Busy-ness

I've said it before, but THIS is my favorite age for Landon! I know... it's getting laughable because I sound like a broken record whenever I repeat it, but I just adore him more every second. He's awesome. And busy, and an occasional tantrum-thrower. It's all mostly fun.

This week was eventful! My mom and I stopped over at my grandparents' on Monday to bring dinner and dessert to them in celebration of my grandpa's 88th birthday. So nice for us all to live near enough to share important days with each other like that.

Tuesday, my mom and I both happened to win tickets through our work to the Redhawks game, so we went out there together. Landon came with and he loved it! Ate a whole kid's meal (hot dog - cut into teeny pieces of course - chips, and a lemonade. Such a big boy!) Then he and Tony ran around like heck for most of the game. It's nice that Tony is such a willing partner in crime for Landon right now. I'm just getting a little uncomfortable and a lot slower now that I'm in my 3rd trimester.

Box seats.

 Our old neighbors from north Fargo invited us to watch some of the game in their box seats. Totally the way to go!

Tonight the boys had their first parent/child swim class at the new wellness center. It was so sweet! And the facility is amazing. I think they both had a ton of fun and I loved watching them.

My boys before class. Landon was rarin' to get into the pool!

Practicing "kick kick"

The fountains they turned on after class. Might have been the highlight for Landon!

Cleanin' up afterwards. Love the child-height showerhead!

I'm leaving for Seattle before the crack of dawn on Friday. Cannot believe I get to be with my college girls; Blaire, Kat, and Heather for 4 days straight! And that I'm going especially to celebrate the upcoming birth of Blaire's baby, who will basically be twins with my little boy when they arrive in August!

I haven't seen Heather since my wedding nearly 4 years ago - and between the two of us we've had almost 4 kids since then! That leaves some serious catching up to do. I was able to see Kat and Blaire at Miss Blaire's wedding almost 3 years ago, but still - that's a ridiculous amount of time to be away from some of my best girls. I feel crazy-blessed that we've maintained rock-solid friendships all these years without even getting to look at each other when we're talking.

I'm beyond excited but already a little homesick about leaving the boys behind. It will be a whirlwind long weekend, I'm sure, and I will come home rejuvenated and ready to get back to them. Or, I will come back exhausted and in need of a week to sleep off the girls getaway. One or the other!

Summer Projects

... I know! It's absolutely bananas that you haven't seen a single picture of the new house. We are definitely on the last leg of the build now, including stonework, sodding and landscaping, hanging "real" exterior doors, and completing interior paint touch-ups. Then we're done, for real. (And I hope that by now you know when I say "we", I most certainly mean "Tony").

So pics coming shortly.

In other family projects, take a look at this video - LOVE how exciting this news is for us!

Some of you may not have known we were expecting ANYONE... so the news must be extra-surprising in your case! Baby is currently scheduled to arrive on August 30th via c-section unless they decide to come earlier than that. I'd love to give a "real" delivery a chance so have my fingers crossed that we get the opportunity. If not, I had an amazing c-section with Landon so would be fine going that route again if need be. I think the key with babies is that you've got to be flexible (and that philosophy helps me to not have to make any decisions. Win, win!)

Better run - the big brother is looking for some attention from his mama. Thanks for stopping by!

.... And not one picture of the house.

I think about this blog a lot. I really do. But I always feel like there's so much catching up I need to do that I can't even possibly start, so I don't. Then I get further behind, and obviously you know how that goes. It's a cycle, really.

That's the same feeling I get about cleaning my house. And even with this brand new, sparkling, dying-for-some-personalization house, I always feel like if I don't have time to do it ALL, then I shouldn't even start. I'm learning to change that about my cleaning, so now I have to talk myself into the same thing for my blog.

So just a couple of pics of the kiddos. I promise to post house pics when we're a bit more settled in.

I couldn't find Landon's mattress pad so he slept in his pack'n'play in our room for a couple nights. Can you tell they just love each other? (And are you creeped out that they're sleeping identically?)

Landon finally decided to eat after hearing a threat from his pediatrician. She told me that if he doesn't finish his food, clean it up and get on with my day! I feel like I was just so anxious about whether he'd eat anything that he never did... mostly just played with his food. But since THAT DAY, he has turned his eating habits around completely! This whole plate (sausage, tomatoes, and applesauce) was gone by the time I cleaned up his plate. Might it have helped that Sesame Street was distracting him while he ate? Don't worry... that was a one-time thing. But I may have to credit Super Elmo for Landon's change of heart.

You know "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie", right? (I'm just asking because some moms, even those who act like they've got it all together otherwise, have no idea what this book's about! :) ) Barnes and Noble had a toddler book reading and this guy was there for a photo op. Landon loved him. Kept trying to jump back in line for another chance to hold his hands. But Leighton wouldn't even get her picture done the first time! She did decide she was ready after all the other kids had gone through the line, but you can tell she's really still pretty hesitant about it!

Okay. Like I said, it's bananas that I'd do a post after our move without sharing pics of the new house (or changing my header, for that matter!) but I promise you one - sometime. For now, just know that we're loving our new place. I keep telling Tony that I can't believe how sad I was the Sunday before closing when we had to clean up little house for the new owners and walk out of our first home for the last time ever, and then how the next day at closing I was just over it! Totally how I was about my high school breakups : )

Good night - talk again soon.

Quickie

SUCH a short post, but I can't get over the darlingness that is this picture! Tony and I are in the home stretch of the move, so Tina graciously offered to keep Landon at her place today while I packed with Amy. Sarah, Tori, Owen and Bella drove over for the afternoon too.

Tina sent me this picture just a few minutes after I left. Don't they just look like they're in high school, cheering at a basketball game?


I left Landon over there for 6 hours before I came to get him, and I was sure he'd be waiting at the front door with his shoes on; just because he's not used to being away from me that long. But I was surprised and so thrilled to see that when I got there, it was really no big deal! Tina was feeding him in the booster seat, O and Kat were racing through the kitchen with baby strollers, and Landon just casually said "Hi!".


Owen and Landon took turns initiating hugs with each other, and O would say, "Love you!" every time. Melted my heart... toddlers are just too sweet. Then the boys took turns hugging Tori and me. Lots of loviness going on, and you know I can't get enough of that.

Also got to hold baby Bella for the first time! She slept through the whole visit, of course. It's hard to remember my baby when he was so teeny.

Okay, off to bed. More packing tomorrow.... *sigh*. I'll also be back with some sneak peeks of the house. Everything is falling into place at this point. Nice work, Tone.

A real toddler

Landon has morphed into a real toddler over the past couple months. Every day he adds to his vocabulary (he said "breakfast" and "garbage" in the same day last week) and he's constantly displaying new skills and personality traits. He LOVES to put things "back" right now. "Baa. Baa. Baa". He says, and then I have to help him throw a teensy piece of yarn or paper or whatever in the garbage. After I put his Goldfish crackers in a little bowl for him, the box has to go "back" into the cupboard, with his help.

The other morning I unplugged a nightlight from the bathroom outlet so I could plug in both my hair straightener and blow dryer, and he wanted to put the nightlight "back". I didn't know where he was going to put it since it's always plugged in, but I watched him open Tony's nightstand drawer and shut the nightlight inside. Weird! But the next morning as I was getting some lotion out of my nightstand, I saw an extra nightlight that I'd stored away and not noticed before. That pumpkin.  Isn't it so observant of him?

He says "up" at least 600 times a day right now, and I don't think that's an exaggeration. Especially since he usually says it 8 or 10 times in a row like that... "Up, up, UP!". Luckily for him, up can mean up or down, or open or close, or whatever he's trying to do at the moment. I'm getting soooooo good at deciphering the difference.

Here's a cute video from lunch a couple weeks ago. Another favorite word is "ball", as you'll see here:

He still LOVES boxes and climbing and using tools. Tonight Tony was home for dinner because he's fighting a bad cold and couldn't make it to the new house. So the guys were watching This Old House Hour, and next thing I saw, Landon was standing on an overturned toy bin, hammering away at our window seat with two different plastic hammers. What a little copycat! It's a good reminder to teach by action. And to remove those actions from our lives that we don't want Landon showing off to the neighbors : )

We got another new niece yesterday! I was telling my boss Thursday morning that she was up in the birth center, and she looked kind of surprised. I was like, "Yeah. I know. I had another niece up there just a few months ago!" And she said, "Your family is good for business!" Love it. And so true! I did get to visit Tori and our family on Thursday but I only saw Izabella through the nursery window. I've had a really gross cough for over a week now, and even though I don't know if I'm contagious, I'd rather not take any chances with a newbie like that. But she's beautiful, of course. Lots of features that are similar to her big brother's. Can't wait to see her up-close!

Hey. How did I get this far in without mentioning that we have a CLOSING DATE for the sale of Little Fargo Nest? Wahoo! Inspection and appraisal have gone beautifully and now we are waiting for February 13th. And for me to pack more than the one box of cookbooks that I'm sure I won't need between now and then. And for New Fargo Nest to be ready for us! We're hoping that all the details are complete over there later on the week of the 13th, so please keep your fingers crossed and pray for Tony to stay healthy and motivated! He is teaching class again this semester so really couldn't be any busier than he is. Selfishly, it's been nice to have him home the past couple evenings despite the fact that it's because he isn't feeling well. We just miss seeing his face around here!

Okay, you're nowhere near updated, but my daddio mentioned today that he hasn't seen an update since November. Not good blogging, Apes.