My Not So Baby, Baby

Despite the fact that I was gone half the weekend, I really had a great time with Liam. We are looking forward to next one being three days and playing in Innsbrook.
Mom had a bachelorette party to go to all day on Saturday, so Dad and Liam got some quality bonding time. The bachelorette party was a blast but, and I know I am stating the obvious, I can not party like I used to. Going from 1:00-1:00 when you were up at 5:30 that morning, is difficult. And then only getting a few hours of sleep that night only to wake up around 6:30 the next day is just plain exhausting. I did survive though. And Liam took a long nap on Sunday morning so I napped too!
Most pictures from Saturday are probably a little to discriminating for my blog ;), but here is one of me and the bride. Congrats Linsey!

The time I did get to spend with Liam was amazing. I swear the kid gets cuter every day. Funny thing is he is breaking teeth, but instead of being his two top front ones now, they are actually the next too over. So he is looking a little vampire-ish, but still cute as can be.

When Liam was really little, like birth to about 3 and a half months, he would fall asleep in my arms all the time. Or Daddy would lay him on his chest and he would just sleep there for hours. I really should have enjoyed those moments a little bit more now. That among ever other thing he does daily makes me feel like he is not really a "baby" anymore.
It is rare that Liam now falls asleep anywhere but his crib, but when he does, I have a hard time putting him down. I mean just look at those lips...

Everyday he is getting more and more active. Now not just wanting to grab all of his toys, but also inspect them, shake them, move them from one hand to another, throw them down and pick them up again, etc.
And he is just so close to crawling. Everyone keeps telling me that things will change so much once he is mobile, but the thing is even though he is not technically crawling, he is pretty dang mobile. We always put him down on the rug or a blanket and he can roll and scoot to get to where he needs to be. This weekend he rolled right on to the hardwood and it was a whole new ballgame! A lot easier to scoot on slick hardwood. :)
He also now loves to hold his own bottle and not only with his hands but with his feet as well. He will no longer just let you put a hat on him because he has figured out how to get that off in 2 seconds flat. He is way to aware of when you go to a different room and leave him for a minute, whining until you pop back in. He is starting to get a really big kick out of playing peek-a-boo and he needs to constantly be entertained.

And just for fun, everyone keeps telling me how much Liam looks like me, but I snapped this picture last night and I think I might have to argue that.

Oh and one more thing (man I am rambling a lot today), I remember when Hayley gave me those PJs right after Liam was born and thinking they were huge!!

I think once summer is officially over next weekend, it will also be officially time to baby proof the house. Time to get ready the next adventure on this leg of our journey. :)

Weekends are For Sitting

Weekends are the greatest! That is because we get two whole days with Liam. Then he gets a chance to show us all the stuff he has been working on all week. This weekend it was sitting! I have really been looking forward to just being able to plop him down on the ground and not worry about him rolling onto his back. We are so close to this. This weekend Liam sat up many times for long periods. He can catch him self if he topples to the side or forward. It is backwards that we still need to get the hang of!

And man, does Liam love hanging out with the dog. Although I think Turner would just be fine without him.:) I think this next pictures goes in my top ten!

We also had lots to celebrate this weekend because Keith got a new job!! We are so excited for him to start his new adventure. We got a sitter Saturday night and went out with the Haarmanns to Home Wine Kitchen in Maplewood. http://www.homewinekitchen.com/

The Bucket List

If you know me well, you know that I love making lists. Most people like making lists because they get satisfaction when they can cross something off as completed. I don't think this is why I enjoy them. For me, I need a place to organize my thoughts. The majority of almost every day I have so many different things going on in my head, it could drive someone crazy. Whether it be a running list of what I need to get at the grocery store or the food that Liam has tried to date or things I want to blog about or my bucket list, I need a place to organize them. Also as dorky as this is, there is just something about a clean white piece of paper and a really good pen that makes making lists really exciting! So why I haven't made a list on my blog yet, I am really not sure.

In high school my good friend Hayley and I made a list of "things to do before we die". We both had some pretty grandiose dreams. One of which was the idea that we would, without a doubt, open our own jewelery boutique and call it Pink Lilacs. The list is long lost now but I am pretty sure it included things like skydive, travel to Australia, rent a convertible and road trip, have kids that grow up down the street from each other and become best friends!

While a lot of the things that seemed so important as a 17 year old high school student with my best friend at my side have changed, it is funny that the root of most have them has remained the same. So now that I am am an experienced, level headed, know exactly what I want out of life (insert giggle) 29 year old, here is my new bucket list...

1. Travel - anywhere. However, and most people don't believe this, I would be happy only traveling in North America. Now don't get me wrong, if someone presented me with a ticket to Australia or Ireland or anywhere else, I would not pass it up. But I honestly think I would be perfectly happy spending my life exploring what the 50 states have to offer.
2. Have another child or 2 or 3. ;) Adopt one as well.
3. Live in a house that has the following: a two car garage, a master bathroom with double sinks, a big open kitchen where I can cook while I can still keep an eye on those 1-4 children, a finished basement, a sun room, a huge patio and maybe even a pool!
4. Learn to cook - at least a lot better than I do now.
5. Write a book. This was never on my bucket list. In fact this was always on my bucket list for my husband. But ever since I started this blog, I have been more interested in writing one myself. Although I have absolutely no idea what I would write about.
6. I guess before I write the book maybe I should focus on my blog. Have a blog that is awesome, yes awesome. Define awesome you say, not really sure how. I just know it would be a great thing to be able to stay at home with Liam and my future so many children and blog to make money!
7. Be more creative. Yeah that is pretty vague, but I feel like I have all these creative juices flowing and no here to channel them right now. I would be really happy having a successful Etsy business, or getting paid to take pictures or something like that.
8. Watch my 1-4 children grow up and live happy and full lives. (Which better include graduating from college and providing me with some grand children.)
9. Run or marathon or a couple more half marathons.
10. Grow old with Keith. I picture the two of us in an empty house sitting on the front porch in our matching rocking chairs, sipping coffee or let's be honest it will probably be wine, happy not saying a word at all, kind of growing old together.
11. Make new friends and keep the old. :)
12. Own a house in Innsbrook and watch my family enjoy quiet lake life.
13. Be happy!

I know there are more, but that is it for now!

Oh and if I can just take another brief second and say...PINTEREST.COM. Where have you been all my life? A virtual picture list...sign me up.

Awesome Weather and Lots of Tears

We had a nice, pretty quiet weekend. Saturday was spent running a few errands and then playing for the majority of the day.

Liam loves the Ipod!

On Sunday, my mom, Liam and I went to the Botanical Gardens to enjoy the wonderful weather. Liam was a delight the entire time and even slept on my shoulder while we snuck into Gringo Jones.

Sunday night we went to the Cardinals game. The game was originally scheduled for 1:15 and that would have been perfect for Liam's first game. However due to being broadcast on ESPN, the game got changed to 7:15. Since Liam's bedtime is around 7, we hesitated whether or not to go, but decided to give it a try. After paying $15 for parking, we lasted a whooping 1 inning. As soon as we sat down, Liam was antsy. Then the fireworks and cheering that came with Albert's homerun really put him over the edge. It is official that he does not like lots of noise/commotion. At least we got the free build a bear of of it all...

6 Month Pictures... Well Sort Of

We attempted to take Liam's 6 month pictures this weekend, yes 11 days late!!
This pictures are no longer going to be easy, now that he grabs for everything. We got one or two okay ones.

And then the "6 Months" blocks were destroyed. Still got some cute pictures out of it all though.

Then daddy came to play and he is just so funny!

Here's hoping his 7 month pictures will be better. :)

Up North

As promised, here is my Michigan or "Up North" post.
Last Thursday we made the trek up to Northern Michigan. We decided to split the trip by stopping in Chicago since I didn't think Liam could handle 10 hours in the car. For the most part, he looked like this, but he did have a few crabby moments.

Once we got to there on Friday afternoon, it was straight to the lake. I kept telling myself I wouldn't bring him in the lake because it was too cold, but it just looked so inviting and I couldn't help myself. He really seemed to enjoy it.

The week was great. The weather was amazing. Lots of Liam time.


Lots of beach time...

Took a cocktail cruise which Liam did not like because he was stuck in a life jacket. The only way I could keep him happy was to lay him on my lap and let him suck on ice cubes.

Keith and I got a night away and actually got to have hummers with the cousins.

JC planked...:)

The cousins attempted to plank...

The slack line and bags (notice the awesome customized Busch set) were lots of fun!

We ate too much delicious food (as showcased in my previous post).

Liam sported many cute outfits. One that actually fit Uncle J.C. back in the day.

We played Bananagrams and I am now obsessed.

We porch dwelled for most the day...

Because the views are amazing.

We went shopping and went for walks.

And we even got in some great family pictures.

Overall it was a wonderful vacation. And then we came back to the 100 degree weather. I am glad it looks like we are finally getting a little reprieve from that.
I will probably post the lot of all MI pictures on Facebook.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for reading.