Liam ... 12 and 13 Months

Oh, Bubba! At least your Mama is consistent! I'm making quite the habit out of your bi-monthly updates! In my defense, you are quite attached to my hip so doing much of anything in a timely manner is a challenge these days!

So let's rewind to twelve months!

In the weeks leading up to your first birthday, you cut your top teeth! It's so funny how two little teeth can change your appearance! You have the sweetest smile!

After learning how to crawl, you starting pulling up and holding on to things to stand.

Crawling has added a whole new level to your ability to make messes and get into things. You love to take all of the tissues out of the tissue box and pull toys out of the closet.

This month, we went camping for the first time as a family and you did great sleeping in the tent!

You love to eat, and as of hitting the one year mark, you had yet to refuse anything we offered you. You have a BIG appetite for such a little boy. Weighing in at 17 pounds exactly and measuring around 28 inches tall, you are tiny for a one year old, but happy and healthy. Your hair is still strawberry blond and is starting to curl just like Londyn Grace's did.

At 12 months, you were not sleeping through the night and although starting the night in your crib, you woke like clockwork around 1 AM to nurse and snuggle with Daddy and I in our bed. Sister wasn't sleeping through at your age either so I know this too shall pass! (although I'm not sure I want our sweet snuggle time to pass too quickly!)

Speaking of Sister, your bond with Londyn Grace remains and watching you two just makes Mama's heart so happy. You look for her as soon as you wake up each morning.

At 13 months, not much has changed in the sleeping department.  You still wake at 1 to nurse and still sleep with us for the remainder of the night. Naps are going pretty well. Most days you can hang until the afternoon and sleep for an hour or two, but some days you still need a short one in the morning.

You did gain a pound and grow an inch this month! Now you weigh 18 pounds and measure 29 inches. You are wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes! You are still a good eater, but did decide you don't like ham very much this month.

You aren't walking yet, but you've added climbing to the list! You love to climb the stairs (with Mama right behind you!) and climb on anything that looks "climbable!"

You love to play ball and have been tossing it to whoever will catch it for a few months now.

You give the sweetest kisses and hugs if we ask for them and sometimes even offer them unprompted!

Music and singing make you happy and you love to clap your hands and "conduct" while Sister sings. Bath time is still your favorite! You've made it a little more challenging as you've discovered the fun that is standing up in the tub!

You have started to cry when Mama leaves the room and spend a lot of time on my hip! You are without a doubt Mama's boy, but you get so excited when Daddy comes home for lunch or at the end of the day!

I'm anticipating that you'll be walking by my next update and may have added a few words to your vocabulary, but for now we are soaking up your baby days!

We are so blessed to have you, sweet boy!

Batter Up! ~ Our Little Slugger's First Birthday Party

{We won't talk about how behind I am with posts! We'll just get right to this one! Getting caught up is definitely on my to-do list!}

Yesterday we celebrated our sweet boy at his very first birthday party!

I choose a vintage baseball theme several months ago and had SO much fun with it! I designed the invitation using a digital paper from etsy as the background. I pulled the color scheme from it as well.

I was thrilled to find his baseball pants on ebay back when he was only like five months old and bought his raglan on Amazon. His hat came from Cracker Barrel and his little Nikes were also an Ebay purchase.

I took his baseball portraits back at the beginning of July with the help of Pop Pop, Mimi, Auntie and Nonny for smiles sake!

There are several more to share so I'll put them in their own post sometime soon! 

Initially, we were going to have the party here at home, but decided about two weeks ago to move it to the park just a few streets over! Daddy thought it would be fun to have the ball field and playground for the kids to play on. So I reserved Francisco Park and started stalking the weather forecast. For most of the week, Saturday looked like rain and lots of it. Like a 60 percent chance of rain all day long! We started praying that it would hold off and things would work out in favor of our afternoon celebration. 

And hold off they did! The Lord gave us an absolutely gorgeous day for the outdoor festivities!

This set up greeted guests as they arrived at the park. 

The chalkboard was reused from our wedding reception as it has been for the last several parties we've hosted! I bought the baseballs from a little league coach's ad on Craigslist for a dollar a ball and the ONE letters are from Joann's. I just painted them to match the theme.

I ordered the little bat from Etsy and had everyone sign it as a keepsake for Liam to have for years to come. It turned out so cute, but I forgot to take a picture of it after everyone signed it!

This highchair got it's third use (we used it for Londyn Grace's first and second birthday parties, too!) and it's third layer of paint for Liam's party! It's been pink, yellow and now almond! Mimi made the highchair banner and Mom Mom made his baseball bib and a skirt for Londyn Grace to match. The monogrammed wooden bat and ball came from unfinishedwood.com.

We served classic baseball snacks like popcorn, sunflower seeds, double bubble and cracker jacks to compliment the menu of hot dogs, cole slaw and potato salad.

We chose cupcakes instead of a big cake and then bought a small smash cake for Bubby to dig into.

The sugar bats, balls and gloves came from Amazon. 

The cracker jacks made the perfect party favor with these cute little tags! I totally forgot to take a picture of the finished product so here's a snap from Instagram!

The centerpieces were a hit and guests enjoyed snacking on peanuts during the party, but I never thought about how peanuts and squirrels would mesh! Let's just say they were very happy we planned to have the party in the park and helped themselves to a snack, too! Each bucket also held a monthly chalkboard photo!

I was anxious about the timing of the party and wanted to make sure Liam took a good nap beforehand. Thankfully he slept about two hours and was pretty happy when he woke up! Daddy got him dressed in his uniform and we discovered that his shoes were a little small! Apparently, his feet have grown a bit since we took the portraits a month ago! We were able to squeeze them into the sneakers only to find out he was very uncomfortable so we ended up ditching the shoes when he was very upset at the beginning of the party. After that he was ready to go!

We grabbed a few family shots before the kids got their outfits messy and I'm so glad we did!

Londyn Grace was so excited about Brother's party! She is so sweet with him!

And of course she had to be silly, too!

After we ate, it was time to sing Happy Birthday to our precious boy! 

He just watched intently as we all sang to him. Sister had been talking about helping him blow out his candle for weeks!

And then got right to devouring his cake!

any guesses as to needed to help him eat it, too?! :)

He was sweet enough to share with Daddy and Mama!

I just love the joy on his little face!

He would've sat their eating the icing for hours if we allowed him to, but we had presents to open!

After cleaning up and stripping him down to his onesie, it was time for gifts!

We were so blessed by all the love our family and friends showed our baby boy!

It was so good to have our parents, grandparents and my sister and brother in law here from Maryland and Pennsylvania.

We couldn't have done it without their help. Between setting up tables, running out a million times for all the things I forgot and just being there to help with the babies, they went above and beyond!

Family time is always short, but so so sweet when the miles that separate us are many.

with Mimi & Pop Pop (my parents)

with Grandpap & Grammy (Daniel's parents)

with Opa & Oma (Daniel's grandparents)

with Mom Mom (my grandmother)

Unfortunately, Auntie and Nonny were so busy helping I never got a picture of them with the birthday boy on my camera, but thankfully we have these phone pictures! 

with Auntie, Nonny & Baby K 

Everyone pitched in to get things cleaned up and I grabbed a few more shots of our birthday boy.

And after a few minutes of play on Mom Mom's lap, he was partied out!

It was a lovely afternoon spent with our favorite people celebrating our favorite boy!

He is such a precious gift to our family!

It was a happy party day for our little Liam babe! 

ten and eleven months {our little Liam babe}

Oh, Bubby, Mama's done it again.

I missed your ten month update and today you turned eleven months old!

But, please know that it's not because I haven't wanted to get your stats and things recorded! It's mostly because you are SUCH a mama's boy and are attached to me constantly! :) It's hard to type with you on my lap!

Anyway,  I'll do my best to remember all the things that have happened with you since I last posted!

 At 10 months, you still weren't crawling, but you were definitely mobile! You would scoot around on your bottom or stretch and reach as far as you could to grab whatever you had your eye on!

You are a little vacuum! There is no way I could list the things we've had to pry from your mouth! You find the tiniest pieces of anything and everything and you aren't thrilled when we take it away!

Speaking of eating, you certainly love to eat! You have tried lots of new foods and so far haven't turned down anything! You had your first taste of watermelon on Memorial Day and loved it! I got some really sweet pictures of you enjoying it! You are still nursing often and I cherish the snuggle time as you play with my hair and playfully put your fingers up to my mouth. You definitely have me wrapped around them, that's for sure! :)

This month we had family pictures taken (which still need to be blogged) and went to story time each Friday at the library! You did so well sitting with Sister and listening to the stories!

The day before you turned 10 months old your first tooth popped through! Your second followed about a week later! So now you have two bottom teeth! And Mama just loves how they peek out when you smile!

A few days after turning ten months, you had your checkup with Dr. Schlachter. We were so sad to find out it would be your last one. He's moving to Florida so we are on the hunt for a new pediatrician. :( He was pleased with your growth! You weighed around 16 pounds exactly and measured 27.5 inches long. You are tiny, but healthy!

This month you went on your first vacation and did an amazing job in your carseat! We drove over 2,000 miles and you hardly fussed at all unless it was time to nurse.

We went to Michigan and got to see all of the places that Daddy has always told us about! (another set of pictures needing to be blogged!)

Daddy helped you put your toes in the lake and you weren't really sure about the cold water!

  On June 25th, you said "Mama!" for the first time! What a sweet sound it is! Two days later, you pulled up to stand in your crib for the first time! So many firsts in such a short period of time!

Sister is still your biggest fan and you love her so much. When I'm taking your monthly pictures, your eyes are always on her!

Tonight she summed up how she feels about you with this little compliment, "You're amazing Bubba! You're an amazing boy!" I pray you two are always the best of friends!

Last week, we went to Ocean City, Maryland and you had a blast eating sand! (Yet another to be blogged event!) You liked the water this time {as opposed to the lake} until a big wave splashed you in the face! You only cried for a minute or two though!

Recently, you've moved from napping in your swing to napping in your crib and even start the night in your crib as well. You still take two naps and sometimes three if we are out in the evenings and you fall asleep in your carseat.

At eleven months, you are still wearing mostly 6 month clothes. You are inching toward 9 months slowly but surely! It's crazy to me that you can still be so little yet seeming so big!

This little comparison puts it into perspective!

Tonight, you celebrated your eleventh month by figuring out how to crawl! For weeks now, you would get up on all fours and try only to promptly plop right back down into a sitting position and cry for whatever it was you were after, but tonight you were determined to get the remote and you did it! 

All with Mama, Daddy and Sissy cheering you on! We are so proud of you, Bubby!

We are so thankful that the Lord gave us you, sweet boy! What a blessing you are to our family!

It seems so surreal that last year we were preparing for your arrival and now we are preparing for your first birthday party!

I'm so excited about the baseball theme and celebrating you with our family and friends!

Just four more weeks!