If you're hippity-happity-flappity, shout hooray!

My parents gave Liam this adorable duck for Easter.  He has finally stopped giving it weird looks, and now he flaps his "wings" when the duck sings. 



"If you're hippity-happity-flappity, shout hooray!
If you're hippity-happity-quackity, say okay!
If you're tickled that its spring, and you want to dance and sing,
If you're hippity-happity-flappity, shout hooray!"

Pop Pop!

Christina and Jeff gave Liam this ball-popper toy.  I know as a parent I'm not supposed to like noisy toys, but I have to admit that I think they're lots of fun. Especially the ones that require Liam to hit a button to make the noise -- it's a great way to keep track of his whereabouts while I'm washing dishes.  Liam really enjoys playing with this toy...this week he started dancing to the music.  (This was as close as I've been able to get to capturing his moves on film. He almost always stops when he knows the camera is on.)

Green Smoothie Challenge

I saw this post on A Beautiful Mess last week, and since I love smoothies, I decided to give it a try this week.  Today's smoothie was made up of one banana, one golden delicious apple, a big handful of strawberries, and a big handful of spinach.  Not bad...I've made better smoothies.  The apple made it a little grittier than I cared for.  But all in all, it was okay. The best part was that I could sip on it throughout the afternoon. 

Ready for Hogwarts

While we were playing in the yard this afternoon, Liam found a stick.  The most amazing stick ever.  I was very impressed by his ability to turn it into a magic wand.
 




If Hogwarts had preschoolers, would they try to eat their wands, like our preschoolers eat paste?




And for you The Lord of the Rings fans...



"You shall not pass!"

Visiting Grandma and Papaw

Since I'm on Spring Break this week (and Mike is not...sadface), Liam and I made the trip to visit Grandma and Papaw (otherwise known as my parents).

Grandma took the day off from work to spend time with us.  We had lunch at Bob Evans, and Papaw even managed to sneak away from work for a few minutes.  As you can tell, they're very happy to have the little man around.


Grandma found this really cool dinosaur tent on clearance, and brought it out for Liam to play in.  He wanted nothing to do with it.  Grandma even tried to lure him in with blocks...he just walked over to the tent, pulled the blocks out, and sat back down to play with them. 


Liam plopped himself in Grandma's lap in order to get a few bites of blueberry crepe. 
 

This morning, Papaw took Liam to his barber.  My dad doesn't miss a chance to show him off.  


After his haircut, Liam, Grandma, and I went outside to blow bubbles.
 

He had his first experience with the piano, and absolutely loved discovering all the different sounds that he could make. 


We're back home now, and Spring Break is winding down.  It was so nice to visit for a little while. 

My latest pin: Parmesan-crusted tilapia

This week, I made Rachel Ray's Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia for dinner.  The prep was simple, the cooking time was fast, and it was so yummy (or, in Rachel Ray-speak, "yumm-o").   Liam even liked it!



If you compare my tilapia to the picture that I pinned, you'll see that I parmesan-crusted a little more than the fish in the picture. That was certainly not a mistake. ;)

My latest pin: Wasp trap

Because of the warmer-than-normal winter we just had, I've heard a lot of speculation that we'll be seeing plenty of bugs this summer.  In a normal summer, we deal with enough wasps, and we've already found a couple in the house over the past month.  My father-in-law had told us about some effective traps he's made in the past.  But that was last summer, and I couldn't remember exactly how to make it. (Can I still claim baby-brain?)  Fortunately, Pinterest had plenty of ideas. I found this tutorial for a DIY wasp trap, and it looked simple enough. All I needed was a 2L soda bottle, something to cut said bottle with, and some masking/duct tape. 

 

I would love to tell you that this wasp trap has worked like a charm.  Unfortunately, we've had freeze warnings in the forecast over the last several days, so no wasps have stepped up to try out my contraption. If you look at the original post, you'll see that it was very effective!  (I can't imagine anyone collecting all those wasps to fake an "after" photo...*shudders*) 

February Photo a Day

Yesterday I shared my January Photo a Day project.  Today I'm sharing my photos from February. 

If you're on Instagram, we're currently in the middle of April Photo a Day (search for the #photoadayapril tag).  It's never too late to join in!

Spring Break has a new appeal

I'm on Spring Break this week, and today was all about Mr. Liam!  We woke up early (even though I offered to let him sleep in), had a leisurely breakfast (or two...the boy has hobbit tendencies), and made our way to the library for Book Babies.  Since Mike and I work, we aren't able to take him, but since his sitter does story-time, we know it's something he loves!

We sang songs, listened to stories (and got to flip pages through one of the books), and had dance time!  He was so attentive, and even tried to dance a little (with Mommy's help).  And he is all about shaker/scarf time!  After Book Babies, we went to the kids' room of the library.  We tried to read That's Not My Bear, but he was more interested in climbing up and down the risers that surrounded the room.  We are definitely going back once summer vacation starts!

 

When we got home, we had lunch, played ball (he has this funny habit of rolling the ball from several feet away, then eventually finding himself right in front of me trying to throw the ball my way), and took a long nap together.  That's my idea of a perfect day! 

January Photo a Day

I think the reason I do less full-scale blogging these days is because I really enjoy the ease of "micro-blogging"...let's face it, the little guy demands a lot of my time (and I wouldn't have it any other way).  I really enjoy Instagram and all the people and challenges over there.  This year I joined in a Photo a Day challenge.  I thought I'd share my progress over the next few days.  We'll start with January (seems like a good place to start...) 

Walking!

We have a walker on our hands!

The Outfit: 2012 Easter Wrap Dress

 

I love a good maxi dress.  I've been fortunate enough to come across quite a few lately.  I found this vintage wrap dress at Street Scene while searching for something to wear for an upcoming wedding.  This wasn't even the style I was looking for, but I was just drawn to it, so I tried it on for fun.  Christina was with me, and enabled me convinced me it would make the perfect Easter dress.  And it was.  The ruffles, the tie to cinch the waistline, the killer view from the back...I haven't been this happy with an Easter dress since my Mom made them for me every year. 

A word of warning...if you wear a wrap dress, it's a good idea to wear a slip under it.  The crawling, climbing, and tugging of a 1-year old made for a few close calls.  An Easter "Peep" show, if you will. 

Happy Easter 2012!

Happy Easter!  It was such a great day!  We had an early breakfast at church, followed by a wonderful packed service.  We had lunch with Ashley and her family (they are so generous and welcoming for allowing us to celebrate with them for the past three Easters).  After coming home and taking a nap, Liam opened his Easter basket (he got a baby pool, a Dr. Seuss ABC book, and a toy remote control).  And he was such a dapper little guy!  Enjoy the pics!  I hope your Easter was a blessed one!