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. :)