what a quick month!

time has been flying lately. here we are, the last day of august, with a ton to report.

first, i got a new camera! here are some really cute photos of liam being naked at missy's house:


liam's second tooth came through. this time, it was in the right spot (his first lower left). both are on the left side of his mouth. he knows they are there - it's pretty entertaining to watch him gnaw on cantaloupe, watermelon and strawberries.

finally, photos of liam on our bike!

colin and i went on our first real date. our friends, angela and stacey, invited us to the local improv comedy troupe, "laughing matters", at the topeka civic theatre. this place is so cool - it's a dinner theater, complete with a full bar and wait staff. we knocked a few beers back while liam stayed with missy and marie. he missed me, and was a bit clingy the next day, but is very comfortable with missy and didn't cry once. i'm glad he has someone besides us that he has learned to trust.

here is a link to a letter i wrote to the editor of lawrence's newspaper. the comments are really entertaining. "wifemotherslave" is my good friend, evie.

speaking of evie, i made a mistake this week, and it hurt her feelings. i invited her and my aunt and uncle, who adopted her son 13 years ago, to liam's first birthday party. i was just so excited that she and her family are near for the first time in years, and i didn't put it all together. it isn't the right time or place for this meeting to happen, so evie is no longer coming to liam's party. it's best for all involved, although i know she would love to see chris in person. she is one of my heroes. it takes an incredible person to put a child's needs above their own and pursue adoption. someday, sweetie. i'm sorry i hurt you by not thinking this through.

today colin and i participated in the labor day program at fellowship. colin played a few of the songs, and i talked about being a homemaker. other members talked about being a writer and teacher, finding your career path as a single mother, our good friend vicki spoke about her daughter's grand adventure in the peace corps in paraguay, and our friend kate spoke about her lifetime of work up to her current age of 80 in december. i received many compliments on my piece; that it was great to hear that being at home is a choice anyone can make, that they stayed home themselves, and that many wished they weren't watching their own children struggle and burn out by trying to "do it all." this is definitely the life for me!
the second service was recorded, so go here and look up the august 31st program if you want to hear it yourself.

other liam updates:

new words: moo, uh-oh, wah-wah, tee (for tree), and he makes this hilarious frustration scream

he loves his friend marie. here's a picture her mom, missy, drew of them:
here's what they look like when grocery shopping:



he loves his friend, zeven:


he has been able to give kisses for a long time. he stretches his neck out like a turtle, makes his lips flat and wide and then opens them with a 'muah!'

he picks up his shoes and puts them on top of his feet. when he puts anything else on his feet (like a washcloth) he cracks himself up. we have video of this.

he plays 'night night' by going into our room and laying down on his blanket on the floor. it's real cute.

he does 'farm dancing' - we also have video for this.

he's really into the color red. this was first reported by missy's friend, michaela, who watched liam and marie while we all rode our bikes to the goose for some beer. sometimes it takes fresh eyes to see things, and she's right. he will point to all things red. maybe it's because his mom is an aries. ;)

he took his first steps on august 25th, showing off for aunt hez while she was visiting. the first steps were to reach his target dog, the second ones were to get a PBR can. i don't know where he gets this.

he makes motor sounds for cars while he's playing. no one taught him this. he also adores jewelry of all sorts and put my head bands on like necklaces.

he rolls all over truck, especially when naked. we try to tell him that this hurts truck, but truck takes it like a man.

here's liam and jay:

and liam and daddy:

that's all for now. i have some more photos to post, but it's time for this muffin to go to bed!

oh yeah, i have a blog.

hello, friends. there is so much to catch up on in the five minutes liam is allotting me, i don't think this will end up being a successful blog. *sigh* but i will do my best!

the weekend of the last post, i went out for the first time since liam's birth. i went to the gay bar downtown (the tool shed - not kidding!) and got my dance on with mandy, rocky and tammy. dancing is apparently like riding a bike. it had been about 2 years since i had been out, but my feet and hips cooperated, and i actually got hit on by some straight (albeit weird) dude. he asked how he could get to know me better. i laughed and said he could come to my baby's playgroup. he didn't laugh, but i thought it was funny. that sunday we got to see heather and jay. i sure love those guys, and like always, wish they lived closer. i know they feel the same way. but we all like where we live and have good jobs and such, so that's that.

sad news hit our fellowship (again) with the passing of one of our youngest members, 4 month old avery. i had the opportunity to meet and hold baby avery one tuesday evening before a building meeting. she was very sweet and alert and strong. he daddy was there, holding and doting on her. apparently the family was blessed with a high needs/colicky baby. but she was blessed with loving and patient parents who just held her for the hours she cried every evening. we went to the memorial services that saturday, and today i'm making dinner for the family. it seems so insignificant, the sharing of food, but i don't know what else to do. putting myself in their shoes, i think the food would make me feel loved and less alone. i'm glad they found our community, and like the shooting tragedy, there is no reason for this to have happened to them and not us. so it moves me to do what i can, no matter how small.

colin and liam were on the news, along with the marables, for attending the LLL ice cream social. of course, none of us have TVs, so we didn't see it. but it cracks us up how often we've hit the local media since the birth of liam.

liam and i have been spending a lot of time with my friend missy and her 18month daughter, marie. we bike around together to the library and the grocery store and such. our kids wake at compatible times and go down in the afternoons, so mornings are good times to hang together. our kids are crazy about each other. marie calls liam 'liamy' and says this numerous times in a high pitched squeal when he shows up at her house. it's one of the cutest things i've ever seen. she's also pretty enamored with colin, and says his name often as well. apparently marie will wake and utter one or both names before falling back into her slumber. my guys are pretty sweet. she calls me 'gace'. but not with the zest and enthusiasm reserved for 'liamy' and colin.

liam got his first tooth on august 2nd. or rather, that's when colin found said tooth. it wasn't where we had been looking for it, so we may have missed it for a day or two. it's his second incisor on the left. he nearly has his two bottom teeth cut, too. he's pretty cute with his little random snaggle tooth.

mandy spent tuesday - thursday with us while stephen played with chris and tom at the great wolf lodge. we took liam swimsuit shopping for two days. mandy and i are built very similar and were having a hard time finding one-pieces that fit. after trying target, we exhausted all options at the mall on tuesday (this took nearly 3 hours) then hit kohl's on wednesday. no luck there either. desperate to swim at the GWL with the kids, we decided to try k-mart since it was on the way home. there we both found exactly what we had been looking for. actually, mandy found two!

that's all the squeak will let me do for now. :)