6 months

Our little man is 6 months old today... how did that happen??

We packed up the co-sleeper, swing & papasan yesterday:( It's nice to have our bedroom *kind of* back but Elijah is growing up WAY too fast!!! It seemed to go by just a little slower with Landon;)

As I type this...

Landon is bringing all of his favorite toys over to Elijah to play with, he is the best big brother! And Elijah is chewing on all of the toys Landon brings over:) I hope that they always play this well together & always love & take care of each other. LOVE these boys!!!

Working on sewing our Halloween costumes tomorrow... hoping they come out as good as I am imagining them.

*all pictures courtesy of Jaime Marland Photography... she's the best:)

LOVE

It's the little things that Luke does that make me LOVE him more and more every day!!

We've been having some rough days around here with less sleeping & more crying (the boys... for the most part;)) So yesterday when he swooped in & took the boys for a quick trip to the grocery store, it was much appreciated. And this morning when he made my coffee & fed the dog, while I slept in (until 7am... this is SO NOT sleeping in for me)I was OVER THE MOON excited!!!!

Hooray for a thoughtful hubby who takes such good care of his family:)
We LOVE you big time! xoxoxoxoxo

NOT gonna make it...

through the days if my sweet little two year old keeps skipping his naps! Not only is he skipping naps... he's still waking up at 5:50am... NOT ok!!
We are also still having nightmares & a teething baby (with one tooth up!!!! SWEET!! bottom right popped through last night;)) so I'm feeling beyond exhausted & still need those nap times for my sanity:) Please cross your fingers that tomorrow is a better day... for the entire Marland household! YIKES!!!

tired...

doesn't even begin to describe how i'm feeling today!! we have entered the land of teething (elijah) and bad dreams, monsters under the bed, night light loving (landon)!

elijah, like landon, seems to be teething FOREVER with no actual teeth coming through! i feel so bad for the poor little dude who is so not happy about these teeth trying to poke through his sore little gums:( he's a good sport about it for most of the day... but nights are rough!

as for landon... he's been having little moments of being scared at night. usually just before bed & then around 4am - when luke goes in a gives him a little snuggle & all is good! yesterday he had his first traumatic experience... we were at target & landon & i decided to check out the toy section while luke & elijah were looking at the electronics *boring*. in the toy section there was a little display with a robotic bigfoot. didn't look to scary to me, so i pressed the button to turn him on... YIKES!!!! he roared a little did a little dance & that's about all i saw because landon took off running w/ his little hands over his mouth shaking like he was having a cesure:( i found him down one of the toy isles... still shaking & crying & hands on mouth. i felt like THE WORST MOM EVER!!!! he's still saying... no roar over & over:( TRAUMATISED!!!! so needless to say last night... not so smooth! it was a four in the bed kinda night:)

decisions....

we've had some pretty tough decisions to make around here lately & the biggest one has been with luke's carrer. i haven't really blogged or chatted about that MAJOR decision because frankly our outcome keeps changing & now i'm going to tell you what we decided BUT it could change... maybe.

we ALWAYS thought as soon as luke's 10 year mark hit (march 2011) we would up & get out of the coast guard - i say we because luke's job pretty much does involve all of us marlands since we all have to move & we all have to be without daddy when duty calls;) so 10 years is here...well almost, and we had to figure out what the heck we were going to do... stay, go??

so without giving you the long version... yest this is the abbreviated version:) we have decided to stay in the coast guard... for 2 more years, as in march 2013(i think that's right), which is when our time in newburyport would be up. it's also when landon will be starting kindergarten (HOLY CRAP) and elijah will be in preschool (HOLY CRAP) & i will go back to work full time (HOLY CRAP)... i think you get the idea here.

decision made... for now.

Right Now...

I'm lovin' me some cool fall weather.

I'm waiting for two very sweet & very special little boys to wake up from their naps.

I'm waiting for another very sweet & very special BIG to get home & wisk me away to the outlets... with the littles in tow of corse.

I'm contemplating a move... same coast;) different state & MUCH bigger digs!!

I'm getting ready to celebrate that special BIG boys birthday tomorrow... he'll be all of 29!

eye candy

i've been bad... REALLY bad!!! at blogging that is. i've said it before & i'll probably say it again... facebook has taken over & i tend to put pictures there before here! SORRY!!!!

for all you loyal blog readers here are some pictures of our little tribe. they go in opposite order (ooppppsss) so elijah is bigger in the beginning & smaller @ the end;)



hope you enjoy & don't give up on me... i eventually make my way back here.

visit with Uncle Davin!! We were sooooo happy to spend some time with him while he was home xoxoxoxo

landon's first ride out on the boat with Grammy, Grampy, Auntie Jaime, Daddy, Mama & even Elijah came along... he LOVED it!!

Look @ those eyes... killer - just like his big brother's!

in the jump-a-roo

Elijah's our little beach bum!!

so is Landon;)

Oh my...

it's been a LONG time since I blogged... soooo sorry to anyone who is still actually reading this!

Here's the skinny...

Landon:

is in a big boy bed - so exciting, sad & scary all @ the same time!

is talking more & more every day... some of his faves are hi & bye... working on hello - comes out "hi low"- so cute!, mommy daddy obv., hey dude:) "hi doooo d", ball, angie "e e", he has said thank you mommy for a couple of days now w/ out being prompted;) love that!!

is learning to ride his balance bike!

is LOVING curious george... he points at the tv scratches under his arms (his ribs) and makes monkey sounds when he wants to watch - which is all the time;)

is a WONDERFUL big brother!!

Elijah:

is sleeping 11 hours... at night... has been for about a month... i'm still nervous saying it out loud i don't want to jinx it!!! landon didn't sleep that much until he was over a year (my fault:))

is trying soooo hard to roll over. he's done it twice but not making a habbit out of it

is sitting up w/ a little help;)

is LOVING his big brother! melts my heart when he watches landon... so stinkin' cute!!

pictures are on facebook but here's my fave!!

for uncle d....

Busy...

Doesn't begin to describe it! Oh my... two boys are awesome. two boys are so much fun. two boys are time consuming. two boys are exhausting!
we are doing really well. pretty well adjusted to TWO. just incredibly short on time & energy:)
we have pictures we just don't have the time to actually load them on the computer.
planning on doing a photo-shoot & finally getting some announcements slapped together... hopefully in the next week or two.

Oh ... the big boy turns TWO!!! next tuesday Landon will be TWO - crazy how time flies! Maybe we'll get some good shots @ his bday party & I'll post those... soon.

Elijah Ellis Marland

He's here... another boy... we couldn't be happier!!

Elijah Ellis was born @ 2:16pm on April 16th weighing 7lbs. 6.2oz. and he was 19 1/2 inch. long! Tiny little boy for one day shy of his actual due date!

We are adjusting well... Landon is a GREAT big brother. So gentle and loving... we really couldn't ask for more. There are moments when it's a little hairy... and I'm sure there will always be those moments but the wonderful moments are definately more abundent:)

Here are some pics of the little man!

LOVE

Luke just left w/ Landon for a little park trip. On the way out the door Luke told Landon to "say I love you Mama" & for the very first time he said it pretty darn perfectly (usually it's in Landon speek) Melted my little heart... lets see if he keeps saying it so the whole world can understand him. Gotta say - I love to hear it no matter how he says it:) LOVE that little boy!

Pictures

I suppose we need a few new pics of the boy up here... before there are two:)

These are all from Valentine's Day...

Potty Training...

It's very hard to believe that it's almost time to begin full-on potty training. Right now we just have his little potty set up in the bathroom next to our big potty:) Luke puts Landon on it every night before bath time (super cute fyi) and he just kinda chills there & they talk about peeing:) hehehehe!! glad he's doing it 'cause i'm not too sure if it works the same way for boys vs. girls!

But tonight Luke's at work (again) and it's been a LONG hard day w/ a trip to the vet. to boot! AHHHHHH... but then came dinner & bath yeayyyyyy! and while the tub was filling up & i was putting Landon's clothes in his hamper...

HE PEED... and for the first time EVER it was not on the floor!!! it was in the POTTY!!!!!! I am soooooooo flippin' excited:) I know it was just a fluke & he's no where near ready to potty train... and I am no where near ready to potty train him:) but I'm hoping my excitement makes it happen a little more often:) these are the mama moments I LOVE!!!

Daddy & Landon

here's daddy's first video w/ Landon... WARNING there are a few screaming moments:) plug your ears!!

Where are the savings???

We switched cell phone plans a couple of months ago to get on a family & friends plan to SAVE some $$! Sounds all good...

well we had to pay a cancellation fee for our current plan... $250.

We had to buy new phones... $300. (we should be getting a refund for $200 - we'll let you know in 10-14 weeks... SERIOUSLY???)

Then before we even got the refund - which we may not get 'cause preggo threw away some of the important paper work ... oooppppsss. Luke broke his freekin' phone & just bought a new one for $200.... so guess where that refund went - that is if we get it???

Do things like this happen to everyone? Or is it just us??? YIKES!!!

Not that I'm ungrateful for the opportunity to save some $$... it will just be nice when we actually start that whole saving phase:)

Loving the fact...

that I can still fit into some of my non-maternity clothes w/ only 5 more weeks to go. I don't feel tiny by any means but I definitely was NOT able to fit into anything but maternity clothes @ this point in my pregnancy w/ Landon. I was under the impression that I would be EVEN HUGER (is that even a word...) this time around. I guess it could be the fact that I have less time to sit on my butt... or grab a snack... or pretty much do anything:)

So I'm going to enjoy the fact that I'm smaller this time around & just hope that the pounds that I did pack on (oh believe me... I'm still gaining) will come off just as fast as the ones I packed on w/ my little man! fingers crossed since this time I'll be close to a beach where you actually wear a bathing suit & lay out! yippy for that... this baby is sooooo going to be a little beach bum like his/her big bro:)

Nesting...

since we were on the subject, ok it might have been back around Valentine's Day but whatever...
I am still in nesting mode around here but nesting is WAY easier when you don't have a 21 month old undoing all that is getting done!! After I'm done cleaning up behind my little man... my big man comes home & leaves a trail of clothes, papers, etc. behind him... then I'm too tired to nest the way I want to nest:)

I'm thinking all of this cleaning business is only going to get a little more difficult with baby number two:) Maybe I'll have to settle for a little mess... hmmmm that just doesn't seem possible. I'm getting all OCD just looking @ that sentence!

Seriously though... we are waiting on a few key pieces of furniture thanks to both sets of grands... we are stealing the furniture from my parents & Luke's dad is going to bring it up to us (we are SO lucky to have such great parents!!!) then I can start filling drawers w/ baby clothes & unpacking the last of the baby stuff so we can see what we need for baby #2 - if anything:) So crazy that in just 6 weeks we may be plus one!

As for the boys... they are good! Landon is growing... growing... growing & Luke is working... working... working. He has a MUCH needed break coming soon & hopefully he'll get to relax & we'll get tons of things done around the house:) we shall see.

Full on nesting mode...

over here @ the Marland's! We had a productive saturday - well, Luke had a productive few hours while I had some me time:) What a guy!!

I came home from doing some errands to the swing, bouncy seat & jumperoo all put together. Now we're just washing some of the covers & then they'll be good to go!

It's so hard to comprehend that in 2 months we'll have another little one in our lives! I can only hope that he or she will be as cute, cuddly, funny and just plain ol' awesome as Landon (I have a feeling they will be in their own way). I am a lucky mama & I just have to remind myself of that over the next 2 months because man oh man am I starting to feel DONE:) I'm sure it's going to fly by & then we will be a family of four!

we haven't done this in a while...

while it's not a riveting performance @ least you can hear the little man talking a bit (not making too much sense but that's beside the point)