Father's Day 2007

We had a great weekend here in VA. Taylor's parents came for the weekend. It was also Richard's birthday, so a perfect weekend to be together. Friday night, Taylor and I had some of his friends from GMU over for a cookout. The weather was great and it was nice to have someone to hang out with. Liam was in bed when they got there, but got up to ask about the people he heard. Pretty cute. He also "needed" boo-boo cream (lotion) and a band-aid from Daddy....can we say, pay attention to me please. :)

Saturday, Taylor's parents came and we mostly just slept and hung out as everyone was tired. It worked out well for me so I could do some last minute shopping and errands. On Sunday, we all headed out the WW II Memorial and Air and Space Museum. Liam LOVED that and coerced his grandparents into showing him all there was to see there while Taylor and I caught a show at the planetarium. It was hot and all the excitement wore Liam out, as you can see:



He never does this!

While I am finished with work (thank goodness), we decided to keep Liam in school an extra week so Taylor and I could have a mini-vacation before having him home all summer. We are trying to get a lot of errands done while he's there, so we ran up to a great baby store in MD to take a look at some of the things we need for our youngest boy. Some of our stuff we sold or got stolen, so we need to replace those things and others will be new (ugh...double strollers!). Anyway, it was nice just to see Taylor as we have been very busy.

We also surprised Liam with a new water table that we've been wanting to get him for months and months now. He LOVED it, of course, and had a blast playing with it:







We also enjoyed a nice family dinner of fish and chips at our picnic table while Liam ran crazy around the yard. He did manage to stop and relax for about 10 seconds:



All in all, it was a great kick-off to the summer. Liam is enjoying his last week at school and will have a water day there tomorrow. We also have a busy week. We are meeting with a physician on Wednesday to discuss a possible c-section, going to see Lyle Lovett in concert, and going to a meal-prep place to try out. Should be fun!

You wanna read a book, Mama?

Liam has been OBSESSED with reading lately!! Not a bad thing, but we do feel like all we do is read. There are a couple of books he has nearly memorized and will actually "read" to us from time to time. For a kiddo who used to hate books, it is really, really nice to see him enjoy reading so much, especially with two parents that are avid readers and one who teaches kindergarten. LOL!

While there are many more that he likes, here are a few of his favorites right now:

Freight Train by Donald Crews (we read this at least 3 times a day)



Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (he's always loved this one)



Good Morning, Good Night (another long-time favorite)



The Napping House by Audrey Wood



10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle (a recent addition; the little rubber duck makes a squeak noise at the end...really fun!)



Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. (all kiddos like this book)



Anything Miss Spider by David Kirk. (The illustrations are AWESOME!) Liam really likes this one:



Anyway, thought I'd share since we're having fun reading with him. We read throughout the day as he wants to and for around 20 - 30 minutes each night before bed.

Oh, and while I'm on, when picking Mr. Man up from school today, he was talking to Miss Linda (his teacher) and counted perfectly on his own from 1 - 10!! I was pretty excited. He is learning so much!

Quick Update

Finally in my last week of school, so should be able to update more this summer. I at least wanted to pop in and let everyone know that Mr. Man will be having a little brother!!! We are so excited and I cannot wait to see my two boys together. Plus, now our little girl (obviously still yet to be conceived)will have at least two big brothers to watch over her. :)

Liam continues to do well. He has transitioned wonderfully to his new bed. He pretty much has his routine of bath, brush teeth, read a million books, and then climbs into bed on his own and most nights will go straight to sleep. We really haven't had trouble with him getting up (knock on wood). He really seems to love his fire truck bed and we are thrilled with how well he's taken to it.

Liam has two more weeks of school and then we'll keep him home full-time for the summer. No plans right now on potty training (despite small successes at school) or taking paci away since Mr. Man has a new baby and probably deployment of Daddy coming up in the next 7 months or so. We're just going to keep watching him and let him tell us when he's ready for both.

We all took a fabulous trip out to Houston to visit Nick and Sidonie for Memorial Day weekend. It was much needed and Liam took to both of them instantly. We had a blast and really enjoyed being back in Texas for a short time. Liam's favorite parts were probably a local children's museum and the Museum of Natural History:





Baby boy Basye (who is named, but still secretively) is doing well. He is constantly on the move and wearing me out, but we are loving it. We have an appointment in a week with a physician to see how feasible a VBAC is for us.

Not much else going on this week. Just trying to survive this last week of school and looking forward to hanging with little man for the summer!