Robert Service

I remember my dad used to say (and still says), "it's just money, there is always more money." He would always say that after spending a bit of money on me and I made a big deal about it. Three years ago he paid my way to go to Italy to see my sister. I was speechless when he asked me if I wanted to go with him and Mom. Four years ago my parents bought me an expensive sewing machine for my birthday (something I really wanted, but they usually send me $50). And there are countless other times he has over done it. And still does. That is what this excerpt reminds me of. This poem's meaning has many other dimensions, but my brain accepts it as an explanation of how motivated we are by money, temporal things that it can buy us.

I think men are more driven by things that money can buy. I mean, I am content with a car that runs, a house that is heated and doesn't leak, a comfy bed and clothes that fit (a luxury to a big fraction of folks in the world). And now that I have a kid, it's even more extreme. I don't care much about my wardrobe, my hair or jewelry anymore. Life is so fast paced... there just isn't time to go shopping, put on that bracelet or fuss with the fro. I never thought I would be so blah... but here I am not fussing so much because I have a husband that is loyal and loving... a gorgeous child that is adoring and in need of ME, not my current style. I don't have anyone else to impress, so why spend the extra money on "things" that don't buy me the reality I already possess. It is typical that my perspective is so turned around from when I was single or married without children, but I never knew it to be typical until it happened to me about 6 months ago. I hate that I didn't know all that until now. Wisdom surely comes with age, but I wish I could gain it faster than that.

Don't get me wrong... I would be fine and happy if I ran into a lot of money. I just don't think I would spend it on a bigger house or a fancier car. I would put a bunch towards our retirement, Liam's college and mission and give some to a few friends that are in need. I would travel with my family and keep this house as our home base. I would put Ian through college, pay off our mortgage, invest in a few of Ian's good ideas, landscape my yard... I would have a second child and quit my job. Liam would be exposed to culture whether it be sports, theater, dance, mentors, travel, art, music, instruments, woodworking, survival, service or playing in the mud if that is what he wants to do on a rainy day. Yes, money can buy a lot of happiness, but it's not essential to be truly happy. Thanks to religion in my life, I can be as rich as my soul allows me to be.

First Kiss

I forgot to post a couple nights ago that I got my first kiss from Liam! I had just finished feeding him and Ian came in to say hello... Liam looked at him, smiled, then grabbed my face with both hands and basically sucked on the side of my chin!!! Oh how sweet!

Happy 6 Month Birthday, Liam!

Click on photos to enlarge

What started out bad, ended up good

I really had a cruddy day up to 5pm today. Don't tell anyone, but I didn't get a shower this morning. My boy needed attention full time and he needed it pretty much until I left him at the sitter's. So I wasn't going to listen to a crying boy while I showered... oh well, life goes on, even with smelly arm pits.

So I was working one handed (holding Master Liam) and heard Orion start to Hack. I immediately put down the laptop and Liam and run to grab Orion so he doesn't throw up on my almost-white carpet... he runs under our bed, of course, so I had to grab a hind leg and get him out before the barf got trapped under the bed for a few years. I run him to the bathroom and try my best to hang on to him while he does his thing. Then I had to clean that up and lock him in the bathroom so he could clean himself up. YUCK!!!!! I go back to Liam and he's done a bang up job on my laptop... I couldn't see the screen and I was scared he had somehow broken my work's property! Ah! Some how he had pushed enough buttons the absolute correct way to dim my screen completely! Talk about a quick key! Wow, kiddo! I open the drapes so the sun can help me find my arrow so I can navagate to the system settings to get the brightness back. Thank goodness I didn't have to report to the boss that my kid ruined my workstation!

And speaking of the boss... I got to work and had to try to explain an expensive mistake I had made on a big pricey contract that the customer signed AND paid in full. It's a done deal and we can't go back to the customer to ask for a bit more money because Miss Gina made a minor but expensive mistake. And it's not like I work for a mom-and-pop shop so I could just fix the money loss with a "yeah, just take that out of my paycheck" kind of deal. Nope. This is a 24 Grand mistake! So this fix would be like "yeah, just don't pay me for a year" and all would be swell. I am just sick over this and my really nice boss is sick too. He doesn't want to get me in trouble with the execs... he really doesn't. So I feel even more sick cuz he's sick and it's just crappy that we can't fix it. PLUS he had me and my partner working so feverishly on a couple more big pricey projects that I never got a chance to "do that thing I do" ...so I got home after 5pm with a nice pair of knockers to say the least! Ug... so I will have to dig in the freezer for archived food for Liam tomorrow. I hate that! All the frozen milk I have for him was produced before I went off the dairy, so I will have a gassy baby tomorrow night... not something I look forward to.

I feel so crappy already today because my sweet child has to stare at me do work in the morning (so my time isn't quality with him in the a.m.) and then I get to drop him off and go work some more in the afternoon. I am still in the mind set that Liam is the only baby I will ever have and I am missing these precious moments in the mornings and afternoons with him. He seriously already thinks I am THE most boring mom in the world. And I don't blame him at all. How sad is that? He is just getting more and more attached to me and I am getting more attached to him and this work thing is really breaking my heart. Plus I suck at work obviously, so it compounds the matter... why work when I could be doing the FUN not BORING mom thing? Well folks, because we need the paycheck that's why. Today is just an emotional one. I dropped Liam off and he looked up at Shari and did his goofy sweet grin at her. She totally didn't appreciate it! And so I broke down a little bit... I said, "Shari, he has been basically ignored this morning, he will need to be held a lot today, okay?" (with a tear in my eye) So I really hope she did that.

I held him a bunch when I got home today and it really made me feel better. He went down at 6:30. While he slept, Ian and I did some yard work. Liam woke at 8pm and we weren't finished so we put him in the Johnny on the threshold of the front door as the kitties were leashed out front with us. He just grinned at us while we finished up and we grinned back.

After washing up, I tried feeding him again and getting him back into the drowsy mode. I layed him in the crib and he just wasn't having it. So I took him and cuddled him in our bed and he just shut his eyes, stroked my face and started dozing off. He coos in his beginning-sleep... it is the sweetest thing (along with the face stroking). What a cuddler! And what a nice ending to a cruddy day!

All in a Day

Okay, today Liam got quite the preview for tomorrow's photo shoot. His uncle Drew is here from Minneapolis and was instructed by Grandma to take lots of photos of Liam. So first thing this morning Drew hears Liam in his crib and he goes upstairs and takes a few (and I followed him cuz my boy was as cute as ever in his crib, NOT asleep like he should have been)...

Then this afternoon all the boys (including our manly Liam) went to Cabela's and I had a sneaky feeling they would buy some baby camo... I was right! They bought a camo onesie, SO after we went out to dinner (Chinese Garden) we dressed him in the camo and put him in the grass thinking he would just disappear... ha ha. He is not too sure about the grass yet, so we got a lot of shots of him looking stunned. In this one, I think he looks like a gorilla... a very WHITE gorilla with camo on, but a gorilla nontheless... Anyway, we took a TON of pictures.

It's been a while since I took photos of Liam right out of the bath. He loves being naked so it's really our favorite time of the day because he gets the biggest kick out of being free! He sees me rub the lotion in my hands and he knows he is about to get it slathered all over him... it cracks me up to see his eyes light up as I rub my hands together. Giving my baby a bath is one of the most precious things I do each day. The way he lights up when I rinse out the tub and put his bath mat down, I will get his diaper off and then he'll climb up my front in excitement! I lay him in the warm water and he looks at me and grins big, starts kicking in the water and gnaws on his fist (as this is his nervous/excited tick we have found). I am glad he is young enough to enjoy baths and then not throw a fit when it's time to get out. An activity that always has a happy beginning, middle and end.

(To view his adorable eyelashes, please click on the photos to enlarge.)

Photo Shoot

Tomorrow we are going to do Liam's 6 month photo shoot at the same place we did his 2 week photos. I am so excited to see how they turn out. We made a special mid-day Saturday appointment so he would be on his best behavior for the pictures. Hopefully I will have them back early next week as his 6 month birthday is Tuesday. http://skyejohansen.com/

ABC's of Gina's Parenting

Maybe "parenting" isn't the right word cuz Liam is still so small. Just a few things I think about on a daily basis, my feelings towards my son, and the aspirations I have for him...

A - assisting Liam in all ways is the coolest calling I could ever imagine.
B - baby boys are all I want now that I have a boy... never thought that could happen.
C - cuddling my baby is so sweet and I wish I could do it about 16 hours a day... yeah 16... more if sleep wasn't an issue.
D - dismissing advice from other moms is not something I do... give me all the tips you can... I gave up dairy for my child because someone told me to try it... no more screaming gassy baby!
E - I love it when his eyes light up if he sees me, his dad or something new... I hope his eyes are always so expressive and tender.
F - feeding Liam is a precious experience for both of us and I am glad I am the only one that can do it ;)
G - giving birth is not the hardest thing a mother has to do...
H - he is getting heavy, but I love to carry him around if I don't need 2 hands... holding my baby (any time I want) is a short phase and I don't want to take this time for granted.
I - Ian is the best support system I have when it comes to raising our baby... I highly recommend him ;)
J - just because I had a baby, doesn't mean I can't go out alone with my husband and get a sitter.
K - Kid-e-Col has been a major lifesaver at our house since Liam was born... buy this stuff and a crying baby will settle down immediately.
L - Love isn't a descriptive enough word when it comes to the feelings I have for my baby.
M - Men, now I have 2 to live with and that worries me just a little... I am gonna get picked on later.
N - nobody is as lucky as I am to have this boy in my home.
O - I can tell now that Liam will be an obediant boy... it will be so neat to see him work hard and love to please his parents.
P - I plan on teaching my son good principles... I want him to know truth and make good decisions as he grows... it's never too early, as I can already tell he is a smarty!
Q - I hope I can answer all the many questions this child will have for me... I hope the "why" stage of his life isn't annoying but received as a marvel that he is craving to learn.
R - I hope my son is a return missionary some day... and I hope he writes me every week when he is gone.
S - Sierra is Liam's cousin and I think my kid is cuter! (just checking to see if the sis is reading)
T - trouble is what I will be in when Ian sees how late I am up creating a post.
U - umbilical cord... was just right and my kid has the cutest button I have ever seen!
V - I think my son has a valiant purpose here... if anything, he has made his parents better people by just coming to earth... enough said.
W - wonderwoman is what I thought I would become after giving birth (because everyone else seemed to pull it off)... well not quite, but I do a lot more with my time now a days than I ever did before... how about bare-minimum-takes-the-whole-day woman? PLUS I function with abbreviated sleep... so that is pretty wondrous in itself!
X - I am glad I don't have an eX making my life more complicated (God bless you, Tori, and anyone else that deals with this)
Y - my boy is a half year this next week and I hope each half year mark is as rewarding as this one!
Z - I plan on taking Liam to the zoo this summer and every summer thereafter...

New Interests

Liam has 2 new interests this past week. Can you tell what they are?

Caught again... (2 ways)

Shari had a funeral to go to today, so Liam went across the street to Rose's while I was at work. I walked him across the street and ran back to the house to load the car and get to work. I had forgotten to restock his bag with diapers. So I went back to Rose's to drop them off and there was Liam in an older Johnny Jump. Rose bought him a jumper! In this post, she bought him a swing and she only tends him [if Shari can't and that is like] hardly EVER. She really loves my baby and I guess every "grandma" needs a baby to spoil. She is such a sweet lady. Glad she is so close.

Another note: Rose said that they need to give me a new church assignment so I come to church again. I guess people do notice when I am not there on Sunday. It's just hard getting a baby to church by 9am when he usually goes down for his morning nap at that time... It seems pointless to take a grumpy child to church when all I end up doing is stand in the hallway with him. I feel guilty for slacking on my attendance, but my weeks are long and concentrated and I really enjoy spending the day alone (in PJ's and no make up) with Ian and Liam. I will get better. Ian says we need to do better too. If he is there with me, it's a lot easier, but still a pain. Anyway, just a tiny vent session. I know people take their large families to church every week by 8:45... God bless them and their patience and their energy and their commitment. I am weak. This fun fact about me has been admitted before.

Spring in Utah...

K, it was practically summer yesterday (see previously posted pic of Liam in the grass) and today we had a snow storm! I got home from work and hurried and took a photo of those big flakes dropping down to the green grass. And not even 20 minutes later it was spring weather again. I guess the moisture is good no matter it's form.

Easter Egghead

I put Liam in the grass for the first time today... he just held on tight and studied it ever so closely! Ian saw this photo and said we should have painted his head to look like an Easter egg... funny thought, but too late, the kiddo is already down for the night.

We had a nice Easter dinner with the Powell's tonight. I made ham, scalloped potatoes, rolls and carrot cake. It was nice to have them over... I would have took photos, but Liam and Charlotte were both kinda grumpy, so next time... I still can't believe how big Liam is compared to Charlotte. She is true girl... long curly eye lashes and so petite! (She is Liam's betrothed and 2 months younger than him.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKXhybRmBRk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo-DIDQnx7A

At the car wash, yeah...

Well I got the house semi-clean today. Ian's brother, Drew, came into town around 4pm and brought his friend, Nick. We have had a nice evening with them. We went out to eat at Good Wood (a great bbq place in Orem) and Liam was well mannered as usual. He did get a little grouchy at the end though. I sat in the back seat with him on the way home and fed him a bottle. Ian had taken Drew and Nick on a "drive" in the Freelander before we went to dinner, so we stopped at the car wash on the way home. They went up into the muddy mountain benches in Springville. Here are some darling shots of Liam and Daddy (I just happened to be in the back to take them and I am so glad I was)!



Right before Drew and Nick rolled in, Ian got out some fresh green beans and shared with Liam. He cracks us up... he'll also suck on lemons when we are out to eat (we always order extra with our water so he has a supply for the length of the meal).

(click on photos to enlarge)

When he was a little newer

Here are some favorite pics of mine since Liam was born. Pictures say a thousand words, right? Well thank goodness cuz there isn't much to report today. AND as you can see, my grounding isn't in full force. If I get my blog posted before 7pm then we are in good shape. Tonight doesn't count cuz it's the weekend.
(click in the photos to enlarge)

He is just 4 days old in this sleepy shot. OH SO SMALL!


Liam was only a week old in this shot. Look how big my hands are in comparison to our 6 pounder. So stinkin' cute!


Now this is a timeless classic. Yes, serene sleeping, but wait, he's giving us the finger!


It was a sad day when he grew out of the crossed eyed face. He is about 3 weeks here... such a scrawny goofy baby...


Here he is trying the johny jump for the first time (3 months) and right when I took the picture, he threw up... I had no idea until I looked up and saw the mess... and then realized it was a pretty dang cute photo!

For History's Sake...

Liam actually ate his food tonight. Swallowed and everything! A full serving of his baby cereal and half a container of carrots. He even opened his mouth when he wanted more! Wow, it only took 1.5 months of practicing for him to finally get it! I knew he would one of these days. Now let's see if this contributes to better sleep habits.

A few things

Orion's newest quirk

I am making piles for the yard sale in 2 weeks. At the top of one pile is a blue 100% wool sweater. I found it at the top of the stairs this morning and put it back in the pile whilst wondering how it got to the top of the stairs. Right behind me was Orion retrieving his wool sweater. I tell him "no" and put it back, keeping an eye on him the rest of the morning. He is so persistent. I eventually shut the door to the room the piles are in. We are all just about ready for bed and I go downstairs to turn off the lights, close windows, etc. I find the wool sweater near the garage door in the kitchen. My guess is Orion couldn't fit it all through the cat door and left it there after he gave up. I reported to Ian and he just smiled because Ian is impressed with every quirk this cat has... every last pestering one!

Dinner and Errands

I got home from work and Ian said since Liam needed some new onesies and socks that we should stop at Outback to get dinner on the way to the baby store. Sounded good to me. So we got Liam fed and headed out for dinner. We asked for a table at Outback so if Liam needed to be held while I was eating, I could successfully sit him on my lap and eat too. The hostess sat us in between to small groups of people... yeah too close. The OLD folks to the right left only a minute after we were seated... and the 2 middle aged guys to our left stayed throughout our whole Outback experience. The bald guy made an obvious comment about he and Liam having the same hair cut... hardy har har... and the two of them shared a dessert and talked about old relationships... so I really thought they were a couple. Then as they were about to leave they were telling the waitress they were in town fishing the local river. What do you know... people come all the way here to hang out in the river. I had NO idea!

Anyway, the whole point of mentioning our Outback dinner was to say that the waitress mentioned more than once that Liam was such a quiet baby. "Yes, he is a very mild baby." Why do tiny comments like that make me so proud of our boy?

Consulting an Addict

Ian and I have come to the conclusion that I have a blog addiction. I need to take a break. I need to go to bed instead of play on this thing. He says I am grounded for 2 weeks, but I told him that I could only go a week. But look at me, it is the SAME NIGHT we had this conversation and I am on here posting a blog! I really have NO self control. It's just sad. And what is more sad is I am basing my self worth on how many comments I get on my blog! I got zero today... one from Robin, but only because I called her to tell her I figured out how to post videos! And one last sad note: The last 2 nights I have dreamed in blog form. It's not right...

Ian, I am sorry. Take the laptop away from me tomorrow night. It's our only hope...

Orion gone human

Many of my friends have told me to submit this clip to America's Funniest Home videos. It is pretty remarkable, but I really don't think we would win the grand prize on this one. Granted, this scene seems to make us laugh every time he does it, but will the nation think the same? Let me know what you think. This is just one of Orion's many many quirks.

Liam Laughing 3/17/06

I have been trying to figure out a way to share digital clips from my camera since Liam was born. I am NOT savvy when it comes to transferring video. So, in my blog addiction I came upon a couple sites that have used http://www.youtube.com to post their clips. Now I am gonna go clip crazy on this thing...
Here is a clip of Liam's first laugh! This goes with the post titled "Glee"

Loud Mouth

Liam's loud time is 5pm until bedtime. It's not bad loud time, but very endearing. If he is on the floor, he does the superman stance on his belly and shouts and coos. If I am holding him, he climbs up my front and gnaws on my shoulder (note the drool spot) and chatters in a BIG way.

I wish Ian was a more dedicated photographer of our son's antics. This is as good as it gets, folks.




Okay, so I resort to taking a photo of the cuteness and his mom... this is the best I can do. I need a live-in photographer (and a night nanny, a housekeeper, a gardener....)

Mobile Monkey

Yeah, his dad taught him how to hold the bottle... he thinks he's pretty hot stuff!

I guess Ian has been training him for awhile. Liam only gets one bottle a day, so I am impressed with his coordination.

And guess what else? The kiddo is rolling, moving, almost crawling all over the place as of TODAY! No more blanket and baby on the floor. He's knocking his head into anything within 3 feet of him. Geez, I never thought the day would come... it always felt so far away. I betcha in a couple weeks he'll really be crawling, not just rolling and I will have to CLEAN the floors ALL THE TIME, not just on Saturdays! We had good timing buying the playpen. That is his new play space as of tonight.

Sweet Shot

Here are the boys right before we left to go BBQ with the Powell's on Sunday evening. Liam looks extra happy... well that is because Daddy's holding him. It only takes a glance from across the room from dad to make Liam smile... cute thing!

Almost Ebay

Yes, it's the season for second-hand treasure hunting! I love it and I love hosting hunts too! A couple summers ago I helped a friend with her yard sale and found that I am a pretty good salesperson when it comes to getting rid of crap! I dreaded that day, but ended up having a ball!

In less than 3 weeks we are having a yard sale with our next door neighbor and her extended family. We have been gathering things from the closets, corners, attic and garage. Ian is even going to try selling his boats, yes he has 2 boats! He also has inflatable 2-man boats! Geez, got enough boats? I am hoping we'll make bank with all the stuff we've acquired over the years. It will be fun to spend the day with our neighbors too.

A couple summers ago I was told about a garage sale coming up (a friend of a friend). The morning of, I got up extra early so I could be one of the first there. Oh what a fun hunt that was! I spent an hour that morning going through it all. I spent $22!!!! That never happens at one garage sale for me! I had warned Ian of this one coming up and he had given me a twenty dollar bill to blow. I scrounged the other 2 bucks in my car console! The biggest treasures I found that day were a few Norman Rockwell prints. 11 X 14 sized ones. They were a dollar each, so I got 2 with little boys on them and one with a little girl (on a doctor's lap and the doctor listening to her doll's heartbeat). My intention was to frame these priceless prints whenever I had a boy or a girl room to decorate. Turns out I had a boy, so shortly after Liam was born, I got these 2 prints framed. Aren't they adorable for a little boy's room?!? Currently they are above his crib...

Cute Cousins

Liam and Sierra are only 20 days apart in age. Heidi was in Utah so we got to see each other tonight and the babies got to see each other too. Their mannerisms are so similar and it was sure fun making Sierra smile. It's easy to make her laugh... Liam only laughs on cue for his dad... it's real rare he'll do it for anyone else, even me.

Prince Charming

I never thought my prince charming would come in such a small form. This kid knows what he's doing... Charming when he wakes up, charming when it's time for bed... and pretty much the rest of the time too. Gotta love that mug!

Finger lickin' good

So Liam gave peas a chance, but they are definitely not his favorite. Eating is more of a game right now anyway... "Let's see how much food I can sneeze, spit or fling onto Mommy..."

It's very entertaining to watch him, but I am glad it's only once a day... I dread doing this multiple times a day... we both need rain ponchos!

5.5

Liam is almost 5 and a half months old. Here is a photo of me when I had a 5 and a half month old fetus inside me.
How different my life is 5 months after birth compared to 5 months into pregnancy! When I was 5 months pregnant, I really started getting a complex of how big I was getting, I was growing SO fast! And at that time I really started feeling Liam's first movements. It was so surreal to have this person inside me... and here we are today, it's a new experience just like it was then... only he's not as portable now. It amazes me how babies grow so fast... from the moment they are conceived and then from the moment they take their first breath! Why such a concentrated amount of time that we have with these fetuses and infants? It just goes to show why people have big families... they get baby hungry... it's nature's way of making more people. I understand that concept, I do. I also understand why it's so important for us to be home with our babies. When we only have this small window of time to witness this monumental growth, why be separated from the miracle? It's really only right that we value every moment with our babies.

I am so blessed to have a fairly flexable schedule so I can be close to Liam all but 5 hours of the day. There are even nights I crave his closeness and hope he'll wake up for a feeding or a cuddle before I go to sleep. I remember before I went back to work, I would put him in bed with me and savor the serene picture of his sleeping face right next to me. Oh it couldn't be true that he was mine! And still today, Ian and I marvel at how blessed we are to have such a good natured and good looking boy in our care! He is growing so quickly, and witnessing the fast-paced growth brings me joy and also a little melancholy of the days not long ago when he was just a little smaller, a little more wobbley and a little more helpless.

That coy look he gives his dad, that cute new laugh, those chubby legs that kick kick kick, his suck reflex if you get anywhere near his mouth, the blank stare when he's tired, the suck suck suck on that pacifier, the slick way he removes the pacifier, the way he dives into nursing, the way he reaches to touch my face while nursing, the excited look on his face when he sees a toy, the satisifed look on his face when we help him stand up, the joyful squeals he emits when placed on his belly to play, the non-stop cry when he won't open his eyes to face the day in the morning, the way he never fails to sneeze after the first bite of cereal, the way he spits and coos, the way he lays his sweet head to sleep when his cheek is touched by the soft blanket, the sweet surprise that he is awake in his crib when I thought he was asleep (with his head held high in the air) and the way he talks loudly to me while I get ready for work. All things I shall freeze in time of when Liam was 5 and a half months old.

Long night for us...

Last night was a bear for all 3 of us... I was up until 2am trying again and again to get Liam to sleep... he was up and down, up and down. At 3:30am when he stirred again, I let Ian take care of him. He did it happily and I really appreciated that. He kept him until 7:30am when it was time for all of us to get up. I guess Liam was pretty gassy, so I better watch what I eat and see if we can't get him sleeping more soundly.

Let's hear it for the boy...

I was going to title this post "My Second Husband", but then thought better of it. I have to say that since my sweet son was born, my sweet husband magnified his already awesome traits. Having a baby makes for a different life for us, for sure, but I never thought it would improve our personalities so much. Or maybe personality isn't the word... Um... you'll give me a word, won't you? The thing is, Liam has made us better people. Especially Ian. He has become a more devoted husband and a really cute dad. His perspective has always been very short sighted in my opinion and even though his friends warned him his outlook would change, he never understood it until about 5 months ago. We have had this conversation a few times since Liam's birth... Why do we get along so well these days? Why do we seem so much happier? Why are things just falling into place for us? Because Liam came into our lives, our home, our schedules... this little person impacted our married life together like nothing else could. When I reflect like this (and I should more often) I feel so grateful that I know a broader perspective because of my religion. We are really blessed beyond measure...

I was reading a blog site that I like to review about once a week. It's a doctor who reports his life every few days and shares experiences he has in the hospital with his patients. Today he mentioned a little boy only 5 years old that lost his sight because of surgery gone bad. Here is the quote from his blog:

"I have this 5 year old with a humongous sellar tumour. Surgery last week; they were unable to save the pituitary stalk, nor the optic nerve. He's blind now. Having trouble adapting; crying in bed, whining, screaming. I don't blame him. A lifetime of visual stimuli, all gone. At so young an age. He'll never see the colours of a rainbow. His dog's face. People. The gaze of his wife. His baby. Trees. The ocean. Instead, total darkness."

This just made me want to cry in sadness for this boy and all the blind people out there... and then it made me want to cry for joy that my son is normal and we are so fortunate he has the strength and abilities that he has. I should be grateful at all times for this, but it's so easy to take what we deam "simple" or "normal" for granted. I just can't imagine watching Liam suffer on any level even close to what this 5 year old is facing this week. I don't know who this child is, but he is in my prayers. What an adjustment period.

Fowler's

I forgot to mention that last night we went out to dinner with our friends Patty and Katie Fowler! Patty has always been one of those cool moms to hang out with. I spent much of my time with her other daughter, Kelley, when I was between the ages of 14 and 18. The Fowler's are a super fun family and it's always so nice to see them. Patty brought Katie out here to go Prom dress shopping (Utah beats Indiana when it comes to modest formal wear). We went to Applebee's last night and this morning Patty came over to visit me and Liam. She came bearing gifts for Liam too! Two adorable summer rompers from the Children's Place and a little blue easter bunny toy! Liam was pretty excited... he loves anything that is blue!

Randomness on 4/4/06

I gotta write on this thing daily now cuz I am dependent on my other blogger friends to be that religious about it. (I am setting a good example, people!) I really don't have anything to report other than the fact that Sunday night Master Liam slept until 3:30am! I was pretty proud of him. Then last night he didn't do so hot... so I was kinda discouraged. And here goes another night, another random night of guess-how-long-he'll-sleep... always looking forward to it! ;)

I have a friend from back home that emailed me today saying that we need to talk this weekend because we seem to be facing the same issues. (She reviewed my blog.) Her sweet boy is 2 months older than Liam, I think (sorry Jenne if I am off). She basically said that they have the same sweet demeanor, but torture us by night with their weird bouts of "need". I am really looking forward to talking to her. This is the same friend that, shortly after I gave birth, she sent me two 20 dollar bills, NOT for Liam, but for me... she wanted me to do something nice for myself as a new mom. I cried. I was so touched that she would be so thoughtful in my recovery time, period of adjusting to major fatigue and she just had general good timing of that type of gift.

Anyway, today Ian got Liam laughing again. He sings Sir MixAlot's "Baby got Back" and (just like on Friends) it cracks Liam up! Of course, only a glance towards Ian makes him smile and sometimes laugh. But the song really gets him to the core. It's hilarious! Mom says we have to send her a recording of that laugh so she can replay it again and again. (We called her tonight so she could hear it. It's so cute when we put the phone up to his ear and she talks in this fun little voice to him. It reminds me of when she was here that first month of his life. It was so neat to know that she wanted to spend every possible moment with him... the way she talks to him is the sweetest! Like we aren't even there listening... they are in their own world... Grandma and Liam.) --This photo was taken 11/28/05, the day before she went back to Minneapolis. Miss you Mom!

Liam today

Liam is really good at playing super man... sometimes it looks like he's swimming if there is something to be extra excited about!

Not too bad...

I was up playing on my blog until midnight. Right as I turned the computer off, Liam started to fuss. The last time I had fed him we were still at the car dealership finalizing paperwork, so he hadn't eaten since 7:30ish. So I fed him and took him upstairs with me and put him in his crib. He slept until 5am!!! Yay! I fed him and he slept until 9am!!! Yay!

I swear he knows it's the weekend... he gives me good sleep on the weekends but not during the week when I need it most. Murphy's law, right? Oh well...

Yes, we bought a Freelander last night... as we drove away with it, a longing for my Saab came over me. I was so sad to leave it behind. Change always gets the best of me... For those of you familiar with "Who Moved My Cheese?"... I don't like my cheese moved. I am more of a "Hem" than a "Haw". But now that I have slept, I looked out the window at my new ride and smiled. I really like it and I am excited to drive it today!