Tennis shoes & SANTA!!!

Back in September, a few weeks before Liam arrived, I bought him some tennis shoes at Target. Since we never really went anywhere his first few months he never wore them. Being that they are newborn size shoes I was afraid that once he would have somewhere to wear them to, he wouldn't fit into them. Well, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find that the shoes still fit him! 

Here is Mr Liam in his cute little tennis shoes & his jeans! He looks super excited because I got him all hyped up talking about going to meet Santa.

Here he is in his very first Santa picture!

Fresh new jeans, a nice button down & his tennis shoes. 

That is one handsome little man--if I may say so myself! =)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Liam had such a great Thanksgiving!! It consisted mostly of drinking formula, wearing turkey butt pants, sleeping, & being held by anyone who could get his hands on him! Oh & we can't forget that he was compared to the size of the turkey by Kobe's hilarious aunt. hahaha... Unfortunately we didn't get to spend turkey day with EVERYONE we wanted to, but at least we spoke to everyone & this post will share pictures & the video that you might've missed out on. Here's the day in pictures!

First we started out with a bath... we usually bathe Liam at night b/c he sleeps really well after being bathed at bed time, but Turkey Day required a daytime bath. Take a look at that facial expression! haha

Then slept a little...

... started waking up...

... finally woke up...

... showed off his turkey butt pants...

 & finally, at the end of our visit, said "what do you mean I can't have any dessert?!" & cried a little about it... LOL...

Here's a video I took of Liam on Thanksgiving morning. He is always super talkative & happy in the morning!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed all of Liam's first Thanksgiving photos & his little video. Stop by again (preferably sooner than later) to see what else he's been up to.

-Amber

Liam loves to fly!!

This post is a little overdue, but here it goes... we have discovered that Liam loves- & I mean LOVES- to fly around the apartment. Kobe does it better than I do b/c he's a lot taller & Liam enjoys seeing things from a higher vantage point, but I can take him on a little flight every now & then too. Here's a video of Liam & Kobe having one of their many flying sessions. Check out how great Liam can hold his head up! He is so strong for having been such a tiny baby boy at birth. =)

First, a still shot: 

  
& now the video:

Video facts:

Who- Liam & Kobe

When- November 20, 2011

Location- Our apartment!


-Amber

Preparing for Liam's 1st holiday season!

So, today we had a LOOOONG day & guess how long we were gone from the house? A whole 4 hours. LOL! Kobe & I were exhausted when we got home only to realize we had only been out for a measly FOUR HOURS. Today we went on a little adventure to find the perfect decorations for Liam's FIRST CHRISTMAS & to find a few other things we needed. We started out at Target because we needed to get some more burp cloths. I never would've thought we would need SO MANY burp cloths. hahaha... Welcome to parenthood! So anywho, while we were there we checked out some of the Christmas stuff, but didn't get too excited because I was dead set on driving all the way out to Garden Ridge to check out their "huge selection" of Christmas decor. So we left Target, made a pit stop at Babies R Us, stopped & bought lunch, then made our way to GR... what a waste of time! First, the drive was long & by the time we got there I had to feed our little man in the back seat while in the parking lot. haha... Then finally we went in & their selection wasn't all too impressive & a bit overpriced. SO, we went all the way back to the wonderful world of Target & stocked up on some lovely decorations. We got a nice 6.5' pre-lit tree, some ornaments, a tree skirt, and a tree topper! 

Liam was pretty excited about the festivities too... as you can see in this picture! He is definitely NOT a friend of Ebenezer Scrooge!

Here I am with Liam leaving Target with all our Christmas goodies! 

I got a lot of stares & "oohs" & "ahhs" for wearing him. I actually wore him in all of the stores we went to today & I must say it was A LOT easier than toting him around in the car seat. We will definitely be making use of our Baby Bjorn way more often now that we have experienced how much simpler it makes things. Plus, I think Liam enjoyed it. Aside from a 2-3 short cries (because I stopped walking) he either went right to sleep or was looking around with his big beautiful eyes taking in the sights.

This pic is a little blurry, but I like the effects Kobe put on it with his Instagram iPhone app!

Altogether I'd say today was a GREAT day!

-Amber

Liam is officially cooing!

So just this past weekend Liam started to realize what his tongue is for... it's for making noise with a little help from that voice box! haha... Yesterday I was able to capture one of his coos on video. Pay attention at the 37 second mark!

Hope you enjoyed it as much as Kobe & I did. =)

-Amber

Dear Liam... #3

Hey big boy! 

Just wanted to say hello & update you on how much we're enjoying your presence around here. Daddy & I are absolutely smitten by your precious little self! So, when I was pregnant with you, we all expected you around the beginning of October, but like I mentioned in some of the earlier posts of your blog, you came a few weeks early because I was having some issues with high blood pressure. My doctor didn't want to risk anything happening to you, so she said "You're having this baby tomorrow!" lol... Then the next day, about 11 hours after getting to the hospital, you came into this world! You were a tiny little guy with a very strong set of lungs!! You were exactly 5 lbs when they weighed you after you got here. The day we left the hospital (when you were 2 days old) you weighed 4 lbs 14 oz... TINY, tiny little baby boy! Fast forward to 6 weeks later and you now weigh a whopping 8 lbs 7 oz!! Hence the nickname "BIG boy." Last year, during nursing school in my OB class, I was taught that babies usually double their birth weight by 6 months. Well, I think you've surpassed that standard! You're 2 weeks away from being 2 months old and you're already almost there! This is you 2 days ago... I still can't get over how cute you look in this picture!!

Here you are this morning:

My little chunky butt! You were about to be dressed for the day! =)

Dressed & ready to conquer the world! Looking very dapper, I might add.

It's hard to believe just 6 weeks ago you were this tiny!

That little 5 oz. bottle was almost as big as you!

It has been a wonderful 6 weeks getting to know you & learning all your little quirks. You have such a funny little personality & there's never a dull moment when you're around. I think I can speak for daddy when I say we both love you SOOO much!! Well, you're about to wake up & yell at me & daddy if I don't have a bottle ready for you, so we will talk again soon. I hope you enjoy reading these posts about your early years!

Love,

Mom (a.k.a. Amber)!

Happy Halloween!!

Liam says: err... in his sleep, "HAPPY HALLOWEEN, everyone!"

BABY is the new fashion!

So after much thought and debate, Kobe and I went out and bought a BabyBjorn this weekend. I've only worn Liam in it a few times, but I already love it. Does Liam?... Eh, he's getting used to it. I think he'll like it a lot more once he fits in it better. The weight range is from 8-25 lbs. Right now Liam weighs 7 lbs 11 oz so he's a little small in it. He loves it for the first 10-15 minutes and then he's over it. I like that it isn't strenuous on my back at all, most of the weight is put on my shoulders, and that the fabric is soft and comfy. It's also very simple to snap together and to take off quickly when baby starts hollering. What I love most about it is that I can actually get things done while I'm "wearing" him. Today I was able to prep all his bottles for washing, danced around the living room like a crazy person, and then I did a load of laundry all while little man was strapped to my chest. haha... Well, just wanted to share my thoughts on this new purchase. I'll leave y'all with a picture of me "wearing" Liam. Excuse my morning face/hair. lol

- Amber

4 weeks = 1 MONTH!!

I know what you're thinking. "Seriously?! 1 Month already??" Yep! I can't believe it either. Needless to say it's been a good one. I feel like Kobe & I have learned so much in these past 4 weeks. Not just basic stuff like changing diapers and making bottles and bathing Liam, but the real parenting stuff like how to rock him to sleep at night, figuring out what's wrong when he's crying, learning how to ease his discomfort when he's constipated, etc. Stuff that most first time parents would need to know. I wouldn't say it's been easy, but we're slowly working our way through the so-called "new parent handbook." lol... It doesn't really exist, I'm just saying that, but wouldn't it be awesome if one book held all the answers?! Yeah, only in a fantasy world, but a girl can dream, right?! haha... 

Here's Liam in an outfit that Kobe made fun of - he said it was girly. Liam didn't care... he was comfortable! LOL

We had a lot of great moments this last week including LOTS of firsts. We went for our first store trip - Walmart of all places, went for our first walk at the park, Liam played with his rattle for the first time (I walked in on him hitting it & looking at it while laying on his back), I gave him a bath with no help for the first time, and we caught his smile on camera for the first time.

I hope you all enjoyed keeping up with Liam's first month. Thanks for stopping by!


-Amber

Week 3

Gosh, I cannot believe one more week and he'll be ONE MONTH old! It's crazy how time flies. I'd say week 3 was pretty uneventful - aside from enjoying Liam's cute little self every day. =)... We stayed home again, took lots of pictures, ate a lot, and changed lots of poopy diapers! lol... Top moments of week 3:

1) Kobe & Liam "playing" football... hahaha

and

2) Liam's first tummy time... recorded/hosted by "Count Dad-cula!" lol!

I'll leave y'all with a cute photo of Liam's little feet. Gotta love 'em! =)

Week 1 & 2 (combined)

We survived our first two weeks! At first I was really nervous about bringing Liam home and not knowing whether we would know what to do - being that Kobe and I are both first time parents. It turns out, having a baby is a lot of work, but it is well worth it! Knowing that this little being is someone that you created and that you love so much, makes it that much easier to care for them. The lack of sleep means nothing when I get to kiss Liam's chubby little cheeks each time he gets up to eat (every 3 hours to be exact).  It turns out our little man is a fast healer too! His umbilical cord fell off at 5 days old, so that gave us the green light to give him his first real bath. We were happy to capture the moment on video... our first video shows Liam's private parts, so I didn't want to share that with the world! Here's the 2nd half of his bath (we had to stop recording halfway through so daddy could help).

We also snapped some pictures of him because Kobe combed his hair with the comb-over style & he looked so cute- just like a little man! hahaha

See what I mean?

Proud daddy & clean baby Liam!

Me & my baby! Isn't he handsome? =)

Another thing that Liam did in his first two weeks... played X-box with his daddy! haha... He's starting young. Here's a picture of daddy & Liam having "boy time."

Liam had his first checkup at 6 days old and did surprisingly well (except for peeing out of his diaper, all over the scale). lol... He weighed the same as when we left the hospital - 4lbs 14 oz and was still 17.5 inches long. Here he is in his car seat before we left home in the morning...

Then again after the doctor's office... look at those long legs!

After the doctor's office, we didn't really go anywhere else for the rest of the week. Liam just kept on eating like a champ and sleeping his days away.
Here he is singing in his sleep... I actually thought this might be something bad, but the doctor said it's normal. haha

Week 2 came around and it was time for Liam's next checkup. Kobe had to work, so Liam and I ventured out on our own! I was a little nervous thinking of all the things that could go wrong, like "what if he cries on the way there," or "what if I have a hard time with him at the doctor's office," but everything went surprisingly well. I even went so far as to practice putting Liam's car seat into the car, snapping it into the stroller, etc. You'd be surprised how much that little practice session helped! LOL!! Liam's checkup went better than expected as well. He weighed in at 6 lbs 1 oz and measured at 18.75 inches - needless to say his doctor was VERY pleased with his weight gain and growth. I guess you could say we've had a successful two weeks! We've learned a lot about Liam's little personality in such a short time and I must say he's the best baby ever. He sleeps when he's supposed to, eats like crazy, and makes the cutest faces (just like his daddy). I'll leave y'all with my favorite moment thus far this whoooole two weeks- Liam's first "outside of mommy" bedtime story. I was amazed at how attentive he was with Kobe. As soon as Kobe started reading, he just stared and never looked away. It melted my heart to say the least.

Stay tuned for his week 3 update!

-Amber

Chinese Tradition!

Being that Liam is a big melting pot of different races, it would only come natural that he would be exposed to a lot of different cultural traditions and experiences. From Kobe's side Liam gets Cambodian, Chinese, & Vietnamese. From my side, he gets Mexican, Spanish, German, & French (mostly the first two though). Saturday, we went to a family event for Kobe's cousin's birthday. The first thing that happened was the traditional Chinese blessing of "good luck" for Liam. It wasn't a ceremony or anything. It was very informal, but cool to me since I had never experienced or witnessed it. What they did was tie a red string around Liam's wrist with money hanging from the string. Traditionally this happens after the first month, but since we wouldn't be having another family get-together until probably Thanksgiving, they decided to do it then. Also, usually coins are used, but Mr. Liam got a rolled up bill of money. haha

 -Amber

LIAM IS HERE!!!

So, as you all read in my previous post, doctor planned on inducing me tomorrow (September 26th) for prevention of pre-eclampsia & also because of Liam measuring below the 10th percentile. Well, after being in the hospital that Friday for observation, the doctor told me she wanted me to follow up Monday just to see how bed rest had gone over the weekend. Turns out my BP was still high, so the doctor decided to induce me Tuesday instead of waiting a whole other week. 

I checked in at 7:15 Tues morning & was in my room dressed & on the monitor by about 7:45 am. By 8 am my IV was in & they started my pitocin. Contractions were coming on well and started hurting, so I got my epidural at about 10 a.m. By 1 pm I had only progressed from 1.5 & 50% effaced (what I was when I got there) to just 3cm dilated & 80% effaced. I was checked again at 3 pm & had moved up to 4cm & 90% effaced. Dr said after 4cm that I would progress about 1cm per hour, so we thought "Alright! Only 6 hours to go!" Little did we know that that wouldn't be the case for me at all. At 4:45 I started feeling a lot of pressure & some discomfort on my right side pelvic area. Turns out I had progressed to 8cm in just 1 hour & 45 minutes & the pressure was pushing on the bulb of my foley catheter - in turn causing the discomfort. The pressure & discomfort only got worse & by 5:30 I was 10cm & ready to push. They called the doctor & I was able to start pushing by 5:45 pm. After only 1 hour of pushing baby Liam entered this world at 6:46 pm! It really wasn't bad at all, I thought I would've been more tired from pushing than it turned out I was. Right away they laid him on my chest & those first few moments just staring at him had me all worked up & sobbing because he was finally here! I now truly understand what it means when people say they fall in love with their baby instantly! After me seeing him for a few precious moments, they had to take him to be weighed, get footprints done, & all that other good stuff. He had to go to the NICU for his first 6 hours of life due to his weight (5 lbs). The NICU nurses assured Kobe that if he kept his O₂ sats up, maintained his temperature, & kept a good breathing pattern, that he would be transitioned to the nursery at 2 am. Of course our little 5 pounder went in there & kicked butt! He passed all his parameters & was sent to the nursery as promised. He came to the room with us at 2:30 am & we've had him ever since! We are now home & he's eating like crazy. Kobe & I are both so overwhelmed with happiness just thinking how healthy he is - despite his small size! He's a tough little guy & we couldn't have asked for anything more!

Here are a few pics of Mr Liam! 

After he was all cleaned up... daddy holding Liam for the first time! All those bedtime stories paid off because Liam just stared at Kobe the whole time he spoke to him. 

Our first "family" picture! =)

All cleaned up! A few hours after he transitioned to the nursery from the NICU and came to our room.

Our second night with him at the hospital... can you tell how tired we were? lol

The morning after we got home... isn't he so cute?! Already holding his pacifier too! Liam is 2.5 days old in this picture!

Finally... Mr. Liam posing for the camera that same morning. He looks so mature for a 2.5 day old! =)

Hope you enjoyed reading Liam's birth story. I'll leave y'all with his stats:

Liam Austyn Nol

DOB: 9/20/11

TOB: 6:46 pm

Weight: 5 lbs

Length: 17.5"

-Amber

Baby Shower #3...

This is a really overdue post, but I figured I would go ahead & get this one done before I get to the really good ones! This post is about my last baby shower that my two wonderful friends, Casie & Mary, threw for me. I was truly excited the most about this one because we all planned it out so well & I would get to see a lot of friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. Everything turned out way better than I expected! Here are the pictures to tell the story:

Here is the table the night before... we were in the midst of decorating & figuring out where to place everything on the table.

Mary... you will appreciate me capturing this moment! lol... Casie & Mary peeling & chopping kiwis for the fruit plate.

My belly at 35 wks and 5 days.

I looooove love love hydrangeas! Morning of the shower: running around Fannin haggling vendors for low prices! haha... My favorite comment of the day "Casie, do you want my sunglasses?" lol

The table all set! I love how it turned out!

The cake! It was adorable as well as delicious. Thanks again, Eric & Casie!

The beverage area - we had tea, lemonade, & water with green apples & pears in it for flavor. I also got this cute idea online to use mason jars & striped straws... so momma got what she wanted. I ordered green & white stripes! I didn't want everything to be "too" blue.

The sign in frame - Mary gave us the great idea of using a frame instead of a book. Now it will hang on the wall above Liam's dresser. You can also see our cute little yarn-wrapped flower vase sitting there in the corner! We added buttons onto the yarn for that cute button touch. =)

Finally: my amazing hosts! I know I've said it a hundred times before, but I'll say it again - thank you for being such great friends, Casie & Mary!!! Liam is such a fortunate baby to have you two as honorary aunties! =)

 

-Amber 

What a day...

Yesterday... oh how I'm glad that's over!! It all started with me going to the doctor for another routine weekly visit, or so I thought! Doctor was concerned because I'd gained 3.5 lbs in 1 week ("and it's all fluid" she said). Then my BP read a little high. She worried I could be getting pre-eclampsia b/c my grandmother had had it. First she checked for baby's heartbeat & all was good there, then came the pelvic exam. She told me I had progressed from last week (1 cm, 0% effaced) to 1.5 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and still at -2,-1 station. Then she measured my belly & that's really when the concern began. Apparently I hadn't grown since last week & she was afraid that I was measuring "too small." 

Next thing you know I was being sent to the hospital. They hooked me up to the external monitor for a few hours as they listened to baby's heartbeat & measured my BP every 15 min. I was poked for 2 tubes of blood, & then was sent to get an ultrasound done to check my amniotic fluid levels. Luckily everything up to that point went well! Blood work came back near perfect, my BP went back to normal after about 15 min of laying in the bed, baby wasn't under any kind of stress, and there was plenty of amniotic fluid. She did however say that baby Liam was tiny. He only weighed in at 4 lbs. 15 oz. & attributed this to him not getting enough nutrients b/c I'm constantly moving or on the go - burning calories before he can get them!

So, I was put on bed rest & am only allowed to "get up to go to the bathroom & to eat" and am being induced on next Monday, Sept 26th. She is hoping that by putting me on bed rest I won't burn many calories & he will gain a few more ounces. The hospital automatically puts small babies in the NICU, but if he can sneak past 5 lbs 8 oz, he won't have to go in there & can hang with the big babies in the normal nursery. We'll see what happens! We know he is healthy & all, just on the smaller side of the fence. With that said... let's get this party started! I've already started eating, sleeping & doing absolutely nothing. I'm sure it'll get really old really quick though. On the bright side... only 9 days til we meet our baby boy!! I leave you all with a picture of me "enjoying" bed rest... taken by my wonderful Kobe. =)

-Amber

Baby Shower #2...

This post is overdue by about a week, so here it goes. We had our second baby shower last Saturday (Aug 27th, 2011) with Kobe's side of the family. It was a lot of fun. We had great food, an awesome cake, and lots of great gifts for baby Liam! Here are some pics of the special day:

Kobe & his brother, Sothain, being goofy... they took this pic together when we realized they were dressed alike! lol

Our really cool frog-themed cake made by Kobe's cousin, Vanarin, who was just on Top Chef Desserts. He's so talented!

Top view of the cake - chocolate lily pads & plastic frogs. Too cool! Thanks, again Van! =)

Me, Kobe's sis - Sithon, & our friend Vuthavy!

Cutting the cake.

 Playing that infamous "measure the belly" game. lol... Here's Kobe's aunt measuring me!

A long time friend of the family, Soeuth, measuring me - she was 1 ply too short! lol

Kobe's other aunt with the winning measurement! YAY! lol

Us with Kobe's cousin Sandra & her boyfriend, Elliott.

Opening one of the gifts... we got lots of necessities!

Me & Kobe's momma - she's so sweet!

Last picture of the night - here we are with Kobe's parents.