Moving... or at least trying to

Well... Jon and I have been tossing around the idea that we would like to move before Liam starts school (yes, I know that is a few years from now...). After going back and forth, we decided to put our house on the market just to see what happens. There are many factors on both the pro and con sides; however, we are hoping that we can sell now, take advantage of the lower house prices and interest rates and get settled into what will hopefully be our home for many, many, many years to come.

All of that being said, I used my spring break to clean, organize and declutter. Whew! After a lot of hours from both Jon and I, our house is on the market! Our house is pretty much spotless, clutter-free and in showing condition (or pretty close to it) all the time. Liam took the biggest sacrifice... he no longer has free reign on his toys. His books are tucked away in our end tables, a few toys are hidden in our ottoman and most of his fun, noisy, driving toys are stashed outside, downstairs or in the garage. He is perfectly happy as long as he has his books and he know where to go to find something to do :)

For Jon and I... we are just trying our best to keep our house as perfect as possible for as long as possible until someone decides they want to buy it! For those who are interested, here's the house

14 Months Old!

Cute smiley boy, until...

Liam remembers he must get his moose! He has gotten so big over the past year that he is now towering over his moose... using brute force to reign in him in!

What does a 14-month old do? Here's a brief look:

• He's a picky eater... very sporadic eating across food groups. Although when he decides he is hungry for something... bring it on! He can eat any of the following and still want more within one sitting: whole mini bagel, a whole hotdog, an entire can of fruit, entire banana...



• Getting more teeth... molars have been trying to make an appearance all month



• Walking more and more on his own. Just this last week there have been many more 'zombie' baby steps where Liam is walking all by himself.



• Liam has started pushing hands away when they try to help... many times that is also accompanied by a big fuss or scream



• Favorite books: Beatiful oops, five little ducks, little white kitten and the big red ball, knuffle bunny and pigeon series, the mitten... still LOVES books. Will sit and read/look at books for 20-30 minutes all by himself :)



• Loves when you sing songs to him. Current favorites are "itsy bitsy spider" and "wheels on the bus"



• Loves playing hide and seek games. He will crawl away and loves to have people come find him!



• Loves peeking under things and putting items in and out/ on and off... etc.



• Just recently started 'hiding' things places and then waving his hands and saying 'ahh' with an uprising tone (as if saying 'where is it?') and then finding the thing he hid. This is a big favorite in the car to entertain himself! (video will follow soon!)



• Enjoys driving his vehicles (turtle, hippo and car) all around the house.



• Wave bye-bye and blows kisses



• Loves playing outside with the rocks, grass and at the playground



• Likes watching nature shows on tv!



• Is getting into everything... cupboards, shelves, boxes... anything new... he has to investigate



• Liam still likes to sit back and see how others do something before he jumps right in... but give him a few minutes and he is right in there having fun!



• Likes finding belly buttons



• Is now on whole-milk only... done with breastfeeding



• Likes to get attention by screaming, making loud noises and odd noises... big smile when you investigate



• More and more temper tantrums... complete with arching, head butting, screaming and rolling on the floor... Liam knows what he wants and is not afraid to tell you he doesn't like something!


• Likes to play with and try to work zippers!

Easter Eggs

Found the first one...
Now I have two... and they rattle!

Hmm... what goes in there?

Come on dad... I almost have it!

They are all mine!
Oh that's what you do with the basket...

Happy Boy!
Yum, there are bunnies inside! Hope we are not teaching him to eat the Easter Bunny!

Park Fun!

Liam LOVED it!!!! He crawled up the stairs, went through tunnels, went down slides and swung on the swings... smiles all around! I know where we will be spending a lot of time this summer :)

THANK YOU!!!

We had both sets of grandparents up on good friday to have a nice dinner. Jon, Liam and I wanted to get together, have a nice meal and just say thank you to everyone and everything that is done on all of our behalfs. It has been a very long winter and we are grateful to all the help we have had over the past months...


So, we had some fun playtime and some homemade stuffed shells to celebrate!

Weekend away...

Jon and I took a night away in Madison this last weekend. This was a wonderful present from both of our parents for our collective birthdays. We stayed at a nice hotel in downtown Madison... we RELAXED!!! Had some nice food, bummed around, strolled leisurely, napped and went to bed early... PERFECT!

Liam stayed home with Grandpa Clancy and Grandma Mary. Uncle Andrew came to visit on Saturday as well! Liam had a wonderful time and I think Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed themselves as well!

Sunday Liam, Mommy, Daddy and the grandparents went to the park... pictures to follow!

Grandma and Grandpa's house

We had not been up to see Jon's parents and his Grandma in quite awhile... so we all made the trek up there (Bentley included!). We had a wonderful lunch with everyone, including Jon's Aunt, Uncle and his Grandma!

Liam's place setting :)What a messy boy...

Stealing a bite from Grandpa...

Playing around...

Outside

Well... for the most part spring has been a bust...

We did get some outside time a couple of weekends ago after getting back from Grandma and Grandpa's house. Liam is infatuated with sticks rubbing against the cement bricks and taking rocks in and out, in and out, in and out...

He is going to have so much fun this summer!

Hopping Bunnies

Party's coming to an end...

Well, Liam's first birthday party lasted quite awhile. Just tonight cow balloon finally deflated all the way, saging sadly on the ground. Although Liam does still have duck balloon... I think his first birthday party is just about winding down. Hey, a month and a half of good balloon times isn't bad for your first birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Liam wanted me to let Grandma Roxanne and Uncle Andrew know that he wished them a very special birthday! He also murmured something about if mommy got them chocolate cake to eat...

Splashing!

Walking

Liam followed mom from the kitchen to the patio door unassisted... That's 8 feet of independent walking for those keeping track!

New Schedule... Lots of fun in store...

A combination of many different factors has led to a change in Liam's schedule. Grandma Roxanne and Grandpa Dave are going to be watching Liam for 2 days during the week from now until the end of school. They wanted some time with him, he really benefits from being home to nap and it definitely takes a load of stress off of me! So, Liam will be home now on Mondays and Fridays with either Grandma or Grandpa and he will be at daycare on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Although Liam's teachers at school are sad to only have him three days a week, this comes at a good time since his head teacher, who I love, is leaving to stay home with her son... I am sure Liam will love the time home with Grandma and Grandpa... and they won't mind the time with Liam either ;)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Liam and Mommy recreated Daddy's birthday picture from a year ago... a bit harder this year! Liam had fun helping Daddy unwrap his new Kindle and helping him eat his birthday cake! I would say it is safe to assume that Liam is a chocolate kid... yep, a very big chocolate fan! Happy Birthday Daddy!