Goodbye yoga pants..

Why are they called yoga pants anyways? 

Who actually does yoga in the pants?

I keep sitting down to write these posts and such deep, emotional things come to my mind.  Maybe it is my escape or maybe as 2 people this past week have told me, I am mature and sound like an.... ADULT.  Yikes.  

I always plan stuff out in my head on how I expect it to go, setting expectations pretty high most of the time.  Example; mothers day.  I imagine being woken up about 10 am with a nice knock on the door with a tray of breakfast and flowers which I enjoy as I continue to lay in bed.  After breakfast, we go to the park, enjoy a nice walk and play on the playground.  Then have a nice picnic with my family.  Come home, take a nap before or after I get a massage, whichever is first, I am not picky.  Maybe watch a movie cuddled up on the couch with my boys.  Eat a nice home cooked meal prepared by someone else and not clean up a single dish.  Enjoy some tv before going to bed at 8pm.  I mean, that isn't setting my expectations too high, right?  Wrong.  A lot of things have changed since having #2.  I am starting to become more easy going.  (I said starting too... I am now like 1% easy going where I was 0%.. baby steps people)  So yeah, the whole mothers day thing was nothing like planned.  Except we did go to the park, went on a walk, threw rocks and played on the playground.  We even had a picnic.  Actually it was more like two picnics because Cameron was screaming so bad that Kordell ate first with Landon while I held Cameron.  Then, Kordell took the screaming child and I ate.  Then we couldn't get Cameron to quite down so we had to leave early and fast so he didn't disturb all of the other park goers and their mothers day picnics.  We won't even talk about a certain 3 year olds attitude.  Since Kordell had a baseball game (On mothers day? Yes, I know..) I did end up having dinner prepared by someone else.  General Mills.  Oh, and I did get a massage...certificate.  I did get another unforgettable gift.  A tick...in my pants.  Who wanted to go to the park anyways??  As I laid down for bed that night, I couldn't help but smile.

 

We went over 3 years without using a band aid on Landon (except for shots at the dr) and have now gone through an entire box in a matter of weeks.  If this is any indication of what summer will be like, we are in trouble.  It all started the first day swimming at my parents new pool.  "Don't run Landon."  "Walk Landon." "Landon, slow down."  And just like that, he acted as if he broke his leg. He couldn't walk for several minutes and then when he figured out his leg was still there, he limped.  He was hyperventilating from crying so hard.  Brace yourself; it's ugly.

 

 

I know, right?  I really did have sympathy for him after it happened, it's always sad seeing your little one get hurt and cry.  BUT, this happened about a month ago.  He has not sat down in the bath tub since because he thinks it is going to hurt.  He wouldn't let us take his band aid off for several days which caused him to have a rash.  When we did get the band aid off, it was a two person job.  I am sure if you live within a 5 mile radius, you heard.  Any person we see, he tells them about his leg.  He comes home from the babysitter every day and tells us his leg doesn't hurt, as if he is shocked.  Every night at dinner when we pray, we have to pray for his leg.  I guess there is something about that first injury you cannot forget.  Not even a week later, he had another accident.  This time a folding table fell on him and this is what happened...

 

 

Luckily this injury did not leave a lasting mark on his psychiatric well being like the leg.  Knock on wood we haven't had any other "serious" boo boo's since then.  We are going to have to start our prayers about an hour before dinner! 

 

I am 7 (work days) away from trading in my cozy pants and t-shirts for my dress pants and heels.  I recently read an article where the working mom wrote a letter to the stay at home mom and the stay at home mom wrote a letter to the working mom.  I think I should do this for myself; write a letter to myself in both roles.  No, I am not an expert "stay at home mom" (sahm as they call it) but after these past 12 weeks, I have a pretty good understanding.  On those days when I am asking myself "is this what I really want?" I can turn to the letters and remember, both roles have their pros and both have their cons. 

 But which one has the most pros? 

 

I'll consider this my SAHM letter...

I have such respect for people who stay home with their child(ren) or anyone else's child(ren) for that matter.  You have all seen those funny youtube videos of the stay at home mom rapping about throw up in her hair, cheerios all over the floor, haven't showered for days, still in her PJ's, etc.  It's all true.  Every single thing.  I thought it would be fun staying at home but little did I know our little guy would have serious reflux.  Maybe that has a lot to do with how I feel about staying home verses working.  I leave the house once a day, unless it rains, to go on a walk because it calms him down.  90% of the time it is successful, the other times people stare at me like "do you hear your child screaming?"  Yep I do, I can only run so fast.  I attempted to take him to a few stores with me; we have had to leave multiple times before I was finished.  One time I was half way done grocery shopping and had to ditch my cart; it was still there when I returned childless an hour later.  Phew.  No, it's not like this for everyone but for me, stay at home mom means stay at home.  As strange as it sounds, sitting here all day with a fussy reflux baby who constantly needs held, is exhausting.  After a while you can start making songs up with the sound of the cries.   People at work always say I am good at blocking things out, you could say I have had some practice.  I always thought sahm's had the luxury of taking naps. Ha! That worked for about the first week, probably because I was beyond exhausted.  IF I am able to put him down for a nap, I'll use that time to eat or possibly shower.  You know it's a good day if you get to do both!  It is just different being home all day versus working all day.  Your to-do list, goals and projects are completely different.  As a sahm, my biggest accomplishment for the day (other thank showering) is getting him to smile in a picture.  If that doesn't work, any cute pose will do.

 

 

I make staying at home sound bad, but it really isn't.  There are good days too.  And those days, I never want to end.  I love watching Cameron grow day by day.  He does the weird baby movements like he's dancing and jumps at any loud noise.  I love his dimples.  I love his coo'ing and his smiles. I love the smile on his face when Landon talks to him.  I love his pouty lower lip.  I love watching him stare at things, trying to soak in the word around him.  I will miss these things when I go back to work more than anything.  It is hard to face the fact that I will most likely miss the first time he rolls over, first time he sits up, crawls and walks. 

It's even harder knowing it will be the last first's that I will miss. 

 

These next few days will consist of nothing less than cuddle time and play time with my littlest man.  I will enjoy every minute I have left before I retire my stay at home mom hat and turn back into the working mom.

 

This song has nothing to do with my post but since my keyboard is now wet, I need a song to make me happy.  Happy Friday.

 

 

 

Oh baby..

I almost forgot how small, tiring, innocent, dependent and just *a lot* that babies are!

 What exactly do I mean? Let me explain..

Small: I think that is pretty self explanatory. The crazy thing is, is that Cameron was 8 pounds 3 ounces when he was born and Landon was 6 pounds 14 ounces, so technically Cameron wasn't that small. Who am I kidding? When I can pick up, move and hold my child with one hand, he's small. I find it funny that just about a month ago, I used to think Landon was so small. Not anymore.. I can hardly pick him up! He is like a giant. I just look at Landon's "giant" hands and feet and remember when they looked just like Camerons; so tiny and small (and clean!). No matter 30 pounds or 9 pounds; I still have two precious little babies.

 Tiring: Again, I think we all know where I am going with this. I don't do well on little sleep, like, I REALLY don't do well on little sleep. I am not a pleasure to be around, at all. I am physically, emotionally and mentally messed up. It's a true story; it's bad. Just ask my family, they get the pleasure of "lack of sleep Erin." During the week, since I am on maternity leave, I get up with Cameron. The weekends, Kordell gets the "Cameron shift" and I get the "Landon shift." I am still debating which shift is better/worse. See, Cameron may wake up every 3-4 hours to eat, but that is pretty much a 24 hour routine. So if you want to sleep in until 10am (or 2pm) you can. Just feed him and he'll go back to sleep. Landon on the other hand likes to get up anywhere between 5:30-7:30. I tried putting on a TV show so I could continue sleeping, but between him jumping in the bed or him continuously saying "mommy, shows over" every time there is a commercial break, there is no going back to sleep for this shift. It's a matter of getting a full nights sleep but getting up at the crack of dawn or getting interrupted sleep but sleeping in as late as you want. Having both shifts in one night....torture. One day my children will go to bed at 8 and sleep in until 10... they may be in college, but it's bound to happen. Let's just pray Cameron sleeps through the night by the time I return to work or things could get ugly!

Innocent/Dependent: All babies want is a helping hand...babies can't do anything on their own, I mean nothing. Alright, I guess they can drink from a bottle on their own, although we often have to remind Cameron why there is a bottle in his mouth and what the task at hand is! When I had Cameron, the first thing they did at the hospital was put him on my chest. (they didn't do this 3 years ago with Landon!) They didn't examine at him, clean him, weigh him, measure him or anything until he laid on my chest for 1 hour. I like to think this is why Cameron ALWAYS wants to be held. Sometimes I can put him down but I have to make sure he is somehow still touching me. And when he is not being held or touched.. he is probably crying. This is where that whole dependent/innocent thing comes in to play. As much as I don't like constant crying, he is only crying because he isn't happy. Cameron has been having reflux issues since birth so when he cries for hours on end, I know he means no harm. He is depending on us to try and figure out how to cheer him up and make him feel better... one day we will figure it out. For now we will thank God for his innocence and cute face to pull us through.

*A lot*:  Maybe you have a different word for it, but that is all I can come up with.  Babies are a lot!  They eat a lot, sleep a lot, cry a lot, poop a lot, etc.  But the real "a lot" is the bottles, laundry and packing.  I swear I am spending my whole maternity leave washing bottles and doing laundry.  It is never ending.  I don't think all of my laundry has been done in 6 weeks; there is always something dirty!  Now that Landon is "potty trained" (thanks people for warning me about this regression thing!) we haven't had to pack a diaper bag for a while to leave the house.  Depending on how long we are gone we may have to pack a snack or drink but now-a-days... we need bottles, but you never really know how long you will be gone or if they are going to decide they want an extra bottle so you end up packing way more than needed.. Diapers - same thing as above.  Burp clothes (yes, plural, with reflux he saturates about 6 a day.)  Pacifiers.. wipes.. medicine.. etc.  I am usually early or at least on time for things; not anymore.  Go ahead and just plan on me being 15 minutes late.  Getting out the door with a baby is exhausting.  Trying to get a baby out the door with a toddler, impossible. 

 

So yeah, babies are *a lot* but I wouldn't trade these trying times for the world.  I am lucky enough to have a husband who understands me and has a way of knowing just the right time to step in and save me.  It's the small things he does that means the most.  When I got home from the hospital he had left some gifts for me on the counter and as much as I like presents, the thing that meant the most to me is that the shiny one he purchased over a year and a half ago, waiting for this day.  When I asked him, "what would've happened if this day didn't come?" 

He said "you would have gotten it anyway, you deserve it." 

 

He's definitely "The One Thing..." 

And then there were four...

400 

That is exactly how many days it has been since my last post.  Sorry.  Sorry to Landon that is.  I am not good at the whole baby book thing so I started this blog to capture the moments I wanted to make sure we remember because if Landon has a memory like his mother, he won't remember!  So here's to another attempt at this whole blog thing. 

 

I won't try and catch up on the past year.. Landon turned 3, we got pregnant and March 30th 2014, we welcomed our second son,
Cameron, into the world. 

 

Ok, I know what you are saying; who does their hair and put on make up before they have a baby?!  Trust me, it was strange.  I went to my weekly appointment Tuesday and the doctor said if I don't have the baby by Sunday at noon to come to the hospital and they will induce me.  It is probably one of the weirdest feelings eating breakfast in the morning, knowing you will be having a child later that day.  Or, saying goodbye to your son before you leave for the hospital to go give birth to his brother. 

Talk about emotional... there went my mascara! 

 

I didn't complain [publicly] much during my pregnancy.  Once we got pregnant, I really was one of the lucky ones.  I have never thrown up with either pregnancy, no real food issues, no cravings, no major health issues during pregnancy, etc.  It was pretty easy for me.   These past few weeks though have been really tough on me physically and emotionally.  If you haven't been pregnant before, its a lot of work!  Towards the end, you can't tie your shoes, you run out of breath just talking, you walk like an elephant, you hurt just about everywhere on your body, your ankles swell, your tired, your hungry but your stomach is so big you can't eat, you can't sit up on your own, getting in and out of bed is near impossible, shall I continue?  So with all of those amazing side effects, comes the emotional part.  If I had to hear "that baby hasn't come yet?"  "When are you going to have that baby?"  "Wow you have really gotten bigger."  "I am surprised you haven't had that baby yet..." I GET IT.  Note to self.  A pregnant woman does not want to hear this.  Yes, a pregnant woman will get bigger, its a proven fact.  If it looks like she is still pregnant, she is.  The baby will come someday, I promise.   Don't ask. 

Ok, my rant is over.

  

They say every pregnancy is different and boy are "they" right!  I went in for my induction at noon and 5 hours later, they finally put the IV in my arm.  (that's another story in itself..)  They broke my water at 6:21pm and at 8:30pm, Cameron was born. He was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 19.5 inches long and made it just in time for Landon to come up to meet him and sing him happy birthday! 

 

We have been talking about Landon's "Baby Brother" for 9 months now but I don't think he quite understood that the baby was going to eventually be out of my belly.  (thank goodness!!)  I was scared how he was going to react when he saw his brother for the first time, but he was SO excited.  I will never forget the smile on Landon's face when he came in the room and how timid he was to touch him.  It didn't take long for him to ask to hold his "baby brother."  Seeing Landon hold Cameron for the first time was something I'll always cherish.  He is so proud to be a big brother. 

 

I was told at week 37, based on how far along I was already progressing, that I would have a baby that week.  No baby.  I was told at 38 weeks the same thing, no baby.  Talk about a long wait!  I had weekly ultrasounds the last month of my pregnancy and was told some concerning things during one appointment that made us a little worried.  Ok, very worried.  So, we had to just sit with this information in our head for weeks.  When Cameron was born I just had to smile at our perfect, healthy baby boy.  There is something special about that moment they put your baby in your arms, like any care in the world just disappears.  Nothing else matters. 

 

And now there are four....These past few days have been quite the adjustment.  There is now an extra person around, an extra room, an extra car seat; he may be small but he sure makes his mark!  Jackson seems to be scared of him and Landon, well he has the attention span of a 3 year old.  About the time it takes you to set up pillows for him to hold Cameron, he is already over it.  I am sure we still have a lot to learn adjusting to a family of 4 but I know we can do it.  All of the fears, doubts, tears and heartaches along the way were worth it in the end.  5 years ago I would have never thought I would be able to have two beautiful healthy boys.  I thank God everyday for the family he has blessed me with and look forward to the memories ahead.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!! (That's up for debate...)

Guess what, I have been on Pinterest again!  I mean, no, all of those party ideas below were all my idea!!  Here I go being crafty again; actually this time it was Landon being crafty.  He didn't seem to mind.  Well, I take that back.  Of course he wouldn't get his hands dirty... but after I smashed them in the paint, he went to town.  Not on this picture though, I got him another canvas he could express his artistic ability on.  I needed one semi-professional

Christmas tree painting to hang up! 

Landon's new BFF is Santa. Shoot.  I should have invited the guy to his birthday party.  Maybe next year.  You would think he would be scared of him, but no, loves him.  I think he must have a cozy lap or something.  If you ask him what Santa says, he says "Ho Ho!" Can't quite get that third Ho out of him, but at least he gets the picture. Landon went with his cousin Cole to a brunch with Santa a few weeks ago and had a blast. While he wasn't stalking Santa, he made Christmas craft.  I take that back, he made about 6.  Every time I looked over, he had grabbed something else and colored on it. Oh well. He also made his own sugar cookie. He was more interested in the candies on the cookie than the actual cookie. I think he was just taking advantage of eating candy before 10:00 am. Isn't that what the holidays are all about?!

Thanks Goods for inviting us along!   

 

 

 We had a lot of fun with the Schrock's and Megan's this year over Christmas.  We also enjoyed having Christmas morning with our family to start our own family traditions!  Here are a few highlights from our Christmas this year:

 If you or anyone you know is planning on having a child, ever, and have the ability to plan it; do not have a child at the end of December.  Period.  It's 5 days after Christmas and 1 day after my son's 2nd birthday party.  Oh, and one day until my son's actual birthday and I am.... done!  In fact, it is now 3:30 in the afternoon and I am still in my pjs.  Actually, I have no intentions of changing out of them today.  I am not sure I have ever been so exhausted in my life.  No amount of sleep will remove these dark circles under my eyes.  I thought last year was tough since it was his first birthday party and wanted to make sure everything was perfect, but it turns out, this year was even more tough.  I put so much time and effort into his parties that if one thing goes wrong, it throws everything off.  At this rate, I will loose all of my hair, and sanity by age 4.  I am so grateful for my family (and husband!) who helps me through these difficult times; I wouldn't have been able to pull it together and pull it off with out them!  This face made everything worth it when the birthday boy came downstairs to his party...

I think the hardest thing is that his birthday and Christmas are only 1 week apart so when your friends/family ask what he wants, you need to plan out what he may want 8 month from now, too. Sure, we buy him things throughout the year, but this is his one stop shop for gifts. And that it is, the amount of toys around our house is out of control. We have the most generous friends and family!  Thank you for everyone who came and made Landon's 2nd Birthday party so much fun for him!!

  

Don't get me wrong, I am making it sound like the holidays/birthday was not enjoyable; they were. But, I am glad they are over. I am glad my tree is down, I am glad the wrapping paper is put away and mostly, I am glad to have a few more days to spend with the most important people

in my life before we return to the real world.  

 

It's only appropriate...

 

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's my birthday and I'll blog if I want to...   Since my husband won't let me do anything else around the house since it's my birthday, (good thing I did laundry yesterday!) I might as well update you all on what the Schrockstars have been up to the past 4 months.  Yes, it has been 4 months. This little trouble maker may have everything something to do with that.  

 

Have I told you how much I love my birthday?  Well, I love my birthday.  I love all of November.  November 18th and all 17 days before and all 12 days after.  It is not my fault that I celebrate for so long.  It is all those restaurants sending me free meal coupons that last for weeks; blame them.   Two days before my birthday I invited some of my girlfriends to join me in a Wine and Canvas night.  If you know me at all, you know that I cannot draw, paint, color in the lines or connect the dots.  My handwriting looks like a 2nd grader.  I was really just looking forward to the whole wine part of the night; and my friends.  If you haven't been to one of these events, I highly recommend it.  If I can do it, you can do it.  Trust me!  I brought my painting home and Kordell said

"You did that? That is actually half way decent!" 

I'll take that as a complement. 

Thank you to all of the wonderful ladies who made

my birthday SO fun :)

  

We have been very busy this fall but made sure to squeeze in a family vacation to Florida!  We went to Ocala to see my grandparents at their retirement resort.  Sure, sounds boring, but it's really not.  It really is like heaven.  Everything is just a golf cart ride away.  Pool, golf course, bar.  What more could you ask for?  Sunshine.  Yes.  They have that too.  So the whole traveling with the child thing was far from a walk in the park like last time, but somehow we survived.  One thing Landon did not think he was going to survive was the Butterfly Exhibit at the University of Florida.  He was terrified he was going to get

attacked by the butterflies!!

  

After that traumatising experience, we went back to Landon's happy place.  The pool! 

 Before we headed on vacation, we went to Kerchers to pick out our pumpkins and were lucky enough to have a private hayride out to the orchard.  We made sure to get two pumpkins to carve and one for a special Pinterest project.  You drill holes in a pumpkin and put suckers in it; you leave it on your porch for the trick or treaters to take one if you will not be home to pass out candy.  I do have a great story about this little pumpkin but since it involves me getting in a fight with some children, (yes, they were 5 years old) I will just sum it up for you.  I was still home, they took them all, they put them all back. 

I won't be seeing them next year.

 

Speaking of Halloween... This year Landon went as a Lego!  He doesn't love lego's yet, but he loves his cousin and they wanted to dress up together.  This year we got crafty and we made his costume.  Well Kordell did.  I take that back, I cut two circles out so that does count as "we made."  This is by far the easiest, cheapest and cutest costume ever!  He hated it at first, in fact he was screaming as we put it on but once we won the battle, he was ready to get some candy! Sure he wasn't able to walk at first, but that's fine.  Kordell went sprinting home to get a knife to cut off the back so he had enough space to move his legs.  He couldn't go up steps either since there wasn't enough room to bend his knees.  I had to pick him up for each step which made his head go down into the box, but, he knew what he got if he toughed it up; candy!  He was a trooper.  We decided to stay in our neighborhood to trick or treat which was a good idea.  Never in my life would I have thought it would take an hour and a half to walk a quarter of a mile.

This is my third crafty thing I have mentioned in this blog. What is happening to me? One word. Pinterest. As my husband likes to say "I am going to pin that on Pinterest and then re-pin it." Obviously he has no idea what he is talking about. Why would you pin something and then re-pin it? I mean seriously...

Back to that cute kid of mine.. is that too forward?

This age is unbelievable.  It amazes me the new things he learns in just one day.  He is so smart, so cute, so charming, so funny, so curious, so naughty, so happy, so mischievous, so goofy, so (almost!) two!   Seeing his bright happy face never gets old.  Neither does this...

Maybe if I stay off Pinterest, then I would have more time to blog.  But...If I don't get on Pinterest then I don't have anything to blog about.  It's a no win.  I guess I could just write a blog about all of the great things Landon is up to now a days.. yes, that sounds like a great idea if you ask me.  Now if only I could have someone write it for me, that would make my life much easier... maybe I will have Landon call one of his peeps for the job. 

Remember that whole vacation thing?  Kordell and I decided to leave Landon with my grandparents and Aunt & Uncle while we went to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival for the day/night.  It was hard for us to decide if we should take him to go meet his buddy Mickey or not, but we decided to wait until he was a little older.  Plus, he would not have appreciated and enjoyed our free concert we got to attend.  No youtube video tonight for your entertainment folks, you get to see LIVE footage from the one and only Boys II Men concert!  (with vocals from special guests Kordell & Erin)  Alright, it is youtube, only because the blog wouldn't up oad the video because its too large.. but it is still authentic!  Sorry for the footage, we may or may not have been at Epcot for 7 hours enjoying all of the tastes of the world.  If you make it to the end of the video, I will apologize now and say... 

I don't know, read the previous sentence.

This is the reason I don't blog that often, because it takes me forever!  Yes, I wrote this blog on Sunday and then had the previlage of rewriting it Monday since it deleted everything.  Now, I have been trying since Monday to upload the video I just promised you.  Well, I am done trying.  Since I wrote the previous section, not once, but twice, I am keeping it.  Just close your eyes, imgaine Boys II Men singing "End of the Road" while the camera zooms in and out while bouncing up and down.  Then, at the end, the camera man zooms in on my singing and then the video ends with me attacking the camera... it was epic. 
So since I can't show you want I "Wanted," I will show you "Wanted"

 

Remember Us?

Shhhh.. do you hear that??  Silence.  Ok, I lied, the fan is on in my kitchen because I have a cheesecake cooking in the oven, but to me, that is silence.  Landon is sleeping, Kordell is working in my garden and I am......blogging!  I missed you too.  Between work, visitors, crazy summer activities and chasing an 18 month old around, I have had about zero time to sit. 
So here I am... ready to vent!

Well, the neighbor brought our dog home, again.  This is about the 6th time in the past year that I have let him out and forgot about him. I thought to myself, maybe if I take his collar off, people won't know who he belongs to and won't return him but in a neighborhood, that won't work.  I may buy a collar with a fake phone number and fake name so people think he belongs somewhere else.   I might make some family very happy.  Should I have not said that out loud?  Someone asked me a few weeks ago if I would get rid of Jackson if Kordell let me and to tell you the truth, I said probably not.  Landon sure does love that little dog.  It is so cute when he leans his little head out the back door and yells "_______."  I am not quite sure what he yells, but I know it means "Jackson!!"  Lucky for Landon, his mommy and daddy won the newly wed game at an anniversary party and was sent home with big palm leaves.  They are perfect for Landon to torture Jackson with!  *Thanks Kelly!* 

Notice at the end of the video, right after he smacks Jackson, he is off to the couch.  Smarty pants has figured out he isn't quite tall enough to climb on the couch, so he pulls off the cushions so he can climb on the couch....  And the end tables.  This child has no fear!  In fact, he has a motorcycle that rocks like a rocking horse and instead of sitting on it to rock, he likes to stand on it and rock.  We are in trouble.  I am not sure if you folks are friends with me on facebook, but the other day I posted a comment about researching the terrible twos.  I wasn't joking, I did.  The only thing I learned is that he will out grow it in about two years.  That's reassuring.  I may only need to re-soil my plants 5 times between now and then.  Or I suppose I could try and collect all of the dirt that he is throwing down the vents to refill them.  I think the worst part of the "terrible 1 1/2's" is that he knows he is being naughty.  You ask him "Landon, are you being naughty?" and he shakes his head and says "no!"  Or better yet, as he is walking towards doing something naughty, he shakes his head no!
 

Landon is a drama king. He is very dramatic and animated; I have NO idea where he gets this trait.  When he cries, he covers his face with both hands, gets his body into it and acts like his dog just got hit by a truck. When you ask him how you go poo poo - he squats, grunts and moans.  When he gets really mad, he growls. If somehow we sneak pasta or rice into his mouth, he will gag and act as if you just poisoned him. His newest "dramatic" gesture is the gasp. It's cute until you are alone with him at the store and you pass by someone and he points at them and gasps as if he just ran into his long lost best friend.  Awkward.  One time we were at my parents house and my parents had a burnt spot in their lawn (sorry mom) and Landon stopped, pointed at it and fake cried. Yes, Landon, daddy would never allow that in our yard. What is this fake crying we speak of? Watch and learn...This is what happens when Landon see's mushrooms (yes, mushrooms) in the yard....

I wish I could post videos about everything we love about Landon right now but I don't think this blog can hold that much footage, because trust me, I've got it all recorded!  We love the way he bats his eyes when you ask him where his eyes are.  The way he has to pat our belly if we don't have a shirt on (not posting that!).  The way he loves to carry containers to recycle.  The way he still claps his hands for the sign "more."  The way he dances from foot to foot as he see's us pulling up to the house.  The way he grabs our hands to pray before we eat. We love how he can spend hours in his bed quiet, just sitting, staring at the wall.  The way he starts going backwards on his belly down the stairs about 10 feet too early.  The way he says "uh oh" and "bye bye."  One of my favorites is "hewooo?" as he picks up the phone.  The way he walks on his tip toes.  The way he dances on command.  His "mean face."  The way he runs to the phone when it rings.  We love how he always has to give one last bump before he goes to bed, even if it's to a picture on the wall.  The way he calls any man over the age of 40 "Pa pa."  The way he flashes cars as they drive by our house.  The way he yells "MAMMA" or "DADDA" if we get further than 5 feet from him.  The way he holds a book up to his nose to smell the flowers.  The best of all?  The way he says "ya you" when you tell him you love him.  Ok, I'm done - for now.  The good news is, Landon's vocab is expanding past "Ball" and "Burr."  Don't get me wrong, we still hear those about 72 times a day but that is much better than the 630 times a day we heard it!  He loves reading those picture books!  Every night he grabs one, backs his little butt up to you so you hold him on your lap.  He likes to show off all of his words he knows.  In fact he likes to act like it is a race on each page to name an object you know.  If he can't find one fast enough.. he points and says "buurrr.!"  And, yes, he still thinks ducks growl.  I was tying to upload a video of him showing of all the words he knows but its too big:(  

So, I guess you will just have to see the picture I took of Kordell reading to Landon instead.

We have really been enjoying the summer thus far.  Kordell is done coaching soccer so that means more family time!  This weekend has been the first weekend we have cooped ourselves up in the house, ditched out on the offers to hang out and just have some Schrockstar fun! Landon decided to get Kordell an ice cream maker for fathers day so that has been fun making all different flavors.  Sure, it may have been more for me, but, that is what you get when you get married:)  It has been a hectic past few months.  We have been to the Zoo for Mothers Day, his cousins t-ball game, visiting with my friend from Cali, swimming lessons, softball games, swimming at the lake, playground for Fathers Day, family pictures, visiting with my sisters family from Phoenix, and meeting our brand new niece/cousin, Kaitlyn!  This is the first time Landon has seen a baby up close and personal.  He was not quite sure what to do with her.  He often would pet her as if she were a dog.  It worked.  My favorite is that Landon knows a baby says "whaa whaa" but has never really heard one before.  The first time Kaitlyn cried he looked at us like "OMG - They DO make that noise!"  Somehow through all the chaos of Kaitlyn's baptism weekend, we managed to get a great group shot of the whole Megan clan!
 

It may have been 2 months since my last post,

but three things remain...

 Landon's love for (any kind of) "Ball!"

His love of Swimming....

And most importantly... his LOVE of DaNcing! 

So these past few months have been a little trying and tiring, but I would not trade my sneaky, ornery, non-stop, mischievous, naughty little trouble maker for anything!  It is crazy how one little boy can bring so much joy to someone's life. 
That other guy seems to do a good job of it too:) 

As much as I would love to put "Call me maybe" for my song since Kordell and Landon LOVE dancing to it, I am not.  I am going to put up one of my favorite songs right now. 
The only difference here is I am still on cloud 9 <3

Spring has SpRuNg!!

Burrr, ball, dada.. Yep - that's still all we hear.  Honestly, I wish you knew the extent of it.  People think I am being dramatic, but I am not.  This past weekend was the first time I have taken him grocery shopping with me since he has starting "talking."  If I had a dollar for every time he pointed at something and said burr or ball, I would have had my groceries paid for.  And make that $1 more for the strange man he called dada.  Just within the past few days, he has really started to expand his vocab.  He is starting to say two syllable words.  Boom boom, papa, mama, bubble and my favorite is bye bye.  He actually slightly sings that one.  He is getting really good at his animal sounds too, woof , moo, fish noise, etc.  Ask him what a duck says, he growls.  Not sure where he got that one but its too cute to fix!  15 months is such a fun age!  He is running everywhere, trying anything and everything and and he LOVES being outside.  Put all of that together, you get cuts, bruises and scraps  Poor boy.. this is going to be one long summer!

Landon really loves allergy season, mommy and daddy sneeze a lot, so that means Landon sneezes a lot, too.  He is such a faker.  We were at Lowes the other day and he fake sneezed and someone came up to us and asked us how old he was and we said 15 months and she said "WOW, I am really impressed with his fake sneezing!"  We couldn't be more proud.  He is starting to get to such an ornery stage.. he does the silliest things and sometimes it is so hard not to laugh! For instance the other night he kept throwing his milk on the floor and I said no, it goes right here when you are done (pointing to the little cup holder on his high chair) not two seconds later, he throws it on the ground again, shakes his head and points to the cup holder. How can you not laugh at that?!  And this!!?

Landon loves the sweeper right now too - in fact, the other day I put it away, he cried.  Too bad its too big for him to use!  Another thing Landon loves is the bath.  Anytime there is water running "bath!?" No.. that is the washing machine (no joke) . He likes to be a little creeper when one of us in the shower.  I guess it's better than him hating it!  He is still really into music, it's just in his blood, what can I say.  Going on walks is still on the top of his list.  He loves his wagon but we cannot keep anything in it while walking unless the neighbors are out to bring us all of the things he has thrown out along the way.  Basketball... oh basketball.  The Easter Bunny really out did herself this year and got him a $1.97 suction basketball hoop for in the kitchen.  I probably shouldn't have basketball in every room, maybe that is why he is so obsessed!?  Well, Kordell broke the high dollar hoop as he was opening it, and then within a day, the net was off, but if Landon can make a basket still, it doesn't matter.  Just check out the condition of this hoop..
some say nothin' but net.. we say nothin' but rim.

Easter was so much more fun this year than last year!  He loved the Easter egg hunts.  We had one at Grandma and Grandpa Schrocks inside since it was crummy out the day we did that one.  That didn't stop him.  The problem is that he was pretty satisfied with 2 eggs.  He just kept taking them out of his basket and putting them back in.  Well mommy and daddy wasn't going to let that slide, there was chocolate in those eggs... we made him keep looking.  Of course he spotted a basketball during the hunt so he was more excited about that then the eggs.  By the time the second egg hunt came around at my house with my family, he had the hang of it.  He kept walking around saying "ball" .. of course!  In fact we were playing outside a few days later and he kept looking for them.  Looks like the Easter Bunny may need to make another visit. 

And he thought he only worked one day a year...

My sister has been very involved with the March of Dimes ever since she lost her twins a few years ago.  I wanted to do something this year to help bring in a little more money.  I figured, why not dance!  So, with the help of a few friends and family members, I threw her a SURPRISE Zumba/Hip-hop dance benefit!  I started the event thinking I would only have a few people show up and maybe raise 100 bucks, boy was I wrong.  I was blown away by all of the generous people and companies in the area that gave so generously for the drawing items.  My sister was so shocked when she showed up at the Old Bag Factory that night.  She was so grateful for everyone who came and donated to the her team; and so was I!  Sure, there were a few minor hiccups along the way, (I am not an event planner, at all), but in the end, the event was a HUGE success.  With every one's generous donations, we raised close to $900!!!  Keep practicing, Lindsay is already talking about "next year!"

So if you have a child, you already know this - if you don't, it's a warning.  Everyone always has something to say about your childs height/weight. Why?  I don't know.  About 99% of the time, it's annoying to me.  "How old is he?"  "Wow, he's such a big boy."  "Boy, he doesn't go hungry does he?!" The funny thing is, he can still wear 12 month clothes and wears about 9 month shoes.  We just had his 15 month check up and he is in the 7% for height and 20% for weight.  I've said it before, I'll say it again - he's 100% to us:)  Short, tall, skinny, fat - he is one happy, healthy, AdOrAbLe boy!

I may or may not have gotten a new car last week, (you'll never know because my "dad" said I cannot tell people about it) but IF I did get a new car... you can bet I have been playing this jam on repeat! 
Yes, I think I am 18.