Getting back into the swing of things...

Well...we've just about conquered the first 2 weeks of "the real world". Landon and I are both soooo tired. Going from being at home all day, doing whatever we feel like doing to working and preschool everyday is pretty much a whipping! Our summers are so laid back. We eat when we want to, sleep when we want to, play when we want to, etc. Now, I must keep a pretty strict schedule or things get all out of wack. We leave the house at 7:00 am and don't get home till about 5:30ish. Then, the nightly rituals begin...cook dinner, eat dinner, clean the kitchen, bathtime, playtime w/ mommy and daddy, storytime, and bedtime (which can be a challenge these days). I'll have to add grading papers to that list starting next week...not to mention my neverending pile of laundry. Wow! Being a mommy who works fulltime is hard work! If things go as planned, I'll be able to stay home with my next one for a while.

Landon's new preschool is going great! He cried for the first week when I dropped him off, but this week he has done awesome! He just runs right in and starts playing with his buddies. He already has a little girlfriend named Kyler. She is the grandaughter of my school clerk and she is adorable. We are very pleased with his new school.

My work is going great, as well. The first week is kinda crazy...getting to know the kiddos, teaching rules and procedures, and so on. We will start our regular routine on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday! Holla!). I absolutely love my class! They are so sweet and so excited about 3rd grade. So far, they have all behaved pretty well. Let's hope they keep it up.

I hope everybody has a great looooong weekend! I'll post some pictures of Landon at school pretty soon.

Beautiful!!!

Okay, I just had to say that my child is gorgeous. That's all. He's just so flippin beautiful to me. Okay bye.

Landon's Birthday!

Well, my little luvbug is already 2-years-old!!! It seems like it was just yesterday when he was only a newborn. Speaking of time passing by so fast...I was visiting with my dad the other day, telling him about school starting back up and how it was gonna be sooooo long before summer rolled around again and I could be home with Landon. I was like, "It's gonna take foreverrrrr..." He then offered me some fatherly wisdom. He told me to stop wishing away this precious time in my life. He said to just enjoy being young. He said his 30's were the best...raising his family, vacationing, working, and so on. I hadn't really thought of it that way, but he's right. The older I get, the faster the years go by. So...I'm gonna take his advice and cherish every moment...even if this school year does tend to drag on.

Anyhow...Landon's party was perfect! We had it at The Little Gym on Sunday, Aug. 17. We had TONS of guests and all of the little ones had a blast! The Birthday Boy got lots of great gifts and ate way too much cake :) I took a bagillion pictures, but I'll spare you and only post a few. Enjoy! We sure did!

Haven't blogged in a while...

Well...it's been a while since I have posted anything, so I thought I'd blog a little while Landon is napping. First of all...school starts (for teachers) on Monday and I'm less than thrilled about it. In a way, I'm ready for the "daily routine" to start again, but I DO NOT want to give up my long summer days with Landon. I'm also excited to meet all of my new 3rd graders. There's just something special about the first day of school. Those little 8-year-olds are so excited to walk through the door of their new classroom and meet their new teacher. Plus, they get to see their friends and dig into their new school supplies. It's seriously like Christmas to them. Although...there's always that precious little girl who doesn't want to leave her mommy and daddy. She always gets over it rather fast, though :)

Landon is joining the big world of preschool this year. I'm very excited for him to learn so many new things. He has always been in a home-care or at home with me, so this will be very new for him (and me). It was a very hard decision for Chris and I because we love his sitter, Mrs. Sue, so much. Landon has been on the waiting list for this preschool since he was 9-months-old. They FINALLY called me and told me they had a spot for him. Chris and I felt like if we didn't enroll him now, we wouldn't ever get him in cause we'd go back to the bottom of the waiting list, which is obviously hella long. He starts on Monday, so we'll see how it goes. That child is so independent, he'll probably run off from me and never look back. Let's hope so...atleast for my peace of mind on the first day back to work.

This evening, Chris and I are going to a couples baby shower out in McKinney. It's for Stacy and Joe...some of Chris' friends from high school. It should be lots of fun. Many of our good friends will be there. Landon is hanging out with grandma and grandpa while we go. He'll definitely have a good time getting spoiled over there. Tomorrow is Landon's 2-year-old birthday party! We are having it at The Little Gym. There will be lots and lots of babies and toddlers there. It should be a really gret time for everyone. I'll definitely blog about it and post lots of pics next week. Until then, I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Here's a picture I thought was pretty cute of my little climber. He's on the in-table messing with the lamp. I swear I can't keep him off of the furniture.

Lochlan Alexander Hemminger

One of my best friends, Brooke, had her baby on Sunday! Baby Lochlan was born at 3:06 pm weighing in at 7 lbs. 15 oz. Brooke, her hubby Derek, and sweet baby boy Lochlan are doing great! All of us girls were there all day waiting for the big event to take place, as usual! I swear we are in that hospital waiting room once a month with all of these babies we are popping out these days! Congratulations Brooke and Derek! Welcome to parenthood!

Step Aerobics????

Watching step-aerobics...one of his favorite shows. Random...I know.



Coloring with mommy.



Landon and Cara's daughter, Hayden.




My child is way too brave...he wanted to stand and jump off of everything!


I have just realized that Landon is into step-aerobics. He thinks they are dancing, which he loves to do, so he tries copying their moves. Hilarious. I posted a pic of him watching it during lunch. Also, he has really started to enjoy coloring lately. We try to do some kind of art activity everyday. Luckily, his babysitter (during the schoolyear) is very artistic, so he gets to do lots of artsy stuff when he's over there everyday, which is starting soon :( Here's a pic of him coloring in his giant coloring book. The other 2 pictures are from yesterday afternoon. My friend Cara and I took our kiddos to the soft play area at the mall. They had a blast running around, climbing, and jumping. I had to stay right on Landon's tail because he tried jumping off of everything, no matter how tall it was!

Potty Training...Part 2

Ummm...this potty training thing....not diggin it. Landon is taking his nap right now and I just peeked in to check on him. Surprise Surprise....he's nude. I swear, the child won't keep his clothes on now. He wants to "go potty mommy" all day long! They say you are supposed to take them to the potty everytime they ask, but that's just not possible with him. We would have to camp out by the toilet all day long! Now that we have taken his pants and diaper off so many times, he must think it's fun. Soooo....I'm sure he is spraying the walls right now while he's fast asleep, but I am not about to go wake the sleeping toddler to put his diaper back on. Oh well...I guess it's off to Babies R Us this afternoon to get some giant onsies that snap at the crotch. Hopefully, he won't be able to get out of those. Do they even make onsies that big?????

Potty Training

Well...the days of potty training have begun. I bought Landon a little potty seat about a week ago because he was constantly saying, "Potty Potty Potty". He has sat on that thing about 8357398745 times, but with no results. Until last night that is!!!! His little potty chair is the kind where you can take the little seat thingy off and it fits nice and snug on the regular potty. Once Landon tried sitting on the real potty, he tinkled! He had a very confused look on his face when he did it, but it turned to pure excitement once I started praising him. I bragged and bragged on him for about 10 minutes and gave him a sticker (he lovesssss stickers). He was so proud of himself. My sweet baby boy is getting so big :(

Hawaiian Falls

Stevi and I took the boys to Hawaiian Falls today. It's a brand new water park in Mansfield. Landon and Grayson had so much fun. Their most favorite thing to do was ride these little red kiddie slides over and over and over. They must have gone up the steps and down the slide 400 times! It made for a great afternoon nap! We had a really nice time visiting and playing with our boys. We'll definitely be going back!

I added another picture of the babies in the pool the other day, too.

Swimming with friends!

Saturday evening was so fun! Some of my best girlfriends came over to go swimming with their sweet little babies. Johnna and Ben (9 months), Emily and Sophia (7 months), and Heather and Caden (5 months) came over for a little play date. We waited until the evening because it has been SO HOT. We had such a great time hanging out in the pool and talking about baby stuff. I absolutely love that we are all experiencing mommyhood together. I love this new stage in all of our lives.

The babies had a great time splashing and kicking around in the water. Well...the little ones did atleast. My wild child just wants to run around like a crazy man, shoot the babies with water guns, or splash us all in the face. I tell you what, he is one active toddler! These girlfriends of mine have lots in store for them. Their sweet little "baby" days are numbered. Pretty soon, their going to be dodging balls and cars flying across the room and pulling their little lovies down from the countertops! Landon is "all boy", but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Johnna took a whole lot of pictures of the babies in the pool, so as soon as I get those from her, I'll post them. For now, I just have one of the kiddos right before we all went outside. Trying to get 4 little ones to look at a camera at the same time is quite a task, but our perfect little angels did a good job. From left to right it's....Ben, Landon, Caden, and Sophia. So So's got a lot of men in her life!

I also posted a pic of Landon cooking with me. He loves to stand on the kitchen chair next to me while I cook dinner. Don't worry, he's not in arm's reach of the stove. I make sure of that.