William Joshua

Today we went to meet little William Joshua. He is a doll! He weighed 7lb 6oz and was 21" long and skinny. Emily and Jonathan are both doing well and enjoying their beautiful boy.

Here are some pictures of Landon's new buddy:

Babies!

Today, my good friend, Rachel, had her precious boy, Adam James. I can't wait to hear more about her delivery as she was planning on going all-natural - she is an amazing woman! My other good friend here in Tulsa, Emily, is also in labor with her son, William Joshua, as we speak. It would be crazy if they had their babies on the same day (I hope for Emily's sake they do). Very exciting times!

My sister, Heidi and her two kiddos, Clayton and Halle, have been visiting for the week. We have been having a good time. I'll post pictures soon.

UPDATE: Emily had baby Will this evening around 7:00pm - so they do have the same birthday!

Memphis - Day 3

We had another nice day in Memphis. We started out at the Peabody Hotel where everyday at 11:00am, ducks ride down the elevator and stroll down the carpet and into the fountain. It has been a tradition since the 1930s. Landon really enjoyed watching the ducks. We then took a stroll down Beale street and went into a few shops along the way. On our way back to the car it started pouring rain, I was glad we had Landon's raincoat along! For supper, we tried out a local pizza place which was really yummy.

Memphis - Day 2

We had a nice day exploring downtown Memphis. Landon's favorite part was the Civic Center Fountain. I think we may have to go back again tomorrow with his swimming suit :)

1st Day in Memphis

Seth planned a trip to celebrate our 3rd year anniversary in Memphis, TN. We are really enjoying our time here. Tonight we went on a dinner cruise. It was really nice. Landon enjoyed the band and disco lights, however, he wasn't too fond of the fireworks. I think it was more the loud pops than the fireworks themselves because when we went inside and looked out the window he liked them a lot better. Seth also arranged a massage for me which was so relaxing. I am so thankful for my sweet hubby.

Cheap Dinner out at Restaurant.com

If you haven't heard of Restaurant.com I will explain and hope you take advantage and have a nice dinner out!

Enter your zipcode and find a participating Restaurant in your area that you would like to try.

Pick a $25 certificate which says it would cost $10

When you check out, enter the promo code "SPECIAL" which will take your total down to $2.00

You can then print it out and use it

Most of the restaurants say you have to have a minimum purchase of $35 and some say a gratuity of 18% will be added before the discounted certificate is applied. So, let me do the break down of the one I purchased:

$25 Certificate - $2.00

$35 Total at restaurant

18% Gratutity on $35 = $6.30

Total we will pay including tip: $18.60 for $35 worth of food

Take another couple out for a treat!

*For more details see this post

Birthday Recap

Landon had two wonderful birthday parties. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. We are so thankful for our precious boy. He has brought us so much joy and healing after the loss of Samuel.

His first party was in Iowa with my side of the family. We had such a nice time together. Landon loved the angel food cake - mom told me he devoured 5 cupcakes! A little more than I was planning on giving him, but that's ok, he only turns 1 once.









His second party was here in Tulsa with Seth's side of the family. He didn't really know what to think of everything. He didn't like the chocolate cake too much which really surprised me. I'm sure he'll like it soon enough - I won't push anything though :)

"The B-I-B-L-E"

My 3rd Mother's Day

I had an absolutely wonderful mother's day. Last year, Landon was just a day old so we didn't get to really celebrate it (we did, but you know what I mean). The year before I had hoped to have my little Samuel to hold on that first mother's day, but he was with Jesus. So, today we took a trip out to Samuel's grave so I could be with both my boys on mother's day. It was nice to be there with Landon. He even said, "brother" when prompted while we were there (well, it came out more like, "brovver"), it was so sweet.




I also got this pendant engraved with Samuel's initials on one side and his birthday on the other (I received the pendant at the hospital when we had Samuel). Seth also got me a new chain to wear with it - I absolutely love how it turned out.





We ended the night at a special restaurant (we went to our first date here), Abuelos. It was delicious! Landon even got some birthday Flan which he loved.

Happy First Birthday Landon!

It's always been a tradition in my family to have breakfast in bed on your birthday. So, this morning Landon got to have his first breakfast in bed on his first birthday. He loved it!

Graduation!

After almost two years of a lot of hard work and many late nights, Seth finally finished his Master's degree! We are so excited for him to be done. I'm so proud of him. Landon didn't know what to think of Seth's gown and hat, it freaked him out a little bit.



We traveled an hour and a half to the main campus for the graduation. It was beautiful!



It was quite the elaborate graduation with bagpipes and all.



Landon did well, although during the long-winded speaker he started shaking his hands which means in sign language, "all done."

Scary...

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

1 Banana
3-5 Strawberries
1 Orange
1/4 cup Apple Juice / Water
3-5 Ice Cubes

Blend well and enjoy!
Makes 2 servings

This one was refreshing today, it's hot outside!

Cousins

We went up to Iowa this weekend to celebrate both Clayton and Landon's birthdays. We had a great time and actually got a good cousins picture!

Prayer Request

Wow, this family has been through a lot this past year. Aimee delivered her baby girl, Kayleigh, in June - 3 months before her due date. This precious baby was born weighing 1lb 1oz and was 10 1/2 inches long. The picture on their blog of Kayleigh's hand in her daddy's reminds me so much of Samuel, he weighed just 5 oz less and was 1 inch shorter. Kayleigh is now 10 months old and had made a lot of progress, but during a recent surgery she was deprived of blood/oxygen to her brain and now cannot live for very long without life support. The family has decided to take her home to the room they had prepared for her and allow her to spend time with her siblings that haven't been able to see her since August (due to RSV season). I'm sure this family would appreciate prayers as they face these difficult days ahead.

Picture of the Day

Yummy Potato Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
2 lbs Potatoes (I used red, you can use whatever)
1 cup Mayo
4 t dill or sweet relish
4 t white sugar
2 t white oninon
2 t prepared mustard
1 t white wine vinegar
1 T minced celery
1/2 t shredded carrot
1/4 t dried/fresh parsley
1/4 t ground black pepper
salt to taste

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop.

In a large bowl combine mayonnaise, pickle relish, sugar, onion, mustard, vinegar, celery, carrot, parsley, pepper and salt. Mix well. Mix in potatoes and enjoy!

What to do if you don't have a double stroller...

Last night we had Layla and Finn over. We decided to walk to the park, but had three kids and two strollers. So, we improvised. The boys have a love/hate relationship. They don't like to share and someone usually ends up crying when they "play" together. They did surprisingly well though riding in such close proximity and we all had a great time at the park.

Our little baseball player

Orangamango Smoothie

Sorry, I'm been neglecting my blog lately. The weather has been so beautiful, who wants to sit in front of a computer screen anyway?!

In light of this spring weather, I thought I'd share this yummy smoothie recipe I tried today:

Ingredients:
1 Orange
1 Mango
Juice from 1/2 Lime
1/3 cup Apple Juice
A few ice cubes

Serves: 1

Landon and I both loved this!