The Big Roll!

Today I witnessed Landon roll over! He had done it twice for my parents (Birdie & Gramps to Landon) while visiting them, but was holding out on me until now! I just placed him on his stomach and three times in a row, as if it was no problem at all, he did it! I tried so hard to contain my cheers, but after the third time I just let out a "Hooray!".

We have had a busy few weeks since the last time I blogged. I joined a Mothers Group a couple months back, but Landon's unpredictable schedule made it difficulty to always attend. This week, we went over to one of the mothers' home. Her and I enjoyed tea and cookies while her youngest daughter (19 months) oohed and awed over little Landon. She was so precious with him; covering him up with the blanket, giving him toys, and just talking to him. On Wednesday, we walked to the Klondike Library to attend Story Time with the Mothers Group. Landon was such a good little boy! Not one peep while the librarian read stories about farm animals and was so engaged with we sang songs. It was so much fun to see Landon excited to hear all the songs and be stimulated by all of the people around. We then found two books about Basset Hounds that we brought home to read. We signed up for a "Read Around the World" program in which we will read for 4 hours and come back to the library for prizes. On Tuesday, we hope to attend the Family Lapsit Story Time!

We were so blessed to have had Heather and her mom visit yesterday! She is currently living in Alabama so we are so lucky to be on her list of people to see when she is in town for such a short amount of time! We got to visit for a few hours and loved every moment of our catch up!

It is snowing outside and the ground went from being bare to covered in snow within a few short hours. It is supposed to snow more, so maybe we will get to go out and explore the great outdoors with Landon and Marley again! I am looking forward to a nice and relaxing weekend!

Tennessee!!!

So, Andy & I decided to take advantage of our time off and plan a trip to Tennessee. We had the goals of touring the UT Early Learning Center (day care for Landon) and find a place to live next year. Landon did GREAT on the 7 hour drive down! Thank goodness! Our trip was a little bit unorganized and last minute, so we were a little scatter brained at first. Packing for a 3 month old last minute is overwhelming! You would not believe the amount of pure stuff you need for a baby. You need numerous clothes and burp cloths because no laundry will be done, toys to entertain, binkies galore, a pack n' play crib, blankets, and so on. Now, when you are planning on going on a trip where you know you will be doing a lot of walking, you would think you would remember a way to transport your baby. Not us! We were nearly to Knoxville when we looked at each other and asked, "Did you pack a stroller? Or the back carrier?". We both answered "No!". Apparently we are both getting used to traveling with an infant. We went to the nearest Walmart and ended up purchasing the sweetest little umbrella stroller that we will get a lot of use out of! Our absent mindedness worked to our advantage this time!

After our stroller purchase, we headed to the Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg area. It was absolutely breathtaking!

The mountain views of the Smoky Mountains was gorgeous. Gatlinburg was a cute little town cut into the valley of the mountains. They had a ton of little touristy shops. Some were not worth peaking into, but we found a treasure chest at a local wood carving shop! I wanted to get Landon

a little stuffed Black Bear and found the best one ever there! Andy couldn't resist buying hand carved sling shots for him and Landon (when he gets older of course). I will admit, they are adorable. One is a Black Bear and one is a Moose. We also got a magnet for our refrigerator. We also stopped in at a

local candy making shop where Andy bought some Smoky Mountain Taffy (I don't know if he thought that was better than the Outer Banks' Salt Water Taffy) and some locally made BBQ sauce! After walking around the main street, we decided to head up into the Smoky's towards Ober Ski Resort. Andy was so nervous as we wove around the mountain. Once we reached to top and took in the view, we decided to head back down, which was a great decision because it started snowing then.

The snow is an entire story on its own. It doesn't snow there often, so when it does snow, people act as if a natural disaster has occurred. We had stopped in at the Old Navy Factory Outlet Store when the snow was beginning to fall at around 6PM. Schools had been cancelled that morning in anticipation of the snow (and were also cancelled the day before because it was cold). While we were in the store looking for teaching clothes for Andy, the worker were in a frenzy. Their boss had just called telling them to close ASAP so that they don't get snowed in. Let me just tell you that there was just a dusting on the ground. I just kept thinking about how my parents have 3 feet and their days continue as normal! After we left, we needed food. Well, everything was closing! There was still just a dusting on the ground, not even 1/8th of an inch! We stopped at Kroger to see if they had a deli to get food at. While Andy was in the store, they announced that they were closing due to weather! Grocery stores, fast food joints, gas stations, and restaurants were all closing! On our drive home we passed 20+ cars pulled over on the side of the road with their hazards on! We could not stop laughing. Again, there was still less than 1/2 and inch on the ground. Oh, it will be fun living down south just for that entertainment alone!

The next day we went on a major house hunt. We saw some places that could work, but nothing that we felt was a perfect fit for us. We did find out that the West side of Knoxville was the place for us. Andy was on cloud 9 because our hotel was in the same parking lot as the largest Bass Pro Shop we had ever seen. We went to dinner that night at Islamodora Fish Company which was inside the shop. It was by far the best dinner both of us had ever had. Everything was amazing! The margaritas, bread, salad, and our main dishes were a 10! We then walked all around the shop. Andy was in the zone. He was so happy with the thought that he will live so close to this store next year! Each night after we retired to the hotel room, I left Landon and Andy to have Father-Son time while I sat outside in the hot tub! It was so peaceful!

Before we headed back home, we looked at one more place to live. A girl in the AuD. program at UT had told us that is where she lived and loved it, and so did we! It was so safe and had so many things to do (2 pools, movie theater, play set, racquetball, pool table, etc.) all on the grounds. The set up of the townhouse would be beyond amazing for us! We wanted something with an open floor plan and a lot of storage. The place is called Forest Ridge and this is website:

http://www.forest-ridge.com/intro.asp

We will be opting for The Maple floor plan. The third bedroom with be turned into an office. This is where we will be living if we don't find anything more like what we are living in now, but we were unsuccessful at finding that, but will keep looking.

The trip home was nice. It didn't seem like 7 hours. Landon had a fussy fit this time for a little bit. Eventually, he was fine! It is nice to be back home! It has been so long! Andy starts student teaching today and is very excited about it! He will do great!

Also, today is the one year anniversary of the day we found out about Landon! What a year!

Holiday Recap

We had a lot to celebrate this Holiday season. 2009 was a great year for our family. I got graduated with a Bachelors of Science, I was accepted to 3 graduate programs to receive my Doctor of Audiology, Andy had a successful elbow surgery, he signed his NFL players contract, we got engaged, and most of all: LANDON!

We celebrated Christmas at Andy's parents house. "Santa" came to their house and all Andy and I could think of to ask for was for health and happiness for Landon. Landon was also a mini Santa. I am not much for the dress-up thing, but it brought many smiles to peoples faces. Andy, Landon and I went to Christmas mass at a cute little church that was built in the 1800's! It was such a nice mass and had about as many people in the whole church to fill up one pew at St. Pius X. I love new experiences!

We then headed to Granger to see my side of the family. It

was so nice to be home and to see everyone! We were lucky enough to get to spend 2 evenings with my cousin Rich, his mo

ther Lois and his daughter Carly. She is a riot! I guess she gave Andy a hard time for calling Landon "Bubba Billy Bob". This is only funny because I do not know if she exactly understood the whole nickname thing.

My Dad made his famous Sour Broughton meal for NYE! I love my German heritage! I think I said 100 times while it was in the over "OMG! It smells sooooo good!" And man it was! I realized that I am getting old when I was counting down the seconds to midnight on New Years Eve, not because if the celebration that came along with the beginning of a new year, but because all I wanted to do was to go to bed! I made it to midnight and only knew it was because I could hear fireworks going off (assuming from the famous Futa boys! Gotta love them!). That was my cue for bed.

Everyone loved spending time with little Landon, especially Bryant and Jackie. Jackie is so amazing with him! She has the most gentle touch and loving smile when he is in her arms or playing on the floor with her. Bryant just knows all of the right things to do. He likes to always

respond to our "Do you know what you are doing?" with "Yeah! I have seen it in the movies". And amazingly, he always does a superb job! They are doing great jobs at being an aunt and uncle. I love getting to watch

their relationship with Landon grow and watching them grow as well. Of course my parents (a.k.a. Birdie and Gramps) love him to pieces as well. Landon read the newspaper with Gramps every morning in his big red leather chair. He helped Birdie cook meals and even clean. He fits right in the chaos that I love of the Wind household! :)

Now on the agenda for 2010: Enjoy life and being a mom! Take a moment out of every day just for our family to enjoy life. Move to Tennessee, become a

Volunteer and get one step closer to becoming a Doctor of Audiology! Support Andy in his every move with the NFL.

The First Snow (Indiana snow that is)

The day after we went to see the Christmas Light Show, it snowed! Now, when I say snowed, I mean a light dusting that was gone 5 hours after we were outside. It was quite a wet snow. Since I was in the Christmas spirit, I decided to bundle my little bundle of joy up and venture out into the snow. I did not know how Landon would react to the whole experience for many reasons. First, when we take him to the window to look out at the world, when it is too bright he quickly looks away. Secondly, it was quite chilly out. And third, we had him stuck in a ridiculous snow suit & he hates feeling trapped. To my surprise he enjoyed every minute of it! He was so intrigued, trying to take in everything that was happening. I held out my arm that was draped in black from my coat and gloves. He could see the white specks landing on it, just to soon disappear. Marley and Andy were out with us too. Marley of course loved the snow and the fact that we were out playing with her! Landon did not once get fussy and would have stayed out for a bit more, but Andy insisted that we needed to go inside.

Later that week, Landon's girlfriend, a.k.a. Stasia, visited. She had just come from Chicago and always blesses us with her presence when driving through! We are so lucky to live so close now! We decided to make Christmas cookies that night (at 11:30). So, we baked all the sugar cookies, and iced about 10 with royal icing, and decorated about 5 with decorations. Not the most productive cooking making event. Still, it was fun!

The next morning we left for Andy's family's house. What a long drive. We went to Indy first to go to Andy's doctor appointment, then headed back to Montpelier. Landon was perfect the entire time. Unfortunately, he is so confused by the environment and change of routine that he is way off on his sleep schedule. Now, all I want for Christmas is for him to sleep for at least 5 hours straight one night!

The countdown to Granger is getting closer! I can not wait to see everyone and enjoy sometime with loved ones! We will see you there! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Tis the Season

Last night, we decided that it was time to get into the Christmas spirit. I searched high and low for something that we could all do as a family that would put us in the mood. I knew that we could have drove around through neighborhoods but I wanted to do one better. Eventually, after 45 minutes of searching in the web, I found it! It was Christmas Light Show at someones house. If any of you have ever seen Deck the Halls, that is immediately what I thought of. When we got there we were shocked! This family had gone all out! There was a line of cars all the way to the entrance of the subdivision to see this show! You turned on your radio to a specific station and the lights were completely in sync with the songs! It was amazing! We absolutely said it was worth waiting in that line!

Here is there website. The have videos and pictures of past shows and you can see just how awesome it is!

http://www.christmasongreenview.com/

Landon before and after the show (in the adorable new hat Emily made for him!) We think he liked it! ha ha He slept the entire time. Oh well, it is a great memory for us as a family!

Today on the agenda, baking and decorating Christmas Cookies, exploring the snow, and playing (I mean beating Andy in) Scrabble! MAYBE Landon will roll over (girartsi= roll over in Italian. I am trying to use many words in Italian and Spanish as well as ASL. I blame my undergrad major of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences!)

Ha Ha Ha

Yesterday our dear friend Emily was visiting. She hadn't seen Landon for 2 weeks, but could not believe how much he had grown in that short amount of time. He had changed in so many ways... holding his head up, responding to her facial expressions, and smiling. And then it happened... she got him to give her the biggest belly laugh we have ever heard! Andy, Emily and I all jumped with excitement and shock when we heard this. I thought I had heard him chuckle before, but definitely not like this! He must find her very funny because he just belted out laughing. It was amazing!

Now, we know that this may be cheating, but Landon rolled over towards Andy last night! How is that cheating? Well... we were all sitting on the bed and the mattress was slanted in towards Andy which made it very easy for Landon to just roll from his back onto his stomach into that slant. It was very exciting, but I still won't spread the rumor that he officially rolled over. He did have to use muscles and strength to do this, but it was not on a flat hard surface. Either way, it was also exciting!

Big day for us yesterday! We will see what today has in store for us.

A mom for 3 months

I realize I am starting my new life as a mom blog 3 months into this new role, but better late than never right? :)

On September 13, 2009 @ 6:01 PM, I gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy ever: Landon James. My fiance Andy Huffman was there being the best cheerleader ever! We were both overwhelmed with happiness when we first saw our little bundle of joy. He was 8 pounds 15 ounces and 20.5 inches long. He had blonde hair and the prettiest shade of ocean blue eyes; a sweet button nose with plump little cheeks. He was perfect!

So far, my new life as a mom has absolutely been the greatest blessing ever. Everyday is different, exciting and fun. Landon has hit so many milestones in just these 3 short months! He is the biggest little wiggle worm ever, always kicking around with joy. He is always happy and flashing the cutest smile at Andy and I. He has pretty good control of his neck now, but we are still cautious. Everyday we are anticipating him to roll over. We have been doing a lot of tummy time hoping that we will soon witness the flip! I heard his first belly laugh the other day while him and I were just hanging out. It was amazing! He is just so happy, everyday and so are we!