Red Crayon and Need parenting advice

What can an 18-month-old do with a red crayon and 10 seconds of unsupervised time? A masterpiece on the hallway wall... (You have to look close because the crayon didn't show up well in the photo, but it takes up about a three-foot stretch of our wall).

PARENTING ADVICE PLEASE:

With the birth of baby girl coming soon, I've decided it's time to start doing some research on how to best get a baby to start sleeping through the night in a timely manner. We didn't get a good nights sleep with Landon until he was 6 months old and with having a toddler already i really don't want to be sleep deprived that long again!

There are lots of theories out there such as "cry it out" and the "always go to your child when they cry method." My question for you parents is did you find a particular book or method that worked for you--and if so, please share. Thanks.

Pumpkin patch, nursery, and pregnant pic

We took Landon to Walden Farms, a pumpkin patch with lots of activities, for Family Home Evening. I really wanted to do something festive that he would enjoy, and he sure did love the pumpkins. He walked up and down the muddy patch holding his own pumpkin. He also loved watching all the farm animals. He did really well up until the end when he was getting tired because he had a short nap. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

"This one is mine."

He didn't want to let his pumpkin go so we parted with the $2 and brought it home with us. (It took all of 10 minutes once we got home for him to break the stump off, but he still loves his orange "ball")

It's a bad picture, but I wanted to show the corn stalk he picked up and wouldn't let go. He's always picking up sticks.

Playing with all the farm equipment toys. He went after anything that had wheels--what a boy.

And our baby is so big now becuase he went to his first day of nursery this past Sunday. Ben has been amazing at taking care of a rambunctious toddler who can't stay in one place for many, many Sundays now so he was very excited for this day. As soon as we dropped Landon off he went right to the toys and never looked back. We have discovered as long as there are children, he is a happy boy.

He didn't want to leave the toys when church was over. Notice the yummy snacks in his hand and shirt pockets.


And here is the much more rested father after church holding his nursery boy and his little art project.

And I bit the bullet and finally took a pregnant photo of me at just past 36 weeks. Landon loves to always touch my belly, but he thinks he has to pull my shirt up to do it so it's always fun to make sure he doesn't do that in public! We are coming up on 38 weeks now and are excited for Baby Girl to come soon.

Happy Birthday!

Just wanted to give a shout-out to my honey on his 26th birthday. He's such a good husband and father. Landon, I, and soon-to-be- baby girl, are so blessed to have him in our lives. Thanks for all you do honey, and welcome to the 26 club.

Build -A-Bear

Grandma Davis sent Landon his very first Build-A-Bear. He loves it. It's perfect for his future room that will have an Atlanta-Braves theme.

Thanks, Grandma!

A lazy Sunday

Well, this was my attempt to actually get a picture with my son. I usually avoid it and make sure I'm behind the camera but when time goes on I'll want my kids to look back and see, "oh, yeah, Mom was there too." (I think it's obvious where Landon's pale complexion comes from).

Landon is cheesing it for the camera, but notice what's on the T.V. in the background--Phil Mickelson, his daddy's favorite golfer.

And here is father and son enjoying watching the Tour Championship (and yes, Phil won this one!)

And below is an attempt to show you all our boy's running style he's recently developed. We call it the "HI-HO" (think Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). He runs with his left arm in a 90 degree angle. We think its cute, but you'll have to look close because he's so gosh darn fast.

Hair Cut, and the fair

Our little guy has always had a lot of hair, and we loved it. Unfortunately you can only trim it for so long if you don't know what you are doing before it looks like a bowl. So we bit the bullet and got out the hair buzzers and held our breath.

BEFORE

AFTER

And this is how we did it--ice cream works!
And look at all those lovely locks:( Now we can only hope that Baby Girl has lots of hair too.

TENNESSEE STATE FAIR

We went to the state fair and were shocked that it was basically empty. We were one of maybe 50 small groups of people walking around. Granted it has rained for weeks now, but there is talk the state fair will no longer be around because of the poor showing.

Here is Ben sharing a funnel cake with Landon. It was a first for both of them.

And here is a picture of Landon staring down a rabbit. He had quite the serious face.

Happy Grandparents Day!

Landon wanted to say Happy Grandparents Day to you. He loves you and can't wait to see both his Anderson and Davis grandparents soon, even if he has to share the attention with a new sister.

These pictures were taken on a walk around the new complex, the first shows what a "ham" he can be. And the last one is of Ben and Landon walking down the stairs. Landon sure loves his daddy.