Liam turns one!

So, I've definitely neglected my blog for quite some time now and I think it's time to finally make a post again. On February 1st Liam turned one! I cannot believe my baby boy is a year old! Time flies so fast. It seems like yesterday I was in the hospital meeting him for the first time! This year his birthday fell on a Wednesday so we decided we would celebrate his birthday with the family on the following Saturday. We didn't let his actual birthday go unnoticed though. The morning of his actual birthday I got up and made him some birthday cake pancakes. Even though he had no idea of what was going on he definitely enjoyed his food. If any of you know Liam you know he does not ever refuse food! lol. Keith and I decided this year that we would do a medieval theme birthday party for him and the family. I found some medieval decorations online for a pretty inexpensive price. The party turned out great. We served lunch for all of the family and of course had Liam's cake and presents. It's always nice to get both sides of our family together. For Liam's cake, Keith made a dragon. He used fondant and cereal treats to help mold his cake. This was Keith's first cake to ever use fondant and I thought it turned out really nice! I made a castle cake (using a castle shaped cake pan) for everyone else and a few extra cupcakes. When it came time for Liam to blow out his candle Keith turned for a second and Liam took the flame out with his hand! Needless to say he was not a happy camper anymore! Luckily he didn't burn his hand, but it was enough for him to no longer take an interest in the dragon cake! We gave him a cupcake to dig into and then we cut open his dragon cake and then he started eating both. I look forward to many more great years with this wonderful boy. He truly is a blessing in our lives and Keith and I are so grateful.

OH! We also went to his 1 year check up and he now weighs 28 pounds and is 31.5 inches long! He is going to be a tall man one day!

A month of Thanks

Even though it is already 8 days into the month of November I would like to start listing things in my life I am grateful to have. I know this is such a cliche blog topic for this month, but I think it is a great thing to write out what you are grateful for because sometimes we can get caught up in life and not realize just how lucky we really are. There has been something the past few months that I have just felt so amazingly grateful for and it is something in life that I feel people take for granted until the time comes. I am so grateful to be able to bare children ( or at least one so far). I hear so many situations today about women having such a hard time conceiving or that they can't at all and it breaks my heart. A lot of these women are such wonderful people and would make great mothers. I don't know what I would do if I found out I was unable to have children. Liam has definitely been such a blessing to our lives. I couldn't imagine life without him. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for him and for the gift of being able to have children. For those of you out there trying and not having any luck, keep trying it just might not be the right time yet. For those of you out there who can't have children, we are so lucky to have other options in society today to make it possible to still have a family. My heart goes out to everyone and I hope that if having children is no problem for you that you are so grateful for that wonderful gift in life that the Lord has given to you.

My 23rd birthday!

So this past weekend we celebrated my 23rd birthday! My birthday was on Sunday and I ended up having a good time! Keith woke up Sunday morning and made me breakfast and let me stay in bed while he went and changed and fed Liam. We went to church that afternoon and then to Keith's family's for dinner. Keith's brother Sam and I have the same birthday so it was fun to be able to celebrate with everyone. I have to say my birthday cake was to DIE FOR! I told Keith I wanted a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. He found a recipe and made it for me and went the extra mile with this cake. He grated reeses cups and covered the cake in the shavings and also put some in the middle of the cake! Since I love peanut butter and chocolate together this was the best cake! Here are some pics below of the me and Liam and my cake on my birthday!







Now my photography skills do not do justice for this cake. It was delicious AND beautiful. Keith put actual reeses cups at the base of the cake to show the slice sizes. My kind of slice of cake:)


Now for my bday present I had asked Keith to get me the high intensity interval training workout from Beachbody called Turbofire! P90X just wasn't giving me enough cardio to burn off this extra baby fat and I needed to amp up my workout and this definately did the trick! I love it! It is a little tricky to pick up at first, but it gets easier and Chalene Johnson who is the fitness instructor has such positive energy and picks GREAT music to keep you going. I love it! If you're looking for a great cardio workout Turbo Fire is the way to go! If you want something a little less hard she also has her Turbo Jam workouts out there too which are also great (So I hear)!




Go to beachbody.com to see what it's all about!:)

My two loves

Aren't these the most precious pictures ever?!

Free?!

So I have played piano since I was about 8 years old and when I moved to Greensboro for school 4 years ago I didn't have access to a piano like I did living at home. The past four years I have played hit and miss and it really started to bother me that I could lose this talent of mine. I kept telling Keith we need to get a piano, not new but a hand me down type one! A REAL one not a keyboard. For those who play you know that there IS a difference. Well about 2 weeks ago my mother in law tells me " Look I don't know for sure, but I may be able to get you a piano for free. My friend is moving and doesn't want to take it with her." Immediately I was SOOO excited! Since it wasn't a definite I tried to keep my excitement under wraps. Well the next day I find out that I am for sure getting this free piano! FREE! Pianos can be super expensive and I felt such an abundance of gratitude at that moment! So we now have a piano! It still needs to be tuned and needs a little cosmetic work, but its not so off tune I can't play it and the looks don't bother me at this point in time!I have been playing it and it feels so good to be able to pick this talent back up. I am pretty rusty, but I think with enough practice I will be back where I left off.

Liam

So my sweet baby boy is 7 months today! I cannot believe it! Where has the time gone? He is growing and developing right before our very eyes. He can now sit up ( he is still a little wobbly though), roll over both ways, he laughs, holds his own bottle and sippy cup, eats his grains and veggies, and he pulls his feet to his mouth! We went for his 6 month shots last month and he weighed 20 lbs 15 oz and was 27 inches long. He is a big boy. He is even wearing 12 month clothes now! I am so excited for what is going to come with him! It's kind of bitter sweet. I'm ready for him to walk and talk and grow, but at the same time I want him to stay my sweet baby forever! Here are some recent pics of my little man.

Yumm-o!

I love it when my bananas look like this...




because then I have an excuse to make this...



Banana Walnut Bread!!! YUMM-O! Did I mention it makes your house smell delicious while it is baking. For the recipe here is the link:

http://www.food.com/recipe/starbucks-banana-walnut-bread-384181