Haven't done much this week...

Well, this week has past, and we didn't do too much :-/ I guess we did some running around, dropping John's car off to be fixed and picking it up again. We did discover through these journeys that Arlan no longer screams when it gets dark out and he's in the car. That's a VERY good thing ;-) Both boys were amazingly patient with the whole process, which was almost 2 hours in the car on Friday afternoon when we dropped John off to pick his up (yup - rush hour ... gotta love it!! NOT!).

Arlan's still working on getting some sort of mobility - when he's on his tummy he can quite easily spin himself around to get toys he wants (and even toys he shouldn't have). So we put him down facing one way, and aren't sure which way he'll be facing when we next look. And he can move himself a bit to the sides, but not too far yet. He's really working on getting forward momentum. If I put a toy he wants just out of reach in front of him, he works sooooo hard to get it ... and is learning that he needs to have his arms out in front of him (not back by his sides like he's flying like Superman!!), and is starting to push up on his hands while moving and squiggling his legs. I think one of these days he'll move himself forward a bit, and then ... *sigh* I'm waiting for it, but not anxiously!! LOL I like the non-moving Arlan for right now :-)

Landon's been watching CARS movie ALL the time ... he gets up in the morning and that's all he wants to do. We haven't even gotten him to watch the new Thomas DVD's from Aunty Yvonne and Uncle Greg! It's all CARS, all the time. I've started to set the timer when he gets up, and when the timer goes off so does the TV. It has worked well, although I haven't done it this weekend as we've been busy enough the tv hasn't stayed on. But I think I will keep that up to try and minimize the television viewing.
I'm just hoping that soon Landon will not be so scared of the basement and will be confident enough to play down there by himself. It's not that I mind going down there, but my being down there does not get laundry done, dinner made, dishes put away, etc ... (yes, I do some of those things every day!!). But I am trying hard to stay patient with him to help him get comfortable, and I'm doing little 'tests' every day -- like going upstairs for a glass of water while he waits for me on the stairs instead of coming right up with me; or waiting for him on the stairs while he runs to the basement to get a favourite toy. It's a slower process than I'd like, but the pay-off will be huge when we get him used to it.

Other than that - not too much news. Had my cousin and her family for lunch yesterday - it was nice to have a bit of a visit. Her little guy sure is cute - 19 months and full of energy. Reminded me of what we're in for in about a year :-/ I love Arlan just the size he is now .... but I guess we all have to grow!

That's the bit of news from here. Will try to get some pics posted soon - until next time...

Basement photos!

We've come a LONG way! These two shots are from the same spot ... the 'before we drove a nail' shot, and one from last night with the brand new carpeting :-) The closed door is the bathroom (silicone on the floor was drying, so door was closed to keep curious george out!). The image of Landon was, well, exactly him all night - running all over the basement as much and as fast as he could!

Here's looking back into the main room (was taken from hallway in front of bathroom door). This will be our toy room for now ... Landon and I already took loads of toys down there today, and he is LOVING playing down there. All that ROOM! We will be buying a big toyshelf shortly, and will get him all set up. Of course, we'll be spending plenty of time down there with him, as right now every squeak, creak, and crack scares him (go figure!). But it's looking pretty sweet - we are excited!!

Arlan's getting SO big!

Here's a cute picture of Arlan, practising standing up with dad. He is all smiles when you help him stand. John even had him 'walking' yesterday -- my heart leapt into my throat when I saw that.

Notice John's nice painty-pants? Well, that's because we got the basement painted this weekend. It's been a long weekend, but it's completely done! YAY Very exciting. Now we're waiting for carpet install (scheduled for Dec 4), then we'll put in the bathroom pieces (toilet, sink, vanity, ets). We are hoping to get light fixtures up maybe even before the carpet is installed .... it's really coming together nicely! I can hardly wait to move the toys down there!!! LOL

Not so much news...

Life has just been plugging along here. We had the time change on the weekend, so now Arlan is going to bed at 6 pm, waking between 6:30 and 7 am. I'm hoping he'll gradually move back ... I liked 7 pm to 8 am ... but I can live with this. He's had some good nights too, where he's woken only once or twice (and when the first awakening is before I go to sleep, that makes the second one much easier to handle). In fact last night I would've had 6 solid hours, had Landon not woken me up moaning and groaning cold!! :-/

The potty training continues to progress very well. Landon wears a diaper to bed overnight and at naps, but has woken up dry from his naps the past 3 days in a row. He is wearing diapers at all other times, including today when we were out running errands for 2 1/2 hours (no accidents!!). Of course, he's slightly dehydrated now as I am not as liberal with the juiceboxes!! But we're getting better :-) Now if we can get him comfortable with pulling his own gotches down to pee (so that we don't have to take him to the pot every time) that will be good ... but hey, this is significant progress and I'm happy to make it!!

Landon seems to have recovered from the Hallowe'en scare :-/ At least he hasn't mentioned the green paint again!! LOL But he's still scared of the Thomas Hallowe'en episode ... maybe I'll have one of those kids that just doesn't like Hallowe'en (could I be so lucky? Maybe ... then Arlan will LOVE Hallowe'en right!! LOL)

We bought a replacement betta fish today ... half price Tuesday at Petland (call me a mennonite ;-D ). He's beautiful ... an irridescent teal colour, I love it. Landon couldn't have cared less ... he was way more excited to see the crickets in the frog container (luckily the frog didn't eat any of them while Landon was watching!!). So let's hope I don't kill this betta as quickly as the last one :-/

We picked out flooring for the basement on Saturday, they came to measure today. We should have a quote in the next day or two, and then we can get it ordered and a target install date. That means we'll be getting our butts in gear to paint. We've picked our colours, I plan to go and buy the paint and supplies tomorrow. That'll make for some tiring times!!

And my Xmas parcels have almost all arrived (I ordered so much online ... WAY easier with 2 little ones!). I'm just waiting for 2 e-bay purchases, and I'm set. I still have to buy a couple of things that I need to go to the store for, but then I'll be done. Except maybe for a garbage truck that Landon insists Santa NEEDS to bring for him ... he just might wear me down because I'd love to see the look on his face. *shrug* Am I a soft touch or what!! LOL

And really, that's all the news there is. Lots happening, nothing too major. Until next time....

Saturday news...

Well, things are going well here, I think. Arlan seems to be settling back into a pattern of sorts. Unfortunately that pattern involves 2 overnight feeds, followed by feeding in mommy's bed at 6:30 or 7 (I do get another 45 mins to an hour snooze after that third feed though!). We've been getting up at 8, and he's been going to bed at 7:30. I guess I can't complain too much!! LOL Especially thinking back to Landon at this age ... ummm, bedtime at 1 am? *sigh* But I am hoping that the overnight feeds cut back a bit - I don't mind once, but twice? The good side of that is usually the first one is before I fall asleep (10:30 or so), then between 3 & 4, then at 6:30 or 7.
He nurses so much better overnight than throughout the day, I can see why he wants to eat overnight. During the day he fusses and pulls off (and my nipples bloody HURT!). At night he eats and goes back to sleep. I haven't had as much of a 'let-down' sensation this week, and when I pumped I was getting less milk than before, so I am wondering if that led to his day-time nursing fussiness? I know one time I nursed him and it was 5 minutes before I had a let-down ... both Arlan and I were pretty frustrated by that point, needless to say. But yesterday seemed better, and I've gotten milk when I pumped yesterday and today (Wed I got NO milk at all!!). So maybe it was the phase of the moon, or a low pressure system or something? the chinook?? I don't know ... I ordered more nursing tea on-line just in case -- my neighbour (who has twins) wants more too, so we'll share the bag when it arrives. She noticed a decrease in her milk this week too ... makes me wonder about weather phenomenon...

Anyways...

Landon has been doing so well re: potty training!! He has been wearing gotchies for at least part of the day the past couple of days, and no accidents! He still is a bit tentative around pulling his gotchies down to use the pot -- although he's proficient at using the pot when he's naked. He will go pee, dump the pot into the toilet and flush, rinse the pot out, wash his hands, and then return the pot to the living room!! LOL one time he did all this and John didn't get a chance to see if there was even pee in the pot - but there must've been based on him doing this process several times since then!!
He still has a diaper on for part of the day. We put one on for naps, and he will pee in that before we take it off when he wakes up. He also wears a diaper for poops (you know he's gotta' poop because he comes running "NEED diaper ON!!"), but when he's done we take it off and put gotches back on again. And of course he wears a diaper overnight, and pees in that in the morning before we take it off. But I think it's wonderful progress :-)

John's putting the sauna in the basement this weekend ... he's got the big back wall up, and is hoping to get all the walls up today. Smells pretty damned nice in the basement, I gotta' admit :-)

That's the news from here ... until next time...

Weekend news?

Well, it's been a productive weekend, but not that exciting. John got the basement primed. our next step is to pick out carpetting, so we can pick out paint colours. John will get the sauna built too -- before we paint and install flooring. But it's coming together, that's for sure :-)

Landon's favourite activity these days is doing somersaults. Yup - he does 'em all over the house!! Mostly he likes to jump from the arm of the couch, flip in the air and do the somersault onto the seat of the couch. Gives me heart attacks every time. But he also does somersaults all over the living room whenever we can convince him to clean up his train tracks.

Arlan is a cutie of course. He is napping well in his room in the bassinet. Next step is to move him into his crib for naps, probably start tomorrow. Last night he slept well ... went to sleep ~7:30, got up at 4 to eat. He did stir several times before that, but I just plugged the soother in and he went back to sleep. I'm hoping to get him back to once a night eating if possible ... we'll just see if he co-operates!! LOL

Landon woke up at 1:30 with a horrible cough ... sounding like he was choking so I think it was post-nasal drip. I think that poor kid has inherited his mom's sinuses :-( I gave him Motrin, and laid down with him. He grabbed puppies and snuggled right up to me - it was so sweet - and went right back to sleep. I think he was most miserable just to have woken up. Oh yeah, he had poopy pants too that I had to change, which didn't help matters :-/ But he woke up fine this morning and has been playing his heart out all day, so maybe it won't be too bad?

This fish has been causing some work, of course! We are having to change some of the water every day because it's 'bubbly' :-/ But the little fishie is very pretty and surprisingly social, so I guess I'll labour away at it! lol By social I mean that every time we walk into the room, he swims to the front of his bowl and then swims back and forth like he's saying 'look at me look at me!" Reminds me of Landon!! LOL

Well, that's about it really. oh yeah, I voted as we'll be gone on voting day. And Landon and I planted tuplips in the front bed this morning. Let's hope they come up all pretty in the spring :-)
until next time...

and again, Landon amazes me :-)

Last night it was pretty warm in our house, since we had beautiful record-breaking temps here yesterday (up to 27'!). We put Landon to bed in some nice new pj's that are light-weight, but he was still too hot. So when I went to check on him, he asked me for his 'white bed'. Then he says "blue bed too hot". LOL He wanted his white sheets on his bed, the blue sheets are fleece and so were obviously too hot for last night! Crazy kid - makes me giggle. So I changed his sheets for him. It must've helped because he did eventually fall asleep, but not before cooling off a bit more by taking his pj pants off! Thankfully he left his diaper on...

Landon's been a bit better on the potty front. We aren't pushing him, we just give him the choice to wear gotch, diaper-gotch (pull-ups), or diapers, or to run around naked while in the house. When he chooses naked, he's done a pretty good job of going pee on the potty. Let's just say there's been no accidents (I just jinxed it, didn't I?). And last night he peed in the toilet before bed ... standing up just like daddy! He pulled the stool over and was quite proud of himself :-) So that's promising. He's not too keen on the gotch these days, I think the accidents he had turned him off for now. But naked is ok while we're at home, so we'll go with it. I think I'll take a potty along for our Sask roadtrip too ... again we won't be pushing him, but if he's interested I don't want to be caught unprepared!

Arlan's doing well. So cute! He is going to bed better, but has started waking an additional time. The good news is this wake-up happens before I go to sleep, the bad news is that he still wakes up twice more overnight :-/ I'm stll managing to get 6 or 7 hours though, in small chunks maybe, but I'm getting some sleep. His naps are getting a bit better too ... yesterday he had a 2 hour nap in the morning (!!), I think because he slept so poorly the night before :-/ Today he was back to his 45 minute snooze, and is grumpy now, but I guess I'll have to make do.

ummmm, that's about it really. We're hoping to start priming the basement tonight (well, John's going to be priming ... his first foray into painting!). Then next week I'm hoping to pick out flooring and wall colours so that we can start painting when we come back from Sask. oh yeah, and John's going to build the sauna when we get back too. But it's moving along...

Anyways, that's the news from here. Until next time....

Mommy's little helper

Landon has turned into quite the little helper the past couple of days. Last night we made muffins, which he stirred and helped to pour into the tin. And tonight he helped me make mini-meat loaves for supper too ... He pulls his stool right up and gets right in there -- his first expression of interest in cooking (except of course, the chocolate chip cookie dough eating from a few months ago!!).

We've had a couple of days of recovery, so I'm starting to feel better. Tomorrow I will prep Arlan's room for painting on Saturday ... looking forward to that. His room will be shaker beige (Benjamin Moore colour). John is working to get the basement cleaned up - bought a shop vac today to get rid of the blasted drywall dust. I'll be so glad when that's done.

Well, just a quick post. Arlan is starting to fuss a bit - time to get him in the tub! Until next time...

YAY Basement!

Well, the mudding / taping is almost done ... Jeff will finish on Monday. And our basement ceiling will be done tomorrow afternoon. WOWSERS!
So next John will likely put the sauna in, and we'll get the drywall primed in a week or two. After that I plan to paint Arlan's room in preparation for moving him into his crib. I picked out the colours today for his room and for ours (but not yet for the basement, go figure!). So there will be lotsa paintin' going on in our house :-/ But it's gotta' be done. And I sure won't miss the white walls!! Of course, I'll still have plenty of white walls ... the hall/stairs, bonus room, Landon's room, and all the bathrooms. Maybe I'll get to those in the new year.........

Landon's feeling better. Had a good sleep again last night. Arlan didn't of course ... he was up 3 times between 1 am and 7 am!! Yikes! Ah well ...

I got my hair trimmed this morning ... it feels SO good to get your hair washed by someone else, doesn't it? Anyways, I look the same, my hair's only about 1" shorter.

That's the quick post. I'm off to start trying to rid my house of drywall dust :-/

Loving the exersaucer

Well, at least tolerating it!!

This is a picture of Arlan's first time in the exersaucer ... He's still in there actually, just a cooing and gooing and drooling all over it. Pretty darned cute I think. Also a good way to keep him upright (for that flat head thing).

We're having a good day. I had to have some bloodwork done this morning - we waited for almost 2 hours at the clinic! Ugh. Luckily I was smart enough to take Landon shopping while we waited (I was number 150, they were serving 113 when I got there) ... he got a new 'monster' truck and a story book to keep him occupied. Arlan was good as usual, had a snooze (that 45 minute cat-nap), and then sat on my knee and watched Landon play.

John finished dry-walling the basement last night. Tonight our mudder/taper is coming and should get started! YAY I can't wait til he's done ... I'm going to CLEAN my house top to bottom to get rid of this flipping drywall dust. Yuck!

That's the quick post for this afternoon ... I'm off to mop my floors while Landon's still snoozing ...

A-drywallin' Days at the Keller House!

John has been working like a beaver in the basement, and has gotten quite a bit of drywalling done. It's starting to look like rooms :-) He has rented a drywall hoist which has been a lifesaver for the ceiling and top sheets on the walls. So today the ceiling will be completed, the bedroom and the main room will be 90% done. The bathroom and the staircase, as well as the bulkhead at the bottom of the stairs, remain to be done. It's amazing what some walls will do for the look of the place....

John's work means that I've had some good practise with both boys full-time. It's been fine though, since Arlan is starting to settle down a bit and not nurse quite as often. So Landon gets some mommy-time back :-) We've spent time outside quite a bit as the weather's been so nice. Gotta' LOVE that sandbox!! LOL Plus we've gone to the park a bit, and Landon loves to climb climb climb all over the play-structure ... my poor heart!

Today I'm going with Trish to get a pedicure ... I'll take Arlan, hope he sleeps for the entire thing. Then me and the boys are going to a birthday party later in the day which should be fun. I hope it doesn't rain for the party so the kids can run off steam in Steph's backyard!

That's the post from here for now...

Love that sprinkler

Yesterday was a hot one, so we set up the sprinkler for Landon. At first he wasn't too sure about going through the water, but once he got started ... He ran and ran and ran until he was shivering. Then he played on the cover of the sand box (the tarp) because it was warm. I hadn't tried his sunsuit on yet this year, but was pleased that it still fits him. Oh yeah, and Landon had the added pleasure of no diaper for his sprinkler-running ... you could tell that it was a new sensation to have nothing between him and his clothes *ahem*. But he was good with it, no accidents, and when he came in the house he peed on his pot. YAY He peed on his pot again today too. Maybe, just maybe ... *shrug*

Arlan and I went to a movie again today ... we saw Get Smart (well I saw it, Arlan snoozed through almost the entire thing, waking up during the last 10 minutes or so to eat :-D). I like these movie-Tuesdays ... only one more available to me, then John goes back to work :-/ Ah well, I'll go next week likely too ... it'll be a long Tuesday though, as we have Arlan's 6-week check-up in the morning too.

John is likely going to rent the drywall hoist either tonight or tomorrow and get working on drywalling the basement (!!). Wowsers ... it's really coming along, much more than I thought it would be at this point. Drywalling will be a big step ... after that it starts to feel like 'finishing' work. And I guess we'll have to make some choices on stuff like flooring, wall colours, and light fixtures. So far I've avoided all decision-making. But we just may get the basement done for Xmas ... YAY!!

That's the news from here. Oh yeah, that's Arlan's one-month picture. Too cute. Love that little stinker! Tomorrow afternoon is Cdn Baby Photographers too, so we'll get pics of Arlan, and Arlan with Landon and maybe even mom with the boys (dad too probably!!). Looking forward to that...

Fun days of summer...

Arlan is starting to take in the world around him a bit more. Here's a pic of him playing on the playmat - he was actually checking out his reflection in the mirror hanging there...sort of :-) We get a couple of doses of happy awake time during the day, which is nice. It gives Landon a chance to check Arlan out too ... he likes to lay on a blanket on the floor with Arlan when he gets a chance. He'd also like to poke his eyes for some reason ... but so far we've managed to spare Arlan's sight! Landon does give Arlan kisses on the head though, which is very nice.

Landon has been a cute monkey too. Hopefully that's a sign that he's settling in okay with this big brother thing. Here he's pointing and clicking the remote control at John and John points and clicks the camera at him. It was pretty funny.

Tonight John was singing Landon songs when he put him to bed. They play a game where John will start a song and Landon will say 'yes' or 'no' if he wants to hear it. John had run through his repertoire of songs hearing a 'no' for each one, and said to Landon that he just didn't know what song to sing. Landon looked right at him and said clear as a bell "Purple Haze". He loves rock and roll, dancing around like a lunatic to the radio too. I have scary glimpses of the future.......

Oh yeah, and Landon got another 2-year molar ... his top right one. Only one left to come in (the other top one). Could explain why this runny nose hung on for so long. He seems much better today - although he was sure chewing his fingers tonight. But if he's done popping teeth for awhile, maybe his soothers will last a bit longer. I look forward to the day we toss soothers out for Landon. I'm hoping when he sees Arlan with a soother (which I'm looking forward to introducing as he LOVES to suck!!) that he'll equate soothers with babies and not want one anymore. Hey - I can dream can't I?

Tomorrow Brian and Uncle Neville arrive to take in Stampede festivities for a couple of days. Plus my mom and dad are coming for a few days too (dad may just get dragged down to Stampede too!!). Plus, John gets basement inspections (electrical, plumbing and framing), and Arlan has a dr appt in the morning. It's going to be a big day - I hope Arlan sleeps well tonight. Poor stinker was gassy from about 5 am this morning, then I missed my afternoon nap, so I'm hoping hoping hoping for at least one good stretch tonight....*fingers crossed*

A few minutes for a quick post...

Maybe, just maybe, a few minutes for a post while Arlan snoozes in the bouncy chair.

Arlan is turning out to be a very different baby than Landon was. From the first day, when he peed and pooped before he even got his first diaper on (Landon waited 2 full days for this much-anticipated event), and he nursed nursed nursed his first 24 hours (while Landon couldn't have cared less at that time). He continues to show us how different he is - by sleeping wherever we put him; by sleeping through the 'startles' (where his arms fly out); by nursing a bit more frequently (esp overnight) and definitely with more appetite than Landon; by not screaming his way through his second bath (Landon screamed for many, many baths); and by falling asleep in the car or his stroller when we go out (which means we can go out without screaming-meemie baby!). Overall he is much easier than Landon was at this age - partly due to my increased confidence -> and overall acceptance at having a baby. With Landon it was such a life-style shocker, with Arlan it's just what's gotta be done. I don't find it as hard to nurse (except maybe that third time overnight ... that's a tough one!), even when it's quite frequent, and the crying and stuff isn't as bothersome.
And thank goodness he's a bit easier than Landon. I can't imagine moms who have the 'easy' one first, then get a more demanding baby when they already have an older one to take care of too! Landon has been very good - he's quite accepting that Arlan is part of his family. When we all are together (or even when it's just Landon mom and dad) he will repeat "Landon, mommy, daddy, and Arlan" ... he usually includes Arlan. Except when it's just "Landon and mommy" which I'm sure he'd like to see happen more often than it does these days! lol But he's been pretty patient, and with John's help I can usually get some time to spend with just Landon throughout the day, and we always have at least 10 - 15 minutes at night before he goes to sleep.

What have we been doing? Well, mostly I've been hanging out at home with Arlan. I've ventured a couple of walks, to the park, to the mailbox, around the block, but nothing too spectacular. I did some maternity clothes shopping last week - nice light jammies for these hot days. Tomorrow I'm going to see a lactation consultant, just to make sure the soreness I'm experiencing is normal, and if it's not then find a way to get it fixed. Arlan will get weighed while we're there too - so we'll get an update. I'm sure he's getting lots to eat though - he certainly dines often enough - and he feels heavier (mind you, that could be lack of sleep making me weaker! LOL).

We also managed to check out some fireworks for Canada Day. Landon was quite enthralled with the whole show. It was a late night, but luckily he's good at late nights LOL We went to Airdrie, as I didn't want to contend with downtown Calgary and I didn't know where else there would be fireworks in Calgary (if anywhere). There was a park there that Landon played at (with the 40,000 other kids) for about an hour while waiting for fireworks. Of course Arlan got hungry just before the fireworks display, but I just plunked my butt on the grass with a view of the show and fed him (gotta' love breastfeeding!). Other than that Arlan slept the entire time - in his stroller -- gotta' love that too!
All the way home, Landon was asking for more fireworks ... by the time we got home he had his head wrapped around the idea that "fireworks aaallll done."

John's been working on the basement - hoping to be ready for inspection in a week or so. It's looking pretty good. And we're thinking through some stuff for the backyard ... like a sandbox. Now that we have 2 boys, I think a sandbox is a must have! lol So we'll see if we can get that built, and maybe get the garden shed up too. I'm not holding my breath, but as Arlan gets older and even easier, and as long as John will let Landon 'help' him, we just might get both of those projects done before John goes back to work. We'll see...

Anyways, I don't want to push my luck, so here's the long post of what we've been up to. Hopefully I'll get another chance soon, and maybe with some more pics....

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...)

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!

Some pictures ... for Grandma!!

Grandma has been requesting pics, and I can't really blame her. I've taken basically none this entire month. So I will try to take a few more in upcoming weeks, before the focus shifts to baby #2 :-/ Most of the time I find that I just don't want to miss out on whatever Landon's doing to try and find the camera, so I just take in and enjoy the moment(s) without capturing it to share with others. So I will try to keep the camera a bit closer at hand.

Landon is excited to help daddy work in the basement. He has to explore ALL the tools, and get in the way as much as possible. John did hammer in the first nail(s) tonight, so work is officially underway *YAY*. Months (and months, and months) of planning are coming together, and hopefully we'll have somewhere for guests to sleep once baby #2 takes over the spare room upstairs :-D

The weather has finally smartened up, and Landon is once again enjoying the outdoors. Hours at a time! He loves his sandbox, and is waiting for the dirt to dry out so he can play in that again. Aside from that, swinging and sliding and climbing at the park are favourites too. Our fenceposts have been put in in the backyard, so I'm looking forward to the fence going up (hopefully this week) and we'll have a nice play area for Landon (not to mention I can get some of the backyard planning done prior to baby coming along).

So hopefully this week stays nice and we can spend more and more time outside. It definitely helps the days pass nicer, Landon is so much calmer in the evenings when he's been able to play hard outside for awhile!