6 Months Old

Liam is now 7 months old and I still haven't posted about what he was up to at 6 months. But my mind has been elsewhere for the last month, see posts below if you want to know what on. I want to remember what this little cutie was like at 6 months, so here it goes.

Where do I even start? Liam is such a joy. He smiles and laughs for anyone who gives him an ounce of attention. He adores his big sister. Anything she does is hilarious to him. It's easy to tell he just can't wait to be mobile and try to keep up with her. When he get's excited his arms start flapping like he is trying to take flight. It is adorable. Here is a breakdown of life as a 6 month old:

Milestones
At 6 months he could stand up supporting his own weight while holding onto furniture or a hand. When he was about 5 months old he started rolling over from back to front and sitting up on his own. As soon as he figured out how to roll onto his tummy he started sleeping better. Which brings up the next category.

Sleep
Apparently sleeping in the same room as your parents for the first 6 months of life is rough because now that he has his own room he is sleeping through the night like a champ. Lately he has been sleeping from about 9pm-9am waking up once around 7am for a quick feeding and goes back to sleep. Usually he takes 2 naps but some days he is so exhausted that he need's a 3rd nap in the evening.

Words
At about 4/5 months Liam started saying "mamamama". He say's it when he is tired or hungry. It pretty much melts my heart.

Eating
He is a nursing machine. I nurse him every 2-3 hours. He loves solid food too. His favorites right now are sweet potatoes and applesauce. We tried rice cereal but he gets a red rash wherever the cereal touches his face, so we moved onto oatmeal.

Toys
Anything he can get his hands on. If he is really into a toy and someone (aka Hannah) takes it away he screams bloody murder. Such a softy.

6 Month Stats
At Liam's Dr. appt we were seen by a different nurse than usual. I think this nurse was new because her aptitude for measuring was not the best. For instance she was asking me to assist in measuring his head and it kept slipping.....needless to say I don't entirely trust these stats. The important thing is that he is a big, healthy, and happy little babe.

Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz

Height: 27 inches

Head: 17 inches

These pictures were taken at 7 months. But what is a baby update without a picture of the baby??

His smile is infectious.

"What's with the flash people?"
A rare serious moment

Such a cutie

Update

Thank you friends for your sweet phone calls, messages, and comments. We can't thank you enough for all the love and support. Some of you have asked for updates, so here is what we know now. Jake had another appointment yesterday with his Urology Oncologist and we were given the lab results from the procedure. The tumor was cancerous, a T1 seminoma to be precise, but the good news is that we got it out before it had a chance to spread and there are no tumor markers in his blood work. That mean's he does not need chemotherapy or radiation at this point. He will need to have an MRI every few months for a couple of years to scan his body for any sign of a recurrence. We feel so lucky to have caught it early and relieved to know that no further treatment is necessary at this time. Thank you for your prayers, they have strengthened us and pulled us through this hardship. Life is a roller-coaster, and it looks like we are finally heading towards the upward climb....well if you don't count the craziness of the grueling 31 credits Jake has to take this semester. Good thing he is a-m-a-z-i-n-g.

Trials and Blessings

This post marks the end of my 6 week blogging hiatus. There has been a lot going on in the Pollard casa. Originally I wasn't going to post about this. But it would be like editing out the most important thing going on in our lives right now. Let me elaborate. The end of July was spent packing up our apartment and moving to Seattle. 3 week's ago we moved into our new home. 2 week's ago Jake had a Dr. appointment regarding a suspicious lump. 1 week ago Jake had surgery to remove a tumor. 2 week's from today Jake starts his second year of medical school while recovering from surgery and awaiting the official diagnosis of what the doctor suspects is testicular cancer. Life has been a whirlwind.

In a time of so much turmoil and stress I have never felt so blessed. Blessed to be so close to one of the best hospitals in the nation. Blessed to have an outpouring of prayers, love, and service from family, friends, and our new ward family. Blessed to have a husband with so much faith and strength whose biggest concern right now is not being able to pick up and hold his children for a few weeks. Blessed to have 2 amazing children that remind us everyday what true joy is. Blessed that testicular cancer has one of the highest cure rates of all cancers. Blessed to feel the burden lifted as we pray to our Heavenly Father. Blessed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and know that families can be together forever because of the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now Jake has more reason than ever to sport his Livestrong bracelet. Your accomplishments amaze me Jacob. Soon you can add *Beat Testicular Cancer* to the list. Love you!

Sibling Love

This morning Liam chased Hannah around the house. Well ok, he had some help from me considering he is only 5 months old. It consisted of me holding Liam out in front of me and running after Hannah. Both of them were laughing. Afterwards Hannah came up to Liam and gave him a huge hug. She then said in the sweetest little voice "I wuv you baby bruhuh" and kissed him on the forehead. Then my heart melted. I knew Hannah would be a good big sister, but I didn't realize just how quickly and how much she would love and adore him. Best friends in the making.

4th of July

The Friday before the 4th Jake's lab planned a retreat and the kids and I were invited to go too. It was a picnic and hike up at Palouse Falls State Park. We ate yummy food, saw some gorgeous sites, and watched Hannah run around in the sprinklers. It was fun to get out of town for the day and see some of the beautiful things this area has to offer.

Some pictures of Palouse Falls

The 4th of July is my 2nd favorite Holiday (Christmas is my 1st). I love celebrating the birth of our country and seeing everyone dressed proudly in red, white, and blue. I love the warmth of summer, the BBQ's, the fireworks, and being with family. This was the first 4th of July that we weren't able to spend with either mine or Jake's families. We were pretty bummed about that but luckily my brother David and his wife Alaina came for a visit. On Saturday they came over for breakfast, then we took Hannah to the park and went to lunch at our favorite little Greek restaurant. Hannah refused to hold my hand while walking around, she only wanted Uncle David's hand. It was precious. After the kids napped we all went to the Aquatics Center which is basically a miniature water park and had a great time out in the sun. For dinner we went out to Mexican. This restaurant is normally packed but it was surprisingly empty. I guess it is probably because it was the 4th of July, not Cinco De Mayo :-)

On Sunday we went to church, took naps, and went to a BBQ with some of our church friends. The next day was the 4th of July. We met for breakfast and then said goodbye to Uncle Day and Aunt Laina. After breakfast we took Hannah to the park and got some ice cream. When the kids woke up from their naps we went to the water park again. (There isn't much else to do in this small town) We ended the day by going out to dinner at Applebee's and shooting off some fireworks in our parking lot. From our balcony we could see a ton of illegal fireworks people were shooting off. It was purty. Hannah had fun pointing out the different colored lights she could see. It turned out to be a fun weekend!

The kids with Uncle Day and Aunt Laina
Liam chilling poolside in his awesome shark swim suit
Such a cutie
All dressed up for the 4th of July Festivities

Her First Prayer

Every night since Hannah was a baby we say family prayer together before we put her down. Once in a while we ask Hannah if she would like to say prayer. Two nights ago she finally said yes. It was such a special moment for us as parents. Of course I had to help her along and give her things to repeat. And even though some of the words were jumbled together in a language only a mom and dad could understand, it was the most beautiful little prayer we had ever heard. It's times like those where we feel like we are doing something right and teaching her the principles she need's to know.

Sweet Hannah, Heavenly Father is always waiting with outstretched arms for you to call upon Him. He is never more than a prayer away. Strengthen your relationship with Him through prayer. Love you, infinity.

"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." -Abraham Lincoln

California Trip

The kids and I flew to my hometown back in June to see Grandma Geri and Papa. We started the trip in San Jose and went to Great America. I have so many wonderful memories of my childhood at that theme park. It was great fun to be able to take my children there. Grandpa and I went on a couple of thrill rides while Grandma Geri watched the kidlets for me. Most of our time was spent in Kidzville though. Hannah was a little unsure of the rides at first but she had a great time. We spent about 8 hours at the park. Liam was such a trooper. There was this awesome Baby Station in the kid area with a room that had comfy rocking chairs just for nursing mothers. I spent quite a bit of time in there :-) We rode on fun rides, ate funnel cake, and enjoyed our time out in the sun together. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of pictures to document our trip. I couldn't find my camera and was worried that I lost it. Turns out that I thought I packed it in my suitcase but found it at the end of our trip at the bottom of the kids suitcase. Whoopsies. I managed to snap a couple on my cell phone though.

Hannah enjoying the Classic Car's ride.
The Ghost Chase Ride.
The next day we did some clothes shopping for the kids (Gma Geri loves to spoil them) and went to my cousin's Graduation BBQ. It was great to see part of the extended family. We drove back to P-town that night and spent the next few day's going to a church BBQ, playing at the park, going out to dinner, visiting my brother and his family, and hanging out at my parents house. Thanks for a fun trip Padres!

The flight to and from Cali with a 2 year old and 4 month old on my own wasn't as bad as I expected. Hannah kept busy with books, a lap top toy, movies, and snack's while Liam kept busy nursing, sleeping, and smiling at anyone who would look at him. He made quite a few friends on that trip. Babies have a regressive affect on adults, and I love it. A lady that sat near us told Jake that he was lucky to have such a wonderful and calm mother for his children. She said that she see's a lot of mom's who travel on their own and seem stressed and uptight. Thank you nice lady for noticing that I didn't flip out when Hannah threw minor tantrum's or Liam tried to do #2 out of his diaper. I appreciate it :-)

Saying goodbye to Grandma Geri at the airport. The kids love their Gma Geri and Papa!