Landon LOVED the backyard activities

Landon loved that we were all in the backyard today ... he was very busy running around, moving the wagon to strategic locations, and rearranging the dirt piles using his loader, bulldozer and back-hoe trucks! Then he had a quick shower and good long snooze!!

At least he's gone from calling Brian 'visitor' to saying 'Brian' now :-) He's had a busy, but a very fun day.

and yes, those are his 'bee boots' with his shorts. He loves those boots!!

That's a BIG pile o' dirt!

With Brian's help (a considerable amount of it actually), we got our trees planted in the backyard today. These boys moved a LOT of dirt around, let me tell you!! But the trees look fabulous! Here are the 5 aspens, as well as the double-flowering plum and 'sensation' lilac (they look so small now that they're planted!!).

Now let's just hope and pray the trees survive -- we certainly don't want to go through this again! yes - that's a pick-ax in Brian's hand - the clay soil was like concrete, we had to use a pick-ax to get any lower than ~8" or so. I don't know if John will let me plan on planting any more trees ever again! LOL

And once these guys were done in the yard, they moved onto the basement. John and Brian moved over half of the drywall into the basement (via the side window) before supper yet. They most definitely earned their HUGE steaks (thanks again Brian) for supper, and the nice cold beers too (made me really want a beer today...)

Swinging Swinging Swinging ... with a ball!

Landon LOVES to go to the park and swing. He'll play with other kids if they're there (and interested in playing with him), but mostly he just loves to swing. Yesterday was extra fun because he had his soccer ball, and could hold that while swinging :-/ Silly kid. He rested his head on the ball, I thought he was going to fall asleep. John may not want to put a playset in the backyard, but as much as Landon loves to swing we may have to break down and buy one I'm thinking!! LOL

This last picture captures just how much Landon looks like Thomson! Holy moly -- these kids are DEFINITELY related!

I'm just glad that Landon will wear this hat that we bought him. I bought one earlier and he won't leave it on his head for any length of time. I should've known. Landon has preferred the type of hat seen here ever since his first summer ... I will just have to quit trying to get him to wear other types of hats. Maybe the next kid will like the 'other' hats... heh heh.

Ultrasound Update...

All of the appointments are done for this week, and I was VERY happy to have a day to be at home. I haven't been sleeping well, between sore hips, peeing every 13 minutes or so, and heartburn from hell (something I didn't experience at all with Landon). Last night it was so bad I had to get up and sit right up, even just reclining a bit was out of the question. So I've taken to sleeping in the bonus room, propped up with lots of pillows and blankets on the futon on those bad nights. Usually by 2 or 3 am I'm able to get to sleep (!!) and I sleep late with Landon (surprise surprise). Landon and I have been napping VERY well in the afternoons as well ... 2 or 3 hours on some days! Thank goodness or I'd be completely wiped out. He's still going to sleep fairly well at night too as long as we get him outside to play and stuff.
Today was so nice, Landon and I went to the park for ~1.5 hours this morning. He loves to swing and swing and swing. We took his soccer ball too, and he was able to kick it around with another little guy there for awhile. Tonight we all went out back and kicked the ball and played with the neighbours and stuff. I LOVE this nice weather!!

The ultrasound was good, although I didn't get any pics to bring home this time. You just can't see so much now that the kid is scrunched in there! But all the parts seem to be there and the technician didn't seem concerned over anything, so hopefully it's all good news. I will find out on Tues at my next dr appt I guess. What scares me the most is that the baby is estimated to be 8 pounds already! I'd better not go overdue....!!!! I guess we'll just play the waiting game....

Appointments for baby!

It seems that all we do is run to appointments for the baby :-/ Yesterday I went in to have my blood work done, today was dr appt, tomorrow is ultrasound. Then we're good until next Tues (another dr appt).
I am B-strep negative this time (was positive with Landon) which is nice as I won't need antibiotics via IV when we go into labour. Dr appt was fine - heartbeat of 144, bp 115/65. Landon has learned to be such a patient little stinker while waiting for the dr, or for me to get bloodwork done, or whatever. He makes me proud. Tomorrow John is coming home from work to stay with him while I go to the ultrasound though - I don't think it'd be fair to ask him to be THAT patient!! LOL Hopefully we get some pics of baby from the ultrasound.

I'm feeling good - tired but good. Actually today I had more energy again - I think that's because the sun was out FINALLY. Am still hoping to plant trees on the weekend, then I think my yard work will be done for the spring / summer. Maybe in the fall I'll have more energy again - we'll see.

Landon has been as adorable as can be. Singing lots - today was Rock-a-bye Baby, which surprised me, I didn't know he knew that song. He's pretty demanding from the backseat now too. Not only does he want 'sing songs', but he wants specific ones (mostly bumble bee and wheels on the bus) and when he likes the song he says 'louder' so I turn it up for him :-D He loves his sing songs, but he loves metal too .... we played Metallica and he danced his little butt off Sunday night. His dance is pretty funny to watch, mostly involving little hops with a right kick out to the side (a high kick too!) while he bops his head. I will try to get that on video for sure!

the basement is coming along well. We have people coming in the morning to fix our two cracks, and then John can finish the framing, wiring, etc etc etc etc. It'll be going on for months! LOL But we will have walls for a bedroom and a toilet down there at least for when Grandma and Grandpa come for a visit!

I am starting to 'nest' a bit too. Washed up all of baby's clothes -- SO SMALL! And did the big grocery shop today for canned and frozen goods ... we shouldn't have much to pick up aside from fresh produce, milk, bread, etc. I will have to get the hospital bag packed soon, as well as Landon's bag should he be needing to spend the night elsewhere when we go into labour. John promised to get the bassinet, Amby bed, playmat, etc out of the basement soon too, so I will get those things ready as well. The dresser is in our room right now (until we can move the spare room furniture to the basement), and is all full of baby's clothes. *sigh* Such little things ... so exciting for when he/she will be coming home. Only 25 days to go!

MMMMMM Cookies!!!

Well, Landon learned today that despite the hand blender making an almost scary noise, there are good things to be had in the kitchen. He wasn't at all interested in helping me put cookies on the cookie sheet for baking - but I do have a taste-tester extraordinaire on my hands!! I had to cut him off of the cookie dough, or we wouldn't have had ANY cookies I'm afraid!

It's still raining - so we've been doing what we can to entertain ourselves in the house. Last night I went to a friends to help watch her and another friends' kids. All 3 of the 2-year-olds stood at the back door looking forlornly out at the rain-drenched deck, wanting to go out and play in the sandbox. Poor things!! At least Landon got out to play with some other kids, to help alleviate the cabin-fever at home!

Tomorrow I think I'll do some shopping - pick up a few more baby items, etc. Hopefully getting Landon out of the house, even if just for shopping, will help too :-/ Poor Landon ... just ask him! lol

Tonight I washed up more baby stuff. Sooooo small. The little newborn diapers, the little onesies and sleepers....*sigh* I know it's going to be a tough slog for the first weeks, but I am looking forward to this little aerobics instructor's arrival. I have an(other) ultrasound on Wed, I'm very much curious as to what we'll get to see now that the baby takes up my entire abdomen. There are lots of kicks and dance moves happening these days, moreso it seems than I had with Landon, or maybe that's just a trick of memory *shrug* Between 1 and 2 am though, wowsers there's a lot of action going on in my belly!! LOL

Landon's first C-Train Trip

Landon LOVED riding the c-train today. He didn't really want to go anywhere this morning, but I knew with the crappy weather he'd get cabin-fever by the end of the day, so I got him up and out the door. Once we were in the car, he was excited to ride the train. No hysterics like when we went for a ride on Thomas. We went downtown to McNally Robinson, but all he really wanted to do was to get back on the train once we got off! LOL We did end up spending a couple of hours at McNally - had lunch which he sat through VERY well ... John and I might have to have a few lunches out before the baby's born, given how well Landon behaved today - and we bought his birthday gift from Aunty Margaret. He got Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose, and a fishing wooden puzzle (a wooden puzzle with a magnetic fishing pole for him to 'fish' the various sea creatures ). Landon's been loving playing with the magnets on his trains so I thought the magnets would be fun for him, and he's had a ton of fun so far today. He also is enjoying hearing the Mother Goose nursery rhymes (and I'm enjoying the break from Thomas stories!! LOL). All in all it was a wonderful trip downtown for Landon and mommy ... I'm hoping to do it again before the baby comes ... whether we go to the Telus Science Centre, back to McNally, or somewhere else. It was just a nice trip.

Of course, I really enjoyed the nap when we got home too!! My big roly-poly belly requires me to nap with Landon these days ... I can hardly function if I don't take that chance for downtime! Ah well ... they say napping is supposed to increase your life-expectancy, so I should be set to reach at least 100!!

General Life Update...

I didn't realize it had been over a week since I've posted! Ooops.....

We've had a good week. Landon and I picked out trees at the nursery, and some flowers too. He was a big help. mostly he just wanted to see the kitty (which was always sleeping, so Landon would stand there "wake up kitty!" ... very cute if you ask me). We got our annuals planted on Sunday - exhausted me for 2 days! LOL The trees were delivered yesterday, so now I have to wait for the rainy dreary weather to pass and we'll plant trees (likely on the weekend). There are 5 columnar aspens, a lilac, and a double-flowering plum. Should help to make the yard look a bit nicer.

We've spent most of our time outside the past week. It was HOT and beautiful all weekend, so we were out more than in. Landon loves the yard, and keeps asking me to 'make grass' (rake). He plays with his little swing/slide thing in the back now (which he ignored when we first got it last fall) and loves to kick a ball around most of all. I love having that yard, let me tell you!!

His ear is hopefully getting better. We go for our follow-up appt tomorrow morning. His last day of antibiotics is today. He hasn't been miserable or anything, sleeping a bit more maybe, and his nose is still runny and he has a bit of a cough. Poor kid ... hopefully this will be the last illness for awhile! He'll have enough to contend within a few weeks.

I'm feeling ok. Getting big though. My hands really bother me (retaining fluid I guess) - they are almost always numb and stiff :-/ But other than that, and a bit of heartburn at night, I can't really complain :-) Baby likes to move the most between 1 and 2 am, so I find that I'm waking up lots then - likely a sign of things to come... Dr appt yesterday was fine, my blood pressure was 110/63, baby's heartrate was 144. I go for an ultrasound next Wed so I should have some new pics.

That's the news, such as it is. Landon and I are going to ride the C-train downtown today, to go to McNally Robinson (he has a gift card from Aunty Margaret for his birthday). Hopefully he likes riding the train -- we'll see. Heh heh

Poor Landon!

Landon has a ruptured ear drum :-( Poor kid! He had a runny nose Fri, thick runny nose Sat, and by Sunday the ear drum must've ruptured. That's all we can figure out. He didn't really fuss, nothing beyond the general 'I've got a runny nose' kind of complaints. Sat night overnight he woke up crying, which is pretty unusual for him these days. After laying with him for about 30 minutes, he would keep waking up and crying a bit, then going back to sleep only to wake a few minutes later, I could tell he was pretty uncomfortable so I gave him Motrin. He went right back to sleep and slept like a trooper. It wasn't until Monday morning that I noticed discharge from his ear, and took him to the doc Mon afternoon. So, another round of antibiotics :-/ 10 days this time (the previous 2 bouts have been 5 days each). Then back to make sure the ear drum is healing properly. The doc actually couldn't even see anything in his ear on Mon, it was too full of discharge.

Poor kid. And Landon will let you know when he's feeling particularly miserable ... he comes up and says "poor Landon". Cracks me up.
So no swimming this week, or next likely. Hopefully they'll have drop-in swimming still in the summer, although I'm getting close to popping here, so I don't know how much we'll take advantage. I guess we'll try to get in there sometimes, when John's off work. Plus when it's nice out we can fill the pool a bit.
We did get outside for a bit today, but his ear must be bugging him a bit as he would pull at it when the wind got up. But at least he did play outside for a bit.
The upside is that he sleeps LOTS! He's been sleeping in, then LoooooNG naps, and to bed 'on time' (which is still late, but it's on time for us :-/). John's been putting him to bed too ... getting prepared for baby's arrival. Landon doesn't particularly go for that yet, but he's getting better. I still have to go in and say good-night again after stories are read, etc, but it's getting better.

I'm anxious to get some yard work in. Hoping to get some trees ordered for delivery to go in maybe on the weekend ... if I can convince Landon to go to the nursery tomorrow. The only way to get him there is to promise that he can see the kitty that's there. But now that I know what I want, I just need to go in and order them and hopefully they can deliver in a reasonable time. We'll see... But it's supposed to be a beautiful long weekend (I'll believe THAT when I see it), so we'll spend time outside.

Until next time...

Rainy days bring out the cute outfits :-)

Landon absolutely LOVES his Thomas rain hat, which is a good thing on these rainy days! Yesterday he had on the rain coat too, and his yellow boots -- he was an adorable sight heading into and marching around Superstore! lol He got many comments on just how cute he was.

The sun is out today though - thank goodness, and the weekend shouldn't be snowy. Not that it matters much to Landon and I as we have yet another cold. We got it from John this time. He's managed to fight it off quickly (with Cold F/X ... gotta love that stuff!), so we'll see how long it hangs onto Landon and I. For Landon it's mostly just a runny nose, although he's been getting a slight fever all day -- he'll warm up, then cool down, then warm up, then cool down. So far I haven't had to drug him (except decongestant when he went to bed last night).

He was pretty cute last night. He woke up shortly after 1 and I could hear him coughing and snuffling and sort of crying. So I went in and laid in bed with him. He wasn't really awake, just kind of waking himself a bit when he'd cough and then back to sleep. But at one point he was snoring with one breath, and then on the next breath he opened his eyes and said "Hi!" -- like we just ran into each other on the street or something. It was pretty cute. I stayed in bed with him for awhile, but I don't think I really would've had to, and when I went back to bed he slept the rest of the night just fine. Let's hope tonight's the same way!

But we have to thank Aunty Vonnie for the popsicle recipe once again. I made them last night anticipating this cold to settle in fully, and Landon's been a popsicle-demolisher all day long :-D He loves the 'pink juice' as he calls it.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to the Kids Stuff garage sale to see what kind of fun stuff I can find. I'm going with our neighbours who are expecting twins in the fall - so it'll be even more fun helping them navigate through this scary world of becoming first-time parents! Until next time...

dr appt update

I had my dr appt this morning, and everything looks great. I'm retaining water, so my hands have been bothering me ... the doctor said I should lay down in the afternoons for a couple of hours - NO PROBLEM! heh heh Heartbeat was 142 bpm (slightly higher than the 138 that has been so consistent). Everything else is looking good :-D

Landon's getting to be very good and patient while at the dr office. I have to scold him less and less. He likes to hear the baby's heartbeat too. And he even helped the nurse to take my blood pressure this morning (which is still nice and low ... 115/65).

And I can't say it enough - I LOVE A FENCED BACKYARD!! Today we bought groceries, and when we got home, Landon wanted to go into the backyard. So I locked him in there (we have locks on the gates so that he can't get out) and was able to unload and put away groceries in peace :-D How wonderful! lol Ah, the little things that a person appreciates so much now.

It's a cloudy, dreary day ... some rain. Blech. Hopefully it doesn't last too long - but it's giving me time to be inside and work through some yard planning. Hoping to get to the nursery this week, and start 'working' on the yard on the weekend (which will be simply choosing spots for trees and starting to prep soil). I'm hoping to plant some trees before the end of the month -- then the yard work will be on hold until the fall I'm thinking ;-)

Well, I'm off to lay down - doctor's orders!

Having a backyard is FABULOUS!

Landon thinks so too. We spend lots of time out in the yard now - and I think Landon's starting to find it as much if not more fun than the park even (I hope so - although he does love to swing at the park). He's just learning and realizing how much he can run and play back there. Plus he's having a blast kicking the ball around and around and around, and tonight he played hockey. It took him awhile to realize just how fun it can be back there, but I think he's got it now. Especially when mom's working out there, he loves to have us back there with him. And I'm happy to be able to get out and do a bit of yardwork - like raking the grass. I've got our yard planned out, now to see what we'll get done this spring before the baby comes.

And I just love this last picture -- he wants to see the camera whenever we pull it out. We seldom get a nice picture of him because he's always reaching for the camera and gets mad if we don't give it to him (which he tells us by saying he's 'frush-trated!'). So this is the typical face that we get whenever we bring the camera out. heh heh

the best thing about the yard and all the playing we do -- good naps and better bedtimes!! LOL John put him down at 9:30 the other night and didn't hear another thing from him. He didn't go right to sleep as he had a truck in bed with him in the morning, but at least he's going to bed earlier and is staying there. Gotta' love that!

Day Out with Thomas!

Today was "Day Out with Thomas" at Heritage Park for Landon. He wasn't too sure about that Thomas train though - certainly wasn't interested in getting close, that's for sure. Then when we boarded for our train ride (the reason we're there, after all) Landon threw a hissy fit!! But we got him calmed down and he enjoyed the train ride once it started moving. The most fun he had was just running around the grass and meeting other kids :-) But it was still a good day - the weather was incredibly beautiful and I really enjoyed it (even if Landon was 'meh' about the whole thing!!). At least tonight at supper he was excitedly reminding us that he rode on Thomas ("rwode on Thompus") today, so maybe it made more of an impression than I realize.