Merry Christmas!

Christmas this year was a lot of fun. Liam "got" the idea of presents, and loved to open them. He would open them and say "WOW!" and get very excited, even about things that are not very exciting- like a pair of socks that he opened for me! I thought it was going to be a full-time job to keep him out of the Christmas Tree, but he really didn't do too bad after the first day. He WAS obsessed with the train that we set up around the bottom of the tree, and this "choo choo" obsession has continued.

My family got to come visit us on Christmas day (they traveled in a downpour of rain!) and stay until the 28th (they traveled home in a snow storm, and it took them 8 hours to get less than halfway home!) We had a great time visiting with them. Josh's mom and Grandma came up on the 28th and stayed until the 31st- also a fun time. Here are some photos:


Liam enjoyed helping me bake our Christmas cookies this year, or at least cleaning the beaters.



Here is one of our finished platters- yum!


After eating a little too much fudge! This is what sugar does to a toddler!


Watching an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (another obsession) with my parents

Anxiously awaiting the train coming around the tracks.

Opening his wagon- a gift from Josh's parents. He had the paper ripped off before they even made it all the way through the door!

Putting the star on top of the tree.

Thanksgiving

We were advised not to travel during the second and third trimester of this pregnancy, since I went into pre-term labor with Liam. Because of this, we weren't able to go home for Thanksgiving. We had some wonderful friends invite us and another couple over for dinner, which was wonderful. The day after Thanksgiving, we went to Indianapolis- halfway between Josh's sister's house and ours. We thought it would probably be okay, since it's only about 4 and half hours from home, and they have a hospital with a NICU, should something have happened (The town I grew up in does not have a level 3 NICU, nor does Josh's town, which is one of the reasons they told us to stick close to home). We don't get to see Josh's sister very often, so we thought we would take advantage of the opportunity.

It was a fun and thankfully uneventful trip- just a nice time visiting. One funny thing did happen- we were walking around a mall downtown, and Liam got really excited and started pointing at something. I asked him what he saw, and he said "A-T-T! A-T-T!" There was an AT&T store just ahead of us, and he recognized the logo. Maybe a sign that we were watching too much college football, as AT&T sponsors the halftime shows! Ever since he saw that store, he gets really excited about seeing AT&T stores and trucks, and even got his own phone with an AT&T logo on it, when Josh got his new phone.

Here are a couple of pics from our trip:

Josh, Liam and I with his sister Amy, her husband Brandon, and their daughter Taylor. I was about 28 weeks pregnant at this point.

Josh's dad with Liam and Taylor (Josh's sister's little girl- his only cousin so far!)

Baby!

Okay, so it's been FOREVER since we updated our blog. I think it was May. I had every intention of doing it when we got back from our trip to our parents (see post below), but on the car ride back, I was so exhausted I couldn't keep my eyes open. I kept thinking to myself on the way home "hmm. I got plenty of sleep while we were gone. Probably more than I get at home, or at least as much. Why am I so tired? I have only been this tired one other time in my life, and it was when I was pregnant with Liam...." So when we got into town, we stoped to buy milk, and I ran in by myself. I picked up a pregnancy test and took it the next morning (without telling Josh at this point...I didn't want to get his hopes up!). And sure enough, it came back positive! I wrote a note to Josh from Liam, telling him that he was going to be a big brother, and snuck it into Liam's room while he was still asleep. My goal was to have Josh go get Liam out of his crib when he woke up, and see the note with the pregnancy test sitting on the changing table. Liam had other plans. He was so exhausted from all of the travel (he did NOT sleep as much as he does at home!) that he didn't get up until 11:00. Josh had to be at the clinic at 10:00, so I had to give him the note myself. Not as exciting, but still lots of fun!

We weren't going to tell anyone until I was out of the first trimester, but we had a trip to Florida planned with my family, and we knew that we might have to tell before then, because if I was as sick as I was with Liam, they would know. Just about a week after we found out, the sickness hit, so we called our parents. The sickness wasn't as bad as it was with Liam, it was WORSE! I didn't think it could get much worse, but it was. I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed for a couple of weeks, until I was put on Zofran, a medicine that is intended to help Chemo patients deal with their nausea, but is used for morning sickness all the time. The Zofran made a WORLD of difference, and kept me functional until the morning sickness went away, around 13 weeks...5 weeks earlier than it did with Liam, so it was worse this time, but shorter.

I am currently 21.5 weeks pregnant, and due March 10th, and we just found out last Monday that we are expecting a GIRL! We are so excited to have one of each! Liam doesn't have any idea what's going on, although he likes babies and always points them out to me when we see them. I tell him there's a baby in my belly and he lifts up my shirt and says "Hi" and that's about it. We are currently discussing names...I'll let you know when we choose one!

So, I am so sorry for not posting this sooner...I had every intention!

Liam has changed so much since our last post! He's growing up so fast, I can hardly keep up! His vocabulary is expanding, and he's turning into a little copy cat. I was changing his diaper this afternoon and showed him the Mickey Mouse photo on it and Said Mickey Mouse, and he repeated it. He loves to get his diaper bag and go to the door and tell my Bye Bye.

We just got him the booster seat (in the first photo, it looks kind of like a potty, but it's not!) and he loves sitting at the table with mom and dad to eat. He FINALLY says Mama...he went from calling Josh Dada to Daddy way before he ever dreamed of saying Mama.

He LOVES playing outside, and is so much fun to be with (most of the time...ha ha). He's been helping me bake a lot lately- mostly just dumping the measuring cups full of ingredients into the bowl, and stirring some. I just wanted to include these two pics, because I love them!

Enjoying the leftover pumpkin after baking pumpkin muffins

Playing outside on a nice fall day

Trunk-or-Treat

Once again, our church did it big for Trunk or Treat. This year, the theme was books come alive, and unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but it was amazing! We didn't have to stand in line for hours this year, because I volunteered to help with line entertainment, and the volunteers and their families get to go first!

Liam was a turtle, in case you can't tell, and enjoyed himself very much. After you walk through the display, you go from trunk to trunk, collecting candy, and all of the trunks are decorated...some of them VERY elaborately! The first time someone dropped candy into Liam's plastic pumpkin, he looked at the candy, then looked up at us and smiled the BIGGEST smile. It was so cute, and I'm glad he had fun-- he wouldn't let go of his pumpkin all night, even when it was overflowing, and we had to help him carry it, because it weighed too much for him!

His new word is "Candy"...he points at the pumpkin sitting on our kitchen counter and says "Candy...Candy.." until we tell him no and find something to distract him.

Before we left for Trunk-or-Treat, playing with his trucks in his room

Let the candy collecting Begin!

At the Farm!

I'm part of a Mom's group at my church, and have made so many wonderful friends. We took a "field trip" to the living farm in Canton. The kids got to see, pet and feed goats, cows, chickens, rabbits, kittens, and sheep. There was a butter making demonstration, and the kids got to take turns milking the cow. Then we went on a hayride, had some free-play time after lunch, and finally went on a pony ride. Liam wasn't being so cooperative on this day, so he missed most of it- namely the feeding the animals, the cow-milking, and the pony rides.

In the first picture, you will notice the mud all over the butt of his made-for-the-farm Carhart overalls. It would have been bad enough that he decided to sit in the middle of the biggest mudpuddle on the farm, but to add to it, this was within the first 5 minutes of arrival. We had to change his clothes...that kind of set the tone for the rest of the day! And yes, those are tears in his eyes. He looked at the mud all around him and burst into tears, because he HATES being dirty.

With his friend Macy on the swing.

On the hayride. The part of the farm I DID get to enjoy!

Florida

In August, we got to go to Florida with my parents and my brother. At this point the morning sickness was pretty bad, so I wasn't feeling all that great, but it was nice to be out of the house and have some help with Liam so Josh could do some fun things too! We stayed at a beachfront condo in Ft. Myers and hung out on the beach some- it was REALLY hot!.

My goal was to see a Manatee in the wild, so we went out to several spots where they are supposed to be prevalent. My dad saw 3, Josh and my brother each saw 2, and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, because I didn't see a single one.

I thought Liam would have a blast on the beach, and he did in the end, but it took the whole week for him to get used to the sand. At first, when he touched it, he hated it. He looked up at me when a little got on his hands and said "ewww!". He wouldn't dream of walking barefoot in it, and playing in it was out of the question. So much for the idea my mom had of building sandcastles with him all week! By the end of the week, he was comfortable walking in it with his beach shoes on, and that was about the extent of it, but he did love splashing in the water.

We also had access to a pool that we used quite a bit, and we went mini-golfing- and found out that the only people I can beat at golf are my dad and my brother! Over all it was a great week, and the first time I have been on vacation with my family since high school! Unfortunately, we don't have a ton of pictures to document this trip, as nobody took any :0)

Hanging out at the pool with Uncle Matt (my brother)

At Parrot Key eating with my family (Mom is not pictured)

In the pool as a family

Walking the beach with Mom

Trip Home

At the end of June/ beginning of July, we had the opportunity to spend some time with our familes. We began our trip by visiting Josh's sister and her husband in Cuba, MO for a few days. We got to meet Liam's very first first cousin, Taylor, who was 3 months old at the time. We had such a wonderful time with Amy and Brandon! We went to Grant's farm despite the fact that it was 100 degrees outside, and spent another evening with the kids at the lake, swimming to keep cool!

From there, we went to Senath, to see Josh's parents. Liam spend a lot of his time there in a blow-up pool that they bought for him- he's not used to the Missouri heat, so he needed something to keep him cool!

After that, we went to Carbondale, to spend time with my mom and dad for a couple of days before heading back home. Liam went to his first Southern Illinois Miners baseball game, and We got to spend the 4th of July there, which was fun, even though it was rainy and Liam was terrified of fireworks. Here are some photos of the trip:

Time in the pool with Mema and Grandma (Josh's Grandma and Mom)

Cooling off with some water at the Miner's Game

A hot day with Grandpa (Josh's Dad) at Lambert's Cafe

Grant's Farm with the Crew
Having fun at Grandma's house (my mom's)
Feeding the goats at Grant's Farm...these are aggressive little guys!
With Daddy and his new cousin Taylor!
With mommy and his first sparkler
With Grandma (my mom)...see how Muddy he is!

Please Touch Museum

While Josh was taking his Exam on Saturday, Liam and I found ourselves in Philly with about 8 hours to kill. A friend of mine used to live in Philly, and recommended the Please Touch Museum. When she said it, I knew that I had seen it on Jon & Kate Plus 8, and it looked like a fun place! So Liam and I spent some time there, so he could have fun instead of tagging along with us the whole time! The museum is Amazing! We got there when they first opened, and there weren't many kids there for the first two hours or so. Later it started getting packed, but we had almost made it through the whole thing anyway, and he was ready for a nap, so we finished it up and went back to the hotel.

His favorite part was the cars- they have a whole "transportation station" where he could get on a real bus and "drive" it (no engine in the bus!) and they had cars they could get in and push all of the buttons. I couldn't get a good picture of him in the cars, because he was too excited! But here are some others:

This is one of those giant Walking Pianos like in the movie BIG. Liam didn't get it at first, but once he figured out that it was him making the noise, he loved it and crawled back and forth!

This was another favorite activity, but it didn't last too long, because it was getting crowded by the time we made it here. It's a mini supermarket, and the kids can push their carts around and "buy" things. There is plastic food and little cash registers, and when you're done you put it all back. Liam really liked pushing the cart, but only bought a plum and a can of Clam Chowder. Actually, he didn't go through the checkout, so he technically shoplifted it, but we put it back :)

I'm pretty sure he could have sat here playing this piano for hours.

Philadelphia

Josh signed up to take the Physical Exam portion of his Boards almost 6 months ago. The plan was for him to fly to Philadelphia (the only place in the country that the exam is offered) and to come back the same weekend. Then we looked into plane tickets, and it's not cheap to fly to Philly, even though it's only an 8 hour drive. So we changed our plans, and he was going to drive. Two days before we left, the question arose "Hey, if we're already paying for gas and hotels, why not make it a mini-vacation?"

We left Thursday afternoon and drove back Sunday. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, The Rocky Statue (and the steps that he ran up at the Art Museum), ate Cheesesteak, and went to museums. Liam also took his first swim in the hotel pool (and loved it!). It was a nice mini-vacation (as long as Josh passed his test- we'll find out in 8-10 weeks!).

By the way, we used the name your own price feature on Priceline again, and only paid $40/night each night we were there for suite-style rooms- with full kitchen, even a dishwasher! I highly recommend that website!

Here is Liam after he ran up the Rocky Steps.

Two Mr. Bears!

I recently read an article by a dad who's daughter lost her favorite blanket. You know, the one that she carried everywhere and that she just could NOT sleep without. This dad was desperate to find the same blanket, so he called the manufacturer only to find that that particular blanket had been discontinued over a year ago. So he went online and couldn't find any until he checked ebay. He ended up paying over $135 to get the new blanket. His advice: Figure out which toy your kid will be attached to and buy a backup ASAP, before they are $135.

Apparently, it's pretty common practice on ebay to rip off desperate parents. When I looked up Liam's Mr. Bear, I found them listed for over $40, and this one isn't even a common one! There were baby blankets at over $200 with BIDS on them!! Vowing never to pay over $15 for a backup, I kept my eyes open (if Mr. bear was lost in the meantime, Liam would have to learn to sleep without him!) Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I spotted one with a buy it now of $4.99 plus shipping. Apparently this seller didn't know what a gem she had! I snagged it and he arrived in the mail less than a week later- just in time for me to surgically repair a hole in original Mr. Bear's right arm. Whew.

Here is Liam with both Mr. Bears. He was pretty sure he was in heaven. And yes, they ARE the same bear...can you tell which one he's been snuggling with for over a year?