the birthday boy

And just like that he's one. ONE! Nic and I laid in bed a couple nights ago sifting through old pictures and videos we've taken over the last year of Liam's life and reminiscing about our favorite memories with him. We'd laugh and smile at the way he used to roll over and sigh with pride or shoot out his little froggy legs at a mile a minute and then I'd get teary eyed at the sound of his little grunts and moans he made while he was sleeping nestled under his daddy's arm. It has truly been the best year of our lives and we feel so blessed he is ours. While I've had my fair share of teary moments thinking back on the last year of this little guy's life, all I could really feel yesterday was joy! It is bittersweet to say goodbye to this first year but so exciting to greet the new one!

Yesterday we had the best day celebrating our favorite birthday boy! He must have known the excitement that lay ahead of him because he woke up an hour earlier than usual. We greeted him with a very scary rendition of the happy birthday song (morning voice problems) and rained balloons over his head and into his crib. His face was seriously priceless! He looked up at us completely confused like who are these crazy people and what in the world have you done with my parents. haha So you can expect this to become a tradition every year. ;) While he didn't really give the balloons the time of day at first, I plopped him back in his crib for a few minutes after breakfast and he had a blast bopping them around.

I wanted to spend the day with him doing some of his favorite things, one of which is stroller rides, so we bundled up and headed out for a run in the chilly morning air. When we got back, he warmed up by splashing away in the bath. After his morning nap we drove to Nic's office to have lunch with him and then made a trip to the store to have a few balloons filled for his highchair. He has been holding on to a balloon's string with one hand and eating food with the other ever since. haha When he wasn't napping, we spent the rest of the afternoon together giggling while playing soccer with the balloons until daddy got home from work.

We ended the fun with the best part of all, CAKE! This was pretty much Liam's first time having any kind of sweets and so we were excited to see what he would do the second his cake was in front of him. We dyed laughing as he tried to pick each individual sprinkle off the cake one by one! He started looking confused whenever he pulled his fingers away to find them covered in frosting and the sprinkles buried. The cake was a hit and he pretty much demolished most of it and in true first birthday fashion, made a GIANT mess of himself and everywhere around him! It was the best! I'd celebrate this boy every day if we could (I'm glad we get to do it all again on Saturday at his party)!

 

Happy First Birthday Liam Rex!!! We adore you!!

Where the Wild Things Are Birthday Invitation & Outtakes

I can't believe our baby will be ONE in EIGHT DAYS!!! I have such mixed feelings about it and have never understood the saying "where did the time go" more than I do now. I'll save the rest of my sappy feelings for his actual first birthday post, instead let's talk fun party plans!

The theme for Liam's first birthday party is from one of our favorite children's stories, Where the Wild Things Are. He not only walks but practically runs everywhere he goes and he gets into everything these days so "king of the wild things" seemed perfect. :)

 Two weekends ago, we drove up Scout Mountain to do a photo shoot for his birthday invitations which I am excited to share today. Thanks to a husband who is willing to make my crazy ideas happen when pressed for time, they turned out exactly as I had envisioned.

Also, a few outtakes from the photoshoot that I just couldn't help but share!
We love our little wild one!

a trip to the Boise zoo

I tell ya what, we are loving every minute of sharing all of his firsts with our little L man. Okay maybe not his first hand dip in the toilet this morning (cringing just thinking about it, those will be baby proofed by the end of the day). But he just looks at the world like it is pure magic and it is so fun to be around! His first trip to the zoo was no different. I imagine there will be several trips to the Pocatello Zoo in the future but his first zoo experience had to include more than a bison, a deer, and a bear. ;) haha I've always loved the Boise Zoo and I swear they have added to it every time I go. Now you can sign up for an overnight stay. WHAT?! How cool would that be to wake up to the sounds of monkeys! 

Speaking of monkeys, they were the first animals we saw! They weren't moving around a ton and were a little too high up for Liam to notice them. We kept pointing over and over again, "Liam look at the monkeys!" Blank stare. In fact, any animal that was far away, sleeping, or not moving Liam was like, "NEXT!" haha He didn't understand what he was supposed to be looking at and may still be a little too young for the true zoo experience, so there are very few pictures of him interacting with actual animals. But the animal statues on the other hand... :)

The four of us crammed into a photo booth together and after printing the pictures we were all dying laughing. Liam's expression is the same in EVERY picture. HA

The giraffes are my favorite to see at the zoo! I would have loved to see them get fed while we were there, those longs tongues are hilarious, but watching them stretch their long necks to grab a snack from the trees was the next best thing.

Liam learned how to drive ... and a safari jeep nonetheless! We start em' young.

I mean, pure joy all over his face! I'm pretty sure I had the same face when I got to drive my first car too and we all know that his dad has a need for speed. ;) 

Liam loves his Sita!!

Something I have never done at the zoo before, well, at least not that I can remember, is the carousel. Taking my little guy on it was definitely my favorite part of the day!

Dada and Sita took Liam in the prairie dog tunnel because his mom is claustrophobic. Personally, I think I got a better view waving at his beaming face from the outside. Sadly, all the prairie dogs were asleep in their holes so we missed them.

I'm pretty sure, hands down, that the meerkats were Liam's favorite. Small, silly, up close, interactive ... right up his alley.

Thanks Sita for taking us to the zoo! We had so much fun!

evening walk & new shoes

,

On Sunday we went for our usual long family walk in the evening and I could not believe how early the sun set! I felt like we were chasing the sun home as it quickly dipped in the sky. On one hand, it is awesome having it dark outside when we put Liam to bed but on the other, it is a little bit of a bummer knowing that we are saying goodbye to those long summer evenings that seemed to stretch on forever. It made for one heck of a view as we finished the last stretch of our walk with the most beautiful orangey pink sunset you ever did see. It was gorgeous!!

We spent this last weekend in Boise and got Liam an early birthday present, his first pair of tennis shoes! He LOVES them and looks down at his feet and smiles every few steps he takes. He has had much better balance when he wears them too. I couldn't even believe they make Nike's this small. I also got a new pair of Nike running shoes because I have worn my old ones into the ground and let's just say that I did NOT have as good of luck wearing them on the walk for the first time as Liam did. haha They are so comfortable but the back of the heal extends higher then my last shoes did and caused a lot of rubbing. Rookey mistake not wearing taller socks. I'm sporting some lovely blisters today! Halfway through our walk, Nic traded socks with me, that sweet guy. haha I looked a little ridiculous walking around with the heals of the socks sitting around my ankles. 

In the middle of the sock switching fiasco, this lady and her daughter on bikes stopped and talked to us. They said they couldn't believe how big our son had gotten and that they have been watching us go on this walk almost every night since I was pregnant with Liam until now. They said they call us the "cute walking couple" and love to see us out together. Their comments not only made us smile but totally made our day! We ARE the couple who enjoys walking together with our little family and I'd die a happy woman to be the "cute walking couple" for the rest of our lives. :)

Next to the beautiful sunset, I was excited to see the blood moon eclipse on Sunday night, especially since I have never seen one in my lifetime until now as they only happen every 30 years. I'm bummed to say that we missed it because there were just too many clouds in the sky here to see it. Maybe we'll have better luck when I am 55. But let's hope that doesn't come ANY TIME soon!

Well I better go... I have a cute little walker who just woke up from his nap who I'm sure is ready for me to follow him around in his new shoes! ;) 

eleven months

e l e v e n   m o n t h s   o l d

stats

..................

 23 pounds, 5 ounces 

29  inches long

loves

...............

walking

clapping

waving

peek-a-boo & hide n' seek
sticking out his tongue
cheese & fruit
snuggling
leaning his head on his own shoulder (it's the funniest thing!)
carrying around shoes

dislikes

...................

getting face and hands wiped

My little Liam,

Eleven months with you and we can't imagine our lives without you in them. You can officially walk now and we all love it! It is so surreal having you walk beside us everywhere we go. You are beginning to transition to one nap and have showed signs of being ready to wean from nursing. Both changes have been hard on you and I but I know that with you being a year next month, this change is inevitable. You have made your first friend! His name is Alex and you guys have a great time together fighting over the same toy in a room full of toys. haha You love to play hide n' seek and burst into fits of giggles whenever we say "come and get me" or "I'm gonna get you!" You have been regressing with foods lately, liking fewer and fewer things, and turning away things you used to love. We have gone back to more pureed food unless it is cheese and fruit. You started snuggling against our chest/shoulder again, something you haven't done since a tiny baby and we love it! You are a ball full of energy. Once we set you down, there is no stopping you. You get into everything so we have had to up our baby proofing game!  Your favorite thing to do is swipe a shoe from the shoe rack or our closet and carry it around with you. Same with a row of wooden pumpkins I have on the window sill. Your dad taught you to carry my shoes and dump them in the bathtub (thankyouverymuch Nic) but I don't really care because I love the sounds you make whenever you get excited! You smile and giggle at yourself in the mirror whenever I gel your hair in the mornings. You learned to wave and I think having you wave goodbye to daddy in the morning makes his day every time. You love to peek out of the blinds whenever they are closed. You are starting to get three new teeth and I wish I could take the pain away from you. We love you so so much!

Love, Momma

we got a beach!!!

Well, close enough for this small town of ours. The Portneuf Wellness Complex was just finished and it feels like an exciting addition to our town and has some of our favorite things... a big walking path lined with wild sunflowers, a beautiful view of a pond filled with fish you can catch and release, a swimming area, a playground, an ampitheatre for events to take place, and sand volleyball courts! When we went to check it out on Saturday I hadn't heard anything about a swimming area and was most excited for that part! There is a creak that runs through the whole complex so the pond doesn't have stagnant water. It will be such a fun place to take Liam to play whenever there is warm weather. 

Before I share some pictures, I have to preface with a comment that Nic leaned over and said to me as I pulled out my camera while we were there, "I bet this is going to make an EPIC blog post!" haha He knows me too well. With that said, here are a million and one pictures of Liam playing in the water because, well, I can't help it ...