our four month old "little" Liam

Liam is four months old and is so stinkin cute! He smiles, coos and laughs a ton and loves to have "face time" with people. He's pretty easy going and likes getting held by just about everyone. He's reaching for things and trying to put them in his mouth-most of the time, just his hands make it in. He's a thumb sucker, but not all the time. He's a mover, he has been rolling over from back to front for a month now and can scoot around a little bit in the walker. He got a clean bill of health from the doctor the other day who just loves seeing our kids. His newest "stats" are: 26 1/4 inches long (90th %) and 17 pounds, 14.5 oz (95%). Sure he's big, but look at his brothers stats from around that same age, and you will see his is right on target with his growth to be another big Shaffer boy!

Marcus: 26 1/2 inches, 17 pounds, 9.5 oz

Cale: 26 3/4 inches, 17 pounds, 5.5 oz

Ewan: 26 1/2 inches, 16 pounds, 9.5 oz (lightweight!)

Marcus's first day of 1st grade!

Are we old enough to have a first grader in our house? I guess so, because we sent Marcus off to first grade on Monday. He was excited to go back and be around lots of kids his age. He is in a class with only 2 of his classmates from last year, but from what Marcus tells us, it sounds like he meets up with the rest of them at recess-favorite game: chasing girls. I drove him to school the first day (after I got home from work-see photo above) and he rode the bus home. The open house was Wednesday night, and we ran by to see his class, re-introduce myself to the teacher, and walk around the school. Hopefully the year goes well for Marcus and he continues to enjoy school.

my complaint of the day

I like my camera. We got it to replace our old one that just froze up all of a sudden. But, I am having the worst time downloading pictures from the camera to our computer! The camera is a Kodak and came with software, of course. With the old camera, I could just plug it into the computer and upload the pictures to picassa-so easy! With this camera, I have to go through the "easyshare" software first. No problem, except that the software is picking and choosing which of my pictures to upload. The photos are all still on the camera, they just don't make it to the computer. It's a smidge frustrating, especially when a paticularly cute photo is left out of the download. I did figure out one way to bypass it, which takes forever because I have to upload all the photos on the camera card everytime-and there are plenty on the card right now! Anyway, that's my gripe of the day. I have a feeling I'm going to have to call to talk to live support to sort this one out. It's probably something super-easy that I'm missing. We'll see.

school supplies

I rocked on school supplies last night! I got everything on Marcus's list, except the backpack (we're considering one from a military surplus website, Andy's idea, Marcus endorsed). Anyway, I spent under $20 at Walmart (including a new lunch box marked down to $3 from $7) and my only complaint is that I do not understand why teachers want specific brands? What is the difference between Crayola and Rose Art? Do Clorox wipes really clean that much better than the store brand? And a large glue stick? Walmart had 1 size of glue stick which I'm asuming was the "regular" size, so we got those. Marcus starts school on Monday in the last school district in what seems like the entire state to go back to school. He's excited to go. I'm sad that he's a year older and going into first grade. I hope the year treats him well and he has a good experience.

invasion of the cousins

From Aug2009

(Marcus, Savannah, Ewan, Marie, Liam, Cale & Cassie)

A few weeks ago, Kim and the girls came out to spend a few days. They came to visit, but also Kim helped out by watching the boys so I could go to work (Andy had sports practices all day, every day). We're so thankful that she was able to come, because otherwise, I don't think we would have found a sitter who could come for a few hours in the evening and then be back at our house the next morning by 5 or 6 am. Plus, the boys got to see their cousins and were super-excited about that. They played great together, we got to take them to the splash park at the YMCA, and the boys got to have them for guests in their Wednesday night church class. It was a great visit and I'm glad we got it in before school started and everyone gets busy with new schedules. The picture above will take you to others :-)

Ewan & Liam's room

Hooray! Ewan and Liam's room is finally complete! Just wanted everyone to see. The curtains, done by Grammy Pammy, were the final touch to the room that used to be pink with pink wallpaper. And, actually, the closet still is pink-I didn't realize it until the room was almost done (we'll paint it white in the future). The curtains really help keep the room cooler and darker. I think it helps the boys sleep in there.



a close-up of the fabric-so cute!

mother knows best, part 2

called Andy on the way home from work on Monday morning:
Me: how was your night?
Andy: Liam didn't sleep well for part of the night, and then at 2am, I figured out that he was actually cold.
Me: What was he wearing?
Andy: I just had him in a onesie. After I realized that he was cold, I put him in a sleeper.
Me: (mini-lecture on how babies kick off blankets, babies body surface area compared to adults, and just because you are always hot does not mean that Liam is as hot as you)

Liam slept fine the next night, dressed in a sleeper of course!

mother knows best I guess

Here's the conversation I had with Andy on my way home from work on Friday morning:
Me: How was your night?
Andy: I'm so tired. Liam only slept for 1 to 2 hours at a time.
Tracy: That's wierd.
Andy: Yeah, I think he doesn't feel well. He feel warm.
Tracy: What's his temperature?
Andy: I haven't taken it. I thought you could do that when you get home.
Tracy: Well, if he has a fever, you should give him some tylenol.
Andy: I don't know how much to give him.
Tracy: We have a dosing chart right next to the thermometer with all the medicine.
Andy: I just figured you could do it when you get home.
Tracy: Well, at least take his temp under his arm, come on, it's not that difficult.

So, that was the end of our conversation. Andy did take Liam's temp and it was 99.9. Poor kid. He ended up having a fever for about 24 hours. Liam did sleep better on Friday night. Probably because I gave him tylenol before he went to bed. Now he's all better and back to his happy self. :-)

Joe came to visit

Yea! my brother Joe came to visit from lovely San Diego. The boys were excited to see him, especially Ewan for some reason. Not that Uncle Joe isn't very cool, but last time Ewan saw him, he wasn't quite 2. So, Uncle Joe came with Grammy Pammy (another reason to excite the kids) and stayed overnight. We played an exciting game of Risk once the kids went to bed :-) and Andy and Joe got to go hit some golf balls @ a driving range. The boys got to climb all over Joe too and he was a good sport for playing with them.

climbing on Grammy

Joe and his big sister :-)

posing with the boys

meeting Liam

VBS photo

Yeah, I only took one VBS photo this year, at home, before the end-celebration, in our matching shirts, and Andy would not wear his, so I cropped him out of the photo, party pooper. Liam also got a VBS shirt, however, it is the same size as Ewan's, I decided not to "dress" him in it.