Shameless self-promo

I finally got a website up and running for my photography. Check it out! Please, please, please share with anyone you know looking for a photographer. Please? :)

http://heathererae.uber.com/

We had our ultrasound.....

And we are having another boy!!!!! This is exactly what we were hoping for, so it is indeed great news! The other good news is that this little boy appears to have all of his right body parts in all of the right places according to the ultrasound. I'll put up the pictures once I get them scanned.

Big boy bed for Lijah

We got a little blue racecar toddler bed for Lijah last month and have been trying to transition him out of his crib well before baby #2 comes in September. Even though all of the advice out there says not to get in the habit of rocking your baby to sleep, we fell into that habit. And just like they all said, he would not fall asleep any other way because he was used to being rocked. This made for some long nights of having to walk around rocking an almost 30 pound limp little boy - and this was no fun for mommy. :(

When we first got the bed he wanted to push it around like one of his little Matchbox cars. He just wanted to play in it, not sleep in it. Since he had no interest in sleeping in his own bed - I decided to start letting him sleep with me for awhile so he could learn to fall asleep without being rocked, and that worked really well. Then it got to the point that every night he would turn sideways in the bed and start kicking me in the ribs, and he insisted that he use my arm as his own little pillow (yes, I had many nights of my arm falling asleep under the weight of his head). So then we decided to start to make the real transition.

The first few nights I would crawl into his bed with him, read some books, sing some songs, and stay until he fell asleep. He would sleep fine until he woke up, and then would need to come back into my bed. Then he caught on to what I was doing and refused to sleep at all, even with me laying in his bed next to him.

So I had to buckle down one day...and although I always told myself I would never do this....I put him in his bed, gave him a kiss, told him that I loved him, and quickly left the room and shut the door. Of course he cried, and he screamed, and he rattled the doorknob trying to get out. It broke my heart, but I knew it would be best for him in the long run. Finally after about a half hour of this he fell asleep.... Every night since then it has gotten better and better.

For the past few nights, we have read a few books, turned off the light, had some cuddles for a few minutes, and he was off to sleep - and slept through the night all by himself!

Lijah is thankful for birds!

Last week in the nursery at church they had a lesson on being thankful for birds. All week Lijah was flapping his arms around at us. Since I am in the other nursery class, I knew that they had just talked about birds and wondered if his teachers taught him this during the lesson. Sure enough...they flapped their wings when they talked about birds. I guess this should be noted as the first thing Lijah learned in his nursery class (or at least the first thing he has been able to show me that he has learned).

Random Lijah goings-ons....

1. Lijah has developed a fondness for snakes. We have a Jake the Slithering Snake remote control snake that he loves (but is a bit scared of) and some little plastic snakes - and plays with them all of the time. He also loved to point at snakes in books and hiss. He even hisses when I roll out Play-Doh and he pretends that it is slithering like a snake.
2. We got a ramp and some Matchbox cars a few weeks ago after watching the movie Cars and this is one of Lijah's new favorite toys. Before this, he was fascinated with the tires on cars, but this has helped him to appreciate the 'full car'. He gets excited and waves at cars when they drive by in the street and says 'vroom-vroom'.
3. Since everything is melting he has been jumping in every puddle he could find - so we went out to the thrift store and bought him some rain boots. He loves to be outside (with or without puddles) and lately throws a little tantrum everytime it is time to go back inside.
4. Jason's mom bought him a little train before he was born with his name spelled out - each piece is a letter of him name. Since he has stopped trying to eat all of his toys I thought it would be time to take it down off of the shelf and actually let him play with it. He immediately started copying me when I said 'Choo-Choo' and now choo-choos at every train he sees.
5. Lately he has been putting his squirrel stuffed animal on the foot pedal on the elliptical and pushes the arms to give the little squirrel a ride.
6. Lijah has also refined his picky eating habits. Amazingly he is not hungry unless there is some form of sugar being offered. One night I knew he was hungry and I offered him everything under the sun in the kitchen and he refunsed everything. Then he pointed up to the shelf....right where the sugar cones were. It was late, and it was time for bed, so I said sure....we'll have a sugar cone for dinner. I grabbed the box, grabbed Lijah, headed up to his room, got some books out, put him on my lap, and took out a cone. He looked disappointed.......and he would not eat the cone. I was baffled. But then he grabbed the box, and pointed his finger at the mint chocolate chip ice cream on top of the cone on the box. Of course....he wanted ice cream. Finally after explaining away that we didn't have any ice cream he reluctantly ate the cone and went to bed.....

Home Alone

Lijah and I got some quality bonding time this weekend since Jason went out of town to Duluth to see some family (Lijah and I had NO interest in going somewhere even colder than Minneapolis this time of year!). Now Lijah is pretty obsessed with me, likes to cuddle up alot and rub noses with me, and is doing a great job of actually listening to me (usually daddy is the one who he listens to). I think he might actually like me! :) I didn't do any homework, no errands, no nothing - just a whole weekend of my undivided attention. I think this bonding time was much needed for both of us.....

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I've been trying to get a picture like this, but couldn't capture it - but Jason had some luck one day when I was at work:

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Our house is so dry Lijah's hair looks like this alot lately.....

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Lijah can also proudly show you that he knows many of his body parts:

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And a few random shots.....for your viewing pleasure.....

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A few videos.....

We were going to do a puppet show to announce our pregnancy, but it didn't go too well so we scrapped that idea. Here's a blooper....


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Lijah loves to wear mommy's killer whale slippers. Not sure what Jason was doing in the middle of the video........


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As you will see in this video, this boy has some excess energy. What's that song about monkey's jumping on the bed......?

Lijah has some news.....

Lijah wanted me to announce to everyone who reads this......that he is scheduled to be a big brother on or around September 25th, 2008! Congratulations Lijah!

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www.flickr.com/photos/hwilloughby

On off on off on off

Lijah got a kid-sized chair from the Rawhousers a few weeks ago. Now he can reach the lightswitch...what fun!



More videos at: http://www.youtube.com/DustSaw

Some recent things Lijah likes to do.....

Some recent things Lijah likes to do.....

1. Pull the new chair he got from the Rawhousers over to the light switches and switching them on and off and on and off.
2. Put a Spongebob Squarepants metal bucket over his head, walking around bumping into things, and then crying when the bucket isn't on his head anymore because he wants it back on his head.
3. Put craft sticks in his mouth and clamping down with his teeth and making mommy pull them out. This looks a bit like pulling a toy from a dog's mouth....
4. Throw ALL of his toys over the gate and into the kitchen
5. Pick up Chop-Chop and carrying her, ok dragging her, around the house.
6. Saying uh-oh when he hears something fall, or if he drops something
7. Pull the heating vents out of where they belong in the floor (I can't wait until he starts dropping things in there too! That will be great.....).
8. Wipe lotion off of his body with his fingers and the licking his fingers (good eatin'!)
9. Tip another chair over, using it as a slide, screaming wheeeeee (it DOES look like a slide when it is upside down)
10. Hop on mom's back when she is laying down and having her pretend she is a horse and gallop around the living room.

At my wits end.....

Last night my sweet little boy just about drove me over the edge. Since he was born we have been so blessed to have him go to bed easily and sleep through the night, so I really am in no place to complain. But after being so spoiled for 18 months, nighttime issues drive me crazy.

I tried three times to put Lijah to sleep last night. Each time he would be asleep in my arms, and even snoring...but then as soon as I laid him down he would pop back up and start crying. So we kept him up for awhile longer since he was apparently not ready for bed. Finally at 10:30pm, daddy tried to work his magic, but with the same result. Finally we decided that Lijah would sleep next to me. He was sleepy in my arms and snuggled up with me. Then after about 3 minutes he popped up again, ran to the end of the bed, and started pulling all of the laundry out of the basket next to the bed and piled them on top of me. Then he saw the cat...and it was all over from there....

Daddy gave it a second try and finally, at almost midnight, Lijah went to sleep. Let's hope this does not become a regular occurance.......maybe it is just his teeth - he is getting a few more - I'm crossing my fingers that that is it.....

Random Lijah notes.....

Lijah has learned that the cats like it when he pulls strings and ribbon so he has been obsessed with getting the cats to play with him lately. Recently he has started kneeling on the floor to pick up the ribbon with his mouts and then pull it across the floor.

Lijah also loves being on the front porch. Too bad winter is coming and he won't be able to hang out there too much longer. Here's some funny views of Lijah looking in at me from the porch (don't worry, I don't lock him out there as it appears...)

The other day I was taking some pictures of Lijah and he wanted to bounce on my lap. Well, my lap was unavailable since I had my camera so Lijah got creative. He went and pulled out this pillow, plopped it down, and proceeded to bounce on it like it was my lap. It made for some good pictures at least.....

Another recent favorite is 'breaking' the chair Lijah got from his Aunt Mary in Duluth. Luckily it snapps back together easily. Notice the cute bed hair on this lovely morning!

More recent and old pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hwilloughby/

Favorites and not so favorites

Lijah's 10 current favorites:
1. Giving kisses (big wet ones)
2. Making a dog sound when he sees a cat
3. Walking to the neighbors house to see if her cat is outside
4. Putting finger puppets on his fingers
5. Putting his legs in his pants and his arms in his shirt
6. Walking in circles and falling down
7. Saying "what is it"
8. Sticking his finger in daddy's ear
9. Driving in his new car
10. Eating cherry tomatos from the garden

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Lijah's dislikes (I think there are only 4 so far.....):
1. Not being able to touch the new entertainment center
2. Mommy leaving the room
3. Wearing socks
4. Having to be quiet and somewhat still during church

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Lijah's new car:

Mad Lijah:

Plums

Saturday Lijah and I went grocery shopping and lollygagging at Super Target. We only get to lollygag when Jason isn't with us so we spent about 2 hours wandering about. By the time we got to the grocery store side, Lijah had had about enough of Super Target and was starting to fuss, ok scream, a bit. He wanted everything I put in the cart so finally I gave in and gave him the bag of plums I got for him to eat later. I turned around and was looking at something else for a minute, and I guess he decided he wanted to eat them NOW. When I turned back around he had one in each fist and was going back and forth chomping bites out of each of them. By the time we left his shirt was sopping wet from plum juice and he was sticky all over. But he stopped fussing!

*And, no, I didn't just steal those two. I got two more so the lady at the register could just ring those up twice.

Tyler Vegetable Garden

One of Lijah's new favorite things to do outside is stand by the garden and either play with the stick the peas are growing up or reaching down and plucking the leaves off of the radishes and turnips. I cannot wait until we actually get to eat fresh food from the garden!

He has become pretty fond of playing with the sticks in the yard and also likes to follow the ants and try to squish them (luckily I am able to rescue the ants before he can get to them.

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On another note.....Lijah is walking 95% of the time while indoors and is getting pretty good at walking around on the sidewalk and grass in the yard.

Trip to Duluth

Last weekend (June 22-24th) we were able to go up to Duluth to visit Jason's Aunt Mary and her husband Bruce. They were nice enough to let us stay in their house while we were there - Lijah had his own bedroom and we had our own bathroom - it was great! On Friday we went on a little tour of Mary's business and then barbequed and hung out in the backyard. Jason got to see his cousin Annette and her family, while Lijah got to play with Annette's daughter Natalia. On Saturday we went downtown to see a few of the touristy sights. The HOG's were in town so motorcycles were humming everywhere we went:

We went to the Maritime Museum then strolled along the lakewalk down to the Great Lakes Aquarium where we were able to touch some really boney sturgeons. We were so hungry and thirsty and tired when we got to the aquarium and were very relieved to see that the map said that they had a big cafe upstairs. After making our way through the second floor we finally found the 'cafe', which consisted of a soda machine and a vending machine, neither of which worked, and some tables (which were swarming with fruit flies). Luckily Mary packed us some grapes and grape juice to tide us over.

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After lunch at the Chinese Buffet next to Mary's business we went swimming at the beach on Pike Lake. It was Lijah's first time in a lake and he really enjoyed it! Jason watched us from the shore and put his feet in, but he's not much of a swimmer. Then we went to a bonfire at Jason's Aunt Darlene's house where we were able to eat alot of good food and see Jason's dad.

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On Sunday we attended church in the Duluth Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We got lost on the way there (mapquest conveniently left out one turn so we were searching for Upham Road when we really needed Pecan Street!), but we made it in just in time for the Sacrament portion of the meeting. The Duluth Ward was very different than our own Ward. It is very quiet, and a much older population than our Ward. I used to think that the noisyness of our Ward made it hard to focus, but I realize now that it is much harder to focus when every peep your child makes stirs the whole congregation. In the 2nd and 3rd hour Lijah just was not having it - he wanted to be playing! I finally left and played with Lijah in the hall until Jason heard us out there from the meeting he was in suggested that maybe we should just go. It was alot more stressful than usual, but I am glad we made it. It could have been easy to just skip church since we were out of town.

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After lunch at Mary's we headed home. Lijah decided he didn't want to sleep and he definately didn't want me sitting in the front seat. So I got to cram in the backseat the whole way home to keep him from freaking out.

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But overall, the weekend was great and very relaxing. It was nice to get away from the cities for a little bit and see some family that we don't get to see very often. We stopped by Grandma Cherie's on the way home and had another barbeque and Lijah got to swim even more with his cousin Alyssa!

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Baby Barbeque

On Saturday (the 16th) we had a "Baby Barbecue" for Lijah's birthday. Most of our friends and family were able to make it and it seemed like everyone had a great time. I think the kids had the best time since they spent the whole day playing in the sprinkler.

The highlight of Lijah's day was having free reign over his own cupcake. I started out with a grand plan of making a cake in the shape of a cat's face, but eventually it got whittled down to a cupcake with a cat face scribbled on it with icing. But Lijah didn't mind - it was the best thing he'd had since sliced bread!

Here are a few photos of him being messy, but not too messy, with his cupcake. Good thing the sprinkler was near by to clean him up when he was done!

Drum roll please.........

When Jason picked me up last night he said he had some good news. Hmmm...what could it be? Did my books arrive for my next class? Did my relacement phone come in the mail? Did we win the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepsstakes?

No, none of that.....Lijah can walk! Before Jason left to pick me up from work last night Lijah took a few steps, and at the point he usually falls down (after 3 steps) he paused, and then just kept going. Now when he falls after a good stretch of walking he looks up, smiles, and claps for himself.

On another note, Lijah refuses to wear a bib anymore. When I put it on him he just pulls it and pulls it until he rips it off. I have a few that attach pretty securely so when he tries this stunt with those he looks like he is holding a noose above his neck. We'll just have to switch to shirtless meals from now on.....

Lijah's turning one!

I can't believe how much Lijah has changed over the past year. It's hard to believe that this little guy fit inside my tummy just a year ago! Here's a little photo montage from June 06-May07.

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As always, you can find more at www.flickr.com/photos/hwilloughby

Cute Lijah/Smooshed Lijah

Cute Lijah.....



Smooshed Lijah.....