proof

here are some wobbly steps caught on video. now, he can make it from one side of the room to the other! he can even do it without one of us holding him. he'll pull himself up on the table or the couch and off he goes.

small feet, big steps

for a few weeks now, landon has been cruising...which in baby terminology means he's been walking around while holding onto something, usually furniture. he's fast now and over the last few days, was getting brave enough to let go and stand on his own for a few seconds. just yesterday, after landon and picked up jordan at the airport, landon decided to welcome his dada home by taking his first wobbly baby steps. it was awesome! we were in the hallway in our bathroom and we let him try once and he tumbled sideways but we picked up him right back up and he tried again. jordan put his arms out and landon took a good five steps on his own and fell into jordan's arms. today, he did the same thing in the kitchen but it more like six or seven steps.
jordan's mom said all the kids walked early and my mom said that i did too and i wasn't expecting him to try so early but he did and he was so proud of himself too! his face light up and even though he looked like a little drunk man stumbling home from the bar, it was the cutest thing i've ever seen
our little walking boy at tem months and three weeks old!

the day....it came

this past weekend, landon and i went to california to see my family there for a few days. the flight from phoenix to burbank is a short one, less than an hour and a half. i was as prepared as i could be....i had bottles and toys and snacks, binky and blanket. this would be the first time he and i had traveled together alone. i arrived early in the terminal and checked in with the gate attendant. as i sat down, i could see that look on all the other passenger's faces..they were all thinking to the themselves "oh no, there is a baby on this flight". i couldn't pass judgement on any of them because it was just a short time ago that i was one of those paranoid passengers. i would size up the baby and the parents, analyze their terminal behavior and make my assumptions about how bad this was going to be for us all. a slight roll of the eyes and an hour with headphones on wouldn't be so bad i guess.
so they all sized me up, looking at my blonde haired blue eyed charmer. he had all the travel essentials and was behaving well.
we boarded the flight at about 8pm and this was a delight to me, hoping that the flight would coinside with the time he usually fell asleep and it would be smooth sailing.
he gave a great ten minutes...sat quietly, appeared to be sleepy, and cuddled up on my lap. i was starting to put the big ha! ha! to everyone in the plane and say "how dare you assume just because he's a baby he would be loud and disturb your flight." just as i got to that confident level, my little landon popped up, took out his binky, and started yelling. we had got to cruising altitude and his ears hadn't popped. he cupped his hands over his adorable protruding ears and cried and cried. i felt so bad. it was obvious that he was uncomfortable. i tried to soothe him with a bottle and a game of peek a boo but it wasn't working.
i was suddenly having flashbacks of a bill cosby segment about jefferey who was three years old and everyone on the plane hated jefferey. i laughed at the time, but i imagined i looked a bit like the mother he described, hair a mess and a long drawn face from the stress.

it was the longest hour ever!

just as we started our descent, landon curled up with his favorite blue blankie and fell asleep. i breathed lightly so as not to jostle him awake.
the plane landed and everyone deboarded and although the passers by all commented on how cute he was and handsome, i knew they ended those comments in their mind with "while he's alseep." i gathered up my sleepy bundle and headed out, knowing that next time, it was going to be better. i had survived my first baby flying experience and figured since no one had asked us to spend the duration of the flight in the tiny lavatory or worse, never return, it had been a success.

today, we flew back. as before i mentally prepared myself and packed everything, but the over confidence. i knew that things could go wrong again despite the toys and bribery of playing with my cell phone.

it happened again. ears wouldn't pop, snacks didn't work, binky wasn't helping, except there was no nodding off at arrival. we gathered our things and walked off the tiny plane. the yelling and agony continued the whole way home...another hour's worth.
i was exhausted, he was exhausted and wet and we were both hungry.

as i laid him down in his room to change him, he looked around and stopped crying and started to laugh. he knew he was back home. it almost erased all that stress and drama to see him happy in the home that jordan and i have given him. he gave me a slobbery raspeberry and called for his dada and then he took a bath with all his rubber duckies and toys.

i guess when we fly to pennslyvania next month, a good four hour flight, we'll head off with the "what are you gonna do? he's a baby afterall" mentality and just take the dirty looks as they come and remember that we used to be the annoyed travelers once too. we'll just smile and aplogize and go about our way.

he's never going to want to go to formula after eating all this new fun food....guess it wouldn't be such a bad thing. this is landon eating string cheese for the first time. mess maker!

just a few pictures from our wedding

it was the perfect day to get married....not too hot, not too cold. we had a morning wedding. we got married at newcastle golf club and it was gorgeous! my bridesmaids looked fantastic! they actually like their dresses too. kami, stephanie, and suzi kept me sane (and awake) as we got ready in the morning and kept me laughing too. jordan's groomsmen, paul, nick, and ryan all looked so handsome in their tuxes. jordan picked out the colors. our official wedding colors were white, pewter and black...golf course chic is what i called it. although we didn't write our own vows, i wrote the vow we took to include a line about being each other's biggest fan...sports reference a must. our ceremony was full of little oops moments....ring stuck in the pillow, wrong music down the aisle, licking jordan's finger to the get the ring on. looking back at the pictures, it's impossible to capture the excitement and the joy of knowing i was going to spend the rest of my life with jordan and that he had chosen me too.

p.s. the cake was soooo good. white cake with cream cheese and wild rasperberry filling. yummy!

new to this!

i am getting on this train finally. all my friends do it and i thought since our family is spread out all over the country, it would be a good way to keep everyone in the loop as to what is going on with us.
this week, jordan and landon are in washington and oregon for jordan's cousin's wedding. i, on the other hand, am at home with the two dogs and the cat. they are good company and good security too. the boys left only a day ago and i miss them both like crazy.
landon is getting so close to walking. he cruises around the room, barely holding on to something. i think he might walk in the next couple of weeks.
he just passed his 10 month bechmark on his way to his first birthday and it is funny to see him turning into a little person. he has a sense of humor and he's so smart.
he just broke through with his first tooth, but better late then never. he has the biggest open mouth smile, so it's kind of sad that now it will change, but it will allow to eat all the things he sees us eating all the time.

baby taylor, our niece and landon's first cousin, got her baby blessing this past sunday. for those of you who aren't Mormon, allow me to clarify; a blessing is not a baptism. a blessing is a verbal gift, if you will. it voices the hopes and aspirations for the child during their life and documents the baby on the church records.
i was born and raised with catholic values, so i baptized when i was an infant. the Mormons have the belief that a child choses their faith at the age of 8. there is no need to baptize the babies because they are God's purest beings and if anything happens to them, they go right to heaven to be with him. the lds people say that the spirits inside the babies that pass only needed a body for a short time. its a wonderful belief.

taylor cried most of the time, but she was hungry. landon was so good though. he was quiet and sat there holding his blanket and just listened as his grandpa (jordan's dad) spoke to the group in the room. it was us, logan and felicia, kyle, jenna, rd, baby sarajane, sumner, kami, ryan, kade and the bishop. small room so it got kind of hot in there.

after the blessing, we all went for a picnic in the park and it was a hot day so the little boys played in the splash pad. landon was fearless. i took his clothes off and let him crawl into the fountains with only his diaper on and he wasn't scared at all. he'd put his hand over the spout and laugh as it shot back up. he never cried or whined at all. he's a water baby!

jordan's dad was here visiting this weekend and came for the blessing, but also to take jordan's sister katrina home. i was sad to have her leave. growing up, it was just me and mikey and i didn't have any girl cousins my age so it was fun to have someone to go to the mall with and watch movies with. felicia and i took her to get a pedicure and it was her first time. after we were done, she said it was fun but strange because the nail tech doesn't talk to you. i told her it's because they don't really speak english. i made a joke that they talk about us though in their native tongue, because i really think they do. they aren't shy about it.

it was back to work after the long weekend and it was long day.

hope to have some pictures up soon.