Wednesday, September 24, 2014

A Month of Travel

I broke my promise to blog more often... it's been well over a month and I apologize!  We're still wading through the craziness of our personal lives and I'm still trying to get adjusted to life as a teacher again!

One of our dearest friends here in Atlanta is coincidentally also from Youngstown and we made the journey to Ohio in August for her wedding.  To say that the wedding was beautiful was an understatement AND we had the BEST time.  I think I'll bring all my Georgia friends to every wedding I go to.  The best part about traveling to a wedding in Ohio, is that we have built in babysitters that we don't need to pay!  Landon got to have some special alone time with both Kevin's parents while we were at the wedding and my Mom and Step dad while we partied in Cleveland!  To say that he was spoiled when he got to their houses would be an understatement.  New toys and all the love an affection he could want from both houses!

Watching the airplanes!

Traveling wears you out!

Grandma and Grandpa Freaney have the coolest chairs- there's even one that's my size that I can rock in.    

Fun at Grandma and Papa T's house!

City boy in the country.  (He was probably confused with all the grass.) 

Our usual Cleveland shenanigans 


The week after the wedding I started my first week of school.  I have a class of two-year-olds on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and toddlers on Tuesday and Thursday.  The first couple weeks of school was rough, there were a few children that had some separation anxiety and as they say at the nursery in the hospital "Once one starts singing they get the whole choir going."  Thankfully, my co-teacher and I have a good sense of humor and were able to just look at each other and laugh when half your children are sobbing hysterically.  Now that we're a month deep into school the children have all adjusted well and my sanity is back in tact...for the most part.  

We had another wedding in September, this one in Charleston to see Kevin's cousin and his partner get married.  They sweetly invited us to the rehearsal dinner and I don't think anyone had as much fun as Landon did (he was definitely trying to steal the spotlight.)  I think it may have been the most fun night of this man's life!  He danced the entire night, staying up with the crowd like he was 21 and not 1.  (Not to worry, his fake ID didn't work and he wasn't served any adult beverages.)  While we were in Charleston we all got to spend some time with Aunt Mallory, and she was kind enough to give up a few hours of her social life to watch the little guy while Mom and Dad enjoyed a wedding child free!


He rides to Charleston in style.  Clearly.




Dancing Queen?  You mean Dancing King!

Even Dancing Kings get tired and need their Jellycats and daddy snuggles.

My hot date.

Driving home with all our puppies... including one of our new Jellycats we convinced dad to buy us!  (And poor guy had the worst cold ever driving home.  Hence the baggy eyes.) 


Landon's walking has since turned the running, and we can't even blink an eye because before we know it he's in a different room, always getting into the one thing he's not supposed to.  Having him walk has been so much fun, he's gained a new sense of independence and because of this our arms are getting a much needed break!

Landon had his 15 month appointment at the doctor's office on Friday.  The doctor said that we're doing a great job, we have a happy, healthy little boy.  He's measuring at 33 inches long (93rd percentile) and 26 pounds (73rd percentile for his age, although for his age and height it's the 54th percentile.)  It's always nice to be reassured you're raising your child right (that is until we get to the teenage years...) 

Kev and I have decided to put the iron fist down with the pacifier and Landon is only allowed to have it during nap time or bedtime.  In the few short days since we've implemented this new rule he's learned two new words!  Bye Bye and touchdown (sorry Jen we copied, when I told Kevin that Molly says touchdown the dad jealously kicked in and we had to teach him too!)  Our expansive vocabulary now includes bye bye, ball, dog, touchdown, mama, dada and (sometimes Daddy), baba and of course he still barks like a dog (which clearly is the most normal one of them all?)  

For those who know me, fall is clearly my favorite time of year and Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Nothing beats a pumpkin spice latte, mums in buckets and ghost stories.  So, of course when all the fall decorations came down Vedder's torturous duty of trying on all kinds of ridiculous outfits was passed onto Landon.  Which lead to a laugh-until-you-cry kinda afternoon for Kevin and I... please enjoy the following pictures (and yes, the costumes are all dog costumes.) 




Okay, enough with the chatter.  Here are some of our favorite pictures from the past month...

Brotherly love.

Shooting hoops.

Enjoying the food trucks... our favorite weekday event.

Yup, child loves limes.  Sucks them dry and we cringe watching him do so. 

The real King of the Castle on his throne.

Water fun while it's still warm!

Our new favorite game is to push puppy around in a dinning room chair.  Puppy only allows for it to happen because occasionally Landon passes the dining room table, which allows for him to attempt to jump up on the table to where the food is. 

You wanna share that food, I know you do.

Landon loves couscous, mom doesn't want to clean it off the floor... so we eat it in our diaper on the porch.  Totally normal. 

A cozy Saturday morning activity, dancing in our dog's bed. 

A good book is just too hard to put down.

A rough day at school.  






Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Life In the Fast Lane

It's been far too long since my last blog, and I swear I kept meaning to sit down and find the time to whip up a new read for you.  I simply kept getting side tracked with all that life has had in store for us this summer.

Since my last blog in July (gasp!) we've had one wedding, a 30th birthday, a trip to Mexico, a new job, and a baby that walks.  So where shall I begin??

Kevin bravely traveled to Chicago with Landon for his cousins wedding.  He managed seamlessly, and both boys seemed to have a great time.  Not only was it Landon's first wedding, it was also the first time he got to meet lots of family!!!  I'll let the pictures do the talking!


 
 




Back in July a job opportunity randomly presented itself to get back into the classroom.  Ohio University really strives to teach us about many different teaching philosophies and Reggio Emila was one of them.  Because of my background in Reggio I was offered a job at one of the most elite preschools in Atlanta.  I was so excited to have been offered the job, and of course I accepted!  I will be working in a classroom with toddlers and two-year-olds.  There are so many wonderful parts about this teaching position, I get back into a classroom, I work half-days, we follow a traditional school year calendar (with an extra spring break!) and Landon gets to go to school for a discount in the nursery down the hall.  I had to pinch myself a few times when it came to this job because it seriously could not be real!  I'm in week two of preplanning and the children start school next Wednesday!   

I have recently joined the "30 Club" and if 30 continues to be as wonderful as my birthday I don't think that I'll mind so much.  Although, don't fault me if I "accidentally" say I'm 29 still.  We had quite the debacle with what was supposed to be a trip to the Virgin Islands.... 

As any person tends to do before a trip, Kevin and I were obsessively checking the weather to St. Thomas.  Partially because who doesn't obsessively check the weather when leaving for a trip, and partially because we knew we were traveling during hurricane season and bad weather was a possibility.  The Wednesday before we were supposed to leave Tropical Storm Bertha decided to rear her ugly head and we were left with a sticky situation.  Hope for the best and keep our trip scheduled as planned or completely change our trip and go somewhere where the weather was looking more optimistic.  We let the hotel and airlines make the decision for us, and when Kevin was able to sweet talk our way out of paying rescheduling fees with Delta, we switched our trip from the Virgin Islands to Cancun.

It was the best decision because we had the most amazing weather in Mexico, and the trip was absolutely perfect.  I couldn't have thought of a better way of spending my 30th birthday!  

Thank you again Dad for watching the little guy so we could relax, sip cocktails and enjoy the sun without have our adorable little slave driver calling all the shots!  

Celebrating my birthday with all my favorite Atlanta ladies, the Saturday before my birthday. 


The view from our room.


The Chef's Table!  


Perfection. 


Dinner watching the sunset on my actual birthday.

Just a little island hopping. 

Our last night in Mexico. 

Landon's been able to walk for about the past month.  He could take steps, he just choose not to.  However, this past weekend he has decided that crawling is a thing of his past and he's been full steam ahead in walking.  We LOVE watching him waddle around the house carrying all his favorite toys.  It's so exciting watching him start something new, but the walking was a bit sad!  It really means that our boy is growing up!  

Until the next blog... (I promise I won't let it be so long!) Here are a few of our favorites from the last month! 

Puppy rides in the cozy coupe!

Food truck Wednesdays are our favorite!

It's a real page turner. 

Shades, check.  Monkey, check.  Cozy coupe in style, check.

Can't put a good book down.  

Five star service here, you get your own toilet fluser. 

Oh?  I have chocolate ice-cream on my face?

Busted!  Caught playing in the toilet water (clean) with a spatula. 

Please, no pictures.  

Just fixing the toilet. 

I love arched back temper tantrums. 

Peek-a-boo

Hello?  Is someone home?

Someone insisted on drinking his bottle with his snowman scarf and hat.  I don't ask questions.  

Sup.

All snuggly after a shower.

Shopping with mom is always fun!

Who doesn't eat corn without their tongs?

Walking my puppy.