Happy Halloween!

We had our ward Halloween party last weekend and we decided to all dress up as pumpkins. The party was really fun, and I think Liam enjoyed his first Halloween experience. We (mostly Roland) carved a pumpkin for a pumpkin carving contest, and although we did not win ( I don't know what the judges were thinking) anything we thought it was pretty cool. Since we are not going to go trick or treating this year (Liam is a little too small) it was fun to do a little celebration with our family.

Of course Roland had to wear a wig. He also had a fake mustache but took it off to eat.

The pumpkin patch family

Our little pumpkin!

Our really cool pumpkin!

Tired little pumpkin.

My Running Trail

I have found a trail I really like at Whiterock Lake. I run there most every morning because it's a long enough trail that I can run as little or as much as I want. Roland also likes the trail because of all the wildlife. Recently we went on a walk as a family and here are some pictures.

Cormorants and turtles
Grebe

Monk Parakeet

Great Blue Heron

Big House called Mt. Vernon

Liam

More Cormorants

Egret

Turtle Family

What I have been thinking about lately....

I have a lot on my mind today. I am not usually the type to rant on in my blog, but here it goes. First off, I have decided to do a half marathon in January. The Texas Half to be specific. I am super excited about it, and I have begun my training. The one problem that I have is that it has begun to get "cold." Now this is Dallas cold, so it is usually about 50 degrees when I go out for a run in the morning. So now that it is cold I have begun to bundle Liam up, and it is not the easiest thing in the world. Whenever I try to put a blanket on him he grabs it, puts it in his mouth and it never stays where it is supposed to. I try to cover his feet and hands with socks to keep them warm, but like the blanket they come off in a matter of seconds. I guess I am just really worried about when it gets cold cold, and I really need him to stay warm. I do have some winter stuff, but since Liam was born in May I have to get some more. Here is one of my attempts to keep him warm. I know I am being a little paranoid, but does anyone have advice about how to keep a baby warm in the stroller during the winter months?

The next thing that is on my mind is that Liam is getting really big really fast. I am not complaining, it is just crazy. Last night he slept through the night. ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE NIGHT! It was from about 10 pm to 7 am. I am amazed. I don't know if it will keep up, but here's hoping. Also Liam is way more active now. He is now crawling. Well, kind of. He gets up on all fours, then kind of falls forward. Here is a video of it.

In addition to crawling, he just loves to move around and bounce. When I am holding him, he is never still anymore. It makes my life way more interesting and I am excited to see what he does next.

I guess the last thing one my mind, is that I never thought it would rain so much in Dallas. People have told me it usually doesn't rain as much as it has been, but seriously. In the last three weeks, I think we have had maybe 3 days that have been sunny. I guess it just makes me a little bit depressed. I am sure that the weather will get better soon.

One last thing. I don't usually blog about my feelings, but I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I have a wonderful husband that works so hard at school so that someday when he becomes a dentist he will be able to provide for his family. I have a beautiful baby boy that gives Roland and I so much happiness. It really is amazing that I can't imagine my life without out my son, Liam. He is so great. And lastly I am so grateful for the rest of our wonderful family. I feel so much support from my family in New Hampshire and Roland's family in Utah. We miss all of you so much! It is sometimes really hard to be so far from family, but I know that Dallas is where our family is supposed to be right now. So those are the things that have been on my mind. To end this long post here are some pictures of the cutest baby in the world:

I love you Liam!

Bring on the rice cereal

Liam is now 5 months, so we decided to start him on some solid foods. So today I got some rice cereal and some spoons and we tried it out. He has been eating exclusively breast milk before now, so I was a little worried about how he would do, but HE LOVED IT! It seemed like he knew exactly what to do, and he seemed to really like the rice cereal. So it looks like it is something that we will be adding to Liam's diet. He is becoming such a big boy, I cannot believe it!

Of course he got pretty messy his first time through, but he is still as cute as ever!

happy baby

You have to watch this video. It is one of the funniest things ever. It is a little long but it is worth it!

Laughing

Recently we have been able to make Liam laugh. It is fun that he is starting to react to us. I wish we got more laughing in the video, but he always stops his cuteness when the camera is on him.

Just because he is cute

In the past week Liam has started moving all around. He know not only flips from his back to his stomach, but from his stomach to his back, and his does this kinda scoot thing. He sticks his butt up in the air and then scoots his head forward. Sometimes he really moves far. I think it means he may start crawling soon, but we will see. Here are some pictures. I really just can't get enough of his cute face!

On Saturday we went on a hike, that lead us to this beautiful pond. It was a fun hike, but it did not work with the stoller. We forgot the bjorn, so we had to carry Liam. It was a short hike, so it wasn't too bad holding him the whole time. All and all, a nice hike.

And of course, for the hike, we had to dress him totally cute. The shoes only lasted about 3 seconds, but it was fun.