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!