A Year to Remember

This has probably been the fastest year in my life! Once I had Cannon, time froze for me. I feel like we just got out of summer. That's probably why I was completely unprepared for Christmas this year. I can't believe it's 2010! I'm not ready to start a new year, or a new decade! Ryan likes to remind over and over again that I will be turning 30 this year. Ugh. Granted, I have until December, but it's still THIS year. Actually, we never really got to celebrate my birthday. Ryan got really sick on my birthday and it lasted for four days. I have never seen him so sick and he doesn't ever remember being that sick. Once that was over, then it was Christmas. Oh well. We are going to celebrate our anniversary this week anyway. I was in freak out mode for my birthday this year. The last time I did this was when I turned 22 and I felt like I hadn't accomplished all that I wanted to. So I don't know what the problem is this time. I'm finished with school, I'm married, and have a kid. Time just goes by so fast. I feel like I just got out of high school a few years ago. I used to look at people in their 30's and think that they were real grown ups and that they had they act together. But I'm not really a real grown up! I'm just faking it!

Anyway, this was probably the biggest year of my life, next to getting married. I have to say that being married was an easier adjustment than having a baby, but what an amazing blessing!

Here's the decade in review:


I moved to Austin in July 2001. This picture was actually taken in 2005, but I thought it was a cute one of my dad and me.


I caught the record rainbow trout that summer (2001, I think) at Diamond Lake Oregon.


I became a nanny in 2002 for Cade and Carl.


I made new friends. I am the Spartan cheerleader down in front.


I babysat Sydney, the wallaby, for a few weeks at my house.
I went to UT (University of Texas), graduated, then went back, and then graduated again in 2007. I have pictures from my undergrad ceremony, but I can't find them. I didn't attend my other graduation.


I met Ryan in 2002, but we were just friends. We went on our first date in 2005 and got married in 2006.

I have lots of regular photos, but I don't feel like scanning them. We also lost a lot of pictures when Ryan's lap top died.

Here's some highlights from this year:


This is Christmas last year (2007). Look at my little baby belly. We had just found out that Cannon was a boy.


Ryan grew a mustache.


Blue became part of our family in March. She was a spur-of-the-moment idea and Ryan brought her home in his backpack.


Here are the "four" grandkids at my baby shower. We will welcome two more in the next couple months!


Then we got our baby! A little early, but the timing ended up being perfect!


This is our first family photo.


Ryan grew a beard.


After eight flights and six hours in the car (round trip), Cannon went to Utah twice and Idaho once. He also got to meet his new cousin, Kennedi.


Oh how I love to watch this baby grow!





This list could be a hundred times longer! We have had many great adventures this year and we're looking forward to all the new ones this year.

Christmas

I have to say that Christmas is SO much more fun when you have a kid! Ryan and I were so excited for Cannon. I actually wouldn't have cared if I didn't get anything, because it was so fun getting things for Cannon. He was into it too. We sat him on the floor and put all the presents around him and let him open them. He enjoyed tearing the paper from the first couple of gifts, but then he lost interest. Blue was excited to play in all the wrapping paper. We got a few things for her to open too. I got Ryan a soft serve ice cream maker. He loves soft serve, so he was pretty excited. Ryan got me an Electrolux cordless vacuum. It's nice because it's small and lightweight so it's perfect for doing a quick vacuum in the kitchen or entry way. I prefer to vacuum the kitchen rather than sweeping it.

After we finished up at home, we headed over to see my dad and my sister. My dad was super excited for Cannon to open his presents! We all got our stockings and took turns opening our gifts. Usually we go one at a time, but we let Cannon do all his first so he could take a nap. He got lots of toys and clothes from my dad and my sister, but the big gift was the bike! My dad got Cannon a tricycle, but it has sides and straps so that older infants can go in it too. And it has a handle on the back so you can push him. Then when his feet reach the pedals, you can take off the safety sides and handle so he can do it himself. My dad put it together and we took Cannon for a little walk. It was cute because he immediately held onto the handle bars, but then he just chilled.

We stayed at my dad's for awhile and then we went to Ryan's parent's house. It's nice that we all live about 5 minutes from each other, it's makes it so easy. Ryan got a new suit and I got a deep freezer. We waited for Rob and Bev and the kids to get there so we could open the presents together. And we had Kylene and Jeff on skype so they could be part of the fun. It took a really long time to open all the presents, but it was fun to see what everyone got. Overall, Cannon got lots of outfits, pajamas, and toys!

We had a great Christmas! I can't wait until next year when Cannon is older!


I think his favorite thing was the string on the present.






Blue opening her bone.


Blue going to hide her bone.


My dad and Cannon.


Cannon's new train set.


Cannon opening his tricycle.


He loved riding on his bike!


On a side note, I was contemplating the real reason we celebrate Christmas. I'm not usually one to be sentimental on my blog, but I thought I would share this. I teach the five-year-olds at church and a couple weeks ago we sang the song He Sent His Son. I learned this song when I was a kid, but this time the words really hit me and I began to appreciate the beauty of this simple message. It's probably because I have a baby now and my understanding of things are deeper. Here are the words to the song and if you want to listen to it, click HERE.

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.

How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?
He sent his Son to walk with men on earth that we may know.

How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?
He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.

What does the Father ask of us?
What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like his Son,
Help others on their way.

What does he ask?
Live like his Son.

The Christmas Gift

We had a really nice Christmas this year, especially now that we have Cannon. I will blog about the details later, but I first wanted to post this video for Ryan's mom's family in New Jersey. Each family got one book of Nana and Grandpa Landolfo filled with pictures of them and all the kids and grandkids and great-grandkids throughout the years. It was also neat because each page had one of Nana's famous Italian recipes! This was a really special gift that meant a lot to everyone. I was never able to meet Ryan's grandparents before they passed away. But I look forward for Cannon and I to meet everyone else in New Jersey one day! I love family history, so I will cherish this book and hopefully have success with some of the recipes. Afterward, we went through the book with Toni and she told us who everyone is, so that was fun for me. Cannon still has lots of relatives to meet! So thank you Aunt Meg and Lisa for this wonderful gift!

8 months old today!

Time has been going by so fast, especially these last few months! Cannon is such a delight and brings so much joy to everyone he meets. My favorite thing he does right now is give hugs. He's been doing it for about a month now, but it never gets old. He wraps his arms around your neck and squeezes really tight! It just makes you feel so good. Stranger anxiety hasn't hit him yet, but there will be times when he wants to come to me when Ryan is holding him. There were a couple times last week when I handed Cannon to Ryan and I walked out of the room. Cannon started to scream! It's funny because he used to be such a daddy's boy. But I have noticed him preferring me to do certain things, like feed him. Cannon also loves his uncles and his grandpas. He LOVES his Uncle Robert (Ryan's brother). He always reaches out for him! It's fun to see him recognize other family members. He also LOVES my sister Shae. He lights up whenever she comes over. Of course, Blue is the one that makes him laugh the hardest.

Cannon is not even close to crawling! For some reason I knew that he was going to be a late crawler and late walker. I knew this when he was just born. But this fits with his personality. He is a very laid back baby (people at church comment on this all the time). He is content to sit and play with his toys or roll around when he wants to. Sometimes he will just roll around the room without playing with toys. He likes to look around and take notice of things. I put the humidifier in his room the other day, and he immediately knew it was something different. He kept staring at it. He will still lay in his crib and look at his mobile! He is also obsessed with pulling off his socks and eating them.

He has learned to hold his bottle. I don't know how he did this because I don't give him a bottle very often. I guess he learned it from holding his sippy cup. He continues to be a good eater. If you don't feed him fast enough then he will grab the spoon from you. So I now try to give him his own spoon. It will definitely be easy to transition him from baby food to regular food because he loves textures and loves to chew. I will give him pieces of what we are eating if it's something he can have. He especially loves meat! I let him try brisket a couple weeks ago, so now he's a true Texan! He also likes chicken, turkey, and pot roast. Recently I gave him asparagus and egg yolk for the first time (not together). He seemed to like the asparagus and he loves scrambled egg yolk! I also gave him mashed potatoes, but they were made without milk and butter. Of course he loved it! He still seems to be sensitive to milk products, so I am really cautious. I usually mix in a little soy formula with his cereal, but I just can't stand the way it smells. So the other day I bought goats milk for him to try. It's nice because it doesn't stink and you don't have to mix it. He seems to like it too. It also has Vitamin D which he needs. I have the vitamin drops for him, but they are so nasty! So I bought soy yogurt for him (he LOVES it), but it doesn't have Vitamin D. I have a recipe for making yogurt, so if I am feeling extra adventurous one day I think I will try it. It's a lot cheaper than buying it. There are lots of new foods that he can have this month, so I am really excited to try them!

Cannon just got his first cold the other day. It's so mild that I can hardly say he is "sick." He only has a little runny nose and congestion. He sleeps with his humidifier on and I put a pillow under his mattress to keep him elevated. He has been a little cranky, but he is also working on his teeth. Hopefully those things will pop through any time now!

Sorry for the picture overload, but there were so many cute ones. He was not in a smiley mood this morning when I took them. It was right before his nap so he really wasn't in the mood for a photo shoot.

A day with the boys

Yesterday we watched Cole all day so Rick and Kristina could look for a house. Cole was so easy going that day so it was great having him. He even took a three hour nap with Ryan in our bed! I always like to watch Cannon and Cole play together (well it's really Cole trying to get Cannon to do something other than drool!). They recognize each other and they act so cute together. Cole usually tries to give Cannon a toy and he also likes to touch his face or put his finger in his mouth. Cannon just stares at Cole, but will sometimes give him a big smile. Cole is also gentle with Cannon and I've seen him pat his back. They were kind of on opposite schedules that day, so they didn't get a whole lot of play time together.

That night we also had our church Christmas party. I was especially excited because I was looking forward to getting a picture of Cannon on Santa's lap. Of course we got the time mixed up, so we got there at 7:00 instead of at 6:00 when it started. But it worked out for us. Since everyone else was finished eating, other people held the babies so Ryan and I could eat. And we weren't there long enough for the babies to get bored.

Cannon didn't mind sitting on Santa's lap. Stranger anxiety hasn't hit him yet, so he will go to anyone without a fuss. But poor Cole screamed when I handed him to Santa. I knew he would cry, but we had to get a picture!


Ryan said that he's glad we don't have twins. I still think it would be fun.


It's a good thing Cannon doesn't have teeth yet.


This was the only time he cried that day.

Swimming or Flying?

Cannon will NOT get into crawling position. I found a trick to get him into it, but his legs are so strong that he forces them back straight. His torso is really strong too. When he is lying flat on his back he tries to sit up and then he holds himself in that position. You can feel his tight stomach muscles when he does that. We just need to work on his hip strength now. When he is on his belly he does this funny kick (as seen in the video).


I took this cute picture of him yesterday. Anyone who knows my know that Superman is my favorite.



I'm sure if I put him in the water he would just start swimming.

Nothing really new is going on around here, so I haven't had anything to blog about. The other day Cannon had a stuffy nose and a low fever, but it was gone the next day. He's never been sick before so I wasn't sure if he had a cold or if it was teething. I would assume that a cold would last longer, so I guess it was just teething. I know those teeth will pop through soon because I can feel two bumps on his bottom gums. Oh, he finally got that Cheerio in his mouth!

Basket Case

Cannon has discovered that he can roll to get to where he wants. Once I put him on the floor, he takes off! He usually gets himself in a pickle and yells until I come rescue him. I love the age he is at right now. I think it's my favorite so far. Although I LOVE newborns and it was so much fun to have my own, he is really a lot of fun right now. He loves to play with the blue basket. I load it with rattles and small toys and then he pulls them all out and picks the one he wants to play with. Then he usually eats the basket. His other obsessions are phones, X-Box controllers, and cords. I also decided to let him sit up in the bathtub now. I wanted to get one of those bathtub seats that he can sit up in, but I've just been lazy. He does pretty well, but I can't take my eyes off him for one second. It just gets slippery in the tub and he found out the hard way what happens when you lean to far to get a toy.


We had a nice Thanksgiving with my family at my dad's house. Cannon got to meet my brother, his Uncle Dakota, for the first time. He lives in San Diego and is working and going to school, so he doesn't make it to Austin very often. I also gave Cannon a hair cut. This was actually his second one, well it was just a trim. He was starting to sport a mullet again, so I had to take action. But this time I cut a tiny bit off the top too, just to make it more even. It's finally getting long enough so I can fix it again. He has some curl in his hair, but you can only see it when it's wet. Ryan and I both have curly hair, so I'm hoping Cannon will too.

Also, we had snow in Austin! It only lasted for about 10 minutes and it never stuck to anything, but it was still fun. The last time it snowed here was Valentines Day 2004 and there was enough to sled for a couple hours in the morning before it melted. Sometimes we will have freezing rain ("ice day") once a year, but snow is rare. The funny thing is that Houston had sleet and ice and then everywhere northwest of Austin had lots of snow. There was an open pocket in the storm right over Austin. So this was Cannon's second time to experience snow. This was Blue's first time and she just shook and trembled in the cold.










Cannon and Dakota


I can comb his hair to the side now.


Side view.


Mohawk.


Catching snowflakes on his tongue.