Landon turns 3!

Landon,

You are 3 years old and I'll say what I always say...where has the time gone!!?  The last 3 years have been filled with happiness, joy, challenges and even a little frustration.  You are growing up to be such a great little kid and we are blessed that God gave you to us.  You have really grown and changed in the last year!  You are wearing size 3 pants and size 3 or 4 shirts.  You currently wear a 9.5 shoe...but I'm overdue to take you in for a sizing and won't be shocked if you've outgrown them and are ready for a double digit shoe size!  You are officially potty trained!!!!  Just like with everything else...your mommy and daddy stressed about potty training way more than you did.  We kept you in a pull-up far too long...until one night we ran out.  I decided not to make a late night trip to the store for more and the next day I told you that you would be wearing big boy underwear!  You had a few accidents that day but had the hang of it in no time and we sent you to school the day after that in your new, big boy underwear!  You had one accident at school and you haven't had one that I can remember since.  You tinkled on a tree for the first time on your 3rd birthday and you thought that was "so cool!".  We were at the park and there was no bathroom in sight...we had no choice.  We don't let you do this at home...sorry dude.  You constantly amaze us with how easily you seem to catch on and transition...when you're ready of course.  I think your daddy and I learned a lesson...and that is that you're usually ready for the next step far before we're ready to let you get there.  Your vocabulary astounds us.  Just in the last two weeks you've told your daddy and I that you are "very disappointed at us" or that your "very aggravated at us"... cue in the 3 year old frustration on our part...and the amazement that your little self knows those words and how to use them!  Maybe you've heard them before?  Ha!  For now, your daddy still rocks you to sleep and even though we are trying to cut this part out of our nightly routine...for your sake...rest assured we will miss it.  You are a great big brother and you love your baby sister.  Now that she's older and starting to interact a little more you tell her she's cute and sometimes you look at her and say "Maddie, you such a sweet baby". You have a very nurturing soul.  You tell us that you "lub us so much" and when Maddie Kate cries you tell us, "in otay, sometimes babies cry".  It makes us laugh and it warms my soul.  You still like to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse most mornings while we all get ready for our day and your latest favorite "toy" is clearly your mommy's iPad.  You like to play Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja and you like to watch You Tube videos...even though we've told you countless times that they're not allowed!  Again, cue in the mommy and daddy frustration!  You like school even though some days you have a hard time letting go and you especially love your time with Nana and Papa!  You love to visit Pocky and you love to go to the farm to visit Mimi and Papa and you can't wait to go fishing in Kansas when we go visit Great Mama and Papa!  You've already informed us that you will not be staying home and that you will be going in the boat!  Ha!  Your favorite food is cheese...you love, love, love cheese and you would eat it at every meal if we'd let you...and sometimes we do.  Your other favorites are mac and cheese, ravioli, chicken nuggets, strawberries and blueberries, lima beans, carrots and you even like chocolate!  There really isn't much you don't like but the foods you don't care for "make you sick".  You love all things Spiderman and Toy Story and you also really like Cars.  You like to read books and you have several favorites.  When we tell you no we are "mean" and you tell us "to be nice" and you've reminded us countless times that "you not like the word no!"  Sorry kid, you're going to hear it a lot...a really lot.  It's for your own good.  I promise.  You don't love to share but if we give you a pep talk before friends come over you do alright...but sometimes you don't.  You're learning.  You also don't seem to like to mind us and you've gotten a few spankings and you've spent a few hours (not all at once) in time out.  Sometimes your daddy and I forget just how smart you are until you repeat something we've said that we felt sure "you didn't hear or didn't understand".  You love to paint, you aren't big on coloring and you love to play the Wii.  You can work it almost all by yourself and you almost always beat your mommy at bowling...and the first time you and daddy played golf you won.  You sometimes call your friends at school "your peoples" and your best friends are Murphy and Luke.  You can make the sign of the cross and you've memorized the lunch time prayer at school.  When we say our prayers together you ask to "say the names" and you're very thoughtful.  You love for us to tell you stories and one of your favorites is the 3 little pigs.  

On your birthday I tried to get a few pictures to remember the day...I took hundreds and the following are the "best"

Not quite in focus...but still precious.

Also, not the best focus...3 year olds obviously can't sit still!

And then there's this one...in near perfect focus...of course.

I'm sure there are plenty of things I've missed here but...kiddo, we love you so much and we're so glad you had a happy birthday and that even with the challenges that come with your age that you are a pretty awesome kiddo. 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Big Brother's Suggestion

Mommy: Maddie Kate sure is fussy tonight!
Landon: yeah, maybe you should put her back in your belly.

Nice




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A sneaky boy and his chockate

Today Miss Maddie and I went on a little trip to Target for diapers and formula and left the boys at home to watch the Razorbacks. When I got home Jim told me that Landon aka Mr Sneaky wanted a piece of the chocolate that his Mimi gave me for Valentine's Day. It was all tied up in a cute little bag. So, they shared a piece and then Daddy tied it back up. Landon wanted more but Daddy said no. A little while later Landon had disappeared and so had the chocolate. Jim hollered for him and got no response. He hollered again...nothing. So, he went back to Landon's room to find him sitting on his bed and when Jim came into the room Landon shoved something under the covers, looked up at Jim with his hands up and said, "I don't have anyfing in my hands". Jim looked under the covers and found the bag of chocolate! He asked Landon what he was doing and Landon said, "I wanted some chockate but it's all tied up with rope!". I'm pretty sure all daddy could do was laugh at his sneaky little boy! Haha!!!


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Busy Bees, Promotions and Mom Guilt

I'm so behind in blogland! I still need to blog about Landon's third birthday, MK's baptism celebration and Valentine's Day! Maybe I will have some time during our three day weekend. Jim and I are both off work for President's Day. We are looking forward to spending time at home with our favorite kiddos and we are going to have the Battreal's and Hankins' over for a belated birthday fish fry celebration...and on Monday we are having some friends over for a pre-fat Tuesday get together! Jim's excited to make some of his famous gumbo!

In other news...I got a promotion at work! I generally don't post much about our careers except as they pertain to our kiddos...but since this is sort of a family journal and I'm excited about it I thought it deserved to be mentioned. I was promoted to supervisor in the IT Service Management group! I wasn't really sure I wanted to be in management but I had a little time to kind of test drive the position and decided that I really liked it so when the supervisor position was posted of course I applied. I hadn't written a resume in more than 7 years! I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to say that actually. I'm so thankful that I have found a company and career that I enjoy so much that I honestly haven't ever considered looking for a different job. So, I had to write a resume and interview for the supervisor position and after twoish weeks...that felt like an eternity...I got the news that the job was mine! I'm really enjoying it so far and I'm excited about this new chapter! I'm also thankful that Jim has a career that he loves and is fulfilling to him. He loves geology and is really good at what he does! Of course there are days when we would both prefer to be home with our kiddos but as I've mentioned before we have lots of help from family and we appreciate our time together. I hope that we are able to instill healthy work habits in our kiddos and that they always know how much we love them even though our careers require us to be away from home during the day. I dislike the sagas that I read on the Internet about the difference between working and stay at home moms. It's an over discussed argument with no clear winner. I've avoided this topic on my blog since I don't particularly care to read about it on other blogs...but again, this is sort of our journal. My views are mine and ultimately I feel that each family has to do what they feel is right for them and make the absolute best of their individual situations. I don't like the talks of "mom guilt" and feel that it's not fair to assume that working moms or stay at home moms should feel guilty about their choices. Guilt is associated with wrongdoing. I don't think either decision is wrong...so, guilt shouldn't be a factor...and if it is, it's likely a change needs to take place. I have a good mix of working mom and stay at home mom friends and we all face challenges. It's how we face those challenges that really matters. There is no such thing as perfect or the perfect situation and I don't think either choice is "easy". Some days I would love a go at being a stay at home mom and some days I'm really glad I'm not...and I don't feel guilty either way.

...and Landon is such a good helper!




...and this little gal is sort of popular at our house.




PS...I only posted about this topic because I know only family and a handful of friends read my blog. I've read posts on other, popular blogs about this topic and some of the comments are shockingly mean and hateful! I just don't get it.
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Maddie Kate is 3 Months Old!

Maddie Kate is growing and changing every day.  She is becoming more aware of her surroundings and is developing the cutest little personality.  She is a daddy's girl - he can get her to smile so big and he can really get her talking - which is just about the cutest thing ever.  Landon is so sweet with his baby sister!  He thinks she's cute and like to give her hugs.