Bye Bye Bottles

Liam is officially done with his bottles—yeah! The first day without them was a little bit of a battle to get him to drink all of his milk out of his cup, but by the second day, he was a master! Our doctor just kept telling us to get rid of them as close to 1 as you can, because after that, the attachment becomes more of an emotional one, and it will be harder to get rid of. Other than drinking solely out of a cup, Liam also claps when you say “yea”, walks when you hold his hands and walk with him, and is getting his third tooth. What a big boy!

Josh's Big Days.

Josh has been studying hard and is currently doing a 4-week rotation in General Surgery before he has a week off for Spring Break. He has to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. every morning, so he deserves to do something fun every once in a while. That’s why I was glad he got to go to a Brazilian steakhouse with some of the other students, on the house. A Brazilian Steakhouse, for those of you who don’t know, is where you get a token...green means give me more, red means No more. They bring around 15 kinds of meat, including Steak, Lamb, Brazilian Sausage, and Chicken to go with their fried bananas, mashed potatoes, and amazing salad bar. Dessert was included for Josh. While I was very happy that Josh got to eat here, I must admit, I was a little jealous. Especially when less than a week later he got to go to a Pistons game and sit in a Suite with our friend Sean and another guy that Sean knew. To be fair, I was actually invited as well, but Sean’s wife was out of town, and I couldn’t get a babysitter for Liam with short notice, so it ended up being a guy’s night. Oh well, Josh deserves to get out and have fun once in a while too :) Thanks Sean!

Liam's One Year Photos

My cousin’s wife, Amanda, took these photos of Liam for his birthday while we were home. I think she did a great job! Isn’t he so big now?!

This is not one of my favorite photos, but this face is just so Liam, I had to include it!

Happy Birthday Liam!

I can’t believe I have a one year old! In some ways the time has flown by...it seems like he just got here! In other ways, it seems like he’s been a part of our little family forever. Either way, he’s growing fast! Here are some photos of him enjoying his first birthday cake...he never really “dug in”...just stuck the end of one of his fingers into the cake and licked off the frosting. There was never really any mess! Spa Nights for Liam

Goodbye Mama

My “Mama” (pronounced Maw-Maw)- my mom’s mom- passed away in February. We went home for her funeral, and it was very hard saying goodbye to her. Not only was she my last grandparent, but she was an extraordinary woman. She raised her 8 children on her own while working at a glove factory, and then a tape factory. When I was younger, my cousins and I would always spend the night there on Saturdays, 4 or 5 at a time (there are 21 of us, so there is/was never a dull moment!). Mama would always get up at 5:00 to get Sunday Lunch started before church...everyone ate lunch at Mama’s on Sundays. She would make us homemade donuts for breakfast, and homemade play dough to play with. She always had the dum-dum suckers in her candy jar, and made cinnamon strips for us from her leftover piecrust. Goodbye Mama...you will be missed by many.

These photos were taken over the summer.

Spa Nights for Liam

In January, we all had a never ending cold. We would hang out in the bathroom with Liam, running the shower for the steam to clear him out. Josh got bored in there, so he filled up the sink with warm water for Liam to soak his feet in. This quickly turned into one of Liam’s favorite activities. He never got tired of splashing in the sink with his feet while watching himself in the mirror.

I took my second Cake Class in January, and my 3rd, the Fondant Class, in February. Here is a photo of my final cake from the 2nd class. I didn’t have a final from Fondant Class, because I missed a week, and had to learn everything that I had missed.

Happy Valentine's Day (3 weeks late!)

Josh and I ate at The Melting Pot for Valentine’s Day. We didn’t eat there until the beginning of March, but it was still for Valentine’s Day! For those of you who’ve never heard of The Melting Pot, it’s a fondue restaurant. You get a cheese fondue with bread, apples and vegetables as your appetizer, a salad, and then your main course. Our Main course consisted of Shrimp, BBQ Pork, Salmon, Steak, Chicken, Ravioli, and Vegetables. You have to cook the meat yourself, by holding it into the boiling pot of liquid (ours was Coq Au Vin Broth) for a couple of minutes and then eating it. Everything was pretty good. I was only REALLY impressed with Dessert, which was “Flaming Turtle” chocolate Fondue. It was Chocolate, Caramel and Pecans flambéed tableside with Pound Cake, Brownies, Strawberries, Bananas, Cheesecake, Rice Crispy Treats and Marshmallows for dipping. YUM! It was a fun experience, and I’m glad we chose that restaurant, but for the price, I think Maggiano’s is a better bet...with the exception of dessert!