Thomas Vincent Winn

Why We Chose a Home Birth:

Around the same time we had Landon, some good friends of ours also had a baby… at home. I remember thinking how scary that would be, not to mention painful, and how I didn’t think I could ever do something like that.

Never say never, right?

In a nutshell, these are our reasons for going the home birth route:

Past Experience: Our hospital experience with Landon was not ideal. My OB was out of town, so I had some on call doctor who gave me an awful episiotomy after only one push and without first obtaining my consent. (Months of painful recovery!) In addition, I went into labor on a Sunday which meant the cafeteria was closed, so Scott was starving all day. Scott was also not thrilled about sleeping on the uncomfortable couch in our little room during the two days following the birth. (And honestly, it’s not like the hospital beds are much better!)

Insurance: Or lack thereof, because I had none. A midwife is much cheaper out of pocket that an OB, not to mention I would get to skip all the unpleasant blood work and tests along the way.

Knowledge: We watched the Business of Being Born, which was a great eye-opening documentary; highly recommend it. We also started learning about home birth and came to realize how safe it is, and how much better it is for mom and baby. To anyone giving birth, even if you are set on an epidural in the hospital, I would still recommend learning about the benefits of a natural birth.

Our Home Birth Experience:

Preparation: I’m sure many of you have the same reaction when you hear "home birth" as I once did. But, I assure you; it’s quite a different story when you spend nine months preparing for it. We went with the same midwife, Sherri Price, that our friends did, and absolutely love her. Her experience, care, and knowledge are unmatched. (She is pictured below in one of the photos with Tom and me.) Each month she holds forums at her home for all the moms to be, giving information on a variety of topics: comfort measures during pregnancy and birth, massage, birthing positions, exercise, nutrition, stages of labor, etc… You also get to hear mothers share their birth stories. In addition we took a HypnoBabies class, which is the main “pain management” technique used in many home births.

Prenatals: Many people have asked me what prenatals are like with a home birth so I thought I’d include this little blurb too. The prenatal appointments were held at Sherri's home. (Landon loved to go with because of all the fun toys and cars there.) She would measure the baby, listen to the heart, do a urine analysis, and check my weight. No internal exam, as they are not necessary and just provide an opportunity for bacteria to enter that sterile area. Then we would talk about how things are going, how I was doing with exercise and nutrition, and go over any questions I might have.

The Birth: During this pregnancy I had a very strong feeling that he would come early, and fast. I was only in labor with Landon for 12 hours, so we were thinking it might be 6 or so the second time around. On March 15, I woke up at 5:30am, 8 days before my due date. (Thank you for sleeping in Landon!) I went to the bathroom, definitely was leaking fluid, had bloody show, and knew the contractions were real this time.

Of course it figures, I had been keeping the house spotless every day with the exception of the night before I went into labor. So, in my head I started listing off what had to be done ASAP:

• Clean!!!
• Wash bedding (Scott had been sleeping in the extra bed downstairs because he had a severe bronchitis infection and didn’t want to get me sick. However, we were planning on using that bed during labor so we wanted to get all those sheets clean.) 
• Shower! (Maybe I’ll even curl my hair for the sake of pictures. Haha, yes I did think this would be possible.)

After getting up, I quickly realized that the contractions were a lot stronger and closer together than I was anticipating they would be at the start of labor. I woke Scott up, called Sherri, showered, (didn’t even get around to combing or drying my hair) and then started listening to one of my HypnoBabies tracks while I cleaned up. Scott called our good friends to come take Landon as well.

Sherri arrived at 7:00am. She checked where I was at: only 5cm, but 100% effaced and baby was at +2 station, meaning his head was already halfway down the birth canal. (0 means he hasn’t entered the canal, +5 is crowning.) Sherri ran downstairs to get the birthing tub set up and call the other midwife and apprentice. She only got the tub half full before we ran out of hot water. (Had we known things were going to go this fast, we wouldn’t have all showered and done laundry first!) I was still able to get in the tub for a few contractions but then started to feel pushy (in my head I was thinking, already?!?!) and I ended up moving to the bed because the water was getting too cold. After pushing for only 30 minutes, he was out! Not gonna lie, it was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. (There are HypnoBabies tracks to listen to when in labor, and pushing but everything went so fast, there just wasn’t time to think about getting them.)

All in all, it was the most amazing and empowering experience I’ve ever had and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Thomas Vincent Winn was born at 9:10am, after just 3.5 hours of labor. He was 21 inches long, and 9 lbs, 5 oz. (A full inch and pound bigger than Landon, and born a week earlier.) No tearing whatsoever!!

While Scott and I rested with Tom, the midwives cleaned everything up and set up all the things we needed in our room upstairs. We moved up there and stayed in bed all day, sleeping and enjoying our new little bundle in the comfort of our own home.

Recovery: I absolutely loved my home birth experience and would do it again in a heartbeat. The recovery has been night and day different from my hospital birth experience. After five days I felt amazing. I knew my body still needed to rest, but it was hard to stay in bed and take it easy because I felt like I was already back to my old self again!

Thomas: After a couple of days, it was very evident that something was wrong with Thomas and causing him to nurse incorrectly, leaving blood blisters on both my nipples. (Which were so painful, that I couldn’t decide if pushing baby out or nursing him hurt more.) Sherri recommended a pediatric dentist who specializes in lip and tongue ties. Turns out Tom had both, making it so he couldn’t lift his tongue and upper lip enough to nurse properly. The dentist preformed a ten-minute procedure in which the ties are literally removed with a laser. It took some time for Tom to figure out how to nurse better but by that point, my milk supply was already down because he wasn’t properly getting milk out. As the lactation consultant put it, it was too hard for him to get milk so he would go to sleep and be content to starve. (Although he was/is definitely not starving, just not getting enough either.) Not to mention he has severe reflux (just like Landon did) and spits up most of everything he gets down. Consequently, I’ve been pumping after every feeding and power pumping for an hour at night in addition to taking Fenugreek to try to increase my supply. He has to eat at least every two hours, but usually he's ready after an hour and a half, so this essentially leaves an hour of time between each feeding session. He is still fairly fussy, but hopefully with more milk and acid reflux meds, that will continue to improve. In addition, he has a Staph infection and his big toe nails are both ingrown. Good grief, little one.

Landon: Landon has been adjusting fairly well. He absolutely loves having a little brother and always wants to give him hugs, kisses, and tickles. Of course Landon doesn’t get the attention he is used to, and has started doing things he has never done before, like painting the carpet and coloring on chairs. Not to mention he has become extremely defiant. And, my all time favorite is when Tom’s crying and Landon starts crying and screaming too. “Two babies, Mom!” Oh boy. Thankfully we’ve had family come and go consistently since Tom’s birth so Landon has had fun hanging out with everyone.

Fall 2013 & Winter 2014

The last six months have flown by. In a nutshell, this is what we’ve been up to:

Home 
We moved into our house!! And no, I don’t have any good pictures to show yet. ☺ Landon was a big help helping painting, unpacking, and building (bookshelves, chairs, table, etc… the list goes on and on). As you can see in the pictures below, he also went through a phase of attaching things to himself – in the picture below where the baby tub is tied to his boxers with a belt, he is pretending to be a trailer truck. He is quite inventive.

Fall
We actually had a bit of nice fall weather. My family came out to visit and they were especially helpful in getting all the home projects done that I wanted. Took a trip to the pumpkin patch with them and enjoyed the last bit of heat before winter set in with full force.

Halloween 
For Halloween I was hoping Landon would want to be Peter Pan, since that costume was already made, but he was totally over Peter and had moved on to Bob the Builder. No biggie, we still got tons of use out of it. Halloween gets more and more fun each year as he gets older! He had a blast trick or treating, and wanted to keep going but was just so tired. By the end he was laying down in the wagon falling asleep. One of the things I look forward to most each year is the Halloween party Scott and I get to enjoy sans Landon. This year there were six snakes in the photo room. Don’t be deceived by the smile; I’m having a panic attack on the inside.

Thanksgiving/Baby Ultrasound 
Celebrated Thanksgiving just the three of us, just how we like it. Also, per tradition, went to see a movie in the afternoon. Landon didn’t want to see Frozen because it looked “too scary,” so we went to Austenland instead. One of my favorite books! The movie was also good, definitely as cheesy as we expected, but funny, and fun to watch since Scott knew a lot of the people who worked on it. Baby ultrasound! As much as we would have loved a girl, we both just knew it would be a boy. He’s been consistently measuring two weeks bigger/ahead of where I am. Although this usually means nothing, it’s interesting to note. Boy it goes by fast the second time around! And yes, we have the name picked out, but decided to keep it a secret till his birth. Not that it’s some bogus made-up name; it’s just more fun driving our parents crazy.

The Accident 
December came with a good haul of snow, which Landon thoroughly enjoyed. We couldn’t wait to go back to WA for Christmas and New Years, and make our semi-annual getaway to Victoria, BC. But, unfortunately the night before we were planning to leave, we got in a car accident. Huge, huge bummer but much to be thankful for, as it could have been a lot worse. Long story short, traffic in town stopped abruptly in front of us, and Scott put all his weight into the breaks in an effort to stop in time. We still hit the car in front of us and on impact Scott shattered the top of his foot, breaking and displacing multiple bones. It was classified as a Liz Franc injury; one that puts athletes out of their careers for good. He had surgery on Christmas Eve morning, followed by some scary complications, so we also spent most of that night in the ER. It’s been two and a half months and he just barely got the cast off and started physical therapy. Fingers crossed he will be able to walk by the time baby comes. (Thankfully, our car was fixable and now it looks amazing with a whole new front.)

Christmas 
We couldn’t believe this year Landon actually wanted to see Santa. He was so nervous but just had to tell Santa what he would like for Christmas. Christmas ended up being quite a bit different than we planned because of the accident and surgery. Scott was heavily drugged and out of it most of the day. Landon still had fun opening his presents, building his new train table and jamming out on his drums.

Visits 
After New Years, Scott’s family came to visit. Landon especially loved swimming in the hotel pool with them. Landon’s been doing well in gymnastics and loves going each week - although he’s quite the little spaz and has a hard time focusing and listening to his teacher. He also loves to sit in on Scott’s work meetings, even when he can’t keep his eyes open very long.

Fun Outings 
Landon and I went to the Dino museum. Lots of hands on things to play with at the museum, although Landon was a little freaked out by dinosaurs. He kept reminding me (and himself) that “They were alive a long long time ago… now they’re dead.” But, the dino noises in the background such didn’t make it seem like they were dead. ☺ We also couldn’t pass up the monster truck show in SLC. Landon was in heaven!

Superbowl! 
We had some friends over for a big ol’ superbowl party. Even though we’re not sports people in the slightest, we had the greatest time watching the Seahawks win!!

Faces of Landon 
Top left: L loves to put out fires in the house.
Top right: Helping Mommy clean! He enjoys doing the spray, emptying garbage cans, and unloading the dishwasher.
Bottom left: Most of Landon’s pictures look like this – he will smile at me, but just can’t take his eyes off of whatever thing he’s playing with.
Bottom right: Took an ink pad to his face… “This is my makeup.”

Left: Sporting his "listening to the Holy Ghost ears" from primary.
Right: Helping mommy shop at Trader Joes. (His latest thing when I ask him to smile is to immediately spread his legs apart as far as he can.)

Basketball 
[As you can see, these are the only pictures we managed to take on the good camera during the last six months.] During February, Landon was in a basketball class a couple times a week. He wasn’t super thrilled at first, but that might be partly because he doesn’t do sports much at home. He does what daddy does: make music! They jam out all the time and he loves to go to the studio and “record” songs with Scott and Brenden. By the end of the month though, Landon had definitely improved his dribbling and shooting skills and enjoyed it more and more.

Valentines Day 
On Valentine’s Day this year, we recreated our V-day from 10 years ago. Scott also treated me to a pedicure and massage, which was very sweet and very much needed.

Pregnancy Photo Shoot 
I was so diligent with Landon, taking pictures each week to document his growth. Not so good this time around. At least we got a few memorable picts at these amazing photo spots at Scheels. [35 weeks]  

Warming Up 
We are finally getting a glimpse of spring here, with beautiful warm weather! Play dates at the park, scootering around the neighborhood, and a trip to the zoo. Landon’s favorites at the zoo: the tiger and the new pirate ship play area. We just love being outside!

Family Photo Fall 2013 
Last one of just us three! ☺
Scott Update: [Since there wasn't really a better place to fit this in.] Despite being unable to walk, Scott has still managed to get a lot of work done, with the help of amazing friends. In January he released "Stormtrooper Secrets: Hip Hop Twerk" which hit a million views in less than 48 hours. The song he wrote for the video, "Beat Calls," made it to the top 40 on the hip hop charts, right along side Macklemore, Jay Z, and Eminem, which was pretty surreal. More importantly though, are all the jobs that have come because of the video. Right now he has a team in the Philippines shooting some sweet videos for his You Tube Channel. There are many other videos in the works including one for Ford, and the next Scott & Brendo album will be out sometime before fall. Love my talented hubby!

My Spirited Little Miracle

Oh, Landon. I do love you so.

Like most blog posts, I procrastinated this long enough, that now, by the time I've sat down to record everything there is just way too much to write and no clear beginning. Excuse my thoughts if they are jumbled! 

Landon. Our Spirited Miracle. We've come to realize two very important things in the last few months. He is spirited. And he is a miracle.

First, Landon is without a doubt, one very spirited child. I never had a good word to describe the kind of boy he is. Every word traditionally used to depict his personality has negative connotations: demanding, stubborn, noisy, whiny, easily frustrated, wild, etc... All of which are most definitely true but they are lousy labels.

It wasn't until we were in a restaurant trying (and failing) to enjoy a nice dinner out, that we first heard the word "spirited." Landon went into one of his usual unending tantrums about a chair not being positioned correctly, or somebody looking at him for a second too long. I was literally at the end of my rope, physically and mentally exhausted. This wonderful mother next to us turned around and said, "I know exactly what you're going through. Does your son go into screams of bloody murder if his sock isn't on just right, or his sandwich is not cut in triangles, or if you turn the light off a second earlier than expected? Does putting him in his room alone just makes it 100 times worse?" "Yes, yes, yes YES!" I exclaimed.

She proceeded to explain how our children and just more. More intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent, and energetic than other children. But, there is help. She told me about a book called, "Raising your Spirited Child" by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. She said is was (and still is) her bible for raising her daughter. I can't express how thankful I am for her reaching out to comfort and help me. I don't believe in coincidences, and there is not a doubt in my mind that we were at the same place at the same time, so that she could be that tender mercy I needed so much. I have since purchased and read through half of it. It. Is. Amazing. Best parenting book out there, for me at least.

I've included a little excerpt from the book. The quotes in each section describe Landon perfectly.

Characteristics of a Spirited Child:
1. Intensity "...the reactions of a spirited child are always powerful. There is rarely a middle of the road. They never wimper; they wail. They can skip into a room, smiling and laughing only to depart thirty seconds later inflamed. Their tantrums and raw and enduring."
2. Persistence "If an idea or activity is important to them, spirited children "lock" right in. They are committed to their task, goal-oriented, and unwilling to give up. Getting them to change their minds in a major undertaking."
3. Sensitivity "Keenly aware, spirited kids quickly respond to the slightest noises, smells, lights, textures, or changes in mood... A wayward string or a scratchy texture can render clothes intolerable."
4. Perceptiveness "It can take ten minutes to get them from the house to the car. They notice everything - the latest oil spill, the white feather in the bird's nest, and the dew in the spider web. They're often accused of not listening."
5. Adaptability "Spirited children are uncomfortable with change. They hate surprises and do not shift easily from one activity to another. If they're expecting hot dogs on the grill for supper, heaven forbid you come home and suggest going to a restaurant."

Bonus Characteristics: (Many, but not all, possess four additional characteristics that can make being their parent even more challenging.)
6. Regularity "Impossible to get them on any kind of schedule. An eight-hour night of undisturbed sleep is a mere memory lingering in your mind from the days before their birth."
7. Energy "Although sometimes viewed as wild, their energy is usually focused and has a purpose."
8. First Reaction "An unfamiliar idea, thing, place, or person may be met with a vehement, 'NO!'"
9. Mood (In regards to being very serious and critical of one's self; only trait one not applicable to Landon.)

Anyway, the book is 500 pages of brilliant ideas for how to work with spirit and really help your child succeed and learn to manage his emotions, energy, etc... Now the big undertaking is to apply them.

On to the second thing we came to realize... He is a miracle baby. Literally. A fertility doctor told us it would be a miracle if we were to get pregnant naturally. After going through test after test, we found our fertility problems stem from a very low sperm count. Since that was the only issue, we were perfect candidates for intrauterine insemination. Our doctor explained that after three inseminations, the chances of it working for a given couple drastically decreases, and other methods should be tried.

Well, our three months of inseminations came and went, each one with progressively better sperm counts, still low, but good for insemination. I responded really well to the Clomid and even had 3 healthy eggs on one attempt. None of them worked. And that's OK. Really. We're glad we did the inseminations, and now know that our "picture perfect" family of four to five kids, each two years apart is definitely not happening. But anyone who knows Landon knows that he has as much personality as five kids anyway. So we're pretty much covered.

The next step would be to start saving up for IVF, and the clinic I go to boasts a 70% success rate on it, but let's be honest here: the thought of doing IVF scares the crap out of me. I hate needles, surgery, doctors, etc... and the inseminations were bad enough. Not to mention that at this point in time, the thought of having a baby around and trying to take care of Landon scares me even more. I still am averaging 5 - 6 hours of sleep, people. Right now, I'm perfectly happy with one spirited miracle.

Happy Times
Landon does so many things that make me laugh throughout the day, but if I don't write them down, they are easily forgotten. I've been trying to make a point of recording those moments in my phone when they happen. Now I can finally transfer them all to the blog! They're super random but things I don't want to forget!

January 2013

• At church, Landon looked up at the speaker (who was quite an old fellow) and said, "Look mom! The prophet!"
• When he was still learning the song, "I am a Child of God," he would sing, "I am a prophet of God."
• One conversation about nursery: Landon: "Mom, read a book in nursery." Me: "Did you read a book about Jesus in nursery?" Landon: "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! (Slight tantrum ensues) READ THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!"
• One day he was feeling pretty sick and was laying in bed with me. I was rolling over to get comfortable and he said, "Mom, stop wiggling!" 

February 2013

• Loves to pretend to be asleep and will tap himself on the nose to wake up, then make some very great stretching and yawning sound effects.
• Speaking of sound effects, right now every toy he owns likes to "splash." He is very dramatic about reenacting the splash, and we usually have about 3-4 baths each day to really kick it up a notch.
• Landon has a baby doll that he rarely plays with. He found it the other day and I caught him gently rocking the baby and singing "Rock-a-bye-baby" (all three verses), then putting him on the floor with a blanket while saying, "Lay down your sleepy head, close your eyes." Of course the baby's eyes don't close so he resorted to just covering them quite forcefully with his fingers.

Artwork
Landon's becoming quite the photographer. Of course, when we took out the 5D to have his mini photo shoot, he wanted a turn as well:

The New Room
My January project was to turn Landon's room into a "big kid room." With all the flailing he does in his sleep, the little toddler bed just wasn't big enough. And his exponentially growing amount of toys were hidden away in all sorts of crevices, making it difficult for him to access and play with them on his own. So, after weeks of researching, mattress and furniture shopping, I finally ended up with this: (before/after)

I scrimped in every possible way, and splurged on a couple things. (I about died when I found that duvet cover and kitchen set!)  But I love having all his toys in organized, easy to reach bins. He also loves having his own table that we can do puzzles at, eat the food he "cooks," build a train track, and just play with all his cars. IKEA is our new favorite place. Landon and I took numerous trips up there and had a blast every time. :) I know the walls are really bare, but everything I wanted to put up creates big crater holes in the wall, and I didn't want to have to worry about fixing that up when we *hopefully* move into our own house soon.

The ER
It was inevitable that this little guy would end up in the ER at point in time. We weren't even doing anything out of the ordinary. Just chasing each other around the house, like always. Except this time, he fell and landed with the back of his head on the corner of a wall. I knew we were in trouble when I saw the size of the cut before the blood started gushing. He wouldn't even let us clean it. Thankfully Scott was home, so I hysterically woke him up and we headed to the ER at 7:30am.

Sure enough the poor tike needed staples and boy was it the most traumatic experience for all of us. Then, to top it all off, exactly 24 hours after the incident he fell again. On the kitchen floor, right on the wound. It makes my stomach turn just thinking about it. Of course it started bleeding a ton, and the staples got a little messed up. We were advised to take him back to the ER and make sure it was ok. That wasn't fun. Thankfully they didn't have to do anything to it.

At least now he's a slight bit more careful and even will tell himself to slow down so he doesn't hurt his head and have to go back to the hospital.

A Jaunt to Washington

Since I'll be 26 in a month and off my parents insurance, I decided to fly up to WA and have a trip full of medical and dental appointments. I took Landon with and we made a little mini-vaca out of it. He was SOOOO excited to fly and did so well on the plane. We played at the park, visited the children's museum, and most importantly, went to the beach!

Geez I miss the beach!
We decided to hit up Seaside with my mom and brother. It was 60 and sunny, with only a slight breeze. Could not have asked for a more perfect day! Definitely worth the 3+ hour drive to get there. Landon absolutely loved it. Playing in the sand, watching the water, and literally running laps up and down the beach. I can't wait to go back.

Everyday Life

• Landon loves to "help" daddy work.
• He likes to line up all his cars and "watch a movie" (sound effects provided by mom). Have I mentioned he doesn't watch TV at home? We stopped around Thanksgiving and it's been one of the greatest decisions. The trade off is that when we are out and about running errands, if Scott's not using the iPad, Landon can bring it and play educational games or watch his movies.
• He loves to wear matching clothes with daddy.
• Sometimes he can play nice with others. :) This is his friend Trevor and they both had just woken up from naps.

More Daily Snapshots

• Since it's been getting up to a whooping 40 degrees here, this weekend Landon and I took a nice long walk to Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, and finally the mall. He loves walking on the dino tail at the mall and even applied what he learned on the beam in gymnastics, (putting his  arms out). He just started a gymnastics class last week and although he was leery about it to begin with, by the end he did not want to stop. He had such a blast and loves showing us his "gymnastics moves" at home now.
• This weekend has also been eventful in that I started the wonderful task of potty training. After coming up with a sticker chart/rewards system and explaining it to him about 75 times, he was finally OK with going pee in the potty. The first few times were hard, he earned an M&M and sticker for his chart. After five times he got a big candy bar. Pretty soon, he got really excited when the potty timer went off and it was time to go. By ten trips to the potty, he even started initiating them himself, before the timer. (This boy drinks a ridiculous amount of water which makes going every 15 minutes quite easy.) On the first day we filled up his whole chart (20 spaces) and he didn't even remember/care that the goal was to fill it so he could get a new toy!
• Landon is obsessed with numbers. 10 is his favorite. He loves the Chicka Chicka 123 book, and can count by himself to 30. In the picture below he was showing me various two-digit numbers. (Look mommy! 73, 32, 14, etc...) We're missing the 9 but he thought a lowercase g makes a good replacement.

Whew! Can't tell you how good it feels to finally finish this! Have a great week! :)

Family Pictures and the Latest Happenings Around Here.

Getting family pictures each year is like pulling teeth, but after they're done I'm always so thankful we went through all the effort and hassle to make it happen.

Little things I don't want to forget about life at this point...

Involving Landon:
Landon wakes up at four in the morning and now, instead of just crying he shouts, "Mommy, where are you?" He has also realized he can turn on his light. After we tuck him in, turn out the light, and close the door, he jumps out of bed, flips on the light and plays for 30 minutes before crawling back to bed and falling asleep. (With the light still on, of course.) He usually sleeps from about 8 - 4. I feel like I've tried everything, but nothing works to get him to sleep longer. Any suggestions are welcome!

Landon's curiosity and eagerness to learn. He's always asking me, "Wazzat?" (What's that?) when he doesn't know the name for something. He can count to 20 perfectly (seven and seventeen were being skipped for quite a while), and recognizes about two thirds of the alphabet letters. One of his favorite games involves sitting at the computer with Word open. Scott will type a letter or number and Landon will name it. He doesn't sign anymore but he talks in full sentences, and communicates so well.

Landon is very polite. He usually starts a sentence with "Oh! Excuse me..." He even tends to say, "You're welcome." to me before I've thanked him for something.

Landon's sense of direction is amazing. He recognizes locations when we are driving and can tell me what's near, even before it's in sight. (Library, Pizza Pie Cafe, Target, etc...)

Landon loves to sing! It's probably one of the most adorable things he does. He most often sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," which sounds like this: "Twinkle twinkle little star, how are you? ee eee aaaahh. Up up so high, like a diamond in the sky, twinkle twinkle little star, how are you agaaaaaain." He also sings, "Ring around the Rosie," "The ABC Song," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "If You're Happy and You Know It." and "The Clean Up Song"

Some other things Landon loves to do is help me cook, wash dishes, (AKA turn the kitchen into a swimming pool), play dough, mega blocks, play the piano or drums, and have friends over. I watch a one-year-old once a week and Landon just loves when he's here. Trevor will let out squeals of excitement in the morning and Landon will go over to him and say, "Trev, shhhhh. Daddy's sleeping." He's also getting much better at sharing.

I take for granted the fact that Landon really doesn't get into things. When his best friends come over (two year old twins, that live downstairs) I'm reminded of just how much of my child Landon is. If I'm not keeping a constant eye on them, the girls rummage through my jewelry box, color in books, etc... Things I know Landon would never do when he's playing on his own. I've even caught him after the girls dump a bunch of toys out, following after, cleaning up. :)

Landon loves the moon. Whenever we are outside and it's dark the first thing he says is "Find moon." He always says hello, goodbye, and how are you to the moon. And he usually tries to reach out and grab it, only to end up saying, "Uh uh uh, hmmm... too reach." (too far to reach)

He has moved on to watching other movies besides Cars 1 and 2! Although we still watch those and Mater's Tall Tales often, he also loves Up, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, A Bug's Life, Ratatouille, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Thomas & Friends, and Sesame Street. I'd say he's ready for a trip to Disneyland. :)

Landon definitely has his "terrible twos" moments, and I'd be lying if I didn't mention that at times, between tantrums, lack of sleep, and everything else that always seem to build in those moments of trouble, I'm concerned I'll have a nervous breakdown. Even so, I love him to pieces and being his mom is one of the greatest blessings in the whole wide world.

Involving Scott:
Right now, Scott has moved more toward writing music than filming. It's always a difficult question to answer when people ask him, "What do you do?" His current answer is, "I'm a YouTube Rapper." (And he's a darn good one, if I don't say so myself.) Scott started a YouTube channel as a joke, with a video of kittens flying in slow motion to a song him and a friend wrote. It went viral in a few weeks, and people loved the song. He just released a second video, a slip n' slide that launches people into kiddie pools, also put to a song him and Brenden wrote. This video hit half a million views in two days. Between making those videos, they've been busy writing music for a big YouTuber's channel. It's been great exposure for their music (Scott & Brendo is their band name) and their fan base is growing rapidly all across the world. It's always been Scott's dream to do music as a career but it's even more risky than photography or film. The fact that it's happening is surreal.

Here are some links to check out Scott's work:
Cute Kitten Fly in Slow Motion to Hip Hop Dubstep
Slip n' Slide Launches People into Kiddie Pools (1000 fps)
Scott & Brendo songs on iTunes
Scott & Brendo Facebook page (Regular updates on new songs, videos they are featured in etc... Go like it!)
Devin Super Tramp YouTube Channel (This is who Scott and Brenden have been writing music for. Their music is on "The Blob," "Dogs in Slow Motion," "Paramotor Sky Races" and "Unicycle Freestyle."

On the side, Scott is the video guy for The Color Run. (The first and most successful of all the color runs going on right now.) He was just in San Diego this weekend shooting two back to back 5K runs for them. Scott ends up going to CA at least once a month for some film related project.

We honestly don't know what's in store for us in the next year, let alone five or ten. Scott's line of work is unpredictable and ever-changing. I used to be scared by not knowing, but now we look at it as a big adventure. It's exciting to think the possibilities are endless and there are surprises and new opportunities around every corner.

Involving Me:
Why is it so easy to write updates about Landon and Scott, but then when I get to myself, I have no idea what to jot down? Life is mostly the same I suppose. I do the mommy thing, running of the household thing, wifey thing, and once in a blue moon, squeeze in the me time thing. The days pass by, the seasons change, and we keep plugging along.

I just finished reading Palace of Stone, the Sequel to Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. Great book. I always feel a touch better, and less stressed, after finishing a good book. I've also been designing a few things; Thanksgiving decorations to replace the Halloween, the new blog layout (figured it would be incentive to start posting regularly again). This week, Scott's even going to babysit so a friend and I can get pedicures. Can you believe I've NEVER had a pedicure before?! I can't wait.

I just love this time of year, with holidays back to back. Landon and I like to hit up Tai Pan Trading at the mall, and look at all the Christmas decorations. (Of course we also have to go in Landon's two favorite stores, The Disney Store and Yankee Candle. He is obsessed with smelling candles. All the ladies that work there know and love him.)

Things are good. I love the stage of life we're in, love our apartment, neighbors, and Utah in general. Looking forward to snow, Christmas music, hot cider, and visiting family!

Summertime

My poor, neglected blog.
FYI:
Summer happened.
And now the leaves are turning yellow.
Is September really just around the corner?
Oh my heavens.

To Recap: 

We've been swimming. At least a couple times a week.
Gardening. Landon loves picking all my tomatoes.
Riding bikes. Every night. To the mall, Target, the park, everywhere. Gosh I love being so close to everything.
Instagraming. Sorry dearest blog, but it's so much easier to take, edit, and post a picture to Instagram from my phone, than force myself to spend two hours on a blog post that is grammatically correct, entertaining to read, and well stocked with beautiful photo collages.
Couponing. Finally got back into my money saving mode. That takes a ridiculous amount of time and dedication, people.
Reading. It's possible I've spent a few naptimes gushing over a book rather than tackling the mounting to-do list... and stayed up way past bedtime, forcing my tired eyes to read page after page. My summer favs: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, (PS: Just met her. Amazing.) and Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. Landon's a reader too, you know. First thing in the morning. After nap. Before bed. Anytime in between. His summer favs: Cars and Trucks and Things that Go by Richard Scarry, and Thomas & Friends: Animals Everywhere! by Rev. W. Awdry
Baking. Because it's been 100 degrees all summer and we don't have AC. Also been baking treats. I know, turning on the oven doesn't help our sweltering apartment but at least we have something sweet to eat. Summer favs: (Click for recipe) Gooey S'mores Cookies and Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert
Sleeping. Sort of. Landon's finally in a big boy bed and likes to come snuggle up with us at 3 in the morning. It's cute. Most of the time. He did go through a month-long phase of sleeping in till 7. Those were the days. Now we're back to being up at 5:30am.
Testing. Why is it that every couple who actually wants kids has problems getting pregnant? Nothing like some good ol' fertility testing to top off our summer fun list.

And there you have it.

Oh, and have I mentioned Landon loves my phone? Constantly asking me, "Make pink phone call?" One of his favorite apps right now is "Talking Ginger." Basically an IPhone version of a Tamagotchi. You can have the kitty shower, brush his teeth, and blow dry his furr so he turns into a cuddly little fluff ball. Purrs when you pet him. Giggles when you tickle. Ginger also repeats everything you say. Landon just loves him. :)

I'll leave you with a few more of my Instagram photos... Still blows me away how much phones can do these days.

Toodles!

Two

I just love birthday parties! We decided fairly last minute to head up to Washington and celebrate Landon's birthday with the people he loves most.

Road trip! Family!

I narrowed Landon's obsession with cars, trains, planes, and anything that has wheels and moves to a CONSTRUCTION THEMED PARTY. I even made the cake myself, which turned out surprisingly cute and yummy. Now, if you ever want to make a boring cake mix amazing, follow Kevin & Amanda's recipe for The Best Chocolate Cake Ever. (Link here.) I've never been a cake person, but this recipe has seriously changed that.

Presents! Came home with a nice stash of goodies.

From the minute Landon saw his cake, it was impossible to keep him away. He was so excited when it was finally time to grab those trucks off the top... and be spoon fed the treat. Could life get any better?

I still can't believe he's two. Goodbye chubby cheeks and little legs. Hello big man!

The Beach

This sucks. Being so behind on documenting our lives makes me a teeny bit sad. And overwhelmed. And crazy. There are so many pictures waiting to be posted, and words to be written, but there is just no time. Someday soon...

One thing we've done: The beach. Last time Landon was here, he was only two months old. Obviously he had a lot more fun this go around. When I took off his socks and shoes, he sat there with his feet in the air, no wanting them to touch the sand. (My cute little OCD boy.) After mommy did it too, he warmed up to the idea. In fact, he decided that pouring sand on his head was pretty dang fun. He even liked being in the water, until a big bad wave came crashing in and knocked him down.

Someday we will also live closer to the beach.

Recap

Ok. Here goes the daunting but necessary task of documenting the last three months. Life has reached an out-of-control-busy-season with family coming and going, birthdays and holidays, warm weather activities, vacations, and a crazy, energetic toddler making sure every minute is go, go go.

Some of these pictures are super random and *gasp* blurry and pixely, but alas, they are things I want to remember. So, without further ado:

Landon went through a short obsession with stuffed animals. While I was browsing around Urban Outfitters one day, he found these puppies and would not let go. When I told him it was time to leave, he placed them it his stroller, sat on top and gave me a look that said, "K Mom, but these guys are coming too!" Since I ended up being there an extra half hour while he played with the pups, I found this adorable art that I totally want hanging above my craft table someday.

Landon just loves his beads and is very protective of them if other kids come over and want to wear them. Often he doesn't even play with them, just pulls the four necklaces out of the box, separates each one on the floor and leaves them there. Heaven forbid if I touch them.

Festival of Colors! Landon and I went with Scott's sisters. (Scott was partying it up in Vegas at the time.)  We both got colored this year, which was a fun change from just watching last time. Landon would not touch the color himself though. He's just a little OCD...

We also went to the new City Creek Center in Salt Lake. Fantastic outdoor mall with multiple fountains, levels, river running throughout, great stores, and a cover for when the weather gets bad.

While the girls were here, we had a fabulous hair dying party. We all bought cheap dye and took ridiculous before and after pictures. Mine is just slightly darker. Everyone got some very interesting and surprising results. Kind of like biting into a green Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Bean, expecting apple, and you get snot-flavored. Oh, and Landon and I love homemade popcorn. We're just two peas in a pod.
Whew, if you're still reading, kudos. Up next: Birthday time. 25 baby! Scott got me a new phone cover (very much needed!) and a trip to Disneyland. (Also very much needed!) We are Disney fanatics. I'm forcing myself to get all these older picts up before I delve into the trip pictures. Anyway, for my birthday, we had some very kind friends watch Landon and snag us some tickets, so we could go to conference. Last time my birthday fell on conference weekend I was able to go, so it was so fun to go again! The weather was beautiful, talks were great, and it was a wonderful start to the day. (Twice a year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints holds a general conference in Salt Lake City, which is broadcast all over the world. The prophet, apostles, and other leaders of the church instruct on a number of topics, such as faith, prayer, scriptures, family, love, etc...)

In the afternoon we went mini-golfing. Landon thoroughly enjoyed chasing after the golf balls and throwing them in the holes. I just love birthdays. (Is anyone else physically unable to take good pictures outside?! I have the worst squinting problem. So excuse the squinty eye pict.)
At the beginning of April we had Scott's mom and youngest sister, Melissa come visit for a week. Landon has gotten to such a fun age where he loves being with family. He is constantly asking for all of them.

Then, we went up to Rexburg for a different sister's graduation. We also celebrated Easter up there. (These pictures are from Easter Sunday.) The holidays are more and more fun, with Landon getting older. He went to his first big Easter Egg hunt and couldn't wait for them to yell, Go! Then when the time came he didn't want to pick up a single egg. Landon had a fun little Easter egg hunt with family (the eggs were way more enticing, as they looked like little soccer and basketballs), and enjoyed finding some goodies in his basket.
After Scott's fam went home, we stayed in Idaho Falls for a few more days on a little mini-vaca. Scott was going to start a shoot up there so it just worked out to hang with him for a while before it started. It was fun to relax, swim, walk around the falls, BYU-I, and have a seriously great hotel breakfast every morning.

When Landon and I got home, we passed the time with Scott gone by going to the library and the new Hang Time trampoline park. Life was so exhausting that he actually fell asleep in the chair like that.

The End!

Up next: Disneyland!