outta here

We are OBX bound. Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

1 Year. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days.

Dear Liam,

Happy 1st Birthday!  This past year has been amazing, challenging, filled with happiness, filled with anxiety, filled with laughs, filled with learning experiences, filled with more love than ever expected and filled with you!

I can hardly believe that a year ago I became a mom. That moment will forever be burned into my memory. The moment you entered our world. The moment the doctors exclaimed "Happy Birthday", the moment I heard you cry for the first time, the moment I looked at your dad after he saw you, the moment I saw you, the moment I held you and the moment I realized that you. were. all. ours.

Everyone warned your dad and I about how much sleep we would lose once you arrived, or how expensive babies are, or how life will never be the same, or how we would not have much fun anymore. No one ever warned us that we would be laughing so much, that life gets better, that you do get to sleep, that you are worth every penny spent, that the fun begins once the baby arrives or how the love you will experience once you become a parent makes your heart want to explode.

Liam, this past year has been wonderful. You have added so much to my life. I feel like I need to tell you a few things:

I love your dad so much for so many reasons. But after watching him be a dad, it makes me love him so much more than I ever thought I could.  After becoming a parent, it makes me respect & love my own parents so much more. I realize how hard it is to be a parent, but how much harder it is to be a good parent. You have made me realize how much I take for granted. I often stop and wonder what have I done to deserve such a healthy, beautiful, and amazing little boy. You have made me realize that simple sometimes is the best. Your smiles are endless and your laugh is so contagious. I am so proud to be your mom and even more proud when people describe you as being "happy". That is all I want for you. No matter what choices you make, wherever life takes you, who you decided to share your life with, I just want you to be happy.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy!  I love you all the way to the moon and back!

Always,

Mama

2 of 3

Andrew and I along with about our friends and family celebrated Liam's birthday this past weekend. It was a wonderful time.  Everything was going well until it was time for him to smash into his cake.However, he wanted nothing to do with his cake. nothing. We encourage him to go nuts, make a mess, eat what he wanted. The cake smash turned into a cake melt down & he preferred to snack on a cucumber instead.  Yes, my kid would rather snack on a cucumber than go wild with cake. Who would have guessed?!

We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives. Liam got so many cool gifts and he could not wait to play with and figure everything out.

Here are a few photos to re-cap the day:

Smash Cake & Cuppy Cakes!

My Toddler

Us.

Before the cake melt down.

Post melt down enjoying a cucumber.

Presents!

More Presents!

Happy Boy!

The next morning. Doesn't already look older?

flash friday

Please forgive me for the lack of photos today. We have been busy planning for Liam's #1. So there will be plenty of photos to share from that. And I am apologizing in advance for next Friday, too. We will be out of town so no photos then, but a lot to share when we get back!

yellow day

Saturday was a beautiful day. Sadly, Andrew spent the majority of the day at work. He has been so busy with work that some days I feel like I forget what he looks like.  Liam and I took advantage of the nice weather. After doing some last minute birthday party errands, we enjoyed the bright sun, fresh air and fall leaves. We went for a long walk and were going to go swing the park, but the swings had already been removed for the season. So we went back home and played in the leaves.

a year ago

A year ago....

A year later...

shoes!

As you all know, Liam is not a fan of socks or shoes on his feet. We have bought all different types of socks and shoes and still no luck...well until Robeez entered out life. I bought Liam a pair this past week and so far, he loves tolerates them. He kept them on all day at daycare. I was so thrilled when I picked him up and saw that his socks and shoes were still on. He even seems to walk better in these shoes compared to his others. Yay for a super find and an even louder yay since these shoes are sold at the Stride-Rite outlet.

toys

Someone got some gift cards for his birthday so we went shopping. Andrew and I are trying to keep the toys simple so Liam can use his imagination. We are trying to not get sucked into the hype (easy now, probably not so much when he gets a bit older).  Who knew wood toys would be so hard to find?? These awesome blocks needed to come home with us. Liam loves to stack and knock them down. I like the fact that they are bright in color, offer fun examples of what starts with the letters and are also nesting blocks so that makes for easy storage!  Two thumbs up for Melissa & Doug products !

flash friday

Waiting for his ride

silly us

PRSA Capital Region Empire Award Winner!!

Do I dare touch it?

Getting ready to knock it over

Yay!

It's sweat pants time!

Happy!

bunny ears

snow

This is her "I am so happy that I can't even open my eyes" face.

The weather gave everyone a surprise yesterday. There was a mixture of hail, sleet, freezing rain and snow!! Holy Crap! The snow was pretty to watch and it made think about how exciting it will be this winter to build a snowman with Liam. Olive (aka ms. snow bunny) was pretty happy about the change in weather, too. She was thrilled to zip around in the back yard with snow falling on her.

1 of 3

11.06.2010

We celebrated Liam's birthday this past weekend. It was his first of three parties. This one took place in Utica. It was a wonderful time. Liam greeted all his guests with hugs and smiles and even showed off his walking skills. He started off shy when it was cake time, but eventually he realized that it was okay to get crazy with it. He was up to his elbows on cake...literally.

Blackmail.

This is different.

This is delicious.

Nom.Nom.Nom

Liam with Grandpa & Grandma B.

Eating cake is exhausting.

finally

Drum roll please....Liam has a tooth!!! It is almost fully popped through. A little white nub on his lower gums. Now all of my fears involving baby dentures can be put to rest.

show off

Liam decided to show off for Andrew and I on Sunday night. He had a full belly, had his bath and as far as we were concerned, was ready to hit the hay. Well not before he decided to hold a toy in each of his hands and stand straight up. He stood up, stood there for a few seconds and fell back on his butt. Then he did it all over again. Andrew & I both were in shock and found ourselves picking our jaw up off the floor.