Snow Day

One of the best things about living in South Dakota. Snow! 

We had a blast playing in it this morning. 

I am not sure who had more fun, Liam or his puppies. 

9 Months

9 months old. 

You are looking more like a toddler and less like a baby everyday. 

You have 8 teeth now, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was another one in there that we hadn't noticed yet. You eat whatever we are eating. You are a food lover. 

You crawl everywhere at a hundred miles an hour. You walk along all of the furniture and think you can just let go and keep going. You have gone 2 steps on your own without falling so far. It definitely won't be long. 

You say lots of fun sounds now. Ba & Th are your favorites. And you like to spit while you talk. 

You sing all the time with me and it melts my heart. You still let me snuggle you, which makes me the happiest mama around. You are totally obsessed with the Xbox and the dog food bowls which means I am always on the move and pretty much exhausted at the end of each day. And I love it & wouldn't have it any other way. 

Happy 9 Months Liam Wayne. You light up our world! 

Liam adores his daddy. 

Shoveling in his lunch. 

My whole world. 

Helping daddy cook. 

Precious baby boy. 

Christmas Time is Here

Christmas is always my favorite time of year. I absolutely love everything about it and I always dreamed of how amazing it would be to experience it with our children someday. Well, it has been more fun and wonderful than I ever could have imagined. We have been showing Liam our old traditions and starting new ones. Liam has made this very special season extra special this year. 

My parents were able to come for Parker's Home Town Christmas again this year. We had a blast with both of our families at the Light parade.

Liam waiting for the parade to start. 

Family. We are blessed. 

Watching for Grandpa & Daddy!

Max drove this truck. Papa Bob was the parade marshal. 

We had a GIS conference early in the month and Liam got to spend the day with Grandma. The night before we went we got to help them decorate. They have such a beautiful tree! 

Liam sure loves his Grandma.

Dad & their beautiful tree. 

Then we got to spend a weekend with cousin Gabe. We also got to help decorate Grandma & Grandma Masters tree! We are so blessed to live so close to both of our families. 

Grandma & her boys. 

Grandpa & Liam.

My little love. 

Gabe helped put up lots of ornaments.

 We have had tons of fun decorating our house this year too. We picked out a penguin Christmas stocking for Liam. It looks so cute on our fireplace. And we have been busy watching all of our favorite Christmas movies. And if you know me, you know there is Christmas music playing around here 24/7. I also had the pleasure of doing Christmas baking with both Moms this year. We always have so much fun.  This is truly the most wonderful time of year.

Liam's stocking. 

Checking out his present. 

Mr. Handsome

The events lately have also reminded me how much our whole world desperately needs Christmas. I have felt this year, more than ever how deeply important Christmas is and how greatly we all need to remember the true meaning of Christmas. God sent us a Savior, in the form of a baby. How incredible is that? He saw the sin and hurt in our world and sent his Son so that we could all be saved. So that in times of tragedy, we can look to him and know that he has overcome this world and that through him we have eternal life. 

There will always be hurt, pain, & tragedy in this world. We are sinners. But thanks to the free grace of God we all have the chance to live eternally with him in heaven. So as you are wrapping your presents, looking at lights, and enjoying time with family & friends this year make sure you are keeping Jesus at the heart of your celebrations. 

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Liam Vs. The Avocado

Liam is an avocado lover. But normally mommy feeds them to him. But today we decided to let him go for it. His clothes were already thoroughly disgusting so I didn't even bother stripping him down or getting a bib. Liam took it too that avacado. You may not think so from these pics, but yes he did get a lot into his mouth. 

His hand is moving too fast for the picture because sometimes a boy just needs to pound his food into his tray. 

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: A Hairy Tale

Most of you have heard of "No Shave November". Well the men of Parker decided to take the idea and do a fundraiser for Bob this month. All of the men shaved on November 1st and after that time they were not allowed to shave, trim, or cut their hair from the neck up. So of course, my hubby decided to participate. Anyone who knows Max, knows that he HATES how itchy his beard feels after a few days so he never has one. But he pushed through and as soon as pics were taken tonight the beard was gone!

But not without a little fun first...

Max with full beard, Uncle Alan, Uncle Tom, Papa Bob

The beard, nicely trimmed...

The thoughtful Goatee, which he rocked the summer we started dating. 

'Merica 

The "stache"

The "Charlie Chaplin" 

And my clean shaven bubba.
Now to see what Liam thinks of him when he wakes up tomorrow...

Liam's First Thanksgiving!

Another big first holiday for our little dude...Thanksgiving!!

I LOVE Thanksgiving. While we should all practice being thankful ALL of the time, I am thankful for a time of year that helps us to focus on all of the things that we shouldn't take for granted. Liam loved the holiday because he was surrounded by family for 4 days straight. He was in heaven.

Chillin in his jammies Thanksgiving morning.

We started a thankful table cloth this year! Can't wait to look back on it next year . 

Liam watched his first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

And he had a blast maneuvering around all the extra chairs and table we had up.  

We had the Masters/Friman family Thanksgiving at our house for lunch. 

We did a pajama lunch. It was great!

And of course he LOVED the turkey!

Then everyone dug into the Black Friday ads...

Liam was thankful as always for his Uncle Kyle. 

Then we headed to Chamberlain for Thanksgiving dinner . Two turkey dinners in one day? No problem!!
Liam loves his Grandpa!

And he loves hanging out with his cousin Dylan!

And of course he loves seeing his Aunt Brittany & Uncle Randy.

There are always A LOT of special people around at the Dominiack family gatherings to shower him with love. 

He loves his Grandma & cousin Morgan too. 

And his Great Aunts are always making him smile!

We took a family photo before bed. And I adore it. 

Next we spent the weekend celebrating with the Leiferman  family. 

Liam and his cousin Michael are good buddies. 

They had a blast playing with Xander & Hayden. 

Hayden is my buddy. I love this little dude. He makes my heart smile!

We even went to the Light Parade Friday night.
Another adorable pic of my parents! 

My Mom loved how her hat was looking when I showed her this pic. :)

We bundled up and had a blast!

Liam was totally amazed by all of the lights.

And as always I am totally head over heels in love with this man...

Every family get together has moments like this. Good thing I keep my camera handy.

We are so blessed. We are so loved. We have the best families in the world.
We love you all & are so thankful that we got to spend Thanksgiving with all of you!