We have now been a family of four for 3 weeks :)  Yea!

Andrew stayed home for a little over 2 weeks after Liam was born and went back to work on the 5th of July.  I started to feel real nervous about being home by myself with the 2 boys during the last week that Andrew was home.  I would look at stressful situations that would come up when Andrew and I were both home and think, "This is very stressful with both parents being home, how can I do it by myself?"  I was allowing myself to be convinced that it was going to be too much for me to handle, and the anxiety began to get the better of me.  I started asking God to provide me with what I needed for those stressful times when I would be by myself... and He has totally met those needs.  I also started reading blogs by other Moms who had 2+ kiddos at home to read their victory stories and started telling myself that this WAS possible.  That I don't have 19 kids like the Duggards but 2 little boys.  This all put it into perspective and we are doing just fine- - -only three weeks into it but fine just the same:)  I think one of the hardest factors in this is the lack of sleep.  :/

We feel Ethan is adjusting well to the new baby and he tries to be gentle with him.  He has become more fussy though and gets frustrated right along with us when Liam cries for long periods of time.  Today he had a dentist appointment and sat in the examination chair all by himself:)  I was very proud of how well he did.  The dentist did emphasize that he needed to stop using a pacifier because it was causing his top teeth to stick out.  A friend of ours suggested that we have an exchange made for his paci and then have him throw the paci away himself.  Ethan willingly traded in his paci for a wooden Henry train toy and then threw the paci into the trash.  Way to go kiddo! Andrew and I both cringed as we saw that paci get tossed... in a lot of ways I counted on that paci to calm my own nerves and clear my thoughts.  For a second I almost told Andrew to not let him throw it away but to hide it just in case we needed to call on this old friend for a future melt down.  But then just as quickly, I put on my big girl head band and said good bye.  Now I don't really care for wooden toy trains, but I think Andrew and I should get something in exchange for that pacifier.


Liam had his 2 weeks appointment on Thursday and is now 20 and 1/2 inches long and weighing in at 8 lbs 8 oz.  He had a cold/allergies for about a week that made him have a lot of congestion, sneezing and coughing but he is doing a lot better now.  His hair is still a golden brown and eyes still blue.  He has a high pitched cry for everything and breaks your heart when he is sad and sticks out his bottom lip.  Yesterday he started cooing and it feels like a song to my heart- like a spark of communication between him and us.

This was taken yesterday morning. - Liam is crying for unknown reasons. Dad is at work:)