Weekend whirlwhind!

Having fun at Skamania!
At the top of Beacon Rock

Wow! We've been going nonstop since last Thursday. It was a busy and wonderful few days, a great way to celebrate Liam's first Fourth of July! On Thursday morning we took off for Skamania Lodge for the night. We got a great deal thanks to Living Social. It was a great little getaway. On our way there we stopped and hiked Beacon Rock, this was Liam's first big hike. He seemed to like it and daddy loved having his little buddy on his back. I had never been here, the views were amazing! On our way home Friday, we stopped and hiked to the very top of Multnomah Falls. Another great hike, such gorgeous views! Doing these things makes me realize what an amazing place we live in. On our drive home the views of Mt. Hood were so gorgeous. And it's really cool to think that we were driving by Mt. Hood and in 2 hours we were at the beach! We really have the best of everything here, even if it does rain. A lot. :)

We got home Friday afternoon, Liam took a nap, I went to a class reunion planning meeting and then we took off for the beach for 4 nights. We had so much fun! My sisters in-laws went with us this time, it's always fun when a big group goes. We flew kites, rode bikes, had fires, had fun with fireworks...it was the perfect way to spend the 4th. I was really bummed last night when we got home. I am my happiest when I'm surrounded by people. It was pretty lonely being in a silent house with a sleeping baby and a working husband last night!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Napping baby = chance to blog

Wow, it's been a busy few days! We had a neighborhood garage sale Friday-Sunday so I was busy with that Friday/all weekend. I made a whopping $134. Haha. We got rid of the most important things though, our toilets, microwave and dishwasher. You would think we would've ended up with a little more than $134, huh? Oh well, better than having to pay to take them to the dump. And I must say, I LOVE garage sales. Well, being the one having the garage sale, that is. It is the best people watching ever! And so crazy to see what things sell and what things don't. I had a about 5 king size pillows I was about ready to throw away (gross...pillows are nasty...i buy new ones a lot) and decided to put them out just to see if they'd get any action. About 5 minutes after I put them out they were sold. REALLY? I find that disturbing. Don't people know about bed bugs (not that we have them!) and the fact that pillows get heavier after time due to all the grossness of people sleeping on them night after night after night?! Ick.

Yesterday Kim and I took the babies up to the Chehalis (or are they in Centrailia?) outlets. Got lots of cute stuff at the Carter outlet!

Ok, Mr. Liam is waking up...hope everyone has a great 4th of July if I don't get a chance to blog before then!

8 Months!

Our sweet baby turned 8 months yesterday! Eight months ago, I already had a full room of visitors at the hospital, I think our first showed up at 7:30am, and I was on a total (natural) high waking up and realizing our baby boy was finally here. He amazes me more and more everyday.

Big things that have happened in the Life of Liam lately: we let him try watermelon for the first time a couple of weekends ago and he loves it! I think it must feel really good on his gums. His first tooth has also popped through on the bottom right. If you look real close, you can see it in the picture. He's also becoming quite the little flirt. I was at the store with him yesterday and he was smiling and making noises at everyone!

So excited to see what month eight has in store for the three of us

Busy weekend!

Yep, he went with g'ma Jayne and I to get pedicures. He did great and the ladies LOVED him!

I am exhausted! It was one busy weekend. I woke up this morning with the same dread I used to feel waking up and having to go to work on Monday after a busy weekend. My alarm clock (Liam) went off at around 5:30 and I kept hitting snooze (pretending I didn't hear him--he was just talking) and delayed getting up as long as possible. His talking got louder, like "Mooom, I'm starting to get impatient!" so I got up and fed him. He went back to bed immediately after I fed him and so did I. And it felt so good! None of us slept much this weekend, Liam has already been down for his morning nap since 9, I think I should've taken another little snooze, too!

We spent the weekend at the in-laws. It was a great weekend, non-stop the entire time! As soon as we got there on Friday, Liam, Jayne and I went swimming at the Y. Liam was so tired but still had fun. I love taking him swimming! Saturday Liam and I went to a birthday party for friends of ours that live in Puyallup. He was worn out from that and went to bed at 6:30ish Saturday night! All of us adults ended up staying up really like. Like 2 am late. We were visiting with my brother- in-law though, so it was worth feeling totally exhausted when my alarm clock (Liam, again) went off at 4:30am. :)

Sunday we had Father's Day Brunch and celebrated Grandma Poppy's 82nd birthday. I had such a great time! And so did Mr. Liam. He was in total sensory overload mode, but he did great and I think he enjoyed all the excitement and people. He's just like his mama! For brunch I made sticky buns, lemon bars, carmel apple pie and baked French toast casserole. Jayne made a traditional breakfast casserole, there was tons of fruit, mimosas, carrot and chocolate cake...so much stuff! It was my first time making the French toast casserole but it was sooo good. It's definitely a keeper! But also one of those that I should only be allowed to make once or twice a year. Isn't that the case with any of Paula Deen's recipes though!?

One of the main reasons we went up this weekend was so Joe could do some routine maintenance on our Subaru..stuff that needs to be done when it turns 105,000. His parents have the best set-up, even a hydraulic lift, it looks like you're walking into a service department! Our car was up in the air all weekend getting worked on. He replaced belts, gaskets, changed the oil...and lots of other stuff that I can't remember! It was a big project and now our car is in tip-top shape. He thinks it would've cost around $1500 to have all the work done at the dealership, we only had to buy all of the parts for about $300. Since our car was out of commission, I got to drive Jayne's 2011 Outback a few times. I'm in love! :)

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Wednesday with words. And a picture.

Another new toy for our sweet baby! He absolutely LOVES this one. Thanks, DeCarlo's! When he's not shooting baskets, the hoop makes a great chew toy. Feels so good on the gums! Seriously though, he gets so excited when we sit him in front of this, it's so fun to watch him.

Joe is DONE with his summer session class. I am so proud of him, he got an A! Pretty impressive, especially with his crazy work schedule. It's nice to have him back though, when he wasn't working, he was with his books. No more classes until fall semester. Yay!

Well, I had planned on writing more but I'm all out of words. Today was a long day. Liam decided he only needed two 20 minute-ish naps. Made for a really early bedtime, 6:30, but I'm still pooped. And the ice cream is calling my name.... :)

Hiking adventure

Yesterday we took Liam on his first hike! We inherited this great pack, thanks to Joe's aunt, so it made packing him around much easier. We didn't have much time so we just headed up to Seaquest State Park. It was a beautiful day and Liam loved it. Can't wait to go on more hikes with him!

One week

It's been one week since I logged on to Facebook. Actually, I take that back. I logged on for two minutes on Wednesday so I could play the Nuts for Hawaii game on Alaska Airlines FB page. I didn't win. :( But when I logged on to play, I immediately went to their page and then logged back off. I'm missing out on all the breaking news. Did so-and-so have her baby? Did so-and-so find out if they're having a boy or a girl? Are people responding to reunion Facebook posts/questions? What pictures did Aili tag me in? Got an email saying I was tagged, this could be bad! I checked my email Facebook folder and saw all the messages I have. These people don't know I've decided to quit cold turkey--and I don't have their email. And I don't talk to them enough to pick up the phone and let them know I'm not avoiding them, I just can't log on to respond!

I guess I never realized just how much Facebook is a main form of communication nowadays. I think I might have to ease myself back into it. I don't know when I will, but I'm making a pledge to myself to not use it on my phone. Leave it only for the real computer (because I'm hardly ever on the laptop). By not being on at all I'm falling behind on high school reunion stuff, moms group stuff, etc. When used in moderation, it really can be a great communication tool!

Anyway, with that said, I know I could go longer without being on, but I almost feel a sense of responsibility to get back on, if only for communicating on the moms group board and with the other reunion planners. We'll see what happens!

Yesterday was the best day! I woke up super early, was able to exercise before Liam and Joe woke up and then the in-laws called and said they needed a Liam fix. They came down in the afternoon and were with us all day. It was a great visit....Liam loved it! Even though he took a two hour afternoon nap while they were here. I felt bad he did that, of course he decides to take a long nap when he has people here specifically to see him! He woke up around 4:30 and was in bed for the night at 7:30. My little love bug! He's still sleeping as I write this. I think he's having a major growth spurt. He woke up at 2:30 last night (he's been sleeping through the night) and Joe went in to try to get him to go back to sleep. After about 30 minutes Joe came to get me and said he could hear Liam's tummy growling. He was starvin!

Ok, coffee time....happy SUNNY Sunday!