Please don't go!

Landon enjoyed everyone being here so much - he tried to keep grandpa from going by stealing his hat!! That didn't work, so Landon spent part of the afternoon looking out the front door - like he was saying "Hey, where'd you go? !?! Come BACK!"

Christmas Time!

Here's some pics from Xmas for everyone :-) Landon opened his first gift from Santa, and surprised mommy by actually being interested in the toy, not just the paper!! He really likes his dumptruck from his cousin Thomson too -- except he's much more interested in the wheels than the truck :-/ But it's fun to watch him spin those wheels!!
Mostly though, he enjoyed playing with everyone. He really liked 'the boys' ... his cousins Kyle and Mark. He would break out into the biggest smile whenever one of them would walk in the room!! It was fun.

Christmas was GREAT!!

What a wonderful Christmas time ... everything was absolutely wonderful! Everyone arrived on Saturday, left this morning :-( Landon sat looking out the front door this afternoon, like he was asking "hey, where'd everyone go?"
And were we spoiled -- Landon got Little People barn, truck and loading dock, a dumptruck and story book from his cousins, a sled from Grandma and Grandpa, blocks, clothes, shoes, "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament ... aiaiai. He was one spoiled little monkey!! He enjoyed opening his gifts, well, the first few anyways. After a couple he was hungry, so we took a break for some breakfast. Then he opened a few more, and that was the end. Too much paper and stuff going on. So he had a nap, and we all opened our gifts. Everyone got beautiful things and it certainly made me reflect on how lucky we are to have loving family to spend Christmas with, and we are so fortunate to have the means to share lovely gifts.

And EAT! Man have we eaten well the past few days :-) John was waiting for that time when we would eat and then sit around like over-stuffed grizzly bears!! Well that definitely described the last few days! LOL It was all so good. I am very grateful for the help from my mom, sister and Aunt though - I don't think I am practiced enough to have done all of the cooking myself :-P

So it was absolutely wonderful ... what a great Christmas!! I have lots of pics - will post soon (I tried, but I think lots of people must be posting pics because I had trouble). Trish is coming to visit tomorrow, so I'll try doing some pics in a couple of days.

Oh yeah - and HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLA - you old bag! LOL Hope you're having a couple for me tonight :-)

Take care....TK

Landon's getting better :-)

I had a dr appt this morning (one of those waste your time ones, but you have to go and 'see' the doctor to become a patient, whether you need to see the dr or not!) - and he checked Landon's ears while I was there. The infection is clearing up, just a little bit pink he said, which is good. Landon has been his old self again, which is nice ... playing and having fun. He's got a bruise on his forehead where he fell on his head last night (poor monkey!), but that doesn't seem to have slowed him down any! LOL

My cold is still here, but I feel better today than yesterday. I think the humidifier in our room last night helped a lot.

I'm off to clean clean clean today (ugh). Everyone gets here Sat YAYAYAYAYAY

Later...TK

Landon's feeling better...

The little man is feeling a bit better today ... thank goodness! He got some good sleep last night, and his fever is gone. So the antibiotics must be doing their job :-)

I got my Xmas shopping done today ... phew! The mall wasn't too nuts, but I spent too much time there so the drive home doubled in time :-/ Ah well. Landon was the hit of the mall, so many people adoring him as he sat smiling in the stroller, clapping his hands :-) Too funny!!

Tonight he had a rougher night though -- he fell on his face in the dining room, so he has a big bruise on his forehead. Then a short while later he fell against a table and scraped the other side of his forehead. Poor bruiser! I gave him some extra cuddles before he went to bed :-)

So tomorrow is housecleaning - Friday is grocery shopping, then we'll get the sleeping quarters all ready and voila -- pandemonium shall begin Saturday afternoon :-) I can hardly wait!

Chat soon y'all! TK

and 5 teeth :-)

It's official ... I just felt the 5th tooth in Landon's mouth. We could see it last night, and it popped through either overnight or this morning :-)


Here's our stinker (before the ear infection). I'll try to get some more pics up soon.

Owie - Ear Infection :-(

Well, Landon had a pretty rough day yesterday. Thankfully he did have an hour and a half nap in the afternoon, as he woke up at 5 pm with a fever of 104.1 :-( Yikes that's high ... sponge bath and Motrin, and one very worried mommy! John and I took him to a walk-in clinic (2 hour wait), where we learned he has an ear infection. No wonder he was sooooo grumpy! Antibiotics for Landon :-( We came home, in the hopes of getting some sleep ... heh heh Idiots! Landon cried cried cried until he physically couldn't cry anymore, then he whimpered. Poor kid. He finally konked out shortly after 1 am, only to wake up crying at 2. He did finally get to 'sleep' about 2:40, and slept pretty well until 9, which was a god-send! He woke up no grumpy - maybe not exactly happy, but not grumpy. Grandma gave us some advice to help his ear feel better (warm oil on cotton - wish we'd have known that last night!), and Landon seems to be feeling better. At least he played on his own for a bit this morning, and went down for his nap with very little fussing. Poor bugger - broke my heart seeing him cry so hard! He kept looking at me like "Don't you get it? This really HURTS!!! FIX IT!!!!!". :-(

But - we did get him weighed at the dr office. Which was interesting ... a balance beam scale, he was screaming blue-bloody-murder on that thing, let me tell you! But he weighs about 21 pounds (she couldn't be exact because he was kicking and screaming and flailing!), so he's been gaining weight healthily for the past 6 weeks (which we knew he was). And when the pain wasn't unbearable, he was a super-cute little monkey!!

So that's the news ... getting ready for Xmas has some nice new stress to it this week :-/ I'm not too concerned though - I'll go finish Xmas shopping tomorrow, the malls will be insane, but I'll survive it I think. Today and Thursday are house-cleaning (as much as I'll get done today), and then final preps Sat and we'll be good. Hopefully John can get some Xmas lights up tonight or tomorrow night too - we have to dig those out of a box in the basement, they haven't been out for a couple of years! :-/

Hope everyone is well ... I'll post again soon! Take care...

Fun Weekend!

Well, we made it through John's Xmas party - it was a lot of fun!! And Landon kept his sitter busy, but wasn't too bad. He really struggled to get to sleep, in the end I helped the sitter out by coming to the room to sing a song and get him down. But I think he would've fallen asleep without my help shortly anyways, as he was already calming down when I got there. He slept very well though, not waking us up until 9:30 am (thankfully, as both of our heads were a bit swollen...). He didn't make strange with the sitter at all, and had lots of fun exploring the hotel room. We were on the 8th floor, and he really enjoyed looking out the window at the lights and the traffic. I was so relieved that this hotel stay was better than the first (at 3 weeks old, he cried and cried until 5 am!). and the party was so fun - it was great to get out and meet some new people :-D Sunday - not so fun! LOL But we made it through

Now Landon isn't feeling so well today. He woke up lots last night, just whimpering and whining. I didn't have to go get him or anything, he would get himself to sleep again, but I heard him many many times. He would whine, bounce his bed, quiet for a few minutes, and do this again. Well into the night he was whimpering and bouncing, so I don't know how much sleep he got. He was crying at 8 am, so I got up with him - he was feverish and miserable. I gave him a bath, some Motrin, and he slept for about 30 minutes after breastfeeding only to wake up crying big alligator tears :-( He was doing better after that nap though, had some cereal and played for a bit - but mostly he just wants mommy and is not himself. I don't know if it's teething (he is droooooooling and cheeeewwwwing!), or if he caught John's cold. My throat is a bit scratchy, so maybe that's how Landon is feeling. *shrug* Poor little monkey - I guess I'll have to spend the day spoiling him. I'm just glad he wasn't sick this weekend in the hotel room, and hopefully he'll be over whatever ails him by this weekend when everyone arrives!

And we're only one week until Christmas! Holy moly!! I guess we'll have to do some decorating this week :-/ And I MUST get my shopping done. I was planning on going today, but with Landon's mood I may have to put that off for a day or two. Maybe I'll just try to get the house ready today....

That's the news from here. Hope everyone is ready for Christmas (or really close to it)! I'll post soon....TK

New tricks...

Landon has been very VERY busy this week, exploring all of the new things he can now get to (either by crawling or by pulling himself to standing). The computer room is a wealth of fun, since John's guitars and equipment are in here, as well as all of the computer cords and wires, and bookshelves, and garbage -- you name it, he's trying to get at it. Slowly but surely we are getting everything put up / away / behind obstacles so that we can be in here without having to hold onto Landon the entire time!
The main floor really is Landon's domain - and it's pretty well child-proofed. He's explored everything he can, even the carbon monoxide detector (didn't take him long to pull that thing off the wall!). His bedroom and our bedroom are pretty fun places too, although from our room he tends to do a bee-line right for the gate at the top of the stairs! Thank goodness John got those gates up - just in time! LOL

One of Landon's favourite passtimes right now is chasing things around. Balls work the best (obviously), but he'll improvise with just about anything. He swings his arms until the object flies out and goes somewhere, then he pounces after it like a cat pouncing on a mouse, and when he gets whatever it is he's just tossed, he starts the process over again. Keeps him quite occupied :-)

I'm getting excited for Christmas. My shopping is close to being done (just Grandma and Grandpa left), assuming all of my web/mail-orders arrive shortly!! I did alot more internet shopping this year -- it was so convenient given my limited 'outside the house' time with Landon. I did a test yesterday, shopping at the outlet mall, to see if he'd fall asleep in his stroller. Nope - he wants to sleep in his bed now :-/ I don't know if the elevator ride was scarier because he was tired, or if he couldn't fall asleep in his stroller because the elevator ride scared him too much - but there were some big tears while on that elevator!! In any case, he didn't fall asleep in his stroller, but konked out promptly when we got him in the car!! Poor sleepy guy! We'll see how he does in Red Deer on Sat night (John's Xmas party), when the sitter's in the room with him while he's 'sleeping', and when he has to share the room with mom and dad all night (we'll take ear-plugs to hopefully block out the bed-bouncing noises!!).

That's the scoop from here for now. I should get Landon some lunch so we can go buy a few groceries (to last us until next week, when I'll buy the big Xmas groceries!!). Hope all is well wherever you are, and that you're not too stressed getting ready for Christmas!! Take care...TK

New things to explore...

Lanodn has been having fun exploring all of these new things. He has decided he likes the new car seat (it fits him soooo much better!). But he's not too sure about those gates all over the place ... I don't know how long it'll take him to figure these things out ... heh heh. He's just like his dad, having to tinker and fiddle until he gets something figured out!! LOL

Newfound mobility causes troubles...?

Whoopsie!! Landon found himself in trouble last night, when he went head over teakettle over his piano. We heard some grunting and looked over to see his butt in the air! Too funny. Yes - we did help him get out of his predicament, eventually! But not before we got a couple of pictures and some video :-)

Playing with chairs

One of Landon's favourite passtimes ... playing with the office chairs!! At least it used to be until he figured out the crawling thing - we'll see if he still cares about chairs now that he can actually get places!

Our days have changed....

Well, with Landon's newfound mobility, the house has definitely changed :-) He's exploring all corners of the kitchen, dining room, and even eyeing up the great outdoors (I'm sure he's thinking "If only I could get through this window, what fun I could have exploring!"). We thought his exploring the tv set while Raise a Little Hell was playing was too cute an opportunity to pass up - as this pretty much describes Landon today! He had fun though, pulling lamps over and trying to rip the blinds down from the window, eating paper, and checking out his brand new car seat too. It's so fun to watch him crawling all over the place, he so curious and so excited to see all of these new things!

Daddy's Little Helper

Landon was quite busy yesterday helping John put the CD's and videos away. He had so much fun, taking the tape out of a video, chewing on boxes, and of course, checking out the CD collection :-) And if that wasn't enough, he was certainly checking out this Jane Fonda video ... I don't know if he was admiring Jane's outfit or thinking that mommy should start working out !!

guess who's crawling...!

Landon started crawling today. And can he motor!! He's been on the brink for so long, and now that he figured it out there's no slowing him down!! He actually is on one knee and one foot, both hands. Now the 'real' child-proofing will begin. He's already explored beyond the living room now that he can really move, and is making his way into the kitchen. So everything will be put up and away right quickly here. And we'll have to be getting baby gates right away as well.

For learning to crawl, he's been pretty miserable all day. This morning he fell on the frame of his bed and bruised his cheek. Perhaps that's hurting him all day because he's just a fussing, crying, pain in the butt! We just put him down for a nap, hoping that he will wake up in a better mood. aiaiaiai Either his cheek is hurting, or maybe he's getting a tooth (although we can't see anything, and he hasn't been this fussy for any of his first 4), or maybe he has a bit of a tummy ache? We don't really know for sure...

I'm heading out tonight to see Carla and Tilly who are in town for the weekend at Kristi's. I'm very much looking forward to getting out for awhile. I'm actually planning to spend the night, and it'll be my first night away from Landon, so I have mixed emotions about it...I'll be up and speeding all the way home first thing tomorrow I'm sure :-)

That's the scoop from Calgary today. Hope all is well with everyone everywhere :-) TK

Pics of Landon...

Here are a couple new pics of Landon that you've been waiting for...
We've been having fun just hanging out. He enjoys playing with just about everything these days, and I'm sure he was trying to get into some sort of trouble that first picture. The second one he was being quite quiet ... watching Sesame Street :-) And this yet-to-be-unpacked box was a lot of fun as a drum too!! He must've sat there for about 5 minutes ... soooo cute!

Busy Landon

Landon is a busy bugger these days! He just may crawl soon, as he hasn't been bum-scootching that much and is instead making tentative motions on his hand and knees. When he wants to get something, he gets on his hands and knees but then sits back down. It's like he's afraid if he moves on his hands and knees he won't be able to sit down - and that's a relatively new trick so he doesn't want to give it up!! But he's taking a few 'steps', mostly just walking his hands out and back in while he's on his knees, so maybe he'll get his knees figured out too. When he does get right onto his belly, he usually ends up going backwards, which frustrates him as he gets further away from whatever he wants, so he hasn't been doing much of that lately. It is so amazing to watch him learning and figuring out all of these things!!

We got our piano tuned today. Landon was priceless. The tuner would play some keys, Landon would bang on his toy piano and laugh. The tuner would play a few more keys, and Landon would bang on his piano and laugh some more. When that got tiring, Landon laughed and giggled and squealed while the tuner did his thing - he loved that someone was 'playing' the piano, and must've thought it was just for his listening pleasure!

John got our new tv stand put up last night, so the living room looks alot better. Landon explored it a bit tonight, he likes the pull knobs on the doors. But the components aren't behind glass (yet...John's working on fixing that), so Landon doesn't get free reign yet.

And Landon discovered the drawers on his dresser tonight, having fun pulling the bottom drawer out every time I closed it. He even pulled the box of diaper-pail bags right out of the drawer - I couldn't believe it!! So I cleared everything out of that drawer that he shouldn't get (like a strap from his diaper bag, the diaper-pail bags, etc), so if he wants to play in there, I guess I'll just have to let him play in there!!

Landon's developing a trick that I do NOT like though -- biting while nursing. OUCH does not even describe it. I'm trying not to over-react and am hoping that this will stop soon. If not, there may be a weaning on the horizon!!

That's the news from here today. Hope all is well with everyone!! Take care....TK

Standing up!

Landon succeeded in pulling himself up to standing, all by himself, today. He has been 'practising', using our legs and hands to get to standing for awhile now, but today he did it all by himself (with help from the crib). I was putting clothes away, turned around and he was standing there all proud. So proud that he squealed and reached for me, only to swing his face into the crib and dangle there by the one hand that hadn't let go :-) But no tears, just frustration because he fell over! I scooped him up and we did a celebratory dance, and he was very very proud to have stood up. I'm sure he'll be busy practising that skill over the next weeks, and he'll be able to show off quite suitably for everyone at Christmas :-D

We bought our tree today. Artificial ... at least for the first few years with kids ... heh heh. But it's pretty nice I think ... fake trees look better now than when I was a kid I think (although when I was a kid, that tree was magical!). So maybe John and I will put it up on the weekend.

Landon and I went for a nice walk today. We were gone for just about 2 hours, it was very nice out and it felt so good to stretch my legs. Landon just gawked at everything - it's been awhile since he's had a nice long walk. Now that he stays awake a bit longer it's easier to get something done during the day. Before he was only awake for ~2 hours, and by the time I fed him and changed him he was starting to get sleepy again! Now he's up for about 3 hours in the afternoon, giving us some time. But he wouldn't fall asleep in the stroller - those days may be gone. He was sooooo tired, but he just wouldn't close his eyes. He pretty much fell asleep on my shoulder as soon as I took him out of the stroller, but not in the stroller :-/

I'm hoping to get some Christmas shopping done over the next couple of days. I'm planning a trip to Toys-R-Us (heaven help us!!), and then I will focus on the adult shopping later in the week. Aiaiaiai ... I'm used to having most of my shopping done by now, but I've put it off due to the move (why move a pile of Christmas presents?). As long as I don't leave it until the 24th I guess...heh heh

That's the scoop from the Keller household today. Hope all is well with everyone out there. Nikki, keep posting so that I know when you don't post that you've had Eastynn!! I was starting to wonder already as it had been a few days...

Take care...until next time. TK

Dinnertime just got messier...

The days of 'clean' feeding have come to an end. Tonight we started Landon on some 'table food'. By table food, I mean we gave him some of our baked potato, which he gobbled up (and spilled everywhere) like a pro. So we gave him banana, and for the first time, Cheerios. He gobbled (and spilled everywhere) everything, and loved every minute of it. So dinnertime will now be messier, I'll have to think about feeding Landon more of what we eat, and it'll be longer. I think he was in the high chair for about 45 minutes!! LOL But he really enjoyed having the chance to feed himself, so we'll just go with it. I still spoon fed him veggies and cereal, to make sure he got his dinner, but he loved shoveling the extras in, two-fisting all the way!! LOL

We had a quiet Saturday at home, which was nice. Landon has been such an angel these days, I'm waiting for some teething pains, or a cold or something to set in here. We've been getting far too much sleep! I even had a nice 1.5 hour nap this afternoon. Aiaiai. I guess we might as well enjoy it while it lasts, before we know it it'll be Christmas and there'll be very little napping for a few weeks.

So that's the news ... not too much I guess. Just exciting that Landon is starting to feed himself. And he loves Cheerios. Fun fun Fun!! And the weather is supposed to warm up for a few days ... around zero tomorrow so we're hoping to go for a nice walk and check out the neighbourhood :-) Until next time...TK

Calling all Potential Babysitters!!

John's Xmas party is on Dec 16, and so we're looking for a wanna-be babysitter. The party is in Red Deer, so it'd be an overnight stint. If you are interested, please let us know....

Pictures....

Now is that a happy face or what!!?? Landon has been having a lot of fun in his Jumperoo these days. He'll be jumping along and then lock his knees so he stops dead, but he keeps bopping his head like he's jumping -- it is hilarious to watch!! The great thing about this picture is that he's showing off his teeth too, you can even glimpse the two on the top :-)

And the second pic is one of my faves from back in Winnipeg -- Landon was just getting to love standing up and looking out the front window. Yup, he's standing there all by himself! Just watching the world go by. He was telling us all about it, as he loves to babble incessantly these days! This picture is from Nov 10 ... just before we packed up and moved out!

YAY - High Speed again!

We finally got our high speed up and running again yesterday! Very nice indeed. Now I will spend 2 days getting caught up on all of the emails / jokes that I didn't read on slow-speed! Then I'll maybe be caught up, and I can spend some time on ebay to buy clothes for this little monkey that is out-growing all of his 6 - 9 month stuff :-)

Today I took Landon out for his first big shopping adventure in Calgary. He even got to ride in the cart while I bought groceries - and he LOVED it. He was bouncing and squealing up and down every aisle, and was absolutely enthralled with the signs hanging above each aisle (the ones that tell you what's in that aisle). He'd watch them even as we walked under them, causing him to tilt sideways from putting his head back so far! What a cute little bugger! I was just glad he enjoyed it as the days of leaving him behind with dad while I grocery shop are now over...

It's finally warming up here (hence the reason Landon and I ventured out for groceries). I do miss Winnipeg street cleaning, that I can say for sure!! While there's enough traffic close to our house to clear the snow off the street, there is enough to make it very slippery. But the main streets are pretty clear after a nice day, so I guess I'll survive! LOL

Well, that's the scoop. Back to catching up on emails and online shopping :-) I'll post a couple of pics as well, since I've been getting harassed for some (rightly so, it's been awhile!!). Take care, until next time...TK

John's first day...

John's first day of his new job, and things went well. He enjoyed it, everyone was super nice, which is great. He's even looking forward to going back to work tomorrow :-) All of this despite the ridiculously cold weather (40 below with the wind chill ... feels more like Winnipeg every day!), and the resulting long drive to work this morning!! But things should get more temperate by the end of this week, thank goodness!!

Landon's doing well. I think he missed his dad today :-) But he's just as cute as ever. He's started to sit up from laying down, but he won't do it with us watching so we're not sure of his methods. All we know is that he's laying down, and when we look back he's sitting up. But if he sees us looking at him he whines for us to sit him up :-/
And he must be an Albertan at heart ... I fed him beef today for the first time, and he ate it like a pro!! So much for all of the chicken and turkey we've been trying :-) Beef it is, and will be! LOL
The 2-napping schedule is still going well (knock on wood, again). He's been going to sleep shortly after 10, sleeping soundly until 9 am. We are still having to wake him up at 9, so we're thinking he may even start going to bed a bit earlier? But he's having 2 good naps during the day, so maybe not. We'll see. It's just nice to put him down and then have a bit of time before we go to sleep, instead of waiting for him to go to bed so that we can!

So that's the bit o' news from here for this cold, windy Monday. Brrrrr! High Speed comes on Wednesday, which I'm looking forward to. And the nice weather will be good too, so I can get my Christmas shopping started (and hopefully finished) soon! Take care ... until next time! TK

Snow Snow and more Snow!!

Where oh where did all of this snow come from? I thought we left this behind, but I guess we brought it with us!!
Things are going well with us. Landon has been sleeping very well (knock on wood), having dropped that 3rd nap for the past 2 days. Let's hope that that continues, as we like his going to sleep at 10:30 much better :-) And he still sleeps until 9 am, which is good for me. Especially since I'll have to be the one to get him up from now on. Usually John gets up and gets Landon up, starts coffee, etc, and I roll out of bed about 9:30. But tomorrow that changes, with John going to work (ACK!). I think I'll survive getting up at 9 am, and I hope John survives getting up at 7 ... aiaiaiaiai. I'll miss John throughout the day, but I'm betting Landon will miss him even more!

I just wanted to post something quick. I'm off to shovel the driveway, again (that's the only real exercise I'm getting these days....). Landon is down for a nap, so it's a chance to get some fresh, albeit cold, air. Will post again soon. And don't fret, Wed is High-Speed connection day, so you'll get some pictures shortly after that!! :-D Until then...TK

First full week in Calgary...

Well, we've spent our first week in Calgary, and we've still got boxes to unpack LOL But it's starting to feel a bit more like home now. We've done some driving around, lots of shopping (a Calgary must), and are settling in a bit more.

Landon's doing well. We think that he's ready to drop his 3rd nap, so we've been working through that in the evenings. He didn't have a 3rd nap at all tonight, and went to bed a bit earlier. Now we'll just see if he stays sleeping for the night, or wakes up thinking he's just finally had that 3rd nap. *sigh* Time will tell...

John starts his new job on Monday. We drove by the office today, and did the 'commute' home during rush hour. The trip will be no longer than the drive in Winnipeg, so that's good. The sheer number of cars on the road will be significantly higher though ...

So that's the news from here for today. Will try posting again soon. Oh yeah, and for everyone back in Winnipeg -- the weather here has been crappy!! LOL We got some snow (only 3 inches, and it's really light so it's easier to shovel), and it's COLD!! Monday it's supposed to get down to 30 below ... if this keeps up we may be heading back to Manitoba!! LOL

Take care everyone .... TK

We're HERE!!

Yup - we made it. And all of our stuff did too, which is great news!! So we're doing the unpacking, sorting through, wondering-where-all-of-this-stuff-came-from type of activities.

We got to Calgary Friday afternoon, and spent the first night in a nice, big, empty house. Then our stuff arrived on Saturday and our big roomy house quickly became a crowded, box-filled, paper-overloaded cave. We've been sorting through boxes ever since, and are hoping to get through them all by New Years or so....

About the house: it's quite nice, although it's taking some getting used to to be living in a box on a street of boxes next to 100 more streets of boxes. There's definitely less 'space' here than in Winnipeg, and I'm missing my treed yard and open space front and back (at least we have open space in the back here). We do have lots of room for our junk (er...stuff), and I love the bonus room concept (over the garage). And our great room is nice ... kitchen, nook, and living room all together -- especially the gas fireplace which I think I'll get lots of use out of. Our yard is smallish, and just grass right now, but I have a few winter months to figure out what I want to do with it.
The shopping here is CRAZY!! Consumeristic Calgarians!!!! We have the biggest Superstore I've even seen about 5 minute walk away. That same area is big-box extravaganza with Michaels, Future Shop, Staples, etc. And a short drive away is another shopping haven with Home Despot, Can Tire, Sobey's, and a few million-store mini-malls. Calgarians must do little else besides shopping if this area is any indication.

For all of that shopping....one surprise to us is that Calgary doesn't have a curb-side recycling program (!!). We were shocked that a city this size hasn't put more emphasis on recycling. So we'll have to load up our recycling and find the closest recycling depot I guess *shrug*.

On the most important topic: Landon has been wonderful. He's adjusting well to his new surroundings, even the boxes. The first day we arrived he sat in the empty living room squealing and kicking and playing - I think he loved the big space just for him! He's getting used to his room, and has been sleeping well. And TEETH! Landon got a new tooth last week, and his 4th tooth popped through today! That's 3 teeth in 3 weeks ... he's had a busy mouth, that's for sure!!
And he's been eating like a little piggy too. He's starting to get more proteins ... thanks to Karen for suggesting the sweet potatoe and chicken food. So it seems that he'll make the adjustment fairly easily.

We're on dial-up for another week until our internet and tv get hooked up. So please, no big emails for a few days. I'll try to post again, but it'll be next week before we put any pictures up :-(

That's the news for today ... hope all is well with everyone. Will post soon ... until then!! TK

Move Update

I can hardly believe that tomorrow afternoon we will have possession of our new house!! Holy COW!! This week has flown by!

Monday we were packed up, which went well from my perspective. Tuesday the movers put everything into the truck, then John and I cleaned out our old home. That was very sad, it was so VERY hard to close that door one last time :-( I won't dwell on that though ...
We stayed at Uncle Neville and Mary's those 2 nights, and they were wonderful hosts. It was so nice to get a good visit in before we left. We took off early Wed am, and made it to Grandma and Grandpa's for mid-afternoon. We've had a nice visit the last day or so. And tomorrow morning we will head for Alberta. YeeHaw!! We won't have internet for awhile (have to get it ordered when we get there, so it depends on how long installation will be). So this post may have to suffice for awhile.

About Landon: he has a cold (started Tues) :-( Poor little stinker. He's still in a good mood, but he's just harder to put down at night (I'm getting used to that though ... heh heh). He went to sleep so well at Mary and Neville's on Monday night, but struggled a bit more on Tuesday night. Last night was really rough, as he couldn't breath through his nose at all. But we finally got him to sleep and we all slept until 10 am :-) I think John was quite happy for a sleep in, as he's been doing so much running around as we got ready to leave!
Aaand ... Landon popped his 3rd tooth through yesterday :-) It's on the top, so now he can really chomp down!! And I think the 4th tooth will be coming through shortly as well ... he has another white line on the top gum :-) Busy little teether.

So tomorrow's the big day. I don't know when we'll get online again, but I'll try to post an update ASAP. To all our friends and relates in Winnipeg - we miss you already!! Will post soon .. take care! Until then...TK

Last post from this ol' house...

And just a quick one at that...busy busy!!
The packers will be here by 8:30 am ... I hope we're ready for them. I've got 'us' almost packed, should be done by the time they get here. The biggest pain in the butt is all the things they won't take -- anything liquid, cream -> like lotions, shampoos, cleaners, etc. So I'm trying to get those sorted through tonight. But I can see that I'll just be reviewing the pile they leave behind as "can't packs" after the fact because there's so much you don't think of. Liquid hand soap, Febreze, etc.

Anyways, I'm feeling a bit stressed, so I will get back to it. I can hear that Landon hasn't fallen asleep quite yet, so I'll tend to him and keep on packing!!

I will try to post from the farm, so there will be nothing until Wed or Thursday. Until then...TK

Getting ready....

Well, the slingshot has been pulled back pretty far, and it's about to be shot -> meaning we'll be flying off in all different directions at crazy speeds for the next few days at least. And I'm not really looking forward to it. I am looking forward to finally getting to Calgary and having our stuff arrive safe, sound and on-time, and starting the 'settling in' process. After the business of the past couple of weeks, aiaiai. It has come up so quickly, but I'm glad for that. It means that this process hasn't been dragged out more than necessary ;-)

So, tomorrow we get our stuff packed for the next week. I think we're ready. Clothes are washed, Landon's food is bought. We're staying with Mary and Neville Monday and Tuesday nights (it'll be nice to get a visit in there before we go too!). And Wed we hit the road.

It's been a long week ... of many good-byes. So many times the tears in my eyes saying good-bye to people who have become such good friends. I will miss you all so much!

Ok, before I cry too much....

Landon's been pretty good this week (knock on wood). He's been sleeping a bit better, and going to sleep better. I'm thinking that he must've been 'teething' again last week, which is what caused our troubles. John and I looked a couple of nights ago, and a tooth is just ready to pop through on the top. It hasn't come through yet, but it's getting pretty close! It may just make it through before we leave Winnipeg.

So, just a quick note. I'll try to post one last time tomorrow, and maybe from the farm. Don't know when the next chance will be after that ... we will order our internet service when we get to Calgary. Until next time..........................................

Final Doctor visit...

We went to the doctor today ... the last time Landon will see his doctor here in Winnipeg :-( He's doing well though ... 19 pounds, 10 ounces, 28 1/2" long. He got a flu shot too (which he wasn't particularly pleased about, but he doesn't seem to be reacting negatively now). Doctor says we must get him eating proteins, so we're going to try turkey and vegetables tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. If that doesn't work, we'll go for the egg yolks next :-/
Landon's eating lots of veggies and fruits though. We keep on trying new things, especially for fruits. But his favourite is pears, followed by sweet potatoes (esp sweet potatoes with apples!), and creamed corn. He tolerates his greens (beans and peas), as well as carrots, so we have quite a variety to feed him now. He's not so fond of peaches. We gave him his first Yum Yum cracker tonight too. He really enjoyed that, gobbled up the entire cracker like he'd been eating them for weeks! Mostly I think he liked being able to chew chew chew as I'm sure some more teeth have to be on the way.

Other than that, not much doing here. I have a cold and am feeling miserable. Landon is still a monkey in trying to go to sleep at night :-/ Last night he did get to sleep on his own (it took some tears), which is a good sign, so we're hoping this will continue (and get better at it too). I did hear him bouncing his bed ~6:30 am, for quite awhile, but he didn't squawk or anything *shrug* And he woke up on his own @9:30 am -> our earliest wake up in quite awhile! He likely would've gone back to sleep if we'd left him in there, but John scooped him right up. Unfortunately his naps this afternoon were shot as we were at the dr office for over 2 hours! But hey - it's unlikely he'd fall asleep like a dream tonight anyways, given our track record!!

Going out to my last Tremendon game tomorrow night :-( We're down to a whole week of lasts ... the last Tuesday in this house, the last game, the last doctor's appointment ... the list goes on. It makes me sad, and I'll actually be glad when this week of lasts is done, because it's hard to do.

So, until next time ... TK

Shake Shake Shake your head...

Monday, Monday. Actually, it's not too bad of a Monday. Landon has developed this 'thing' where he won't let us lay him down at night - he keeps waking up and crying when we put him down. So I end up sleeping with him in the recliner for an hour or two ... until he's so asleep he doesn't wake up when I put him down (or wakes up but is so sleepy he goes right back to sleep). Not a habit I'm happy to have developed (as I recognize I'm to blame, he's just reacting to what I've taught him ... *sigh*). It might be that he's cold when I put him down, as the house is definitely getting cooler at night now that before fall/winter ... so I might have to leave the thermostat a bit warmer for the next couple of nights to see if that helps. It might also be that he just prefers sleeping in my arms (who could blame the kid). And if that's the case, that's a habit we'll focus on once we get to Calgary ... I'm not going to worry about it before then.

Last night Landon learned to 'shake shake shake' his head. It was adorable. He was jolly-jumping, and I would say shake shake shake your head while shaking my head, and he would copy me. All the while he's jumping in the jumper, so I'm sure he was half-dizzy too. He was smiling ear to ear, and shake shake shaking his head. Toooo cuuuute!! He wouldn't repeat it today though...

And he's just a scootching around whenever and wherever he wants to. So far he's still only interested in the living room, which is nice. I'm sure his 'world' will expand shortly though. Today he scootched on over to me (I was laying on the floor, talking to John). He got to me, turned 90 degrees, and kept right on scootching. He's quite interested in the footstool, of course, as it 'glides' and he's likely to catch a finger and break it. We keep telling him 'no' and moving him away, which I think only intrigues him more. We can 'lock' the rocking chair, but not the footstool, so we may have to jerry-rig something, or move it for awhile. We'll see.

So that's the news from here for today. It's a quiet day, nice out but grey. And our last full Monday in our home :-( Will post again soon....take care. TK

Fun Weekend!

We had such a wonderful weekend!! Friday night the Tremendons had a farewell party at Liz's house ... it was a great night. Landon was in a good mood all night, providing entertainment in his jolly jumper and just generally being too cute not to love.
Sat night Wes had us over for dinner and the band came over for awhile through the evening. It was so nice to see everyone again!!
So it was a fun weekend, but tinged with some sadness too. We've been thinking about moving for so long, and now that it's finally here it's hard to believe!! We've made such great friends here that we will miss terribly. There's been such great times with everyone. And I'll definitely NEVER find Tremendons anywhere else (which may be a good thing, come to think of it...!). So it is likely going to be a lot harder to pull out of Winnipeg than I ever really thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I'll be damned glad to leave the mosquitos behind ... but I will miss everyone sooooooo much.

Enough of that, or I'll start crying.

Landon's been a sweetheart. He was so good at the parties, and for once we were glad that he stays up late so we could stay out late :-P WE'll have to start trying to move bedtime up again here this week, but I'm not going to worry about too much as I'm sure the entire move will be throwing us all out of whack next week! It's sure cute to watch him getting around better now. He sometimes scootches, sometimes just gets to his back and squirms to where he wants to go. Either way it's fun to watch!!

And I think he's still working on getting some teeth to come through. His second one came through on the bottom last week, but he's just a chewing on everything still. His thumb goes in there all day long, and of course any toys he gets his hands on. So maybe we'll get a couple more teeth while we're moving just to cap off all the hoopla :-/

That's the news tonight. Tomorrow we start our final week preparations ... getting utilities organized, etc. Should be a fun week ...
Until next time...TK

Standing up on own...

Yes, Landon is enjoying his new-found ability to stand up by himself... As long as he has something to hold on to that is! The stools are nice a sturdy for him, and the bars are at the right height for him to chew on too :-)

Cute Picture...

Here's a picture of Landon from last week, playing in the exersaucer. He was being such a sweetheart, I had to take a picture! Gotta love digital cameras!

It's so nice to spend a day at home...

Oh how nice it is to just be at home today. I did go out shopping for a while (bought some new clothes ... the first non-maternity, non-new-mom clothes!!), but that doesn't really count does it? It's sooo nice to have our house sold. Tomorrow I'll start worrying about the rest of the stuff we need to do in the next couple of weeks, but for today - aaaahhhhhh!

Landon seems pretty happy to be home too. He is really starting to move around while playing on the floor. He's scootching pretty much wherever he decides he wants to go. His world is pretty much limited to the living room floor still (thank goodness), but he's rolling from tummy to back to tummy to back. He's getting himself around to explore things like the diaper bag, the foot stool, the couch. Today he played with the diaper bag for about 30 minutes. I guess all of those straps on there are very interesting. We brought the baby gate upstairs today, as we can no longer put him on the living room floor without having something at the top of the stairs. He hasn't gotten to the stairs yet, but he could at any time.
I brought out the 12-month clothes for him today too. The 6-month clothes are now too small, and the 6 - 9 month stuff is just fitting him. I'm just hoping that the snow-suit makes it through the winter!

And his second tooth is fully through now, no doubt about it. But he's still chewing on everything, so maybe he'll be getting more teeth soon? Who knows. Last night he really had trouble getting to sleep, so maybe his mouth is bothering him. I thought maybe he had an upset tummy, but we're not sure. Kevin and Taya have sore throats today, so maybe Landon is getting a bit of a cold too? In any case, he was up past 2 am. At 1:30 am I finally just put him in his crib with the aquarium playing and went to bed. He squawked twice, John got up and turned the aquarium on once, the next time he squawked John put him to bed. He squawked for a few more minutes, but I think John and I were asleep before him! Little monkey!! Hopefully tonight won't be quite as bad.

Some new pics posted ... Landon has been such a wonderful baby through this whole house-selling thing. It's unbelievable how good he is :-) I know we'll pay the price eventually, but I'm just enjoying this for what it's worth!! LOL
Anyways, off to do more of nothing! Until next time...TK

First time in the snow!

Landon sat in the snow for the first time today. Initially he was pretty happy, he even had his fingers in the snow for a few seconds. It didn't take long before he realized just how freakin' cold the snow is, and that was the end of that little adventure. If he dislikes the cold this much, it's a good thing we're moving soon!

Halloween Pictures...

Here's our happy Halloween cow! LOL Landon didn't mind the costume at all, as it was just a cow sleeper. The hat was a different story -- mostly he enjoyed pulling the strings and chewing on them. Needless to say, the hat didn't spend much time on his head. He would pull the strings, maybe chew for a few minutes, then yank the hat around all crooked, covering his face, and squawk until we finally took the hat off completely!! But he looked pretty adorable. Thanks Grandma for making the hat (love the ears!).
We didn't do any trick or treating. We spent the evening at Aunty Margaret's (our house was still being shown). But it was still fun dressing Landon up. Next year I'm sure will be an even bigger event!!

We sold our house!

YAY !! We sold our house today!! Phew! Thankfully we won't have to be up and out of the house tomorrow for more showings! It's been a stressful few days, but all was worth it as it is sold and the possession date is good (Nov 20). So we'll be packing up and heading out in 2 short weeks!

Landon's been doing so well with all of the 'visiting' we've been doing! Today we were in Niverville at Pam and Kevin's - we had a great visit. They have such a beautiful home. And Landon loved playing with Frankie and Taya!!

So we're looking forward to collapsing into bed shortly, and not having to panic getting up in the morning to pack up and leave!! YAY -- we can make coffee and breakfast and relax at home for a couple of days before we start worrying about details for packing.

I'd better go - Landon is (hopefully) ready for bed! Until next time...TK

How could I forget...

The most exciting news of the day: Landon rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time today!! YAY He was playing on the floor last night and almost rolling over (he's figured out it will get him closer to interesting things like toys), and today he did it!! Then he started fussing because he was on his tummy LOL What a kid!
He's starting to move around a bit more ... last night he was on the floor in the living room and after awhile he started fussing. Because he had himself crammed up against the couch (he's only figured out how to wiggle in one direction I guess!). So we won't be able to leave him on the floor upstairs without the gate up anymore ... Our days of immobile Landon are fast coming to an end I fear.
A few days ago as well, I was on the phone with my mom, with Landon sitting on the floor by my foot. He reached over, grabbed my leg, and almost pulled himself right up. He was on his feet, with his butt sticking out, but he got too tired I guess so he didn't make it all the way up. And later that day, he was sitting on the floor and jump-scootched himself about 3 foot forward, while sitting. He leans forward to the point he's almost going to do a face plant, then pushes down with his feet while throwing his upper body into the air, which causes him to kind of bounce forward. It's pretty neat to watch him figuring out all of these ways to try to move...little stinker!

So that's the mobility report for the week ... we'll keep you posted on any further developments.

On a different note: Nikki -- any news? You haven't posted for a few days....

day two of showings...

Day two of showings completed. Half done, phew! There was 8 showings yesterday, 6 today, and 3 scheduled for tomorrow so far. Hopefully we'll see some offers get written soon too :-)
We had a nice day at Aunty Margarets. We all slept the afternoon away! LOL Landon went down for a nap around 2:45, John and I went to sleep about 3 and we all slept until 5 pm! It felt so nice, especially since it's snowy and yucky here anyways! I was thinking of going to the mall, but it was way too snowy. And the nap felt sooooooo good :-) Hopefully Landon will sleep tonight.
He had trouble falling asleep last night, and today we see a much more pronounced bump on his bottom gum. Might not be too much longer and we'll see tooth #2. And the top ones seem to still be working on coming through too, but they will likely be a bit longer.
It was funny last night, he fell asleep only to wake up within 15 minutes. Then he really struggled to go back to sleep, so I gave him to John and he went to sleep within a few minutes :-) And I was already asleep in bed by then too. Worked well -> I think we'll have to try that some more ... heh heh. His poor teeth are just bugging him too much, he wants us to hold him to sleep, but he's getting heavy! I might just curl up on the couch with him tonight if he's struggling again, maybe he'll stay asleep better on the couch with me.

Hope everyone is warm wherever they are. It's nights like tonight that I get super-excited to get to our new home and our new fireplace :-) Until next time...TK

we're READY!

Well, almost ready. We just have to do the 'one-last' vacuum and floor sweeping. YAY Our house is very neat, but it is not very 'homey' to me because I'm not used to such a clean house!! lol But hopefully others will find it homey. There are 6 or 7 showings scheduled for tomorrow, and they're starting to line up for Monday as well. We're off to Aunty Margaret's for the day, it'll be nice to get a good visit in. And it'll be WONDERFUL to not clean anything for the day!

Think good house-selling thoughts for us tomorrow :-) TK

day three of cleaning...

We're on day three of house-prepping ... and I'm feeling tired! LOL To be expected I guess. But we are close, we can see the end. The kitchen is cleaned fully, the basement is show-ready. The bathrooms are spotless. Even the windows have been washed (Dave should be glad to hear that...) Tomorrow is the final cleaning in the bedrooms, the laundry room, and the 'one-last-time' vacuuming and floor cleaning as needed. It's amazing what two people can accomplish when we set our minds to it. John cleaned the basement, I focused on the kitchen, and we just went at it.

Of course, Landon has been an absolute dream ... playing quite happily by himself for most of the day, having nice naps, and then last night going to sleep about 1 and staying asleep (the past couple of nights he'd sleep for 20 - 40 minutes, then wake up and need me to help him back to sleep ... grrr). Landon was so tired this morning, he was 'up' for almost an hour before he woke up. He'd just loll around on us, or go to sleep if we put him down. lol I tried sitting him up on the floor, he just bent over double with his face on his feet and went back to sleep!! Hopefully he'll still go to sleep well tonight, as I'm in need of some serious zzz's.

So tonight I'll do some more cleaning and then the final spurt tomorrow should have it done. Phew! Then let's hope lots of people come through the house! Heh heh We'll keep you posted!!

day one of house prepping...

and it went well. We got the yard cleaned up, the garage swept out. I put up the ceramic tiles (will grout tomorrow) -- that was way too easy for words. I'll be tiling more things in our new house ... heh heh, unless the grout-work is terrible! John completely cleaned up the basement, it looks huge now :-) Didn't know our basement was so big! Tomorrow is carpet cleaning, and finish cleaning up the basement.

Landon was so funny today. I had him outside as I was hosing off the cobwebs (so many spiders this year!). He was sitting on a blanket in the front yard, just looking around at everything, all "I can't really move in this snowsuit". I heard some squawking, looked over the bushes. There he is, face-planted in the grass. He'd tried to pull some grass out (the evidence was clutched tightly in his fist), and in doing so had pulled his face into the ground. There was dirt covering his face, he was sitting there mewling to be picked up ... I just about peed laughing at him!! But we got him all picked up and cleaned off and he was quite fine to sit there for a bit longer ... until nap time anyways!!

So that was our day. Tomorrow is cleaning day two ... will hopefully post again soon!! Take care...TK

Life is getting busy...

Frantic may be a better term...:-/
We met with the Realtor tonight. We plan to list the house on Thursday, with showings starting Sunday. **GULP** So we'll be spending tomorrow getting outside spic and span (the weather is forecast to be nice, thank goodness), and Thurs, Fri, Sat polishing inside. Mostly we'll be de-cluttering the inside :-P And finishing up some details, like I'm putting ceramic tile on the backsplash...to add some pain to the process heh heh. Oh yeah, and carpets get steam-cleaned Thursday too ... so they should look great! But I'm confident that we'll be fine in getting everything done, we'll just be tired on Sunday!
The good news in it all ... we'll be showing the house Sunday through Wed (was going to be Tuesday, but since that's Hallowe'en we moved it to Wed). Which means we'll be spending time with family and friends on those days (I don't want to be home only to get 6 phone calls to leave in the next 30 minutes ... too hard on me and on Landon, especially for naps). So we'll spend our days visiting, and what could be better? It ensures that we'll get some visiting time in before we leave in a few short weeks! And they will be days when we aren't cleaning our house, looking for a new house, nor fretting over things. We'll just be visiting. I'm looking forward to that.

So next Wed we're hoping that we'll have the house sold :-) YAY And it'll be cleaned and decluttered, and some stuff will already be packed :-) And then ... *sigh* It'll be so busy leading up to moving ... hopefully Landon won't get sick in there or anything. The on-and-off teething fussies are enough. He was good the last couple of nights (I've likely just jinxed it and he'll be awful tonight!). He goes to sleep well, but then wakes up 30 - 45 minutes later and cries for a bit. We've been leaving him alone, and he gets himself back to sleep within 5 to 10 minutes. He usually wakes up shortly after that and does the same routine, and then finally is asleep for the night. I don't know why he wakes up like that - but we've found that leaving him alone he gets back to sleep and all is good. He sure bounces the ambybed ... I think that helps soothe him back to sleep.

And Landon ate chicken today !! YAY He still made faces, just not as bad as last month when he ate the chicken! LOL He had just a bit (to taste), and we'll try it again tomorrow. He's such a munchkin ... eating so much :-)

So that's the news for tonight. I may not get a chance to post for a couple of days, but hopefully I'll get a quick break every now and again. Any one who's interested in helping out, just let us know :-) Cheers!! TK

We have a HOUSE!

That's right -- John has struck a deal for our new home in Calgary! We get possession on November 17...Which is very exciting, and very SOON! LOL We'll have busy few weeks as we have to sell this house now :-P But it's all coming together nicely, and we are excited!! We have beautiful hardwoods, three bedrooms upstairs plus a bonus room, ensuite (YAY), and a nice backyard backing onto greenspace, so no neighbours over the backfence :-) Pretty cool - we are pretty darned excited!
The other good news: John will be able to fly home tomorrow instead of Monday. Which I like ... it's not that I don't love Landon, and I love spending time with him too, and he naps so well all day long that I even get breaks, but it'll just be nicer to have John again. I'm so darned spoiled with John having been home so much for Landons first months, I don't know what I'll do when he goes back to work! aiaiaiaiai Actually, I'll spend the first few weeks unpacking and organizing, and then preparing for Christmas, but after that .... heh heh I'll survive, I know.

So that's the big news from here. I'll keep you posted on developments on selling our home here as that will likely all come together in the next couple of weeks as well. Fun fun ... Now I'm really looking forward to Dec 1 when we can be somewhat settled in our new house, as the next few weeks may be a bit hairy...

Bye for now...TK

Just hanging out...

When Landon's not trying to crawl or stand, he likes to hang out and watch the world go by. He loves the rocking chair, and he loves trees, and he loves cars. He gets all three when we put him in the chair in front of the window ... Plus he looks adorable too, 'talking' to us :-)

He might just go straight to walking!

I don't know if Landon will crawl, he may go straight to walking!! Here he's standing on the chair, by himself. John has his hands there to catch him should he fall / go off balance, but he's not actually touching him. And Landon was proud as punch to be standing there too. He also likes to stand holding onto the couch (I like that better too), although he hasn't ventured to taking his own steps while hanging on to the couch yet....

Getting ready to crawl?

Sort of... Landon is starting to work on getting his knees under him, but he's not always happy about it when they get there!! I think it's a bit of "Now what the hell do I do?" But more and more he is starting to pull his knees up, and if we help by putting our arm by his feet so that he has something to push off of, he'll move himself on the floor, a bit :-) I would actually like the crawling to hold off until after we move, but I don't know if my wants are going to matter that much! LOL

I spoke too soon...

I spoke too soon about the teeth thing ... Landon had a really rough night Thursday night, I think it was his teeth. He would fall asleep only to wake up 5 - 15 minutes later crying, hard. This lasted until 3 am, when he finally fell asleep and stayed asleep - on me, while I went to sleep on the couch. But at least we got some sleep!! And he woke up at 7:40 am, which is unusual ... he hasn't been waking up overnight at all. So I definitely think it's teeth. When he plays on the floor, it's all about whatever teething toy he has close by ... he ignores his blocks, balls, etc, preferring to chew chew chew on something hard or rubbery. So maybe we'll get to see another tooth in the next week or so.
That said, last night he went to sleep really well. I gave him some Tylenol, so maybe that helped ... ? But I put him down at 1:30, and he went to sleep on his own and slept until 10:15 when I got him up today. Which means I slept peacefully from about 1:45 until 10 - YAY. Oh yeah, 10:15, not 9:30 like it's supposed to be. After his bad 3 am night, we slept until 11! Oops!! So this morning was 10:15, and I think he was out of bed for 30 minutes before he even opened his eyes ... poor stinker, so sleepy in the mornings. And he had a crazy long nap this afternoon, so I could be in for it tonight! Oh well ... we'll take it as it comes I guess. *Shrug*
John's busy busy busy looking at sooo many houses in Calgary. We've got a 'short list' of about 5 from what he's looked at so far, and he was going to look at 6 - 10 more this afternoon hopefully. If we can get things narrowed down tonight, that will be great! It's exciting seeing all of these houses ... I can hardly wait to have a new address to share with everyone! :-D
I have a few more pics to post, so I will get that done here soon. Hope all is well...take care!! TK

And John's off...

to Calgary, house-hunting. John flies out tomorrow morning and will be back Monday afternoon - hopefully with a deal on our new house in Calgary!! YAY Yippee!! Now we're getting even more excited for this move!! We've spent two days staring at houses on-line, and are completely bleary-eyed, but there are (surprisingly) a lot of houses for sale in the areas we're interested in, so we're optimistic that this trip will be fruitful.

That means that Landon and I get to hang out all weekend together. Little stinker-pants. Today we all slept in, so we missed getting Landon up at 9:45, instead we all got up at 10:45 (I wonder where Landon gets this sleeping-in habit from!! LOL). Tomorrow I will get him up at 10 again and we'll go from there. I think he'll still go to bed fairly decently tonight ... likely by 1:30 or so (he was asleep about 1:30 last night). He's been going to sleep well at night, not as much fussing to fall asleep like at the farm (obviously his teeth aren't bothering him as much these days). So we'll keep moving his wake-up time up, and hopefully we'll get this going to sleep time moved up a bit soon too.

John and I went out for a nice dinner tonight to celebrate our anniversary. We went to a french restaurant, La Vielle Gare. It was delicious - and so nice to go out without Landon (I hope that doesn't sound too harsh!!). Thank you so much to Trish for watching Landon for us (lucky gal didn't even get a poopy-pants to change!). But John and I are both soooo full ... ugh. Dinner was much too good I guess!!

That's the news from here ... I'll try to get some pics posted soon, and will keep everyone posted on our house-hunting....until then! TK

Quick note Tues afternoon...

Last night we almost got to sleep a bit earlier. Well, Landon did get to sleep earlier, much earlier. He fell asleep at midnight. But woke up shortly before 1, and struggled to get back to sleep. He was still sleepy, but maybe his teeth were bugging him or something? He would wake up and fuss, and fall back to sleep very quickly, only to wake up 10 - 15 minutes later fussing and crying again. I finally gave him some Tylenol about 1:45 and put him back down and we didn't hear from him again until we went in to wake him up. So at least he got a bit more sleep last night than he's been getting, even if I only got to go to sleep at 2 am! :-P
He was in a much better mood this morning (and we did get him up at 10:15 today ...), and has been happier all day. He's just down for his second nap right now, so it's nice a peaceful again. He's sure playing lots now, it's a ton of fun!! Right now he's really liking this cloth ball that Grandma gave him ... we toss it into his lap and he laughs and laughs. I also bought some 'roll-around' balls for him, and he's enjoying those too.
We're just waiting and watching to see if that second tooth is going to pop on through one of these days. We can see just a faint outline, and he hasn't been too fussy these past few days, so it could be a while longer.

Phoned for flu shots today ... still no serum, so we'll likely have to wait until Landon's Dec 11 appointment. And I don't know if we'll even still be here then. John and I may be able to get in to our family doctor in November, so I don't know why the Ped can't get serum until Dec? But that's the medical system I guess. Maybe it's a sign to not even bother...?

Oh yeah - other big news (how could I leave this to the end!?): John accepted a position with Toromont today. He hasn't nailed down a start date yet, as we're trying to co-ordinate that with when we can get possession of a house. But he is officially employed now, and we know what kind of tractors and stuff Landon will be playing with (Caterpillar)! Grandpa may throw a few red ones in the mix too, I guess. It'll be red and yellow tractors for Landon :-)
So we're full-fledged house-hunting now, but still debating on when John will make a trip out to Calgary to do some hunting in person. But we're one step closer...

That's the big news...we'll keep you posted on any further developments!! Until next time...TK

Piggy pig, and poopy poop

What a pooping machine ... he's still going 'full force', heh heh. Some impromptu baths have been in order for clean-up purposes. *sigh* But at least he's a healthy little bugger, and he's still eating up a storm.
Today we missed getting him up at 10:15, but he did get up at 10:30 still. He fell asleep shortly after 11, as I breastfed him in bed. And he wouldn't wake up ... I carried him around, was chatting with John, everything. He was sleepy!! So he had his first nap early, and all other naps have been early too. His last nap (this evening) which is usually only 45 minutes, was stretching out to be longer so we had to get him up. He was so sleepy again, I actually had to put him on the floor in the living room and keep talking to him to wake him up. He wouldn't wake up on me (even when I sat him up on my knee facing me and John and I were laughing at him). So on the floor he went, where he still struggled to wake up!! So we're hoping for a bit of an earlier night tonight? Maybe....just maybe, it'll be earlier than 2:15 am!!

So, we've been perusing houses for sale in Calgary. We are just debating on when John will head out there to (hopefully) buy one. We are both getting very excited for the move ... VERY excited! It's all starting to come together, which is great.

That's the news from here for today. We are going to check out more houses now, so I'll post again in a day or two. Until then...TK

Pictures for Grandma....

Here are some pics of Landon from the past couple of days. He was playing with John on the couch, and was particularly cute (first pic) so we got some pics. I was hoping you could see his tooth, but not quite yet. It's just barely through, so it's not quite visible.
Landon loves to chew on everything he can, but his most favouritest thing right now is John's watch. If he's fussing, we just give him the watch and he's content to chew chew chew on that for at least 20 minutes :-)
Landon has also discovered his love for his own little piano (thanks again Carolin!). It took him awhile to figure out that in order to get "music" you have to hit the 'keys' ... not just bang on the soundboard (plus that must hurt the hands, with the pegs on there!!). But mommy only had to show him a little bit and he got it all figured out. He even plays with his feet when he gets tired and decides to lay back :-)

pooping machine!

Landon has been in full-poop-production mode the past couple of days! Man oh man!! We are no longer worried AT ALL about the functioning in that area LOL I've increased his cereal intake while decreasing slightly his veggies / fruit, in hopes that we will slow this down a bit?! 3 times a day, covering all that he's wearing, is a bit much :-/

Things are going well though. We are working on moving his sleep phase earlier, so yesterday he was up at 10:45, today 10:30. He is so sleepy when we get him up, John said today he didn't even open his eyes for about 15 minutes!! Hopefully he will start going to sleep a bit earlier too. We will get him up at 10:15 tomorrow, 10 Tuesday, 9:45 then 9:30. That's where I'm stopping for now, as daylight savings ends next Sunday, and then 9:30 will be 8:30 and we'll have almost normal hours. Then we'll work on getting more of those hours in his night-time sleep with less napping hours. He's napping 4.5 hours during the day, sleeping ~9 hours at night ... I'd like to move an hour to 1.5 hours from the day to the night if we can ... if we can't I won't sweat it though. It's nice to have those hours to ourselves during the day too. But I would like an hour or so to myself at night too, if we can figure that in somewhere :-/ If only I functioned better on 7 or 8 hours of sleep, but unfortunately I'm still tired unless I get 9 (how ridiculous is that!).

Had volleyball practise today. Felt good to get out there, but it looks like my team has found my replacement so I won't be playing any volleyball at all :-( But I will still go to cheer them on and drink a beer or two I think!

That's the news from here. Grandma has requested more pics, so I will work on getting some more on the blog soon. Take care....until next time! TK

The teething continues...

Landon's first tooth is still working on popping all of the way out ... we see more of it all the time. And this morning John noticed the outline of the second tooth, so we should see that one soon (hopefully in less than a week). Landon is still a bit fussy, moreso at the end of the day, but he went to sleep a bit better last night. And was soooo sleepy at 11 this morning when John got him up!! It took about half an hour for Landon to wake up, he just kept putting his head back on John's shoulder ... then he took a big poop for daddy :-) Heh heh, I like when I don't have to clean those diapers!!
Things are going well here. The new flooring is in the kitchen - it looks fabulous!! The kitchen is much brighter now, I really really like it. Now I just have to fix up the backsplash in the kitchen (the new countertops end about 1/2" lower than the old ones), and we'll be done. I don't know if I'll tile, or paint. We'll see.
The job-hunt has gone well ... John should be 'employed' by the end of next week. We don't know when the start date will be, and we still have to make arrangements to buy a new house, sell this one, etc. But we may be moved by Christmas, which was what we were hoping for... I'll keep everyone posted.

That's the big news from here for today. My life is pretty uncomplicated these days, just feed Landon, play for awhile, he and I both nap (ahhh), and repeat. I am looking forward to volleyball practise on Sunday though, and the season starts next Wednesday. I haven't done anything since ball ended at the end of August, so it's about time. With Landon nursing less, I've gained a couple of pounds back, so it's time to start doing more exercise and I'll have to (gasp!) watch what I'm eating :-( Oh well ... I've eaten like a pig for about 15 months, so I can't really complain!!

until next time....TK

playing with Grandpa

Landon sure enjoyed playing with Grandpa all week. He was pretty amazed by those big fingers I think!! Whenever Grandpa would talk to Landon, he would stop whatever he was doing just to listen ... and then a big smile would spread across his face! I think Landon misses Grandpa this week (and vice versa too?).

Thanksgiving ...

Landon got to finally meet his cousin Kyle - he thought he was pretty interesting. So was Great Grandpa. He thoroughly checked both of them out, and they met his approval ;-)

Discovering Leaves...

With all of the fallen leaves at the farm, we took Landon out for some playtime. He thought the leaves were pretty fun, all crinkly. He tried to taste them too, but we were able to stop him :-) He enjoyed when we threw the leaves up in the air and let them land on him, and he loved scrunching them in his hands.

NEW TOOTH

Well, after a week of sucking and mewling and whining whining whining ... the FIRST TOOTH is finally poking through!! It hasn't come through completely, but when I put a plastic spoon in his mouth, there's a 'tick tick'!! YAY
Now I've heard that teeth come in twos, so I'm wondering if the second one will be far behind? We'll just have to see I guess.
Landon tried some bananas today for the first time. He wasn't too sure about those things ... but we'll try again tomorrow. I bought tons of baby food today, so we'll have a good variety of stuff for the next month I'm sure!!
Landon actually went to sleep fairly well last night, at 2 am (which is about an hour earlier than at the farm). He woke up a few times over the first hour (tooth?), but then got to some serious sleeping and slept until 11 am. And I slept until 11 am too which felt wonderful. Tomorrow morning we're going to start moving his 'sleep phase' earlier ... by waking him up 15 minutes earlier each day until we're getting up at 9:30. And hopefully his bedtime will follow suit ... heh heh. I chose 9:30 because daylight savings ends in a couple of weeks, and then we'll be getting up at 8:30. That'll be a change, for Landon and mommy!!

Winter is on the way here ... it was bloody cold out. aiaiaiai I'm searching for a warmer jacket (that's not a one-piece, or that includes snow pants) for Landon. I think I'll have to make a trip to the mall...
Tomorrow we get our kitchen flooring replaced. That will make the kitchen look better :-)

That's the quick post for today. Pics coming shortly! Until next time...TK

Week long travels...

Well, we survived the week back in Sask and are safely back home today. It does feel good to be home ... but we really enjoyed the trip back to Sask. Landon traveled so well, there and back (sleeping most of both trips ... we left early in the morning to accommodate that). And he even slept pretty well while we were there, although it did take him awhile to get to sleep most nights :-/ Surprise surprise. He started full-fledged teething last week, so we had a very late night at Grandma and Grandpa's, and he's been really fussing when trying to go to sleep ever since. It's funny, he actually went to sleep really well at Carla and Dave's, but didn't sleep as well overnight (waking up 3 or 4 times). At Grandma and Grandpa's he really struggled to get to sleep, but once there he slept very well. *shrug* Who knows! heh heh

So we're in teething mode now ... every night he falls asleep nicely, only to wake up several times crying and chewing on anything close to him. I've been walking and holding him to sleep, even spending an hour or two on the couch when he first falls asleep before putting him to bed. I sleep all right that way (I'm usually so tired by the time he goes to sleep), and it ensures that he gets some sleep, so that's what I've taken to doing. I'm curious what tonight will bring as he slept so much today on the trip home. But he had a 2 hour nap after we got home ... I don't know if he's still looking for a third nap (I sure hope not!!), or if he'll be good to go down for the night when he next goes to sleep. I'm not panicking, what will be will be.

This week we're planning to introduce some fruits ... we've gone through plenty of veggies, so I think it's time Landon got some sweetness :-) (and not just whipping cream, Dave!). So we'll start something yummy in a day or two. He's loving peas and even creamed corn now. Little piggy. And he's doing four full 'meals' through the day too ... cereal for breakfast (4 Tbsp), and veggies(2-3 Tbsp)/cereal (2-4 Tbsp) for lunch, dinner, and before bed. aiaiaiai
Nursing is still going well ... 5 times a day, with the fifth being a cluster-feeding type of thing while getting him to go to sleep at night. Especially with the teething, he must like to sucking motion ... soothes his gums and alleviates teething pain a friend told me. He doesn't usually wake up over night, but that's likely because he's only getting ~8 hours by the time he gets to sleep (we're still waking him in the mornings so that we don't push the schedule back too much).

It's funny now that we're on more solids, we definitely know when Landon's pooping. He will be sitting and playing, and all of a sudden he's very serious and concentrating quite hard on the business at hand. He just made a stinker, makes me smile to watch him, he's so cute!

Thanksgiving was very nice. We got to see Aunty Yvonne, Great Grandpa Leisle, and Landon met his cousin Kyle for the first time. It was so nice ... I will post some pictures soon too.

I should go, I could write a novel, but I will write more when I have pics to post with it. :-) Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Until next time...TK

We made it!

Well, the trip wasn't nearly as harrowing as I worried it would be ... PHEW! We hit the road ~6 am on Sunday, Landon slept until 11 (we usually have to wake him at 11 at home, but he woke up right at 11 on the road :-/), he was fine for another few minutes, but was pretty hungry by 11:30 so we stopped in Indian Head for a bite to eat. We stopped at the Craft-Tea Elevator ... very nice place to stop. The food was so-so, but the craft room was nice to walk through. We bought Grandpa's birthday gift there (a nice photograph of Ernfold elevators).
So we fed Landon, ate a bit ourselves, and then Landon was pretty much ready for his nap, so we hit the road. He did wake up in Regina, and I thought the last 2 hours wouldn't be so pleasant, but he went back to sleep and slept all the way to the farm! YAY!

So we're here. Landon is napping like an angel (like usual), having troubles getting to sleep at night (like usual). He's super tired today, as he went to sleep at 1 and got up at 9:40 (woke up early on his own ... don't know what that's about...but he still woke up happy). So maybe he'll go to sleep a bit earlier tonight - I'm tired! LOL

We've just been hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa these past couple of days. We're going to Swift Current on Thursday, will stay until Saturday. John's coming back from Calgary on Friday night and will meet us in swift. It'll be nice to see him ... I miss him and I think Landon does too. But I have to admit, Landon has adjusted quite well to a new place. And once I get him to sleep, he's sleeping well.

Happy Birthday to Johnny-cakes!! He had to celebrate in Calgary without us today :-( But he said the job-hunt is going well, so that's good.

Well, that's the news from here for now. Landon's enjoying Grandma's house, we think he may be seriously working on a tooth or two, and he loves peas. I will try posting again in a few days if I get a chance. Landon's sleeping in the computer room, so I don't get many chances to get on-line ... when he's sleeping I can't get in here, and when he's awake he's keeping me busy. :-/ Ah well.....Until next time...TK

Cutie in the high chair...

Here's a picture of the little smiler in the high chair. I don't know exactly what John was doing to entertain him, but Landon was sure enjoying it. I managed to catch a couple of pictures, before he saw the camera. As soon as he saw the camera, mr. serious-face appeared... LOL

We're ready, I think...

We're all packed up and ready to hit the road in the morning. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything too important ... heh heh. Most things can always be purchased when we get there. The main thing: I've got diapers! LOL Oh yeah, and food ... that's an important item now that we didn't used to worry about :-/ Lots of food. *sigh*

I'm surprised at how hard it is to find barley cereal with formula. A couple of places carry oatmeal and rice with formula, but I couldn't find barley ... until I wasn't looking for it. I found it today at Shoppers Drug Mart - made me happy. Now all of Landon's cereal have formula in them, so I don't have to use formula to mix them ... much easier. Happy mom.

We had a nice dinner last night with Aunty Margaret (who's celebrating her birthday today! Happy Birthday!). We had pork (we always have pork with Aunty Margaret), nice white wine, and homemade apple pie for dessert. Very yummy! It was nice to spend the evening with her - we don't see her often enough.

Other than that - Landon is adorable. Getting to sleep at night continues to plague us, or rather elude us. Last night he went to sleep at 11:20, only to wake up a midnight and play happily until 2:45. It's lucky for him that he played happily ... aiaiaiai. I just laid on the floor beside him, and he played with my pj strings, he played 'oops dropped my soother, where is it now?' and giggled and laughed. He was very cute, and I hate to admit that I enjoyed watching him play (despite the hour), but I was very glad when he finally went to sleep :-/ Hopefully tonight will be better as we plan to be on the road at 5:30 am.

So that's that for now. I'll post again when we're at the farm hopefully ... let everyone know how the trip went and whatever. Hope all is well where you are...Take care...TK

New countertops!

Our new countertops have been installed ... YAY!! They are quite nice, I am very happy with them. The flooring install has been delayed, it will be installed on Oct 12 now. Ah well...

With the counters being installed today I actually relaxed a bit, felt really good to just read in the afternoon, instead of painting something LOL. I have some touchups to do now around the counters, and the backsplash is lower than the old counters, so I'm going to have to fix that up. Either with paint, a paper border, or a row of tile. I may just try the tile, see how that goes.... But that is a project for a couple of weeks from now!

Landon has fully recovered from the his shots. No more fever or anything. And no fever with foretelling the onset of roseola...that'll likely hit Saturday or something, just because we want to leave Sunday morning :-/
Right now he's in the jolly jumper jumping away, puking about every 5 minutes because he gets himself jumping so much and then sticks his hand in his mouth, gagging himself. But he doesn't seem to mind. I'll just notice him stop jumping for about a minute, he'll be chewing on his hands, and then BLECH ... and I go clean him up and he starts the entire process again! Monkey...

He slept through the night again last night ... and I got the longest stretch I've had in, oh I don't know, a year or so ...?! I slept from shortly after 1 until 9:30 without waking up! YAY Usually I wake up sometime between 4:30 and 7, just because. And then it takes me awhile to get back to sleep. Not last night ... I woke up at 9:30, and then went right back to sleep until 10:50, when it was time to get Landon up.

I couldn't believe Landon today - he slept right through the countertop install, including taking the old countertops off, sawing and banging and everything!! What a sleeper! If only he slept like that when we first put him down at night!! LOL Oh well, I will take the good napping and not complain too much!

Oh yeah, Landon tried green beans today. I thought he wouldn't like them as much as they aren't as sweet as squash and sweet potatoes, but he barely batted an eye and munched them all up. Something's gonna' happen around food here, because feeding him is just too easy ... he has only rejected chicken so far. And to like green beans!! C'mon!! I guess he doesn't like cereal made with water either, so I pump every day to mix milk in with his cereal. So that's not easy ... so maybe that's the trade-off. I don't know. But I'm liking this veggie love of his ... we'll just keep on introducing veggies!! LOL

That's the news for tonight. Getting excited for the trip to the farm. Calling all friends back home: I'm looking for a loaner exersaucer for the week I'm at the farm. If you have one, or know of one I can borrow, please let me know. Mom will be in Swift on Saturday, so she can pick it up in it's there...Thanks!! I'll post again tomorrow probably...TK

Landon's world today...

Well, Landon was a bit feverish last night, and extremely fussy. The Motrin likely helped him feel a bit better, but he did struggle to get to sleep. He slept for about 30 minutes from 11:30 to midnight, then he was up for quite awhile, and miserable. Finally I put him in his crib with the aquarium light going, which he watched for quite awhile, and he was quite happy in there -- playing with his feet, 'talking' and laughing. I fell asleep shortly after 1, Landon woke me up about 1:40 fussing because I think he was ready for bed but doesn't realize he could just fall asleep in his crib ... He cried and was a moron until I nursed him, then he calmed right down. I snuggled with him in the recliner and we both fell asleep. I put him into his bed shortly after 2 and went to get some quality sleep myself! He did wake up again about 6:30, but I was able to nurse him and he went right back to bed. By then the Motrin was likely worn off, so he probably felt crappy again. He seems okay today though - the fever is gone and he's napping like a star right now. So maybe that will be the end of the fever, and hopefully the fussiness will disappear too.....

I got the painting touch-ups done today ... and put the painting supplies away. YAY I like painting, and I like getting it done even better :-)

Now it's full-fledged 'getting ready to travel' mode for me ... I'll be going shopping to get baby food, diapers, etc today. Clothes washing comes next...etc, etc. I'm excited, and I hope that Landon travels and sleeps well. The more I think about it, we'll have to be creative with the sleeping situation ... Landon whines and stuff during the night, but doesn't necessarily wake up. If he sees me or anything then he does wake up and it's a struggle to get him back to sleep (if it's early in the night). So I may end up sleeping on the couch, or we'll have to put Landon in the computer room ... poor kid, in the 'office' to sleep! But I'm afraid if we don't neither of us will get much sleep. *sigh* we'll see, I'm sure it will all work out ... I'm just used to sleeping in my 'own' room now, so I don't look forward to sharing with Landon again!! LOL

Anyways, I hear the little monkey waking up now, so I'll go get him. I will maybe post again later, and I should have some pics to post again soon!! take care...TK