Under the Weather

Just when I started thinking I had this whole motherhood thing down pat, it happened. Our first illness. I should have known this was coming because we just got the bedtime routine and sleeping schedule fairly regular and things were finally settling down a bit. Sunday morning I took Landon to the doctor after he was up all night coughing, sneezing, and just moaning in misery. Luckily, our pediatrician's office is open 7 days a week. I was so afraid they would just tell me he had a cold and send me home with a "good luck!", but it turns out he has bronchitis and an ear infection. He got a breathing treatment in the office and they sent us home with a tiny little oxygen machine shaped like a little penguin who I have affectionately nicknamed Chilly Willy. Landon hates Chilly Willy and the steaming mask that comes with him. I have to give him 4 breathing treatments of albuterol a day. Bailey is there for moral support as I force my little guy to breathe in the medicated steam. It's working already, though. In the last 36 hours, I feel like I have earned another badge of motherhood. I have begged and pleaded with a 5 month old to open his little mouth for medicine or lie still so I can put drops in his nose. I have wrestled, pinned down, and bargained with this miniature version of my husband, and now know Landon is just as stubborn as his daddy. You're not going to get him to do anything he doesn't want to without a fight. I have had penicillin literally blown back in my face, my finger mashed as I tried to pry open those little gums, and had to hold down the little bucking bronco to get the mask on him. As bad as he feels, he still has a considerable amount of fight left in him. It took Mike and I both to pin him down yesterday to use the nasal aspirator (aka booger sucker) on him so he could breathe well enough to eat. I'm sure this is just the first of many, many sleepless sickly nights ahead of us. I should just thank my lucky stars it's not the stomach flu!

Trick or Treat!

Now that I'm back to work, I'm running a little behind on getting my pictures posted. Still, one week isn't too bad. For his first Halloween, I decided Landon was going to be a pumpkin. So, about 2 months ago, I ordered this costume out of a catalog. Hind sight is 20/20 and if I had it to do all over again, I probably would have ordered a zip up soft costume. Although Landon was precious as a pumpkin, there were some wardrobe challenges that I didn't forsee. For example, I would love to shake the hand of the person who can tie that stem onto an infant's head and get it to stay in place more than 5 seconds. Also, the green collar spent more time in Landon's mouth than around his neck. The elastic around the bottom of the costume was so tight, it kept riding up on his belly. As you can see in the first, "dress rehearsal" picture, his little legs are sticking out uncovered. For the actual Halloween night, we had to put him in jeans because it was a little cool outside. As you can see in the second picture, the stem is just balanced on Landon's head. I gave up trying to get it to stay on. The Cincinnati Bengals hat replaced our pumpkin stem so Landon wouldn't freeze. It's so funny how different Landon looks with a hat on, he doesn't even look the same child! His face looks so round! Landon did match his Daddy's costume this year. Mike dressed up as a very disappointed Bengals fan due to the 0-8 record as of last Friday! They are currently 1-8 now, though. Oh happy day! My boys lasted outside for about an hour before Landon actually began to turn into a pumpkin due to a fast approaching bed time. Mike handled the bedtime routine while I managed the 200+ trick-or-treaters! I just had to include this completely unrelated picture of Landon and Bailey. A little while ago, Landon realized that he has a fuzzy puppy running around and he LOVES Bailey. Bailey is my secret weapon to make Landon stop crying. Every time Bailey comes around, Landon gets this huge smile on his face. He constantly watches Bailey. The other morning, I was sitting in the recliner holding Landon when Bailey walked over and smelled Landon's socks. Landon belted out the loudest and longest belly laugh I have heard so far. I wish I had the camera to record it. It was precious. There's just something special about the love between a boy and his dog!

Rollin', rollin', rollin'-Finally!!

After trying for about a week, Landon has finally achieved rolling over from his back to his belly. He mastered the belly to back portion a while ago, but often forgets how to do it and gets extremely frustrated when he can't do it. He rolled over 3 times this morning and I missed it every time. I would come in the room to find him laying there on his belly smiling at me. I finally captured it on film this afternoon!

No Pictures this time-Sorry!

So there's this little game among friends with blogs and apparantly I've been tagged by my dear friend Raegan. I'll do my part and play along, although I'm not sure who I'll be "tagging" because she already got the people I would tag. Anyway, some facts about myself............

1. I went back to work this week after being off for the last 4 months. It actually wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be. I'm only working 2 days a week, which gives be some much needed adult conversation and allows me to challenge my brain a little differently. Landon is doing great at day care and is sleeps better at night when he goes. He would rather stare at the other babies than take his naps! He did giggle at me when I picked him up the first day. I guess he missed me!

2. I still don't function well on very little sleep. I find myself putting items in strange places when I haven't gotten enough sleep. For example, this week I caught myself putting Ragu in the freezer next to the dog treats that also didn't belong there! OOPS! Sadly, Rice cereal is not helping with Landon's sleep issue!

3. I can't remember the last movie I saw in the theater, but I hope it was a good one!

4. I'm already getting excited about Christmas because I love driving around and looking at all the lights.

5. I'm learning again what it means to be a "football widow" because Mike goes out on the road recruiting next week. I've gotten spoiled having him around on the weekends this fall for the first time in 8 years!

6. I love living in Georgia, but I'm finding that my slight southern accent grows thicker by the day. "Fixin' " is now part of my daily vocabulary!

7. I forgot how afraid I was of mean geese (the kind who used to chase us around the yard when I was little), but now I have a patient with a "guard goose" and it tried to bite me in the rear yesterday as I rang the doorbell! Occupational hazard when you do home health in rural Georgia!

So that's it....7 random facts about me! I hope that was fun for everyone! Raegan- you're not getting a Christmas card this year!!!!! Just kidding :-) I guess the game will end with me as I have no one else to tag! I'll post more pictures a little later!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Today we went to Jaemor Farm, which is a farm with a pumpkin patch, huge corn maze, pony rides, and an awesome little market just north of Gainesville. Landon is a little young for the pony rides, but he loved being carried around in the carrier. He kicked his little feet for and hour and a half. With so many interesting things to look at, it was hard to get him to look at the camera. Oh well!

Food and Fun!

We had a busy day today. As you can see, both of my boys like to lay around on the pooh blanket and relax. Today we tried solid food for the first time. The first picture is before he ate and the next picture would be after he ate. Below is the video I attempted to take as I fed him. I think he liked it!

16 Weeks!

Time is flying by and our little boy is growing so fast. He is laughing and smiling more with each passing day. He thinks it is hilarious when we change his clothes. (We'll try to get this on video!) He loves splashing his arms and legs in the bath. I must say that although he looks like his daddy, he has his mommy's sleeping habits. He is not a night owl! He turns into a pumpkin (aka-screaming fit thrower) @ 8 pm. I've learned to start the bedtime routine at 7 just in case I take too long. Landon loves it when daddy reads him his bedtime stories because he not only reads the story, but gives his own comments on the book (which crack me up) such as "Little Miss Spider" needs to develop some mental toughness or that a "goat can't really swim in a moat", something like that! So funny! Some of these pictures are a little blurry because Landon is in constant motion.

Chattin' It Up!

Here's another episode of Chattin' with Landon. Enjoy!

Baby Talk

Here's our latest video of Landon "chatting it up" or at least as much as he can with his hands in his mouth. Our new pictures are below!

Are you ready for some football?????

Everyone knows that Saturdays in the Riddle home mean only one thing........college football!! I think ever since Mike found out we were having a boy, he has been looking forward to this day. Poor Bailey has now become a pillow! We have now affectionately nicknamed Landon "mini me" because he is a miniature Mike! On Sunday, Landon got to watch his first UK game. Although he only stayed awake for the first half, we think he enjoyed it tremendously! By the way, if you don't see the similarities between Landon and his daddy, click on this last picture to see it enlarged and check out the eyebrows!

Our First Attempt at Live Video

Last Saturday afternoon, Mike and I were having a relaxing day at home with Landon. Landon and I were on the floor doing some "tummy time" like we normally do every day when all of a sudden, HE ROLLED OVER! I laughed, which made him giggle. Since then tummy time has become much more challenging as you'll see in this video I took this morning because he just wants to roll over all the time!

More Pictures- Just Because

Due to populer demand, here are a few more pictures!

10 Weeks Today!

It's hard to believe it's been 10 weeks since God blessed us with our little boy! In some ways it seems much longer ago than 10 weeks, but in others, it seems like just yesterday that those precious little eyes looked up at me for the very first time. Landon changes so much each day. He is smiling much more often now, occasionally laughs, and has lots to say in little babbles. He is starting to recognize us as well. Last night when Mike got home from work, Landon was a little fussy, but when I handed him over to Mike, he got the biggest grin on his face-as if to say "hi daddy!". We had to include in the pictures above the cutest little sad face we've ever seen. We took it last night right before he fell asleep. He's doing really good with his tummy time as well. Right now he weighs 11.5 lbs and is 24 inches long. He's in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height. We're having so much fun watching him change and grow!

Our First Road Trip

For those of you who don't know, about a week after Landon was born, Mike was offered a job as Director of Football Operations at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He will be working for his former college coach, Bill Curry. This job is truly a gift from God and it came completely out of the blue. When I was in labor at the hospital, we turned on the Atlanta news in time to hear the announcement of Coach Curry's hire.

Yesterday Landon took is very first road trip out of state to to North Carolina to Bill and Carolyn Curry's vacation home in the mountains for our very first Georgia State staff retreat. For those of you who don't know what Coach Curry looks like, that's him in the pictures above with Landon. We all got Georgia State T-shirts to wear when we arrived....even our littlest staff member got one!! The boy looks good in blue! The drive only took about 2 hours, but it was long enough for Mike and I. Overall, Landon did pretty good in the car except for a few moments of seemingly endless crying. The last 20 minutes of the trip were the worst, both getting there and coming home. He did pretty well while we were there and slept only briefly all day. He was so tired that he actually slept all night last night!!!!! It was great to meet our new staff and their families. The Curry's home is amazing! It's a log house on the top of a mountain with a panoramic view from the family room and back porch of Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina mountains. We could stay there forever! It was so relaxing to sit in the rocking chair on the porch, listen to the fountain, and just stare at the mountains! This picture above is actually the back of the house. It was so much cooler outside being that high up in the mountains that we were able to have a very enjoyable outdoor picnic. Landon just sat in his little car seat, kicked his little feet and blew bubbles. He was a hit!!

7 Weeks and Smiling!

Our little Landon is growing so fast and changing every day it seems. Over the last week, he's gotten really good at smiling. He has the cutest little dimple on his right cheek when he smiles! We've been working on "tummy time" (to get his neck and arms stronger) as you can see in the picture above. He's not too fond of it, but he tolerates it for at least a few minutes. I've started to let him take naps in his crib during the day. It's a process like anything else and he wakes up more frequently, but I want him to get used to sleeping in his bed. I'm getting past needing to watch him breathe 24/7. He has almost grown out of his 0-3 month outfits already due to his long legs, which makes daddy happy....thinking he's gonna be tall! We're enjoying our little one so much!

Bath Pictures

Landon 4/5 weeks- updated pictures!

I can't believe our baby boy is already 5+ weeks old! He is growing and changing so fast. Today he smiled at me on purpose for the first time. It was amazing! I had my 6 week post partum check up today and my sweet little boy threw a fit in the waiting room because he was sleepy and hates his car seat! As you can probably tell from the pictures, Landon has discovered his hands and likes to put them in his mouth. This just happened over the last week. He makes the loudest sucking sound, which cracks us up! He is also loosing his hair, and I swear I see some tiny little blonde hairs starting to grow....we'll see if he takes after mommy with the hair color!