I love Shutterfly!

I'll be honest......I've never used Shutterfly before. I've looked at their site tons of times. On each occasion that I've taken a peak, I've fallen in love with their Christmas Photo Cards. There are so many choices. And, they are all adorable!!! (I think this one might be my favorite, but I've looked so many times and came up with a new favorite every time!) This is the year I am determined to use Shutterfly to order my Christmas cards. I'm NOT going to procrastinate. I'm going to order in plenty of time to receive the cards in the mail, address them, and mail them out. So, if you're on my list, be looking for a super cute Shutterfly card from our family!!!

I'm also interested in using Shutterfly to make a calendar for some of our family members for Christmas. If it's as easy as I've heard, it won't take very long to design the calendar. That is just what this busy mom needs! And, check out these coffee mugs! LOVE THEM!!!!!!

I passed!!!

I am a National Board Certified Teacher!!!!

This is a huge accomplishment. I am so proud and still a little shocked that I passed. We celebrated on Friday with dinner at Olive Garden. Then, on Sunday I celebrated with treating myself to some time at the nail salon.

When I came home, Liam was so happy to see me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back to his playroom. He just couldn't wait to show me what he had been up to. He was so proud of his tower. He (with a little bit of help from Daddy) had used all of the blocks to build the tower.

I'm not sure who was more proud.........the builder or the mommy!

Movin' on Up

David was so excited to have last Thursday off for Veteran's Day. He had big plans of playing with Liam all day long. Well, it didn't turn out that way. On Tuesday, Liam's allergist called and rescheduled his appointment for Thursday. On Wednesday, we decided that Liam needed to go to his primary care doctor due to a cough and runny nose that has been around for over a month. They couldn't get him in until Thursday.

So, the boys began their day at Dr. Harmon's office. She diagnosed Liam with a sinus infection (again) and heard wheezing in his lungs. The only positive news she gave us was that Liam had gained a little weight! He had moved up on the growth chart from the .31 percentile to the .34 percentile. That made his doctor very happy!

After the first appointment, David and Liam came to pick me up for the appointment with the allergist. We were under the understanding that the allergist was going to do a challenge, which means that they would feed Liam peanuts to find out just how allergic he is. We were soooo nervous going into the appointment!

Once the allergist finally.....I'm talking an hour and a half later.....came in the room, he talked to us for about 30 minutes. We told him about having to find a new home for Maudie because Liam's reactions to her had worsened. We talked about Liam's runny nose and cough that was lingering. We talked about his non-stop sinus infections and occasional vomiting episodes that only occur in the morning. Then, the doctor looked at Liam and listened to his chest.

He disagreed with our doctor. He didn't think Liam had a sinus infection, just that everything was swollen due to his severe allergies. And after listening to Liam's chest, he got serious and told us that a challenge wasn't necessary. He only does challenges on children who he thinks will pass the test. Liam isn't one of those children.

He told us that Liam is in the midst of the Atopic March. He explained that the Atopic March begins in infancy with eczema, which Liam had, then proceeds to food allergies, which Liam has, then moves on to nasal allergies, which apparently Liam has, and moves on to asthma, which the allergist said explains the wheezing in Liam's chest. That's putting it in simple terms. You can learn a little more about it here.

He then explained that people who go through the Atopic March typically do not grow out of the food allergies and that the allergies and asthma worsen. Not at all what we hoped to hear. So, we now must avoid all nuts....just in case his food allergy has worsened like the dog allergy has.

He also told us that Liam's vomiting episodes and "sinus infections" were most likely side effects of his allergies. AND.......that once Liam starts taking the meds he prescribed he'd probably start feeling better, causing him to eat better.....AND TO GAIN SOME MORE WEIGHT! That's good news, right?!?!

I hate that my baby is going through all of this. I was a mess after the appointment and into the next day, until a sweet friend said to me, "Liam's your miracle baby. He's already made it through so much and he'll make it through this just fine also." She's right. He's definitely a fighter. He wouldn't be here if he wasn't a fighter.

So far, I'd say the medicine has helped Liam feel better. He's been eating really well. I'm thankful for that. For dinner tonight we had left overs from Chileno's. Liam loves, loves, loves rice. He's usually a very clean eater. Not tonight. He was a mess and made an even bigger mess!

He thought the mess he made was sooooo funny. I didn't agree.
After I was forced to undress Liam to do some serious Spray and Washing, he wanted to put on his daddy's shirt. Cute, huh? (Yes, it'd be even cuter if it was orange!)
Speaking of orange, HOW ABOUT THEM COWBOYS?!?!?!?!?!?

Party Planning

Planning for Liam's second birthday party is officially underway. How is it possible that he is almost two?!?! My thoughts are filled with Thomas invitations, party favors and cupcake toppers.

My biggest worry about this party..........I have to bake the cupcakes. Not only do I have to bake them, but I also have to decorate them. Ahhhhhhhhh!!! It's the only way we can guarantee the cupcakes are peanut free.....anything for my baby boy, right?

YGG Live

We had so much fun at Yo Gabba Gabba Live! I was really worried at first, because Liam was scared. Really scared. He covered his ears and hid his head in his daddy's shoulder. And then Nana took over and saved the day. He ended up dancing, clapping, singing and just having a blast! Here are several pictures from the night.....

Papa and Liam waiting for the show to begin....


Everyone who came in the door was given a pair of DJ Lance Rock glasses. Doesn't Nana look adorable in them?!?! (She may kill me for posting this!)

This is how Liam spent the first 10 minutes of the show. I seriously thought we were going to have to leave.

Once he gave Nana a try, he started to relax a little.
And then the fun began!
"Balloons, balloons make me happy. Balloons, balloons I love you!"

Liam loved the balloon drop! The balloons (and confetti) landed right on top of us!

After the intermission, the characters walked down the aisles. Liam was shocked to see them a few seats away.
Hugs are fun....."You put your arms out wide."
"You wrap 'em around, squeeze tight. Hugs are fun, hugs are fun, hugs are fun!"
Liam sang almost the entire "Good-bye" song.
YGG Live was such a great experience! It was well worth the money....or should I say Nana's money?!?! Thanks, Nana! We had so much fun!!!!!!

Happy Halloween

I'm a few days late, don't ya think? We had such a fun and busy weekend that I have just now recovered from the lack of sleep and non-stop going that we did. We were up and at 'em early Saturday. Well, I guess I should say that Liam and I were up and at 'em. David was sick all weekend. Poor daddy missed out on so much! Back to Saturday morning.....Liam and I started the day with some serious house cleaning. He loves to help sweep! When Liam finally went down for a nap, I ran to do some fast grocery shopping so that I could get home to get ready for our company.

As soon as Devin, Aspen and Ayla arrived at our house, we were off to the Pumpkin Patch. We had so much fun! I was really worried it would be crowded since it was the day before Halloween, but it wasn't at all. Liam and Aspen could pretty much run everywhere and we didn't have to worry about them. Liam was enamored with Ayla. He has even begun to ask his daddy for a baby! (He's going to have to wait!)

These two loved the slides at the Pumpkin Patch. They were so fast and shot them off the bottom about three feet. It was so funny to watch!

Everywhere they went, Liam and Aspen held hands. It was so cute! Look at Liam's dirty bottom from landing in the dirt at the bottom of the slide.
This is the first time Liam has ever been on a big boy swing. He wasn't too sure about it and neither was I!

Liam thought the tractor pulling the hay ride was a choo-choo. He kept pointing and saying, "Choo-choo!"

After the hay ride, we decided to pick out our pumpkins. Liam picked up the very first pumpkin he came to and it was the one! He carried it all over the place!
Baby Ayla had a blow-out while we were at the Pumpkin Patch, so Liam, Aspen and I hung out for a bit on our own. Again, Liam loved to hug the big pumpkins.
He also figured out how to throw the hay, which was fine.....until he threw the hay in my face. It only took one warning about throwing the hay before he quit. He's slowly learning to listen!
When I asked Aspen to hug Liam, he crinkled his nose. It's like he was thinking, "Ewwww! Girl cooties!"
On Halloween morning, we met up with Casey and Owen for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Yum! Then, we spent a couple of hours shopping around Target. Liam, Aspen and Ayla were wonderful while we shopped! I think we wore them out, because they slept for a couple of hours and woke up at the perfect time to get ready for the carnival we were going to, The Monster Mash.

Liam was a Marine for Halloween this year. I wasn't too excited about his costume. Until I saw him in it. He made the cutest Marine ever!!!! And he loved wearing the costume! He actually cried every time I would take it off of him!!!
Aspen and Ayla were both flowers. We had the Marine escort for the flowers Haha!!!
Liam was pretty shy at the carnival at first. But, he finally opened up and had so much fun! They had all of the classrooms set up with different games, some with crafts and one set up with a photo booth.
See the cup in Liam's hand? It was full of popcorn and he refused to let go of it. He didn't even care about the candy in his bucket. He just wanted the popcorn!
Casey works at the Methodist church where the carnival was held. I was excited that we ran into her and Owie!
Liam's favorite game was picking out duck-ducks! It was a fight to get him out of this room!
After we left the carnival, we stopped at McDonald's drive-thru to pick up a quick dinner so we could began trick or treating. Aspen went into the first house we went to as soon as the man opened the door. It was soooo funny! Thankfully, the man didn't mind and thought it was pretty funny too. Liam got really excited every time I took him out of the wagon, but when we got to the door he'd just say, "Treat" in his super soft voice. We stayed out until about 8:30 trick or treating. At that point we were all tired and ready for some sleep!!!