Almost a family of four!

The wait is finally almost over...just a little over 2 weeks until our second little guy is going to make his appearance!! For all of you who still read this, we'd really appreciate your prayers for the next few weeks and labor/delivery. We've run into a few complications (which I won't bore you with details), but we are confident that God is in control and we are trusting Him that everything will go smoothly!! Because of the complications, I've had to be monitored closely each week, so it's been kinda fun seeing him at our ultrasounds...our last ultrasound showed lots of HAIR!! It was so amazing to see...it looks like he might come out with a mullet :) j/k The scary part is that he is measuring ahead, so it looks like another big baby!! And the ultrasound tech AND the doctor commented on how he has a big head...OUCH!!!

It's been so long since I've posted - I almost forgot my username and password!! I figured I'd get a post in with pics of Landon before I have to start posting baby pics and pics of the two of them :) I have to agree with many others though, I hate uploading pics to blogger...we have high-speed, but it's still a pain!! I wish there were a way to upload multiple pics and not just one at a time!! Anyways, here are a few recent pics of Landon:


OK, I ran out of patience...and pictures! I don't have very many recent ones (my camera is packed in my hospital bag!). I have some good ones on my camera now, but I haven't uploaded them on my computer yet. I will post more when I have time!

Landon is growing up way too fast - I say that every time!! He is quite the talker!! And he is so full of expression...the funny faces this little boy makes just crack us up!! He is quite the little entertainer and we just love him to pieces!! We're hoping and praying that he adjusts well to having a new little brother. He is so sweet with other babies at church, but I'm sure it will be different having one around 24/7. So we'll see. I look forward to seeing how it will go (although I'm sure there will be days where I'll wonder what on earth we were thinking).

Jason's job is going well...we are thankful for a good, secure job. I am pretty much finished at AAA, so I'm looking forward to the break. It was very nice though to have a job where I could go in one day a week. I will have my hands full with two little boys though, so I'm glad how it all worked out.

To all my co-fans, I'm so sad that American Idol is over :( I figured from the beginning that it was going to come down to the two David's. I can honestly say that I didn't really care who won - there were different things that I liked about each one. I will miss watching Simon - he is the highlight of that show :) I must make a confession to a new show that I've become addicted too and I'm almost embarrassed to admit it...The Batchelorette. I usually don't get into those kinds of shows, but my sister and I had watched the season of The Bachelor where Deanna was one of the girls that ended up being rejected in the end, so now that she is the Batchelorette, I just had to watch it :) So we'll see...it's still so new that I don't have any particular favorites yet.

Well, I better get going - I should go run some laps to see if this child will come!! I've been dilated for over 2 weeks now with not a ton of progress, so I would love for all of that to change...even TONIGHT!!!! I will try to keep everyone posted :)

Yes, we are still alive and well!

I'm sure some people were starting to wonder since we haven't updated our blog since last year...seriously :) So, belated Happy New Year!! Oh goodness, I keep thinking one of these days life will slow down and I will be able to be a better blogger, journal-writer, house-wife, etc.

We are doing very well!! Our "little" Landon is growing up so quickly!! He is such a joy! He is starting to talk now...he loves to say "Amen" "Thank You" "Mama" "Dada" "Please" and he's pretty good at saying my family's names. He also loves to make animal noises: oink, moo, nay, and woof. He's a smart cookie :) He is so active - he does not like to sit still for very long.

Our other little one is doing well too...we found out last Thursday that Landon is going to have a little BROTHER!! We are very excited and hope that they will be great buddies. We were fine either way (boy/girl), but since they will be so close in age, we are happy that it is a boy. Everything looks fantastic! He has been VERY active...I don't remember Landon moving around so much this early in the pregnancy!

We have been busy with lots of different things, particularly going to my brother's basketball games. We have really enjoyed watching their games this season - it has been great. Dathan is only 41 points away from reaching 1000 career points...and he's only a junior! We are hoping he does it this year, but if not, he has another whole year ahead of him - Lord willing!! They have at least 3 more games left, and then whatever games they make it to for Districts. It will be exciting! Last night he had his game high of 24 points!! We are very proud of how well Jordan has done too! He is only a freshman (on a team of very good players) and he has had LOTS of playing time. He is a very good ball-handler and has been a great 3-point shooter!!

I really need to post some pictures on here, but in all honesty, I haven't been snapping too many lately!! Landon is always on the run and I can hardly get him to sit still long enough for a picture. I will try though and hopefully I can get some new pictures up on my next post (which will hopefully come before next year!).

Well, Landon is sleeping, so I am going to take advantage of this quiet time and get some MUCH-NEEDED cleaning done!! I have been praying for weeks now that we wouldn't have any drop-in guests because the house is a wreck...literally!! It's so embarrassing...I can't believe how behind I've gotten.

Hope everyone is doing well!
~Taryn

Yesterday's Appointment

Yesterday the three of us went to my OB appointment. I am at a new doctor now (horrible experience with the last doctor) and I absolutely LOVE them! Anyways, the appointment went very well...YAY!! The doctor said I was the healthiest person they had seen all day! Everything looks great - the baby's heart rate was 150bpm - I don't remember Landon's ever being that low!!! We still won't have an ultrasound for awhile, but I still enjoy going to hear the heartbeat!! So far, so good!!

We have a case of the sickies in our house - so far just Landon and I have it. The whole cold/ear thing...NOT FUN!! I am really looking forward to the weekend so Jason will be home to help out with things. It's a little overwhelming when you are pregnant and sick and trying to take care of a sick baby.

Well, I better run - I'm going to play with the little guy before his next nap. It's snowing outside, so he's enjoyed watching the snow come down!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Updates and Landon's Birthday

ARGH - I am so frustrated with slide.com - I had put together a whole slide show of Landon's birthday pictures and I had uploaded all the photos and entered captions. I accidentally clicked on one of the links on the page and when I went back, the whole slide show was GONE. It's not worth doing it again...it took too long :) So here is a link to my Facebook pictures if you are interested...click HERE.

Anyways, life here has been so busy!! We've had family in and out for most of the month - it's nice to have things back to "normal" :) I feel so behind though - my house is a mess and I need to go grocery shopping, but I just have absolutely no energy to do anything :) I can't wait to be completely out of the first trimester...which is very soon!! I am 12.5 weeks - YAY!! I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow - just a quick check-up, so hopefully all will go well. At my last check-up, the baby's heartbeat was 168 bpm. I've been sicker with this one, but it still hasn't been terrible, so I can't complain. I think the worst has been smells. I absolutely CANNOT handle looking at and smelling raw meats, ESPECIALLY chicken!! So it makes cooking very hard!! I am so thankful for a very patient husband who has been willing to help me out and who has not complained when I've served frozen dinners on night's that I couldn't handle cooking :)

Landon is such a joy. He is all over the place...I think he went from crawling to RUNNING!! He tires me out just watching him! He is learning so many new things and is beginning to "try" to talk. It's so fun!! He is still a long little peanut - he was in the 30th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length at his last doctor's appointment. I think he walks all of his food off!! His favorite latest thing is when you say TOUCHDOWN, he will throw his two arms up in the air like the referees do on TV. It is hilarious!! He also LOVES to make lots of funny faces...he is quite the entertainer.

I can't believe that Christmas is just around the corner - this year has flown by! I was so excited to have gotten pretty much ALL of my Christmas shopping done on Black Friday. We just need to get a gift for Jason's dad, but otherwise, we are FINISHED!! Oh, and maybe a few more things for Landon if I find some good deals :) I have loved getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Since Landon was a newborn last year and we were adjusting to being new parents, I didn't really pull out all of my decorations and such. So this year has been fun putting lights up outside, decorating the inside, putting wreaths on the windows, etc. And it's snowing today - it's just so pretty outside!!

Well, I know this is short, but I really should be doing some cleaning. I don't even know where to begin, but I would feel better at least just getting SOMETHING done!! Anyways, so sorry for the long delay in posting...I know, I am terrible at this!! I really enjoy reading everyone else's blogs though :)

Have a great day!
~Taryn

Better late than never...

So I realized that I never posted Landon's Halloween pics (thanks for reminding me Jennifer!!!). I took SOOOO many pictures, but only put a few in a slideshow. He was a dinosaur for Halloween - he was so cute! We were in MA the weekend before Halloween and the local university was throwing a kids Halloween party, so we took Landon and his cousins. They took Landon's picture and it made it in the local paper :)

Anyways, here are pics of Landon in his Halloween costume:

We have an announcement...

Landon is going to be a big brother...SURPRISE!!!!!!! Yes, it is really true (I'm still in quite a bit of shock as this was a surprise to us too)!!! I am in my 10th week and due June 15th. We just had our second doctor's appointment last Thursday. I have a picture of the baby, but forgot to bring it downstairs to scan it into the computer, so I will post sometime later. Things are looking good - the baby's heartbeat was 168!!

We are very excited...I was very overwhelmed at first, but after the appointment on Thursday, I've been getting more excited. Landon and his little brother/sister will be 19 months apart. I want my kids to be close in age, I just wasn't expecting it to be that close.

I have to chuckle though because I believe God definitely has a sense of humor. Here it took us SO long to get pregnant with Landon and then with this one, it was so unexpected!!! I am very thankful that we did not have to go through the struggle of infertility again though - God is good!

Well, I want to keep this short - I am exhausted! Landon turned ONE yesterday and we had a fun party with family. I will post more about it later with pictures...I'm still worn out from yesterday. Plus we are all sick with colds, so it hasn't been very fun around here lately!

I'll be back within a few days with pics!

What's New

I truly wish that I were a more faithful blogger!! I love reading everyone else's blogs, yet I still can't seem to update mine regularly!! Oh well...I'll try to do better :)

I can't believe that it is mid-October already! Landon turned 11 months yesterday...AGH!!!! He is going to be ONE in less than a month!! My little baby is just growing up way too fast!! He is such a joy though...he is almost walking (I say "almost" because even though he can walk, he still likes to crawl). He has been such a sweetie lately!! I think he is understanding things more...like when we aren't pleased with something he does, or when he does something that's good. As sad as it is that he's growing so fast, I love to see him learn and discover things daily!!

We gave him his first hair cut a few weeks ago - that was rough!! My baby's "locks" are all gone!! It turned out really short, but it looks good and he really needed it. I wish I had gotten more pictures, but it's kinda hard when one of us is holding him and the other is cutting his hair...we didn't have any extra hands to take photos.

Today, I must part with my very first car...Genevieve - a silver 1999 Pontiac Grand Am SE. She has decided to die on us and leave us with only one car...which makes things difficult when Jason needs a car to go to work and I am out and about quite often. We knew this day was coming - we've had to have it in the shop almost every month this year and we are swimming in car repairs. Now the fuel pump needs to be replaced (which involves taking apart the entire car to install - $$$$) and we just don't have the money to keep putting into this old car. I am a bit frustrated though - the timing couldn't have been any worse, but I know that the Lord has an answer to everything. His ways are perfect and His timing is best. So tonight we will go trade in (whatever worth it has) and buy something else to get us around for the time being. We have found a car that we are interested in and we've been praying about it for a few days now. Since Tuesday, it dropped $1000 in price, so we are definitely considering it. It is a 2003 Oldsmobile Alero. Jason really likes it a lot!! While it may not be the best of cars, it will keep us off the streets :) :) And for that, I am thankful that we found the car.

Oh, and speaking of things breaking - our digital camera broke!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was at my brother's soccer game taking some pictures when suddenly the ball was kicked towards me and in an effort to keep it from hitting my face, I tried to stop it (with camera in hand) and the ball broke the zoom lens. It was going to cost us $100-$140 to have it fixed (not including parts)!! For that much, we were better off just buying a new camera. I really like it - it's fairly decent and I was able to get it on e-bay for a great price...thank you Lord!

It is very rainy today - one of those days you want to just stay in bed and read a good book!! Any of you other mommies of babies/toddlers out there know that it is IMPOSSIBLE for that...but it's a lovely thought!! Maybe I'll try to sneak in some relax time during Landon's nap!!

Well, I will post a few pics of Landon...this weekend we are going to go to the Pumpkin patch, so I'm hoping to get some cute pics!!

Have a great week!
~Taryn

Nothing like the great outdoors!

The weather has been beautiful this week and so we have spent a LOT of time outside. Landon absolutely loves to play outside - he is so much happier when he's out there playing :) He loves to play with Smokey, and surprisingly, Smokey likes to play with him too! I think they are going to be great buds :) Anyways, here are a few pictures of Landon playing outside (and some of Smokey too):

Tomorrow we are all going to Dorney Park (the three of us and my family). This will be Landon's first time at an amusement park. Of course, he's too small to go on any rides by himself, but hopefully he'll enjoy the carousel :) I will try to have pictures of our fun day tomorrow!

Well, the little one is waking up - mommy duty calls :)

Landon escapes Mommy Prison!

I have a very adventurous little boy - he's not walking yet, but he knows how to get around and get into everything!! Well, today he escaped from the house!!! Don't worry...I was watching him, taking pictures of it all!! It's such a BEAUTIFUL day here today soI have every window and door open in the house. Well, there is a rip in the screen door that leads out to the deck behind our house - I think Smokey put the rip there when he tried to get in the house one time. Landon discovered it today and thought that he would crawl through it and get outside...what a little stinker :) Here are some pictures of him leaving Mommy Prison :)

Next time I'll have to get it on videotape. He just LOVES the outdoors! Yes, he is only 10-months old and probably doesn't understand much, but he is so much happier when he is outside :) He's going to be just like his daddy!!

Well, just thought I'd share Landon's latest adventure!
~Taryn

Motherly Love

My friend Jennifer forwarded this to me (and also posted it in her blog) and I really enjoyed it so I thought I'd copy it in my blog. I am so thankful that God has blessed us with Landon - it is so incredible being a mommy! Many of you know the hard journey we faced with infertility...we never thought that we would ever be able to have children of our own and God was so gracious enough to provide us with our miracle. I am truly blessed and my prayers go out to my friends and others who are still travelling down the heart-breaking road of infertility. I pray that one day they can experience how amazing it is to hold your own child in your arms. OK, before I get choked up, here it is:

Motherly Love Is..............

...pretending that you're already full when your child wants the one cookie left in the box.

...wishing it was you with the stomach flu and not him.

...cluttering up your precious storage space with her baby clothes because you just can't bear to part with them.

...always having his favorite snack in your handbag (and your favorite photo of him tucked in there too).

...accepting the soggy half-eaten cookie she lovingly offers you(and eating it too)

...buying a box of cereal just to get the prize he so desperately wants.

...sitting through an entire Barney DVD because it's her favorite and she wants to share it with you.

...being driven crazy when he's with you, but missing him like crazy when he isn't.

...when, even after endless sleepless nights, continuous mounds of laundry and a house that looks like a toy store after a tornado, one little smile is all it takes to melt your heart.

...when the other child is always the one who started it.

...dealing with everything that comes your way without giving it a second thought, whether it's vomit, snot, or poo.

...happily replacing your favorite painting with that lovely dried macaroni collage he made just for you.

...Being a mother is the greatest gift I have ever been given

AMEN!!!!!