Baby Landon Update: Week 20

How Far Along: 20 Weeks

Size of Baby: 6 1/2 in from head to bottom (10 in from head to heel) and 10 1/2 ounces

Food Size (According to my e-mail from BabyCenter.com): Banana

Total Weight Gain: 3 Pounds - I meant to weigh myself this week since it is the half way mark through the pregnancy, but forgot until I had two bowls of cereal... oh well we'll still say 3 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Same as before... not exactly doing clothes shopping for myself these days

Gender: It's a BOY! Landon Brennan Lutz

Movement: Still really enjoying it. Derrik flies in Sunday and hopefully he can feel it!

Food Cravings: Nothing particular

Labor Signs: no comment until third trimester or so

Sleep: I'm ready to sleep with my hubby :( and Ryder keeps disturbing it. Nothing baby related though

How’s Ryder Handling It: Hopefully you watched the video on the blog this week to fill you in!

What is the same/different as the last time: The same... starting to remember what it feels like to have a belly get in the way while sitting or leaning over

Symptoms: Not much... hip pain.. the usual

Best Moment This Week: Lots of girl time! Derrik is still in Arizona and my dad has been working in Florida. I miss them both tons, but have really enjoyed my mom's full attention!!! AND... we went through the boxes of Ryder newborn-3 month clothes to have shipped out to Arizona for Landon. I can't wait to put them all to good use again :)

What I Am Looking Forward To: Derrik flies in Sunday!!! We miss him sooo much! My dad gets back into town this Friday, and my brother should be here next week. I'm ready for the chaos of our whole family being under one roof :)

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

"I have baby sister"

Here is a video of how the conversation goes when we talk to Ryder about the arrival of his baby brother. He is VERY insistent!

AND...

For those who think Ryder has some kind of sense about things that no one else knows...

Here are the FACTS of what we saw a few weeks ago. Definitely a boy!!!

Christmas Cookies

Today we did our Christmas cookies. It was our third year in a row doing them, and is one of my favorite days we spend during the holidays. It's usually a lot of work, but I think I like it because we are enjoying our time at home in the kitchen instead of being out. Every year it's either been snowing or raining which has made it nice to stay at home warm and cozy while baking. This is the first year Ryder fully participated.... and I mean it when I say he FULLY participated... the photos are evidence...

We started out the day making Peanut Buttom Blossoms.

Ally was teaching Ryder how to roll them in the sugar.

Getting the hang of it...
Excited after her THREW it onto the pan when he was done.
He threw ALL of them onto the pan when he was done.... like literally THREW them.

We then moved on to the messy sugar cookies... this is where it got fun

Ryder realizing he could make Auntie Ally's sweatpants dirty...

Rolling out his cookie all by himself... because God forbid we helped him!

And it's stuck.... this didn't thrill him too much

Grammy showing him that he can use cookie cutters to make cookies

He only made one cookie we could bake... and a HUGE mess!

Nice huh?

After a little clean up and some lunch (to try to contain the sugar high!)

it was time to decorate!

Ryder immediately began just eating the frosting right out of the container...

Grammy decided to show him that your supposed to put it on the cookie first...

Some yummy M&M's and pretzel we made as well....

Ally and I decorating

And... this is the only cookie Ryder really decorated...

Ironically it was on the one cookie he actually made...

It was packaged with love and will be sent to Daddy in the morning :)

The goods....

About as creative as this Momma gets...

also sent to my hunny :)

To: GiGi

Love: Ally

Some of the bakers...

Ryder obviously just ate candy since his teeth are blue!

He has seriously lived off candy since we've been here...

He's in for a rude awakening when we get back to Arizona!

My Little Man

Gigi Lovin'

Friday night we made a much needed trip to go see Gigi. It is usually on the top of our priority list as soon as we get into town, but with me being sick and then infecting the rest of the family we knew we needed to steer clear of her for a little while. Friday night we happened to be heading into Chatham anyhow and decided to stop by. We only stayed a few minutes, as Ryder can be very overwhelming, but got some really awesome quality time. Gigi seemed to be hearing really great that night, and Ryder was really paying great attention to her showing her all his new tricks. We got a few M&M's (which Ryder always lovess) and even heard a few Christmas carols from one of the older men that lives in the same home as her, and then headed on our way. It was a short, but oh-so-sweet visit.

Gigi and Ryder

Since i'm posting about Gigi.... it seems a fitting time to give a little background on Landon's full name, and how we came about it. Derrik and I had first decided we would start trying for baby #2 days before I was heading to Cape Cod to wait out the end of his rehab this summer. Ideal timing huh? It was kind of hard to get pregnant that way. I'm crazy when it comes to that stuff, and it made the time apart seem to drag on even longer! I had serious baby fever. Anyhow... I remember driving to the airport in the wee hours on the morning (it was still black out) for Derrik to drop us off to head to The Cape, and we were talking baby names. I love talking baby names, and it was a great way to get my mind off the fact that my husband was dropping me off at the airport to say good-bye for a questionable amount of time. We agreed that morning that we were 100% set on our girl name (the middle name was never decided even up until our ultrasound a couple weeks ago), but the boy name was still up for discussion. I had quite a few on my list, which of course were immediately shot down by Derrik, and he told me he had a name in mind. It was then that he told me the name Landon. I wasn't 100% sold, but did like it. Over time it somehow seemed to be the only name we could both agree on (the same thing happened for Ryder... I was never 100%, but love it now!)

The middle name was trickier. Ryder's middle name, Lee, is the middle name Derrik's dad's side of the family uses for the men in their family. Also the families initials are all RLL. Obviously we weren't going with the intial theme if we were using the name Landon, but Derrik was still pushing for Lee as a middle name. I just felt like Landon Lee Lutz was a little annoying so we started talking more. One of my top boy names was Brennan. Brennan is Gigi's current last name. It is the last name of her second husband (whom she married after her first husband, my grandma's father, passed away). Joe Brennan, her second husband, was also such a great guy. He unfortunately passed away many years ago, but Brennan is the only last name I've ever known Gigi to ever have and is still currently her last name. It meant a lot to me to give a middle name that somehow honored Gigi since she is so incredibly important to our family. After throwing around a few different options Brennan seemed to be the way to go since we really liked the name and were honoring Gigi at the same time. My mom told Gigi once we found out we were indeed having a boy, but it was so sweet to finally get to talk to Gigi about it in person the other night. She told me it was the best present she ever could have gotten :) It doesn't get much better then that does it?!

So Landon Brennan Lutz it is :)

Our Christmas Tree

We were a little behind with our Christmas tree decorating this year since we weren't here the weekend after Thanksgiving and everyone was sick the following weekend, but we finally got it up this week. It was quite the task for us girls. Dad is down in Florida for business so we had to take it upon ourselves to get it done. We went to get the tree on the coldest night!! The guy who we bought the tree from told us to get in the car while he tied it to the roof because we were seriously all shaking it was so cold.

Posing with our tree

We got it up on the first try... which is a success considering one year it fell about three times before we got it to stay!

Helping Grammy put water in the tree stand

He decided to pose by the tree so I had to take it when I could get it...

even if it wasn't decorated yet!

Playing with the lights
Again...

I was nervous to start decorating with Ryder. Last year he broke two ornaments before we could even start decorating. He picked up the first one calling it a ball and smashed it. While we were in the process of trying to clean track we lost track of him and he broke another. This year we had a long talk before we started that they weren't balls. We explained they were decorations for the tree, and it went great. He did such a great job helping us decorate, and hasn't touched the tree much since then.

Helping put the lights on

Playing with his parachute Santa Grammy got him

(upside down if you notice)

I randomly turned on the Polar Express while we were decorating,

and it is Ryder holiday favorite so far! We have watched it over and over again. He loves the choo-choo and Santa. We've gotten lots of cuddle time with this movie the past week :)

Polar Express with Auntie Ally while decorating

Mommy, Ryder, Auntie Hailey, and Auntie Ally

More Polar Express....

Just slightly obesessed...

Back to decorating...

Deciding which one to pick next...

Such a great decorator :)

Holiday stuff has already been so much fun with Ryder this year! He's really getting into the Christmas songs, understanding the basic concept of Santa, can point Santa anything out anywhere (figurines, pictures, on t.v., in real life), loves to tell everyone Santa says Ho Ho HO, and can tell you what he wants for Christmas... "A big monster truck, trax, and more toys". We are all loving it :)

Cross-Eyed

On the way home today in the car today Ryder says:

"Hey Mommy... Watch this!!!"

This is what he wanted to show me... His new trick I guess when he's bored in the car

Baby Landon Update: Week 19

How Far Along: 19 Weeks

Size of Baby: 6 inches and 8 1/2 ounces

Food Size (According to my e-mail from BabyCenter.com): Large Heirloom Tomato (not sure how that's different from a regular tomato?)

Total Weight Gain: 3 Pounds - We might just have to stick at this weight until I get back to Arizona in January. My mom's scale is never friendly with me because I tend to eat so much more here!

Maternity Clothes: Annoying... I need to get some longer sweatshirt-ish dresses that I can wear with leggings around here. My maternity pants are driving me crazy! I got old navy maternity skinny jeans and the band is so uncomfortbale. It doesn't go up high enough and cuts into my stomach, but they are the only jeans that tuck into my boots... what to do?... what to do? :(

Gender: It's a BOY! Landon Brennan Lutz

Movement: I think some of the "flutters" have really turned into kicks this week. I complain a lot about pregnancy, but feeling the baby move is definitely one of my favorite things! I could just sit and feel it all day :)

Food Cravings: Not really... I'm at my parents so I just eat ALL day.

Labor Signs: no comment until third trimester or so

Sleep: Ok. Ryder goes through phases of waking up at night only so I can tuck him back it. It's soo much worse when you have to get out of the warm bed and go up a flight of stairs to do it. He's sweet "love you Mommy" that I get when I'm leaving though kind of makes it worth it.

How’s Ryder Handling It: Good... We don't get quite as big of a NO when we mention a baby brother these days. He just kind of ignores us instead. No funny stories this week.

What is the same/different as the last time: Feels the same. I remember not enjoying this time last year of having a belly, but not being huge. I'm trying to just enjoy it because I know about the time we get back out to Arizona i'll start being super huge and miserable.

Symptoms: Nothing really significant. Still on the nausea meds because I tend to notice I don't feel that great if I skip taking it. This week at night I did start having that feeling that my belly couldn't stretch another bit before it exploded. Of course this was after eating some of Mom's big home cooked meals... I think I get that feeling not pregnant when I'm here as well.

Best Moment This Week: Being with family has been great, but best moment baby related... I ordered Landon's stocking! I know he won't be here this Christmas, but Pottery Barn Kids was running a clearance special on stockings that look very similar to the ones I ordered from them for the three of us two years ago. I was nervous they might not be around next year since they were on clearance so I decided to order it. This is the first and only thing I have got for him!!! 19 Weeks... pretty good for me :)

What I Am Looking Forward To: Christmas shopping with mom on Saturday! Ally is truly taking on a full day of babysitting for the first time. I know she can do it, and we'll be so thankful to get a serious dent into our Christmas shopping with out Ryder!

Wordless Wednesday

One of My Favorite Parts of Christmas!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas has got to be the Christmas cards. I get so excited opening the mailbox every day in December and getting to open mail from all our friends and family. I love getting to see all the amazing pictures everyone came up with and all the really cool cards everyone came up with. I usually like the challenge of making my own cards, but this year we put off our holiday pictures until the day before we headed out of town to hopefuly capture a picture of the baby bump. You'll notice in the pictures I decided to use they are head shots so it was a pointless idea, but it sounded good at the time. Needless to say my time to create my own card ran out, and I also realized that Christmas cards are almost just as affordable this way!!!

Check out some of these great ideas from Shutterfly.com

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/pretty-poinsettia-print-christmas-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93479

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/snowflake-bliss-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93479

http://http//www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/with-love-chartreuse-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93479

I think of of my favorite parts of creating the cards is looking at all the different ideas. I usually find that I tend to pick my "favorites" based on the pictures, and then have to go back and find a card that fits the pictures of our family.

Shutterfly.com is running a great promotion for blog users. For putting up this blog post I will get a code for 50 free Christmas cards!!! (or my mom will because I bought mine already... go figure!) I believe you have until December 10th to apply and until the 15th to submit your blog post. Blog users take advantage of it... it's an amazing deal!!!

You want me to sit on who's lap?!?!

Last night we were in the mall. Ryder had his undershirt off from getting hair all over it during his hair cut, he had a huge stain on his jeans, his shoes didn't match his shirt.... he was a mess! Of course there was Santa sitting there all by his lonesome in the mall waiting for little ones to come tell him what they wanted for Christmas. I of course wouldn't want his picture taken in this outfit and thought it was slightly wrong to do the Santa photo without Derrik around, but figured that since it wasn't the perfect scenario that would mean Ryder would run, jump on Santa's lap, and perfectly cheese for the photo. Isn't that how it always works? My plan for a little reverse psychology didn't work.... Santa was so sweet and tried so hard, but this was the best Ryder would do...

He was even crouching down so that Santa couldn't see him at all!

We'll see how breakfast with Santa goes tomorrow morning :)

At the park

The other day we were at the park with the kids and snapped a few cute pictures... Now that i'm feeling a little better I hope to start getting lots of pictures :)

Stylin'

We found my old glasses I use to wear when I was little last night....

They look awfully stlyin' on Ryder dontcha think?!?!

The best picture we had of me in them... kinda blurry

Baby Landon Update: Week 18

How Far Along: 18 Weeks
Size of Baby: 5 1/2 inches long
Food Size (According to my e-mail from BabyCenter.com): Bell Pepper
Total Weight Gain: 3 Pounds - We might just have to stick at this weight until I get back to Arizona in January. My mom's scale is never friendly with me because I tend to eat so much more here!
Maternity Clothes: Some jeans and two tops from Target
Gender: It's a BOY! Landon Brennan Lutz
Movement: Only for me to enjoy. We tried really hard for Derrik to feel before we had to separate for a few weeks, but no luck. I just don't think it's strong enough yet. I might have to hold out letting anyone feel until we're together again right before Christmas.
Food Cravings: Nope, but Mom's home cooking has been great this week :)
Labor Signs: no comment until third trimester or so
Sleep: Ok.... i've been sick
How’s Ryder Handling It: He still insists he's having a baby sister. At Nini's house last week he picked up a picture of us holding Ryder as a newborn and said "Look Daddy! Baby sister" pointing at the baby. We explained to him it's Baby Ryder and that he's having a baby brother, but he could care less... "baby sister" is all we get.
What is the same/different as the last time: All the same now
Symptoms: Sick Sick Sick... not pregnancy related, but it's not fun! On antibiotics now to try to kick this nasty cough!
Best Moment This Week: Thanksgiving with Derrik's family. Ryder took so well to everyone out there, and really loved everyone! Also seeing how excited he was to see my family when we got to the airport :)
What I Am Looking Forward To: Getting the house ready for Christmas this week. The Christmas tree should be interesting with Ryder!