Almost an entire month has flown by...

What a fun, and busy month! I've been traveling a lot, busy with my wonderful business, and the boys are stinkers...what can I say!?

We are currently in Swift Current - Landon is having fun fighting with Ryder, Arlan's trying to keep up and is loving playing with the puppies and kitties. Landon loves Lulu so much -- she slept with us last night, and the first thing Landon said when he woke up was "where's lulu?" Then he told me it was too early for me to get up, I could stay in bed (YES!).
It was actually nice that we all slept in today. Arlan's been waking up ~5 or 6 am at Grandma and Grandpa's -- WAY too early for me! today he slept in until 10 am, SWEET! I like that much better. But of course he isn't wanting to nap now ... but that's ok.

So we are fine. The kids are trouble-makers. particularly Arlan. It's like he knows he'll get away with lots with those eyes...
We are in Swifty until Sunday, then up to Aunty's in Kyle, then to Med Hat for a night with Julie which I'm really looking forward to. Tuesday we'll be home again - which will be super nice for all of us!

That's the quick update for now...until next time.

Time goes by...

Not much happening here. We had a nice relaxing weekend. The Easter bunny brought chocolate for the boys, which they devoured. It was pretty cute to see Arlan running for the cupboard, arms stretched out, "choholah!!"
Landon's still riding his bike - has worn the rubber off the training wheels!! lol It's been really windy though, too windy for anyone to want to be outside. But the boys do spend some time in the backyard most days ... swinging and throwing sand around. I don't know if we'll have grass back there this year, or a beach.

Arlan had a fever tonight, pretty miserable. Sure hope he's not getting sick :-( We gave him some Motrin and put him to bed ... will have to see what the morning brings. I am worried that it's maybe his ears as we went swimming today and he seemed fine, then he slept for 3 hours when we came home, and woke up slightly fevered and VERY grumpy. He got worse as the evening progressed, refused to eat or have his bottle. So I think it's either his 2-year molars, or his ears. And if it's his ears, then to the doc we'll go tomorrow :-( Poor little stinker-pants.

Anyway, that's the news ... until next time. ...

Not much happenin'

We are enjoying some nice weather, despite the wind :-/ The boys are loving playing outside, and I'm happy that the backyard is getting more "playable". The sandbox is wide open now, so hopefully it'll dry out soon (the boys are playing in it anyway!).

Arlan continues to talk more and more. He's starting to say sentences, like "Landon sit now" and things like that. He definitely knows what he wants, and when he doesn't get it he shares his feelings. Usually by crying / screaming in your face. It's annoying, but mostly funny (unless you have a head ache or are on the phone ... not fun for people on the other end of the phone either!). The boys mostly fight all day, with brief periods of peaceful playing which I love. But they're fun.

Landon seems to be enjoying preschool more. He actually asked to go to preschool Monday morning, but he only goes Tues and Thurs mornings. And of course, now he doesn't have preschool until Apr 13!! Easter break. But at least he's enjoying it more.
Oh yeah, Landon's spring concert was at preschool last Thursday. I enjoyed it (Arlan loved playing with the toys there). Landon didn't squeak a single word, or participate in any way. He just sat there quite shy. But he didn't cry, so I was happy about that. Maybe next concert he'll find his voice.

Landon is getting better at controlling his strong emotions too. The other night he was so mad at John because John told him to quit hitting the window. He picked up the pillow, and you could see in every fibre of his body just how badly he wanted to throw that pillow at John. We just watched him with that "go ahead and try it" look in our eyes. He marched over to John with the pillow poised over his head, and put it on John's legs and stamped away. Much better - very impressive self-control I think. So it's an improvement. In fact, he's much less aggressive in many ways. I'm definitely seeing a pattern - Feb / Mar is an aggressive time for Landon, and I'm thinking maybe due to it being the end of winter and he's sick of being inside? But I distinctly recall us having some challenges right when he turned 2, then 3, and now at 4. So perhaps we'll be able to better manage that at 5? We'll see

Anyway, I'd better go, just thought I should put a note up. Until next time...

times, they be a-changin'

I did it, I left the kids in the car *gasp* for approximately 1 minute today while I dropped candles off. Bad mommy, I know. Arlan was asleep, Landon was enjoying his A&W bribery winnings. Then Landon walks up the stairs to get me. Yup, I forget, he's in his booster seat and can easily undo the buckle. Then he climbs over the seats to the front, as the back doors have the child-locks engaged. Gets out and comes on up to get me. Of course.

So, no need to scold me too much, it'll be the absolutely last time he's left in there at all (except maybe when I get the mail, maybe, he was half-way to the front seats today when I got the mail, ready to climb out the door after me ... to "help" of course). *sigh*

Arlan was oblivious to it all, drooling on his jacket. Poor kid. He was so grumpy all morning, so sleepy. He didn't even eat his A&W winnings, hamburger's in the fridge :-/ He's so cute, it's ridiculous really.

Landon also scared the pants off of me tonight. He's in bed, has been for 1.5 hours or so. It's quiet, I'm thinking he's asleep finally. I go there, no Landon. The mattress is off the bed, all the bedding strewn about the room, but no Landon. Then I pick the mattress up to put it on the bed, and Landon's been playing under it! Seriously. So, the long-time threat was followed through - all toys in Landon's room were boxed up and put in the garage where they will remain for 1 full week. That includes Thomas trains and trains, his hotwheels spinning fire-thingy, stuffed animals. Of course, while I took the first load down to the garage, I could hear him scampering about. I asked him what he was doing. "Just moving my favourite toys downstairs!" he tells me (so that they don't go out to the garage!). He was huffing and puffing like he'd run a marathon! So I gave him that one, smart little bugger; whatever toys he managed to salvage to the toybox downstairs did not put into the garage :-/

TOO SMART FOR HIS OWN GOOD!

That's the news from here...

Finally - PLAYING OUTSIDE!

I love when the boys can play outside. And not only outside, but in the backyard too! The sun is shining on more ground back there every day, so the snow is finally disappearing :-D Even Arlan was out there today ... although he fell on the icy parts and hurt his bottom, poor kid.

Landon actually spent the entire afternoon playing with Camryn from down the street. Firstly they played out front of our house for a bit, then at Camryn's, then back to our house and Caitlin came over too, then in the backyard. It was so nice to see him having so much fun with his friends. And of course Arlan loved every minute that he was awake for...

We also learned today that Landon's friend from preschool lives on our street too :-) So that should add to the play-time fun on the block! YAY

We haven't been doing too much besides playing with the kids. I've been busy with some Mia Bella fun. I'm just so glad the weather's getting nicer, my house is a bit muddier, but it's quieter for a good chunk of the day and that's good.

until next time...

more pics - randoms

Arlan was playing so hard he fell asleep - on the floor in the living room! A site we've never seen with Landon, that's for sure!!


Landon's new favourite activity is "tories" at bedtime with Landon. We all snuggle up in Landon's bed to read ... Arlan's always first, waiting for Landon and mommy!

Arlan just hanging out, drinking his bottle, doing a "cool dude" impression...













Landon painted himself so nicely one day -- thank goodness for washable paints! Even his toenails were done so beautifully!

And this is the kind of help I can afford in my house ... the boys were, ahem, sorting?? laundry. Very helpful, certainly.

Birthday Party Pics

Here's the shot of Landon's construction cake. The toys were a hit with him, of course :-) Thank you to Grandma for helping mom make this cake!!

Landon's favourite present was his new two-wheeler bike! This pic is about 15 minutes after he got it ... he was riding like a pro right from the start! I think we'll be doing a lot of bike riding this summer!


Opening presents - this one is the hotwheels (look at his face!), he has been playing with that whenever he isn't outside riding bike (and Arlan's been scheming to get that monster truck...)

Landon picking the construction vehicles off of his cake, and all the kids waiting oh-so-patiently for their piece!!

Success - and Landon's FOUR

Landon's birthday party (and the entire weekend) was very successful! We had a great party - with no meltdowns or fights or anything (phew!). Landon had a blast with friends here and presents. He definitely has the idea of presents now - it's all he wanted to do was to open presents! LOL His favourite was his new two-wheeler (with training wheels), which he took to immediately. He can even leave "blackies" when he stops! I can hardly wait for warmer weather, he'll be riding his bike all the time I'm sure.
Present fave #2 was his first HotWheels set -- some monster truck slammin' jammin' fire shootin' thing a ma hooey. He plays with it non-stop.
We've also started a "chores" list for Landon. He gets stamps when he does his chores, and when he gets enough stamps he can have money and can buy what he wants (which fluctuates between more monster trucks, Frosters from Mac's - which he refers to as treats - and today he was going to buy a movie). He's quite proud when he gets to put stamps on the chart, as I haven't let him use my stamps before. And the chart is up high, we have to help him up there, so it's a big deal.

Arlan loved the weekend too. Grandma and Grandpa were here. He kept pointing to Grandpa and saying "Look! Grandpaaaaa!" with big grin on his face. He is talking more and more, now it's just to figure out what he's saying. "rhoni" means macaroni, got that one figured out tonight. He loved the toys and people and everything on the weekend as well. He didn't even make it through the party - he went to nap right after lunch and missed the present opening and everything! lol Last night both boys were snoozing early - Arlan didn't even want to hear all of his "tory".
Arlan LOVES stories at bedtime. All you have to do is mention story-time and he's burning up the stairs. I didn't know where he went the other night, I went upstairs and there's Arlan laying in the middle of Landon's bed, looking at me with bright eyes, "Tory!" Too funny! Landon quite tolerant of Arlan sharing story-time with him, thankfully. Although the past 2 nights he's taken to reading his own stories in mom's bed ... Dad changed that one up tonight though. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I have the camera and all the wonderful pictures sitting here. I have to upload and go through them and hope to be able to do that tomorrow night. The kids are much less tolerant of mommy on the computer these days - I really don't get much chance at all before they're in bed. And I certainly don't get blocks of time to get anything major, like pictures, accomplished throughout the day. So hopefully tomorrow evening...

Oh yeah - and Landon had his 4-year check up on Monday morning. He's just a smidgen under 40 pounds, and is 40.5" tall. 75th percentile for both height and weight, as he's always been. Everything else is great. He was a big boy too. I asked him to sit nicely beside mommy and show Arlan how a good boy waits patiently for the doctor. And he did it! For only about 45 seconds, but he did it!! lol Now to get that patience stretched out a bit further...

until next time...

happy morning...

Well this has been an incredibly happy morning. Landon woke up in the best mood I've seen him in in several days! Likely because we all slept until after 9 am (which makes mommy in a very happy mood too!).
Or maybe Landon's getting the vibe for his birthday coming up this weekend ... the next few days are all about party-planning! Gotta figure out a cake, party snacks, etc. Again, ideas are welcomed! I'm leaning towards a construction cake, using little construction vehicles ...maybe a mining scene with big dump trucks????

preschool struggles

Well, it seems that Landon really isn't liking preschool. It all began at his Valentine's party there on Feb 9. Since then he has hated it - begging me to leave him in the car while I go inside, fighting not to go, then refusing to let go of me when we do arrive. One day he even had a couple of tears escape after I left :-(
So I had to call today to see what's up. It all stems from that party. That day when I picked him up he was sad, he said that his cookies weren't eaten because someone said there's 'too much sugar' in them (they were iced roll-out cookies, in the shape of hearts - nothing too fancy). I do believe this all stems from that careless comment made by a volunteer mom, no doubt (really, would a 3 year old kid say there was too much sugar in anything??!!). We are going to send cookies to preschool for his birthday party on Thursday - hoping to replace a bad cookie experience with a good one. This time I think I'll buy Oreos and leave it at that (I don't need to feel bad about my baking skills too!). Landon doesn't want to bake cookies, he said he doesn't like the other kids :-/ He has related an incident where someone yelled at him "Get out of here! You're not supposed to be here!" I think this was most likely some kid wanting to keep the toys they were playing with to themselves, but I wonder if Landon took that to mean he wasn't supposed to be at preschool?

If that doesn't work, I'll volunteer to see how things happen at preschool. It's really heartbreaking -- he absolutely LOVED preschool up until that day, and I so hope we can get that magic back for him. Plus I simply don't want to face the fight to get him there, and then deal with him when I pick him up (he's horrible for about an hour, yelling, screaming, sulking, throwing things, hitting ... ). I know that preschool is valuable for him (and me), but not if it's a horrid experience for him -- and I am contemplating pulling him out, at least until the fall, if things don't turn around.

The teachers say he has a lot of fun at preschool (she hadn't noticed anything was wrong at all). He's got some buddies that giggle and play together, he loves the trucks and trains. He enjoyed the ambulance that was at the school today (although he didn't even want to tell me about it when I picked him up, just throwing his hat and colouring book all over the car and pouting). After an hour, he did admit to having some fun, and told me all about the ambulance -- but that was a looooong hour to get to that point.

Anyway, that is where we're at. Hopefully Thursday can bring some positive memories into his head. I'm open to suggestions on this one ....

Puddle jumping :-)

It's puddle season ... or laundry season, whichever way you choose to look at it. The boys both had a ton of fun playing in the puddles with all the neighbour kids today! Arlan is so funny when he gets around other kids - he's so happy and amazed and just wants to participate :-)

Arlan's very favourite new thing is story time before bed. I started including him in the stories in Landon's bed. Now when it's bed time he's laying in there, with his blankie, all ready and waiting!! So sweet! Now to get Landon that ready and willing...

Other than that, we've been hanging out at home. With this nice weather, neither kid wants to fall asleep at night. you'd think more fresh air would mean easier bedtimes, but nope! Not in our house... Of course with Arlan he did sleep late this morning, and have a nice long nap, so that may contribute as well.

We bought Landon's b'day gift today - a 2-wheeler bicycle. I think he'll love it. Hopefully this nice weather holds out so he can start learning to ride it right away. Now I just have to get his party planned....cake, guests invited, etc etc ...
We also bought Landon a booster seat today. He's 40 lbs, and I think he's ready to be in a big-boy seat. I'm sick of strapping him into the car seat too, the straps barely fit around him he's getting so big! It'll be nice to just use the seat belt - hopefully he'll be able to do it himself.

We got rid of a bunch of baby toys etc this weekend too. The neighbours are expecting, so we off-loaded a pile. If they throw it away, I'm ok with that, as long as I don't have to!!

Anyways, that's the news from here for today ... until next time!

Aaaallllmost!

We took Arlan to the doc again yesterday - he wanted to see him after 10 days of antibiotics. One ear is all cleared up, but the other is still a bit red :-( Poor guy - it's taking him a really long time! But the doctor said he can go swimming now, so we'll be able to make the last 2 weeks of swim lessons YAY

Last night Landon's laying in bed, not sleeping (well, technically he was building train tracks very quietly in his room, but we aren't supposed to know that). He calls out "Mom! I can't sleep!" I reply, "Landon just lay quiet and close your eyes, you'll fall asleep." A few minutes later I hear, "Mom, it's not working! My HANDS are still AWAKE!" Really - how do you answer that one!! John and I just giggled and told him to keep trying.

Arlan and Landon are mischief makers these days. Landon convinces Arlan to "come upstairs and play!" (it doesn't take much convincing ... Arlan bobs his head and toddles for the stairs immediately). They are giggling and laughing, there's much banging and bonking, I decide I have to go and see what they're doing (even though I hate to). If you can believe, they've stripped Landon's bed, and pulled the mattress off!! They have the mattress propped up against the boxspring, so that they can stand on the boxspring and jump on the mattress and sort of slide / fall down. Then they smack the closet doors and turn around to do it again. *sigh* Do you even bother trying to curb this fun??
No need, they eventually smash their heads together, or Arlan smacks his head on one of the many objects in the room. Invariably, Arlan cries for approximately 30 seconds, while Landon howls for 5 minutes or more because Arlan hurt himself! Landon maybe wasn't even involved in the injury, but he's the one crying the hardest :-/ Poor kid ... rough life he leads!!

So that's the news from here for today -- until next time...

Better? YES!

I think Arlan's over this infection - although he does still dig his thumb into his eyes when he cries. We go to the dr again tomorrow afternoon, so we'll find out for sure one way or the other. It's too bad I didn't take him in a day earlier, because we are missing TWO weeks of swimming lessons (last Thursday and I really don't want to take him tomorrow morning either, just in case he still has infection :-( ). So ... I guess we miss two weeks. Poor kid - I think there are still two weeks left after that though, so we should be fine (he likely doesn't even notice it!).

It was finally nice here, just yesterday I commented on how it is starting to smell like spring. Well, that wrecked it all - woke up to about 3" of snow, and more fell throughout the day :-/ So we'll need to shovel again ... *sigh* We stayed in all day today, but tomorrow Landon has preschool again so we'll head out. Arlan and I will buy groceries while Landon's having fun :-)

Until next time...

and so it goes...

Landon: "I'm going to hit you!"
Arlan: [laughs]
Landon: "Stop Laughing!!"
Arlan: [laughs]
Landon: "STOP LAUGHING!"
Arlan: [laughs]
Landon: [giggles ... finally]

Sigh ...

Happy Valentine's Day :-)

We've had a nice Valentines Day. It started off extra sweet as Danika (our sitter last night) had spent the night here, and entertained the kids this morning so John & I could sleep in! YAY Helped to sleep off that beer from last night :-/

We've spent the day playing and going for a walk outside and stuff. Arlan is considerably better - not nearly as much snot.
Landon sure is a bawl baby these days. Does that come with being (almost) 4? aiaiai ... he cries over everything!! Especially when told not to do something ...

So not much news, Arlan's on the mend, Landon cries all day, and I'm almost nuts :-) You know, typical stuff! Until next time...

Happy Birthday to MEEE!!

Heading out tonight with friends to celebrate all of our February birthdays - I can hardly wait! I am so looking forward to time with other adults who aren't knuckle-heads! That's not a shot at John, but at some other people (that I'm not related to) that I've been dealing with. But tomorrow's a new day, so we'll go from there. In the meantime, we'll have fun at the piano-bar I'm sure!

Arlan's looking much better! Still snotty, but not coughing as much, and actually eating which is a relief. He spent some time playing outside today (thanks to John getting them out there), so hopefully we'll have our happy camper back in the next day or so.

That's the quick post, until next time...

He's doing better

Well Arlan is definitely better today. Now I don't know if he's feeling punky or just 20 months old. This kid sure knows exactly what he wants!! No, not this, not that. He wants what he's not supposed to have, of course! He likes to stand in his chair at the table, and then look all sly at us when we tell him to sit down. In fact, anytime we tell him "no" he gives us that doe-eyed look .... *sigh*! Stinker. He still coughs a lot if he starts running around or walking too much - we had a couple of sessions today when I was out running errands. But no actual upchucking which was nice for a change.

Landon's a stinker - he doesn't want to go outside because it's still snowy and such, so it's not much fun; but he NEEDS to get outside and burn off some energy! He just wants to play in his sand box...that's all he asks for :-/ When oh when will spring get here......

Tomorrow we are going out - can't wait! A group of friends going out to celebrate our February birthdays - YAY! I'm really looking forward to it.


And now, a moment of silence for the Georgian luger. I know it may be a crazy sport, but still....

A wee bit of the happy Arlan we saw tonight...

Yup, Arlan actually played a bit tonight! So I do believe he's on the mend, finally. This afternoon he wanted to walk at the mall (vs ride in the cart), so he did. [GORE ALERT -- You should be a mom before you keep reading, unless you like stories about snot!] But whenever he 'plays' or runs or jumps these days, he ends up in a coughing fit that causes him to puke. Yup - coughing his poor lungs out in the mall ... I felt so bad for him. He doesn't like, vomit ... just has to cough up the gobs of mucous sliding down his throat. When he can get it out, then he goes back to good.
But tonight he played for a bit after supper and didn't have such a bad coughing fit. I think it helped that I was able to suction his nose right away. You know it's bad when he actually wants his nose suctioned (we never did get to that point with Landon!) ... he just lays there quietly for me. Which is good, because it's effective.
Anyway, so Arlan actually played. He even ate a bit, but not much. Just no appetite with your stomach full of snot I guess. But it was nice to get out for a bit, if even to the mall. There's a play area there which Landon loves of course. It's the first time I had Arlan there - all he wanted to do was slide, but he's too small yet to climb to the top of it. So he was frustrated with that, poor kid. Life sucks for him these days. I was so proud of Landon though - when I said it was time to go, he came out, found his shoes, and away we went. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't thrilled and likely would've stayed there until he was 14, but there was not a melt-down, and for that I am happy!

I'm off to bed - hoping to sleep all night long. If it's not Arlan being sick, it's Landon needing us to take the monsters out from under his bed (that's easy enough to do, just put your hand out and they crawl into your lap; then you put them in the bathroom) or just wanting snuggles (which I don't mind usually, but I am tired these days! But I still do take the opportunity to snuggle!).
Until next time...

Not out of the woods yet, but I think I can see daylight...

Arlan isn't back to his old self quite yet, but he's on the mend by all appearances. His naps are still disrupted by coughing fits, but at night he's able to sleep through. And he's not quite as miserable as he has been - but there's still lots of cuddling required. The amount of snot coming out of his nose would choke an elephant - I can't blame him for being pissy!!

Landon's playing with him a bit nicer today too. Likely because I did the "toy swap". Brought the tote in from the garage and swapped toys out. So Landon feels like he's got all new toys today. I still hear wailing from Arlan every 5 minutes or so, but it's usually curtailed as Landon has finally learned that he doesn't get what he wants if Arlan's crying, so he's usually trying to give Arlan something to placate him. But not always, I just heard "You can cry ALL YOU WANT!" from Landon. Yes, the boys are in the basement playing -- it's nicer that way.

But I do think it's time to see what's what. Trying to get out to the mall for a quick shopping excursion this afternoon, and if we don't get going right smartly, we won't be going at all. Until next time...

Ear Infection!

Poor Arlan ... he has infection in BOTH ears :-( No wonder he's so pissy!!

He wasn't better this morning, so it was time to take him to the dr. We got an appt today, and what a gongshow it was. Doc appt was 20 mins late (which is very unusual in that office), then prescription took over 45 mins to fill (we'd been told it would be 20 mins). So our 'little outing' was almost 2 hours long ... at the end of the day ... with a screaming/fussy Arlan....and a cabin-fevered Landon. It was not fun. For any of us.

But we're home - Arlan has had 2 doses of antibiotics, plus some homeopathic earache meds to help combat the pain. He seems to be sleeping better so far (knock on wood). Let's hope that the meds will kick in and our happy baby can return tomorrow! Mommy needs that in order to maintain her sanity.

Landon had a Valentine's party at preschool today. He really enjoyed it, despite not wanting to go to preschool this morning. What amazes me is the amount of candy given away for Valentine's Day -- it's not Hallowe'en! He came home with a loot bag, which I get to fight with him over for the next few days ... thanks alot! We didn't even send V'day cards, I'm thinking we'll get that pleasure often enough in upcoming years, I don't need to jump into it quite yet...

Other than that - life is ticking along. I guess no swimming for Arlan this week, give his ears a chance to heal up. Maybe we'll do the play time at the gym on Thursday, both boys can have fun there since Landon doesn't have preschool. Spread our illnesses around a bit ...

until next time...