A Little of Life Lately

I have been feeling the urge to really be consistent with blogging, lately. Mostly due to the fact that a friend of mine, whom I met through blogging, recently passed away and it's shaken me to my core. She was far too young to leave this earth so soon, but apparently God has different plans. The day before she passed I questioned myself and why I'm even stressing out about not being consistent with blogging. When I woke up the next morning with news of Leslie's passing, I knew right then and there the reasons I blog: because I've met amazing girlfriends through this blogging world, and because my children will be able to look back on our family's life.

So, I'm going to start with an update on our life in general...

Me: My job has been insanely stressful. The manager I support quit unexpectedly so I've not only had to do my job, but his job as well (all the while NOT getting paid a management salary - grrr). In addition, a fellow associate out of our sister office also quit unexpectedly just last week, so I now have to also do her job. I am so overwhelmed. I'm trying not to let it get to me too much, because at the end of the day it's just work. It'll all be there for me tomorrow.

I've recently lost 15 pounds! I started Weight Watchers a little over three months ago and have had a lot of success with it. This is the third time I've done Weight Watchers and each time it's worked for me, so it's something I plan to stick with long-term now. I hardly have any aches and pains like I did before and I have so much more energy. Not to mention the fact that I can wear clothes that feel good!

Kevin: The hubby is working hard at his job, as per usual. There was a time where he considered a new job with a completely different company in a completely different field; but once his current job got wind of his impending departure, they gave him an offer he couldn't refuse and he's still there. He ended up getting a raise and he's able to work from home every Wednesday - which helps me out tremendously with the kids!

Speaking of the kids...

Preslie: I've had Preslie's two year post in draft form for almost three months now. I need to just post it already or else it's going to be too long, since I just keep adding to it as the months go on. Miss P has a very strong personality that Kevin and I find challenging in knowing how to parent her. She gets angry and frustrated very quickly if something doesn't go her way and she reacts without thinking things through beforehand (maybe that's just a toddler thing?). On the other hand, she can be the sweetest, most smart little girl I've ever come across. She's a conundrum, that one.

She broke her wrist a little over a month ago while she was rough-housing with Kevin, which landed us in the ER the day after Independence day. It was a small fracture that required a cast for four weeks. She took it all in stride. She didn't even cry when they used the machine to saw the cast off! She always seems to surprise me. She's back to her normal, active self again.

We're currently in the first week of potty training. So far it's going better than I expected. We put her on the potty about every 20 minutes for 10 minutes at a time. She poops and pees in the potty with no hesitation at all. She has an accident about once a day so I think she's doing pretty good all things considered. She only wears panties (unless it's nap time, bedtime or we're in the car) and it's been SO NICE not to have to change her dirty diapers lately! She's nowhere near the point of telling us when she has to go, but we'll get there eventually. I will say though, this whole potty training thing has been hard for my Type A personality to deal with; the messes? the sanitizing? the laundry? the constant watchful eye? No thank you!

Landon: Our little guy is developing his own personality day by day. He's a very easy baby, super laid back and likes to have fun! We can't ask for much more than that! Since I have managed to keep up with his monthly updates, I don't have much to update about him here.

Kahlua: Little Poopy had to have her front teeth (top and bottom) pulled a couple months ago. Poor girl is getting up there in age and her teefers couldn't hang anymore. It helped with her breath for about two weeks, but now her breath is back to being rancid again. Ha! She'll be 10 in September and I can tell she's slowing down a bit. She's pretty tolerant of Preslie now (who is very kind and gentle with her) but she's not much of a fan of Landon yet since he's so spastic and not gentle with her. She'll get there.

Stella: Bubba Stell is still a good girl! Poor thing doesn't get nearly as many walks as she used to and she's been so restless at night because I think she has so much energy to release. We try and take her for a walk with the kids when we can if we're home on the weekends, but that's not at all consistent. Hopefully, it'll get better as the kids get older. she is so tolerant of both kids. Preslie kind of likes to stand on her from time to time and Landon loves to pat her, pull her tail, or poke her face. Stella just takes it, but she will get up and move when she's had enough.

This weekend Kevin, Preslie and I are headed to Reno to attend Kevin's cousin's wedding on Sunday. Landon will be staying back at our house with my parents. I'm looking forward to it because Preslie will get some nice one-on-one time with us (which she hasn't had in a while) and Landon will get good one-on-one time with my parents (which he hasn't had ever). So, win-win for everyone! I've been trying to talk-up the wedding to her and I told her who all is going to be there, that she'll get to wear her "pretty dress," eat cake and everyone is going to dance. When I say that, she'll usually do a little dance on the spot. Haha! She's also excited to sleep in a "really big bed" at a hotel.

Until next time!

Landon at Ten Months

Little Landon turned 10 months old on Saturday, August 1st!!!

Measurements

Weight: 19lbs 14.5oz -he's lost weight! I guess he's moving so much that he's just burning off all that baby fat. I'm not ready for him to do that, though!

Height: I really think he could be close to 30" long. He has stretched out so much this past month!

Appearance

~His hair continues to grow slowly, but surely. Some days it looks light brown and other days it looks a lot darker. I think he'll have stick-straight hair like his sister.

~Still just the two bottom teeth, but I can see four top teeth just waiting to break through any day now.

~His eyes are still a light color, but they've remained a gray color and haven't changed much lately.

Sizes

~Size 12 month clothes.

~He might be in a size 2 shoe but he doesn't really wear shoes right now so I'm not sure.

~We've switched to Huggies Pure & Natural (size 4) diapers because Honest Co. diapers started to give him a rash right around his boy parts. 

Personality

~Landon is in a stage where he's really taking everything in. He is very observant and very curious about everything around him.

~He is pretty quiet and low-key.

~He's started doing this grunt-laugh thing when he gets excited.

~He likes to laugh and smile, which is a big must in our family!

Likes

~He thoroughly enjoys eating!

~Still all boy and likes balls: football, soccer ball, bouncy ball, exercise ball - you name it.

~The kids has tons of toys and the only things he always wants to play with most are the remote and cell phone.

~He LOVES to roll around on a bed and be tossed around on a bed.

~He likes to wrestle with his Papa and his Papa loves having a wrestling buddy!

~Landon absolutely loves his crib. After his bedtime bottle he just reaches for his crib and has the biggest smile on his face once he's laid down.

Dislikes

~He HATES getting changed or dressed. Trying to keep him on the changing table is like trying to keep a greased monkey contained. Impossible!

~He doesn't enjoy being told "no." He's starting to learn what it means and if he goes near the dogs' food bowls and we tell him "no no, Landon" he'll stop and look up at us. So I know he's getting it.

Eating

~Well, we're officially done nursing as of his 10 month birthday. I don't have any regrets for stopping before 12 months, though. We had a great, last "hoorah" of breastfeeding the weekend we went camping and after that I just knew that that would be it. He hasn't had any "withdrawals" from the boob - so to speak, and he's just seemed way too busy to notice. It's also helped that he's taken a bottle, too.

~He takes three bottles a day of formula; about 7-8oz each.

~I had Landon on Similac Advance but he wasn't handling it well; lots of puking and multiple blow-outs each day. He was also fussy a lot. So I'm now in the process of switching to Gerber Soothe and I can already see a difference after just one day! I had started the transition from breast milk to formula about two months ago because I wanted it to be a slow process so my milk supply would naturally start to dry up, I could use all my frozen milk and Landon would still have an easy adjustment. Since he didn't have an easy adjustment once he was on formula 100%, I knew I needed to change to something that would be easier on his tummy. 

~Landon eats three solid meals a day and he pretty much eats anything and everything at this point (except peanuts).

~He uses a sippy cup like a pro and drinks a little water out of it throughout the day. 

~He's not a big fan of cheese.

Sleeping

~Still a solid sleeper; 11-12 hours each night.

~He's in a habit now of waking up at 6am for his morning bottle, then falling back to sleep until about 7:15.

~He takes great naps at home. Not as great naps at Ms. Kara's - too much fun to be had there!

Milestones

~Landon is finally crawling like a normal human being! Before, he would army crawl and his clothes and arms would get so filthy! Now he's on all fours and he's FAST!

~He pulls up to his feet to a standing position and cruises along furniture. 

~He doesn't sit in the bath chair anymore. He's a little cray cray in the bathtub now that he has all the freedom, but he enjoys it.

New Experiences

~He celebrated his first Independence Day!

~He experienced the kiddie pool for the first time (this was actually at 9 months but I forgot to include it in last month's update).

~He helped celebrate his little friend, Hunter's, first birthday!

~Landon had fun playing with his little buddy, Walker, at a BBQ we hosted this month.

~He experienced our first family camping trip. It was a bit of a disaster (thanks to Preslie - Landon actually did great), but it was an experience nonetheless!

~He had a weekend with just him and Papa while Mommy went out of town. It was a great time for him and Kevin to really bond.

We are just so smitten with this little guy!