It's hard to believe that today Landon is 3 weeks old! The time has gone by fast and it feels as though he has always been a part of our family. Right after Landon's birth he was very calm and just laid there in my arms contently for the longest time, seemingly oblivious to any trauma he may have experienced at birth. I remember commenting to Jon in the hospital that he was such a calm baby and how fortunate that was given that we have two other kids at home to take care of. Landon has continued to be, for the most part, a very sweet and good-natured baby, but this sweetness mostly coincides with being held. He loves, LOVES to be held, and for some reason no matter how deep of sleep he may be in, he seems to wake right up when we put him down. If I do put him down, under no circumstances should I walk away or leave him alone in a room because then he turns very angry! I have tried the "cry it out" approach, but he is definitely a determined little boy and does not give up easily!
Fortunately there have been a few days where Landon lets me put him down for short naps, and overall he is learning to get used to being okay on his own. He also is really a good little sleeper at nights, going 3-4 hours between feedings, and we have made the transition from him sleeping in bed with us, to sleeping in the carseat, to finally sleeping on his own in the bassinet (most of the time!) We're definitely making "baby steps" in the right direction!
Landon is growing up so fast already and the clothes that seemed to drown him just a few weeks ago are now fitting just right. At his two week appointment he was already up to 9 1/2 lbs. and had grown 3/4 of an inch. Every day I wish that I could just freeze him at this age and not have him get any bigger! Here are some pics from his first few weeks of life:
I am posting this a little out of order, but I wanted to post some pictures from Jon's brother Kyle's wedding. He got married May 2, and since it was only a week before my due date and 3 hours away, we were not expecting to be there for it. At the very last minute we decided to go up because that weekend my doctor was unavailable to deliver me anyways, so we took our chances and made the trek up there for the wedding. We were glad to be able to be there since all of Jon's family was in town, and it was fun to be able to see everyone. All in all it was a great weekend!
Landon Jon Larsen made his debut last Thursday, May 7 at 5:30 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 15 oz. and was 21 inches long, and he was even born 3 days early! I ended up having an unexpected induction after going into my doctor's appointment Thursday morning. I mentioned to her that the baby seemed to not be moving around quite as much and she decided to send me over to Labor and Delivery for a non-stress test to monitor the baby. After being on the monitor for 30 minutes or so, the nurse noted that he had a couple of heart decelerations following contractions that concerned her. After consulting with my doctor, they decided that it was best to just to induce me and get the baby here. Unfortunately, Brooklyn was due to be picked up from preschool right about that time, and Jon was in the middle of meetings at work. I asked if I could go pick up Brooklyn at school and run her over to a friend's house and also get my stuff from home, and they told me to hurry back. I also had to stop back by my doctor's office on my way out so she could strip my membranes to try to get labor started (by the way, I am not sure I recommend this unless you are really desperate to go into labor--very painful!)
After getting Brooklyn taken care of and getting my stuff, I met Jon back at the hospital. They got me prepped and the doctor broke my water at 1:30pm. We walked around to help labor get going, and then after a couple of hours I decided to try the bathtub since the nurse said this sometimes helps labor to progress faster. I was in there maybe 30-45 minutes and started having major contractions and feeling like I needed to push. They hurried and got me back to my bed and checked me, but I was only dilated to a 7 (this has happened with my other kids as well). The doctor helped me through several contractions trying to help me to dilate. Finally I was fully dilated and could fully push. The doctor thought that it would only take a couple of pushes to get him out since it was my third baby, but I was having a hard time getting him out. The doctor couldn't understand why he wasn't coming and thought that maybe the cord was wrapped around him. In the meantime his heart rate was going down, and the doctor was a little concerned. Finally, FINALLY he came out, and we discovered the real reason he wouldn't come out easily--he was just huge! The doctor and nurse thought that they heard a crack as he came out and thought that maybe he had broken his collarbone, but the pediatrician checked him out and said he looked fine. Thank goodness!
Landon is a very sweet and calm baby as long as he has a full belly and is being held or is in his swing. He doesn't like to be left alone and unfortunately won't sleep in his crib or bassinet. The first few nights we just brought him in bed with us, and then I figured out that he actually sleeps pretty well in his car seat, so the past couple nights that's where he has slept! He actually slept a 4 hour stint last night without getting up to eat, and I feel like a new woman today! We already love this sweet boy and are so glad that he is a member of our family! The girls especially love him, sometimes too much!
Here are some pics from his first few days of life. Unfortunately, some of the hospital pics are a little grainy. We are determined to get a new camera ASAP.
Easter this year was fun but very busy. We got home late Friday night from our Vegas trip with Easter weekend to tackle. Unfortunately we left the house so fast to go on our trip that I didn't even get a chance to clean or pick up beforehand, and then of course we dumped all of our bags in the living room when we got back. I spent Saturday morning working at the bank, went grocery shopping in the afternoon, and then cleaned up the house Saturday night. I was ready to get the kids to bed that night when Jacey reminded me that we hadn't yet dyed our Easter eggs--why oh why did I have to buy that darn Easter egg dye? After finally getting the kids settled down I was so exhausted that I almost forgot to put out our Easter baskets for the Easter bunny to come fill and hide. That would have been a really bad "Mom Moment" to have the kids wake up on Easter and not have any baskets to find!
Of course Jacey was up at the crack of dawn on Easter morning ready to find her basket. The rest of us couldn't pull ourselves out of bed so early so off she went to find it on her own--and she ended up finding all of our baskets for us! The kids loved their candy, mini cereal boxes, and other surprises that they found in their baskets. After church we had some friends and their kids over for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. Then Sunday night it was back to cleaning up the house all over again! All in all, it was a really fun weekend but it wiped me out! Could it be because I am also 9 months pregnant?
For whatever reason, our kids love Las Vegas. I think that the main reason is because they love to stay in hotels, and that is about the only place that we ever seem to stay in one. The kids had the 3 days off from school prior to Easter for spring break, and we literally decided at the last minute that we should take advantage of that time to have one last family vacation before the baby comes. We went on Hotwire and scored some great rates for a 5-star hotel, and ended up staying at the Venetian. We stayed for 3 days, 2 nights, and had a great time with the kids going swimming, shopping, seeing some of the sights along the strip (the family-friendly ones, that is), and eating some good food! On our last day there we decided to check out the Lied Discovery Children's Museum, which is one of those hands-on, learning museums. The kids had a blast and didn't want to come back home, but unfortunately reality had to set in at some point!
Okay, so after dreading the amount of time it was going to take to upload Europe pics from Jon's trip and thus never getting around to posting them, I decided that most of the people who cared to see them anyways have either already seen them or you can check them out on his Facebook account if you haven't already (I think most of his close friends and family are his Facebook "friends" anyways.) He took quite a few good pics, so check them out when you get a minute.
Jon had the opportunity to go to Europe a couple of weeks ago as part of a "knowledge trek" with kids and fellow co-workers from the school he works at. He did a similar trip a couple of years ago with the school, only this time they added Germany onto the end of their trip (where he served his mission). Although I knew it was a great opportunity for him (all expenses paid!), I was dreading the trip because he was going to be gone for 12 days. Not only did I know that I would miss him, but the idea of being on my own at 8 months pregnant with two other kids to take care of for that long made me a little nervous!
Thankfully, my brother Michael saved the day by volunteering to come up from California to help me out while Jon was gone. He stayed here for a good portion of Jon's time away and was AWESOME with the kids! They wore him out with puzzles, games, hide and seek, etc. which gave me a chance to get a break from time to time to cook, clean and do some work. I even tackled painting to kids bathroom while he was here, something I have been wanting to do for a long time. Michael, thanks for making the trip and helping me out. The kids love their Uncle Michael!
Jon made it back safe and sound (albeit very worn out) late last Monday and had a great time, of course! He got some great pictures that I will post soon. On a side note, he was very sweet to make up for missing our anniversary (March 28) by arranging beforehand to have flowers sent to me at work that morning. I wish I could have taken a picture of them because they were so pretty, but unfortunately Jon had the camera in Europe!
We have been married for 13 years and are the parents of three wonderful kids, Jacey (9), Brooklyn (6) and Landon (2).
Jacey
Brooklyn
Landon
Kids Say the Darndest Things!
Brooklyn: "I have been nice and naughty this year, so I bet that Santa will bring me toys AND coal."
Jacey: "Mom, did you live back in the times of the cavemen?"
Jacey, while playing at a park in California: "Mom, the kids on the playground were trying to tell me something when I was on the slide but they can only speak Spanish. I didn't understand what they were trying to tell me, so I just said "Si."
