I heart Landon

Today, I realized that my first born will be turning 6 in just two short weeks. I am having a little moment here thinking of all the memories I have made with this little man. As I helped him get his shirt on for school today, he looked at me and said, "This smells like Greyson." He is so his mothers child. His undershirt was one that had ended up in a load of Greys' laundry and was washed with Dreft, instead of Tide. He noticed. He smells everything, just like his mother. He has changed. He had grown up 5 years in the last month since school started. I love this boy. I love that he is so stubborn and in the very same moment he is the most gentle and kind child you could ever meet. Tears. Why tears? I butt heads with this child more than I care to. I love him, but he is strong willed. I wish I could make him understand how much I love him. He will understand someday. Today was a great day with him. I miss him when he is at school. I am not ready for him to be 6 or 7 or 8. I wish I could freeze time. I wish I could hold him like I hold Grey. I wish I could remember better what it was like just he and I. I love you little man.

6 months portraits

So here's the picture day story... (there's always a story to pictures, isn't there?)

I took Grey to have his pictures done today. They were all really cute, but I think this one was my favorite. I had a hard time deciding, but it didn't help that I ended up having to do the pictures after I picked Cohen up from school. I just didn't think about making an appointment, so when I showed up, they were booked. I almost didn't even do them because the day was going opposite of how I had planned. Grey did great. The girl who took them was really sweet...until Cohen had a full frontal meltdown. I mean, a totally out of character, freak out, kick and scream, wailing at the top of his lungs, sort of meltdown. Like picking pictures wasn't hard enough.

Grey thought this was totally hilarious. Laughed at him the whole tantrum. Oh, and the lady even said "looks like you should probably come back another time to pick them out". Seriously...she was being really nice, but walk away with nothing, after that experience? No way! When I finally decided, and I asked how long it took to print, she told me 10 minutes. But then said something along the lines of "that may be too long for you to wait". Hahaha! Like my friend Summer and I said just yesterday, parenting is a very humbling experience! Oh and the kicker to the story, while we waited for the pictures, Co lost it again, begging for a toy because I was such a mean mom. I think it went something like this, "Are you going to get me a toy since you were so mean to me?" The wailing began again because I just couldn't stifle my laughter, which was mostly sheer awe at the fact that my child wanted a toy. Oh, boy! At least I can laugh about it now. How I must have looked to all those judging eyes. At least I liked the pictures.

What Grey is doing at 6 months...

-Is off solid foods. It didn't seem to change his sleep and he hated everything I tried, so I have been lazy and just quit trying. (I'll try again soon!)

-Is sitting up for about a minute or two by himself.

-Is starting to get up on all fours. He does this a lot in his crib and rocks and rocks. Cute to watch.

-Isn't sleeping well. Gets up at least 2x a night. Sometimes more.

-Naps twice for about 2 hours and once or twice for about 45 minutes.

-Is happy without a nap if we are on the go. (I am usually more stressed that he isn't getting a good nap than he actually cares.)

-Likes his exersaucer.

-Just realized how much he loves the dog. He loves to touch and pull her hair. She is really good and patient with him.

-Loves to watch his brothers play.

-Hates any kind of binky. Trust me we have tried them all. He just decided one day that he wanted nothing to do with them.

-Loves hair. He loves playing with mine, but anyone who has long, dark hair has a big in with this little man.

-Has great ability to touch and grab things.

-Is a total mama's boy. He loves Steve, but he seems more attached to me than either of the other boys were.

-Laughs easily.

-Is drooling up a storm, but has no teeth.

-Still has blow out poops almost every day.

-Still spits up a ton.

-Loves the bath.

-Loves to be outside. He loves to look at the trees and feel the breeze.

-Likes to swing outside.

-Plays with the tags on the toys in his saucer, more than he plays with the toys.

-Loves to sit in highchairs.

-Likes to chew on the ribbon on his burp cloths.

-Screams. A lot!

-Won't fall asleep in my arms. Just in his carseat or bed.

-Is the sweetest boy ever!

He goes in for an appointment on Monday. I'll post his weight and height then.

Grey's got the Croup

We love the cooler weather, but with the good comes the bad! I hate cold/flu season! It is so sad when little babies get sick. We had to take a trip the the ER this morning to have Grey looked at. He was having a really hard time breathing and I normally wouldn't have taken him, but this is the week that Steve is gone pretty much the whole week.

They game Grey a steroid shot to open his airways and gave me some helpful hints about croup, but they said keep a close eye on him. Steve left for the airport shortly after I got home. The older boys have been amazing. I am pretty much useless. Grey won't let me do anything, but stand and hold him. I can't even sit down. He is happy playing with me by his side for about 3 minutes, but other than that we are walking the halls. I feel so bad for him. He is awake about 45 minutes, then he is back down for about 20-30 minutes. He was great for the doctors at the hospital, but it was hard saying bye to daddy, because I could tell this was going to be a hard week for Grey. Hope he feels better tomorrow, and more importantly, sleeps well tonight!

Southern California September 2009

I have been putting off this post for a while because there are SO many good pictures from our trip. I knew it would take me a LoNg tiMe to get it all posted, but here it goes. This is from our annual trip down to southern Cali with my family. We went a few days early this year and go to DiSnEYlAnD first. We usually just go for one short day and it seems hectic and long. This is the first time that we have stayed at Disneyland with the kids and it was well worth the time and money to do. They had a blast. We stayed at the Paradise Pier hotel (which we realized used to be the Pan Pacific or Emerald of Anaheim that I stayed at every year when I was a kid and went to Disney with my family!). We were able to go back to the hotel and have naps each day, so the kids could stay until 11:00pm or later at the park. I can't believe how well Grey did. He spent a lot of hours in his carseat and was the sweetest happiest boy EVER! The boys rode everything from Space Mountain to Splash Mountain. They voted and liked THuNdEr MouNtAiN the best. I think they rode it at least 15 times, maybe more. Because of Grey, we did the rider switch pass, so I would go with the boys while Steve stayed with Grey, and then Steve would go and they always let him take both boys again. It allowed the boys to get so much more out of it. We watched the Fantasmic Show for the first time. Co loved it, Landon was too grouchy to enjoy it. Grey slept through it. We all stayed in one room and it was great, everyone was so easy.

My parents had an adjoining room and did 2 of the 3 days with us and the boys enjoyed that. We also got to spend some time with my best friend Summer and her boys there as well. It was a little hard because our schedules were different, but just getting to see her a few times over the 3 days was so fun. I miss her terribly and wish she was closer. My boys love her boys and they are such amazing kids. It was harder leaving her behind in AZ than anything else.

We got to go to dinner at Goofy's Kitchen with Summer and her family. Cohen loves the characters so much. I feel bad I didn't let him spend more time meeting characters, but he did get a little fix while at the dinner.

We spent a little time at the pool at the hotel. The boys loved the slide. We just couldn't get enough in each day. They were so torn about where to go. We just had an aMaZInG time!

After 3 days at Disneyland we headed down to Newport beach to spend 6 days at the pool and beach. We were so lazy for the most part and didn't even leave the hotel one day we were so tired from all the activity. The boys loved the ocean, playing in the waves, digging for sand crabs, building sand castles, swimming with Steve in the ocean, riding the boogie board, playing at grandmas "house" and just being together. Everyone was amazing in the car on the way there and home. Landon and Cohen LOVED the iTouch's that Steve got them loaded with games and movies. I swear all they did the whole way home was play with them. It is so cute because Cohen is way better with them than Landon is and so he was helping Landon get his movies on and games started. Too funny. Amazing how they each have their things that they are good at.

While we were in Newport we were able to eat at Houston's, get Balboa bars, catch up with a friend from growing up, lots of beach time, some pool time, and hang out with my parents. My parents seem to enjoy this trip so much with the kids, and it reminds me of great memories I have from the annual vacation we took to San Diego when I was a kid. I hope we continue the tradition.

Here we are getting ready to head to the pool the last day at Disneyland. It was hot, we were SO tired and right as we were headed out, Grey had a blowout and I had no outfit for him. We always take the picture in front of the Mickey the first thing when we get there, but this tells a better story.

He was happy being pushed all over the park. I am so glad he was taking his binky then, because he would have been so hard if not!

The boys waiting to ride Space Mountain. We brough the iTouch in for the boys to play while they waited for rides. My hubby is genious!

I can't believe my dad can hold these heavy thugs on his shoulders. They are both smitten for my dad, but especially Co.

Goofy's Kitchen.

We brought our pop up shade tent for Grey. It weighed a ton hauling it to and from the beach, but Grey enjoyed the beach so much better with it. He loves the breeze and being outside watching his brothers play.

Daddy loved building sand castles with the boys, but he usually ended up doing most of it by himself.

Digging for sand crabs was by far the favorite beach activity. We would get 50-100 of them in a bucket and the boys thought they were so cool.

Grandma Didi in one of her short lived moments of enjoying Grey when he wasn't crying.

Landon and Grey have an amazing bond. He loves his big brother! They loved snuggling him in bed every morning. There is something special about having a baby around.

Man I can't believe how big my boys are getting.

Grey was really a dream. He slept in that car seat so much. This is at the beach.

The smiles never ceased. (Except when it was naptime or time to leave the beach!)

Being buried in the sand doesn't sound fun to me, but they had so much fun trying to break out!

Balboa Bars! I'll have to remind myself to try the Balboa banana next trip.

This kid is SO FuNnY! HE just doesn't even know it!

Man I love these boys. I am so blessed to have had such an amazing time with my family. I love creating memories that will last a lifetime!

And here's to the LoNgEsT blog post EvEr!!

The Things They Say...

So I am dying to post pictures from our family vacation to SoCal, and from the first week of school, but my husband decided to buy a new home computer and this thing won't let me upload pictures to my blog!?!?!? So...I am going to write a few things my boys have said lately that have had me laughing harder than I have in a while. 

While we were on vacation in SoCal, Cohen fell out of the bed in the middle of the night and busted his lip and chin up.  Landon came and got us, but failed to tell us Co was hurt.  The crying woke the baby up and so I told him I would be right back.  After I fed the baby and got him back to sleep, Co had settled down and fallen back asleep.  When he got up in the morning and I saw his bloody chin, I felt so bad.  When I asked him what happened, he said, "I was laying in my bed sleeping, just like this (he tilts his head and closes his eyes) and the bed pushed me out on to the floor."  I laughed so hard.  He was so serious and so upset that the bed would do that to him.  Oh, I love that kid!

I walked in my bathroom the other night and the boys were in the bath tub.  Landon had his head totally under the water when I rounded the corner.  A minute later, he puts his head up, looks at Cohen, and says, "Did you pee in this water?"  Ok, seriously, I am still laughing while I write this.  That is just so wrong!  Man I love kids.  Totally worth having them for the sheer entertainment value!  

A week of Firsts

Last week both of the older boys started school. Landon started on Tuesday, and Cohen on Wednesday. It was nice to stagger it a little, so I could make each day special for them. Tuesday turned out to be an eventful morning. I think I could have planned every second of how I was going to do things to make sure I was going to leave on time, but you know that you shouldn't even try with a baby. As it turned out Cohen took a big fall that morning and as you can see from the pictures of his first day, that he was in pretty bad shape. I had to tell him to suck it up, because brother had to get to school and although he was gushing blood from the mouth, I needed to finish getting everything ready. We made it to school just as Landon's class was walking into the room. No time for a tearful goodbye from either of us. It was a long, long day without him, but what more could a mom ask for than a child happier upon pick-up than she had left. He absolutely loved his first day and his teacher said he fell into place without a hiccup. He loves his teacher and he loves the school he is at. He has tons of his friends from his class last year in his class again and he is making new friends, too. It was an adjustment, but I think we are going to have a great year.

Cohen did great on his first day. He wouldn't let me take his picture with his teacher, but he was happy to be back. Because we did half a year of school for him last year, we were able to get the same teacher for him this year. That was great for him because it is still an adjustment for him to be gone. By Monday he was in tears at drop off because he has realized we can do so many fun things since Landon is gone all day. I know he misses his brother, but he is having so much fun being able to play whatever he wants, and going fun places with me, that he isn't sure he wants to go to school. We worked it out and had a great first two weeks. I am so glad they are at this cute school and that they are enjoying the new year.

The thing I notice most about Landon is that his face is getting more mature. I don't always think so, but after looking at his picture from last year, he definitely is changing.

The bruiser. Co fell off the bed in my room and hit his face on the nightstand. He gashed his lip, but worst of all he flapped the gum tissue up above his front teeth. It was so sad and so gross. Poor guy! He really was a trooper, considering.

Grey also started rice cereal on Wednesday of last week. I didn't really think he would like it, but he LOVES it. It didn't change his sleeping, but he looks forward to his cereal each night. I had to hold his hands down and Steve was gone the first night I tried it, so there weren't too many good pictures, but he was sure adorable. I love this little, blue eyed, chunky monkey!