'Twas the week before Christmas

Since Brayden finished his finals we've been living it up getting ready for Christmas and trying to keep up with our crazy little boy. He is pulling himself up everywhere. We've actually had to start baby proofing the house! Shopping with Brayden is always a different experience than when I go alone. I make a list, get what's on it, and I'm done. My sweet husband has a different approach. We go to EVERY section in the store, examine each product thoroughly (especially the toy section), and then come home and give our son all of his Christmas presents early. Who's the softy in the family?  

 Christmas came early...thanks Dad!

 Finally some magnets that he can't choke on!

 Having fun with his new toys

 This is what happens when Dad gives him a bath...he comes out with a cRaZy hairdo!

Basketball Time!

 Liam loves to shoot around with his Dad

Our little baller

Liam in action

Cookies

We can't have Christmas without some delicious sugar cookies.  Yum!

We were proud even though they didn't turn out as cute as we had hoped.

Santa Clause is coming to town

Santa and the fire department came to the townhouses so Liam got to meet him for the first time :)

 He was okay long enough for one picture and then he noticed the weird guy that was holding him. He likes him better from a distance.

Heading back to Santa's workshop

Play time

This is Liam's favorite spot in the house. He thinks it's his own little cupboard. Our daily ritual is as follows:

Liam takes ALL the books and movies out and throws them on the floor

Mom puts them all back in their proper place

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat!

We live one exciting life

Motherhood

I was on pinterest the other day and saw this...

I remember the first time this thought came into my mind. When Liam came into our lives I was still a working woman and always looked forward to Friday. Fridays were great because I knew that I could go home, forget about work, hang out with my husband, and stay up as late as I want. And then the next day I could sleep in as late as I want. What a great feeling...(sigh)

So I had just gone back to work after having a baby and it was the first Friday back. I was feeling great and excited for the weekend. My day went as it usually did, including the late night of fun. As I went to lay my head on the pillow at 1:30 am, it finally hit me. My life has changed!!!! I can't sleep in tomorrow. That little boy in the other room doesn't know that I stayed up late and need the extra sleep. He went to bed on time and will wake up on time, which means I will be up too. It was at that moment that I realized weekends and days of the week just don't really mean anything anymore. 

Now that I stay home that problem has only gotten worse. I only know what day of the week it is when it is Sunday because we have church. All the other days just run together with the usual activities of going on walks, cleaning, laundry, playing at the park, and making dinner. Sometimes I find myself thinking, "What do I have to get excited about? I want a weekend to look forward to!" This baby has definitely changed my life. At times I feel like what I do is not that important and think that I should be doing more with my life, but those thoughts are always turned around when I see my sweet boy do something new or something special.

 This is what I have to get excited about...

 My little guy waving and saying hi. He enjoyed his little fort/box.

 This is meal time in the Willis home. He discovered that he can pick up part of his tray on his high chair and he is so proud. He thinks he's so funny when he pushes his face against it.

 He also loves to play peek-a-boo with it...even though it's see through.

And some days I walk in on him napping while he has his bum up in the air and it just makes me laugh. Anyone else sleep like this?

And to top it all off...seeing my baby recognize when it is prayer time and knowing to say amen at the end. It's not exactly amen, but it is his version of it. (I know we probably shouldn't be taping our prayers, but we had to do it this once because it was so sweet!)

So, is just being a mom important? Yes! Do I have something to get excited about? Yes! Sometimes I have to remind myself of that, but my wonderful son makes it easy! 

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! Brayden's parents came so we got to celebrate it with them. Brayden had a couple of days off school, so that was a plus!

 Of course we had to update our chalkboard. Brayden always does most of it because he is so much more artistic than I am. We always have fun doing it together though.

 Liam's favorite winter hat

For my birthday Brayden's parents got me this beautiful snow globe with a nativity in it. Liam liked playing with it and they probably knew he would, so they got him one of his own.

 Mini snow globe for a mini person-he couldn't put it down

 Brayden likes to practice some of his doctor skills on us

 We got to visit Brayden's school

He gave his parents a tour of the campus. They also visited the bookstore and loaded up on KCUMB attire. The are proud of their son!

The Christmas Carol

We gave his parents an early Christmas present by taking them to a well known Kansas City rendition of The Christmas Carol. Theater is pretty good around here so we wanted to give them something unique this year. It was a great show.

 About to find our seats

Now this guy (Ghost of Christmas' to come) was amazing! He started out high like this and then dropped down to be about 10 feet tall. He must have been walking on stilts, but you could hardly tell. He must have put in a lot of practice to make it look so natural.

Hanging out at home

 He loves his Grandma and Grandpa

 He especially loved Grandpa's glasses

This is Liam and Grandma's signature move. He will only do it with her...we've tried and he just looks at us. Grandma says, "let's put our heads together." Liam will kind of bow his head and bring it in close to hers. And even if he's jibber-jabbering or fussing, he gets real quiet. Sweetest thing ever!

Liam loved it when Grandpa would get on the floor and play with him. He is going to miss them when they go home!

We had a very blessed Thanksgiving. I love this time of year because it reminds us to put extra focus on the things that are most important in life. I am grateful for so many things, but most importantly I am grateful for my family and my Savior, Jesus Christ. As we were coming home from the Christmas Carol a drunk driver ran the red light and turned right in front of us. If we were going any faster, and happened to be in the intersection, he could have broad-sided us. We were afraid he might seriously hurt somebody, so we called the police. We followed him onto the bridge heading north over the Missouri River. While we were on the phone with the dispatcher, the situation seemed to grow more dangerous. He was driving fast and swaying back and forth across the lanes. At one point he smashed up against the wall of the bridge and we thought he might end up in the river. Instead he bounced back onto the road, sparks flying, and jumped over the median into oncoming traffic. He was really close to hitting a couple cars head on. Eventually, he spun out and got stuck spinning his wheels against the concrete median. We were afraid he might hop back over and run into us. And since we were on the bridge with no place to safely pull over we just took off and hurried home so I could pick up my sweet little boy and give him a big hug. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father was watching over us that night. We all have so much to be thankful for. I hope your holidays are filled with love and happiness!

Fun with Dad

We finally got Brayden all to ourselves for an entire week! It was amazing! No tests, no school, and no studying! Party time!

 Cuddling with Dad. We were outside playing at the park and they had to warm up when we got back inside.

Costco

 Liam loved this rug!

 Prince Liam and his fur

Oklahoma Joe's

 We had heard this was one of the best bar-be-que places in Kansas City so went to try it out.

 This place is in a gas station and it's so popular that the line is always out the door!

 YUM

 Liam loved the fries

 Chowin' down

Halloween 

The townhouses around us had a halloween party. The kids had a lot of fun!

Landon "Skeleton" & Liam "Superman"

Dad, what are you? 

Buffet 

 This was Liam's first time at a buffet. He enjoyed the rolls, mashed potatoes, cheese, and anything else we put in front of him.

World War I Museum

 Walking up to the museum. You can see the tall monument in the background and the trees were beautiful.

When you first walk into the museum you were instantly reminded of the perils of war. Below was a field of 9,000 poppies with each poppy representing 1,000 military deaths. It was sad to be reminded of how many souls were lost.

 Quentin, Isaac, Liam, and Brayden with the torpedo

 My boys :) Side note: Brayden has been wanting that Supersonics jacket for a long time and since he has been working so hard we finally caved and bought it. He was VERY excited! Compliment him on it and it will make his day!

 Family at the cannon

 Liam and his friend Isaac. They are so cute together!

 Liberty Memorial Tower

 Going up to the top

At the top of the tower you can get a great view of the city.

Texas Roadhouse 

We were a block from home when our cravings got the best of us. We decided to end the day with Texas Roadhouse. I had been craving their rolls for months and eating them again made me want them even more. This is bad!

Liam of course loved it too. We couldn't even get a picture without him stuffing food in his mouth.

Brayden and I couldn't decide which picture was cutest so we decided to post them all. We love our sweet little boy!

Kansas City Temple 

We  got to end our amazing week with a trip to the Temple. We have the best neighbors who offered to watch Liam for us so we could go.