Sweet hugs from a sweet girl on the move

Sydney has started doing all kinds of things.  She'll occasionally copy a face you make or try and say a sound you make.  She's gotten pretty animated.

When we play, I'll "hug" her stuffed animals or dolls and give a big "awwww" just for emphasis.  She watched me, smiling the first few times I did it but now she's trying it herself.

She's also been on the move.  She's got crawling down like a pro and has started pulling up on things.  She cruises along to get into anything she can reach and to pester her brother.  :)  We gave her a walker the other day and she took to it really quick!  I don't think it will be long until she's walking.  She doesn't even like to crawl anymore.  She only crawls to get to something she can't cruise to.  If you offer her a hand to help her walk, she takes off and doesn't stop until you make her!

P.S.  Sorry for the videos being sideways...

Happy 2012!!!

Crazy!  I can't believe it's 2012!  I feel like 2011 just flew by.  Time flies when you're having fun. :)

So, I said in November that we didn't have much going on, but December was the complete opposite.  I apologize for not being better about blogging.  We had Landon's teeth done in the beginning of December while my mom was visiting, then had Landon's sleep study in the middle of December along with Christmas shopping, a holiday party at school (where the room mom ran out on, so somehow I got suckered into being in charge), a two-week long cold, and Christmas itself...phew!  I barely had time to breathe!

I'll have posts on everything, but first thing is first...

My mom came to visit in the beginning of December.  We always have fun together and we always say that our visits are too short no matter how long she stays.  We weren't very good about taking pictures while she was here, but here's a few cute ones of the ones that I took.

Don't you love Landon's "smile"?  hehe

Nonna and Sydney looking at a magazine after breakfast

My mom and Sydney got some time together while Landon went in to get his teeth pulled.  They spent most of the day together playing and having fun.  

I wanted to thank my mom for helping while she was here.  It made it so much easier that I didn't have to worry about Sydney while I was worrying about Landon.  I love you mom!  Thank you so much!!!  You're the best!

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!