15 things lately

Happy Monday! 

Just popping in to share 15 things that have been happening around here lately ...

1 | Liam has been refusing to wear a bib at meal time but always wants the messiest foods (i.e. yogurt!!!). However, he'll wear one no problem if daddy does soooo ... Parenting at its finest!

2 | Suns out, buns out! haha just kidding but definitely pig tails on repeat for this momma in the 100 degree heat we've been having!

3 | Liam's year was made when all of his favorite "beep beeps" were in one place ... the Wellness Complex Family Fun Days last month! He has been yanking his arm up and down mimicking the conductor pulling the train whistle every day since! We went back for the first time last weekend to go for a run and of course he was sorely disappointed when he discovered we weren't in fact going there to ride the trolly train again. Being two is hard.

4 | With each trip to Jump In I lose about 10 years off my life and gain a handful of grey hairs. Those step ladders are STEEEEEP and of course my invincible two-year-old BARELY hangs on. "Look at me, mom! I'm 10 feet in the air one handed!"

5 | My sweet grandparents drove a LONG way to bring Liam that incredible antique John Deere tractor you see in the picture above!  He absolutely adores it as I'm sure we will too just as soon as he can reach the pedals. ;) Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa!! We loved visiting with you!

6 | I've never really taken Liam to a big event by myself before and was feeling a bit ambitious agreeing to take him to his first circus in the heat of the day until my sweet friend showed up with not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR of her 5 kids and I realized what a slacker I was! Seriously, she is super woman and I am so grateful for her example and friendship in my life! p.s. Liam loved his first circus experience!

7 | You guys, after last year's garden success I should have a little more confidence in my slightly less black thumb abilities but boy have I been thrilled with the harvest of strawberries we've already had this season! Liam loves to pick them with me and eat a few right off the vine. ;) They may be the size of pennies but there are a whole lot of them!

8 | Summer is for ice cream with little best friends!!

9 | Nic spent an entire week (weekend days and after work weekday nights) slaving away painting the baby's nursery and it is finally finished and looks SO amazing! It was a true testament of how much  he loves me considering it was my idea and I couldn't even help much and I can't thank him enough!! We spent last Saturday in her room together hanging things on the walls and I can hardly wait to give you a tour when it is all finished!

10 | Rue is living the high life in the backyard this summer! You'd think she was a cat with how obsessed she is with digging and lounging in Liam's sandbox. :)

11 | I've been wanting to put up a flag up at our house for some time now and my sweet father-in-law gave us this one to stake in our front yard! I loved having it for the 4th! I wanted to snap a quick picture of Liam under the flag to share with him but he wouldn't stay put so Nic tried to help me out by providing a tribal Indian dance around it and that seemed to do the trick! haha

12 | Saturday was free day at the zoo and almost every animal was sleeping! haha Luckily Liam could care less and was more thrilled with a bear statue than the ACTUAL real life bear that he couldn't touch. I also think it is worth noting what a genius of a husband I have for recommending we go first thing when it opened, pre-shower, AND in workout clothes. SO hot!!

13 | It was a BIG day in the Williamson household on Saturday when Liam went to his very first movie at the theatre!! We went in with low expectations and walked away excited to take him again very soon! Some combination of arriving RIGHT as the movie was starting and missing the commercials, buying ALL the candy, and choosing Despicable Me 3, he sat through the entire thing!! Proud parent moment! Not to mention, it was absolutely adorable watching his eyes dance with amazement at the huge screen in front of him, the dim lights, and his very own big cushy seat. 

14 | Unless he is sick, it is pretty unheard of these days to have Liam fall asleep in my arms anymore.  Just when I think to myself, maybe we made a mistake letting him play at our church nursery until 4 and only giving him a one hour nap before dinner, I go to wake him up and bring him out into the living room and I get an extra 10 minutes of this! Fast asleep in my arms and my kind of heaven!

15 | We've been "practicing" potty training with Liam for the last month or so, baby steps at a time. He started out in fear of his potty chair until we introduced m&m's. Then he quickly went from being willing to sit on the potty fully clothed to get an m&m, to practicing pulling down his pants on his own, then removing his diaper, and has since gone pee successfully 4 different times with a whole lot of cheering from mom and dad! We feel like maybe he is finally ready and it is finally time to rip off the bandaid and go all in so tomorrow is the day. Please pray for us!!