February 10 = Art Project Day

Warning: This is a picture heavy post. 

Here's Malia being cute at Liam's therapy appointments.  She was making these cute sounds that were making all the little old ladies come over and look at her and talk to her and ask all sorts of questions and tell me how precious she is which is always fun.

 Then we did an art project at home!  Liam is wearing one of the robes Malia wore in the hospital- either when she had the seizures or when she went back later for an MRI.  We used red paint and a heart shaped cookie cutter- it didn't go quite as planned.

When I accepted this was not going to be a sheet with lots of pretty, perfect red hearts, I gave him a brush and he had fun with that.

Then we added more colors!

And then we rested.  Art is hard work!

February 7 = Grocery Cart

I remember the first day Liam sat in the grocery cart by himself.  Zachary was gone quite often and so I'd go grocery shopping by myself all the time.  Before he could sit in the grocery cart by himself, I had to put the car seat in the big part of the cart meaning I could only get groceries that would fit in the seat part.  That wasn't a lot.  So when he sat in the seat leaving the big part free for more groceries, it was a good day.  And now Malia has reached that point too!

On a completely unrelated note, Liam thought it would be fun to play with the salt shaker today after dinner.  I had already cleaned up the floor which held most of the salt but snapped this picture real quick to remember how proud of himself he was that he had found something to play with by himself- you can see where he was running his fingers through the salt on the table.  
 

February 6 = Finish a Movie Day

One of my Facebook friends posted a rave review of a movie she had finished watching, "Mom's Night Out."  So I immediately logged on to the library's website and put a hold on it.  It didn't take long for me to get the email telling me it was ready- it's not a terribly popular movie and it's incredibly cheesy but the friend who reviewed it and I have very similar day to day lives and I figured if she loved it, I might would too.  I'm so glad I got this movie.  It opens with a stay-at-home-mom navigating through all the things that go wrong in a typical day and the struggle to be a good, engaged mom while keeping the house somewhat clean with clean dishes to eat off of and clean clothes for everyone to wear- it's hard!  I love watching stuff like this because it makes me feel like I'm justified when at the end of the day I'm wondering where the time went and if I really did make the most of the day.  It makes me feel like I'm not alone in wondering if all I have to give is good enough.  I do not ever want this to make anyone think I am complaining about my life- I am very aware that I am so very blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with my kids and I wouldn't have it any other way.  But it is hard.  I have two bosses who are very demanding and not very clear on their expectations.  Sometimes after putting Liam to bed, when I shut the door and very stereotypically blow my bangs out of my eyes- and I come out to living room with a fussy baby and a basket of laundry that needs to be folded, I ask myself why I didn't do better- clean more, play more, love more.  This scene near the end of the movie really spoke to me and by spoke to me, I mean made me cry.

Alyson: "No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I give, I'm just not enough."

Bones (a tattooed Trace Adkins): For who?

Alyson: "I mean, Sean, the kids, my mother, God, everybody, I don't know."

Bones: "You?  Not enough for you. I was raised in church... My momma worked 3 jobs.  I never met my daddy.  I had to get up early and walk to school but I'd wait up for her coming home from the diner.  I'd wait up every night because she'd come home and she'd put me to bed and she'd tell me something.  She'd tell me the same thing every night.  He loves you, Charles, no matter who you are, no matter what you do or how far you run.  Jesus will always be loving you with his arms open wide just for being you and I'd smile and go to sleep.  You know, I saw something on Pinterest the other day- it was an eagle just caring for its young.  It's a beautiful thing to watch one of God's creations just doing what he made it to do- just being an eagle and that's enough. Y'all spend so much time beating yourselves up.  It must be exhausting.  Let me tell you something, girl.  I doubt the good Lord made a mistake giving your kiddos the momma he did.  So you just be you.  He'll take care of the rest."

So there we go.  From now on, at the end of the day when I'm questioning myself, I'll picture Trace Adkins telling me, "You just be you.  He'll take care of the rest."

February 5 = Typical Thursday

I got a text from my brother asking if I could proofread his paper.  At the moment, my brain was not available because all I could hear was screaming.  I took these two pictures and sent them to him letting him know I'd try to read it during nap time.

This was after we got home from Liam's OT and ST appointments where the funniest thing happened.  As we were waiting for Liam's occupational therapist to come out, this little boy was very curious about Liam and Malia.  He was asking what their names are and how old they are... His last question was "Do you just have these two," and I said "Yep- just these two" and he said "You're lucky" and looked at his family and rolled his eyes.  Apparently he has more siblings than he knows what to do with.

February 4 = Dinner with Friends Day

We had such a busy day today!  I took the kids to the gym today so I could go to yoga with my friend, Amy.  Getting them to the gym is no easy feat and should count as a workout in and of itself but it's good for my mental and physical state and it's good for Liam and Malia to see other kids and spend time around other adults also so everyone wins!  Amy's husband, Will, is in the same program Zachary is and so she invited us and the other wives of guys in the same program over for dinner- we try to do this most Wednesday or Thursday nights since the guys have class in DC those nights but with everyone's nap, bath and bedtime schedules sometimes it can be pretty difficult.  But this one worked out wonderfully!  Here's Malia and Amy and Will's daughter, Evie- they like looking at each other and we are convinced they are going to be the best of friends!

February 3 = Mum-Mum Day

Malia ate a mum-mum today!

February 2 = Bouncer Day

At the child care center at the gym we go to, they have a little bouncer that Malia loves.  It's smaller than the one we have so I've been waiting until she was a little taller to try ours but today was the day!

Also Liam has started letting us know when he wants more of something.  Today, he had a clementine for breakfast and as I was finishing cleaning out the dishwasher this morning, I heard his cute little voice say "ma ma orange."  Now don't think he's asking his momma for more orange by name- no- he's saying "more orange."  I'm still waiting to see what he'll call me one day but today was exciting in that he very clearly communicated a two word phrase to me!

February 1 = Super Bowl Sunday

I started today by making some homemade pouches:

Malia was a fan:

 

I was cleaning out Malia's drawers the other day, putting the 3 and 3-6 month clothes away and came across her football onesie that we got for Halloween- I kept it in her drawer just for today!  She's gotten really good at putting weight in her hands and reaching that head way up!

Liam liked the pouches too!

Zachary and I watch The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon every night before we go to bed and the other day he showed some Super Bowl Bingo cards that you could print off and use so of course Zachary and I turned it in to a competition- whoever wins gets half the other person's allowance.  Well... Zachary won.

 

January 31 = I'm Running out of Names Day

We had a pretty normal day today- We went to the grocery store, chick-fil-a, Malia & Liam had naps and I got a lot of organizing done.  Marley and Joey enjoyed Malia's pack 'n' play for one of the last times- since Malia's sleeping in her crib pretty regularly, we're looking forward to getting it out of our bedroom so our room is back to being our room- not Malia's room- even though I must say I miss her sometimes in the middle of the night.

January 30 = Family Dinner Night

We usually try to eat dinner as a family but Malia sometimes naps during dinner.  Tonight though, we were all together and had a lovely evening.  Malia was obviously very happy:

Liam ate as much zucchini as Liam did which made this momma very happy.

 

My family got in a little after dinner- they were going to come last weekend to celebrate my birthday but they were a bit nervous about the weather.  Matthew snapped this picture of my precious little girl.  So cute!

Also- we got a video of this but I can't find it- but Malia has this sea horse that lights up and plays music- she started kissing the sea horse and wouldn't stop- it was so cute and so sweet- I hope I can find the video because it brought everyone in the room lots of joy!

January 29 = Typical Thursday Day

I've mentioned multiple times that Thursday nights are a bit rough.  I tried to start the day off really well by giving Liam a super nutritious breakfast: clementines, kiwi and golden delicious apples.  

He ate most of it and that gave me the confidence to think we were going to have an awesome day.  It continued to go really well- we went to the library for "Babies in Bloom."  Liam sat in my lap and let me hold the book the coordinator was reading- he even tolerated one of the songs!  I wasn't able to take Malia out but Liam enjoyed himself so all in all it was a good experience.  We went home long enough for me to pump and eat a quick lunch and then we met some friends at Target.  We got some yummy snack and a face lotion for Miss Malia- her face keeps getting chapped from the cold I think.  Oh- then we ran to Bed Bath & Beyond because earlier in the 30 minutes we were home earlier, when I opened the freezer to put some milk in there to freeze, a glass bottle fell and hit the crock pot on the way down- breaking the stoneware and then shattering on the kitchen floor.  I got a new crockpot at Bed Bath & Beyond and then we headed to My Gym for Liam's therapy appointment.  We are thinking about getting a membership there for Liam and Malia so I talked to someone there about that and then we came home to see Zachary for a few minutes and then I laid Liam and Malia down for a much needed nap.  I got a few things done but the time flew and this is how Liam's mood was for the rest of the evening:

We played with a few toys but he pretty much wanted to be left alone.  So I turned my attention to Malia and tried to get her to eat one of the pouches we got at Target earlier in the day.  So far, she's rejected all purees but I thought it was worth a try.  I was right!

She loved it!  So then Liam decided he wanted attention after all so I went to pick out some toys and found this:

 So while the pieces weren't in, he did a great job of matching the pieces- the snake, elephant and lion are all in the right area and he did it all by himself!  As I took this picture, he was busy- I turned around and he was playing the keyboard!

It was a busy day complete with yummy meals, a bit of a tantrum but plenty of smiles and love too!