Introducing....

Lainee Grace

The proud parents are Larry & Amanda E.   Amanda was my little sister in ZTA.  She's one of the few people from college I've actually been able to keep up with..mainly because she keeps up with me!  She's a great friend and I'm so excited she's a parent now so I'm not the one always telling stupid, adorable stories about my child!  Anyway, Lainee was born on April 8, weighing in at 7 lb, 13 oz and 20" long.  She's beautiful and I know they'll have trouble keeping the boys away one day.  Congratulations Larry & Amanda!  We love you guys!!!

Ten Things Tuesday

1. We had a great weekend.  Way too short, even though I had Monday off!!
2. We took our annual zoo trip on Good Friday.  The five mile road that leads into the zoo was back-to-back traffic the entire way!  Which is why Nixon looked like this on the way into the zoo...

3. We finally bought a Wii.  We're addicted..and I mean Chris, Landon and me!  Landon absolutely loves the baseball and tennis.  Chris & I love the new Super Mario Bros.  I've yet to pull the Wii Fit out of the box!
4. Landon asked me the other day, in front of about 3-5 people, why my belly is so fat.  After explaining that I guess I eat too much, he said, "Nope, you got a baby in there."  He's convinced.  We had to tell him not to go to school and tell people that!  Guess it's diet time again for me =)
5. The next day he asked me if I was sad because I didn't have a baby girl.  I told him that sometimes I am, but I love him and Nixon too much to be sad.  He's such a sweetie!!

6. April 15th can't get here soon enough.  That's when we'll know something more about this house we've been trying to buy since November!!
7. Nixon has such a big attitude lately.  You can't tell him anything without him getting upset.  I think he was in the "sad seat" everyday last week at daycare!  What am I going to do in high school??
8. We're still no closer to potty-training Nixon.  He could just care less!  I think we'll still be trying when he goes to kindergarten!
9. I got my car waxed yesterday.  I know with the pollen it was probably pointless but the guy at the car wash told me it needed it like 6 months ago.  It looks so shiny and new!
10. I absolutely love this warm weather.  I just can't get enough of it!

Wordless Wednesday

Proud Moma

I know I'm not doing much posting lately, as my two or three normal readers have so kindly suggested, but life has been really hectic and so I've been spending more time with the boys and Chris, and less time on the computer.  But, I did want to take this chance to brag on my smart Landon.  He absolutely loves puzzles, but had been getting bored with doing our same ones at home over and over.  So Sunday, we went to Wal-mart and let him pick out a new one.  He picked out a 250-piece Bakugan puzzle!  I told Chris to let him try it and if he couldn't handle it, we'd box it up and save it for later.  Well, he didn't start it until Monday, so 3 days later, he's done!!  He would come straight home from school and work on it.  You could tell sometimes it would get the best of him and he would step away for a few minutes, but come right back to it.  He's such a smartie and I'm so proud of him for all his many accomplishments, as any parent should be.

Don't pay attention to the four pieces missing..Ellie ate them..you have to be quick if they fall on the ground!

Ellie Jane

Ellie Jane..floor cleaner, dryer sheet snatcher, toy destroyer...she's also known as Ellie James (Ellie Jane), Ellie Gore (Ellie Girl) and Nixon insists you call her Ellie Fire Dog!  She's so demanding that most days I'd trade her in, but the boys love her beyond measure and that's good enough for me!

Ten Things Tuesday - Funny Stories

I haven't done a "Ten Things Tuesday" in a while, so I'm going to do one this week, but it's going to be ten funny things my boys have told me lately.

1. We were trying to explain to Landon who the President was, so we had to call him our King for him to understand.  Jokingly, we said, "Yeah, the king took all our money, so if we want to buy a new house, we can't go on the airplane this summer."  He wanted to know when we were getting a new king!
2. A couple of weeks later, while giving baths, he looked at me and said, "Mommy, can you make a bunch of money and just not tell the king about it?" 
3. Chris was trying to explain to Landon that he had to go to work at his school and that they pay him to work there.  Landon was confused and said, "But I don't get paid for my job at my school."  Chris said, "You don't?  What's your job there?" to which he replied, "I'm the line leader, the door holder, I hold the clipboard..."  Too cute!! 
4. Nixon informed me he wants to be a pig when he grows up.
5. The boys know they don't get a snack unless their supper plate is clean.  Last night, we had just sat down at the dinner table when Yo Gabba Gabba came on. Nixon started climbing down and said, "I know I won't get a snack." 
6. Nixon saw my tattoo the other night.  He said, "You got a stamp?"  I said, "I sure do baby."  He said, "Because you're a good listener??"  Haha...I laughed so hard!
7. Landon saw a picture of me and Chris on our honeymoon.  He asked me where him and Nixon were.  I explained that they weren't born yet and he said, "But we were in your belly, right?"  I just agreed and he said, "Well, your belly wasn't fat."  Not thinking, I asked if it was now but luckily he said no.  Then he proceeded to ask me when we were going to have another baby.  I asked him when he wanted me to have one and he said, "In two days."  That's that!
8. While going by the baby section in Target, Nixon saw some car seat toys.  He said, "I want one!  I want one."  I said, "Boy, those are baby toys.  You don't need those."  to which he replied, "But I'm your baby."

Well, I thought I had ten stories in me, but I'm drawing a blank..guess I need to write them down when they happen instead of waiting around!

Everything You Wanted to Know...About Nixon....

Well, I couldn't do a post about Landon without doing a post about my baby boy, Nixon.  I found out I was pregnant with Nixon on January 10, 2007.  I hid the pregnancy test in Landon's pajama drawer so that Chris would see it after Landon's bath.  Well, that backfired!  Chris went right around it and kept on trucking.  When I asked him if he saw anything in that drawer, he said, "Yea, what's a thermometer doing in there?"  The second pregnancy was definitely different from the first.  I thought that meant that this time I was having my little girl I've dreamed of, but Nixon was just proving to me that he's 100% different from Landon! 

We decided on Addison Grace for a little girl name and the boy name was proving to be harder to come up with.  I absolutely loved the name Lincoln, but Chris wasn't going for it.  Chris loved the name Trot Nixon, after his favorite former Red Sox player.  I couldn't imagine naming my little boy Trot, so we were at a standstill.  Finally, around month 7 of my pregnancy, it clicked. I told Chris that I would agree to name our little boy Nixon if he would let me have my middle name of Asher, which was a name I found during a Bible study while I was in college. 

I only gained like 20 lbs. with Nixon, but I felt as huge as I had ever been!  My due date was set for September 19, 2007 and I was glad because for some reason, I just didn't want an August baby. August 31, 2007 was my half day at work.  It was a Friday and I remember being in so much pain that day.  I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a month, so it wasn't a big deal, but these were "stop you in your tracks" kind of contractions, so I stayed a little late at work finishing up some things and told the girls at work when I was leaving that I really didn't think I'd be back on Tuesday.  When I got home, they just seemed like they got worse, and I told Chris, I really don't want an August baby!  Crazy, that was what was on my mind!  We decided to go to the mall to pick up some final things and to try to walk it off if it was Braxton Hicks.  They didn't seem to be going away, so we called Chris' parents to meet us to pick up Landon in case I had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night.

Later that night, things seemed to calm down and I was feeling crazy for sending Landon off when obviously nothing was happening.  The next morning, Chris & I woke up and cleaned the house.  No pain.  We went shopping at the Outlets.  A little pain.  So, we decided to walk a loop around the outlets (parking lot and everything).  A little more pain.  Then we went to Mucho Mexico to eat lunch.  Maybe we should call the doctor.  Wal-mart to walk around.  Okay, definitely time to go home and call the doctor.  The doctor wanted me to come in and get checked.  The nurse told me, "No, nothing's happening right now."  The doctor came to check and said, "Yep, definitely in labor."  Me..."I'm agreeing with the doctor."  The nurse continued to argue with the doctor, in front of Chris and me, that she didn't think I was in labor.  The doctor then put the nurse in her place about who attended medical school.  Quite comical if you're standing in my place!

We arrived at 3:30 pm, I was admitted at 4:15 pm and Nixon arrived at 10:02 pm on September 1, 2007 weighing 8 lbs, 7 oz and 21" long!  Good thing he came 3 weeks early! 

I didn't get the "baby blues" as bad with Nixon as I did with Landon.  I was just very overwhelmed having two children to care for!  It was very different, making sure both boys  needs were taken care of.  Around one month of age, Nixon developed colic.  He would start crying around 7 or 8 at night and would cry until around 10 or 11 when he gave out.  It was pitiful.  We would get in the car and ride him around until he fell asleep.  Then, magically, around 3 months, it just went away. 

From Day 1, he's been the boss of the house.  He knows what he wants and when he wants it.  But then, the next minute, he'll look at you and bat those little eyelashes at you and you forget everything!  He loves to cuddle, even to this day.  He's definitely not scared of anything, and that scares me! He never meets a stranger and his independence is unreal, even at this age.  He wants to do everything that Landon does and looks up to his big brother. 

Despite his small (and by small, I mean short) size, he's not scared of older kids and always takes up for himself and Landon!  I love my little boy and I know one day, he's going to do great things!  Here's a list of favorites:

Food:  Pudding
Color:  Green
Number:  7
Sleeping Toy: His "Baby" when he was younger, but we had to retire that, so now it's Mr. Elephante

Cartoon:  Backyardigans
Loves to: Dance..especially when he goes to the potty
Most used saying:  "I sorry..I not meant it" and "Hold you me"
Girlfriend:  Kylee

Wants to be:  Spiderman
Sport:  Football