Happy Birthday Liam Layne Gary!

I can't believe it has been 1 year since our tiny little boy entered the world! I remember thinking that I just couldn't even fathom what life would be like as a mom and now I can't really picture it any other way. Liam has been a blessing and a joy to his entire family and I'm looking forward to all of the years to come!

We celebrated his birthday with a party on Saturday. As you can see from this picture--he thought it was the most exciting event in his short life. =) More pictures to come soon! (including a more well lit version of this one)

More Christmas pics (a little late!)

Our friend Dominique (who is the mom of Liam's friend to be, (in just a couple of weeks!) Landon)--just sent us these cute pics of Liam at their Christmas party. He was up late partying that night!

Go Mavs!

We bought Liam a little Mavericks warm-up suit yesterday and it looks so cute on him! You can't see it that well in this pic--it even has "MAVERICKS" on the back! He was just in such a sweet mood today that I had to take some pictures. We were having so much fun playing. Also--he now poses for the camera. He would have a serious look and I would say "Say Cheese, Liam!" and that squinty smile would light up his face!

At long last....updates!

So after a couple months away, I have finally done a bulk update! You'll need to scroll down all the way to the "Hawaii" post if you want to see all of the new ones. As for a general Liam update....he is crawling around like speedy gonzalez these days! Starting to pull up although no real "cruising" yet. He also finally has some teeth! He started getting both of his two bottom teeth right around 11 months. His first birthday is right around the corner which means a couple of things: 1) He gets a new view of the world when we finally turn his car seat forward 2) He switches off formula and on to whole milk (we're already starting to mix in a little.)

In other Liam news, we were sad to say goodbye to his Nanny Carlene at the end of December. It was getting too tough for her to watch both Liam and Thomas. We're hopeful that Liam will still get to see her some when she babysits on occasion. Sadly, we were having trouble finding a nanny to watch both boys so we decided to split up Thomas and Liam. The Andrews' found a great nanny and we also found a great nanny to watch Liam temporarily (she lives too far to do it long term.) And in a couple of months, Liam will start going to day care 3 days a week (with the other 2 days spent with his GiGi.) We think it will actually be a good thing for Liam since we'd like him to adjust to being around other kids more (and not always being the center of the world!) but he'll still get plenty of one on one time with his GiGi and with us on the weekends.

On the general Gary front, my job is still going great and I'll actually be headed to Austria in a month to be on faculty for a training program. It will be a lot of fun but I'll miss Liam and Josh a ton! Josh just switched to the VA (after 6 months at Scottish Rite and Children's) and I have to say--call is much better!

That's all here!!

Granddaddy's future hunting buddy!

Here are some pics of Liam in one of his Christmas presents from Granddaddy, a camo fleece! For some reason he is squinting his left eye a ton so he looks a little "one-eyed willy" but he's still cute!!

Hanging out with the McClendon and the Gibbons families!

We finally had a chance to catch up with Josh's two best friends from high school (Steven and Michael) and their families. We go way too long between visits! I think it's a little surreal to all of them that they now hang out with their wives and kids! Thank you Sundey for the pic which I blatantly stole from your blog and thanks for the shout out--I feel practically famous!

Liam's First Christmas!

Liam Christmas morning with his new play table (it has a piano on it!)

Liam and Aunt Kaitlyn on Christmas Eve

Pre-Christmas festivities

The build up to Christmas was a ton of fun with a Christmas dinner with Gram and Gramps, Santa at the Cooksey's, and plenty of time to play with the Christmas tree with Thomas! (my buddy who I shared a nanny with)

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving with both families this year! My parents, brother, and Grandma B (dad's mom) came to visit and we joined the Gary's for Thanksgiving at their house in Rockwall.

I'm so cute!

Cruikshank Christmas card picture

Mmmmmm! This stuffing is great!

Hanging out with Grandma B.

Our trip to Hawaii

So I am finally updating the blog and I'm starting by sharing a few pics from our trip to Kauai (2 months ago!) It was Josh and I's first real vacation together in almost two years! It was hard being away from Liam for a week but we knew he was in good hands with his Mimi (my mom.) Unfortunately, Mimi got more than she bargained for when Liam got his first major cold plus an ear infection in each ear two days before we left. Then, to top it all off, the cat got sick too. So at 8 am the morning we flew out, I was at the vet's office trying to get them to see poor Abby without an appointment so that she could get her much needed kitty meds! Thankfully, despite all that--all seemed to go well in our absence. Although I'm pretty sure mom was ready to have a full night's rest again once we got back and took our sick baby off her hands! So enjoy a few of our pics and I would highly recommend Kauai as a vacation spot if you want a combo of a "lay around on the beach" vacation (Josh's style) and a "Do some fun things" vacation (my style.)