A CheckUp on Nugget Liam

You want to know what's craaaaazy? This kid. How big he is. He's practically a toddler. Actually I think he really is a toddler, but I'm clinging to whatever remaining baby-ness that lingers. I think that's subconsciously part of the reason I still breastfeed. That, and the health benefits and yada yada yada ;). Also, did I mention he still sleeps next to me? As if we lived in a one-room hut and there were physically no other options? Yep. This is true. And, I'm not sure if you noticed, but my better half happens to be a pretty tall dude. So between my little dude and my better-half dude I spend most of my sleep in fetal position in the bottom corner of our king-size bed. So, that's fun.

^ This is the cleanest this kid's feet have looked since he started walking sprinting at 12 months. I kid you not, he can run a 7-minute-mile (Actually I am kidding. That would be impossible. I'm just being dramatic to illustrate a point, so clam down). The second a door (or the gate blocking Jada's dog food) is open he B-lines straight for the road (or to Jada's food and promptly stuffs 8 pieces of dog food in his mouth and sits in her water bowl). YOLO, I guess.

^ This is a Clint pose. Like he is a casual model lounging. You can almost see that Clint-smirk like, "Check out how simultaneously funny and cool I am".

^ And don't let this angelic, tucked-in-bottom-lip, big-toe-grabbing face deceive you. There's a plan formulating behind those big brown heavenly eyes. Man don't you just want to eat those kankles up!?

^ This one I like to call "I think it's time to go now...he's ripping the tassels off my pillow...".

^ And now he's mad that I took the pillow away.

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This has been a moment with sleeping Liam!

Do ya ever get so caught up in stamping veggie art and taking pictures of powdered bunt cake that you forget to stop and take in the simple miracles of life. Yes? That's what I thought...me too. You see, I fancy myself a task-oriented person. I wake up early to pluck away on my laptop and throw in a load of laundry. During nap time I do some accounting, edit a book I'm helping write, work in Photoshop. After bedtime I catch up on reading and straighten up the house. But every now and then I stop and glance over and my sleeping baby toddler (what the %&#*@!) and just soak him in. You know, really look at him and have one of those strange out of body experiences where you realize that this little human depends fully on you (a totally imperfect human) and that you had better not screw this up. One of those moments. And then I realize, I am one lucky duck. Truly. A few days ago my grandma Facebooked me and was like "keep posting pictures of that growing baby" and I thought, hmmm...it has been a minute since I chatted about Liam. Enter stage left: a little list about what Liam is up to now:

- Liam takes every meal in his highchair. He prefers to feed himself, after all he is grown up enough to do so. The very second he decides he is done eating he goes directly from chewing his last bite to screaming like a maniac while flinging bits of toast at Jada (who willingly eats all dropped morals). Once the highchair hysterics begin I have about 1.2 seconds to wipe him down and get him out before a breakdown ensues. Let's just say Liam is a man who knows what he wants and wants it right now.

- This kid is walking everywhere. Let me rephrase: This kid is running everywhere. In the pantry (dumping out chips) to the living room (dancing with Ellen-I kid you not) to the bathroom (in the toilet). With how quick this kid moves I have become quite to the pro and baby-proofing. I think I will add that to my CV.

- Better out than in is Liam's motto. And I'm not talking bodily excretions (yuck). Little nugget prefers outdoors to indoors always. As we walk and walk and walk he narrates and I nod my head, listening intently and appreciating his little dialogue. Yesterday he removed 4 flags from our neighbor's yard (in about 5 seconds) and I had to go back and determine where the Century Link flags and Comcast flags belonged. Ooops. Cross your fingers for me (and my neighbor's internet services).

- Liam is practically talking now. I mean, he says pee-do (peekaboob), dain-do (thank you), janda (Jada), and uh-oh (uh-oh). My personal favorite is thank you. He will march around with a toy or strainer or broom in his hand and chant "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Yep, he's pretty adorable. Pretty freaking adorable.

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Serious Easter Re-cap (P.S. I talk about blogging too)

I'm not sure how you do Easter, but apparently we do Easter with a lot of sass. This past Easter was not Liam's first, but it was the first one he could participate in and let's just say, he had some mixed feelings about the whole Easter egg thing. I love in the photo above he's like, "here mom...you can have this one". And check out the attitude in the photo below, I mean this kid is seriously a crack-up.

This is our football star pose. He has nearly perfected the stiff-arm.

And why yes, that is my Nugget fishing jelly beans out of the gravel and shoving them into his mouth.

 

Blogging does funny things to your children, I am now realizing. Like, whenever someone holds up a phone or a camera, blogger's kids just seem to know it's time for the cheese and the smiles and the poses. Part of this may be that we live in an age of technology where viewing photos is at your fingertips, so we take a ton more pictures. All I know is that Liam is 13 months and I have over 4,000 photos of him on my hard drive. Perhaps it's time to slow the clicking down!

But I must say, I am really grateful for the images I get to capture. I feel so lucky that, while he will grow and change, I have a relic of what he used to look like and how little he used to be. I'm also feeling pretty lucky to be blogging. My blog is nowhere near the blog I hope it to be, but this learning experience has been so revealing. A blog is like sending your life out there in a letter to friends and strangers and hoping they right back or at least find it interesting. Which has turned out to be a great way for me to examine what I think of myself, what I like about myself, and what I want to work on. Indeed, blogging has made me want to be a better and more creative person every day. It has also taught me to prioritize and some days a blog post is not the priority. To continue with the mushiness, I just want to say thank you for following along with A Ruffled Life. I'm pretty freaking excited about what the future holds for this little blog, but I wouldn't do it if it weren't for you great readers and friends!

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Why I have gone missing...and a little thank you

Hello all readers! Well this is kind of embarrassing, but I have been missing for about a week now, and I kind of feel bad about it! I mean, you come around and read about my life and leave heartfelt comments, so I just wanted to say thank you! Thank you for being such great readers and friends!

Also, I thought I ought to update you on what I am working on behind the scenes here at A Ruffled Life.

First...We are redesigning! Wa-who! I am soooo excited for the new look! So keep an eye out for our relaunch in a bit. Some stuff may look funny here and there so I appreciate your patience dear friends! And we'll do our best to give you a bigger and better A Ruffled Life.

Second...We've been feeling a little under the weather, but I think it may be allergies so I am currently testing that hypothesis with allergy meds so...pending diagnosis.

Third...This little Nugget has needed LOTS AND LOTS of extra loving this week. I mean, he has been a limb on my body. So we have cuddled and played and giggled and cried a lot together this week.

And I think he may be a red head... :)

Fourth...I added some stuff to my life list at Go Mighty!

and I have been loving these reads lately! Check out my link love:

This is what my motherhood has looked like lately...

Splatter paint on balloons! What the cute?!

This post about blogging has really hit home for me...time to slow down and step up the quality!

 I really want to make these at the moment...because they look soooo good.

And I want to buy this and frame it something fierce!

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Liam's First Birthday Party: Part 1

 

The combination of Easter partying and teething woes have compelled us to live in slow motion for a week. But the time has finally come to celebrate blog-style my little Nugget's first birthday! I have to tell you, being the mother of a 1-year-old is a complicated thing to be. Your heart bursts with excitement for the little man he is. You anticipate eagerly the little boy he will become. More than anything you pray it will all slow down a bit.
On Liam's birthday I just soaked in all his gushy nummy-ness. I kissed his fat rolls and the back of his neck. I held on to 11 months. And then I threw a party that was fabulous if I do say so myself.
So fabulous, I kind of wish he didn't nap for half of it.

If you don't know this about me then you may not know me at all...but I am a little bit detail oriented. Combine that with overachiever and things begin to become a little wacky. And I was not about to throw a party without details like party-hat-wearing woodland animal cupcake toppers. So long as we are outside with woodland animals, we might as well have mini teepee food labels and big teepee for Liam to match. Feathers and triangles seemed to just go so they appeared on the treat bags, photo wall backdrop, and gift labels. And let's not forget my obsession with orange and gold. I hereby declare Liam's theme colors to forever be orange and gold.

I loved the way this little event came together, but a party wouldn't be a party without a sweet little Nugget the throw it for. Stay tuned...more photos to come!

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Day Date with My Guys and Irish Bread

I am all about the day dates with my guys. And when carbohydrates are involved, that's an offer I can't refuse. Can I just tell you, Great Harvest Bread Company is the champion of free samples. You can pick from a selection of delicious breads and they cut you a huge slice and lather it in butter. I selected Irish Mint Chocolate bread and am ruined for life. No other bread will ever bring me that kind of joy ;).

Sadly I had to wave goodbye to the Irish Mint Chocolate bread when I waved goodbye to St. Patrick's Day. Until next year! Day dates with Husband and Nugget, however, will continue full swing. They are literally the best.

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