A Year in Review

January



February



March



April



May



June



July



August



September



October



November



December

A Year in Review

January



February



March



April



May



June



July



August



September



October



November



December

Christmas 2008

There are no words, so these will have to do:

Christmas 2008

There are no words, so these will have to do:

So Intuitive

So, you know how they say that kids are smarter than we give them credit for and pick up on everything? Well, this morning I was downstairs in the office when Liam asked me if I wanted a snack. I wholeheartedly told him "Sure", expecting that soon I would be greeted with wooden peppers, onions, and other Melissa and Doug cut-up food from his kitchen upstairs in a nice plastic pot. Well, he never showed and I forgot about it until I went upstairs. He asked me if I was ready for my snack and had this spread laid out for me:



A Guiness and a Nutri-grain fruit bar!

So, do you think Liam has picked up on any of my stress from this deployment? Hee hee! Sweet little helper. :)

Happiest Kid Ever

That is no joke. This kid is so freaking happy. All the time. As long as I'm near.

Ever since Taylor left in October, George has become extremely clingy. I definitely don't mind as I love snuggling with him, but it's amazing how possessive he's become with me. If Liam even thinks about trying to sit in my lap, George will try to pull him off and even hit him.

Mr. G has been growing by leaps and bounds lately. He is now saying (that I can understand): tree, car, choo choo, Mama, Da (daddy), night night, woof, hi, milk, uh-oh, and cup (well he says "buh"...still a remain from "bottle"). He is also signing: car, milk, more, eat, and dog. He is not walking (which I secretly love). He has taken a few steps when we actually encourage him...walk to Mama and all that, but I haven't encouraged really at all since he did that in October b/c once they start walking, life gets crazy. I'll be extremely content if he waited until Taylor came home. Do I think he'll really do that? Who knows. Liam walked at 18 months, so maybe. He'll walk one day, so for now, I'm really enjoying it. BIG TIME!

He climbs the steps, climbs the couch, climbs until Liam's bed. The kid is a monkey. He will climb the six step ladder at Gymboree. He wants to do everything himself, including feeding himself. You evaluate his success in that arena:



I took him to get his second haircut and before I could blink, the lady at the Quantico MCX took him and sat him on the booster in the barbar shop all on his own. He sat there so stinking cute with the HUGE cape around him. It was like looking at those little men with the shrunken heads. I was impressed that he sat there all on his own the whole time with no troubles. To gauge against his brother...Liam also sat there all on his own in the booster that same day. But it was Liam's first time. And it was after a LOT of pep-talks. And an episode of Jon and Kate plus 8 where he saw the sextuplets sitting on their own. So yeah...my kiddos are way different. But, I guess that is why they make chocolate and vanilla.

George has left our tree alone for the most part. He is loving all the lights that he sees while we are out and about. He gets excited every morning when he wakes up around 7:30 (and he goes to bed by 6:00...what are the odds that any future children will also be as good a sleeper as the first two). And he stays excited and happy all day, every day. He absolutely adores talking to "Da!" and hearing his voice. (Check out the video link to see how badly he wants to talk to Taylor). And he adores his big brother. He loves tubby time and bouncing. And one of his favorite things to do is grab Taggie, stick that thumb in his mouth, and dive into my arms or lap for a cuddle. That's my sweet George. And I thank God every day that I have him in my life...in the past 14 months, I have learned so much from him.

Stay sweet, Gigi!!

Liam is a Funny Guy

So, I haven't written in awhile. Lately, I've taken a fairly intense focus on the boys and our family. All my time and energy seemingly is going towards them and/or our house. Staying at home with the boys has it's challenges, but it is so much fun. One thing that cheers me up when the time gets rough is Liam's sense of humor. Here are a few of the things he's said as of late that have made me smile:

"Mama, this is the best dinner I never had!!"

"Who's coming for Christmas that's not Santa?"

"Mama, I have so much love to give you today. I have FIVE loves for you!"

"Bryan and Mike are getting a list....but not Papa and Grandmichaele. They're not lucky." He also was not able to tell me what
list he was talking about so I don't know if it's good or bad that you get it.

I was sitting in the office downstairs working today when I hear very loudly in his sternest voice: "DO NOT toot in my tent!!" He
was speaking to Molly.

Liam is still loving his class and his school. His behavior has been erratic the past month, but for the past two weeks or so, I feel I've mostly got a handle on it by trying to provide for more successes than challenges on his part....thus leading to fewer meltdowns. I got a video monitor for his "quiet play time" and have put out of reach many things that we once were able to trust him more with but now seem to get him into trouble...art supplies are a big one here.

Mr. Man is getting excited about Christmas but not nearly as much as you'd expect a 4 year old to. When asked what he wants from Santa, he just says "I don't know...we'll just see what I get." I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that he never sees commercials and is rarely in a toy section of a store, so he really just doesn't know what's out there. I love his faith, though, that everything will just work out. We've had an elf come to stay for the month of December:



He left Liam a letter explaining that he was sent from Santa to keep an eye on him this month and reports back to the North Pole each night on how Liam is doing and what he is up to. Every morning he has returned with some sort of treat or project for Liam. Liam has received a candy ornament, new flannel sheets, a candy cane, and some other things...we even found him coloring a new christmas coloring book one morning!



The elf also leaves a treat at the end of each day in our Advent calendar. Liam is loving having him here and asks a lot of questions about him....especially how he gets around at night. I'm enjoying watching his excitement and love that it puts some positive into a difficult time for Liam with Taylor gone.

All in all, we are doing well. He has his moments with George, but it all works out in the end. Today, he told George out of the blue..."G, you're my best friend!" Now that IS something to smile about!