Thursday, December 29, 2011

A brief Christmas recap...

We had a wonderful Christmas, thanks for asking! Little man loves to take things out of things (ex: emptying dresser drawers, removing books from shelves, etc), so he greatly enjoyed removing gifts from his stocking.


We kept Liam's gifts to a minimum considering he has too much to begin with! My favorite gift we got him is the Little People Nativity. He loves to carry around baby Jesus and even lets him drive the dump truck sometimes!





Liam also really likes his bug puzzle that we got for him!


We had a nice relaxing day at home. Ryan outdid himself with wonderful gifts for me, we listened to lots of great music and ate lots of great food!

I can't wait for more Christmases with my sweet family and for Liam to grasp the true meaning of what we celebrate!

"Let's sing out with joy for the brave little boy who was God, but he made himself nothing." -Andrew Peterson

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Decorations: with a toddler

It's the most wonderful time of the year! This is Liam bird's second holiday season, but last year he was still a non-moving, sleeping all the time little babe so it seems like this is really his first Christmas. I love this time of year and enjoy Christmas decorations so much!


We don't go all out or do a theme, but I think our home always looks festive. This year, we had to adjust our decorations a bit for safety reasons. I did not feel comfortable putting out all of my beautiful snow baby ornaments so we bought some cheap, quilted-ish ornaments to go with non-breakables we already had.


I stole an awesome idea from a friend to use sheet music to make paper chains, she provided the paper for me as well, thanks Becca!


I have my beloved nativity up on the mantle with a few other things.


Each year, the tree stand next to my store gives everyone a free wreath in exchange for coffee and I made a little sheet music bow for the center as well.


Liam has his very own tree! I always wanted a tree in my room growing up, so I must say I am a bit jealous. :) We used his special first Christmas ornaments from last year as well as some colored balls, he seems to enjoy the lights.


So, that's our simple, homespun Christmas! And, we love it.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: Driving




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, December 1, 2011

14 Months!

Dear Darling Liam Bird,
You are fourteen months old today!  Little man, you are growing so big, so fast!  We adore you more than we can ever express, but trust me kid, you are loved.


I have no idea how much you weigh (scale needs new batteries) or how long you are, but you are definitely still growing away.  You are still wearing size 12 month clothes.  You refuse to wear sock or shoes of any kind; we put them on, you pull them right off.  It's getting pretty cold, so hopefully you figure out soon that we aren't trying to torture you and keep them on!


This past month you got your front two teeth!  Yay, we won't have to wish for them for Christmas!  You have also been working on the two teeth next to them and they are both half way through, so four-ish teeth in one month!  You have been such a champ about them, but definitely chewing on everything to find relief.  Your bed is beginning to look like a beaver sleeps there!  You love having your teeth brushed and will sit and let me brush them for several minutes, so sweet!


Your new teeth have aided in your desire to eat everything in sight!  You are still loving food, you especially loved the pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream you got to eat on Thanksgiving!  You eat three, fairly large, meals each day with three 6-8 ounce sippy cups of whole milk.  Right before bed you have a smaller sippy cup while we snuggle and read books just to make sure your tummy is full before bed.  You love all food, but especially: sweet potatoes, black beans, breads, cheese, squash, and applesauce.  I'm so thankful for your good appetite, I hope we can continue to cultivate a little foodie!


Your communication skills have grown so much this past month!  You are now saying: "dada," "mama," "book," "milk," "hi," and "no."  You don't necessarily say them perfectly (the k's are left off of book and milk), but you say them well enough that we understand you.  You have also started to make a hilarious trilling noise when you are throwing a fit.  Imagine someone rolling their tongue while crying, it's pretty silly!



You are still on the brink of walking; so stinking close, but so uninterested.  We know you can do it and are trying to just give you all the space and adventure you need to take those first steps!


Liam, you are a hoot to hang out with.  You laugh and clap a lot, and you squeal and babble along all day.  You are very independent while playing and I am sure you will be a "I do it by myself," kind of kid.  You know the ins and outs of all of your toys and love to just sit in your floor and play by yourself.  Often, if we get in the floor to play trucks or something else you take that as your cue to go to the other side of the room to play with a different toy.  You love to read and have begun tearing the flaps off of all of your "lift the flap" books, destructive little angel.  You are constantly trying to engage Gus in a toy to no avail, I'm hopeful that one of these days he will stop being afraid of you and play!


You are such a sweet little boy.  You have a tender heart and can turn on the pout at any time; but your eyes are usually sparkling with happiness.  Your daddy and I love to walk into any room that you are in because you light up and squeal, while crawling a fast as you can and reaching up for a hug! We are so excited to celebrate your second Christmas season and are looking forward to teaching you about the real meaning of this holiday.  We love you so much, sweet baby.  And continue to count you as are biggest blessing and our greatest joy.

Love you forever,
Mama