ten months.

Liam Briggs, you are ten months old!

What have you been up to?

You are around 20 lbs and at least 29 inches long.

You wear size 6-12 month clothes mostly and size 3 shoes. You also wear size 3 diapers.

You are still nursing twice a day and taking two bottles. You eat three full meals. Your favorite foods this month are whole grain blueberry waffles and any of the Annie's Organic pastas, especially the cheese raviolis and spaghettios with soy meatballs. You rarely eat baby food anymore, you just love to feed yourself!

You are sleeping around 12 hours at night and go to bed between 8 and 8:30. You take 2 naps a day, around 11 and 4. They are usually around 1.5 hours long, sometimes 2.

You have FOUR teeth! Your top left tooth popped out right around 9 months and your top right popped through a couple weeks later.

You are getting better at waving at the right time! When I say bye-bye and wave to you you will sometimes wave back or if I hold your arm up and say bye-bye you will wave your hand. But you also still just wave whenever you feel like it too, and you like to wave to the dogs! It's so cute!

Things You Like:

Banging on anything and everything <--- such a boy!

Blocks, blocks, and blocks. You love when I build a tower and you knock it down. We could do that all day long.

Swinging!

Your favorite toys this month are your tractor and farm animals, all the magazines in the basket under the coffee table, the remote, and of course, blocks.

Things You Don't Like:

Having your face cleaned or nose wiped. You fight us like crazy with this!

Standing up in your crib, ha! The first time you did it was January 24th, but you have not done it since that one time :)

Shoes! We have been putting shoes on you more often this month, and you absolutely hate it. You're fine once they're one, but getting them on is a big battle!

Firsts:

This month everything seemed to click and you have had lots of firsts!

You said Mama, finally! I thought I heard it on January 11, but definitely heard it on the 12th! No other new words- still just Mama, Dada, hi, bye, and I love you. The only one you say with purpose yet is I love you. The others are just random sounds, but real words nonetheless!

You clapped for the first time on December 30! You have only done it a few times since and only when you're SUPER happy about something!

You can go from laying down to sitting up now and vice versa. The first time I caught you doing it was January 13th. Now whenever we come to get you in the mornings or after a nap, you are usually sitting up waiting on us!

You are CRAWLING as of yesterday the 28th! First you had to perfect the army crawl and can go super fast all over the house. Then for the past two weeks you have been getting up off your tummy and moving your arms, but still scooting one leg. But yesterday morning you finally crawled...and it was to me! You made my day, baby boy! You will only crawl short distances right now, but I bet in a week or two you will be all over the house!

You are also cruising! Not from furniture to furniture yet (thankfully), but if you are on one side of the couch or coffee table and see something you want on the other end you go for it. Here's a little video!

You are also walking with your walker! This came out of nowhere because I have been trying to get you to just stand with it for a while, but you had no interest and would ball up your fists when I tried to get you to hold on to it. Then you decided to just go for it and walked across the rug all by yourself! Here he is!

Oops, looks like someone snuck a taste! :)

You are such a joy Liam and absolutely the sweetest, happiest baby that ever was!

We love you oh so much!

*Disclaimer - Please excuse the unkempt hair and un-editted photos. I usually get these done early, but I was sick yesterday and BUSY this weekend so this photo shoot was done hastily with no bath! Keepin' it real :)

Morning Sunlight

is my favorite sunlight.

Traumatized.

Preface:

I think it's safe to say my child is no daredevil. He does not try anything new until he's absolutely certain he can do it, and once he does learn something new, he's very content with that for a long time. That's just his personality. There are no backflips off the changing table or climbing out of highchairs at our house. Makes for a pretty easy life for us all. Until...

The Story:

Yesterday Liam was having a clingy day. He kept climbing into my lap during Baby Bounce class, and when my mom and I were out shopping he would only go to her about half the time and the other half he would bury himself into my chest when she reached for him. When Will tried to take him from me to go do their bedtime routine, he had a colossal meltdown. I ended up in the nursery helping Will get him ready for bed, and then snuck out during Llama Llama Red Pajama. Not that that worked. He screamed during the entire book.

Eventually Will got him settled down enough to put him to bed. He fussed for a few minutes and then got quiet. I was right next door in the office and could hear everything. After a few minutes of silence, the screaming started again. Blood-curdling screaming. That is very unlike him, but it was also the same cry he cried when Will tried to take him from me earlier. I tried to wait it would and kept going back and forth between, "That's not normal for Liam. I need to go in there right now." and "He's just having a rough day. He will calm down soon and fall asleep." After about 10-15 minutes of this I couldn't take it anymore and went into his room.

When I opened the door, my poor baby was standing up in his crib with a look of complete panic and terror because he didn't know how to get back down! (Yes, it took him nearly 10 months to do this for the first time. Hence the whole "not a daredevil" trait.) He was crying huge alligator tears and his arms were wrapped in a death grip around the crib railing! I yelled for Will and scooped him up. We were able to calm him down pretty quickly, but he was so terrified he would not let me put him down. And of course I felt awful for having let him cry in there as long as I did! I took him to our bedroom to calm down and we laid there together for a little while until he was sleepy again. Then I put him back to bed, but I really just wanted to hold him all night!

I was worried that we were in for a long night after hearing my friend Emily's experience with a similar situation, but surprisingly he didn't make a peep for the rest of the night. Knowing him, he won't be trying that again any time soon! And how crazy is it too that just the night before Will decided to lower Liam's crib mattress down one notch. Liam has started sleeping on his stomach and would lift himself up on his arms to see us over the bumper when we would come get him, so Will thought it was better safe than sorry even though he wasn't making any attempt to pull up yet. He was so right!

So that was our traumatic experience last night. It may not seem like much, but for our baby, it was. :(

Oh, and I've finally found one downside to the Angelcare monitor. Liam has recently become very wiggly in his sleep and will scoot himself up to the very corner of his crib where the sensors don't reach. The sensors monitor his breathing, and an alarm will sound when it doesn't detect any breathing for 5 seconds. In the last month or two, the alarm has gone off at least half a dozen times in the middle of the night. It no longer freaks me out because by the time I get out of bed the monitor has usually found him and will go off, but I still go into his nursery to move him so it won't happen again. Well, it went off at 4:50 this morning. Between that and the raging storm outside, I have now been awake for nearly three hours. I am going to be one tired mama today!

Miscellany Monday!

Miscellany Monday with Carissa!

1. Low key weekends are the best. Ours was filled with grocery shopping, going on a nice long walk, napping, playing, church, and football. And no cooking!

2. The weather has been gorgeous lately so Liam and I have spent a lot of time outside. I'd say swinging is in his top three favorite things to do. Along with bath time and snuggling :)

I love how happy he looks in all of these pictures. Especially the one where he his head is thrown back and his eyes are closed as he laughs. It's my new favorite picture. Every time I look at it I smile. I hope he has many moments in life where he closes his eyes, throws his head back, and just laughs :)

3. My best friend from high school is getting married on Friday! I am so excited for her! With the rehearsal and everything beginning Thursday, this is going to be a busy week!

I stole these engagement photos off their wedding website. Don't you love them?!

4. WHY is Picnik closing?!? Is anyone else as severely upset about this as I am?? The only upside for me is that they're not shutting down until April 19th which means I will be able to finish Liam's 365 collages. RIP Picnik - I will miss you :(

5. Do you see that top left tooth? It popped through last week and his top right actually popped through the other day too. Liam has discovered that he can click his top and bottom teeth together now and does it all the time. It's so funny to hear him sit there clicking away!

6. I have gotten into a BAD habit lately of neglecting my DSLR for my camera phone. It's just more convenient for those spur of the moment faces I want to capture, but I really want to get better about grabbing my good camera when I can. Can I get an amen?

I snapped these before church yesterday - I love that face!

7. Today is the one day this week we don't have something planned. The only thing is that my parents are coming over for a visit. I think that means I'm going to stay in my yoga pants all day. And maybe get my craft on while they play with Liam. Yep!

Happy Monday!

iShop.

Yesterday was a shopping day for me and Liam. We ran all over town picking up goodies for his birthday. Sidenote: I have just about everything I need for Liam's party two months in advance! Now I just need to get busy crafting.

I popped into World Market while we were out because it had been awhile and we don't have one in our town. Um, it took every ounce of self restraint I had to not walk out of there with the entire store! I loved everything!

Not only did they have a ton of new arrivals - but almost everything is sale! You know I have touble passing up a good sale.

Here are a few pieces I am still drooling over...



Technically this is considered a console table, but I am picturing it in my kitchen stacked high with gorgeous white dishes.



How perfect is this loveseat for a craft room to relax in and dream up your next creation? Or for book reading in a master bedroom or cozy little nook.



Check out those legs! In person it's a much darker, richer stain. I'm thinking a bench on one side an some geat upholstered chairs around the rest.



I love, love, love pendant lamps in kitchens! I want some similar to this hanging over my island in my (someday) beautiful white kitchen.

If it happens to look just like this that would be fine :)



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These remind me of the beach. And they are HUGE in person!



I am a basket lover. Don't these look very similar to the Pottery Barn ones below? For $20 instead of $70, I think they are pretty darn close.






Same with these two. Above - $40. Below - $80.

Good job, World Market for making me feel like I need all new everything. Again.

Now I need to go ask Will to hide my wallet.

Random + I'm Forgetful + Tag!

A couple weeks ago I was given blog awards by MsDeyle and Zantia. And I completely forgot to do them. Thank y'all so much though! I'm happy you thought of me even though I suck at doing these things :)

And today, Rachel and Amanda tagged me in the 11 Random Things survey-thing that's going around. Thanks, ladies!

All four of these tags require random facts about myself (which I try to avoid because I never feel like I have anything interesting about myself to reveal), but alas, here goes.

I'm combining all of them into one 11 Things list because it's my blog and I can :)

1. I'm a lefty - holla! Not interesting at ALL. But I think Liam is going to be a lefty too because his left hand is always way messier than his right hand after his meals and it makes me HAPPY. Why? Because that means I get to teach him how to write instead of Will. Will's handwriting = chicken scraaaatch.

2. I miss being a teacher. (But I don't miss it enough to go back.) I do miss it enough to sometimes entertain the idea of homeschooling. And then I laugh at myself because that will NEVER happen. I would do fine up until fractions. Yikes. I'll settle for room mom.

3. umm....

4. I am a terrible laundress. Both in that I very rarely do it, and that I tend to shrink all my favorite shirts. I really need my laundry tags on the outside of my shirts so I remember to read them. The worst was a pair of Will's Hugo Boss suit pants that he JUST got. I got a big frown for that one...

5. I use Liam as my excuse to talk out loud to myself in public places. Because he CAN understand my grocery list and knows what aisle pasta sause is on, duh!

6. I have probably watched Pride & Prejudice 163,753 times, and I could watch it a million more times and never tire of it. You have bewitched me body and soul...aaahhhh.

7. umm...

8. I want to move so I can start over with decorating. I don't want all new stuff, I just want a new space to put it in.

9. I work very well under pressure. Sometimes I will give myself fake deadlines just to see how fast I can get things done.

10. I'm a bad online shopper. I prefer to buy in stores so I can have the item right then. And I don't like to pay for shipping. Cheap and impatient <--- that's me!

11. If I knew I would have a boy next, I would get pregnant tomorrow. I would love to have two brothers that close in age. But I DO NOT want a boy and a girl that close. NEVER EVER.

Now 11 questions from Rachel:

1) What is your go to dinner menu? Will throws whatever meat is in the freezer on the grill and I scrounge up a couple sides :)

2) What is your biggest pet peeve? One-uppers.

3) If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to? I used to want to be named Samantha because I loved Samantha the American Girl Doll. I wanted to be her and live during her time period and have her gorgeous hair and wear her pretty dresses. However, I was totally a Molly. Glasses and braids and all.

4) What is the first thing you do when you get up every morning? tinkle, duh.

5) What is the last thing you do before you go to bed at night? say my prayers.

6) What is your shopping weakness? Anything on SALE! I can pretty much talk myself into needing anything if I think I'm getting a good enough deal on it.

7) How many kids would you like to have in total? 3-4

8) What is your favourite thing in your entire house (not people)? My computer.

9) How do you sleep? Back, front, side? I try to sleep on my side because it's the best for back pain, but I usually end up on my stomach.

10) What is your favourite take out food? pizza or wings. Keepin it klassy.

11) What book are you currently reading? The Legacy of Pemberly. Yes, the obsession goes beyond my love for the movie. I love this series by Rebecca Ann Collins. If you want a good follow-up series to P&P, try this one.

Now 11 questions from Amanda:

1. What’s your go-to snack? usually wheat thins or string cheese or something.

2. What is the first thing you do when you get home from work/school errands/playdates? change back into comfy clothes :)

3. What is a guilty please of yours? trashy television. I'll take Kardashians with a side of Teen Mom, thanks.

4. How many serious boyfriends did it take to get to Mr. Right? eh, like 2 or so. and then a sprinkling of non-serious ones in between :)

5. If you could pick a different state to live in, what would it be? I don't know, somewhere that experiences all 4 seasons maybe? Just to see what they're all like, ha.

6. What is one type of show you hate watching on TV? sports. I only like football on tv. I'll watch pretty much any sport live though.

7. What time do you get up in the mornings? Whenever I hear Liam on the monitor which is usually around 8.

8. Would you rather hot weather or cold? HOT

9. What is the most recent movie you’ve watched? wellll yesterday I watched..."Life As We Know It," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," and "Valentine's Day." I told you I watched a lot of movies yesterday.

10. What is your typical weekend made up of? family time, errands, church, walks if the weather's nice

11. Do you make your bed/tidy up every day? Ha. The ONLY time our bed gets made is once every two weeks when Norma makes it. Bless her. I do tidy up toys and the living room/kitchen all day everyday though so it looks nice when Will gets home.

Now 11 people I tag:

1. Zantia

2. Deyle

3. Amanda

4. Shannon

5. Kati

6. Ashley

7. Jamie

8. Meghan

9. Lauren

10. Beth Ann

11. Tami

And 11 questions for my taggers:

1. What is your favorite thing to search for on Pinterest? (Assuming you use Pinterest. Which you should if you don't.)

2. Have you ever been outside of the country you currently live in? Where?

3. If you could speak a second language fluently, what would it be?

4. Are you a cat person or a dog person?

5. What type of house is your favorite? (colonial, ranch, tudor, etc.)

6. What is your dream car?

7. If you were vacationing 10 hours away - would you drive or fly? (and not because of money)

8. Would you relive high school if you could? What would you do differently?

9. If your significant other had an accent - what would it be?

10. Would you rather not shower for a week or not brush your teeth for a week? Ew! :)

11. Would you rather have all boys or all girls?

Answer these questions, list 11 Random things about yourself, and tag 11 others!

Keep it going, it's fun!

My Day...

Will and I are house/dog sitting for my parents this week. It's actually really great because Will's office is about 10 minutes away from their house as opposed to the 1.5 hour drive it takes him to get to our house. That means I will actually get to see my husband during daylight hours - woohoo!

Something that's not going so great is sleep. My parents have two yippy dogs, and one of them woke Liam up at 12:15 last night and he didn't go back down until 2am. Then the same dog woke him back up at 6:40 this morning, and Liam thought it was time to get up for the day. I.am.tired.

Liam has been catching up on his sleep throughout the day with some good naps though so I can't complain too much. And since we're house sitting, I have nothing productive to do (cleaning, laundry, etc.) SO I've been doing a LOT of movie watching and pinterest surfing.

Here's a little bit of my day...

This website is awesome! It's a bunch of DIY knockoffs of expensive home decor. I think this one is a knockoff of a Pottery Barn bench.

Spaghetti with cream cheese, whaaaaat??! You are going on next week's dinner menu thankyouverymuch.

I am just in love with this shirt. A must for Liam's closet.

I'm thinking about making this for Vday dinner. Since it's on a Tuesday we most defnitely will not be going out!

And of course I have to make this for dessert - strawberry coconut cake! My two faves in one! I made a coconut cake for Will's birthday last year that he about died for, so I think he'll like it as well :)

How cute is this free printable?? I may have to hide Will's lunch bag on Valentine's so he will be forced to brown bag it just so I can print this.

I pinned this from Tami, and I cannot wait to get home to my Mac so I can try them out!

For links to these images, find me on Pinterest @ lnlofland.

Happy Tuesday!

Venture 2012

This weekend Will and I co-hosted a group of 10th grade boys for Venture 2012! (It's similar to Disciple Now if you've heard of that.) Our friends and fellows hosts, Nicole and Brad, were the ones who actually opened up their home (we opened up our guest bathroom for showers!) and we spent the entire weekend with 7 tenth graders. And you know what? It was a blast! I don't know if it's because I'm outnumbered now, but I love boy time! I truly wonder if I'm destined to be a boys-only mom because I feel really comfortable around boys. Is that weird? I would absolutely love to have a daughter, but after spending 48 hours with boys and boy talk and doing boy things, I have to say I would be up for the challenge!

All the boys!

Liam representing Venture 2012 in his shirt Nicole made him!

We picked our group up Friday night and Will and Brad, along with the high school boys and their two college leaders, had a session at the church while Nicole and I loaded all the boys' stuff into our cars and hung out at Sonic with the babies until they were finished. Nicole and Brad have three kids, but Emma was the only one present for the weekend - she's 2.5 months old. We all went back to their home for a Bible study and hanging out after. Liam was such a trooper and stayed up until 10:30pm! The two of us left and Will stayed for video games until the wee hours of the morning.

Working hard and playing hard at the Boys and Girls Club!

Liam and Emma playing at the Boys and Girls Club, and then being driven all over kingdom come during the scavenger hunt!

Saturday we all went to the local Boys & Girls Club to clean/paint/etc. Nicole and I (and the babies) were the designated picture takers. All the hosts had their own Facebook page to upload pictures to throughout the weekend - don't you just love technology? After lunch and another session, it was time for the iHunt scavenger hunt. Each house was given a list of things to do, then someone takes a picture with their phone and uploads it to their Facebook page to collect points. These boys did some CRAZY things - one boy even shaved his head! The things you will do for 500 points :)

Then we had some down time before dinner at the church and another session. I actually took Liam home for a normal bedtime, but Will hung out at Brad and Nicole's until about midnight trampoline cage-fighting. Boys will be boys...

Scavenger hunt activities - fit as many people as you can in a bathtub and jumping rope on a trampoline! Sidenote: WHY won't boys smile for group pictures??!

The kids went home today, and us old people are still trying to recover, ha! We had to get up early every morning and going, going, going all day with a baby and a group of teenagers is exhausting, but I am already looking forward to next year! Not only were they sweet and fun boys, but it was really amazing listening to young men talk about God and their faith. It's really encouraging and makes me hopeful for the future. :)

Cade was really interested in Liam's chubby baby toes :)

Relaxing...for like 5 seconds.

P.S. I'm SO glad Will has the day off tomorrow - we are going to SLEEP IN! Well, as long as Liam will let us :)