This one's for Julie...

So, I normally write about our little angel Landon on this blog, but our niece did the funniest thing a few weeks ago that I can't get over; every time I think about it I laugh out loud!

I was sick a few weeks ago so Landon and I went to his grandmother's so I could get some rest and recuperate (and he could play with his FAVORITE person). While we were gone, Phillip's Dad and our niece Julie came to visit Phillip. Since Julie missed me, she left two presents: a decorated pumpkin, and a get well note. This is what the note said:

"Aunt Candice - get well soon! Love, Julie

P.S. Know this, I am always there for you - from head to toe!"

Now how funny is that for a seven year-old to say? Her note was spelled "no this" which made it even more charming. I love that little bugger :)

I may be little but I can still have BIG fun!

Landon received a Jumperoo from his "Aunt Dee" and couldn't wait to use it! He loves jumping and moving around on his own, and doesn't mind that he is too small for the toy. The instructions said that it was okay for babies to use it as soon as they could hold their head up on their own, so we let him go to town on it...with a little help from the library!

Thwarted Again...by an 11 week old

Landon is a pretty energetic little guy; always moving, squealing, and trying new things. Which I love about him....during the day. At night, I think he has an "opportunity" to better relax and unwind after a long day. He deserves it, he really does!

So to convince him to take some quiet time to himself, I researched soothing bedtime toys and settled on a soothing ocean wonders crib aquarium. According to 64,000 positive reviews, this crib toy instantly calms and soothes babies, sending them quickly to dreams of fluffy clouds and sugarplum fairies. Sounds perfect, right? There is even an on-off button so when the babies "are older" (per the instructions), they can decided to turn the soother on themselves, for some quiet time in the crib when they wake up in the morning. Even better, right?!?

Night one...didn't work. Landon thinks...nay knows...that his parents rocking and bouncing him is more soothing than anything Fisher Price could make. So, we threw in the towel, turned it off and went about our normal extended bedtime routine. Imagine my surprise when during the night, I heard soothing music. Of course, it was so soothing to me that it put me right back to sleep. Worked the second time too. Wow, this is a really effective product!

The next morning after changing Landon, I put him into his crib for some quiet time while I cleaned out his closet and dresser (so sad - he is getting bigger every day and growing out of his clothes - every time I fold and put away an itty bitty onesie I can't believe that he is growing up so quickly)! I turn on his soother...this is what follows:

...beautiful Bach melody

...WHACK!

....silence

...WHACK!

...beautiful, soothing bubble noises

...WHACK!

...silence

...WHACK!

Well, at least we tried. Our little 11 week old was not to be fooled at our attempts to soothe him. Instead, he created a really stimulating game where he rolls over and kicks the on-off button repeatedly!

Trick or Treat!

Mom and I couldn't resist the chance to play dress up with Landon...before we know it, he will be picking out his own Halloween costumes and I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't pick out anything this sweet!

He is such a little ham; he loves having his picture taken, and he loves watching the photo slideshows of himself even more :)

Hopefully Landon has a good day tomorrow so that we can dress him in his costume, take him to the Fall Festival at our church, and introduce him to the wonderful world of hayrides and cake walks!

Happy October!

We visited our local pumpkin patch today, and Landon loved being outside and seeing all of the bright colors. He passed up the miniature and "munchkin" pumpkins in favor of a big fat pumpkin that is now gracing our front porch! Guess he got inspired by Charlie Brown and the great pumpkin...

Landon loves Prevacid!

Last week we took Landon to the pediatrician because he continued to have tummy aches fairly regularly and seemed uncomfortable (plus he was crying most of the day!). Turns out that he has acid reflux, and after a week of taking Prevacid, he is a much happier baby! It is so nice to see him comfortable and happy - even so much that he has started taking naps and going to bed 3 hours earlier.

So, if you met Landon prior to this Thursday, please come meet "The New Landon"!

Family Ties

Landon has visitors! His Aunt Jenni came to visit him last week, and now his Aunt Andrea and Grandmother are visiting him this week! He loves being held and carried around by them, and especially loves talking with them. If you haven't met Landon yet, you can't appreciate how vocal he is...he constantly makes noises...grunts, groans, coos...I'm pretty sure that he is going to ask me for his own cell phone the second he learns to speak! He tried the grab the phone from me today so that he could hear the caller better!

Baby Vogue

Everyone has been telling us to take plenty of pictures of Landon while he is "new", since we will never believe how quickly the time passes, and how quickly he grows up. Luckily, our good friend Ashley loves babies and photography, and volunteered to come over and take some pictures of our little one. She is always so good at documenting the events in her family so we were excited for Landon's photo shoot, and also unsure of how he would like all the attention. Turns out we needn't have worried...

Us: "Wonder if he will keep his eyes open for some of the pictures?"

Landon: "Amateurs...I'll give them 'Blue Steel'..."

Us: "Hmm...he seems to be following the camera around to make sure his face is in every shot"

Landon: "Get ready for this next one...Mom made me watch America's Next Top Model while she was pregnant...my 'broken-down-doll' pose is going to bring the house down"

Us: "Might as well get some pictures of his cute little butt since we are changing his diaper anyway..."

Landon: "Yes! Now I can do my homage to George Costanza's 'Timeless Art of Seduction'!"

Note: this last little bit really happened AND we have the pictures to prove it. But, those are staying in the archives for now...

I'm Two Weeks Old Already!

Landon is growing up a storm and getting bigger every day! He is such a delight - he makes us laugh every day...

Home with Baby

Phillip and I are enjoying our first week at home with our precious little boy, Landon Charles Lewis. He was born on Sunday the 16th, and we have been enjoying him ever since. He is the sweetest baby and very laid-back (he must have his Dad's personality)!

He spends his days relaxing in his Moses basket (thanks Brandy and David), eating and making cute faces and noises. Here are some pictures of him partaking in his favorite pursuits...enjoy!

Twas the Night before our Doctor's Appointment...

Tomorrow afternoon we return to the doctor for a check-up; hopefully we will have some news soon! It feels a little bit like the night before Christmas for us, but we don't know when Christmas is going to get here!

Every night when I go to bed I think "this could be the night...my water could break...we could be driving to the hospital in just a few hours". I guess it's kind weird to look forward to a situation where you will probably ask yourself "did I just wet the bed?", but after years of Hollywood-idealized labors, I'm hoping for the water works. Just seems like part of the fun!

At Phillip's request, here are some pictures of my belly. We went to Poole's for dinner tonight and had to move from a booth to a table because Baby Lewis was in serious danger of being smushed! For the record, I think I could have made it through the appetizer course, but after seeing "peach crisp with creme fraiche" on the dessert menu, I knew I was going all the way with this meal. The sad part of the story is that when I started to ask our waitress about moving tables she said "oh, I was going to ask you about that"....

What's up Doc?

Nothing! At all! We just left the doctor's office and the baby wasn't as bis as they expected. He's still bigger than average - weighing in at 7 lbs 15 oz per the ultrasound, but since he's not in the 90th percentile or greater for his age, the doctors are going to let him be for now.

The little lad seems to be enjoying his home quite nicely, and is not eager to leave. The good news is that I can still use my belly for a table since he hasn't dropped yet. Bring on the ice cream!

Thanks for all the calls today to check in on us - it makes us feel very special to have so many people excited about our little guy...

School Is Out for the Summer!

Since you know Phillip and I, you know that we are pretty systematic in the way we do things. Especially me...I've had an Excel spreadsheet tracking the baby to-do items for several weeks now! I "know" everything doesn't have to be ready and perfect before Baby Lewis arrives, but trying to convince my type-A brain of the fact is another thing entirely. So, I'm not going to fight nature on this one, and I'll continue to update my spreadsheets and re-organize every closet, cabinet and drawer in our house.

BUT...the scary, exciting, wonderful and nerve-wracking news is that to accomplish all of this, I'm taking some time off from work before the baby arrives. Wednesday at noon - school is out for the summer for me! On the one hand I can't wait; it's becoming harder and harder to concentrate on projects with the baby kicking around like he's trying to escape my belly (and I worked so hard to build it for him!). On the other hand, I'm losing the routine that I've had for the last 6 years. I'm very interested to see how my maternity leave works out for me - I haven't finalized whether or not I will go back to work yet, and I will definitely feel lost without my calendar!

Phillip is taking some time off too - his leave kicks off the Monday after mine. If you need to reach us, look for us lounging around Raleigh! I'll be the enormously cute (why yes, that is a double entendre!) pregnant woman rotating one of three outfits, and Phillip will be the stylish, yet farmer-tanned gentleman (he's been hitting the golf course lately). We plan to sleep in, hit some brunch spots, take in a movie or two, visit places that you can't take infants, and all sorts of fun adventures! Come join us - the more the merrier!

Bigger is Better....right?...anyone?....Bueller?

Phillip and I were talking the other day and he mentioned that I better publish another post before I lost my reader's attention. I thought he had a good point, but there hasn't been very much going on lately, except for the fact that my belly seems to grow by the second!

So people, the focus of this post is the fact that my belly is huge...not exactly Pulitzer material, but it's all I've got, so work with me! Last week I mentioned to the doctor that I was starting to have a hard time ignoring comments from random people like "are you due anyday?" or "I just can't believe how huge you are!". I asked her if I was really that huge and should start to be concerned - if not, I would continue visualizing myself as a very cute and svelt pregnant person (easy for me to do unless I catch my reflection in a shopfront)! She assured me I was a completely normal size.

So...I ignored the comments for another week...until today's appointment. I found out that the baby is measuring bigger than they thought he should, so next week we will have an ultrasound to try to determine his weight and see if our due date is the same. Yikes! I have been hyperventilating ever since. I guess my competitive nature is catching up with me on this one. Or, my baby could just appreciate stretching out and maybe he's actually quite small? (Feel free to post a comment similar to this last sentiment...hint, hint)

Maybe I should have mentioned that there are several men in our families that are 6'3" or taller? Oops...

Ta Da!

This room was a collaborative effort - Phillip chose the crib, I chose or made the fabrics and accesories, Mother Theresa sewed the window treatments and bedding and my grandmother made the green polka dot pillow in the wooden chair. A special touch is the teddy bear sitting on the shelf above the dresser - it was made for Phillip by his mother Jane when he was a baby.

There's a first time for everything...

Hello! Welcome to our first blog post! This is quite a large step for us, but we wanted an easy way to share funny stories and pictures with our family and friends, so here goes...

The reason behind this blog is the little bundle of joy currently breakdancing in my belly - aka Baby Lewis. Phillip and I can't wait to meet him - only 6 more weeks!

Once we meet Baby Lewis we will finalize his name - for now we (and our nursery wall) are trying on the name "Landon Charles Lewis" for size. We may change our mind ten times between now and when he is born, but this name does have something different going for it - we just realized that the monogram would be LLC, which is perfect for two accountants who were married on April 15th!

Since Baby Lewis doesn't appreciate people trying to see him or take his picture before his big debut, here are some pictures of his nursery for you to take a look at in the meantime!