Dinnertime

A typical night at dinner. One exception- it's the first time Livi has ever tried eating with silverware and look how well she did. Also, I swear to you she knows the sign for "more", but God forbid she help a momma out and do it on camera.

Is There Any Doubt...

... that these two are father and son? I think not. Two peas in a pod and best buds. The thing that I love the most is that Chris takes his job as a parent seriously. He wants to be Liam's best friend and talks endlessly about the day they get to share a beer together, but he knows his role as a daddy comes first. For example, when the timer on Chris' phone went off signaling the end of iphone bliss for my 3 year old, he made sure to take the phone away knowing full well the whining would quickly follow.

Disclaimer: No, this doesn't happen often. The iphone is a rare and special treat. Hence, the whining. :)

And Another One

So there is a lot of birthdays this time of year. This is the last of this generation of kiddos. My nephew Eli is 3. It was so sweet to see him so excited to have his very own party complete with presents, a balloon animal making dad, cupcakes and popcorn! Happy Birthday Eli or Jose as Uncle Chris calls him (don't ask... ) We love you xoxoxo

11 Month Update

It's insane to me that we are at 11 months already, but we are. Every day is is different with Livi depending on the level of teething occurring. If it's a relatively painless day, she is happy and curious. Otherwise, she spends most of the day yelling at you. She has been getting her molars in and those are particularly painful.

She spends alot more time letting go and standing. She can stand for around 10 seconds without any help, maybe even a bit longer. As she gets more confident, there are less injuries which makes me really happy. Chris thinks she will be walking by her first birthday but I am not so sure.

Her personality is blossoming and she understands more and more every day. She does NOT like to hear the word "no" or have something taken away. She blows kisses by smacking her lips. She loves music and may even respond to it more than her brother did.

She is completely on table food. Goodbye baby food- I miss you not. In a month, I will stop nursing during the day so that I won't have to pump at work anymore. This will be a glorious day. My goal is to keep up morning and night feeding for a couple more months. Giving up nursing is like giving in to the fact that they aren't babies anymore so its very bittersweet.

When we went to the doc a week ago, Livi weighed 22 pounds 6 ounces and was 30 inches long.

Even More Awesomeness!

I just had to share tonight's installment of "Talk About Liam".

Me: "...and you go to school with your friends: Ryan and Brayden"
Liam: "yea"
Me: " Alyssa, Aidan, Eleanor"
Liam: "yea"
Me: "and the new girl Genesis"
Liam: "yea"
Me: "oh and Livi"
Liam: "she's my favorite one"

seriously?

Awesome Things Liam Says

Every night we have our bedtime routine. Bath, PJ's, books, song, bed. Lately, we have added a little step in between books and song. It's always the same request. "Talk about me", Liam says. And so we talk about the color of his hair or the names of his friends or what a good big brother he is. Last night, after I was done talking about Liam, I asked him to talk about me.

Me: "Ok, my turn. Talk about Mommy."
Liam: "You're a good Mommy. You love Daddy. You love Ilam (aka- Liam). You love Livi. You're a good girl."

And that's why we do what we do.

The Leader of the Pack

Athena was the first of us to get pregnant so Evan has always been the head honcho of all the kids. Needless to say, this was a big birthday. Number 5 is like entering the big leagues. It means kindergarten is around the corner. To celebrate, Evan had a batman party and the big guy himself showed up. I don't think I have ever seen a happier child.

Fun

I forgot how much fun the last couple of months before they turn one can be. They are growing and learning at such a crazy speed and it's amazing to witness. This is a little game Livi plays with her Daddy. Other cute things she does lately: picks up anything, puts it to her ear like its a phone and says "hello" & pulls a blanket over her face so you can play peek-a-boo with her.

School Pics

Christmas 2.0

Who wouldn't love a second Christmas? We get one every year on New Years with my side of the family. This year we decided to cut my sis a break and go to her in Orlando. It was great. The kids got spoiled... again. And Livi met her new best friend. A giraffe that has yet to be named.

A Case of the "Mine's"

December makes for an exciting month for Liam. He gets a birthday and Christmas within 5 days of each other. But if you step back and look at the amount of celebrating that happens for this little 3 year old, it's pretty impressive the way his social calendar fills up. His party was the 4th of December and then we have a bit of a lapse until his school birthday party on the 20th, his school Christmas party 3 days later, actual Christmas 2 days after that and then the Toledo family Christmas which occurs on New Years.

I knew a bday in December would be frustrating. It's so hard for me because on one hand I want to make sure he doesn't get jipped just because he has a December birthday and on the other hand, I don't want to overload him with presents and risk that he might feel entitled to such things. I can say that I went with the first hand and went a bit overboard. I can't help it! He is such a good kid and I love seeing his face when he opens those presents. For a few days, I did see a case of the "mines". He had gone from a kid who asked daily if his bday presents were still at home to a kid who asked for more presents. But as reality is slowly setting back in, so is my mostly grateful boy. I am pretty sure he knows that the season of giving (or in his case.. getting) is finally over. January is going to be a drag...