Sunday, May 29, 2011

Recently...

Recently we've been busy! I'm freelancing again for my old job, and while it is not exactly my desire to be doing the tedious work, we see it as God's provision at a time when Rob doesn't have a summer job. It works out well with our schedule too that Rob can take Liam for longer periods of time so I can work. Rob has some tutoring work too so we're thankful for that as well.

Recently we realized these past few weeks are the first we've had since Liam was born that we've had some downtime as a family. When you're in school like Rob is, weekends and evenings aren't downtime and even when he did stop working he was still thinking about school. We've been having some conversations about how we want to have more fun as a family and what that looks like with Liam in the picture now. We're ready to enjoy this summer together as a family.

Recently we took a trip over to Cincinnati to visit Rob's family. It was a girls and guys weekend, so Rob and his dad took an overnight golf trip while I enjoyed some time with my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. I got a facial and we all got pedicures while Liam enjoyed time with a babysitter. We had a lovely weekend visiting with them.

Liam chilling with Aunt Kayla

Being a cheeser man with both his aunts

Liam and mama

Liam was more aware of their two dogs this visit. The little dog, Chloe, was so scared of Liam though. She could not figure out what this little creature was!

Wearing a silly hat that made him look like a backwoods mullet man

Recently I've been reading my first science fiction novel (thank you Julia), Ender's Game, and to my great surprise I'm enjoying it tremendously. It's quite a shift from the three books in one volume of Anne of Green Gables I recently finished, but it's a very thought provoking and interesting read.

Recently Rob discovered Liam has a blister underneath his enormous big toe which I believe came from how he crawls. He has mastered the army crawl, but instead of pushing forward with all his toes, he only pushes forward with his big toe. And he is fast. Do not get between this kid and his two favorite toys, a toy cell phone and cups in any form. He is obsessed with cups.

Don't mess with my cell phone papa

And most recently, we had the joy of hosting our good friends Lindsay and Christian and their daughter Eadie. They were gracious enough to make the long drive from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to visit us this weekend. We enjoyed great conversation, three games of Settlers, playtime in the park, hiking nearby, dinner out while the kids were with a babysitter and more. It was so fun to meet Eadie (she just turned a year old and this was the first we've met her) and watch our kids interact together. We are thankful for our friendship with them.

Liam and Eadie meeting for the first time.

This photo cracks me up

Liam really likes the swings at our nearby park

The guys and their kids

Liam cashed out on Rob's back during our hike. How can it be comfortable to sleep like that?

Love this girl!

Awkward family photo shoot

Recently too, the Lord continues to be merciful and kind to us, including protecting us from a tornado that touched down only a few miles from us. He is a great protector and provider and we are thankful for that.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

A Fun Weekend

This past weekend we had the pleasure of participating in a bridal shower for my brother Luke's fiancé, Logan. Logan and her family live up in Fort Wayne so Saturday we loaded up the car and made the trek north. We would have gone no matter what, but as an added bonus, my mom flew in from Philadelphia on Friday night and my brother Ben and his fiancé Heidi came over from Ohio as well. We hadn't seen Luke since Liam was born in October and we hadn't seen Ben and Heidi since Christmas. It was wonderful to be together, even if it was a short day. We did however, bring mom back with us Saturday night and she stayed until Sunday afternoon when her flight home left. As always, it was a treat to have her here and our time together was too short.

Sharing this weekend with my family and my sisters-to-be made me anticipate with even more excitement their upcoming weddings this summer. I am so thankful to be welcoming such lovely, godly young women into our family and I know they will make excellent wives to my brothers.

All the past, present and future Yoder women at the shower. Plus Liam, who is half Yoder.

Liam "helping" Logan open gifts. Lounging around is more like it.

Plastic spoons are way better than toys or gifts

Spending some quality time with Grammy Love

All of us together, but we were definitely missing dad!

Silly uncle Luke

Rob was messing around with the fish eye setting our new camera...

Liam was so excited to be up and "walking", but his pants were too long so Grammy Love hiked them up and tucked his tie into his pants. He's an old man already.

I know I'm biased, but he is a cutie.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Liam | 7 Months

I feel like a broken record when I say every month how I can't believe Liam is this old already! He turned seven months yesterday and I really do think he will be one before we know it. This summer will go so fast as summers do and my baby will just keep getting bigger and bigger. I'm trying to enjoy every day with him and celebrate the milestones he reaches rather than mourn that he is growing up.

We always knew he was going to be a busy, curious little boy and so far he has not disappointed us. These days he is figuring out how to get around, mostly by scooting army crawl style on his belly and pushing with one foot to move forward. He knows how to get up on on fours, but he hasn't quite figured out how to make all things work together to go forward like that. He especially moves fast when he sees a toy he wants or even better, something that mama has that he wants - i.e. shoes, cell phone, computer, books, anything that is not a toy...

It is fun to watch him explore his world and he is very curious about everything. He is trying out new foods and so far he seems to like squash, peas, carrots, bananas, sweet potatoes, corn and some puffed cereal. He is not a fan of country garden vegetables, applesauce (by itself) and baby meat. Let's be real though about the meat - it is gross. I just couldn't feed it to him anymore, even mixed with other food, because he was literally gagging on it! I think we will switch to beans for some better protein.

He also finally got his top teeth in which was a relief because it was pretty rough there for a few days. He seems to already understand they are for chewing and biting...

Showing off those chompers

While he still has his moments of going from zero to mad, especially when it comes to certain naptimes, he is overall a happy baby and is interested in the world around him. We're learning that each step of the journey has its challenges, but there are many joys that come too and we're grateful for that.

It is getting harder each month to have a month marker sign. Liam is way more interested in that than in getting his picture taken!

Sneaky mama and papa

We got a new camera for Rob's graduation so this was later in the day as we played around with it. Our old camera was from 2005 so this new one is a vast improvement!

This is why Liam cannot be trusted with the sign. Instantly destroyed in his mouth of course.

Hi papa!

He works very hard to "crawl" and get his new favorite toy - a cell phone of course. He will be asking for an iPhone by next month I'm sure. This one is totally obsolete.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Rob's Graduation

It has been a very busy, busy few weeks around here. We've been up up to our eyeballs in end of the semester work for Rob, a huge kids consignment sale at church for me and the new world of being mobile for Liam.

But today, the consignment sale and school are behind us and we are all breathing a huge sigh of relief. (Liam is still on the move however, which does present its own set of new challenges, but it is fun to see him reaching new milestones.) This semester was by far the hardest we have encountered yet (even surpassing the semester Liam was born in), so we are even more thankful it is over.

I am still having a hard time believing that it has been two years since Rob started his masters work and almost as long that we've lived in Bloomington. It has truly flown by and so much has changed since then. Yesterday at Rob's graduation I almost got a little choked up (almost!) thinking about how much work he has put in to get to this place. I was, and am, so proud of him. He works so hard and often juggles many responsibilities; it amazes me how he manages. And he would be the first to admit that he doesn't manage well all the time, but at least he is failing in the right direction.

And so, we continue to press on to what is next, namely the summer and then five more years for Rob's PhD. There is a lot more work to come, but this was a good milestone to reach. I'm glad too that we aren't moving away from Bloomington yet when we are finally feeling settled here. If this was the end of the road I do think I would be sad. Of course, I'm not looking forward to all the school work to come, but I am glad to be in a place where we have great support to get us through. Check back to this blog in five years and I'll give you the recap...

Finally, what graduation would be complete without lots of pictures? Thanks again to my mother-in-law for all the great shots. We could see Rob from the stands in Assembly Hall, but her zoom made it feel like we were much closer to him.

Liam with the graduate in the morning

Rob all dressed up and ready to go

Waiting for the ceremony to start

The fam waiting for the ceremony to start. Liam was highly interested in everything going on around him

There he is!

Major zooming in. Lori kept trying to snap a photo of him smiling, but he was bored during the ceremony and never did. Consequently there are lots of photos of Rob looking like this. :)

Nan and Aunt Julie. Liam looks terrified, but I don't think he really was. Overwhelmed perhaps.

The family post graduation

Flying baby!

Someday this hat will fit...

We are so proud of our husband and papa!

The cake I made for Rob. Congrats Rob!