Landon, how many syllables does dad have in it?

Wes and I have been dying at some of Landon's words lately. He seems to be drawing out the last word in a sentence. I know that I live in the south, but it is like nails on the chalkboard when "dad" turns into "daaad". I was baffled, where is he hearing this? WELL, Wes has pointed out to me that this summer I am also dragging some of my words out. The majority of the time it is when I am goofing off with Wes, but sometimes it comes naturally. AHHHH...I guess being out of school I am not as conscious of what I am saying, and I better start to watch it! I love a southern accent, but it can't get that bad!

Guess it was a fluke...

You guessed it. Little Bit greeted me at 3:00 this morning. I decided that I would just let her fuss. She talked, played, fussed...I then snuck in and gave her her snuggy again. She squeezed on it and talked, played, and fussed some more. I thought she was going to give it up, but after doing 2 complete circles in her bed she started SCREAMING! This was all in 45 minutes and I decided to give her a bottle. I thought she was going to take my hand off trying to grab the bottle and get it to her mouth. She was STARVING! Since she had been having fun in her crib and now she was full she decided to stay up for another 45 minutes and just play in her crib. Needless to say it is easier to just go feed her when she starts to fuss instead of loosing 1 1/2 hours of sleep!

I guess we will see what tonight holds!

She did it!

Today we have accomplished 2 things:

1. Kaylee LOVES oatmeal! She scarfs it down when I give it to her. This is her second day eating it and she loves it. In a couple of days we will try peas and see how that goes.

2. Kaylee FINALLY slept through the night. I fed her at 7pm, she was asleep by 8pm, and she didn't wake until 5am. Wes fed her a bottle and she went back down until 8am. I woke up at 4:30am and realized that I hadn't been up and neither had Wes. I quickly looked at the monitor and she was still there. I turned it up and she was still breathing then I went back to sleep. I have felt great all day. It is amazing to see what a full nights sleep feels like. Now to see if she will do it again or it was just a fluke.

Teething

Well we are officially TEETHING!!!

The Symptoms of Teething:

1. Drooling - Um...that is an understatement

2. Gum swelling and sensitivity - Her bottom gums sometimes seem more red than normal.

3. Irritability or fussiness - She isn't too fussy unless she is hungry, dirty diaper, or sleepy. There are some days that she is fussy for no reason and the only thing that makes her happy is to chew.

4. Biting behavior - Don't get near her mouth...we are not responsible for the chewing or drool!

5. Refusing food - This has been a new thing. She acts like she is hungry and then...no thank you

6. Sleep problems - I can't say that she has had any sleeping problems...she just hasn't slept through the night, but I don't think that has to do with teething.

Guess we will wait for that little white friend to pop out of her mouth!

Lessons I have learned this summer

I have learned 2 main things this summer:

1. Crying is OK -

I have figured out that it is OK for Kaylee to cry. I time myself when I put her down. I never let her go more than 15 minutes, and 99% of the time she is asleep in 5 minutes. I also will get her if she is SCREAMING, but majority of the time she just fusses. This has helped with my sanity and her napping!

2. I am a strong woman, but it is OK to ask for help -

I know that I am a strong woman. I have proved this to myself by having two children without an epidural, taking care of two kids when Wes is gone, and starting and keeping up with this running program. With all of this said I have learned and excepted this week that it is OK to ask for help! It is OK to let someone else help out with Kaylee, even if am managing on my own, I could always use the break.

Even as a second time mom I am learning and changing each day. I am blessed to have 2 wonderful children that are loving a patient with me each day. I am also blessed to have a wonderful husband that jumps in head first when he walks back in the door from a trip. God has blessed me and I am very thankful for family and friends who are always there for me!

Conclusion to My Goals for Destin

Here are my goals that I had for Destin and if they were accomplished or not...

Goals:

1. Kaylee keep to her schedule as much as possible. - She stayed on her schedule perfectly except on the 4th day. That day it was my fault for getting her up. Overall, she was an awesome little traveler that just went with the flow.

2. Have a nice date with my hubby! - Well, we more than accomplished this. We actually got 2 dinner dates and one shopping date. This was MUCH needed!

3. Spend some time just RELAXING! - We more than accomplished this!

4. Maybe get one full night of sleep. (Don't know about this one.) - My instinct on this was right. This did not happen, but Kaylee did sleep 8 hours one night. Unfortunately, this 8 hours started at 7:00 and I don't go to bed that early.

5. Spend some time with Landon. - We got to spend a lot of time with just Landon. We went to the beach, on the jet ski, swimming, and bowling. Funny thing is each time he told us he missed Kaylee. This made us happy!

6. Get Kaylee to roll over. - UGH! This did happen! She rolled from her stomach to her back. She did it for Wes, Mimi, and Bubba. She also did it one day when Mimi was watching her. She still hasn't done it for me. That little stinker!

I think overall I met all of my goals!

Day 7

I can't believe that our vacation is already over. This is the longest that we have been able to stay and we really enjoyed just relaxing and not feeling rushed to squeeze everything into a couple of days.

The trip to Fl was easy. Kaylee slept most of the way. I guess that she knew what was coming because she was not happy! She cried herself to sleep both times. I finally had to sit in the back with the kids while Sophie got to move up front. This made me very excited to finally be home.

We had a great time, but there is no place like HOME and my own bed!

Day 6

We had planned on going to the beach one last time, but it was just plain hot. There was no breeze, so we decided to go have breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Afterwards we went and the boys raced gocarts one more time. We then came home and played in the pool. I enjoyed getting to play in the pool by myself when both kids were sleeping. It was very peaceful!

Mimi and Bubba let us go out on one last date while they kept the kids. Since we don't have family around us it was so nice to get a break!

Day 5

Today we went to our favorite place to eat breakfast, Harbor Docks. We sat outside and the boys dropped bread to the fish. Landon thought it was great. Mimi and I decided to go home to put Kaylee down for a nap while Landon, Wes, and Bubba went to race go carts. When Landon came home he didn't stop talking about how him and dadddy beat Bubba. It was too cute.

That night we decided to take Landon out to putt putt. We didn't think he would make it through the whole 18 holes, but he surprised us. He LOVED it and did a pretty good job! This was so much fun for us to watch.

Day 4

Kaylee woke up at 4am. I thought she was hungry, but she wanted nothing to do with her bottle. I should have put her back down and let her fuss a little, but since Wes was asleep in the room I went ahead and got her up. NOT A GOOD IDEA! She was fussy and off of her schedule the rest of the day...LESSON LEARNED!

I couldn't get her down for a nap, so we all packed in the car and headed to the bowling alley. I didn't know what she would do, but thought it would be noisy there and no one would be bothered by her if she cried. Well, I should have known she fell asleep in the car as soon as we got moving. When we got to the bowling alley Mimi decided to sit in the car and read a book while Kaylee slept.

The 3 boys and I went bowling and had a great time.

Landon loved going bowling!

The Sturgeon boys

Needless to say Kaylee had a BAD day, but luckily she CRASHED that night early. We had a great dinner at the house and then Landon and Bubba made us chocolate frosties. They were better than Wendy's frosties!

Landon loved to help, but didn't like the noise.

That night Wes and I went out to do a little shopping. Wes had promised me a watch at Christmas, but wanted me to pick out the one that I wanted. Well, it took me 7 months, but I finally found my watch. It was Christmas in July.

Wes and I then went to the beach and just sat and talked. It was so relaxing!

Day 3

Today we decided to hang out at the house with Kaylee, Mimi, and Bubba. We had breakfast made by Wes and Bubba on the grill. It was delicious! We then all got in our swimsuits and played in the pool.

Kaylee got to wear her new bathing suit. I now know why people put babies in 2 pieces. As soon as I got her in the suit she pooped, so I had to get her out of it. UGH!

I love to watch these two interact. She lights up when her daddy comes in the room.

Kaylee actually liked the pool. Next year she will be all over this pool!

Our little family

Kaylee and Sophie both got hot, so Bubba set up a fan to blow on both of them.

Kaylee started to get tired so I went to lay her down and we then convinced Landon to go with us on the jet ski. He wasn't too sure about it at the beginning.

Needless to say he LOVED to go FAST!!! Wes had to put his finger behind the the gas switch so Landon couldn't hold it all the way down. He was so excited about it!

That afternoon we went over to a family friend's house, the Cheadles. Mimi stayed at home with Kaylee since it was her bedtime. The Cheadles have a beautiful boat, or as Landon called it a house on water. We went on a 2 hour tour.

Mrs. Cheadle was even prepared with Landon's favorite snack, sliced cheese.

For about 45 minutes a pod of dolphins played by the boat. I LOVE dolphins so I was in awe the whole time. I told Landon that I wanted to jump in with them and he tried to push me over the edge. He told me he was just trying to help.

Sometimes they would just swim and look up at us. It was a priceless time!

It was a day full of memories!

Day 2

This morning Wes took the kids so that I could sleep in. This is something that I don't get to do too much. When I get the chance at home I always seem to wake up because our room is right over the living room, which means I hear EVERYTHING. At Tammy and Steve's house our room is on the other side of the house, so it is nice a quiet. I truly enjoyed getting to sleep in, but I didn't like it that when I woke up and found out that Kaylee had rolled from her tummy to her back. I am glad she did it, but nobody grabbed the camera. I guess I will just keep trying to catch the little stinker!

We asked Landon what he wanted to do this morning and he said, "I want to go to the beach, swimming, bowling, putt putt, and fishing." The funny thing is he was serious! We discussed that we had plenty of time to do everything that he wanted to do, but he had to pick one thing. He decided on the beach. So, I got Kaylee down for her morning nap and the boys and I headed out while Mimi and Bubba watched Little Bit.

I love this man!

Our little set up.

Landon and Wes had a great time building on the beach.

How could you not relax with this view?

I was shocked to look up and see Landon and Wes headed into the water. Landon has never been a fan of the ocean. I don't know if it is because it splashes him or as he says, "It is saltwater and sharks live in salt water." I can't argue with him there!

He actually really liked it, as long as Wes picked him up over the waves.

After we finished at the beach Mimi, Bubba, and Kaylee met us at the Back Porch, which is our favorite place to eat. It was a great start to our mini vacation.

To wrap up the day Wes and I got to go on a date by ourselves. This is so NICE!

Day 1 - Destin Bound

We got up to finish packing and get the car ready to go. We were all very excited to get on the road, but Wes and Landon needed a haircut. Unfortunately, their place doesn't open until 10 so that left me with a cranky baby that wanted to go to bed for a morning nap, but her mommy wouldn't let her. Finally, around 11:30 we headed out and Kaylee went to sleep. Landon enjoyed a movie to start, then played games on the IPOD, and then another movie. Landon, of course started with the question EVERY parent dreadswhen their kids start talking..."Are we there yet?" UGH! Well, I did the circles again, which seemed to always help. I put circles on a paper, each one represents 30 minutes of the trip. He gets to color one in each 30 minutes. This seems to help and when he asks that lovely question I ask him how many circles are left. As far as Kaylee, she did awesome! She slept, played, ate, and was just happy. I couldn't have asked for a better traveler this time around! We made it in to Destin at 6:30 our time...5:30 their time. We had dinner, let the kids stretch their legs and then it was off to bed. We were excited for the trip. Ths is the longest time we have been able to stay in a long time!

My Goals for Destin

I love to set goals and make lists, so I am setting some goals for Destin.

(My lists are already made to make sure we leave with EVERYTHING!)

Goals:

1. Kaylee keep to her schedule as much as possible.

2. Have a nice date with my hubby!

3. Spend some time just RELAXING!

4. Maybe get one full night of sleep. (Don't know about this one.)

5. Spend some time with Landon.

6. Get Kaylee to roll over.

Let's see how many goals we can accomplish in7 days!

DESTIN BOUND!

Do I look like my brother?

I am starting to give up hope of having a kid that looks like me. I will say that Kaylee has the Daniel eyes. (My mom's side.) Both kids have my upper lip with the points, but I am afraid that is it. Here are some pictures of both kids. What do you think?

Landon at his first feeding.

Kaylee's first feeding.

Landon in the mirror.

Kaylee looking in the mirror.

Guess Wes gets all of the credit!