Sleepover with the Cousins

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here are a few pics of the kiddos getting ready for bed tonight! Smith was so tired from playing all day with Carson, Avery and Tate that he didn't even argue with me about going to sleep in his own bed even though all of the other kids were sleeping in Tate's room. He was obviously worn out...because he argues about everything!! He actually waved night-night to everyone and went happily into his crib. I never heard another sound from him! The big kids all went to sleep rather uneventfully as well. They brushed their teeth, we read a book, said prayers and off to bed they went. Only one time did Tate come out and announce that Carson and Avery weren't going to sleep. Umm Hmmm! I'm sure it was just them:) I went in a little later and they were all out like a light...the flash of my camera didn't even phase them. Oh, to be young again! However, I am afraid with the end of daylight savings time tonight, I'll have kiddos up at 5:00am! We'll see how it goes:)

Trick or Treat

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A Visit to the Storybook Forest

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our Weekend In San Angelo, TX

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

The Langum Family went on its first big road trip this past weekend. We headed to San Angelo, TX to visit our family and to attend our Uncle David and Aunt Gaynell's 25th Anniversary of pastoring Word of Life Church. We had such a fantastic time getting to be there for their special event (not to mention it being Gaynell's birthday too!!)

We headed down to Dallas on Friday evening and had dinner with our friends Jim and Kim Sharp. We decided to only drive 3 hours our first night since it was our first road trip and we didn't want to push our luck with the entire 7 hour trip in one drive! The kids were SO excited to get to stay in a hotel. We stayed at the Westin and they even gave the kids a little kids' pack just for them with a night light, a rubber ducky for the bathtub and a treat! They thought they were so special. It took a little while for them to fall asleep because they were so pumped about their big hotel bed!

Our 4 hour drive from Dallas to San Angelo actually went better than expected. The kids never napped and got a little bored, but they watched movies and looked for cows and really didn't complain too much! We only had to stop once for a potty break.

The time we got to spend with our family in Texas was priceless. It has been almost 3 years since we visited with them...way too long! Tate and Smith warmed up to everyone really quickly. Tate was especially fond of Jason who she started calling her "little buddy". Smith was especially fond of Gaynell, or in his words "Guh-Nell". After she left for church on Sunday morning, he looked at me and said, "Mommy, Guh-nell's so pretty." They also couldn't get over all of the pretty things in David and Gaynell's house. Apparently, our house must be pretty bland!

The kids had the best time when they got to play with Gunner, Seth and Sterling on Monday afternoon. Jason's kids are 9 and 5, so they all played really well together. They played in the fort, on the plasma cars, colored pumpkins and just had a fantastic time. Tate was so sad when we had to leave that she even cried. We decided that we can't wait another 3 years to get together again. We just had way too much fun to put it off that long!

We left San Angelo around 6 o'clock Monday evening. Stopped to eat in Abilene and then put the kiddos in their pajamas for the rest of the ride home. Tate was asleep fairly early and slept the entire rest of the drive home. Smith watched his movie and then was snoozing soon after we turned the DVD player off. We arrived home a little before 1:00am. Needless to say, we were a little tired but the trip was well worth it!!!

There's Just Something About A Little Boy In His Underwear!

Especially when he's wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots! Ever since Smith started wearing big boy underwear, he loves to run around the house without clothes on. We rarely, if ever, let him run around the house in just a diaper, but for some reason it's so cute to see him around in just his undies. This day I had actually dressed him, went to do some laundry and came back with him looking like this. He said he wanted to be a cowboy and his clothes weren't "cowboy clothes"! So, apparently in his mind his Thomas the Train underwear qualified as "cowboy clothes" and that's all he had on when I walked into his room! These will definitely be pictures to show his future girlfriends!

Night at the ER

Who would have thought that I would be taking Tate to the ER for breathing problems? Smitty had RSV at 10 weeks and spent a week in the hospital. Ever since, he is our wheezy, respiratory guy. Luckily, it hasn't been nearly as bad as we thought it might be and he has no signs of asthma at this points, so we are very grateful. However, it was Tate that was having breathing issues last night. I had a feeling that she might not be feeling too hot, but didn't at all think we'd end up in the hospital! Jeff and I were fortunate to go to the OU game with Michael and Keysha, so our babysitter, Susi, watched Tate, Smith, Kennedy & Corbin for us while we were gone. When we got home, she told us that Tate hadn't felt too great and that she would cough a lot after she was running around. But I had never heard her cough yet. Then Tate came into our room at about 2:30am. She literally was gasping for air. Each breath was very loud and it seemed as though she would hold her breath between inhaling and exhaling. Jeff and I were quite concerned, so we finally decided to take Tate to the ER. I get more nervous when it comes to breathing issues since our scare with Smith. So, I got dressed, put Tate in the car and headed for Integris. Of course, once we got there she was much better! Isn't that always how it works! The doctor came in and diagnosed her with croup. He said it's very common for kids with croup to seem better once they go outside in the cold air. I guess it helps to shrink their swollen airways. So, some steroids, a breathing treatment and 3 1/2 hours later, we were back in bed at 6:30am!! What's weird is that she never really had the barky, seal-sounding cough of croup before we went to the ER. It was just her breathing issues that sent us to the hospital. Today, she's had more of the cough, but at least she can breathe!

Fun Time with Friends

Today, the Curtis Crew came over to play. Tate and Smith were so excited because it's been awhile since we've had a playdate at our house with Kennedy and Corbin. The kids had tons of fun. It's funny that Tate and Kennedy have played together for over 4 years now and Smith and Corbin have basically known each other their entire lives! We are finally at the point that they can play by themselves and we barely even see them. This has been a work in progress! Keysha and I were used to playing referee, but now we can sit back and relax and enjoy our own little grown-up 'playdate'!! The girls enjoy playing dress up and kitchen and store. The boys play great together too...they're just boys and somewhat out of control. The problem usually comes when the boys want to play with the girls. It depends on the girls' moods as to how well that goes over!! However, these days are lots of fun and enjoyable. My how time flies! I can actually still remember the day I met Keysha when Smith was just born and she was still pregnant with Corbin! I love that we'll have these memories to share with the kids as they grow up together!

What do her teachers think?

So, today Tate brings home her bag of papers from school and is so excited to show me something she did at school today. She pulls out a piece of purple construction paper with magazine clippings all over it. I ask her what this paper was all about and she just giggled. I then start to look at all of the different pieces of paper that are glued all over the construction paper and that's when I find the title of the page...Things I Like. Then I begin to take a closer look at each of the pictures. There is a large picture of a woman sitting in a yoga pose. There is an ad for a Temper-Pedic bed. And then I see it...an ad as well as 2 coupons for Monistat! At this point, I am laughing so hard there are tears in my eyes. Then I notice that one of the coupons is for the Monistat, but the other coupon is for any K-Y brand item! Tate is totally cracking up and I ask her if she knows what this is and why she put it on her paper. She said she liked it because all of the colors were so pretty. I can just imagine her teacher's thinking "Well, she must see that in her mommy's bathroom and her mommy must really need those coupons!" Needless to say, that purple piece of construction paper will go in Tate's "Treasure Box" which is where I put special art work, projects, papers etc. that I want to keep. 15 years from now I will pull that out and I'm sure we'll have quite a big laugh over it.

Smitty Turns 3!!!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Well, I can't believe it...my baby is 3!! I told Jeff that for some reason this birthday is sad for me because I really no longer have a baby. I could still consider Smith a baby when he was 2 and in diapers, but now that he's 3 and potty trained he is definitely a toddler and this mommy knows that the baby years are officially gone. (sniff, sniff)
Smith was so excited about his "Super Man" birthday party, or as he called it...his "Super Smith" birthday party. We decorated with Super Man, Smith wore his Super Man shirt and I even made a cake with the Super Man symbol on it (just call me Martha Stewart!)

We all ate a fabulous lunch thanks to Jeffrey. Smith opened his birthday presents in .5 seconds! And we ate cake...most people had blue teeth afterwards from the blue icing (okay, so I guess I'm no Martha Stewart. I'm sure her blue icing wouldn't have turned everyone's teeth blue!) Smith's favorite part of the day was playing with all of his new toys once everyone left. He loves his new pirate ship, remote controlled dump truck, and his play shotgun and cowboy hat.

Tate was very reflective at the end of the day and said, "Mommy, I just can't believe Smitty is 3. He's just so big." in her sweetest little mommy voice! Melt my heart.

Smith's 1st Day of "School"

Since Tate started Pre-K, Smith has been quite confused! He wakes up every morning and asks "Where's Tate?" Then when I tell him that she's at school, he gets very sad and says "I want to go to school too." So, this morning He was quite excited when I told him that he was going to go to school today. He thought I meant that he was going with Tate and he was way pumped about going to "big kid school", but he was still excited when I explained that he was going to St. Mark's (his mother's day out program). I made a big deal about him getting to move up to a new class since he was potty trained now and that his teacher was going to be Miss Laura. I packed his lunch bag and he carried it around the house for 15 minutes before we left. Then he even reminded me that we needed to take a picture of him for his first day of school! Good thing he's on the ball!

Splash Park

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It was Labor Day today and we woke up with zero plans. In a way, it was very nice to not have a schedule of events, but we also wanted to spend a fun day with the kiddos. So after their naps, we decided to go to the Splash Park. The Splash Park is great for 2 reasons...Mom and Dad don't have to get wet and the kids wear themselves out! Bonus! The kids were so excited and had a ton of fun. Jeff did get involved with the spray gun so he did end up getting a little wet, but Mom was able to sit back, relax, take pics and watch the kiddos have a great time.

Kids Say & Do the Darndest Things!

Smith and I were driving out to my mom's house today to go play and pick up Tate. As we turned off the highway and were about 5 miles from Grandma Jacki's house, Smith starts yelling that he has to go potty. I asked him if he could hold it, but he says "it's starting in my underwear", so I knew the answer was "No!" I pulled down a road and parked off to the side. We got out of the car and Smith peed in the grass for the first time! As he's standing there, he looks up at me and says, "Mommy, I'm like God. I'm watering the grass!" He really got a kick out of standing on the side of the road and "watering" in the grass. Then he said that he needed to go poo-poo. Of course, I snatched him up, buckled him back in his carseat and told him he couldn't go poo-poo right there and that he'd have to hold it until we got to Grandma Jacki's. At this point, I'm a little panic stricken, but we were only a few miles away so I thought we could make it. At about the one mile mark, Smith starts yelling, "I can't hold it!" I encourage him, "Yes you can buddy we're almost there!" Then he says it again, "I cant' hold it mommy!" So, I said, "Come on Smith, just squeeze your cheeks...we're almost there!" To that comment, Smith puts his hands on his cheeks (the ones on his face!), does the Chubby Bunny look and says, "Like this mommy!" Apparently that worked! I laughed the rest of the way to Grandma Jacki's but Smith was able to hold it until we got there! Praise the Lord!

And So It Begins!

Yes, many of you received my e-mail yesterday about Tate's first day of school at pre-K. Because of that (and a lot of pressure from my blogger friends!!) I've decided to start my own blog. Not because any of you really want to read all about my family all of the time, but because I've always wished I was someone who journals about their kids and writes down all of the funny things they say...so, four and a half years after my first child was born, I'm going to become one of those moms! Not on paper, but on-line! I will not promise anything, but I will try to post only the things that I think are fitting of holding onto and saving for posterity. Who knows? Maybe one day my kids will want to read all about their shenanigans as toddlers and my reactions to them as their mom. Feel free to add this website to your favorites list or even subscribe to our blog which will automatically send you a message every time I've added a new post. Also, feel free to delete this and go on your merry way...either way is fine with me!! If any of you are bloggers and I don't know it, please send me your blog site and we can be blogger friends!! I look forward to sharing our lives with you through cyberspace;)

Potty Training - Gotta Love It!

So, I started this blog to share all of the funny things my kids do and say so of course there will be lots of things about Smith since he is the resident "funny man". I don't know how many of you have ever potty-trained a 2 1/2 year old boy, but here's how our adventure went with Smitty. Basically, we had talked about it some, sat on the potty several times and even went a few times as well. I wasn't too concerned that he would rather wear his diapers since he hadn't turned 3 yet, so we didn't push it. But Smith is just a smidge strong-willed (I guess if he can't look like me, he will act like me!!) and decided that he'd be a big boy whenever he decided he wanted to be one. So, one day at a restaurant he told me he needed to go potty...we went to the restroom and he did! Then a little later, he needed to go again. I wasn't quite sure if it was just a fluke, but the next morning I asked him if he wanted to wear his big boy underwear. He said, "yes mommy" and he's been potty trained ever since. I think he's had a total of 3 or 4 accidents in the 4 weeks since it all began. When my son sets his mind to something, he certainly does it full force (that includes throwing tantrums too!).
The funny part of this story is that now when he has to go poo-poo (I don't know if that word should be hyphenated or not...it think it's the first time in my life I've ever actually written it out!) he says, "Mom, you have to go out...I need my privacy." Seriously, my two and a half year old needs his privacy! And he won't go until I've left the bathroom and shut the door. Whatever it takes to not have to change diapers any more...I'm all for it!

Tate's First Day - UPDATE!

Just wanted to let everyone know that Tate's first day of Pre-K was a big success! The first thing she said to me when I walked in the room to pick her up was, "Mommy, can I come back here tomorrow!" Of course, I said "yes" but I didn't have the heart to tell her she'd be going to school every day for the next 20 or so years!!!! I know the novelty will wear off, but no need to hamper her excitement just yet!
She got to do "stations" which included playdoh, kitchen, craft and books. Oh what fun for a 4 year old!Let's just hope we don't have anymore 11:3O nights. She was just a tad cranky this afternoon but still so hyped up about her day that she didn't take a nap!

Tate's First Day of Pre-K

Well, today was a big day in the Langum family...Tate had her first day of school (sniff, sniff!). She started Pre-K at Bethany Elementary and was by far the smallest child in the entire school!! Yes, kids in her class were nearly a head taller than her and since she's the youngest grade in the school that makes Tate the shortest kid in the entire school district! Jeff and I got a big kick out of that when we got back in the car...of course, we would never tell her that because in her eyes she is a BIG girl! BUT, I can tell you this...she certainly was the cutest little girl in her class!!! (if I do say so myself!)
It all started on Tuesday when Tate and I visited her school to meet her teacher, Mrs. Tidwell. Tate was quite nervous before we got there but once we got in and she saw all the toys in the classroom and some of her friends from Mother's Day Out, she felt much better about it. Last night was quite interesting though! She could not go to sleep...she was just so excited about her first day of "big girl school". We said LOTS of prayers asking God to help us settle down and go to sleep. This is an example of what Tate prayed on about the 6th time I had to go in her room..."Dear God, we are calling you again because I'm still awake!" Just like we had dialed up his number and were chatting away. Needless to say, I totally cracked up. And finally at 11:30, after 3 1/2 hours I walked out of the room and Tate said to herself with a big sigh, "I am just way too excited!"
This morning started out early as we were up at 6:30 and the entire famiy was leaving the house at 7:35! That was a miracle in itself since our family usually isn't even out of bed at that time. I told Jeff that I feel like we're all grown up now! We actually have to be up and have Tate at school every day of the week by 8:00am!
Smith wasn't quite sure about letting his big sister stay at school without him. He kept saying that he wanted to go to Pre-K too! After we hung up Tate's bag and took a few pictures, Tate knew that mommy and daddy were leaving so she started to get a little teary-eyed. We gave lots of hugs, assured her that we'd be back soon and left the room before mommy got teary-eyed too! Now it's just Smitty and me at home for the few hours while Tate is gone. He's not quite sure what to do with mommy all to himself, but I look forward to this time alone with him everyday. It's almost time to go back and pick Tate up and we'll start all over again tomorrow and everyday after that! Wow, life has officially changed for the Langum family!!
Sorry for the long drawn out story, but I had to have something written down to save for posterity (I know what you bloggers are thinking!!) Anyway, I've attached a few pictures and there are some more on my photo website. You can go to www.slangum.winkflash.com and then on the left side of the screen under View Public Shares type in slangum as the User ID. Then scroll down to the bottom and it's the last folder. Hope everyone has a fabulous day and I'll keep you updated if there's any exciting news about Tate's adventures at Pre-K!