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. :)

14 Months

Our sweet little baby turned 14 months on Tuesday.  At what point will I stop telling people his age in months?  Maybe when he doesn't seem so baby'ish anymore?  It would be weird if my sister were telling people Sophie is 36 months.  It seems like most people start counting in years at the age of two.  But don't think I won't hunt down 24-36 month stickers!  I don't want this monthly picture tradition to ever end!

The calm after the storm

Whew!  I feel like we've been running a marathon the past few days.  For the first day since Thursday, today is looking to be a relaxing one.  Still in pj's and drinking coffee so it's off to a good start!

Thursday afternoon we headed to Edgewood, the main reason being so Joe, Gil and I could go skiing Friday.  I was so nervous, I hadn't been skiing since December 09 right before I got pregnant, but everything came back to me and I had an awesome time.  Our friend Becky was able to get the day off so she went with us, too.  Blue ski, no crowds....a great day to get back into the swing of it.  Liam had a great time spending the day with grandpa David and grandma Jayne.  Jayne had to work int he morning so it was just g'pa at first.  We left at 7, Liam woke up at 6:45.  Aunt Sue and grandma Poppy came over to help--I mean visit!  I know he had fun because he took over a three hour nap for David!

Saturday we visited with Matt and then met college friends at Starbucks so we could meet their sweet baby girl.  I got to hold her and she totally melted my heart.  She is so tiny!  I feel like I can hardly remember Liam ever being that tiny.  She was just so content being held and sleeping on my chest.  Amazing.  It was great catching up with the two of them, it's been too long.  It seems like we saw them not too long ago but we realized it had a been an entire year.  Crazy.  We got home at 2:50 and left for Sophie's birthday party at 3:30. Sweet Sophie is almost 3!  My sister did an amazing job with the food and decorations.  It could easily be featured on a party blog, truly picture perfect.  Sophie was so excited.  She started the party by yelling, "Let's get the party started!"  Adorable!

Sunday we recovered from Friday and Saturday and then headed to Portland to celebrate my parents 40th anniversary.  Sophie and Liam had babysitters so we got to enjoy a nice meal without the (fun) chaos!  My mom and dad have always included us in their anniversary celebrations, happy they still continue to after all of these years!

For our anniversary gift to our parents, we (Kim, George, Joe and I) surprised them with a 2 hour limo ride to look at Christmas lights.  That was last night.  It picked us up after dinner in Portland and took us to Peacock Lane and to the Grotto.  So fun and festive. Liam LOVED the limo ride.  I think he thought it was pretty cool that he didn't have to be strapped in a car seat.  He stood up on the seat and looked out the windshield (privacy glass wasn't up) and played the role of co-pilot.  It was pretty funny.

Good thing Joe has to go back to work today, maybe we'll all get caught up on some much needed rest. :)

 Limo dancer!

The picture says it all

I had one sad little baby when it came to taking the group baby picture on Sunday.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but if you look closely you'll notice a band-aid on the left side of Liam's face.  He got his first big boo boo at Aunt Kimmie's last Thursday.  No one ever said being a new walker is an easy thing.  Now I know why they call this the "toddler" stage.  For Liam it should be the "faller/face plant" stage.  Needless to say, he scraped his face on the stone on Kim's mantle.  Ouchie, ouch, ouch.  He started picking at it so we decided to put a band-aid on it.  Surprisingly, he didn't even realize it was on his face.  I thought it would drive him nuts, it was so close to his eye.  But as soon as Shailia spotted it, it was all over.  She started picking at it as soon as we tried to take the picture, hence his face.  Liam doesn't get upset often, it broke my heart to see his little face in this picture.  And by the way, this was an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.  That's why he's wearing that hideous sweater!  Other than this sad picture, the party was great!  Fun getting to know all of the husbands of these little babies better.  I know I say it all the time but I'm so thankful for this group!

Christmas is next Sunday?  Weird.  I've decided December needs to be about 55 days instead of 31.  There is always way too much stuff to jam into 31 and still be able to enjoy the simple things (Christmas movies, baking without stress).  I guess I better just face the reality that time isn't going to slow down for me.  Apparently it will start going even faster.  Rather than trying to figure out how to slow it down, I think I need to figure out how to be more productive?  Yeah, that's probably my problem.

A question to all of my baking readers:  does anyone have a UNIQUE and/or unsual Christmas cookie recipe you can share with me?  I suggested having a cookie exchange with my mama friends next week, now I'm on the hunt.  I want something new, no chocolate crinkles, sugar cookies, thumb prints, etc.  I spent most of last night searching and just got totally overwhelmed.  If anyone has a good one, ideally one that doesn't require decorating, email it to me at katie.vincent@gmail.com.

Happy Wednesday!

My new morning love

My new morning love is The Daily News, delivered at our door step. Although todays paper is pathetically small, there's something about having a real paper in hand to read. It's just not the same online. I feel good supporting it after reading Lee Enterprises is filing bankruptcy. And I couldn't pass up the price. Twenty weeks, 7 day a week delivery for.....$15. That's a little less than 10 cents a day. Excuse me while I go enjoy my cup of coffee, paper and last few minutes of quiet for the day. Happy Monday!

My little walker

We were able to capture him walking on video. Which makes me realize we really need to video more often. I feel like we take massive amounts of pictures, but I never want to forget these firsts. It's so much different when you can hear his voice, see him toddling around. These are the types of things that will be on my New Years Resolution list. I should start writing a list. Come December 31, I'll have forgotten most of what I wanted to be on it!

Ahh, TGIF. This week, as always, flew by. I'm frustrated that November is already here and gone. I feel like I didn't get to savour it as much as I had anticipated. I wanted to take pictures of Liam at the lake, roast pumpkin seeds, cook and bake lots of fall'ish foods. I know I'm not the only one who feels like time is flying, everyone seems to be saying the same exact thing. Maybe time is really speeding up!? Last night they were talking about the crazy weather and how the weather fronts are going the opposite way they should be. Maybe the world is about to end and time is speeding up so it happens faster!

Busy weekend ahead and I couldn't be more excited. Love having a calendar full. The whole month of December is pretty much booked, yippee! George's birthday dinner tonight, Christmas Festival with our friends Carly and Jeremy tomorrow, birthday party tomorrow and making Christmas at our house on Sunday. We decided to forgo getting a tree this year. It's usually a big enough battle with trying to keep Subie away, Liam will be even worse. He's in to everything and I can just see him trying to climb it, eat it, un-decorate it. I just don't feel like dealing with it. And I don't want to put an ugly-tacky baby gate around it. So, we are settling with a table top tree. Does that make me a lazy mama? Maybe so...

Happy Friday, Happy December!