Liam:
Smiles contagiously.
He laughs when I kiss his face. Huge open mouth, closed eyes laugh.
He rests his hand on his face, over his eye, when he's tired.
Kicks and kicks and kicks. When daddy is holding him on his lap, Liam kicks him in the chest so hard that Jason has to put him down to give his chest a break.
Starting to outgrow his 0-3 month clothes. It is so sad :( Our little baby is turning into a big baby
Still a good sport with Gracie's rough love
Holds his head up. Can sit in a bumbo now and can sit in the bouncy chair
Had a stretch of sleep for 8 hours the past 2 nights! Woot Woot! All of us are feeling that one.
Grace:
Has a big toothy smile
Starting to say more words "dad" "mama" "bye-uh" "hi" "sheesh" (shoes)
She loves all of Liam's baby equipement. She loves to use his swing as a big girl swing. She will sit in it and get it going back and forth. She also likes to stand on it and try to keep her balance. She likes the bouncy chair (the kind that hangs from the doorway). She uses it like a gigantic indoor swing. She's been super interested in the bumbo chair. She moves it from room to room and sits in it whenever she can.
She loves pointing out dogs and birds from miles away.
She learned how to howl like a dog
She learned how to fake sleep on her changing table, snoring noises and all
She loves the newly-remodeled shower. She opens the sliding doors and walks in and out of it, enjoying dropping her toys into it.
She is becoming even more affectionate with all of us, but especially with Liam.
7.30.2013
7.24.2013
7.23.2013
Dear Liam, Tomorrow you will be 3 months old and tonight was the first night we've ever had any trouble getting you to sleep. And it only took us 20 minutes. You are an angel baby. We are so in love with that smiley face of yours.
7.21.2013
Catching up
It has been SUCH a long time since I have written anything down. With these kiddos growing, it's been gnawing at me to sit down and capture my memories of these two little ones.
Liam:
Liam has been such a tremendous joy to have in our home. Although very young, he has an incredibly sweet spirit that influences those he's around. He's easy going and rarely complains about anything. Very rarely cries. When he's hungry, he'll let us know by getting restless and grunting a little bit. If we ignore him for too long, he'll get a pouty lower lip and let out a few cries. But he's always quick to be consoled. He requires so little attention that we often have to remind ourselves that he needs it. Not a bad problem to have.
He doesn't hold back on the smiles. Little Liam will light up the room with his big smile. All we have to do is make eye contact with him and say "hi Liam" and he will smile and coo. We love love love his smile. I love the special moments I have alone with him when he will smile and coo, just him and me. Sometimes I will be holding him in my arms and will be doing something else like reading, watching tv, etc. and when I look down at him he is staring up at me with an enormous grin on his face. Our sunshine.
Liam has always been super strong. At his first doctor's appointment, days after birth, he was holding himself up on his elbows when the doctor placed him on his stomach. She was amazed by his strength, and told us we had a strong boy on our hands. At the next appointment, she felt his legs, amazed at the muscle growing in his thighs. We continue to see these strong muscles as he is constantly moving and kicking. If we are holding him on our laps with his feet toward our body, he will kick and kick our stomachs or chests until it actually starts to become quite painful.
Liam is a good sport with Gracie. She can be rough with him at times. Like the time she used her sippy cups as drum sticks on Liam's forehead. Poor Liam screamed. One of the only times he has screamed. She's learning to be softer with him, but she doesn't really understand. She will often times try to give Liam his pacifier, but she doesn't quite have the aim necessary to get it in his mouth, so it gets shoved into his nose or cheek. Liam never complains. Sometimes we put him in a swing that is close to the floor and rocks back and forth (front to back). Gracie will come up to the front of the swing, grab it with both hands and push as hard as she can. Obviously, we try to stop it whenever we can, but it still happens. Once again, Liam's easy-going personality takes it in stride.
Liam is a grunter. Maybe it's his alternative to crying? At night while trying to fall asleep, we hear him grunting. I wake up to his grunting in the middle of the night, signaling he's ready to eat. He grunts as he tries to get out of his swaddle. He grunts a lot.
Liam puts his hand on his face when he's tired. We know he's ready for bed when his hand is resting on his eye. Unfortunately, this causes scratches to the face.
Within the past week or so he has started to recognize when gracie is crying, and will start crying himself. I find it interesting that he is so perceptive.
Within the past week or so he has started to recognize when gracie is crying, and will start crying himself. I find it interesting that he is so perceptive.
We blessed Liam last Sunday. As expected with his sweet personality, as soon as he was in the circle and the blessing started Liam got a huge smile on his face and started cooing. The days leading up to his blessing were really tender for me. I spent a lot of time thinking about the little spirit that was inside of his little body. A precious gift from our Heavenly Father. With much gratitude, I felt the responsibility we have been given to care for him and to teach him. I am so grateful for Jason and for the Priesthood power that he holds, enabling him to bless our sweet baby boy.
He's just perfect. He brings us so much joy.
Gracie:
Gracie has grown in so many ways! She is becoming so fun to interact with. She recently learned how to say "Hi!" and "Bye!" and will greet everybody and everything that she sees. She has this fantastic wave that accompanies her greetings. One day we were at the outdoor mall. It was the middle of the week so there weren't a lot of people out and about. When she saw a person approaching, she would stop dead in her tracks, look and them, wave, and say "hi!" She wouldn't stop or move until they acknowledged her and waved back. She can get a person to smile in less than two seconds with this cute little greeting of hers. She uses that cute wave to say "goodnight" for naptime or bedtime. and will insist on waving goodnight to everybody in the house before she'll go to bed. Especially Liam. Liam is always the first to get the wave. Even if he's in a different room, she will run to wherever he is and wave goodnight to him. When he was first born and she wasn't quite sure what to think or who he was, she would wave to him. Whenever she would see him, he got a wave and a greeting in her high-pitched voice. You see, as soon as Liam came along, Gracie developed a higher-toned falsetto voice that came into play whenever she was addressing him. We figured it was her "baby talk". This was before she said any words, before "Hi" and "Bye" came into the picture. But she would change her voice while she waved to him. It was really endearing. That voice was soon translated to any interaction with animals that we see while out and about. They too get the falsetto voice and the wave.
Gracie loves to be outside. She will play outside for hours with her dad while he's working in the yard. She will walk with purpose to wherever she is going. She likes to play with the big rocks, bringing them onto the sidewalk and putting them back. One day while outside with her dad, she started army crawling through the garden spot we have in our yard. I guess she wanted to get down and dirty, to be one with the earth. She will often times (almost daily lately), find our shoes and bring them to us, insisting that we put them on our feet. Once we have our shoes on, she will go to the door, pointing to the outside and will not stop until we cleverly distract her or take her outside. Once outside, she couldn't care less about who is with her. She is a girl on a mission. She will start walking down the sidewalk at a swift pace, exploring yards as she wishes. Her little cheeks always get really rosy with all the effort she puts into her exploration. It is so fun to watch her.
Gracie still loves going on morning runs with her dad. Almost every time he runs, he takes her in the running stroller. He has a system down. Book, toy, water, treats, and the pacifier (for emergency only). They both love it. Whenever Gracie sees the stroller, she taps on the seat, asking to get in.
This summer we have started taking Gracie swimming. She is fearless. She loves the water and loves her independence in the water. We take her to this pool that has a beach entry. She will walk in until the water level is up to her mouth, allowing herself to breathe through her nostrils. She will walk around at that depth, and will not let anybody touch her. So fun.
She went through a phase where she was obsessed with hats, shoes, and headbands. She would always want us to put them on her. Sometimes more than one headband at a time. Or a hat and then several headbands on top of the hat. She made up her own sign for hat and headband (tapping the top of her head). She also has a sign for "put my shoes on now!" - she stomps with one foot while holding her shoes out for us to grab. She also has a sign for "blow dry my hair" which is a rubbing motion all over the top of her head.
Gracie does not like doors or drawers to be open. Whether to her bedroom, the bathroom, closets, dresser drawers or drawers in the kitchen...she goes around closing them. When I'm cooking, she will be playing in the kitchen and when she notices I left a drawer open she will stop playing to close it. I'm not complaining. We could use a little attention to detail around this place.
We have started feeding her smoothies for afternoon snacks. With that came an awareness of that blender sound. Whenever she hears it she will go to the part of the kitchen where we keep all of her cups, pointing and waiting for us to fill it up with yummy smoothie.
Gracie loves to dance. Almost anytime she hears music she gets this big toothy smile on her face, highlighting that beautiful dimple of hers, and starts spinning in circles. She especially loves to dance to this Little Enstein train that she has. When she pushes a button, it will play music. If we sing or hum the song that it plays, she will drop whatever she is doing and start searching for the train. It may be buried in her bucket of toys, but she will find it, push the button and start dancing. She especially loves it when we all start dancing along with her.
Liam:
Liam has been such a tremendous joy to have in our home. Although very young, he has an incredibly sweet spirit that influences those he's around. He's easy going and rarely complains about anything. Very rarely cries. When he's hungry, he'll let us know by getting restless and grunting a little bit. If we ignore him for too long, he'll get a pouty lower lip and let out a few cries. But he's always quick to be consoled. He requires so little attention that we often have to remind ourselves that he needs it. Not a bad problem to have.
He doesn't hold back on the smiles. Little Liam will light up the room with his big smile. All we have to do is make eye contact with him and say "hi Liam" and he will smile and coo. We love love love his smile. I love the special moments I have alone with him when he will smile and coo, just him and me. Sometimes I will be holding him in my arms and will be doing something else like reading, watching tv, etc. and when I look down at him he is staring up at me with an enormous grin on his face. Our sunshine.
Liam has always been super strong. At his first doctor's appointment, days after birth, he was holding himself up on his elbows when the doctor placed him on his stomach. She was amazed by his strength, and told us we had a strong boy on our hands. At the next appointment, she felt his legs, amazed at the muscle growing in his thighs. We continue to see these strong muscles as he is constantly moving and kicking. If we are holding him on our laps with his feet toward our body, he will kick and kick our stomachs or chests until it actually starts to become quite painful.
Liam is a good sport with Gracie. She can be rough with him at times. Like the time she used her sippy cups as drum sticks on Liam's forehead. Poor Liam screamed. One of the only times he has screamed. She's learning to be softer with him, but she doesn't really understand. She will often times try to give Liam his pacifier, but she doesn't quite have the aim necessary to get it in his mouth, so it gets shoved into his nose or cheek. Liam never complains. Sometimes we put him in a swing that is close to the floor and rocks back and forth (front to back). Gracie will come up to the front of the swing, grab it with both hands and push as hard as she can. Obviously, we try to stop it whenever we can, but it still happens. Once again, Liam's easy-going personality takes it in stride.
Liam is a grunter. Maybe it's his alternative to crying? At night while trying to fall asleep, we hear him grunting. I wake up to his grunting in the middle of the night, signaling he's ready to eat. He grunts as he tries to get out of his swaddle. He grunts a lot.
Liam puts his hand on his face when he's tired. We know he's ready for bed when his hand is resting on his eye. Unfortunately, this causes scratches to the face.
Within the past week or so he has started to recognize when gracie is crying, and will start crying himself. I find it interesting that he is so perceptive.
Within the past week or so he has started to recognize when gracie is crying, and will start crying himself. I find it interesting that he is so perceptive.
We blessed Liam last Sunday. As expected with his sweet personality, as soon as he was in the circle and the blessing started Liam got a huge smile on his face and started cooing. The days leading up to his blessing were really tender for me. I spent a lot of time thinking about the little spirit that was inside of his little body. A precious gift from our Heavenly Father. With much gratitude, I felt the responsibility we have been given to care for him and to teach him. I am so grateful for Jason and for the Priesthood power that he holds, enabling him to bless our sweet baby boy.
He's just perfect. He brings us so much joy.
Gracie:
Gracie has grown in so many ways! She is becoming so fun to interact with. She recently learned how to say "Hi!" and "Bye!" and will greet everybody and everything that she sees. She has this fantastic wave that accompanies her greetings. One day we were at the outdoor mall. It was the middle of the week so there weren't a lot of people out and about. When she saw a person approaching, she would stop dead in her tracks, look and them, wave, and say "hi!" She wouldn't stop or move until they acknowledged her and waved back. She can get a person to smile in less than two seconds with this cute little greeting of hers. She uses that cute wave to say "goodnight" for naptime or bedtime. and will insist on waving goodnight to everybody in the house before she'll go to bed. Especially Liam. Liam is always the first to get the wave. Even if he's in a different room, she will run to wherever he is and wave goodnight to him. When he was first born and she wasn't quite sure what to think or who he was, she would wave to him. Whenever she would see him, he got a wave and a greeting in her high-pitched voice. You see, as soon as Liam came along, Gracie developed a higher-toned falsetto voice that came into play whenever she was addressing him. We figured it was her "baby talk". This was before she said any words, before "Hi" and "Bye" came into the picture. But she would change her voice while she waved to him. It was really endearing. That voice was soon translated to any interaction with animals that we see while out and about. They too get the falsetto voice and the wave.
Gracie loves to be outside. She will play outside for hours with her dad while he's working in the yard. She will walk with purpose to wherever she is going. She likes to play with the big rocks, bringing them onto the sidewalk and putting them back. One day while outside with her dad, she started army crawling through the garden spot we have in our yard. I guess she wanted to get down and dirty, to be one with the earth. She will often times (almost daily lately), find our shoes and bring them to us, insisting that we put them on our feet. Once we have our shoes on, she will go to the door, pointing to the outside and will not stop until we cleverly distract her or take her outside. Once outside, she couldn't care less about who is with her. She is a girl on a mission. She will start walking down the sidewalk at a swift pace, exploring yards as she wishes. Her little cheeks always get really rosy with all the effort she puts into her exploration. It is so fun to watch her.
Gracie still loves going on morning runs with her dad. Almost every time he runs, he takes her in the running stroller. He has a system down. Book, toy, water, treats, and the pacifier (for emergency only). They both love it. Whenever Gracie sees the stroller, she taps on the seat, asking to get in.
This summer we have started taking Gracie swimming. She is fearless. She loves the water and loves her independence in the water. We take her to this pool that has a beach entry. She will walk in until the water level is up to her mouth, allowing herself to breathe through her nostrils. She will walk around at that depth, and will not let anybody touch her. So fun.
She went through a phase where she was obsessed with hats, shoes, and headbands. She would always want us to put them on her. Sometimes more than one headband at a time. Or a hat and then several headbands on top of the hat. She made up her own sign for hat and headband (tapping the top of her head). She also has a sign for "put my shoes on now!" - she stomps with one foot while holding her shoes out for us to grab. She also has a sign for "blow dry my hair" which is a rubbing motion all over the top of her head.
Gracie does not like doors or drawers to be open. Whether to her bedroom, the bathroom, closets, dresser drawers or drawers in the kitchen...she goes around closing them. When I'm cooking, she will be playing in the kitchen and when she notices I left a drawer open she will stop playing to close it. I'm not complaining. We could use a little attention to detail around this place.
We have started feeding her smoothies for afternoon snacks. With that came an awareness of that blender sound. Whenever she hears it she will go to the part of the kitchen where we keep all of her cups, pointing and waiting for us to fill it up with yummy smoothie.
Gracie loves to dance. Almost anytime she hears music she gets this big toothy smile on her face, highlighting that beautiful dimple of hers, and starts spinning in circles. She especially loves to dance to this Little Enstein train that she has. When she pushes a button, it will play music. If we sing or hum the song that it plays, she will drop whatever she is doing and start searching for the train. It may be buried in her bucket of toys, but she will find it, push the button and start dancing. She especially loves it when we all start dancing along with her.
4.24.2013
4.24.2013
Dear Liam,
Today was your birthday. We are so happy you have joined our family. We have been anxiously awaiting your arrival.
I woke up this morning around 5:00am with restlessness. This has been typical behavior for me over the past few weeks. Those early quiet morning hours have seen more of me recently than they have in quite some time. Today I woke up with some mild contractions, also quite normal. I went out to the couch, watched some reruns of a sitcom that is 15 years old, and ate popsicles. The contractions continued to come, although not too painful. I wasn't sure what to think, so naturally I went back to bed after a few hours. I told your dad that this may be the day, but we weren't convinced. We had the same thought many times before with no delivery. I tried to go to sleep, but wasn't able to. Instead I took a shower. The contractions came on stronger. Once I got out of the shower I was pretty sure we were going to head to the hospital so we made arrangements for Gracie and let our colleagues at work know we wouldn't be working. The contractions were getting more painful. We left for the hospital at about 8:45. The 5 minute drive to the hospital was easy and exciting. We were so ready to meet you. Upon being admitted to the hospital, they checked me and realized you were closer to coming than we had thought! They were afraid you might come really fast and were sure to get me all ready with medicine and IVs. By the time I got my epidural, I was dilated to an 8. However; lying on my back slowed things down and we waited and waited with no changes until about 3:15pm. At that point the doctor came in and broke my water to get things going. Within 45 minutes, you were here.
As soon as you entered the world, they immediately put you on me. They handed your dad the scissors and asked if he would cut the umbilical cord. On my tummy, all messy and brand new, we fell in love with you. You immediately had the sweetest little cry.
You were born at 4pm. 8lbs 11oz. 21.5 inches long. You scored an 8/9 on the APGAR test.
They took you to the nursery with your dad where they cleaned you up and put you under the heat lamp. We met up again in the postpartum room. You came in all clean with a sweet little hat.
Later that night you met your grandma Larsen, your older sister, and our friend Ivy. We were all so excited to meet you.
Your dad and I have been praying to know how to be good parents to you. We cannot wait to get to know you. Welcome to the world, our little man.
4.13.2013
4.13.2013
Dear Gracie, You love playing outside. You love to bring your shoes to us, climb up on our laps, and sit there while we put your shoes on. As soon as they are on, you walk to the front door and ask us to take you outside. Once outside, you walk and walk, pick up dirt and rocks, sit in the grass, etc. You have also recently enjoyed finding these hats in your drawers and wearing them around.
4.07.2013
4.7.2013
Dear Gracie, We think you are getting 3 more teeth all at once. We have been up with you a lot in the middle of the night this week. Usually it's your dad who will come get you because his heart is super soft and can barely stand the thought of you crying by yourself. We can tell you are hurting. We hope you feel better soon. Right now you only have 3 teeth. 2 on the bottom and one on the top. Most of your friends that are your age have more teeth, so we're pretty sure yours will be coming in soon.
4.04.2013
4.4.2013
Dear Gracie, Last night I thought your little brother was going to be born. Although 3 weeks early, I was having painful contractions that made me think we would have to head to the hospital at some point. You and your dad were both asleep in your beds. I was awake, distracting myself with tv, the internet, etc. You woke up crying in the middle of the night. I would have normally let you fall back asleep, but knowing we have limited days with you as our only baby, I had a little soft spot in my heart and just wanted to cuddle with my girl. I took you in bed with your dad and you fell asleep next to me (which you NEVER do). Lying there, I couldn't help but think about this last year, our sweet family, and how grateful I am to have you and your dad in my life.
3.31.2013
3.31.2013
Dear Gracie, Today was Easter. We dressed you up in a cute dress we found on clearance a few months ago. After church, we had a wonderful Easter meal at our house with some friends, looked for an Easter basket, and finally wore you out enough to fall asleep in your carseat on our way home from our evening meal with another group of our friends. What a day.
3.30.2013
3.30.2013
Dear Gracie, We took you to an easter egg hunt today at a city park. It was pretty funny. We forgot to bring you a basket. We didn't think you'd notice. We were wrong. All you wanted was a basket. You would go up to any kid with any basket and try to take it. Each time I took the basket out of your hand to return it to its rightful owner, you would scream...until you saw your next target. Then you'd be off trying to grab another kid's basket. Finally a nice family gave you one of their extra baskets. As soon as they did, you were super happy and enjoyed the day. Dancing in the field for all to see (you dance a lot these days - pretty much every time you hear music of any kind). People thought you were pretty cute.
3.29.2013
3.29.2013
Dear Gracie, We took you outside today. Over the past few weeks, we've started taking you outside to play. Turns out, you're a big huge fan. Today you followed dad all around as he did some yard work. You also enjoyed getting your hands all muddy and moving mud and leaves from one bucket to another.
3.26.2013
3.23.2013
3.23.2013
Dear Gracie, Today we all drove down to San Antonio. I went to the temple while you and dad went to six flags. Pretty cute.
2.24.2013
2.24.2013
Dear Gracie, You are so friendly. You walk right up to other kids or adults as if you've been friends for years. Your curiosity leads you to explore new people, their jewelry, their toys, their purses, anything. Sometimes when you're tired or hungry you stick close to your parents, but for the most part, you like to explore and get to know everybody.
2.23.2013
2.23.2013
Dear Gracie, Today we drove up to Dallas. Just for the day. We were supposed to leave last night but you weren't feeling well and we were afraid you might now enjoy being away from your crib. You are a great little traveler. Even though you still weren't feeling 100%, you were in good spirits and allowed us to visit our friends and have fun. By the end of the day, however, you were ready to get home. You slept the entire way home and went right to sleep in your crib.
2.21.2013
2.21.2013
Dear Gracie, You are still such a great sleeper. You love to take long naps, but as an added bonus, you also like to sit in your crib and rest by yourself in between naps. Sometimes when you are a little tired, I will put you in your crib and you will quiet down and rest. Sometimes you play with your blanket, your giraffe, or your feet. Sometimes you bang on the wall. But you're happy and your quiet...or quietly singing. You still take two or three naps a day in addition to these "resting periods". I don't know what we did to get so lucky with your sleeping habits, but I'm not complaining. It sure makes working from home easier!
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