Thursday, June 29, 2006

Vinyl Lettering

Well I finally put the vinyl lettering on Liam's wall that I bought for him when I was still pregnant. I had big dreams for his nursury. I waited until we could move the bookcase out and possibly the twin bed (and now his changing table that we don't use because we have a wiggle worm instead of a newborn). None of that rearranging has happened and I thought I better put the lettering to good use before I don't have a place for it at all... or a little boy that doesn't want it on his wall.

Anyway, here it is... I custom ordered the definition of his name. The first definition is the real deal ("unwavering protector"... perfect for the eldest child). The second and third definitions I made up for my precious boy. So far so true.

The Norman Rockwell prints I found at a garage sale about 3 years ago and planned to frame them if I had a little boy someday... I am glad I got to put them to good use. I love the old fashioned scenes of boys being boys.

Click on the photos to enlarge:

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

A True Boy

I took Liam into the backyard with me to check on the garden this evening. I sat him in the grass, walked across the yard to the garden and he took off towards the hose like he'd found the coolest toy. He then headed my way as I was pulling weeds.

I picked him up and took him over to the RV parking area of our property where it is all gravel and LOTS of weeds. I thought for a second about putting Liam down while I weeded, but worried the rocks would be uncomfortable for him to sit or crawl in.

Then I thought, "Why not? He'll let me know."

He sat there and giggled! He just went crazy picking up the rocks and throwing them down and digging digging digging until he could only pick up dust... so he moved over to another spot and started over. Then he thought he would try "helping" me weed. I was just tickled that he found some "toys" he enjoyed so much. I just watched and waited for the pacifier to pop out and a rock to pop in. That idea never entered his cute little bald head.

Here he is in action (and this is real time... it looks like he is in fast motion though): Click here

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Liam can slobber ON solids...

This is Liam on Sunday helping daddy eat celery...
Here are my boys harvesting peas this evening... pay no attention to my weeds around the peas... ;)
I gots me some good lookin' boys!

Torn Between Two Good Things

Done sleeping or done eating?

Yesterday I was beat... a long night with Liam. Today I am beat... another long night with Liam. And you know what? I discovered about a week ago that my child will not sleep well if he has gas. And what gives him gas? Well, basically any solid food I give him. What am I going to do about it? I am going to only nurse him and sleep more. Yup, call me a bad mother, but as long as I give him the baby vitamins and my milk, I think he will survive. And better yet, he won't be in pain.

It's a sad site to see your baby moaning in pain in the middle of the night when all he wants to do is sleep. I can tell he isn't liking my company when he mushes his head into any surface because he is exhausted and DOES NOT want to be awake crying. What a chore for him and what a chore for me to console him and be awake too. I want to cry too, I am so exhausted.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Mind of a Toddler (or baby in my case)

I found this post of Chicky Chicky Baby's absolutely hilarious! I think it hits home for most of us (moms). Enjoy: Click Here

Happy 8 Month Birthday, Liam!

Dear Son,

You are eight months old today. And luckily you are feeling much better than last month's birthday. You are giggling, climbing, tracing, people watching, playing games, joyfully squealing, entertaining yourself and melting our hearts multiple times in a day. You seem to be ready to balance and take off running, but gravity certainly hasn't been your friend as of late. This past month you've revealed more bruises and scrapes than I can count. All you want to do is practice, practice, practice. What a go-getter you are!

Today you had a first. Our friend Aaron was visiting again and you gave him a purple nurple. You really hurt him almost like you meant to be guy friends with him and make the rest of us laugh. We also watched you make-out with the remote control today. Aaron thought we maybe should leave the room and give you a little privacy. My little boy already knows how to french kiss... that ain't right!

You are getting better at sleeping. A tiny bit. You have been a good boy to fall asleep on your own at 8pm in your crib and not awake for a feeding until 1am. And after that feeding you'll go until 5am... then you are up at 8am and ready for a nappy by 9:30 or 10am. You are getting to be VERY predictable... and though your ma is sleep deprived (still) I know I can count on you to stick to a pretty good schedule. I am very proud of your consistency and mild nature. I can now tell your care takers what time you'll nap and eat. What a good boy to keep his ma's word!


You make me smile when it's time for you to eat. You'll suck on any exposed skin until the "bottle" is finally provided to you. It's at this time I steal kisses from you.

These days you are a very distracted boy. You let go of your food source if there is any noise, any person or mosquito in the room. You don't want to miss a beat and if that means giving up food for a moment to investigate, that is your prerogative. I am not stopping you. I know you aren't finished with your meal. I wait. You come back.

It's funny, I miss you when you are crawling around and being cute right in front of me. I want to hold you and kiss on you constantly and you are WAY too busy for that. I love the games you play and the "ba ba" sounds you make. You light up my life, darling baby boy!

Liam, we love you to no end. It will be a grand sight to see you hold your own baby someday and understand the adoration we have for you.

Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

PS: This was Liam running on his 8 month birthday. Click here

Friday, June 23, 2006

Today's Report

#1. Liam got his first fat lip today. Yeah, after falling backwards all this time, he finally did a face plant. Good thing the pacifier is in 90% of the time, so nobody will notice.

#2. I got home from work and found Purr Bug here:


#3. Ian (my hubby) was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection today. He got a plethera of prescriptions that we picked up tonight, but the most important one is rest. That means I get to do the yard work this weekend! :) Get well soon, Honey!

#4. I finally finished Tori's taggie tonight (for Liv). I will deliver it tomorrow.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

3 Years Ago


Three years ago we bought our first home! We only looked at one house and we were sold. We saw it and immediately fell in love with the floor plan. Another couple came to look at the house while we were browsing upstairs with another real estate agent. That couple only walked into the living room, then immediately walked out... we were baffled for a moment. Then we realized they saw the big hole in the dining room wall from a burst pipe with apparent water damage. They had a baby in tow and we think they had something more pristine in mind for their first home. HA, they didn't have the vision we had!

We saw through what 20 years of wear can do to a house... big ugly bushes, the obvious smell of smoke, the before mentioned hole in the wall, the dated and stained carpeting, icky laminate 80's kitchen, etc. We were crafty... we offered WAY below the asking price and got a screaming deal on the house. With that equity we were able to basically demo the whole house and redo all the walls, floors, etc. We didn't really move in like most folks do. We moved into one room and moved the rest of our stuff into the garage. We pulled the carpet up in that room (because it was that nasty stinky gross), then layed a tarp down, then set up our bed and the tv. We lived out of laundry baskets and basically lived in a disaster area for the whole summer. We hustled to get the upstairs repainted and recarpeted so we could "move in" upstairs then get started on the downstairs. Long story short, we just barely finished all our projects in time to welcome Liam into our home (a now safe zone).
I have Ian to thank for all the work accomplished. He taught himself how to do each thing that needed redone. Ian learned wiring, tiling, plumbing, miter sawing, wood laminate flooring, etc. I learned how to... um... supervise and respond to his yelling in the crawl space (requesting tools and other help). I did learn how to use the drill I guess. Ian even picked out the paint for each of the rooms. I gotta say he's got great taste. He says he has a queer eye. It's been fun decorating and designing the house with him. He is much more bold than I am with color.

Anyway, it's so nice having our own place to do what we please. I remember when we first moved in. I turned up the TV as loud as I could and just felt so liberated! No more landlords or shared walls! A yard to mow, a garden to grow, a family to raise! I love our home!

Our Semi-Famous Friend

Last night our friends Alli and Aaron came to visit us. They are in town from Minnesota and made time to see us during their 8 year anniversary trip. They moved away shortly after we got married and we have been to MN once to see them since... that was like 4 years ago!

Anyway, we have missed them a lot, and seeing them and spending time with them again made us remember how much we missed them. Since Robin and Trent moved away, we haven't had real good laughs with another couple. Alli and Aaron make us laugh just like Robin and Trent did... and with that said, they make us laugh as hard as Josh and Katie do too! All these friends and they live so far away! It's not fair!!! But it's so fun to see them again and just pick up where we left off... boys talking politics and guns... girls talking about babies and life.

Alli is a professional photographer. That is why I say "our semi-famous friend". She took my bridal photos, lots of project based experimental photos for herself and my engagement photos while she was completing BYU's Photography program. (Ian was even a star in her final photography project.) She was talented then and is even more so now. She has really made a name for herself in Minnesota and even has an agent in New York that books jobs for her too. She works a lot for Target® and many local magazines and modeling agencies there in MN.

I was so excited for her to meet Liam. She is really cute with kids and had a good time with Liam last night. I have always told her that when I had kids I would fly her out here to take all his milestone photos... yeah right... I barely have enough cash to get his photos done where we already have at 150 bucks... and that really is a steal!

Anyway, it was fun catching up and goofing off with our old friends. We are planning on seeing them again on Saturday for a double date to Comedy Sportz. Yay for endless laughter!

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Baby Conspiracy Theory

I think baby cribs should only be made out of foam, or at least covered in foam once the metal or wooden crib is assembled. My child's crib has bumpers AND puffy quilts lining the large areas where the bumper does not reach. This is my solution... I guess I am not that creative...

Now that Liam can crawl, stand and trace, he pulls all the blankets down, crawls around and rams his head into the side bars. And if he's not ramming his head into them, he is standing up and losing his balance to crack the side of his head on the wooden bars he's uncovered. And he does this in mere seconds... by the time I know he's awake and I walk in there, he's hurt himself.

And then there are the pesky bed frames. We have a twin bed in Liam's room and of course a queen bed in our room. When Liam is playing underfoot and sees any vertical height, he wants to crawl towards it and climb it so he can stand. Yep, those bed frames are crawling-baby-height... just perfect for ramming his head into. We are lucky he's got a tough noggin... he hasn't gotten bruises anywhere on his head... just his eye so far... as you can see here.

So the conspiracy... Nature is against us! Klutzy babies make we mothers look like neglectful abusers! It's not fair to the little sweethearts to get hurt in their attempts to practice practice practice! And it's not fair to the parents who really are watching closely and tending to their children.

I have never judged bruised children. But I find mothers continually make excuses for themselves relaying the stories of how the bruise, red mark or bump happened. I BELIEVE YOU! Ever since I saw my friend's one year old run into walls again and again by accident, I knew that kids gotta hurt themselves to learn. It's just sad it takes so long for them to catch on. I mean, this one-year-old learned to walk at 10 months and it took a good few months or so before he stopped running into walls, corners and tables just his height. Can we say OUCH!? Poor babies!

Monday, June 19, 2006

He's growin' up...


I took this photo on Saturday morning... he looks like a toddler to me at this angle. He is growing up too fast!





Sunday morning Liam started saying his first consonant sounds, and I quote, "Ba ba ba ba".

I tried to help him turn it into a "Da da" for Father's day, but he wasn't catching on. When Ian woke up and saw what I was trying to do, he started trying to get Liam to say "Ma ma ma"... so since then we have been trying to expand his vocabulary. All we have to do is say "Ba ba" to Liam and he copies us and says "Ba ba" too. It's absolutely adorable that he is starting to mimic us!!! I love his little voice!

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Happy Father's Day

From the moment we found out I was pregnant, Ian became a dad. He was excited, nervous and happy! We got to see Liam when he was a 10-week-old fetus and we both became parents, thinking only of our baby's life and how it was changing ours. I loved seeing Ian's happiness each time we had an ultrasound, each time he saw our baby move and was updated on his health and strength...
When we found out we were having a boy, Ian immediately mentioned he had a caddy! (LOL) Ian is a dad. He dotes on all the things Liam does. He teaches Liam new tricks and plays with him each day. He has turned into an even more talented guy than he already was! It has been a wondrous thing to watch my husband transform into this person I always loved, but fell harder for as I've watched him with our baby. I never thought a tiny person like Liam could transform our lives, our outlook and our relationship.
Ian thinks about us on the job, touching base with me many times a day. Recently he told me that he tries to leave work a few minutes early so he can clear his head of the work stress and start concentrating on Liam (as he is the caretaker until I get home in the evenings). I am grateful that the two of them have that time together. Liam lights up when Ian gets home or even just walks back into the room. They have such a strong connection and it warms my heart to witness it each day. I feel so blessed to have a husband that is here with us and can support me in this parenting thing.
My favorite thing is to hear Ian stifle a laugh when I am in the other room because Liam just made a face, moved awkwardly or made a cute sound. I love that Ian can take in the joy of our baby! It's so fun to share in the marvel that Liam is. Marriage seems complete now that we have a baby. I am so happy I can share that joy with Ian. Happy Father's Day, Ian! We love you!
And not to forget the other two fathers in my life and in Liam's life... The grandpas! Thanks for all your support, concern and love you send to us always. We appreciate having such wonderful parents in our lives and grandparents in Liam's.

Friday, June 16, 2006

A Night Out

I came home from work to a father and son trying to take a nap and the son wasn't cooperating. So I picked him up, fed him and fell asleep with him in my arms. We three slept for over an hour! It was awesome... well, until Liam woke us up... Ian and I could have slept the rest of the night. It's been a long week.

So instead of sleeping, we went out on the town! I was in the mood for a good salad and Ian said TGIFridays never has a wait on the weekends. So I got Liam's baby food, bib, toys and new high chair cover ready to go.

Liam was so well behaved! We were leary of taking him out since about two weeks ago we went to Ruby River and as soon as they brought our food out, Liam had a melt down. I took Liam outta there and Ian got our food boxed and we split! No sense in ruining EVERYONE's dinner. But tonight since he just had a nap, he was great! I even took photos. (Big surprise!)
After dinner we went to Mervyn's to pick out new bath towels. We were long overdue for this purchase. I wanted to wait until Ian remodels the bathroom to be sure about the colors and new decor... oh well, we got some light sky blue towels and I even found a bath sheet for myself. My current bath sheet is in tethers it is soooo old! (Okay, sorry for the tangent.)

After Mervyn's we went to Barnes and Noble to find Liam a few more board books. He picked out three that he liked and (explored) shopped all over the kids section. (AH, why didn't I take a picture???)

We sang on the way home to make sure Liam's mood didn't turn sour as he was SO ready for bed. I love it that he just sings along with us! Melts my heart.

NOW, on to the mini photo shoot of Liam kissing himself in the mirror! (I am still taken with the color focus...)

(click to enlarge)

My child can sing!

Well, he is a little tone deaf I guess... because you certainly won't be able to make out the tune he is singing. I got him started by singing "You Are My Sunshine" and this is his part...

You may have to watch it over and over because it's just that cute! Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Yes, I am crazy...

Yes, I am a bit taken with my camera. Lots of testing going on over here. My kid is probably a cancer or learning disorder canidate with all the flashing going on. This camera has a red light on it too, so that has GOT to be annoying, that is, if babies get annoyed. No, they don't? Oh good, cuz I ain't stoppin'.
Here is Liam this morning fresh from the bath. I have to get him diapered and dressed in his padded crib so he doesn't get away so easily. In this photo he is ready to be picked up or given the camera to chew on... I opted to take a photo, hide the shiny off limits "toy" and pick him up.

The following photos you see me playing with the color focus again. Fun with the yellow inner tube! Look at those peircing baby eyes!!! My mom gave me the tip to blow up an inner tube and let him play. He LOVED it! He would try crawling out of it and had trouble, but really didn't mind sitting in the middle of it and lifting it up and down excitely sniffing rapid breaths thru his wrinkled playful nose! AH, too cute!

Fun With Blues & One Green

I really like this feature, but I can't figure out how to get the images to look sharper other than the focus color. I need to take Liam outdoors and try this out some more. Stay tuned for "Fun with Greens" or maybe some "Baby Blues"!

A funny

A fellow blogger, Anna, had this on her blog yesterday and it made me laugh. I know it's controversial, so don't judge me for laughing... GO HERE and don't laugh.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

More Pictures of My Kiddo!




(click to enlarge)
I was just playing around with the new camera yesterday morning with Liam as my model. I still haven't learned all the cool new functions... I was testing a bunch on Ian last night as he was trying to read in peace. His book was red, so I was trying to see if I could get a photo of just the red showing up and the rest blurred or black and white. I need a lot of practice... I am so not camera savvy at all.

Monday, June 12, 2006

My Life Monday 6


Today's assignment is to write about our favorite childhood toy.

I thought hard about this and it took me awhile to realize that roller skates were my ABSOLUTE favorite toy as a kid.

My sister and I started roller skating when we were under 6 (down in our unfinished basement in winter and in the driveway in the summer) and continued until we were out of middle school (including the driveway and roller rinks).

When we were 12 and 13 we made up a game called roller tennis. We got the tennis rackets and tennis balls out of the garage, laced up our skates and basically made up our own rules of tennis with skates. There was an imaginary net line and if the ball went off the driveway, it was out. We taught this game to our neighbor friends, but Heidi and I knew [all] the rules to the T and had the most fun just the two of us playing until dusk each summer night.

The thing to do in our town, at middle school age, was to go to the roller rink on Friday nights. We had such a good time and spent our allowance on the snack bar and skated the night away! That was so much fun... and until I started typing this out, I didn't realize how much I miss roller skating. In my opinion roller blading is nothing close to how fun roller skating is!

Sunday, June 11, 2006

New Toy, New Sitter



<- Liam on the way to SLC. (Picture taken with old camera.)












Last night we travled to Salt Lake City to pick up a camera I found online. A student at the U of U was selling it (brand new, never used) for a fraction of the price. A Canon SD550... it's so cool! I am excited to learn all the neato features it has on it! So you are in store for lots of test photos.
This the first photo taken with the camera... Ian got me as I was turning around. Notice the fine detail of the yellow stripes on my bedroom wall and the freeze frame of my hair flipping around. Just kidding... this shot has no special enhancing cool stuff goin' on, but I had to share a test photo Ian took with such care. ;)

I had a pretty productive weekend. We have a new sitter coming to the house to take care of Liam on Monday, so I have been letting the house kick my butt with lots of deep cleaning. I figure every nook and cranny has got to be clean because I won't be here to see where Liam's tiny fingers will find themselves. It will be nice to have someone coming to the house for the summer. A great change. I won't have to pack Liam's bag every day and load him in and out of the car either.

I think the only bad thing about the situation is Liam's interaction with the younger kids not happening daily. Shari (our main babysitter) is going back to school this summer (so that will occupy her big time) and says it will be good to have the time off to potty train her youngest who will be going to pre school this fall. So her oldest daughter, Shannon, will be tending Liam for the next 3 months and Shari will supplement where needed.

I feel like I need to write a manual for her to refer to while she is here at the house each day. But I don't want to insult her. She is a very experienced babysitter and is very well aquainted with Liam. I just know I will forget to tell her a bunch of stuff the first couple days... like "eat what you want" and "the trash can is here" and "be sure to put sunscreen on him if you take him outside." Paranoid much?
...just let it go, Gina...

Thursday, June 08, 2006

100 Things about ME!

I have been wanting to join the bandwagon and do this list, but never thought I could actually do it. In honor of my 100th post today, I give you 100 things about me:

1. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
2. My parents got baptized into this church 6 weeks before I was born.
3. I got baptized at age 8 after going through the discussions with the missionaries.
4. I loved going to church as a child... Primary is still fun as an adult.
5. I went to girls camp every summer from the ages 12-18.
6. It was the funnest way to camp each summer. (I still have friends from those programs.)
7. At age 12, my first job was as a babysitter on Friday nights for quite a few families (for all of my teenage years).
8. At age 15, my second job was operating rides at an Amusement Park.
9. At age 16, my third job was as a hostess at a sit down pizza place.
10. At age 17, my fourth job was at a nursing home making beds, passing out ice and water and assisting the physical therapists.
11. At age 19, my fifth job was as a CNA and I loved it even more than being a "helping hand" above.
12. At age 21, sadly my sixth job was in a call center.
13. I actually made more money doing that than caring for the elderly and rehabilitating.
14. My 7th job is where I am now... pushing papers and updating databases (and making good $ doing it).
15. My 8th and FAVORITE job is being Liam's Mother.
16. I love being a mom.
17. Our current plan is to only have one child.
18. It was originally four.
19. I am sad and happy about that.
20. I think someday we might be able to have one more (if I don't have to work outside the home).
21. We have two Bengal leopard cats living with us.
22. The younger Bengal is a pest in my life.
23. I love them both, but I really love Liam the best and it's very evident.
24. Ian is a single parent of two Bengals (and I support him in that stewardship).
25. Shortly after Liam's birth, we started letting them roam free outdoors to avoid incessant meowing.
26. Yes, we have two very expensive cats roaming the neighborhood.
27. I am not worried about this.
28. I am worried, however, about the outdoor dander they bring into the house while we are raising a small boy (and I don't have much time to clean).
29. Cat hair on a baby's hands (or anywhere else on him) grosses me out.
30. For this purpose I no longer pick up my cats for risk of getting hair on me to transfer to Liam.
31. My hair grosses me out too (when I find it anywhere but on my head).
32. I wear a pony tail on a regular basis.
33. It's not my style, but it's the only style that I can manage right now.
34. It's important to me to have earrings on every day of my life (and my wedding ring).
35. I think earrings are a feminine touch that I need each day. (They were pierced when I was 9 months old.)
36. I take my wedding ring and earrings off each night before sleeping.
37. I rarely leave my house without wearing some sort of makeup.
38. I feel no need to scare young children and innocent by standers.
39. On certain Saturdays I will run errands without make up to give my face a rest.
40. I love Saturdays with Ian.
41. I love spending time doing nothing with him.
42. We LOVE watching Friends and Seinfeld reruns (and SNL) together.
43. We actually own the Friends Trivia Game.
44. We quote SNL quite often. (Yeah, and Friends.)
45. Ian can make me laugh so hard!
46. He is crazy, spooky smart and witty.
47. I recently found out that Ian doesn't know the "back up" lines to most songs and he was impressed that I do... do doo doo do, dip dip dip, duwop, duwop, shamma lama ding dong.
48. That made him laugh and it made me laugh even harder. I can rarely impress him like that. And it was funny he thought that was impressive.
49. I have a really talented hubby.
50. I supervised him remodel basically our whole house (his first time with most of those projects, teaching himself as he went).
51. I wish he would go back to college cuz he can Ace any subject without even studying.
52. I hated school.
53. I am a big procrastinator when it comes to assignments of any sort.
54. I hate chores, but find them necessary. (They aren't assignments, so I can do them in a timely manner.)
55. My favorite chore is vacuuming.
56. I've wanted a Dyson since they came out and I finally got one!
57. Some day I want a Bose stereo.
58. I love music, but I am not well cultured in it so I can't "name that song" too well. Thank goodness for iTunes so I can buy the music I REALLY want and make my own CDs.
59. I don't believe in Soul Mates, but I do think most couples can make their relationship work long term and keep the spark alive with help from above.
60. I was born a white blonde and with no artificial help, I am now a dishwater blonde.
61. Yes, I can be a ditz. Ask my hubby.
62. I nursed Liam for 20 months. I pumped once a day for 11 of those months (on maternity leave and then when I had to go back to work).
63. I'm pretty impressed with this fact.
64. I've missed it since I finally weaned him. Mainly because of it's convenience.
65. I would never get "work done" to look like a breastfeeding mother again.
66. I have many FABULOUS friends.
67. One of them is my sister (my only sibling).
68. Now you can see why I am torn about having another child (Heidi was my first friend).
69. I'm naturally slim (not in shape, just flab surrounding bones). I'd like to get into shape again soon though.
70. It took me about 8 months to get back to my pre-Liam weight.
71. I find it odd that one can weigh what they did before, but look nothing like what they did before.
72. I am still working on getting the pre-baby jeans to fit so they don't look painted on.
73. I love spicy food. (and anything with cheese on it, in it, or around it)
74. My son will go to a good college whether he likes it or not.
75. I was an average student on paper, but really was a below average student all around.
76. I lied about doing my homework and studying in high school.
77. I won't let Liam get away with that.
78. I will help him study and keep him on track.
79. We will fully expect good grades from him.
80. I know he will be athletic, so this will be easy leverage.
81. I plan on being a mean mom.
82. Mean as in, consistent in our parenting... no loop holes for us to fall into later. (HA-good luck with that)
83. I feel like this plan has already failed when Liam doesn't sleep well. Because it is the parents that let a schedule get out of whack. (OR the ridiculous cat that wakes the baby. See #25.)
84. I give people the benefit of the doubt most of the time.
85. Ian doesn't really like this about me.
86. Water is my beverage of choice 99.9% of the time.
87. I will drink soda with pizza or buttered popcorn, but a very small amount. (Something's gotta help the grease go down. Am I right?)
88. I dream in color, usually remember my dreams, and always contact people who visit my dreams that I haven't seen in a long time. For some reason I think it's a sign that I need to contact them. And once in a while it ends up being important that I did.
89. I love it when friends or neighbors drop by to say hello.
90. I love to drop in on friends too.
91. I believe letter writing is a lost art.
92. I used to be a master letter writer from age 12 on until I got married (22).
93. I wrote to three guy friends their entire missions (2 years) and didn't marry one of them.
94. I can't live without AcneFree, BareMinerals, microfiber cleaning cloths, liquid soap, paper towels, my wondertees, one pair of good jeans, chocolate and a spare pacifier for Liam.
95. I don't like reading books or seeing movies more than once. (Except for a handful of movies, and one special book.)
96. I hate not knowing what time it is.
97. I have a poor sense of direction, aside from up and down.
98. I have no artistic or musical ability (except that I can remember songs from when I was small and I sing them to Liam).
99. I talk too fast and interrupt too much. (I have been trying to work on improving this annoying attribute for a couple years.)
100. I never thought I could finish this... and surprisingly I could keep going.

I hope those of you past the 100 mark will do this list anyway. It's so fun to read these meme's. And those of you not yet or even close to the 100 mark... start drafting it for later... it takes time to do and you'll keep thinking of things and be glad you hadn't posted it yet.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Smarty Muddy Pants

A couple days ago I got real tired of wrestling with Liam to get his diaper changed. So I simply and nicely asked him if he would help me since daddy wasn't there to hold him down. HE COOPERATED! He even held the front of the diaper while I fastened it closed! Maybe I do have a genius on my hands. He has cooperated ever since and listens to me if he gets distracted and wants to crawl away. Incredible! Amazing what can happen when you just ask nicely...

In other news, Liam (and I) had a first this morning... #2 all the way up his back... it creeped within an inch of his neck. I have heard of stories like this and never quite believed them. I guess it IS possible to have that big of a mess (and I had just changed his diaper 30 minutes prior to this accident). Liam has defied the laws of gravity... mud CAN travel uphill...

Works for Me 5

I have been excited to post something that I did not buy for once. I am sure most of you moms are familiar with Taggies®. I, myself, wasn't too familiar with them until a couple months ago when we realized that Liam seeks out tags on all his soft toys. The toy was the tag... not the actual toy itself. He especially loved the tag on his soft baby football that daddy bought him. He would rotate it until he found the tag and go to town drooling on it.

I remember seeing Taggies® back when I was shopping online when I was pregnant, so I looked them up again. I saw the product and said to myself, "I could make that!" And that I did! And without spending a dime on it. I had plenty of left over baby fabric from the few quilts I have made and I always collect lots of ribbon for a more personal touch on my wrapped gifts. So here you have it... Tag heaven for Liam:
Click to enlarge.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Indian Song


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This is Liam on Sunday doing his ba ba ba ba indian song. He started doing this after his feedings when he is full this past week. Yes, even after breastfeeding. Pretty funny.

Go here
to see it without the robot sounds.

Monday, June 05, 2006

My Life Monday 5


Week 5 - A picture of something significant to me:Need I say more?

Oh, well, okay...

I have been a picture freak since I was a teenager or maybe sooner. I can't remember exactly.

When I moved to Utah for college I got my first credit card at R.C. Willey (a furniture and appliance store). I bought a Pentax camera (pictured above) and I paid like 15 bucks a month on it to build my credit... we all gotta start somewhere, right?

Well, I have taken countless pictures with this awesome little camera. I upgraded to a digital camera last year, an Olympus D-580. That was the MOST important baby item we HAD to buy while I was pregnant! I read the manual and learned how to use iPhoto on my Mac! I was prepared to go nuts taking sweet photos of my baby boy! And that I did... just take a looksy at my blog! And Liam's grandparents can attest that I am religious about sending photo batches to them every other day. They get the full photo shoot, you readers only get the best 2 or 3. I don't want to look too crazy on this thing. ;) BUT, I am crazy about my kiddo!

So other than my sweet little family, the camera is a very significant part of my daily life. I don't want to miss a "Kodak Moment."