All Boy

This child is going to give his mother a heart attack. He plays so rough all the time! I'm going to have to learn to relax and realize that he's not that breakable!!! The other day I was taking Ross to the vet. Once I had him leashed and ready to go I started calling his name and he didn't come. I thought it was weird because of how excited he was to go with me, so I went looking for him and found this.............

POOR DOG!!!! Liam absolutely loves his ball pit. I am so glad Santa gave it to him...it provides hours of entertainment everyday!
But, he scares me a little.....here he is diving out of it....
He's fine after his big dive, but wanted to remind me that he's "one"!
Falling backwards out of the ball pit....another scary moment for me!
After falling out of the ball pit, it was off to play on his Kawasaki...what is up with that tongue? It is always out!!!!
I hope you're having a great weekend. We are spending our Sunday relaxing and watching some football. GO VIKINGS!!!!!!!!

Houston, we have a walker!!!

Liam took his first, on his own, steps last Friday night. I was so proud and just knew that when we woke up Saturday he would be running all over the house. HA!!! I guess overnight Liam realized that walking wasn't all that great and refused to take any steps on his own for a couple of days. Tuesday night he finally got brave and took a few more steps. Since then he's been testing his abilities. He'll walk along the couch not holding on, but close enough to grab it if he loses his balance, or between two pieces of furniture that are close enough together that if he falls he can catch himself. Then tonight..... he took off! We were so in shock when he started walking back and forth between us. I'm such a proud mama!!!! (Please excuse my voice in this video. I have been so sick for the last two days. I'm finally starting to feel a little bit better. Hopefully I'll be able to go to work tomorrow!)

New Years Eve (a little late)

We were so excited to spend New Years Eve with our good friends, Randy, Devin and Aspen. Devin and I met in college and became good friends immediately. After we graduated, the military took my friend away and moved Randy and Devin to D.C. So...when we figured out that they were going to be in OK and that neither of us had plans for New Years except to hang out with our babies, we decided it would be fun to stay in and hang out with our babies together. Liam and Aspen had fun playing in the "man cave"....the "office" where David and Liam keep their toys. Liam loves his new ball pit!

They were really good at taking turns being in the ball pit...they did not like to be inside of it together.
This is as close to "playing together" as they got.
Isn't Aspen beautiful!?!?! She has been through more than most adults have been through due to a heart condition she was born with. She has already had heart surgery, gone into congestive heart failure, came out of heart failure and now she is a healthy, very active 19 month old!!! She is truly a miracle!!!
After the kiddos went to bed we stayed up until 2:00 playing Dominoes...definitely not the sequin dress, out on the town, champagne kind of New Years we've had in the past, but it was the perfect way for us to bring in 2010!!!!!

Blog Design Giveaway

Designs by Jamie is giving away a blog design. Go here to learn more about the giveaway. I really love her designs!!!

One year ago today....

Liam was finally released from the NICU! What an amazing year it has been!!!!!!!

One year stats:

Weight - 17 lbs. 9 oz. (The doctor kindly informed us that this is the average weight of a six month old and that Liam's weight has officially fallen off of the growth charts. Oh well!!! He's healthy and happy. Isn't that what matters?!?!)

Length - 28.5 in. (Tenth percentile!!! At least he's sitting pretty in one of the categories!)

Merry Christmas, Baby!

Here are some pics from our Christmas in Norman with just the three of us. Liam had fun pushing around the boxes.

Once he figured out how to open the gifts, he had even more fun.

Then he really had fun playing in the wrapping paper.

The big blue box in all of the above pictures was Liam's new, convertible car seat. Liam and I spent all day Wednesday traveling from fire department to fire department trying to make sure it was installed correctly. We finally found a station that had the swim noodles to put under the car seat so that Liam was leaning backwards instead of sitting straight up...I think he loves his big boy seat! Liam still has not hit the 20 pound minimum to be forward facing in the car. When I mentioned this to the firemen who helped us, they explained that babies should continue to face backwards until they are 35 pounds. Wow!!! Liam will be 3 before he gets to face forward! Haha!!!!

As soon as David got off of work Wednesday, we headed to Bartlesville before the big storm. Here's Liam sitting in his Papa's recliner...he thinks he is so big!

Liam's favorite gift so far is his Kawasaki Nana and Papa got him. He loves pushing the buttons and is almost tall enough to push himself around on it.

Santa brought Liam a lot of great stuff!!! He got $100 for his savings account, a new jacket, Pumas, books and a ball pit. Most of all, Liam loved the tin his money came in. :)

So excited about his ball pit......Santa forgot to get an air pump to blow it up. Oops!!! Santa still has a lot of learning to do!

I love this pic I took of Liam while he was watching his new Yo Gabba Gabba DVD. I guess he wanted to show off his two teeth and the tooth that is on its way in. And, check out those eyelashes!!!

On Christmas Day, David and I snuck out to watch Blind Side. (A must see!) Liam and Nana had a blast playing while we were gone.
My brother got Liam the coolest gift. It's his very first stock! So clever!!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas. We still have one more celebration to go!!!

And the best toy is.....

Wrapping paper!!!

Due to the possibility of a winter storm, we aren't sure of when we are going to begin our Christmas travels. So, we decided to do our Christmas tonight just in case we hit the road tomorrow night. I made a delicious breakfast casserole and hash browns for dinner and then it was time to open presents! Liam loved tearing the paper off of his gifts, but he really loved playing in all of the wrapping paper once it was in a pile to be thrown away. Here is a looooong video of Liam playing in the pile of wrapping paper.

Why did I spend money on gifts for him?!?!

Did you notice the box that Liam is pushing around? Yep...it's a Wii Fit box!!! Thank you, D!

Shake Yo' Bootie

Liam loves to dance! The other day when I picked him up from the sitter she said, "We noticed today that anytime someone says bootie, Liam starts dancing." Haha!!! I'm proud to say that I taught him that. Here is a short video of him shakin' it. I can't get a video of him really getting into it, because as soon as the camera comes out he forgets about dancing and goes for the camera. (I apologize ahead of time...I do not have a good singing voice and I cannot believe I'm sharing a video in which you can hear me singing!)

I love the way he bobs his head! I'm not so proud to say that I taught him that too.

Birthday dinner

We decided to go to Cracker Barrel for Liam's birthday dinner. Liam loved it! He had some dumplings, green beans, macaroni and cheesy potatoes followed up with a sundae. He ate a ton!

I just love this pic! His expression cracks me up. If you click on this picture and look at it closely, you'll see a tiny red spot on his eye. Poor baby popped a blood vessel coughing or sneezing. We called his doctor to make sure they didn't need to see him and the nurse assured us that it looks worse than it is. It seems to be getting better by the minute.

Liam finally figured out that crayons weren't for eating and that they make some pretty cool marks when you put them on the table.

He was so proud of himself for coloring that he had to clap, but he wouldn't let go of his crayon!

After dinner we headed to the mall for a few gifts and to see Santa. Liam was wonderful while we waited in line. As soon as I handed him over to the big man in red, he started screaming and didn't stop until we turned a corner and Santa was no longer in sight. We're going to give it another try this weekend...maybe we'll catch Liam when he's in one of his more adventurous moods. Ha!!!

Happy First Birthday!!!

My precious baby is one-year old today! It is so hard for me to believe that an entire year has passed since the day Liam was born. As I look back over the year, my heart is filled with precious memories. Memories of the first time I saw his face, held him in my arms, the first time he rolled over, smiled, sat up on his own, crawled, danced...I could go on and on. Along with the precious memories came the hysterical memories, like when we finally left the NICU. David and I were terrified! I swear it took over an hour to drive home that day, and the entire drive I sat in the back seat staring intently at Liam, looking for any sign that he might not be getting enough oxygen. Then there was the first time that Liam sprayed across the room during a diaper change and David jumped out of the way, staring in shock. And then the first time Liam really threw up, and we were in the ER within 15 minutes, sure that something was seriously wrong. We were such messes! We made it, though. We now have a happy, healthy one-year old little boy.

As we prepare for Christmas this year, I am reminded of how blessed we are. I have always loved everything having to do with Christmas...the hustle and bustle, the crisp air, the lights, the smells, the food, and most of all, the magic. Last year on this very day, the Christmas season almost lost its magic for our family, the day that we almost lost Liam. We were terrified. We had no idea what was happening, only that our baby was too small and had an unstable heartbeat. We sat through test after test for what seemed like days only to be told that our baby was struggling and that if he survived delivery, he would be unable to breathe on his own and incredibly weak. But, God answered our prayers and delivered to us a strong baby, who was full of fight...He delivered to us our miracle baby.
Every morning the fist thing Liam does is point and say, "That, that!" (He means, "Tree, tree!") One of us walks him into the dark living room to the Christmas tree and turns on the lights. He stares with wonder and excitement, clapping his tiny little hands and we know that the magic of the season is still alive.
And that God is good, all the time.
Happy first birthday, Liam! We are so blessed that we were chosen as your Mama and Dada. Thank you for making the last year the most amazing year of our lives. We love you with all of our hearts!!!