Where do I start

It's been so long since I've been able to update this that I don't even know where to start! Everything is just kinda a blur. Liam's growing, growing, growing...and we're busy chasing, chasing, chasing! Since I can't completely recall everything that's happened since the last time I blogged I'll just throw in some pics and let you know what they are...


This is a picture of Liam brushing his teeth...he LOVES to brush his teeth!! In fact, today I was talking to him and I said, "Liam let's go find your tea," and he thought I said, "let's go brush your teeth," and he ran to the bathroom door and started beating his fists on it!! :0) My silly little man!


We have now officially learned how to climb up on things. He looks a little bored in this picture huh?


Liam LOVES the vaccum...really, he wishes he could have a real one all for himself. I thought babies were usually scared of vaccums...but he's not even close. We had to go find him a play one so that he would not try to "help" me as much whenever I try to vaccum!


This is Liam's most recent hair cut...it really made him look like a big boy. He was so good when the hairstylist used the clippers. I wanted her to try it out first, and now that I know he does okay with it I think I'll start doing it at home. Our hairdresser always did it for free because she used to cut Matthew's hair when he was little and she just adores him!


Daddy dressed Liam up in one of his sweatshirts...Liam was so proud!


This is Liam using his state of the art bubble blowing lawn mower. He was so facinated with daddy's that he needed one of his own. It keeps him amused for quite a while, he just runs back and forth across the yard with it. We also got a swing for the back yard so that we have somewhere to sit and watch him while he plays. That boy was built for the outdoors!!


This has to be one of my favorite pictures of Liam. He woke up from his nap with his hair like this! What amazes me is that it can look that crazy even though it's relatively short!

So, about the rest of the family. Matthew is taking his last course for his MBA...he passed his last one with a B so thank you for all your prayers and we ask that you continue to pray for him during these last 4 weeks!! It's almost over, and I'm as excited about it as he is!! Work has been good for me. I've been getting called off one or two shifts a payperiod, but I'm okay with that since I've been signing up for 60 hours (yeah, I'm crazy...that's about to come to a screeching halt!). I'm ready to not HAVE to work, but I'm not sure when God it going to get us to that point. At least I love what I do... :0)

Things are good and we are so blessed. Hope you enjoyed LiamFest! :0)

Life is so short...

It's so very easy for all of us to take each day we are given for granted...and to not appreciate the children God has blessed us with, especially on days where all your kiddos seem to do is cry (I'm not sure I've gotten to that point too many times since we waited and waited and waited for Liam, but there's probably been one or two days in the past 14 months). However, please take the time to tell your loved ones you love them, and give the children in your life and extra hug when you can, because it can all be taken away from you soooo quickly. Just this morning I got news that a very close friend of mine lost her 18 year old son in a car accident last night. He rolled his vehicle and didn't have his seat belt on...and just like that he was gone. It's been a really tough day for me...if I think about it too much I start crying. I've been hugging and kissing Liam like there's no tomorrow, and I think he thinks I'm crazy! :0) I'm not sure I'm ever going to let him leave the house with car keys....even if he's an amazing driver, there are a BUNCH of HORRIBLE drivers out there...talk about testing your faith every time your child leaves the house.

Okay, I just had to get that off my chest. Now to brag on my little man. Actually, I'm not sure I should "brag" about some of the things he's been doing...some of them are just plan scary. I believe that we have a little monkey-to-be on our hands. First things first, just the other day we were in the living room and I was working on some papers when I looked over and Liam was on top of the Leap Frog Activity Table his Grandma and Papa had bought him. He then proceded to reach up towards the bar with perfect balance. Then, this past weekend we were out and about with Nana and when Matthew went to put Liam back in the car, Liam grabbed onto the handle by the door and held on for dear life. Matthew had to work to get his little fingers loose and Liam was not happy to be put back in his car seat. This is such a funny little story because I can't tell you how many storied I've heard about how Matthew was a little monkey when he was little. Now I'm thinking we're both going to have to pay for his raising!



















My cousin and his wife (Lance and Keri) came to visit for Valentine's weekend and we had a wonderful time. It looks as if we will be getting to spend more quality time with them when they move down this way in August. Matthew and I couldn't be more thrilled...and I think Liam's pretty excited too. He wanted Keri to hold him the whole time. Poor Lance, he wanted to hold Liam for a little bit, but every time he got ahold of him Liam would reach for Keri! I'm pretty sure Keri enjoyed her time with Liam...in fact she wrote me just today about how she missed "her Liam", it was really sweet! I'm pretty sure anyone who comes in contact with that little man falls in love with him...he's such a charmer!
















Matthew is on his next to the last class in his Master's program...please keep him in your prayers...we can see an end in sight!! YAY! Things have been kinda slow at work so I haven't been working all that much...and I'm getting kinda used to it unfortunately...it's going to make it hard to get back in the groove when things do start to pick up again! :0)

Ladies and Gentlemen....

Okay, so probably the number one New Year's resolution of all time has to be "to lose weight" right? But seriously, what's the point of a resolution, because inevitably it's just not going to work out. Am I right? In fact, I think that subconsciously we know this and therefore set up the expectation to fail before we even start...then we don't feel so bad when it doesn't work and we can blame it on somethng else. SO, with all that said I have NOT made a resolution to lose weight, I'm just GOING to lose weight. I have just recently started Weight Watcher's Online because, those of you who now me well already know this, I can be somewhat of an antisocial type with people I don't know. If I don't know these people why the heck would I want to climb on a scale for everyone to read...I don't think so. Anyway, it seems to be working so far...YAY...but let me tell you, counting points can be difficult when you're trying to make meals for a little man that mainly wants things like corn dogs (5 points for one corn dog), macaroni and cheese (that I haven't even looked up for fear of the results), and tater tots. But alas, I am marching on...bound and determined to not grimice every time I look in the mirror. :0)

Enough about me though...everything else seems to be going well. Liam helped me dust his room today, meaning he played with his toys and attempted to grab the orange can of Pledge while I dusted his room. Sadly, the lady that comes to help me once a month has hurt her back and hasn't been able to come since 12/16...so my house is in dire need of cleaning. I'm working my way around, but with Liam being such a helper and all, it makes it really difficult to clean a bathroom or get on a ladder to clean the ceiling fans. I have finally eased up a little bit...I about went insane when we first had Liam because it would just eat at me if my house wasn't spotless. HOWEVER, after many months of pending insanity, I've thrown some if the OCDness out the window (you will notice that I said some, not all). Bathrooms are the worst...I HATE cleaing bathrooms, seriously, but when I get the chance to jump in and really scrub my whole house down I actually feel more energized. I think I get high from the smell of clean...it's so wonderful to KNOW your house is clean, am I right? Okay, I'm sure everyone thinks I'm insane now...oh well... :0)

I think our little man is continuing to shoot up at an alarming rate. The only reason I'm really noticing is that he is now able to reach things that he couldn't before. For example, there is now only a very small area that he can't reach on the coffee table and I'm about to have to completely clear off the end table. I do feel that he needs to learn that there are somethings he just can't touch, but at the same time Matthew and I hate having to spend ALL day saying no to him (and I really don't want that to become a part of his vocabulary too early on). I'm really interested to see how tall he ends up being. They say that if you double their height at 2 years of age, then that will tell you their approximate height as an adult...it should be interesting. I'm already expecting to have to look up at him to chew him out when he's older...I guess I'll just have to establish who's boss early on right? I might look small...but watch out...hehehehehe!

We have started to notice recently that anytime there's music on the TV Liam will stop doing whatever it is he's doing and turn and watch it. It's adorable because he's just mesmorized! He also has this little music box in his room that plays music for a set time each night when he goes to bed, or when he goes down for a nap, and we had to get a spare for traveling because he has a hard time going to sleep without it. Anyway, the spare is in my Expedition and he will be happy as a clam for as long as you like if you strap him in and hand him that music box. He'll just sit there and push the same button over and over and over again. We might have a budding musician on our hands!

Well that's about it for now...I hope everyone is doing well, and if you think about it send a little prayer up for Matthew. After this week he only has 2 more classes left to finish his MBA!!!!! I'm so proud of him...he is such an amazing husband and father!

And up he goes!

Well, our newest accomplishment is.....we can stand up on our ride on car! Are we supposed to...no...do we think it's the greatest thing EVER? DEFINITELY. Did we fall and go boom? Yes, but we didn't hit anything solid so there was no need to go to the ER, thank the Lord!

He's getting to be so brave...it's kinda scary. He's also loving books these days. I usually have to read any given book about 5 times a day and then we have to look through ALL the books that have textures and stuff in them...those are his favorite!

I finally got some pictures of Liam with his cousins loaded onto the computer. They were so good with him and I got some really cute pictures. They played together well and Liam would get so sad if they went somewhere that he couldn't follow.



He's also showing his temper more and more, and it tends to get him in some trouble. I'm having a hard time sometimes though. Like today, he kept trying to crawl under the end table to get to some electronic stuff that he's not allowed to play with. I would put my hand on his back and say his name in a stern voice and the first few times he would turn around and either send me a big old grin or grin up at me and giggle. I really struggled to keep my self from laughing...I had to turn my head away and cover my face.

Anyway, other than figuring out how to raise a one year old and working 36-60 hours a payperiod I've been keeping myself busy. Matthew is still working on his Master's with an expected graduation date of April. YAY! It's almost here...and I know he's more excited about it than I am. Matthew gets to spend some quality time with Liam on the weekends that my mom can't come help and he LOVES that time with Liam (and I'm pretty sure that Liam LOVES his time with his daddy)!

I think that's about it for now. Hope everyone is doing well!

Wow, where did the Holidays go!

So, my last entry was on my little man's birthday. His birthday party went well...it felt like sheer craziness but I think that all in attendance had fun...especially the 3-4 kiddos that were 1-2 years old. Liam wasn't so much into the opening of the gifts, but he did enjoy the toys once he realized that was what was hidden under the wrapping paper. Needless to say we aren't lacking in the toy department. By the time the day was over both mommy and Liam were pretty much exhausted.




All of our family in the area was able to make it. My mom, AKA Nana, as well as Matthew's mom (Grandma), dad (Papa), sister (Aunt Emily), and brother-in-law (Uncle Casey) were able to share in the excitement. Liam hasn't gotten to see his Papa a whole lot but by the end of the holidays when Papa had to head back to Poland for a little bit longer Liam had started saying his version of Papa.





Oh, and this is the birthday cake that I made for Liam's birthday. Matthew insisted that Liam have a Cookie Monster cake just like he had for his first birthday party. So, Liam got to have an entire cake ALL to himself. We had a little problem with the frosting...it didn't stick to the cake as well as it should have to when Laim kicked the tray of the chair and it hit the floor with the cake on top, all the frosting popped off. I was fine with it though...it just meant Liam would eat less sugar right?




In the midst of birthday celebrations we also celebrated Aunt Emily's birthday. We were able to go to dinner with Matthew's family for Emily's big day. It ended up being a long day, but Liam was a trooper as we went to pick Papa up at the airport and then went to dinner and stopped by Aunt Emily's new house.

Matthew was able to take about a week and a half off between Liam's birthday and New Years which was nice. It definitely made working a few night shifts easier. We had so much fun preparing for Christmas this year and Liam really liked the gold balls on the Christmas tree. He kept taking them off the tree and trying to gnaw on them...thankfully they were shatterproof. He was also somewhat interested in the gifts under the tree, more so with the gift bags....easy access I guess. It was a lot of fun getting to do the whole Santa Claus thing...though I'm pretty sure he had NO concept of what was happening. By the time we got done opening our gifts and gifts from family it looked like Toys R Us exploded in our dining room. In fact, the dining room is now our toy room....I guess that's just what happens when you start having children.




So, the holidays were good. We spent lots of time with Matthew's family and my sister was able to come visit after Christmas and we spent the New Year with them. Liam LOVED having cousins to play with, and Brodie, Austin, and Deacon did REALLY well with him. It was cute to watch them all in the dining room playing with Liam's toys with him.

Well that's about it...we're both back to work and Liam is working hard playing with his toys everyday! :0) It's amazing how quickly this past year has gone by. May God bless each of you during the year ahead! :0)

Deep thoughts at 4 am

So, I'm sitting up at 345am because I woke up at 230 to Liam fussing and I just haven't been able to go back to sleep. Today is my precious Liam's first birthday...and I'm so happy for him cause he's such a big boy and such a sweet little man, but I'm kinda sad too. This year just went by too fast and I don't want it to speed by like this. As parents, we are enjoying EVERYTHING about being Liam's mommy and daddy, seriously, I can't describe it to anyone who hasn't been blessed with this experience yet. Matthew and I were talking before we went to sleep the other night and he got real quite and then said, "I just didn't realize I could love someone so much." My heart just swelled up because I feel the exact same way. I know it's bad, but I love that he wants to see me more than other people most of the time. It makes my heart warm when he starts clinging to my legs because he wants his mommy to hold him. I don't know, maybe it's because we had to wait so long to have him, or maybe it just that way for everyone. I hope it's that way for everyone because it's just such a blessing. We can be stressed out about paying bills, or work, or we might have just gotten into an argument and all we have to do is get in the floor and play with Liam for our prespective to come back into focus. He's our world and I'm so afraid it's going to just slip by me and the next thing I know I'm going to look up and he's going to be headed to college. About a week ago he took his last bedtime bottle...and I left his room and cried a little. Karen Kingsberry writes a children's book that is all about your childs "lasts", like the last time to rock them to sleep, the last time you hold them on your hip, the last time you help them with homework....etc. Well I was reading that to Liam the other day and I still get all choked up when I read it because he's already had so my "lasts".


Okay, I got all that out so hopefully I can go to sleep now...I just thought i would throw in a cute pic of Liam sharing a sucker with daddy...this is one of my favorite pictures!

It's The Most Insane Time of the Year!!

Okay, wow, it's been a while since I've had a chance to sit down and write something out. Liam's all over the place now so the only time I get with the computer is generally after he's in bed at night...and then half the time lately I have a list of stuff I need to get done still! Alas, I have finished most of my list for the day so I thought I would put off a few things in hopes of letting everyone know what we're up to.


Let's see Liam had a big day on 11/12, here's the story....
I had just left for work and made it about 5 minutes down the road when I got a call from Matthew who was frantic informing me that Liam had just tripped and busted his head open. My first response was, "Are you kidding me?" (See, in the past my husband has at times been a bit melodramatic about things...tending to sometimes blow things out of proportion) He responded, "No, he fell and his head is bleeding!", my response, "Are you kidding me??" and at this point Matthew was getting a little irritated with me and responded with an angry "NO!" So, I proceeded to call into work as I attempted to turn the car around and head back to pick the boys up and head to the ER for the second time in Liam's short life (the first occured when he had a reaction the first time he took formula at about 6-8 weeks old...his hands, feet, and ears got all red and swollen...very scary). Matthew comes out with Liam only in a diaper with a cloth held against his head and Liam's PJ's in his free hand (No worries it was like 80 degrees here at the time). Matthew gets him in his car seat and we head off, yes, Liam is still in his diaper at this point. Once we get going I ask why Liam doesn't have his PJ's on...and Matthew looks at me like I'm crazy and says something to the effect of, "You try putting PJ's on a crying baby with a head injury!". Halfway to the hospital I ask if he remembered to grab the diaper bag and he says no....and I think what would men do without us sometimes! At least we're headed to a hospital that is well stocked with diapers and formula and whatnot! We get to the hospital and Liam is fine and dandy playing and laughing at things, and at this point his head is only just oozing. It took about 30 min to get into a room (not bad) and then probably an hour before we were lucky enough to have a med student attempt to glue the cut closed. He did get the site closed, but he dripped glue into Liam's eyebrow and almost got his glove stuck to Liam's head!! I was a little irritated to say the least. Liam did pretty well all in all and we went home and life continued on as normal. Thankfully the glue finally came all the way out just this last week, right before we took him to take his 1 year pictures!


We got to spend thanksgiving with family in Dallas. We went to stay at my cousins house with my mom and aunt, and we all had a really good time. I had to work the night before thanksgiving and then we jumped in a car pretty much as soon as I got home...talk about one of the longest days of my life cause even though I got like a 4 hour nap we stayed up til midnight, then I had trouble going to sleep only to be awakened shortly after I fell asleep by Liam. Us crazy people in the Terrell family got up to do the official Black Friday shopping fiasco...which I'm sorry to say wasn't quite as fun for me this year, which was very possibly due to the fact that I was sleep deprived!


I'm fortunate to have my mother-in-law home right now and she's helping me with Liam so I can work some extra hours, and Liam seems to be enjoying it also! We're also preparing for the big FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!! I can't believe the year has flown by so quickly...my sweet baby is become a little man!! This year will probably give us an idea of the type of birthday party turn out you'll get when your birthday falls the week before Christmas...but regardless of how many show up will still have a good time...and trust me, there will be pictures!! :0)

I've actually gotten the birthday gifts wrapped and I finished most of the Christmas gifts last night. Tonight I got my sugar cookies made so that all I'll have left to do next week is make cupcakes and Liam's birthday cake. He's going to have a cookie monster cake made by his mommy, and I've practiced one and must say that it turned out awefully cute!!


We got our tree up about a week ago. My mom and I got it put together while Liam was taking a nap and I was so excited to get a cute picture of his face when he saw it. Funny thing was that he looked at the tree, but then he saw the vaccum and headed straight for the cord completely ignoring the tree. After a little bit of coaxing (and after putting up the vaccum) we got a few cute pictures.