Davis Scoop

Speech Disorder

2012-02-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

Well, we had Landon tested by the school district's speech language pathologist and we got his results today. He has Phonological Disorder, which is a type of speech disorder known as an articulation disorder. Children with this disorder do not use some or all of the speech sounds expected of their age groups. We knew Landon was having difficulty with some sounds because some people have a hard time understanding, especially when he talks for an extended amount of time, like when he is telling a story. Landon had ear tubes inserted in the summer to drain fluid that had been retained in his ear and we are told that he may have "learned" an easier way for him to pronounce things since he couldn't actually make out the distinct sound differences between some letters. Now he will start going to speech therapy two times a week to try and "unlearn" it and learn it correctly. He has a moderate form of the disorder. He is very excited though because he gets to go to an elementary school and he says "I go to big kid school!" He loves Mrs. Leslie too. She's a sweet and is also expecting a child (her first) the beginning of June so we get to be "growing belly buddies" as she said:) Katelyn and I get to wait in the front lobby, which Katelyn thinks is great because she gets to watch all the school kids walk by. I've decided we will work on Katelyn's "schooling" that half hour. The other curve ball we were given is that because he is receiving special education services he automatically becomes eligible for their Pre-K program next year which is 5 days a week from 8 to 1. We didn't qualify for it before since we were over income so we had gone and signed he up for a two day a week (9-2) pre-school through a local church but it would cost us $1200 and the pre-k is free. Ugh, decisions. I personally don't know if I am ready to part with my "big" boy all week long though. Mrs. Leslie recommends the pre-k program because unlike the church preschool, at the pre-k one the teachers are made aware of his speech disorder and work it into their daily routine. For example, they have a chart they keep track of throughout the day on how he uses his speech and then they report it to the therapist who sees Landon three days a week. I think Katelyn might have a hard time parting with Landon that long, then again, we will have baby girl here by then so it might be easier over all. So what do you think? Is a 5 day a week program too much for a four year old? Or is it worth it because he gets that extra attention on a daily basis? Feed back please.

Circus

2012-01-30T19:19:00.000-08:00

Since we didn't go anywhere for Christmas we decided we wanted to do something "big" for the kids that we usually wouldn't budget for and as luck would have it the circus came to town. The kids have been excited for weeks and counted down the "night-nights" until the big day arrived. Landon and Katelyn both intently watched the show. Landon never took his eyes off what was going on, but he never cracked a smile either! He was just too engrossed in watching. Katelyn on the other hand was bopping and clapping along to the music-she was all smiles.

Quick picture taken during the "half-time."

Katelyn called the "Kiger's scary" but she liked them.

We left 15 minutes early since Landon was pretty "circused out." And snapped a photo of one of the many trailers out front. You can tell from the kids expression that stopping for the photo was not their idea of fun.

And then we went out to Burker King.

Here is a clip of the tight rope act which was probably one of the best acts.

Snow Fun

2012-01-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

We had the first snow of the year just the other day. The kids were very excited to look out the window as it fell in big fluffy flakes. Of course they only wanted to look at for so long because playing in it is what they really wanted to do. So we bundled up and headed out for a bit.

Conversation to remember

2012-01-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

Landon: "Mommy, how did God make us?"
Mom: "Um, not so sure."
Landon: "I think he sing a song maybe? Like Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes?"

How funny is that? He cracks us up all the time and as he gets older it is so neat to see his imagination really take off. He's turned into quite the little helper lately too, which is a huge blessing because this child never wanted to help out with ANYTHING before. I love watching him take his little sissy to the potty and help her clean up. It's certainly heartwarming. Our boy is growing up!

And yet my "baby" sometime still crawls in to bed next to me to take a nap. I love that kid:)

We are having a ...

2012-01-09T16:22:00.001-08:00

Yep, we are having another little girl. Landon is excited and Katelyn, well, she's not so sure about having to share her girl status with someone else. She said "I the baby girl. I not need another girl." Maybe that is why every photo I took of her holding the sign she has a rather unhappy look. Oh well, she'll be thrilled about it soon enough. We are excited about it although Ben did say that now because it's just he and Landon representing the men in the house they get to do all kinds of "Guy Things" together. For the longest time I was sure it was a boy because I was so sick with this baby and I was more sick with Landon than Katelyn, but just a few weeks ago I had a dream about it being a girl and ever since then I started to think just maybe more PINK was in our future:) Oh, but the ultrasound did move back our due date by a week, somewhere around JUNE 6.

Cold December Walk

2012-01-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

We wanted to get out of the house for a little bit so we decided to go for a walk along the river. It was a bit chilly but the kids enjoyed it and that's what matters. Oh, and we picked up little sticks for fire kindling which is why Ben is carrying around a shopping bag.

Christmas time

2012-01-03T17:52:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas just at home as a little family. It was nice that this year it fell on Sunday so we could let the kids open their Santa gifts and stockings, take them to church for the Christmas program centered on the true meaning of Christmas and then bring them home to tear into all the other presents under the tree.

Landon and Katelyn were very excited to leave CHOCOLATE milk and cookies for Santa.

This year they both managed to rip open the wrapping paper all by themselves.

Landon and Katelyn were thrilled with their toys this year. Tools, Dolls, a Kitchen, cars, Noah's Ark toy set, books and more will keep these kiddos occupied for awhile. We wish we could have spent the holidays out west with all our loved ones, but hopefully these pics and videos help fill the void a bit.

Five Little Monkeys

2011-12-23T18:12:00.001-08:00

We were eating dinner and Landon broke into a rousing rendition of Five Little Monkey's so we thought we'd share our dinner entertainment. Katelyn is singing along in the background. Both our kiddos love to sing and it is fun that Landon is starting to be able to say all the words to songs.

Bowling adventure

2011-12-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

We took the kids bowling for the first time the day after Thanksgiving and guess what? We had the bowling alley all to ourselves!

Landon had a blast. He bowled the entire game and got just a little bit bored with it by the end.

Katelyn had fun too. She insisted on carrying her own ball and placing it up on the ramp by herself. So independent!

At the very end when he was getting a bit bored, Ben showed Landon a new way to bowl--on the ground:)

And Katelyn lost some interest in the bowling, but she loved playing on the score board computer. She thought she was the one changing the numbers:)

We had a lot of fun with them but next time we'll definitely only play one game. Ben basically ended up bowling an entire game by himself since we had purchased two games. Poor guy was a bit sore the next day.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-12-16T18:16:00.000-08:00

Our little pilgrim and Indian helped us get in the Thanksgiving spirit. We were able to go to our friends house to celebrate Thanksgiving with them and their parents which was a lot of fun for the kids especially. The food was good and the company was good, what else could you ask for? Well, family, but that will have to wait for another time:) Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

Here we go again...

2011-11-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

Yep, this family of four...

will be a happy family of five come May 2012.

Halloween

2011-11-01T18:22:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween from the Davis family. Landon has been wanting to be a super hero for weeks now and was happy his cape wearing days finally arrived. We let Katelyn pick hers out and she really wanted to be the cute little piggy so that's what we went with.I wasn't feeling well so Ben, the wonderful father that he is, took the kids to the ward's Trunk-or-Treat.

They got quite the load of candy, and then on Halloween we took the kids trick-or-treating door to door. Landon was so funny because he wanted to run up to every house, regardless of if there lights were on, and ring the door bell. Ben had to keep coaxing Katelyn to take candy from strangers :) She would keep taking the candy out of her bucket so she could examine her loot.

Birthday girl

2011-11-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

Our baby turned two on Oct. 30. When I was pregnant with her I used to joke that if she was born on Halloween I'd call her my little goblin, but she came one day before. Poor girl had a cold though so she didn't get to go to church that day but she still enjoyed her special day.

Landon really wanted Katelyn to have a rainbow cake and the two of them even helped me put the M&M's on the cake.

Mmmmm.

Excited for her gifts.

She was telling daddy to take her picture in this one.

And Landon even got a toy so he wouldn't get too jealous.

Little Miss Katelyn Jane. We love you so much and are glad you are a part of our family. Your little laughter is always filling our home and I LOVE it. You have grown so fast. I can't believe that you say your ABC's and count to ten already. We still are working on your colors though because for some reason you just don't seem to care, if you had your way everything would be pink or blue. And guess what?--potty training is just around the corner for you. Katelyn, you are very patient with your brother Landon, who loves you but knows how to push your little buttons. But you also know how to annoy him too. I love it when I walk into a room and see the two of you head to head drawing or playing. Thank you for two awesome years. Happy Birthday.

Okctoberfest

2011-11-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ben's boss invited us to his church's Okctoberfest this year and it was a lot of fun. Our friends the Sargents also came which is always great because they have two kids Landon and Katelyn's ages.

Waiting for a hayride

Playing in the bounce house. Katelyn chickened out on that one.

After some coaxing she went down the slide.

Landon liked taking some risks, like going down head first.

Love the look she is giving the horse as it walks by. She got the helmet on and was about to be placed on the horse, but then decided against it once the lady picked her up to seat her. But she did watch her brother go.

Landon never cracked a smile, he was concentrating too much.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

After our trip to the coast we spent that Saturday at the pumpkin patch. We tried a new one this year and were happy with it, especially since it was closer to home. The kids were glad grandma and grandpa were along.

Two cuties and their pumpkin patch finds. (Landon walked around forever but eventually settled on one knowing that his was bigger than Katelyn's which is really what he cared about most).

There were little activities for kids all around. Landon loved this water trough.

Katelyn going through the bicycle course.

Hoopster!

An attempt at a family pic on the wagon ride. Landon's pouting and Katelyn can't keep her eyes open b/c of the sun. Oh well. Thanks for trying to capture the moment, Grandma D.

Fishing at the pier

2011-10-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well, apparently you can't visit a beach without going fishing on the pier. Grandpa got up early and went fishing so we met up with him later that morning. Landon was so excited to go fishing. He and Ben stayed and fished for awhile while Grandma, Katelyn and Kyra walked on the pier and looked at the gift shop. Because it was just the guys who stayed to fish, Landon is now adamant the fishing is only for boys. "Girls not fish!" is what Landon always says:) He even told grandpa that the yellow fishing rod was a girlie so he couldn't use it!

"Look Mommy I'm a fisherman!"

By the end of the morning Grandpa had caught six fish (Ben caught one but it was too small, but Landon liked watching it get thrown back in the ocean again to get "bigger."

Great Grandparents in N.C.

2011-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Well, Grandma and Grandpa Davis had a two week visit out here in Tennessee and North Carolina. They spent a few days with us, drove to Ben's grandparents, then we drove to be with them for a couple days, then headed to Myrtle Beach, and back home again. Yep, busy!

It was a lot of fun too. AND AUNT LINDSIE got to come down and spend the weekend in North Carolina at Great Grandma and Grandpa's so that was fun.

Katelyn getting her nails painted for the first time.

Great Grandpa gets around on golf carts at his house, so that was the big toy for all the kids.

All the girls

All the boys: Grandpa Charlie, Great Grandpa, Ben, and Landon.

Good Eats at the beach

2011-10-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

Besides beach fun, Ben made sure we got some good eats in. We went to a burger joint and ate on a picnic table outside because it was nice out. Also another night we got some seafood for Ben's birthday, but the camera decided it didn't want to work anymore so I don't have pictures of that.

Katelyn enjoying her Nutella, Peanut Butter, Marshmallow cream Hamburger. Yep, we're awesome parents:) Landon had the same thing and it was definitely the most hamburger Katelyn has ever eaten. Hmmmm, maybe I need to start putting Nutella on her sandwiches for lunch.

Daddy and Landon showing off their hamburgers.

Yep. Ben got the "OMG" burger. Pretty much the biggest thing ever, complete with grilled cheese sandwiches and onion rings. CRAZY--and no, he didn't eat it all, he had the rest for breakfast.

We walked along the main Myrtle Beach road by the boardwalk and looked at little gift shops, but the kids loved this HUGE Ferris Wheel. Ben and Landon were gonna go on it but it would have cost $20--that wasn't going to happen! Anyway, we told Landon he can save up his money and ride a Ferris Wheel--and boy did he take us seriously because every coin he puts in the piggy bank he says is for the Ferris Wheel ride.

Myrtle beach fun

2011-10-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa splitting the bill with us we were able to get a really nice "off-season" hotel room on the 16th floor overlooking the ocean at Myrtle Beach. We were floored by the view, sea for as far as you could see!

Family beach fun. No Landon isn't being chocked he's just being "encouraged" to look up at the camera!

Landon and Grandpa walked up and down the beach collecting shells.

The Sand proved to be what the kids liked best about the beach. They only dipped their toes in the ocean, and not very willing at that!

The hotel had several pools and that's where the kids got wet--oh and mom when she had to literally jump in the pool and save Katelyn who walked off the steps and submerged herself. (Of course dad was on the opposite end of the pool at the time so mommy had to do it!)

Lazy River. Landon had to hold on tight and by the end all you could see was his little feet!

Ben attempted to boogie board but he was never down at the beach when the waves were good.

If you look close you can see Katelyn glancing sideways at the water. Every time she heard the surf roll it she'd take a peak just to make sure it didn't get her!

Up on our 16th floor balcony.

Sunrise.

Early birthday

2011-10-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

Because Grandma and Grandpa Davis were here at the first of the month and would not be here for Katelyn's 2nd birthday, Katelyn opened their presents when we got back from our North Carolina/Myrtle Beach trip.

She got "Berry Bear" to match the blanket Grandma made her.

A better look at the blanket--it says Katelyn Jane on the picket fence posts.

And here is one of the cute dresses she got.

p.s. Doesn't my girl have CRAZY hair!?

Uncle Lee and Aunt Nancy visit

2011-09-30T05:21:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have my brother Lee and sister Nancy come out and spend a couple weeks with us. While they were here they accompanied the kids and I (Ben had to work) up to Pennsylvania to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Fenstermacher. I'm grateful my siblings were along for the 12 hour drive because the kids were well entertained and traveled much better than expected.

Eating at the park pavilion

Playing in the river that goes through the town of Huntingdon. Landon and Katelyn willingly plunged into the water--ok, rather timidly made their way out into the shallow waters.

Isn't that a great picture of Grandma Fentstermacher--she thought I was taking a picture of just Nancy so she didn't try to hide this time:)

The kids looking out the big picture window at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This is a memory I have of me and my siblings doing too.

Quick snap shot of the gang--without grandma and grandpa knowing because they HATE having pictures taken and always try and sneak off.

Grandma let the kids play with a bubble machine, and they sure had fun.

The bubble action drew a few spectators:)

Back in Tennessee

Uncle Lee and Landon chilling at Cheddar's.

Cute little girl smack dab in the middle

We finally made it to Music Row in Nashville after we decided to venture out in the rain. It had been raining for two days straight and it wasn't gonna let up. We had to show Lee and Nancy at least a part of Nashville's music scene.

Thanks Lee and Nancy for coming out. The kids had a blast and were asking for Uncle "Yee" and Nancy for about a week after they left. Next time we'll have to do more outside stuff if the weather cooperates.

Wilson County Fair

2011-09-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

Still haven't found our camera cord, but here are just a few pictures of our visit to the Wilson County State Fair in August. (And if you are wondering about Landon's clashing outfit I'll just tell you now that it was Ben who dressed him:)

Cute girl on a tractor

Country Boy on a tractor

We let the kids go on this ride because it was the only one we could find that Katelyn met the height requirement needed to be on a ride without a parent:)

We watched some go cart races, and Landon decided to be in a bad mood and refused to smile in this one--stubborn kid even looks like he's having an awful time when really he had a blast! Katelyn just chilled out next to dad and watched the dirt that was kicked up by the racers.

And I just want to throw in the fact that with all that fair food, toys, games and hoopla that comes with a fair, we managed to just buy one drink of lemonade (which was gross) and pay for one ride. Who says having fun needs to cost a lot of money?! Oh yeah, there was the entrance fee too.

Lazy day photo op

2011-08-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well I finally decided to attempt a mini photoshoot with the kiddos and yeah, it went as well as can be expected with to hyper hoodlums:) My wonderful SLR camera that I have had since graduating college has been on the fritz, and I'm sorry to report that today it died--literally right as I was wrapping up the kids shoot. Rest in peace friend...and I do have a lot more photos of the kids on just our little point and shoot but I can't find the darn cord to upload the photos so I guess these will just have to do until later.

Love his face here: WHAT?

And the little lioness with her lion. She was just sitting down and waiting her turn when I quickly shot this pic of her. The window light really shows off her wild and nearly-impossible-to-tame messy mane here!

Utah visit

2011-07-09T05:47:00.001-07:00

The long awaited Utah portion of the trip is finally here! We spent five days at Ben's parents and the kids had a blast spending time with Grandpa and Grandma Davis, and even their Aunt Lindsie flew in. The Saturday we were there was Grandma and Grandpa Kjar's 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration so EVERYONE was there.

Landon helped grandpa with the food --and the yard.

Aunt Lindsie spent lots of quality time with the kids.

Sitting on Grandma's lap at the Zoo. Not sure what she was saying, but Landon looks very interested.

After a ride on the carousel, Landon enjoyed a nice cool treat--Katelyn had some too.

"What's that! (or Wuz at)?" Katelyn said pointing to the Rhino.

The kids, especially Katelyn who squealed in delight, enjoying a ride at Taylorsville Dayzz.

I think Landon would like a hot rod.

While the big family pics were being taken for Grandpa and Grandma Kjar's 60th, Landon scaled the ladder to be closer to Grandpa Kjar. Don't know how I missed getting a picture of the happy couple on my own camera but i'll just have to wait to see what the photographer got.

Landon liked playing with all of the cousins, and he could usually be found at the water cooler with Max and Londyn or playing tag.

Gracie and Katelyn played Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Aunt Jane, Katelyn Jane, and Ben. We think you're pretty GREAT Aunt Jane!

She loved her pretty little sundress.

And the best attempt at a photo with grandparents.

Thank you for the amazing time out there! We know we make it out so rarely and appreciate all who took time off and made numerous visits so we could spend as much time with you as we could. We loved watching the kiddos interact with all of you and the kids still ask for grandpa and grandm--both sets! Landon says that daddy works to make money to pay for the airplane that takes us to see you!!!

Lots of love,

The Tennessee Davis'

Idaho visit

2011-07-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well here is the Idaho portion of our trip out west. We spent the first five days of our trip there with my family. It was so good to be home, even for a short while.

(Had to include this pic because look how darn cute my baby sis, Nancy, is!)

Landon jumped right in to playing with his aunts and uncles.

Uncle Lee showed up a couple days after we came so Landon was trying to get to know him here in this photo.

We visited Mesa Falls. Landon liked the rainbow he could see in the mist of the falls.

Goofing off with his Grandma Anderson

Look at all those awesome Anderson's hanging out with the Davis'.

Aren't we cute:) Ben and I visited Mesa Falls when we were dating in college.

Our little Katelyn always seems to have a stone face in pictures, but she sure warmed up to her Grandpa Anderson.

And Grandma Anderson enjoyed reading books to the grandkids.

While there we visited Jensen's Grove (a park in Blackfoot that has a lake).

Grandpa pushed the grandkids (Landon, Brooke and Isaac) in the tire swing.

Trying to get little kids to smile for a photo is tough. Brooke left a couple days before we did to visit her Grandma Charlotte in Brigham City, that's why she's not in the photo.

And to end the Idaho visit I got to stop in on my Grandma Anderson, who is living with Aunt Jean, on our way down to Utah. She's so sweet and is nursing a broken arm that she has to go to physical therapy for. She loved seeing the great grandchildren. She told me the kids look a lot like me, especially Katelyn. I'll take it! Most of the time everyone tells me they look so much like Ben (and really they do, especially our little man Landon).

I really enjoyed watching Landon and Katelyn get reacquainted with my family since it had been quite awhile since they saw them ( I think Katelyn was only four months old when we were there last). Landon was so funny because he latched on to his uncles like crazy and would walk around the house calling "Uncle Keven ( or Kev) where are you?" and "Uncle Ethan (who he called "other Ben" for the first day) Come play with me." Aunt Nancy did her fair share of spoiling the kiddos too. We were lucky that Krista and Juston (although I don't know how they escaped getting a photo taken--but don't you worry, I got you on the video camera!) lived close by so they could visit with us and have Brooke and Isaac come and play. Landon had a blast with the other children in the house and at the park. FAMILY I LOVE YOU! Thanks for taking time off to visit with us.

Huckleberry Mountain Challenge

2011-07-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Yes I have a ton of photos to share from our 10 day vacation in Idaho and Utah, but this deserves it's own post so you'll have to wait a bit for the other photos.

After our trip to Mesa Falls we stopped at a small diner in Ashton, Idaho. My family had heard of the 5 minute and 11 second Huckleberry Mountain Ice Cream Challenge. Basically you get six heaping scoops of ice cream topped with mounds of whipped cream, nuts, and huckleberries and you have five minutes and 11 seconds to chow it down. If you do, the $12.99 price tag becomes $0.00!

Well, can you guess, that Ben said he was up to the challenge? Oh, and my dad. It was a friendly competition between the father and son-in-law:)

All smiles in the beginning

Time to start--Dad was in the lead for most of the time.

Crunch time. The bites got bigger.

VICTORY FOR BOTH

(Ben managed to pull ahead in the end)

Way to go on saving $26!

And little Landon kept saying Ben was mean because he was scarfing down the ice cream right in front of him and not sharing. "Save some, daddy. Save some," was his tearful plea. So he got a little bowl of his own.

When he finished he held his bowl up and said, "I win too."--So he and dad took a winners photo holding up their bowls. Too cute, right!?

And what was this little princess doing during the whole thing? Why eating ice and hamming it up for the camera, of course.

Nursery

2011-05-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Our "baby" is no longer passed off between mom and dad during the last two hours of church. She gets to be with her big brother in nursery now. Can I just say how crazy it is not to have a child to take care of throughout the three hours of church. Because Landon and Katelyn are 18 months apart we've ALWAYS had a baby tagging along with us...but not anymore!

Staring up at the Nursery leader.

Daddy picking up BOTH kiddos. The nursery leader says that Landon watches out for his "Sissy" and makes sure none of the big kids take her toys away.

She sure is happy now that she gets to play with kids, toys, color, and eat! YAY for nursery.

Zoo trip

2011-05-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Taking advantage of one of the last remaining Saturdays before our move to the apartments in town (and packing up box after box) we decided to take the kiddos to the Zoo. Katelyn was overjoyed that she didn't have to ride in a stroller. She got to wear the monkey backpack with the leash for us to hold on to just in case it got very crowded (which at times it sure did depending on what exhibit you went into).

We love the Nashville Zoo, our only complaint would be that you have to walk a lot from animal to animal--but I guess that is good for the animals because they get more space to roam.

Katelyn walked the entire time, all except for the steepest hill. I'm glad we have a Zoo Pass.

Landon loved it even though he looks serious, and Katelyn, well she only spent a few seconds up there and then spent the rest of the ride crying in my lap.

A quick hug in front of the monkey exhibit.

Alligators. She thought they were the coolest things.

And a $9, one minute ride on a tiny train--not worth the money! But Landon said he liked it.

I'm sure we'll go couple more times this summer--but we'll have to make sure it's not too hot when we go. Tennessee summers are so yucky so you end up spending most of your day inside.

And they danced...

2011-05-24T12:12:00.001-07:00

These two are constantly digging into the "storage area" which happens to be the playpen to get the big toys we put away. The swimming floaties seem to be a favorite of theirs and I walked in on Katelyn twirling away in hers like a little ballerina.

A one, two, three...one, two three...

Landon was a bit more haphazard in his dancing rendition. He kept saying, "Boogie, Woogie." I guess I can accredit that to the Wiggles music DVD we have :)

*Note: You might be wondering why Landon is always running around just in his underwear. Well, he kicks of his pants when he uses the potty and doesn't put them back on. That's why.

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

I was spoiled on Mother's Day. Ben really made sure to pamper me and get the kids involved. It was one of the most enjoyable days I have had in a long time. Thanks, Ben. I couldn't pass up the above photo because just look at the cheezer Landon is pulling. So sweet.

I am blessed to be a mother to my two children. Raising them may be the hardest thing I ever do but it brings so much fulfillment and joy into my life I wouldn't have it any other way. Thankfully I have the world's most amazing husband to be the father of my children so that makes this journey of motherhood even more wonderful. I want to thank my own mother for being such a great example to me. I may not be as good (or any where near) a homemaker as she is but I do strive to walk in her mothering footsteps. I am also so grateful to my dear mother-in-law, Bonnie, for raising a little boy into the great man that he is today. Happy Mother's Day.

FIVE YEARS

2011-05-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

FIVE YEARS! Yep, it's been that long already! Time really does fly when you are busy enjoying life. We have had some ups and downs but really we've been so blessed because of the "easy ride" our marriage has been thus far! It's great that our anniversary falls on a holiday (May 5) because while everyone else is celebrating Cinco de Mayo we're celebrating our marriage--so I kind of feel like we're sharing our own little secret that day :) Hugs and Kisses, and here's to an eternity to go.

We got a babysitter and were able to go shopping and out to eat. We LOVE Red Robin and haven't been there in so long that a cheeseburger was just calling our name. Delicious.

It was a wonderful evening where just the two of us got to reminisce about where we've been and think about where our future will take us.

Cooped up fun

2011-04-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been too much excitement around here the past couple of weeks because of the stomach flu and colds, but here are a few pics to show how these kiddos entertain themselves when cooped up for long periods of time.

Watching daddy mow the lawn. We have two big windows, one in the front room and one in the back room so they run from one to the other and wave to their dad every time he passes the window. Well, at least for the first 10 minute or so--come on, we've got two acres so they can't stand there forever:)

Their version of going for a stroll in the stroller.

I'm teaching Katelyn all her body parts and Landon doesn't want to be left out. He always tries to point to his first:) Don't my kids have cute bellies?!

*(for those wondering: Katelyn found this old binky she never used in the toys and she was so happy about it I let her keep it for a few minutes before telling her "No, you're a big girl now").

Ode to Yinzie

2011-04-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

Aunt Lindsie came for Landon's birthday and he was very happy to have her attention for the few days she was here. For the longest time he would get mad if we called her Aunt Lindsie and he would say, "No, just Lindsie (although he said Yinzie). " I think she's his favorite pal, even though he wasn't too keen on sharing his potty/bathroom with her since he fell in the toilet when his mommy forgot to check and see if the potty chair was in place.

Landon tagging a ride on his Yinzie.

She entertained the kiddos with her fun little laptop camera.

She even helped them make frosting art--Katelyn just ate it, let's be honest.

Every time Landon walks in the guest room he tells us he wants Yinzie to sleep in that bed, and you know he likes her a ton because he even offered to let her use his potty again :)

Love ya, Linds.

p.s. to the aunts and uncles in Idaho--you're gonna have to spoil them rotten when we come to visit in June if you want to be among his "favorite pals." I know you can do it!

Captain Landon is 3!

2011-04-17T18:45:00.001-07:00

My little pirate turned three. I can't believe he is so big! He's such a delight and fun to have around. He may boss his sister and drive me crazy with all his "Why?" questions but I couldn't ask for a better son. I asked him over a month ago what he wanted for his birthday, and since we were standing in the toy department I was fully expecting him to point out a plane, ball or Toy Story figurine, but no, he asked for a party and cake! So I decided that is what he would get. The little tyke loves pirates so his theme was easy. Thanks to two of his closest friends and their families we had an enjoyable pirate party for our Captain Landon. (His costume was Ben's Halloween costume back when he was younger and Landon's Grandma Davis graciously volunteered to alter it to fit Landon).

He got a ton of presents and loved all of them. Grandma Davis made him this pillow, and he loves the magnetic car puzzle Grandma Anderson sent him. Thanks to all of you, friends and family that got him gifts. He is having a blast breaking in his new toys.

Katelyn made a pretty adorable first mate.

Awwww.

Playing pin the eye patch on the pirate.

Discovering the hidden treasure chest. Oh, and we also made sea creature necklaces.

Blowing out his candle.

And a closer look at my "master piece" LOL--at least I attempted it, right?

Here he is trying to wink while he says "Arrrr, Matey."

I have to give a special thanks to Aunt Lindsie for making a trip out here to help her nephew celebrate--that was his favorite gift of all, an aunt to give him lots of attention:) And most of these pictures are from Lindsie since I was busy "hosting" (if you can call it that) the party.

We love you little buddy, or should I say, Captain. We look forward to many many more birthday celebrations with you. Thank you for being you, our little Landon Charles Davis.

Randomness in the Davis house

2011-04-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's not very often that Katelyn falls asleep anywhere but her crib or carseat, in fact this picture of her on the ground is only the second time we've found her asleep anywhere else!

And our little dear ALWAYS stuffs her mouth when she eats. If you got to take her plate away she grabs handfuls and stuffs it in her cute chubby cheeks.

And below: Landon came up and gave me the camera and said "I take picture." Here are a couple I found on the camera later when I checked.

And these three are my everything. It's good to be me.

"Safe Place"

2011-04-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

We had severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings today which sent the kids and I into our "safe place"--my bedroom closet. We don't really have a room in the middle of the house or a basement so a closet is the best we can do. Unfortunately the kids had just gone down for their naps when they had to be awoken 20 minutes later to cram into mom's closet. After the first few minutes they were not quite so unhappy and started to have fun pretending to sleep. Landon kept saying he was hiding from the storm and every time he heard the thunder he said "Oh, no sissy it's gonna get us" and he'd dive under his pillow. Luckily nothing came of this storm, well actually I guess there were a couple tornadoes that did touch down, just not on our side of Nashville.

St. Patty's Day

2011-03-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

OK, so we didn't do anything for St. Patrick's day besides wear green. We have a cold here and have been in the house for a few days, but today we had to venture out to the grocery store out of necessity so I figured I better dress the kiddos in green just in case there were any pinch-happy people at the store:)

Landon in his green shirt. He was so excited he found the two wallet size pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Davis and Aunt Lindsie so he had to show them off in his pic too.

Here's my precious sweetie. We looked high and low for something green and eventually I dug out some summer clothes:)

Last weekend they had a kids day at Kroger and Landon got his very first face painting (pretty skimpy smiley face, but I was just excited he'd sit long enough for it). The sucker was his favorite part. He always tells me he wants to go to the doctor's to get a shot because then he will get another sucker.

And here is Katelyn Jane modeling her cute pink dress. I think I need to have another baby girl because I want this and other cute dresses she has to be worn A LOT!

Oh, and just so you can see the hairy man I was married to for several months I included this picture. To people in our ward he was "Brother Brigham" and to people at his work he was "Grizzly Adams." It is the longest his beard has ever gotten. He says he'll grow one every winter.

Weigh In Report 8

Week 5: 0 lb lost

Total lost: 22.4 lbs

Total pounds left: 13.6

* Quite disappointing, but I didn't get to make it to the gym and I was stuck at home most of the week due to sickness in the house. :(

Weigh in report 7

2011-03-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I started back at the gym and it has gone well thus far. The kids have not come down with any colds which is great because I would feel guilty taking them somewhere they would get sick just so I can workout. Nothing too great to report though, which was a bit of a surprise to me. I thought just changing up my routine would lead to a better week but I only went down a pound. But, it's still good. Maybe I will reach that elusive 2 pound a week goal at some point:)

Week 4: 1 lb lost

Total lost: 22.4 lbs

Total pounds left: 13.6

A little help, PLEASE.

2011-03-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

So I need a little help. Landon's third birthday is coming up in a little over a month and I asked him what he would like and he said "party and cake." So I guess I'll try my hand at a little kid's birthday party, the only problem is I have absolutely no idea the best way to go about this seeing as growing up we didn't have parties. We just celebrated with our family by choosing the dinner and dessert and opening presents afterwards. So really, what is the most common way of throwing a birthday party for a three year old. Do you keep it small with just two or three friends, or do you invite their nursery class? Do you go somewhere like Chuck-e-Cheese or Bounce U--or just have little games and cake at your house? Oh, and what time of day works best for toddlers? My two usually don't take a nap until the afternoon, but does it make sense to have a party in the morning? What is a good length of time for a party? Do you use a theme (Landon loves Mickey Mouse, Max and Ruby, and Pirates)? Or is that just too complicated for a three year old? I have no idea, as you can tell. So I'll just wait and hear what all you wonderfully creative people have to say on the subject.

weigh in report 6

2011-03-04T05:18:00.000-08:00

Not much to report here. I lost .4 lbs. No not 4, but only point 4 pounds. But as Ben pointed out to me that is almost half a pound so I'll be optimistic about it. I'll just keep plugging along-it's better than gaining! Though Ben doesn't want to post every "little" thing on the blog I just want to say how amazed I am at his progress. He's doing so well. We really need to get him some new clothes but we're waiting a little longer before either of us buy clothes since we are still in the "weight loss" mode. Thanks Ben for keeping me positive.

Week 3: .4 lbs lost

Total lost: 21.4 lbs

Total pounds left: 14.6

weigh in report 5

2011-02-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

So I have struggled a little bit lately. I don't know if it is just the simple fact that I'm afraid I won't be able to reach my new goal or not. I did get quite sick with food poisoning followed by kidney stones so I thought at least my weight would reflect all that time I spent sick, but it didn't. I've only lost a pound. My baby sis Nancy is going to help motivate me by setting a five pound goal with me so we'll see if that can kick start some good progress here.

Week 2: 1 lb lost

Total lost: 21 lbs

Total pounds left: 15

Be my Valentine

2011-02-21T06:47:00.000-08:00

A little Valentine's Day Fun.

15 months

2011-02-21T06:12:00.000-08:00

This little princess is growing up. She no longer sits in a high chair and now gets to eat with us at the table. She loves it! She had her 15 month appointment a week or so ago and she is in the 75th percentile for both height and weight so she's trimming down a little bit and that is because she is ALWAYS on the go. She absolutely loves playing and running outside. And she and Landon chase each other all over the house. She is now saying some more words other than mama and dada. She says wawa (water), bubba (bubble), ba (for bath), ellow (marshmallow), mih (milk), bah (book), Nanon (Landon), moh (more), nana (banana) and a few more that escape my brain right now. She shakes her head yes in response to a question and she makes a couple animal noises such as elephant and lion. I can't believe my baby is a toddler! We love you little Miss Katelyn Jane:)

Weigh in report 4

2011-02-10T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hallelujah! Hooray! Amazing! and FINALLY...All those words express the excitement I felt today when I stepped on the scale and saw I have officially lost 20 pounds since I started this weight loss journey of mine four and a half months ago. So it may be on the slow side (just over a pound a week) but it feels great to see how far I have come. I got very discouraged at two different times, one was when I just couldn't seem to break through the 7 pounds lost range (I kept going back and forth for almost a month!) and then at the end I was stuck at 18 pounds for two weeks. Thankfully I had a lot of support to keep me motivated:) I have clothes that are fitting me well once again, but unfortunately for me those clothes are the ones I bought after gaining weight my first year of marriage and the beginning stages of my pregnancy with Landon. The positive is that I now weigh less than I did when I got pregnant with my first child--so it only took me 2.8 years to lose the baby weight (sarcasm inserted). Though I feel so much better about myself I still have a long way to go. I am still in the "overweight" bracket of the BMI which yes, meant I started off in the OBESE bracket. I never felt obese, it just kind of sneaks up on you. And of course my darling of a husband refuses to believe I was in the obese category--isn't he sweet? I have been pussy footing around with what I will set as my next goal because I really want to get into the "Normal" BMI bracket and that is 16 pounds away. But part of me feels like I can't do it. I WANT to do it though so I am going to set it as my next goal. So "Normal" BMI, here I come!--with all your support :)

Week 19: 1.6 lbs lost

Total lost: 20 lbs

NEW GOAL: 16 lbs

Total lbs left: 16

* I am going to start over my weeks so I can compare my weight loss with my first 19 weeks and see if I can pick up the pace or not. We'll see:)

weigh in report 3

2011-02-04T05:59:00.000-08:00

So this week was BAD. I don't know what it is with me and getting close to goals. I totally slack off because I have this false sense of being able to accomplish it. Yeah, reaching my goal did not happen this week and that makes me really disappointed in myself. The worse thing--the scale stayed at the same exact weight as last week. Go figure. Ben has done great, but he too had a little slower week so maybe it's about that time that the weight loss slows down a bit (but that really is no excuse because I should have lost something). Anyway, here are the stats.

Week 18: 1.6 lbs lost

Total lost: 18.4 lbs

Total left: 1.6 lbs

Go BYU!

2011-01-29T11:36:00.000-08:00

It's been a good run for BYU basketball this season so I guess it is a good year to be a fan--and we have two cute little fans in our house. Grandma Anderson sent these outfits out for Landon and Katelyn and they just look adorable in them. GO BYU! (Thank goodness for Jimmer, right?)

weight report 3

2011-01-27T05:29:00.000-08:00

I'm thrilled with this week's results because I'm gonna be honest and say there were a couple days I was off track. Like I've said before, I'll be happy when Landon doesn't need potty rewards like chocolate cookies and marshmallows:) He is doing great by the way so that may not be too far off. I put one of my jeans on the other day and was happy to see that my go-to- jeans for my "fat days" (or let me be realistic and say "Fat Years") are literally sliding off of me:) That helped motivate me. I can't really see a big difference when I look in the mirror but I did run into someone I haven't seen in six months and she commented that I was "looking good"--also a motivator. I only have a little bit to go before I reach the 20 pound goal and I am determined to try my best to get it by the next weigh in. Thank goodness I have my amazing husband following the same program as me--it's been the key.

Week 17: 1.6 lbs lost

Total lost: 18.4 lbs

Total left: 1.6 lbs

Baby no more!

2011-01-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

Little Miss Katelyn has decided she's done with baby food. We've been feeding her "big people" food since she was 8 months old because she always wanted what Landon was having. But this time she didn't want the PB&J sandwich I was making for Landon so I looked in the cupboard and saw one of those microwave toddler foods and decided to give that a try. I had just turned my back to the fridge when I heard a big plop and Landon screaming "Sissy mess." She dumped her entire tray on herself, the floor and the highchair. AND she thought it was funny. Needless to say after a few smiles for the camera it was off to the bath for her!

Weigh in report 2

2011-01-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

I'm really liking this weight loss program, and it may just be because Ben and I are doing it together. He has been very on top of recording every single thing he eats and planning meals so I have had it really easy lately. Yay for me! Ben has been great at going to the gym after work and I pretty much just exercise at home because the gym's daycare is packed to the limit:( I recently started "walking" at home. Basically "walk" a mile which is about 12 minutes in the morning, the afternoon and evening. I figure I have 12 minutes, right? And I can do it while the kids watch cartoons!

It has been very interesting to study my relationship with food since I've started this goal of mine. I never really understood how much of a "stress eater" I am. If I am having a rough day with the kids I want to grab whatever snacks are easy and convenient right there in the cupboards. And I use to do that ALL the time...a handful of crackers here, a little cookie, and one, no make that two, fruit snacks. No wonder the pounds packed on! Just the other day Landon was giving me a run for my money in the potty training department, oh yeah, and the coloring on walls department:( I was so frazzled all I could think about was stuffing handfuls of marshmallows in my mouth-but I didn't. I've gotten enough discipline through the last few months to realize what is driving my hunger so that I know if I really need food or not. So instead of going on a sugar binge I sent Landon to his room and MADE him play for a little while so I could calm down and take some ME time. It helped. That was all I needed. Who'd have thought? Anyway, here are the stats.

Week 16: 2 lbs lost

Total pounds lost: 16.8

Total left: 3.2 lbs!

**NOTE: 20 lbs was my original start goal to see if I could accomplish that rather than setting a really high goal for myself and getting disappointed in how long it was taking and give up. Now that I am almost to that first goal I've got to start thinking about how much more weight I want to lose to get me where I will be happy.

Cabin Fever entertainment

2011-01-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

Last week we were pretty much snowed in for three days. It really got long, and boring-especially with me staying home with the kids all day. They wanted to go out, and boy did they look outside the windows a ton! So I read a couple fun activities to do on a rainy day on this neat site at www.toddlertoddler.com. One of the activities was to let them play at your kitchen sink--so I did. And they had a blast transferring water from bowl to bowl and playing with bubbles. Pure entertainment for 30 minutes. Oh, and letting a one year old up to play at a sink can get quit out of hand--but I couldn't let her NOT do it if her brother was doing it.

Yeah. Water was everywhere. It took 5 dish towels to clean it all up. Was it worth it? Yeah.

Weigh in report

2011-01-13T14:12:00.001-08:00

So I'm gonna change it up a bit. I've been at this weight loss business for 15weeks now and keeping my weekly reports is making for a really long post. And I have just changed up my routine a bit so why not change how I report my weight loss too? Seriously, who wants to scroll all the way down through the weeks to see how I've done anyway? So I will post my total pounds lost and the week's loss (optimistically let's just say there won't be any gains:). I think that should be enough information to share anyway.

I have done 14 weeks of changing my lifestyle all on my own by counting calories and exercise (well, I've fallen off the wagon on that one so that needs to change). I am pleased that I lost 12 pounds in that amount of time. But like I mentioned earlier, I am now following the Weight Watcher program. My amazing husband gets to do 12 weeks for free (if he loses 10 pounds) through his work so I'm just reaping the benefits and following along. True, I don't go to a weekly support group to weigh in, but that is what I have all of you (and my hubby) for. I will weigh in every Thursday because that's when Ben does. You know, I was surprised how similar the WW program was to what I have already been doing, although it takes into account total fat, protein, and fiber as well--so that's got to be a good thing. Instead of limiting myself by calories I am limited by a certain amount of WW points and each food is assigned a value. So it kind of makes counting food easy--that's always nice. And the biggest difference between the first 14 weeks and the next 12 (well 11 since we've already done one week) is that my wonderful husband is doing it too so food choices, making dinner and all of that is much easier! So you want to know how I did this week? Pretty good.

Week 15: 2.8 lbs

Total lost: 14.8.

I've almost lost 15 pounds and I am just four pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight (with Landon) and that feels pretty darn good.

Oh, and if you are wondering how Ben is doing he said he really doesn't want to post weekly on here because just getting his money back if he loses 10 is enough motivation for him. But I will tell you he did much better than me this week:) But at the end of 12 weeks I'm going to post how much he lost anyway, so stay tuned.

p.s. We have added a ton of vegetables to our meals and at first I thought the kids would not do well with the meal changes but to my surprise they are doing great. They probably have had more vegetables this week than they did all last month!

Funny conversation

2011-01-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

"Thank you, Pumpkin," I said while buckling Landon into his carseat for church.

"Not a pumpkin," Landon said sternly as he gave me an unhappy glare.

"Sorry, sweetie," I said with a laugh.

"Uh, uh. Not a swee-ee," he said shaking his head.

"O.k. Thank you, Baby." I said.

In exasperation he throws his hands up in the air and shouts, "I a BOY, Momma."

I'm pretty sure he is not too far off from rolling his eyes at me...Oh, how he makes me laugh.

New Year goals

2011-01-04T06:21:00.000-08:00

Well 2010 has come and gone and looking back on it the year was pretty great. I'll start with the accomplishments.

Ben graduated with his Master's and got a great job he enjoys. We were able to leave apartment living behind for a little while by renting a house in the country. We have really enjoyed the space, but because this house is older it is a bit of an energy hog and we are considering moving elsewhere (maybe even an apartment) after our lease is up in June. We'll see. Our kids have grown leaps and bounds this year. Landon is 2 1/2 and does well with his numbers and had done well with his letters until he decided that he doesn't have "time" for them anymore. Stubborn kid. Potty training didn't go as expected, in fact I had to toss the book I got aside because he is not a strict 15 minute kind of guy and gets mad when we consistently ask him to go to the potty. He will come and tell us when he needs to go and has done very well that way, with a few small accidents a week. So it may take a little while but at least it is not a constant battle. Katelyn is 1 and is a total joy. She's a very happy child who likes to laugh. Following her brother is her favorite thing. She is much more adventurous than Landon was at her age and climbs and tumbles on pretty much everything. As for me, I've been enjoying the opportunity I have had to stay at home with the kids. I've made some new friends in the ward and am setting housekeeping goals. I'm also on a little weight loss adventure and have been able to lose 12 pounds in the last few months so I'm gonna keep on chugging along with that.

2011 goals:

Start having FHE

Stick to a budget

Eat healthier--kids too, meaning eat more vegetables!

Exercise five days a week--Ben and Kyra

Read scriptures more consistently as a couple

Keep house clean (stay on top of the laundry, dishes, etc)

Write in journal once a week--Kyra

So here is to 2011!

Knoxville trip

2011-01-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

For Christmas vacation we spent a few days in Knoxville, Tennessee. We spent Christmas morning at home opening presents and then that afternoon we headed out on the road. We had a lot of fun while there.

Lots of smiles.

Landon is entertained by Toy Story thanks to Santa.

We went to the Knoxville Zoo while we were there and it was very cold! Most of the animals were not out so we are glad it was free for us thanks to our handy dandy Zoo membership.

Katelyn's mittens kept coming off so she wore Ben's gloves.

The zebras were one of the few animals that braved the cold weather.

We originally wanted to go to Gatlinburg to see the lights but it turned into a winter wonderland while we were there which was really neat.

We told him to stay out of the snow, but he loved trekking through the stuff!

We also went to the Gatlinburg Aquarium. It was expensive but the kids had a lot of fun.

This penguin was lots of fun. He would follow the kids from one side of the tank to the other. Katelyn was afraid of him though and kept moving further back:)

We were so glad Ben got two days off of work to celebrate Christmas because it gave us time to explore this neat city. We missed spending the holidays with our families but having a mini vacation with just us was a lot of fun too.

Weigh in #13 -14

2010-12-29T08:48:00.000-08:00

So it has been a couple weeks. I made it through the Christmas holiday pretty much unscathed, which I didn't think would happen. The first week I was busy making treats for some families in the ward and Ben's coworkers and I gained about a pound. And then I didn't step on the scale until after three days of eating out when we went on our little Christmas vacation to Knoxville. AND I did not make the best food choices then--cream cheese danishes for breakfast. Who can pass those up? So really I was expecting that Christmas was going to put me back at least a pound or two so imagine my surprise when I came in 4 ounces under what I weighed two weeks ago. SIGH of relief. :) Now to get back on track.

Week 1 : lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Week 4: gained 1 lb

Week 5: lost 1.2 lbs

Week 6: gained 1.6 lbs

Week 7: lost .6 lbs

Week 8: lost 1 lb

Week 9: lost 2 lbs

Week 10: lost 1 lb

Week 11: lost .4 lbs

Week 12: lost 1 lb

Week 13: gained 1 lb

Week 14: lost 1.4 lbs

Total pounds lost: 12 lbs

Total pounds left: 8 lbs

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T07:17:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas and it was the first WHITE Christmas in 17 years here in Middle Tennessee so that was pretty cool. Just enough snow covered the ground to make everything beautiful. Landon was so excited to see that Santa had left him presents and ate his cookies and milk. At first Landon told us he wasn't going to get any toys because he didn't stay in his bed all night, but I guess Santa is pretty forgiving of 2 year olds. Here's a clip so you can join our Christmas day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!
Katelyn loved her dolls, books and more and Landon had a blast opening his presents and seeing action figures, airplanes, Toy Story and much, much more. The Cracker Barrel rocking chairs Grandma and Grandpa Davis got were also a big hit with the kids. But we must say these kids were spoiled this year thanks to their loved ones who reside out West. By the time the presents were all unwrapped the kids had doubled the amount of toys they had. We love you all and hope you had a great Christmas.

A little fun

2010-12-17T07:22:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Grandma Davis Landon and I got to construct this cute foam craft. Some of the pieces were quite small so when Landon sneezed we lost the eyes! Oh, well we just drew those on:). We added a ribbon and Landon hung it on the tree.

And not to leave little Katelyn out. She was goofing around in the other room with my coat and when she started crying I came in and found her like this. Hehe, she couldn't get it off.

Isn't she cute? And she still drools all the time. You'd think she'd have stopped that by now. Oh well.

Weigh in #11-12

2010-12-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

So I am finally getting back on track with reporting my weight loss. Last week was nothing major (a few ounces) so I thought since I already wrote a really long post I'd wait and throw it in with this weeks. I started to throw some weights into my routine and it has gone fairly well. I haven't done any exercise for the last few days so I have to get back on the ball there. But I did lose a pound this week which is great. I have to say the hardest thing for me right now is that there are snacks in my house again since Landon is potty training and he needs treats for that. Marshmallows, chocolate milk and cookies can be quite tempting.

And I have news that I will be very open about so as not to disappoint anyone. I will kind of be following the Weight Watchers program in a few weeks b/c my husband gets to do it free through his work as long as he loses 10 pounds in 12 weeks. I don't actually get to do it but I DO get to follow his handy dandy book he will be getting so I'm gonna see if this helps boost the weight loss process. Now I want to see if I can at least lose a few more pounds on my own before following this new programs. If I can do that I'll be down almost 15 pounds all on my own--that would be nice:)

Week 1 : lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Week 4: gained 1 lb

Week 5: lost 1.2 lbs

Week 6: gained 1.6 lbs

Week 7: lost .6 lbs

Week 8: lost 1 lb

Week 9: lost 2 lbs

Week 10: lost 1 lb

Week 11: lost .4 lbs

Week 12: lost 1 lbs

Total pounds lost: 11.4 lbs

Total pounds left: 9.6 lbs

Winter is here

2010-12-14T08:46:00.001-08:00

Personalize your own digital slideshow

This was the first real snow of the year and it was Katelyn's first time ever playing in the snow. These two were so funny to watch. Landon had a blast walking around and kicking the snow, but Katelyn pretty picked one spot and planted herself there. I had to bring the camera so Ben could see their reaction to the snow since he was at work.

A buzz and trim

2010-12-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

It was time to get out the clippers. My two kiddos were looking a bit raggedy.

Before

After

You can tell Landon got a buzz, but I only took a few snips of Katelyn's bangs.

Our little Katelyn has the funniest hair. She has two cowlicks on the crown of her head so her hair swirls into a kind of mohawk in the front and is short on the sides but long on the ends where it curls. It will be interesting to see how her hair grows in as she gets older. I didn't take a true before picture b/c I wasn't thinking until Ben said, "Wait you gave her her first hair cut without pictures." Bummer--but really it was only a few snippets in front.

Christmas is coming

2010-12-08T05:44:00.000-08:00

Here is just a glimpse of the kid's first look at the Christmas tree. We put it up Sunday night and we even video taped their reactions on the camera but I'm having trouble getting them on blogger so pictures will have to do for now.

Landon moved the balls up away from his sissy.

He always says "No, No Sissy" when she touches the tree.

But she still touches the tree. She really wanted those balls.

And just as last year we had to move all the decorations to the top half of the tree.

The kids, especially Katelyn, love the Night Before Christmas book that

makes music when you read it. Katelyn "reads" it a dozen times a day.

A quick attempt of a family Christmas tree photo after church.

And I had to include this one because it isn't too often that Ben

takes a photo that I think is framed right--so good job Honey!

I've been trying to teach Landon that Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus' birthday. I've also taught him that Santa brings presents if you leave him some cookies and milk. Here is a conversation between us.

Mom: What will we do on Christmas?

Landon: "Cake."

Mom: We won't have cake but we'll have yummy food.

Landon: "No. Eat cake for birfday."

Mom: "Who's birthday? Mine?"

Landon: "No. Jesus and Ho, Ho, Ho." (he means Santa).

Guess he kind of gets it:)

# side note on my weigh in. Since this is already a long post I'll just tell you I only lost a few ounces but I did add strength training and have been told that might slow down my weight loss at the beginning so I guess we'll see next week.

Advent calendar and boxes

2010-12-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

I wanted to spend sometime helping teach Landon what Christmas is and getting him excited for it so we made an advent calendar together. We printed off a sheet of paper that had a star and ornaments on it. Each one has a number. I had him choose what colors to use and "taught" him about coloring within the lines and let him go to town--he did pretty good. Then he helped me glue the tree on and color in the presents at the bottom. Now we add one decoration a day on our countdown to Christmas.

And boxes really are the best toy for kids. They love climbing in and out of it and Landon always uses it to hide in. He even called it his "new house" a couple of times :)

Weigh in #10

2010-12-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

Well the Thanksgiving holiday is over and yes, I am ONE pound lighter. Finishing out a week where food is at the forefront of the festivities was a bit worrisome, but I knew I had done a fairly good job. Granted I wasn't the greatest at writing everything down, but I did keep a basic idea of the calories consumed and it helped. Eating at a restaurant was a different experience. We were originally going to go to the Golden Corral so we could pick and choose food for the kids easily, well we showed up and there was a HUGE line going out the door and there was no way we were going to make the kids stand out there with the cold wind for that long. So we tried another buffet style place called Ryans--and it only was a 10 minute wait so Ryans it was. It was actually very easy to make healthy food choices and yes I even saved room for pie with a small scoop of ice cream. Since it was just our little family I thought eating out actually worked well for us and the best part was there was not any clean up. I think a pound lost over Thanksgiving can be viewed as a success. I have now lost 10 pounds which is my halfway mark. So really I have lost about a pound per week which is not that bad, especially since there were about four weeks or so of me hovering at the same weight. Well hopefully I don't have to wait another 10 weeks to lose the last 1o pounds. Guess we shall have to wait and see.

Week 1 : lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Week 4: gained 1 lb

Week 5: lost 1.2 lbs

Week 6: gained 1.6 lbs

Week 7: lost .6 lbs

Week 8: lost 1 lb

Week 9: lost 2 lbs

Week 10: lost 1 lb

Total pounds lost: 10 lbs

Total pounds left: 10 lbs

Weigh in #9

2010-11-24T04:58:00.000-08:00

Finally! Success. I broke through that darn awful 7 pound barrier with a two pound weight loss this week. It felt really good and it came just in time too because if I stayed at that blasted 7 pounds lost I probably would have just thrown caution to the wind on Thanksgiving and enjoyed my favorite dessert, pie--and several pieces at that:) But this gives me the determination I need to try my darndest to shy away from those high calorie and fattening foods on one of, if not the most, food centered holidays of the year. And this year I have a plan. Since it is just my little family out here in Tennessee we are not going to cook the traditional Thanksgiving dinner because there will be leftovers and I don't want to be tempted. Besides, it's expensive and time consuming. We have opted to go out to eat, so we'll see how that goes.

What changed this week? Well I have recorded all the foods I ate and exercised to FIT TV once a day (ok, I did miss one day). It is just nice to see some results after being stagnate for a month.

Week 1 : lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Week 4: gained 1 lb

Week 5: lost 1.2 lbs

Week 6: gained 1.6 lbs

Week 7: lost .6 lbs

Week 8: lost 1 lb

Week 9: lost 2 lbs

Total pounds lost: 9 lbs

Total pounds left: 11 lbs

Turkey craft

2010-11-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

I've decided that during Katelyn's morning nap Landon and I will spend one on one time doing crafts, reading, and other various learning activities. Today we made a turkey in honor of Thanksgiving next week. I let him trace my hand, pick out the colors of the feathers and then help me glue them on. And he would NOT have a turkey without a hat--funny kid. He did great.

Weigh in #8

2010-11-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

So it wasn't great, but with life going how it did this week it is acceptable. Poor Katelyn has been running a fever for over a week and was miserable which meant she wanted to be held all day and night. I waited to take her into the doctors because she went in last Wednesday for her one year check up and the doctor said she was fine, it was just a cold. So she got two vaccinations and a flu shot, which may have triggered the fever. Well turns out my poor girl has had a double ear infection and a ruptured eardrum. She is feeling tons better since the ear drum ruptured but now has TONS of leakage. Gross. But at least life is returning to normal for her. So anyway, mom duties really came first most of this week so I wasn't expecting amazing results since I can't very well go to the gym with a sick child. So drum roll please....1 pound. I know! I just can't break through those SEVEN POUNDS. But this week is looking better as far as exercise goes b/c I know I can't take the kids to the gym with me with Katelyn on antibiotics but I have found an exercise video I will do at home. Now to find the time, maybe in the the early morning before Ben gets up for the day, or when Katelyn takes a morning nap and I entertain Landon somehow, or at night when the kids go to bed--we'll just have to see. Anyway thanks for sticking with me on the very SLOW process. HERE's hoping I can get past these seven pounds this week:)

Week 1 : lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Week 4: gained 1 lb

Week 5: lost 1.2 lbs

Week 6: gained 1.6 lbs

Week 7: lost .6 lbs

Week 8: lost 1 lb

Total pounds lost: 7 lbs

Total pounds left: 13 lbs

Finally a crib

2010-11-14T07:45:00.000-08:00

That's right. Our little girl turned one and we just barely got her in the crib. She has been sleeping in the portable playpen for a year b/c Landon didn't switch out of until a few months ago and we never got around to disassembling it to put it up in Katelyn's room. Ben and his dad got it already for her when they were out visiting and now she is sleeping in comfort:)

And Landon pushed the playpen into the entry way and wanted to play in there with his sister

But if he keeps doing things like this (finding the sunblock and putting it all over both himself and the floor) he may just find that the playpen will soon be his "time out" spot. If you click on the photo to make it bigger you can see how much of it he smeared on his legs.

Weigh in #6 and #7

2010-11-09T05:12:00.000-08:00

So with family here all last week I kept forgetting to get on the scale first thing in the morning until Friday or so, which is why I thought I'd just record last weeks with this weeks. It was disappointing anyway. I did a terrible job of watching what I ate and I never made it to work out. So I gained 1.5 lbs. Grrr, but very expected. So this week I actually made it to the gym twice for an hour and a half workout but two days doesn't help a ton. I was able to lose just 1/2 a pound. So my friends I am really disappointed in myself and feel like I should just quit this whole recording on the blog thing since I've been stuck at a 6 and 7 pound weight loss. Part of me is also feeling deflated b/c I found out the person who I fashioned my weight loss "goals" after, the one that I have been following on her blog, admitted that she hasn't been doing it alone after all and has been using Weight Watchers. I mean, it is good for her, she's met her 30 pound goal but I had thought it was just from her determination to be accountable on the blog and doing it on her own. So anyway, I KNOW it is possible to do it on my own, I just need to be committed to it and I think that commitment has wavered a lot these past few weeks.

SO THE NEW SHORT TERM GOAL IS:

* Drink 8 glasses of water

* Write down what I eat

* Exercise 5 days a week

So next weigh in should be interesting. If I don't lose weight my mind is obviously not in the game and I've got to figure out what I want most. And if I do loose some weight and break this darn cycle hopefully it will give me the motivation I need to get going on losing that 20 pounds!

Week 1 : lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Week 4: gained 1 lb

Week 5: lost 1.2 lbs

Week 6: gained 1.6 lbs

Week 7: lost .6 lbs

Total pounds lost: 6 lbs

Total pounds left: 14 lbs

Grandparent visit

2010-11-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, Grandma and Grandpa Davis came to town for a week and boy did our kids love it! Aunt Lindsie was able to come for the weekend which was double the fun for Landon and Katelyn. Here are just a few pictures of what we did that week.

Landon and Grandpa wrestled.

Aunt Lindsie and Landon rode the merry go round. (And he did awesome, not scared at all).

Mommy and Landon in the peek-a-boo hole in the Meerkat exhibit.

At the zoo. It was a bit chilly but still enjoyable.

Grandma and Landon made Rootbeer float cookies. Yum.

And Katelyn gave lots of cuddles since she had a bit of fever on and off during the visit, thanks to a cold and teething.

Thanks for coming. It was a great visit and now we just have to figure out when we'll make the trek out west.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, but we did have a fun trunk-or-treat a couple weeks beforehand that Katelyn and Landon got to dress up for. Landon is in love with Toy Story and wanted to be Buzz Lightyear (although he hated having the hood on) and Katelyn was our little pumpkin. Too Cute:)

He thinks he's pretty cool and loved pushing the red button on his sleeves.

Who's the fairest pumpkin of them all? Katelyn! Katelyn!

Happy first birthday!

2010-11-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

My little girl turned ONE on Oct. 30th. What?? Already???? One year went by so fast--even faster than Landon's first year. Why is it that on my kids' birthdays I want to cry and just hug them so darn close--they grow up so fast.

Seems like yesterday I was cradling her in arms like this

Now she's turning into a little girl and leaving the baby stage behind.

She wasn't to keen on getting dirty, but Landon grabbed a corner and showed her how.

Sharing with everyone

And so much happier to have the fork do the dirty work:)

Big brother Landon helped open the presents. Thanks to all who sent cards and presents.

And thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Davis and Aunt Lindsie for flying in to celebrate.

We Love you Katelyn Jane and are so blessed to have you in our lives. You are the most amazing little girl and the best little sister to Landon b/c you forgive him for the little bumps and bruises he gives you and continue to play with him. You love to be cuddled and always back up into our legs when you want held (darling). You make the funniest little lip-smacking noises and love to blow wet slobbery kisses and give high fives. You walk all over the place and are getting faster and faster. The outdoors is where you want to be. If the door opens and you don't get to go out you throw the biggest fit which makes us laugh because you always walk up to us and pull our pant legs and throw back your head and wail. Guess you want to make sure we are paying attention :) Stranger or no, you wave to everyone which puts a smile on their faces. Soon you will be parting ways with your binky, but I think you'll do ok without it since you are not overly attached to it:) Thank you Katelyn for a wonderful year and we just love to watch you grow.

Weather

2010-10-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share the view off of my deck when Lebanon's tornado sirens were going off on Tuesday. Creepy. Because we have satellite television my signal was not working so I didn't know how bad a storm it was until Ben called me from his office to tell me the city's tornado sirens were going off and all of the employees were being told to go to their "safe place." Luckily the storm passed by without any damage with only a a major wall cloud (as seen in bottom photo) and a few reports of a "funnel-like" cloud. It made me think back to the tornado that hit Murfreesboro when we lived there and I was reminded how powerful mother nature is and just how quickly devastation can occur. About an hour after this storm front passed my in-laws flew into the Nashville airport and amazingly they said they didn't have too much turbulence on the flight.

Weigh in #5

2010-10-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

Well I was able to lose the pound that I had gained. I'm not going to lie, I was hoping for a little more but downward is the right direction. I was able to make it to the gym Monday through Thursday but then sickness hit the kids and you can't take them to the gym's daycare if they have runny noses. BUT that should not have been an excuse not to workout because I should have found an exercise DVD or something to help me when I'm stuck in the house. If any of you have a good suggestion for a workout DVD let me know, thanks. I did however stick to eating fairly well. Of course there was that delicious pumpkin chocolate chip bread given to me from a friend in the ward--and it was still warm. YUM and more Yum. Oh yeah, and then there was the birthday cake that Ben's coworkers sent home with him--I probably could have been at least a couple ounces lighter if I had been a little stronger and not partaken of the butter cream goodness... But all and all my portion sizes were good and my food choices were alright. I just wish it was not so expensive to eat healthy:( This week is going to take a lot of determination because my amazing in-laws are going to be in town visiting for Katelyn's first birthday and anytime we have visitors from out of town there is a lot of eating out and eating not so good for you foods. AND not to mention there is a little holiday called Halloween which is pretty much all about the candy. So wish me luck!

Week 1 : lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Week 4: gained 1 lb

Week 5: lost 1.2 lbs

Total pounds lost: 7 lbs

Total pounds left: 13 lbs

Fall colors

2010-10-22T08:02:00.002-07:00

One of the great things about living in Tennessee is the awesome fall colors but unfortunately this year we had a really hot summer and early fall so we are not going to get a spectacular show of colors this year--but it is better than Idaho or Utah's I guess. There are some brightly colored trees around but they are surrounded by dead ones so you take the little flashes of color for what they are and smile that it is autumn.

Good old Shorter Road in front of our house.

I asked Landon to find me some pretty trees so he pointed them out to me:)

And just to show you how cute my little picture helper is.

Weigh in #4

2010-10-19T05:45:00.001-07:00

This is the week I dreaded. I have to post that I gained weight--one pound to be exact. Definitely not what I was going for. I do have to admit that coming off of a week of being sick and basically stuck on a liquid diet I did find it hard not to eat a little more than I should. Whether it was a handful of the kids animal crackers or an extra little bit at dinner, it was hard for me to say no since I'd been in starvation mode for so long and just wanted to EAT! Therefore I guess it's not that strange that the scale went up a pound. I should be glad it was so little :) This will just be more motivation for me to get that number down for next week. Secretly I had hopes to loose 10 lbs by Katelyn's first birthday, now just a week and a half away. I doubt that will happen now as I have four pounds still to go but I can try to get as close as I can to it. Thinking positive, right?

On a high note, guess who ran a whole mile without stopping yesterday at the gym? ME! It may or may not have taken me 12 minutes :) but I DID DO IT! I haven't run a mile since getting pregnant with Landon--so that's like three years ago.

Week 1 : lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Week 4: gained 1 lb

Total pounds lost: 5.8 lbs

Total pounds left: 14.2 lbs

October fun

2010-10-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

Due to budget concerns we decided to fore go the excursion to a pumpkin patch and go to the local park instead. You just can't beat free--and really the kids had as much or more fun just roaming the huge playground for an hour here in Lebanon. The parks and recreation department had just repaired and painted it so it was in pristine shape for our kiddos to wreck their havoc upon.

Cheesing it for the camera

Little sis and big brother

Who would have thought a bunch of tires could look cute?

Figuring out the net

And cuteness in a swing

It really is fun for us to watch the kids play. Landon always finds kids to follow after, hardly ever saying a word but oh so happy just to be with them. And Katelyn is much more adventurous than Landon was and squeals with delight (not terror) on the swings.

Weigh in #3

2010-10-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

This week was an interesting one b/c for most of the week I was too sick to really eat and drink much thanks to strep throat. That also meant that I didn't get any exercise in. My diet consisted of yogurt, pudding, soup, stuffing and applesauce. I started to feel better and able to eat normal foods on Monday so I weighed myself that morning and then weighed myself today just to see if my body would stabilize once I started eating normally -and it did b/c I gained back a half pound in just one day (and even that day I didn't eat too much). So hopefully the weight I record today is one I can whittle away at rather than see my body weight increase due to overcoming dehydration or anything like that.

Week 1: lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Week 3: lost 2.2 lbs

Total pounds lost: 6.8 lbs

Total pounds left: 13.2 lbs

Obviously this is not the "get thin quick" plan, you know the ones that say drink this for a week and you'll lose 10 or 20 lbs--but it is a maintainable diet/lifestyle that I can keep doing without burning out. (At least not yet). And here's a positive spin on it--just think that three weeks ago I weighed almost seven pounds more than I do now!

A hiking we will go!

2010-10-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

In between conference sessions we decided to go enjoy the great outdoors. We went to the Cedars of Lebanon state park which is just 10 minutes from us. It's really just a whole bunch of woods with a few walking trails, a pool, camp grounds and playgrounds. We started off easy with just a half mile hike, which was a good thing because we didn't have the baby snuggli so we carried Katelyn the whole way. The kids had a blast. Landon loved walking on his own and even stopped every once in awhile just to look at things. It's a fun little park to have just next door.

Birthday and Weigh in #2

2010-10-05T05:35:00.001-07:00

I know you are all awaiting my second weigh in (said with sarcasm) , But first things first. My amazing husband just turned 27! He was able to get off work a tad bit early so we could go shopping for a kitchen table (still looking) and go out to eat. But his "multitasking" wife happened to forget the birthday coupon to eat where we wanted to so we settled on a quick trip to CiCi's and we'll just have to have his b-day dinner on Saturday. We love you, Ben. You are the best dad and husband anyone could ask for and you are the best looking 27-year-old around:)

The kids and I made this hand print canvas art for Ben's office so he can have something hanging on the walls. (FYI, It's really hard getting an 11month old to do this). Happy Birthday!

Now onto Weigh in #2

Week 1: lost 3.6 lbs

Week 2: lost 1 lb

Total pounds lost: 4.6 lbs

Total left: 15.4 lbs

I would be just a tiny bit disappointed with only one pound since I started throwing in a little bit of exercise this past week, but truth be told, I weighed myself just one day after my last weigh in (which should be a no no, and found I went up one whole pound!) So I was kind of freaking out that I'd have to report a weight gain or no weight loss--so one pound is great for me:) The most important thing to remember is that the body fluctuates so I am going to try and only do a mid-week weight check and then the actual weigh in. Anyway, 4.6 lbs in two weeks is not that shabby.

Company Party

2010-10-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun at Ben's company party on Saturday. It was like a mini carnival and Landon was in love with all the toys. He is usually quite timid and afraid of trying new things but he really shocked us by doing everything without hesitation. Katelyn sat well in her umbrella stroller but we did let her out to roam around for a bit. To her a grassy patch was as much fun as all the toys. Ben has enjoyed working for Cracker Barrel thus far and this party allowed him to introduce me to his team so I now can put faces and names together.

This first thing he did was ride a pony-and this was his look for the first little while. Guess he was concentrating very hard.

But by the end of the ride he was having fun.

Ben and Landon playing a little golf. I foresee lots of father and son golfing in the future.

The choo choo train. He loves anything that has to do with trains.

And YES we got him on the ferris wheel. We thought he'd freak but he had a blast. It was actually Kyra who got butterflies on the first loop :)

Mommy with her girlie girl playing on the grass while Dad and Landon were on the big toys. (Notice that the lines under Mom's eyes and Katelyn's--guess its genetic)

So cute. Landon's favorite was the little jumping blow up toy. We let Katelyn try it, but that didn't last too long because it looked like a 90 lbs 5 year old was about to clobber her.

Weigh in- taking control

2010-09-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

So I've been talking about getting serious about loosing all the baby weight ever since Katelyn was born--and guess what, she's turning one in a month! No more excuses. That is why I have decided to post weekly weigh ins on the blog so that I have a bit of accountability. I am setting a goal of 20 pounds because I don't want to set a huge goal and get discouraged at how long it is taking and quit. So after 20 pounds I'll hopefully set another goal of 10 pounds to reach my "ideal" weight. Obviously I know I won't reach what I was in college, but I've had two kids and accept that.

The Plan:

I am doing a "lifestyle" change rather than a diet b/c lets face it, diets suck! I read up on what is called the Volumetrics plan which calculates "energy density" or concentration of calories in each portion of food, so that a person fills up on fewer calories. Ex. A bowl of soup is much better than a handful of Wheat Thins and it fills you up for longer. So anyway, I am loosely following that and just simply choosing better food options. And I also plan to throw exercising in. I had been walking two to three miles every other day or more with the kids at the park but a couple weeks ago I sliced my toe open and have had to wait for it to heal. So exercising will, slowly but surely, make its way back into the regimen. But I must say, even though I had been exercising before I wasn't loosing weight which goes to show how important a persons diet is.

Week 1: 3.6 lbs

Total left: 16.4 lbs

Not too bad for the first week. Now I just need to keep going, and yes I realize that the first week will probably be higher than most of the weeks so I am going to be happy as long as the numbers keep going down. Wish me luck.

Fun with a bowl

2010-09-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

Evidently my children think that cereal bowls should be worn on their heads. I walked in from rinsing out a bottle and this is what I found.
Aren't they cute? It might just be the new fashion trend.

The sun hat

2010-09-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why these photos are smaller, but click on them to make them larger if you want.

I wanted to get a picture of Katelyn in her cute sun hat, and Landon was not about to be left out so he tracked down his baseball cap and joined the picture. Don't I have a cute family?!!

This hat was totally worth the $6 because every time she wore it people would always say how cute she was in it and they loved the hat. But alas, it's a 9 month hat so she has outgrown it so hence the pictures so she can see how cute she looked in it someday.

little girl walking

2010-09-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Katelyn started walking the week she turned 10 months old--just like her brother. I have a feeling these two are going to be competing with each other a lot in the future:) She still mostly crawls but she has fun getting up and walking for a bit too. Landon saw us giving her all this attention and he too started "walking" to mommy and daddy, making sure to fall down and look at us and then get back up. So funny:)

Lots of pics of Louisville trip

2010-09-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Cold DID NOT ruin our vacation!!!! But we were prepared and very well medicated:)

Anyway... For Labor Day weekend we packed up the kids and headed to Louisville, Ky. We had so much fun there, it is one of our favorite cities we have visited since living in Tennessee. Landon's favorite was the Children's Science Museum. He had so much fun running around and touching things. I think he was shocked we didn't keep yelling at him to stop--ahh the freedom. Ben loved the Louisville Slugger Museum and was able to hold what would become the future bats for famous baseball people such as Ryan McCann and Alex Rodriguez. The Zoo was a lot of fun, and we actually liked it more than the Nashville one. We had such a great time and decided it would be a fun place to visit again.

Fun at the fair

2010-08-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the Wilson County Fair which is held right here in our little town of Lebanon. Evidently it is among the 50 best county fairs in the nation--guess that's cool. It was much better than the Tennessee State Fair we went to last year. This year we had problems with rain and the fair had to close one of the days, but luckily we made it and were able to spend a couple hours walking around with the kiddos.

We finally took Landon out of the stroller and let him go to the petting zoo. I wish I had a picture, but he screamed like a little girl when the piglets swarmed him. Luckily he did ok in with the chickens. He didn't want to hold them but this 4H girl pretty much made him. Love his look of "Ok, take it away now."

The kids liked to watch the ferris wheel go round.

And this is as close as they got to real livestock! Although we did watch a sheepherding dog round up some cattle. Landon started barking as soon as he saw the dog enter the pen (Some of the older farmers that were watching gave me the evil eye to shut my child up before he interfered with the dog.)

And we ended on a high note--yummy fried fair food and a chocolate dipped cheesecake (which you can see in this picture Landon was eying pretty darn hard--I'd guess you'd call it mouthwatering:)

Trouble they get into

2010-08-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes they play nice...but

it doesn't end up very well, like when Katelyn took a rugby ball to the head!

This is her consolation prize, the ball and Landon's sippy cup (which he begrudgingly gave her to stop her from wailing).

But sometimes she can hold her own! Landon was a bit surprised.

But she still can be her own worse enemy...

Ben and I had a good laugh and got the camera out AND THEN picked up our wailing daughter--so maybe we didn't win parents of the year that day:)

Just because!

2010-07-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

With Ben and Katelyn in Utah for the weekend Landon and I have had a lot of one on one time. I haven't really gotten to be alone with him since Katelyn was born. which is strange when I think about how for 18 months it was just me and this little guy home all day!

He is just the cutest son. Ben and I love him so much.

In these following pics he was making faces.

Sad

Do I have too.

Stop it!

And I'm gonna eat you!

And now just a couple shots with his toys. It sure doesn't take long for him to make a disaster out of the playroom--and the house for that matter.

He is our little blue-eyed blondie and he is growing so fast. He is so quick too. If he decides he wants to get away he is almost impossible to catch! I found that out in a store not so long ago:( He is loving the ABC song and mumbles it all the time. He also loves to count, but it goes like One, Two, Two, One, Two...and so on! Oh, and his big thing right now is acting like a dog. The other day at the grocery store he started barking if anyone came near the cart--yes it was hilarious, but embarrassing too. It dawned on me the other day that we haven't called him Bubba in probably over a year--guess his baby days are over. But he is still our Little Man Landos!

Little girl playing

2010-07-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

I grabbed a quick shot of my little girl playing, but all she wanted to do was run after the camera so I had to take pictures fast. Katelyn is just amazing and is growing so fast. I can't believe she's almost nine months old. She and Landon play together more and more, and even play wrestle one another, although it usually ends badly for her. Enjoy the pics.

What a scholar--reading a torn out page (thanks to older brother Landon) of the Little Engine that Could.

Doesn't this want to make you reach out and pick her up:)

The Fourth of July weekend

2010-07-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

It has been wonderful having Ben home for three days. Since he's a true working man now he only gets to spend a few hours every evening with us and we're just not use to that :(, so we made the most of the Fourth of July weekend. First up was the Nashville Zoo. We decided to get the membership so we can go all year round. Next time I'll try and get pics of the animals too, I just snapped shots of my own two monkeys.

Katelyn got lots of "Ain't she cute" comments with her orange sun hat.

Here Landon is pointing out the elephants to his daddy. I think they were his favorite.

And here they are holding hands in our "new" double stroller. They love sitting next to each other and somehow Katelyn always ends up slouched against Landon.

Next is the Fourth of July "fireworks" we did in our backyard. We let Landon throw those little snaps on the drive way and he loved it. Then Ben lit a couple shooting fireworks and spinners.

Can you tell which of our children is the scardy cat? Good thing he has sissy to protect him:) She loved the fireworks up until the very end when there was a loud boom.

Landon was excited to see what was inside the box.

And Little Miss Katelyn Jane showing off her balancing skills.

And the last activity of the week was when Mommy got to take Landon to watch the new Toy Story 3 movie, while Katelyn and Daddy got some downtime at home.

His 3D glasses that we ended up not using since we decided to go to the 2D one instead so he wouldn't have to try and keep those on during the movie. He did really well except for a few minutes in the middle of the movie when he got antsy and wanted to walk around. The poor kid had to sit on my lap the whole time because the seat kept flipping up on him when he tried to sit by himself.

And evidently the movie took it out of him, because for the first time (except a couple times when he was a tiny baby) he fell asleep on the floor.

Anyway, Happy Fourth of July. Thank you for those of you who have and/or are protecting this great country.

Pulling up

2010-06-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Things are changing in the Davis home. Mainly because our little girl has decided she wants a new vantage point.

She use to sit...

But can now be found standing all the time!

One day she pulled herself up on the couch, and now she pulls herself up on anything she can. She's so funny to watch "walk" back and forth along the couch. Guess my baby is growing up!

sleep what?

2010-06-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

He may look darling in this photo below, (and he is), but this little guy has thrown us for a heck of a loop in the sleep department lately. I guess we were due for it since Katelyn has been sleeping soundly through the night for a couple months now--can't get too use to a full eight hours of sleep when you're a parent:).It has just been so strange but for a week or so he was refusing to take a nap in his crib. I tried everything--even let him cry for an hour and a half, but nothing worked. So finally, I said "Okay, no nap." And he didn't have one for a couple days and then all the sudden he fell asleep on the couch--he's never once fallen asleep anywhere but his crib for over a year now (except a carseat) so I was shocked to find him asleep during his "Dora the Explorer" cartoon. He slept, and slept, and slept (over TWO hours).
Well anyway, so I decided he can take his nap on the couch if he wants, but then he didn't want to sleep in is crib at night. He cried THREE hours before falling asleep in his crib (the night before Father's Day--so he was a cranky mean mess for Ben's special day). So anyway, we decided we'd give him stuffed animals in his crib to play with and make a big deal of what a big boy he is if he sleeps in his crib and that if he does well he'll get to go play ball outside the next day. It's worked for two nights so our fingers are crossed that we've found our solution. And guess what's next--transitioning to a toddler bed. Ha, ha.

Pictures of the new home

2010-06-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well here is the long awaited post that allows you to see our new home. It's taken awhile to get things put away, and as you'll see in some of the photos, we are still not done.

Front (you can see the sloped yard)

Back (notice the covered deck)

View from the deck (You can see why we bought a riding lawn mower)

Utility/Laundry/Food Storage room

The old kitchen (complete with 1970's stove that doesn't work well)

The Playroom/computer room (This is my favorite part of the house because it contains the toys to one area--mostly).

Family room

Bathroom (with original tile work that is actually still in good condition)

Guest Bedroom ( the boxes will be placed elsewhere--and there is a little bathroom connected to it so no more sharing a room or bathroom with grandkids when you come for a visit)

Katelyn's room (As soon as we set up Landon's toddler bed she'll get the crib)

Landon's room (Notice the foam carpet squares in both kid's room, that's because rugs are so expensive and we thought theses would be fun)

Our room. We still have to find places for several of these bins but eventually all will be put away. And really, we're just excited that both kids get their own rooms because they sleep so much better at night which means we do too!

Anyway, this is our new rental home on 2 acres in the country. Yay, Lebanon, Tennessee--home sweet home-- for now anyway.

Keeping me busy

2010-06-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

I spend an awful lot of time with these kiddos and sometimes cute little photo ops present themselves. They are starting to interact a lot more with each other. Sometimes I can leave them in the playroom for a half hour and they are just fine handing toys back and forth to each other.

They often share a chair in the morning when watching a cartoon.

This makes me laugh because it looks like Katelyn took her own photo.

Here she's showing off her balance. She can now go from her tummy to a sitting position.

And here is Lando's chilling with his momma's pink shades. (Note to self: Take the sunglasses off your two year old before you put your camera away---then you still might have them intact.)

Shake it!

2010-06-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

This clip is to tide you over until we get around to our post of the new home (rental in the country) to see where we are living. I just love that Katelyn will shake her head back and forth when you ask her to! She also jumps up and down on your lap when you whistle. Such a cutie, even with her front teeth coming in she's a doll (might have something to do with the teething medicine she gets:)

What to do when your car breaks down?

2010-05-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

About a week ago we were in Nashville looking at possible homes to rent and after a quick stop at Walmart to get lunch the car decided not to start. :( Not exactly fun, especially when you have two little kids in the car. Luckily we were directed to a Firestone Tire place about a quarter-mile away, so we loaded the kids up in the strollers and went for a walk. The guy at the store was nice enough to drive Ben back to the car and jump start it. Once they got it there they found out it was the alternator and battery that died and we were told it would take a couple hours to fix. So, what do you do in a tiny tire store for that long---I have no idea, that's why we walked right on back to Walmart. The pictures were taken there. I loved that Katelyn would sleep only when we were walking outside (probably because she kept her eyes closed to keep out the sun) but would wake up as soon as we entered a building.

"Hi, Mommy. What's that little shiny thing you are holding up?"

Landon finally crashed after a long, long day of looking at houses, being stuck in the car and walking aimlessly around Walmart.

Anyway, the car was fixed for about $500 and we made our way back home. We're just glad the car lasted us through graduate school. Our fingers are crossed it will last a couple more years...guess we'll see.

Monkey see, monkey do

2010-05-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

Landon has always been a little afraid of the vacuum and watches it from the couch in my lap. So I was surprised that lately he's gotten kind of brave and waits for Ben to pass by and then jumps down and grabs his own vacuum and follows his daddy around.

Here Daddy lets Landon try the big one (turned off of course).

He's got a Master's

2010-05-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

We did it...well, Ben did. He graduated with his Master's Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology! I'm so very proud of him. Not only was he the only married student among his classmates, but he was the only daddy too. AND SOMEHOW HE STILL GOT GREAT GRADES!

I found a babysitter and actually made it to watch his graduation ceremony. I was so proud watching him walk across the stage. That's MY man:)

Here he is holding his diploma case (the real deal comes in a couple weeks).

Now we just need to find a job. But at least the school part is over and done with. Good job, honey!

Four years!

2010-05-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

It has been a fun filled four years since we said "I DO." We have come so very far. Ben has gotten both his undergrad and graduate degree, we've had two beautiful kids and are now looking forward to our next adventure which is the wonderful world of corporate America (we just have to see where Ben gets hired). It was so hard to find a photo of just the two of us that I just decided to take a new one self-portrait style. We may be a little older, and a little (o.k. a lot) heavier, but we sure are happy. AND the best part is we have an eternity to go. Happy Anniversary to us..oh, yeah, and happy Cinco de Mayo.

Photos of Katelyn

2010-04-24T13:21:00.001-07:00

I took this about a month ago and just now got around to putting them up. I wanted pictures of Katelyn at 5 months because that's when I actually took the time to set up a "photo shoot" for Landon and I wanted to have comparisons. These are just a few of the photos, I put a slideshow to the right, next to Landon's 5 months so you can see both together. They look alike but, I always joke that it looks like she ate Landon because she's just so much chunkier than he was. For you grandparents out there I still need to lighten some pictures up in photoshop so I'll be sending a cd to you soon. Oh, and there is one pic of Landon because I just had to include such a handsome boy.