"More than a Memory"

I'm sure in my few short post's so far I have already mentioned the importance of scrapbooking in my life, but it is so important to me and should be to you to so I am going to talk about it again. Pictures are frozen memories of the everyday lives we live. They are sometimes happy, sad, or funny, and sometimes they are all that is left of a person. When you scrapbook you can record the story behind the picture and make it more enjoyable to look at then an album with hundreds of plain pictures. Scrapbooks can be carried on for years and years and help your children learn about themselves and your children's children to learn about their parents and so on. It is so easy. You can make scrapbooking as cheap or as expensive as you want to, and it's for you and your family so who care's if you think your creative or not.... just try I know you can do it and any effort is better then no effort at all. Here are a few of my favorite pages I've done of Liam recently. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and feel free to scraplift them (aka do the same thing, but with your own pictures!) I hope you all start scarpbooking and if you need any help at all I am definitely willing to help in any way i can!

A New Year For a New Me!

I am determined to make this one of the best year's of my life, and I am gonna be kinda lame to and use resolutions to help make it happen. Some of my resolutions for 2012 are to be a great mom, to keep up with this blog, to reach my goal weight, to read more, and to keep a cleaner house. Wish me luck! I hope the blog doesn't get boring, but if it does that's ok just don't read it because it's more for me than anyone else! Some of my hopes for it this year are to just record what happens each day during my journey into the still new role of mommyhood. I also want to include some pictures to show Liam in his everyday life and improvements! He is just growing so fast and I don't want to miss a second. He is reaching milestones every. day. Just this week he has been saying dada constantly, switched to a (still rear facing) big boy car seat, and using his stroller without being in a car seat. I am just so proud of him. While on the subject of car seats, one thing I really struggled with was when to switch him to a bigger one and what car seat to buy, and whether to keep it rear facing or forward facing. I ended up looking at the manual for his infant car seat and the maximum weight was 21 IBS. Well considering Liam is 20 IBS, I knew it was time to start looking for a new one. I read a ton of articles on top rated car seats and although most were in a different order, almost all of the top ten where consistent. I chose the Parents magazine #1 rated infant to toddler car seat... Evenflo Symphony 65! WE love it so far and it is a 3-1 so we will never have to buy another car seat again! The manual says that at 22 IBS you can put your baby forward facing, but for now we are gonna keep him rear because it makes me feel much more comfortable. So if your looking for a new car seat definitely check this one out. We got it for $200 at Toys-R-Us! <3Tiffany

Whew! Being a new mom in college is kicking my butt, but I'm making it work the best I know how. One major thing I have learned is that spending time with your family is the most important priority. No, I never want to have to fail a test because I spent time with my family instead of studied, but if it ever came to that then so be it. I have been having to study a lot lately, but I try to do it late at night after Liam is asleep, and if he naps during the day, with the exception of the day before exams when I study almost the whole day.
Liam has been getting so big lately. He holds his bottle on his own, for about half his feeding every time now, he  "talks" constantly and is starting to make very distinctive sounds that sound like mum, da, good, and hi. (not really words yet, but he's like a minute away from them being considered "words"), also he laughs and has started a little on baby food! He is just such a smart baby. For example, he will be cracking up, and you pull out a camera and he puts on his serious face. He does not like smiley pictures..... Ben says that Liam thinks there not manly bahahaha. Ben also thinks that since Liam doesn't smile in them, that he doesn't have to either. WRONG! haha
Another important thing I want readers to understand is NEVER be embarrassed of your children. Well, you can if they like fart in public or something, but it breaks my heart when parents are ashamed of their children. Children not smiling for pictures, or not as advanced as other children, or with medical problems, or cradle cap.... cannot help this stuff, and how dare their parents be ashamed of them. A good example of not being ashamed is I have a friend whose daughter had to wear a helmet for a few months, because she was sleeping in the same position all the time and her head wasn't quite forming roundly. This mom could have been embarrassed of her daughter, but she wasn't. She loved her just the same, she went out with her in public just the same, and she even decorated the helmet to make it more girly! I admire this mom so much!
Love your children unconditionally!

"Picture This"

Today's blog may be a little boring to some, so I apologize in advance, but I just really want to discuss the important of baby and family pictures. I know that in today's society almost everyone you know has a digital camera, or a camera on there cell phone, and many of your friends probably even have a DSLR camera. My point is pictures can and are taken of your children and family all the time, but although home shots can be great, everyone should invest in professional photographs, especially during the first year of your babies life when they are changing so much. There is just a special touch to letting someone else focus on the smiles, and hair being the right way, and of course the awesome editing they can do that you only wish as a new mom you had the time to learn. I know that professional photography can be expensive, but it is so so worth it. Some ideas are to check local listing because a lot of times there are photographer looking to build their portfolios for cheap, also save up while your pregnant and throughout your babies first year to get the pictures taken. Another good idea is register or request photo session or packages as baby shower gifts from family. Trust me you won't regret. I am already treasuring the professional pictures we have of Liam by Darci Ann Photography, and although we are loyal and faithful to her, we won a package that were looking forward too, and were also gonna help a friend build her portfolio so that will be exciting. Although every month would be awesome during the first year, that just isn't practical for all, so newborn, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year are the crucial for professional pictures.

"Emergencies and Take Offs"

Liam and me are finally back in the south... were we belong! D.C. has a few nice attractions, and some gorgeous old buildings, but other then that it has nothing else to offer to me. The place is enough to make me go mad if I had to be there much longer. We saw some of the craziest things, and met some of the rudest people, oh and btw if you are going to go to a parking garage, eat at a restaurant, or shop, do not expect to interact with a waitress/teller who knows how to speak plain English because there is no such thing. I think the craziest thing we saw was we were driving by this street with a few restaurants on it and we saw a Chinese man scrapping mushrooms off of a tree into a bucket..... I can't help but think those mushrooms were for the Chinese restaurant on that street... yikes. I am just thrilled to the bone to be out of that city and to have Liam out of it. I did not feel safe there with him at all, especially not when we were driving because people there are nuts, especially taxi drivers. I have no desire to be in a place where you can't park a jacked up truck lol.

On a different note, last night little Liam projectile vomited several times in a row and I noticed afterward that his right eye was really swollen. Like twice the size as is left eyelid all the way up to his eyebrow. I was immediately concerned so I did what any new mom would do... I called my mom. She seems concerned to and said she thought we should probably go to the ER or a ready care to make sure that it wasn't infected since the eyes are so close to the brain. We went to the Walter Reed ER which is a military hospital. Well when we got there they said that Liam wasn't in their system so they were gonna have to call all these people to have him put in it before they could see us. Long story short we spent forever there and the only thing they told us was it was not infected, but that it was something of concern so to see his primary pyscian on Monday. Now I want to know why in the heck that doctor couldn't tell me why it was swollen and why I am gonna have to see another one here in TN. Sounds like someone didn't want to do their job if you ask me. It was really scary to have to take Liam to the ER, but I'm glad we got everything checked out and he seems to be doing much better today.
Liam is an awesome flyer btw. We got a ton of compliments about how good he was on the way to and from D.C. He didn't cry at all, he mainly just slept and giggled. That's my boy!

"City Life"

Let me start by saying that I do not like the city what so ever. I love being from a town where the car lanes are only single or double, stores have parking lots, there are parks everywhere, and these things called trees have other trees around them, not bricks and stones because there is only one per block. I just can't stand  being in D.C. and having to pay to park anywhere you go. We went to the movies and on top of our tickets which cost $22 we had to pay $8 to park... that's crazy. There are stoplights every 20 feet, people are super rude, the second the light turns green cabs are already honking at you, people walk out in front of your car in the middle of the road, it is just crazy. Don't get me wrong, there are some great attractions here, but when it takes 45 minutes to drive 3 miles, then you look for parking for an hour, and then have to walk over a mile to your destination, by the time you get there your all frustrated and tired and it's really not even worth it.
Today we went to the Capital building, shopping, and to the National Zoo. The zoo was a lot of fun because we got there about an hour and  half before closing so it wasn't crowded at all. We actually got to see the Giant Panda's to, so that was a really neat experience. I also was able to get some great pictures of animals and of Liam at the zoo. He acted like he really liked it.... until he fell asleep lol.
Another thing about this city is that there are so many nanny's in it. I am all about working mom's if they want to have a job, but it's just really sad when some of these kids see their nannies more then their own parents. I could never do that to Liam, becuase in my opinion not having much money and seeing your kids is WAY better then having lots of money and never seeing your kids. Yes you want to give your kids nice things, but things can never replace love and memories.
I have to hand it to D.C. it is a very clean city, unlike Chicago which is discusting, but country life is the life for me. It is where Ben and I want to raise our Liam and any other children we may have. I want my kids to be able to ride their bikes without worring that a crazy cab driver will hit them, and to be able to go the park without paying for parking, and to go get ice crem cones that don't cost $10. I have also decided that I really want to see the 9/11 memorial in New York, but after that I will never visit a city again in my life unless it's to see a cubs game!
P.S. WE got Liam a Christmas present today at this super cute store Giggles.... if you ever run into one check it out it's a great baby boutique and the prices are high, but not to terrible. (btw he was sleeping when we got it so he hasn't seen it yet lol)

"Humbling Experiences"

Today was a special day. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon at Walter Reed getting Ben all prepared for his surgery on Friday. While we were there we saw so many amputees it broke my heart. These people risked their lives and linmbs for our freedom. I wanted to feel sorry for them, but I know that isn't what they would want. They knew the risks and they chose to serve anyways. These are true heros. It was also so amazing to see that several of them had wives and children by their sides still supporting them, because this is not always the case when war heros get dramatically hurt.
 After we left the hospital we drove to Gerogetown and walked around to local shops and did a little shopping. It is gorgeous there! All the old historic buildings are so beautifuly crafted. When we left there we went to Arlington Cemetery. This was the most humbling experience. I made it all the way to section 60, which is home to Afghanistan and Iraq fallen soldiers, before I broke down crying. There were graves from this month there. I am so thankful that I was here with my husband by my side standing upright and not laying down. It breaks my heart that there are so many women who are not as lucky as me. The most touching part was when Ben soluted them before we left. I really broke down then. I thank God everyday that he brought Ben home safe to me. I'm also really glad that Liam got to experience this with us. It started raining while we were there and we didn't focus on being wet, we just thought of all the tears cried in this place and it made the idea of being wet not so bad. Everyone should make a visit here in there life if they get the chance. It will change you in at least a small way.