For our kiddos

I just got back from a Safe Kids conference in Charlotte, NC so I'm extra amped to educate people about ways to prevent accidental injury in children (or anyone, for that matter - but kiddos most!). It was a great trip, but I was SO ready to get back to my boys and my pup! Thanks to my parents for watching the littlest guy so much while I was gone. It's a relief to know he's in good hands even when I'm not hovering over his shoulder.

It's come to my attention lately that coin lithium or "button batteries" are causing serious injuries to little ones. If they're swallowed and lodge in a child's throat, their saliva can activate the electrical current and cause serious burns in the esophagus - and sometimes even lead to death. I've been obsessing about how to keep them away from Landon ever since I learned about the risk several weeks ago. I remember saying to my boss, "I'm never going to keep him alive, am I?" But she told me that I will. And I trust her.

The problem with these batteries is that they're in so many of our techie gadgets; automatic car openers, remote controls, as I noticed today - my reading light, even in the musical cards that are everywhere right now (for the record... I really don't like musical cards for a million reasons; but the biggest being these dang batteries!). And it's so scary to think that if Landon dropped a remote on the floor and the battery cover fell off, he would absolutely put a battery right in his mouth. You should see him eat dog fur off the couch... it's really disturbing. (I guess "eat" isn't the right word because I rip it from his lips as soon as I see it hanging out like a mini-cigarette. But the intent is there, for sure!)

Anyway, the reason I'm writing this is that tonight Landon and I were in the kitchen and he went straight for the drawer where I keep my dishtowels. We have soft-close drawers, so they're kind of hard for a toddler to open, and when he finally got it open I shut it right away. Then I had a change of heart and thought, "Let him explore. What's going to happen if he throws all your dishtowels on the floor? No big deal, right?" So I opened it up again for him.

When I did, I saw something shining in the front corner of the drawer - the easiest place for Landon to reach. I thought, "What's that? A bolt for something?". When I picked it up, of course it was a coin lithium battery.

What if I wasn't a hoverer? What if he was looking through the drawer as I made dinner? What if the shiny metal caught his eye before it caught mine? It's just too scary for me to imagine.

What's harder is that if you didn't know about it, you might not have stressed when you saw it. There are plenty of things I come across that just make me think, "I guess it would just pass through his system!" (for the record; I haven't seen any non-edibles in a diaper yet. But I wouldn't be surprised with a 15 month old). So for my friends with littles, (and for grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other lovers-of-littles), pah-leese keep your eye out for these batteries and store them way out of reach of the kids. You won't regret taking a minute to stash them up high.

Okay. Off my soapbox. But I'll be back soon enough, for sure.

Halloween (and the past 6 weeks)

Boo!

Wait, not scary? More like the squishiest, cutest tiger you've ever seen? Well, we gave it a shot.

Here's Landon the FIRST time he tried on his Halloween costume today. He's dealing with a cough, teething, and general toddler clingy-ness, so he wasn't too enthused. This is the best pic we got (so far... but we'll be trying again, of course).

Here are the outtakes:

... so much fun trying to get a good pic of a 15-month-old. Sheesh!

Speaking of outtakes, Jenna and I took the boys to the Buffalo River Pumpkin Patch a couple weeks ago. Naturally, we wanted darling pictures of our boys in the "fall landscapey-ness". Here's what we're working with there:

See? It's just soooo easy to get a nice shot!

I'm not posting pictures of our friends because I haven't asked Jenna if it's okay. And because then she'd know I have a blog and she might read it... And then I might have a total of 12 readers and it would make me self-conscious. But I'll have to check in with her because the boys are so funny together. And she's just the cutest. You'll like them.

ALSO since my last post, my dad (and his twin, but that goes without explaining) turned 60! Their wives and kids planned a perfectly-themed Minnesota Twins party for them, and it was really and truly a surprise to both of them! We had family in from as far away as Virginia, Missouri, and Arizona. What a fun weekend. Here are the twins and their families:

Ryan is good at everything... I even had to hand over the cupcake decorating!

Aw yeah, big drinker!

Things are moving along beautifully with the house right now! I can't even remember what the status was last time I posted, but this week we're just waiting on sheetrock taping and texturing. Tony spent the weekend free-eeezing while he stained and varnished all the window jambs (we're planning on having stained jambs but white trim) so that they'll be protected during the mudding process. I guess the sheetrock mud consists of a lot of water, which would be absorbed into the wood window jambs without the finishing on it. Makes sense to me. (It actually does this time... not like the times I just nod while Tony tries to explain what's going on over there!)

looking from the kitchen to the main entry and garage entry

Looking from the kitchen to the living room and main entry

Grandma, Landon, and I stopped by on Friday to visit as he was starting his work. Here's Grandma in the kitchen:

Looking from the living room/entry to the kitchen

The boys in the master bedroom

Self-portrait in Landon's bedroom

Detail shot of the jamb stain. Love!

 Alright. Time to wrap it up. L is losing patience with me. I'll write again soon(ish).

House Updates, and other Tidbits

This will be a quick-ish post, full of random details about the past couple weeks at our place. Time is moving too fast right now... feels like I just turned around and now it's nearly mid-September.

Last week Tony and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We took our annual photo at Fair Hills to commemorate the day (although the pic was actually taken on September 4th).

I didn't know that Landon could get any sweeter than he is during his "nose-blowing" sessions, but last week as I walked up the driveway to my house, he and my mom were pounding on the window to greet me. I waved maniacally in response (for real... I look nutso but I just am so excited to see them!) and then with no apparent prodding, he blew me a kiss. He's been doing it regularly since then, making a gigantic smooching sound on his hand and then tipping it towards whoever he's admiring at the moment. Lots of times it's me, but I've also seen him blow kisses to other friends and family... including Amy's dog. Love it.

Speaking of love, Landon smooched the bathtub today after he got out. Made me realize that I don't show enough appreciation after my showers and am dedicated to changing that.

Here's the West Fargo house as of yesterday:

Why yes, those are shingles! Thanks for noticing. Amy and I swung by there today to see that the whirly things are spinning away on the roof. (You might have noticed that I'm on a need-to-know basis with a lot of the construction process. I'm kind of refusing to learn some of the details, including the whirly things' real names).

In our current nest, we had a helluva week trying to get the basement spruced up. We hired a handyman to paint the floor and walls and ran into a few several snags along the way. Long story short, Tony was way more involved than he intended to be, the fumes forced all of us (including Sabie and our baby who is in the middle of his second anxiety-inducing fever!) out of the house for a couple nights while the literal and metaphorical dust settled over here (Thank you to my grandparents and Jam-amy, who took us in!). It's finally looking - and smelling - nice, so we're one step closer to listing. Yay and sad, of course.

Happy birthday yesterday to my favorite father-in-law, today to my fabulous aunt Jill,  happy Grandparents' Day tomorrow to our our grandparents and Landon's (cards are sitting on our dining room table, naturally).

Please remember to do something nice for someone tomorrow. Can you believe our world changed forever 10 years ago already? I still vividly remember the tiniest details of that day in 2001. And I will never forget.

Zootown.

Just a quick post because it's getting late, but I wanted to share a few pics from our trip to the Chahinkapa Zoo this afternoon. My mom, Ryan, Kristin, Leighton, Zoe, Landon, and I spent a couple hours enjoying the beautiful day in Wahpeton. Leighton is the world's biggest animal lover so it was no surprise that she had a great time, but it was also fun to see Landon notice and enjoy the change of pace as well. And I always say, "a tired dog is a good dog", but I'm learning that it applies to kiddos too!

Zoe, on the other hand, didn't care she was at the zoo. But she's about the cutest little bug ever, isn't she?

We cruised around a bit...

... fed the ducks and cowered from the bears... (I mean, he's a little close, isn't he!? And he ran at us, then stopped short, shook off a bit, and walked back the other way several times. Scaaaaary. That reminds me - Jill, didn't you see a bear on a walk in NY? I'd faint on the spot, I swear).

... we ate ice cream... (pics 2 and 3 for GG June specifically. See? I'm loosening up the old strings on Landon's diet, don't you think!?)

... rode a carousel, a wagon, and admired our teeniest family member. And with zero breakdowns between 3 kids, it was a totally successful trip.

Then on our way back to town my mom, Landon and I swung by Arby's to grab dinner for the guys at the new house. How lucky is it that we pay for manual labor with food? BIG thanks to Jamie and my dad who helped Tony get this done today:

Moving right along, aren't they? (Notice Tony's bandaged duct taped hand. In regards to hiring free labor, once in awhile they'll shoot you with a nail gun. Not that either of these guys did it, I'm just saying that sometimes it's bound to happen. Hey - you get what you pay for).

 Can't wait to be all settled in over here! (But will miss you and adore you forever, Fargo Nest).

Out for a Stroll, and the Rest of our Week

It's been a fun week over here at our nest! Kelly and I finally did something I'd been talking about doing since I moved back to Fargo. We walked Historic 8th Street and admired the gorgeous houses found up and down the blocks. LOVED it! It was even better than I'd expected because it was topped off by a visit from the ice cream truck. How lucky are we?! 

I owe Sable a HUGE thanks because she was a dream-dog on the whole trip. She deserves regular exercise and it's way more fun when she behaves the way she did on Saturday. Love the way she graciously posed for photos:

Do you recognize that VW bus? It's the same one featured here, in my maternity pics! (Pretty soon they'll realize that I keep posting pictures of their car on the internet and will charge me royalties... lucky I don't have a huge blog-following!) 

Had such a great time that I talked my girlfriend and her baby (Landon's buddy K) into going again yesterday. Except that it was 94 degrees and I was crazy-sweaty. So it didn't feel quite the same.... in fact, it mostly felt wet. But I'm sure we'll go again in the fall, which is just around the corner. Yay and ugh.

Finally, here's a quick video of Landon. He's just so cute! On Saturday, he was unrolling toilet paper in the bathroom while I brushed my teeth, so when I put my hand on the roll to stop him and said, "No", he tore off the TP he had in his hand, and "blew" his nose. Totally out-of-the-blue, like he was saying, "Geez mom! Can't I even take care of my runny nose without you in my business?!" If you can't tell in the video, he's just blowing with his mouth. That makes it even cuter.

Tony is still hard at work on the house! I was actually "in the basement" a few times this week. Was the most exciting time for me this far, as I can actually visualize the layout with some of the walls (as in, 2x4's) up.

The Week in Pics

Big week over here at our nest! First, we got a really fun call on Tuesday evening that our sister-in-law Kristin was headed to the hospital with contractions (not unexpected at all... things had been moving along for the past couple of weeks). She got settled in around 6 pm and our niece Zoe was born at 10:42 that night! She didn't waste a whole lotta time in the hospital, that's for sure! I am anxious and excited to see how Leighton adjusts to her new role as big sister. I'm sure it's pretty confusing for a two year old.

Leighton offered to let us "pet" her baby several times that night. Maybe she was hoping one of us would get attached take her home with us! The nurse couldn't get over how verbal Leighton was; saying things like "This is my baby Zoe", "I love little babies", and "She's adorable!" It's always fun to watch Leighton impress a new audience.

We stopped by the mall this evening to meet Tony's mom, sisters, and our niece and nephew for dinner in the food court. Such a good idea - Tina and I are both at a stage right now where restaurant dining is anything but fun, so Tori suggested we try this and it worked perfectly. Here's our "best" photo of the three cousins and their parents (the siblings).

After dinner, we swung by the new house to check on the dirt (See?! Couldn't you just drool over the beauty of it? I had to ask Tony, "now what were they doing with our dirt today?" and he said they'd removed a gigantic hill of it behind our house. Besides that, it still just looks muddy and, well, dirty to me. But I looked on in appreciation anyway. You gotta do that for the hubs once in awhile!).

I am truly impressed though, by the progress on the rest of the house! It's moving more slowly than Tony had hoped, but he's doing a ton of the work single-handedly (and with the help of some friends and family) so he's literally invested his blood and sweat (tons of sweat... you should smell see his laundry!) into the project. He works from 6:30 or 7 am until 9 pm pretty much every day right now. Anyway, Tony - you are appreciated, big time. Funny to give him a shout-out on this blog because I don't know if he ever reads it!

Get serious. Don't you think this guy's eyes are to-die-for?! I think he got my Grandpa Al's baby blues. Lucky little guy. And lucky mama.

Summer Round-Up

Hey there! So you still check in on my blog? You're pretty loyal, aren't you?  Here's a quick run-down on the summer at our place:

We decided to go ahead on the construction of a new home - exciting and nerve wracking! By the end of November, our blog will officially be about Our (West) Fargo Nest. I'll make sure to post photos as things move along. Right now we've got all of our concrete work finished (basement, garage, driveway, and walkway to the front door), and Tony has begun some of the framing work. Just wait... I think you're really going to like it. But there are a ton of decisions to be made between now and then, so I may have to run some of my ideas by you.

Which reminds me... we'll have to sell our sweet north Fargo house around the same time we move into the new one. If you know of a buyer who will love our first home as much as we do, let me know! I'm happy to send them pics and information or put them in touch with our Realtor. We don't have it listed yet so our friends' friends can have first crack at it!

In early June, I accepted a part-time position with our local hospital; working with education in child passenger safety, fire and burn prevention, pedestrian and wheeled sports safety, safe sleep for infants, poisoning prevention, etc. We basically cover accidental injury prevention for children from birth to 14. I'm having a ton of fun, feeling productive, and contributing a little money to our family. So far it feels like it's a win-win. And lucky Landon gets to spend 20 hours a week with his Grandma Denise, so he's super-lucky too!

Although, let's be honest; Grandma Denise is the lucky one!

Landon celebrated his first birthday a couple weeks ago. He's since taken a few steps and finally cut a tooth! I felt a teeny sharp bump yesterday for the first time. Love that he was over a year old when the tooth broke through his gum. (Tony and I were both about this age when we got ours, too!)

 We're anxiously awaiting the arrival of another niece, who should make her appearance any day now. Can't wait to meet her and hear her name for the first time! Despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to crack either of her parents - they won't tell us her name until she's born. (Really though, it's a fun secret and I can't wait for the surprise to be revealed!)

Okay. Have to take advantage of L's nap and get some cleaning done. I'll be in touch again soon - I promise!

Long time, eh?

I have a habit of starting journals, then skipping an entry or two a few weeks in. Then the next thing you know it's been so long that I don't know where to pick back up. So I quit altogether and a few months later I come upon the journal - 12 entries in all - and throw it away, because it feels like starting again would create a book with chapters missing.

I'm trying not to let that happen with this blog. In the midst of a computer virus, issues with our router, and expired antivirus protection on my laptop, I just didn't have the energy to work through it. So, here's a quick update of our life "nowadays"... missing chapters and all:

Tony has finished the last of the big projects on our house; and we're just completing a few landscaping tasks, organizing, and cleaning before we put our home on the market. I'm so sentimental that of course I'm having a hard time with the idea of leaving the house we became a family in; but I also know that we'll make the best new memories in our next home too. Fingers are crossed over here that we are able to build in West Fargo this summer. (All is looking really good... just now finalizing the details of a possible lot!)

He also completed his first semester of teaching at MSCTC. I think all-in-all it went really well, but of course he's glad to have his evenings back (if only to work on previously mentioned landscaping, organizing, and cleaning tasks!).

Landon started crawling on Sunday, which is a real game-changing milestone! He makes a beeline for cables, cords, doors and drawers. All "favorites" of his that I didn't know he felt so strongly about until he was able to get to them himself! Makes me wonder if all the hours I spent reading to him and playing peek-a-boo he was really just hoping I'd get the heck out of the way so he could eye - and map out an attack plan for - an electrical outlet. Motherhood, right?

I'm still home with Landon all day while "casually" looking for part time employment. We are so happy with this arrangement that I know I won't accept a position that isn't the right fit, so the process is admittedly taking longer than I'd ever imagined it would. But days like today - including a leisurely stroll through NDSU campus with our friends Jenna and Keaton - remind me that I am LUCKY to be a stay-at-home-mama for now, and to just enjoy this while the moment lasts. I know something will come up soon enough too soon.

Our weather has finally started resembling summer (or what I remember as summer, it having been so long since our last encounter!), and we have heaps of things to look forward to; Landon will be taking his first swimming lessons with his buddy Jaxen, we'll be attending a Twins game in the cities with a big group of relatives (first time to Target Field for all three of us!), Landon will celebrate his first birthday, and we'll have the chance to enjoy plenty of lazy days at the lake. I heard there are 99 days from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and I want to soak 'em all in.

Sneezing is funny... and other insights from a baby.

Kathryn turned one last week, and we celebrated with a pool party at a Fargo hotel. Not surprisingly, her mom planned the day perfectly from the color scheme to the party favors. Tina even made an owl-shaped cake from scratch to accompany the owl theme that has been Kat's entire life so far. And Kathryn was the cutest birthday girl!

Landon appreciated the opportunity to give swimming a try! First time in a pool took a little getting used to, but it ended on a good note!

Owen will be the birthday boy in exactly 4 weeks! I think he spent some time during the party figuring out what's expected of the guest of honor. He's going to rock it when his turn comes around.

And so that the title of this post makes sense, check out this video. I think we could have gone on like this for hours:

Oh little boy, you are too funny! He's been on a strict food strike for over a week now. Still nursing fine, but something must have happened that soured his interest in solid food. It came the day after trying applesauce for the first time, (obviously a traumatic experience!) and we're just now getting back on track. He has the sweetest way of refusing food though, all smiles and talking until he sees the spoon, then his mouth becomes an impermeable straight line. So the video above was my attempt to trick him into opening his mouth for a second.

Yesterday and today I did get a few spoonfuls of rice cereal and oatmeal through his lips, so I think I may be talking him back into trying again. I'm positive that he'll be eating regular food by kindergarten, so sometime between now and then it'll all click.

Landon has been increasingly amused by Sable lately, and I think she can sense that. She puts forth a little extra effort when he's around to appreciate her!

And finally, we had Landon's photos taken at the Plains Art Museum on Monday, and we LOVE them. He is just so pleasant and charming. I have to assume he gets it from me! (Okay, I'll share the credit with Tony. 60/40 and that's as much as I'm giving him).

Tony has still been super-busy with work and teaching, and I've been able to assist another Realtor a couple days a week the past month. It's been nice to get back to the office a little bit, and easier knowing my mom is watching L. I can't believe it's been over 7 months since I was working full-time. It's amazing how quickly the past months have gone. Now if we could only make it to springtime, right?