Halloween Report

Well Liam did it! Three rounds of costume wearing in one day!

We left the house at 9am so we could make it to his 12 month doctor appointment at 9:30am. The whole third floor of the pediatric offices were appropriately under construction so it was interesting finding where we were supposed to be. It was kinda like a haunted house feel, but with flourescent lighting instead of black lights. Doctor Wynn was his normal bubbly self. I was looking forward to seeing what he was dressed up as this year. Last year he was a hippy with a long blonde bandana'd wig and tie-dyed T-shirt.

He came out to tell the receptionist something while we were signing in, etc. I asked him if we could take a photo then since we'd have to strip Liam once we got into the exam room. He was so sweet and fawned over Liam's costume and how cute he was in it. As you can see, Liam wasn't too excited about being held by other than yours truly.

After much whining, crying and clinging to Daddy, Liam recovered from the two shots he was given by a mean old witch. I was glad Ian was there with us. Liam was certainly a Daddy's boy this morning.

We got Liam in his car seat then headed a few blocks away to Ian's work. All of his co-workers were just taken back by the cuteness in their midst! Many compliments, gushing and sweet treats were bestowed upon our little lion. I have to pass on many thanks to my VERY talented Mother-in-law for creating such a priceless and adorable costume! Everyone was impressed with her work and wanted me to pass that message on to her... SO impressed!

Ian put Liam in one of the carts in the warehouse. It looked like we had a caged lion! A very tame lion! He was being so charming and adorable!


We left Ian's place of employment and then headed to mine. Liam gnawed and crinkled all the sealed candy he was given as we made our way about 15 minutes away to my work. He continued to be charming to each person he came into contact with. He aquired a few more treats, compliments and gasps from lion lovers. It was so fun to show him off and he had such a good time prowling the hallways.

On our way out, I took his costume off and let him run loose in the lobby. He made a b-line for the fish tank! He was reaching for it long before I got the costume off of him.


Our ten minute drive to the babysitter's house was too long for Liam. He fell asleep 5 minutes into our commute. He continued to sleep when I dropped him off at the sitter.

I got back to work and wished I had taken the whole day off. I was hoping he wouldn't be too grumpy as a result of his shots.

I picked him up from the sitter and he was whiney the rest of the evening. Suffice it to say, we stayed in the rest of the night and handed out candy. Every time the door bell rang, Liam would say "oh" and go straight to the door. Not just to greet our disguised mini visitors, but to try to escape to the outdoors. Even though it's feezing out there, he loves going outside. And he loves kids, so it was a pretty fun time for him to have so many little creatures come calling for candy.

Please vote 5 stars for our little lion... just click over the fifth star. GO HERE

Milestones this week

-Liam did a drawing in Nursery today! I had no idea I should even offer him a crayon! Another Nursery worker sat him at the table like a big boy and gave him crayons. I was surprised they didn't go straight to his mouth! He also did really well with the pencil. (Someone else helped him trace his mitt. Reverent Hands for the lesson on reverence.)

-He also sat in a kid size chair up to the table during the lesson! I was so impressed as I was teaching the lesson. He just patted the table and didn't mind just sitting as he watched the other kids do the same thing.

-This past week he showed us that he can spin in circles. (I asked 5 year old Ashley, daughter of Liam's sitter, Shari, if she taught him that. She smiled and said, "Yes I did!!!")

-I already mentioned yesterday that he can climb down all 12 stairs by himself. I still can't get over how impressed I am with that! I am going to try to get video of it this week.

-He initiates the peek-a-boo game. Here is a photo of him peeking from behind the chair after church today.

So proud of my boy...

I am proud of Liam every day, but today I got a surge of pride!!! He climbed DOWN the stairs all by himself! All 12 of them! We have been teaching him since he was about 8-9 months old and has successfully gone down one or two here and there. But today he did all of them! Unassisted! Spotted, but unassisted. What a big boy!

We've had a busy day. Liam woke up a lot earlier than usual at 6am, so Ian took him while I slept longer. That was really nice. Then when Liam went down for his morning nap, both Ian and I slept too.

When Ian woke up he got working on cleaning out the garage so I can start parking in there. (I wish we could make enough room for both our cars, but there is too much crap in there right now to make that happen. Ian is the one that leaves early enough that much scraping has to be done in order for him to drive to work, but I am in a hurry each day getting out the door, so on the days it snows, I can't easily make time to scrape.) So about 10 minutes into Ian's project, Liam and I got bundled up to go out and help him. I started sweeping out the garage and it's a good thing we have two brooms because Liam picked up the other one and started "helping". Of course he likes anything that is long and skinny... fishing poles, brooms, golf clubs and the favorite, sticks! So Liam carried the broom around for a long time. We went inside after about a half hour.

Later on Liam and I took a shower. He was so cute! He loves the water and gives me the cutest smiles. We got ready to go shopping at Kohl's. I wanted to get myself some new shoes and possibly a sweater. I got neither. I found 2 outfits for Liam, a necklace and a rug. Liam was so well behaved in his stroller for like 40 minutes. I let him run loose for a couple minutes. MISTAKE! He is fast! So I scooped him up and put him back in his stroller. He was good the rest of the time and all the way home in the car. He just chattered away. At one point as I was driving I said, "Say daddy. Dad-dy!" And Liam says, "Mom mom!" I said, "That's okay too, buddy! Mom mom!" Awe, melted my heart!

I told him that since he was such a good boy at the store and in the car, that he could play in the rocks when we got home. I was kind of tired when I opened his door to get him out of the car seat. It crossed my mind to just take him inside instead of doing the dig-in-the-gravel thing. He wouldn't know, right? Well I didn't even test that out. I took him out of his seat, stood him down on the driveway... and he went straight to our RV parking gravel area. He was SO excited! He immediately sat down and started digging and picking out rocks he liked. I gave him the cup my water was in and showed him how to put the rocks in the cup. He looked up at me and grinned so cute! And from there on out every few moments he would find a "good one" or fill up his cup or dump the cup out and with pride would look up at me and give me the TOOTHIEST, HAPPIEST smile! I wanted a photo SO BAD! But I know I would sour the mood if I picked him up to go get the camera and I couldn't leave him alone, so I hope I can always remember that SWEET SWEET FACE!

We went inside and we started playing with his toys. He got his little push cart and brought it into the living room. He dumped all the shapes out of it. Sat it back up and proceeded to try very seriously to put the shapes into their assigned holes. He just couldn't figure the square out. He got the triangle fine, but that square was giving him trouble. He concentrated so hard on the circle and triangle holes, but NEVER tried the square. So after watching for a few mintues, I tried to help him. I was zero help to him. He kept doing what he was doing and moving my hand out of the way. Such a smarty pants!

Not a super exciting day, but I had to write down a few memories. He makes me so happy!

And to end the day, Ian and I enjoyed an awesome fall snack together before we hit the hay tonight. Butternut squash with butter and brown sugar! YUM!

You can click here for the one year photos. I took the ones of him with the balloon and running around the parking lot. Cute boy!

My 200th Post!!!!

I can't think of something creative to do for my 200th post. (Nothing can beat the 100 things... cuz I certainly can't make a list of 200 things, no matter if it's about me, Liam or anything!) So the best I can come up with is a Halloween posting that will give you the creepy crawlies!

This is a story of a garter snake. In. My. House. Yes, last Saturday around noon, I was on the phone with my sweet mother-in-law explaining the whoas of our morning. I was sitting in the office/playroom watching Liam play with his toys as I chatted. I was sitting in a chair situated perfectly so I could see, across the room, across the dining/kitchen area directly to the kitty door that comes in from the garage. (Note the big garage door is cracked for them to come and go outdoors... see this post for another gruesome tale).

So I am chattering away. I suddenly see Miss Purr Bug barge through the kitty door. She isn't alone. She's brought prey with her. I am far enough away that I can't make out what it is. She continues to bat at it and tease it. It certainly isn't the daily grasshopper she decapitates. It's black. A big black thing.

I stand up. I walk to the threshold of the playroom. I walk past the dining table and stop dead in my tracks! It's a freakin' SNAKE! "OH MY GOSH, MOM! There is a snake in the house!!!!!", I squeal over the phone! "What do I do????" Mom says, "Grab that baby and get outta there!" I run upstairs with Liam.

Minutes later there is a knock at the door. I say good-bye to Mom so I can answer the door then call the neighbor to come rescue us (since Ian was out golfing). I didn't have pants on PLUS I was scared to go downstairs because of the snake. So I hurried and opened my bedroom window and yelled to whoever was at my door.

"Hello, I can't come to the door right now!"
I hear, "It's Jayme from next door."
I say, "Thank goodness! I was just about to call your hubby. Give me a second, I will be right down."

I put on some pants and slowly made my way down the stairs scoping out the flooring below. I managed to open the front door while still standing on the stairs. I explained to Jayme what was going on. She relayed that SHE was much more help to me than her husband as he is deathly afraid of snakes. So I put on some shoes and together we started scoping out the house for a black snake.

I moved the couch, looked under everything with a space above the floor, we even moved the fridge and oven. NOTHING. Though we about peed our pants when moving the fridge and a black pen reared it's ugly head. We seriously thought THAT was the snake for a whole milli-second. Whew, it took us a while to get our heart rates back to normal.

So yes, we found NO snake during our quest. Jayme went home. So while my appliances were moved out of their assigned spots, I told myself there was no snake. That Miss Purr Bug must have taken it back outside. Or maybe I was just seeing things... Maybe it was something else... my eyes aren't that great. It was a good 10 feet away from my eyes... whatever it was. I cleaned behind the fridge and under the oven. I moved the appliances back to their spots. I continued my day getting ready for Liam's birthday party (without shoes because there was no snake).

Fast forward about 6 hours.

La ti da... having a party... tons of company over... chatting away.... Liam playing with his mylar balloon near the kitty door.

I was standing near the dining table having a conversation. Suddenly I see movement in the corner of my eye. Is that a bug racing along the threshold of the garage door? I step closer to make sure so I can smash it with something. NOPE. Not smashable. IT'S A SNAKE! Slithering along the door (probably trying to escape our party).

Logic crosses my mind then leaves completely. I race towards the living room. (Yep, that's right... Liam is abandoned within feet of the snake.)
"IAN, COME OVER HERE!"
"Why, what?"
In my squealy panicked voice, "Come over here.... the snake!"

Ian and his brother, Drew, save the day and throw the snake into our back yard neighbor's yard. At some point I think somebody else rescued my darling child and he ended up in my arms by the time the boys came back inside. What was I thinking? I mean really? I spooked myself and most everyone in attendance. They were all baffled as to how a snake got in the house. Then Miss Purr Bug was outed and everyone understood as she blushed in embarrassment.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon.

So I was home from work all day on Monday. Around 4 pm Ian and I have a conversation about him bringing some take-out home from the Bamboo Hut. I get off the phone with him and continue to play with Liam upstairs. I see Liam is busy with a toy for moment so I go downstairs to put some dish towels away. I pivot at the bottom of the stairs to make my way to the kitchen. I stop dead in my tracks once again. You guessed it. That snake was back! The exact same disgusting black one! Right there in the threshold of the kitchen and living room. I watched it intently for a few moments. There was zero movement. I ran back upstairs and called Ian.
"How close are you?", I ask.
"I am turning the corner of our street right now."
"Okay, well guess what is sitting on the kitchen floor?"
"The snake?"
"Yep, so can you take care of that when you get here... we'll be upstairs until that is done."

So I came downstairs and sanitized the murder scene. Ian said it was still alive. ("AHHH", I thought to myself. "What is going to keep it outside this time?") After those thoughts crossed my mind without me verbalizing it, he said, "I took care of it and buried it. We shouldn't have any more problems."

So THAT is my true Halloween story for my 200th post. Know that it was a sacrifice to re-live these incidents. I have been itching like crazy between sentences here. I can't get the image of the coiled defensive reptile out of my head. That slithering S shape either! Yuck Yuck Yuck!

Happy Halloween!

Rest
In
Peace

P.S. Jayme's hubby didn't risk coming to the party because he had a strong feeling the snake was still in the house. And I know Jayme will never let me live it down that I left my child so close to the snake while I took flight to another location.

Happy 12 Month Birthday, Liam!

WARNING: This slideshow is a whole year's worth of my favorite photos.
It's a 15 minute show. I would love for you to watch the entire thing as I have been working on this project for months and months now. Enjoy our boy's first year and the music to compliment it.

Make an online slideshow at onetruemedia.com

Dear Son,

The year went fast, the year went slow. You grew up, but you are still a baby, my baby. You still need me and love me and want to be near me. I am still up in the night with you, sometimes as often as when you were a newborn, but I love you and I remind myself that you won't want to cuddle and nurse like that for much longer. Nursing you is the sweetest when you are asleep. You reach up to my neck and press on me like a little kitten does. You stroke my arm, you snuggle close to me. I kiss your head and rub your back... Then rest my palm on your tiny side as we sleep. It's a glimpse of heaven, you are so innocent, you are mine.

We love watching you learn. You love to copy what others do, especially your dad. He somehow makes things more fun and appealing to you. You get sad when he leaves and always welcome him home with big grins. You pat us on the shoulder when you are being held. We think you do this because we pat you tenderly when we are calming you down or giving you hugs. You initiate hugs and like to climb in our lap if we are sitting on the floor. You can pay attention and participate as we read your board books to you. You like to help point things out and turn the pages.

You have discovered the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. You have dominion over one drawer and one cabinet in the kitchen... All others you know to leave alone... And if you sneak to pry any of the "no no's", you give a warning giggle, then smile at us to question if it's okay THIS time. You silly kid, testing your boundaries already!

You are getting better at eating solid foods. You have a much bigger appetite and will gladly eat anything that we put in your mouth! You especially like to share any fresh produce that Daddy happens to be snacking on. You are using those chompers better than I thought possible... Only 4 teeth and you can really put a dent in an apple or a carrot!

You continue to be a delightful boy. I cherish the time we spend together. I love watching your every move. You are darling in all that you do. I love you beyond what words can describe. I can't get enough of you, Bug. You make me smile, you make me feel special. Your loving spirit brightens any sad moment for me. Thank you for that gift, you angel boy!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Love you always,
Mom

2 out of 10 shots

Yeah, the photo shoot was a joke. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes so high. I had scheduled the photographer to meet us up the canyon at 9:30 in the morning Saturday. Liam would have been pretty good if I hadn't put the CUTEST pleather bomber jacket on him. It was so stiff, he fell forward twice without being able to catch himself, resulting in face plants on the cold ground. Those face plants opened up a little scab on the side of his nose, so we had some bleeding for a few minutes, along with crying and whining. It was a sad sight. So we called it quits with only 10 photos taken. These two were the halfway decent ones. The gal offered to meet up with us again Tuesday. I hope we can do that. I really wanted to get a few good shots of Liam in his Halloween costume.

Early Birthday Celebrations

Sadly the camera lost battery power during the party this evening and all back ups were weak, so here are the few shots we were able to get tonight... there are some shots from the other night when Liam opened his gift from Our Own Private Idaho. He hasn't left that fun thing alone since! He loves figuring out the shapes and putting them away, then dragging them all around. I have noticed he likes showing his new toys off to people when they visit. Cracks me up!

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

9 weird things about me...

The Wooden Porch tagged me to do this meme... I really enjoyed her weird things... a very unique woman indeed. I enjoyed #9 the most... helps me stick with my one child plan.

#9
I have what I describe as Audio claustrophobia. I can't handle more than 1 or 2 sounds at one time. When I am home alone and watching TV, I mute it on commercials. If I am home alone, I rarely turn on the TV or radio as silence is my sound of choice. I rarely have music going in the car either. I found I couldn't think straight when we had friends over with their 2 year old chattering, us conversing and me trying to get my crying baby latched on to feed. I had to leave the room to feed him.

#8
I have never had a broken bone.

#7
Daytime television makes me ill (except for Ellen of course). If I have a day off, I hate to turn the television on in the day time. Saturdays and Sundays are okay... it's the daily soap operas, game shows, court shows and talk shows that make me feel yuck when I hear or see them.

#6
I don't like eggs. I can only eat them in quiche or scrambled with lots of cheese and seasoning.

#5
I shave my legs every time I shower. Prickly legs bug ME... I shave for ME.

#4
IF I were to have lots of children, I would want all boys. For some reason I have always enjoyed gross humor and boys of any age can provide that. Girls are too sensitive and high maintenance.

#3
I can't stand being without earrings and my wedding ring. I have been known to be half way to work and turn the car around to retrieve these items.

#2
I am a VERY distracted person. I don't do anything in an orderly fashion. If I do, it's usually by accident. I want to be more focused, but it's just not happening any time soon. My house is only clean because I have a little OCD in me... it's all done randomly when I happen to see something out of sorts (which is all the time).

#1
I hate being wet. And as a result of this, I hate doing dishes, sweating, washing the car or getting caught in the rain. The only reason I can tolerate showering is because it's hot and soothing in the process. Getting out of the shower is another story. Same with swimming... refreshing in the process, but getting out is the pits.

I tag Mona, Ally and Adam for this meme.

I am okay with this "match"

Emma did her celebrity match and I thought I would give it a try too... not too shabby...

What's done is done...

Whoever is holding the handsome Liam in this photo looks related to me... but who is she?

Could it possibly be a woman that was tired of the pony tail do? Someone who didn't want to deal with the half curl half wave and spots of flat anymore? A new mom tired of having her tresses pulled by a small boy? Well, if she isn't any of these things, she is most importantly a woman that wanted to give her tired old hair to a noble cause. Locks of love.

Before

PumpkinLand

Video editing at onetruemedia.com

OR click here for the album.

Sneaky Snickers

DVD photo slide show at onetruemedia.com

First thing Liam did this morning was find an open bag of Ian's beef jerky... he over turned it, dumped it and got himself a piece before I knew what had happened. I put the rest away and tried to pry the one piece from his hands. He wouldn't let go. I think he actually chewed and ate 1/4 of that stick! He thought he was hot stuff... I didn't get the good snickers on camera, but oh well. Look at those teeth in the last photo!

Photo Op

Since Ian had to go to scouts tonight, Blake, Liam and I went to a stone amphitheater in town. Between the two of us, we got a pretty good photo shoot!

We got back to pick up Ian, then went out to eat at T.G.I.Fridays with Drew (Ian's youngest brother). Liam behaved so well for it being WAY past his bed time. He fell asleep on the way home and didn't even wake up when I changed his diaper! That was one worn out kiddo!

(Blake is Ian's older brother. He's been visiting since Friday. It's been great spending some time with him. We haven't seen him since we got married 6 years ago.)

Blogger won't let me upload my favorite photos right now, so here is the whole album. Click here to view.

He's got an apple, hey, hey, hey...

We were putting groceries away on Saturday and Liam got a rare chance to raid the fridge. Look what he found himself! He was gnawing on it for a long time getting small bits from of it, but then Ian assisted him by taking a huge bite out of it.

Liam wouldn't let it go for about a half hour.... then we had to take it way since it had been dropped on the floor so many times... though he seemed to enjoy the specks of cat hair too...

Liam today...

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Liam was being very cute today. He was giggling a lot this evening. He giggled when I gave him a cracker. He giggled when his dad got home from work. He giggled as he followed us around the house. He giggled when his dad chased him up the stairs, when he showed him how to whistle with the "new toy" and when he showed him the The Monster at the End of this Book by Grover. Of course all things caught on video were after the magic of the moment had left. So I filmed the leftovers... but still got some good squeals and giggles on camera.

A couple days ago Liam found a new toy, one of Ian's golf grips for a future club he is going to build. He has been carrying that thing around like crazy. He uses it to hit things, pretend digging on the floors, as a pacifier, as a megaphone, hitting himself in the head, etc. It's just funny to watch him with it.

Man, this guy is genius...

So maybe I'll take his advice...

Roseola? What?

I picked Liam up from the sitter today and when she handed him to me she said, "Look at his belly."

I said in a fun high pitch voice to my son as I poked his belly, "Is that your belly? That is one cute belly!"

She said, "No, look at his belly. He has a rash of sorts. I think he has Roseola."

I lift his shirt a little more, "OHHHH!"

She explained the illness that she thought he had and I immediately went home to reference my Mayo Clinic Complete Book of Pregnancy and Baby's First Year. And what do you know? She was right!

Page #633

How to Recognize it. Your baby may be fussier than usual and have a fever of more than 101 degrees F for two to four days. When the fever subsides and the baby seems to be feeling better, you will notice a pink rash, mainly on the baby's trunk. The rash is not uncomfortable or itchy for your baby. You can't be sure the baby has roseola until the rash appears as the fever resolves. The rash usually lasts 24-48 hours.

What you can do? Other than treating for the fever, there isn't much you need to do for roseola.

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