Tonight after work I went upstairs to change clothes and came back down in a sundress due to the 90 degree temperature outside.
Liam turned and said "Oh, Mommy you a princess."
Besides I love you this is my favorite thing he has ever said.
picture
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Happy Father's Day
Evan is such a great daddy to Liam. I love watching and listening to them play together. Liam really loves being with his Daddy too. First thing he does when Daddy gets home from work is take a toy to Evan and say "Daddy, you be that. I be this one."
As I said in the last post Evan also does a great job disciplining Liam. He always follows through and stays consistent which (hopefully) will guide Liam into the man we want him to become.
Evan is also very loving and patient. He always gives hugs and kisses and teaches Liam to have compassion for others.
On Friday we had the Walles Family over for the Fun Run for Kids at Wesleyan where Liam got to run with Grandpa. He did great and I got to see him pumping his arms while coming around the bend. (I love that when he runs!)
On Saturday we took Liam to the Prairie Aviation Museum here in Bloomington. They were having open cockpit day so kids and adults could climb into different fighter jets. Would this be something that Evan would do on his own or even be interested in? Probably not, but since Liam loves all things that move (like trucks, cars, buses, motorcycles and airplanes) it was something that Evan wanted to do with him. They had an amazing time together!
And on Sunday we went to Canton to be with my Dad on Father's Day. Liam loves his Grandpa so much and couldn't wait to see him at church. If Grandpa was on the porch and we were inside Liam wanted to know where Grandpa was. Grandpa is a lot of fun and even let Liam have two different kinds of desserts!
How blessed are Liam and I that all of these wonderful men are in our lives! Happy Father's Day!
As I said in the last post Evan also does a great job disciplining Liam. He always follows through and stays consistent which (hopefully) will guide Liam into the man we want him to become.
Evan is also very loving and patient. He always gives hugs and kisses and teaches Liam to have compassion for others.
On Saturday we took Liam to the Prairie Aviation Museum here in Bloomington. They were having open cockpit day so kids and adults could climb into different fighter jets. Would this be something that Evan would do on his own or even be interested in? Probably not, but since Liam loves all things that move (like trucks, cars, buses, motorcycles and airplanes) it was something that Evan wanted to do with him. They had an amazing time together!
And on Sunday we went to Canton to be with my Dad on Father's Day. Liam loves his Grandpa so much and couldn't wait to see him at church. If Grandpa was on the porch and we were inside Liam wanted to know where Grandpa was. Grandpa is a lot of fun and even let Liam have two different kinds of desserts!
How blessed are Liam and I that all of these wonderful men are in our lives! Happy Father's Day!
Friday, June 14, 2013
Hissss!
This is what I feel like almost every single time Evan is discipling Liam. That maternal instinct to defend my baby kicks in and my adrenaline starts pumping. It doesn't matter if Liam is deserving of his time out or stern talking to. I want to crouch over him and start hissing.
Of course, I don't do this because I don't want Liam to get confused or think that I will always come to his rescue. I don't want to undermine my husband and when Liam does start calling for me, I always say "Listen to you Daddy, he is talking to you." And then I walk away because I start to feel like the cat in the above picture.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem discipling Liam myself. There are many times where I lose my patience with him and I'm sure I sound harsh if someone else was listening in. And Evan is a great father who is extremely patient and loving. As I have said before Liam is definitely in the terrible two's and usually always deserving of his timeouts, so why do I keep feeling like that overprotective cat!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
True colors
Another normal work week for me meant traveling to Eureka to spend the day with Ellen, Staley and Adelie.
Staley and Liam play so well together that its easy to want to get them together as much as possible. Today was no exception.
We played outside, at Staley's water table, in the sand box, the kids chased each other around the yard, we painted and Liam used scissors for the first time. The kids played inside, pushed each other in the car, played with the train table and with Staley's kitchen. We also read books and watched Thomas the train after naptime.
Finally at 5:15 I thought we should head home. Now, Evan and I have been discussing what Michigan will be like this year. Since everytime Liam is watched by grandparents or aunts and uncles we are told that he is the sweetest little boy with no tantrum throwing we were wondering if Liam's true self will show up in Michigan. With todays experiment, now I know that Liam will indeed throw a tantrum regardless of who is in the room as once I told him we were leaving I had a big screaming mess on my hands. So it will be good to know that even though we will be on vacation in 2 weeks, Liam will still be his usual self. Happy one second, screaming and wailing the next.
At least we cleared up that question.
Staley and Liam play so well together that its easy to want to get them together as much as possible. Today was no exception.
We played outside, at Staley's water table, in the sand box, the kids chased each other around the yard, we painted and Liam used scissors for the first time. The kids played inside, pushed each other in the car, played with the train table and with Staley's kitchen. We also read books and watched Thomas the train after naptime.
Finally at 5:15 I thought we should head home. Now, Evan and I have been discussing what Michigan will be like this year. Since everytime Liam is watched by grandparents or aunts and uncles we are told that he is the sweetest little boy with no tantrum throwing we were wondering if Liam's true self will show up in Michigan. With todays experiment, now I know that Liam will indeed throw a tantrum regardless of who is in the room as once I told him we were leaving I had a big screaming mess on my hands. So it will be good to know that even though we will be on vacation in 2 weeks, Liam will still be his usual self. Happy one second, screaming and wailing the next.
At least we cleared up that question.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Parks, races and clean teeth!
This past week was my first "normal" work week in 2 months. (I worked 3 days instead of 4-5) So Liam and I celebrated and brought June in right!
We met Staley, Adelie and Aunt Ellen at the Farm Park in East Peoria:
We ran in the Fun Run race:
And I cleaned both Liam and Evan's teeth today and than we went on a picnic at a local park. Liam did great in the dental chair too. Probably better than when I brush his teeth at home. Most likely because I had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the computer screen in front of him, but he did amazingly well. (Evan also did well, I'm not sure if it was because Liam was watching him, but he was much less whiny this time than any other time I have cleaned his teeth)
I am so looking forward to spending my summer going to parks, swimming and spending time with family. This is going to be a great summer!
We met Staley, Adelie and Aunt Ellen at the Farm Park in East Peoria:
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Did Liam miss us?
And if you're curious how Liam did while his parents were both halfway across the country here is my sister in law's blog which chronicles the Saturday of that weekend in D.C.
Adelie and Staley's world: Play Day
Sounds like he had an amazing time! Thanks again Ellen and Zach for inviting him to go with you and also for watching him all day.
My mother watched him on Thursday to Friday afternoon in Bloomington and she states that he is really easy to watch, we never had a problem. She also ironed Evan's work shirts, reorganized my linen closet, planted my coleus and wrapped my daisies. (Thanks Mom!)
And my mother and father in law watched him Friday night to Sunday late afternoon. Also stating how well behaved he is and how easy he is to watch. And apparently he likes listening to Adele.
You would think that after 2 1/2 days of not seeing his parents we would get a huge "Mommy, Daddy!" running towards us and a giant hug. You would be wrong in that assumption as Liam was too busy putting stickers on a piece of paper to hardly even glance up at his adoring parents.
I guess it's a good thing that he's good for other people and only saves his tantrum throwing screaming fits for his parents behind closed doors. I think it would be worse if it was the other way around.
Adelie and Staley's world: Play Day
Sounds like he had an amazing time! Thanks again Ellen and Zach for inviting him to go with you and also for watching him all day.
My mother watched him on Thursday to Friday afternoon in Bloomington and she states that he is really easy to watch, we never had a problem. She also ironed Evan's work shirts, reorganized my linen closet, planted my coleus and wrapped my daisies. (Thanks Mom!)
And my mother and father in law watched him Friday night to Sunday late afternoon. Also stating how well behaved he is and how easy he is to watch. And apparently he likes listening to Adele.
You would think that after 2 1/2 days of not seeing his parents we would get a huge "Mommy, Daddy!" running towards us and a giant hug. You would be wrong in that assumption as Liam was too busy putting stickers on a piece of paper to hardly even glance up at his adoring parents.
I guess it's a good thing that he's good for other people and only saves his tantrum throwing screaming fits for his parents behind closed doors. I think it would be worse if it was the other way around.
Washington D.C. here we come!
Last Thursday to Sunday, Evan and I spent with my sister Adriane in Washington D.C. Adriane has lived in D.C. for 3 years now and due to my being pregnant, having a baby and nursing said baby I had never felt like it was a good idea to take a vacation to see her.
Until said baby turned (almost) 2 1/2 years old and throws tantrums like its his paid job.
Right now is the perfect time for Evan and I to take some time for ourselves.
So off we went, saw and did:
Day 1
The Old Post Office Pavilion
The Constitution, Bill of Rights and Magna Carta
The Sculpture Garden
The National Art Museum
The Library of Congress
The Capitol
Baltimore's inner harbor
Camden Yards, Orioles game
Day 2
Eastern Market
Georgetown
Mount Vernon
Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and Korean Memorial at night
Day 3
Jefferson Memorial and MLK Jr. Memorial a half an hour before our flight left to come back home.
All of this in 90 degree heat, no air conditioning in Adriane's car and walking almost everywhere. Except for when we were in Adriane's non-air conditioned car. Did I mention that Adriane's car didn't have air conditioning? There were a few times where we thought Evan had passed out in the back seat.
Seriously though my sister is the best hostess! She never complained once about carting us around to all of these places, put up with us staying in her studio apartment (she slept on an air mattress for 3 nights!) and misplacing her things or being messy. She apologized many a times for not having air conditioning as this was the first time she had been in her car and the temperature was high enough to need it. She also didn't punch either of us in the face even though I'm sure there were many times she wanted to. ("So where are we going now?" about 50x -or- "I don't want to eat there." "So what do you want to eat?" "I don't know, not that though." -or- "Find out how to get there Melissa." "It says to take this road." "Yeah, that's dumb, I'm not taking that road, why would it have us going that way. Are you sure you're reading that right."-or-"Evan do you want to go into the art museum?" "No, I'm good" "Melissa what's wrong with your husband, why doesn't he want to go into the art museum, it's right there, we are walking past it right now, Evan speak up if you want to go in there" "Don't look at me, he tells me he doesn't want to do stuff all the time, he probably really does want to go in there but I'm not speaking for him." "ok, fine, we'll just take a few minutes to look around" 30+ minutes later....)
We had just the most amazing time one can have with one of your favorite sisters! Thanks Adriane!
Until said baby turned (almost) 2 1/2 years old and throws tantrums like its his paid job.
Right now is the perfect time for Evan and I to take some time for ourselves.
So off we went, saw and did:
Day 1
The Old Post Office Pavilion
The Constitution, Bill of Rights and Magna Carta
The Sculpture Garden
The National Art Museum
The Library of Congress
The Capitol
Baltimore's inner harbor
Camden Yards, Orioles game
Day 2
Eastern Market
Georgetown
Mount Vernon
Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and Korean Memorial at night
Day 3
Jefferson Memorial and MLK Jr. Memorial a half an hour before our flight left to come back home.
All of this in 90 degree heat, no air conditioning in Adriane's car and walking almost everywhere. Except for when we were in Adriane's non-air conditioned car. Did I mention that Adriane's car didn't have air conditioning? There were a few times where we thought Evan had passed out in the back seat.
Seriously though my sister is the best hostess! She never complained once about carting us around to all of these places, put up with us staying in her studio apartment (she slept on an air mattress for 3 nights!) and misplacing her things or being messy. She apologized many a times for not having air conditioning as this was the first time she had been in her car and the temperature was high enough to need it. She also didn't punch either of us in the face even though I'm sure there were many times she wanted to. ("So where are we going now?" about 50x -or- "I don't want to eat there." "So what do you want to eat?" "I don't know, not that though." -or- "Find out how to get there Melissa." "It says to take this road." "Yeah, that's dumb, I'm not taking that road, why would it have us going that way. Are you sure you're reading that right."-or-"Evan do you want to go into the art museum?" "No, I'm good" "Melissa what's wrong with your husband, why doesn't he want to go into the art museum, it's right there, we are walking past it right now, Evan speak up if you want to go in there" "Don't look at me, he tells me he doesn't want to do stuff all the time, he probably really does want to go in there but I'm not speaking for him." "ok, fine, we'll just take a few minutes to look around" 30+ minutes later....)
We had just the most amazing time one can have with one of your favorite sisters! Thanks Adriane!
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| Walking through the Sculpture Gardens |
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| Baltimore Orioles Game |
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| Picture with Naty Boh |
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| The Capitol |
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| White House view from steps of Jefferson Memorial |
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| Library of Congress |
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| Baltimore Harbor |
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| View of Potomac River from Mount Vernon |
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| Lincoln Memorial |
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| Inside Lincoln Memorial |
A wet and dirty job
Our Memorial Day at the Walles house was not spent relaxing or having a cookout but ripping out the hedges that line our property in preparation of a new fence. Our wonderful family came to help and we needed everybody who showed up! This was a tough job! Paul, Erik, Zach and Evan cut down the shrubs and due to the rain we couldn't even use our chainsaw. Everything had to be cut down manually by big choppers.
Mom and Dad came with a truck to haul away some of the debris back to Canton. I was even able to get in the truck bed a couple of times and jump on the branches to smash things down to make more room. Of course only as requested by my father, safety first!
Carrie, Sandy and I dragged all of the cut debris down to the curb, very dirty job.
And Ellen with the help of Sandy and Carrie watched all of the kids inside. You know, since it was raining and all.
Did I mention that it was Evan and I's anniversary? 7 years have just flown by!
And since my mother in law is so nice she offered to stay and watch Liam so we could see a movie and go out to eat. Unfortunately the movie was sold out by the time we got there but we were able to have a nice meal at Destihl with some wine and beer.
Thanks to everyone who came to help us finish this big project. Hopefully next week we will get a new fence!
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| The last branch... |
Mom and Dad came with a truck to haul away some of the debris back to Canton. I was even able to get in the truck bed a couple of times and jump on the branches to smash things down to make more room. Of course only as requested by my father, safety first!
Carrie, Sandy and I dragged all of the cut debris down to the curb, very dirty job.
And Ellen with the help of Sandy and Carrie watched all of the kids inside. You know, since it was raining and all.
Did I mention that it was Evan and I's anniversary? 7 years have just flown by!
And since my mother in law is so nice she offered to stay and watch Liam so we could see a movie and go out to eat. Unfortunately the movie was sold out by the time we got there but we were able to have a nice meal at Destihl with some wine and beer.
Thanks to everyone who came to help us finish this big project. Hopefully next week we will get a new fence!
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