Girls' room details.

I posted  a few links from the room last week. I think the Sweet Heavenly Molasses is currently my favorite thing in the room. I also really prefer this bookshelf versus of all their books stacked under Lucy's bed:

We bought 3 crates from Home Depot (where else?) They sat for quite a while. We bought 2 cans of the same color pink spray paint that we painted the drawer pulls and some picture frames with & 1 paint of white. They got painted 1 coat, and they sat for a long while. Once it got warmer and I was playing outside with the kids everyday, I painted a few more coats, and finished them off with some Rust-oleum clear gloss. Luke screwed them all together, and then we put another coat of clear on them.I thought about attaching this to the wall somehow, and was afraid Lucy would pull it down. She isn't interested in trying got climb it, and it really is not heavy at all. Landon has quite a few more books than the 2 of them, but they both get the Imagination Library books every month. It will keep filling up!

Luke thinks we just made this shelf up, or thought about it on our own. But I think I saw it on a blog ( from Pinterest). DIY BOOKSHELF LINK

 

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Landon has swimming lessons starting today. I'm thinking back to him being 18 months old....

 

 

Where did May go?

We've been busy playing,swimming, working, planting, and growing! We've spent a few weekends at the farm helping my dad to get the garden going. He still can't push, pull, or lift due to his blood clot. Luke helped with some of the tilling, and Landon helped with some of the planting, & I helped drop a few seeds (eggplant seeds are TINY) and the little pods Landon started from home.

There are some green beans, lima beans, squash, zucchini, okra, tomatoes, eggplant,cantaloupe. watermelon, cucumbers, sweet corn,and later will have pumpkins. I also planted a row of sunflowers in the spot my dad always planted them for Amanda and me. Landon bought them for Poppy at Easter, along with some corn and watermelon seeds. Landon started some tomatoes and canteloupe at home. He was so excited to get them into the garden.

Lucy has been enjoying the sunshine as well. We have a teeny tiny baby blow up pool in the front yard that she likes to walk in and out of while Landon runs through the sprinkler. Amanda took them both up the road to the park while Elyssa's school was there for a field trip, and they loved it. Landon loves all the boys in Elyssa's class, and they run around with him like he's their little brother. Her new swimsuit is just a little too big for her, but she will be able to wear it all summer. She is growing growing! One of her 6-9 month pajamas wouldn't fit her last night, and a bubble outfit I put on her today was fitting like a onesie!

Lucy had her final speech evaluation yesterday before her 6 month evaluation, and she has gone up in all of her scores since the last test! She is testing IN HER  AGE RANGE in one category, and in her adjusted age range in the other! She was a level behind the last time. Her speech therapist feels great to dismiss her from First Steps. BUT, we also both know how hard it is to get back into the process of early intervention. 2 years is usually when you can tell much better if there is any delay. And while she is not delayed right now, and is progressing great ( she also said she has never seen a baby as early & as small as Lucy doing as well as she does in EVERY area!!!!), we are going to stay in for 6 more months. We will just do some monitoring until she is 2, in case she starts to fall behind at all.

At this time next week, hopefully I will have everything packed up and ready to go! We were hoping to get a new car by the time we left, but it looks like we might be holding off a few more weeks. Hopefully we will get a rental. The nitro needs NO more miles on it! Luke works on Friday, and then the plan is for him to come home and nap all afternoon/evening until his softball game. Then, we will all sleep a little bit until he and I are ready to go around 4 AM. Thankfully he ususally gets up at 3:30, so he is used to being up at that hour. We'll be heading towards my Grandparent's with a pit stop around breakfast at a Home Depot. Yep, it's Kids' workshop day ;) We'll spend Sunday at church and with the family before we go check into out hotel. Landon is so excited! He gets the maps out everyday and and shows us ''This is where disney is, and this is where we take the train, and it'll take like 10 minutes to get there!"

9 Days!

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talking & giggling

5-4-3-2-1 CANNON BAll!

We LOVE summer!

You might not be able to see, but Lucy got her ears pierced last week!

Labor day weekend =)

This weekend was spent away from Luke because he had to work. And yes, retail stores are open on Labor Day, so he worked Monday too. But, it's alright because tomorrow and Thursday when everyone is getting ready for work, he will be sleeping in, and we will enjoy family time for 2 days!

We headed to Louisville Friday afternoon, so we could head to the UL UK game Saturday with the family. No, Louisville didn't win. But it was actually a great game to watch, and there were a lot of improvements from the hole Krapthorpe left the program in. It will be a long season, and a while to rebuild, but it definitely looked better in the 2nd half!

I'm not quite sure how it's possible to sleep through half of a college football game! But this is how Landon spent his first college game--out of the womb. This game 2 years ago, Landon was in my belly at about 6 months!

After the game, we headed down to the farm. We swam at the swimming area at the lake Sunday after church, ate lunch, laid out, napped, and headed back to swim at some one's house off their docks in the evening. Sunday was great. Monday morning we ate breakfast, hung out in the front yard while Elyssa and Landon played in the sprinkler and splash pad. We headed back to the dock to swim for a few hours. Landon had a great time, but after a while started yelling and crying BYE BYE, so we headed back to eat lunch, pack, and head home.

Vacation

We left early Sunday morning to head to Panama City Beach. Landon and Elyssa rode with my parents, we figured they'd sleep for a few hours. But they were awake before 5 AM, and didn't fall asleep at all! Luke, Amanda, and I rode together in the Nitro. We wanted to get there in enough time to lay out and swim and enjoy the beach on Sunday, but we were all starved and went to Panera as soon as we got there. We did enjoy the pool and beach a little that day, but it was getting stormy. We stayed in a 3 bedroom 3 bath condo where we have stayed the last few times we have vacationed there. My parents had a large bedroom with a large window facing the ocean, and Luke and I had a smaller bedroom facing the street--but it had a large closet for Landon's pack n play! We ended up with a lock-out, so Amanda and Elyssa got the separate room with a balcony as well. Elyssa got her own pull out couch bed, so Amanda got her own King bed.
My favorite part of vacation has to be sleeping in a comfy, king bed. Everyone says how they can't wait to sleep in their own bed. BUT NOT ME! I never want to leave, and did shed some tears this time when pulling out.
The only negative about this trip was the june grass. It smelled like rotten corn, and was pretty gross when you got a big whiff. Evident ally it just came the few days before we got there, and as we were leaving it was getting pretty clear. It didn't stop us ( everyone but Luke) from going out and swimming in the beautiful Ocean. You only had to walk a few steps through it before it was crystal clear. I even found some spots where you could walk through none. Landon loved swimming in the ocean with his arm floaties.

This was Landon's 3rd time at this condo, and he really enjoyed the pool the most. He found a new favorite part of it: the shower!

We stayed until Friday morning, and Amanda flew out Thursday morning. We planned on checking out Friday morning, then spending a few hours at the pool. Of course, it was rainy and stormy Friday morning. About the time we needed to head out, it got sunny and beautiful.
We made one quick stop for lunch at Pineapple Willy's to enjoy the sunshine and beach for a few minutes, and get one more picture before we left.

Sweet summertime!

Summer is delicious, rain is refrshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilirating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. --John Ruskin

We had a fabulous time in Memphis last weekend. Landon enjoyed every minute, especially the pool. I'll have to steal some more pics if I see any. I only took a few:

Landon is under that splash. He loved the slide! We tried arm floaties, and he loved them!

I stole this one from Karen.

We finally got the living room and hallway floors down! Now just a few more small things to finish up with it. We didn't get the guest room painted, but we have all summer for that! And we didn't get the kitchen floor laid down during Luke's week off, but we don't think it will take too long to complete.

Landon has gone on the potty at least 1 time every day since last Monday--except Thursday, when he had a Dr appointment. And we didn't try Saturday when we were out of town. I enjoy sitting with him so much. He is a trip, and LOVES to sit on his potty. Hopefully soon, it will click that he needs to use the potty, and will be able to tell us himself!


Tomorrow is my first 'race' since the mini-marathon. It's a 5K in Nolensville. I've been just doing 3.1 a few times a week, so we will see how I do. Hopefully it won't be 106 with humidity in the AM!


I've loved this song for a while now,& still enjoy it!
Listen and enjoy.

Mini-Vaca

We had a wonderful long weekend trip to the beach! It was very relaxing, even with Landon. Luke let me get a lot of laying out time to get a break from my 'job' since we took it with us. And since he takes a 3 hour nap ( and it was longer from being SO worn out while we were there), Luke got to sneek in a nap each day too. On Sunday afternoon we both layed out, read, slept, and relaxed outside by the pool while Landon napped. We were on the 4th floor ( pool level), so we could lay right by our patio.I'll add a few pictures and 2 videos, but have a lot on facebook.

Daddy and his sweet little boy!

Landon and his Mommy on the beach.Sharing some superman icecream. He loved the water, and playing with his Daddy all day.

I love Tuesdays!

Since I've become a Stay At Home Mom, I really don't have a 'weekend' to look forward to. I don't wake up every Mon. morning, and dread the work week, looking forward to Friday. WHICH, by the way, Really annoys me. I hate to read on people's facebook that they can't wait until Friday afternoon. I understand how jobs are annoying and not always where we want to be, but I really believe in enjoying each day, being thankful for another day to be alive, not wishing my life away, and making the best of it. A few months ago, Tuesday became my favorite day. I started doing a cycling class at the Y--which I LOVE. I also really enjoy watching The biggest Loser, and I also REALLY love $.45 wings at BW3's!

Today was Landon's last Tuesday swim lesson. We finish his lessons on Thursday =( Last week was NOT a fun week at lessons. I believe that most of it had to do with the 2 new teeth he has, and the 3 that have broken through. YES, 5 new teeth in the last week and a half. Just about 2 weeks ago, he only had 4 1/2 teeth-the regular 1st 4 that come in, and a 1/2 of another. He has added a full molar up top, another tooth on the bottom, and his other 3 molars are poking out! He was doing everything wonderfully in the pool, except for kicking his feet and moving his arms.(The main purpose for this class is to get the acquainted with the pool)FINALLY today he laid over the noodle, kicked his arms and legs, and smiled the entire time. He had a great attitude today, and it made me very happy =) I love that during his lessons, there is a class in the other end of the pool. It is mostly seniors. Half the time during class, they are focused on their instructor, and then the other half of the time, they are looking at Landon and smiling. I love that he has like 50 'grandparents' who enjoy watching his swimming lessons. When they are done, some of them get into the hot tub, and Landon will climb out on that side of the pool to tell them all "Hi!". And then after lessons, so many of them talk to him,say how adorable he is, how well he did in class, and how they could tell how much he enjoys swimming. It's so fun, and I'm glad he can bring joy to other people's morning!

Luke had his review and rating this week for work. We have been praying about this for a long time now. We are so grateful for everything we have been blessed with, Home Depot being such a great company for Luke to work for, and for me to be able to stay home with Landon. Like most couples (I hope), this was an issue we discussed before marriage. There was never any other thought besides that I would stay home when we had children, and most likely go back when they entered school-- to pay for their Private schooling. We were a little hesitant for me to stay home once we finally got to the point, and I did go back for about 4 months. It was the best decision for me to get tenured, get summer pay, and have another chunk of one of my loans paid off. After that, we took the plunge into living off of one income, knowing that God would provide all of our needs, and never doubting our decision. It has been an adjustment, but we love it and believe it is for the best for us! And all this to say that Luke got the highest rating he could get at his review. This means he is eligible to take the test that will allow him to interview for his own store =) I'm so happy and proud of all his work. When he started with the company as an hourly associate, he made a goal to be a manager in 5 years.....well it's been about that long, and he is as close as he can be now!


This sign is from Pineapple willy's last summer. And in 24 days, we'll be back on the beach! Luke has 2 weeks of vacation left he has to use by August, but he can't use them in the spring. So we'll just go for a long weekend like we did last year--Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, and come back Monday afternoon. He is going to use 1 of his weeks to work on the flooring & deck on the house, and use the other the first week in August to go back to the beach. We found a place last Spring, stayed there in July, and LOVE it. Luke talks ( and stalks the Internet) weekly about moving to a store down there, and buying a 3 bedroom condo there. If you know me at all, you know it Sounds Great to me!!!! We stay at the Origin at Sehaven The beach works out great with us, even having Landon. Luke enjoys a few hours in the sun, beach, and pool. but at some point, his idea of vacation--relaxing in a bed or watching TV-- works perfectly with Landon taking a nap, and mommy getting to lay out in peace and quiet. I love that he always tries to squeeze in little trips like this! He knows I LOVE the beach and sun, and it keeps us sane to get away for a few days. The weekend we are there, is my long run of 10 miles. This makes me a little bit nervous, but I am glad there are treadmills if I get bored running it all outside. I'm doing good with my 'late' training. Once I get past the first 2 miles, I'm good to go! This is all mental for me, and I WILL meet my goal! I am excited though that I will get to run to and around Pier Park. I have been using www.mapmyrun.com to find different routes for me to run during the week or for my long run when I don't use the treadmill at the Y. So we won't have to drive around and around the beach until we find a 10 mile route I like.
This was a long and random blog, but now it's time to go to the park with my Landon! Luke will be home shortly after, and then I'm off to lift, cycle, and tan!

Swimming lessons

Luke got up early today to go watch Landon in his swimming lessons. OF COURSE today is the 1st day that Landon was not happy throughout about 60% of swimming =( I know he has about 3 more teeth trying to come through, and we have had a few sleepless nights. He actually slept all of Monday night, but his teeth are bothering him, I'm sure. It doesn't help that he instantly spots a ball, and that is ALL he wants to do is throw the basketball in the pool.

Luke tried to take some pictures, but they aren't really 'allowed' in the Y. He got a few until the other baby showed up. So, we didn't get Great ones of him going under or jumping in from the side, but we got a few.








Landon can climb out of the side of the pool ( he uses my leg some to push off of), and he has now transfered that skill to climbing up on the couch. He gets SO proud of himself when he climbs on it. He also tried to climb out of the bathtub last night--he had one leg all the way up on the ledge =) We usually throw some sort of toy out of the side of the pool for him to climb up and get. Then he will jump back into the pool. The first few times he would stand and hold onto my hands, we count " 1, 2, 3" and then make a big loud deal of noise ( like sucking in air) every time, and he smiles & jumps in. Right before he hits the water he closes his eyes, and shuts his mouth. He does so good. Today, he sat on the edge and jumped in. One time I started him standing, but when I got to '3', he sat down and jumped in that way.
His teacher said the main difference in his ability 'checklist' and the 10 month old that is in his class is that he needs to be able to kick when he is floating/hanging on to whatever he is using....he kinda just freezes, finds the ball in the pool, reaches towards that way, and yells BALL.
He didn't want to float on his back today.He just wanted to squirm sideways, and go get the ball.

He got excited today when the baby got to class.

He is easliy distracted by the deep water class in the lap pool.

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On a side note, we all went grocery shopping yesterday. We have been staying in an ok budget for our groceries. We spend about $75-$85 for about a 2-2 1/2 week period.Kroger has a March Madness sale going on now, where if you buy 8 items, it will take $4 off your total. So we shopped in multiples of 8's yesterday, keeping track on the top of our grocery list. We got some GREAT deals on pasta sauce and noodles, oscar meyer sandwiches, mott's apple juices ( $.99), and frozen french fries. In the end, we thought we were at 40 items that were participating in the sale....but after it rung up we were only at 39 =( But instead of us going back, getting another juice, and changing the reciept, the CS lady just put $4 back on our debit card! This was our total ( take away $4, and add $4 to savings!)
We're still learning how to make the best use of coupons and sales, but this was a good day for us, and saving pretty close to 50%. We are working to get better!