What we've been up to.

Last weekend we went to the convention in Orlando. It was a rough weekend, Landen and Matt had a cold, and I had two sick boys to take care of. :) One night we went to downtown disney, and had some fun eating dinner out and walking around. It was hard to get much out of the parts because Landen didn't sit as good as usual being sick.
And yes, his sickness is a theme this week, he got a high fever Thursday night, and I assumed it was Roseola again, Friday I noticed his eye was puffy, but just assumed it was leftover from the bites last weekend, but then Saturday he got up, soooo sick, and his eye swollen shut. He was so sick, his fever wouldn't go down, his eye kept getting bigger, and he just didn't want to walk. He would shake when we put him down to stand. He's not been that sick before, he sat in my lap and cried and nursed and slept all day (and then was up all night) He didn't want to play. I missed him by the end of the day.
He is finally feeling better today, still lowgrade fever, and swollen eye, but better, playing. Not much eating, but plenty of nursing (ouch).
For me, this was supposed to be my first weekend on call for births but I called Rayna and told her next weekend when I saw how sick Landen was. I was really looking forward to it! I did get one client due the end of October, but she seems not very motivated to meet up, and I will be 36 weeks then, so as it gets closer, I am thinking its not going to happen. I would love to have an established relationship with a client before she gives birth, and although we have kept contact somewhat by email, I am dissapointed. So I will try to get my births all from Rayna this month. My back has been an issue, after a long day, it aches, so I ordered a maternity support. That should be here on Tuesday, and I am looking forward to seeing what difference it makes.
The ultrasound went great, I am a go for a vaginal birth now, and besides him being a chubber, everything looks good so far. :D I can't complain. I trust my body, and know I can push out this big boy on my own.
Landen is going thru a learning spurt. He was never much into books, but as soon as he turned two, he wasts to read all the time, knows over 50% of his letters by site, loves to write them, loves to count, wants to learn, learn, learn. I am excited b/c I was looking forward to this stage, but didn't think it would come so soon. He is a smart boy, but his own boy. He is testing us lately, seeing how far he can go doing, being fresh. I am getting more excited for him to have a little brother, and for watching them play together. We've been wanting to get him a train table and found one for free on freecycle.
We are also trying to cut back on spending. Somehow we got to spending a lot more than we have. That is actually a big focus right now, but lucky for us, we've never been ones to fight over money. It doesn't help that Matt's boss has had so little work lately, and I think for the past month has only worked 4 day weeks. That one extra day makes a difference. He got his liscense in July, or at least passed, and we are still trying to get the actual liscense from the county. His boss is supposed to give him a couple dollar raise, and that would make a big difference. It's just so frustrating when its out of our hands.
I have been looking for ways to make money. I take care of Lola, I am working on getting being a notary public, so I can try to do on call work. I also started working for Chacha. They are a work from home bussiness, and you can log on any time, for whatever time intervals you want, and customers text questions from their phone and I answer them. It's fun, and even a little educational. If you are interested, go sign up, you have to pasts some tests to work for them, but its fun. You need a referral, you can use my email, tuddleme@hotmail.com.

That's it. Busy busy. :D
Thanks for reading.

more pictures

My happy boy!

Riding his new (used) bike. Love his hair! :D

At the children's museum playing in the water.

Elmo undies!

He just looks too cute!

Just like a big boy!

Napping with daddy!

Disney part 2

He's not to impressed by this guy...

Sitting on a lego dog (ignore the sign in the backround about not letting children climb on the statues, we did) :)

And he got 3 bad spider bites. This was when we were back home, he fell asleep on my laundry pile. At one point his whole left eye was almost swollen shut. ICK.
I am posting these in sets of 3, b/c that is all Picasa will let me do, I tried to do a big upload from Blogger directly and it takes forever, and I am just not very patient. I suppose I can add pics after...

Disney

Well, Disney for the cheap. LOL This is just downtown disney, with the shops, and places to eat. Landen had a great time though. He really liked Minni and Mickey! (no posing there, he was just so excited to see and talkt to them! LOL)

My favorite picture ever!

O, I love this picture! He is soooooo cute in his daddy's Red Sox hat!!!!

On his new (used) battery operated bike. Pretty cool! (I love his long hair)

Landen's first marshmallow!

Yummmmm! We made rice krispie treats after he sampled that!

Logan's 4d u/s pics

We went for our ultrasound today, and it all went well. He is measuring in the 62% and is about 2lbs 2 oz right now. Landen measured about that when he was born so we are probably going to have another big boy. (Landen was 8lbs 5oz.) I think he looks like Landen in these pics. These were taken my my regular ob/gyn during a regular appt, and he was kind enough to take some time to get us some pictures. In the pictures, you may be able to see his face is pressed up against the placenta, so he spent quite a bit of time trying to find a clear image. He is very nice.
While we were in the waiting room Landen fell and cut his lip, and was bleeding everywhere, the dr came out, and checked Landen, and tried to find us some ice (the nurses ignored us). I was touched that he came out to see if we were ok. (without our asking)

My son is nuts.

Wouldn't go to bed last night until 11:30, slept until 12:30 and got up, and wouldn't go back to sleep. Not until 7 am! I hadn't fallen asleep yet when he woke up, so I got to take a little nap at 7, but Lola comes over at 9. He is now, still, happily snoozing. Of course, when he awakes, Lola will be ready for her nap. *sigh*
So, yeah, my son is nuts.

I guess we won't be potty training...

So, let me tell you what we have done with our Landen potty adventures. When he was 8 months old, I tried putting him on the potty and he went, and would regularly go on the potty until he was one. Then we went on vacation to cape cod for 2 weeks, followed by the convention for a weekend and then me going to NC (with Landen) for another 2 weeks, and well, between it all, not wanting to use public bathrooms, and me being lazy when we returned, we just got out of the habit.
Fast forward to present...Landen has had no interest, and sometimes will fuss when we suggest it. He's a boy, and just turned 2 so I wasn't in a rush. Well, last week he started bringing us his diapers and asking for a new one, getting out the changing pad, and saying Diaper please. I said, I guess he's ready, gotta get started. Then comes today, apparently the week I took in thinking about it was too long b/c all day Landen has asked for the potty when he needed to go. Just like that. Now, I don't know if this is a fun game type of thing, but besides the poopy, no dirty diapers today. At the kingdom hall this evening he started shouting, POTTY POTTY POTTY, I want to go POTTY. I thought he was saying play, and I was like shhhhhh. Then I finally took him into the lobby to hush him and he pointed at the bathroom. Wow, even on the go, huh?
So, I must say, if he's ready, that's awesome. Let's hope he keeps it up!

My DONA course...

Went sooooo well! I am absolutely thrilled. My teacher was great, and made a very relaxed atmosphere in her home. It wasn't like a lecture, she kept us very involved. My favorite part (and least favorite part) was the roll playing. It was fun to watch, and laugh, and I really felt like I benefited from it. I kept trying to think in my head, what should I do? But the second time around, I just did what I would do by instinct, and it worked well with my "birthing" mother. It was my least favorite part b/c I was nervous about it.
After the weekend I feel....empowered to do my first birth, I feel like I know how to put things to use that I've read so much about, and I will be able to help a mother.
My teacher, Rayna, said that she could get my some weekend births, in September, so I can get my births in before Logey Dogey comes along. I'm excited.
Lola just went down for a nap, and when I put her down, I always put on a little movie for Landen and give him a popsicle. He is watching Word World. It seems a little old, in terms of letters, but he really likes letters, I think I should start working on that (low key like) with him. We've been working on our colors lately, and he is really into that. Anyway, she is happy today, so I am happy. Landen is happy too. He finally slept good last night after about a week of horrible sleeping. I am thrilled.
Braxton Hick......
I want a cookie. Chocolate chip, gooey and warm.
Thursday I have a chiropractor appt, and then straight to the OB/GYN. Why these are on a thursday night, so late, before a meeting, is beyond me. I have no idea what I was thinking. I think I will go to the Chiro in meeting clothes at 5, straight to the OB at 6:15, and then straight to the Kingdom Hall for a 7:30 meeting.
So I don't have Lola next Mon-Thurs, but she said she is bringing her Friday, but of course, Friday I will be at the convention, so that's not going to happen. It seems as though we are going to have another whole week off. ARG. It's hard financially, and b/c Lola gets all out of wack, she is starting to get used to being here again, and its oging to be another week off.
I really am rambling.
Landen is doing good, and talking more and more. I say that all the time, but really its just so neat to watch.
We registered at Target for some things for Logan. Stoller, bumbo (Gonna try it this time), and we need towels, blankets, and I might even eventually try a pacifier? maybe.... We'll see. I don't think I will be getting a shower, but if someone decides to get us something, at least it will be something we need. Maybe a few warmer outfits b/c Landen was born in August, and Logan will be December. Not that Florida in the winter is freezing, but it gets cold! We also need to purchase some cloth diapers. That's not much! So I haven't rally spent much time thinking about it. Easy Peasy.
So, I will keep you posted on my births, and maybe share an anonomous birth story.
Ready for a nap!
Tata!

Landen is yelling....

buh bye! buh bye! buh bye! Over and over to the dump truck. It comes every Monday and Friday, and he always runs out to the porch to watch and greet it.

GOOF!

I am a prioress...

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...

The Prioress

You scored 11% Cardinal, 62% Monk, 62% Lady, and 30% Knight!

You are a moral person and are also highly intellectual. You like your solitude but are also kind and helpful to those around you. Guided by a belief in the goodness of mankind you will likely be christened a saint after your life is over.

You scored high as both the Lady and the Monk. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the lady, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

Take The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test at HelloQuizzy

DONA, this weekend!!

I am doing my workshop with DONA this weekend! I am really excited. It will be the first time I have been away from Landen for over an hour, which I suppose is a little hard. But he will be with his daddy, and I will still be here for bed time.
Its Sat, and Sun from 8-4, and its about an hour drive away. I am looking forward to some visual training. I did my doula training originally with Childbirth International, which I really enjoyed, but I always wanted to do Dona, and now I am going to try to get it done before Logan (yes, Logan, that's his name) comes along. I need 3 births, I have one client due at the end of October now, and I contacted a teen mother help place for the other 2, which I will feel good about. :D
Lola was back today after about 2 weeks without her. I think we need to adjust again, b/c today was a little hard for her (and I think she is teething). We went to the spray grounds, water park with Tausha (a local sister) and her girls. It was fun, and it was nice to be out in the sun.
For dinner, I made rotini with sauce and meatballs, and brocolli,and I am sharing it b/c it hit the spot, and I wanted to keep eating!
And tonight, my sciatic nerve is pinched, and I am hoping to go see my awesome Chiro on Thursday, yay for medicaid.
Landen is doing great sleeping thru the night, I just need to wean him, but there is always a reason to wait. (I don't want to do it during my training, I am worried he is going to really want it when I get home) I am so ready though!!!
Goodnight!

He's two!

His first fudgicle!
In mama's shoes (and unmatching pjs-Leaping Kids is our playgroup! )
snoozin...
Art! (Landen always is asking for arts n crafts)
BOO!

Yay! Landen is two today! It really feels like I just had a newborn, that I was just pregnant with him, and now he is two. I think he is turning out pretty good! :D
I don't have a favorite age. I love them all. He was such a good baby, always happy. He is turning into a real boy, always climbing, running, playing with trucks and balls. I love to watch him learn and see the world thru his eyes every day.
You learn a lot about yourself, and things you do when you watch a toddler who watches you. He says things like, o man! and o my goodness. I was choking the other day, and he said, are you ok? I laughed, that he would ask something like that. Today Lola was crying, and she was ok, there was nothing wrong, and Landen says, Lola, you're ok. B/c I say that to her when I am comforting her. It amazes me that he is so perceptive. Hopefully he doesn't pick up on dad's "crap".
Also, we've been nursing for 2 years! Yay!