Mama's little jokester

Liam has become quite the little comedian.  He's really learning what makes people laugh and will try his hardest to make sure it happens.  His latest thing, actually it's been going on for at least two months now, is adding the word "poo-poo" after everything.  Like, "I want some chocolate milk....poo-poo!" The last time he saw his GG (my grandma) he said, "Hi GG poo-poo."  He thinks it's hilarious and usually everyone who hears it does as well.  Which is why he keeps on doing it.  We had a Christmas party at our house and Santa came to visit the kids.  When he asked Liam what he wanted, Liam looked at him and said "poo-poo!" 

His latest thing is pretty hilarious.  He ran to me yesterday and said, "This is a joke" and then spit his tongue out at me!  Of course I busted up laughing and then he continued to do it the rest of the day.  I feel a little like we are failing as parents though.  Where is he getting this stuff?!  I don't want Liam to be the little kid who teaches his friends naughty things and then I get calls from their angry parents.  There is never a dull moment with him around.  Everyday with him gets more fun.  Even if he has a little naughty in him, he has an equal amount of sweet.  He has so much love for so many people and a smile that lights up the room and something about him attracts people to him.  I don't know what it is, but ever since he was a newborn, total strangers are always making comments.  Jayne and I went shopping with him and we walked in the Coach store and the greeter fell in love.  She gave him a hug before we left!  She was so taken with him I thought she was going to tear up.  Now that I sound like  a bragger....

In other news, we got home from Tacoma and it looked like Christmas exploded in our house.  I was really sad to see Christmas come to an end this year, but when we walked into our house and saw our sad looking tree, presents everywhere and a huge mess greeting us, I was ready for it to be over.  Joe and I spent all day working yesterday and there's no trace of Christmas now.  Joe even was out last night taking the lights off the house!  I'm kind of missing my morning coffee by our tree but it feels good to have a fresh start.  We also made a huge Goodwill run.  Out with the old, in with the new.  Feels good!

Happy (almost) New Year!

A wonderful Christmas

We had the best Christmas! It was so magical with Liam this year. We've been going non-stop for the last month. Feeling a little let down, we are driving home from the in-laws as I write this. Looks like Liam has a holiday hangover in the back!

We are so blessed and so lucky to have such an amazing family and so many equally amazing friends in our life. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

"My binky, my binky..."

Liam has been giving me a run for my money the last couple of weeks.  I'd stay the "terrible two" stage has officially started.  The discouraging thing?  Everyone says the 3s are worse than the 2s.  I need a nap just thinking about it!  I don't know if he's just going through major developmental changes or just showing his stubborn streak (he gets it from his dad)!  Needless to say, whatever I say or do, he wants opposite.  I turn right while driving, he cries that he wants to go "the other way, the other way!" I give him Cheerios, he wants KIX.  I try to go play outside, he wants to stay inside...  And most recently, he is addicted to his binky.  As you can see in this picture, he wont let them out of his sight.  He was so good, only using one at bed and for a nap, all of a sudden he has regressed and has to have it constantly.  Whines, cries, and will let it ruin his day if we try to resist giving it to him.  Being lazy and not wanting to deal, I usually give in.  So now he knows that he'll get it eventually if he just begs long enough. Ugh.  Manipulation at its finest.  Part of me says not to sweat it, he wont be taking it to kindergarten with him (or will he?!), the other part wants to fight and not let him have it.  But then the other part of me thinks we are evil resisting what we so badly wanted him to use for so long.  It's a catch-22.  Today he wasn't happy with just one, he found the other two and had to have them.  One in each hand, one in his mouth.  On his tray, with him on the edge of the bathtub, everything we did.  If he dropped one, you'd think the world was ending the way he was acting!

Today, everytime he hears the word vote, he says, "@(DJLLS."  (who we are voting for).  No joke.  I don't even feel like we have talked about it around him.  They catch on to EVERYTHING.  Oh, and since the only thing I ever write about is him, one last thing.  The other morning I asked him if he had good dreams.  He answered, "yeah" so I asked what he dreamed about.  His reply?  "Dream I flew to the moon."  I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.  Joe asked him later what he dreamed about and he told him the same, but added an airplane to it.  I think he's going to be a pilot! :)

Halloween success

Liam loved Halloween and had no apprehension trick-or-treating. It probably helped that Sophie was really in to it this year. It was a fun evening, brought back a lot of memories from when I was young. It's exciting again seeing Liam experience it!

Here's a video of him at the mall. It was pouring so my sister and I decided to check it out. After the mall , we continued our tradition of using our house as "home base" and had pizza and then went around our neighborhood. A lot of times Liam would say, "please" instead of trick-or-treat. So cute! At the end of this video he was so excited and was saying, "look what I got mama!"

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween. Happy November!

San Francisco

Hello, hello!  We just returned from a fabulous weekend in San Francisco.  We left on Friday morning and got back yesterday.  It was truly a perfect weekend in so many ways.  Liam did amazing on the flight, we had a great time with friends and the wedding (the reason we went) was gorgeous.  The Bride, Allison, and I met in college and we were in the same sorority.  Her wedding was perfect.  She had every detail covered, the food was amazing (no wedding cake----the best!) and she looked stunning.  She also picked one of the busiest weekends in San Francisco's history (according to the media) to get married.  There was so much going on, they estimated a million extra people were in the city.  We were on the go from the time the wheels landed.

I was apprehensive about traveling with Liam, he hasn't flown since he was 4 months old, but I think his love of airplanes worked in our benefit.  He was so incredibly excited to get on the airplane on Friday.  He woke up in a great mood and was running around like crazy saying, "airplane ride, airplane ride" until we left.  I still wasn't sure though...it can get pretty boring once you're in the air and can't see anything.  He proved me wrong though.  He never once asked to get off of my lap and he was totally content.  We were right above the wheels so he was fascinated watching them go up after take-off and was patiently waiting (the whole flight) to see them go down again.  As soon as they went down and we were on the ground, he crawled up onto my chest and literally passed out.  He was sleeping so hard!  I couldn't believe it.  He continued to sleep all through the airport, waiting for our bags and even on the BART ride to the city.

One of the highlights of our trip was watching the Blue Angels fly over us while standing on the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was amazing!

Can't wait until our next adventure. I fell in love even more with my little family.  It was so much fun seeing everything through Liam's eyes.  He loved riding the city buses probably more than anything.  And, the little charmer he is, made friends with everyone sitting around him on the bus.  It never failed, he'd be sitting on my lap then I'd look down and he'd be holding hands with the person next to me.  Only if it was a female though.  So funny.

Sunriver, Ape Caves and more

Once again, we've been on the go!  We returned last week from a trip to Sunriver, Oregon.  We rented a huge house and all Joe's side of the family went.  We had a blast.  They have an awesome new water park that Liam loved, we rode bikes, canoed down the Deschutes, ate tons of delicious food and just enjoyed being with everyone.  Liam loved being with everyone and woke up super early because I think he was just so excited to get the day started and see everyone, especially Dylan.  Dylan just turned eight and is so good with him.  I love seeing them together!  I had been looking forward to this trip since we booked it in May.  I was so sad when we had to come back.

Joe's parents and cousins family all came down to our house this past weekend.  We went to the Ape Caves on Saturday for the day.  I hadn't been since I was a little girl so it was fun to go again.  We took Liam, I didn't realize they wanted to hike the upper cave.  Here's a description of the upper cave off of the Mount Saint Helens website:  The upper Ape Cave is 1½-mile long and takes about 2½ hours to complete, 
returning on a surface trail. This section is more adventurous as cavers must climb
over approximately 27 boulder piles and scale an 8-foot high lava fall.  It was tough!  Especially "scaling" the 8-foot lava fall.  And yes, Liam did this with us.  Let's just say Joe is amazingly strong.  He did the entire thing with Liam in the backpack.  Crazy.  When we climbed out at the end a guy was standing there and said, "Wow, it's hard enough as it is...but with a baby on your back??"  Lol.  I think people were pretty shocked to see him coming out.  Some parts of the cave were so tight he had to take the pack off and manoeuvre him around/pass the pack off to Gil or his dad.  I had to stay ahead, I got nervous on some parts.  Liam loved it though, he was a total trooper.  Dylan did great, too.  He scaled the 8-foot wall like it was nothing.  And he also made sure he found the hardest way possible to climb over the boulder piles.  As he says, he was "living dangerously" and loving it.  It was a fun weekend!  

Liam is getting to be a little comedian.  The other day I swatted at a fruit fly and said, "Damn (whoops....I slipped in front of him) fruit fly!" He immediately said, "Damn poo poo fly" and started cracking up.  He cracks himself (and us) up a lot lately.  One day last week he decided to whisper.  He thought it was hilarious.  And he still says "noooooo" when I ask him if he loves me then looks at me and laughs.  He knows that's not the right answer but thinks it's hilarious to get a rise out of me.  

Joe started school last week, makes me feel like summer is over.  I'm really  not ready for fall, but I'm starting to get in the fall mode.  I feel like I'm nesting.  Trying to get everything cleaned outside, recipes gathered and little house projects completed before hibernation starts for the winter! :)

Happy Monday!

Inherited traits

As Liam gets older, it's fun (and funny) to see some of his inherited traits.  Sitting on the curb is one that he got from me.  I remember doing this all the time when I was little when we lived on Villa Street.  I would watch the neighbors, pick at potato bugs on the ground and watch the world go by.  Liam has been doing the same lately.  Runs around for a bit then goes and parks himself on the curb.  So funny.  Another trait he got from me is a obsession with rubbing things.  He rubs his blanky constantly.  If his blankie isn't nearby he'll find whatever he can and rub it with his thumb and index finger.  He'll even go as far as rubbing the skin on my arm sometimes.  Yeah, I'm the same way.  Not quite that extreme but give me a piece of silk, ribbon or anything else that most people don't consider soft and I like to do the same thing.  Do I have issues?  Maybe so!

The quirky trait he's gotten from Joe is his inability to SUCK on hard candy.  We recently introduced him to organic suckers, only to be used when he gets out of hand at the store or somewhere else I have to go and he hates, but good grief.  He's just like his daddy.  As soon as he gets it he chomps it and breaks it apart with his teeth.  Now I'll have to be getting on to both of them about that!  ;)

I'm amazed more and more each day with his development.  There has been a huge change in just the last couple of weeks.  Last night he shocked us, we were eating dinner and I had put a piece of potato on his plate.  He picked it up and said, "No, mama.  I don't like it."  Say what?!  I couldn't believe it.  For a few weeks his answer to everything was 'no.'  Then I think he started thinking it was funny to answer no to everything because it always got a rise out of us.  Like, "Liam, are you having fun?" (as he's splashing in the tub or doing something else he loves) and his answer would be, "Nooo."  Then he'd crack up.  Over the weekend, he started saying "ok" and "yes" a lot. The communication gap is getting smaller and smaller everyday.  He also says really big words (in my opinion) like marionberry, vitamin..... So cute.  Oh, and this one makes Joe happy.  He says "cool car" a lot.

I'm excited for today.  A few of my friends and I are having a canning party.  My friend bought a Groupon for it.  The lady is coming to her house, bringing all supplies and they item we picked to can (green beans), and teaching us how to can.  Should be fun!

Hope everyone has a good weekend.  Happy Friday!

A perfect weekend

Whew.  I still feel like I'm recovering from the weekend.  And it's already Wednesday!  We had a busy but great weekend up north.  On Sunday I went with Joe, his cousin Gil and Uncle Jack on a hike at Crystal Mountain.  I was a little apprehensive, they were going to look for a ski that Joe had lost last winter, but they all agreed I could handle it.  What they didn't tell me was there wasn't really a trail, we had to make our own.  Really?  At 7,000 feet?!  I could have gone up all day, it was just knowing that the higher we went the more down hill we'd have to do.  I'm glad I did it though, it was an adventure for sure.  I was pretty proud once I was back to the lodge safe and sound.  Liam took the less adventurous route (thankfully) and went with Papa and Grandma Jayne up the gondola.  They walked through the fields of flowers, saw some animals and then rode back down.  He had a great time having one-on-one time with them and they enjoyed it too.

We also rode bikes and Liam had a great time playing with Dylan.  If I wasn't already old (haha), I'd say that the age difference between Dylan and Liam would be perfect if we have another baby.  Dylan is so good with him and Liam adores him.  Dylan wanted to read to Liam at bedtime, I didn't think Liam would like it much but I was wrong.  So wrong.  He wouldn't even sit in my lap!  He had to sit on Dylan's lap.  The smile shining through his binki was priceless.  He loved it.

What else?  I've been baking and trying new recipes.  Joe's Uncle Jack has inspired me and I've been having so much fun.  He's an amazing cook and baker and I want people to think that about me, too!  Last week I made English muffins.  We love them and I'm constantly buying them at the store.  I decided to find a recipe and go for it and they turned out perfect.  It's amazing to compare the ingredients in mine to the store-bought ones.  Makes me want to bake everything from scratch.  I'm currently waiting for dough to rise, making homemade buns for a bbq tonight.  It's so easy and fun!

Summer is flying by so fast.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Halloween stuff out at Safeway yesterday.  Fall is my favorite time of year but I'm loving summer this year.  The long days, being able to be outside most of the day with Liam.  Makes everything seem so much easier to handle.  I think I'm just resistant to change like everyone else though.  Always hate to see the seasons end, guess because it's just a reminder of how fast time is going.

In sad news, Allie, our family dog for the last 14ish years, died on Friday.  We were at Joe's parents house when I got the call, it was one of the worst days I've had in a long time.  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  She was really starting to show her age but she's been such a fixture in our family.  I think we got her when I was in 8th grade.  We had been up at my parents visiting before leaving on Friday and something happened that I'll never forget, and I'm so thankful for this last memory.  We were walking out of the garage and Liam ran to her bed where she was sleeping, patted her gently (very unusual), and said, "nigh night, allie."  And then he ran off.  Even Liam loved her, I dread going up there and him asking where she is.  That was the first thing he always did, look for Allie.  Rest in peace, sweet girl.

My first attempt at English Muffins

Joe made me stand by the wood fired oven that his Uncle Jack built to show how big it is.  It's amazing, especially the pizza that came out of it.  The best I've ever had! 

 A fun day with Papa and Grandma Jayne at Crystal Moutain

Big man on campus

Yesterday we went to WSU and waited for Joe while he took his final.  It was a gorgeous day and I knew Liam would have a blast running around campus.  As these pictures show, he had a little too much fun!

 It was HOT so I decided to go get us ice cream while we waited.  He sat on my lap and was so happy.  And then.....

 ...the sugar kicked in.  Mid-lick.  Not kidding.  One minute he was sitting, the next it was like a flip switched and he took off faster than I've ever seen.  Of course he went straight for the fountains.  At first he was just walking around it, then he went for it.  Bib and all!  Of course I didn't have any dry clothes.  He was so wet, the water weight made his shorts fall off.

Since we didn't have extra clothes, figured no clothes would be better than leaving his on.  It was so warm out, I know he didn't get cold.  He opened the bathroom door while I was washing my hands and took off through this hall yelling, "Daddddy, dadddy!  Hiiiii Dadddy!!"  Did I mention Joe was taking a final?  I thought for sure we'd be getting a lecture after he was finished but luckily his class was in the basement of this building.

I had so much fun with him yesterday.  He has had a smile on his face constantly lately, I love it.  My mom and dad have always said I always had a smile on my face when I was younger, I hope Liam is the same way.  

Mama's boy

Excuse the crazy shadows.  Someone doesn't know how to use their fancy camera.  Or any photo editing programs for that matter!  Another month gone by, another month older, another month of new stages.  Liam's currently going through an extreme mama stage.  He only wants me.  I hear, "mama, hold me...mama, hold me.." over and over and over from the time he wakes up till he goes to bed.  He hates it when I leave him, even if it's just with Joe.  I really know this phase wont last forever, and I can't imagine him never NOT wanting me (which I know will happen), but good grief!

Joe's last day of summer school is Wednesday.  Thank goodness!  It's only been a 6 week class but it's twice a week which means Liam and I have been alone for dinner most of those nights the past 6 weeks.  Looking forward to more of a normal routine and only having him at class one night a week next semester.  Besides only wanting me, Liam is changing so much everyday.  Tonight when I was giving him a bath Joe came in and was reciting part of the book, "Hop on Pop."  He stopped and Liam continued on with the next parts of the book!  He's also talking really good.  He knows so many words I can't even count them anymore.  He can even say marionberry clear as day.  And also saying three word sentences.  Tonight he wanted some fruit at dinner and said, "I hold it" (the bowl).  He is also obsessed with Sophie, airplanes, both of his Papas and the neighbor kids.  Oh, and picking our blueberries.  And being outside.  As soon as he wakes up he starts pointing to the window and saying, "side!  side!  side, mama. side!"  Side=outside.  That's how all the cool toddlers say it. ;)

20 Months!

Our sweet baby boy is 20 months today!  We had a great day, it was even sunny and warm.  Makes a happy baby and a happy mama.  We are both so much happier when we can get outside and play.  What a difference it makes.

Liam is obsessed with airplanes.  Every time he hears or sees one he gets so incredibly excited.  And then when the airplane is out of sight he signs more and says, "more, more, more."  I say, "more what?"  And he says "airplanes."  Whenever we are outside he's always looking and as soon as he hears one his head is up and he's searching.  Anyway, this morning he wanted to play the bed game, a game that Joe always plays with him (basically just rough housing on our bed), so I played with him but then he fell back into all of the pillows and just cuddled up against me.  He said, "phone" and the "airplane" so I knew what he wanted.  Wanted to watch airplanes on my phone!  I searched YouTube for planes taking off and landing and then I decided to search for the Blue Angels.  Found so much and he was totally fascinated.  He cuddled and watched with me for at least 30 minutes.  I LOVED it!  I have a love for airplanes and flying, so it was right up my alley.

Really can't believe my baby is 20 months.  He is so smart, so happy, so full of life.  I love it and everything about him, even though at times I feel like I'm a zoo keeper!  At the end of everyday, no matter how crazy of a day it has been, I always end up laughing about it.  He's definitely got me wrapped around his finger.  And I'm ok with that.  :)

Happy 20 months, buddy!

Birthdays, holidays, life......it's been busy.

I knew it had been ages since I had last blogged but I didn't realize it had been over two months.  Yikes!  I feel like a total failure when it comes to documenting things.  I'm horrible at writing things down in Liam's baby book, totally slacking on pictures lately and I don't even blog.  I guess someday if Liam wants to know something I'll just have to look back on Facebook.  As much as I despise it sometimes, I feel that's the only thing I update consistently.  Oh well, can't dwell on it, right?  Just enjoying the moments as they come!

We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend.  We went up and spent the weekend with my in-laws.  Liam always has such a great time when he goes up there.  As soon as we turned the corner to drive up their hill, he knew where we were and started saying, "Papa, papa, papa, papa."  He is totally in love with both of his grandpas.  Or papas as he calls them.  Papa this, papa that...it's all about the papas!  We went to a graduation party on Saturday and Liam fell in love with all the girls that were there, especially the youngest, an adorable 5 year old.  He was eating a piece of cheese when she got there and immediately started rubbing her leg.  No joke.  He is a total flirt!  She was being really nice but started looking a little nervous.  He ran off to do something else after a few minutes and she said, "He's so cute but his hands are grubby."  Haha.  She was right.  I wouldn't want grubby cheesy hands rubbed on me either!  After we washed his hands she was good to go and followed him everywhere.  He loved getting attention from all 3 of these girls!  They were reading at the end of the night and he crawled up on the bed, snuggled up to them and started saying, "night night, night night."  It was so adorable, a memory I never want to forget.

Yesterday we went on a bike ride and then had a BBQ with the rest of the family before we headed back home.  Delicious food, great company....it was a great weekend all-around.  I am so thankful for all of the dads in my life and for an amazing husband and 'dada' for my sweet little guy.  We are so blessed!

I can't take credit for this picture, my friend Cassandra took it when we went to pick strawberries last week.  SO much fun.  Although Liam eats more than he ends up taking home. :) 

Daffodil Classic 2012

Had I known the ride had an elevation map that looked like this, I probably wouldn't have signed up.  Sneaky husband.  It was definitely the most physically challenging thing I've ever done.  Especially considering I haven't ridden a bike since last summer!  I signed Joe and I up on a whim and it didn't really hit me how far 40 miles is until driving up the day before.  Then I got really nervous.  Once we hit the first hill I really questioned whether or not I'd be able to make it.  I'm proud to say I didn't get off my bike once the entire time.  The last hill was a killer, I thought I was going to have to walk up with my bike, but I kept on powering through the pain.  I felt so proud to finish and even more proud of myself that I kept up with the guys.  I'm not as in bad of shape as I thought!  My inspiration was Liam.  Throughout the ride I kept thinking about him and how I want to be able to do physically active things and keep up with him when he's older.  I have a feeling he's going to be active....and i don't want to have to watch from the sidelines!

There were 7 of us that did the ride; me, Joe, Gil, Uncle Lenny, Aunt Sue, Jayne and David.  Sue is my hero.  She rocked it!  I hope that when I'm 62 I'm able to do something so physically demanding.  Use it or lose it, my new motto.  

Lucky Liam got to stay and play with Uncle Jack, Dylan and Srey all day and had a blast!  He was so tuckered out from his busy day he was asleep before we even got on the freeway, slept the entire drive home and for 15 hours total that night.  Then he took a 3 hour nap yesterday!

A day of firsts

We did it!  Daddy was off today so we told Liam we were going on an adventure and took off for Vancouver this morning.  I wanted to take him to Lil' Snippers for his first haircut, it's such a cute place.  I wanted to make his first haircut a fun one.  Or at least try to!  He was so happy when we walked in, they have a super fun play area and he was loving it.  And then they called his name.  I think it reminded him of being at the doctor and he freaked out.  He was so scared and started crying hysterically even though there was a fun police car for him to sit in.  It took about 10 minutes of me holding him and the lady blowing bubbles and pulling out cars for him to play with before he would let me set him inside of it.  It was all fun after that, especially when he discovered the police car had a siren and lights!  So cute.  I didn't want to totally take the baby look away so we just got it trimmed up.  A little bit at a time, baby steps!  

The first cut!.

A close-up, Costco after!  

 After Costco, we took him for his first carousel ride at Jantzen Beach.  It's free to ride all month, so I thought it would be a fun thing to do.  He loved it!  A great way to celebrate his first haircut and a fun (and free!) family outing.  It's been a long time since we've been on an outing, everything has been so busy with the house remodel/work/school.  It was a perfect day!

Oh, watermelon....how I've missed you!

 I just cut my first watermelon of the year!  That makes me one happy girl!  Our grocery bill sky rockets during watermelon season.  We are all huge watermelon lovers and they don't stick around long.  I get a bad addiction, always have to have one cut and in the fridge when they are at the store.  I think I paid almost $8 for one last year!  Liam loved it last year but only would take a small bite at a time.  I'm sure he'll devour it this year.  He's definitely a fruit lover like Joe and I.

Lots has happened since the last time I wrote.  On March 29 I hosted an Easter party for my mama friends and babies.  We had a hunt (inside because it was raining) and they loved it!  It's amazing to see how far they've come in a year.  Then that night, I spent my first night away from Liam.  Joe was off the next day and I always schedule all of my appointments around his schedule so Liam can stay with him.  Well, Joe decided he wanted to go skiing with his cousin at Crystal on Friday so he took Liam with him up to his parents, Grandpa David watched Liam in the morning, Auntie Sue for an hour or two in the afternoon and then Grandma was with him when she got home from work.  I rode the train from Kelso to Tacoma Friday afternoon and they picked me up.  It was so weird without having him here.  It really felt like my heart was breaking when him and Joe pulled out of our driveway Thursday evening.  Worst feeling ever.  I knew he was in good hands, it was just hard seeing my baby leave without me.  I was so excited to get to him the next afternoon!  He did great without me....and he was mad at me when I got there.  I could see him in the car and he was smiling at me and so happy but as soon as I got in the car he turned his head away from me and started almost yelling at me!  It was like he was super happy to have me back but wanted me to know that it wasn't alright to leave him like that.  Or at least that's what I like to think!  He was probably just mad that I came up! ;)

The picture below is Liam's first roasted marshmallow!  We were at Jack and Sue's and Jack decided to roast one for Liam and one for Dylan.  Can you tell Liam was in a slight sugar coma?!  He loved it!

I'm thinking Joe and I might take Liam to get his first haircut tomorrow.  It's getting pretty out of control.  Maybe if we get it cut the "what a pretty girl" comments will subside?  I'm not even joking, pretty much every time I'm in public at least one person will call him a girl.  It doesn't bother me, I actually take it as a compliment!  But he wont like it when he's old enough to understand what they're calling him!  Every time I imagine him sitting in a chair and getting it cut I get a big lump in my throat though.  Ugh.  Why does everything have to be so bittersweet?

Easter came to our house!

Above are my "I'm too cheap to buy real Easter decorations" decorations.  I've never had many Easter decorations...or decorations for any holiday for that matter.  I guess I'll start getting more into decorating now that I have a little guy who loves all of the bright colors, chicks, eggs, etc.  They definitely make it more fun!  I am hosting an Easter party for my mama friends and babies this morning so I figured I better make it look a little like Easter in our house!  I google'd "free Easter printables" and found the banner and framed art.  Had the frame from Liam's party sign so I didn't even have to buy that.  Easy, easy!  Pretty proud how it turned out.  That's about as crafty as I get.  Printing off something someone else has created, cutting and stringing together to make a banner.  Amazing how something so simple makes me feel incredibly crafty though!

I'm making a quiche and everyone is bringing things.  Should be fun.  Pretty disappointed about the weather though.  I visioned us all out in the backyard, sipping Mimosa's while the kiddos hunted Easter eggs.  Ok, maybe not serious about the Mimosas (maybe we should start!), but really was hoping for nice weather.  Apparently that is way too much to ask!

Ok, better get a move on.  It'll be 10:30 before I know it!  Happy Wednesday!

Before and after. And a little something extra.

Here is a sneak peak of the new floors.  It's the best I could do without having to pull out the camera, feeling too lazy to take pictures right now.  And besides, the project still isn't done.  Joe is working on putting up all new trim board now, there are random tools everywhere, the (as you can see) oven is still up on weird stilt things, etc.  Basically, my house is a disaster and I can't take a decent picture without having random stuff in every picture!

Before

After.  And Liam's Desitin buns.  Worst diaper rash ever, trying to let him air out.  Poor baby.  Liam loves the new floor, his cars go super fast now!  Our stove/oven sticks out (even more) like a sore thumb now.  It will be the next thing to go!  

Spring is officially here.  Hear that, weather?  Time for you to check the calendar and get with the program.  Today is also my grandmas 81st birthday.  Oh, and Liam is 17 months!  Hoping for a good day!

Cornbread deliciousness

It was another stormy and dreary day here, a perfect day for a big pot of taco soup and cornbread.  I haven't had this cornbread in a long time...I forgot how much I love it!

Southwestern Cornbread
1 can creamed-style corn
2 Jiffy corn bread mixes
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 to 1 cup Mexican cheese blend
1 can chopped green chilies, drained

Mix all ingredients; bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes


Last night was my first night at home since March 8!  Liam and I moved back in yesterday, I wanted to keep him away from the craziness of our flooring project until it was (for the most part) done.  Our bathroom flooring will be installed Wednesday and then Joe, his dad and Uncle Jack will be working on getting the trim back on next weekend.  It's gone very smoothly and our floors look amazing but I'll be glad to have everything back to normal, cleaned up and done.  After this project, it sounds like we'll take about a month or so break before Joe starts his next project, a shed for the backyard.  It's never ending!  Hopefully all of these projects will add value to our house if we ever sell it.  And if not, it's still worth it.  We live here, it's nice to really love it.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to upload some pictures of the floors tomorrow!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

He loves his grandpa!

Excuse the pink bib!  We forgot his so he was using Sophie's.  He loves his grandpa so much (and grandma---both sets)!  I love this video!

 

Life.  It has been crazy!  We decided to put new floors in our house.  It's a project we've wanted to do since we moved in but it always seemed daunting.  We went to Home Depot and just happened to see a special they had running, $397 for them to do all of the installation.  Joe did all the prep work and the installers started today.  I had no idea how much work would be involved.  He's been working non-stop.  Yesterday his parents came down and moved us totally out.  Our house has nothing in it.  It's so weird!  My parents graciously opened up their house to us and our crazy little roommate--aka--Liam.  It's actually been pretty fun, kinda feel like I'm on vacation!  And Liam has loved it, too.

We went and took a peek this evening after the installers left.  It's beautiful!  It makes the house look so different, I'll post pictures after we're settled back in. 

When I saved this jpeg, I titled it "scary."  It's my funny face picture for Sophie but I think after seeing it on here it's more scary than funny.  Whatever, it entertained Liam for about 2 seconds so that's a win in my book!  I'll call his look the "teething face."  He's been making funny looking expressions like this the past few days and has been drooling like a mad man.  Hello, new teeth.  I'll be glad when you're all in and leave my baby alone.  It's been a fussy few days and I have bite marks to prove it.

Anyway, HAPPY Friday.  Consider yourself lucky, the only reason I'm blogging right now is because the paper isn't here yet.  Reading the paper has become my new morning routine.  And I love it.  Usually my human alarm goes off before I have a chance to do much more than read it and get my two cups of coffee in me so that will be my excuse today for my lack of blogging.

I was thinking when I rolled out of bed how happy I was it was Friday.  The feeling of it being Friday has changed a bit now that I'm not "working" but I still get an excited rush waking up and knowing it's Friday.  Friday now means less diaper changes for the next two days, running errands solo, having a chance to do something or get out of the house by myself, if even just running those solo errands.  Ahhh.  It's the simple things in life, right?!  Oh, can't forget.  After tonight, I will also be relieved of bed time duty for the next two nights.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my bedtime routine with Liam, especially now that he loves reading so much.  However, it's nice to have daddy take it over when he's off and at home.  Liam enjoys the change too, I'm sure.  It used to take about 10 minutes from the time I started putting on his pj's to him being asleep...now it is more like 45 because of the reading.  I am already such a pushover.  After I get done reading about 10 books (no joke) and get up to put him in bed, he starts pointing at his books for more.  I give in and go read a few more.  And he's picky about these books.  If I grab the wrong one, he points and grunts until I get the one he wants.  Whatever you say, Master.  I need to remember that I'm the one in control I suppose.  Currently, his favorite book is Once Upon a Potty. He's obsessed.  I would say I read it at least five times a day, sometimes three times just at bedtime.  Maybe this will make him interested in using the potty sooner than later.  We got the chair and he likes sitting on it.  How lucky would I be?  No diapers?  Can't even imagine!

Paper is here and I have more coffee to drink.  Happy Friday, Happy March.  Spring is just around the corner, yay!

You might have to click on the picture to read what it says.  No Hallmark card but a pretty sweet surprise!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Liam and I made some yummy treats yesterday, I named it Cupid's Crunch.  It's a mixture of rice chex, Cheerios, pretzels, dry roasted peanuts, popcorn and M&Ms all tossed in almond bark.  In other words, highly addictive deliciousness!  I had to bag it all up and tie the bags to stop myself from eating all of it.  Bags with hearts tied with ribbon is about as Martha Stewart-y as I get!  Better than nothing though, right?!  It will be fun when Liam really understand holidays so I can do all sorts of fun and special things for him.  

 Liam on Valentine's Day last year.....

 And today....can't get a still picture of him!

Hope everyone has a great day!  

A confession

I can't write in cursive. My writing, including my signature, is a mixture of print and my made-up cursive letters, which everyone says looks like regular print. I've been talking to Joe a lot lately how cursive is becoming a lost art, and this article pretty much says it all. However, I think it was lost a long time ago. Or maybe that's just how I justify being horrible at it. I remember learning it in third grade for about three of four weeks. We had to write one or two papers using it, but that was when computers were starting to become the big thing, and then switched to typing. So really, the one or two papers that I wrote is all the practice I ever really got!

My cursive is so bad I don't even know how to write some of the letters. I feel somewhat ashamed to admit this, but it proves if it's not taught and practiced, it won't be around much longer. I feel like the same will happen with all handwriting, just like the article says. Joe and I both WRITE letters to Liam about once a month and put them in his baby book. I wanted them to be written, not typed, so he could have something to read and look at down the road. Handwriting says a lot about a person. Although mine aren't in cursive, it's still better than a boring font on the computer!

Interesting....

Someone posted a link about Mitt Romney's sons on Facebook.  It was ranking them in order of hotness to creepiest.  The article is here.  I laughed out loud a lot reading this!  Feel sorry for the "creepiest son" but mostly, the fact that they're constantly being judged now.  That would not be fun!  Anyway, there's a link to Mary's blog---wife of the "hottest" Romney son and Mitt's daughter in law.  I can't believe her blog isn't private, but then again, people like me read it and tell their husband what a nice, fun family they seem to be.  Guess that's pretty good publicity.

When bored, it's a good read.  At least if you're like me and like to read about other people.  And they really do seem like a great family.  

That's all.  Happy Thursday!

We have a first word!

Besides "mama, dada" and the other baby jibberish, Joe and I have decided we officially have a first word!  APPLE.  Pronounced "Aaaa-ple."  It's the cutest sound in the world.  And sometimes the "aaa" part has a hard time coming out even though his mouth is wide open.  :)

I'm about as good as updating this as I am keeping Liam's baby book current.  Sorry, people.  If we have another baby I hope I can remember all of the different stages.  I thought Liam being a newborn was hard.  Looking back, it was a walk in the park!  He couldn't walk, he didn't ever get his clothes dirty (unless it was a blowout day!), he slept anywhere.  Ahhh.  Those were the days!  He's a little crazy guy now.  He never sits down when he's awake.  EVER.  Well, I take that back.  When he wakes up in the morning he has a new routine.  He hands me his binky (only trying to let him have it at naptime/bedtime---and he knows that's the ticket out of bed!), grabs his blanky and we get his milk and a snack cup of Cheerios and snuggle on the couch.  This is my favorite time of the day.  He loves to cuddle and take his time waking up.  Milk to him is like coffee to me.  Needs it to get going!  After about 20 minutes of this he's ready to go though.  And so our day begins.  This is definitely the most fun stage as far as his development goes but I feel like we are having an independence power struggle.  He absolutely despises being put in a grocery cart, doesn't want to be pushed in his stroller, kicks and fights being put in a high chair if we are out for dinner.  Oh boy.  The last few weeks I've found myself not wanting to even leave the house.  I think he is the reason!  It's easier to just not have to battle with him.  Hopefully this is a stage that passes.  I miss the days where he was content to walk down every aisle at Target with me!

We went to the car show this past weekend.  I wish I had him on video.  He was hilarious.  He is the biggest flirt!  Grandpa Dave carried him a lot, he only wanted Grandpa to carry him, so I got to follow behind and witness the flirtation from a different perspective.  He knows how to work it!  I swear he smiles, points, waves until he gets whoevers attention he wants.  And once he has it he started giving them pretty eyes, looking back and pointing very sweetly after we'd passed.  So funny.  We didn't even try taking the stroller because I knew he'd hate it.  We leashed him up and let him go.  His favorite car was the Cadillac CTS-V wagon.  He gave it a big kiss and clapped for it.  He loved getting in the cars!

Our friends invitied us to go to Hawaii with them, they leave on Wednesday.  We aren't going because of Joe's school schedule.  With the rain this morning, I'm feeling pretty blue knowing we could have been leaving Wednesday.  School will be worth it, right?  Right?  Right?  Maybe next year, Hawaii....

Happy Monday!

Happy New Year!

Last picture taken in 2011.  Liam's hair is getting so long!

Happy New Year!  We had another busy weekend.  We've been away every weekend since December 16.  We had a great holiday, I feel like we've been celebrating non-stop for a month now.  We got a lot accomplished, including seeing lots of friends we've been wanting to get together with but just haven't been able to get coordinated with.  So great to see everyone!  One of the highlights over Christmas break was getting the opportunity to go skiing not once but TWICE.  Thanks to my in-laws for babysitting for us.  I needed to be reminded how much I enjoy skiing.  And I must admit, having a mama break was a huge thing.  I felt giddy all day, like a kid again.  It proved to me how important it is to have occasional breaks and do something with Joe that we both love and have fun doing.  I came back feeling so refreshed and ready to be a mom again.  We went skiing on New Years Day with Joe's cousin Gil, Dylan, his cousin Katie and her husband Marino.  It's so much fun to have a group to go with.  I loved it, I love being with them and it makes me so excited for when Liam starts skiing.  A family that skis together stays together! 

Hope 2012 is off to a great start for everyone so far.  I need to sit down and write a list.  I love having lists and I have a lot of stuff I want to work on and get accomplished in 2012!  I guess my first New Years Resolution will be to get motivated to write that list. :)