Dear Liam :: 12 Months

:: Stats :: 

Weight : 20 pounds 3 ounces

Height : 29 inches

Who ever said you were allowed to turn 1 year old!? I cannot believe it. 

As I am writing this, I can't help but remember the day you were born. I remember your dad and I feeling so anxious, excited and overwhelmed as we checked into the hospital. 

No one can prepare you for labor; the intensity of the day, the emotional roller coaster, the pure exhaustion, and the profound joy that all takes place during the anticipation of meeting a brand new person, only known by God, but loved immediately by so many. 

1 year later, we love you more than we ever thought possible. Your life this year has been the most incredible blessing to us and we are so thankful for the privilege of being your parents. 

:: Feeding :: 

This month, we have been working on replacing the remaining 2 feedings with formula to prepare for our trip to Nashville. We replaced the morning feeding last and I finished breast feeding for good the day after Christmas! I will say that slowly replacing them was a great way to ease into the end of a big milestone. By the time we replaced them all, I was really enjoying the freedom that came with bottles and loved allowing other people who love you to have that special time to feed you.  

:: Sleeping ::

I am happy to say that we have been so fortunate with you and your sleeping habits! You are still consistently sleeping around 7pm to 7am every night. You still nap twice a day usually 9am and 1pm for about an hour and a half each time.

You love your crib and most of the time when you wake up from your naps, you like to play in there for a few minutes while you wake up. You have started reaching for your crib instead of snuggling when we are getting you quieted down and want us to tuck your blanket and lovies around you...melts my heart every time!

:: Fun Things :: 

-You've started warming up to people more and more. You have started noticing when you are entertaining people and love the attention...as long as they don't try to hold you! 

-You have developed an obsession with Elmo!

-This wasn't fun, but you had a really bad cold this month that made you feel so sick for a few days that all you wanted to do was snuggle and lay in our laps while we rocked you. It was so sad but kinda really sweet too :)

-You want to dance...always.

-You have started doing the motions to sing along songs, bring me books that you want to read, point to things you want, and shake your head no when we get it wrong...growing up before our eyes!

-This month we have entered into a preview of the terrible 2's! With all of this new found knowledge and forming opinions and testing boundaries, somewhere along the way you started to throw mini tantrums. You whine and fuss when you don't get your way, when something is taken away, or sometimes just to embarrass me in public! Your dad and I are going to need some serious prayer for  wisdom, patience, and grace in this new phase of parenting!

-You have started trying to repeat sounds and words a little. You especially love to tell us what a monkey and a lion say :)

-The chickens are your new favorite animals. You chase them around the backyard and squeal when we go feed them or collect eggs.

tyler + shannon :: nashville

before the anxiety of having a time bomb in the back seat - aka a baby - ben and i used to love to ride in the car together. we could listen to music, sermons, talk, or just be quiet. we got to do all of the above on our 10 hour trip to nashville and actually enjoyed the ride!

we checked into our hotel on friday night and headed to the bachelor and bachelorette nights. shan was so thoughtful to invite me to spend time with her best friends for an intimate dinner at a friends house while ben headed to the cherry's for a boys night for tyler. 

the next day, ben was in heaven getting to spend the day playing basketball and laughing with some of his best friends while helping prepare for the wedding. the wright's arrived at the hotel just as we had to leave for the rehearsal. i loved getting a front row seat to the creativity, generosity, and community that surrounded tyler and shan. their friends and family worked around the clock to get the venue set up and ready for the big day. it was so sweet to be a part of this group, they all genuinely loved serving tyler and shan and the result was so beautiful! 

the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner felt like a family reunion. something about the way tyler and shan care for others made the night feel like home. the toasts throughout the night spoke to this as well. ben gave a beautiful toast to his lifelong best friend and included a little something from me - i knew i wouldn't be able to get through it and let's be real i wasn't going to do what tyler did at our rehearsal dinner :) after dinner, the wright's and a few other close friends joined everyone for a little after dinner party. we felt like since we were in nashville, we should keep it going and actually experience downtown...but we were losers and once we got out in the rain and saw how much it cost to park we were outta there. 

the next day, we did get to explore a little! big rob took us to his alma mater and we walked down memory lane touring Vanderbilt's campus.

from there, we walked around centennial park and saw the parthenon replica

found some fitting monuments for each family member 

you know we had to stop by our local hang out

that night, we all went to the wedding and got to witness shan and tyler become husband and wife! the reception was so much fun, the food was AMAZING and the dancing was even better! ben lost his mind for most of the night and danced like i have never seen before...soldier boy made an appearance and so did tight eyez wright and the krump krew.

one of the most unexpected fun things of the weekend was jamie getting to join us! she came to nashville for the ole miss bowl game and hung out with us at the reception and stayed in the hotel with us sunday night. it was so fun to get to hang with my baby sis before she went back to school! 

we had the best weekend celebrating the Parkers. we love you so much and are so excited to get to live life with y'all in Raleigh!! 

:: Christmas 2014 ::

This year, our Christmas was the craziest married holiday we've had yet. Although it was crazy and there was lots of driving and family and go go go, it was so much fun making memories with people we love and watching Liam experience his first Christmas!

We started out in Raleigh with the Branches for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

Christmas round 2 was spent with the Wright's at Windy Gap:

After leaving Windy Gap, we met my parents in Hickory where we handed Liam off to go back to Raleigh with them for the weekend while we headed straight to Nashville for Tyler and Shannon's wedding!

2nd Annual Christmas Party with Friends

This year Ben and I were able to host our friends for the 2nd annual Christmas party at our new house! Even though we weren't fully ready to host a crowd, they were all sweet about the circumstances aka a mattress on the floor of the family room. 

We ate our favorite chili and chased 3 babies and 2 big girls around all night! It was so fun to remember last year's party when 2 babies were still in the tummy, Wrenn was just a teeny tiny little newborn, Mary Eden was about Liam's age, and Maggie still ran the show!  So much has changed in a year! 

Ben and I are so thankful for every one of these friends and their precious babies. It has been an incredible blessing to have a built in support system where we can learn from each other, love on each other's kids, and pray for our growing families together. 

We LOVE y'all and couldn't imagine life without you!