Liam Lullaby

An unfortunate accident occurred this evening shortly after bedtime resulting in the changing of Liam's bedsheets. Not a huge deal, but Liam and Teagan now sleep in the same room. I warned Liam before returning to his bed that we had to be extra quiet as we changed the sheets because Tigi was trying to go to sleep. As we entered the room, Liam walked over to Tigi's crib, reached his sweet little hand through the bars and started to sing Teagan's favorite song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to her as he stroked her face.

The song ended before I was done changing the sheets, and Liam turned to me and said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Well, that didn't work," as he stared at his wide awake, but calm sister. I think he really expected her to fall asleep right then. I pointed out how calm he had made her and asked him to sing her another song while I finished up with the sheets. He broke out in "In the Tigi Room," our family's version of the famous Disneyland Tiki Room song. Part of his rendition goes a little like this, "All the birds sing words and the flowers grow..." He's convinced that's how it goes. Works for me. Tigi, on the other hand, is convinced the song is really about her. Again, works for me.

He ended his serenade with another variation on the Tiki Room theme.  He came up with this one on his own.  "In the tootie, tootie, tootie, tootie, tootie room." I think it may have been Tigi's favorite number of the night too as she soon joined in singing.

Liam the Fifth Turns Five!

After weeks and weeks of postponing for this, that, and the other, we finally had Liam's birthday party! The weather in July was much more stable and warm than the precarious weather of May, so for the first time ever, Liam was able to have a swim party before breaking his traditional pinata.  (Don't worry, we had a smaller, more personal, family celebration for Liam on his birthday.)

The theme for this year? What else? LEGOS! (Isn't Liam the cutest thing you ever did see!?)

 

(Surrounded by family!)

 

Before anyone gets funny ideas about me and birthdays, I'd better show you my Lego cake. I may have the patience to spend hours and hours on a pinata, but I have no patience for cakes. It might help if, for once in my life, I spent longer than the twenty minutes before the guests arrive decorating one.  I don't work well under pressure. For once, the picture actually makes the cake look better than it really was.

Here's a little peek at the festivities:

(Seth's NBA-worthy leap to grab the rope for the pinata.)

(Poor guy. The pinata, not Will.  Will rather enjoyed messing with the kids by controlling the movement of the pinata.  After five years, he's a pro.)

(Oh, the carnage!)

(Oh, the sweetness!)

I think Liam really had a blast, and we are so excited that he gets to be our five-year-old. We sure love him.

Liam on Love

Before I repeat the conversation that occurred between Liam and me, I have to explain that at the time "twenty-four" was the biggest number that could possibly exist according to Liam.

Liam: "Mom, do you love me more than twenty-four volcanoes?"
Mom: "Yes."
Liam: "More than twenty-four clouds?"
Mom: "Yes Liam."
Liam: "More than twenty-four pirates, twenty-four treasures, and twenty-four squids!?"
Mom: "You've got it."
Liam: "More than anything?"
Mom: "More than anything."

Contrast that with his comment a few days later:

Liam: "Mom, I love you more than Kleenex boxes. More than boogers."

I love you more than boogers too kiddo. Even more than twenty-four boogers.

Lego My Lego

Liam and Dado have found a new love this past year: LEGOS. I'm not sure who enjoys them more, Liam or his Dad. We now spend many of our days building, destroying, and  rebuilding. It's fun to have an activity that we all enjoy.

Liam has always had exceptional fine motor skills. (He has always been very good at getting into things!) It's nice to have a hobby that further develops those skills. It's also been very exciting to see him move from following instructions and replicating other's creations to creating his own increasingly complex masterpieces.

As a dear friend recently said, "You've got a real kid!" She meant it in relation to his age, and I have to agree that our years of toddlerhood and preschool are bittersweetly drawing to a close. Everyday he becomes a little more "little boy" and less preschooler.

Bear Lake Vacation

Now that you've graduated from BYU Nanna, what are you going to do next? Go to Disneyland? No!? How about a trip to Montana? What there's still four feet of snow up there in June!? Fine. How about Bear Lake? Perfect, and let's take the WHOLE family too!

For the first time in years, my whole family took a vacation together. We rented this beautiful cabin up by Bear Lake where we had this fantastic view of the lake.

It was a nice "just-be" kind of vacation with a little "sight-see" vacation on the side.

Of course, what would a trip to the lake be without a little fishing?

(Seth practicing his "I caught the BIG one" pose.)

Sarah and Maddie did a little exploring. (Thank you "Momma Sah." Teagan kept all of us up the night before, and I was dragging this day. Tack on the allergy medication I was taking just to survive the pollen and you've got one tired Momma.)

Later, Teagan did a little exploring on her own and rediscovered her pockets.

 

Nanna enjoyed the surroundings.

Dado enjoyed his daughter.

(Why they call fishing a sport, I'll never know.  There was a lot of sitting and waiting going on here.)

Finally a new location, some more casting and waiting, and wa-lah. Our niece, Maddie, caught the first and only fish.  I'm still not sure if Maddie or Sarah was more excited.

Liam just loved being outside and casting over and over again. He'd been practicing for weeks.

Liam is going through a stage where he HATES getting his picture taken, so we were pleased to find so many smiling pictures of him from this trip.  As he looked through them, he said, "I didn't know you were taking pictures." That just may explain everything...

(As a sidenote, some of my earliest memories are of Seth going through that same stage. I think every picture from the year we lived in D.C. features a scowling Sethy. I think he's finally matured past that stage.)

(Or not.)

Then, the party really started when the Tillmans arrived. We started with some serious game-playing.

 (Some serious battle strategy going on here.)

 ...built some serious Lego creations,

...and ate some seriously good food! Yum, smores!

(Could our nephew Cael be any cuter?)

Next, a trip to the local Minnetonka Caves. Way cool, but it was way rainy and cold that day. Even colder in the caves.  That may be why I missed taking pictures of that part. Or maybe it was the frantic rush to the potty back through the caves.  We didn't make it.  (By "we" I mean Liam and Dado, but mostly Liam.) I guess it's a good thing we were out in nature and that Liam's a boy.  No clothes changing necessary. I knew I should have asked before we headed in.  Momma fail.  

For those planning on a visit to the caves, go potty before going in and be prepared to hold your toddlers and the hands of your younger children.  It's a bit treacherous with all the climbing, steps, and slippery areas.  Teagan was an angel, and I think she enjoyed it up to the point when she fell asleep in my arms.  Poor tired girl.

She found her energy after lunch when we finally made our way to the beach.

It was cold and windy, but a blast.

The girls were brave enough to get in the water and roll driftwood back to shore.

Liam joined in and LOVED it.

Lizzy frolicked...

...and frolicked some more.

My dad and I did what we do best.  Goofed off.  Careful, you might need sunglasses when viewing those winter-white legs.

I figured if Liam could handle it, so could I so I joined in the fun. (Dado played cameraman and LOVED it.)

Pooper. Every party has to have one so I've heard.  In his defense it was cold and windy and had been a LONG morning.

 

All in all, it was a great trip, and I hope we get to do it again.

Quotable Liam

Liam: "Mom, monkeys are cooler than you...because they throw their poop."

Geronimo

Tonight I snuck into Liam's room where he lay sleeping to lotion his poor chapped paws. As I slathered his skin with lotion, he stirred, squinted at me, and said, "Geronimo." Then he smiled and turned over.

Surprise

After a night of interrupted sleep thanks to our little miss, I was a little slow in waking up. I didn't realize how slow until Liam walked in looking like this:




"I'm Harry Potter," he announced proudly.

I admit, I did praise him for his well-drawn lightning bolt and allowed him to wear it all day. After all, we weren't going anywhere. We did, however, have a discussion about drawing on ourselves. Thankfully, it was a washable marker.

Mushy.

I'm not really one to get all mushy, but I just have to say that I love being married to my husband. Life with Will is always exciting. Just ask the kids. No one can get down on their level and play pretend like he can. (Or for as long as he can for that matter!)

He is patient, understanding, and supportive. The calm to my anxiety. The yin to my yang. My best friend and most trusted adviser. 

Every night before bed Will affirms how much he loves being a dad, and it is obvious in the love he shows for our children. There is never any doubt in my mind that he loves us more than anything, and we sure love him back.

Someone woke up from a nap today with an explosion of happiness...on her head!