Happy New Year!

I thought December was hard to wrap my brain around...well January 2011 is even more difficult. Landon is already 10-months-old and we are starting to plan his first birthday party. That makes me so happy, but a little sad too. I just can't believe how quickly my baby is turning into a little boy. Anyway, his favorite book is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" so that's the theme. We are going to use lots of primary colors and then do a few personalized things. Fun!

He had his most recent check up Dec. 28 and is a healthy boy. He weighed in at 25 lbs., 4 oz. and 30.5 in. with a head circumference of 19. He tops the charts in all areas at more than 100 percent. He's still working to get teeth and start crawling, but he's happy and oh so much fun. His most used word is "da-da" and he says it really well and clear. I can't wait to hear him say "momma." We are working on remembering to use our video camera more often (and actually post them here).

Christmas Eve was spent with the Taylor's at Jim's grandpa's house. Jim's mom stayed the week with us, so we spent Christmas morning with her and my dad, who came over for breakfast. From there we went to Jim's dad's house to open gifts and spend some time with his parents and brother and sister. Next was my aunt Cindy's house in Olympia, then we crashed at home. My mom came over the day after Christmas to exchange gifts. Lets just say that Landon was very blessed.

Anyway, we had a great Christmas and loved experiencing it with our boy. Here are a few of our favorite photos from the holidays...

It's the holiday season...

I. Can't. Believe. It's. December.

Where did the year go and who replaced my tiny infant with a 23 pound almost 9-month-old?

Okay, now that that is out of my system, I can happily share what we've been up to for the past month and one day.

We had our first snow and major storm the week of Thanksgiving. I was home with Landon for the two days before Thanksgiving because his school was closed for snow. We went on a long walk, but forgot to bring the camera. This cell phone picture is all we've got to document little man's first white holiday. He sure had fun though!

The holidays are in full season at the Taylor house. We spent Thanksgiving with Jim's side of the family at his dad's house. Landon enjoyed some mashed potatoes and rolls. He was quite the turkey (pun totally intended) at dinner too. When he wasn't getting enough attention he would start laughing or screeching until the entire table of people were looking at him.

Jim wasn't feeling well that day and promptly got the flu...full on nastiness...when we got home. Needless to say, he was banished to the bedroom all weekend while Landon and I spent some quality time reading, playing and watching Baby Einstein DVDs. (Neither of us got sick, phew!)

Landon met Santa at the Festival of Trees on Dec. 1. When Jim sat Landon down on Santa's lap, Landon was looking at Santa very intently. It took a lot of effort to get him to look at the camera for a photo. When he finally did look at me, he realized that a stranger in a bright red suit with a blazing white beard was holding him, so he began his infamous "Ughhhhh" until Jim picked him up.

This past weekend was full of Christmas spirit. We started off with a trip to the Red Barn Tree Farm where we looked (and looked) through their entire inventory before finally deciding on a Shasta Fir. Landon rode in the backpack like a champ and didn't seem to mind the cold. Boy was it cold.

That night we hosted the First Annual Taylor Family Christmas Extravaganza at a local restaurant. We'd been wanting to throw a Christmas party for our friends for the past several years, but our house just can't hold a large group of people. So, Jim had the good idea to host it at the restaurant. It was an ugly sweater party, complete with a white elephant gift exchange. We had about 20 people attend, with their kids, and we had a great time. This was the same night as the Apple Cup where the Huskies BEAT THE COUGARS and clinched a spot in the 2010 Holiday Bowl where they'll play Nebraska Dec. 30. It was a great game!


Sunday was spent putting up the tree and trying to relax.

The Christmas cards have been ordered and feature some great photos of our little family, taken in October before we went to Vegas.

We are busy trying to finish shopping before all of our family get-togethers start. Jim's mom comes to town the weekend before Christmas and will stay with us until the 26th. She's very excited to spend some time with Landon who she hasn't seen since October. (She lives in Virginia.)

Although it will be busy, we are looking forward to sharing Christmas with both sides of our blended families and introducing Landon to the holiday while starting important family traditions.

Lions, and friends and school, oh my!

SO, my plan to blog at least once a week fell flat on its face. However, we've been very busy and I have the pictures to prove it. The CP Homecoming game ended up being really fun, and Clover Park won. I went with my friend, Jen, and we met up with our friend, Tammy. CP is actually in the playoffs right now, which isn't a place they're used to being.

The weekend before Halloween Landon and I bundled up and went to Zoo Boo with some friends. It was a clear, beautiful day, but damn cold outside. Landon wore his skeleton outfit, but it had to be covered up by his snowsuit, so we just called him a pumpkin instead. The zoo was full of little people (kids, not midgets) dressed in their Halloween best. Even the animals were festive—the polar bears were playing with pumpkins and the otters were swimming with little squashes.

Landon was a lion for Halloween and was so darn cute. His costume was from The Children's Place, but I scored it at a children's consignment store for $4.50. What a steal! On Halloween, we visited Maile and Gabriel and finally met baby Lili, who is gorgeous. After our visit, my dad came over for chili, beer bread and apple crisp...a very "fall" meal.

Two weeks ago, Jim and I made the difficult decision to enroll Landon in daycare at a local church learning center. My mom had been watching him since I returned to work, but we felt that this was best decision for everyone and gives Landon the opportunity to be around other kids and be on a consistent schedule. It also allows my mom to enjoy the freedom of retirement.

The center does arts and crafts, music and family-style eating. Granted, we're not sure that Landon gives a hoot about art right now, but he loves music and remains a very polite, well-rounded eater.

There are five other babies, all boys, in Landon's class. (We're calling it "school" to hopefully set the stage for a love of learning. Plus, we think that sounds a lot better than daycare.) Turns out that I know two of the moms of Landon's classmates—one from work and one from my master's program. I met another one of the mom's who works for the district too. My friend Krista also just started sending her son there. He's in the toddler room, but Landon will join him as soon as he turns one.

Landon attended for two days last week and is doing really well. Jim and I dropped him off and picked him up together, which was nice, because we could support one another on this difficult day. Landon did really well. He looked around when we first got there and was intently watching the other babies before we handed him to his new teacher. She sat him down on the floor and he immediately stole a toy from one of the other babies and began having a great time. We said "bye bye" and gave him a kiss and then left. We peeked at him through one of the side doors and he didn't seem to care that we were gone. (He was surrounded by all of the toys at this point, so we knew that he was already staking out his territory.) I was proud that I made it out of there and to the car before I got emotional. But I managed not to cry.

Although he's only been there for two days, he already has some new tricks that he has picked up, which are quite amusing. For instance, he loves to shake his head "no," but he doesn't know what it means just yet. He is also a crazy bouncing man in his exersaucer now. There's one at school and one of the other boys jumps like crazy in it. We think he picked it up from him.

We are looking forward to a quiet November and are working on plans for Landon's first Thanksgiving, the First Annual Taylor Christmas Party and Landon's first Christmas. We want to establish some meaningful traditions that we can celebrate as a family and are really excited that the holidays are almost here!

Holy cow, it's fall!

I cannot believe that it's already fall, but it's my favorite season, especially in Washington. We've been having great weather too, which makes it nice.

Jim is busy in his second year of refereeing football and really likes it. He officiated his first varsity high school game last night.

Landon continues to amaze us daily. His newest charming trait is to say "who, who, who" very breathy-like. We can't figure out if he's trying to bark like our dogs, bark like Husky fans, or communicate something totally different, but it's out-of-this-world cute.

I feel like there's so much to say, so I'll use some recent pictures for my update...

Hello Dawg fans! That's right, it's football season. Landon is a champ and has a blast at the games. There's almost too much for him to look at...he has a hard time falling asleep, but the rides home are usually really quiet. (Side note, I just got my hair cut short—it was time for a change—and I think it's super cute.)

Landon loves his veggies! Our boy has very diverse menu selections. He loves carrots, peas, sweet potatoes and avocados. The great thing is that I've been making all of his food at home. It's really easy, it's cheap and I know exactly what's in it (and what isn't). He also digs the organic baby oatmeal mixed with a little bit of formula. He eats twice a day and really enjoys it, as evidenced by his cutie chubs.

We have a sitter! It took a lot of wobbling and a few face plants, but Landon has it down. The only thing he needs to work on is some gracefulness when he decides he'd like to go from sitting to laying down. Right now he resembles a slug.


Gulp, I'm 30! That's right, Oct. 6 marked the big day. The weekend before my birthday we took Landon to Sandpoint, Idaho for the weekend and stayed up at the ski resort. Since it's the off-season, it was so quiet and peaceful and very scenic. We stopped off in Spokane on our way and Jim showed us his old stomping grounds, including River Front Park.

Speaking of my birthday, my fabulous husband threw a surprise party at a local Irish pub in downtown Tacoma. Our immediate families were there and some of my best friends. We had great food, cake and drinks and I even had a personalized banner hanging on the wall! I was amazed that he was able to surprise me and I had a really awesome time!

Behold, the Great Pumpkin! Oct. 12 marked Landon's first annual trip to the pumpkin patch. We decided to take advantage of the nice weekday weather and hustle down to Olympia right after work instead of waiting for the weekend. There was hardly anyone there, which gave us ample opportunity for photos. Isn't he a doll? I think we need a few more photos...

My goal is to update our blog at least once a week. Ultimately, I want to use these posts to create a commemorative book once Landon turns one. He's growing and changing so much every day and, while we want to capture it, have been busy just enjoying it.

I took him to the Clover Park Homecoming Game last night with some friends and we had family pictures this morning (Christmas will be here before we know it and I'm psyched). We're off to the zoo tomorrow for Zoo Boo and headed down to Vegas to see Garth Brooks next weekend. (How many seven-month-olds can say they've been to Vegas?) So, in order to report on all of our adventures, I promise to be a better blogger.

Summer, summer, summer time!

Mmmmm, oatmeal!

Me and my little swimmer

First time in the pool...loved it!

At the aquarium with Daddy

We have been having a great summer...busy, busy, which is why I have been negligent on the posts. So much has happened over the past months. Here's a quick recap:

• Landon has got a set of lungs on him. He squeals and screams with delight when he is amused. He loves to giggle and he doesn't hesitate to scream when he's unhappy, which isn't that often.
• We have a roller! It took him awhile to master, but he's got the rolling (from back to front) down and has mastered the art of getting his arm out from underneath him. As soon as you put him on the ground he flips over. So cute!
• Bath time is fun time. Landon LOVES his bath and has a great time splashing and playing. The screaming and attempted rolling add to the nightly fun.
• Landon went for his first swim at the Taylor's. He really enjoyed the pool and he really enjoyed his turtle. While there he got to meet his great grandparents and his great, great aunt.
  
• Landon has been enjoying his organic baby oatmeal each evening and has even forayed into the world of homemade baby food. We started with sweet potatoes and are planning on peas, carrots and avocados next.
• We took Landon to the zoo for the first time and he really enjoyed the aquarium. There was so much to see, that he was pooped and fell asleep for most of the trip.
  
• We took a camping trip to Packwood a few weekends ago and had a fun time. We even saw a large elk walking down the street.
• Husky football started on Saturday and our first home game is Sept. 11 against Syracuse. It will be another Taylor family adventure. We will be sure to take lots of pictures.
  

Phew, I think that's it. Fun times in Taylorville!

The great outdoors kicked our butts!

Landon and Daddy on the bridge

We made it to the lake!

Phew! We are tired!

Proud of ourselves!

Mister Cutie Pants!

We hiked six miles this weekend to Lena Lake on Hood Canal. We started at 2,200 feet and gained 1,200 feet over three miles. The area was gorgeous, but the hike was tough! The majority of our climb was on switch-backs up to the lake. It took us about three hours to get to the lake, because, let's face it, we haven't hiked in forever and I am out of shape from having Landon.

Speaking of Landon, he was a champ! He rode in his carrier on Jim the entire way. For the first part of the hike he was just looking around wide-eyed and taking everything in. He really liked looking up at the trees and the sun shining through. You could just see his amazement. The rest of the time he spent sleeping and only fussed when we stopped moving, which kept our butts in gear.

The lake was beautiful, but we didn't have much time to enjoy it, because we had to get back to the truck before it got too late. The hike down was easier on our hearts and lungs, but our knees and ankles were angry. We are very sore today, but feel very accomplished. We hope to make hiking a regular part of our lives...we might chose an easier hike next time though!

Almost five-months-old!

Our little baby isn't so little anymore! He's almost 19-weeks-old and seems to change every day. His four-month checkup went really well. He was 15 lbs 8 oz and 25 1/4 in long. His head was 17 in in circumference. That's the 75th percentile for height, 70th for weight and 75th for head. He got three shots and did really well--I was more upset than he was.

We stayed close to home for the Fourth of July. The weather was decent, so we hung out at home in the morning and then went to Jim's dad's house for a BBQ and some fireworks. We made it home just in time for Steilacoom's professional show, which was awesome. Landon slept through the entire thing and wasn't too bothered about our neighbor's show either.

We spent a week in mid-July in Bandon, Oregon with Jim's mom, grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousins. It was the first time Landon met his Great Grandma and Grandpa Roberts and his Great Aunt and Uncle. There were 12 people in the rental house and seven dogs, including Kona and Rusty. We had sun everyday, which was great, but it was really windy. The days were spent with lots of walks on the beach, shopping in town, site-seeing and scenic drives. Jim and I went to a nearby state park with Landon and saw more than 200 sea lions on a rock in the ocean. It was really neat!

Family dinner

Landon and Momma at Shore Acres

Daddy and Landon on the Bandon Pier

I went back to work July 19, which was really hard. Landon is going to my mom's house during the day. Mom only lives five minutes from my office and ten minutes from our house, so it's nice and convenient. I went to visit Landon on Monday, which turned out to be harder than dropping him off in the morning. He was gassy and fussy and didn't want to let me go when I tried to put him down. Made me sad.

The first week went well overall. Landon and my mom and Mike (her boyfriend) are getting used to one another and establishing routines and systems. Even though it's really hard not being with him all day, Jim and I feel very blessed that my mom is giving us this gift.

WOW! 13 weeks down...

Landon is officially a three-month-old! Wow! I didn't think it was possible, but I fall more in love with him every day. His personality is really starting to come through and he is so happy and mellow. My favorite part of the day is watching him concentrate on something and then break out into a huge smile. He likes being read too and likes the colors and shapes in his books. He hasn't laughed yet, but we can tell that he really wants too. He like to coo and make noises and he wiggles a lot in his bouncy chair.

Megan came and visited a few weeks ago, which was a lot of fun. She spent the whole day with Landon and me and he took one of his signature naps on her chest. We visited Maile and her son Gabriel too. Maile is having a little girl in August and it was neat to see how much Gabriel enjoyed being around a baby. I'm not sure what Maile thinks, but it would be comforting to me to see that my first born was going to do okay (hopefully) with our second born.

Landon went on his second camping trip over Memorial Day in Eastern Washington. Even though we were on the east-side, it was COLD! We went camping with a group of friends and their kids and had a good time. Landon really likes being outside and spent most of the trip sleeping and soaking up the fresh air while we hiked and relaxed. Here's a picture of Jim and Landon before one of our hikes...

We took Landon to his first baseball game last week. The Rainiers, Tacoma's minor league team, played and hosted my company for the night. We didn't make it through the whole game, because it was so cold and rainy (seriously, who would have guessed it was June) but it was fun showing him off to my coworkers.

Landon received a clean bill of heart health too! When he was born, one of his valves wasn't closed, so this was a checkup. The problem fixed itself and his heart is healthy and happy. Great news! At last check, he was 12 lbs. 8 oz. and 24 in long. He's already outgrowing his 3-month clothes, because he is too long!

He's sleeping really well and if it wasn't for his hungry tummy, he'd be sleeping through the night. He sleeps in his co-sleeper, which we really enjoy. We are able to know that he is safe and monitor him throughout the night. It also makes feedings so much easier. We are planning to transition him to his crib within the next few weeks. He goes down for the night around 9:15 p.m. (after taking a nap from around 6 to 7:30 p.m.) and sleeps for 4-5 hours, eats and then sleeps for another 3-4 hours. In the morning he eats again, is awake and smiley for about 20 minutes and then sleeps for another 2-3 hours. We've tried giving him more at each feeding, (he nurses and gets a bottle) but he is happy with the boob and then 4-5 oz. of formula (I don't make much milk at all).

I go back to work July 19 and I am already dreading it. I feel very lucky to have a job to go back too and the blessing of my mom, who is going to watch Landon during the day. That said, I can't imagine not being with him everyday. It's going to be really difficult. I'm trying to focus on the positives though and remain upbeat.

We are going to Bandon, Oregon July 9 with Jim's family. We are renting a house and can't wait to introduce him to his great grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousins.

Landon recently got an activity mat, full of ocean toys and music. He really likes it and we love watching him take it all in. He's just too cute!

Landon James is nine weeks old!

I don't know where the last nine weeks have gone, but we have a beautiful, 11 lb., 8 oz., 23.5 in. long baby boy! Landon changes so much from day to day and we love watching him grow.

So much has happened over the past month, so I'll do my best to capture it (I'll also try to post more often!). We now have a smiler! Landon thinks we are very amusing and enjoys when we say "hi" in our highest, silliest voices. We have a video camera and will have to work to capture and post this. We haven't gotten any laughs yet, but you can tell that he wants to laugh very badly.

Landon just had his two-month check up and is doing great! He is right where he should be for his age and the doctor had nothing but good things to say. Our poor little guy got three shots, and was such a trooper. He cried when the needles stuck him, but was soothed by Daddy (I couldn't watch) right away and was just fine. We were very proud of him.

We just switched to cloth diapers and are really liking them. I am still trying to get a laundry routine down, but they aren't too bad so far. I am really impressed by the evolution of cloth diapers. I remember when I worked at the daycare center in college when I had to wrestle with pins and plastic pants to change the little ones. We are using the bumgenius 3.0 diaper. It has a microfiber insert that is very absorbent. It goes into a colorful cover that is very soft and durable. The diaper Velcros onto the baby and has snaps to adjust to his size. We will be able to use them until he is 35 lbs.! Here is a picture of one of the diapers...

We went on our first camping trip last weekend! We didn't take any pictures, but we did get some videos that I'll upload later this week. We bought a camper for the truck and this was our first outing. We took the dogs and stayed in an RV park in Leavenworth on the Icicle River. The weather was great and we had a really nice time. The camper is cozy and met all of our needs and Landon really enjoyed being outside. Our next trip will be over Memorial Day Weekend with some of our friends and their kids.

My first Mother's Day was amazing! Jim and Landon got me a second wedding band and a pretty house plant along with two fabulous cards. Jim even bought Landon a special outfit to wear. We went to brunch with my mom and Mike at Chamber's Bay Golf Course and then spent the rest of the day relaxing. Mom and Mike gave me gift certificates for a pedicure and a facial, a special "Mother" figurine and a nice book. My friends even treated me special...Misty got me a great necklace with Landon's picture on it (you can see it in the picture below) and Megan sent me a really pretty orchid.


Pam, Jim's mom, visited from Virginia to meet Landon. She was here for a week and got to spend a lot of time with her new grandson. When she was here we went to the UW spring game in Seattle. It was great taking Landon to Husky Stadium and got us excited for football season to begin. We have our tickets and are ready for some fun!


On a sad note, my Grandma Barb passed away. She was sick with cancer, but really took a turn for the worst after she fell getting out of bed. Luckily, she had the opportunity to meet Landon and hold him and kiss him before she passed away. It was very special and something that I will always remember. She told me that he was beautiful and that she prayed for him because she knew what great parents we would be. Her passing brought the entire family together. Although it wasn't how I imagined my family would meet my son, it was great to share his new life with everyone during their time of grief. Aunts Cindy, Sandy and Susi and Uncle Mark and all of my cousins got to meet him and they all loved him. For me, Landon's presence helped me heal and helped me appreciate my family even more.

Megan is visiting this weekend and I am very excited for her to meet Landon. He's much more interactive now than he was as a newborn, so this is a great time for her to meet him.

Sadly, I'm already having to plan for my return to work. I wasn't supposed to go back until the first part of August, but Landon made an early arrival, so I will be going back after Fourth of July. Luckily, that is a short week and then we will be in Oregon with Jim's family for a week before I return full time, but I am absolutely dreading having to leave Landon. However, I am doing my best to remember how blessed we are that my mom will be watching him. Not only do I trust her more than anyone with my son, she lives less than five minutes from my work, so I can visit during my lunchtime and drop offs and pick ups won't be too difficult (hopefully). We are already working to devise a plan for housework and dinners so that we can maximize our time with Landon at night.

So, as you can see, things are going really well and time is just flying by! We continue to fall more and more in love with our little guy every minute!

Four weeks down!

Kicking back

Cheering on daddy at a hockey game

The boys

Sleepy boy

On our nightly walk all bundled up

My snazzy new stroller...hello BOB!

Well, it's April 13, 2010, my official due date. It's so crazy to know that we already have a four-week-old (as of tomorrow) son. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be pregnant for another month. I think God knew just the perfect time to send Landon to us, and we are so blessed and grateful that he did!

Things are going really well! Landon spends one- to two-hours a day wide awake, taking in the world with his big blue eyes. He focuses on things really well and even dazzles us with the occasional smile. We so wish that we could know what he is thinking, but you can just tell that he is learning. He eats every two to three hours during the day and has been sleeping in three hour stretches the past two nights.

He's back to his birth weight plus some, which is just what we wanted! He's nursing really well, but we also give him a bottle of formula after each feeding, since I don't make quite enough milk to sustain him. Speaking of weight, I only have seven pounds to lose until I'm back to my pre-birth weight. (I still want to lose quite a bit and have a flabby belly, but it's nice to see those numbers go down.)

We are trying to be as "normal" as possible with him, so we've already been out to dinner several times, we go to Target and the grocery store and spend time visiting with family and friends. Landon has already been to one of Jim's hockey games and is anxiously awaiting his first Husky game! We are currently shopping for a camper, and Landon helped look at possible models last weekend at the Tacoma RV show.

The dogs have gotten much more comfortable with him, but still get nervous when he cries.

We bought a snazzy new stroller (thanks Aunt Susi and Uncle Chris) and have been taking advantage of the sunny spring weather by going on walks every night when Jim gets home. Landon really likes the fresh air and sunshine and promptly falls asleep.

He was circumcised on Friday, which was much more difficult for Jim and I than it was for him...he was a trooper and only cried a little bit. I only know this because Jim told me...I was a wimp and had to sit in the waiting room because I started crying as soon as I saw all of the "procedural" instruments. Yikes!

We are counting down the days until Pam, Megan and Susi come to visit and meet Landon. It's hard having loved ones so far away!

We will do our best to keep the blog updated, but we are very busy loving on our little man!