"Mom, Mom, Momma!"

Finally!! I have finally heard my little boy say my name! No he doesn't look at me and call me that but he will walk around the house saying Mom mom mom momma. Melts my heart! And of course I give him bunches of attention when he says it so hopefully he will put it together that he needs to call me that to get my attention. That is the sweetest name I have ever been called and I love it! I have survived going back to work! I have actually enjoyed the "adult" time also! It's nice to have adult conversations and someone who will talk back to you and answer your questions. Landry is growing so much lately. Bless his little heart ever since I have started back to work prn his little attitude has grown as well. Not sure if it's just by chance that they happened at the same time or if it has a little to do with his babysitters letting him get away with EVERYTHING. ha ha!(that's grandparents, a great grandmother, and aunt for ya-but he LOVES them!) We always have some "detoxing" to do the day after I work. Don't get me wrong though-he has a BLAST and I wouldn't change it for anything. He has done much better this past week so I guess he figured out he can't get away with everything when he comes back home-he is slowly but surely learning his limits. He is such a strong willed little boy and like my great grandmother always used to say and my mother reminds me frequently "what's born of the flesh can't be beat out of the flesh."
On another note I had a wonderful mother's day and got the PERFECT gift from my little boy! He got me a Pandora bracelet!! I have been wanting one for about a year but never did I expect that for a mother's day present. It is so beautiful! It has a his initials on it (L.A.)and a little boy in the middle to represent him and then 2 flowers on each end b/c I love flowers. It was such a thoughtful gift and it meant so much to me! It's such a personal gift b/c I can keep adding charms on to it and I am very excited about that! I love my little boy more and more everyday and his sweet daddy who spoils me!
Austin and I just booked our 4 year anniversary trip and lets just say THRILLED does not even touch our emotions!! We haven't been anywhere with just me and Austin since out 1st anniversary when we went to Disney World and we are so excited. We will be leaving Landry behind but he is going to be in good hands with Byrdie, Daddo, Nana, Pops, Aunt Baleigh and Uncle Nat. So I'm guessing you are wondering what we booked.....well it's 5 day Cruise on Royal Caribbean to BERMUDA!!! :)

I grew up a HUGE beach boys fan and my all time favorite song of theirs is "Cocomo." I have always wanted to go to every place they list in that song and now I am getting to check off Bermuda! So lets just say I have ALWAYS wanted to go there and it was much cheaper to do the cruise than to fly and stay there plus the added bonus of being able to totally relax on the cruise boat really appealed to us also. With a little coaxing to Austin about the amazing golf courses they have there he very easily agreed this was the place for us! It will be so nice to do nothing but just lay on the boat and take in so sun b/c as most parents our feet his the floor every day at 6:30 and we don't stop till we go to bed at 10:30. We love our life and wouldn't change a thing but every now and then it's nice to relax and kick your feet up and I feel when we do this we are better parents for it! I know we will come back re energized and ready to see our little boy as we have never left him for more than 1 night.
This is just a quick summary on what all I had to get caught up on since I have been missing from the blog world lately but I have several more blogs to do with several cute pictures I might add...but those will come later! :)

15 month check up

I have been having computer problems lately(my hard drive crashed) so that explains why I haven't posted in a while. Luckily Austin got me a hard drive back up system I had been begging for Christmas so all my pictures are safe!! But I lost everything else on my computer. :( Not a very good day for me.

Here are landry's stats from his 15 month check up. I will catch up on pictures soon-I promise!
weigh-24pounds and 12 ounces- 50th percentile
height-31 inches- 50th percentile
head-47cm-75th percentile


Landry has really found his "voice" within the last 2 months. He likes to scream especially when he doesn't get what he wants when he wants it. Whew! This can be very draining at times!

He now will walk backwards when I say "back it up, back it up"-he gets so proud of himself when he does this.

When we tell him to "shake a leg" he will go and hang on to something to keep his balance and will lift one leg and shake it.

He now can make noises or faces for the following animals: cow(he mooo's), fish(sucks on his bottom lip), snake(sticks his tongue out and moves it from side to side while it's sticking out), bird(flaps his arms), giraffe(reaches up to the sky), seal(claps his hands).

He still uses the "please" sign language for everything! Although he can also do thank you, bite, drink when you ask him to do them.

LOVES playing outside and playing in water in his little baby pool at our house and at Granny's.

Loves feeding the fish oats at Nana and Pops house

He is very affectionate with Sadie and gets very mad at her when she runs away from him while he is trying to love on her.

He is a big climber and loves to climb on the couch and walk around on it. He has only fell off one time but thank goodness he wasn't hurt-he thought it was funny and laughed at himself. He knows how to stress his momma out!

He now can run and is actually very fast-I think he is going to have his daddy's speed and be an awesome football player!

For the most part he is still taking 2 naps a day(occasionally he will only take one and that makes our afternoons very hard and long since he takes his first nap around 10:00-12:30). I have tried to postpone his first nap to later in the day to make our afternoons a little easier but when he is done and ready to sleep-he is checking out(mentally and physically).

He is a very adaptable and laid back little boy. I was worried at how he would react when I started working prn but he has been awesome! If you ask me I think he really enjoys staying the day and playing with Nana, Byrdie, Granny or Aunt Baleigh but I'm not sure who enjoys it more-him or them??! They are all great babysitters and I am so blessed they LOVE and play so hard with him all day while I'm at work. Thank you all so much-I'm so blessed to have you all as my family!

Loves watching birds fly and bugs crawl-especially ants!

He now had a total of 11 teeth(4 on top, 4 on bottom, and 3 molars) and 5 more(his last molar and 4 "I" teeth) are on the verge of breaking through any day now-they are right on the gum line and he has been drooling like crazy and waking up in the middle of the night around 4:00am the past 3 nights when he tylenol has worn off crying out in pain! :(

He is now saying Momma, Dada, oot(hot), op(stop). The doctor said his speech is a little delayed but he isn't worried about it and said he will catch up.

He is very much in the the "monkey see monkey do" stage right now and will mimic anything you do.

He is showing more personality every day and is looking more and more like a big boy. It's so much fun watching him grow and learn but I just want to slow things down at the same time.

Landry's "park"

My mother and daddy got Landry this swing set for Easter this year....Can we say HAPPY EASTER LANDRY!! Haha! I know this is NOT be a normal Easter present and we had no idea they were getting it for him but he LOVES it!! Landry is at such a good age right now where he really needed a swing or slide or something to play with/on outside. Can you believe we don't have a singe tree in our yard taller than 6 feet! So we didn't have anywhere to put one up. We LOVE our house and I'm not complaining b/c we have been so happy in this house but the matter of the fact was Landry needed a swing-and my goodness did Byrdie and Dado get him one plus a little more! :) He loves his very own "Park." I have to say though-the slide has stollen the swings thunder. He will go down that slide as many times as you put him on it but he will only swing for about 2-3 minutes(once again-my son does not sit still long!) He loves outside and would stay out there all day if I would let him! He was stading by the back door the other morning before Austin left for work-and being the good Daddy he is he spared a few minutes, skipped breakfast, left for work a little later than usual and headed out to the slide to play with Landry to get in some good quality time with him. Landry was still in his pajamas so that actually helped him slide a little faster than usual. I was able to grab my camera and capture a few cute shots-you can see the pure joy and excitement in his face! Have i mention how much I love my 2 boys and how much God has blessed me??!

"MOOMOO" Seat

We finally got Landry a forward facing car seat! With me going back to work tomorrow(TEAR!) we needed a second car seat. Austin will be dropping Landry off in the mornings at either Nana, Byrdie or Granny's house so we really didn't have a choice. When he was born we bought the Chicco keyfit 30 b/c it would hold him up to 30 pounds which was great and well worth the extra money. But it doesn't allow you to turn it around and face it forward for safety purposes that is the downside and we didn't realize that till he hit the 1 year old/20 pound mark and we tried to turn it around. After months of research and asking around we got him the Britax Marathon with the "Cowmooflage" print. I loved the cow print and I think Landry does too! Before we get in our seat now I ask him "Landry do you want to get in your MooMoo seat?" And he immediately does the "please" baby sign! ha ha! I know he is much safer facing backwards but he is LOVING being able to look out the window and see what is going on! We let him sit in it on the kitchen floor the night it came in. I was so happy and excited for him that I took him for a quick ride as soon as he woke up the morning after we got it installed in my car so he was still in his pajamas. Here are the first pictures of him riding facing forward in his MooMoo seat! (And don't worry I was not driving and taking pictures....we were at a stop sign and I put the car in park so I could take a few shots!)

BIG accomplishment!

Wahhhooo!! This past weekend was the Nashville Music city 1/2 marathon that I have been training for since January and I FINISHED! :) Amber and Nathan ran in it also and I have to say a BIG thanks to them b/c if they hadn't helped/encouraged and trained with me there is no way I would have done it!
The race was so much fun and I really enjoyed every minute of it!They were calling for an 80% chance of rain/thunderstorms/straight line winds and tornadoes but I am so happy to say that it didn't rain on us while we were in the race! As soon as we got to the car and shut the door the bottom fell out and it started pouring-so it was perfect timing! I can't tell you how many signs I saw that spectators were holding in the side of the road that said "Run like a tornado is coming!" ha ha! It was such a great experience and actually kinda have the blues that it's all over.

Austin told me the night before that he and Landry would be waiting at mile 6 to see me and cheer me on...so needless to say I was looking forward to mile 6 more than I was the finish line. Well mile 6 came and went and I didn't see them. I was SOOO disappointed but around mile 6.2 I hear someone calling my name and it was Austin running along side the road with Landry in one arm and the camera in the other. My heart leaped for joy and it was just the motivation I needed! He had been calling my name and chasing me for about 20 yards but I didn't hear him b/c I had my ipod going pretty loud to try and cover the disappointment of not seeing him and help me keep going. Landry just smiled at me when he saw me and I ran over and gave him a quick kiss and kept running. After seeing my 2 favorite boys smiling faces I felt like I had just started the race and it gave me the extra energy I needed to keep going. Poor Austin ran all over Nashville with Landry and also met me at mile 9 and then again at the finish line-I have the sweetest husband who loves me more than anything. Also waiting at the finish line was my mother and daddy-I was so excited to see them and I could see the pride in their face when they were yelling my name and waving! I have to say this was the 4th proudest day in my life behind 1. being baptized 2. Landry's birth 3. Our wedding day. I actually got emotional at the finish line and cried tears of joy...I'm sure pure exhaustion played a part but I was so happy and proud of myself. Here a few pictures from the day.

I stole an idea from a friend of mine and had Landry a shirt made in honor of me. On the front it said "run momma run" with a picture of a girl running and on the back it said "Nashville Music City 1/2 marathon 2010." I just wanted to mark this day and remember it-Thanks to everyone who supported me by encouragement,babysitting while I trained 4 days a week, prayed for no rain(it worked), and most importantly God who gave me the strength to help me accomplish something I have ALWAYS wanted to do and thought it would never happen. I can't help think about running in a race without reflecting on this verse and I quoted it several times in my head Saturday "let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" Heb 12:1. Our life is the true race...I pray that I am running side by side with Christ.

Rough and Tough!

The older Landry gets the more fun he is to play with!! Austin loves to wrestle with him and I was able to catch some really cute shots of it the other night. I have glimpes of my life sitting at the ER one night b/c I see myself with a house full of boys one day and someone needing stitches from playing to rough! But they have fun and Landry loves playing with him. He LOVES his daddy! He now cries when Austin leaves for work in the morning. It's so sad b/c he knows when he leaves in the morning it is for a long b/c that is the ONLY time he ever cries when he leaves. This breaks my heart!! On another note-please pray for me!! I have decided to go back to work 1-2 days a week and I start a week from today! This was not an easy decision but I have to do something to keep my nursing liscense active and I would much rather work 1 day a week and make a little extra money than have to pay to go sit in a seminar. I feel that I need to take advantage of all the wonderful family we have so close to us and give them the opportunity to have good quality one-on-one time with Landry as well. I am just really having a hard time about the whole situation b/c I am so worried about him. It's Not that I don't think the "babysitters"(Nana, Byrdie, Aunt Baleigh, Granny) won't do a good job I am just worried about all the small things like: will he stay on his napping schedule? will he sleep good at someone else's house like he does at home for his naps(b/c he usually doesn't) and he is still taking 2 naps a day right now? will he miss me?(yes this is a BIG one in my head) what if i miss him saying his first "words?"(another BIG ONE!) what if? What if? what if??- That is what is going through my mind right now. But I know this is best and this will really help lessen Austin's stress level with having what little income I will be bringing in-so I just keep telling myself "I can do this, This is best for our family, This will be good for Landry, He will be just fine." I will be going back to the Surgery Center I was at before I left for my 14 months of maternity leave so I am really blessed that they took me back and are willing to work with me and let me only work 1 day a week sometime 2 days if they need me. So please keep me, Landry and Austin in your prayers as we will be going through this transition next week.

I love this action shot! his hair straight up and his hands are out to catch him.

12 Month checkup

Landry actually didn't go in for his 12 month checkup till he was over 13 months old. I just wanted to write these down while I remembered them.

Weight: 22lbs 14oz- 40th percentile

Height: 29 3/4"-25th percentile

Head Circumference- 47cm-75th percentile (More room for all those brains!)

He is growing and developing very well. Here are just a few cute things he is doing now:

When we say "turn around,turn around, turn around"(This is a part of a song off imagination movers on the Disney channel) he spins round and round in a circle till his is dizzy and sometimes falls down. He thinks this is so funny and it's so cute when he does it.

He cries every day when his daddy leaves for work. It is so pitiful but it makes Austin feel good. Landry really loves his daddy!

He LOVES playing outside in the back yard with Sadie and his favorite thing to do is get the rocks in our flower bed and throw them at the bushes.

When we put him down at night he is putting himself to sleep for the most part. We give him his milk, brush his teeth, and then rock him for about 5 minutes and then we lay him down in his crib and pat him on the back. Most of the time he is still awake when we lay him down but he usually falls asleep within 10-15 minutes without ever crying.

He is now starting to act shy to people he doesn't know if approached by them in public.

He is quite the performer! He loves love loves attention and the more he gets the more he performs!

I know there are some other things I want to share but I can't think of them at the moment...I need to start writing them down when he does them so I don't forget!

Officially a BIG boy now!!~1st haircut

Well i finally caved in and did it.....we got Landry's haircut!! Yes I did shed a few tears when we got back in the car to leave b/c it really makes him look so much older now. I had been putting this day off for several months b/c that was the only thing that was holding him back from looking like a big boy now that he is walking, only taking a sippy cup, no pacifier (he has never taken a paci though), and eating table food 90% of the time. I guess you can say I was holding on to it with all my life but Austin was REALLY wanting it cut. Deep down I knew it was time for it also b/c more than ever we had people calling him a girl especially within the last few weeks. That comment never bothers me though b/c I take it as a compliment...they think he's pretty. He did really well throughout the whole cut. He sat there and ate a few animal crackers, played with my cell phone and looked at himself in the mirror. So i guess it's official now....my baby is now a toddler! :(

Here are the before pictures:

And here pictures taken during the haircut:

Here is the final result:

Isn't he handsome! :) I have to be honest and admit that it took me a few days to get used to it but I love his haircut now...I mean I know I am biased but I don't think anything you do can make this little boy not cute! :) I love you Landry!

YEE HAW!

Well as usual we attended Mule Day 2010. Landry absolutely loved watching the parade. He was mesmerized by all the activity and mules going by. If you know Landry you know that he doesn't sit still for more than 30 seconds if he is awake but he loved watching the parade. It was a very busy fun filled day but we enjoyed every minute of it. We went to the parade and Landry even got to see Nana walking in the parade with Sheila Butt who is running for State Representative. Then we headed to Woodland Park and ate lunch and he played and played and played in the grass. We left from the park and headed out to my aunt and uncles house and went swimming. They have just recently redesigned their pool and they included a little area that is about 1 foot deep that connects the hot tub to the swimming pool and he had a ball playing in it! We then headed home to let little man get a quick nap in before we headed to the Maury County Park to watch "Grace the amazing Mule." She was a very smart and amazing mule! She could do all kinds of tricks like check the mailbox for letters, dunk a basketball in a goal, push a baby stroller, paint a picture(very similar to the elephant paintings) and many other tricks. You can look at her website here http://www.stevesamazinggrace.com/welcome.html. She is also going to be in a movie released sometime in July. We had a very busy but fun filled weekend.

Landry was such a trooper! He enjoyed every activity we went to but Sunday he CRASHED! He was so good in church and in Bible class but as soon as we put him in his car seat to head to my Granny's to eat(as we do every Sunday) he was sound asleep within 30 seconds! We are very blessed with a good natured, easy going, go-with-the flow baby! That's a good thing b/c we stay on the go a lot! There's hardly a weekend that we don't have something going on but we enjoy it!

Nathan and Amber got him an adorable outfit for his birthday that he was specifically suppose to wear on that day and it couldn't have been more precious!! I also loved how his cowboy hat was pretty much bigger than him! :) But he wore it like a champ all day! Happy Mule Day 2010!

Hippity Hoppity Easter!

I took so many pictures on Easter Sunday so I thought I would let the pictures tell the story. Enjoy and Happy Easter!

My sweet little boy in his homemade outfit made by my mother "Byrdie."

We missed you Alex so in your honor we put a picture of you in front of your chair and took a picture of you!

What else do you get a 1 year old for Easter other than puffs, yogurt melts, mandarin oranges and apple sauce?? All of his favorites!

Easter goodies from the Easter bunny...he knew all my favorite things!

Nana and Pops were at the Lads to Leaders Convention so they came over Easter night to check out my goodies from the Easter bunny.

Check out that sweet little bunny in his rabbit slippers,rabbit ears and chicken onesie. How can you not love him?? Oh and you can't forget the sippy cup-he LOVES to drink all day long! :)
All the men in our family-minus Alex

This is the AMAZING outfit that my mother made for Landry for Easter. I saw this smocked pattern in a picture of Evan when he was a baby he was wearing an outfit very similar to this that my mother had made him. I fell in love with the ducks on wheels. Thank you mother for this beautiful outfit-he looked PRECIOUS in it-I don't know how you find the time to work 2 jobs and do all the things you do! I love you! You are SO talented!

I think my granny is so beautiful! I love her so much and she is one of the most amazing people I know! She does so much for our family and is one of my heroes! I love you Granny you are such an inspiration to me!

What Big ears I have mommy!

A comparison of our family on Easter 2010 and 2009....what a difference a year makes!

By this point he was done with pictures....can you tell??

Look at those chunky legs....don't you just love it??

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter like we did!