Florida Bound!

Friday, June 14 we loaded up the Tahoe and started our vacation! We weren't due to check into the condo until Saturday, but we decided to leave Friday evening so the kids would sleep. We had reserved a room at a hotel in Dothan, AL so we could get a few good hours rest and wake up and then make the hour and a half trip to Panama City Saturday morning. I don't like traveling the day you are to check in-- you literally miss a whole day! My parents left an hour or so before we did. We cleaned all day, mowed the yard, played, napped, and finished packing. I cooked supper and after we ate, we put pajamas on the kids and got ready to leave. Adalyn was SO excited because she knows on long trips we will put the DVD players in for them to keep occupied. I bought them Peter Pan (one of my favorites as a child) and we started on our road trip. It was about 6:30 when we left. We had just gotten over the mountain when Landon asked for his milk. He was already whining so we took the opportunity to stop at a gas station and warm it up for him. Yes, he will not drink his milk cold! It has to be warm. ha. He will grow out of it, Adalyn did. Anyway, the milk did the trick and he settled down for a bit and watched the movie. I ended up having to take Peter Pan out because Adalyn was scared of "Tick Tock Croc". Ha ha I can't remember what I put in but Landon was still moaning and groaning at this point. By now it was dark and he was so so tired. The kids are in bed at 8:00 so he was ready to go to sleep. He would pull on his seat belt and say, "Out. Hold Me. Night Night. Bed." It was so sweet but I felt so bad for him because their was nothing I could do for him. He ended up finally dozing off and I thought whew- finally, he's out! 45 minutes later, he's up whining again. He continued to fall back asleep, but would jump (which woke him up) or when he would re-position, he would wake himself up. He was so uncomfortable. (I can't blame him, I wouldn't want to be in a car seat for hours on end either.) Sweet Adalyn fell asleep but her loud little brother woke her up. She would say, "Landon!!!" Ha ha. She would have slept the entire way. But she is so good- she just sat back and watched another movie until she fell asleep again. I was glad when we finally made it to Dothan and got into bed. We laid down at 1:30 and we were up by 6:30 thanks to a little boy who said, "Milk. Milk. Milk." My parents were at the same hotel so we called and woke them up. The kids were so excited to see them. Once we visited with them, we loaded the kids in the car and went to Hardees to get breakfast for all of us. We ate breakfast, packed the car again, and  we were beach bound! Landon was still so wore out from not really sleeping the entire trip the night before, he fell fast asleep and slept about an hour. Adalyn watched a movie. And then FINALLY, we made it! I was just as excited to be there as the kids were. We weren't expecting to get into the condo until around 3:00, so we made sure to pack a separate bag with our bathing suits and we hopped into the pool! Ahhh! I finally felt like I was on vacation! Traveling for hours on end with a 21 month old (as I discovered) was not very glamorous! Not long after we were in the pool, Christopher and Brandy showed up. Around 11:00, we learned our condo would be ready at 11:30! Wahoo! It's normally ready around 3:00 or so. We unloaded the cars and then made our way to the beach! My favorite place to be in the entire world. My dad has a huge tent we set up (we would not have survived on the beach without it!) got all of our chairs out, towels down, and beach toys out! Landon wasn't so sure about the sand at first, but quickly realized it was pretty cool. He plopped down and immediately started playing with some toys. This was his first trip to the beach so I had to capture his first time playing in the sand!

All that playing in the sand will wear a boy out!

He slept for at least 3 hours. He was still trying to catch up on his sleep.

Adalyn was tired, too! She napped with her brother. 

With the kids asleep, we took advantage of soaking up the sun. AHHHHHHH

When Adalyn did wake up, (she wakes up slow like her momma) she sat in the sand and just looked around. She is so sweet. 

It was late afternoon by the time we made it back to the room. Maybe around 4:00 or so. We took showers and got ready to head to dinner. We went to the Salty Water Dog (?) It's a pretty fancy place and it's the type of restaurant you go to that you stay for about 3 hours. (the wait, order food, then eat) We were waiting so long and I knew the kids were starving, I went over to Sonic and got them some chicken and french fries. When I got back, they were already sitting down. Landon asked for Ketchup so he could "wick it". They gobbled up their food. I only order jumbo shrimp, everything else sounded real fancy, like all these expensive fish name, etc. I'll just stick with what I know. :) Everyone said their food was delicious. So the 2.5-3 hours we were there, my kids went from my mom, dad, Christopher, Brandy and of course, to me and Adam. Over and over and over again. We made many trips outside to the front lawn to play so they wouldn't disturb others eating too bad. They had a huge fish tank which was beautiful so we looked at fish a lot, too. If we eat there again, our kids will not be with us. :) Thank you to my parents and Christopher and Brandy for keeping them entertained. Eating out with young kids is no joke! Whew! 

Here are a few pictures on our way to dinner. While we were at the restaurant, I didn't feel like pulling out my camera because I was too busy chasing my kiddos.

Sunday morning came and it was also Father's Day! We gave Adam his gifts before we left because I didn't want to load them up and bring to Florida. We gave him his card and then we gave my dad his gift. Each year I make Father's Day card off Shutterfly and personalize it with pictures. Such a great keepsake! The weather was perfect so we quickly changed into our bathing suits and made our way down to the beach! Oh, I need to add. We all woke up at 8:30! Even Landon! That's late for us considering he is up before or by 6:30 every day. 

We started at the pool first per Adalyn's request. We have a swimmer on our hands folks.

Next, we made our home on the beach and ate a Pop-Tart.

Adalyn and Landon both loved the ocean. The saltyness of it didn't phase them at all! 

We stayed on the beach for a few hours then headed back to the swimming pool. I always like to jump in and feel somewhat clean again. 

Here is Adalyn practicing her diving skills.

 Love my water babies

This girl is all about no floaties! We made her wear them in the deep end. It's so hard to tred water when you have a 3 year old trying to swim on top of you, too. 

We had a FULL day at the beach! (and pool!) My favorite kind of day. Both kids napped around 2 or more hours which was blissful. Swimming is the best way to tire my kids. And most kids for that matter. 

We headed back to the room and took showers and got dressed for dinner. We made pictures on the beach first then headed to Pier Park to The Back Porch for dinner. YUM! I will do another post with  our beach pictures and the fun we had shopping and riding rides at Pier Park. 

So here is the inside scoop on our first 2 days in Florida! I'll be blogging more about each day of vacation so keep checking back!

Landon is (almost) 21 months old

Landon will be 21 months old this coming Sunday. We will be on vacation so I thought I should go ahead and blog about him and other things.

This kid amazes me every single day. It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that in 3 months, he will be 2 years old. I vividly remember Adalyn turning two. And Yes, his birthday is already planned out. (You know me)As each day passes, he learns more and catches on to so many things. Yet another reminder he is (slowly) growing out of his baby stage. He talks all day long. We can have full blown conversations with him. I mean, look at this kid! Doesn't he look like such a "boy" and not a "baby" anymore?

Speaking of not being a baby anymore, this little turd climbs out of his bed every single morning. He has been doing so for about a month now. Adam and I knew early on that he would do that eventually. (Adalyn never tried until she was 2 1/2- really, almost 3) He climbs out of his bed around 6:00-6:15 every morning. He use to say "Momma" over and over again until I went in and got him. I guess he didn't like waiting the 15 seconds it took for me to walk down the hall and get him. So he has taken it upon himself to get out and walk into our room. I'm obviously already up getting ready but Adam gets him and puts him in bed with him hoping he will fall back asleep. Most of the time he does. But sometimes he will get up and walk to me and grab my hand and say " Milk " and pull me into the kitchen. He has been a climber since he first figured out he could pull up on things. He would figure out how to maneuver his little body onto whatever he was touching. For example, I walked into the play room one day to find him standing on top of the bookshelf. It holds books and different colored cubes (or tubs). It has 9 sections (3 top, 3 middle, 3 bottom). He climbed 3 shelves and was standing on top by the time I caught him. All he did was shine his mischievous smile of his. The next day, he was standing on top of their little table and he took a huge canvas off the wall and was holding it out for me to see when I walked in and caught him yet again. We have referred to Landon as a Tornado. He is full speed all day long and is a ball of energy. Which most are at this age. But the only way I can describe him is he is all BOY.

Landon is also loving swimming. This past Sunday after Church we went over to my parents to swim and to eat a steak dinner. It was rainy once we got there so we all settled in for a 3 hour nap. (Yes!) Once we woke up, the sun was out and we were all ready to swim. Landon is very use to the water now. We put his floaties on and let him have it. I throw him in the pool just like I throw Adalyn in the pool. He goes straight under, arm floaties and all, and comes up laughing. After a while my mom asked if he wanted to get in the hot tub. (the temp is turned down for them) So he usually goes back and forth between the pool and hot tub.

Adalyn is the little fish of the family. She begs to go down and touch the bottom with her hands. I love that she has no fear of being in the water.

The girl has amazing balance as well. She loved "surfing"!

and one more because she's so cute :)

As you know, Landon is in to cows, tractors, combines, lawn mowers, airplanes and "diggers" as he calls them. I bet he has 20 different tractors, bobcats, gators, combines, etc around the house. We bought him some pajamas's at Carter's the other day. One set had airplanes and the others have dump trucks, diggers, etc. I ask him at night which pajamas he wants to wear. He will either say "Planes" all while making his "plane" noise, or he will say, "Diggggggerssss!" Have I mentioned I love all this "boy" stuff?

We will ask Landon how to call cows up. We videoed his response the other night after dinner. It's precious. He says, "Coo Cows! Coo Cows! Come on! Come on! Moooo!" I'm going to try to post it to Facebook soon.

He has yet to use the potty. But I definitely know he is no where near ready for me to even think about going down that avenue. He will tell me he needs to go though. He will say, "Potty!" and run to the bathroom. I'll take his diaper off and sit him down, (just in case) and he will sit for a few seconds and then say, "Off, Off". He watches Adalyn and gets so excited so he at least knows that's what your suppose to do.

At 21 months, he is in size 5 diaper, weighs 29 lbs, 24 month and 2T clothes, size 7 shoe, and still has the whitest hair I have ever seen. He has such pale skin and we have discovered mosquitoes love his sweet, little skin. Even when it's covered with bug spray. (He got his momma's skin for sure)He loves to say "No" and says it quite often. He can point at his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, head, hair, belly, elbow, knee, leg, arm, hand, fingers, foot, and toes and say can them too as he is showing us. He also says, "Bomb bum" (bottom) and points to his bottom. It is so cute to hear him say it.

He and Adalyn both ask for a Popsicle every afternoon when we go outside to play. He loves riding in the gator with her and can hang on to the monkey bars so well. He loves looking for planes in the "kite" (sky) and when they are out of sight he says, "Where it go?" and he holds his hands up like he's asking a question. He calls every dog he sees Singer and at home, when he is finished eating, he will hold a piece of food in his hand, lean over the side and say, "Singer! Singer!" So he obviously feeds Singer his food while he is at my parents house.

Playing with his favorite toys...

And here he is "helping" Adam. Like Father like Son

Landon is such a sweet, loud, energetic little boy! He will be 2 before I know it.

6 Year Anniversary!

Adam and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on Sunday, June 2. 6 years have never gone by so fast! Seriously. I knew from very early on in our dating that I got really lucky when I snagged him. There really aren't a lot of guys out there in today's world like him. I remember my mommma saying she would pray about my future husband. Who he was, who he would be, how he would treat me, etc. Now that I have my own daughter, man oh man do I pray about her future spouse, too. It's never to early to pray about anything ;) I hope her future boyfriend/spouse will be the spitting image of her daddy. He's perfect in my eyes and that's what she deserves, too. We fell in love very early in our teenage years and our love has never faded. Adam is the humblest man I know. Seriously. It's NEVER about him. It's always about me and our kids. I am the proudest wife on the planet and I am so so thankful God chose Adam for me!

Happy 6 year Anniversary!

I think (if I remember correctly) this was the very first picture taken of us. I was 14, he was 16.

A few more random pictures from our early high school days!


Our Wedding Day-- June 2, 2007

Adalyn's 1st Gymnastics class

Monday, June 3 was Adalyn's very first Gymnastics class. I was so excited for her. Memories of all those years I took Gymnastics flashed back and I couldn't help but to smile. I was secretly hoping she would absolutely love it and want to keep going back. She is getting at the age where she is really needing to be involved in group activities whether it's sports, library time, or Pre-School. She does great at Church listening to her teachers and being around other boys and girls, but we know being involved in some kind of activity will help her, too. Just so she can learn to listen and to obey other people besides the family members, friends, or teachers at Church she is use to.

Here she is right before we went inside for her first class! (all of these pictures are taken with my iPhone so not the best quality!)

Man oh man does she look like me when I was her age!

She was all smiles. She went right out on the mat with the other girls and sat right down. She wasn't scared or hesitant at all. They started out with stretches then ran around 4 cones to warm up.

Next came cartwheels. I have been trying to teach this girl how to somewhat do a cartwheel but I haven't really been succeeding at it. It was so nice they worked with her on her technique on how to do it. They had pieces of tape on the mat to show exactly where she needs to put her feet, hands, and where to land. She tried so hard and I could tell she was having the best time. The smile never left her face I don't think. She kept turning around and giving us the thumbs up.

They then split up into groups and started working on different equipment and activities. She started at the uneven bars.

Oh, did I mention this little dude was with us, too? He did pretty well. He was a busy little thing though. He had his tractors and combines to play with (plus the toys the gym provided) but he was still climbing on mats and trampolines so we were trying to somewhat keep him under control and watch Adalyn as well. Kind of difficult. Do-able, but difficult. I'm not really sure how many more practices Landon will partake in :) For now anyway. He is SO busy. My oh my.

Back to Adalyn... They also did back handsprings. Obviously with a spot but I loved that they start so early! They practiced on the mat as well as the trampoline.

I enjoyed watching all of the other girls in the class. I believe there were two other 3 year olds, but the rest were 4 and 5. They knew exactly what to do, where to go, and it was great seeing their cartwheels, back bends, round-offs, etc. I will love watching Adalyn through this process learning new tricks! I would tumble on any piece of grass my feet would touch. Seriously. I even did back handsprings in the hall at College Street Elementary. I can't wait to watch her in our front yard tumbling away!