He understands so much

Today Liam and I went by a McDonalds and this is what he said

Liam-"eat, eat time,"
Mommy- "I don't have my wallet, it's at home"
Liam- "get wallet at home"
Mommy- "would you rather eat at home and have PBJ or Mac and Cheese"
Liam- "no get wallet, come back"
Liam- "stay in car seat, mommy get wallet"
Mommy- "what are we going to do when I have my wallet"
Liam- "swipe it" "give it to people and swipe it"
Mommy- "they are going to swipe my card?"
Liam- "yep"

Oh the things he already knows and understands.

It is a great reminder that children are so much more perceptive than adults give them credit for.

I'm a Big Boy

It's the middle of October and I am not sure how we got here. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with Liam and watch him grow and change, but I am not very good at documenting the changes. I always hope that I will be better and maybe someday that will be true.

A little something...but a big success for Liam.

 As Liam neared his 2nd birthday Jason and I talked about how and when Liam would be potty trained, but our independent little boy decided by himself back in August. Jason was in Portland for a conference and Liam was just fined with a bath. He was playing on our bed when he looked at me and said "have to pee."He got down from the bed walked into the bathroom and them came back saying "I peed." When I checked I was so surprised that he had gone to the bathroom, and so proud of him. People always said boys were hard but that was easy. Since them he has been potty trained for going #1, but #2 is different story. We are just trying to be loving a supportive knowing that it will happen at some point. I am definitely and advocate for letting kids take the lead on when they are ready to potty train. They are so proud of themselves when they are able to do it and decide it on their own.

Happy 2nd Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday Liam

I am not sure how two years have gone by so fast but today my little man is 2. Liam has changed so much over the last two years and is turning into an outgoing, energetic, awesome little boy. Some of the fun things that he has done over the last year include:

• Jumping
• Talking in complete sentences
• Singing his ABC's
• Count to 10 by himself
• Singing many songs (Baa Baa Black Sheep, Row Your  Boat, and Baby Beluga)
• Hide and Seek
• Riding quads
• First fireworks show (he fell asleep halfway through)

• Liam has energy to rival the energizer bunny so we spend as much time outside playing in the little pool, his sand box, and riding our bikes. While we are inside we play cars, color or paint, legos, and play dough. We also go to the library for story time. Liam loves to read books so we spend a lot of time during the day reading.  We also spend time each week with Liam's closest friends Jessa, Alaina, and Aidan Kimble. Liam has a great time playing with them, and it has been fun seeing how his interactions have changed over the last year. 

• Liam has done quite a bit of traveling over the last year too. In December we went to Hawaii for a family vacation, which was so amazing. It was great to spend time as a family and to spend the with the Cruz's too. April was a southern California adventure. We all headed out to see Uncle Andy get married to Aunt Jacinda. It was an amazing wedding and we had a great time with all the family. In May Liam and I traveled to Phoenix by ourselves for some quality time with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Jill, Uncle Tyrel, Cousins Madison and Ashlyn, and Grammie and Pop pop. We had an awesome 2 weeks there.

Today we had a family birthday celebration. Jason, Liam and I had a doughnut breakfast, spaghetti for dinner with a cupcake dessert. Liam got to open his presents, which included a pizza set, toy tiger, Lion King, and two items I made for him (A Chefs Apron, and a Tool Belt). We also got him a musical card, which was a hit. But the best present of all was the change Jason gave him. Liam is so into money right now that its funny.

Time is elusive

So it has been quite a while since I have updated our blog. There have been so many things that have happened since the start of the new year. We have had to make some major changes to our lives since I was laid off in Jan. Although a hard thing to go through it has been the best thing for us. I am able to appreciate life and all of it little blessing so much more because I am not always exhausted. I am blessed to spend ever day with Liam, which not all mothers are able to do. Jason has 2.5 more years left in his program, which means he is in the middle of field work and is super busy. I am amazed that he is able to balance everything. He is such an amazing and attentive father and Liam cannot wait for him to get home every day. 

Liam...man is he getting big. It is April and he is 20 months old. It is hard to fathom that in 4 months he will be 2. He is one spunky little boy. He loves life with all his energy, and enjoys spending time with his friends and outside. He has started to put 3 word sentences together and loves to read books. We go to the library every week for story time and to get more books to read. His energy always amazes Jason and me, and we love to see and experience his zeal for life.

We have had a lot of fun in the last 2 weeks. Liam's Grandma (my Mom) came to visit, which was awesome. While she was here we took Liam to do some gymnastics, had ice cream, went to the Indy Zoo, and celebrated an early Easter. Then we had Easter last weekend and Jason, Liam, and I were blessed to be able to spend it with amazing friends and family. We all went to Kickapoo State Park for a picnic and egg hunt. It really was great to just get outside and enjoy Christ's gift to us.

Hawaii Day 9

Tuesday Dec 20

Today we visited Volcano National Park. This was something I had been greatly looking forward to and was not disappointed. We were not able to see lava on this trip since the active flow is a long hike in and out near the ocean and is not recommended for young kids. It was a bummer, but keeping Liam healthy and happy was more important. Even though we were not able to see that we did have an awesome time hiking around different trails. The first trail we did was Kipukapaului and it is known to have awesome bird watching. We all had a great time, although Jason did learn that birding with Liam is a bit different than by himself. Liam had a great time chasing pheasants. We called them Liam chickens and he would chase then into the forest then ask for more. That hike was cut a little short however because of a dirty diaper.

The second hike we took was the Kilauea Iki trail, which hikes the rim of the Kilauea Iki Crater and over the crater's bottom. The hike was amazing! It is a strange feeling standing on the crater floor of an active volcano, which could at anytime erupt. Today it did not and we are very happy about that, but we were able to see steam vents where water from the surface gets down far enough to reach the magma below and his heated up and released again as steam. This trail was about 4 miles, but in the end didn’t feel that long. Jason had a great time walking through the forest portions on this trail seeing if he could find new birds, and Liam did a great job in his backpack even taking a hour plus nap at the end.

Hawaii Day 8

Monday Dec 19

Today we got up early and packed up the condo, got in the car and headed to Hilo. Once we got away from the Kona area the rain started and didn’t stop all day. Liam was a trooper in the car all day as we made our way to Hilo. Once we got to Hilo we checked into the Hilo Seaside Hotel, which is a big change from the Outrigger and the timeshare. It clean and the hotel staff were really nice. Later we headed out to do a little shopping since it was raining, but the overall attractiveness of Hilo is missing. Oh well we will be off to the Volcano in the morning. Hopefully it is not raining.

Hawaii Day 7

Sunday Dec 18

Today we decided to go out to breakfast at Island Lava Java, which has the best cinnamon roll that I have ever tried. After breakfast we all headed back out to the Place of Refuge in hopes of seeing dolphins. We did not see any in the 4 hours we were there but we did get to see 3 sea turtles. Two of which were right in by the shoreline so we were able to show the kids. Liam was quite impressed with them and kept asking for more. He also came very close to losing a finger as he tried to touch one (we didn’t let him) and the turtle surface and snapped at his finger. Liam was un-phased, but I have a feeling there are people feeding the turtles in this area since that doesn’t seem like a normal thing for a turtle to do. We all decided to go out for dinner since it is out last night together. Tomorrow the Fischer’s will head to Hilo and the Cruz’s will island hop to Oahu. We had dinner at the Kona Brewery and Pub. They are known for their beer and pizza, and I have to say that both are really good.