The Big Day

Armed and ready with his Christmas pjs and his Eagles water bottle, Liam can't wait to tear into his pile of presents. This year is oh-so-much better than last year in enthusiasm and independent unwrapping.

Liam got a "Bike! Vroom-vroom, beep-beep!" from Santa. Too bad he can't reach the pedals. Hopefully he will by spring. . . way to go mom and dad, I mean Santa. He also got tons of books, puzzles, clothes, cars, puppets, a basketball hoop, tmx Elmo, a workbench, a new Eagles coat, a bunch of DVDs, and much more. Thanks to everyone for the bounty!

On Sunday we ventured back to Good Ol' Red Lion to meet the newest member of the Meisenhelter brood. Max and Liam hit it off right away and he even took a liking to Kyle. He has a touch with the wee ones!

Brandon, Liam, Kylie and Tyler posing for a holiday photo. Don't they look like angels?! They've all got you fooled! Merry Christmas everyone. Now it's time to detox, workout like mad, pay off bills, and spend those gift cards. See you all next year!

Christmas Numero Uno

Liam ripped right into his first Christmas celebration of 2007. He is much better at unwrapping this year and actually wants to see what's in his next package instead of chewing on the chapsticks from Kyle's stocking like last year. We can't wait until Christmas morning.

Thank you for all the great stuff Pappau and Cici. I love my McQueen loot and monster truck.

Liam playing with his new toys . . . and Daddy playing with his!

Our true first Christmas party was at Jen and Eric's minus Liam. The crossdressing in fat girl panties at that house is too much for his innocent eyes. Thanks to the Hearns for being the ultimate hosts yet again.

Taking my men out for lunch on Friday. We destroyed the salad bar at Hoss's. If you have less than $20 there is no need to hit the drive thru and clog your arteries when you can eat all the salad, soup, bread, mac n cheese, steak fries, and frozen yogurt you want all while someone clears away your empty plates. Happy 28th birthday Daddy!!

Christmas Tree Day

This past Saturday the Flanagans ventured out in search of our 2007 Christmas Tree. Liam loved running around through all the trees like it was a giant maze, and Kyle loved chasing him. After Kyle refused to buy the misfit tree that I wanted to save Charlie Brown style, we settled on a nice 6 footer void of huge bald spots, and drove it home.

Liam loved helping set the tree up and putting on ornaments. He also helped test each of the light strands because, after all, they are "Liam's lights!"

Our dirty little snowman! Liam thought he was rad.

After a day like that, a young growing boy needs a hearty breakfast of "dip eggs". Liam has graduated to a booster seat at the table with us. What a big boy! It's good times, messy times, but good times.

Holiday photo shoot

Instead of enduring the lines and stress of a Sears Portrait experience again, we decided to stage our own Christmas photos this year. Liam thought it was very hot, very boring and very uncool, but we got some good ones out of him (to be seen in a xmas card near you soon!)

Posing with Maile below. He did his best modeling with her. Sitting with Mom and Dad was not as easy as you can tell by my firm grip!

"Ho-Ho" pjs. He looks so cute with a candy striped butt!

Holiday Parade

This past Saturday we took Liam to the Harrisburg Holiday Parade. He loved the big balloons, horses, fire engines, and Chinese Dragons, and he didn't seem to mind the cold.

Kyle and I took turns holding him at a 5:1 ratio. He's heavy and my arms feel like they're going to fall off after 3 minutes. I think he's finally broken the 25 pound mark!

Relaxing with his teddy "Night-night" in a rare moment that he was allowed out of the crib (the bear, not Liam.)

Liam being Liam, loud and crazy. He loves cartoon mice. I can't wait to take him to Disney even though I know it will be quite a few years until we do.

Last Call for Playground Time

Liam and I have been trying to squeeze in as much playground time as we can before it gets really cold. He is very good about keeping his hat and gloves on which is amazing considering how difficult it can be to get him to put on any clothes at all.

He loves the slide and the swing the best. Doesn't he look huge on the swing!?!

This past weekend was packed with fun for the Flanagans. We traveled to Maryland to meet the newest member of the Kilby fam. Baby Girl Mason!! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I'm waiting for Nicole to email me some pics of all the kids together. (HINT, hint,!) Then Sunday we left Liam at home with Gramma and headed to Philly for the Eagles game with Scott and Anna. We decided to go to Chickie and Pete's around 3:30 for some dinner and drinks before the 8:15 game. Big mistake! Since when do people care so much about the Patriots in South Philly? It was more crowed than for any Eagles game and we waited over 3 hours for a table before giving up and heading to the parking lot to pilfer food from tailgating friends.

Rare photo of all three of us together at Jason's Halloween party, since I'm usually the one taking the pics, I'm rarely in them.

Paging Dr. Flanagan

Halloween comes a little early in Lower Paxton Township. Trick-or-Treating was Thursday night. So Liam and Kyle carved a pumpkin on Wednesday to set outside. Liam was having fun scooping out the seeds but didn't like the stringy guts, "Ewww!"Thanks to a present from Scott and Anna (Medtronic scrubs), Liam's costume was easy to plan this year. He did really well with it and left his cap, stethoscope, and name tag alone for most of the night. He was pretty shy at the first few houses, but then got the hang of it and did very well saying "Thank you."

Liam also wore his costume to school today. Everyone loved it. The other moms are already trying to hook their daughters up with the handsome doctor!!

Posing for a class photo.

18 month checkup

Liam had his checkup today and is doing well like always. He was so well behaved considering we spent over an hour waiting because the doctor was running behind. He is in the 85th percentile for his height (33 3/4 inches) and the 35rd percentile for his weight (24 pounds 12 ounces). He was very brave and didn't make a peep when he got his shot. The nurse said he has an advanced vocabulary for his age after he pointed out to her the bus, kite, green tree and stars painted on the wall without prompting. We are trying to keep up with Jake, a fellow orator of great esteem. Next visit is in 6 months, when he will be two. Yes, two. In six months Liam will be two. Is this really possible? Didn't I just pee on a stick a few months back? Yes, if a few means 27. In two days it will be 27 months ago exactly.

Oh yeah, and he's already driving.

Cruisin'

Today we got home from our 8 day cruise in the Caribbean. We had a blast in each of our destinations. Above in front of the ship in Puerto Rico where we did some jewelry shopping and hung out at Senior Frogs. We also went snorkeling in St. Martin but I didn't bring my camera for fear of losing it forever in the Sea. Below is a pic of the beach in Tortola where we swam. The water was gorgeous and there weren't many people there. The boys took advantage of this and swam sans shorts!

Kyle and I before swimming in Tortola. The sand was super soft.

Formal night pictures. See we can clean up nice!

The cruise was great except for one thing. WE MISSED OUR BUDDY! We never want to vaca without him again. We bought him his own ship to sail in the tub. If you ask him where Mommy and Daddy were he says "On a boat". We're very happy to be home, rested and recharged.