Halloween 2011

My cousin, Carolyn, her husband and son came over on Halloween to do a little trick or treating! My camera was broken so I used another cheap camera so the pictures are not very good. Very blurry!!! The kids had a blast as usual going door to door and got to see a lot of their school friends. We have a really good neighborhood for trick or treating! Afterwards we sat on the front porch and the kids re-handed out most of their candy. They got to keep 15 pieces and the rest went into the bowl to hand out. They enjoyed passing out the candy. It only took about 10 minutes with the handfuls they gave each person and then our bowl was empty. It was late and we hadnt had dinner, so we called it a night. Shane and I got some food and watched a scary movie :)

Riley wanted to push baby Liam everywhere. :)

Aww!!! Cousin Love!

Fun

Friends... 4-Wheeler Races, circus acts and just plain fun!!!!

Finish Project

Heritage Glen Halloween Festival

This year our Homeowners Association organized a Halloween festival. Hayrides, costume contests, bounce house, carousel, face painting, crafts, etc. It was pretty fun!! We submitted 3 pumpkins for the pumpkin carving contest, and was about to be announced the winner, but a lady at the last minute brought a pumpkin that they decided was better :( The kids were sad but excited for the other lady. Shane won the adult costume contest, so we are all good. HA!!

Hannah and Kayla

Haley, Madison and Hailey

Date

I was talking to Hayden this morning about what he would want to do if he got to go on a date with just mommy. This is his idea of fun...

"Mommy can be a princess, and I can be, Hmmmm, Iron Man!! Then we can go to McDonalds."

I asked him what else we could do and if he would want to go play baseball with mommy - (his favorite).

His reply, "YES!! But, can I wear my Iron Man costume?"

Yes, son, you sure can!!! Who could beat a baseball playing Iron Man!!

He went on about some other stuff, but unfortunately I can not remember what all he said :(

I love my boy!!! Can not wait for our date!

Great Weekend and New Words

What an amazing weekend. I hate that it had to end. Shane and I went to a fabalous Marriage Conference "More than Married" at our church. It was the best we have ever attended. We are so excited about putting it all to practice.
My parents watched our 3 and my friend, Stacie, watched Liam. Then that night we got to go out on a dinner date, thanks to my best friend, Sarah. She watched all four of our kids, plus her four :) We ended the night with a sleepover. Madelyn spent the night with us and Hailey spent the night with the Weavers. Sunday morning- great worship service, fun with our new babies (promotion was last week). After church we had a great lunch at Frescos with the Weavers, naptime, and then a great time with our Cell group. When we walked out of Cell, Kari, Jill and I were talking and realized "IT WAS SNOWING"!! So we started running into the church to grab the kids before it stopped :) The kids loved watching the snow fall and Liam obviously did to.

Liam looked up into the sky and started smiling and laughing and said, "WOW!!" . I was so shocked. I started screaming, "Shane, he said wow". Then sure enough, Liam did it again and EVERYONE heard. Yah!! Our baby boy is really starting to talk.
The kids were so excited about the snow. They did not want to go to bed.

To end our night and weekend, Shane and I grabbed a bite to eat and watched a RedBox.
I sure LOVE my family and our church family. God is Good!!!

And he turns one...

I can not believe our sweet little boy is already a year old!! What a wonderful year it has been as well. He brings so much joy to our lives. It is really interesting to see the difference in your biological children and foster/adoptive children even though they are being raised by the same people. He is so different from our kids - good and bad. He is always smiling and laughing. He has a smile and laugh that I can not describe. I think our three kids have beautiful smiles and are a joy as well, please dont think I am comparing. Liams is just different. I want to bottle it up and take it with me wherever I go, and share it with the world. :) I am weird, I know. I am horrible with words and can never say or describe what I am feeling. I try. It just sounds stupid.

Some things about you right now:

*favorite word - Ma Ma - says it all day long

*can also say Dada, na -na (food), said eat, bye and cheese (all once), and is trying to say some other words, but not clear enough to count

*Started walking Christmas day and is now doing really well. Still not 100% sturdy because of the torticollis, but is 100% a walker

* loves baseball bats, balls, and playing drums

*puts everything into his mouth

*can open all the baby locked cabinets, and loves to pull everything out

*gets into EVERYTHING - trash cans and all

*climbs on everything- couch, lego table, etc

*loves to see his brother and sisters

*loves smiling and laughing

*Seperation Anxiety has set in. You do not like mommy to leave your sight. You start screaming anytime I walk away from you.

*You love to dance to music

*Eating solid foods

*Just took you off formula and you are doing well on cows milk

*still having trouble with the sippy cups, but you are getting better

*love to eat and feed yourself

*still love baths and playing in the water - splashing and chasing bubbles

*Taking one consistant nap a day - normally about 9:30 am. Then you have cat naps here and there depending on what we are doing

*You started giving kisses, although not real often

* You want everyone to be together in the same room - you fuss when people leave

*you do not like mommy to hold anyone else. You are very jealous- you scream and cry huge alligator tears

*You have 9 teeth and are a HORRIBLE teether. It makes you feel terrible. It normally lasts a week and you are always screaming and do not sleep :( I can not wait until you are done with this phase. I bet you are too.

Liam Issac, you are so loved by our family. I can not imagine our life without you. It has been a very memorable and enjoyable year. Looking forward to what the future holds. Love you to the moon and back forever!