One Month

Dear Landon,

I can still barely wrap my head around the fact that you are here, and yet here I am writing you your first letter. How is it possible that a month has already passed? What happened to that tiny little baby boy we brought home from the hospital just 4 weeks ago? Already you have grown and changed so much. I can't believe that in the 2 years since your sister was this small, I haven't figured out a way to slow time to get as much of these first weeks as possible. Your cheeks have filled out so much, I think you might be on your way to being the chubby baby that Savannah never was. 

You are such a sweet boy, I really just cannot get enough of you. You are so content to sit on my lap, looking up at me with those big, dark eyes. I love to watch you when you are awake, when you are asleep, when you are being held by your daddy. As often as I can I let my gaze just rest upon you, trying to drink you all in. 

I think I love you most right out of the bath. Your skin smells so sweetly of baby shampoo. Your downy hair is so fuzzy and soft, like the feathers of a baby chick. I love to hold you and breathe you in in these moments, so soft and sweet and brand new. 

You love to sleep with one hand under your cheek. You make the cutest sounds in your sleep- squeaks and squeals and grunts that aren't as cute at 4 in the morning when you are trying to decide if you are ready to wake up. Because Daddy and I are both awake, listening to you and trying to get back to sleep. You are quiet most of the day, taking everything in. You love to watch your sister. And she absolutely dotes on you. I love to catch her leaning over to give you a kiss when she thinks I am not watching. She talks to you so sweetly, saying your name. She is the first to comfort you when you cry and wants to hold you all the time. And you just watch her, perfectly content to rest on her lap. 

You are my perfect, beautiful, precious, sweet little boy. And as much as I hate how much time we have already lost, I am so excited to watch you grow even more.

I love you, son of mine.

Love, Mama

Naked Baby on a Bed

What's in a Name, Part I

I came across the idea for how to personalize Landon's room on a message board and instantly wanted to recreate it. These are actually just stickers, made for walls. We have one downstairs in the dining room, and I ordered these from the same company. I was so excited when they arrived on Friday- I couldn't wait to get them up- and now that they are in his room I cannot get over how much I love them!!

Quotables

I've got to get better about writing down the things Savannah says. Because there are some hilarious things that come out of her mouth that I think, I've got to write that down! And then they are out of my head before I had a chance. This is a smattering of quotes from the past few days:

On Wednesday night, Savannah asked to hold Landon. I placed him on her lap (while supporting his weight myself) and Savannah turned to me, smiled and said "Mommy, take picture."

I guess she's gotten used to me taking pictures every time she holds Landon!

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I was in the kitchen feeding the dogs when I sneezed. Savannah comes walking in and nonchalantly says, "God bless you, Mommy."

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Peyton was eating his supper and Savannah started patting him on the back and said "Good boy, Peyton. So sweet!"

Weighing In

My mom loaned me her baby scale that she had used to keep track of her dog's weight when they were showing. I used it occasionally when Savannah was a infant, more out of curiosity sake than anything else. When we were at the pediatrician's last week with Landon, Dr. Thole mentioned she'd like to see Landon in 2 weeks just for a weight check, just because he was so tiny at birth. At his 1 week check-up he was up to 1 ounce over his birth weight, which she was very happy with but still wanted to see him in 2 weeks. So we are heading over there one day next week, just to see where he is at.

Because of this, I pulled out the baby scale on Wednesday night, to see how much (if anything) he had gained in the 8 days since he'd been on the doctor's scale. 

2 weeks, 1 day: 7 pounds, 4 ounces.

He'd gained almost 1 pound in a week! Such a change from Savannah, who was always so small and never really gained a lot. Not that a pound is a lot, but I can already see a difference in Landon. Where just a week ago the 5-8 pound clothes that my mom had bought when he was born, were falling off his waist- he today is wearing a pair of newborn pants that are snug around his waist! What a difference a week makes!

And just to keep things fair, I plopped Savannah on the scale to see where she was at. She's not been on a scale since her 18 month check up (18 pounds) and she feels so much heavier than she did 6 months ago.

23 months, 2 weeks: 21 pounds. 

Oh well. She's definitely healthy, getting taller, and always active. And obviously just destined to be petite!

This all has Brad convinced that Landon will catch Savannah weight wise by Christmas. We shall see...

Our Love Story

The love story of Brad and Jenna
[Visit http://www.sgtandmrshub.blogspot.com/ for the lovestory blogfest information]


Taken on our one month anniversary.

I had a rough year my junior year of high school. Too much drama, and I really needed to get away. Amazingly, my parents agreed to let me move 3 hours away to live with my 20 year old sister and her boyfriend in Gainesville for the summer. This was the best thing they have done for me in my life, probably, because it was the one event that set the rest of my life into motion.

My sister Jaime worked at the front desk of the Reitz Union hotel on campus at the University of Florida. My first weekend in town, she had to work so I went to pick her up at the shift change. The guy coming in to relieve her worked the night audit- from 11 o'clock at night until 7 o'clock the next morning. He came in and Jaime introduced me to Brad. I, of course, being 17 was instantly smitten. He was 21 and I knew he was too old for me, and would have no interest in a 17 year old. But a crush is a crush.

Over the next few weeks, I couldn't stop thinking about that cute boy I'd met. I kept trying to think of ways to find myself around him again. I listened to Jaime and her boyfriend and gathered that he'd just gotten out of a long term relationship- at least he was single! So I began to scheme.

One day while I was visiting Jaime at work, I noticed Brad was scheduled to work that night. Thinking quickly, I grabbed my driver's license and debit card from my purse and stashed it behind a trash can. Jaime and I left and went shopping. Long after dinner that night (read- after eleven o'clock when his shift had started) I decided to balance my checkbook. Because everyone does this at midnight, right? Of course, I "discovered" that my purse was missing. But where could it be?! The hotel was the only logical explanation!

Jaime tried to convince me just to call and we could get it the next day. But I was panicked, there was no way I could leave it all night! So I headed off to campus. The doors were locked (as they always were at night) so Brad had to come around and let me in. I asked if he remembered me, and told him why I was there. We started talking and I flirted shamelessly with him until I realized I'd been gone for hours! My sister started calling the hotel, wondering if I was still there. But there was no way I was leaving until he asked me for my phone number, which he did.

He called me a few days later and we had our first date on July 5th, 2000. He knew I was only in town for the summer, but we didn't really talk about what would happen come the end of August when I had to go finish high school. When the time came for me to leave (after spending every second that we could together) we decided to see how things went.

Again, enter my parents who are absolutely fabulous. They paid for my gas to drive to see Brad almost every other weekend.



Valentine's Day 2001

We grew closer and closer, and I had already decided to move to Gainesville after graduation before I even met him, so we knew that we'd be together soon. It was really tough, but we talked every day and emailed often, so we managed to stay together. I moved to Gainesville literally the day after graduation and we had a fantastic summer and fall together, living just minutes from each other.





Then December came and Brad graduated from college- and move to Ocala, which was 45 minutes away. Still, it was a lot closer than the 3 hours separating us before!







A year and a half later, on March 14, 2003 Brad proposed to me. I of course said YES! This is what I had been waiting for!




We were married on December 27, 2003.



There was nothing better than our first night in our apartment together. Going to bed that first night, knowing that he was there for good, for ever. Knowing that, after three and a half years of long distance dating, that we were finally together in the best way possible- as man and wife- there is no better feeling in the world.

We have now been married for over 4 years and have just welcomed our second child to the world- Savannah Belle was born on March 1, 2006 and Landon Dale was born on January 29, 2008. And this is the best Valentine's Day yet, because there is nothing better than having your husband come home and greet the children you made together.

My Heart

Look at how he is looking at her. Melts my heart.

The Most Beautiful Thing I've Ever Witnessed:

My daughter, with her little brother sitting on the Boppy on her lap- holding his hand and singing the Barney song to Landon:

"I love you. I love you too. Won't you say you love me too."

These are the moments that life is all about. 

The first week

Here are a few shots from our first week:

Savannah meeting her new brother

Trying to hold his hand

Me and my babies

Our family of four

Sweet sleeping angel

Savannah holding Landon for the first time

"Toes!"

My babies

So sweet and cuddly!

Look at that face!

Landon's Arrival

I had a regular doctor's appointment scheduled for last Monday afternoon. Since I was having a non-stress test and knew they would be checking for any progress, I left Savannah with a neighbor (the first time I EVER left her with someone other than family!!) and headed out. I felt like the NST took forever- I was literally counting the dots on the wall paper. The doctor came in and was looking over my previous blood pressures (my pressure has been elevated since right before Christmas, when I was put on modified bed rest) At the appointment, my pressure was in the 140s/80s, which he said was just too high. Since I was full term, he wanted me to head over to the hospital to be monitored in triage for a few hours and see how my pressure was over a longer period of time. He basically said there was a 50/50 chance I would either be induced that night or the following morning, but he wouldn't let me go past Friday. Yikes!!

I called my mom first thing, to have her come up to watch Savannah. Then I called Brad and told him what was going on. I had just packed my hospital bag the night before- I couldn't believe I needed it already! I headed home to get Savannah and my things and headed to the hospital. Brad met me there and took Savannah home to wait for my mom. So I went back into triage by myself and was hooked up to the fetal monitors and the BP machine that checked my blood pressure every 15 minutes. My first pressure was 140/104 and then after that it went back down but was hovering in the high 130s/80s. They also drew some blood for labs and then I just hung out watching a tiny, grainy TV. I think I watched TLC, I don't even remember!

While I was in triage, I started feeling some pretty consistent contractions. I'd had some contractions and cramping the night before, but they were mild and inconsistent. But these were definitely more like labor contractions. The nurse came back and told me they were coming every 2-4 minutes. She called my doctor when my labs came back, and after hearing my pressure and that I was contracting on my own, they decided to admit me for an induction. Luckily, right after I heard that news Brad and my mom showed up. We waited in triage for about 30 minutes, during shift change, and then my nurse from L&D came over to take me to my room! The whole time my mind was going a million miles a minute- it was (and still is!) so surreal!

I got to my room and they checked my cervix- I was about 2 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced. I was hooked up to the Pitocin at 7:45. I asked when I would see my doctor, and apparently he had no plans to come in unless I needed him. Nice, right? So he had to intentino of breaking my water- the nurse said if it broke on its own he'd come, otherwise he'd break it in the morning. Thanks, doc. I mentioned to my nurse (Anne) how fast I had gone with Savannah, so she started going ahead and getting the room ready for delivery. And it was a good thing!

At 10:10 Anne came in and checked me again. I was at 3cm and still 70%. I wasn't sure what to expect- it wasn't until after my water broke that things started happening with Savannah and unless it broke on its own, it looked like we were in for a long night. My contractions were coming right on top of one another and I had wicked back labor. Every contraction would start in my stomach and the my whole lower spine would lock up and it was awful. I couldn't get into any position to lessen the pain at all.

Anne came back in at 12:40 and I was ready to ask for some pain relief. She checked me to see if anything was going on- I was thinking I was MAYBE at a 5- so much to my surprise I was 7 centimeters! How did that happen?! She called my doctor and told him to head on over, we would see some action soon! Since I had already done the hard part med-free there was no way I was getting any pain meds at that point. Dr. Saavedra arrived at 1:15 and broke my water- and I was at 9 centimeters. He asked me if I wanted an epidural- I'm still not sure if he was joking or not. At 1:30 I started feeling like I needed to push, but not like I had to, so Anne told me to try a practice push. Well, that did it- it was time to go!! Dr Saavedra came back in and the baby was crowning- he barely had time to get his scrub clothes on because I couldn't stop pushing! I pushed 1 more time and the head came out, and then 1 last time and at 1:48 am Landon Dale was born! I still cannot believe how fast it all happened!

We've gotten settled in at home now. Landon is a great eater and is sleeping really well. He's not much of a crier (yet) and hopefully it will stay that way. He is such a sweetie and we are all so in love with him. I've got some great photos of Savannah holding him that I need to upload- she loves her baby brother so much!