Due Date...Schmudate

Landon's due date is tomorrow...and he is 4 weeks old today! :)
We have had another fabulous week with our little guy and he is really growing now! Here is this week's recap:

1. He is sleeping in his crib! He only sleeps for a few hours between feedings but we are happy that it's in his crib!
2. He is starting to make eye contact with us and he definitely recognizes our voices.
3. When he's hungry...look out! He can throw a red faced fit like none other...luckily he only does this when he's hungry.
4. He's starting to grow into some of the clothes we already had for him and out of the ones we had to buy after he was born.
5. He has a new friend! Baby Burke was born last night and we can't wait to see her! Congrats Ashley and Dan!

Here are some pictures from our "4 week photo shoot"








and here is what he thought of his first Valentine from mommy and daddy...

3 Weeks Old

Landon turned 3 weeks old yesterday. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed or how much he is changing every day. We have really enjoyed getting to know our little guy. Here are 5 random things that we've learned about him so far...

1. He has a "furrowed brow" look that he definitely got from his mommy!
2. He does not like to be woken up and is very dramatic when we wake him. He makes funny faces, noises and stretches as if we have ruined his day. It's very funny!
3. He is afraid of the dark...or at least we think he is because he will sleep fine in his bassinet during the day but not at night.
4. He HATES to have his diaper changed but also doesn't seem to like to wear a dirty one.
5. He has the cutest grin even if it might just be gas. :)

Just a swingin'...

Landon is 2 weeks old today and finally loves his swing!





Last night we made some progress in getting our little man to sleep in his bassinet. He is still so tiny and isn't gaining weight as fast as our pediatrician would like so in addition to nursing we are giving him some formula to try to "fatten him up". So far, going between nursing and the bottle hasn't been a problem which is nice because I was really concerned about that. I'm just not ready to give up nursing. He is absolutely adorable and we love having him home with us!

Landon's Birthday

Here is the story of how Landon made his grand entrance into this world...it was a crazy, crazy, surreal day with a very happy ending...
I had gone to the doctor the Thursday before and he saw that my amniotic fluid levels were low and that the baby was breech. He put me on partial bedrest to get my fluids up and we weren't supposed to go back to see him until the next Thursday. I couldn't wait that long to see if everything was okay so we went on Monday just to get it checked out. He said my fluid levels were up but the baby was still breech and wasn't likely to turn so we were prepared to schedule a c-section but not for at least a couple of weeks. Well, that night around 2:30 my water broke but I really didn't know if that's what it was...obviously I've never done this before...ha! I told Jim that I thought maybe my water had broken but I wasn't sure so I'd wake him up if I thought we should go. I couldn't go back to sleep because I was nervous so I got up and read a little bit out of What to Expect When You're Expecting and it said that contractions could start as long as 12 hours after your water breaks and I didn't think mine had started. Around 4 I noticed my belly feeling different but again, I've never done this before and just wasn't sure. So, around 5 they were stronger...not consistent but painful! I got up and packed our bags just in case (luckily we had just done the baby's laundry that night!) and I took a shower. I woke Jim up around 6 and called the hospital to see if they thought I should come in and they said that if I even thought that my water had broken that I should go in. By then my contractions were coming more regularly so we left the house around 6:20am. We got there and everyone just assumed that since this was my first that I had plenty of time but my contractions were on top of each other and when they checked me I was already dilated to a 9 and the baby's bottom was in the birth canal! I had to resist the urge to push (very, very hard!!) and they rushed me off for an emergency c-section. Everyone was in a panic and I was in some serious pain...they got me in the OR and got my spinal block in but didn't have time for it to kick in so they gave me something else that sent me into a place I can only describe as serious lala land! I told Jim that I felt like I was in Cirque de Soleil Love and that my body felt like a giant marshmallow! The drape that they hang was "billowing" and I was floating! It all happened so fast that Jim didn't even have a chance to move his car from the hospital entrance. Luckily it wasn't towed.
James Joseph Landon Battreal was born at 7:36am and weighed 6 lbs 13 ounces. He was 18.5 inches long and is just precious! We got to come home last Thursday and we are loving every minute with him. The feelings and love are even more indescribable than everyone says.
Jim is such a good daddy and Landon is a good baby. He doesn't fuss too much but he only likes to sleep when we are holding him or if he's in his car seat carrier (which is where he is now!) We are going to work on getting him to sleep in his bassinette soon but he's so tiny and snuggly and new that we are just going to enjoy the snuggle time for now.
It was such a whirlwind of a day and we are so thankful that he's happy and healthy!

Landon is here!!!!

Thank for all your "Polling all Mommies" responses!!! I didn't have time to read them...or prepare as our little angel arrived early on Tuesday! He is happy, healthy and adorable!! More later...but here are some pictures.

Polling all mommies...

So, I'm a planner and a list maker to a fault...Jim is too. I never do anything without thinking (over analyzing every aspect to a fault) about it for a long, long time. Well, as usual, time has gotten away from me and I'm starting to stress. Baby Landon will likely be here a little ahead of schedule and via c-section because he has decided that he prefers the bottom down position better than the head down position as is not likely to change his mind.
So, I need all the mommies who read my blog to post a comment naming things they could not have done without the first few weeks after bringing their new baby home. I want to make sure we are super prepared!
Have a good week!

A Birthday Poem...

One of my very best friends from high school sent me this poem for my birthday today...I couldn't resist posting it even though there are a couple of inside funnies that only we get.

Now that you are older,
You are my hero.
But, please don't fret,
it's just another zero!

On this special event enjoy yourself,
really because why does it matter?
Even though on this birthday,
you are older and fatter!!!

But soon you will have even more to celebrate when the boobs and belly go away.
So on this 21st of January,
YIPPE KI YI YEAH!!!!

I've been laughing at this all day long!
Thanks Candy!!!

Landon's Nursery

The nursery isn't finished yet and I don't want to show too many pictures before it's all put together...but a lot of people have been asking to see pictures so here is a sneak peek! We are having so much fun getting the nursery ready for our little boy.

Lucky 30's!

I realized today after looking at the baby countdown that we have only 34 days left until Baby Landon's due date and on Wednesday I'll turn the big 3-0! Today as I was driving home from the grocery store (in my new car!) I heard "This One's For The Girls" by Martina McBride. I've always loved that song especially since I was 25 when I first heard it and the second verse goes like this...

This is for all you girls about twenty-five
In a little apartment, just trying to get by
Living on, on dreams and spaghetti-o's
Wondering where you life is gonna go

While I'm not a fan of spaghetti-o's, I was in fact living in a tiny apartment...and while I was making decent money I was definitely living on some dreams and wondering where my life was going to go. I can't believe what the last five years has brought! I found a job that I love, I married my best friend and I'm pregnant with a little boy who is sure to bring more joy to our lives than we can even begin to imagine. If you would have told me five years ago that I would be this happy I might not have believed you! I can say without any doubt that I am very blessed and I'm looking forward to the next five years. I used to say that I was sure that on my 30th birthday I would wake up and life would just make sense. Well, I'm not sure life will ever make perfect sense but I can say that my 29th year has brought more clarity and happiness than just about any year so far and I feel certain that the next decade will be amazing!

Happy Belated New Year!

Please pray for Baby Harper

I found Kelly's blog when I did a random search for "Bunco Buns" looking for a recipe. I thought it was neat that of all the recipes google could have found for me it found one on Kelly's blog...and Kelly lives in Arkansas! Yesterday Kelly gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Harper. They had to med-flight Harper to Tulsa because she was having trouble breathing. She is in critical condition and needs your prayers. Being less than 6 weeks away from giving birth myself I can't even begin to imagine what this precious family must be going through and I have realized that my easy pregnancy has caused me to take a lot for granted.

New Toy!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We have enjoyed spending time with our families and we are back home. Jim is heading to the duck club today and I go back to work tomorrow.

So, Merry Christmas to us! We bought a camcorder over the weekend and I'm excited about it! We thought since Baby Landon will be here in 8ish weeks we might want to be able to get some of his "firsts" on video to have and to share. We bought a Sony Handycam DCR-SR220 and I think we are going to love it. Not only does it shoot video...it also takes pictures! That was my only requirement. If anyone else out there has this camera or one similar let me know how you like it. It's going to take me forever to learn all the tricks to shooting good video and taking good pictures. We have a Sony Cybershot camera and we really like it. I guess we are Sony fans...although, we also bought ourselves a new TV for our bedroom this year and the Sony was WAY out of our budget so we got a Dynex. I think we're going to like it too...we wanted to get all the big buys out of the way before our little guy comes home...sometimes our wants exceed our needs. We are working on that. :)



PS - this camera will NOT be capturing Landon's grand entrance into this world. I just can't get into that...
:)

30 Week Belly

Here's the 30 week belly! I wanted the belly...and I believe I've got the belly (and some!). He's growing and moving just perfect in there and we can't wait to meet him!

Landon - 29 weeks...

We had a doctor's appointment today and we got to have another ultrasound! We always love seeing our little guy and we can't wait to meet him in person! He was all curled up under my right rib as I suspected from the lopsided belly I sometimes have. His hands and feet were all up by his face and he was snoozing.


Here are a few of the pictures.




Landon's daddy worked hard on putting together the crib tonight and I love it! As soon as I have the bedding on I'll post pictures of the nursery. Oh, and I'm about due to post a new belly picture too. No doubt there's a belly now!

"Babymoon" at Big Cedar

A couple of weekends ago Jim and I went to Big Cedar Lodge for a weekend getaway before the baby comes. Neither of us had ever been there before and thought it would be the perfect place to spend a longish weekend away to relax together. We got there on Friday evening and went on a wagon ride to look at the Christmas lights with other people staying at the lodge...after that we all got to roast marshmallows and drink hot chocolate...as mentioned in previous posts Baby Landon LOVES chocolate. He especially loves s'mores this time of year and to hear his daddy tell it you'd think I pushed the kiddos on our ride out of the way to roast my marshmallows first...not true but I was first in line! ha!
On Saturday we did some sightseeing...purposefully avoiding the strip in Branson because we weren't going to see any shows and I'm not a fan of crowds and Jim is not a fan of traffic! We went to the trout hatchery and watched a video about how they spawn trout...kinda gross but interesting and then we went out to feed the trout. We made a few more stops on our circle around Branson ending at Starbucks. Those of you who know Jim knows he's not really a fru-fru kind of guy...so, you can imagine how ordering coffee at Starbucks went but I'm teaching him! Over the last several years he's sort of learned what I like there enough to order it but now that we are expecting I've thrown another word in my order confusing things all to pieces! ha! No more, grande mocha, non-fat, no-whip...now, it's a grande, decaf mocha, non-fat, no whip. Whew,that is hard! ha!
Saturday night we had dinner at Worman House and it was yummy! We headed back on Sunday very relaxed. I definitely recommend that all couples expecting a child take a "babymoon" trip before the baby comes!

Here are a few pictures. I've uploaded more pictures to our shutterfly site.

http://lifeofjimandkatie.shutterfly.com/

The password is battreal

25 Weeks!

Landon is 25 weeks old in there and he's definitely growing! I'm feeling him move more and more and sometimes he likes to cuddle up on the right side of my belly...it's funny to see a lopsided belly when he does it! I have more to post later but here is the latest belly picture.

Fall is my favorite!

I love the weather, the leaves, mums, pumpkins, comfort food...even football although Jim might tell you differently! I love the weeks leading up to Halloween then Thanksgiving, Christmas and finally New Year's Eve. I also love tradition! Each year about a week before Halloween Jim and I cook a cozy supper and carve jack-o-lanterns. It's one of my most favorite nights of the year. So, Friday night we continued our tradition and I baked my "famous" Chicken Pot Pie and we carved our jack-o-lanterns. Jim is so good...he finished cleaning the goop out of mine while I cooked...





Landon is growing! I'm starting to feel him move more but it still feels more like little flutters and taps. I love it! His daddy felt a little kick last Sunday but every time he tries now Landon stops. Yesterday we ordered his crib, bedding and a fun red glider chair...it's so comfy and I can't wait to rock our little guy in it. I'm excited for everything to get here so we can put little Landon's nursery all together.

Landon's favorite food these days is chocolate...oh wait, maybe that's just mommy! See how he's growing in there!

It's a BOY!

We are excited to announce that BB is a boy! James Joseph Landon aka just Landon is healthy and very active! I'm not feeling him move consistently yet because he's still so small but during the ultrasound he showed us that he's quite busy in there! It was so neat to see our little guy and we feel so blessed that he is healthy and everything appears to be going well.

He's all curled in up in this one and it looks like he's rubbing his eyes...


His little feet are so cute!


So, the nursery decorating has begun! We've picked out a crib and today I picked out fabric for his bedding. Daddy will get his way and Landon will have a very little boyish room complete with Ducks Unlimited prints and Razorbacks. I think it's going to turn out really cute and I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

Here's the 21 week belly...still growing!

19 Week Baby Bump

Here is a picture of my 19 week baby bump.  BB and the baby bump are definitely growing with the help of his/her momma's appetite!

No face in this one...super duper bad hair day!

Come on BB...Mommy's ready for a kick!

So, I have had a fairly uneventful pregnancy. I know this is a good thing compared to being sick and miserable so I'm not complaining. However, since I'm almost half way there and I still don't really feel pregnant, I'm definitely ready for it to become a reality. I know it will in 2 looooong weeks when we see our precious angel on the big screen!

I'm 18 weeks now. BB is about the size of a bell pepper and should be weighing in at around 7 ounces. He/she is busy flexing those tiny little arms and legs and "they" say I should be able to feel it soon! So far, I can't distinguish what I'm feeling in the belly but I have to admit that I am pretending that anything aside from the obvious hunger rumble is BB telling me that he/she is in there developing away in preparation for his/her big arrival in February!

We went up to Fayetteville for the game last weekend. Any of you who were there or watched knows what a good game it was! Really, it was awful but we had a good time anyway. I know just like the economy it will get better and hopefully next year (for my husband's sake) the Hogs (and the economy...for my fiscally responsible side's sake) will be much better! Jim, the loyal fan and Texas hater from way back, is leaving for Austin tomorrow. I know he is looking forward to the trip and he and the guys will have a good time regardless. I just hope he makes it home in one piece!

Go Hogs!





Zoe wants to go help Daddy to cheer on the Hogs!

Is BB a Boy or Girl?

We never struggled with the decision to find out BB's gender. We like to plan way too much to wait. So, October 9th is the day we'll find out if BB's signature colors will be "blush and bashful" or if daddy will get to hang his favorite Duck's Unlimited prints in our little boys room.

16 Weeks and Rockin' the Maternity Pants!

So, some of my old pants still fit, but once I put on pair of maternity ones there was no turning back. I actually may never go back...BB might be in college and I'll still be wearing these stretchy, wonderful, comfy pants. Hopefully though, we won't still be calling him/her BB!

My "bump" has sort of grown in the last week but I still don't really look pregnant in my regular clothes. I guess this is probably a good thing as long as he/she is healthy and growing but I think I'm ready for BB to show the world that he/she really is in there.


Can you tell I love these pj pants?

Is that a bump?

Okay, this belly probably has more to do with all the cookies and such that "BB" likes to eat lately. However, we decided that even though I'm still wearing most of my regular clothes that it was time for a first belly picture so we'd have something to compare to weeks down the road. Here is a picture from today...I'm 15 weeks.

Back Room Makeover!

Our "back room" has had a face lift and we LOVE the results! We had part of a wall knocked out and built-in shelves/cabinets installed. Most of you never saw the before pictures but for those of you who did I'm sure you'll agree that this is a major improvement to an already perfect little house...

My mother in law helped me arrange our things on the shelves and I'm really happy with the way it all turned out! She has a really good eye for things like this.

You'll see that there is a hole in the lower cabinet to the left of the desk...this is our clever solution to the fun question "where should Zoe's potty box go?"

Cake Decorating Class

A few weeks ago my mom and I took a cake decorating class in Lavaca. I learned so much and we had so much fun! We learned how to make the icing look really smooth and how to make a chocolate bow. I made the cake with the swirly designs and my mom made the one to the right of it. Our friend Jan who took the class with us made the one in the back.