My kids look just alike

It's crazy how much Landon resembles Adalyn at this age!
Landon
Adalyn
Landon
Adalyn

Cows...

If you know Adalyn, you know her love for cows. That is seriously all we ever talk about around here. Cows, barns, tractors, poo-poo, and on and on. I am so glad my dad and Adam both farm. that way our kids will have no choice but to grow up around the farm. That's why Adalyn loves it so much. that is all she has known and of course, Landon will be the same way. Adam always talks about how he can't wait for them to help out around the farm and in the garden. Anyway, Adam and Adalyn visited a dairy farm the other day. They went to Keauna's and Adalyn just loved it! She was able to help bottle feed a calf, pet a horse, and play with Lily. Since then, that is all she has talked about. =)

Trip to school

Today was a 1 hour day at school for Adam and on this day teachers normally bring their kids and everyone eats breakfast in the cafeteria while all the students are in the gym being watched by the principals. So this morning we got the kids ready and we headed to school to see everyone and to introduce landon to everyone. Adalyn has been there a bunch of times but this was Landon's first trip to the high school. He did so well! He was passed around by a few teachers and then fell asleep in Brad's arms. Adalyn was so good and she even told us while she was eating her sausage that she needed to go potty. Since I had Landon in my arms, Adam took her. I am just so pleased that she is actually telling us she needs to go even when she is sitting down eating. When she came back, she was very excited and explained to me that she pee-pee'd and that she gets Nim&Nim's when we get home. Before we left, Landon chugged a bottle and Adalyn ran up and down the hall ways and played in Adam's room. When we left, we made a pit stop at Sonic before heading home. It rained all day so we did nothing but relax! Since Adam was home for the day, I even napped with Adalyn. Ahhh.



She looks so big in this picture!

Full of smiles

6 times

Today was a great potty training day! Although I must admit, I'm really not doing a whole lot of training... Adalyn tells me every single time she needs to potty and today she did 6 times!!! That is the most so far and she was just so proud of herself. I, of course, was proud of her too! She is 25 months old (today) and I really consider her on the right track with potty training. I'm hoping she will be completely out of diapers in a month or so. How great would that be for our wallet! Diapers are so expensive it will help a lot when we only have to buy for Landon. Other than peeing in the potty and getting her M&M's as a reward, today was pretty much the same as everyday. Landon is on a pretty good schedule and he is like clock work when it comes to taking his naps and stuff. On Sunday night, we put him in his room for the vert first time and he did great! I have been more than ready to get him out of our room. He is a grunter and it seemed like he grunted all night. Must be a guy thing. He wouldn't wake up but it woke me up all throughout the night. It really was very annoying. When he turned 10 weeks old, I was finally able to not feed him anymore throughout the night. It got to the point where I would have to once, but eventually right around 10 weeks, no more night feedings. He is almost 13 weeks now. His favorite thing to do right now is stick his whole fist in his mouth and suck. I remember the day when he first noticed his hand, then I remember him attempting to put his hand in his mouth but kept missing, and now, his hand is in his mouth all the time. This past week he has started to drool really bad. He likes to be held outward so he can see everything and one day I was standing in the kitchen and felt something wet his my foot. An image of the movie, Big Daddy, flashed into my mind. It was his spit that landed on my foot. nice. He is such a chubby baby! He isn't even 3 months old yet and last week I had to dress him in his 3-6 month clothing. He is in size 2 diapers but after we finish this box, he will be ready for size 3. Getting so big so fast.

The joys of potty training!

Adalyn has been doing SO good potty training lately! It's pretty safe to say she uses the potty atleast twice a day, sometimes 3 times. She has her off days too but all in all, she is doing great. Thursday was a tiring day with the kiddos. They seriously wore me out. Landon was very comfortable in my arms all day which makes it hard for me to do anything around the house. If you know me you know I can't stand for my house to be a mess! I have come to terms with it a little better since landon has been born but anytime I have a free second, Im usually picking up. Yes, I'm the type of person that will clean the living room 10 times a day instead of waiting until the end of the day when Adalyn goes to sleep. I know she will pull everything back out over and over again but for the 15 minutes that is does stay picked up, a part of me can breathe a little better. =) Anyway, so when it comes to potty training, Adalyn now thinks she should take off her pants and diaper whenever she wants to. She will randomly walk into a room that I'm in and it's no surprise she only has her shirt on. We are still explaing that we only take our pants off when we are in the bathroom, etc, etc. My luck she will do something like that at church or something. Oh me. While she was eating lunch Thursday she said, "Momma Momma! Poo-poo potty- now!" I told her ok but kind of took my time b/c she tells us that ALL the time and we go and she just wants to sit on the potty and then she starts playing in the bathroom so I really figured she was just messing with me. i get her out of her high chair and she runs to her Elmo potty and sits... and sits... and sits... I finally tell her that if she really does not need to go, we need to get a diaper back on and go play. All while this is going on I have Landon bouncing on my knee as Im just sitting on the toilet waiting on her to do her business. She then says she wants to use the "big girl" potty so landon and I get in the floor for her to climb up to it. Well, on her way, she starts saying, "uh oh mommy uh oh" Let's just say she didn't quite make it to the potty before she pooped. As it falls to the ground, she tries to run back to Elmo but another fell to the ground. hahahaha! Bless her heart! I kept telling her everything was ok but at first she was so shocked she wasn't sure if she should be excited or what. So with landon in one arm, I pick up the poop, put her diaper back on her with basically one hand, pull her pants up, and get some floor cleaner to clean it extra good. I, of course, was SO excited that she told me during her lunch that she needed to go and that she actually went. We make a huge deal about using the potty around this house so we both started squealing and saying "yay!" Adalyn then continues celebrating running down the hall screaming, "I did it! I did it!" Oh that girl is just something else. She always gets M&M's ( or as Adalyn says, Nim&Nim's) for using the potty so I happily got a handful of them for her and she gobbled them up. Way to go Adalyn!

Friday...

This past Friday I needed to run to town and stop at the Dollar Store for a bit so I loaded the kids up and headed out. Landon starts crying on the way but ends up falling asleep before we even got there. I get Adalyn out and then landon, put him in the buggy and he starts waking up crying. Oh great. This place was super packed and I was trying to keep my eye on Adalyn and continue to put a pacifier in his mouth to keep him content. Adalyn was so good and she was just so amazed at all the stuff they had to look at, or really to play with by her standards. We were in the toy aisle and a little girl comes up to her and asks if she wants a balloon. I immediately answer the question for Adalyn and say No, she doesn't. This bratty kid just keeps going on and on about the balloon and she jumps up and grabs the string and hands it to Adalyn. So I get the balloon and give it back to the girl and tell her she doesn't want it. All while this is going on I hear a freaky, loud voice yelling the little girls name from a few aisles over. As i am trying to get Adalyn's attention to come with me, this man comes up beside me and scares the absolute crap out of me. It just so happens this is that kids dad and he seriously looks like he should be on America's Most Wanted. He was walking like he was drunk and talked like he was dumber than a rock and looked like he would kidnap any kid that walked his way. No Joke. I grabbed Adalyn's hand and we high tailed it out of there. While checking out, Landon starts crying again and the same crazy guy is now behind me in line. Im trying to get my bags, hold Adalyn's hand, and push the buggy. He really gave me the creeps and i was more than ready to leave. Finally get to the car and wouldn't you know, the creeper had parked beside me. Ugh. I put the kids in and get in myself and lock the doors. ha. I know you are probably thinking what a wheenie! haha. I was already so flustered with dealing with Landon crying his poor little eyes out and that man just did not help the situation any. After we leave, we head to Hope and Ryan's to decorate their door or Liam's arrival! They were coming home from the hospital that day so I wanted to put a Welcome Home sign with streamers on their door for them. I park, landon is still crying so I put it on an AM radio station hoping the static will calm him down. (which has worked from time to time!) I get Adalyn out b/c I knew she would want to help. It took about 10 or so minutes for me to do everything and I'm hoping Landon had fallen asleep during that time. I open the door and he is still screaming! It broke my heart. He was basically shaking and let me tell you, he can turn a nice shade of purple. So needless to say, I get us home as fast as I can. I just wanted to hold him. I fed him and then he fell fast asleep. Doing all that that morning wore me out! Adalyn told me she was ready for her nap so I put her down then landon and I napped, too. It was all around a great day... I just had to share my experience of our little outing to town for the day.

Thanksgiving

Landon's 1st Thanksgiving! (10 weeks old)


On Thanksgiving Day we got up and ready and after making a few stops, finally made it to my Grandparents house. It was a beautiful day!! My grandmother passed away the week before so it was very different not having her there. The guys decided they would do work outside and us girls spent the day preparing the food, playing with Adalyn and Landon, decorating for Christmas, and taking lots of pictures.






Celebrating all of our November birthdays

On Friday, we celebrated Thanksgiving again with Adam's entire family. I am so glad they have it the day after. It makes things so much easier! We loaded up that morning and headed to Brian's. There is always a house full when we all get together. His family is really big and we have one 4 year old, one 3 year old, three 2 year olds, and a 2 month old! haha- talk about never a dull moment! We had lots of fun that day- the weather was perfect for the kids to play outside. We ate a lot, played a lot, and napped. It was great!





We have so much to be thankful for!

November...

was a very busy and a very rough month for me. (and my family)To start off, the night of Adalyn's birthday party (12th) I ended up getting a stomach virus and spent the entire night in my bathroom. I hate nothing more to throw up and that's what I did for a few hours that night. I am so thankful Adam was by my side helping me! I seriously felt like death was swarming over me. I ended up getting so dehydrated that my milk supply basically vanished. I was so nervous it wouldn't come back. everytime I tried to drink something, I threw it up. The next day trying to nurse Landon was difficult. He kept crying b/c he wasn't getting as much as he wanted so he would nurse for about 10 minutes, scream, then I would have to warm up a bottle for him. This sequence went on for about 5 days. I was having to spend the majority of my time pumping and that monday I drank over 100 oz of water! I was so thirsty but also so determined to get my milk supply back. Thankfully, it's back like nothing ever happend but it definitely gave me a scare. So I got sick Saturday night then Adam got sick Monday night and spent the entire night throwing up. He missed 2 days of work. I am so thankful for my mom coming over to help me with Adalyn and Landon since I still wasn't 100% yet either. Aside from that, My grandmother was put in the hospital the middle of October and after a week or so of being there, we learned that she would not be coming home. She passed away November 17. One the of hardest things I have ever had to experience. With me being in the funeral business for 4 1/2 years, it was so totally different being on the grieving side of it rather than being the funeral director and handling everything. It has been so hard on my entire family but we are getting through it! She was truly one of my best friends and I am so thankful i was able to spend 24 years with her. What's even a better testimony is her and my granddaddy were married for 58 years. What a blessing of God! November was really very busy for us, espically with celebrating Thanksgiving 2 days in a row! Blog to come about that!

Happy 2nd Birthday Adalyn!

Saturday, November 12 was Adalyn's 2nd birthday party. (november 13 was her actual birthday) Aunt Brandy came and got her that morning so I could just focus on getting things ready and only having to deal with one child, not two. Adam was at the farm that morning so that was a huge help for me. Once Adam got home, we did a few things then I left for Wal-Mart to buy balloons and some other stuff. Nothing like buying plates and cups the day of the party! Anyway, blowing up the balloons took FOREVER- it was really starting to stress me out. I was in a hurry anyway and waiting on balloons did not help it any. Once I was finished with Wal-Mart, I rushed home to get ready. The party started at 4 and it was almost 3 and I still had sweatpants on and my nappy hair was in a pony tail. Hope was taking care of landon and I was able to get ready while Adam, my mom, and Gina did the finishing touches on things. Once 4:00 came, we had a house full! It was so nice having our family and friends their to celebrate our little girl turning 2. We had good food and cake, and a bounce house for the kids. Thanks to Dustin and Christina for letting us borrow it! It was such a fun party. The theme was farm animals which was perfect since all Adalyn ever talks about are cows (her favorite) pigs and chickens. Here are some pictures-enjoy!




The Cake- matched the birthday invitations, too!
I thought this was perfect for our theme-- choc. oatmeal cookies... aka- "cow patties"

The Birthday Girl!







She kept asking for her cake all day long. Which shocked me b/c she doesn't really like cake. (just like me!) But to our surprise, she ate it!



Adalyn, I cannot believe you are TWO! Wow! You have brought so much joy, laughter, and love into all of our lives. You are one of the funniest people I know and you are so, so smart! You can count to 13 and you have such a huge vocabulary! You like to use the potty and get M&M's (or Nim & Nim's as you say) for doing so. We Love You! Happy Birthday!



Holding you for the very first time... I will never forget the day we welcomed you into our lives! God is Good!

My Birth Story

It's been almost 10 weeks since I gave birth to Landon so I really need to get in gear to share my birth story!

My pregnancy with Landon was so smooth. I found out I was pregnant January 19 and we shared the news in March. He was a complete surprise to us but God felt we were ready for another. =)

My due date was Monday, September 19 but we scheduled an induction for Friday, September 16. It just made it a little easier on everyone having him on a weekend. Weeks leading up to his birth was an emotional roller coaster for me. All I could think about was Adalyn and how I thought bringing him home would effect her. I was so scared I wouldn't be able to focus my attention on both of them and my heart just hurt thinking about leaving Adalyn out of anything. The days before I had him consisted of me cleaning the house, making lists, and playing with Adalyn. Mind you I was a few days shy of 40 weeks pregnant, huge, hips hurting, back hurting, and tired. But if Adalyn wanted to go outside in the 90 degree weather, so be it. I wanted to spend every single moment I could just as the "two" of us, and if that meant sweating while pushing her on her swing or playing with chalk in the driveway, I was going to do it.

We were due to be at the hospital Friday morning between 5:45 and 6:00 AM. Thursday night was out last night as a family of three and we made the best out of it. We did our normal nighttime routine and once again explained to Adalyn that she would be getting a brother. Before I layed her down in her bed for the night, I gave her one more big hug and just stopped and smelled her. Oh that sweet smell of a child. So many thoughts went through my mind. I thought about the past 22 months and all the joy, laughter, and love she brought into our lives. Once I layed her down, Adam and I picked up the house and got things in order to leave out in the morning. We were having to leave by 4:30 AM so my mom came over around 11:00 or so Thursday night so she would be there when Adalyn woke up the next morning. I was really hoping to get some much needed sleep but we ended up not going to be until really late. I saw every hour as I tossed and turned. I was having contrations and was just so uncomfortable. The alarm went off at 4 which didn't make a difference since I was up anyway. We got up and got dressed, did my make up, grabbed our bags, and took one last picture of my belly.

The trip to Nashville went pretty smooth. No traffic since it was so early in the morning. I was having contractions the entire time though. Sitting in a truck and having contractions for an hour is not very fun. Once we arrived, we filled out paperwork, got our armbands, and sat in the waiting room. I wasn't able to sit long due to my contractions so I ended up walking up and down the hall for atleast 30 or so minutes. According the a nurse, there were a lot of people having babies so we were waiting on a room. Once we finally got in a room, they hooked me up on the monitors and got the show on the road!
My nurse was Tracey ( i think?) and oh my gosh... I wanted to punch her within the first 10 mintues of meeting her. So did Adam. She was WAY to chipper for my taste. Atleast she was nice though, but man, she really got on my nerves. She finally calmed herself down and acted more like a normal person after a while. She put the monitors on my belly and kept coming in my room every couple of minutes b/c she wasn't able to track his heartbeat on her monitor b/c it kept slipping off. She made the comment that my belly was a perfect basketball and that was why is was sliding. I was finally able to lay on my left side and it stayed in place. She said Dr. Thornburg might insert an internal heart monitor thing on his head if it continued to slip off. Around 8:00, my doctor came in and tried to insert the monitor. (I can't remember what its called)OH MY GOSH. She tried 5 times and I seriously thought I was going to die. I did not have my epidural yet and I do believe that was the worst pain I experienced. After failing 5 times, she gave up and just broke my water. I was 2-3 cm dilated when we got to the hospital and I knew breaking my water would really speed things up. The contractions got bad really fast. I could barely breathe inbetween them and to make it worse, I was having to get up and pee all the time. The first time I buzzed for my nurse to come and help me and waited and she never came. I was in so much pain and I needed to pee BAD so i start unhooking myself from every machine in my room. She should have came and helped! Atleast I didnt mess anything up while doing that. It was very interesting trying to get up to walk to the bathroom. I had to do it inbetween contractions which was funny. When i finally got back in the bed, i couldnt take the pain anymore and asked for the epidural. She came in pretty quick so I was happy to see her. With Adalyn, they had me sit on the side of the bed and hunch over like a cat. this time, I layed on my side and pushed my back out. I liked laying down better. After she was done, I felt 100 times better. After that, our parents and Adalyn arrived. It was around 10:00 or so. Look how excited Adalyn was!
She was so excited to see us and to keep her occupied, we all had gotten her some coloring books, crayons, books, etc. I was progressing pretty fast which was great. I was ready to meet Landon! My nurse came in and checked me and told me I was at 10. Yay! She said she wanted to wait on pushing for a little bit so he would continue to fall down in the birth canal. Then I thought that was strange and I was so ready to push! But looking back, I totally see why she had me to wait. She came back after a little while and kicked everyone out. Had me to do a practice push and she said whoa! I'm calling your doctor. Shortly later, Dr. Thornburg came in and we got the show on the road! I used a mirror for my birth. I did for Adalyn, too and it made it so much easier to see my progress and what I was doing! I ended up pushing about 8 times and Landon was born at 2:15 PM. I was so exicted and couldn't wait to hold him. They took him away and cleaned him up. He was a little blue so they gave him a little bit of oxygen. He also didn't cry when he came out. His eyes were open and he was looking all around. So alert already! She assured me that it was ok that he wasn't crying and that he was just fine! I watched as Adam filmed him getting cleaned off and just was so eager to get my hands on him!


Finally holding him!

After Adam and I had some private bonding time, we were very eager for Adalyn and our family to meet our beautiful little boy. Adalyn was so excited to see him. We had been talking about him for 9 months after all!



Aroun 5:00 or so, everyone left. Adalyn and my parents stayed in a hotel near Baptist so it wouldn't be such a hassle driving to Nashville everyday with a toddler in the back seat. We had a few more visitors that night which was great. Labor and Delivery was so full at Baptist it took until 9:00 that night for them to move us to the postpartum suite. Once there, the nurse gave Landon his bath. He screamed the entire time I believe.

After his bath, I nursed him then sent him to the nursery so we could get a little bit of sleep. His nurse brought him to me around 4:00 that morning, then we had to send him back to the nursery. All babies have to be in the nursery between 6 - 9 AM for all the Pedetricians to come in and look over the babies. There were 63 babies that Saturday morning!!! Crazy! The rest of the day we had visitors and just walked around the postpartum floor. It was nice to get up and stretch my legs.

So proud!

It's a Boy sign on our door
We left Sunday around 11 AM-- first time in his carseat
Family of 4 now!
I am so blessed!
My recovery was a breeze!! Thank goodness. I was up and moving around like I hadn't even had a baby. For that, I was very thankful considering I didn't have time to feel bad since I had Adalyn to chase around. =)