First Christmas

Well Christmas has come and gone and it was sooo much fun. Even though Landon is still too little to know what is going on or truly enjoy Christmas it was very different for Stephen and I. It was fun to buy him presents and open them for him on Christmas. He smiled at some of his new things and I know will love to play with them soon.

We went to church and my Grandpa Batliners on Christmas Eve and had a great dinner and enjoyed time with family. Landon got his first basketball hoop and I am sure Stephen will love teaching him how to play in a few months. Here are some pictures of Christmas eve.




Ready to go to church


What a cute Family!


All 7 grandchildren


Mallory and Landon

Then on Christmas we woke up and opened presents at our house before going to my parents. It was lots of fun and I am excited for the years to come and watching him open his own presents. Here are some pictures of his Christmas morning!


"I'm ready for presents mom!"


"This is so much fun"


Time for a nap!

Then we went to my parents house for dinner and gifts with them. Everyone was there and it was lots of fun. Landon got so many new toys, books, his very own suitcase, a bath robe and bath toys and much more! He is a very loved little boy.


Daddy and Landon


Family Picture

Then on Sunday we went back to my parents house to see my cosine Michael who is in for Boston. We ate dinner and played games and it was lots of fun.



He looks like such a little man here


Alexis and Landon


Elizabeth loves her baby cousin

We are looking forward to another party on New Years Eve and then on Friday we leave for West Virginia to see Stephens family. I am a little nervous about flying and traveling with a little one but I am sure everything will be fine. We are excited to see our family and introduce Landon to lots of new people that love him.

December

I am sorry it has been such a long time since I have posted. December was such a busy month and it went by so fast. Landon is growing so much and changing every day. He smiles all the time, and is such a happy baby. I love every day that I get to spend with him and I am so thankful God gave him to us. It is so awesome to see Stephen with him, he is such a great dad. The other day, it melted my heart when I heard him tell Landon that his favorite thing is when he smiles. Stephen loves to talk to him and make his smile and coo at him.

We have had such a great month and we have done so many things. It is hard to know where to start but here are some of the things we have been up to.

Landon has spent a great deal of time learning how to shop and let me tell you he is a great shopper. Mom and I have taken him on several trips to the mall and he has always been perfect. Here is a picture of him in his stroller at the mall.



We have also had many holiday dinners and parties. Below are some pictures of our annual progressive dinner. This year we started and Chris and Tara's house for appetizers, then headed to Travis' for soup and salad before going to Matt and Erin's for dinner and ending at our house for dessert and gifts. It was so much fun to have all 7 grandchildren together and here are some pictures of the festivities.


Uncle Chris and Charlie


Paisley (Travis and Natalie's Dog)


Jason and Jenny


Landon being very serious


All the grandchildren with Baba and Papa


Papa, Landon, Baba and Charlie


Uncle Chris and Landon


The kids enjoying dessert


We also had our annual Christmas dinner on the plaza, this year we went to Plaza III and it was very good. Below are some pictures from that evening.


Mallory and Tyler


Chris, Tara, Alexis, Mallory, Ellie and Tyler


Landon with daddy

As you can see we have been very busy and having lots of fun with our little man. I put a few more pictures of him over the past month so you can see how much he has grown. We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to come.

2 Months

I took Landon to the doctor the other day for his two month check up and immunizations. The Dr. said he is doing very good, he is holding his head up great, smiling, cooing, and of course growing.

He weighed 12 Lbs 1 Oz and he is 23 1/2 inches long.

He did great with his shots. After crying for just a second he was smiling again. He is such a champ and we are so lucky he is such a good happy baby!

Christmas pictures coming soon!

New Adventures

Landon is growing so fast. He is starting to smile and coo and develop his own little personality. I love every bit of it, he is so much fun and everyday he gets a little cuter, but I may be bias.

This week I decided it was time to get some of Landon's toys out. He loves his play mat, he likes to lay on it and look at the toys hanging above him. Then today I decided to get out the Bumbo seat and see if he liked to sit in it. Well I must say it is the cutest thing ever to see him sitting in his own seat. He loved it and he was fascinated with the TV just like his dad. He also found his thumb this week and decided that if I wouldn't give him his pacifier then he would just use his thumb instead. Like I said everyday is an adventure and I think the fun has just begun. Here are some pictures of the week.



Smiles for Mommy!


enoying his new play mat


Tummy time


Who needs a pacifier when you have thumbs?

Watching TV in his Bumbo seat

First Thanksgiving

Landon, Stephen and I had a great first Thanksgiving. We spent the day at my moms and ate a great meal with family. It was so nice to have our baby boy with us and to share him with people that had not had a chance to meet him. He is such a beautiful joy in our lives and we are so blessed to have him. In the past I have been thankful for a lot but this year just feels so different. After a great day on Thursday Stephens mom came in town on Friday and we headed to Branson. We spent all day Saturday at Silver Dollar City and it was so much fun. We rode rides with my nieces, shopped, and enjoyed all the beautiful lights. Landon even got to see Santa for the first time! Then Sunday Teresa, my mom, Landon and I spent the day at home resting and relaxing while Stephen and my dad went fishing.

It was a busy few days but we had such a great time and now have some great memories of Landon's first Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures of our weekend!


Our First Thanksgiving


Family photo at Silver Dollar City


Huge Christmas Tree


Landon was such a good boy all day at SDC!

1 month

I can not believe Landon is a month old already. He is such a joy and although he keeps me very busy it is so much fun. He is a very happy baby that loves to be held and talked to. He will look at me and listen to me talk for such a long time and I love it.

We had a good time at our concert on Thursday and Landon was very good for my mom. It was amazing how much I missed him and I can not imagine going back to work and being away from him for 13 hours :(

Then on Friday we went out to dinner with my family for my sister-in-laws birthday and then to my nieces soccer and basketball game. On Saturday Landon's best friend had her first birthday party! It was lots of fun to celebrate with Mackenzie! We then went shopping and out to dinner just the three of us. Landon was very good and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. Sunday Landon and I spent the day at my parents house for a shopping party and then Stephen came over after the party for dinner.

After a busy weekend we are laying low at home today. Another busy week and weekend to come. We are taking Landon to Branson this weekend for the first time. He will be spending many weekends there in the future so hopefully he loves it as much as we do.

On a different note, I wanted to share our proofs with you from Landon's newborn pictures so here is how you can view them.

Go to www.only-young-once.com
click on enter full screen
in the right hand top corner click on client proofs
at the bottom right there is a place for a password and it is ashley_L
then click on the newborn gallery to view all the pictures.

We think there are several very cute ones so we hope you enjoy them.

Also here are a couple pictures I took last week.

A Day of Firsts!

Well on Sunday Landon had many firsts. We took him to church for the first time. Our pastor said a nice prayer for him and it was great to be back. Of course during the silent prayer was when Landon decided he needed to try to poop and let me tell you he is not a quiet pooper. But overall he was very good.

Stephen and I are going out on Thursday, we have tickets to a concert and so Landon will be spending the evening with my mom. We figure he will probably need a bottle so we wanted to try one before Thursday. So after church we decided to thaw some breast milk and give Landon his first bottle. He did very well, he drank the bottle and then he still nursed great the rest of the day. I was a little worried that after the bottle he would not want to nurse but it did not seem to make a difference.

After his bottle he was wide awake and so we decided to give him his first real bath. His cord fell off on Friday so we were able to put him in the water instead of just a sponge bath. He loved the warm water and did not cry at all. It was lots of fun.

Here are some pictures of the fun!




Tucker and Tanner thought they needed to be involved!

I want to be an Astronaut!

I thought this outfit was very cute and I had to take a few pictures. I don't think Landon was a fan of the idea and he seemed much happier once I turned off the flash. Anyway I thought the pictures were very funny and I hope you enjoy!

3 Weeks

Well our little man is 3 weeks old today and it is hard to believe how fast time goes. I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted but life is very different with a newborn! I feel like I don't have time in my day to do anything except take care of Landon. I can't believe how busy he keeps me.

Since it has been so long since I have posted here is what has been going on, last weekend Stephen and I took Landon to the Plaza for the first time. It was really our first major outing with Landon. We left right after he ate, went to a few stores and then Stephen and I ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and Landon slept in his stroller. We returned home after that just in time for him to eat again. It was lots of fun to get out and enjoy some time as a family.

On Monday we had his newborn pictures taken and man was that an experience. He did not want to go to sleep and he hated being naked. We spent most of the time trying to calm him and get him to fall asleep. We did not have much luck and hopefully she was able to capture a few good pictures. It is so hard at this age to get good pictures of him. We should have the proofs in about a week so we shall see.

He is changing so much, he stays awake a lot more now and sometimes does not know what to do with himself. He started the last few days spitting up a lot more and getting more fussy after feeding, I think he has a little reflex going on. I hate to hear him cry but it is so hard when you can't do anything to make him stop. When he cries because he just wants to be held that is one thing, but when you are holding him, he has a clean diaper and a full belly and he is still screaming that is when it is really hard.

Taking care of a newborn full time is definitely hard and we have good days and bad days. I am still recovering and having some issues with pain from my c-section but things seem to get better everyday. Hopefully I will be fully recovered soon and that will make things a little easier.

Landon and I had a good day today, Stephen is home now and we are going to have a quite evening at home watching the WVU game. We are planning on going back to church on Sunday. Hopefully we can have a good night and get up and ready to be out the door by 8:50 but that is a lot to ask so we shall see.

Hope everyone is doing well. I don't have many new pictures but here are a few from this week.