Finally!

I know, I know, you all thought this would never happen, but IT DID!!! I finished Parker's sweater just in time for our chilly Memorial Day weekend. Of course, I made him wear it every day. I think he looks pretty dang cute! Thanks to Steph and Sarah who made this whole thing possible :)

The Funnies

Two funny things happened this last week that I have to record so I won't forget:

I was holding Parker and unloading the dryer (I needed his sweatshirt so we could go for a walk). I found what I was looking for and looked over to see Parker with a hand full of dryer lint. I thought "gross, but at least it's not in his - aagh!". It was totally in his mouth. He had a full wad of lint in his mouth and he was chewing it. Sick!! I laughed so hard!

Yesterday we saw a man with a rather large, round belly. He reached up to do something and his belly popped out of his shirt, which of course Landon was observing with interest. Landon suddenly pointed at the man's belly and said "Oh! Little baby!". He totally thought the guy was pregnant. Again, I laughed SO hard! I don't think he heard Landon, but even if he did, I'm sure he would have laughed too (let's hope!).

Bye Bye 'Lishuh

My sister Alicia was here for the last week in a half on her way down to Disneyland (for work this time around). She left this morning and I miss her already! The boys had so much fun with her and she was really a big help around the house. Not to mention that we had SO much crazy fun ;). Here are a few of the highlights from her trip:

Last week we had a major heat wave here, so we did a lot outside. Landon loves washing the car and this time we were able to really get soaked (thanks to Alicia's splashing!).

Landon also had a snack of soapy water...

We also found an awesome inch worm. Did we name him boogie??

We definitely had to stop by the Jelly Belly Factory. I'd say the highlight was wearing the awesome hats.





To escape the REALLY hot (90+ degrees) day we went in to the wharf. The breeze was really nice and Landon LOVED the Sea Lions. Every once in awhile he asks to go see the seals...I guess we'll have to make another trip!

Landon got to "drive" a streetcar in SF - this is him trying to listen to her speaker plug!

Alicia couldn't pass up the chance to bungee over sailboats!!

This is a video that Alicia took of the boys on the way home:

We took the boys to the Children's Museum - Landon loved doing art with 'Lishuh.

Yes, Alicia did put Parker in the shopping cart.

We definitely had to update our freaky sister pictures too. Check out Parker in this one...haha.

It was so much fun having her here! On the way home from the airport, Landon kept saying "Lannen airport a Lishuh?" and "More Lishuh?". Even though it is nice to have our living room back (well, Landon liked the bed better) we're really going to miss you Lish! Have an amazing time down south and call often!

Happy Birthday!

The birthday boy in his new outfit. The shorts are fuzzy!

Mater Cake!! The frosting looked way more grey in person, but it looks brown in this picture. Landon saw the cake after his nap and wanted to have his party immediately! He was so excited!

Then he saw the cupcakes. He was SO excited about these that he tried to scale the stove to get to them. Luckily the door didn't fall on him!

Landon scoped out this balloon at the party store so we let him get it (mostly to distract him during the 2 hours before his party started). It's still floating in his bedroom - I can't believe the helium lasts that long!

Charlie checking out the digs.

Lighting the candles...

...and blowing them out. Landon's FAVORITE thing!!

Parker had SO much fun - he would live outside if we'd let him!

Landon had lots of help opening his presents ;)

Can you believe that Landon didn't even eat a piece of cake?? As soon as he got Mater he took off and played with his toys!

Landon took all of his presents inside to play while his friends were leaving. We had quite the time trying to get him to bed that night!

He definitely had a cupcake the next day:

It was such a great party and we can't believe our little guy is two already! People talk about the terrible two's, but we're pretty convinced that they're more wonderful than terrible. The fun we have with Landon these days FAR outweighs the inconvenience of a few fits every once in awhile. We love you Landon - Happy Birthday!!

Whew!

What a day! Today we celebrated Landon's 2nd birthday - it was such a blast! Landon saw his cake at about 3pm (the party didn't start until 6) and was DYING to get at the cars on top - don't worry, I'll post a picture soon. Luckily, Adele and family showed up early to distract him!! We had our own veritable children's museum out back; we had a digging station (with dirt, tonka trucks and all), the pool (sans water, of course), the tent, large Jurassic Park Dinosaurs (slightly creepy, but the kids loved them), squirt guns, ride-on toys and a basketball net. I love having a backyard and our toys plus Carrie's -soon to be Bailey's - toys did the trick!! The food was yummy and we had all of Landon's best friends and our favorite people present! That's the way to do a party.

Now here's the bad news: I took a TON of really cute pictures of everyone and when I checked my camera later, they were all gone!!! All of the pictures that I took are now non-existent, but luckily the pictures Carrie took of Landon blowing out the candles are still there. I'm really sad! I took some great pics of friends that we hardly ever see and a few great ones of Parker too...agh. Ok, I'll try to get over it, but if any of you have pictures of the party, send them my way (Sarah, I saw that camera...).

On another note, I got an answer today to a question that I've had for some time now: what would happen if I fell holding my baby!? I was stepping outside holding Parker in my arms this afternoon and I must have landed funny on the cement - my right ankle twisted and I went down. Hard. Chest first on top of Parker. On the cement. It happened so fast and when I finally was able to survey the damage I was shocked: somehow I'd been able to contort my body to land on my hip and my elbow completely blocking Parker from the fall - his head barely grazed the concrete. He let out a little yelp (probably just because it was scary!) and then went on with life. I however, have a mildly sprained ankle and a few scrapes and bruises. Luckily it was nothing that prevented me or Parker from enjoying the party! It was so good to know that we really do have instincts that protect our little ones from accidents like that. I'm sure it wasn't all instincts, though...quite the mini miracle.

The Negotiator

Landon has become quite the negotiator. For example, yesterday at breakfast he looked over and saw the chocolate sticks he got from his great-grandma for his birthday. As he was eating his pancake he said:

L: Piece of chocolate?
M: Landon, no, you can't have a piece of chocolate for breakfast.

Landon resumes eating his pancakes. A few minutes later:

L: Birthday chocolate?
M: Landon, I know it's your birthday chocolate, but you can't have it for breakfast!

Eats his pancakes. A few minutes later:

L: (signaling a pinch with his fingers) One liiiittle piece of chocolate?
M: (laughing) Ok, fine. If you eat your cereal you can have one liiiiittle piece of chocolate.

After I said yes, he started laughing and eating really fast. What can I say, I'm a sucker.

So...

Scott pointed out that I had already posted that dang cute picture of Parker, so here's a different one:

Hot, Hot, Hot!!

We've had a few hot days lately and we've been trying to make the most of it!! We set up the pool in the backyard and Landon has been having SO much fun with his friends.

Parker loves watching the big kids play - he tries so hard to get his little body over to the pool (or wherever they're playing really). I forgot how early these little ones start to have opinions!

I eventually gave in and let him take a dip :)

Landon and his cool glasses - he picked them out himself!

Bailey's first time in the pool!

The Beach! We went over to Muir Beach with some gals in the ward - it was such a beautiful day! The water was definitely chilly, but the sand was perfect. Here are the three boys:

Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

We walked over to the big rocks and saw a real, live starfish. Landon thought it was pretty amazing! Parker really loved staring at the rocks and the waves.

Landon climbed in and found a great little pool - quite the view too!

After all the beach fun, they were both pretty dead tired. This is how they were the whole way home!

We went up to Cal Day on the UC Campus and saw some really cool things:

The decorator crabs were amazing!

And lastly, a dang cute picture of Parker: