My BABY is ONE!!!!!!!!!

Guess who is officially ONE???  That's right, THIS LITTLE MAN:

You have passed Mr. Monkey up big time! 

 I can't believe you were smaller than him at one point!!

We had to cancel your original party because you were under the weather! :(

Even though you were fresh out of the hospital, we put together a new lil' party for our sweet "Little Man!"

You had the time of your life! It was full of family, yummy spaghetti, lots of laughs, tons of presents, a new slide, and delicious, messy cake!!! You were worn out by the end of the night! ;)

Cute neck ties for our cute lil' boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE MAN!!!

Our fantastic cake made by Ms. Kelly Whelan! Delicious!!!

All giggles!

Connor LOVES his Ryan!

My little mustache man! :)

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Jill

It also happened to be Kentucky Derby day, so they were a little distracted when the race came on! lol

PRESENT TIME!!!

Two sweet toddlers had to get in on the present action!!! lol

Loving on your cousin, Colby!

Little Mustache Man!

Your favorite part of the evening??

The cake, of course!!!

You were even willing to share with Momma! Sweet boy!

So, what all is our sweet one year old up to? I'm so glad you asked.
Well, for starters...

• You are crusin' town, that's for sure! You cruise along our furniture like it's no big deal! You'll be walking in no time!
• You are eating us out of house and home! You are one little piglet!
• You use lots of gestures, pointing and motioning to what you want or are interested in! (Which is everything! lol)
• You are talking!!! You babble ALL DAY LONG, and even have several words now... Momma, Dada, light, hi, bye!
• You clap when you see other people clapping and imitate other actions as well.
• You are a super crawler! In fact, you are the Lightning McQueen of crawling! It is amazing how fast you can get from point A to point B!
• You're not so sure about this whole sippy cup thing...
• You LOVE your big brother so much! You think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread! You smile so big whenever you see him! I LOVE it!
• You are a Momma's boy, big time!! I love it, I love it, I LOVE it!!! Especially since your brother is a big time daddy's boy! lol  I'll take all the cuddles I can get!
• You think you are part monkey! You try to climb on or up EVERYTHING!
• You're the happiest baby on the block! You are literally smiling or giggling all the time! I love that quality about you! You just light up a room!

What a great first year it has been! You are such a blessing in our lives, and we thank God for you EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  We can't wait to watch you learn and grow for many more years to come! We love you infinitely and are beyond blessed to call you our son! You and Connor are our whole world!!!

Happy First Birthday, Liam!!!

We love you beyond words!

Love,

Momma and Daddy

Connor James is 33 months old!!!

I can't believe how big you are getting! In just 3 short months we will be celebrating your 3rd birthday!!! That doesn't seem possible! It seems like just yesterday that I was snuggling you as a sweet, squishy newborn.  But, fast forward almost 3 years, and we now have a sweet, spunky, energetic, and fun toddler! You sure do keep us entertained AND on our toes!

You are always the life of the party and make us laugh so much!  Here are some of the things we have just loved this month...

1.  When we put you to bed, you have to have the WHOLE sesame street gang in bed with you.  You sleep with a HUGE Elmo and Big Bird, and have to have your Elmo jammies (as long as they're clean)!!
2.  You want to learn constantly! And you are a sponge!!! You have such a good memory! You see something one time or hear it once, and you've got it!! Lately, you have been really interested in learning to write.  You ask Daddy or Momma to take your hand and help you write.  You have been trying to write your letters and numbers!!  I just LOVE that you LOVE to learn!
3.  You LOVE playing outside.  You like to explore, taking everything in.  You point out trees and plants, clouds, and grasses! It is amazing all that you observe!
4.  You love going to the public library to play and check out books (and see Mamaw)!!
5.  You are OBSESSED with going to Mamaw and Papaw's house.  You think it is way cooler than being at home.  That is where you ALWAYS want to go!
6.  You are absolutely IN LOVE with the park!! You call it the "little house" because the play structures look like little houses.  You can't get enough of the slides!!!
7.  You love reading books.  Sometimes we read to you, and sometimes you read to us!!
8.  You are spelling your name! Yep! You walk around saying C-O-N-N-O-R!! lol
9.  You went to see Sesame Street LIVE this month, and you ABSOLUTELY WERE IN HEAVEN!!! I think you are Elmo's biggest fan!
10.  You have figured out how to turn door knobs, and now you are into EVERYTHING!! LOL
11.  You are a picky eater, BUT you eat much better when you are distracted with the ipad!! Haha! Momma has figured out a trick to get you to eat better!
12.  You are the sweetest "almost 3 year old" ever!! We LOVE you soooooooo much!

Happy 33 months Connor!

We love you to the moon and back an infinite number of times!

We are beyond blessed that God chose us to be your parents!!

Love,

Momma and Daddy

Easter 2013

I know this was a month ago, but just had to share...

My sweet babies were so excited to get a little treat from the Easter Bunny!

SURPRISE!!! :)

Elmo was a big hit!

So excited about his new toy fruit that he can "cut up!"

No so sure about the ears! LOL

Loved his Velcro fruit that he could cut like Momma and Daddy do!

The puzzles were Liam's favorite!!! :)

I hope you all had a fantastic Easter with your families! We had a great Easter service at church, and were certainly feeling blessed.  God is so good!

Sesame Street Live!!!

Connor's Mamaw and Papaw got him tickets to see Elmo Live for Easter!!! Now, if you've been following our blog, then you know that Connor is, without a doubt, the BIGGEST ELMO FAN EVER!!! Seriously, like EVER! So this was kinda a big deal! lol So, along with Aunt Jill and his cousin Tyler, we loaded up and traveled to the Brown Theatre in downtown Louisville. The boys were beyond excited!!!

Someone was really excited for the show to start!!!

The theatre was gorgeous!!!

We had to get in a cheesy photo with Momma before the show!

Mesmerized!!! 

 He LOVED every minute!! Really... he didn't sit down the entire time! lol

Clapping for Elmo!

Trying to inch closer and closer to the stage... lol!

Someone was out like a light  before we even got out of the parking garage!!!

I call that a fun and successful trip!! :)

BTW, Big Bird is now a permanent member of the family. He and Connor's large stuffed Elmo both have to be tucked in at bedtime with him.  It's a little crowded! Haha!!

April is Autism Awareness Month!! :)

Did you know that April is Autism Awareness Month?  Autism has played a major role in my life for almost 18 years now.  My sweet niece, Ginny, was diagnosed with autism as a toddler and has been such a blessing to our lives. ( BTW I can't believe she is going to be 18 this year!!!! ) To be perfectly honest, I had never even heard the word "autism" until our family was going through her evaluation and eventual diagnosis.  I was only 11 at the time, but it was completely new to us all.  Little did we know that God had big plans for our family.  He truly blessed us with our sweet girl, and we are all changed for the the better because of her.  Ginny is my reason for pursuing a special education degree.  Much of my education centered around teaching children with autism.  I have such a special place in my heart for my students who are on the autism spectrum.

We love you, Ginny!!!

Our sweet Ginny and her brother, Ryan.

My Little Liam is 11 Months Old!!! Already??

How can it be that my BABY is about to turn 1?!?!?!  Babies sure don't stay babies for long! :(  Liam, you are the sweetest, happiest, and most adorable baby boy and we have just LOVED every moment of the last 11 months! We are so blessed to be able to watch you learn and grow each day (even though I wish time would SLOW DOWN... haha!)

I know I'm a tad biased since I am your Momma, 

but you are without a doubt the CUTEST 11 month old EVER!!!

Those cheeks!!!

I can't believe you were once smaller than Mr. Monkey! 

Oh, how much you've grown!

Momma won't mind one bit if you decide to slow down and take your time growing up!! ;)

 Here's a few things we are loving this month...

(because it'd be impossible to list them all!)

• You are pulling up to standing on EVERYTHING! :)
• You will walk if we hold onto your hands!!! You are SO BIG!
• You LOVE to get into anything and everything! ;)
• You love to crawl under things... especially the kitchen table! lol
• You are a Momma's boy! If Momma walks by you and doesn't stop to pick you up, you certainly object!!
• If we hold you up to a light switch, you can turn it on and off!!
• You officially have tubes in your ears!!! Hopefully you are a healthy boy from here on out! :)
• You absolutely LOVE food! You are wanting milk less and less.  
• You talk constantly and it is soooooooo cute! You have little conversations with us and tell us all kinds of stories, even though we don't understand any of it! lol  We can definitely make out "ma-ma," and "da-da," though!! Yay!!!
• You are almost in 18 month clothing.  Most of it is a little big, but your 12 month clothing is getting a tad snug.  
• You LOVE to go for rides on your train or in our Cozy Coupe Car!! You have the biggest smile on your face every time!
• You are crawling up on your hands and knees!!!!!!!!!!!!! No more army crawl for our big boy!!
• You are slowly starting to eat table foods!! :)
• You REFUSE to go to sleep on your own in your bed!! You cry and cry for momma when we lay you down. You are such a turkey!!  lol  Momma can't stand to let you cry, so I always go get you and rock you!! We'll get there one day! ;)
• You have the cutest little chipmunk cheeks that I absolutely can't get enough of!!!
• You are Mr. Social! You LOVE getting tons of attention from anyone and everyone!
• You like to follow your brother around and go after his toys! He's not a huge fan of that! lol
• You are the sweetest, happiest, and most lovable 11 month old we know! We just can't get enough of you!

Here's a few of our favorite moments with you this month...

Playing under the table! :)

You pull up on everything... including Momma!

Such a cute little cheese-er!

More pulling up to standing!! :)

In the car one day, you pulled off your sock just so you could chew on your toes! lol

You could hear Connor in there getting a bath, and you wanted in sooooooo bad! LOL

Momma's little laundry helper! You LOVED the basket! :)

Taking a ride before ear surgery!!

Dada caught you on camera pulling up to standing for the first time!! :)

We love you so much, Liam! Happy 11 months, sweet boy! We can't wait to see what all you have in store for us next month!  It will be so bittersweet to see you turn one!!! It is such a sweet moment, but also so sad to have your baby year behind us! Nevertheless, you are a wonderful blessing and we are so lucky that God gave you to our family! WE LOVE YOU!!!