Landon's Christmas 2008

I sure hope everyone had as much fun this Christmas as Landon did! On Christmas Eve, we went over to Landon's Godparents house. As always, the food was wonderful and the company was even better. It is so amazing to me to see the loving bond Landon has with Aunt Barbie and Uncle Tommy. He certainly is a great judge of character! Landon got to help Aunt Barbie and I set up and light the luminaries and he even got to open a few presents. His Godparents got him a year membership to The Zoo and a Thomas the Train set (his absolute favorite). He will enjoy them both very much there is no doubt! Then it was back home and off to bed so Santa could stop by. This is the first year that Landon has truly understood that Santa was coming to town and I loved seeing how excited he was about his arrival! It was one of the easiest times I have ever gotten him to go to bed! BTW, did I mention that it was 65 degrees!!! Christmas in Florida... gotta love it!

On Christmas morning, Landon awoke to discover that Santa had indeed stopped by our house and left him quite a few presents. His favorite, a remote-control monster truck. Gi Gi and I spent the rest of the day trying not to get run over by the Ford F350! Did I mention that Landon thought that was funny? Mommy might have to remind Santa of that next year! Anyway, he also got a Diego Scooter from Gi Gi, a cool walking and roaring dinosaur, a military playset and some trains from Santa. Plus a couple of DVD's and some neat stocking stuffers. Let's just say he made out like a bandit! I loved watching his expression each time he opened a gift. It reminded me how wonderful childhood is and it was by far the best Christmas present I could have received! I did get a nice belated Christmas present on Saturday when my Seminoles kicked some Wisconsin Badger butt!!

To top it all off, we went to visit Ms. Gini in her new home which is absolutely beautiful and perfect for her! (Even though we hate how far away from us she is now!) We enjoyed our visit with her so much and can't wait to see her again, as always! Then we stopped by to see Grandpa Wagner and wish him a Merry Christmas! Then Landon's Dad came over and he and Landon played with, guess what? That's right.... that darn monster truck and they had a wonderful time. Such a nice holiday!
Can't wait til next year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Landon and I (Lily & Lucy too). Thank you so much for the many ways you have touched our lives and we are looking forward to a wonderful 2009. Love to all!

Landon's Early Christmas Present

Some of Santa's Elves stopped by on Saturday to assemble Landon's big Christmas present from Mommy... a 12' trampoline. To George, Tony, Bill & Gail, I cannot thank you enough and thank you for being adamant that Landon have it assembled by Christmas!!! You guys are just the sweetest, most wonderful friends.
Ok, some of you may be thinking I'm crazy for buying something "dangerous" for Landon, but either you were deprived as a kid and never got to jump on one or you need to lighten up! I had a blast on trampolines as a kid. Trampolines with NO safety enclosure by the way. And I won't even mention some of the crazy things we did on trampolines and I survived. Anyway, this one is awesome and Landon and I have already had hours of fun on it! I even had a little fun on it all by myself. I'm guessing we will have years of fun on it together and I'm looking forward to every second!

Babysitter Jackpot??

I may be on to something....Those of you who know me, know that I hesitate to leave Landon with a babysitter that is not a relative. And those of you who know me also know that Landon is extremely attached to me!! (I'll admit it, he's a Momma's Boy and I wouldn't want it any other way!) In 3 years, he has only stayed with one babysitter who wasn't a relative and that was Ms. Gini (whom he adores!) So, since his Dad hasn't been available for several weekends, I decided to take the plunge and try a new babysitter. By new, I mean it would be the first time he stayed with this person without me around. So, he stayed with Uncle Tommy, his Godfather, for a couple of hours this past weekend so I could go to a Christmas Party. Boy, was I pleasently surprised! He didn't fuss at all when I left and Tommy said he was "perfect" while I was gone. So, maybe this is the nudge I needed to start accepting some other invitations. I know some of you will be happy to hear that!

BTW.. these photos have nothing to do with the post but are too cute not to share!

FWB Christmas Parade

Landon got to ride in his first parade last night and I think he enjoyed it. The weather was great and the parade moved swiftly. Landon and I rode in the big Sheriff's truck and Landon threw candy and waved at everyone. Of course, most of the candy he threw landed right outside the window and one of the walkers had to kick it over to the crowd. But Landon didn't seem to care. His favorite part was probably waiting for the parade to get going. He got to stand in the back of the truck with the coolers of candy. I would like to thank all of my wonderful coworkers who were kind enough to give him candy and Coke. (Don't worry, I'll get even!) They were all conspiring, including Landon, to get him candy when I wasn't looking. But the eveidence was all over his mouth. I had a little trouble getting him to go to sleep last night but then again, how often do you get to participate in your very first parade?

I want to be a Toys R Us kid...

... and so does Landon! We took a spontaneous trip over to Pensacola today (Since gas is so low we can do that now!) Our first stop was the big Toys R Us store. Landon has never been to a Toys R Us store and I haven't been in almost a decade. He stepped inside and said, "Wow!" I thought we would never get him out of the store. But they had some great sales and I was able to convince Landon that if he found something he liked, he could ask Santa to bring it to him for Christmas. It worked MOST of the time. I loved watching him wander around the store, saying "Mommy, look at this. Isn't this cool!" It was just the cutest thing in the world. I was able to get a few Christmas presents for him without him knowing and I found several things for the little boy we sponsored for Christmas. All in all a great trip!!!

Welcome Baby Carter!

Talk about a baby boom! Yet another little bundle of joy has arrived this week. My friend Heather and her husband Scott welcomed their second son, Carter McKenzie Powell on December 3 at 12:33 pm. He weighed 6 lbs. 8 oz. (so tiny) and was 19 inches long and is just an itty bitty little bundle of sweetness. Carter will join big brother Parker who is 15 months old (bless you Heather!!!!) Welcome Baby Carter, your Aunt Nic Nak loves you!!!