Shira comes to visit

The weekend before my birthday, my college roommate Shira flew out from L.A. to visit us in Nashville. It was the first time Shira got to meet Liam in person, and they had quite a nice little mutual love affair going. Every morning when he woke up Liam would tear out to the couch and pull himself up right next to her head and bob there until she picked him up. Baby tackles are our favorite alarm clock around here (as Terry often finds out).

Shira also started working with Liam on teaching him to use his rack a stack to actually put the rings on it instead of just tearing them off and then crawling away. At first she'd help him out by controlling the base so he got a little assistance when he tried to put the rings on. But by the end of her visit he could mostly do it on his own, and now weeks later I am proud to report he is quite a pro stacker. We are now working on him recognizing the order that the rings have to go on.

Time with Shira is always great and yet somehow always manages to exceed my expectations. We did a few tourist loops, walking around downtown Nashville dispite the cold weather, visiting a landmark or two, and even taking time to stop for Las Paletas. But mostly it was just all the fun easy good conversation. It is so nice to have friends that feel immediately like no time has passed since you last hung out. And Shira is definitely one of those people. Everyone loves Shira, and it is easy to see why, so I am very thankful to count her among my close friends.


So of course we all head to Las Paletas. Liam gets his first taste of mommy's cantaloupe popscicle, and promptly takes it over.


We all went to go see the Nashville Parthenon


This Nashville tourist attraction is the only full scale replica of the Italian landmark in the world


Liam really loves swinging at the park


It is especially fun when Miss Shira pushes me!

Family "Nap" Time

Early in the morning before Terry leaves for work, or sometimes on the weekends, one of us will just declare "family nap time" which is really more "family cuddle time" because the baby refuses to nap in our bed with us. And sometimes it is less "family cuddle time" and more "baby uses parents as jungle gym time" but it all takes place with all three of us (usually in our jammies) hanging out in our bed.



Liam loves hanging upside down. There's even a little song we sing about it. Fascinating lyrics: "He's upside down. He's a baby. He's an upside down baby"


I'm feeling wiley. I'm gonna make a break for it!


If I could just get over this edge...


Ya gotta help me! I'm trying to escape!
But they just keep pulling me back from the edge.

Meeting Baby Jane

Our friends Rachel and Kelly relocated for a few years to the south of France, where they live in a region most people just dream of visiting, near pebbled beaches and generally navigate the expat life and francophone culture. For our part, we just miss them. They are fun, interesting, wonderful people and we love the time we get to spend with their family. This year the weather conspired to keep us apart, grounding them in Nice so we missed them on the front end of our trip. But we were not to be thwarted! So on our way back from North Carolina, we stayed overnight with them in Evanston and got to spend some time. We got to see Alex, their preschooler, who has a mutual love affair with Terry. Every time someone came down the stairs in the morning he would run over with a look of pure joy on his face and shout "Terry!" and then his face would sort of fall and he'd mumble something suspiciously like "oh you" and then go back to the living room. Terry was the last one down in the morning, so I got to see this drama repeated several times.

We also got to introduce Liam to baby Jane, Rachel and Kelly's new daughter who arrived in June and so is only 5 months younger than Liam.


The kids somehow agreed that in a house full of toys, the iron planter was the most exciting thing

Christmas Day with the McDonnells

We did a mini-Christmas on the morning of Christmas Eve before Aunt Bri and Uncle Jesse left to fly back to New York.



Liam spent Christmas Day with Grandma and Pop McDonnell. It was a nice, quiet morning at home enjoying each other's company.



Liam opens some big lego blocks


Pop's chair is the best seat in the house


Checking out the fireplace, aka Santa watch


Sitting by the presents under the tree


Trying to learn how to work the jack in the box




The wrapping is almost as exciting as the presents!


Daddy says it is time for a nap, but I've got an iron grip on my present!


Playing with my new dinosaur foam puzzle


Opening a new book--a peekaboo book!--that months later is still my favorite


Showing off my new apron with Pop


In my awesome new personalized union jack jammies


Baby bowling!


I love the tupperware drawer, so I'm helpfully trying to rearrange it for Grandma

Liam Meets Santa!

I can't believe its February and I'm just now finally finishing the Christmas posts. Life just got really busy in January, and now that baby pictures are already filling up my hard drive, I have to download all the pictures onto Terry's computer and find time to take over his laptop to do the posts.

We were very very lucky that while we were staying with Grandma and Pop McDonnell, Santa Claus found time to stop by and say hello to Liam. Liam and Santa spent some time getting to know each other. It was adorable.



Seeing Santa for the first time


Checking him out...


...okay I like him!


Feeling Santa's fluffy white beard


Santa shows Liam a little teddy bear that Santa brought Liam's daddy when he was little...


The whole family

Erin's 30th Birthday

For my 30th birthday some of our close friends flew in and we all rented a cabin in the Smokey Mountains together. It was wonderful to be able to spend concentrated quality time just being together. It was quiet and loud, there were moments of serious bonding and moments of that were just silly. So all in all, it was just what I wanted. Even though I had a minor meltdown and got stupidly caught up in the little details that don't matter (like burning the turkey and burning my hand using a flimsy washcloth to try to remove the burning turkey) and lost my temper.

But even that was sort of a growing experience, and strangely became one of the more reflective moments of my birthday. Customarily I like to pass birthdays by reflecting on what the past year meant to me as a person and what the upcoming year may hold. But often life gets so busy I haven't always made time for those reflective moments. But losing my temper over something stupid, and in front of all my closest friends who had flown around the country to be with me, was a startling moment that catalyzed reflection. It made me realize, or be more conscious of, the ways that being a mom, and always giving giving giving to Liam taps into a store of patience. I am now more aware that I have to be conscious of when that reservoir of patience is getting low and make sure that I plan in more "me" time than I used to need. I used to joke that I got all the "me" time I needed during my brief morning shower, but that isn't so true anymore. A good friend of mine recently quipped that sometimes she feels like she'd be a better mother and person if she occasionally got a week long vacation from her family. And even as I love my husband and son from the bottom of my soul to the top of my head, I can understand now that sometimes at the end of the day all I want is to curl up in a symbolic cave and read a book and have no one ask anything of me.

Well, that became more of a confessional than I intended. But this is as much for me and posterity as it is for all you readers, so I suppose it is good to faithfully represent what happened, even (or especially) when it doesnt show me in the best light.

But there were also great time! Girls laughing in the hot tub! Boys playing pool! The best freaking birthday cake ever!



The view from our balcony when we arrived at the cabin was spectacular


Wenona and Eric enjoying the sunset with baby Zane


My college roommate Natasha flew out from San Francisco to join the fun


Liam meets baby Zane


Eric demonstrates the finer art of playing pool while wearing a sleeping baby


Everybody hangs out in cozy jammies while Terry makes a great breakfast


Zane gives Sian some quality snuggles


Zane does a little tummy time. Check out that drool!


Eric and Erin rock the baby carriers on our outing to Gatlinburg. We thought it might be quaint. Turns out it was a major tourist trap, complete with its own Ripley's Believe it or not!


Wenona and Sian in Gatlinburg


Back at the cabin, Liam passed that iconic baby stage: he discovered the toilet paper and promptly unrolled an entire roll.


In homage to years past when we hosted our friends for Urban Family Thanksgiving, I wanted to have a turkey dinner for my birthday dinner. This was perhaps a little overly ambitious for the poorly appointed cabin kitchen. There was burning things (including my fingers), turkey stock all over the oven, cursing, and more. A good reminder that sometimes ordering pizza and spending time with friends is a better idea.


Getting the babies acquainted




Hey lady, are you gonna kiss me?




Liam corralled so he doesn't climb the stairs.


Liam and Ian sharing a very funny joke


Liam makes a cheese-ball grin with Aunt Natasha


Moms and sons


Dads and Babies




Everybody together on the balcony for the last afternoon.