Christmas!

Liam must have done enough to end up on the Good List, because he was showered with gifts at Christmas. He now owns every Hot Wheels/Matchbox set. Also the elves finished creating his basement toy room where he can swing and bounce to his heart's content.


I love this clip of my chic Grandma holding Charlotte.

Grading on a Curve

Today I was telling Liam that he needed to be good if he wanted to be on Santa's Nice List. He informed me that he was writing his own list for Santa and he put himself on the Nice List. He put his cousins on the Naughty List, and since I made cookies today he moved me from the Naughty list to the Nice one. Only my kid would assume he could cheat the system by making his own rules. He's going to need that kind of grading on a curve because this is how he behaved at his preschool holiday program:




I'm hoping that this happy face is my little girl that will always be perfectly behaved:



She did get her first tooth this month which caused her to have a few sleepless night, but other than that she is my good girl.

Liam had fun playing in the snow this week. It was not good snowman snow, but was great for sledding!

First Family Vacation

I know I have terribly absent from the blogosphere, but we've been busy! This month at preschool Liam had his first show & tell. He brought in his little stuffed dog, Buster. At first he didn't want to because he said Buster was his dog - not a toy! Tuesday was Dad Pumpkin carving night at school. Unfortunately Dad was on a business trip so Liam had Uncle Rob do the honors. Uncle Rob did a great job on the pumpkin - but his comment upon coming out of the 45 minute event was, "Does he ever stop moving?" Ha! No!

We also took our first road trip as a family of four. We drove all the way to Alabama to see the cousins. We broke up the drive down and stayed in Nashville. We stayed in a great Hilton Suites with a pool and Liam was in heaven with his tube:





Friday morning, after another swim, we checked out and headed to the Nashville Zoo. Charlotte spent most of the time chilling in her stroller and perfectly happy. She was also very well behaved in the car - until she was hungry of course! I was really surprised how well the drive went. I am very thankful for technological advances in media. Without The Grinch, Shrek, and SuperWhy I don't know what Liam would have done.









We spent some time checking out the animals, but then stopped off so Liam could play in the Jungle Gym. This place is so much fun I thought we'd never get him out!








It was one big slumber party for the boys, and sadly I think the lack of quality sleep took its toll on the Underwood's soccer performance on Saturday. Charlotte had a fabulous time at Aunt TT's house and even took the opportunity to sit up for the first time!

Charlotte 3 months

We are trying to enjoy every last moment of summer! This is the last week for the pool and Liam is finally putting his head in and trying to swim.

He is very excited about preschool starting next week and so is Mommy. He's excited because when we visited he saw that they have a bucket of scissors. Heaven help those teachers once the scissors are in his hands. Liam told me this morning that he likes coffee because it makes him grow big like Dad and will put beard on his chin and under his nose.

Charlotte is definitely becoming a little person now that she is 3 months. She is sleeping through the night consistently which is truly a gift. She is a very good eater and has experienced quite a growth spurt! We are now wearing a bunch of 6 month outfits. She is getting very strong and likes playing in her Bumbo seat and Jumperoo. Here is a little video of her doing her latest trick:

Picnic in February

So my blog is going in reverse - but I really wanted to post this video. Its from February on a snowy day when Liam decided he wanted to have a picnic. We decided to have a picnic on the living room floor. Watching this video reminds me how far he has come with his vocabulary and sentences these days.

Easter

This video from Easter shows just some of the insanity. Liam received so many Easter baskets that the candy weighed in at a grand total of 10 lbs. He also received toys and clothes - I don't remember Easter being such a big deal! Needless to say Liam was overwhelmed by the sheer amount and then they keep giving him more. In the video you can hear him say his basket is too heavy!

Summer Highlight Reel

This has been a very crazy and wonderful summer so far even if we have been stuck inside a little more than usual. Here's Liam chasing bubbles in the front yard.



Teresa and the boys came home to celebrate a day we thought would never come - Uncle Rob's Graduation! To mark the occasion we bought him an a amazing pair of waders we he immediately changed into. Only my brother can look this cool in chest high waders. Luckily only the fish will be around to laugh!


Liam took swim lessons for the first time. He's starting to get a little better about putting his face in, but he has yet to exhibit those Herdeman swimming genes. Slowly but surely as the summer progresses we have him kicking and jumping in to me. I'm thinking this kid is going to play land based sports.




Here is Liam lined up around the baby pool on the 4th of July waiting for the juice box grab. They throw a bunch of Capri Sun in the pool and the kids run in and grab them. Sadly they only put in enough juice pouches so that there weren't many more pouches than kids - and Liam wasn't very aggressive. The bigger kids all beat him and at the end he was standing in the middle of the pool crying empty handed. It broke my heart. Luckily Peter Schildnecht (lifeguard) talked one of the kids into giving an extra one to Liam. Its a cruel hard world out there.

We took Liam to Symmes Fest and he loved these little cars that went around slowly in circles. After the car ride he decided he wanted to ride the Dragon Rollercoaster. I had a feeling he would hate it - and boy did he! He cried and screamed "help" the entire time. Luckily childhood trauma like that is easily remedied with a big bag of kettle corn.






Marky and Jack were here for three weeks before they went to Vermont for vacation. Before they returned to Alabama we took them to Red Robin for dinner and had the waiters sing Happy Birthday to Chick. Then we ended the night in the perfect summer way - with trip to the whippy dip! Its really kind of crazy for me and Teresa to take our FIVE kids to the Loveland Creamy Whip. Only three made this picture because Charlotte was strapped to my chest in a carrier and Michael is too little to climb up there. These three are best of friends....when they are not trying to seriously injure one another.

Our New Addition

Charlotte is almost two months old and I've shared very little of her pictures or videos. I'm a bad mom, but I'm trying to play catch up now that we are settled in.

Here is Charlotte's First Bath at home:



Charlotte and Liam:


Charlotte at 7 weeks:

Jorie - The Little Monster in Liam's Pocket

My sister's two oldest boys, Marky and Jack, were in town last week. Liam loves to play with the boys even though he takes some abuse as the smallest. One day when we were over at Grammy Sue's Liam came crying to me two times for injuries; one large scratch from his nose down to his lip and another time he received a swift kick to the jaw. So when he came crying the third time I assumed it was more of the same - but this time it was a little different.

"Jack hurt my little monster!" Liam holds out an empty hand to me.

"Your monster?"

"Jorie, the little monster that lives in my pocket. Jack hit him and now he is hurt!" Liam is crying hysterically now - and its not at all fake - there are real tears.

After administering some monster medicine, and a little TLC, Jorie was "warm and safe" back in Liam's pocket. This was the first I'd heard of Jorie, but I've since kissed him goodnight and searched for him in the car.

Pictures of Liam