Almost One...

 It's amazing to me that in one year's time, my sweet boy has gone from this:

To this!!!

Liam will be one at 12:04 a.m. It is so hard for me to believe. I am a little emotional about the whole thing. When Kale turned one, I don't think I really took the time to appreciate just how far he'd come. I found out I was pregnant with Liam the day before Kale's first birthday, so I had so much on my mind. Today, I am reminiscing about what was going on a year ago today. I got up, and went to work like normal. It was extremely cold and windy outside. The wind chill was in the low teens. It was spitting ice and snow all day, so I didn't make it to all of my schools due to road conditions. I went home from work at lunch and I remember laying down because I generally did not feel well. I had been having contractions on and off for about a week. The next day the weather conditions were supposed to be terrible and since I traveled from school to school for my job, I remember talking to Kris on the phone and saying that I sure hoped I had this baby today so that I didn't have to travel in the bad weather the next day. Little did I know...  When I got home that evening, we had homemade potato soup. As we were starting to clean up, around 7:30, I really was not feeling good. Kris told me to sit down and that's when the contractions started full force. For about 2 hours, I timed contractions and walked, and timed contractions. They were 3-5 minutes apart, but I didn't want to go to the hospital. It was 3 weeks before my due date and I just knew they would send me home. I finally called the doctor and he told me to come on in. We called the sitter and headed to the hospital. Once we got to the hospital and got hooked up the monitors, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I was REALLY glad I had come to the hospital as the pain was intensifying. My doctor came in and told them to prep me for my C-section. By 12:04 a.m. on December 6th, sweet Liam was here! In the beginning, he had trouble breathing. It is so hard to have a C-section and know something is wrong with your baby. They tie you to a table with your arms out to the side and you can't move because of the spinal. Kris went with Liam, so no one was with me to tell me what was going on. I could hear Liam sputtering for several minutes and I just kept praying that he'd be okay. I overheard my doctor tell one of the nurses he needed to finish me up because that baby was having trouble. I was so worried. Luckily within 10 minutes, he was able to breathe normally and they brought him over to me. I couldn't hold him, but was relieved to see and kiss my baby. I got to hold him for the first time around 2 in the morning.

With the coming of Liam's first birthday, I think I have come to realize the birthday celebration for a child is also for the parent. Sometimes, I think, wow, we made it! We had 2 little boys 19 months apart and not only did Kris and I manage to keep them both alive (which some days is no small feat), they are also thriving! Liam is one of the happiest babies I have ever met. He is so self-assured and confident and is learning so much these days. I swear I could just sit and watch him interact with his world all day long. I am blessed to be his mother. When I look back at Liam's first year, some of the things I want to remember are:

• Liam smiled from birth. I am not joking. It was not gas either. He also began laughing from about 1 week of age. Many people won't believe me on this, but it's so true. 
• I love to watch Liam and Kale interact. On my roughest days as a mom, seeing my two boys laughing and playing together brings a smile to my face. I recently posted a video of Kale feeding Liam a bottle. Liam was laughing so hard he could hardly stand up. These are the moments I love with my boys. 
• It was so hard in the beginning. Kale was so needy and didn't take well to having the spotlight taken off of him and Liam was a newborn--hey, that's the definition of needy. Some days I questioned whether we would make. But we did and I love the place we are in as a family now. 
• Liam loves food. I hope that continues--well, within reason. He will try anything and likes most things that he tries. I am so grateful that God gave me one good eater! 
• At the age of 1, Liam says 5 words, momma, dada, uh-oh, no, no, no, no, and bye-bye. He is excellent at waving.
• Who ever knew one of the best kisses I would ever receive would come in the form of an open-mouthed slobbery baby kiss...but it's so true. 
• I never want to forget the feeling of rocking Liam to sleep. After I feed him his bottle, I turn his little body toward me and he puts his chubby arm around my neck and to sleep he goes. Another one of the best feelings in the world.
• Liam is currently in the stage where he mimics everything everyone around here does. It is amazing to me how much he is watching. The other day, Kale went potty and as I was helping him wash his hands, Liam crawled over to the toilet, pulled up, and started wiggling the handle. He was trying to flush! 
• He is already a climber. I am sure he will break something soon. 
• He is also a jokster. Recently, I was wrapping presents and Liam was in the room with me. He grabbed my ink pen and set off crawling as fast as he could. All the while looking over his shoulder at me, cackling. 
• Liam has one of the saddest cries ever. He doesn't actually cry "real" cries very often. But sometimes someone will hurt his feelings and oh my goodness, it's so sad. He will stop what he is doing, sit very still, hang his little head, and cry the most mournful sound. Kale knows the difference between Liam's real and fake cries. At a real cry, Kale will stop what he is doing and go pat Liam and say, "it's okay, brother."

For Liam's birthday, we taking a mini family vacay. We are heading to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA tomorrow. I am really looking forward to making memories with the boys and getting away for a few days. 

I can't believe it's time to say it...Happy First Birthday, sweet Liam!!