Liam is 11 months old!

Liam is 11 months old now!

What can we say about him?

He is a sweet, cuddly baby.

He loves his brothers and gets super-excited when he sees them.

Favorite song: The Wise Man Built his House upon a Rock

Favorite game: having a ball rolled to him so he can "throw" it back

Favorite video: Baby Newton (aka Baby Shapes)

Favorite food: um, anything you put on his plate!

He likes to climb and was particularly proud that he was able to stand up on this cushion.

He likes to babble and have a "conversation" with you.

Just adorable! It's hard to believe he will be 1 year old in a month. I am cherishing these moments the best I can-they go by to fast!

Big things for Liam!

Liam got his hair cut today! I held out as long as I could-I was trying to make it a to one year old-but Liam's poor bangs were always getting in his eyes. We kept having to brush the bangs out of his eyes, not to mention food particles that got stuck in the hair. I took Liam with the other boys to get their hair cuts all at the same time. The lady that does their hair has been doing the boys for over a year. Some people may question why I will go to a kiddie haircut place and pay more than I might at other locations (or why we just don't do their hair at home). I say that this is a perk from me working. It is way less stressful to take these kiddos somewhere and pay someone else to do a much better job than I could ever do. And, the boys like the place and are very comfortable there. Liam did great! Of course he cried, probably because I was holding his arms down. I had our stylist keep his hair longer. I just wasn't ready for the "little boy cut".

As if that wasn't enough-Liam has moved out of our closet :-) and into the crib in his actual bedroom! It's been an okay transition. Liam cries a smidge when you lay him down. I think that's just because it's a different environment that the dark closet. The room he moved into is one that we thought he would share with Ewan. Well, Ewan has temporarily moved into Marcus and Cale's room-his own choice, not ours. Ewan had been sleeping in their room for a few nights and then I just went ahead and moved his mattress in there for him to sleep on (toddler size). I'm not too sure how long this will last. Maybe we should get some bunkbeds and a trundle bed and make this a more permament move. We'll see. Anyway, these pics are of Liam today, all mixed up because I can't figure out how to move them around :-) See if you can figure out the before and afters :-)

the four brothers

Here's a photo I took of the brothers today. Thank goodness they were in a good enough mood to sit through me taking several shots and Grammy Linda getting some with her camera. Good sports!

They've had fun visiting with Grammy Linda the past few days. She brought her Wii Fit Plus game and balance board. Marcus and Cale especially liked it. I can see a purchase in the near future. The boys got spoiled by her and next week will be spoiled by Grammy Pammy. They love visitors! And, the weather has been fantastic! But, I hear there is a cold spell on the way. It's too bad that as we start getting used to warmer weather, Mother Nature decides we are just to comfy. I'm hoping for no snow and a quick return to warmer weather next week. Everyone is resting now, and I'm off to take Cale to a birthday party for a girl in his class. He picked out a guinea pig webkinz, m&m's and some girly tattoos for her. Really, I think Cale would have liked the webkinz for himself. I'm curious to see what the little girl thinks. :-) But what girl wouldn't want a stuffed animal, candy and glittery tattoos?

a celebration for St. Patrick's Day! (or-Liam's first steps)

In honor of the great Saint Patrick, Liam decided to take his first steps! Being the fantastic mommy that I am, I did not see his actual very first steps-he did those for Daddy and the church secretary (I was at home sleeping after a night of work). But, I have witnessed some steps since then and today I tried to capture some of them for the blog. Babies are just so unpredictable! It was hard to get Liam to focus on walking :-) He is by far the earliest walker of all the boys since he is a few days shy of 11 months old. Marcus, Cale and Ewan all started walking right at 1 year. Enjoy!

something different

an opportunity came up to apply for a substitute school nurse position in our school district. i just submitted my application. i thought it would be fun to try something a little different (okay, a lot different that the i.c.u.) and my peds experience might make me a desirable candidate. i guess we'll see if they think so too. i'm just looking for a change from what i do right now....
stay tuned

one more pic-I just can't help it!

Today is a great day. I just discovered that I can upload photos directly from my camera to the blog without going through the pain of dealing with Kodak "Easy Share". I was able to do this on Andy's laptop, which gives me hope that I can figure out how to do it on the our main computer too. But, now I'm upload crazy, drunk on how fast I have uploaded pictures for the last few posts. I'm also excited that I won't be shopping around for a new camera anytime soon. Seriously, I was so ready to toss this one and its horrible software and get something different-which was sad, because the camera takes good pictures, it's just the software that I hate. Anyway----And now I have one more photo to share-of Liam in one of my favorite outfits- comfy Sesame Street overalls and a cute blue turtleneck onesie with Big Bird on the collar. When I took this photo, Liam was actually also "watching" Seseame Street. I think he thought that the puppets were cool.

trophy day

Another trophy was added to the shelf a few weeks ago. Marcus and Cale finished their indoor soccer program. They both did great and would like to play soccer again. We are currently taking a break from sports since there were none that worked well with our schedules. We are hoping to put Marcus in lacrosse in May and maybe sign Cale up for some t-ball (Cale has an excellent swing for a 5 year old).

weekend stuff

We box in the living room. We get tattoos. Boy stuff.

I love the YMCA. I hate the YMCA.

I love the YMCA. I love their kid sports programs. I love the swimming pools and the splash park. I love going there to run and work out on the weights (shocking, I know). They even have a Subway in the Y that we can get meals from.

I am having a problem with the childcare facility at the YMCA. I do not think they take good care of Liam. It seems to be one particular worker who, in my opinion, does not try to comfort Liam if he is crying. In fact, Liam cries whenever he sees her. Case and point, the other day the childcare folks had to come get Andy because Liam was crying. When Andy got to the room, he found Liam, crying, in a high chair with some baby snack in front of him. Really?! They were just letting a baby sit there and cry! And who was working? Oh yeah, that same woman! Who just lets a baby sit and cry!?!

So, now, I don't go to the YMCA with the kids. Too bad for me, because I do like going to work out. Too bad for the older boys, because they like the play area too. Poor Liam, I feel bad that he had to be put through that experience.

My rant is over now. Thank you.

Grammy Pammy came to play...soccer

Grammy Pammy came out to visit a few weeks ago. It was great because she was able to come to Marcus and Cale's soccer games. And, she got to play soccer with them, since it was the parent-child game day. The boys thought that was great. I'm not to sure who won either game, but I know they had fun playing. Cale scored a lot of goals that day and was excited that his coach called him a "scoring machine". Marcus's parent-child game was all the adults vs all the kids at the same time. That was a little crazy. The kids pretty much ran around in a big pack and I guess the ball got kicked from time to time. One last day of soccer for Cale tomorrow and then a break until we see what sports fit into our schedule.

Andy "coaching" Marcus's parent-child game (with some help)


The herd of kids, all going after 1 ball-CRAZY!



Grammy, waiting for the herd of kids to try to score.



Grammy and Cale-who's the goalie? (it always takes me a little while to figure out what flash stuff I need to use for indoors)



Liam loves Grammy Pammy!

Liam is 10 months old!

Liam turned 10 months old last Wednesday! We just love him-he's so stinkin' cute!

Fun facts and things we love about Liam at 10 months:

*I call him my little cave man because he's starting to "talk" with grunts

*I also like to call him "Wee-ums" instead of Liam

*likes to stand with no support

*likes to feed himself (and we usually try to spoon in some food too!)

*is sleeping through the night! If he wakes up, it is usually around 11pm for a snack, and then goes back to sleep until about 730am!

*so, pretty soon, we will upgrade Liam to the crib! This is very exciting since he is still sleeping in the pack-n-play in our closet

*he loves to watch his brothers play and play next to them, I guess it's his way of feeling included

*is participating in the nursery class at church-kind of gets what is going on

*some of his favorite foods are baby goldfish crackers, avocado, spaghetti and sauce, and brocolli and cheese

*he's wearing some 12 month and some 18 month clothes (short legs, long torso)

*just a happy baby! absolutely wonderful!