Landry is O-N-E!!!

1ST bITHDAY!!

So I can't belive I am writing this but exactly one year ago today I gave birth to the most beautiful,precious, loving little boy in the whole world-Landry Austin Simmons at 4:00am. He weighed in at 7lbs 7oz and was 20" long. I will never forget that first moment I saw his precious face or the first moment I held him in my arms, or the first moment I heard he sweet little voice let out a cry. It brings tears of joy to my eyes thinking about it right now. Be still my beating heart!!
I have learned so much over the past year. I have grown as a person,a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, grandaughter, niece, daughter-in-law and most importantly as a Christian. Since becoming a parent I have a better understanding of the ultimate sacriface God made for me (and you) by giving His son for us on the cross. I also have a better understanding of the sacriface my parents made for me by loving me and bringing me up in a Christian home.I never knew a love could be so strong for someone I have only known for 1 year and 9 months but it really exist. Landry has been a complete joy and blessing in our life. I thank God every day for the blessing of becoming a mother to this precious boy! Thank you all for loving Landry the way you do and thank you for being a part of our life.
HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY LANDRY AUSTIN!

"Are you sure it's not a bladder spasm??"

Aroud this exact time 1 year ago today I was sitting in the dressing room at Stein Mart with my mother in Franklin. She was trying on a dress. All of a sudden I had a sharp pain in my left side so I repositioned b/c I thought that would help. Well when I moved....there is was...my water broke. But it wasn't a big gush of water like I had expected-it felt more like a bladder spasm. My mother saw my face and said "what's wrong are you ok??" I calmly replied "Either my water just broke or I am peeing in my pants and can't stop!" I will never forget the expression on her face. She was right in the middle of trying to zip up a dress she was trying on for an upcoming cruise in June. After messing with the zipper for what seemed like an eternity she got the dress off and said "Ok let's head to home." As we were walking out of the dressing room a worker walked up to me and said "Awww honey when are you due?" I relplied "well......actually my water just broke so we are headed to the doctors office now." I think she was either in shock of my response of just really worried about me b/c she said "Ok do you know where the doctor's office is? Do you know how to get there from here? "Do you have someone to drive you(my mother was still getting dressed) "Now you know that sometimes this far along in pregnancy the baby can bounce on your bladder and it will make you have a spasm right??"
I just said yes thank you but I really wanted to say...... Well thank you Stein Mart employee but yes I do know all those things and you are feaking out more than me- so calm down lady!!! I immediately called my doctor and told him and he said for me to head straight to the hospital. So the next person I call is Austin and I was so SUPRISED at how calm he was! As a side note: He was amazing through the whole birthing process he was my rock! As we were heading down the interstate on I-65 South at 4:15(just befor rush hour-thank you Landry for thinking of that!) I looked at my mother driving and she had both hands on the wheel looking like she was on a mission but only driving 60mph! I said "mother i understand you are trying to be careful but would you please at least go speed limit...I am starting to have contractions!! She looked down at her speed and said "O-yea sorry!" haha! So funny!
I ended up calling my doctor back b/c so little water had come out when it did break that it worried me a little and I wanted him to check me out before I headed to the hospital. The stein mart employee had put a doubt in my head that what if it was just a bladder spasm?? So my docotor wanted to exam me so Austin and I headed to the doctor's as soon as I got back in town at 5:15 he stayed late just for me-just one of the many nice things my amazing doctor did for me!! sure enough he examined me and said "congratulations-are you ready to have this baby boy?" I'll never forget that moment and the look in Austin's eyes when I turned and looked at him! We were SOOOO ready for this moment and had been preparing and praying for it for 10 months!
We had visitors in our room all night long and even broke the rules of 3 visitors at a time multiple times! I am so blessed to have such a loving,caring,close family that we could share the process of this miracle with.
The funny thing is about a month after his birth mother,landry, and I walk into stein mart and a worker walked up to me and said "your the one whose water broke while in the dressing room right?" She had recognized me-how neat is that? I guess that doesn't happen every day in their store! haha!
I have loved every minute of my life this past year! Even the worst days have been better than the best days before Landry!




Here is a picture of those who were waiting so patiently for his arrival. And a picture of me taken the night before my water broke.

The Simmons sicknesses and Valentines!

Ok so I know that title doesn't go to well together but lets just say it sums up our life here latey! Let's just start off with saying that we didn't really get to celebrate Valentines day on the 14th like the rest of the world. Unfortunately Austin woke up Sunday at 4am with nausea and upset stomach. We at first thought it was food poisoning-b/c he had all the symptoms but decided later we think it was the 24 hour virus that has been circulating through Columbia lately. So since January this has been all the sickness our family of 3 has dealed with: Landry-h1n1 flu, cold Austin-h1n1 flu, stomach virus Tara-strep throat, h1n1 flu, sinus infection. Let's just say our family is about to go in quartine!! I just don't understand why we are getting sick all the time. I am so careful with washing our hands, wiping public tables off when we go out and anything we could possibly touch, with wiping landry hands down after someone touches them in public, with keeping our house sanitized------so where is it all coming from??? I just have no idea and I will never know I guess. UGH! just wish it would all go away and stop!! So far me and Landry haven't gotten the stomach virus but I am holding my breath and praying that we don't b/c poor austin was pitiful!! OK so enough complaining on to the exciting non-whining part!

I SPENT MY FIRST NIGHT AWAY FROM LANDRY THIS PAST WEEKEND!! WAHOO!
Austin and I went up to Cool Springs and ate at PF Changs, went to the movies and saw "When in Rome"(wouldn't recommend it) and then spent the night at the Embassy Suites. This was our Valentines celebration and our "alone time" combined into one so we went big and had a blast! It was such a fun night and we really enjoyed our little vacation away. I did a lot better than I thought I would-of course I missed him like crazy but I didn't cry once.I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up a few times but a tear never ran down my cheek! My parents kept Landry for us and they said he did great also. I was really worried about him sleeping for them since he would be out of his normal routine but he did great and only woke up once around midnight but went right back down till the morning! I think the best part about our trip was us both being able to sleep in together past 6:30am-That hasn't happened in 11 and a half months! :) I had a wonderful early Valentines day celebration with my husband he is so good to me and it was a good thing we did it early since he got sick on actual Valentines day! :) I don't have any pictures to document the night b/c I didn't want to carry anything with me that night- not a purse, not a diaper bag, not a camera- NOTHING. So I went all night and didn't have anythign on my shoulder-that felt a little weird and I kept feeling like I was forgetting something all night! haha! I love my 2 boys more than anything!
Just as a side note- I cannot believe my little boy will be ONE in less than a week!

Here are just a few random shot I got last week and wanted to share but really didn't fit in a blog all by theirself.

Landry is finally starting to like reading books. He sat in the floor like this for about 10 minutes the other night while Austin read to him. It was so sweet b/c Austin would point to something on the page and then Landry would point to it. I finally captured the moment b/c Landry has hardly ever sat still for more than 1 minute but especailly since he is walking now he really doesn't sit still-except for an occasionaly book.(side note: please check out his hair in the picture-haha)
I thought these were was the sweetest pictures. We had another snow last week and the flakes were absolutely HUGE-the biggest I have ever seen! They really looked fake they were so big so we had to go take some picures. Landry was so cute b/c as soon as he saw them he was sticking his hand out trying to catch them. Sweet boy!

We are ALL BOY!! He loves to explore and climb on top of things, through things, and under things. I need to get this little boy a jungle gym for our living room and he would be happy I think! So for right now he will just climb on a little step on his house he got from Uncle Nathan and Amber for Christmas and be happy.

He LOVES his sippy cup and this little boy can take down a full cup in minutes time!! Like father like son!

Practicing for our birthday!

We have been working with Landry for several weeks now for him show us how old he is going to be. I finally got a picture of him holding up his pointer finger last Sunday. He will also holds up his finger whenever we start singing "This little Christian light of mine." SO sweet...i just love that little finger.

100% Walker!

It's official...Landry walks 100% of the time now and has all week long! I knew it was coming fast b/c he was progressing at such a fast rate. He even stood up on his own the other day without having to pull up on something!
Whew....let's just say to go along with him walking he has also learned his determination and how to "communicate"(which is my Granny's way of describing a fit). The first week he learned to walk was one of the worst weeks he has had in a LONG time. He has learned "I am a big boy b/c I can walk and I will do whatever I want!!" Well-sadly for him (and me)that's not the case! :) I would just look at him last week and think "Where is my Landry at? Where did he go?? Who is this child throwing a fit in the middle of the living room floor?" I have to give him credit though this week he has gotten much better and is learning very fast that fits don't get him anywhere. :)

11 months old and WALKING!

I thought I would post some cute recent pictures of Landry crawling around b/c I'm afraid his days of crawling are coming to an end.





Oh I can't believe this will be my second to last "monthly" post of Landry before he turns 1. It's so hard to believe he has been in my life for only 11 months b/c I don't remember life without him but then again it's so hard to believe he is almost 1. I love him more today than I did yesterday....he is such a joy to be around and makes me smile every day. Here are just a few things landry is now doing.

*Letting go and taking about 10-15 steps all by himself- we are so close to having a walker! He is about 50/50 with walking and crawling right now.
*Self-entertains. Landry used to want you to sit in the floor and entertain him-he now will sit in the floor and entertain himself for about 1-1.5 hours.
*He now likes to feed Sadie his food when he is done eating. He will just hang his arm over the highchair and Sadie knows what to do! ha ha it's so funny!
*He now will throw a "fit." He is a very determined little boy and know what he wants! WHEW-we are going to have to channel this! My granny doesn't like me saying he is throwing a fit she says he is "communicating." So now it's a joke when he slings his head back and fusses we all just say "he's communicating!"
*I still have to rock/bounce him to sleep. Some days I wish I could just lay him in his crib and he go to sleep on his own but other days I love this time with him and I know that one day he will not want me to hold him-so I am trying to savor every moment of this.
*He still loves to dance to music, sing, give high fives, and wave hi and bye.
* We still aren't saying any words just baby talk but is doing it all the time.
*Likes to get Sadie's toys and play with her
*Loves to play play with his push toys and will even push toys that aren't suppose to be "pushed."
*Still sing himself to sleep
*Will gives kisses to people on the cheek-this is more of him pressing his mouth on your cheek with his mouth open(so sweet!)
*can climb up stairs and is very fast at it!
*Loves to open and close cabinet doors and drawers
*Blows kisses
*WE still only have 6 teeth- 4 on top and 2 on bottom

I am down to nursing Landry about once a day now. This is very sad for me b/c I know that my baby is growing up and its just part of the process. I had to start weaning him about 2 months ago and so far he has done a lot better with it than me. I blame my milk production on my gallbladder surgery/pain meds when Landry was only 3weeks old and I was just getting the hang of things and that REALLY set me back. However, I really wanted to nurse and so I stuck with it even though it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done-yes harder than child birth. It just didn't come natural to me like it does some women especially since I was struggling with lack of milk production from the beginning. After many phone calls, meetings and talking with a lactation nurse I finally was able to get the hang of it. But from the get go I had production problems so during growth spurts we had to give Landry formula and he has done great with it even during the weaning process. I don't totally hate giving him formula though b/c it has given Austin the opportunity to feel "needed" when Landry was hungry and other members of the family as well that have bee able to give Landry a bottle. Everyone tells me that the second time around nursing goes a lot smoother so I am counting on that! :) I have started giving him cows milk(even though pediatricians don't recommend it till they are 12 months) and he loves it. Yes, I know what your thinking- there really is nothing he doesn't like! haha!

Here's Landry's 11 month old pictures of him doing his new trick- WALKING! You can tell by his face he is so proud of himself!!(as he should be) I love the last few where the signs are blurry b/c you can tell he is really on the move! :)

**Beautiful Snow**

We were able to have a blast in a beautiful snow this past weekend. God's creations are so amazing and a white blanket of snow can bring beauty out in anything! Landry even got on the sled with us and went down a hill! He was indiffernet to the snow-he loved to touch it but couldn't move his arms due to the layer and layers of clothing we had on him to keep him warm. We spent the majority of our weekend sledding on a very big hill at my aunt susan and uncle larays house amd we had so much fun! What is it about snow that brings out the kid in us?? I guess b/c it brings back memories from getting out of school, sleeping in and enjoying time at home. Granny even made us snow cream at Sunday lunch- it was SO good! I haven't had snow cream since I was a kid and it was better than I remembered! I was able to capture many fun memoires on camera this weekend-including Sadie's little pawprint in the snow! I hope everyone enjoyed the snow as much as we did. Now that we have gotten our one big snow-i'm ready for spring! :)

I DID IT!!!

Ok so this blog isn't really about Landry it's about me...so this is just a warning if you want to quit reading! :)
For about 3 years now I have always said I want to run in a 5k(3.12miles) Well if you know me you know that I'm really not a runner. But on Christmas eve I got a email from the Nashville Zoo about a 5k run. So I thought "how fun would that be running by all the animals at the zoo?" So I set my mind to it talked Amber and Nathan into doing it with me(which was nothing for them they run all the time) and I began to run. I was so proud of myself for doing this-I'm not very good at sticking to my intentions when it comes to things like this-I could always think of a million other things I would rather be doing than running butI actually stuck to my word this time! The day of the race Landry gave me a present. He cut 2 of his socks for me and wanted me to wear them as wrist bands since he was my inspiration to begin with. So I wore them the day of the race and they gave me the determination I needed to get through the day b/c unfortunately little did I know- I had the FLU the day of the race! :( I knew when I woke up that morning I didn't feel very good and had been coughing my head off all night but I wasn't going to let that stop me from running. I never got to the "runner's high" that I normally get around mile 2 that day and I wasn't sure what was wrong b/c it felt like I couldn't expand my lungs completely-well it was because my sweet little boy had decided to "share" his flu virus with me. But I made it anyways and I ran the whole time and never stopped. The one thing I will always remember about the run is coming around the corner on the last 1/2 mile and seeing Austin sitting there with Landry. As soon as he saw me face he smiled from ear to ear-he found me out of all those people!! I ran over to him gave him a quick kiss on the check and he wrapped his arms around my neck-That made it all worth it!! I took off running again and Austin said he waved 'bye-bye' to me and then kinda whimpered when I was out of sight.
It was so much fun that I am running in another 5k this week downtown nashville. I hope I am able to run the whole time b/c I have been struggling with recovering from the flu and a sinus infection all week so I have not been able to get out and run like I did before the Zoo 5k -so wish me luck! :)

Poor baby, Poor Daddy, and Poor Mommy!

Well as I am sure most of you know Landry got the H1N1 flu last week! Talking about scary!! He was so pitiful!! It all started Tuesday morning when he woke up coughing. I didn't think much of the cough though b/c he got croup about 2 weeks back and a little cough had lingered ever since- so I just thought he still has some irritation to his throat from that. So I head down to Pulaski for a dental appointment. Landry feel asleep on the way down there, while Amber and I were pushing him in his stroller during a 2 mile run, and on the way home from Pulaski. (I should have known something was up when he feel asleep twice in one day in the car-that NEVER happens-he hates his car seat!!) So when we got home he just wasn't acting like himself-h has been pretty clingy all day and didn't want to be put down and play. So I took his temperature- and it was 102.3! Talk about a sick feeling in my stomach!! My immediate thought was-he has the flu!! He had been coughing, had a little congestion and a temperature-so I just had that feeling. All that night he didn't feel good. We check on him periodically check on him throughout the night and keep tylenol on him every 4 hours but it still wasnt breaking his fever at all. When he wakes up the next day and we check his tempt and its still high we take him to the doctor and sure enough it's the H1N1 flu!! My heart sank and I got tears in my eyes! Poor little thing was asolutely pitiful and lifeless. He slept 3/4 of the day in my arms b/c he did not want to be put down. His tempt got as high as 103.7- talk about scary! As a nurse I know that when you run a high fever your respirations get fast and shallow but seeing this in your child nurse or not you just get really scared and wonder "Is this normal? Can he breath ok? Should I take him to the ER? Am I overreacting?" I was so scared- I would just sit and cry holding him in my arms b/c I had never seen him like that before. But he was drinking like a champ and keeping fluids in him so there was nothing else the ER could have done for him that I wasn't already doing. During all of this Austin started not feeling good either and we were scared he was was getting the flu also so he also got started on Tamiflu and I think we caught his pretty fast. I was physically and mentally worn out from taking care of my 2 precious boys all day and night but thankfully we are all on the mends now and the only symptom Landry has lingering is a bad cough and Austin is totally healed. I think this week will be a little less hectic so I hope to post some new pictures later this week.

Landry turned 11 months old today-Happy 11 month birthday Landry Austin!

Getting excited.....

Well I got Landry's 1st birthday stuff in the mail today. And don't worry I didn't cry opening it but it did make me very sad so I took the box and put it in the corner of my closet so I don't have to look at it till the party b/c I think I will cry if I have to be reminded every day that my precious baby boy is turning 1! Here are what his plates are going to look like. We are doing a "giraffe" theme along with the #1. I just had to incooperate #1 since it's such a big milestone birthday. I got the giraffe theme b/c anytime I see a giraffe I immediately think of landry and his nursery. He has several giraffe decorations in his room that will be very cute to use at his party. I am getting excited about his birthday it will be fun!
I have another video I want to share. We were trying to get Landry to clap for the camera but he decided to get excited and do what he does when he gets excited so he screamed instead.

Sweetest sound on earth!

Ok so I told you I would be uploading a lot of videos of Landry now that it's so easy for me to do with my Flip. Here is the sweetest sound in the world to my ears-His laugh! I can't help but smile when I hear it-no matter how many times i replay it. Hope you enjoy it as much as Austin and I do! :) And please notice how he starts rubbing his eyes at the end of the video-all that laughing wore him out and the fact that it was 9:15 and he was still up going strong! :)

My little mocking bird

Ok so I have wrote several time how Landry likes to sing and how when you say "AHHHHH" he will say it back to you as many times as you do it. I was got it on video this past week and thought you would like to hear my mocking bird sing. Enjoy-and please ignore how I sound like a dying/suffering bird singing-that's the way you have to do it for him to mock you for some reason. haha!

****Landry's FIRST STEPS!!****

YAY LANDRY!!! HE TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS TONIGHT!!
Landry took his first steps tonight-all 5 of them!! By the time I got the recorder out his little muscles were tired so the ones I got aren't his most steady but they are still so cute!! We are so proud and happy for him! It's so fun to watch my little baby growing up to be a big boy!
Just as a side note-my parents got me a Flip high definition video recorder for Christmas and I absolutely love it! It's so user friendly and is about the size of a cell phone-i love being able to download my videos on my blog now! I have gotten many cute videos of Landry on it so far-so don't worry this video is just the first of many come! :)

** SNOW DAY**

Landry enjoyed his second snow....yes this was his second b/c his first snow was when he was only 5 days old and we actually got 5 inches that day. We attempted to make him a snow man but the snow was so dry it would not stick together so this little snowman was all we could do..

Today we only got about a quarter of an inch...but all schools were closed for 2 days. ha ha! I know my sister-in-law and brother-in-law would get a good laugh at this considering in Wisconsin. I guess that's one of the many perks of living in the south-they cancel school before a single flake has fallen and all the milk and bread is gone in the grocery stores as soon as the weather channel mentions the "S" word....SNOW. Gotta love the south! :) Austin ended up taking our SUV to work that day just in case the roads were a little icey so I went over and spent the day with my mother and daddy-who happened to already be off work. Landry not only enjoyed the snow but the pots and pans and being able to look out the windows at the snow falling. Please notice Landry's Columbia Academy Bulldogs toboggan he has on in our picture-it was given to Amber when she was about a year old

10 month Milestones

Landry is such a good natured little boy. We have always enjoyed him because he is so much fun lately- he is really starting to interact with us and has so much energy and developing his personality!

Here are just a few things he is doing now at 10 months:
* Letting go and standing up on his on with no support for a few seconds at a time(I think we are going to have a walker soon!)
*He will now take a few VERY fast steps toward someone if they are a few feet away...I'm not sure I actually consider these his "first steps" but he is SO close!!
*his new favorite word is "Ah-da"- we have no idea what this means but it's so cute
when he says it- he also says dadadada, mom mom mom mom, and deeee (which we consider Sadie!
*Clapping his hands when we say "YAAAAY!!"-this is so sweet!!
*Will put his hand to his mouth to blow kisses
*His daddy taught him how to give "high-fives" last week while we were shopping at
Opry Mills-this is a fun trick now! :)
*Still sleeping between 9-10 hours a night
*Taking 2-3 naps a day anywhere between 1-2.5 hours long
*Crawling and pulling up on everything
*He will now do the baby sign language for "more" when eating- however when we ask him if he wants a "drink" he just looks at it instead of signing for it-O'well at least he knows what we are saying.
*Loves to open and close drawers,doors and anything else he can move(yes this has led to smashed fingers poor thing

*Loves bath time!! He ends up giving us a bath by the time we are done b/c he splashes water everywhere. !)

*Loves ALL food-especially cheese, meats or fruits-OK lets just say he loves all of them!
*Learned his voice and can now scream out-most of the time it's for no reason at all
*He can now throw a fit(OH BOY THIS STAGE ALREADY!!??). While doing this he does one of two things he either slings his head back and closes his eyes while crying - or he will sit down Indian style and lean forward almost as if he is folding himself in half. Now that's talent! ha ha! :) WHEW i think we have our work cut out for us- I guess what goes around comes around!
*likes to sing himself to sleep while you are singing to him-so sweet and really hard to not laugh at while trying to get him down for a nap!
*as long as you say "AHHHHH" he will say it back at you the same time you are saying it. This little boy really likes to sing!!
*He LOVES going to cradel roll on Sunday Mornings!! I first started taking him when he was 7 months old and is WORN out during Sunday lunch and usually naps right through it. (These pictures are taken on his 2nd Sunday in class so they are several months old but have been meaning to post them ever since)


These last few pictures are pretty old but I finally got my mother's memory card and was able to download several of her pictures she has taken of Landry and thought these were just a few that were too cute not to share with everyone.