I must admit, I have been delighted by Landon's cute little baby steps the last few weeks. It is so fun to watch him toddling around here. BUT...I'll tell you what is not cute. That is the fact that my son has begun to climb things. He especially loves the small granite ledge that surrounds our upstairs fireplace. He took one nasty tumble from there today and bit right through his tongue (it was totally gross, I could see 2 distinct little holes from his 2 bottom teeth right in the middle of his tongue). Thankfully, tounges repair quite quickly. He didn't learn much from that experience though. I spent the afternoon repeatedly moving him away from it. He has even started to move things around and use them as stepping stones to climb into things or on top of places that he has no business being. Maybe he learned this from his cousin Carson? His favorite, most convenient little step is a container of wipes. It gives him just enough height to climb into his toy box. The boy has no fear. I'm not sure that I'm cut out to mother a boy. Allie was MUCH older before she started to pull these tricks. How do you reason with a 10-month-old?
As promised, here is the video of Landon taking a short walk:
And another little gem. Landon has a strange habit of sucking on his top lip. Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
He walks, he waves, and (drum roll, please) he sleeps through the night!
What a busy month January has been for Landon. So much growing in so little time. All I can say about a full nights sleep is: Hallelujah! I didn't know if I would ever get a night of uninterrupted sleep again. It's as wonderful as I remembered it being!
Landon has learned to wave in the last week or so. It is so cute. Landon loves to wave at EVERYTHING. He waves goodbye to his family, the dogs, his toys, and even his dirty diapers.
Finally, perhaps the biggest news of all is that he has started walking. He is still quite unsteady but we often find him taking steps without any encouragement from us. We have had a hard time capturing it on video but Allie and I finally succeeded last night. I will post that soon.
Landon has learned to wave in the last week or so. It is so cute. Landon loves to wave at EVERYTHING. He waves goodbye to his family, the dogs, his toys, and even his dirty diapers.
Finally, perhaps the biggest news of all is that he has started walking. He is still quite unsteady but we often find him taking steps without any encouragement from us. We have had a hard time capturing it on video but Allie and I finally succeeded last night. I will post that soon.
Once Again, I've Been Tagged
The rules are :
A.The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B.Each player list 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C.At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and post their names, goes to their
blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them
to read your blog.
1-I HATE the sound of paper being folded, creased, etc. It's like fingernails on the chalkboard to me. I get goosebumps even thinking about it.
2-I LOVE to make lists. Love might be putting it lightly. I get an unnatural amount of pleasure from crossing a to-do item off of my list.
3-I am the member of a book club that I have a love-hate relationship with. (I love the ladies and yet I have really hated most of the books we have read.) Thanks a lot, Cindy.
4-I cannot stay awake for the duration of a movie. It's nearly impossible for me. When the lights go down...I go to sleep.
5-I was cavity free clear up until my pregnancy with Allie. At the end of the longest 7 months of my life, I had 8 cavities. Yes, I brushed. That was not a very fun visit.
6-I rarely watch TV during the day but I have the radio on all day long. When people call my house they often ask if I have company.
Natalie, Marci, Sarah, Nicole, Michelle, and Rachel it's your turn! (However, if you are tired of playing tag you can be off the hook.)
1-I HATE the sound of paper being folded, creased, etc. It's like fingernails on the chalkboard to me. I get goosebumps even thinking about it.
2-I LOVE to make lists. Love might be putting it lightly. I get an unnatural amount of pleasure from crossing a to-do item off of my list.
3-I am the member of a book club that I have a love-hate relationship with. (I love the ladies and yet I have really hated most of the books we have read.) Thanks a lot, Cindy.
4-I cannot stay awake for the duration of a movie. It's nearly impossible for me. When the lights go down...I go to sleep.
5-I was cavity free clear up until my pregnancy with Allie. At the end of the longest 7 months of my life, I had 8 cavities. Yes, I brushed. That was not a very fun visit.
6-I rarely watch TV during the day but I have the radio on all day long. When people call my house they often ask if I have company.
Natalie, Marci, Sarah, Nicole, Michelle, and Rachel it's your turn! (However, if you are tired of playing tag you can be off the hook.)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tag--I Guess I'm It
My friend Lisa tagged me on her blog so here it is:
Two names I go by:
1. Mom
2. Sister Swain
Two things I'm wearing right now:
1. black skirt
2. a really warm hoodie
(Hey, I'm halfway dressed for Sunday)
Two of My favorite things to do:
1. read
2. travel
Two things I want very badly at the moment:
1. new carpet
2. a personal chef--Lisa, are you interested?
Two favorite pets I have had/have:
1. Flipper, a beta fish that finally kicked it. Yeah!
2. Lucy and Sammy
(Anyone who knows me will understand that these are/were pets much adored by my children and husband, and that I don't even like animals let alone have favorites.)
Two things I did last night:
1. read several chapters of the Count of Monte Cristo
2. made pizza with Allie
Two things I ate today:
1. orange
2. toast
Two people I last talked to:
1. Landon
2. Allie
Two longest car rides:
1. Orem to Las Vegas. Not the longest drive as far as mileage is concerned...but seriously the longest drive of my life.
2. The drive home from San Diego a couple of years ago when Eric was very ill. We made A LOT of stops and ended up spending the night halfway home in Mesquite.
Two favorite holidays:
1. Christmas
2. 4th of July (Happy Birthday to me--twice the reason to celebrate.)
Two favorite beverages:
1. pineapple orange juice
2. a cold coke/pepsi
I tag Marci, Nicole, and Sarah.
Two names I go by:
1. Mom
2. Sister Swain
Two things I'm wearing right now:
1. black skirt
2. a really warm hoodie
(Hey, I'm halfway dressed for Sunday)
Two of My favorite things to do:
1. read
2. travel
Two things I want very badly at the moment:
1. new carpet
2. a personal chef--Lisa, are you interested?
Two favorite pets I have had/have:
1. Flipper, a beta fish that finally kicked it. Yeah!
2. Lucy and Sammy
(Anyone who knows me will understand that these are/were pets much adored by my children and husband, and that I don't even like animals let alone have favorites.)
Two things I did last night:
1. read several chapters of the Count of Monte Cristo
2. made pizza with Allie
Two things I ate today:
1. orange
2. toast
Two people I last talked to:
1. Landon
2. Allie
Two longest car rides:
1. Orem to Las Vegas. Not the longest drive as far as mileage is concerned...but seriously the longest drive of my life.
2. The drive home from San Diego a couple of years ago when Eric was very ill. We made A LOT of stops and ended up spending the night halfway home in Mesquite.
Two favorite holidays:
1. Christmas
2. 4th of July (Happy Birthday to me--twice the reason to celebrate.)
Two favorite beverages:
1. pineapple orange juice
2. a cold coke/pepsi
I tag Marci, Nicole, and Sarah.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A Weekend Full of Friends, Family, and FUN
We have been busy at the Swain house! On Friday evening Allie invited her friend Mandy and cousin Larkin over for a pizza party/sleepover. It was a lot of fun (and a lot of noise!). We made pizza's for dinner and the girls did a lot of playing. On Saturday morning we added a couple more cousins to the craziness. For breakfast it was waffles with strawberry jam...and a very big mess. Especially on cousin Caleb's face!
LOOK CLOSELY AT ALLIE'S FACE...LANDON BIT HER LEG JUST AS I TOOK THIS PICTURE!
Saturday we had our good friends Gabe and Kristy and their 4 boys over for a little Hawaii anniversary celebration. We went to Maui last year at this time for a week and had one of the best vacations ever! We hope to return as soon as the babies are old enough to leave home with Grandma & Grandpa.
On Monday we had my sister Marci and her family over for Family Home evening. It was a lot of fun. Grandpa and Grandma even made an appearance. Unfortunately my Mom fell shoveling snow and broke her arm on Monday. I'm sure she'll recover just fine though...they are headed to Hawaii today for a 10 day cruise. What better place to recover than a tropical paradise? Aloha!
LOOK CLOSELY AT ALLIE'S FACE...LANDON BIT HER LEG JUST AS I TOOK THIS PICTURE!
Saturday we had our good friends Gabe and Kristy and their 4 boys over for a little Hawaii anniversary celebration. We went to Maui last year at this time for a week and had one of the best vacations ever! We hope to return as soon as the babies are old enough to leave home with Grandma & Grandpa.
On Monday we had my sister Marci and her family over for Family Home evening. It was a lot of fun. Grandpa and Grandma even made an appearance. Unfortunately my Mom fell shoveling snow and broke her arm on Monday. I'm sure she'll recover just fine though...they are headed to Hawaii today for a 10 day cruise. What better place to recover than a tropical paradise? Aloha!
Boring Brown, Sad But True
What's Your True Color?
You're brown, a credible, stable color that's reminiscent of fine wood, rich leather, and wistful melancholy. Most likely, you're a logical, practical person ruled more by your head than your heart. With your inquisitive mind and insatiable curiosity, you're probably a great problem solver. And you always gather all of the facts before coming to a timely, informed decision. Easily intrigued, you're constantly finding new ways to challenge your mind, whether it's by reading the newspaper, playing a trivia game, or composing a piece of music. Brown is an impartial, neutral color, which means you tend to see the difference between fact and opinion easily and are open to many points of view. Trustworthy and steady, you really are a brown at heart.
Rach and Lisa--After seeing how accurate yours were I had to try. What do you think?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Mess Making
Landon sure loves suckers! He got a bunch of them in his stocking from Santa. We usually reserve them for haircuts but we got bored waiting for Allie to come home from school today so I decided that I would let him suck on one. He needed a bath anyways. Enjoy!
Monday, January 14, 2008
If the Shoe Fits
Landon has the chubbiest little feet I have ever seen! I've bought several pairs of shoes that were eventually passed on to others in brand new condition. On Sunday I gave my favorite pair one last try. They fell off 3 times between our house and the church (which is maybe 1/2 a block away). My sister Marci finally suggested that maybe Crocs would be the solution to our shoe woes. Well, she was right. Carson passed on a pair of camo Crocs to Landon and what do you know...they fit! Landon may wear nothing but Crocs until his chubby little feet slim down. Next we need to teach him that shoes are for wearing, not for eating.
Pictures
Hi everyone! I promised that I would post a few pictures and here they are:
ENJOYING REFRESHMENTS AFTER BABY BROOKLYN'S BLESSING LAST NIGHT
A VERY RELAXED LANDON AT THE BABY BLESSING
READING TIME
LANDON'S FAVORITE PASTIME--EATING
A LITTLE BIT OF TEAMWORK
PLAYING AT CABELLA'S
A VERY RELAXED LANDON AT THE BABY BLESSING
READING TIME
LANDON'S FAVORITE PASTIME--EATING
A LITTLE BIT OF TEAMWORK
PLAYING AT CABELLA'S
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Blessed Beyond Belief
Sometimes I wonder what I have done to deserve so much happiness. I keep wondering how life could possibly be any sweeter than it is...and yet the blessings keep coming. Perhaps the only way that life could be any better right this minute is if I was happily counting my blessings on a beautiful sunny beach in Hawaii alongside my loved ones.
We found out early today that Eric received a pretty significant promotion at work. I wasn't really surprised that he got the job, but I was pleasantly surprised by the substantial increase in pay. The timing couldn't be better as we have just taken on a bigger house payment, and yet it came late enough that we now know that we can live very comfortably on what we were making with a little bit of restraint in the spending department. The bottom line...we will live comfortably, be able to put away some money for a rainy day, and still be able to travel and do the things we have always enjoyed doing as a family. I also took this opportunity to remind Eric of my desire for a larger family vehicle. Sometimes I can't believe how long our little car has sufficed. He has always been a big believer in the saying "Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without". I think it may take me a while to talk him into it, but history has shown that I can be awfully persuasive with my husband.
The children are healthy and happy. Allie is doing very well in school and has already begun her countdown to summer. She reminds us almost daily that this will be her big year...the year she is finally old enough to be baptized. She has been looking forward to this since she was "at least four or five years old" in her words. She says this in such a dramatic fashion that it can be difficult to keep a straight face.
Landon is as mobile as ever and he keeps us all laughing. His dramatic flair may very well rival Allie's. Lately he has taken to yelling at us while we feed him. It' s not a mad yell, but a yell nonetheless. If there is a microscopic pause between when he swallows a bite and when another spoonful is shoveled in, we hear about it. He has also started to push all of the chairs out from under the table. I put them back a ridiculous number of times each day. He discovered yesterday that he can even push a chair around the dining room if Allie is the one sitting in it. She rarely gets frustrated with him but yesterday while she was eating a bowl of cereal he kept pushing her away from the table which earned him a bit of a lecture from her. I was laughing too hard to intervene until they both ended up in tears.
As for me...life is busy but so good. I wasn't sure whether I was going to survive being the Primary President the last couple of weeks. Thanks to Cindy, Lisa, Amber, and (our alumni) Rachel I once again have happily settled into a brand new year in Primary. What would I do without these girls? I hope I'll never have to find out. Eric gave me The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas for Christmas. I have always wanted to read this, I just didn't know it was 1300 pages long! With all of the snow and cold weather there has been plenty of time to curl up with a warm blanket and this great book. It very well may take me until Springtime to finish it. I think that about covers all that is going on at the Swain home right now. I will update with a bunch of pictures sometime this weekend--it has been quite a while since I included some pictures in my posts.
We found out early today that Eric received a pretty significant promotion at work. I wasn't really surprised that he got the job, but I was pleasantly surprised by the substantial increase in pay. The timing couldn't be better as we have just taken on a bigger house payment, and yet it came late enough that we now know that we can live very comfortably on what we were making with a little bit of restraint in the spending department. The bottom line...we will live comfortably, be able to put away some money for a rainy day, and still be able to travel and do the things we have always enjoyed doing as a family. I also took this opportunity to remind Eric of my desire for a larger family vehicle. Sometimes I can't believe how long our little car has sufficed. He has always been a big believer in the saying "Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without". I think it may take me a while to talk him into it, but history has shown that I can be awfully persuasive with my husband.
The children are healthy and happy. Allie is doing very well in school and has already begun her countdown to summer. She reminds us almost daily that this will be her big year...the year she is finally old enough to be baptized. She has been looking forward to this since she was "at least four or five years old" in her words. She says this in such a dramatic fashion that it can be difficult to keep a straight face.
Landon is as mobile as ever and he keeps us all laughing. His dramatic flair may very well rival Allie's. Lately he has taken to yelling at us while we feed him. It' s not a mad yell, but a yell nonetheless. If there is a microscopic pause between when he swallows a bite and when another spoonful is shoveled in, we hear about it. He has also started to push all of the chairs out from under the table. I put them back a ridiculous number of times each day. He discovered yesterday that he can even push a chair around the dining room if Allie is the one sitting in it. She rarely gets frustrated with him but yesterday while she was eating a bowl of cereal he kept pushing her away from the table which earned him a bit of a lecture from her. I was laughing too hard to intervene until they both ended up in tears.
As for me...life is busy but so good. I wasn't sure whether I was going to survive being the Primary President the last couple of weeks. Thanks to Cindy, Lisa, Amber, and (our alumni) Rachel I once again have happily settled into a brand new year in Primary. What would I do without these girls? I hope I'll never have to find out. Eric gave me The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas for Christmas. I have always wanted to read this, I just didn't know it was 1300 pages long! With all of the snow and cold weather there has been plenty of time to curl up with a warm blanket and this great book. It very well may take me until Springtime to finish it. I think that about covers all that is going on at the Swain home right now. I will update with a bunch of pictures sometime this weekend--it has been quite a while since I included some pictures in my posts.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
A Big Milestone
It's official. For the first time in our 8 1/2 years of marriage we are the only ones residing in our home. When we were first married we lived in a 4-plex. A few months later we moved into the basement apartment of Eric's Grandpa's home. Next was a move to a home of our own with an accessory apartment to help ease the mortgage burden. When our most recent tenants announced that they were moving we decided to take the plunge and attempt to cover all of the mortgage all by ourselves. The tighter budget is well worth it! We are LOVING it. The kids now have a playroom, Eric can move his office from the outside shed back into the house (a funny story I'll have to share sometime), I have a lot more space to store and organize things, and we all benefit from an additional bathroom and a comfortable family room. The change has been so drastic for us that it is literally like having a brand new (50-year-old) home!
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