The Piglet Update

Piglet's arrival date is set! We have about eight weeks left until the date of ... *drum roll*... June 20th! So unless mother nature intervenes in some other way, the c-section is scheduled. We are still going strong on the whole "let's be surprised" gender thing. Erik had a vivid dream the other night that it was a girl. I had a random dream the same night that Peyton Manning was helping me take down ceiling fan blades, so who knows.

So the baby will be born on the first day of Summer. I considered a VBAC for a while, but (1) the closest hospital that takes VBACs is over an hour away and (2) if I'm being completely and utterly honest, I figure if I was able to keep my lady parts in tact with the first delivery, why potentially mess it up now. Am I looking forward to the recovery? Oh heeehhll no. Especially with Landon - I feel like my heart will break a thousand times when he wants to be picked "up! up! up!" but we will have family here to help. Blessings.

31 Weeks. Meep.

I'm starting to think more and more about "How am I going to do this?" as the date approaches. I know things will get easier as the years elapse and the kids will entertain themselves together, but no doubt there is some crazy sleep deprivation and tears ahead. But that also means there is some crazy love and laughter ahead. 

I saw a question posed on BabyCenter yesterday whether readers thought motherhood is harder than they imagined. My immediate internal response was "yes, a thousand times yes" but not in a negative or regretful way. You know it's going to be hard - you read the books, you see your friends, you see the movies and TV shows. You just don't know it until you live it, as with all of life's adventures. So I think it's going to go that way with having two young kids, also. It's going to be rough; no one tries to sugarcoat it. But until I live it, I won't know the actual feeling of the rollercoaster to come. I'm scared... but excited. The one thing I do know for sure? There will be diapers for a while. A lot of diapers.   

Functioning Hall Bath: Check!

Our downstairs hall bath was a bit out of shape for a couple months, but we are happy to report it has finally been pieced back together. I'm proud of the way it turned out and it has running water again so what more could a girl ask for? The original reasons for the update were based on the fact that (1) the color was originally a dark red which I felt was pretty aggressive for the small space and (2) we were updating the floors and trim throughout the downstairs anyways.

Erik did all the bead board work himself and was actually able to salvage the old oak trim baseboards to use as the cap rail. The biggest challenge was cutting around the plumbing (me use math no good) but it worked out just fine. I chose a grayish color since it would work well with the crisp white. All in all, it's a more pleasant place to do business.

Before

After

While Erik was doing the hard labor with the woodwork, I was working on a project based on an old barnwood tray I found at an estate sale for $2 and some Normal Rockwell covers that I pulled from a mini picture book. I had hundreds of images to choose from so I actually set aside several. My intention is to switch out the images for the different seasons (e.g. use the Christmastime Post covers in the winter) but let's be honest, that is probably a pipe dream for now. The thought is there at least.

Landon Language

So the little man officially speaks. I knew he could run, I knew he could climb, I knew he could melt hearts with his smile... and I knew he figured out a few words, but I didn't know when he would start breaking out more vocabulary.

I was concerned for a while about his verbal progression, but he definitely blew up randomly in the vocal department over the last month or two. He of course has his own little language but it's nice to be able to communicate more and more with him everyday. Even if he can't say the words, it is clear he knows a lot. Just being able to say "Let's go upstairs for bath time!" and having him react by heading to the stairs and bathtub is helpful. Or "Get your shoes!" and having him hand you his shoes (matching, if you're lucky) is helpful.

A sampling of the Landon language chart (17 months):

Dada = Dad

Dada Mama = Mom (yeah, a little confusing but I'll take it)

Daaaa = That or "What's that?"

Owoo = Water

Awoh = Hello

Moh, moh, moh = Hungry, more food

Dee deeeee! = Diego (animal rescue cartoon)

Bit bit = Frog (ribbit ribbit)

Mmm = Cow

Woof woof = Dog

Meeaaaw! = Cat

Eh eh = Duck (quack quack) 
Ah ah = Monkey

Owool = Owl (good job, buddy)

Owaal = Oswald (blue octopus show)

Moooh = Elmo

Bee bee = Blanket 

My Boys in Green

Up! Up! Up!

Sure, he's cute and everything, but after thirty minutes of this, we decided to scoop him up and take him home.

Easter 2012

Landon was starting to figure out Easter a little bit more this year. For example the increase in bunny objects and the fact there are treats in little plastic eggs. That's about it, though. I'm sure by next year he will definitely understand the treats concept more. In the meantime, Mommy and Piglet helped themselves to some of the candy... for the greater good and everything, you know. 

Here is some footage of L opening up his Easter basket (box?) from the family. [Sorry, the video will only work on computers (not iPhones and iPads) since the song in the background is licensed and YouTube is funny about that stuff.]

He also went on an Easter egg hunt (i.e. collection of eggs in plain view) later in the morning at our lovely neighbor's house. My mouth dropped in horror as he left things like mini Twix and Snickers abandoned in the grass ("Oh sweet child, do you know nothing?!"), but again Piglet and I helped out with that. Not a problem. Have I mentioned I'm really huge and I still have 2.5 months left to go? Wonder why.

Looks like his friend Vivian is digging for a few Easter eggs of her own.

Stick Boy

Erik officially flew as a pilot in the Growler this week and - as predicted - he claims it is awesome. It's been a long road, but his buns are seated where he wants them for now! 

EA-18G Growlers [Stock photo]

His first flight had an electronic snafu with the landing gear, but nothing too weird. I guess even these new jets still have their own nuances to deal with, especially with so many computers. At least it doesn't require two extra people to just sit in the back and flip old school switches (a la Prowler) to complete the same mission. The Growler is manned by one pilot and one EWO (electronics warfare officer); if you are nerdy and want to read more about, you can click on the wikipedia link.

I still miss the fuel wiener, though. At least the Prowler had that going for it. *Sigh*