The tooth fairy stopped by

On the first of December, we had an appointment to get some dental work done on Landon.  He has had a lot of issues with his teeth even after spending time brushing them twice a day.  No matter what we do, we couldn't save his little baby teeth.  They had to come out.

The dentist we saw, Dr. Kotil, was amazing.  On the day of the "surgery", we didn't get to see him until after everything was completed.  He ended up taking eight teeth out instead of the seven he planned.  So Landon is going to be pretty gummy for a little while until his adult teeth come in.  He put some stuff on Landon's back teeth to protect them and also took x-rays to give us an idea what is going on with Landon's adult teeth.  I am happy to report that all his adult teeth are there and perfectly healthy!!  Yippy!!  We were so worried that he wouldn't have adult teeth since we aren't sure how much the lymphangioma was affecting.  I think a ton of bricks were lifted off of my shoulders when Dr. Kotil told us that everything was fine.  I couldn't have been happier.  We kept thinking the worst (more to prepare ourselves than anything) and thought that he might have to have some sort of implants put in.  My head was spinning with how much that would cost and how he would have to go under again...ugh!  Thankfully, we don't have to worry about any of that!!!  We even got to go home with a cup of the teeth that Dr. Kotil pulled. :)

Landon has done great with recovery.  Although Landon's tongue did get a little swollen after for a few days, he handled it like a champ.  Now, he is totally back to normal and you can tell he's a lot more comfortable.  He eats more now and we don't have to worry about anything when we brush his teeth.  He's even had a couple of his adult teeth poke through the gums!

We took our cup o' teeth home with us that day.  A few days later, when Landon was feeling better we told him about the tooth fairy and asked him if he wanted to give his teeth to the tooth fairy.  His eyes got big and nodded yes.

About to go to bed with our cup o' teeth on the nightstand for the tooth fairy.

The next morning, Landon woke up to $8 on his nightstand instead of his teeth!  His eyes lit up when he saw the money on his nightstand and immediately grabbed it and, of course, starting looking at the numbers. :)

I told him to hold up his money so I could take his picture...he's such a literal Larry. :)

Checking out those numbers. hehe

Now every time I'm brushing his teeth he talks about getting money for his other teeth!  I think he's gonna be sad when his teeth stop falling out! :)

Our Turkey Day

Since I moved to Nebraska and became a military wife, I've learned that holidays are what you make of them.  If you can't go home for the holidays, you make the most of them with the people around you.  Every year Braydon and I try to have our friends over to create our little military "family".  It's made up of any of our military friends that don't go home for the holidays.  We have done it every Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This year we got to celebrate Sydney's first Thanksgiving and she loved it.  She tried stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes.  She really liked the stuffing and shoveled it into her mouth.  She didn't really care for the cranberry sauce but that's okay...just more for me. :)

Shoveling the stuffing in her mouth. hehe

Landon may look like he's crying or in pain...no.  That's his smiling face. :)

Landon sat at the big kid table with us and did a number on his plate too.  He loves mashed potatoes and turkey so we didn't have to fight with him much to get him to eat. :)

We are so thankful for our wonderful friends and for my family's health this year.   Thank you to our military family for your help with Thanksgiving dinner!  We are so glad you put up with us! ;)

Laundry baskets and hats

I found these pictures I had taken of Sydney earlier in the month.  I was doing some laundry when Sydney became pretty interested in the laundry basket. :)

Someone got really excited for a minute...

then got mad....

and decided to eat the basket. :)

Then she found Landon's hat from his Halloween costume and had some fun with that on her head. :)

Bad blogger!!

I apologize for not having more posts up in the past month or so.  We, honestly, haven't had much going on.  Next month is going to be really busy for us, so we're trying to make the most of the down time.

I was trying to get a cute picture of Landon and Sydney together, but apparently Sydney had better things to do. :)

Landon's Lego boat :)

On December 1st, Landon will be going into Children's to have some dental work done and another broncoscopy done.  We'll get some information about what his airway looks like and how well he's grown since his tonsillectomy in June.  I think this will also prepare us for what may or may not happen during the sleep study on the 13th of December.  We'll see.  Please keep your fingers crossed and Landon in your thoughts and prayers.  He'll be admitted into the hospital to watch how well he sleeps with the trach capped.  If he passes with flying colors, Dr. Quinlan said it was safe to decannulate Landon (or take out the trach).  This makes me both excited and nervous all at the same time.  Not just because Landon has had this trach since he was a baby, but because I'm nervous about problems after it comes out.  What if Landon gets sick and his airway starts to close up?  I don't want him to have to be hospitalized every time he gets sick!  That would be horrible!

I've convinced myself that I will be talking to (the once cautious) Dr. Quinlan and see what changed his mind. I want to know if he has thought about these things and if they are even concerns to him.  Don't get me wrong, I want this trach out just as bad as anyone else, but I have to protect my 4 year old and to not jump the gun.  It would be so horrible if he got it out and then we had to have it put back in.  So, I will be letting everyone know how my talk goes with Dr. Quinlan.  He's notorious for changing his mind too, so we'll see.

Taking requests

I got a Facebook message from a very good friend and avid follower of Landon's blog.  She was having "Walsh family withdrawals".  This is a horrible thing to have and I have to help her!  So, Sydney, Landon and Braydon put this video together for you, Laura.  We love you!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Landon has been talking about trick-or-treating all day today.  He was pretty excited after he had his nap today to get dressed up and go out and get candy.  He repeatedly told me "trick or treat" until it was time to go.  I snapped a couple pictures of the kids before Landon and Braydon took off for trick or treating.  (Sydney and I stayed home around the fire pit and handed out candy.)

* Just FYI...Landon loves his "red bird".  He carries it with him a lot.  "Red bird" went trick or treating tonight...in Landon's bag. :)

Sydney got a hold of Landon's hat and he just kept saying "uh-oh" over and over.  That's what he always says when Sydney has anything of his.

When Landon got back, he had a bunch of candy that he wanted to get into.  He unloaded it right inside the front door and started checking out what he got.  He found some M&Ms and immediately wanted me to open them. :)  He LOVES M&Ms.  

"Smiling" with his stash

Sydney's got M&Ms!! :)

All of Landon's treats with the "red bird" guarding it from grabby hands. :)

I can't believe that this year is almost over.  Tomorrow is November...where is this year going??  I already started talking to Landon about Thanksgiving tonight.  It's pretty crazy how fast time goes.  Soon it'll be Christmas and then Sydney's 1st birthday.  Wow.  That's crazy.

I hope everyone had an amazing Halloween!  I know I'll be snacking on some yummy candy tonight. :)

Pumpkin guts!

Last year I thought Landon would totally be into carving pumpkins and pulling out the guts.  He is a boy after all!  No.  My kid did other things.  This year, Landon was totally into it.  We had so much fun the other day pulling apart a pumpkin and carving it.  Landon painted his own pumpkin (green of course) and was pretty proud of it.

He was helping me scrape the sides with the scraper

And he laughed so hard when I pulled out the guts and said "EWW!"

Painting his pumpkin...I'm not sure why I buy any other color besides green...

Icky hands mom!!!! :)

9 months down, 3 more to go...

I took Sydney and Landon in to get their flu shots this year.  I disguised the trip to Dr. LaCroix's office by scheduling Sydney's nine month appointment at the same time.  Landon didn't really see the shot coming...which is good.  He got over it quicker and he didn't have time to get upset about it beforehand.  Worked out very nicely.  Landon sit and played on his iPad while I talked to Dr. LaCroix about Sydney.

She's doing really good with eating baby foods.  She normally would eat a couple of jars for every meal except for dinner where she would get a larger jar and a regular jar.  I thought that was a lot for a baby her age, but that's what she seemed content with.  And trust me, she lets you know if she's still hungry!!

When I was talking to Dr. LaCroix, she gave me the go-ahead to start giving her pretty much any table food that will be soft enough and be somewhat dissolvable.  I bought some Cheerios that day to start with and started her with them.  She inhaled them like a champ!!!  This girl does NOT mess around with her food.  I've slowly given her new things and she eats SO much!!!!!  Today for lunch Sydney ate 3-4 vienna sausages, a handful of these dissolvable freeze dried yogurt bites, some peas, a jar of baby food squash, and some Cheerios.  Then for dinner she had some chicken and mashed potatoes, mushy carrots, a jar of baby food apples and blueberries, and half of a small container of mac-n-cheese.  She's a hungry girl!!!  I'm not sure where it's going since Dr. LaCroix informed me that she only weighs 16 lbs and is in the 10th percentile for her height and weight!!!!  I couldn't believe it!  I'm really not sure where she puts it all.  She's not crawling yet, so she should be packing on the pounds!  Nope, she's just a little bitty thing.  We've started to call her the little garbage disposal.  She just gobbles everything like she hasn't eaten all day.  I swear I feed her.

Also, this month Sydney has gotten four more teeth!  She started the month with only two!  This cute little girl is getting big right before my eyes!   There is only 3 more months till she turns one!  YIKES!!!  Time sure does fly when your having fun!

There's a baby in the sink!

Sydney has really outgrown her baby bathtub.  I thought about just putting her in the tub, but that idea makes me a little nervous.  It's such a big bathtub and such a little baby.  I think I'll wait till she's a little older.

So, I've been putting Sydney-bug in the sink.  I took some pictures of the first time she was in there.  She didn't seem to mind it very much.

She learned right at the end how to splash in the water...thank goodness it was when we were getting out!

Is this sharing I see???

Landon still loves playing games on his iPad when we don't have much going on.  We've been good about getting him a variety of games that teach him numbers or how to write.  There are a few fun ones that he enjoys including the ever-famous Angry Birds.

Landon's old speech therapist, Ashley, sent me a message via Facebook the other day just seeing how we were doing.  She mentioned to me that she thought of Landon while playing a game called "Ant Smasher" on her iPhone.  So I downloaded it onto Landon's iPad to try it, and Landon LOVES it!  It's just a game where you squish bugs and it makes a funny sound....such a boy game.  It is pretty cute though and Landon loves the sounds the bugs make when you squish them.  There are bees on there that you aren't supposed to touch and he'll laugh when he accidentally touches one.  I took a video of him playing to show you how much he loves it.

Then the other day, I was entertaining my children and noticed Landon wanting to play the ant game.  He set the game down and played the game with Sydney on the floor.  They were so cute and Landon would laugh if Sydney got "stung" by the bee.  Normally Landon is really protective of his iPad, so it made me smile that he shared with Sydney.

Sydney and Landon playing the ant game together.  Everyone say "awww"! ;)

Baking with Dad

Landon has become a fan of sweet treats.  While potty training, we have been giving him M&Ms when he goes.  This has started a snowball effect with having yummy treats.  He's grown to be a fan of (of course) M&Ms, cake, cookies, ice cream and even frosting (which he used to hate)!  He's got his Daddy's sweet tooth. :)

Braydon decided to bake cookies with Landon the other day.  They had a little fun, although Braydon did the majority of it while Landon enjoyed the fruits of his labor. :)

A little stirring...

Dad's help with putting them on the baking sheet

Landon's thinking really hard about how exactly those will turn into yummy cookies...

Enjoying his cookie

Landon and Dad's "cookie cheers" :)

Silly Dad with his cookie