Weekend Re-Cap #17

I started this week off in a bad mood.  No reason, just grumpy and tired.  I checked my e-mail and suddenly got a little smile on my face.  “Just a reminder your birthday is coming up…”   Yes Red Robin, it sure is!  Only 49 more days.  Thank you for the reminder! J

Another super exciting thing that has happened this week is Landon saying “Dada.”  Don’t worry, Mama is just around the corner, I just know it!  I think he may be confused and likes to call me “Baba.”  Yea, that’s it; he thinks I am “Baba.”  That's why it says it all the time.  I knew he would pick me first!   All the gibber jabber from this little man is the least of our worries right now, just when you thought you had everything baby-proofed for crawling,

this starts happening:

It’s a whole new ball game now!  Things you would have never thought to be enticing are now the most amazing thing in the world; at least in Landon’s world.  No more leaving him unattended while switching over the laundry!  I had to have Kordell watch him 5 minutes while I finished baking (the most delicious peanut butter M&M cookie bars EVER) because he was getting into the dogs bowl, the dishwasher, the drawers, etc. 
While Kordell was watching him, this is where he wound up.

As you can see, the chair leg is lifting off the ground because about 2 seconds after this picture, the chair flipped and landed on the ground and some how missed Landon. 

Ohh this getting into everything is getting fun!!

Even though his appointment was this Monday, I will throw it in this blog because, I don’t have much else to say.  Shocker.  Our little man had his 9 month check up!!  He was perfect, as usual.  He had to experience yet another painful event at this visit which surprisingly, he wasn’t as loud and angry as usual.  He didn’t even make a peep when she pricked his big toe.  He may have started fussing when she was squeezing the blood out of his toe, but I probably would have too.  She was squeezing pretty darn hard.  Looking in his mouth is a tough task but the way I was holding him on my lap gave me a good glimpse inside.  Guess what I saw?  I saw swollen gums, bruised gums and two little holes.  Yep, two more teeth are coming through.  Man did that look painful L   He weighed 18 pounds 1 ounce and was 27 inches long.  He may be in the 20^th percentile for both height and weight, but he’s in the 100th percentile for our hearts.  Cheesy, I know. 

To date, this may be my shortest blog yet.  Why is that?  Well, blame it on the rain.  We were going to go to the pumpkin patch Saturday afternoon with my sister and her family for a little fall fun but no, it rained.  We were going to go to an outdoor Spiderman party and bounce our heads off in the bounce house, but no, it rained.  We were going to walk to Flavor Freeze for some ice cream since our days are getting limited, but no, it rained.  So, since all of the excitement for this week was a wash…  I’ll leave you with this:

Weekend Re-Cap #16

Best week ever!  Ok, maybe not ever, but it was a great week! 

It was my nephew Cole’s “Star Day” at his pre-school Tuesday which means he can choose to do whatever he wants.  Play a game he chooses, read his favorite book, do his favorite craft, bring in something for “show and tell,” etc.  The kid who was the star the day before brought in his cat.  (How exciting!)  Cole decided he wanted Landon to come in for his special day and wear a blue Cubs shirt, just like him so they could match!  I left work for a little bit so I could bring Landon in.  Since we had to be there at 10:30 I had to have the sitter wake Landon up from his nap.  He was a zombie until we got to the classroom; it was like walking into a box of crayola crayons!  Between just being woken up, all of the colors in the room, things hanging from the ceiling, the toys all around the room and the 12 kids staring at him; it took him a few minutes to snap out of it.  It is just so funny to me how 4 and 5 year olds get entertained at the simplest things.  Landon just sat on the carpet for 30 minutes and the children loved it.  Of course he would start crawling, screaming (in excitement), playing with the kids shoes, you know, normal baby things and they just watched him.  Towards the end of the 30 minutes I gave him his pacifier since he started getting fussy and a few times it fell on the floor.  Two times, two different kids picked the pacifier up for him; they handed it over and then wiped off their hands and made a face as if the pacifier was the most disgusting thing they have ever touched in their lives.  Gotta love kids!  Landon had such a great time; he was so good that they even invited him back!  Thanks Cole for inviting Landon to “Star Day,” he can’t wait to show you off to his friends one day too!

 

I have the best boss ever!  (shh, don’t tell him I said that) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this past week I have been coming in a little early so I can leave work early in order for me to attend a very important event: Landon’s swimming lessons!!! 
Yep, we signed him up for swimming and he couldn’t be happier.  I am even happy and willing to get up 30 minutes early!  Now that, my friend, is love!  Unfortunately, the only class around that is in the evening is at Wawasee High School.  So, 3 nights a week, for 3 weeks, we drive an hour (+) total for a half hour class.  But you know what?  After seeing Landon in the pool, I would drive 5 hours for a half hour class!  (well, maybe not on a work night)  I am so happy that we are able to do this with Landon, it is something the Schrockstar’s will remember for a long time!

 

I was a little nervous about his reaction to the pool.  He loves taking a bath but when I have put him in a little kiddie pool before, he didn’t really like it.  I think he is like his mommy and doesn’t like to be cold!  The first night, I decided that I would get in with him (surprise, surprise).  Before we actually got in the pool, we sat on the side and I was supposed to use the watering can to get him (and me) used to the freezing cold water.  I knew if this didn’t make him mad, it was smooth sailing from here.  I didn’t think my hair or face would be getting wet but then again I forgot how he loves to splash.  He didn’t stop moving for the entire 30 minutes.  Whether it was his arms, legs or both, he was a kicking/splashing machine.  I overheard one of the guys talking about Landon and telling his wife “That little guy loves the water!”  Even the teacher is impressed with him and his calm demeanor.  Grandma Megan gave him the nickname “Aqua Man” and boy is it fitting.   He is a natural in the water;
watch out Michael Phelps; there’s a new kid in town!

 

A little fun fact about Landon is that he throws up, a lot.  You may be thinking to yourself, “oh yeah, all babies do.”  No, spend a day with this guy and you will have a new understanding of the words “throw up.”  Which brings me to the best part of the swimming lessons; he throws up the whole time and just like that, it’s gone!  I wonder if that is why no one is ever around us in the pool.  Oh well.  More space for us to splash!   Of the three times we have gone so far, there has only been one incidence of a slight fuss.  This was when mommy decided to try and dip him under water and made him choke.  Oops!  Apparently I don’t listen to directions very well.  At least, this is what coach Kordell is yelling from the side.  I have to remind him this is supposed to be a fun adventure; we are not training for the Olympics (yet).  I did let Kordell have a shot in the pool with him one day since he is SO much better at listening to directions than I am.  One thing he is better at than me (did I just say that?!) is dipping Landon under water. 

 Maybe it is because he likes to pretend he is baptizing him.

The little guy gets so worn out from his 30 mintues of non-stop moving; the first night he even snored on the way home!  Regardless the awkward bikini/tankini issue I am dealing with, Kordell getting in trouble for going into the deep end with our 8 ½ month old baby or some kid telling Kordell “um, that girl has gum in the pool!” (that, being me) - We LOVE swimming!   Thank goodness we still have 6 more classes to play!

Between all of this excitement for the week, Landon found time to pull himself up!!  He was helping me take things out of a box and the next thing you know, he was standing, holding onto the box!  Then, he thought he was a big boy and tried to grab something out of the box and fell in and cut his face.  Those darn boxes win every time!  The next day the sitter said he pulled himself up on the bookshelf and was grabbing the picture frame that is placed there.  For some reason, I find it exciting that I now have to childproof my house. 

 

No wonderful story about this song. 
Bad song + good singer = great song! 

Have a splash-tastic week!

Weekend Re-cap #15

Labor Day was our babysitters’ birthday so this past week we had her over for dinner.  Kordell always loves when we have guests over for dinner during the week because it means no grilled cheese or egg sandwiches; he gets an actual meal!  I am not sure why but I always try new recipes when I have company come over.  Probably not the smartest idea but luckily it hasn’t backfired.  Yet.  I actually impressed myself with what I whipped up this time.   I knew our sitter likes cheesecake so I decided to give an Oreo cheesecake a shot.  Holy Cow!  Not to toot my own horn, but: toot toot!  If you like cheesecake and you like Oreos, make this! 

And then invite me overJ     

http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/2011/05/cookies-and-cream-cheesecake-bars.html

This weekend consisted of us (Landon) playing with a lot of other kids.  He loved every minute of it!  Friday night we hung out with the Good and Coryn’s; it was boys night!  Even though the toys were about as big as he was, he was right down there on the floor playing trucks and cars with the “big boys.”  

 

Every party has a pooper that’s why they invited….

Just kidding!  He was a wonderful little man at the party; he just happened to have gotten snapped by that darn party hat before the picture.  In fact, he was so good, he didn’t even throw up on anyone at the party; just himself! We went from trucks and cars Friday night to barbies and princesses Saturday night!  My friend had a birthday party for her two girls and the theme was, of course, pink!  Landon didn’t mind all of the pink; that just means more girls for him to flirt with.  Jordan (one of the birthday girls) was insistent on bouncing with Landon, so Kordell got in the huge bounce house and helped them bounce.  Boy did he love it!  If only we could fit one of these bad boys in our basement for his birthday party in December!

It just hit me the other day that we are leaving for a week long vacation to Phoenix in less than a month to celebrate our 5 year anniversary!  In between the all the excitement of the weekend, I found time to plan our vacation.  You may be thinking, oh you plan your flights or hotel?  Nope.  We already have our tickets and we are staying with my sister. I planned what we are doing every day we are there.  I got a piece of paper, wrote down all seven days, divided it in half to indicate morning and afternoon and then made another list of all of the things I want to do while we are there.  I then worked on filling in the blanks based on the time of day, weather, naps, school, etc.  Well back that up.  I read Kordell my list of things I want to do while we are there and asked if he wanted to do anything else while we are there and his response was “I don’t think we will have any time to do anything I want.”  Good point.  So I filled in the blanks with activities for each day that I wanted to do.  (I have a major problem with scheduling things)  Oh well, at least we won’t come back saying “I wish we had done more.” 

Only 22 more days!!    

This puppy was a little short this week, but don’t worry, I will make up for it next week.  Boy do we have an exciting week planned!  Something special must be going on that I am waking up a half hour early 3 times this week!  J 

And now for the song of the week…

Sometimes I like to change the lyrics to songs to be funny; duh!  Well this song came on the other day and just made me laugh.  Way back when, when we first got Jackson, we used a shock collar to train him to stay in the yard.  Not one of those under ground fence things but one that you actually push a button and it shocks him.  We would hide so he couldn’t see us and when he crossed the property line: ZAP!  It didn’t take long to train him.  I think Kordell and his friends got more use out of the collar then the dog did.   This song must have been “cool” around that time because we (yes, Kordell did too) changed the lyrics to this song as if Jackson were the one signing it.  We actually sang it in Jackson’s voice too to be more dramatic.  Yes, Jackson has a voice.  Ask me some day to imitate it, I probably won’t, but it’s worth a shot.  The words in this song really didn’t take a whole lot of changing.  I am convinced Kelly may have actually been singing about getting shocked.  Close your eyes; imagine a black 10 pound little miniature schnauzer puppy with a big ol’ collar around his neck….

“Because of you I never stray to far from the back yard, because of you I learned to play on the safe side so I don’t get shocked… because of you I am .. afraid.” 

Weekend Re-Cap #14

What a stressful weekend!  Hence the reason this puppy is a little delayed.  Weekends like this make me step back, look at everyone in my life and say THANK YOU.  It also makes me realize that I now have a child and things aren’t as easy as they used to be.  I would have thought that since it was a longer weekend that my blog would be longer, but in fact, it’s shorter.  Probably because I was completely stressed and don’t want to get stressed again talking about it. 
Lucky for you!

Every Labor Day weekend Kordell plays in a softball tournament (lucky me) that takes up the whole weekend.  The worst part of it all is (well the runner-up worst part) that it is one of those “if we win, then we play at this time” or “if we loose then we play at this time.”  Annoying.  You can never plan anything or know what the day or weekend has in store for you.  The real worst part of it all, it’s in Kokomo!  So Landon and I packed up shop and went down to Kokomo with Kordell Saturday for his games.  Bad idea!  I could write about this experience for days (you should see the length of the e-mail I wrote to our hotel to complain!) but since I don’t want to relive it, I am not going to.  Let’s just summarize it by saying, checking into a hotel at 3 and having to check out by 11 does not work when your child naps.  Also, it does not work being in a nasty hotel when your child crawls.  I ended up having him play in his pack n play since his clothes were turning black from the nasty room.  Finally, it does not work sleeping in a hotel with a child when he knows that you are sitting behind the bags you strategically placed trying to hide from him.  With all this being said, Landon and I once again packed up shop and went and stayed at my parents the next night while Kordell stayed in Kokomo.   I guess the “good part” of the weekend is that I got my disgusting hotel room credited!  Until next year..

Since Kordell was playing softball, Landon and I spent the night down at my parents since I am a big baby and don’t like to be home alone.  Especially with Landon!  Friday night Kordell joined us down there for a little birthday party for my mom.  Landon told me he wanted to get grandma a birthday cake so I picked one up to take down there.  My BFF Jackson decided that he would jump on the box the cake was in on the car ride down to my parents house.  Let’s just say “ear muffs” were in order.  Regardless the dented cake, it was delish!  Landon was taking notes on how to eat cake; he only has 4 months to learn how it’s done! 

Time’s a tickin’. 

 

On Sunday Landon was super fussy and couldn’t get him to calm down with anything.  Well, almost anything.  Grandpa saved the day and got his harmonica out.  I have never seen a child go from fussy to pure relaxed in a minute.  He honestly sat in the rocking chair with my mom for at least 30 minutes without moving or making a peep - just watching Grandpa play.  Grandpa was trying to teach himself how to play the Notre Dame Fight song but claims his harmonica is missing a note so he can’t get it right.  I am pretty sure his ears are missing a few notes too!  Landon didn’t seem to mind the fight song in a few octaves off; in fact, after a while I looked over and said “is he even awake?”  Nope, he fell asleep sitting up listening to Grandpa play the harmonica.  I picked him up to take to bed and he was a limp noodle.  I think Grandpa has a new calling!!  I think we will start calling him the “Baby Whisperer” 

This one precious little moment made my entire weekend, honestly it may be my favorite thing Landon has done so far!  Some of you may have read on facebook but let me just tell you again because I DO want to relive this one!  When we got down to Kokomo this weekend, we decided to stop into Subway for some lunch.  Landon was sitting in his high chair and we enjoying our delicious lunch which by the way, we got a free cinnamon roll because we had a to wait a long time for our sandwich and OH MAN was it good.  I highly recommend spending the $1.69 for one of these bad boys.  Ok, back to my story – All of a sudden as we were eating, Landon looked up at the ceiling fan, waved and said “hi!”  Actually it was more of a yell because the lady sitting across the restaurant looked over and laughed.  It was probably the cutest thing in the world, no, it was.  I said, “um, did he just say his first word?!”  I told Kordell probably 4 months ago that his first word is going to be “hi” because I say it to him probably 75 times a day.  “Hi Buddy, Hi Landon, Hi Pumpkin, Hi Baby, Hi Little Man…” you get the point.  He kept waving at the fan the rest of lunch but of course as soon as someone got ice out of the pop machine - that stole the show.  Later that day as we were saying bye to grandma, he waved at her too!  Ever since this Subway adventure, he loves waving at the fan, probably because we made such a big deal.  And you know what, every time he does it, we still make a big deal!  Good thing there isn’t a ceiling fan in his room or he would never sleep!

Well, that’s it for today, short and sweet.  Now for your listening pleasure… As Landon and I were driving home this weekend from my parents, I decided to turn off Ke$ha and get a new Pandora radio station just for my little man; thank goodness it was only a half hour drive!