A Very Happy Birthday Boy

Since I'm lacking on content of the verbal variety, I thought I would cheat & post the video of Liam NOT screaming for us to be quiet while we sang Happy Birthday to him. I don't think it shocked anyone any more than it did him, to tell the truth though. Imagine his surprise when he discovered he actually LIKED 20 people singing to him??




Please don't ask why on Earth I handed him a knife. But, in my defense, he WAS asking for the LIGHTER. So there.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Liam Robert!

Mama loves you, Little Boy.
Running around, just like your true nature!
Cannot wait to find out what's around the corner.

The Good, The Bad & The Friday

Let's start with The Good, shall we?

Liam ended up at the doctor's last night (6:30pm) & we had a weigh in; I'm proud to report that he is 28.5 lbs. I'm every excited about this because he's gained 5 lbs. in the past 6 months & he's in the 50th percentile. I wanted him (in my head) to be about 30 lbs. OR 50% whatever was what, you know? He's not a chunky kid but I do like him to steadily gain weight as you already know about my food struggles with him & I'm pleased that he's in the 50% range & put on a nice bit of change there!

Let's follow up with The Bad, alrighty?

I mentioned Liam was at the doctor's last night; he was there because of a mystery rash that was all down his leg from above the knee down to the top of his foot. It could have looked like a bunch of bug bites, a rash or poison ivy (if I knew what that looked like...). He had a spot on his wrist also that was a bit more irritated but I never saw him scratch at it or bother about it. It wasn't getting better and it wasn't getting worse but it surely wasn't doing anything & it started to worry me. I waited to get my mom's second opinion & she was not excited about the patch on his wrist and was puzzled about the rest of it all herself.

I got on the phone and got him an appointment at 6:30, as I said, but at this point it was 6:10! We bolted out the door with instructions to call them when we were there & they would walk us through the back since we didn't know the origin of the rash & we might could contaminate the waiting room. Well then! Way to worry a parent more, right? But I'm glad they are cautious like that.

The rash is treatable with hydrocortizone lotion; which I had bought but was playing the Wait & See Game and should go away within a few days.

The Bad News is that she has seen numerous cases of this rash this week which makes me terribly uncomfortable. This means, to me, that something has been sprayed at the playgrounds that the kids are using. The rash only shows up on body parts that are not covered by clothing. It could also be something in the pool chemicals but that would not explain how many people have gone to the doctor about (and how many people haven't!!) unless somehow we ALL live in the same development. And we know that's not possible. It's not something I've changed cause I didn't go and change it in every other families household...

It's worrying me, to say the least. To the point of wanting to contact the local newspaper & report these mysterious rashes that have shown up in the last week at only one office. I have no idea how many offices are seeing cases, you know? Matias is saying it's pesticides & I agree that we will not be taking him back to the park that I took him to last until...until when? When do you consider something safe again? Until I get the news involved and find out if something has been sprayed on the equipment by accident or on purpose? I'm a worrier to begin with but this is totally throwing me off & into full on Worry Mode. I don't feel like I'm over reacting here either because this is my kid who has a mysterious rash for the love of god.

Now onto The Friday portion of our post today!

Five New Cute Things Liam is Doing This Week:

1. When he is in a shopping cart he now asks to "walk" instead.
2. Today when he was told he was going in Mama's car, he thought about it and said "no, Nana's car".
3. Instead of just tipping his dipping bowl of syrup up to drink it all, he actually dumped it onto his French toast and ate it properly!
4. He was putting Peanuts stickers on Nana & I last night and I got only Marcie stickers & I believe it was because they were both the same color, blue. Nana got a bunch of stickers today but Liam didn't have any! He'd much rather give them out than put them on himself.
5. He volunteered to be the Helper at Tumbles to demonstrate how to do a backwards tumble & he loved it! He really excels at this class & I'm still very thrilled that we have enrolled him in it. That and the 4 hour naps I get out of him ;) He also asked to do the Bill a Bah walk that he learned last week!

Tomorrow is his SECOND Birthday Party! I'm just about all set, only have things left to do tomorrow that can only be done tomorrow...

More family is arriving tonight & tomorrow so we are getting ready for a full house. I'll post pictures ASAP!

Have a great weekend everyone :) See ya on the flip side!

The chicken is in the pot...

We have Liam's birthday present! Well, about 95% of it, we have to go back on Saturday to get the remaining bits & pieces :) I'm not going to tell y'all what we got him until I can post pictures of the full set! I don't think I've mentioned what we are getting him & Nana you hush your mouth since I told you EVERYTHING we got him today, OK?! So excited! He's going to LOVE it!!

It's a little bit more than I was originally expecting/anticipating but it is really grand & I'm really not as worried about the long run as I thought I would be...am I being vague enough?

How about we do a Present Pool? Who can guess what we got Liam! If you guess it, I will send you an honest to goodness prize, cool? BUT I won't reveal a winner (if anyone even joins in!) until I post the "reveal pictures", OK? Also, just in conjunction with the phrase "reveal pictures" we are planning on doing a Reveal for Liam! We plan on having the 95% covered (yeah right, wish me luck with that one) until Saturday when we have his party and when he is napping we will get the remaining 5% and have it all ready for him upon his waking from his noni!

GIGGLE! SO EXCITED!!

As an aside; Christmas will be batshitcrazy in this house in the coming years. If this is how I feel about ONE present can you imagine the insanity that will occur with Christmas?!?!

Another aside; I've always been very thrilled that Liam's birthday falls smack dab in the middle of the year; just enough time between batshitcrazy seasons. I think that is just about all I can handle & "just right".

So yeah, Birthday Season is definitely upon me & I've caught the Fever. I've also got about 1/2 the work left to do on his Favor Tags but I do think that those are going to be extra-super-duper-adorable, yo. (that was for you Amanda)

Super Saturday at Super Target!

Since my little Liam Fellow was up at 6:07am this morning & had already been outside playing since 7am this morning, I decided to just go on to Target & get every thing done this morning. I was planning on going this morning but not quite at 8:45am, sadly, this is when Liam is having his breakfast, but we had already accomplished that goal by 7:30am so I got us 'dressed up' (as Matias says) and in 'Mama's car' (as Liam says) and we headed to Target with a fun list of Things I Need Before His 2nd Birthday Party Next Week.

I'm really excited about the favors I've rounded up for him & nothing cost over a DOLLAR. Nothing over ONE DOLLAR, people! I did forget to get some tissue but I can pick that up easily at the party store when I go to get our plates & stuff this week.

Here are the contents of Liam's "All Things Water" water themed 2nd Birthday Party...

Inside a blue or orange bucket will be in the following goodies:

1. Fish Tank Bubbles
2. Fish/Ocean Animal Squirty Bath Toy
3. One of those "gets real big when you add water" ocean critter
4. Fish/Ocean Animal Squirt Toy (notice I didn't use the word 'gun', my son might have tea parties but he will not have a toy gun)
5. I *might* add some good old goldfish, but I think I'm doing ok at the moment...

I'm so excited about it all & I was really stoked that everything was pretty well priced (can you tell?). I just have to make the tags for the buckets with my little Thank You note (for coming, not the thank you cards I still have to make!) & I think I might have talked myself into more work than I have originally planned for those little guppies (keeping with the fish/water theme here). I had a really cute idea but thinking it through more when planning how to do it all, I think I came up with an even cuter idea, if that is at all possible. It's not a lot more work & it's not like I'm making 54256 of them either, and with my nifty CM Tag Maker I'll get it all done right quick.

I realized last night that I neglected to post a (really crappy) picture of the actual invitation that I sent out! I didn't want to send until people who read this had received them & then I think I just forgot after that point BUT I do want to show y'all how they turned out because I was truly frightened about my ability to do good hair stamps! They came out quite close to how I envisioned them & I don't think they look bad at all - which is a mortal fear of anything I do to give to other people - doing crap for myself is OK but giving crap to other people is just embarrassing SO I was actually thrilled with the outcome!

For those who are curious, I scraplifted the idea from a forum that used the same stamp set & then altered it to fit my ability & design desires. I got the stamp set from Stampin' Up & it's called Eat Cake. I used Stampin' Up papers (Jersey Shore) because I LOVED the colors. I used my Circut for the scalloped circle on the front, the goldfish, & the tag on the inside. I used my CM wavy cutter for the piece of 'water' at the bottom & my scalloped corner rounder for the edges of the cake on the front. I used a box of cards from Michaels that came in a variety of colors, so I just choose 3 that went with the colors in the papers/themes/inks & went with it. I changed up some of the papers that I used to make the 'wave' depending on what card I was using as the background stock. I then got a bee in my bonnet and decided during the night that I wanted to use that cake stamp so I went on and stamped the envelopes too!

When I get the Thanks for Coming tags & Thank You cards done, I will post pictures of those if y'all are interested!












































P.S. I still cannot believe I am one week away from his 2nd Birthday Celebration!

What a Difference (less than) a Year Makes

The 1st shot is from Oct. 2007 & the next one is from July 4th 2008.

I cannot get over how different of a little boy he is in such a short amount of time. I know this basically stems from his birthday approaching & how much time I feel has passed so quickly and, my word, how much time is still left with him to learn & grow & explore and continue to play with water! It really blows my mind this "growing up" business these kids are into these days. I wish I could better express myself but it's a combination of the first year being so quick & full of wonder at every corner and then the second year settling into your life together, with solid routines & schedules and events and fun adventures and yet every day there is something to marvel at. And then, it hits you that this little boy standing in front of you, swiping a spider web away and saying "bye bye bug" is the same little boy who used to laugh himself silly over the puppets on Baby Einstein and that tomorrow and next year I will be remembering the little boy that is now and I have no idea what I will be doing with him then! Although, I'm pretty sure it will involve water, that much I can be sure of.

I've been doing a lot of thinking (read: stressing) about Birthdays, our children's birthdays more specifically & I'm amazed that some parents don't make big deals out of them (and I am not thinking of anyone I know, just in general) and it kind of sort breaks my heart for some strange reason. And this coming from the person who really didn't enjoy her birthday OR being sang to BUT I really enjoy the thought of Celebrating (with a capital C) the year that was and the year that is to be. There so much that they've accomplished & become that how can you not bake them a cake (or get your sister to!) & shower them with love and wishes and icing and toys they don't really need but good lord do you see how much fun he's having with them??? It makes me heart swell in places I didn't even know I existed.

And I just might be a hugely sentimental person who loves to look back over the years & see how far we've come & how far we've gone and who's been there with us year after year after year (...bobbing head..) and I just might be a person who loves to get together to celebrate all of that TOGETHER. Is this really surprising anyone? This feeling manifests itself in my work with Creative Memories (hello!), my Freak Gatherings, my need to Tour & continue to hit certain venues with certain people...it's all a part of Me...

...and the year between my son's 12th month & his 24th month is something to Celebrate people!

...and to think this started out innocently enough with just wanting to post those two pictures side-by-side to show how much he's changed and how much he's stayed the same.

All I know is I cannot wait to watch everyone (but Nana & Mama who are smarter than the average bears) get hosed down from the feet to the sky by a Fellow with a Hose next summer. I think we're going to be in trouble then. I think not only will he be beyond operating the hose properly but he will be able to unlock the door with a key he's stashed away somewhere outside & bring that hose inside with purpose & intention.

I'll be waiting with a towel & a camera. That much I do know.

Astronaut Liam Blast Off cake

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Made with love by Auntie Leanne

I put some MORE pictures up on dropshots from July so click on the July link on the left hand side under 2007 & scroll. The pictures are approximately on July 4th, July 7th & July 21st & 22nd...

We just got Matias' mom's pictures this weekend hence the reason I put MORE up and just wait cause I've got a diaper load more to come when I get my mom's & sister's :)

We've been house-locked due to the 110 degree heat but today we are going to get his water table cause all the boy wants to do is go outside & play. And we need something for him to play with when we are outside in 110 degree weather. He is beginning to think that ALL doors open by an adult putting their foot on it, so many times he will pick up our foot and put it on the door - poor little guy. Smart! But sad, sadness about not getting the doors open. He knows how to open & close the screen door so that's always an exciting adventure ;)

He's saying "down" almost regularly now & we are still working on "up"!

Wow. Totally making myself a liar.

I didn't think we had any more FIRST Birthday pictures to share, I thought they were all taken on other people's cameras...turns out Matias had some from his Mom's camera that we NOT in the correct location on our drive so I didn't know they were here until I went looking for cute pictures I might have overlooked. And SURPRISE, I found some :)

Liam loves his Gears & Wheels (I don't know if that is the name or not but it is now!) that he got from my friend Jen & her daughter Mia.

Ms. Nikki - here he is with the book you sent him!

LOVE the expression on his face!

I don't think I've ever been around a happier baby. He just loves everything he does! It's so fun to watch & be a part of :)

P.S. Rach, I'm sure my mom/sister have pictures of him with your outfit (adorable, btw), I just don't have them yet!! I'm still not even sure where these pictures came from!

P.P.S. I put more photos on dropshots under the July 22 date - I don't like changing the dates up since it might/could mess some people up looking at them, you know? So anyway, go over there & scroll :)

Sidenote: I still haven't been able to get all THREE videos up there, 2 and 3 are but 1 will not load. It isn't as funny without all three :(

Think he likes it?

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We got Liam a Radio Flyer Wagon (the one with the seatbelts & storage) for his FIRST Birthday Present - here he is with Luccia cruising up & down the block :) He LOVES it! Just sits back & chills. He even watches Dada cut the grass and water while sitting nicely in it & not clambering all over himself to get out!

Birthday Boy with Cake!!

Auntie made him his own special cake for his actual birthday on Friday - this was his first TASTE of sugar :) He was a little tentative at first but then torn right into the icing (didn't much care for the actual cake!) & then at one point just about threw the whole thing overboard!

He had icing everywhere! In his ears, up his nose, all through his hair :) Even got it all over Mama & Dada as he wasn't too sure about it all and needed some reassuring hugs throughout the "ordeal"! I felt like I was covered in icing too - only to find out that I WAS! I had icing in my ears, across my forehead, in my hair - but it was too cute to watch him have this experience!

I have some more pictures to share, of course I just need to gather them all together :)

Thank you everyone for your very special birthday wishes to our Liam Robert - I really appreciate it!!

I'm going to upload a bunch to drop shots later so that you don't have to be bogged down here with a ton of pictures :)

Happy FIRST Birthday, Liam Robert

Happy First Birthday, Liam Robert

Please click on the above link to see what I quickly threw together this morning :)

At this time last year, I was being wheeled into the operating room, fully ready to meet our Bebe. Little did we know, that our Liam Robert was awaiting us.

I didn't put much time into this, actually just grabbed the pictures in my desktop folder but I wanted to test it out to see what it was like, so excuse the gaps & holes in his past year but you get the idea :)

Happy Birthday my little Star of Wonder. Mama loves you.