3 months

Liam turned 3 months old yesterday so he's not a newborn anymore....sniff, sniff. I don't think he's looked like a newborn for quite some time, but he's starting not to act like one either. He is so interactive lately and loves grabbing and batting at toys. He likes to sit up and watch everything. We brought the hop n' pop out of the attic yesterday, thinking he might not be quite ready for it. Well, he is and loves it. It's amazing how just seeing him standing upright makes him instantly look older. He is sleeping longer at night, and is getting in a set napping schedule during the day. I couldn't have asked for a more easy going, pleasant baby. It doesn't take much at all to get him to smile- a song or smiling at him usually does the trick. Miles wasn't a very difficult baby, just "high maintenance" as we called him. Justin and I both agree that it we're glad we have the easier baby the second time around.
Here are a couple of pictures of Liam in is hop n' pop and comparison pictures of Miles in it-same outfit too. Miles was a month older than Liam is now.

Liam
Miles

Liam
Miles

happy holidays from the boys!

This isn't our Christmas card, but I was playing around on scrapblog.com (way too addicting) and did this......

hallelujah

The big news around here is that Mr. Miles is pretty much potty trained! We picked the week of Thanksgiving since our play-and-learn class wasn't meeting that week and Justin would be home on vacation later in the week. It was an intense week, but there was light at the end of the tunnel! Miles doesn't wear diapers anymore!

This is one update where I will not post any pictures!

my budding musicians

Remember Miles' reaction at his 2nd birthday party when he opened the violin from his Grandpa? He still loves it and recently learned how to hold it under his chin while also holding the bow. He loves music and is fascinated by all instruments. He enjoyed playing a little accordion at Mast the other day and we debated buying it for Christmas. No Steve Urkel jokes allowed if we do!

Liam playing air guitar.

2 months

Our sweet little (actually not so little) Liam turned 2 months old on Thursday. It's hard to believe and a little bittersweet. He's already outgrown so many clothes, some that he never even wore. The reason being he has already almost doubled his birth weight. At his appointment on Thursday he weighed one ounce shy of 15 pounds (off the percentile chart) and was 24.5 inches long (90th percentile). He smiles all day long and has the sweetest disposition. The hanging toys on his playmat entertain him endlessly, but his favorite thing to do is sit in Mommy or Daddy's lap and stare at us. It's one of our favorite things to do too.

Liam at 2 months
Miles at 2 months

Liam

Miles

Halloween!

I'm a little late in putting these up..........Here are some highlights of the night:

We went over to the Owen's house to let the boys see each other in costume. They decided throwing pumpkins down the steps was much more entertaining than posing for pictures!
Miles was an ant. Most people thought spider. I can't say I blame them. We tried for the correct anatomy with 6 legs and antennae, but I couldn't get him to wear the abdomen.
Liam was my little pumpkin.
Miles eventually got the hang of trick-or-treating. At first house (thankfully owned by an understanding 1st grade teacher) Miles tried to go inside and then threw a fit when she put a Winnie the Pooh pen in his bucket. I guess he was ticked off that it wasn't candy! He was fine after that, but did try to go into all the houses. We went to 7 houses in the neighborhood. He kept saying, "just one more!"
I don't think Miles has really ever had candy before that night, not much anyway. When we told him he could pick something out, he didn't quite know what to think. He ended up enjoying a lollipop WAY too much!
Liam was a good little baby and slept through almost everything. Next year will be interesting with a one year old and three year old!

a week of firsts

Both boys got to do some things for the first time this week:

We had our first snow of the season and first snow ever for Liam! We were surprised to wake up to snow on Wednesday morning. At times it came down pretty heavy with huge flakes. Needless to say, it was a very exciting morning. And of course, Liam watched from the warmth of inside.We voted ! This wasn't a first for Miles as he did go with me to vote in the primaries. But hey, this election is a big deal and they were part of it! They even got stickers. I went with Crystal and her two boys. We must have been a sight coming in from the snow with our double strollers.
I bet most of you can guess who we're voting for based on my last post.......We carved our first pumpkin! Well we did last year, but I don't think Miles was a part of it. He didn't want ANY part of sticking his hands in the pumpkin to pull out the guts (surprise, surprise) and he made sure we didn't make a scary face! So we have a goofy, but happy one-toothed jack-o-lantern. We joined a "play and learn" class. It was hectic with both boys, but fun. I couldn't believe Miles sat there on the rug like he was supposed to during song time, a puppet show, and a craft! I'm thankful and hopeful that this means we can do more things like this.We painted pumpkins! Crystal and I were brave and let the boys have at it. They had as much fun painting themselves as the pumpkins. Luckily crayola kid's paint is a breeze to cleanup:)Whew, and there's still Halloween tomorrow! I think my homemade ant costume might actually turn out decent. It's what Miles really wanted to be and he is excited about it, so I guess that's all that matters. Liam will wear a cute pumpkin outfit that Aunt Rachel gave us when Miles was a baby. More pictures to come soon.......

sweet baby Liam

It's so hard to believe little Liam turned one month old yesterday! I'm afraid time is going to pass even quicker this time around, if that's even possible. So far he's following in big brother's footsteps. Miles liked to accomplish milestones on his monthly birthdays; he smiled at one month exactly and rolled over at 3 months (there was another one that I can't remember now...). Well, believe it or not, Liam smiled for the first time yesterday on his one month birthday. Just as with Miles, Justin was hesitant to believe me until he saw it too. I've gotten several more today. I forgot how it makes your heart melt. Liam made the most of his big day....he cooed for the first time too. It was so loud I heard it from the next room, before Justin asked, "did you hear THAT?". He really responds to his big brother and his eyes light up when he sees him. His favorite objects to look at are a picture of Miles that hangs above the love seat and himself in the mirror. He already knows how cute he is!

Here is Liam at one month old.....

Here is a picture of Miles at one month and a picture of Liam in the same outfit. Look how much chunkier Liam is!



Oh, another first....his first concert. We were able to get tickets to the free James Taylor concert on Sunday. James Taylor played 5 concerts across the state in support of Obama. I got the last 2 tickets they were giving away on Friday, but they ended up letting people in with or without tickets. We started doubting our sanity on Sunday knowing how late we would be out and especially once we got there and saw the line. Both kids were great as we waited in the longest line I've ever seen. Thank goodness for the double stroller! Miles loved the music and during each song said, "like this song!". Liam slept. We heard the songs we wanted to hear and thankfully he played a short set and we were able to get the boys home at a fairly decent time. I guess we weren't too crazy after all.

pumpkin patch

I guess it's become somewhat of a tradition in our still fairly new family to go to a pumpkin patch every October and take way too many pictures. Well, I guess this is the first year it's really been more than a church lawn with a bunch of pumpkins for sale. Even though Miles was born here, this is his first Halloween living in NC. We were excited to go to a real pumpkin patch in Hendersonville with our friends Crystal and Danny and their two boys Owen and Ben. I guess calling it a pumpkin "patch" is a little bit of a stretch, but at least everything is grown there- I think. Miles and Owen had fun, a little too much as they really didn't want to slow down for pictures. The babies were pretty cooperative as you can imagine. It was pretty chilly, which is a first since this tradition started. The last 2 years in Athens we tried to dress fall-like, all the while wanting to shed clothes. After the photo session was done we did let Miles pick out a little pumpkin to paint and a big one for carving. Everything is "beautiful" to Miles these days, so he picked out a "big, beautiful" pumpkin!

Here are a few pictures from the past two years......

Here we go!

I'm finally entering the world of blogging. Several of my friends have blogs and I really enjoy reading them and keeping up with the happenings of their families, so I thought I would at least try this. Especially since we now have a new little one to keep everyone updated on in addition to the ever growing and changing Miles. Well, here we go!