Liam: Six Months Old

Liam is a half year old.  I'm in denial.  Here are his pics - his checkup is next Tuesday so I'll have some stats after that.  He really does smile more, these pictures are taken when he got home from daycare.  He is crabby, crabby because he only sleeps for a little over an hour while he is there.  Lovely, right?  I'm so excited to hang out with him and he is cranky and needs to nap right away.  :( 

Anyway, here's our six-month-old!

Liam's Baptism

Liam was baptized this morning at a nice outdoor service at Lands Lutheran.  He was so good the entire service and the water on his head didn't faze him in the least.  What a sweetie!  And Beckett was a well-behaved big brother during the service.  We are so blessed with our two wonderful boys. 

Pastor Nate baptizing Liam.

Instead of drawing on the sidewalk Beckett chalked himself.

The creation of Kaden, Brooklynn, Mateo and Beckett.

Liam in love with Brooklynn.

Apparently we are too much fun for Papa.

Liam with his sponsors, Greg and Rissa.

Back At It

Time to catch up.  The Paulson family is back at it - back to work for me (sigh) and back to daycare for Beckett and Liam (sniff).  Our summer went way too fast and it was a big change for us, especially since the boys are at a new daycare.  We were spoiled with Angela!  The boys now go to a center, which has its pros and cons.  We had 2 practice days before I went back to work on the 9th and I was openly bawling before I could sneak out the door their first day.  It didn't help that Beckett started off saying he didn't like "school."  I'm fairly certain he pictured me at home hanging out with Rissa, Mateo and Kaden.  Now that he realizes I'm at work and he's had a chance to get settled, he likes it.  And, I'm proud to say that his teachers think he's doing so well in the 2-year-old room that they would like him visit the preschool room for awhile during the day! 

Beckett and his teacher Miss Lydia. Clearly embarassed that I'm taking his picture!

Liam totally fine with my picture taking, but not quite sure what's going on.

But before it was time to go back we spent some time in Iowa and were able to spend time with my grandmas.  We were trying to get Liam comfortable with drinking out of a bottle and Grandma Ardis and Grandma Marilyn were willing to help!

What a show off! Apparently he can hold his own bottle now.

Beckett tells me that Prince is not ready for a bottle yet.

And while we are exhausted getting used to our new routine and trying to make the most of our time together, Grandpa puts 2,500 miles on his motorcycle without batting an eye! 

Grandpa and Grandma went to the Sturgis Rally and brought back souvenirs for the boys.

And that should bring us to today, when Liam showed us he could sit by himself!

Look at that smiling cutie-pie!

Beckett's Musings

Beckett is quite the character, and never ceases to amaze and amuse me with what he says.  If I had a better memory I could probably share a bunch of his comments, but these will have to do for now. 

Much to the horror of my sister, Rissa, my family frequents Wal-Mart.  Why?  Because they always have low prices.  Always.  Because I can get my groceries and household items in one spot.  Because their apparel for my age is not cute so I don't have to worry about making impulse purchases like I do at Target.  Because their carts hold Liam's carseat carrier better than HyVee's.  Several months ago I took Beckett with me to run a few errands.  When we pulled in to the parking lot Beckett yelled "Yay Wal-Mart!"  As much as I like Wal-Mart I failed as a parent because my two-year-old child 1) could recognize Wal-Mart and 2) was so darn excited about it.  And earlier this week as we were returning books and DVDs to the library Beckett suggested that we "go to Wal-Mart and buy some Pull-Ups."  *sigh*

Beckett redeemed himself on Sunday. We were in Tea checking out his new school (daycare) and decided to have dinner at Pizza Ranch.  In the middle of eating Beckett put down his pizza, looked around adoringly and proclaimed to us "I love this place!"  Me too, bud.  Me too. 

Last Friday morning we received a substantial amount of rain in a short amount of time.  When we woke up and looked in our backyard this is what we saw:

Beckett stated the obvious.  "Mommy, we need a boat." 

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Sometimes I'm not sure if Beckett comes up with these things on his own, or mimics them from someone else.  I was sitting with him in the bathroom while he tried to poop before going to bed.  Our conversation went something like this:

Me:  Tell me when you're finished trying, OK?

Beckett:  OK.  When I go, I go 3....2.....1..... poop!

Me:  Who told you to say that?

Beckett:   That was just me.

While that line may have been his, Beckett's latest are definitely not his own creation, rather lines from his favorite movie Cars.  When Beckett is upset with me he will use lines that Lightning McQueen uses when he is mad.  "OK Mr. One Man Show!" and "I'm SO not taking you to dinner" are two of his favorites.  I have to turn away when he says these because they still make me laugh!  And he's so smart venting his anger like that!  Beckett Russell, I am so lucky to be your mommy!

Liam: Five Months Old

Liam is five months old already!  He's such a smiley, happy little baby boy and so much fun to be around.  Lately he loves to be in his jumperoo and is usually bouncing his legs around even when he's not in it.  I guess he fits the "bouncing baby boy" stereotype quite well.  His unofficial weight is 16.5 pounds and he still fits nicely in his onesie. 

I'm not sure if turning five months is supposed to be so serious, but Liam sure looks somber in these pictures.  I usually take a few pictures and here are the four I took - almost the same exact expression in all of them, and that includes a few where Chad is trying to make him laugh! 

So here is my serious boy, surrendering to the fact he is five months old:

Slip and Slide

Remember how fun slip and slides are?  To double our fun we put two of them together on a recent hot weekend.  The boys had a blast and those of us watching them did too!

The Hotelo Part 2

After Chad was done with his work in Pierre we spent the next 2 nights in Chamberlain.  Hotel pool?  Check.  City park?  Check.  That was all we needed to keep busy while Chad was working!  Beckett must have had a grand time because several times since we've been home he has asked to go back to the hotelo. 

The view from our hotel!

Proud mom moment:  Beckett helped me get ice and broke into singing Ice Ice Baby after we filled the container. 

This is a 419 pound marlin that was caught in Hawaii.  Beckett was as excited about pointing it out the 12th time as he was the first.

 Beckett is quite the little fish and loves the "biiiiiiiig pool!"  Can you tell he has a small pool at home?!

I Present to You: Prince William

I posted earlier about our fear that some day Prince Harry might get lost and we wouldn't have a backup.  After searching UK Ebay, I found what I thought to be the perfect stand-in.  Upon arrival in the U.S. I found this bear is a bit larger than Prince Harry.  So, introducing Prince Harry's older brother, Prince William!

Not nearly as loved on as Prince Harry, but hopefully an acceptable substitute should we ever need him in that capacity.

The Hotelo

The boys and I are traveling with Chad this week.  He has work to do in Pierre and Chamberlain, so we decided to tag along for a little fun.  We arrived in Pierre Sunday and have kept busy since.  Before our trip I sent away for a Pierre Visitors Guide to plan some activities, but Beckett couldn't be happier swimming in the hotel pool!  Actually, he calls the hotel a "hotelo."  Apparently I need to enunciate things better. 

This afternoon we'll drive to Chamberlain to another hotelo with a pool.  Here's what we've been up to in Pierre (besides swimming which I failed to get a picture of). 

Prince Harry at the State Capitol.  Coming from the Royal Family, he is very interested in American politics.

Feeding the ducks on Capitol Lake.

The turtles were hungry too!

And so were the big, fat, gross carp!  I know they can't crawl out of the water and get me, but I was very creeped out by the carp.  And they were just big bullies to the ducks and turtles.

Besides pool swimming Beckett was content spending lots of time playing with sand and throwing rocks in the river. 

We went inside the Capitol when Chad got off work.  The red arrow is pointing to Paul Paulson, Chad's great-grandfather, who served in the House of Representatives for the state from 1915-1918 and again in 1927-1930.

Beckett points out Herman Paulson, Chad's grandfather, who also served the fine state of South Dakota from 1961-1972.  Pretty neat!  Even though I'm sure they were both Republicans.  :)

The boys and I have had lots of fun on our trip so far, even though this picture would indicate otherwise!

I Won Something!

Remember my post showing off the curtain rod art display in my home?  The company I purchased the wall quote from has a monthly contest so I submitted my photo in the hopes of winning a $50 gift certificate (for even more wall quotes!)  I didn't win the monthly prize, but I received a mention on their blog and a smaller gift certificate!!  How fun is that? 

Thanks for letting me brag.  :)

Here is the link highlighting the curtain rod idea.  Of course now I need to decide which wall quote to order next!