Sunday, July 27, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEYBUNS!!!!!

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Happy 32nd Birthday to my amazing husband!!!!



This birthday cake making experience was a bit better than last year - but I didn't get a chance to exude my mad cake decorating skilz because all of my tools are in storage. But, I made do with what we had, and the cupcakes with chocolate frosting came out delicious and pretty. Mission accomplished.



Liam gave both of us a wonderful present this morning. He woke up at 6:00AM, took his bottle and then went back to sleep. UNTIL 10:00AM!!! Do you know how long its been since we've slept in that late?!??! About 10 months. That's how long its been. Besides that, we didn't do much today - went for a fantastic run and then spent some time cleaning (for the record, I made it very clear that Pat didn't have to do any cleaning....but he declined), and ate a couple of great meals. We already celebrated a bit on Thursday at our cooking class, and I bought tickets for us to see The Dark Knight at IMAX tomorrow afternoon. But it was a nice day overall :)

Fresh Air Fund

I have been asked to help spread the word about 200 inner-city children need host families in August as part of a program called the Fresh Air Fund. I don't usually use this blog to make announcements like this, but the chick has been pretty persistent and I figured it couldn't hurt. If you think you can help, everything is collected into an online resource page:

http://freshair.smnr.us

Thanks for reading!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Walking USA!!!

I just tried for about a half an hour to get a good video of him Toddling along, but to no avail. Damn that kid for not doing what he should when I tell him to!

Officially though, one month after his first steps, he's walking. Before it was kind of by accident. I don't think he really knew what he was doing. But it seems now like he knows how to control his chubby little legs, and has the confidence to take more than just two or three steps. Watch out world - here he comes!!!! As soon as I get a video, I promise I'll share :)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Happy 10 Months Liam!

As I've said before.....where did the time go?




Wii fit says he weights 21.2 pounds :) He was 30 inches at his 9 month check up, it feels like he's grown a couple inches just in the past week I SWEAR!!!

He's getting more brave by the second. He's taking more and more steps on his own (up to 7 or 8 consistently!) but still knows crawling is faster. He's a master at wriggling into small spaces and maneuvering around various objects, so no more using a chair as a gate - he crawls up and over and through the legs in a breeze now! He's also finally learning how to interact with other kids, so playgroups are a lot more fun, although it still takes him a while to warm up to people.

Here's the full set of photos I snapped this morning - he's just getting so gosh darn BIG!
http://flickr.com/photos/karintobrien/sets/72157606340107184/

Also exciting - we have to fill out a 10 month old test for our Pediatrician. They have you do it so they can evaluate your kids development a bit more indepth....I think its a pretty cool idea. Plus, we ACE tests all the time :) Cuz we're cool like that!!!

Monday, July 21, 2008

My Baby

I'm not sure what it is about motherhood that turns you into a complete reminiscent wreck. Do you know what I mean? Like, looking at your child and going "Ohmygosh! Where did the time go?". Every mom does it; wonders how on earth time has passed so quickly and brought forth this big child from what was her little, itty bitty, tiny baby. And what, exactly, is it about that whole process that makes us so sad? I mean, isn't the whole point of procreating to raise these little people into good, God Fearing adults? We know its going to happen. We celebrate each milestone with reverie and jubilation, anticipating the next with bated breath.....

And yet, there are moments like these.

I'm feeding Liam his last bottle of the night. We're in a comfortably dark bedroom, in the cozy comfy chair I spent so much time in the early days nursing him and comforting him at my breast. I say the "Our Father", not forgetting to bless Hugo and the kitties. I look down at the amazing little man on my lap, gently rubbing his super soft and chubby legs, with the occasional tweak of a jelly bean toe. The little boy, sprawled out across both arms of the chair and my lap, 10 inches longer and 14 pounds heavier than 9 months before. He finishes his bottle, and I put him on my shoulder, hoping as I do every night that maybe he will let me enjoy a couple cuddles before he becomes listless and wants to be put to bed.

And he does.

This time, its only about two minutes. Two blissful minutes. But that is much longer than the 10 seconds and two burbs that I normally get. My little boy is quietly asleep in my arms - I enjoy how heavy he feels and how warm his little body is. This little boy who is my son.

My zen is broken by Thalia, the cat, as she jumps off the bed and meows to be fed. The sound of her thump jars Liam awake, and he squirms in the way he does to be put in bed so he can drift of to dreamland as babies do. I lay him down, push a binky into those sweet little lips that are already searching for one, carefully drape his blue blankie over him and whisper "I love you, Little Bear" as I do each night I put him to sleep. He pulls the blankie over his face, rolls on his side, and drifts immediately off to sleep.

I came out of his room teary eyed. I'm not sure what I'm in awe for.....the only thing I can think of is the incredible blessing that Liam has been in our lives. God entrusted us to take care and nurture this amazing little boy - and I think we're doing a helluva job so far. I'm so proud we are able to provide him with lots of love, hugs and kisses....and I'm so happy he gives them back in return.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Shedd and a naughty boy

Its 8:30pm and definitely bedtime, and Liam does NOT want to go to bed. Does NOT. He just screams and screams and screams. This has only been happening since our return from our vacation. He also does the same thing from about 2:30am - 5:00 Am. So you can sense our *complete and utter* exhaustion. We can go in there and try to console him, but the second we leave the screaming begins again. I hate hearing him scream, but there really isn't any choice rather than to let him cry it out. Otherwise he'll just stay up with us until all hours of the night, and he can't do that. Trust me, we've tried umpteenth number of consolation techniques......and those haven't worked. I hope this is just a phase and he grows out of it.

As far as our aquarium visit, Liam was a very very good boy at Shedd today - we had a great visit with Mollyface and her friend Ani. His favorite part was the coral reef and shark areas.....he loved looking at the fishies :)

The naughty part of this post actually took place this afternoon. I was sitting at the computer, watching him play out of the corner of my eye. He creeps over to the hallway, near where the cat food and water is located. He's just kind of sitting, contemplating what to do next in his baby life....and the little stinker slowly turned his head and glanced over his shoulder to see if I was watching him (which I was) and then took off STRAIGHT to the cat food area and full speed. Cracking up the whole time KNOWING full well he's not supposed to go over there. What a stinker. But oh so cute :)

I'm headed to CHA tomorrow - and we've got another showing in the AM. Then we're headed to IN to bid adios to Pat's parents! Have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

*whew*

We did make it home safe and sound on Sunday evening - after a slight detour to drop Pat's 1st cousin once removed's girlfriend in Oak Park. Its been difficult to get back to normal.....trying to learn how to be a mom without any help during the day is hard!!! Not to say that Pat doesn't help - he does TREMENDOUSLY, but during business hours I have to pretend he's not around even if he is so he can get work done. That's the tough part.

Its making its way though - and today we actually have a clean house :) That's because we had our 2nd showing this afternoon. It went well, but who knows where it will go. I get so excited over just a showing....and a showing is a long long way from a selling :) know what I mean? I try to not get my hopes up, but its kind of hard not to.

Speaking of hopes being up and then crushed.....I went this morning to take a class at the CHA 2008 Summer show (that is the Craft & Hobby Association - for you non-scrap peeps) and after I drove in rush hour traffic out to Rosemont and parked for $11 I discovered I wasn't even registered for the class. DOH! I was upset for a mili-second, and then I realized I probably should have checked with the big dogs first....and I didn't. So my bad. I did register for the show though, so I won't have to worry about that when I go back on Saturday.

I got a zap of creative goodness though - seeing all the people there with all the scrappy stuff in tow. Made me want to create something and be all creative and stuff! All my real life scrapbook goodness has been in storage for over a year now.....I hope we can sell our place so we can buy a new joint and I can actually have that stuff close by!! I need more creative outlets!!

Oh, summer tip of the day. Put sliced cucumber in a glass pitcher and stick it in your fridge full of water. It makes for a muy refreshing drink....and looks pretty :) Add a twist of lime for extra flavor! (thanks to Kelly for reminding me of that!).

K, off to bed. Molly, her friend, Liam and I are headed to Shedd tomorrow morning! Yippie! One of my favorite places on earth :)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Last Leg

We had a great time at Cedar Point, and we are now chillin' in Cleveland, OH, on the last leg of our whirlwind Tour of the Midwest! The O'Brien Family Reunion is in full force, and we had a great time last night....Liam and I meeting everyone for the first time, and Pat catching up with old family members. It was actually really nice! Not that I expected it to not be, but sometimes meeting extended family members can be a bit overwhelming! I think it helped that I've cyber "met" some of the members online, which makes remembering names a bit easier :)

The facility is really nice - we're at a Crown Plaza. The rooms are very pretty, we got a Stellar deal on room rates, AND the pool is AWESOME! Nice and big, with lots of seating round the stamped concrete surround. When you walk in the pool room, its warm, and the chlorine does not sting your eyeballs, which is always a good sign. Moe did a great job planning and picking the joint, so mucho kudos to her.

I did imbibe a little too much last night on Vodka Tonics.....but I felt pretty good last night (as in NOT drunkasaurus rex) so I didn't think I'd have a headache in the AM, but I did. And I kept on vurping Cheeze Its too because that was the last thing I munched on before crashing. Eww. I don't think I'll be eating those again anytime soon. However, now at 11:00Am, I'm feeling refreshed and good and ready for another day of fun activities. Not quite right now though, because Mr. Liam is sleeping :)

OK, so now whilst Liam is in sleepy land, I'm going to sort through the zillion photos I've taken. Hopefully I'll make some progress.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Fourth of July! Happy Birthday America :) We had a great time at the Reunion. Liam didn't do too well at first, lots of people, lots of people in his face, and he's not particularly a big fan of that. He did take a nap on me for a while, and then woke up at about 10 PM, just in time for us to go catch the fireworks! We went to Bridge View Park which was near our hotel. Aside from the swarms of Mosquitos, it was a lovely, if not a bit chilly evening. But OH so clear!! We could see the fireworks from St. Ignace, Mackinac Island, Mackinaw City AND a little bit even from Cheboygan and Charlevoix (though they were tiny in the distance).

I didn't bring my big beefy tripod, and ended up purchasing a flimsy one from Wal-Mart (which I'm going to take back because it sucks my butt). It did the trick though, and I captured a couple cool shots.




Yesterday was another beautiful day, and slightly warmer. My cousins' wedding was BEAUTIFUL! The ceremony was on a chartered boat (the same ones that take you to Mackinac Island) and took place right under the Mackinac Bridge. Then we just ran about in the Straits for a while - took a quick jaunt by the Island, and even ran circles around a GIANT freighter! Those are some big boats, I tell ya! The reception was great too. Liam and Daddy had a great time dancing. I can't believe that little bean stayed up until 11:00!!! He wasn't too crabby either. It was fun!

I don't have photos from that yet - still sittin' on my camera in the car.

We're hangin' out with the family for the rest of the day after we check out, and then headed to Saginaw for a few more days before hitting Cedar Point on Thursday and the O'Brien Family weekend of Fun! Not sure when I'll be able to jump on again, but rest assured I'll share mucho photos when I do :) Ciao!

Friday, July 04, 2008

We're here!

We made it to St. Ignace! Liam and Pat are wrestling around on the bed next to me laughing....I'm pretty sure Liam is ridiculously happy to be out of the car! It was 6 hours yesterday, and another 3 today. He was a very good traveler though, and I'm thankful for that! I'm trying to be mad at Pat since he's pretty much being a Big Giant Jerkasaurus Rex, but seeing the two of them play together pretty much makes my heart a big pile of goo. I'll try to be hard here for a few minutes longer, but I don't know how long I can hold out.

Today commemorates Liam and Pat's first trip across Big Mac! She's such a beautiful bridge...I can't believe it was Pat's first time across. Who is from Michigan and hasn't been across? Pat O'Brien, apparently.

On the drive up here I remembered how much I love this area. Nothing but trees as far as the eye can see....rolling hills of green against the beautiful blue sky....dotted with smooshy white clouds. Pretty much the essence of peace and beauty for me. For Pat....not so much. To him, it represents....um......nothingness. And hillbillies. And Beef Jerky.

So now we're just waiting for the rest of my family to get here, then we'll head out to the Mayer Family Reunion at my cousin Todd's home. Until later....