Outside Time!

We went to the park this week!

Emalyn has not been able to stop talking about the park since going to the one in Texas while visiting my parents.

I have to confess, I've not been the best at getting to the park since having kids. I know once they are walking/running, I will be much better at it.

So finally we made it to the park.

(Liam looks like such a little old man in these photos...I laugh everytime I see them! And I love that Cameron is in the background of the second shot.)

Interestingly enough, she was a little sheepish about going on certain things once we got there...

Almost like she thought that the park was the one and the same as her beloved TX park.

I've got proof it is NOT. THIS is the ice covered lake next to the playground.

Lovely, isn't it?

Regardless, we loved our outside time and we had to do a little convincing to get Emmy to want to leave. Thankfully, Quincy needed to eat and go on his walk...the perfect scapedog! :)

Yum, Yeah....

So posting wasn't just light.....it was nonexistent!

I'm getting back on the blogging horse..but we're not going to be full tilt for awhile! :)

You better believe I will be back posting a bunch to catch everyone up on what we have been up to.

Stay tuned!

More TX

The last afternoon in TX, we went to the neighborhood pool.

There was a splash area for kids, however it was new and they hadn't made the floor correctly, you know to prevent slipping....Emalyn fell three time and although she recovered quite well, and quickly, but by then, we were over it.

Eighty degrees never felt so nice...

And now we're back. *sigh*

Austin baby!

Oh, how I needed to get away.

And the warmth in Texas really was like another world.

We've had snow covering the ground for about 4 months straight. in the 8 years I've lived here, it has never stayed snowy for this long.

Let's just say, I'm over it. And so is everyone else around here. We'd like to see some grass, please?

That was my first comment looking out the window on the airplane, "Oh, you can see the ground!" That's plain sad!

So, without much narration,below are photos from the trip.

The single highlight had to be the San Antonio Zoo. Emalyn loves her am-me-moes (animals), for sure.

Mardi Gras...

Preschool Style

On the Market

Posting around here may end up being lighter than usual as our house is going to be listed on the market as of Friday, 3/11.

We just need a little more room now having two kiddos.

So, instead of boring you with all the details on organizing, cleaning, organizing and cleaning some more....oh, and moving more than half of our stuff to storage....I thought I would just let you know my brain and time have been consumed with that.

However, Liam's 8 month letter will be posted shortly!

And I may post the photos of the interior of our place since my aunties and uncles and cousins haven't ever seen it before...take care!

LJW-8Months

My little boy is 8 months! Yikes!

We have already talked about how you are almost crawling...you're a little worm! Everything and anything you can see you want to touch it. If it is too far, of course you couldn't be bothered, but if it is within a couple wormy wiggles, you will make the effort and it is in your hands and ultimately drooled upon.

I had to start working full time again for a short while here. Someone quit at my office and so I have to step up my workload so that I can keep up. It hasn't been pretty for me, but your Oma and Auntie B have been coming to watch you and Emmy on Thursdays and I can tell you both LOVE. IT. I really like that you both get to spend extra time with them.

Those teeth are really pushing in. Your gums are fat and swollen. I swear I can see white once and awhile on the bottom-I think it pops through then the swelling makes it disappear. Poor miserable thing. And the saliva...everything is wet. All the time! Ay!

And as much pain as you are in, you are still a happy boy...a sweet boy that can tolerate so much. Emalyn is such a strong-willed little thing that we had to implement a routine almost immediately. Although we keep a routine for you, going outside of it isn't as...horrible...dare I say? We will have the ultimate test next month when we go to TX to visit Mimi and Papa. AKA, your first airplane ride! Woot, woot!!

Love you my big little boy, SO MUCH.

Love,

your momma

Life

Things kinda got hectic, and posting here was pretty much the last thing on my to-do list.

I hate when life gets that way. I really don't feel like I get to enjoy even a little bit of it then.

So, I thought I would catch you up on some things going on around my bit of the world....

Little Miss is now potty trained (pretty much). We're still not doing overnights sans diapers, but all day long, and naps, we're pretty much accident free.

Want to know the starting point for our success?

Ah yes, Lightning McQueen. My girl is not a girly-girl (yet)!

Here's the background: she was doing a super job at school, no accidents; doing great. The second she would get home, she would go in her pants, or throw a tantrum about going on the potty. So, we had pretty much just HAD IT the night she sat in her brother's bumbo, looked at me, and peed in it. D.O.N.E.

At dinner we were talking about it, you know, where/when we go to the bathroom, and Cameron says, "I got it." He gets up, goes to the kitchen cabinet and pulls out Lightning. He looks at Emmy (who is meticulously looking over the item placed in front of her) and says, " if you want this, you go pee on the potty."

That night, we had no accidents and she kept telling us when she had "a feeling." (MAGIC, I tell ya!)

Being the good mom that I am - you know, with bribing my kid and all - I go to Target and get a bunch of cheap dollar items that will keep up the motivation. She loved the pinwheel she got the next night; still NO accidents!

The next day, early in the morning, here comes pee time. I look in my bag and tell her she can have this little Thomas Pez dispenser.

She looks at me like I'm crazy. The kid has never heard of Pez, nor knows what a Pez dispenser is, let alone what it does.

And that lack of knowledge lasted all of one second, because now....she knows. And she looks for her two candy "Thomas" reward every time she "delivers."

Point for team Mommy & Daddy.

Here she is a couple days after we all realized Thomas was the beholder of such good things:

(I am happy to report we have since misplaced Thomas - really and truly, I have no idea where she left him - so sugar amounts are much lower right now. However, I don't want to hear about sugar and cavities, etc. Let's remember, my priority people = a dry couch! She is a potty training champ, and so now onto #2 in the potty!! I may spare you those details, however. ;) )

Other news:

We may not be crawling, per se, but we are moving!!

Camp

This last weekend we went with some friends to a church winter retreat. It was our first time going.

I have to say it was a lot of fun.

We were watching daddy play broomball from the dining room that had floor to ceiling windows. The view was just amazing....just like her shirt says, she was dancin' (while eating, hence the funny mouth).

We stayed in a building called Lakeside...Lakeview? Lake-something. There were rooms everywhere with the gathering rooms on the main floor and sleeping quarters mainly on the top floor. The photo above (dining room) was on the lowest level.

I loved the hardwood floors of the top floor. It so reminded me of an old dormatory...had to get some shots up there.

Good thing I have such sweet subjects....until they are just over it.

I'm one of those people that loves a photograph with a crying baby. I mean I would never MAKE a baby cry to get a photo, but I guess that raw emotion just makes the photo seem even more real....maybe I'm weird. Whatevs! :)

LJW-7Months

Hi Big Blue.

(That's what your daddy calls you.)

You're 7 months. And Momma's behind in writing your letter...again.

I don't think I can get any worse, only up form here for me!

You're up on hands and knees rocking away. No crawling yet. You hate that you can't move around like you would like. I have to say, you are a champion stomach pivoter, and you have begun to "hop" while you are on those hands and knees to get to where you'd like. It's pretty funny. You watch your sister almost green with envy as she moves around the room. Pushing yourself backwards also gets you stuck in some pretty cramped spaces, like under the jumper, or living room chair...you get so annoyed when your head thumps the underside of something. You're just exploring for crying out loud!

It's hard to believe that you are moving up to the older baby room at day care some time next month. (You have to be 8 months old to get in the next room.) I'm always saying how time flies, but really, it does! And I have been really busy with work lately, which seems to make time fly by faster! I've gotten to spend more time with you and Emmy working part time and even though I have had an "adjustment" period getting used to not being at work 5 days a week, being with you both has been awesome.

I mean, if I ever wanted to practice patience, well, this is it.

You both are really great kids. Emmy is a huge helper and assists in almost anything I ask. She always grabs a burp cloth if we need it. Or puts your nuk in your mouth to help quiet you. She sometimes grabs a toy to give you if the nuk doesn't work. It's neat to see her mimic me...the "mommy"...because I think she is more doing it because she is your sister, and she knows she can help. She likes to help. She feels good helping.

But then, if you get a little too much attention she pushes your big ol' head into the blanket-carpeted-ground. Yes, I have to always be watching. She's 2...she's testing boundaries. But when or if she makes you cry, she feels horribly. So horribly in fact, she also begins to cry. I am thankful these moments do not happen often at all...but they do happen.

Emmy and you play together in short spurts....mainly where she grabs your arm and pulls on it and you laugh hysterically. She kisses you. She hugs you. Oh, Liam, how she loves you.

You are STILL teething something fierce, with nothing to show for it. Some days you are just miserable, but as long as you have something good to chew on, you tolerate so much. That sweet sweet disposition I always talk about. Such a quiet observer you are.

I won't let everyone think you have no backbone though...nobody should try taking something from you because they will hear about it until something equally exciting fills the void! Emmy's learned to fill your little hands-and quick-when you screech after she's grabbed something from you. I can't help but laugh every time. You've got some fire in that belly and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love you big blue eyed boy. I am positive 8 months will be here before I know it...until then buddy.

love, your momma.