Our life...

So the updates for me and James are that at the end of this month, James will have been at Wegmans for 6 months and he can now apply for a different management position with the company. Our hope is just that we can pay our bills and I don't have to work. This may sound naive, but I really don't think that Heavenly Father finally gave us our first child now, that I would have to work and have someone else raise him. May sound selfish or dumb to you, but it is what is in my heart. I don't even want to go to the movies or anything like that because I don't want to be away from him.
Anyways, I am going to start working for my Real Estate Agent again next week. He doesn't have a ton going on, but it should help a little. I have also gotten a few blanket orders on the website. I am really excited about this because I don't pay any money to advertise my website on anything, but somehow people are finding me. The cool thing is all of the orders except one have been from complete strangers in states on the opposite of the US. How awesome is that?! Well, I have to say, now I am motivated to work on the website some more. We haven't done anything to it for about a year and there are so many blankets that I have made since then! It isn't the most user friendly site, so it will take some time, but it is obviously worth it!
For those of you that haven't seen it and didn't even know about it, the address is:
www.quiltsbykista.com
Craft Show season is here. I haven't decided what to do with my little guy and all... So wish us luck!

Silly stuff from this week

No pictures, sorry. This week we were giving Landon a bath and the baby shampoo was just about out. So James squeezed it hard and it made that noise of air escaping very loudly. We looked at Landon and his eyes were huge and we said, "Oh, what was that?" and then... He just wailed! It was so funny because he doesn't do that very much. The funniest part was that he cried during his entire bath and wasn't consolable.
My favorite time of day has changed from bath time to every time he wakes up and I go to get him. He give me the biggest grin and we make waking up so much fun!
I love this so much!

Landon is 4 months old!

Well, Landon turned four months old last week, but we went to the Dr. yesterday. He is 15.4lbs, 25 inches and he got four more shots. He is actually having a hard time with the shots this time. So lucky me, he wants to cuddle more than normal. I love our normal cuddle time, so this is even better. Who cares that I have a bunch of stuff to do! Oh the best part is that he weighs enough now to have a full dose of Tylenol. Works out pretty good! This morning he was extremely hot all over, but no fever, how does that work?
Landon and I have just had a ton of fun with each other this week. We just laugh and laugh all day. Well, I laugh and he gives me that huge grin I love so much. He is still working on his laugh. Lots of loud squeals and funny noises. He started changing his cooing noise a little. He still coos, but before he does that he sings. It is hilarious! I laugh almost the whole time, but that doesn't bother him. I will try and record it. He is doing great with the cereal. He sucks it down and then still empties me out. Of course it is only about 2.5 to 3 ounces of cereal. This week my allergies have been acting up so bad that I think my allergy medicine (that I take all year long) had to work harder and started to dry up my milk. So, I drank about 5 bottles of water (that is crazy for me) and it came back with a vengeance. Along with many trips to the bathroom the next day!
When I told the Dr. that he only takes a few 30 minute naps during the day, she asked how long he sleeps at night. I said,"Well, I guess about 12 hours" and she said, "there you go!" I guess I should have thought about that on my own.
Landon has started walking forward holding on to our fingers now. It is so much fun to see him get excited about these things. He still can't get his one shoulder out of the way to roll over whenever he wants, so he turns in circles all over the place. It is so funny to see him get around the room. Of course, after the snake, I try to keep him in the middle of the room away from furniture.

Landon starting cereal...

On Thursday, besides the copperhead scare, Landon turned 4 months old. Since I have been having a hard time keeping up with him food wise, we started him on cereal. I don't know why I tried to spoon feed him this watery stuff, but it was fun to see him work his tongue! For it being so watery and it being his first time using his tongue in this way, he did pretty great!!! A lot more stayed in his mouth than got on his bib, even though it may not look like it in the video. We just kept going until he was done. I think I'll wait to spoon feed him until the food has more thickness and texture though.

Last week Landon actually entertained the Binky. I am sure because of the teething, but I'll take it! So we decided to try to give him the cereal in a bottle. He took it and had absolutely no problems! He has never let us give him a bottle before this. I even was able to give it to him on Sunday! James is now working Sunday evenings, so it is just me and my little love bug. It is kind of weird since our Sundays have always been just a veg day and we love to spend time together. So now I just spend time with the miniature version of James :)

Copperhead scare...

Don't know why these pics are loading vertical, they are horizontal...

Okay, this snake is small, but not sure if it is a baby or adolescent.
This morning I was washing out my cereal bowl and saw something wriggling around on the floor by my feet. I instinctively jumped back and there was a small copperhead snake under the cupboard in striking position. I called James but he didn't answer, then I called my brother Javier who used to catch snakes as a kid. He mentioned getting a neighbor. So I called my friend Carrie and asked if her husband Michael was home. He wasn't home from working yet, so I told her what was going on and at this time I was in panic mode and crying. I didn't want it go somewhere else, and it was in striking position so I wasn't going to try and catch it... She told me to call animal control and she would be right over. I called animal control and they said someone was on the way. We have a kitchen that is right off the garage and has a door way into the dining room and a walkway from the garage door to the rest of the house. I kept going from one entrance of the kitchen to the other and trying to catch him off guard, but every time I got to one entrance, he was already looking in my direction. He was not only ready to strike, but he was very smart...
So, Carrie got to the house and told me that Michael had just gotten home and was right behind her. He came in and shined the flashlight on it and confirmed that it was indeed a copperhead snake. They brought a bucket to catch it, but the way it was under the cupboard, that wasn't going to happen. I was so worried that they would get bitten I just wanted to wait for animal control. Eventually Michael decided to smash its neck with a camping prong and took it outside. I was so relieved that it was dead and didn't hide somewhere. About an hour later the animal control guy showed up and just verified that it was a copperhead. He was turning it over with his snake prong thingy and it started to move. I jumped back and he said, "Don't worry that is just me moving it." And then it moved its head in his direction and he said, "Oh, I guess its not dead..." and then he killed it, AGAIN.
I still am a little freaked out. All day I have been looking around every few minutes for any other snakes that might be lurking and I have been trying to not walk next to any furniture that I can't see under, which is just about everything. Well, I am not ready for winter, but now, I am so ready for it to get really cold!
Of course the words of wisdom from my brother Bryan were" Kista, if that snake bit Landon, you wouldn't know what was wrong with him and he would die." Thanks Bryan, like I wasn't already worried enough.

Cute little froggie outfit!

Look at how flexible this kid is! He turns in circles all the time by doing this.
His bib says Ribbit-ribbit

If you look close you can see some frog hand prints on each side of his bum.

I am so glad that this outfit isn't too small for him yet! So adorable! It brings out his blue eyes even more too.

Soccer player already???

This weekend Scott, Jes and the girls made a surprise trip up from Charlotte, NC to visit. We went to the pool on Saturday afternoon and as usual, James and I took turns with Landon while the other went swimming. It was my turn and Landon and I had gotten pretty toasty in the sun (this was also the one time that neither or us had any sun screen on) so I was using this little water ball to cool him down without him getting too cold. (The nights have been really cold at night, so the water was too cold for him to enjoy) I was kind of zoned out for a moment (needed a nap badly) and when I looked down I saw that Landon had taken the ball out of my grasp and was balancing it between his feet. Check it out! It was pretty cool.

Also, that morning we were getting ready and he was chilling in our bed and had a little cough. So James coughed at him and then the next thing you know they were coughing back and forth. It was hilarious and of course I didn't have the camera near by. Then last night before bed he was nursing and he would stop and grin at me and then nurse again, then stop and repeat it over and over until I was giggling and that made him want to do it more... Such a funny little guy! His personality has certainly come out! He has been trying to find his laugh lately. He makes these noises that sound like a cough, yell, cry. I hope he finds his laugh soon, that noise is just concerning...

Another thing he has started doing is he laces his fingers through mine when nursing. I love it!

James is working his first Sunday shift tonight. It makes me sad just because I know that Landon has to get a bath from boring old Mommy tonight. Oh well, one night a week won't kill him! He'll just realize how much fun those nights really are.

More silly videos

This video was taken this morning after we woke up. It goes a little long because he stopped wiggling and started watching the camera so if it gets boring, you can stop watching it. Landon has sadly grown out of all but three of his pajamas for 3-6 months already but luckily we have a bunch of gowns that will work until he is big enough for the 6-9 month pajamas. He is going to be taller than me when he is about ten I am predicting...

This week with moving Landon to the crib has been interesting. It has been much easier than him sleeping in our room, for sure. So glad that I decided to do it! The first night was rough, every two hours he woke up to nurse and then the last stretch was three hours. The next night he woke up once to nurse, and then the same the rest of the week. There were two interesting nights where he woke up and was up for a good while, once when I changed him and the other I don't know why... that night he was up for two hours. I got some organizing done...

We had to let him cry himself to sleep a couple of nights and he did it. YAY! One night we put him down and he slept for seven hours. GOOD JOB LANDON! It is up to me at nights though, I figure it is pointless for James to get him for me when I nurse him and rock him in the rocking chair. The hard part about that is that I am so awake by the time he goes back to sleep I am awake for a while trying to go back to sleep. I am not sure just how much sleep I am getting, but it is definitely more than when he was in our room.

We have also started taking walks this week because of the nice weather. We go to James's parents neighborhood because they have some pretty good hills to walk and it isn't too far. About 1.3 miles. Now it is a family thing. Every night we start around 6 or so and just have fun together. Bailey loves seeing Landon every night now. She wants to hold him all the time and gets excited to see the new tricks he is learning. She got to see him walk backwards across the living room and hear him talk up a storm the other night. She has yet to see him roll over, but I'm sure she'll get to see that soon too! When she sees him spit up she says "Gross!" And she is fascinated by his boy anatomy when I have to change his diaper. She can't wait for him to start eating real food. I'll just have to keep an eye on her when he does, she has already asked if he likes nuts. Yikes!

Here is more of Landon jumping. I think the video is way better than the last one. Such a funny energetic little guy!

A Wonderful Week Outside

How many butterflies do you see on the butterfly bush? Look closely, there is one that you might not see at first...
His outfit says 'The King of Cute'. I have to say that I agree!

This week we have had wonderful cool days and very chilly nights. Every day we go and sit out on the front porch until either Landon gets tired or the dumb dog across the street comes outside and barks at us. It has been a lot of fun to just sit and watch the nature around us. Like I said before, we basically live in the woods and except for the deer that have come around this year and eaten all of our hostas and begonias and lilies and baby maple tree, I love it! It is basically quite. Our neighbors have three yappy dogs, one of which is a territorial terrier and he will bark at us until we go inside. So annoying. Sometimes I wish I hadn't given James's Beebe gun away. : )

Anyways, last year I bought a butterfly bush. (I love butterflies) Last year it bloomed a little but this year it got huge and we have had a ton of butterflies! So I try to count them when we go outside. One day there were five. Three of the yellow and black ones and two that were dark brown with orange spots. So fun!

We've had a hummingbird come by every year since we have lived here. I can't wait until we are playing outside when Landon is running around!

Landon's Snugga-Luv

Sorry, didn't realize this was wrong until I uploaded it and I am too lazy to fix :)

I finally decided on the turtle for Landon's Snugga-Luv. It has dark brown minky, blue satin on the back and edged with the orange satin binding. The turtle has soft and fuzzy threads so it also has a fun texture to play with! The first time I gave it to him it was a hit. Now it goes in the car and everywhere else Landon goes.
I don't know if Landon can have a favorite color yet, but it seems like blue and orange are turning up a lot. I'm sure if he didn't have blue eyes, he wouldn't wear as much blue. : )

He loves it! There are a ton of slobber and drool stains on it already. I love that he loves it!

New videos

Thank you so much Natalie for the Bumbo and tray. Landon loves it and the tray will be so great when I need to get things done and he can start feeding himself. Obviously it is great now too!

HOLY COW! This kid went crazy in his jumper today! This video is pretty long, but I thought it was entertaining! He did this for about a half hour. He is in it again right now. Man he cracks me up! Oh, he is looking at the banana that hangs... and the fan, his favorite form of entertainment still.

Landon has graduated to the crib!

I forgot to mention in my last post that Landon is not napping during the day and if he does it does not last very long. It has been going on for about three weeks now. The last week has been pretty miserable to say the least. On Sunday night I decided, well, if I am not going to get any sleep anyways, I might as well take this opportunity to take the boppy out and try and graduate him to the crib. That way when he is asleep James and I don't have to tip toe around and pray that when we climb into the squeaky bed, it won't wake him up. So, I did it. All by myself too, because it was Sunday night, I try to let James sleep as much as possible to start off the week right. I did indeed wake up every two hours. At one point I had the most horrible dream as well. It was incredibly real. I dreamt that I was lying in bed trying to go back to sleep and I heard creaking in the stairwell and then a woman whispering on the baby monitor. I was terrified and I couldn't move or talk. It took me several minutes to move my hand enough to try and wake James. I pinched and patted and hit and tugged at the blankets and finally he woke up and I could barely whisper that a woman was in Landon's room and to hurry and protect our baby. As soon as he got out of bed the dream took a turn for the weird and then I knew that I was dreaming, but that first little bit was a nightmare! I hope that never happens again. But I know it will. I have had several dreams like this since we moved into this house. We live in the woods off a quiet driveway and I always dream that someone is breaking in. I hate it!
ANYWAYS... yesterday Landon went back to his not napping at all during the day. I was so worried that he wouldn't sleep in the crib again last night that every time I put him down for a nap, I put him in the crib. The longest nap lasted a half hour. He probably slept for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours yesterday. He was so tired last night that he was ready for bed by 8pm. So we put him down and about a half hour later he was up again. (Did I mention that this has been going on for quite a while... some nights we have to put him to bed about 5 times before he sleeps for the night)
So, after talking to my good friend Heather and asking her advice we decided to let him cry it out. We have tried this before on several occasions and it has not worked. One night he went four hours before we all needed to sleep and we gave up. Well, last night it worked! He cried himself to sleep and it was a fabulous night! He only woke up once. Hopefully this continues. It is weird not to have him in the same room and have to be quite when I turn over in bed, but I think I can get used to it. :)
The weather out here has gone from hot and steamy to chilly and clear! I love it so much! We went for a walk last night and it was wonderful! I think that we will have to take advantage of this weather as much as possible. I know that soon it will be cold. This summer went by way too fast! Oh another highlight to my weekend: I was able to squeeze my way back into my favorite pair of pre-pregnancy shorts! They are still a little tight, but not embarrassingly so and it was enough to motivate me and keep my spirits up about losing the rest of this weight that I gained.