he was! It is so weird to see him act like such a big boy and holding his ground with the older kids. Tonight we went and had dinner at my dad's and had a wonderful time. Land got to play with all his aunts and his Uncle Seth!
Here are some pics from the weekend

Our day

I had "big" plans for Landon and I today. I try really hard to make Tuesdays my day off from anything work related. Sometimes things don't go as planned and I learned today that can be ok. If you know me well you know I am a planner and can't stand it when things don't go as they should.
As I am getting Landon and I dressed to run out the door for Gymboree class and 10:50, I check one more time on the schedule to see if it starts at 11:00 or 11:10. I was suprised to see that not only did it not start at 11 or 11:10 that it was already over. Next time I check the schedule I need to remember to get the day right! So after Lan was ready to go "bye bye" and all excited I decided to distract him with a bottle of good old milk. Thankfully it worked! Then I get phone calls from two people interested in our Church that we need rented/sold at the moment, they both wanted to meet today. So there goes my idea of going to Toys R Us to get him a basketball goal. Thankfully my dad went with us and we ended up staying there for 2 hours. It was so hot that we were all soaking wet and Landon was worn out from running circles around the empty Church that has no power at the moment. On a fun note Landon got to meet the Police today there because for some reason people love to ditch stolen cars behind vacant churches. If Landon could talk I am sure that he would have some interesting stories about going to work with mommy and what we see. I did say I enjoy giving my child discover new things..LOL So after a long hot and sweaty afternoon Landon is in Sleepyville. Please keep the Church we own in your prayers we need this to work out in a huge way and I believe the only reason we have come this far with it is only because of God.

Mommy needs a night out too.

Well I finally got out of the house to go out with a girlfriend last night and let me tell you I know I am a better wife and mommy for it. It was so nice to go sit and relax for a few hours and make a new friend. I feel so refreshed and ready to take on everything again. Tye and Landon got to hang out all day together because I had to work and then I was home for an hour before I left again. Landon for the first time didn't even care that I was leaving! He ran to the door when I was telling him bye and yelled "bye momma, bye!" I guess my little baby is growing up. Now I will need to remind him of his new independence once we get to Church in a few hours. He cried the entire time in the nursery last week so we are hoping for a happier Sunday today.

I can play Wii too!

Uncle Seth came over tonight to play Wii with Tye and I tonight. Landon loves to hold the remote and pretend he is playing too. One of these days I will get it on video and post. Uncle Seth is Landon's new favorite person these days. Landon can't wait to meet baby Sean in October! We are all getting excited as it nears!

More summer fun

Tye and I have both been really busy with work these days so I have decided to "make" some one on one Landon time with no distractions. I decided to go back to my preschool teaching days and remembered pudding painting. Lan was a little unsure at first about putting his hands in a bowl full of yucky stuff but then discovered it could be a blast. We have been also having a lot of ice cream nights and I will include a few pics from that as well. We also had a visit from Uncle Wes and cousin Nyima. Nyima was very good with Lan other than she didn't want him to ruin her tent she made last night. I haven't uploaded the pics but when I do I will post.

Watermelon can be fun!

This weekend I decided that we would finally cut into the watermelon that was given to us from South Georgia. I started off cutting pieces for Landon & then realized he would have more fun "tearing" into it.