a MUST-blog about!

Oh has our world been a little wild lately.  Landon man is keeping us on our toes.  He's in a stage of ultimate freedom (so he thinks anyway) that I hope stays in his third year.  He really knows no limits despite our darnedest effort to give him some boundaries.  This little sweetie is sometimes rather brilliant.  There are many times when he helps himself to whatever he wants in the fridge, politely puts it on a plate before he microwaves it and even knows to leave the silverware out of the microwave.

A couple days ago, we went hiking in the mountains and were on a trail on the other side of the lake, away from the bathrooms.  His cousin Daniel (just turned 4) needed to go potty, so of course Landon did too (Landon worships Daniel).  He had his first peeing outside incident.  Wow - talk about the icing on the cake for this little free man.

Later, we were picking Sophie up from school and just on the other side of the road, waiting for the cross-walk to stop traffic, he has to go pee right there!  I encouraged him to at least go to a bush where people wouldn't see him.  He looked at me like that was a crazy idea.

And the next day, decides to try pooping outside too.  Dogs do it, why not him?!  (This too shall pass, right?!)

Friday night, Sophie took a bath and then I put Landon in.  He said, "EWE!  What's that smell?!"

Me:  "Um, that's water Landon."  Him:  "I don't like it!"  Me:  "Sorry bud, we're not getting new water.  This water still feels good.

I go to my bathroom to finish getting ready for my evening and Sophie comes in for me to comb her hair.  I hear a splash.  Adam hears a splash.  This is the different than the normal - Landon is a fish splash.  We run to the bathroom - which is now flooded.  He's tossing buckets full of water onto the floor.

It takes every towel in the house and we need to move the washer and dryer to get under there.  We haven't moved the w/d sine we moved in.  Guess what is UNDER the dryer?!  MY wedding ring!  The one that the house ate 4 years ago.  I knew it was lost somewhere in the house, just didn't know exactly where.  CRAZY!!!!  I was so excited, I didn't have time to be too mad at Landon.  He was in his room the rest of the night.

Almost a year later

I can't believe it's been almost an entire year since I've posted on here.  I think I better at least post an annual update, for our own family records.  I am currently in party planning mode for Landon's 3rd birthday and can't believe how much my kids have grown, changed, developed, learned over the last year.  Parenting is certainly a wild ride and I'm so glad Adam and I are together on this adventure.

One thing I've realized this year more than anything is that Adam and I are the perfect balance for each other.  We are such a great team and I'm so glad we have each other.  He and I both have learned so much about ourselves in the last year and it's fun to see us get in our own little groove.  Who says the college years and single years are about finding out who you are?!  I think it's those first married years that really test you and help you figure out who you are.  We have heard before the term "7 year itch" that the 7th year of marriage can be really trying, but our 7th year of marriage (we're halfway through) has been the most rewarding, peaceful, and happy! 

Okay...on to the kids.  It's a fun day to post about them because just last night, I got to spend HOURS with Sophie while Adam spent the night with Landon at the Father's and Sons campout.  Sophie and I took three hours to go through all the clothes in her closet to get her ready for school.  We kind of get stuck in a rut around here, so I wanted to put together outfits, have her try everything on and take pics of each outfit to make into a poster so we'd have a reminder of all the options in one quick looksie.  Honestly, I've always wanted this for myself, so I guess I'm living vicariously ;)  But, she totally loved it and can't wait for the poster to be finished.  In all - dresses included - which she loves by the way, she won't have to repeat an outfit for 44 days.  Thank you cousin Julia for passing all your clothes down to Sophie!  We still need to check out the sock and shoes situation, but the girl is covered.

I feel like Sophie has grown up so much this summer and it's partly due to our awesome babysitter Makenna.  Makenna is 11 and comes over for a few hours throughout the week so that I can focus on work.  I love being able to work at home, but trying to multi-task parenting and work at the same time does none of us any good, so it's been nice to have Makenna to take them to the park, teach them how to do friendship bracelets, etc.  She brings fun things for them to do and we've love her so much that we've taken her to the splash park and 7 Peaks with us while off the clock.  She's such a cute happy girl and a good influence on Sophie.  It just cracks me up sometimes to hear Sophie say words she's learned from Makenna and she sometimes sings songs that Makenna sings and Makenna has taught her a lot of gymnastics. 

Sophie has been taking a dance class during the summer while Let's Play Music isn't in session.  She absolutely beams the entire time.  I cried at her class the first couple weeks watching her because she absolutely LOVED every second of it.  And....you all know how much I loved dance growing up.  She has a few more weeks left of dance and will do a little recital.  She LOVES accessorizing and at first, felt like she needed her hair up in a bun with a flower and ribbon in her hair.  I think one of her favorite things at dance is dancing with a ribbon.  I'd tell you what her favorite actually is if she didn't say everything was her favorite - no matter what we're asking her about.  She's just a really happy girl.  The only thing that drives her crazy is Landon and occasionally her friends when things aren't going her way.  Which is GREAT ;)  She's learning really fast when it's worth it to argue with Landon and when it's not even worth another second of arguing and she'll just be humble and give Landon what he wants.  I love it!

Sophie is a complete bookworm.  She is reading 4th grade reading level and she's FAST!  Sometimes she'll read an entire chapter book at night and then want to tell me all about it and will totally crack up relating some of the stories.  She's really liking American Girl books and Calendar Mysteries.  She also loves learning math.  We have a first grade math book at our house and she's really fast at picking it up. 

Sophie will be starting her 3rd year of Let's Play Music in just a couple weeks.  She can play both the left and right hands together and does a great job!  She'll compose her first song at the end of the year.

Right now, we're working really hard at staying dry at night.  I realized that I set her up for failure when I put diapers on her at 7 when we got ready for bed, but she'd stay in her room reading for at least an hour and a half before she'd go to sleep.  She didn't want to leave her book to go potty, so we've been waiting until she's ready to actually go to sleep to put them on and we've been doing affirmations and visualization at night and so far, so good!  She has only had one accident all week.

Landon wants to follow in her footsteps.  He is still in diapers, but gets jealous when we do affirmations and he's been asking to potty train.  I'm going out of town next week and we'll do it when I get back.  I know he's ready.  Sometimes after bath when he's naked while I finish with Sophie's bath, he'll say, "uh-oh, I need to go potty!" and run to the toilet, so I know he can do it!  The hard part hast been, he hasn't wanted to.  But, he's recognizing how uncomfortable diapers are.  Crossing my fingers!!!!

Landon is still all boy!  Lately, his thing is that he takes off on his bike.  I always know where to find him, but he loses his bike privileges weekly because he doesn't ask me if he can ride around the block with his friend or go to the park.  Someday he'll learn (I hope!).  He's also 100% independent boy and I don't think the thought ever crosses his mind to ask for help (unless he's being lazy).  If he's hungry, he'll go to the kitchen and get his own food, put it on a plate, and before I know it, I hear the microwave on.  He's an expert climber and thinks he can do everything I can do.  Believe it or not, he pushes the right buttons on the microwave. 

Landon can finally talk well enough that he doesn't need a translator when with other people.  He jibber jabbers just about non-stop and loves to do whatever Sophie's doing, including wearing her dress-ups!  He doesn't mind being in a princess dress-up or cheerleader costume, as long as he gets to play too.  (We're working on getting him more costumes!  He has a Buzz costume). 

Landon loves to play rough.  He'd like to be a super hero or cowboy and fly and hit things.  I'm certain letting him watch and get completely hooked on The Incredibles was probably the worst parenting move we made. 

He is turning 3 in just a few weeks and I'm considering taking all the soil out of the garden box we don't use and turning it into a sandbox.  I need to look into the price of sand.  We've already gotten him a basketball goal and a few books, but I think the sandbox will keep him home rather than taking off on his bike all the time. 

Landon will be in the Sound Beginnings Music Class this year and I'm working on putting together a playgroup.  Luckily, he's still an awesome napper and will sleep while Sophie is at afternoon Kindergarten.  It won't be much different than it is now because Sophie is usually playing with friends much of the day.  

 Here's the most recent pic of the three of us together at Hogle Zoo.  I'm sure I'll get all sentimental with lots of first's coming up and be posting more.  Kindergarten, Landon's first friend birthday party, etc.  Stay tuned ;)

The Latest Pics of my Kids

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.532830257709.2025764.97800864&l=2aedff439c&type=1

This one is my fav. See more at the link above.

Doi!

The camera was right there with me and now I'm totally kicking myself for not taking a picture.

Tonight was such a cool night, so I let my kids play outside for a bit. I was sitting with my neighbor Shannon and my Landon (she had a Landon too) went in her garage and found a little ball mitt. Her son Jackson (8) started playing catch with Landon. It was the CUTEST thing ever!!! He was totally into it.

Landon is getting a ball glove for Christmas! I need to hit up some yard sales to see if I can find a little used one. Right...as if I go to yard sales. Corinne, if you're reading this, keep that in mind when you go ;) You find it, I'll pay for it :)

Christmas?!

Call me crazy, but I'm already thinking about Christmas. Mostly because I'm sick of seeing my kids toys (all except the new sweet train set). I'm kind of "over" toys. My kids play with the kitchen and the blocks so often, but the rest of it?! Not so much. I want to get them non-toy things for Christmas, but I have to be honest, sometimes when their friends come over, I wonder....what will they play with?! I WISH I knew what they would love and play with over and over - just like the blocks and kitchen stuff, and train set.

Hence the purpose of this post - what things do your kids play with nonstop?

PS Landon is totally getting into Backyardigans - singing and dancing with them. He's entranced...hahaha :)

Good, Bad, Ugly

Some days are just a mixture of everything.

GOOD: JetBlue had another sale today and boy was I on it! Prices each way were $10 more than their last deal, so $80 more total, BUT, still much better than the insanity that would ensew if we drove to CA with my little monkey who does not like to be confined in his car seat. AND, we were able to stick with our original dates. So, VERY GOOD!!!

BAD: I won't rant about friends who come to play - destroy my playroom - and don't help clean up and how LAME I think it is that parents don't drill it in their kids that they must clean up after themselves. I got most of that out on my run.

UGLY: Landon when he chooses not to nap. BOO:( Very UGLY mad mean totally pointless caused by nothing wailing and gnashing of teeth by bedtime. If you are a parent, you exactly what I mean.

The end :)

"Terrible Twos"

Today, started off with a couple chores and then we were off to Cory's EMT Class. It was pediatrics day, so they needed kiddos to practice on. I was a little surprised at how well Landon played his part. He's so smitten by his Uncle Cory! He gladly laid very still on the gurney while they strapped him in and wheeled him out to the ambulance. Sophie of course watched with all cautiousness. Eventually, she let a couple female students strap her in and take her out. They both enjoyed the attention and got their blood pressure and pulse taken enough times that we're ready for any catastrophic accident :) which...may come in handy with the Landon Man.

Speaking of....today we had a taste of pure terrible twos. Hilary (my sister) has a son Daniel who is almost exactly a year older than Landon. From the time Landon was strong enough to move, I saw very quickly how very much alike he was to Daniel. I've said many times that they are "soul twins". It's kind of crazy. They have so much fun together. We haven't seen Hilary and her family for about a month with vacations, but they finally got back from their annual 2 week trip to Montana, so we went to my mom's after the EMT class to hang out with them. Daniel and Landon were having their usual jumping around fun.

Hilary and I went in my dad's office so I could show her Annelise's wedding pics. We thought we heard the boys being mischievous downstairs, but it turns out in just the 5 minutes we were in the office, they DESTROYED my moms room! They pulled almost everything out of their dresser and threw it all throughout....including her jewelry drawer and some essential oils - dumped a few bottles on the CARPET! My mom just got her carpet shampooed.

Hilary and I quickly tried to clean it all up. Luckily, when my mom came in halfway through cleanup, she let us know that her room had not yet been cleaned. They already paid for it, just needed to schedule it. WHEW! Pretty crazy though. Those boys had NO CLUE!

Oh the joys of a crazy almost two year old boy. Good thing he's so cute and sweet :)