Planes, Trains & Roller Coasters

We've been enjoying our trip up north - visiting with friends and family and time for lots of play.  Last week I decided it was finally time to take Brooklynn to Canada's Wonderland - its a huge amusement park that I used to go to all the time when I lived up here....so much fun!  My friend Katrine joined us for the day and we got to go back to one of our favorite places from our teen years.  We had such a fun-filled day - just the three of us - Cannon got to stay home and play with Grandma.  We enjoyed our girl time and loved getting to be like a kid again.  We spent 7 hours there!

 Brooklynn went on ALL the rides in the kids area and loved them - she is definitely fearless!  A few of the rides were for kids only so Katrine and I had to wait on the sidelines and watch.  She jumped right in and had a blast.  She even made a few little friends waiting in line and got to ride with them - always more fun riding with someone else :)

We did get to get on some of the rides and have fun too - we loved the carousel....

Brooklynn also rode her first roller coaster - The Ghoster Coaster!  Its a wooden roller coaster that was actually a lot faster and higher than I ever remember...but she did just fine....and actually requested later on in the day to go on another roller coaster.  Such a big girl!

 Taking a peek at the coaster she just got off of.....

Got to fly a plane....

 Ride on a train.....

And go round and round on the swings.....

And another little roller coaster....

Here we are in the front seat zooming around the corner...

LOL - and here is the pic of us from on the ride that they take and want you to buy....I just snapped a quick pic of the pic...hahahaha

Helicopter rides....

There is also a waterpark attached so we took a little break from all the rides and headed over there to cool off.  Brookie is a pro at waterslides and jumped right in....Brrrr...that water was FREEZING!!!

We even got to go down on a waterslide together on an inner tube....it was pretty fun!

Hitting the pool of water - it was way too cold...lol!

After we cooled off we got dried off and changed and headed back to the rides and hit up our next roller coaster...Thunder Run...I remember this one being pretty calm when I used to go on it - its in the main part of the park so its not really a kid ride....so we decided to try it.  I made sure to tell her it was going to be really dark and really fast....and boy - I was NOT lying.  I definitely don't remember it being that fast!  But surprise surprise - my fearless girl loved it! 

We finished off our day with probably the most relaxing ride...The Swans...

I loved spending the day with Katrine and my little girl - made some awesome memories!  We all had such a good time but wow - we were all worn out after 7 hours!

16 Months

Cannon, Cannon, Cannon....where do I start with you this month?  You have been such an active little boy getting into EVERYTHING and learning so many new things!  This last month has really been huge - we can really see the difference in you now - making the change from being just a baby to becoming such an active little boy.  I only thought you kept us busy before.....boy was I wrong!  I can only imagine what the coming months will bring! :)

•No idea what his weight is this month - but I would be seriously surprised if he had gained any less than a pound since last month with his huge eating spree he went on for several weeks in the last month - I would guess at least 25 lbs if not more?

•Wears size 4 diapers

•Still wearing some size 18 mos although mostly its now 24 mos clothing and size 2T

•Drinking 3 bottles of whole milk each day

•Was doing well with eating everything but after our cross country road trip, is back to being a light eater again...ugh!

•Still getting some more new teeth in - no idea how many are left, but seriously his little mouth is ALL TEETH! I would think he is close to being almost done?

•Still sleeps about 12 hours a night - his bedtime has been a little later now - between 8:30-9pm most nights only b/c we are usually playing outside since that is the only time of day we care stand to be outside b/c of the heat.

•Takes 1 nap a day - usually around 1:30 and goes for about 3 hours on average - AND it is the same nap schedule as his big sister - a win-win situation for us all :)

•Loves the outdoors and looks forward to playing outside with our friends each night.  He has graduated to a new toy now - his sister's motorized little 4 wheeler she used to have - he will zoom all over the cul de sac in it - and loves it!  We love it too b/c its something he can do on his own so we can just relax and watch him :)

•Gotten a little better about putting things in his mouth - things still end up in there, but it seems to have slowed down since last month...hopefully this continues!

•Loves to sit on the couch or in chairs like a big boy - climbs up there and turns himself around and has the biggest grin on his face - just so proud of himself.

•Loves to imitate us now - whether it be talking on a cell phone, brushing his hair or teeth, trying to eat with utensils - its so cute seeing how his brain is learning all these new things.

•Went on his first cross country road trip...and we lived to tell about it (barely).  It wasn't the smoothest experience but honestly he is just at that age where becoming mobile is his life so being restrained in a car for 3 days and 1800 miles wasn't his idea of fun.  Hopefully by the time we head back next month, he will have forgotten how long the trip was and will do a little better.....we can dream right??

•His separation anxiety has reached a new level - not sure if the trip being in a different place has made it worse, but I can't even leave the room without him throwing a fit now.  This Fall should prove interesting with him starting the same school as Brooklynn 3 days/week on his own.

•Has become quite the little show off when new people are around - loves to act goofy and get a laugh out of his audience - its pretty funny - whether it be waving his hands around like crazy, babbling some long story and then screeching at the end or just crawling 90mph across the floor and back again and then doing it again and again...whatever he can do to get people to laugh - too cute!

•And the BIGGEST change this month is his WALKING!!!!  He was taking a few steps here and there in Houston before we left with lots of prompting by us...but since we left on our trip - he is becoming braver and doing it more and more and farther and farther.  The first night in the hotel I was getting things situated and turned around to see him walking across the room towards me out of the blue.  He did that several more times that night and the next night in the next hotel.  Then the afternoon we got to Toronto, he actually figured out how to get up off the floor into a standing position and take off walking on his own without any help - yippee!!!  He is walking more and more and we are  hoping soon it will be his main way of getting around.  He is still crawling a little more than half the time...but with more confidence each day...we should soon have a full time walker!

15 Months

Well better late than never right?  At least I am still managing to get the post up in the same month that he has his monthly birthdays right?  We've had a busy month and now we are just melting in the heat.....but we are still managing to have fun and enjoying watcing Cannon become quite the little character.  Every month, he is becoming more and more mischevious and I pretty much have to follow him wherever he goes.  I honestly don't remember Brooklynn getting into this much stuff.....he is into anything and everything!  I can only imagine how much worse its going to get as he gets older......well I guess he is going to be the one that keeps us young - always having to chase after him - ha!

Anyway...here are all the fun things that Cannon is up to at 15 months.....

•Weighed 24.5 lbs at the Dr's office last week during his 15 month check up

•32.5 inches long

•Wears size 4 diapers

•Wearing mainly size 18 mos and 24 mos clothing. Also can wear several pieces of clothing in size 2T

•Drinking 3-4 bottles of whole milk each day

•Finally drinks juice from a sippy cup.  I am SOOOO happy about this - at least now I know he is getting enough fluids into him - I was always stressing b/c it is so hot here and I know he needs to stay hydrated.  Now we just need to get him switched over completely with the milk too

•Back to eating mostly everything and lots of it

•The walking issue.....well he took 5 steps repeatedly on June 2nd.....so I thought FINALLY we were on our way to having a walker....but nope he had other ideas.  After that day he refused to try it again and as a real kicker, decided he no longer wanted to walk even holding my hands.  We are slowly getting back to him walking while we hold his hands - he seems to do it much better for everyone else but me...so not sure what that is all about?

•Tons of teeth now - really have no clue how many anymore - and I really have no desire to try to stick my fingers in his mouth to try to find that out.  I know he now has one of his molars, and a few more that I have seen that are new.  And he definitely knows how to use them!

•Talking about knowing how to use the teeth - he has become a biter.  He has bitten my shoulder a few times and has gone after Brooklynn....and it hurts!  Hoping this phase passes quickly - I have a feeling its just b/c his mouth has been so sore from teething so much

•Still sleeps about 12 hours a night - his bedtime has been a little later now - between 8:30-9pm most nights only b/c we are usually playing outside since that is the only time of day we care stand to be outside b/c of the heat.

•The last few weeks he has been taking only 1 nap each day - mainly b/c of our schedules and I actually kind of like it better.  It gives us a full morning to be able to do things and if he goes down after lunch, I can usually get Brooklynn down at the same time which means free time for me - yay!  Its a win-win situation for sure!

•Loves being outside exploring and eating anything he can find on the ground.  Also loves to play in his little splash pads and water table or on the water slide - defintely a water baby!

•Back to eating anything/everything off the ground again - it is driving me nuts!  I don't know if its b/c we are in a new house and this is his way of exploring, but I noticed last month I had mentioned it had slown down, but not anymore - if anything - it is worse now than ever!

•Another new thing he has picked up is climbing....everything!  He constantly wants up on the couch and will try his hardest to get up but can't do it just yet, which results in some major whining until I help him out.  Yesterday he climbed up on one of Brooklynn's little chairs in their play area and fell off - straight onto the tile floor.  I didn't see him do it, but it scared me to death b/c that floor is hard.  Needless to say I went out today and got a BIG foam interlocking piece play mat to add a little padding to the floor.....hopefully that will take off some of the impact b/c I'm sure that won't be the last one :(

•Loves to climb our stairs in our new house.  We had to hurry and put gates up at the top & bottom to keep him off b/c that was the first thing he would head to every single time.  He thinks its the funniest thing to climb up as fast as he can when we let him do it with us right behind him - he giggles the whole way.  Then when he reaches the top, he tries to turn around and head straight back down - head first!  Needless to say at that point, he is locked out and done with the stairs!

•Can throw a full blown temper tantrum if things don't go his way - seen it a few times and I had to try so hard not to laugh - the whole throwing himself on the floor, screaming, kicking, trying to rip his clothes off type thing....pretty amusing actually!

•Had a really scary virus a few weeks back where he had a fever that got up to 106.2 degrees....luckily it only did that once and we were able to get it back under control with a trip to a pediatric urgent care office and he was better within a few days.  Definitely have no desire to go through that again!

Today was actually a good day for taking pics of the little mister.  He actually cooperated with me (for a short time anyway).  I would call his name and tell him to look at Mommy and guess what?  He actually did - and was all smiles...so it made my job easy today to get some nice smiling pics of him.  Of course you will have to excuse his serious 'bed-head' look....his curls are everywhere!

And then he decided we were done - lol!

Welcome To Our Chaos...

Thats what I feel like our life motto is lately.  The last month or so has been completely crazy and hectic - our lives have literally been turned upside down - but all in a good way.  For those of you that don't know, we sold our house which is no small feat in the Houston market. 

It was on the market for about 3 weeks and we had showings practically everyday and sometimes multiple showings on the same day - we received 3 offers.  The first was definitely a no-go.  They were investors looking for a steal - and our house wasn't it.  We went in with the attitude of, "if it works out great, if not, then it wasn't meant to be".  We knew our bottom line price that we couldn't go below - we were not willing to pay money to get out of our house...so that particular offer didn't pan out.  We got another offer a few weeks later - better than the first, but we definitely weren't jumping up and down for joy about it.  We negotiated back and forth for a few days and finally unofficially agreed on a price....we then waited and waited and waited some more for them to send over their signed offer.  Well in that time another family came through and fell in love and made an official offer - above asking!  Of course we jumped on it - the other people were dragging their feet and we had a great offer that actually afforded us to get a little money to put towards the renovations that our new house needed.  So our closings were 3 weeks away.  We closed on our old house on May 24th and closed on our new house May 25th.  Those were a few very stressful days - closings NEVER go smoothly and I was so terrified of something last minute coming up.  A few things popped up, but luckily they were easy to resolve and both closings went through with no problems.

Then the real work began....the house we bought needed some work - it had been vacant since August and before that had been occupied by renters.  We had a week from the time we closed on it until we had to be out of the other house.  So we had our work cut out for us.  We hired a painting company to paint the entire house inside and out.  We also had to re-do all the first floor baseboards as they were pretty rough looking from when the other owner decided to lay tile all on the first floor.  Andy did this job all by himself - and it was definitely a job!  We would go over first thing in the morning and be working all day until late at night to get it done in time for when the painters would be working down there.

We moved on Memorial Day Weekend and our actual moving day was uneventful - well as much as a moving day could be.  I think I totally underestimated how much went into moving - I guess I had forgotten since the last time was over 7 years ago - we have definitely accumulated A LOT of stuff with 3 kids!  Plus I figured since it was such a short distance move (only 2 houses down) it would be no big deal.  But it was still way more work than I thought.  We love our neighbors and our cul de sac street and just the area in general - this was a huge factor for deciding to buy another house right here.  We had several neighbors and friends come help us move our stuff.  We initially were just loading up the pickup trucks and doing loads that way, but soon realized we needed more.  One of our neighbors is in construction and has a flatbed trailer he uses for work, so we were able to use that and things moved a lot faster.  In the pic below you can see how close our move was....Andy's loaded down truck is in our old driveway and the driveway with the white painter's van is our new one...lol!  One house in between us!

The first week in our new house was very hectic.  The painters were there all week so we really couldn't start organizing things and get settled in.  Plus having 2 small kids in the house with the paint fumes and wet paint wasn't the ideal thing.  So we were able to get out and play with friends during the day.  It definitely helped my sanity to get out of our mess for a few hours each day.

 We finally began really unpacking about a week after we moved in - when the painters were done.  What a task!  We moved from an 1800 sq ft house to a 3000+ sq ft house - we still can't figure out how we fit everything into our old house!  We definitely don't have as much empty space in the new place as we thought we would have!  Of course, when things settle down and we are just back to living our normal everyday lives, we can go through and get rid of what we don't need.  I couldn't help but share this pic of Cannon one day while we were unpacking....I walked back into the room and he had decided to 'help' us by unpacking a box with the alcohol in it....he definitely is his Daddy's son...hehehehe - and don't worry - he never got a drop of the rum ;)

This week we are more or less settled in.....there are only a couple more boxes left to unpack and put away, but for the most part...we are done.  Just need to do finishing touches - put up pics and stuff like that.  We also still have some more light fixtures and ceiling fans to replace.  The outside still needs some work too.....

We started off this week on a scary note.  Cannon had a fever all day Sunday....it was a little higher than I liked and I was constantly checking on him all day - it was hovering between 102-103 degrees.....but by the afternoon, Tylenol wasn't helping to bring it down.  I took his temp late that afternoon and it was up to 104 and I decided to take him on into the urgent care pediatric clinic before they closed.  Well we got there about 10 mins before they closed and I told them that I had just taken his temp within the last 30 mins and it was 104.  The receptionist was concerned so she went and got the thermometer herself and took his temp and it came back at 106.2!!!  I just about flipped when I saw it and she took off running (literally)to find the Dr.  They rushed us back to the room and were asking me a zillion questions about how long has the fever been going on, any seizures, what has he been taking, etc.  while at the same time stripping him down as fast as they could.  They grabbed a bunch of towels and soaked them in cool water and started wrapping him up trying to get his body temp down.  I was trying everything not to lose it - I was scared to death - especially since they seemed pretty scared themselves.  They gave him a dose of motrin right away and then another dose of Tylenol about 30 mins later.  Here is a pic of him wrapped up in towels...poor little guy was NOT happy and felt miserable!

They ran several tests (2 seperate blood tests - finger prick and a regular blood draw from a vein which took 2 atttempts...and a urine test - tried 2 times unsuccessfully with a catheter and 2 times with a bag) and all came back normal - the only thing was his blood count was really low which she said meant it was something viral.  I was a mess by this point - anyone that knows me knows how much I hate needles/blood and just hearing his screaming and knowing there was nothing I could do to help was just torture.  His temp finally came down and by the time we left 2.5 hours later it was down to around 101-102 degrees.  Needless to say it was a long night - had to set my alarm to give him more meds so his fever didn't spike again.  The next couple of days were long...but luckily the fever was controlled by the meds so it didn't get out of hand again. 

This is the following day.....still feeling pretty lousy :(

And the next day he was definitely on the mend....still had a fever - but definitely lower.  He was becoming more playful and loved wearing Brookie's headband....lol!  I bet it felt good to have all that crazy curly hair off his face - ha!

And now he is just his normal, looking for all sorts of trouble self - which we couldn't be happier about! :)