Tues/Thurs School Fall Festival

Last week Landry had his fall festival at Tues/Thurs school. He was so cute running around with all his friends and he kept grabbing my hand and leading me to everything in his classroom. I could just hear his sweet little mind thinking "I'm so excited to show you what I do at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays momma!" I was VERY skeptical with putting Landry in this Mother's Day out program and to be completely honest-I was toally against it at first. However, after 3 months of being in program I can say now I am SO glad I did this for him and me! He loves his teachers and classmates and always has a blast at school and I either work on Tues/Thurs or get all my errands done for the week while he is getting to play at school-thats a good trade in my eyes! :)
I also think it's good for him to go interact with other kids his age and me not be right there beside of him. I love fall and everything that goes along with it but a few of my favorite things are festivals, pumpkin flavored food/drinks, cool crisp weather, beautiful leaves changing and so much more I could list. Hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as we are!

Fun with cousins~

We did so many fun things while we were in Wisconsin a few weeks ago. Here were just a few of the highlights from the trip: we decorated cupcake monsters, went to a apple orchard/pumpkin patch, walked around the block and looked at all the geese in the ponds located in their subdivision, played dress up with tutu's, and took a bubble bath but mostly we had FUN! Landry has now nicknamed Martha (Emmie) and calls Wyatt (I-at). It took the little guy a little while to adjust and learn how to share toys but as soon as he started getting it down pat it was time for us to leave. Such a sad time! The whole time we were at the airport waiting for our flight home Landry kept saying "Bye Emmie...Bye Emmie! Broke my heart to hear him say that but also made me smile b/c he loves her! What I wouldn't give for Landry to grow up close to his cousins-but trips like this will hopefully keep them close even though there is quite a distance between us.













This was the last picture I took of our trip and I feel it sums up our long weekend. I love how the are holding hands-so sweet!!

"My child will never _________" (you fill in the blank)

Last weekend we packed our bags and headed up to Wisconsin to see Martha, Chris, Nora and Wyatt(a whole post of it's on coming soon). We had to wake Landry up early Saturday morning b/c our flight left around 8:30 and from the moment we went and got him out of his crib he just wasn't himself. I was scared he was getting an ear infection b/c several times Friday I saw him pull and dig in his ears. But I didn't think that much about it b/c he will do that when he is tired or sleepy. Thankfully he has only had 1 ear infection in his whole life and I just thought "yea he is just tired."

Well I say all that to say I blame Austin for this next part!! It was Landry's first time to fly and I was so nervous about him having to sit still for that long-he is on the go all the time and doesn't' have time to sit still. Throughout the whole flight he was great-he didn't make a peep and was just waving at the stewardess that would walk by, the people sitting behind him and anyone else that would give him attention. When he wasn't finding someone to wave at or talk to he watched Elmo aka "Melmo" on his portable DVD player or was looking out the window at the clouds and would say "Whoa!"
So when the landing gear came out and the wheels hit the concrete I thought "He did AWESOME-why was I even nervous!" Well no longer than that thought came into my head I hear a child SCREAMING bloody murder at the top of his lungs. I had to look around b/c i just knew that wasn't my child's scream-it was way to loud and sounded like someone was mistreating that child and it was unlike any scream I have heard before. I quickly realize that child screaming IS MY CHILD-WHAT!!! THATS MY CHILD SCREAMING?!! What in the world!? I had NEVER heard him scream like that before in all of his 19 months old of life! I just wrapped him in my arms as tight as I could and "shhhh" in his ear until he calmed down which took a good 30 second to a minute but let me tell you it seemed like a lifetime b/c we were only on a 60 passenger plane so everyone could hear him loud and clear!! I was so embarrassed when we were getting off the plane that I just apologized to everyone we passed. Thankfully everyone said "That's OK-I'm sure his ears were popping." Thankfully he did great on the way home and since we had a night flight he had a great time looking out the window at the stars, moon and lights of the cities. I think I sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star about 10 times within the 1 hour and 10 minute flight.
It was so cute and I loved watching how excited he got on the plane. It was a memorable first flight but we survived. This picture was takes right before we took off and you can tell he wasn't in the best of moods. There is a story behind his face in this picture but I better not share it on here. :) Althought we had a rocky and stressful start to our trip that didn't stop us from having a blast with our family. We miss them so much already and can't wait for our next trip to Wisconsin.
So at this point your probably asking "why do you blame Austin for that screaming fit he had when we landed?" Well here's the answer-ever since I have known Austin he did not like it when babies or kids screamed! If we were in a restaurant and a child would scream he would stop eating and take a deep breath and lay his fork down b/c he couldn't concentrate to eat with the child screaming. Whenever we would get on a plane (before having kids of course) Austin would always look around at who was sitting next to us and pray under his breath that a baby wouldn't be next to us. Don't get me wrong Austin loves kids and babies just not shrill high-pitched screams coming from kids and babies. So I BLAME him. I have learned something in these past 19 months of Landry's life NEVER SAY "MY CHILD WILL NEVER __________" b/c chances are just b/c you said that they will prove you wrong! So just b/c Austin has always said "My child will never scream in public" Landry had to show him one good time and make him tuck his tail between his legs. Throughout the whole trip Landry just wasn't his happy go lucky self! I KNEW (mother's instinct) that something just wasn't right with him but I didn't know what. I guess we are fortunate enough to have only had that one incident like this in public in his 19 months of life but I'm holding on tight b/c I knew there will be many many more to come. We got back home and I took him to the doctor and sure enough double ear infection and his left one was very infected. Poor baby was miserable all weekend and I felt so bad. Anyways just as my mother always told me "never say never" and I blame Austin! :)

My little pumpkin at Gentry's Pumpkin Patch

We had the best weekend with Landry! We took him Gentry's Pumpkin Patch in Franklin and he had a blast! It was the cutest place and we were so impressed with all the activities they had for the kids to do. We put Landy's adorable pumpkin outfit on him that morning and as soon as he saw it he said "Melmo" aka "Elmo" b/c he saw the big eyes on it. ha! I had to explain to him that it was a pumpkin and not Elmo. So the rest of the day anytime he would hear someone say "Aww I love his pumpkin outfit" or "Oh I like this pumpkin"(referring to the pumpkins in the field) he would immediately point to his outfit and smile at them rather they were referring to his actual outfit or not. ha! We started off with letting him pick his very own pumpkin off the vine and this is the one he choose: . He thought it was so much fun to run through the field full blast but bless his heart he learned the hard way several times to pick his feet up high or the veins would trip him. They had wheelbarrells for you to load all your pumpkins in and we found us an extra special pumpkin and loaded him up. :) You can also tell in the picture where he is pushing his own barrell that he is making the car noise. :) They also had a ton of sunflowers that you could pick for free but unfortunatly since it has been so dry here lately they were all just about dead-but that didn't stop the bees from enjoying them. After we left the pumpkin field we went into the farm area with all the activities. He got to see and pet several different farm animals including goats, chickens, turkeys, pigeons, cows, and horses, played on a play set in the shape of a tractor, go on a hay ride through the farm, eat homemade pumpkin bread, play in 3 different barns, and run his little heart out through a corn maze. He had a BLAST to say the least and was worn out when we left. He could have stayed in the corn maze for at least an hour if we would have let him and played hide-n-seek! But we moved on to all the other activities b/c he was getting hot (hence his pants legs and shirt sleeves rolled up) form all the running he was doing while we chased him and vice versa. He LOVES that game right now. We are planning on taking him back one more time before Halloween if the weather stays nice for us! If you live in this area-I would highly recommend it. I picked my pumpkin and he came home with me as a tired little boy!
I LOVE FALL and everything it brings! This is definitely my favorite season. Just give me something pumpkin flavored, some spice tea, my wonderful husband and my sweet little boy with his precious smile and I will be happy. Happy FALL everyone!

"The apple doesn't fall far...."

Lately I have gotten so many comments where people are FINALLY saying "He looks so much like you!" If you cover up his eyes which are absolutely no doubt his daddy's beautiful almond shapped eyes-he looks exactly like me-he has my nose, my lips, my cheeks, my shapped head-everything but the eyes! At least that's what I think...you can have your own opinion but I like finally saying after 18 months that he looks like me! :) In my eyes "The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree-even if it's a different gender!" :)

Me at 2 years old:

Landry at 18 months:

"Memo"

Just like most little boys his age Landry LOVES fish!! His new favorite is a little white and orange fish name "Memo" aka "Nemo!" My parents have bought him one these fake aquariums that scrolls round and round and that is what helped spark his love for fish.
Well a few weeks ago when we decided to go to Gatlinburg for a quick weekend trip we both just knew we had to take Landry to the Ripley's Believe it or Not Aquarium. It turned out to be a perfect day to go b/c it was drizzling rain but the bad thing was everyone else decided it was a good day to go as well so it was a little crowded. Landry didn't know the difference but a stressed Mommy and Daddy sure did b/c we were the ones trying to chase this little one around all those people. We actually took the stroller in thinking he would ride in it but boy were we wrong! He wanted to stand up with his nose to the glass! Austin and I had been to this aquarium about 6 months after we got married and were very impressed with how nice it was. So we were even more excited thank usual b/c we were looking forward to going back and experiencing it again through Landry's eyes! Let's just say it was a lot more fun this time around!! Wouldn't you know as soon as I try to take the first picture the battery went dead so I had to take pictures with my cell phone so please excuse the quality! Just as we thought he LOVED it. He had so much fun and he walked doing his little lip smacking noise he does for fish the whole time we were there. Although we bought him a stuff clown fish that looks like "Nemo" in the souvenir store I think his favorite of the day was the jelly fish.
They were by far my favorite pictures that turned out. Lucky for this little boy we are going back to Gatlinburg in a few months with Nana, Pops, and Grandma so he just might get to see all those fish one more time!
I will say as a side note that Landry has on his UT jersey that Austin bought for him b/c it was a game day. I don't normally let him wear that stuff out in town but I allowed an exception this day since we were 45 minutes from Neyland Stadium and his daddy was going to the Oregon game later that night. If you know me you know I am big on dressing Landry like baby as long as possible especially when we go out in public. I feel that he will have the rest of his life to wear team jersey's, bluejeans, and T-shirts(ect.) and I won't be able to get him in onesies and jumpers forever! I want to keep every part of him as babish as long as I possibly can! (That's just my opionion though!) :)

Birthday Surprise!

With me working PRN at the Surgery Center these days it gives Landry a wonderful opportunity to visit and spend some quality one on one time with some of those special people that he loves dearly. Yesterday was Grandmas birthday and Nana had the day with Landry so she decided to drive to Paris and surprise Grandma with a visit. Grandma was SO excited to see him and said it was the best birthday surprise ever! Beverly sent this picture to me at work on my phone so I just had to share it. Just look at that smile she has on her face! :) Landry is so lucky to have such a wonderful family. I asked him when I got home from work who he went to see and he said "anma." Happy Birthday Grandma we love you and Landry had a blast spending the day with "anma"!

Allergy Test

Last week Landry went to see an Allergy doctor to see if something he was allergic to could be causing his Asthma attacks. The doctors have finally gave in and are calling his attacks inhalation allergy induced astham. I couldn't have asked for Landry to be any better during the appointment. The nurse came and in and gave him a total of 32 yes you read that right-THIRTY TWO shots in his back. She gave them 8 at a time and the only sound he ever made was a tiny bit of a whimper with the last 16 but never a single tear came out of his eye. He just looked at me with sad eyes and didn't understand why they were hurting him(this made me want to cry!) They had to wait 20 minutes and reevaluate see how his back responded to the shots. As I'm sitting there looking at his back I keep seeing little red dots pop up and I knew the results weren't going to be good. The doctor came back in and kinda smiled at me and said "Well he is definitely allergice to a lot of things!" He is allergic to 23 of the 32 things they tested him for-talking about breaking my heart! I want to take all these nasty allergies away for him and make him healthy and his lungs strong. They explained to me that he was allergic to so much that when he would breathe in these allergens he is allergic to his body's automatic response is for his lungs to swell since he is inhaling them. He gave me a LIST of things to do to try to minimize his attacks. Here are just a few: Vacuum the house daily, wash his linens weekly, heavy linens in his room monthly, no going outside when grass is being cut or when anyone who lives around us is cutting their yard, dust the entire house weekly-and the list goes on and on. As he is sitting there telling me all this stuff I am shaking my head "yes I understand and I can do that" but in the back of my mind I am thinking "When on earth am I going to get all this housework done every single week?! But I WILL do whatever it takes to keep my baby healthy so I will find the time no matter what! They can't tell at this point if this is something he will struggle with his whole life or if he will outgrow it but my preayer is that he will outgrow this! So I am asking you to also please continue to pray for Landry and his lungs to outgrow this asthma I don't want him to struggle with this his whole life!

Late update

Where has to time gone?? Yes I realize it has almost been a month since I last posted. Let me tell you it's hard trying to sit down and post b/c the times I do actually get to have free time is becoming very limited here lately. Here's a quick update on Landry's life right now and some of the things he is saying and doing:
His speech has REALLY taken off lately. Every day he will mock something I say and I didn't even know he was listening. This is keeping me on my toes. I don't say anything I am ashamed of but there are a few of those words that I don't want my 18month old saying and then start repeating. For example last week I had just let Sadie our house dog outside to go potty. We got a nice 6 foot privacy fence about 6 months ago for her so she could get some energy out and run around and play without being n a leash. Well we have a few rabbits that have decided to make their home "SADIE'S BACKYARD"-this was not a smart move on their choice! So now she is more obsessed with chasing rabbits in our yard then going to the bathroom. Yes this is a huge problem! So anyways I had just let her out to go potty and 5 minutes after she came back in she went to the bathroom in my house. I was not a happy camper to say the least-so I got angry and said "Stupid dog!" well little did I know he could try to repeat those words and out of his little innocent mouth I hear him saying "upid og!" WHAT!! Where did that come from!? So needless to say I have to watch my temper and be more careful with what I say-it's good for me though I'm not complaining. Here are a few other favorite things he says right now:
response to "are you hungry?" "MMMMMMMMMM!"
walk into a restuarant- "MMMMMMMM!"
"Peas" with a HUGE grin on his face = Please
Nathan= "naaaa naaa" Dont worry he says it differnt from Nanna!
Aunt Baleigh= "Beee"
sees a truck= Dad-oooooo and he carries out the "ooooo" since Dado drives a truck he thinks all trucks are Dado's
25lbs 6oz as of last week when he went to allergy doctor- this will have a post of its on coming soon.
loves reading!
Says his prayer about 5 times before eating-I caught myself the other night about to tell him that was enough but then the verse about "faith like a child" popped in my head and realized I shouldn't tell him to not pray even if he does it 30 times before he eats!
Trying to say 3 syllable words like butterfly, and Olivia a good friend of his(yes i know that 4 but it only comes out 3)
Loves drinking from a straw
Not a great napper here lately-not too sure what that's about b/c he has always been and excellent napper!
He will walk around the house and point out all of Mama's shoes laying in the floor and all of daddy's shoes and he knows who's are who's

These are just a few of my favorite things lately but as any mother I could go on for days about all my favorite things b/c that's pretty much everything he does. I will have more post soon with some pictures-I promise!

Hospital Retreat

Well unfortunately Landry had another breathing spell this past weekend. He was retracting(stomach muscles pulling inward) with each breath he took and was wheezing a pretty bad and his rescue inhaler wasn't working for him this time. So the doctor felt it necessary for us to admit him to the hospital. So we ended up in the hospital for a day and a half so they could give him breathing treatments around the clock and watch his oxygen saturation. He wasnt feeling or sounding good at all when we got there and it broke my heart to see him in that hospital crib with the little hospital gown on that just about drug the ground bc it was so big on him.

I will just go on a bragging blog here for a minute and just say he was the BEST patient on the unit. He thought he was at his very own retreat all weekend. Not only did we think he did so good but the doctor on call that weekend said the same thing as did ALL the nurses that took care of him around the clock and the respiratory therapist that were in and out of our room every few hours all weekend. They would have to go get each other with each shift change and say "I'm sorry I just had to show them how cute and sweet your little boy is. I just have the best patient ever and they are so jealous!" He stole the show and somehow became the center of attention even on a pediatric unit at the hospital-he always seems to get attention somehow! ha! I was really worried about my little guy all weekend! I was anxious at how he would do with them coming in the room ever 2 hours during the night to get his vitals and give him his medicine but he was a champ! He slept right through all the commotion Saturday night and never knew they came in his room-it was another story for Austin and myself though! Thankfully he is doing much better and they let us come home yesterday. They put him on 4 different medicines for the rest of the week and will now on will be on a preventative medicine for 30 days to hopefully keep this from happening again since this was his 3rd spell since July 4th weekend.
They still can't officially diagnosis him with "asthma" b/c he isn't old enough. But they all but came out and said it was asthma and there is something that is triggering these episodes either an allergy to something or just random attacks. But once again they can't officially say what his allergies are b/c he isn't old enough for testing yet. This is very Frustrating-I just want to know what's causing my baby to not be able to breathe and get rid of it and make it stop! But in the mean time we will continue his medicines and try to prevent another one from happening. I took these pictures with mt cell phone while we were there so the quality isn't the best but I wanted a few shot of our little man this weekend. Please notice his little booties/house shoes he has on in these pictures! they are so cute on him and he LOVES them! Nathan got them for him when he went to Guatemala last month!
This was the last picture I took before we left the hospital-as you can tell he was feeling much better!