halloween (week)

We like Halloween, Zach and I do. People are aware of this.

Perhaps this is why Liam had a whole week's worth of outfits to wear for Halloween.

I took a picture every day this week. Enjoy.

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

{the only picture we took all day- liam's shirt had monsters on it and says "mommy's little monster." we had a party to go to}

(thanks for the Calypso idea, Mer!)

(SATURDAY)

{this picture melts my heart!}

{he loves me}

{i put him in his walker too see how well he fit and he chose to suck on the steering wheel- it made honking noises every time he licked it. so funny.}

{we carved pumpkins today. there's daddy, liam and mommy's pumpkins}

{miss mona gave liam a glow stick in blue to complete his costume- little Luke Skywalker had a blue lightsaber!}

{he thought it was nifty}

{luke skywalker, x-wing pilot style}

birthdays, baths and rainy days

Beloved blog readers, behold! I have a treasure trove of pictures for you from this past week and few days.

We spent last week just kinda hanging out. We spent a fair bit of time with daddy and with Grandma Nancy. Liam was in a good mood for the most part all week last week so it was enjoyable. We're starting to put more formula into his diet so that's actually been partially a relief and partially not, because let me tell you, adding that regular formula has really created nasty diapers. TMI? Probably, but it's true.

{hammin' it up}

On Saturday, we celebrated sweet CT's birthday (where his mama gave us some fantastic news!) at Dewberry Farm. Liam, Grandma Steph and Mom enjoyed the farm, it was a lot of fun, and we can't wait to go back when Liam's a little bit older. I'm looking forward to the slides with my bitty boy. Carson was adorable (duh) and his party was precious. It made me want to start planning little Liam's first birthday, but I've been told (by Zach) that it's far too early to be thinking about it. *sigh* Liam started to get a little cranky towards the end of the party, but in his defense, he hadn't taken a nap and he hadn't had a lot to eat. Also, it was bright and sunny and there were a lot of people out that day-- it was a lot for him to take in, but I was proud of the way he handled the experience. He was pretty good, since he likes to be outside. Poor Mer, she did such a great job on the decorations and all her party guests were so well behaved, but they scheduled Super Nanny auditions for the same day! You wouldn't have believed some of the families we saw!

{so tired, having a snack after cake time}

We headed back to Sugar Land after Carson's party for a Lopez date with the family. We purposely avoided being at home so we wouldn't be checking football scores every five seconds, but finally we just couldn't resist any longer so Steph and Zach pulled out their phones and started looking. Liam was transfixed by his daddy's phone. He stared at it the entire time Zach was using it. Cracked us up.

{pre-bath play time}

I know I've said a thousand times that Liam is a boy who loves his baths. He LOVES them. Kitty Lily comes in the bathroom with us every evening during bath time and watches and he just loves it. Here's a little view of what I get to enjoy every evening- and you'll see why bath time is my favorite time of the day with my son.

{lifeguard lily}

So yesterday, when it spent the whole day raining, my big dog decided it would be a good idea to go outside and literally frolic in the back yard. He came in soaked. He also proceeded to dry himself off on the rug. Crazy puppy.

{ugh, 110 lbs of wet dog!}

The house is coming along- we have landscaping. I'm going to have a lot of editing to do when we move in because I know from my mom and dad's experience that I don't want the hollies they have planted and I hate azaleas, so that'll have to be redone, but it looks pretty good right now. I just love the size of my front planting bed. We have a huge hibiscus plant to put there, as well as my hubby's bird of paradise and a plant that they call a bird of paradise but it's not. Either way, we've got three beautiful plants to put out there and I'm excited. We'll be closing the middle of next month- so exciting!!

{at the front door}

{landscaping}

cake, kitchen & cutie

{liam and daddy watching Land of the Lost}

I promised you a big update, and here we go! Firstly, I'm so excited about all the things going on at our house. They delivered the brick last weekend and we've been waiting and watching as our house finally took shape. The house looks like a house now. THey've gotten a lot done in the kitchen, the doors all have knobs... there's a lot of things here and there that we've found to be fixed (it's all good, that just means a later closing date!)... but all in all, the house is looking fantastic!!

{i didn't want to bother them while they were working...}

{my kitchen sink! you have no idea how exciting this is to me!}

{liam's bathroom- can't wait to paint it!}

{mommy and liam standing in the kitchen where our stove and microwave will go}

{gag me! please excuse me in this horrid photo, but enjoy the beauty that is my granite! :) }

{the front of our house}

As I mentioned, we hosted a baby shower for my husband's cousin and his wife on Saturday. I spent all last week working on the cake for the party. Wednesday I spent the day baking- I did 2 cake mixes and I found pink jimmies to put in the cake mix to make the cake a baby girl pink funfetti cake. It totally worked, it's super cute, so I think it'd be a great way to theme cakes in the future. I'm going to make Liam's cake for his first birthday party (the one he eats, I'm going to Julie's for the cake we eat!) and I think I want to put blue jimmies in his cake. Cute. Anyway... Friday I made the two best batches of buttercream I've ever made (seriously- yum!) and Saturday morning I decorated the cake. I was distraught when I walked into my mom's house Saturday morning and saw the state of the cake. The lower tier had settled and the top tier was off kilter something awful. I tried to mask it as best I could with the flowers, but... at least it still tasted good! While I was at my mom's decorating the cake, my mother-in-law decided to touch up some of the trim work in the house because their baby Boston Terrier, Emmy, liked to chew on the corners of the woodwork downstairs. While she was painting, my dog followed her around the house and licked the paint off. Oh. My. Gosh. I came home to a sweet puppy with white paint all over his face! SO adorable!

{jethro: white paint over his right eye, white paint on his nose and white paint on his ear. big bubba}

{proof that the cake DID look straight at one point!}

{the sugar paste lady bugs i made and hand painted to try and look like they were water colored}

{white chocolate gardenia leaves}

{finished cake}

{close up of the flowers}

Finally- my Liam!

He has blossomed lately. He has a very definite idea of how he wants things to work and has started throwing fits if he's not getting his way. Now, as horrible as I'm making that sound, it's not frequent at all. But you can tell when he's doing it- does that make sense?

He hates his car seat. He has decided that it is unacceptable for him to be in his car seat if we're in a restaurant. He has learned to arch his back, which is how he learned to roll from his back to his belly. When he is angry about something he arches his back. This has proven difficult when we're talking about trying to strap him into said car seat.

He also doesn't like to be held on his back, unless he's eating. If he's not eating, don't try to hold this baby in the "typical" baby way. He arches his back and starts grunting and writhing around. The instant you pick him up and hold him so that he's sitting up, he's happy. He wants to stand up all the time.

He's decided that it's a lot of fun when I lean the recliner back and rock while he watches his reflection in the french doors, especially when I lift him up over my head and make him "fly."

He's learned how to grab onto things. He holds onto his Sophie. He has a dragon Webkinz that he can grab the arm of and he likes that one. He grabs my sunglasses all the time. On Friday, he grabbed a hold of my headband and wouldn't let it go. I had to put him in his swing with my headband and he'd switch back and forth from holding it in one hand to holding it in two.

At restaurants, he likes to stand on my lap and lean over the table. He did this at Lopez last night and he did it when we went out for my father-in-law's birthday today. However, today he got bold. I had french fries left on my plate and he stuck his hands in my plate and started playing with the left over fries. Cute, of course, until he started trying to stick his french fry-ed hand into his mouth. So NOT the first "food" I want him having!

What a busy 3 month old!

{liam with the headband}

{liam representin' for mommy & daddy}

{he gets bored while i'm decorating cakes}

{he looked mighty studly for the party}

{c is for clark}

{i love my bath}

{got my sophie. got my linky rings. happy boy.}

{how he fell asleep on the way home from lunch today. cracked me up.}

true love

I love every single solitary person in this picture, and I miss every single one of them. 

Left to Right:

Brenton (in Dallas)

Lindsay (in Florida)

Cory (in San Antonio)

{me}

Lindy

{zach}

Trevor (in Cali)

Dr. Chris (in Abilene)

Dr. Crystal (in Abilene)

*the angry young man is Aiden, Lindy's step brother... I haven't seen these kids since before Liam was born!


ANYBODY HAVE A GUESS AT WHAT WE'RE DOING?
I'm betting Stephanie K. knows!

over.the.top

1. Where is your cell phone: Downstairs in my diaper bag.
2. Your hair: Down (& dirty)
3. Your mother: @ the AHS football game
4. Your father: in Qatar.
5. Your favorite food: *shrugs* I like a lot of different foods. RIght now I'm wishing I had a bowl of the cheesy shrimp grits we made last week for dinner.
6. Your dream from last night: I dreamed the baby got up and walked off. The end.
7. Your favorite drink: Just for the taste of it... Diet Coke!
8. Your dream/goal: To be settled and completely unpacked and have my new house decorated for Christmas.
9. What room are you in: Steph's Quilting Room/Our TV room.
10. What is your hobby: Cake Decorating.
11. What is your fear: Right now, that Frasier is going to manage to get to my cake tonight. OR that the buttercream cracks.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years: Uh, in my house with a pair of sweet kids. One down- one to go in a few years.
13. Where were you last night: At my mom's until early evening and then at my in-laws... here.
14. Something you are not: even-keeled.
15. Muffins: chocolate chip or lemon poppy seed.
16. Wish List items: this, this and this. Thanks.
17. Where did you grow up: Stavanger, Norway... Sugar Land, Texas... Melbourne & Perth, Australia. 
18. Last thing you did: explained to my husband how I made myself black out and bleed by a refrigerator. 
19. What are you wearing: my pink Juicy velour tracksuit my parents got me for my birthday with a tan tank and a black singlet. 
20. Your TV: My hubby is playing Brutal Legend. Pretty funny. 
21. Your pets: Jethro (bloodhound), Shiner (hound mix), Lily (cat), The Cuteness (tarantula) & Snowflake (corn snake) RIP The Rock (emperor scorpion).
22. Your friends: are fabulous!
23. Your life: busy, fun, blessed and wonderful!
24. Your mood: tired & ouchie (head)
25. Missing someone: my daddy!
26. Vehicle: MY car is a 2005 Mustang in Legend Lime... I'm driving my mom's old Explorer though, because Liam can't get into the 'stang. It makes me sad. I love my sweet Marilyn.
27. Something you're not wearing: (is it bad I changed your to you're in this?) shoes or socks!
28. Your favorite store: I spend a lot at Gymboree right now... I love Anthropologie :)
29. Your favorite color: blue, green and brown. 
30. When's the last time you laughed: today- with my momma
31. When's the last time you cried: today when I banged my head on the fridge
32. Your best friend: Lindsay and Cory.
33. One place you go over and over: Lopez
34. One person who emails me regularly: My mom, my dad...
35. Favorite place to eat? Lopez!


More to come in an actual post later... we've got a lot going on! I've got granite at my house and tile! Whoo! And BRICK! I've got pictures to post, but I'm going to wait until later because I'm just friggin' tired. Hope everyone has a good Friday--- Saturday... you know- I'll post soon!

football flashback

It's been over a week since I posted anything of any real substance, so I feel horribly guilty... though, not a lot has happened. Especially since it's been so rainy all week! Liam and I spent a lot of time watching my parent's house while they were away- which means we spent every afternoon we were there napping on my mom's crazy comfy couch. We just kind of existed all week, which is pleasant enough.

Friday was eventful, to say the least. We met my mother-in-law for lunch, luckily in between down pours. After we ate, Liam and I headed to Target with the intention of getting ONLY a new jar of Vaseline and tube of Desitin... but we left with those two things, baby toothpaste, new hair ties (my cat steals them), a new hair brush... but mostly baby stuff. But still, it was a typical Target run. I know Meredith understands, right?...

After Target we headed to the Small casa, and took -shock- a nap. After nap, I fed baby boy and he had a diaper accident. I went to change him (he had wet his outfit so it went into the washer) and he wet himself again, all over the changing pad, but I didn't see and he was lying in a huge puddle. Ew. So I realized this after I had already put on the last diaper in my diaper bag... so I found towels to put in my mom's sink to let him bathe, but no baby-friendly soap... so he got a bath and put on the last diaper, but his outfit wouldn't dry and wouldn't dry. We had pictures with Olan Mills for our church directory that evening at 8:00 and at 6:15 I was still at my mom's house with a naked baby with it being below 65 degrees outside. Finally I just had to bite the bullet and call my hubby and have him get Liam out a new outfit so we could go to dinner. Poor boy, I felt so bad putting him in the car in no clothes, but thankfully I had his Baby Schwank blanket to keep him warm.

We got him dressed adorably (of course) and were on time to the pictures. The photographer was fabulous, she got a sweet picture of the three of us with Liam smiling- we ordered a copy to frame. Can't wait to post it in a month! Ha!

{liam rockin' his raccoon hat}

{playing with grandma's lei while waiting for his clothes to dry}

Saturday we decided to go see the Austin Varsity play Travis at Mercer Stadium. We hadn't been back to a football game since I was -wait for it- 18!! I made Liam a onesie especially for the game and I made sure we had plenty of warm clothes for him. We went with my father-in-law and our friend Jess. We were on the visitors side... and the football team is what it was when I was in high school. You fellow alums know what I mean. We ran into a bunch of my old neighbors and a few old friends. Zach saw a few of his clients, we saw the percussion director and caught up with him. We left in the 3rd quarter because the baby was getting cranky. It felt weird to be there as a spectator and not a participant in the grand pageantry that is Texas High School football.

{liam sporting the ahs colors}

{liam and mommy at the game--- thanks Jess!!!!}

My parents got back early this morning. They're both tired, but were both anxious to see their grandson. We spent the day with them and my brother. We drove them out to show them all the progress on our house, we showed them Liam's new tricks (he will not stay on his back, my baby is a rollin' over fool!), we watched their DVD... I'm glad they're home. We're going to Lopez for lunch tomorrow... my poor dad has to get his fill because he's leaving tomorrow evening to go back to Qatar. Gah.

That's all for now, my baby's laundry is done, which means I have clean pjs and wet pad for the bed... which means I can get my shower and Liam can get his bath and we can go-to-bed! Whoo!!

(can i mention: i need, NEED to go to babygap. their clothes are perfection. liam needs the motorcycle jacket. and the cargo pants. and the jeans. and the black 4-pocket sweater.)

Love!!