Nine Months Old

Liam went to the doctor yesterday for his 9 month check. It was very uneventful really. We have already discovered that the secret to keeping him from sinus and ear infections lay in finally getting him on allergy medicine. One week on Zyrtec and bam, the longest period of time that he has been well since Thanksgiving. (Huge sigh of relief.) I was tempted to ask him about Liam not being a good sleeper and then realized that the doctor probably couldn't do anything about it - and most likely would NOT endorse spiking his bedtime bottle - so I just left well enough alone.

The only issue I brought up was the fact that he is really fighting me with food right now. He is sooooo stubborn at mealtime and is not wanting to eat what I give him from a spoon. He will try to grab the spoon from me and if that fails he simply closes his mouth and shakes his head back and forth. He does like to pick up small bites of food on his own, but as I told the doctor, his lack of dexterity is such that about 1 in every 10 pieces actually makes it to his mouth. The doctor told me his desire to feed himself independently was actually a developmental milestone - one that he had reached earlier than most children. "It's actually a sign that he is very mature".

Ohhh! So what you're telling me is that of all the developmental milestones I am dying for him to reach my child chose to strive for "Stubborn". Just like his big brother. I am so proud.

Hi Mom! Look at my cute little (stubborn) face!

Another conversation of note.......

Doctor: "Well, he may have lost a pound from being so mobile and not eating as much, but his height is great. He is 29 inches which is really tall for his age. How tall is Dad?"

Me: "Um, 5 feet, 5inches." 

Doctor: "Hmm." (confused expression)

Me: "Yeah, that should taper off soon."

Yummy Fries

At the beginning of the month I happened to watch the documentary Food, Inc. After viewing it I announced to Wes that we would now be eating all organic and only supporting locally grown and produced food. (This is classic me by the way - latch onto an idea and announce some grandiose, unrealistic vision for my life.) In all seriousness though, I have been making a much better effort to make sure that our food is free of all "crap". That means making a once a week trek across the bridge to Whole Foods (all the way to Mt. Pleasant for crying out loud!) and a lot more cooking at home. Which is fine. It is something I have been meaning to commit to for a while now.

Of course, if you are crazy obsessed with anything it soon becomes no fun, so on Friday we decided that our family would take an outing to Chik-Fil-A. (Come on, you didn't think my husband was going to give up his fried comfort food entirely do you?) We ordered our usual and sat down to eat. I had brought some wholesome mixed veggies for Liam to eat, and promptly pulled out the spoon to feed him. But wait, I forgot. My youngest has decided that he can do everything himself, no help please Mommy, and he absolutely refused to eat from the spoon. Out of frustration I threw a fry at him and lo and behold....

Yep. He proceeded to, for the first time with any solid food, pick it up and take bites out of it and reach for more. 

Oh Lord, who am I kidding? Between Wes' love for all carbs and my love of all things related to french fries there is no fighting genetics. So despite my best efforts I guess my family will continue to partake in genetically modified, fried potatoes along with our wholesome organic produce. 

Watch Out World.....

....here comes Liam!

Seriously, overnight my baby has become such a big boy. And undergone some sort of serious personality transformation, morphing from fairly relaxed and observant to loud, active, and in the middle of everything.  

Por ejemplo, today we came home from school and while I was making lunch I let him crawl around in the living room with Noah. I heard a sort of rattling and when I walked into the room I found him in front of the fireplace with a funny/guilty look on his face. He had somehow managed to pull of the bottom piece of metal (that I wasn't even aware could come off at all) along the bottom of the fireplace. He had then gotten dirt/soot all over his hand and apparently tried to eat it, as his mouth was covered in black dirt. Oh man, Noah NEVER did crap like that!

And then later, as I was playing trains with Noah, I turned around and found him doing this......

Right. He is pulling up now. I immediately sent a text to Wes and told him we would be lowering the crib tonight. 

He is also getting very vocal and very opinionated. He doesn't like to be strapped into high chairs and shopping carts and he is not shy about letting me know it. 

But....There is all this amazingly wonderful stuff we are seeing too. He and Noah are buddies. He loves nothing more than to chase Noah across the playroom and to laugh hysterically as Noah makes faces at him during mealtime. And when Liam falls and hurts himself (which is happening a lot!) Noah is the first to be there with a big hug for him. It literally melts my heart. Such sweet brothers! 

So at 9 months old this little man is changing the game on us. We are headed into a whole new phase of crazy, but excited about every minute of it!

A Little Daydream

Is anyone else as sick of winter as I am?

Okay, call me trivial (and some of you may) but here is what is making me feel better on this cold winter afternoon as I sit here cooped up in the house, my skin dry and pasty from lack of sunlight. I am thinking of going on a summer vacation somewhere warm and toasty. I picture myself with friends, having drinks somewhere outside near the ocean. The sun is setting, there is a breeze, and........

.....what am I wearing?

Oh, come on girls, I'm not the only one who thinks of these things. (Am I?!)

If I were wanting to look cute on summer vacation I would be wearing.......

This adorable seersucker sundress from www.emersonmade.com. Seriously, I just discovered the website and am already a little obsessed with all their beautiful, simple but elegant, clothing.

Of course I need shoes. So I would pair that dress with the following....

Jack Rogers are my go-to summer shoe, and these are so cute! (www.jackrogersusa.com)

And lastly, a girl must accessorize, so my outfit would be completed with this beauty.

A ChanLuu wrap bracelet in fun, summery colors. (www.chanluu.com) I got one for Christmas and am dying for another already. They go with everything!

I would also be sporting a cute pair of sunglasses, courtesy of my husband who always picks out great ones for me!

And now.....back to reality. I AM near the beach, but it is 30 degrees and I am wearing yoga pants and a sweatshirt and am accessorized by the chunky 9 month old in my arms. Sigh.....

It was fun to dream for a little while!

***Hey Wes! Guess what? You can conveniently use this post if you are looking to buy me something pretty or take me on vacation! You have several months to get it done! ;)

101 Ways To Drive Me Crazy

Actually you really only need one way. Here it is......

Cancel school two days in a row for snow. Well, not snow really. Not even ice. Just really slushy rain and slick roads the first day, and, well, nothing the second day. Mass hysteria and fear of super cold weather must have been what persuaded the county to close school the second day. Seriously, people who live in places like Minnesota are laughing and pointing right now.

We have been a little bored to say the least. Even the excitement of our new video games seems to be waning. Interestingly enough though, adding another kid to the mix seemed to help. I watched my friend's little girl, Harper, this morning and though you would think having an extra kid around would make more work, it actually made my life a little easier. Both boys had a distraction and sweet little Harper is always easy to have around.

Aren't they all so cute sitting there together? What makes me laugh is that technically, it would be possible for all three to be mine - Harper is almost two. Can you imagine?! Also, please note that Noah is still in his pajamas at ten o'clock. Well, it's not like we were going anywhere.

Crossing my fingers that at 8:30 in the morning we are in our car, headed to preschool!

Same Blog, New Name

When I first started blogging several years ago, I struggled to come up with a name for our blog. I wanted it to be something catchy or cute and for some reason my brain was a complete blank. So, in a snit, I simply titled it Shealy Size, the name that our buddies in college would give to any item that came in miniature. As in, "these little cokes are so tiny, they are Shealy size." You know, cause Shealys are short. Anyway, I didn't say it was a good blog name!

All of that to say that I have been wanting to change the name of my blog for a long time and have finally decided to do it. This new name is not catchy or cute or witty or anything like that. It is however, completely appropriate for us. This blog is literally the story of us. Of our family and the journey of our life together. What's funny is that I am just now seeing where our story is going.

For so many years - really, ever since Wes and I were married - we have been living life anticipating the next big event. Getting married, graduating college/grad school (yes, I realize that most people do that in the reverse order), moving for our first job, buying our first house, having our first baby, moving again, starting in a new business, having our second baby. You see the trend. One huge event after another...for almost the past decade. It makes me tired just thinking about it!

And now? Now here we are. Our family, complete (unless God decides to play a huge joke on me!), with a whole story waiting to be written. Instead of anticipating what is coming next, now we are settling in to live our life. To tell our story.

It is my hope that this blog will be a place to document more than special events and holidays. I hope it will be a place where I am able to really lay out what our family's life is like. So that one day, when I am older and missing those days of my kids being little, I can look back and read what is written here and relive the story of us.

Of course, you should always keep in mind that our story is being told through my filter. It would be a safe bet to check in with Wes every now and then just to make sure that you get a fair and unbiased viewpoint!

Happy New Year

New year, new blog. Well, new blog design...same old bloggy thoughts!

As much as I really hate cheesy posts about reflections on the new year and resolutions and all that jazz, I can't help but run those exact topics through my head. There is really something to the whole starting fresh thing. I can literally feel the newness of the year and all the possibilities that it holds, and I must admit that I am excited. Of course, it will be hard to top last year - the excitement of adding a new little person to your family is kind of unbeatable!

So, for 2011 here is what I am thinking..........

~ I want more family time. I want to start establishing more family "traditions" (even if it is just going to Moe's on Friday nights.) I want to really soak up the boys being the ages that they are because everything will change soon. Like when Noah enters "real" school in the fall. Ahhh!

~ Run, and then run some more! I want to do more races, starting with (hopefully) a 10K next weekend. I also want to explore other fun, athletic activities. Like, cycling and Pilate's/yoga. Anything physically challenging.

~ I want to actually take a vacation but that is probably a little far-fetched. Wes and I have been married for almost 9 years, and in those 9 years we have taken exactly TWO vacations - one of those being our honeymoon - so....I hold out little hope :)

~ I also want to be more mindful of things. Like remembering all the blessing that I have, instead of focusing on all the things I didn't get. I want to be more patient (with my children, with my husband, with myself...with slow drivers. You know more patient in general!)

I'm sure I could go on. I will say these things I'm talking about are not items I putting on a daily to-do list to check off. They are just the things that are going through my head right now. Things that I want to see during this coming year.

And, also, I am open to other wonderful things that I may not even have thought of yet. After all, when you spend the first morning of the new year on the beach, looking at the sun over the ocean, the possibilities seem endless!