The Standlee Crew - thestandleecrew

Our baby turned one, it was a fast, fast year!  He's such a wonderful little guy.  We are still learning him each day but he is still somewhat easy-going - probably forced to be as 3rd in the family (I know a bit about being number 3!)...he doesn't get upset at all to get in the car multiple times a day for drop-off and pick-up and errands and such.  He hardly makes a peep back there unless we sit still for a while!  He loves to run errands, has a big smile on his face in the grocery cart and usually flirts with whoever smiles at him.  He kicks his feet and gets excited when Daddy comes home everyday and starts crying immediately if Mark does not greet him with a hug.

His hugs are so big, he wraps his little arms/hands around your neck and squeezes. It's so cute - he's very affectionate and VERY stubborn.  Just because he's easy-going does NOT mean he doesn't have opinions! (I also know a bit about that, ha!).

He loves to swing outside (we do this almost daily as big brothers play in the backyard after nap)...but most excited as Mommy throws the dog toys with Jasmine and she runs & plays catch. He LOVES to watch her and giggles loudly as she runs by him. 

He is VERY fast at crawling and quite good at edging around the room - by furniture, by walls and even from one room to the next.  Walking is so close!

His first word was "da-da" but he also says "da" for dog (when she is running across the yard), "ma-ma", "kiss" - he says "kkkk ssssss".  And he's trying to say "more" when we sign for 'more' food. 

At 1 year old, he sleeps from 7 pm until 6 am.  He takes 2 naps for about 1 1/2 hrs each.  He eats oatmeal with milk twice a day along with fruit and a waffle in the morning, a veggie (babyfood) and bite-size table food for dinner.  Lunch is a veggie along with crackers and other table food.  He is 31 1/4" tall (90th percentile) and 20 lbs 9 oz (20th percentile).  TALL and skinny!  This is our first kid to be less than 50th percentile for anything.  I asked the doctor if he was underweight.  The doctor said not at all, he just grew fast and he's catching up and he's moving a lot - all normal.  It was predicted that he would beef up by 15-18 months.  He is also taller than his brothers both were at age 1.  That goes with my theory of the youngest being the tallest!

But more than any of these things, he is a sweet, adorable, charming and wonderful little guy and we love him dearly!!  :)  Be sure to glance at his birthday party pics and the pics I took of him in the backyard for his 1 year old birthday. :)

My sweet 22 year old cousin Adam passed away this past weekend after a 8 month battle with a rare cancer of the meninges. He made us all so proud, he fought hard for his life with a smile on his face, humor in his days and not much complaining. It does make a person wonder if they could handle such battles with such integrity?

 

I remember when he was born, on my big brother Guy's birthday in 1991. We were all so excited about this little boy - this new cousin to come into our lives.

 

Our extended family got together 3-4 times a year as children and we still get together at least once a year. I have so many fond memories at my grandmother's house playing dominoes & cards with the cousins, playing in the magnolia tree with Adam & my other cousins. I also have many memories of going to Austin to visit Aunt Laura, Uncle Phil, Haley, Will & Adam. We went to Barton Creek and played in the greenbelt behind their house.

 

One of my favorite memories of Adam was when he arrived at Memaw's at Christmas one year with a new guitar for Christmas and he could play it! He was very young but he was so interested in music and I remember years to come being pretty impressed with how talented he was each time he played.

 

One of my more recent memories of Adam was playing football with Landon at Christmas 2011 and helping him learn to catch the ball along with my cousins Steve & John. And in the summer of 2010, we went to Dallas for my cousin Jeff's wedding and he played with Josh quite a bit(just 5 mo at the time), so comfortable around a baby.

Adam was a sweet, adventurous person - always kind, always funny and always friendly.   Our family will never be the same without him.

 

Thinking about his life and how he lived each day from the time he was a small kid to his last days, he was full of life, full of adventure and full of fun.  The way he lived his life motivates me to want to live each day more freely and adventurous because I am NOT that way.  And I am grateful that he has left us all with such a great taste in our mouths of what a gift he was and is.  To see some pictures of Adam, I put the ones I had from childhood through recently in a folder - I'll add more (Mom & I want to go through some others this summer).

Feel free to take a look: Adam

 

This last Sunday, April 7th - we baptized Nathanael William at our church.  Many family members were there and our family of 5 were there to witness & pray for our youngest (barely all 5 of us considering Landon was so sick all week, we had planned to take him home immediately after if he had a fever- he did not and had been fever free for 24 hrs for the first time in a week! yay!).

Landon & Josh were very curious about the baptism so we told them for a few days about it and told them they would put water on his head and say a prayer.  Landon was adamantly against this baptism - he'd yell "I don't want to do that".  At first we thought it was just a 5 yr old fit but then we asked why and he said he didn't want Nathan to cry.  Well thankfully, Nathan did not cry - he did great.  I expected him to cry, honestly since it was his naptime and he's been going through stranger anxiety a lot.  But he was so interested in all of it.

Afterwards, we went to eat mexican food together - all of our extended family that was there and ate ice cream & cake, also!  My mom bought his adorable little outfit that is hard to catch in a picture - so cute.  And my sweet mother-in-law got him a cake to celebrate.  We are so blessed!

Here's some highlights but the other pics are in the album.  Since my camera's flash broke a few months ago (SAD!), it doesn't work inside unless the lighting is very good so until we buy a new one...we have to settle for outside pics & borrowing other cameras.  So we got a few from a friend at church (and he videoed it also, I have to post it still) and my mom's camera so I still need to get those pics soon! 

We had a wonderful Easter - we did lots of celebrating with family.  The boys were cutie pies and we enjoyed the holiday with them!  Look at our Easter album for more pics!  As always, you are welcome to comment on pictures or the album (or this) - you do have to sign in to shutterfly (it's free to have an account but that gives you access to download pics to print or email or for your computer).

It's been a long time since my last post, my apologies for those of you that keep up with us this way!

We've had a good, FAST spring!  We've had a LOT of sickness around here which has kept me busy and away from the shutterfly site.  Nathan has had a few more ear infections :(  He seems to catch it all and keep a constant runny nose.  Maybe he'll be like me (also the 3rd child) - Mom says I had a runny nose my whole first year but ended up with the strongest immune system.  Time will tell.

Josh got sick the last day of Spring Break and was home that whole next week from school.

However, Spring Break was wonderful!  We took a short trip to Dallas/Fort Worth...got to stay with my aunt & uncle and cousins.  We enjoyed time with them so much and they were so gracious and wonderful for us and for the boys.  Uncle Lou took the boys outside to look at horses in the pasture behind their house, Aunt Melinda took us to her school to let the kids play in her 1st grade room -they loved that!  And we visited the Fort Worth Zoo for my little animal lover boys and they loved all the unique animals they hadn't seen before (white tiger & river otters being the favorites!).  We also went to the Lego Discovery Center and visited some of my best friends from college (Sara & Jenni and their kiddos).  We had a wonderful vacation!  Then we hung around the house - painted our bedroom, took some daytrips - saw cousins and grandparents and had a good week!  (TONS of pictures in the March Album!)

Landon started t-ball a few weeks ago, also!  He is on the Crimson Tide team (it pains us to cheer for the Tide so we're just fine with 'go landon' or 'go red')!!  He had his first game and he did great.  It was all so cute!  He is having fun and that's the main thing we want so we are glad. Those pics are also in the March album.

To finish off all the Standlee doctor visits, for now - I took Joshy this week.  Just to recap - Josh is scared to death of the doctor...not our actual doctor - just the experience.  Always has been.  Also to recap, when he wasn't even 2, he just got up in the middle of the visit and opened the door and was down the hallway toward the emergency exit before I had gotten to him!!  That's just the background.

So...the fact he'd been asking when he could see Dr. B for over a week had me hopeful.  He was super excited about going and it being just me & him.  Daddy came home early from work to watch the other 2 and off we went.  He was fine in the waiting area, we read "Little Blue Truck" probably 5 times (his favorite I brought).  He was fine in the room but then the nurse walked in.  And he started screaming and crying - out of nowhere.  Poor guy.  Had to hold him on the scale, hold him down for blood pressure check (which I'm sure proved to be great - she didn't say).  She then told me that he had one shot for today (What?! 3 yr checkup means no shots! I had promised!!  Apparently he had 1 more that he didn't get last year because he was 5 days earlier than they could give it?! I slowly started to remember that conversation...ugh.)  Anyway, I finally got him calm (although he kept saying "I want to go. Time to go?")  We were good.  Then Dr. B walked in and his lip came out and there went the tears again. Over and Over.  He is such a great doctor.  He sat down about 3 feet away and slowly talked to him, Josh slowly calmed down and answered his questions (whispering the answers - my dog's name is Jasmine. I'm wearing red. My favorite color is yellow...etc).  He was great letting him look at his gadgets and Josh did fine for the whole checkup. 

Then.  Dr. B said "oh, he has to get one shot, huh?  I hate to end on that note.  He did so well.  But, what has to be, has to be." He smiled and said "Are we all done with the Standlees for the year?" Ha.  (I've done all 3 in one week).  The nurse came in, Josh started to scream...I laid him down, held him down and boom - done.  It was fast.  But he was screaming again.  I got him calm and promised him a cookie - I would have promised the world if I could.  I always hate that part.  So we went to McDonalds and got a cookie.

I didn't get a picture at McDonalds because he wasn't in the mood but I do have this one from earlier in the day for his Valentine party at school.

Stats: 31 lbs (50%), 37" (50%) - Dr. B said he is perfect and 'right on the money'.  Go J!

Love my little guy.

Took Landon to his 5 yr check-up last week (why in February? well because last year I didn't get a chance to get him there until late Jan being pregnant & working and all...so now insurance won't pay for it until it's been a whole year so there you go!).

Anyway!  Landon did great - he was so excited to go see Dr. B, as they all call him.  Dr. B had him spell his name, jump on one foot, walk on a line, talked to him about preschool, etc.  He asked which hand Landon wrote with and Landon said "my right" and then he waved it.  Dr. B said "well which is your left ear" and Landon pointed to his left ear.  Dr. B said "wow, that's great...most kids his age don't know their left from right". 

Landon weighed 46 lbs and is almost 46" tall.  Looking at last year, he has only gained 3 lbs but has grown 4 1/2".  Not surprising - the boy is tall and thin.  Dr. B said he is the average height of a 6 1/2 yr old!!  He said if he continues in this growth pattern (90th percentile for height, 75th for weight)...he will be my height by the time he is 13-14 yrs old.  Wow.

They tested his eyes, ears and took his blood pressure - all were excellent!  Yay! 

Our little guy is 9 months old!

His stats: 20 lbs, 4 oz.  29 1/2 inches tall!  That puts him in 50th percentile for weight, 75th percentile for height.  That's my boys!  All of them will be taller than me by the time they are 13, I bet. :)

We celebrated Joshua's 3rd birthday with a firetruck party.  He was pretty excited!  The firetruck had come to his preschool a few weeks before for Community Helper week and he was SOO excited and he'd already said that was the party he wanted.  I did a lot of it myself (staying home now & all).

 Firetruck cupcakes

 

Some pictures of our Joshy from this last year - I used the straws in the styrofoam (painted the styrofoam black)

 

 

 

 Cupcakes & Licorice (firehoses!)

 

My cute 3 yr old!!

Firetruck wheels

My adorable boys

I contacted the City of Lake Jackson to see if they would bring a firetruck out to our house - they were happy to - for free.  Along with that, the chief brought bags with hats & coloring books for all the kids and a LJ Fire Dept t-shirt for the birthday boy!  How awesome!!

 

Birthday boy in the truck

 

With Mommy & Cousin Addie in the gas mask :)

 

Spraying the water hose! That's Landon & the chief.  Josh didn't want to do that but the other kids did, ha!

 

Cupcakes!

Daddy & the birthday boy!

 

I want to share something on our hearts.  We have a friend that Mark worked with at Dow and I used to do room mom stuff at preschool with she & her husband (he was the room dad). They have 3 boys also - 5 yrs old, 3 yrs old and 7 months.  Sound familiar?  They are wonderful people.  She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer when the baby was just about 2-3 months old.  He was the stay-at-home dad, she worked full-time and Dow was nice enough to give her a job she could do from home between her treatments.  They eventually sold their house in LJ and moved to Dallas to be with family and get help with the boys last Fall. 

She is fighting this cancer as hard as she can but the last message the family sent out was that she doesn't have a lot of time left and they are still hoping for a miracle.  We are absolutely heartbroken for this family we know.  It could be anyone and I am just sick with the thought of those boys without their mother.  Some of her friends & colleagues at Dow have arranged a way to ensure the boys get a good future - setting up 529 plans for their college funds.  They have created a way for everyone to help, if they would like.  I normally don't put stuff like this on our website but I just have to so that you can get info, if you would like to help:
(Here's the last msg sent out:)

In life there is so much that is unfair, unjust and uncontrollable. Cancer is just one of those things. Kristin continues to fight valiantly, but she doesn't have much more time unless God grants her a miracle.

We all wish there was something we could do to ensure that miracle. But we don't have that power. What we can give is a small, small bit of peace to Kristin and her family.

Most of you know about the Cole boys,

Luke - 5 yrs old
James - 3 yrs old
and young Ethan - almost 7 months old

The goal is to gift Kristin with the knowledge that each of her boys has a $50,000 college fund that will grow to support their higher education needs. This is a big goal, but very attainable. Only 150 people donating $1,000. Only 300 people donating $500.

Jennifer Bowman has set up Custodial 529 College Funds through Fidelity for each of the Cole boys.

1. Contact Jennifer directly at jenniferbowman2012@gmail.com to write a check or transfer funds. This will save on credit card processing fees.
2. Donate online through: wepay.com https://www.wepay.com/donations/kristin-cole-no-one-fights-alone
3. Ask your friends and family to donate through the wepay.com website.

Jennifer is committed to being 100% transparent to you or any potential donor about the funds and management of the funds. If you want more details, please let her know.

Already - so many friends and colleagues have reached out and helped Kristin and Ryan. They have stepped up to get their house ready to sell and move back to be closer to family in Dallas. Thanks to everyone that has helped Kristin and her family during this unimaginable journey.

-----------
If you want to help in any way, click on the link above or email the friend setting this up.  Thanks again for taking a moment to read this and if you can't help financially - please, please take a moment right this minute to close your eyes and pray for this family.  They need comfort, peace, love and a true miracle.

***UPDATE - Kristin passed away last night.  Her family is grieving and obviously heart-broken. I can't imagine the lives of those boys - 2 of which will probably not remember their mother.  She was a kind, wonderful and smart person that will be so missed.  Please pray for the family - James (the middle boy) was in my Josh's class and our children all knew each other.  You can also help by clicking on the link above - any amount can help with these kids' futures.***

That's not even possible, really!  We have had a wonderful holiday season but it was SO fast and busy and FULL that I can't even begin to write about it all.  I'll finish our Christmas scrapbook and post it for you to look through, that will be the breakdown.

But it's been wonderful.  Some of the best things about this season is that Landon has really 'gotten it' as far as what it's about.  Of course he's a kid and wants presents and talks about Santa a lot.  But he has really talked about Jesus being born and who all was there and has asked a lot of questions about it all.  This was the first year Josh got the whole Santa deal AND Jesus' birthday.  He talked ALL the time about it all.  We also did a new thing this year as a family that was really cool.  I wrapped up all our Christmas books and put them under the tree.  Every night, Josh & Landon alternated who could open a book (they loved opening presents everyday!)  And we would read one of the stories.  Most of them were stories about Jesus, but of course some about Santa, reindeer, and other silly, fun stuff.  Nothing wrong with that!!  But it did help to focus them a bit.  We told them what "Advent" means and talked about it throughout the season - it means we're waiting!  We're excited and waiting!  They definitely got that concept since they have been waiting for Santa to come.  But we helped them to get that Advent is waiting for Jesus' birthday and waiting for him to be born.  They liked that.

We also decided to let the older 2 buy each other something for Christmas for $5.  We took them shopping separately and let them pick - focusing on things they thought the other would really like - not just something random.  They really, really liked doing this.  They also bought something for Nathan.  Then we wrapped it up with them and it was our secret - which they did GREAT with and never told (we were shocked!).  But, my very favorite Christmas day moment was when it was time to open presents as a family, out of all the boxes under the tree, Landon went straight for the small package from Josh.  He opened it - it was a small iron-man doll (definitely a thoughtful gift since he LOVES superheroes!).  He said "I LOVE IT. THANKS JOSHY" and gave him a HUGE hug.  Josh was so excited so he ran and opened his up from Landon.  It was a small race car - also a thoughtful gift!  And round two - hugs.  It was pretty sweet considering it was genuine and not at all provoked.  You have to cherish the little glimpses of sweetness in big days & holidays because you don't always see the best side of people in stressful situations and holidays (as wonderful as they are), do bring stress - to adults and to kids, too.

Anyway, check out ALL the pictures in our December album (including many of our 3rd little baby's 1st Christmas.  What a perfect gift he is this Christmas for us!!!).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
 

Landon LOVES superheroes.  He has been into them for well over a year now.  Batman has been the favorite - still is.  Close behind are Captain America & Spiderman.  I asked him what he wanted his party to be about and he said superheroes.  So off I went.

He really really wanted it at a bounce house place here in town but we wanted to keep it less expensive and have options for the kids that don't like bounce houses (afterall, Landon himself had a big fear of them for the first 4 years of his life) and for the younger kiddos.  So we figured out a way to accomplish it all.  We rented a bounce house (I knew all the good deals in town from my work at the church so we got a really good deal!) for the backyard, I made the cake & cupcakes and decorated and made stuff and decorated the place up.  It was a lot of fun!!

But, the actual day of his birthday he woke up, walked into the living room and saw his new bike!  He was so excited so we rode it to school (down the street) while I pushed the other 2 in the stroller behind him on the sidewalk.  His little party at school was during snacktime so I went back up for that.  I love his school - they made him feel so special and important (which they all are!! Birthdays are a big stinkin' deal...thanking God for the day a person is born and celebrating their life - super important!).  
Here are some pics from the party... (way more in the folder below along with pics from his actual birthday, many of the kiddos at the party & his class at school)







We had this plastic tablecloth cover stapled to a piece of plywood propped up in the backyard for the kids to take pics with - I put a bunch of our capes & masks in there to pose - several of the kids did it - I didn't get a pic of all of them but I got several - I didn't want to post them all here without permission but it was super cute!




We also had a "make your own superhero mask" station that was quite popular - I ran out of the 2 dozen paper masks that I had because the kids liked it a lot more than I thought!!  But I was glad they loved it.

Our little Nathan bear is already 6 months old. We are closer to 1 yr than birth now. I can't believe he is already 6 months old...seriously has flown by. It's kinda sad to watch as he is no longer a newborn but also with each day he develops more independence, and so do the others...so having 3 little ones under 5 gets easier each day because of that independence, but we are so grateful for each of them & love that they will be so close because of their ages!

6 months old: 18 lbs, 10 oz. 27.5" long. Yep, he's a Standlee boy. He's in 50-75th percentile for weight & 95th percentile for height.  (All 3 boys are in 75th percentile or higher for height)

At this age he is: sitting up by himself for long periods of time, rolling over both ways (but usually tummy to back the most). Nursing 5-6 times a day. Sleeping from 7:30 pm - 6:30/7:00 am with one dream feed at 10 pm. He takes 2 naps - usually ranging from 45 min to 2 1/2 hrs (usually in the afternoon). He sometimes takes a evening catnap for 30 min around 5 or so. He likes the jumperoo & exercauser but LOVES being outside or in the stroller. He does fairly well in the car unless he's overly-exhausted then he lets us all know it! But he's pretty even-tempered for the most part.

He started solids this weekend, also. He loved oatmeal! He actually got a little bit in there, too. Every time I stopped to even wipe his mouth with the bib, he'd cry. He was pretty excited about it all. We are just feeding him a bowl at dinner time. We'll move on to feeding it at breakfast/lunch, as well then adding a veggie at night & eventually a fruit in the morning. That's how we've done it with the other 2.

Here's some pics of our youngest. He's just such a dumpling. I've said this before but we are just so in love with him. Before kids, that sounds funny but then once you have them, you understand that incredible deep devotion & love you have and it's hard to describe. Each child feels that way and we love Nathanael deeply!

I love the fall.  Especially with kids.  Just so much fun - crazy busy, but fun.
We've done a lot of things on the weekend and enjoyed all the time as a family.

Halloween isn't even a holiday I tend to enjoy - I don't like the scary, spooky stuff and it's not really kid-friendly.  But I like kids to enjoy the fun of it so I try to make it fun without the scary stuff or make it "silly" instead of scary.  We did have a great time though.

The kids' new preschool doesn't celebrate Halloween so I had a Halloween lunch for them when they got home Wednesday.  Complete with Casper the friendly ghost juice box, cheese sticks, bananas & pumpkin oranges & silly mummy weinies.  

After nap, we played and ate dinner quickly after Daddy got home and headed over to Carriage Inn where the boys' great-grandparents live.  They always go trick-or-treat there and they get a kick out of seeing each other.  Then we went to a neighborhood nearby with their grandparents and had fun.  They really all did well.  This was in part because of the long, long nap that Nathan got that afternoon (praise God! and thank you Max & Ruby Pumpkin DVD that the boys watched in our room so he could nap well).

The annual trip over to the local Pumpkin Patch was loads of fun. I thought carting 3 of them around would be really difficult but you know, each day Landon & Joshua get older and better at following directions and I can trust them more. Mark & I both were there since it was a Saturday and we barely got any of Landon & Josh on their own - they are such buddies, it's hard to separate them at times.

So, here you go!

Happy 5 months old, sweet Nathanael!

Okay so I had every intention of posting all of these wonderful things separately but you know...between 3 little boys under the age of 5, I haven't had the time! :)

In all honesty, we really thought this summer would be extremely difficult -starting the summer with a newborn on top of 2 active boys wanting/needing lots of ways of getting their energy out!  But I was on maternity leave in May/June.  I went back to work for just 2 1/2 weeks to get them through the busiest time of the year with VBS and then I am officially off.  So, we've had a lot of fun - yes, it's been busy, sometimes near losing my sanity.  But really, this summer has been great and wayy better than I imagined it would be.  Landon & Joshua have really adjusted well and Nathan is easy-going so he goes with the flow.  I've learned to just take him along for things - bouncer in the kitchen for art activities unless he's napping.  Outside in the shade if we are out there...but we just can't stay out a long time with a small baby.  The boys get upset and yet they get so hot (it's August right now so really, 30 minutes outside in the morning and 30-45 in the evening is about all we can do if we aren't in a pool or sprinkler!!).

So, here's some collages that give you an idea of what we've been up to! :)

As most of you know, I have been working at our church for the past 6 years as the Children's Director.  I have loved it and feel a strong calling toward ministry with children, young adults & families.  But God really placed on my heart & Mark's heart this year to take a break for a little bit.  We have no idea how long that will be - 6 months, 1 year, 5 years. Who knows - only God!  But it's been a great ride with a lot of experience and fun & challenging times.  That's just the way ministry is - working with people!

What I have been up to for 6 years - over our Nursery & Supervisor (ages birth-4 yrs), Sunday school program (2 yrs - 6th grade), Confirmation program (for 4 years), Submerge (5-6 grade ministry program for 4 years), Vacation Bible School (avg 160-170 kids each year, 100 volunteers), Children's Church, Children's sermons, some family events, Mom's bible studies, some day camps, some special events, etc. 

I have had an excellent schedule - working part-time from home so I've already been a stay-at-home mom...working while my boys are at preschool in the same hallway & working at home during naps, etc. 

It's been great but it'll be nice to not have to balance anymore.  I will also enjoy doing my own projects during naptimes or after the boys go to bed at night, instead of phonecalls and emails.  But I will for sure miss the ministry and the kids.  God has been good to us to give us such a great opportunity!

If you want to see more of what I used to do...you can check out the children's ministry picture site that I set up a few years ago: firstchurchkids.smugmug.com & if you want the password - leave me a comment - I don't want to post it openly.

You can also look at the top of this page and go to the "VIDEO" link and check out the slideshow from VBS this year!  It was great - 170 kids, 100 youth/adults helping!  That was about 70 preschoolers, 100 elementary kids.  Turn your volume up!!

We were planning to have our friends, the Walkers, over for the 4th.  But our older boys got runny noses this week and they have a 1 month old so we all decided to play it safe.  Because of that, I didn't want my boys playing in a pool or sprinkler or at the beach.  I racked my brain for something fun for us to do around here - I mean, really, what is there to do in South Texas in the summer that doesn't involve swimming or water play?!  

 

So I went to my Pinterest boards to see what fun activities I had pinned for the summertime.  And wa-la!  I found one to try!

So here are my boys in their 4th of July cute garb (I LOVE dressing my boys).  

 

 

  

So I made a 'river' out of aluminum foil down the hill in our backyard.  Basically you just fold the foil and put a water hose in it...simple fun for little boys.  They really really liked it.  They tried everything to go down that hose - boats, rubber duckies, cars (didn't work), baseball bats (um not so much) and sticks & grass.  The sticks & grass worked best, then they made a 'lake' in one area.  Great entertainment!!

Mr. 'Captain Adorable' is 2 months old!

We're so in love with this little guy.

Going to the doctor this week to see how much he weighs & all his stats.

 

***UPDATE***

Nathanael weighs 13 lbs, 10 oz.  He measures at 24" long, which makes him in the 90th percentile for weight & 75th for height. 

My best guess is that I'll be 45 and all 3 of my boys will be taller than me!

He got his immunizations (7 of them: 1 oral, 3 shots). He did cry (I'll never ever enjoy that) and has been a bit sore tonight but is taking it like a champ and doing well!

He's been smiling & cooing at me this evening. :)

 Considering he is so chunky, my guess is he is off the charts!

Glad he is a healthy little guy!!

Here's our 3rd cutie and his first smiles (caught on camera) - it's so hard to catch them since they are fleeting for a week or two.  But now they are very often! :)

One of my favorite college kids (that was in youth group when I used to help with it, oh 7 years ago!) emailed me to say she was home for the summer if I needed help with the boys.  They LOVE her and so I jumped at the opportunity.  For the month of June, I hired her for Wednesday mornings for 2 hours to watch Nathan.  Since he is so little, I knew I wouldn't be able to take all 3 of them out to do things a whole lot in June so I thought this would be a good way to spend some quality time doing fun stuff outside the house with them.

 

So, here's some pics (from my phone) of what we did.  Every week included a Target trip because (1) I needed to go (2) they loved checking out the lego aisle that had some legos set up to look at.

 

Week 1: Target & The Library

 

 

Week 2: Target & the local Natural Science Museum

 

Week 3: Target & Sea Center (local aquarium) - no pics :/ Ran into a friend there with her son that is Josh's age and we were busy chatting in between the fish tanks.  Boys loved it, as always!

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SO glad I was able to do this with my boys.  It was fun for all of us and suddenly seemed so easy to just take 2 out and about!!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  I am blessed to have a wonderful father that taught me so much...and one thing he taught me is what I wanted in a mate and a father for my own children!  Mark is all that I could want and more!  

 

Mark is such a great daddy who loves his family, sacrifices for us, protects & provides for us.  He is hands-on and wrestles, teaches & laughs with our boys. He works so hard, is so good at what he does, never brags about what a great achiever he is at work.  He teaches Sunday school, a mid-week bible study, and helps me in my own job at the church.  He wants to show his children what it means to have good work ethic, strong values and the right priorities.  That being said, he puts his family first - and we appreciate him so much!!!

 

Daddies don't get enough credit for all they do!!

 

 

 

 

Last weekend, Mark & I had a lot of work we needed to do in the yard (it had been neglected for 6-8 weeks!). It wasn't as hot as it had been the week before, we had a little breeze...so we took the boys outside after nap. I put Nathan on a blanket in the shade and he liked that for a bit but he really likes to be able to look around (and actually prefers tummy time to back time - opposite of the other 2 at this age!). So I brought the bouncer outside, set him in the shade with a hat and he loved it. I think the fresh air did him some good!

Landon & Josh loved running around in the yard - we have an awesome hill they love to run up & down. Daddy was cutting down some brush so they helped him carry it to the trailer and they played on the playset, with sticks, etc. But after running for so long, they were pretty sweaty so we fired up the sprinkler and off they went!

Our Nathanael William is one month old!  Time is already flying.  

It's like they say "the days are long but the years are short"  

One of the truest statements in parenting!!

 Nathan is doing great, he is very easy-going.  My mom says I was a 'carpool baby' because I was in the car all the time picking my brothers up.  I learned to nap on the go and slept great at night, too.  I hear 3rd babies are many times easy-going and go-with-the-flow people.  We're hoping! :)

He is sooo interested in big brothers - he stares right in their eyes when they come near him.  Landon loves to sing "Rockabye baby" (his own version, not the creepy one) and kisses him, tries to get him to kiss him and reads to him.  Even when I'm in the shower and Nathan is in the bouncer in the bathroom, Landon wants to be on the floor next to him "keeping an eye on baby nathan".

Joshua loves him, too - always naming his body parts and pointing at them (especially eyes - watch the poking!!).  He gives kisses all the time and they are wide, open kisses leaving his little hair wet.  So sweet.  He also likes to just sit and hold his hand when he is laying on a blanket.

 

Nathan is a chunky monkey!!

At his one month appt, he weighed 11 lbs, 9 oz!! (Gain of 3 lbs in 3 weeks!!) 

and 23" long (3 inch gain in 3 weeks!!)

That's my boy!

He eats 7 times a day and is on a 3 hour schedule.  He does go 1 four hour stretch at night, which is wonderful...can't wait for the night he goes the long haul!  Since he's growing fast, hoping that comes earlier than later! :)

 

We love our little guy and he's just such a cutie and sweetie.  We are so grateful for him!!

I added the professional pics of Nathan that were taken at the hospital into the Birth/Hospital folder below...be sure to check out our little cutie in there!

And most of you know that I continue to add pictures to the current month folder so May is FULL and yet I still need to add Memorial Day weekend, so that will happen in the next few days!

We are celebrating 8 years of marriage today!  What a beautiful road it has been so far.  8 years ago, we married the person God intended us to spend our lives with and now, we are raising 3 beautiful boys together.  What a blessed life we have!

Our 3rd musketeer was born on Thursday, May 3rd at 8:51 am.  He weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz and was 20 inches long.  He came into the world screaming, ready to hold his own with his big brothers! 

Mommy got to hold him soon after delivery (by c-section).  By noon, we were in our room with our little guy nearby.  He has done GREAT!  He's been a real champ at sleeping & eating.  He's just a little angel - so sweet, pretty easy-going and quiet - so far!  The real test is when you bring 'em home! 

He has had some great visitors - both sets of grandparents, some cousins, aunts & uncles, our pastor and of course his brothers have come a couple of times.

We feel so blessed and couldn't ask for a better fit for our family!!

Make sure to check out all the nursery pics & pics from the hospital below!

Well, since Mommy is now on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy (thankfully only one week at most), I will update this site a bit.  I'm having to find things to do while sitting still with my feet up. 

We finished Baby N's room last week - so glad we did!  It's looking cute and ready for a baby!  We also rented the rug doctor and Mark cleaned the carpets and furniture - they are looking great and feels good to have it clean.  We even got the house professionally cleaned (especially since I was sick for 2 1/2 weeks with a sinus infection - wanted to really get the germs out).  Mark finished the 1/2 bath project of remodeling it...So, at least we did all that prior to going on bedrest! 

Bedrest: major swelling & elevated blood pressure.  Those are the reasons.  I'm doing fine, the doctor did some bloodwork and she said "the treatment is bedrest, the cure is delivery" so here I am.  If she was really worried, she'd take the baby now but she feels that I'm okay so we just have to go back again in on Monday to the doctor.  Mark is able to work from home with his job, thank goodness, and our parents have been sweet to step in and help.  The boys are doing fabulous with this adjustment of Mommy having to stay down - I'm just staying down in the living room where they can be around me as much as possible.

So for the fun part, if you want to see some nursery pictures, go to our Baby#3 folder.  And you should check out April, while you're at it because we took the boys to the beach last weekend for some time together as a family of 4!

Many people comment on how close of friends Landon & Joshua are.  That makes us so happy!  Mark & I feel it is important to make that a priority, as their parents, to make them play with each other and learn how to get along.  And just 2 years in, they really do love each other.

So when they go to Stay & Play at school and have tons of others they can play with in the fellowship hall but choose to play with each other...

And the teachers send me a picture of them from their phone...it makes me smile!

We had a great Spring Break. We did start the week by doing some major home projects but I don't have any pictures - we had the house repiped (since we have a home built in 1973 and it was all galvanized piping). Mark was here for the workers and I took the boys up to my parents' house for the long day in Stafford. So our pictures start with Monday. Thursday I got no pictures - my parents came down for the day to help Mark patch up the 8 holes in the walls they had to make (not very big, but still) and Mom & I played with the boys and kept them out of trouble!  And Wednesday night my inlaws were sweet enough to play with the boys so we could go out for an interrupted dinner at Chuy's in Houston. Yum!  We also bought curtains for L's room and the baby's room!

We got a lot of our projects done around the house, too. That's for another blog! :)

Monday - donut holes for breakfast. play at home all day!

 

Monday night: Wrestle Mania when Daddy gets home from work!

 

Tuesday - cousins come over to play!

 

Wednesday: Sea Center then the Library

 

Landon LOVES anything aquatic/fish related right now. Lots of fun.

 

Josh just likes to run and splash in water & play. Also right up his alley!

Friday: Picking strawberries at Froberg's in Alvin

 

Josh is loving this!

 

Despite the tongue, he really loved picking them and showing us which ones were ready to be picked!

 

Landon's bucket was quite heavy but neither refused to let us help carry them for the 1/2 mile walk back to our car!   *For more pictures, check out the March folder!*

Well, we are less than 8 weeks away from our little guy's arrival and we can't wait!  He is quite the mover and definitely running out of room in Mommy's tummy!  It is said that at this point, the baby is gaining 1/2 lb a week and fattening up at this point! 

 

Landon asks often what color his hair will be.  Since Landon had reddish hair when he was born and Joshua had dark brown/black hair when he was born and they are both just blonde-headed as they can be now, WHO KNOWS! :)

 

We have been working hard to get his room ready for him!  We are basically eliminating our guestroom for now.  The bedframe is being stored for now, probably to be pulled out in a few years and the dresser went to Joshua's room.  We are keeping Joshy in his crib, just as we did with Landon at this age.  We had a great experience keeping Landon in his crib until he was good & ready to get out.  Josh hasn't showed any signs of needing to get out yet so we're keeping him there.  We have 2 cribs so that's not a problem. 

 

Mark painted the room gray (with a little help from Landon) and we moved the infant crib into his room and the changing table in there.  We will put the glider in his room soon, too.  Basically the quilt is a plaid of navy blue, yellow, red, orange and is really cute & colorful.  I'm pulling colors out of the quilt to decorate and putting a few airplanes around the room.  I'm hanging some from the ceiling (at least that's the plan) and a few on the shelves.  We still have the rest of the bedding to get - sheets, bumper, crib skirt...but we'll get to that soon.

 

I've been updating the playroom some to make room for baby stuff and to just change it up a bit.  Mark has painted an accent wall (matching the paint proved to be impossible since the old owners had a professional paint the room & the paint store didn't keep a record of the paint)...and I'm working on some canvases for the wall and painting a couple of stripes.  Hopefully it all comes out cute!

So there you go!  That's what we have been up to!!  (not to mention getting the house exterminated before a baby comes - meaning I have to be gone for 24 hrs...AND getting the whole house repiped - YES, we've been busy!)

 

Check out the baby #3 folder for some pics of our work! 

I've made some updates to the site to clean things up a bit!  You'll notice at the top - there's new tabs/pages - Scrapbooks show our digital scrapbooks (although I need to add the newest ones) and Pictures shows all our recent & older picture albums - that way you can peruse when you want!  I also moved the videos to a new page, as well!

 

Leave us a comment on any pics & videos - just log-in and you can download pics that way (they will print/save better if you login and download - not just 'save as'.  We'd love to hear from you!

Sadly, I just got around to getting both boys into their dr appts! Landon turned 4 at the end of November but the doctor was full in the first part of December & we were so busy and then January seemed to fly by so mid-Jan, I just decided to go ahead and make both appts in the same week in early Feb.

JOSHUA
I took Joshy on Monday. I thought he would have to get shots but he was all caught up (thankfully). He is normally so fine going into places he doesn't know but he really gets pretty anxious at the doctor's office - he's fine in the waiting room, loves sitting in my lap (I always bring small books in my purse to read to him so he doesn't touch the stuff sitting around - I know, the sick germs just get to me). But he gets into that room and starts screaming about just getting measured & weighed. Every. Time. Our doctor is so wonderful and when he came in, he noticed his nerves quickly so he just slowly walked over to him as he had talked to me for a while asking questions. Joshy was quivering his lip the whole time but stayed strong and didn't cry. At the end, Dr. B said "well buddy, you did great - you are a nervous wreck, but you did great". Ha.

 
My boys are built SO differently and always have been - weighing almost 2 lbs difference at birth!!
- Joshua is tall & skinny - he is 35 1/2" tall (75th percentile) and 28 lbs (50th percentile). Dr B said he looked great and he has all 20 teeth! (Yay done with those 2 yr molars!) He is saying more and more each day!
- He is super attached to Mommy right now (I think he knows what's coming!). He's quite the jealous type so things should get interesting come early May :)
- He is going through a 2 yr fearful stage (ie doctor) - scared of loud trucks, scared of clowns or anything dressed up. He immediately screams and runs to the door pointing and saying "out". Poor guy - Landon went through the same thing at 2.
- We love our sweetie pie - he gives the best hugs and his little toddle run is about the cutest thing ever.

LANDON
I took Landon on Wednesday. I knew he'd get 3 shots so I made the time in the late afternoon when Mark could leave a little early to come home with Joshy (so he wouldn't have to endure the office 2 times in one week & watching big bro get shots). I told Landon he was going to the dr and he said "is he going to give me a shot?" I told him yes and that if he was very brave we would go get him a happy meal for dinner.

I was so proud of him. He was super excited about going - he loves our doctor, in fact he asks to invite Dr B to his bday party every year. So sweet. They checked his eyes & ears - doing an eyesight check for the first time and he did great (I'm sure that will fade over time, as Daddy & Mommy don't have good vision). He jumped, hopped, spelled his name for him, showed him his colors, etc. He was so proud of himself. It was pretty cute.
He is doing great, also! He is still in the top percentiles - 42 1/2" tall (90th percentile), 44 lbs (95th percentile). He's always been in those percentiles and is the tallest in his preschool class. He used to be a chunk when he was a baby and toddler and now he is so slender but he's thick - if you pick him up, he's heavy!! But his little boy body is just so thin. He wears 5T or 5/6 small shirts and 4T pants on the tightest setting - he needs the length for 4T but is so skinny, they almost fall right off him!
When shot time came, he was still feeling good & brave but as soon as he got the first one, he cried out and it went by fast. By the 3rd one, he yelled "stop stop stop that hurts". :( Poor guy. She was done. He kept saying he didn't like that very much. So I got him a Happy Meal and we went home. Of course, he milked it all night....my dramatic child. "I never going to feel better. ever. again." Minutes later, he was running across the house in his underwear. Ha.

So glad both boys are so healthy & we are done with shots for two years (at least for these 2!) :)

We celebrated Joshua's birthday with a small party at our house. Mainly just family, a few friends. He's 2, afterall and we didn't want to overwhelm him - he did get quite overwhelmed as I decorated but once people started arriving, he loved the attention & that everyone was there for him!!

The party invitations I made

The cupcakes up close - turned out so cute.

I know every mom feels this way, but how did my baby get to be 2 so fast?!

Last weekend we took the boys out to Brazos Bend State Park (about 30 minutes away). It's known for the large amounts of alligators. We were looking forward to just having a place for the boys to run around and get fresh air. Ever since we went to Colorado, we have discovered that playing in the backyard or at a park is fun and they love it but they REALLY love just flat out nature.

They had a baby alligator inside the station to pet. Landon was so excited and pet it immediately. Joshy was holding my legs at the time I took this picture. He had no interest. And then, all of a sudden he just marched over there, touched the alligator and ran back. The lady in the picture laughed and said "How about your brother?" and Landon giggled and Joshy (loving attention) did it AGAIN. But he was so fast, I didn't snap a picture. He smiled at the whole thing and we looked around some more.

We had a wonderful Christmas - hope you did, too!!

There's TONS of pictures in the Christmas Eve/Christmas Day album, but I added a few more to December, too!

 

We couldn't be more thrilled that we are having a 3rd little boy!!!

We had Landon's 4th Safari Party this weekend! Can't believe my big boy is 4!!!

Our firstborn son, Landon Henry, is 4 today! Well, he is 4 years old at 10:27 am. He made quite the entrance into the world this day 4 years ago - Mark & I were remembering yesterday all of it. Eating at Bryan's BBQ on the night of Nov 28, I had been having contractions off & on all day on that Wednesday so I just ate a baked potato and then we headed home. I woke up around 1 am and woke Mark up and we headed to the hospital.

When we got there around 2 or 3 am (after showering, getting dressed - I wasn't having heavy contractions but they were close enough to go), I was already at 5 cm. Things went relatively fast all morning. My parents were there for a while and around 9 or so, things started to get a little panicky. Landon didn't do well with the pitocin - heartbeat was dropping, so they took me off of it...but at some point I developed a fever and his heartbeat continued to be inconsistent. I'll never forget listening to that monitor and the inconsistency and the fear Mark & I felt. At this point, Iwas at 10 cm but with his inconsistency and obvious fetal distress, it was recommended we get him out quickly and with the least amount of stress so off to the emergency room we went! I was very fearful of having a c-section and it was a strange experience and scary. I'm sure every birth story is, for the most part!

But when he came, he was beautiful.

He was a big boy! 9 lbs, 6 oz, 21 inches long.

After holding him, they had to take him to the NICU because of my fever. So for 18 hours, I couldn't hold him or be near him. :( Mark went down there often and took pictures.
I had a sweet angel of a nurse overnight that night and she woke me up around 3 am and whispered, "do you want to hold your baby" and just like any mother would, I said "YES". It took a good 2-3 hours to actually get me out of bed (extreme pain) and get ready & in the wheelchair to head down to the NICU. But holding him again was all worth it. He had to stay in the NICU for 48 hours and regularly, I asked to go see him so Mark & the nurses would get me all ready to go again to head down there and see him.

We had several visitors come see our perfect baby - they were unable to see him until the 3rd day but it was wonderful of them to come! Finally we took him home on December 2nd and we began our lives with our little boy.

{Landon at 1 year old}

{Landon at his 1st birthday}

The world is a safer place with these 2 adorable superheros!

Joshy in his parade at preschool - he was such a champ - loved it! No problem wearing a mask for this little guy - most kids his age would hate it - he loved it and posed for pics constantly. Ha! He has such a fun personality!

We've been busy the last few weekends! Once the weather cooled down a bit it's been fairly nice (although we're anxiously waiting for the next cool-down this weekend).

We took the boys to the county fair. We didn't do rides - they are still small - plenty of years for that and it's expensive! But they loved the petting zoo & the tractors you could sit on and ride. Landon rode the carousel and we had some yummy funnel cake!

{Some chicks hatching as we were there}

I've added some new pictures to September to finish off the month so don't miss those!  There's several from cousin Addie's birthday party last weekend.  And we started October out with Community Helpers at Preschool so there's a pic from each day of that.

Daddy is outside building stick houses with the boys in the dirt right now but it's almost snacktime so I better get it ready for my little builders!

 

Happy Saturday!

My little boys started Preschool back this last week! Landon is in the 3s class this year and Joshua is in the Tots class. They have done great - I sign them up for 5 days (because of my large discount with the church) but only take them 3 days. I do the 5 day for flexibility with my schedule. The boys go from 9-12 and love it. They were both pretty exhausted when they got home this week and both took 2 hour naps most days.

{Joshua's class}

{Yes I'm the crazy Mom that takes pics of the bulletin board with my child's name on it!}

Landon's class

SO excited for his first day! This is the first time for Landon that he went in with no tears! His teachers are wonderful and everyday when they come in, there's a chalkboard giving us instructions of what we are to do - take them to help them identify their name on their chair, put their backpack up, start coloring - on Fridays they get to do playdough.

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There's tons more pics in the 1st day folder below! :)

Whew. Summer is over. Well, it's not for the boys yet - we have 2 weeks before preschool starts back up and they are both ready! This is Joshua's first year - in the Tots class (18 mth). And Landon will be in the 3s class this year. I'm so excited for their new year & they are, too!! My summer is over officially since yesterday was Promotion Sunday. As Children's director, that's a big, big day! And it marks the end of my busiest season of the year. Whew. It was a great summer, perhaps the best one yet in my 5 years in this job. But I'm tired!!
We had Back to School blessings in both services that I was in charge of, Children's Church and during Sunday school I had an Open House for parents kicking off a new ministry program to tell them about, relays & sno cone truck for grades K-5 and activities & ice cream for Preschool. Whew!

Nothing like a good popsicle on a stinkin' HOT day!



There goes that stinker trying to climb up the water slide...quickly after this pic was snapped, he fell down - no tears, just got right back up and tried again. I am trying to discourage this but he is a kid that has to find out the hard way.

The last week in June before our vacation, Landon took swimming lessons from Ms Carol in Columbia Lakes.  She was AWESOME.  He loved her and he did great! The pictures are in the June folder.  She encouraged pictures & to print them out each day so that he could see himself and remember what he was learning!

On Saturday, June 25 - we headed to Kerrville for the Schwartz-Schrieber Reunion (Mark's family on both sides).  We had a great time - paddle boating (briefly), swimming, running around, seeing family & enjoying ourselves!

We left on Sunday, June 26 to head for Estes Park Colorado and stayed for a week.  We had a great time - we did many hikes/walks each day - mainly picked for places the boys could run, throw rocks, see animals & the gorgeous views! We got back on Sunday, July 3rd! :)  We had an awesome time and the boys did so well being away from home! 

Not much time to write these days - we're having a busy, but good summer!

I did just add pictures for June.  We leave Saturday for our vacation - first stop - Family Reunion in Kerrville, then on to Estes Park Colorado for a week!  We can't wait and we'll have tons to write about and pictures to post when we get back!

 

My 15 month old has beautiful blonde hair. It has waves and TONS of little ringlets in the back. LOVE it. But the time had come...it was looking more scraggly and I was having to wet it down to get it out of his face and it was looking a bit greasy by the afternoon.


So, I decided it was time to cut it.
Here's Joshy beforehand. He was completely unaware of the torture that was to come.
A bit dramatic? Yes, yes he is. He flipped out everytime I touched his head. It actually got funny. I tried snacks (see the goldfish in his mouth?). I tried water on his tray (he loves water), I tried cars, and of course I had big brother right there trying to entertain, as well. Nothing helped. Just screaming, hitting, flailing his arms, bawling, wailing...you get the picture? Yeah, it was that bad. Good thing I could kind of laugh about it.

GREAT Mother's Day!

This is what it is all about. Right here. My boys. Being sweet and loving on each other. They are just so wonderful.

The boys (Mark) got me some beautiful tulips on Sunday. LOVE them. They are still beautiful after a few days, too. I love flowers but I'm all about the grocery store flowers. (Notice my pretty pink rose in the vase?)

That's the first thing Landon says when he wakes up in the morning. He goes out and checks them with Mommy and then if Daddy is home at lunch, he goes again and every night, he & Daddy check the cucumbers, bell peppers & tomato plants. The cucumbers are great because about every other day, there's another to pick. We are storing them in the fridge so we can pickle them and can them. Yum!

Here's my little planter:

He LOVES this!

I finally finished & had Joshua's 1 year book printed.  It hasn't been printed or mailed yet but you can see it online by going to the bottom of this page and clicking through!

Now I better get started on Landon's 2011 book (we are already almost half-way through!!)

{My sweet, sweet Easter boys}
I wanted Joshy to wear the outfit Landon wore when he was 16 months at Easter (2009)...it was an adorable seersucker jon-jon with a sailboat. I found it locally back at that time. Anyway, I like my boys to match for dress-up events (how long can I really do that anyway?!)...so I was so excited to find blue/white seersucker shorts from Old Navy with a white belt & a white shirt with some design to it for Landon to wear. Woohoo!

They looked so cute, I just couldn't get enough of it!

But...
Just so you know...
they don't always sit still for pictures.

Here are some of the out-takes. Landon decided to try out some different feels to his lips (about5-8 pics worth), Joshua tried to jump down, chewed on the chair and well, you get the point.

Then...I love some good flashbacks. Here is last year - 2010. Adorable.

At Landon's preschool, on the last day before Easter, they have an Easter bonnet parade, party & egg hunt. With the parade, the kids all make a hat to wear. So, I pulled out Landon's cowboy hat & a baseball cap and asked which one he wanted to decorate. Um no. He wanted his mailman hat. I kept trying to insist one of the others because that one would be so difficult & hard to keep on his head but that's what he wanted. And at the end of the day, its HIS parade and hat so I obliged. He picked the eggs he wanted to decorate so we got started.

I love Holy Week. The journey to the cross with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Egg Hunts & Easter Sunday all feel very significant and thought-provoking for me. But it's even better with children. Landon has been learning in Sunday school about Palm Sunday and we've been reading the Easter story in his Bible and some Easter books lately, too. So, he understands it to a point (in the 3 year old appropriateness of the whole thing).
Last week, we had "Children's Sunday" and here's Landon and some of his Preschool Sunday school class about to go into the Sanctuary to sing. SO sweet. Landon was super excited.

The last few Sundays, he has been really excited about the Sunday school lesson. One day I picked him up and he had made a megaphone and he said "Hi, my name is Landon. I want to tell you about Jesus" (into the megaphone). All the kids said it as they were picked up. Yay kids! Then last week he said "Hosanna, Hosanna!" since he made his own palm branch.
This week, he got to walk down the aisle waving the palms. I'm in charge of the whole thing so I had to get him to walk with a friend of mine and her kids so that he wasn't too connected to me walking with him. He did great! He was very proud and said "Hosanna, Hosanna!" I'll post more pictures of him waving his palm down the aisle once I get the pics from my friend. Proud of my sweet boys!

Two of my good friends came to visit this last week.  Nancy is an old friend that grew up in youth group with me since middle school!  She was a missionary in Ecuador for 2 years, home in the US for 1-2 years then to Sweden and married her husband (who is Swede) and lived there for 3 years (?) before moving back to the US this year with her hubby!  I had not gotten to see her since her wedding 3 years ago! It was so great to see her!!  Julia & I have been friends since college and she has 3 little boys - Gabe (4 1/2), Elias (3) and baby Pace (5 mths).  We had 5 little boys under 5 over here and they played so well together!  We were quite impressed with them all.  It was a lot of fun!

To see some pictures, check out the March folder!

Landon isn't perfect and he is a normal little boy that gets into things, pushes boundaries, throws fits and wants his way. But that being said, he really is a sweet, thoughtful child.

Anyway, we did this at breakfast, lunch & dinner. Wasteful. Not only that, but he was just not following directions much of the day.

He's a good boy - just testing the waters today.

I added our Christmas 2010 Scrapbook to the bottom section with our photobooks.  Enjoy!

 

This weekend I'll be going on an all-day scrapbook retreat and finishing Joshy's 1 yr book.  I'm looking forward to reminiscing over his first year!

We've been loving this weather lately. Every afternoon after nap we have headed outside.

On Friday, I took my camera out too and got some shots of the boys playing.

What boy doesn't like a good dump truck?
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Joshy's new favorite thing: dumping things
{side note: I LOVED when Landon went through this stage, his favorite thing to do was run around to his room and start pulling clean diapers out of the diaper basket and throwing them around the room...then moved on to the clean clothes in the baskets - so cute}

Joshy - dumping chalk.

 love Valentine's Day - I love all holidays. I know all the arguments against it - "We should show love all year round" - my answer: of course we should! we should celebrate jesus dying for us on the cross every day too and we do but we have a special day - Easter - to remind us. Same as Valentine's - we should all year but Valentines Day reminds us to show people we love them and that they are valuable to us - not through money, but through other ways. I like to do this through doing fun valentine stuff with my kids and spending quality time with my love.

So...here's some past pictures - I love to compare each year and how they grow!

There's just something about little boys and cars...

Here are some updates I've made to the site:

- I added the last pictures for January that I took.

- I also added some pics throughout the site for Joshy's 1st birthday and some new grandparent pics with the boys

 

Every year I do a book for my boys - birthday to birthday.  I finished Landon's book last week and ordered it.  I posted a link for you to see what it will look like (down at the bottom of the page).  I don't do it through Shutterfly but through Creative Memories so that I can customize every page and every aspect of the design & pics. 

Now I'm working on finishing Joshua's for his birthday next month!

Enjoy!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with both of our families.  We spend Wednesday with Mindy's family in Stafford.  My brothers & their families were there and we had a great time altogether.  All the kids were there (7 kiddos that are 5 and under).  At one point, Landon ran into the living room and said "Where all my cousins go?"  He had a blast. 

We had Thanksgiving lunch with Mark's family in LJ on Thursday!  We had a great time there, too!  Landon loved playing outside and when he got home he said "Papaws don't cook. Grandmas cook."  LOL - he has the gender identification thing down. Joshy even ate some mashed potatoes and loved them! 

We enjoyed being with our families and being close enough to see both of them!

I added pics to the November folder & to the Thanksgiving folder.

What beautiful boys! 

Landon's class got new dress-up clothes.  And as typical of most boys, they wanted to try all of the clothes on!  So funny! 

I added a bunch of new pics in the October folder - I had forgotten to ever put these up since they fell in the middle of a lot of other stuff at the end of the month.  Anyway, really cute pictures!

Never got a chance to sit down and write about Halloween!

Highlights:

- Costume Birthday party for some dear friends (Josh & Melissa's son turned 5!)

- Trunk or Treat at Papaw & Grandma's church

- Halloween Party & Parade at Landon's school

- Fall Festival at Landon's school

- Pumpkin Carving at our church

- Halloween!

 

Busy week!!  There's tons of pictures in the Halloween folder below! :)

 

LOTS of new pictures in October folder.  I put in some from last weekend and I took the boys outside this afternoon in the beautiful weather for about 2 hours just to play and took their pictures.  Turned out cute. 

Things to look forward to: The Fair, Pumpkin Patch, Halloween, School Pictures (they took them this week), Joshua's 9 mth pics and just some general 'playing outside' in the beautiful Fall weather!

We had a great morning! Our little guys did great! Joshua was wonderful when he was held by our Pastor and even gave a huge cheesy grin for the congregation when held up for everyone to see! Sweet boy! Landon insisted on being held, also. So, Mark & I both had our hands full with our little boys.

The worship service was just so meaningful for us. The music was wonderful, our church family & friends and our family. After the service, we took pictures and went home for a party! We had fajitas for everyone and cake & ice-cream. The kids played and the adults were entertained by them and enjoyed conversation. Joshy was our little guest of honor and refused to take a nap until everyone was gone!


Our sweet Joshua Allen

Our family of 4!

Our sweet Joshua is 8 months old today!
What a little joy he is!

He just cuter, snugglier, funnier and bigger each day! He's growing so fast and I can't believe we are already at 8 months!


Joshua is so spunky. He is scooting around quite a bit. He is really wanting to get moving, I think it'll happen soon. We had to change his schedule around this month but we found one that is working better for everyone. He sleeps from 7:30 pm until 6 am. He takes 3 naps - 2 - 45 min naps in the morning and 1 - 1 1/2 hr nap in the afternoon. He eats 5 times a day. He LOVES cereal but really doesn't like any vegetable other than Sweet Potatoes. We make him eat them anyway but it just takes a long time! He likes bananas, apples & blueberries but not much for the others.

He still just loves to watch his brother, he'll bust into laughter watching Landon run around. He loves to play with ropes, strings, books, blocks. He chews like he's a mouse - we have tons of books with no corner on them now since he'll get a hold of them and gnaw them down until we catch him! Rascal! He loves to be outside. And he LOVES going on stroller rides with brother & Mommy.

All in all, he has a great disposition - he's very happy and sweet. He loves hugs & kisses and likes to give them back, too! He's just so sweet, our family is so much more complete with him a part of it!

(that's for any of you out there that remember the "Friends" - Joey & Janice's DAY O'FUN!)


Lately, Landon has been saying "Hold ME Mommy" and "Sit in your lap Mommy" and things like that. So, I decided that one morning I would take Joshy to the nursery class at church and spend the morning with just me & Landon. It was great!

We started with breakfast. We sat at Shipleys and ate donuts together. He thought he was pretty big stuff. Then we went to Target to get him 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of cargo pants since when the cooler weather hit this week, we pulled out the jeans and had NO jeans in his size or even the size above. So, he wore high-water jeans from last winter.

Then, we were off to the park!

This afternoon, we were all playing in the playroom and Landon ran into the living room to get something. When he ran back to the playroom, Joshua started laughing hysterical. So I told Landon to do it again and grabbed my cellphone video - which is why the quality is awful!

This was just so stinkin' cute!!

 

Joshua Laughing at Landon from mindy standlee on Vimeo.

Here's an idea of what our weekdays are like!

5:00/5:30 am - Mindy wakes up with Joshy. Feeding #1 plus cereal & fruit

6:00/6:30 am - Mark leaves for work

6:30 am - Landon wakes up - if he wakes up after Mark has left, he spends a good 15 minutes crying that Daddy didn't wake him up to give him hugs & kisses. It's cute & pitiful.

7:00 am - Breakfast for Landon - waffles ("pops" is what he calls it - coming from when he as about 18 mths old), grits, cinnamon toast or muffins/bread that I baked the day before. We watch Mickey Mouse in the mornings until 8/8:30 am. During this time, Mommy takes a shower, gets dressed, gets both boys dressed, folds clothes, gets backpacks ready (if preschool is that day), etc.

8:30 am on preschool days - We get into the car at 8:30 and get to school at 8:40 for dropoff. I take both boys to their classes and head to my office to work (2 mornings a week)
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Non-preschool days

8:00 am - Take the boys jogging in the stroller

8:45 am - Joshua goes down for a nap and Landon & I go to the playroom and do art projects, color, play puzzles, etc. This is my one-on-one time with Landon and we really enjoy it! He also has a snack around 9:30 am.

10:00/10:15 am - Joshua is up & slowly wakes up in my lap. Change diaper, etc.

10:30 am - Joshua eats lunch - milk, veggie

11:00 am - Mark comes home for lunch most days. We love this! Mark & I have always tried to have lunch together since we moved to LJ 6 years ago since he works only 10 minutes away. Landon LOVES it and when he isn't coming home, he's pretty sad the entire lunch hour.
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11:40 am - Pick up the boys from preschool! Joshy is in the nursery class. Landon is in the 2s class.

12:00 noon - Mark comes home for lunch on Preschool days at noon, when he can. He has to leave by 12:45 to get back for work.

1:00 pm - Naptime for both boys. This is Mommy's quiet time. Most days, I use the first 15/20 minutes to just decompress a little & then I use the rest of the time to get work done since I work part-time at our church. On Fridays, I do what I want to do during naptime!

3:00 pm - Landon wakes up from nap. Snuggles with me for a little bit and gets a snack. Sometimes he watches a special show - Thomas the Train, Mickey Mouse, etc.

3:30 pm - Joshua wakes up from nap. Eats.

3:45 pm - We go to the playroom and play! Sometimes we go to the boys' rooms and play while Mommy puts up the laundry. And if the weather is nice, we head outside!

4:30/4:45 pm - I start on dinner. Both boys play in the playroom (off the kitchen) or they are in the kitchen playing on the floor (it is always funny to me how we congregate in there)

5:00/5:30 pm - Mark comes home & he plays with the boys while I finish dinner & we eat.

6:00 pm - Daddy playtime. Sometimes we run errands.

7:00/7:15 pm - Bathtime. We get both boys in the bathtub

7:30 pm - Bedtime. We read books, say prayers, put the boys to bed.

**We are trying to move Joshua's bedtime back to 8:00 pm so that he will sleep until 6 am since he does 10 hours overnight consistently.
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So that's what our normal days look like!! It's a great life!

I just LOVE morning PJ pictures!

 

We used to spend many Saturday mornings and weekday evenings at the park when Landon was a baby. We realized last night that we hadn't taken Joshua to swing yet. We go to the park but not the one with the swings so we went this morning! He really liked it - he loves to be outside - they both do. We played on the swings, went in & out of a vertical tunnel with Landon (the whole time I was thinking how glad I am that I'm not a 50 yr old first-time mom - no offense to those that are), we ran, we played & then we went for a walk around the walking trail.

Great morning!

Here's some pics!

Joshua ~7 months

Some of our best friends have a pool which is awesome for us! :) Anyway, they were out of town for a week and we were getting their mail/papers in so they offered for us to use their pool anytime we wanted. So, we took the boys on Saturday & Sunday last weekend!

The boys LOVED swimming and Mommy & Daddy enjoyed the nice cool break, too! :)

Now that Joshua is sitting up pretty well, we've moved him to taking a bath with his brother. It's impossible to bathe him in the infant tub since he leans forward and grabs the soap, turns off the sink & tries to chew the faucet the whole time!

As you can see, Landon LOVES having him in the tub and Daddy sits behind him to make sure he doesn't fall on the hard tub in the water!

Last May (2009), we bought an older house built in 1972 and really still was living in 1972. We moved across town and love the large backyard and the space we have. Of course, with the older house, we are transforming one room at a time. We honestly haven't had much time since exactly ONE week after we closed on the house, we found out we were expecting little Joshua!!

Mark & his dad painted Landon's room before we moved in and later in the summer painted the living room (it had very dark paneling) and Mark painted Joshua's room. I painted some small murals on the wall of the playroom and decorated the boys rooms, living rooms and kitchen. But again, that was the extent. We have a long list of things we want to do - redo flooring & countertops in kitchen, completely transform our bedroom, redo the boys' bathroom, redo the 1/2 bath, paint the utility room and that's just the projects on the inside of the house!!

Anyway, things are starting to calm down in our household so Mark finished the bar area - it had wallpaper with all these golfers on it and was just strange. So, we got the wallpaper off and repainted it. Landon woke up one morning and said "Where did all the people go?" (speaking of the golfers). Hilarous. So here's the before/after pictures. We still need to hang some stuff on the wall soon and we're going to put a working faucet in there - there's a sink & the plumbing is there but no faucet. Weird. And we'll eventually replace those countertops too.

I pulled out the paint for Landon today and he was so funny about it all.
I don't want to forget the things he was saying so I want to write them down tonight before I sleep and forget!! :)

I put the paint in the little containers for him to dip his brush in. I opened one at a time and without provoked or asked, as he was painting...he would say "I done with the yellow" and then he'd say "geen next" and every single time he wanted me to close it and then open the one he asked for. He can say all of his colors so he would ask for each one then start over and go through them all again. He's so methodical...I'm not at all like that. :)

Most of you all that view our website are family and many of our friends use Blogger to keep up with their families and can't always remember our site address.  So...I will be keeping this website as usual and updating it the most with pictures & blogs.  But I will also have the blogger for friends to keep up.  Thankfully, I only write the journal once and blogger can feed the entry to Shutterfly for me.  So for those that find blogger easier for you to use:

http://mlstandlee.blogspot.com/

So...what were our boys up to while we were gone?

Well they had a blast too - they got to:

- Play with cousins Addie & Samuel

- Play in the sandbox outside

- Play in the sprinkler

- Go on daily stroller walks

- Watch Mickey Mouse & Thomas the Train

- Read books and play cars with Papa & Grammy

- Eat great big breakfasts (sausage, eggs, grits, etc) - which Landon told me "I eat gits too!" and hamburgers

They had a great time, they did so well and we were so very ready to see them!  Much of our trip we talked about how much fun it will be to take them on trips like this.  Mark said over and over "I can't wait to take my boys hiking!"  I'm pretty sure they'll love it with how much they already love to be outside!  Go check out the pics.  There's 2 in there that my dad sent via text/phone of the boys! :)

We arrived at Rocky Mtn National Park by 10:30/10:45 am on Monday morning, June 28.  Mark had studied and planned our 2 days to make sure we got to do as much we could in the short trip.

After lunch, we went into the park and did a "short" hike of 2 1/2 miles to Cub Lake.  This was a moderate hike and was 5 miles roundtrip.  The hike was beautiful with meadows, an Aspen grove, beautiful river and an awesome lake with lilies & mountains in the background at the end.  As usual, Mark did a great job of picking a hike with a beautiful payoff.  I don't like hiking unless I have a good payoff at the end :)  He knows this, so he did good! :)  We enjoyed the time just to talk and look at the beauty around us.

Afterwards, we went and checked into our cabin and headed to Estes Park for dinner (italian) and then to the grocery store for essentials that we had forgotten - sunscreen! bottled water! 

Tuesday morning, we woke up early (I am used to being up by 6:45 with Joshy and Mark is up for work by then) so we woke up on Texas time around 5:45 but got up around 6:30 and sat on the back porch and just enjoyed the sunrise and the views.  We then went to town for breakfast and set off for our 2nd day.  Mark planned an awesome day!  We drove around the entire park (a 2 1/2 hr scenic drive to the other side of the park).  We stopped several times along the way for pictures and some really short - 1/2 to 1 mile hikes.  My favorite was the Tundra hike - we actually hiked up to the top of the tundra where we were above the treeline.  There was still snow at the top.  This was a pretty tough, short little hike.  It was pretty steep but beautiful!  We saw beavers & chipmunks, too! 

One of my favorite things to do in nature is to see animals in the wild.  My list for this trip that I hoped to see were: Elk, Big Horn Sheep and Bears.  Big Horn Sheep are incredibly rare to see, so I didn't expect to see them but just hoped.

As we went around the other side of the park nearing the Continental Divide, we were glancing at the top of the mountains for white spots (the sheep) and we saw 1 car pulled over with binoculars.  So we got out and what did we see?  BIG HORN SHEEP!!  There were 3 at the top of the mountain.  My awesome husband got me a zoom lense for Christmas and it came in handy on this trip.  We were able to see them up there and get some pictures!!  Then, as we watched - 6 more came over the mountain top!  We got to see an entire herd!!  So awesome!

Afterwards, we drove by the Continental Divide and saw where the Colorado River starts (the river that eventually leads to Grand Canyon and is responsible for carving the GC!).  We got to the other side of the mountain and did an "easy" hike that was supposedly 6 miles roundtrip. So yeah.  It wasn't easy and it wasn't 6 miles - more like 8 and moderate to hard.  Whew.  I was telling Mark he owed me the whole way back!  At least it was good muscle-toning! :)  BUT the awesome part of the hike was that on the way in...we saw WILD MOOSE!  Seriously.  So neat.  I got some great pictures of them.  Then we hiked to Cascade Falls and that was gorgeous!  So, once again, Mark did well!  The hike back was painful but we made it! :) 

We then got in the car with our aching feet and drove back through the park again to the other side getting back to our cabin around 5 pm.  We talked on the phone with my parents (keeping the boys), showered and went into Estes Park for dinner (a great grill place!). 
Wednesday morning we got up, enjoyed the view for the last time and headed back to Denver for the flight home.  By that point, we were pretty ready to see the boys.

GREAT Vacation!  A huge thanks to my parents for allowing us to do this...it was such good timing with the last year we have had!

We finally made it to our vacation!!  This was the first time for Mark & Mindy to leave the boys by ourselves...okay, let's back up even more...this was the first time for Mark & Mindy to be on a vacation by ourselves in 4 years.  And it was our first time to be away from either child together for more than 1 night on any kind of break (I don't include Joshy's birth because every woman knows that aint no vacation!!!).

I (Mindy) was quite nervous about leaving the boys...I knew they'd really be fine but I wasn't so sure I would be.  We were only away from them for 3 days.  But it was a great vacation!  With all the stress we have been under, Mindy's parents offered a few months ago to consider going away for a few days & they'd keep the boys if we'd like.  So, we jumped on the offer! :)

At first, we decided to stay closeby - with it being the first time and being so nervous...we figured we'd go back to our alma mater - Aggieland.  Mark really wanted to do more - he was so anxious to leave the state and do something different & new but Mindy was just not so sure.  But one morning, I (Mindy) woke up and decided that we just needed to do it.  So I talked to my mom and made sure it was good with them and planned the trip to surprise Mark. 

I told him on our way home from Dallas last week and he was so excited!!  We went to Stafford on Sunday afternoon and spent the night there.  We left at like 3 am (while the boys slept) and go on a plane around 6 am for Denver.  We spent all day Monday, all day Tuesday at Rocky Mountain National Park.  We left Wednesday morning to head back to Denver and fly home to Houston and our boys.  We didn't want to do more than 2 nights away quite yet.

It was perfect!  The boys did GREAT and we enjoyed the getaway so much.  The first night I had a hard time without them but all & all, we really enjoyed the time away and we knew they were doing well and having fun and that made it a lot easier to enjoy! And what a beautiful place - you can't see that kind of beauty and not just see God's incredible hand in his creation - just gorgeous.  We loved it!  I'll write another journal about the trip itself!

I can't even keep up with all the funny stuff that Landon says these days...by the end of the day when I have a chance to write them down, I've forgotten half of them.  He says EVERYTHING - anything you say, he says.  He has his own opinion on things and isn't just imitating now but coming up with his own thoughts and can express them.  It's really neat!

One thing he said today, "I a stinker, Mommy" as he laughed.  I guess I've told him that before. Haha!

Poor Joshy was really fussy on Monday and I couldn't figure out what was wrong so I got him a dr appt to make sure he was okay.  I'm glad I did!  Tuesday was the first opening they had and he had 2 ear infections!!  Amazing considering how well he did this weekend.  But poor little guy has been in pain this week.  I just hate when babies have ear infections - they are in pain and they can't tell you.  He never had a fever either.  He's on medication & has drops and they are helping immensely.  Doctor says it should be cleared up by the weekend.  Really he has slept fine at night, but during the day he has had a hard time.  Of course, he's been fine the morning he went to the church for bible study and he was fine both mornings my babysitter had him for a few hours...little stinker saves it for me! 

See, I told you we have 2 stinkers in this house!  But they are very cute little stinkers!

Tonight, Mark was in the living room with the boys and heard Landon talking to Josh.  He said "No Joshy, no finger in nose!"  "You blow nose?"  and went and got him a cloth to blow his nose and said "Here you go"

We had a GREAT time in Dallas this weekend.  Mindy's cousin, Jeff, married his high school sweetheart, Taylor after 6-7 years that we've all known her.  They are a great couple and it was wonderful to celebrate & support them.  We were pretty nervous about how the boys would do with such a long car ride.  They did GREAT!

We left Friday morning around 8.  Josh went to sleep within about 8:30/9:00 since he'd been up since 6:00 anyway!  We stopped north of Huntsville at a playground so that Landon could play and we could feed Josh.  That was a great way to go - everyone got to stretch a little and the rest stop was really nice.  We met up with Mom & Dad (Grammy & Papa) in Madisonville at a McDonalds for lunch and Landon rode with them the rest of the way.  He LOVED that and he slept for about an hour in the truck with them.  Josh was awake from the rest-stop through lunch and afterwards for a while.  Then he slept the rest of the way. 

We got to Dallas, checked into our hotel and then headed over to Aunt Melinda's house in Allen.  What a beautiful area of the state - we loved the weather and just how beautiful it was. As soon as we got there, Landon wanted to get in the pool.  He LOVES to swim and ironically (considering how cautious he normally is), he has no fear in the pool.  Makes us a little nervous but he really likes it.  He was so brave.  He got in the "boat" (raft) and we pulled him around, he "swam" with us holding him for over an hour.  I didn't get pictures since I was in the pool but it was fun.  Some of the other relatives started arriving and Landon loved it because some of Mindy's cousins played with him.  He developed a crush on cousin Haley since she got in the pool with him and played ball.  From then on, he pulled her around by her finger.  He loved everyone.  He also loved their kitty cats and wanted to pet them and talk to them.  He was very sweet with them.  Joshy also did great.  He just went from person to person.  All the aunts & cousins held him and he giggled, cooed & smiled.  He's such a little flirt....he LOVES kisses.  That night we went back to the hotel and got ready for the rehearsal dinner.  We didn't last long but it was good to see more family and congratulate Jeff.

The boys didn't go to sleep in the car back to the hotel as we hoped but we kept telling Landon how we were going nigiht-night at the hotel and he thought it was pretty neat.  We forgot how fun it is for a kid to stay at a hotel.  He was so excited and went to bed just like normal! Smart kid!  Joshy did fine, too - he cried a little but once he went to sleep he did great!  They both slept til 7!  (went to bed at 10 - ugh!)

Saturday morning we got up, packed up our stuff and headed back to Aunt Melinda's house.  As soon as we got there, guess what Landon wanted to do?  Yep - SWIM!  So we got back in the pool again.  By this time, Uncle Guy & Ben were there and got to swim with us!  Then Haley, Will & Aunt Laura arrived.  Pretty soon Aunt Peggy, Uncle Randy & John got there too.  Once again Landon grabbed a hold of Haley pretty quickly.  Joshy was passed around some more and we all just visited and played.  Uncle Matt (Jeff's dad) came by for a while to visit before going back to get ready.  Joshy took a good 2 hour nap after lunch and Mindy went shopping with Janie & Haley.  Then Mark took Landon for a drive and he got a 1 hr nap.  Just enough to tide them over for the 6:30 pm wedding.  We got them all ready and to the church.  They actually did really well - they made it to almost the end!  We stepped out to the back of the church right as they were about to die sitting still.  But we got to hear them become man & wife, just missed a song & the benediction.  Pretty good!

It was SOOO fun to see everyone and we were so happy with how well the boys did.  We had a late night drive ahead but we got home about 1:15 in the morning.  Joshy slept most of the way home and Landon fell asleep around 9 pm and slept til we got home and they both transferred to bed easily.  Landon woke up a little in Houston with all the downtown lights and was fussy and tired so Mindy spent the last 1 1/2 hrs in the back trying to keep them both asleep!!

All & all, we realized this wasn't too bad and we had a GREAT time!  Enjoy the pics in the album.  I'll add more as I get pics from others that took them at the wedding.

After literally 40 days and 40 nights of Mark's shutdown, we all survived! But we (Mindy & the boys) were so very happy to have him home for 3 days in a row (the weekend).  And Mark was so happy to be home and not working and spending time with us! :)

What did we do?

- We watched Mickey Mouse & Disney's Cars movie together

- We went out to eat a couple of times as a family to celebrate

- We played in the baby pool outside & in the sandbox

- Mark took Landon riding his little bike down the street a few times

- Mark went walking every night with Jasmine (our beagle mix) for some alone time

- We watched recorded shows & relaxed

- We went to church as a family & to our church's Funday Sunday splash party

- We went up to Pearland to the Splash Pad in Centennial park & ate at Freebirds

- We all took naps

But more than anything else - we just enjoyed the time together as a family! :)

Landon says the funniest things right now.  I can never remember them all to write them down so maybe I'll just add them to this everytime I think about it.  Here's 2 of them from this morning alone:

1) Landon just went into Joshy's room, put his paci back in his mouth, told him "it ok joshy", patted him on the head, came out of his room (as I stand there watching) and says "come on mommy, joshy sleepin" and closes his door.

2) As we were finishing lunch, I said "okay, Landon 2 more bites" and he said "oneeee twooo" and I said "that's it" but he wanted to keep counting so we did.  "three, four, five, sticks (six), <s>even, eight, nine & O"  That made me laugh out loud.  He knows "ten", he just figured out recently that "10" is a "1" and a "O".  And he loves the letter "O". 

I finally got tired of all the construction paper, playdough, crayons & paints on the kitchen desk in various buckets and stacks.  So I got a couple of shelves from Hobby Lobby and put it together, glued some cute animals on it and organized the stuff!  I'm excited because last summer/fall, Landon did a lot of projects at home and loved it.  And with the summer heat, sometimes it's just too hot to be outside.  So, we can do some projects around here.  So far, he has really enjoyed it.  Everyday this week, we've played with the playdough, glued, colored and so on.  I got a few more things that we didn't have (like stamps & an ink pad, some more colors of paint).  But we have received playdough at almost every bday party and I've just kept them all and I made some a while back.  So we have tons.  Anyway, there's pictures in the June folder of the finished product and of Landon enjoying some artsy stuff.  He really enjoys it!

Mark got his next day off after 14 days of working (he has to get one every 14 days)...so we went up to the Discovery Green Park in Downtown Houston.  They have a great splash pad there and it's huge.  The water comes up from all different places, goes down & comes back up in diff't places.  That was much to Mommy's surprise since I was sitting on the side at one point when the water came up from UNDERneath me. Ha!  No, I wasn't wearing a swimsuit.  Daddy was on Joshy duty and Josh was loving just listening to the noise of the water and kids playing.  He loves to be outside. 

Landon LOVED it.  Of course as usual, he was kind of slow to warm up to it all but once he did, he really liked it.  There's lots more pictures in the June folder below.  After playing for a while, we walked over to the downtown mall and ate in the foodcourt at Chickfila.  There was an escalator nearby and Landon wanted to ride it so bad.  But he didn't like it once he stood on it and it moved so he rode it with Daddy.  Fun family time together!  We can't wait for this thing to be over and have Daddy back in the evenings and weekends!! :)

 

Mindy - 3 mo, Joshua - 3 mo

Mark - ~2 yrs, Landon - 2 1/2 yrs

This summer is going to be BUSY.  But it'll be a good summer.  Most weeks will look like this:

Mon & Fri - hang out at home, playdates with friends & family (Cousins Addie & Samuel are about to live just 45 minutes away starting in 2 weeks!!)

Tues & Thurs - boys are at home with a babysitter in the mornings while Mommy is at work

Wednesdays - the first 6 weeks of summer, I'm teaching a bible study at church & the boys will be there with me from 10-11:30, the rest of the day will be spent at home.

But we're going to have lots of fun!  My busiest season for work is the summer, so the schedule above is my hope in keeping things normal for the boys but also giving me the time to get things done so that when I'm at home (and they are awake - I work when they nap), we can spend quality time together. 

Work stuff this summer (that I've planned and/or in charge of and/or lead): Playgroup every Tuesday, Wednesday morning bible study for 6 weeks, Vacation Bible School, 2 Lunch Bunches (activity, lunch & devo for Kids K-4 grade), 5 daycamps in August... Whew!  And on top of that, I have to get ready for our new Sunday school program that will start at the end of August.  Yes, it's hectic in the summer!!

Family things to look forward to:

- Mark & I are both taking off a week in June to spend time as a family, lots of daytrips - maybe Galveston, our local beach, Children's museum.  And Mark & I are getting a couple of days just the 2 of us to College Station while Mindy's parents watch the boys. 

- Swimming Lessons for Landon

- Daycamps - Landon gets to go to one

- Playdates with his school friends and some church friends and their cousins

- Doing some work around the house as a family

- Mark being home on weekends!!  Yes that's exciting to us right now!! :)

- Mindy's cousin's wedding in Dallas

Stay tuned - we'll have lots of great stuff coming this summer to tell you all about! And plenty of pictures, too!

Aww :(  Last day of school.  Landon had fun at Splash Day. He was way more shy today - I think he was just really tired (he slept until 7:45 this morning).  But he found both boats out by the pools and pretty much wanted to find a pool all to himself to just play.  That's what he does when he's tired - wants to be alone and play.  I guess that's how most of us are.  But he was still sweet and loved the pizza.  They watched Mickey Mouse during some of the down time (waiting for pizza, changing out of their bathing suits, etc)...which made him very happy, as you all know! :)

Joshy had his last morning with his "teachers", too.  For the past 2 months, he's been with them one morning a week - Mrs Tina & Mrs Tahona.  He loves both but he LOVES Tahona. It's the big joke around there that as long as she's holding him, he's happy. Haha. Little flirt.  He smiles & coos at her, too. 

As room mom, I got with the other room mom for the other days and we got all the parents to give money to get both teachers a $50 giftcard to a local italian restaurant - Giovannis.  They loved it!  We had a little extra so we got them flowers, too.  They have really loved on our children and I could tell they were sad to say bye, too. 

I'll tell you what makes me sad - how much children change in one year.  Here we go - Meet the Teacher & First Day of school (Last Sept - 20 mths old) and today...2 1/2 yrs old (30 mths on Saturday).

<Sniff, Sniff> My little boy is growing up fast...slow down!!!

    

Well, the year has already come to an end! As many of you know, since I work at the church part-time, Landon is enrolled in the 5 day TOTS class but he really only goes 3 days a week - just on a variety of days! 

So, Landon's last day with his MWF class was today.  It's kind of sad - he LOVES going to school, loves his friends, loves his teachers and has had a great year!  We are so glad.  They had a splash day and party today and he had a great time.  He loved being in the water but then he got a little overwhelmed with all the kids (the TOTS class & the infant class were out there).  He just gets a little shy in big groups...but he had a good time and was so excited to get his bathing suit on and "go swimmin".  He also loved the pizza party.  After they ate pizza, one of the teachers put on some music and we all got to watch them dance.  This was so fun because we had never gotten to see them do that as a class but we all commented how they come home doing this stuff.  So, go check out the videos I captured this morning, too.

The great thing is, many of them will be in the 2s class with him next year!

Here's 2 pics - one of his class eating & the other of Landon in the pool.  His best buddies at school were Brady, Owen & Kasen.  These are the boys he talks about a lot - when I ask what they do together he says "play cars!".  Does that surprise anyone?! :)

 

I'll post more tomorrow - he's going to have his last day with the Tues/Thur class, too.

So after over 3 weeks of the shutdown and 2 weeks of working 15 hour days with no break...Mark got a day off!! Yay!  He was able to be off for our Anniversary.  In the morning, we took the boys up to Houston and went to the Children's Museum.  We had such a great time!  We had not been there since Landon had "graduated" from the Tot Spot. 

They have it all set up so neat since the re-do last summer!  There was an area that was the City municipal court.  It had a police car & ambulance and Landon LOVED it!  He got to sit in both and "drive" and turn the lights on.  They also had a grocery store area to shop, a diner to cook & eat, art store to paint, auto shop, bike shop, etc.  We didn't do all of them and in every area there's basic stuff and very advanced stuff for them to do.  He's still young so he liked the basics.  He also loved the areas that he used to go into - the puzzles, the blocks, etc.  Take a look at the pics in May 2010 folder.  We had a great time!

Of course, we came home, all took naps & then Mark's parents were sweet enough to give us a few hours to have dinner for our anniversary.  So we went to Cafe Annice (yum!) and enjoyed the evening. 

It's been 6 years since Mark & I got married.  What a great life it's been already!!  6 years - we've been to Mexico twice, driving to San Francisco - lived there for 6 months, driven back - seen tons of things during that time (Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Kings Canyon, Sequioas, Lassen Volcano, San Diego, San Francisco, etc), Big Bend, been all over Texas, bought our first home - lived in it for 5 years, bought our second home and been through job changes and so on.

And of course 2 of our best little gifts in these 6 years are our two little boys - Landon & Joshua.

We are very blessed!  We look forward to many more anniversaries, many more memories!

Well, it's the end of the year in Landon's "TOTS" class at preschool.  We are so proud of how well he has done & we are constantly amazed at what Landon is learning!

He now will point out the following shapes AND say them: Circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, star, heart.  He will even look at a mirror and say "OVAL!"  That's how I figured out that he knew it - not just memorized it on a puzzle!!

Colors - he knows & says: red, green, pink, purple, blue, white, orange and his very favorite - YELLOW! :)

And numbers: he'll count to 8 in order if you get him started.  He knows 9 & 10 but won't always say them.  He also will point to any of those numbers when they are written in a book or on a page and say the correct number without being provoked to say them!

We're so proud of our smart little guy.  He's done GREAT at school.  He's very quiet there and they often ask if he talks at home...but anyone that knows him, knows that he is very talkative in smaller groups.  He LOVES to go to school...every morning he asks me "I go to school today?"  He names all the kids in his class that he plays with.  He loves to go on the playground, "ride bikes" or "play balls". 

Next year Landon is registered for the 2 year old class and I'm excited about that.  I think he'll enjoy it and many of his friends from this year will be in his class, along with some new friends from church.  Next week we have his Splash Party at school - I'll post again about that!

Landon says & does so many things now!  Some of this stuff isn't necessarily "new", but I want to document it so I don't forget.

Favorite things to say right now:

"I don't want to watch that" (citing shows on tv - basically anything other than Mickey or Oso)

"I want ____"

"Joshy up!" (Apparently, I say that when they are awake since he repeatedly says this all the time)

"I sit next to you Joshy" (every morning when he gets up, he wants to sit by Joshua on the chair)

 

Joshua is now giggling & cooing at anyone that will talk to him and kiss on him.  He especially loves to talk to Landon & Daddy.

Well, we are at Day 11, almost halfway.  Really feels longer BUT everybody is doing well.  We've managed to keep busy.  So far we have enjoyed our normal weekday schedule with preschool a few days a week while Mommy works and then played until Daddy came home & just held sacred that hour before bedtime.  This last week, Mark is home in the mornings until about 10 am and then gone until midnight.  So, we have seen him in the morning and then had long afternoons. 

On the weekend, we went to the church for a luncheon, then Landon got to go watch his friend Drew play baseball and Mommy & Joshy joined them later and we all went out to dinner with our friends.  Daddy even got to join us about 6:30.  Mother's Day, Mark got to join us for church since he was changing to the later shift but then went into work right after church.  We have gone over to Landon & Joshua's great-grandparent's and had dinner with them, Grandma came over one night to help with bath/bed and Papa & Grammy have come down once to help. 

The biggest thing this week is that Landon came home yesterday from preschool with a fever and had to stay home today.  I took him to the doctor and it's just a little virus - no big deal BUT he can't go to school until he has gone 24 hours with a fever.  So, it just makes for even LONGER days for Mommy.  He was pretty draggy last night & this morning but after his nap, he started to perk up and is about 75% back to normal, I would say.  But we want this little guy to get completely better so he'll go to school on Friday.

As far as Mark goes, he is very tired - as you can imagine...working around 14/15 hours a day.  Things are going well out at the plant but the days are packed full and he is just running on steam.  Let's just say we are REALLY looking forward to the week off we are both taking in June!!

I was playing around with a lens I have for my camera and I found a setting I've never really used before.  It captures close-up pictures very well, I was pleased.  I am ordering a few of these to be blown up for some frames at our house.  I put them in the May folder.  Enjoy!

 

Okay so I finally figured out how to get the videos from the cellphone to the computer.  Enjoy some videos down to the right-hand side there.  Feel free to "comment" by the videos or in the comment section.

-In my learning how-to take videos off, I also got old pictures off.  There's a few new ones in the Joshua - birth folder that Mark & I took from the cellphone when he was born.

Well since Mark is about to start the shutdown at work for all of the month of May and into June - working 7 days a week, 12 hours at the least...we won't see much of Daddy.  So we had one day to spend with Daddy before it starts (Friday)...here are a few pics of Daddy time today.

 

 

We are going to miss Daddy a lot!

Poor Mark, he is going to be sooo tired!!!  And mommy is going to have her hands FULL!!!

 

Well, our little guy is 3 months old (tomorrow)!  He is doing great! 

We got Josh's pictures taken.  We are doing a baby plan, just like we did with Landon for pictures.  Our good friend, Joshua Johnson, came over and took pictures of Joshy and a few family ones, too.   He'll do it again for us around 7/8 months then again at 1 year old.  You can view them in the album below.  For family - we will do orders as soon as he finishes (this Sunday).

Joshua is holding his head up really well.  He is so strong.  He loves stroller rides, car rides (as long as the car is moving - when we come up on a light that is turning yellow, we just brace ourselves for a long 3 minutes of screaming!!  As soon as the light is green, he's happy again!).  He loves to watch brother, still.  He really enjoys laying on the floor and just stretching out and playing.  He found his fingers last week and they are pretty much a permanent fixture in his mouth.  He loves to be outside.  The fussiness can be cured instantly many times by just stepping out on the patio.  This is great considering his big brother would rather spend his whole day out there!  :)

Landon is still so sweet to his brother.  He often says "my joshy" and he wants to push him in the stroller all the time.  He loves to hold him, kiss him and talk to him.  We couldn't be more thrilled with how wonderful he is with his brother.  We love watching their relationship already develop & grow!

Our biggest news from our world is that Joshua slept through the night for the first time a week ago (at 11 weeks).  For a couple of weeks, we had been waking him up at 11 pm to eat so that he would sleep until 4 or 5 am.  That gave us 4-5 hours of continual sleep.  But, the night he slept through the whole night, in sheer exhaustion, we fed him & put him down at 9:30 pm and basically said, "Ugh we are so tired, let's not set the alarm - we'll just get up at 1 or 2 when he wakes up"...And to our surprise, we woke up at 5 am and about jumped out of bed to make sure he was breathing!  He slept until 5:30 am. Woohoo!  He did it a few nights in a row and then he had a rough night (tummy issues) but went back to doing it again.  He's woken up a few times at 4 am and we've given him the paci (he's been sleeping without it, still swaddled - that's the key, we think! - that's how Landon was too!).  The paci has made him go until about 5/5:30 am. 

He has woken up a few times at like 2 am - but not because he was hungry - he just got unswaddled and woke himself up.  So we reswaddled him and within 5 minutes, he was back asleep again!  The main thing is that we know he CAN go that long without food - which is statistically in the norm.  The key is to not feed him since he's not hungry (no hunger cues) so that he doesn't get used to that feeding!

Go Joshy!! :)  Mommy & Daddy are so very thankful! 

 

Anyone that knows Landon personally knows his extreme love for anything with wheels!!  Cars, trucks, school buses, dump trucks, police cars...etc.  Many times when we are driving around town, we will see many of the things listed above.  He loves to call them out and gets so excited!  After he sees them and we keep driving, he asks "Mommy, where <school bus> go" (<dump truck>, <police car>, etc)?  I usually say "they had to go to work" for the construction vehicles or "he's going to take the kids to school" for the bus.  And for the police car, I say "he has to go help somebody". 

Well, yesterday we saw an Ambulance and Landon pointed it out and said "where it go mommy?" and I said "oh the ambulance is going to help somebody" and he said excitedly, "police car, too!!"

 

Landon has really learned his shapes!  We were playing a game with him this afternoon while Josh was sleeping.  It had matching cards with colors & shapes and we were focusing more on the colors but before we could say "what color is that, landon", he would say "circle!".  Then the next card, he said "star!"..."heart" and "triangle".  Square & Rectangle are still a little confusing. 

We can tell he really likes to learn and talk about the alphabet & shapes.  We are so glad he enjoys learning, that's an important thing to develop and we are so proud of him!

Joshua laughed today for the first time!!  We were all sitting on the floor in the living room and Joshua was laying on his back (which he loves to do on the floor & play!)...Landon was sitting next time him talking to him (as he often does) and playing.  Josh was getting so excited - his hands and legs were flailing around and all of a sudden he laughed a couple of times right at Landon!  How sweet!  These boys are going to be such great friends!

Landon LOVES to sing.  He really likes Music at preschool and comes home singing a lot.  We aren't always sure what he's singing but he's doing it nonetheless!

Lately he loves to ask us to sing songs.  He says "Mommy, sing ____ song".  These are the ones he likes to ask me to sing:

'school bus song', 'mickey song', 'elmo song' and 'eo song' (old macdonald's farm). 

We can officially say that Josh is rolling over (from back to tummy).  The first time?  Actually, that was at 10 days old.  Yes, that's right.  Our little guy is extremely active. 

But, if you remember - when he was in the womb about 3 months, we were worried we had lost him...and the nurse said "have you heard the heartbeat at all" and I said "Yes, I think I have but we're only 14 weeks along...is that too early?"  and the nurse said "NOT for this one.  I have been chasing this baby around your belly for the last 5 minutes trying to get it still enough for a heartbeat check".  This made us relieved & excited.  She then said "if I had my guess, I'd say this was a boy!".  She was right!  And he is STILL active!

After the first time, we thought maybe it was just chance he did it...but the he did it again about a week or two later...but the doctor said maybe his inertia had him moving but he didn't really roll over...so we hadnt counted it.  But, he has done it multiple times since.

But in the last week, he has rolled over 3 times in his crib AT night with nothing to help him roll over and one time he was actually swaddled when he rolled over.  How in the world?!  Not sure. 

We are now having to make safe precautions to keep him from sleeping on his tummy this early.  Rolling over at 2 months?  Seriously?!  Wow!!  We're in for it!

I'm enjoying writing the things these boys are doing so I can share with you all, but also so that when I scrapbook later - I can remember what they were doing when!  Day to day it's hard to remember but we spend a lot of time laughing at how funny Landon is and how cute Joshua is!

 

Joshua is 10 weeks old now.  He LOVES to watch Landon.  He smiles at him and turns his head when he hears him walk in the room.  He can hold his head up for a good amount of time now, too.  He smiles the most at that 5:30 wakeup call, which makes it bearable for Mommy.  He really likes stroller rides, which is good for Mommy too so she can exercise.  He is able to see things further away, too.

 

Landon is just growing & learning  so much!  He wants to help Daddy in the yard all the time.  I'm so proud of him and Mark for teaching him things so early.  At almost 2 1/2 years old, he knows how to water the flowers correctly, use a tape measure (he gets it), hold a level and watch for the bubble to line up, hammer (very well, I might add - my Dad claims he hammers better than many kids in his class at school).  And more!  Landon still has a strong liking for cars & choo-choos.  And most definitely Mickey & Elmo.  He is going through a stage of saying "Mommy, Mommy" constantly.  We're pretty sure he's only when he doesn't want Mommy giving attention to someone else!  But I guess that's pretty normal for a 2 yr old boy!!

 

 

Landon is still amazing us with his communication!  His favorite things to say right now are:

I see ____. (He loves to look at pictures of animals & say "I see zebra, I see cheetah..." or "I see that" (if he can't say the word).  He means that he saw it at the zoo last week.  When asking him what the cheetah was doing (which was his favorite animal) or the lion, he says "cheetah go night-night" since the cheetah was sleeping one of the times we went by there.

Another thing he says is: (and it relates to the other)

No, I not see ____.  OR

No, Mommy I not do ____.  When asking about school, he says "no Mommy I not do slide" or "Mommy I go outside!". 

Others include: "I go to school today?", "I wear Mickey shirt today", "I no read this book", "What's this Mommy?"

He likes to say these phrases ALL the time!  It's really pretty cute.

 

He also loves to point out the letter "O" and "T" EVERYWHERE - he sees them on my shirt, on signs, in books... And he also likes to point out "Circles" (which he will say "look mommy, circle") and "Cross" (yay! Something got in there during Easter!)

 

What a great Easter!  We are so blessed.  We had a wonderful 4 day weekend with our family.  We spent Thursday around the house together with church in the evening.  Friday we went to the zoo together and had a great time.  And Friday evening, Mommy & Daddy got to go on a date & have uninterrupted conversation for like 2 hours! Wow! :)

Saturday was our church Easter Egg Hunt.  Landon enjoyed it - he didn't know waht to think of the Easter bunny - in fact, he became somewhat frozen for a good 10 minutes - not crying, just staring - trying to figure it out.  He didn't want to do anything with the bunny - just look.  But he loved hunting for eggs, of course!  Grandma & Papaw Standlee came and got to help Landon look for eggs, which he always loves when they are there!  Joshua did well, too.  It was his first big church "showing" and he got passed around & held.  We spent the afternoon/evening at the Standlees and had a great time.  Landon got to hunt eggs again and loved it!  He just loves seeing his grandparents, great-grandparents & Aunt Sarah & James!  Joshua did great, too.  They both got Easter baskets from Grandma & Papaw and gifts from Aunt Sarah!  Landon LOVED his gifts and I know Josh will, too!  He's getting more & more used to being in new places & new arms! :)

Sunday we woke up & the Easter bunny had come to our house!!  Both boys got new bibles, Mark got a devotional booklet for his office at work & Mindy got a Worship CD.  We went to church after that.  It was Joshua's first Sunday at church.  He stayed in the worship service with us and did really well - he didn't cry at all.  He was wide awake until the sermon, then he fell asleep and went to the nursery for Sunday school.  He slept the entire time!!  That's great because that was his naptime & he stayed right on schedule!  Good job, Josh!  After church, we went up to Grammy & Papa Williams' house.  We had lunch and all the cousins started arriving.  We took the kids out to hunt easter eggs and once they did that, we lined them all up to take pictures.  The weather was beautiful!  Then the kids got their Easter baskets from Grammy & Papa and they just played & played until it was time to come home!

Joshua had his 2 month check-up this last Monday.  Dr B said he looked great, very healthy.  He was very pleased with his growth rate.  He is 11 lbs, 1 oz and 22 3/4 inches long!  He got his 2 month immunizations - poor little guy!  He ran a low-grade fever for about 20 hours and was pretty sore all day on Monday.  He did sleep quite a bit Mon/Tues to kind of shake it off. 

At 2 months, Joshua is:

- eating 7 times a day and can sleep up to 6 hrs in a stretch at night - if we can just get that 6 hours to be when we want!! (at night, he usually sleeps 9:30 pm until 2 am, then 2:30ish to 6 am)

- grabbing Mommy's hair with his death grip!  And he grabs Daddy's shirt - the top part right by his neck. He has a great grip - he can grip your finger really well, too.  He has surprised Landon a few times by grabbing him when he comes near him.

- smiling more & more each day.

- loves to coo & "talk" when we give him baby massages, baths & talk to him

- loves to sleep on his side

- watch big brother play - he tends to quit fussing when we put him facing Landon

- LOVES to be in his stroller or the carseat - as long as it's moving!

 

He is a sweet boy!  We are very proud of how well he is doing!  And we are enjoying getting to know his little personality!

Landon has still been playing with the alphabet magnets.  Yesterday he played them with Daddy for a while and we found that he has learned more of the letters - U, H, K. 

But today, I asked him to bring me the "L" for Landon and he did, then he brought me the "J" and said "J for Josh".  SMART BOY!  (I have said these to him before "J" for Josh, "M" for Mommy, "D" for Daddy", but for him to remember that and connect it days after I said it last - smart!) :)

The cutest thing happened tonight. Mark is sick and he was trying to play with Landon a little before bed. He stopped and went to blow his nose & Landon watched him and said "I blow my nose too Daddy" and ran to get a towel and started blowing and blowing and continued to blow for a good 3 minutes. Adorable & hilarous!

While I have a chance, I want to write down a few other things Landon is learning/doing!

One thing he said this week (we were talking to him about going to the beach & that morning on Sesame Street, Elmo had gone to the beach)...So as we were talking to him, Landon said "No Elmo no beach towel at the beach".  We found that funny & also a fairly long sentence!

I made some homemade play dough in my desperation to keep him busy this week & dyed it with food coloring - one section yellow & another blue.  He really enjoyed that (We'd played before with playdough but never homemade) and I got out some cookie cutters that I'd never used with him before.  I also rolled the dough into letters (an idea from my favorite learning site that I've put here before: http://learningdevelopmentactivities.blogspot.com/).  He quickly said "Mommy, a "T"!!!".  He went on to recognize the "S", "X", "L", "N", "U" that I made out of playdough.  He might have known more but he got bored with it and went on to his next favorite activity lately "DESTRUCTION" - that's what Mark & I call it...he basically makes something (with blocks, cars, trains, traintracks, puzzles, anything - even playdough, apparently), then quickly tears it down YELLING "OH NO, OH NO".  Mark says it's a normal boy thing to love destruction of things.  I find it odd but pretty funny.  This will be my future I'm sure.

Despite all of the week, I did manage to take some pictures during the week.  I obviously only took pictures when we were all having fun.  In between were the breakdowns, tantrums & extreme defiance.  Whew.  But in between it all, there were some very cute moments and we are amazed at the learning curve Landon is on - which I am sure is part of the defiance. 

Be sure to check out the new album - the "feature" photo is the real spring break picture :) haha!

Well, it wasn't much of a break at our house - probably the opposite.  The week started with great, big ideas.  Mark was off on Saturday/Sunday and we played in the yard.  We started the week with the idea that Mark would take off Thursday/Friday and be off for 4 days.  He might even take off Wed, if things were going well!  Landon didn't have preschool so Mindy had both boys all week.  Monday, the boys & Mindy took off to Stafford for the day to see Grammy & Papa.  We left as soon as the boys woke up and got there for breakfast.  We got home around dinnertime and Mark got home around bedtime...that was the first of the week!  Issues at the plant kept him there.  The rest of the week went similarly. 

 

But this is the week that Landon decided to really be 2 1/2 and be Mr Defiant.  I think it was one of the hardest weeks yet for parenting!!  He was a ball of energy and we couldn't go out much because Joshua can't be in public very much.  We also can't take double-stroller rides yet since Josh can't hold his head up yet.  Tuesday was rainy so we were inside all day.  Mark got home around bedtime.  Wednesday - same!  It was pretty outside so we spent the afternoon out there, but did have some major breakdowns.  I'll spare the details but let's just say Mommy had to do timeout quite a bit.  Thursday Mark got home around 3/4 pm so we headed out to the beach.  He left because he knew he had to go in on Friday afterall. 

So Friday, Mommy & the boys got up after breakfast again and headed up to Stafford to see Grammy & Papa again and get out of the house and have some help.  Good thing was that Uncle Tommy, Aunt Bethany, Addie & Samuel came for the weekend so we got some time with them, too.  Mark thought he'd be off on Saturday so we didn't spend the night.  Turns out - he got off a little early Friday due to some issues that couldn't be handled until Saturday so he came up to join us in Houston.  Thanks to Grammy & Papa, we got to head out and shop a little, get some coffee and have a couple of hours to talk...that was great!  Then we headed back to Stafford to put the boys to bed.

Saturday, Mark thought it would be a morning workday, but ended up being out there until 7 pm. Ugh!!  But thanks to Grandma, Landon got to go hang out with her for the morning!  That was a nice break for Mommy on the entertainment front and also for Landon to have a change of scenery!! 

Now it's Sunday and Mark got to be off this morning but is back at the plant again for the afternoon/evening.

Needless to say, we are very ready for this week to start - back to a normal routine and we hope the plant issues get resolved quickly!!  What a week!!!  Hopefully Mark can get some good time off.  He is so tired and just wants to spend some pretty weather in the yard with his boys!

We are trying our best to hold it together!!! :)  These are the weeks that you just pray your way through the day and try to be a united front to your children and love them and discipline all the same.

This morning Joshua was laying on a blanket on the floor after his bath and Landon was down there playing near him and he got his "Cars" book and started reading it.  I asked him what he was doing and he said "I read book to Josh".  So sweet & smart!

They are both growing & learning so much...here's a little taste of it:

Landon is speaking in full-fledge sentences now...we can't believe we have such a little communicator now! 

Here are some of our favorites:

"Here you go Mommy"..."It not hot" (speaking of food)..."I not fall" (when getting down)..."I go to school"...

There are so many others, I need to write them down more often so I remember!  My very favorite thing he is doing right now is asking me for a kiss all the time.  EVERY time he even barely hurts himself (or just thinks he does)...he says "Mommy kiss" and then I kiss it and he says "anoder kiss".  As a Mommy, I can't ever say no to that!  I love it!  He'll even point to his cheek as I walk out of his room at naptime and say "Mommy anoder kiss".  Ah, my sweet little boy.

He's also really learning his letters.  I got him some alphabet magnets and he loves to pull them off and ask me what the letters are.  After a week of this, he now will say & bring me the letters: O, A, T, L, E, U, X.  We are so impressed with how quickly kids learn at this age!  But we're proud of him!

 

Joshua is 6 weeks old now and REALLY getting interested in Landon these days.  It's amazing.  When Landon gets up in his face, he just starts moving and cooing and trying to interact.  I love it!  He's doing well...he had his 1 mth appt last week and he weighs 9 lbs, 4 oz and is 20 1/2 inches long now!  The Dr was very happy...he had gained over 2 lbs since leaving the hospital and 2 1/2 inches!  He's becoming chubbier in the face...that's our boy!  He finally likes his baths and coos & smiles after his bath quite a bit!  He loves to lay on a blanket and just move all around for a good 15-20 minutes at a time.  He likes to be on his tummy, too.  The boy is an explorer - we can already tell! 

 

Mark & I got to go out for dinner & to see some of our friends in a casual concert at a local restaurant this weekend, thanks to Papaw & Grandma!  It was so nice to get out of the house and see some friends and just enjoy some time to ourselves!

That's the news here...

They say that the first 6 weeks with a newborn is just all about survival.  So, we are at Week 5 in the survival mode.  Things are going well...but we may not remember anything later about these weeks!  I don't really remember much of Landon's 1st six weeks other than the fact that Christmas was in there somewhere!!

 

Joshua is on a good schedule and we've been working really hard to get him on one.  He struggles with his naps - I think it's a mixture between big brother Landon & the loudness in our house and also Josh wanting to be a part of the action - he doesn't want to be in his room during the day.

 

Landon is doing great - we had his Open House at preschool this week and were so proud of him and how well he is doing.  His language is incredible these days - the things he says baffles us.  He has the funniest expressions and sayings.  His sentences are forming a lot right now.  The funniest thing he said all week was when he got a new pair of sunglasses (Lightening McQueen of course) from his grandma and he walked in saying "Daddy I yook cool".  Too funny.

 

Josh had his first "playdate" with his friend Luke (1 week younger) (son of Mommy's friend Kristin and Daddy's HS friend, Mark). 

 

There's pictures in the March album and we'll be updating often, as usual! :) 

We love hearing from you, as always!

Joshua smiled for the first time on Monday, Feb. 22.  He did those smiles in his sleep like babies do but this was a real smile awake & alert!  But today...he was smiling and just kept smiling off & on!  So I grabbed the camera and got a few pictures of his cute little smile!

 

Landon had his bike rodeo at preschool today.  He had to have a helmet so a friend of ours was sweet enough to get one for him while she was at the store so Mindy didn't have to try and get Joshua out in the cold weather and Landon and go find one!  She got him a Lightening McQueen helmet which is PERFECT for Landon!!  He LOVED it!  He would never have worn a helmet if he didn't have that Cars one, or if he hadn't seen his buddy Drew wear a helmet when he rode his bike!  In fact, Landon wore it all afternoon - he read books in it, played choo-choos and ate dinner in it. 

 

The actual "rodeo" was fun - he did great...he rode that bike for the entire time and didn't take one break.  He got his feet going and went as fast as he could!  He was a pretty cute little bike rider today!

Here's some pics.  For more, go see the February album!

 

  

Well, it looks like 75% of you that voted said these boys look like twins 2 years apart.  I guess time will tell!!  :)

So...we can't help but look at our 2 boys and wonder if they look just like brothers or even more alike?  There are obvious differences - right now, Joshua has a darker skin tone (that could change), his hair was darker when he was born but now is sandy brown.  Landon's hair was reddish blonde when he was born and now very blonde.  Their eyes are definitely different and their body type is different - Landon is more stocky and naturally strong.  Joshua is more lanky.

 

But how did they look when you compare exact week-to-week?  What do you think?  (I created a poll next to this - vote on what you think.  If you aren't a member of shutterfly, you can create a membership but not do anything with it other than use it to post comments - it's free!)

 

We are getting more settled in to a new way of life - Joshua is 2 weeks old now and Landon is more used to the fact that he is here to stay!

We are SO grateful for all the help from family & friends!!  Since Mindy can't drive for 3 full weeks (1 more week!) and can't lift more than 10 lbs for 6 weeks after delivery, it's been a challenge with a toddler and newborn.  Grammy (Mindy's mom) stayed with us for 4 days helping quite a bit, we've had some wonderful friends come and spend the day, Mark's mom grab the boys or Landon for some special alone time and church friends bringing meals over (and are covering 3 meals a week for us for a whole month! woohoo!!).

 

Joshua lost some weight after birth (very normal) and with the meds from the c-section, he was so drowsy, he didn't eat well the first week so he lost a little more.  He is now doing really well and is back up to the 7 lb range again.  His little hair is getting lighter by the day and sticking straight up like Landon's did at that stage.  Pretty cute.

 

Landon had his Valentine party at school and Mark dropped Mindy off so she could go with him. He seemed to really enjoy having Mommy there and it was fun to get some one-on-one time with him like that.  He is doing great - singing a lot these days, having conversations with his toys and dancing!  He has come out of his shell more and more and is still our little sweetheart.

 

We are adjusting to life with 2 kids and enjoying both our boys!

Joshua Allen Standlee was born Friday, January 29 at 7:51 am.  He weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz and was 18" long. 

 

We had a scheduled c-section after the emergency c-section with Landon.  However, as Mindy sat in the chair being "prepped" for the surgery at 5:30 am and Mark was sitting with her, she was having contractions.  And like dejavu, Joshua's heartbeat started to drop some, just like Landon did!  So, turns out - we would have had Mr Josh on Friday the 29th no matter what -Mindy was in labor!  So, Dr Thompson performed the c-section as planned and he was very healthy!  He did have to go into the NICU for 6 hours because of some fluid in his lungs.  This is very normal with a c-section, many times that fluid isn't drained in that kind of birth so they wanted to keep their eye on it.  We did get to hold him quite a bit beforehand and they brought him to Mindy in recovery, also.  After that, he was released to our room for the remainder of our stay.  We had him go to the nursery at night so that we could get rest between feedings, but other than that, we enjoyed getting to know our new son!

 

We appreciated the visits, calls, flowers & emails!  It was wonderful to share in the joy of Josh's birth!

 

Landon came to meet his little brother on Saturday afternoon.  He did GREAT!  He ran in and gave Mommy a hug then Daddy took him over to the baby bed to meet Josh.  He smiled really big and said "JOSH!" and he wanted to hold him.  So we put him up in Daddy's lap and put Josh on his lap.  He was so excited.  He also got a Little People boat from Josh & a sibling celebration cake from the hospital!  We were so proud of him and he's been a wonderful big brother!  It was hard for Mommy & Landon to be away from each other for so long, but it has been good this week to be together all week and get used to being a family of 4!

It's quite surreal for us to know that we are bringing a new life into the world tomorrow morning.  We are so excited!  I will be having a planned c-section, after having an emergency c-section with Landon. Keep us all in your prayers.  We can't wait to share our joy with you all!

Just an adjustment to our site...if you log into our website and are curious if we've uploaded any new pictures - click on the top of the page that says "What's New" and it'll show you anything we've done that's recent.

 

10 days until Joshua's arrival!  We are excited & can't wait!

We finished the nursery this weekend...with less than 3 weeks to spare! 

Delivery is scheduled for Friday, January 29 at 7:45 am, unless he decides to come early - we heard about 3 different people TODAY that went into labor early so we're hoping he'll hold out for Jan 29, but we'll see!

 

The nursery turned out cute and you can look at all the pictures in the "Joshua Allen - Nursery/Pregnancy" folder down below! :)

Mommy's favorite hobby (outside of spending time with Mark & Landon) is scrapbooking.

I do mainly digital scrapbooks - 1 per year of life for the kiddos and 1 small one for Christmas for the whole family.  I also do a traditional book for their baby book and 1 traditional book with all preschool artwork & stuff (hoping to keep all of preschool in one book!).

 

Anyway, I use Creative Memories digital software which gives the most creativity & flexibility for what I want to do.  I just got Landon's 2nd year book in the mail - I'm so excited!  The Christmas 2009 one will be here soon!

 

Enjoy looking through the book!! (You can find it at the bottom of the page!)

We had a wonderful Christmas with our families.  We were able to see both families and share conversation, dinners, opening gifts & just hanging out with all our siblings, parents, grandparents & nieces & nephews.  Landon loved being around everyone and soaked up all the special time. 

Santa was good to us all. Landon got a train table, some cars/trucks, puzzles, a bike, books, stuffed animals and more! He is such a blessed little boy.  He loved all of it and is loving playing with all the new stuff.  Mark got some tools and stuff for the yard, a garage door opener, a gas powered weed eater for the creek side of our yard, some books, clothes and more!  Mindy got a new camera lens, some bath towels, jewelry, a jogging stroller, great decor for our house, beautiful music box, and more! 

We are a blessed family and more than anything, enjoyed being with our families and enjoying some new traditions within our own family, also.  We loved waking up in our home, spending time together Christmas morning, cooking breakfast together & just watching Landon.  We can't wait for little Joshua to get here and have 2 little boys running around at Christmas time!!

Landon went to his 2 year "well-baby" checkup with Dr. B.  He did great, I was so proud of him.  Daddy had a 2010 planning mtg he couldn't get out of so I went alone.  He played with his stickers in the waiting room and I prayed that he wouldn't learn any of the words that the man in the waiting room with us was saying to another man.  He LOVED Dr. B.  He has seen him several times - since he was 9 months old (that's when we switched pediatricians), but now that he is so much more aware and remembers everything - he really really liked him.  He talked to him (he's normally shy with other people) and he was so good.  He gave him a high-five when he left and had to get one shot.  He cried for a split second then he recovered and was pleased he got a bandaid.  What a big boy!!  I was thrilled he did so well, maybe this will help him to not dread going to the doctor.  When Daddy came home tonight, I told him what a big boy Landon was and immediately Landon started trying to show Daddy his bandaid.

His stats - he's a growing, big boy!!  He's 95% in height & weight!  But we knew that...his Daddy is 6'1, his Papa is 6'2 and his uncles are 6'1 and 6'2.  He's been a big boy since birth and is just a healthy little guy.  Dr. B. said he was doing great and very healthy!

We don't go again until he is 3 years old (of course, we are about to start all of it over again with Joshua) and no more shots for Landon until he's 4! Yay!! :)

Well, we've moved to the next level of adulthood.  We traded in the car for a minivan.  Our friend, Greg Nance, in Tyler helped set us up with a great used 2008 van and we are thrilled with it -it's so comfortable, EASY with kids, lots of room and we couldn't like it more.  But it's strange to realize that we are in the next stage of life that a minivan is a dream car.  And it hasn't taken very long to get used to it either!!!

Landon is 2 years old today!  We remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.

We went to the hospital around 2:30 in the morning.  At 10:27 am, Landon Henry Standlee entered the world.  It was a little dramatic at first - Mommy developed a fever RIGHT before delivery, Landon's heartbeat was dropping so they decided to do an emergency c-section.  Mommy got to hold him briefly before he had to go to the NICU for 48 hours - just precautionary.  Daddy had to hold down the fort all over the place - taking care of Mindy, communicating with the family and checking on baby Landon!  He was tired!  But he did a great job. 

After 24 hours, Mommy got to go down to the NICU and hold Landon.  After that, she went as often as she physically could get down there with help.  Then we got to bring our precious son home.

The last 2 years have been the best yet and we are so blessed to have such a sweet, wonderful, funny, smart, independent & sensitive little boy.  We can't help but think of the day he entered the world and all the days since on this birthday!

Be sure to check out the pictures from his various bday parties (he got sick on the day of his actual birthday party so we did separate ones with family & friends when it worked out best).  We will be adding the pictures in the next few days, so check back & comment! :)

 

We love our little Landon so much!  And we know you all do, too!

So our favorite thing that Landon is doing & saying right now is "No, no" and "No, Mommy".  I know that's a funny thing to love but it's hysterical.  We don't laugh to his face but we crack up when he's not looking.  He's said "no" for a long time now but it's the actual WAY he says it and his facial expression that is so funny.  It's a hard thing to describe but he just looks at us in this very simple, innocent way and says "no" as he shakes his head. 

 

Today, Mark & I both told him to stop shutting the hallway door and he kept doing it.  Finally, I took his hand and looked right in his face and said "Landon, do not shut the door again.  That's a no-no."  And he pointed at the door and looked at me and said "no, no" and shook his head.  I said "That's right." and he smiled hugely with his teeth and grinned.  I think he knows he's cute.

With Baby Time quickly approaching (less than 3 months until due date, 2 months until he could come!)...we've been working on projects around the house when we have some spare time.  The nursery is coming along nicely - the bedding is in there, the glider & changing table have been moved in there and the crib is ordered.  We are getting another crib that will convert to a regular bed since Landon is still happily in his crib (don't change something if it's still working, we figure)...and it changes to a regular bed, too. 

I also painted a couple of pictures on the playroom wall (see pics from 23 months) & am working on painting a racetrack in Landon's room.  I'm slowly trying to convert Landon's room to a big kid room and I think he's going to like what we are doing!  Keep watching for pictures, I'll update as we go!

One more month before our little guy turns 2!  We can't believe time has flown by so quickly.    He is just a little angel and a perfect gift from God.  He is a typical toddler, but we love watching him grow & learn and develop into the man he is going to be.  We are very proud of him!

Landon started kissing Baby Joshy today.  So far he listened when we talked about the baby, he even knows what room is his brother's when you ask him...but today he actually would come up and kiss my belly.  Then he'd say "hi baby" to it.  That pretty much melted my heart and when Daddy come home tonight, I asked him about his baby brother and he did it again. Pretty sweet big brother!  We can't wait to see them together!

I discovered a really cool website online with ideas to do with toddlers at home.  Landon is at the stage where he's just a little sponge.  So, we have been talking about numbers & colors and doing some art projects at home.  It's pretty fun - he loves to sit at his table and paint, color, tear paper & even taste the paint (non-toxic, thankfully) when Mommy turns away real quickly.

We are working on matching colors but we're not there yet.  But he already knows some of the names so he's getting there. He's still young so I'm not rushing it.  I made some color cards and when he'd rather just play with them than match them, that's fine, too!

To see pictures of some of his art - go look at the 22 month folder below!  Here's the website for any of you moms or teachers out there: http://learningdevelopmentactivities.blogspot.com/

 

Our 2nd little boy will be named: Joshua Allen Standlee.

 

We love the name Joshua and Allen was Mark's paternal grandfather's first name.  He passed away when Mark was in the 5th grade and he has fond memories of their time together.

 

4 months until our little arrival enters the world!!

We got the great news that we are having another little boy today, Sept 3! 

Mark is already dreaming of his backpacking trips to Yosemite with his boys and Mindy is already loving the idea of 2 little boys running around the house!

We feel so blessed for these 2 healthy boys!!  Enjoy the pictures - we posted new ones of Landon's "Meet the Teacher" day and also of our new little guy!

Well, we are proud to say that we are expecting our second little one in late January/early February!  Mindy is a little over 12 weeks along and baby is doing great. 

We are SO excited & can't wait to find out (in Sept) whether we'll have 2 little boys running around or a little pair (boy/girl).  We'd feel pretty blessed either way! :)

We can't believe our little boy is already 18 months old!!

 

He is such a wonderful son - filled with creativity, independence, kindness, sensitivity, intelligence, humor & even more we haven't learned yet!!

 

We added some new pictures to 18 months, our new home & also May 2009 - so check them all out!!

I am very blessed to have this sweet, handsome little boy to call me Mommy!

 

Here's a picture from last year & this year's Mothers Day.  Also, here is a picture he made me at school - it's true what they say, your child's art is perfect to you!  I think this is the cutest, most beautiful flower, ever! :)

Mother's Day 2008

 

Mother's Day 2009

Landon started a new thing the other day that is adorable!  He pushes his little shoulders up like he's shrugging them, smiles and blinks his eyes at me!  I don't know if he's trying to wink or not but he does it very intentionally.  He'll look right at my eyes and blink very big & obviously and smile!  He's a little flirt! 

As Mark & I are packing boxes to move to our new home in Lake Jackson, we are thinking a lot about the last time we moved (and reminded how hard it is!!!).  We moved to San Francisco for 6 months with Mark's job (Dow Chemical).  We didn't pack the whole house like we are now but we did have to pack to be gone for half of a year.  That was in 2005.  Anyway, here's a couple of pictures from California - one is from San Diego when we went for our 1 yr anniversary, one is from China Town in San Francisco!

 

 

Here's a picture of Mark & I on a work project with the Wesley Foundation just months before we started dating.  We were very close friends for 2 years beforehand...

Funny to look back!  I remember thinking he was cute in those overalls...I'm sure my friends remember me saying that too! Ha!

A lady at our church has a patch of bluebonnets growing behind her house and offered for all those of us on staff to bring our kids to take pictures.  We took Landon over there last weekend.  He wasn't much for sitting in the bluebonnets - that would require being still and we'll have nothing to do with that, thank you very much.  But we managed to get a few cute ones! 

We are in the process of selling our house right now so things have been crazy around here...Landon has been such a good sport about having to pick up his toys way more and helping Mommy & Daddy clean.  He loves to help so this is a good thing - of course, helping also means destroying pretty soon after so we've learned ways to be creative! 

We have been in this house for 5 years and we have loved it - we feel very bittersweet about all of it but we also know it feels like the time is right.  We are only moving in-town and have not done so yet so we'll keep you updated.  We're just beginning the process so we'll get to it all eventually!

So Sommer made a good point - we need to update with some new stuff too :)

Landon is growing so fast it's hard to keep up with it all - I've started writing things down now that he loves to do and says or does so that I can remember when I'm scrapbooking his second year :)

This last week he said a few new things.  He's saying "all gone" every morning after he eats his grits.  Some people think it's funny he eats grits...I tried to do something different a few weeks ago and he got pretty darn upset - the southern boy likes his grits so oh well! :)  He also said "thank you" a few times this week...well it was more like "dank tu" but it was so cute, Mark & I looked at each other and got excited and he did it more & more, smiling that he got something across.  He LOVES to talk - he's got his own little jibberish language but he's so confident in it all, it's hilarous.

Looking toward Easter...

 

Here's Daddy & Landon last Easter (2008) - Landon was 4 months old.

1st popsicle at the Splash Day for the kids - August 08 (Landon was 9 months old!)

At first he thought it was just really cold...then he wanted more!

We can't believe Landon is almost 16 months old!  He is doing great.  We took him to the doctor this week and he had a big growth spurt since his birthday in November.  He is 28 lbs, 32 1/2 inches tall!  He had grown 2 inches and 4 lbs!!  He is a tall boy!  He is looking more and more like a toddler and less like a baby, these days.

 

He's so smart.  He loves to point at things - he runs to the refrigerator and points when he's hungry.  He will even point to the window in his room in the morning for us to take down the blanket (keep the sun out since it's going down later!).  He is saying more words lately and understands TONS of words. 

 

He's gotten more adventurous lately, too.  He likes to climb now (which is fun to keep up with!), he likes to play chase (especially when we're asking him to come to us!) and he's coming out of his shell more in public.

 

All and all, he's still a sweet, independent, wonderful little boy!  Enjoy the new pictures!

Christmas 2007 - Landon was 3 weeks old.

We felt so blessed & excited for our beautiful little Christmas present.

Landon - 2 months old.  He used to sleep like this in his crib all the time!  So cute!

4 months old - bathing in the Infant tub in the kitchen sink!

I'm going to start a new thing called "Flashback Friday" where I will post an old picture just to go down memory lane together!  Hope you enjoy it!  Feel free to leave a comment if you'd like!

 

This week's Flashback Friday

Was he really THAT little?!

Landon is so happy to be walking that all he wants to do is practice!  He has been so much fun the last few weeks.  He explores all over the house - he likes to go in his room by himself and sit down and play with puzzles or cars.  Although we have learned real fast that quiet isn't always good - he loves to dump everything out of the baskets in his room - diapers, socks, pjs, onesies, blankets, anything!  But he likes to put them all back too - even if it's not in the same place as before!  He loves to go outside and walk in the leaves and chase Jasmine.  He likes to walk down the sidewalk in the front right before Daddy comes home and gets so excited & surprised when Daddy gets out of his truck.  He is such a sweet, fun boy!  Hope you enjoy all the new pictures in the January folder!

Attachments:

Happy New Year!  We added more pictures in the December & Christmas albums. Hope you enjoy!

We also added Landon's 1 year scrapbook that Mindy has worked on all year.  We actually used Creative Memories, not shutterfly but uploaded it so you could view it online.  CM is actually cheaper using the amt of pages we did and I could do much more with it!  It was a lot of fun and great to look back on his first year!  It's at the bottom of the page to the right!

 

Happy 2009! Hope it's a blessed year in your lives.

We had a wonderful, busy, full Christmas!  It was great to see all our family and be together.  There's lots of pictures up in the albums to the right!  Enjoy the pictures!

 

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas,

The Standlees

It's been VERY cold in Lake Jackson this week!  We even had snow one night! Most of it was after Landon went to bed so the next morning I let him play with the snow & ice that was still left.  You can see those pictures & others in the "December" album to the right.

 

Also, we added a new video of Landon laughing & playing with Daddy down at the bottom of the page!  Enjoy the pictures & sounds!

Landon has been taking steps for about 2-3 weeks now but only one or two at a time before sitting down.  He LOVES to walk and wants everybody to walk him around with his fingers.

But today, he would walk a good 10 or so steps to Daddy and then turn around and do another 10 or so steps to Mommy! 

He was SO proud of himself!  It was so cute!!!

Attachments:

 

Landon has been eating lots of new foods lately. He has been eating deli ham or turkey for lunch each day along with cheese, smashed carrots and sometimes noodles & bread. He is such a good eater - there's really not much he doesn't like! His only complaint is that we move too slow!

Landon has been having so much fun lately, he can barely stand it :)

He is getting so big!
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He requested I take his picture. ha!
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And then this one wanted in on it.
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What a poser!
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Pushing baby brother
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Blowing bubbles at Nathan one morning
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Bubbles
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Blow!
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Cutie pie!
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Standing like a big boy
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So cute
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Going for a walk time!
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He has overwhelmed me in how big he is now!
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Practing some baseball at night
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Joshy wants a turn
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I love that big helmet on him
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Swing, swing!
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Run the bases!
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Landon's turn!
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T-ball game
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Go Landon!
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Run!
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Practicing some more
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Nathan likes to swing while they practice
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Mother's Day with my boys
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My beautiful tulips from my boys for Mother's Day
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J & L brought tulips into the bathroom during my shower. ha!
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The gifts they made at school
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All the stuff they made
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Joshua's gift
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Landon's gift
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Children's Church, Sunday school...they all make gifts!
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Tissue paper is fun!
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No nap until Daddy got home.
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Baseball game
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Landon on base
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Landon (coughing, poor guy)
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Playing at the Outlet mall
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Outlet mall
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Outlet mall fun
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Nathan during Mickey Mouse, lol
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Landon is getting really good at climbing!
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And getting stuck, ha
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Landon's gift from Mrs. Burris
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Gifts for teachers (with giftcards attached)
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Nathan before we head to the beach
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LOVED the beach
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Not a bit intimidated by the water or sand
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Let me go where they are!
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Nothing like the ice cream truck at the beach!
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Samuel's party
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Superheroes!
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Samuel wanted a party like Cousin Landon's :)
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Big 4 yr old!
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Photo area!
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Landon's superhero moves were a bit too fast for my broken camera!
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Loving the sand
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Chewing, of course
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Room for all 3!
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Joshy playing in Nathan
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Nathan
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Oh hey Mom!
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Snack time with Cheerios
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Time to pull out the water table
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Someone liked it!
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Thinking he
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Josh & Nathan loving the water
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Landon building a sand castle
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Smiles
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Pushing & Walking behind
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Big kid
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Beautiful flowers the church sent us while they pray for my cousin with us. Sweet.
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Nathan in the highchair
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Eating a snack
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Oh and we found the dog bowl
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That water is fun to splash. Fun to clean up for Mommy too!
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Hanging out in the kitchen
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Landon was sick for a WHOLE week. This is how a lot of it went.
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At the Doctor
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Playing
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Pulling up on anything and everything
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11 months old!
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Happy boy!
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Pretty excited!
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Josh is so innovative...train pulling the trailer
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Playing trucks - his favorite
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Landon playing (still sick, playing a bit on the floor)
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Nathan - going strong!
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Josh helping Daddy. So cute!
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Putting sticks in the truck
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Playing on the floor while Mommy cooks
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Mr cutie playing
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Standing up against his playtable
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Baptism
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Baptism
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Our family at church
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The family before Church
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And again
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Papa & Grammy & Nathan before Church
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The baby of the family
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Our youngest!
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Sweet baby boy
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Cousins playing after the service
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Playing
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Nathanael William
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Nathanael
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Nathan's baptism day
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Nathan on his baptism day
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Papa & Nathan eating ice cream
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Loving it!
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Palm Sunday
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Bluebonnets!
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BJoshua.jpg
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BJoshua3.jpg
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BKiss.jpg
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BLandon.jpg
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BMomNathan.jpg
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BNathan.jpg
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Bird Nests with eggs (or called haystacks)
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Indulging in the snack
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They liked the eggs the best
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Painting Easter pics.
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Beautiful! Daddy asked for the Cross one for his office...J said "after I show the mailman"
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EggHunt at school (can you believe it was cold?!)
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School playground
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Landon egg hunt at school
Landon-egghunt.jpg 2013-03-27

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Landon-egghunt2.jpg 2013-03-27

Landon & his buddy Bronson
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Playing on the racers
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School playground - love the wide open spaces for creativity!
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Looking at his bag from school
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Somebody left a kissmark on my baby! Oh wait, that was Mommy. Oops!
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Landon and his class & the other 4s
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Finding the eggs (#s 1-6)
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Playing on the racers - their favorite toy
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Egg Hunt at Papaw & Grandma Great's church
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Gee & Nathan
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Doing activities
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Cupcake he won on the cakewalk. Boy loves chocolate
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Grandma Great, Gee & Nathan
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How is he so big?!
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Papaw helping Josh with the egghunt
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Hugs for Grandma Great
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An elephant appeared at the egghunt!
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Nathan1.jpg
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Dying eggs
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1st time to do an egghunt in our yard
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Mommy made Mark's favorite - easter chex mix
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Napping at Grammy & Papa's house
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Cousins chilling out after lunch
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Easter baskets - Easter morning
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Landon & his Easter basket
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Nathan plays with his Noah's ark
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And is on the move
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Nathan's basket (noah's ark, a book, bib, eggs with puffs)
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Josh & his basket
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Wrestling with Daddy starts early!
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Climbing on Daddy jungle gym is always fun
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Mark reads a book before church (while Mommy gets ready!)
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Easter boys!!
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Mommy & her boys
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Our family
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Grammy & Papa and the boys
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Nathan found the toy place!
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Grammy & the little ones fill eggs
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Easter egg hunt at Grammy & Papa's
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Big buddies - Josh & Addie
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Landon & Samuel - buds!
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Landon's 1st Tball game
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Up to bat
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Posing :)
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1st game
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Go Landon!
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Landon caught the ball!
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His fan club
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It was getting tiring...
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Good game!
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Superhero night at CHickfila
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Superhero 1
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Superhero 2
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Superhero 3 (with Spiderman!)
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And the cow...(fist-bumping)
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Josh was rather shy
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Learning to climb the tree
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1st time up the tree
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Jumping
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Daytrip fun
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Huge slide at a park
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Nathan on the swings
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Walk in the woods
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Edging on the couch
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Backyard playing
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Mr Cutie
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Landon & Batman!
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Landon at the Dentist!
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Cool dude!
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Nervous but excited
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Landon & Mommy built a cool castle!
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Our castle!
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Joshy & Daddy planted some cucumbers
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Big helper
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Serious work.
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Nathan LOVES the tile in the kitchen.
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Playing on the tile
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Hopping like Easter bunnies while searching for plastic eggs
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Here's Nathan's eggs (with rice & beans in them - don't worry,taped shut!)
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Smarty pants
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"D-O-G Mommy!"
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Look at all these matches.
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T-Ball practice for Landon
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He's a really good hitter. All the dads think so.
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Break!
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This is just the cutest thing ever.
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At his T-ball practice
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Joshy in his sandbox
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Loving it
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Daddy playing
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Nathan chilling out
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Landon loves to hang out alone by that tree.
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Sea Center
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Hurry up Mommy
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Checking out the turtles
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Nathan watching & waiting
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Landon LOVES it.
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Josh
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Nathan - sweetie pie
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Checking things out
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End of Spring Break treat
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YUM!
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Oh so cute.
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My little guys.
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My Little Stair Step boys. New favorite pic!
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Asleep during errands
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Cute laundry!
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Tickle mania
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Along for the ride
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Mr Daredevil
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Not crazy about wearing a coat but it was so cold!
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And here
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Happy 10 months!
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Smiley Nathan
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hard to sit still for this one!
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Busy 10 month old!
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And on the move...
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Getting into everything
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I found the block box!
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Hi!
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That shelf is now not in the playroom until he is out of this stage!
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Pretty happy at his new exploration
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Josh has been cutting like crazy lately
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Landon pretending - his favorite pastime
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Standing up against furniture to play
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Another cutie
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Landon playing outside
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Beautiful, cool weather
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Digging & working hard
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Asking some kind of question
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Hey Joshy!
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Mommy & Nathan
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LOVES swinging!
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Anytime mommy!
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Josh has moved up to the big boy swing
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Go J!
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More pretending
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What a big kid!
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Playing with baby brother
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Can you find Jasmine? STRANGEST place to sleep.
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Josh made this at school
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SO sweet.
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Most creative artwork ever - LOVE the xylophone Landon made at school.
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Spring Break trip!!
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Dallas/Fort Worth Trip!
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Stretching some & playing at a reststop
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Playing on the bridge
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More energy release!
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Landon
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Rock Walls...
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ladders...
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Slides...
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Asleep, oh my.
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First stop - Fort Worth Zoo!
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EXCITED boys!
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Along for the ride!
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See it? CHEETAH!
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Stroller mates
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Monkeys
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Some other monkeys...
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Swinging on the rope
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Quite the acrobat
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Watching it all
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They had a blast
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A little pick-me-up
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Neat exhibits
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Handsome thing!
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Giraffe
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Rhino
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Mommy Rhino & baby rhino
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White Tiger!!
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HUGE cat!!
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Landon loves big cats so he was thrilled!
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How cool!
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He just stared and stared
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That smile says it all! Worth the drive!
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Pretty huge!
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Tigers
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Neat habitat for the tigers
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Love the asian feel of the exhibit for the tigers
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Papa Lion! We could hear him roaring across the zoo!
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Zebras - Joshy's favorite!
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Another view of the male lion
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Josh, Daddy & the zebras (his favorite!)
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Love the yawn.
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Female lions watching the gazelles across the way
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Can you see the mountain goats?
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So cool
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The bird sanctuary
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Mark took them in there while I gave Nathan a stroller break & some yogurt!
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Glancing around
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Birds everywhere!
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Penguins!
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Landon & the penguins
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This animal-lovin' kid was in heaven!
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Showing Josh
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Kangaroo!
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Rain didn't stop us!
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landon wanted the giraffe raincoat, Josh didn't...so there ya go.
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Nathan was content shielded from the rain
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Carousel
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Josh & Daddy
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Sea otters!
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Running & jumping back in the water
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Alligator!
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This turned out to be Landon's favorite!
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Landon on the alligator
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Josh loved playing on this thing! But not wanting to go NEAR the real alligator tank.
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Check out Landon running around watching the sea otters!
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One more visit over
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These 2 wanted the hippos and zebras one more time
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Hippos
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Huge!
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Visiting Sara & Jenni! Playing play-dough
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Sara, Matt & Jenni
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Playing at Sara's house
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All those boys had fun!
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My boys had a blast
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Blurry pics but you get the idea - Logan, Josh, Landon & Evan (Nathan, Matt & Grace not pictured!)
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Eating pizza
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Loved playing with friends
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Legoland - Daddy & Nathan
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Mommy & Nathan
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Landon & Josh at Legoland
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Building cars to race
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Minifigure land
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On our way to DFW!
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Nathan crawling around on the reststop
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Playing with Aunt Melinda (We stayed with them)
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Sleeping in the pack & play
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Playing in Aunt Melinda
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Playing in Matt Shasteen
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Building lego cars
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Racing their cars
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Mom Buddies for life, kid buddies for life
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Hanging out at the zoo
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Aunt Melinda showing Landon some cool books in her classroom
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Playing at the Shasteens house
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Snacktime at Legoland
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2/3/2013 2:05:06 PM - 003019333692
I just love this family!!! So thankful you guys are my family too!

12/3/2012 5:49:52 PM - 002035749201
I'm loving all the fall pictures, especially the family photo shoot album. They are sooooo good!

2/13/2011 3:28:53 PM - 001055900715
Your boys are super cute. Wish you all lived closer :=)

8/27/2010 6:03:40 PM - 001094566470
Thank you, Mrs Olsen! We just love our family and how God has blessed us so much. Call me next time you are in LJ! We'd love to see you! :)

7/19/2010 12:33:38 AM - 002037992306
Such handsome boys! And such precious stories! I'm so proud of your little family.
Gwain (GiGi)

2/4/2010 4:21:06 AM - 003017481835
You guys look fantastic!! I can't believe all the new pics you have up less than a week after Josh was born... but I guess it doesn't surprise me, you are always top of this stuff! You are so blessed! We love you!

1/10/2010 1:40:37 PM - 001045805468
The new scrapbook looks fantastic! I know Landon will enjoy looking at it :)

10/18/2009 11:10:51 PM - 002035749201
Such a sweet story about Landon kissing Joshua. I can't wait to see you guys in November!

10/4/2009 1:43:37 PM - 001080341716
I love the name Joshua Allen. This is such a great way for us to keep up with you. I just wish I could see you in person and give you all a big hug!

9/4/2009 12:30:21 AM - 002086947681
So cute! Love all your pictures. You're a great photographer!

12/19/2008 3:58:22 PM - 002035749201

I love the one year pics of yall in the autumn leaves.  Those are GREAT pictures.  I also love the pictures of Landon on the bench with the goat!  Too funny.  He looks so grown up with a big boy haircut!  Have a very merry Christmas, and have fun in Tyler!

Love,

Jenni

12/4/2008 2:08:19 AM - 001048631869
Hey!! I love the new page. Looking through your page made me think of all the time we spent together in the computer lab on campus writing papers... I guess it gave us some skills.

11/23/2008 1:58:20 AM - 002037992306

Mindy,  thanks so much for adding me to your site!!  You have such a beautiful family and Landon is so precious!  I'm looking forward to viewing the life of your family.  Your Mom looks so happy in the Landon & Cousins picture.  I know how she feels!   Being a grandparent is awesome.  I'm so glad you will remain in our lives through Shutterfly.  Also, the next time I go to Lake Jackson, I'll get in touch with you.  Looking forward to it! 

Love you, Gwain Olsen (GiGi) 

11/21/2008 11:43:47 PM - 002035749201
Yeah!  I'm glad you have a Shutterfly site!  I love all the pictures.  I used to think that Landon looked just like Mark, but the older he gets, he's starting to look more like his mommy!  I especially thought the Halloween pic of him as a doggy was precious.  Love you, and give Landon a hug for me!

11/18/2008 4:38:49 AM - 001025382724
 Cool site - now I'm jealous b/c I just started my blogger!  Oh well, no changes for a while unless something really bugs me :-)  Speaking of that - I need a new post! -C

11/18/2008 4:01:13 AM - 002031476336
I see you've moved to shutterfly too. So far, I've really liked it. Hope it works out for you too. I love the way you've set all this up - including the blog sort of thing too. Good stuff. I think Miranda might even do something like this - I just gotta show her how.