quick updates

* My Dad returns from Qatar on Tuesday... only to leave for HAWAII with my Mom on Thursday. So not fair.

* Liam had his 2 month check up- he's 24 inches long and weighs 11 lbs and 9 oz. He's "long and lean" according to his doctor, and she said she really liked that he looks like a little person, instead of a ball of fat. I took that as a mighty compliment. She said his rolling from tummy to back is tremendous- usually 5 to 6 month activity and he showed off and did it for her. He got 5 shots and was such a trooper, but I'm not looking forward to the 4 month check up.

* I got my hair cut *and styled* by my regular guy, Steve. He's at Beautique in Rice Village. He's doing something really neat next month. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to help raise money for charity, Steve is doing pink hair extensions. You pay ~ $10 and get a strand of either hot pink or bubble gum pink hair. I love these extensions, and Mom and I have already made our appointments to get a strand of pink hair- for a good cause.

* We're going to the game on Thanksgiving Day. It will be Liam's first football game and I'm so excited to go! ZONE tickets! WHooP! Now I have to go shopping for him...

* I have got to find Liam some clothes that work... I have tons of onesies, but that's not enough as the weather starts to cool down and all of the "warm" clothes he has are in big sizes. Like size 6 months and up. He's only 2 1/2 months old! Poor boy! I'm constantly doing laundry to keep the few warm outfits he has clean. Shopping, anyone?

* I think Sam Bradford looks like my favorite HGTV star. I would like him to come decorate my living room in my new house... David, not Sam. I wouldn't trust my home to a Sooner.

* I actually found Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego at Best Buy yesterday. I have been lamenting to my husband that I loved the game growing up and wish I could find it again and play it and lo! there it was and I bought it. They also had Oregon Trail- both games have been reformatted to make them playable on today's computers. I currently have Carmen Sandiego on my laptop and it makes me happy. Really, really happy.

* My mother in law and I are hosting a baby shower for a sweet little baby girl (due in November) on October 17. Our contribution, besides hosting and sending out the invites, is the cake. We went to the Cake Craft Shoppe today for me to get supplies. I wanted to go ahead and get started on some of the gum paste decorations for the cake, and to see if I was going to have to make sugar roses or not. Thank GOD they sell sugar flowers, so I can buy instead of make (it takes so long!). I'm making a two tiered white cake that I'm going to put pink sprinkles in the batter, thus turning it into a pink funfetti type cake. I'm going to ice it in pale yellow buttercream, then I'm going to decorate it with pink sugar flowers, white chocolate leaves and sugar paste lady bugs. Meredith made me want to get at it right now- I love decorating cakes, and I'm just so excited about getting to do one again soon.

* My house doesn't look like this anymore:
My house has DRY WALL and looks like a house on the inside. We're still waiting on brick, but I cannot tell you how thrilling it was go to out to the house last night and see that they'd finished the dry wall on the interior and to get to walk through the space and see it in that state. So exciting!

That's all for now, I'll try to take more pictures & get them uploaded soon!

two four & more

I have been a truly neglectful blogger, for that I'm sorry!

Last Tuesday was my 24th birthday. I was so lucky to get to have my birthday on a Tuesday since that meant that Zach was off and able to spend the whole day with me. This has been great, since I also got him home all day on our anniversary. I'm not going to know what to do next year, when both occasions fall on a Wednesday. We had a pretty low key day, we went to lunch and sat outside (heaven! September in Houston- it's unheard of!) to appease the young man. Then we went over to the mall where Zach let me pick my birthday present and then we shopped around Pottery Barn and got some great new ideas for our living space in our house. We then drove out to our house... which we do all the time, just to see what was happening. We hit Best Buy on the way home to break a bill and then waited for everyone to get home so we could go to dinner. I decided I wanted to go to Shiva because I hadn't had Indian in ages, so Zach, Liam and I went with my in-laws and my mom and had a fantastic time. The Clarks got very adventurous with their meals! It was lots of fun. I got to spend my birthday with my family, which is all I wanted. What a tremendous blessing.

{at dinner: contrary to picture, he was very good}

{beautiful flowers I got from my sweet daddy!}

Liam goes to the doctor tomorrow for his 2 month check up (10 days late). They'll be giving him 5- yes, FIVE- shots tomorrow and I already feel bad about it. My doctor said it's best just to go ahead and do them all, because sometimes the injections can make the muscle sore, so you don't want to do 2, make a muscle sore for a few days, and then go back a few days later for the rest and make him sore again. So, yikes. Poor baby. RIght now he's asleep in his swing. He likes his swing a lot, but since we're cramped for space, we keep his swing back in a corner and just kind of forget to put him in it. In our house, I plan on putting it in the living room because I remember how often my mom used my old swing with my brother when he was a baby and I think it'll be nice to have it in a useable space.

Liam has decided he loves for me to hold him, but he wants his daddy's undivided attention. If Zach's not paying attention to him, he will stand up, "jump" at him and stare until Daddy pays attention to him. He talks like crazy, and now gets really excited when his Daddy gets close to his face. He smiles, squeals and talks to his Daddy, thrilled to have him there. So precious. He also is starting to figure out that he knows Steph, Roger and my Mom. Whenever one of them comes over and talks to him (when he's in a good mood), he grins. This is fantastic- I'm glad he's starting to recognize his family. Jethro frustrates him. Lily is the only pet who will let Liam touch her- and he loves Lily. She comes in the bathroom while he's being changed or bathed, she sleeps right near him in bed at night... it's been really good. Jethro gets jealous if Roger or Steph says hi to Liam before him when they get home in the afternoon. He also doesn't like for Liam to touch him at all. He runs away. He's a big titty baby, though. It was pretty precious, Zach was upstairs in our TV room and Lily was sitting on the ottoman and I put Liam up on the ottoman on his belly next to her and she sat there while he rolled over and rested his head on her. I was so proud- my sweet kitty!

{sleeping in the TV room}

{assuming the pooping position... the noises that go with it are fantastically funny}

{about to fall asleep during outside tummy time}

{he's a killer, he's a thriller... mommy making Liam a metal head}

{we went out to check on progress-- we're in his bedroom w/ his bath in the background}

TV Time...

Okay, so September marked the season finale of my new favorite show... which leaves me with little to do on a Sunday night. Except watch the season over again on On Demand. However, my in-laws got us hooked on Dancing with the Stars two summers ago, and So You Think You Can Dance this summer.

{photo: abc}

I'm rooting for Chuck on DWTS. He's the reason I started liking the UFC in the first place, and it breaks my heart that he hasn't been doing very well in the octagon lately. He did a lot better last night than I thought he would- 3 guys were worse!- and I'm going to vote for him exclusively for as long as I can. After that, Zach and I decided Mark and Lacey are our "good" couple. It's so funny to see Mark in this way, not flipping around KItchen Stadium, screaming random ingredients.

Ladies- do you RUE?

RueLaLa is a fabulous, invite-only, website that features short lived boutique sales on designer brands and great home goods. Are any of you users? If not- are you interested? If you want an invitation, leave me a message with your email address and I'll send you an invite. Seriously- it's fantastic. Since I've been a member they've featured anything from Helly Hansen to Havaianas (sells out like *that*), Chanel to BCBG, Vera Bradley to Fendi. It's great for uber-reduced prices, let me know if you are interested! :)

FINALLY-- PLEASE KEEP MER AND AFS IN YOUR THOUGHTS. THESE LADIES ARE BOTH GOING THROUGH HARD, EMOTIONAL TIMES, SO KEEP THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES IN YOUR PRAYERS. 

smile, bitty

Happy Sunday, everyone!

What a wonderful week we've had! Liam has been in such a good mood, except when Mommy gets too far away. Oops.

We had a wonderful day on Friday. We met the sweet Tichenor family for lunch at our family go-to, Lopez. Liam loved getting to see another bitty- he was enamored of Carson! He watched him the whole time (Meredith got a great picture of them!), just so enthralled with this other precious little boy (and he's just as adorable as his pictures make him look- more so, in fact!). I was wonderful to get to sit with another boymom and just chat. I felt so guilty, finding out later that she was having car trouble up there! Sorry, sweet mama!

After lunch we headed over to my parent's house... I'd called my mom from the road to tell her I was feeling better (say hello, 101 degree fever on Thursday!) and she mentioned cupcakes... I was so there! Liam and I sat around and played with her puppies and watched humming birds outside- Liam's so into being outdoors, it's easy to sit with him out there for hours. Mom was able to get a great picture of the two of us together (above)... i'm so glad to have that!

{he sleeps like an angel}

{look what i can do, mom!}

{liam loves sophie}

{waiting to go to church}

{at lunch after church- such a happy baby!}

Things are MOVING on our house! I drove by on Thursday and was floored by what they'd done... then Zach and I drove out with Liam on Saturday afternoon and lo!- all our windows and outside doors were in! Hardy plank is on! We spent ages walking through the place, just seeing it take shape... I showed Liam how he and his mommy and his grandma Steph can all fit in our pantry (hallelujah!). We headed back out today to snap some photos so I have some decent ones to send to my dad. The last time he saw our lot, we had the framing in for the slab, but nothing else!

{the view on thursday}

{the back of the house, the puppy porch}

{coming out the front door with daddy}

{the front right now}

{the clark fam in home}

All for now- I have a son with a full *stinky* diaper in my lap! Love!

to name a few

Meredith mentioned this at lunch today and I thought I'd add my two cents... 

{keeping in mind, of course, that I'm still holding our girl's name in reserve and not listing it}

My top 10(+2) boys & girls names:

Ty

Stellan

Killian

Layne

Marston

Brighton

Amelia

Hallie

Adelaide

Penny

Gemma

Carlie

I am guilty of liking rather off-beat names. I'm not one for names that are too common... I love, love Stellan- I have a middle name for that one too, and I want to use it desperately if Liam should have a baby brother when the time comes, but I don't know if my hubby will ever agree to it. I also will never use Carlie, because I love it, but with our surname, it just is a little silly. Too redundant. :) 


BTW: I have more to write about... today, our house, & so on, but I have a bitty who wants his mommy and I don't have time to upload pictures or anything. Be looking for a post tomorrow, hopefully!!

moving right along

Happy Tuesday, friends and family!

We have had a wonderful weekend, and I say this today because since Dr. Clark had his regular Tuesday off, it was a pleasant 4-day weekend for the three of us.

{liam and mommy in the living room}

{bitty baby blue eyes}

Liam and I made a trip out to WL last week and were so excited to find that they were working on our house- and more than that, we had a slab!! It's so fun in the beginning, houses seem to go up so quickly. We had fun walking around the slab, trying to suss out where walls were going to go- finding the plumbing for all the parts of the house. It was so exciting... I was pretty giddy about it all.

{liam and mommy in liam's bathroom}

{daddy and liam in the kitchen}

{the slab & my hubby & baby}

{looking out from the study... see emma, mom?}

As excited as I am about the slab being poured, Zach and I were that much more excited when we drove out today and spied our home being framed from the other side of the "aesthetic" wall. We went back out around 7 this evening to try and get pictures, but they were still framing... Dana says our home can be framed in a day, so I guess they were really trying to stick to that. Mom and I are going to head out tomorrow, hopefully we can get a few pictures. I really wanted to take pictures when we were out this afternoon- it was priceless. All the guys framing the house were laid out in a line in our garage with roach coach meal garbage at their feet. Cracked me up.

Since the house is coming along, I've really started getting into planning the rooms out. Of course, you have already gotten a preview of Liam's playroom (though, I really want these two classic pillows from Pottery Barn Kids). I have settled on a theme for Liam's new nursery. Thanks to Pottery Barn Kids (love!!), Liam will be sleeping in a Dr. Seuss themed room.

{the bedding}

{close-up of the sheet}

{the adorable sham we got instead of the baby pillow}

{we got this lamp in red, with a blue stripped lamp shade}

I am very excited to get Liam's bedroom all put together. My father-in-law, who went above and beyond in Liam's Nemo room, has offered to paint characters on the wall in this nursery as well. We're trying to narrow down the character choices- I'm partial to Horton and Sam I Am. My mom found Liam a One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish light switch cover that's going to be precious. I am also really happy because Liam will be getting his mommy's hand-me-down furniture. We're taking my old turned spindle crib that's currently painted white and we're going to paint it a high gloss black, he'll also have my old dresser and my blue book shelf. I think painting the crib black is going to really modernize it, and mixing it with a dark blue bookshelf and beautiful light wood... It'll be special! He's such a lucky baby. I also picked up paint chips for his playroom- I've got a very limited taste range-- I picked up the paint chips that we used in his nursery here. Oops. At least I know what I like!!

shopping in your closet: maternity

Hooray! I'm on-time for this one! I, honestly, did enjoy being pregnant. I had a rough, ROUGH first half (because no, my "morning" sickness didn't subside at the end of the first trimester) but I loved feeling that sweet little baby growing inside of me. Now, I'll admit, the end of the pregnancy got long and hot, but it was still a wonderful time.

However, I didn't love most of my maternity wear. I guess mainly because I got so tired of wearing such a limited wardrobe. I did manage to find a few pieces that I love to this day and can't wait to wear again when we decide it's time for Liam to have a sibling.

The first piece we bought at Motherhood Maternity. I was shocked to find something so stylish and beautiful there. We were in a rush- I needed funeral appropriate clothes and quick. I love this top, but only wore it twice: to two funerals. I'm hoping the next pregnancy won't warrant wearing it for any reason other than a nice night out.

{true to color & loved the detail!}

{not a great modeling picture, but the only one i have on this computer}

The next is my big splurge as far as maternity wear goes. This dress is a Fierce Mamas by Christian Siriano dress (made for Moody Mamas). I love, love this dress. First, I love the beautiful navy shade- it is navy, despite the horrible light in the picture! I initially bought this to wear to Dr. Merren and Dr. Hart's wedding, but opted to wear it to my hubby's graduation from Vet School instead. I thought that occasion warranted my most special of maternity clothes. I still cannot get over how much I love this piece. I bought it late in my pregnancy (duh, look at the photo!) but I know it'll be super versatile next time. I can pair it with a cute belt early on and throw a jacket over it should the next baby come during the colder months. Also, I love Christian. I'm not a huge Project Runway fan, but he kept me watching... just to see what he'd say next! I love that I have something of his... I just wish it had been as affordable as it is now when I bought it!

shopped my closet & splashed around

First things first... I am *almost* a week late in posting this, but I finally got my camera upstairs (pathetic) and into my closet...

Meredith's weekly blog "game" is so cute and so much fun, and this past Monday she selected Denim and Animal Print. Here's what I can contribute!

"Animal Print" first... I don't own anything that's animal print. No leopard, no giraffe... no spots of any kind. I was kind of surprised... not even a shoe or a purse! The closest I could come was a leopard print sole on my Betsey Johnson pumps or the faux snake skin trim on my diaper bag. So here's my version of "animal print."

This dress, from Anthropologie last summer, is embroidered around the hem with thistles and butterflies and birds. I love it, I've only worn it once, but I think it's just so whimsical and I adore the color palate. Here's a few close ups of the embroidery...

Next up is denim, and I love denim! I adore jeans, and after going through pregnancy and resigning myself to maternity jeans (ew) from Motherhood Maternity (because I knew I'd be going through summer and didn't see the point to buying expensive maternity jeans since once March hit I wanted shorts!) I had to replace some of my older denim that didn't quite fit post-baby. I haven't always had hips! Say hello to my two new favorite pairs...

On the left is the Belle Flare with Flap Pockets in Gardenia wash and on the right are the Classic Rise Stella Bootcut in Dark Hand Sand wash. Both are by William Rast. I love, love, love these jeans- let me tell you, JT knows what he's doing. The denim is smooth and feels so nice... and my favorite part about the brand is the fly. Now, I am not trying to draw attention to that *region* but I love, love the shape they've done the stitching in that area. I love them. Now I'm coveting the "savoy" style- I love the upside down seam over the top of the bottom on those- so different!

Next week, I'll actually play along on time, because I've already gotten my pictures taken of my favorite Maternity clothes... It's been hard to play previously because all of my clothes are packed away still- I have access to a very limited section of my wardrobe.

Moving on...

Liam had an exciting day! At 10:20 this morning, his Great-Grandmother Kennedy came to see him. At 10:30, sweet Aunt Ashley came over to meet him for the first time! Then he had an adventure (see below)... we went to dinner (@ Lopez, yum!), where Ivy was also dining so he got to meet her (Hooray!! I love Ivy!) and then when we got home, the DeReese family came over to meet him. What an exciting day for the little man- thanks to everyone for showing my bitty boy some love!

Now... 

Let me introduce you to my water baby!!

Liam loves two things- to be outside and to be in the water. If he's crying, you can pretty much bet that if you take him outside, he'll crane his head back, shut up right away and take it all in... or, you can take off his clothes and plunk him down in his bath tub and he'll quiet down in a millisecond. Easy.

So I bought him a baby pool- why not combine his two loves into one enjoyable activity for mom and baby? We went out for the first time today.

{I take up the whole pool, but he likes me in there with him}

{Priceless.}

{'Ol Blue Eyes.}

{So sleepy after his aquatic adventure!}