Brett Favre

As I was making my coffee this morning, I heard on Today that Brett Favre has been fined $50,000 for everything that happened with Jenn Sterger. Then they say that this $50K he's been fined is equal to missing 4 1/2 minutes of play. Are you kidding me?! I know he makes a ton but when it's stated that way, it really puts things into perspective. Ridiculous! It doesn't make much sense to me. Making incomprehensible amounts of money to throw a ball around and tackle people. Must be nice!

I spent a few hours at Kendra's house with Alyssa yesterday. It was fun to see Corbin and Noah play together. Noah and Corbin have totally different personalities. It was interesting to see them interact. Noah is a year older, maybe that has something to do with it? I was starting to get really mad when Noah started making fun of sweet little Corbin for not being able to beat him at Mario Kart though! Corbin kept wanting me to help him. Ha! He was better off without my help. Finally I took over completely and beat Noah. YES. It was close though and my competitive side kicked into full gear when he took the lead for a lap. :) Corbin wasn't too happy about his mommy holding Liam either. He wanted her to give Liam to Kendra. Alyssa said something like, "But mommy never gets to hold babies" and Corbin said, "But I'm your baby." (or something close to that). It broke my heart! It proved to me though that even at 3 years of age they don't really understand---and still need that one-on-one attention. Before going to Kendra's, I had lunch with my g'ma, aunts, mom, Kim and Sophie. Liam was asleep in his car seat most of the time but woke up at the end so I took him out. Sophie immediately went to Kim and her bottom lip came out. She got really sad. I said, "Are you sad Liam woke up?" Her answer: "Yeahhh..." in the saddest yet sweetest little voice I've ever heard. Maybe having an only child is the way to go! I can't even imagine how heart breaking it would be to see Liam act that way. I also can't imagine loving another baby as much as I love him. I know I would but still...how would that even be possible?! Someone on a baby forum I read said she's addicted to her baby. I think that's me. I can't get enough of him! I even find myself excited for him to wake up from naps now that I'm not totally exhausted. Every day is full of new things, new sounds, bigger smiles... He is simply amazing! Yesterday he discovered the toys hanging from his bouncy chair. Actually, he discovered that he can GRAB those toys that hang from his seat. I feel like I can literally see his brain working when he discovers these things. It's fascinating to watch. I am so, so, SO thankful I'm at home to witness all of this. If I had to go back to work, I'd be going back in two weeks. TWO WEEKS! I can't even imagine!

Alright, laundry time!

Wordless Wednesday....with words.

For one of my mom and dads Christmas presents, Kim and I decided to do a Sophie and Liam photo shoot. It was stressful and chaotic, this was the best picture that we could get. I think Sophie and Liam must've made a pact with each other to not smile! We captured what we wanted though, both of mom and dads little loves. Happy Wednesday!

Holiday hangover

I'm feeling a little let down after all of the holiday festivities. It came and went so fast...I feel like I didn't have enough time to savor everything! I ripped our tree down this morning, put everything Christmas away. Time to move on. I put everything away knowing that it will seem like just a couple of months and we'll be dragging it all out again!

This Christmas was by far the best I've ever had! Everything is so much more fun with Sophie and Liam around. Seeing Sophie's face light up over every little gift is priceless! Of course Liam could care less at this age but just having him here is the best gift ever. Even though he's only two months, he scored at Christmas! He's definetely loved by everyone!

....and now he's screaming. Will write more later!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve! Wow! I said this in an earlier post but I wish time could stop now that I have all of the shopping, wrapping and baking done so I could just really enjoy everything. The Christmas movies, music, lights. It comes and goes way too fast!

Below is a picture of our Christmas cards. Joanna took a picture of hers so I decided to do the same. I LOVE getting Christmas cards in the mail! Such a simple gesture that I think means so much to everyone. And nothing like getting 'real' mail in the mail. I've loved checking the mailbox everyday to see what we get. My favorite cards are those with pictures. Even though I see these people on a daily basis and know what they look like, including their kids, parents, cousins, pets (thanks, Facebook) it's still fun to see what pictures are picked for Christmas cards. To anyone who didn't receive a card from me, please forgive me. I ran out of the Christmas cards/birth announcements so I had more made and I ended up running out of those too. Then I simply didn't have the time and/or energy to make more. Next year....

Ok, off to make Upside Down Cranberry Cake from Smitten Kitchen. My sister made it a few weeks ago for a dinner after seeing Erin made it on her blog and it was delicious! And so festive looking. I'll be taking this to Tacoma tomorrow for our Christmas celebration up there. Busy weekend begins now! Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sophie!

Sophie is 2 today! What an amazing two years it's been with her in our lives. She has been such a wonderful addition to our family! She's so loving, so funny, so amazingly smart, so gorgeous! I love her SO much. Everyone does! She is one lucky little girl! My sister texted me yesterday saying "this time two years ago...." (we like to reminisce!). Anyway, it made me start thinking about that night too. We were having pizza at mailto:Pie@trio and there was a TON of snow outside. It was the huge snow storm of 2008. Then we stopped for ice cream at Baskin Robbins and that's when we got the call that Kim was in the hospital. I remember being so incredibly excited! Joe and I rushed home, grabbed stuff and took off on the long journey to Vancouver. I remember freaking out at Joe for going too fast on the freeway. The roads were so bad I thought for sure we'd end up crashing and miss everything. Thanks, Subaru, for getting us there safely! We stopped and grabbed George some fast food in Salmon Creek then went to the hospital. And waited. And waited. Forever. I have a picture of Joe and dad sleeping in the waiting room. At one point George's sister went to her car and got her sleeping bag and camped out! But finally things happened and Sophie was born. Such an exciting night though! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SOPHIE! Auntie and Uncle Koe love you so much!

Yesterday was Liam's two month check-up. Ready for this? He weighs a whopping 13lbs 14oz!! Apparently I'm making breastCREAM not milk. Hahahaha. His doctor said, "well, breastfeeding definitely agrees with him!" It makes me feel so good to know that every single ounce he's gained is a result of me. Nothing else! It's pretty amazing to think that my body allowed him to develop and grow for 9 months and is still continuing to do so. Unfortunately he also had to have his two month shots. It was horrible. I have never ever heard my baby scream like that. I thought for sure it ruined his sweet little personality! It was a painful, "I'm hurting" scream. So heartbreaking. He's pretty much back to his happy self this morning though. I've been dreading the shots but his pediatrician sat and talked with us for about 35 minutes and explained everything. I had so many questions and concerns and she addressed all of them. One of my biggest concerns was the 'vaccinations cause autism' argument. She doesn't think that's true at all. In fact, she said she has a patient who is one of the most autistic little boys she's ever seen and his parents didn't get him vaccinated. Anyway, after hearing her talk and explain everything she made me feel a lot better about it. She is awesome. Love her! She saw Liam night he was born, she was the on-call doctor, and she remembered us. She has since even gotten her hair cut short like mine. Haha!

Off to work out while Liam takes his morning nap....hope he stays asleep until I'm done and showered! Here's to hoping! :)

P.S. For some reason it wont space between paragraphs.........sorry!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy belated 2 months, Liam!

Weekend recap

Dancing at the wedding with my baby, our first dance together!

It was a busy but FUN weekend! We had a wedding in Tacoma on Saturday night. We were worried about taking Liam, it was a full Catholic Mass that started at 3 and then reception immediately after but he did great! The wedding was beautiful and you could definitely feel the love between the couple. The bride was SO excited...you could hear it in her voice, see it in her step...I loved it! I remember feeling that way, it's the best feeling in the world. You really feel like you're on a high, I felt the same way after Liam was born. The best days of my life!

Yesterday was Sophie's birthday party. It was a blast! It's amazing the difference between this years party and last years. She has changed so much! Her favorite gift seemed to be the tea set. All the kids loved it actually! Kind of a bummer though because that's one of the things we got her for Christmas. I guess that's one of thebad thing about having a birthday so close to Christmas. Oh well, next year we'll just have to wait until after her party and then go Christmas shopping for her.

Liam is also TWO MONTHS old today! I took a ton of pictures this morning with his "2 month" stickers on his onesie, I'll post them when I have more time. He is changing so fast! He wakes up smiling and stays happy all day. He pretty much only cries if he's has a poopy diaper, is hungry or wants to snuggle. I don't know how we got so lucky! He is such a great baby...I love him SO much! He has a onesie that says, "Mommy's best friend"....it's so true!

Hope everyone has a great week. And if I don't get a chance to blog before Saturday, Merry Christmas!

Ho HO Ho!

Hey look, it's Santa and Mrs. Claus! Aili and I tried to do a photo shoot of our little cuties but it didn't go very well. All Shailia wanted to do was sleep and all Liam wanted to do was scream. This is one of the best pictures I got. So funny! Shailia is 3 days younger than Liam.

I have to keep reminding myself that today is Thursday and not Monday! Joe was off Tuesday and yesterday so today feels like a Monday. Thankfully we still have a weekend left before Christmas. I have pretty much all of my shopping done, I just want a few days to enjoy the holidays. Looking at the tree, baking cookies...it never seems to go as planned though. Everything is always so rushed, so hectic. Even more so this year with a baby!

Yesterday the three of us went to Portland. Joe and I decided to splurge and buy ourselves a camera for Christmas. We've been using a point and shoot and we miss all of the good pictures because it's so slow. Liam will be smiling but by the time I get a picture he's on to the next thing. We decided to buy a Nikon D3100 DSLR. It is AMAZING. We are so excited about it! It also has HD video so we can get fun videos of Liam as well. Merry Christmas to us! :) We should've decided that was our Christmas present before we bought each other gifts though. Oh well...

This weekend is going to be hectic. Really hectic. Joe has to work until 8pm on Friday then on Saturday morning we have to drive up to Tacoma for a college friends wedding in the afternoon. The wedding is at 3 with reception, dinner and dancing, afterwards. Then on Sunday we need to leave early to get back home for Sophie's birthday. I know everything will be fine...it's just harder than it used to be. So much more to pack, so much more planning involved. I'm most excited for Sophie's birthday on Sunday. I really can't believe she's going to be two! She is the smartest and most amazing thing ever...we love her so much, can't wait to watch her open all of her presents. She definetely knows and understands that it's her birthday. So cute!

Ok, better go get some cleaning done while Liam is still sleeping. Who am I kidding though? As soon as I start cleaning he decides he needs to wake up. Which is why our house looks like a tornado hit! Oh well...there will always be a house to clean but not always a baby wanting mommy, right?! If anyone is bored and wants to clean...you know where to come!

Friday!

SO glad it's Friday. That's right, even though I'm not exactly living for the weekends anymore, I do live for when Joe isn't working night shift. It's definitely given me a taste of what being a single mom would be like. One word: horrible! He goes to bed as soon as he gets home at 8am and wakes up around 4:30-5ish. So basically I only see him about 2 hours everyday. Lucky for me he only works a few night shifts every month. I shouldn't complain considering how many people don't have jobs right now...it's just tough sometimes.

Liam is starting to sleep better and better! I have been writing down everything as far as his sleep schedule goes because I wake up and can't seem to remember and for the last few nights he has had the same schedule. We take a bath at 7, baby massage with "helps baby sleep better" lotion, pj's, nurse and then rock to sleep. Last night he wasn't wanting to sleep and I had to nurse him again at 8:30. He was asleep by 9:30 and slept until 1:40. It's getting harder and harder for him to wake up for that feeding though. He barley opened his eyes and was back asleep by 2:10ish. Slept again until 5. Still not great (compared to what other 7 weeks I've read about are doing) but hey, I'll take it. Anything beats having to get up every 2 hours! This morning after nursing he fell asleep at 5:30 and has been sleeping ever since. I used that time to exercise, shower, drink coffee and waste time doing this...even though I should be folding laundry, emptying dish washer... :) I deserve some 'me' time though, right?!

Ok, gotta get in my second cup of coffee before he wakes up! Happy Friday!

I love my Bumbo!

We've started putting Liam in his Bumbo seat for a few minutes everyday and he LOVES it. Gets to see the world from a totally new perspective!

Our first real smile caught on camera!

Watchin' TV with Daddy

Perfectly content until I sit down...think he knows who I am. Turn head, open mouth!

Sweet, sweet Liam

This picture makes him look huge! He really doesn't look that big in real life!

I can't believe Liam is going to be 7 weeks on Wednesday! I'm worried I'm not savoring every moment enough, sad that we might not be taking as many pictures as we should and stressed that I haven't been keeping up with his baby book and writing (really writing in a journal, not blogging) like I told myself I was going to do. I find myself not even knowing what day it is! Looking at the calendar and realizing Christmas is so soon is mind boggling. How can it be? I really need to learn to not dwell on things I haven't done and just enjoy the 'now.' Last Friday we went and met Liam's newest little friend, Baby Gavin. Seeing Gavin made me realize how fast and how much Liam has changed. Liam looked like a big kid compared to Gavin (he's two weeks today). It's so bittersweet! I love the stage we're at now, I don't think I'd want to go back to those first few days, but why do they have to change so fast?! The other night I was rocking him to sleep and we were listening to his lullabies on my iPod but after they were over, "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts, the song that Joe and his mom danced to at our wedding, came on. I got the biggest lump in my throat. Every word of it is exactly what I wish for Liam. If you don't know the song, Google the lyrics. I don't like country but I dedicate this song to my baby!

Ok, enough with the sappy post. Someone needs a diaper change and breakfast.... :)

P.S. This post says Monday but it's actually Tuesday morning. I didn't get a chance to finish it yesterday. :)

Beach, Apple Cup......a day of firsts for Liam!

Dad texted me this picture of sunrise at the beach on Friday. Gorgeous! We took Liam to the beach house for the first time yesterday. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky! It was a fun and relaxing day. Watched the Civil War, dad and Joe played Wii when they got bored of the game, mom cuddled with Liam a lot and I just enjoyed relaxing and having a change of scenery! Mom and I also went for a walk on the beach. It was too cold to take Liam out, he stayed home with the guys. When the game was over we went and met my cousin and his girlfriend who came to go clam digging. So much fun! My mom and I stayed in the car with Liam but it was so fun to drive on the beach, watch the sun start going down and watch everyone digging. Joe doesn't have a license but dad does so he got to dig. Got his limit in about 20 minutes or so. Joe had a blast being out there and has decided he's going to buy a license and clam gun today. :) After that we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the house to watch the Apple Cup. The Huskies probably should've won by a lot more. It was an exciting game to watch. At least I thought so, although I know nothing about football! I just enjoy watching it because it takes me right back to college. It seems like just yesterday I was one of the students in the stand cheering on the Cougs during the Apple Cup. And I always remember the Apple Cup we won---everyone charged the field but I was scared to jump down to the field so I nearly got trampled. Hahahaha!

The drive home was great, I was nervous about Liam crying but he slept the entire way. He was so out of it we were able to take him from his car seat and put him in bed without him even waking up. Makes mommy happy! Also makes me so, SO happy that he's sleeping longer stretches. And at night, when he's supposed to! Last night he slept from 7:30 till midnight. Fed him and he slept again until 5am. Hallelujah!

On the agenda today: Joe just said he'd like to go back to the beach! There's another clam tide tonight so he thinks it would be fun to go back down, clam dig and spend the night. He loves the beach just as much as my dad!

Happy Sunday!

Happy news!

Liam didn't wake up until 5am this morning! I went to bed at 8:30 (don't judge, I'm getting old!), Joe fed him again when he woke up at 12:30ish and he slept from then until 5. 5am! I woke when he started fussing thinking for sure it was 2 or 3. I really had to look at my phone a few times to make sure it was really 5. Hooray! He's sound asleep again in his swing. It's amazing how good 5am feels after a good night of sleep. I've already had my first cup of coffee, got a load of laundry done and now I even have time (and energy) to blog! Let's hope this trend continues. Now that Joe is off until Tuesday I at least know I'll be getting more sleep than usual. Thank goodness we started giving him a bottle when we did, it's been a lifesaver! I'm so glad I stuck with breast feeding and powered through the pain now that it's getting easier. I really understand why a lot of women stop or don't try it at all. It's a full time job! It would've been so much easier if Joe could've helped feed him during the night from the very beginning. And the pain! Oh my...it was really bad for me. I would honestly rather give birth once a week than to have to go through the pain I had again. But that's gone now and I enjoy feeding him. Even if it does seem like it's constant. It's so cool to know that the pudgy little legs he's starting to get are all because of me. The human body is amazing!

Yesterday was a great day! Joe was working so it was just Liam and I. We went shopping for a wedding gift, went to lunch with Kim, George and Sophie, walked part of the lake and then spent the afternoon with Kim and Sophie. I LOVE having my sister in town. It's so nice to be able to do spur of the moment things! I took Sophie on a walk in the mall so Kim could shop faster and she saw Santa! Santa started talking to her and the first thing she said was "toys, toys, toys." It was so cute! And then she started saying Ho Ho Ho to him. She wasn't afraid of him at first but when we walked back by him the second time she grabbed my leg and wouldn't let go. Her and Liam are going to have so much fun together in a couple of years. I can't wait!

Alright, better get another cup of coffee in me before Liam wakes up. Keep your fingers crossed for another sleep filled night!