Andrew One Year

The day before Halloween. These past few weeks have been so good. It seems that 12 months was the magic age for Andrew.. he has turned a corner and is sleeping through most of the night, is **so** close to standing on his own, can weight shift, crawl, eat more solid foods, and is smiling responsively all the time. I am so grateful for these things. He was at a point, for months and months, that was unsustainable for us. Waking up with him 2-5x a night, every night, was just too much. It was so hard to play and smile with him and get no response. So hard to wonder if he was thinking anything at all, processing anything at all. Andrew's diagnosis of Williams Syndrome has been such a comfort. It is wonderful to know that he will continue to progress. He brings us immeasurable peace. I cannot express enough the joy I have knowing that one day Andrew will be made whole, and we will stand together as a family forever. I have realized over the short time I've spent with him that he is the strongest person I know. We are lucky to have such an example in our family.

I could not imagine a better brother, play mate, and best friend for Andrew than Liam. Liam is my first baby, the song in my heart. He is wise beyond his four years, and is a  great teacher for us. My heart bursts every time I hear “Mom, can I kiss baby Andrew?” Today he was holding his brother’s hands, helping him stand. The bond these two little men will share is stronger than any I have ever known. I poignantly remember a conversation I had with Liam the week before we received Andrews diagnosis. He said “Mom, if anyone tries to hurt baby Andrew, I will just punch them in the face!” Of course I agreed. Even in their wee years, my boys are living up to their names. Liam means Protector, and any close to us know that Liam could not fit this description more closely. Andrew means Strong Man, and as I mentioned earlier, I know no one stronger than this pure, fierce little spirit. I am so proud of these two. 

Attempt No.1

Failed attempt No.1.

BUT I'm not going to give up. I will keep trying to blog in the near-future.

The impending doom of seminar took away my enthusiasm for blogging. Somehow explaining my conclusions from primary literature to professors and students over 40 minutes about ADHD seems, I don't know, intimidating? So since I've been neurotically reviewing evidence tables and creating my presentation, blogging just didn't make the schedule.

After next Tuesday (4:05pm to be exact) I will be on to bigger and better things. Like more presentations.

On a happier note, I have a small amount of leisure time right now with which I've taken the liberty to write for my blog. Jason is working on the other computer, and Liam is blessedly sleeping.

Last week was Spring Break 2012- we went to St. George to soak up the 70 degree sun. The pools were amazing. Liam had a blast. We had fun. Pics are to come.

Last Saturday we celebrated St. Patricks Day. This is a tradition I have started with Jason. Every year dinner consists of corned beef with veggies, beer bread, apple beer, and mint brownies. If we're lucky, we watch the Secret of Roan Inish- an enchanting movie about the Irish lore of selkies (we missed out this year). We had our brothers and sisters over for Cranium, which led to some fabulous memories.

I am getting excited for Easter. I can't wait to dye eggs with Liam (even though he hates eating them). Easter is one of my very favorite holidays. I love to celebrate the Savior and Resurrection and hope that we have through them. I love that it is during Spring, a time when the world feels refreshed. I love hearing the birds chirping in the mornings, seeing new buds and sprouts, and feeling that summer is *almost* here. I am also excited for General Conference. My sisters are lucky enough to spend Conference in Spain and I'm excited to hear about their experience with it there.

I am also excited for the upcoming summer for a different reason- I have a new church calling.... Can anybody guess?

Cub Scouts.

Complete with uniform.

Oh yes, I am exuberant about this- I really am. I never realized how much fun little boys are until we had Liam, and now I am in love. I can't wait to tie knots, learn CPR for the millionth time, learn new sports, give 'rounds' of applause, and visit Camp Tracy. I will be able to pass all of this valuable knowledge to Liam :)

Hopefully Jason gets called as my partner. Wish me luck!

"UP"

Hey guys!

So, if I even have any readers left (doubtful), I want to let you know that it is my goal to post everyday in March. My friend Brittany has been doing a challenge during February from the FatMumSlim blog. I would like to follow suit and challenge myself to do this in March. It is pretty cool- she lists a new word for everyday, and the blogger is challenged to post a picture of the subject or relating to the subject. I am excited! It will be a great chance to improve my photography skills as well as focus on making blogging a habit (even though fyi blogging as a habit is NOT that important to me at this point in life :)). So... here we go! New pic to come tomorrow! (Wish me luck, I seriously need motivation to do this!)

March List:

Did this week even happen?

Man, this week has been killer... it went by so fast that it feels like it didn't even happen.

I had a therapeutics test on Tues... my friend awesomely said that it was the only HIV test she hopes to test positively on LOL (I hope I do too). Today was a hectic day- we had to work up cases on Crohn's Disease AND pancreatitis. It was a joy. Even though I complain about my busyness and classes, I actually LOVE learning about diseases and treatment and drugs and am so excited to be a pharmacist. So soon- 1 1/2 years sans residency! Anyway, the reason for this post is I thought I would post today to jot down a few of Liam's recent happenings, if only to remember them for my journal.

Liam is my love. I absolutely love little boys. I hope our next baby is a boy so Liam will have a little buddy and we can buy them a bunkbed and they can be best friends. Like I have mentioned, he learning to walk! I love it, and he loves it. He gets so excited when he walks, especially when Jason sees him- I can tell he wants his Daddy to be proud :) He 'talks' a lot more now, whispering and babbling and screeching dadadadadadadadada (it's the only word he can say right now!) He loves to stick out his tongue. He is still fascinated with faces and likes to pull noses, grab for eyes, and yank out hair. He loves being held by Mommy. He is learning to blow and sometimes will sigh really loudly. He still loves peekaboo. He likes to watch and listen to me whistle (he thinks its funny and laughs). He is getting really good at laughing, especially when we tickle him. He is a very independent eater, and is developing a little stubborn streak (haha). He is very smart- he knows how to turn the TV on and off and realizes that that's what happens. He LOVES books. Probably his favorite toy/interesting thing right now. He still doesn't have any teeth! I am glad because I love his little gummy smile :)

Well, that's just a little about him! He is a little doll. We are getting family pictures next week and I will post them when I have them.

Liam Sick of the Laundry Not Being Done!

First Step.

It happened.

Yesterday while my visiting teachers were over Liam took his first step. He was cruising around holding onto the couch, let go, and took a step!

He grabbed onto the couch right after to catch his balance. OH it was so exciting! He is on the move. Side note, he loves to try ANY new food (ok, honestly he hates limes, but about anything else he will scarf down..), particularly pizza crust, spaghetti, bananas, hamburger, and fig newtons (grandpa's special office treat). He needs calories to power his

little thunder thighs to be

strong and cruise :)

I love my little petey bird.

In other exciting news, I can tell you what happens and what to do if your child takes to much tylenol, or aspirin, or iron, or any of the other popular poisoning preparations. I am in Tox this semester and think it's really interesting. We learn about poisonings and what goes on at the Poison Control Center. Actually quite a number of specially-trained pharmacists work the cases there- it is a subsidiary of the College of Pharmacy at the U. There are some fascinating things that the PCC handles and I am just loving this class.

Jason is interviewing for bioengineering positions right now and is so excited to have a career! I am excited for him too- I'll be so interested to see what kinds of awesome things he will develop.

I'm so proud of my Dilbert ;)

Last Day of February.

This means that tomorrow I start going to school again.

Bummer!

It has been so much fun staying home with Liam all day...

but challenging too.

I have been keeping up with my classes

by studying slides posted online.

I have taken the tests

too...

Like the test I have Friday.

My day has been spent doing the following:

learning about estrogens
learning about steroids

learning about androgens

learning about NSAIDS

...and trying to memorize about

fifty

of these beauties:

Oh yah, and I've been taking care of baby.

Here are some recents:

Luscious Lips.

Baby cheetah.

Forgot the flash was on.

A smile while in my favorite outfit... LOVE!

Funny face.

Chubster.

Little chick.

PS: As I am writing this, Jason is watching

the movie Hellboy

for the 2nd time in 2 days....

any thoughts?

♥

Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It was such a lovely day in our home.

Jason had school all day,

and so it was so much fun to have a

date night!

We went to dinner at

PF Chang's,

our traditional Valentine's date spot :)

We had a fabulous dinner and a great time!

This year was especially fun because we

have a new valentine to celebrate with...

our baby Liam!

Here are some pictures of our

Lovers Day celebration ♥

Me and Jason out on the town!

(I had so much fun, I love you sweetie!)

Our Valentines.

i love daddy. i love mommy. i love bebe.

liam will you be my valentine?

He said yes, he would be my valentine :)

Good Morning Sunshine.

Our Baby.

Our baby was born

January 12, 2011.

His name is

Jason Liam Allen.

8 pounds 4 ounces

19 1/2 inches

He is darling.

We love him!

25 Weeks

Today I am 25 weeks along in my pregnancy.

We had a Dr.'s appointment too!

It was a good day.

We were able to hear our baby's heart beat.

It is still fast (about 150 bpm) and has gotten a lot louder.

Yeah!

He is growing strong and healthy and perfect.

I can't wait to meet him.

My next appointment includes two awesome highlights-

blood work to check for gestational diabetes

and RhoGAM shots.

Perfect.

I will bask in the wonderfulness of today's appointment for now.

Right now I am waiting for my hubs to get home.

He is at the gym.

He is wonderful and is also picking up chocolate chips for me...

What a darling :)

♥

Baby!

We learned in June that we are expecting our first baby!

Yes, it has been a long time since I last posted. I know I know.

Morning sickness, a new job, and now school have all kept me plenty busy though!

So, since I'm getting more into a routine, I have a little more time. So I decided to update. Two weeks ago I had my 20 week ultrasound, and guess what?

We found out that we are having a baby boy!

We are so excited!

It was so fun to visit our families afterwards and show them the DVD- they are so happy!

I think my dad was secretly hoping for a boy.

This will by my parents 1st grandchild, and Jason's parents' 10th.

It has been so fun thinking of names, shopping, and just getting ready for our little one.

My official due date is January 18th. It will be nice to have the rush of the holidays over and just be able to focus on our new baby :)

Right now I am 22 weeks and 5 days.

I can't believe that I am almost in my third trimester!

It has gone by so fast.

I've been on the lookout for maternity clothes, so if anyone has any great ideas, let me know!

Gingerlicious

So...

Since they will never post these, I will!

My sisters are ginger models, more to come...

♥

Today is a beautiful day. I love Spring!

Even though it is a little cloudy and the weather caused a disaster this morning, I still love it. I wentout to my car this morning to hurry to school (I was running late, like always) and I opened the door and saw that our car was flooded on the inside! I thought back to last night, when we decided to leave the windows open a crack, just a crack (a fourth of an inch seriously) and what do you know? That was just enough. Boo! Luckily we were able to dry it out without too much trouble, and I got to school.

Today is a busy day. Jason is studying for two finals tomorrow, and has a full day of work. I have school this morning, a service project this afternoon, another class later this afternoon, and then a full night of work. We are so busy all the time! Time seems to go by so fast. The service project I have this afternoon is something I have been doing every week this entire semester. I go with one of my good friends from Pharm School to visit a cute little old lady in the senior highrise downtown. Lately she has been wanting to go to Costco, which is always an adventure. One time we even saw our Med Chem professor aka Polish version of James Bond there. It was great. Anyway.... bottom line is that I absolutely love visiting her. She has had an incredible life! She lived in Germany during WWII and tells us her stories of the air raids. She is a convert to the church. She is blind in one eye and is a breast cancer survivor. She is awesome. What I love the most about her is that even with having so little, so manages to constantly care for others and seek out opportunities for service. She has been the Compassionate Service leader in her ward for 16 years. She is a great example to me, and I have been so blessed this semester in getting to know her.

Overall...

I am excited for school to end.

I am excited for the summer and for fun trips.

I am excited for 3 year! anniversary.

I am excited to hang out with my family more often.

I am excited for several wonderful girls' weddings.

I am excited to be 1 year closer to graduation.

I am excited that Jason only has 1 year left before graduation.

I am excited to see Jason's capstone project.

I am excited that my brother is home safe from his mission.

♥

So I am in class...

and yes, i'm bored! but thats not what i'm going to chat about today.

if you have read my last blog,

then you know that i have had an interest to see the dance group

pilobolus.

i saw them.

my mom bought me tickets for my birthday.

the concert was really great!

it was different from most kinds of dance groups.

all of the choreography

originates from improv sessions...

and more than dancers,

the memebers are really

gymnasts...

they are very very strong and can do amazing things.

i highly recommend that if you ever

have a chance to see them perform,

you do.

it was really great and i am so happy

i was able to see them...

thanks mom!

I have to go.

I have to go to this:
Pilobolus.

Maybe it's my dance background,
maybe it's human nature to want to see the
unusual and slightly weird,
or maybe it's just simply astounding.

You tell me.

Bummed!

This is the first year that I will not be
able to go with my family on their yearly escapade
to Balboa Island, CA.

I am bummed!

It has been a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember....
all I can do is tell my sisters to eat an extra
Balboa Bar for me and take lots and lots of pictures.



Until next year...

You Know What He Did?

I ran across this little forgotten gem today...
enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1564000965967411931

PUPPIES!

Our family lab, Jenny, just had her first litter of puppies!
They are just so cute.
Here are some pics of the little pups
for your enjoyment!