Liam the new Baby Gap model

Last Tuesday Stacy and I went to the Fashion Mall. Liam needed some warmer clothes so I hit up Baby Gap. I bought a super cute hat that I had to instantly put on him. People were stopping us left and right. He looked so cute. I stopped into the big people Gap and the cashier told me that I should enter Liam into the Baby Gap modeling contest. So as soon as I got home I checked it out online. Liam is now a contestant with about 10,000 other super cute babies. I know all moms think that they have the cutest baby, but Liam would be the perfect model. He smiles all the time and he has a very expressive face. His personality is perfect for this. His new thing that he loves to do is sticking out his tongue. Of course I'm the one who taught him how to do this and now I wish I hadn't. He won't keep that sucker in his mouth. I guess, since he is only 7 months, it isn't rude but rather charming.

Florida

Florida trip was nice but didn't feel very relaxing. First, I was a bundle of nerves flying with Liam. He slept both there and back but I kept worrying that he would have a melt down. I thought it was funny when we boarded the plane. We were getting the evil eye from many directions. The woman that was sitting in front of us asked if they had any other seats. To bad for her that the plane was completely full. After the flight she turned around and told Liam that he did a really good job. He smiled; I gave her a dead stare. Second, I was worried about Liam sleeping in a new environment, which he did okay but not awesome. Third, Liam was getting sick and it seemed to hit him hard has soon as we landed in Tampa. His little nose wouldn't stop running. Thank goodness babies are quick healers. He was feeling better by the 2nd day.

Here is a quick run down of all the events.

Day 1-Thursday- Headed to the airport in the lovely rainy Indiana weather. This was our first visit to the new airport. I think it looks super nice and seems really easy to navigate. We met up with the Smiths and headed to our gate.

Once we arrived in St. Pete we got our hotel room and Melissa and I headed to the store for some much needed formula and diapers. I think it is funny that when I was younger the first thing I would head for in the grocery store would be beer. Now I look for diapers and formula. Of course beer was still on the list, just not the first thing. :)

The Florida sunshine was super bright when we entered the store, but when we left the clouds had rolled in and thunder was rumbling in the distance. Rain and little babies don't mix. Once we arrived back at the TradeWinds Hotel we decided to just order room service.

Liam didn't want to sleep. I think I got up 50 times before I decided to just put him in bed with us. This was the first time Liam ever slept with us. I could tell that he enjoyed it because this was the only place (at night) that he wanted to sleep.

Day 2- Friday - Since Liam had a terrible night of sleep we didn't get up until 8:30. We were going to head to the coffee shop at the hotel when I received a text from Melissa telling me that it wasn't worth the long hot walk. Instead we headed for the lobby for coffee.

After coffee, we took Liam to the baby pool. He had never been swimming before so I was super excited to see his reaction. He loves the water. He instantly started slapping the water and giggling and smiling. So cute. Since the baby pool went so well we decided to head to the beach. Once we got to the beach I noticed Liam's eyes looking really red. His nose was super snotty and I was afraid he was getting pink eye. I still was determined for him to dip his toes into the gulf. Once he got into the water he started to cry because a wave hit him in the face. This wasn't a good way to introduce the ocean to him. He calmed down and started to enjoy the warm water. I could tell that he didn't feel great so I took him up to the cabana to wipe his nose and give him some water. It was super hot out and I could tell that his cold was exhausting him. He took a hour nap in the cabana and pooped his pants. This was a sign to go back to the room.

After Liam was cleaned up we headed out for a quick lunch. Liam was so tired so Kevin and I had to eat lightning fast. Once we got back to the room we all took a nap together. By the time we all woke up and got ready it was time for dinner. We decided to eat at Crabby Bills. I really wanted to see a Florida sunset so we headed to the beach after dinner. We walked for a long time pushing liam's stroller on the wet sand. By the time we got back to the hotel it was dark. We were unaware that our hotel does a fireworks show on Friday nights. This was an awesome display. It felt like the fourth of July.

Day 3- Saturday- Liam decided to wake up before the sun. We decided to head to the lobby for coffee and then go back to the beach for sunrise. We walked for awhile on the beach and then got some breakfast. After we ate we went back to the room to let Liam take a mid morning nap. It was only 8:30 and he decided to sleep for a couple hours. I think he would have slept for longer but I was getting antsy. I start applying sunscreen to him and this woke him up. oops. Once Liam was awake and completely covered with sun screen we headed back to the kiddy pool. After swimming there for awhile we decided to go to the beach. We met back up the the Smiths. I took Liam down the the ocean and eased him in. He started to look a little nervous but when I started to slap the water with my hands he became relaxed. Melissa was in the water with Jonah trying to get him to enjoy it, but he was crying. The water somewhat clear so you can see the fish swimming. Kinda scary and kinda cool. Kevin and I would take turns holding Liam in the water. He really started to enjoy it. So cute. It was so hot the only comfortable place to be was in the water so I'm glad he liked it.

After playing at the beach we all went back to the room. Liam and Kevin took a nap while I sat on our balcony watching all the people at the beach.

For dinner we all decided to head to John's Pass Village. I haven't been St. Pete in 10 years so of course I'm not going to remember directions perfectly. I should have looked at a map before we left the hotel and everyone was following us. Of course I got us lost. We figured it out and it was super easy to get back on track. Once we got to John's Pass we needed to find a place for dinner. Six adults and 3 babies. We decided on a place called Sculley's . The food good but I wasn't starving. I just had a salad and some bites of Kevin's fish. After we all got ice cream. I gave Liam a tiny taste of Key Lime ice cream. He wasn't into it. I'm sure it was too cold.

I was starting to get anxious because I knew that we were leaving the next morning. Finally we were getting into a good groove and it was time to leave. That is what always happens.

Day 4- Sunday- After waking up again super early, I double checked and then triple checked everything in the room. I didn't want to leave anything. Our flight was at 10:30 and we wanted to be on the road by 7:45. Everything seem to be on schedule until check out. This is a high end hotel but it didn't feel like it at check out. First they had everything screwed up on our bill. We had a $100 credit and they split it between our room and the smiths. Well the were trying not to give us the entire credit and it was becoming very frustrating. They also said we Melissa made the reservation that they wouldn't charge for cribs, but yet we were both charged. The woman behind the desk then started to argue with us about the bill. I wonder if this woman has ever heard the phrase that the customer is always right. It was $20 to take off and she was fighting us on it. She basically was calling Melissa a liar. I could feel my head getting hot. After arguing and getting everything sorted out it was after 8am. I started to panic. I'm not sure why I thought we needed to speed to the airport; we still had 2 hours. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get to Tampa from St. Pete. I didn't know if there was going to be traffic. I didn't know how long it would take to return the rental car. I started to think that 2 hours wasn't going to be enough time. Of course once we got to the airport and the rental car was returned will still had over a hour to get to the gate and wait.

The plane ride home went smooth. Liam started to get fussy because it took forever for the plane to take off. Once we were in the air Liam was sound asleep. I was holding him in a strange position for 2 hours. I was afraid to move. Once we landed I thought my arm was going to fall off.

I was starving when we got back to town so Kevin did a quick drive thru run at Taco Bell. After eating, kevin went to Robyn's to pick up the puppies and I worked on getting things unpacked and laundry started. I wanted everything done before 8:30 pm. I wanted to give Sunday night football my full attention.

Shopping and Greek Food

Saturday we decided to start the day with a trip to Circle Center Mall. Kevin has been in search for a book called "Republican Gomorrah" so we went to Borders, but they were sold out, in fact all the Borders in town were sold out. So instead of having instant gratification he had to order it online. I was on a search for new cute clothes that hide my still slightly pudgy body. I'm so happy to have Forever 21. I always get overwhelmed inside this brightly lit, incredibly loud store. The amount of clothes is staggering. I always feel embarrassed buying clothes at the same place my 16 year old sister shops. I also hate the bright neon bags that they place my new purchases in, but the clothes are cheap and cute.

Liam is learning at an early age that shopping is exhausting. On the drive home he fell asleep while holding his leg in mid air. (He likes playing with his shoes.)

Saturday night we decided to head to Carmel for the Greek Festival. The traffic was awful and the parking sucked. The church was charging for everything. We paid $3 to park in a field and $5 to get into the festival. Once inside we looked for Amber and Mike. Everyone was gathered around the stage to watch Ava, Mike and Amber's little girl, do her traditional greek dance. After the performance we met up with Andy and Melissa with their cute babies. We all soon separated to get food. Everything had different lines. Andy went to the gyro line, Melissa went to the pastry line, Kevin beer, and me the calamari and saganaki line. Each line seemed to be 100 people deep and took forever. The prices for everything were crazy expensive but the food was good. After everyone got their food, we all met up behind the stage for a little picnic. Ava and Junie gave me big hugs and kept asking to hold baby Liam. So cute.

This week

Sunday Kevin and I took Liam to see his great grandmother at her nursing home. Kevin's family had a little Labor Day (pre) party with some KFC and 2 different kinds potato salad. After eating an elderly woman came up to us and wanted to hold Liam. Kevin, without hesitation, hands him over. This woman was shaky and using a walker making me a nervous wreck. She held him for a couple minutes then gave him back. I think she could sense that I was nervous. She told us that she has 4 kids and they are all close together in age. She told me I needed to get started on the next one. Crazy woman. I have no idea what her name is, but she has a lot of spunk. She also loves Jesus a lot. She was a Sunday school teacher for a zillion years. In the 5 minutes that I talked to her she told me a lot of information. It kinda made me sad. It seemed she was lonely. I get freaked out at nursing homes. Kevin's grandmother has lost her mind to dementia and it is heartbreaking. She seems to light up when she sees Liam but she has no idea that it is her great grandson.

Monday I was craving asiago cheese dip from Rock Bottom. We loaded up and head downtown. I was so excited to have beer bread with this wonderful creamy cheese dip. It was all I could think about. I opened my menu and to my surprise and disappointment there was no asiago dip. How could this be!! It is so delicious. Why would they take this off the menu?! I asked our server. Stupid Rock Bottom wanted to try out new appetizers so they took the dip off. She promised that they would bring it back in a few months.

After my semi satisfying meal, Kevin and I decided to walk to Borders. On our walk across the street an interesting and annoying street person kept screaming at us. He wanted to ask us something, but he didn't want money. Yeah right. We just ignored him which pissed him off. We were afraid that he was going to follow us. We made it safe and sound into Borders leaving the crazy man on the street. He really didn't pose any kind of threat. Oh the exciting life we lead.

Tuesday-Friday

Same boring stuff. Went to Target. Went to Starbucks with Timmy. Started watching the 1st season of Mad Men, which is awesome. I now want to dress like a sixties house wife and drink and smoke all day. Thanks Mad Men.

Liam is getting closer to crawling everyday. He also doesn't want to take naps. This sucks! I think that he is extremely smart and has to much going on in is head to sleep. He is just like his dad. If Kevin could stay awake all night and still be able to function the next day he would. I love sleep and wish I could get more of it. Liam is also obsessed with the dogs. He really loves Buster Brown. He is constantly laughing at him. So cute.

Here are some Pics that I took this week.

Saturday

Saturday we went to Einstein bagels for breakfast and then headed for Midland. After looking at the same old stuff have we headed home. I needed a nap because we were going out for Amber Lynch's birthday dinner. As soon as I got home I decided to clean the house up and then take a nap, but the nap never happened. Instead Lauren called me and I met her and Timmy at Starbucks on Mass Ave. After Starbucks Lauren came over and cut my hair. Then we started looking at pretty rings online. She went home around 5 and I needed to start getting ready. The day went by so fast that my much needed nap never happened. Kevin's mom came over at 7:30 and we were out the door. Amber picked Moma Corolla's for her birthday dinner. This made me very happy since I haven't been there since Liam was born. It was a nice dinner with funny conversation. After dinner Amber wanted to go to the strip club. While Amber went to the strip club, Amber Theodore, Lauren and myself met Mikey at Moe and Johnny's. Kevin went home because it was already 11. Again I was out until 1am and knew I was going to pay the price the next day. I think Liam hasn't been feeling well because he is super restless. He can't sleep, but it doesn't want to be awake. Again I only had a few hours sleep.

Friday Night

Friday I went to see Margo and the Nuclear so and sos at the Vogue. I met Nick and Robyn at my dad's house and we headed over to Broad Ripple. I was super excited to see them play and since it is going to be the last show I had to go. Kevin, the awesome dad he is, stayed home with Liam. I got a picture email at 10 pm of Liam wide awake. He always falls asleep around 8:30 or 9 so this was super late. I enjoyed myself at the show, except for one super drunk girl that was driving me crazy. I know that I am small but the doesn't mean I'm non existent. She kept stepping on me and swinger her arms into me. I kept moving away from her and she just kept getting closer to me. She was so drunk that she could barely stand. Her boyfriend, the moron, needed to take her home. Margo played a good show but you could sense tension on stage. After, we went for pizza at ZA and Lauren took me back to my dad's to get my car. I love going out, but I really pay for it the next day. I only had 2 beers but I felt like I drank 10 because of the lack of sleep. Liam decided to wake up a soon as I got home. He kept waking up every few hours giving me a total of 4 hours sleep for the night.

Thursday

Liam and I met Melissa and her babies at Panera for lunch. It is getting harder now to take Liam out to eat. He hates being in his car seat and also hates being held. He wants to be independent. I think it's funny to see how frustrated he gets when he can't do something because he is still to small, like walking, talking, jumping, eating real food. He trying to talk all the time now, but all that comes out are lion roars or loud squeals. I of course understand exactly what he is saying. I love meeting Melissa for lunch because I don't see her that often and we usually can talk for a long time. Now this has gotten harder with 3 babies. I think the next time we do it, I should bring lunch to her.
After lunch Liam and I ran to the mall to find something to wear for the weekend. I bought a dress that is super cute, but once I got it home didn't like it as much. That seems to always happen.

Later on that night I ran to the Kroger by my house for some tortillas. This was a mistake. I hate this grocery store with a passion. Every single person in there looked scary and gross. The floors are scuffed up and dirty and the food is always rotten. I had to dig for tortillas that were't expired. Once I found them I went to the U scan and waited in line. While waiting I was watching all the nastiness that surrounded me. This one family I couldn't take my eyes off. The mother looked like she weighted about 80lbs and her daily diet was either crystal meth or crack. Her back was all shinny from her new huge tattoo. She also had one on her face. She was a looker. She had 2 kids, a boy and a girl. The little girl was riding in the cart with no shoes. I couldn't help but notice that her feet and legs were filthy. Her hair was ratted and her clothes were dirty. My anger started to bubble and my head started to get hot. The boy looked around 7 or 8 and was very hyper. The mother kept yelling at him in the most horrible manner. The items in their cart consisted of Pepsi and 2 huge hunks of meat. As I'm watching this the thought pops into my head that I could take her in a fight. I just wanted to go up to her and punch her in the face. As my anger was starting to boil over her boyfriend,pimp, or baby daddy comes up to her. He was huge. My desire to confront her didn't fade but I also didn't want to die at Kroger at Linwood Square. I watched them in the parking lot load up their rusted out SUV and contemplated on getting the plate number so I could call CPS. I just sucked it up and left. I know that these people are in the world and Kevin sees this everyday. It breaks my heart. Something like this would have made me mad before I had Liam, but now it seems to effect me more. I can't forget about it but I am choosing to ignore it. I just will never go to that Kroger again.

What's going on?

I am terrible keeping up with this blogging stuff. Last weekend we didn't do much. We went to Edinburg for some discount shopping, but we were bummed when there was not one super good deal. I guess is was the wrong time to go. It didn't stop me from buying a bunch of stuff for Liam. I can't help it. Saturday night we had an awful dinner at Oishi which is a sushi place on the east side. It is never busy and now I know why. Yuck. After dinner we hung out with our neighbors Richard and Elizabeth.
Sunday we didn't do anything. Kevin had to play a show that night and he just wanted to relax. We took Liam for a walk around the neighborhood and worked in the yard. Mikey stopped by to see the new car and to chat. Nothing exciting.

Monday Liam and I had to run errands. I decided to try out a different Target. I always go to Southport to shop but I decided that Fishers is closer. I find it funny that I have lived in this neighborhood for almost 4 years and I finally figure out that Fishers is closer than Southport. After the Target adventure Liam and I just chilled at home. I made dinner and Kevin's parents came over to visit.

Tuesday Liam and I went to Starbucks and the Fashion Mall with Stacy. After shopping for awhile we went to P.F Chang's for lunch. I decided that Liam needed to try out a high chair. This didn't go so well. He is so small that he just slips down. I try propping him up but it really doesn't work.

Liam really loves playing so I'm including a little video of him. The snorting in the background is Buster Brown.