"Push My Button"

You have finally found your belly button, Shelby! You think it's super cool, and because it is a true "outie," you can really push it like a button. And you do. And you laugh and grin up at us, like you are so proud. We have a book called "The Belly Button Book," and the little hippos call them bee-bo's. So we are teaching you to say it each time you poke it. And you not only poke yours, you poke Brother's, Mommy's, Daddy's, just about any bee-bo that's available. You're too cute for words!

"Picking Partners"

This year we went to Hillcrest Blueberry Farm a little south of here off I-49. They allow you to pick your own blueberries, and you get to see how they process their harvest. We thought it would be pretty neat to see that, but when we got there, they weren't packing any. The owner was so nice to show us how it is done with a small batch of berries. We watched how he sorted them, graded them for pies or just fresh eating, and packed them up for shipping. Then we sampled some of their fresh honey and blueberry preserves and sauces. Shelby, you lapped up the honey (hopefully you won't end up with botulism!). Then it was time to grab a white bucket and start picking blueberries. There were plenty for the picking, and we all got in on the action. Landon, you and JuJu found a nest of tiny baby birds hiding in their cozy nest nestled in one of the bushes. Shelby, you did more eating of the blueberries than picking (guess we'll look forward to blue poop), and you both had a good time running in the field that led down to the bushes. It was another fun summer afternoon.

"Play-Doh-Toes"

One morning at Poppie and JuJu's, y'all got out the Play-Doh. Landon is a veteran with the dough, although we still have to remind him not to eat it, but this was your first time. You enjoyed squishing and smelling it, and ok, occasionally sneaking a little taste.

I especially love this picture JuJu took of your little toes right next to the can. Mush has always said that baby feet look like they have little logs of clay rolled up and stuck on for toes. And here is the bonafide proof that she is right.

"Goodbye to the Ya Ya Brotherhood"

Landon, today was your "belly-button birthday," and of course we had to make it special even though your birthday party was this past weekend. We started the day at "Brownie Park" (that's Brownlee Park to the rest of us), and had a great, although extremely hot, time splashing in the spray park and playing in the sand. Then it was off to lunch at one of your faves, "Mosado's" (Posado's), where you always grub down on their homemade flour tortillas and butter. But the biggest event of the day was one we had all been talking about for weeks, months, before. Today was the day you are finally giving up the pacifier, or "ya-ya," as you named it years ago.

From about your second day of life, you have enjoyed the Nuk pacifier. When you were born, I was so concerned about nursing you and nipple confusion, that I would dare anyone to think about a paci. I even made a little sign for your bassinet in the hospital warning the nurses that you were not to have any artificial nipple. That is until the first night, and ALL you wanted to do was suck! The next morning, JuJu came in dangling the nuk by the handle, and said, "here you go." And the love affair started.

Your second birthday came and went, and the dentist said it would be ok to let you have it until about 2 1/2 or 3 years old. So we continued. And the ya-ya doesn't go alone; no, the "pooh blank" (your classic winnie the pooh green silky blanket) was the peanut butter to jelly, the macaroni to cheese, the milk to cereal-- they just went together. You never had one without the other. Your third birthday came, and of course that was right when Shelby was born, and I couldn't take it from you then. You would certainly link the two events and resent your baby sister forever...I thought. So finally, Daddy and I were firm that the fourth birthday, it had to go. We started prepping you for the separation long before, explaining that you are a big boy now, your teeth would be messed up, the dentist said so, pacis are for babies, blah, blah, blah. You never wanted to hear it. Until I read in a magazine a clever idea. We would take you to Build-A-Bear, where you would create a special friend with all your ya-yas inside! That way, whenever you had the "need" they would still be there, just inside the bear. Perfect. And you were on board!

So this evening we gathered up all the nuks (Shelby uses a different type of pacifier, thank God!)

and loaded them in a ziploc baggie. When you placed the final one in the bag, you took a deep breath and uttered a reluctant, sighing "okay." And we headed down to the Boardwalk. Before we went to Build-A-Bear, we were drawn to an attraction there called Euro Bubbles. Think oversized hamster ball; huge bubbles with a kid inside floating in a pool of water. You had a great time trying to stand up and run inside that thing!

Then it was off to handle the business at hand. You chose a panda bear, and you placed a paci in each paw. We outfitted him in safari duds and created his birth certificate. I think the onlooking grandmothers and Mommy had a much more difficult time watching this ceremonious act! JuJu even asked me if I was sure we wanted to go "cold turkey." But you were so brave and grown-up about the whole thing. It wasn't until we were in the car on the way home, and sleepiness set in, that you had a little meltdown about it. We pumped you up and reassured you, and that night, when you went to bed, you did absolutely amazing! No tears, no begging. It was done. Just

like that.

And here you are, sleeping like an angel without your ya-ya. Sniff sniff.

"Let's Jump on Jupiter!"

Landon, ever since you went to Hannah's birthday party last year, you have wanted your birthday party at Jumpin' Jupiter. And since your birthday is in the hot, hot summer, there were no complaints from me about having it in the nice air-conditioned jump arena, where they handle everything for me! We invited everyone from your class and your neighbor friends too. Several of your friends were out of town on vacation, but we still had a good turn out, and you didn't seem to miss anyone! It was a bit chaotic for you though, Miss Lady. You weren't real sure about all this running and jumping. But the rest of you bounced yourselves silly, and then came time to have cake and ice cream. You insisted on a monster truck cake that you saw one day shopping at Kroger. We opened your sloo of presents (you racked up some really cool stuff) and handed out party favors. Then an impromptu party continued at our house. Chloe and Dalton came home with us for your big surprises: a bike from JuJu, Poppie, and Me-Me, and a plasma car from DeeDee and Papa!

We brought out the slip and slide and ate homemade bar-b-que beef sandwiches and coleslaw. You kiddos had a great time splatting down the Buzz Lightyear slip and slide. Shelby, you especially loved it when we would sling you down the slide on your belly and you would land in the little pool at the end. You had a hard time sharing the slide with anyone else! It was the perfect ending to a perfect 4th birthday!

"Sunny Days"

On this hot June afternoon, we decided to take a little roadtrip to the "cone-try" to check out the Sunflower Trail in Gilliam. So, Me-Me, JuJu, DeeDee, Mommy and you kiddos loaded up two Honda Accords and headed north. We had lunch at a little cafe in "downtown" Gilliam that had less than wonderful service. We were expecting some good-old down home friendliness and got none of that. After we got a few pictures across the street from the cafe, we went exploring down the Sunflower Trail and had to stop and steal some corn. There were fields and fields, and I thought it would be neat to show y'all corn growing on the stalk. We plucked a few ears keeping a careful watch for angry farmers. Mommy didn't plan very well (and JuJu let me know it) and we were "running on fumes" for gasoline. Some nice locals let us know that a gas station was just a few miles up the way, but a huge sunflower field was very close by. So we took a chance and detoured to it, praying we wouldn't run out of gas. When we got to the field, it was well worth the risk. It was sunflowers as far as the eye could see. There was a sign that instructed us to pick all we wanted. And we did. Well, we cut as many as we could shove in our plastic pitcher and still carry it. Those things are heavy! Landon, you were in awe of how big the leaves were. There were also a lot of stink bugs that you were pretty interested in too. Once in the car, you said, "I think a stink bug stinked me," after you smelled your hands. When we got home we made several short-lived glorious bouquets of our harvest, as they don't do well as cut flowers.

Several days later, we shucked our "hot" corn, which turned out to be field corn (like you feed pigs), but we sauteed it up and slathered it in butter, and it wasn't half bad.

"Rain, Rain, Went Away"

Today we got some much needed rain, and what better to do than play in the puddles it left behind. You two got down and dirty, slopping and stomping in the street. Simple times...

"Happy Birthday, Shelby!"

My dearest Shelby, today was your first birthday. It is crazy to think that you are already a year old, but at the same time, I don't really remember life without you. It was a gloriously fun-filled day of friends and family all there to celebrate this monumentous occasion. I made cupcakes to match your party hats & napkins (they were cupcake themed) and filled the house with pink and purple hydrangeas that couldn't have coordinated any better. You really enjoyed your cupcake, although you were very neat about it. Chloe and Abby helped you eat it all up. You were a little overwhelmed with the whole present opening thing. All of your guests were crowded around you to get a closer look. You got some really great presents too: a cool sprinkler and gardening tools from Mush, an alphabet train and doll that crawls from DeeDee and Papa, & the pink cozy coupe from JuJu and Poppie, just to name a few. You even got three of the exact same teapot! What are the odds of that? I think you definitely knew the day was especially for you. It couldn't have been any more perfect!