Caption Contest: Results!/Weekend with Bug

Dear Monster,

   You had such a fun weekend with your Grandma! She is one of your absolute favorite people. You laugh, play, and hardly ever fuss with her. You're a huge fan of her curly red hair and you love crawling all over her (just like you do with Daddy)! I can't wait for you to start spending a couple weeks of the summer up at her house just playing and enjoying her house. You guys have such an amazing future ahead of you!
~~~

It's results time ladies and gentlemen! Sean and I had such a hard time picking just one caption for each picture! We have brilliant friends and family members! Thank you guys for participating and I am already planning my upcoming contests so you guys will have many more opportunities to win!!

Our winners are: 

Photo 1: Alyssa 

Photo 2: Gabe

Photo 3: Gabe

Thank you all so much for participating! I will be contacting the winners within the next 24hrs regarding your prizes!

 While I was awaiting everyone's captions I was able to kick back and relax! It was so nice! No extra work obligations and Liam was kind to his father and I by keeping his fussy moments to a minimum. We also had a visit from Liam's Grandma Fouse (my Mom)! I love visits from my Mom! She lives a ways away from our home so she usually comes by once or twice a month. We are able to chat about work, work on crafty things and be creative, and bargain hunting is usually part of her visit. Liam is always happy to see his Grandma so it's nice to let Grandma and Grandson bond while Sean and I work around the house or run some errands without worrying about feeding schedules, heat exhaustion, binky locations, etc. For this visit, Grandma brought up a turtle sandbox with a cover that we converted into a kiddy pool. So, this last weekend, Liam had his first pool experience! He was a little iffy about it. He's use to being in his duck bath with warm water so being in a bigger area full of luke warm water threw him for a loop. He started playing eventually but he started getting chilly so we had to cut it short. I think next time will be much better!

While my Mom was out this weekend, we went bargain hunting for a padded storage ottoman as we recently had to nix our wooden coffee table. We were unsuccessful on that front but we did find some decorations for Liam's first birthday party and a '57 Chevy toy car that Liam LOVES riding in! It's missing a headlight but it was only $10 and it works 100% fine otherwise. HUZZAH for Goodwill finds! Sean and I were just talking about getting a car for Liam to ride around in and were shocked when we went to a couple of stores and the cheapest ones were sitting around $150! Whew! Not on our budget! So, even though we didn't achieve our initial goal, we were successful in the end!

Liam also had his "9 month" WCC this last weekend. He is a happy healthy little boy, according to his pediatrician. He is no longer being measured on the Premature Weight Chart which is an amazing step for our little monster. They moved him up to the "Low Birth Weight" Chart (the last chart before we move to the normal percentile chart) and he is sitting in the 20th percentile on that one! He is growing and developing so so fast! As you know, Liam is currently in Physical Therapy to ensure that he catches up with his true age eventually. During his most recent appointment we were ecstatic to find out that Liam is incredibly close to being discharged from Physical Therapy! Once he starts walking he is out! How insane is that? We're so stinking proud of our little kiddo. He is just plowing through his developmental stages! I can't wait to see what's next for him!

I will be documenting Liam's upcoming surgery and posting about it once he is completely recovered. That surgery will be his last remaining step on his road to catching up! His procedure is scheduled for August 14th. It's gonna be a doosey. He'll be under anesthesia for an hour and a half and his recovery will be over one week. I'll do a pre, during, and post blog for those stage of our lives as they happen.

Until then, here are some catch up pictures from last weekend!

 That's it for me today folks! Again, thank you to all of the participants in the contest and CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!

How was your weekend? Any great deals on any purchases? Any fun visitors?

Caption Contest

Dear Monster,

   You are so much fun to take pictures of. I'm pretty sure I've said this before but it's just so true! You're a little ham in front of the camera. You make your Dad and I laugh everyday and I can't wait to show you all of your baby pictures once you're older!
~~~

Hello hello readers! The last couple of weeks have been full of me planning Liam's first birthday, working, family visits, doctor appointments, and a few brief moments of peaceful family time. In that time, Liam has been doing some big time developmental jumping! He's now pulling to stand on anything that has a ledge and today he was creeping along the edge of the couch while holding onto the cushions! This is all very exciting but now that he can pull to stand it is all he wants to do! Even if he is exhausted and cries the entire time he is standing! This new stage is particularly fun when it's time to take a nap or go to bed and all he will do is stand. *sigh* Needless to say, the bed in his crib was recently dropped to it's lowest level and we've had a couple of Cry It Out nights. Along with pulling to stand, he's crawling like a champ, he's getting into every single little thing that we don't want him to, and he's teething again! We've had to move or just plain remove some of the objects in our living room due to head bonks and curious hands, and he is definitely figuring out what "No!" means when it comes to the furniture and objects that are left. Since we're getting to what Sean and I call the "actual" parenting stage, which can start to wear on parents, we try to make an extra effort to remember that with all of the difficult changes and developments come fun new things too! Things like Stage 3 foods, newer and bigger toys, and the rush we get each time we see a gleam of his budding personality are what get us through teething, general grumpiness, and sick days. He is, more often than not, an amazing little kiddo though.

As you can imagine, we have been going a little bit crazy with pictures. We already have something like 800 pictures just from 2012! But it is this gluttony of pictures that brings me to today's contest blog! The prize will be pretty simple, as it is my first contest blog, but a win is a win!

Here's The Deal:

I am going to post 3 pictures on this blog that I have just not been able to come up with captions for. Go ahead and leave a comment on this blog with your recommendations for the captions.

For each picture that Sean and I chose your caption you will receive a $5 gift card to the location of your choice (provided the location you chose actually has gift cards). You could win as much as $15 or as little as nothing so make sure you're offering your very best captions!

You will have ONE WEEK to leave your captions. Next Tuesday Sean and I will decide the winners for each picture and send out the gift cards.

Make sure to include the gift card location you would like in your comment!

Please note: I will contact you directly for mailing information! Please only post your email address as your contact information! No addresses or phone numbers should be posted publicly!!

Ready???

GO!

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

If I knew then...

Dear Monster,

   Someday, I am going to look at you and have a sudden and heart breaking realization that you are an adult and you don't need me to give hugs every day, kiss boo-bos, cut meat, or explain how the world works. I hope that I am strong enough to truly understand this moment. I hope I am strong enough to tell you that you are an amazing human being, kiss your cheek, and send you on your way. One thing I can GUARANTEE is that, even if I am strong enough to do those things in front of you, I am going to cry like a baby the minute your back is turned. I love you, Son.
~~~

Hello again readers! Sorry for the laps in the blogs but, man, it has been a rough couple of weeks. I had a couple of weeks that sent me into overtime at work, a presentation due for my Leadership Development Team at work, we helped celebrate Mr. Jonah (from In the Land of Lou)'s first birthday (though we had to leave early which just about killed us), I visited my Mom while she was evacuated from her home due to fires, and I just HAD to enjoy some mommy/wife time. ;) Life has definitely been pretty intense lately but, believe it or not, I wouldn't wish it any other way.

Developments for our little Monster have been coming rapidly lately. He's mobile now! He is crawling like it is his JOB! We have chosen to not "baby proof" our home. After discussing it with several parents, we think it will be easier to teach Liam that it is not okay to touch certain things and why. Putting locks and blocks up is PERFECTLY okay but we began to wonder what would happen if we went to a friend's home and they had no reason to baby proof their home. How would we protect Liam then? We think it best to help Liam just avoid the situations in general, on his own. It has been difficult and we have a long road ahead of us, but we think it is the best option for our family. On top of crawling, Liam has started babbling in a way that sounds like a drunk mumbling a sentence. We're pretty sure that his first word will be "DaDa". He loves his Daddy so stinking much! He is eating stage 3 foods now. (For those of you that don't have to know why stage 1 and stage 3 are so different: stage 3 foods are more chunky. ;) He is pulling to stand, which is insane. Watching him go from laying down to standing just completely fascinates me! We still have only 2 teeth but we're pretty sure our top two teeth will be coming in soon. Want a few photo updates? Of course you do!

Digging paper out of Liam's mouth

He loves his papa

Making a mess of Daddy's movies

Rare and wonderful cuddle time

Standing with his drum

Pig face in the pack and play ;)

Getting kisses from the puppy

So, now that our update is all done, it's time to get serious. The reason for my blog tonight hails back to a few weeks ago when I had some guest bloggers on discussing adulthood and some of the things that they wish they have known back in the day. I've had several requests regarding my version of the guest blogs so I figured I should probably deliver on my side of the bargain. ;)

I'll start with the moment I KNEW I was an adult. I guess the answer to this is that I still don't, technically, feel like I am an adult. I have bought and sold a home, bought and sold several cars, gotten married, moved to the "big city", chosen my career, given birth to a child, and made any number of "adult" decisions but... I just don't quite feel like I'm there yet. I still have my immature moments, I still need others to hold me up at times, I still panic when I think my closest friends are upset with me, I laugh at fart jokes, I play video games, and I am totally okay with explaining away "lazy days". I have been through some of the most difficult things life would dare to throw at someone and came out okay in the end. I have found my own answers to many of life's "big questions" and I am comfortable with who I am have become and who I will be in the future. However, as I look around, I realize that I have so many wonderful and strong examples of adult women around me that I don't feel like I am quite there yet. I think I have more to learn and I know that I have a lot of growing to do. I'm okay with saying that I am maturing but I am, in no way, a full blown adult... yet. I don't know what my mile markers are or will be for actually BECOMING an adult, but I think I'll know when it happens. And, believe me, you'll be the first to know.


When it comes to my 10 "If I Knew Then What I Know Now" statements...whew...these were rough. How do you pick only 10?? I would go back and tell my younger self so very many things. I can't even count them. Bah! So, for better or worse, here is my list:

1. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I would have asked my aunt to reschedule her surgery.

2. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I would have gone to Bel-Rae, gotten my CVT, and just been done with it.

3. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I would have had my uterus tested further before attempting to have a child. (Not that I wouldn't have still tried but it might have gone differently for everyone)

4. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I wouldn't have fought my Mom so much about moving to Colorado. I made her life miserable for SO long. I miss my friends and life in Washington, but things are pretty amazing now.

5. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I would never ever ever ever ever talk to a certain someone about relationships PERIOD. Everyone else's life is not my business. I have this horrible drive to help people and hold their hand through rough moments but I need to just stop.

6. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I would have started watching Parks and Recreation sooner. (This is a lame one but I really do love this show and I judged it too soon!)

7. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I might have thought a third time before moving to Denver. We were so overwhelmed by so very many things and moving seemed like the best choice. I don't know that I would have changed anything, and I'm not saying that we didn't thoroughly think every possible thing through, but I would have sat down for maybe another hour or so to think about it......just in case.

8. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I would have just TALKED to my husband. So many of our marital troubles could have been completely avoided if I had just talked to Sean. How ridiculous is that?

9. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I would have rented a vehicle to go to freaking Indiana in the middle of the freaking summer. *sigh* So damn hot!

10. If I Knew Then What I Know Now, I don't know that I would change a damn thing. My life is pretty amazing right now and I don't know if it would have turned out this way if I hadn't gone through each and every single moment of it. I just don't know....

So, there is my list. I'd love to hear your lists and, while you're at it, when did you know you were an adult?? What momentous milestones have defined your life? Tell me all about it! I can't wait to hear from you!