I am an Allergy Mom

I came across this while browsing on Pinterest and just knew that I had to share it. It sums up the job of an Allergy Mom rather well.

I am an allergy Mom.

I am a superstar label reader

a fantastic recipe finder

a benedryl medicine administerer.

I am an allergy Mom.

I am an allergy educator

an awesome snack packer

an allergy free menu maker.

I am an allergy Mom.

I am an allergy chef

an epi-pen carrier

an allergy free product memorizer.

I am an allergy Mom.

I am a brain stormer so my son can feel included

a substitute finder

a rash soother.

I am an allergy Mom.

I am an allergy test comforter

a symptom checker

a doctor appointment maker.

I am an allergy Mom.

I am a hive finder

a researcher

and a super duper snuggler.

I am an allergy Mom.

Original source: Easy Breezy Food Allergies

Wits' End

Landon: Mommy, I'm having a nightmare. I'm scared.

Me: How can you be having a nightmare? You haven't fallen asleep yet.

Landon: But I am having a nightmare, right now. I'm scared Mommy. I'm having a nightmare and I can't sleep.

Me:You are not having a nightmare. A nightmare is a bad dream. A dream is something that happens while you are sleeping and you are not sleeping.

At this point Landon pretends to sleep, complete with fake snores, and then he starts screaming blood curdling screams.

Landon: See? I told you I was having a nightmare.

I threw my hands up and surrendered. It was either cave and lay down with him until he fell asleep or have a battle of wits and I was far too tired to out wit Landon.

Landon 1- Mommy 0. We'll see who wins tomorrow night.

My Kid Rocks!

I'm joining in on the fun over at It's Almost Naptime. The idea behind it is to brag about your child. Children get criticized and told when they are doing something wrong often enough. It's nice to take a moment out to just brag about them.

One of my most favorite things about Landon is how much love his little heart holds. This morning Landon came into my bed in his usual manner. He climbed into bed, gave me a kiss, a hug and a wiggle wiggle (where he rubs his nose against mine while saying "wiggle wiggle"). He kept insisting that I get out of bed right away. I told him that it was going to take Mommy a minute because I had a headache due to a sinus infection. He replied with, "I am so mad at your headache, but I still love you." That was the first of many times today that he has told me he loves me. I love all of the completely random times that Landon tells me he loves me. While I was taking a shower he walked by the bathroom twice just to tell me that he loved me. He is so incredibly sweet with such a big heart.

I love this little boy so much....

and I love how much he loves me!

Easter Crafts

We've been doing a number of Easter crafts around here lately. So far my favorite one has been constructing a foam bunny house. Landon was so excited about this one. He picked the kit out at the store and couldn't wait for us to put it together. We arrived home from the store rather late in the afternoon so I promised Landon that we would make it first thing in the morning. I should have known that Landon was going to wake up with the sun and bring the kit into my bed. He never forgets a thing! I made good on my promise and we constructed the bunny house first thing this morning. 

 

 

 

 

It's a Jungle in There!

Landon's room has finally made the transition from nursery to big boy room. I was hoping to keep the Winnie the Pooh theme until he was off to college, but my little boy who thinks he is grown had other ideas. He asked me if he could have a "lion jungle room" so I knew that was my clue to finally suck it up and take down his Winnie the Pooh room. It was a sad day for me, but I did it. I did it and survived to tell about it. Only a few tears were shed. I didn't have a huge meltdown like everyone was betting I would. The end result is perfect. It was so hard at first to find jungle decor that wasn't babyish. The cartoon type of jungle items are every where, but I was wanting a more realistic safari feel to Landon's room. I think I pulled it off and I would have to say that Landon agrees. 

And so does Tinkerbell. She loves laying on the lion rug. We have one firm rule around here. That rule being that Tink is not allowed in the bedrooms. Period. The bedrooms are strictly allergen free. She just couldn't seem to help herself when I put this rug down on Landon's floor. She normally adheres to the rule, unless of course Landon sneaks her into his room and I find out about it once she's scratching at the door to escape his antics. For some reason she can't seem to stay off of this rug. I think she may think she found her long lost cousin!

When I came across this decal I just knew that Landon's much anticipated lion room wouldn't be complete without it. I had a slight snafu putting it up, but my mom came right over and saved the day. It is one of my favorite parts of Landon's new room. I also love the canopy leaf above his bed. 

 Landon called the fabric for his curtains "beautiful" when we picked it out. I have to agree with him.

I also managed to find a way to keep a small corner of nursery items. I wasn't ready to pack everything away just yet so we compromised. 

 The sign above Landon's door was the inspiration for Landon's jungle room. This was made for him a year and a half ago at the zoo and it's been hanging in his room ever since. Now it matches the rest of his room.

 

The 3D tiger poster was also another big hit. It just gives me a headache when I look at it. This picture also made me realize that Landon has a thing for silly hats. 

Landon loves his new room and couldn't stop jumping around. I managed to get a video of him seeing his room for the first time. He kept calling his room "beautiful". I'm so glad that all of the hard work paid off. I'm also glad that we went with the jungle theme that Landon wanted instead of the dinosaur theme that I had in mind. Landon knew what he wanted all along and he was definitely right. This new room really suits him. 

I really hope that the "white stuff" that Landon keeps referring to is not a ghost. For a little while now Landon has been waking up at night crying. He comes into my room saying that he sees "white stuff" on the wall and ceiling. Now hopefully that won't be a problem because he says that his leaf canopy will protect him from the white stuff. My fingers are crossed for an uneventful first night in his new room. 

Loving Landon

It's been a while. That seems to be the trend as of lately. The past couple of weeks have been kind of crazy. Landon was really sick for a while there. He had a high fever for almost a solid week combined with a terrible cough, which caused asthma issues. Kevin and I took him to the doctor and all was well. Well as in he didn't require any medication, but not well as in he was just fine. The fever that wouldn't break was the biggest concern, but luckily it broke soon after the trip to the doctor. I think this was the longest amount of time that Landon has been sick for. He just laid on the couch for several days not doing much of anything. He seems to never have much of an appetite when he's sick, but he has been making up for that. It was hard seeing him sick, but we are so very glad that he is up and running around again. 

It does look like Landon's asthma that only acted up when he was sick is turning into a permanent thing. He had to do a number of breathing treatments while he was sick, which we were expecting, but the doctor mentioned that he believes Landon now has exercise induced asthma. For the past year or so Landon has been coughing quite a bit after running and becomes short of breath and starts wheezing at times. I was hoping that it was just me being paranoid, but it looks like he is taking after me more and more, including the asthma. It just means that Landon has to take his inhaler a little more often. He has to take it before he plays. We'll then see if it helps with his coughing. 

Other than this brief sickness that Landon had he is doing really well. He's growing like a weed. I can't believe that our baby boy is almost four. It just doesn't seem possible. Landon surprises us daily with his new sayings and Landonisms. I caught a slight cough from Landon and one evening while washing the dishes I started coughing. Landon walked into the kitchen, started rubbing my back and then started singing "Rock-a-bye-baby" to me, but replaced the "baby" part with "Mommy." It was one of the sweetest things I have seen him do. He's constantly doing little things like that. He sure does know how to make every day enjoyable. I think Kevin and I can both agree that the best part of Landon is how loving he is. He is constantly walking up to us and giving random hugs and kisses followed by saying "I love you Mommy" or "I love you Daddy" at the most random of times. Mommy and Daddy love you too Landon and are so glad that you are feeling better.   

Bedtime Antics and Carnival Rides

"Mommy I want to come hug you."
"Mommy I'm stuffy and need some more medicine."

"Mommy I'm thirsty. See? (I can only assume that he's opening up his mouth nice and wide at this point.) See Mommy? I told you I am thirsty. Can you hear it? My throat is making thirsty noises."

"Mommy I want to hug you again."

These were all of the attempts that Landon made to get out of bed tonight. He tries different tactics every night, but the one that always works is when he asks if he can get out of bed to give me a hug. He knows I'll never turn down a hug so he tries it more than once every night and he makes it a really long hug. He won't get any complaints out of me for that one!

Some parents might become aggravated over this night after night, but I tend to enjoy it. I know these bed time antics won't last for forever and some of the things that he comes up with are rather amusing. Landon has already reached the point where it is a struggle for me to be able to lift him up. Those days of carrying him are long gone and I miss them so much. I now try to savor each and every moment even if it means that I have to tell him to get back to bed a dozen times.

In other Landon related news, I took him to the carnival this evening. I wasn't sure whether he would ride any of the rides, but I was at least hoping to have him sit with me on the ferris wheel. He took one look at it and decided that he wasn't going to ride it. He kept saying that it went too high up. He finally got onto two rides without a problem. The first one I rode with him and the second one he wanted to do all by himself. He had one more ride worth of tickets left and decided to go onto a car ride. The emergency stop button had to be pressed as soon as the ride went around the first turn. It went a little too fast for Landon and he freaked out. We're making progress though. The last time we went to the carnival the emergency stop button was pushed on his very first ride attempt. When we were leaving he said to me, "Mommy I was scared, but that means that I still had a little fun because I was only scared on one ride. I wasn't scared on two rides so I had a little fun still." I'm glad that you had fun Landon. Those are the moments Mommy strives for.

Sneak Peek

Here's a little sneak peek as to what I have been working on for Landon's new big boy room:

It's a book end that I had made from one of Landon's many animal toys. He happened to have three of these same identical lions so it worked out well. Or one would have thought that it worked out well. Landon freaked when I put the first slice into the lion's stomach. "Why are you cutting my lion? TT bought that for me!" He would just scream that over and over. We even talked about it before hand and he was ok with the idea until he actually saw the first cut. He even made me call Jenn to tell her that I had cut the lion that she had bought for him. Landon was a complete wreck and I felt so guilty for it afterwards. I think the finished project of his jungle room will be completely worth it for him. His jungle room has turned into a very long process, but I think it will come together just the way he's dreaming of it in his head. I can't wait to surprise him with his new room within the next week or so.

EDIT: Landon is just fine and no permanent damage has been done from his lion being "killed". Rest assured anonymous commenter that he now loves his lion book ends.