Wordless Wednesday: Peek A Boo

So maybe it's not totally wordless...but it is cute.

Wordless Wednesday: Music

So maybe there are some words...but they're super cute.

Interview With Andy

Note the kid running across the field at the beginning of the story? Yeah, that's Liam.

 

Giving Thanks....and the Thanksgiving Story According to Liam

I have a lot to be thankful for this year.

I'm thankful for our new baby boy.
I'm thankful my dad has recovered from his brain surgery.
I'm thankful for being able to stay at home with my boys.
I'm thankful for my family.
I'm thankful for my friends.
I'm thankful for God.

Psalm 118:1   Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

I am thankful.


Liam told me what he learned in preschool about how the Holiday of Thanksgiving came to be. I thought I would share it with all of you. Enjoy!






Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

First Snow...2010

This morning we woke up to large snowflakes falling. While none of it stuck, the kids were really excited to see the snow.

Sean Speaks

I've been somewhat worried for sometime about Sean's lack of speaking. But I'm reminded about how Liam usually speaks for him and my brother was the same way; I always talked for him so he didn't need to. Thankfully, Sean understands what we're saying to him "Get your shoes" etc and he does use a few signs "all done" to let us know what he wants. He says Mama, Uh-Oh, Ma'am, quacks like a duck when we ask him to say Duck and now he says Elmo. We rarely watch Sesame Street but he LOVES it. Scratch that, he LOVES Elmo...and that annoys my husband. But the kid likes what he likes.


Here's a short video of Sean talking...enjoy!

Come On Over to Adventureland...You're Gonna Have a Rain Filled Day!

Every two years my dad gets free tickets to Adventureland through his employer, Pella. This has been a family tradition since I was in high school. It was Sean and Brendan's first time to Adventureland. Liam had been looking forward to it for months so when we got up Saturday morning and saw it was raining, we were bummed. Mom wasn't sure if she was coming and Tom's clan might not make it either.

I finally convinced mom that they should come and Tom's family decided to come too. Even though it was raining, we all had a great time. It was a little chilly but we dressed for the occasion. It was also "Nickelodeon's Day of Play" so we actually participated in it!

You can hear the raindrops hitting the umbrella, but since most of the kid rides are covered, they were happy little guys!
 The boys riding on the carousel  and Riding with our cousins.

Liam even rode the Dragon and the Outlaw, two big rollercoasters...we were amazed he was tall enough to go on them...he didn't know what to expect with the Dragon but enjoyed it.

We are already looking forward to going again!

Sean Launches Cheerios

Being the mother of boys I've already become accustomed to cleaning up messes. But sometimes messes can be fun. I always try to document these, as I know once they get older, I'll cherish these moments.

Sean discovered he could launch his Cheerios. Granted, once he was done eating I had a lot of Cheerios to clean up, but it was fun.

Enjoy the video!

The Big Brother's Vacation

Before Brendan was born, we decided we wanted the "big boys" to stay with my folks. We didn't want to separate the boys (they are attached at the hip) and they only get to see my folks once every few months so we thought it would be nice for them to have some face time with them. Sean had never slept at my parents house without me there, so we thought Liam needed to be there as well, to have a bit of "common" for Sean. Plus, I do have quite a few rules when it comes to my kids and I knew my mom would abide by those rules. Not only did she follow the rules I set, she exceeded them by getting Sean to fall asleep in the crib (we had been laying down with him then putting him in the crib) AND she succeeded in getting him to sleep in the crib ALL NIGHT. This additional bonus from mom would have been enough of a gift when Brendan was born. BUT, she (being the planner she is) also bought us a double stroller. DOUBLE WIN! Having Sean go to sleep in his own bed and staying there all night has really helped us out. Mom=Awesome.

Liam had ear drops for an infection and had been fighting us with those...it was a battle. Kicking, screaming (he actually kicked me in the stomach while I was still pregnant) and what should have taken 5 minutes would take 30. In just two days at her house, she'd gotten him to lay down and accept the drops as well as lay still for 5 minutes while they worked...with no screaming. Again, my mom is awesome.

The boys had a great time with Ma'am and Papa. They helped Ma'am in her garden, rode with Papa on his tractor, played with Maci and Austin (neighbor kids that are their age) and she even brought them down to Des Moines when I was missing my big boys just to visit again.

But herding a four year old and 15 month old is like herding cats. As you can see in the video David took below. They had come to visit us and mom was trying to get them back to the car.

My parents were even thoughtful enough to send us pictures of the boys...to show us what was going on. My mom, being the great mom she is, even wrote down nap times, sleep times and number of diapers and bathroom events for both of the kids so I would know what happened and when. For the third time, mom=awesome.

We need to make it to Glidden more often to visit. Once every three months isn't near often enough. I do believe the saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" and the boys are sure fond of Ma'am and Papa. Here are a few pictures of the boys spending time with Ma'am and Papa.

 Sean LOVES Sweet Corn...mmmmm.

Sean and Liam in the IH chairs watching cartoons.

You can see Sean contemplating the fact that he's trapped and Liam is outside of the play pen..."how do I get him back" is written all over his face.

Sean says, "I'm trapped? Well, I've got your nipple."

The boys had a great time with Ma'am and Papa and with the constant updates, the documentation and pictures and videos uploaded in (almost) real time, I never had to worry about my boys. Which, I believe, helped keep my stress level down and assisted in my healing. Thanks Ma'am and Papa!!

He's a climber!

For the last few months, people have been telling me "Oh my! THREE BOYS!?! You're sure going to have your hands full."

Uh, yeah. I kind of know that. Because I already DO have my hands full. From the moment Sean could roll over, he was trying to figure out how to crawl. From the moment he crawled he wanted to walk and there was maybe a day before he figured out how to run. Now? Climbing. He can't quite reach the things big brother can, therefore, he must climb to get them.

And Sean has no fear. What so ever. And he will climb anything. Even if the item he wants to climb isn't climb-able.

See the video below. He climbed the ball toy at my parent's house. It isn't built for a climber...but that doesn't matter to Sean. He's going to climb it. And then dance on it. Because that's what you do...



Yes. Hands. Full. And baby on the way.

Liam's Halloween Costume

Liam LOVES the Geico commercials. He loves them enough that he's decided that is what he wants to be for Halloween. What three year old wants to be car insurance for Halloween?? Yeah, mine.

Wanting my children to match, I was unable to find a Gecko costume...so Sean is a dragon (let's just call him a Gecko).

I was able to make Liam's costume because a coworker gave me a giant piece of green foam. Some ribbon, two foam balls lots of hot glue and two googlie eyes later, we have a Halloween costume. I've uploaded a video for everyone to see...enjoy.

Sean's First Solid Food...

Sean had his first solid food last night. Enjoy the video below...he nods and even thanks us at the end of the video!

Piglet...

Sean earned this nickname after going through all of my frozen stash of breastmilk his first few weeks at daycare. I've been able to keep up with his needs with fresh milk, but I don't have any reserves...even with lactation cookies and fenugreek.


But he sounds like a piglet too...when he eats and sleeps. I was able to capture this last night...enjoy!

Sean laughs....a lot

Laughter is something we cherish in our home. It is one of the reasons I fell in love with David, he can always make me laugh. And baby laughs, well, you can't miss em.

Friday, August 14th, after a long week of work, we were watching "The State". It was a gift for my birthday and is one of my favorite shows ever. It reminded me of the early 90's and my childhood and it was great to watch it with our kids. Well, Liam was watching Nemo on his dvd player but he would occasionally check in. Sean was seated in his bumbo in the middle of the couch between Dave and I.

We had been laughing all evening, so maybe that's what brought on the giggle fit. When he started, David and I looked at each other and laughed. It was his timing. The skit included people on a game show and rather than winning money, they were winning orphans. After this discovery, they started answering questions wrong.

"Mick Jaggar is the lead singer of the Rolling _____?"

Participant rings in: "The Rolling Bears?"

And Sean started laughing. We laughed with him for a bit before I thought to grab my cell phone and capture it. At this point, I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard.

Take a look for yourself and try not to laugh.

The Dark Side...

If you know my husband, you know he's a Star Wars fan. Apparently if you were a male born in 1977-1981 you MUST be a Star Wars fan. As any father does, he introduces things he likes to his boys. Liam LOVES Star Wars, but thinks every Star Wars movie is titled "Star Wars: The Clone Wars".

We were discussing Halloween costumes for the boys. Liam thinks he wants to be "GEICO"...the money with the eye balls. It would be a cute (and easy) costume to make. Then I suggested Luke Skywalker to which Dave said, "No, Hans Solo. Nobody wants to be Luke. Besides, Liam's got the hair to be Hans." I said Sean should be a ewok and Liam thought Sean should be Darth Vader...lol. That would be funny!

For Father's Day, the boys got daddy a Star Wars card. Sean is not a fan of the dark side.

Sean Smiles and Sings

I'm getting all of the smiles I can today. I have to go back to work tomorrow. While I am dreading it, I'm also looking forward to it. It will be nice to have a more set routine, adult conversations and, well, money.

So today Sean and I sang songs together and smiled. A lot. He's super cute when he smiles (he's cute when he's not smiling) but I thought I'd share.



Sean singing and smiling

Tiny Dancer....

Sean loves to dance...he kicks, he punches...so we played some "Dropkick Murphys" and he LOVED the Irish tunes.



Go Irish Boy! Go Irish Boy!

Happy Birthday Buh-Jesus!!

Love Thursday....Halloween....

I apologize that this blog has been MIA the last few weeks. We've been busy!

I decided that this year would be my one and only year that I could pick out the Halloween costume. Here on out, Liam will probably be a superhero of some sort (like he was super-baby last year).

I chose a monkey costume. I call him "Monkey" because...well, he is. So I set out (over a month ago) to find the cutest monkey costume. And I got it.



Doesn't he make a cute monkey?? The best part is that I'm shipping the toy monkey to Iraq so A. Dave can never say I won't let him have a monkey and
B. So he can feel like he was apart of the Halloween. Plus it gives him something to cuddle with. :)

Liam enjoyed trick or treating. And he LOVES M&M's. Here's a short video I was able to take with my camera....enjoy!



Love is trick or treating with your almost two year old (how did that happen??) and knowing that next year, Daddy will take him.