March 29, 2013
March 17, 2013
Happy Birthday Landon James
Landon turned three today!
I'll never forget the feeling of the doctor taking him out of me during the C-section. I didn't get to hold him right away, but the sound of that sweet cry was magical. When I made it back to the room and Jim handed me our son...what a precious gift.
I feel a mixture of happiness and sadness today. I love the little man Landon has become. I'm sad that my baby is growing up so quickly.
Landon, you're so funny, sweet, considerate and smart. You're sensitive to people's feelings, but love to wrestle with daddy and get dirty. You're fiercely stubborn and wear your emotions on your sleeve. You give lots of compliments and have loads of friends. Your kisses and hugs are legendary. You're so smart and very observant--nothing gets by you. You love your cartoons and are very tech-savvy with my phone and the iPad. You're predictable, but you never fail to surprise me.
You make every day an adventure and I'm so blessed to have you as my son. No matter how old you get, you'll always be my baby boy.
Momma loves you! You were well worth the wait.
I'll never forget the feeling of the doctor taking him out of me during the C-section. I didn't get to hold him right away, but the sound of that sweet cry was magical. When I made it back to the room and Jim handed me our son...what a precious gift.
I feel a mixture of happiness and sadness today. I love the little man Landon has become. I'm sad that my baby is growing up so quickly.
Landon, you're so funny, sweet, considerate and smart. You're sensitive to people's feelings, but love to wrestle with daddy and get dirty. You're fiercely stubborn and wear your emotions on your sleeve. You give lots of compliments and have loads of friends. Your kisses and hugs are legendary. You're so smart and very observant--nothing gets by you. You love your cartoons and are very tech-savvy with my phone and the iPad. You're predictable, but you never fail to surprise me.
You make every day an adventure and I'm so blessed to have you as my son. No matter how old you get, you'll always be my baby boy.
Momma loves you! You were well worth the wait.
March 14, 2013
It's amazing what can happen in four months
Ok, I'll be totally honest, I think about my blog a lot. But, so much has happened over the past four months and I don't know where to begin. Let me start in November and work my way forward...
New Job
The day before Thanksgiving, I interviewed for a Director of Communications position at a school district up north. My interview was at 9 a.m. and I received a job offer at 12:30 p.m. I was beyond excited. Thanks to Jim's support, we had already ironed out all of the logistics and decided that we would pack up and move. Gulp.
Thanksgiving
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house with my dad, Jim and Sue, Mathew and Emily and our family of three. It was so nice to have everyone over (mom went down to Olympia to celebrate with Aunt Cindy). After the initial shock, people were excited about our news.
The Commute
I started my new job on Dec. 17 and began my 160 mile commute to and from home. In the mornings, I spent about 90 minutes in the car. In the evenings, the commute ranged from two to three hours. However, I vowed to maintain a positive attitude. Let's just say I listened to The Hobbit in four days...the entire book!
The Job
I love my new job. It's so refreshing to learn new things and be challenged. I'm also given the freedom to make decisions, while being supported by my staff and colleagues.
Christmas
Christmas was wonderful! We decided to stay in our Frederickson house until after the holidays for Landon's sake. It was the right choice. We did all of our favorites—cut down and decorated a tree, made cookies, saw Santa and spent time with family and friends. Landon had zero interest in seeing Santa, until I explained how much it meant to me. He was a trooper and faced his fears to make momma happy. Christmas Eve was spent with The Taylors and my mom, dad, The Taylors and Jill, Rich and Mariona came by throughout Christmas Day. It was fun and relaxing, and the first time we've gotten to say home on Christmas Day.
A Sad Day
Before moving, we had to make the difficult decision to put Rusty down. Our old friend was in pain and getting more frail. He couldn't hold his "business" very well and his personality had totally changed. Jim and I took him to the vet and held him through the entire process. Devastating is the only word I can think of to describe everything, but that doesn't fully capture it. Jim held Rusty as he took his final breath. We were both a wreck. We miss Rusty terribly (poor Kona didn't know what to do at first) but know that he's in a better place.
The Move
After commuting for more than six-weeks, we packed (oh the horror) and moved into a rental home in the city where I work. Finding a rental home was a daunting and upsetting task. The location of our house isn't ideal—it's on a very busy street—but it's safe, spacious and has a gorgeous backyard and is very close to everything.
We picked a new school for Landon, and started taking him two days each week while I was still commuting. The mixed schedule helped him adapt easier and made for a smoother transition. It was very tough to say goodbye to our friends and teachers at Little Church. When Miss Evelyn started crying, I lost it. Little Church was a second home to Landon—he started there when he was only eight-months-old.
Jim is commuting to work and has been a trooper about it all.
It's amazing the things you have to do to move...mail, school, doctor, grocery store, shopping, etc. It's quite an adventure.
We've had lots of fun exploring our new "home" and have made trips to Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Landon got to ride on his first ferry!
March
It's March! How did that happen?!? Jim and I celebrated our eight-year anniversary on the 5th, Jim turned 32 on the 7th and this Sunday is Landon's third birthday. We decided to forgo a party this year, and are headed to Lake Chelan for an extended family weekend. We are renting a condo right on the lake and are looking forward to some quiet and relaxing family time. Don't fret—there'll still be lots of presents and cake.
More to come!
New Job
The day before Thanksgiving, I interviewed for a Director of Communications position at a school district up north. My interview was at 9 a.m. and I received a job offer at 12:30 p.m. I was beyond excited. Thanks to Jim's support, we had already ironed out all of the logistics and decided that we would pack up and move. Gulp.
Thanksgiving
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house with my dad, Jim and Sue, Mathew and Emily and our family of three. It was so nice to have everyone over (mom went down to Olympia to celebrate with Aunt Cindy). After the initial shock, people were excited about our news.
The Commute
I started my new job on Dec. 17 and began my 160 mile commute to and from home. In the mornings, I spent about 90 minutes in the car. In the evenings, the commute ranged from two to three hours. However, I vowed to maintain a positive attitude. Let's just say I listened to The Hobbit in four days...the entire book!
The Job
I love my new job. It's so refreshing to learn new things and be challenged. I'm also given the freedom to make decisions, while being supported by my staff and colleagues.
Christmas
Christmas was wonderful! We decided to stay in our Frederickson house until after the holidays for Landon's sake. It was the right choice. We did all of our favorites—cut down and decorated a tree, made cookies, saw Santa and spent time with family and friends. Landon had zero interest in seeing Santa, until I explained how much it meant to me. He was a trooper and faced his fears to make momma happy. Christmas Eve was spent with The Taylors and my mom, dad, The Taylors and Jill, Rich and Mariona came by throughout Christmas Day. It was fun and relaxing, and the first time we've gotten to say home on Christmas Day.
Before moving, we had to make the difficult decision to put Rusty down. Our old friend was in pain and getting more frail. He couldn't hold his "business" very well and his personality had totally changed. Jim and I took him to the vet and held him through the entire process. Devastating is the only word I can think of to describe everything, but that doesn't fully capture it. Jim held Rusty as he took his final breath. We were both a wreck. We miss Rusty terribly (poor Kona didn't know what to do at first) but know that he's in a better place.
The Move
After commuting for more than six-weeks, we packed (oh the horror) and moved into a rental home in the city where I work. Finding a rental home was a daunting and upsetting task. The location of our house isn't ideal—it's on a very busy street—but it's safe, spacious and has a gorgeous backyard and is very close to everything.
We picked a new school for Landon, and started taking him two days each week while I was still commuting. The mixed schedule helped him adapt easier and made for a smoother transition. It was very tough to say goodbye to our friends and teachers at Little Church. When Miss Evelyn started crying, I lost it. Little Church was a second home to Landon—he started there when he was only eight-months-old.
Jim is commuting to work and has been a trooper about it all.
It's amazing the things you have to do to move...mail, school, doctor, grocery store, shopping, etc. It's quite an adventure.
We've had lots of fun exploring our new "home" and have made trips to Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Landon got to ride on his first ferry!
It's March! How did that happen?!? Jim and I celebrated our eight-year anniversary on the 5th, Jim turned 32 on the 7th and this Sunday is Landon's third birthday. We decided to forgo a party this year, and are headed to Lake Chelan for an extended family weekend. We are renting a condo right on the lake and are looking forward to some quiet and relaxing family time. Don't fret—there'll still be lots of presents and cake.
More to come!
November 20, 2012
Landonisms
Landon says the darnedest things. I often wish I had something to write with, or could reach my phone to record it, because I know I'll want to remember them. Here's some of my recent favorites:
While looking at freezers at Sears, Landon opened one that was lit with blue LED lights. He gasped and said "Momma...it's beautiful."
His sense of time is a work in progress and his favorite sayings are, "We'll do that tomorrow" and "I'll show you in a couple weeks."
Landon is very observant and notices even the slightest changes around him. If something is new or changed, he'll point it out right away. The same goes for hearing things. Whenever there's a "different" noise it's "Momma, what's that noise?"
He's discovered that it's funny to make his voice really deep and contort his face while he talks. He sounds like a grown man sometimes.
If I'm not sure what he's talking about, or I don't understand him, he gets a little exasperated and says "I show you momma."
Every night while we tuck him into bed we pick different people (or things) to sing "Happy Birthday" to. He just loves that song. My favorite part is waiting to see what he'll pick.
When he gets hurt, or one of the dogs bump him he yells "That's not OK!" Jim and I sometimes hear this if we upset Landon.
Every day is an adventure. We love this boy!
While looking at freezers at Sears, Landon opened one that was lit with blue LED lights. He gasped and said "Momma...it's beautiful."
His sense of time is a work in progress and his favorite sayings are, "We'll do that tomorrow" and "I'll show you in a couple weeks."
Landon is very observant and notices even the slightest changes around him. If something is new or changed, he'll point it out right away. The same goes for hearing things. Whenever there's a "different" noise it's "Momma, what's that noise?"
He's discovered that it's funny to make his voice really deep and contort his face while he talks. He sounds like a grown man sometimes.
If I'm not sure what he's talking about, or I don't understand him, he gets a little exasperated and says "I show you momma."
Every night while we tuck him into bed we pick different people (or things) to sing "Happy Birthday" to. He just loves that song. My favorite part is waiting to see what he'll pick.
When he gets hurt, or one of the dogs bump him he yells "That's not OK!" Jim and I sometimes hear this if we upset Landon.
Every day is an adventure. We love this boy!
November 15, 2012
Holidays
It's that time of year...Thanksgiving is next week and the Christmas bonanza has begun.
We're hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year (I feel so grown up) and I just ordered our Christmas cards.
We're doing some Landon shopping tomorrow night (I love a date night that includes shopping) and getting in Thanksgiving cooking mode.
We recently had new family pictures taken during a mini-session. We're pretty cute!
We're hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year (I feel so grown up) and I just ordered our Christmas cards.
We're doing some Landon shopping tomorrow night (I love a date night that includes shopping) and getting in Thanksgiving cooking mode.
We recently had new family pictures taken during a mini-session. We're pretty cute!
November 5, 2012
Halloween
We had a fabulous Halloween and really enjoyed all of the fun events leading up to it. We took a family trip to the pumpkin patch where we picked out pumpkins for our porch and 14 little pumpkins for a class project. I love being able to contribute to Landon's classroom fun and learning, and his teacher is always very appreciative.
The Friday before Halloween Landon's school held its annual Harvest Carnival. This was the third year we attended and the first time Landon really enjoyed the games and the treats. He knows what candy is now and had no problem waiting in line for his turn to earn some loot!
Halloween was on a Wednesday, which made it a little tricky logistically. Luckily, everything went really smoothly. I picked up a pizza on the way home for a quick dinner. After we finished eating and cleaned up, Landon put on his costume—he's a big fan of the movie Cars and the main character is Lightening McQueen. His costume is a race car driver with McQueen and other characters on the front. A few houses on our street go all out with the decorating. One of them had a Mickey Mouse decoration that Landon was enamoured with, so that was our first stop. We went to seven houses and Landon made quite a haul. I was so proud of him. We'd been practicing saying "Trick or Treat," but I wasn't sure how he'd actually do walking up to a strange house and talking to a stranger. He was great and even remembered to say "thank you" without being prompted.
When we got home we handed out candy for about 30 minutes and then it was bedtime. To avoid the doorbell and dogs barking we put the basket of candy on our porch. Needless to say, it was gone very quickly!
A few other fun and random thoughts...
The Friday before Halloween Landon's school held its annual Harvest Carnival. This was the third year we attended and the first time Landon really enjoyed the games and the treats. He knows what candy is now and had no problem waiting in line for his turn to earn some loot!
Halloween was on a Wednesday, which made it a little tricky logistically. Luckily, everything went really smoothly. I picked up a pizza on the way home for a quick dinner. After we finished eating and cleaned up, Landon put on his costume—he's a big fan of the movie Cars and the main character is Lightening McQueen. His costume is a race car driver with McQueen and other characters on the front. A few houses on our street go all out with the decorating. One of them had a Mickey Mouse decoration that Landon was enamoured with, so that was our first stop. We went to seven houses and Landon made quite a haul. I was so proud of him. We'd been practicing saying "Trick or Treat," but I wasn't sure how he'd actually do walking up to a strange house and talking to a stranger. He was great and even remembered to say "thank you" without being prompted.
When we got home we handed out candy for about 30 minutes and then it was bedtime. To avoid the doorbell and dogs barking we put the basket of candy on our porch. Needless to say, it was gone very quickly!
A few other fun and random thoughts...
- Landon is really into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel. We've also found lots of episodes on YouTube. He knows all of the characters and likes to do the Hotdog Dance at the end.
- He is doing a great job of relating one thing to another. He often says, "Momma, look at that...it kind of looks like" (fill in the blank) I'm always amazed at the correlations he makes.
- I have toddler songs on my phone that we listen to during our commute. He has his favorites and really gets into singing them. His current favorite is Little Miss Muffett, Hot Cross Buns and I've Been Working on the Railroad. We went out to dinner to have Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup). On the way there, he said "Momma, I'm going to have hot cross buns with my soup." Ha! I laugh multiple times a day at my son's humor and creative mind.
- Landon can count from 1 to 14 without any help! He knows all of the numbers from 14 to 20, but often mixes them up. We're working on writing and spelling his name and letters.
ABCs
I know that Landon knows most of his ABCs, but I'd never heard him recite the entire thing alone. We were reading an alphabet book and he did it. He did it a second time for the camera. He's a little sick, so his voice is hoarse, but it's SO cute!
October 19, 2012
October 1, 2012
Adventures in mommy guilt
Tomorrow morning Jim and I are leaving for the big island of Hawaii. I feel like I'm split in half. One half of me is uber excited about the opportunity to spend so much uninterrupted time with Jim exploring, laughing and relaxing. The other half of me is a guilty, nervous wreck about leaving Landon. My mom is graciously staying at our house with him, and he'll still be going to school, so his routine won't be interrupted. He adores my mom and I know they'll have a great time...it just feels so wrong to leave him behind.
I'm really hoping that once we're there and settled we can relax and enjoy ourselves. The trouble is I know Landon would have an awesome time with us. The only thing that is making me feel better is reminding myself about the awful return flight home from last year's trip...
On another note, the end of our summer was a great one. We spent lots of time with our little family and spent time with friends and family members. We did lots of grilling and spent time at our local playground.
We also have some really exciting news....LANDON IS POTTY TRAINED! He is a rock star. I really think it helped being surrounded by other kids going through the process. His teachers were wonderful and helped set up a routine that was easy to follow at home. He had been in Pull-Ups (Lightning McQueen to be specific) for about two months while we got him comfortable with the potty. We used M&Ms as incentive. One for pee, two for poop. He took the color selection very seriously. I bought him lots of underwear and we made the transition the week of Sept. 10. That first week was a bit of a challenge, but he got the hang of things very quickly. He hasn't had an accident for more than two weeks. When we started we set the oven timer every 45 minutes and helped him on to the potty (at school he went every hour). Now he doesn't need to be reminded and loudly shouts "I need to go potty" as he runs to the nearest toilet. We are still using a diaper at night because he sleeps at least 11 hours and can't always stay dry (changing crib sheets is hard enough during the day, I don't want to attempt it at 2 a.m.).
Oh, yes, Landon is still in his crib. He could totally crawl out of it if he wanted, but he's never really tried. We've lucked out with a great sleeper. When he cries or calls for us we know he's ready to get up or really needs something. At this point, there's no rush to transition him to a bed because he's perfectly comfortable where he is (and he can't roam his room and the house).
More random thoughts and announcements...Jim and I got the stomach flu over Labor Day Weekend. Landon remained germ-free, but we were down and out. Lucky for us my mom came over to help with Landon. I can't remember the last time I was that sick. Yuck.
Jim decided not to ref football this season. He really enjoys it, but it's a big time commitment and takes him away from us several nights each week. It's something he wants to do again, but when Landon is older. I really respect and admire his decision. He's a great hubby/daddy!
Up next...Landon's first dentist appointment and pictures from Hawaii. Stay tuned!
I'm really hoping that once we're there and settled we can relax and enjoy ourselves. The trouble is I know Landon would have an awesome time with us. The only thing that is making me feel better is reminding myself about the awful return flight home from last year's trip...
On another note, the end of our summer was a great one. We spent lots of time with our little family and spent time with friends and family members. We did lots of grilling and spent time at our local playground.
We also have some really exciting news....LANDON IS POTTY TRAINED! He is a rock star. I really think it helped being surrounded by other kids going through the process. His teachers were wonderful and helped set up a routine that was easy to follow at home. He had been in Pull-Ups (Lightning McQueen to be specific) for about two months while we got him comfortable with the potty. We used M&Ms as incentive. One for pee, two for poop. He took the color selection very seriously. I bought him lots of underwear and we made the transition the week of Sept. 10. That first week was a bit of a challenge, but he got the hang of things very quickly. He hasn't had an accident for more than two weeks. When we started we set the oven timer every 45 minutes and helped him on to the potty (at school he went every hour). Now he doesn't need to be reminded and loudly shouts "I need to go potty" as he runs to the nearest toilet. We are still using a diaper at night because he sleeps at least 11 hours and can't always stay dry (changing crib sheets is hard enough during the day, I don't want to attempt it at 2 a.m.).
Oh, yes, Landon is still in his crib. He could totally crawl out of it if he wanted, but he's never really tried. We've lucked out with a great sleeper. When he cries or calls for us we know he's ready to get up or really needs something. At this point, there's no rush to transition him to a bed because he's perfectly comfortable where he is (and he can't roam his room and the house).
More random thoughts and announcements...Jim and I got the stomach flu over Labor Day Weekend. Landon remained germ-free, but we were down and out. Lucky for us my mom came over to help with Landon. I can't remember the last time I was that sick. Yuck.
Jim decided not to ref football this season. He really enjoys it, but it's a big time commitment and takes him away from us several nights each week. It's something he wants to do again, but when Landon is older. I really respect and admire his decision. He's a great hubby/daddy!
Up next...Landon's first dentist appointment and pictures from Hawaii. Stay tuned!
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