Thanksgiving

Dear Connor & Liam,

 

Happy Thanksgiving to my two precious boys! (a few days late!)  This Thanksgiving, I wanted to make sure to take the time to tell you a little about what I am thankful for...

 

Since it is Thanksgiving, it is completely appropriate to be thankful, but I want you to know that it is so important to always be thankful, not only today.  I am thankful EVERY. DAY. OF. MY. LIFE.

 I am not the best at vocalizing or even putting into written word how thankful I am for all of the blessings in my life.

Everyday I talk to God to thank him, and that is what is most important.

He has blessed me beyond what I deserve and I am forever in his debt.

 

I can't even put into words how thankful I am for the two beautiful children he has given me.
I AM SO THANKFUL FOR YOU, CONNOR & LIAM.

You have changed my life dramatically, and for the better.

You make me a better person, and make me want to be an even better person.

You make me a mother, which is the best role in the world!

 

More than ever, I believe in the power of prayer.

God has answered so many of my prayers in the last year and I know I can never repay him for what he has given me.

 I could never sum up everything I am thank for, but these top the list:

I'm thankful for my two perfect boys.  At one time, I wasn't sure that you, Liam, would make it Earth side, but God has big plans for my perfect boy and I am so thankful you are here.  I am beyond blessed to have you both, Connor and Liam.

I am thankful for my husband, your daddy!  He loves me and you, sweet boys, unconditionally, and we love him too.

I am thankful for my family.  My parents. My siblings. My in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, all of them.

Where would I be without them?

I'm thankful for the 23 years I had on this Earth with my sister.  While the pain still sears me, I am so lucky that God chose me to be her sister.  I so wish you were able to meet her. I have always been so humbled by her selflessness and kindness.  She was an amazing person and I treasure the memories I have of her.

I am thankful for the life God has provided for me... my home, family, education, job, friends, and more.

He has more than met my needs and I am so thankful.

 

I hope that I continue to realize the blessings God gives me and that I am somehow able to pay it forward. I pray for you, Connor and Liam, that you are always able to realize the blessings you have in your life and that you take time to thank God for all he does for you. I pray that you continue to be blessed and are able to live long, healthy, fulfilled lives.

Thankful doesn't even begin to sum it up.

I love you both to the moon and back an infinite number of times!
Love,
Momma

It's a little hard to read, but your shirt says, "Grandma Makes the Best turkey!!" lol

 

So true!

 

Turkey Tush!

 

So thankful for my two sweet boys!

 

 

 

28 months already?

That's right, Connor is 28 months old already!  I can't believe that my little (or big), squishy newborn is now walking and talking, and becoming more and more independent each day!

Some days it just seems impossible that you are too big to snuggle like this! How did that happen?!?

It seems that life often flies by in the blink of a eye.  That is one reason why I am so thankful for this blog.  It forces me to take the time to document and appreciate all the little things and to really focus on what's important to me.

YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT.

 

It is so hard to keep up with all that you are doing these days.  You are at that age where is seems like your vocabulary is just exploding.  Here are some of the goodies from this month:

 

• You are obsessed with the garage door.  You think it is the neatest thing ever.  Whenever we get home you excitedly start talking about the "button!"  You have to push the garage door button and stand in the doorway to watch it go all the way down! LOL
• You are Mr. Independent in the bathroom now! You have to stand in a chair so you are tall enough for the sink.  You love to wash your hands and brush your teeth on your own!  It is pretty adorable!
• You are officially allergic to peanuts.  Yep, they tested you just for a peanut allergy (we suspected it when you broke out in hives one day after eating it).  It was positive.  So now we carry and epi pen for you.
• You love going to your school! You get so excited when we pull up and talk about how you are going to see Ro Ro (your teacher) and Tyler! You have made new friends and love to play with them!!
• Your daddy is teaching you to play soccer.  He just couldn't wait! LOL  You two are constantly kicking a ball around the house!
• We are going to an ENT later in December to schedule your surgery for ear tubes.  We are hoping this helps with your chronic ear infections! :(  You have had SEVERAL of them this year.
• We put up the Christmas Tree and you LOVE the "tree"! You love getting really close and looking at each of the ornaments.
• You are slowly becoming a better eater. You ate waffles and green beans!!! Such an improvement!  We are hoping your food allergies don't get in the way of all this progress!! :)
• You are OBSESSED with the book Goodnight Gorilla.  We have to read it all the time.  Well, actually you read it to us now! :)  You even lay in bed at night and recite the whole book from memory! (We can hear you over the baby monitor!)  You are so funny!
• We celebrated Halloween this month.  You were the cutest football player ever! 
• You love to sing songs! Your favorites right now are Jesus Loves Me and Alouette! You are so cute when you sing!  Actually, you're cute all of the time! :)
• You recite your alphabet and numbers to 20 ALL. THE. TIME. lol
• You think we have to go see your Papaw EVERY time we get in the car.
• You are really into playing with trucks all of the sudden! All boy!
• You have to say, "The End!" every time we finish a book. :)
• You are just like Linus from Charlie Brown because you think you have to drag your blankie with you everywhere you go! lol
 

 
Fun pics from this month:
 

You stole the ipad from me!
 

You LOVE brushing your teeth!
 

Washing your hands! You think this is soooooo much fun!
 

My sweet boy!
 

You did so good during your peanut allergy testing!
 

You and Tyler loved riding in the wagon!
 
 
 
Connor James,
We LOVE you so much.  I say this all the time, but it is so true: You are the greatest gift God could have ever given me.  I am so lucky to be your mother and I thank God everyday for putting you in my life. Your daddy and I love watching you learn and grow and are amazed at what a sweet, bubbly, happy little boy we are blessed with!!
We love you to the moon and back an infinite number of times.
Our love for you is never ending.
 

Ear Infection #2 & A Stomach Bug!

Our poor little Liam had more than his fair share of illness this month! I took little Bubby in for his 6 month check-up on a Thursday.  I was so glad we already had the appointment, because when he woke up that morning I knew he had an ear infection! :(  Both of my boys get a runny green nose that signals an ear infection.  Sure enough, when we got to the doc he was diagnosed with an ear infection and put on Omnicef.  The next day, it was his daddy's turn to take a sick day to stay home with our little guy and he did fairly well... he took is medicine and ate decent for feeling under the weather.  About the time that I got home, the stomach bug set in! My poor, pitiful baby wasn't able to keep his milk down and kept getting sicker... and sicker...

We tried the best we could to keep him comfortable, and he finally drifted off to sleep.  The next morning, I called our pediatrician because I felt like he was getting dehydrated.  He hadn't urinated in over 9 hours, was still vomiting, and was becoming lethargic.  The ped said to take him to Kosair to be treated for dehydration. :(

I have to say, Kosair was wonderful.  They took us right back without any wait and immediately started treating our little Liam for dehydration and gave him Zofran to help his nausea.  He perked right up and was once again our smiling, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed baby boy!

It was definitely a scary situation, but you were in such great hands! We are sooooooooooooo happy you have recovered and are back to your sweet smiles and giggles! :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween isn't just a one day celebration in our house! :)

We had fun all month...

 

With vampire pj's!

and "I Love My Mummy" onesies!

And with silly pumpkin pajama photo shoots!!!

Always an adventure taking pictures of the two of you together!!! LOL

 

This year Connor was our cute little UofL Football Player!

 

And Liam was an adorable football! :)

 

Yeah, we kinda had a family theme! :O) 

 

So,

Happy Halloween!!!

From,

The UofL football player, Coach Strong, the Ref, and the football!

 

We hope your family had a great Halloween too!

 

P.S. Wait til you see what I have up my sleeve for next year's family theme!!! ;)

Liam is 6 months old!!!

Our precious baby boy, we cannot believe you are already half a year old! Where on Earth does the time go?  You are our little miracle baby and overcame so much to be here! We are blessed beyond measure and have so much to celebrate on your very first half-birthday!

Look how tiny you were!

You were such an adorable, squishy newborn!

And look at you now!!!

You are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 100% of the time!

Everyone comments on what a happy baby you are!

Look how much you've outgrown Monkey!

Here's all that you've been up to at 6 months old:

• First and foremost, I want to celebrate the fact that you have been fed breast milk exclusively for 6 whole months!!!  Why are we celebrating?? Because this was a personal goal of mine, to exclusively feed you breast milk, and it has (without a doubt) been the HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE.  EVER.  We have encountered problem after problem... jaundice, thrush, poor latch, tongue tie, lip tie, negative Nancies, to name a few.  But you and I, little man, we have overcome it all and that is something to be happy about!!!  This picture sums up a few of the reasons why I want you to have breast milk...  

 

Breastfeeding exclusively is just a very personal goal of mine that I wanted to achieve. 

• You are sitting up like a big boy now!!  WOW!!!!!!!!!! That happened sooooooo fast!
• You have just started eating solids! To say that you LOVE them would be an understatement.
• You LOVE for your daddy to sing you songs and talk in silly voices.
• You think you have to eat anything and everything!
• You are a Momma's boy! You object if I try to get out of your eyesight! lol
• We call you our little "mere cat" because you like to stand up real tall and look around like a mere cat would!
• You babble constantly! :)
• Your little giggle is one of the best sounds ever!
• We got out the bouncy for you this month, and you LOVE it!
  

 Check out some of your sweet pictures from this month!

You are always such a happy baby! We just love your little smile!

Momma had to snap this picture of you when you fell asleep in her arms!

You are far to busy to do this very often!

Which is a sign that my little boy is getting too big!

Nom Nom!! Yummy fingers!

No sign of any teeth yet, though!

PRECIOUS!

Ha ha! You were playing with your toy and let go of it above your head, and then fell asleep that way! Silly boy!

You are so funny! Grabbing daddy's lip because he was making funny noises!

This is how you read books! They go right to your mouth! lol

Wearing your winter hat for the first time on a chilly day!

I know, I know... silly picture, but it was so cute how you had your little toes during your nap one day!

Look at you! Mean muggin! LOL

SITTING UP ALL BY YOURSELF!!!

FINALLY got those piggies to your mouth! You have been working on this skill for weeks! :)

Helping Momma with the bowl!

Eating solid food! You are such a big boy!

Your favorite chew toy? Why, the Wii mote of course!

 Little Liam,

We love you to the moon and back times infinity!

You are such a blessing to our family.

We are so lucky God gave you to us!

Happy 6 months, baby boy!

27 months!

Connor, your 27th month has been TONS of fun!!!  You are learning so much and doing so many new things each day!  It is so hard to keep up with you and I love it!!!

• Your vocabulary is exploding! It seems like every time I turn around you have picked up a new word!! Some interesting ones... armadillo, hyena, gorilla, giraffe!
• You repeat EVERYTHING you hear!
• You are officially counting to 20!!!
• You can sing the entire alphabet song by yourself! :)
• You know all your letters and many of the letter sounds.
• You have recently started talking ALL THE TIME! LOL
• You are using lots of short sentences that are 2 or 3 words long!!!
• You decided you LIKE your swing now! hehe!
• You are finally trying more foods!
• You've had a few ear infections... 3 in a row to be exact! :( poor guy!
• We are potty training!!!  Beginning stages... but we're finally there!
• You are going to be a UL football player for Halloween this month! Liam is dressing up as your football! ;)
• You love reading books.
• You have recently discovered how cool it is to stuff every toy you own into your play tent! LOL
• You had started to say hi to everyone!  Each morning its, "Hi Momma! Hi Dada! Hi baby!" :)
• You have started "posing" for pictures! haha!
• You are really into puzzles again!
• Your absolute favorite word is NO!
• You have to give everyone goodnight kisses before you'll go to bed! So sweet!
• You are getting really good at cleaning up after yourself!
• You love to sing songs.. and pick them up so fast! Smart boy!
• You love your preschool sooooooo much!
• You think momma and dada's room is like the coolest place EVER to hang out! LOL

Oh how we love you Bubby! You keep up entertained and on our toes!!! 

Chillaxin on Momma! LOL

 

Counting to 10 while waiting at the doctor's office!! So smart!!!

 

Poor baby... fighting an ear infection :(

 

Sweet boy!

 

A fun play date with friends!

 

Such a Turkey! Stacking EVERY toy on the bed!

Liam got a kick out of watching you and Daddy wrestle!

Puzzle fun at Mamaw's!

Putting EVERY toy you own in the tent with you! Silly!

Yummy!!!  Too bad you only ate about half!

Such a sponge! You pick up so many new word from your books!

Poor kiddo! You had to have breathing treatments while you were sick!

But the ipad helped take your mind off of it! :)

Cousin fun!!!

Fun times at the public library!!

Swing fun on a warm fall day! :)

We love you sooooooooooooooo much Connor! Happy 27 months!

It has, without a doubt, been the best 27 months of our lives!

We are so blessed to be able to watch you learn and grow each day!