Daddy / Daughter Campout

Each year, our church does a Daddy / Daughter campout.  This was the second year that Cameron took Miley.  Although I was not there to know, and be able to recap everything they did, this is my understanding of what they did from the pictures that my sweet husband took. 

They ate s'mores:

And had some fun playing at the water pump:

Really, just hung out with friend, Kayla:

Then woke up the next morning to eat doughnuts:

The End.

No really though, Miley was SO excited to go camping with Cameron, and I was "s'more" than happy (har har) to stay home and and enjoy a quiet evening with sweet Landon, and get some extra snuggle time with him.  Plus, I just can't stand the dirt and the smell and the filth of camping.  So it is a win-win for everyone.  I don't have to SEE the dirt and filth and have minor heart attacks at all the stains that Miley is sure to get all over her clothes, and Cameron loves to let Miley run wild and enjoy the great outdoors.  Fabulous.

I love that they get to have this one-on-one time together.  I feel like it is so important to be able to do that with kids, and have times when it is all about them.  Unfortunately, the ONE picture I asked Cameron to come home with was a picture of Miley and him together (you know, "Daddy / Daughter Campout" and all), but I guess maybe it wasn't cool to ask another guy to take a picture, because he didn't get one??  Who knows.  Oh well.  Looks like they had some fun anyway...  :)

And just for memory's sake, here are some pictures from the Daddy / Daughter Campout last year:

I can't believe how much older Miley looks this year!  Can't wait to see more pictures in years to come and compare them to these. 

Landscaping 101

As a way to save a little bit of money on this whole house thing, Cameron decided that he wanted to take on the landscaping.  We had an allowance from our builder, but it couldn't cover everything we needed done if we were to hire out the work for everything.

Well, after some thought, the DIY landscaping turned into "DIY minus the retaining walls," which we had someone build for us.

Then, we decided to have someone put in our irrigation.  Best. Idea. Ever.

But Cameron was still feeling pretty ambitious, and decided to do all the edging, mulch, plants, trees, sod, etc. on his own.

After about two straight weeks of him working every night after work, and most of the weekend (in that sweltering heat wave we had, mind you!), our yard went from this (pre-moving in)...

...to this.

Big improvement, no?  But after this point, Cameron was spent.  And we still needed some sod.  SOOOO...we decided to hire someone to do that as well.  :)

But what happenes when your sod gets installed, and 4 days later you have an epic rainstorm and your yard wasn't staked well enough?  Something like this...

....ummm, yeah.  So Cameron waited for it to quit raining, then went out and, with the help of some awesome new neighbors, got everything back into place (for the most part). 

But what happens when you go outside in Minnesota right after a rain storm at dusk / night time? 

Ouch.  Our state bird, the mosquito, certainly did a number on Cameron.  Yes, that's about 847 bug bites on his back.

But now, a couple weeks later, we now have this...

 A beautiful YARD!  And we couldn't be more thrilled. 

Now here's to not having to do any DIYWSH (Do It Yourself With Some Help) landscaping for a long, LONG time.  :)

Landon's 6 Month Stats

Well, since Landon's 6-month appointment was, oh, 10 days ago, I figured I better update with his latest stats.  :)

Height:  26 3/4 inches - 50-75th %

Weight:  16 pounds - 25th %

Head circumference:  17 1/4 inches - 50th % 

That comes in at a whopping 1 pound less than Miley was at 1 year old.  :)

Landon had to get a few vaccinations, as expected, but after one rough night he seemed to not mind them.  Fortunately, at his next appointment (9 months), there are no shots!  Yay!

Wordless Wednesday

The Latest With Landon

Today, Landon is SIX months old.  I can't even believe it.  It feels like we just brought him home from the hospital yesterday, but at the same time, it is hard to remember what life was like before him.

So what is the latest with Landon?

~  He started rolling over from his back to his belly about a week after we moved into the house.  He had done it a few times up until this point, but this is when he REALLY started doing it...as in, as soon as we would flip him over to his back, we would turn around for one second and he would be back on his belly.  He seems to prefer that over his back...for playing and for sleeping.  He still isn't as great at going from his belly to his back.

~  He is now sleeping in his own room in the crib.  Obviously, we started doing this the first night we were in the new house, but he has done really well with it.  His naps have gotten more consistent and longer, which is wonderful.

~  He wakes up a couple times a night still, but I think we are going to try to start letting him sleep through here soon.

~  He is sitting up!  He started sitting on his own on Friday, August 5th (5 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days old!).  Now, I think he is at his happiest when he is sitting up and can look around the room a little easier.

~  We started feeding Landon solids, last Friday, August 12th.  He was definitely not crazy about the rice cereal at first, but now is doing a little better with it.  I have also given him some bananas (still needs to warm up to those) and sweet potatoes (liking them a little bit more all the time).  Both the bananas and sweet potatoes were fresh...I just mash a little bit of a banana for him when he eats it, and I made a whole batch of sweet potato puree to freeze in small cubes.  This is something new for me, and I think I will only do it with fruits and vegetables, but we will see how it goes.  I may end up going back to Gerber baby foods, because hey, they are convenient.  But for now, I am enjoying making it myself.

~  Landon is not quite crawling, but it seems like he could be on his way!  He spins himself in circles on the ground, and it looks like the wheels are just turning in his head, trying to figure out how to move around.  I have to say, I am definitely not quite ready to have another little mover.  I hope he holds out a little longer!

~  He is still a pretty laid back little guy,  We have gotten lots of comments lately from people, wondering if he ever makes a peep or cries, and for the most part, the answer is no.  He definitely will let you know if he is hungry or tired, but seems to be pretty content for the most part.  However, within the past couple of weeks, he seems to be a little bit upset if he can't see someone, or see where the action is.  I think he just likes to know what's going on and be a part of it.  :)

~  The pacifier won out over the thumb or the fingers.  He takes it a lot during the day and when he is going to sleep, but when he wakes up in the middle of the night to eat, he doesn't need it again to go back to sleep, so that is nice.

~  He loves to play with his Sophie giraffe, and his Lamaze elephant.  He also snuggles with his glow seahorse at night, and loves to snuggle with his Steiff giraffe as well.

~  Landon is super ticklish, and will laugh if you tickle him on his neck, his armpits, his belly, his feet, his legs...pretty much anywhere!

Landon's six-month well child visit is this coming Friday, so I will post his latest stats then.

We sure are having fun with this little guy, and getting to know his sweet little personality.  He has grown and changed so much, and I know that the next few months are just going to be packed with more changes...I can't wait to see what kind of busy little boy he becomes (and yes, I am pretty convinced that he is going to be BUSY!) We love him to pieces, and are so glad that he is a part of our family! 

Miley Minute

I figured I better take a minute to catch up on the happenings of my kiddos.  It seems like so much has been going on in life lately, and we have been crazy busy, but Miley and Landon have also been up to a lot.  Today I will post about Miley, tomorrow about Landon (on his 6 month birthday....whaaaaaaat?!?!).

So here it is...The Miley Minute.

Miley is still our crazy, fun-loving, sweet (and often sassy) girl.  She has turned into your typical (I think?) three-year-old lately.  One second she is being kind and loving, giving you hugs and kisses, and telling you she loves you. The next she is screaming and whining and saying "NO" at the top of her lungs to everything.  She has our heads spinning with this naughty and nice stuff.  Shew.

Miley pretending to be Rapunzel...you know, "Tangled" up...I promise we don't randomly tie up our kids...this picture is just a great example of her serious 'tude.

I don't know where this girl gets her energy.  She has been staying up a little later on occasion (it is REALLY hard to get her to bed at her normal time with the combination of summer / light outside / new little neighborhood friends) and I swear the girl would never wind down if we didn't make her go to bed at a decent time.  I only wish I could have some of her energy.

She has been enjoying dancing, riding her tricycle, looking at books where you have to find things (Where's Waldo, Look-and-Find books...), practicing writing her letters, playing princesses, etc.

Miley also wants to do EVERYTHING herself these days.  Nice in some ways, not so nice in others.  But part of the time she also wants to have us do things for her that I know she is capable of doing herself.  I tell ya...she just cannot make up her mind.  :)

I feel confident enough to say now, that Miley is ALMOST potty trained - at least during waking hours.  We have been working on it since March, and I honestly thought that we would be way further ahead by now.  She picked up going #1 on the toilet super quick, and from the time that we started training her until today, I can probably count less than 10 times that she has had a wet accident.  #2 on the other hand has been a whole different story.  She had finally gotten it down a couple weeks before we moved into our house, but I think all the chaos of the move and the change caused her to regress a little, and we were back to square one.  Now for the past couple weeks, she has started to get the hang of it again, but I still don't think she is quite where she was before we moved.  I am hoping we can get it figured out SOON, because she is going to start preschool here in a few weeks, and needs to be potty trained for that.  Overall though, I have been really proud of her.  She has done pretty great...So I guess I can't complain.

Miley also made the transition to a big girl bed when we moved into the house (another BIG change, that maybe contributed to her potty-training regression??).  I have been terrified of this move for a while.  Miley has just always done so great in her crib.  She has never tried to get out, would always go to sleep wonderfully, etc.  I hated to mess with something that was working so well.  But Landon was ready to be out of our room and the pack-and-play, and well, Miley IS three, so I figured it was time. 

Again, I have been pleasantly surprised with how well it has gone.  From the very first night she has been so excited about her "big girl bed," and was even asking to go to bed in it for the first few nights.  Fortunately, I think she is old enough to understand that she needs to stay in bed until one of us comes to get her.  Since we moved into the house, over a month ago, she has not gotten out of bed once during either naptime or night time.  She is in a full size bed, and we debated getting her bed rails to keep her in, but we figured it is big enough to put a pillow on each side of her, and it keeps her pretty well contained.  She has only fallen out of bed once, and it was quickly remedied by Cameron going in and picking her up, tucking her back in, and snuggling for a minute before she was back to sleep.  I am SO glad it has gone so well!

Miley is still loving being a big sister, and watches out for Landon like a second mom.  She has never had much of a jealousy issue with him, but now that he is getting a little older and more into toys, she freaks out occasionally when he is playing with what used to be her toys, but are now his.  She is getting better about it all the time though, and really just enjoys having him around. 

While this age is hard in many ways, it is also so much fun.  Miley manages to crack me up mulitple times a day with things she says or does.  She also is a total sweetheart, and dishes out hugs and kisses and "I love you's" like no one's business.

It is crazy to me how fast she is growing up.  With all of the big changes lately (potty training, bed, preschool), I think it is really hitting me.  I just wish time could slow down a little bit!

I asked Miley a few questions today about her favorite things...so here are her answers.  Sorry if you can't understand her...I can, and I sometimes forget that not everyone can!  :)

 

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What To Do...

...when your husband has an all-day conference for work?

Go to dinner with a friend, and make freezer jam.  :)  It makes the long day go by so much quicker.

Yum.