Adair Family

So, a YEAR later...

2010-07-20T19:50:00.001-07:00

I have tried to keep this blog chronological, but the longer I go between posts, the more hopeless it feels to go back and fill everything in...so I'm just going to start from here and try to fill in the holes...whenever I have time. Which is probably not going to be very often, but it's better than nothing! :)

So, we're having another baby! It's a girl due September 23, and we plan to name her Kathryn Elisabeth. Kathryn is my grandmother's and my sister's name, and they were both also born in September. It's also James's mom's name (spelled the same way!), so it was just too perfect of a name not to choose. And Elisabeth is a family name on my mom's side. Liam will be 2 1/2 by the time she's born, and *hopefully* potty-trained. He's not making any promises, though.

We moved Liam from his room into the back bedroom (my old office...now I work solely from the bonus room. It's actually a little more convenient to have the computer and all my supplies all in one room). The back bedroom is a smidge bigger, so that if we're still in this house for a while, his crib will fit better when we convert it to a full-sized bed. Here are pics of his new "big boy" room:

We added a ceiling fan, new blinds (the LAST room to finally get replaced from the plastic mini-blinds that were here when we moved in...YAY!), crown moulding and panelling and painted the top portion "Mudpie" from Valspar (how appropriate for a little boy's room!), all based on a photo I found in the Restoration Hardware Baby & Child catalog that I LOVED http://www.rhbabyandchild.com/rhbc/design-gallery/index.jsp?navAction=jump&navCount=0&categoryId=rhbc_cat115024#roomid=300018&roomtypeid=100002 (James is such a good sport, and thankfully, very handy!) Though he swears he will never put up crown moulding again. I think we did a pretty good job, but all the angles are so confusing, and combined with all of my raging pregnancy hormones, it made for good argument fuel :)

Cowboy theme...not too much, though. He's obsessed with Woody from Toy Story...I just couldn't do a Disney theme, so this is the next best thing until he gets old enough to really care about how his room is decorated! Ha!

My friend Mandy brought this sweet little sign for him when she heard of his "cowboy" theme...so cute!

I also painted a star on the wall above his crib and attached the letters from his old room (now painted a lighter brown than the wall), so that they stand out about 1/2 from the wall. I still want to make a lumbar pillow for the chair, and get a few photos framed from his cowboy birthday party, but other than that, I think it's done.

And here are pics of miss Katie Beth's new room (Liam's old room)! No new panelling or crown moulding in here (whew!) just new paint color. I fell in love with the crib from Restoration Hardware (on sale...thank goodness!) and since it was kind of a splurge, we made up for it by sanding and painting our old 1990's-fabulous master bedroom furniture pistachio (we got a new master bedroom set for my 30th birthday last year...I'm a lucky girl!) and replaced the brass hardware with chocolate brown cup pulls...looks brand new! I couldn't be happier!

There is a tiny bit of a bird theme, right now there is a fat little bird and a birdhouse on top of the armoire and a sweet little cast-iron bell with a birdie on top on the shelf above her dresser/changing table. I'm looking for bird-shaped push pins for her corkboard above her bed...so far I've found some pewter ones online that I thought I could paint the same color brown as the furniture hardware...

...but I'm not totally in love with them yet, so I'll keep looking. I also just found iron bird-shaped wine corks in the new Pottery Barn catalog that I thought might make perfect finials for the top of her crib...
...IF I decide not to do a fabric canopy. Decisions, decisions...

I ordered the fabric for the curtains online and it was *supposed* to be coral (my friend Catherine gave me the inspiration to use coral from her coral/aqua/celery nursery for her baby girl...check out her blog on my links...it's amazing!), but it turned out to be a bit more orange than I anticipated. I still loved the floral print though, and I thought the color still went well with the green in the furniture and green bumper backing, so I went with it, and I'm happy now that I decided to keep it. The rocking chair was my mom's that she used for both my sisters and me, and I also used it with Liam before we got the glider for Christmas. And I found the floor lamp at a model home sale a few years ago, thinking it would be perfect for a little girl's room...if I ever had one. I am SO happy to get to use it for exactly that purpose! God is so good!

And I found the seagrass rug on sale at Lowe's (it smells SO good!) and chose the wall color based on the edging. I would have rather had chocolate brown edging, but the price was waaay too good to pass up...and I actually like the tan edging better now, I think.

Here is the bedding...I used a natural colored waffle-weave fabric for the inset, dyed it brown and had it embroidered with her initials before sewing the whole thing together (I used the extra waffle-weave to make a matching pillow for the rocker).

My sister Amy gave us this sweet little flat bunny with "Katie Beth" embroidered in its ear. So cute!

The bumper backing fabric...also ordered online, but it was a Waverly pattern I had already seen at JoAnn's so I knew what color to expect. I just found it at half the price online :) And I ordered a giant 100-yard spool of brown grosgrain ribbon online for all of the trim for the drapes and bedding, the bumper ruffle and ties. So there you have it! My sister Brie was a HUGE help in painting both rooms and the furniture, I couldn't have done it without her! And Amy helped paint and arrange furniture, too, even with a newborn to care for...I have AWESOME family! Now I can't wait for our new addition to arrive! Only 8 more weeks to go...I never expected to have everything ready this far in advance...so unlike me! :)

Yellow River Game Ranch!

2010-01-21T13:14:00.000-08:00

We went with Tara and Steve and Zoe to the Game Ranch...it was a first time for both Liam and Mommy! I think we were both a little surprised at how the deer were loose and NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING! Jeez, they were all up in our business! But Liam and Zoe loved every minute and were tuckered out after a very fun day!

Easter

2009-11-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

After Liam's birthday, we celebrated his first Easter. Confusing, I know...I wish Easter was on the same day every year. Anyway, he was born the day after Easter, so this was his first official visit from the Easter Bunny and getting all spiffied up for special Easter church. He loved finding all of the cheerios tucked inside his easter eggs, and then having dinner at Nana and Papa's house and digging into his basket of treats and toys there, too. Granny and Granddad also gave him a special basket with candy and goodies. He is a very lucky boy!

Not a fan of the bunny ears, Mom. Don't make me look dumb.

Farewell, Baxter

2009-11-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

It has occurred to me that I have left a significant piece of information escape the blog. Baxter is no longer with us.

Before you mourn, know that she is most definitely in a better place. She is happily residing on a farm in Texas with a child-free retiree, likely chasing chickens and reveling her restored status of Queen Bee.

Here's how it all happened: a few months before Christmas last year, James was leaving for work. Ever since she was a puppy, Baxter had shared our bedroom and snored happily at my feet on my side of the bed. Towards the end of my pregnancy, however, mama needed her space and Baxter was banished from sleeping on the bed. Then along came Baby Liam and while Baxter was still allowed to sleep in our room, things were getting crowded.

Baxter was an excellent guard dog. I always felt safe at home by myself with her near - she never let anyone come to the door without a hearty welcome (whether Liam was sleeping or not...guests had to be announced, and loudly!) She also had a habit of "protecting" me in our bedroom after James left for work. When James would leave in the morning (VERY early), he would shut the bedroom door behind him and leave Baxter, Liam and I to sleep until the sun finally came up. If he should happen to forget something in the bedroom after Baxter had already settled herself in front of the door, well, that was just not all right with her! She'd snarl and bark and wake everyone up...but hey, she was just making sure her precious mama and baby were safe!

One fateful morning, James left his keys in the bedroom after he shut the door and came back in to get them. Baxter, as usual, prepared to protect her family and jumped to attention. James, ready for the barking, quickly bent down to shush her. It all happened so fast...all I remember was James bolting upright, holding his face and saying in shock, "She bit me!"

I jumped up and followed him to the bathroom and we assessed the damage...sure enough, Baxter had caught James right above his lip and it wasn't pretty. Not a huge "rush to the emergency room" kind of gash, but it definitely should have had stitches. He still has a scar.

Baxter was hiding under the bed and was very, very sorry. But the damage was done. What if that had been Liam in a year or so, coming into our room after a bad dream? The thought of having Baxter put down never entered our minds. She was a wonderful dog, it was an accident, and who could blame her for protecting her family?
A couple of days went by while we anguished over what to do. The obvious solution would be to find a new home for her without children (she was not a fan of anyone under 4 feet tall except Liam...I suppose she assumed they were a threat to her position in the pack). But who was going to want a 50-lb, 5 year old slobbering ball of wrinkles and muscle?

The answer came so quickly it could only have been planned above. A good friend of ours called (she didn't know of the incident) and asked out of the blue if we ever thought of finding a home for Baxter. Most of our friends knew we had some reservations about how Baxter would do with Liam as he grew, so this wasn't of line at all. Our friend had a co-worker who was looking for a trained English Bulldog as a companion for her mother on her farm in Texas. Within the week, they had come to meet Baxter, were informed of her protective nature, and decided it would be a good match. Arrangements were made to fly her to the ranch. Surprisingly, I was not that upset...babies outrank dogs in the family order any day, and NOTHING was going to hurt my baby if I could help it. I had always called Baxter my "practice baby", but nothing could have prepared me for how much I could love another person, and sadly, we bid Baxter farewell.

We received an update that Baxter was happy and loved watching the goats on the farm and sleeping at her new master's feet. Our bedroom is now much less crowded with Liam in his own room now, and no chainsaw-decibel bulldog sawing logs at my feet.

I still miss her, and I'm sad about how things happened, but I'm happy that she has a good home where she can be loved and bring someone else as much joy as she did for us.

Farewell, sweet friend.

First Birthday Party!

2009-11-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

We had planned to have most of Liam's first birthday party outside, but Mother Nature had different plans. It rained all day and forced 50 of our closest friends indoors! We had a great time eating a yummy Lowcountry boil that James cooked on the back porch under some tents and Liam was adorable opening presents and of course, eating his cake. Our AWESOME neighbor Jason Fobart brought his camera and took the most amazing pictures...so if the photos below are beautiful, they're his (my photos are also sprinkled in...you'll be able to tell the difference!). :)

mailbox with monogramed pennant I designed for the little man

the back porch feebly covered in tents...

my girls!

still not walking by myself yet, but I love to practice!

party favors for my friends

Practice Birthday

2009-11-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

Aunt Brie decided we needed to have a practice run for birthday cake, so she came over a few days before the party with a birthday card, a delicious little cupcake and a candle that played "Happy Birthday"! I still can't get over how fat this little guy used to be! He still doesn't like getting things on his hands, he likes to have them wiped off and clean...hopefully that will come in handy during flu season! :)

First Haircut

2009-11-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

So it was bound to happen...I got them out of order. Noone is going to care except for me, I need to loosen up! Anyway, he was just adorable and such a good boy! We had to be looking good for our upcoming birthday party (pics of that coming soon, too) It's where we discovered the bubbles and he's been in love ever since. :) Seriously, he is such a happy baby!

One week after the snowstorm...

2009-11-13T20:12:00.001-08:00

...we were playing outside in our bare feet. Got to love the weather in Georgia! I think we had just gotten done having dinner at Joe's and it was just too nice to go inside. He had discovered bubbles and we had a great time just playing and spinning and hanging out.

SNOW!

2009-11-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

OK, as I said, these have to be in order, so here are some pics from the snowstorm we had in March. He was so cute all bundled up! He tried to crawl in the snow a little, but mostly just wanted to be snuggled up. Brie, James and made a snow family after the wee one went down for a nap. We wanted to sled, but the snow was too wet so we stuck to making snowmen. :)

The video that kept me from blogging:

2009-11-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm watching it, its cute, but not cute enough that I should have taken a 9-month hiatus. He is so little in this clip! It's funny to see how bumbly his little hands are. I love this kid.

Anyway, prepare for almost a year in fast forward! Allison, your tough love has snapped me out of it! :)

I've been deleted.

2009-11-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

I just learned that I've been deleted from a friend's "favorite blogs" list. I suppose it's fair, since I haven't posted in 9 months, but it still stings. I have the sweetest video of Liam at the aquarium that I wanted to post (and it WOULD NOT post, I don't know why), and being OCD, I wanted the posts to be in order (also the reason I have nothing on the LBF blog either). There are just not enough hours in the day...I don't know whats going to happen when we have another baby (no news there, either, just making an observation).

Anyway, I hereby promise to be better at blogging and I am crossing my fingers that I make it back on the "favorite blogs" list. :)

Aquarium

2009-02-09T19:44:00.001-08:00

My favorite Christmas gift this year was a pair of tickets to the Georgia Aquarium from James. I have wanted to go since it opened, and when we found out we were pregnant, I was so excited about going with the baby. Liam was the perfect age - awake and alert enough to really appreciate all that was going on around him, yet small enough to carry or push comfortably in the stroller.

He loved the coral reef and whale shark exhibits the best - lots of color and movement. He stood at the glass wall for 30 minutes just watching the huge fish go by. We all had a great time!

Christmas and New Year

2009-02-09T19:36:00.001-08:00

Liam's first Christmas morning was fun...he actually was interested in his toys more than the paper. He was spoiled rotten being the only grandbaby on both sides and the only nephew to my two sisters!

And here he is on New Year's Day morning wearing Natalie's shoes after the festivities at our house the night before. I was nervous that he wouldn't sleep at all, especially with a house full of noise and fireworks going off throughout the entire neighborhood. We put him to bed at 7:00 that evening and he didn't wake up AT ALL until 7:00 the next morning! We even checked on him a few times to make sure he was okay, he was so quiet. He was his normal cheerful self the next morning!

Crawling!!!

2009-02-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

Liam decided to give us the wonderful gift of his crawling about a week before Christmas! He's SO fast now...more on that later...but here he is on the first day he decided that crawling was more efficient than rolling everywhere:

Back in business!

2009-02-08T20:06:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it's been two whole months since my last post! I promise to be better - Christmas this year was a complete blur! So much has happened and Liam has gotten so big...here are a few highlights in the next few posts.

We went to visit James's great aunt Rudy (James's mom's aunt and Liam's great, great aunt) before Christmas. She's a spunky little lady and it was a real treat to introduce Liam to her!

Liam meets Santa

2008-12-11T14:26:00.001-08:00

James had the day off today (thanks, rain!), so we went to the Mall of Georgia to take care of a very important Christmas tradition-in-the-making: visiting Santa Claus! I think I was secretly hoping for a classic screaming-baby shot, but he did very well! (I'm sure we'll have one of those eventually!) He was pretty interested in Santa's outfit...all in all, I think he did pretty well! See you next year, Santa!

Thanksgiving post - finally!

2008-12-05T21:03:00.001-08:00

Well, it's a week late, but here are pics from Thanksgiving! My youngest sister, Brie, closed on her first house the day before, so we have been busy painting and moving her in since then.

Liam quite enjoyed his first Thanksgiving...he tried real mashed potatoes (loved them), sweet potatoes (hated them), and pretty much anything else that was soft and mushy. He also got to meet Bella, my sister Amy's chihuahua/mountain feist mix. Not a fan. He spent the last part of his time at G&G Neuhart's snuggled up on Grandma's shoulder on the swing, one of his favorite places to be. Then it was off to the Adair's for a delicious honeybaked ham dinner...and James reportedly LOST 3 pounds over the weekend. Jerk.

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Liam and his Uncle Nick

Aunt Amy and Uncle Nick

Meeting Bella...

...yikes!

Aunt Amy and Aunt Brie
Too cool for Ladderball
I don't think she's winning...Nope!

Enjoying all of the "free time"!

Watch that necklace, Grandma!

That looks like a sleepy kid!

I love those cheeks!!!

Yup, sleepy kid.

It's hard work being a baby.

Playing with Daddy at G&G Adair's house

Trying out my awesome new highchair at G&G Adair's

Check out my two new teeth!

I can eat Cheerios really well with them now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Opening Mail - Part II

2008-11-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

So it's been a couple of months since Liam cracked up when I opened the mail. I had tried several time since, but it just wasn't hilarious to him anymore...until this morning! For whatever reason, the comedic value of ripping paper has returned! Enjoy!

Oh, and also note how he's trying to move about...he's still not quite crawling, but he scoots and rolls short distances to get what he wants. He'll even rock on his hands and knees...time to start baby-proofing the house!

Liam's friends

2008-11-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

Liam attended his first ever birthday party on Sunday for Brayden Durham (the big number "5"!), and he also had a playdate with Emory Johnson on Friday (5 weeks). He learned to swing at the party and I think he really wanted to go down the slide, but he definitely had a great time watching all the kids run around.

Brayden's birthday party:

Playdate with Emory:

First Tooth!

2008-11-03T12:08:00.001-08:00

YAY! Liam has been working on getting his first two teeth in for the past week or so, and I noticed today at the grocery store that it looked like one had finally poked through! Of course I didn't want to stick my nasty-shopping-cart-germs-hands in his mouth to find out, so I waited until we got home to check. Sure enough, he had cut the tiniest little speck of tooth! It's in the bottom left center...here's a video of me trying to get him to bite on the spoon so you can hear it, because I knew it would be next to impossible to get a photo of it this early. He's hardly fussed about it at all...he's such a good baby!

Messy baby!

2008-10-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

Liam was practicing feeding himself last night and made quite a mess! He was a joyful little mess, though, despite his swollen gums. You can kind of see in the pictures the two "bumps" on the front of his bottom gums where the little toofies are budding.

I'm looking forward to dressing up the monkey tonight and getting candy! Happy Halloween!

Lil' Monkey

2008-10-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

And here he is with his Aunt Brie! Only a few days to go until Halloween!
It's so tempting to use him as our ticket to free candy!

The sun was too bright in his eyes to get him to smile at the camera...

He looks so tough in this picture. Gangsta monkey.

Facebook

2008-10-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

I'm addicted.

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No time to blog...must send friend requests...

OK, I promise to post more soon. I just finished Liam's halloween costume! (Here it is sans baby...he's napping. We'll do a final fitting when he wakes up!) I think I'm going to be a safari girl...I got a pith helmet and I think I'll just wear khaki shorts, a white shirt and my hiking boots. Easy & comfortable...noone will be looking at me anyway, with such cute competition!

7 months

2008-10-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

Little man will be 7 months old on Thursday...another month gone! I am pretty sure he's teething for real now, he's waking up in the middle of the night, feeling his gums with his tongue and he's just generally fussier than normal. I'll be glad when the little teeth pop through and he feels better.

Anyway, here are some shots I took this afternoon...I was't sure how the rest of the week would pan out and today was wide open, so I wanted to get some good shots as close to his birthday as possible. :)

Hilton Head

2008-10-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

We just got in from another wonderful weekend on Hilton Head island...our last for the year. :( One of my sorority sisters got married there on Saturday (which was absolutely gorgeous, Kristin!!!), so my mom and dad came with us to watch the baby while we got our party on with my Sigma Kappa girls. Brie, Amy and Nick came, too, and a good time was had by all!

Here is a video from Friday morning...the weather was perfect; just warm enough to appreciate the shade. Liam again was a champ and napped on the beach in his little tent, but this time he also enjoyed just sitting inside and contributing to conversation. He is my favorite baby in the world!

Feeding himself

2008-10-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

So I had a much longer, cuter video with him laughing and slapping the tray, but Movie Maker kept stalling out on me. grrr...

Anyway, here is the video of the pork chop feeding himself. I gave him these little Gerber puffs to eat this morning, and he was grabbing them by the handful. I think he likes this new skil...I do too, honestly, because he has outgrown sitting in his Bumbo and watching me. He arches his back so hard I just know he's going to pop right out. So feeding himself in his high chair keeps him entertained while I do laundry, dishes, eat my own breakfast, etc.

Enjoy! :)

Some random pictures

2008-10-14T18:19:00.001-07:00

I actually took these two outside shots under the tree in our front yard about a month ago...you can tell b/c everything is still green. I love his rosy little cheeks in the second one.

And this one just cracks me up every time...it's a few weeks old, too.
And then James took this one tonight while getting him ready for bed. I was working downstairs and heard all kinds of commotion coming from his room - including stomping, squealing and hysterical laughing. You can see in the photo that Liam can now hold himself up if you give him something to hold onto...James was popping in and out of the room and Liam just thought it was hilarious!
And one more accomplishment that we don't yet have a photo of is his ability to feed himself (we do have video, though...coming soon!). My friend Kristin gave us some Baby Mum Mum Rice Rusks...Liam loved them! They're big enough for him to pick up and stuff in his mouth, and they're not too messy. He loves to sit in his high chair and eat them while we have dinner. He's also figured out that mommy and daddy's food tastes good too - I was sitting on the floor playing with him tonight and eating a chocolate chip cookie and he kept following the cookie with his eyes. I broke off a tiny soft piece (no chips, though) for him...then it was all over. As soon as he had gummed it and swallowed it, he was lunging at me/the cookie with his mouth wide open for more. Guess he got his mommy's sweet tooth!

That's all for now...I'll work on editing the video soon!

6 month portraits

2008-09-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

After Liam's 6 month checkup this morning, we went to get his picture taken to mark his "half" birthday. I wasn't expecting too much, given he had just received 4 shots, but I think he did very well! He checked out OK at his appointment...18 lbs 11 oz, (70th percentile...the kid likes to eat!) and he was in the 43rd percentile for his height (sorry...no tall genes from mom or dad) and 69th for head circumference (big brain!!!).
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He did, however, have a slight "click" in his hips. His pediatrician said that nine times out of ten it's nothing, but just to be sure, she scheduled some x-rays of his hips at Egleston. Even if there is something wrong, the treatment is apparently not that bad...basically a really tight diaper for 4 weeks to tighten things up. We'll go in on Monday for the x-rays...we'll see how he does!
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So anyway, here are the portraits. He was a dream, you'd never know his chubby little thighs were covered in band-aids! Oh! And he finally rolled from his back to his belly this morning! Yay! He's been rolling from belly to back for a few weeks now, but he was lying on the bed next to me this morning and was trying his hardest to reach for me and *poof* it just happened! James was on the phone, so he got to share the excitement...but I'm so glad I got to share that little victory with him.

6 months old today

2008-09-24T20:05:00.001-07:00

Today my baby turned 6 months old.

Where did my tiny little newborn go? The sweet little miracle I prayed so hard for and waited my whole life to meet who came screaming into this world just 26 1/2 weeks ago...how did he turn into this chubby little creature who smiles and chatters and laughs at my silly faces? Will I ever get used to how fast he's growing?

Every sleepless night spent helplessly trying to soothe him, every moment of exhaustion spent holding him close and trying to make him feel safe, every dirty diaper changed, every bottle warmed and fed, every minute spent playing and teaching him to become independent...where did it all go?

And it's only been six months. A blink of an eye. Another six months and he'll be calling me by name. Crawling...maybe walking...feeding himself. Soon he'll be running and testing his boundaries, becoming a little person with his own dreams and abilities. I want to give him so much, every opportunity, every happiness, to teach him to be good and kind and strong...

Will he ever know how much I love him? Probably not until he has a child of his own. I had no idea, and still probably have no idea, how much my parents love me until I became a parent myself. How my every thought revolves around him and how all of my decisions will impact him and his life. I am so humbled to be entrusted with this precious little life. I am so unequipped, so flawed and fallen that it scares me silly that I am responsible for raising him and teaching him how to live.

Yet I have been redeemed, bought at a price. And because of this, I have hope that I can raise this child, along with my husband and our families. Raise him to be a good, kind and strong man who knows and loves Jesus and will teach his children to do the same. Will I ever know how much God loves me? Probably not, but now that I have a child of my own, it gives His sacrifice such new meaning. Before we were blessed with Liam, I gave him to God in my heart. It is a struggle every day to stay true to this promise. My flesh wants to claim him as my own. But I know that he was a gift, and entrusted to my care for only a little while.

So I solicit your prayers, that I may be a good mother to this little miracle. That I will put my own wants and desires for his life aside and be open to what God has planned for him. I know it will be far greater than anything I could ever give him. I thank everyone who has already invested in his life, and for those who read this from afar that pray for our little blessing. Thank you.

Who knew...

2008-09-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

...that opening mail could be so much fun! I was tearing open an envelope this morning when he just randomly started laughing like it was the funniest thing ever! I ran to get the camera...thus began our new little game! I absolutely love being able to share these precious little moments with him. He's such a funny little guy!

Burpcloths

2008-09-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

I recently made some burpcloths for some friends who were having babies. They're made from cloth diapers with some ribbon sewn on and their initials monogrammed...easy to make and fun to give! These will eventually go on the La Belle Fete Enfents site...whenever that gets up & running! :)

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day weekend, my parents, my sisters & I all squeezed in one more trip to Hilton Head Island...leaving James and Nick at home to catch the first Georgia game of the season. Liam was an angel the whole trip...he's getting to be so much fun! Here are some pics we took this morning before we left:

We almost always go crabbing at a small tidal creek not far from where we stay...but this time, we were brave enough to actually get IN the creek and let the outgoing tide's current pull us along...quite fun! I love my sisters so much - we had a wonderful time bonding and getting to spend quality time together sans boys!

Here's some video of the first part of the creek (the scary, deep part). It continues about 200 more yards around a curve and finally dumps out into the ocean just to the right of where we're standing in the pictures above. It will be fun to see if Liam is big enough to enjoy it with us next summer.

The little monkey is also chatting up a storm these days...here he is talking it up to the camera:

He was such a good baby and took all of his naps right on schedule down on the beach with us. Grandpa had bought him a little tent this spring and he was happy as a clam to just lay inside and listen to the wind until he fell asleep.

Here he is for another swimming experience. The tidal pools were perfect for him this time...nice and warm and shallow enough for him to sit in. He's still not splashing quite yet, but he's getting more and more deliberate in his actions and he amazes me daily with how much he's able to do. (Warning,this video is a couple minutes long...)

After swimming...he's definitely going to be a little water baby!

Future Bulldog!

And here's a very sleepy kid up waaay past his bedtime last night for a nice dinner out. A perfect ending to a wonderful weekend at the beach!

followup...

2008-08-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to say as a followup to my last post that diapers totally suck now. That's all.

2008-08-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

My baby is getting so big!

I took this picture last week sans diaper...I was trying to capture one of his newest skills...getting his toes in his mouth! He's also sitting up unsupported if you sit him up. He can't sit himself up quite yet, but he can sit up for a while playing with toys or examining his feet. He's also now making what we call "grabbie hands". He reaches for everything, and if it's too big for him to grasp (like a shoulder or his crib bumper), he opens and closes his fist against it. It's really sweet when I'm putting him down for the night and he does his little "grabbie hands" on my shoulder or cheek.

He's also tearing up some baby food! Here he is eating bananas on Friday and prunes this morning:

He's finally getting the hang of eating off of a spoon...it's so fun to sit and feed him and talk to him. Currently he loves rice cereal, applesauce, bananas, peaches, pears, and now prunes. We'll probably start vegetables next week...hopefully he likes them as much as he likes fruit!

Well, I hear the little monkey now waking up from his nap. He sounds hungry! :)

New Blog!

2008-08-14T13:53:00.001-07:00

Hey all!

Well, as I started getting better at this whole "blogging" thing, I decided it was about time for me to start a blog dedicated to my business and try to maximize exposure: http://www.labellefete.blogspot.com/. I added it to our list of "friends" to the left, but take a look if you have a sec...I'd love your feedback! Also pass it out to any your friends who may be planning their own wedding in the near future! Thanks!

Visiting Family in Ohio!

2008-07-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

We went to Ohio for a long weekend (Wednesday through Sunday) to visit family. Here are some pics from the trip!

***

Thursday visit to the Longaberger Homestead outside Newark with Great Grandma Embrey (my mom's mom)...sort of a cross between a park and a mall where you can buy expensive baskets :)

Aunt Brie being silly!

Sitting up all by myself!!!

OK, not really...but I'm practicing really hard!

Friday we went to visit Great Grandma Neuhart (My Dad's mom) in our hometown of New Concord.

Friday evening we went to my Uncle Kenny (my dad's brother) and Aunt Pam's house just outside Columbus for dinner. My cousin Lyndsey and Brian had their baby Cohen 6 weeks before Liam was born. It was so fun to see them interact!

Friday night we went to my Uncle Denny (my dad's twin) and Aunt Susan's house just outside Cincinatti (busy day!!!) and spent Saturday shopping and hanging out...I hate that I did not get any pictures that day! Liam was such a good baby the entire trip. Thank you, everyone for such a wonderful visit!

Belly Laughs

2008-07-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

Noone can make the baby laugh like James does. I try every day, but he's got the magic touch when it comes to making Liam laugh out loud. This is hands down the best sound in the world!

Liam's first dip in the ocean

2008-07-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

Finally, the much-requested video of Liam's first ocean experience!

He seemed not to mind, though I'm sure he'll enjoy it more next year.

First taste of baby food

2008-07-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

So he may be a few weeks from really being able to take on baby food, but we decided to give him a little taste last weekend. As you can see, he's not really a fan. He just had his first taste of rice cereal this evening for dinner...again, I think only about half a teaspoon actually made its way down. Eating from a spoon is a completely different ballgame & is so much messier than I realized! We'll just try a little at a time until he gets better at it. He's a good sport. :)

Hungry Baby

2008-07-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

OK, so I went back and forth on whether or not to post this video, and I decided to go ahead and do it. I was warming up his bottle and he was not happy about waiting for it. Enjoy!

Family Vacation 2008

2008-07-07T19:53:00.001-07:00

We went to Hilton Head for our annual family vacation last week. It was a blast, as usual! Liam was spoiled rotten the whole time, he loved being held and cuddled and played with. He was such a good baby the entire week!

We decided to take a break from our usual offshore fishing trip this year to try kayaking...it was great! The scenery was beautiful and we had a great time...despite my kayak not having a rudder (which made me look like the novice I really was) and my dad taking a spill (the pictures of which I promised would not "end up on the internet"). All in all, it was a great morning!
And here is the little monkey's first dip in the ocean. He seemed not to mind, the water was calm and warm. I'll post some video of the experience soon...

Aunt Brie playing paddleball...OK, not playing anymore, just goofing off. Cool picture though!
Aunt Amy demonstrating a mean serve...
Aunt Brie and "Aunt" Jackie
Liam loves his Uncle Nick!

The best part about being on vacation...sleeping in!

This is the face of a hungry child...Where is this kid's bottle???
Ahh...there it is...
Quiet at last!

More hijinks on the beach for our fireworks show...

A week never seems long enough...and next year's trip seems so far away! It did make it easier to leave, though, knowing we'll be back to HH in October for Kristin's wedding...yay!

Liam Smiling

2008-06-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Our first video post! James was playing with Liam on Father's Day (singing "Fatman" to him...seriously, he's a chunk!) before we left for dinner at my mom & dad's, and the baby was just cracking up! He's mostly just smiling and making sweet little baby sounds. I can't wait for the belly laughs, those will be so great! :)

Father's Day

2008-06-15T20:15:00.001-07:00

The little monkey is growing like a weed - he was 12 lbs 11 oz at his 2 month appointment when he got his immunizations (so hard to watch, btw), but he won't have another appointment until he hits 4 months, so we might have to do an "unofficial" weigh-in ourselves to see how big he is now. He's smiling up a storm and getting very good at holding his head up, especially in his Bumbo seat (I'll post some of those photos tomorrow). And two nights ago he surprised us with his first little baby laugh. I cried. Then he did it again today at dinner - I cheered so hard it scared him! He just melts my heart.
***
Anyway, here are photos of the two most handsome men in my life. James is such a great father. I hope Liam grows up to be a great man like his daddy. :)

He was cracking up at James in this picture. James was singing "Fatman" (to the tune of "Batman" ) to him - he just thought it was hilarious!

First day at the pool

2008-05-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

Liam had his first swimming lesson this afternoon...well, not really swimming, just kicking around and testing out the cold water. He should enjoy it a lot more once the water warms up, but for now, he's happier snuggled up on a dry shoulder.

Getting lotioned up...

What could he be so mad about? He was happy 5 seconds ago!
Awesome double chin!!!
Mad again...

I love that fat belly!

It's too cold, mom.

He's also getting a lot better at holding his head up on his own. It's still a little wobbly, though, especially when he's tired. It just feels like he was a helpless little bag of sugar for so long, and now he's changing so fast. I still have days when I can't believe I'm a mama. He's grown out of a bunch of his newborn outfits...I can't wait to see how much he weighs at his 2 month checkup on Thursday. He's the sweetest little thing in the world!

My baby smiles at me!

2008-05-23T07:21:00.001-07:00

As Liam approaches his nine week birthday on Monday, I thought I'd beter get on the ball and record some of the events of the last couple of weeks.

***

Weeks seven and eight were full of exciting events...first, he started smiling! Real, honest-to-goodness smiles that could in no way be mistaken for gas! Ha! He's such a happy little guy, especially in the morning. I just kept the camera on the bookshelf above his changing table for the past two weeks and took pictures of him smiling at me. It's the best feeling in the world!

Of course, it's equally as cute (maybe more) when he frowns. That little lower lip just kills me. You can't help but make the same face right back at him. I love this baby.

Another milestone was his "talking". He's been cooing and ahh-ing up a storm...again, especially first thing in the morning. We'll have whole conversations together just smiling and making baby sounds...it's the best! James and I had the best time playing with him last night before bed. Liam just loves making faces and talking to his daddy. :)

I just have to scoop him up and cuddle him when he starts frowning. He absolutely melts my heart. :)

And probably one of the biggest milestones of the past two weeks was his ability to sleep through the night! The first night was on the 15th at 7 1/2 weeks when he slept a solid 8 hours. I woke up and it was daylight and realized I hadn't gotten up all night...I jumped out of bed & looked in his bassinet - he was just lying there looking around and kicking his little feet. But then the next night it was back to the 3:00 a.m. feeding. He's sleping longer stretches (averaging about 5 hours at a time right now) as the weeks go by, and he slept another eight hours this week on the 20th at 8 weeks.

***

So there you have it! I have the most amazing baby in the world!

Our first Mother's Day and Liam's Dedication

2008-05-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

My first Mother's Day was wonderful & sure to be a day full of sweet memories. We chose today to have Liam dedicated to the Lord at Church - it's something we did in our hearts before he was even born, but the outward expression was just as important. Here are some pics from the day...

It's a good thing Pastor Jeff had his mic turned up - Liam got pretty rowdy!

Here we are with the proud grandparents
When will this be over & I can eat?!?!

My mom had everyone back over to the house for lunch after Church. Poor Liam was tuckered out after such an eventful service!

Sunday School Picnic

2008-05-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Liam enjoyed some outdoor time at his first Church picnic on Sunday. The weather was perfect and the company was wonderful! Here are some pics from the afternoon :)

Liam's buddy Harper Davis

And afterwards, it was high time for a much-needed nap for mommy & baby. A perfect Sunday afternoon!

Eyes turning brown?

2008-05-01T12:50:00.001-07:00

James and I noticed two days ago while holding him in the sunlight that he had a pie-shaped brown streak in one eye! His eyes have been dark blue since birth, but this is the first brown we've seen. I thought they would just gradually turn from blue to bluish-brown to brown (if they were going to change)...so this was pretty cool!

I'll try to keep track of the progress & if we notice any more changes...

Funny faces

2008-04-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

Funny faces! One of the rare moments he was awake and very expressive! Note how the series ends, though...a more typical picture of his wake time :)

We were concerned with how Baxter would do around him...she's not so good around toddlers. She's mostly curious and pretty gentle around him. She runs back and forth between his bassinet (or wherever he's sleeping) and me when he starts crying with her ears pinned back - so funny. She's a great dog, we're happy she's good with him.

And here he is after his 4:00 feeding. Note the wardrobe change - he projectile puked half of it back up on me. Nice. But despite the puking (really doesn't happen that much), he's managed to pack on the pounds. He was 9 lbs. 10 oz. today at his one month checkup. Some of his clothes are getting tight, I can't believe how much he's changed in just one month.

He absolutely crushes me when he smiles...I can only imagine what it'll do to me when his smiles are actually because he's happy & not just a fluke caught on camera. Seriously, my heart aches with joy when I consider what an enourmous gift God has blessed us with.

1 Samuel 1:27-28

One Month Old

2008-04-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

The little man is officially one month old today...so hard to believe! I was sitting on the couch last night holding him asleep on my belly and I couldn't believe he ever fit in there. :)

Here he is having sweet little baby dreams...

He goes in for his one month checkup tomorrow. I can't wait to see how much the little fattie weighs!

He looks so peaceful...but don't let him fool you. If he's not sleeping, he's either eating or crying. In rare cases, he's content to sit and look around and make faces at us, which we love!Here he is asleep in his playpen. He likes to sleep all stretched out like his daddy. :)

First bath!

2008-04-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

Monday marked a milestone for baby Liam - the nasty cord stump fell off! Yay!

So he was officially ready for his first real in-the-tub bath. He handled it well...we were prepared to wrestle with a slippery, screaming 3-week old, but instead, he actually seemed to enjoy it!Big sneeze!

I thought he might not want this original photo resurfacing 16 years down the road, so I provided a bit of censorship for the lil' guy :) All clean!

One week portraits

2008-04-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

We wanted to remember how small and perfect he was when we first met our little munchkin, so we had portraits made on Tuesday.

So sleepy!
I love this one!

Connie says that when a baby this small smiles, angels are tickling his feet.

His angels must stay busy, because he smiles so much!

This one was my favorite...

Liam comes home!

2008-04-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

We brought the little bundle home on Wednesday (one week before his due date) and real life began to settle in slowly. Nothing could have prepared us for how much something so small could change our lives in such a big way. We're loving every minute!

***

Too tired to eat! He decided that once he got home, he didn't want to nurse anymore. We switched to formula out of necessity, but by the time he went to his first doctor's appointment on Friday, he had lost almost a pound and was jaundiced. Turns out that the jaundice made him sleepy, so he wouldn't eat. But he needed to eat to make the jaundice better. This was a tough couple of days until he decided he was ready to nurse again...the formula wasn't too kind to his tummy. But as of Monday, he's gained back all but 5 oz. of his birthweight and his jaundice is all but gone. Praise God!

Dad demonstrates the "football" hold that is SO effective in burping the little guy!

Uncle Nick gets a good dose of birth control from holding a very angry Liam. :) Autie Stef
Uncle Kent
Great Aunt Brenda and Great Uncle James came to see Liam all the way from Tennessee!
Grandad and Liam just hanging out...
Proud Granny

Have you ever seen such beautiful skin?
Fat baby = happy mama. Here we are after his weight check on Saturday.
He had gained 5 oz. in just one day!

Tired daddy! This was too sweet of a moment to miss.
Nana and Grandpa brought Liam a cupcake to celebrate his 1 week birthday.
We'll be happy to eat it for him! :) Thanks to Kelly for taking these pictures...

Wednesday morning (April 2) and our first day home without daddy...6:00 p.m. seems so far away!

Thanks to Katie for coming over for lunch and offering such wonderful fellowship and mommy advice!

Thanks to everyone who came to visit during the first few days - we loved seeing you all and sharing our little man with you!

More hospital pictures...

2008-04-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

We had so many visitors to welcome Liam - it was so good to see all of you!

Here are some pictures from the two days in the hospital after he was born.

Proud Nana & Grandpa

Liam meets his pediatrician

Auntie Meg
Uncle Jeremy and Auntie Erica
Girlfriend Zoe! Their due dates were actually he same day, but Zoe beat him by 11 days.
Aren't they cute together??

Liam Arrives!

2008-03-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

Just over a week early, little Liam decided to make his grand entrance at 10:50 p.m. on Monday, March 24th. Here are pictures from his birthday!

I went to my doctor's office at 9:15 a.m. to confirm that my water had actually broken earlier that morning. It wasn't dramatic like TV, so I wasn't sure. My doctor confirmed that my water had indeed broken, so they wheeled me over to labor & delivery where we began the waiting process.

Also - I don't know why it has decided to cut off all of the rest of the captions below this...I'll work on it again tomorrow :)

Dad making phone calls...

9:00 p.m. and still waiting. Brie reads me cards that her students made for me that day to wish us luck.

Amy was able to join us from Sandersville as well. I was so happy to have them both there. They were both scheduled to be out of town to San Diego and Nicaragua next week, so I was so glad Liam decided to come early!

Around 10:00 p.m., the rest of my water broke...this time it was dramatic like TV!! But I had the epidural by that time, so I wasn't feeling a thing. Things moved much faster after that...after about 30 minutes of pushing, Liam was here! He was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long...and another reason to be glad he came early!

First shampoo...not too sure about how much he likes this!

This is my favorite picture of the day.

Hello, Mama!

Nana and Grandpa

Grandad explains to Liam how he wore his UGA jacket just for him...but that he has orange Vol booties to give him later when he changes his mind :)

Granny

Auntie Brie

Auntie Amy...he'll get to meet Uncle Nick this weekend.

More photos to follow...this week has gone by so fast! Thank you to everyone for their phone calls, flowers, gifts, prayers and LOVE during this time!!! There are not words to express how much our hearts have grown since he arrived.. We give God the glory for this miracle and blessing!

Check back soon!

Nursery

2008-03-17T18:27:00.001-07:00

Here is the little guy's room...about 90% finished, now!

Still not sure about window treatments. Maybe a simple valance...nothing girly, anyway.

I still need to finish the rest of his bedding. Only one bumper so far, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

He'll be in a bassinet in our room for the first month or so, which should give me time to finish up the last three bumpers and a comforter for later.

Changing table/bookshelf combo. SO glad we went ahead and got the bookshelf, too...

though we might have to take out that bottom shelf as he gets bigger.

We'll see how long this stuff stays organized. :)

We've been so blessed - this little man is not going to want for anything!

Belly shots

2008-03-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

Me at 24 weeks (right around Christmastime) - I thought I was huge!

34 weeks38 weeks (Easter week) and stretched to the max...only 2 pairs of maternity pants still fit!

This may be the last picture we take, I feel enormous!

3-D ultrasounds 32 weeks

2008-03-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Tight quarters! That's his little foot in the bottom lefthand corner.

StarTrek?
Poor little smooshed up nose!

Charleston

2008-01-27T16:29:00.000-08:00

We took a long weekend to go to Charleston to enjoy ourselves before the baby arrives. Here is James looking cute on the famous Rainbow Row.

We visited several historic locations, including the Middleton Place Plantation, which dates back to the 1700's. Here I am sitting on a massive live oak overlooking twin butterfly lakes.
The plantation owners buried many of the garden statues and other valuables to protect them from Northern troops during the Civil War. The gardens around the plantation were amazing!

James makes friends with a rooster on the farm at the plantation.

The trees on the ground are about 800 years old. they were huge!

Here I am at the Aquarium overlooking the bay.

Snow!

2008-01-20T20:00:00.001-08:00

The snow this weekend wasn't nearly what the weathermen forecasted, but it was still enough to make things pretty. It snowed almost the entire day on Saturday, and if the ground hadn't been wet, it probably would have accumulated a lot more. Here are a few pictures from Sunday morning before it started melting.

Saturday morning at around 9:00 a.m. - it was coming down pretty good! You might have to zoom in to really appreciate this one.

Horizon Shower

2008-01-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

My wonderful co-workers Amy and Cheryl threw James and I a shower at work. Here are some pictures from the party...thanks, everyone for the wonderful gifts!

Crib Assembly

2008-01-15T19:19:00.001-08:00

We got the crib this past weekend - it really wasn't as hard to put together as we thought it would be after all the horror stories we heard. We completely forgot about the mattress, though - guess that means another trip to Babies R Us! That store is going to own us. :)

Baby's Room

2008-01-07T17:15:00.001-08:00

Here is the furniture we'll order in the next couple of weeks & where we plan to put it in the room.

Putting up the wainscoting

You can see the bottom of the new ceiling fan here. Better pictures below...

Crown moulding up

Daddy getting ready to paint trim

putting down the first pieces of floor

cutting the baseboards

Finished at last!

The bassinet and swing will end up downstairs, but I wanted to have at least something "baby" in there until the furniture comes in.

23 week ultrasounds

2008-01-05T19:23:00.001-08:00

23 week Level II ultrasounds from the specialist's office.

They found out from the 20 week scans that he had SUA (Single Umbilical Artery), commonly known as a 2-vessel cord (a normal cord has 3: two arteries and one vein). They wanted to follow up with a Level II ultrasound to check all of his organs, pieces and parts to make sure there were no significant risks.

He checked out fine - completely perfect from head to toe! Praise God!

The only thing they'll watch him for now is to make sure he gets nice and big, 2-vessel cord babies are sometimes small and come early. Let's pray he stays put until he's nice and fat and arrives as close to April 2nd as possible!

You can see a cross section of the cord here just to the lower left of his fist.

The single artery compensates by getting bigger.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It's a close up of his face to check for any signs of a cleft palate.

You can see his lips and nostrils, and both of his arms up like he's rubbing his eyes with his fists. He must have been sleepy - we could watch him yawning during the entire scan.

20 week ultrasounds

2008-01-05T19:18:00.001-08:00

20 week ultrasounds from the doctor's office for a gender scan.

Estimated weight: 1 lb. 7 oz. He's getting so big!

16 week ultrasounds

2008-01-04T12:06:00.001-08:00

Here's our little pumpkin-head at 16 weeks. We went to get 3-D ultrasounds to determine the gender...it's a boy! They gave us a DVD set to sappy music, it was great! We'll probably go back and have more 3-D pictures done at around 30 weeks so we can see his little face better.

10 week ultrasounds

2008-01-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Our little teddy graham at 10 weeks.

We could see its heartbeat and watch it waving its little arms and legs flailing around. It was pretty emotional!