Sweet Home Indiana

Finally made it! Love them!! I love this photo!!

Yay! Land!!  We finally made it to Pawpaw and SueSue's!

Last week we went home to Indiana!!! We got there monday afternoon and it was a beautiful day.  The weather all week was great!! We woke up one morning and it was 58 outside.  We had a busy week seeing everyone and going lots of places.  Jake spent the majority of his week working at his dad's farm earning a little extra money.  We stayed at Jake's dad and stepmom's house.  Liam was so happy to see everyone. He is quite the little waver and social butterfly after this visit.  We went shopping with aunt Jenny and Nonnie.  As usually, Nonnie(my mom) loves to get Liam things and she bought him a ton of clothes and shoes, a wintercoat, and the list goes one.  We appreciate all of the things all of our family does for us.  

This week Liam got his first hair cut.  His Great Aunt Julie who is a hairdresser and part-owner of Salon One in Evansville with Liam's other Great Aunt Jenny, and their friend Laurie, cut Liam's hair.  She was so sweet and decided to come over to Jake's dad's house and cut it.  I was really nervous and sad that it was time to cut his hair.  However, I was glad that Julie was there to do it!! He didn't like getting his hair cut but I think the fact that he was ready for a nap when we did it, didn't help him out.  He sat in his highchair for the clippers and then I held him while she used the scissors on the top.  After she was done, he took his paci and lovie and she held him until he fell asleep.  He took a nap on her while we chatted and caught up on life.  Thanks Julie!! So glad that you were the first one to cut his hairs!!  Here are a few photos from the hair cutting....

Aunt Julie brought him a little cape...this was right before she started

Not liking the clippers so much...hoping the puffs would distract him...

All done!  He was very sleepy! Thanks Julie!

Happy after a nap and a new hair do!! My wild boy!!

Liam also discovered his love of the golf cart!  He loves riding around on it and we started playing a game with the dogs.  Jake's stepmom, Susan, bought Ron, Jake's dad a golf cart for his birthday and they use it to putt around on.  There is also a fruit and veggie farm/stand right across the road from their house.  They use it to drive over to the stand and pick up produce.  It's called Wright's Berry Farm.  We made many trips that week to get fruits and veggies.  Liam and I would drive and let the dogs out of the barn and get them on the golf cart. We would drive them up to the front of the house and drop them off.  We would sit still for a minute and then take off and the dogs would chase us down the driveway.  We did this about 50-100 times.  Liam LOVED it!! We also did a little photo shoot at the Berry Farm and on the golf cart.  My new hobby is photography and I am really starting to enjoy it!!  I took a ton of photos and plan to take more photos of all the places we love in Newburgh next trip home.  Here are some photos of our adventures....Enjoy!!

About to venture over to get some habeneros and peaches 

Aunt Bizzy and Aunt Ellie....Bizzy and the cheerleaders were getting ready for their game

Here it is....just a sweet family owned farm

Love it!

21.5 lbs....That will be 37 pennies please...JK he is priceless!

I absolutely love this photo!! We had a blast!

I love this photo too...I love his sweet little belly too!

Momma, Liam, and Aunt Ellie....kisses for the boy!

Indiana sunset...Oh my he makes my heart melt...pure sweetness

We had a great week and really miss our family. I truly love my job, friends, and our little house in Memphis but I can't wait to be closer to our family.  Liam truly loved being around everyone and just grew up so much over this past week.  Thank you to all our family who bless our life in so many ways! We don't know where we would be without you!!

Tomorrow he starts his first day of Parents Day Out....I am nervous and wish Jake was going to be there with me to drop him off...I hope that he has a great first day and will post all about it at the end of this week. Hope you enjoyed our post!! Have a great day!!

An interesting week.....

I love this photo because I am pretty sure this is the face I made at him when I saw his ear!!

A little snarly in the morning time....notice the precious mosquito bite on his left eyebrow

Elephant ear!!

It's been a few days since my last post because we have been having a wild week.  This week is Jake's last week of part one of three of his externship for school.  This week, our dryer has stopped working, Jake's phone had been previously cracked a while back and was acting up, but now has decided to stop working unless plugged in the wall, yesterday morning, Liam woke up and his left ear was the size of  Texas, on the way to the pediatrician my check engine light came on, my debit card wouldn't work at the grocery store on monday.....and well I am sure you get the point by now.  I can't wait for this week to be over!! 


So about the ear....Yesterday morning, I got Liam out of his crib and put him in his high chair for breakfast....then I noticed the ear!  After a few frantic phone calls to the PICU, my friend Hannah, and to the pediatrician's office, we took him to the doctor ASAP. Liam is very sensitive to mosquito bites.  When he gets one, they swell up like crazy, get really red, then form a blister looking appearance, then take on the appearance of a pimple, then after about a week, they go away.  They look outrageous and horrible....you would think he don't spray him with bug spray, but we really do soak him in it.  Just so happens that the mosquitos decided to bite him in the places we are careful to avoid....right by his eye and inside his ear.  His ear ended up being related to none other than a mosquito bite.  Dr. Mathis, Liam's pediatrician, said ( in a nice way) that he makes a lot of money from mosquito and chigger bites on the ears, around the eyes and little boy parts.  He said that they look horrible and people think their child is going to loose their ear.  He is the best and most laid back and common sense doctor, and this is why we love him.  He said that a good way to know if it is an infection is to check his temperature and press on the area.  If there's a temp and it's painful then you have an infection....if not, then it's a skeeter!!  Thankfully his ear is much better today!

On the happier side of the week, Liam started clapping his hands and getting better at waving hi and bye!!  I think he knew his mom and dad could use a little happy moment after all the crazy ones this week.  Yesterday, I looked at Liam while he was shaking a toy and said, "yyyaaayyy"!! He just started clapping away and pretty much does it now every time we say "Yay" I will post a little video that I took of him waving.  He had just woken up and had breakfast before this.  Hope you enjoy it!!  Especially, since Jake just reached behind our door and put on what he though was his robe....not so much, it was mine. LOL!  He just decided to keep it on since Liam leaped to him before he realized it.  


What else is new.... Liam is busy roaming around the house and walks along the couch and table and keeps me busy.  He loves being chased and when you count one, two, three and chase him he absolutely loves it!!  Jake is doing great on his training for the Ultra marathon he will be running in October.  He is so dedicated and driven to achieve this goal.  He informed me that he wants to do a 100 mile race in March.....I am not really sure what could be next after this but I am sure he will come up with something to do. 


 I have started collecting a few things for Liam's birthday which are so cute.  I am trying really hard to remind myself he will have more than one birthday and I don't have to do everything this birthday....but it's so hard to resist.  The theme is Halloween/Little Monster.  I am on a mission now to find a really cute costume...that isn't expensive.  I have thrown around the following ideas....Bat, Monster, Halloween sock monkey, Octopus, and a few others.  If you have any suggestions let me know!!  This one was long but it has been a while.  We will be leaving Sunday to go home to Indiana for Jake's end of summer break.  Hope you enjoyed reading!! 

Mommy says goodbye and Liam says "Hia"...and then waves!!!

Mandy and Jordan came to say goodbye..ending our chapter together in Memphis

On Monday, Mandy, Jordan, and her parents Deb and Kip stopped by to say goodbye.  It was so nice to meet Mandy's parents.  Liam went right to Mandy and snuggled her up and then surprisingly he went right to Deb....I think she has the touch!! He just laughed and smiled at them all. It was too sweet.  I am going to miss her too much!!

Although we said goodbye, Liam started saying hi which sounds like"Ha."  Yesterday, we were at Garden Ridge shopping for birthday supplies and a lady walked by Liam and said hi and waved to him.  Without missing a beat he just said "Ha" and waved his little arm at her.  I almost wrecked the shopping cart!  Jake and I have been working with him to wave.  Everyday, when Jake leaves I have him wave at Liam and wave Liam's little arm and tell him bye bye.  I guess he finally caught on! Yay!! We got him to do it again and again....it is so sweet!!  

A quick update of Liam's sleeping accomplishments.....After a few days of laying him down in his crib at each nap and at night and helping him fall asleep on his own, he finally put himself to sleep with minimal comfort from me. No crying, sad tears, just played in his crib for a few minutes after I walked out of the room and the next time I checked on him, he was asleep!! Yay Liam!! Mommy is so proud of you!! Hopefully when I work and extra night shift tonight Jake will stick with it and Liam will do the same thing for him. Hope you enjoyed my post!!  Until next time....

Family visit and the weeks events

Liam's gift from Aunt Mandy

He really likes being scared by it!!

Wild baby chicken hair

This weekend we had a visit from Nana Angie, Uncle Blaize, and Aunt Jenny.  They hadn't seen Liam in person in a while so they came to see all his new skills and cuteness! Since I work saturdays and sundays, I was only able to visit with them in the evenings.  Jake and Liam took them on a hike, out to eat, watched a movie and got to spend lots of time with them.  They got to experience Liam's new found love of high pitched screaming and see him do his swimming in the bath tub.  He was quite a wild boy this weekend!!  When they first arrived he was very nervous and wasn't quite sure who they were and why they were staring at him but he quickly warmed up to them and enjoyed their company.  It was really nice to have family come down even if it was only for a short while. Jake loves spending time with his family and always gets "spunky", a nice way refer to it, whenever he gets around his brothers or dad.  Guys, thanks for coming down to visit!! We can't wait to come home in 2 weeks and see everyone!!


Liam's new little quirks are developing more and more each day.  He is now starting to grunt at me and things when he gets frustrated or things aren't going his way.  He is attached to me and I am pretty sure that he would like me to be like a momma kangaroo and carry him in a pouch all day.  He also FIGHTS napping and sleeping.  His favorite way to fall asleep is to be snuggled in his daddy and mommy's bed with his pacifier and elephant lovey.  I used to be able to lay him down in his crib when he was sleepy and he would peacefully fall asleep.....those sweet dreams are long gone.  He also likes to wake up in the middle of the night or at 4-5 in the morning and start protesting.  I am trying very hard to let him soothe himself back to sleep but it is very hard for Jake and I to do.  I have turned the monitor off 2 times but Jake thinks that we need to hear what is going on in his room.....I on the other hand think that Liam was blessed with a great gift called lungs and he will let us know if he really needs something.  Please keep in mind while reading this that I love him and love snuggling him but his room is right next to ours and Jake wakes up at his every whimper...even with the monitor off.  Steve and Sophie are also very aware of Liam and will wake us up if Liam is up to something.  Jake has never experienced caring for a child who sleeps with their parents and has to put them to sleep when their parents aren't there. At work and babysitting I have done this many times.....I can spot them from a mile away.  They are the child that screams for hours because they haven't learned to soothe or comfort themselves in anyway.  I hope Liam knows we love him and knows we are just a wall away.  I think the compromise is to let him lay in our bed to fall asleep and then put him in his crib...best of both worlds.  

Aunt Jenny trying out the hiking carrier

Sorry if this post is really long! I am a little long winded : )  I hope you enjoyed my post!! Here are some photos from this week and weekend's visit!! ENJOY!

He loves bath time!!

What friends are for...

Steve loves Liam too and decided to have a snuggle on him while he was having a bottle....this spot on the couch used to be Steve's

Eating some puffs with sister by his side...she likes it when I am not looking and she can sneak a puff off his tray

He loves sister and sister loves him

Last night I had a great dinner with friends. I organized a little going away dinner for Mandy so she could try and see everyone before she leaves next week.  I brought Liam along with me because he is usually so good and loves to look at people and loves being out.  However, he was a little crabby yesterday and so I probably should have left him home with Jake.  The first sign of trouble was when he wouldn't go to his aunt Mandy when she went to pick him up.  He is starting to be a little "sensitive" and clingy to me so I am pretty sure it's time to start parent's day out as soon as possible.  I really want him to have friends other than his brother and sister pups. 

 He loves our two dogs Steve and Sophie.  When Liam was first born, Steve was in love with him and Sophie really was neutral.  How the tables have since turned as he has gotten older.  Sister loves him!! Steve scampers away when Liam reaches for him.  Sophie lets him pull and tug on her and he loves her ears, which Sophie is VERY sensitive about.  We are very diligently trying to teach him to be gentle, but he hasn't quite grasped the concept yet.  I love that the dogs and him get along but it's time to broaden his horizons.  I am planning on enrolling him in a parent's day out once a week to get him around some babies his own age and foster a comfort to be with other people besides Jake and myself.  I don't want him to be the kid that only plays by himself...because he only wants to play with his toys and himself.  There are several great programs that I have looked into and I am thinking he will be able to start the  beginning of September.

Today, Liam and I are going to eat at the Commissary with some friends and then we are going to head to hobby lobby after that!! I am super excited to go and start getting more ideas for Liam's first birthday!! I have also been informed that they have their Christmas things out already too.....can't wait for Liam to really get into Christmas this year!! Hopefully Liam will be a little more friendly today.  We will see! Hope you all enjoyed this post!! 

First day of the rest of our blog!!

             This is my first post to our blog.  I decided to put a couple of my many favorite photos up too.  Today was a rather uneventful day.  Liam is constantly on the move.  I can't count the number of head bonks he took today. Today, he decided to stand up without any hands and when I looked down he was already on his way to the floor.   Considering he stands 29inches from the floor, it was not that far of a fall, but he only tried that once today so I think he realized god put hands and arms on his body for a reason : )  Jake had clinic today so he was gone all day.

             Liam and I went swimming in our little pool in our backyard and he of course enjoyed himself.  When Jake got home tonight, Liam loudly said Mama, Mama, MMMaammaaa about 737 times. He will not say Dada for anything.  I will be so excited for Jake when he finally says it. Jake didn't run today...but no worries, he found something else to do and started making another belt.  One of his many hobbies.  I think blogging is going to be my new hobby : ) 

             One week from today I will say goodbye to a very wonderful and best friend! Mandy is probably one of the most amazing people I have ever met.  When I first met her, I knew we were going to be friends.  Her husband Jordan, is in school with Jake.  We went through many firsts together while being away from family.  She moved away from her family for the first time just like I did, we ended up working at the same hospital, in the same unit, on the same shift, we see eye to eye on so many things, and she has been there for me so many times I can't even begin to tell you.  She was one of the first people I told that I was finally pregnant. She was the only person there with Jake and I when Liam was born and is like family to us.  She loves Liam and Liam loves her!! She has been my rock in many ways while I have been in Memphis.  I truly don't think she knows how much we are going to miss her! I am so excited for her and Jordan to move back to Nebraska near family and for her to start touching peoples' lives at her new job just like she has touched ours.  But seriously, I am not quite sure what I am going to do without her.  I will put a picture up of her so you can see this amazing gal!! Hope you enjoyed my first post! I look forward to many more!!

Mandy and Jordan coming to visit Liam in the hospital...Precious memories!!

This video is when I told Mandy and Summer that I was pregnant with Liam. Brittney helped me video their reaction and tell them. It was St. Patrick's Day 2009...Also my brother Ryan's birthday!

One of my favorite's from Liam's 6 month photos...Amanda Catt took this and she is an amazing photographer

One of Jake's first outings with Liam....