Hi there!

I’m a slacker.

That is all.

Liam LOVES his bath time.

His hair is going to be so crazy and curly. He’s kind of a wild man.

It’s as if he’s saying, “What, who me? I’m not wild. Just look at my sweet eyes!”

Liam loves his jumper, but he really loves this activity center. He loves it so much because when he jumps in it he can make the loudest noise. I like it because he can’t rip the toys off.  He is definitely 100% all boy!

This week was really tough. Report cards were due at school. That made for a lot of stress. We also were all finally getting over being sick. Here’s how I can pretty much sum up the week.

Okay, okay. I know you need your sweet baby picture fix. Here ya go.

He has been such a trooper through all of his sickness. Such a brave little boy! This was taken on our snow day on Monday. He and I both enjoyed an extra day of snuggles and cuddles.

I’ve decided to start doing something that a friend of mine does with her blog. Every Sunday she posts one of her favorite pictures of the week. I’m going to try to do Project 365 again this year so I should have no problem finding one photo to post.

This week’s was a easy choice. We have all been so sick this week. It was so nice to see such clean snow falling today. Hopefully it will also provide us an extra day of rest tomorrow too. This picture is easily my favorite from the week.

It was nice to forget how bad we felt for a few minutes and step out to smile in the snow!

Hi there. Guess what…..having a baby changes EVERYTHING. On the long list of things that I want have to do, this blog unfortunately doesn’t even make the list. Hopefully I will get the swing of the whole working momma thing this year and start posting more often.

I had intended to write a monthly post to Liam. I have written them all in my head, and I need to post them before I forget.

Okay, enough complaining. I’m glad to move into 2011. 2010 wasn’t awful or bad, I’m just excited about what the future will hold.

Enjoy the highlights from our year! I love every single one of you in these photos. Thank you for being such a blessing to me and my little family.

On June 6th I had a complete meltdown. Ryan and I had been running errands after church. We stopped by IHOP to eat a late lunch. I started to feel so bad that I had to leave my uneaten plate and go lie down in the car. Later that afternoon I took my blood pressure, and it was very high (according to the crappy wrist monitor we had). I was scared of preeclampsia.

The next day I called my doctor and he suggested that I came to the hospital so they could monitor my blood pressure. I stayed in the labor and delivery area for a few hours. All was well, so they sent my home on bed rest. Doctor ordered rest that I greatly needed after finishing the school year the week before.

Then Wednesday, June 9th came around. It all began at 5:00am. I was coughing in my sleep, and I thought that I had a pee accident. It was not much, so I changed my clothes and went back to bed. Little did in know that was when my water had broken. No gush. No huge pool of liquid, just enough to make me think that I had peed myself.

So I went back to bed until 6:00am. I woke up with the worst back pain. It was constant. I thought I had slept funny so I pulled out the heating pad. I told Ryan to go ahead to work since my back was just hurting. That constant pain continued and got worse. I probably would have realized I was in labor if it wasn’t for my mom.

She was sure that I was not in labor. And since we had just been at the hospital a few days before, she did not want me making another trip. She kept telling me that I was not in labor. The whole time I was not mad at her, just really irritated. I felt like I was losing my mind.

Finally I called Ryan at 10:30 and told him to come home. I had already called the doctor once and this point, but he had not called me back. So much of that time is a blur now, and other parts I remember vividly. I remember rocking in the glider in Liam’s room. I was able to get calm there, but the pain was still really bad.

Ryan got home and tried to get a hold of the doctor again. He then started to pack our bags. We left for the hospital at 12:00pm (note: Liam was born at 2:07pm). I walked in and told the nurses at the labor and delivery desk that I thought I was in labor. They took me back to a room and examined me. I was 6 centimeters dilated. It felt so good to finally have a reason for all this pain. I wasn’t sure that I was in labor because I was not really having contractions, just the constant back pain. I remember telling my mom that this was so much worse than labor because there were no breaks in the pain.

At that time they came in to offer me an epidural. I declined, but said that I would take some pain meds in my IV. The nurse went to get the orders for the meds. My doctor finally came in at that point. I was 9 centimeters dilated, and pain meds were no longer and option. They were still offering an epidural though which I thought was crazy. I decided at that point that I had made it this far without anything that I would just have a natural birth.

It was a good thing I didn’t try to get an epidural because I was pushing 30 minutes later. I bet it would have taken that long to get an anesthesiologist down to my room. My mom and brother made it to the hospital right before I started to push.

I pushed through 6 contractions, and then my little man was born.  The doctor almost didn’t even make it to the room in time to deliver Liam. He came out with the biggest cone head.

He weighed 5 pounds 12 oz and was 19 inches long. The NICU team spent a lot of time making sure he was okay. He was absolutely perfect. The laid him on my chest to regulate his breathing and temperature.

We were so fortunate that Liam was healthy and did not have to spend any time in the NICU. When I look back at my labor and birth, I realize it was perfect and exactly what I wanted. I had hoped to have a natural birth and spend as much time laboring at home as possible. That is exactly what happened. God is so Good!

(I originally wrote this post on June 1st, but I needed to download and organize the pictures. I decided to go ahead and pre-date this post even though I finished it after your unexpected early arrival.)

Liam,

The last six weeks have been so busy. You were celebrated at FOUR showers in May! So this is going to be a long letter. The first shower was given by my awesome team at work! Rosana is due to have a little girl the same time as you will make your arrival, so they threw us a shower together.

Daddy even got off work early to come meet the ladies I work with.

Jenn and Caitlyn stopped by too.

The brains behind the shower is my good friend Penny. You might be in kindergarten with her little boy one day. She has made mommy’s first year at this school great!

Then Aunt Jen threw us a shower including the White family and lots of other friends.

You got so many nice things from everyone at the shower.

One of my favorite gifts you got was this set of bibs. Aunt Jen had them mongrammed with your name, initials, and other fun statements. How perfect is this bib?

Here are some of the great ladies that came.

Aunt Brittany

The gals from our church LifeGroup. Kim, Mandy (Trinity in her belly), and Robyn.

My friend Jennifer threw the third shower at our house. Daddy’s family, Aunt Terri, and friends came to this shower. Everyone loved seeing your room.  I’ll post a video tour soon. I’m waiting on one more thing I have ordered to arrive.

The girls enjoyed visiting with each other.

Your Grandma is so crazy. It’s hard to find a picture of her without her making a funny face.We had a good laugh when I opened a breast milk storage container. Faith was not very impressed with the gift.

Aunt Terri picked out the best things for you! I can’t wait to read the book she got for you. It was cousin Liz’s favorite when she was a little girl.

At the end of the month my kindergarten class had a shower for us. They were so sweet, and they are so excited about you. Many of the kids said it was the best day ever (and the shower was the day after Field Day).

I celebrated my first Mother’s Day. Even though you are not here yet, I very much feel like your mother already. You have changed my life in so many ways. I celebrated the day by chilling out in my new recliner and eating a Sprinkles cupcake (the best cupcakes ever).

Here’s a belly shot of 34 weeks.

It’s so hard to believe that you will be here before we know it. Thanks to all of our family and friends we have everything we need for you to arrive.

Love,

Mama

One of the parts of our house that I honestly hate is the master bedroom closet. It is so tiny. It also had only one large rod for both of us to put all of our clothes on.  There was one smaller rod, but it only held a few things. It was not a pretty sight.

I was on the phone with Ryan before he went to London, and I had a DUH! moment. Liam’s closet turned out so good. I don’t know why I never thought to do that to our closet.  When Ryan got back from London, I sent him up to Home Depot to get the supplies. (again no before picture with clothes in there because Ryan is speedy quick….sometimes)

This however is how our room looked with all of the clothes everywhere.

Now take a look at my awesome closet!

Behold the glory!

It isn’t any bigger, but it sure feels like it is. It is also really easy to see everything. It went so well that Ryan tackled the garage with the same kind of shelving. It looks even more amazing than the closet. Pictures of that coming soon!

Liam,

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the third trimester. The countdown in on! I just can’t wait to meet you! After several months of liking the same name I am glad to officially say that your name will be Liam James O’Toole. We chose Liam because it is just an awesome name! It also is Irish for William (your grandpa’s name). James is a household name (insert Forrest Gump voice). James is your great-grandfather’s name. You will know him by Papa.  You are going to learn so much from him like I have. So get ready to listen up when he speaks!

Your crib bedding and crib have finally arrived! Your new room looks amazing. I have a lady coming over to make you some cool wood cut outs. Other than that your room is ready.

You finally decided to claim your space a little and give me a bigger bump. Which is cool to  have, but I do not care for your butt in my diaphragm. I noticed that I finally looked pregnant when I watched the videos from Easter. This picture was taken today.

I also have had a few uninvited rubs of my belly! You have been pretty easy on me during this pregnancy up until the last few weeks. My feet have also started to really swell. Sometimes it takes hours for them to just go down a little bit. This swelling is kinda painful and hard to manage since I’m on my feet a lot at work. I went to the doctor last Friday to make sure everything was okay. I passed by blood glucose test, and everything else looks good. During the sonogram I was able to see you take practice breaths. It was so neat to see your little lungs move as you get ready for life outside of my belly. We’re almost there little Liam!

Your dad and I started childbirth classes a few weeks ago. Luckily they have not been completely lame. Daddy even learned something really cool about heartburn from the teacher. Now he doesn’t have to take his stomach medicine everyday. This Thursday we get to tour the hospital and see the place where you will enter this world. It is almost more excitement than I can stand!

The upcoming months are going to be full of fun events. Baby showers….oh, the baby showers. We are going to have three events to honor you! I cannot wait to see all of the fun and thoughtful things people will bring you. Get ready to give them lots of kisses and snuggles after you are born. I’m also looking forward to the end of the school year. It will be so nice to stay in pajama pants all day and have the energy to work on things for you!

Counting the days!

Love,

Mama