Four Months!

I'm trying not to focus on the fact that the last four months have gone MUCH too quickly ... and instead focus on how stinking cute Liam is. He is such a bright spot in our world - I can't imagine life without him! 

He's extremely patient. Extremely. But when he's done being patient, you'll know really fast. Particularly if he's hungry. His "I'm hungry" cry is more like an annoyed/irritated/angry grunting noise (like "how dare you make me wait... you know it's time for me to eat") before it goes to a full-blown cry. And boy, he loves his bottle :)!

To illustrate that point his stats:

Weight: 18 lbs. 1 oz. (95%)

Height:  25.9 inches (75%)

Chins

He loves to be read to - his favorite book is The Jolly Pirate (it's quite intense), and when you read it to him he waves his arms and kicks his legs so much I'm afraid he's going to jump right off whatever he is sitting on. He likes his jumper more and more and his feet actually reach the ground now!

Overall, Liam is such a chill baby. But he isn't afraid to make his opinion known when necessary. For example, sometimes, he just wants his mama. And no one else will do. Or, when Jeff gets home from work, Liam will stare at him intently until he catches Jeff's attention and then he'll grin and wave his arms around in excitement. So cute!

I caught them playing together ... so funny!

I've said it before, but boy, he loves his brother! And when Landon is too rough or enthusiastic with him (he still finds it weird that Liam can't wrestle yet), Liam is so quick to forgive him and go right back to smiling.

They were both super thrilled about having to sit still, but I couldn't
resist with their matchy outfits.

He is not a big fan of tummy time (and I'm a sucker and don't make him do it much, I know ... it's terrible of me!), and hasn't rolled over yet. But he does like to get get up on his side a bit, which is generally accompanied by sucking his thumb. He's a binki fan too. I've come to the conclusion he is just a fan of having something in his mouth!

Personally, my favorite thing about him is his quick smile, and how much he loves to be kissed. I'll tell him to give me kisses and he thinks it is so fun! The things that pass too quickly are the ones I hold on to the most. I haven't posted many pictures lately so here are a few of my favorites from the last month or so of our sweet Liam. With my blogging absence I feel remiss in getting enough pictures recorded, so I'm making up for lost blogs!

One lucky mama...

He always has his tongue out - it cracks me up!

He was chatting with me when I snapped this - he is so talkative!

All dressed up for church ... and grinning at Landon!

Love that smile!

How he feels about his car seat.

This Grey Hair of Mine

Whew. 

The last four months have been some of the craziest of my entire life. Hands down.

And to prove it? I now have grey hair. Not just one, either. Multiple. (No, there will NOT be pictures of it. I tell you plenty of things that destroy my dignity, I don't need to add pictures to the list. Plus I firmly believe in hair color).

Since I work part time and had a huge event coming up the beginning of May, I only took off six weeks after having Liam. I know a lot of women do that, but I thought it was hard. Really hard. And adjusting to two kiddos was MUCH harder than I thought it would ever be. So many people tell me it was their hardest transition. Maybe they are lying to me just to make me feel better for being a wimp, but it's working, so I won't complain. 

When I went back it was like a tornado hit me, literally. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it exactly, but I honestly feel like I had my nose to the grindstone so much that I missed almost two months of my life. And if I wasn't working I was going over things in my head, checking my phone and generally trying to keep my anxiety at bay, which can be a full time job in and of itself. 

So, if you spent time with me during that time, please forgive me.

Everything went well (actually, it was a pretty big success, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out ...), and now I'm trying to return to the land of the living (and blogging). And remind my children that they have a mother. 

In some ways I feel like I have missed a lot of them. We were still together a ton, but sometimes I didn't feel as present as I wanted to be. That being said though, there are a few happenings that want to catch up on here. Please forgive the ensuing randomness. It might not be entirely coherent. I promise it sounded better in my head (most things do!).

Landon started soccer. The first game was a disaster - he sobbed openly the whole time. Turns out he had an ear infection, poor kid. Apparently that, paired with cold, windy weather do not make for a happy three-year-old. Ever since then though he has LOVED it. Now he cries when he has to take a turn getting "subbed out" on the field (we're working on sportsmanship :)!). He loves his team, his coach, playing and the victory tunnel we form at the end for them to run through.Sometimes we actually have to form a tunnel for him just because. You know what though? We could probably use more victory tunnels in life :)

He has also become a pro at riding his bike! We can hardly get him off of it ... which, I'm so glad about. When we first bought it he freaked out every time we tried to get him to ride it. It only took a year for him to change his mind!

Now if only he was interested in getting potty trained :)!

Liam is getting cuter (and chubbier) by the minute. I kid you not ... he is just so sweet and lovable, you can't help but smile when you're around him. He constantly has his tongue out and smiles so easily. He started laughing and it is so fun!! He laughs the loudest though for Landon. I love how much they adore each other already. 

I can't believe he'll be four months old tomorrow. I just don't understand how (or why!) time is going so quickly. I'm also amazed at the fact that he doesn't really have knees. Seriously, there are just huge rolls with indents where joints should exist. So. Cute.

We've started doing some things to the yard - curbing, planting more bushes, etc. It's looking really good! We'll do a bit more then leave it for the rest of this summer and start on the inside. I'm getting the itch to (finally!) start decorating in here. So if you have any ideas on where to get great couches, have a great painter you love, etc. let me know. Or, alternately, if you like our couches let me know - we're going to be selling them (I'm just ready for a different look) and the faster I sell them the faster I have to pick something new. 

Now that summer appears to be upon us (or at least spring consistently) I'm reminded again at how much I love the sunshine. It makes me a happier person. And a more adventurous mom. One who cares more about fun than how messy life is (as a cater at one of our events recently pointed out - I'm a bit OCD). In fact, I tend to judge how successful a summer day is by how dirty little feet are and the fact that the kitchen didn't get completely put back together until after kids are in bed. 

Moving forward, I want to commit a little more to that. Since moving I've come to realize that in some ways it was easier to retreat into myself and the bubble of friends we already had. Have you met them? It's easy to see why; they are pretty awesome. And life just kept speeding up ... the move, stuff at work (does that ever end?!), the holidays, having Liam, suddenly I was back at work, and the last couple of months hit like a ton of bricks. And then I ended up with that grey hair. 

But you know what? I look around, and reflect and am reminded again how lucky I am. To have two boys that make me so happy to be their mom. To have Jeff; whose support is unfailing (He helped put together all the welcome baskets for my symposium. Seriously.) To have started to really make friends up here, but to have kept up the relationships I have. To have people not give up on getting to know me because of my distracted-self of late.

Despite that grey hair, life is pretty darn good. So here's to ice cream cones, dirty feet and letting the kids stay outside playing past bedtime (sometimes :)!). And to not working so much!

Three months and Three years ... where does the time go?!

Liam is three months old today. Three. Where have the last 12 weeks gone? I feel like I was just in the hospital holding him for the first time (heck, I still feel like I just found out I was pregnant!). When I had Landon it seemed like time stood still those first three months - as if I did nothing but just love on him and hold him. But this time I feel as though life almost sped up with Liam's birth. And it makes me so sad - I want him to stay little forever. 

I love this stage ... Liam is SO chubby and cute. And he is such a sweet baby!!He sleeps through the night and loves his bottle as much as he loves all of us (he actually starts chuckling when he sees it when he is really hungry - so cute!).  And he LOVES to talk to us - he's a little chatter box. He's also starting to really "get" that Landon loves him (and isn't trying to torture him) - and he thinks that he is super fun to watch. I love it - watching those two interact makes me so happy. And he sure loves mom and dad too! When we walked in last weekend after being away overnight the second he heard our voices he started grinning and waving his arms at us. Made my whole week!

His favorite book is "The Jolly Pirate" (and I assure you it is already obvious that it is his favorite), and he loves his toys. He's such a patient little soul (unless he's hungry ... in which case watch out!). Sometimes I'll start to talk to him only to realize he'd been just waiting patiently to be paid attention to so he could say what he needed to say (and once he starts he doesn't stop!). I love it! And we all love him so, so much!!

We were chatting today ...
he didn't want to look at the camera though,
just at me, which I totally don't mind!

And with Liam at three months I can officially say (for the next 4 weeks) that we have a three year old and a three month old. I'm a huge dork and love stuff like that! 

Bonding

Landon is a ball of energy these days. Three is definitely our most challenging phase yet. But the challenge comes with a huge reward too. He's smart, and clever and says the funniest things. I try to talk to him about his feelings (your welcome, future wife), so the other day we were in the car headed home from a friend's house. I asked him what he did (I knew he had a hard time and was unusually sad) to try to get him to talk about it. I said "What did you do today?" (warm up question) His answer "I pooped a lot." (conversation stopper). It was all I could do not to laugh out loud to his completely serious answer. 

He's become a very independent explorer and thinks he can do everything by himself. He had a friend over the other day. After a bit, us moms looked at each other and said "it is reeeeealy quiet out side." Sure enough they had SCALED the rock wall (our gate is padlocked to make the back yard "inescapable" and has a large, tiered back wall) and were disappearing over the hill. I did my best rescue sprint while hollering at them to come back. When I finally reached them they were only concerned that they didn't get to find their buried pirate treasure. I assured them that was the least of their concerns at the moment :)! My little adventurer.

And he plays in his first soccer game tomorrow. How is he old enough for that? If it's anything like practice I will be posting some seriously funny videos for the world to enjoy :)! 

First soccer practice!

I love my little men. They make my world go round. They are also giving me grey hair (and I'm NOT kidding about that, unfortunately), but we'll save that for another post (because life has slowed down a teensy bit and I want to do a catch up post also). 

Blessing Day

March was quite the month around here ... and suddenly here we are half way through April and I haven't even blogged about Liam's blessing yet! It was such a special day for us as a family and we were so lucky to have a lot of family and friends share it with us.

The man of the hour:

Why yes ... I do know how handsome I look!

Our little family:

What brotherhood really looks like sometimes:

The blessing was really beautiful - Liam is such a special little boy and we're so happy to have him be a part of our family. I didn't want the moment to end - there is nothing quite like a tiny baby and hearing about who they are in the purest form. 

There are millions of things I love about Liam - his contagious smile, his chill demeanor and patience with this crazy family he was born into, his ability to be heard when he wants to be and the way he snuggles!! Snuggling a baby that chubby is just the best feeling ever! I really can't imagine life without him!

Landon was thrilled by the blessing too. After Jeff finished he said "He's all blessed!" Then when they got back to our bench he said "Good job, Liam, good job!" And then, "Now I gonna bless him!" I asked him, "What are you going to bless him with?" And he responded "To be good!" What a sweet brother!

Happy blessing day Liam! We love you so much and are so happy you are part of our family!!

Super Landon!

Landon today you turned three. Three. I'm not even sure how that's possible. It seems like yesterday you were my tiny baby and just seconds ago you still had those chubby baby cheeks of yours playing in the sand in San Diego last year ... and now you are so BIG! It's been a busy year for all of us, and you are no exception. You never fail to amaze us with how fast you learn things and how much personality you have. 

Right now you are really into the show "Super Why." So much so that you requested that your party be a "super why" party. So in honor of your love of all things "super hero" I'm going to tell you a few of the super powers you currently posses...

* Super Sweet: Yes, we can tell that three is going to be a much more challenging year, but really, even then, you are just such a sweet kid. You always want to do nice things for people and you try so hard to use your polite words.
* Super Learner: You're like a little sponge. This year you learned all your letters, their sounds and the concept that when you put them together it makes words. You love to count things and identify things by their color/shape, etc. You love puzzles and building things and creating art. You ask a lot of questions and you remember things and pick up on things so well we are amazed every day.
* Super Talker: Holy cow ... I love that you communicate so well with us. You also have the funniest (and sometimes snarkiest) sayings. And you use a lot of different tones - we never know if you'll be using a normal or a super deep voice. It makes family prayers pretty funny sometimes :)
* Super Helper: You are our big helper. There isn't much you aren't willing to help us do, or try to help us with. 
* Super Runner: You have, quite possibly, the cutest run on the planet. Everyone comments on it - you are just so determined to get where you are going. I can't wait to see it on the soccer field next month.
* Super Brother: This was the biggest change for you this year. And boy, did you take it on like a champ. You love Liam so much, and you love being brothers. You tell me all the time "mom, we're brothers!" You love to play with Liam, help us do things for him, and just be around him. I can't wait to see your relationship develop over the years - you love him so much! And I know soon he'll be able to give you that back.
* Super Son: We couldn't ask for a more amazing little boy to be our son. We love you more than you will ever, ever know and are looking forward to another wonderful year of adventures together!!

Now for a little birthday re-cap for you. On Saturday we celebrated as a family.

Making your birthday animal shaped waffles

Wearing your Super Landon cape and examining your "Super Duper Computer"

We found the super letters!! It spelled CAKE!

Speaking of cake ... check that out!! You have the coolest aunt and uncle around.

Presents from mom & dad!

Opening your loot!

We think you were confused about where you should have been looking :)

A close up of that cake!!

You love to be sung to and blow out the candles ... we did it three times!

Then today you, mom and Liam headed to the aquarium. Then we met up with dad for lunch at "Mic-a-Donalds" (as you call it!). So fun!! 

OFFICIALLY THREE!!

 

 

 We love you buddy!! Happy third birthday!!

Race car jammies

 

Race car jammies and stories in the morning make me smile :)!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Happy Birthday, Jeff! Thirty-three years ago today you were born ... and the world became that much better of a place. Which is why, even though you hate having things be all about you, I love to celebrate your birthday - and you. 

I love so many things about you - your handsome face, your dry, sarcastic sense of humor that can always make me laugh, your desire to help other people - especially me, your ability to be the strong one. I could go on and on ... but what I love most about you is how much you love us. You are the best husband and daddy, and we love you so much for it!!

Happy birthday, babe!