Ten Months

Liam is 10 months old. I know I say this every time but I swear time speeds up when you have kids because this year has flown by as I count each month of my babies life! He is such a joy to be around. He is so fun and smiley and happy and loving. He is so busy and crawling everywhere and exploring everything. This last month has been so fun with all the holidays. Arizona for Thanksgiving was a blast and he had so much fun meeting all his cousins and playing with them. He was so well behaved too! With December upon us, we have decorated the house, put up our tree and ornaments and Liam is very good with the tree. He does like to pull on one ornament quite a bit but he is pretty good. He absolutely loves the tree topper we got. It is a star that is lit up and he just stares at it all the time. He is just fascinated with all the lights. He also likes cords so I am trying to hide all of those with presents, even some empty wrapped boxes, if that is what it takes.

Family Photos

I wanted to snag some photos of the first time professionally...and we just got them back a while ago and we have some real winners!!! Liam is seriously too adorable...I can't even stand it. He had just woken up from a nap so there weren't as many big smiles as we are used to, and he just loves the camera, which totally distracts him from being his normal fun self. He just stares right at the fancy camera, and every now and again you catch him smiling when you do something silly for him! Overall, I was really happy with the pictures and both Tadd and I don't look half bad either. Tadd just lost 20 lbs about in a weight loss challenge so he looks fantastic. And I am in the works, but my face doesn't look half bad. I think I am going to use some of these pictures around our house as well as use them for our very first Christmas card. I am seriously enjoying every new experience as a family of three!!!

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving in Arizona with Tadd's family. It was a full house!!! Now, every sibling in the family has at least one kid (we were the last ones holding out-saving the best for last ;) We were able to stay with his brother and sister in law and their two kids. They always save a room for us...and this year, they had all the goodies that we needed for Liam including a car seat, stroller, and crib. Can you believe that...that saved us some serious packing! We arrived on Wednesday evening and headed straight to Nick's house to get some shut eye before Thanksgiving day. On Thanksgiving we all hung out at the house while the food was cooking. All the kids were hanging together. Dinner turned out really good!We had all the traditional dishes including turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, homemade cranberries and then a few desserts! Yikes... Friday after Thanksgiving we decided to go to a bounce house to burn some holiday calories. We had such a blast jumping around, as did the kids, even Liam had his fair share of bouncing!

Saturday we all went out to breakfast and ate more...I think that is what the Thanksgiving theme is...Eat as much as possible and then go on a diet. The rest of the day Liam and I chilled at the house and took a nice long nap while the rest went to an indoor park with lots of slides and things to climb on. Saturday night we were also able to meet up with Tadd's high school friends and their two kids. We enjoyed some pizza and some quality time catching up.

Sunday we went to church with the family and then headed back to the house for a lighter dinner. Monday was our last day and we ended up eating at Pita Jungle which I miss from Arizona. We also stopped at Ritas for a little treat which was delicious! Then mexican food for dinner before we jammed to the airport for our flight home. We got home around 10pm and everyone was ready for bed...but not before I unpacked and got everything ready for Tuesday (my day off, thankfully). We had a really fun time with all the family and nieces and nephews.

Photo Update

 

Eight...and Nine Months While I'm Here

My perfect little son...is not so little anymore and is 8.5 months old!!! He is so handsome and is such a joy to be around. He is a crawling machine, and wants to pull up on everything within his reach. He loves holding onto your fingers and walking around the house. He loves cheerios and pretty much any food you offer him, however he prefers it at room temperature than from out of the fridge. He has been improving with his sleeping! He doesn't eat in the middle of the night anymore...Success! He still wakes up a bit, but usually with a little TLC...he gets cozy again in his crib. He takes two 1.5 hr naps during the day most of the time! Liam loves people. He loves playing and getting tickled. He loves climbing up my parents step in their kitchen, over and over! When in the car I have to sing to him the whole way home if he is in the back by himself because it is dark and he is lonely! He settles right down when I sing to him. He definitely knows when you are in the house and you walk away. He will cry until he sees your face again! Kinda makes you feel good that he misses you. I am constantly learning new things with Liam! As soon as I think I got it down...it changes. I guess that is what Parenthood is all about. Can't imagine life without Liam!

Liam's 9 month check-up is the second week of November and I am looking forward to find out his stats and see how he is growing!

More firsts completed

Liam met his other great grandma a few weeks ago! Great Grandma Dorothy and great aunt Sue and uncle Tim. The very first great grandchild on my moms side! They were in town for a week and we got to spend some quality time together through out the week. We played and all stopped and stared at Liam most of the day! We even went to old town Sacramento and had Liam try his first lollipop and grabbed some lunch! It was a fun week with family in town!

Another fun activity we have been doing is swim lessons! I signed us up for parent-tot swim lessons at swim otter swim! It is a four week program and we get to do fun water activities  for 30 minutes every Friday morning! It has seriously been so fun! Liam has just as much fun as I do too, I think. He splashes like crazy and smiles and never cries! He looks around and doesn't even mind going under water! 

Other fun (kinda) firsts- trying new foods like squash, guacamole, and yogurt! He loves food! And he opens wide when he is ready for his next bite! 

He is scooting/crawling- he can get from point A to point B. Not necessarily knee and opposite hand but belly and knees and feet, anyway he can, he will get to his final goal! It is adorable and so fun to watch him get where he wants to be! 

He is also so energetic! He jumps and rolls and hollers for attention! He loves people! He is a smiling machine! The cutest little face I've ever seen!!!!! 

We love our perfect little Liam! Don't know what we did without him!

7 months old

My 5lb 4oz newborn is 7 months old now! And probably like 20 lbs!!! He smiles like crazy! He is scooting around and can pull himself in circles. He loves to cuddle and loves kisses or just slobbering on your face! He loves his jumper and any toy he can grab and slobber on! He is getting more and more hair and it is kind of curling in the back. He is really learning to use his fingers individually...and he will watch his hands sometimes just to see what they can do! Liam loves being outside. He is so calm when we go on walks or just hang outside. Liam has brought so much happiness to our family, don't know what we did without him!!! Love our little nugget! 

Half Year Stats

Well first of all... We celebrated his half year birthday by going to the mall and riding the merry go
Round and letting him taste the top of a cupcake! He loved it all!!! He was just looking around on the carousel and stoked that he was holding the good metal pole and definitely didn't know he was on top of a horse, but we have pictures to prove it! Then, the cupcake. It was a mini, since it's his 6 month birthday and not 1 year... But he took a few bites of the frosting and there were no complaints about that! Then we headed home and he took a nice nap too reenergize after all that fun!!!

And so... Stats are in:
Height 28 inches- 93rd percentile!!!
Weight 18 lbs 2.5 ounces- 61st percentile!!!

He is eating rice cereal, peaches, bananas, carrots, applesauce and pretty much any thing else we give him! He is rolling and jumping in his bouncer! He loves to chat and is laughing quite a bit now too!!!

I can't believe Liam is already six months! Here is to the most fun and quickest six months that have ever passed!!!

Pictures to come!

Half A Year

Has 6 months already past?!?! All the good things that you wish you could slow down, seem like they just keep speeding up! Liam is 6 months already! He is so rad! He is super chatty, SO smiley and happy, rolls and plays and bounces! He is constantly doing new things! I would not be surprised if before we knew it, he was crawling :( Don't grow up too fast! We are doing family photos so we can capture how perfect out little man is and of course get Tadd and I and our little family!

Happy Half a Year Birthday Liam Michael! I love you more than you will ever know!!!

First update

Liam met his great grandma Bella! The two of them had the time of their life together! Liam was chatting her ear off and snuggling with her all day! And "Nona" which means grandmother in Italian, loved every second of it! She totally spoiled him (and us) with clothes and toys and love! We are ao grateful to have been able to spend time with grandma Bella and look forward to hopefully visiting her soon! We love our grandma Bella, aka Nona!!

Liam went on his first plane ride to San Diego...and it was a success! Although, we did kind of appear to be first timers when it came to checking/carrying all of our gear...it was still pretty uneventful. We flew out on Friday at noon and Liam slept the whole way!!! Once we got all of our things, and packed it into the car, we found our hotel and then headed back out to see some friends who moved back from China! It was fantastic. Then back to the hotel for some dinner. Saturday we relaxed in the morning and then headed to my friend Whitneys house for the evening. Their son Kaeden is almost a year old so although Liam did not keep up with him, they did get in a few kisses and stares! Sunday we got to spend with Jill and Wes and Lindsay and Ian as well. We ate tacos, watched soccer, walked to the park and even got to see Tadd's brother and his family. Monday we decided would be a chill day since the weekend was so busy. We just relaxed around the hotel and then popped by the mall for a little stroll. Then it was already time to go home. Once again, Liam slept on the plane ride home and we were successful in packing and checking everything. It was a great trip and once again Liam was spoiled by his auntie Jill with an adorable shirt and some beach toys! So glad we could visit San Diego!!! P.S. we did make it to the beach, but Liam did not get in the sand, so we will wait until next time for him to experience that first!

Another first that was not mentioned, was his first pool experience! I took him swimming with me on Saturday at my birthday pool party, and he loved it. He just chilled in the water and enjoyed himself...maybe swim lessons soon??

Liam also attended his very first baseball game in Stockton to watch his Uncle Dennis! We left one inning early and of course missed the best part! Dennis hit a home run and they won the game. Bummer that we missed it but glad that we were able to go and see him play. Also, Liam got his first baseball...signed by the one and only Dennis Raben!!!

Liam is the best. I love reliving every moment with him as if it were my first time as well! I am loving every minute of raising our perfect little boy!

5 months of joy

My baby is 5 months old! If I could sum up the last 5 months into one word, it would be "JOY." Liam is seriously an absolute joy and lights up my life! He is so happy and smiley and adorable! He smiles when he wakes up and he smiles when he is going to bed. He smiles in between cries for food and tired cries. He smiles with his pacifier in his mouth and then it falls out. He loves his bath time and his play time and cuddle time. You name it, he loves it, and I love it even more than he does!!! What did we do before we had this perfect baby boy in our life. I can't even begin to describe how happy he makes me. And he is growing so fast, I want to bottle every moment so I will remember every second!

A few things I want to document so I don't forget!!!

1. He sung himself to sleep one time in the car. He had been up for too many hours and was relaxing in his car seat, and we were staring at eachother. His music was on in his carseat and he started to mimic it. As he was mimicking the noises, his eyes were getting heavy... Until he fell asleep! It was the most precious moment ever💙💚

2. Liam loves snuggling when he is tired. He doesn't mind kisses, hugs and being carried around either. But he sure does love cuddles when is tired and sleeping! He just fits perfectly in you arms, and while falling asleep with his pacifier, as soon as he is fast asleep, that little number drops right out of his mouth and then he makes the motion of sucking with his mouth while there is nothing in there, it's adorable!!!

3. Liam has become quite the eater! He has loved everything we have tried so far including, rice cereal, applesauce, pears, sweet potatoes and next on the list, carrots!!! At first he does his yuck face where he cringes his nose up and squints his eyes... Then he starts opening his mouth and reaching for the spoon with both mouth and hand! It's so fun to watch!!!

4. He loves to play on his activity mat and with other toys he can put in his mouth or that make fun noises! He can be super chatty and just yell every noise he knows... Or he will just hang out and look around, depending on his mood!

5. He loves to hear people sing to him. I sing you are my sunshine every morning and twinkle twinkle every night! And he just sits back and stares while you sing to him. It's the best.

Liam is getting so strong! He always wants to stand on his feet and look around. He loves sitting in his bumbo chair or being tilted up when on his back so he can see everything that is happening. Liam has brought so much joy and happiness to our family! How lucky are we!!!

4 months already!!

My little 5lb 4oz nugget is already over 4 months old! He has his 4 month checkup and is really catching up! Stats are in: 14lbs 15 ounces! 25 1/4 inches long and he is in the 36th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height!!! So proud of my little guy! Some fun things about Liam at 4 months!

1. He is super happy! Smiley, chatty and active! He loves to stand or sit with you and just talk, talk, talk!

2. He is pretty flexible! Like besides being able fold in half, he will go anywhere and be pretty chill. If he gets too tired, he will power nap it in his car seat!

3. He knows what he wants and will cry until he gets it. Although, he is not a big crier! He cries when he is hungry, obviously. He fusses when he gets overtired. And then he will complain if he is not getting enough attention, which is rare cuz we are all wrapped around his finger!

4. He looks adorable in every outfit we put on him and doesn't fuss when we change his clothes or his diaper! Which, he is in size 2 diapers and is slowly creeping into size 3!

5. Finally, the Dr. said he can start rice cereal and then some orange foods like carrot & sweet potato! I can't believe he is growing up so fast, he is already using a bowl and spoon!

It is kind of crazy to imagine life without our perfect little Liam, who is not so little anymore!

A year of firsts

There have been a number of firsts in our relationship and marriage. From new restaurants, to a new house, there is something about firsts that make things exciting! So with 2014 starting off with the birth of our first son, there will now be years of firsts to enjoy and look forward to. Here is a list of the ones we have already experienced and then a short list of a few to come!

1. February 9th, 2014 - Our first baby boy, Liam was born!
2. February 23, 2014 - First bath at home for Liam

3. March 30, 2014 - Liam's blessing!
4. March and April - First St Patricks day, April fools and Easter!


5. April 2014 - First trip to Tahoe & Liam did so great in the car and he loved the outdoors! He slept great and was seriously an angel the whole trip! And we got him the most adorable first hat!

6. May 11, 2014 - First Mother's Day, so lucky to have Liam to make me a mommy!

7. Memorial Day weekend - Liam's first dip in the pool/spa!

8. June 13, 2014 - First unseen roll. From back to belly. On two occasions in the middle of the night, we went into his room and he had broken free from his swaddle and was on his belly! Can't wait to see it in the day time!

9. June 15, 2014 - First Father's Day and the two of them looked ridiculously handsome!


Upcoming first's:
Meeting his great grandma Bella and then Dorothy
A plane ride to San Diego
The beach
Halloween
Thanksgiving and another plane ride to Arizona to meet lots of family
Christmas!!!!

How fun is it to experience everything with a new child as if it was your first time again!

First Father's Day

It is amazing how once you have a child, everything you have done many times before takes on a whole new meaning and becomes a first again because it's a first for your baby! Therefore, this first was Father's Day! To celebrate tadd and the great father that he is, I did a few things: love Kelly and Liam of course. A few weeks ago I picked out an adorable outfit for Liam to wear to church and then of course got a matching tie for Tadd to wear as well! Then on Saturday, we headed to the mall to see if Tadd could find something he liked, no such luck, but I did get him a few small sees candies he likes. Then Sunday morning, we cheated and ate toaster strudels for breakfast since it was his day! And in the evening I cooked up some steak, asparagus and potatoes for the great father of my child! Of course I snapped some precious pics of the two of them and I snuck in a few as well! Here is to the first Father's Day and looking forward to many more firsts with our first born son!!!

Liam The Great at 3 Months!!!

He won't sleep (during the day) unless there is nothing going on or he is exhausted after trying to stay awake for the activities of the day.

He knows when u put his bib on, it's food time! And will cry if it doesn't come fast enough!

He only takes his pacifier when he is ready for it. Sometimes he falls asleep without it and wants it if he gets fussy.

He is super happy and smiley! Even if he skips a nap! And then of course he gets really tired and will take back to back naps with a snack in between!

He loves moving his arms and legs like crazy. He loves staring at ceiling fans as well as mobiles and other objects above him. He will swat and sometimes grab them!

He has been sleeping about 5-6 hours at night with a one am feeding and then back to bed till the morning.

He loves his baths. It calms him. He just chills in his little bath chair and enjoys the warm water while staring at mom and dad!

He is the most precious baby ever and I love him more than I ever thought possible. I miss him when I'm at work, or in the other room. I also miss him when he is sleeping unless he is snuggled in my arm or on my chest. I love my sweet baby Liam!!!

Soundly in my arms

On this day, April 22, 2014, Liam slept from 945-650am without eating. This is the first time, hence why it deserves a post! He fussed a bit at 1, so I moved him to the swing. Then he fussed so I moved him next to me on the couch... He ended up in my arms around 3 and slept soundly until 6:50! We both got up, Tadd fed him and I got ready for work. I am so excited for all of us! No expectations for this to be the typical yet, but pretty excited that this is possible! He is growing up so fast! He is already almost 3 months!

p.s. He hasn't slept through since that night but I am still stoked that he did it at all! He's the best!

Six Years of Love

April 17, 2008-April 17, 2014
6 years of marriage to my main squeeze Tadd! So lucky to call him my husband, best friend &
confidant. I love that he is such a great dad, an incredibly hard worker & a dedicated church goer!
He is so handsome, funny, athletic, helpful, understanding and overall a great man to spend eternity with! Loving every chapter of our lives together!

Recap of year 5...
Hawaii in April to celebrate our anniversary
Getting pregnant
Buying a house
Fixing a House
Decorating a house
Dr. Appts!
Housewarming Party
Bathroom remodel
Thanksgiving with my parents
Christmas in Arizona
My sisters wedding in January in Florida
And the arrival of our precious baby Liam in February (march and April are a blur of goodness with our son)

Yay for April 17th and being married to my one and only! xo

2 months!!!

Liam Michael is 2 months old! Can you believe it! It is going so fast! Some highlights of the last few months!

1. Liam is definitely catching up from his birth weight of 5lbs....he is 10 lbs 15oz now, and totally filling out! He is in the 20 percentile which is obviously on the low side but when comparing to early babies, he is in the 90th percentile!!

2. He is so alert and active now. He kicks, and swats and smiles and coos! He is so adorable and gets more and more adorable every time I look him (Im not obsessed or anything!)

3. We are trying to get on a more consistent schedule for daytime into night so he will sleep better and longer at night. Still a work in progress. He will still wake up a couple times at night, but we are rolling with it and keeping him happy and hopefully as the weeks go on, he will learn to love nighttime sleep!

4. He has grown out of all his newborn outfits! He started in preemie for about a week and then was in newborn clothes until about 5-6 weeks. And for the last few weeks we have been transitioning from his newborn clothes to his 0-3 months clothes!

5. He is extremely happy and has a great disposition. He sleeps pretty soundly, then he gets up and is happy after he eats. But he rarely actually cries (probably because I am overly prepared for the next thing he wants) which is really nice!

He got his immunization shots at this two month appt, it was devastating! He got three shots in his thighs and one drink. He cried like crazy and then after a little cuddling, he fell asleep! Still had a slightly rough day but is now back to his old self!

Liam's Baby Blessing

What a special day! Sunday March 30, 2014 at 9:00am Liam was blessed at our church building in Roseville. Tadd did such a great job. Liam looked adorable in his perfect white outfit. In the circle we had Tadd, Kirk, Mike Atherly, Garry Sewell and my Dad was able to hold the microphone for the blessing. Tadd said such a wonderful blessing for our perfect son Liam. Liam was so well behaved, he barely made a peep besides a sneeze that snuck out! We are so thankful for our friends that came to his blessing day including the Sewells, the Atherlys, the Alstons, and our parents!!! What a good day to remember!
More photos to come!

Baby Items I Love

As I have recently had my first child, 7 weeks ago already! I thought I would put together a list of the most important things to have! If you were to ask me 7 weeks ago, I would have no idea and probably said lots of things that would not make the list now. I have 9 Items pictured but in reality there are like 4 things that I use like crazy! Those will be at the top of the list!
1. Pampers newborn diapers & wipes (obviously)
2. Aden & Anais burpy bibs (Liam required a bottle right away hence the big bib/burp cloth!)
3. Snap or zipper footsie Jammie's (the only attire he rocks and this is because it is so convenient to
Change diapers and get on and off without going over his head!)
4. Britax car seat (duh! Can't go anywhere without this gem)
5. City Mini GT jogger stroller- it's super smooth and closed and opens in seconds)
6. Graco swing- total life saver for when he was just 5lbs and felt too small to
Go in the big crib!
7. Mamaroo- my parents have this awesome swing and Liam is a sucker for it. Can't lay in it without sleeping like a champ!
8. Medela breast pump- a must have for me as my little one wasn't latching, I needed the stimulation to produce Milk and now with being back to work, I still can provide the good stuff for my babe!
9. The boppy pillow- this pillow is awesome for nursing, or just for a little arm support while holding my little nugget!

Other items not pictured above that I really like:
-My cozy glider chair from buy buy baby
-a few super soft blankets for swaddling
-our bath tub for Liam
-my petunia pickle bottom diaper bag that is adorable
-our green soothie pacifier recently