Watkins

Just a quick note: I'm a Watkins associate now! I've got my own website and everything. Anyway, I've decided to blog about the products as I use them so that everyone can hear about it and maybe even entertained by the process. ; )

Keep an eye out since we should be getting the big "Watkinize Your Home" package next week and I'll start when we use the first product. Woo hoo!

http://www.watkinsonline.com/dhamm/
Check out my all official-like website!

Dede

It's officially official.

Liam is walking! He started taking a few steps at a time a few weeks ago, but now he's walking across the living room. In fact, just today he was standing in the middle of Steve's office, bent down to pick up his bottle and stood right back up. Look ma, no hands!

So we are off the Toys 'R Us or Home Depot next week to finish babyproofing the house. He's already spilled half a can of soda, terrorized the cat and tried to push over the end tables. Needless to say, we need to strategize. Or as a former president said, use strategery. I guess we'll be strategerizing? ; )

Our big boy just keeps getting bigger. And the picture at the beginning is of Liam, Max and I yesterday. The utlimate in multi-tasking: I was letting Liam nap, the cat nap, reviewing the text for my class and checking emails during this picture. In fact, I used the webcam on the computer to take the picture since I was totally stuck. But it really was a lap full of cuteness. These are the days...

Dede

We made it to 10 months!

Here I am late again! Shocker. sshhhh...want to know why? Because I'm so busy enjoying him that it's hard to stop to take pictures and write about it. ; ) Honestly, that's our problem. So while he's peacefully sleeping (pretty much the only time he's truly quiet now), thought I'd post some info and pictures.

Liam is still doing great and just about the best baby ever. He had one day last week where he was cranky for absolutely no reason and could NOT be consoled. Seeing as it was only the second time in his entire life (and the first time was at six weeks), I think we're doing okay.

He's taking three or four steps at a time now, standing without weaving most of the time, and cruising the furniture non-stop. The cutest thing is we'll walk slowly behind him and tell him we're "going to get you" and he'll run along the furniture squealing. Then he'll collapse right before we get to him and just giggle and wait for us to tickle him. How cute!

We've given up on being so picky about introducing foods every 4 days to check for reactions. We are feeding him from our plates a lot of the time, but being careful about some stuff. He still loves his fruit and now we can pasta and yogurt to his list of loves. Yogurt especially - he'll "mmmmm" in between bites. His new favorite, I think.

Also in the news - Steve turned 35 on Monday and I'll do the same on 10/4. Kind of a big one but not at the same time. So my fabulous husband is 35 and I get to make fun of him for being older than me in age for 12 more days! Then it won't be funny anymore.

Anywho, gonna go check on Boo and see how he's sleeping. Pretty sure he's trying to get molars since he keeps sticking his fingers all the way to the back of his mouth to chew on them. Whee.

Dede

Liam's 9 month post...way late

Well, we're late yet again. Our little boy is getting bigger every day and discovering things and moving on to new ones before we can capture it on film. Keeping up with him is getting fun! ; )

He had his 9 month check up and all is well. He was at 1/2 an ounce shy of 21 pounds and 27 1/2 inches long. So he's right in the middle on the scale for weight, but a little on the short side. With Dad's genes, though, we don't think he'll stay on the short side for long.

He's into "big boy" food now since he has eight teeth. His favorites are peaches, cheerios and scones. (He had scones today and loved them.) He's not sure about chicken yet, but we're going to try it again soon. We've also tried cheese in very small amounts and he's a big fan. He gets excited to eat from our plates now instead of just pureed everything. With that many teeth, he should be eating steak!

The new thing is Mr. Comedian squints at you to make you laugh. Too cute. He also loves an audience and coughs or makes a noise to get attention. His new noise is TV static or hissing. What a hoot.

All in all, he's still a riot to be around and sleeping like a champ finally. We're very fortunate and thankful everyday for him and everything we have. Hope to write again soon. Maybe more timely next time...

Dede

Liam is 8 months!

Our little boy is eight months old and as you can see, very mobile. I have actually already starting having pangs and flash-forwards to the days when he doesn't want us around and get teary eyed. He still really wants to be with us and I know I need to store up these days to take back out when he pushes us away.

He is an absolute hoot! He's saying "mum", which is an improvement on "mmmmm" when he wants me. He has six big old teeth and one almost through and another on the way that we can see. We go in for a check up at nine months and can't wait to see how big our "hoss" really is.

We also started doing Gymboree once a week about a month ago and it's a blast. It's like a little gym and preschool for infants. His teacher is great about getting everyone to interact with each other and challenge the babies to try new things. The first day he was good for about the first 15 minutes and then he got overwhelmed and just wanted to hug Mom. Now he's enjoying playing with the other kids. One little girl screams happily almost the entire time which is hysterical. During the second class, Liam talked over the teacher during what is supposed to be "grown up" discussion. Too cute!

We're enjoying every minute (okay, not every minute) and looking forward to him being able to communicate with us. I say it every day and know I'll regret it soon, but I can't wait for him to talk!

We'll let you know how the check up goes...

Dede

Really late 7 month post

Sorry it's so late! We've spent the month of June trying to get Liam into a routine and sleeping in his crib, which doesn't allow much time for blogging. ; ) He is still sleeping only 2-3 hours at a stretch and eating every time he wakes. I'm pretty sure he has his father's metabolism and isn't just wanting to eat, he NEEDS to eat that often. Anyway, we're slugging along trying to help him figure out how to get himself back to sleep but not much luck so far. What I would do for about a six hour stretch of sleep...

Other than sleep challenges, he's great. He has six teeth as of today and is working on two more. He seems so young to have that many already, but who am I to say he can't have them. They just keep coming! He also made a new friend: Beasley the stuffed bee. He picked him out at the state park gift shop and he's the cutest. I'll add a pic of him to the slideshow!

Food loves: sweet potatoes, apples, pears, bananas, avocados

Food dislikes: squash, mangos

Apricots are still TBD as we just introduced those last night

We just got back from a trip to New Orleans but I'll write about that on the 8 month post (um, yeah, that's Sunday)!

Dede

Quick 6 month stats

Well, folks, we hit the six month mark on 5/12! We didn't get to go to the doctor for his wellness visit and shots until 5/18. So here goes:

18 lbs 12 oz (70th percentile)

26 3/4 in (60th percentile)

53 cm head (80th percentile)

All around, he's had a real growth spurt according to the doctor. After all the trouble we had the first couple of weeks trying to get him to grow, we are having no trouble now!

See total cuteness (and chubbiness) above...

Dede

We hit 6 months!

Liam is six months old! It's a cliche, but I can't believe how fast it's gone by. He's turning into such an amazing person. He's definitely full of it but is still, deep down, a good kid. He doesn't fight us about things and even bravely tried sweet potatoes last night (see photo). Not so sure about the whole food thing but he really likes the sippy cup!

Liam went to his first baseball game a couple of weeks ago. Uncle Boo Boo (Dan) has the photos so I'll wrestle him down and get his camera soon so everyone can see. It was an Arkansas Naturals (minor league) game and his first introduction to clapping. His eyes got so big the first time everyone cheered and clapped. He started laughing after he got over the initial fear. Too cute.

And this weekend we're going to St. Louis for a Cardinals game and to see Trey play ball in Busch Stadium. Should be a blast and we'll make sure to get more pics and post about it when we get back.

We'll also update on Situation Sweet Potato once Liam gets used to food to see if he likes them or not. I'm sure everyone will be waiting anxiously to hear. ; ) Next up - butternut squash!!!

Dede

The Prius is Badly Injured

She weeps...

Hail!

It finally stopped 10 minutes ago and this was actually scary. Liam, the four-legged kids and I cowered in the hallway for about 10 minutes. Yes, it actually hailed constantly for 10 minutes. It started as about pea size, moved to quarter size and when I heard huge bangs on the roof and loud rolling I looked outside and sure enough, balls of ice the size of softballs were hitting the ground. We even had leaves floating in the air and probably the closest I've been to being in a tornado. I'm still afraid to go see how the Prius held up - Adam just told me it's not good. Let you know when I finally have the courage. If it's really bad I'll even post pictures. Anyway, just a quick one to let everyone know we survived!

Dede

We have a tooth, people!

Well, it's big news folks. Liam has a little razor coming in on his bottom gum. AKA - a tooth! We figured something was going on since he's been a drooling fool and chewing on everything (which isn't that strange, I guess) and sure enough, we found the little booger last night. We've noticed bumps and nubs every once in awhile, but this one is the real deal. Took a pic and everything. Bwaahhh, he's growing up too fast!!!

D

Ode to CoCo

As many of you know, we lost CoCo last week. Best the doctor could tell, she broke her neck. We gave her almost a week to try to see if she had something else wrong that she could recover from, but no luck. Once she started to feel pain, we knew it was time to let her go.

CoCo was one of those amazingly great dogs and I wanted to show our respect by dedicating this blog to her. We will miss her tremendously and know she's in a better place now. I imagine her running like the wind chasing the chipmunks that annoyed the heck out of her here on Earth. Maybe in heaven she'll actually get to catch them. I hope so, girl - go get 'em!

Dede

Liam is 5 months!

Liam is 5 months old! Okay, okay, so he was 5 months yesterday, but I'm playing catch up. He and I have been sick for the last week and I thought I was doing pretty good getting the blog updated today! ; )

Anyhoo, on our trip to the doctor last week to make sure nothing was horrifically wrong with the kiddo, we did discover something a wee bit shocking. The dude gained another pound in three weeks! He was 16 pounds 10.5 ounces. Yikes! He's quite the "hoss" now. He's well on his way to doubling his birth weight of 8 pounds 11 ounces by six months. After those first 2 weeks of losing or only maintaining his weight, we've done quite the "about face".

And as you can see from the Easter pic, he has discovered his toes. They haven't made it into the mouth yet, but he's working on it. Thanks to Miss Becky for the chick hat and "My First Easter" bib to commemorate the holiday. It's quite the fetching headdress, I think.

That's about it for now. I'll try to get some pics and stories about our trip to Disney last month too. It was very cute and Liam seemed to enjoy the stuff he was awake for...

Liam is four months old!

Well, our big guy is four months old today! It's hard to believe but true. And he's definitely turning into his own person - case in point, see photo at left. This is his new sleeping position. He actually put himself to sleep with barely a whimper laying over his Boppy. And this from the baby who has to scream bloody murder for a few minutes before he can fall asleep. Heaven forbid he miss something while he's sleeping. I keep promising him I won't do anything fun while he's asleep but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

We go back to the pediatrician on the 18th so we'll have updated stats then. Steve and I think he's a chunk so we're excited to see how much he weighs and how long he is now. Not excited about the next round of shots. Hopefully he'll take them as well as he did at his 2 month appointment.

We're going to Florida for spring break! And we're bringing Adam with us, heaven help us. Just kidding. We'll fly into Jacksonville and visit my Mom and Dad and Nana for a day, then drive to Orlando to spend a few days at Walt Disney World. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them here. Liam is going to get to meet Mickey Mouse. Woo hoo!!! Pray for us while we travel with a 15 year old and a four month old...

Dede

After the storm...

We made it! We went for eight (that's right: EIGHT) days without electricity. The storm was a real doozy and I saw a newspaper headline that the state park near us was the epicenter of the storm. The picture shows some of the branches that fell during the fun. Whee.

Steve found us a generator three days after our electricity went out. That was a hoot - apparently everyone else decided it was a good time to finally buy a generator too, and the local hardware super stores couldn't keep them in stock. So we had enough power to keep the fridge running and have a small heater and a lamp at night. Steve, Adam and I played a lot of board games at night. But believe me, I will never take electricity for granted again. Or complain too much about the bill when it comes each month. I guess that's the upside to not having it for over a week - a much lower bill this month! Silver lining and all, right?

Liam update: he turned three months old on Thursday the 12th! Or a year old if you go by Steve's version of the timing with conception and gestation. He's putting everything he can into his mouth now. And rolling over since he despises tummy time unless he's sleeping. His next appointment is for his four month check up so we'll update everyone on his stats then! He's also wanting to sit up without leaning back against something. Our baby is turning into a big boy too soon! Well, I can feel him filling up his diaper since he's sitting on my lap, so I better take care of it before it becomes an issue...

Ice Storm of '09

Sitting here listening to freezing rain hit the windows. And if I open the front door, I can hear branches and trees cracking and thundering to the ground throughout the woods. But it's gorgeous out, as you can see from the pic. The only thing that would make it better is if it was sunny out and the streets weren't homicidal. Then the world would sparkle and we could go out and take more pics! I'm trying to get everything done I can while the power is still on. Just know it's going to go off. It's flickered several times but not gone completely off for more than few seconds yet. At least we're all safe inside with power, food, etc. The rain that's falling now will freeze overnight, so it should be even more interesting tomorrow.

Liam's big news: he is now into 3-6 month clothes at 11 weeks old! He's turning into a big boy right before our eyes. He's also found his voice which is adorable. There's a bit of gravel to it which makes him sound like a little man. Which I guess he is, but not so soon! We'll add pictures to the slideshow soon. And hopefully we'll be able to figure out the video camera and start adding video of the little monkey....

First blog ever

Okay, so I've never done a blog before, so this is totally brand new. We definitely need to keep this updated, especially since we have so much family spread all over the world. Liam is growing up too fast for us and we're with him every day, so I can't imagine how fast he's growing for those of you who don't get to see him.

FYI - this is him the day of his 2 month pediatrician appointment (he was 9 weeks exactly). This goofy photo made the whole ten minute photo shoot worth it. If you want the stats, he was 11lbs. 3oz., 22" long and growing beautifully. He had three shots and one oral vaccine and other than about 30 seconds of turning purple and screaming, he was fine. He fell asleep 3 minutes after his shots. And here I was paranoid he would be miserable...

Being around the family for the holidays meant the world to us - the funniest moment for me was realizing there was a 15 year age gap between Steve's parents' grandbabies in Branson. There was 19, 19, 17, 15, and then......6 weeks. Hee hee. I'll see if I can't get a copy of the picture and post it here so you can see the hilarity.

Anywho, I'll get on updating this site on a consistent basis and adding photos, etc. so there's a reason to check us out often. I'm taking photos of the cuddlebug about every two days, so there's plenty to choose from. It's taking the time (or finding it with a two month old) to actually get them on here. Wish me luck and let us know how you are too!

Dede