Conversation with Liam

Ever wonder what it's like to have a conversation with a 3.5 month old? It goes a little something like this. Little Liam had a lot to talk about. He is already such a ham for the camera. What a little sweetie-pie.

Birthday and White Coats

April 15th was my *cough* 26th *cough* birthday. Remember when you looked forward to birthday's? 16 was a big one because that meant getting my driver's license and entering the dating world. 18 meant I was legally an adult, I could vote, and I started college. 21 is a big one for most people....for obvious reason's, for me it was the year I married my college sweetheart (love you bubba). But what do you have to look forward to at 26??? It seems like the next birthday goodie isn't until I get the senior discount at 65, haha.

I love where I am right now in life though. When I was young and I pictured what my life would be like in my mid-20's I'm happy to say I'm exactly where I thought I would be. Happily married with 2 darling kiddos. Life does have it's hardships. Especially right now during Jake's final's week. I have seen Jake in seriously only 10 minute increments the past couple of weeks. People aren't joking when they say medical school is hard. My admiration for Jake and his smartness (yes I just said smartness) have grown tremendously over this school year. On Monday he is officially done with his 1st year and I get my best-friend back. Yay. So moral of the story, find joy in the journey and count your blessings everyday.

I digress...back to my birthday. It was a great day. Jake's mom was in town because his White Coat Ceremony was the same day. Jake and I were able to go out on a couple of dates thanks to Mimi's babysitting. Thanks Mimi! All of us went out to a scrumptious dinner before the White Coat Ceremony. It was a low key celebration of the med students being 1 step closer to becoming doctor's. They each got called up individually and their preceptor would say a few word's about the student and what a fabulous doctor they would make. Jake's preceptor said he will always remember Jake as the guy who didn't show up for his first day of precepting, haha. But then he went on to say Jake had the best excuse one could have because we had our baby boy that morning. He also talked about the qualities Jake has that will make him a great doctor. Then they each got their white coat. We also ate yummy desserts and watched a slide show presentation featuring pictures of the students and their families through out the year. When we got home I blew out some candles and we ate a delicious cake Lanette made me. See what I mean? It was a very Happy Birthday indeed.

So proud of my husband! He looks good in a white coat ;-)
Myself, Rebekah, and Kelli. Love these girl's so much! We couldn't have made it through our husband's first year of med school without each other.
Getting his white coat put on.
Jake's preceptor talking about him.
This is very typical, we can usually be found by the food.
Trying to get a family picture. And failing....miserably...
This was the best shot and you can't even see mine or Liam's face, haha.Liam fell asleep with daddy. Sleepy baby snuggles are the best.
The bestest friend's anyone could ever ask for.
Jake with his bud's. That's including you Liam.
A blurry shot of Jake with part of his class.Blowing out my Birthday candles. Hannah helped :-)

Goodbye Cranks

A couple of week's ago Liam's cranky personality did a 180. No longer is he the fussy baby who needs to be constantly held and rocked. Now he is perfectly content to lay on his play mat or swing in his swing. My back is very happy about the improved situation :-) He is most talkative and smiley during diaper changes. He will look up at me with the biggest grin and coo. He knows just how to melt my heart. He has had to fight through 2 colds already. One of which his cough was so deep and productive that he needed antibiotics. But he is such a tough little guy and bounced back fast. His cold threw off his great sleeping and for a while he was waking up every 2 hours. But last night he slept for 7 hours! I sure hope the sleep fairy visits us consistently. Oh sleep, how I miss thee. Here are some pictures of our little boy who is growing up so fast.

Real men can pull of the pink Bumbo Seat and still look macho. Turn's out we should have thought ahead and invested in a more neutral color. Whoops.

I love those big blue eyes

Such a happy boy!

I think this was the first time he ever fell asleep without being rocked.

"Color Me"

Hannah LOVES to color. She probably colors a good 2 hours everyday. She loves it when people color with her and will constantly ask us to "color me". For those of you who don't speak Hannah, that mean's "color with me". When we do color she likes to tell me which color to use, what to color, and where to color. She will tell me a shape, object, or animal and I will draw it for her to color in. Pretty impressive for a 2 year old.

We are amazed with how well she stay's in the lines

She holds the crayon's with perfect form

Dear Liam

Dear Liam,

You were blessed by your loving daddy on March 27th, 2011. You looked so handsome in your little white tux that Mimi bought for you. Your dad couldn't make it to your name before he started to tear up. It was a tender and beautiful blessing. Daddy blessed you that as you grow, you will be healthy and strong and able to perform any physical activities that come throughout your life. He blessed you with a strong mind and with a desire to learn and gain an education. He blessed you to always seek learning from sources that would influence your life for good. Daddy also told you how much your Father in heaven loves you. He blessed you that you will develop a testimony of Jesus Christ and the Atonement and that you will have the desire to make covenants at baptism and in the temple. He blessed you with the desire to someday serve a mission and bring others to the Gospel. He blessed you that through your example, others will come into the Gospel. He blessed you with physical health, mental strength, and spiritual strength. He also expressed how much your parents love you and will always be here for you. Even though you cried through most of it, and your big sister was fussing because she wanted to be by you and daddy, it was perfect. We are so thankful to have you in our lives. Your smiles light up the room. I can't wait to see the wonderful young man you will become. We love you, our dear sweet Liam.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Looking so handsome in your tux.

I can't get over how stinking cute you are
I got some smiles out of you.
You look even cuter when you smile.
Mommy, daddy, and you. Hannah was napping when we took this picture....but it appears that your mommy was the one in need of a good nap.

Big Kids

At 6 week's old Liam is a whopping 12 lbs and 22 inches long. Now for some perspective here. Everyone who know's Hannah know's she is a big girl. She is one of the younger kids in nursery and stands about a head taller than everyone else. She is 2 year's old, 37 inches tall, 34 lbs, and wear's 3T and 4T clothes. My 2 year old is the size of a 4 year old. Hannah was just over 12 lbs and 22 inches at her 2 month check up. That mean's Liam is 2 week's ahead of Hannah in size. That mean's Liam is bigger than Hannah. Which mean's Jake and I are just destined to make BIG babies. Which mean's we go through clothing sizes surprisingly fast in this household.

Here is our little man at 6 week's old. He looks so grown up in this picture. And handsome.

Already a big basketball fan

Hannah loves to hold her baby brother
And gives him plenty of kisses
He fell asleep dancing with daddy. Turn's out little Liam is a huge Josh Groban fan.

1 Month Old

I wrote this post a while ago, but life has been pretty hectic around here so my blog has been neglected. Better late than never is my motto :-)

Our little Liam is a month old. The day's go by pretty slow....but I still can't believe it has been a month already. First of all he is THE CUTEST baby boy I have ever seen. I might be biased....just a little :-) The fact that he is so darn cute makes it easier to put up with the cranky times. Yup our little Liam is a fussy baby.

He is much more vocal about his discomforts than Hannah was. If he has a bubble he will grunt and fuss until he is burped. He cries more often than Hannah did. We didn't realize how lucky we were with Hannah as a baby until this little guy was born. Babies are supposed to cry 1-4 hours a day. I honestly don't remember Hannah crying much at all. As long as she was fed every 2-3 hours she was happy as a clam. Liam has probably cried as much as 2 hours in total throughout the day. Even though I know it is how babies communicate, it is still really hard to hear him cry as much as he does. I have looked up cholic a lot on the computer these day's, but apparently he doesn't have it. Cholic is when babies cry inconsolably for 3 hours straight, 3 day's a week, for 3 week's. Wowzers. So glad that is not the case.

He has always been a fairly decent sleeper at night. He ranges between 2-4 hours between feedings. The longest stretch he has gone between feedings at night was 6 hours. During the day he likes to eat every 2-3 hours. Nap's are hit and miss. Someday's he will nap like a champ, other day's he will sleep a little here and a little there and wake up as soon as I put him down.

Being a mother of 2 is quite the adjustment. Sometimes I feel like I'm stretched too thin. Like when Liam is crying because he is tired and I am trying to rock him to sleep but Hannah keep's walking in and turning on the light, and when I ask her to leave she starts crying which in turn wakes Liam up. He constantly wants to be held which makes it hard to be there for Hannah like I want to be. Do you mom's out there ever feel like you are neglecting your older children by taking care of your newborn? I'm trying to find a balance, but it is hard.

Most of the time Hannah is just beautiful with Liam. She wants to hold him, snuggle, give kisses, laugh at him, soothe him when he cries, and just be around him. When ever he is sleeping she asks for "baby bru-uh". But there are also times when she get's too excited around him and accidentally jumps too close to him and hits him or pats him a little too hard on the head. You can really tell she loves her little brother already. Liam loves Hannah too. When she get's near him and starts talking to him his eyes just light up. If he is fussy with me and she starts giving him attention he immediately stops crying and just stares in awe at her. I captured this adorable picture of Liam on his 1 month birthday smiling the biggest grin I have seen him have and it was focused at his big sister. He saves his biggest grin's for her. I can't wait to see how close these two little tikes will be.

Liam's Favorite Things:
He loves to stare at lights.Enjoy's diaper changes and laying on the bed afterward.
Hannah.
His favorite position is sitting up. (with assistance of course)
Standing with his strong little legs

Being held in the Moby Wrap (Moby Wrap = Life Saver, this contraption deserves a post of its own in praise...actually that is not a bad idea. Moby Wrap post to come)

Some more pictures from February:

Sibling Snuggles

First picture as a family of 4 (Hannah 2 years old, Liam 11 day's old)

I love Hannah's grin in this one

So sweet

Liam looking cute in his bouncer at 3 weeks old
Looking at Hannah