the fredin's

new blog address

2009-12-29T10:34:00.002-05:00

We decided to switch blog domains and are now using Wordpress, instead of Blogger. The address to our blog is now: http://www.jeremyandkellie.wordpress.com.
Please change your bookmarks accordingly! The blog on blogger, will still be up for a while, but I will delete it soon, and all the new posts are now going on the new blog! Thanks!

10.5 weeks

2009-12-25T21:00:00.002-05:00

I ended up having to go to work for a couple of hours this evening. I was hoping to get called off for the entire shift, but there were too many Christmas babies. Well, I was only at work for 2 hours and then got to come home, but before I left I took a little peek at our baby :). I took a video on my phone. I know it is hard to tell what you are looking at; the babies head is to the left and the feet are to the right, and it is laying on its back. And its moving like crazy!

10.5 weeks from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

backtracking a bit

2009-12-22T15:01:00.006-05:00

Since I have been completely blog lazy, I feel like I need to update on a few things that happened in between the past two posts.
Thing #1: We took a great trip to Iowa with Jeremy's parents to go visit all of their extended family. We went in the middle of October. It was about a 9 hour drive, which I was a little hesitant to do with Liam, but overall he did VERY well. I still continue to swear by our portable dvd player, that I know keeps us sane on long road trips with him :). Jeremy's parents rented a cute little cabin in Clear Lake, Iowa. It was a great place to be able to go for Liam's naps, and when we needed some down time, and great to spend time with Jeremy's parents. Jeremy's grandparents, and many of his aunts and uncles came down for our wedding (I feel like that was forever ago), but we hadn't seen any of them since then so it was nice to able to see all of them again, and to meet the ones I hadn't met yet. No one had met Liam yet, so of course he was the center of attention :) Liam enjoyed running in the tall rows of corn at grandpa Oscar's farm, and picking apples from the apple tree :). On the way home we got to visit grandma and grandpa Birkey in Des Moines!

Thing #2: We flew to Houston, TX for Thanksgiving! Liam is well traveled for being 19 months old :). Our whole family (with the exception of Dathan and Elizabeth), went to Texas to be with John and Erika for Thanksgiving. We did this two years ago also...I think we should just go ahead and make it a yearly tradition. We had an amazing time, and Liam LOVED it down there. We took him to the beach for the first time, and he could have stayed there all day, chasing birds and dodging the washed up jellyfish :). 2 years ago when we went I was 12 weeks pregnant with Liam, and still not feeling the greatest. So I was looking forward to enjoying this trip, and not being pregnant. HA! That didn't happen, but praise the Lord, my morning sickness has been much more bearable with this pregnancy so far. The main things we did were, the beach, shopping and the Kemah boardwalk. Oh, and a few of us adults went to NASA one afternoon. There is SO much to do down there, you really have to pick and choose. The Saturday before we came home, our family got to meet my Aunt Korrene and Uncle Michael (my dad's sister) at Kemah for lunch, since they just live in Houston. So that was definitely an added bonus! We were very nervous flying with Liam for the first time, but he was a champ, and is now completely obsessed...I mean OBSESSED, with airplanes. Perfect. I mean, that is a pretty cheap hobby :).

blog neglect...but big announcement!

2009-12-21T11:43:00.004-05:00

It is quite ridiculous how long it has been since I have posted anything on here! I am going to do a better job. Well I figure, since its been a couple months since posting, I might as well come back with a bang! So here it is...Looks like we are going to be adding another little one to our family in July, and Liam is going to be a BIG brother! :). We are SO very excited. We found out quite a while ago, and I am very proud of myself for keeping it somewhat of a secret until now! I am 10 weeks pregnant today. We are due on July 19th, which seems like SO far away. But honestly, right now, that date can just take its time getting here, because Liam has a little bit of growing up to do before this little one comes :)

So far he seems pretty excited. I know he doesn't understand even a tenth of what this really means. But he does understand that there is a baby in my belly. He will come up to my belly and kiss it, and say, hi baby. It is pretty sweet. Although, he also thinks there is a baby in his belly...I'm sure he will get it all sorted out soon :) Ha! Liam and this little one will be a little over 2 years apart, which I'm hoping will be a good distance. I have a feeling it will be more than we bargained for, for quite a while, but hopefully we can make the adjustment smoothly.

I will already answer one question you might have...yes there is just ONE! By looking at the picture below, you might think I am further along than I am, or that I am carrying more than one baby. But praise the Lord there is only one :). Trust me, I have looked several times :). I guess that this is just how I carry my babies...very big. I did the same thing with Liam when I was this early, and everyone asked, are you sure you aren't having twins? So I might as well prepare myself for that question this whole pregnancy too. The other picture, is one we just took at work when I was 9 weeks along. You can see the little "nubs" for arms and legs on the baby :) When we looked yesterday it was flailing its arms around everywhere and spinning in circles. Its a feisty one :) We did have our first official appointement with our Dr when I was 8 weeks pregnant, with our first "official" sonogram. He said everything looked great, and was growing right on schedule.

Now...here's for keeping this thing updated more often :)

update on liam

2009-10-08T14:09:00.002-05:00

Well we had Liam's cardiology appointment Wednesday morning, and it went well. Basically the cardiologist reassured us, that most likely, this is nothing to be concerned about. There still is that little MOST LIKELY factor that bothers me a little. He wanted to make sure Liam was acting and playing like a normal toddler...we reassured him that this is NOT a problem :).

Let me just start out by saying how proud of Liam I was. The first thing they did was a 12 lead EKG, which involves putting 12 little stickers all over his body, and then attaching a wire to each sticker. From this they can see a read out of your heart rhythm. You have to hold very still while they do this so they can get a good reading, (you can imagine how this might be hard with a 16 month old), but he did a great job! I think he was pretty scared, so he just laid really still and looked around, wondering what in the heck was going on. The EKG confirmed that he does still have an irregular heartbeat, that is "trigeminal". This meaning, he has an irregular beat (called a PVC), that happens every third beat. The reassuring part of this is that, when he is active and his heartrate speeds up, the PVC's slow way down and sometimes, go away all together. This is very good, that they don't speed up when his heart speeds up.

The second thing they did at the appointment was an echocardiogram (a sonogram of the heart). This was the check the size of his heart, the condition of the muscle of the heart, the bloodflow, and to confirm that there was no fluid around the heart. All of this came back normal. Praise the Lord! He said that Liam's heart muscle looked very good, and shows no signs of damage. So then, he drew us a picture :). There are two nodes in your heart that fire the electrical impulses (the SA node, and the AV node). Liam has an extra little node somewhere between these two that wants to misfire, every third beat. And according to Dr. Allen, this is nothing to be concerned with at this time. He said that he sees about 3-4 kids a month that come in with this, and usually the irregular beats just resolve on their own. They don't know what causes them or how to prevent them, they just happen. He did say there was a rare chance that this can be a warning sign of an event in the future, but there is no way to know if this is the case. This a very very slim chance. In the meantime, Liam cannot have large amounts of chocolate, any caffeine, or over-the-counter cough or cold medicines (basically anything that would artifically speed up the rate of his heart). We are going to follow up with Dr. Allen in 6 months and they will probably do these same tests again and see how things are progressing.

So, overall, it was a very reassuring appointment. There still is that small chance, that something bigger could be wrong, but we are just putting our trust in the Lord, that Liam is just fine :). Dr Allen also talked with a pediatric rhythm specialist, about Liam, and he recommended the same plan of care at this time. So that was very reassuring to us. Thanks so much for everyones thoughts and prayers :)

First haircut!!

2009-10-04T15:34:00.004-05:00

Before. Try not to look directly
at the mullet. Its bad.

After pictures...
MUCH better :)

Despite the fact that he looks
approximately 3 years old now,
I love the new hair cut :)

please pray

2009-09-28T18:32:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update, because I want everyone who reads this blog to be praying. My friend Sarah (from work) is going through one of the hardest losses I can ever imagine. Her husband just died a couple hours ago. He was the sheriff's deputy that was shot earlier this afternoon in east Wichita. She has a little girl whose name is Natalie, who is 2 years old. I cannot even BEGIN to fathom what she is going through right now, and I so badly want to do something to help, but I know all that is going to help her right now is for people to be praying for her. I know the only possibly way Sarah can find comfort during this time is through Jesus, so that is what I am praying for. Sarah and her mom Diane are both nurses on our unit. I was supposed to be working tonight, but got put on call because it is slow, which I'm sure is a huge blessing, because I'm not sure how anyone up there is functioning right now. Please keep them in your prayers.

our latest drama...

2009-09-27T09:44:00.004-05:00

It has been a while since I have had a chance to update! Now there is actually something worth updating about :) Just asking for a few prayers...this past Thursday Liam choked/gagged on a piece of an apple. But he seemed just fine afterwards...well soon afterwards he started vomiting, and he couldn't swallow any food with any success so we talked with the pediatrician and he wanted us to take him to the immediate care. We were thinking there was probably still an obstruction from when he gagged earlier. Well before we even saw the doctor at immediate care, Liam had the "obstruction" taken care of :). But then she came in to see him, and found that he has an irregular heartbeat. Which lead to more tests...he had an EKG a chest x-ray and an abdominal x-ray. Not one of my favorite moments as a mom, watching him go through all of that, all though I thought he was very cooperative for the most part. I was pretty proud of him. Anyways...the pediatric cardiologist read the EKG and didn't think it was anything to get too concerned about, but wanted us to follow up with our doctor. The chest and abdominal x-ray came back looking normal. So the next day we went and saw our pediatrician, and he confirmed the irregular heartbeat, and set us up with an appointment to see a pediatric cardiologist on October 7th. He also, does not think it is anything to worry about, but would rather have it checked out just to be sure. These things can be caused by a virus or multiple other things, and they usually resolve on their own, but we will get it checked just in case! So a few prayers would be appreciated :). He is perfectly fine now. Running around and being as ornery as EVER. He is quite the handful right now. Here is a pic of him getting his EKG. It was quite a challege to get the test run before he pulled all the wires off :) A BIG thanks goes out to my mom for meeting Liam and I at immediate care and hanging out with us for the 3 hours we were there :) I think at the end of it all, grandma was a little more traumatized than Liam was :)

sweet cousins

2009-09-10T21:16:00.002-05:00

We have gotten to spend a lot of time with Michele and girls in the past couple weeks before "brothie" was born. It has been great!! Sophie, Lili and Liam play SO well together, it is fun to watch. Now that brothie (I guess he does have a name now...Miles!) is here they will have another little play mate in a few months :) At least the boys can stick together now :).
This video is probably my favorite video so far. The two girls pushing Liam around in the swing might seem like torture, but don't be fooled, he loved EVERY second of it! They are becoming quite great play mates.

sweet cousins from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

wrestling with daddy

2009-08-13T21:20:00.002-05:00

This video shows a favorite activity that goes on at our house pretty frequently :). I just love how much these two love each other. We sure are missing Jeremy right now. He is in Indianapolis at his "nerd convention" as I like to call it. I'm glad he was able to get away for a little while and take a break. He has been working so hard at work, he deserved some time off. But we sure do miss him!

wrestling from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

mommy and daddy fun

2009-08-09T08:20:00.002-05:00

tickle tickle

2009-08-05T09:05:00.001-05:00

We have had a lot of videos lately :) Here is another one. He has just been doing/saying too many cute things lately!

tickle from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Blowin Bubbles and Slidin

2009-08-01T11:11:00.002-05:00

1, 2, 3, GO! from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Blowin Bubbles! from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

lil stinker

2009-07-28T16:53:00.003-05:00

Thought maybe I should put an update up that isn't just pictures. Although I know the pictures are pretty cute (I could be biased), maybe everyone would like to know what Liam is up to these days.

One new "fun" (for him) thing he has learned how to do is open the trash can! Oh, and throw things in it :) I frequently find his toys and i-pod in the trash can. Luckily he has not learned that opening the toilet lid is the same concept. I'm not quite ready for things to be thrown in there. A few things that he has been doing for quite a while, but are still annoying, are taking books off of the bookshelf, playing in and eating Emmett's dog food, and playing with the dvd's and dvd player. Not sure how I am going to break the dog food thing. He is obsessed with it! And the poor dog has to eat, so its not like I can put it up where he can't reach it. In the past week he will walk into the laundry room where the dog food is at, and I will tell him no (like I always do), and he will stand there and stare at it (and at me, while I am trying not to smile), then walk away. So I guess its a step in the right direction. That is something I need to work on...my poker face. Lots of the bad things he does are just too dang cute, so I try not to smile so I don't egg it on, but sometimes that just doesn't happen.

There are lots of not naughty things he is doing also :). He LOVES to play peek-a-boo. He has played this game for quite a while but now when he pulls the blanket off his face he says "pee-boo!" Its pretty adorable. He is getting much more verbal. Pee-boo, is one of his many words now. He also says, mommy, daddy, doggie, puppy, yo!, yeah, no, baby, hi, bye-bye, papa, bird, bubble. I'm sure there are a few more that I am forgetting, but the point being he is sure starting to talk a lot more! We love it! You might have noticed in the list of words was the word, Yo! Jeremy taught him to say that the other day. Now when he sees someone and gets excited, he will say, "Yo!" Its pretty cute.

Lets see...he has just recently learned to climb up into his little kid chairs. He gets up in there and is so proud of himself. He gets a big smile on his face and claps :). He is also very good at throwing balls now. It is pretty fun to play catch with him, because he gets so proud of himself when he catches it! Another fun thing he is doing is, signing. We have been trying to teach him some baby sign language, and he is finally starting to catch on a little! He will do the sign for sleep, when he is tired. He also does the signs for more, ball and shoes. It is just amazing to watch him figure things out and watch it finally click. I like to think he is a pretty smart boy :)

I will end with a traumatic story :) Not sure who it was more traumatic for, me or Liam. Yesterday afternoon Liam was taking his afternoon nap and I peeked in to check on him, and I thought it was really cute that he had fallen asleep with his leg all the way through the slat of the crib. Then about 30 minutes later he starts crying on and off so I peek in on him again, but he is in the same position, so I thought he was just fussing in his sleep. But the crying continued, so I went in there. He was awake and saw me at the door, but instead of jumping up, like he usually would, he just laid there and stared at me. That was panic attack number 1. I get over to his crib and realize his leg is pretty well jammed in between the crib slats. So I start trying to wiggle it out and its not budging. Panic attack number 2. So I yell at Jeremy to come in and help me and we are both tugging and pulling on his leg trying to get it out. By this time he is screaming (I'm sure it didn't feel good), and I am on the verge of tears, so I climb in the crib with him to attempt to keep him calm (ok, and me), while we try to get his leg free. After trying for what felt like 20 minutes I am yelling at Jeremy to go get saw and saw the crib apart. I guess that would be panic attack number 3. Thank goodness he DIDN'T listen to me, and instead of got a tub of butter. After applying some butter to his leg it slid right out. Poor Liam had a bruised and swollen knee/upper thigh to show for it. But after the incident he was walking and climbing on everything like nothing happened. So I gave him some ibuprofen and iced his knee, and called it good.

14 Months

2009-07-24T16:11:00.007-05:00

Can't believe our baby is 14 months old already...he cooperated for a photo shoot :)

MO Vacay

2009-07-20T21:22:00.009-05:00

We had a wonderful little family vacation to the Branson area to see Erin. It was a MUCH needed vacation for everyone I think. Especially Erin. We left Sunday, the 12th and came back on the 15th. Erin got off at 6:15 Sunday evening and had to be back 6:15 Tuesday evening. This was here ONE 48 hour break of the summer. ONE. Yeah, she works really hard. We spent the two days we had with her just relaxing at the condo that mom and dad rented. It was really rainy both days we were there, which was marvelous, because it meant that it was not painfully hot. We did a little shopping at the outlet mall and Branson Landing, but other than that we just enjoyed each other's company. Which was wonderful since we hadn't seen Erin since May, and she isn't come back until August. She couldn't believe how big Liam was. He has grown and changed so much since she saw him last! Tuesday evening when she went back, Jeremy, Hill and I got to go back to camp with her for the evening. It was great to see where she has been working the past two summers, and put some people's faces with names :). Everyone we met, just told us what an amazing person Erin is, and how she run's the camp, and how things don't run smoothly when she is not there :) We got to help her set up for one of her parties that she throws for the kids, and then she took us out on the lake on one of their boats. Then we had to say goodbye. That was the not-so-fun part. It was great to see her while we could!! We miss her so so much, and can't wait to have her back here....at least for a little while...after camp.

Our two children that we took :) ha ha.
One is more high-maintenance than the
other..you pick :)

All us "kids"

Erin, Hill and I on our failed
attempt at paddle boating

Aunt Erin and Liam. He missed her :)

Eating at Shorty Small's on
the lake

It was pouring rain and Liam found
a puddle. He splashed in it for about
10 minutes, laughing the whole time.

Siblings :) This was when we
went back to camp with Erin

Me and my sister :)
I miss her so much.

Me and Hill waitin on Erin.
We worked REALLY hard :)

On the boat with Erin. She is
a pretty legit boat driver.

fishin buddies

2009-07-17T22:08:00.002-05:00

I think papa has a new fishin buddy :) Liam LOVED touching the fish that they caught. No fear. And coming soon...pic's from our vacation to Missouri to see Erin.

No Holds Barred

2009-07-05T12:41:00.003-05:00

This was the title of my daily devo that I read yesterday...I wanted to share, because I LOVED it.
It is out of Reflections for Ragamuffins, by Brennan Manning.

"What the world longs for from the Christian religion is the witness of men and women daring enough to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, wild enough to be burned in the fire of love, real enough to make others see how unreal they are. Jesus, Son of the living God, anoint us with fire this day. Let your Word not shine in our hearts, but let it burn. Let there be no division, compromise, or holding back. Seperate the mystics from the romantics, and goad us to that daredevil leap into the abyss of your love."

I loved the simplicity of the message. Yet, it seems to hit the nail right on the head. A great motivation for how we should be living.

nike+

2009-07-02T11:42:00.003-05:00

So I have decided it is time for me to stay dedicated to something, for once in my life. Maybe I will actually do it, because I really do love the concept. I have started working out with nikeplus.com. I have put quite a bit of money into it, so that is also motivation to keep going :). Visit the website and check it out, its pretty neat. You have to buy nike+ shoes, and then you buy a sensor that goes in the bottom of the shoe. The sensor comes with the attachment for your iPod. Then you start to run. The iPod and the sensor talk to eachother while you are running (or walking), and it keeps track of your distance, calories burned, average pace, and your time. You can listen to your music on your iPod while you are working out, and a little voice will interrupt every once and a while to update you on how much time you have left. Once you are done working out you plug your iPod into your computer and it automatically puts your workout onto the nikeplus website. On the website it graphs out your runs. Its pretty neat. The feature that I am LOVING is the training feature. I am doing their "walk-run" training. It is for people who are trying to get back into running again. So every day, it tells you exactly what you need to do, in order to build up to 25 minutes of running at the end of 12 weeks. And for me that is really helpful. I need something to tell me exactly what I need to do. Then it keeps track of all your runs in your training. You can also set goals for yourself, and it will keep you updated on how far ahead, or behind you are on reaching your goal. Mine is to work out 48 times in 12 weeks. If you are already an avid runner, you can do their other types of training. You can train for a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or full marathon. And it will tell you exactly what you need to do everyday in order to be ready for your race!

Anyways...just thought I would share what I have started. I am hoping to stick with it. So far I have done 5 days in a row..its a start right? :) So how long does it take to establish a habit? I am hoping not very long :) Today is my day off, according to the training. They give you ONE day off a week. So generous of them.

Speaking of iPods..Liam's new word is iPod. It comes out more like, "i-ba". But he is pretty cute carrying around his iPod, and trying to say the word.

2 new favorites

2009-06-06T13:57:00.001-05:00

genius? i think so.

2009-06-01T09:25:00.003-05:00

This is Liam's latest milestone that we are pretty excited about. Jeremy put the spoon in his hand and showed him how to do it ONCE. Just ONCE. Then we gave the spoon to him and he just did it. Granted its still pretty messy...and maybe this is developmentally normal for a kid Liam's age...but just let me continue thinking he is a genius :)

eating with a spoon from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

my birthday dinner

2009-05-27T18:16:00.006-05:00

Kind of a late post...but I wanted to put up pictures from my birthday dinner. We went to HuHot for my birthday with the Birkey's. (Fyi...HuHot=amazing. If you have not been, GO.) It was a great time to celebrate turning a quarter century old :). Thank you so much to my mom and dad and the Birkey's for celebrating with me :)

my little cowboy

2009-05-25T20:54:00.002-05:00

12 Months

2009-05-23T08:45:00.004-05:00

Liam had his 12 month check-up yesterday at the pediatrician. He did well, until the mean nurse came in with his three shots :). That trauma proved the last the ENTIRE day. But he is growing well! He is 21 lb 8 oz, which only puts him in the 29th percentile in weight, and 30 inches long which puts him in the 57th percentile in height! The doctor was very happy with Liam's development up to this point. He told us things like, he can sit facing forward in this car seat now, and, you can start him on whole milk. So we just said, ok! Decided not to mention that we took it upon ourselves to do both of those things a couple of months ago :).

Here are a few pictures of Liam enjoying his birthday present from us. I forgot how cold the water is that comes out of a garden hose! I figured he would hate it because the water was so cold, but he loved every minute of it! His little chin chattered the whole time, but he was smiling! :)

Oh SO cold!

"I'm freezing, but overstimulated,
so I'm happy!"

Could I sell this one to
Toy's R Us to use for
an ad? :)

birkey time

2009-05-19T15:59:00.008-05:00

We were SO happy to have our BEST friends here over this past weekend. We got our fill of Birkey time...although I think we would have all taken more :) We took some fun

pictures...here they are...

Giving Aunt Jodi kisses...

More fun with Aunt Jodi...

Our traditional picture :)

Liam's First Birthday Party

2009-05-17T11:48:00.007-05:00

We had a great party at mom and dad's on Saturday. Liam is SO blessed to have so many amazing people in his life who love him so much. He got a ridiculous amount of presents, just like any 1 year old should, I suppose :). He really seemed to enjoy it, which I was so happy about. He thought eating his cake, was pretty great. Although it did require a bath afterwards :). Here are a few pictures of our day. Thank you so much to everyone who was able to come...you all helped make it very special.

the winner is..

2009-04-29T12:25:00.002-05:00

This is the picture we will be sending in to the cutest baby contest. I decided since Erin was able to making the lighting not so bright in photo shop that we would send this one in. Thanks for voting!

cute baby?

2009-04-07T17:55:00.005-05:00

Ok...So I did stoop so low as to enter our kid in a cute baby contest. Well I haven't entered him yet, but I am going to. Which is why I am writing this post, because we need help choosing which picture to enter. It is a contest through Good Morning America/Parenting magazine, and the top 8 finalists get an all expense paid trip to NYC on August (so I admit that is the main reason he is being entered :). The only stipulations on the picture is that it has to be a color photograph, and taken within the past month. These are the five we have it narrowed down to.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Now, please help us decide. Which would you send in? 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5?

one more video :)

2009-04-06T09:46:00.002-05:00

I promise I will post something thats not a video soon...but this was too funny not to post. It is pretty similar to the post a few days ago, but funnier. Liam was soaking up ALL of the attention, thats for sure.

Entertaining the boys from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Playing on the bed

2009-04-04T20:59:00.000-05:00

Probably not something we should encourage...but fun anyway :)

Playing on the bed from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Peek-a-Boo!

2009-03-31T21:25:00.001-05:00

Peek-a-boo! from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

baby see, baby do

2009-03-23T12:07:00.002-05:00

Nationals '09

2009-03-16T21:51:00.003-05:00

We just returned from our annual trip to Sioux City, for the NAIA women's basketball national tournament. It was a great trip...one that I was actually dreading very much, only because I was not sure how Liam was going to handle it, but he pleasantly surprised us, and did VERY well. It was the last time we will be making that trip, since it was Erin's senior season. It was great to watch her play there one last time. The girls made it to the sweet sixteen and then lost to the defending national champs from the previous year. They did great, and it was an honor to see them in Sioux City. There were quite a few pictures taken, and I want to share them all, so here is a link to my photo album. The picture at the top is me with the champion of character, two years running...kind of a big deal :).

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110214&id=510530691&l=9534242dcb

(Oh and in the five days we were gone, Liam started crawling, got much better with walking, and got another tooth...it was a productive trip for him :)

First Steps

2009-03-08T23:59:00.003-05:00

Liam officially took his first steps this evening. It's not much, but he has now taken a couple of steps between people, or as shown in the video, between me and the couch. He all of the sudden got brave tonight and decided to let go and try to walk to me. Then that is all he wanted to do. It was so cute to watch him. He would get this big grin on his face, and then laugh right before he would let go of the couch. He is still VERY unbalanced, but pretty proud of himself :) Enjoy the video.

First Steps from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

i love jesus but i drink a little

2009-02-27T15:25:00.002-05:00

Possibly the most hilarious clip I have seen in a very long time.

Senior Night

2009-02-22T23:35:00.004-05:00

Well I suppose it is my turn to put an update up from senior night. I have kind of been avoiding it because every time I look through the pictures and think about it, I get teary-eyed. It has truly been such an honor to watch my little sister grow up, and grow into the person that she is today; partly due to basketball. I am SO impressed when I watch her lead her team. They have been through A LOT of ups and downs this past season, but she is so determined to bring these girls out of it on a better side. I know she could have never gotten to where she is today without her faith, and without praying for every girl on that team since her freshman year. Her determination and drive, to show Christ to her teammates is definitely something to be admired....so yes...Thursday evening was senior night. It was the last regular season home game that Erin will play at Sterling. Since that evening, the girls won the KCAC conference for the third season in a row (never having been done in Sterling women's basketball history). Up next is the KCAC tournament starting this coming Thursday, Saturday and the following Tuesday, for anyone who would like to come. Their winning the conference gives them their place at the national tournament again in Sioux City, IA! Well, here are my pictures from the evening...Love you little sister.

To see all the pictures click here.

spring?

2009-02-18T18:11:00.004-05:00

We really enjoyed the nice day outside yesterday and took some snapshots of Liam :) Here are the latest...

two peas in a pod

2009-02-09T10:36:00.000-05:00

25 Things

2009-02-01T12:02:00.001-05:00

There was this note going around facebook, and I finally caved to the peer pressure and wrote mine.

1. I tried to avoid writing a note with 25 things about me for the past couple of days, but I always give into peer pressure. (ANNETTE! i blame you)
2. I am entirely too concerned about other peoples opinions and what they think of me.
3. I LOVE being a mom, but now that I am one I realize that I could not be a stay at home mom..which is what I always wanted to do. Not anymore.
4. I am slightly obsessed with lady warriors basketball..thats an understatement. I mean who wouldn't love watching the number 5 team in the nation twice a week! (specifically numbers 11 and 33 and 41 :)
5. I really hate it when people are fake. Your not fooling anyone.
6. I played violin for 7 years of my life, and quit in high school. Sometimes I wish I still played.
7. For one of my birthdays in high school, my mom wanted to get me a nice violin case, and my dad wanted to get me a shotgun (I wanted the shot gun). Mom won.
8. One of the scariest moments of my life, was when my sister and I were riding horses in Wyoming, hers bucked her off and almost trampled her right in front of me. I cried..a lot, and neither of us have ridden a horse since then.
9. I am a labor and delivery nurse, and I have very strong opinions about how patients take advantage of a system that was put there to help them.
10. #9 is why I don't undertand why ANY dr would think it is ethical or reasonable to implant 8+ embryos in that woman in california, when she doesn't have a stable support system at home and already has 6 children. dummy.
11. When I have had a really stressul day, sometimes I feel like having a cigarette..which I think is weird since I have never smoked one of those things.
12. i LOVE cigars.
13. my husband wanted to date me for four years. I got tired of turning him down, and when he decided to move to indiana, i decided that would be a great time to start dating. cause that definitely makes sense :)
14. Jeremy swore he would never get married before he was done with school..that is why my parents liked him so much. After we got married we lived in Indiana for a year while he was finishing school :)
15. People who think wichita is the worst place to live should try moving away for a while...you might miss it, and be grateful for boring ol wichita :)
16. People who didn't vote for obama and who feel very strongly about him not being president should go ahead and get over it, try to support him and start praying for him because he is running our country for the next 4 years whether you like it or not (discalimer: i didn't vote for him either)
17. my idea of a perfect summer night would be sitting on the back porch with a corona in one hand and a cigar in another, watching a thunderstorm roll in.
18. I really dislike judgmental people.
19. Living in Indiana really made me hate snow..and now dislike the whole winter season.
20. The thought that scares me the most is anything ever happening to Liam.
21. I was convinced the whole time I was pregnant that I was having a girl. I still wasn't sure whether to believe the dr when he was born and said it was a boy. If Liam has a complex someday I guess we will know why.
22. I added unlimited texting to our cell phone plan a long time ago and never told Jeremy :) come on..you know it is saving us WAY more money this way. Now you know!
23. I broke my right ankle three times when I was little...I wish I could say I was athletic...unfortunately I was just a klutz.
24. I think people should have a license to breed. I feel really sorry for these poor babies being born into families that don't really want them and will never take good care of them.
25. I really hope that Liam is athletic when he is older (specifically the sports I have picked out for him :) haha I need another excuse to go to basketball games and yell, once this season is over.

fun with mom and dad

2009-01-26T23:00:00.004-05:00

(Mel this last one is for you...I LOVE this shirt you got him for Christmas...its perfect on him :)

a few more videos

2009-01-25T12:36:00.002-05:00

silly face from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

new favorite game from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

peek-a-boo from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

kiss from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

New Videos...

2009-01-18T11:37:00.002-05:00

I have been needing to put up some videos for a while now. Some of these are older...but nonetheless, still pretty cute :)

Untitled from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Daddy feeding Liam from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Screamer from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

Splash! from Kellie Fredin on Vimeo.

please pray

2009-01-05T14:16:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to ask to prayer. My good friend Kelly's (from work) husband is in SICU. You might remember she is the one who had a baby at the same time Liam was born (we had our work baby shower together). Her husbands name is Ken. He has managed to stump a pulmonologist and an infectious disease doctor. No one is quite sure what has been attacking his body that has made him so sick. They are currently waiting on a test to come back from Mayo clinic, which can hopefully give them some answers. If they don't get answers from this test, then they are back at square one, as far as knowing what is wrong with him. He is currently intubated (has a machine breathing for him), and will stay this way until they can figure out a way to help him. Please just pray that they can get some answers from this test they are running at Mayo, so that they can have a treatment plan and move forward. Pray that no further complications arise...it seems like they find a new problem every day which has been very discouraging for Kelly. They have four children, the youngest being Liam's age. Thank you for your prayers!

baby's first christmas

2008-12-30T23:01:00.005-05:00

I have not posted anything since December 17th, cause things have been CRAZY to say the least...but I think they are going to finally start slowing down again. It was all worth it to see Liam experience his first Christmas. He really enjoyed all the festivities, and had more fun opening presents than I thought he would! The next task...re-organizing the house since it has seemed to explode with toys :). Holidays are so much different, but SO much better now that we have Liam. I have just been reminded so many times in the past few weeks how incredibly blessed that we are to have him this year. He has just brought more joy to our lives than even thought imaginable. Here is a link to look at a lot of the pictures from Christmas, but I will also put a few of my favorites below :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92305&l=596b1&id=510530691

the zoo and the snow

2008-12-17T11:55:00.002-05:00

Follow this link to see some recent pics of our first trip to the zoo!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89643&l=5464d&id=510530691
And here are a few pics of us playing in the snow! I tried to pull him around in this yellow tub to try to 'sled', but that didn't work so well :) It was sure fun to try though!

director of technology

2008-12-16T11:51:00.003-05:00

Just an update on Jeremy's job. The meeting yesterday went well, and Jeremy is now the director of technology! Which is definitely a promotion for him. Jeremy said he was really encouraged by the meeting. He talked with the head pastor about going full time, and after the first of the year this is probably going to happen. They always review the budget at the first of the year and will have to get that position approved for full time, but he didn't act like it would be a problem. And on top of going full time there is a chance he will also get a raise! Which would be a great blessing. So thank you for those of you who were praying for him yesterday. You can just keep praying that his position will get finalized to be full time at the first of the year, and if it is in the budget that Jeremy might get a raise also! Jeremy was pretty excited that his new position also gets him a church credit card :) haha. I am pretty excited that the church might provide a cell phone for him, which would save us more money cause we could drop him from our plan! Anyways...those definitely are not the important things, but added bonus' :). Jeremy also talked with Dr. Gardner (the head pastor), and just confirmed that he would still be able to have his flexible schedule so he can have time with us, and he can be home with Liam when I am at work. Dr. Gardner said that would not be a problem. Since Jeremy is salary, he is responsible for getting his work done and does not have to be there 8-5.

prayer req

2008-12-15T11:34:00.004-05:00

Just a quick note to ask for prayer for Jeremy's job. We got word on Friday that, the head video guy at First UMC is no longer there. The head pastor was clear with Jeremy that his job was not being effected by this. I know Jeremy will really miss his old boss; he was always so flexible with our schedule and understanding of our needs. But...now that he is gone, it opens up new opportunities for Jeremy and his work there (which sounds terrible...but true). The head pastor told Jeremy a couple days ago, that he knows his skills could be used more than they have been in the past. So today, Jeremy and the head pastor are getting together to talk about job responsibilities. Jeremy is still technically part time, working 30 hours a week. So Jeremy plans on telling him he would love to be able to go full time, and take on more responsibilities, which would in turn mean a pay raise. Which would be a huge answer to prayer for us. So I guess I am just asking for you guys to pray about this with us if you wouldn't mind. We could really use the extra money if he gets a raise, and Jeremy is pretty excited about the possibilities of taking on a little more responsibility.

dada

2008-12-08T13:15:00.002-05:00

Someone is a pretty huge fan of their daddy :)

to take to the nursery or not

2008-12-05T22:08:00.002-05:00

This evening Jeremy, Liam and I all went to church together. It was so nice to have Jeremy along. We went for the Christmas program to watch Rosann and Amber singing in the choirs. So we had Liam in the service with us for about 20 minutes, and then he started getting antsy so I decided (after WEEKS of deliberation) to put him in the nursery. You would think this would not have to be a very big deal, but it is to me I guess. I have been pretty nervous to leave him in there...dumb I know. But I went ahead and did it. I took him to the nursery. Once I went back to the sanctuary I pretty much just sat there worrying about what I didn't tell them he might need. So during intermission I went to check on him, and he was doing fine :). But about 5 minutes into the second half of the program our number (#3) showed up on the little ticker indicating that that baby is unconsolable and that baby's parents should come and get him :). The older lady taking care of him (he was the only baby in the infant part of the nursery) said she tried to lay him down for a nap like I had told her to, but he just cried. The other mom in the nursery whispered to me..she just doesn't like to let them cry :) haha. I decided part of the reason he could have been crying (and yes he was tired) was because he had spit up ALL over the front of his shirt, soaking it...and still all over his mouth. No one had bothered to change it. Even though I left the diaper bag and told them there were plenty of extra shirts and burp cloths in the bag. So....all of that to say, I was a little disappointed. And probably because I am just a tad over protective of my little boy, but unfortunately now I am back to square one on the whole issue of leaving him in the nursery.

thanksgivingness continued..

2008-11-30T22:53:00.003-05:00

fredin thanksgiving

2008-11-26T23:01:00.006-05:00

Amber driving on Wii Mario Kart

Our concentrated looks while playing
Wii Mario Kart

Me and Amber...she is getting so grown
up!

Thank you uncle Ryan for the antlers.

One pic to prove what new low I stooped to
with our child...yeah...hair product. Just to
prove that he does have hair! It is just so light
you can't see it! He was sure a cute little boy
with that mohawk :)

fun at thanksgiving

2008-11-23T22:43:00.004-05:00

my new adventure

2008-11-17T23:31:00.003-05:00

Making baby food. Yep, today I MADE a whole batch of baby food for Liam. I never really had the desire to try to do this, but after realizing what large quantities are made with just 3 bananas, and 1 squash, I decided I should try it because it will save a lot of money. So I bought some fresh fruits and vegetables at the store yesterday, and spend about 4 hours in the kitchen this afternoon, making 4 ice cube trays full of baby food. (Next time it will not take near as long, since I will know what I am doing.) It is actually pretty handy. You freeze the food in ice cube trays and then you can pop out the food blocks and put them in freezer bags, and then freeze some more. As you will see from the video below, Liam was a little less than thrilled with the first couple of foods he tried. It must taste a lot different than the ones you buy in the store. I think it will take him a while to get used to it. Overall, the afternoon was a success, despite me spilling two pureed avocados all over the kitchen floor. Oh, and come to find out, my blender has a "baby food" setting on it...this makes things much easier :). So far I have made butternut squash, acorn squash, green beans, avocados, bananas, and apple sauce. This great website give tells you step by step how to start making baby food. We will see if I keep this up, but it was actually kind of fun to do this today.

So this video is of Liam playing with a sippy cup for the first time. I was actually very impressed that he knew exactly what to do with it. This evening he actually drank about 2 ounces of diluted apple juice out of a sippy cup. Yep...he is growing up way too fast. After the sippy cup video is the disgusted look on his face as he tried the avocado for the first time.

liam and lili

2008-11-11T23:16:00.003-05:00

Liam and Lili are so interested in each other. Lil is such a sweet little baby. She gave Liam lots of kisses today. And when she couldn't reach is face she kissed his hand :) Lili is 11 months and Liam is basically 6 months. (Yes I understand, they look like they are about the same size :)

the latest

2008-11-06T11:17:00.003-05:00

more farm pics

2008-11-03T19:58:00.003-05:00

just wanted to share a few more pictures of us out at the farm...see post below.

the farm

2008-11-03T13:03:00.007-05:00

Erin came home Saturday night and stayed home until Sunday evening. Mainly to go out to the farm one last time before grandma and grandpa move. This was going to be her last chance to get out there with basketball starting. Yesterday afternoon was so much fun. We were all out there, and Erin, Annette, and I walked all around their property taking pictures and just enjoying it. We found some really awesome antiques in grandpa's shed. Took a few of them for ourselves :). With their permission of course. I just realized yesterday how much I am going to miss that place! Walking around brought back memories of so many things. Fishing in the pond when we were little...playing on the hay bales...playing in the grain bins (and getting in trouble)...helping feed and water the cattle...riding the old horse grandpa used to have. Anyways! I wanted to share some pictures that I took around the place. We are so excited for grandma and grandpa moving on to this new stage in their life, and getting a new, huge, beautiful home! And the great thing is they still own the farm, so I'm sure we can go out there anytime we want :). Although the threat of getting snowed in during Christmas won't be the same :)

Old antique back door to grandpa's shed

Grandpa has collected all of these
old Butler county tags

Old baby carriage mom and Marcia used
to play with

The old barn that fell over

Old oil cans

sweet pea

2008-11-01T15:16:00.002-05:00

first game of the season

2008-10-28T22:25:00.003-05:00

Last night started weekly road trips and the last year of basketball games at sterling, for Erin. It is a bit bittersweet to think this is the last year we will drive up there. We enjoy watching them play so much. They looked great last night...pretty much like another conference winning, national tournament attending team :). It all went off quite well despite a blow to the nose which GUSHED for about 3o minutes. It continued to bleed after that but just not gushing. Oh and yes, that would be injury #1 for Erin this year and we know it will be the last! She always has to be the center of attention :) ha ha. She has a nice swollen and bruised nose to show for it. They do not think it is broken.

Liam's first basketball game went very well. He was very entertained watching the girls run up and down the court. All the attention he got from all the girls afterward probably didn't hurt any either :). After he got used to the buzzer, he wasn't quite as jumpy. He really enjoyed the game, but Jeremy and I didn't enjoy the night that was to follow. He slept horrible, waking up twice and not falling asleep well. So he might not be going to all the games we go to, but I'm sure we won't have a problem finding a babysitter :). Oh...and we would not have gotten as late as we did, but Liam had a HUGE blowout that required a new diaper (which we didn't pack...stupid, I know), which was hard to find in Sterling, since everything closes by 8. I got to practice how to put on a cloth diaper. Thank goodness that was only on for about 30 minutes before dad and Jeremy came back with diapers from a gas station, because I'm pretty sure that cloth contraption would not have held anything.

a little like daddy?

2008-10-26T11:17:00.003-05:00

Anything electronic...the computer, the tv, video games, phones, cameras...he is interested. Dang it.

mommy & me

2008-10-24T15:22:00.003-05:00

tired of these yet? :)

2008-10-23T09:56:00.002-05:00

Liam and I were playing in the backyard the other day, and these are some photos that I took of him...pretty sure some of these are going up in frames :)

new pics!

2008-10-18T21:47:00.007-05:00

Look-a-likes

Looking at great grandpa's cows

Big blue eyes! From aunt Erin :)

Reading his first book :)

After a bath

I love aunt Erin

Playing with cousin Chloe :)

comfort food

2008-10-15T21:25:00.002-05:00

4 zebra cakes (2 packages), and 2 glasses of wine later I can now write about my evening this evening and not get re-frustrated. In all actuality it was not that bad since I endured it with my wonderful, beautiful cousins who I love so much. Thank you, Melanie and Michele for having patience with me, when I was so frustrated. I know you two can understand since you are also moms. Well...I went over to Mel's house this afternoon and her and the kids rode with me out to the east side of town to meet Michele and the girls for dinner at Pizza Hut and then go to my mom's book fair and get some new books for the kids. The evening was going so well, while Chloe and Mason entertained Liam in the backseat while singing the supercalifragalisticexpialadocious song to him the whole way there. He loved it. But the last five minutes of the drive to Pizza Hut the screaming started. The screaming ended, oh, about 45 minutes later when we left Pizza Hut. I'm sure the people eating around us really enjoyed it. Not knowing what was wrong with him, I fed him, even though he had just eaten just to make him be quiet. We quickly packed up our things, after paying the most terrible server ever, (NO tip was given. By me at least. Maybe kind of harsh, but in the end I was glad I didn't.) we went to leave to go to mom's book fair, BUT not before realizing I couldn't find my keys. We searched for about 15 minutes for my keys, and started coming up with other options to fit all 8 of us into Michele's Passat. But after Mel went into Pizza Hut for the THIRD time the look again, she asked if anyone had turned in keys. The most terrible pizza employees ever, said they did have some turned in. They just failed to mention that they had what we were obviously looking for, after being in there three different times moving chairs and tables around (This is why I was glad I didn't end up giving him a tip). Well we all finally left and went to Jackson...Liam decided this was a fine time to start screaming again. I asked Mason on the way over if he was glad that he doesn't have a little brother or sister. He replied "sort of". He is so adorable. You could tell he didn't want to hurt my feelings. So sweet. Well we got to the book fair and got new books for the kids. Liam got the rest of his bottle at this time, and was better after that. We then had a peaceful, quiet ride home back to the west side of town, but not before a couple potty incidents from Sophie. I know that I didn't help much, because I couldn't help but laugh after everything that had happened. Finally Liam was worn out and just went to sleep. Mel and I had a good laugh about how ridiculous this whole evening was on the way home. Mel said that this night was not supposed to happen, except for the moral support we were able to offer eachother :). So now that I write all this out I realize it doesn't sound like that horrible of a night, so I guess you just had to be there. Mel and Michele can vouch for me :). I am just glad that it all happened with all my wonderful cousins. Liam is so lucky to have those kids to grow up with. Well this day was not a very proud day for me as a mother. I felt like I was frustrated with Liam the whole entire day. I guess that those days will come, and its just how we deal with them that matters...which I admit today, was not very well. Now Liam is in bed, and I get to spend the rest of the evening with my husband and my comfort food :).

laughing at grandma

2008-10-13T10:40:00.002-05:00

solids

2008-10-08T23:06:00.003-05:00

Well we tried to give Liam some rice cereal a couple of weeks ago, and it didn't go so well. He kept pushing it out with his tongue and didn't quite have the hang of it. So now, two weeks later hes got it. This video was taken a few days ago, and he just gets better with eating it every day. This Friday he will have been eating rice cereal, twice a day for about a week, so we will try to start vegetables. Will it be carrots, squash or sweet potatoes? Hmmm...none sound that appealing to me :). The only problem we have with starting to feed him solids, is that neither of us are fast enough feeders for him. I'm sure there will be more videos and pictures to come as the messy face gets a bit more colorful.

**ps--anyone who has any suggestions on foods to start first, how to start them etc...feel free to share. i feel like i really do not know what i am doing when it comes to feeding him baby food. like when typically during the day do you usually feed the baby food to them? do you do fruits and vegetables at different times of the day? like one for breakfast and one for dinner? do you feed the fruit and/or vegetable with the rice cereal all in one meal? or i am possibly over-analyzing this WAY too much...which i have a feeling i am doing. those are just a FEW of my questions...haha. oh well, i guess this is what a first time mom is supposed to do.**

cousins

2008-10-06T14:02:00.004-05:00

We went to Amber's soccer game on Saturday out at Maize. It was great be outside on a nice morning...Liam loved it. It is so much fun to watch Cayden and Liam interact. They are 4 months apart, yet Cayden seems so much older than that to me just because of everything he can do that Liam can't. It doesn't seem possible that Liam is going to be crawling around in 4 months!

recentely...

2008-10-03T21:44:00.005-05:00

Liam playing daddy's guitar.

Attempting to eat rice cereal...
not going so well :)

Holding his own bottle!

sleepy baby

2008-10-01T22:37:00.002-05:00

I realize we have been very blessed, in that Liam usually sleeps until somewhere between 8-9 in the morning. There have been the rare mornings that he has slept until 10 or 10:15. This morning 10am came and he was not awake, so I went into his room to check on him...still asleep. 10:15...still asleep. 10:30...still asleep. You get the idea. I finally WOKE HIM UP at 11am! He went to bed around 9:30 the night before! If I had not woke him I don't know how long he would have slept. I am not sure why is sleeping so darn long lately, but I am loving it, knowing that it can't last forever. Here is a pic of our baby still asleep at about 10:45 this morning...the flash didn't even wake him up.

craigslist.com...shop there.

2008-09-28T20:41:00.002-05:00

I told my mom...I know I'm getting old when I am excited about spending a decent amount of money on a washer and dryer! I have never been so excited about doing laundry before. Just had to show off our new purchase. Dad and Jeremy brought them home today and set them up. We bought them off of craigslist.com for more than half off the price that you would pay in the stores, and they are only 1 year old. I could go on and on about all the cool features that I LOVE..but I will spare you :)

thanks matt

2008-09-27T09:19:00.004-05:00

we were hanging out with matt and michele a while back, and while we were there matt took some adorable pictures of liam. he was about 3 1/2 months old when they were taken.

this explains my patients at work.

2008-09-25T17:59:00.000-05:00

4 months old

2008-09-24T13:01:00.002-05:00

We had Liam's 4 month doctor appointment on Monday. He got yet another series of vaccines...poor baby. It is so easy for me to give shots to the babies at work, but when it comes to him...it is pretty sad. He checks out to be doing great. He was 14 pounds 11 ounces and 25 inches long. He actually is not quite as big as we thought he was. Both those measurements put him in approximately the 50th percentile. Liam has been pretty congested this past week, but it has been getting better. I told the doctor that he has been more fussy than normal lately, and I think it is due to him teething. He looked as his mouth and said that he doesn't think he is teething. What?!? This is what I have been blaming his fussy bouts on since he was 10 weeks old!! So that officially made me feel pretty dumb. But really...what else is the bright white spot under his gums?? I know they are supposed to get swollen and they really are not swollen yet, so maybe he is not as close as I think he is. All this drool has got to be for some reason! I guess I will stop looking for that tooth every morning when he wakes up...

i saw it.

2008-09-21T10:27:00.002-05:00

missing firsts...

2008-09-19T12:55:00.002-05:00

So my very wise cousin Erika, just told me the other day that I am probably going to have to prepare myself for missing some "firsts" in Liam's life. Well she was right. Today Jeremy was playing with him on the floor and I was on the couch on the computer. By the time Jeremy had said "Kellie, Kellie!" he had already rolled over :(. He rolled from his belly to his back all by himself...I was sitting right there and missed it! Of course he has not done it again. Jeremy says its ok and he thinks it was a fluke cause his arm was caught under his side so it was easier for him to roll. So yes, I actually teared up a little cause I didn't see this milestone...but I guess I should just suck it up and realize I might just miss a few more :).

laughing...trying to roll over...and bumbo

2008-09-14T17:00:00.004-05:00

Here are a couple of the newest videos we have gotten of Liam. I think every stage is better than the last. He is really starting to laugh a lot now, and there is something very contagious about a little baby's laugh. He also tries SO hard to roll over, but hasn't quite figured that out..but it sure is fun to watch him try!

He also LOVES his bumbo seat (thank you Mel and Michele). I had not even thought of trying to sit him in there yet, but Erika suggested it, and he loves it! He is getting really good at reaching out and grabbing onto toys, and his newest thing is shaking them around once he has grabbed onto them. It is fun watching him realize that he is the one making the toy rattle. Jeremy told me when I was in the shower today that Liam transferred the rattle from his right to his left hand! Too bad I missed it..I'm sure he will do it again. Well as you will see from the video below, he sometimes gets a little out of control shaking the toy :).

(Oh and if anyone has any suggestions for a very congested infant, feel free to let me know. I don't think he is congested enough to take him to the doctor, but I kind of want to ease the congestion for him, but am not quite sure how. I did buy some infant saline drops for his nose so hopefully those might start helping...oh and of course Tylenol has become our best friend :)

the rainiest day ever.

2008-09-12T15:44:00.006-05:00

So we have had about 12 inches of rain since this morning...and it is still raining. And yes I was one of the stupid drivers who went out and took pictures :) Well me and Jessica, who ran down to our house in the rain because she can't get her car out of the driveway.

favorite

2008-09-02T22:27:00.002-05:00

sucking his thumb

2008-08-28T16:45:00.003-05:00

3 months old and sucking his thumb? Last week when Jeremy and I would get Liam up from his nap he would be sucking on his thumb. But now when we put him down for his naps this thumb promptly finds his mouth and he goes to sleep. I think it is really cute right now...probably won't be in 2 years :) I am wondering if he started sucking his thumb because he is about to cut teeth. Maybe it feels good on his gums, because those teeth are about to pop through any day!

goodbye chuck

2008-08-27T20:17:00.002-05:00

dear ugly green chucks:
your demise has come. praise the lord. you officially are un-wearble and that makes me a very happy wife. you will be replaced.

new camera...new photos

2008-08-22T14:13:00.007-05:00

3 Months Old! There are a couple developmental milestones you will notice in these pictures...grasps and shakes toys (his first set of john deere keys :), and supporting his upper body on his arms while laying on his stomach. He is growing up so fast!! We had a little discussion the other day about how he is not supposed to grow up so fast, but I don't think he listened very well. Other things he is doing are: brings hands to mouth, takes swipes at dangling objects with hands, opens and shuts hands, and starting to show some hand and eye coordination.

l.i.a.m.

2008-08-19T12:32:00.004-05:00

Well my excuse for not posting in a while is because we don't have a camera anymore! I think it got lost or possibly taken at Dathan and Elizabeth's wedding so we have ordered another one and it should be getting to the house today!! I am so excited to have it. I'm sure Liam has enjoyed the flash not going off in his face every 5 seconds but I have missed it. Its not so bad that our camera was misplaced, I was kind of wanting a different one anyways! :) But here is a video we took a couple of days ago...we can usually get HUGE smiles out of Liam when we spell his name and move his arms to the shape of the letters (I think he just likes the movement of his arms). He is just at such an amazing stage right now...smiling and talking constantly. I love it!

back to work

2008-08-05T16:58:00.002-05:00

last night was my first night back at work. it went much better than i thought it was going to. it felt like i was just off for a weekend, and not three months! it is going to take me a while to get used to the pace of that place again...it kicked my butt. i was pretty tired when i got home, but i will re-adjust. i am only back part-time which is an amazing blessing that we can do that. it has worked out that jeremy and i will adjust our schedules so that we don't have a sitter. it made it much easier to go back knowing that he was with jeremy. jeremy loved his 10 hours with him yesterday! he would text me picture of him throughout the night. looks like they had a lot of fun!

liam walking?

2008-08-02T22:07:00.003-05:00

Ok well he is not really walking obviously...but this is his new favorite thing to do. It keeps him happy that is all I know! (oh and I am almost 100% sure he is teething...at 10 weeks!)

parmesan baked salmon

2008-08-01T10:10:00.003-05:00

Here is a new recipe I tried that turned out really well!

Parmesan Baked Salmon

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 salmon fillets (1 lb)
2 tsp lemon juice
10 ritz crackers crushed

Preheat over to 400. Mix mayo, cheese and pepper and set aside.

Place salmon on foil-lined shallow baking pan. Drizzle evenly with lemon juice.
Top with cheese mixture; spread to evenly cover salmon. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.

kraftfoods.com

could it be any better??

2008-07-30T10:15:00.002-05:00

7 hours saturday night
7 1/2 hours sunday night
8 hours monday night
AND...9 hours last night!!!

I hope Liam keeps sleeping like he is...hopefully he has turned that corner and it now sleeping through the night for good. We have been trying this whole babywise system, and I think there is actually something to it. The whole goal is to have your child sleeping through the night by about 6-7 weeks of age if you start it from birth. Well we didn't start it until he was 6 weeks old, but now he is 10 weeks and sleeping through the night. There are many things in that book that I will consider a little extreme, but you can pick and choose which parts you like and apply those, and that has seemed to work for us! The whole basic concept is the feed/wake/sleep cycle. And I think if you try to stick to that then it works pretty well. Hopefully many more rested nights for Jeremy and I...

daddy time

2008-07-28T15:48:00.001-05:00

goin swimmin'

2008-07-27T20:01:00.005-05:00

Well Liam got to go swimming for the first time yesterday!! We went and took advantage of KT and Julie's pool at their house before they move! Needless to say I think we might have a little fish on our hands...he loved it! He even got splashed in the face a few times and didn't cry! I have been avoiding taking him swimming because the pediatrician said we can't put sunscreen on him until he is 4 months old...but Melanie said their pool is really well shaded from 10-11am so we went then. I'm so glad we did! We are going to be swimming a lot more this summer (where it is shaded of course). We already have a date to go and swim with Michele and the girls later this week!

good morning!

2008-07-24T21:17:00.003-05:00

I compiled a few videos of when Liam wakes up in the morning. He is usually so happy at this time! This morning I could hear him talking to himself through the monitor, and I went in there and he was wide awake just very content, looking around, smiling and cooing.

great grandma and grandpa

2008-07-22T10:36:00.003-05:00

We went up to the hospital to see grandpa yesterday! They both had a lot of fun playing with Liam. Grandpa is doing really well! Still waiting to hear when his surgery will be...

more 8 week pictures

2008-07-18T21:49:00.002-05:00

8 weeks!

2008-07-15T23:03:00.004-05:00

Liam is 8 weeks old today! I cannot believe how big and old he is getting..and so fast! He had his two month appointment today. Poor little guy got 3 shots for about 50 different things :). He screamed, but it only last a short little bit. He got over it quickly. Now he is pretty fussy and has a low fever due to the shots. Poor baby might not be too happy for the next couple of days. Other than the recent shots, he is doing very well!! He is smiling and interacting with us more and more every day. He definitely recognizes his mommy and daddy now which is the best feeling ever. He tries so hard to talk...it is adorable. I will take some video soon and post it. We just love him more and more every day. Today he was 12 pounds 4 ounces and 23 inches long! The doctor says he looks great, and everything is normal. Developmentally he is right on track...he smiles in response to voices and other smiles, and also to initiate socialization..he is cooing, focusing, tracking and recognizing with his eyes...he just really is the most amazing thing ever...

aunt erin

2008-07-10T17:21:00.003-05:00

Tuesday morning came and mom, dad, Jeremy, Liam and I all piled in a rented mini-van and drove down to Eureka Springs, AR to see Erin! She had a 24 hour break from kamp so we were able to spend a little bit of time with her. It was GREAT to get to see her...we really miss her a lot. She was surprised how much Liam has grown in just the few weeks she has been gone. Mom, Erin and I walked around downtown Eureka Springs looking at some of their shops...I didn't realize this little town was such a "touristy" place! It is a really cute town right in the middle of the Ozarks. It was awesome to go back to the Ozarks...mom and I figured out that it has been seven years since we have been down there, and before that every summer we would be down there at Ponca Bible Camp. It is such a beautiful part of the country.

Erin is loving her experience at KAA (kids across america). She is there for two terms, each term being three weeks. Each week she has a different set of girls. By then end she will have counseled six cabins of girls (each cabin has about 11 girls). She LOVES her co-counselor, which makes all the difference in the world. She says that she feels like she has known her her whole life, and they work really well together. That has been a huge blessing for her. Her first week of girls, she really enjoyed. She said that was a good group of girls to start the term out with. I think that the week she is on now is a little more challenging, but it sounds like she is dealing with it all really well. Her third group of girls comes tomorrow. Erin is spending basically all of her time outside, so she is as tan as I can ever remember her...it is quite ridiculous when you put the two of us side by side :). She spends her days coaching basketball, life-guarding and being a boat driver. Those are her main responsibilities. She was very relieved to come to a hotel with air conditioning and where she could take a hot shower!

Just wanted to update everyone on her experiences. I know she is really enjoying it, and had nothing but good things to say about her time there. It takes an amazing person to be able to relate to the kids that she is working with...I am so impressed.

annette's 18!

2008-07-09T09:05:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures from Annette's 18th birthday party! Liam has really started to smile now, so a few of the pictures are of his big toothless grin! We had a great time getting to hang out with family...

for aunt k

2008-07-06T15:10:00.002-05:00

Thanks for this cute little outfit!! Well this one...and many others :) Love you!

best friends

2008-06-29T17:15:00.002-05:00

big boy!

2008-06-28T13:24:00.004-05:00

We had our check-up yesterday at the pediatric cardiologist's office. Liam had a little murmur when he was born. While we were in the hospital they did an echocardiogram that showed a little flap that was not closed between the top chambers of his heart. Yesterday they did a repeat echo that showed everything is fine! It is all resolved, and he no longer has a murmur. The doctor said that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. That was all a big answer to prayer. At their office yesterday they weighed and measured him...any guesses?? He is a whopping 10 pounds 15 ounces, and 22 inches long. Seriously, basically 11 pounds!! He is only 5 weeks old..I would say that is a little above average. He is really starting to fill out and get chubby :) Here are a couple of pictures. Look at that double chin!

2 years!

2008-06-25T11:18:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Jeremy and I celebrated out second anniversary! It feels like it should be longer than that. So much has happened in two years...move to Indiana, start a new job, Jeremy graduates, move back to Kansas, Jeremy starts new job, I go back to work at Wesley, rent a house, get a dog, found out we were pregnant, bought a house, and had a baby! Some of those events being more major than others, but I just can't believe all of that has happened in only two years! It has been an amazing two years.
Yesterday evening Jeremy and I went out to the east warren for dinner and a movie. It was the first time either of us had sat in the balcony in the big theater. It was actually worth it! It is kind of expensive (at $18/person), but the food is really good and the seats are actually bigger than love seats and really roomie. So we would recommend it. It was only the second time that we have left Liam, but I did much better the second time than I did the first! I actually enjoyed going out and wasn't worried about him the whole time :). Didn't even shed a tear...this time :).
And of course, here are a couple pictures.

**When I posted this earlier today, I forgot to mention the highlight of our night out! On the way home our tire blew...yeah, so not really the highlight, but it was amusing. We had just been talking about on the way to the movie how we needed new tires on the Honda. Guess we have to get them now! I was rather impressed with Jeremy. I asked him if he knew how to change a tire, and he said yes...I didn't really believe him, but 20 minutes later he had the spare on! Guess I can't call him a girly man anymore for not really knowing how to repair things ;).

He loves his baths!

Superman pose :) He sleeps like this a lot.

more pics

2008-06-20T14:08:00.001-05:00

Soon I will have posts that are more than just pictures of Liam, but for now I got a couple other pictures that I wanted to share.

the fredin's

new blog address

10.5 weeks

backtracking a bit

blog neglect...but big announcement!

update on liam

First haircut!!

please pray

our latest drama...

sweet cousins

wrestling with daddy

mommy and daddy fun

tickle tickle

Blowin Bubbles and Slidin

lil stinker

14 Months

MO Vacay

fishin buddies

No Holds Barred

nike+

2 new favorites

more fun videos...

genius? i think so.

my birthday dinner

my little cowboy

12 Months

birkey time

Liam's First Birthday Party

the winner is..

cute baby?

one more video :)

Playing on the bed

Peek-a-Boo!

baby see, baby do

Nationals '09

First Steps

i love jesus but i drink a little

Senior Night

spring?

two peas in a pod

25 Things

fun with mom and dad

a few more videos

New Videos...

please pray

baby's first christmas

the zoo and the snow

director of technology

prayer req

dada

to take to the nursery or not

thanksgivingness continued..

fredin thanksgiving

fun at thanksgiving

my new adventure

liam and lili

the latest

more farm pics

the farm

sweet pea

first game of the season

a little like daddy?

mommy & me

tired of these yet? :)

new pics!

comfort food

laughing at grandma

solids

cousins

recentely...

sleepy baby

craigslist.com...shop there.

thanks matt

this explains my patients at work.

4 months old

i saw it.

missing firsts...

laughing...trying to roll over...and bumbo

the rainiest day ever.

favorite