Grandma & Grandpa Come to Visit

Jason's parents came into town last Thursday and we had a great time with them. We spent most of the day on Friday at the National Aquarium in downtown Baltimore. Abby loved seeing all the fish and we all really enjoyed our time there. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the aquarium...

Abby getting up close and personal with the sea creatures.

Grandpa helping Abby learn the difference between frogs and toads.Having fun at the dolphin show.
A cool picture of a sea turtle. Landon and I looking pretty stylish before the 4-D movie.

Abby giving us her "cheesy grin" in front of one huge fish.

We spent Saturday touring the Antietam National Battlefield and then Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids so Jason and I could go on our first date in a looooong time. (Thanks again! We really enjoyed the time alone!) We spent Labor Day at Pen-Mar Park. Grandma played with Abby on the swings while Grandpa, Jason, Landon and I hiked a few miles of the Appalachian Trail. We came home, had a BBQ out on our back deck and spent the evening shopping the Labor Day sales at the Outlet Mall.

But the main reason for their visit came on Sunday, Landon's blessing day. He looked so adorable in his little white outfit and was a perfect angel during the blessing. I had to quickly take him out afterwards though because he had a pretty big explosion in his diaper that I was able to change before it became too big of a mess. Tasha, Jeff and their son Coldon were also able to join us for this very special day.

The whole group together after the blessing.

Grandma and Grandpa with their first "Call" grandson.Our cute little family.And here is some evidence to show just how adorable Landon was in his little blessing outfit...

And since today is Septmeber 4th, I just wanted to publicly wish my little man a happy "3-Month Birthday!" I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. There are times I wish I could freeze him this small because he is just so adorable and fun, but I also look forward to the many changes and discoveries that he will be making during the next year and beyond. We're excited to see what kind of a person our little guy becomes. We love you lil' Landon!!

Abb's First Haircut

Okay, so technically Abby has had a haircut before since I regularly trim her bangs, but she had never gone someplace to take any length off the back of her hair before. We had been growing it out for a while, and by this summer, it had grown to about the middle of her back.

Last Sunday, Abby decided that she had had enough of her long hair. I was talking on the phone with my parents and Jason wasn't home. Abby disappeared for a few minutes, but she often will go and play by herself for long periods of time so I didn't think anything of it. A few minutes later I was walking around the house and I kept finding these big globs of hair. At first I thought they might be from our dog Maya, but as I ventured up the stairs and kept finding more and more little tufts of hair, my heart began to sink. When I walked into the bathroom, this is what I found on the floor...

Then I heard a little voice behind me say, "Mom, I cut my hair!" and I turned around to see a huge chunk of hair missing from the left side of Abby's head and several more really short pieces all over. I sank down onto the floor and started to cry! Yes, I cried over Abby's once-beautiful head of hair that had just been hacked off. Abby patted me on the shoulder and said "Mommy, it's okay."

The next day I took Abby to a hairdresser in town and they were able to make her hair look pretty cute despite the chunks that you can still see missing from her head. She actually looks adorable in her new short haircut and seems so much more grown-up now.

What a little stinker!!

Hello Again

As previously promised, here is a run-down of our latest activities during the last month or so...

On July 15th, we moved into our new home. We are still renting a home in the same neighborhood that we were in before, but this new home has several features that our last one didn't (a front porch, a huge fenced backyard, a deck, etc.) and the fact that we are paying $400 less per month in rent doesn't hurt either! Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. We still have plenty of room for guests so feel free to pay us a visit anytime (hint, hint!!)

Right after moving into our home, we left on our big summer vacation to Colorado/Utah. We flew into Denver, rented a car and drove to Grand Junction where we enjoyed a brief visit with my family before driving to Heber where Jason's parents had rented a cabin for a few days. We had a great time seeing everyone again and letting the cousins play together. After a few days in the cabin, we headed a few miles up the road to Heber Valley Camp where we enjoyed a huge "Call Reunion" with Jason's dad's family. It was fun to be out West again and we were reminded just how beautiful it really is.

We enjoyed getting settled into our home for a bit before my sister Lara came to visit us last weekend. We had a great time with her and she enjoyed playing with Abby and seeing Landon for the first time. Next weekend we are looking forward to having Jason's parents and my other sister Tasha and her family come for Landon's blessing.

Speaking of Mr. Landon, he is growing up way too fast. At his two month check-up, he was 13 lbs (75th percentile) and 26 inches (off the charts!) We have a feeling he's going to be a pretty tall boy! He has recently discovered his hands and the ceiling fan, both of which can provide endless hours of entertainment. He is just the sweetest baby and we couldn't love him anymore than we do. He has fit in perfectly with our little family and has added so much joy to our lives. It's difficult to imagine life without him.

Abby really loves being a big sister and is always anxious to help me when I am taking care of Landon. It's cute to watch her play "mommy" to her little stuffed doggie too. She feeds him (she actually lifts up her shirt and "nurses' him) and she will also wrap him up in a blanket, rock him and sing him "Rock-a-Bye-Baby." She is also talking up a storm now and she gives me quite the laugh sometimes at the things that come out of her mouth. Just today we were driving down the road when she blurts out..."Mommy, I wanna go to the temple so I can wear garments." She definitely keeps us on our toes!!

We have enjoyed going to the library and park this summer together, and now that Landon is old enough, we have all enjoyed going back to the gym (me especially!!) I'm back to running 3-5 miles most days of the week and I hope to do another race soon (not a marathon yet, but perhaps another half-marathon again before too long.) I also enjoyed attending my first "Zumba" class this last week. It was pretty fun to do and I'm sure it was even more entertaning to watch!

Our ward had a waterslide activity a couple of weeks ago. We thought that Abby would really enjoy it since it combined her two great loves in life (water and slides), but she was pretty wary about the whole thing (as you can tell from the first picture). All of the older girls volunteered to go down with her though, and she decided that having someone to go down with was a lot more fun!

We have also been having fun going to Greenbrier State Park with our ward playgroup each week. Abby loves playing in the sand and then "swimming" in the water. Maybe next summer when we can enroll her in lessons, our "little fish" will actually learn how to swim.

And of course I can't end any post these days without a cute shot of our two adorable kids together. I am reminded each and every day just how lucky I am to be married to such a great man and have two wonderful children. They melt my heart each time they smile and make each day worth living. I absolutely love being a wife and a mother and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Well, that pretty much catches everyone up on our latest comings and goings. Hopefully now I can stay a little more on top of things (although I am making no promises!!)

Still Here...

I just wanted to let all my faithful blog readers (both of you!!) that we are still alive!! July has been a crazy month...we moved into a new home and went on a 10-day vacation out west. I will blog about these two events when I have a bit more time, but for now, here are some pictures of our adorable munchkins...

Abby lovin' on her little brother.

My little fan after his first minor league baseball experience. Go Hagerstown Suns!!

Can't get much cuter than this!!

National Zoo

We've been keeping ourselves pretty busy this summer. After my first week alone with two kids, I decided I had to keep busy or I would go crazy! I'm just not the type of person to stay at home all the time so needless to say, I've become rather proficient at handling both kids outside the house. We've gone to several parks, the library a few times, to the free summer movies at the mall and I even went grocery shopping by myself with both kids last week. Before having Landon, I thought I would have never attempted these things alone, but it has actually been easier than I imagined it would be. It helps that Landon absolutely loves both his sling and Baby Bjorn, so once I pop him in either of those, he's out for at least an hour or so which leaves me both of my hands free to play with Abby.



Last weekend we traveled as a family down to Washington D.C. to the National Zoo. It was pretty hot, but we all had a good time, especially Abby. She has been to a couple of zoos before, but this time she was really into it and knew all of the animals and what sounds they make. It was so fun to watch her get excited about seeing all of the different exhibits. Here are some pictures from our time at the zoo...

Abby has been so good with Landon. She is a big helper for me and she loves to give him hugs and kisses. I am so happy that she has adjusted so well (at least this far.)

And to celebrate Landon's milestone of being 4 weeks old today (wow, time is flying!), I have included a couple of picture of our little man before church last week. Although he's less than a month old, he already has that "GQ" style!!

Landon's Birth Story

Life has been a bit crazy around here so its taken me a while to get back into the groove of things. We are adjusting well and I think things are getting easier each day. It was great to have my mom here for an extra few days to help out and it was hard to see her leave last Wednesday. I had some minor "panic attacks" preparing for my first day at home alone with both kids (yesterday) but I have survived almost two days by myself with them and so far we are all still alive!! Actually Abby is doing exceptionally well with Landon and loves to give him hugs and kisses all day long. Landon is a great baby, sleeps very well at night and so far I have them both on the same nap schedule in the afternoon which allows me to get a few things done (like update our blog.)

Many of you have asked, so here is Landon's official birth story, from my perspective this time. (WARNING: It's pretty long!)...

On Tuesday, June 3rd, I had what was to be my last doctor’s appointment. Since I was only dilated 1 centimeter, my doctor decided to schedule me for an induction on Friday morning. They didn’t want me to go past 41 weeks, especially considering how big Abby had been. Jason and I left the doctor’s office a little disappointed that I wasn’t progressing, but excited to know that the end was in sight. That night was pretty normal, I headed to bed with a few contractions, although they quickly petered out and I was able to sleep pretty soundly.

I woke up the next morning around 5:45 a.m. with a few rather uncomfortable contractions. After about four of them that appeared to be coming fairly regularly, I decided to wake Jason up and had him start timing them. He was pretty excited to think that I might actually be in labor! We timed the next two contractions and they were about 6-7 minutes apart and I actually had to breathe through them so we really started to think that this may be the real thing. We decided that after a few more contractions, we should get up, shower and take a walk around the neighborhood to see if we could get things moving a bit more. During the very next contraction, however, I felt a small “pop” in my lower abdomen and then a gush of water and I quickly exclaimed to Jason, “I think my water just broke.” It was a very weird sensation to have all of this water leaking out and not having any control over it. (They had to break my water with Abby when I was around 7 cm and already in the hospital.) Jason quickly ran to get some towels and I did my best to make it to the bathroom without getting amniotic fluid everywhere. I sat on the toilet for about 10 minutes trying to drain it out and then immediately got in the shower. By this point, my contractions began to come a bit more frequently (about every 4 minutes) and they were starting to hurt a bit more. We got everything ready, called the doctor and left a message and then just decided to head for the hospital since we knew by this point that I was definitely in labor. The hardest part was saying goodbye to Abby. I knew I was leaving her in good hands (my mom was staying with us), but I also knew that our lives would forever change from this moment on and it was pretty hard on me to know that our little family of three was over. I was bawling, and by the time I got into the car, Abby was bawling too. I quickly got over it though as I knew that I would need every ounce of strength I had for what was about to come.

We arrived at the hospital and got all checked into a room at about 8:30 a.m. Since my water had already broken, they didn’t want to check my cervix until the midwife arrived since they didn’t want to risk introducing an infection. The midwife on duty, Jessica, was one I really like during my prenatal visits so I was glad to see that it was her when she arrived on the scene around 9 a.m. At this point I was dilated to 4.5 cm. I was a bit disappointed to hear that since I had arrived at the hospital with Abby at 7 cm, but I thought at least I would for sure be able to get an epidural soon. I had pondered the idea of a natural birth during this pregnancy, and I had even read a few books about it, but I had decided that nobody got any medals for doing it natural and since Abby’s birth had been so good (with an epidural) that I would go ahead and get one this time too. Since I wanted an epidural, they began to get me prepped for an IV and this was when the real fun began. After about 45 minutes, six different tries and three different nurses trying, they were finally able to get one in on the backside of my forearm. After the IV was finally in place, the midwife came in to check me again and by this time I was at 7 cm. I was grateful that the painful contractions were actually doing something, but I had no thought that it might be too late to get an epidural. However, Landon was already very low in my pelvis and the midwife felt that as soon as I would sit up to get the epidural, I would probably dilate completely and be ready to push. She told me that she could easily stretch me to 9 cm and that I could have this baby in about 15 minutes. I was really freaked out that everything was happening so quickly and that I wouldn’t be given any drugs! I remember specifically looking at Jason and saying “Help me!!” He asked what I would like him to do and I told him, “Get me some drugs!!” The midwife had me start pushing and she was able to stretch me to a 9 before I asked to take a break, it was just too much! What I really needed was some time to wrap my head around the idea that I would be pushing this baby out without the help of modern medicine! I sat up in bed and had some really painful contractions that fortunately I was able to breathe through. After about 30 minutes (and by this time, nonstop contractions) I decided that it was time to get the show on the road (much to Jason’s relief!) I knew that my body was physically ready to have this baby, but I really needed that time to mentally prepare myself for the task. They got everything ready, I laid down and after 10 minutes of extremely excruciating pain, I had my completely natural childbirth experience. It was pretty amazing to experience the complete sensations of childbirth. I felt like my body just took over and with each contraction, the baby would move closer and closer to entering this world. As soon as he was out, I had this completely euphoric experience that I never really had with Abby since I was dull to most of the pain. They immediately laid him on my chest and I was incredibly grateful to have had such an amazing and perfect baby to call our son. When they put him on the scale and revealed that he was 9 lbs 14oz and 22.5 inches long, we were all amazed that I was able to birth him naturally. I did tear a bit, actually just along my episiotomy from Abby, but my recovery from this birth has been nothing short of miraculous. While the pain from an all natural birth is intense, I would definitely consider doing it again. It was amazing to see what my body was meant to do and feel every bit of it. What was even more amazing to see was my rapid recovery and Landon’s alertness due to the fact that I hadn’t received any drugs during this labor experience.

I was a little nervous about how I could possibly love another child as much as I love Abby, but my fears have quickly disappeared. I am so in love with Landon and I am very grateful to Heavenly Father for sending Jason and me another beautiful child of His to raise on this earth.

And here are some pictures just for fun...

Home from the hospital with all of our bands...Landon was a bit jaundiced when we left the hospital so he had to be on a biliblanket for his first 72 hours at home. This is how he affectionately earned the nickname "our lil' glow-worm."Our cute little family of four...
One of my favorite pictures showing off our handsome little man.
"Whew, this life is draining!"
Our blog wouldn't be complete without a photo of Miss Abigail too. She hasn't quite learned that she is a wee bit too big for the baby swing now!

Landon Jason Has Arrived

Landon Jason arrived at 12:10 pm et, June 4th. He weighed 9lbs 14oz...although the doctors say he pooped before they could weigh him and their sure he was 10lbs!!!!! He is 22.5 inches long and his head is 14 inches around.

Dadra went into labor around 11:30 last night and was able to sleep through some of it. She woke up at 5:45am and the contractions were 7 minutes apart. At 6:30, her water broke and by 8 we were at the hospital. She measured a 4 at 9 am and a 7 by 10am. She asked for an epidural (sp??) at 9am but it took them almost an hour to get the IV in her arm. They had 3 doctors stick her 5 times before one actually took!!!

By the time they had the needle in, it was too late. So Dadra gave birth without any medication!!! Her main pushing lasted for only 10 minutes and luckily Landon's head just fit. He had the cord wrapped around his head 2 times but thankfully it wasn't very tight. Mom and baby are now resting comfortably in the hospital. Her are some of my favorite pictures....