My 1st Birthday - June 4, 2010

Landon's first birthday was a very hard day for me since Shane is away for his first son's birthday. We celebrated the day with Jennie (his nanny) making him a banana pudding cake and then a dinner celebration at Cheesecake Factory. They brought out a piece of cake and sang happy birthday to Landon. Everyone in the restaurant thought it was the cutest thing. You could hear them all saying ... "ahhh". Happy Birthday Buddy! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Deployment

It was finally official on Friday, May 21st...Shane left for his first deployment on the Truman Aircraft Carrier. I did pretty well the week leading up to his leaving. I did not really cry until I drove Shane to his plane. We got to his work walked in the door and I just broke down. It was so hard not to. The mood was just so depressing. Landon and I got to stay with Shane until he flew his plane off of the base. It was really cool being able to see him gear up, walk out to the plane, and watch him take off. This was my first time ever seeing him fly. Granted I did not see much because my eyes were swelling with tears...but I saw enough.

I am very excited for Shane to go on his first deployment. He has been preparing the last 4+ years of his life for this day and it has finally arrived. He has gone through a tremendous amount of work and he finally gets to use his training.

Landon and I will pray to God every night to keep him safe and for the strength to make it through the next several months without us.

WE LOVE YOU DADDY SO MUCH!

First Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated Landon's 1st Birthday with a good old backyard BBQ. With daddy scheduled to be gone when Landon turns one we decided to celebrate early. We had about 15 people over and 2 kids, Evan & Matthew. Landon got a ton of presents...a lawnmower, farm toy, legos, books, and more!

I decided to let him get a whole cupcake of his own and I thought he would dig right into it...but he didn't. I don't think he really liked it all that much. He hated the icing on his fingers. He kept on flinging his hands around to get it off. It was pretty funny.

I can't believe our baby is almost one. Where did the time go??

Bush Gardens - Happy Mother's Day

On Mother's Day I woke up to wonderful sound of my baby Landon talking on the monitor. I was hoping he would say "mama". Instead I heard "dada...dada" and his monster voice. After getting Landon out of bed, Landon and Shane gave me my gifts...an apple computer & AWESOME card made by our little peanut.

We decided last minute to go to Bush Garden's with our friend Alex. It was a blast. Landon LOVED the teacups. He laughed so hard at daddy spinning the cup round and round. Landon went on the ride 2 times in a row and I think that was enough for him. We also rode on the carousel, but he did not have as much fun since the ride was slow. I am finding he is a dare devil...the faster and more daring the more he loves it.

Quick Update

My blogging about Landon has come to a pause since our personal computer crashed :( I no longer have a computer to upload photos or video.

Anyway, Landon is almost 1 and it is so hard to believe. On Saturday (5/1) he took his first steps. We were at a BBQ and he let go of one of our friends and took 4 steps to come see me. Shane and I could not believe it. He looked like he had been walking for months.

Landon is also crawling to the door in the afternoon when he hears it open to see if it's his daddy. He starts saying "dada dada"...It breaks my heart because pretty soon dada will be gone for months on deployment and he won't see he dada walk through the door.

It's starting to get real now that Shane is leaving in about 2 weeks. I hope I can handle the housework, my job, being a great mom, and all the day to day stuff by myself. I pray this deployment will be safe for him. I know we will get through everything together even though we are separated.

WE LOVE YOU DADDY!

Family Vacation

We took our first family vacation last week, Feb 25 - March 6, 2010, to San Francisco and Napa, CA. It was wonderful...probably the best vacation. It was so great to get away with Shane and Landon to spend quality time.

The first 2 days we were in San Francisco and we stayed in Union Square, the shopping mecca. We rode on the Trolley car, went to Alcatraz, fisherman's Wharf, and walked a ton around the city.

After 2 days in the city we drove to Muir Woods (redwood forest) and then on to Napa, CA. We spent 3 days in beautiful wine country. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast right in Napa, but I recommend staying in Yountville which is right by Napa...more "wine country feeling". We did an all day bike tour through the country side and visited 4 different wineries. It was BEAUTIFUL. The next day we went to more wineries of course, Cakebread, Ehlers Estate, Frog's Leap, and Minor Family. As expected the day after we went to more wineries...but just one, Quintessa. Then we made our way back to San Francisco for 2 more days.

Back in San Francisco we went to Golden Gate Park, The Academy of Science Museum and spent the majority of time at our hotel, The Ritz Carlton, enjoying the pool, spa, and etc. It was nice to spend those last couple of days relaxing after a busy week.

Peanut by the way, did awesome on the plane. Did not cry or make any kind of sound at all. I think he enjoys flying just like his daddy!

All Dressed Up