Going Camping!

Well, I won't be posting until probably Monday.  Actually let's just say Tuesday since by the time we get home and unpacked on Monday I will be exhausted. 

We are taking the boys camping, one last hurrah before summer ends.  This will be our first camping trip with Liam and I am a bit nervous because we do not have a clue how he will do sleeping in a tent in his pack n play.  He most likely will end up right beside me since I am a paranoid Mama.  Hopefully he will be so worn out at the end of the day that he will just go to sleep like a good baby.

I will take lots of pictures and Mat is bringing the video camera to capture the fun moments. 

I need to just get away and relax for a three day weekend and come back refreshed.  I am going to put together all of the meals tonight and that way when we get there tomorrow I can just play around with the kids. 

Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and I will be back on Tuesday!

Take the Extra Time......

When I drive Liam to the babysitter in the morning I like to turn the radio down and listen to him.  He makes the most adorable sounds and talks to me as if we are having a conversation.  I truly think that by doing this small thing in his life I am helping him to learn and grow stronger in his conversation skills.  He mostly babbles but his vocabulary is growing everyday.  Some days I can understand almost everything that comes out of his mouth and other days he likes to blow spit bubbles and yell "Balloon" or in his case "Ba yune."  I love listening to all of it. 

This morning he was particularly clingy to me so I was expecting a whiney ride to Grandma's house.  Nope, he talked to me the whole time.  It was so cute.  Grandma's house is the perfect ride for him to see all of the Hot Air Balloons launching and getting ready for Balloon Fiesta.  He gets super excited about them and points and screams with delight. 

Since Liam is our last baby I really have noticed that I listen and pay attention in more detail to the little things he does.  I listen for the new words he is learning or sounds he makes.  I love watching him grow up in to this curious toddler.  It makes me sad that he is getting bigger every day but I am loving the learning stages he is going through. 

So, Moms and Dads, turn the radio down in the car and listen to your little ones babble away.  It's a great sound to hear (much better than crying)!! 

Summer is coming to a close!

Since Summer is coming to a close I thought I would share some pictures from our big family vacation we took this past June.  My nephew graduated and the tradition is we all go on a big family trip (3 families).  This year this trip took us to South Padre Island, Texas. 

We rented condos right by each other and had a blast.  We were there for 6 days and our condo was a block from the beach.  It was an awesome vacation and the boys (Mat included) loved the ocean and that is where we spent the majority of our time. 

We also did a night cruise that included a dj and dancing.  That was so much fun.  Everyone also did a fishing boat trip (Liam and I stayed behind for that one).  The boys said it was fun but the fish weren't biting too well.  Preston caught some fish and we ate what they did catch that night for dinner.  Can't beat that deal, catch and eat.  We had some awesome food while we were down there, seafood of course.  Nick did get sick while we were on vacation and ended up rupturing his ear drum.  I had to venture into Brownsville, Texas to find the Children's Urgent Care Center.  The Dr on call there was amazing and set him up on his way to recovery.  He ended up having to get an antibiotic shot in the office because his infection was so bad.  I felt terrible as he had been complaining about his ear and then the night of the cruise he said it felt better.  Poor kid woke up in terrible pain the next morning and I am so glad I found a great facility to take him to. 

Overall we had the best time and the ocean was of course the highlight of the trip.  My kids are huge water lovers and have been since pretty much birth.  All of my older kids are strong swimmers which I can thank Mat for since he taught them at the ripe old age of three.  Mat loves the water too and if he had his way we would definitely live in a coastal community.  Liam took to the water right away.  He LOVED it!  He also loved the sand and had so much fun playing with his brothers building sand castles (although he liked to break them more than build them).

 The trip was so much fun that we did have a hard time leaving.  It was a trip that I would definitely take again.  The only change I would make is to fly next time.  We drove 19 hours the first day (straight through with a few stops) and 18 hours coming home.  It was tough with 6 people in a minivan.  Liam was actually awesome during the drive and we didn't have to stop too many times for him.  The older boys tend to fight more about space, pillows, blankets, you name it at one point they were fighting about it.

 Like I said though it was so much fun and the most fun of any trip is seeing your kids have fun.  They definitely had fun as you can see from our photos.  Liam I think had the most fun.  He was so happy in the water and playing in the sand.  He got to the point that he would lay down in the sand and the wave would wash up on him.  He would laugh and laugh and get up and run from it.  It was adorable. 

As you can see from the photos we all had a great time and can't wait for our next family vacation which should be the summer of 2015 after my niece graduates high school.  Then we have to wait for three more years to do it again. 



 

 

 

Footballs, Basketballs, Baseballs, OH MY!!

Liam is OBSESSED with balls, any kind will do.  He will throw them, kick them, carry them around the house, even throw them at you.  He loves them.  If he sees one he wants it and he wants it now.  Yesterday we were at Austin's football scrimmage and there were so many footballs around the field.  Liam was literally trying to fight his way out of his stroller to get to them.  I had to keep him very occupied the whole game so he wouldn't want to get out.  The field is a very dangerous place for a 1 year old when there are big old high schoolers out there. 

I was doing such a fantastic job at keeping him busy until a little boy came with his family and sat down pretty close to us.  Well what does that little boy whip out of his pocket.....a hacky sack!  Seriously kid, did you not realize that you sat down next to a ball obsessed 1 year old little boy!  Liam starts screaming at the top of his lungs, "BALL, BALL, BALL!"  Well the kid thought it was pretty funny so he kept throwing it up in the air over and over and over again.  With every throw came a louder Liam screaming "BALL."  I was really hoping with all of my might that the kid would just walk up the stairs and go play with it out of sight so Liam would stop screaming.  I really did try to distract him during this time but it didn't work.  The kid was making sure Liam saw the ball the whole time.  I was seriously about to lose it when the little boys brother came and ripped it out of his hands.  Then a chase pursued but it was out of sight and Liam was able to get interested in something else.  Thank goodness for small miracles or little brothers who like to aggravate whichever works. 

Well as soon as we got in the car after the game we found a ball for him to hold on the ride home.  Now I know to carry a ball with me to every event we go to. 

The Monday Morning Blahs!!

My boys are not morning people at least the ones that need to be up and at 'em for school.  Liam is always up around 6am and sometimes he will sleep in for me on the weekend (very rare though).

My other three though are a totally different story.  Austin has to catch the bus this year at 6:15am.  He sets his alarm for 5:30am and showers the night before so he can take his time.  I get up around that time too and do the breakfast thing for him.  During this brief period we are together he is the moodiest thing to be around prior to me waking Preston up (then I have a whole different beast on my hands).  This morning I decided to just get his breakfast and go back to bed for another 15 minutes until he left the house.  I could not deal and before I said something not so nice I excused myself back to bed.  He managed on his own and got out the door. 

Once he was gone Liam woke up so I had a few minutes with him before venturing on to wake up the other two beasts.  Nick isn't as bad as his brothers are so that is good.  He gets up, gets dressed and while he may be thinking some not nice things while he grunts along he doesn't usually say them to me.  Preston on the other hand is horrible. 

Preston is the worst by far and hates to get up for school or church.  On the weekends he will usually wake himself up by 7am and is fine but during the school week and Sundays for mass he is horrendous.  I need to record him just so I can show him what a butt he is in the mornings.  I get Preston up and give him his clothes.  He gets upset because when he got up his clothes fell on the ground and he had to actually reach down and grab them.  I know the abuse he suffers at having to lean over to grab his clothes.  Horrible!  I make sure everything is done the night before because of this behavior and that way he knows where everything is and can just grab it.  He usually gets dressed in bed and then covers back up and I have to go in there at least 5 more times to get him out of the room.  Then he slithers down the hallway into my bed.  It's the same five days a week.  By the time he gets to breakfast it is usually more whining about how he is not hungry this early in the morning and he just wants to sleep in five more minutes.  I tell him that five more minutes turns into ten and then he is late to the bus.  He just stomps out of the room.  After breakfast I am usually wrapping up my morning and heading out to work.   This is when the beast stops for a second to give me a hug and kiss.  Then I can hear as soon as I leave him starting to whine again.  He is by far NOT A MORNING PERSON!! 

I laugh at people who tell me I baby them by having everything ready in the morning.  It's not about babying them but about making my life easier.  I also like my kids to have a good breakfast in the morning and that means I make it.  Cereal and milk is fine for some but my kids need protein to sustain their energy and I don't mind doing that for them.  I am the Mom and while making them ready for life in the long run is great (Austin could easily live on his own even now) their main job right now is school and I will help them along in this journey.  I may complain about how tired I am now but when they are all gone and living their own lives I will miss this busyness about my life. 

Also you just can't make someone a morning person because I am 36 years old and I HATE MORNINGS TOO!! 

Stupid Mistakes!!

Well, our first real football injury has happened this past Wednesday.  I got a call from Austin's football coach and he told me some kids were messing around in the weight room and Austin got hurt.  He told me on the phone that the bleeding was stopped and the trainer had helped him but he needed to go in to see a dr.  I have a 45 minute commute so I told him that and he said that would be ok.  They kept him calm and in the room with them while I drove there. 

While I was driving over I got a hold of his pediatrician's office who is also an urgent care facility for stitches and types of injuries like that.  I finally got a hold of Mat too who had been sleeping.  Mat said he would pick him up and meet me over there.  I get a call about 15 minutes later telling me to meet him at the real urgent care facility because it is really bad.  Now my head is racing with how bad it could be.  I got there and my poor son's face (who is always my tough one) looks not only devastated but in a ton of pain.  150lbs of weights came smashing down on one of his fingers and his thumb. 

Urgent care was awesome and got us back very quickly due to the extent of the injury.  The Dr and nurse were great to him.  When they unwrapped it I was in shock.  It looked horrendous and if that was me I would have passed out from the pain.  He hung in there through the clean up and the rewrapping it.  They did not sew it up because a hand surgeon who had been called said not to and to send him over in the morning.  They did get him on antibiotics and pain medication. 

He was in a lot of pain and it throbbed the whole night.  We took him to the Hand Dr in the morning and she was an amazing Dr.  When Austin gets nervous he talks a lot and asks a ton of questions and she just kept talking to him and explained everything that they were going to do to him in detail.  He had to have a minor surgical procedure in the office (pretty cool that there was an OR room in the office).  He was nice and numb and on pain meds so he didn't start feeling anything until a couple hours after the procedure.  Then it started stinging and hurting. 

He went to his school for his work since he is very concerned about his grades this year.  He is left handed and he hurt his left hand so it is going to be difficult to write anything until his stitches come out and it is fully healed.  He also talked to his coach about the whole situation.  He is more devastated that he won't be playing in the scrimmage on Monday.  He should be back to playing in a couple weeks and hopefully he learned not to mess around with a weight bench.  Although he is 14 and I am sure we are in for many more learning experiences in our life!

The Many Hats A Mom Wears.......

I got to thinking last night because my mind seems to turn on full speed around 11pm.  I am not sure why that is but it does.......

How many hats do you wear as a Mom in your lifetime?

This is my list of hats and a little definition for each just so you feel me......

Mom's Hats:

Cook:  And this isn't just a normal cook, but more like a chef who has to please many different mouths and palettes everyday.  This includes breakfast, lunch (make hubby's everyday) and dinner (my kids don't like a quick dinner either and hubby has mentioned that dinner should be well balanced to include salad and some type of bread too).  I do have a rule that I am not a short order cook so don't ask me to make you something different.  If you don't like it don't eat it and go hungry!

Taxi Driver/Chauffeur:  Four boys, one little one that goes several different places during the week.  I have sports practices, school events, church events, store trips at 8pm at night when someone remembers that they forgot they were supposed to bring something special to school the next day, ran out of milk trips, dr appointments and anything else that pops up that requires Mom to go to it.  Oh and don't forget that I commute everyday to work (45 minutes one way) so getting in the car to play taxi driver is my least favorite event.

Nurse:  Anytime we have boo boos, stomach aches, head aches, my arm hurts, "I think I broke my toe", throwing up, diarrhea, who do they call, Nurse MOM!  Why is it that Dad can't play the Nurse roll, especially at 3am when there is a trail of puke down the hallway?  Just always wondered about that.

Referee:  I have four boys (and a hubby) so there is always a need for a referee in the home.  I swear these boys would fight over nothing and half the time I have decided it is over nothing.  I am the one who has to decide who was right and who was wrong which Mom is always right and the boys are always in the wrong.  That is really all I will say about that!!

Housekeeper:  This is a big one in our house.  During the summer months everyone and when I say everyone I really just mean Austin would do their chores according to my needs.  By that I mean I need it done, they do it.  Now that school has started and sports are in full swing not much gets done around the house so guess who gets to pick up the slack, yep you guessed it MOM.  Our house gets very messy, very quickly with four boys, a hubby and a dog.  I am not sure why this is since everyone in my home has two hands and two feet that work to pick things up and walk them where they need to go.  Nope, backpacks, socks, shoes, papers, you name it it goes somewhere where it isn't supposed to and then I am out there telling everyone to pick their stuff up and put it away.  Sometimes it makes it halfway to where it is supposed to go and then other times it makes it in the right room but on to the floor.  Some days I just give up entirely.  Then I always seem to hear a grumble from one of them about how messy the house looks.  Well if it looks so messy, clean it!

Laundromat:  As you can guess from the title I am the whole Laundromat.  Most of the time the boys will get their laundry to the laundry room, not in a basket or anything, but into the actual room where the laundry is done.  My hubby does not get his laundry into the room where the laundry is done.  It usually stays on the floor next to his bed until he runs out or I get sick of looking at it.  This is still a work in progress after being together for 16 years.  I sort the laundry, wash the laundry, dry the laundry and then throw the laundry up on the counter and pray for some time to actually put it away before it piles up again.  Laundry is my least favorite chore!

 Teacher:  I help with homework and lately homework is tough for me too.  I am so thankful for our friend across the street who is also a teacher and a very patient woman.  Just yesterday Preston needed help and we clash with homework so he walked across the street and she helped him.  I do not understand the new way of teaching so I am of little help.  I do try my best but I will fully admit that I get just as frustrated as my poor kids do.  It is tough to be a student today!  With that said I still do help as much as I can and I love to read books with Liam at night.  I can still do that part!

Cheerleader:  I will always be my kids loudest cheerleader in life.  I am always there for their sporting events, school events, you name it I am there.  I will not miss out on cheering them on for anything.  Kids need that nowadays and I love it!  I am told from time to time though that I am just a tad bit loud and my kids can always hear me!  I am a loud person naturally so of course when I am cheering it is going to be a lot louder than normal.  I LOVE MY KIDS!! 

Advocate:  You not only have to be there for your child as their cheerleader but as their advocate in life.  Who else better to support you than your parents?  While I will never be that parent that says Oh Not my so and so, oh he couldn't do that I will always be that parent that will be supportive no matter what.  My kids tell me a lot and I love it that they do.  I have had to be my kids advocate in many situations over the course of their lives and I am sure I will have to do it many more times.  This is what being a parent is about.  Standing up for your kids is part of your job as a parent especially when they are being pushes around, need help, just about anything.

Bank:  I am an ATM machine for my children.  I swear that every time I think I have some money a kid says they need so and so.  If it isn't for sports, it's for school, life, fun, whatever.  The first week of school I felt like I was writing check after check after check.  Between the clothes, shoes, backpacks, two pages each of school supplies, lunch money, fees for classes, PE uniforms I felt like I had to get a second job.  Holy cow!!  I remember my Dad always used to say Do you think I am a bank and now I know what he meant!  Kids cost money and I understand that but it seems like every time you turn around something new pops up. 

Detective:  If you are a Mom you know what I mean!  I will find out whatever it is that you are hiding from me.  I am a Mom and I have skills that no one else has.

These are just some of the hats that I wear as a Mom.  There are more as other situations pop up but these are my every day hats.

I love my boys and when I lay down at night (exhausted) and can't sleep (even though I am exhausted) they are what I am thinking about, worrying about and I guess as a Mom that is just the way it is.

Working for NASA

Austin and I got into a conversation late last night about his career path in life.  He told me he wants to be an astronaut and pursue a career with NASA.  As I stood there listening to him last night he sounded so excited about this.  He kept talking about how he wanted to be the one to discover life on other planets.  He wanted to explore other dimensions of this universe and tear apart space rocks and really delve deep in to space exploration.  I was intrigued by this because he has never been one to get excited about a career choice.  We probably sat there for a good 45 minutes talking about what he needs to do to be in the space program when he gets older.  He even went back to his room to look up what classes he needs to focus on and how many people are chosen per year for the program.  Only 20 per year he told me and then he told me how he needs to take astronomy, focus on his math and science grades.  He has always liked science so hopefully that helps him along.  I am really excited for him and hope that this is what he focuses on.  I have always been a firm believer of having goals for your kids but Austin chose his own.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for him as I think it will be full of great things!

A Heavenly Birthday!

On Sunday, August 17th my Dad would have turned 67 years old.  This is the second birthday without him here and the void is still felt throughout our family.  I miss him with all of my heart and soul and the day he left us here on Earth a piece of my heart went with him.  He was truly an amazing human being and there is not another like him.  He would give the shirt off his back if you needed it.  He still called to check on me and made me call him when I got home.  He was just a wonderful Dad.  He was also an amazing Papa to my boys.  They miss him dearly. 

On Sunday we went to visit his grave.  We took him a Happy Birthday balloon.  We sat with him for a while.  I cry everytime I "visit" him at his grave.  It is not him and I know that but I feel like I can talk to him there better. 

Austin did not join us as he feels Papa when he plays his guitar or piano and not at his grave.  He said when he plays his instruments is when he feels Papa the most.  That is his connection to him. 

Dad, Happy Heavenly Birthday!  We miss you and love you so much!!

Busy Weekends!!

Weekends used to be about lounging around and doing whatever we wanted and then....KIDS HAPPENED!!

Now our weekends seem to be non stop and then on Monday I wonder where my weekend went. Our weekend started on Friday evening with an awesome graduation ceremony with Austin's football team. They did a huge ceremony type event that involved the military coming and training the boys. It was fun to watch them workout with them. What a great community we belong to! Then they were told a couple days prior to prepare a rock with all of your negative attributes on it. Austin wrote his on it and then they run up Ram Hill (a tall hill in the back of their field) and throw away the negativity and start fresh when they run back down. It was awesome! Then at the end he got his jersey. I am so proud of him. He is very excited about his freshman year of football and so are we. The whole family came to watch and it was a great event. Very proud to be a Ram Parent!  

After that event on Saturday Austin's football team had media day. The boys all took their pictures and the parents cleaned the stadium. The freshmen parents had the bleachers/seating area. Holy cow it was a workout but it looked great afterwards! We were there until around Noon and then onto trying to finish up some stuff at home. Between cleaning up the stadium and cleaning up our own home I was exhausted.

On Sunday was our normal grocery shopping/laundry day. I also cooked breakfast burritos for the week so the boys would have an easy heat up breakfast. Yummy! We tried to do a movie night but that didn't last long since we were all exhausted by 9pm. We might try for a movie night next weekend.

Back to School!!

Well, today was the day when I officially became the Mom of a high schooler. Where has the time gone? I remember him getting on the bus for his very first day of kindergarten. I was so sad that he didn't want me to take him to school but instead wanted to ride the bus "like a big boy." Right before he got on the bus that day he told me "Mom, I'm a big boy now so don't cry." I cried the walk back home right after he waved to me through the bus window. Immediately after the bus pulled away I cried while Mat was so proud of his big 5 year old. So now fast forward 9 years later and I have a high school freshman in my home. He said it was awesome and I am so happy for him. He has a cousin who is a senior this year and she, along with her friends are looking out for him this year. I am relieved about that. He said his classes are great and he was just really happy about the whole day. For that I am totally excited about. Knowing that at the end of this high school journey he will leave me to go to college I am not at all ok about. I guess I will cross that bridge when it comes.

It was also Nick and Preston's first day of school. Nick started the 7th grade and Preston became a middle schooler today heading into the 6th grade. Nick had little to say about his day other than he didn't want to start school. Very typical of my basketball playing obsessed kiddo. He eats, breathes and sleeps basketball right now and has little time for school. Gotta love it!! I did get a little out of him, like "I need to take my basketball to school tomorrow Mom, I was bored today at lunch." Well at least he likes his classes or at least I think he does by the grunt I got at dinner tonight. Preston had a good day today. He said it was really different than elementary school and he couldn't find his friends at lunch so he sat by himself. He said the lines for lunch were really long and he only got to eat a little bit of his lunch. I felt bad about that. I remember the other two having the same issues at first. I told him it gets easier and he called his friend after school to make sure they know where to meet up at tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow goes a little easier.

So in celebration of their first day back to school I made one of their favorite meals, fettuccine alfredo with Italian bread and salad. Needless to say there was very little left but we had lots of laughs at dinner. The best laughs came when Mat took Liam for his bath and we were finishing up. Liam came streaking out of the bathroom, laughing and screeching. He came running to give Mommy hugs and then would run back to the bathroom yelling Dada and he was just laughing and laughing. So overall a good day for all of us!! Here's to a wonderful 2014-2015 school year for all of my boys and all of the kiddos out there returning to school.

Uh Oh!! Here comes jealousy!!

My dear sweet baby boy is now a raging, jealous maniac! His favorite words right now are Uh Oh! And those words usually come after he karate chops you in the face. Yesterday Mat was sitting down on the bed and our 11 year old came to put his head on his Dad's shoulders. Liam freaked out and kept trying to move him away and saying Dada loudly. He did it several times because Preston wouldn't move away from his Dad. Well fast forward to the evening and Preston thought it would be cute to sit on my lap while we were watching a movie and Liam freaked out again. He ran over to the couch, climbed up and tried to kick him off of me. Mama, Mama, MAMA he was screaming at him! I said that is not nice I am Preston's Mommy too and he said Uh Oh and kicked him off again. I tried to explain that I am everyone's Mama but to a 16 month old I don't think it registered. So now anytime I hug the boys he gets angry. I guess we will have to work on the whole we are all family thing with him. Holy cow he is ornery!! Fortunately for him he is adorable!!

The Biggest Compliment A Mom Can Get......

As a Mom you always question yourself in raising your kids, am I doing a good job, are they going to be ok when they are adults, am I ruining their lives? You know, the normal is my child going to need therapy when they move out from having me as a Mom? Those questions run through my mind on a daily basis and some days I will definitely admit I probably could have handled situations better. I am human and I make mistakes. BUT.....when someone tells you how wonderful your child is it seals the deal in feeling that as a Mom I have accomplished something spectacular. Some one else thinks my child is a fantastic human being and how could they not, he really is. This particular child is my oldest son, Austin. He really is a great kid but he is also 14 and very moody most of the time. He is in the stage right now that everything bothers him, like his parents (totally serious about this one), his brothers (even the cute baby brother that he really is awesome with), his friends, sports (he tries and tries and works his butt off but it is never good enough for him), school, you name it it bugs him in one way or another. The poor kid is going through probably one of the most difficult stages in his life.

The other day him and a friend of his were going door to door in our neighborhood selling their football fundraiser cards. He got to a house and a very nice woman answered the door. Austin is a very social kid and can talk to anyone. He is just like his Momma in that we can carry on a conversation with just about anybody. They ended up talking about everything, his musical talents (she teaches piano), football, her weeds in the front yard (he happens to pull weeds in our neighborhood to earn extra cash), you name it they talked about it. She bought two tickets from him and told him to come back because she needed some help around her home. That Friday he delivered the cards and when he was delivering her cards she asked if he would be interested in helping pull their weeds. He instantly said yes and on Saturday he showed up even though he had played a two hour football game and it was hot outside. He worked for over 2 hours before the rain hit and not only got paid but got a piano lesson too. He was more excited about the piano lesson especially since he hasn't been able to find someone to teach him since his Papa passed away. The next day was Sunday and he was up bright and early to help out again. This time he took his own tools because the woman and her daughter were at church when he got there. He worked for around 2 hours again and came home for lunch. He went back when they got home and finished up the job, got paid again and more piano lessons. After his last lesson I went over and met with them (the woman and her daughter). They just kept going on and on about what a great boy I have raised and he is so polite and sweet. She also told me that you don't see that hardly anymore. It really made me think after we left their home that you really don't meet too many polite kids anymore. I guess more and more parents aren't really caring about the type of kids they release to the world once they are finished raising them. I have met lots of different kids and their parents over the years through my kids school, sports etc. I will admit that some are never welcome in my home again and it has taken Austin a long time to figure out the kinds of kids he wants to associate himself with. It's a learning process just like everything else. I do like his selection of friends now and all are more than welcome in my home. So with all of the mistakes I make on a daily basis as a Mom I am pretty happy that at the end of the day my son is well liked by the neighbors.

First Dentist Appointment

Liam is 16 months old and has 7 whole teeth in his mouth. Those 7 teeth got a cleaning by the dentist and he actually sat through the visit without a cry or wimper. He was such a big boy sitting in the chair. I did have to initially sit with him but when the dentist came in to check his teeth he sat all by himself. He handed him his goodies out of his goodie bag, his toothbrush, toothpaste, floss sticks and whatever else he could hand him. He was feeling generous, although he did open his bag for him to put it all back in for him. Liam being 16 months, his generosity only goes so far and lasts so long. I will admit though in his little 16 months he has been with us he has already slightly chipped a tooth.

I noticed it a couple of months ago but wasn't too concerned. He is a mover, shaker and climber and I can hardly keep up with him. He gets hurt frequently and just shakes it off and keeps on going. He is just like his older brother Austin was at that age. I don't think Austin has outgrown it though. So I guess I am in for it for quite awhile longer. I love it though, they all keep me on my toes.