Some serious milestones

This past month has been full of a lot of hard work and we've all hit some pretty big milestones.  

Me: After about 7 years, I've finally finished all the classes for my bachelors!  We moved just before my last semester of college and I've been slowly working on finishing for the past 3 years.  One last push through April and I finished my last class!  WooHoo!  

Ben:  Ben finished Law School!  When we started, I seriously never thought it would end.  Now, Ben graduates in a week.  Then it's on to The Bar (and the prep class), work, and Real Life!  How did that even happen?  Crazy.  He has worked so hard over these last 3 years and I'm so proud of him.  

Liam:  Liam turns 7 months tomorrow (what?!?) and he's grown and learned so much this past month.  On his 6 month birthday, we joined some friends for a tour of the Jelly Belly factory.  We had a little picnic afterwards and Liam surprised us all by pulling himself up to standing on our soft cooler!  This is seriously his favorite thing to do!  

Liam and his new BFF Leo.  They were way too interested in the jelly beans to look at the camera.

When we got home from church two Sundays ago, we put Liam down and he suddenly started crawling!  Now there's absolutely no stopping him.  It's funny though.  Even though he's completely mobile now, he still would rather stand up.  He'll crawl over to Ben or me and stop just as soon as he can reach our hands and then stand up and walk (holding on to us, of course) the rest of the way.  

He's such a fun and funny little guy.  I love seeing his personality grow.  The other day we decided to let him try his first solids - homemade applesauce - and he absolutely loved it!  He's already learned that "mmm" is the proper response as he eagerly grabs for the spoon at each bite.  He's even started working on a "good food happy dance" just like his mom...  :)

 

5 months and two tiny family additions

So, I forgot to post anything when Liam turned 4 months old.  We celebrated by going to the doctor and getting shots.  No fun, but necessary.  :(  Liam did much better with the shots this time - of course he cried, but he wasn't out of it for a whole week like at his 2 month appt.

At 4 months, Liam learned all kinds of things - he perfected rolling over front to back and back to front as well as grabbing and manipulating objects (it's so funny to watch him pull his binky in and out of his mouth).  Just yesterday, we welcomed two tiny additions to our family.... Liam's first two teeth!!  They're still just little buds - sharp little buds - but I can't believe he has teeth already!  He's growing up way too fast.  :)

He turned 5 months today and he's just as happy as ever.  He loves to laugh and show off his adorable dimple.  :)  He's constantly moving and trying to get somewhere ... standing up whenever he has the chance and walking around if you hold his hands!  This little guy is going to be unstoppable pretty soon here!

Showing off his new teeth.

"Just working on my one-legged push-ups."

"Look how cute I am!"

"Now watch me eat your face!"

3 Months (plus a little) Already!

Seriously. I cannot believe how quickly this little guy is growing and how fast the time goes.  Somehow, it was three weeks ago that we celebrated Liam's 3 month birthday.  We got all dressed up... and went to church!  Between Primary and Young Men's, Liam is quite the little celebrity and during singing time he makes his rounds through all his "girlfriends" in the primary presidency.  It's so funny to see all the teenage boys fawning over "Twisty" (Ben's fault - he told them Liam's name was going to be Twisted Black Dragon of Death and the nickname seems stuck :P ).  He makes hardly a peep during sacrament meeting and loves the hymns and just looks around trying to take it all in.

This was at our ward Christmas party - I walked in to see a big group of the young men clustered around Liam. SO cute! 

We were lucky enough to have Grandpa Wright visit a couple weeks ago and we decided to take a four generation picture while everyone was looking so sharp.

Liam is becoming quite the talker, babbling on and on. He laughs now... especially when he's being tickled... and it's the cutest thing.  And like his mom, he is proving to be quite ticklish!  He keeps getting taller and, while he's gaining a pound every month (11 lbs, 7 oz and 24.5 in at his 3 month check up), his weight seems to be dropping off the charts.  So for the past 3 weeks Ben and I have been on a special diet, cutting out all of my allergens (dairy, eggs, soy, corn, and we added gluten to the list just to be safe), to see if that makes a difference.  Ben's so sweet and decided to support me by eating the same things that I'm eating.  It definitely makes things easier for me!  It's hard to tell (we'll know better after his next weigh in), but it seems to have made a difference.  The spitting up has virtually stopped and that is such a relief!

In other news, he's rolling over now!!  He's been rolling for the past couple weeks ad while he can make it over most of the time, sometimes he can't quite get over and he gets really frustrated.  Also, he's started sitting up "by himself" (when propped up) and when you pull him up from lying down to sitting, he immediately stands up.  It's so fun to watch him discover so many new things every day!

This is the "I'm so cute and innocent" face  :)

2 Months and Christmas

I can't believe how fast the time is going with this little guy.  We are so in love with him and I can't imagine life without him - it really feels like he's always been a part of our family.  I love that feeling!

Two month stats: 10 lbs, 6 oz and 24 inches!  Liam is quite the string bean!  Every time he starts to get chubby, he stretches out again.  He's out-growing clothes faster than I can keep up!  I love his little personality - and it's stronger every day.  He smiles all the time and loves to sit up and look around.  When he finds something interesting (which is just about everything) he focuses super hard and takes it all in.  It's adorable the way it makes him go cross-eyed.

A few days after we celebrated Liam's 2 month birthday, the three of us got on a plane and headed to Montana for Christmas with my family.  Liam did great on his first plane ride and he loved meeting his Grandpa for the first time.  We had a wonderful time in Montana: Christmas, fun and games with the family, Liam's blessing, and all kinds of outdoor adventures.  Here are some of the highlights:

We all dressed in fun outfits for Christmas eve.
Liam's was the cutest. 

Liam was helping me make pies for Christmas Eve
and Daddy decided to be a creeper ... :)

Liam was quite the little helper -
showing Grandpa all the places that needed vacuuming. 

Christmas Eve spread - take one 

Christmas Eve spread - take two 

Christmas morning we took our traditional family pic
before racing down the stairs to see what Santa brought. 

We got lots of presents (Thank you everyone!!)

Nate and Ben decided to dress up like elves before going snowshoeing. 

The chicken coup was invaded by a giant hummingbird... 

...or maybe the chickens were just kind enough
to lay a special Liam-sized egg.

Liam discovered that toes can be fun to play with. 

Liam enjoyed some good snuggles with Grandma...

...And some good conversation with Grandpa. 

My big little brothers played "squish the sister."
Thankfully, I wasn't invited to join in. 

The boys went ice fishing and caught some delicious trout. 

We took some family pictures. 

Ok, a lot of family pictures...

But Liam was more interested in the train.

We went for a drive and saw a herd of Big Horn Sheep... 

...another herd of Elk...

...a cow Moose...

...and White Tail Deer...