WOW!

Liam just CLICKED HIS TONGUE!!!

We were standing at the top of the stairs with Daddy & just getting ready to go down when he just up and clicked his tongue & smiled!!!

Our boy is growing up so FAST!!!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, eh!

So over a week has past since we returned from our VERY FIRST VISIT TO GRANDMA & GRANDPA’S (and Old, Wise Auntie) for Liam’s VERY FIRST CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!!

This trip also marked my first time being the driver while Daddy hung out in the back with Liam – we just find it easier on the road trips to have one of us in the back with him to make sure he’s ok & to better monitor what is going on with him since you cant see him at all cause he’s rear facing and that just kind of drives me crazy. Thankfully we didn’t hit any traffic as we have a little Red Light Racer & it is not pleasant to hear him wail while sitting at a red light or in traffic. If I can remember correctly, we only had to stop twice for the Pimp Juice & twice for diaper changes – I think the normally 4 ½ hour trip was extended to 5 hours but overall that’s not too bad. At some points though the weather was just horrible & it is now getting dark early so for Mommy the drive wasn’t all that grand but we made it to Cary just a little after his bedtime & we got him situated in his pack and play (Grandma bought her own to encourage visits – just kidding! It makes it a lot easier for us not to have to pack it in the car along with everything else we need to bring along with him!) and hung out a little with the family before heading to bed ourselves.

That night we discovered that Liam didn’t really dig the pack and play – the “bed” is almost suspended and any movement causes it to swing like a suspension bridge which woke him up and made him do the “frozen snowangel” (or more technically known as the “startle response”) and cry. I caved (yeah, twist my arm) and brought him to bed with us where he spent the rest of the weekend. I’m a sucker for having our little guy in bed with us especially when I can use the “he can’t sleep” excuse.

Sunday, we went to Macy*s since Liam had received a gift card from Matias’ co-workers at his contract site at his SURPRISE baby shower earlier that week and we SHOPPED! They had some great sales & we got some really cute stuff – another hoodie, a rugby shirt, some adorable pants, and some really cute shirts. We needed to stock up on some Fall clothes – crapper of the whole thing is that he is in between sizes AND seasons! He’s just a little too small for the next size up right now but the weather is changing so he’s wearing his clothes a little big right now & just might be doing that until next month (which is sneaking up on us quickly!) – it’s kind of a pain in the ass to get some massive shopping done though cause he’s going to be six months in January but he doesn’t need TWO sets of winter clothes – I know, horrible thing to stress over, right?! Don’t worry, I’ve got it all covered – literally. Liam will be the Layer King. Awww, Liam the Layer King – kidding. But it does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

[edited to note: this is not the “catch up nap time” I was alluding to earlier this is “Mets vs. Cards Game is on” catch up time. I’m a talented multi-tasker. Liam has been down for the night for two hours now]

Sunday NIGHT we had a fantastic Canadian Thanksgiving – complete with all my favorite trimmings & a GLASS OF WINE! Liam received a bib that was altered to read My First CANADIAN Thanksgiving and proudly wore it while in his car seat on the dining room table. Yes, the dining room table – Grandma even admitted that she would never do with her own kids (yeah, hello!) but with Grandkids it’s OK. whatEVER. I think it took him a few times of us going upstairs to finally get him down for good but I do believe he enjoyed his first thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa’s!

Monday morning my mom left for a beach trip – can you believe she left before Liam had even woken up?!!? I still cannot believe that she missed out on all that time she could have been spending with him just to go to the beach and quilt. Oh well. I suppose it was her decision to leave her grandson.

[god, I love guilt trips]

Liam had his first trip to Best Buy to go computer parts shopping – what a proud moment! Matias needed to fix my sister’s computer (fried video card – I called that!) so we trekked out with Grandpa to go pick up the replacement & then went to lunch.

Liam is definitely getting more comfortable & better at spending time in his car seat – he was never BAD about it (of course not!), it just seems that now he’s grown a little more accustomed to hanging out in there without bitching about “are we there yet?” He still is the Red Light Racer though – I was joking with someone on the train yesterday (when he started getting fussy while the train was stopped waiting for “track work”) that I now totally encourage all drivers to run the yellow lights – much less painless than sitting at a red light!

I wanted to make it home before his bedtime & we nearly made it – it would have been a little more helpful if the person in charge of “knowing what Liam needed” was a little more in tune with things – like say, possibly changing his diapers and suggesting a feeding AT THE SAME STOP so that we wouldn’t have to stop DOUBLE the amount of times. It really isn’t ALL that easy to find a “nice” spot to whip out your boob in the back seat of the car to feed your baby, contrary to what you might have envisioned. Plus it would have been nice to make it home before dark but everything worked out ok with only TWO stops within 15 miles of home. Yeah, please don’t ask cause I have a headache from rolling my eyes about it simply thinking about it.

So it was a quick but wonderful trip to Grandma & Grandpa’s (and Old, Wise Auntie) House for Canadian Thanksgiving but that was ok cause I was getting ready to turn around on Thursday and take our First Train Ride back to NC for our First Wedding & Mommy’s First Weekend Alone [without Daddy]!

Maybe I’ll find the time to post about that before the kid turns six months! Now I’m off to pump so that Daddy has something to feed the little Bundle while I’m at the church bazaar on Saturday – HIS First Day Alone [without Mommy]!

I’m hoping to get some pictures from my family covering the past two weekends – HINT HINT – so I’ll post them here, of course, when I get them!!

Mr. Bundle

One of the many nicknames for Liam - Mr. Bundle ALWAYS greets you with a smile in the morning. Here he is in Great Auntie Jean's Truly Canadian Blankie on his first night wearing fuzzy footie pjs last week when the weather dipped.

Two weeks lag time!

It appears I have fallen about two weeks behind in posting our outings! We've had a VERY busy month what with his Baptism, Canadian Thanksgiving, Liam's first Wedding so I need to catch a nap time (when I dont have anything else to do around the house or for work) where I can sit down and write. Let's see when I can make that happen!

Liam's growing in leaps & bounds though at the moment - almost too much going on at one time for me to grasp!! There's the sitting up on his own, laughing out loud at Mommy's dancing (!!!), rolling over...the list just goes on!

The rest of the month is busy too! His 3 month birthday is sneaking up this Friday (WHAT?), we have his photo shoot scheduled for tomorrow, Halloween is coming & Mommy has a church bazzar to work this weekend so Daddy will be babysitting on his own for about 1/2 a day!

I'm going to try and join the other Mommies for a trip to Cox Farms for Fall Festival on Thursday, I have a crop scheduled for Sunday at the house & we have a Halloween party on the 27th!!

AND I think, 90% sure, he's TEETHING.

2 Month Doctor Appointment

We went for our 2 Month Appointment on Thursday - yes at 10 weeks but the week he turned 2 months was set aside for two week old appointments [whatever that means...] and he got his first round of immunizations.

Again, he took it all like a Champ. He didnt cry or scream as much as I expected him to & in turn I didnt have to cry or feel overly protective of him! YAY! He did turn very red in the face and scream a little but calmed down rather quickly. They gave him FOUR separate shots - not two at a time! And right after, I nursed him and that calmed him down right away. Matias was even laughing at how easily he calmed himself down.

Now for his numbers!

Weight: 11 lbs. 5 oz. (average weight)
Head Circum.: 16.5 inches (90%)
Height: 24.5 inches (90%)!!! (doctor even commented that he is a Tall Boy)

We have to work on having him play, lay & football hold nurse him since his head is a little flat on one side - nothing to worry about now, it's of Average Flatness - but down the road it could/can become a problem if not corrected. We are going to have get his new car seat when he hits 29" - not 26" like she mentioned. But it appears that he is gaining most of his weight through his height - they arent worried about his weight though so thankfully I dont have to start worrying over it myself! We have to start giving him Vitamin D drops since that is the one thing breastmilk lacks but other than that Liam got a clean bill of health at his 2 month check point!

He took a few more longer naps than normal that day - we had prepped him by giving him some baby tylenol & gave him some more throughout the day to lessen the effects of his shots - and was EXTRA cuddly (no complaints here!) and liked the comfort that nursing gave him a little more than usual. Went to bed on time & slept like a Champ through the night, per his usual schedule - with just one extra feeding, if I'm remembering correctly!

Friday was a little more 'uncomfortable' than Thursday - he slept in my arms for 2 hours, completely tuckled into me but did play in his gym that afternoon, and played very happily too! He got his bath last night (didnt want to push it on Thursday) and was same little happy boy and didnt even notice when Mommy 1-2-3 RIPPED the FOUR bandaids off of him in the tub! And yesterday was just the perfect day to stay tuckled up on the couch with his fleece pants & hoodie on with Mommy - rainy and COLD (today it's 48 but feels like 43!) - so we listened to music in between naps and just enjoyed each others company.

I asked the doctor about his 20 minute Cat Naps but since he's sleeping through the night, she saw no cause for concern - now that would REALLY suck if he ever only slept 20 minutes at a time but since that's not the case we are doing just fine! Mommy wishes it was a little more than 20 minutes cause that's quite a short amount of time to get anything done around the house - especially shower! But hey, the Liam Fellow is happy who cares if I'm dirty or there are tumbleweeds of Monkey Fur blowing across our hardwood prairie?

I’m not a stranger in the eyes of the Maker

Liam's Baptism

Let’s see if I can get this out while he’s still upstairs snuggled up with Daddy on this frigid and wet Saturday morning!

First off, I HAVE TO say that Liam was an angel during his Baptism. Even the priest (who is no longer Father Charles – he moved up to Rhode Island) commented no less than 4 times that he is “such a good boy”, “is he always like this”, and how “lucky we are” – yes thank you very much we know! We had him dressed in a cute little white seersucker overall suit with a white blouse underneath that his Great Aunt (on his mother’s side) had made for him with a Peter Pan collar that had blue stitching, and white shoes that came attached to one of his gifts just as a little ‘decoration’ to the wrapping (I’m sure they aren’t intended to be used as shoes but they look a hell of a lot cuter than his white GAP socks would have!) and a pin that Isabel had given me when I was pregnant. The pin had a blue fabric rosette, a lemon (not sure about that), a silver fist (think it has something to do with Rio since she lives in Brazil) & a St. Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Animals, charm on it, we added the silver cross his Great Grandma Txixi gave him and everything was complete! He had his cross & his Kitties with him looking over him even at the church. Of course, he looked just adorable & like a little gentleman.

It was quite the trek into DC with three cars in our caravan of Merry Baptizers but we made in time for Communion so everything was still on track! Liam got a little fussy during Mass so I took him out to his Grandma’s car to give him a quick lunch & I thought I had enough time to feed and change him since we were the second in line to get Baptized but I got a call from Matias just as I finished up & just as he filled his pants (quite loudly, I might add) that “we were up” so I brought him back in poopy diaper and all and just ‘prayed’ (as much as I can pray) that he didn’t get too upset about sitting in poop.

Needless to say, he didn’t react to his poop at all. He was seriously a little angel. He was all attentive & I would dare say it even appeared as if he was participating in his own Baptism! He was watching the priest when he spoke, looking at us & his Godparents when we were being spoken to, and watching the candle when we were all holding it & he SMILED when the priest baptized him!! The other little one being baptized (who was about 6-8 months old) was NOT happy about her situation – her gown was a traditional HUGE Baptismal gown that had been passed down & it was warm out – so she wasn’t very ecstatic to be there. Liam on the other hand – took it all in & behaved so, so well. He didn’t make one little peep, just laid there in all of our arms and chilled. Mommy was so very pleased.

What Mommy wasn’t so very pleased about was how Daddy’s brothers & sisters RUSHED the Baptismal Pool and crowded around to take pictures. Thanks for ruining the sanctity of our fricking event. I was even PUSHED out of the way, ELBOWED to move but no worries, I know when a well placed elbow of my own needs to be landed and WHERE. I’m still really upset over it all because I just really think it was rude to rush in and try to get in between us all for the sake of a fricking picture – LET US HAVE OUR MOMENT WITH OUR SON AND BACK THE FUCK UP PEOPLE! Looking back on it, which I’ve done numerous times in my head, I wish I had actually taken the Pain in the Ass by the shoulders and told her to get the fuck out of my way, that this is MY SON and your goddamn 12 y.o. ass does NOT need to be in between the PRIEST AND MYSELF! But instead all I did was land an elbow to the face. It was like a goddamn three ring circus up in there & I’m not pleased about it at all. Let us have a moment while we are performing this ritual, would you please?

After that it was time for pictures at the altar with everyone – I haven’t seen very many of them since we didn’t use our camera for it but I hope to see some at my parents this weekend! I have a few of my parents & Leanne with him & they just look adorable so here’s to hoping we have a decent one of ourselves!

And don’t get me started on when I was trying to ‘decorate’ Liam’s cake and the Pain in the Ass, ok?

And then it was over. I really LOVE our church. It’s intimate & gorgeous & just the right place for our family. The Priest was wonderful – again coming up to us afterwards to comment on Liam’s behavior & “bless” us one last time. I’m so GLAD (and relieved) that we were able to have Liam Baptized in the church his Mommy & Daddy were married in AND Matias couldn’t tell enough people that – everyone who talked to him he told that we were married there, so it turns out it mattered to him too. Wish he had a little foresight with that though – we could have saved ourselves an argument or two [dozen].

We came home & started on the Asado! Matias grilled chorizo and made ChoriPan (chorizo and bread) while I made broccoli slaw and finished the cake decorating and my mom made grilled zucchinis and potatoes – everything was just delicious, if not a bit frantic in the house trying to get everything prepped with about 34 dozen people milling and HOVERING over everything you do without ONCE actually attempting to help you do anything. BREATHING. BREATHING. STILL BREATHING.

Thankfully, Liam woke up after I had my mini-attack up there so now I’m in a much better state of mind! HA!

We were very lucky to receive some fabulous gifts for Liam’s Baptism – my parents gifted him his silver mug engraved with his name & birth date! My mom got it in Montreal while she was there visiting her mother – she got it at my favorite store – Birk’s [think Tiffany’s of Canada] – and it just means the world to me! I plan on taking a picture soon to post here! Matias’ family gave us a card & some cash that I’m going to put towards his crib sheets (I just like saying that cause it’s a funny double entendre), my Grandmother, Liam’s GG (as we call her) gave him a commemorative Canadian Coin Set from his Year of Birth (TOO COOL!) and (ok follow me here) Micaela’s Mother in Law gave him a Savings Bond. [And I do have to rant here – AT NO POINT IS IT OK TO ASK ME HOW MUCH THE SAVINGS BOND IS ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE TWELVE YEARS OLD]

My mom & sister had to leave after we served the cake (and good lord I can bitch about people being retards while I’m trying to cut the cake BUT I WILL REFRAIN) since Leanne had to work on Monday & Sunday was turning out to be a LONG ASS DAY. I was dropping my dad at Dulles for his return flight to Ottawa around 7:30pm that evening & Matias’ family was leaving when ever they got their act together (I’m surprised they still aren’t here!) – everyone was exhausted after our long day but it was all worth it – Liam Robert has been cleansed of his Original Sin & is now a Catholic (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?) – I’m glad we were able to Baptize Liam in OUR church & that our family was able to be with us to share the event with us. Seriously though, Liam is very blessed to have the love & support of his entire family & we are very happy to have been able to share it with everyone!

It took him about two days to fully recover from everyone being here and all the excitement – but he got back on Schedule pretty easily until we took him to get his shots on Thursday!

Guardian Angel

Matias firmly believes he has a guardian angel & I dont disbelieve - he prays to her & she helps him feel calm. There was the one time, on the night he proposed, that I lost my engagement ring throwing a snowball at Matias, that he asked her to help him find my ring & he walked off about 20 feet away and came back with the ring. I also believe I have a guardian angel but mine has fur & lives with us - I believe Mystic is my guardian angel. And today she proved that she also looks over Liam.

Liam got his 2 month old shots yesterday and has been feeling a little under the weather. He was sleeping in bed with Daddy this morning when he woke up crying so I went upstairs to see what he needed (maybe some Pimp Juice) & I found Mystic sleeping beside him in bed. Not something we see everyday. Then after I brought him downstairs for snuggle time, she jumped up on the couch to sleep beside him again. And as I'm writing this I had to change Liam so upstairs we went & who do you think followed us into the nursery and jumped inside the open dresser drawer to take a cat nap?

She just knew that he needed to be comforted today. She wont let him out of her sight. And she always knows this. Mystic will snuggle and cuddle and let you use her as a pillow when you're having a craptastic day - she's just that way but to see her do it for Liam really did bring me to tears.

I wrote earlier this month that I hope Liam knows he can count on his Kitties to be his friends & his support system when you just need that extra snuggle time for whatever reason & I truly meant it but to see her react the way she has today brought me to tears. I know that might sound lame but then you might not know how far back & deep Mystic & I go (and that's ok).

My ONE hope is that she will be here when he grows up. God, that's going to be so much fun to watch. I want him to be able to participate & be aware of this Mystic Kitty's love & sense of protection she already feels for him - it's just a fantastically overwhelming feeling to sense it beginning to happen.

God Bless Liam, indeed

I'll write a longer post about his Baptism when he takes another 20 minute Cat Nap this afternoon :)

But for now - here is my FIRST attempt at a cake for my baby! Oldest Auntie Leanne made the icing, scored the cake where I needed to cut it & did all the fancy icing. So I really didnt do too much but I had a pain in the ass hovering around me CONSTANTLY & I was nervous. I dont perform well in front of crowds.

And for the Record

Little Liam Fellow says "maman" :) He does, ask anyone!

And according to all the newsletters I'm getting he also SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! They consider sleeping through the night as getting 6-8 hours in a row without waking. He sleeps from 8pm-4am EVERY night - that's 8 hours right there! Then he goes back down for another 4 hours before getting up for breakfast!

What a Liam Fellow!

A Cville We Will Go!

Liam made his first long weekend trip just over a week ago to Charlottesville – Mommy & Daddy’s Mecca – and he got to meet SO many Freak Family members & he got to see Grandma, Grandpa “the Babysitter” & Auntie Leanne again!

He did REALLY well in the hotel but I think by the end of his 3 night stay he was a little bored with being in one room, with no fresh air, sleeping in his pack n play & not having his gym to work out in. He did get out during the day to walk around town and visit the downtown Mall so it’s not like he was cooped up for 3 days straight but I do think he missed “home” just like we all do after a time.

Grandpa babysat for Mommy & Daddy while we went to two DMB shows & did a little partying with our friends. I had been pumping every once in a while over about a months’ time in order to get enough milk for his pre-bedtime meals (dinner and nighttime snack) & one more bottle for his during-the-night meal so that Mommy could afford to have some fun herself. Thankfully, he had no problem taking the bottle (he rarely gets one, maybe once or twice a month as Mommy is the main source of the Pimp Juice [trademark Rach&Jen]) and showed no indication that he even “knew” it had been frozen. THANKFULLY. I would have dreaded getting that phone call saying he was refusing to eat but I had tested him on a bottle before we left & he was ok with it so it was just a matter of someone else feeding him with previously frozen milk…

Grandpa said that Night 1 he cried frantically for about an hour, I think, but that he chalked it up to missing us (which nearly broke my heart in a million pieces) but that otherwise he was a Good Liam Fellow for him. Since I am the main source of Pimp Juice, it’s RARE that I am away from him for more than 2 hours at the most, so this was really hard on me & of course I was the typically Mommy and couldn’t stop talking about him and thinking about him. LeNelle can even attest to me turning around during Satellite and looking at her and smiling as she had witnessed Liam falling asleep earlier with me singing that to him. And of course, I had to be careful not to cry at the show because of it. When we got back to the hotel we went straight to the Pack N Play and picked him up – he needed to eat again, right? Matias & I just missed the stuffing out of him & I needed to be close to him for just a while. I gave him a bottle & set him back to sleep. He then managed to sleep in until almost 9 though – that did put a little damper on our get out early desire and then with everyone coming by to see him and hold him and call him George we didn’t end up leaving the hotel until after noon! We walked down to the Mall & watched the gawkers at Miller’s and tried to find a place to eat that didn’t have a elevenity million hour wait and could accommodate our stroller. That probably only took about 2 hours! HA! Kidding! Amanda, Bobbo & Bill came over to meet our Little Liam Fellow & we got some really adorable pictures of everyone holding him. I felt really lucky to have everyone come over and meet him – it meant a lot to me. Nikki & Chris made their way over also with some local beers & ciders and we had a quick drink & Liam Pass Around before we headed back over to the Econo Lodge for some more partying.

Night2 went a little better once Grandpa discovered the Liam likes to watch the news during his Fussy Hour (currently running from 5:30-6:30 every night) – it’s hilarious to watch him watch the news! I don’t think anything out of the ordinary happened that night but we did restrain ourselves from rushing to him and picking him up as soon as we got back, we just wished that he would wake for food SOON! We weren’t disappointed! He slept really well, again, for the rest of the night & we got somewhat of an earlier start on Sunday. Although we didn’t make it out to do anything beyond have Brunch at the Virginian & wait twenty jillion hours to get anything from our servers. But I’m not complaining – YET. We realized that it was going to take us more time than normal to pack up our stuff & check out considering we had quite a bit more stuff & one extra little person who doesn’t really pick up after himself – YET. We had to drop the Babysitter off at Dulles that evening so he could catch his return flight to Ottawa – Liam was really well behaved in the car WHEN IT WAS MOVING. GOD FORBID WE HIT A RED LIGHT – oh the horror!

He recovered pretty well from his big weekend & was pretty much back on schedule by Tuesday. Mommy & Daddy needed a few more days though!

[sorry if this is totally disjointed, I started writing it this morning & now at 7:05pm, I'm finally finishing it up! It's not making a whole lot of sense to me so I wouldnt be surprised if it didnt make a lot of sense to you!]

Liam Robert's Baptism Invitation

Designed by the fabulous Ms. Nikki

There is no punch line

Talking to my husband last night, again, about the God Bless Liam Cake (which I just find totally amusing) & we had the following exchange:


Totally Serious Husband: What kind of cake are you using?
Me: Devil's Food Cake
Totally Serious Husband: Can you use Angel's Food Cake instead?

VIVA!VIVA!VIVA!

We have a little soccer fan in the making here - but you never doubted that did you?

We've taught him three soccer related things this past week:

1) O LA!, O LA!, O LA! O LA!, O LA!, O LA!
2) GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLl
3) VIVA!VIVA!VIVA!

and to all three he laughs his arse off. Next up - teaching him to dislike (hate is such a strong word for a 2 month old) Beckham.

God Bless Liam Cake

Liam's Baptism is this weekend & Matias asked last night what we were going to do about a "god bless Liam cake" so I think I might attempt to make one. I've asked my mom to ask my sister to make her icing cause it's just the best damn icing in the whole wide world (sang to the tune of Jimi Thing Central Park "best damn city in the whole wide world") & slather it on there.

How hard do you think it would be to make a Cross out of two square cakes? Cant be THAT hard, can it? I'm not too sure though if I can bring myself to write God Bless Liam on it though...

P.S. I will be writing our recap from CVille - just need the time to do that!

Picture of the Day

Liam practicing his "Dave Look" - methinks he almost has it down. He can also raise his eyebrow but I havent captured that on film (hmmm, not film anymore...) YET.

Happy 2 Month Birthday Liam Robert

To my little boy,

Two months ago today you showed us your face. You came into our lives and brought us love & laughter & patience & meaning. You were born wide-eyed and ready to go & you havent stopped since. Your little legs are constantly moving, just like they were when I was pregnant with you, your fingers are in constant 'grab' mode - thankfully we have an unending supply of cat fuff for you to clutch between those little fingers with the never ending growing fingernails (that I have mastered clipping, thank you very much). Your smiles are about as bright and wide as your gorgeous brownishgreen eyes & always there in the morning when I sit up and look over your cradle and say "good morning, Bundle, would you like your breakfast now?" Your monkey toes are very strong, I must say, crushing anything that comes into their path - you grab and hold onto drawstrings on pants, the cute little tie that is on one of my tank tops rarely leaves your toes' grasp - I'm sure it's from all the time you spent dangling like a monkey from my rib cage that gave you this extra firm Kung Fu Grip.

You dont like the larger planes that fly overhead so I try and shut the patio doors before you notice, you dont like being wet or poopy (but who would?) and wake yourself up from naps just to be changed & then you refuse to go back to sleep, if you see me coming at you with a Gag Rag (trademark Cousin Alexis) you start crying but not when Daddy does it. But that's ok because you dont cry when I slather you with kisses but for some reason (must be the stubble) you cry when your Daddy kisses you. Daddy can also put you to sleep in under 5 minutes, whereas it usually takes me a little longer and then you will normally wake up as soon as I put you down - and mostly, I dont complain cause I get to cuddle my bundle a little longer.

You LOVE music - just about any music, really. Daddy plays the Beatles for you just about every chance he gets & I sneak in some of "my" music when he isnt looking. You look up at the stereo (he's THAT smart he knows where the music is coming from) and just stop what you are doing and listen. I really wish we could take you to the shows this weekend but we'd like you to be able to hear music for the rest of your life and not ruin it in one shot! When you are "really" fussy (which isnt fussy at all) I can put you to sleep if I sing to you & cradle you in my arms. You like your belly rubbed & you like it when I cup your feet in my hands. You've regrown enough hair on the top of your head for me to be able to brush it with my hands when we're having some quiet time. You like the water, just as I knew you would. We are signing you up for swim lessons in November & I cannot WAIT to get into that water with you.

There are so many things we want to teach you and share with you. Some of them arent "traditional" but they are Life Lessons we believe have taught us well in our lives & wish to pass them along to you, our Son.

Monkey has discovered that you do in fact move and make noise & has now become afraid of you. We try and sneak up on him when he's sleeping and get a few Monkey Kitty rubs in. Mystic is Mystic & only runs from you when you're crying & even then she just 'hides' in her bag. Sometimes they do "inspect" you when you're in your gym though & it's cute to watch them go over you and make an inventory of just what is this little thing here...

I try to call the cats Your Monkey Kitty & Your Mystic Kitty so that he can at LEAST learn that Monkey is a Cat and not a Monkey - you never know, years down the road you might be asked "what sound does a Monkey make?" and you'll meow for them. And I want you to know that these Kitties of yours will be here for you to play with, and depend on as you grow older - they make excellent pillows & are great shoulders to lean on when you need a friend. They are your first friends & you should know how much it means to me to you to have such great Monkey Kitty & Mystic Kitty in your life.

Mommy & Daddy are trying very hard to do their best by you & even though money is getting tight, we're making allowances and changes to meet your best interests. You will ALWAYS come first. As Daddy said last night "dont worry, it's just money, it's Liam that's important" and he couldnt have been more right.

You are always going to come first, Liam Robert. You deserve that & I'll gladly give it to you.

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Liam Robert - Mommy loves you.

Photo of the Day

I call this "Contemplating World Peace or Possibly Taking a Poop - an Ode to George W. Bush"

It was bound to happen sooner or later

I called Liam "Monkey" and then later called Monkey "Liam". At least I'm keeping the sexes correct unlike when I called Matias "Mystic" once, or twice, maybe.

Someone make it stop

I just organized my COUPONS. I mean REALLY organized them. Into catagories, with tabs & everything. I'm using one of my Creative Memories photo file holders that I had 459275 million of before we moved for it & it's perfect for this use but I think I just took it a bit too far...

I would say "looks like someone needs a hobby" but I fear this IS my new hobby.

As LeNelle says "housewife-rly" of me

I've been trying to get the household chores and such under control since we've brought Liam Fellow home with us & even though it hasnt been BAD it's been noticable, esp. since I am home 100% of the time now - not something I can sweep under the rug (HA! look! a housecleaning metaphor!) and pretend it isnt there, I see it for 12 hours a day! So anyway...I decided to come up with a Weekly Schedule to hopefully get all the chores and tasks done in a timely manner instead of rushing around trying to clean EVERYTHING in one day -that will NEVER happen even with a Good Liam Fellow in the house. Ok, so I've come to grips with these new terms now let's make a List!

That's another thing - I was talking with David this weekend & he was asking me about being a SAHM and how I am adjusting to it. I had to make a concentrated effort to run my new life & house like I would my Job & Office - I make lists & I complete them, daily & weekly. I consider my Mommy Group Events to be Meetings & since they are on the calendar it makes it 100% easier to make sure I get out of the house and go do something as opposed to something like this - "hmmm, maybe I'll do something today..." which leads to no where - except for me staring at the cat fur that appeared once again on the floor and wondering just how do these cats not manage to be bald considering all the mother loving fur they drop every fricking night...

If you already havent started laughing at me for this Weekly Schedule you may commence NOW. I created it on Tuesday & I'm already two days behind :) BUT BUT BUT as long as they GET DONE in this weeks' time period, that's all that matters in the end. Partly, I can blame leaving the house from 10-3 yesterday for not getting Mommy Laundry done & it's got me thinking that I pretty sure I dont want to clean the bathrooms today either BUT I have a List & a Guide and I know that if I stick to it (even loosely) that I will get it all done in time and not lose my ever loving mind trying to clean this house with a baby in my arms & two cats underfoot.

A Good Liam Fellow

Yesterday, I went to my first CM event since forever (honestly, if it wasnt my first than it's only my 2nd one since getting pregnant) & I took Mr. Liam Fellow with me. What a good boy I have here - he either slept in his papasan or was walked around for 5 minutes to fall back asleep after being nursed in the bathroom. Where, like a ROCKSTAR, he puked on his first bathroom floor. Oh, how proud I was. He barely made a peep, except to smile and coo at every lady walking by. I was able to stay the whole time - until 2:30 and got home for his 3pm feeding. Now, granted, I didnt exactly get a lot of pages done what with 20 minute feedings and diaper changes and checking on him to make sure the Crazy Lady wasnt talking too loudly and waking up my baby...BUT this is the longest he's been out of the house at one time (not counting Road Trip #1) & I think he was just fabulous.

But I'm not biased or anything :)

It's a life long celebration

Song Currently Singing to Liam:

Baby let's go below the surface
See what we can find
There's no reason to be nervous
'Cause it happens all the time

I don't want to go up to the mountain
I don't need to go down to the sea
Gonna sit right here 'till we unravel
The mystery

While the lights of the city
Are shining below
Gonna hold onto you girl
And never let go
While everyone else is just walking around
In their sleep
Baby let's dig down
Dig down deep
I wanna dig down deep

And I don't wanna wait until tomorrow
'Cause the fortune said that "The time is now"
It's time to find out what we're doing
What we're doing anyhow

Let's go out in the moonlight
And walk for awhile
Maybe stay up all night and we could
Talk for awhile
Kick off your shoes
'Cause you've got nothing to lose
But your sleep
Baby let's dig down
Dig down deep
I wanna dig down deep

It's an open invitation
So baby don't you cry
It's a life long celebration
And I think we're right on time
It's a feeling in your heart
And a lump in the throat
It's a strange and lovely ride
Wanna dig down deep inside

While the lights of the city
Are shining below
Gonna hold onto you girl
And never let go
While everyone else is just walking around
In their sleep
Baby let's dig down
Dig down deep
I wanna dig down deep

Could you dig down deep
I wanna dig down deep

I like to call this...

What up, my bitches?

Winter Jacket

So Liam will be needing a winter jacket & I just think this is most cutest thing EVER.

9-11 In Memorium

I made a concentrated effort to put Liam in his firemen rescue outfit today so that we could memorialize the rescue workers in NY, PA & DC who attended to the terrorist attacks.

Warning - V. Mushy Stuff Coming

It's not that I never thought my heart could feel this way about my child, I'm just still so overwhelmed that this little perfect guy is Mine. Literally, I think my heart bursts when I think about him and us and our new little family, I know I get choked up and cant breathe properly and the tears start coming & I have to stop myself from going to him, running to him, really, and just covering him in kisses and smoothing out his 'duck's ass' and rubbing his chest or back or just staring at him. It's almost too much. This leaves me vunerable and shaky and not quite sure what to do with my heart that is just exploding with pride & love & awe. How he looks at his daddy when he comes home and just SMILES & how when he wakes up in the morning and is getting ready for breakfast his little hand reaches out for me and his face explodes with happiness. And I treasure our time nursing, it's our time, our private time, my time to have him all to myself with his little fingers working through my own, his feet kicking and leaning up against my arm as he settles in for his meal, his eyes that look up at me and smile with this unconditional love. This love that I have no idea where it comes from, where it originates, where it stems from but I think, I think, it's a 'product' of the love that is between Matias & I and that we, us, are represented through him and that just overwhelms me even more. I'm not ready for him to be in his crib, for him to grow out of a size of clothes...but it's so exciting & [again] overwhelming for him to be learning so many new things...he's discovered his tongue & that it can actually leave his mouth, he's trying to fit his whole fist in his mouth, he thinks it's funny when he pees on Mommy (and I'm sure he's not the only one), he likes his lotion warmed up before we slather him in it, he's getting ticklish, or maybe he's just laughing at Mommy, he's holding his head up, he's enjoying being on his tummy much more these days & he still screams blue murder when I burp him. He does have Mommy's Ticket though - my mom & sister laugh at me for holding him for four hours on afternoon when he wouldnt settle or have it any other way but I dont mind, I got to cuddle this bundle (one of my nicknames for him), hold him close, wrap his fingers around mine and sing softly to him - he likes to hear me sing, sing anything, really, but I prefer to sing DMB to him but he doesnt like the pauses for the instrumental portions of the songs so I have to hum through those, even though I'm singing without any music playing, his favorite at the moment is Satelitte, but he's starting to enjoy Crash also, I attempted to sing After Her to him but I burst into tears and had to stop before I went 'too far'. He's spending more time awake than not it seems these days, he's playing & spending so much more time in his 'gym', thrashing around, kicking and grabbing and learning and growing - singing to himself all the while.

I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life waiting to see what he does next.

This is going to be tougher than I thought

Liam seems to be out growing his cradle faster than either Matias or I imagined & it's hitting us both hard. We arent ready to move him into his crib, into another room - our little boy cannot be getting this big/old already. We dont have much longer, Matias said "months" last night & I just had to laugh cause, really, it's probably going to be just until the end of September that we can keep him in there. And really, if I'm having problems moving him from the cradle to the crib how am I ever going to let him go away to college? I'm only somewhat joking. We've already decided that this one is going to UVA & I think that would be the perfect time for us to finally move to CVille, wouldnt you agree? Again, only somewhat joking. That is, unless of course, he turns out to be a little punk, then he's on his own. Totally joking that time. How could this little face turn out to be a punk?

Bath Time!

We started just filling up the tub after Bath Number 2 didnt go over so well & letting him 'swim' around...to my surprise (Matias said "trust me, I've done this 1,000 times") Liam LOVED it!

He pushes off the walls, just like he did in Mommy's tummy, loves being swam around & just doesnt complain at all!

Can I get an Ahem?

Picture of the Day

(I might as well just go on and admit that this is turning into more of a photoblog than a journal but hell, with a 'subject' like this, who can resist!)

Footnote to "play date" cards

Click the link below to see what I'm talking about.

You ALMOST want them cause, damn they are TOO CUTE, but then you look at the pricetag ($50!!?) and decide against it. Sort of. Cause I'm sure I can find a use for bookplates or return address labels...

http://www.felixdoolittle.com/web/front_junior.aspx

Road Warrior

Liam Fellow went on his first Road Trip to AoE this weekend - but really, can I even call it the "weekend" since we didnt leave until Sunday around noon and came back on Monday - but I digress (aka 'snidly bitch') - and I'd LOVE to report that he was SO SO good during the 6 hours in a car on Sunday and almost 7 hours on Monday!

I sat in the back with him both ways & that was a lot easier to make sure he was covered from the sun & that I could attend to him if and when he woke up a little fussy. Plus, I just like to sit there and hold his hand :) We only had to stop once going up & let me tell you, I'm not a fan of the Rest Stop Change & Feed routine. Liam nursed really well though given the circumstances (in the front seat of a car...I could make some comment about 'getting action in a car' BUT my mom reads this so...) so although I could complain up the wazoo, he didnt, so I wont. BAH HUMBUG. The first 3 hours he slept right through everything & then after changing him and getting off the Jersey Turnpike he was a little more awake and alert so we played with his Quackers the Duck (duh...) and sang DMB to him. What a little trooper!! On the way home, we had to stop twice - once in Jersey - I wanted to stop before we hit the traffic that is Delaware (and we hit traffic that took us over an hour to go about 7 miles - stupid Delaware - I swear they count traffic as Tourism) and then again in Maryland (stupid Marylanders and not knowing how to drive causing accident MoFos) but this time we pulled into a Holiday Inn parking lot and had much more privacy and less sunshine issues since it was raining! Daddy was all freaking out cause he had a poopy diaper and he was going to get a really bad rash cause he was sitting in while we were in traffic cause of the accident - he wanted to pull over on the shoulder and change it there - thankfully Mommy squashed that idea for Safety Reasons (aka, 'are you f'ing kidding me?'). BUT being the Prepared Mommy that I am, I had a sample dose of Butt Paste in the diaper bag so rash averted - Thanks Prepared Mommy!

(I've had coffee, can you tell?)

Liam was a perfect Liam Fellow at his Grandparents de Ninos house - slept like an angel within all the chaos that is a house with 20 people in it. [I would like it noted for the record that I am REFRAINING from being mean and nasty.] He met his cousin Luccia (who is two weeks younger than Liam) for the first time & got many gifts from his family in Argentina. They called to say they already missed him. But, shit, I miss the little Liam Fellow too even when I'm just gone to the grocery store :)

We got home & he was just a little off schedule - I think he finally went down after another meal around 10pm - so only an hour behind - not too bad! He was up once more at 1:30 for a late night snack and then slept through till 5:30am and now we are back on track with our Every Two Hour Feeding schedule. Not too bad, at all! I'm starting to think I might be able to manage the drive to NC all by myself if he keeps this behaviour up! Plus, the Rest Areas are WAY nicer in VA & NC than NJ, but that's kind of a no-brainer isnt it? And I think I will pump a meal or two for the next trip - nursing in a car is not something I want to make a habit of & then we'd only have to stop for diaper changes...

I'll post pictures once I raid Matias' hard drive!

Happy Sunday!

Liam Fellow sends his very bestest smiles :)

I’ve entered the Danger Zone

Sound the Alarms.

I believe I have firmly crossed the threshold into Soccer Mom Territory – I have joined a Mommies Group.

Hi! My name’s Jennifer & I’m a Mommies Group Member. I’ve been a member for about 4 weeks now & I’ve slipped once & gone to a Mommies Group Event.

Liam & I went to a Ice Cream Social & we had a great time!! Ok, he slept the entire time but Mommy had a yummy chocolate shake. All the women are really nice & friendly – there weren’t a lot of infants there that time but there are many new guys that have recently been born so I’m thinking at future events there will be more of us New Mommies present.

It is a DC Metro area group run off of YahooGroups & there are Local Chapters – thankfully Manassas is included too. There are then subgroups including book clubs (Manassas just started one once I expressed interest!), scrapbooking clubs, walking moms groups, etc…so I honestly think this is a good fit for me. It gets me out of the house, doing fun things & socializing with Liam & gets ME doing fun things for ME! It’s an adjustment (Understatement of 2006) this Stay at Home Mom business (and that’s SAHM, for you non-breeders) & I am hoping that this group will, not only, help with my new Job as a SAHM but help me adjust to being a Mother.

I don’t necessarily miss my job, the act of going into work doesn’t appeal to me at the moment (but with a two hour commute who would that appeal to??) but I do miss having Things To Do that are outside of the sit on the couch with a bebe attached to my boob! So my calendar is quite full – not all of the events can Liam & I participate in yet but just looking at the next week there are 3 events scheduled! Of course, I’m missing my first Mom’s Night Out (MNO) because we are going to AoE (Axis of Evil), but it’s still nice to see a schedule and things for me to do filling up my days.

It’s really easy to stay in the house with your newborn and just take care of your daily things but if I have a Schedule or an Appointment than I’m much less inclined to be lazy or take the easy route and get out and do something. And I know all of that will change once I get a lot more comfortable venturing outside with Liam. As HIS schedule becomes clearer it’s easier to guesstimate WHEN Mom can escape into the world with Liam in tow. Especially since I’ve been nursing without supplementing by bottle or formula – that’s a tough call between feedings and naps – I’ve got a two hour window that gets filled with 30 minutes feedings, diaper changes at the hour mark and maybe a nap in there if we are playing in the gym or singing & dancing around the house – those two hours FLY BY so I don’t ever feel like I can JUST LEAVE. There’s always the Next Feeding to think about.

I’ve also got some Crop Events that I’m planning on making a routine practice – Liza has Thrifty Thursdays where you are only obligated to bring a snack for everyone & the workshop is free of charge – this happens every 2^nd Thursday & is from 9-2. Now, I may not make it exactly at 9 and I may not make every 2^nd Thursday but I DO have it on my calendar & I don Intend on making those events! Cause people, I haven’t even started my PREGNANCY ALBUM yet & Liam is 6 weeks old!! (that whole statement is worthy of another post altogether!)

And it will be nice to meet other women in the area – women that I actually have things in common with now. There’s a long standing joke with my scrapbooking buddies at Liza’s that I was the person who rarely made albums of PEOPLE that most of my pictures were of CATS. Not true any longer.

Hi! My name’s Jennifer & I’m a New Mother.

The Land of BoPos & Liam Fellows

The Land of BoPos & Liam Fellows

It was the Liam’s first night at home & things weren’t going badly at all – he had one little bout of restlessness but I think that stemmed from the combination of us putting him in his crib & being in a new place. At the hospital he never slept in his little bassinet but rather slept with his daddy on the pull out bed or with me in the early morning hours in the hospital bed. We didn’t plan on co-sleeping with him (although I’m sure Daddy would have pushed harder for it if our bed was bigger and if I wasn’t such a paranoid person to begin with…) so we didn’t bring him to bed with us right away. He did end up sleeping with us for about a weeks’ time but we knew we wanted him in his cradle, right next to Mommy, to help make the transition easier to his crib when the time came or else we’d end up with an 8 year old still sleeping with us (I’m looking at your Mother in Law!).

So at this point he was upset and fussy, but not crying out of control, so Matias was up and walking with him around the room. It’s amazing what some “walking” will do for a baby who just wants to be cuddled and in motion. I was somewhat awake since, of course, this is my baby too but I was just lying in bed trying to catch some more sleep so I was listening to the story that Matias was weaving for our Little Liam.

It starts out with the Land of BoPos (made up word, said with a strange accent in baby voice) – this is where all the babies who are misbehaving go cause they are lured & tempted by the other BoPos. This isn’t a place you want to stay for long cause you will miss out on all the fun that the other Liam Fellows are having over in the Land of Liam Fellows. I laughed quietly while listening to Matias whisper this tale to his newborn son, I didn’t laugh quietly enough though since Daddy heard me & knew I was listening to him spin this tale & he laughed back in response. The story continued for about a ½ hour all the while, Daddy was pacing around the room reminding him of all the pleasures to be found in the Land of Liam Fellows and beckoning him to come and play with all the other good Liam Fellows, finally Liam conceded and returned from the Land of BoPos to the Land of Good Liam Fellows & we all went back to sleep.

The next morning I asked Matias what a BoPo was – thinking possibly it was a Spanish word or something he knew from his childhood – and he looked at me with a deadpan face & said “you will never speak their name out loud again” and that was the end of that. We try not to speak their name in our house – we never threaten a Good Liam Fellow with BoPos as it might scare him & give him nightmares. But we do encourage & reward Good Liam Fellows in this household with many slobbery kisses & squishy hugs!

I fear he might grow up to believe his middle name is Fellow though! I think his nickname is rather fitting and debunaire in a sense – it’s almost as if we are calling him a Gentleman, which is exactly how he is acting when he is being a Good Liam Fellow. And it’s also not unlike Good Will Hunting – grin – but again his middle name or last name is not Fellow. HA.

We are constantly on the lookout for the BoPos as we don’t want them to tempt our Little Liam Fellow and we try & protect him from them whenever & wherever we can. I would think that this isn’t a bad strategy for us all.

The Origins of a Liam Fellow

There is actually a story behind the nickname Liam Fellow & I'm sure one day soon, I'll get around to telling it but right now the little Liam Fellow just woke up (A HOOO!!) cause someone is making a really strange sound outside...like a dog coughing who has TB.

Southern Bell or Snobby Bitch?

I'm searching for Baptism invitation designs* & came across this curious thing of calling cards for BABIES. Of course, they are just so adorable you want to print out 5974 million of them for your little one but isnt that going a bit far? I think that personalized thank you cards are just adorable and perfect & I actually wish I had some forethought and did that for Liam that way we could use them for years to come (Christmas, birthday, etc.) but I didnt even know about them until after I had purcashed about 5 or 6 different sets of Thank You cards. But I guess there's nothing stopping me from getting them now and just keeping them 'in stock', right?

Anyway...back to my point...

Is it a little much to get your little one their own calling card? I mean, I didnt even have my first business card until I worked for the CTC & I did have my own for CM but I ordered those myself so I'm not counting them...so at what point is this just out of control? OR is it a really good idea and just too damn cute to pass up?

I have, secretly, always wanted my OWN calling card but that was mainly before I had business cards since it made it easier, my rationale, to hand out my contact information than writing it down...and much prettier :) But dont you think it's over the top to get some for your child?

I do think I will approach Matias about getting Liam some personalized thank you cards though & maybe that will stop me from obsessing over baby calling cards cause I'll be the Southern Bell with personalized thank you cards and not the over the top snobby bitch** who has calling cards for their baby.

* oh, you didnt know I was a paper addict?
**apologies to anyone who actually has the baby calling cards :) You arent a Snobby Bitch but a Southern Bell.

Double Edged Sword

The problem with having a Liam Fellow who sleeps from 11pm to 6:30AM is that he's up and AWAKE from that point on. No amount of Full Belly or Dry Diaper is going to change that fact, he's up and he must be stimulated!

And then an hour later he's crashed out on the couch, arms flung above his head, chupie (from the Spanish verb "chupar" meaning "to suck") tossed aside in careless abandonment...and mom stuck at the computer, drinking coffee and blog posting.

This aint no free ride, buddy!

Liam was put to work last week* - it was about time he started earning his keep around here. Free boob juice and unlimited diaper changes only last so long in this world and it was about time he discovered this harsh truth.

Daddy always wanted his own team of Programmers anyway. Plus, he just got his social security card, so he's legal to work.

* No Liam Fellows were harmed in the posing of this picture

Off topic

But I wanted to post this somewhere and since my regular webpage has decided to delete itself and my webmaster/husband is scrabbling to make sure I didnt lose 4 years worth of journaling...and isnt it funny that the picture is the one we have that huge thing of in our house??

What Dave Matthews Band Song Are You?

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Slow down!

Liam has already grown out of most of his Newborn sized clothes (the Gerber ones are REALLY tiny to begin with though) & he is now in Stage 1 diapers - also no longer in the Newborn size.

When did this happen? I think it happened last week during all this sleeping he was doing!

But at least now his head fits into his Pooh hat (you know the one were it looks like he's a Pooh Bear?) - that didnt fit him when he was a newborn sized bebe.

I cannot believe I am packing up clothes ALREADY and putting them towards the back of the dresser drawer!

Here's a picture of him in his papasan chair stretching after a nap - clearly showing how much bigger he has gotten since the last time y'all might have seen pictures of him in his papasan chair (I just like typing the word papasan). Now, he actually looks like he FITS in it.

Just like Daddy

I could NOT resist the little shoes yesterday at Target - HAD TO get the ones that look like Addidas Sambas - just like his Daddy wears!

Sweet, Sweet Epidural

Now that all of us Freak Women have given birth to all of our sons (3 boys, can you believe it??), I might get on with Liam's Birth Story - I held off as not to scare the other ladies :)

Here's the only one I'll show before Liam was born - it's me with the epidural! The nurses called me a "light weight" while I was passed out. I passed out almost immeadiately after receiving the drugs but I think that was a lot better than me screaming in tongues (as Matias called it) and begging someone just to "fucking do something about this pain".

WARNING!

One MUST be prepared for the 4 hour nap diaper & feeding!!

psha.

I was going to start reading the above pictured book today since Liam seemed to have started having some daytime sleeping issues and lo, and behold, the little Liam Fellow has been asleep since 10:45am! Yes, that's right, it's now 1:47PM and he's still asleep!!

You think I would be taking this time to get things done around the house but I'm not...I'm surfing the web and redeeming My Points points for Old Navy gift cards and catching up on all my blogs & wondering if Esther has a new baby of her own yet...

but I did FINALLY get around to looking at the CD of pictures Kris gave me from my Baby Shower way back in May - and man, there are some cute pictures on there! And it's funny how you dont actually feel as big as I look. Freudian Slip - I typed ASS instead of AS.

(EDITED TO NOTE: Liam slept until 2:15 - WTF?)

I'm a Stranger in a Strange land

Sometimes I find it strange that I'm walking around picking up baby toys, or picking cat fur off of pacifiers, or folding tiny little sockies...

And can someone tell me when I will stop tearing up when I see my little boy sleeping curled up on his side, or when he smiles at me during breakfast, or when he actually sheds a tear?

And at what age will he no longer need me to cuddle him to sleep, or want to spend an hour dancing around the house listening to Mommy's horrible singing, or when will he stop laughing and asking for more kisses?

It should be noted...

...that I have not really figured out how to use the restroom when alone with the Liam Fellow.

I know, it sounds easy but when he's sleeping and I'd have to trudge him upstairs and put him in his cradle while I, hmm, go, I would really rather not risk waking him up so I'm sure I'm looking at a nice pattern of UTI's in my near future :) Thankfully, I'm back to my pre-pregnancy days of 'going' only 2-3 times a day and not every time I thought of running water.

Hello my bebe!

After yesterday's up at 5am business and no naps during the day (I dont count 20-30 minutes as a Nap), I'm pleased to say I have my little Liam Fellow back!!

He went down at 9pm, as routine, and woke back up at 10 (wet diappy) and slept until 3:50am and then did not wake again until 7:44am!! Now, after helping me clean the kitchen, feed the Others & make coffee, he is gently sleeping (for the past 22 minutes) in his papasan.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS JINXY - THE LITTLE LIAM JUST WOKE UP.

I could have sworn that 22 minutes was WELL PAST the jinx perimeter.

(EDITED TO NOTE: he's just wet...of course, it's been more than an hour since he last fed, but...crossing fingers he sleeps this well all day!!)

BAH!

These 5AM feedings are killing me, especially when he doesnt go back to sleep until after his 7:30AM feeding or maybe even not until after his 9:30AM feeding...

I am NOT a morning person & making conversation is not my strong point that early in the morning :) I'm just trying to get him to nap now so that I can get in the shower and start getting ready (4 hours early!) for our appointment at JCPenny's today!

Hipster Daddy

Matias received a Dude's Diaper bag yesterday from one of his college friends - too funny - camo diaper bag :) He loves it though - although he had zero problem carrying Mommy's Vera Bradley "girlie" diaper bag around - it's too cute to see him trying it on and sizing it up!

Apres Bath Time!

Mommy cuddling the little wet bebe boy in his specially made for him bath time blankie - TOO CUTE MUST TRY AND NOT EAT HIM ALIVE.

Bath time!!

Someone got their first bath last week!! He was so well behaved in the water (minus the little arc of pee that we aimed right out of his little tub...) - no fussing, no crying, no flaying around - I'm hoping he takes to the water like the little crab he is! And yes, he always looks that wide eyed :)

"Oh No!" Face

Liam cries for about 1.2 seconds and not only because we pick him up right quick but because he doesnt cry a lot. When he makes this face though, it ALMOST makes me wish he would cry more often ;) This is his 'just about to burst out into a cry' face. Yeah, we're probably going to hell for taking pictures of him crying but he got slathered in kisses right after so you dont have to worry too much about him!

Liam Robert 1 Month Update!

Can you believe he is ONE MONTH OLD?!!?!

Where has the time gone??

Anyway :) Liam Robert can do the following things...

1) Smile
2) Grab my hair
3) Respond to his name being called

4) Repeat back noises
5) Poop out the side of his diaper
6) Hold his head up!!
7) Roll over on his side!!

8) Plays on his gym for a good 1/2 hour and sings and talks to his toys
9) Does not like to have a wet bum - so EXACTLY an hour after eating he will let us know he needs to be changed
10) eats every two hours and sleeps inbetween those meals - you can set your watch by him he's that accurate!
11) Liam has Matias' hairline & it is receding already :)


Of course there's a lot more but the little one has just been changed and now needs his playtime!

I am Survivor (sung to the tune of the Destiny Child's song)

I survived the visit by the in-laws. It's taken me about 2 days to recover though - my age and motherhood is showing, I'm afraid!

Target Portrait Studio "experience"

Well, maybe disaster is a strong word but still it was pretty rough today. Bottom line - we came away with no pictures and not even a full sitting. Reason being? Customer service.

This is at the gainesville Super Target...

They had 3 teenaged girls (nothing against teenagers in general but I dont think they really know how to work with mothers and newborns, esp.) 'working' - two sat around and talked on their cell phones while the other one did all the work. We arrived for our 12:30 appointment about 5 minutes early and waited until 1:10 to get into the studio. I left an hour for the sitting and planned on nursing right after in the dressing rooms (his lunchtime was at 1:30 and he's really consistent) so by the time we even made it into the studio Liam was starting to get the Pre-Feeding Fussies - nothing horrible - just his normal stretching and squakings. This would have been avoided if they stuck to their schedule. Since the appt. before us ran over and only one person was helping check this customer out (picking photos, signing her up for the membership...everything! and we were sitting there watching the other 2 do nothing but tell us it would just be a few more mintues) Before we even got shown into the studio, the 1:30 appt. showed up. At 1:30 I asked if I could have a few minutes to feed him so that he might cooperate and stop crying (at this point he was crying) at least. They said we could reschedule - I wasnt having that since it wasnt US who caused the back up in the appts. but agreed with my husband that I would give Liam a snack and if that didnt do the trick than we were walking. 3 times in less than five minutes I was checked on and asked if we would like to reschedule. Finally we just walked. I went straight to the dressing room and finished feeding him his lunch.

Part of me is annoyed that I was checked on so many times in such a short amount of time - like BF'ing is done in under 5 minutes, but then part of me is really annoyed that 3 people couldnt do their jobs properly and were rushing the customers who were there on time making them feel like it was their fault nothing was working out properly.

Next week, we are going to JCPenny’s in Fair Oaks. I tried Target and they failed me - I just dont think they have the right people working in these positions AND that they didnt fully understand the nature of their jobs. They shouldnt be scheduling appts. so closely together, esp. if they know how old the child is (and they do ask when you make the appt) and why have 3 people working when clearly only one of them is doing the job?

*sigh* I'm just a little disheartened over this all. I was really looking forward to getting the pictures done today and the little man just looked so handsome and he was in such a sweet mood prior to all of this - and now he hasnt slept for more than 1/2 hour at a time the rest of the day :( Maybe I'm over reacting but this was my experience & they really didnt win me over, to say the least.

Here's to hoping Penny's comes through for us!

Trust me, I'll let you know if they dont ;)

My new wallpaper

I felt a little guilty changing it from my adorable Monkey wallpaper to this but I just HAD TO. SO proud :) I dont think Matias added any of these "family pictures" that we took a couple of weeks ago when the WHOLE ENTIRE FAMILY was in town so I'll throw up a few here...

My brother & SIL flew in from CA to meet their newest nephew (but first on the Hewitt side) so we had to take the opportunity to take a family picture since the last time that happened was when Kyle was about a year old and then not again until our wedding!! It's tough to get us all together when we are bi-coastal but I'm glad we were all able to be together with/for Liam Robert.

I'm sorry...

But is this NOT the most adorable Liam Robert you have EVER met?!?!

:)

Liam's First Web Page

LOL.

Daddy built a photo album for him online - we are trying to update it as much as possible so keep checking back for more of Liam Robert!

http://www.ninocentral.com/%5FWEBAPPS/PhotoAlbums%5FAPP/PhotoAlbums/Liam/

It takes a while to load on my machine but I dont know if it's just because it's my machine or if the page takes a long time to load :)

First Rain Storm

There was a fabulous rain storm on the Saturday - we opened all the blinds and showed Liam his first Southern thunder storm. He LOVED it.

Long time coming BUT here's Liam Robert!! He's been this alert since moment 1 & keeps surprising everyone with just how alert he is...

Liam Robert
6 lbs. 15 oz.
21 1/4"
12:20am (NOT 7.19!!)
10 fingers, 10 toes, wonderful dark blue eyes, gorgeous dark brown hair and long skinny legs!

Matias' first words (after telling me he was a boy...!) were "he looks just like you!"

T-minus

So in about 3.5 hours I will be at the hospital awaiting my protisin gel insertion.

There was no change in the amount that I had dilated and now I'm at 41 weeks.

The stress test showed no indication of immeadiate risk - great heartbeat and fantastic movement. I had a little Jjeopardy! buzzer thing that I needed to hit everytime the Bebe moved and of course, everytime the nurse left the room he?she was ALL over the place. I'm sure he?she was just waiting until he?she had the room to him?herself.

Just think, by tomorrow I can stop doing the he?she!

There was some stressful moments when Matias was trying to get the information he wanted/needed from the doctor about WHY we induce and at WHAT point. I decided to go ahead with the induction tomorrow since we are already at 41 weeks and the risks just get bigger and more complicated as time passes. It's been tough getting past the 'this is NOT going to be a Natural birth' - as the dr. said today "it already isnt natural since you are past your due date". I struggled with this last week and I think Matias is still struggling with it and not wanting to 'give up' quite yet.

So it's rough on us. I got some reassurances about pitocin though and even though the delivery will be harder on me (bedridden and immobile), there will be NO introduction of drugs into the baby's system - which is the bottom line issue for me.

And I know that rarely does anything go the way one plans, this is common sense BUT as we all know who have been through this, that it is still disheartening and a little heartbreaking to have to alter your 'plans' for whatever reasons. I havent fully resigned myself to having this birth fully deviate from our plan BUTI do know that the plan has been altered and I'm trying my best not to interfere with the natural course of things OR force anything upon the Bebe - if we can jump start this process into motion, I would be most happy.

And to lighten this all up - the Cat is LITERALLY in the cradle.

Monkey discovered the cradle last night & has decided to make it his new sleep spot. He's too freaking cute in that thing...all balled up with his head resting on the bumper pads looking as innocent as can be. Why he had to wait until the DAY BEFORE we went into the hospital is beyond me...

Merchandise update

My nursing chair arrived!!!

YAY!!

I believe that is the last bit of Stuff we were waiting on...oh minus the BEBE.