The 2011 Holiday Season

What a wonderful vacation we had with the Kennedy family at the Disney Resort in Hilton Head SC this Thanksgiving. It was 5 peaceful, active yet relaxing days of adventure and family time. We rode bikes to the beach, shopped, visited a marina with a beautiful lighthouse where we also saw dolphins, enjoyed a Disney campfire complete with smores, and much much more! And of course Mimi Kennedy and Titi Rudy prepared a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner in our condo which we ate on the porch overlooking a marsh. It was a very special trip.

Landon's first ever bike ride. He LOVED it!

Beautiful beach day

Fun on the playground!

Getting a good view of the Disney Campfire from Daddy's shoulders:)

Pretty!

Christmas was spent in Coral Springs with the Campagnano family. Landon had a great time with his Grandma, Nono, uncles, and Ryan's girlfriend Maria. He just loved ripping through his gifts this year, although it took quite a long time because a) Santa and his grandparents were VERY generous and b) every time he opened something he wanted to play with it right then! We enjoyed yummy food and delicious desserts, and mommy ate entirely way too much. I have a good excuse though... I AM eating for two... :)

Christmas Eve we attended mass and then enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner. Yum!

Landon just couldn't wait to open his gifts on Christmas morning. He started before anyone else was even awake!

Two of his favorite presents are the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Sofa/Sleeper and his cool new Cozy Truck!

And onto the New Year. The Kennedy family will be coming to our house for a BBQ and fun festivities. We'll be celebrating Christmas with them at this time as well. I'm very excited to ring in the new year. 2011 has been fun, but 2012 will be another very special year for our family. It's hard to believe we'll be welcoming another baby into our lives in early June. This pregnancy is going by so incredibly fast. In less than 3 weeks we'll be finding out the sex of the baby and begin planning for his/her arrival. So a busy new year it will be!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year!

The Happiest Place on Earth

Last week we took Landon to The Magic Kingdom for his first ever Disney experience. We had so much fun and accomplished a lot! I can't remember the last time I went on some of the rides we did... boy how things change when your with little kiddies! No Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, or Space Mountain for us- oh no. It was It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, the carousel, Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, stuff like that. Landon just loved all of the fun characters and colors, although he did get a little uneasy on the Pirates ride when it did the little drop in the dark and we got splashed. But other than that it was all fun!

He rode his very own horse on the carousel like a big boy and got upset when the ride came to an end. He did the sign for "More!" and let out a whine is disapproval.

The three of us somehow fit in a Dumbo together. I was curious to see what Landon would think about going up high in the air. He loved it! He even helped control the Dumbo by moving the joystick up and down. :) Below Landon is saying "Ooooo!" while looking at skeletons play chess as we waited in line for Pirates of the Caribbean.

It was truly a treat to spend my birthday at a special place with such special people. Just a few days later we celebrated Landon's second Halloween. Our beautiful little Pirate went Trick or Treating for the first time. We took him in the wagon, and at the foot of each driveway we would take him out and one of us would walk him to the door. He would knock, Paul or I would say "Trick or Treat," he would take candy (I'd help him put it in his bag), and then he would say "Bye!" He was a natural! And everyone loved his costume! My mom sure did do an amazing job making it, didn't she?

Happy Fall!

Fall just may be my favorite season. Believe it or not here in Central Florida we've already gotten a taste of the upcoming brisk weather (early in the AM) that is soon to be the norm. I can't wait! And with Fall comes lots of fun festivities to look forward to. Needless to say I'm excited.

Summer came and went. It's been almost 2 months since my last post. Work is in full swing, Landon has readjusted at the sitter's, and overall things are going good. Our weekends are spent hanging out with friends and/or family and watching football. Landon loves rooting for our favorite team, even when they aren't doing all that great. He says "ball ball" for "football." It's super cute. He is learning new words daily now, and it's at a point where if you say "Landon, can you say ___" he'll try his best to repeat what you've said, often getting it right.

A few weeks ago we had a visit from the Meyer Militia. PJ's mom came as well and babysat the kids while the four of us went to the House of Blues for a concert. Good times were had! It was just like the old days, except we were up at the crack of dawn the next day with the children. A little painful, but well worth it.

Marley, Merrick, and Landon had so much fun together. They swam, swam, and swam some more. It is just awesome watching the kids grow and learn and become good friends.

This past week Landon had his 15 month check up. He is in the 50th percentile across the board-

24lbs. 13 oz., 31 inches

Landon is still an eating machine- eating every and anything we put on his plate. We recently switched him from regular whole milk to soy milk because he was going to the bathroom too frequently and the pediatrician suggested that might be an indication of a lactose issue. Luckily he didn't even seem to notice the change. We'll see in the next few weeks if this helps.

My birthday is coming up at the end of the month and I just happen to have the day off, so we decided to take Landon to Disney World for the first time. I am SOOOO excited! I can't wait to see his reaction to all of the fun things he will experience. What better birthday present than bringing pure joy to my baby boy?

Look Who's Walking! (Sort of...)

Another month has come and gone. As my fun and relaxing summer vacation comes to an end I feel so lucky to have been able to be a stay at home mom, even if it was only temporary. I've watched Landon explore and learn new things daily. We have enjoyed many playdates, swimming excursions, visits with family, and trips to Sea World.

In the following two pictures Landon is playing at Amaya Papaya- an indoor play place for children 0-5. He loves it there!

Storytime at the Public Library Enjoying a sunny day at the pool!

The Dolphin Show at Sea World

On July 25th, just a week shy of his 13 month b-day, Landon took his first steps. I was such a proud mama! Unfortunately PJ had just left for work and missed it by a few minutes :(. Landon has been cautiously learning how to walk since. He is taking his time and walks more and more each day but still prefers to cruise around on hands and knees. I've been trying to get a video clip of him moving around on his feet, but Mr. Landon is very aware of the camera these days and gets shy :). Here's a fun one though.

He has new interests these days including rearranging the furniture, splashing and putting his toys/hands/feet in the dog's water bowl (drives me bonkers!), listening to someone read books (his favorite right now is Eight Silly Monkeys), crawling under and climbing over things (people and dog included), dancing to reggae music, playing on his swing/slide, and giving and blowing kisses. Above all, however, his absolute favorite thing to do it eat. Eat, eat, eat. Every morning I go in his room and the first thing he says to me is "Nana!, Nana!" asking for banana. He loves whole grain crackers, and when I ask if he wants some for snack he flails his hands and kicks his feet and yells "cookie!" with a huge smile on his face. Okay, so he's a little confused but it's ADORABLE. And it happens every time! He started calling everyone "Mama" (including Casey Anthony when she comes on TV which is NOT cool...). And PJ taught him to put both arms up in the air when he says "touchdown!" in preparation for the upcoming football season.

This weekend Grandma and Nono and Uncle Ryan will be staying with us and we're all going to go to Sea World again on Saturday. It's a belated birthday celebration for Uncle Justin who recently turned 24. It'll be a nice ending to such a great summer.

Landon's First Birthday

Well, it happened! Our baby turned one, and boy did we celebrate! On June 25th we had a Fun in the Sun party at our house. Many family members and friends joined us. The kids had a blast splashing in the kiddie pool and sprinkler we had set up for them. Landon especially loved the water. He would have stayed in there all day if we'd let him!

My parents came up a couple days early and my mom made Landon's first birthday cake. It was incredible! The beach ball was his personal "smash" cake. It was really awesome. It was so fun as everyone sang Happy Birthday to our little muffin. He just soaked up all of the attention. He wasn't really sure what to to with the cake, so I had to help him get started :). It was such a beautiful, sunny day! We sang to our little man once more on June 30th, which was his actual birthday, when we were down south at Grandma and Nono's. He enjoyed a second cake (made by Grandma again :)) and loved every bite!

He would've licked the plate clean if I'd let him!

Landon had his 12 month check up this past week and he's doing so well. 30 1/4 inches, 22 1/2 pounds. He's an eating machine and will scarf down every and anything I put in front of him and then whine for more. I'm transitioning him to whole milk and his diet is all table food. It all happened really fast; he's suddenly a toddler. Not quite walking on his own yet, although it will be any day now, talking up a storm. Constantly asking "what's that?" while pointing at different things. And he's still all smiles. I hope that never changes. It'll just melt your heart.

I'm enjoying every second of my Landon time while off from work this summer. We sure are having fun together!

Landon is 11 months old!

Since my last post we have passed the 10 month mark and our baby is now 11 months old. Here's just a little recap of his 10th month:

On April 30th (the day he turned 10 months) we had a wonderful day at a birthday party in the park. The weather was gorgeous and Landon got to play, play, play! Here he is throroughly enjoying his first time in a bounce house! Just look at the excitement on his face!

While he played with daddy on the inside I had fun watching from the outside :)

That same day I finished up some cleaning when we got home and Landon kept following me around the house with that big smile that is nearly always present on his face. I can't get enough of it!!! A few weeks later I took him to the playground in our neighborhood to get a picture for his birthday invitation. Here are a couple from our early AM photo shoot. That same weekend the Meyers came to visit and a fun time was had by all. The twins are so incredibly sweet and played so nicely with Landon. They are great friends!! And that brings us to now- the day our little munchkin is officially 11 months old. We had a fun day at the beach enjoying the nice weather. He is a busy bee these days and constantly on the move! And he crawls with lightning speed so one eye must be on him at all times. He's not walking yet, but boy is he close! I finally got him a pair of shoes that fit (size 4 1/2 wide) and they're just adorable. He is an eating machine and still loves everything I give him. I'm not pureeing anymore; just mashing or cutting up softer foods. Little man has 6 teeth- 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. He's about 29 inches long and probably between 22 and 23 lbs (the weight is a guess). We've graduated to size 4 diapers and are in the process of transitioning him to the sippy cup. He still loves to hear his own voice and is constantly "talking." He says Dada and Mama and Yaya and is now saying "gook" for book, "dg" for dog, and he also says ball. It is amazing to me that he is learning so much! These aren't just words he is saying but he actually associates them with the real things. Such a little smarty :) Landon LOVED eating belgian waffles (compliments of daddy) for the first time. It's hard to believe and a little bitter sweet that our baby will be one year old in a short month. We have loved every minute of the past {almost year} spent with our little pooky. We love you Landon!!!!

Easter Sunday

Landon's first Easter was a very special one. We traveled down to Coral Springs to be with family and he got to meet his Great Grandma for the first time! It was SOOOO wonderful. He also had his first Easter egg hunt, he got treats from the Easter Bunny, he met baby Reese, he ate new foods, and got to go swimming in a pool! Quite an eventful weekend.

He loved the Easter Bunny! Constantly on the move, it's more challenging these days to get pictures. Candid ones are more fun anyway.

Chillin' with Daddy after a big meal. Great Grandma Phelan! We finally meet! Nono! Always encouraging Landon to try new things to eat. :) Uncle Ryan! Landon also experienced his first time swimming in a pool! I know, that's crazy considering we live in Florida. But it's true! He was a bit unsure at first... Not really diggin' it... And then- maybe this isn't so bad....

I can splash, just like when I'm in the bath...

Hey! This is FUN!!! Hope you enjoyed your Easter weekend as much as we did. :)