critical mass

last night we joined up with a group of cyclists and rode all around topeka - on the "real" streets. the group is critical mass, and everyone was super cool. missy's fiance partakes on these friday night rides often, and we thought we would have fun, too. luckily, liam is a really easy going kid and didn't have any issues being in his trailer for 45 minutes straight. if only the car was this easy...

you take the good, you take the bad....

last thursday, as i walked missy and mimi out to their bike, i discovered that ours were missing. mine and liam's, colin's, and one we borrowed from nikki and scotty. grrr! what an awful feeling! i made the police report, and called the nearby pawn shops and out to boyle's. no luck. that was our preferred method of transportation. it's just stuff, but it made us feel pretty violated. we are getting a security system (colin wants this yesterday...) if you have any company suggestions, please let me know.

luckily, we have renter's insurance. our deductible is the cost of my trike alone, so we filed a claim. we had the money to go ahead and replace them, so we went shopping on saturday at capp's. i tested many bikes and fell in love with this one. it's really light weight, and pulling liam's new trailer is a piece of cake! colin picked out a new bike as well, and he finds it very comfortable. we've decided that the theft has turned out to be a wonderful event. we still don't know what our compensation will be with our insurance, but whatever it is, it's worth it. we didn't know how good it could be! yes, i loved our trike. it made me feel very safe, and liam was so little when i got it, i couldn't have handled him being so far away. as others might say, everything happens for a reason. me, i think things just happen, and then you have to choose how you react to those things.

we went on a ride to sonja's house tuesday evening, and passed another cyclist. he flagged us down and informed us that in order to keep liam safe, i needed to wear a reflective vest. he then took his off and gave it to me. it was very humbling, and made me feel wonderful that a stranger would care so much about another person. i thanked him and put it on. it made me feel safer! i hope our paths cross again. he happened to be deaf, and i wished i would have signed "thank you". but i didn't. maybe next time.

today our pediatrician called to inform us that liam's lead level is 8.5. once it reaches 10, an inspector from the state comes to your house because your child is at risk for developmental issues. sucky. i think it's coming from the windows in our house. so i get to wipe down the sills, mop, and vacuum daily. we're also going to wash all of our draperies and replace our mini-blinds. i need to wash his little hands before eating and sleeping. then liam gets his blood drawn again in six months. luckily, we'll still be nursing then, so it will be a piece of cake. hopefully his levels will be lower by then. if not, i guess we'll look into moving...i don't know what else to do!

liam is walking nearly all the time now. we officially have a toddler! he has the greatest grin, and is still a very joyful kid. i feel that the strong-willed changes of toddlerhood are just around the corner, so i'm trying to enjoy this easy time while we have it.

party = success!

i had a lot of help, so it's not really surprising that everything went well. thanks to everyone, especially mandy, mom, and missy. i couldn't have done it without your cooking, decorating, and/or baby wrangling skills.

liam's caterpillar smash cake

liam got some great toys and clothes. i was worried about his winter wardrobe, but not anymore! aside from all the new goodies, he also received a bunch of clothes from hunter. yay for hand-me-downs!

the weather was a little rainy, and although our home is small, some borrowed chairs was all we needed to make everyone comfortable.

cozy house full of guests

liam was feeling unsure about opening presents, so marie showed him how instead. zeven and noah enjoyed playing with all the toys, and there weren't any fits for such a busy time. liam loved his carrot cake 'beetle' (it was supposed to be a littler caterpillar)



i ate so much cake during the decorating that i skipped it during the real 'cake time'. after cake liam nursed and was out - while the party went on!

liam knocked out; missy: maker of many faces

all in all, i couldn't have asked for a better first year celebration. i am grateful to all of my wonderful friends and family who were able to be here with us. so, again, thanks :)

happy birthday, baby liam!

we have had more of a week long celebration in honor of that guy's special day, as opposed to a single day's observance. the culmination will be pretty big party on saturday morning. we are very loved, and so is liam. we only invited the important people in our life, but still ended up with 20+ guests. i am really nervous, since our house is so little and it's supposed to rain...we are planning on being outdoors. but, whatever; we will make it work!

colin didn't have to work on monday, so he decided to be all photo-journalistic and take photos of a typical liam day. i hope to have them up on flickr soon as a slide show. they turned out great!

yesterday was liam's birthday and we spent it with our friends missy and marie, and nikki and zeven. we all met at missy's house (she has the coffee and the space) and i cooked a late breakfast of whole wheat pancakes and eggs. yum! colin worked a half day and got off in time to eat as well.

i spent afternoon nap time sorting all the 'baby' toys out and organizing liam's books. we also got our new fridge delivered during said nap, so that was convenient. our old one was having issues, and our landlord, jerry, is awesome. requesting the fridge has inspired missy to ask her landlord for carpet. i hope they get it! we went to 'the globe' for some tasty indian food, then picked up a movie (smart people) which ended up being pretty good. the last movie we watched before this was the new x-files movie. IT SUCKED. colin downloaded it because everyone else was. well, everyone else was wrong. it made me think that the tv show could possibly be awful as well, although i utterly enjoyed it when i was in high school.

tomorrow grammie kate, aunt mandy, cousin stephen, and uncle kyle are all coming to town to see their favorite one year old! better get to bed so i can wake up early and clean my house. O_0