Landon's 1st Birthday

Blueberry pancake breakfast

Here comes the birthday boy...

Charming

Crawl tunnel fun or "tube" fun as Juliana would call it :)

Our master griller

Chase celebrating with some party favors

Landon playing with Dodgers chew toy. Don't worry it was clean.

Plaid men. Plaid shorts are the new thing I guess, because all the boys and men (aside from Cory) showed up in plaid shorts! We had to get a picture. Cory is hiding behind Ryan and holding Drew up. He usually does have a body, although you wouldn't be able tell that from this picture.

Landon and his new toy trucks!

Landon and Drew duking it out over the new trucks

Landon's mini cake

Getting ready to blow out the candles...

Yummm

Finally got a little messy

Well the day I've been dreading finally arrived. My itty bitty is a year old. The memories come flooding...the hospital, the easiest labor and delivery in the universe, kangaroo care, the sweet and tender, fresh from heaven infant...I could go on. Kyle recalled the moment Landon was born, he came out SCREAMING and won the award of the loudest cry our OB had ever heard from a baby she delivered. As soon as that screaming infant was handed over to me for the first time I softly said, "Hi baby." He immediately stopped crying. We shared a very tender moment. I fell in love. I still remember how warm he felt in my arms and how small and fragile he seemed, and I secretly loved that he cried whenever someone took him from my arms, but stopped as soon as he was given back to me. He was my momma's boy from that first moment!

Landon Guy,

Thank you for coming into our lives and joining our family. You have given us such joy and happiness. We never thought we could possibly feel this much love and elation in all of our posterity, but you have proven that the joy only grows. You are smart, sweet hearted, funny, energetic, and so so loving. We simply adore you and everything you do. We don't know what we did to have the privilege of being your parents, but we thank our gracious Father in Heaven daily for sending you to us and entrusting us with your beautiful spirit. We love to watch you when you sleep at night, and you constantly steal our hearts when you surprise us with a tender snuggle. We look forward to the future years and eternity with you!

With Great Love,

Your Parents

He's now a spunky, wiry, loving, snuggly and full of energy baby-toddler! We started his birthday with fresh blueberry pancakes (his fave) and lots of hugging, snuggling, and loving (my fave). Then we had some of our forever friends (pretty much the only "family" we have around these parts) over for some grilling and good times. We ate, opened presents, watched all the cute kids play together, then had cupcakes and ice cream. Landon daintily ate his version of the traditional "1st birthday, 3 layer mini cake" (2nd birthday too in Chase's case, but that's ending real fast). The boys are all partied out and are letting us have it tonight. We're thinking, "you're welcome too" and "definitely early bed time tonight". With that here are some pictures of today's events.

*Thanks Amy for being our official photographer. The pictures turned out great!

Tagged!

This is my cute as cute sister in law Karissa! I couldn't find a picture of Katy and I even though I KNOW I have one, just don't know where. So you all can look at this gorgeous face (Karissa's) in the meantime!

Katy, my dear Bio Medics comrade, graciously tagged me with this fun one! Seriously some of the best days of my LIFE were shared with this girl, good memories, great BIG laughs. It seems like fovever since I've done one of these! Ths one was extra fun too and who doesn't want to know more totally useless facts about me? Just kidding. Don't answer that. I don't even want that. Ok, I'll just start!


Facts in Four...

Four shows I watch:

• Biggest Loser


• Chuck


• Hannah Montana


• So You ThinkYou Can Dance

Four things I'm passionate about:

• My family


• Saving money


• Good food


• The Gospel

Four phrases I say a lot:

• "Are you being nice to your brother/Dodger"


• "Watcha Doin?" (like the little girl on Phineas and Ferb. Chase really likes that)


• "Do you need a time out?"


• "My name is Raymond! But my friends call me Ray! (In my best firefly Bayou voice)

Four things I've learned in the past:

• If someone gossips to you about someone else, they probably gossip about you behind your back too. So don't gossip!


• The more positive you are about the things in life, the better quality of life you'll have and the happieryou'll be.


• Nothing of value is ever gained by not working hard for it.


• "Rely on the Lord in all things"

Four places I would like to go:

• Back to Brazil


• Hawaii


• Ireland


• France

Four things I did yesterday:

• Ran on the treadmill
  
• Took my three boys on a walk (which ended quickly because one boy couldn't stop barking)


• Went to the park


• Went to Bahama Bucks for FHE mmmm...

Four things I'm looking forward to:

• Disneyland/San Diego Vacay


• Trip to Idaho in July


• Getting my Nursing degree


• Any new adventures the year may bring...

Four things I love about winter:

• Christmas


• AWESOME weather


• Christmas-y confections


• Hot Chocolate

Four things on my wish list:

• A promotion or position change for Kyle


• A new swim suit


• Achievement of the goals I've set


• New running shoes

Four people I tag:

Anyone who reads this! C'mon, I can never choose just four!

This is Disgusting?

Just a quick post before I forget. Chase has been superbly wonderful today. I cannot sing his praises enough. It's like he woke up and decided he would be completely awesome all day! Anyway I was in a big hurry this morning because I needed to get the boys dressed and myself ready to go on visits. I was going to drop Chase off at his friend Shelby's house during my visit (which I'm sure contributed to his being so good, he LOVES Shelby)! Anyway, while I was getting ready, Chase decided that he would help himself to some of the Dove chocolates that I was bringing to the girl I was visiting. He also shared some with Landon. They both came out of the kitchen whilst I was literally tied down (pumping) with chocolaty, scrumptious little cheeks. Landon started gagging and as a result lost some of his chocolate on the floor (at least they were still on the tile, whew). Chase said, "Uh oh! Mommy going to clean it up?" I thought well I could stop what I'm doing and go clean it, or I could take the chance of Landon playing with his regurgitation while I finish, or I could ask Chase to clean it up for me. So I decided I would try to ask Chase to get some tissues and wipe it up. He promptly went over and got the tissues and started sopping up his brother's puke without a single complaint. The look on his face while he was doing this dirty job said it all though and he looked at me mid-way and said, "This is disgusting?" I just had to laugh and say, "Yeah, that is disgusting, but you're so wonderful to clean it and help mommy out!" While he was over at his friend Shelby's I was told that he spent much of his time serenading her with the ABC's and sounding out letters (his new favorite pastime). He had a blast!

It's time

Lately Chase has not been wanting me to take pictures of his unless I'm in them too. I'm not sure how I feel about that...

Landon doing what he does best, snuggling!

Notice the bruises on his forhead from all his pulling up mishaps

*I know this is long and I don't expect you to read it all. It's for record keeping mainly, but if you do read it all, I apologize for its length*

It's time I buckle down and at least start writing a new post. A lot seems to happen with our little family and I am a horrible journaler (pretty sure that's not a word). This blog has always been my motivation to "journal" if not for our own record but also to keep family and friends updated. Anyway, we've all been pretty busy around these parts lately. Both of our callings are still very much keeping us on our toes. Kyle deferred his last class so he could keep his head above water. Work is going great for Kyle he loves what he does and he's great at what he does. He's currently taking on the daunting task of landscaping (or at least contemplating) and I can't wait until he gets around to it because I really want to plant my garden already!!!

I've been watching a little five month old boy every once in awhile to help bring in a little extra and we recently dog sat for the past week and a half. Chase loved watching Libby whom he calls "Livy". He still asks if it's time to take Livy on a walk or to go play with her and put her out to "do her bizz-ness". Lucky thing that we're getting a dog of our own next week though. Chase is, in his own words, "SOKESSITED" (so excited) for his new dog Dodger! Scott and Christina are letting us adopt him, which I'm sure is a little bitter sweet for them, but we are all very sokessited to make Dodger part of our family.

Landon is growing up and showing his winning personality more and more by the minute. He is hilarious! Really, he has the funniest little expressions and he's still my little snuggler. He is one tough little cookie too, he's so scrappy! At his last doctor appointment I had to pin him down while his doctor checked his ears. By the end of the ear check I had his arms and head pinned down with my hands his body pinned with my upper body and he had both his feet in my throat cutting off my air supply. Scrappy, I tell you. Chase is going to have another thing coming when Landon starts seeking revenge for all the times his brother was mean to him.

I am so happy to finally be able to say that I have at least one mama's boy. He adores his mommy! He follows me everywhere during the day and loves to be held and snuggled by me. Don't get me wrong he LOVES Kyle too, but he slightly prefers me, slightly. Landon pulls himself up on everything he can and he's started cruising just a little bit. He's ten months old now and I seriously cannot believe that he's almost a year old.

Chase is crazy. Not. Even. Kidding. At exactly 2 1/2 years to the month, he became a totally different kind of person. He went from wanting to please me, and do everything I asked, and getting our praise; to wanting to push the envelope, and explore, and see just how far he could go before I go completely insane. He got a Sharpie out of the drawer a few weeks ago and decided to "make art" all over...well everything. Walls, car seat, chair, you name it, it's probably been colored on. I was shocked when I came upon the scene. I had put his lunch on the table and thought he'd been peacefully eating during the time that it took to work on some things for my calling for a few minutes. Boy was I wrong. I was really upset. Then I HAD to call Kyle to vent. I didn't wait to calm down so he could barely understand what I was saying when I said, "Chase colored with a Sharpie all over the walls!" he thought I had said, "I'm bleeding and I can't get it to stop!"(??? Now I know where Chase gets his crazy. Just kidding dear, I love you). He immediately got up and ran out the door to go to his car. He had fun explaining his rush to his co-workers later needless to say. Chase likes to give me similar surpirses every now and again and I just got another fresh batch of action today when I come into the family room to find baby powder sprinkled on every darn thing in the room. Our black leather ottoman was covered, breast pump covered, DVDs and toys covered, Landon's head COVERED! He definitely keeps me on my toes and I literally cannot leave him alone for even a few minutes unless I leave the Little Einsteins to babysit for me. CRAZY! I pray for patience every day.

On the bright side Chase is also bright! He is really smart and quite the funny little guy. He is also very loving and charismatic. He LOVES to sing songs (especially with actions). He gives Justin Timberlake a run for his money with his dance moves, and he loves anything to do with water (not much has changed there).

We are SUPER "sokessited" for Kyle's family to come next week, and we have big big plans for them when they are here! It'll be a blast and we're really looking forward to the fun that will be had by all!

Da Boys

Enjoying a nice and cruchy rice rusk. Man, he loves hose things!

This is where I found Landon one morning when I had laid him down for a quick nap in our bed, surrounded by pillows so he woulden't roll off . He had wormed his way into his own little "Landon sized" nook (our headboard) and was having a ball!

Lovely Sunday walks. Chase's lips are blue from his fruits snacks, not because of the cold. It was a beautiful morning!





Ok, so here's an update on the boys for all of our family far and away (of course friends too, if you're interested). I was feeling extra inspired to blog about my boys this morning as I was laying on the couch with Landon sleeping tucked under one arm and Chase snuggling tucked under my other arm. For those of you who know Chase, snuggling is a once in a life time thing. He is the furthest thing from a "snuggler" that I've ever seen. I was feeling very blessed, and I just can't even come close to describing how much I love these little boys and the extraordinary spirits they have. They are such a joy to my heart! So we'll start with Landon's update first because I'm WAY behind on him. He has his 9 month appointment in a couple weeks and I haven't said a thing about his 4 or 6 month appointments! So really quick, here are the stats...

4 months:

Height: 27 1/4 in

Weight: 16 lbs 6 oz

6 Months:

Height: 28 in

Weight: 18 lbs 2 oz

He's just growing up so quickly! He's so sweet and tender. He loves to snuggle and gives the best little squeezes. He likes playing with my hair while he eats and will stop every so often to give me a sweet grin and show off those 4 pearly whites. He sits on his own now, crawls on all fours (so cute by the way) with the occasional army crawl, and goes from crawling to sitting and back and forth. He has started pulling himself up on things but doesn't stand on his own yet or cruise, just working out those muscles! He's so mischievious already, kind of scary. He likes to crawl over to baskets and tip them over so he can rummage through the contents. He loves being held and LOVES cuddling! I knew if I wished hard enough I'd get a cuddler someday. He eats finger foods now along with all different kinds of solids. His favorites are sweet potatoes and ham, any fruit puree, and banana oatmeal. He loves rice rusks, (he started on those at 6 or 7 months) banana cookies, and Gerber Grad puffs (peach, or strawberry apple). He likes being read to, and bath time (especially with Chase) is still his favorite time of any day. He says "Mama" and "Baba" (still no Dada, much to Kyle's dismay). He gave me the best Anniversary present ever by saying "Mama" for the first time on our anniversary (Novemeber 20th) at 6 months old! He said it once and I started making a big deal about it so he said it over and over again. He's so squishy and warm and I just love him and all his baby-ness to pieces!

Chase is becoming quite a defiant little guy. He's so smart and understands so much. He's VERY social and loves being around other kids and interacting with them. He asks every day if we're going to see "friends" that day and he looks forward to it every second when I say yes. He loves Little Einsteins more than anything. When he goes to bed he makes sure that Leo, Quincy, June, Annie, and Rocket are all going night night also. He yells "mission completion!" when he finishes building something (which he's very good at) or completing a task. It's too funny. He loves to sing, and he'll substitute his name for certain words in a song, which we think is pretty cute. He's very concerned about others and sensitive to people's feelings. He really loves playing with Landon now that Landon interacts with him a little more. They wrestle, (really) and Landon can hold his own pretty well. He is very independant and helps himself to snacks during the day. I'll hear him in the kitchen opening the pantry and going, "Hm? (clicks his tongue) weeelll," while he's deciding he even puts a finger to his chin. I don't know who he gets that from (me). He's so much fun! He makes us laugh all the time and keeps us WAY on our toes, but we just adore his strong and funny little personality. He's an amazing little toddler!

I think that just about concludes the long overdue update for the boys. They're amazing little creatures and I feel so blessed to be able to spend my days with them and watch them grow. Here are some new pictures!