Almost there...

We're almost there. Landan is now completely consistent as long he is wearing nothing but underwear and he is at home. We got him trained while he was naked and then we put underwear on him (thanks for the tip Chiara). Now we just have to get him trained with pants on while at home and then with clothes on while out. We'll worry about nighttime later. This is actually going a lot faster than I thought. I thought it would take months after we started really pushing hard. So far it's only taking a few weeks. We're almost there.

Latest potty news.

I just want to catalog this so that i can tell my kids later what they did to me as children. And so I can embarrass them royally when they start dating. If you really don't want to know about Landan's potty training, exit now. We're working really hard on recognizing when he needs to go. I take him a lot during the day but he's already gone in his pull-up so there's nothing left to go in the potty. Today he's been doing a lot better. We've only been working really hard on it for about a week. What seems to work for him: blue food coloring in the toilet. That way when he goes, it turns green. He gets a big kick out of that. I'll let you know when he's fully trained.

New Job!

Well folks, I got a new job. Once again I'll be working in the NICU. It's a small hospital called North Austin Medical Center. They're looking to expand in the next year and a half. Right now it's only a small unit with about 12 beds in it, much different from the 60 bed unit I'm used to but that's okay. I'm so excited to be in the NICU again. I love the patients, they're so much sweeter than any other ones in the hospital as far as I'm concerned. I'll be working full time for awhile and then i hope to go to part time eventually. That's all the news with us.

P.S. This picture is not a patient. It's a picture I got off the internet from a news story. No confidentiality was breeched here.

My funny boy.

Landan is so funny. Unfortunately it's difficult to tell everyone what he does to be funny because you kind of have to be there to see it for it to be funny. For instance, tonight we were sitting on our bed and I happened to have my hands above my head. I noticed that I had forgotten to put on deodorant this morning which usually isn't a problem for me but tonight i was noticing. Anyway, I quietly mentioned that I was stinky and Landan turns to Kevin and announces, "Mom's stinky. She just pooped!" While I'm laughing my head off he then turns to me and says, "Daddy pooped too. But not me. You already cleaned me. I didn't poop." I'm just glad there was no one else in the room to hear this.


Here's a picture that has nothing to do with this blog. It's just been raining a lot and Landan was so cute with this umbrella.

Smarty pants

My son is officially too smart for me. I thought they weren't supposed to be able to outsmart you until they were at least in their teens. WE were in the kitchen today and I was going to make dinner. Landan was upset because I wasn't playing with him anymore and so he was making my job difficult. This is how the conversation went:

Landan: I want Little Einsteins cereal.
Mom: Not right now. I need to make dinner.
Landan: But I want it.
Mom: We don't eat cereal for dinner. Only for breakfast.
Landan: But I want breakfast.
Mom: We only eat breakfast in the morning. It's time for dinner now.
Landan: I want breakfast now.
Mom: (trying to be smart)...We only eat breakfast after we sleep. You haven't slept yet.
Landan: Yes I did. (with wide eyed innocence)...I sleeped at quiet time.
Mom: (pause) That's true but you still aren't getting any cereal.

Our House...Phase 3

We have walls! Our house seems to be going up really fast. We now have most of our walls on the outside up and some windows. We also have some siding up on the sides already. I'm not expecting it to, but I hope it keeps going this fast. I can't wait to get into our house.

New Haircut

I just gave my first haircut. We just got a haircutting kit and I decided (aka Kevin made me) to practice on Landan first. It was a little difficult because Landan wouldn't sit still. But I think I did a pretty good job.
Daddy tried to help with the back a little bit. I think he needs a little more practice.

Civilization...finally!

I am happy to say that we have finally joined the civilized world. And it is due to these three things:

Dishwasher....Washing machine....and Clothes Dryer.

We decided to rent a washer and dryer from this place that is next door to our apartment. We got them yesterday. I was so excited. I know the novelty will eventually wear off, but for right now I am loving doing housework. Well, at least the dishes and laundry part. I actually was able to do 3 loads of laundry....and I never left my house!! I could hang everything up after it dried and I didn't have to walk outside to do it. it was great! Okay, enough of my ranting and raving. But I've been using laundromats and my own elbow grease to do the dishes for 5 years. It's about time.

A 2-year old adventure.

I just spent the last hour playing a most interesting game with Landan. In this game there were no rules and most of it was spent running around the house. Landan directed most of the conversation. And everything that came out of his mouth was from something he remembered. Here's a rundown of what transpired in my apartment this afternoon:

1. First we had to find Rocket. (Little Einsteins)
2. Then, I became Tuck and Landan became Ming Ming and there was an elephant in trouble. (Wonder pets)
3.While we were saving the elephant we found some lions which were going to get us. (The Lion King)
4. We hid from the lions for a long time and then Landan asked if his birthday party was today? (Toy Story)
5. After I confirmed it was today he turned into a dog and had to find a stick. (Shaggy Dog)
6. The stick he found (imaginary) just happened to be a clue. (Blue's Clues)
7. We then needed Rocket again so that we could go on our mission. (back to Little Einsteins)
It was quite the adventure we went on.

P.S. If anyone has had trouble following this little scenario then you obviously haven't spent much time around a preschooler. Try Nick Jr. and Disney for a little bit and it will all fall into place.

Our house...Phase 2

We decided to go and see our house again. It had been a few days and we wanted to see how it was coming. Much to our surprise it was coming along nicely. They already have most of the framing done for both floors. I got really excited to see it all starting to look like a house already. When we told Landan we were going out to see our house he got really excited too. He got a huge grin on his face and said," Oh yes! I'm so exciting Mom! I'm so exciting!" It's really cute when he gets excited.

Proper Hiding Procedure

Proper Hiding Procedure

There are two hiding techniques to use depending on setting and availability of materials. The first way is simple and versatile.


1. Lay down on the ground on your stomach with your feet out behind you.

2. Plant your face on the ground and cover your face with your hands as shown in the picture below.

The second choice for hiding is as follows:

1. Find a bed with some covers on it (preferably dark covers)

2. Get under the covers and pull them over your head. At this time it does not matter how much you wiggle and squirm, you are still hidden sufficiently.

The idea behind both of these hiding methods is simple and important to understand.

"If you can't see them...they can't see you!"

Chiara's Love Quiz

I decided to take Chiara's love quiz thing and these are my results.

Your Love Life is Like Pretty Woman "I want the fairy tale"

You believe that love is truly blind, unpredictable, and surprising. Two very different people can easily find true love.
At least, that is how it will happen when you marry a gorgeous billionaire someday ;-)

Your love style: Sensual and flirty

Your Hollywood Ending Will Be: Surprisingly happy

Here's the link if you'd like to try it yourself.
What Movie Is Your Love Life Like?

I'm cute...and I know it.

Boy, Landan sure knows how to turn on the old I'm cute charm when he wants to. Sometimes I just can't resist him. When he's got a feeling I'm going to say no to something, he comes up to me all soft and quiet like, puts his little hands to his face, looks up with his big brown eyes all wide and says, "Can I ___ ____ ____?" You can fill in the blank with whatever it is at the moment he wants. It is so adorable.

Random Cruise musings.

Sunset on the ocean. Not as good as sunrise, but still pretty.



And what kind of cloud would this be Kenny?

The stateroom crew made cool towel shapes every night when they turned down the bed. P.S. the first one is a monkey.

The 4th night we were there they had a midnight buffet. IT was exquisite. These chefs can make real art with food. Here's some pictures. It tasted as good as it looked.

Cruise...Day 5

Progresso, Yucatan

We spent the next day in Progresso, Yucatan, Mexico. WE went to a ranch first and saw some traditional Mexican dancing and a horse show. WE also had a great mexican buffet at the ranch. it was delicious. then we went to the Mayan ruins at Dzibilchaltun. It was one of the smaller ruins but it was still very interesting. Our guide new so much about the Mayans. It was fascinating. At the end of the horse show I got to be one of the people that rode one of the horses.

Cruise...Day 4

Costa Maya, Mexico

we spent the next day in Costa Maya, Mexico. for this shore excursion we went power snorkeling. That's where you hold this little motor in front of you and it propels you through the water. It was really fun. We saw some colorful coral and some starfish and a few colorful fish. We then spent some time on the beach before going back to the boat. I don't have any pictures of snorkeling because once again, they are on our water cameras which aren't developed yet.

When we got back to the boat a Carnival cruise ship had parked right next to ours. It was like standing between two skyscrapers but on the ocean. Our ship is on the left.

Sunrise in Mexico

The boat docked really early in Costa Maya so we got up a few minutes earlier than we had planned to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful.

Our House...Phase 1

I just wanted to show you a picture of our house. They were supposed to be a lot farther along but because of all the rain we've gotten lately they couldn't pour the foundation before this picture was taken. Hopefully they've got it poured now. I'll keep you updated.

Cruise...Day 3

We spent day 3 of our cruise on the island of Roatan, Honduras. It was SO green and leafy. It wasn't a very big island. They had just started going to Roatan 2 weeks before. We went to the Pirates, Birds and Monkeys excursion. It was really fun and our guide was hilarious. Kevin got to play with a monkey and I got to hold a parrot. We then went to a pirate cave. To get back to the buses we had to go across a really long swinging bridge which I was not very happy to go over. We then of course went shopping and then it was back to the boat. This first pictures is a tribe that was outside the boat singing and dancing around.
The guide showed us all kinds of native plants and picked on Kevin a lot because he knew stuff about plants.


This monkey's name was Ricardo. He was really cute but he was a pickpocket. He stole some chips from someone's bag while we were there. It was really funny.

This is the bridge we had to cross. I did not find it fun at all.

Bye Bye Honduras!