To Landon on your 1/2 birthday

Dear Lan man -

Well...here you are at half a year old already! Oh my how time is flying by... I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with you how it felt like your birth was so far away I couldn't even imagine it really happening. When you were born I remember thinking about the 6 month mark and feeling the same way. And here it is. I feel like I will blink my eyes and you will be walking, talking, and going to preschool!

I look down at you tonight, my little 6 month old boy, and still find myself amazed by you. How perfect you are - your tiny little nose, your sleepy eyes, your adorable little mouth with a dribble of milk running down your cheek as you fall asleep on my lap. To me, you are perfect.

Although I miss your tiny newborn days, I am having so much fun watching you grow and learn every day. In your first 6 months of life, you have learned how to do so much! You have learned to smile and laugh. You have learned how to roll over and sit up by yourself. You have learned how to grasp things and how to put anything and everything into your mouth. You have definitely learned how to get your Mommy and Daddy's attention! You are learning how to hold your own bottle and use a sippy cup.

You are growing so fast Mommy can hardly keep up! You're already wearing 12 month clothes and weigh about  21 lbs. This month we had to retire your infant car seat and put you in your big boy carseat. You don't seem to like the big boy car seat as much - but I'm sure you will get used to it.

You are the happiest little baby and are such a joy to me and your dad. Not much makes you cry. You love Daddy's guitar, playing your own little musical instruments, when Mommy and Daddy sing to you, and just about anything else musical. You love bath time and your jumperoo. You love to stand up and you love your binky. You love when people come to visit and you especially love listening to your Grandpa Bush's voice. You laugh at silly voices, funny sounds, people eating crunchy foods - and last night: FEET! Sometimes you will laugh at almost anything.

I am so lucky to be your Mommy. Until you one day have children of your own, you will never understand how truly, deeply, intensely, and unconditionally I love you. I love the way you hold my finger, the way you smile when I come home from work, the way you calm down when I put my hand on your chest. I love when you grab my face and when you touch my cheek softly. I LOVE your laughter - trust me, your Daddy and I do some crazy things to hear that laughter. I love knowing that you are my son.

So, my little peanut, on your 6 month birthday - 1/2 a year!!!!! - although you do not understand this now, you are special and wonderful and amazing. You are smart and handsome. You are perfect. You are loved.

Love,
Mommy

I am thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This year I feel that I have so many things to be thankful for...

My life is anything but easy. I hardly sleep (not the baby's fault either, it's my back problems!), money is tight since I went to working part time after Landon was born, I never get caught up on the household chores, hardly find time to make dinner, and time for myself? Forget about it! BUT - I wouldn't change it for the world!

I am so thankful this year for my amazing husband! This will be our second Thanksgiving as a married couple, but the first where it really feels like we are MARRIED!! (Last year we were still newlyweds) He is so good to me and works so hard for our family. Most importantly - he is an amazing father. I am SO thankful for that! I adore watching him interact with Landon and watching how Landon's face lights up when he sees his daddy!

I am thankful for our home. We've been here about a year and a half now - the first time we've stayed anywhere longer than a year in the entire time we've known each other! We love our home and we love where we live. Sure, it's starting to feel small as the baby stuff takes over, but I am so thankful that we were able to buy a home and provide a stable place for our son to grow.

I am thankful for my parents. Without them I would not be the person I am today. I am thankful for the way they support me and are always there for me. I am thankful for the way they always offer helpful advice without making me feel pressured to do it that way or making me feel like I am doing it wrong. I am thankful for the example they led for me as parents. I am thankful for the way they respect me as a parent. I am so thankful that I have such awesome parents. I am thankful that we live nearby so that they can babysit - there is nobody I would rather watch my son other than me or Matt!

I am thankful for my little brother and sister! They are an awesome aunt and uncle for Landon and the best brother and sister I could hope for. I wish I could see them more, but I am thankful that they are only as far away as the bay area! I am thankful to get to see them when they visit home too!

I am thankful for my friends! Even though we are distanced by so many miles - we still remain friends. I am thankful for the effort put in by all of them to remain in contact and spend time together despite the distance. We have friends in many different places and I love them all!

I am thankful for all my new amazing mommy friends! Such an amazing network of support that I have gained as I became a mommy. I am so thankful to have found this incredible group of women.

I am thankful for my new job. Although I would rather not work and stay home with my baby - I am thankful that this opportunity came up at the right time. Although I cannot stay home full time as I would love to - I get to work short days and I'm only 10 minutes from home.

Most of all this year I am thankful for my son! I am so lucky that I get to be mommy to this awesome little boy. My life has been so much richer and so much more meaningful since he came into the world! I never could have imagined the love I would feel. I am thankful that he is healthy. I am thankful for successful breastfeeding. I am thankful that he continues to gain weight - although I wouldn't mind if he slowed down just a bit!! I am thankful that he is such a happy boy and that he is such a good sleeper! I am thankful for his snuggles and smiles and laughter. I am thankful for every inch of that precious baby. I am in awe that he is mine. Really the word "thankful" doesn't even capture the way I feel. I don't think there is a word that truly captures it. "Lucky" is the best I can come up with. I feel so darn lucky.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What are you thankful for? Today is a day for looking past all of the problems in your life and focusing on the good. Life is good. :)

5 month old little monkey!

Okay... I'm a little behind on this one! Being a mommy = less time to get things done, being a working mommy = almost NO time to get things done! Lan Man turned 5 months old on Tuesday! He is getting so big! His 6 month clothes barely fit so he is mostly in 9 month stuff and it's looking like we'll be ready for 12 month any second. We weighed him at home on his 5 month birthday and he is about 20 lbs now! What the heck little man?! His infant seat is soon to be retired. :(

This month has been a big one for milestones! He learned how to roll from his tummy to his back (although he has refused to do it again after showing off the skill about 6 times on the day he learned it). A few weeks after that and he is sitting up completely independently. He will still fall from time to time, but it is rare now and he can sit for 15+ minutes - such a big boy!!

He is playing with toys more now too. We bought him a cute little toy piano and he had a great time banging the keys on that and making music with his daddy.

He loves his jumperoo too, but he hasn't quite figured out the jumping part :)

Landon also had his first Halloween this month! He was the cutest little skunk!

He officially found his feet this month and is working hard at getting them into his mouth!

It continues to amaze me how fast he is growing and changing! It is hard to believe that just 5 months ago this big boy...

was THIS little boy...

 UNTIL NEXT TIME....

It's been 4 months now!

My big guy is now 4 months old!! This marks the end of the stage when a baby is at the highest risk for SIDS (2-4 months), so Mommy and Daddy breathed a little sigh of relief that we are now out of that period. At his 4 month well baby visit he weighed in at 16lbs 15.9oz and 25 in - getting so big! We are already on the search for a big kid car seat since he'll be outgrowing his infant seat in 5 lbs! He was a CHAMP with his second round of shots :) He cried for a couple minutes after the shots - but was smiling at us only minutes later and we never even had to give him any Tylenol. Such a brave boy!
We are both amazed at how much he continues to grow and change every day! The most fun this month has been the development of a true laugh! Not just a little giggle or a laugh-like sound, but a full on belly laugh! He makes us work really hard for those laughs, but when he does - it is the greatest sound on the planet! He also smiles much more often now.

He is beginning to "play" with toys this month. If we put something on his belly/chest, he can grab it and sometimes succeeds in putting in his mouth. A few toys he will just squeeze or move around in his hand. He occasionally reaches for toys too. He got a new Jumperoo toy and the first thing he did when I put him in it was to reach for one of the toys on it :) Loves to grab and hold or chew on his blankies too!

Tummy time is feeling less and less like torture these days too! He still isn't rolling (or even showing an interest in rolling) - but we'll get there!

He can kinda sorta sit up (like for 5-10 seconds) with the Boppy pillow supporting him from behind!

This month the whole family has been adjusting to my return to work - and it's been rough! I hate leaving every day and Daddy has to work at crazy times so that he can be with Landon while I'm working. Landon, however, has adjusted without a problem. He loves spending time with Daddy all day! Why wouldn't he - he's got a pretty awesome Dad! Hopefully Mommy will either adjust soon too or will win the lottery!!

We're getting excited for Landon's first Halloween! He is going to be a skunk and has a super cute costume made by his awesome Grammy Bush!

Check out his sweet glow in the dark Halloween jammies!

As I say every time, I cannot believe how fast this baby is growing up! Little chunky monkey makes Mommy and Daddy so happy and we just keep falling more and more in love <3

3 Months and a nickname has surfaced!

This past Thursday the little man turned 3 months old! He is  SO big. What a  big month it has been. During the last month he has changed a lot and is doing so much more now. He is weighing in at around 16lbs now! He has discovered his hands and they are now almost perpetually in his mouth. The drool is flowing like crazy and the hands in the mouth doesn't help any!

As of the last few days he has been staring at his feet as if he is trying to figure out how to get them too - so we may be discovering our feet in the coming month. He smiles ALL the time now and even has a little giggle :) He began to notice toys this month too. At first only light up toys or mobiles - but now he notices and enjoys most toys (as long as someone is holding it up for him). He will sometime giggle at the toys hanging from his car seat. No grabbing toys yet though! He is just starting to rub his eyes with his fists when he is tired - suuuuuper cute! He loves to stand up all the time now too.

We took him to the park for the first time this month. Yeah - he is too little to enjoy the park - but Mommy and Daddy had a good time!

 Landon's biggest and best accomplishment of the month, however, has been sleeping through (or almost through) the night! Bed time has gotten pretty consistent around 9:00pm and he will sleep until somewhere between 6:00 and 7:00 with an occasional feed around 4:00am and will rarely wake during the night (a quick pacifier replacement usually gets him right back to sleep). I credit the HALO swaddle sleep sack and the Sleep Sheep with this sleep accomplishment!

Also this month it seems that Mommy and Daddy have finally landed  on a nick name for Landon! Before he was born it bothered me that I couldn't think of a nickname I liked for Landon - everyone said "Lando" but for some reason I didn't like that. My family lovingly calls him "Landy" and I have all kinds of crazy nicknames for him (booger, booger butt, baby bear, peanut, bug...the list could go on forever) - but  nothing was consistent until one day Daddy called him "Lan Man". It stuck. "Lan Man" is now Landon's special name that Mommy and Daddy both call him :)

Time continues to fly by! I am shocked when I compare his newborn photos with current pictures of him. Babies are seriously amazing. It is so much fun watching him grow and learn - it seems to get more and more fun as time goes by too! I love my little man!

An Emotional Week

What an emotional week this one has been! Getting ready to go back to work next week and I am so NOT ready! Every day feels like a "last" to me (today is my last Thursday at home with him) and it is so hard not to dwell on that fact constantly. I'm trying so hard to enjoy each day that I have left, but it is hard! Nobody can prepare you for how hard it is to face leaving your baby... I am expecting to be puffy eyed and red faced on my first day of work - I hope I don't look hung over since it will be my first day of a brand new job.

I am so lucky that I found a new job before leave was over. Up until two weeks ago I was looking at returning to a job that had a 1 hour commute (each way) and an extremely exhausting, stressful 8 hour day. I had a lot of responsibilities at that job and usually came home completely worn thin. Now I am looking at a 15 min commute, 6.0-6.5 hour work days, and I am in charge of NOTHING. It is a much better scenario to return to - however it isn't making me feel any better...

Today was my last day of my beloved mommy and me group. I had a great time hanging out with the ladies I have been fortunate enough to bond with during the first three months of being a mommy. The support and camaraderie I experienced in this group has meant so much to me. I cannot imagine how things would be without this group. I have built friendships and have a network of support to lean on in all the crazy aspects of mommy-hood. I cannot say enough thanks for that group! Any new moms or soon to be moms out there - I highly recommend looking for a mommy and me group near you - you will not regret it! Thursdays have been the highlight of my week throughout maternity leave and I am so sad that I will no longer be able to attend. This has been the saddest of "lasts" so far.

Well -  I have four full days left of loving on my little boy before I have to become a working mommy. Here's hoping I survive....

Here's a cute pic from after our mommy and me group today - all worn out!

Two Months!

Little man is two months old! Didn't I just write a post about one month old?!?! He is growing like crazy - now weighing 13lbs 1oz and 23in long. His little twig arms and legs are now all roly poly and his cheeks are all chubby and adorable! 

So much has changed since he was born - it is quite incredible to watch him develop! He now holds his head up quite well, makes eye contact, and has started to visually track people. The most fun and exciting change this month, however, has been the smile! He now smiles in response to us with relative regularity. The first time my little guy looked right in my eyes and smiled up at me - it felt like my heart literally skipped a beat. That must be one of the greatest feelings in the world. 

Here he is smiling at Daddy...

Another fun first during Landon's second month was his first swim at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Although he did not like it initially - once he adjusted to the temperature, he LOVED it!

I can't wait to do swim lessons with him when he is a little bigger!! For now we are enjoying being able to play in Grandma and Grandpa's pool!!

We had a fun second month and are looking forward to another month of fun!

Peanut turns ONE MONTH OLD!

On Friday my little peanut turned one month old! Already! Everyone always says "they grow so fast" or "they don't stay that little for long" - I didn't realize just how true that really is! Every time I catch myself thinking "I can't wait for ______", I make sure to stop myself because I CAN wait. I want to enjoy every moment of his tiny-ness. I feel like my baby is getting so big already. He is currently weighing in at 10lbs 4oz (weight gain on 2lbs 4oz in one month!). He has grown out of newborn clothes (I nearly cried when I first put him in 3 months clothes and realized how much better they fit) and out of newborn diapers. Just look at how much he has grown in the past month...

 Being a parent has been quite an adventure so far. We are learning new things every day. We have learned that with baby boys, it is a good idea to "point" them in the right direction when putting on a diaper. I have learned how to clip teeny tiny fingernails. I have learned that babies are loud - even in their sleep sometimes! I have learned that babies have tons of little creases and folds in their skin that are difficult to clean! I have learned that t-shirts for babies are stupid (it's all about onesies and other one piece outfits!). I have learned that babies create a lot of laundry. A LOT. I have learned what it feels like to be so tired that my body feels like it will just shut off. I have learned what an inconvenience eating, drinking, using the bathroom, showering, and other tasks required to care for yourself can be! But most of all I am learning more about love!

Being mommy is still amazing! I just adore his little yawns, sneezes, and stretches...they are the BEST!

I LOVE bathtime!

Some more of my "favorite things"

Fisher Price Rock 'N' Play Sleeper. This is by far our favorite baby item. Landon loves being in it, I can rock him in it, it is  higher off the ground than a bouncer (out of "dog zone" too), I can put him in this next to the bed and see him while laying in bed (calming my new mommy anxiety) , and less spit up since he is not laying flat on his back!

Boppy pillow = arm saver!

Puj Tub. No slipping around during bath time

And pacifiers! Enough said!
 (Specifically though MAM  "start" pacifiers. They are smaller and the only ones Landon can keep in his mouth.)

Well, here's to surviving the first month! I know the coming months will be just as full of excitement as the first :) Happy One Month birthday to my precious boy!

2 weeks already!

Wow, I cannot believe that two weeks have already gone by with my little man! Part of me feels like it was only yesterday that we went to the hospital and another part of me feels like he has always been here. It's weird how fast such a huge life change becomes normal. We can't imagine our lives without Landon now...it's as if he has always been a part of our family, like something was missing before and he came along to fill that void.


"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path."
-- Agatha Christie


At Landon's two week appointment we learned that he is already 11oz over his birth weight! "Gaining weight  like a champ" as the doctor put it. I guess I can stop wondering if he is getting enough to eat since almost all feedings are initiated by me and not him.

So far he is a super easy going baby. He rarely wakes me up at night, and now that I know I am allowed to let him sleep for up to five hours at night I'll be getting more sleep :) We'll see if this lasts! He definitely takes after his Momma's sleep patterns though in that he likes to be wide awake for quite a while around the 10pm-12am time frame and then not again until 9 or 10am...


Funny stories for Landon's first two weeks:


1. Within an hour of birth, Landon peed and pooped all over Mommy... he wanted to initiate me right away!
2. First diaper change home from the hospital AND Daddy's first diaper change ever - Landon peed all over with his diaper off. I guess he wanted to initiate us both right away.
3. During newborn pictures, Daddy was holding Landon (naked) and he peed ALL over Daddy's stomach. Hahaha....that was fantastic.
4. During another diaper change with Daddy - Landon peed with the diaper off again, only this time he managed to aim directly for his own mouth. YUCK!


I am learning from this that all of the funny stories involve pee or poop and that Landon likes to save these moments for Daddy quite often! 


Fun firsts and momentous occasions during the first two weeks:


1. June 6th - Birth and meeting most of the family
2. June 7th - home from the hospital!
3. June 8th - first doctor visit, first trip to the store.
4. June 9th - Met Aunt Kayla
5. June 14th - First time going out just Mommy and Landon.
6. June 15th - umbillical cord stump fell off and met Uncle Zach.
7. June 17th - First Father's Day, first long car ride, first trip to a restaurant.
8. June 20th - First binky AND first real bath (Landon seemed to enjoy both!) 

What a busy couple of weeks it has been! We are loving this experience and are excited to see what the coming weeks will bring! We are so in LOVE.


Also, Landon is looking forward to meeting some more special people this weekend and in the coming weeks!!