Liam is 4!

It doesn't seem possible, but our Liam is 4!

He continues to be a "grab-life-by-the-horns" kind of a kid: fearless, funny, assertive, and so very social.  He loves big, fights big and can melt your heart with his creativity, imagination, and smile!

Even his weeks of sickness in January and February couldn't keep this kid down.  He got tickets for Christmas to see Disney on Ice at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, and who ever would have known he had been under the weather?!  He was too excited to care.

He is really becoming quite the little man.  From his interest in wearing a jacket and tie to church these days (thank you to cousin Shannon for lending us Dillon's former duds!) to initiating conversation with any (and sometimes, every) adult, he at times seems downright determined to grow up. As a general rule, Liam loves whatever other kids are into... especially big kids.  He often comes home from Aunt Doreen's with a new app or song for us to "upload", thanks to time spent with her 13-year-old niece Gina and 11-year-old nephew Lou.

Liam lives for Friday Family Movie Nights (held every Friday, provided he's been good!) and especially for the accompanying popcorn.  Without fail, he will not only sit next to you for stories or movies, but try to climb all over you... get up on your shoulders... leap off a table or neighboring chair into your lap... or whatever else the mood strikes him to do.

Liam is pretty much always down for a board game, and has been having a blast with the new games he got for Christmas.  He loves his new penguin game from Uncle Jake and Aunt Surabhi, the octopus game from Aunt Erin and Uncle Thomas, Spider-Man Dominos and Candy Land from Grandma and Papa (he's pretty good at both!), and this cool circus game from Miss Anita.

He is also getting more and more interested in drawing.  I loved this one that he drew for his buddy Kaelyn, who has curly hair (see?) and who he insists he will marry:

He made this one for Uncle Tim for his 30th birthday of Goofy, Mickey, and Minnie... see, Goofy is the tall one!

Although Liam's energy and volume are often on full blast (and frequently must be reminded to use his inside voice), he is also a truly sweet and thoughtful boy. When I wasn't feeling well one day and lying down before dinner, Liam gently approached me and said, "Mommy? You should come downstairs and have some dinner.  Because if you don't, I'm worried you will wake up hungry in the middle of the night."  It took everything in me not to laugh out loud!  And when running through BJs while steering one of their giant carts, he was sure to exclaim, "Excuse me, please!" to everyone who may have been walking in his wake.

Since Liam's 4th birthday fell on a Friday, he got to celebrate with his preschool friends by bringing in birthday treats that Thursday.  Preschool is in the mornings, so we decided to make dinosaur donuts!  (Loving Chef Chloe's vegan dessert recipes!)

We celebrated on his birthday with spaghetti (sans meatballs-- it's Lent!), which is Liam's favorite dinner...

... and then with some special phone calls from some very special people near and far...

... and of course with opening presents.  He had a very dedicated helper in that task!

Batman stuff!

The Hess helicopter!  Yessss!  (that face says it all!)

And a whole box of Dinosaur Eggs!

That night after the boys were off in a new-toy-induced slumber, I baked a birthday cake, which Liam helped me decorate the next morning:

And then it was off to meet Nana and Grandpa at Chuck E Cheese in Berwyn!  Liam emphatically insisted that that was the only place he wanted to go for his birthday, which we thought was rather interesting for a lactose-intolerant kid.  But the hotdog was safe, so off we went.  He had a BLAST.

C'mon up here, Joergen!

The boys were beside themselves with excitement when none other than Chuck E Cheese himself walked in:

High Five!

I adore Joergen's expression in this pic:

Hi Chuck!!

After a rousing group rendition of "If You're Happy and You Know It", Chuck tossed an armful of free tickets in the air for the kids, which was basically a free-for-all version of 52-pick-up.

When we'd had enough excitement (which coincided with the moment when the place started to get packed to the gills with what seemed like hundreds of concurrent birthday parties), we sat down for lunch.

Then it was time for cake!  Make a wish, buddy!

Liam lickin' those fingers!

Present time!  He was so excited to get a fireman costume from Nana and Grandpa... the best part undoubtedly being the hatchet!!!

With hatchet in possession, Liam proceeded to use it for pretty much everything.  I love this shot of him trying to open an envelope by hatchet... Nana and Grandpa's expressions (and body language) say it all.

After a fun-filled morning, we said good-bye to Nana and Grandpa, sent Joergen and Daddy home for naps, and headed to Villanova to keep the party going!  Nova was sponsoring a free indoor winter carnival for kids as a lead-up to the Marquette game that night, and what better place to meet up with our buddies Brigid, Kara, and TJ?!

Liam and Brigid

In addition to hours of moon-bounce bouncing and obstacle course-racing...

... Liam got to try his very first cotton candy!

nom nom nom

He and Brigid also got to have their faces painted by Villanova cheerleaders.  Heavens help us!

After maybe the most action-packed day of his little 4-year-old life, Liam settled into bath time that night to play with his cool new bath toy from Aunt Erin and Uncle Thomas.  It was the perfect way to wind down.

Happy 4th Birthday, buckaroo!

York for GG's 89th Birthday

Our Rhode Island family was in York for the weekend to celebrate GG's 89th birthday, and you didn't have to tell us twice to head on over and join in the fun!  GG is so special to all of us, and we couldn't wait to spend the weekend all together.

Liam and Joergen finally connected that Uncle Jim was Grandpa's brother ("Hey! Just like Joergen and me are brothers!"), and that GG was their mommy ("Hey! Just like you're my mommy!"), but they could have cared less how or why they are related to Dillon, Gilbey, and Anneke, because they just love them regardless!  Shannon and I have had so many adventures together since we were little, and there is just nothing better than seeing all those kiddos following right in our footsteps.

Joer and Anneke sharing some Froot Loops (which he knows is a perk to visiting Nana and Grandpa!):

Cheeeeeeeeeeese!

Frick and Frack, a.k.a. Gilbey and Liam, sharing some hot tea (what?!):

And some iPad games:

Seriously, those two are the best of buds!  Joergen, like his cousin Dillon, was content to surround himself with a pile of books.

Who says the kids should have all the fun, right Grandpa?

Somehow... somehow we managed to get all 5 wiggles to sit for a moment all together for a photo.  Joergen and that cheeeeeeeeese-y smile crack me up!

Liam (3), Gilbey (6), Anneke (2), Dillon (9), and Joergen (1)

Now, in all the visiting and celebrating and running around, I managed to not take a single photo of the birthday girl. Thank goodness Shannon shared this online.  I just love this pic!  Happy birthday, GG!!

Valentine's Day 2013

Just when we thought the Plague of 2013 had officially vacated the premises, we woke up in the middle of the night to Liam yelling for us.  When I ran into his room, he looked at me, sobbing, "I just threw up everywhere, Mommy..."  And that, he did.

We cleaned him up and laid him back down, but minutes later he yelled for us again, complaining that his tummy hurt.  So we brought him into our room where we could at least keep an eye on him.  We had all dozed off for a few minutes when suddenly Liam sat up and said his tummy really hurt... but not even Usain Bolt could have gotten him to a trash can fast enough.  Poor Liam... and poor Mommy...

It was a long night.

So what does all of this have to do with Valentine's Day (seriously! Could there be anything less love-inspiring?!)?  Well, the next day was in fact Valentine's Day, and although it was not exactly how I envisioned it, I at least got to spend the whole day with one of my loves...

We started off our morning by making some valentines, and Liam was excited to learn how to make a heart from a folded piece of paper.  To these hearts we pasted lots of little confetti hearts, and thus created some pretty snazzy cards for Dad and Joergen.

Liam was pretty sad to have to miss his big Valentine's Day party at preschool, so I did my best to try to make his sick-day at home a little more festive.  After he made it through 12 hours without an "episode", and once he seemed to have his appetite back up and running, we had some lunch:

When Joergen and Dad got home, we were so excited to see a Valentine's Day present on our doorstep from Grandma and Papa!  The boys couldn't wait to open it!

Hooray for new books!!  Joergen loves "Hatch" so much that it has become a frequent companion in his crib at night!

Thanks Grandma and Papa!  And thank God the plague is finally over!

(for now.  Fingers crossed.)

Dinner with Styles

Our good friend Styles, who was one of Daddy's college roommates and a groomsman in our wedding, recently took up residence in New Jersey for about 8 weeks.  Since he is usually much further away in Connecticut, we took advantage of the relative proximity and met for dinner at a Chickie & Pete's halfway.  It was so great to catch up with our friend, and the boys even managed to eat a decent dinner and behave themselves :)

As we were finishing up dinner, the boys got antsy and wanted to explore the restaurant.  It just so happened to be karaoke night, and as the DJ set up all of his equipment, the boys watched curiously, danced to his music, and asked lots of questions about his stuff.  The guy was super nice and let the boys take turns playing with his microphone:

What happened next still has me a bit baffled.  Unprompted, Liam says to the guy, "Um sir?  Do you have You Don't Know You're Beautiful by One Direction?"
- "Ha, yeah.  Why?  You want to sing or something??"
Liam: "Yeah!  Sure!"
(How does he know what karaoke even is?!)

And so, for the second time in his little life, Liam managed to draw in a crowd while he quite literally took the stage.

I will never forget that experience, as long as I live! (Including little Joergen, busting a move himself!)  And the look on Styles's face was absolutely priceless.

The best, best part?  We found out just a few weeks later that after a tough 11 months, Styles is officially cancer-free.  God is GOOD!!

Our 1st Parent-Teacher Conference

We received an email from Liam's preschool teacher, Mrs. Tenney, that it was time to sign up for parent-teacher conferences. For preschool?!  Okaaaaay. We weren't sure what to expect but were pretty interested to see what she would have to say.  Liam just adores Mrs. Tenney, who has done such an incredible job including him in all her class projects, holidays, and snacks, many of which normally include foods or ingredients that aren't safe for him.  I so appreciate the way she has worked with me to adapt her recipes or find ways to make them in a slightly different way so that he could join in.  VFPNS has been a wonderful place for him.

So off Dad and I went to our first parent-teacher conference, where we sat in teeny tiny chairs (Dad may as well have been trying to sit on a pin head!) and talked with Mrs. Tenney about how Liam is doing in school.  Among other things, she informed us that she can always depend on him to be her little "sheriff" at school.  Translation: he is an unrelenting tattletale!  He makes sure she always knows what everyone is up to, for better or (usually) for worse.  He also apparently has lots of energy at school, and I think she is looking forward to nicer weather so that they can get outside a little more often.  We let her know that because Liam spends so much time with Doreen's older niece and nephew, he has taken a real interest in "homework", and asks for his own while they are working on theirs. Mrs. Tenney now often puts a little worksheet in his backpack to bring home so he can join in the fun.

For as much as Liam has learned from being at Doreen's, we've been amazed at how much he is learning at preschool.  He studies a new letter and number each week, coming home with a foam letter magnet to hang on the front of our dishwasher and lots of little practice sheets of letters and numbers.  He loves to tell us all about the things he learns: how snowflakes are made, fun facts about groundhogs and dinosaurs, and all kinds of funny little songs.

Mrs. Tenney gave us a copy of Liam's progress report.  We did a double-take when we first saw this, only to realize "U" stands for "usually" and not "unsatisfactory"!  

I had to laugh at her comments under Speaking Skills... he is a notorious interrupter, full of questions and side stories, whenever you try to read him a book! He is working so, so hard on hopping... but just doesn't have it down quite yet.  It will come soon enough, buddy!  We're so proud of our big boy!

Speaking of which, look what I found on my shopping list the other day:

It was the first time I'd ever seen him write out his name, completely unassisted!  He has also taken a real interest in drawing, and his people are awfully cute:

Bienvenido a 2013... Bienvenido a Miami

The start of 2013 was a little rough for Team D... and for Team ND.

On the home front, both Liam and Joergen brought in the new year with what we thought was some kind of stomach bug, but turned out to be a seemingly never-ending GI infection.  Joergen had it, or some version of it, ever since the beginning of December, and Liam joined the party in January.  We will leave out details, mainly because we are doing everything we can to forget that chapter of our lives, but let's just say it was awful. For everyone.  And I would especially like to take a moment to thank Miss (St.) Doreen, the most amazing caregiver ever, who continued to watch our kids despite their, ahem, messy illness.  She truly loves our boys as if they were her own!  And let us all thank the good Lord for that, because one would have to in order to have dealt with that...

... and to have kept the boys overnight at her house for not one, but two nights in the midst of it all!

After ND earned their spot in the National Championship, Dad and I joked that we were "GOING TO MIAMI!!"  We didn't actually mean it!  But then we started looking at flights... and hotels... and talking to all our old roommates and friends... and suddenly... we were "GOING TO MIAMI!!"  The deal was sealed when Miss Doreen agreed to keep our boys while we were gone.  Liam and Joergen were so excited for their sleepover at her house that they didn't even ask us where we were going!

We dropped them off at Doreen's on Sunday morning, drove to Atlantic City, flew to West Palm Beach, rented a car, and finally arrived in South Beach on Sunday night.  It all seemed so surreal!

We got there just in time to check into our hotel, change clothing, and run off to meet friends for dinner.  I was so excited to reunite with all my old roommies!  We hadn't been together as a group since before any of us had kids, and who knew it would take ND being in the National Championship to get us back together?!

Welsh Girls!

We met for dinner at Hakkasan  in the Fontainebleau Hotel, which was also incidentally where the Alabama football team was staying.  After an amazing meal, we ditched the sea of red and white and headed down-beach to friendlier territories.  Ocean Drive was definitely the place to be-- crawling with ND fans and even some familiar faces.  We loved every minute and even found an Irish pub calling our name.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early, hit up a diner for breakfast, and went straight to the beach.  Heaven!

The lots opened for tailgating around 1 pm, and we didn't waste a second getting there.  No sooner did we park and locate our home-base tailgate in the VIP lot (thank you, CJ!) when guess who walked right past us... Brady Quinn!  I ran after him like a teenage girl trying to snap a picture.

We couldn't believe how close we were to the stadium!  It was a gorgeous warm day and an incredible college reunion.

Heater, Carolyn, and me

The view from our tailgate-- almost game time!

The atmosphere at the stadium was truly indescribable, and we both just felt so privileged to be there for the experience.  I think we both got a little emotional at the first sight of the field.

It was all incredible... that is, until the game started!  But hey!  Look who we found at halftime!  Nick Creten!

Unfortunately, not even running into long-lost friends could make that game more palatable.  Now, if this game were decided on by who had the better band, or who had the most fans in attendance, or who had the best tailgating, ND totally won.  In reality, though, we were subjected to an embarrassing number of these:

.... leaving us with an awful lot of this....

Sigh.

We will say, though, that Alabama was nothing if not classy and kind to us as fans, although I would be okay to go through the rest of my life never again hearing "Roll Tide!"

After the game, we reconvened at the Knott tailgate to say goodbye to all of our dear friends, hoping that there is another National Championship sometime in the future to bring us all back together again.  Because despite the outcome of the game, it was still totally worth it.