Liam's Baptism

September 28, 2008Liam was baptized this past Sunday at Grace Episcopal Church. My Mom bought him the beautiful antique Christening Gown that he wore for the baptism and the little French bonnet.

He did well through the church service. Rob's mom, Judy, came down and she enjoyed holding him. Another couple's son was baptized (the mother was too!) at the service. The church was packed, and the music was quite beautiful.

Liam did not cry when Father David put the water on his head and then the oil for the cross. He just looked around curiously.

Perhaps the most memorable event of the Baptism was the other girl's father passing out! During the last few minutes of the Service, my mother-in-law noticed that the man needed medical attention. She called it to my Dad's attention, and he ran over to help. He had no pulse, but it quickly returned. Someone called 911, and they came within minutes. They took him to the hospital, and we heard that he is doing much better today.

Silly Glasses!

September 2008
Allison gave us some green glasses at Rowan's birthday party. The lenses fell out, and now the whole family likes to wear them without the lenses. Here are a few pics. Sorry guys--I refused to put them on! ;-)

Football and Fun!

The last few weeks have been busy at work and busy at home. Liam is growing well, and he is getting his front bottom two teeth. The one on the left is partially in. You can't really see it in the pictures yet, but I'm sure as it comes up more you all will be able to sneak a peek!

We went to the Homecoming Football game (Saint James vs. MA) on Friday, September 26. It was our 2nd game of the season. We had hot dogs, popcorn, and a lot of fun! Caden enjoys playing with his friends, Gibson and Drew, while Rob and I try to keep them from falling off the bleachers. It is a lot of fun to hang out with the other parents at the football game, and Rob and I enjoy taking Caden to them. Liam went for the first time this week. He cried at first, but then decided it wasn't all that bad. He just looked at everything and took it all in! He loved when Drew, Gibson and Caden were doing silly things and laughed out loud every time he would see them!

We don't know who won the game, because we had to leave at Half Time because Caden was exhausted!

S-T-O-P

September 17, 2008

"S-T-O-P, spells Stop Mommy," Caden said while we were driving home from Big Mommy's house. "How do you spell STORE?"

"Sound it out," I said.

"Sssss, Tah, O...S-T-O..."

I had to help him with the rest. Caden can now spell stop, the and go. He recognizes the word STOP on the STOP signs, and every time we read he recognizes the word "the." We started putting the sight words on the fridge, thanks to my sister Kelsey's recommendation, and he has really taken off! It is amazing to see their little minds start to expand!

We have also started reading Chapter Books. We read one chapter a night before bed. Last week we read "Catwings," and this week we're going to read "Superfudge."

Caden is Growing Up!

September 12, 2008

It is amazing to me how quickly kids develop. Last year, Caden didn't know his alphabets or all his numbers, and now he knows them all. I came into the kitchen the other day and Caden had lined up all the letters from A-Z on the fridge. He then told me what each letter was.



At Caden's school they do a new letter and sound each week, and it really has resonated with him. When he sees an "S" he tells me what it sounds like. He can also tell me what a lot of words start with just by hearing it said. Next step is Sight Books!!!



Cute story: Yesterday, we were driving home from Big Mommy's house, and Caden said, "Look Mommy--the sun is setting! I love it when the sky looks orange when the sun starts going down!"



He is becoming such a big boy! It amazes me every day how much he knows.

Liam tries solid food!

Liam trying cereal for the first time-sorry for the fuzziness!

September 6 -- September 13, 2008


Well I decided to give Liam solid foods this weekend. He has been intently watching us eat, and he seemed ready. He absolutely HATED the rice cereal and screamed on Saturday. I was going to wait and feed him some more next week, but I decided on Sunday that I would try it mixed with pears. He LOVED it!
Since Sunday, we have introduced peas too. He has a mixed reaction about those. He sort of looks like he will throw up at first when I put it in his mouth, but then he swallows it. He opens his mouth very wide for food and gets excited when I get it out!

Do they have swim team for 3 year olds?

Caden is such a swimmer. Now at 3, almost 4, he jumps into the pool, swims in the deep in, can swim all the way down to the bottom of the shallow end, andgenerally loves swimming. The other day I was watching him swim, and he was doing the side stroke. I hadn't even showed him how to do it. The kid just loves to swim.

I really cannot wait to get Caden into some kind of sport, because he just is so energetic and seems very athletic to me.

Rowan's Birthday Party

This is the sight of a 1 year old having his first bite of refined sugar! We went up to Nashville for Rowan's first birthday this weekend. He had a wonderful time eating the cake. He didn't blink when everyone there (about 35 people) sang him "Happy Birthday," either.

Liam enjoyed himself. My Mom had cataracts surgery on Thursday, and she hadn't seen Liam for a few days, so she held him a lot at Allison's house. I think she was going through withdrawls. He is such a good traveler. He slept fine in the tiny hotel we stayed in. He stayed on his schedule the whole time. I have said it before, and I will say it again, that he is the easiest baby! I just hope it stays that way!

Caden's time in Nashville consisted of chasing after Rowan, arguing like an old married couple with Jeff's niece Ryan, and salivating over birthday cake whilst Rowan was being sung too. It is hard for a 3 year old to wait patiently for birthday cake! Caden did well though. He was very good on the trip, and he said he had fun eating the chocolate cake and ice cream and couldn't wait for his birthday! He also serenaded Rob and I at a restaurant with "Happy Birthday to Rowan," in preparations for that evening's festivities. How funny!

We also were able to see my grandmother, Gigi, when we were there which was great. She met Liam for the first time. She held him for a few minutes. She will be 95 in October, so we were glad she was able to see Liam. She enjoyed the birthday party, and as always it was good to see her!

One half week of school...

and Caden gets sick. Yes, that is right, Caden came down with strep throat on Tuesday. I actually think he was getting it over the weekend, because he was so tired all weekend long.

On Monday after school, Caden was eating at my Mom's house when we picked Liam up, and I felt his head and noticed he was hot. I took his temp and it was 100.3 (just low-grade), but he never has a fever. I told my Mom I thought he was coming down with something.

Well, Tuesday morning he woke up crying and upset. He said he didn't feel well and that his head hurt. Of course, I think the worse thing. To me Fever+Headache=Meningitis. Well he was miserable all day at my Mom's house. I have no sick time, so I wasn't able to take time off. :-(
Rob called and made a doctor's appt for him at 1:15, and they did a quick strep test that came back negative.

Well Wednesday he woke up in a much better mood, but it quickly faded. I got the call from the doctor's office around 11 AM that his lab work had come back and he did have strep. Thank goodness for antibiotics though, because after just one dose he was running around like the wildman he is!!!

He is all better now, and he went back to school today. They only have to be on the meds for 24 hours, and then they aren't contagious. I think he was happy to be back in his routine, and he actually got 3 stickers at school today, and he only has to get 2 more to get a surprise out of the Treasure Chest!!! How exciting!

Liam is 4 months old!

August 18, 2008

Well Liam had his 4 month appointment today. I can't believe he is 4 months old already. Crazy how fast time flies.

Here are his stats:

Height: 25.5 inches (75th percentile) -- Caden was 25 inches at 4 months.

Weight: 15 lbs 4 oz (62nd percentile) -- Caden was 14 lbs 7 oz at 4 months.

Head: 16 inches (don't know the percent but I'm betting it is around 25th or so)

He laughed when the doctor listened to his heartbeat, and he absolutely LOVED the mirror right next to the table he had to lie on. He smiled and giggled at the baby in the mirror, not knowing it was himself of course. Then they gave him 3 shots which was so horrible. He screamed a lot. Afterwards, I had to go back to work, but my Mom said he went to sleep and he slept the rest of the day! I know his little legs are sore, but he is doing ok now.

As for solids...I told the doctor we were going to hold off until five-six months and he was fine with that. I don't think Liam is that interested in food yet, so I don't think this will be a problem.

Liam at birth (2 days old)

Liam at 4 months

Montgomery Zoo

August 16, 2008

We went to the zoo this weekend, and we had a wonderful time. We left early on Saturday, mostly because we thought it was going to rain, but also because if you get to the zoo early most of the animals are up and out.

The first stop was the snake house. Caden wasn't wasting any time getting there either. He sprinted past the Spectacled Bear (Mommy's favorite), the monkeys, the alligator, and the Maned Wolves. Daddy and Mommy made Caden wait a few minutes by the maned wolves as we watched one of the wolves take a drink, and then a fight ensued. It was neat!

Caden loves the snakes, lizards, frogs and dragons in the snake house. His eyes light up when he sees them. He knows that he cannot touch a snake unless a knowledgable adult tells him it is ok. He is still looking forward to seeing the snake at his new school, as they did not go to the Science Lab this week.

After the snakes we made our way around to the Llama. He stuck his head out and looked right at us. About this time, a zoo employee came up to us and told us not to get too close b/c the llama spits. We backed up, butI got a few good pics of him in the meantime.

Then we decided to go ahead and take the train ride. Caden was already getting tired and was a little moody. He enjoyed the train ride though, and Liam had his first ever ride on the train. I have to say he wasn't too enthusiastic about it, but he didn't cry!

We decided we would go see the Elephants next. We stopped to look at the big open area where the Zebras, Bantangs and other animals roam. I Batang came right up to the area where we were standing and began eating the leaves. Caden was amazed by it, as were we. It was so neat!!!

After that, we stopped by the playground. Caden and Daddy played for awhile while Liam snoozed in his carseat. Check out the pics of my three kids!

Our last stop was the otters. Caden absolutely loved these guys. They came right up to the water and basically smiled at you. They were so neat!!! It was a fun day, and we came home for a nice long nap. Caden ended up not falling asleep until 3 in the afternoon, but then he was down for the night! I think after his week of changes he needed to rest and catch up on a little sleep!!!

Caden tuckered out at the end of the day.

Caden's First Day of School!

Caden with me right before school

Caden with his new teacher

Caden started Pre-K today at Saint James! We were so excited. I decided to get up early and drive him to school. This meant a finely tuned orchestration of driving one kid to Big Mommy's and then promptly jumping back in the car to drive to Caden's school. But, it all worked out!

They only had class until 10:30, so I walked Caden in, put his bookbag in the bookbag box, showed him his cubby, and then found his name on the table. He was a little clingy, but finally he sat at the table and began looking at a number book (he is really into numbers right now!). I kissed the palms of his hands (as instructed by the teacher) and left. Apparently they read a story about a child who was told to kiss the palms of their hands when they missed their Mommy and Daddy. So cute.



Caden also has to wear a uniform this year. He looks so cute in it. He is one of the smallest in the class, and I think the uniform makes him look so tiny! He walked right into the classroom wearing his Lightning McQueen bookbag though.



When I picked him up he was so excited to see me, and he told me that "Mrs. Browning was nice!" She also gave him Smarties, so he was very pleased with the candy aspect of it all. They took a tour of the school, introduced each other, and read books today!



We will see how he does tomorrow, because he will be there all day not until just 10:30!

Caden meets his Pre-K 3 Teacher!

August 8, 2008
Well, Caden is starting a new chapter in his life: School! After having some problems with his daycare this summer, we decided to go ahead and enroll him in a local private school. They have a Pre-K3 program, complete with after-school care, so he will be able to be there all day. The greatest part about it is that 4 kids from his daycare are going to attend there, and one of the kids is in his class! I know he will like that.

On Thursday, we went to meet his new teacher, Mrs. Browning. Caden calls her "Mrs. Brownie." The Pre-K3 classrooms are all centered around a "pod," which is basically a big playroom. Caden walked in and made a bee-line for the Thomas the Train table which is located in the pod. I literally had to pry him away from the table so we could make it to his classroom to meet "Mrs. Brownie."

We walked into the classroom and there were 2 other children and parents there. The children were clinging to their parents. Well, Caden, with his little outgoing self, walked right in started looking at the books, found the blocks, and began playing.

Mrs. Brownie came up to us and said "What is your name?"

He looked at her and said, as easy as you please, "Caden Stanley Greene!"

I was so proud of him for not being shy. He felt right at home there.

Then Mrs. Brownie said, "Well tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you like to eat?"

He looked at her with a big smile and said "McDonald's and candy!"

I was a tad embarrassed, but I had to laugh, because those are his favorite foods besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

Well Mrs. Brownie said "My girls love McDonald's. Would you like to take us there sometime?"

Caden looked at her and said "Um...maybe I'll take you there next year."

It was so funny. He really felt comfortable there. I'm glad he will start there this year and have a structured academic environment. I do think that Mrs. Brownie will have a lot of trouble pulling him away from that train track though!

Our Trip to St. George Island

July 19-26, 2008

After going back to work for three weeks it was time for a vacation! My whole family, Mom, Dad, Kelsey, Allison, Chris, husbands, wives and kids all decided to go down to the beach! Mom and Dad rented Pieces of Eight, which we used to own. Mom was excited to go back there, as she has missed the house since she sold it. The problem is it only had 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, and 19 people were going to be staying there! Yikes!

When we got to the beach on Saturday, the weather was beautiful. Mom cried when she saw the house and the view from the front porch. But, things had changed and the new owners had not kept the house up as well as Mom and Dad had. After throwing our suitcases in our room (we got the twin bedroom), we opened it up and quickly found our bathing suits. Caden got dressed up in his swimsuit, his swimshirt, swim shoes, sunglasses, hat and life jackets. Fully dressed--perfect for that hot Florida sun. I put Liam in his swimsuit and swimshirt, and I lotioned both of them up.

When we went in October, Caden had refused to get in the ocean, because he was scared of the water. This time, he jumped right into the ocean. The waves did bother him some. He would say "Those waves are mean and keep knocking me down." The life jacket helped with that some, because even though Caden can swim well, we were worried about him getting swept away.

The baby enjoyed his quick dip in the water. He only went down one other time during the week. I was too worried about him getting sunburnt!

It was a wonderful week, connecting with my sisters and brother again. All the kids played, sometimes well together, other times not. Rowan was a doll and is getting so big! Unfortunately, my camera broke while we were there, so I have absolutely no pictures of the sand, ocean, and two little boys out there! I was able to get a few pics of the kids inside the house. I think the camera problem has something to do with the light sensor, as every picture taken outside was completely washed out!

All in all, we had a great time, and Caden behaved so well. On Friday I came down with a stomach bug which was unfortunate. It took me 5 days to get over, but now I'm feeling better. The kids never came down with it, thank goodness!

Liam Laughs Outloud!

A BIG milestone today for Liam: He had his first big belly laugh. I wish I had gotten a video of it. I'll have to get one soon. I was doing his bedtime routine, complete with lotioning him up. I had just taken his clothes off and decided to do "The itsy bitsy spider." I made the spider climb up his tummy and tickle him under the chin and he just laughed so hard! It was so cute!

Another GREAT Milestone: Liam has been sleeping through the night for the last week! He sleeps usually between 7-9 hours. It is wonderful. I knew he had the weight to be able to do it! He continues to be a chub!

July 4th

We had a wonderful July 4th here in Hot, Hot Alabama! I had my first week back at work so only having a 4-day work week was nice.

On Friday, after work we went to the Biscuits Game. It was a lot of fun. Caden enjoyed playing on the playground and sticking his face into a funnell cake! We bought him a mini-bat, because he is so into baseball lately, and he has been playing with it all weekend! Unfortunately the Biscuits lost to the Mississippi Braves. The fireworks were nice though!

Yesterday we went to the YMCA with Leisa and the kids in the morning. Caden had a great time swimming and Rob thoroughly enjoyed the water slide. I wish I had the camera to get pics of Rob trying to race Kaileigh down the slide! Pretty funny!!!

My friend Cassidy from high school was in town, so I hung out with her and Alyson in the afternoon. I introduced them to Liam, and they both took turns holding him. He thanked them by falling asleep in their arms!

I had my first girl's night out in awhile and went out to Chili's with Alyson and Cassidy. After that we met up with Charmaine, Melissa and Cecilia at a local bar to see the Velcro Pygmies. They were great and it was a lot of fun. One of these days I'll be able to hear again!

Liam is 2 months!

Liam is 2 months old already. How time flies. He is a little chunky monkey too. He really loves to nurse, and I'm hoping he will like food and not be as picky as Caden.

Here are his recent stats:

1 month -- 10 lbs 8 ounces and 22 1/4 inches long
2 months -- 13 lbs 8.5 ounces and 23.5 inches long. He is in the 94th percentile for weight and the 75th for height, so it looks like he really will be a BIG boy!!!



This month we hung out at my parent's house while they went to my cousin's wedding and then on an Alaskan cruise! We had a great time. Caden swam almost every day--and he is now doing it again without his blue floatie. We also spent a lot of time at the YMCA with Leisa and the kids. Caden is growing by leaps and bounds. He is now really interested in numbers. He counts all the time. He is also starting to write his name which is great!!!



I am going back to work on June 30. It is bittersweet. I know I will enjoy going back, because I will start a new position in the credit department, but it will be hard to be away from Liam. I am glad that my Mom will keep him, and he won't be going to daycare yet.



Liam's Milestones
3.5 weeks -- Liam rolls from stomach to back
6-7 weeks -- Liam smiles in response to a smile and coos back at me.
9 weeks -- Liam laughs when I do "Creepy Mouse."



Caden Milestones
April 2008 -- Caden dresses himself. He can take his clothes off and on now by himself.
May 2008 -- Caden swims on his own.
June 2008 -- Caden can hit a baseball thrown to him with a bat.

Caden is super athletic. He loves to run and jump. He also loves gymnastics.

Brotherly Love

The last few weeks have been hectic to say the least. Having a 3.5 year old and a newborn is rewarding, fun, but TOUGH. Caden is doing well now, but at first he was not as gentle as he could be. He had some jealousy issues, but we worked with him. We began to put him in time-out or take a toy away any time he hit, kicked, bit, etc. anybody. After we took away his racecar for one night he became amazingly sweet to his little brother and has not regressed in that regards yet. Of course, we still have to watch him when he is with his brother.

So much has happened since Liam was born. Kelsey came to visit with her girls. That was a lot of fun. We hung out at the pool most of the time! Then we had Aunt Karen come to visit as well. She loved seeing Caden and Liam, and she had the bonus of being able to attend Caden's Music Program at his school! She seemed to enjoy herself!

This week Allison, Jeff and Rowan stopped by for a quick visit on their way to the beach. Rowan is growing like a weed and is adorable to boot!!!

Here are a few of Liam's stats:

Birth -- 7 lbs 15 ounces

Discharge Weight -- 7 lbs 9 ounces

Six Days Old -- 7 lbs 7 ounces

Thirteen Days Old -- 8 lbs 4 ounces

We are going to the doctor for his 1 month appointment. I am sure he is over 9 lbs. He is quite a little chunker and loves to eat. His nickname is Buddha, because he looks bald (even though he is very blonde and has quite a bit of hair) and he has the chubbiest little tummy! He also rolled over for the first time at 3 weeks old! He will be on the move before we know it.

Caden is still holding strong at 31 pounds and he is starting to develop such a little personality. He is into Thomas the Train these days and will play for hours with him or with his blocks or Legos.

Liam has Arrived!!!

After being on bedrest for a month with pregnancy induced hypertension and preterm labor symptoms, my OB GYN decided to induce me at 37 weeks. Liam made his arrival on April 18, 2008 at 6:41 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 19.5 inches long. Thank goodness he was 3 weeks early! My doctor said he would have been a 10 pounder if I had gone to 40 weeks!!!




I am feeling much better now that I can get up and move around. I've already made it out to stores and restaurants. I love not being cooped up in the house and lying on the couch 24/7.


Caden is adjusting to the baby. The first week was hard, because Caden really is trying to get a lot of attention. He loves the baby and always wants to see him, but then he will pinch his arm or try to poke him in the eye. We have to tell him over and over again to be gentle. This weekend he seems to be doing better with it. Rob and I have been taking him on individual outings. I took him to Target to get more diapers, which he seemed to really enjoy. Plus, we had a lot of visitors yesterday which was a nice distraction for him!

Liam is a good baby so far. He loves to EAT!!! He likes a pacifier and he has already had his first bottle of breastmilk. He drank it like a champ!!! He only wakes up every four hours at night which is wonderful for a newborn.

Our Trip to the Northeast

Rob and I decided to take Caden up to visit Rob's family and my sister before the next Greene Bean is born. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, they have a February break and since my sister, Rob's sister and Rob's Mom are all teachers it was the opportune time for us to go.

We flew out of Birmingham on Saturday morning. Thanks to my Mom for driving us up there. Caden was extremely excited about the plane flight. He does not remember all the traveling he did as an infant! He did very well on the airplane. I brought lots of activities such as crayons and coloring books, books, toys, food, etc. Caden kept himself busy on the first flight. He enjoyed looking at the window and only said once that he was afraid we might fall!

We stopped at BWI, and I told Caden that he had been born there! He was a mess at that point because it was around noon and we didn't have time for any food. We made the second flight, and he promptly fell asleep after whining about not being able to hold his melting Reese's peanut butter cup.

When we got to the airport, Kelsey picked us up with the girls. Caden immediately noticed the snow. He played with it even though it was icy. He was thoroughly impressed with the snow.

Caden immediately became Emma's little dog. He followed her around the whole time, did "nastics" with her (this is what he calls gymnastics), took baths with her, and they even shared a bed. We had a great time playing in the snow there. We ate a great fish meal and Kelsey and I had a great time talking and just hanging out. Plus we went shopping a few times, and I stocked up on some summer clothes for Caden and the new baby.

After spending a few days with Kelsey, Rob's brother came over and they went skiing. Kelsey drove Caden and I down to Rhode Island to visit Rob's family. We had a wonderful meal the first night of pork with all of Rob's family. Rob ended up going to band practice with his brother.

The next day we took the boys to the Bass Pro Shop--my second trip! They enjoyed looking at the fish and the stuffed animals.

Caden enjoyed playing with Alex and Jason, his older boy cousins! He LOVED their toys, especially the blocks and also Alex's little toy action Buzz. We ended up going to the Disney Store and buying one before we left, because Caden just could not give it up.

We also were able to see Rob's grandmother, Gigi, and that was great. She seemed to be doing well, and she loved seeing Caden!

We went to the Providence Children's Museum which was great. Caden loved the bones. He played with the skull and the vertebrae for awhile. He also loved filling up the trucks with these little soft rubber stones!

The last day there, they ended up having a snow storm and Caden loved playing in the snow. He didn't like it when it got into his eyes though!