Liam Says {December}

Liam wanted a piece of candy so I knelt in front of him so that he could ask for it.
Liam: "Can I have a piece of candy Mama, please?"
Me: "Huh?"
Liam reaches out and gently grabs my face.
Liam, while kissing me: "I love you Mama. You're not mad Mama, you're happy. Can I have a piece of candy now Mama?"

Liam's current phrases:
"I'm on it!"
"That's what I'm talkin' about!"
"Right away!"

He has also taken to calling Will and I "Maude", a cute mixture of Mom and Dad.

Liam while eating stir fry that I cooked: "I ate a green bean."

Me: "That's good. Green beans are good for you."

Liam: "It's healthy. This is delicious!"

Liam: "Stop looking at me like that."

Liam to Will: "You have a big head."
Will: "I have a big head?"
Liam: "Yeah, you have a big face. It's like a square."
Will: "A square?"
Liam: "Yeah, like a rectangle."

Will to Liam: "You need to pick up your toys now."
Liam: "Then I can watch "Team UmiZoomi"?"
Will: "Yeah, if you pick up your toys."
Liam, enthusiastically: "No problem. No problem Dad. Look at me go!"

Liam, while running around the living room: "Whoa, I can't stop. My feet are too fast. Whoa! I can't stop. I'm just too fast!"

Liam to Will: "Boys don't wear panties."

Will: "No. Who wears panties?"

Liam: "Natalie!"

Natalie is a girl in his class. I think someone has a crush. 

Later on that day.

Will to Liam: "Who's your best friend at school?"

Liam: "Umm, umm. Not Natalie."

Liam to me: "Where's your penis?"

Me: "I don't have a penis. Ladies, Mamas and girls don't have penises. Boy, Dads and men have penises."

Liam: "Mama, you don't have a penis?"

Me: "Nope because I'm a girl. Do girls have penises?"

Liam: "No. I'm a boy."

Me: "Do boys have penises?"

Liam: "Yeah but I'm just a kid."

Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

From Will and Jaye and the Boys

To Liam, On His Birthday

Dear Liam,
From the moment our eyes locked three years ago, I knew you were going to be special and you are. You are a smart, loving little man who can drive me batty but fill me with so much love at the same time (which means you're pretty talented too). As you grow over this next year, I hope that you keep that sparkle in your eye, that curiosity, that spunk but most of all, I hope that you keep your heart.

Love,
Momma

Here are a few birthday party pictures fro you guys :)
 

Three is a Magic Number

Cars/Cars 2 Birthday Party

Creepy smile

The Birthday Boy

Cars Cupcakes and Cake c/o Eat Cake Love
We'd like to thank everyone who came to over to make Liam's birthday extra special. It was hard being here without family around but you guys made us feel loved. We can't thank you enough.

At This Moment...

I am fighting the urge to scream. Like an "at the top of my lungs" scream. So much is going on all at the same time that I feel caught in a tornado, spinning round and round with no end in sight.

I've lost myself. "Finding" myself has been on the top of my "To-Do" list for awhile now (along with mopping my floors) but it's hard to feel normal or "myself" (whoever that may be) when for the last three years, I have either been pregnant or nursing. My body and mind have been so dedicated to taking care of my tiny loves that I've almost forgotten how to take care of myself. It probably doesn't help that I am currently in the midst of deployment drama (Will's mother was sick and he came home on emergency leave but now we're trying to figure out if/when he's going to be heading back) as well as the Liam's pre-terrible three stage.

Ugghh. Oh, and I feel like horrible about complaining because I know our situation could be a lot worse. Now, I know this doesn't explain why this blog's neglected but I promise (pinky swear) that I will be back soon with updates on the boys and pictures from our flight back to the states to see Nana Shanna.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to relax and watch as many episodes of True Blood with my love. I may just need to watch while drinking lots of wine.

Liam Says {September}

Liam, at 7:30 in the morning: "Mama, I want you make apple pie."

Liam every time he hears the Skype ding from my computer: "Is that my Daddy?"

"I'm on it Mom!"

"Oh, boy! Oh, boy!"

Liam was dancing and when he turned around, one of his butt cheeks was hanging out.
Me: "Booty!!"
Liam turns around to face me: "Penis!"

Two things Liam says at least once a day:
"I so hungry!"
"Alright, fine!"

After waking up from his nap, Liam wanted a fruit snack. I gave him one and told him that it was the last one.
Liam: "I want to share with you."
Me: "You don't have to share it. You can have the whole thing."
Liam while pouting: "No, I want to share with you."

Liam Says {August}

Pretending to talk to on the phone.
Liam to Asher: "It's my PawPaw, baby. Not your PawPaw."
Me to Liam: "It's Asher's PawPaw too."
Liam: "Well, it's my MarMar."

Liam: "Baby has a booboo on his forehead. I wanna take him to doctor!"

Liam: "What's that on my card, Mama?"
I take the card to look at it.
Liam: "Tada, it's a dinosaur."

Liam: "My dad go bye bye on airplane by himself. He take the Kindle with him. Mama drive the car."
The entire time we've been in Germany, I hadn't driven the car. I think it's pretty funny that he realizes that change.

Me to Liam: "I love you."
Liam: "I love Asher."

Liam while pooping on the potty: "This make Momma happy?"
Me, awkwardly: "Yeah, that makes Momma happy."
Liam: "This makes me happy. This makes Momma happy. This makes Baby happy.....I like poop."
Me: "Umm...you like pooping or you like poop?"
Liam: "I like poop."
Me, trying not to laugh: "That's disgusting."
Liam: "Digusting! What you laughing at Momma? What's funny?"

Liam, while pooping on the potty: "You hear my poop Momma?"

Liam: "I wanna go to the store."
Me: "Okay, we'll probably go to the store tomorrow."
Liam: "And the park and the library and the doctor."

Liam sits down with a bowl full of hot wheels: "I'm taking a seat with a bowl of popcorn."
This may not seem all that funny but we never eat popcorn, like ever. Liam has a new game on the iPad and the main character mentions popcorn. He's been obsessed ever since.

Commercial on television: "...gift cards are valued at 50 and 100 dollars..."
Liam: "100 dollars? Nooooooooooo!

Liam, at least every other day: "Austin's momma have two babies."
Liam's self-proclaimed BFF's mom is pregnant with twins.

 

Liam Says {July}

"I wanna go to commissary (the military grocery store) and get apples!"

Liam pooped in his pull up but I changed Asher's diaper first.
"Oh, Asher's getting a new diaper. Well, Momma needs to change mine."

Liam while we were dropping Will off before his deployment.
"I wanna go in airport with Daddy."

While taking Liam out of his carseat, a fly flew into our car and Liam freaked out.
"There's a bee in there! Get that baby (Asher) out of there!"

I was putting makeup on for the first time in forever while Liam was downstairs watching tv. All of a sudden I heard a loud scream and, of course, dropped everything. Liam was coming up the stairs and I asked him what was wrong.
"There's a bug in the bathroom!"

Liam Says {June}

Liam while jumping: "1...2...3...go to timeout"

Me to Liam: "Remember: If you go pee-pee in the potty today, you get stickers."
Liam: "I want candy."
Me: "Oh, you want candy...well, if you go pee-pee in the potty, you can have candy."
Liam: "And kisses."

Will to Liam: "Go build a driveway for your airplane."
Liam: "Airplane don't drive."

Me to Liam: "You'll get a treat if you use the potty."
Liam:  "No! I'm not a puppy. Artemus is a puppy."

Me while smelling Mrs. Meyer's cleaner in the store: "I'm pretty sure this makes me happy while cleaning."
Liam tried to grab a can of air freshener off the shelf.
Will to Liam: "What are you doing?"
Liam: "I wanna make Momma happy.

Liam Says {May}

Will: Baby Liam.
Liam: I not baby Dad.
Will: Oh, who's the baby then?
Liam: Ash-her.
Will: Oh, what are you?
Liam: I Liam.
Will: Oh, you're "Lee-Lee" (Will's nickname for Liam that doesn't seem to be catching on)?
Liam: I not "Lee-Lee" Dad.

Liam: Dad peed bed.
Me: Dad peed in your bed?
Liam: Yeah.
Me: Well, you should tell him not to do that.

Will while playing with Asher: Big boy Asher.
Liam: He not big boy Dad!

Liam: Baby eat Mama's boob.

Life and Liam.

I can't even remember the last time I did an update on Liam. Let's just say he's changed massively since then.

Liam is now two and a half years old. He's crazy (but in a good way)! He loves to laugh, run and just be a boy. I remember people saying that they have a "boy-boy" and I now I know exactly what they mean. Liam loves cars and dinosaurs and more cars (seriously, the kid has at least 150 hot wheels). You know you're the mother of a boy-boy when you find cars everywhere (I found five in my bed this morning).

He has started to pretend play on his own a lot more as well. He plays with his cars and sometimes I see him making little scenarios while pushing them around on the floor. It's so neat to watch because I can see him developing and learning (which is even more exciting for me). He likes to make up little stories too, most of them involve horses or dinosaurs eating random things. The kid talks so much and says so many random things that I've decided to start a series on this blog called "Liam Says". This will just be a fun way for me to document different things that Liam says during the month.

Another neat thing about Liam is his love for Asher. The first time I ever heard Liam sing was when Asher was crying and Liam started singing to him. It shocked me (1. because I'd never heard him sing before and 2. because he was singing a song that I would sing to him). I think that he'll be a great older brother once he realizes that he needs to be gentle with Asher. I really hope that the two of them grow up to be best friends.

Liam will always be my "lovebug" even though he's decided that Dad is just a little bit cooler than I am. That's okay though. I know that I will always have a special place in his heart, just like he'll always have a special place in mine. Here are a few more pictures of my lovebug.

Life and Time.

Just a few of our Photo Booth pictures

Time...it really goes by fast, you know. I mean, I should be used to it by now. I am 28 years old but sometimes it still takes me by surprise when I look around and realize that time has slipped by. So much has happened in our lives over the last few months (especially the arrival of our little baby Asher).

We arrived in Germany five months ago. In this time we've settled into a sort of normal life (although our sense of normalcy will be turned upside down once again). It still baffles me a little that Liam will know this as home. He's already forgotten our life in Kansas, the life that I seem to be holding on to. It's so weird to realize that when we leave Germany, he'll actually have to adjust to living in the US. He'll be used to bright colored homes with houseplants in every window, bike/walking trails that can take you from one town to another, dogs in restaurants/stores, and of course, being surrounded by the German language and culture. I really wish that I could say I have adapted as well as he has but I guess I still have time on my side (if it would slow down a bit).

Over the next few days, I plan to have more updates on our lives since moving to Germany. I'll have each post relate to a specific topic (such as Life and Liam) so you can skip over them if you're not interested. Hopefully this will get me caught up and I can start posting on a regular basis! I really do have lots of plans for this blog and I hope that they come through and this can be a place where I can share and feel at home.

Texas: Dallas Zoo

While in Texas, we decided to take another trip to the zoo. I really wanted to go to the Dallas zoo (even though it is smaller than the Fort Worth zoo) for one reason: You can feed the giraffes. I love giraffes! They are absolutely one of my favorite animals (besides Artemus, of course) so just the thought of feeding one made me practically burst with excitement.
This time we hit the zoo up with Will's dad, step mom and grandparents. We had a great time. The bird area was amazing! One bird flew and landed on top of Liam's head. He, understandably, freaked out and was done with the birds but that memory alone made this one of my favorite zoo experiences ever. Here are some pictures from our second zoo trip!

This bird flew up to me and started checking my pockets

Liam's new friend with the adorable gold Cowgirl boots

We're in Germany!

We all made it in one piece! It was an interesting and long journey (and I'm glad we won't have to do it again for three years) but we're here and excited. We haven't gotten out yet since Liam is still adjusting to the new time zone and he also has a cold (poor guy). We will be back soon to update the blog with pictures from our last couple weeks in Texas as well as a few from our journey here. See you guys soon!

Texas: Fort Worth Zoo

I've always loved zoos but I am really picky when it comes to visiting/sightseeing. We have zoos in Kansas but they aren't very big and I just didn't see the purpose in going if I wasn't going to enjoy myself. So when Will's mom (Nana Shanna) and stepdad (Papa Chill) told us that they had tickets to the Fort Worth Zoo, we got excited.
After a week or so of planning, we decided on a Friday trip to the zoo. Well, this Friday turned out to be the first rainy day in 34 days. It actually worked out in our favor since the zoo was practically empty. We had an amazing time and I loved seeing Liam's reaction to the different animals.
Here are some pictures from our adventure!