A Fall Day in the Woods - In Pictures

There is nothing you can't do with a stump and a wireless remote!

A totally un-prompted kiss for his big sister. 

His eyes melt me in this one.

My beautiful nature bug. 

Practice makes perfect, that what they say. I have been studying and reading and practicing, forcing myself out of the comfortable auto mode and into manual mode. With every picture I take I am becoming more comfortable with my camera. It has only taken four years! I am worried less about missing the perfect smile and focusing more on creatively capturing the perfect moment. I am proud to say all of the above photos were captures in manual mode. Go me! I had to get creative with the editing in the last photo. Landon was a bit out of focus, but I just loved the photo anyway. 

Happy 89th Birthday Granny

Our Granny. Tough. Beautiful. Stubborn. Warm. Hilarious sense of humor. Ornery. Encouraging. Loving and generous. Above everything else, her family has been always most important to her.

My whole life my Granny has been front and center cheering me on, literally and non-literally. I always heard my Granny cheering well, coaching really, from center field! She has always pulled for me. Giving me words of encouragement and advise. If I need the truth, the real truth, I ask Granny. She doesn't sugar coat much of anything. I strive to live my life as honest as she.  She has been a wonderful example to me. She has taught me that life throws you some curve balls. Life is not always fair or easy, but it is beautiful and worth fighting for.  She is so strong and independent, but she also leans on those who love her when she needs to.

If feel so blessed to have my Granny in my life. And I am so happy that Addi and Landon have the opportunity to be loved on by Granny. A purely devoted love.

                                                                             ::

Our family gathered in honor of our Granny's birthday. Granny has five children, Aunt Sandy, Uncle Gary, Papa, Uncle Roger and Aunt Robin and five step-children. She has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren and one adorable great-great-grandchild, Ava.

Granny and some of her great-grandchildren. 

It was so great catching up with all my cousins and their cutie-pie kiddos. 

So many sweet babies!

{September 23rd, 2012}

OshKosh Ladybug

Magic happens. Perfect, magical moments happen without planning them. Most of of my favorite photos are unplanned and un-posed. Landon and I were playing outside. I always bring my camera, because you never know when his cuteness will reach a new level! Landon was exploring in the grass and found a ladybug. 

On a side note: how stinking cute are those overalls? I wish I had a pair in every size until he graduates! 

A disclaimer: No ladybugs were harmed, or I should say permanently damaged, in the making of this post! She was probably a little traumatized and a little dizzy, but she was alive and intact when we said goodbye and set her free! 

My sweet boy loves giving kisses, bugs are no exception. After kissing his bug he smiled and said, "iss."

This and That

Fall is settling on our part of the world. Nighttime temps fall into the low 30s and the leaves on the trees are starting to glow yellow and red. I love fall even though it means six plus months of cold is ahead of us.

At 14 months old sweet Landon is morphing from a baby into a little boy. He loves digging in the dirt and bringing me treasures he finds outside. Rocks, sticks and bugs are his favorite. He crawls at turbo speed and is able to stand on his own for several seconds. He enjoys helping me feed the dogs and he still loves training for the Olympics in the bathtub.

New words in the life of a toddler are always exciting. A couple weeks ago he started saying mama. One day he was crawling behind me and he started repeating, "Mama. Mama. Mama." The sound of his little voice calling out to me melts my heart.

Top 1 & 2: Catching and showing me a bug. 3: Too hungry for pictures! 4: Helping fold laundry.
Bottom 1: A little nerdy. 2: Helping himself to tomato off plant. 3: Cute in his fall vest. 4: Helping care for Danni!

                     


                     





Two days ago he woke up from a nap. We were eating dinner. I put him in his high chair. He was ill and still half asleep. He was lying back in his chair, too tired to hold himself up. I was blowing on a spoonful of mashed potato all of a sudden he blurts out clear as day, "Hot." I looked around at Daddy and Addi to see if they heard it or if my mind made it up! I said, "Yes, honey, your potatoes are hot." He just smiled. He has started blowing on his food if I tell him it is hot.

He points to something and we say, "This?" and he says while pointing, "That!"  It is a cute exchange!
He asks, "that?" and we will tell him what 'that' is. He signs 'please' and 'all done'. This past month he got his 8th tooth in.


This past weekend Landon and I were really sick. For almost two straight days we stayed in bed in our jammies. Landon ended up with a fever of 103.5 and an ear infection. He has been pretty sick, sleepy and very gooey.

                            

Yesterday Landon saw a pediatric cardiologist for his pectus excavatum, his indented chest. His pediatrician wanted to make sure his indented sternum bone wasn't putting too much pressure on his heart. The cardiologist said his indented chest was on the mild side of moderate in severity and there is no reason to be alarmed by it. Basically there are rarely any emergent cases when it needs to be fixed at his age and really very little reason to worry about it. Because Landon's intended chest wasn't caused by an underlining syndrome and because there is a history of this on my side of the family we will continue to treat him as a well baby and do nothing about it.  If he later develops breathing or heart problems, or if he has trouble with fatigue while playing sports or develops issues swallowing food we may choose to have it fixed when he is around sixteen years old. He said there is a chance that Landon may even outgrow it. His doctor said once his bones begin to harden (in his teens) it won't look as scary when he breaths. His whole chest sucks way in and looks as though it is collapsing when he takes a breath. It looks worse than it is because the cartilage is more pliable that hardened bone. We will have yearly cardiology exams to monitor it and make sure it doesn't get worse. But for now it is one more thing we can check off that we don't need to worry about. Praise the Lord!

Killing time at the park before doctor appt. 

Addison is so busy in her new big kid life. She is so happy. She is doing so well in gymnastics. The move to the big kid class was a little traumatic the first time. She is the youngest and smallest. She chose to sit and watch the first class. By her second class she was ready to show her new coaches how strong, confident and ready to learn she is. She "got her brave back" and did cartwheels, front rolls, and worked the bars right along with the big kids in her class.

Ballet, soccer and school are going so well. She is loving every second. Her school teacher pulled me aside one morning and said she is enjoying having Addi in class. She said Addi is so bright and "does everything right!" She said she so was impressed that Addi can tie her own shoes. One proud Mama I was! Addi actually taught herself to tie her shoes. I remember probably over a year ago showing her on my shoes, but since then we haven't talked about shoe-tying, it being flip-flop season and all. She pulled  her new tennis shoes out of the box, put them on and tied them all by herself on her first try. A very, very big deal in the life of a four-year-old!

Waiting for ballet to start.

New kicks all tied up!

Daddy is having a great time with his friend, PA school classmate and new co-worker, Shane, avoiding all the grizzlies while trying to track down an elk. He dusted off his bow and is hoping to fill the freezer early this year. He is a giddy little boy during hunting season. I spend my hunting-widowed time watching the cheezy-girly movies that Dylan normally complains about!

I have been able to sneak a couple mommy days and go climbing with my friend Claudia. We love the quiet time spent climbing in the beautiful Blackleaf Canyon. Some people have questioned my choice of how I spend my alone time! Yes, I do prefer scaling rocky cliffs, dangling 90 feet over jagged edges suspended by only a rope. "Why not relax? Get a pedicure, go get coffee?" they ask. I like the challenge. I like the fear. I like learning a new, difficult thing, trusting myself, my gear and my climbing partner. Plus you can't get the view I get at the top or the rush I feel from a nail salon!

The kids and I get out and explore as much as possible!

Last Friday night we attended our first hometown high school football game. It was such a cool feeling when the lights came on and the boys were playing under the Friday Night Lights. Kids of all ages were running and playing everywhere. The whole town came out to support the team. Addison found several of her friends and was off playing with them the rest of the game while Daddy, Landon and I sat with friends in the stands. We crushed the other team 30-something to zero! Go Dawgs!

Ending this post with some love. I heard them playing and quietly spied on them to find this! 



Addison and Landon love, love, love to read together.

Reading books together.

My Little Ballerina

I didn't cry when she sat in a circle and sang her name to her music classmates for the first time. I didn't cry when she put on her backpack and walked into preschool. I didn't cry the first time she did a somersault on the balance beam at gymnastics and I certainly didn't cry when she kicked her first goal in soccer. But when my little girl put on her all black ballet leotard, tutu and tights I started to cry. With her hair all pulled back in a ballet bun she looked too grown up. I was so overcome with emotion and I wasn't ready to be knocked down by the sight of her. She walked over and hugged me. I am amazed how she is able to recognize emotion and is wise enough to know what I was thinking without me saying anything. I just smiled and hugged her and she said, "I am still your little girl mommy." Talk about breaking my heart into a million pieces.

Preschool ballet class. Such a simple thing. In Addi's world it has been very important and all she has talked about for so, so long. It felt so good to finally be giving her this gift.

Addi's friend Jaden is also in her ballet class. We took a girl's only road trip to Great Falls for their first class. Corrie and I walked them into the studio and then watched them from the window. Addi and Jaden did not stop smiling and giggling the entire class. They both made sure their mamas were watching as they danced and skipped and bent in half. They were so enveloped with joy. After class they were sized for their ballet slippers and tap shoes.

This reminds me of The Notebook,
 "Tell me I'm a bird. Tell me I'm a bird"

 

What an exciting, beautiful time in their little lives. I love watching her grow, learn and explore new things in her world. She warms up to new situations a lot quicker. She is developing into an outgoing goof ball, too smart for her own good!

After class we stopped for a giant, cheesy, greasy pizza! Our little ballerinas were starving!

Addison Goes To School

"I will not go to school." That is pretty much how the day before her first day went. She was dead set on rebelling against the whole preschool thing. I tried pumping her up. Telling her all the new things she would learn. "But Mama, I already know everything. I have no more room in my brain to learn anything else", she said with her arms crossed firmly in front of her chest and her head and nose tilted up and to the side in her, I-will-not-budge-if-I-don't-want-to face.

A minor melt down this morning!

Once she picked out her first-day-of-school outfit her attitude started to change. The super-sparkly-silver-princess-shoes we got last year on super clearance at Target were brought out. She had forgotten about them and when I asked her if her super-sparkly-silver-princess-shoes would make her feel better about going to school she shouted, "Yes!" The only way to clear out her major Addi-Tude is to either change the subject to fashion or hand her a mint-chocolate chip ice cream cone.

She was up early. We cuddled on the couch for over an hour. When my alarm went off at 6:45 am she was still wide awake. Giddy almost. I was so happy. I just remember the horrible two weeks when she started daycare for the first time in Helena. We both were a miserable mess for so long and I did not want her to feel that way again.

We talked with BFF Jaden about the goodbye routine over waffles. Addi asked over and over again, "Okay now. You promise you will pick me up right at 11:30?"

For a long time Addi has said she wants to be a whale girl when she grows up. What is a whale girl you might ask? Well, Addi wants to be that girl who goes to the arctic to visit the beluga whales and then take rides on them. In precious Addi's world that profession exists. All I can say while gleaming pride is, "Me too baby girl. Me too!"

Daddy, Landon and I dropped her off. She went right in, hung up her backpack and then found her name at the table.  She said goodbye and gave us each a big hug. With some hesitation and a push from Dylan we walked out. When she lost sight of us she started to cry, whimper really. By the time we walked out she had stopped. 

 

When I picked her up she had the biggest smile on her face. She had a great day. She is very excited to go back. 

Landon's Surgery

It's over. He is well. He is happy, we are home and it is over. Friends and family have said, "Surgery is always harder on the parents." I believe that. Waiting for the surgery day and then waiting for him to be back in my arms was so hard.

Sweet boy and Surgery Bear waiting for surgery.

We drove to Missoula early Wednesday morning for Landon's pre-op appointment with his surgeon. At 6:20 am the following morning we were checking in to Community Hospital. We spent an hour sitting with Landon on the hospital bed while the nurses got things in order. He was so calm and happy. He loved playing with his ankle name tags and the pulse-ox cord. Landon's anesthesiologist and our friend, Cristi came and explained how she would get him to sleep and how she would keep him comfortable and safe. A few minutes before 7:30 Landon was given "happy juice". The medicine made him very loopy and droopy. He didn't mind when the nurse took him out my arms. I handed Landon his blankey, kissed his cheek and told him that I loved him.  It was so hard watching him walk out of the room in the arms of a stranger. I buried myself into Dylan's shoulder and cried. 

Dylan and I waited with our mothers in the waiting room. Addison was with Papa. After about an hour and 10 minutes Landon's surgeon came in with a big smile. The surgery went well. Originally we thought he had a hernia on both sides. He ended up having a hernia only on his left side. He had to have incisions on both sides however just to be sure! 

They brought us right into the anesthesia recovery room to be with him. He was agitated and screaming. He was arching his back and crying. I laid in the bed next to him and comforted him the best I could. Eventually he fell into a deep sleep. He stayed calm and slept for over an hour. He finally woke up and again was crying, agitated and arching his back. Once he started to get his bearings he calmed down and drank some water and ate applesauce. Shortly after that we left the hospital.

It was a fast, easy process. I am thankful for that. We were told to expect his nerve blocks to wear off sometime in the middle of the night. We were told to expect Landon to be in some pain and to give him Tylenol every four hours for 48 straight hours. He slept from Missoula to Choteau and from the moment we took him out of the car he never once acted like anything had even happened. He slept soundly the first night. I, however, woke up many times checking on him and listening for him. I was expecting a sleepless night. He never acted in pain or even slightly uncomfortable. He never needed Tylenol. We were told that we did not need to limit his activity. They said he would self-regulate depending on how he felt. The very next morning after his surgery he was climbing the stairs, crawling every where to follow Addi and playing outside. He was only upset when I wouldn't let him climb up the stairs and when I would not let him get into the tub with big sister. 

Auntie Em said, "Nothing short of a bullet wound will slow that kid down!" So true. He is a tough little man.

Sound asleep right after surgery.

Sister was so worried about him. Waiting for him to wake up.