1st Christmas. 1st Hair cut.

Christmas time

Last night (Christmas Eve) we all ate with the Engledow family. We had chinese. Yum. Liam is getting super hard to take out to eat. He hates being confined. I try to bribe him with baby junk food and it usually works for about 5 minutes. After a hectic dinner we headed home. My first priority was to get Liam to sleep. Kevin was exhausted because he got up with Liam at 6am after going to bed at 2am. Instead of taking a nap, Kevin decided to drink a couple pots of coffee. Yes I typed POTS. By evening he was crashing hard and not feeling well. I was going out and I needed to make sure Liam was sleeping comfortably before leaving. Amber Lynch was having her Christmas Eve party. This year it was on a smaller scale, but still fun. Once I was heading out the door Liam started screaming. Just my luck. I forced Kevin to get up and take care of him. I needed to get going if I wanted to be back at a decent hour. I guess he was still hungry because when I got home at midnight Kevin reported that the little turkey ate another 6oz of formula after already having 8.

Amber's new apartment is super cute, but it was also super confusing to find. At one point John Soderberg, Stacy, Lauren, and myself were all in the same parking lot confused on which apartment was hers. I swear it felt like it took forever to find. She lives in Apt. #5 and the number on her door is as small as the font on this blog. Ok maybe not that small but very hard to see in the dark. Once inside we got the tour and I was impressed on the size. She has her own basement. Crazy. I've never heard of an apartment having a basement. I hung out with everybody until midnight then headed home. I knew that I had to be up super early Christmas day.

I'm so TIRED!

Today Liam and I had to do some Christmas shopping. I wasn't looking forward to this. I hate trying to find that perfect present for everyone. It is very frustrating. Liam is an awesome shopper. He loves to look at all the people and flirt with all the pretty ladies. Our first stop this morning was the Fashion Mall. This mall is not baby friendly. I found the quilt that I wanted from Anthropologie and I called Kevin to see if I should just go ahead and buy it. Yes, I bought one of my own Christmas presents, but Kevin promises me that there are many more to come. After getting all the presents from the mall we had to go to Target. This was the THIRD time we went to Target in one week. I can't believe I'm going to type this but, I'm really sick of Target. Liam needed to pick out gifts for his best friends Ava and June and I need to pick up some movies for Nicks kids.

I went to the Target in Glendale and decided that I wanted to stop in Macy's. I thought that it was going to be a quick trip so I decided that I would just carry Liam. This was a terrible idea. This place was packed. Let me just say that it wasn't quick and I thought my arm was going to fall off. When in doubt always bust out the stroller. Well at least I got some weight training in for the day.

By the time we were done it was already 12:30. I had to hustle home to get Liam fed and down for a nap. Well I got him fed at least. The little turkey hates to take naps. By 3:00 he was sound asleep in my arms until the stupid UPS guy knocked on the door. I have started terrible habits with Liam. He never wants to take naps in his crib. He is so attached. He has no problem taking naps on me. Yes, I used to think this was so cute and sweet, but now it is just frustrating. I have tried the "Cry it out method" but it doesn't work. I am afraid that he isn't getting enough oxygen because he cries so hard that he can't catch is breath. The "cry it out method" can cause brain damage. (I'm not sure that I believe this but I hate letting him cry) This also doesn't just happen at nap time. It seems that Liam had no problem going to bed at night , but he never seems to stay there. Around 2 in the morning, every morning, Liam ends up in bed with us. This has been going on for about a month. Yes, I know, you should never let a baby sleep with you unless you are really into co-sleeping. I, however am not into co-sleeping and need to break this habit. This is so not Liam's fault, but now he is going to be punished for my laziness. How am I going to do this. I can't stand to hear him cry but he needs to learn how to self sooth.

The day of first

I decided that it was time for Liam to try pancakes. Kevin really wanted Mcdonalds so I had him get me some pancakes for Liam. Boy did he enjoy them. Well he really only ate half of one, but he really liked it, until he choked and puked.

We decided that today would be the day that Liam would meet Santa Claus. My dad decided to join us at the State Museum since he had never been there before. I was excited to see all the cute kids anxious to meet Santa. This was our first time at the State Museum during Christmas and it was wonderful. Carolers were singing the 12 days of Christmas, which if that didn't put a person in the Christmas spirit I don't know what would. Of course as soon as we go to Santa he decided it was "time to feed his deer" so we had a hour to kill. The line for Santa was incredibly long. We had a little girl in front of us dressed like an elf. (Next year I'm doing that to Liam.) I had Liam dressed in a cowboy shirt. My dad kept giving me a hard time that he didn't look christmassy. I had a sweater in my bag to slip on him for the photo. The girl dressed like an elf was in such a good mood until she reached Santa. Her screams were starting to freak Liam out. Once it was our turn I started to get nervous that Liam was going to cry. He was AWESOME. He loved Santa and Mrs. Claus. He could have hung out there all day. So cute. Santa told us that his grandson's name is Liam and was impressed to meet another one.
After picking up our photos we headed to look at what all the State Museum has to offer. We got there at 11:30 and didn't leave until 2:30. Liam was so tired and hungry. I felt so bad for him.

Once we got home we only had a little time before heading out again. We had an appointment to look at a house in Zionsville. I wanted to get there a little early so we could check out the neighborhood. As we were driving around I saw tons of cute houses and friendly people waving as we drove by (plus). I also saw two different houses that had living room furniture on the front porch.(minus). I guess the house that we are interested in was someone's dream that "fell through". They picked somethings that I would have, and then somethings I was wondering what in the hell. The kitchen is great except for the counter tops. The are made to look like granite but are laminate. Horrible. Kevin told me to think big picture. Whatever. All I can think about is if I buy this house I will need to destroy those counter tops as soon as possible. Now we are back to the idea of building. We don't want to compromise what we want because it is ready now. We still need to sell our house. In this market it could be next summer before it sells.

We needed dinner and since we were on the west side we went to to Puerto Vallarta. As soon as we sat down Mikey was at our table. They were eating there with Amber's Dad and Step mom Maria. The had just gotten there also so we joined them. After dinner Ava and June wanted after dinner candy. Maria decided that it would be mean to leave Liam out so she bought him a ring pop. The next thing I know Liam is sucking on this thing and his eyes are huge. SUGAR!!! This was the first time he really has ever had sugar. You gotta start somewhere. I took his picture with his sugar pacifier and he was in heaven. The flavor was watermelon and he was a sticky cute mess.

Black Friday

We weren't in the mood of fighting the crazy crowds for the great deals so we decided to go to the movies. Dianne came over around noon to watch Liam and Kevin and I headed out to see the Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was fantastic. I just loved this movie. I love Wes Anderson so I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. After the movie I talked Kevin into going to Target. We needed to pick up some supplies for Liam.
Once we got home I was super hungry because the only thing I had eaten all day was movie theater popcorn. Kevin went to Siams Square to get Thai. After eating Kevin insisted that we watch It's a Wonderful Life. I have never seen this movie and never really had a desire to watch it. Well I loved it. I am so stubborn about old movies. I never want to watch them but as soon as I do I always love them. Casablanca was awesome. Gone with the Wind was awesome. I just watched these movies for the first time this year.

Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was held and Kevin's sister's. Robyn did a beautiful job with dinner. Her table look wonderful and she already had her Christmas tree up. Dinner was at 1:00 and Kevin and I brought homemade sugar cream pie. My friend Stacy joined us for dinner and Kevin's entire family was there. I was feeling super tired because I couldn't sleep the night before. We stayed for a little while after dinner but Liam and I really need naps before the evening fun. Once we got home (around 4) Liam and I jumped into my bed and took a 2 hour nap. It was wonderful. Kevin woke me up because we needed to get the house ready for the evening fun. I forced myself out of bed and woke up Liam. I think we both could have slept the rest of the night.

It has become a Thanksgiving tradition for Kevin and I to have friends over on Thanksgiving night. Around 6:30 people started to show up. It was the regular crowd that comes every year. It was smaller this year than last, but that is to be expected because we have a baby now. I really was worried that Liam wouldn't go to bed until super late. Our house is so tiny that you can hear everything. Kevin decided that it would be a good idea to put a fan on full speed in Liam's room to drown out the noise. It really worked. After a few tries Liam was down for the night. Once the worry of Liam falling asleep was gone it was time to have fun. I busted out the game Apples to Apples and 7 of us decided to play. After playing for what felt like hours it finally ended with Lauren winning. It was a fun night that ended around 1:30am.

Last Week

So I would like to be able to go day by day on what Liam and I did, but I don't really remember. Here is a run down on what I think we did.

Monday-I was super tired from the Colts game and needed coffee really bad. I went to make some and realized that we were out of coffee filters! I started to come unglued. Kevin was the last person to make coffee so he should have told me. I found some old filters that weren't the right fit so I made a huge mess. Oh well. I least I had some coffee. Next I realized the Kevin forgot to take out the trash. It was pouring rain and I had to hurry before the trash man reached my house. I was so mad. The trash can was filled and super heavy. I didn't think about the fact that I was in my pjs and Ugg slippers dashing down a wet drive way. After all of this I needed to get Liam fed and dressed. I had planned on going to the store but since it was raining I decided to stay in. The rest of the day Liam and I worked on walking and getting laundry done. Fun stuff. Liam is getting really good at walking. He can now go about six steps before falling. Pretty good for 9 months.

Tuesday- Again I didn't leave the house. The weather was bad and I didn't have any motivation to leave. Liam and I were super content just hanging out. I really can't remember what we did. Yikes. Only a week ago and I can't remember. That is why I need to blog every day. I'm sure we played on the floor and I watched Liam walk.

Wednesday- I did leave the house finally. Liam and I were getting cabin fever and we started to run out of food. I did a quick trip to Target and hit the Panera drive thru. Stacy and Tim stopped by with coffee for me and we hung out for a couple hours.

Thursday- I can't remember. I know I worked out and did more laundry. Super exciting stuff.

Friday- I went to the Fashion Mall to look for winter clothes. I have nothing that fits. I found two cute sweaters at Anthropologie and was super excited about the deal I got. I talked with Amber Lynch on the phone about her looking at apartments. Liam and I were going to meet her, but it was a lot later than I thought and I had to get Liam home for lunch and a nap. Liam loves shopping. I never see him so content. He likes to people watch as much as I do. I love it when he sticks out his arms and yells while I'm pushing his stroller. So cute. Kevin got home late from work and wasn't in any mood to eat out so he picked up some yummy chinese. Later that night Kevin and I played Scrabble on our Iphones. Yes we are dorks.

Saturday-We got up and went to Chick-Fi-la for lunch. After eating in the car we decided to go to the Home Goods store. I was in a very Christmas mood and wanted to buy every little Santa I could find. We also found a very nice rug that would work perfect in our living room. We need something with a lot of padding. We decided to think about the rug and just buy Christmas stuff. We hit up Half Price books and then headed home. Kevin's mom was coming over later to watch Liam so Kevin and I could have a nice romantic dinner. We decided to eat at Oceanaire since we hadn't been there in a while. I was super hungry and wanted a crab cake really bad.

Sunday- Went to Target to get food for Monday-Wednesday and watched the Colts game.

November 14

So I am terrible keeping up with my blogging. I always find something else to do other than this. I need to start making this a daily thing. Anyway, I'm going to start with last Sunday. The Toole family started the day like any other Sunday, except that I forgot that Kevin had to work on his Mom's shed. He was out the door by 8:30, leaving Liam and I on our own. I decided to call my dad up for Sunday breakfast. We headed out to Broad Ripple to Zest. After eating I needed to head to Target for some Colts gear. I was going to the Patriots vs. Colts game and I needed to represent. My friends Melissa and Andy got tickets and were so very kind to invite me. Andy works for WIBC and he received 2 suite tickets. The generous guy he is offered the tickets to his wife and to me. YAY! He thought that he was getting 4 and Melissa had already invited Amber and Mikey. Feeling bad about not having the extra two tickets and having super fan Mikey so excited for the game, Andy generously purchased 2 tickets off of ebay for a crazy amount of money.(money well spent).

Let me just say that this was one of the best Sundays ever! Kevin stayed at home and watched Liam. He wasn't alone though. He had a little Colts game party which made me feel a little bit better about leaving him. I still feel a little guilty about seeing such an amazing game with the best seats ever without him.

The night started off with chicken nachos from Old Point. A super nice guy noticed our Colts gear and assumed that we were headed to the stadium so he gave us a pass for parking! Sweet. Downtown was crazy. Lots of super fans and blocked streets making it hard for Mikey to navigate. Once we finally got to Lucas Oil and parked my heart was pumping. I was so excited. Inside Amber and Mikey broke off from us to find their super awesome seats while Melissa and I took the VIP elevator to our super swanky suite.

At half time I went down to the Club where Amber and Mikey were sitting and traded tickets with Amber. I wanted her to check out the suite and I wanted to watch the game from the 12th row on the 50 yard line. Amazing.
The game wasn't going well and fans were sure that the Colts choked so people started leaving. Mike and I were really bumming and didn't know what to do next. We were sitting behind the Patriots' bench and could here some talking. Randy Moss caught a touchdown pass and when he came back to the bench he pointed at the crowd and yelled FUCK YOU!! This was not cool. This sparked something inside of Mike and I and we just started going crazy. I saw 2 seats in the front row and told Mike. In our new seats we continued to harass and scream our team spirit at the Patriots. Tom Brady was standing directly in front of me but refused my request for him to turn around so I could take his picture. The nerve. I'm mean I know that you are in the middle of losing a game that you should have won and now your feeling like a jerk but come on. Just one little picture.

After the amazing comeback of the Colts we headed home high on the win. I don't think I could talk for 3 days. So worth it.

Thanks again to Melissa and Andy for such a great night.

Halloween

So on Saturday I woke up and need a shower so bad. The smokey bar lingered all over me. I couldn't stand myself. After everyone was ready we headed out for breakfast. John had a super busy day ahead of him so he had to leave soon after we ate. I needed a nap badly but we had a day full of plans. Once we got home from breakfast Amber Lynch came over and we headed out to the Irvingtion Halloween Festival. It was a lot bigger than I thought. They block off a portion of east Washington street and set up bounce houses for little kids. It was fun to see all the little kids dressed up. Liam was a puppy dog. I felt bad because his costume was about 2 sizes small. Oh well, he still looked cute. After the festival it was time for a nap for me and for Liam.

After taking a 2 hour nap both Liam and I where fresh and ready for the evening activities. I decided that I wanted to dress the dogs up in their costumes and put them in the backyard so trick-or-treaters could enjoy the cuteness. Yes, I am one of those people. :) I was disappointed in my neighbors. Everywhere I looked porch lights were off. I felt bad for all these cute little kids. I bought 4 huge bags of candy, and I went through most of it. Some of these parents were making me a little mad. One dad had his little boy, he couldn't have been more than 2 years old, trick-or-treating with a terrible runny nose and the dad was smoking right in his face. I just wanted to yell at him, but I just smiled.

Later that night we went over to our friend Jen's house for a post trick-or treat party. It was fun to see everyone dressed up. I was lazy this year and didn't have a costume. Next year I will be better prepared. Liam was super tired so our visit was very short. We were there long enough to enjoy some yummy chili and cookies.

Friday Night!

Friday John came to town to join me for a crazy night at the Melody Inn. First we went to dinner with my family at the Milano Inn. Kevin ordered a bottle of wine and the poor server didn't know how to open it. I felt so bad for her, but not bad enough to help. I just kept watching hoping that she would finally figure it out. She never did. John, who doesn't drink, stepped in to open it. Liam was a little pistol during dinner. He didn't want to sit still. It was nice to see my Dad and Sammie. I hadn't seen Sammie in a few weeks. After dinner we headed home to relaxed for awhile before heading to the Mel. Kevin, the awesome husband he is, stayed home to watch Liam. Before John and I left for the Melody Liam was sound asleep making it easy on Kevin.

When we arrived to the Melody Inn it was packed. Later I found out that the show was sold out 3x over the capacity. We were lucky enough to get there early so we didn't have to wait. I hadn't been out in such a long time so it was so nice to see everyone. Lauren came to town for the festivities and Amber and Mikey had a babysitter so they got to come. It was so much fun. Lots of people were dressed up. One girl had a naked lady costume on. It was so risky. I thought at first that she was really naked!! She told me she kept freaking people out. Amber Lynch was dressed like Jarvis Cocker from Pulp. She looked super cute.
Three bands played. One band did U2 another did the Runaways but I was there to see the last band Joy Division. They did a great job. After all the bands played I got to dance with my ladies and it was so much fun. I didn't get home until after 2 and of course as soon as John and I walked through the door Liam woke up. Just my luck.

Pumpkin Patch

So the weather has been super weird. It is super cold for early October. Saturday was the first sunny day we've seen in a couple of days and we weren't going to waste it. I decided that Liam needed a pumpkin and Kevin agreed. We headed out the the legendary pumpkin patch Stoney Creek in Noblesville. I say that it is legendary because I went to this very pumpkin patch as a little kid. The drive to Noblesville was so nice. I was so busy enjoying the trees that I didn't notice the long distance. It was so much fun being there. I wish I had brought my nicer camera but the Iphone did a pretty good job.A friendly family offered to take our picture as long as I would repay the favor. I showed the guy how to work the camera on my phone and he took the picture. I should have checked it. He didn't take a picture. I'm not sure what he did. Oh well. I, of course, took an awesome picture of him and his family. Liam got to go on a hayride which he tried to eat hay and he picked out his very own pumpkin. Kevin decided that we need three to represent the family.
After the exciting hayride and pumpkin picking we needed some warm apple cider. I don't know why but I hate the taste of this stuff. I ordered myself one to give it a chance but I still hate it.