The Trip to Titusville

Jude, Liam, and I decided to go down to Titusville to visit my family. It was so much fun and I am so glad we did it. I was a little nervous about driving down there with the two kids by myself but it went really well. We stopped in Gainesville on the way down and saw Kelli and Ricky and ate some delicious Chipotle. ;) We also got to see Terri and Kevin while we were there. Jude loved feeding Zoey pretzels and swinging with Kevin. Liam fell asleep on Terri for basically the whole time we were there which was great...gave me a nice break. ;) Lauren stopped by for a little while too and was able to see both of the boys. We had a birthday celebration for Aunt Janet and my cousin Eric while we were down there. It was so great to see everyone. Grandma Veronica helped me so much while we were down there...what a blessing. It was like Spring Break for me! Jude was sad when we left, he cried in the car for Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Karen. I know that Jude loves Uncle Chris but right now Uncle Chris has a slight aversion to drool and dirty diapers. ;) I wish I would have taken more pictures while I was down there but we were so busy having fun that I kept forgetting. Every time I visit I wish that we lived closer. Hopefully one day that will be a reality...

Liam at 12 weeks

I decided to have a mini photo shoot in honor of my last day home with Liam. It is a bittersweet day but I am trying to stay positive about it. I love what I do I just love my babies more. ;) But, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and we have been having a blast! God has really answered my prayers regarding going back to school and I am able to start back with Family Medicine with a husband and wife couple that have 8 kids and are the most understanding physicians I have ever met. They both said they would be really flexible with me and even allow me to bring Liam to work since he was premature and they would feel better about him not being in day care. I didn't ask for that of course, they offered it to me. She said she brought her babies to work for awhile and she breast fed all 8 of hers. So, this has really been a blessing. Liam still sleeps a good portion of the day and spends most of the other time eating. He is active in the evenings before bed so as long as his schedule stays the same, things should work out well.

We are working on getting the house organized so that life will run smoothly once we are both in school. The last tenants left the yard a mess and allowed a lot of weeds to take over the grass so I have been slowly uprooting those. The flowers that I planted a few weeks ago are getting huge! Slowly but surely things are coming together. We are trying to get the third bedroom in order since we are going to be transitioning Liam into the crib soon. I can't believe he is getting so big! These first three months have been amazing, so much fun. I am so blessed to have had this time with him. He is smiling and cooing all the time. He is such a happy baby. He only woke up once last night which was awesome!! I remember getting up at 6 and thinking...have I really just slept 4 hours straight?! Today he sat in his bumbo seat for the first time. He likes that a lot better than tummy time. ;) Enjoy the pics!

Video of Jude walking...take part in the glory!

BIG NEWS...Jude is Walking!!...YAY!...and Liam got shots...Boo

On March 12th, Jude started walking! It was really shocking because up until this point he had only taken 1 or 2 steps on his own (I think Jeremy got him to take 3 before he realized he was walking and he immediately sat down.). So, last Thursday he just let go of the couch, turned around, clapped his hands and proceeded to walk across the entire living room. Wow. I guess he wanted to wait until he could really do some serious walking. Yeah, he is 17 months but come on, there is something to be said for walking across the entire living room on your first try. ;) He then continued to walk for basically the rest of the evening. He loves it! He even dances some and claps for himself...no shame. ;) Luckily, we were able to get it on video tape (not the very first walk but the next 20 minutes or so) so we will post a snip it of that hopefully by tomorrow. For now, enjoy the still shots of our little walking man!

The other news is that Liam got his first set of shots yesterday. It was a sad day. So, this was kind of frustrating, I read a medical study, published in JAMA so pretty legitimate, that said babies who breastfeed while getting shots experienced a lot less pain. So, I asked the doc if I could do that and he said yeah but of course he didn't tell the nurse so when she came in, she was like no. And, being the chicken that I am, I didn't push the issue. But, next time I will. I'll let you know how that goes...;) I made the huge mistake of not giving Jude Tylenol before his first shots and the poor little guy was miserable. His legs were red and swollen and he wouldn't let me put him down for the entire night. So, needless to say, I gave Liam Tylenol. These went a lot better than Jude's first shots. He was a tiny bit fussy but really he's just been more sleepy than usual. That has allowed me to get the house clean though so I'm not complaining. ;) Liam's weight was 10 lbs 8 oz and his height was 21.75 in! He is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 10th percentile for length. I think the difference between the weight that Liam gained and the weight that Jude gained (or should I say did not gain) was due to my ability to stay home this time, which has been amazing by the way. It is so much easier when you don't have to go back to school in 2 weeks...imagine that. ;) Well, I put some more pics of Liam up along with Jude. Enjoy!

More pictures of Jude and Liam

Liam's photo shoot-March 11th, 2009

What a cutie smile! March 8th, 2009

Jude was cute, he tried to get into his rocking chair by himself but it wasn't working out too well. He then kept pointing to the hat and saying, "hat, hat" so that I would put it on his head. So, he just sat there and rocked with his hat on...ADORABLE!

March 8th, 2009

Liam playing on his play mat-March 2nd, 2009

He now watches the animals when I put them relatively close. He likes to watch them and listen to them rattle.

Jude eating out of a bowl without immediately turning it over and throwing it on the ground! This is a big step...come on, get excited!

February 16th, 2009

A Catch-Up Blog of Jude and Liam

Liam drying off and recuperating from his first bath...it was traumatic!

Jude's first bath in the big boy tub! January 31st, 2009

Liam's first bath-January 27th, 2009

More of the first bath...

January 25th, 2009


Sorry it's been so long since the last post...things have been busy around here! I have been having so much fun with Liam and it has been such an amazing privilege to be able to stay home with him during this crucial time in his life. He has been gaining weight like crazy and I feel it is because I have been able to stay home with him and nurse him on demand. My milk supply had a hard time keeping up with Jude since I left him at such an early age so he was slow to gain weight. But, he did have Jeremy to stay with him so that was a blessing. This time, it's my turn! Liam has been such a blessing to our lives...it is so much easier the second time around! I don't second guess everything I am doing like I did with Jude and I am a lot less stressed...not because Jude wasn't good because he was a great baby but mostly because I am not in school right now. I don't get so mad during those times when Liam just wants to wake up and hang out with me for 2 hours at 4 am. ;) How can you be mad at a face like that??

We officially moved out of our apartment on the 21st of Feb. It was bittersweet because we loved our apartment and especially our neighbors and dear friends Brent and Ginger. It is so sad to not have them right next door anymore. But, we did really need the space and we love our new home. We have a lake right across the street from us with Canadian geese and mallard ducks. It is so much fun to bring the boys over there to see the ducks. Aunt Janet funded a double jogging stroller so we go for walks atleast once a day. I have also been taking it jogging and it is great for that. The kids love it. Everyone looks at us and says how cute the boys are...I think they are really wondering what kind of psychiatric illness I have that would cause me to have two boys that close together. ;) I am loving having this time to just be a wife and a mom though so I really haven't felt overwhelmed with the whole thing. Being in our new house helps too so that we aren't so cramped. I know my dad would not believe this but I have really enjoyed being able to do yard work again! All those years of helping dad must have paid off. ;) Whenever Liam sleeps I run out and do a little something until he wakes up. I can't wait to plant flowers. Our new house has a deck out back too that will be perfect for grilling out and just spending time outdoors.

Enjoy the pics of the boys!! I will post some of the new house as soon as things are in order enough for me to take pictures. ;)

Jude and Liam - the First Weekend Home

It is our first weekend home with both of our boys! It is so great to be home. Liam has been doing great...mostly eating and sleeping of course. He slept a ton last night which was great. And nope, I did not wake him up to eat every 3 hours...I slept as well. ;) Just don't tell my pediatrician that. Jude discovered Liam's pacifier so for the past hour he has been crawling around the house with it in his mouth. He finally stopped sucking on it about 5 minutes ago. I think it was just a fun thing to find for him, I don't think it will stick. He never took a pacifier before so I doubt he will start now. Liam likes his baby papasan and he likes the vibrating feature on it. He sat in there for about 20 minutes today just looking around. He is such a good baby. Jude has been really good this weekend too...the past week was a little rough though for some unknown reason. I don't know if child care was just wearing him out or what. My classmates have been bringing us dinner for the past week which has been awesome! Now, starting tonight, our church's care team is bringing us dinners. I am not going to remember how to cook or grocery shop. ;) It has seriously been such a blessing to us though...we are so grateful for the wonderful friends that we have.