Happy Birthday Liam!

Seems crazy that it was just two short years ago that we welcomed Liam into the world.  It's been a great two years and now we can't imagine our family without him!

He's talking more and more each day and is starting to combine words - No Mommy/Daddy is one of his favorite combinations.  He's also mastered the word purple - showing he's a true K-State fan!  He's developing a mind of his own and will no longer go along with what Karsten is doing without question - if he doesn't agree or has his own ideas, he'll protest - typically in the form of a shriek "NOO!'. He's a good eater and sleeper - we're very thankful about both of those.

Since we're having his birthday party on Saturday, we celebrated his actual birthday with dinner at home together.  When we got home, he opened his birthday present from Gail.  As soon as he saw the truck, he said 'out, out, out.' and when Karsten asked if he could play with it, Liam said 'NO!'  Luckly, we found another dump truck that satisfied Karsten, so all was happy and playing with their dump trucks.


He loves dessert, so he was excited when he saw the cupcakes.  He blew out the candle several times because he enjoyed it so much.


We opened a couple of his presents tonight - the Thomas trains were a hit!


Karsten was waiting so patiently to get a chance to play with one of the trains.


But Liam wasn't ready to share his new toys yet.  I don't blame him - I don't like to share my new toys either.  :)


Happy Birthday sweet Liam.  I can't wait to see what the next two years hold for you - you're going to be grown up before I know it.  I don't want to blink and miss it, I want to enjoy all the tiny moments and savor our time together!

Wordless Wednesday - Writing practice

Brrrr

I know winter has been sneaking up on us but until it was super cold this week, it didn't really sink in that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner.

Little ones all bundled up are adorable - don't you think?  I'm biased of course...

Choo Choo

You might remember that my dad made Karsten a firetruck toy box when he turned two.  Once we found out that Liam was a boy, he started planning this toy box - I think it came out amazing.  From the wooden horns on the top of the train, to the hitches in the front and back to the 'wheels', it is a work of art.  Our boys are so lucky to have such special and wonderful gifts.


Liam was surprised and walked around looking at the train.


When he got in the seat, he started playing with the wheel and shifter - then he found the horn!  That brought Karsten over to check out the cool sound effects.


In case the horn wasn't enough, Papa got him a train whistle!


After a couple of demos by Papa, Liam had it figured out.


Liam wasn't budging from that seat - he was turning the wheel, shifting gears and sounding the horn!


Two lucky boys in their 2nd birthday presents from Papa!


Making horn noises for the horns on the top of his train.


Papa and his creations!


Liam was too busy making horn noises to smile.  :)


Choo Choo!  Thanks Papa for a wonderful birthday present!

Simple Saturday

Scott had a conference to attend on Saturday, so the boys and I planned a day at home relaxing and playing.  I had wanted to make pumpkin granola and Karsten wanted to help, so we got everything ready to cook.  When Karsten brought his stool over, Liam immediately ran to get his stepstool.

While Karsten can stir and help mix ingredients, Liam needs a bit of work to keep the ingredients in the bowl.  To help Liam feel like he was helping, I gave him a bowl with water and a couple of measuring spoons.  He stired (aka sloshed) the water around, took sips of the water from the measuring spoons and played in it.  But that's all good - he was happy and Karsten and I were able to get the granola done!  It was tasty, but next time I will add more pumpkin so the pumpkin flavor is stronger.


After we got dressed, we went out to play and enjoy the beautiful fall day.  Liam wanted to wear his hat which means that Karsten wanted to wear his hat as well.


There were a lot of sticks on the ground in the backyard and the boys had fun hunting them down and poking the ground with them.


'I AM SMILING'


The boys couldn't resist the sandbox so they did some digging for treasures in the sand.  Karsten was burying rocks and Liam decided to dig where Karsten was working - holy cow, did you hear them argueing? I'm pretty sure my neighbors did!




While the sandbox has been a fun idea and the boys really like it, I'll admit that I regret it each time we come come into the house.  Our kitchen floor has a gritty layer of sand - guess it should be time to clean.

Giddyup

While Scott and I were cleaning up dinner dishes, the boys pulled the cushions off the chairs and decided they were horses.  They grabbed the strings and Liam would say 'HEE HEEE' and he would scoot forward.  Karsten got a cushion and made his 'horse' move.  Then it became a race to see who could go fastest.



It's the simple things. :)  I love how this picture captures how much fun they were having - they were both cracking up the whole time!

Wordless Wednesday - CMA Dance Party