First Day!

(excuse the blurriness, someone didn't want to stand still for his picture!)

Liam had his first day of MDO today, and had a blast! Ryan dropped him off and Liam ran right into his classroom ready to play!

I picked him up at 2, and his teachers said he had a great day! He took a nap and loved playing outside. They said they enjoyed watching him dance and that all of the kiddos played really well together.

He was excited to see me and a little sleepy on our way home. He usually takes a three hour nap but will only get a two hour one on days that he goes to MDO. He has definitely been a bit grumpy this afternoon. And, now I won't get a nap on Tuesdays and Fridays, so we are both going to be adjusting to some changes in our rest habits! Ha!

I'm so proud of our happy, big, little boy!



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Open House

This precious little boy starts "Mother's Day Out" on Friday! We went to his open house today to meet his teachers and play for a bit. So far, he is most excited about his monkey lunchbox and the tiny containers we got for it!

He is going to love it! I'm in shock that he's big enough to sit at a table and feed himself lunch and then lay on the floor and take a nap but, apparently, he will do just fine. They will sing songs, learn Bible stories, make crafts, and play!

We are excited to have found a great little program for Liam to go to that works into our childcare needs so well, he will go on Tuesdays and Fridays which are the days that Ryan works and has meetings.

I'm thankful that I get to pick him up at the end of the day, I'm sure Ryan won't cry all over him when he drops him off like I would!

Baby's name!

Naming children is serious business, in my opinion. Thankfully, my husby agrees with me and, even more thankfully, we agree on our children's names (even the future girly's).

I love to know the meaning and story behind someone's name so I thought I would share our second son's with you!

Jude Monroe Hawk

My Mom's name is Judy, so Jude is a tribute to her. It means, "praise." In college we had to memorize the last two verses of the book of Jude and those verses, and the name, have stuck with me.

Monroe is a family name in my sweet Peepaw's family tree. It was his dad and grandfather's middle name. So, while not technically his name, I will always think of him when "middle-naming" Jude. It is Gaelic (surprise, surprise) and means "from the mouth of the river."

So, Jude's name means "praise, from the mouth of the river." We think this is just lovely. Hopefully, we will get to watch him grow into a man full of praise for his Lord.

We love this little baby, and can't wait to have Liam and Jude running around causing trouble together!


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Pregnancy update.

How far along: 21 weeks! Wow, well over halfway.
Size of baby: 7 inches/12 ounces/banana
Weight gained/lost: gained 2 pounds as of last appointment!
Maternity clothes: I'm in that awkward in between phase. Normal clothes still fit, but my jeans are growing quite uncomfortable. All of my maternity clothes from Liam were summer clothes, but I was in the 3rd trimester then so they are all too big. I'm trying to make due until cooler weather to buy anything.
Gender: BOY!
Movement: little little has been fluttering along for a while now, but I've been feeling stronger kicks in the past few days. Ryan was even able to feel him today! Yay!
Symptoms: fatigue (I'm not sure I will ever shake it), still having Braxton Hick's but they are less frequent, migraines
Food cravings/aversions: I've always been an ice cream lover and have been indulging lots lately. I haven't had much of an appetite so when I eat (other than ice cream) I've been trying to focus on protein. Lots of cream cheese and almond butter.
What I'm looking forward to: getting to know this boy more through his movements, and Fall!




Ryan's bump, and duck face, are more impressive than mine. I'll beat him soon, maybe not on the duck face though. :)

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails!

We found out on Thursday that baby #2 is, in fact, baby boy #2!




We are so incredibly excited to be having another BOY! We weren't completely sure that we wanted to find out the gender, we had such a fun time not knowing with Liam. In the end, we decided that we kept thinking of the baby as a boy, since that's all we have known, so we should find out in order to mentally prepare if it was a girl (which we would love to have someday, just loved the idea of two boys in a row).




An added bonus to a healthy baby: the fact that I was too lazy and unorganized to ever get rid of any of Liam's clothes! We need nothing!



Name post coming soon! Also, is anyone else disturbed that little girls are made of "sugar and spice and everything nice," but little boys get "puppy dog tails?!" Eww!

22 Months Old!

Dear Liam bird,
Happy 22nd month birthday!  I'm pretty sure you're trying to kill me with how quickly you are growing and how rapidly your second birthday is approaching.  But that's okay, because you get cuter by the second!




You have become even more of a hoot this month!  We often refer to you as a hoodlum or a tyrant, but in all honesty you are a very good little boy.  You are definitely learning to test your boundaries and voice your frustrations with life which means that we have no shortage of temper fits, but they aren't nearly as numerous as your sweet hugs, silly dances, and snuggles.




Growth wise, you are huge!  You had a visit to the pediatrician this month to make sure a cold hadn't settled in your lungs and we discovered that you weighed 32 pounds!  Wow, that's the 97th percentile for weight, Liam!  For a boy that started out too small to be on growth charts and being fed around the clock, this is a huge accomplishment and we are thrilled!  We don't know how tall you are, but you seem to be able to reach much higher than previously (read: get into more things), so I'm sure that you will be high on the height charts as well!  You are wearing 24 months or 2T clothes and size 5 disposable diapers, we have also just let out your cloth diapers as far as they go!




Liam, your vocabulary seems to grow on a daily basis.  You are constantly babbling about something and often using legitimate words!  You still don't like to talk much in public, but you are learning more every day!  Along with speaking more, you are definitely understanding more.  You go to your room when we say it's time for diaper changes or naps and you go to the bathroom at bath time.  You know what we need to go bye bye, etc.




You have started showing an interest in using utensils to eat and you do a pretty good job of getting food into your mouth!  On the food front, you have started enjoying meats a lot more this month!  In addition to ground beef which you've always eaten well, you will now eat some chicken and have shown a love of corn dogs that can only come from your mother!  You also tried your first crab cake and gobbled it down!  Fruits and black beans still hold the keys to your hungry little heart.




You love playing outside, regardless of the sweat that pours down your face and curls your hair.  We go outside after dinner almost every night and you run and climb to your hearts content!  This definitely wears you out and you are still sleeping like a champ.  You are able to stay up a little later these days without a meltdown, so that makes going out to dinner, or events, more enjoyable! You are a book lover and we read many, many books each day!  We also sing and dance and stomp around the house a lot!  Lately, you are absolutely obsessed with your shoes.  You request to wear them constantly and will cry for them when we take them off!




I know I say it every month, and every day for that matter, but you are so incredibly loved, little man.  And not just by mommy and daddy, there are people all over this great country who adore you, and you still light up stranger's faces with your sweet smiles and charming dance moves.  I love to watch you make people happy and I know that this will be something that I get the joy of watching you do for the rest of your life.  Thank you for making us so happy, your mommy and daddy are your biggest fans.




Love you forever, and ever,
Mommy
p.s. Happy happy birthday to your Great Granny!