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 :)

Ahh, pure joy!

I LOVE this time of year! The smells, sights, sounds - perfect. I have to say that this year has been even more magical than years past, because Addie is REALLY getting into the Christmas season (admittedly, she is excited about the impending gifts, but we're working on the true meaning :)).

We started decorating on Black Friday and got our tree the first weekend of December. It is my year for the tree, and I decided to do something a little different and got a Douglas fir. I am actually trying to convince John Michael that we need to get this same kind every year because it kinda looks like a cross between a Cedar and a Fraser fir. He is not buying it ;)

Addie has had a BLAST decorating the house (and Nana & Papa's house, too!). I have taken her to the Dollar store three times to let her pick out more decorations (for her room - our Dollar store has a limited selection... :)).

Yes. Yes, I did.

We have also started the Elf on a Shelf tradition this year. Our elf is named "Snowman" and he sure does love to hop around from place to place in our house! Addie and Landon both get a kick out of finding where he has moved to each morning. I have heard other parents say that they get a good solid month of outstanding behavior out of their kids due to the elves - we were this lucky for about two days. Ha!

*photo credit: Addie Corn

We went to go visit Santa last weekend. Addie and Landon were so good while waiting in the long line. They were both excited to see Santa and kept peering around the people to see him. It was absolutely adorable. I was a little surprised that Landon was so excited given his age (and remembering how Addie reacted to him at around the same age), but he was thrilled. Until we got to him. As soon as John Michael placed him on Santa's lap, he completely lost it. Addie did great and sweetly told Santa that she wants a doll house and a baby doll. Her meltdown began as we were leaving - turns out she thought she should get her presents right then and didn't quite understand it. Makes sense to me! ;) She also flipped out because the photo package we purchased came with one stuffed animal. Because Landon had been so traumatized (and at this time Addie was still smiling), we let him choose which one they would take home. She had just about the worst tantrum I have ever seen from her. I had to strap her in Landon's stroller to get her out of the mall. She was screaming and crying - I was *that* mom. It was pretty amazing. John Michael and Landon walked behind us, gradually falling more behind so as to not be associated with the crazy lady who couldn't control her kid - HAHAHA!

Well, I have honestly thought about taking them back for a second shot, but this one may just be awesome enough to keep. We'll see...

Today we got the ultimate Christmas-mood-setter-inner in the form of a little over an inch of snow (thus far). The weather forecasters said that it would happen, but I just knew it'd be a bluff. I thought they had said it would begin Saturday night/early Sunday morning, so when we woke up to NO SNOW this morning, I made a little bit of a pouty comment about it and went on with our morning. Then it started really coming down around lunch time, and by 1:00, the ground was covered enough for us to break out an early Christmas present (a sled) and put it to good use. HOORAY!

We went out for Round 2 after Landon woke up from his nap and he was thrilled with sledding. I admit - I hope this is the first of many snows for this season. And I wouldn't hate if the next one came in approximately two weeks. Just a thought :)

Going 'halfsies'

Alright - I am not oblivious to the fact that I haven't updated much on the kids' milestones/cuteness lately, so I thought I'd jump on the fact that Landon was just 20 1/2 months (I'm grasping for straws here, people...but work with me...) and Addie had her half-birthday a couple of weeks ago and is now 4 1/2. Yay! So here goes (and I'm not even going to apologize for the obnoxiousness):

Addie at 4 1/2:

* is still a little peanut. It is becoming more obvious to me how petite she is compared to her classmates, but she seems to be growing fine.

* wears a size 7 shoe and 4T clothes

* seems to have turned her corner of the "f_ fours" :) She still has the occasional tantrum, but is generally very sweet and thoughtful

* is a little smarty pants. We still get comments from her teachers on a regular basis about how smart she is. The funny thing? She pretends not to be at home. For example, her Spanish teacher was telling me how advanced she is in Spanish class and how she helps her friends. But when I ask her to help me with any of the words (even simple ones like colors) she'll tell me she doesn't know. Hmph.

* has outstanding fine motor skills. She has been staying in the lines and able to cut along very detailed lines for a while now. She seems to be quite gifted in art.

* shows ZERO interest in starting to read. She still loves to be read to, but gets upset if I try to have her help me sound out any words (and I swear I am not pressuring her!).

* loves her once-a-week gymnastics class!

* says the funniest, most grown-up things to us - we never know what's next

* is 4 1/2 going on 18

* loooves all things pink and girly (princess, baby dolls) but also loves to get dirty outside and help Daddy in the garden

* has randomly decided she is afraid of kittens (and suggested to Nana that she put their kittens in the car)

* goes to bed around 8ish and is still sound asleep when we go to wake her at 6:30

* is a fantastic big sister to Landon and loves to spend time with him

* would eat chicken nuggets or hot dogs every day if allowed; she is quite a picky eater lately. So frustrating! We have a hard time getting protein into her diet. She loves nuts, thank goodness. She still won't eat any fresh fruit but will eat dried.

* has started testing the waters of fibbing. So far she's finding out it doesn't work so well.

* went to her first sleepover about a month ago, and had her first friend over to spend (almost) the night (her friend got homesick around 10:30 :)) last night. What a big girl!

A little Q&A with my girl:

What are your teachers' names? Miss Emily and Miss Candi

Who are your friends in school? the girls

What is your favorite game to play? Hide and Seek

Do you have any boy friends? Hunter and Holland

What is your favorite color? pink

Do you have a favorite song? Twinkle, Twinkle

What is your favorite book? Cinderella

What is your favorite TV program/movie? All the Princess ones

What do you want to do when you grow up? A cow! [gotta love having big dreams! :)]

And now, the boy...

Landon at 20 1/2 months:

* is growing pretty steadily - wearing 24 month clothes

* becoming a pickier eater

* knows most of his colors and all of his basic shapes

* can count to ten! Sometimes he skips 2 and 4 though :)

* sings an adorable version of the alphabet - he stays on tune/tempo the whole time but misses about 1/3 of the letters. But boy, he sings it with soul ;)

* goes from zero to ANGRY with little-to-no warning; ends up throwing himself to the floor and having tantrums at least once a day

* is putting multiple words together and becoming easier to understand

* seems to understand most everything we say (whether or not he decides to listen... :))

* likes to follow Addie EVERYWHERE and do whatever she is doing

* got his first haircut a couple of weeks ago!

* asks to sit on the potty ALL THE TIME - so far only two "successful" trips. I am trying not to discourage him from sitting on the potty, but it is quite obvious that he is quite a ways off from being ready to really train.

* is still (mostly) a happy, loving baby boy!

"Seriously, Mom - what is going on here?"

First haircut - November 14, 2010

Christmas cards, or if you're slackers like us...

Happy New Year Cards! We started the tradition of doing New Year cards a few years ago. Okay, I admit - it started because we hadn't gotten off our duffs in enough time to get out Christmas cards (law school midterms/finals, anyone? Yeah, that's what I thought! ;)). But then we just got to where we liked it better. And now I think it's a fun tradition because everyone (i.e., ME!) has started getting bummed because the Christmas cards in the mail have come to a halt, and BAM! Re-energize the holiday season. The point of this post? One of my favorite card/photo places, Shutterfly, is doing a special for bloggers! You can get 50 holiday cards for free! WOOHOO! We have gotten tons of items from Shutterfly, including photo books for the grandmommies (and great-grandmommies), and our holiday cards from last year.

Here was last year's card, which I'm admittedly disappointed that I can't use twice in a row (because we've been told that it's still on refrigerators and up in cubicles, and that'd just be weird :)):

This one is also completely adorable:

I'm going to stop with giving away all my potential New Year's card ideas and give some of my favorites for those of you who actually get your cards out on time:

I love how classic this one is!

How fun is this one?

Anyway, all my blogger friends (and lurkers) - you guys should check more of these cards out here, and also check out this awesome promotion by going here.

I'm so excited about picking out the perfect card, and can't wait to personalize them and send them out. Now I just get to pore over wording for hours. Yes, I'm serious.

:)

Halloween 2010

I mean, at the rate I'm going, we'll be talking about this Christmas around the Fourth of July :)

Anyway - we had a fantastic Halloween weekend! We kicked it off the weekend before by going to Ring Farm in Columbia (yes, this was during my birthday weekend, but I decided to add it to this Halloween post because it made more sense). We had so much fun! It was similar to Gentry's Farm, which we also love, but smaller (and therefore a LOT less crowded). The kids, John Michael, Mimi and I headed over there a little before lunch time and we had a blast.

They had a cotton field (patch?) that the kids thought was so cool. I admit, I did, too! I hadn't seen "real" cotton up close since elementary school and a trip to one of the local farms in Nashville. Fascinating.

The babies also enjoyed the tractor tire tower, but especially loved the long slides! John Michael seemed to have just as much fun :)

We also got our pumpkins that day! We got some really pretty ones. We didn't end up carving them until the day of Halloween, which was probably the best idea - the weather has been so beautiful here (read: HOT for October/November) that they surely would've rotted on our front porch had we carved them too early!

As has been the tradition for the past few years, all of the grandparents came down for dinner. This year was the most fun yet; no tantrums from either baby, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! Addie decided a few months ago that she was going to be Snow White. We tried to convince her to be something different or unusual, but she was determined. The best part about it is we already had her entire costume. Nice! We had planned to make Landon a costume to be one of the Seven Dwarves, but then life got in the way. JM ended up buying him a monkey costume two days before. He was adorable!

We took them trick-or-treating up and down our street (probably 6 houses or so) and I decided to take Landon and the wagon back home. Of course Addie wanted to keep going, so JM said he'd take her to a few more houses. Almost an HOUR later, they returned, and she had TONS of candy! He said she had wanted to keep going, so they did! Needless to say, she was exhausted by the time her bedtime came around that evening :)

The big 3-0!

It got here. The day I thought I'd dread. I turned 30. :) Actually, months before my birthday, I started getting excited just like every year (yes, I do start counting down to my birthday approximately nine months beforehand - don't judge :)). Then as it approached, I became kinda bummed about it. Why? I have no idea. ANYWAY - I snapped out of it and became kid-on-Christmas-Eve-excited as usual. I believe I called my mom every day for two weeks to remind her my birthday was coming up. It's our annual ritual, and it's a silly one: I call my parents to tell them, "Hey! Did you know that my birthday is in __ days?" And my mom will say, "I do know! I was there!" and my dad will say, "And it was the longest day of my life!" (He thinks he's hilarious :))

Again, I digress. My birthday was on a Sunday this year (October 24) so naturally, we began celebrating on Saturday. We went out to dinner with Lynn, Kris, Leslie and Skye to Flyte and it. was. amazing, as was the margarita cheesecake that Lynn made for me. WOW. We then went to Patterson House for a drink and that was pretty fantastic, too! I felt like a grownup - ha!

Sunday morning (the big day!) John Michael and the babies made my breakfast, and then we headed to Arrington Vineyards for a few hours with Lynn, Kris, Holland & Quinn; Sam (boss' husband), Shauna (my sweet boss) and Claire (Shauna and Sam's beautiful 2-year-old); and Sam (coworker) and Shelly (his adorable wife). The kids all ran around and had a BLAST! I have never seen five kids who were so dirty! And there were no meltdowns! Miracle, I tell ya. That may have been due to the fact that they had chocolate cake AND cupcakes to keep them occupied, along with the sticks they insisted on carrying while they ran (!).

From there we went to Mimi & PawPaw's for more yummy food. I swear, I know it sounds like I ate the whole weekend, but...well, I think I really did. HA! It was awesome! My mom made one of my favorite meals, a pork loin (a particular one - recipe by Emeril Lagasse - I'm not sure what it's really called; we just call it the "Emeril roast") and a chocolate truffle cheesecake. Double yum.

But wait, there's more! Monday I obviously had to work, and I was actually in Day Three of a four-day training class. My friends Brandi and Shauna surprised me by having an extra slide added to the PowerPoint (they did this during our lunch break - still not sure how I didn't see them!) and bringing ANOTHER cake and more cupcakes! Everyone in the class sang to me, which was half-embarrassing, half-awesome (I can't lie - I loooove birthdays so!).

We celebrated one last time on Wednesday by going out to lunch with some more of my coworkers. Yes, more food.

All in all, it was one of my best birthdays yet. Oh, and by the way, it's 11 months and 13 days til my birthday! :D

Arrington photos!

My world, hovering over a barrel :)

I'm going to try to pretend that this wasn't a trash can, and that my son wasn't playing inside said trash can. But I'm pretty sure I'm pretending for naught...

(These three photos swiped from Kris' Facebook account - taken with his iPhone)

Boys!

"God made dirt so dirt don't hurt."

Addie requested that I wear her tiara, just for a few minutes. It says "Birthday Girl" and she likes to wear it year round. That's my girl!

18-month checkup

Okay, so Landon is 20 months old now. And I already posted all the suuuper adorable stuff he was doing two months ago. But what I didn't post were his stats (and let's be honest - there's no way I'd remember otherwise, and I kinda keep losing the little stat sheets from the ped's office). So here ya go!

Height: 32 1/4 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 25 pounds, 8 ounces (40-50th percentile)

John Michael took him to his checkup (we normally both go, but it was when I was out of town) but he said the doctor is pleased at his development - yay!

Slacker...

So I was catching up with my friend Nancy yesterday and realized I've completely slacked on blogging the past month or two. So here are some things I hope to blog about this week:

- Addie's first sleepover

- my 30th birthday

- Halloween

- Landon's new accomplishments

- Addie playing "dumb"

Hopefully I'll start tonight after the kids go to bed (if we can get them to bed, with the time change!).

A whole week...

Well, I survived. I was away from my babies for a whole week, and contrary to my prediction, I did NOT have any mental breakdowns :)

I left Wednesday, October 6th for my friend Kristin's wedding in Portland, Oregon. Kristin and I have been best friends since fifth grade, and I had the honor to be her matron of honor! I was excited to get to Portland a few days before the wedding (which was on Sunday, 10/10/10) to visit with Kristin and help with some last-minute wedding errands. I had an absolute blast! John Michael came in on Saturday evening, just in time for the rehearsal dinner. I think having him there definitely eased my homesickness! It also helped that we were busy, busy, busy and stayed that way all day Sunday! Our days included a walk around Kristin & Clint's adorable neighborhood, a trip to Ikea, a long afternoon at the tattoo shop (yes, seriously; no, I didn't get one), yummy meals out and playtime with Clint's sister Jamie and his best friend Mike (and Jamie's boyfriend Joseph).

The wedding was absolutely perfect. Kristin was even more beautiful than normal, and Clint (her new husband) was just as handsome. What a perfect pair! I hadn't met Clint before my visit but was pleasantly surprised to discover that they are just as great together as I had imagined from our phone and email conversations :)

Sadly, I had to leave the reception early to catch a redeye flight. Those were my only sad tears of the entire trip! It was so hard to leave Kristin, knowing it'll be at least a few months before I see her again! Boo. Just keep reminding myself how much fun we had and how we'll pick up right where we left off, as we always do.

Anyway, John Michael took me to the airport for my flight to New Orleans for a work conference. I had the genius idea of flying out at 11:35 p.m. (the latest flight I could get and still get to NO at a time early enough to not miss a large part of my conference), thinking that I would sleep at least a good portion of the first leg of the trip, which was 3 hours and 45 minutes. WRONG! I did not sleep a single wink! I had a very nice, but rather large man sitting next to me who was able to fall asleep; in fact, he fell asleep so deeply that he was "all up in my business," as Addie would say. Anyway, I landed in Houston at 5:15 CST and *think* that I slept about 30 minutes to an hour before my next flight (which was also sleepless). I arrived in New Orleans at 8:45ish a.m. CST and headed straight to the conference. To say I was exhausted would be an understatement, but somehow I plugged through! My boss Shauna was there and we even got to do a little sightseeing (and beignet-eating) that afternoon before meeting up with some other Tennessee city attorney friends for dinner. I ended up staying awake until 10:15! WOW! I never would've thought!

Tuesday was another full conference day (the conference was GREAT, by the way) and I flew out Wednesday afternoon. Although I didn't have the expected homesickness meltdowns (thank you, Skype!), I have never been so excited to get home! I think it's safe to say that the kiddos were pretty pumped, too - especially Addie!

So where were the babies when John Michael was in Portland? They had an adventuresome weekend! They spent Friday evening with Mimi and PawPaw due to JM's early flight time; Saturday afternoon and evening were spent with Lynn, Kris, Holland and Quinn, and Sunday afternoon and evening were Nana & Papa's! It sounds like they all had a blast and we are SO blessed to have such loving family and friends to help us out!

Okay, right now you're going to have to forgive the lack of pictures. I'm going to have to swipe some off of others' Facebook pages. But soon, I promise! Here's one of my favorites though :)