Practically twins...

The other day Landon was looking at this precious picture of John Michael as a little boy. He said, "Mommy, yook! It's me on dis wocking horse!" I said, "No, buddy, that's Daddy! But it looks just like you, huh?" He then said, "Yeah, it does! Because I have jeans! And a head!"

(I took a picture of this photo with my camera, due to not being able to get my scanner to work. In other news, I love my iPhone.)

Who knew? All it takes for a doppelganger are jeans and a head! On a side (parallel?) note - it really is adorable how much Landon looks like his daddy, no?

Christmas Cards - yay!

So although our family has decided to do New Year's cards each year instead of Christmas cards, I still love, love, LOVE to begin receiving Christmas cards shortly after Thanksgiving. Yay! I get so excited! I always have to display them all, because we love seeing photos of our family and friends (and most everyone does photo cards now anyway :)) throughout the Christmas season. Each year I've tried to put mine on a table in the living room, but last year, I bought a magnetic wire photo holder and made it into a circle and put it on the wall, so it looked like a wreath of Christmas cards. Genius! It saves room, and I don't have to deal with any of our friends ending up face-down on the table - ha!

As far as making our cards goes, I am excited this year to try a new-for-us card company, Tiny Prints. I love their designs! Check their holiday cards out here. They're having a special deal this year for bloggers where you can get 50 cards free if you post about them. LOVE IT! I am so excited to pick out our design. It's going to be hard though!

Hurry and check it out - I'm not sure how long the deal lasts, and it's definitely not one to let pass by!

Halloween

(Okay, I know how late this is! I've got quite a few posts to catch up on - I think it looks like I'll be going backwards...)

We had another wonderful Halloween here! As with the past few years, both sets of grandparents came over for dinner and to help with our trick-or-treaters while we took the kids out. Addie has been asking for months to dress up as Cinderella for Halloween, and we didn't hate that idea since she had the full costume from our trip to Disney World. Landon, on the other hand, was a bit more of a challenge, as he insisted he wanted to be a princess :) If he were older, we would've let him do his thing, but I didn't so much want him hating us ten years from now ;) He ended up choosing a firefighter costume and he was adorable!

John Michael and I took the kids together and made it to about five houses before Addie and JM kinda left Landon and me in the dust. And Landon was really eager to get back to the house to see his grandparents, so it worked out pretty well. I have to say that one of the highlights of the evening was him singing "Patty Cake" at the top of his lungs while we were on our way back home. Our neighbors got a big kick out of it.

The babies had so much fun and were so good while they were trick-or-treating! They also enjoyed helping pass out candy back at home and were great helpers. The sugar high wore off after a couple of days, too, so that was good... :)

[Okay, turns out this is somehow the only picture I have from Halloween?! Nana? Mimi? Anyone?! I promise they had a blast, smiled a lot, and we took pictures outside, just not sure on whose camera the pictures are... :)]

First Parent-Teacher Conference

Okay, so our first *official* parent-teacher conference. I once had a conference call with one of Addie's preschool teachers, but it was about a week after Landon was born and it took me a good four or five minutes to realize who I was talking to - HA!

ANYWAY. Back to the story at hand.

:)

So, we went early Monday morning to meet with Addie's kindergarten teacher. We had been asked to list any concerns on a sheet that we turned in to sign up for our time. The only concern we had was that some of Addie's work was coming home messy. As in, looking like a two-year-old had done it. She has always been so particular with her artwork and handwriting that it was a little concerning - was she rushed or hurried? Also, last week, she had been whining (obnoxiously, and every evening) that "Math and Phonics are tooo haaaard..." Again, this was kind of concerning because there has never been a single thing (school-wise) that has ever been "tooo haaaard" for her.

So we arrived Monday morning and Addie's teacher had her report filled out. Her strengths were listed as kind-hearted, hard-working and diligent. She told us how all of Addie's classmates just love her and how sweet she is to everyone. She also asked us if she has an older brother, because she said that she watches her on the playground and she "doesn't take anything off of ANYONE!" WOOHOO! This was probably one of my proudest moments, given my struggles with timidity/assertiveness. :)

ANYWAY - she said that with regards to the sloppy coloring, that all the kids get competitive and want to hurry to finish their tasks first and that she's having to work with them on this. That didn't necessarily make us feel better, but at least we're not alone. We mentioned the whining about math and phonics and she just laughed and said, "I will tell you this - she is definitely not struggling with either." She did explain to us that their math block is NINETY MINUTES LONG and it's right after lunch. Can you imagine? I can't imagine sitting through math for 90 minutes now, much less as a five-year-old. She said that this is a new math program this year and that she and the other teachers are figuring out creative ways to break up the teaching/learning.

Addie's teacher also showed us Addie's kindergarten testing that was done two weeks before school started. She said that she was impressed, and we were, too! Addie was already "near-mastery" (the goal of Kindergarten being "mastery") for almost all of the subjects, and at "mastery" for some. She still has plenty to learn, obviously (the least of which are patience and non-whininess ;)), but we definitely feel good about where she is.

One thing Addie's teacher warned us about and told us to be on the lookout for is the clique-y behavior of girls. She said she's already starting to see some of it in her classroom so she is giving all the girl parents a heads up. I mean, REALLY?! I expected this conversation from say, a third or fourth grade teacher, but I can't believe in Kindergarten. *Sigh.* Hopefully my "kind-hearted" girl will miss a little bit of this. I can hope, right?

All in all, it was a great conference about our sassy little girl!

Yet another difference...

...between a boy and a girl. I know for sure I never would've had this conversation with Addie at 2 1/2 (or any age, for that matter :)).

Landon: "Mommy, look! A little gold leaf!" [If you want the full effect, it was, "Mommy, yook! A yittle gold weaf!" :)]

Me, as I'm taking the 'leaf' from him: "Cool buddy! Thanks!"

Landon: "I'm just kidding Mommy - that was a booger!"

Awesome. :)

Two and a half

Hooray! It's a half-birthday! It's the only thing almost as fun as a birthday to me :) I cannot believe that Landon is 2 1/2 years old. To say it has flown is a huge understatement, but I know, I know - I say that at each milestone post.

Landon is still just an absolute joy. I can't lie, I feel like lately he has spent about half of his days in Time Out, but still :) He saves up all his "two year old" behavior for mommy and daddy. Isn't that just the way it goes? His teachers all still adore him and act like they don't believe me when I tell them about his epic tantrums. Awesome :)

Even given his tantrums, he is still about the sweetest little boy ever. He has such a loving heart and is so compassionate but is also ALL BOY and loves to rough-and-tumble. He'll just cry if he thinks he's hurt you :) He has what I consider a far advanced sense of humor and it is becoming clearer how stinkin' smart he is! YIKES! He loves pretend play and doing anything that Addie is doing.

We had thought he was going through a picky eater phase lately, which concerned us a little until we visited the dentist a few weeks ago and it turns out that he is getting all four 2-year molars at once! Our dentist asked if he had been fussy lately (see Time Out mention above - ha!) or had trouble eating. Yes and yes! So we're hoping that they finish soon and we'll have our little table monster back.

As far as potty training, he is a pro! And by "pro," I mean he is a pro at refusing to go. HA! We have still not really started potty training. I don't foresee us doing it anytime soon, either. He is just not interested AT ALL. He did use the potty at school last week and his teacher was so excited to tell me. I said, "That's great! I kind of expected for him to not potty train until he started Kindergarten!" Both of his teachers said, "Yeah, me, too!" Talk about a stubborn little booger. Whenever we ask him if he wants to start wearing big boy underpants or using the potty like a big boy, he says, "No, not yet." We'll get there one day! But it really is true what they say about boys being more challenging to potty train than girls...for us at least :)

Okey doke - some little Landon tidbits -

* Reverse psychology poster child. All you have to do is convince him you don't want him to do something...

* Whenever he asks a question and you respond with, "I don't know," he says excitedly, "I don't know eeder (either)!"

* One of his favorite things to say is, "Oh! That's right!" and he uses it to act like he always knows what's going on - like someone else would say "duh!" For example, L: "Daddy, what are you working on?" JM: "It's a hydrogram, buddy." L: "Oh - a hydrogram. That's right!" Cracks me up every time :)

* After nearly everything he says, he'll make sure you're listening by asking, "Okay, Mommy?" or "Okay, Daddy?" or "Okay, guys?" But you cannot answer if he wasn't asking you, or else he'll say, "No! I was talking to Daddy!"

* For the past few months, whenever anyone asks him "Do you understand me?" he'll say very timidly, "Yes, ma'am." I have got to get this on video because it's the cutest thing ever. EVER.

* On the weekend mornings, he is not allowed to get out of his room until we come get him (safety, not being mean). A month or so ago, we heard him over the monitor saying, "Mommy! Daddy! Addie!" over and over again. After a few minutes, he said, "Hey Mommy! It's not funny anymore!"

* Another morning, he was doing the "Mommy! Daddy! Addie!" thing again and he said, "Somebody get me out of here or ELSE!" We didn't wait to see what the "or else" would be :)

* Is still a good bedtime baby but has started putting up a little bit more of a fuss lately, wanting to stay up with Addie!

* Will sit and play by himself and sing for looong stretches of time. I got a few minutes of one of these on camera the other day - having trouble uploading right now :(

* Has two volumes: silent and LOUD. I say on a regular basis that he is my "karma baby" - for every mom I have ever judged (pre-kids, of course, because when else are you a perfect parent? ;)) for "not being able to keep her kid quiet," I get it back tenfold. He is the happiest, loudest little boy ever! Whenever we try to settle him down with a game of "Quiet Mouse," he'll scream, "No! I am NOT playing kiet mouse! I am Loud Mouse!" Teehee. Hard to argue with that one.

Landon Matthews, we just love you so much, cutie pie! You keep us on our toes for sure, but we wouldn't trade our crazy days with you for anything!

(pictures and video(s) hopefully to follow!)

Confession time

Okay, time to confess. Although Addie's first half-day of Kindergarten was easy for me, the first full day was not so much. We had planned to drop her off ourselves at school for the first few days, but at the parent meeting on Monday night, we were asked to use Thursday as a day to start their routines since they'd have extra helpers at the school to help. So, we decided to do just that. Because our work days begin at 8 a.m. (roughly :)) and Addie's school begins at 8:30 (with the doors to the school opening at 8:15), we decided to keep her enrolled at her daycare's before and after school program. She will ride the school bus to and from there. So now that I've given the background, back to Thursday ;)

We arrived at the daycare at our normal time and got the kids checked in. We knew the bus would be coming soon, so we decided to wait to be with Addie. Let's just say nothing can prepare you for seeing your five-year-old get on a school bus. Or maybe I should say nothing could prepare ME for seeing MY five-year-old get on a school bus. :)

Addie was so excited to ride the school bus. She climbed up completely fearless and with a huge grin on her face. I, on the other hand, started weeping immediately and didn't stop until I got to work. And the waterworks started back up every time I talked about it that day. She just looked so little! How did this happen?

Of course I worried all day that she would have trouble making it to her class and back on the bus that afternoon. To say I was relieved to hug her happy little self that afternoon is a huge understatement. But her happiness was shortlived and soon we were dealing with tears. What made her cry? Hearing that she had to wait until Monday to ride the bus again :) Love my sweet little big girl!

The Big Day!

Do I really have a kindergartener? Seriously?!

Addie has been so excited for the past few weeks about starting Kindergarten. We went school supply shopping a few weeks ago (note: NOT a good idea because we ended up having to go back for Rounds 2 and 3 because SOMEONE kept getting into her supplies...and I can't blame her...). We made a paper chain countdown so that she could have a more visible and tangible reminder as to how far away Kindergarten was. She was thrilled! She loved ripping each chain off every morning (well, she stopped this past week because it was easier for her to understand one week :)).

Anyway, last night I went to the Kindergarten Parent Orientation at her school and found out that one of her good friends from preschool was in the same class as Addie. I texted my mom to have her tell Addie, and by the time I got home a couple of hours later, Addie was bouncing off the walls with excitement! We chose her outfit last night and she reluctantly went to bed (after asking me allll about her new teacher).

This morning was a little hectic as John Michael was out of town, but we got Landon taken to preschool after lots of pictures and a few fits of him wanting to go to Kindergarten, too. Sweet boy. :)

Addie and I arrived at her school a little early and had to sit in the car for about five minutes. She kept asking to go inside over and over again. Finally, when it was 8:10 (the school opens its doors at 8:15), we got out of the car and took lots of pictures. One of Addie's first daycare friends was there with her parents (who we've become friends with) and so we took pictures of them together. Then Addie's friend Emma (the little girl in her class) got there so we took some more! Then it was time to go inside - hooray!

I have to say, Addie's excitement made everything so easy and I wasn't the least bit teary. That is, until we went inside and a teacher saw Addie and said to someone else, "Aw, look at the cute curly-headed girl! She's so little!" I then got choked up. She is still so tiny, it really is hard to believe that she is a Kindergartener! But Addie was barreling through the school, so that moment was fleeting :)

We made it to her classroom and we were the first ones there. Addie acted timid for a split second and then was off to check things out. I honestly think she forgot I was there - ha! By the time I left (seriously, no longer than five minutes after we got there) she was already sitting with her friend Emma and was talking to another little girl. I had to call her over to me to say goodbye. Now I know how my mom felt when she said I called her over on my first day of Kindergarten and said, "Mommy, you can go now." HA!

Today was just a half-day for the girls; boys go a half-day tomorrow, then girls go a full day Thursday and boys go a full day Friday - they all start together on Monday. I went in to work for a couple of hours and then headed back to pick her up a little after noon. Her teacher brought her to the car and she said, "She is just about the sweetest thing I have ever seen! I wanted to just pick her up and squeeze her!" So not only is she cute, but she's good at fooling people, too. ;) Seriously though, she is precious and I was so proud to see that her teacher realized it on the first day.

Addie told me all about her day on the way to meet Mimi for lunch and it sounds like she had a blast! By the time we got home from lunch, she was already figuring out what to pack in her backpack for her first full day on Thursday. She has also already packed her snack. Too cute!

Her teacher seems absolutely wonderful and we are so excited for the school year. We're just hoping her eagerness continues!

Cheekwood Art Camp - Guest Post by Nana

Nana took Addie and Landon to Art Camp at Cheekwood June 6-10. Here is her recap of the week! Thanks, Nana, for writing about it and even more for taking them. They had a blast!!!

We are members of Cheekwood so we take our grandchildren there as much as we can. I received notification about the Summer Art Programs at the end of 2010. John Michael & Nathaniel had attended art camp as children and given Addie’s artistic abilities, I knew I wanted to take both Addie and Landon. The classes are highly prized and fill up fast. I was traveling on Saturday, January 22 on the sign up day and was frantically trying to get online, email and call to be sure we got a space. That afternoon the Camp Director left me a message that we were signed up. I WAS SO EXCITED!!! WE WERE GOING TO ART CAMP!

June 6 rolls around and John Michael brings Addie and Landon to our house. They were very excited. I was too. Landon & I were enrolled in the 2-4 yr Guardian & Child ARTStart – Summer Sampler from 9:00-11:00. Addie was enrolled in the 5-6 yr Mixed Media Madness from 9:00-12:00 then in Summer Sampler from 1:00-4:00. The “plan” was for Landon and I to hangout and wait for Addie, then have a picnic and Addie would go back for her afternoon session. Landon & I were to be flexible and hang out in the gardens or go to the office. The weather was beautiful and clear but HOT – 95+ degrees every day.

Miss Adrian was our teacher and we learned about lines the first day. We colored, pasted and painted. Landon enjoyed it. Addie’s morning teacher was Miss Aimee and she worked in water colors and made a nice painting. I packed a picnic lunch for us on Monday and Landon and I played with leaves and made airplanes to pass the time until Addie was out (note to self bring more to do tomorrow). After Addie went back to her class, Landon and I went to the office because the gardens are closed on Monday. We came back to pick Addie up and she did an amazing painting in Miss Rachel’s class (Miss Aimee’s non-identical twin sister). Addie was explaining that you can “fill the page with color” which she did. I think that was an AH-HA moment for her.

Tuesday we painted with large sweeping strokes. Mostly Landon was interested in eating all his snacks – that boy can pack it away! Addie brought home more watercolor paintings. A lot of the things she did had different things to add each day. She always came out of every class beaming! Landon and I picked up chicken strips at Publix and came back for another picnic. The locusts were still out so Addie basically sat in my lap, scared of the bugs. Landon and I spent the afternoon in the gardens visiting the bullfrogs and dragonflies in the pond and the train exhibit. We met up with Addie’s class at the trains also. Cindy Jo’s husband, John, is one of the train engineers at the exhibit. He let Landon hold Thomas The Train and wear one of the engineer’s hats! All the classes had outdoor time all week to visit the museum, the gardens, the trains and to gather items for class. While Landon and I enjoyed it, it was WAY too hot. We spent the rest of the afternoons that week at the office.

Wednesday, Landon and I worked with texture and made some clay tablets. Lunch, requested hot dogs from home, was eaten outside at the picnic table close to the building where there weren’t many locusts. After the first day, Nana knew to bring books, markers and paper to pass the time until it was time to go back to class. That girl NEVER got tired of drawing. Matter of fact, she drew at our house in the mornings until we left and drew in the car to and from class.

Thursday, Landon and I glazed our clay tablets and did resist printing. He enjoyed rolling the paint on the plexiglass. Addie continued to work on her projects to bring home at the end of the week. She always had a little something to show for her day though. We met Daddy and PaPa for lunch at the Sportsman’s Grill at the Hwy 70-100 split. It was nice to be in the air conditioning. It was cute, they both wanted to sit next to PaPa so he sat in between them.

Friday was hat day. We worked on small projects, as we were to clear everything out for the week. Landon and I made a mobile out of sticks and leaves he colored. Addie requested McDonald’s for lunch so Landon & I went out to pick it up. I was surprised when she said she wanted to have a picnic. We did and the locusts were not as bad. Addie brought some neat projects she made, a painted turtle made out of a bowl and an interesting sculpture head. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be a self-portrait or not.

All in all it was a good week and I was thrilled to get to spend so much time with my grandchildren. What a treasure! A few weeks later, I asked them if they enjoyed Art Camp. Addie beamed saying yes and she would love to go back next year. I asked Landon if he wanted to go back and he resoundingly said “NOOOO” - not just NO but NOOOO! Oh well, we’ll find something else special to do with him. It was still a great experience.

Landon and Uncle John at the trains

Nana and her babies!

It really was...

the "happiest place on earth." For the week at least :)

We got back from Disney World (two weeks ago) and had SO MUCH FUN! It was my first time to go (I love the reaction I get whenever I tell people that :)) and it exceeded my very high expectations.

We left Saturday morning around 8 a.m. To say I was dreading the car ride would be the understatement of the year :) (Airfare for four just wasn't in the budget due to the last-minute-ness of our trip.) We were set up with a new DVD player for the car - one that has screens for each headrest - and John Michael and I had discussed not turning them on until it was necessary. After all, we survived car trips as kids without them, right? We had a movie going before we were on the interstate :) Ha!

The kids were absolutely WONDERFUL in the car. Landon had one meltdown (again, this was before we had left town and let us know it was "time" for DVDs :)) and after that, they were angels. We stopped at an awesome rest stop (seriously) just past Chattanooga and got the kids popsicles and that just about made their day. We then stopped for lunch a little before Atlanta and let the kids run off some energy. I will say that if I didn't adore Chick-Fil-A before this trip, this would've really sealed the deal. LOVE that place :)

We kept on with our trip and Landon took a good nap. This thrilled Addie as she got to choose two movies in a row - ha! Once he woke up, we took an ice cream break at a Dairy Queen, and then headed on to our stop for the night in Valdosta. Our "BFF"s, the D'Amicos, had already arrived at the hotel and so we met up with them for dinner. We took the kids to a park and let them get out (nearly) 8 hours worth of stored-up energy, and then headed back to the hotel room to get some rest before completing our journey Sunday morning.

First, I have to say that my little chatterbox Landon was so stinking cute when we were trying to get him to fall asleep. He kept asking us all if we were still awake and talking to us about our day and how we were going to see Mickey. If I hadn't been giggling so much, he probably would've had an easier time going to bed. Hindsight. :)

So we got up Sunday morning and headed on our way - only four hours left to get to Orlando. The trip went fine - the kids were just completely tired of being in the car. We got to the rental house and their energy came right back! We searched vrbo.com to find a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with a swimming pool that was about 10-15 minutes away from the parks. It was a great deal and it was nice to have the option to cook and also be able to wash clothes. The kids loved having the swimming pool right there, too. The one bummer is that the hot tub wasn't able to be used. That would've been reeeeally nice after some of our long days walking miles and miles at Disney!

Anyway, after a rough time getting the kids settled on Sunday night (and by kids, I mean the ones 5 years old and under and myself - I was soooo excited), our Disney week was officially underway!

Monday morning, we got to the park super early. We had planned on getting to the park (Magic Kingdom) right when it opened, which we thought was 8 a.m. After a few stumbles in the plan, we arrived at 8:30. I was a little disappointed, because I had heard about the "rope drop" that happens upon opening. Well, turns out the park didn't open until 9 a.m., so we were there with plenty of time to spare! We were thankful for our lolly-gagging kids and the wrong turns we had taken, after all, as waiting to get into the park for an HOUR would've really pushed everyone over the edge :)

Us waiting with our "1st Visit" buttons!

The rope drop was quite cute. All the characters came in on the train and they sang and danced for a few minutes. Then, they opened up the park, and we were off!

We rode all the good "little" rides (Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World - which I admittedly LOVED - Toy Story), watched Philharmagic (awesome!!!!), watched one of the shows at the castle (can't remember the name) and watched a parade (can't remember the name of that one, either :)). But the highlight of our day was when we went to see the princesses at the Town Square Theatre. Addie was excited, but I must say that Landon was ECSTATIC! It was absolutely precious to see both of their faces when we walked into the room with Cinderella, Belle and Aurora. And I must say that the actresses were absolutely wonderful. They were so kind and didn't rush the kids at all. And they talked to them like adults, which surprised me (I guess I admit that I expected "kiddie talk" or something :)). I may have been a little giddy myself, and I was never a "princess" girl growing up!

Belle, Addie and Landon discussing the "Beast" on Landon's shirt (a tiger with the words "Wild Thing" :))

We headed back to the house and ate dinner in on Monday night, and then the four of us went back to the park for the Electrical Parade and fireworks (the D'Amicos decided to call it a day, and we almost followed suit, but I'm glad we didn't!). Ah-mazing. It really was magical. Addie fell asleep right after the parade so she missed all the fireworks, but Landon was awake to watch them and he and I shared a Dole Whip (yum). He fell asleep very shortly after they were done, and rather than try to exit the park with the thousands of others, we went against the crowd and walked around for another half-hour or so. John Michael and I really enjoyed this "quiet" time! Plus, it was quite cool to see everything all lit up :)

Tuesday, we pretty much took it easy all day (swam, played hide-and-seek) and then decided to head to Downtown Disney for dinner. One of my work friends had suggested T-REX for dinner, but when I had tried to make a reservation online, I had no luck. Kris called and was told that if we arrived before 4:15 or after 8:30, we should be okay. We thought that sounded way too early (the later time wasn't even an option with the kids, of course) but decided to head down to check everything out anyway. By the time we got there, we decided to give it a shot, and got right in (at about 4:45)! With a party of 8, we were pretty excited about this! The timing actually worked great for dinner, and the restaurant was SO COOL! Dinosaurs everywhere and they had a "meteor shower" every 20 minutes. Addie wasn't the biggest fan ("It's too scary!", but Landon, Holland and Quinn LOVED it! After dinner, we went to the Lego Store where the boys all built with the Legos outside the store, and to the huge Disney store where Addie got her most prized possession, her Cinderella dress (the other parts to the outfit were obtained day by day - she had actually gotten the gloves the day before).

Wednesday, John Michael and I decided to take Addie and Landon back to Magic Kingdom to revisit the princesses, see Mickey and Minnie and check out Frontierland and Adventureland. We did "It's a Small World" again and also rode "Splash Mountain"! Addie went with John Michael and I went by myself. I think Addie was braver than I was! I no longer apparently have the thrill-seeker mentality that I used to. I spent most of my ride trying to convince myself that I would more than likely not die so I should just relax and enjoy it. Yes, I'm serious :)

Thursday was another take-it-easy day with an evening in Downtown Disney. Our dinner was terrible (not to mention overpriced!) at a place called Cap'n Jacks. However, we found a margarita stand where I got an awesome grapefruit margarita :) And the kids played in some little water fountains and had a blast. Landon kept getting squirted in the face and he found it hilarious. Within a few minutes there were about 5 or 6 people who had gathered to watch him and they were laughing hysterically. I didn't know whether to be offended or giggle with him (and I know you all know which I chose :)). They were all commenting on how stinkin' cute he is. What a little mess :) We also walked over to Pleasure Island. It looked fun! It'll definitely be somewhere we'll go back if we're ever there with babysitters!

Our last day was Friday. This was one of the two days that we had "planned" out. And I still use that word quite loosely, because if you talk to many families preparing for a Disney vacation, they have every. single. hour. planned out. Not us, and I am SO glad we didn't. No room for disappointment :) ANYWAY - we planned for Friday to be our Hollywood Studios day because it was a Star Wars Weekend, and Holland and Quinn (and all the grownups, of course) love Star Wars. I admit - it was so cool seeing all the Storm Troopers walking around. We also got to see the Star Wars parade which was AWESOME and very well done! John Michael and Addie went on the Star Wars ride but since there was a height requirement, Landon could not go. We went with Quinn and Lynn to play at the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" area instead. Very cool, but Lynn and I decided it should've been called "Honey, I Lost the Kids" because it was pretty difficult to keep up with them! We also all did the Toy Story Mania ride (VERY fun!). For lunch, we did the character dining at Hollywood & Vine. Leo and June (from Little Einsteins), Handy Manny, and Special Agent Oso were there and walked around. Addie and Landon adored them. They were so excited to see them and give them hugs and get their autographs. We had hesitated doing this lunch because character dining is fairly expensive, but we were SO GLAD we did! The look of pure joy on the kids' faces made it completely worth it :) We then went to the Little Mermaid show and a Disney Junior puppet show. The kids were enthralled. Nothing like having all your favorite Disney shows all packed into one 27-minute show.

We all packed up Friday night and left Saturday morning. Like all vacations, the end was bittersweet. We had so much fun but were of course ready to get back home! We had one more stop though - we stayed Saturday night and all day Sunday (we left at about 10pm...not smart...) at our friend Nick's dad's home at Lake Martin in Alabama. It was amazing. We actually got a full day to relax and enjoy the sun and water!

We didn't get home until 2 a.m. Sunday and boy, were we exhausted. But we had so much fun! The only complaint we had was that it was HOT, but hey - nothing we could've done about that :) We can't wait to go back!

This poster summed up our trip perfectly.

My Five-Year-Old

Addie Leigh,

Last Tuesday was your fifth birthday. FIVE! I can hardly believe it. I look at you every day and wonder where the time has gone. I love when you ask to watch "Addie movies," because it seems to me that you should still be as little as you were when most of those were taken! And although it sometimes makes me sad when I think how quickly you are growing up, my goodness - I wouldn't trade the fun we have now for anything! You're my sweet little peanut and my favorite "teacher," "cashier," and "mommy" when we're playing pretend. You'll never be the "student" or the "daughter" and it cracks me up every time - especially when I slip up and call you by your name and you so quickly correct me and say, "No, it's Miss Addie," or "No, it's Mommy!"

You have also decided that you like to be rocked for a few minutes before bedtime. I love that you love "rock-rock time" as it gives us time to talk about your day. Oh how I love this! I love how you tell me how many of your classmates got on yellow light or red light that day. It makes me giggle especially hard that you'll gloss over that part of school if you were one of the guilty parties - ha! Thankfully that is not too often. You are constantly bragged on by your teachers as one of the smartest, sweetest students in school!

You're still my little stinker, too. Your tantrums have definitely gotten better, but you still know how to throw a good one. But I guess you're just trying to keep things interesting, huh? :) That you do! There is certainly never a dull day with you around, sweet girl!

I just can't get over how the past year has seemed to really take you from being a baby to a little girl. Watching you every week at gymnastics reminds me how big you're getting! You're still super petite size-wise, but you look and act like a BIG GIRL! When did this happen?! If you wouldn't mind slowing down, I'd be just fine with that! ;) You told me the day before your birthday that you wish you could be four forever. I had to bite my lip to not tell you that I agreed! :)

Addie Leigh, you are my "favorite girl" and I love you "even bigger than a house"! I am excited about all the fun things we will do together while you're five years old, and also the fun things you'll learn and do on your own (not the least of which is going to Kindergarten! EEK!). Thank you for being such a precious baby girl. You make me SO PROUD to be your mommy!

Addie's five-year stats:

* teeny - 39 1/2 inches (3rd to 5th percentile)

* 35 pounds (25th to 50th percentile)

* wearing 4T clothes, although she insists she needs 5Ts now - she can wear some :)

* size 7 1/2 or 8 shoes - little feet just like her mama and daddy!

* loves, loves, LOVES to write words. She has lots that she can write on her own without any spelling help

* according to her teachers, can read quite a few words and can sound out a lot more. She is still playing bashful with reading at home but will point out some simple words to us and can find some words when asked. Dr. Hood seemed impressed with the reading (probably more recognition) that we could verify ourselves, so that's good!

* loves to play pretend - school, store, family, princess and dolls, you name it!

* loves to play UNO! and board games and is quite good

* so excited to start kindergarten!

* so excited to go to see Mickey next week!

Twinkle, Twinkle - Second Go-around

A couple of years ago, I posted a video of Addie singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," so when I heard Landon singing it a few weeks ago, I knew I had to catch one of him singing it as well. So here it is, a little late. He was a little more into watching whatever was on tv than he was into singing, but you get the gist. :)

Roughing it, and...not.

This past weekend, I went with the Lynns and Leslie to Atlanta for a girls' weekend! We left Friday afternoon and stayed through Sunday morning. What a blast! More on that in a minute. But first, what did John Michael and the babies do while I was gone? Well, Uncle Nathaniel was in town, so they did what he does best - went camping!

Okay, so I have to admit that when John Michael first told me that they were going camping, I thought to myself, "Phew! Dodged a bullet with that one!" Camping is not necessarily my idea of the most fun in the world. But I have to tell you, after hearing about their campout, I am super sad I missed it. According to all the grownups (JM, Nana & Papa, and Uncle Nate), Addie and Landon had a blast and spent a couple of hours in the tent talking and singing with one another. It brought back awesome memories of my childhood and my brother and I singing (loudly) at the campground some songs with choice words (nothing too bad, but we replaced half of the words to "Hotel California" with the word "fart"...hehehe...my parents were mortified to say the least :)). ANYWAY, John Michael took plenty of pictures, so here goes!

And about my NOT roughing it...we had so much fun in Atlanta! We ate, ate, ate and shopped. We started out Saturday morning at H&M and hit bank. It was definitely an "on" visit. Then we went to Ikea where I got some shelves I've been drooling over for months. That made for a cozy ride home in Lynn R.'s Saturn Vue - good thing Lynn D. and I love each other so much :) I was practically in her lap for the ride home. HA! Anyway, we then went to Flip Burger where we had awesome burgers and the most amazing milkshakes ever, made with liquid nitrogen. I got the Strawberry Shortcake one, Lynn D. and Leslie split the Nutella & Burnt Marshmallows one, and Lynn R. got the pistachio one. Mmmm...I need to figure out how to recreate those. Sans liquid nitrogen, of course, 'cause that's just crazy talk.

After lunch we went to Lenox Square where I got to see my "favorite friend" Elizabeth!!!! Oh how I miss her. I only got about an hour with her but we had a blast :)

Then we rushed to get ready for dinner at Woodfire Grill. I don't watch Top Chef, but it is Kevin Gillespie's restaurant, who apparently was second place on a season. Lynn D. and Leslie are huge fans :)

Hmm. I don't know if I have words as to how amazing this meal was. We opted for the five-course tasting, which meant that we didn't know what we were getting - for any course - until they brought it out to us. They brought each course and explained what everything was. After dinner (and after Lynn and Leslie telling our server how much they enjoyed watching Kevin on tv), they gave us autographed menus, complete with a header that said "Happy Birthday, Lynn." It was so much fun and we had lots of things I never would've ordered from a regular menu (quail, pork belly, beets, bison, sunchokes, I could go on - there was a lot of awesome food). I would very highly recommend going. Plus, the service was wonderful. Our server's name was Kristen so that probably had something to do with it, no?

We went to a rooftop bar after dinner where we enjoyed the "supermoon" and the amazing weather. Plus, I ran in to one of my closest friends from law school, Matthew, and his fiancee! What a small world! He does not live in Atlanta, but they were flying out of the Atlanta airport the next morning to go on vacation. Crazy.

We headed home late Sunday morning. Although we had an awesome time, I was quite excited to see my sweet little family! Addie and Landon had had a blast with Daddy, Uncle Nate, and Nana & Papa. I didn't get quite the overly excited greeting I was hoping for, but sometimes even mama can't compete with camping and being spoiled with love by your uncle and grandparents :)

Welcome to having a little boy?!

Two years old. Two years and five days old, to be exact. That's how long it took for Landon to enter true boyhood and get his first (hopefully only, but I'm not holding my breath :)) set of stitches. Ah, little munchkin.

Last Friday, I was volunteering downtown for the Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Championship. I was a "floor monitor," helping make sure things were going smoothly on one of the floors of the courthouse where teams were competing. I had left my personal phone downstairs at the volunteer check-in center and only brought my work phone upstairs. In between rounds, I went downstairs to get a drink and checked my phone. I saw that I had a missed call from daycare along with a voicemail. The missed call was at 4:45, so I knew that wasn't a good sign, since we normally arrive a little after 5:00 to pick the kids up (by that I mean that usually if it's that late in the day, there's no need for them to call us for minor illnesses, etc., since they know we'll be right there). I listened to the voicemail and it was the Assistant Director saying, "Hey Kristen, it's Judy - Landon just tripped and fell and has a little cut on his head. I'll just give John Michael a call." I couldn't figure out why she needed to call either of us for a little cut so close to the end of the day, so I just called John Michael. He was already on his way and had talked to Judy. He said she told him it was bleeding quite a bit and so he told me he'd call me once he got there.

My phone rang about 15 minutes later and he said, "Yeeeah...we're gonna need to be seen for this." Yikes. He called the pediatrician's office and they said to go on to Vanderbilt E.R.

I went back downstairs to tell the Mock Trial leaders that I was leaving. Actually, I ate dinner first because I knew they were still in Spring Hill and I had time :) Then, I left and headed over to Vanderbilt, and John Michael and Landon arrived a few minutes after I did.

I was impressed again with Vanderbilt. We waited for about an hour and a half, which at the time seemed like a long time but I know it really isn't in the grand scheme of things. They put some numbing gel on the area right when we got there, so he never had to have a shot or anything! The staff were amazing with Landon, and he had a blast in the waiting room (although he did keep coming over to me, grabbing my hand and saying, "Come on, Mommy! Let's go home!"). He charmed a few of the parents in the waiting room and made friends with a six-year-old boy. He also crawled around all over the floor and stuck his hands in his mouth. Still shuddering about that, almost a week later. Ew.

When it was our turn, we went upstairs and the doctor confirmed that stitches it would be! He and the nurse kept telling us to be prepared for Landon to be really upset and cry a lot because they'd be swaddling him while they did the stitches. Our little brave boy barely cried, and only after the fourth stitch (out of five)!!! He was so good. Both the doctor and nurse gushed over how well he did and told us how they had never seen a two-year-old be that good! I know it's just that he wasn't aware of what was going on, but I was proud nonetheless.

Thankfully, they used absorbable sutures, so we don't have to go back! I'm not sure that he would be as good as he was for a Round 2 :)

(Okay, I took one picture and it makes his injury look FAR worse than it was, so I've decided not to post it...but rest assured, he was adorable and quite happy most of the time while we were there!)

Baby boy

(I got scolded the other day by one of Addie's classmates for calling Addie "Baby." I told the little girl as nicely as I possibly could that I would call my children "baby" as long as I wanted to :))

My sweet baby boy is TWO YEARS OLD! I truly cannot believe it has been two years since I wondered whether my heart would grow to love another child. I think it's hilarious to think about that now :) Landon makes my heart so happy. He is just about the cutest little boy I think I've ever seen. He is such a happy little guy and gets so excited about things! His emotions are so strong. His tantrums make us laugh hysterically because he is so. very. serious. about them. I think Mike (Papa) said it best when he said that they are really quite ineffective. We do at least try to hide our laughter, don't worry :)

Today we had the grandparents and D'Amicos over to celebrate Landon's birthday. He has been so excited for his birthday. This morning he kept telling us, "I be four! I be four!" Awesome. Landon had so much fun opening his gifts (with the help of Addie, Holland and Quinn) and gave us all a laugh when he excitedly said about his first present, "IT'S A BOX!" Too cute. He didn't realize there was something even more fun (in the adults' eyes, at least) inside! The next one he opened was a tall skinny box, and as soon as it was unwrapped he said, "IT'S A RECTANGLE!" The kiddo loves his shapes :)

(p.s. I know parents say it all the time, but why do we not just give our children boxes for their birthdays? :))

I think he had a wonderful birthday today. He was extra good today, too, so I'm hoping this is an indication that we'll have the "terrific twos" instead of the "terrible twos" (ha!). Either way, I'm sure it'll be another fun year with my beautiful baby boy. Landon, we love you SO much, sweet boy!

Time for some milestones (size ones coming after Friday's checkup...). At two years old, Landon is:

* still quite the chatterbox. He says the FUNNIEST things now and his vocabulary seems to grow exponentially from day to day.

* a book lover. His favorites are Panda Bear, Panda Bear; Baby Bear, Baby Bear; and Polar Bear, Polar Bear. He has them all memorized. He also loves Everyone Poops (or as he calls it, "My poopie book!")

* slightly obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which, by the way, we figured out that this where he learned about octagons!)

* becoming a pickier eater. He sometimes worries me with how little he eats lately. We'll see at his checkup!

* so loving and lovable. He asks constantly, "Where are Mimi and PawPaw?" and "Where are Nana and Papa?" and "Where are Honnen and Ken (Holland and Quinn :))?"

* making his thoughts on potty training clear - it's for the birds! When I change his diaper, he often says, "No potty big boy!" Eh, we'll get there :)

* a paci/blankie baby. He thinks it's hilarious when I tell him we'll be giving his pacis away soon. I think the goal may be the end of the month (the first weekend we'll both be home the whole time - eek!)

* so incredibly ticklish still. He has the most contagious laughter ever, too.

* genuinely sweet and compassionate. It's adorable.

Sometimes my heart hurts from loving this child so much. I am so lucky to be his (and Addie's!) mommy!

(Photos to come soon!)

Oops.

I just realized it has been over a month since I last posted. Oops! I think that is a new slacker record for me. I have been in a slight funk lately, to say the least. Work is going well, but it is super busy and it seems like I have been working a lot of evenings lately (or going in early). By the time I get home I am DONE with thinking and just want to zone out. I also tend to kind of become super introverted when I am stressed, so I guess that's the explanation, too. I've been a turtle and retreated into my home. I'm feeling a little better now :)

SO, I have missed writing lots of cute things the kiddos have been saying and doing. I hope to catch up over the next few weeks! We have also been slacking a bit on the picture taking but hopefully that will pick back up with the weather getting nicer, too!

Fun with Shapes

Yesterday, Landon and I went with our sweet friends, the Hills, to celebrate the adorable Kate Kelley's second birthday. As he and I were marveling at the beautiful spread of food Jessica had set out, Landon started saying, "Sickle!" (Circle) "Sare!" (Square) And then I heard him say "Ock-a-gon!" Sure enough, I looked down and there were circular, square, and octagonal-shaped crackers! I was amazed!

A few minutes later, he and I were coloring with one of the Kelleys' family friends, and the nice gentleman was drawing shapes for Landon and telling him what they are. I decided to "test him" again and draw an octagon. I said, "Hey Landon! What is this shape?"

"Ock-a-gon!"

The man and I were amazed. I decided that I just HAD to try with some other polygons. I drew a hexagon and got excited to see what would happen. "Hey Landon! What is this shape?"

He looked at it thoughtfully and got a huge grin on his face as he said,

"A BABY ock-a-gon!"

Well played, kiddo. Well played. :)

Christmas 2010

I am home today for a snow day so I figured what better time to catch up on posts! I may be nearly three weeks late from Christmas Day, but thanks to my friend Jessica, I realize I'm only four days past the last day of Christmas :)

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas Eve & Day! We started by having brunch at my parents' house on Christmas Eve (we decided to bypass our annual lunch out at a restaurant after three of us got a little touch of food poisoning last year!), and then we had everyone to our home on Christmas Eve for appetizers. I have to say that this is my favorite part of the holidays now! We had our usual brie en croute, mini quiches, and some new vegetarian options, thanks to Aunt Rissa and Uncle Nathaniel!

Trying to get a good photo of the kids at my parents' house, in hopes of using it for our New Year's card...

Instead...

Almost, except for Landon flashing the camera...

Closer, but still no cigar (at our house)

Addie and Landon went to bed fairly early on Christmas Eve and Addie was super excited to see what Santa was going to bring her. It's a good thing they were in bed early, because John Michael and I had a looong night ahead of us, helping Santa assemble some of the kids' gifts. Addie got a beautiful dollhouse that Santa began building on Black Friday and worked on every day between then and Christmas. We were up until 2:30 a.m. on Christmas morning when we decided we had to call it quits. It is absolutely beautiful! Word on the street is that Santa is QUITE proud of his handiwork and that of his elves :)

Part of the inside

The kitchen and dining room (yes, that is miniature hardwood and linoleum flooring)

Christmas Day was lots of fun, bouncing from house to house (ours, then Nana & Papa's, then Gran & Pop's, then Mimi & PawPaw's). It was exhausting, but it was our traditional Christmas and we loved it. I have to admit that one of the best parts was that it was a WHITE CHRISTMAS! We got a beautiful snow - it was gorgeous on the trees and ground, but the streets stayed clear until later in the evening.

Landon got a little overwhelmed and started saying "No more presents." That was 6:30 a.m.

So we ate a lot, played a lot, and spent a lot of time together. It was pretty perfect! I don't mean to wish my life away, but I'm kinda already ready for next Christmas :) We hope your families had a great set of holidays as well :)