Horsey New Year!

Yes, you read that right....Horsey New Year! Since we didn't get out of the house yesterday, we were all pretty stir-crazy today. But everything was pretty much closed today. So we decided to treat Liam to a trip to the MSU horse farm. It was opened today and more importantly, it was free! The frigged weather prevented us from staying outside too long. Luckily the stables were open, so we visited horses and barn cats inside. Liam loved to visit each of the horses. We learned from one of the students working there that some of the horses were kept inside because their had been shaved for ultrasounds and it was too cold for them outdoors now that they were missing so much fur. There were also two very friendly barn cats in the stable. One of them liked Liam so much that he followed Liam around. Liam had so much fun that he didn't want to leave.

Unfortunately for mommy and daddy, Liam fell asleep briefly in the car on the drive home. This meant that he wouldn't lay back down and nap once we returned home. Liam was pretty crabby this evening and fell asleep in my arms at around 6:30pm. Even with Liam not taking a nap, I managed to be quite creative today. I resurrected my long-dormant silk-painting skills to paint two orchid paintings. Why orchids, you ask? Well, every February Sean and I enter orchid-themed artwork in a local orchid show. Today's paintings will hopefully be good enough to use for this year's show.

On the Eve of the Eve

I had to work today, while Sean was home with Liam. In the mid-morning, Liam and Sean came to the museum in the building where I work. I visited them during my break and helped Liam make some festive new year artwork in the craft room. The guys had fun looking at all the exhibits afterward.

I came home a bit late, after stopping at the grocery after work. Liam was so excited to see me when I got home! He gave me a big hug and was in a great mood all evening. Being greeted with a happy munchkin makes a long day of work worth it!

Christmas at Cheri's House

Yesterday Liam celebrated the holidays at daycare. Cheri, his daycare provider, bought small gifts for each of the kids. Liam got a train, of course. ;) He was so excited about it that when he got home, he had to tell daddy all about it. Liam is working so hard at making sentences now and puts words together. It is cute to see him gesturing with his hands as he attempts to convey what he is thinking. :)

Polar Express

Today we treated Liam to a train ride with the Little River Railroad in Coldwater. This time of year, Little River has a polar express themed train all decked out with Holiday decorations. The trip includes cookies, hot cocoa, and a visit from Santa! We met my mom at the station and all road together. Liam was so excited!

We sat in the lounge car for our trip out. The windows were nice and large, so Liam got a good view of all the scenery. We ate cookies and Cheetos, and sipped our cocoa. There was a little coal stove in the corner of the car to keep us warm.

When we arrived at Quincy, Daddy and Liam wanted to get out to look at the Engine up close. We took a moment to pose on the back of the caboose. It was very chilly outside, so Liam and I went back in the train to warm up while daddy took video of the engine changing position.



On the return trip we sat in one of the passenger cars. It was a little cooler, but te seats were comfortable. After a while, then invited us to go see Santa. I talked about Santa a lot to get Liam used to the idea. It seemed like he might actually sit on Santa's lap today, but once we got next to Santa, Liam suddenly got shy. The best I could do was kneel near Santa with Liam in my arms. Santa offered Liam a candy cane, which took without hesitation, but he did not want to talk to Santa...at least he did say thank you for the candy. He did make friends with Frosty. ;)

The rest of the ride back we listened to the train whistle. Liam clowned around and made faces in the video camera after he scarfed down his candy cane. When we arrived back at Coldwater, Liam said bye-bye to the train and to grandma! He was sad to see them both go. But after a long and busy day, he quickly fell asleep in the car on our drive home.

A colorful score!

Look at this awesome picture that I found at a second-hand shop for only $5! I rearranged Liam's room just so that I could incorporate it in his play area. I think it really brightens up the room and Liam loves to look at all the fun pictures.

What's that? And other questions...

Over the last couple weeks Liam’s favorite phrase has been "what’s that" – actually "wat dat". He usually asked this question every time he wanted to bring my attention to a sound he heard, like: water running through the bathroom pipes, a car on the street, the neighbor’s dog barking, or the distant sound of a train whistle. My mom heard Liam’s "wat dat" while we were talking on the phone last weekend. She laughed and said, he’ll soon be asking "why".

Well wouldn’t you know it, this morning Liam asked his first "why" after I told him I had to go to work. It made me feel a little sad and spark that mommy guilt about being away from my child every day in order to go to work. But on the bright side, he is a bright and inquisitive little boy.

Puppet Pals

While we were at IKEA over the weekend, we picked up a small horse puppet for Liam (really it's more of a donkey, but Liam wants us to call it "horse-y"). He really loves the puppet and wants mommy and daddy to play puppets with him. Last night he played with his frog puppet and I played with horse. Together horse and frog went looking for bears in the dark, while horse held a flashlight in his mouth. Liam has figured out how to whisper now, and he was very cute whispering quietly as we would sneak up on various bears around the house (I have several holiday decorations with bears in them). We played like this for quite some time.

Gosh, behind again!

Well, life has been quite busy between work, school, keeping house, and raising Liam. I started a couple of posts in the last week but have not finished them yet…I will try to when I find the time (ha,ha). The amazing thing is that Liam just turned 28 months! I can hardly believe that he’s such a big boy!

He’s talking even more lately. Just this morning he said “my clothes” and tapped his shirt with his hand, as I was getting him dressed. He usually uses the word “me” rather than “my”, so this was a first. Liam didn’t like the shirt I have picked out for him, so he picked another one out of the drawer.

Liam is also singing more lately. He started trying to sing “We wish you a merry Christmas” with his Thomas video last night. He also likes to sing the ABC song when he’s playing – although he’s often missing quite a few letters and they are not in order. ;)

Sled-o-rama

This evening, the snow was coming down pretty good. Sean decided that he wanted to walk down to the Library for some more books and videos. He took Liam along with him, pulling him on his little sled. It was a very cute sight!

Giving Thanks

No time to write...so here was Thanksgiving weekend in pictures...

Bump on the noggin'

My little guy is so accident prone. This is largely of his own making, because he often clowns around and gets himself into trouble. Today I recieved a call from daycare. Apparently, he was clowning around on a chair and fell off and hit his head on the chair as he fell. Poor guy. He actually hit it hard enough to break the skin. But no concussion, luckily!

2 weeks

I constantly marvel at the body's ability to heal itself. I can hardly believe that it's only been two weeks since my surgery. I feel so much better than I did before and immediately after the surgery. I think that my health will definitely be improved!

Silver Bells in the City

Tonight was the annual Silver Bells in the City celebration. The weather is so cold that I almost decided not to take Liam. But after looking at the schedule, I found a few events that were indoors, so we decided to take him out to the celebration.

We started by going to the city market. We visited Mr. And Mrs. Claus. Liam was rather reluctant to interact with them – other than to accept a candy cane from Mrs. Claus. I managed to snap a quick photo of him on Santa’s lap, but as you can see, he was beginning to cry. Oops! Maybe next year.


Liam also saw some clowns at the market. One of them made him a dog out of a balloon. Liam really loved the balloon animal. He played with it so much that he un twisted it and it became a rather lumpy snake. ;-)

We picked up a quick dinner while we were at the market. Then we headed out into the cold to see the parade downtown. Liam was excited to see all the big trucks strung with lights and decorations. We watched the parade for a little bit and then went to donate two stuffed animals to toys for tots. They always have a “house” with a conveyor that takes your toys in. I showed Liam what to do by putting one of the stuffed animals on the conveyor. He put his on and we watched it go bye-bye. I am very proud of him for not getting possessive over the toy after he carried it there.

The winter air was so chilly that we sought refuge at the Science Museum. We quickly walked up there before the parade ended. First we stopped downstairs at the model train exhibit. We watched the trains for a while and talked to one of the designers. Then we took Liam up to the toddler room in the Museum. He really loves it there. They have big blocks, towers to drive cars down, slides and climbers, a water play area, a play house, and much more! He was enjoying himself so much that he didn’t want to leave. But it started getting late and the crowd was getting bigger, so we walked back to the car and headed home to snuggle in bed.

The Toy Society

I stumbled across this recently. How inspiring! I think I'll give it a try!

A week and two days

Well, it's been a week and two days since I have my gall bladder removed. Last week was very painful and trying, but I am happy to say that I am feeling much better now! Hopefully, my health will improve overall, once I am healed. The surgery was fairly non-invasive. I have three small scars and one large scare at my belly button. I am sure they will fade with time.

Liam was a little upset last week when I couldn't play with him like he wanted. But he is doing better this week. I can hug him and hold him, just can't pick him up yet. He was sad to see the scar at my belly button.

00Fun

Grandma Bev and Grandpa John came up to help me out after my surgery on Thursday and Friday. They ferried me back and forth from various doctor appointments.

Liam was so happy when they stayed the weekend. He had grandpa’s undivided attention to play trains. He played peek-a-boo with grandma and grandpa on the couch under a blanket. Sean and I laughed so hard it hurt! As a special “gift” to Sean and I, grandma and grandpa watched Liam on Saturday afternoon so that we could go see the new James Bond film. The last film that we saw in the theater alone was the previous James Bond file, when my parents watched Liam as a baby! It was very nice to spend a little time together as a couple and Liam had great fun with his grandparents!

Goodbye gallbladder. Hello pain.

I've been suffering from gallbladder disease for nearly three years. I finally had my gallbladder removed on Monday. Right now, I look like I was in a knife fight with all the incisions on my abdomen! I am happy to finally have this surgery, but I am in a LOT of pain right now. My allergies to pain medicine limits what I can take for the pain, and the medicine I have is not very effective. I sure hope that I feel so relief soon!

Little Fish

Today we decided to do something a little different. After our usual chores and Liam's nap, we went to the community center pool. The weather was too cold outside for fun, so we thought the pool would be a good way for Liam to run off some steam and do something new. The last time Liam was at this pool, he was only around six months old.

At first Liam was a little nervous. He clung to daddy or mommy. But slowly he realized that it was lots of fun to be in the water and he started to relax. He practiced kicking in the water. He played with his squirty fish toy and tried holding on to a pool noodle. After we put a floating vest on him, he swam out into the deep water holding onto mommy.

He also balanced on the frog float and had fun splashing mommy and daddy! We had so much fun that we are now seriously thinking of scraping the money together for a family membership. That way we could go swimming every weekend!

PS - It snowed today and started to stick!

A Mega-Blog Update

I finally took some time to update photos for the past two months and added some more posts too! Check it out!

I voted!

This morning at 6:30am we walked down to the community center where we vote. When we arrived we were in a short line. Before long, the line went out the building! We only had to stand in line for about 45 minutes before voting. I was all done by 7:30. The 40th person to vote in my precinct! Liam was on my back the whole time. We both got "I voted" stickers!