Dear Daddy...

You left today for Guatemala and Mommy and I miss you already.  I don't know if we can make it another week!  Not too much happened without you today, but I did want to show you some pictures of how tough I am.  I got the first of what will probably be many fat lips today (see the big red mark on the left side of my lip?). It hurt a lot, but I only cried a little. As an extra added bonus I had a serious case of bed head after my afternoon nap today and Mommy thought it was really funny. She called it a mohawk. I don't know what that is, but if that's what I have then it must be cool. Anyway, here's me smilin' at you all the way from another country! 

A Typical Evening at Home

This one is mostly for the grandparents. I thought you might like our photo journal of a typical night with Liam.

Liam is usually a lot of fun at dinner time. He has enjoyed most of the foods we have given him to try. But the last two days we have given him pumpkin and it is definitely not a favorite. We were trying to capture his icky pumpkin face, but he can't help himself when he looks at Edwin; he always gives Edwin a big gummy grin. 

So, we had to be more sneaky about the picture taking. Here is the actual response to the pumpkin.

Didn't I tell you he is learning how to entertain on purpose?

Ugh, what is this orange glop?

And here is our biggest problem at dinner time. Sneaker has started stalking all around Liam, behind him on the window sills, beside him on the chairs, down on the floor, up on the bar stools. And Liam is now so fascinated by the kitty that he really struggles to focus on his food. 

He honestly pops up in a different place every minute or so, like one of those games where you have to hit the mole with a mallet when it pops out of the hole.

Then, after he eats he gets to take some hits off of his water bottle. Liam LOVES water! He gets so excited when we put his bottle on the tray. Sometimes I think he eats his food just to get the water at the end. And he is really good at handling the bottle, getting the straw in his mouth and sucking down as much water as he can.

Look, no hands!

Then, after dinner and a little play time Liam gets a bath.  He loves his bath. (Sorry, I didn't get any pictures.) After bath time it is bottle and story time. Then we brush his teeth, and in case I haven't told you, he now has two teeth on the bottom! Liam also loves having his teeth brushed, he thinks it's really funny. 

Finally, we put him to bed. One of our favorite parts of the night is going to see where he ends up when he finally falls asleep.  It is totally different every night. Last night he fell asleep on his tummy with his bottom sticking up into the air. Seriously! He was sound asleep and not moving at all. You may not be able to tell how high his little tush was in this picture, but trust me, it had some pretty good height to it!

Find the Baby

Liam, the acrobat, finally found all of the animals that have been down at the end of his crib. I put him down with his head all the way at the right of the picture and this is where he ended up, one leg up the side of the crib and covered in animals.

Mother's Day and More...

It has been a quick couple of weeks since we returned from Atlanta. Liam constantly amazes me with how quickly he changes. He is so playful now. He still laughs and giggles all the time, but he has now learned how to ham it up on purpose. He has become so much more of a kid and less of a baby. I can note characteristics in his personality more and I can tell when he is trying to manipulate me. Man, it starts so early! He is still a big guy. Over 20 lbs and almost 30 inches. He is eating a ton of solid food, from carrots, peas and banana to asparagus, zucchini and pears. And he loves water! He loves to drink it, and he loves to play in it. Now every time he sees me drink from my water bottle he has to have a drink too. I am going to have to teach him very early on that I  will share a lot of things, but I DO NOT share dessert.  

After dinner and before bath time, Liam loves to hang out in his exersaucer and watch Baby Einstien. If dinner is a little wild he ends up hanging out nakey. But he LOVES to be naked. He squeals in delight every time we take off all of his clothes and carry him to the bath tub. 

Liam sleeps on his side or his tummy most of the time now. It is amazing to me, because just a month ago he still hated to be on his stomach. He started sleeping on his tummy the day after we had his final evaluation to see if he would have to wear the helmet or not because of the flat spot on the back of his head. Nice timing huh?

I love this picture of some of the kids in my mom's group for so many reasons!  You have seen a few other pictures of them together on the couch.  See how fast they grow up!? And, there is also nothing better than a few baby booties all in a row. They are playing inside our storage ottoman. Liam is in the white tee and blue pants, incase you weren't sure.

Now, on to my first Mother's Day.  It was wonderful!  We celebrated with my Aunt, Mom, Dad, Brother and Grandma.  We had a yummy brunch in the morning and then some present time. For those of you who don't know, we often call my Mom, Aunt and Grandma the three nuts. And I think this Mother's Day proved we have good reason to do so! These place mats are one of the gifts my mom gave my grandmother. I don't think I'll try to explain.

Then, my Aunt gave my Mom a card with Two little girls on the front making mean faces, one holding a ball and saying, "Mine." The card read, "Selfish doodie heads don't make good moms or good sisters." Then inside it said, "You are NOT a selfish doodie head." Let me tell you, they laughed and laughed and laughed some more.

Now I get to brag a little...Edwin gave me a beautiful card with with a promise of a massage followed by a picnic (and if you know Edwin at all you know it will be amazing!) to cash in on when I choose. And Liam, my thoughtful son, gave me a card that had his laugh recorded into it, a silver and platinum necklace from France and tickets to yesterdays Sounders game! Edwin and I went together to the sold out game and had an amazing time. I am certain we will be going to many more games in future because we both love to watch soccer. I think we will wait until next year to bring Liam, but we did get him a jersey in a size that should fit next summer!

And here is Liam, hamming it up before bed last night. His eyes look a little wild, but in his defense, it was dark in the room and the flash was a bit of a surprise. Man o man, we love this kid!

Here's to you, Moms

Roses are red. Violets are blue. I have two moms, and they're both super cool! This entry is a tribute to my moms...

Mrs. Shirley Ann Grant, the woman who carried me for nine months and then went through labor (I would like to go on record to say that I was really easy on her in the labor and delivery department. That is just the kind of daughter I am!) to bring me into this world. I am so blessed God gave me my beautiful mom. I would be so bold as to say she was the best mom I could have had. There are so many things I love about her. And I have a lifetime of precious memories that include her. I also have a lifetime of very funny memories because my mom has been known to to do some funny stuff!

My mom ran barefoot about the length of two city blocks, on gravel, to rescue me when I fell off my bike. She took me out for maple bars when I was having a bad day. She played games with me, and still does, even though she hates them. She snuggled me when I was sick and praised me for every one of my accomplishments, no matter how small or insignificant. My mom graciously put up with my teenage years, no matter how difficult I was. And she is one of the best friends I have, now that I am older. She worked a difficult job that she couldn't stand for years so that I could go to one of the nations best private Universities for free. And then she supported me when I told her I wanted to go to a different University at full price to be a Recreation major. A RECREATION MAJOR! My mom has cried with me through my darkest disappointments and quietly listened when I just needed to talk. Not to mention the fact that she has loved and put up with my dad, affectionately nicknamed "The Bear" for over 30 years! And to top the cake, she went river tubing with me for my 30th birthday. If you knew my mom, you would know that this was one of the biggest sacrifices she has ever made for me!

Mrs. Evelyn Ruth Martinez, my Mother-in-Law is another gift from God. Now, not many people can say that they have a wonderful Mother-in-Law and actually mean it, but I can! This is when I knew I'd hit the jackpot: Evie told me, in front of my husband and various other people, that she was on my team! It's us against Edwin, and quite frankly he doesn't stand a chance.

Evie has loved me like a daughter from the first day I met her. She gave a listening ear and good advice when things were tough between her son and I. She has patiently helped me understand where he is coming from. She is creative and fun and no matter how little energy she has she is always the life of the party. She is very young at heart and constantly learning something new. Evie is incredibly encouraging and, beyond a shadow of a doubt, fiercely supportive of her son. He could be selling rotten fish and she would try to learn everything she could to help him succeed. She has sacrificed everything time and again to improve the life of her daughter and grandson, without any praise or thanksgiving in return. They can count on her as a safe haven and I am certain we can too. I have never questioned whether or not Evie is praying continually for us. I know she is. And I know she will do so as long as she is alive. She provided a creative and stimulating home for Edwin to grow up in and nurtured his gifts to make him the man he is today. And to her eternal credit, she raised a man who keeps the bathroom clean and the kitchen cleaner! If that doesn't scream SUPER MOM, I don't know what would.

But the best thing I've learned about my two moms is that the most wonderful moms make even better Grandmoms. Liam is one lucky kid to have them to spoil him. I am pretty sure that my two best allies have just walked off of my team and on to his. But I'm OK with that. I'm on his team too. I love to see my moms loving my kid. They adore him like only a grandma can! And I know I need them both now, more than ever.

So here's to you Moms! Here's to all that you have been for us and will be in the years to come. Here is to all the laughs you will enjoy at our expense now that we will suffer through the same things that we put you through growing up. And here's to team Liam, may the force be with us.

Back from Atlanta

Edwin, Liam and I just got back from Atlanta where we spent two great weeks with family and friends. The first week of the trip we had a family reunion with almost all of Edwin's cousins on his dad's side. It has been a very long time since they have all been together and now that everyone has kids it was a lot of fun! It was loud, chaotic, hilarious at times and wonderful. I am so glad that Liam got to meet everyone, even if he doesn't remember any of it. The second week Edwin spent working with the SCAA symposium and conference. I got to go watch him Emcee the first US Cup Tasters Championship. Hid did an amazing job, we were really proud of him. And while he was leaving early in the morning and coming home late at night every day, I got to hang out with Evie, Mady and Alek, who is three days older than Liam. It was great to have another mommy and baby to play with every day. Hopefully things will work out for Mady, Pablo and Alek to move here sometime in the fall.

Liam is growing way too fast. He is rolling over both ways, making a lot of noise, eating all kinds of solid foods, out growing all of his clothes, sitting up a little bit, mimicking some of the things we do, discovering everything around him...whew, just too much to write it all down. My most favorite thing is that he smiles at just about everything and everyone. Mr. Personality. I think he gets that from his dad, or maybe his dad's mom. We did discover while we were in Atlanta that Liam looks a lot like Edwin's mom when she was little. But he changes so fast, who knows what he will look like!

Anyway, here is a slideshow of our trip. I have video too, but I haven't had a chance to look through it yet, so stay tuned!

Tummy Time? Forget It!

Liam finally figured out how to roll over. I thought he would never get it. He even regressed for about a week, putting his hands down by his sides and screaming, looking like a beached whale. And then, without warning, Monday he just did it and he hasn't stopped since! Now he rolls over immediately. I put him on his tummy and before I can blink my eyes he is on his back looking at me like, "no more tummy time. Uh, uh."