Liam's First Halloween!

Liam is a very lucky little trick or treater! Not that we actually took him out trick or treating, he did get to have several costume changes throughout the day. Since he was born just as the Halloween Costumes were being merchandised in the stores, he received some pretty fun gifts, that were perfect for the occasion!
The purple ghost bib is from Charlie and Peg. They actually sent Liam a whole series of handmade holiday bibs - so, there will be more fun to come! Thanks to Charlie and Peg! Also, the cute halloween socks are from Aunt Janice and Uncle Dan - they have little sparkly bats on them :) adorable!

Cute little kangaroo w/ Daddy!

Sleepy punkin boy... bib from Gramma Merlinkey, hat and socks from Mary Jo, little orange outfit underneath was from Henny and Tye :) thank you!


Cute little Moo... this also is the first time he sucked his thumb. Carrie Buckley from work sent the Cow outfit, it is SOOO soft and cuddly - he will wear this for pj's when its cold :) Thanks CCB!

I think he is most happy to be a cow!

Fall Dinner at Grandma Arlene's House

It is the one time a year we get invited over to Arlene's house for dinner, so we don't pass up the invitation for the annual fall dinner! This was Liam's first dinner over at his grandma Arlene's house. She had all of her "halloweenies" out along with all kinds of festive fall decorations. She made lasagne, and we all had a very nice time.

Her festive table setting

Daddy holding his halloween boy!

Liam was very interested in grandma's pumpkin man!

He and Grandma hung out with the punkin man for a while...
Very Proud Grandma

His shirt says "So cute it's scary" True, I think!
Heather G. from work sent this for Liam - thanks Heather!

Grandma Arlene got the bib for Liam, it says "Baby's 1st Halloween"

No Jinx, Liam can't throw the ball for you!

Being as technologically challenged as I am, I cannot figure out how to get this video to turn right side up... so, forgive me in advance for the neck ache you are going to get from cranking your chin towards your right shoulder so you can watch this video... (btw its worth it!)
Here is Jinx trying to get Liam to throw the ball for her... Ace also makes a cameo appearance. I keep telling her that one day soon, Liam is going to be her best friend and endless ball thrower, all she needs is a little patience, and to be very nice to him now!

Oktoberfest Party at the Yorks!

Liam officially attended his first Oktoberfest Party! We celebrated the occasion over at Chris and Wendy's house - and partied with the usual suspects :)
Todd and Kam, Brooke and Evan, and Dave and Jeanne plus all the dogs!

Liam was a good "little terror" and slept through dinner so we could all relax, and barely woke up enough to realize that he was in the middle of the appetizer island! Todd isn't sure whether to choose the artichoke dip, or gobble up the yummy baby... hmmm tough choice, but i would choose the baby :)

Love from EvanLiam already is the Center of Attention!

My adorable husband dressed for the occasion!The gorgeous Brooke and Kammy.

Happy 2 Month Birthday Little Lima Bean!

You are two months old today litle one! It has gone by in a blink. You are becoming so much fun - every day there is something new. You love music, especially 50's music and most rockabilly - The Beach Boys and The Stray Cats really get you going (you get that from your grandpa and dad). You especially go crazy dancing to "Surfin Safari" i am pretty sure it is your favorite song. We love to play all different kinds of music for you, you even find something funny about "The Macarena"! While "Enya" does nothing for you!
Your "happy" time is the morning - just after your "wake-up feeding" which comes around 7:00 a.m. you spend a good 30-40 minutes smiling, stretching, cooing and just being especially cute! You are such a good boy in the car, and so far we have had good luck taking you out to eat with us and on little adventures. You are mommy's helper during the errands of the day. We get stopped a lot at the grocery store - everyone wants to look at you. One lady even asked me "what aisle did you get him in? I think I might want to pick one up myself!!" Lucky for me, you are one of a kind!
You are starting to sleep longer stretches at night (Thank you Liam!). Some nights you only wake up one time! You also are very strong, and have been holding your head up for longer and longer periods during "tummy time". While we LOVE all of the fun new things you are doing... remember not to grow up too fast okay?
Oh, I can't forget... at your 2 month Dr's appt, you weighed 14 lbs 4 oz, and were almost 24 inches long. You also got your vaccinations, and just cried for a minute (a very tough minute for mommy), but you were a trooper and didn't have any strange reactions or fever or anything like that afterwards.
For your two month birthday, you were still feeling a little under the weather, but we wanted to do something fun, so we took you to the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival. You slept most of the time, but it was a beautiful day, finally it had cooled down from the stretch of triple digit days we had been having. The pumpkin festival was fun, there were toys and games and music and classic cars - I bet next year you will be more interested in all of this stuff - they even had a train ride, we promise you will get to ride it when you are bigger. We wanted to get some good pictures of you by the pumpkins, but you were VERY angry when we woke you up for the photo op... here are a couple - and even though you are mad, you are still our cute lil punkin!

sick boy...

It was bound to happen, I just didn't think it would happen this soon... I was hoping at least we could hold off until AFTER he was three months old... but, he got his first cold. He started getting a runny/stuffy nose on Thursday, and we called the Dr. first thing Friday morning. We were unable to see his regular Dr. but saw another Dr. that we actually had seen while Liam was in the hospital. The Dr actually told us that Liam had RSV Virus which I had not at that time heard of, so of course I did what all new moms do - I googled it. BAD IDEA. I read all kinds of horrible things about RSV, ending in "potentially fatal", and "commonly requires hospitalization"!!! Way to freak a new mom out! Conicidentally we ran into my friend Kathy who is an ER nurse and she assured me that without a certain test (which they did NOT perform) that there was no way they could make an RSV diagnosis. (BIG SIGH OF RELIEF) So, we saw his normal Dr. on Monday for his 2 month appt, and he said he felt confident that what Liam had was a run of the mill cold (a bad one... but just a cold).

Poor baby boy... too little to be sick, but he was a trooper and didn't complain. I took advantage of the situation and got a LOT of snuggle time :)

Kris and Abby come to visit

Kris and Abby came out to visit and help out a little w/ Liam for the weekend!

Kurt and I were able to go out to dinner alone for our anniversary while Kris watched Liam on Friday night - that was nice, it was the first time we had been out together without Liam since my mom left (so... 6 weeks!) We had a nice dinner at Leila's Wine Bar in Oak Park and felt like adults again.

Liam and I also made a big trip to the BIG Topanga Mall w/ Kris and Abby on Saturday - it was pretty funny, Kris and I - two girls who I remember partying it up in Vegas... walking through the mall with strollers! Hello reality check! Liam did great, and slept most of the time, its always good to get out. We had some crazy fires going on and heavy smoke, so us girls and Liam actually spent all of Monday inside the house, and Kris and Abby extended their trip one more day so we were able to spend a little more time with them. We had a visit from Karen and Elaine on Monday (and forgot to take pics... sorry Karen!!) but it was great to see them - Karen travelled all the way from Indiana!

Me w/ Abby and Kris w/ Liam

Abby

Liam in the Big Bed



Tiff hosted a Ladies and Kids night while the boys went to the SAE anniversary bash. Here is Jo and Tiff feeding Nate and Abby. The twins are doing great and getting cuter every day!

our 4 year anniversary

i got kurt this cute little baby.... i couldn't resist!

A visit with GREAT Grandpa!

Liam and Great Grandpa William Finkenbrink (he is 101 years old) I think Liam kind of looks like him, they had a GREAT visit!

Farewell to Paul Newman - Liam's first movie

Sadly, this week actor and philanthropist Paul Newman died at the age of 83. In remembrance, Kurt and I decided to take Liam to his first outdoor movie at Malibu Family Wines. They were playing "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid".

All ready to go to the movie!

The view from our table.

Some very blurry screen shots.

"Next time I say lets go someplace like Boliva, LETS GO SOMEPLACE LIKE BOLIVIA!"

For Liam's very FIRST MOVIE outing, he did wonderfully, and slept through most of it. Not bad for just 6 weeks old! It was the very first cool night that we have had in months, and even though there was a slight chill in the air (61 degrees in Malibu) we all bundled up, and it felt great to be outside.