Day of Love

Valentine's Day for us this year was very low key.  I find that the longer we have been together, and now with kids in the mix, we tend to have simple Valentine's Days, and that is all right with me.  We love just being together.  This year was low key partially due to the fact that life just seems a little chaotic lately.  V-Day fell right in between Cameron's two days of school.  Plus he has been very busy at work, so I was just grateful that we got to have him home that night.

During the day, I had to have the kids dress for the occasion.  Landon was an equal opportunity love bug, showing his affection for both mom and dad.  :)

These days when I ask Miley to take a picture I get some combination of these...

My goofy little girl.  :)  At least I was able to get a couple cute pictures of Miley and Landon together.  But then Miley started tickling Landon, and that was the end of the normal pictures.  But I will take the laughing ones any day.

We gave Landon and Miley each a small gift - a sock monkey and a Valentine's Day book.  I think the monkeys were definitely a hit.

Miley got to have her very first school party this year.  We made superhero sucker valentines for her class, and then Landon and I got to join her for the last half hour to help her read her valentines from her class.

Cameron came home a little early from work with Chipotle in hand (aren't we romantic??) and flowers for me AND Miley.  To say Miley was excited to have her own bouquet this year is a bit of an understatement.

Once the kids were in bed, Cameron and I got to watch Breaking Dawn (he's so nice to watch it with me!), and some Arrested Development on Netflix, our current obsession.  It was a great night, and day, and I am so grateful for all of the sweet Valentine's in my life.

My Milkshake Brings All the *Kids* To the Yard

What better way to wrap up the weekend than with chocolate-strawberry milkshakes?

Here's to Monday!

Back to School!

This year is bringing about a big change for us.  Cameron is going back to school to get his MBA!

We always knew this was something that he wanted to do, but we have been going back and forth for the last couple of years on whether to go somewhere and do a full-time program, or stay here and do a part-time program.  We finally decided this past year that the part-time thing seemed to be the way to go.  It seems like a great way to further your education, while still having an income.

After a lot of time and effort spent studying for the GMAT, and filling out applications, Cameron got accepted to the part-time program at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.  Basically for the next 3-ish years, he will be going to school a couple nights a week (or possibly some Saturdays) while still working his full-time job.

I know this is going to be a lot of work and is going to keep Cameron very busy, but if anyone can do this and totally rock it out, it's him.  Cameron is so ambitious, and never does anything halfway.  He always strives for success, and he gets it.  He is awesome, and I am so proud of him (but am really going to miss him a couple days a week!).

Of course, we had to get a first day of school picture of my handsome student.  :)  Isn't he cute?

 Then, Miley wanted to get in with her backpack, and then we needed one with Landon, too.

Here we go!  Wish us luck!  :)

Landon - 11 Months Old

Stop. The. World.  How is it possible that my baby is only ONE MONTH away from turning one?  I can't believe how fast this year has gone, and I am sad that my baby is turning into a toddler and is leaving baby-hood behind (but not really...I mean, he will be my baby until he is 12...or 24...you know, whatever...).

Landon keeps me on my toes.  He is so different from Miley, in that he is into absolutely everything.  He gets into cupboards, shelves, pulls nightlights out of the wall, puts everything into his mouth, etc.  He loves to climb the stairs now, and totally thinks it is a game.  He will climb the first couple of stairs, then sit there and wait for me to see him.  Once I do, he laughs and turns around and starts booking it up the stairs as fast as he can.  Little stinker.  :)

There are some cute things Landon is doing all the time now.  He will clap, wave hi and bye, nod or shake his head if we ask him a question, and he will get down and boogie like no other any time he hears music.  He has started giving big kisses (slobbery, open mouth kisses), and will often just try to give them out without any prodding from us.  He is always smiling, and all you have to do is look at him to get a big cheesy smile.  However, it is getting harder and harder to get pictures of him, because he is always moving.  We get a lot of really great blurry ones!  :)

Speaking of smiles, he is now sporting 6 teeth.  He just barely got the two on the side of his front teeth.  He eats (and loves!) pretty much anything, so I am looking forward to him getting some more teeth so I can worry a little less about choking.

Landon is getting more and more into playtime, and often mimics Miley.  He will also take little cars and trains and push them around while making a buzzing sound with his mouth (a car sound...you know...).  Such a little boy!

The big milestone of this month is that he is now officially walking!  He has been taking a couple steps here and there for a few weeks now, but he really started on January 11 (10 months, 3 weeks and 4 days) and has not stopped since.

Here is a little video of him on January 11 (please excuse my pajamas and the shaky camera...Miley was insistent on wanting to help video).

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

And this is him now...he is all over the place (and by the way, family dance parties = best thing ever)!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

I wish I could stop time at this age.  He is at such a sweet stage, and is so much fun.  I really can't believe that he is almost one (and now I better start figuring out a birthday party...yikes!).

First Haircut

Someone got their first haircut.  And it wasn't Landon...

Yes, Miley got her very first haircut ever on Saturday, January 7, 2012.  I finally decided to do it, because her hair was just getting in the way of everything, and because it is winter, it has been particularly bad with all the static.

It was time to get a little trim.  I thought Miley would be a little freaked out, and she was, but she didn't bat an eye while she was getting it done.  Her only request was that she still have "Rapunzel" hair, so we still left it pretty long, but it is much more manageable now.

Some before pictures...

We went to a cute little kid's hair place in town, and Miley was so happy to see that Rapunzel was playing for her to watch (kind of ironic...).  The girl who cut her hair was SO fast.  I think she was done in about 5 minutes.

Getting hair combed out...

Then that first cut finally came.

The finished result, along with a little braid.

I was not nearly as sad as I thought I would be.  It was definitely time.  The only thing that makes me a little sad is that all traces of these baby curls seem to be gone now...

I was so proud of how brave Miley was (I think getting your hair cut for the first time could be kind of a scary thing?).  It was a fun little mother / daughter outing.  Now it is time to figure out the next "first" haircut in our family...Landon is sporting quite the little mullet...

That One Time At the Bank...

...we went to deposit a check, and came out with pictures!

Miley and I were running errands on Saturday morning, and had to swing by the bank to deposit a check.  We went inside and all of the employees were dressed up in 20's / flapper type costumes.  There were snacks and treats, and they had a photo booth set up where you could put on some jewelry, hats, headbands, etc.  A professional photographer took our picture, and then sent them to us!

Not a bad deal, huh?  Miley was a little shy, but I kind of like the pictures of her where she looks a little serious...is that weird?  Oh, and of course, Ariel had to make an appearance as well.

New Year's Eve and Driving Home

New Year's Eve was our last full day in Laramie.  While we spent much of the day packing, and getting things together for our trip back the next day, we still got to have some fun.  The girls slipped away in the morning for pedicures and manicures (Miley included!).

The boys hung out at home, and this little guy practiced walking around with his Poppa.

And sadly, after these pictures, I packed up my camera and failed to get any pictures of our New Year's celebration.  In the evening we set out a spread of meatballs, spinach artichoke dip, 7-layer dip, a veggie tray, a meat and cheese tray, and shrimp cocktail.  We wanted to just have some appetizer type things to snack on all night, and boy, did it last ALL night!  There was a ton of food!

After the kids went to bed, the adults killed the time till midnight by playing Mad Gab, Finish Line, and Buzz Word.  It was fun to be able to play games that take more than two people for once.  :)  We all made it to midnight (a major accomplishment!), watched the ball drop, and then went to bed.  You know you are getting older when you can't wait to get to bed after midnight on New Years.  :)  But seriously...it was great to spend New Year's with my family.  This is the first one we have all spent together since Cameron and I have been married.

The next morning, we got all of our last minute things together and hit the road at about 10:00 am, Minnesota time.  We figured the drive would take a little longer this time since we were driving through the day, and our kids were sure to be restless.  We really had a pretty great drive, though.  Miley was happy as a clam with movies and her new Leapster Explorer.  We had to take a few breaks to fill up the tank and hit the bathroom, and made one stop for dinner, but other than that we were able to just go.  Landon did pretty well, but would get a little crabby around his naptimes and bedtime.  The weather was great until we hit Des Moines...I swear, as soon as we turned to go north we got hit with gale force winds for the rest of the drive.  We had to go a little slower because of it, but still managed to get home by midnight, so about a 14 hour drive with stops.

It feels good to be home, but we are so sad our vacation is over.  This is most likely the last Christmas we will spend in Laramie, for at least a few years, so we are glad we got to spend so much time there, and see so many people!